Defense Lawyer Says George Floyd Ingested Lethal Amount of Fentanyl The attorney for one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd said charges should be dropped, arguing that Floyd allegedly died from a drug overdose. Thomas Lane is facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter during Floyds May 25 death. Earl Gray, his attorney, filed a motion in court that alleged Floyd contributed to his own death by consuming a lethal dose of fentanyl, Fox9 in Minneapolis reported. (L-R) Former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, in booking photos. (Hennepin County Sheriffs Office via AP) All he had to do is sit in the police car, like every other defendant who is initially arrested. While attempting to avoid his arrest, all by himself, Mr. Floyd overdosed on Fentanyl, Gray wrote in the motion. Given his intoxication level, breathing would have been difficult at best. Mr. Floyds intentional failure to obey commands, coupled with his overdosing, contributed to his own death. In his argument, Gray said bodycamera footage from Lane showed that Floyd had a white spot on the left side of his tongue that appears to show 2 milligrams of fentanyl, a lethal dose. Gray stated that when Floyd turns his head away between 20:09:45 and 20:09:48 in the video, the white spot is gone. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiners office (pdf), fentanyl intoxication contributed to the 46-year-old Minneapolis mans death. Other contributing factors include arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease and recent methamphetamine use. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, left, in a booking photograph. Chauvin, when still an officer, right. (Hennepin County Jail; Darnella Frazier via AP) His cause of death was listed as cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression, while his manner of death was listed by the office as homicide. Other reports said that he previously contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Independent investigators hired by the Floyd family said he died in a homicide at the scene of the incident as a result of officer Derek Chauvins knee on his neck, which was depicted in a now-viral video and sparked months of nationwide unrest. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while two other officers identified as Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were charged with aiding and abetting. (Photo : Pixabay) iPods were extremely popular that rivaled MP3 devices back in the early 2000s when music streaming was done through portable handheld devices. Former Apple software engineer, David Shayer, leaks a story from his past employment in the company about assisting in developing a custom fifth-generation "top secret" iPod for a division within the U.S. Department of Energy back in 2005. David Shayer shared his story on the website, TidBits that primarily focused on his retelling and personal experience from being handed the assignment and making the product. Shayer's task is to work with two engineers from Bechtel, an American defense contractor who answers the U.S. Department of Energy. The "secret" iPod was only known by four people in the company, was not official, and has no paper trail to trace back to. The "top secret" fifth-generation iPod was the current model in the line-up in 2005. This model was used by Shayer and the two unidentified men working for Bechtel. The primary goal of the iPod, according to Mac Rumors, is to be a data-recording stealth device that will have the chance to gather as much information without detection or suspicion. ALSO READ: Apple Mac Malware Warning: 'An Unusual Infection' on Xcode Projects Compromises 380 IP Addresses Shayer's Secret iPod Story Ex-Apple software Engineer, David Shayer recounts his days working for the company that highlighted his experience in creating a top-secret iPod and iPod O.S. that will function as a data-recording tech. Everything began from being told by his "boss' boss," then director of iPod Software about a particular task assigned to him. "I have a special assignment for you. Your boss doesn't know about it. You'll help two engineers from the U.S. Department of Energy build a special iPod. Report only to me." as narrated by Shayer. Setting Up The U.S. Department of Energy contacted Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware, which then passed it to the Vice President of the iPod Division, who later moved to the director of iPod Software and Shayer. Two engineers who looked "normal" came the following day, which Shayer logged on as visitors. Later on, he gave them "vendor badges" to gain access to the building. Shayer set them up in a vacant office, which became the primary location of the project. The two engineers, Paul and Matthew, provided for their tech and computers, together with retail iPods the pair would work on. Apple's fifth-generation iPod "with video" did not use any signed software for this particular model, and its shell is easy to open without leaving visible marks. Working on iPod O.S. Software The two engineers were "tech geniuses" and knew their way around the software. Shayer taught the duo how to install a hidden data-recorder that would not be detected even when plugged in a computer. The next agenda is a start and stop recording that is hidden under plain sight within the menu. Paul and Matthew were on-and-off in working in the office and the software. The duo finished in months, returned a source code DVD provided for them but took the modified iPod O.S. Software and computers with them. Shayer did not hear from them ever since. Shayer suspects that the modified iPod is meant to function as a "geiger counter," a device used to detect radioactive emissions, best suited for concealed nuclear devices. The duo wanted the iPod to still function as it is, despite the technology included. U.S. Department of Energy Project Shayer reiterated that Apple was not working for the U.S. government, only doing a 'favor.' In 2005, the Department of Energy was given a $24.3 billion budget with DOE stating that $9 billion would be used "to meet defense-related objectives." The U.S. DoE was primarily focused on providing the country with nuclear weapons, and the proposed $9 billion request is intended to detect and mitigate "weapons of mass destruction." ALSO READ: Fortnite Ban: Apple Warns Epic Games 'We Won't Make Exception,' Insisting The Game Publisher 'Created the Problem' This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers. A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you. 1. Verification and registrar choice After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files. In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days. BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars: GoDaddy Namesilo Uniregistry NameCheap Google Domains Network Solutions Name.com Dynadot Amazon Route 53 123 Reg Gandi 2. We request the name from the seller. Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process. 3. Transfer the name into your account As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process. 4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller. The European Union on Wednesday rejected the result of Belarus's disputed presidential election as strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko ordered his security forces to prevent any further unrest. Following an emergency video conference, European Council chief Charles Michel said the EU would soon levy sanctions against a "substantial number" of people responsible for vote rigging and the violent suppression of protests in the ex-Soviet country. Protesters have flooded the streets of Belarusian cities since the August 9 election, waving the red-and-white flags of the opposition and calling on Lukashenko to step down after he claimed a sixth term with 80 percent of the ballot. On Wednesday, protesters marched through central Minsk in the rain and gathered on Independence Square, chanting calls for Lukashenko to "Leave!" They also called for major rallies on Sunday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that the EU rejects the results of the vote, which was "neither free nor fair". Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old political novice who fled to neighbouring Lithuania after claiming victory in the vote, earlier on Wednesday urged EU leaders not to recognise the "fraudulent" ballot. "Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world," she said in the video appeal. Western leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Merkel this week called on Lukashenko's close ally Russia to foster talks between authorities and the opposition. - 'No more riots': Lukashenko - The Kremlin on Wednesday described foreign interference in Belarus as "unacceptable" and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned what he said were attempts from abroad to take advantage of unrest in Belarus. "No one is making a secret of the fact that this is about geopolitics, the fight for the post-Soviet space," he said in a televised interview. Story continues Yet Minsk's ties with Moscow have cooled in recent years after Lukashenko resisted Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to integrate the two countries. Ahead of the vote, he accused the Kremlin of dispatching mercenaries to Minsk to stir unrest with the opposition. Europe's longest-serving leader, Lukashenko has resisted calls to resign or hold new elections and has accused the opposition of attempts to "seize power". On Wednesday he named a new cabinet, keeping key ministers in place including the Interior Minister Yury Karayev, who is responsible for police. During a meeting of his security council, Lukashenko ordered his government to prevent further unrest and shore up protections along the country's borders. "There should be no more riots in Minsk. People are tired; people demand peace and quiet," Lukashenko told officials. He said the protective measures on the borders were necessary to stop "militants, weapons, ammunition and money from other countries from entering Belarus to finance the riots." Tikhanovskaya, a trained English teacher who said she never planned to enter politics, contested the vote after her husband was jailed and barred from running against Lukashenko. - Shot in the head - She has vowed to hold new elections and a Coordination Council which her allies created to oversee the transfer of power convened on Wednesday. It called for new elections to be held "according to international standards" and an "immediate start of talks" with the authorities. "If Belarus can solve the crisis without external intervention, that will be the best option," said Pavel Latushko, a former foreign minister who is on the council's presidium. Tikhanovskaya's campaign partner Maria Kolesnikova said they hoped for "friendly relations with all our neighbours, with EU countries and with Russia." Nobel Prize-winning author and outspoken Lukashenko critic Svetlana Alexievich is also on the presidium. Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz met another of Tikhanovskaya's campaign partners, Veronika Tsepkalo, in Warsaw and promised support. Lukashenko's claim of victory sparked the largest demonstrations in Belarus since it gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. More than 100,000 demonstrators flooded the streets of the capital Minsk last weekend as frustration reached a fever pitch. A police crackdown on peaceful protesters in the days after the vote saw nearly 7,000 demonstrators detained and sparked allegations of abuse and torture at the hands of security services. The health ministry on Wednesday confirmed the death of a 43-year-old man who was shot in the head during protests in the city of Brest. Investigators said they were looking into the actions of the police who said they shot the man in self-defence. Two other people are confirmed to have died in post-election unrest. - Pressure not to strike - Lukashenko handed out awards to his security services for "impeccable service" after rights groups and Western leaders denounced police violence. Traditionally loyal factory workers at state-run enterprises answered the opposition's calls to strike in an unprecedented display of anger towards the Belarusian leader. But the authorities appear to be clamping down on Wednesday, with police arresting protesters at a demonstration outside the Minsk Tractor Works. Police on Wednesday also blocked the entrance to the state Janka Kupala Theatre in Minsk after staff resigned en masse in protest at the sacking of its general director, Latushko, who now sits on Tikhanovskaya's coordination council. bur-jbr-am/tgb Heavy rainfall resulted in low crop yields for Illinois farmers last year, but good weather this spring has turned that around, although the pandemic could pose additional challenges. We are looking at a real good crop for the most part, said Mike Doherty, an economist for the Illinois Farm Bureau. The bad news is that COVID-19 has caused corn prices to tank. The state shutdown this spring has meant drastic cuts in driving when Illinois farmers have a surplus of corn in storage. One-third of Illinois corn crop goes to ethanol, so corn prices sunk, Doherty said. At harvest, Illinois corn farms may wind up with less than $3 a bushel. COVID-19 has also impacted Illinois livestock, driving down prices for pork, beef and dairy. Pork processing is now back to 90% capacity, Doherty said. In the face of a worldwide recession because of COVID-19, demand for meat is certain to drop, he said. This summer, Doherty said Illinois farmers are waiting for three things: Government aid to farmers has been generous so far, but not enough to make farmers whole in the face of the China trade war last year. Farmers want to know how much they will receive in government aid in the next COVID relief package from Congress. In February, President Trump signed Phase One of the new trade deal with China. This summer, China stepped up and made two large purchases. Illinois farmers are waiting to see if China comes through with the major purchases that farmers are hoping for at harvest time. Every August, Illinois soybean farmers wait in anticipation of the million dollar rain that they need in August for a high-yield soybean harvest. The backdrop to the Illinois farmers situation is the worldwide global recession due to COVID-19. The recession is expected to reduce worldwide demand for Illinois crops and livestock through 2021. With all the challenges ahead and storm clouds on the horizon, Illinois farmers need the rental prices for their crop land to be in line with world market conditions. People do not realize that a typical corn and soybean farmer in Illinois rents 80% of the land where they grow crops, Doherty said. The next stage for farmers is to renegotiate their lease agreements, Doherty said. What is a reasonable level to pay to lease cropland in the face of a forecast of low farm income in 2020 and 2021? A Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Good Governance and Electoral Matters has sent a petition to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Catriona Laing to intervene in the Edo governorship election by speaking to the Federal Government to allow a transparent, free and credible election. Comrade Adamu Kabir Matazu, Convener and Comrade Danesi Momoh Prince, Co-Convener also made the appeal during a peaceful protest in Abuja. They noted that the nation was beginning to witness an unprecedented level of verbal and physical attacks on the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency Governor Godwin Obaseki, his Deputy, and their supporters. Of particular note was the attack on Governor Godwin Obaseki and his campaign entourage by political thugs and hoodlums. It is important to note that this is the third time that an attempt would be made to attack or intimidate the Governor and Chief Security Officer of Edo State, whose core mandate it is to protect the lives and property of residents of the state, they added. They accused the All Progressives Congress APC of trying to win the election at all costs, while lamenting that in spite of the wave of pre-election violence in the state, security operatives have not been able to make any arrest. It is pertinent to note that the provocations are now becoming more frequent and brazen. Edo State election is only a few weeks away from Ondos own and both states are in close proximity, yet, whereas Ondo State is in peace, Edo State is near boiling point, because Adams Oshiomole, who sees his candidates victory as a ticket back to political reckoning, would stop at nothing to achieve that. He will fail. It is equally noteworthy that no single arrest has been made, despite the fact that these attacks occur in the full glare of the Nigerian Police, DSS and other security operatives in the State. In addition to the flagrant disregard for the voice of the Governor, his supporters have also been victims of this viciousness. At least, 12 supporters were hospitalized after the attack at the Palace of the Oba of Benin, with no less than 22 vehicles destroyed by these employed thugs. These thugs openly brandish dangerous weapons and brag about the impending doom that will befall opponents of the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. They attack citizens at will, destroy property and billboards, wreak havoc in the open markets and threaten anyone who holds a differing view from theirs. It has become a very worrisome situation, especially as the federal governments security operatives look helplessly on at this criminality. The signs are ominous to say the least. We demand that the international community should mobilize in numbers election observers; that the federal government assures Edo people, the nation and international community of peace and security in this September 19 election in Edo State. They can start by enforcing seriously, the Inspector General of Polices order that all arms and ammunitions in the hands of unauthorized persons, especially thugs and hoodlums are mopped up with speed. That the international community pays closer attention to the Edo election and put pressure to bear on INEC to conduct a free and fair election in the State. INEC must ensure that only credible observers are accredited to objectively observe the elections, they said. The protesters warned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to allow itself to be pressured into postponing the election, or conniving to have an inconclusive election. After nearly five months of restricted functioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court has decided to start physical hearing of cases within a week's time, though in a limited manner. The top court administration has informed bar body Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association that three among the bigger courtrooms will be readied within that time for physical hearing, while adhering to the prescribed distancing and other norms and as per medical advice. Subject to the decision of the competent authority, it has been suggested that a limited number of cases will be listed for physical hearing on an experimental basis upon prior consent and willingness in writing of all parties to such matters/cases, the communication sent by an apex court registrar said. "On an experimental basis, and as a pilot scheme, three amongst the bigger court rooms may be got prepared, within a week's time through the concerned agencies, strictly adhering to the prescribed distancing and other norms and as per medical advice with regard to physical infrastructure required in these court rooms," a communication dated August 18, sent to the president of the bar body said. "Subject to the direction of the competent authority, only a limited category/number of matters for final hearing may be listed for physical hearing inside such court rooms, and the numbers may be gradually increased if the ground situation so warrants and permits," the communication said. It clarified that all other matters, including miscellaneous ones which are listed on Mondays and Fridays, shall continue to be heard through video/teleconferencing mode, as per existing standard operating procedure till further orders. The top court administration said that considering the vulnerability of some stake-holders and their family members to the COVID-19 infection, it has been recommended that requests for exemption from physical hearing may be considered favourably. The top court administration has also clarified that these initiatives are being taken in view of demands and requests made by certain sections of the bar with regard to the functioning of the Supreme Court and these steps would not apply nor be made to apply in respect of any other court, tribunal or adjudicatory authority in the country. On August 17, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, during hearing of a matter through video conferencing, had told a lawyer that glass partitioning is being done in the courts, as the top court was readying itself for physical hearing. On August 11, a committee of seven Supreme Court judges, which is looking into the suggestions and requests for resumption of physical hearing, recommended sitting of three out of the 15 benches in the apex court with some additional safety measures. The apex court has been holding hearings through video conferencing since March 25 due to the COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed, it has decided to continue with the practice. In the last week of July, the 7-judge panel headed by senior most judge Justice N V Ramana had apprised the bar leaders of its decision to not open the apex court for physical hearings "for the time being" and had assured to meet them again after two weeks to reconsider the issue. The judges' panel has met leaders such as Bar Council Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave and Shivaji Jadhav on the issue of resumption of physical hearings in the top court. Bar leaders have been demanding the start of the physical hearings as soon as possible, while continuing with virtual court hearings with an improved system for limited types of matters. Justices Ramana, Arun Mishra, Rohington Nariman, U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and L N Rao are part of the committee set up by the CJI to look into the issue of resumption of physical hearings in the top court. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 19:03 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f319b1 1 National medical-tourism,Coordinating-Maritime-and-Investment-Ministry,health-care,doctors,Indonesia,Thailand Free The government is mulling over a plan to develop medical tourism in the country in a bid to provide high quality health care to the public and create a new source of national income in one swift stroke. Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister spokesman Jodi Mahardi said such a move could potentially bolster the countrys medical independence. Based on a report by PwC [PricewaterhouseCoopers], 600,000 Indonesians sought medical treatment overseas in 2015 the most in the world, Jodi said in a statement on Tuesday. Patients in general prefer overseas health care, citing lackluster domestic medical services related to the treatment of certain diseases. He went on to say that the development of medical tourism in Indonesia was not only feasible, but also highly lucrative given the steady increase in the number of medical tourists around the globe. Indonesias Southeast Asian neighbors, such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, have already developed medical tourism in their respective countries. Thailand, for instance, recorded a total of 2.29 million medical tourists and US$6.9 billion in income courtesy of the sector in 2016, Jodi said. Read also: Indonesia's medical tourism potential may be silver lining of pandemic Medical tourism, he added, could also serve as a catalyst for job creation and a more diversified economy in the country. With such a goal, the government has mulled over a plan to build international hospitals staffed with highly trained health professionals from other countries, in collaboration with related state departments and organizations, such as the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI). The doctors that will be brought to Indonesia will only be specialists that the country is still lacking. They will work in tandem with local doctors, Jodi said. "That way, Indonesians will be able to get better medical treatment and more foreign tourists will come to the country for treatment." The plan to develop medical tourism in the country has been years in the making. In 2017, the Tourism Ministry and the Health Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of medical and health tourism, which was touted as a flagship of special interest tourism. Indonesia has been among the largest contributors to medical tourism in its neighboring countries. According to the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute, Indonesians spent around US$11.5 billion annually on health care abroad, mostly in Malaysia. DANBURY When Amazon decided to open a distribution center in Danbury, the company wanted to give traditionally underserved immigrants and minorities a chance at hundreds of new jobs. So Amazon reached out to a local group that has been helping the working poor climb out of poverty with English-language training, quality child-care support and building familiarity with programs to break down barriers to economic success. Amazon wanted to partner with a type of organization like ours thats working with the community, so they reached out to us and said they want to be sure the people of Danbury know about these jobs, said Sandra Ferreira, director of the group, DanburyWORKS. This is truly a collaborative effort to support immigrants and communities of color to be sure they have access to these employment opportunities. To help candidates understand Amazons requirements at its soon-to-open shipment warehouse at the former Scholastic distribution center off Interstate 84, DanburyWORKS and Amazon will host two online information sessions in late August and early September to help applicants understand the job-application process. Applicants during the virtual-information sessions will hear from a representatives of Amazon, DanburyWORKS and the state Labor Department. The idea is to not only help candidates understand Amazons requirements, but to encourage participants to learn job-seeking skills they can apply to other openings. DanburyWORKS plans to follow up with candidates registered for the Amazon information sessions who aarent offered positions. For those who might not be able to obtain employment at Amazon, we have a career navigator we just hired through a grant who will be working with these individuals to help them become successful, Ferreira said. Amazon was not immediately available to comment except to confirm that it was a partner in the DanburyWORKS employment initiative. Mayor Mark Boughton, who visited the Amazon site this week, said the company could open its new Danbury center on Old Sherman Turnpike as soon as mid-October, employing between 300 and 500 people. Theyre making tremendous strides, Boughton said. We absolutely could use those jobs. An official at the United Way, the nonprofit parent of DanburyWORKS, agrees. Because of COVID, so many people are facing unemployment and lost wages, said Caroline LaFleur, associate director of communications for United Way of Western Connectcut in Danbury. There is no guarantee how many jobs will go to Danbury candidates. Our job is to ensure immigrants and communities of color have this information so that we can fill that entire warehouse with people that live in Danbury, Ferreira said. The information sessions, which require registration, are scheduled from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 26, and from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. Applicants may contact Ferreira at 203-297-6283 or sandra.ferreira@uwwesternct.org. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 Charleston Countys public schools are missing more than 1,780 laptops and iPads that were issued to students last school year. The unaccounted for devices are worth about $712,000, according to school district spokesman Andy Pruitt. Last school year, 20,244 pieces of technology were issued to students across the district to help with online learning. Most of the electronic devices were distributed to students after schools closed their doors in mid-March to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Pruitt said. As of Wednesday afternoon, 602 iPads and 1,183 Chromebooks have not been returned, or around 8.8 percent of all devices issued. All are owned by the district, Pruitt said, and any students still in possession of a laptop or iPad are being asked to return it to the school from which it was issued. The districts IT department has the ability to lock individual student devices using serial numbers, making the unreturned devices unusable. Some students were allowed to use their iPads or Chromebooks over the summer on a case-by-case basis, Pruitt said. Those devices were not included in the districts total of unaccounted devices. "We are not considering working with law enforcement to track this down at this time," Pruitt said. This isnt the first time this summer that a public school district in South Carolina has encountered issues with missing student technology. In July, Greenville County Schools reported nearly 4,000 student laptops that were not returned to the district, resulting in a total price tag of $1.19 million in unaccounted school property. In Berkeley County School District, students checked out 29,684 Chromebooks last year, according to spokeswoman Katie Tanner. "Our students kept their device over the summer, and we do not foresee any issue with having devices for our students," Tanner said. Since the district first implemented 1:1 student devices in 2016, the district has reported a total of 417 lost devices. Nearly 200 of those were reported last school year. A Chromebook with four-year warranty and a case costs the district $471, Tanner said. Dorchester District 2 did not issue laptops last school year for most of its students, according to spokeswoman Pat Raynor. Some 500 devices were distributed over the course of the spring and summer to those students who did not have access to a computer at home on a case-by-case basis, and all of those devices were returned and accounted for, she said. The school district is in the process of issuing electronic devices to all students in kindergarten through 12th grade for the upcoming 2020-21 school year. High school students started receiving their devices on Monday, while elementary and middle school students will receive theirs in the next few weeks. The district expects all students will have their devices before the first day of school on Sept. 8. Iran and Israel came up on day two of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, as former Vice President Joe Biden accepted the partys nomination to run for president. John Kerry, who served as secretary of state in the Obama administration, touted the Iran nuclear deal in his speech on Tuesday. We eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon, said Kerry to open his remarks at the convention. The United States signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as it is known in 2015 along with Iran, Russia, China and the European Union. It removed sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iranian compliance regarding its nuclear program and was a major foreign policy achievement for the administration. US President Donald Trump removed the United States from the deal in 2018, however, and put harsh sanctions on the Islamic Republic back into place. The United States says Iran is still trying to build a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. Kerry has continued to defend the deal since leaving office, and Biden supports rejoining the agreement if certain conditions are met. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was also part of the discussion regarding the speakers at the convention. On Tuesday, activist Linda Sarsour spoke briefly and called for unity among Democrats. Sarsour is a pro-Palestine activist who supports boycott movements against Israel. Her harsh criticisms of Israel have led conservative and pro-Israel groups to label her as anti-Semitic, which happened again shortly after her speech on Tuesday night. The Democratic Party is divided between its large pro-Israel camp and some newer politicians who are more supportive of the Palestinians. Many critics of Israel, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, entered Congress in 2019. Several of this years Democratic primary elections featured debates on Israel. Longtime chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel lost to the pro-Palestine progressive Jamaal Bowman in his New York primary this year. The Democratic National Convention has otherwise focused on domestic issues, but Iran and Israel in particular are election hot buttons this year. At a rally on Monday, hours before the convention kicked off, Trump said the United States moved its Israel embassy to Jerusalem for the evangelicals, referring to Christian voters who strongly support Israel. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 06:45:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Students enjoy daytime outdoors on the campus of Columbia University, New York, the United States, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) Medical experts warn it could take years before students and teachers can return to in-person education safely without masks, social distancing and other measures intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Students are returning to university campuses across the United States amid an increase in new COVID-19 cases, adding challenges to the country's control of the widely spread virus. Whether and how to reopen schools in the United States this fall has become a hotly-debated issue in recent weeks. While some politicians have been pushing for in-school learning as soon as possible, many families are hesitant to send their children back due to safety concerns. Several universities have already detected new COVID-19 cases. Earlier this week, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the country to bring students back to campus and attempt in-person teaching, announced it will suspend in-person instruction for undergraduates in a dramatic turnaround just a week after classes began. The University of Notre Dame is also shifting to online classes after reporting a rise in infections. "Our contact tracing analysis indicates that most infections are coming from off-campus gatherings. Students infected at those gatherings passed it on to others who in turn passed the virus on to a further group, resulting in the positive cases we have seen," said the university's president John Jenkins. Photo taken on July 14, 2020 shows a view of the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge of Massachusetts, the United States. (Photo by Fan Lin/Xinhua) Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, plans to periodically test hundreds of thousands of students and 75,000 employees for the virus to gain clarity on when in-person instruction can resume safely. "Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary actions, and while this testing and contact tracing effort is unprecedented, it is necessary and appropriate," said Austin Beutner, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified. As new COVID-19 cases are reported at K-12 schools that have reopened, many others are facing the difficult decision of whether or not to return to in-person classes. Medical experts warn it could take years before students and teachers can return to in-person education safely without masks, social distancing and other measures intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. A man walks past buildings of New York University in New York, the United States, July 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) A latest report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association showed 75,755 new child cases reported from July 30 to Aug. 13, a 24 percent increase in child cases over two weeks. "While children represented only 9.1 percent of all cases in states reporting cases by age, over 406,000 children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic," said the report. Zhang Zuofeng, a professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research with the school of public health at University of California, Los Angeles, told Xinhua that the increase in infections among children may be related to such factors as more gatherings of younger ones and going back to school during the pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been stressing the importance of returning to school, saying the best available evidence indicates that COVID-19 poses relatively low risks to school-aged children. Death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults. "At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant," said the CDC on its website. The national security law China imposed on Hong Kong is affecting universities in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reports. Professors who teach classes related to China at schools like Princeton University are developing ways to protect their students' identities to help them avoid running afoul of the security law, which allows Beijing to pursue violators even outside Hong Kong. Just recently, Samuel Chu, a naturalized American citizen from Hong Kong, reportedly was included on a list of fugitives being sought under the law after he lobbied U.S. Congress to sanction Beijing over its actions in his former city. Rory Truex, an assistant professor at Princeton who teaches a class on Chinese politics, told the Journal he will have his students turn in their work with a code rather than a name so they aren't linked to any views or arguments China might consider in violation of the law. However, he made it clear "we cannot self-censor." Harvard Business School, meanwhile, is reportedly trying to introduce amnesty for students including Americans worried about the consequences of discussing politically sensitive topics, meaning they won't be penalized for a lack of class participation. One thing academics reportedly feel is particularly worrisome is that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, many universities will continue to practice remote learning. Subsequently, students from Hong Kong and China may have to connect with their U.S. classmates through video links, and there are fears the classes could be recorded and land in the hands of Chinese authorities, jeopardizing those international students' safety. Read more at The Wall Street Journal. More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny rushed to hospital after apparently drinking poisoned tea BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 Trend: The United States has fully supported Azerbaijans independence, stability, and prosperity since its independence from the Soviet Union, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger said, Trend reports with reference to the embassy. Litzenberger made the statement at the 2020 Naval Postgraduate School Regional Energy Security Symposium. Thank you for the invitation to speak to this years Regional Energy Security Symposium. We are now in the third year of this valuable event. I was pleased to address this forum last year and reinforce our commitments to Azerbaijans sovereignty, independence and contributions to European energy security, Litzenberger said. He then once again thanked the Naval Postgraduate School, ADA University, SOCAR, and BP for their successful continued collaboration on these issues. This has been a difficult year full of challenges unprecedented in their scope and scale. Nonetheless, the theme of this symposium, the intersection of energy and security, remains an important and relevant topic. During my tenure as Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Mission to NATO and as Senior Official in our Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, I saw firsthand the value of the work done by NATO via the Energy Security Center of Excellence and by our military post-graduate educational institutions in bringing energy security issues to the fore, he said. Litzenberger noted that US message has been clear and consistent: Azerbaijans role in supporting and contributing to European and global energy security and stability represents a sustained positive commitment and contribution the US deeply values. "I want to emphasize a point: the United States has fully supported Azerbaijans independence, stability, and prosperity since its independence from the Soviet Union. Throughout Azerbaijans history our bilateral relationship has rested on three common pillars: security cooperation, economic and energy cooperation, and support for human rights and the rule of law," he said. Security cooperation, as one of these three pillars, includes this weeks event. The United States and Azerbaijan also have robust ongoing cooperative security initiatives underway throughout the country to strengthen border security, protect critical energy infrastructure on the Caspian Sea, enhance cyber security, and counter transnational terrorism, he said. "In the last two years, the United States approved $100 million for security assistance to Azerbaijan. Approximately half of that funding is being used on the Caspian Sea for surveillance equipment, small vessels, and training that will enhance security and the protection of maritime critical energy infrastructure," the ambassador said. "The keystone of our economic and energy cooperation has been strong US support for Azerbaijans efforts to secure export routes to world markets for its abundant energy resources, and thereby diversify Europes energy supply. At the same time, the United States is cognizant of the fact that Azerbaijan is transitioning from mainly oil exports to a greater share of gas exports through the Southern Gas Corridor, supported by a more-diversified non-oil economy," the ambassador said. He said that US' sustained support as champions of the Southern Gas Corridor builds on US' successful role in supporting the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the late 1990s, a project the ambassador is personally familiar with from his time during that period in Kazakhstan. "American firms were here from the start, holding collectively the largest single share in the Contract of the Century, signed in 1994 to develop Azerbaijans abundant offshore energy resources, and we have continued to invest billions of dollars into Azerbaijans economic development. This past year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the signing of that contract, and rededicated ourselves to the work that remains ahead. Megaprojects like the Southern Gas Corridor are something unique in the geopolitical landscape. They cost tens of billions of dollars and permanently impact the lives of citizens thousands of miles away, requiring the successful interaction of a range of government and private sector actors over long periods of time," he said. "The Southern Gas Corridor is of strategic importance both for the sovereignty and independence of the nations involved. It also contributes to the energy security of our allies and partners. I want to reaffirm U.S. support for Azerbaijan and the companies involved in the Southern Gas Corridor. This is the first east-west non-Russian gas export pipeline. Completion will bring Azerbaijan a significant step forward as a provider, not only of energy, but also security and stability to Europe. Now that it is nearly completed we also need to look ahead to the future of the SGC, and think about opportunities to expand that flow of gas by forging links across the Caspian," the ambassador said. "I want to turn specifically to the topic of energy security. The United States views energy security as national security, something that rings true here in the Caucasus just as it does in the rest of Europe and back home for us in North America. Energy disruptions, when they occur, can have massive and detrimental effects. Technical malfunctions, natural disasters, sabotage, or decision making by a foreign energy supplier can all raise challenges," Litzenberger added. "This underscores the need for both critical infrastructure protection on the one hand, and on the other hand the need to foster a market-driven global gas market. Over the years, Azerbaijan has built impressively resilient energy infrastructure, together with its commercial and strategic partners. Hardened infrastructure protects populations from potentially disastrous stress on economies and real-world threats to the lives of vulnerable populations. Free markets prevent countries from using gas for political purposes, and drive economic growth across the world," the ambassador said. "As part of protecting Azerbaijans critical energy and cyber infrastructure, I have been calling for improving the effectiveness of intellectual property rights enforcement in Azerbaijan. Weve been able to obtain a pledge from the American Chamber of Commerce that all member companies will use only licensed software. But more still needs to be done. Cybersecurity remains a key component of energy infrastructure security, and I would note this is an area in which the United States continues to invest heavily," he said. "We strongly urge Azerbaijan to make this a priority and take the same measures, firstly by ensuring IP rights are respected, and secondly by hardening their systems to potential attacks from malign actors. Let me close by saying Azerbaijans energy sector development has transformed this country, and leaders and policymakers have navigated a complex neighborhood and fluctuating fortunes in global energy markets to reach where we are today. The United States stands ready to continue to support Azerbaijans further development as a reliable supplier of energy to the world. I hope that you all can reflect on your discussions of the past week to make your own contribution to this goal," the ambassador said. Hotel and resort owners now count on state support to survive Over past weeks the number of visitors cancelling tours, as well as the number of locations going under lockdown or temporarily closing their doors to tourists, have been on the rise. Not only did tourism take a dive in pandemic-hit locations, it was universal as customers are besieging travel agents for full refunds. More than 1,000 tourists requested to cancel bookings and asked for a refund, while all tickets, catering, and accommodation services have been booked. This caused a total loss of VND8-10 billion ($350,000-435,000) to our company, Doan Hoa, head of Domestic Tour Department at Xuyenviet Trading Travel Co., Ltd., which has offices both in Hanoi and the northern province of Hung Yen. Hoa agreed that cancelling tours at this time is reasonable to ensure the safety and health of travellers and society in general. While option to move trips to a later time exists, most travellers would rather get their money back. The company could ill-afford spending that money right now, Hoa added. The first outbreak of the pandemic in Vietnam during March and April caused a huge loss for the company which was forced to let go half of its employees and pay only 50 per cent of wages to the remaining staff. The market warmed up a little in June and July; however, tour agencies aggressively trying to recoup losses created fierce competition. Many foreign travel companies switched their focus to the domestic market, and the large number of tourists placing bookings for the summer holidays have pushed hotel prices high. Travel companies like Xuyenviet that earned very little during these months are worried for their survival, added Hoa. Multiple challenges According to Hanoi Department of Health, almost 100,000 visitors returned to their homes from Danang from mid-July to mid-August, which illustrated the popularity of the destination. However, the recent outbreak of the pandemic has put Danang and Quang Nam under gridlock, with dire impacts for all other tourism destinations across the country such as Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Dalat, Hanoi, and even western provinces. Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism also reported a huge wave of cancellations. As many as 31,000 travellers at 11 major travel companies cancelled their bookings, including 20,000 at Vietravel and 10,000 at Saigontourist, along with Ben Thanh Tourist and Lu Hanh Fidi, among others. Not only travel companies, the larger hospitality industry has also run into choppy waters. Talking to VIR, Pham Tien Dung, manager of Acoustic Hotel & Spa in Hanois iconic Hoan Kiem district, shared his worries about paying the rent. After the first outbreak of COVID-19 in March and April, his 5-star hotel, which used to serve foreign visitors, cut prices by 50 per cent to attract domestic customers. In May, arrivals equalled 30 per cent of the previous year and revenue was only enough to cover operation costs. In June and July, this volume rose to 50-60 per cent, so the revenue could cover operation costs and rent. In addition to discounting our rates to attract more visitors, we also had to send away half of our employees and cut the salary of the remainder by half to survive, said Dung. According to Savills Vietnam, in the second quarter, about 40 hotels in Ho Chi Minh City ceased operations even after social distancing ended. Thus, the segment had 12,400 rooms, down 23 per cent on-year in total supply. Hospitality in other locations was also in the same situation. Unite and overcome Amidst massive difficulties, every business and organisation has built backup plans for a lack of tourists. Meanwhile, many businesses are still scampering for solutions and are petitioning the government for supportive policies like preferential loans, giving unsecured loans for travel companies, or providing extensions for businesses with tax arrears. Hotels and resorts would like to see lower electricity bills and need preferential loans to maintain operations and keep employees during the pandemic, the manager of one hotel in Ho Chi Minh City said. Most travel and hospitality companies are small- and medium-sized, so they would need modest loans of around VND500 million-1 billion ($21,750-43,500) to pay rent and employees. However, businesses cannot access loans even though they have previously deposited hundreds of millions at the bank. To resolve the issues from the massive cancellations, Phung Quang Thang, general director of Hanoitourist and vice chairman of the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents, highlighted the cooperation among airlines, travel agents, tourist sites, and hotels to provide a reasonable offer to tourists. In the long term, all must team up to offer attractive, top-quality tours at reasonable prices focusing on three key factors: a safe destination, competitive prices, and professional quality, Thang said, also suggesting to design special tours for specific groups of tourists. The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which usually starts in mid-July, is now likely to start around September 10 and will focus on clearing the ordinances that the government has brought in the last four months. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the session is likely to be short, with unprecedented arrangements in place. The length of the session, however, will ultimately depend on whether the government decides to hold the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on alternate days or with a staggered daily schedule. Officials quoted in the report said that while Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker favor a staggered schedule since it will keep the session short without Members of Parliament (MPs) from outside needing to spend a lot of time in Delhi, some MPs want an alternate day schedule to cater to the demands of both the Houses. While the government will focus on clearing ordinances including the amendment to Essential Commodities Act and a new legislation on contract farming the Opposition is looking to push for a debate on economy, the India-China border conflict and the government's management of the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, reports suggest, preparations are underway for the Monsoon Session with several first-time measures in view of the COVID-19 pandemic such as staggered sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and use of both chambers and galleries to accommodate members while following physical distancing norms. According to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, members of the Upper House will be seated in both chambers and galleries during the session. This is the first time in the history of Indian Parliament since 1952 that such an arrangement will be in place, where 60 members will be seated in the chamber and 51 in the galleries of Rajya Sabha and the remaining 132 in the chamber of Lok Sabha. For the first time, large display screens and consoles for participation from galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables between the two Houses and polycarbonate separators will also be in place. 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. Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh has said the COVID-19 pandemic and border tensions with China have exposed India's strategic vulnerabilities in the pharma sector. According to Ramesh, India produces around 20 per cent generic drugs and 60 per cent of the vaccines produced across the world, and exports them to around 200 countries. He said the foundation of such a large industry was laid by the Patents Act, 1970, and that price regulation that started in the 70s protected many consumers. However, despite that India imports 70 per cent of the total APIs from China, he said. Indian pharma: 3rd largest by vol. globally. Share of 20% generics exports & 60% of vaccine prodn., exporting to > 200 countries. The foundation was laid by Patents Act of 1970. Public sector IDPL spawned many pvt enterprises too. Price regulation from 70s protected consumers.1/4 Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 19, 2020 He said India, which houses the third-largest pharma industry in terms of volume, depends on China for most of its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). India's total API import from China is around 40-80 per cent of the total cost of production, he said, adding that during the coronavirus-induced lockdown in May and June, the API prices shot up steeply, exposing India's vulnerabilities. Also read: Govt may hike customs duty on import of APIs by 10-15% to boost local production Flagging a complete imbalance in India's trade with China, Jairam Ramesh said the country depends on China for imports of other crucial equipment such as reagents, enzymes, and antibodies. He added that the current health crisis in India amid the coronavirus outbreak should be the top priority for the government's Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign. Further, in medical devices & diagnostic sector, almost all components (reagents, enzymes, antibodies & equipment) are imported, threatening India's health security in a time of crisis. This should be one of the top priorities for Atmanirbhar Bharat.@PMOIndia 4/4 Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 19, 2020 Notably, amid the rising tension with China, and India's resolve for self-reliance, the Centre is planning to hike customs duty on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) by 10-15 per cent. Last month, the DoP notified two key policies -- Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ drug intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and a scheme for promotion of bulk drug parks. Incentives of Rs 10 crore were also announced for Indian companies to set up plants to produce 41 products, including 53 crucial APIs for which India currently depends on China. These incentives were part of the Rs 10,000-crore production-linked incentive scheme approved by the cabinet in March. Also read: Here's how govt wants Indian pharma to replace Chinese imports DC Circuit Accepts Roger Stones Request to Drop Appeal of Conviction A federal appeals court on Wednesday approved a request by Roger Stone, a former political adviser to President Donald Trump, to drop the appeal of his felony conviction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (pdf) granted a motion to dismiss the appeal, ending a lengthy court battle that was brought against Stone as part of a probe into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Stone was convicted and subsequently sentenced to three years four months in prison for the charges including obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements to Congress. Trump commuted Stones sentence, including the fine and probation, last month, saying that the 67-year-old was treated very unfairly. His lawyers filed the motion earlier this week asking the appeals court to end his bid to appeal his conviction, which he believes resulted from a trial tainted by judicial bias, egregious and blatant juror bias and misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct. In a blog post, Stone explained that he was concerned that he would not be given a fair hearing before the D.C. Circuit, claiming that the courts decisions were tainted by a political agenda. I have come to the firm conclusion based on their previous actions in my case to date and based on their recent actions in the [Michael] Flynn case, that it would be impossible for me to ever get a fair hearing from this appellate court for the vitally important, fundamental constitutional issues my case raises, he wrote. He also argued that even if he won his appeal, his case would return before the same trial judge, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, in which he had accused of being politically biased. I cannot take the risk of having to go before her again for a new trial, just to be denied, once again, any ability to pursue a full and robust defense against the meritless charges I have faced and to give her a second chance to ensure my conviction for crimes I did not commit and perhaps impose an even stiffer sentence, Stone wrote. Jackson twice denied Stone a new trial, even when his legal team presented evidence that the jury forewoman had made social media posts against Trump. She also found that the claim that the forewoman was tainted by political bias is not supported by any facts or data and it is contrary to controlling legal precedent. Stones sentence drew intense public scrutiny after four Justice Department prosecutors resigned from the case after Attorney General William Barr withdrew their sentencing recommendation of 7 to 9 years in prison and instead left the sentencing decision to the judge. Jackson ultimately decided to give Stone a 40-month prison term. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. That '70s Show stars Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith will reunite for an online streaming preview of the new play Three Viewings. Presented by Barrington Stage Company, Jeffrey Hatcher's play will be broadcast September 23-26 for a minimum donation of $25. The streaming edition replaces an in-person staging, which was set to take place September 9-20. Directed by Barrington artistic leader Julianne Boyd, an in-person production is expected to happen at a later date. In Three Viewings, a small Midwestern funeral parlor is the setting for three darkly funny and touching stories, connected by common threads of characters and plots. On That '70s Show, Rupp and Smith played Kitty and Red Forman for eight seasons. To reserve your spot and donate, click here. The Union government plans to bring a new legislation to keep the Ganga, Hinduisms holiest river, clean and pollution-free. A draft of the proposed law is currently being vetted by multiple authorities before it will be sent for the Cabinets approval, people familiar with the matter said. The government started the Namami Gange campaign to clean the Ganga, one of the worlds most polluted rivers with sewage and industrial waste discharged into it for decades. Millions of Hindus worship the 1,560-mile (2510 km) river. The Ganga basin supports over 400 million of Indias 1.3 billion people. Efforts to rid the river of pollutants go back to 1980s, marked by two successive programmes known as Ganga Action Plans. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Namami Gange Programme in June 2014, when it first took charge, as a project of national importance. The proposed law now being drafted will set down legal obligations to prevent pollution, fix biological and effluent parameters to be maintained at all times at key geographical points and cities through which the river flows, an official said. The eight states of the Ganga basin. where the proposed law will be especially applicable are Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Cleaning the Ganga is a gargantuan task requiring multiple authorities to coordinate between states and the Centre. It requires massive engineering solutions, including sewerage infrastructure, sewage treatment plants, rural sanitation systems, industrial pollution abatement, river-surface cleaning and re-construction of ghats, or river-front steps. A consortium of Indian Institutes of Technology and international partner nations, including Germany, Israel, European Union and Japan, have helped prepare the main technical plan to clean the Ganga. The proposed law will have a polluters-pay approach, which means illegal factories will be shut down -- many have already been closed-- and permitted ones will be required to treat their sewage. Certain types of polluting factories will be banned from discharging any sewage into the river. However, the government is not in favour of imposing a wider Pigouvian tax on polluters affecting the Ganga, a second official said. Named after the English economist Arthur Pigou, a Pigouvan tax is a cost imposed on externalities, or simply, pollution due to economic activities. The Namami Gange project aims to ensure that no untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enters the river. According to a 2010 study by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, treatment plants processed only 45% of the 11 billion litres of sewage generated by 181 cities and towns along the Ganga in that year. Under the flagship programme of Namami Gange, a total 310 projects to prevent pollution at the cost of Rs 28790.66 crore have been sanctioned so far, the second official said on condition of anonymity. Nearly 704 industries along the Gangas banks were inspected by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Three-fifths of them have been shut down. Nearly 500 massive sewage trapping devices have been installed so far. Of the 29 major nullahs (storm drains) flowing into the river in Varanasi, 27 now have systems to capture waste. The government has stopped pollution fully from Kanpurs biggest drain, Sisamau, the biggest polluter of the Ganga. Of Kanpurs 48 drains, eight still have no devices to stop effluents. All drains in Rishikesh and Haridwar have been fitted with anti-pollution systems. In all, 80 drains still need to be plugged. Under the subject of water in the Constitution, the Union has extensive powers to bring laws to protect rivers from pollution, according to the second official. The second official said the proposed law would lay down scientific reference limits for the rivers health. For instance, it would set the legal limits of BOD or biological oxygen demand load a key pollution indicator. It would also lay down the minimum necessary flow rate and dissolved oxygen, two key parameters of a flowing rivers health. Kanpur, a large industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, was the biggest pollution generator before the launch of Namami Gange. The Gangas length is almost 1,000 km in Uttar Pradesh, the stretch most polluted. Uttar Pradesh had two stretches that still pollutes the river, apart from five critical pollution points in West Bengal, said Gyanendra Shukla, former professor of environmental engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. At these places, the dissolved oxygen is below the desired level in the Ganga. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Jill Biden opens up about Joe Bidens resilience in the face of adversity, and lessons in presidential leadership. Democrats are sounding leadership themes in the second day of the Democratic National Committees virtual nominating convention. Tonights events will feature a roll call of delegates and nominating speeches for former Vice President Joe Biden. Here are five key excerpts from tonights lineup of top speakers, according to advance remarks released by the convention organisers: Jill Biden Former Second Lady Jill Biden will talk intimately about how Joe Biden recovered from the tragedy of his first wife and daughters sudden death in a car accident in 1972 and the loss of his son, Beau, in 2015 to a brain tumour. How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith, Jill Biden will say in closing remarks tonight. There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But Ive always understood why he did it He does it for you, she said in prepared remarks. John Kerry John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and 2004 presidential candidate, will describe Bidens strength in foreign policy juxtaposed with President Donald Trumps failure to lead the world. Donald Trump pretends Russia didnt attack our elections. And now, he does nothing about Russia putting a bounty on our troops. So, he wont defend our country. He doesnt know how to defend our troops. The only person hes interested in defending is himself, Kerry said. Joes moral compass has always pointed in the right direction, from the fight to break the back of apartheid, to the struggle to wake up the world to genocide in the Balkans. Joe understands that none of the issues of this world not nuclear weapons, not the challenge of building back better after COVID, not terrorism and certainly not the climate crisis none can be resolved without bringing nations together. Sally Yates Former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates, who warned the White House about contacts with Russia in 2016-2017, will criticise Trump for politicising the US Justice Department. Public servants promise to defend our constitution, uphold our laws, and work on behalf of the American people. But from the moment President Trump took office, he has used his position to benefit himself rather than our country. Hes trampled the rule of law, trying to weaponise our Justice Department to attack his enemies and protect his friends, Yates said. Bill Clinton Former President Bill Clinton will attack Trumps handling of the coronavirus pandemic and call Biden a get the job done kind of guy. Donald Trump says were leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, its a storm centre. Theres only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there, Clinton said. Jimmy Carter Former President Jimmy Carter will endorse Joe Bidens character. Joe has the experience, character, and decency to bring us together and restore Americas greatness. We deserve a person with integrity and judgement, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people, Carter said. Humans are biologically conditioned to distinguish venomous snakes from non-threatening species, a new study suggests. In experiments, volunteers were shown alternating photos of venomous and non-venomous snakes. Photos of venomous snakes elicited stronger fear responses, such as sweating and increased heart rate, than images of non-venomous ones. Even though the participants weren't sure which species were venomous and which weren't, they displayed innate biological reactions to the venomous ones. The researchers suggest that this might be a skill we evolved to trigger our 'fight or flight' responses in the face of potential danger. Differences in snake appearance may also trigger one of two distinct emotions: fear in the face of big, thick and scaled snakes, and disgust in the presence of thinner, slippery-looking snakes. Thinking about slithering, hissing, fanged snakes can trigger a cold sweat and fast heart rate in humans, but this is an evolved response to prepare to flee danger. The snake species are as follows, from left to right: A) fear-eliciting snakes: Sahara sand viper, Sochurek's saw-scaled viper and Gaboon viper. (B) disgust-eliciting snakes: Eurasian blind snake, northern rubber boa and brahminy blindsnake. (C) control stimuli (leaves): silver birch, Old World sycamore and European beech 'Snakes have been important ambush predators of both primates and human hunter-gatherers throughout their co-evolutionary history,' say the study authors, from Charles University in Prague and the National Institute of Mental Health in Klecany. 'Humans demonstrate a remarkable ability to discriminate between dangerous viperids and harmless fossorial snakes, which is also reflected in distinct autonomous body responses.' Ever since their appearance, primates and early hunter-gatherers have been subject to deadly risks from snakes. As a consequence, humans have developed improved visual abilities for detecting snakes and other stimuli representing an threat. Fear-inducing snakes generally have a large body size, conspicuous scales with contrasting patterns, and bright coloration. Our fear response to them involves activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which initiates the 'fight or flight' reaction characterised by heart rate acceleration and increased blood pressure. The main purpose of this is to mobilise energy reserves and prepare the body for rapid action, such as making a quick getaway. A gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica), an extremely venomous snake that has fangs up to 2 inches in length For this study, researchers focused on physiological responses of human subjects elicited by 20 species of snakes belonging to two distinct groups. VENOMOUS SNAKE SPECIES 10 venomous snake species used in the study: - Variable bush viper - Feas viper - Gaboon viper - Rhinoceros viper - Sahara sand viper - Eastern diamondback rattlesnake - Multiscale saw-scaled viper - Sochureks saw-scaled viper - Jerdons pitviper - Orlovs viper Advertisement The team measured sweat response and heart rate in 143 human subjects exposed to pictures of 10 venomous viperid species and 10 non-venomous fossorial species, as well as 20 photographs of tree leaves for 'an emotionally neutral' control photo. Sweat response was measured using dry sensors attached to participants' hands, while heart rate was measured with electrodes attached to the skin under the collarbone. The pictures of fear-eliciting snakes, disgust-eliciting snakes and leaves were presented on a computer screen individually in an alternating order, each presented for five seconds and separated with a black screen. The venomous snake species presented to the subjects included the Sahara sand viper, Sochurek's saw-scaled viper and Gaboon viper. Non-venomous species included the Eurasian blind snake, northern rubber boa and brahminy blindsnake. Venomous snakes triggered a stronger physiological response than repulsive non-venomous snakes, the team found. On a seven-point Likert scale of fear, with one being 'no fear' and seven 'extreme fear', the venomous snakes scored 5.15 on average while the non-venomous ones scored much lower 3.24. Participants who reported a high fear of snakes before the experiments who were confronted with images of the venomous viperid snakes showed stronger, longer-lasting and more frequent changes in sweating and higher heart rate compared to low-fear subjects. The Sochurek's saw-scaled viper, one of the venomous species presented to the study participants in an image. It's a dangerous snake with highly toxic venom Interestingly, more intense exposure to venomous snakes when participants were presented to venomous snake images in a block of 10 did not lead to a stronger emotional response than when presented single images. Due to the varied appearance of snakes, some may be perceived as not frightening but highly disgusting, the team concluded. This is interesting because fear and disgust are two different, genetically fixed responses to potentially life-threatening situations. While fear is elicited by the presence of a predator, such as a snake, or other imminent threat posing a direct risk of physical harm, disgust has originally developed as a food-rejection emotion. Its main function is to prevent the transmission of illness or disease through ingestion of contaminated object. Therefore, it triggers disease-avoidance behaviour as another facet of a human's 'behavioural immune system'. A rubber boa, one of the non-venomous snakes used in the study. Due to the varied appearance of snakes, some may be perceived as not frightening but highly disgusting The team conclude by highlighting the importance of paying attention not only to the venom itself, but also to the particular species delivering the bite, due to the changes it may have on our biological reaction. 'It should become an integral part of studies quantifying the effects of envenomation, including studies on animal models,' they say in their paper, published in PLOS ONE. Despite progresses in anti-venom, even today, snakebite remains a huge health concern around the world. There are 3,709 snake species currently recognised and around 35 per cent of them use venom to kill their prey. The number of wider reptile species capable of producing toxins in their saliva may be up as high as 2,000 and out of these, 250 are listed by the World Health Organisation as being medically important. Every year, somewhere between 4.5 million and 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes worldwide and the estimated death toll ranges from 81,000 to 138,000, with another 400,000 victims suffering major disabilities such as amputations. Snakebites have been recently claimed the worlds biggest and grossly underestimated hidden health crisis. Body of Marilane Carter, missing pastors wife who struggled with mental health, likely found Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The body of a woman authorities believe is likely Marilane Carter, the missing wife of Pastor Adam Carter, was found in her vehicle inside a shipping container in Arkansas Tuesday after days of searching and 24-hour prayer vigils. With a heavy heart we share this update with everyone. Today Marilane's vehicle was found in West Memphis, AR, in Crittenden County. A female was found deceased in the vehicle. Law enforcement says that foul play is not suspected. The family asks for your thoughts and prayers right now and in the upcoming days, findmarilane.com, a website promoted by her family, announced Tuesday. Crittenden County Chief Todd Grooms told WMC Action News 5 that her vehicle appears to have been driven into an empty storage container on private property in Arkansas. It is unclear how the driver of her vehicle made it onto the normally gated property and into the container. A purse and credit cards belonging to the pastors wife were found inside the vehicle. Grooms also revealed at a press conference that is was Marilane Carters uncle who discovered her vehicle in a Conex trailer that was hidden by tall grass in an area that had previously been searched. To be honest with you, I dont know what I was expecting," Grooms said. "I was hoping for a more positive outcome, where she would show up somewhere and had maybe been somewhere getting some mental health treatment. The body is expected to be positively identified in coming days. The Overland Park Police Department said the 36-year-old pastors wife, who graduated from Samford Universitys Beeson Divinity School and was a mother of three young children, was last seen by her family around 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 1. She left her home that day to go to Birmingham, where her parents and sister live, al.com reported. In a message posted to Facebook on Aug. 5, Marilane Carters brother-in-law, Paul Carter, said she had been considering getting psychiatric help when she left. Over this past weekend (August 1st & 2nd), Marilane has been desiring to receive psychiatric help. She has not been seen since Saturday evening and has not been heard from since Sunday evening. She was last heard from in the Memphis, Tennesee area. Her intent was to get to Birmingham, Alabama. She was driving her 2011 dark grey GMC Acadia with Kansas plates 194 LFY, Paul Carter wrote. Authorities said on the Saturday Marilane Carter went missing, she bought a Southwest Airlines ticket to fly to Birmingham to visit her sister, who was expected to give birth to a new baby soon. They also confirmed that she was also expected to seek treatment for mental health issues. After waking up from a nap that day, however, she decided to drive instead. Brady McLaughlin, another of Marilane Carters brothers-in-law, told al.com that her husband is absolutely devastated and had broken the news to his three children on Tuesday afternoon. Adam Carter leads Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas. The church announced Wednesday that Marilane passed away and said the "best thing that we can do right now is pray" for the family. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the transfer of Patna Police's FIR in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case to the CBI, and said the Maharashtra government needs to introspect on the way it handled the case. Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14 following which the Mumbai Police recorded statements of 56 people, including Rajput's sisters, actress Rhea Chakraborty and some other film personalities. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged at Patna against Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting Rajput's suicide, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The apex court said the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. Reacting to the verdict, Fadnavis, who is leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, said they now expect justice in the case. "A decision that boosts faith in the judiciary system! Maharashtra Government now needs to introspect on the way they handled this case. Now, we expect justice in #SushantSinghRajput case and for his fans," the former state chief minister tweeted. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput death case: SC to decide on Rhea's petition to transfer FIR to Mumbai at 11am However, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that Maharashtra has always been at the forefront of fighting for truth and justice. "Doubting the integrity of Mumbai Police was a "conspiracy," Raut said, alleging that politicians maligned the Mumbai Police. He, however, did not take any name. The Shiv Sena leader said the Mumbai Police had probed the case "in all fairness". "Nobody is above law. With the Supreme Court giving its judgement, it is not right to make a political comment," the Rajya Sabha member said. Asked if the verdict was a setback to the Shiv Sena- led Maharashtra government, Raut said, "Such things do happen in legal battles." On whether the state government will challenge the verdict, Raut said it will respond after getting the copy of the judgement. On allegations against Shiv sena leader and state minister Aaditya Thackeray in the case, Raut said," There are no allegations." Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said he will comment only after studying the apex court's order. "The Supreme Courts verdict has come. We will study the order after receiving copy of the order. Only then I will comment on the issue, he told reporters here. Senior BJP leader and former state minister Ashish Shelar alleged that the Mumbai Police seemed to be "pressurised by someone" in the Maha Vikash Aghadi government. "It is imperative to find out who was behind it," he said. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput honoured: California State Assembly recognises late actor for contribution to cinema Hyderabad, 2020: DigitalKites, an identity resolution company with products AudiencePlay & AudiencePrime, joins hands with Lifesight, a trusted real-world intelligence company, to power its platforms play and prime to bring location intelligence and offline store attribution capabilities. A new age open ecosystem, digitalkites is known for enabling brands, publishers, and end-users to drive towards ideal audience-centric marketing. And with its two distinct products, AudiencePrime & AudiencePlay, it is a one-stop FALLS CHURCH, Va. A judge on Tuesday ordered an Islamic scholar serving a life sentence for soliciting treason after the Sept. 11 attacks be released from custody while he pursues his appeal. The order from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria grants release to Ali Al-Timimi in part because of concerns he is susceptible to the coronavirus and in part because of a recent Supreme Court case that could invalidate several counts on which he was convicted back in 2005. Al-Timimi, a Washington D.C., native who obtained a doctorate in computational biology from George Mason University shortly before his arrest, has been imprisoned for the past 15 years, most recently at the Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado. He was convicted of soliciting treason and other counts after prosecutors say he used his influence to steer a group of young men to try to join up with the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks. Several of his followers, who played paintball games in the Virginia woods to train for holy war around the globe, got as far as Pakistan, where they received training from a militant group called Lashkar-E-Taiba. None actually ever joined the Taliban. Al-Timimi argued that prosecutors overstated his influence with those who traveled to Pakistan, and that he was punished for unpopular speech rather than criminal conduct. Timimi preached that the Sept. 11 attacks portended a global holy war between Muslims and non-believers. At his trial, several of his followers testified tat Al-Timimi told them in a secret meeting just days after the Sept. 11 attacks that able-bodied Muslims had an obligation to defend the Taliban if they were able to do so. His case has sat in an unusual procedural limbo for more than a decade, and an appellate court has never fully ruled on the validity of his convictions. Jonathan Turley, his appellate lawyer, has argued that prosecutors failed to turn over evidence that would have pointed to Al-Timimis innocence. In particular, he has alleged that the government used a northern Virginia cleric named Anwar al-Awlaki as an informant, and that al-Awlaki tried unsuccessfully to lure Al-Timimi into illegal conduct as part of a government sting. Al-Awlaki later left the U.S. and became a leader in al-Qaeda before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Prosecutors have argued consistently that there is no evidence related to al-Awlaki to which Al-Timimis lawyers would have been entitled. In her ruling, Brinkema said she was compelled to release Al-Timimi in part because he is at risk for contracting COVID-19 while imprisoned. In addition, several counts on which Al-Timimi was convicted for conspiring to commit a crime of violence could be invalidated because of a recent series of Supreme Court rulings. Those Supreme Court cases, which say that federal law was impermissibly vague on what constitutes a crime of violence, have resulted in successful appeals across the country. Indeed, several members of the paintball group that was linked to Al-Timimi through the now-defunct Dar al Arqam mosque in Falls Church have recently been released as a result of the Supreme Court cases. Brinkema, in her ruling, states that if the four counts in question are indeed overturned, the 15 years which Al-Timimi has already served would exceed his revised sentence. The order is scheduled to take effect once Al-Timimi concludes a 14-day quarantine administered by the Bureau of Prisons. Joshua Stueve, spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which prosecuted Al-Timimi, declined comment Tuesday on whether the government plans to appeal Brinkemas ruling. A disabled woman has caught COVID-19 from a support worker after the National Disability Insurance Agency refused to allow her sister to provide care instead during the pandemic. Sheree Driver told the disability royal commission on Wednesday that her sister's mental state had rapidly declined after being without care for almost a month as a result of the decision. Sheree Driver says her disabled sister contracted COVID-19 from a support worker. Credit:Eddie Jim Ms Driver, who is also a professional support worker, said she first applied to provide temporary care for her sister, who suffers from a psycho-social condition and can't be identified, on July 20, due to fears she was vulnerable to catching the virus. They requested the support worker be tested and she received a negative test result on July 22. Ms Driver's application was denied on July 27. Uber have told their users in California that they may be suspending service in the state, after a judge ruled that ride-sharing companies must classify drivers in that state as employees rather than independent contractors. An Uber user, Krista Maxwell, published a screenshot of the message on Twitter on Tuesday night, which read: 'Ridesharing in CA may be suspended'. She wrote: 'Hey @Uber, you should think about classifying your drivers as employees. 'A push notice like this makes me think of some kind of ham handed extortion attempt. Do the right thing.' Uber on Tuesday night alerted passengers in California that the service could be ending Uber drivers on June 24 staged a protest outside the Uber CEO's home in San Francisco The drivers were asking Dara Khosrowshahi to stop employing independent contractors Uber's website now warns passengers that there may be changes coming following the ruling On August 10 Judge Ethan Schulman ruled that ride-sharing companies must classify their drivers as employees - a decision which Uber and Lyft fought, saying that drivers prefer the flexibility of working as freelancers. The companies have saved millions of dollars each year with the designation, because treating workers as employees would require benefits such as minimum wage, paid sick and family leave, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation insurance. Labor unions and elected officials contend this deprives them of traditional benefits like health insurance and workers compensation. The August 10 injunction was stayed for 10 days, however, giving Uber and Lyft an opportunity to appeal the decision - on August 13 they asked for more time to appeal, but their request was denied. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman has set an August 20 deadline Uber and Lyft have indicated that they will both have to suspend service in California for several months beginning on August 20 if the injunction goes into effect on that date. 'If the court doesn't reconsider, then in California, it's hard to believe we'll be able to switch our model to full-time employment quickly,' Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told MSNBC on August 12. 'We will have to shut down until November.' Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer issued the same warning about a probable shutdown on a call with investors. 'We may appeal this ruling and request a further stay. If efforts here are not successful, we would be forced to suspend our operations in California,' Zimmer said. Xavier Becerra, the attorney general, had shrugged off the long-running threats of Uber and Lyft leaving the state in an interview with CNBC on August 11. 'Any business model that relies on shortchanging workers in order to make it probably shouldn't be anywhere, whether California or otherwise,' he said. Uber passengers, pictured at LAX airport on May 19, were warned on Tuesday about service CEO Dara Khosrowshahi warned on August 12 that Uber could be forced to shut in California In his August 10 ruling, Judge Schulman concluded that there is an 'overwhelmingly likelihood' that the Uber and Lyft are in violation of AB5, which requires companies to classify workers as employees if they controlled how workers did their jobs, or the work was part of their normal business. Lawyers for the firms had said they are not violating the law because drivers are not fundamental to the business, arguing the companies are 'multi-sided platforms' whose activities encompass much more than transportation. But Schulman rejected that argument, writing that it 'flies in the face of economic reality and common sense' and assailing the companies' 'prolonged and brazen refusal' to comply with state law. He also addressed the companies' gripe that restructuring will take a long time and cost a lot of money, saying that low ridership during the pandemic means that now could be the best time for them to make changes. Neither Uber nor Lyft is profitable, and both have suffered steep ridership declines during the coronavirus pandemic. Shares in both firms took a hit. Labor advocates praised Schulman's ruling as a milestone in their fight to apply traditional worker protections to a fast-growing segment of the labor force. 'This is a resounding victory for thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers who are working hard - and, in this pandemic, incurring risk every day - to provide for their families,' Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general (right), and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer (left) are leading the state's lawsuit against Uber and Lyft Uber and Lyft have pledged to spend more than a hundred million dollars to support a November ballot measure, Proposition 22, that would exempt them from AB5. Pictured: Drivers protest the proposition on August 6 in Los Angeles San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin filed a lawsuit accusing DoorDash of violating AB5 in June, and on Wednesday sought an injunction against the company. 'We are seeking an immediate end to DoorDash's illegal behavior of failing to provide delivery workers with basic workplace protections,' Boudin said. 'All three branches of California's government have already made clear that these workers are employees under California law and entitled to these important safeguards.' A DoorDash spokesman responded to the motion by saying it was ill-timed and that the company's internal data suggested the majority of its workers wanted to remain as contractors. 'In the midst of one of the deepest economic recessions in our nation's history, today's action ... threatens billions of dollars in earnings for California Dashers and revenue for restaurants that rely upon sales from delivery to keep their businesses open', the spokesman told Reuters. If the injunction is granted, DoorDash is expected to file an appeal. Should they lose their respective appeals, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash will have to refocus their fight on a November ballot measure, Proposition 22, which would exempt certain gig economy companies from AB5. Together with Instacart and Postmates, the companies are spending more than $110million to promote Proposition 22 and ensure that it passes. DoorDash is facing an injunction to reclassify its California contractors as employees Khosrowshahi, the Uber CEO, has warned that permanently restructuring its operations in California would result in 'much smaller service [and] much higher prices', hurting both drivers and customers. 'That's a reality, so it's not a game of chicken one way or another,' he said. 'It's really up to the courts and we're going to comply with the law, and we will look to get going again.' He said that service would have to pause for a few months, and when it resumed it would be much more limited and concentrated in cities rather than suburbs. Khosrowshahi wrote an op-ed in the New York Times calling for states to require all gig economy companies to establish benefit funds for their workers instead of forcing them to classify workers as employees. He called the current employment system 'outdated and unfair' and said it 'forces every worker to choose between being an employee with more benefits but less flexibility, or an independent contractor with more flexibility but almost no safety net'. 'Uber is ready, right now, to pay more to give drivers new benefits and protections,' Khosrowshahi wrote. 'But America needs to change the status quo to protect all workers, not just one type of work.' We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 16:02 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f2800b 1 National KAMI,Din-Syamsuddin,coalition,gerakan-moral,Save-Indonesia-Coalition,Koalisi-Aksi-Menyelamatkan-Indonesia,FPI,NU,Gatot-Nurmantyo Free A group of prominent figures has officially formed the Save Indonesia Coalition (KAMI) to ensure that Indonesia does not deviate from its founding principles. Former Muhammadiyah chairman and KAMI cofounder Din Syamsuddin said the coalition was a moral movement representing the voice of the Indonesian people to uphold truth and social justice. As a moral movement, everything we do is based on moral values and justice [] to uphold honesty and public welfare, Din said during the announcement of KAMIs formation on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com. A total of 150 national figures are part of the coalition so far, including Islam Defenders Front (FPI) chairman Sobri Lubis, Nahdlatul Ulama executive Rochmad Wahab, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret.) Gatot Nurmantyo, Forestry Minister MS Kaban, former National Movement to Safeguard Fatwas (GNPF) chairman Bachtiar Nasir, former State-owned Enterprises Ministry (BUMN) secretary Muhammad Said Didu, law expert Refly Harun and government critic Rocky Gerung. This moral movement is not devoid of politics. Yes, we also do politics moral politics that is based on moral values. So, lets join in, Din said. Read also: 150 prominent national figures form coalition to save Indonesia The coalition also conveyed eight of its demands to the government: 1. State administrators must enforce the state administration and management to be in accordance with the spirit and values of the 1945 Constitution and state ideology Pancasila. 2. The government must seriously tackle the COVID-19 pandemic by allocating adequate budgets and directly help the poor who are economically affected. 3. The government must overcome the economic recession for the interest of small businesses and domestic and informal workers, rather than large and foreign entrepreneurs. 4. The government must stop chaotic and discriminatory law enforcement, eradicate law mafias, stop the criminalization of political opponents, arrest and severely punish looters of state assets. 5. State administrators must stop practices of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) as well as the system and practices of oligarchy, kleptocracy, political dynasty and power abuse. 6. State administrators must not give opportunities for the rise of communism and other anti-Pancasila ideologies, including separatism; must stop the stigmatization of religious groups with issues of intolerance, radicalism and extremism that divide the society. The government should not bow to certain countries to enforce economic and foreign policies. 7. The government must seriously and thoroughly investigate the constitutional route to change Pancasila and prevent similar efforts in the future. 8. The president must act in accordance with his oath and promises, and state institutions must carry out their constitutional functions and authorities to save the country and its people. (syk) A man raped a nine-year-old girl who walked down an alley near his home before murdering her and dumping her body in the Caribbean Sea, police in the Dominican Republic say. Liz Maria Sanchez was last seen on security camera footage walking into an alley in the Santo Domingo sector of Ensanche Isabelita on Sunday. Cops say Esterlin Francisco Santos, 40, has confessed to raping her before killing her and dumping her body into the sea. A search and rescue team of divers spent several hours Wednesday morning swimming through the choppy waters in hopes of finding the girl. The search has now been called off. The 40-year-old told law enforcement officials in Santo Domingo that he strangled the girl and then placed her body inside a large bag before riding his motorcycle to the 14 1/2 kilometer marker on Las Americas Highway. Liz Maria Sanchez was strangled to death in the Dominican Republic and dumped into the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Santo Domingo on Sunday. Her killer, Esterlin Francisco Santos (pictured) told the police he killed nine-year-old Liz Maria Sanchez because he was afraid she would tell her parents he had sexually abused her A surveillance video captured Sanchez at 8:58am local time Sunday walking past two individuals and heading into an an alley near Santos' home. The camera showed Santos pushing his motorcycle out of the alley at 11:23am. The footage shows a yellow milk crate behind the rear seat, where a bag that contained the girl's body was reportedly hidden. Santos then rode off and the security camera showed him returning at 12:33pm without the large bag. Surveillance camera captures Liz Maria Sanchez's (center) last moments as she walked toward her killer's home. She had been promised a cellphone if she remained quiet about her killer having sexually assaulted her Esterlin Francisco Santos was seen on camera driving off on his motorcycle with a large bag containing the body of Liz Maria Sanchez, whom he confessed to killing Sunday in the Dominican Republic and dumping tossing her into the Caribbean Sea Nine-year-old Liz Maria Sanchez was reportedly raped and murdered in the Dominican Republic on Sunday. Officials called off a search by divers in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday The alleged killer also told authorities that he filled up the bag with rocks before tossing it with Sanchez body into the sea. Santos told authorities that he killed Sanchez because he was afraid she would tell on him to her parents because he had promised to gift her a cellphone for permitting him to touch her. A separate video showed Santos being put into a police pickup truck after he was led out of the home in front of a large contingent of cops who kept the angry residents back. The girl's murder sparked off unrest in the town as local residents burned tires and even set Santo's motorcycle on fire in the middle of the street outside his residence. Santo is slated to be arraigned on rape and murder charges when he appears before a judge via video conference on Wednesday evening. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 08:50 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066ef8848 1 Business trade-balance,trade-surplus,BPS,Statistics-Indonesia,exports,imports Free Indonesia recorded the biggest trade surplus in nine years in July as exports rose for a third consecutive month while demand for imports remained weak amid the pandemic. Exports jumped 14.33 percent month-on-month (mom) in July to US$13.73 billion, continuing the upward trend since May, thanks to rising shipments of agriculture and manufactured goods despite the figure being 9.9 percent lower than in the same month last year, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Tuesday. Imports stood at $10.47 billion in July, 32.55 percent lower annually and 2.73 percent lower than June, as domestic demand for consumption and raw materials remain subdued amid the pandemic. The rise in exports and fall in imports led to a $3.26 billion trade surplus, the highest since August 2011, according to BPS. It is impossible for exports to immediately return to positive [annual growth] after an economic slump caused by COVID-19, but the [monthly] improvement is an encouraging sign, BPS head Suhariyanto told reporters. We are hoping that exports will continue to rise in the coming months. The coronavirus outbreak has hit international trade amid movement restrictions implemented in various countries around the world, including in Indonesia. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects global trade volumes will contract by between 13 percent at best and 32 percent at worst this year. Indonesia, however, has managed to book a strong trade surplus as imports fall deeper than exports. The country had recorded a trade surplus of $8.75 billion as of July compared to a $2.15 billion deficit logged in the same period last year. Net exports were also the anchor of Indonesias gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter as the only positive contributor to the economy amid shrinking household spending, investment and government spending. The rupiah, however, depreciated 0.34 percent on Tuesday to Rp 14,845 per United States dollar, while the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) gained 0.9 percent. BPS data revealed that bullion and jewelry exports recorded the highest increase in July compared to June as gold prices broke the record high in the month, followed by exports of animal and plant fat and oil, vehicles and vehicle parts. Meanwhile, Switzerland, the US and Singapore became the top three export destinations that recorded the highest monthly growth in July. Exports of manufactured goods, which contributed around 80 percent of total exports, rose 16.95 percent mom to $11.28 billion in July but remained 1.91 percent lower year-on-year (yoy). Exports of agricultural products rose 11.17 percent yoy to $350 million driven by increased exports of bird nests and aromatic medicine, among other things. Mining products exports, the second-largest contributor, plummeted almost one-third annually to $1.39 billion due to falling coal prices. Oil and gas exports, on the other hand, halved to $700 million due to falling oil prices but increased 23.77 percent mom. Imports of consumer goods fell 24.11 percent yoy following a sharp decrease of garlic shipments from China and medicine from the United Kingdom, among other items. Imports of raw materials plummeted 34.36 percent due to lower demand of raw sugar from Brazil and milk from the US while imports of capital goods dropped 29.25 percent yoy. Indonesias exports are expected to drop 5 percent at best or 14 percent at worst this year compared to 2019 as the pandemic disrupted the supply chain and weakened global demand for made-in-Indonesia products, said the lead economic researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Yose Rizal Damuri. Chinas economic recovery since April has boosted demand for Indonesian goods, he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. That will continue to be the main factor that helps Indonesian exports at a time when demand from other countries has yet to recover. Indonesias lack of dependence on the international markets will not heavily affect the countrys GDP this year, Yose went on to say, adding that the trajectory of the economy would depend on domestic consumption. If the government could handle the pandemic and boost consumption, then progress of economic recovery may become faster. The demand from major export destination countries has started to recover following the reopening of economies across the globe, which will further support Indonesias exports, Bank Mandiri chief economist Andry Asmoro said. Going forward, we see import growth will remain weaker than export growth due to suspensions in some domestic investment projects and production activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that the situation might result in a narrow current account deficit. 19.08.2020 LISTEN The National Democratic Congress Chairman for the Ayawaso West-Wuogon constituency Bismark Ayitey claims all projects that were displayed by the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday were started by former President John Mahama. The claims come on the back of governments Results Fair which catalogued the achievements of the Akufo-Addo government infrastructure. The Tuesday program was addressed by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said works done by the government is unprecedented. The investment in infrastructure by the NPP government over the last three years has been massive. I dare say our investment in infrastructure, our infrastructure record, is second to none for any government in its first term under the Fourth Republic, Dr Bawumia stated on Tuesday. Responding to the claims on Starr FM Wednesday morning Mr Ayitey described as sad the touting of toilet facilities as achievements by Bawumia. When you are constructing a building, even the topography of the land can determine the cost of the structure. Theres no project in this country done by NDC that didnt have value for money. Its not in the position of Dr Bawumia to pride himself on opening toilets. All the projects the NPP are priding themselves with were started by John Mahama. We should ask them what theyve done with the GHc160bn they borrowed so far, Mr Ayitey said. Meanwhile a former Minister for Roads, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has stated that all the infrastructural projects undertaken by former President John Mahama between 2012 and 2016 cost the country GHC54 billion cedis. According to Alhaji Fuseini, all the road projects, schools, and hospitals cost weigh less than half of the GHC160 billion loans contracted by the current government so far. ---Starrfm.com.gh Five people have escaped unharmed after an arson attack in the Crawfordsburn area of Maghera. Accelerant was poured on the front door of a property at around 3am on Wednesday. A car was also set alight with accelerant causing damage to the paint of the vehicle. Police said all five occupants of the house were left unharmed during the incident, which officers say could have had "disastrous consequences". Detective Inspector Anthony Kelly said: It is understood a man described as being 6 foot tall wearing light coloured bottoms and a grey hoodie was seen in the area at the time and officers believe he may be able to assist with enquiries. Enquiries are continuing to establish a motive and I am appealing to anyone who has any information, or anyone who witnessed this incident to contact detectives on 101 quoting reference 265 19/08/20. "You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/ By Elizabeth Guzman Guzman represents parts of Fauquier and Prince William counties in the House of Delegates. She is a Democrat. Beginning last fall, I had the opportunity to travel across the commonwealth as the co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders Virginia campaign. I was honored to serve the senator, who inspired me to run for office with his inclusive message of economic empowerment for all working people. As a Latina, I knew he would fight for policies that will help my community (63% of Latinx workers are in low-wage jobs). It is no surprise that Sen. Sanders performed so well among Latinx voters, who propelled him to victory in states like Nevada and California, and whose votes he carried in states like Iowa and Texas. But I believe strongly in the primary process, and I am now proud to serve on Vice-President Joe Bidens Latino Leadership Council. Biden last week rolled out a bold Latinx policy agenda that proves to me he sees our community and the contributions we have made. He will fight for systemic changes that not only recognize our humanity but will help us and all working people build generational wealth and achieve the American Dream. The most urgent issue for almost all of us is the pandemic. Black and brown people have been disproportionately affected by Donald Trumps failed response to COVID-19. As of June, 44% of people who tested positive for the virus in Roanoke were Hispanic. The virus is killing us, but Donald Trump has refused to listen to the experts and instead launched racist attacks against the Asian American community, just as he has launched racist attacks against Black and brown people. But Joe Bidens plans for COVID-19 will ensure that every person, whether insured or uninsured, will not have to pay a dollar out-of-pocket for visits related to COVID-19 treatment, preventive services and any eventual vaccine. No co-payments, no deductibles and no surprise medical billing. Hell also ensure that everyone who needs a test can get one, and that testing will be free for those who need it, regardless of immigration status. Cost and fear of deportation are both barriers to people getting the testing and treatment they need which only contributes to the virus spread. Bidens plans will also make affordable health care more accessible across the board. Hell re-open Obamacare enrollment, increase Affordable Care Act subsidies, create a public option and provide full payment of COBRA premiums. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has refused to re-open the health exchange and has fought to repeal the Affordable Care Act and gut Medicaid (nearly one-third of Medicaid enrollees are Hispanic). Bidens plans will also make college more affordable to everyone. He will make college at public colleges and universities tuition-free for all students whose families make less than $125,000 annually, which will benefit 88% of Latino households. Bidens plans will also double the maximum amount of Pell grants, which is particularly helpful to the Latinx undergraduates, 47% of whom receive these grants. Biden will also invest $70 billion in Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), other minority-serving institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that will train our next generation of Latino professionals and other professionals of color. Biden will also help graduates tackle student loan debt by forgiving $10,000 of federal student loan debt as part of the COVID response and forgiving loan payments for individuals making $25,000 or less per year and capping loan payments at 5% of discretionary income for those making more. I believe with my whole heart that Joe Bidens plans will help my community and other communities of color build wealth and achieve our American Dream, but when thinking about this election, I keep coming back to one thing: the day after Donald Trump was elected president, my then 9- year-old son said, Mommy, we have to leave this country. We have to go back to your home country of Peru. I explained to him, No, this is your home. We are Americans, and he said, But Donald Trump doesnt like people who speak Spanish. That day hurt me, but we have a choice. Our choice is between someone who put children who look like mine in cages and someone who has a plan for immigration reform on Day 1. Roanoke is home to a rapidly growing Latinx population, and I say to you and to all Virginians, our dignity is on the ballot. Cuando votamos, ganamos, and I hope you join me in voting out Donald Trump and electing Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. No, its not the setup of a Saturday Night Live skit. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who recklessly waved guns at protesters marching past their home in June, are actually slated to speak at the Republican National Convention next week. What does it say about todays GOP that leaders would elevate this couple as representative of Republican values? Once, Republicans cared about things like law and order, and free expression. By putting the McCloskeys on the national stage, convention organizers are embracing a reactionary, armed-vigilante message that even staunch gun-rights activists have called into question. The McCloskeys are the personal-injury lawyer couple who stood barefoot outside their gated-street Central West End home brandishing firearms as protesters walked by en route to Mayor Lyda Krewsons house. He cradled a semi-automatic rifle; she held a small handgun. Their muzzle awareness was so sloppy, they pointed their guns at times directly at the crowd or at each other. The protesters entered through a gate on a private street that a police report says was marked No Trespassing. But they didnt threaten the couple and never set foot on their property. (The McCloskeys claim the protesters broke a gate to enter the street, but footage shows the gate was intact when they started walking through.) The encounter ended without violence. This newspaper opposed the decision by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner to charge the couple with felony unlawful use of weapons. In a city where people die almost daily in gun violence, expending public resources to pursue an unlikely conviction in a case with no injuries or shots fired looks like crass political showboating. Our anti-showboating stance applies equally to the McCloskeys, who no one should mistake as role models. As the Post-Dispatch has reported, these confrontation junkies have sued neighbors, employers, tenants, their own relatives. Theyve sued their neighborhood trustees because, neighbors allege, they wanted to bar gay couples. Mark McCloskey once destroyed a beehive placed near his home by Jewish school children as part of their curriculum, leaving a note threatening to sue. The children were crying in school, a rabbi told the Post-Dispatch. Its a good bet the McCloskeys convention speech will make a case for Second Amendment rights. If so, what a sad statement. It demonstrates how far the GOPs leaders have strayed from original Republican principles, which include responsible use of firearms. Theres nothing responsible in the way the couple handled that encounter. The McCloskeys were already a national embarrassment for St. Louis. The party of Lincoln now embarrasses itself by holding them out as inspirational figures. If this is the partys big moment to champion Second Amendment rights, organizers better hope Republican voters dont take time to research this couple. Theyd be horrified that their party has descended to these depths. Photo: (Photo : Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels) A dad from India decided to donate a portion of his liver to his five-year-old daughter. It was a gesture that the dad did to save his daughter's life. The operation went well, and the young girl is recovering from the surgery. READ ALSO: Florida Dad Kills 11-Year-Old Daughter Who Was Terminally Ill, Then Commits Suicide 5-year-old daughter's condition According to a report from the Hindustan Times, the five-year-old daughter was suffering from biliary atresia. When she was born, she already had a Kasai procedure. It is a corrective procedure at birth for babies with biliary atresia. However, a twenty percent chance that those who had the Kasai procedure would no longer need a liver transplant; a more significant 80 percent of the babies need to undergo a liver transplant later in life. The five-year-old daughter is one of the 80 percent. That is why her father decided to donate 300 grams of his liver to his daughter. The operation lasted for ten hours. After the transplant, the liver worked straight away. Eventually, the five-year-old daughter was moved out of the intensive care unit and already stable. READ ALSO: 10-Year-Old Boy Sends Plea Letter to the Government for Dad's Release Challenge in operation for biliary atresia According to the lead doctor in the surgery of the five-year-old daughter, Dr. Gaurav Chaubal, operation in children is often challenging. He said, "The liver transplantation in children is often very challenging as they have very small blood vessels which need to be connected to the new liver and the operation is technically challenging." Dr. Chaubal explained that liver transplant is usually the way for children with biliary atresia to survive. Thirty percent of those diagnosed with this condition need a liver transplant before a child reaches their first birthday. Eighty percent would at least need the operation at 20 years old. READ ALSO: 9-Year-Old Oklahoma Boy Pleas for a Family, DHS Receives More than 5,000 Adoption Submissions What is biliary atresia? The condition, biliary atresia, is common among newborn babies. It is when the bile ducts of the liver fail to develop. Because the ducts prevent the bile from the liver to drain, it causes liver damage, which can also lead to cirrhosis. Research shows that out of 10,000 live births, one newborn baby is affected by biliary atresia. In the United States, around 300 newborn babies are affected by this condition every year. There is no known cause of biliary atresia. However, indeed, it is not hereditary or contagious. There is also no proof that it is something caused by what the mother did during pregnancy. Also, this condition is not preventable. Some of the most common symptoms of biliary atresia are the following: Dark yellow urine Jaundice or turning of the skin to yellowish appearance Pale stool Poor weight gain If these symptoms are observed, it would be best to consult a health professional. A newborn baby may undergo several tests to confirm their condition. READ ALSO: Boy Raises $26K in a Hog Auction for Hospital Bills of His Father Who Has Cancer [The hog was resold five times!] US Democratic convention has been criticised for not featuring enough Latino speakers in prime-time slots. The Democratic National Convention is meant to energise the partys base, while drawing in undecided voters or the disgruntled members of the Republican party. But some observers of the 2020 Democratic convention have noticed a surprising absence of Latino speakers in the prime-time schedule. While the convention has so far featured some Latino representation, particularly during segments featuring rank-and-file supporters, a cameo by labour icon Dolores Huerta, as well as within a 17-person keynote speech composed of rising stars in the party, the four-day convention was initially only set to feature three Latino officials during its nightly two-hour main event. Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto spoke on Monday, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke on Tuesday, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is set to speak on Wednesday. Correction: more Republicans on day one than Latinos the whole week https://t.co/pjkbaralao Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) August 17, 2020 Noticeably absent when the prime-time schedule was unveiled last week was Julian Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama who delivered the keynote speech during the 2012 convention. Castro, the only Latino candidate in the Democratic primary season, did speak early in the day on Tuesday at a convention council meeting and part of his 2012 speech was aired in a montage during Tuesdays main event. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was officially nominated to be the partys candidate [The Associated Press] But Castros absence as a speaker in prime time, and the fact that Ocasio-Cortez was marginalised with a 90-second slot introducing Senator Bernie Sanders, does not send the right message to a voting bloc that has become the largest non-white demographic in the US and is considered to have untapped potential for the Democratic party, Cristina Jimenez, the co-founder of United We Dream Action, an immigrant organising group, told Al Jazeera. Ocasio-Cortez said on Wednesday that she had been asked by the DNC to second the nomination for Sanders as part of the event and slammed NBC news for tweeting the speech was one of the shortest, and in it she had not endorsed Biden. The organisation issued a correction, but she called it too late that it sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion. In 2020 there will be 32 million Latino eligible voters, making up about 13.3 percent of all eligible voters in the country, according to the Pew Research Center. The demographic, however, has seen lower rates of registration than others. Hispanics make up the very fabric of America, nearly 1 in 5 people in the U.S. is Latino & 14-15 million of us will vote in 2020 You'd think we'd have more Latinos speaking during prime time at the #DNC @TomPerez can you make that happen? #RepresentationMatters Janet Murguia (@JMurguia_Unidos) August 14, 2020 Latinos were also overwhelmingly energised behind Sanders in the Democratic primary. In California, 71 percent of Latino voters under the age of 29 voted for Sanders, while just 5 percent voted for Biden. I think if I was in the Joe Biden campaign, I would be thinking about how to speak to Latino voters about the issues that they care about that mobilised them in big numbers during the primary, like healthcare, like stopping deportations, like financial security and jobs, and how COVID is impacting this community, said Jimenez. And how to leverage the voices and the influence of political figures within the Democratic Party, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, like Julian Castro and many others who can bring a lot of enthusiasm in the community. (The speaker lineup) is concerning on a strategic level, she added. Strategically significant In 2016, Latino voters supported Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump 66 percent to 28 percent and are considered a solid portion of the Democratic base, although generally less so than Black voters, who voted 89 percent for Clinton. In past elections, Latinos, which are the fastest-growing racial minority in the US, have generally been viewed as being concentrated in solidly Democratic and Republican states, making the demographic less significant in Electoral College strategies, said William Frey, senior fellow with the Brookings Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program. I dont think its the case any more, he told Al Jazeera. In Arizona, a state considered a battleground in November, he said Latinos will make up about 31.4 percent of eligible voters, a 6.4 percent increase over 2016 and in Florida, Latinos are projected to make up 22.9 percent of eligible voters, up by 3 percentage points from 2016, according to Freys analysis of the Current Population Survey from 2016 to 2020. Latino voters could also make a difference in places like North Carolina and Pennsylvania if the race is close enough, he said. I think the party that can capture (Latinos) attention and their long-term loyalty will have a lot to gain, Frey said. Theres no question about that. We need that fire Jeronimo Saldana, a Latino community organiser, said he had faith the Democratic Party was working to include Latinos, but said the conventions prime-time speakers, and the omission of Castro, has left him feeling unseen and unheard. While he said he was grateful to see some representation within the DNC, including host Eva Longoria, he added: Folks see the television screen and they dont see Latinos, they dont see themselves, they dont see what Julian (Castro) did as a Latino running for president thats important and powerful. There has been an assumption that Latinos are going to vote for the Democrats, he added. But we need to see ourselves in the party. We need that fire. Castro, for his part, has walked a careful line as the party strives to present a unified front. The candidate told MSNBC he was disappointed by the lack of Latino speakers in the initial schedule, but later told NPR he felt the party had responded to his diversity concerns. He has in recent days repeatedly praised the Biden/Harris ticket for its Latino outreach. However, in an interview with Axios, Castro said the campaign must make sure that they are doing everything they can to reach out to a community that already has one of the lowest rates of voting, that needs to be brought into the fold. He added that Latinos are generally invisible or an afterthought in political parties and American society as a whole, while warning that Democrats could see a slide in Latino support that will benefit the Republicans in the years to come if the demographic is not made a robust part of this coalition going forward. Three terrorists including a top Lashkar commander from north Kashmir were killed in two encounters with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said. In the first encounter in South Kashmirs Shopian district, based on specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in Chitragam village, security forces launched an operation in the area. The operation later turned into an encounter after the militants fired on a search party of the forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing exchange of fire, one militant was killed, a senior police officer said, adding that the operation was still underway. He added that more militants could be hiding in the village. In the second encounter in Kupwara district, two terrorists, including a top Lashkar commander, were killed at Ganipora Kralgund area of Handwara. The terrorists were hiding in orchards when encounter took place. An army spokesman said that joint operation was launched late evening in the orchards of Ganipora. The cordon was laid and contact established. In the firefight , two terrorists were eliminated. The operation in progress. Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the killed Lashkar commander was Naseer ud din Lone who was involved in the killing of three CRPF jawans in Sopore in April and three CRPF jawans in Handwara in May this year. #HandwaraEncounterUpdate: LeT Cmdr Naseer-u-din Lone, who was #involved in #killing of 3 CRPF jawans at #Sopore on 18/4/20 and 3 CRPF jawans at #Handwara on 4/5/20, got killed: IGP Kashmir Shri Vijay Kumar @JmuKmrPolice https://t.co/eSTNJxMrMe Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) August 19, 2020 The identity of the second terrorist was yet to be ascertained. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON San Antonio's COVID-19 doubling rate has experienced a significant slow down in August. The doubling rate, the amount of days it takes for cases to double, has increased since the start of the month. After remaining steady between 21 and 24 days most of August, the doubling rate is now 40 days. RELATED: Nirenberg says he's 'inspired' by San Antonio teachers, families navigating 'new frontiers' The doubling time is one of the key warning indicators local health officials keep an eye on. The rate's increase has improved the area's risk level to the "safe" zone. Over the summer, former Metro Health Director Dawn Emerick told the San Antonio Express-News a doubling rate of 29 days was "really good." On Aug. 10, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said the goal was to improve the rate to 36 days. Other indicators officials are watching are a 2-week decline in cases, testing capacity, contact tracing, hospital trends, positivity rate and the stress on hospitals. All but the positivity rate are currently classified as "safe" or "steady." The local positivity rate, which stands at 11.3 percent, remains "severe," but is an improvement from last month, when the rate was 22.29 percent. Though improving, health officials have said anything above 5 percent is too high. On a state level, Gov. Greg Abbott has said a rate above 10 percent is a "warning flag." On Tuesday, 143 new COVID-19 cases and 20 new deaths were reported locally. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye An Air Force general in charge of a Pentagon office that oversees some of the military's top secret programs was fired last year because of the toxic work environment she created for airmen and her staff, according to a new report. Citing a 2020 Inspector General report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Air Force Times on Monday reported that Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop was removed from her post as director of the Special Access Programs Control Office, or SAPCO, after she repeatedly disrespected subordinates and once inappropriately grabbed a subordinate's hand without consent in an effort to scold her. Read Next: Air Force to Cut Use of Jayhawk Trainer, Rely More on Simulators In several instances, Dunlop spoke to and treated subordinates in a demeaning manner, implying they were stupid after failing to meet her objectives, Air Force Times reported. Witnesses who spoke to the IG described Dunlop -- the first woman to become a fighter test pilot, to fly the F-22 Raptor stealth jet and to command a test wing -- as "borderline abusive" and "dictatorial." Some said they were even afraid to come to work. "That's the environment we were in; nothing was ever right," one unidentified witness said in the report. Other witnesses testified that Dunlop was on a mission to fix a "broken" SAPCO organization. Her leadership style was perceived as combative, as illustrated by several incidents in the IG report. In January 2019, a member of Dunlop's staff went into her office to announce that a visitor was on the way. Caught off guard, Dunlop "just went ballistic," the subordinate said, and rebuked her for not alerting her to the visitor coming ahead of time. When the subordinate tried to point to the calendar schedule to note the change, Dunlop grabbed her hand to shake it "like a child to get my attention," the subordinate said in the IG report. Dunlop later told the IG she wasn't angry, was not disrespectful, and had offered a "light touch" to her staffer's hand, though witnesses described the incident as "completely inappropriate." The IG found Dunlop's actions were "in violation of rules barring conduct unbecoming an officer," Air Force Times said. The complaints came to a head during a meeting in May 2019 when several senior leaders watched as Dunlop mocked another senior officer to the point where they stormed out of a meeting in tears, Air Force Times reported. Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's top acquisition chief, removed Dunlop from the position on May 31 after an Air Force civilian reported the ill-tempered meeting. Multiple investigations were subsequently launched into Dunlop's actions, and she was reassigned as the special assistant to Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Seve Wilson. In a separate 2019 IG investigation, the Air Force concluded Dunlop also misused her subordinates' time to finish personal requests while she was commander of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Germany, between 2016 and 2018, the Times reported. For example, airmen switched out the tires on Dunlop's car; got an oil change; and drove her car around to empty its gas tank to meet the weight standard before arranging for the vehicle to be shipped back to the U.S. Dunlop's lawyer, Gary Myers, told Air Force Times the IG reports have been an awakening for the general, who now serves as the service's director of operational capability requirements. But he also said the IG investigations were a result of Dunlop's steadfast commitment to reform SAPCO. "Throughout her career, Maj. Gen. Dunlop has brought a clear sense of integrity, excellence and a strong desire to serve airmen and the nation," Myers said. "She has always been willing to work with others to take on difficult change where needed to deliver results in support of these values." He added, "The IG allegations and report of investigation do not reflect who she is as a person, her values or her dedicated service of over 30 years." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Air Force Fires Its Highest-Ranking Female Fighter Pilot Passengers tested for COVID-19 after disembarking at Rome's Ciampino airport. (AP) Italy has recorded the highest daily rate of COVID-19 infections since it eased its lockdown. In total there were 642 new cases and seven deaths recorded on Wednesday. The country eased restrictions in May after enforcing one of the strictest lockdowns when it suffered a high number of casualties from the infection. Since its outbreak came to light in February, Italy has recorded more than 35,000 deaths related to COVID-19. On Monday, Italy shut nightclubs and made it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas during the night. It was the first reimposition of restrictions as cases of coronavirus picked up across the country, especially among younger people. New cases in the past week in Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus, were more than double those registered three weeks ago. The median age of people contracting the virus has also dropped below 40, data showed. The new rules will run until early September. Italian health minister Roberto Speranza (Getty) The government had kept clubs open despite mounting criticism they attracted large crowds, that social distancing was not being respected and masks were not being worn. The industry has yearly revenues of 4 billion, the sectors lobby group Silb said, calling on the government for support. Industry minister Stefano Patuanelli conceded there would be economic damage, but said he saw no alternative. Masks will be required between 6pm and 6am in areas close to bars and pubs and where gatherings are more likely. We cannot nullify the sacrifices made in past months. Our priority must be that of opening schools in September, in full safety, health minister Roberto Speranza added on Facebook. Speranza on Saturday urged young people to be as cautious as possible as if they infect their parents and their grandparents, they risk creating real damage. Political Parties, HRW Call For Myanmar Election Body to Drop Broadcast Restrictions 2020-08-18 -- Some political parties in Myanmar have backed a call by Human Rights Watch for Myanmar's national election body to revise broadcasting restrictions that they say prevent all parties from accessing state-owned media in the run-up to general elections in November. Current broadcast regulations may harm freedom of speech for political parties which are required to obtain the Union Election Commission's (UEC) approval for televised speeches to the public on state radio and television, said the New York-based rights group in a statement issued Aug. 14. The president-appointed UEC is responsible for organizing and overseeing the country's elections and for vetting parliamentary candidates. The political parties are allowed to broadcast their policies, opinions, and plans on state-owned radio and TV stations from Sept. 8 to Nov. 6, two days before the elections. The UEC has limited the broadcast time for each political party to 15 minutes. But the broadcasts must be pre-approved by the UEC under broad and vague restrictions on what political parties can say, in what HRW said is a violation of international standards for protecting freedom of speech. "The UEC's regulations hamstring the political opposition by effectively prohibiting any criticism of the government, existing laws, and the military," Linda Lakhdhir, HRW's Asia legal adviser, said in the statement. "Doing so strikes at the heart of political speech and campaigning, and seriously undermines the fairness of the electoral process," she said. A transparent and independent body that is separate from the UEC should regulate broadcasting content during elections, and campaign material for broadcast should not need prior approval or be subject to undue limitation on topics allowed to be covered, HRW said. 'Fighting with your hands tied' Members of some of the roughly 100 political parties that have put forward candidates to run for parliamentary seats at the national, state, and regional levels backed HRW's call. Thein Tun Oo, spokesman for the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said that UEC's restrictions make it difficult for parties to compete against the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The army-backed USDP lost to the Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD in the 2015 election. "Members of ruling party are now brazenly campaigning for the election through their government officials," he said. "Their power as the ruling government gives them many advantages over other parties. For the rivals, it's like fighting with your hands tied." Min Zeyar, vice chairman of People's Party, a relatively new political party set up by the 88 Generation student leaders from 1980s pro-democracy protests, said the UEC's restrictions promote unfair and nontransparent practices. "Some restrictions imposed by the commission block equal opportunities and free speech for all political parties," he told RFA's Myanmar Service, adding that his party has called for fair treatment and speech for all parties. The UEC's policies prohibit content that could disturb security, the rule of law, the harmony of ethnic groups, or peace and stability in the country. The UEC also has banned speeches that disrespect the constitution and other laws, defame the military, tarnish the country's image, or harm dignity and morality. Political parties must also refrain from speeches that could incite students, government employees, or religious adherents to oppose the government. 'Same as before' Monywa Aung Shin, secretary of the NLD's Central Information Committee, said that the election commission's broadcast rules do not give the ruling party, which enjoys broad support in Myanmar, any advantages and that the same regulations were imposed before previous elections. "All the materials to be used during the campaigning period after Sept. 8 require prior notification to be sent to the election commission," he told RFA. "It is the same as before. I don't think these restrictions are biased or give advantages to the ruling party." Kyaw Htin, program director of New Myanmar Foundation, an NGO that monitors elections, said the restrictions should not be imposed. "All the parties, regardless of whether they are the ruling party, opposition party, or ethnic minority parties, should have a level playing field in broadcasting their materials via state media," he said. "The unnecessary restrictions should be removed for the parties to broadcast their plans and policies," he said. UEC officials told RFA that they could not comment on the issue on Tuesday. Reported by Phyu Phyu Khine for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to women. But it took protests to secure its passage on Aug. 18, 1920. Even then, the extension of voting rights was not evenly extended to African American women. Poll taxes and literacy tests limited their participation. I realized that my mother, Margaret Lyon, had spent most of her teenage years unable to vote. She didnt talk much about her early years except once on a long train ride with her from Philadelphia to Denver, Colorado, where my grandparents lived, she told the story of how she had to work up the courage to go vote. The right to vote is a core American value, even though not applied fairly to everyone, especially women and African Americans. The right to vote was extended, but the evolution was often a slow process, sometimes blocked for decades by imposition of new restrictions. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, sought to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels. But the Supreme Court later struck down the heart of this law by a 5-to-4 vote, which freed nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval A bill passed in the House to restore the provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and name it after John Lewis is now pending in the U.S. Senate where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not permitted it to be brought up for a vote. The right to vote has been a core principle of our form of government since its beginning, even as the founders limited voting to white men. Neither women nor slaves were part of that early process, but gradually over time voting has been extended, not restricted as seems to be the case in efforts to limit it by redistricting or limiting voting by mail. But, as abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker said and later used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement, the moral arm of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I hope so, for extending the right to vote is a core principle of our country that needs to be expanded, not reduced. I think about my mother this week spending her early years as a second-class citizen unable to vote. She had always wanted to be an actress, but instead spent her life as a ministers wife raising five children, myself one of them. But I often think that she felt unable to fulfill her full potential, not just as a mother and wife but as an actress or public speaker. Thats why, on Aug. 18, I remember her and feel her support for extending voting rights to all. And, although I suspect she was a lifelong Republican, she would have been thrilled that after over a half century since her death, a woman is on the ticket to be vice-president. My mother, her mother and my two sisters would cheer as I do now. John C. Morgan is a teacher and writer whose columns weekly columns appear here and in other publications. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. Photo: (Photo : unsplash/Fusion Medical Animation) On August 17, health officials announced that California has its first case of bubonic plague. It is the first to happen in five years. El Dorado County officials stated in a press release that someone tested positive. Now, the patient is staying at home under medical care. Dr. Nancy Williams, El Dorado County Public Health Officer, shared her idea about the plague. She said that human cases are very rare but they can be very serious. She noted that the illness is present in many parts of California. Many people would like to know whether coronavirus and bubonic plague are similar. Read on to find out how the two diseases compare. Plague is very rare During the 14th century, the Bubonic plague or "black death" has wiped out 30 to 50 percent of the European population. Now, it is less common. The CDC said that there is an average of seven cases in the US per year in recent decades. On the other hand, the COVID-19 has infected more than 21 million around the world as of August 18. See also: Air Pollution Increases Risks of Stroke, Study Proves How they are transmitted? Chairman of medicine at NYU Winthrop Hospital, Bruce Polsky, MD, told Health that the plague is a bacterial "zoonotic infection." It affects domestic and wild animals. Flea bites mostly transmit the bacteria to humans, using them as incidental hosts. The illness could also be transferred through cat bites or scratches. In third world countries, people could transmit the disease to other people too. COVID-19, on the other hand, is a viral infection transferred from person-to-person, either through physical contact or respiratory droplets from a sick person. Do they have the same symptoms? Plague symptoms usually appear within one week of exposure. Dr. Bailey said that they include fever, headache, and tender swollen lymph nodes near the bitten area. The most common symptom of coronavirus is fever. Other symptoms include dry cough, shortness of breath, and sore eyes. Others also get skin rashes, loss of taste or smell, and diarrhea. See also: Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills Offer Protections Against Coronavirus, Study Proves How they are treated? Dr. Polsky said that the bubonic plague is pretty easy to treat nowadays. People with the disease should take antibiotics, as advised by the CDC. Dr. Bailey noted that people who were in close contact with the sick should also take the same treatments. COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms should take OTC drugs to ease pains and reduce fever. Those who have severe symptoms should seek medical care. See also: Laughter facts: Even smiling absorbs stress, study proves What are the potential complications? The bacteria that cause the plague could cause more serious diseases like pneumonia and meningitis. Dr. Bailey explained that the most serious complications could arise from pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. People with underlying medical conditions and older adults are more at risk of having complications from COVID-19. They could have pneumonia, blood clots, and septic shock. Apart from that, they could also suffer from acute respiratory failure and distress syndrome. 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 Newspaper: ECHR rulings increase after Armenia revolution in 2018 Newspaper: Armenia ex-President Sargsyan to give interview instead of press conference Azerbaijan MFA falls into hysterical rage by France FM statement 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 French Foreign Ministry considers unacceptable Azerbaijan statements about Pecresse US to return two valuable artifacts over 4,000 years old to Iraq Germany may consider halting Nord Stream 2 if Russia attacks Ukraine Israel successfully completes test of anti-ballistic missile system Plane landing in Sochi struck by lightning Putin and Aliyev discuss Ukraine situation 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 Erdogan says he is pleased with decline in volatility of lira NEWS.am daily digest: 18.01.22 Turkey and Azerbaijan to start laying gas pipeline to supply Nakhichevan UK begins to supply Ukraine with anti-tank weapons Armenian PM holds meeting on Armenia's Transformation Strategy until 2050 Nagorno-Karabakh: Remains of another Armenian soldier found in Jrakan region Tehran to not accept any border change in South Caucasus Dollar holding relatively steady in Armenia Armenia special representative: Future process depends on Turkeys constructiveness degree Erdogan: Gas from Mediterranean to Europe can only be pumped through Turkey Iranian Consul General discusses customs cooperation in Nakhijevan Inecobank brings Apple Pay to customers Parliament vice-speaker says he is familiar with Armenia proposals on border demarcation commission work US Secretary of State to visit Kyiv Russia, Iran and China to hold joint naval drills OSCE Chairmanship on Aliyev statement: We reiterate our full support to Minsk Group Co-Chairs Artsakh NSS denies rumors about penetration of Azerbaijanis into Karabakh villages Indonesian parliament approves bill to relocate capital Armenia PM to Bulgaria colleague: Our interstate relations are marked by continuous development of cooperation Armenian President meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Azerbaijan to ban foreigners from visiting Nagorno-Karabakh occupied part European Parliament new speaker elected Armenian National Interests Fund participates in Abu Dhabi Sustainable Development Week summit North Korea fires missiles for fourth time this year ECHR recognizes violation of Armenian PM's rights after 2008 elections Turkey reveals plans to produce combat aircraft Karabakh official: Azerbaijan presidents impudent behavior is due to OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs silence Azerbaijan special services force Artsakh resident to intelligence work Copper price is stable Minister of State: OSCE MG Co-Chairs must accept exercise of Karabakh people's right to self-determination Armenia President, UAE Minister of State discuss possibilities of cooperation in science and technology Iran on Tuesday denied reports it paid Taliban fighters to target US forces and allies in Afghanistan. In a statement carried by Iranian media, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh called the claims entirely false and said the US tries to hide its miscalculations in Afghanistan by resorting to propaganda. On Monday, media reports said US intelligence agencies assessed that Iran offered bounties to Taliban fighters for targeting American and coalition troops in Afghanistan. Iran sees the US forces presence in neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq as a threat on its doorstep and routinely calls for their departure. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PEABODY, MA Peabody Public School will offer a mix of in-person and remote learning for students in all grades when schools reopen next month. A split school committee made the decision Tuesday, with Mayor Ted Bettencourt stepping in to break a 3-3 tie among the board's elected members. Jarrod Hochman, Brandi Carpenter and John Olimpio joined Bettencourt, who chairs the school committee, in voting for the hybrid plan. "I weighed this position not only as mayor and as the School Committee chair, but also as a parent of four children," Bettencourt said. The approved plan offers more in-person learning than the recommendation from Superintendent Josh Vadala, which called for a remote start to the school year for high school students. The plan's approval comes even as state officials labeled Peabody a "yellow," or moderate, risk coronavirus community. Plan Highlights In June, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education charged school districts across the state with developing three plans for reopening in the fall: one that would involve full-time, in-person learning, one that would involve full-time, remote learning, and a third, hybrid model combining remote and in-person learning. Of the Massachusetts school districts that have approved reopening plans so far, about 70 percent have some form of in-person learning. Under state guidelines, Peabody would move to a fully-remote model if its state coronavirus risk designation drops to red. The city would have to move back to yellow for 14 days before the school system could decide to return to the hybrid model. Under the Peabody reopening plan approved Tuesday: Students will return to school on Sept. 16. Pre-K and kindergarten students would attend school for half a day, four days per week, with morning and afternoon cohorts. Students in grades 1 through 8 would attend school in-person two days per week, and participate in remote learning sessions on the other days. The biggest departure from Vadala's plan was to start in a hybrid model for high school students. Vadala had called for a remote start for high school students. All parents will have the option of a fully-remote learning plan for their children if they are not comfortable sending kids to school. Story continues Reaction to the Decision Tuesday's meeting was the first in-person meeting of the school committee since Gov. Charlie Baker's emergency order in March. More than 300 people watched the meeting on Peabody TV's Facebook page. Hochman led the push for opening with in-person learning, noting there had been no reported coronavirus-related deaths of people under the age of 20 in Massachusetts since the first Massachusetts COVID-19 death was reported on March 20. "To shut down public education with the data that we have is not appropriate," he said. Mary Henry, the president of the Peabody Federation of Teachers, said teachers are worried about the spread of COVID-19 from children to adults. The union also has other concerns, including whether building ventilation systems are capable of keeping teachers and students safe. School committee member Andrew Arnotis said the plan the board ultimately approved was a "logistical nightmare."Arnotis, along with Joseph Amico and committee vice chair Beverly Griffin Dunne were the "no" votes, with all three saying the plan did not have enough safety nets in place. "What we decide tonight is not only going to impact our parents and students, it's going to impact the whole community," Griffin Dunne said. A spike following the reopening of schools would "have dramatic effects on our community." Many parents who spoke at Tuesday's meeting supported the decision to offer in-person learning, especially for high school students. They also cited problems with the remote learning system that was abruptly implemented in the spring. Dave Copeland covers Peabody and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites). This article originally appeared on the Peabody Patch By John S. Edwards Edwards is Chairman of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority and a Democratic state senator from Roanoke. Twenty years ago the Roanoke Higher Education Center opened to serve what was then the largest region in Virginia without a four-year public college or university. In the mid-1990s citizens were pushing to expand opportunities for public higher education in the Roanoke region. A small graduate center in a downtown parking building needed additional space to grow. The community college was looking for a corporate center to offer workforce training programs. Downtown businesses entertained revitalizing the property left by Norfolk Southern Corporations move to Norfolk, and the city looked to repurpose the old Norfolk and Western Railways General Office Building North. The Virginia Tech Architecture School pronounced it a classic example of Art Deco architecture of the early 1930s and promoted preserving the historic building. Meanwhile, civic and government leaders, educators and the downtown business community aspired to turn the building into a higher education and training center. ln short, there was synergy to renovate the old railway building and turn it into the Roanoke Higher Education Center. The old N&W building, an icon of the Industrial Age, would be turned into a symbol of the new Information Age. The headquarters of a major national railway would become a center to educate and train for the new jobs of the 21st century. The doors opened in August of 2000 after the building was renovated with $9 million from the General Assembly, $9 million in historic tax credit funding, and endorsement from the State Council of Higher Education. The building was equipped with the most advanced interactive telecommunications technology for distance learning in Virginia. A group of visiting congressional members pronounced it a new model for the new century. Currently, 12 colleges, universities and workforce training institutions partner to provide educational opportunities leading to associate, bachelors and graduate degrees, along with certificates and workforce training programs. Online, hybrid and in-person programs are available. In 2008 the Claude Moore Education Complex on nearby Henry Street opened as a LEED-certified green building. It preserved the historic theater and Henry Street shops in the heart of Gainesboro and served to house Virginia Western Community Colleges new Culinary Arts Program. Students could obtain a certificate or an associate degree leading to employment as a chef or to operate a small business. The facility was significantly expanded in 2018 with the popular Al Pollard Culinary Arts Program. In addition, four kiosks installed on Henry Street tell the story of this oldest part of Roanoke. In 2017 the General Assembly funded a $2 million Clinical Simulation Center at the facility to train nurses and other health care providers. During the last academic year, some 2,359 students were trained in the nationally accredited program operated by Radford University. In the fall of 2019, there were 438 students taking graduate and undergraduate courses and 1,955 students participating in noncredit programs, including certificates and workforce training programs. Today, more than 200 programs are offered, from GED to Ph.D. Educational testing is also available in a secure proctored test environment. The GED, Praxis exams and many other industry certification tests are administered at the center. Earning a more advanced degree or certificate results in enhanced income opportunities. Studies show that a student earning a bachelors degree can make $964,000 more over a lifetime than with a high school diploma and $541,000 more over a lifetime than with an associate degree. A masters degree can add $403,000 more income over a lifetime than a bachelors degree. The center also hosts numerous events and community meetings. Rental facilities are available for up to 100 people. Last year, we hosted 164 events and served 4,398 people. Now a green plaza is planned in front of the main building to tel1 the rich history of Gainesboro. A historic roadway marker will be installed designating the office of Oliver White Hill who lived and practiced law in Roanoke for a time. The Roanoke Higher Education Center Foundation has recently been established to raise funds for a career center, provide scholarships and create new programs aligned with workforce needs. ln the 20 years since its opening, nearly 10,000 people have completed programs. The Roanoke Higher Education Center continues to offer higher education and training opportunities for lifelong learners to meet the demands of the new information age and provide enhanced opportunities for citizens to learn, earn and grow our economy. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Video PlayerClose BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) Since the COVID-19 outbreak, China has not only taken all-out efforts to treat COVID-19 patients and save lives, but also actively assisted countries around the world in fighting the pandemic. China sent medical expert teams and shared anti-epidemic information with various countries as well as international and regional organizations. In the face of such a pandemic, a great number of medical workers have raced against time and fought tenaciously against the virus on the frontlines. They have demonstrated the noble spirit of giving priority to saving lives with total devotion and ultimate love. China set Aug. 19 as its Medical Workers' day to call for respect from society for the country's medical and health workers. To mark the 3rd Medical Workers' Day, let's say "Thank You" to all medical heroes. Members of Chinese medical team work with local medics at the COVID-19 designated hospital "New Clinic" in Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 6, 2020. [Chinese Embassy to Azerbaijan/Handout via Xinhua] Chinese medical team members visit the Pasteur Institute in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, May 5, 2020. [Liang Liang/Xinhua] Members of a Chinese medical team and officials of the Sudanese government pose for a group photo at the Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, June 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Ma Yichong] Chairman of Italian Red Cross Francesco Rocca (6th R, back) poses for photos with members of Chinese aid team at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, March 12, 2020. [Xinhua/Cheng Tingting] Chinese experts communicate with a local medical worker at a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan, June 2, 2020. [Xinhua/Ma Yichong] Yang Honghui (1st R), a member of Chinese medical experts team, enters the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) in Baghdad, Iraq, March 26, 2020. A Chinese team of seven experts has been working with their Iraqi counterparts since March 7 in Iraq to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. [Xinhua] (Source: Xinhua) A doctor on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis in Melbourne says many more people will die before a vaccine is found. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Wednesday that all Australians will get a free dose of an Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is deemed effective and safe. Director of Emergency at Royal Melbourne Hospital Mark Putland said it was the 'best news I've woken up to in a while', but warned the worst could be yet to come. Director of Emergency at Royal Melbourne Hospital Mark Putland (pictured) said it was the 'best news I've woken up to in a while', but warned the worst could be yet to come 'You can't really go counting your chickens with this sort of things,' he told Today. 'Vaccines have to be tried, tested, very few of them make it through to be something useful ... I think the death rate will sty high for a little while yet.' The number of new cases dropped in Victoria from 279 on Tuesday to 216 on Wednesday, but the death toll remains high with 17 fatalities recorded overnight. The new daily total is the lowest since July 13, raising hopes the state's strict lockdown is working to slow the spread. Doctor Putland added that the Oxford University vaccine has progressed through the testing process quickly was a promising step, and called for elderly people and healthcare workers to get the jab first. 'It seems selfish. I think there is sense in vaccinating healthcare workers and frontline responders, mainly because it is hard for us to isolate away from the disease,' he said. A volunteer is pictured taking part in an Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine trial. The Australian government has signed a contract to receive at least 25 million doses of the vaccine candidate if it is approved The approval process for the vaccine candidate is expected to be concluded late this year or early next year. As part of its multi-billion-dollar COVID-19 treatment and vaccine strategy, the government has also announced a contract with US company Becton Dickinson to supply 100 million needles and syringes at a cost of $24.7million. An expert panel would rule which Australians should receive the first doses of the potential vaccine, with those suffering from two or more conditions moved to the front of the queue. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would manufacture the vaccine if proved successful 'under our own steam' Cancer patients and those with co-morbidities such as asthma and heart disease would likely be prioritised, as would Australians over the age of 60, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Earlier trials of the Oxford University vaccine found it generated a strong immune response and a four-fold increase in antibodies against coronavirus in 95 per cent of participants. A 'Letter of Intent' has been signed with AstraZeneca which would mean the firm agrees to hand over the vaccine once it is approved. Coming soon: A scientist works on the potential vaccine at the Jenner Institute in Oxford Australia would then make millions of doses on home soil and distribute them across the country. The government would later sign a final formal agreement with the company, which would include details about the distribution, timing and price of the vaccine. Scott Morrison said: 'The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian. 'If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians.' The state's death toll now stands at 351, with 7,274 cases active. Scaled-back drill should not affect timetable A joint military exercise, a scaled-back version of the Combined Command Post Training, is being conducted by South Korea and the United States. The pandemic-wrought reduction in the Aug. 18 to 28 drill indicates that the two allies won't be able to verify the South's full operation capability (FOC), a prerequisite for the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops from the U.S. This is raising the possibility of a delay in the planned OPCON transfer to South Korea. The government had planned to take advantage of the exercise to assess its FOC, the second in a three-phase process required for the transfer. The first phase of verification initial operational capability (IOC) was carried out last summer. The sending of a full complement of USFK troops needed for the FOC met a pandemic hurdle due to the 14-day mandatory quarantine required for incoming U.S. soldiers to South Korea. The hold-up of the second-phase verification has resulted in a delay in the third-phase verification full mission capability (FMC) by 2021, according to the allies' "conditions-based" transfer plan. Neither side predicted the pandemic, so there are still ways to complete the transfer by reviewing and rescheduling the FOC and FMC. Both of these exercises can be held next year for example. It may be a matter of the government's determination to see the OPCON transfer through and so it should make continuous efforts to consult with the U.S. on the issue. South Korea pushed for the OPCON transfer during President Roh Moo-hyun's 2003 to 2008 tenure, but the plan has been held back, pursued and then held back again in succeeding conservative administrations due to lingering threats from North Korea. President Moon Jae-in has made the regaining of the OPCON his pledge. For Seoul to be ready to take over OPCON, it needs to build up the country's self-defense readiness. Seoul is gearing up to further strengthen its combat posture. The government plans to invest 300 trillion won ($252 billion) through 2025 for the development of a missile defense system and new submarines that are crucial to the OPCON transfer. A 2017 poll conducted by The Korea Times with Hankook Research found that more than a majority of South Koreans support Seoul's prompt regaining of OPCON from Washington. Conditions have grown to a sufficient level to allow for this to take place. While it is conditions-based but not necessarily on a timeline, Seoul and Washington should not delay and must be fully committed to the agreed transfer. Mr Gregory Andrews, the Australian High Commissioner-designate to Ghana, has presented his open letters to madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, in Accra. The Minister congratulated Mr Andrews on his new appointment to Ghana and said the relations between Ghana and Australia had been longstanding, warm and friendly since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries shortly after Ghanas Independence in 1957. She said the bond between the two countries was growing steadily in recent times, and stated that both countries had reinforced their cooperation by collaborating on a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues bordering on political, economic, trade, investment, technology, security and culture. Madam Ayorkor Botchwey conveyed on behalf of the Government and People of Ghana, appreciation for the various assistance provided by Australia in support of Ghanas developmental agenda, particularly in the areas of human resource development. She commended Australian mining companies operating in Ghana for their immense contribution to the industry. Madam Ayorkor Botchwey noted that though bilateral trade between them was modest, it was her expectation that it would improve with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which would create a huge market, an opportunity for Australian investors to explore. She urged Australian investors to take advantage of the development and the conducive business environment in Ghana as a springboard to access the continental market. She mentioned Ghana's solidarity and mutual support in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic that had badly hit the global economy and stated that the traditional friendship between Ghana and Australia would become even stronger as the two countries jointly battle the pandemic. The Minister expressed the hope that Mr Andrews would continue the good works of his predecessors and that his tenure would witness the further strengthening of the already excellent relations and cooperation between the two countries. She emphasized Ghana's commitment towards consolidating existing ties and expanding the scope of economic and technical cooperation between them. Madam Ayorkor Botchwey assured Mr Andrews that government would collaborate and support him to ensure a successful duty tour in Ghana. On his part, Mr Andrews said both Australia and Ghana shared a common stand on human rights, freedom of speech, democracy, and gender equality. He said the two countries also shared common interest in climate change and sustainable development and in UN peacekeeping operations; adding that Australia would continue to support activities of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A far-right Republican candidate banned from social media sites because of her racist and anti-Muslim speech is celebrating a congressional primary victory in Florida while embracing her role as a general election underdog in a heavily Democratic district that President Donald Trump calls home. Incumbent Lois Frankel, 72, has been a political fixture for decades in the Palm Beach County district, where the only Republican to ever run against her, in 2016, lost by 27 percentage points. But that didnt stop 27-year-old Laura Loomer from trumpeting her resounding win over five other candidates Tuesday in the Republican primary. Loomer received 43% of the vote, or 14,500 votes out of a total of 34,000 votes cast. WE FLIPPED CANCEL CULTURE ON ITS HEAD, Loomer wrote on Parler, a right-wing site similar to Twitter where she describes herself as the MOST BANNED WOMAN IN THE WORLD. Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago residence is in the district, tweeted his congratulations early Wednesday: Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet! he wrote, referring to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In fact, the odds are seriously against Loomer. The candidate is something of a celebrity in far-right circles, which may have helped her in her primary, but this is not really a district that is competitive at the general election level, said Kyle Kondik, an editor at the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each won the district during the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by about 20 points, Kondik noted. According to federal records, Loomer raised $1.1 million for her primary campaign, a hefty sum for an underdog challenger. She currently has about $200,000 left. Frankel has raised about $866,000 for this campaign, but with money left over from previous elections, her campaign has more than $1 million available. Frankel, running against a political newcomer in Tuesdays Democratic primary, received 75,000 votes, or 86% of the 87,000 votes cast. The incumbent said Wednesday that despite her demographic and monetary advantages, she takes Loomer seriously. She noted that another conservative firebrand, Allen West, won a congressional race in that area in 2010. We have learned even this year that no one can take their reelection for granted, Frankel said. She has raised a lot of money and is getting a lot of attention. At a Loomer victory party Tuesday night, the guest list comprised a veritable whos who of provocative right-wing personalities, according to The Palm Beach Post: Roger Stone, whose prison sentence for lying to Congress was recently commuted by Trump; right-wing writer and speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, who got fired by the website Breitbart in 2017 after he praised same-sex pedophilia; and Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, a male-only group that describes itself as Western Chauvinist but has been deemed a white nationalist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Lois Frankel doesnt know it yet, but she is going to get Laura Loomered, Stone told the crowd, calling Loomer the Joan of Arc of the conservative movement. Given Loomers national profile and the backing of Trumps local supporters, It would have been surprising if she didnt win the Republican primary, Florida Atlantic University political science professor Kevin Wagner said Wednesday. But the same factors that led to her primary win will make a victory in November difficult, he said. She is going to have to win over Democratic and independent voters and that will be challenging, he said. Loomer was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Lyft and Uber after years of pushing anti-Muslim misinformation and rhetoric. On social media, Loomer regularly posted conspiracy theories and misinformation around Minnesotas Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress. Among them was the false claim that Omar and other Democrats were plotting to institute Sharia law in Minnesota. During breaking news events, Loomer would wrongly identify criminal suspects as Muslims or immigrants. In one tweet, she called on her followers to create a non-Islamic ride-sharing company because she did not want to support another Islamic immigrant driver. Uber and Lyft banned Loomer in 2017. At a 2018 campaign event for Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum at a Broward County synagogue, the synagogues staff asked Loomer to leave because she had disrupted previous Gillum events. When she refused, the staff had police escort her out. She yelled that her treatment was like Nazis throwing Jews out of synagogues. The internet video went viral. Spokesmen from Twitter and Facebook told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the social media platforms had no plans to reinstate Loomer now that she is the Republican nominee for a congressional seat, as some of her supporters have asked. ____ Associated Press reporters Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, California; Amanda Seitz in Chicago; and David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that the Akufo-Addos administration has completed a total of 8,746 Infrastructure Projects over the past three and half years. He made this known at the Town Hall Meeting and Results Fair on Tuesday evening, August 18, 2020 at the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra. The goal of the Town Hall Meeting and Results Fair, he said, is to share with Ghanaians what the President Nana Akufo-Addos administration has done within the infrastructure space, the impact on households in the beneficiary communities, districts, regions, and what they mean in the broader context of Ghanas development. According to Dr. Bawumia, over the past 3 and half years, we have implemented different infrastructure programs across sectors. He said in total, about 17,334 individual projects have been started since January 2017. We have completed a total number of 8746 projects throughout the country, he indicated. He added that a further 8,588 projects are at different stages of completion throughout the country. According to him, this is consistent with our strategic orientation to ensure the development of broad base, wide scale infrastructure, taking place in every district across the country instead of a few big infrastructure projects in few cities. The Infrastructure Projects The Vice President listed the various projects as presented below Road Infrastructure Improvement of road infrastructure has been a major priority for this Government, he stated, adding that on assumption of office, we were met with protests across the country about the poor state of the road network. We have implemented several initiatives to improve the road network of the country to enhance economic activities of citizens and to improve access and living conditions of our people, he stressed. He reiterated that we have declared this year as the Year of Roads. According to him, in total, we have since 2017 undertaken a total of 1,927 road projects across the country. Out of that, 1,307 of them are completed while 620 are currently under construction, he said. He noted that in the urban areas across the country, since the beginning of 2017, Government has done 589 km of asphalt overlay, rehabilitating and upgrading of 143.61 km of roads, reconstruction of 97.8 km and resealing of 48.82 km of roads across the country. According to him, Government was constructing four interchanges. Among the several other projects he spoke about are those in the Agriculture sector including One Village One Dam; Health Sector including the constructions ot CHPS compounds and hospitals, among others. Making reference to www.deliverytracker.gov.gh, he said Ghana was the only country in Africa that had implemented a publicly accessible delivery tracker for its infrastructure projects. ---Daily Guide Protection against reinfection is not confirmed unless there's proof that people can encounter the virus again and keep it at bay, To the immune system, not all germs are equally memorable. But our bodys cells seem to be seriously studying up on the coronavirus. Scientists who have been monitoring immune responses to the virus are now starting to see encouraging signs of strong, lasting immunity, even in people who developed only mild symptoms of COVID-19, a flurry of new studies suggests. Disease-fighting antibodies, as well as immune cells, called B cells and T cells that are capable of recognizing the virus, appear to persist months after infections have resolved an encouraging echo of the bodys enduring response to other viruses. Things are really working as theyre supposed to, said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona and an author on one of the new studies, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. Although researchers cannot forecast how long these immune responses will last, many experts consider the data a welcome indication that the bodys most studious cells are doing their job and will have a good chance of fending off the coronavirus, faster and more fervently than before, if exposed to it again. This is exactly what you would hope for, said Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on another of the new studies, which is currently under review at the journal Nature. All the pieces are there to have a totally protective immune response. Protection against reinfection cannot be fully confirmed until there is proof that most people who encounter the virus a second time are actually able to keep it at bay, Pepper said. But the findings could help quell recent concerns over the viruss ability to dupe the immune system into amnesia, leaving people vulnerable to repeat bouts of disease. Researchers have yet to find unambiguous evidence that coronavirus reinfections are occurring, especially within the few months that the virus has been rippling through the human population. The prospect of immune memory helps to explain that, Pepper said. In discussions about immune responses to the coronavirus, much of the conversation has focused on antibodies Y-shaped proteins that can latch onto the surfaces of pathogens and block them from infecting cells. But antibodies represent just one wing of a complex and coordinated squadron of immune soldiers, each with its own unique modes of attack. Viruses that have already invaded cells, for instance, are cloaked from antibodies but are still vulnerable to killer T cells, which force infected cells to self-destruct. Another set of T cells, nicknamed helpers, can coax B cells to mature into antibody-making machines. (Yet another sector of the immune system assails pathogens within minutes of their arrival while sending out signals called cytokines to mobilize forces from elsewhere in the body. Some evidence suggests that severe cases of COVID-19 may stem from this early process going awry.) Antibodies also come with an expiration date: Because they are inanimate proteins and not living cells, they cant replenish themselves, and so disappear from the blood just weeks or months after they are produced. Hoards of antibodies appear shortly after a virus has breached the bodys barriers, then wane as the threat dissipates. Most of the B cells that produce these early antibodies die off as well. But even when not under siege, the body retains a battalion of longer-lived B cells that can churn out virus-fighting antibodies en masse, should they prove useful again. Some patrol the bloodstream, waiting to be triggered anew; others retreat into the bone marrow, generating small amounts of antibodies that are detectable years, sometimes decades, after an infection is over. Several studies, including those led by Bhattacharya and Pepper, have found antibodies capable of incapacitating the coronavirus lingering at low levels in the blood months after people have recovered from COVID-19. The antibodies decline, but they settle in what looks like a stable nadir, which is observable about three months after symptoms start, Bhattacharya said. The response looks perfectly durable. Seeing antibodies this long after infection is a strong indication that B cells are still chugging away in the bone marrow, Pepper said. She and her team were also able to pluck B cells that recognize the coronavirus from the blood of people who have recovered from mild cases of COVID-19 and grow them in the lab. Multiple studies, including one published Friday in the journal Cell, have also managed to isolate coronavirus-attacking T cells from the blood of recovered individuals long after symptoms have disappeared. When provoked with bits of the coronavirus in the lab, these T cells pumped out virus-fighting signals, and cloned themselves into fresh armies ready to confront a familiar foe. Some reports have noted that analyses of T cells could give researchers a glimpse into the immune response to the coronavirus, even in patients whose antibody levels have declined to a point where they are difficult to detect. This is very promising, said Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, Davis, who is studying immune responses to the coronavirus in rhesus macaques but was not involved in the new studies. This calls for some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine. Notably, several of the new studies are finding these powerful responses in people who did not develop severe cases of COVID-19, Iyer added. Some researchers have worried that infections that take a smaller toll on the body are less memorable to the immune systems studious cells, which may prefer to invest their resources in more serious assaults. In some cases, the body could even jettison the viruses so quickly that it fails to catalog them. This paper suggests this is not true, Iyer said. You can still get durable immunity without suffering the consequences of infection. What has been observed in people who fought off mild cases of COVID-19 might not hold true for hospitalized patients, whose bodies struggle to marshal a balanced immune response to the virus, or those who were infected but had no symptoms at all. Research groups around the world are continuing to study the entire range of responses. But the vast majority of the cases are these mild infections, said Jason Netland, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on the paper under review at Nature. If those people are going to be protected, thats still good. This new spate of studies could also further assuage fears about how and when the pandemic will end. On Friday, updated guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was misinterpreted by several news reports that suggested immunity against the coronavirus might last only a few months. Experts quickly responded, noting the dangers of propagating such statements and pointing to the wealth of evidence that people who previously had the virus are probably at least partly protected from reinfection for at least three months, if not much longer. Considered with other recent reports, the new data reinforce the idea that, Yes, you do develop immunity to this virus, and good immunity to this virus, said Dr. Eun-Hyung Lee, an immunologist at Emory University who was not involved in the studies. Thats the message we want to get out there. Some illnesses, like the flu, can plague populations repeatedly. But that is at least partly attributable to the high mutation rates of influenza viruses, which can quickly make the pathogens unrecognizable to the immune system. Coronaviruses, in contrast, tend to change their appearance less readily from year to year. Still, much remains unknown. Although these studies hint at the potential for protectiveness, they do not demonstrate protection in action, said Cheong-Hee Chang, an immunologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the new studies. Its hard to predict whats going to happen, Chang said. Humans are so heterogeneous. There are so many factors coming into play. Research in animals could help fill a few gaps. Small studies have shown that one bout of the coronavirus seems to protect rhesus macaques from contracting it again. But tracking long-term human responses will take time, Pepper said. Good immune memory, she added, requires molecules and cells to be abundant, effective and durable and scientists cannot yet say that all three conditions have been definitively met. As peoples bodies settle into their post-coronavirus state, were just now hitting the point of relevance to take the long view on immunity, Bhattacharya said. Things may change a few months or years down the line. Or they may not. Theres no shortcuts here, Bhattacharya said. We just have to follow it out. Katherine J. Wu c.2020 The New York Times Company (Natural News) Nightly violent riots continued in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, with rioters chanting Kill a Cop, Save a Life and hurling objects at police that resulted in two officers being hospitalized. (Article by Penny Starr republished from Breitbart.com) Police said a clash took place between Antifa and a group of about 30 people who gathered to show support for police. A video posted on journalist Andy Ngos Twitter account shows alleged Antifa members harassing others as they leave the site of the riot. This is what antifa do to people they encounter in the street. Watch them assault and hit a man walking away from the antifa riot in SE Portland. They bring bats precisely for this purpose. #PortlandRiots #antifa Video by @VenturaReport. pic.twitter.com/AfxmVHHk6K Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) August 16, 2020 By 11 p.m., most people continued to mill about and chant. A handful of counter-protesters drew a crowd away from the police building, Oregon Live reported. The group, some wearing American Wolf t-shirts, stood next to an apartment building on Burnside at 50th Avenue. The counter-protesters soon walked away, trailed by dozens of people. A dog and a person in a wheelchair are at the front of the #antifa line, being used as shields. Antifa shut down SE Burnside again as they confront police at the Penumbra Kelly building on day 80 of the violent protests and riots. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/35gbiyhpou Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) August 16, 2020 The Daily Wire reported on the riots: The Portland Police Department said that a crowd of hundreds marched to the Penumbra Kelly Building, which houses the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office and Portland Police Bureau. The building is in a residential neighborhood and is surrounded by hundreds of homes. The department said that officers reported members of the crowd were launching mortars at the police and cars well back in the Penumbra Kelly Building parking lot, followed by thrown objects as the rioters started to trespass on the property. https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1294892446808039425 Portland Police gave more announcements and force warnings, the police said. For the next twenty minutes people in the crowd increased their violent actions toward police officers who were standing behind cars fifty feet or more away from the crowd. Officers reported having rocks, frozen eggs, glass bottles, and frozen water bottles thrown at them. Officers reported people were shining green lasers at them, which is against the law in Oregon. Somebody spray painted over a security camera on the Penumbra Kelly Building. Puny & frail #antifa militant with a skateboard tries to go head to head with PPB officer is easily pummled. After 20 warnings. pic.twitter.com/JG4MB7MrDi Kalen From Scriberr (@FromKalen) August 16, 2020 Police said that by the time they put out their press release outlining the nights attacks that there had been over 60 calls for police help that were on hold because the police were busy responding to the far-left rioters who were attacking them, the Daily Wire reported. Read more at: Breitbart.com By Eli Berlzon MASSUA SETTLEMENT, West Bank (Reuters) - Israels settler leaders say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defrauded them of their long-held dream of annexing the occupied West Bank as part of the country's normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates. Their anger could be a problem for right-wing Netanyahu, whom they accuse of repeatedly floating the idea of annexation only to cave in to international pressure when the terms of the UAE deal required him to walk back his promises. "He deceived us, defrauded us, duped us," said David Elhayani, head of the Yesha Council, the settlers' main umbrella organisation. "It's a major disappointment. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, a golden opportunity that the prime minister missed because he lacked the courage," said Elhayani. "He's lost it. He needs to go." Israels West Bank settlements - which range in size from a few hilltop caravans to sprawling commuter towns - were built by successive governments on land captured in a 1967 war. Around 450,000 Jewish settlers now live among 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. Most countries view the settlements as illegal, a view that Israel and the United States dispute. When Netanyahu promised during recent elections to apply Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank, including Jewish settlements, he said he first needed a green light from Washington. That green light appeared to have been given by President Donald Trump's Mideast plan released in January, which envisaged Israel applying sovereignty - de facto annexation - to its 120 settlements in almost a third of the West Bank. But when Trump announced the UAE deal this month, he said annexation was now "off the table". SOVEREIGNTY Polls have shown wide support in Israel for the UAE deal. But the ideological settler leadership has significant political clout, and has long been a bastion of Netanyahu's support. Story continues Aware that he might lose their backing to parties even more hawkish than his own, Netanyahu sought to keep settler hopes alive. "Sovereignty is not off the agenda, I was the one who brought it to the Trump plan with American consent. We will apply sovereignty," he told Israel Army Radio, saying the White House had merely asked for a suspension. But many settler leaders are unconvinced. Bezalel Smotrich, a settler with the ultranationalist opposition Yemina party, said Netanyahu "has been deceiving right-wing voters for many years with great success". Palestinians, who seek a state of their own in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, have vigorously opposed the policies of Trump and his senior adviser Jared Kushner, including their Middle East plan and UAE deal. They accuse Trump, Kushner and Netanyahu of drawing up blueprints that would leave them only an unviable Palestinian state of separate enclaves scattered across the West Bank. But the Trump vision of limited Palestinian statehood has created strange bedfellows. The Palestinians say it gives them too little. But for the most hardline Israeli settlers it gives the Palestinians too much. For these settlers, any Palestinian state is anathema. In the hilltop settlement of Kedumim, veteran settler leader Daniella Weiss said: "I don't think the Jewish nation needs to give up any of its treasures, any part ... of our homeland, for a peace treaty." "I am a pioneer that established an outpost, then my children did it, now my grandchildren are doing it. This is the dream and this is the plan and this is what our movement does." (Reporting by Rami Amichay, Eli Berlzon and Maayan Lubell; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller, Stephen Farrell and Alison Williams) The decision is expected to help revive the National Capital's economy which was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and months of lockdown The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday gave approval for the opening of hotels and weekly markets, a move that is expected to help revive the city's economy pandemic and months of lockdown. The move to open gyms, however, failed to get DDMA approval, said a Delhi government statement. The decision was taken in a meeting of the DDMA which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through video conference. "The coronavirus situation in Delhi is much better now and the economy has to be now brought on track," Kejriwal said, urging all stakeholders to maintain social distancing and follow other precautionary measures against the virus. The proposal to open gyms was not approved in the meeting headed by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. The LG said gyms can be allowed to open in the coming days. The weekly markets will be first opened on trial basis to assess the situation on the ground. Hotels, weekly markets and gyms were closed in the city with the announcement of the lockdown in March in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. "All hotels in Delhi to open after the proposal of the Delhi government was approved at the DDMA meeting," said the Delhi government statement. Kejriwal said that Delhi government's proposal for opening all the hotels in the city was rejected by the central government. "We again requested the central government and we are happy that now the proposal has been approved. Now all hotels in Delhi will be opened. At the same time, the weekly market will be opened on a trial basis. In the meantime, everyone must exercise precautions and follow social distancing," he said. The DDMA decision was welcomed by many hotel and restaurant associations as well traders bodies which thanked the chief minister for his efforts to get the hotels and weekly markets opened in the city. "DHROA wholeheartedly thanks Arvind Kejriwal, the beloved chief minister of Delhi. The decision to open the hotel is a new ray of life given to us. It is a step to provide livelihood and employment opportunities. The move will also make migrant workers happy," Delhi Hotels & Restaurant's Owner's Association (DHROA) wrote to the chief minister according to the statement. In the last week of July, the Kejriwal government had decided to allow hotels and gyms to reopen in the city, and start weekly markets on a trial basis for seven days with social distancing and all other COVID 19 measures in place. However, on 31 July the LG "rejected" Delhi government's decision to allow hotels and weekly markets under Unlock 3, citing the fragile situation due to coronavirus pandemic in the city, said the statement. The Delhi government sent a fresh proposal to the LG, on 6 August, seeking his permission to allow hotels, gymnasium, and weekly markets to reopen in the national capital. The fresh proposal sent by Delhi Revenue minister Kailash Gehlot had advocated opening of hotels, weekly markets, saying that the condition of Delhi was improving and the number of COVID-19 cases were coming down. In the fresh request, the Delhi government observed that the situation in Delhi was fast improving and economic activities needed to be opened up so that people affected with four months of lockdown could resume their jobs and businesses, while following laid down guidelines. "After having successfully brought COVID situation under control, it is a challenge to bring the economy back on track. Opening up these two sectors will help in that direction, said the government in its statement. The hotels contribute to 8 percent of the state's GDP and employment. Weekly bazaars provide employment to 5 lakh poor families, it added. By Boo Hyeong-wook While social scientists usually do a good job at finding retrospective explanations, they are notoriously incapable of predicting the future. Their capacity for prescribing solutions for current problems is also limited because, in many cases, it is hard to obtain a full view of the ongoing situation. As for the denuclearization negotiations process, we still experience our incapacity, all we can do is ruminate retrospectively over what happened and find out what we can learn from it. One of the most important aspects would be the significance of the internal dynamics of North Korea during the negotiation process. What was happening then and how can we ascribe the ramifications of the dynamics to the way the negotiation process unfolded? A few interesting points of observation include the North Korean military, as well as their civil institutions like the United Front Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Even though we can only speculate about the internal dynamics of such institutions on an extremely superficial level, it is evident that such dynamics caused much complexities and bureaucratic struggles within North Korea. The dynamics were eventually reflected in the top-level decision-making process. Here are some retrospective and speculative analyses. The first point of analysis concerns the North Korean military. It seems that the military's relative status is declining. This is highly probable because the military had no options but to acquiesce to their leader's policies of denuclearization and arms control which are painful moves for them. Sitting quietly throughout the negotiations did not bode well for the military. An interesting point is that much of the repercussions seemed to be placed disproportionately on the conventional part of the military, rather than the strategic part while conventional forces had to endure chronic resources scarcity and neglect, its strategic forces were exempt from such pain. After the Hanoi summit, however, the military gained political support. Such a reversal of power dynamics seems to have happened around May 2019, coinciding with North Korea's military provocations including their missile tests and the recent destruction of the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office. Nevertheless, it appears that the turnover did not affect the hard reality for the conventional part of the North Korean military. Thus, the speculation that there now exists competition between the conventional and the strategic parts becomes ever more convincing. While we don't know much about the effects of the competition, it is very plausible it would affect North Korea's policy stance in one way or another. Dynamics among civil institutions also call for our attention. It seems that there has been, and still is, ongoing competition between the North's United Front Department and the foreign ministry for leading roles. They competed for almost every important aspect of the negotiation process, such as organizing negotiator teams and developing strategies toward U.S. negotiators. If the dynamics between the military versus the economy and the tensions between the conventional and strategic forces formed the situational background of North Korea's behavior during the denuclearization negotiations, the dynamics between the aforementioned two civil institutions had direct influences on its outcomes. From the beginning, Kim Yong-chol, head of the United Front Department, seemed to obtain Kim Jong-un's trust and was able to have the upper hand over the foreign ministry. After the rupture of the Hanoi summit, however, there was a brief period when his status became very unstable. Nevertheless, he was able to survive such instability and later garnered a significant political victory when his subordinate, Ri Son-kwon, was named foreign minister an extremely symbolic milestone for the United Front Department. Meanwhile, the foreign ministry was hardly visible (with the exception of Choe Son-hui), inciting commentary that the institution had been pushed to the sidelines during the negotiation process. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's retirement became the final signifier of the newly solidified power dynamics between the two institutions, as it led to the disintegration of the foreign ministry's negotiation teams. In fact, this is by no means an all-exhaustive observation there are other internal dynamics that should be considered with just as much importance. For instance, North Korea's COVID-19 situation and the effect the overall global recession would have on North Korea, to name a few. The bottom line is, when it comes to restarting denuclearization talks, we must persistently gather information and make thorough analyses in order to adequately prepare for the next move. North Korea is a secretive country. Even though we have access to some information on the internal dynamics of the North, we still do not know the causality of the incidents we observe. Therefore, it is important that we gather information about the nation and promote collective speculation that might allow us to better understand the country. Boo Hyeong-wook, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. He was deputy secretary to the President for peace and arms control at Cheong Wa Dae. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 There were fresh fears today that Croatia could be added to the UK's quarantine list as the popular destination saw a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases. The Adriatic nation has seen an upsurge in the past week and this morning posted cases that almost match their highest point in August. These numbers, which are monitored by the Department for Transport, will fuel speculation that it could have its current quarantine-free air bridge removed, bringing it into line with other nations like Spain, Portugal and France. Croatia currently has a cumulative rate of 27.4 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven day. The UK Government threshold for quarantine is 20 per 100,000. Fears have been raised that Greece could be next, but although it has increased cases it is still below the threshold at 14.3 per 100,000. A decision could be made by this Friday on a move that would dash the holiday plans of thousands more Britons. It came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said ministers are working with Heathrow Airport to find a way for coronavirus testing to reduce the quarantine period. He told Sky News: 'We're working with Heathrow and with other airports on this project. 'The challenge is because the virus can incubate inside your body without coming forward and without therefore a test being positive even if you've got it. The challenge is how to do that testing in a way that we can have confidence enough in to release the quarantine. It came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said ministers are working with Heathrow Airport to find a way for coronavirus testing to reduce the quarantine period 'But absolutely it's a project we're working with Heathrow on because clearly I understand the impact of quarantine in so many people's lives it's not something anybody would want to do so I hope this project can bear fruit.' Greece today banned parties and shut down open-air markets in two popular holiday resorts to contain the spread of coronavirus. Gatherings will be limited to nine people on the island of Mykonos and across the coastal area of Halkidiki, with only four people or six close relatives allowed to share a table at restaurants. The measures also include compulsory mask-wearing in public spaces, including outdoors. Greece yesterday saw a record 269 new cases and the spike has led to fears that the country could be next to be struck off the UK's travel corridor list. The island of Mykonos (where tourists are pictured on Sunday) is one of the holiday hotspots where Greek authorities are bringing in new restrictions Greek civil protection authorities announced the new measures today, which will take effect from Friday and stay in place until at least August 31. No more than four people can be seated at the same table in restaurants unless they are very close relatives, in which case the limit is increased to six people. Events including live parties, religious processions and open-air markets are banned under the new rules. The government has been rolling out restrictions to fight the recent spike in infections, including shutting down bars and restaurants from midnight. Authorities have also been urging young people to wear masks as they return from holidays, with several countries seeing spikes linked in cases among youngsters. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday warned the country's young people to rein in reckless behaviour seen as contributing to the spike. 'I want to make a special appeal to our youth. I too have children of that age,' Mitsotakis said ahead of additional curfew restrictions announced for Athens and other areas. 'Please...take care of yourselves, you are not immune, and your parents and grandparents are especially not immune,' said the prime minister, a father of three. Based on the latest data up to Tuesday, Greece has recorded a total of 7,472 Covid-19 infections and 232 deaths. On Tuesday, deputy civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias told reporters Greece continued to be in a 'better situation' compared with other European countries. Greece, he said, ranked 180th in terms of deaths per million inhabitants, noting that 83of per cent recent infections were due to domestic dispersion of the virus because people did not observe proper social distancing. People wear masks in the narrow streets of Matogiannia on the Aegean island of Mykonos on Sunday On Mykonos, with a reputation as a party island that never sleeps, congested beach parties during the peak summer season have led authorities to clamp down. Meanwhile, eateries and bars are closing at midnight in greater Athens, Thessaloniki and popular islands including Corfu, Santorini and Crete. Greece is currently one of the 'travel corridor' countries on the UK government's list, meaning people can return from Greece without having to quarantine. In addition, Greece is exempt from the Foreign Office advice against non-essential international travel during the pandemic. However, the recent rises in cases has led to fears that Greece could be struck off the travel corridor list, leaving holidaymakers in chaos. Ministers acted abruptly to shut down the travel corridors with Spain, France and Belgium among others after spikes in cases. Transport secretary Grant Shapps last week identified a threshold of 20 cases per 100,000 people in a week as crucial to the quarantine rules. Italy, Croatia and Germany have also seen worrying increases but are still on the travel corridor list. Heathrow today unveiled a multi-million pound facility it hopes will bring an end to the 14-day quarantine rule that is destroying the travel industry. The Covid-19 detection area is staffed by a squadron of nurses and has the potential to test thousands of arrivals a day. Unveiled exclusively in today's Daily Mail, it will soon be used to carry out swab tests on arriving passengers, with results emailed to them in seven hours. Travellers would then test themselves at home a few days later. If they pass both checks, they could be allowed to leave quarantine early and return to normal life. Heathrow bosses hope passengers who prove negative could be freed within five to eight days after landing, and ultimately only three. However that decision lies with ministers and the entire scheme requires Government approval before it can begin. The tests, which are identical to the swabs used by the NHS, would be booked online and cost 150. It is hoped this could fall to 50 a passenger with a state subsidy. The programme is based on double-testing systems already operating in Germany and Iceland. Heathrow's new Covid-19 detection area will soon be used to carry out swab tests on arriving passengers, with results emailed to them in seven hours (pictured: Jo Roberts, 36 from Oxfordshire is swabbed by nurse Natasha Owen, 33 at Heathrow T2's new testing facility) Travellers would then test themselves at home a few days later. If they pass both checks, they could be allowed to leave quarantine early and return to normal life (pictured: nurse Natasha Owen, 33 from London gets ready to swab passengers) If initial trials are given the green light by the Department for Transport, Heathrow hopes to switch to just one test on arrival with no need to quarantine at all if passengers are negative. The facility at Terminal 2, which has been developed by logistics firms Swissport and Collinson, was finished off last week following a six-week design and installation process. It has been kitted out with 24 booths for swab tests, each of which will be staffed by a nurse. Families will be tested together, reducing waiting times. Anyone who chooses not to have a test, or who proves positive, would be required to self-isolate for 14 days. Writing in the Mail today, Heathrow chief executive John HollandKaye warns a failure to introduce airport testing will plunge the economy into terminal decline and leave the UK reliant on European ports to access global markets. Experts at Collinson cite evidence from the Channel Islands suggesting that quarantine-free arrivals do not lead to a spike in cases of Covid-19. In July there were 17 active coronavirus cases in Jersey, of which 13 were caught at the border out of 20,061 tests on arrivals. The programme is based on double-testing systems already operating in Germany and Iceland (pictured: left, Heathrow T2's new cover testing facility; right, nurse Natasha Owen, 33 from London gets ready to swab passengers) Heathrow bosses hope passengers who prove negative could be freed within five to eight days after landing, and ultimately only three. However that decision lies with ministers and the entire scheme requires Government approval before it can begin (pictured: nurse Natasha Owen, 33 from London gets ready to swab passengers) As of today in Jersey, there are just seven active cases of which six were caught in arrivals testing suggesting the influx of passengers did not lead to a spike. Experts also point out that double testing has been backed by experts on the Sage committee of scientific advisers. The heads of BA, Virgin Atlantic, TUI and EasyJet yesterday wrote to ministers to urge them to take up airport testing or risk losing vital trade routes. BA boss Alex Cruz said: 'We believe a UK testing protocol based on the German model would stimulate significant demand while protecting public health. 'It would play a critical role both in supporting US-UK connectivity but also in safeguarding connections with key European and other global markets.' Pictured: Heathrow T2's new cover testing facility which passengers can book an appointment at to be tested airside before baggage reclaim Industry expert Paul Charles added: 'If the Government wants to save jobs and prevent travel operators collapsing, then ministers have to introduce a world-class airport testing strategy to rebuild confidence in people travelling. Quarantine is simply not working.' Airport testing has the backing of several senior Tory MPs. Henry Smith, who chairs the cross-party Future of Aviation Group, said: 'Germany and France are up and running with airport testing as an alternative to quarantine and until Britain also introduces testing we'll be at a competitive disadvantage.' A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'Arrivals from nonexempt countries must quarantine for the full 14 days, whether they get tested or not, as the incubation period for the virus means they may pose a risk to other passengers, loved ones and close contacts. 'Work is ongoing with clinicians, the devolved administrations and the travel industry to consider if and how testing could be used to reduce the self-isolation period, but any potential change would need to minimise the chance that positive cases are missed, and maximise compliance with self-isolation rules.' It is feared that Croatia will be put on the quarantine list tomorrow, joining France, Spain and other tourist destinations. JOHN HOLLAND-KAYE: Here's one test that Ministers mustn't fail - to get people back to work, Britain needs to reopen its borders safely and allow those who don't have Covid to travel freely By John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow Chief Executive for the Daily Mail Two months ago, I warned a health pandemic could turn into an unemployment pandemic unless the Government kickstarted the economy. Now with 730,000 people newly unemployed, that is becoming a reality. Britain is a small island, a trading nation, which has punched above its weight in global markets. The country relies on a global economy to take its physical and service exports and to bring tourists here and a huge slice of our exports go through Heathrow. Domestic demand cannot support 33million people in work, or the fifth largest economy in the world. That is a position that cannot be taken for granted. If the country's borders remain closed, the economy will shrink further, young people will be out of work and global competitors will rub their hands. To get people back to work, Britain needs to reopen its borders safely, by allowing those who don't have Covid to travel freely. After imposing a blanket quarantine on all markets, the Government made a strong start by introducing a risk-based approach to reopening borders. Countries with low Covid levels were designated as 'green' or 'amber' (mainly EU countries) and passengers could travel from them without quarantine. JOHN HOLLAND-KAYE: Two months ago, I warned a health pandemic could turn into an unemployment pandemic unless the Government kickstarted the economy. Now with 730,000 people newly unemployed, that is becoming a reality (pictured: Heathrow T2's testing facility) JOHN HOLLAND-KAYE: To get people back to work, Britain needs to reopen its borders safely, by allowing those who don't have Covid to travel freely (pictured: nurse Natasha Owen, 33 from London gets ready to swab passengers) Passengers from 'red' countries (the UK's main non-EU trading partners such as the US, Canada and Singapore) were still required to quarantine. Since then, Spain, France and other countries have been put on the red list, leaving British holidaymakers to play 'quarantine roulette' and sending Britain's trade prospects heading backwards. Millions more British jobs are now at risk. We urgently need a process that ensures those without Covid can travel freely. For months, Heathrow has been calling for the Government to introduce testing as an alternative to quarantine. A single test is not considered accurate enough, so initially at least a double test would be required. Heathrow is ready to support this provided the Government sets clear guidelines for a second test and changes regulations to allow passengers who provide two negative tests to leave quarantine early. We have worked closely with aviation services company Collinson and logistics firm Swissport to ensure such a testing procedure can be in place. If the Government is serious about protecting the economy, this is exactly what should be done. Had the Government done so after the Spanish crisis, a plan could have been in place for those caught up in the French problems last weekend. It is not too late to save people returning from Greece, Croatia or Italy the inconvenience of 14 days at home. JOHN HOLLAND-KAYE: Unless the Government acts now to protect UK trade by reopening the UK's borders safely, the country faces terminal decline (pictured: Heathrow's testing facility) Over 30 nations have started airport trials, including in Germany where they have been offering free tests on arrival since early August. The French started trialling a double test in early June and have since moved to a single test. This week Iceland announced a two-step process with passengers tested on arrival and followed up five days later. Without a clear testing regime in place here, we risk losing our global hub status to airports such as Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle, meaning that an independent UK will be reliant on European ports to access global markets. Britain will be a vassal state of the EU when it could have been a centre for global trade. The Job Retention Scheme ends in October. If the Government doesn't act now to restart the economy, millions more jobs could be lost in the next few months. The transition period ends in December. If trade with long haul markets is not reopened, 'Global Britain' will soon be 'Little Britain'. For generations, Britain has enjoyed a first-world quality of life and almost full employment, based on global trade. This position now hangs in the balance. Unless the Government acts now to protect British trade by reopening the UK's borders safely, the country faces terminal decline. The Government must do everything it can to avoid that prediction becoming a reality. Teachers won newfound respect at the start of the pandemic as parents learned just how difficult it was to teach their kids at home. But teachers unions now risk squandering the outpouring of goodwill by threatening strikes, suing state officials and playing hardball during negotiations with districts. In California, unions fought Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom hard for teacher protections and job security as campuses were shuttered, and are demanding high-income tax hikes to fill education budget shortfalls. In New York City, a social justice caucus within the United Federation of Teachers called on the union to threaten severe disruption if the governor and the mayor implement what they describe as reckless reopening plans. The Florida Education Association is in a legal battle with state officials to try to overturn an order requiring schools to physically open five days a week or risk losing state funding. Lets be honest: Teachers went from heroes in March when parents saw what we do everyday, and now weve become, in some peoples eyes, the villains because we are speaking up about the safety concerns we see, said Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. Safety concerns have been at the heart of union objections to reopening as they confront teachers getting sick or even dying from Covid-19. Many union leaders have worked collaboratively with management on contracts and reopening plans, and they have spent months calling for additional federal money to secure personal protective equipment and allow for socially distanced instruction. But more recently, a coalition including some local unions has pushed further, laying out demands such as police-free schools, a cancellation of rents and mortgages, and moratoriums on both new charter programs and standardized testing. The American Federation of Teachers, which has 1.7 million members, has called for safety strikes as a last resort if school reopening plans dont protect the health of educators and the larger 3-million member National Education Association says nothing is off the table. Story continues Those threats and demands have raised the ire of some lawmakers, school districts, parents and conservative groups who argue that teachers are taking advantage of the chaos the pandemic has caused to push policy changes the unions have wanted for years. No question, theres a risk that some will use this moment to politicize these challenges in a way that simply is counterproductive, said Shavar Jeffries, national president of Democrats for Education Reform, a progressive political organization that advocates for students and families. I dont think anything thats not related to either the health or educational implications of Covid makes sense. Members of a coalition of activist parents called the National Parents Union largely agree with teachers unions over what reopening should look like, and their Family Bill of Rights emphasizes a need to implement safety measures like masks, temperature checks and updated ventilation systems, said Keri Rodrigues, the groups president. But Rodrigues, whose organization represents primarily minority and low-income parents, also criticized the unions for trying to dominate the conversation and promote a long-standing political agenda, which she called an overreach. I think that parents were willing to extend a lot of grace in March, in April, even into May, she said, adding that feeling began to erode after a long summer with little guidance and few decisions made about how to move forward. At this point, parents are very frustrated. Many union officials said they are aware of the need to balance their own demands with parents anxiety over their children falling behind and they know the support they have so far enjoyed could slip. In Ohio, local unions are focused on the balancing act of advocating for both quality learning and teacher and student safety, said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association. The state union has called on Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to restrict any schools in counties with the highest levels of coronavirus cases to remote learning only, while requiring all others to follow the CDCs safety guidelines for reopening. Were very conscious of the need to be partners with parents, not to end up being in adversarial relationships, DiMauro said. But the longer this goes on, its just like everything about coronavirus there are vulnerabilities in the system, and we cant go on like this forever. Others have been more defiant. Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, defended the demands that critics have slammed as going too far, including a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. How can you do remote learning from home if you dont have a home? she said. This is fundamentally about a city, about a mayor who has failed to repair a safety net. In Chicago, the nations third-largest school district, Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot initially announced a hybrid reopening model before reversing course earlier this month and announcing that schools would open online-only. The decision came just days after news broke that the union, which has more than 25,000 members, was considering a potential strike vote if the district did not change its plans. A win for teachers, students and parents, CTU President Jesse Sharkey posted on Twitter at the time. Its sad that we have to strike or threaten to strike to be heard, but when we fight we win! The pandemic has made some union leaders hopeful that it will strengthen their cause and influence for the foreseeable future, as teachers who feel forced into unsafe working conditions look for support and want to get involved. More of our members, and more educators in general, are questioning their beliefs on things like strikes. For the first time, they're really seeing the depths and magnitude of what it actually takes to force change and are rethinking their beliefs on work stoppages, said Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 65,000 of the nearly 365,000 teachers in the state. I've never received as many unsolicited new memberships. In this Aug. 5, 2020, file photo, wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID19, elementary school students use hand sanitizer before entering school for classes in Godley, Texas. As schools reopen around the country, their ability to quickly identify and contain coronavirus outbreaks before they get out of hand is about to be put to the test. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) Union strikes wont sit well with those working parents who want their kids to return to the classroom, said Dan Domenech, who runs AASA, The School Superintendents Association. That emerges as a major bone of contention, for example, with a lot of the red states that have been pushing for the kids being in the building physically, he said. But he said superintendents, generally, have described their negotiations with unions as a fairly agreeable process, and some superintendents see union pushback at the state level as an effort to prevent an open-schools-at-all-costs attitude. The unions, in a situation like this, where they have the support of the parents and the community because what they're advocating for is the safety of the students and the staff that's a very powerful position, Domenech said. The debate over whether and how to reopen schools safely is about more than getting children back in classrooms. Proponents of fully reopening schools, including President Donald Trump, say doing so would help reopen the U.S. economy, allowing parents to get back to work, while helping more students access mental health services and meals from their schools. It would also represent a step toward normalcy, which Trump badly wants before voters head to the polls in November. Asked about the threat of teacher strikes, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told Fox News recently that parents and children cant be held captive to others fears or agendas. In a June poll, 76 percent of AFT members surveyed indicated they were comfortable returning to school buildings with "proper safeguards," AFT President Randi Weingarten said last month. That was before the virus started to spread more rapidly in the U.S. and Trump, as well as DeVos, began what Weingarten called "reckless open or else threats." Now theyre angry and afraid," Weingarten said of her members. "Many are quitting, retiring or writing their wills. Parents are afraid and angry too. Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents the countrys second-largest school district, urged union members to ramp up their demands in her inaugural speech. We cant count on the politicians, whether its the White House, Congress or the governor to open up the economy in a safe and equitable manner. We can't count on them to fully fund public education, she said. Both NEA and AFT have issued their own guidance for reopening schools. And AFT recently adopted a resolution setting some specific parameters for reopening, including a daily community infection rate below 5 percent and a transmission rate below 1 percent. But local unions work on reopening plans have been used against them, with critics alleging that teachers are putting themselves over the needs of students. Some parents who are essential workers argue that if they are reporting to their jobs, so should teachers. The Center for Education Reform, an organization that advocates for school choice and charter schools, slammed unions in a policy brief this month, saying that union leaders are only interested in strikes not solutions. Unions are attacking states and locales that are trying to provide options for everyone, while demanding billions more, CER said. Des Moines Public Schools custodian Joel Cruz cleans a desk in a classroom at Brubaker Elementary School, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. School districts that plan to reopen classrooms in the fall are wrestling with whether to require teachers and students to wear face masks. In Iowa, among other places, where Democratic-leaning cities like Des Moines and Iowa City have required masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while smaller, more conservative communities have left the decision to parents. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) The open question is where parents themselves fall in this debate. National polls largely show a majority remain uneasy about reopening: Two-thirds of parents say they see sending their children to school as a large or moderate risk, according to an Axios-Ipsos survey released last week and almost three in four of Americans surveyed said they are concerned about schools in their community reopening too soon. Parents of color have also been more worried about reopening than white parents, surveys show. An earlier Axios-Ipsos poll from July found nearly 90 percent of Black parents and 80 percent of Hispanic parents viewed sending their children back to school as a large or moderate risk, compared to 64 percent of white parents. Some outside groups and experts warn that those numbers could start to shift the longer the debate goes on and students remain out of the classroom. With the economy reopening, a lot of individuals are putting themselves in uncomfortable positions in terms of working in light of the pandemic, and might expect teachers to have some give there as well, said Bradley Marianno, an assistant professor of educational policy and leadership at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, who has been tracking negotiations between teachers unions and school districts since the spring. Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, said parents rightly have given teachers and unions a lot of grace, especially during the chaotic roll out of remote learning in the spring. But theres potential for increasing tension between parents and unions as leaders negotiate with districts on issues such as how much live virtual instruction they will provide. They're issues that parents have a vested interest in, but they're not at the table, right? So that's that's where the potential tension comes in, she said. Some parents, frustrated with their experience in the spring, are already banding together to create private tutoring pods for small groups of students during the pandemic. If they have to choose between the teachers and their own students welfare, Lake said, theyll choose their student. Juan Perez Jr. and Madina Toure contributed to this report. ANDOVER, Mass., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation ("Invest in Others"), a nonprofit dedicated to furthering and amplifying the charitable work of financial advisors, employees and their firms, has announced a new grant program, Grants for Change. As part of the new grant program, Invest in Others (IiO) has partnered with the Association of African American Financial Advisors (AAAA), a nonprofit membership organization that addresses the needs and concerns of African American financial professionals, to support this initiative. The Grants for Change program will award up to $25,000 per charity to organizations that provide essential services to causes such as social justice, employment and educationwith the goal of leveling the playing field and providing life-changing opportunities to underserved communities. From now through November 9, members of the financial services industry are encouraged to submit applications on behalf of relevant nonprofits. IiO will announce the winners by December 14. "Invest in Others is dedicated to supporting the causes and organizations that will uplift our most vulnerable communities," said Megan McAuley, Executive Director and President of the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. "We have been working hard to ensure that the people and organizations we amplify are truly representative of America in all its diversity. This is a pivotal time in our country, and we are committed to doing our part to effect positive and lasting change." The Grants for Change program is designed to award critical funding for a broad range of charities that support communities of color, including those that are focused on improving business and internship opportunities and strengthening professional networks; providing opportunities for mentorship and support services to reduce barriers to entry; increasing access to education, including equitable learning resources, job training/reskilling, college/career readiness and financial literacy; removing racial disparities in health care and eliminating racial inequality in the criminal justice system. Griffin Capital has made a substantial financial commitment as the lead sponsor of Grants for Change. Other sponsors of the program include BNY Mellon | Pershing, Cetera Financial Group, Fidelity Investments, Hightower and JConnelly. "I'm tremendously proud of how the financial community has stepped up and joined together to support this important initiative," said IiO Chairman and Griffin Capital Securities CEO Mark Goldberg. "It is a responsibility for all of us to be part of the solution in overcoming racial inequality and injustice. I look forward to the collective impact we will be able to make through Grants for Change." About the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation The inspiration for the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation came directly from the financial advisors who invest in others by giving back to their communities with overwhelming generosity and dedication. Since its founding in 2006, Invest in Others has amplified these efforts by providing a platform for advisors to increase awareness, visibility, and funding to their favorite nonprofits. Over the past 14 years, IiO has given more than $3 million to 300+ charities across a variety of causes, including health and wellness, education and youth programs, arts and culture, hunger and poverty prevention, military and veterans and more. For more information, visit investinothers.org or follow Invest in Others on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Media Contact: Jessica Dunham, Director of Programs and Communications Invest in Others Charitable Foundation [email protected] | 781.304.4812 SOURCE Invest in Others Charitable Foundation The U.S. Postal Service has removed mail sorting machines from its regional processing plant in North Syracuse, part of a nationwide series of cutbacks that have led to slower delivery, union officials say. Over the past month, four of 15 high-speed sorting machines were removed without notice to employees at the Taft Road plant, which processes mail for a region stretching from Watertown to Binghamton, the union officials said. Some of the machines (delivery barcode sorters) were tossed out in the trash, according to Nicole Burnett, president of Local 257 of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents about 600 workers at the plant. The cutbacks, along with reduced overtime and a hiring freeze, have caused mail to back up at the processing plant, leading to delivery delays of one to three days in Central New York, Burnett said. Ive worked for the Postal Service for 22 years, Burnett said. Ive never seen anything like this happen. In the past, mail needed to get out and it happened. I have never seen anything like this where its so blatantly obvious theyre trying to degrade the Postal Service. The removal of equipment is part of a series of austerity moves that triggered a national uproar. Critics warned the changes could disrupt the November election as record numbers of Americans vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump who took office in June, responded to increasing pressure Tuesday by announcing he would suspend the cost-cutting initiatives until after the election. DeJoy said he wanted to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail. It was not immediately clear whether DeJoy intends to place letter-sorting equipment back into operation. An American Postal Workers Union grievance obtained by The Washington Post said the Postal Service intended to decommission 671 high-speed sorting machines across the nation. The union leaders in Central New York consider the moves as inexplicable sabotage with no clear cost-savings or operational efficiency, a position shared by their peers around the country. Despite a chorus of objections, management has been unable to explain how the cutbacks help the Postal Service. And skepticism has been fueled by Trumps attacks on the Postal Service and his stated goal of blocking voting by mail. Postal Service officials declined to comment on the changes at the North Syracuse processing facility or make its managers available for an interview. Postal union officials in Central New York say its too late to reactivate the scrapped equipment. The union says the cutbacks have already affected the Syracuse area, and more changes were planned before November. Burnett said she did not know how many of the four decommissioned machines were destroyed, nor has she been informed by Postal Service management how the move would save money. They say its to create operational efficiencies, but from the workers perspective thats not happening, said Tom Dlugolenski, president of Branch 134 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents about 600 postal workers in Central New York. Dlugolenski said the move to decommission equipment, reduce overtime and strictly enforce new rules have delayed some categories of mail by up to seven days. If a truck is supposed to leave at 6 a.m. and (first-class) mail is still on the sorting machines, the truck leaves, Dlugolenski said of the North Syracuse processing plant. Before this new postmaster general, we would take everything. The first-class letters are delayed a day or two, but less expensive categories of mail that receive lower priority have been delayed up to a week, he said. The North Syracuse plant is the central processing facility for mail in the Syracuse area, one of the three highest-rated postal regions in the Northeast for its performance delivering first-class mail, according to a 2018 audit report by the Postal Service Inspector General. DeJoy defended the need for swift cutbacks and increased efficiency across the Postal Service when he spoke Aug. 7 to its Board of Governors. Our financial position is dire, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues, DeJoy said. Losses in the 2020 fiscal year are approaching $11 billion, he said, exacerbated by a drop in first-class mail volume related to the coronavirus pandemic. Without dramatic change, there is no end in sight, and we face an impending liquidity crisis, DeJoy said. A Cornell University expert on the Postal Service said its financial problems are a significant long-term issue fueled by a nearly 50% decline in first-class mail volume since 2001. The Postal Service is in a very serious financial bind, said Rick Geddes, a professor and founding director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy at the schools Institute for Public Affairs. Geddes said its not clear what cost savings would be achieved by removing the sorting machines from processing centers like those in North Syracuse. Union officials say those moves have not been accompanied by layoffs or reductions in the workforce. I do think postal management wants to avoid layoffs, Geddes said. You can sort of see where theyre going with this, but its all been sucked into this giant political vortex. Democrats in Congress have accused Trump of trying to use the crisis to his advantage by sabotaging the Post Office and making it harder for millions of Americans to vote Nov. 3, when a record number are expected to cast mail-in ballots. The Postal Service sent letters to 46 states in late July, warning that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail will arrive in time to be counted in the election. House Democrats passed a bill in May that would send $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service, helping it handle the expected surge in voting by mail for the election. Trump opposes the spending and has repeatedly made unfounded claims that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voter fraud. They need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, Trump told Fox Business Network last week, adding that he wont agree to a deal with Democrats because he believes mail-in ballots would be fraudulent. If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money, Trump said. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting. They just cant have it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would move forward with a vote Saturday on a new bill that would provide the Postal Service with $25 billion in emergency aid. The bill would require the Postal Service to treat all ballots as first-class mail (while charging a lower rate), to place sorting machines back in service, and to restore overtime hours for postal workers. Without a reversal to the cutbacks, voters could be disenfranchised in the November election, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said this week in a visit to Central New York. Remember, the reason we need to vote by mail is to stay healthy, Schumer said in Auburn. My parents are in their 90s. Im not sending them to the polls to stand in line. They need to vote by mail... This is not a choice between public health and the right to vote. We have to have both. Schumer spoke with DeJoy by telephone Tuesday and asked him to outline in writing what changes he is rescinding, and which reforms will remain. Burnett, the local president of the American Postal Workers Union, said she was notified last week that management plans to remove one of the four machines at the North Syracuse facility that cancels stamps on incoming mail, leaving a postmark as proof when a letter was mailed. The move would increase the chance that first-class letters (and ballots) mailed in Central New York would not receive a postmark, unless a customer requested a postmark stamped by hand at their local post office. Without a postmark, it would be impossible for election officials to determine if absentee ballots were mailed by Election Day on Nov. 3, the deadline set by the state to have a ballot postmarked and considered valid. That would be a major issue, said Dustin Czarny, an Onondaga County elections commissioner. I cant stress how much of an issue that would be. How else would we know the ballots were properly deposited by the date they were due? Dlugolenski, a letter carrier for 27 years, said the cutbacks and threats of more to come have been difficult on postal workers. We are the most trusted federal agency, he said. We are liked by 95% of America. The idea that the government would say the Postal Service would screw up our elections is a disservice. Its very disheartening right now for postal workers. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, August 19, 2020 Thomson Reuters has introduced Quick Check Judicial, a new Westlaw Edge feature within Quick Check. The AI-based feature was designed for judges but also is a necessity for lawyers as it allows users to upload multiple briefs or memos from a single matter to surface highly relevant authority that neither party included and provides fast, automated review of citations and quotations. Justice Randy J. Holland, retired, Delaware Supreme Court, noted the value Quick Check Judicial provides. From a judges point of view, you want to be confident that you understand each partys position and you want to be confident that you understand the state of the law. Quick Check Judicial allows you to do that efficiently and accurately. The advantages Quick Check Judicial delivers include effortlessly checking validity and accuracy of citations and quotations; seeing a list of authority relied on by both parties, providing a view into any overlap or divergence; and finding relevant cases cited by neither party to ensure that nothing is missed, mitigating risk of inaccuracies or omissions that may be discovered on appeal. For attorneys, Quick Check Judicial saves time by eliminating the manual process of comparing an opposing counsels filings to review cited authority, find omitted cases, or analyze quotation discrepancies. Additionally, Quick Check Judicial gives the necessary insight to help strengthen a position and provide the needed confidence that the research was thorough and complete. Holland added, Attorneys only argue before the court so often, and even though the judge might hear the same cases a lot, attorneys aren't arguing them every day. No matter how good a lawyer is, it's hard to stay up to date with everything, but with Quick Check Judicial, you can go into court with confidence. In our conversations with customers, they reiterated the importance of ensuring that nothing is missed or omitted in their own documents, but maybe even more importantly knowing what different information was or was not used by opposing counsel, said Carol Jo Lechtenberg, senior director, Westlaw Product Management. Quick Check Judicial delivers that insight and more, all while saving a substantial amount of time for lawyers but proving equally as valuable for judges and law clerks by providing a holistic view of the matters before them. Westlaw Edge was developed by attorneys and technologists at the Thomson Reuters Center for Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing working together to apply cutting-edge AI technologies to attorney-authored content and powerful legal research tools. Quick Check, launched in July of 2019, capitalized on the development further. It expands the technology to select which language and citations to extract, executes several search strategies, sifts through countless results, follows citation networks, and after considering hundreds of thousands of possibilities, delivers a concise report of relevant material that might have been missed through traditional legal research. This marks the second significant enhancement to Quick Check following the addition of Quotation Analysis in April. Quick Check Judicial is available to all Westlaw Edge subscribers. Legal professionals across courts in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have access to Westlaw Edge, ensuring that they have access to state-of-the-art legal products. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of business information services. Our products include highly specialized information-enabled software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals combined with the worlds most global news service Reuters. For more information on Thomson Reuters, visit tr.com and for the latest world news, reuters.com. CONTACT Jeff McCoy +1.763.326.4421 jeffrey.mccoy@thomsonreuters.com Element AI and Edelweiss Tokio Life logo Insurers all over the world are addressing AI transformation to meet evolving customer expectations to optimize processes for increased efficiency with AI-driven solutions. Element AI is proud to begin that journey with Edelweiss Tokio Life."Luis Gonzales, Managing Director APAC at Element AI Element AI, a global developer of artificial intelligence-powered (AI) solutions and products, today announced the Indian insurer Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, as its newest client. Launched in 2011, Edelweiss Tokio Life has quickly become an important player in Indias life insurance market as one of the most innovative insurers with a product offering that fits todays customer expectations. The Element AI team will work closely with Edelweiss Tokio Life to create an actionable roadmap for strategic AI deployment for the company, which will ultimately support a detailed AI transformation plan. This work will utilize unique learnings and insights from Element AI to establish technical feasibility and identify AI use cases. Commenting on the development, Nilesh Parmar, Chief Operating Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, As an organisation, we are focused on building agility and scalability within our processes and systems. With a single-minded focus on delivering a seamless and superior customer experience, we want to empower ourselves with digital technologies like artificial intelligence that can help us better serve our customers. We are glad to have found a like-minded partner with Element AI to assist us in this transformation journey. Element AI helps organizations like Edelweiss Tokio Life accelerate AI adoption by: Identifying how AI can help address the key challenges facing a business and finding the unique AI investments that balance creating value today with building capabilities for tomorrow Assessing the potential of a companys current data, technology and software infrastructure to deploy AI workflows and systems through a strategic lens Empowering employees to work smarter with AI by building an organizations literacy and trust to work with AI Establishing a framework for trustworthy, explainable and responsible AI for now and the future Insurers all over the world are facing similar challenges to meet evolving customer expectations and to optimize processes for increased efficiency, said Luis Gonzales, Managing Director APAC at Element AI. As a leader in AI-driven solutions to solve these challenges, we are excited to work with Edelweiss Tokio Life to design and implement a strategic roadmap to prioritize their investments into AI. To learn more about Element AI for Insurance, visit: https://www.elementai.com/industries/insurance. To learn more about Element AI Advisory and Enablement, visit: https://www.elementai.com/products/advisory-and-enablement. ### About Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Edelweiss Financial Services Limited, one of Indias leading and diversified financial services companies and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, one of the oldest and largest insurance companies in Japan. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance launched its pan-India operations in July 2011, offering proprietary need-based solutions to help customers meet their life stage financial goals. This lineage brings together a deep understanding of customer needs and international expertise. The company is headquartered in Mumbai serving over 2.02 lakh customers through 43,681 personal finance advisors as of March 31, 2019 across 121 branches in 93 major cities. About Element AI Element AI develops AI-powered solutions and services that help people and machines work smarter, together. Founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs including JF Gagne and A.M.Turing Award recipient, Yoshua Bengio, PhD, Element AI turns cutting-edge fundamental research into software solutions that exponentially learn and improve. Its end-to-end offering includes advisory services, AI enablement tools and products that help large organizations operationalize AI for real business impact. Element AI maintains a strong connection to academia through research collaborations and takes a leadership position in policymaking around the impact of AI technology on society. https://www.elementai.com. 2020, Element AI Inc. All rights reserved. Element AI, EAI and the EAI logo are trademarks of Element AI, and may be registered or pending registration. Azercell Telecom LLC has released the number of queries received by the Contact Center over the first half of 2020. During the period, Azercell's Contact Center received 2,300,000 appeals, 2,210,000, or 96 percent of which were responded immediately. This performance rate varied between 90-98 percent over the reported months. The service quality in Azercell equaled 82 percent on average in the first half of this year, which is a high result for the operation of call centers based on current European standards. It should be noted that the level of service shows how quickly the operator responds to a call and, accordingly, the time to investigate the incoming query. It affects both customer satisfaction and the image of the organization. Also, according to European standards, the level of customer satisfaction should be above 80%, for Azercell this figure has exceeded 90% over the past six months. Caring for the comfort of its 5 million subscriber family, taking into account modern working and living conditions, Azercell has responded to customer inquiries through new online platforms. Thus, the number of response platforms in the field of Azercell's online customer service has been increased to a great extent since the last quarter of 2019. Thus, the Kabinetim application was supplemented with a Chat section, where subscribers can send their requests and communicate directly with the service agent, and the possibility of service support through the Play Market and AppStore was launched, where users can leave feedback regarding the Kabinetim application and get answers to questions. The online service switched to 24/7 mode starting from November last year. At the same time, the company started accepting customers appeals directly in private chat on Facebook. Earlier this year, the company introduced innovations in the field of online customer service, in particular, in the popular social network Telegram, where Azercell Bot was created and is already being successfully used. Looking at the numbers, online inquiries in the first six months of 2020 was 10 times more compared to the same period last year. In the first half of 2019, the company received more than 23,000 appeals through Online Chat, while this figure has risen about to more than 208 thousand this year. Through the private chat on Facebook, launched in December last year, 23,743 queries were received and reviewed in just six months. At the same time, the company saw an increase in the number of e-mails received: all 5,538 e-mails received in the first six months of this year were responded accordingly. Besides, the Call Center for Corporate Customers received 49,000 calls and 16,000 online requires in the first six months, while the Private Call Center for Premium Customers received 55,000 calls. Thus, more than 2 million inquiries were responded through the different channels of Azercell's Contact Center in the first half of 2020. It should be noted that in recent months, the Contact Center of Azercell has been working in an intensified mode due to the lockdown announced in the country in connection with the pandemic. The conditions for remote work were immediately created for the employees. Taking into account the quarantine regime, Azercell Telecom recommended its subscribers to use alternative service channels without leaving home, to avoid crowded places. It should be noted that Azercell Telecom LLC, the leader of the mobile communications market in Azerbaijan, being the choice of 5 million citizens of the country, cares about the convenience of its customers and is constantly working to improve and introduce the most leading and innovative models of customer service systems. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz In 1770, Ferdinand Berthoud was awarded the title of "Clockmaker and Mechanic by appointment to the French King and Navy". Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud is celebrating this 250th anniversary by unveiling a new collection inspired by the Marine Clock No.6 : the Chronometre FB 2RE. Fitted along its middle with a large panoramic window, the round 18-carat gold case frames a grand feu enamel dial with a complex two-tiered construction. Beneath this traditional, uncluttered display lies an exceptional mechanism: the new Chronometre FB 2RE combines the emblematic fusee-and-chain transmission with a one-second remontoir degalite mechanism. Horloge Marine N6 Ferdinand Berthoud A new modular case As described by Ferdinand Berthoud in his Traite des horloges marines (Treatise on Marine Clocks) published in Paris in 1773, the mechanisms of Marine Clocks are protected by a cylindrical copper drum, itself held in a horizontal position by a gimbal suspension system that he invented. The case of the Chronometre FB 2RE picks up the shape of these Marine Clocks and this modular construction. The movement is installed in a cylindrical container made of 18-carat gold and water-resistant to 30 metres. Short, tapering all-of-piece lugs are solidly secured to the case by stylised bolts and ensure the Chronometre FB 2RE smoothly moulds the contours of the wrist. Chronometre FB2RE.1 Ferdinand Berthoud A large panoramic window appears at 10 o'clock along the case middle in a screw-down frame and reveals the movement's pillar-type architecture, as well as the barrel and its chain. The round case, 44 mm in diameter and 14 mm thick, is enhanced by a curved bezel fitted with a strongly domed chevee glareproofed sapphire crystal. The caseback is also fitted with a sapphire crystal enabling one to admire the incomparable beauty of the movement. The large diameter of the knurled crown makes it easy to grip, thus facilitating movement winding. Integrated into the case middle by an applied screw-in crown guard, it features a dynamometric system that disengages as soon as the barrel is fully armed. The gold used in the manufacture of FB 2RE chronometers comes from the ethical sourcing system set up by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele President and founder of Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud at Chopard, of which he is also Co-President. The Chronometre Ferdinand Berthoud FB 2RE with remontoir d'egalite is available in two 10-piece limited and numbered editions: one in 18-carat rose gold with a black enamel dial and the other in 18-carat white gold with a white enamel dial. Chonometre FB2RE.2 Ferdinand Berthoud A traditional enamel dial In order to facilitate reading off the hours and minutes during sea voyages, Ferdinand Berthoud had designed a two-tiered dial with two types of graduations for his Marine Clock No. 6: in the centre, the hours indications in Roman numerals stand out from the minutes circle in Arabic numerals appearing on the circumference. The dial construction of the Chronometre FB 2RE follows this same principle, while adding an additional degree of complexity by opting to craft it in grand feu enamel. This dial is thus composed of two elements: one is domed, located on the periphery and designed to bear the graduated scale; while the second, positioned centrally and slightly lower, is a flat medallion. Both are made of grand feu enamel, which requires numerous firings in a special kiln at a temperature of 800C. Their base is made of non-magnetic steel, a choice that requires perfect compliance with the required temperatures and extremely precise firing times in order to avoid any distortion, while also preventing the excess thickness resulting from the traditional counter-enamel. Chronometre FB2RE.1 Ferdinand Berthoud The inscriptions on the dial are also crafted in painted enamel, which requires an additional firing in the kiln. Roman numerals for the hours, Arabic numerals for the minutes and a rail-track minute circle appear alongside the markings and the original inscription "Chronometre Val-de-Travers Suisse". The dial of reference FB 2RE.1 is crafted in white enamel with black inscriptions, while the dial of reference FB 2RE.2 features deep black enamel punctuated by white markings. Signature hands For the hours and minutes, the Chronometre FB 2RE is equipped with dagger-type hands in 18-carat gold featuring a hollowed-out design reminiscent of the hands of the Chronometre FB 1, while the shorter hours hand remains flush with the central dial medallion. The minutes hand is highlighted by a bulge half-way along and extends to the base of the minute circle. The extremely thin titanium seconds hand weighs just 0.01 grams. This lightness helps to lighten the burden on the remontoire.Finally, the arrow-shaped CVD-blued 18-carat power-reserve hand on the back of the movement is visible through the wide sapphire crystal case-back. Chronometre FB2RE.1 Ferdinand Berthoud Bridges and pillars The FB-RE.FC calibre is built according to an architecture unique in contemporary watchmaking and specific to Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud. Its organs are symmetrically positioned, legible and clear, as if the order reigning in its operation were expressed through the elegance of its visual balance. This mechanical movement with manual winding comprises 26 bridges held by 10 steel pillars, surrounding the mechanical parts. This construction is characteristic of 18th century Ferdinand Berthoud marine chronometers. This century that proved so important for innovation notably inspired Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud to adopt the extremely distinctive design of its bridges. They are composed of a flat, screw-in section extended into a raised, cantilevered neck, giving them a staircase shape typical of the horological constructions of that era. Calibre FB-RE.FC Ferdinand Berthoud Fusee-and-chain transmission The FB-RE.FC calibre is one of the rare examples to feature fusee-and-chain transmission, serving to ensure constant force for the escapement. It acts like an infinitely variable automatic reduction gearbox. The torque delivered by the barrel of a watch movement naturally varies according to the degree of winding. In this type of transmission, when the movement is fully wound, the chain is completely wrapped around the small end of the spindle-shaped fusee and the mainspring is at maximum power. This force dwindles in the course of time, as the chain coils around the drum, moving from the small to the large end of the fusee. The variation in the diameter of the fusee compensates for the reduction of the mainspring torque. The gear train thus receives a constant supply of energy, a pre-filtering of the energy arriving at the remontoire. The distinctive nature of the FB-RE.FC calibre lies in the fact that its fusee is reversed, and especially that its barrel and fusee are both suspended meaning they are held on one side only, to the mainplate. This spectacular construction is patented and serves to save a few precious millimetres. Remontoir degalite Exceptionally, the FB-RE.FC calibre, in addition to the constant-force mechanism, is equipped with a one-second remontoire visible on the back of the movement. It is one of the most complex torque regulation systems in the history of time measurement. Far from duplicating the role of the fusee, this device complements its action by acting on another point. The fusee equalises the torque reaching the gear train, yet irregularities are created when the teeth mesh. These torque variations, of a much smaller magnitude than those generated by the uncoiling of the mainspring, are nevertheless important in light of the precision demanded by Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud. Calibre FB-RE.FC Ferdinand Berthoud Deadbeat seconds The Chronometre FB 2RE remontoire is of a distinctive type in that it is fitted concentrically with the escape-wheel and thus directly connected to the escapement. This device is designed to store a small amount of energy in a secondary hairspring, playing a driving rather than a regulating role. It delivers its force to the balance via the escapement at such short intervals that the variation of the force in the hairspring is not taken into account. In this case, Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud has opted for a one-second release. The force from the barrel is transmitted to the remontoire spring by means of a triangular ruby cam. When the escape-wheel has moved 2.5 teeth forward, the ruby cam releases the stop lever, that of the remontoire, and allows the driving force to enter the remontoire system. It is then charged for the next second. The escape-wheel pinion is connected to the stop wheel and marks off the seconds. The entire assembly is connected to the central seconds hand and enables the Chronometre FB 2RE to display true seconds, or deadbeat seconds, like marine chronometers or regulator-type longcase clocks. To enhance the accuracy of the display, the connection between the escapement pinion and the deadbeat seconds hand is achieved by means of a special deadbeat seconds mechanism. Lighter system The remontoire is traditionally very energy-intensive, particularly because of the friction it generates. Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud has reduced this friction by installing the remontoire where the torque is lowest. The escape wheel is the one that receives the least force from the entire gearing and is therefore the best candidate for the position. In addition, the use of the ruby cam and an extremely light seconds hand (0.01 grams), thanks to the use of titanium and an extremely tapered shape, reduces the weight driven by the remontoire. All these decisions together enable the FB-RE.FC calibre to offer a power reserve of 50 hours. This is indicated on the back of the movement by means of a blued arrow-shaped hand placed on a sector engraved on the mainplate. The barrel stores energy for several more hours, but the stopwork system blocks it outside the guaranteed precision timekeeping (chronometry) range. Remontoir Ferdinand Berthoud Optimising precision Historically, high-precision timepieces have been based on work to optimise the regulating organ, and Ferdinand Berthoud also made interesting modifications to his chronometers throughout his career. Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud has followed in his footsteps by inventing a new two-spoke variable-inertia balance with an aerodynamic shape and four inertia blocks. Its large diameter guarantees its inertia and stability, with a low frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour, thereby safeguarding the power reserve. It also enables slow oscillation, pleasing to the eye and similar to that of historical timepieces. The remontoire is a delicate system, which increases the difficulty of adjustment. That of the Chronometre FB 2RE thus requires much greater care and time than any other model. It is by returning to the roots of pure chronometry that the Maison has devised an exceptional chronometer, the execution of which is as delicate as its design. In order to guarantee optimal precision, the Chronometre FB 2RE is equipped with a stop-seconds device, which brings the balance to a halt when the crown is pulled out. The wearer can then synchronise the watch to the nearest second with the time displayed by a reference timepiece, in the same way that observation watches were synchronised with marine chronometers on an exploration vessel. Madhya Pradesh minister Girraj Dandotias office has sought details like surnames of personnel posted at six police stations in Morena districts Dimni assembly constituency he represented until March, prompting opposition Congress to accuse him of caste profiling to influence the crucial bypoll he faces. Dandotia was among the Congress lawmakers, whose resignations in March brought down the partys government in Madhya Pradesh before they joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was inducted into chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans cabinet in July and is expected to get a BJP ticket to contest the by-poll from Dimni. The ministers office sought details in writing like names and surnames of the police personnel, their contact numbers and since how long they have been posted..., said a police officer on condition of anonymity. Dandotia admitted to writing to police stations but insisted it was a routine information gathering on his offices part. The ministers office wrote to the police stations last week after he faced a protest at Datterhra village during his tour in the constituency. A group of villagers raised slogans against him and asked him to go back. They also blamed him for pursuing caste politics. Video clips on the protest went viral on social media. Congress leader Madhuaraj Singh accused Dandotia of supporting people on the basis of their castes. Now, he wants posting of police personnel on the basis of caste to manipulate the byelection results. That is why he has sought to know the credentials of police personnel posted in police stations. This is quite unusual that a ministers office should write to police stations directly. Another Congress leader KK Mishra said Dandotia knows he is sure to lose the byelection and his ministerial position given his betrayal with people of the constituency. Hence, his seeking details of the police personnel is nothing but an act done out of frustration. Morena police superintendent Anurag Sujaniya refused to comment on the matter. Dandotia insisted as a public representative and minister, it is his right to know about the local police personnel and other government employees. A ministers office must have all the details like names, numbers etc. It has nothing to do with any caste politics. The Congress leaders wish to make it a political issue and they are trying to provoke people against me but they cannot succeed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Flash Israel opposes any sale of F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite that the two countries had agreed to normalize ties, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. "The historic peace agreement between Israel and the UAE did not include Israel's consent to any arms deal whatsoever between the United States and the UAE," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. According to the office, Netanyahu has expressed this position to the U.S. administration several times, including in July during a conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and later in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "Prime Minister Netanyahu was explicit in Israel's opposition to the sale of F-35s and other advanced weaponry to any country in the Middle East, including those with peace agreements with Israel," the statement read. The statement came after Yediot Aharonot, one of Israel's largest daily newspapers, reported on Tuesday that the White House plans a "giant" deal to sell F-35 war jets to the UAE. Last Thursday, Netanyahu, UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and U.S. President Donald Trump announced Israel and the UAE have agreed to normalize ties. Proprietary SPEED technology delivers fast pain relief safely as demonstrated in new clinical study KOCHI, India, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Arjuna Natural pioneers a holistic approach to fast pain alleviation with its launch of Rhuleave-K, a proprietary botanical formula clinically supported to bestow safe pain relief at an efficacy and speed comparable to popular OTC drugs, such as acetaminophen (paracetamol). Rhuleave-K is a high-dissolution liquid composition comprising turmeric (Curcuma longa) and frankincense (resinous extract of Boswellia serrata), combined in a black sesame oil base. The three botanicals are synergistically blended with a unique proprietary technology to provide fast relief of acute musculoskeletal pain. "There are a number of herbal extracts and formulations in the market that target pain and inflammation, but they are slow-acting and typically provide relief over a period of weeks," explains Benny Antony, PhD, Joint Managing Director for Arjuna. "We found very limited clinical data on efficacy of herbal products for acute pain relief which is what spurred the development of this unique formula." Curcumin is one of the most extensively studied natural compounds, especially for relieving pain and inflammation. It has demonstrated ability to exert a broad spectrum of biological activity for modulating inflammatory signaling pathways. The analgesic activity of B. serrata extract also has been identified in several studies, particularly its positive effect on joint tenderness in cases of osteoarthritis. It, too, has exhibited abilities to raise the pain threshold in comparison to placebos. These two ingredients can work together to block various channels of pain, specifically COX-2 (cyclooxygenase) and LOX (lipoxygenase) receptors. Arjuna's key to fast action The company applies a novel SPEEDTM delivery technology that ensures the swift, uniform dispersal of the actives, thereby facilitating its fast-action mechanism. Black sesame oil acts not only as an effective carrier, helping to disperse and dissolve fat-soluble compounds into the body, but in traditional Ayurvedic practice sesame oil is touted for its warming, penetrative, and anti-inflammatory properties. Recorded recognition of sesame as both a food and a medicine goes back thousands of years to ancient Assyrian times. Clinically backed natural pain-relief Rhuleave K's superior analgesic activity was demonstrated in a randomized, active, controlled, open-label study led by Girish Rudrappa, PhD, at the Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center in Bangalore, India and published in the Journal Medicine, April 2020. The study involved 88 healthy subjects with acute musculoskeletal pain. They were randomized to receive 1,000mg per day of Rhuleave-K or 1,000mg of acetaminophen. Results revealed a positive response of pain relief (analgesia) comparable to acetaminophen, without risks of side effects or interactions with other medicines. Onset of analgesia was experienced in about 1 hour following administration. Earliest pain relief could be seen as early as 2.4 hours comparable with the paracetamol. Results of the study also showed significant reduction in pain, irrespective of intensity, on a similar level to acetaminophen. Rhuleave-K was equally effective as acetaminophen in reducing the sensory pain but was superior to the drug in reducing the emotional side effects of pain. Moreover, Rhuleave-K's curcumin component has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory capacity. Toxicity studies show that Rhuleave-K is safe, even in doses 11 times the recommended daily dosage. "Rhuleave-K is a breakthrough pain-support formula," enthuses Antony. "It's the first natural alternative to OTC meds that is able to provide meaningful relief in a short amount of time, and effectively targets most types of musculoskeletal pain, such as lower back pain , sprains, tendonitis, and joint pain. Its zero toxicity qualities means it can be safely used by nearly all consumers and all ages." The curcumin and sesame oil ingredients are sourced from partner farmers under a rigorous process that ensures purity and efficacy. Boswellia serrata is wild-crafted, sustainably providing employment and boosting livelihoods to many marginal communities in India. The liquid, fat-soluble formula can be readily integrated into soft gels, liquid capsules, or syrups. About Arjuna Natural For more than a quarter of a century Arjuna Natural (Arjuna Natural Pvt., Ltd.) has been India's leading manufacturer of standardized spice and botanical extracts for food supplement industries dedicated firmly to ecofriendly and sustainable practices. Established in 1992, the company has grown rapidly, with customers in 64 countries and has an advanced research facility that works in collaboration with international universities on phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics, formulation, development, pre-clinical and toxicity studies. Arjuna Natural's facilities comply with the highest world standards, are GMP-certified, and have ISO, Star-K kosher, and halal certifications. The company is committed to social responsibility and employee welfare and has recently partnered with Eurofins, a World leader in food, environment, pharma product testing & agroscience CRO services to conduct regular checks of vulnerable surfaces across the company for possible Corona Virus presence. For further information, please contact: Company contact Benny Antony, PhD Joint Managing Director Email: benny@arjunanatural.com Website: www.arjunanatural.com Twitter: @ArjunaExtracts Press Contact NutriPR Liat Simha Tel: +972-9-9742893 E-mail: liat@nutripr.com Website: www.nutripr.com Twitter: @LiatSimha Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1230529/Arjuna_Rhuleave.jpg The training will be undertaken by naval personnel from Sweden, Canada and Denmark. Britain will lead a multinational program to help train the Ukrainian Navy, the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday, seeking to bolster security in the region and improve Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia. "The Maritime Training Initiative will enable even closer collaboration with the NATO Alliance and Armed Forces around the world, and allows us to build on Ukraine's new NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status," defence minister Ben Wallace said during a visit to Kyiv, according to Reuters. Read alsoOver 18,100 members of Ukraine's Armed Forces trained by UK's Operation ORBITAL The training will be undertaken by naval personnel from Sweden, Canada and Denmark in areas such as navigation, operational planning, military diving, sea surveillance, fire-fighting and damage control. British Royal Navy ships will also visit the region later this year. The naval training initiative, and the resumption of an existing army training program that was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, would be complemented by security assistance support provided by the United States, the MoD said. "This will further enhance Ukraine's capabilities and situational awareness in the maritime domain to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression," the MoD statement said. JUNEAU, Alaska - Independent Al Gross won the Democratic Alaska U.S. Senate primary Tuesday, advancing to challenge Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan in this falls general election. Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who was endorsed by the state Democratic party and gained national attention bested Democrat Edgar Blatchford, a university professor and former state commerce commissioner, and Chris Cumings, a registered nonpartisan like Gross. Independent is a term often used to describe those registered as nonpartisan or undeclared in Alaska. The fight wont be easy, but Im inspired to know that Im not in it alone, Gross told supporters outside an Anchorage union hall late Tuesday. Sullivan, 55, said the stakes for the general election couldnt be higher for our state and country. He said having Democrat Joe Biden as president and a Democratic-led Senate would threaten to unravel what he sees as progress in recent years on resource development, military and other issues that are part of an Alaska agenda. He cites moves toward allowing oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and investments in the military as issues the Trump administration has supported and issues Sullivan believes many Alaskans support, too. He said he has a good relationship with President Donald Trump. Its not what he says and what he puts out with regard to tweets, but what hes done, what his administration has done in conjunction with the Congress, Sullivan said. Sullivan, a former state natural resources commissioner and attorney general, was elected to the Senate in 2014. He ousted Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich in an expensive and closely watched race. Sullivan said a reason he ran in 2014 was because he believed the federal government, during the Obama administration, was not supporting us. It was an obstacle, not a partner with regard to our economy. Biden was Obamas vice-president. Gross called Sullivan a puppet for Trump, who carried the state in the 2016 presidential election. Gross has won support from The Lincoln Project, which includes current and former Republicans working to defeat Trump and those in Congress seen as allied with him. The group has taken aim at Sullivan. Gross, whose father, the late Avrum Gross, was an attorney general under Gov. Jay Hammond in the 1970s, in an interview said the state has fared poorly economically the last several years. He said he would be a strong proponent of responsible resource development, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I have no intention of trying to stop resource development in the state, he said. But we have to look beyond that and find ways to diversify our economy in addition to responsible resource development. Gross, 58, has said he would push for changes intended to improve healthcare and help bring down costs. He said he supports a public option for individuals and small businesses on the health insurance exchange as a starting point towards developing a more comprehensive public system. Financial disclosures show Gross had $2.9 million available at the end of July and had put more than $700,000 toward his campaign. Sullivan had about $5.3 million available. Blatchford and Cumings had not reported raising any money. Liz Gifford, a photographer and guide who biked to her Juneau polling place Tuesday, said she favoured Gross. Gifford, a Democrat, said it was time to shake-up who was in office. There was nothing holding me back from voting, honestly, she said, adding she felt comfortable with the precautions state elections officials took, which at her polling station at a high school included spacing voting booths and marking Xs on the floor to encourage social distancing among waiting voters. Richard See said he initially biked to the wrong polling station before being directed to the high school location. He said he voted for Blatchford, saying he liked Blatchfords past experience as a mayor and his roots in Alaska and saw him as straightforward in laying out his policy positions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Victor Mambor (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua Wed, August 19, 2020 15:07 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f22e52 1 Politics Racism,Papua,West-Papua,racism-in-indonesia,#Indonesia75,setahun-antirasisme-Papua Free Musa Heselo, a resident of Jayapura, Papua, was not aware that he had frequently been discriminated against on the basis of his race. In fact, he never understood how discrimination and racism could manifest themselves in his everyday life. To Musa, being treated differently in public is a normal part of his routine. Its not as though the situation was unique to him; after all, other Papuans, particularly the indigenous natives, have also experienced similar treatment, he said. A few times I had lunch at a local food stall in Arso, Keerom regency, along with some friends who hailed from Java and Sulawesi. My friends were told to help themselves to the food on display; I was the only one who was served by the attendant, Musa said. Read also: Racism: My experience as doctor in Papua He eventually grew to understand how discrimination could impact the lives of Papuans, especially in the wake of the antiracism protests that made news headlines last year. It has been a year since the string of antiracism rallies in Papuan regencies and cities, and racism is still alive and well in Papua, Papuan activists say. The wave of protests in West Papua and Papua was triggered by an ambush at a Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya, East Java, by the Communication Forum of Indonesian Veterans Children (FKPPI). Tri Susanti, one of the groups leaders, had allegedly spread the rumor that the Papuan students had defaced the Indonesian flag. The group then launched verbal attacks which included racial slurs against the students. A video of the ambush, in which some people called the students "monkey" from outside the dormitory's gate, angered Papuans. Read also: Stop denying and listen to us: Papuans hopeful for talk, action to end everyday racism The ambush was met with condemnation in Papua. Before long, a string of similar protests cropped up in several regions across the archipelago, including Papua and West Papua. Some of the protests turned violent. A protest in Wamena, for instance, escalated into full-blown riots in September last year. The events that unfolded over the course of two months resulted in 50 known deaths. A tradition dating back to the 1960s Racial discrimination against indigenous Papuans is not a recent phenomenon, according to local public figure Benny Giay. The discrimination dates back to the 1960s when Papua was still in the transition period between being a Dutch colony and an Indonesian region, he said. The Indonesian government even had a role in instilling racial prejudices against Papuans in order to develop a sense of nationalism among Papuans themselves during that time, he added. From May 3 to 4, 1963, Indonesian officials in Papua burned books about Papua in front of the present-day Papuan Regional Legislative Council [DPRD] building, Benny said. Consequently, Papua was left with little to no history of itself. Benny said the racial prejudices against Papua were a foundation upon which the so-called national development was built in the region. "Papuan history and culture were eliminated to reinforce the idea that native Papuans were a primitive society." Only after the very identity of Papuans was dismantled could Indonesia be free to nationalize the region, according to Benny. Racism served as the basic building block of national development in Papua. A popular refrain at that time was elevating the people of West Irian so they become equal to other tribes in Indonesia. West Irian is the name first president Sukarno called the region, now called West Papua and Papua provinces. Irian is an acronym of Ikut Republik Indonesia Anti Nederland (Follow Republic of Indonesia, Anti Netherlands). Such a historical precedent proved that racial discrimination against Papuans the likes of which occurred as recently as last year, could happen again the coming years he added. Systemic and institutionalized According to Alex Gobay, the head of the Jayapura University of Science and Technologys (USTJ) Student Executive Body, racial prejudices against Papuans has become systemic and institutionalized. Spreading protests against racism in Papuan provinces in 2019. (JP/Swi) The fact that Papuans who are discriminated against end up in prison shows that racism has seeped into the system, said Alex, who served 10 months in jail for participating in an antiracism protest himself last year. Democratic Alliance for Papua director Latifah Anum Siregar said the Indonesian law, in general, had been weaponized against Papuans because of systemic racism. Native Papuans are deprived of their freedom of speech and expression. No sooner had Papuans voiced their aspirations, they were charged with treason, Latifah said, adding that many Papuans did not receive any legal assistance. In the context of last years antiracism protests, then-National Police chief Tito Karnavian accused the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) of triggering the spate of riots across Papua and West Papua, she said. Latifah called on the government to rectify the system by pushing for tolerance and professionalism in the legal system. However, government officials in Jakarta denied claims of systemic racism in Papua and West Papua provinces. Presidential Office undersecretary V Jaleswari Pramodhawardani wrote in an op-ed in Kompas that the opposite had happened, that the government had worked hard to accelerate the betterment of Papuans' welfare. She said the accusations of racism were part of a smear campaign spread by Papuan activists. In a commentary published in The Jakarta Post last month, Foreign Ministry political and security affairs advisor Teuku Faizasyah called on Indonesians to "decouple" Papuans' antiracism movement from the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. He said the #PapuanLivesMatter campaign was not based on reality in Papua. He claimed there was no systemic and structural racism in Papua and he argued that "the special autonomy law gives locals the privilege to administer their province". Teuku's opinion came amid increasing rejection of Papua's special autonomy law by Papuan activists. Ever since before the Otsus until today, almost 20 years after the Otsus, racism toward Papuans, land grabbing, military operations, rights abuse and social and economic inequality keep happening in Papua, Papuan Students Alliance head John Gobay said in July. Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid believed the central government had yet to shift its political and economic outlook to truly comprehend the situation in Papua. So, I dont think that there will be any significant changes in the political attitude [toward Papua] in the wake of the antiracism protests, Usman told the Post. In an op-ed published by the Indonesia at Melbourne website on Monday, Usman said the government needed to understand that when people talk about Papua, they talk about "injustice, racism, persecution and political violence that preoccupies the minds and work of activists not simply separatism". "Unfortunately, the government has consistently failed to acknowledge this basic fact. In the past few weeks, it has peddled the old misguided narrative about Papua that attempts to shut down any legitimate criticism of how Jakarta unfairly treats native Papuans, by framing that criticism as an effort to compromise Indonesias territorial integrity." (rfa) STEM Arcadia U Online 'Semester of Code' Program to Train Students in Job-Ready Tech Skills Arcadia University is partnering with ed tech company 2U to launch an online Semester of Code program that will provide credit-bearing, market-relevant coding experiences for undergraduate students across the United States. Offered through Arcadia's College of Global Studies, the Semester of Code comprises two offerings: a Full-Stack Coding Program for 16 credits and a Coding Internship Program for 12-16 credits. In the first, students will "learn to think and work as professional software engineers by making technical tradeoffs as they complete four major projects throughout the course of study," according to a news announcement. The second covers front-end web development, and gives students a chance to apply those skills in a real-world work environment through a virtual international internship. Both programs are taught by industry experts, include both live online courses and self-student content, and offer on-demand learning assistance support. "It's important for universities to offer a variety of innovative and applied learning opportunities to prepare students for a post-COVID workforce," said Jeff Rutenbeck, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Arcadia University, in a statement. "This coding program is a hands-on online education option for students that can provide them flexibility in their career searches." For more information, visit the Arcadia site. YEREVAN. I was on the plane at the beginning of the military actions. I was returning to Armenia from the United States. I was informed on the plane about military actions. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday, referring to a journalist's question, whether it is true that, as the chairman of the April 2016 war parliamentary inquiry committee has said: During the war, the main omissions were in the state administration, and the army waited for a while for an order from the Commander-in-Chief. "And during that report, [then] minister of defense Seyran Ohanyan informed me that our defense operation plan has already been put into action; that is, what order is it about? At the very maximum, I would have ordered that, 'Put that plan into action,' which was already in effect. To the honor of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff [of the Armed Forces], I can say that all the timeframes have been completely maintained; that is, the plan of those measures went in the right directionstarting from the moment when they were put into action," the President said. Sargsyan also stated that the beginning of these hostilities was a surprise to them. "It always happens that way. There is a surprise when expecting anything badeven when that bad thing happens, and there are many problems during the implementation of that particular defense in the Armed Forces. Those areas of defense are so large that we cannot have the necessary number of soldiers [there] every day. After all, those soldiers have to rest, they have to be engaged in combat training, and there are other circumstances, too. Our army was so organized that it launched a major counterattack and the enemy retreated off very quickly," Serzh Sargsyan concluded. by Pierre Balanian Many judge the sentence - which does not condemn Hezbollah and the Syrian government - ridiculous; for others it is the result of a political agreement. The village of Haruf, homeland of Salim Ayash, one of the condemned, celebrates him as a "son of the resistance". Tripoli's Sunnis remain calm. Saad Hariri accepts "what emerged from the Court, though it falls short of expectations". Beirut (AsiaNews) After 15 years The Hague International Court has issued a final ruling on the Hariri murder which has sparked reactions from leading figures and ordinary citizens alike. For Ramez, a taxi driver from Beirut, "the investigation wasted a lot of money. If it had been conducted by the gendarmerie barracks in Uzaii [an infamous neighborhood of Beirut - ed.] it would have been faster, clearer and would have cost less than a thousand Lebanese pounds!. Aida Akiki, a housewife from Mount Lebanon comments with a bitter smile: "They made us fear we would die in the civil war that the sentence would cause, and instead we are dying with laughter". A more composed comment, the first after the sentence, comes from the son of the assassinated Premier Rafiq Hariri, former Prime Minister Saad. In a press conference from The Hague, he stated that he "accepted the findings of the Court, even if it did not live up to expectations". He recalled that the killing of his father Rafiq was a political assassination and "whoever committed this assassination wanted to change the face that characterizes Lebanon". Repeating the words of the Court, Saad linked the decision to eliminate Rafiq Hariri, with the meeting that took place at the Hotel Bristol in Beirut between the victim, then Prime Minister of Lebanon, and a Syrian delegation which he told the Syrian military presence in Lebanon had to end. With this sentence, "the phase of the political exploitation of the assassination ends," Saad said, and he invited Hezbollah to "collaborate". In an interview with Al Hadith TV, Saad Hariri then said: "Hezbollah know they are responsible for the murder. I ask them to hand over Salim Ayash convicted in absentia." A second noteworthy comment is that of the victim's other son, Bahaa Hariri, a political rival of his brother Saad. From Beirut he declared: The court was clear: Salim Ayash is part of the Hezbollah; for us the important thing is that it was a political assassination ". He then added that he did not intend to become Prime Minister, but that he wanted to "serve my country". Bahaa then declared that he is close to the demonstrators who accuse "the political system and the war lords" responsible for "the collapse of Lebanon". The Lebanese people, he said, must be firm in "getting rid of them and returning the country to Arab and international credibility". "I am in direct contact with Patriarch Rai - he added - and I support his position" on the neutrality of Lebanon. In a live broadcast, Nazik Hariri, the victim's widow, said she considered the court's decision a "historic sentence". It does not restore what is lost, but "restores to Lebanon the logic of responsibility and justice that has long been held captive". In a sarcastic way, TV presenter Ramez Al Kadi asked himself: "After 15 years, was it Salim Ayash who killed Rafiq Hariri?" And he added: "We spent a billion dollars to find out if Ayash had phoned or not!" He was referring to wiretapping among those responsible for the attack, and to a popular song by Ziad Rahbani entitled "Ayash phoned". Hisham Hadad a Lebanese comedian commented: "It seems we want to close the post-assassination phase of Hariri both locally and internationally, to devote ourselves completely to the post-explosion phase of the port, which seems much more dangerous". Druze deputy Wiam Wahab: The mountain gave birth to a mouse. Lebanon has spent a billion dollars listening to an absurd political analysis. Give us back the money spent since the Court has not added anything to the conclusions made by the Lebanese bodies. In Haruf, the native village of Salim Ayash in southern Lebanon, a banner (see photo) has been displayed at the entrance to the village, with these words: "Haruf's sons are proud of their resistant son, the hajj Salim Ayash". Yesterday on social media there were many calls for vendetta against Syrians and Shiites. But the city of Tripoli, a Sunni stronghold, semi-closed due to the increase in Covid 19 cases, has remained calm. For Huzeifa, a minibus driver who had to transport angry protesters from Tripoli to Beirut, the Hague ruling was a cold shower: "We just have to hope for divine justice," he said. Also from Tripoli, the engineer Omar Kabbara, a member of the Future Current political party of Saad Hariri, commented: "I personally believe that the Syrian secret services and Hezbollah participated [in the attack] with all their abilities. The final sentence could be the result of an international agreement to calm the waters and get Hezbollah out of direct involvement. For university professor Prof. Bilal Haffar, "whoever is saved today from human condemnation, will not escape divine punishment on judgment day". In his speech on Wednesday night, Mr. Obama offered validation for Mr. Biden, portraying him as a brother to him and a man who learned early on to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity. And in praising Mr. Bidens record, Mr. Obama managed to frame his own legacy as well, describing how his vice president helped him pull the economy out of recession, expand health care and stem H1N1 and ebola outbreaks. He also offered a passionate defense of voting rights at a time when Democrats fear that Republicans are trying to make it harder for Americans to cast ballots. Do not let them take away your power, Mr. Obama said. Do not let them take away your democracy. Mr. Obamas primary target, though, was Mr. Trump, his voice dripping with scorn as he said that while he never expected Mr. Trump to embrace his vision, he did hope that the next president might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But he never did, Mr. Obama said. For close to four years now, he has shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. While he had a 36-year record in the Senate before becoming vice president, Mr. Biden has focused far more on the eight he spent in the White House, ostentatiously cloaking himself in the former presidents mantle and citing his service to Mr. Obama as a way to appeal to liberals, younger voters and especially African-Americans who helped him win key primaries. Little wonder. Mr. Obama remains one of the most popular figures in American life. A new poll by Politico and Morning Consult found that 58 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the former president, the highest rating of any of the 28 political figures tested other than his wife, Michelle, who topped him with 60 percent. Mr. Biden, by contrast, was seen favorably by 46 percent and Mr. Trump by 39 percent. Ivory states that taxes will be raised for businesses from the current rate of 6.45% to 9.49% in the first year alone. That is a distortion of the truth. What he doesnt explain clearly is that graduate income tax rate would apply to less than 2% of the more than 1.2 million small businesses here in Illinois. And then only in those great earning years when they post over $750,000 (single) or $1 million (joint) in profits. So about 98% of all small business owners would not be impacted by the change. But 100% of all businesses would be the beneficiaries of the increased revenue that the state will have on hand in to invest in what is vitally important to small business: education, access to capital, fiscal stability, and real investments in physical and digital infrastructure. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP The US has promised not to pursue the death penalty against two British Isis members accused of taking part in the beheadings of western hostages, in return for UK cooperation with the prosecution. The pledge was given in a letter from the US attorney general, William Barr, to UK home secretary Priti Patel, in the case of Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, members of the Beatles group of British Isis members, who were captured by Syrian Kurds and then handed over to US custody in October last year. They are still being held at a US facility overseas. Barrs offer came with an ultimatum: if the UK failed to hand over evidence in the case by 15 October, the two detainees would be handed over to the Iraqi justice system. Further delay is no longer possible if Kotey and Elsheikh are to be tried in the United States, and the further delay is an injustice to the families of the victims, Barr said in the letter to Patel, which has been seen by the Guardian. Kotey and Elsheikh are currently held by United States military authorities in an overseas theater of military operations, and it is not tenable to continue holding them there for an extended period. Final decisions must be made about this matter. British cooperation with the US prosecution had been blocked under a ruling by the UK supreme court in March, and is still in effect, UK officials pointed out. The governments priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for the victims and their families, a UK Home Office spokesperson said. We continue to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh [Isis] are brought to justice. Alan Henning was taken prisoner in Syria after joining an aid convoy and murdered by Isis. Photograph: Family Handout/PA Kotey and Elsheikh were part of a group of four who are accused of being involved in the filmed beheadings of two British aid workers, David Haines and Alan Henning, as well as of two US journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. The groups leader, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a US drone strike in 2015, while another, Aine Davis, was caught in Turkey and jailed for more than seven years in 2017 for membership of a terrorist organisation. Nicholas Henin, a former French Isis hostage, welcomed the news that the death penalty would be dropped, saying on Twitter it was great news that opens the way for a trial in the US. Abdul Baqi Amin, who previously participated in talks with Taliban in Doha, was killed by a bomb placed in his car. A high-ranking Education Ministry employee was killed in a bomb blast in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, a second attack in less than a week on peace and rights activists in the country. Abdul Baqi Amin, director of the Scientific Council of the Ministry of Education, was killed by an explosive device that was placed in his car in Kabul. The attack on Amin comes less than a week after Fawzia Koofi, a member of the government negotiating team, was wounded in an assassination attempt in the north of Kabul. There have been targeted attacks on rights activists and religious scholars in recent months. Experts see this as an attempt to intimidate and weaken Afghanistans civil society before the talks. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came a day after more than a dozen rockets were fired in the capital killing at least three people. Amin was part of the Afghan delegation who took part in several high-level meetings with the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha where they discussed points on reduction in violence and women rights. Taliban condemns attack The Taliban, which has repeatedly refused to negotiate with the West-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, agreed to join the meeting on condition the attendees will do so in a personal capacity. Amin had also met the chief Taliban negotiator, Mullah Baradar, in Doha in January 2020, advocating for peace in the country. All sides are tired of the war and look for peace and stability in the country; at the same time there are concerns about some issues among all Afghans, and many of these concerns are related to the post-US-Taliban agreement. Therefore, assuring the people about these issues is a must in this stage, Amin was quoted as saying on the website for QASED Strategic Research Center, a Kabul-based independent research organisation, of which he was the general director and member of the board. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen condemned the attack on Amin saying he was targeted by the enemies of the Islamic system, prosperity and peace. Many took to social media condemning his death and calling the attackers peace spoilers. It is with profound sadness that I learned this morning of the assassination of Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin, Director-General of QASED Strategic Research Center (@QasedResearch) and Chairman of the Scientific Council at the #Afghanistan Ministry of #Education, on his way to work 1/2 pic.twitter.com/5clpufP7bJ Sultan Barakat (@BARAKAT_Sultan) August 19, 2020 Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin, head of QASED Strategic Research Center, and Head of the Academic Council of MoE has been killed by anti peace spoilers. he was too active in peace activities. God Bless him. pic.twitter.com/F57DqkR3oU Mutmaeen (@Metmaeen) August 19, 2020 Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin was a well known scholar, author, lecturer, analyst and peace activist. He truly love this country and its people. I know how hard he was working for peace and prosperity in county. RIP Dr. sb. pic.twitter.com/devkTUE3Cf Abdul Baqi Sultani (@BaqiSultani) August 19, 2020 Bombings and attacks continue with frequency in Afghanistan as the government and Taliban armed group are expected to join peace talks, which have been delayed due to differences over the release of Taliban prisoners. The prisoner release is part of the US-Taliban agreement signed in February, which saw Washington agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in return for a pledge from the armed group to hold peace talks with the Afghan government. There is still no date for the start of the talks, which were initially scheduled to be held in March. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Omni Commerce Corp. ("Omni" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news releases dated April 27, 2020 and June 1, 2020, it has completed the acquisition of CBLT Inc.'s (TSXV:CBLT) ("CBLT") 56% majority joint venture interest in the Northshore Gold Property (the "Property"), located in the Schreiber-Hemlo Greenstone Belt, 115 km west of Hemlo and 200 km east of Thunder Bay. John Veltheer, the CEO and a director of Omni, commented, "We are very pleased to be closing this acquisition as the first step to reunifying the Northshore property and then exploring the property in order to delineate a mineral resource estimate." Summary of the Transaction Pursuant to the terms and conditions of a mineral property purchase and sale agreement (the "Agreement") dated May 29, 2020 with CBLT, the Company acquired the 56% joint venture interest in the Property for total aggregate consideration of $1,450,000 (collectively, the "Purchase Price"), consisting of: (i) cash consideration of $350,000 (the "Cash Consideration") and (ii) stock consideration of $1,100,000 payable by the issuance the issuance of an aggregate of 9,166,666 common shares in the capital of the Company (each, a "Consideration Share") at a deemed price of $0.12 per Consideration Share. All of the Consideration Shares are subject to the terms of a voluntary escrow agreement dated August 18, 2020, which terms include the release of 25% of the Consideration Shares from escrow on each of the days which is four, six, eight and 12 months after the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement (the "Closing"). The voluntary escrow will be in addition to and any resale restrictions imposed under applicable securities laws. In connection with the Transaction, the Company issued 362,500 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.12 per share to an arm's length finder. The finder's shares are subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from Closing. CBLT intends to pay two additional arm's length finders in connection with the Transaction, which finder's fees will be paid by CBLT directly and will be comprised of an aggregate cash finder's fee of $15,000 and an aggregate of 458,333 common shares of the Company which will be transferred to such finder's by CBLT from the Consideration Shares, from time to time, as they are released from escrow. Corporate Updates The Company has submitted an application to the Canadian Stock Exchange for the listing of its common shares. This is a key step in the relisting of the Company's shares on a recognized stock exchange. Following the completion of the transaction with CBLT, the Company intends to proceed with its previously announced consolidation of its outstanding securities on the basis of five (5) pre-consolidation common shares of the Company for one (1) post-consolidation common share of the Company (the "Consolidation"). The Company also intends to proceed with completion of the acquisition of the remaining 44% interest in the Property from Balmoral Resources Ltd. on or before August 31, 2020. For more information on the Property and the Consolidation, see the Company's news releases dated April 27, 2020 and June 1, 2020 filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company also entered into a mineral property purchase agreement dated August 14, 2020 with Trillium Mining Corp. ("Trillium") for the purchase of 11 unpatented mineral claims comprising an aggregate of 233.963 hectares situated in the Schreiber Area of the Thunder Bay Mining Division, Ontario (the "Schreiber Claims"). The Schreiber Claims are adjacent to the Northshore Gold Property and connect the two parts of the Property. The Company paid $25,000 cash to Trillium in consideration for transfer of the Schreiber Claims. About Omni Omni is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and is a reporting issuer in British Columbia and Alberta. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OMNI COMMERCE CORP. Per: "John Veltheer" John Veltheer, CEO For further information, please contact: John Veltheer Phone: (604) 562-6915 Email: john@veltheer.com Website: www.omnireset.com Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Accordingly, all statements in this news release that are not purely factual or historical in nature are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements that the Company will complete the Consolidation and the transaction with Balmoral Resources Ltd., the timing for completion of these transactions and the resale restrictions on the shares issued in connection with the CBLT transaction. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Further, the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic pose new risks that are currently indescribable and immeasurable. Other factors may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company, including general economic, market or business conditions, future prices of cannabis, changes in the financial markets and in the demand for cannabis, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the cannabis industry, risks related to the acquisition of the interest in the Property and the Company's investment and operation in the mineral exploration sector in Northern Ontario, as well as the risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and in other filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. SOURCE: Omni Commerce Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602365/Omni-Acquires-Majority-Ownership-in-Northshore-Gold-Property-and-Provides-Corporate-Update The Suntreso District Police Command has arrested the leader of a car snatching gang operating in the Greater Kumasi area. Alex Owusu, 37, is said to be involved in the stealing of several cars and is currently in police custody assisting in investigations. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Godwin Ahianyo, Ashanti Region Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), told newsmen in Kumasi that so far eight of the cars, which were mainly taxi cabs, have been retrieved by the police. They are made of Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Atos and Daewoo Matiz brands. According to ASP Ahianyo, the modus operandi of the suspect was that he would hire the services of the victims from either Obuasi, Nkwakaw or Tarkwa to come to Kumasi. He said the suspect would tell the driver that he was going to buy excavator parts at Suame Magazine or visit the sick mother in Kumasi. ASP Ahianyo said on arrival in Kumasi, the suspect would convince the driver to have the car washed at a washing bay and persuade him to leave the car with the bay attendants. He said the suspect would then ask the driver to accompany him to Suame Magazine to purchase the supposed excavator parts. ASP Ahianyo said Owusu would then take leave of his victim at the Magazine and tell him he was going to withdraw money from the bank only for him to return to the washing bay and run away with the car. ASP Ahianyo said several reports had been made to the police, and with the assistance of the Kasoa Police, Owusu was arrested. He called on the victims of such cases to report to the Suntreso District Police command to help investigations. ASP Ahianyo advised taxi cab drivers to be mindful of the passengers they pick and the juicy offers made to them. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Panaji, Aug 19 : Goa Police should take a leaf out of the Maharashtra Police's investigation into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and establish a detailed call trail of Kapil Jhaveri, who has been arrested in connection with a rave party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded on Wednesday. Goa BJP spokesperson Dattaprasad Naik said that the police should track down the real 'Pablo Escobar' of Goa's drug trade, by thoroughly investigating the aide of a local politician who was also arrested on Tuesday in connection with the rave party in the beach village of Anjuna. "Like the police established the phone trail while investigating the Sushant Singh Rajput case, by tracking Rhea Chakraborty's phone, police should also track down Kapil Jhaveri's call records and put the details in the public domain. People of Goa need to know which corrupt politicians Jhaveri was in touch with," Naik said during a press conference at the BJP's state headquarters. Naik said that the police should track down the real 'Pablo Escobar' of Goa's drug trade, by probing who arranges illegal drug-fuelled rave parties which are regularly held in Goa. Twenty three persons, including three foreigners in possession of drugs, were arrested following a Crime Branch raid in the early hours of Sunday at a posh villa complex in Anjuna beach village, where the rave party was held. One of the key persons arrested by the police during the raid was small time Bollywood actor Kapil Jhaveri. On Tuesday the police also arrested one Shailesh Shetty, a key aide of an opposition politician, for allegedly facilitating the illegal rave party. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery A same-sex penguin couple have become parents after the egg they adopted successfully hatched at Valencia aquarium. The two female penguins, Electra and Viola, at Oceanografic Aquarium in Valencia, Spain, hatched another couple's egg. Although the two penguins are infertile together, aquarium staff placed the egg from another penguin in their nest after they appeared to be broody. Same-sex couples are common in more than 450 species in nature, although this is the aquarium's first same-sex couple. The proud parents were able to adopt, incubate and raise the egg of another couple at the aquarium 'Electra and Viola are female and have been able to adopt, hatch and raise an egg from another couple, something that's happened for the first time at the Oceanografic,' the aquarium said in a blog post, calling them an 'exceptional pair'. The as yet unnamed addition is one of three chicks born so far to the colony of 25 Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) at Oceanografic this breeding season. The three couples that have raised chicks so far have been two heterosexual pairs Navi and Aquela and Bolo and Melibea, as well as Electra and Viola. The pair of females had begun to show typical penguin behaviours prior to reproduction, such as building their own nest out of stones. Staff translocated a fertile egg from another couple when they saw that they began to carry out habitual actions prior to reproduction Seeing this, aquarium staff moved a fertile egg from another couple and placed in Electra and Viola's nest, who successfully carried out the entire breeding process. Electra and Viola arent the first same-sex penguin couple to raise a chick, however, as homosexuality is common in penguins. At Berlin Zoo last year, male couple Skipper and Ping adopted an egg that had been abandoned by its mother. The two had previously displayed their instincts as nurturers by trying to hatch stones and even fish. In London's Sea Life Centre, meanwhile, a chick adopted by a pair of female penguins last year is being raised as gender-neutral by its keepers. 'While the decision may ruffle a few feathers, gender neutrality in humans has only recently become a widespread topic of conversation,' Graham McGrath, the centre's general manager, said at the time. 'However, it is completely natural for penguins to develop genderless identities as they grow into mature adults.' The new chick. The eggs hatch at 38 days and the chicks usually become independent at 75 days The shy penguin chick hides under its same-sex parents. Homosexuality is common in penguins A penguin chick (pictured) that's being raised gender-neutral by keepers at the London Sea Life centre Penguin reproduction normally begins with the construction of the nests that consist of round pebbles, which can reach more than 7 inches on each side, the aquarium said. Stones are a very precious commodity for these animals and can even be part of the courtship ritual normally initiated by the male. During courtship, the male will find the smoothest pebble to present to the female as a gift and a symbol of his affection. If the female likes the gift, she will place it in the nest and the two will continue building up a pebble mound in preparation for the eggs. The father and the mother then take turns every day to keep the egg warm during incubation. The eggs hatch at 38 days and the chicks usually become independent at 75 days with an approximate weight of 6 to 7 kilograms. Emperor and king penguins are the exception to stone nest-building, which lay one single egg, rest it on their feet and keep it warm under a feathery fold of skin. Pune, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The dental implants market size is predicted to reach USD 5,725.7 million by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. The rising shift from tooth replacement to dental implants owing to its benefits such as durability, natural look, and effectiveness will spur opportunities for the market during the forecast period, states Fortune Business Insights in a report, titled Dental Implants Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis By Material (Titanium Implants, Zirconium Implants), By Type (Endosteal Implants, Subperiosteal Implants, Transosteal Implants), By Design (Tapered Implants, Parallel Implants), By End-user (Hospitals, Dental Clinics, Academic & Research Institutes) and Regional Forecast, 2019 2026 the market size stood at USD 3,870.0 million in 2018. The rising awareness regarding oral health will contribute positively to the growth of the market. The other highlights of the report include: Targeted analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the market; Detailed study of the factors, trends, and constraints shaping the market; Careful evaluation of the regional dynamics influencing the market; and Thorough profiling and examination of the key market players and their strategies. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/dental-implants-market-100443 The Industry Developments in the Dental Implants Market: August 2017: Dentsply Sirona Inc. announced the launch of Lucitone HIPA (High Impact Pour Acrylic) denture base. June 2016: DENTSPLY Sirona announced that it has signed an agreement to obtain MIS Implants Technologies (Israel), a global leader in value implants. The presence of major players, as well as the rising demand for innovative implants, will stimulate the healthy growth of the market during the forecast period. Europe is predicted to witness a high growth rate during the forecast period owing to the rising prevalence of dental caries in the region. List of Key Players in The Dental Implants Market: Institut Straumann AG Danaher Dentisply Sirona Henry Schein, Inc. Zimmer Biomet Osstem Implant BioHorizons CeraRoot SL. Anthogyr Group An Overview of the Impact of COVID-19 on this Market: The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. To get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/dental-implants-market-100443 Market Driver: Heavy Demand for Aesthetic Dentistry to Raise Business Propositions The market is primarily driven by the growing cases of tooth loss in developed and developing nations. The rising healthcare funding along with developing healthcare facilities will contribute growth to the market. The rising demand for aesthetic dentistry among patients will promote the growth of the market. The introduction of technologically advanced products will encourage the healthy growth of the market in the foreseeable future. The innovation in the material quality of implants such as non-allergic nature, biocompatibility, natural appearance will have a tremendous impact on the market in the forthcoming years. The growing cognizance about the benefits of dental implants over tooth replacement will boost the market. Additionally, the rising cases of oral diseases such as dental caries, periodontal diseases, and tooth decay among patients will spur lucrative business opportunities for the market in the foreseeable future. Regional Analysis: Rising Geriatric Population to Support Development in Asia Pacific The market in Asia Pacific is predicted to grow rapidly during the forecast period owing to the rising geriatric population. The growing patient pool along with the high adoption of advanced implants among patients will foster growth in the market. The growing medical tourism in emerging nations such as India and China will aid expansion in Asia Pacific. North America is precited to account for the largest share in the global market owing to the developed healthcare infrastructure and favorable reimbursement policies. Quick Buy - Dental Implants Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100443 Dental Implants Market Segmentation: By Material Titanium Implants Zirconium Implants Others (Ceramic, Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal) By Type Endosteal Implants Subperiosteal Implants Transosteal Implants By Design Tapered Implants Parallel Implants By End-user Hospitals Dental Clinics Academic & Research Institutes By Geography North America (USA and Canada) Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and Rest of Europe) Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia & New Zealand, and Rest of Asia Pacific) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Rest of Latin America) Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa) Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/dental-implants-market-100443 Have a Look at Related Reports: Orthodontics Market Share & Industry Analysis, By Product Type [Instruments and Supplies {Fixed (Brackets, Bands & Buccal Tubes, Archwires, and Others), and Removable (Aligners, Retainers, and Others)}], By End User (Hospitals, Dental Clinics, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Clear Aligners Market Share and Global Trend By Patient Age Group (Teenager, Adults), By End-User (Hospitals, Dental & Orthodontic Clinics) and Geography Forecast till 2026 Orthopedic Implants Market Share & Industry Analysis, By Product (Joint Reconstruction; Spinal Implants; Trauma Implants, Dental Implants; Orthobiologics, and Others) End-user (Hospitals, Orthopedic Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Medical Devices Market Share and Global Trend By Type (Orthopedic Devices, Cardiovascular Devices, Diagnostic Imaging, IVD, MIS, Wound Management, Diabetes Care, Ophthalmic Devices, Dental & Nephrology), End User (Hospitals & Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Clinics) and Geography Forecast till 2025 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Five months. The soonest we can expect a reliable vaccine for the coronavirus is in five months. If were managing expectations properly, the general public will have to wait another five months before enough people have immunity that normal life can somewhat return. Five months is also the age of the pandemic in the United States. Think about everything weve experienced, all that weve learned and all that weve suffered. Double it, and that is what we can expect before the end of the year. We must do better. The virus is spreading with remarkable speed, sickening more than 50,000 Americans a day. Daily deaths have leveled out at about 1,200. By September, well top 6 million confirmed cases and 200,000 deaths. TOMLINSONS TAKE: Leverage COVID anger to boost economic justice In Texas, weve topped half a million cases and 10,000 deaths. And we are adding another 7,500 cases a day. The coronavirus is relentless, and we must not become complacent. From the beginning, epidemiologists have stressed the importance of testing to isolate the ill and measure community spread by calculating the positivity rate. We must do better. To save lives and the nations economic health, we need to test millions of people a day. Yet inexplicably and unforgivably, testing is slowing down. Last month, we topped out at 750,000 people a day on average, but this month the so-called best health care system in the world is only testing 733,000 a day. Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, has told television news channels that lack of testing makes understanding the pandemic more difficult. The U.S. should be testing 5 million people a day and produce results within two days, he said. Jha told NPR he is especially concerned about testing in Texas, where frustrations with long lines and long turnarounds mean fewer cases are detected. The percentage of people testing positive in Texas is 10 percent when containment is less than 5 percent. A good chunk of them are certainly taking more than three to five days, at which point their utility really goes down. And I can imagine doctors are ordering fewer tests. People are less willing to get a test if theyre not going to get a result soon, Jha said. Federal testing czar Brett Girior told CNN on Friday that the U.S. does not have the capacity to reach 5 million lab tests a day. But he announced FDA approval for a less-accurate spit test on Friday, which he said should help next month. We must do better. Once we identify who is sick, we must make it easy for them to stop spreading the virus. For that, we need contact tracing to make sure every person exposed to a carrier is also tested and isolated. Other countries have robust public health systems and encourage people to use mobile phone apps to make contact tracing simple and effective. Not so in the United States, where we have skimped on public health to save money on taxes, and conspiracy theorists breed paranoia toward tracing apps. Our health care system is also failing essential workers, many of whom are minorities. These folks tend to live with large, multi-generational families and work in places like nursing homes and assisted living centers that are COVID-19 hotspots. They are dying in inexcusably high numbers. We must do better. Lastly, neither political rhetoric nor personal willpower can slow or stop the virus. As the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill amply demonstrated this week, forcing people together in an enclosed space will create dangerous, virus hotspots no matter what we say. TOMLINSONS TAKE: COVID needlessly costing Texans billions every day As summer ends, and people want to get back to work and move indoors, the virus is going to flare and the economy will shut down as people again seek safe harbors. Other rich countries that have been more successful than us are struggling as temperatures cool. Businesses and governments must plan for another economic paralysis. The experts could be wrong, and I hope they are, but this summer may have been as good as it gets before a vaccine arrives. Lowering the number of workers on government assistance from 32 million to 20 million may be the best we can do, and the unemployed will need help. This summer economic bounce back was mainly due to government programs that have expired. Losing that stimulus will slow economic activity by 3 percent. We need national leadership to improve the public health and economic responses. We need national leadership to promote safer personal behaviors, like wearing masks and limiting risky exposure. Over the next five months, we must do better. Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy. twitter.com/cltomlinson chris.tomlinson@chron.com The Brokenhead River begins in the wetlands of Sandilands Provincial Forest, located in southeastern Manitoba. It ultimately drains 200 kilometres later into Lake Winnipeg. Most of the river is navigable by canoe or kayak. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The Brokenhead River begins in the wetlands of Sandilands Provincial Forest, located in southeastern Manitoba. It ultimately drains 200 kilometres later into Lake Winnipeg. Most of the river is navigable by canoe or kayak. This meandering river is now under threat. It might very well become a toxic dumping ground for CanWhite Sands Corp (CWS) of Alberta. Last month, CWS filed a proposal under Manitobas Environment Act, for approval to construct a silica sand processing facility near the town of Vivian. The closing date for commenting on this proposal is Aug. 25. Once the processing facility receives government approval, CWS intends to submit a second application. This would be for both the mine, where the sand will be obtained, and for the methods the company will use to extract it. The splitting of a single proposed project into two separate ones in this manner probably makes approval a foregone conclusion. CWS indicates that 15 per cent of what it will extract (from 60 metres below the surface in the Winnipeg Formation aquifer), will be sand and shale. That means that 85 per cent will be water a fact conveniently ignored in the company application. Simple math shows that in order to produce its intended target of 1.36 million tonnes of sand per year, CWS will also need to extract 7.7.million cubic metres of water annually. This will surely pose a serious problem for the people of southeastern Manitoba who rely on this aquifer for their drinking water, because this much water coming out of the aquifer annually will certainly inhibit the ability of this aquifer to recharge itself. Since the average Canadian uses 329 litres of water a day, this means the amount required by the company would serve a city much larger than Brandon each year. The sand and water will be sucked up to the surface through hundreds of boreholes; only a fraction of it will be needed to process the sand in the wet plant. The bulk of it, likely more than six million cubic metres, will likely be dumped into the Brokenhead. It will contain high levels of heavy metals, chromium, arsenic and neurotoxins. It will also be acidic, as pyrite in the shale will cause acids to drain into the river. Of course, CWS never mentions any of this in its application. That would apparently be too transparent for them, and might even raise a number of alarm bells. The release of deleterious substances into the river would be a clear violation of the Federal Fisheries Act and would threaten aquatic life there life such as the rare chestnut lamprey eel, an at-risk species still surviving in the Brokenhead. It would almost certainly be affected. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The river runs through the Brokenhead First Nation, which, to my knowledge, has never been consulted on the effects of this project on their treaty rights. What The Frack Manitoba is therefore calling on the appropriate authorities to do the following. First, request that the province of Manitoba suspend its approval process until such a time that the appropriate federal authorities have the required information from CWS to determine the extent of the adverse impacts the proposed development project will have with respect to federal jurisdiction. And that the proponent (CWS) submit information not only for its proposed silica sand processing facility, but also its silica sand mine and mining method, to be reviewed as one project via a panel-review process, to determine the extent of the adverse impacts with respect to federal jurisdiction. Second, determine whether the federal Impact Assessment Act (IAA) is applicable, and if not, that the appropriate federal minister and/or federal authority use the discretionary powers under the IAA to designate this proposed development an IAA project for the purpose of applying the provisions contained in IAA. Third, request that the Crown (federal/provincial, as they are not divisible) undertake a Section 35 consultation process with Brokenhead First Nation to determine what, if any, adverse impacts this project will have with respect to Brokenhead First Nation Section 35 rights prior to any environmental approval of said proposed development project occurs. Don Sullivan is the spokesman for What The Frack Manitoba, former director of the Boreal Forest Network and has served as special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site portfolio. He is a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. DENVER, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine revealed its annual 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Software companies have dominated the Inc. 5000 stage for years, but in 2020 Advertising and Marketing companies are closing the gap with 454 companies qualifying, placing the vertical only 97 away from beating the Software category. As reported by Adexchanger , the advertising, consulting categories appear to be the new winners tied to technology due to the tech-enabled service nature of their businesses. Are the super users of ever advancing technology becoming the new job creators in our cities? It would appear so based on this year's winners and the growth in the category. The state of Colorado is punching way above its weight class as the 8th most companies in this category as compared to being the 21st most populated state. #1 - California - 88 qualifying companies #2 - New York - 59 qualifying companies #3 - Florida - 41 qualifying companies #4 - TX - 34 qualifying companies #5 - GE - 23 qualifying companies #6 - Pa - 16 qualifying companies #7 - NC - 16 qualifying companies #8 - CO - 13 qualifying companies #9 - New Jersey - 12 qualifying companies #10 - UT - 10 - qualifying companies As job creation tops the headlines in local business and employment, it's good to know Colorado is ahead in this fast-moving category. Colorado is home to several companies that are leading the pack in that space. AdCellerant is proud to be featured in the list encompassing 12 other elite marketing companies in the front range, including Twelve Three Media (#326), Nuclear Networking (#461), Assembly Media Networks (#694), Visiqua (#841), Strategus (#1728), SocialSEO (#1901), Kumparison (#2235), Choozle (#2421), Revenue River (#2793), Boomerang DM (#2982), Verblio (#3293) and SmarterChaos.com (#3806). The advertising and marketing sector made up over 450 companies on the list this year, further solidifying the growth and importance of advertising in today's business world. "People will never be replaced completely by technology in marketing and we are proud we have kept our entire team together to celebrate the honor of being on the list for the 3rd year in a row in spite of COVID," states Brock Berry, CEO and Co-Founder of AdCellerant. These Colorado tech firms accounted for $117.5 million in total revenue and added over 250 jobs, solidifying the category as essential to businesses and career seekers across all industries. AdCellerant is committed to continuing support for local businesses and moving the needle forward in the digital advertising industry by creating new and powerful technology. ABOUT ADCELLERANT AdCellerant is a technology and digital advertising company focused on making quality digital marketing accessible to every business. AdCellerant achieves this goal by partnering with local marketers, media companies, agencies, and channel sales organizations, helping them leverage AdCellerant's proprietary advertising software platform, UI.Marketing. Website: https://www.adcellerant.com/ CONTACT: Meghan Brito - VP of Marketing, [email protected] 720.837.6804 SOURCE AdCellerant LLC Related Links https://www.adcellerant.com/ Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Another Masbate resident died while hundreds more were injured after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit Cataingan town, followed by a string of aftershocks, a lawmaker from the province said Wednesday. Citing a report from the provincial governor, Congressman Wilton Kho of Masbate's third district said another resident died of heart attack due to Tuesday morning's earthquake and the aftershocks experienced since then, with shaking felt in nearby provinces. This brings the death toll to two, the first casualty being retired policeman Gilbert Sauro who died after his home in Barangay Concepcion in Cataingan collapsed. The town experienced Intensity 7 or "destructive" temblor, which Phivolcs officials said was strong enough to topple big pieces of furniture and cause poorly-built homes to crumble. The quake also left 170 people injured, with 67 patients coming from Cataingan. Kho reported that 18 of them are in the hospital for treatment, while other patients were from nearby municipalities. The first official report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) issued Wednesday counted one dead and 48 others injured so far. There were also 14 houses totally damaged, with 12 of them in nearby Palanas town. Some 319 evacuees have also been reported, as families chose to leave their homes due to falling debris and reported liquefaction or softened ground, Kho said. Local authorities are still verifying reports that up to 6,000 residents need to be evacuated. "Sa ngayon kasi, hindi pa nagno-normalize ang buhay namin dahil halos every hour or every 30 minutes, naga-aftershocks. 'Yung mga kababayan ko, medyo kabado pa po sila. Ayaw pa bumalik ulit sa bahay," Kho told CNN Philippines' Balitaan. [Translation: For now, life has not normalized because every hour or every 30 minutes, there are aftershocks. My fellow residents are still nervous and they do not want to return to their homes yet.] RELATED: Magnitude 5.1 aftershock jolts Masbate town State seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks since yesterday, all relatively weaker compared to the Tuesday morning tremor. A strong magnitude 5.1 quake shook Cataingan at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday. Patients as well as locally-stranded individuals staying at the Cataingan District Hospital and the local astrodome and municipal college had to be evacuated due to partial damage in the structure, NDRRMC said. Another municipal building was also seen with a collapsed first floor. The lawmaker appealed for donations of relief goods to temporarily support residents, citing they would also need help in repairing homes and structures. There are close to 600 partially damaged buildings in Masbate, which include public school buildings, roads, bridges, and parts the Cataingan port. Meanwhile, six structures totally collapsed in the epicenter of the earthquake. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has pledged that Malacanang will help Masbate recover, even saying that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to visit but is unsure due to the pandemic. READ: Duterte in perpetual isolation, undergoes regular COVID-19 RT-PCR tests Palace "Id like to assure our Masbateno brothers and sisters that help has been prepositioned and further assistance is on the way," Roque told CNN Philippines' The Source, saying food packs, water, blankets and other materials needed for resettlement areas will be provided by the national government. Kho also said the province received a 25-million response fund to aid earthquake victims following a call between his father Masbate Governor Antonio Kho and Senator Bong Go. The NDRRMC added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development also allotted 662.6 million as a standby fund to respond to local needs, as well as 305,063 family food packs. US Conducts Air Drills With Japan, Other Partners in Indo-Pacific Region Sputnik News 20:17 GMT 18.08.2020 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US bombers and F-15 fighter jets conducted drills with Japanese and other allied partners in the Indo-Pacific, the Defence Department said on Tuesday. "Pacific Air Forces launched four B-1 Lancers, two B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers, and four F-15C Eagles and conducted Bomber Task Force missions simultaneously with joint and allied partners within the Indo-Pacific region over the course of 24 hours", the release read. These simultaneous air-power missions, the release added, demonstrated US capacity to quickly deploy forces to defend the Indo-Pacific theater. Two B-1s from Guam joined two B-1s deployed from the US, the Reagan Strike Group, Marine Corps. F-35 Lightning IIs based in Japan and Japanese F-15j aircraft for what the release described as "large force exercise training" that began on Monday and ended Tuesday, the release said. As aircraft buzzed above the Pacific, the US deployed two B2 bombers from Diego Garcia for an exercise above the Indian Ocean with unspecified American partner nations, according to the release. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address One out of every 100 American children will die from firearms if current death rates continue; one out of every 70 will die from overdoses, according to The American Journal of Medicine Philadelphia, August 19, 2020 - A new study appearing in The American Journal of Medicine, published by Elsevier, calculates the lifetime risk of death from firearms and drug overdoses in the United States. The lifetime risk of death from firearms is about one percent, meaning that approximately one out of every 100 children will die from firearms if current death rates continue. The lifetime risk of death from drug overdoses is 1.5 percent, meaning that one out of every 70 children will die from an overdose. The lifetime risks vary depending on who you are and where you live. The lifetime risk of firearm death is highest among black boys: one out of every 40 will die from a gunshot. The lifetime risk of overdose death is highest in West Virginia where one out of every 30 children will die from overdoses. News media and politicians frequently discuss the high toll of deaths from firearms and drug overdoses. They usually mention the numbers of deaths, citing figures like 40,000 firearm deaths last year or death rates such as 20 overdose deaths per 100,000 population. However, for most people, it's hard to grasp the real meaning of both the large absolute numbers and the small annual rates. Ashwini Sehgal, MD, a physician at MetroHealth Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, used official death certificate data to calculate the likelihood that an American child will die from a gunshot or a drug overdose over the course of a lifetime. He commented, "While absolute numbers of deaths and annual death rates describe mortality over a short period of time, lifetime risk tells us more about long-term consequences." Dr. Sehgal said that he was thinking about the study findings when he recently toured a new elementary school in his community in Ohio. "I had a hard time concentrating on the gleaming whiteboards, the new computers, or the cheerfully decorated walls. I realized that one child on every floor of the school would likely die from firearms and another one from a drug overdose in the years ahead. If I were across the border in West Virginia, then one child per classroom will have their life ended by an overdose." The study stated that presenting information on lifetime risks may be a practical way to educate the public and policy makers about the impact of firearm and overdose deaths. Dr. Sehgal recommends that lifetime risk should be included in news stories and government reports and contrasted with lifetime risk of other causes of death and with figures from other countries. For example, the lifetime risk of dying from an overdose is similar to the lifetime risk of dying from colon cancer. Moreover, firearm deaths in our country are six times more common than in Canada and 50 times more common than in the United Kingdom, two countries that are culturally similar to the US. Examining changes over time is also enlightening; American drug overdose deaths have quadrupled over the last two decades. There are a number of things that policy makers can do to reduce our exposure to and the consequences of firearms and potentially lethal drugs. Examples include background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases and improving access to substance use treatment and needle exchange programs. Health providers can also advocate for measures likely to reduce deaths. They can ask patients about the presence of firearms in the home, review safe storage practices, and screen for depression or a previous history of violence. They can also limit or avoid prescribing drugs with overdose potential and carefully monitor patients on such drugs. Dr. Sehgal concluded that lifetime risk calculations are based on the assumption that future death rates will match current ones. "But it doesn't have to be that way. The big differences in firearm and overdose deaths by race, gender, state, and country, and the sizeable changes over time indicate that high levels of firearm and overdose deaths are not inevitable. Let's take sensible steps now to help our children avoid the preventable tragedies of firearm and overdose deaths." ### SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OhmConnect, California's leading residential clean energy program, supported California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) Flex Alert by incentivizing decreased home energy usage on Friday. In just one day, OhmConnect awarded over $300,000 to its active users. In the middle of a record-breaking heatwave this past weekend, nearly 2 million California residents had their power shut off. Soaring temperatures and extreme demand for electricity across the state overwhelmed the energy grid, and California saw its first rolling blackouts since 2001. OhmConnect offers another way to balance the grid during periods of peak energy demand. When the grid is stressed, OhmConnect pays its more than 150,000 active California customers to reduce their home energy use for short periods of time. Users receive alerts indicating when to power down in order to save electricity, and if they use less energy than forecasted, they get paid by OhmConnect. Participating OhmConnect users earn cash rewards, save on their monthly utility bills, and help balance California's brittle energy grid. "California does not need to experience rolling blackouts," said Cisco DeVries, CEO, OhmConnect. "Instead of turning off power across entire regions, proven technology allows us to pay customers to reduce when needed. This is exactly the crisis that OhmConnect was built to solve. As the state issues Flex Alerts to reduce energy use, hundreds of thousands of OhmConnect customers can enjoy cash rewards for doing the right thing and playing their part in responding to this unprecedented energy challenge." Because of the record-breaking heat, California's statewide Flex Alert has been extended until Wednesday, August 19th. OhmConnect will continue to offer massive rewards to its users as they come together to reduce the strain on California's electrical grid. OhmConnect is a free program. California residents whose utility providers are PG&E, Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric are eligible to participate. Go to OhmConnect.com to sign up. About OhmConnect OhmConnect was founded in 2014 with the vision of becoming the world's largest supplier of clean energy. Today, OhmConnect enables hundreds of thousands of residents to reimagine how they use energy, to choose clean energy over dirty energy when required, and to be rewarded for timely, smarter, home energy use. OhmConnect pays their users to save energy when the grid is stressed, rather than requiring fossil fuel emitting peaker plants to fire up to meet increased demand. The OhmConnect community has collectively saved as much energy as the equivalent to planting 24,209 trees and driving 2.29M miles. Sign up with OhmConnect for free at ohmconnect.com. Follow us on Twitter @OhmConnect , see our OhmConnect Blog , or check us out on Facebook and LinkedIn . Media Contact Ali Schwartz 415.254.1355 [email protected] SOURCE OhmConnect Related Links http://www.ohmconnect.com Marjorie Taylor Greene is a proud follower of QAnon, a radical, baseless conspiracy movement that the FBI has labeled a domestic terror threat. Yet, on Aug. 11, Greene won the runoff for the Republican nomination for Georgias 14th Congressional District. Because of this districts deep conservatism, shes inevitably bound for Congress, where she will become the first seated representative to publicly support QAnon. But considering how widely the movement has spread, she likely wont be the last one. On Wednesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Greg Bluestein, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who covered Greenes campaign, about her victory, QAnon, and what this all means for the GOPs future. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Ray Suarez: Lets talk a little bit about Q itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Greg Bluestein: It involves a claim that there is a deep state conspiracy to either hobble President Donald Trump or get him out of office. But it also involves lots of code words on social media and an ideological belief that you can never trust the government no matter whos in charge. Greene said shes maintained her belief and never backed down from it, and that became one of the things she was most known for. Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The district where Greene won her runoff covers pretty much all of the northwest corner of Georgia, by the borders with Alabama and Tennessee. Its a district where Republican incumbent Tom Graves, who decided to not run for another term, beat his Democratic opponent 3-to-1 in 2018. So, winning the GOP primary means youre headed to Washington. It may actually be part of the reason Greene ran for the vacated seat in the first place. Advertisement Advertisement She at first was running for the 6th District, in the metro Atlanta suburbs, a much more moderate area where Lucy McBath, a Democrat, won in 2018 in an upset victory over Karen Handel. Greene lived in that district and originally wanted to run for or against Handel for the Republican nomination. But then Tom Graves decided he wasnt going to run for another term, and so she suddenly decided to move out there, run from scratch. Advertisement One of the reasons she switched races was because she started getting calls from some of the most conservative members in the House: Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, even Mark Meadows wife, Debbie Meadows, all of whom urging her to run in the 14th. There are two reasons why. One is because they wanted someone with sympathetic views to join them in Congress. Thats obvious. But the second one, I think, is they wanted to clear the field for Handel because shes running in a rematch against McBath and was probably going to be forced into at least a runoff against Greene that would have gotten national attention. An internal fight would have strained resources. No ones ever said that, but that seems like a plausible secondary reason. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have a first-time candidate who has hinted that the 2017 Las Vegas massacre was orchestrated, who has described Black people as slaves to the Democratic Party in Georgia. The big names in Georgias Republican politics hedged their bets and covered themselves, but none of them said, I want to be 500 miles away from this woman. In the recent past, youve had a candidate named Arthur Jones, a former head of a regional Nazi party, who inexplicably won a Republican congressional primary. The Republican Party froze him out, completely distanced itself from him. There is a candidate in Oregon running against Sen. Jeff Merkley, Jo Rae Perkins. On the night of her primary victory, she tweeted out support for Q, but nobody thinks shes going to win. However, Marjorie Taylor Greene is vocal, unapologetic, unabashed, and rich, which would seem to be rather inconvenient for Georgia Republicans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some stayed quiet after Greenes victory, like Gov. Brian Kemp and Sen. David Perdue, and others congratulated her immediately, including Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins. I think they felt they had to because Trump himself tweeted that Greene was a future Republican star. So going against her at this point would mean going directly against Trump, who in many polls still remains the most popular figure among Republicans in Georgia. Theres a chance that shes a brief flicker who fades away. But theres also a chance that she takes this and tries to run for statewide office or leverage this for more power in the party and become a main Republican player in Georgia. She is a magnetic speaker. She makes all sorts of accusations in social media and speeches that are unfounded and have no basis in fact whatsoever, but they appeal to voters because theyre so out there. There are more than a dozen other candidates for congressional seats who believe or at least are allies with the QAnon movement. Many are long shots, but some, like Greene, are favorites to win their races. Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. D.J. Jordan and Dustin Siggins co-authored this article. "With great power comes great responsibility. From Uncle Bens mouth to Peter Parkers ears to PR practitioners computers, two recent national surveys show the power of earned media and the serious responsibility we bear to serve our clients and the general public. The first study was Edelmans June Brand Trust in 2020 special report. Forty-four percent of respondents said earned media would help them choose a brand, while 51 percent would leave a brand over media coverage. The second survey came from Bospar in July; earned media drove 19 percent of respondents to visit a companys website after just one mention. After 10 mentions, 85 percent of respondents visited a companys site. In a time when a single bad story involving politics, injustice or the pandemic can have real consequences on real peoples livesor can change an entire industry and launch a social movementexecutives need to take the power we bear and use it in ways that improve our companies, our clients and the world. Company culture The area that executives can most influence is within their company. Hiring the right people with the right values sets your company on the path to ethical and long-term growth. A trustworthy team treats clients like friends and each other like family. Together, theyll help each other become better and maximize the value your firm can bring to a client. Building the right culture and the right team is solely on the CEO. As described in great detail by former Navy Seals and Iraq War veterans Jocko Willink and Leif Babin in their book Extreme Ownership, the buck cant stop with anyone else. The CEOs valuesopen door policy or strict hierarchy? Formality in the workplace or a looser structure? Snide comments about staff or solutions-focused? Discrimination and hypocrisy, or admirable ethics?will guide every decision the company makes from day one. You set the policies, the tone and the success of your company long before the first prospect is pitched and the first contract is signed. Once you have the right values and the right team to fit those values, your company is ready to guide clients to getting positive earned media. Clients A CEO must guide clients. This is doubly difficult because most people and prospects dont fully understand what PR is. Worse, our respective firms find that many client prospects have been burned by alleged PR experts at least once, sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars. These short-term experts create long-term problems for the rest of us. The amorphous nature of PR requires success to start with earning client trust. Pinkston Group does this by promising the wow factor to clients. Proven Media Solutions published a good-faith effort pledge so clients know what theyre getting for their money. Our firms seek first to show a prospect that they arent just getting placement: theyre going to make a real difference for their customers, staff, vendors, investors and other stakeholders. And, in a time of social unrest and extreme discourse, for society at large. Once the client signs on the dotted line, you must continue to prioritize ethics by putting client goals first. For example, you may want to get the client placed quickly to prove you can produce. However, the client may not be ready for that much exposure, especially if their message isnt fully developed. Overwhelming a client and causing them to flounder benefits your company in the short run, but costs you thousands of dollarsand them tens of thousands of dollarsin the long run. On the other side of the coin is moving the client too slowly. Weve both seen PR professionals take advantage of client ignorance by placing them well below their level of influence. Its a lot easier than aiming high, but it doesnt serve your clientjust you. The Goldilocks approach is one that brings the client along with your approach. Taking the time to educate a client on your process to accomplish their goals is hard, but its the right thing to do. Follow Never Split the Difference author and former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss win-win negotiation style by guiding your clients to thats right moments where they understand what youre doing and why. Seek to truly see the world from their point of view, then mirror their language and goals so you both take ownership of the strategy. The final step in the trust-building process is to have agreed-upon metrics for success. Any so-called PR expert can get a client placed. The ethical and success-oriented practitioner will seek placements that meet specific goals to build the clients brand towards accomplishing long-term goals and aspirations. Social ethics In the Bible, Judas sold Jesus Christ out for 30 pieces of silver. Wheres your line in the sand to maintain your values while still growing your business? You must know where yours is to uphold your companys values, truly serve your clients and make a positive mark in the world. In a diverse society, its hard to only serve clients who fully line up with your values. Senior executives must decide how to incorporate ones personal and social ethics into getting clients great press and influencing public opinion. In short, you must ask if telling a great story puts your company on the track to success or makes you a modern-day Judas. Cancel culture to changing a culture Every PR agency has the potential to change the world. One of our firms works with a government contractor lender that, yes, wants to grow and make money, but also wants to become the ethical lender of choice for small businesses that are regularly taken advantage of by predatory lenders. The Consumer Technology Association likewise represents a $400 billion industry, but it has also launched a foundation which connects seniors to technology to keep them connected to loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic. With great power comes great responsibility. PR executives have to decide how to use their power to lead their company, their clients and the greater society. The line between cancel culture and changing a culture is a small one, but it means the world to the world. *** D.J. Jordan is a Vice President with The Pinkston Group. Dustin Siggins is CEO of Proven Media Solutions. The biggest review of the nation's spy laws in 40 years won't be released until almost a year after it was handed to government, as Australia's intelligence agencies look to combat a rise in cyber crime, espionage and foreign interference. The federal opposition is calling on the Morrison government to release former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson's review immediately, with parliament set to debate a number of significant national security reforms before the end of the year. Former secretary of Defence Dennis Richardson has completed the biggest review into Australia's national security laws in 40 years. Credit:Andrew Meares These include an overhaul of ASIOs compulsory questioning powers and new cyber security laws to protect the nations critical infrastructure. Mr Richardson handed in his report to the government prior to Christmas last year, and the government has been sitting on an unclassified version of the document since early June. Attorney-General Christian Porter flagged it would be released in coming months. SOUTHERN SCREENING: RiverRun International Film Festival will screen the film before/during/after Aug. 20, Marketplace Drive-In, 2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. The film is written by and stars Finnerty Steeves (Orange Is the New Black), who will attend the screening. This dramedy studies a middle-aged New York City theater actress suddenly forced to figure out the kind of person she wants to portray in real life. Her marriage comes to an end after she catches her husband cheating. Gates open at 7:30 p.m.; screening about 8:45 p.m. Tickets, $20 per car; $30 per car for VIP parking. Purchase at https://mpcwsdrivein.simpletix.com. A man accused of raping and choking women he met on the dating app Tinder has been released on bail despite a court hearing he continued to seek out women for sex during Melbournes COVID-19 lockdown. Brett Taylor, 25, launched a Supreme Court bid for bail last week after being arrested and charged late last month with the rape and assault of two women, aged 18 and 19, in October 2018 and March this year. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the computer science student was unlikely to face trial until the early part of 2022 due to COVID-19, which was also making his time in custody particularly onerous. The accused attacker met his two alleged victims via Tinder. Credit:Alamy Crown prosecutor Brett Sonnet argued the 25-year-old man from Berwick in Melbourne's south-east posed a risk to the public and had continued using dating sites, in particular Tinder, to contact young women for sex even while COVID-19 restrictions were in place. Laura Loomer holds up a phone at an event in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 20, 2018. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Politicon) Activist Laura Loomer Wins Florida Primary for US Congressional Seat Political activist and journalist Laura Loomer won the nomination for a seat in the U.S. House in Florida in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Despite being absent on three of the largest social media platforms on the Internet due to indefinite bansFacebook and its subsidiary Instagram, as well as Twitterthe 27-year-old rose to victory ahead of five other Republican opponents to win the Republican nomination for Floridas 21st Congressional District. Loomer also raised more than $1 million while campaigning, according to Federal Election Commission records. The other Republican candidates were Christian Acosta, Elizabeth Felton, Aaron Scanlan, Reba Sherrill, and Michael Vilardi. With more than 33,900 votes in, Loomer led with 42.5 percent of the votes. Floridas 21st Congressional District is home to President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club and is currently represented by incumbent Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel, who was most recently reelected in 2018. Trump congratulated Loomer for the win late Tuesday, writing on Twitter: Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet! In response, Loomer said in a video message, Mr. President, its an honor, adding that she is looking forward to flipping the seat. Im going to fight for you, Im going to fight for America, and Im going to help the Republicans take back the House, Loomer added. Well, I dont think these Democrats know whats coming their way but I am headed to Washington to provide you with some firepower and reinforcements, Mr. President. I look forward to meeting you soon next time youre back in Mar-a-Lago district. Loomer, originally from Tucson, Arizona, announced her run for Frankels seat on Aug. 2 and is now set to challenge the Democratic incumbent on Nov. 3. Frankel has been in Congress since 2013. She represented Floridas 22nd District from 2013 to 2017 and has been representing Floridas 21st Congressional District since 2017. Previously, Frankel served in Floridas House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and 1995 to 2003. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 13, 2018. (Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images) Loomer previously worked at Project Veritas and Rebel Media as a journalist. She has since created her own media company as an independent journalist. As a journalist she is mostly known for confronting individuals via livestream interviews. According to her campaign website, some of the people she has confronted on camera include Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Huma Abedin, James Comey, Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michael Avenatti, Tim Kaine, Linda Sarsour, Alyssa Milano, and former DNC chair Keith Ellison. The Jewish conservative has in recent years attracted attention for a number of stunts and confrontations, which include bringing men she said were illegal aliens onto the California property of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and confronting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) over accusations that the Somalian immigrant married her brother for immigration fraud purposes. For the latter move, Loomer was banned by Twitter in November 2018. Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram in May 2019 also banned Loomers accounts, along with the accounts of a number of other individuals for violating the companys policies on dangerous individuals and organizations. According to her campaign website, she is banned on nearly every single social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as other online platforms such as Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, PayPal, Venmo, GoFundMe, Medium, and TeeSpring. The campaign noted that even Chase Bank shut down her access to her online banking! Loomer has been accused of using hate speech and being non-compliant with rules of various websites. For simply being a voice for the silent majority, and mostly for being a Trump supporter, I was banned on every single social media platform, Loomer said in a campaign video published in October 2019. Fighting censorship is just one of the many reasons Im running for Congress. Four main issues featured on Loomers campaign website are free speech, making America safe again, big tech, and the Second Amendment. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. Read More Florida Congressional Candidate Laura Loomer Outraises Incumbent Lois Frankel in Third Quarter MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Acuity Healthcare, the country's only employee-owned hospital company and national leader in long-term acute care, is pleased to announce the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has designated Acuity Specialty Hospital of Morgantown as a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH). To learn more about Acuity Healthcare, please visit us at www.AcuityHealthcare.net. Acuity Specialty Hospital of Morgantown is a 25-bed hospital within a hospital, located on the fourth floor of Mon Health Medical Center. The facility has successfully met the CMS requirements to operate as an LTACH. "This is an exciting time for the Acuity team and the Morgantown community," said Frank Weber, Chief Executive Officer, Acuity Specialty Hospital of Morgantown. "Personally, I am thrilled to be part of this team to offer the needed LTACH services to the Morgantown community. I am extremely proud of my team of seasoned clinicians who work hard every day to provide the highest quality long-term acute care services to patients and families. Receiving the CMS designation is a wonderful accomplishment and a true testament to this outstanding team." Acuity Healthcare and Mon Health Medical Center partnered to establish LTACH services to provide a critical link in the continuum of care for north central West Virginia's sickest patients. The role of an LTACH is to offer intensive acute care services to medically complex and critically ill patients who have either required three or more days in an acute care hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) setting, or will need to receive "prolonged mechanical ventilation," medically defined as more than 96 hours. The LTACH provides an extended hospital stay greater than 25 days. About Acuity Healthcare Acuity Healthcare is an employee-owned (ESOP) long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) company founded in 2001 with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. Acuity Healthcare currently owns and manages four LTACH's in New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia. Acuity is focused on the development and operation of LTACH's and the delivery of specialized care with improved outcomes. We offer quality care in a cost-effective manner to medically complex patients who require intensive hospital services for an extended length of stay. SOURCE Acuity Healthcare Related Links http://www.AcuityHealthcare.net The claim: Vice President Mike Pence said he would not debate Kamala Harris The claim, posted by Facebook user Dixie DeKalb's account on Aug. 16, contradicts statements by Mike Pence about the upcoming vice-presidential debate in October. "Pence said he won't debate Kamala!" DeKalb wrote, but there is no reference to when or where Pence purportedly made this declaration. DeKalb implied she got the information from MSNBC news programming in the post's replies, where she said she "watches the news all day." "I NEVER watch FOX ... Mostly MSNBC," DeKalb explained to a commenter. USA TODAY reached out to DeKalb for comment. Fact check: Video online of Kamala Harris calling young people 'stupid' is missing context Will Pence face Harris on the debate stage? The vice president is looking forward to debating Harris, according to an interview on Fox News. "I like the matchup. It's on, Sean," Pence told Fox News' Sean Hannity on the Aug. 12 episode of "Hannity." "I think she is a skilled debater, but I can't wait to get to Salt Lake City and be on the stage with her, to compare Joe Biden's nearly 50 years in public life the agenda of the radical left, the agenda that she's embraced throughout her political career with the results of this president and this administration," Pence said. After hearing about Harris being picked as Biden's running mate on Aug. 11, Pence told Trump supporters in Mesa, Arizona, he's looking forward to debating Harris in October. "So my message to the Democratic nominee for vice president: Congratulations. I'll see you in Salt Lake City, Pence said, according to Fox News. CNN and The Hill also covered Pence's statements. The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah, according to USA TODAY. Fact check: President Trump has not said he will terminate Social Security Story continues Our rating: False We rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research. At least twice Vice President Mike Pence has publicly stated his intention to debate vice presidential nominee Democratic VP pick Kamala Harris on a national stage. This claim is unfounded. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. This fact check is available at IFCNs 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Mike Pence 'can't wait' to debate Kamala Harris Jennifer Aniston revealed that it was 'cathartic' playing a celebrity on her new Apple+ drama series The Morning Show. The 51-year-old became a global superstar in the 1990s as Rachel Green on Friends, decades before portraying a famous news anchor on The Morning Show. 'To actually look at it from an actor brain observing it and acknowledging it, I had to look at it as opposed to pretending it doesnt exist,' she told the Los Angeles Times. 'Observing it': Jennifer Aniston revealed that it was 'cathartic' playing a celebrity on her new Apple+ drama series The Morning Show (pictured) Doing The Morning Show was 'Cathartic, yes, and also interesting for me to look at how I always have tried to normalize being fine and: "everythings great, you know, this is all normal," and then there are moments when you have your private breakdown or your: "Calgon, take me away," moments.' She was referring to a 1970s for Calgon bath powder in which a stressed out woman says: 'Calgon, take me away!' and is then seen basking blissfully in the tub. The Morning Show contains a scene in which her character freaks out en route to a function, then controls herself because crying would spoil her makeup. Jennifer dished: 'There have been moments - not to that level of hysteria - but moments of: "I dont want to f***ing go here," "I dont want to walk out onto the carpet," "I dont want to be seen," "I dont want to be looked at and everyones going to be talking about me and judging me"...thats real.' Throwback: The 51-year-old became a global superstar in the 1990s as Rachel Green on Friends; she is pictured on it in 2003 with Matthew Perry (left) and David Schwimmer (right) She added: 'I just loved being able to walk into it and lean into it and not be ashamed of it, but actually just...it was like..."Ooooooooooh."' In real life the TV icon has lived through personal upheavals in the public eye, including her failed marriages to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux. Her first divorce came with the added wrinkle that Brad infamously left her for Angelina Jolie, whom he is now in the process of divorcing. Jennifer's Morning Show character Alex goes through a marital separation as well, and also has to cope with mothering a college-age daughter. The way they were: The blonde bombshell lived through her personal upheavals in the public eye, including her failed marriages to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux (left) All the while she is struggling to retain her stardom and dealing with the fallout of a #MeToo scandal involving her co-anchor played by Steve Carell. Showrunner Kerry Ehrin revealed that Jennifer was always game when it came to the personally relevant material on The Morning Show. 'I was so moved to tears so many times, just watching behind the monitor and brought to tears at the level of bravery of being that truthful,' said Kerry. 'I know her well enough to know when shes being concerned about what other people think, and she just let everything go. She exorcised a lot of conflict through this character,' revealed the showrunner. Remember when: Her first divorce came with the added wrinkle that Brad infamously left her for movie star Angelina Jolie; Brad and Jen are pictured in 2000 As regards inspiration, Kerry said: 'I do think I glean emotional structure from people and after spending time with her, I felt certain instincts about writing the character.' However she confessed that 'its hard to say whether that comes from a conversation or something I saw 20 years ago that she did.' On the show Alex bristles at the rise of another anchor played by Reese Witherspoon, who famously guest-starred on Friends. Reese appears as Rachel's pampered sister Jill, who is so competitive with her that she makes a play at Rachel's ex Ross (David Schwimmer). EAST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) The group of student protesters marched up the wide roadway overlooking Interstate 280, the megaphones amplifying their voices nearly drowned out by the highway traffic below. Breonna Taylor! Trayvon Martin! George Floyd! Michael Brown! they chanted, listing the names of Black victims of fatal police shootings. The group of about 250 rallied Wednesday to try and ensure that another name receives similar attention: Maurice Gordon, a 28-year-old man killed by police after a traffic stop in southern New Jersey in late May, two days before Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked massive nationwide protests and a renewed dialogue on police use of force. This is happening in our own backyard and elected officials aren't stepping up to bring attention to it, Jamila Davis, the director of an online school who helped organize the students, said. Austin Skelton of Woodbridge, a third-year law student at Villanova, said the Gordon case resonated with him because he had been driving back from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on the same weekend. I have a pretty old car; if I had been stopped, that literally could have been me, said Skelton, who is Black. That's what really stood out to me. State police stopped Gordon, who was from Jamaica and living in Poughkeepsie, New York, while studying chemistry at a community college, for speeding on the Garden State Parkway early on the morning of May 23. On video released by the state attorney generals office, a state trooper can be heard offering to give Gordon a ride and call a tow truck since his car wouldn't start, and asking him several questions. The video shows Gordon sitting in the back of a police vehicle, without handcuffs on for about 20 minutes before he eventually exited the car. A scuffle ensued that wasnt on the video, followed by gunshots. The trooper used pepper spray and fired his handgun six times, according to the attorney generals office. Story continues William O. Wagstaff III, an attorney representing Gordon's family, said Wednesday he has asked the attorney general's office to release the unedited video to the family along with the autopsy and toxicology reports, to no avail. He said he wants an independent investigation of the shooting. The state is playing games and withholding evidence, Wagstaff said. A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with the attorney general's office. Sixteen-year-old Okendell Vincent, a senior at the Cicely L. Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts who wears his hair in dreadlocks as Gordon did, asked the crowd Wednesday: Should any man be treated differently because of the color of his skin or how they wear their hair? No! Because black lives matter." Presidential campaign posters of the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, have flooded social media with the 2023 presidential election... Presidential campaign posters of the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, have flooded social media with the 2023 presidential election only three years away. The posters indicate that the Governor is seeking to contest for the countrys number one position come 2023. The posters carry Fayemis photograph as a contestant on the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC. The campaign poster was sponsored by the Chairman of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Mr Femi Ayodele. The posters have become a subject of political debate on different social media platforms. Fayemi is seen in the posters wearing a sky blue Agbada with a blue striped Awolowo cap. We have some astoundingly beautiful places here on earth. Protecting them, and the ecosystem that sustains them is vitally important to the survival of our planet, and by extension, us. The fight against climate change has seen varying degrees of participation from countries all over the world. The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) serves as a tool to find out the leaders and laggards in climate change mitigation. It also aims to encourage countries to perform better by making it possible to compare the progress made by individual countries in protecting the climate. It also makes international climate politics more transparent. As per the CCPI 2020, Sweden, Denmark, and Morocco are the best performers in climate protection. About The Index The CCPI 2020 ranks countries on the basis of their performance in 14 indicators belonging to four categories. These include energy use, GHG emissions, climate policy, and renewable energy. Interestingly, although the CCPI 2020 evaluated 57 countries and the EU, no country scored high enough to rank among the first three. So, the top three ranks of CCPI 2020 remain blank. Sweden, Leading The Change Wind turbines in Sweden. Image credit: Alexandre Patchine/Shutterstock.com For several years, Sweden has ranked top on many environment protection rankings. In 1972, Sweden was the world's first country to host a UN conference on global environment. Three years earlier in 1967, it also became the first in the world to pass an environmental protection act. Since then, Sweden has always strived to improve the status of its environment by reducing carbon emissions and pollution. Today, over 50% of the country's energy supply is derived from renewable resources. The government of Sweden aims to go fossil fuel free by 2045. The country is also a major hub of environmental research. Morocco Makes Africa Proud The COP22 climate change conference of the UN was held in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016. Image credit: Sibuet Benjamin/Shutterstock.com With a rank of 6, one less than 2019, Morocco is one of the best climate protectors in the world. This North African country is praised for its ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions drastically in the coming decades. The country also achieved considerable success in the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies in 2015. Morocco has also actively advocated on behalf of the least developed nations in international climate change mitigation negotiations. India Leads Asia In Climate Protection Solar power plant installed at high altitude - Laddakh, India. Image credit: Priya Shweta/Shutterstock.com Despite being the world's second most populated country, India seems to be making great strides in fighting off climate change as evident by the country's ranking at the 9th position on the CCPI 2020 list. With abundant natural resources, India has ample opportunities to develop its renewable energy sector like solar power and hydroelectricity. The country is rapidly developing its renewable energy sector while simultaneously attempting to reduce its dependance on fossil fuels. A Long Way To Go Despite all the progress made by countries to mitigate climate change, the goal of holding global temperature rise to 1.5C by 2100 appears difficult to achieve. The UN warns that countries must reduce their cabon emissions by at least 7.6% each year for the next 10 years to make some progress in the right direction. Dr. Kayode Fayemis presidential campaign posters Presidential campaign posters of the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, have caused serious disquiet on social media since it surfaced online. This comes as the 2023 presidential election is just only three years away. The message on the posters with APC logo read, Support His Excellency Dr. John Kayode Fayemi for President 2023. It has been confirmed that the posters was sponsored by the Chairman of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Mr Femi Ayodele. According to TheNation, Mr Ayodele, said he did the posters to show his unalloyed and uncompromising loyalty to Governor Fayemi against insinuation that he was working against him. He said the governor is fit enough for the exalted office considering his array of outstanding credentials, administrative shrewdness and political acumen. He added that Fayemis commitment, resourcefulness and pedigree puts him in good stead to lead Nigeria in the next political dispensation. But when asked about the development, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Fayemi, Yinka Oyebode said his principal did not know anything about the posters. Oyebode, who said the sponsor was only expressing a mere personal opinion, urged the public to discountenance the campaign posters. He added that his principal was focused on governance and how to uplift Ekiti in terms of infrastructural, economic and social development instead of issues around 2023 elections. The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Segun Dipe, had earlier on May 5 denied that Fayemi was nursing a presidential ambition towards 2023. The governors aide said such claim was misrepresentation of Fayemis conduct and personality. Imphal/Kohima, Aug 19 : The Manipur government said on Wednesday that it had earlier requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to make available a copy of the draft agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) to the state government to facilitate it to express its views, an official release said. An official release issued by the Home Department of the Manipur government said that the state government had earlier requested the MHA to make available a copy of the draft agreement with the NSCN-IM to the state government at least one month before the date fixed for consultation so that it may be in a position to express its views and comments. "On the Naga issue, there is no discussion yet between Manipur and the Central government," the release said. According to officials in Nagaland, a nine-member team of NSCN-IM led by its chief negotiator Thuingaleng Muivah has been holding informal talks with the Centre since early last week in New Delhi as a prelude to the formal parleys expected to begin soon. Some significant development on the issue is expected by September. While officials of the Home Ministry and the Nagaland government refused to say anything on the talks, the NSCN-IM delegation has expressed resentment against Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi, who is also the Centre's interlocutor for parleys with various Naga outfits. The NSCN-IM and intelligence sources said that while many of the 31 demands of the Nagas have been almost resolved, differences remain over a separate flag and separate Constitution. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had earlier asserted that the Centre's ongoing peace talks with the NSCN-IM in Delhi won't affect the territorial boundaries of his state. Various civil society organisations in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have strongly voiced their opposition to any decision that affected the territorial boundaries of these states. United Committee Manipur (UCM), one of the influential civil society groups, has again urged the government and state leaders to make their stand clear on the issue. The UCM said it always welcomed the peace process in the north-eastern region but would not compromise on any agreement that affected the territorial integrity of Manipur in any way. In another development, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union has reiterated that there are no Nagas in their state, as claimed by the NSCN-IM, and asserted that any "territorial changes" while finding a solution to the Naga problem would not be tolerated. Nagalim, a long-pending demand of the NSCN-IM for a separate Naga state, encompasses the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar as well as parts of northeastern states bordering Nagaland. The Nagalim map the outfit published a few years back includes Tirap, Changlang, Longding, Anjaw, Lohit, and Namsai districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Student and social organisations in Assam are also opposed to any settlement that affects the territorial boundaries of the state. The NSCN-IM has held a number of rounds of negotiations with the central government in Delhi and even outside India after signing a ceasefire pact in August 1997. The Modi government signed a "framework agreement" with the NSCN-IM in 2015. By PTI KOLKATA: An IIT Kharagpur student staying in its campus on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19, following which the institute decided to seal all the hostels, an official said. The institute had in June asked all students, who got stranded because of lockdown, to leave the campus by June 30 and return two months later for the next semester, but a few of them remained there. The student who was infected with coronavirus was one of them, said the official who does not want to be quoted. "The student was sent to Kolkata," he said without elaborating. The hostel where the student was staying was sanitised, the official said. "All students who are presently staying in the campus must vacate the Halls (hostels) latest by Aug 23, 2020, and proceed to their hometowns," a notice issued by the institute's hall management centre said. Prior to this incident, IIT Kharagpur authorities have decided to ask its students not to come back to the campus for the next semester, the classes for which will be held on-line from September, its Registrar B N Singh said. "The COVID-19 situation is still alarming and we cannot endanger the health of our children. We have asked the guardians not to send their wards to the institute till asked," Singh said. The institute would follow the advisories of the West Bengal and central governments regarding opening of campuses and assess the situation periodically on its own, he said. It may take two-three months more for the students to return to the campus though public transport has partially resumed, Singh said. "However, online classes for the next semester will not be delayed. It will start from September and students will be asked to attend those classes from home," he said. Asked what would happen to those students living in remote areas with poor connectivity or those not having smart phones or computers at home, Singh said, "They will have a way out I think. They can use smart phones of others and avail network facility from a connected place nearby. " Besides, if a student is unable to attend classes due to these issues, he or she would be allowed to have special classes later to clear the backlog after the resumption of campus activities. The institute has around 12,500 students and researches who stay at hostels. COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang, Quang Nam to be under control by late August: Official The spread of COVID-19 in central Da Nang city and Quang Nam province has been gradually contained and the situation is expected to be under control by late August, according to Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long. Deputy Prime Minister Vuc Duc Dam chairs the meeting. (Photo: VNA) At a meeting of the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control in Hanoi on August 18, Long said the number of new infections in Da Nang and Quang Nam has fallen in recent days, from an average of 20 cases a day from August 3 to 9 to about 10 cases from August 10 to 17. New hotspots may still appear nationwide, he warned, and he demanded that all localities remain on high alert to detect new cases in a timely manner, as the sooner infections are found the more effective efforts to stamp out the disease will be. He pointed out that although experts have issued strong warnings, people are not sufficiently vigilant against transmission. He called for dramatic solutions to slow down and limit transmissions, calling on all people to install the Bluezone contact tracing app and the NCOVI health declaration app on their smartphones. Regarding the development of a vaccine, Tran Dac Phu, advisor to Vietnams public health emergency operations centre, said many countries have conducted COVID-19 vaccine tests on animals before conducting human trials. If vaccines used in other countries are imported, Vietnam will not test them on animals but will do so on humans to ensure their effectiveness and safety. This process often lasts between six months and a year or even several years before widespread vaccinations, he noted. Before effective vaccines or specialised medicine are available, people must remain on guard for a long period of time in a spirit of safely adapting to the pandemic, experts have urged. They also proposed warning levels for COVID-19 be raised, especially in major cities and populous regions, while protecting medical facilities, retirement homes, and social protection centres, as well as frontline forces, from transmission. Members of the steering committee asked the Ministry of Health to continue enhancing testing capacity and requested that localities strictly quarantine the more than 100,000 foreign experts and workers entering the country. Asking for more technical solutions to trace high-risk people, they said that aside from encouraging people to use Bluezone and NCOVI, it is also necessary to make it compulsory for foreigners entering Vietnam or those with second- or third-hand contact with confirmed cases to install these apps./. WASHINGTON Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to falsifying a document as part of the bureaus early-stage probe into whether President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government. Clinesmith is the first person criminally charged in an investigation by John Durham, a federal prosecutor tapped to probe mistakes the FBI made when it sought a warrant to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. During a virtual hearing in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Clinesmith admitted to doctoring a CIA email the FBI used in 2017 when it applied to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew its application for a secret wiretap to monitor Page. At the time I believed that the information I was providing in the email was accurate, but I am agreeing that the information I inserted into the email was not originally there, and I inserted that information," Clinesmith said during the hearing. In an August 2016 email, the CIA advised that Page, who is referenced in court documents as Individual #1," had been approved as an operational contact" from 2008 to 2013. When Clinesmith was later asked to confirm this information, he doctored a follow-up email from the CIA to make it appear as though Page was not an agency source, according to the charging documents. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz uncovered the doctored email and in December released a scathing report documenting 17 basic and fundamental" errors and omissions in FBI surveillance warrant applications. Trumps Republican allies have repeatedly pointed to that report as evidence of a wider conspiracy by deep state" government actors to undermine Trump. There was no indication of a broad conspiracy in the charging documents filed against Clinesmith. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg set a sentencing date for Dec. 10. While Clinesmith could face a statutory maximum of five years in prison, the U.S. sentencing guidelines in his case call for a range of zero to six months in prison, Boasberg said. 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 The three women at the center of Sisters in Hate were born in 1979, but thats about all they have in common. Corinna Olsen, from Oregon, has worked as a porn star, a bodybuilder and a professional embalmer. Ayla Stewart grew up in Las Vegas, and before becoming known online as Wife with a Purpose, a Christian stay-at-home mother of six whose broadcasts spew hatred toward anyone whose life choices are different, she flirted with a feminist version of New Age culture that included pagan goddess worship and veganism. Lana Lokteff, once a self-described grunge puppy from the Pacific Northwest, now lives in Charleston, S.C., where she and her Swedish husband run Red Ice, a popular website and radio show that promotes apocalyptic racist propaganda. In emphasizing the specificity of their stories, Darby also underscores that all three women made choices. Its possible to acknowledge the rampant, persistent sexism of the far right while also giving women the credit they deserve. We risk stripping them of responsibility when we suggest that the harm they do is merely a way of coping with their own oppression. Image As we learn more about them, we learn how their choices evolved. Corinna left the movement and even became an F.B.I. informer after realizing that a group she belonged to was planning to commit mass murder. Ayla and Lana cooperated briefly with Darbys reporting before deciding she was a leftist, feminist journalist who couldnt be trusted to adequately portray their continuing commitment to the white supremacist cause. In showing that white nationalism is not monolithic, Darby stresses its supporters agency reminding us that those supporters could always choose to act differently, and sometimes do. What makes such different women vulnerable to the movements hateful propaganda? Darby draws on familiar studies in behavioral science that show the importance of repetition: The more you hear something repeated with conviction, the harder it is to believe it isnt true. Smartly, Darby also suggests that life in contemporary America may be enough to incline a person toward conspiracism. This was true before the current administration. Few Americans know that other wealthy nations not just Scandinavia! take for granted what Americans are lacking: universal health care, paid sick leave, parental leave, guaranteed vacations and other benefits regarded in this country as privileges to be granted, or denied, at employers whims. Even though few Americans know these benefits are elsewhere called rights, their absence creates anxiety, social instability and a floating resentment that can easily turn violent, especially in places where any 18-year-old can buy an assault weapon but not a bottle of beer. But Darby doesnt succumb to the idea that white nationalism is the product of economic insecurity; the statistics are too clear. She quotes the political scientist Ashley Jardina, who found that most white nationalists own houses, have average incomes similar to most whites in the United States, are employed and identify as middle class. (Wed prefer to believe that Nazism too was supported by poor and illiterate masses, but a high percentage of Nazi Party members in Germany had college degrees.) While all three of Darbys subjects were influenced by the lies they ingested on right-wing radio and websites, all three denied they hated the Black people, Jews or Latinos regularly vilified on such sites. Darby writes, White nationalists are posing a challenge: If other groups can rally around their history, why not white people? This is not a stupid question. Darby answers it by saying it promotes a false equivalence, shorn of context, nuance and power disparities. In theory, though, its more effective from a P.R. standpoint than lynchings, cross burnings and slur-filled pamphlets. A US conservative resistance hopes to learn from 2016, when an organised effort to stop Trump fizzled after the primary. For Nancy Shively, a teacher, life-long conservative, and 2016 Trump voter from state of Oklahoma, the last straw was the United States presidents response to the coronavirus. Despite casting her ballot for a Republican presidential candidate every election since she first voted in 1976, Shively, 63, has resolved to support Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Organisers of a coordinated effort to appeal to disillusioned conservatives, lead by members and former members of the Republican Party, hope voters like Nancy will help to make the difference in the upcoming 2020 US presidential election. The Republican Party has long appealed to conservative voters and is one of two major parties along with the liberal Democratic Party that overwhelmingly dominate US politics. In 2016, a similar effort led by so-called Never Trump Republicans, who saw Trump as an existential threat to the country, fell short of ending his presidential bid. I knew Trump was a jerk and he was a misogynist, but like a lot of people that voted for him, I was hopeful that he would have people around him that would curb his impulses but I really did not know the full extent of his pathology until the pandemic, said Shively, a mother of four and grandmother of six. Im pro-life. Its probably why I stayed in the Republican Party as long as I did, she added. But pro-life means all life, not just unborn children, and watching the way Trump has just mishandled the pandemic, and the deaths that have resulted, I care about those lives too. Nancy Shively, who has voted for a Republican in every United States presidential election cycle since 1976, plans to vote for Joe Biden [Al Jazeera] Organisers of this election cycles conservative resistance against Trump hope to learn from 2016, when the coordinated effort largely fizzled after the primary, replaced by a handful of disparate Republican Party members and officials who vowed not to support the then-candidate. This time there is a real organised campaign to stop him in the general election, said Tim Miller, who has worked on Republican presidential campaigns and as the communications director for Our Principles PAC, one of two prominent conservative political action committees (PACs) that sought to end Trumps 2016 White House bid. [In 2016] we had an organised campaign to stop him in the primary, but it was kind of too late and there was no real campaign within the party against him in the general election, he said. Miller is currently the political director of Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), a group that has taken a distinct approach to reaching disillusioned Trump voters by using first-person accounts from other rank-and-file conservatives who have decided to vote against the president. In more than 500 selfie videos collected by the group, including one uploaded by Shively, those voters tell their stories in hopes of building a social support network for Republicans who feel Trump has diverged from the ideals they feel American conservatism represents, Miller said. The videos are being used on social media and in a $10m ad campaign running or soon to run in battleground states North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. This is a must watch, an eloquent take on Trump from a Georgia Republican. "I believe God put him up in for a reason, to show us what our government is lacking and what we are losing. This man has broke us down to the very marrow and exposed our weaknesses." pic.twitter.com/cWD2BBnSgs Republican Voters Against Trump (@RVAT2020) August 4, 2020 Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in the Governance Studies programme at the Brookings Institution, described the 2020 conservative strategy against Trump as much more effective than it was four years ago especially when it comes to appealing to traditionally Republican demographics that have shown the most aversion to Trump, like suburban women. The Never Trumpers, which were always the Republican establishment, are much more sophisticated this time around than they were last time, she told Al Jazeera. They are communicating to Trump voters and to Republican voters by not appealing to elites, but by using the voters own voices. Still, asking a life-long Republican to potentially support a Democrat is an exceptional request in a deeply-partisan country where political affiliation is often intertwined with identity, said Kristopher Purcell, co-chair of 43 Alumni for Biden, a group of over 200 former George W Bush campaign and administration personnel who are explicitly supporting Biden and his vice-presidential running mate Senator Kamala Harris and are targeting suburban voters in swing states. People grow up in parties much like they grow up in a religion or grow up in a certain state, and they feel attached to that, Purcell said. For many people its a difficult bridge to cross. Part of what were doing is saying that its okay to [vote for Biden], he added. Were an organisation who served a conservative Republican president, but were willing to go across the aisle and vote for the Democratic nominee because it is absolutely 100 percent in the best interest of the country. Keep him on his back foot Taking a more antagonist approach in this election cycles conservative resistance is the Lincoln Project, a super PAC that has raised over $19m and attracted wealthy Never Trump industry titans. Their provocative ads are meant to specifically target Trumps psyche, playing on his fast-finger Twitter posts to influence the news the president generates. That way, the president uses his time responding to Lincoln Project ads and not attacking Biden, said Reed Galen, who is a cofounder of the group and who worked under Senator John McCain and former President George W Bush before leaving the party. The groups ad campaigns have questioned Trumps health, suggested his staff constantly talk behind his back, and placed the presidents statements alongside a laugh track. One particularly grim ad, titled Mourning in America, is a dark riff on the famous Ronald Reagan campaign ad Morning in America. What I think weve been able to do is keep him on his back foot. And so that hes constantly trying to figure out how to respond, because we know he doesnt respond well to ridicule and diminishment, Galen told Al Jazeera. A group of RINO Republicans who failed badly 12 years ago, then again 8 years ago, and then got BADLY beaten by me, a political first timer, 4 years ago, have copied (no imagination) the concept of an ad from Ronald Reagan, Morning in America, doing everything possible to. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2020 Lincoln Project ads are also not afraid to use an edginess and iconography that is more martial in nature than many Democratic ads, Galen noted and that may resonate with conservatives used to Republican messaging. Future of the party Underscoring the attempt to defeat Trump is a larger question over the future of the Republican Party, which like the Democratic Party, represents a wide umbrella encompassing many ideological strains. Trumps 2016 win many ways highlighted that two major factions have been uneasily cohabiting for years within the Republican Party, said Thomas Patterson, a professor of government at Harvard Kennedy School. If the Republican Party was a European party in a parliamentary system, it would be made of two parties, said Patterson. What you might call Liberal Republicans , who would be the marketplace Republicans they are much more about business, deregulation, and free markets. Then youd have to the right of them a much more populist, nativist, nation-first kind of party, which is what most of the base at the moment is and [what] Trump represents. Even if Trump loses, his base will remain, Patterson added. That means whether in 2020 or 2024, the Republican Party is on track to face reckoning, said 43 Alumni for Bidens Purcell particularly as the overwhelmingly white and older Republican base faces a demographic cliff in a rapidly diversifying country. Theres no one out there who genuinely knows what that future looks like, said Purcell. Right now, both [Democratic and Republican] parties are pretty well dominated by their bases, and their bases are both moving further and further to the fringes. But in the short term, Purcell added, the group is more concerned with preventing another four years of chaos and corruption and disease and disunion that he says the Trump administration has wrought. Hey, Ill do it Shively said she shares the same goal, describing her discovery of Republican Voters Against Trump as a revelation. I was like, wow, there are actual people who feel the same way as I do, she recalled. I was just astonished because Oklahoma is such a deeply red state, and there are so many Trump supporters here that, you know, you dont really want to out yourself among your social group. When she noticed only one conservative from Oklahoma had uploaded a video to RVATs website, she said she felt a responsibility to act. It made me feel like, if theres anybody else like me out there, and they need this to change their mind, then hey, Ill do it, Shively said. So I sat down with my laptop, and I filmed my video, she said. I call it coming out of the political closet. [August 19, 2020] ICMI's Contact Center Expo Moves to a Virtual Format This October SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), the authority on contact center excellence, is pleased to announce ICMI Contact Center Expo - A Digital Experience taking place online October 13th & 14th, with pre-show virtual training October 6th & 7th. ICMI Contact Center Expo - A Digital Experience is a virtual industry gathering over two days featuring keynotes, interactive sessions, video discussions along with robust networking through AI-powered matchmaking, group chats, roundtables and more. We are very excited to gather the contact center community in moving forward togetheras an industry collectivethrough our interactive and immersive digital experience, said Patty Caron, Event Director, ICMI. ICMI Contact Center Expo provides the perfect platform for attendees to recharge, refocus and reinvent their business strategy as we navigate a new normal in contact center management. ICMI Contact Center Expo - A Digital Experience features: Keynotes High-profile business executives will kick off each day with inspiring and entertaining presentations that draw upon their career experiences. Vice Chairman, Global Wealth Management and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, Carla Harris, will inspire as she shares the key components of positioning yourself to maximize success as a leader. Duncan Wardle will share a famous real-world example from his time as the Head of Innovation and Creativity at The Walt Disney Company, where they found themselves facing challenges brought on not by their direct competitors, but by retail behemoth Amazon, whose lightning-fast fulfillment and delivery systems drastically changed how long consumers were willing to wait to be served. Confernce Program Workshops Choose from 8 half day workshops led by ICMIs top trainers using an interactive, informative and educational online environment. These workshops will be taking place on Tuesday, October 6th and Wednesday, October 7th. Also included is a special bonus workshop with former Disney Executive Duncan Wardle. Video Discussions Reserve your seat for the Pre-show bonus discussions with ICMIs Megan Selva and Andrew Gilliam covering topics such as: Empowering Employees for Extraordinary Times; Celebrating Success and Rewarding Your Remote Workforce; Get the Word Out: Promoting Contact Center Value; Building a Customer-Focused Culture from Afar. Virtual Expo Hall ICMI Contact Center Expo includes a robust virtual expo hall featuring leading solution providers, including Diamond sponsors NICE inContact and Salesforce. Attendees will be able to view demos, meet with exhibitors via text or video chat, attend sponsored sessions, download resources, participate in prize giveaways, and much more! Charitable Efforts Continuing the tradition of giving back, ICMI will donate $1 for each completed post evaluation to the Feeding America network. Feeding America has helped over 54 million people, including 18 million children, gain access to meals during the COVID-19 crisis. ICMI Contact Center Expo: A Digital Experience takes place online October 13th & 14th, with pre-show workshops October 6th & 7th. For more information and to register, go to https://www.icmi.com/contact-center-expo-conference . Media/Analysts interested in attending ICMI Contact Center Expo can apply for media credentials here . About ICMI The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) is the leading global provider of comprehensive resources for customer management professionals -- from frontline agents to executives -- who wish to improve customer experiences and increase efficiencies at every level of the contact center. Since 1985, ICMI has helped more than 50,000 organizations in 167 countries through training, events, consulting, and informational resources. ICMI's experienced and dedicated team of industry insiders, trainers, and consultants are committed to helping you raise the strategic value of your contact center, optimize your operations and improve your customer service. ICMI is brought to you by Informa Tech. About Informa Tech Informa Tech is a market leading provider of integrated research, media, training and events to the global Technology community. We're an international business of more than 600 colleagues, operating in more than 20 markets. Our aim is to inspire the Technology community to design, build and run a better digital world through research, media, training and event brands that inform, educate and connect. Over 7,000 professionals subscribe to our research, with 225,000 delegates attending our events and over 18,000 students participating in our training programs each year, and nearly 4 million people visiting our digital communities each month. Learn more about Informa Tech . Media Contact: Briana Pontremoli Informa Tech briana.pontremoli@informa.com [ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ] a permanent modern scenario: apocalypse loomsand it doesnt occur. Susan Sontag, AIDs and its Metaphors I should not misuse this opportunity to give you a lecture about, say, logic. I call this a misuse, for to explain a scientific matter to you it would need a course of lectures and not an hours paper. Another alternative would have been to give you whats called a popular scientific lecture, that is a lecture intended to make you believe that you understand a thing which actually you dont understand, and to gratify what I believe to be one of the lowest desires of modern people, namely the superficial curiosity about the latest discoveries of science. I rejected these alternatives. Ludwig Wittgenstein, A Lecture on Ethics If youre reading this, then youve probably been called a conspiracy theorist. Also youve been derided and shamed for questioning the science of the Covid debacle. The idea of science is now a badly corrupted idea. In a nation, today, (the USA) which in educational terms ranks 25th globally in science skills and reading, and well below that in math; all one hears is a clarion call to science. In reading skills the US placed below Malta, Portugal, and right about the same as Kazakhstan. But in a nation that no longer reads, and *can* no longer read, it is not surprising that knowledge is absorbed via the new hieroglyphics of gifs (interestingly the creator of gifs wanted it pronounced with a soft g the more to sound like a peanut butter brand) and memes. So-called response memes are the new version of conversation, and most register and communicate (sic) confusion. As beer ad marketers know, the state of your brain after consuming a six pack is pretty much the standard target ideal for advertising. And it relays a message that six pack confusion is actually a good and perhaps even sexy state in which to find oneself. Education is for those with money, those who can afford the proper foundational skills to get into Harvard, MIT, Cal Tech and the Stanford. For everyone else science is Star Trek. But I digress. The point is that most Americans imagine that they revere science, and they ridicule anyone they think of as unscientific. But they think of it in cult terms, really. Its a religion of sorts. The only people who dont are those real religious zealots, Dominionist and Charismatic Christians (like Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Betsy DeVos et al) who hold positions of enormous power in the US government under the least scientific president in history. The Christian right doesnt like any science, ANY science. But for most of that target demographic (the educated mostly white 30%), the cry is to trust the scienceeven the great Greta says to trust the science. The problem is, science is not neutral, its as politicized as media and news and the pronouncements of celebrities. In May 2020, The Lancet published an article revisiting the 1957 and 1968 Influenza pandemics. The 1957 outbreak was not caused by a coronavirusthe first human coronavirus would not be discovered until 1965but by an influenza virus. However, in 1957, no one could be sure that the virus that had been isolated in Hong Kong was a new pandemic strain or simply a descendant of the previous 191819 pandemic influenza virus. The result was that as the UKs weekly death count mounted, peaking at about 600 in the week ending Oct 17, 1957, there were few hysterical tabloid newspaper headlines and no calls for social distancing. Instead, the news cycle was dominated by the Soviet Unions launch of Sputnik and the aftermath of the fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor in the UK. By the time this influenza pandemic known colloquially at the time as Asian flu had concluded the following April, an estimated 20 000 people in the UK and 80 000 citizens in the USA were dead. Worldwide, the pandemic, sparked by a new H2N2 influenza subtype, would result in more than 1 million deaths. To date, Covid 19 has not reached the million death marker in the US And yet we are seeing the most draconian lockdowns in modern history, the total suspension of democratic process and a level of hysteria (especially in the U.S. and UK) unprecedented. I wrote about some aspects of this on my blog here, mostly touching on the cultural effects Allow me to quote The Lancet again. The subsequent 1968 influenza pandemic or Hong Kong flu or Mao flu as some western tabloids dubbed it would have an even more dramatic impact, killing more than 30 000 individuals in the UK and 100 000 people in the USA, with half the deaths among individuals younger than 65 years the reverse of COVID-19 deaths in the current pandemic. Yet, while at the height of the outbreak in December, 1968, The New York Times described the pandemic as one of the worst in the nations history, there were few school closures and businesses, for the most, continued to operate as normal. I remember the 68 Hong Kong flu. I was in my last year of high school. The summer after was Woodstock, the summer of love. Not a lot of social distancing going on. But we are past numbers and statistics having any real meaning. The Covid narrative is now in the realm of allegory. The media perspective is utterly predictable. Liberal outlets that have the inside track to government are seen to be reinforcing the mainstream story (VOX, Slate, Huff Post, The Guardian and Washington Post). In a recent VOX article the message was only a sociopath would NOT wear a mask and that the science was unanimous. Of course its no such thing. But the message of sites like VOX, or Daily Beast, or Wa Po or the truly reprehensible Guardian, are always going to be to hammer away on message. The same is true for what passes for moderate news organs like the NY Times, ABC News, The Hill, and BBC. There has been virtually no dissenting opinions expressed in these rags. All these news outlets are given clear messages by the spin doctors in government, by the White House, and by contacts within the State Department and Pentagon. And by the advertising firms employed by the state (such as Ruder Finn). Ad agencies are not in the business of doing science. Dr. Arnold S. Relman (Madison Ave. Has Growing Role In the Business of Drug Research, NY Times 2002) The WHO, the CDC, and most every other NGO or government agency of any size hires advertising firms. The WHO, which is tied to the United Nations, is a reasonably sinister organization, actually. Just picking up a random publication from the WHO, on what they call the tobacco epidemic and you find on page 33 the following chapter heading Objective: Effective surveillance, monitoring and evaluation systems in place to monitor tobacco use. Reading further and all this is really saying is that the populace of any country is best put under surveillance. Its for their own good, you see. But back to the science. Here is a small trip down memory lane Institutions of medicine, global and national possess no more integrity than your average NGO (Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Oxfam et al). And that means not very much. To understand the nature of institutional corruption one must understand Imperialism. The institutions of Imperialist nations are going to further Imperialist ideology. (see Antonio Gramsci, ideological hegemony). The US is not in the business of helping Americans. Modern monopoly forms better reflect that scientific knowledge, and its advanced application to production, are concentrated, ultimately, not in physical objects but in human beings and human interaction with those objects. It is monopoly of the labour power of the most highly educated workers, by both imperialist states and Multi National Corporations, that forms the ultimate and most stable base of imperialist reproduction. Sam King (Lenins theory of imperialism: a defence of its relevance in the 21st century, MLR) The idea of super-exploitation needs to be conceptually generalised at the necessary level of abstraction and incorporated in the theory of imperialism. Super-exploitation is a specific condition within the capitalist mode of production [] the hidden common essence defining imperialism. he working class of the oppressed nations/Third World/Global South is systematically paid below the value of labour power of the working class of the oppressor nations/First World/Global North. This is not because the Southern working class produces less value, but because it is more oppressed and more exploited. Andy Higginbottom (Structure and Essence in Capital 1, quoted by John Smith Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century) The US jobless rate just hit 2.1 million. Officially. Making the total something over forty million. Its much higher in reality. Nobody has work. There is no work and we are at the start of a period of massive evictions, foreclosures, and delinquencies and the homeless population will soon reach Biblical proportions (in some cities, such as Los Angeles, its already Biblical). Will be simply of a magnitude never before seen. Hence the authoritarian policing of lockdowns in, for example, New Zealand, suggests something like a practice run. The ruling class in western nations knows full well this is coming. And one wonders if its not, in fact, a part of the plan (oh here is where someone says conspiracy theoryprobably Louis Proyect). Yes its a fucking conspiracy theory. It is a theory based on evidence, however. Why are the US and UK and a host of other countries deliberately ensuring a massive depression? Because they care about your health? They are worried we all might catch the flu? Has the US ever demonstrated a concern with your health and well being before? Remember how many discretionary tax dollars go to health care and how much to defense. Conspiracies do occur. The denial of that fact seems to be a hallmark of the pseudo or false left. Does the suspension of democratic process not cause this soft left any problems at all? Look at Sweden, at Belarusno lockdown and no problem. It should be noted that there are a great many terrific doctors in the US. Dedicated and brilliant, often. But they are not the system. The system is run for profit. With about three-fourths of Americans under lockdown, the unintended consequences will be vast. There has been a notable decrease in the number of heart attack and stroke patients arriving at hospitals, presumably because they are afraid of catching the coronavirus or of not finding a hospital bed. As the economy spirals downward, we can also expect an increase in mental health crises, domestic violence and suicides. While lockdown supporters say that to have a functioning economy, we must have good public health, the reverse is also true: To have good public health, we must have a functioning economy. Alex Berezow PhD (Geopolitical Futures, 2020) Alfred Willener wrote an interesting book in 1970, analysing May 68 in France. He analyses the answers students gave to various questionnaires they responded to. The section regarding science is worth quoting. The scandalous fact is that, for all the means that science has put at our disposal, most people live not much better than in the Middle Ages. The system benefits from science in the following way: through the atom bomb, through the power of statistical research, through computers, through the chemical industry being in the hands of the state, through space research. In the end, you realize, concludes one reasonably logical reply, that technological progress, which makes economic growth possible, does not satisfy the fundamental needs of man and is used above all to maintain and strengthen the system. Lastly, I should like to quote one quite unexpected reply, which forms the extreme point of pessimism: Everyone is oppressed by science. Alfred Willener (The Action-Image of Society on Cultural Politicization) I doubt seriously one would get such responses today in any European or North American country. The contemporary indoctrination regards science is acute. And the media abounds in junk science. Click bait science. And this is where most people have their opinions formed for them. There is a paper put out by one of the founders of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, called The Great Reset. The conclusion of the book reads at a global level, if viewed in terms of the global population affected, the corona crisis is (so far) one of the least deadly pandemics the world has experienced over the last 2000 years. In other words, a mortality of .06% is simply not commensurate with the extreme measures the governments of the world (the West in particular) are taking. There is no question, none, that those measures, the lockdown, the masks, the distancing, and the attending *diseases of despair*, will kill more people by a factor of ten than the virus itself. This is not even to begin discussing the psychological harm done, in particular to children. And not just harm to children, but severe harm to the most vulnerable. What is being internalized by children is three fold. One, there is something inherently sick and contagious about ME. Two, everyone MIGHT be a threat to my health. And three, obey authority, because you dont want to end up like those smelly homeless people were are trying to hard to avoid. Children take things personally. They tend to blame themselves. Even in the comparative sanity of Norway, where I reside, children are increasingly anxious about the world. How could they not be? All this for a health risk of .06%. But it is more than just the decimation of the economy in the US and UK. It is a dismantling of the culture. One in three museums closed because of Covid will not re-open. Ever. Where does all that art go? Just a guess but probably very wealthy collectors will gobble it up at wholesale prices. The predictable outcome of these lockdowns, certainly in the US, is a guaranteed minimum income. Very minimum. Restrictions on travel, all freedom of movement in fact, will not soon return to normal. Various forms of surveillance and tracking, as well as health certifications, are the goal of the state. Also, if this pandemic succeeded so well, with so little resistance, why not have another? And there is another aspect to the SWAT mask police, and that is that western society is becoming alarmingly hypochondriacal. Children are kept out of school for runny noses. If all kids with snotty noses were kept out of class, nobody would get an education. There is a dire future of two or three generations now developing and maturing with very weak immune systems. So that if a natural mutation takes place one day, from a Corona virus or any other, a genuinely serious pandemic could kill tens of millions. It is not a speculation that there are people who prosper and even benefit during an economic crisisas smaller business owners struggle, large corporations and banks benefit from huge government subsidies, giving them more power to buy failing small businesses, for example. And it is a fact that many of those people have enormous economic power to shape the policies that can benefit themselves. It is not a speculation that they would appreciate having strict measures of control against the people by limiting their freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to travel, or by installing means of surveillance, check points and official certifications for activities that might give freedom to the people beyond the capitalist framework. It is not a speculation that they would benefit from moving our social interactions to the digital realm, which can commodify our activities as marketable data for the advertising industry, insurance industry and any other moneyed social institutions Including education, political institution, legal institution, and financial institution. Such matters should be seen within the context of the western history being shaped by unelected capitalists with their enormous networks of social institutions. Hiroyuki Hamada (Wrong Kind of Green, April 2020) The collapse of retail is accelerating. This is emerging as a monopolization of retail. Few shops will remain, in fact, except luxury stores in select gated areas. The rest will be online and probably rudimentary. The culture and the economy are being strip-mined and recreated for a select clientele. The collapse of the economy means the collapse of the bottom 90% or so. The very richest men and corporations on the planet are making huge profits. And yet, there are precious few voices of dissent to the master narrative in the US. In Norway, the lockdown was about five weeks. But its a sparsely populated country and one hardly noticed it save for the kids being home and not in school. But schools reopened and the Prime Minister actually made a speech apologizing, in effect, for an *unnecessary* lockdown. She had been frightened. But now, with a mild uptick in positive cases the country is considering stricter limitations on travel. Why? There is no uptick in deaths, only in positive test results. The fact remains the virus attacks the aged and the already sick. But this is very telling, I think. The Norwegian government doesnt want to be seen as disobedient. They dont want to not follow the grand plan provided by western agencies and experts. Even if they seemingly dont really believe it. (The saddest aspect is the voice of Dr. Mads Gilbert, a known advocate for Palestinian rights, who has weighed in on the side of fear. Why? I have no idea. But it is worth noting his predictions from March 2020 were staggeringly wrong.) But clearly the groupthink pressure is powerful and small nations do not want to be singled out for bucking the *science*. There are economic coercions threatened, tacitly, as well. The pressure to conform is huge and it takes a Herculean effort both individually and as a nation, to resist. And *experts* seem to have a hard time admitting they were wrong. The science has been consistently wrong from day one. As I say, this is now allegory. Or fable. There is nothing reasonable or rational in the lockdown measures of the US and UK and NZ. Or anywhere. And this is not even to touch upon the criminality of the Gates Foundation and Bill Gates buying public influence and visibility. Not trained in any medical discipline, Gates has somehow made himself one of the faces of the pandemic. And to deconstruct Gates language is to find a disturbing quality of authoritarian hubris. Gates utters declarations as if he were God speaking to his flock. All from a man who has done little save steal from his partners and exploit the poor of India and Africa. One of the most striking aspects of this whole last few months has been the enormous and coordinated effort the Gates machine has put into rehabilitating his image. If you google Crimes of the Gates Foundation for example, you will get ten different fact-checkers officially denying any crimes and another half dozen articles ridiculing those who question Gates motives, his profit from vaccines, or even his alignment with eugenicists (depopulation adherents) all are derided as, yes, conspiracy theorists. If you dare to question the rushing of an untested vaccine you are called an anti-vaxxer. My children are vaccinated. I just dont like the idea of a hurried untested vaccine produced for a virus that needs no vaccine. And one promoted by a creepy millionaire. But clearly the Gates charm offensive is in overdrive. The pastel cardigan is everywhere. And yet, his favorable rating in recent surveys is around 56%. That is actually not very high given the amount of self-promotion involved. Its better than Mark Zuckerberg and Joe Biden, though. Gates is not likeable. No amount of spin can change that. The final factor to note is the Trump effect. Many liberals would literally rather see dead in the street if it meant discrediting Trump. It is no longer quite a zero sum game, though. But overall the hatred of Trump is now at a religious level, too. And behold, the opposition is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. If you want a window in the black heart of Biden, watch and/or listen to his testimony around the Waco inferno. The inherent sadism and lack of humanity is glaringly apparent. As for Kamala Harris: As a San Francisco social worker, I sat on the school district committee that met with families of chronically truant students. Once, when we asked a student why he didnt go to school, he said there was too much police tape and shootings at his school bus stop. Harris, as CA Attorney General, was putting parents/caregivers in jail if their child was chronically truant. Also as Attorney General, she denied a DNA test to Kevin Cooper, a very likely innocent man who came within hours of execution in 2004. Riva Enteen (Counterpunch Aug. 2020) These are the servants of capital. The left should be emphasising the economic aspect of lockdown because it is the working class who are the principal victims of lockdown. Phil Shannon (Lockdown Skeptics, June 2020) A Downing street tweet today: Were putting tougher measures in place to target serious breaches of coronavirus restrictions. Fines for not wearing a face-covering will double for repeat offences, up to 3,200. This is a class-based assault. The wealthy will not be fined for not wearing a face-covering on their private beaches, or dinner parties at the yacht club. CAMEROUN :: CODE calls once again for justice after journalist Samuel Wazizi's death :: CAMEROON The Collective of Democratic and Patriotic Organizations of Cameroonians in the Diaspora (CODE), extremely concerned about the death of journalist Samuel Wazizi who was imprisoned and died in troubled circumstances on August 17, 2019. Samuel Wazizi, 35, real name Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, English-speaking journalist with CHILLEN MUZIK AND TELEVISION (CMTV) in Buea, arrested on August 2, 2019 was detained at Muea police station before being extradited to an unknown destination. He died on August 17, 2019 (Date communicated by the Cameroonian authorities) during his detention in a secret prison in Yaounde. The Cameroonian defense ministry recently claimed that the journalist died on August 17 - 14 days after his arrest - from severe sepsis at the Yaounde military hospital. On August 17, 2020, one year after Wazizi's death, CODE continues to question the circumstances of his disappearance. Why did it have to take 10 months to reveal his death? Why did they let his lawyer appear fourteen times in court if Samuel Wazizi was already dead? Reporters Without Borders had consulted several photos of the journalist taken in Yaounde on August 13, 2019. There he presents numerous injuries and inflammations in his foot, hand and shoulder which legitimately allow us to suspect acts of torture inflicted in the previous days . The Cameroonian authorities were responsible for his life and safety while in detention and must provide a full account of the circumstances of his detention and death. On June 5, the French ambassador to Cameroon told the media that President Paul Biya had assured him that an investigation would be opened into Wazizi's death. For CODE, under national and international human rights law, Cameroonian authorities have an obligation to establish responsibilities for each death that occurs in detention. As we said in one of our previous press releases on the same subject, for CODE, failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible would violate Cameroon's obligations to protect people from arbitrary detention and deprivation of life and provide an effective remedy CODE urges the Cameroonian government to set up an independent and impartial commission of inquiry that includes credible civil society organizations. CODE invites national and international organizations for the promotion of human rights to launch an international campaign for the safety and freedom of exercise of journalists in Cameroon and against the impunity of those responsible for the violations and intimidations recorded by several social organizations. Cameroonian civilians. Done in Brussels on 08/17/2020 For the Operational Alert Unit Ophilia Bih http://lecode.canalblog.com comitedecoordinationcode@yahoo.fr Amplification: - National and international press - Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon - Cameroonian political parties - National and international organizations for the defense and promotion of human rights - Journalists' rights organizations In recent years, some judges have been willing to curtail demolition orders, in some cases directing that only the accused attackers own room be destroyed or filled with foam to prevent damage to surrounding structures. And several judges have staked out limits to the practice, halting those they say were ordered too long after the fact and those not proportional to alleged offenses. Dr. Lonnie Johnson might be one of the most brilliant inventors of our time. The scientist and engineer is responsible for over 100 patents, including a thermoelectric energy converter and a thin film lithium battery. But his most famous invention? One of the best toys of the 20th century, the Super Soaker. And it came to existence all thanks to an accidental discovery. It was all thanks to an accident When I came up for the idea for the water gun, I was working on something else, Johnson recalls. I was working on a new idea for a heat pump that would use water as a working fluid instead of Freon. At the time, there was concern about how the continuous use of Freon would impact the environment, so Johnson set out to see if he could develop a refrigeration system that used water, instead. I was experimenting with some nozzles that I machined, and I shot a stream of water across the bathroom and I thought, Geez, maybe I should put this hard science stuff aside and work on something fun like a water gun. Maybe I could get enough money to support my habit, Johnson recalls. This wasnt the engineers first foray into toy-making. When I was a kid, I always wanted to make a better toy, something I enjoyed playing with, he remembers. Lonnie Johnson, inventor of Super Soaker, a large plastic pump-action water gun, holding his invention & its U.S. patent while sitting on grass outside his home. (Thomas S. England/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images) He had been making toys since he was a kid One of his earliest toy creations was building chinaberry guns with his friends using a mop and hollowed-out bamboo tubing. This would foreshadow a later (very popular) invention. That was actually the first Nerf gun, before Nerf came out, Johnson says. I was using compressed air to shoot chinaberries. Oh, did we mention that he also invented the Nerf gun? Some of my most famous patents are for the Nerf guns and Super Soakers, Johnson says. For the N-Strike Nerf product line, those guns were all based on my patents Super Soaker, of course, that entire line started as a result of my invention. Johnson considers himself a lifelong tinkerer. Ive been an inventor, I think, for all my life, Johnson says. Ever since I was a small kid, I used to tinker and make little toys and things I built a go-cart, windmills, just a lot, rockets. He grew up in Alabama in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement One of his proudest inventions to date is a robot he built in high school. Johnson attended the all-black Williamson High School in Mobile, Alabama, and presented his robotnamed Linexat a local Junior Engineering science fair held at the University of Alabama. His team represented the only black school at the fair. The year was 1968, only five years after a federal district court ordered the University of Alabama to admit black students Vivian Malone and James Hood. Governor George Wallace, who earlier that year had declared, Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever, stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium, causing a showdown with federal authorities. When I grew up in Alabama back then, everything was still very segregated, Johnson recalls. The people that I interacted with on a daily basis were primarily black, my teachers were all black, so racism and being treated unfairly was never a part of my daily activity or consideration. So, when we went to the University of Alabama, that was a totally different environment, everyone there was white except for us, and the fact that I was there with my robot to me was a victory in itself. That wasnt the only victory he would walk away with that dayJohnson and Linex were awarded first place. He attended Tuskegee University on a scholarship After high school, Johnson attended Tuskegee University, graduating with a bachelors in mechanical engineering and a masters in nuclear engineering. One of his first jobs after school was at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, working on cooling systems for nuclear reactors. I was working alongside a guy who had the same level of engineering I had, he had a masters degree and he had graduated from Penn State and he was white, of course, Johnson remembers. And, it turns out, I was doing a better job than he was. Since then, Ive always felt very good about my education at Tuskegee. Johnson went on to join the Air Force, which would eventually lead him to his time at NASA. Computer picture showing the Galileo Spacecraft, which at the time was scheduled to pass above the planet Jupiter in December 1995. (AFP via Getty Images) He worked on the Galileo spacecraft that was sent to Jupiter After I had done some analysis for the Air Force, I predicted some things that NASA had gone on record to say could not happen, Johnson says. I proved NASAs prediction to be not totally accurate, thats when I got offered the job at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and there I went to work on the Galileo spacecraft as a power systems engineer. During his time at NASA, he developed a pivotal power supply mechanism for the Galileo spacecraft that was deployed to study Jupiter and its moons. It was an invention that my fellow engineers said would not work, Johnson remembers. I got that working, got that on the spacecraft, and many of them came up to me to apologize for the things they were saying about my idea That to me was a major moral victory, to think, Ive arrived, now Im a real engineer. An in-flight overview of the B-2 bomber on its fifth test flight in an undated photo. (USAF/Getty Images) He spent days working on the Stealth Bomber, and nights on the Super Soaker It was also around that time that he got the initial idea for the Super Soaker. Johnson left NASA to go back to active duty with the Air Force, all the while tinkering with water gun prototypes. That was when I was working on the water gun in my basement after work in the evenings, Johnson remembers. Then, I left there and went out to Edwards Air Force Base, worked on the Stealth Bomber program back when it was highly classified, and nobody knew that it existed. I actually couldnt tell my wife what I was working on in the daytime, it was that top secret. While Johnsons creative and technical genius may strike at any time, there is a lot that goes into taking a spark of discovery and turning it into something that is ready for the world. From the time I got the idea for the Super Soaker, it took about seven years before I found a path to get it commercialized, Johnson recalls. Then, it was about 10 years from the time I got the idea to the time it became the No. 1 selling toy in the world. Its a story of perseverance. There were a few Super Soaker prototypes that were never sold So, were there any Super Soaker ideas that didnt make it? I developed a system where after youve finished shooting the gun, you could just stick it into a pool of water or a bucket and press a button and it would automatically suck the water in and youre good to go again, Johnson remembers. It was a quick refill, self-refilling water gun. That one really never made it to the market. Today, Johnson is working to encourage students to pursue their interests in STEM. He has partnered with 100 Black Men of Atlanta and FIRST Robotics to introduce more students to engineering and technology. One of the things I really relate to is people saw my interest in engineering very early and they nurtured that, they cultivated that, Johnson remembers. I think the earlier we can get kids interested and the more we can give positive feedback as opposed to criticism, the more likely we are to see kids grow up to be successful, I believe very strongly in that. He is also continuing to tinker with new inventions with his team at Johnson Battery Technologies. Today, he is working on a project with NASA Inventing is what I do, Johnson says. He is currently working with NASA on a heat-to-electric energy converter, as well as working on a lithium-air battery, which, if successful, Johnson believes could have the capacity to hold 10 times the energy of a lithium ion battery. Still, he knows that people will forever remember him for his contributions to their childhood. I find it curious that people seem to make a big fuss about me and the Super Soaker and Im still trying to get used to that, Johnson says. I come to work, I try to invent and develop new things to solve problems. Theres an expression that says, Need is the mother of invention, so I look for really good problems to solve. Thats what I do. CNN Wire contributed to this report. By Associated Press UNITED NATIONS: After a resounding defeat in the UN Security Council, the United States is poised to call for the United Nations to reimpose sanctions on Iran under a rarely used diplomatic maneuver a move that is likely to further isolate the Trump administration and may set off a credibility crisis for the United Nations. The sanctions had been eased under the 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump withdrew from two years ago. But last week the US lost its long-shot bid to indefinitely extend an international arms embargo on Iran and has now moved to a new diplomatic line of attack. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to travel to New York on Thursday to notify the Security Council president that the United States is invoking the snapback mechanism in the council's resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal. It allows participants to demand the restoration of all UN sanctions in a complicated procedure that cannot be blocked by a veto. The State Department is expected to announce Pompeos travel plans on Wednesday, but he and Trump have made no secret of their intention to invoke snapback, especially since their attempt to extend the arms embargo suffered an embarrassing defeat last Friday. The US won just one other yes vote, with China and Russia opposed and the 11 other members abstaining. Just like the arms embargo extension, the administration's snapback plan is bitterly opposed by China and Russia as well as the other Security Council members, including US allies Britain and France, and could set the stage for a battle over the legitimacy of the UN 's most powerful body. Alone among the council's 15 members, the US argues that as an original participant in the nuclear deal it retains the right to demand restoration of sanctions. The others, which still support the deal, maintain the US lost that standing when Trump pulled out of the accord in 2018, but it isn't clear if they can stop the invocation of snapback through technical procedural means. The US argument is highly controversial. It has been ridiculed by the Chinese, Russians and Europeans, and not even the biggest Iran hawks in the United States all agree with it. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, no slouch when it comes to anti-Iran positions, has long said that the US lost its snapback standing when it withdrew from the deal and that moving ahead is not worth the damage it could do to US veto power in the council. In a stunningly rare moment of agreement, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif praised Bolton this week. "At least he is consistent a trait notably absent in this US administration, Zarif tweeted. And, former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, a top Obama administration negotiator of the nuclear agreement, said: It was never expected that someone who withdrew from the (deal) would have standing to in fact bring the snapback provision. Thus, the administration's insistence on moving ahead has set the stage for a contentious dispute and the possibility that the US call would simply be ignored by other UN members. That outcome would potentially call into question the Security Council's ability to enforce its own legally binding decisions. Under the terms of Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrined the nuclear deal and to which the US remains a party, the invocation of snapback for significant Iranian noncompliance starts a 30-day clock during which the council must vote affirmatively to continue the sanctions relief that Iran was given in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Pompeo is expected to present evidence of significant noncompliance, likely the latest reports of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday. Iran does not deny violating some terms of the deal but says its actions have been forced by the US withdrawal and the Trump administration's reimposition of US sanctions. As envisioned by the Obama administration, which led the negotiations that culminated in the nuclear deal, the United States or any other permanent member of the council could use its veto to block the continuation of sanctions relief. In theory, that would result in the reimposition of sanctions. But whether any other council member will respond to the US move by introducing a resolution to extend sanctions relief is an open question. Some UN experts believe the others will just ignore the Americans, leaving the Trump administration in the possible position of having to introduce its own resolution to extend sanctions relief for the sole purpose of vetoing it. We dont know if any country will do that," said Richard Gowan, the UN director of the International Crisis Group. If the general view of the council is that the US doesnt have standing, its quite possible that no council member will even engage at that level. The US could actually table a resolution of its own and then veto it, just to show that it is going through the procedural motions, although that would look a little bit farcical," Gowan said. The fifth and final volume of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election landed with a reverberating thud, adding yet more to the din and rancor that has made this year's election unlike any previous one. Weighing in at 966 pages, the report released on August 18 adds a final chapter to a 3 1/2-year effort to understand the full scope of what the U.S. intelligence community said was a campaign ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin to interfere in the U.S. election on behalf of Donald Trump. That issue has shadowed Trump's presidency since before he took office, and the bipartisan Senate effort is considered as close to an authoritative accounting of that campaign as is possible in a fractured, partisan Washington, D.C. The report offers no new bombshell revelations: many of the details have trickled out over time in media accounts and political reports. Among other things, it concludes that in 2016, Russian intelligence agencies saw members of the Trump campaign as easy targets for disinformation and that some Trump advisers were, in fact, willing to accept help from Russia. Members of the Republican-led committee spun the overall conclusions differently: Republicans said it definitively showed that Trump did not collude with Russia to win the election. Democrats said it showed the exact opposite. That disconnect makes it unlikely the report will bridge the partisan chasm. But the final Senate volume, based on tens of thousands of classified documents and interviews with more than 200 witnesses, resonates in other ways, complementing other overlapping investigations, such as the 448-page criminal inquiry by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It offers a detailed look at some of the characters and entities who had recurring appearances throughout the narrative of Russian election interference. Here are some key highlights. Who Is Konstantin Kilimnik? The Senate report spends many pages examining the work of Paul Manafort, a longtime Republican operative, lobbyist, and campaign insider who became Trump's campaign chairman in 2016. Manafort had worked for years prior in Ukraine and was responsible for helping to resurrect the political career of Viktor Yanukovych, who was elected president in 2010 after losing the presidential race in 2004. Revelations about Manafort's consulting and lobbying work in Ukraine resulted in him being fired by the Trump campaign in August 2016 and the extent of that work was largely exposed when he was prosecuted on fraud and financial crimes by Mueller's investigators. During the trial that ended with Manafort's conviction, the murky world of Ukrainian oligarchs and political parties was brought into sharp relief. Senate investigators focused in part on one of Manafort's right-hand men: a Ukrainian-Russian named Konstantin Kilimnik, who ran Manafort's office in Ukraine. Previous reporting and investigations have examined Kilimnik's background, suggesting he might be a Russian intelligence agent; Mueller's investigators concluded he had links to intelligence agencies. He was trained in languages at a Moscow institute linked to both the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU and earlier, the Soviet KGB. The Senate report states it outright: "Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer," it says. "Kilimnik likely served as a channel to Manafort for Russian intelligence services, and that those services likely sought to exploit Manafort's access to gain insight into the [Trump] campaign," the report says. "Taken as a whole, Manafort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik, represented a grave counterintelligence threat." Senate investigators also said they found information that Kilimnik, whose name appears more than 800 times in the report, may have been connected to the hacking-and-leaking operation overseen by the GRU. That operation involved stealing e-mails from top Democratic officials and then leaking them, likely via the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks. But the evidence used to reach that conclusion was redacted in the report, making it impossible to glean insights about those ties. Even after the 2016 election that was won by Trump, and amid growing concerns about the scope of Russia's interference, Manafort continued working with Kilimnik, the report found, to undermine U.S. intelligence conclusions and to spread false information that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that had interfered. After being indicted by Mueller's prosecutors in June 2018 on obstruction-of-justice charges, Kilimnik kept a lower profile. However, the report says, he used an alias to create a Twitter account where he offered commentary, in English, on Ukraine, U.S. politics, and other matters. He is believed to be living in Russia now. Oleg Deripaska For many years, Manafort worked with, and for, politically connected Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. A billionaire whose fortune comes from investments in aluminum, energy, construction, and agriculture, Deripaska in 2004 introduced Manafort to some of the Ukrainian business leaders who went on to fund Manafort's political work on behalf Yanukovych. Senate investigators pulled no punches in all but describing Deripaska as an agent for the Russian government. "Since at least the time he hired Paul Manafort in approximately 2004, Oleg Deripaska has acted as a proxy for the Russian state and Russian intelligence services. Deripaska has managed and financed influence operations on the Kremlin's behalf," the report says. "Deripaska's activities include Kremlin-approved and -directed active measures -- including information operations and election interference efforts -- conducted to install pro-Kremlin regimes and strengthen Kremlin-aligned power brokers across the globe," it says. Manafort was a key player in these efforts on behalf of Deripaska and the work later broadened beyond Ukraine: "This included a political influence program which Deripaska financed. As part of this program, Manafort worked on influence efforts in Central Asia, Cyprus, Georgia, Guinea, Montenegro, and elsewhere in Europe," the report says. Deripaska's Kremlin connections netted him a United Nations passport that enabled him to travel to the United States, where he had been blocked from getting a visa for years due to suspicions about ties to organized crime. One of his top aides involved in some of the Russian influence efforts was identified as Viktor Boyarkin, a GRU officer. "Other Deripaska employees beyond Boyarkin and Kilimnik are also connected to GRU influence operations, suggesting Deripaska's operations are thoroughly integrated into Kremlin influence operations planning," the report says. Gun Rights In May 2016, a 28-year-old woman from the Siberian city of Barnaul named Maria Butina moved to Washington, D.C., to enroll in graduate school at American University. Back in Russia, she had successfully built a gun-rights organization, and she had befriended influential Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Torshin. Together, the two sought to use growing relationships with the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA), as a springboard to build ties with important Republicans in Washington and elsewhere. Butina and Torshin, the report says, "engaged in a multiyear influence campaign and intelligence-gathering effort targeting the NRA, the Republican Party, and conservative U.S. political organizations for the benefit of the Russian government. "Their goal was to develop and use back-channel communications to influence U.S. policy outside of the formal diplomatic process to Russia's advantage and to the detriment of the United States," it says. On several occasions, Butina and Torshin attempted to negotiate meetings for themselves with Trump and between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin," the report says. "The committee found that Ms. Butina and her associates had told the campaign that they wanted to establish a communications back channel between the United States and Russia, outside of normal diplomatic channels," it says. "Trump campaign associates did not notify national security officials about those overtures." In April 2018, under questioning by the committee, Butina said her Russian gun-rights group had been funded by Konstantin Nikolayev, a Russian billionaire. The report says Nikolayev had ties both to the Kremlin and Russian security services. Three months after her committee meeting, Butina was arrested by the FBI and charged with working as a foreign agent on behalf of Russia. In December 2018, she pleaded guilty and served nine months in U.S. prison before being deported to Russia. Veselnitskaya And Magnitsky In June 2016 -- five months before U.S. election day -- a lawyer with known connections to the Russian prosecutor-general attended a meeting at Trump Tower attended by Manafort, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and other top campaign officials. The lawyer was Natalya Veselnitskaya, and the meeting had been organized by an intermediary, with the promise that Veselnitskaya would deliver documents that would incriminate Trump's Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to testimony, the meeting ended up being seen as a waste of time in the end by the Trump campaign officials after Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin a Russian-American lobbyist based in Washington, D.C., who accompanied her, instead brought up the 2012 U.S. human rights law known as the Magnitsky Act The information that Veselnitskaya offered "was part of a broader influence operation targeting the United States that was coordinated, at least in part, with elements of the Russian government," the report says. As it happens, Veselnitskaya had traveled to the United States as part of her legal work for a Russian businessman whom U.S. authorities had accused of using laundered Russian money to buy Manhattan real estate. The stolen money had first been uncovered by a Russian whistle-blowing lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky, and his death in a Russian jail led to the passage of the Magnitsky Act -- which Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin were trying to unravel. In January 2019, U.S. authorities indicted Veselnitskaya on obstruction of justice related to her legal work for the Russian businessman, accusing her of secretly cooperating with the Russian prosecutor-general's office. Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin, the report says, "have significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services." "The connections the Committee uncovered, particularly regarding Veselnitskaya, were far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known, and neither Veselnitskaya nor Akhmetshin were forthcoming with the Committee regarding those connections," it says. Akhmetshin had already gained some notoriety around Washington. Some was due to his work organizing the screening of a documentary film that sought to undermine the facts about the death of Magnitsky and the tax fraud Magnitsky uncovered. But he was known for years prior for work he had done on behalf of Kazakh opposition figures, as well. 'Putin's Favorite Congressman' Two months before the Trump Tower meeting, Representative Dana Rohrabacher traveled to Moscow on a trip that included other members of Congress and staff members. A California Republican known as an iconoclast, Rohrabacher had been years earlier dubbed "Putin's favorite congressman" due to his pro-Russian sympathies and he openly expressed admiration for Putin. In Moscow, Rohrabacher and his aide, Paul Behrends, separated from the main group to attend a meeting with Vladimir Yakunin, the former president of the state-owned company Russian Railways and the president of a Berlin-based nongovernmental organization called the Dialogue of Civilizations. Yakunin was also a longtime confidant of Putin, and, two years earlier, had been hit with financial sanctions by the United States after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. According to the Senate report, Yakunin asked Rohrabacher if he would be interested in a report by the Russian prosecutors' office on the Magnitsky case. Rohrabacher agreed, and at a later meeting with Konstantin Kosachyov, a top Russian lawmaker who was later put under sanctions by the United States, he was handed documents that related to the Magnitsky case. The Senate investigators compared the documents given to Rohrabacher and one that Veselnitskaya had when she attended the Trump Tower meeting two months later and found "the organization and substance of the two documents are similar, and parts of the two documents are nearly, or completely, identical." Rohrabacher was defeated in his bid for reelection in 2018 after his Democrat opponent hammered him for being overly sympathetic to Russia and "meeting with Russian operatives." " " Governor Blanco speaks at a press brefing at the Office of Emergency Management about Hurricane Katrina, while then-FEMA Director Michael Brown looks on. Photo courtesy Jocelyn Augustino / FEMA The post-Katrina finger pointing makes it difficult to see who was really to blame for the slow and inadequate response to the Gulf Coast. Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, and Kathleen Blanco, governor of Louisiana, blamed FEMA and the federal government. Michael Brown, head of FEMA at the time of the disaster, blamed "dysfunctional" Louisiana. Brown resigned not long afterwards. Later it was revealed that he planned to resign before Katrina hit, which Senator Susan M. Collins says "may explain in part his curious detachment during the Katrina catastrophe" [ref]. Ultimately, no agency is free from blame. Federal budget cuts left New Orleans vulnerable to a storm that everyone knew may hit someday. Local officials could have done more to help evacuate people who were unable to get out themselves, such as the elderly, the sick and the poor. FEMA could have been quicker to respond. Contacted by Governor Blanco the night the hurricane hit, President Bush did not respond with immediate aid. According to Newsweek, "there are a number of steps Bush could have taken, short of a full-scale federal takeover, like ordering the military to take over the pitiful and (by now) largely broken emergency communications system throughout the region. But the president, who was in San Diego preparing to give a speech the next day on the war in Iraq, went to bed" [ref]. Advertisement FEMA could have allowed outside agencies to provide aid faster. There are numerous stories of city officials, police departments and volunteer groups who were ready and waiting to go to New Orleans to provide immediate aid, but were turned away by FEMA officials for bureaucratic reasons. There's really no one person to blame -- disaster relief efforts seem to have failed from top to bottom. To learn more about FEMA and related topics, check out the links on the next page. Conspiracy Theories To some people, FEMA's incompetence is the least of the agency's crimes. These theorists believe that FEMA is part of a government conspiracy to take military control of the nation and enslave the American people. They claim that FEMA's creation was unconstitutional, and that FEMA has the power to take control of entire states with a simple disaster declaration. FEMA's budget supposedly includes billions of dollars secretly directed to unknown projects and purposes. Wilder claims include a secret bunker in Mount Weather in West Virginia, where an entire government has been set up to take control of the country. Some theorists claim that closed military bases will be used as prison camps for Americans deemed a threat to the new government. Are the allegations true? There's no definitive proof, and it's hard to imagine what this shadowy government would stand to gain from taking control of all aspects of the country and imprisoning millions of citizens. However, even the craziest conspiracy theories start with a grain of truth. Perhaps FEMA can be easily granted too much control in poorly defined situations. Read More Sorry! This content is not available in your region The aircraft is part of the Russian Federation's Special Flight Squadron. A Tu-214PU aircraft belonging to Russia's FSB Federal Security Service has arrived in the city of Minsk, Belarus, amid ongoing protests across that country. "A few minutes ago, a Tu-214PU (serial number 523, registration number RA-64523) belonging to the Russian FSB landed in Minsk. Presumably, this is a special communications plane, designed to fly in a circle around certain points during field visits of the Russian Federation's top officials," the Belarusian Telegram channel NEXTA Live said late on Tuesday. The aircraft arrived from Moscow. According to Novaya Gazeta, the aircraft, which belongs to Russia's Special Flight Squadron, may have been used by Russian FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov. In 2015, when Bortnikov took part in a summit on countering extremism in Washington, D.C., the same plane had reportedly arrived in the U.S. capital. Belarus protests in brief If you think about toxic industrial waste sites, the first place that probably comes to mind is Albertas tarsands, or maybe the infamous Love Canal in New York state. But what about Elmira? That sweet little town, home to one of the biggest maple syrup festivals in the world, has been saddled with a toxic legacy dating back to the 1940s. The town has had to contend with a chemical soup that has poisoned air, land, and water. Companies have changed names and changed ownership over the years, and there are disputes about who is responsible for the pollution, but the contaminants in and around Elmira include both agricultural and military-industrial chemicals such as NDMA, DDT, Agent Orange and the dioxins it contains, fertilizers, pesticides, lindane and hundreds more. The worst kind of threat is the one you cant actually see, making it easy to forget and easy to deny theres a danger. A new documentary, Toxic Time Bomb from Sheba Films, reveals that, despite the reduction and management of some on-site contamination over the past 30 years, so much more still needs to be done. How long should it take to clean up industrial contamination of land, air and water? Who should pay for that cleanup? After all this time, its hard not to share Elmira environmental activist Alan Marshalls cynicism that its cheaper to hire lawyers than clean up a toxic industrial site. Susan Bryant is one of a handful of committed environmental advocates in Elmira since the towns municipal well was shut down in 1989 from chemical contamination. She still serves on the committee thats supposed to be dealing with the cleanup. But time, multiple changes in company ownership, and government turnover have taken their toll. As Bryant says, Now when I sit at the table, theres one person that remembers the water crisis in the early days none at the ministry, just me with a historical memory from those early days. Thats a terrible responsibility. Elmira is still riddled with toxic waste that makes its way downstream to other communities. Its in the Canagagigue Creek that feeds into the Grand River, which is the source of at least 20 per cent of Waterloo Regions drinking water. In 2015, DDT levels in the creek were 2,900 times higher than allowed. The sides of the creek were shored up by contaminated soil that continues to erode into the creek and into the sediment of the creekbed. The single bright spot is that, based on the creeks normal movement, a number of toxic hot spots have been identified where dioxins and DDT have settled in. Based on their size and known location, they need to be scooped up, as it were, and taken to a hazardous waste facility. Contamination from waste lagoons and buried drums on the factory site also spread into the shallow aquifer underground and into the creek. And then, you guessed it, that contamination flowed downstream into the Grand River and our drinking water. Documentaries like Toxic Time Bomb make sure we remember, as do books such as former Record environmental reporter Bob Burtts No Guardians at the Gate. Cleanup is obviously a huge, expensive undertaking. Canadian Consulting Engineer has a reasonable summary of work thats been done so far. But after 30 years on this issue, multiple changes in company ownership, environmental assessments and meetings, Marshalls cynicism surfaces again: the time frame for cleanup seems more like a waiting game for the activists to die off drag it out and delay, delay, delay We should all be livid that industries can quietly contaminate our air, water and land for decades and then walk away or sell without cleaning up their mess. It is even more infuriating when cleanup gets caught up in bureaucracy. The Ministry of the Environment now requires a risk assessment for impacts on human health and wildlife by the current owner, Lanxess, for the known toxic hot spots on Canagagigue Creek. There is no question that we want this ministry to serve as a guardian and protector, but after the province cut most legislation that provides environmental protection, what can we expect from this risk assessment? When will companies finally be held fully responsible for their egregious actions? Another engaged Elmira resident, Susan Rupert, says that we need cradle-to-grave responsibility for products we produce in our communities. I couldnt agree more. Until then we need to support and be grateful for the committed few who continue to be persistent and keep asking the questions. My question is: what is the health impact on the people drinking Elmiras funny-tasting water before the well was shut down? By PTI WASHINGTON: The United States will always be "faithful friends" to the people of India, the White House said on Wednesday, reiterating that America is eager to strengthen ties between the two countries. "We congratulate our friends in India who recently celebrated their Independence Day," the National Security Council of the White House said in a tweet on the occasion of India's 74th Independence Day, which was recently celebrated across the US by people of Indian origin and friends of India. We congratulate our friends in #India who recently celebrated their Independence Day. As @realDonaldTrump said during his visit to India in February, America is eager to strengthen ties between our two countries, and will always be faithful friends to the people of India. NSC (@WHNSC) August 19, 2020 As President Donald Trump said during his visit to India in February, "America is eager to strengthen ties between our two countries, and will always be faithful friends to the people of India," it said. The NSC tweet was re-tweeted by Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate Indian Caucus. Early this week, a senior administration official from the NSC said that the Trump Administration has elevated the US relationship with India and solidified its growing partnership in ways not seen in any other US administration. During President Trump's historic visit to India in February, he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi elevated the relationship to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Prime Minister Modi was also one of the first foreign leaders to visit the White House after President Trump took office. The two leaders have also spoken side-by-side at two major events - "Howdy, Modi" in September 2019 in Houston, Texas before a crowd of over 55,000 and again at "Namaste, Trump" in February 2020 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to address a crowd of 110,000. "These gatherings boosted our people-to-people ties and highlighted the warm personal relationship between the two leaders," said the official. According to the official, Trump has prioritized the US-India relationship and worked to expand all facets of the partnership over the last three and half years. "Given the two countries' democratic foundations and our mutual interests in rebuilding the global economy following COVID-19, diversifying global supply chains, and ensuring the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open, President Trump will continue to build this critical partnership in the years to come," the official. The National Security Council of the White House on Wednesday also greeted Afghanistan and Pakistan on the occasion of their recent Independence Day. The soldiers sang and danced before handing over small arms in the village of Kashuga. Almost 500 fighters from a faction of one the largest armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have surrendered to the government just over a month after they attempted to overthrow the groups leader. Soldiers from the NDC-R, a rebel group seen as having close ties with the national army, sang and danced before handing over an assortment of small arms at a ceremony on Monday in the village of Kashuga, about 75km (46 miles) north of Goma. Fighting has raged between two factions of the NDC-R since July 9 when a group loyal to deputy leader Gilbert Bwira Shuo attempted to overthrow leader Shimiray Guidon, who is the target of UN sanctions, accusing him of human-rights abuses. As you have just consented to become a government soldier, each of you come and lay down your weapon, Bwira told the group of fighters. Before the split, the NDC-R controlled vast areas of North Kivu province near the border of Rwanda and Uganda. It earned money from the illicit gold trade and was frequently accused of being used by the army as a proxy force against other armed groups. Today, we think its time for us to surrender, lay down our arms and take part in the pacification of the country, said spokesman Desire Ngabo Kisuba. The surrender does not necessarily mean an end to their involvement in rebel fighting, said Christoph Vogel, a researcher at Ghent University in Belgium, adding that there was a big risk that the combatants might take up arms again after a year or two. Thats been happening many, many times across eastern Congo over the past 20 years, Vogel said. Kade Wabo, a Kashuga resident who watched the ceremony, said he remained wary of the group but was glad to see them lay down their weapons. They killed my son the day before yesterday, Wabo said. But now we are very relieved. Germany's leader points out to massive violations at polling stations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union member states do not recognize the results of the presidential election in Belarus. "The elections were neither fair, nor free, and for this reason the result of these elections cannot be recognized," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the end of a special meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, according to Deutsche Welle. Read alsoAmendments must be passed within law Lukashenko on new Constitution According to her, there is no doubt that there were massive violations during the voting. The EU also condemned the violence against protesters and called for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus. Merkel added there is the need for a national dialogue in the country, which is proposed by the Belarusian opposition. Belarus protests in brief New Delhi: The national capital recorded 1398 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of coronavirus cases to 1,56,139, according to the health bulletin of the Delhi government. Nine patients died due to coronavirus and the total death count now reached 4235. In the last 24 hours, 1320 people got cured, while the number of people who have been cured of COVID-19 now increased to 1,40,767. There are 11137 active coronavirus cases in Delhi, while 5377 patients are in home isolation. In the last 24 hours, the national capital has conducted 20,815 tests--RTPCR 6317, Antigen- 14,498. A total of 13,58,189 tests have been conducted in Delhi so far. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded 1,374 fresh COVID-19 cases pushing the city's total caseload to over 1.54 lakh, while the death toll rose to 4,226. The total number of cases reported in the national city so far stood at 1,54,741, while the recovery rate was 90.11 percent, and the positivity rate stood at 6.77 percent. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) today decided to open hotels in the city but Gymnasiums will remain closed for the time being. The authorities also decided to reopen weekly markets on a trial basis. The proposal to open gyms was not approved in the meeting headed by Lt Governor Anil Baijal. The LG said gyms can be allowed to open in the coming days. The weekly markets will be first opened on a trial basis to assess the situation on the ground, the sources added. Hotels, weekly markets, and gyms were closed in the city with the announcement of the lockdown in March due to coronavirus pandemic. Karol Bagh Hotel Association thanked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for reopening hotels in the national capital. "We would like to thank you on behalf of the entire Karol Bagh hotel industry for granting us permission to reopen our hotels. We appreciate the pains taken by your good self in helping us in the same regard. We are always there for your support," the Association stated. - Government announces end to 5-month ban on legal tobacco sales - BAT resumes selling in South Africa to trade partners on 17th August LONDON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The South African government is to end its near five-month ban on the sale of tobacco products. The decision was announced by the South African President on Saturday, as part of the government's decision to move from Lockdown Level 3 to Level 2. Luciano Comin, BAT's Regional Director Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa said: "We are pleased with the South African Government's decision to move from Lockdown Level 3 to Level 2 and thereby end the ban on tobacco sales. We will resume our business in South Africa whilst continuing to await the outcome of our recent legal case." BAT's South African subsidiary, the largest tobacco manufacturer in South Africa, started shipping tobacco products to trade partners on Monday 17th August with products becoming available for smokers to buy in-store from Tuesday 18th August. NOTES TO EDITORS About BAT BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business, established in 1902. Our purpose is to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for our consumers. The company has announced a target of increasing the number of its non-combustible product consumers from 11 million to 50 million by 2030; and to achieve at least 5 billion in New Categories revenues in by 2025. FTI Consulting BAT_SC@FTIconsulting.com 07703329964 / 07793041987 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/785820/British_American_Tobacco_Logo.jpg GREELEY, Colo., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Board (FCLB) added changes to its regulatory guidance along with new continuing education courses explicitly aimed to help chiropractors keep themselves and their patients safe from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and viruses. PACE - Providers of Approved Continuing Education "In the early days of the virus, the FCLB swiftly affirmed that chiropractic doctors are essential healthcare providers and moved to help state boards assert this position to their respective state governors and healthcare leaders," said Dr. Karlos Boghosian, president, FCLB. "Following FCLB's advocacy, some states re-evaluated their position regarding chiropractors as essential health care workers." On March 28th, the US Department of Homeland Security CISA formally identified chiropractors as essential care providers. In April 2020, the State of Colorado issued a proclamation naming April 24, 2020, as Colorado Chiropractic Regulation Day. The proclamation was awarded in acknowledgment of the FCLB mission to protect the public by promoting excellence in chiropractic regulation. In support of chiropractic state boards' efforts to help chiropractors communicate with patients, the FCLB created resources for use by boards and chiropractic professionals. These resources included a video discussing steps boards and chiropractors should take to understand their specific state requirements, restrictions, and advice when re-opening clinics or serving patients during the global pandemic. "PACE (Providers of Approved Continuing Education) Providers moved swiftly to add unique continuing education courses that address the COVID-19 virus," added Boghosian. "Courses include clinical considerations for COVID-19, preparing clinical support staff for working in a COVID-19 environment, and regulatory instruction on how to implement telehealth platforms during and post COVID-19." The FCLB worked directly with state licensing boards to distribute information on industry best practices in telehealth. FCLB reminds practitioners that proper telehealth structure follows HIPPA compliances, including secure patient messaging, electronic health records, patient scheduling, and records application. Furthermore, the best practices emphasize using computers with HIPPA compliant security requirements that perform synchronous video capability. "FCLB works with state chiropractic boards to maintain continuity and regulations particular to the health and safety of patients. It is advised that practitioners seek guidance from their state licensing board and their malpractice carriers regarding telehealth requirements," concluded Boghosian. About the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Board The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose membership is comprised of the United States chiropractic licensing boards, specific Canadian provincial registration boards, and the chiropractic licensing board of New Zealand. FCLB lessens burdens on state government by providing programs and services to its membership. Dr. Karlos Boghosian is the current President of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards. Contact: Perry Athanason 9173192126 [email protected] SOURCE Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards Related Links http://www.fclb.org Ramon Timothy Lopez, 28, died on August 4 after struggling with police in Phoenix Police in Phoenix have released bodycam and surveillance footage that shows the incidents surrounding the controversial in-custody death of a man who was held by officers on hot asphalt for six minutes. Ramon Timothy Lopez, 28, died on August 4 after struggling with police while being arrested. His cause of death and toxicology results are still pending with the medical examiner. Civil rights advocates have already raised concern about the video, which shows officers grappling with Lopez on the street as he resisted. The temperature at 10.30am that day was 99 degrees in Phoenix, and blacktop can reach 40 to 60 degrees hotter than the atmospheric temperature. 'Another failure of Phoenix PD to serve and protect! When will officers learn that excessive force is ALWAYS wrong?!' tweeted Ben Crump, the attorney for the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others killed in police interactions. After responding to a 911 call regarding his bizarre behavior, an officer confronted Lopez (left) outside a convenience store. Lopez threw a stolen drink at him and ran away Officers grappled with Lopez for more than five minutes, and say he had 'super strength' The incident unfolded on August 4, 2020 at 10.30am near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road, when a woman called 911, concerned about a suspicious man making obscene gestures and looking into cars. 'He's kind of acting funny, he's over there sticking his tongue out. I don't know what's wrong with him,' the caller said. She also told the dispatcher the man had ripped shorts on and was 'holding his private parts.' The first officer arrived at the scene and saw the man matching the caller's description, later identified as Lopez. As the officer drove toward Lopez, he ran from the officer through the parking lot before tripping onto the sidewalk. Surveillance video shows Lopez apparently fix his shoe and once again stand up and run across the street. Lopez then enters a convenience store and steals a drink from inside. As he's leaving the store, the officer drives up. Lopez throws some of the drink onto the officer and runs away into traffic on 51st Avenue. While the officer followed Lopez, the man continued throwing the drink onto the officer, who chased him and tackled him in the roadway. While the first officer attempted to arrest Lopez, two additional officers arrived to assist For several minutes, the three cops grappled with Lopez, attempting to restrain him The temperature at 10.30am that day was 99 degrees in Phoenix, and blacktop can reach 40 to 60 degrees hotter than the atmospheric temperature While the first officer attempted to arrest Lopez, two additional officers arrived to assist. For several minutes, the three cops grappled with Lopez, attempting to restrain him, and were finally able to get him in handcuffs and leg restraints to stop him from kicking. An incident report said Lopez had 'super strength,' which made it 'very difficult to gain control of him, according to Arizona Republic. The cops arresting him believed his arm may have been broken in the struggle, but say he showed know pain or reaction on his face when they heard his bones pop. After Lopez was restrained, the cops called for fire personnel to give him a health check, using the code '237' in the radio transmissions, the code is used to describe illegal drugs. In this case, the officer believed that Lopez was under the influence of illegal drugs due to his erratic behavior. According to KNXV-TV, Lopez's girlfriend, Evangelina Rodriguez, said that Lopez had paranoid schizophrenia. Court records show he has a history of arrests for charges including criminal damage, resisting arrest, and probation violations. After more than five minutes on the asphalt, the cops moved Lopez to the back seat of a patrol car to get him out of the street, and drove him to a nearby parking lot to wait for paramedics. The drive took about a minute, and when they arrived, Lopez was unresponsive in the back seat. Cops believed Lopez was on drugs due to his bizarre behavior. His girlfriend said that Lopez had paranoid schizophrenia Lopez was pulled from the back of a police car after he was found unresponsive Police tried to wake him and poured water over his head. Fire personnel arrived and took over medical treatment The video shows the cops took him out of the police vehicle, trying to wake him and provide him water. Fire personnel arrived and took over medical treatment. Lopez was later pronounced deceased by medical personnel at a nearby hospital. The cause of death will be determined by the Office of the Medical Examiner. Police say that an internal investigation by the Phoenix Police Professional Standards Bureau is underway along with a separate criminal investigation by the homicide unit. Findings will be turned over to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review. Irvine, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 -- A robust, low-cost imaging platform utilizing lab-on-a-chip technology created by University of California, Irvine scientists may be available for rapid coronavirus diagnostic and antibody testing throughout the nation by the end of the year. The UCI system can go a long way toward the deployment of a vaccine for COVID-19 and toward reopening the economy, as both require widespread testing for the virus and its antibodies. So far, antibody testing in the U.S. has been too inaccurate or expensive to reach the necessary numbers. But UCI investigators Weian Zhao, Per Niklas Hedde, Enrico Gratton and Philip Felgner believe that their new technology can help accelerate the testing process quickly and affordably. Their discovery appears in the journal Lab on a Chip, which is published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. "We need to test millions of people a day, and we're very far from that," said Hedde, a project scientist in pharmaceutical sciences and the study's lead author. "This accurate testing platform enables public health officers to implement individualized mitigation strategies that are needed to safely reopen the country and economy." How it works Using blood from a finger prick, the UCI test probes hundreds of antibody responses to 14 respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, in a mere two to four hours. Identifying responses to viral infections with symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 will keep hospitals clear of patients with standard colds and flus. The results are printed on a low-cost imaging platform. The TinyArray imager combines a 3D-printed prototype with an off-the-shelf LED and a small 5-megapixel camera to find markers for many antibodies simultaneously. This ensures accuracy equal to that of expensive imaging systems but makes the platform portable enough to deploy anywhere - at a cost of only $200. The same device can also process the results of commonly used nose swab tests for SARS-CoV-2 so that patients can be tested for COVID-19 and its antibodies on a single platform. Currently, most antibody tests only check for one or two antigens, the foreign substances that cause the body to produce antibodies. "A month or two ago, testing was kind of regarded as the Wild West," said Zhao, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences, adding that most SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests are "just not accurate." Systems that test for the full range of antibodies necessary for reliable results require imaging machines that cost $10,000 to $100,000 and are too bulky for widespread use. Areas without the resources to acquire one of these machines have to send their samples to external labs for testing, meaning that results take days instead of hours. Big impact Large-scale testing will determine what percentage of the population had COVID-19 but never showed symptoms, which will have a big impact on public health and reopening decisions. "What if it turns out that a larger percentage of the people in a community have already contracted the virus?" Zhao said. "This means you are closer to accomplishing herd immunity." And understanding what antibodies are produced and how long they last will be key in developing an effective vaccine and administering the right dosage. This may be critical for years to come if the virus mutates, requiring updates much like yearly flu vaccinations. The UCI team has already completed 5,000 tests in Orange County, and the final goal is to test 20,000 samples per unit a day. The researchers are partnering with UCI startups Velox Biosystems Inc. and Nanommune Inc. to scale up production. They expect that the TinyArray imager will be ready to deploy across the U.S. by the end of 2020 and are working with scientists in Uruguay, Russia and Thailand to develop similar systems for their nations. "This would be great for a low-income country," Hedde said. "Because the device's materials are cheap and easy to obtain, the platform is easy to manufacture and use in low-resource areas, making testing accessible on a world scale." ### Aarti Jain, Rie Nakajima, Rafael Ramiro de Assis, Trevor Pearce, Algis Jasinskas and Saahir Khan of UCI along with Timothy Abram and Melody Toosky of Velox Biosystems participated in the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants P41 GM103540 and R01 AI117061) and a UCI CRAFT-COVID grant. About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu. Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 09:30 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066efe009 1 Politics Saraswati-Djojohadikusumo,oligarchy,Siti-Nur-Azizah,politics,2020-regional-elections,millennials,candidates,Gibran-Rakabuming-Raka,Bobby-Nasution Free The 2020 simultaneous regional elections are shaping up to be unpredictable competitions that will feature several young, high-profile and politically wired candidates who are just entering politics and will seek to woo voters at the ballot, underscoring concerns over the lack of an established political party system to nominate candidates based on merit. President Joko Jokowi Widodos eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka has finally obtained the blessing of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to run for the upcoming mayoral race in Surakarta, Central Java, this December alongside the PDI-Ps Surakarta branch secretary Teguh Prakosa. Gibrans nomination was secured after weeks of tensions between the ruling partys central board and its Surakarta branch. The local chairman, incumbent Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo, previously planned to nominate his deputy Achmad Prakosa to the top position alongside Teguh as part of the selection process for the election. Read also: Gibran, exception to PDI-Ps own rules Instead, Rudy had to announce that Gibran and Teguh were on the ticket. Gibran is not the only figure in the Presidents closest circle to compete in the upcoming elections. Jokowis son-in-law Bobby Afif Nasution has also been nominated by the PDI-P to compete in the mayoral race in Medan, North Sumatra, alongside Gerindra Party politician Aulia Rahman. As part of his nomination, Bobby also received support from the Golkar Party, Nasdem Party, Hanura Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). Meanwhile, the upcoming mayoral race in South Tangerang, Banten, will see Rayahu Saras Saraswati Djojohadikusumo, niece of the current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, face off against the daughter of Vice President Maruf Amin, Siti Nur Azizah. Saras, a politician from Gerindra, will run for deputy mayor alongside the citys current administrative secretary, Muhamad, while Azizah will run as mayoral candidate alongside her chosen deputy Ruhama Ben, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician. In Kediri, East Java, the son of Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Hanindhito Himawan Pramono, will also be vying for a spot as regent. He is pairing up with Dewi Maria Ulfa, leader of Kediri regencys Fatayat Nahdlatul Ulama, the womens wing of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Many of these politically wired candidates will be going into politics for the first time, while others have held various roles in the local bureaucracy or as legislators. But they will be eyeing powerful positions in the upcoming regional elections that are to be held on Dec. 9. One thing is certain: political analysts say that the current crop of election candidates reflects the continued relevance of political dynasties in Indonesias democracy, with some suggesting that the situation also reflects the lack of a meritocracy in the political party system, particularly as it relates to regeneration and the candidate-selection process. Our political structure is oligarchic and [allows for the flourishing of] political dynasties. It is no wonder that the names that have showed up [as candidates] come from those whose families are in power, said Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin. Read also: Millennials are taking over politics, but just not the right kind For what it is worth, Ujang said the upcoming elections would draw up the political battle lines between political parties as they prepare for the next presidential election in 2024. If political parties have a firmer grip on certain regions, this could further pave their way [to win] in 2024, he said, noting that parties would often rely on regional leaders to leverage their opportunities in subsequent elections, owing to their access to resources, to the bureaucracy and other networks that can be mobilized to secure electoral victory. The December regional elections will be held simultaneously in 270 regions across Indonesia to elect nine governors, 224 regents and 37 mayors. Voters, meanwhile, seem unimpressed by the continued sprawl of political dynasties in the country. In a survey conducted between July 27 and 29 by the research and development department of Kompas daily, some 60 percent of respondents were unhappy with the existence of political dynasties, while another 28.2 percent regarded it as a normal aspect of politics. Some 553 respondents aged 17 years or above in 145 cities and regencies across Indonesia were surveyed by the news outlet. Read also: Many Indonesians fed up with political dynasties: 'Kompas' survey The President has been the recipient of recent criticism for his failure to address the problem of oligarchies, which continue to hold their grip on the political process. However, the Jokowi administration has also set the tone for more involvement by the younger generation, which is poised to dominate much of public life in the next couple of decades in a phenomenon the President likes to call the demographic bonus or dividend. Meanwhile, political scientist Djayadi Hanan from Paramadina University said that while Indonesias current electoral system seems to have opened the doors for candidates from a younger generation of politicians to compete in elections, there was also much less room for them to run in high-cost competitions to elect regional executives. Candidates also need to find their own sources of funding [to run in the regional elections]. In that context, the hurdle is higher for millennials, whose financial capacity is yet to reach its peak, said Djayadi. Sebastian Vettel is expected to announce in Belgium next week that he will sign for Racing Point next season, which will continue under the name Aston Martin from 2021. The German will then most likely take Sergio Perez's seat, as Lance Stroll will bring a lot of money to the team. The Mexican himself, however, does not expect the switch. Because Lawrence Stroll has a lot of influence on the team, Perez's position is most at risk. However, he doesn't see it that way himself. "I won't make room either, I hope so," Perez explains to Sky Sports. "At the moment, everything indicates that I'll continue with the team, so we'll see what happens." Fast end to rumors The Mexican missed two races at Silverstone and was back in Spain after a mandatory two-week break. With a fifth place he achieved a good result, but it certainly doesn't ensure that Perez stays with the team. Because Vettel has to leave Ferrari, the German is looking for other possibilities. There are a lot of rumours going around that he is going to make the switch to Racing Point, after there were already rumours that he would go to Mercedes or Red Bull Racing. According to Perez, those rumors will soon come to an end. "I feel pretty confident about my seat and I expect it's only a matter of time before all the rumours can go away," Perez said. Archaeologists on the Channel Islands have discovered some of the earliest Stone Age art ever found in northern Europe. The discovery is of huge importance not only from a prehistoric art perspective, but also because it strongly implies that the remains of a long-lost art-producing Stone Age culture may well lie hidden from view at the bottom of the English Channel. The art, discovered on the Channel Islands, probably portrays animals as well as abstract patterns. But the site at Les Varines, near St Helier on Jersey is also producing evidence of a very substantial Stone Age encampment, involved in the production of spears and other hunting equipment. The animals, probably portrayed on the sites newly discovered art, appear to include three mammoths and a horse. Both species would have been attracted to what would then have been the biggest river system in Europe the now long-vanished so-called Channel River which existed where the English Channel is now. Whats more, the particular Stone Age culture (known as the Magdalenian), which produced the newly discovered art on Jersey, is known from elsewhere in western Europe to have mainly lived and hunted in river valleys. Increasingly, archaeologists are beginning to more fully appreciate the importance of drowned landscapes in the story of Britain. A depiction of a wild-cow-type animal, found at the Jersey site. Around 13,000-13,500 BC. The photograph shows the 9cm diameter stone plaque and the many lines/images engraved on it. The drawing simply isolates the depiction of the animal, so that one can see it as an individual creature (S Bello/Natural History Museum) (S.Bello/Natural History Museum) Indeed, just a few weeks ago, archaeological investigations revealed how a massive Tsunami devastated Stone Age communities in areas now covered by the North Sea. Now the new discovery on Jersey raises the probability that dozens of major Stone Age sites (some probably featuring prehistoric art) are waiting to be discovered at the bottom of the English Channel. The Jersey site has only been found because it was on high enough ground not to be inundated by rising sea levels during the formation of the Channel. It therefore offers the first ever glimpse of what is likely to exist on or under the seabed itself. So far, the Jersey site has yielded thousands of flint artefacts (including spearheads and antler-and-bone-working tools), at least three large hearths, evidence of cooking and feasting, three mysterious circular worked stones and dozens of fragments of up to 7 stone plaques (covered with abstract or figurative art). It is likely that the encampment was home to a sizeable community, consisting of several dozen individuals. A depiction of the rear part of a wild horse, found at the Jersey site. Around 13,000-13,500 BC. The photograph shows a plaque fragment and the many lines/images engraved on it. The drawing simply isolates the depiction of the horse, so that one can see it as an individual animal (S Bello/Natural History Museum) The site also has implications for the story of Stone Age Britain itself. The border between continental Europe and Britain at this period was the Channel River. Obviously it was less of an obstacle than its successor waterway the English Channel. But it was still a very substantial barrier probably between three and six miles wide. As such, it was comparable to the current width of parts of the modern Amazon. In that era it would have been one of the widest rivers in the world. At the time that the Jersey site was flourishing (at some stage between 13,000 and 13,500 BC, Britain is currently thought to have been uninhabited. First of all, the Channel River was a major barrier and, secondly, Britain was probably too cold for any year-round occupation. However, if the Channel River valley was an important and resource-rich area of human activity at this period (as suggested by the Jersey site and some other evidence), then it is possible that what is now southern Britain was visited by Jersey/Channel River valley hunters at a time when Britain is thought to have been uninhabited. The 15,000 year old Jersey site being excavated (Ice Age Island) Its currently believed that what is now Britain had no human residents between around 29,000 BC and around 12,800 BC. But the Jersey discovery and its Channel River implications raise the possibility that Britain may have been receiving human visitors hundreds of years before that latter date. At present, the earliest known post 29,000 BC reoccupation of Britain is represented by archaeological evidence at Cheddar in Somerset, Pixies Hole and Kents Cavern (both in Devon), Creswell Crags on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border and in King Arthurs Cave (in Herefordshire) all dating from between 12,800 BC and 12,500 BC. But all those sites are associated with a Stone Age culture that originated in north-west Europe and arrived in Britain via the lands now covered by the North sea (ie not from Jersey/Normandy). Scientific analysis of the flint used by the Jersey artists is due to be carried out and it is conceivable that some of it could have been brought to Jersey from Normandy or from the Channel River valley or indeed potentially even from southern Britain The most complete Stone Age plaque, found at the Jersey site (Natural History Museum) The prehistoric art discovered on Jersey is, in many ways, of a completely different nature to Europes most famous Stone Age art. The best-known Palaeolithic art was created on the walls of caves (in places like the Dordogne and northern Spain). By contrast, the Jersey art is on small stone plaques each one perhaps just 5 to 15 cm across. The Jersey site has produced one almost complete example (broken into two pieces) and fragments of up to 6 others. The nearest other site producing quantities of art-covered plaques is in the French Ardennes 280 miles to the east. But its not just the size and mobile nature of the Jersey art that makes it different from cave art. It is also its social context and its apparent function. Cave art was usually not created within living areas, whereas the plaques were. Whats more, plaques (both at the Jersey site and elsewhere in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain) often seem to have been deliberately broken by their makers. Whether that was to prevent other people seeing them or as some sort of ritual or magical exercise (related to hunting the animals, etc portrayed) is not known. Whats more, one of the Jersey plaques may also feature a human face an extremely rare subject in the art of that period. The images and designs portrayed on the Jersey plaques have been extremely difficult to interpret because the Stone Age artists used the same plaques to do multiple episodes of engraving. Each episodes artistic production was typically superimposed directly on top of the previous episodes artworks, thus making it very difficult for the archaeologists to disentangle the different images and designs. It appears that the actual act of engraving an image or pattern was considered much more important than its clarity or appearance and that the stone plaques on which the artworks were inscribed were also perceived as having special though very temporary significance. The interpretation work on the Jersey art has been carried out by Dr Silvia Bello of Londons Natural History Museum. The excavation of the site and analysis of all the finds has been carried out by a team of scientists from nine UK institutions the Universities of Newcastle, York, St Andrews, Strathclyde, Liverpool and Wales, as well as Londons Institute of Archaeology (part of University College London), the British Museum and the Natural History Museum. The research has been led by archaeologist Dr Chantal Conneller of the Newcastle University. These engraved stone fragments provide exciting and rare evidence of artistic expression at what was the farthest edge of the Magdalenian world. The people at Les Varines are likely to have been pioneer colonisers of the region and creating engraved objects at new settlements may have been a way of creating symbolic relationships with new places, she said Dr Ed Blinkhorn, senior geoarchaeologist at University College London and Director of Excavations at the site, said that the plaques were tricky to pick apart from the natural geology at the site every stone needed turning. Their discovery amongst hearths, pits, paving, specialist tools, and thousands of flints shows that creating art was an important part of the Magdalenian pioneer toolkit, as much at camp as within caves, he said. The research took place as part of the Ice Age Island project, funded by Jersey Heritage, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries, the British Museum and the Calleva Fundation and is published today in the on-line science journal, PLOS ONE. BALTIMORE, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Transamerica announced today that the Aegon Transamerica Foundation has approved a grant of $250,000 to United Way of East Central Iowa to support recovery efforts after a powerful line of storms, known as a derecho, swept through the Midwest on August 10. The storm caused significant damage to homes and buildings and left more than a million people without power. Cedar Rapidshome to many Transamerica employeeswas among the hardest-hit areas. The Aegon Transamerica Foundation's work in Cedar Rapids is consistent with its mission to support the communities where the company's employees live and work. Transamerica has supported United Way of East Central Iowa for many years, including a recent contribution of $50,000 toward the organization's COVID-19 CARE Fund. United Way has proven to have the necessary resources to direct timely assistance to where it is needed most, and the ability to help speed the recovery of the communities hardest hit by the storm. Transamerica will also match up to $250,000 in employee donations made to the East Central Iowa chapter of United Way. This effort is in addition to the company's annual matching contributions program for employees who wish to donate to the United Way. "Transamerica has long been a part of the Cedar Rapids community and our hearts go out to those affected by this devastating and unexpected storm. We are proud to support United Way of East Central Iowa as they assist Iowans who are now struggling as a result of the derecho," said Jay Orlandi, Chief Operating Officer for Transamerica. "Our support of recovery efforts in Cedar Rapids reflects our values as a company and demonstrates our profound commitment to our communities. Our employees in Cedar Rapids have shown incredible resiliency in the face of such great adversity, and we are grateful for their strength and patience as we move through this together." About Transamerica With a history that dates back more than 100 years, Transamerica is recognized as a leading provider of life insurance, retirement and investment solutions, serving millions of customers throughout the United States. Recognizing the necessity of health and wellness during peak working life, Transamerica's dedicated professionals work to help people take the steps necessary to live better today so they can worry less about tomorrow. Transamerica serves nearly every customer segment, providing a broad range of quality life insurance and investment products, individual and group pension plans, as well as asset management services. In 2019, Transamerica fulfilled its promises to customers, paying more than $50 billion in insurance, retirement, and annuity claims and benefits, including return of annuity premiums paid by the customer. Transamerica is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, with other major operations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Denver, Colorado. Transamerica is part of the Aegon group of companies. Based in the Netherlands, Aegon is one of the world's largest providers of life insurance, pension solutions and asset management products, operating in more than 20 markets worldwide. For the full year of 2019, Aegon managed over $1 trillion in revenue generating investments. For more information, please visit www.transamerica.com. About United Way of East Central Iowa United Way of East Central Iowa (UWECI) is a nonprofit organization and the second largest United Way in Iowa. Together, UWECI and its partners serve Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, and Linn Counties to help meet the community's most critical needs in education, financial stability, and health. For more information, visit www.uweci.org. Media inquiries: [email protected] Julie Quinlan (303) 383-5923 SOURCE Transamerica Related Links http://www.transamerica.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC PINK: MXROF) (FSE: M1D2) ("Max" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has closed a non-brokered private placement financing for total gross proceeds of CAD $1,050,000 (the "Placement"). The Company has allotted and issued 10,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of CAD $0.105 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share and one warrant (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share for a period of one (1) year at a price of CAD $0.14 per share. In addition, the Company has paid finder's fees totaling $20,300.70 and issued an aggregate 193,340 finder's warrants (the "Finders Warrants") to arm's-length parties. Each Finders Warrant is exercisable into one common share for a period of up to one (1) year at a price of CAD $0.14 per share. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Placement towards exploration expenditures and for general working capital purposes. All securities issued under the Placement will be subject to a four-month and one-day hold period expiring December 20, 2020. The Placement remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company further announces an amendment to the shares for debt transaction previously announced on May 8, 2020 whereas the Company has issued an additional 120,000 common shares at a price of $0.10 per share to settle debt totaling $12,000 to an arm's-length party. CESAR Stratabound Copper-Silver Project - Overview The wholly-owned CESAR project in north east Colombia lies along a 120-kilometre sediment-hosted copper-silver belt that resembles the Kupferschiefer in Poland. The CESAR region enjoys major infrastructure. Mining operations include Cerrejon, the largest coal mine in Latin America, jointly owned by global miners BHP Billiton, XStrata and Anglo American. Story continues Important highlights and exploration activity on multiple fronts: AM North consists of a broad 11-kilometre continuous zone of stratabound copper-silver mineralization and is open in all directions. The copper-silver zone also contains a high-grade area with varying intervals grading 4.0 to 34.4% copper + 28 to 305 g/t silver (July 29, 2020). Two bulk samples extracted from each end of the 1.8-km discovery horizon, returned 10.5% copper +79 g/t silver and 3.5 % copper + 29 g/t silver (May 21, 2020). The AM South zone occurs 40-km SSW of the AM North zone, within the same mineralized trend. The copper-silver zone extends over an area of 4-kilometres by 3-kilometres, and remains opens laterally. The cumulative strike length of the open-ended AM South horizons exceeds 5.8-kilometres, returning highlight values of 5.8% copper and 80 g/t silver from 0.1 to 25-metre intervals, suggesting significant size for these horizons (July 14, 2020). The Fathom Geophysics initial results from the technical study are expected soon. This study is funded by the Company together one of the world's leading copper producers. These studies focus on mapping stratigraphic features, distinct rock types and alteration-zones, which will assist in highlighting stratabound copper-silver mineral horizons over the CESAR target zone (May 13, 2020); Geochemical and metallurgical programs by the University of Science and Technology ("AGH") of Krakow, Poland are well underway (May 26, 2020). AGH will bring to the CESAR project their extensive knowledge of KGHM's world renowned Kupferschiefer copper-silver deposits in Poland; Ongoing structural analysis of the CESAR target zone is being conducted by Ingenieria Geologica Universidad Nacional de Colombia ("IGUN") in Medellin, with the assistance of the Max field team; In respect to the CESAR project, the Company has entered two non-exclusive confidentially agreements; the first with one of the world's leading copper producers (May 13, 2020) and a second with a Global Miner (July 21,2020); The in-country exploration team has now renewed field activities. Our in-country field team is now mapping, sampling and confirming the continuity of the mineralized horizons and expanding the zones of AM North and AM South. EBAY Palladium-Platinum Project - Summary The EBAY palladium-platinum project, located 30-km SE of Matagami in the Abitibi Region of Quebec, Canada, is underlain by the Archean Bell River Complex, a layered mafic intrusion measuring 65-km by 15-km and 5-km thick. Max has entered into an Option Agreement pursuant to which the Company may acquire a 100% interest of EBAY (May 12, 2020). Highlight exploration of ballast pit sampling between 2000 to 2008 returned: 4.9 g/t palladium-platinum from a 4 to 5-metre wide zone; 3 g/t palladium + 1.4 g/t platinum + 0.12 rhodium in 2005; 2.5 g/t palladium-platinum from a newly discovered 500-metre long zone in 2006. The Company cautions investors that grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of mineralization. EBAY drilling in 2006 intersected 1.90 g/t palladium-platinum over 3-metres from 80.5 to 83.5-metres. Further drilling discovered a new zone comprising 600-metres of strike, 120-metres deep, 6.7 to 31.1-metres wide, open in all directions, with highlight values of 2.52 g/t palladium-platinum. Subsequent aero-magnetic survey extended the target zone to 4.8-km of strike (March 25, 2020). Choco Platinum Gold Project - Summary CHOCO gold-platinum project (250 sq.km) is located 120-km SW of Medellin Colombia, within a district with historical production of 1.5Mozs of gold and 1.0Mozs of platinum (1906-1990) by Choco Pacific Mining. Compilation of historical records revealed the potential for related PGE's particularly palladium and rhodium. In addition, recent field work in 2019 by Max resulted in concentrate values of 114 g/t platinum and 341 g/t gold (April 16, 2019). Source: R.J. Fletcher and Associates (2011) Review of Gold and Platinum Exploration and Production in Choco Province Colombia Part 3. Private Report for Condo to Platinum NL. About Max Resource Corp. With its successful exploration and management team, Max Resource Corp. is advancing its stratabound Kupferschiefer type copper-silver project in Colombia, that has potential for the delineation of large-scale mineral deposits attractive to major partners. Tim Henneberry, P Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource Advisory Board, is the Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the Company. For more information visit: https://www.maxresource.com/ For additional information contact: Max Resource Corp. Tim McNulty E: info@maxresource.com T: (604) 290-8100 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. Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for Max Resources Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62102 In a surprise move on Tuesday, Indias Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla went to Dhaka on a two-day visit. He had a meeting with PM Sheikh Hasina, with whom he enjoys a good relationship, owing to him having served as the High Commissioner in Dhaka from 2016-2019. The meeting that was described by Indian government sources as excellent saw the two sides deciding to hold a virtual joint consultative commission meeting at the foreign minister level at the earliest to oversee relationship, especially projects. This is seen as a significant move, considering New Delhi has been concerned over Dhakas sudden leaning to China for investment much like other neighbours of India. The latest trigger being a possible loan from the Chinese for a project related to the Teesta River. India and Bangladesh have been unable to sign a Teesta river water sharing treaty for eight years now both PM Manmohan Singh and PM Modi have been stopped due to objections from West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over the treaty. Though no specific information was shared with regards to any possible movement over the Teesta treaty, however, the consultative commissions mandate appears to oversee all such hiccups. The relationship between India and Bangladesh has been rocky over the last one year. Dhaka had serious concerns over how the National Register of Citizens, Assam, would impact them. Sheikh Hasina herself raised this issue with the Prime Minister twice over a span of two weeks last year first during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of UNGA on September 27, 2019, and then in a meeting in New Delhi during her India visit on October 5, 2019. Sources from Bangladesh had mentioned that terms like termites used for alleged illegal immigrants had not gone down well with Dhaka at all. In a rally in Bengal on October 1, 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah said: Before bringing NRC in the country, Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) will be passed in the Rajya Sabha by BJP-led government at the Centre. We will give citizenship right to all the refugees, including Matuas, who have been thrown out from different countries. Refugees from other countries Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian." The omission of Muslims was unmistakable, especially for the neighbouring country that has been concerned about the impact on them. To further aggravate the situation, the Citizenship Amendment Bill stated: "The constitutions of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh provide for a specific state religion. As a result many persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities have faced persecution on grounds of religion in those countries. Some of them also have fears about such persecution in their day-to-day life where right to practice, profess and propagate their religion has been obstructed and restricted. Many such persons have fled to India to seek shelter and continued to stay in India even if their travel documents have expired or they have incomplete or no documents. The bill gave a cut-off of 2014 for those allegedly persecuted seeking Indian citizenship. Sheikh Hasina had been at the helm since 2009 and her government took umbrage to the fact that fingers were pointed at her regime too. In a move to salvage the situation, officials clarified that it wasnt aimed at Hasina. However, Dhaka expressed its displeasure when Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen cancelled his India visit scheduled from December 12-14, 2019. However, MEA spokesperson said, Bangladesh side have conveyed that the Minister has changed his programme on account of domestic issues pertaining to the commemoration of the Victory Day in Bangladesh on December 16. Subsequently in January, the Bangladesh State Minister Shahriar Alam dropped out of Raisina Dialogue in India for which he was invited. For that too MEA spokesperson said that India was informed about it. Meanwhile, there were reports that Hasina had refused to meet the outgoing Indian High Commissioner Riva Das. These reports too were rubbished with a clarification that Prime Minister Hasina had not met very many people due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, however, sources pointed out that in the meeting between Hasina and Shringla, Das was also present and that this it was also underlined that Hasina has not met anyone from abroad and very few in the country in past few months. Meanwhile, the specific areas of development discussed on Tuesday, as per sources, were enhancing connectivity, revival of economy post Covid-19, cooperation on Covid-19 assistance, including on therapeutics and vaccine, joint commemoration of Mujib Barsho. On July 23, for the first time ever, movement of container cargo from Kolkata to Agartala through the Chattogram Port in Bangladesh was facilitated. Four days later, India handed over 10 broad gauge locomotives to the Bangladesh Railways. However, India realises that ultimately big-ticket projects and more importantly, addressing concerns without delay to show Dhaka is special are the need of the hour. MELVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AIP Publishing, a leading not-for-profit scholarly publisher in the physical sciences, is happy to announce a multi-year Read and Publish agreement with the Max Planck Society. The Max Planck Society is Germany's leading research organization, with affiliated institutes, centers, and facilities around the world conducting basic research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. As a result of this transformative agreement, articles by Max Planck Society-affiliated corresponding authors accepted for publication in any AIP Publishing-owned journal will be made open access immediately upon publication without any APC being charged to the author. The cost for open access publishing services will, instead, be covered by the Max Planck Digital Library, as part of the Society's strategy to redirect subscription investments to deliver open access publishing opportunities to its scientists in the journals most relevant to them, in line with the objectives of the global Open Access 2020 Initiative. Prof. Dr. Klaus Blaum, Vice President of the Max Planck Society's Scientific Council for Chemistry, Physics and Technology remarked, ''By signing a transformative agreement with AIP Publishing, the Max Planck Society is enabling greater visibility, impact, and potential of German research, to serve the greater good of scholarship and society. Our scientists value AIP Publishing's portfolio of high-quality journals as a channel to openly communicate the results of their research to peers and learners everywhere." In addition, researchers at all Max Planck institute will have access to the content in journals published by AIP Publishing (including those published on behalf of partners) from their first publications through 2020. "AIP Publishing is pleased to provide the Max Planck Society's global community with read-and-publish content access and open access publishing opportunities," said AIP Publishing's chief publishing officer, Jason Wilde. "It is an important step forward in the development of sustainable research communications." ABOUT THE MAX PLANCK SOCIETY With 86 institutes and facilities around the world, the Max Planck Society is an international flagship for German science, social science, and humanities research. Since its establishment in 1948, the Society has been associated with no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates in its ranks, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field. ABOUT AIP PUBLISHING AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP). AIP Publishing's mission is to support the charitable, scientific and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities in the fields of the physical and related sciences on its own behalf and on behalf of our publishing partners to help them proactively advance their missions. SOURCE AIP Publishing Related Links http://publishing.aip.org Russias coronavirus cases grew by 4,828 in the past day, taking the total case tally in the country to 937,321, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Wednesday. According to its data, the daily growth rate did not exceed 0.5% for the fourth day in a row. Some 691 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Moscow, 162 - in St. Petersburg, 151 - in the Moscow Region, 147 - in the Sverdlovsk Region and 138 - in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The lowest daily growth rates were registered in the Moscow Region (0.2%), the Smolensk Region (0.2%), the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.2%), the Chechen Republic (0.2%), Moscow (0.3%), the Kaluga Region (0.3%), the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (0.3%), the Tambov Region (0.3%), the Tula Region (0.3%), the Trans-Baikal Region (0.3%), the Bryansk Region (0.3%), North Ossetia (0.3%) and the Kaliningrad Region (0.3%). Currently, some 171,909 people are undergoing treatment for the coronavirus infection in Russia, TASS reported. The number of coronavirus patients discharged over the past 24 hours in Russia has increased by 6,795, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Wednesday. According to the crisis center, in all, 749,423 patients have recovered. The share of recoveries to date makes up 80% of the total COVID-19 case tally in Russia. Having recovered, 1,242 patients were discharged in Moscow, 320 - in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 289 - in the Rostov Region, 259 - in the Chuvash Republic and 178 - in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in one day. The number of COVID-19 fatalities in Russia over the past 24 hours increased by 117, compared to 132 the day before. Over 24 hours, 17 fatalities were registered in St. Petersburg, 10 - in Moscow and six - in the Sverdlovsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk regions each. To date fatalities account for 1.71% of the total number of infections in Russia. Andreas Gebert/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images From left: former Vice President Joe Biden and Cindy McCain in 2018 Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, joined a vocal minority of Republicans this week who are appearing at the Democratic National Convention in support of Joe Biden. Cindy's message announced only hours earlier came Tuesday night during the virtual DNC. She made a voiceover appearance in a video narrated by actress Octavia Spencer about Sen. McCain's bond with the Democratic presidential nominee. "It was Joe's friend who saved Obamacare by crossing the aisle," Spencer said, referencing Sen. McCain's crucial "no" vote when Republicans hoped to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017. The Arizona lawmaker, who died in 2018, held his thumb down when he cast his vote, essentially ending the GOP's efforts to dismantle the law known as Obamacare. Biden and Sen. McCain had an enduring friendship, which his widow noted in her pre-recorded remarks on Tuesday. Her decision to speak at the DNC marked a reversal from previous comments, where she praised Biden's character but abstained from more pointedly weighing in on him as a candidate versus Trump. On Tuesday, she praised his "style of legislating and leadership." "It was a friendship that shouldn't have worked," Spencer said in the video, retelling the story of how Biden and Sen. McCain met in the 1970s when the latter was assigned as Biden's aide during an overseas trip. "They would just sit and joke," Cindy, 66, recalled. "It was like a comedy show sometimes to watch the two of them." Soon after the video featuring Cindy aired on the DNC's livestream, Biden tweeted: "John McCain was a good man, and a good friend. He made this country better. I miss him dearly." RELATED: Meghan McCain Speaks of Longtime Family Friend Joe Bidens 'Real Character' & How He Helped Her After Dad's Death Story continues From left: John McCain and Cindy McCain on daughter Meghan McCain's wedding day in 2017 Cindy tweeted last year when Biden was rumored to run for president that he was "a wonderful man and a dear friend of the McCain family," though she said that she had "no intention of getting involved in presidential politics." That changed Tuesday night when she spoke out on behalf of Biden, who is running against President Donald Trump a McCain foe who continued to attack the senator even after his death and has long criticized him. McCain was held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years during the Vietnam War, between 1967 and 1973, where he was routinely tortured and said he had considered suicide due to the conditions and abuse he endured. The future senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee was awarded the Purple Heart for his military service. He was captured, Trump told CBS News back in 2000. Does being captured make you a hero? I dont know. Im not sure. Trump repeated the remarks in 2015 while running for president, saying that he liked "people that werent captured. He was not invited to McCain's funeral after the senator died of brain cancer in 2018. Since then, View co-host Meghan McCain the senator's daughter has also spoken out in support of Biden and has routinely slammed Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and disparagement of her dad. Lou Rocco/Getty Images From left: former Vice President Joe Biden and Meghan McCain In April, Meghan said on Watch What Happens Live that the Trumps were always making my mom cry." She has since reiterated that she will not be voting for Trump in November. "I just think politics is personal," she told WWHL's Andy Cohen in the spring, adding, I keep telling everyone, I promise you will know who Im voting for, but it really shouldnt take a rocket scientist to know theres one man who has made pain in my life a living hell and another man who has literally shepherded me through the grief process." Biden had once consoled Meghan during an episode of The View following her father's death. This really shouldnt be rocket science for people," Meghan said on WWHL. She also described her family's close relationship with Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. Theyre old, old friends, Meghan said then. Again, hes just been so integral in my life, especially since my dad got sick. Wow, she looks absolutely stunning in that photo. Reply Thread Link I binged all four seasons of Insecure recently and it's about the only good thing that has come out of quarantine. Reply Thread Link i always save up the episodes of new seasons to binge and tbh bingeing season 4 was the bet time i had in quarantine. Reply Parent Thread Link same! I watched the entire show around the beginning of quarantine and fell in love. the twitter commentary was probably the best part and I was happy I got to participate when I caught up with the 4th season by the time the last episode was airing. Edited at 2020-08-19 11:24 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Issa is such an absolute Queen. Reply Thread Link she was a covergirl! Reply Parent Thread Link She's so gorgeous Dream lady tbh. I think that's why I know I couldn't make it in the industry~ I'm way too nice and a pushover, as long as others are happy Reply Thread Link i love her <3 so happy for her success. a Bollywood crime/comedy called Badmash this is interesting. plz god let akshay kumar not be near this Reply Thread Link If she wins, shell make history as the second Black woman to take home that Emmy since Isabel Sanford for The Jeffersons in 1981. sad as hell. so many legends slept on over the last 40 years Reply Thread Link that's an absolute shame. 39 yrs?!? Reply Parent Thread Link That is beyond absurd. Reply Parent Thread Link Jfc unbelievable Reply Parent Thread Link i really thought i read that wrong how the FUCK has it been that long Reply Parent Thread Link you know she is going to give a shady speech if she wins. Reply Parent Thread Link Stunning cover. Reply Thread Link i remember years ago we had a post about her and her troubles getting her HBO show off the ground and look at her now! Reply Thread Link danggggg she looks show-stopping gorgeous here. god I wish I had a nice profile ;-; Reply Thread Link She looks fantastic in these pics - I really love the second one in the black two piece outfit in particular. We started watching Insecure recently and are almost finished with S2 - I am loving it so far. I really love how much she features all parts of LA - not just the beach or downtown, but like, all over the damn place. You really feel like the characters live here. Reply Thread Link She said something recently that really stuck with me: People have a tendency to network up, when they should be networking across. And that really struck me and stuck with me. Made everything super clear. Her career is something I aspire to have (not exactly her position/job, but like how she has handled it.) Reply Thread Link I'm so happy for her success. Reply Thread Link Well hello Reply Thread Link New Delhi: Actor Sanjay Dutt was pictured outside his Mumbai home with his wife Maanayata, sisters Priya and Namrata and other family members on Tuesday evening as he left for the hospital for cancer treatment. He will be undergoing preliminary treatment in Mumbai. While the actor left for the hospital, he told the paparazzi stationed outside his home to pray for him. "Prarthana karo (pray)," Sanjay Dutt said, reports news agency PTI. Sanjay Dutt has been diagonsed with Stage-3 lung cancer. He was expected to fly abroad. However, his initial treatment will be in Mumbai. The 61-year-old star was hospitalised on August 10 due to breathing problems. He stayed in the hospital for two days. A couple of days later, he revealed that he is taking a sabbatical from work for medical treatment. However, he didn't reveal about his ailment. Meanwhile, after Sanjay Dutt left for hospital, Maanayata issued a statement to update about the actor. She said that Sanjay Dutt's initial treatment would continue in Mumbai and the family would consider going abroad for further treatment when the coronavirus pandemic situation eases. Read Maanayata Dutt's full statement here: "To all of Sanju's fans and well wishers, I can't begin to thank you for the love and warmth you have shown him all these years. "Sanju has been through many ups and downs in his life, but what has kept him going through every tough phase has always been your adulation and support. And for this, we will always be grateful. We are now being tested through yet another challenge, and I know, the same love and warmth will see him through this time as well. "As a family, we have decided to face this with positivity and grace. We are going to go about our life as normally as possible, with a smile, because this will be a tough fight and a long journey. And, we need to do this for Sanju, without any negativity setting in. "In these trying times, unfortunately, I have been unable to be by his side in the hospital, due to my home quarantine which ends in a couple of days. Every battle has a torchbearer and someone who holds the fort. (Sanjay Dutt's sister) Priya who has worked extensively over two decades with our family-run Cancer foundation, and who has also seen her mother battle this illness, has been our incredible torchbearer, while I will hold the fort. "For those asking, Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the covid situation eases. As of now, Sanju is in the best hands of our esteemed doctors. "I request everyone, with my folded hands, to stop speculating the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work. We will update you all regularly with his progress. "Sanju is not only my husband and father to our children, but he has also been a father figure to Anju and Priya, after losing their parents. "He is the heart and soul of our family. "While our family is shaken up, we are determined to fight tooth and nail. With God and your prayers on our side, together we will overcome, and emerge as winners." US Democrats officially nominated former Vice-President Joe Biden as their nominee for president on the second night of the mostly virtual convention at which two former presidents, two former secretaries of states and his wife, Jill Biden, spoke of him as the kind of unifying leader the nation needed now. Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart, Biden said in brief remarks from home in Delaware, as his family broke into a small celebration. Thank you all, it means the world to me and my family and I will see you on Thursday. Also read: Joe Biden reassures India | HT Editorial On Thursday, Biden is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech. Delegations from states and territories reported their votes from the primaries and caucuses in a virtual roll call. Biden waited 32 years to win the nomination after he first sought it in 1987. He had dropped out then even before the primaries over plagiarism allegations. He tried again in 2008 but pulled out after a poor showing in the first of the nominating contests, the Iowa caucus. Speakers on the second day of the convention included two former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; two former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Colin Powell, a Republican; and one former defence secretary Chuck Hagel, also a Republican. Clinton, whose participation in the convention had been opposed by some Democrats because of past allegations of sexual harassment, launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trumps handling of the epidemic. He said the Oval Office should operate at this time like a command centre; instead, its a storm centre. Theres only chaos. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man, Clinton said, adding that the choice before voters in November was between Trumps Us vs. Them America against Joe Bidens America, where we all live and work together. Also read: Kamala Harris seeks to define role of US vice president on Joe Bidens ticket We deserve a person with integrity and judgment, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people, said Carter, without mentioning Trump. Joe is that kind of leader, and he is the right person for this moment in our nations history. Secretary Powell, who became the second high-profile Republican to make an appearance at the Democratic convention in after John Kasich, said, Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way. Secretary Kerry attacked President Trumps conduct of foreign relations. When this president goes overseas, it isnt a goodwill mission, its a blooper reel. He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at. The former first lady, who headlined the night, closed by talking of the man she has known and how he is someone who lost his wife and daughter to an accident and then a son to brain cancer understood the challenges confronting Americans in these uncertain times, and how he would address them. I hear it from so many of you, the frustration of parents juggling work while they support their childrens learningor are afraid that their kids might get sick from school, she said of life in the shadow of the Covid-19 epidemic. A lifelong school teacher, she spoke from a high school in Delaware. She added, The burdens we carry are heavy, and we need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole. Jill Biden did not mention President Trump at all. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. New York, 19 Aug 2020 - In this day and age, air conditioners play a vital role in human life. It has become a basic need for individuals because it helps to reduce the effect of extreme temperature in a short while and as you know, the summer season is coming and there will be a definite rise in the temperature. So an air conditioner is one of the best options for individuals for reducing temperature. With the developing technologies in other fields, there had a rapid development in the variety of air conditioners too. These days, there is a huge competition in the world of air conditioners and every company launches various models of air conditioners. People have several choices for air conditioners but portable air conditioner has become their first choice among the rest of the air conditioners. This is because of their different features and unique functions. Most probably the reason behind portable air conditioners being the individuals first choice is that it is a Mini Air Cooler and can be replaced where ever they want. The latest portable air conditioner launched is the Fresh-R personal air cooler. It is a very tiny air cooler. The measurements of this Mini Air Cooler are 29 centimeters, 17.5 centimeters, and 7.6 centimeters. The weight of Fresh-R personal air cooler is only 1 kilogram, that is, it can be carried very easily along with us at any place we want. It is regarded as a mobile air cooler, as well as an air washer. Its function is not only to provide us fresh air, but also to purify the air, which means it removes dust, bacteria, and micro-organisms from the air. It can change the temperature of the room up to 10 degree Celsius in a little time. This Mini Air Cooler has three options regarding the speed of blowing air, which means one can change the speed of the air as per the requirement. One of the most unique features of this air cooler includes the sensational integrated motion detector, which detects your presence near the device, and works accordingly. Such as, if you are away from the device and you need cool air, only you have to do is to come near the device, and it will turn on automatically. However, if you are away from the device for more than 2 minutes it will turn off automatically. Fresh-R is a chargeable air cooler which is supplied with a USB cable and can be charged by plug in the USB port provided in the laptop, power banks, and several other devices. To experience fresh and cool air this air cooler includes a water tank that lasts up to 10 hours without refilling it. To know more about Fresh-R Review, you can visit this website. If necessary, interested people can click here or on our official website to get complete insights Fresh-R . You can also contact them by providing the information below. Website : https://apnews.com/ca0fa7831c7dafb237ec0e18f6ded229 Microsoft is in talks to buy operations for TikTok in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Photo: SheldonA Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Japan is following in the footsteps of the US by stating that video social media platform TikTok can address security concerns over the app, if it changes ownership of its Japanese operation. Norihiro Nakayama, a senior member the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by prime minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party, said he and the group of lawmakers charged with looking into Chinese apps would not seek to ban TikTok and others if substantial measures are taken to ensure protection of user data. He stressed that ideas about change in ownership of TikToks Japanese operation is currently his personal opinion and not that of the group. We want to create an environment in which users can continue using TikTok, in which they can use it safely, he said to Reuters. READ MORE: Microsoft reveals talks to buy TikTok US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand Chinese tech firm ByteDance, whose last valuation of $78bn (61bn) makes it the world's most valuable start-up, is behind the app that is dominating the lives of millennials and generation Z. It only launched in September 2016 but, outside China, it has already amassed 300 million active users and 1.4 billion total installs to date. Nakayamas comments follow closely after US president Donald Trumps strident approach towards TikTok. On 3 August, Microsoft (MSFT) confirmed in a statement that it is not only in talks to buy US operations for TikTok, but also in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The US tech giant said in a lengthy blog post on its site that it is exploring a preliminary proposal to purchase the TikTok service in those countries which would result in Microsoft owning and operating TikTok in these markets. It added that Microsoft may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in this purchase. READ MORE: What TikTok talks with Microsoft mean for UK and London HQ It added that it aims to complete these discussions no later than 15 September this year. Trump only agreed to allow Microsoft to negotiate the acquisition if it could secure a deal in 45 days. On Wednesday, Trump gave his blessing for technology company Oracle to enter the running to buy TikTok. He said at a speech in Yuma, Arizona in the US that Oracle would be a great company to take over TikToks US operations. Meanwhile, Japans Nakayama and the group of fellow lawmakers looking to compile a set of proposals on Chinese apps are set to publish those findings on 10 September. SMEs in the East African region are using digital transformation initiatives to increase their competitiveness and ensure they are set for growth despite challenging trading conditions. According to Pedro Guerreiro, Managing Director: Central Africa at SAP, investments into new technologies will greatly assist SMEs in the region as they adapt to a very different operating environment. As one of the most important drivers for job creation and economic growth, the SME sector is vital to the regions economic recovery. Technology will continue to play a determining role in how well the sector recovers from this years events, while also digitally-tooling organisations to out-perform their competitors in this new economy and enabling them to execute the business, operate, and thrive in the market. In 2017, SMEs accounted for 98% of all businesses in Kenya and created 30% of all jobs annually. According to the International Trade Centre, SMEs contributed 34% of Kenyas GDP in 2016. However, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic should not be underestimated: a recent Deloitte study found a 50% reduction in household and business spending, with direct consequences for the countrys SME sector. SMEs will need to reduce inefficiencies and improve decision-making to ensure they continue to survive and thrive despite our current challenges, says Guerreiro. In an encouraging sign, a growing number of East African SMEs are leveraging technology to improve business decision-making and drive greater efficiency across their operations. Gaining insight into total business performance Guerreiro says gaining granular insight into the financial and overall performance of the business is essential to the growth and survival of SMEs. Business leaders can no longer make educated guesses about the performance of the business. You need certainty over the total performance of the business at all times, not weeks or months after the fact. For Kenyan candy manufacturer Mzuri Sweets, an over-reliance on spreadsheets and manual processing for reporting hampered the companys growth efforts. The company employs 800 people and provides a range of confectionary goods to the Kenyan market. After choosing SAP Business One and working with SAP implementation partner ACEteK, Mzuri Sweets now have a fully automated system that is accessible from web and mobile, enabling directors to make approvals from any location. Ashika Modasia, Senior Accountant at Mzuri Sweets Ltd, says: SAP Business One has united our company into one platform, bringing visibility to our management and allowing us to focus on growth. Stationery manufacturer Safari Stationers faced a similar issue. Its previous accounting system could not support the growth of a low margin, high volume business. Company management knew it needed a new system that could provide accurate monitoring and synchronise its operations. Following the implementation of SAP Business One, Safari Stationers can monitor credit more easily, set up sales parameters to ensure only the correct number of orders are taken, while accessing richly detailed reports that have improved decision-making across the business. General Manager Deepti Vara says: Its been a smart and efficient journey with SAP Business One, and we are excited for the future. Automation pays off for Mauritian engineering firm Guerreiro adds: Having systems and processes in place that automate back-office operations can also free up valuable internal resources, which can be deployed to high-value areas to support the SMEs growth. his was certainly the case for Mauritian engineering services firm Sotramon Limitee. With access to only basic accounting information and relying on manual processes, the company could not rely on its existing systems to support adequate stock taking, analysis or up to date information about the business. ACEteK supported the companys digital transformation with an SAP Business One implementation that sought to replace manual operations with automated processes that enabled easy access to up-to-date reports. Sotramon Chief Executive Officer Barbara Ah-Sue says: SAP Business One has changed my life. It has given my business independence, accessibility and versatility. Guerreiro believes there is great potential for further investment into new technologies that could help SMEs unlock new market opportunities. Ultimately SMEs should strive to become Intelligent Enterprises that apply advanced technologies within integrated, agile business processes to turn insight into action. As the sector expands its capabilities, SMEs will be better placed to sense opportunities, risks and trends, and take advantage of market opportunities. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Afghanistan's controversial pledge to free the last of some 400 Taliban prisoners was supposed to be the final hurdle before the launch of long-delayed peace talks between the two warring sides. But those talks have been postponed indefinitely after Kabul abruptly halted the release of the remaining inmates, some of whom have been accused or convicted of deadly attacks on Afghans and foreigners since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. At the same time, the Afghan government has accused the Taliban of failing to free all government soldiers in its custody, a claim rejected by the insurgents. The prisoner swap is supposed to involve a total of 5,000 Taliban militants and some 1,000 Afghan soldiers. Meanwhile, some foreign governments are strongly urging Kabul not to release specific Taliban inmates because they were involved in killing their citizens on Afghan soil. A senior Afghan official has also blamed the Taliban for an assassination attempt on a member of the government's peace-negotiating team. Some Afghan and foreign observers say President Ashraf Ghani could be deliberately delaying a process that has undermined his administration and boosted the legitimacy of the Taliban. "The Afghan government has cited several justifications in order to stall this prisoner release in the past week alone," said Andrew Watkins, a senior analyst for Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group. Watkins said if the government was intentionally trying to "slow the pace of the peace process then we should expect further delays and obstacles." The prisoner swap was a precondition for launching peace talks, a key component of the U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February that called for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in 2021 in exchange for counterterrorism guarantees from the Taliban. Under the deal, the militants agreed to negotiate with Kabul over a permanent cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement. The Afghan government, which was not a signatory to the bilateral deal, initially balked at the prisoner swap but grudgingly accepted, freeing some 4,600 Taliban inmates in staggered releases. Unfulfilled Promises The Afghan government released about 80 of the remaining 400 Taliban militants on August 14, days after the move was recommended by a traditional Loya Jirga consultative assembly in Kabul. Ghani, who was under no legal obligation to consult the extraconstitutional body, agreed to the Loya Jirga recommendation on August 10. The first peace talks were set to begin on August 20 in Qatar, where the Taliban has a political office, but have been scrapped after the latest roadblocks emerged. Ghani's spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said the government would release the remaining prisoners but added that the exchange cannot be "one-way." Afghan officials have said the Taliban still holds a group of around 22 Afghan special forces soldiers. Sediqqi added that Taliban violence remained "very high," suggesting the government was attempting to tie the releases to a commitment by the insurgents to decrease their attacks. Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office, said the group had fulfilled its obligations and was not aware of any other government security personnel in its custody who were to be released. 'Danger' To The World Meanwhile, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh blamed the Taliban for an August 14 attack on Fawzia Koofi, a former lawmaker and government peace negotiator, who suffered minor injuries after being shot. The insurgent group denied responsibility. "Only the Taliban and its allies have an interest in silencing the voice and eliminating the diversity of Afghan society," Saleh wrote on Facebook on August 16. If given the chance, the Taliban would "shoot down the entire government negotiating team today or destroy it in a suicide attack," he said. Ghani, meanwhile, warned that the release of some of the remaining Taliban inmates was "dangerous" but "necessary." "The list is likely to pose a danger both to us and to you and to the world because it is the drug dealers and hardened criminals -- that [information] has been shared with all our allies and friends -- but again this is a step that we have considered necessary," Ghani told a videoconference organized by the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations on August 13. In an interview with The Times published on August 18, Ghani warned that a wave of illicit drugs could hit Britain and Europe if the final batch of Taliban fighters were released from prison. Foreign Concerns Meanwhile, Australia and France have urged the Afghan government not to free several Taliban fighters accused of killing Australian and French nationals. Fereydoon Khuzoon, a spokesman for the High Council for National Reconciliation, told reporters on August 17 that the prisoner-release process has been slowed down by the foreign countries' objections. Khuzoon said Afghan authorities were now trying to resolve the problem in such a way that both the peace opportunity and relationships with Kabul's foreign partners remain unharmed. According to an official list of the Taliban prisoners seen by RFE/RL, many of the prisoners are accused of involvement in high-profile militant attacks, with more than 150 of them on death row because of the severity of their crimes. The list also includes a group of 44 militants who have been blacklisted by the United States and some other countries. Among the larger group, 150 are convicted of murder, 51 of drug trafficking, and 34 of kidnapping. The prisoners include militants involved in the 2018 attack against the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul that killed 40 people, including 14 foreigners. It also includes an insurgent involved in the May 2017 truck bombing near the German Embassy in Kabul that killed over 150 people and wounded hundreds, in the deadliest militant attack of the nearly 19-year war. The list also includes a former Afghan National Army officer who killed five French troops in 2012 in an "insider "attack and another ex-soldier who killed three Australian troops. 'Little Choice' "Ghani might use some of these issues to make sure he is in control of the peace process to the extent possible," said Ali Adili, a researcher at the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent think tank in Kabul. Observers have suggested that Ghani is attempting to retain power because it is widely speculated that negotiations could seek a neutral interim government. Others have said Ghani's strategy may be tied to hopes that Washington's policy on Afghanistan will shift after the U.S. election in November if Democratic rival Joe Biden beats President Donald Trump. Trump has made the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan a foreign-policy priority even as U.S. lawmakers and Afghan officials fear the president is rushing to the exit door without a comprehensive peace agreement. "If Ghani has a strategy to slow the process, it may be tied to hopes that Washington's Afghanistan policy will shift under a potential Biden White House," Watkins said. "Additionally, the entire framework of the U.S.-driven peace process, which will almost certainly call for the restructuring of the Afghan government and changes to the constitution, is something Ghani has had little choice but to oppose," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:57:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said here Wednesday that the agency will allocate millions of U.S. dollars to help Lebanon's hospitals damaged in Beirut's explosions on Aug. 4, the National News Agency reported. "The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) usually focuses on supporting Syrian refugees, but we will also help Lebanese hospitals and will cooperate with the Lebanese Red Cross to provide shelters for 100,000 people, in addition to adopting programs for the psychological health of people following the explosion," said Grandi. The official met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace. Grandi assured that all UN agencies are working in coordination to provide support for the Lebanese who were affected by the explosion. The UNHCR is also in contact with Syrian authorities to manage support for Syrian refugees, and discuss the possibility of their return to their homeland, he added. For his part, Aoun emphasized the need for refugees to return to their homeland given the economic deterioration in Lebanon. "The flow of refugees to Lebanon has so far cost the treasury around 30 billion U.S. dollars," Aoun said. Over 1.5 million Syrian refugees left their homeland to Lebanon following the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Enditem PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to a preliminary injunction motion filed by Berger Montague, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and the Villanova Federal Tax Clinic, the IRS has reopened its non-filer tool to allow hundreds of thousands of people who receive federal benefits to request $500 economic impact payments for their dependent children. The IRS announced this major policy reversal ahead of a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for August 17, 2020. With this policy change, federal benefit recipients who did not file a 2018 or 2019 tax return have until September 30, 2020 to use the IRS's non-filer tool to apply for the supplemental $500 payment for their qualifying children. The IRS expects these payments to be distributed by mid-October 2020. The preliminary injunction motion, filed in July 2020, alleges that the IRS and Treasury Department refused to issue economic impact payments ("EIPs") in a timely manner to federal benefits recipients with eligible dependent children, as Congress directed in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act. In response to the unprecedented economic disruption wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress authorized EIPs of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per dependent child under age 17 to millions of American households via the CARES Act. The CARES Act uses the federal tax infrastructure to distribute the EIPs as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, this is not an effective method for distributing EIPs to "non-filers": individuals who are not required to file tax returns, mostly due to having severe disabilities. In April 2020, after considerable Congressional and public pressure, the IRS and Treasury Department announced that they would automatically send EIPs to non-filer adults who are "known" to the federal government because they are receiving Social Security retirement, Social Security disability, Railroad Retirement Board ("RRB"), Veteran Affairs ("VA") or Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") benefits. However, the IRS and Treasury Department later stated that they would not make automatic payments to eligible dependents of federal benefits recipients. Instead, the IRS and Treasury Department announced that non-filers who receive Social Security retirement, disability, and RRB benefits had less than 48 hours to add their dependents to their EIPs via a non-filer online portal. VA and SSI benefits recipients were provided ten days to use the non-filer portal. In sharp contrast to these tight deadlines, non-filers who do not receive federal benefits have until October 15, 2020, to access the same portal. Unsurprisingly, many non-filer federal beneficiaries with dependents were unable to meet the very short deadlines set by the IRS and Treasury Department: many did not learn of the IRS announcements, some encountered technical issues with the portal, and others have disabilities that prevented them from using the portal without reasonable accommodations, which were not provided during the applicable window to add dependents. The IRS's new policy will help people receiving federal benefits who missed these brief windows claim their $500 payments online. This is welcome news for low-income families who desperately need these payments promised by the federal government. "We are tremendously gratified that our team's efforts convinced the IRS to change its policies to allow people like our clients to obtain the dependent benefit payments Congress intended for them to receive and that they so desperately need," said Berger Montague Shareholder Ellen Noteware. Berger Montague is a national plaintiffs' class action and complex litigation law firm headquartered in Philadelphia with offices in Minneapolis, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Berger Montague litigates complex civil cases and class actions in federal and state courts throughout the United States. In its 50 years of operation, the Firm has pioneered the use of class actions in America and recovered well over $36 billion for its clients and the class members it has represented. Founded in 1966 by the Philadelphia Bar Association, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia ("CLS") has provided free civil legal assistance to more than one million low-income Philadelphians. Approximately 10,000 clients were represented by CLS in the past year. CLS assists clients when they face the threat of losing their homes, incomes, healthcare, and even their families. CLS attorneys and other staff provide a full range of legal services, from individual representation to administrative advocacy to class action litigation, as well as community education and social work. CLS is nationally recognized as a model legal services program. The Federal Tax Clinic at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law melds Villanova Law's dedication to public service with hands-on learning. For over 20 years, the Federal Tax Clinic has sought to protect taxpayer rights and ensure the fairness and integrity of the tax system by providing representation, education, and systemic advocacy for low-income individuals on federal tax matters. Contact Ellen T. Noteware Berger Montague Shareholder (215) 875-3051 [email protected] SOURCE Berger Montague Related Links http://www.bergermontague.com While the world waits on a vaccine, LSU Health New Orleans researchers are enrolling patients in a trial for a coronavirus treatment that could show results as early as this fall. The Phase 3 trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health and involving at least six hospitals in the U.S., is evaluating a drug at University Medical Center that uses lab-produced antibodies to mimic the body's natural defenses and fight back against the infection. Antibodies are a protein carried in blood that the body produces to disarm invading viruses. They are the reason scientists give blood plasma donated by recovered coronavirus patients to patients with an active infection. Monoclonal antibodies used in the treatment LSU researchers are studying are a highly specific, genetically engineered version of an antibody. When you take convalescent plasma, youre taking some of the antibodies against the virus, but also taking antibodies against other things you're receiving a lot of different molecules, said principal investigator Dr. Bennett deBoisblanc, a pulmonary and critical care specialist with LSU Health New Orleans. A monoclonal antibody doesnt carry any infection risk. Its a surgical strike instead of a broad paintbrush approach. How a 31-year-old New Orleans coronavirus survivor died from a rarely seen condition weeks later A 31-year-old woman checked in to a New Orleans hospital this spring after five days of fever, cough and stomach pain. Hospital workers stuck The antibody being tested at UMC is called LY-CoV555, discovered by AbCellera Biologics in Vancouver and manufactured by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Its one of several monoclonal antibodies being investigated for coronavirus patients. The trial is part of the NIH's Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutics Interventions and Vaccines, or ACTIV, program and is designed to expand as more monoclonal antibody treatments come along. The antibody works by inactivating the spike protein of the virus. Those spikes attach to receptors on cells that let the virus inside to replicate, and so disabling them can slow the infection. The trial will enroll people early in the disease within 13 days of showing symptoms in an attempt to stop replication and lower the viral load. A higher viral load has been linked to a higher mortality risk and transmission risk. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Hospitalized patients with mild or moderate disease can enroll in the study. Half will be given a placebo and half will be given a dose of LY-CoV555. All will receive remdesivir, the current standard of care. After five days of receiving the infusion, researchers will measure the success of the drug by taking stock of symptoms and the need for supplemental oxygen or ventilation. What LSU researchers learned about coronavirus from 22 autopsied hearts Hearts collected from nearly two dozen patients who died of coronavirus at University Medical Center are offering LSU researchers clues about About 300 volunteers are needed at all participating sites for the first portion of the Phase 3 trial. If the drug appears to be safe and seems to improve outcomes, another 700 people will be enrolled and the trial will be expanded to people with severe cases. The same drug is being tested in another Phase 3 trial among nursing home patients and staff. That trial is available through Tulane University School of Medicine. In that study, researchers are testing the drug as a prophylactic, giving it to residents and staff in high-risk settings as a preventative measure. Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said monoclonal antibodies are one of the most promising treatments. Coronavirus vaccine volunteers needed in New Orleans, Baton Rouge; here's how study will work After a vaccine for coronavirus showed promising results in a 45-person study conducted by biotech company Moderna, research sites in New Orle If I had to pick one, I think the monoclonal antibody cocktails have a lot going for them, he said at a U.S. Senate hearing in July. Theres all kinds of reasons to think this is the kind of virus it should work for. Houston's police chief is inviting cops from defunded departments across the country to serve on his force, as he slams budget cuts as 'ridiculous, knee-jerk political decisions' that threaten public safety. Police Chief Art Acevedo stressed the importance and need for officers during a police academy graduation ceremony speech on Monday before 44 cadets. 'People of Houston, they dont want less policing, they want better policing and well-trained police officers,' he said after the ceremony for Cadet Class #245. He then invited embattled officers in other parts of the country where departments are being reformed or defunded - including nearby Austin, Texas - to serve in Houston. 'I will just say to police officers in Austin, and the good police officers across the country, come to Houston,' he said according to Fox7. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo wants cops from defunded departments across the country to join the force in his city Monday Chief Art Acevedo shared a speech during a police academy graduation ceremony where he defended the Houston police department 'People of Houston, they dont want less policing, they want better policing and well-trained police officers,' he said after the Monday ceremony for Cadet Class #245 Following the police killing of George Floyd police departments across the nation have faced calls to be defunded, or ended all together. But Houston is standing their ground and recently approved the hiring and training of roughly 400 new officers. 'Were excited about the restoration of five classes, while places like Austin are cutting a significant amount of police resources,' Acevedo said. Austin will cut $150million from its department which accounts for a third of the citys current law enforcement budget. Acevedo slammed Austins move to defund. 'I think its ridiculous when you make decisions that are knee-jerk political decisions that are not based on evidence, not based on research. It ends up impacting the safety of the American people in Austin,' he said. Acevedo slammed Austins move to a third of the Austin Police Department's budget, saying: 'I think its ridiculous when you make decisions that are knee-jerk political decisions that are not based on evidence, not based on research. It ends up impacting the safety of the American people in Austin' Chief Acevedo says the HPD is working on a new program that will make it easier for qualified out-of-state police officers to transfer and work in Houston Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also supports the move to bring more officers in. He said he wanted to add at least 600 more officers to its current force of round 5,300. 'People want policing that is sound, accountable and respectful,' he said Monday at a news conference. 'They want public safety.' Chief Acevedo says the HPD is working on a new program that will make it easier for qualified out-of-state police officers to transfer and work in Houston. This program could involve a 10-week academy course, instead of 6 months. Across the US at least 13 cities have cut funding from police department budgets in the wake of national protests decrying police brutality and systemic racism. Most of these budgets don't see job cuts, but instead seek to cut corners on overtime, cancel incoming cadet classes, and other measures. Those departments include Austin where the city council voted Thursday to cut to the police budget to reinvest money in social programs including food access, violence prevention and abortion access. The plan will eliminate funding from three planned police cadet classes, however the council said it may allow one or two cadet classes to begin in fiscal year 2021. The proposal also seeks to eliminate 150 vacant officer positions. The Austin Police Department currently has 2,646 sworn law enforcement personnel. Across the US at least 13 cities have cut funding from police department budgets in the wake of national protests decrying police brutality and systemic racism. Seattle is one of those places. Police pictured above in the East Precinct of Seattle on July 3 Houston Police officers take the streets during a protests decrying the death of George Floyd Police stand guard as Austin Fire Department put out a car fire under Interstate 35 freeway in Austin, Texas on May 30 during a protest decrying the death of George Floyd Officers on protest duty pictured above in downtown Houston, Texas in the wake of George Floyd protests Seattle decided upon a $3.5million budget cut and the reinvestment of over $17million that prompted the resignation of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. New York City cut $1billion from the NYPD's budget, and will reallocate $354million to mental health, homelessness and education services. New York will maintain patrol strength and safety but will make cuts in other areas. The budget cut the July police cadet class and cut overtime by $350million. Officials in New York have blamed an increase in crime and gun violence on the political and police climate. According to data from the NYPD, July saw a 177 percent increase in shootings compared to the same month last year. Overall there were 244 shootings, compared to 88 in 2019. Overall for the first seven months of the year there have been 772 recorded shootings, a 72 percent increase from the 450 recorded between January to July 2019. Officials havent given a reason for the increased violence but they could be contributed in part to the pandemic and civil unrest in the country. Los Angeles also approved a $150million budget cut from its proposed police budget. Other cuts have been initiated in San Francisco, Washington DC, Baltimore, Portland, Philadelphia, Hartford, Norman, and Salt Lake City. In Minneapolis the City Council pledged to disband the police altogether. 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. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Man Industries share price rose 4 percent intraday on August 19 after the company bagged new export order of approximately Rs 405 crore. With this, the total unexecuted order book of the company stands at approximately Rs 1,800 crore, out of which 80% is exports. These orders are meant to be executed in the current financial year. "Despite the ongoing crisis and challenging business environment globally, we are striving to grow out orderbook and increase the capacity utilization. This order win is testament to our commitment towards creating sustainable value for our shareholders and improve the overall returns for the Company," said RC Mansukhani Man Industries. At 14:36 hrs Man Industries (India) was quoting at Rs 62.10, up Rs 1.50, or 2.48 percent on the BSE. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 64.15 and 52-week low Rs 31.00 on 12 February, 2020 and 23 March, 2020, respectively. Currently, it is trading 2.65 percent below its 52-week high and 101.45 percent above its 52-week low. Several fans of Sushant Singh Rajput are sharing their happiness across social media since the Supreme Court announced verdict in favour of the family. An old family photo has been unearthed by netizens. The happy picture shows Sushant all smiles with his father and sisters and adorable nieces. The picture seems to be taken during a family gathering in the late actors hometown, Patna. Sushants family has welcomed the Supreme Courts decision that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will continue to probe the actor's death. Minutes after the top court's verdict, the late actors sister took to social media to express her heartfelt gratitude and expressed her faith in the central probe agency in a series of posts. Shweta Singh Kirti on Wednesday wrote, "Thank you God! You have answered our prayers! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI (sic)." There we go!! Finally!! CBI for SSR!! #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 The Supreme Court has further asked the Mumbai police to transfer all evidence they have gathered in connection to the case so far to the investigating agency. The SC has rejected actor Rhea Chakrabortys plea for handing over the Patna FIR to Mumbai. The apex court held that the Bihar government was competent to ask for a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Any new case filed in the ongoing case will be probed by CBI, the Court further directed. Sushant Singh Rajputs father KK Singhs lawyer Vikas Singh said that the family of the late actor is happy with the SC verdict. Bihar BJP MLA and Sushants cousin Niraj Singh Babloo expressed his gratitude towards the top court and said that the family is certain that Sushant will get justice. The actor was found dead on June 14 at his Mumbai residence. Washington The Trump campaign's interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a "grave" counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed how associates of Donald Trump had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin's help. The nearly 1,000-page report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee on the Russia investigation, details how Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump's behalf. It says the Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and that other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlin's aid, particularly by maximizing the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers. The report is the culmination of a bipartisan probe that produced what the committee called "the most comprehensive description to date of Russia's activities and the threat they posed." The investigation spanned more than three years as the panel's leaders said they wanted to thoroughly document the unprecedented attack on U.S. elections. The findings, including unflinching characterizations of furtive interactions between Trump associates and Russian operatives, echo to a large degree those of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and appear to repudiate the Republican president's claims that the FBI had no basis to investigate whether his campaign was conspiring with Russia. Trump, who has repeatedly called the Russia investigations a "hoax," said Tuesday he "didn't know anything about" the report, or Russia or Ukraine. He said he had "nothing" to do with Russia. While Mueller's was a criminal probe, the Senate investigation was a counterintelligence effort with the aim of ensuring that such interference wouldn't happen again. The report issued several recommendations on that front, including that the FBI should do more to protect presidential campaigns from foreign interference. The report was released as two other Senate committees, the Judiciary and Homeland Security panels, conduct their own reviews with an eye toward uncovering what they say was FBI misconduct in the early days of the investigation. A prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William Barr disclosed his first criminal charge Friday against a former FBI lawyer who plans to plead guilty to altering a government email. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Among the more striking sections of the report is the committee's description of the close, professional relationship between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the committee describes as a Russian intelligence officer. Like Mueller, the committee reviewed a meeting Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer he believed to have connections with the Russian government with the goal of receiving information harmful to his father's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Senate panel said it assessed that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has "significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services," as did another participant in the meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy with periods of snow after midnight. Low 28F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of snow after midnight. Low 28F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy noted in his 35-page verdict that as both Bihar and Maharashtra are "making acrimonious allegations of political interference against each other", the legitimacy of probe has come under a cloud and in such a situation there is a reasonable apprehension of "truth being a casualty and justice becoming a victim". The court told the Maharashtra government to comply and assist with the investigation and held that Bihar government had the right to refer the Patna FIR lodged by Rajput's father to CBI. It also said that the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. The bench says CBI will be competent to probe not only Patna FIR but any other FIR related to Rajput death case. The verdict came on a plea filed by Chakraborty who had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. "Therefore, while according approval for the ongoing CBI investigation, if any other case is registered on the death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the surrounding circumstances of his unnatural death, the CBI is directed to investigate the new case as well. It is ordered accordingly," the bench said, while invoking the plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution. "When truth meets sunshine, justice will not prevail on the living alone but after Life's fitful fever, now the departed will also sleep well. Satyameva Jayate," it said. ALSO READ | Satyamev Jayate: Parth Pawar hails Supreme Court order in Sushant Singh Rajput case The top court also directed Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected so far in the case to CBI. CBI registered a case against Rhea Chakraborty and others after Sushants father K K Singh filed a complaint with the Patna police against her and her family members alleging abetment of suicide. The Patna FIR had invoked IPC Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (criminal breach of trust) 506 (criminal intimidation), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating). The 34-year-old late actor was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in Mumbai's Bandra on June 14 and since then the Mumbai Police has been investigating the case. When integrity and credibility of investigation is discernible, the trust, faith and confidence of common man in judicial process will resonate, the apex court also said. "In such backdrop, to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, this court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution. As a Court exercising lawful jurisdiction for the assigned roster, no impediment is seen for exercise of plenary power in the present matter," the bench said. It said "accusing fingers" are being pointed and people have taken the liberty to put out their "own conjectures and theories". "Such comments, responsible or otherwise, have led to speculative public discourse which have hogged media limelight. These developments unfortunately have the propensity to delay and misdirect the investigation," it said. It held that inquiry conducted under Section 174 of CrPC, which deals with inquiry to find out apparent cause of unnatural death, by Mumbai Police is "limited for a definite purpose but is not an investigation of a crime under section 157 of the CrPC." ALSO READ | Sushant Singh Rajput death: Devendra Fadnavis hails SC verdict, Sanjay Raut says 'no one above law' "The actor Sushant Singh Rajput was a talented actor in the Mumbai film world and died well before his full potential could be realised. His family, friends and admirers are keenly waiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest," it said. "Therefore, a fair, competent and impartial investigation is the need of the hour. The expected outcome then would be, a measure of justice for the complainant, who lost his only son," it said. The bench said for Chakraborty too, it would be the desired justice as she herself called for a CBI investigation. "The dissemination of the real facts through unbiased investigation would certainly result in justice for the innocents, who might be the target of vilification campaign," it said. It said records of case produced before it, "does not prima facie suggest any wrong doing by the Mumbai Police". "However, their obstruction to the Bihar police team at Mumbai could have been avoided since it gave rise to suspicion on the bona fide of their inquiry," the court said. It said considering the apprehension voiced by stakeholders of "unfair investigation", the court "must strive to ensure that search for the truth is undertaken by an independent agency, not controlled by either of the two state governments". "Most importantly, the credibility of the investigation and the investigating authority, must be protected," it said. "The ongoing investigation by the CBI is held to be lawful. In the event a new case is registered at Mumbai on the same issue, in the fitness of things, it would be appropriate if the latter case too gets investigated by the same agency, on the strength of this court's order." ALSO READ | SC order in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case a victory for family, fans, says family lawyer "Such enabling order will make it possible for the CBI to investigate the new case, avoiding the rigors of Section 6 of the DSPE Act, requiring consent from the State of Maharashtra," it said. Bihar government, which was represented by senior advocate Maninder Singh and lawyer Keshav Mohan, had earlier argued that "political clout" has not allowed Mumbai Police to even register an FIR in the case. The Maharashtra government had argued that Bihar completely lacks jurisdiction in the matter. (With PTI Inputs) A stranger disguised as Batman prowls the streets of the Chilean capital to deliver food to the homeless. The capped hero, who did not want to be identified, is providing not only sustenance but light-hearted solace to those in need following months of lockdown in Santiago. He cooks around 100 food rations a day, which he self-finances, and then prepares the meals for distribution. He then dresses up as the comic superhero, complete with a coronavirus shielding facemask, and delivers the dinners to people sleeping rough and neighbours in need. He sometimes even wears the costume to cook in / REUTERS He said the disguise is meant to bring "good cheer and unity" to the community and added: "Batman does not possess superpowers, he uses money and intelligence to help. Look around you, see if you can dedicate a little time, a little food, a little shelter, a word sometimes of encouragement to those who need it." While his outfit has entertained people in the city, it has also been gratefully received by people on the street. Simon Salvador, one of the recipients, said the true sentiment of the gesture was clear. He suits up in a shiny Batman outfit / REUTERS It is appreciated...from one human to another," he said. His good deeds come at a time when restrictions, aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19, have devastated Chiles economy and unemployment has skyrocketed to over 12 per cent breaking a decade-long record. A troop of monkeys broke into the hut of a 70-year-old woman in Tiruvaiyaru in Tamil Nadu and escaped with eatables, cash and gold jewellery. G Sarathambal, a widow, lives alone in her house and was out washing clothes when the monkeys sneaked in. They ran away with a few bananas and a bag of rice. Unfortunately, the woman had also kept all of her life savings in that bag of rice. She did run after the monkeys, who had settled on a roof top to munch on the bananas. Many locals tried to lure the monkeys away but all efforts to retrieve the bag proved futile. The monkeys eventually escaped with the bag and have not been traced since. The bag contained all the jewellery she owned along with Rs 25,000 in cash. The woman had saved this for emergencies. The villagers have now demanded that the monkeys be caught and stopped from entering the village. This is not the first time monkeys have caused a ruckus in recent times. In May this year, a video of a monkey trying to kidnap a child went viral on the internet. The clip shows three kids sitting on a bench and the monkey approaching towards them on a full-speed miniature bike. As soon as, the baboon reaches near the bench, it leaves the bike and pulls a toddler from the bench. There's no getting around it: Premier Brian Pallister's increasingly bizarre party fundraising letters have become bona fide news events on this province's political calendar. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion There's no getting around it: Premier Brian Pallister's increasingly bizarre party fundraising letters have become bona fide news events on this province's political calendar. In February, rhetoric surrounding "illegal" Indigenous blockades and "two-tier justice" for Indigenous people in a fundraising appeal prompted accusations he was stirring up racist sentiments among core supporters to put money in his party's coffers. Unperturbed by that experience, the premier is at it again with a letter that ramps up the far-right political rhetoric to hilarious new heights. In the preamble to his latest fundraising pitch, which arrived in mailboxes this week, Pallister describes himself as the champion of Progressive Conservative values that include "small government, personal responsibility, free markets and individual freedom." The letter goes on to assail "leftists and socialists" who are "pushing for BIGGER GOVERNMENT, LESS FREEDOM and MORE DEBT." Although most Manitobans would recognize small government as a foundational goal of the Pallister government, the other three qualities do seem to move the PC Party a bit further out on the right-end of the political spectrum. The references to "leftists and socialists," personal responsibility and individual freedom are particularly theatrical, echoing the deeply ideological rantings of American conservatives who seem to find a way to make every issue about one freedom or another. In his letter, Pallister says leftists and socialists which we must assume refers to the NDP but could include just about anyone who disagrees with the premier want to use this "once-in-a-century health emergency as a golden opportunity to permanently grow the size of government and give even more power to politicians and bureaucrats." Rhetoric is the lifeblood of politics. Demonizing your enemies and glorifying yourself and your party is pretty standard political pandering, particularly when fundraising is the ultimate goal. Even so, Pallister has applied so many layers of right-wing makeup to his fundraising pitch that it no longer resembles the lexicon of the Manitoba PC Party. What is not outside the normal party lexicon is the not-so-veiled threat included in one of the questions asked in the "critical issues survey" that Pallister includes in most of his fundraising letters. The survey isn't really an attempt to gather public opinion. It's a gimmick, something that people can send back to the party in a supplied envelope with pre-paid postage with ahem a cheque. Even so, question No. 2 is intriguing. It asks whether party members believe "Manitoba's public sector must share the economic pain of the COVID-19 pandemic with the private sector." This is directly from language Pallister used in the spring when he struggled to get wage concessions from civil servants to help pay for pandemic programs. After threatening widespread layoffs and drastic cuts to spending, the Tory government and public sector unions settled on five days of unpaid leave for more than 6,200 people who work directly for government. Does the premier want more from his public sector employees? It's hard to say right now but it would hardly be outside the realm of possibility. Rather than taking some comfort in keeping public servants working and pumping money into the economy, Pallister has used them as scapegoats, frequently suggesting that they arent doing their part to support his governments pandemic response. Although the fiscal situation is dire, its important to remember that it isnt quite as dire as Pallister keeps claiming, just as his pandemic response programs are neither as helpful or as generous as he claims. The Manitoba Gap Recovery Program, a potentially forgivable, non-interest loan to business has only paid out about $50 million of a $120-million fund. The Student Job Recovery Program, another gaudy $120-million pledge, has only paid out about $23 million. The only programs that have paid out almost all of their funds are those cost-shared with Ottawa. Along with the weird personal freedom references and threats to public servants, the fundraising pitch ultimately rests on Pallisters claim that he is being "attacked" at every turn by people who are trying to "mislead the public about our agenda." Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Remember, every time we stand up for Progressive Conservative values, were met with hostile opposition from the NDP, left-wing special interests, big union bosses and sometimes, even the media!" Although this column is hardly going to do much to quash that last allegation, the "everyone who is against us is against anything good" approach to political pandering is tiresome. During the 2016 election, former NDP Premier Greg Selinger and other members of his tired, wounded government suggested Manitobans needed to reject the evil Progressive Conservatives one more time to save the province from disaster. Notwithstanding the sentiments many Manitobans may have now about Pallisters performance over the past four years, he has hardly been a disaster. A hot mess at times, yes, but he hasnt produced a cataclysmic event. Fundraising letters often serve as a series of subliminal signals to engage the party faithful and get them to rush urgently to find their chequebooks. While this letter may ultimately serve that purpose, it also comes across as desperate, outlandish and immature. The premier and his party handlers should at the very least consider how many party faithful fall into that latter category. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca ARLEE Members of Montanas congressional delegation responded with relief to Postmaster General Louis DeJoys statement Tuesday that hed suspend any changes to the Postal Service until after the election although Democrats cautioned against relaxing any attempts to protect the beleaguered agency. More than 20 states Montana not among them had declared their intention to sue over changes to the Postal Service, such as the planned removal of some iconic blue drop boxes and high-speed processing machines. Those moves and others that slowed mail service came as President Donald Trump, who has long criticized mail ballots, said last week he wanted to curtail aid to the Postal Service, fueling fears of election disruption and prompting a national outcry. (The changes were halted last week in Montana after the state's congressional delegation objected.) Its a travesty, Kevin Howlett said of all the upheaval. Howlett, 69, a retired tribal health administrator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was at the Arlee Post Office on Tuesday, as he is daily. So many people depend upon the Post Office for essential services. To slow it down for political purposes is unconscionable. Randy Willison, 67, who works construction and logging, said he likewise can be found daily at the Arlee Post Office. But he wont be mailing his ballot for the Nov. 3 election there. I dont believe in mail-in ballots, he said. As to hiccups in mail service, I know theyre blaming it all on Trump. Denver-based Postal Service spokesman Floyd Wagoner said Monday that while he couldnt confirm local changes, we have plenty of capacity to handle (the mail) now through the election season, the holidays and beyond. We have a two-day standard in Montana. If mail is dropped anywhere in Montana, it will get across the state in two days." Elections administrators in Montana, however, caution voters to give their ballots up to a week to make it back to their offices. Last week, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, followed by Montanas junior U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Congressman Greg Gianforte along with Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat challenging Republican Daines for his Senate seat all decried the changes. On Tuesday, all four were swift to hail DeJoys announcement. But Tester, a Democrat, warned in a statement that this fight is far from over. Montanans rely on dependable, timely mail service to pay their bills, receive prescription drugs, and vote, and DeJoys actions have already caused real damage that must be repaired." Bullock called for more than temporary assurance. Any changes that have been made whether it was removing collection boxes, shutting off mail sorting machines, restricting overtime for our mail carriers, or transportation delays must be immediately reversed and answered for. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has scheduled a Saturday vote on a bill to prevent election-year changes to the Postal Service, and provides $25 billion in aid. The money has already been approved as part of the COVID-19 rescue that is stalled in the Republican-majority Senate. The agency has lost $69 billion over the 11 years ending in fiscal year 2019, according to the federal General Accounting Office. Gianforte, a Republican, will return to Washington to vote on what spokesman Travis Hall characterized as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's partisan bill." But, he said, "a better use of Congress' time is for Democrats and Republicans to work together to make sure families, businesses, and communities throughout Montana have the resources they need to get through the coronavirus and economic crises. In any event, House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told the Louisville Courier-Journal, I dont think well pass, in the Senate, a postal-only bill. The furor over the Postal Service has provided rich political fodder for both sides, but University of Montana journalism professor and political analyst Lee Banville said a frequent characterization that vote-by-mail systems benefit Democrats doesnt really apply in Montana. The idea of what a mail ballot looks like is not mysterious to us, Banville said, pointing out that in Montana, as in many Western states where mail balloting has been available for years, Democrats and Republicans alike benefit from the system. Earlier this month, Gov. Bullock gave counties the option of deciding whether to hold mail elections, while preserving the ability to vote in person. All 56 counties chose to hold the June 2 primary by mail. Turnout was 55%, nearly the highest it's ever been in a primary. As to how DeJoys announcement Tuesday will play out in Montana, I dont think it profoundly changes things, Banville said. Jenette Larson, 66, a home health care worker who dropped letters off at the Arlee Post Offices drive up box on Tuesday, said she had one request for those ultimately in charge of the Postal Services fate: Leave this one alone, she said. The Associated Press contributed to this article. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Bus drivers covering several major population centres in Sydney have threatened to carry out a 48-hour strike beginning next Monday if their demands for basic safety measures to mitigate the dangers posed by COVID-19 are not met. The dispute is the latest indication of broader opposition within the working class to the criminally-negligent and profit-driven official response to the pandemic. Over the past month teachers, warehouse employees and meat workers, especially in Melbourne, the current coronavirus epicentre, have begun to register their hostility to the pro-business reopening of the economy and the enforcement of unsafe conditions by governments and the employers. Several stoppages have been carried out, along with an expanding discussion on social media about the dangers. The Sydney drivers are calling for mask wearing to be made mandatory on services that exceed nominal limits on passenger numbers. They are also opposing the scrapping of physical distancing requirements. The threat to strike follows the publication of images on social media and in the press showing crowded Sydney bus services with dozens of passengers standing in close proximity to one another without masks or any other precautions. Despite government regulations supposedly mandating that buses carry fewer passengers than before the pandemic, nothing has been done to boost the number of services. A Sydney driver who spoke to the WSWS yesterday commented: I think there is not enough safety protection. I believe that very strongly. Theres no mystery about it. We all know that with front line workers like nurses and doctorsnot that we are the same as nurses and doctorsthere are kids and other people running around who could have the virus. Its a very hard thing because you dont know whos getting on your bus. Not everybody is wearing a mask. Some people who are coughing on the bus dont put their hands over their mouth. The driver said: At the beginning of the pandemic I had to supply my own masks. I had to supply all my own personal protection. Now when you sign in they give you about two, maybe four, masks. The stoppage, if it proceeds, will involve drivers in regions 7, 8 and 9 of the Sydney bus network, encompassing the citys eastern, northwestern, north shore and northern beaches suburbs. The threat by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) of industrial action indicates a groundswell of anger among rank and file drivers. Throughout the pandemic the union has done nothing to oppose the dangerous conditions on public transport or violations by the authorities of their own regulations. This has been in line with the RTBUs decades long role as an industrial police force that has slashed jobs, wages and conditions for bus, train and ferry staff, and has facilitated the privatisation of much of the citys public transportation system. The union has previously prevented any action by drivers, even as reports have emerged for months of overcrowding on the buses. In early May, the New South Wales (NSW) Liberal-National government of Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that the number of passengers on Sydney buses would be restricted to 12. This was aimed at justifying as safe the full resumption of services in line with a broader push to force workers back into workplaces. Green stickers were plastered on seats, indicating where passengers were permitted to sit. It emerged almost immediately, however, that State Transit, the government body running public transport, had sent a directive to drivers instructing them that they were required to pick up all passengers, regardless of overcrowding. The directive insisted that school children, who often board in large cohorts, were not to be left at their stops under any circumstances. A government report, released under a freedom of information request in July, revealed that throughout June, when those restrictions were in force, 10 percent of bus services in the morning peak hour exceeded capacity requirements, and 13 percent during the evening peak. The figures were 23 percent and 28 percent across the train network. The report did not propose any measures to remedy the situation. Instead it called for the restrictions to be scrapped. Accordingly, in early July the Berejiklian government announced that the recommended 1.5-metre distance between individuals, aimed at preventing transmission, would no longer apply on buses. The green stickers have remained, but they are merely window dressing. Passengers have been encouraged to wear masks, but nothing has been mandated. The nominal restrictions have not been reintroduced, despite the re-emergence of community transmission of the virus in Sydney. Over the past six weeks, clusters have emerged across the city, with daily new infections often in the low double-digits. The dangers confronting Sydney bus drivers are underscored by the conditions facing their colleagues internationally. At least 33 London bus drivers have lost their lives after being infected by COVID-19 as a result of unsafe conditions enforced by the government and the unions. Hostility to the conditions has contributed to a massive vote in favour of strike action. Dozens of transport workers also have perished in New York and other major cities across the US. The RTBUs announcement of the threatened stoppage came in a pathetic letter appealing to the Berejiklian government to put the needs and safety of the travelling public first. The tepid character of the letter was made plain by its request that the government provide clarity around the enforcement of physical distancing on transport. The union letter was aimed at creating the conditions for the strike to be called off in the event that the government releases a mealy-mouthed statement expressing its commitment to safety on public transport. The union, moreover, has refused to mobilise all bus drivers in the stoppage in a bid to isolate strikers and pit staff in different regions against one another. No action is planned among rail or ferry staff who confront the same dangers as their colleagues on the buses. Revealingly, the unions primary complaint is that the government rebuffed its repeated appeals for closed-door meetings over the past months. The RTBU is anxious, above all, to ensure its own seat at the negotiating table where it bargains away the jobs, rights and conditions of its members in exchange for the privileges of the union officialdom. Over the past decade alone, the RTBU has enforced the privatisation of Sydney ferry services in 2012, the sell-off of bus services in the regional city of Newcastle in 2017, and the transfer of inner-west Sydney bus routes to private operators in 2018. In March 2018, the union suppressed widespread opposition among NSW rail workers to stepped-up government attacks on wages and conditions. The RTBU acceded to the banning of a 24-hour strike by the workers, and then imposed a sell-out agreement that mandated an ongoing pro-business restructuring of the network including the closure of operational facilities, forced redundancies and the expansion of casual and contract labour. The union, while making token protests, has since signalled that it will back the privatisation of what remains of state-operated bus services throughout Sydney. This will include sweeping job cuts and the further casualisation of the workforce. The RTBU letter, threatening the stoppage, called only for the delay of privatisation plans until this crisis is over. This was an appeal to the government not to inflame anger among drivers, and a pledge that the union would force through the sell-offs in the future. The record demonstrates that bus drivers and transport workers can defend their rights, including to a safe working environment, only through a rebellion against the RTBU. New organisations of struggle, including rank-and-file safety committees, are required to enforce basic health measures and coordinate an industrial and political struggle against the offensive on transport workers jobs, wages and conditions, linked to the fight of public transport workers globally. The privatisations and restructurings of the past decade demonstrate the need for a new perspective that rejects the subordination of public transport and other social needs to the profit interests of the corporate elite. That means the fight for workers governments that would implement socialist policies, including placing all transport, along with the major banks and corporations, under public ownership and democratic workers control. The author also recommends: London bus drivers deliver massive strike vote over COVID pay, health and safety [18 August 2020] London bus drivers face COVID-19 disaster: Build rank-and-file safety committees! [5 June 2020] New York City transit workers must form rank-and-file committees to save their lives! [24 April 2020] Four-time SAG Award winner Sarah Hyland announced Wednesday that she's 'so excited' to reunite with her Modern Family onscreen father Ty Burrell for ABC sitcom Yours, Mine & Paul's. The New York-born, LA-raised 29-year-old - who boasts 10.3M social media followers - wrote: 'Keepin' it in the family...Being able to work with Ty for 11 years was a dream come true. I'm so happy we get to keep it going.' The 52-year-old Emmy winner will executive produce the comedy written and directed by Julia Meltzer (P.O.V., Dalya's Other Country) through his Desert Whale Productions. 'I can finally tell you guys!' Four-time SAG Award winner Sarah Hyland announced Wednesday that she's 'so excited' to reunite with her Modern Family onscreen father Ty Burrell for ABC sitcom Yours, Mine & Paul's The New York-born, LA-raised 29-year-old - who boasts 10.3M social media followers - wrote: 'Keepin' it in the family' Sarah will have to strap on a fake baby bump again to play surrogate/egg donor Lauren, who co-parents a baby with her nemesis Xander after his husband (and her best friend) Paul passes away. 20th TV President Carolyn Cassidy told Deadline: '[Ty] brought us this fantastic script from a promising young writer he identified, and ABC loved it as much we did.' Burrell and Hyland famously earned $500K and $100K per episode, respectively, to portray father-daughter duo Phil and Haley Dunphy in the ABC mockumentary sitcom, which concluded April 8 after 11 seasons. Sarah continued via Instastory: 'Being able to work with Ty for 11 years was a dream come true. I'm so happy we get to keep it going' '10lb leotard': Sarah will have to strap on a fake baby bump again to play surrogate/egg donor Lauren, who co-parents a baby with her nemesis Xander after his husband (and her best friend) Paul passes away (pictured in 2018) Final on-set selfie: Burrell and Hyland famously earned $500K and $100K per episode, respectively, to portray father-daughter duo Phil and Haley Dunphy in the ABC mockumentary sitcom, which concluded April 8 after 11 seasons The Penn State University grad is also set to reprise his voiceover role as rock-obsessed plumber Jack Harris in the second season of Fox's adult animated sitcom Duncanville. The Wedding Year producer-star last made headlines for staging a 'postponed wedding' shoot with her live-in fiance - Worst Cooks in America champ Wells Adams - on August 8, the day they were supposed to walk down the aisle. Sarah and the 35-year-old Bachelorette 12 alum - who got engaged July 16, 2019 in Fiji - originally began dating in November 2017 after meeting via Twitter. Due out next year! Ty is also set to reprise his voiceover role as rock-obsessed plumber Jack Harris (2-R) in the second season of Fox's adult animated sitcom Duncanville 'We took pictures and drank wine': The Wedding Year producer-star last made headlines for staging a 'postponed wedding' shoot with her live-in fiance - Worst Cooks in America champ Wells Adams - on August 8, the day they were supposed to walk down the aisle Covid update: Dharavi model in Philippines; Australia to manufacture vaccine From Australia manufacturing 'promising' vaccine to Philippines adopting Dharavi model for Covid containment, here are the top updates on the pandemic. Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison on said the country will manufacture 'promising' Covid-19 vaccine and distribute it for free to its citizens. The vaccine is being developed with Oxford University. Meanwhile, India proposed air bubbles with five neighboring countries except Pakistan. Air bubbles seek to restore commercial passenger services to pre-pandemic levels. Also, hospitals in Delhi are reporting a recurrence of infection in recovered Covid-19 patients. Several patients, who had earlier recovered from Covid-19 had a relapse. Meanwhile, Philippines government to adopt Dharavi model for Covid-19 containment in its densely populated slums. Watch the full video for more details. ...read more We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong . . . somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. . . . I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. . . . And an enormous debt to boot! Chinas ruling Communist Party has expelled a staunch critic of President Xi Jinping who has accused him among others of provoking conflict with other countries, including with India, to divert the attention of the Chinese public from domestic economic and social tensions. The Communist Party of China (CPC) expelled Cai Xia, a former professor at the Central Party School, as punishment for speeches that damaged the reputation of the country, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Monday. Cai, 68, was punished because she had made speeches with serious political problems, the report said quoting a notice on the schools website. Her speeches were of extraordinarily execrable nature, and seriously violated the political discipline of the party, the notice said. Cai told the Post that she was safe and well in the United States but declined to elaborate. In an interview to the UKs Guardian newspaper in June, Cai said Xi was provoking conflict between China and India besides encouraging anti-American sentiment to consolidate his own position and authority. Asked what benefit is there to making China an enemy of the world and why Xi would provoke conflicts, Cai said, there are several factors. Among them is that he wants to consolidate his own position and authority. Considering domestic economic and social tensions, as well as those in the party of the last few years, he will think of ways to divert the attention of the Chinese public, provoking conflict with other countries, for example encouraging anti-American sentiment and the recent clash between China and India, she said, apparently referring to the clash in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. She also criticised Xi on multiple issues including the constitutional amendment removing the two-term limit for the President paving the way for lifelong tenure, secrecy related to coronavirus casualties and not acting to curb the virus when he came to know of it on January 7 this year. She said Xi forced through the amendment of Chinas Constitution to abolish term limits for the President in 2018, giving him the ability to stay in power indefinitely. Cai said that China was moving towards disaster because people cannot speak the truth. The party central school, where Cai worked is an important ideological institution was headed by Xi before he took over power in 2012. Rockets Blast Kabul on Afghan Independence Day By Ayesha Tanzeem August 18, 2020 Fourteen rockets landed in Kabul Tuesday morning, some of them very close to where President Ashraf Ghani was participating in an official ceremony marking the country's 101st independence day. The attack, close to Kabul's diplomatic enclave, sent emergency sirens blazing in most foreign embassies, the United Nations and NATO headquarters in Kabul, and sent staff scrambling to get to safe rooms. VOA reporters in Kabul said the warning alarms started around 9:30 a.m. and continued for a while. "All diplomatic officials in embassies in the green zone have been moved to safe rooms in the diplomatic district until clearance orders," a senior Western security official told Reuters. An interior ministry spokesman, Tariq Aryan, said the rockets were fired from two vehicles and wounded 10 civilians, including four children and a woman. Tuesday was an official holiday in the country and due to the special ceremony, all roads to the presidential palace and green zone were closed for traffic. Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the attacks. According to SITE Intelligence Group, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has taken responsibility for the attack. The attack was similar to the rockets fired during the presidential inauguration in May. ISKP, the local Islamic State chapter, had claimed responsibility for that one. The explosions come at a time when the start of peace talks with the Taliban, which seemed almost imminent last week, has hit another road block. France and Australia have asked Afghanistan not to release Taliban prisoners involved in the killing of their citizens. "France asks the Afghan government not to proceed with the release of several terrorists convicted of killing French citizens in Afghanistan, in particular soldiers and humanitarian workers," the French embassy in Kabul tweeted Sunday. Taliban had demanded the release of 5,000 of their prisoners before they would sit down for any negotiation. The United States agreed to the release in a deal it signed with the group in February in which the Afghan government was not a party. Since then, the Afghans have resisted releasing the militants, claiming some were dangerous and may go back to the battlefield. The issue seemed almost resolved last week after Ghani held a loya jirga, a traditional grand assembly of influential Afghans, that supported the release of the contentious last batch of 400 prisoners, the only ones left out of the 5,000. Meanwhile, the Afghan government and its international partners have urged the Taliban to keep the level of violence low in the country. "We stand behind your #ANDSF security forces as they secure peace in #Afghanistan. Now is the time to reduce violence and build a political path towards peace," tweeted the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller in his independence day felicitations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MIAMI - A lawyer for a former Colombian paramilitary leader is asking a U.S. federal court to force Attorney General William Barr to immediately deport the former warlord to Italy after he completed a long drug sentence. The emergency petition was filed Monday in Washington, DC federal court on behalf of Salvatore Mancuso, the former top commander of the United Defence Forces of Colombia, known as the AUC. It comes as Colombia is mounting a last-minute campaign to block Mancusos removal to Italy after it bungled an extradition request that had to be withdrawn last month. Mancusos lawyer argues that Barr, Chad Wolf, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, and four other senior officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have unlawfully kept Mancuso in federal custody beyond the maximum 90 days allowed for the removal of aliens. Included in the petition is a copy of a final administrative removal order dated April 15 that compels DHS and ICE to remove Mancuso to Italy, where he also has citizenship. Immigration attorney Hector Mora attributes the delay to strong pressure from Colombias conservative government, which he claims is working closely with the U.S. State Department to bring Mancuso back to Colombia. If returned home, he argues his client is likely to be jailed, or even killed, despite having fulfilled his obligations under a 2003 peace deal he negotiated, which caps prison terms at eight years for militia leaders who confess their crimes. He and his family are terrified with his possible return to Colombia, Mora wrote to ICE officials on March 27 the same day Mancuso completed a 12-year sentence in the U.S. for cocaine trafficking. Mancuso, 55, was the most remorseful of the former right-wing militia leaders after demobilizing and his eagerness to discuss the paramilitaries war crimes has already shaken Colombias politics. His boast in 2005 that a third of Colombias congress was elected with paramilitary support triggered a wave of judicial investigations that ended with dozens of elected officials behind bars. Mora said others still in power have not hidden their desire to find a Colombian court to order Mancusos arrest in a desperate effort to silence him. Mancuso through his extensive declarations made enemies at the highest levels of power, including high ranking officers of the ruling party in Colombia and inner circle of the current administration, Mora wrote. Colombian President Ivan Duque this month called for Mancusos return and immediate imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutors office said it was working on a new extradition request after the AP revealed how the first attempt had to be withdrawn when authorities realized a judge had already cancelled the arrest order. While Colombian courts have judged Mancuso responsible for more than 1,500 acts of murder or forced disappearance, many of the crimes are not recognized as offences under U.S. law because they stem from his position atop AUCs chain of command not specific orders he gave. In 2001, the U.S. designated the AUC a foreign terror organization. In 2008, then President Alvaro Uribe stealthily extradited Mancuso and 13 other warlords to face drug charges in the U.S. His critics say the shock move, an apparent peace accord violation, was an attempt to quiet the men just as they began to reveal secrets about their crimes and politician collaborators including Uribe, who as a governor in the 1990s backed the creation of legal, armed groups to protect ranchers land from leftist guerrilla fighters. Mondays emergency filing known as a writ of mandamus contains new insight into how Mora and Joaquin Perez, Mancusos criminal defence lawyer in Miami, managed to outmanoeuvr Colombian officials. The fight over Mancusos future has garnered the attention of Mancusos many victims as well as Human Rights Watch, which accused Colombian officials of being notably negligent in their pursuit of Mancusos extradition. According to correspondence submitted with the petition, Mancuso applied for asylum in the U.S. where his ex-wife and youngest child were granted protection as well as indicated that he would not oppose removal to Italy but would fight any orders sending him to Colombia. Mora, in correspondence with U.S. officials in March, said his client had already purchased a one-way ticket to Rome and had an address in Italy where he will stay in quarantine during the 14 days after arrival to Italy. To expedite the removal, the Mancuso family also offered to purchase tickets for two ICE officials that were required to escort the ex-felon. Mora included as part of his petition Mancusos Italian passport, which expired in 2001; travel documents were furnished by the Italian consulate in Miami on Aug. 14, according to correspondence included in the petition. The U.S. Justice Department and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Follow Goodman on Twitter; @APJoshGoodman Congratulations, olangal.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Olangal.com scored 75 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 4/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 26 Oct 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. olangal.com is very popular in Google Plus, Facebook and Stumble Upon. It is liked by 1434 people on Facebook, it has 6 twitter shares and it has 1791 google+ shares. The total number of people who shared the olangal homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the olangal homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if olangal has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the olangal homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the olangal homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the olangal homepage on Twitter + the total number of olangal followers (if olangal has a Twitter account). Basic Information PAGE TITLE Olangal.com - Malayalam Movie Watch Online, Malayalam Movie Downloads DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS read more, malayalam, search, malayalam movie, jump to, additional information, movie The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United Kingdom) UTF-8English (United Kingdom) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.29 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.29 OpenSSL/1.0.1e-fips mod_bwlimited/1.4 (PHP/5.4.33) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of olangal.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for olangal.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:29:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRASILIA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to drop by 8 to 10 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the first quarter, the Brazilian Economy Ministry's Secretariat of Economic Policy said Tuesday. The agency said in a report that if the forecast is confirmed, the decline will cause Latin America's largest economy to enter into a technical recession, following a 1.5-percent drop in GDP between January and March. The official GDP results for the second quarter will be released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics on Sept. 1. The GDP decline in the first half of 2020 "reflects the crisis caused by the interruption of trade and society's normal activities," the agency said. For 2020, the government forecasts a 4.7-percent drop in GDP, while the financial market estimates a 5.52-percent contraction. According to the report, Brazil has spent more, in terms of percentage of GDP, to tackle the COVID-19 crisis compared with other developing or even developed countries. Enditem Google Assistant now shows a feature-specific UI for sending voice messages via the default messaging app. Or at least it does in the US and Brazil, based on recent reports. The new interface wont necessarily change how the functionality works under the hood. But it does mean that users have a more visual way to interact with voice messaging. At the surface, the feature works precisely as might be imagined. Users simply start by asking Google Assistant on Android to send an audio message. Of course, thats after activating Assistant via either the Google hot-word or touch interactions. The Assistant UI will display a list of contacts if one isnt specified with the voice command. Then, the UI changes to show that a message is being recorded. That comes complete with a timer, as well as a Cancel button and Send button. Those each work in a predictable way too. The cancel button takes users out of the feature and the send button sends the message. Advertisement How is this different from asking Assistant to send voice messages before? The biggest change-up here is going to be in the fact that Assistant can now give users a physical way to interact with the process. But it also means that users dont need to navigate to the Messages app and initiate the audio-clip recording from that UI. They can just do it with their voice. And that will be an intuitive, easy-to-adjust-to process that works just like transcribing a text-based message. That also means that the messages can effectively be sent from any page. The only prerequisite is the same that existed already. Namely, to send messages, cell service is required. As is a phone that supports Google Assistant. The latter requirement should be fairly easy to meet since Assistant has been a mainstay for years, after initially launching back in 2016. Advertisement When and where is this available? It isnt immediately clear exactly where this feature new AI-driven feature is available. Google has reportedly begun rolling the feature out today in Portuguese in Brazil. And it will work in English-speaking countries worldwide. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Lets return to the definition of grandstanding in the new book called Grandstanding, by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke: What is grandstanding? Grandstanders want to impress others with their moral qual-ities. We call this the Recognition Desire. Grandstanders try to satisfy that desire by saying something in public moral discourse. We call this public display the Grandstanding Expression. You can therefore think of grandstanding in terms of a simple formula: Grandstanding = Recognition Desire + Grandstanding Expression Grandstanders try to get others to think of them as morally respectable. Sometimes they want to be thought of as one of the gang. Other times, they want to be thought of as morally exceptional. Either way, they usually want to be seen as morally better than others. It happens and it is happening all day long on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Especially the second and third convey a sense of look at me. But Grandstanding ramps it up with a desire for moral recognition for ones claims. Each of these chapters has been insightful but I find the chapter on respect even more so. Grandstanding trades in disrespecting other people in a number of ways, and they look at three: (1) it showcases one person over another, (2) it deceives others, and (3) it free-rides on the good moral talk of others. It uses other people. Again, morality is not a convenient excuse to use another person. Morality requires us to treat other people according to their worth as human beings, not as mere instruments. Showcasing fails to do so. Showcasing turns others into punching bags. Sometimes grandstanders pounces on innocent people unjustly and disrespects, sometimes with life consequences, the innocent. Even when people are guilty the consequences of grandstanding through showcasing outweigh the act of the person guilty. Some grandstanders ... go through life looking for opportunities to pounce on others moral mistakes, real or imagined, to demonstrate to others what good people they are. We call this kind of demonstration showcasing. Showcasing involves using others by recruiting them into a public display designed to show off the moral qualities of the grandstander. Showcasers might do this by piling on in cases of public shaming, ramping up or trumping up accusations of wrongdoing, or engaging in accusatory expressions of outrage or other negative emotions. Showcasers are grandstanders who satisfy their Recognition Desire by using the alleged moral failures of others to show off their own moral superiority. Image: Cover Photo I would add that they do this also to rally their friends into crowdpounding. There are two well-known examples of this, and I am not saying I have never done this because I have, and both concerned Rob Bell. (You know the stories.) Both instances made him a punching bag for those who disagreed with him. And both of these sources clearly decided in the wake of those actions to avoid such moral talk. Anyone, however, with social media runs the risk of grandstanding, showcasing, and crowdpounding. More to the point about showcasing: we are not good judges of our own morality and our own motives. We over rate ourselves. We therefore under rate others. We therefore pounce in ways that disrespect others because we have over respected our own judgments and under rated their motives and actions. Our point is that when we try to impress our in-groups by showcasing, we will often blame and shame innocent people, whether we believe this is what we are doing or not. We need to lower our confidence in our own judgments of others. We need to lower our confidence in our own judgments of others. We need to lower our confidence in our own judgments of others. Say it again. Showcasing often deceives, intentionally and not, others. We cultivate ourselves as trustworthy when we showcase our moral talk against others. But you run a high risk of deceiving others about youself and the one on whom you pounce. Some, of course, do this intentionally while others do this to show they are part of the inside group, the woke group on that topic, the ones in the know. We know that most humans think better of their moral qualities than is warranted. So, we should be wary of the temptation to grandstand to feel better about ourselves. If we do so, we risk feeding into our own delusions, and drifting further and further from an accurate impression of who we are and what we care about. Showcasing works by free-riding on the good will and good moral talk of others. Culture and society work by cooperation, and assuming and trusting cooperation permits some to take advantage of the good cooperation of others. Chicago has a reputation, deserved or not, of vote early, vote often. Lets say thats true. It works because the vast majority, if not almost all people, vote honestly and vote once. How do we do this with moral talk? We abuse the common resource of moral talk when we moralize excessively, make plainly false or absurd moral claims, or use moral talk in nakedly self-serving ways. This works because most moral talk isnt excessive, is close to truth, doesnt resort to absurdities, and isnt self-serving. Their norm for moral talk: dont self-promote. Check yourself and if theres a doubt, dont. Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police HAMDEN No one was injured in an early morning shooting Sunday, police said in a news release Tuesday that confirmed the investigation remains active. Around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the area of Whitney Avenue and Augur Street for a report of shots fired, according to Capt. Ronald Smith. LONDON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Greensill welcomes a statement from The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) supporting the action Greensill has taken to cut services to clients that have poor payment terms for SMEs and calling on other supply chain finance providers to follow suit. Greensill has taken decisive action in Australia to ensure that clients do not use its supply chain finance (SCF) to push out payment terms to small business suppliers, issuing discontinuance notices to those that continue to do so. Kate Carnell, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, states: "Greensill has shown that supply chain finance providers can lead by example by cutting off clients that fail to pay on time. This should be the position adopted by all supply chain finance facilitators." Lex Greensill, founder and CEO of Greensill, said: "We are delighted that the ASBFEO has welcomed our action to protect small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and must be treated fairly." Full statement from the ASBFEO here. About Greensill Reformers at heart, Greensill challenges the status quo by working to make global finance fairer and levelling the playing field for all businesses and people alike. The company unlocks capital so the world can put it to work. Founded in 2011, Greensill is headquartered in London with offices in New York, Frankfurt, Chicago, Miami, Singapore, Bogota, Shenzhen, Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg, Sydney, Warrington and Bundaberg. Greensill provides innovative financing solutions to customers across Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, and Asia - injecting more than $143 billion of financing in 2019 to more than 8 million customers and suppliers across more than 175 countries. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1179866/Greensill_Logo.jpg Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Most New York City attractions become hellholes the second tourists descend on us in summer (which, non-coincidentally, is the same time theres an exodus of the wise and the wealthy to Montauk, the Hamptons, small-town Connecticut and the rest of upstate New York from the crowded apartments of Manhattan.) Going outside in the soupy air of July and August is a challenge in itself; most of us who are not wise or wealthy stay glued to the face of the AC unit blasting frigid air into our box-sized studios, and occasionally take turns to crawl to the nearest grocery store for sustenance. Nobody wants to battle the crowds of eager, sun-starved Brits on top of that, the ones wholl happily climb up the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building in hundred-degree weather, their I <3 NY T-shirts soaked in sweat and their faces puce with effort. I was one of those Brits once, just happy to see a bit of sunshine after seven months of grey rain, starstruck by the towering high-rises and knocked sideways by the quality of the Mexican food. Then one day I woke up and I was a New Yorker: last year I travelled back to the UK for three months in August and actually uttered the words, I love how cold and rainy it is. A few days ago, I told my fiance I thought it was nice and overcast. Such phrases should be alien to anyone who grew up on the rainiest island since Ireland, but they quickly become part of your repertoire when you live in the Big Apple. Chocolate lovers are rejoicing after a woman bought a bar of Caramilk Hokey Pokey in Victoria on Tuesday - despite Cadbury insisting the flavour would not launch in Australia in 2020. Author Anna Spargo-Ryan's sister discovered the block in a Melbourne service station late last night, prompting the writer to share the news on Twitter. 'My sister just sent me this did you all know about this?' she tweeted alongside a photo of the bar, which is a mix of the cult favourite caramelised white chocolate and golden honeycomb pieces. Rumours about a Caramilk Hokey Pokey creation proved true after swirling on social media in June, but the confectionery giant claimed the flavour would only be sold in New Zealand this year - much to the disappointment of fans Down Under. Scroll down for video Australian author Anna Spargo-Ryan's sister discovered bars of Cadbury Caramilk Hokey Pokey (pictured) in a Melbourne service station on Monday, despite the chocolate giant insisting the flavour would not be sold in Australia in 2020 The writer tweeted about the discovery, sending Aussie Caramilk fans into a frenzy 'We're excited to confirm that we are launching Caramilk Hokey Pokey in New Zealand this year,' Cadbury marketing manager Kate Watson told news.com.au. 'The combination of Cadbury Caramilk and Hokey Pokey brings together two iconic Kiwi flavours in the one delicious Cadbury block. 'While Caramilk Hokey Pokey won't be launching in Australia this year, we'd love to hear if it's a flavour combo Aussie Caramilk fans would like to see us launch in future.' Disgruntled Caramilk enthusiasts called for a petition to put pressure on Cadbury to cave and release the new variety in Australia. 'It's time to revolt everyone! We now have confirmation that Caramilk Hokey Pokey is only being launched in New Zealand,' one man wrote in a Facebook post. The Hokey Pokey creation is a variation on Cadbury's original Caramilk bar (pictured), a hybrid caramel and white chocolate bar 'But Cadbury 'Australia' have been known to bow to public pressure before, so why not post a comment on their page and let them know that Aussies want some of that Hokey Pokey goodness too!' 'I keep sending messages via messenger. Everyone needs to do this on a regular basis,' a woman replied. Now it seems the public outcry has paid off just two months later. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cadbury for comment as the chocolate giant has been known to tease fans in the lead up to releasing - and re-launching - products. Last year, the giant remained tight-lipped about confirming its Twirl edition of the caramelised white chocolate bar after photos were leaked online. The brand did the same thing earlier this year with the comeback of its much-loved Marble bar. Gwich'in leaders in Yukon and the Northwest Territories are calling on opponents of oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to step up their efforts. The call comes after the U.S. government said Monday it will be selling oil leases in the refuge as early as this year. "The Gwich'in will continue to stand united with all of our allies to do whatever we can to delay a lease sale from occurring and we will not stop in this work until the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is permanently protected from oil and gas exploration and development," said Grand Chief Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan of the Gwich'in Tribal Council. She said in a news release Tuesday the U.S. government's environmental review of oil drilling in the refuge was rushed, inadequate and "failed to identify these lands as the life blood of the Gwich'in nation." CBC The chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, Dana Tizya-Tramm, said the area identified for development includes the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd, a haven for 200 species of migratory birds and other wildlife. "The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is exactly that," said Tizya-Tramm. "It's a wildlife refuge. This specific area of development is at the beating heart [of] its fragility and strength." As species around the world are being driven into extinction from climate change and other causes, he said, this is the time to take a stand. "The people of the United States and Canada already know what is right or wrong no matter what complicated excuses may be coming from any department, leader or economist," said Tizya-Tramm. He said opponents can focus on raising public awareness, going to court and lobbying politicians and potential investors as ways of stopping development. Politically driven, says analyst The rush to sell oil leases in the refuge seems to be politically driven, said oil and gas analyst Doug Matthews, who became a consultant after a 25-year career with the Northwest Territories government. Story continues If the Republican party administration is turned out of office in November's U.S. elections, selling at least one oil lease before a Democratic administration takes over would make it harder for the Democrats to prevent oil drilling, said Matthews. CBC Supporters of drilling say the refuge could contain billions of barrels of oil. Matthews said, however, there may not be any takers. "Given the price of oil these days and the prospect for declining demand for oil, I would be very surprised if any company bid on any of these parcels," he said. An added disincentive, Matthews said, is that controversial issues in the United States often lead to court challenges. "I think any company that would be going into this area would be going in with their eyes wide open that they will be spending a lot of time in court," he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) The new dominant strain of coronavirus found by international researchers to be more infectious was recently detected in the country, Filipino researchers have reported. The new mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus called G614 has almost completely replaced the first version named D614, making it the most dominant coronavirus strain circulating worldwide. The mutation affects the spike protein or the structure that the virus uses to get into the cells it infects. Researchers at the Philippine Genome Center reported last week that the mutated strain of coronavirus was found in a small sample of positive cases taken from Quezon City. When COVID-19 started spreading in the country last March, the D614G variant of the virus showed up in the samples collected by Filipino genome researchers. However, when a new set of research was started in June, both the D614 and the G614 have been detected in a small sample of positive cases from the most populous city in the country. "Although this information confirms the presence of G614 in the Philippines, we note that all the samples tested were from Quezon City and may not represent the mutational landscape for the whole country," it said in a bulletin released on August 13. An international team of researchers in July found clear evidence that this new form of the coronavirus is more infectious. A global study published in the journal Cell said the new version seems to multiply faster in the upper respiratory tract the nose, sinuses and throat which would explain why it passes around more easily. But the bright side is that patients infected with the new strain of the coronavirus were not more severely affected, according to the study. The University of the Philippines-backed genome center highlighted the importance of studying and tracking the mutations of the virus in order to create effective containment, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH allowed the Philippine Genome Center to expand its study to cover a wider area. Meanwhile, infectious diseases expert Dr. Benjamin Co emphasized the newly discovered G614 coronavirus mutation is "more infectious but not necessarily deadlier." The G variant has more spike proteins, so the ability of having more spike proteins makes it now more infectious. But there are two schools of thought on it, one is the gene mutation actually makes it more stable and the other it doesnt make it more stable which allows the spike proteins to shift, Co told CNN Philippines Rico Hizon. Co assured the newly discovered G614 coronavirus mutation will not affect the quality of COVID-19 vaccines being created by pharmaceutical companies around the world. The Philippines has a total of 164,474 COVID-19 cases, with 112,759 recoveries and 2,681 deaths. The country has the longest ongoing lockdown worldwide with the entire country's population placed under varying degrees of stay-at-home restrictions for 156 days. CONCORD, N.H. - Dartmouth College students will stay close to campus, researchers are analyzing wastewater and a Manchester museum is reopening as New Hampshire responds to the coronanvirus pandemic: STUDENT TRAVEL Dartmouth College students barely will be able to venture off-campus when they return this fall. According to the latest travel restrictions, undergraduate students will not be permitted to travel beyond the local area, which is defined as the towns of Hanover, Enfield, Lebanon, Lyme, and West Lebanon in New Hampshire, and Norwich and Hartford in Vermont. Graduate students, faculty and staff have more leeway. But those travelling outside New England, even for day trips, will be prohibited from accessing campus buildings for 14 days after they return. - Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock are part of a national effort to better track the course of community outbreaks of the coronavirus by studying wastewater. Studies indicate genetic material from the virus can be recovered from the stools of about half of patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Researchers across the U.S. and in Europe who are analyzing wastewater say the approach can serve as an early warning because it can detect trends several days before results appear from community testing or people get sick enough to show up at a hospital. Dartmouth-Hitchcock plans a three-phase project that includes comparing available testing methods, testing wastewater from three communities daily for two weeks and then conducting broader surveillance at more sites across New Hampshire and Vermont. Officials said Wednesday those sites will include nursing homes, prisons and colleges to monitor specific at-risk communities. There is definitely national momentum behind this topic, said Dr. Isabella Martin, a medical microbiologist and co-leader of the project. Here at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, we feel well-positioned to be at the forefront of testing in our region, contribute our data to the national effort and help develop the best methods for testing. ____ MUSEUM REOPENING The Currier Museum of Art is reopening to the public five months after it closed and moved its programs online because of the coronavirus. The museum in Manchester will reopen Thursday, with multiple safety measures in place. All visitors must wear masks, and capacity in each gallery will be limited. New exhibits focus on video games and contemporary art, photographs from the Civil Rights movement and drawings that tell the story of an enslaved familys journey to freedom. ___ THE NUMBERS As of Wednesday, 7,036 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 19 from the previous day. Three new deaths were announced, for a total of 427. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire decreased over the past two weeks from 23 new cases per day on Aug. 4 to 22 new cases per day on Aug. 18. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. In his first reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in favour of a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput case on Wednesday , Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that raising doubts on the capability of Mumbai Police is "a conspiracy against the city police". "The Mumbai Police are fully capable of doing a good investigation... They investigated the matter with complete integrity," said Raut. However, he said he would not comment on the legal proceedings which either the Mumbai Police Commissioner (Param Bir Singh) or the state Advocate-General would speak on. The apex court judgement, while observing that the Mumbai Police did not err in the probe in any manner, also said it was wrong to create hurdles in the way of the Bihar Police team investigating the case in Mumbai. Raut reiterated that Maharashtra is known for always striving for truth and justice and always ensuring that everybody -- big or small -- is not above the law and all can expect to get justice. When questioned about Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, Raut said not to bring his name, but remained silent whether the state government would challenge the apex court ruling. Raut had consistently opposed the move to hand over the probe to the CBI in the Sushant case. The actor was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14, sparking a nationwide political furore. NEW HAVEN The leader of the state Department of Education Tuesday said the agency would support the city school districts plan to start the academic year with 10 weeks of remote learning. First multiple state department heads tested the resolve of local school board members to initiate a fully remote start to the school year, asking questions about the potential negative impact of keeping school doors closed for the first marking period. But once it was clear that a majority of Board of Education members would not relent, Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona said his department would offer support and work with New Haven to support district officials in planning distance learning for 10 weeks. In anticipation of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, four of seven voting school board members decided against opening schools at a meeting this month. As a condition of deciding against offering an in-person option for students, district officials met with an exception review panel of state officials presenting information about Connecticuts virus containment efforts and the struggles some students may have without in-person instruction. The meeting, which took place over video conferencing software, was streamed live on YouTube, and at its maximum viewership was watched by more than 2,500 people. This process is not to approve or deny a plan, said Cardona. He said districts were given the right to decide the plan that is best for them. Before asking to hear from board members on the rationale for their votes, Cardona reminded those on the call that New Haven has higher needs than what is average for the state 15 percent of students are identified for special education services and 17 percent are English learners. During distance learning in the spring, it was reported that only 30 percent of New Haven students were regularly completing assignments, compared to an average of 74 percent of students across the state. Under state guidance, school districts would be asked to go to fully remote learning if there were a daily infection rate of 25 per 100,000 people in the county as of Tuesday, that figure was two per 100,000 people. Board member Larry Conaway, a retired district educator who made the motion for the board to go remote for the first marking period, said hes lost sleep over the decision since he made it. This is a safety, and a life and death issue, he said. Although he said he wants to see students return to school, the story of this virus changes minute by minute, and it seems as though no one knows what the final outcome will be. The mere fact we are having a remote meeting and not meeting in person speaks volumes, he said. Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur agreed, noting the planning seemed reactive instead of proactive. My vote was around readiness and I dont feel were ready, she said. I have a lot of questions Ive asked that have not been clearly answered. Jackson-McArthur, a physician, said New Havens status as a magnet school district means it relies heavily on transportation and moving students across municipal lines. She said its a sign that virus containment could be difficult for a district like New Haven. Board member Ed Joyner defended his vote for a remote open to school by borrowing a term he said he heard from fellow board member Matt Wilcox: that New Haven is a comorbid city. The city has multigenerational homes with high rates of high blood pressure and diabetes and vulnerable community members who might have difficulty and barriers to seeking out help, such as undocumented people. We are a poor city that has never gotten the resources we need, he said. Cardona said he and other department heads hoped to share some facts you dont have yet with the board to potentially inform their decision. There are many parents who rely very heavily on the school system to provide learning opportunities, he said, before turning it over to other panel members to ask questions. State Board of Education member Erin Benham asked whether there was any consideration of the impacts of remote learning on special education and bilingual students. New Haven Director Of Student Services Typhanie Jackson said that a number of special education students including those who are nonverbal can be adequately educated only with robust, in-person education. Acting Commissioner of Public Health Deidre Gifford asked what more the board would need to feel comfortable with safely returning to in-person education. Joyner said he would want to see a diagram of a safely socially-distanced classroom. Jackson-McArthur said she would need more reassurance that there would be personal protective equipment provided for all school personnel and students, which Cardona said would be the case. Cardona said state officials would be available to work with New Haven as early as Tuesday to begin developing a remote education plan. This is the beginning of the next chapter, he said. Time is of the essence, but we want to get it right. According to surveys, roughly half of the districts parents would opt to send their students to school; state officials extrapolated that to roughly 25 percent of the districts students beingin school during a hybrid model, where cohorts of students attending in-person would alternate days within schools. Parents who support both models have petitioned the school board and the state education department. Parents who support remote learning did a letter-writing campaign to the state. New Haven school board members were also presented with 230 signatures of district parents who support having an in-person learning option. In several school districts, the two largest teachers unions in the state held caravan events asking for districts to do more to protect teachers and students. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Leo Burnett India has announced the appointment of Sujay Rachh as Executive Director. Sujay will provide leadership to multiple business groups in the Mumbai office. He will report to Dheeraj Sinha, Managing Director & Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia. Speaking on the appointment Dheeraj Sinha, Managing Director & Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia said We are very excited to welcome Sujay onboard albeit virtually. In the current scenario the need to build a strong leadership team is even more crucial and essential. With his depth of experience, especially his last stint where Sujay worked with start-ups, he will add valuable perspective and energy to the momentum we have at Leo Burnett India. Sujays appointment enhances our leadership team and will help us continue to grow our capacity to partner our clients. He further adds that This is an important juncture for the agency and we are fortunate to find the right talent to help us build a strong team. We continue to invest in the best talent, irrespective of the environment, in our commitment to bring success and glory to our clients. Adding further, Rajdeepak Das, Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia said Sujay has a very diverse and interesting professional background and his experience will definitely add a new perspective for both our teams and our clients. I look forward to working together and welcome him to the Leo Burnett family. Sujay Rachh, Executive Director, Leo Burnett further adds Leo Burnetts commitment and reputation on delivering new age thinking and creativity sets it apart and I am very excited to be a part of this dynamic team. I am looking forward to working closely with Dheeraj and Raj in driving this energy alongside our partners who have entrusted us with their businesses, strengthening the core capabilities, adding more perspective, contributing to Leo Burnetts growth and in turn learning new things myself. Essentially ensuring it is all onwards and upwards for the stakeholders. Sujay has spent several years at Lowe Lintas and has helped grow multiple brands, while also setting up global operations. His last assignment was with the Times Group, where he worked with the leadership, heading the Brand Strategy team and worked within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, helping new age start-ups go to market with compelling marketing propositions. BROADCAST AND DIGITAL RESTRICTIONS~** BROADCASTERS: NO USE. DIGITAL: WSBT. NO USE AUSTRALIA BROADCASTERS. NO USE ABC, CNN, FOX, UNIVISION, TELEMUNDO, BBC AMERICA, NBC / NO USE SOUTH BEND, INDIANA MEDIA MARKETS** New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday toured a Brooklyn elementary school, showcasing sanitation and other cleaning supplies While at the same time, the citys teachers threatened to strike - or take other job or legal action - unless their school district implements a more rigorous COVID-19 testing plan. And soon. The United Federation of Teachers wants more safety measures in place, before the systems scheduled reopening next month with a mix of in-classroom and online learning. REPORTER ASKING: "What would you say to those who are now hearing that there now could be either a sick-out or a strike?" BILL DE BLASIO: "Look, any union leader who talks about doing something illegal should really think twice about what he's saying. We've been working in good faith with the unions for months. We're going to keep working with them regardless of what they say, because we care more about kids and parents than these games. De Blasio said his reopening plan has stringent standards - including a recommendation that staff and students get tested for COVID-19 at least once a month. The city - once the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic - now has an infection rate below 1%. But schools and universities in other parts of the country got off to a faltering start in welcoming students back to campus this week. In several cases - like at the University of Notre Dame - spikes in positive test results forced schools to delay or cancel plans for in-person classes... while others are finding alternative solutions. Green Schoolyards America - a non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California, has launched an initiative to help schools teach classes outside. New York City continues to grapple with a surge in crime and gun violence as two people were killed and six were injured, during a three-hour period of bloodshed across the city on Tuesday. Seven people were shot, including one fatally, in three separate shootings in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn, police said. Meanwhile in Washington Heights, a 20-year-old woman was found stabbed to death around 4.30pm. Police say Fateema Boston, from Queens, was found unconscious and unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to her body at an apartment on West 163 Street. She was taken to Harlem Hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Four men were wounded in a drive-by shooting outside the Ravenswood Houses in Astoria, Queens on Tuesday A New York City Police Department evidence collection team officer works in the area where several young men were shot. A 21-year-old man is in critical condition after being shot in the head Kaylha Armand, also 20, has been charged with murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, in relation to the incident, according to police. Boston had reportedly shown up to the home to confront Armand, her friend's ex-girlfriend, sources told The New York Daily News. Evenlyn Figueroa said Armand had reacted in self-defense, noting the accused attacker did not know Boston, who allegedly showed up to pick a fight. 'Kaylha asked her to leave several times,' Figueroa told the paper. 'She was in her house watching television and minding her own business. Her ex called some girls over to fight her.' In a separate incident 30 minutes later, four men were wounded in a drive-by shooting outside the Ravenswood Houses in Astoria, Queens. Police said a gunman in a blue Jeep opened fire from his vehicle around 5pm, shooting a 21-year-old man in the head, leaving him in critical condition. In Harlem, two men aged 39 and 19 were taken to the hospital after they were shot during an argument around 6pm A 26-year-old man was also shot dead in East Flatbush in Brooklyn, capping off a night of gun violence in New York City The NYC Police Benevolent Association criticized prosecutors in Brooklyn in a tweet Tuesday after New York's police commissioner Dermot Shea said the surge in violence is coming out of Brooklyn A 19-year-old man was struck in the leg, while a 17-year-old was hit in the back. An 18-year-old was also injured in the incident. In Harlem, two men, aged 39 and 19 were wounded by gunfire around 6pm. The elder man was hit in the arm, while the teen sustained two gunshot wounds to his leg. They were treated at Harlem Hospital and are expected to recover. A 26-year-old man was also shot dead in a suspected drive-by in East Flatbush, Brooklyn around 7.30pm, police said. No arrests have been made in any of the shootings as of Wednesday morning. It comes as New York City struggles to cope with a recent wave of crime and gun violence that emerged across the five boroughs as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted. The growing issue has resulted in finger-pointing among city and state officials and law enforcement agencies. Figures released by the NYPD on Monday showed shootings have increased by 82 percent year to date, and murders are up by 30 percent. The NYPD released their own statistics on shootings in NYC, which were higher than Cuomo's Shootings in New York City have nearly doubled in the past year, and there has been a nearly 30% increase in murders, according to the NYPD In the past week, there have been 18 murders - up from 10 in the same time period last year, while car thefts have doubled and there have been 37 more shootings, the NYPD said New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted gun violence in NYC and upstate New York Monday, while noting that police and local communities needed to work together For the period between August 10 and August 16, shootings were up 82.1 percent, murders increased by 30.2 percent, burglaries are up 43.3 percent and car theft is up 58.7 percent, year to date. Year to date, crime is down by 2.7 percent but compared to this week last year, it is up by 2.0 percent. As the crimes go up, the number of arrests being made are also declining, the figures showed. During a press conference addressing the troubling stats on Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said 76 people in the state were shot, including 14 who died, over the last week. More than 90 percent of the victims were black 'or brown', Gov Cuomo said. The governor criticized police for not doing enough to get a handle on the situation and threatened to pull funding from up to 500 departments across the state if they do not have plans in place by April 2021. His comments came days after the NYC Police Benevolent Association announced it was endorsing Trump for the 2020 presidential election. Houston police chief invites cops from defunded departments across the country to join his force as he plans out-of-state officer transfer program BY MARLENE LENTHANG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has invited cops from defunded departments across the country to serve on his force, as he slams budget cuts as 'ridiculous, knee-jerk political decisions' that threaten public safety. Acevedo stressed the importance and need for officers during a police academy graduation ceremony speech on Monday before 44 cadets. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo Chief Acevedo says the HPD is working on a new program that will make it easier for qualified out-of-state police officers to transfer and work in Houston 'People of Houston, they dont want less policing, they want better policing and well-trained police officers,' he said after the ceremony for Cadet Class #245. He then invited embattled officers in other parts of the country where departments are being reformed or defunded - including nearby Austin, Texas - to serve in Houston. 'I will just say to police officers in Austin, and the good police officers across the country, come to Houston,' he said according to Fox7. Following the police killing of George Floyd police departments across the nation have faced calls to be defunded, or ended all together. But Houston is standing their ground and recently approved the hiring and training of roughly 400 new officers. 'We're excited about the restoration of five classes, while places like Austin are cutting a significant amount of police resources,' Acevedo said. Austin will cut $150million from its department which accounts for a third of the citys current law enforcement budget. Acevedo slammed Austins move to defund. 'I think its ridiculous when you make decisions that are knee-jerk political decisions that are not based on evidence, not based on research. It ends up impacting the safety of the American people in Austin,' he said. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner also supported the move to bring more officers in. He said he wanted to add at least 600 more officers to its current force about 5,300. 'People want policing that is sound, accountable and respectful,' he said Monday at a news conference. 'They want public safety.' Chief Acevedo says the HPD is working on a new program that will make it easier for qualified out-of-state police officers to transfer and work in Houston. This program could involve a 10-week academy course, instead of 6 months. Across the US at least 13 cities have cut funding from police department budgets in the wake of national protests decrying police brutality and systemic racism. Most of these budgets don't see job cuts, but instead seek to cut corners on overtime, cancel incoming cadet classes, and other measures. Those departments include Austin where the city council voted Thursday to cut to the police budget to reinvest money in social programs including food access, violence prevention and abortion access. The plan will eliminate funding from three planned police cadet classes, however the council said it may allow one or two cadet classes to begin in fiscal year 2021. The proposal also seeks to eliminate 150 vacant officer positions. The Austin Police Department currently has 2,646 sworn law enforcement personnel. Advertisement NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday that 'about half of the shootings in New York City, close to, are coming out of Brooklyn and thats a big problem' The president has openly sided with police and members of law enforcement amid ongoing protests and calls for police reform across the country. Trump has also promised to prioritize law and order and restore it in New York, which has been rocked by looting, vandalism, shootings and violence in the past three months. Cuomo said that although he had made an executive order on June 12, insisting that the individual police jurisdictions adopt a reform plan by April 1, 2021, 'very little had been done' so far. The PBA responded to Cuomo's criticism on Monday, saying cops were in need of support from the community, not blame. '51 people shot this weekend. Our communities don't need more plans & reports,' they said in a tweet. 'They don't need more finger-pointing at cops. And they don't need "solutions" that won't arrive until April. They need leadership, right now. Cops need support, right now, to do our job.' Cuomo had said that it was necessary to get both sides to the table to create police departments that can actually carry out a public safety function 'because divorce is not an option.' 'The relationship is based on trust and respect and the relationship is ruptured,' Cuomo said of police and community members. Meanwhile New York's police commissioner blamed the surge in gun violence on the city's Brooklyn borough, claiming perpetrators are also committing similar acts in other part of the Big Apple. Over the weekend, authorities confirmed that New York City saw at least 39 shootings, six fatalities and more than 50 injuries. On Tuesday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told NY 1 that a large amount of the violence is coming out of Brooklyn. 'Right now about half of the shootings in New York City, close to, are coming out of Brooklyn and thats a big problem,' Shea said. 'When you dig a little deeper and peel the onion back youre seeing Brooklyn individuals and perpetrators with active gun cases sometimes from Brooklyn committing violence in other parts of the city,' Shea said. DENVER, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Experts are warning of an impending mental and financial health crisis as the pandemic persists. Leading employers nationwide are getting ahead of it by strengthening their wellbeing programs with timely resources and it's paying off. Welltok, the consumer activation solutions company, today reported staggering completion rates of 70-94% for COVID-related wellbeing programs by both essential and remote employees. "If there was ever a time to invest in employee wellbeing it's now. The stress and uncertainty of COVID is taking a toll," said April Gill, senior vice president of market solutions at Welltok. "To keep employees physically and mentally strong, it's essential to provide highly-relevant resources that drive action and connect people with the support they need whether they are at home or in the worksite." Over the past few months, essential workers, as well as employees working from home, are seeking more mental health and financial wellness support. Popular resources include the financial education tool "how market volatility affects your retirement" by Prudential Financial (71-75% completion rates) and a digital resilience training program "dealing with uncertainty" (78 83% completion rates). Additional in-demand resources related to COVID-19 include content and tools covering topics such as "staying healthy while working from home," "protecting yourself and others," and "what to do if you have coronavirus". "I really needed this topic and help. My anxiety has been so out of control wreaking havoc inside myself. I so appreciated the info on what to focus on each day to help myself get better," said a program participant. These resources are conveniently available through Welltok's total wellbeing solution, which provides a single destination for employees to engage and take action. This may include managing existing conditions, staying physically active, enrolling in benefits and managing stress and finances. It also serves as the platform for companies to connect with employees effectively, which has proven especially valuable for utility, retail, food and beverage, and manufacturing workers. "As we head into the fall and we all shift from a temporary to a more permanent 'distanced' society, it will only be more critical for organizations to keep supporting and connecting with their people," Gill added. "What's significant about these programs are that people are hungry for support and taking actions to improve their resilience and financial situation." On behalf of health plan, health system and employer clients, Welltok has deployed millions of essential COVID-19 communications including critical updates, remote care options, workplace safety guides, wellbeing resource awareness, and more. The company is uniquely positioned to target and engage individuals using multiple channels including text, email, automated calls (IVR), AI chatbot, social and direct mail, which are all delivered through HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST-certified systems. About Welltok Welltok is an award-winning consumer activation solutions company that improves people's total wellbeing. Only Welltok uses a smart mix of proprietary data and machine learning to engage consumers in personalized and rewarding ways to drive action. Our solutions integrate SaaS software, curated resources, a partner ecosystem and professional services to help health plans, employers and health systems support healthier, happier populations. Media Contact Erica Sniad Morgenstern 415.697.3496 [email protected] SOURCE Welltok, Inc. Related Links http://www.welltok.com The U.S. postmaster generals retreat Tuesday from plans to drastically slash mail service throughout the country came just as complaints began mounting from people who hadnt received medications or pension checks on time and state attorneys general announced a nationwide lawsuit over the proposed changes. Yet the reversal did little to quell anxiety and irritation in the Bay Area. Since Postmaster General Louis DeJoy took over the agency in June, hes restricted overtime, removed collection boxes and mail processing machines, and limited workers ability to deliver late-arriving mail. Although representatives of the Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union insisted in interviews that postal business is proceeding as usual in the Bay Area, residents and politicians say the mail has slowed to a glacial pace. Customers who lined up in the main Berkeley post office Tuesday morning complained of packages getting marooned for weeks. An elderly couple in Walnut Creek said their medical insurance bill had arrived three days before it was due held up by the worst mail disruption they had seen in 56 years. And postal workers gritted their teeth, whispering about five future clerk layoffs in the Walnut Creek office. U.S. Postal Service spokesman Augustine Ruiz denied that any layoffs are planned, and told The Chronicle that the service hadnt made any cuts in regards to the acceptance, processing and the delivery of mail. But at post office branches throughout the region, people cited a long list of problems from late bills to anguish over the November election. Rep. Jackie Speier stood in front of the Belmont post office Tuesday with several retirees, veterans and Belmont Mayor Warren Lieberman to denounce the latest developments, saying theyve already seen a significant decline in service on the Peninsula. Noting that Benjamin Franklin founded what is now the U.S. Postal Service, Speier, D-San Mateo, said, If he were alive today, he would say what I am saying Dont Mess with the USPS. She said the new postmaster general has been trying to sabotage the Postal Service for President Trump, and as a member of the House Oversight Committee, she will be grilling him on Monday when he appears before that panel. We have to be vigilant, she said. In many respects this is a life-and-death situation. Her news conference was one of several held throughout the Bay Area by congressional representatives Tuesday, and the theme in each was similar asserting that there is a backslide in the mail system already, and directly contradicting the Postal Services argument that nothing is wrong. Those standing alongside Speier to demand change included military veterans, retired people and several other customers who said theyre already fed up. I have definitely seen a slowdown, said Leo McArdle, a Burlingame resident who was a U.S. Army sergeant from 1962 to 1970. He depends on the mail for key documents and medications from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The mail used to come at 2 p.m., but lately (its) not until 6 p.m. or 7:30 at night, McArdle said. And I dont know who the mail carrier is anymore; it always changes. I get medications in the mail, and theyre coming in double the time they used to. Richard Hedges of San Mateo said he has been shocked at the gaps in service. In the past two weeks Ive had two days with no mail, and then the next day big bundles, he said. This is just not right. Cradling a bundle of mail at the Walnut Creek Post Office, customer Bobby Safikhani planned an unusual act of mildly political advocacy: He would buy $11 worth of stamps. Safikhani had heard that if others did the same, it might generate enough revenue to solve the post offices problems. The service has lost money for years. Democrats requested a $25 billion federal bailout, part of an aid package thats caused wrangling among members of Congress and President Trump. I never thought buying $11 worth of stamps would be an act of protest, but thats the times were in, Safikhani said. Ed Johnson shook his head in disgust as he ambled over to a mailbox outside the Walnut Creek post office, flipped the door open and dropped in a packet of letters. The guy who heads up the post office will he do what the U.S. needs, or what Trump wants? Johnson asked, referring to the presidents tirades against mail voting. The president has claimed, without evidence, that submitting ballots by mail encourages fraud. Johnsons wife, Marillyn Johnson, chimed in from the car, where she sat with the air conditioning cranked up to stave off the 90-degree heat. She mentioned the couples medical insurance bill, which came far later than usual. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The Johnsons, both 84 years old, grew up with mail as a primary form of communication. Like other senior citizens, they rely on the Postal Service to pay bills, receive checks and keep in touch with loved ones. In an election warped by the global COVID-19 pandemic, they will depend on a functional vote-by-mail system. Neither Ed nor Marillyn Johnson can tolerate standing in a long line. Al Ross, vice president of the American Postal Workers Union East Bay chapter, offered another possible explanation for delays in mail delivery. Branches are suffering labor shortages because of the pandemic. Many workers are calling in sick out of caution, even if they dont wind up testing positive for COVID-19. Despite reports of restrictions on overtime nationally, the branches he represents have accelerated overtime to compensate for the lack of staff, Ross said. Right now were filing grievances based on (people) working more than 60 hours in a week, he said, noting that COVID-19 has also placed new burdens on the Postal Service, because more people are shopping from home. Still, he maintained that none of the 50 cities his union chapter represents had cut their post office retail hours. The cuts havent impacted us as much as other areas, Ross said. Jason Lamb departed Berkeleys main post office on Tuesday, carrying several boxes as he descended the stairs toward his bicycle. Lamb said he had noticed long lines at the post office this summer and only one window open to serve customers. He hesitated to critique the service, out of respect for workers who seemed harried, with the line never abating Tuesday morning. Others are piling on complaints. Speier said shes received 3,000 calls from constituents over postal issues in the past week. Thats the highest call volume since Congress debated the Affordable Care Act. Kevin Fagan and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com In virtually all of these cases, the government could have circumvented the tribes viewpoints by seeking death for general federal jurisdiction crimes, as it did in Mr. Mitchells case. Instead, the federal government abided by the promise it made to American Indians and honored the tribes sovereign views. Mr. Mitchells case offends tribal sovereignty for other reasons. After his arrest, the government abused the tribal court system in order to deny Mr. Mitchell his federal due process rights. Mr. Mitchell was held in a tribal jail for 25 days, without access to a lawyer, while the F.B.I. continually interrogated him. It was only after the F.B.I. reportedly obtained a full confession that Mr. Mitchell was taken to federal court, presented to a magistrate and appointed legal counsel. The F.B.I. did not tape-record Mr. Mitchells purported confession, nor did it allow him to write a statement in his own hand. In fact, in his only recorded statement, Mr. Mitchell denied having a direct role in the capital offenses. Were Mr. Mitchell a non-Indian, the federal government would not have been permitted to use these purported confessions against him. There are also strong indications that federal prosecutors worked to keep Native American people off Mr. Mitchells jury and played to anti-Indian biases during the trial. Mr. Mitchells lawyers have sought for years to investigate these issues, but the federal courts refuse to allow them to interview the jurors. If Mr. Mitchell was not an Indian, I strongly doubt he would be facing the death penalty today. While the crime for which Mr. Mitchell was convicted was brutal, his more culpable co-defendant received a life sentence for the same offense. Mr. Mitchells tragic life story is all too familiar to Native Americans. He grew up in a home rife with intergenerational trauma of abuse, addiction and mental illness. His jury was told almost nothing about his background or the fact that he had been awake for several days bingeing on drugs and alcohol to such an extent that, according to a board-certified psychiatrist, he was likely psychotic when the homicides occurred. The Redmi Note 9 Pro Max will be going on sale yet again in India. Launched alongside the regular Note 9 Pro in March, the handset is very similar in terms of design and features when compared to the Note 9 Pro with minor differences. The sale will be happening today from 12PM and customers can purchase the handset from Mi.com and Amazon India. The handset comes with a 6.67-inch LCD display with a punch-hole placed on top center and a quad-camera setup in a square module. Like the previous Redmi Note 8 series, it has Gorilla Glass on the front and back, but this time the cameras are also protected with the same. Other notable design features include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner similar to the Poco X2 and the Realme 6 series. The device is powered by the 8nm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G which should be more efficient and slightly more powerful than the 730G. The smartphone will be offered in a total of three variants including 6GB RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of storage and an 8GB RAM option with 128GB internal storage. There is also a dedicated microSD card slot to expand the storage further. The square camera module is placed at the center and is raised from the main body. It includes a 64-megapixel main sensor next to an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera. There is also a 5-megapixel macro camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. At the front, there is a 32-megapixel selfie camera placed in the punch hole. According to the company, the camera is capable of shooting RAW photography and some nifty tricks in pro mode while shooting video. The battery unit is rated at 5,020mAh which is said to be the biggest on a Redmi Note device. It supports 33W fast charging (provided in the box) as well. Rest of the features include support for 4G VoLTE, NaVIC GPS, dual-SIM card slots, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, side-mounted fingerprint scanner, P2i coating, USB Type-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The handset will come with Android 10 with MIUI 11. There are three colour options to choose from including Aurora Blue, Glacier White, and Interstellar Black. As for the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max pricing, the 6GB + 64GB variant is priced at Rs 16,499, the 6GB + 128GB variant is priced at Rs 17,999 while 8GB + 128GB variant is priced at Rs 19,999. The pricing is different from what we saw during the launch due to revised GST rates in the country. Airtel is offering double data benefits with Rs 298 and Rs 398 unlimited packs. Amazon India is offering no-cost options, while Prime members can get a 5 percent discount using Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card. Customers can also get 5-percent or up to Rs 1200 instant discount on Citibank Credit Card EMI transactions and 5-percent instant discount with HSBC Cashback card. A passenger has her hands disinfected before getting on a trolley bus in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. The agency in charge of North Koreas response to COVID-19 has been upgraded and reorganized as a military organization, a move that sources in the country told RFA was meant to use fear of the coronavirus as a tool to exert more control over the population. The organization, set up in January as the virus spread in China, now answers directly to top leader Kim Jong Un after a reshuffle last week that also ordered provincial and county-level coronavirus centers to be reorganized as military units, governed by military law. The Central Emergency Quarantine Command was renamed as the Central Emergency Quarantine Headquarters at a meeting of the Partys Political Bureau on the 13th, and reorganized as a military unit, an official in Pyongyang, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told RFAs Korean Service Tuesday. Its known that Chairman Kim Jong Un is personally heading the [headquarters], the source said. The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported August 14 that the command was reorganized in order to correctly exercise its power and increase its responsibility and role. On July 2, RFA reported that the government sacked several of the Emergency Quarantine Commands senior officials at a meeting of the Political Bureau, with Kim Jong Un citing their failures to prevent the pandemic from spreading into the country. The Emergency Quarantine Command was established in January, shortly after China and North Korea suspended all trade and shut down their borders in response to the spread across China from the epicenter in Wuhan. Since then, North Korea has taken extensive measures to prevent the spread of the deadly virus within its borders, all while maintaining outwardly that it is virus-free. Regional commands militarized According to the Pyongyang source, regional COVID-19 response organizations have also been reorganized as military units. The Central Emergency Quarantine Command of each provincial Party committee became Emergency Quarantine Divisions, and the heads of provincial party committees were appointed as division commanders. The county-level [organizations] meanwhile became the Emergency Quarantine Brigade, with the heads of the county party committees appointed as brigade commanders, the source said. As Supreme Commander [Kim Jong Un] is in charge of the Emergency Quarantine Headquarters, it seems that the authorities are determined to fight a war to prevent coronavirus infections, the source added. The Central Emergency Quarantine Headquarters operates in the same system as the military, and military law governs acts of neglect or obstruction in [its mission to] prevent the spread of the virus, said the source. Even with the new name and status as a military-run entity, the headquarters did not provide any [new] scientific measures to prevent coronavirus, the source said. But it is clear that the authorities are focused on ensuring that all members of the party, the military, and the public obey the commands and control measures of the Central Emergency Quarantine Headquarters, the source added. The shift toward military control is a way for the government to show the public that authorities are taking the pandemic seriously without having to do much, according to the source. With the return of the North Korean refugee on July 19, authorities are gradually escalating their sense of crisis over coronavirus, the source said. A man who had escaped to South Korea in 2017 swam back across the border to his hometown in Kaesong on July 19, and authorities reported he had COVID-19 symptoms, a claim which could not be confirmed by South Korea. Kaesong was put under complete lockdown and travel between provinces was outlawed as the country entered a maximum national emergency. Sources told RFA at that time that they were skeptical that the returned refugee could be the true cause of heightened emergency level. They thought the government was using the incident to instill fear to exert more control over the people and discredit North Koreans who escape the country. The Pyongyang official feared the government was using the military reorganization of the command to do the same. The number of infections is soaring again worldwide, so it seams that the government intends to stoke fears over the crisis to distract residents who are dissatisfied with their living difficulties, said the source. The power of fear Another source, a resident of North Hamgyong province, who requested anonymity to speak freely, confirmed the reorganization to RFA, adding that the changes also enabled the local organization to spread fear among the people. On the 14th, when the Onsong county Emergency Quarantine Command was disbanded and the county party committee was reorganized into the Emergency Quarantine Regiment, the head of the county party committee was appointed as head of the regiment, the second source said. The classification of the county-level response body into a military regiment means that the party will take charge of everything. Since the day after the change, the [regiment] has been threatening county residents that military laws will be applied to acts against any new coronavirus quarantine project, leaving many of the residents fearful [of the new organization,] the second source said. The Onsong county Emergency Quarantine Regiment is demanding that residents obey the orders of the authorities and submit to their control unconditionally. Instead of trying to solve the problems of the people suffering from economic issues and food shortages, the state is trying to use the coronavirus to stifle dissent. The World Health Organization (WHO) said August 5 that a person suspected to be infected with coronavirus in Kaesong was tested for COVID-19, but no conclusion has been made on the result. According to the WHO, North Korea has quarantined and released a total of 25,905 people since December 31, 2019, including 382 foreigners and 25,523 North Koreans. North Korea still maintains that there are no COVID-19 confirmed cases in the county. Triple whammy North Koreas Central News Agency said that during the August 13th Political Bureau meeting, Kim Jong Un defined recent floods and the coronavirus pandemic as two crises, and the bureau began discussing prompt countermeasures. Kim In-tae, a senior researcher at the South Korea-based Institute for National Security Strategy, told RFA in a telephone interview that there are actually three crises. North Korea has suffered a triple whammy of international sanctions, economic difficulties caused by COVID-19 and the recent floods, he said. Pyongyang has yet to respond to South Korean President Moon Jae-ins congratulatory speech on the 15th due to the worsening internal situation in the North, which has been aggravated by COVID-19, he added, referring to Moons 75th Liberation Day address, where he called North and South Korea a single community in terms of the life and safety of the Korean people. Reported by Sewon Kim and Yong Jae Mok for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. LISBON (dpa-AFX) - Portugal's producer prices continued to decline in July, though at a softer pace, figures from Statistics Portugal showed on Wednesday. The producer price index decreased 5.5 percent year-on-year in July, following a 5.7 percent decline in June. Excluding the energy group, producer prices rose 1.6 percent in July, after a 1.8 percent decrease in the previous month. Prices for energy declined 20.0 percent annually in July and those of intermediate goods decreased 3.9 percent. Meanwhile, prices for investment goods rose by 0.1 percent. On a month-on-month basis, producer prices increased 0.2 percent in July, after a 0.6 percent rise in the prior month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. When about 50 nursing home or assisted living residents were dying from COVID-19 each day in Connecticut back in April, the trend was heartbreaking. An interim report on the response, released Tuesday, indicates just how troubling it was: While 40 percent of the coronavirus deaths in the nation were long-term care residents, in Connecticut they were 74 percent of the deaths as of July 30. What went wrong that Connecticuts rate was nearly double the nations? This question must be addressed unflinchingly, beginning right now before the expected second wave of the virus in the fall. We cannot wait for the full report to come out on Sept. 30 the state and the long-term care industry must act, together, now. The report by the consulting firm Mathematica, ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont, does not point blame, but it does highlight some problems early in the pandemic response. For example, in January six of the nine positions in the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response were vacant and not filled until July. Why werent appointments made and how did that affect the overall response in the state? Initially, the state Department of Public Health data collection was paper or fax-based surprising in this age of technology. Daily electronic reporting from the facilities did not begin until May 8. Responding to the coronavirus in the early days was challenging because so little was known about how it spread, the range and severity of symptoms, and underlying factors that could place a person at greater risk, the report notes. Officials acted on the best information on hand at the time. Gov. Ned Lamont made masks mandatory for health care personnel on April 4, the day after the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force called for universal mask wearing, but New York did so three weeks earlier looking at state evidence and had a lower percentage rate of long-term care facility deaths. Testing for the virus is key, as with the greater population. Connecticut will cover the expense of testing staff and residents at the facilities through Oct. 31; that should be extended. If a resident tests positive, that person should immediately be placed in recovery centers, without needing a hospital admission, the report suggests. Separate places should be designated now for staff who test positive and must be quarantined. Further, testing should be more frequent. The report also showed that infections and deaths were concentrated in a number of nursing homes; about 30 percent had very few or no cases and deaths. Deaths were higher in for-profit facilities than nonprofit, slightly greater in chains than independent homes, and more in places without memory care units. Theres much to consider, such as staffing details and improved communication with family members. The eldest among us bore the greatest brunt of the deadly coronavirus early in the pandemic. Connecticut is obligated to act now so that does not happen again. Milk company a2 Milk has recorded a 33 per cent surge in revenue, largely thanks to Chinese panic-buyers stocking up on baby formula in the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which is on both the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges but based in Auckland, posted a net profit of $352million with a total revenue of $1.57billion. Sales of infant formula more than doubled over the 2019-2020 financial year to $307.61million, accounting for about one third of a2 Milk's total sales. The a2 Milk company has recorded a 33 per cent surge in revenue for the 2019-20 financial year (pictured, its baby formula which enjoyed a surge in popularity during the pandemic) Sales were aided largely by Chinese panic-buyers stocking up on baby formula in the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic (pictured, women buying a2 Milk in Shanghai) A new distribution deal which now sees the company's products sold at 19,100 stores also helped to raise the profile of a2 Milk in China. A2 Milk refers to the beta-casein proteins found in milk, and is marketed towards consumers who are lactose intolerant or have troubles digesting dairy. In east Asia, it's estimated that around 90 per cent of some populations suffer from lactose intolerance, compared to just 5 per cent of northern Europeans. 'Our revenue in the third quarter was well above expectations due to the impact of changes in consumer purchase behaviour arising from the COVID-19 situation,' a2 said in their full year profit report. Chinese volunteers from Blue Sky Rescue wear protective suits and carry fumigation equipment in Beijing on March 5 (pictured) as the city battled the coronavirus A worker in full protective gear is pictured disinfecting the Tianhe Airport in Wuhan on March 17 (pictured) the epicentre of the pandemic 'This included an increase in pantry stocking particularly via online and reseller channels. 'In China, we remain focused on strengthening our infant nutrition position in-market which we believe still has significant runway for growth.' Australian milk powder and infant formula have been a highly sought after commodity in China since 2008 when a deadly scandal rocked the authoritarian state. Chinese milk producers were found to be artificially boosting the protein content of diluted baby formula by adulterating products with melamine - a toxic chemical used to make plastic. The shocking scam was being used by 22 Chinese companies and resulted in 300,000 babies being poisoned. At least six infants died. Australian milk powder and infant formula has been a highly sought after commodity in China since 2008 when a deadly scandal rocked the authoritarian state (pictured, a children's hospital during the scandal) Chinese milk producers were found to be artificially boosting the protein content of diluted baby formula by adulterating products with melamine - a toxic chemical used to make plastic With foreign dairy brands much more trusted by Chinese consumers, a2 has moved to capitalise by introducing tamper-proof lids in December, 2019. 'We launched a China label version of our Stage 4 product and introduced a tamper-evident lid for our Stages 1, 2 and 3 China label products in December to further enhance product security and provide additional differentiation with our English label products,' a2 said. 'Our infant nutrition portfolio is complemented by our other nutritional products as we broaden our appeal to existing consumers and seek to connect with new consumers.' Despite the strong result, the a2 Milk Company's share price had fallen 2.51 per cent to $20.96 per share at 11:40am NZ time on Wednesday. GREENVILLE, S.C., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine announced that Clear Touch, a leading provider of multi-touch interactive flat panels for education and business and a reseller of Clear Digital products, is number 2979 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. This is the third year in a row that Clear Touch has been featured on the list, which recognizes the most successful companies in the American economy's most dynamic segmentindependent small businesses. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. "We are thrilled to be named to this year's Inc. 5000 list," said Clear Touch President, Keone Trask. "Achieving this distinction once is an incredible accomplishment. Being named to this prestigious list for the third year in a row is especially exciting because it confirms that our commitment to growth and innovation has become part of who we are as a company." Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. "The companies on this year's Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism." About Clear Touch Founded in 2012, Clear Touch is a forward-thinking technology provider named to the Inc. 5000 list and Financial Times list of the fastest-growing companies. Clear Touch is also a winner of multiple Tech & Learning Best of Show awards for its innovative products. The company's commitment to its customers, the reliability of its products, and its industry-leading innovation have paved the way for consistent growth. Clear Touch develops products for education, business, and government, including multi-touch interactive panels, software suites, and accessories. Clear Touch is also a reseller of Clear Digital products, including LED video walls, interactive podiums, and mobile digital signage. Jennifer Drum [email protected] SOURCE Clear Touch LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KOE Kombucha the fruit-forward, organic kombucha in a convenient can - today announced the expansion of their brand through new distributor relationships and retail placements across the US. As consumers seek ways to bolster their immune systems and overall health, KOE has doubled their distribution footprint in 2020 by earning new shelf space in leading grocery, drug and convenience store chains, including Natural Grocers, Publix, Stop and Shop, select CVS locations, select Speedway stores, and 7-Eleven's 1300 Greater LA and San Diego locations beginning in September 2020. "During a time when all consumers have health on their minds, KOE falls within the perfect intersection of function, value, craveable flavor, and availability," said Louisa Lawless, Chief Strategy Officer at Stratus Group. "Our expanding retail and ecommerce network allow consumers to find KOE through whichever channel is most convenient for them. We want to make it easy for people to choose better-for-you products that fit their budgets, health goals, and their desire for drinks that actually taste great." Global kombucha sales are expected to increase 15% year-over-year, with 47% of that growth coming from North America, according to a recent report by Technavio, which also sites "health benefits" as the primary driver for the adoption of kombucha. According to Google Trends, searches for "immunity" have skyrocketed 300+% in the past six months. The probiotic power of kombucha is widely known to help boost immunity, aid in digestion, increase energy, fight joint inflammation, and detoxify, as stated by the Journal of Food Microbiology. KOE's live probiotics, relatively low sugar and calorie content, USDA Organic ingredients, accessible flavor profiles, and omnichannel distribution, perfectly position the brand to attract an incremental audience who may have not considered kombucha in the past. KOE is on track to earn placements in 40,000 retail locations by Q1 2021. Across the US, KOE is building out a national distributor network with key partners like Classic, John Lenore, AB Hensley, Savannah, United Johnson Brothers, and a strong roster of regional distributors and AB houses. In the convenience channel, the brand's growth also includes Spinx, Mapco, and Twice Daily stores. KOE has also increased availability online via Amazon.com and through new Instacart promotions. Available in five flavors Mango, Lemon Lime, Strawberry Lemonade, Raspberry Dragonfruit, and Blueberry Ginger KOE is the only fruit-forward, shelf-stable kombucha packed with probiotics. Without the vinegary taste traditionally unavoidable in kombucha, KOE contains just 8g of sugar and 35 calories per 12 ounce can. All flavors are USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and full of sparkling fruit flavor. For more information, visit https://drinkkoe.com/ or follow them on Instagram or Facebook. About KOE Kombucha KOE is the only kombucha that's fruit-forward, USDA Organic and packed with probiotics. It was created for people who want a healthy beverage that's flavorful and enjoyable. All five KOE flavors are vegan, gluten-free, certified Kosher and made with black tea, natural fruit flavors, no artificial ingredients, and a touch of 100% organic cane sugar. Each can contains billions of live probiotic cultures and 15mg of caffeine. KOE Kombucha is currently offered in mass, club, grocery, convenience, and online channels across the nation. KOE is part of the Stratus Beverage Group, a diversified beverage company that excels in identifying and producing innovative, on-trend, great tasting, better-for-you natural beverages across all channels. SOURCE KOE Kombucha Related Links https://drinkkoe.com MadridAt a cabinet meeting in Madrids La Moncloa palace on August 4, PM Pedro Sanchez told his ministers that he had played no role in king Juan Carlos decision to leave Spain and he remarked that he didnt approve of it at all. The Spanish PM felt that the former kings decision to flee the country was a mistake and that the news would not be well received at all by the general public, besides having unwelcome repercussions abroad. Right-wing political parties and many news outlets in Spain have claimed that Pedro Sanchez played a key role in the decision by King Felipe and his father to have the latter leave the country on August 3, an idea that had ben conceived six weeks earlier. In an interview with Madrid daily El Pais a few days ago, Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo until recently, the PP spokesperson in the Spanish parliament stated that King Juan Carlos shouldnt have left and, instead, he should have been held to account by the Royal House itself and, indeed, by the Spanish people. Fleeing Spain is a mistake that is detrimental to his son, King Felipe. This suggests that the government has had a negative influence Pedro Sanchez is using the monarchy for his own ends, which is indecent Our sources have confirmed to this newspaper that the cabinet meeting of August 4, together with the lengthy one on 14 March (when the state of alarm was declared due to the Covid-19 pandemic), was one of the most relevant government meetings since the ministerial appointments were made in January. A day earlier, on 3 August, Spains Royal Palace had released a statement informing the public as per the former kings request about Juan Carlos well thought-through decision to move overseas for now. According to the statement, the reason for the former kings departure was the public repercussions brought on by certain past events to do with my private life and his complete willingness to facilitate the exercise of the office of king by Felipe VI, [his son]. The letter was circulated once the king emeritus had landed in Abu Dhabi, on an invitation from his friend Mohammed Bin Zayed, the heir to the throne of the United Arab Emirates. Juan Carlos had already checked into the government-owned Emirates Palace Hotel. This newspaper has learnt that the former kings departure was the subject of a lengthy discussion by the cabinet before the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, spoke to voice his own views on the matter. The Unidas Podemos cabinet ministers, including VP Pablo Iglesias who was unaware of the kings decision were critical of the move, which they predicted would be seen as a flight when, in actual fact, Juan Carlos isnt facing any charges. They also noted that it would damage King Felipes reputation. This newspaper can confirm that, in turn, the PSOE ministers focused on the historical relevance of King Juan Carlos and the need to distinguish between the father and his son, the current king. For his part, Justice Minister Juan Carlos Campo explained that the former king wasnt evading justice or fleeing the country because he had not been charged with any crimes and, furthermore, the kings lawyer had issued a statement saying that his client would appear in court, if asked to. Our sources emphasise that the ministers who criticised the former kings move didnt imply that he was evading justice nothing further from that but they objected to the way he had chosen not to face the music and take responsibility for his actions. The sources we have spoken to claim that the surprise came at the end of the exchange of ideas and opinions some female PSOE ministers chose not to speak at all when the PM said that he hadnt been involved in the decision taken between King Felipe and his father and, furthermore, he didnt approve of it because he felt it wasnt a good call for anybody: not for King Felipe, not for Juan Carlos and not for Sanchezs government. The PMs words were in contrast with most of his own partys ministers, who had not spoken about the decision to leave Spain for now and instead highlighted the former kings merits and the 1978 constitutional pact. Pedro Sanchezs words zeroed in on the decision to leave and made it very clear that he most disappointed. Some sources indicate that, while the PM knew of the decision taken by the royals, he didnt try to justify his choice to conceal the information from his second vice president, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. If anything, our sources claim that Sanchez did quite the opposite. The former kings departure from Spain means that the case currently being probed by Geneva Prosecutor Yves Bertossa has made headlines across the world. The Swiss Prosecutor has been probing a possible major money laundering crime since July/August 2018 where King Juan Carlos is hypothetically involved. In August 2008 the ministry of finance of Saudi Arabia transferred $100 million to a bank account held by Lucum, a Panama-based foundation whose top beneficiary was Juan Carlos, followed by then-heir Felipe. After being asked to enter into a negotiation by the lawyers of his fathers former mistress, Corinna Larsen, King Felipe issued a a statement on 15 March claiming no prior knowledge of the Lucum Foundation or the fact that he was listed as a beneficiary. Furthermore, he announced that he would renounce the estate of his father, King Juan Carlos. For the money laundering indictment to stand, Bertossa needs evidence of an earlier crime. In other words, he needs to prove that the funds were a graft payment or the purchase of a favour in the public tender for a Saudi government contract to build a fast railway service between Medina and Mecca. The Saudi-Spanish joint venture that was awarded the 7 billion contract lowered its bid by 30 per cent in order to outbid their French competitor and win the contract. Prosecutor Bertossa has indicted two Swiss nationals, Arturo Fasana and Dante Canonica, who used to represent Juan Carlos in the Lucum Foundation, his former mistress Corina zu Sayn-Wittgenstein nowadays known as Corinna Larsen and a company, the Mirabaud bank where the cash was initially deposited and later shifted to investments between 2008 and 2012. Corinna Larsen was the first person to mention the kings Swiss accounts in her conversations with former police commissioner Jose Villarejo, who has been in prison since 3 November 2017. In 2012 Juan Carlos shut down his foundation and closed the bank account, making an irrevocable donation to Corinna to the tune of $100 million. According to her, Juan Carlos later tried to get the cash back. For his part, Spains Supreme Court Prosecutor is investigating alleged crimes committed by Juan Carlos after June 2014, when the monarch abdicated the throne, thus losing the immunity afforded to the king of Spain by Article 56.3 of the Constitution. A formal information request was sent to Bertossa by Spains anti-corruption Prosecutor in February this year and they are awaiting an answer. Starting on August 3, Juan Carlos departure operation has been the subject of articles and news reports all over the world. On Monday 17 August it was officially confirmed that the former king is staying in Abu Dhabi. The story has made the front pages of newspapers and online news outlets the world over, once it was confirmed by the Royal House, nine days after a photo of Juan Carlos was published showing the former king stepping off a private jet that had just landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Last Monday, on the royals last day of their week-long summer holiday in Mallorca, while the royal family was having a stroll, a local resident asked King Felipes wife, Letizia: when do you intend to tell us where the former king is? Sure, it might be warm Wednesday, but what about the rest of the week? CAIRO Sudan on Wednesday fired the spokesman for the countrys foreign ministry, a day after he remarked that the African country was looking forward to making a peace deal with Israel. The development comes after last weeks bombshell announcement of a deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations, which will make the UAE only the third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full ties with Israel. Sudans acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din said he dismissed Ambassador Haidar Badawi from his post after Badawi said his country was looking forward to concluding a peace agreement with Israel." There is no reason to continue hostility between Sudan and Israel, Badawi was quoted as saying by Sky News Arabia. We dont deny that there are communications with Israel, he added, saying both countries would gain much from a deal. Badawis remarks immediately drew a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do all thats needed to wrap up a deal. Qamar al-Din, the foreign minister, sought to distance himself from Badawis comments, saying they were received with astonishment. He insisted his ministry had not discussed the issue of ties with Israel. In February, Netanyahu met with met Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudans transitional government, during a secret trip to Uganda, where both leaders pledged to pursue normalization of ties. President Burhan put Sudan on the right track with his meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Badawi said. A Sudanese government official told The Associated Press that deliberations between Sudanese and Israeli officials have been going on for months, with help from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Its a matter of time. We are finalizing everything," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. The Emirati move encouraged us and helped calm some voices within the government who were afraid of backlash from the Sudanese public. An Israeli deal with Sudan would mark another setback for the Palestinians, who have long counted on the Arab world to press Israel to make concessions to them as a condition for normalization. That wall of Arab support had long served as one of the Palestinians few points of leverage against Israel. Sudan, a majority Arab nation, hosted the landmark Arab conference after the 1967 Mideast war where eight Arab countries approved the three nos: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations. But in recent years those hostilities have softened. Sudan is now on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A military-civilian government rules the country, with elections deemed possible in late 2022. At the time of the Burhan-Netanyahu meeting, the Sudanese military said the talks with Israel were an effort to help end Sudans status as an international pariah state. Sudan is desperate to lift sanctions linked to its listing by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terror. That would be a key step toward ending its isolation and rebuilding its battered economy. The U.S. and Israel are staunch allies. The designation dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan was also believed to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel was thought to have been behind airstrikes in Sudan that destroyed a convoy in 2009 and a weapons factory in 2012. 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 Ukraine predicts smaller yield of grain over maize harvest losses 21:57, 19.08.20 1389 Tentative losses of maize across Ukraine may be about 2 million tonnes. New Delhi [India], Aug 18 (ANI): There is a newer dimension emerging from the coronavirus disease in recovered COVID-19 patients that they tend to suffer from other health complications, stated a senior health ministry official. "Post COVID symptoms are appearing in some cases. Our scientific community and medical experts are working on this. It's a virus that may lead to other health issues. It's ongoing learning in this pandemic and as we understand we will be able to say more," Dr V K Paul, member, NITI Aayog said. Also Read | Asus ZenFone 7 Series To Be Unveiled on August 26, 2020: Report. Meanwhile, Dr Vandana Boobna, senior consultant internal medicine at Max Hospital said: "Post COVID patients may have lung fibrosis and risk of heart disease and infections. So elderly patients with co-morbidities having moderate to severe COVID illness should be very careful and regularly follow up with a physician to avoid complications." Recently, the health ministry informed that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) at the Union health ministry is preparing a guidance note for people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease. Also Read | Maharashtra Reports Highest Single-Day Spike of 422 COVID-19 Deaths, Casualty Toll Mounts to 20,687; State Coronavirus Tally Reaches 6,15,477. It is a group of subject experts -- 'joint monitoring group' (JMG) in the ministry of health -- which is headed by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). "The JMG is presently working on a guidance note for people who have recovered from COVID-19 and possible complications that may afflict them," said health ministry officials on reports on further complications in few recovered patients. In the last 24 hours, India saw a spike of 55,079 cases and 876 deaths due to Coronavirus. the COVID-19 tally in the country rose to 27,02,743 with 51,797 deaths. "In the weekly updates of COVID-19, we have got some reassuring signals. We are observing good progress in the recovery rate while mortality rate tends to decline," he said. Dr Paul said that testing is the key to disease containment and for reducing mortality due to the virus. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Absconding self-styled godman Nithyananda has come up with plans to set up his central bank, named 'Reserve Bank of Kailaasa', at his own so-called country "Kailaasa", even as Indian government agencies continue to search for him. In a video that has appeared online, rape accused godman Nithyananda has announced he would formally launch the currency of his 'Reserve Bank of Kailaasa' on Ganesh Chaturthi on August 22. He said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has also been signed with "a country", which has agreed to host his "reserve bank". Nithyananda, in this viral video, is saying that all operations of his central bank are "legitimate" and that the economic policy of the "Reserve Bank of Kailaasa" has been prepared. "With the grace of Ganapati, we'll soon reveal all the details related to the Reserve Bank of Kailaasa," he said in the video. "The whole economy and economic policies -- 300-page document -- is (are) ready with absolute design and currency, economic strategy and how we are going to do the internal currency usage and external world currency exchange... everything legally. We have signed an MoU with a nation hosting our reserve bank and everything is legally, legitimately established," Nithyananda says in the video. The rape accused and godman's video went viral last year when he announced the formation of his own country 'Kailaasa'. Though the location of this 'nation' is still a mystery, the Kailaasa website says it's a "nation without borders created by dispossessed Hindus from around the world who lost the right to practice Hinduism authentically in their own countries". Multiple reports suggest Nithyananda has allegedly bought an island from Ecuador, a country on South America's west coast, near Trinidad and Tobago. He had last year fled India to Ecuador via Nepal. Also read: Fugitive rape-accused Nithyananda declares his own Hindu island nation 'Kailaasa' near Ecuador According to his mysterious nation's website, Kailaasa (kailaasa.org) offers a "haven to all the world's practising, aspiring or persecuted Hindus...where they can peacefully live and express their spirituality, arts, and culture free from denigration, interference and violence". Not only this, but the Kailaasa website also has its own Wikipedia page called Nithyanandapedia (nithyanandapedia.org). Nithyananda's island 'nation' has no place for Hindi and mentions English, Sanskrit and Tamil as official languages. It even claims to have a population of 100 million Adi Shaivites and 2 billion practising Hindus. If that's not enough, Kailasaa even has its passport and flag, and the passport allows "free entry in all eleven dimensions and fourteen lokas, including Kailaasa". Kailaasa also claims to have its cabinet comprising departments such as health, technology, enlightened civilisation, human services, housing, commerce, and treasury. Also read: Jobs vacancies at Nithyananda's self-declared nation Kailaasa: Secretaries of Defence, Education, Housing Nithyananda is the main accused in several cases in India, including rape, torture, kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The self-styled godman is also being investigated by French authorities for an alleged fraud of $400,000. The Gujarat Police had last year approached Interpol to issue a 'Blue Corner' notice to locate the controversial godman. However, he has been able to dodge Indian security agencies so far. Also read: Jobs at Swami Nithyananda's self-declared nation Kailaasa: Secretaries of Defence, Education, Housing For almost a year, a syndicate allegedly compromised business emails and scammed would-be lovers online. It almost paid off the seven men and two women allegedly involved earned almost $6 million in the 10 months to April this year. One of the men arrested over allegations of so-called business email compromise. Credit:NSW Police But from a high-security, covert facility in Sydney's west, police were watching. Strike Force officers have now arrested nine people from across Sydney who they allege sent fraudulent business invoices containing personal bank details to legitimate businesses, as well as posing as romantic prospects online. Australian model Megan Gale joined her family to farewell her brother at his funeral on Wednesday. She is pictured at the Charlotte Dawson memorial in 2014 Australian model Megan Gale has joined hundreds of mourners to farewell her brother at his funeral, four weeks after he was found dead in bushland. The 45-year-old flew from Melbourne to Perth and travelled to Fremantle Cemetery on Wednesday for Jason Gale's cremation service. It is not known whether Ms Gale arrived in Western Australia two weeks ago and completed 14-day quarantine, or she was granted an exemption after flying in from the COVID-19 hotspot. A devastated Ms Gale was spotted wearing a black coat and large sunglasses as she stepped into a limousine after the service. Her fiance, former AFL star Shaun Hampson, son River, five, and daughter Rosie, two, were among more than 200 people to attend the funeral, The West Australian reported. There are no attendance restrictions on funerals in Western Australia, provided mourners maintain social distancing by keeping two metres apart. The 45-year-old flew from Melbourne to Perth and travelled to Fremantle Cemetery on Wednesday for Jason Gale's (pictured) cremation service The actress, 45, flew to Perth from Melbourne where 200 people gathered at Fremantle Cemetery to farewell her brother Jason Gale, 49 Her brother, 49, was last seen on July 14 buying petrol and water at the Popanyinning General Store, 160km south-east from his Perth home. Following a desperate week-long search by family, friends and police, Mr Gale was found dead next to his car. The death was not considered suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner. Jason Gale was last seen on July 14 buying petrol and water at the Popanyinning General Store, some 160km south-east from his Perth home before he was found dead a week later in bushland Mr Gale's famous sister thanked everyone who had assisted during the search. 'They (the Gale family) thank everyone for their support especially Jason's neighbours, close friends and work colleagues who have been assisting,' manager Lara Messenger said. Mr Gale, an industrial mechanic, was known for 'going bush' but friend Belinda Murray said he had never disappeared before. Ms Murray said Mr Gale 'really struggled' after a watching a man die in a tragic 2018 incident at a wastewater plant south of Perth. Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Gale was one of a group colleagues who were there with the victim when he was struck and killed by a pipe. Ms Murray described Mr Gale as 'a gentle soul' and he was a 'very skilled, very clever' mechanical maintenance worker. A still of Jason Gale's 1999 silver-coloured Honda CR-V station sedan when he was last seen on July 14 Family, friends and police had been desperately searching for the 'very private' sibling of one of Australia's most famous women, Megan Gale (pictured) Ms Gale grew up in Perth with her two older brothers and parents, but now lives in Melbourne. The 45-year-old model has featured in a string of high profile fashion magazines including Marie Claire, Vogue Italia, Cosmopolitan and GQ. Her career started at the ripe age of 18 after winning a modelling competition in her hometown. In 1999, she featured in a series of ads for Italian telecommunications company Omnitel - leading to her European success. Jason Gale, 49, was last seen at about 9.40am on Tuesday July 14 buying water and petrol during a stop in Pingelly, some 160km south-east from his Perth home She has starred as a judge on Australia's Next Top Model along with hosting Project Runway Australia. Ms Gale has also played roles in Australian movies such as I Love You Too, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Water Diviner featuring Russell Crowe. She had previously dated Andy Lee, most known for his radio show with Hamish Blake, Hamish and Andy. For confidential crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The European Union (EU) has mobilised 10 million Euros (32 million dinars) for Tunisia to help it acquire boats and equipment for surveillance of its borders to fight against illegal migration, the European Commissioner for home affairs, Yiva Johansson, said here Monday Mainly continuing instability in Mali and, further afield, in Libya, where years of turmoil have opened up smuggling routes and access to weapons. A French military intervention in 2013 dealt a heavy blow to jihadist groups that partnered with ethnic Tuareg rebels to seize control of northern Mali a year earlier. Deprived of their urban bases, the jihadists resorted to bombings and hit-and-run attacks, targeting army posts and the 15,000-person United Nations peacekeeping mission. They extended their operations to Burkina Faso, which faces its worst-ever humanitarian crisis as 1 million people have been forced to flee their homes. There have also been intermittent attacks in Niger, including a high-profile ambush in 2017 that claimed the lives of four American soldiers and the murder of six French tourists this year. The jihadists have exploited and fueled age-old tensions between farmers and cattle herders who compete for land and scarce resources in Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, recruiting members of aggrieved communities to their cause. 19.08.2020 LISTEN The Peoples Democratic League (PDL) adds its voice to the many voices expressing concern about the deteriorating situation in neighbouring Republic of Mali and the subsequent collapse of democracy that has followed. We vehemently and unequivocally condemn the role of foreign powers, including France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in facilitating and supporting the coup detat against the legitimate and democratically elected President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita. President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita was ousted on August 18, 2020 by the Malian military. Tuesdays military takeover is a grave violation of the fundamental rights of all Malian people, no matter their affiliation, and it fails as a step towards a sustainable political solution just as the last coup failed eight short years ago in 2012 against the legitimate and democratically-elected government of former President Amadou Toumani Toure. Further, there is the risk that coup leaders arrest of President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and several top government officials will only deepen the shameful and disgraceful damage already done to Malis democratic development. The Peoples Democratic League (PDL) was built on freedom and democratic principles and as such holds the belief that the Malian Military committed an unacceptable act of coup detat and violating Malis fundamental commitments to both the international community and, more importantly, the Malian people. Such a thoughtless act will only take the country backward to the military dictatorship regime. The coup detat will never solve the ongoing political crises. The coup detat maker only destroys the possibility of democratic effort toward finding a genuine solution to the Malian crisis. We understand what was happening in Mali since June this year when opposition and civil society movements organized protests to demand the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita, but the situation had not reached that crescendo to warrant a military takeover in the West African nation. We believe the regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) was already in the process of helping to find a peaceful solution to that countrys political crisis. We encourage ECOWAS to continue in that direction of working towards a peaceful solution and stability in Mali. The abortion of democracy in Mali has a great impact on all West Africans, including Sierra Leoneans. Mali is a business destination for many Sierra Leoneans. The situation can easily be disregarded as purely a Malian internal matter, yet this serious issue is worth being reflected upon for it is happening to our fellow Africans. We strongly appeal to Sierra Leoneans to become more actively engaged for the immediate return of democracy and constitutional order in Mali. Given the unfortunate event of coup detat, democracy loving people on both sides of the Malian political divide should now come together to reject the countrys culture of coup-making in order to ensure that this is Malis final coup. It is now left with all parties in the Malian crisis to rededicate their manifested mandate to the electoral process while continuing to seek reform from within a democratic framework. After all, there is no substitute to elections; they are the bedrock of every democracy where they serve as the primary means of sharing power, determining the policy direction of a country, and providing the democratic legitimacy necessary to govern. Every Malian regardless of any immoral considerations should express his or her desires for a restoration of basic civil and political rights and a quick return to democracy and constitutional order in that historically beautiful nation. We, in the Peoples Democratic League (PDL) strongly condemn and resist the Malian coup detat against the elected government of President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita. We demand the military junta to immediately return the sovereignty of Mali to the Malian people. This fact reveals why a quick return to elections is important. A protracted period of military rule or a reform process dictated by military appointment is unlikely to resolve Malis political crisis. Indeed, experience from other countries shows that inclusion in an electoral process is more likely to result in a sustainable democratic peace. The coup must end to enable Mali and the Malian people move towards a sustainable democratic direction and it is PDL hopes that coup leaders will quickly restore civilian control of government administration, return all rights to the Malian people, including journalists, academics, and activists, and move forward towards elections in a timely manner. Coups are no more fashionable in our civilized world and the Malian coup threatens democracy, peace and stability in the entire West African sub-region. Hence PDL is gravely concerned about the on-going human rights violations and the regression of democracy in Mali. Furthermore, we strongly demand the Malian military junta immediately release all political detainees. A military coup that suppresses the freedom of people cannot be justified even if it has the approval of foreign powers. We strongly condemn and resist the coup detat in Mali and demand the military junta to immediately do away with politics. We call on the global community to reject this affront to democracy in West Africa. It is shameful that former colonial power France and the United Arab Emirates are behind the coup, and are now working in the dark to keep the situation this way to achieve their economic and other ill-thought-out agendas in Africa. Furthermore, we demand that France and the UAE come clean about any involvement in forcefully removing the legitimate and democratically-elected government of Mali. Coup plotters themselves claim in a leaked intelligence memo to have had conversations with France and the UAE and to have gotten their support. This is not the first time that France and the UAE are closely working for the destabilization of Africa, and indeed the UAE is now building military bases on the continent. The UAE has made several attempts to help push forward the overthrow of the government in Bamako, and now only succeeded in placing the leader of the so-called June 5 Protest Movement, Imam Sheikh Mahmoud Dicko in the forefront, to do the bidding. The UAE is also reported arming and funding ethnic cleansing in Libya and recruiting Africans to join the ongoing genocide campaign against the civilian population, including women, children and elderly people of Yemen. We know that this support for violent coups comes with no regard for the consequences often leading to wars, atrocities, unnecessary deaths, and mass migrations. Despite what France, the UAE or other players may claim, we understand that they have no true concern for peace, stability and development in Africa instead, the coup detat in Mali fits into the long history of overthrowing democracies in Africa. We believe in the self-determination of the African people, free from foreign interference that will serve only to make violence and heighten terrorism on the continent. We ask the United Nations Security Council to issue an emergency resolution, condemning the violent overthrow of democracy and constitutional order in Mali and to take action against any outside forces that are responsible for the crisis in the West African nation. We ask the United Nations Security Council to also issue an emergency resolution authorizing the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)and each member state -- to take all necessary steps to respond to the coup in Mali. We stand in solidarity with African brothers and sisters who struggle non-violently to bring peace, democracy and freedom back to Mali. Sovereignty belongs to the People! Sender: Alimamy Bakarr Sankoh Founder, Leader and National Chairman The Peoples Democratic League (PDL) For and on behalf of members, supporters and sympathizers of the Peoples Democratic League (PDL) Photo: (Photo : unsplash/Xavi Cabrera) New Zealand Herald reported that a seven-year-old boy named Sameer Anwar found a Lego piece stuck in his nose. The Dunedin boy said that this piece had been missing for two years already. Found nothing in 2018 Sameer's father, Anwar, told the outlet that one day, his son told them that he had slipped a tiny piece of Lego into his nose. They did their best to take it out, but they found nothing. The concerned parents took the little boy to the doctor to have it removed. However, the doctor did not find anything, either. The doctor then advised the parents that if ever there was a piece of Lego stuck in their son's nose, it would move through his digestive tract naturally. Anwar told the outlet that his son did not feel any discomfort because he did not complain or say anything. See also: Alaska Mom Suddenly Gives Birth After Airplane Took off [Son Receives Unique Name] Discomfort led to the finding of the missing Lego Two years after the incident, Sameer took a giant sniff of a cupcake and felt pain in his nose. He told his parents of the discomfort that he felt and thought that he just sniffed cupcake crumbs up his nose. The Herald reported that the little boy's mom helped him blow his nose to clear his nostrils. Anwar told the outlet that the one piece that was missing for the last two years came out. They were shocked by what they saw. The Lego piece had a bit of fungus in it. See also: Stuntman Proposed to Girlfriend While on Fire to Reward Girlfriend Anwar said that Sameer's eyes were wide open in shock and exclaimed that he found the Lego. The little boy even blamed his mom for telling him that the missing piece was not there, but now they are witnessing everything. Anwar joked to his wife that they should donate the Lego piece to a museum as they talked about what to do with the missing piece that had finally been found. See also: Volunteers Help Teen Who Has Inoperable Brain Tumor Restore Classic Car The Guardian reported that what happened in 2018 was not the first time that Sameer had put something inside his nose. It said that when the boy was just three years old, he pushed an imitation pear up his nose. Thankfully, his dad was able to retrieve it safely and did not have to wait for two years to find it. First aid for a foreign body in the nose Having a foreign body up in the nose could cause choking or difficulty breathing. To remove the object, you could have the person breathe through his mouth or use tweezers to remove a partially inserted item. For an object that is deeper into the nose, pinch the clear side of the nose and then blow through the other nose hard often. It could help dislodge the object. If bleeding occurs, put a cold pack on the nose or cheek. This supportive behavior is reckless and its time to confront the elected and hold their feet to the fire on the promises made to the communities they serve. Business owners and their employees on Central Avenue are devastated, appalled and crying out for help because they suffered significant damage at the hands of looters during recent riots. The Albuquerque Journal covered the story, Dreary, Depressed, and Ugly. The story identified how rioters destroyed Downtown, set fires, looted and defaced buildings. We were lucky that our historic KiMo theater wasnt burned or citizens fatally injured. Rep. Deb Haaland leads the charge as one of those elected who has not delivered on her promises. She is so out of touch and willing to juxtapose guilt with innocence, rioters with peaceful protesters. Haaland should spend more time in her district, unfortunately, for a large part of her 16 months in Congress Haaland campaigned across the country with failed socialist presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, simply neglecting New Mexico. Her district has the highest crime rates in the entire state. She should know New Mexicans have real challenges to face every day: child poverty/abuse, violent crime, massive property crime, a failing public education system, drug addiction, homelessness and unemployment. Opportunistic politicians continue to keep us headed in the wrong direction. Not only can I say from personal experience that New Mexico does not suffer from systemic racism, but also that its problems stem more from failed politicians. New Mexico has a history of military conquests, injustices and regrettable actions, but that is our distant past and not the New Mexico we know today. Our modern New Mexico is a hopeful, multicultural community of Hispanics, Native Americans, Anglos and many other races, all living peacefully together. I believe New Mexicans work hard to take a common-sense approach and want their elected officials to do the same. In Albuquerque, we started addressing a serious problem with the Albuquerque Police Departments excessive use of force five years ago. As a community and with a court-appointed monitor, we have made tremendous progress. We did this together, peacefully, with input from all affected communities. Haaland wants to bring our painful and ancient racially tinged past back to the present. She believes root causes of the injustices go well beyond law enforcement and manifest in systemic racism that excludes communities of color from experiencing the true promise of this country. We understand that Juan de Onates 1595 conquest is part of history. We cannot change the past but we can learn valuable lessons from it, so in the present we must not accept Haalands version of attaching racism to every problem. I grew up in Albuquerque near 59th and Gonzales, a predominately Hispanic neighborhood. In 1984 I joined the police department, served in uniform patrol for 10 years and as a violent crime and child abuse detective for 10 years. I have seen the ugly underside of my community firsthand, but I also know how much of a united and prosperous place it can be. As a member of this community it is my mission to propagate peace, practice compassion and tolerance every day. We do not spend our days focusing on racist behavior. We are not anarchists. We are not Socialists. We are not ANTIFA. We value hard work, our families, our neighborhoods and our faith. All life is sacred, we embrace all communities and we want them to be safe and to thrive. We are Americans. We are New Mexicans. Lets strive to build unity amongst our people, lead by example and show that we can get more done by focusing on what we have in common than by dwelling on our differences. When truth meets sunshine.Satyameva Jayate: SC order in Sushant Singh Rajput case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: The Supreme Court today ordered a CBI probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Supreme Court orders CBI probe, rejects Rhea's plea | Oneindia News The SC's single judge Bench comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy said that Rajput was a talented actor the film world in Mumbai and died well before his full potential could be realised. "His family, friends, and admirers are keenly awaiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest. A fair, competent, and impartial investigation is the need of the hour." "When truth meets sunshine, justice will not prevail on the living alone but after Life's fitful fever, now the departed will also sleep well. Satyameva Jayate," the SC also said. "Mumbai police too has jurisdiction in the case. But given the allegations and counter-charges, it deems fit to invoke its powers under Article 142 and ok CBI probe to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter." Sushant Singh Rajput case: When Supreme Court created history under Article 142 "Records of the case produced before it "does not prima facie suggest any wrongdoing by the Mumbai Police. However, their obstruction to the Bihar police team at Mumbai could have been avoided since it gave rise to suspicion on the bonafide of their inquiry," the SC said in its 35 page order. The court also asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case. The Supreme Court also said that the Bihar government had the right to refer the Patna FIR lodged by Sushant's father to the CBI. The court also said that the CBI will be competent to probe not only the Patna FIR, but also any other FIR related to the case. The Maharashtra Government has been asked to comply and assist in the case. The CBI is also free to register a fresh case, the Supreme Court also held. The court also said that since the Mumbai Police had registered only an accidental death report following Rajput's death, it had limited investigation powers. Since the Bihar police registered a full fledged FIR, which already stands referred to the CBI, the central agency must probe the case, the SC also held. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 17:27 [IST] The SC was delivering its verdict on a plea filed by Rhea Chakraborty demanding transfer of a Patna FIR alleging that she abetted Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide. The Supreme Court (SC) has on Wednesday ordered a CBI investigation into Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court said that the FIR registered at Patna was legitimate, according to Asian News International. It further noted that the state of Maharashtra chosen not to challenge the order. Check out the post Supreme Court orders CBI investigation in #SushantSinghRajput death case https://t.co/vtrUwi8zu5 ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 According to a report by Times of India, SC said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be competent to probe not only the Patna FIR but any other case related to the death of the actor. The court has also asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected by them so far in the case to the CBI. The court has said that the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Police conducting an investigation under Section 174 CrPC is limited. Since Mumbai Police had registered only an accidental death report for the actor's death, it had limited investigation powers. The verdict was pronounced by a single-bench judge of Justice Hrishikesh Roy. The court was delivering its verdict on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who demanded transfer of an FIR lodged against her at Patna for allegedly abetting the suicide of Rajput, in Mumbai. Last month, Rajput's father KK Singh had lodged a complaint against the actress Rhea Chakraborty in Patna and accused her of extorting money from Sushant in the pretext of love. He had registered a 5-page FIR accusing Chakraborty of abetting the late actor's suicide. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on 14 June. * 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 The swollen Tuojiang River following heavy rain in Neijiang in southwestern China's Sichuan Province on Aug. 18, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Typhoon, Floods Batter China as Heavy Rain Threatens Three Gorges Dam Heavy downpours in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province, the nearby megacity of Chongqing, and Gansu Province have left many areas submerged in water as the Yangtze River and several of its tributaries overflowed. The severity of the rainstorms led Chinas Ministry of Water Resources to issue a stark warning late on Aug. 18 about the water level at the Three Gorges Reservoir, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The water coming into the dam is expected to reach more than 74,000 cubic meters per second in the morning on Aug. 20, the highest level since the dam was commissioned in 2003, the ministry said, according to a report by Chinese state-run media Xinhua. U.S.-based think tank the Heritage Foundation warned in early August that excessive flooding put dams located on the upstream of the Yangtze River under increasing stress. Should the Three Gorges dam collapse, the think tank said the massive torrent of water would affect millions living downstream, inundating cities including Wuhan and wiping out extensive cropland, with China already threatened by a food shortage. In Sichuan, local authorities raised the flood control response to the highest level (level one) of Chinas four-tier system on Aug. 18, one day after raising its level from three to two, according to Xinhua. Floodwaters forced local authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people on Aug. 18, some of them residents of Yaan, who had to escape after the citys water banks burst on Aug. 17. Also in Sichuan, the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71-meter-tall statue declared a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO, had floodwater covering its toes, according to Chinese state-run media reports. Chongqing has been under level-one flood control since the afternoon of Aug. 18, as local floodwaters and mudslides have impacted more than 100,000 people in 31 districts and counties, according to authorities. In Gansu Province, located northeast of Sichuan, Longnan city was particularly badly hit by the floods. More than 300 homes belonging to about 1,300 residents in Wen County, which is located in the south of Longnan, were buried by a mudslide caused by flooding, according to Chinese state-run media. China has been grappling with heavy rainstorms since June. Floods have affected at least 54.8 million people in 27 provinces and regions, according to the latest data from Chinas Ministry of Emergency Management. But some Chinese netizens question the authorities data and believe the true number of casualties to be higher. Also on Aug. 18, for the first time since this years flooding season, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited impacted residents in eastern Chinas Anhui Province, touring regions close to the provinces Huai River, which is located in between the Yangtze River in the south and the Yellow River in the north. While floods continue to ravage much of China, Typhoon Higos made landfall in southern Chinas Guangdong Province at around 6 a.m. local time on Aug. 19, according to Xinhua. The nearby provinces of Hainan and Guangxi are also expected to see heavy rain. The educational bureau in Zhuhai city in Guangdong ordered the suspension of any school classes in session on Aug. 19, while many flights coming in and out of the Guangzhou Baiyuan International Airport have been canceled. Local Residents Residents in these flood-hit areas shared their stories with the Chinese-language Epoch Times. Mr. Li, a resident in Jintang County in Sichuan, said the flooding in his area wasnt so much the result of heavy rains but of water overflowing from the nearby Tuo River, a tributary of the Yangtze, that resulted from upstream discharge. He added that his area began flooding on Aug. 15, and the water didnt begin to subside until two days later. Mr. Xu, a resident of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, said local stormwater reached about 1.2 meters high, submerging his first-floor home. He said much of his furniture, as well as a refrigerator, washing machine, and air conditioner, were damaged by the water. Also, a number of chickens, ducks, and rabbits that he raised were drowned. Xu estimated that his financial losses could total 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (about $2,890 to $4,340). He said his home was out of electricity on the afternoon of Aug. 16 when the water level began to rise. Power was restored on Aug. 17, but water supplies were out at around 6 p.m. local time. He added that three villages near where he lived were also being flooded. Residents in Gansus Wen County said they couldnt return home due to the flooding. A resident said his hometown of Bikou Town was completely inundated with water about two-stories deep as of roughly 6 p.m. local time on Aug. 18. He wasnt sure when he could go home. Also living in Bikou, a farm owner said a local highway was shut down due to mudslides, adding that local public transportation was also out of service. President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that in his opinion, the censure motion moved by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is inappropriate, arguing that this party has no solutions for Romania, but only seeks "solutions for the barons who feel cut off from public resources". "This censure motion seems inappropriate to me for very simple and clear reasons. If the country is in the grip of an epidemic and we are in an economic crisis, it's unfit for the opposition to file a censure motion. This only shows that the party that lodged the motion, PSD, is not just cynical - we already determined that when they dragged their feet on the approval of the quarantine law - but irresponsible as well. You cannot come in full pandemic and economic crisis to overthrow the government just in order to show your base that you still exist, because that's what it is all about. PSD has no solutions for Romania, is has no solutions for the Romanians, PSD is probably looking for solutions for the barons who feel cut off from public resources and are probably suffering," Iohannis told a press conference at the Cotroceni Palace. Coronavirus: Tunisia, entrance test required For all entries from all countries (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, AUGUST 19 - Tunisian Interim Health Minister Habib Kchaou announced in a press conference Wednesday that every person entering Tunisia, from any country, will be required to show a negative Covid-19 test. However, at the moment authorities haven't said when the measure will go into effect. He said the Tunisian government made the decision in order to try to limit a new outbreak as the number of coronavirus cases has grown in recent days. Health officials are concerned over the constant growth of new local cases. The delegations of El Hamma and West El Hamma in Gabes, where more than 300 cases have been registered in recent days, have been declared red zones, and the situation in other governorates has worsened. Tunisia has registered 2,314 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the epidemic, with 57 deaths.(ANSAmed). (ANSA). WASHINGTON The Trump administration will formally demand on Thursday that the United Nations punish Iran with bruising sanctions for violating an agreement to limit its nuclear program a deal from which the United States withdrew two years ago. The push sets up a new confrontation at the Security Council, where European allies are resisting the so-called snapback sanctions in a last-ditch attempt to hold together the fraying 2015 accord. Its a snap back. Not uncommon, President Trump told reporters on Wednesday evening in Washington. He said he had directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to inform the Security Council that nearly all of the United Nations sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal would be restored. But diplomats in Europe, China and Russia the other powers that brokered the deal during the Obama administration have questioned the legality of the demand because the United States is no longer part of the nuclear agreement. The two ministries discussed key infrastructure projects for Vietnams future growth The project will receive a fresh boost from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), which is determinated to work with relevant ministries and agencies to complete the project by 2025. Notably, the MPI will accompany the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to formulate construction and capital mobilisation plans to implement the key national scheme, connecting the northern province of Lang Son to the southernmost province of Ca Mau. The two ministries will together develop a key scheme and two or three backup initiatives to mobilise capital for the project so that the construction can go smoothly. We will have to calculate the state budget to work out plans to mobilise capital either from official development assistance or issuing government bonds, said MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung at last weeks meeting with MoT Minister Nguyen Van The. Even then, we will also think about the final plan using the entire state budget to serve for construction of the eight sections of the North-South Expressway project. Minister Dung said that implementing the expressway must be the topmost priority in the countrys medium-term public investment planning in the next years because the project is crucial in improving national competitiveness and attracting foreign investment. In addition, it contributes to creating breakthrough growth for the country. Furthermore, it can also be the foundation for other transport infrastructure. His urging comes after the project fell far behind targets outlined in the medium-term public investment plan for the 2016-2020 period and the 11th Party Central Committees Resolution No.13-NQ/TW from 2012 on building a synchronous infrastructure system to turn Vietnam into a modern industrial country by this year. The blame mainly lies with prolonged investment capital mobilisation procedures as well as delays in land clearance. The project includes 11 sections, three of which will be funded by the state while the remaining eight sections were supposed to be invested through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Just under a year ago, work began on the 98-km Cam Lo-La Son section at an estimated cost of VND7.7 trillion ($331 million). It was the first of the 11 sections to be built for the expressway, which is estimated to cost a total of VND118.7 trillion ($5.11 billion), including VND55 trillion ($2.37 billion) from the state budget. In June, the National Assembly approved to switch three sections (Mai Son-Highway 45, Highway 45-Nghi Son, and Phan Thiet-Dau Giay) into the PPP model. It is not the first time that the MPI has raised concerns about delays in construction of the national-scale projects. In 2010, the ministry opposed the plan to use VND105 trillion ($4.56 billion) to develop National Road 1A. Instead, it proposed focusing on building the North-South Expressway, otherwise construction may be delayed by 20 years. A decade since it began, only one-third of the project has been completed and Minister Dung reaffirmed his forecast by saying with the current progress and the unscrupulous investment plan, Vietnam will be hard-pressed to finish the expressway by 2030. We need a breakthrough for the project. We need cooperation between ministries, the State Bank of Vietnam, and higher levels to build specific annual, five-year, and 10-year construction plans, Minister Dung said. After each period, we have to view specific advantages and disadvantages. Emphasising the importance of the North South Expressway, he added, The MPI can advise the government about mobilising funds. The most important thing is the determination of the relevant authorities to take the project into operation by 2025. Zara Alvarez is 13th member of her group to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016. A human rights leader has been killed in the central Philippines in what observers and rights defenders have said is a continuing escalation of the war against dissent under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. Zara Alvarez, former education director of the human rights alliance Karapatan, died on the spot after being shot six times on Monday evening as she was heading home after buying food for dinner. She was the 13th member of the organisation killed since mid-2016, when Duterte came to power, the group said. Police said Alvarez was killed by an unidentified assailant in the central city of Bacolod. Witnesses reportedly chased the attacker, who got away with the help of an accomplice on a motorcycle. On Wednesday, government investigators promised to investigate the case, adding that they are looking into the victims affiliation with alleged leftist groups as a possible lead for the attack. Alvarezs death comes just weeks after Duterte signed into law controversial anti-terror legislation, which allows for warrantless arrests and longer detentions without charge provisions that legal experts warned could be directed at anyone criticising the president. Karapatans national leader, Cristina Palabay, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that given the circumstances of Alvarezs murder, she is blaming the government. Considering the prior threats that they received from state forces, it is not really far from our mind that those who killed them are from the state forces, she said, adding that Alvarez was among those listed by Dutertes justice department as suspected terrorists. Palabay pointed out that with the coronavirus pandemic, cities have imposed curfews and set up checkpoints in their respective areas. Everything is on lockdown, isnt it? The streets are very much guarded by state forces with all the checkpoints. And yet, the killers were able to get through these cordons of state forces. Failed peace talks Communist rebels have been fighting a rebellion for more than 50 years in a conflict that has so far killed more than 30,000 people. In recent years, the number of rebel fighters has dropped significantly, and there have been several attempts by both the government and communist leaders to reach a peace agreement. During his 2016 campaign for the presidency, Duterte promised to negotiate with the rebels and found some allies among activist groups, proclaiming himself as the countrys first leftist president. As mayor of the city of Davao, Duterte had also established cordial ties with the communists. But while he quickly initiated talks with the rebels once taking office, negotiations collapsed in mid-2017. Since then, the president has stepped up his rhetoric against the rebels, declaring them terrorists and pledging to wipe them out after a series of recent ambushes against government troops. As the prospects of a peace deal with communists dimmed, Duterte even goaded the military in early 2018 to shoot female rebels in their genitals to render them useless. Later that year, Duterte ordered more military troops and police to Negros Occidental where Bacolod is the capital and two other central Philippine regions, to suppress lawless violence and acts of terror. He also created a national task force to end local communist armed conflict. Duterte also directed his ire against other activists, farmers organisations, land rights campaigners, as well as those who have openly criticised his deadly war on drugs and other alleged rights abuses. Around the same time, the military and other officials in the Duterte administration started accusing several activist groups of acting as fronts of the rebels, raising fears that they could be killed after the president tagged the communists as terrorist. The government has denied carrying out targeted killings, and said that those who have been killed had resisted arrest. Advocate for farmers Alvarez, the 39-year-old rights leader killed on Monday, had been advocating for years for farmers rights in Negros, a resource-rich island, where a few politically connected families own vast tracts of sugarcane plantations. In 2019, she led a group of farmers in documenting and denouncing alleged rights abuses by government troops following the killing of farmworkers, accused of being members of the communist rebels. Alvarez herself was accused of being a rebel sympathiser, or an outright rebel member. In an interview with Al Jazeeras 101 East in 2019, Alvarez said that with regards to the recent killings in Negros, it is very clear that it is the police who killed those victims. Authorities denied those allegations and have pledged to investigate the dozens of killings, although no suspects have been apprehended or prosecuted. Now, Alvarez herself has been killed. Farmers in Negros island rally against the government following the recent spate of killings of farmers [Al Jazeera 101 East Documentary: Dutertes New War] Palabay said her group, Karapatan, and other activist groups are in anguish with the series of killings of their colleagues, including Alvarez. In a statement obtained by Al Jazeera, San Carlos Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza decried the death of Alvarez saying that her work on behalf of the poor residents of Negros is worthy of emulation. The Philippines National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) also condemned the killing, saying Alvarez was a constant force in the struggle for justice for farmers in her hometown. In a separate social media post, NUPL President Edre Olalia said that the obvious intent of the Alvarezs killing was to sow terror. Earlier on Monday, activists buried Randall Echanis, one of the land rights activists who negotiated for a peace deal with the Duterte administration. Echanis, head of the urban poor organisation, Anakpawis, was killed on August 10 following an alleged encounter with police in Metro Manila. His relatives, however, said the 72-year old activist was undergoing medical treatment and unarmed when he was killed. The Gee-Gee is the first horse out of the race gate; its an eyecatcher for gamblers. Usual to the racing scene, for those with little chance of success, the dark horse became a target of doping accusations. These allegations were disproportionately more common than the doping itself, especially when thousands were at stake. As a first-of-its-type economic tank, China is the 21st century Gee-Gee. To illustrate, in terms of GDP, China is the largest economy, with a GDP (PPP) of $25.27 trillion. Furthermore, hosting 129 headquarters out of the 500 biggest companies, China has the world's largest foreign-exchange reserves worth $3.1 trillion. Its success has been largely due to liberal economic, social, legal and political reforms instituted since 1980. Yet, naysayers believe that Chinas success is based on a unique third-way political and economic paradigm that occupies a space somewhere in between capitalism and socialism. Nonetheless, Chinas economic prowess is not due to the states active interventionism in the Chinese economy. Difficult to understand the direction of Chinese economic policies due to the overshadowed politicized narratives by the current trade war with the US. Those who are interested in forecasting the reception of the China model in the global market, should distance themselves from the volatile political rhetoric. A rational legal approach abstained from political bias could dismantle the sino skepticism, confirm that Chinas economic success is linked directly to the Chinese style neoliberal reforms put in place by CPC and simply unveil the arrival of a new player in a competitive liberal economy. It is the type of policies we choose to apply that defines our market and its compatibility with others. We cannot contest that the international market follows neoliberalist economic principles, and alternative markets are pressured to reconsider their approach and reform. What concerns normative western economies are the principles that applaud free markets efficiency, growth and innovation, and discourage interventionism. Neoliberalists seek to transfer the control of the market from the public to the private sector, steering away from government spending, regulations and public enterprises. Based on the proposition above, we can find policies such as; the deregulation of industry and the elimination of government oversight on competition control and regulation; the privatization of state-owned organizations and enterprises to provide goods and services; the reduction of trade barriers to gain productivity and benefit from market accessibility; the reduction of government spending, as a mechanism to influence a market economy, and finally; monetarism, emphasizing on the government control of money supply in circulation which influences the price levels in the market. Before 1978, Chinas private sector was virtually non-existent. Chinas desire to expand its economy was expressed with gradual contained experiments mirroring liberal economies, and gradual policy efforts to give greater protection and freedom to private enterprises. Contrary to popular thought, the first changes were not exclusively party-led but also spearheaded by peasant-led initiatives which resulted in the abolishment of the private farming ban in 1982. Subsequently, the ripple effect of the success of grassroot initiatives drove a spiked increase of small-scale businesses in different sectors. This wave of entrepreneurship influenced a system where business only thrived under the patronage of the state. In reality, the first formalized liberal experiments were the entry of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) created in 1980 in the southeastern Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. In these cities, opening-up and reform were carried out. The relaxation and deregulation have attracted millions, subsequently boosting the SEZs. Case in point, Shenzhens population went from 30,000 in 1980 to over 12.5 million by 2018. By 1992, the Communist Party of China claimed, in their 14th congress, the acceptance of the market economy and the relaxation of several foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions. Notably, the switching from an approval business list based to a strictly denied based system allowing for most investments to proceed without the governments mandatory approval. FDI deregulation coincided with the early 2000s thriving global economy with investment opportunities enjoying the global surplus in investment capital, increased competitiveness, lowered transaction costs, reduced red tape, and letting investors earn increased returns. More recently, encouraged by their market results, Chinas ambitions for better market access, and interest in trading partners with the WTO repositioned the country higher in the globalized world. By ratifying the WTO agreement in 2001, trade facilitation increased with blanket reforms and standardized the Pan-China liberal future. The entry to the WTO was a check and balance for China. Case in point, the Foreign Investment Law adopted by the National Peoples Congress in 2019 assigned the Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission to protect and promote foreign investments, and the abolishment of FDI expropriation, except under special circumstances and with reasonable compensation. To summarize, China has encouraged voluntary exchanges with less intervention, allowing the law of supply and demand to take a greater role in their market economy. They ensured that FDI policies promote the investment of entrepreneurial activities by giving subsidies, grants, tax breaks, and loans, to increase greater profitability. Without a doubt, Chinas openness through export-friendly policies, such as regional and international trade agreements encourage the feasibility of the market for both internal and foreign consumers. Law expert from Chinese Embassy in the Hague points out that the 19th CPC National Congress has been an occasion to insist on the importance of giving full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, [optimizing] the role of the government, fully implement the new development concept, focus on the supply-side structural reform, and accelerate the construction of a modern economic system. He also specifies that the institutional obstacles obstructing the way to a high-quality development require further liberated thinking, deepening market-oriented reforms [and] high-level opening up. From 1980 when China owned less than 1% of the global share to 12% or $4.6 trillion by 2018 in global trade. The Chinese economy grew eighth fold, and over 400 million people in China were relieved out of absolute poverty of less than $1.90 per day. Trade with the US increases from $8 billion to $578 billion in 2016 alone. Needless to say, FDI policies have an upscale battle to dismantle years of failed manufacturing investors who have hit walls of high startup costs, heavy legal exposure, and compliance issues. The recent adoption of the first Chinese civil code, was a long-awaited deal China had with its investors. In March 2017 the General Provisions were adopted, in August 2018, six drafts went under review, in December 2019, following public solicitations, and appraisal activities, a complete 84-chapter draft civil code was unveiled, and it will come into force on January 1, 2021. The code is a significant legal reform delivered in China. Composed of 1260 articles and divided into seven chapters, the latter will cover several legal aspects, some of which are largely related to the management of private companies, such as contracts and property rights. China gathered public wisdom in the course of compiling the draft civil code, 1.02 million pieces of advice had been solicited from around 425,000 people, it reflected the needs of a contemporary economy. According to Chinese Embassy, the [new] Civil Code [will show] more respect to the basic principles of private law autonomy, restrict public sectors improper interference in the field of private rights of natural and legal persons [and] strengthen the protection of private rights of natural and legal persons by public authority. For example, the new Code will establish a special legal person which reflects the freedom of transaction, emphasizes the spirit of contract, and creates a legalized environment favorable to business. The first codification of the law in a country is synonymous to several changes. Initially, this will allow easier access to the law for the population, resulting in greater respect and trust in the legal system, but also in political decisions and organization. Moreover, due to its concise and intelligible form and its ease of access, the Civil Code will allow greater efficiency and better coherence within the judicial branch. Indeed, especially in the case of China, bringing together various legislations under a single law will help avoiding contradictions, from stand-alone regulations and increasing the speed of judicial processes since all professionals can rely on the same steady legal basis. Finally, the adoption of a civil code offers the needed stability for private investment reflects a modern China and the will of Chinese public institutions to comply with the rule of law, a well-acknowledged principle on the international scene. The demand for greater democracy, justice and protection of private property has to coincide with an era of diversified incomes, fast technological changes, and innovation. In doing so, the code applies groundbreaking modern ICT legal approach protects online information, email addresses, and virtual assets. It handles cyberspace tort in response to the demand of big data researchers and other AI ICT advancements, with new rules on protection of personal information. This also includes regulations on property protection, business secrets on scientific studies, and rules on handling patenting. Private investments in China have dramatically slowed during the 2019-2020. To the worry of Chinese officials went from more than 20% growth to single digits in 2020. Private investments fell another 13% during the coronavirus-battered first four month of this year, compared with a 7% decline for SOE. This April in a meeting chaired by Xi, declared that the Civil Code ahead would increase the support to the private economy and development of small and medium-sized firms and restore confidence of private business owners and to help prop up economic growth. That said, the intensification of the protection of entrepreneurs and local and foreign investors rights is undoubtedly an incentive to further develop the private sector. On that matter, Chinese Embassy mentions that the new code will further [improve] the basic legal system and rules of conduct in domestic civil and commercial fields, [provide] basic guidance for various civil and commercial activities [and give] a more specific legal basis for foreign investors to invest and establish enterprises in China, which [will encourage] their enthusiasm and creativity, [safeguard] transaction security, and [maintain] market order. In the same vein, the new code will also clarify the boundary between public and private institutions. For example, the new code plans to tighten property rights by restricting the concept of public interest so that it will now be more difficult to expropriate usufructuaries without justification. Consequently, the application of the new code will result in the submission of the state to a system of law, thereby reducing its place in the economic sphere as liberalists would suggest. The civil code is, without a doubt, the third-way theorys last straw. In fact, as we have demonstrated, the reforms taken show that the gradual liberalization provides evidence of a liberalized market and reduced Chinese state intervention. Indeed, the state is still present, yet it is clear that the trend of controlled, gradual and experimental decline in the states role in the market has been a continuance of a transformation which began in the 1980s. China underwent unique great social changes and moved away from the hammer and sickle limitation of their agricultural, and production of staples towards a more dynamic manufacturing activities. With the implementation of SEZ, FDI regulations and the new Civil Code, foreign investments became a stakeholder to Chinese infrastructure needs. Moreover, the rising curve of the accumulation of capital and entrepreneurial spirit, uncontestably correlates with the advancement of human wellbeing, search for happiness, prosperity. The maximization of capacity in China will soon be completed with the ascension of greater property and individual rights. As suggested the Civil Code and laws on FDI have led to a more law-based and effective and market-friendly governance atmosphere in China. Therefore, we should not believe that China has discovered a third paradigm by simply mixing capitalism with substantial influence of the state, Chinas success was due to a discovery of development route that best suited to its national conditions through prtactice and reform, with the state and market both playing a more coordinated, efficient and balanced role, US House Speaker Pelosi said postmaster generals pause of changes not enoug mailboxes, machines must be restored. US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has dismissed as wholly insufficient a move by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to suspend all operational reforms of the US Postal Service, she said in a statement on Wednesday. Pelosi said she and DeJoy spoke on Wednesday morning. The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed, the statement said, plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works. Democrats unveiled legislation, also on Wednesday, that would require same-day processing for mail-in ballots and give the cash-strapped Postal Service (USPS) a $25bn infusion while erasing changes pursued by the agencys new leader, an ally of President Donald Trump. The Democratic-led House is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Saturday, though there is little chance for passage in the Republican-led Senate. The bill would prevent the Postal Service from implementing policies to alter service levels that were in effect at the beginning of this year. Democrats and other critics have accused the Republican president of trying to impair the USPS to suppress mail-in voting as he trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in opinion polls before the November 3 election. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the USPS has enough cash on hand, including a $10bn line of credit approved by Congress earlier this year. McEnany also said the White House is open to supporting $25bn in funding for the US Postal Service but wants aid for Americans unemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic included. Congressional Democrats, Republican legislators and the White House have been at an impasse in talks over the latest pandemic relief legislation. Under intense criticism, DeJoy had announced on Tuesday that he would put on hold until after the election cost-cutting moves at the Postal Service that Democratic legislators and state attorneys general argued could imperil mail-in voting. DeJoy said he suspended all operational initiatives through Election Day to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail. A number of United States Postal Service mailboxes have been removed in recent weeks, sparking concerns about the upcoming election [Carlos Barria/Reuters] DeJoy, who has been a major political donor to Trump, assumed the job in June. The Postal Service long has faced financial woes with the rise of email and social media, losing $80bn since 2007, including $2.2bn in the three months ending June 30. Separately, Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, asked the Postal Service Board of Governors to release all materials related to the selection of DeJoy and for additional information regarding the role of Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin in the search and selection process. The board in May said it reviewed records of more than 200 candidates before narrowing the list to more than 50. The board then interviewed more than a dozen candidates in the first round interviews, and invited seven candidates for follow-up interviews. Trump has repeatedly, and without evidence, claimed that mail balloting is vulnerable to fraud. Voting by mail is nothing new in the US, and Trump himself plans to vote by mail in Florida this year. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the White House was not involved in the Postal Service changes. The Treasury Department and the Postal Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BROOKFIELD Stephen Comtois II, chairman of the towns Zoning Board of Appeals, was fined $20,000 by the State Ethics Commission on Tuesday for actions he took that broke the law when he was selectmen chairman in 2016. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Comtois denied any wrongdoing and plans to appeal the decision to the Superior Court. There was no crime, Comtois told The Republican. The Commissions decision says he used his position with the town of Brookfield for personal gain purchasing a piece of property for $200. The decision says he knew about the 20,000 square foot Rice Corner Road land owing to his inside information as a town official. At the time of the sale, which was recorded on Feb. 1, 2017, the property had an assessed value of more than $40,000. It says the former owner of the property at the time, Beverly Granger, had wanted to gift the property to the town but Comtois thwarted that. According to the Commissions decision, Comtois, while selectmen chairman voted with the other two members on Dec. 13, 2016 to begin the process for town meeting to accept the Granger property as a gift. But instead of doing that, he contacted a friend of Granger who was a real estate agent, Marita Tasse, via telephone, to create the impression it would be difficult if not impossible for the town of Brookfield to accept the Granger land as a gift. These misrepresentations were at odds with he told his selectmen colleagues he would do during the December 2016 meeting - that is, facilitate the gifting of that land to the town, the Commission determined. Less than two months later, Comtois bought the parcel for himself purchasing it for $200, the Commissions decision says. The Commissions decision says there is a dispute between how conversations went between Tasse and Comtois, and that they believed her version of events instead of his. Land records filed with Worcester County Registry of Deeds show Comtois got the deed to the land Feb. 7, 2017 upon $200 payment to Granger. The decision says he violated a section of state law that prohibits elected municipal officials from personally and substantially participating in matters when financial interests might affect their judgment in ways personal and distinct to them as opposed to the populace in general. It says: Comtois knew he had a financial interest in the property. Comtois violated this legal prohibition by knowingly using his position as a Selectman to become and act as the liaison between the Selectmen and the property owner in order to derail the planned donation of the property to the town and secure for himself the opportunity to purchase the property, a separate press release issued by the commission on Tuesday says. Comtois has 30 days within which to pay the $20,000 civil penalty or file an appeal in the Superior Court, the press release says In 2014 Comtois ran unsuccessfully for the house of representatives in Massachusetts, and twice before that. I did not have prior interest in the property, Comtois told the newspaper. I am in the process of filing an appeal, he said. I am hopeful appeal will prove my innoncence. At this time Comtois is not a Brookfield selectman. New species of supergiant isopod uncovered National University of Singapore. The pictures Dont freak out, but its almost time for tarantulas to crawl around Colorado in search of love Denver Post Will Uber and Lyft shut down in California? Fortune Citibank sent a hedge fund $175 million by mistake. Now its struggling to get the money back CNN. This keeps happening. Magpie-swooping season could be worse in Victoria this year as face masks confuse birds Guardian #COVID19 The pandemic appears to have spared Africa so far. Scientists are struggling to explain why Science Pourquoi le vraquier na-t-il pas ete arraisonne et pourquoi avoir attendu 15 jours pour monter a bord? LExpress. Google translation (or at least it ought to be; I cant get Google to translate). Colonel Smithers: More and more questions are being asked. As per this article by a Belgian captain, why did the ships captain cease communications with Mauritian authorities for at least two hours and enter Mauritian waters without permission and it took so long for the authorities to board the vessel. The author also wonders if people or illegal cargo were being dropped. The former may explain the life raft and jackets from ship found washed ashore nearby and reported by a local doctor after a stroll. Mauritius Arrests Officers and Tows Wakashio as Questions Persist The Maritime Executive China? How Japan Talks About Security Threats The Diplomat The Koreas Cluster infection originating in Seouls Sarang Jeil Church spreads nationwide The Hankyoreh Syraqistan UK/EU New Cold War RussiaGate Trump Transition Democrat National Convention 2020 Our Famously Free Press How We Could Wind Up Banned From Discussing An October Surprise On Social Media This Election Caitlin Johnstone The Press that Cried Wolf Matt Taibbi. This: CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post are now following the same script with the Trump panics. The pattern is consistent. Day one involves spectacular claims of corruption. By day two, placard-bearing protesters are hitting the streets Almost always, by day three or four, key claims are walked back: maybe there was no direct promise to a foreign leader, or the CIA doesnt have direct evidence of Russian bounties, or viral photos of children in cages at the border were from 2014, not 2017. By then it doesnt matter. A panic is a panic, and there are only two reportable angles in todays America, total guilt and total innocence. Even when the balance of the information would still look bad or very bad for Trump, news outlets commit to leaving out important background, so as not to complicate the audience response. By now, my killer T-cells go to work on minute one of hour one of day one. Unfortunate if theres the media equivalent of a cytokine storm, but here we are. USPS USPS to Suspend Changes Until After Election WSJ Big Brother Is Watching You Watch Groves of Academe New law requires students to complete ethnic studies to graduate from California State University NBC Sports Desk Imperial Collapse Watch Guillotine Watch Bookstore Operator Denies Raiding Little Free Libraries for Stock Washingtonian Class Warfare The Unprecedented Gun and Ammo Shortage by Larry C Johnson Sic Semper Tyrannis Antidote du Jour (via): Not strictly an antidote, but surely functionally so: See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here The number of coronavirus cases again spiked on Wednesday after the country recorded 64,531 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to Union health ministry data. Indias tally now stands at 2,767,273. Out of these, 6,76,514 are active cases and 20,37,870 recovered, according to health ministry. There was a decline in the number of cases in the last few days. The country recorded 63,490 infections on Sunday, 57,981 on Monday and 55,079 on Tuesday. The number of recovered patients is also increasing almost on a daily basis and the gap between active cases and those who have been discharged is over 2.93 times. Recently, the health ministry had informed that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is preparing a guidance note for people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease. It is a group of subject experts - joint monitoring group (JMG) in the ministry of health - which is headed by the DGHS. The JMG is presently working on a guidance note for people who have recovered from COVID-19 and possible complications that may afflict them, said health ministry officials on reports on further complications in few recovered patients. The health ministry had said on Tuesday that the trends in Covid-19 cases over the last few days have been reassuring. It, however, warned that India being a huge country with a massive population needs to be cautious as a challenge against the coronavirus disease still persists. This is a bit satisfactory but there is no reason to slacken our guard against coronavirus. We have to be alert and follow containment, surveillance, and testing at the same aggressive pace, said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Almost one in three GCSE pupils could get top marks today following the exam U-turn fiasco. The proportion with a grade 7 or higher the equivalent of an old A/A* is set to rise by almost 30 per cent due to the switch to teacher assessments. This could mean 1.5million grade 7s, 8s and 9s awarded in England, with up to 1,000 pupils gaining a clean sweep of 9s for the first time. With the proportion of A/A* equivalent grades set to rise by 30 per cent this year, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is facing widespread calls for him to resign Williamson 'was told algorithm was doomed SIX WEEKS ago but pressed on regardless' by HENRY MARTIN for MailOnline Gavin Williamson was warned the exams algorithm was 'doomed' and could see thousands of students receive the wrong results, a senior Department for Education source has revealed. The source said former director-general Sir Jon Coles wrote to Mr Williamson six weeks ago to reveal his concerns about the Ofqual algorithm, claiming that it would only be 75 per cent accurate at best when applied to GCSE and A-Level grading. In his letter Sir Jon also said that using predicted grades for some small groups of students while using the algorithm for large groups would cause unfairness. It is understood that Mr Williamson was on a video call with Sir Jon in mid-July to talk about his concerns, but decided to go ahead with the algorithm amid concerns about grade inflation delays to results, The Times reports. However the education secretary has said that he only knew the full scale of how unfair the algorithm was 'over the weekend'. Mr Williamson is now 'on his last life' after his humiliating exams fiasco and will be sacked if Boris Johnson's schools reopening is botched, ministers have claimed. Advertisement The surge comes after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson scrapped the controversial algorithm system for both A-level and GCSE results and conceded teachers' predicted grades must be used to mark pupils who could not sit their exams because of the pandemic. It sparked chaos across universities as students originally told they had missed out on degree places frantically tried to get on to courses. A similar picture is expected in sixth forms and colleges today, with thousands more meeting Add-level entry requirements than previously anticipated. Sixth forms are calling for extra funding from the Government, with some heads planning to recruit more teachers or ask staff to teach beyond their subject expertise to allow them to honour all offers made. Others may increase class sizes or run catch-up lessons for pupils whose marks do not match their actual abilities. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said the new system rewards pupils and schools where teachers 'have over-estimated'. He added: 'It is hard on those who have done their very best to predict accurately. 'Young people will be getting the impression that they're good at something when they're actually not, so they may find they get on to do A-levels in tough subjects like physics or French or maths and then may not be able to cope with them.' In July, exams watchdog Ofqual revealed early analysis of predicted GCSE grades submitted by teachers. It found 31.6 per cent of papers sat by 16-year-olds in England would be awarded a 7 or higher (an old A or A*) if these centre assessment grades were used. This compared to 24.7 per cent for this age group last year a 28 per cent rise. Under this teacher assessment system, 7.7 per cent of papers would get a top grade of 9. And 82.4 per cent would get at least a 4, equivalent to a C, Ofqual said. Students protested against hte GCSE and A-level results shambles that affects their futures At the time, the watchdog said the 'vast majority of centres' had 'submitted optimistic centre assessment grades'. Union: Revamp 2021 test papers GCSE and A-level examinations next summer should be overhauled with some topics made 'optional', a teaching union demanded yesterday. The National Education Union called for 'reduced content' on test papers to help teachers deal with the impact of further virus outbreaks. And it demanded less reliance on end-of-year papers because they make pupils 'anxious'. Its joint general secretaries, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, made the demands in a letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. They called for a 'thorough, independent review into assessment methods used to award GCSE and A-level qualifications in England'. Their letter adds: 'The current over-reliance on end-of-course exams increases student anxiety.' Advertisement These were supposed to have been standardised by the algorithm to bring them in line with previous years. But the official results out today are expected to be broadly similar to these early Ofqual estimates. Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Schools may, understandably, have given some students the benefit of the doubt when they are on the borderline between two grades.' John Abbott, chief executive of the Richard Huish College in Somerset, said it is likely to have 'more kids probably on the wrong course in September'. This is because they may have been given higher grades than they would have gained in exams or fallen behind during lockdown. Gill Burbridge, principal of Leyton Sixth Form College in east London, said honouring the offers it had made to almost 2,000 pupils would be a challenge. She added: 'It is going to maybe require staff to be more flexible in terms of being able to teach across more than one area.' James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said 'We have been pressing the Government to introduce a capital expansion fund for sixth form providers over the past couple of years, and action is now needed as a matter of urgency.' The Department for Education said: 'Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS level and A-level results this week.' Queen's granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor will receive results The Queen's granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor is among the thousands of students receiving their GCSEs results. Lady Louise, the 16-year-old daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, attends school in Ascot, Berkshire. The teenager was preparing to take her exams before schools closed in March during lockdown. Lady Louise Windsor at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in Stamford, Lincolnshire, last September Like other pupils across the country, her results will be based on her teachers' estimates, if higher than the controversial moderated grades, following the Government's U-turn amid the debacle over this year's exams. Buckingham Palace said Lady Louise's results were a private matter. In an interview with The Sunday Times in June, Sophie revealed her hopes her daughter would go to university because she is 'quite clever'. Lady Louise, who will be staying on to take her A-levels, had been studying conscientiously for her GCSEs before they were cancelled. The countess revealed: 'She's working hard and will do A-levels. I hope she goes to university. I wouldn't force her, but if she wants to. She's quite clever.' The Countess of Wessex and her daughter Lady Louise Windsor leaving the Queen's Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in London last December Sophie has said Lady Louise and younger brother Viscount Severn will be expected to work for a living and are unlikely ever to use HRH styles as adults. 'We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living. Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it's highly unlikely,' she said. Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor was born prematurely in November 2003, weighing just 4lbs 9oz. At eight months pregnant, Sophie was rushed to hospital with severe internal pains, and doctors found she was dangerously ill from blood loss and performed an emergency Caesarean. Newborn Lady Louise was transferred to St George's Hospital in Tooting, London, for specialist care, while the countess remained at Frimley Park Hospital near their home in Bagshot Park. They were separated for six days. The Queen's second-youngest grandchild was a bridesmaid for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, and was a special attendant at Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018, helping to escort the young bridesmaids and pageboys into the church. Lady Louise Windsor driving a carriage during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, Berkshire, in May last year She occasionally accompanies her mother at events, and attends royal celebrations such as Trooping The Colour. Lady Louise underwent successful surgery a few years ago to correct an eye condition. The teenager has also started competing at carriage driving, following in the footsteps of her grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh by taking up the sport. Throughout her childhood, she has seen a good deal of the Queen, to whom she bears a strong resemblance at the same age. As the daughter of the son of the sovereign, Lady Louise, who is 13th in line to the throne, is actually entitled to be known as Princess Louise. But the earl and countess decided against this, choosing the courtesy titles of a child of an earl for their daughter and son instead. Advertisement Get schools open or go, Williamson told By Claire Ellicott, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail Gavin Williamson has been warned that schools must reopen smoothly in September or he must go. Now BTECs will be regraded More than 500,000 BTEC pupils expecting to receive their results today have been left disappointed after a last-minute decision to regrade them. The exam board wants more time to get the grading right following the overall exam fisaco. But colleges were only told of the move at 4.30pm yesterday leaving them scrabbling to catch up. BTEC colleges were not included in the Government's original U-turn to award grades based on teacher assessments, rather than calculated by the algorithm. Now exam body Pearson says it wants to 'apply the same principles' being used in A-levels and GCSEs. It is stripping out the parts of its grades that had been calculated by the algorithm using historical performance data and using teachers' predictions instead. Advertisement Government sources have indicated that Boris Johnson will not sack the Education Secretary, or demote him in a major reshuffle. But senior backbenchers have told the whips' office in private that Mr Williamson should be sacked following the exams fiasco. It came as Mr Johnson's lead fell to its lowest level since he became Prime Minister. A YouGov poll for The Times found that support for the Conservatives has dropped four points to 40 per cent, while Labour has gained three points to 38 per cent in a week. Tory MPs have warned that a failure to get all pupils back to school next month would represent 'the final straw' for Mr Williamson. One senior Tory said: 'Gavin's position is completely untenable and we need strong leadership in September, which he is singularly incapable of.' Mr Williamson was also forced to bow to pressure and back Ofqual for the first time after being accused of playing a blame game. He admitted that it was the regulator's decision to abandon the grades determined by an algorithm and move to teacher assessments. The Department for Education said: 'The decision [Ofqual] took to move from moderated grades to centre-assessed grades was one that we agreed with. Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS-level and A-level results this week so that they can move on to the next stage of their lives.' The admission will raise further questions over whether Mr Williamson was unaware of the scale of the problem or how the controversial algorithm would even work until the weekend. Tory MPs have made representations to the whips' office that Mr Williamson should leave his post now. Boris Johnson intervened from Scotland to help resolve the results crisis. He is pictured above visiting an M&S store in Westfield, London Tobias Ellwood, the defence committee chairman, said the Government should 'reconfigure' its top team and harness the 'full talent' available. And a former minister said: 'There's genuine anger now about how somebody like Gavin got [the job] in the first place. 'There are questions of judgment about why Theresa May and then Boris Johnson promoted him. Somebody with more competence in the same job could've avoided all this.' Durham: Defer by year and get a 'cash reward' By Josh White, Education Reporter for the Daily Mail Durham last night became the first university to offer students cash rewards if they agreed to wait a year before enrolling. Ofqual 'knew algorithm was doomed to failure' Watchdog Ofqual knew its algorithm was 'doomed' as far back as June but pressed ahead anyway, it was claimed last night. An adviser who helped it develop the software said there was 'always an understanding there would be winners and losers'. Ofqual has always said its system was as 'fair as possible' despite so many pupils' marks being downgraded. But speaking on condition of anonymity, the adviser said it was evident that the algorithm would fail as soon as schools began submitting their teacher-assessed grades, between June 1 and 12. 'There was a very specific point when it became doomed,' he said. 'There was clearly always a potential this could blow, because of the nature of it. There wasn't really even a need to discuss that point, because it was always lingering in the background.' Ofqual did not respond to a request for comment last night. Advertisement The university made the announcement after it emerged 15,000 students are now eligible to switch back to their first-choice institution. Durham's offer will rile some struggling universities, whom it was last night said could face 'financially crippling' losses if students hold out for their first choice. It is feared that increased numbers of students waiting a year to get into their first choice university, rather than downgrading to a less prestigious alternative this year, could cause a financial black hole for certain less popular institutions. Durham University said 'this unprecedented situation' had lead to 'various capacity issues, both in regard to teaching and accommodation' and it warned 'it is possible that some offer holders will have to defer entry to 2021 in order to enrol'. It told prospective undergraduates: 'Students who opt to defer to 2021 will be guaranteed college accommodation in 2021 and will be provided with a bursary by Durham University to help with their transition to university life. Further details will follow shortly.' Last night, Ucas said pupils who were originally rejected by their first-choice university could now claim a place with their updated grades. The Russell Group of elite universities are likely to bear the brunt of these extra student numbers, putting pressure on staff to admit as many pupils as possible, Last night, Dr Tim Bradshaw, CEO of the group, which includes Oxford and Cambridge, said 'this is a stressful time for students and our admissions teams'. 'We urge Government to provide guidance and support to help the sector deal with both the immediate and longer-term impact of an unprecedented rise in numbers,' he said. 'Many of our members are taking more students this year and have committed to honouring offers made, however constraints on capacity, teaching and support resources and the need to ensure universities operate in a Covid-safe way, mean some places may have to be deferred.' Durham University has said it will give a bursary to students that defer their entry by a year Last night the Financial Times reported the Government was preparing to announce that the cap on medical student numbers would be lifted. They said extra cash would also be injected into the sector to help train them, as a result of the increased numbers now eligible to study after having their grades uplifted. The British Medical Association's Dr Helena McKeown said: 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line.' Universities minister Michelle Donelan said: 'We are workinge closely with the higher education sector to understand the challenges facing universities and provide as much support as we can.' By PTI BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief and MLA from Chhindwara Kamal Nath was formally declared as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly on Wednesday. Pro-tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma declared Nath, 73, as the leader of opposition. "The Vidhan Sabha secretariat has received a letter in this regard from the Congress on Wednesday. Taking cognisance of the letter immediately, Kamal Nath has been declared the leader of opposition in the state Assembly," Sharma said. Home Minister Narottam Mishra congratulated Nath and said, "I hope that the opposition will play a responsible and positive role in the development of the state." Nath resigned as chief minister on March 20 after his government was reduced to a minority following resignations of 22 Congress MLAs who later joined the BJP under the leadership of former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) participates in a mock swearing-in with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during the opening day of the 115th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Cindy McCain, the widow of former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, will implicitly endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during Tuesday night's Democratic convention. McCain will narrate a video about her late husband's friendship with Biden, which began when the two worked together in Washington in the 1970s. "They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show, sometimes, to watch the two of them," she says in the prerecorded video, first reported by the Associated Press. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Cindy McCain, the widow of former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, will implicitly endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by narrating a video about her husband's friendship with Biden set to air at Tuesday night's Democratic convention. In a clip of the video first reported by the Associated Press, Cindy McCain laughs while recalling her husband's relationship with the former vice president, which began when Biden was a senator and John McCain was assigned to be his military aide in the 1970s. The men's families became friendly and picnicked in the Bidens' backyard. "They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show, sometimes, to watch the two of them," she says in the prerecorded video. Of course, the pair faced off in the 2008 presidential election after then-candidate Barack Obama selected Biden to be his running mate. While the McCain family has long criticized the president, who aggressively attacked John McCain even after his 2018 death following a battle with brain cancer, Cindy McCain's decision to speak at the Democratic convention is remarkable. This also comes after Cindy McCain said she had "no intention of getting involved in presidential politics" in April 2019, even after calling Biden "a wonderful man and a dear friend of the McCain family." Story continues Both Biden and Obama delivered speeches at John McCain's funeral, which Trump was not invited to attend. Trump infamously attacked the former Vietnam prisoner of war "because he was captured." "I like people who weren't captured," Trump said. Cindy McCain is just the latest prominent Republican to publicly back Biden at this week's Democratic convention events. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich delivered a speech endorsing Biden and slamming Trump on Monday night. Read the original article on Business Insider James (Jim) Shattock, Straffan / Drimnagh, Dublin August 18. Peacefully at his residence, James (Jim). He will be sadly missed by his loving wife Adele, son Jamie, brother, sister, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. Reposing at his residence on Wednesday 19th. Funeral Service Thursday in the Victorian Chapel Mount Jerome at 10am.Those who would have liked to attend James service but cannot, please leave a condolence at RIP.ie. James (jim) Noone, Garravouge, Donadea August 13. With his adoring daughter Yvonne and loving grandson Sean by his side. Deeply regretted by Yvonne, Sean, Caroline and many relatives and friends in Ireland and the UK. Jim will be laid to rest in Hartlepool with his beloved wife Noelle and near to his loving daughter Geraldine on Thursday, 20th August. May Jim's kind soul rest in peace. Eileen Miller (nee Everard), Riverstown, Kildangan, / Ratoath, Meath / Laois August 18. Formerly of Ratoath, Co. Meath. Beloved wife of Jim (Shay) and much loved mother of Ann Marie and John. Deeply regretted by her loving family, son-in-law Liam, sadly missed by her adoring grandchildren Seamus, Ella, Sean, Paidi and Meabh, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family relatives and friends. Requiem Mass on Thursday at 11:00am in Our Lady of Victories Church, Kildangan. Interment afterwards in Ballybracken Cemetery. A private funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend but cannot due to the current government guidelines, please feel free to leave a message below in the condolence book or in the send on in the traditional manner. Margaret Dempsey, Campion Crescent, Kildare town August 15. Peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. Wife of the late Seamie and mother of the late Jimmy. Sadly missed by her loving daughters Sharon and Lesley, sons-in-law Mark and Speedy, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, relatives, neighbours and friends. May Margaret rest in peace. Funeral arrangements later. The couple are considering chartering a private plane to get back to Queensland Ms Simmons is medically unfit to fly, but NSW Health isn't letting her drive While she was in hospital, Queensland closed its borders to NSW and Victoria Ms Simmons and her partner are in Victoria where he's stationed at an army base A young Queensland mother with cancer has been left stranded in Victoria with her newborn baby due to tough border closures. Kristy Simmons was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, just 10 days before delivering her daughter Eden. Ms Simmons was admitted to hospital last month with a severe infection, but while she was recovering, Queensland and New South Wales shut their borders to Victoria amid its second COVID-19 wave. The first-time mother and her partner Dwayne - who is stationed at an army base south of the Victorian border - are now desperate to get home to their family and support system in Queensland. Kristy Simmons was was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, just days before delivering her daughter Eden 'There's moments where I just want to break down... and I have, there have been times,' she told 7News. 'I feel like I have to be strong... I have an eight-week-old baby.' Queensland has granted an exemption for the couple to return, but due to Ms Simmons' poor health she is medically unfit fly there. Their only option for getting home is to drive the nearly 1,500km journey through NSW up to the Sunshine State. The couple had planned to take their own food and only stop for toilet breaks or for petrol. But in another blow, NSW Health is insisting they fly despite health professionals declaring it is dangerous for Ms Simmons to do so. 'Kristy is immunosuppressed at the moment due to her chemo,' midwife Barbara Roberts said. 'That would be very, very dangerous for her.' The couple are now considering chartering an expensive private plane to get home to Queensland. 'Just knowing what she's going through... it should be the happiest time of her life, but it's not,' Dwayne said. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned border restrictions will remain in place for now, given coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria, NSW and New Zealand, despite pressure from the federal government to reopen. Victoria recorded 216 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday and 12 more deaths, taking the national toll to 450. Ms Simmons and her partner Dwayne - who is stationed at an army base south of the Victorian border - are now desperate to get home to Queensland The couple had planned to take their own food and only stop for toilet breaks or for petrol, but NSW Health is insisting they fly Scott Morrison today expressed frustration at the 'incredibly disruptive' impact state border closures are having on individuals and businesses. He acknowledged state premiers were trying to protect their own citizens but said the restrictions needed to be more flexible. 'I understand what they're seeking to do but it's important that all premiers act on the basis of transparent medical advice,' he said. 'If there are going to be these border arrangements in place they will, of course, have very serious impacts on the economies of their states and the livelihoods of those who live in those states. 'That all has to be weighed up.' Queensland has warned its borders could remain sealed for several months or until its infections have fallen to zero. It took 29 years to top the Montana state record for an angler-caught chinook salmon at Fort Peck Reservoir. On Sunday, Bismarck, North Dakota, fisherman Greg Hauge reeled in a 32.05-pounder. The sizable salmon measured 38 1/8 inches long and was a football-ish 26.5 inches in girth. The old record, set in October 1991, was a 38-inch chinook that weighed 31.13 pounds. Berkshire, New York, angler Carl Niles reeled in that fat fish. According to a 1992 Montana Standard column, the Montana record for chinook salmon was broken four times in 1990 before Niles got a firm hold on the record. Steve Dalbey, fisheries manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Glasgow, certified the fish and the scale on Monday. It looks like we have a new state record, Dalbey said. It was a good fish. Super thick. Just beautiful, he added. Heres the catch: Dalbey said the record-breaking fish could be topped as the season wears on. Theres a chance this may be a short-lived record, he said. Nonnatives Chinook salmon are hatchery raised and planted in Fort Peck Reservoir. The key to the salmons growth is a plentiful supply of the fish they eat cisco. Cisco populations seem to do best when there is an early ice over of Fort Peck Reservoir, Dalbey explained. Cisco are fall, open-water spawners. When the ice comes early it reduces wave action on the fishes eggs, meaning more hatch. The cisco have also done well thanks to plenty of water in Fort Peck. High water floods vegetation along the shoreline. This creates habitat and food for smaller lake inhabitants, like zooplankton, that the cisco eat. Its the product of really good forage production with the cisco and really good water levels at Fort Peck, Dalbey said. That whole fishery is very dependent on cisco and that good production. Landlocked The inland king salmon fishery is an oddity. Most salmon are born in freshwater streams and migrate downstream to grow up in ocean saltwater. The parents die after spawning. In the 1980s FWP decided to plant the Pacific salmon species in Fort Peck. The planted fish return to the area where they were stocked in the fall after 2 to 4 years thinking they will spawn. Instead, FWP crews capture the fish and strip them of eggs and sperm to foster the next population of hatchery chinook for Fort Peck. The salmon fishery has drawn anglers from across the United States, as has prime smallmouth bass, walleye, lake trout and northern pike fishing. Its starting to bring in expertise from the Great Lakes, Dalbey said, which also has a salmon fishery. As evidence of the fishery's drawing power, campgrounds around Fort Peck have been full all summer. On the upper end Ive never seen it so busy, Dalbey said. Lakers Although big salmon are a draw, Dalbey said Fort Pecks large lake trout have also become an angler attractant. Im hearing of guys really promoting this fishery on social media, he added. One example is North Dakotas Jason Mitchell Outdoors. In a February 2013 video, Mitchell boasts about an October lake trout fishing trip to Fort Peck using light tackle in shallow water. Huge fish and no fishermen, he said. You couldnt ask for anything more if you like to fish. After reeling in his first lake trout, Mitchell noted, Everything grows to Jurassic proportions on Fort Peck. You name it and it gets big on this water. That was demonstrated by Mike Dominick's 2017 catch of a new state record smallmouth bass a 7.5-pounder caught and released at Fort Peck Reservoir. Get out Chinook salmon fishing on Fort Peck picks up in the late summer as the fish congregate near the east end of the reservoir where they were planted. It will start to build now for the next few weeks, Dalbey said. In comparison to previous years, he said the catch rates for salmon so far has been down but the fish seem to be larger. Anglers use downriggers to troll about 50 to 70 feet deep pulling flashers with a squid or fly as bait. Its an incredible fishery right now, Dalbey said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It is no secret that most famous people have a team of public relations experts managing their image, and royals are no different. In fact, since royals often cannot talk to the press themselves, the work of their PR team is even more significant in helping them craft a public persona. However, despite having experienced PR people around them, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still receive a lot of public criticism. Some fans now believe that this is because the couple does not listen to their PR experts as often as they should. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Samir Hussein/WireImage) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been dealing with a lot of negative press Ever since Meghan and Harrys relationship became public in 2016, Meghan has been at odds with the British press. She constantly received negative coverage, with a fair amount of it being reportedly due to racism and sexism. Even after Meghan and Harry married in 2018, things did not get better for the couple. They have repeatedly been criticized for a number of their actions, including taking private jets, spending taxpayers money on clothes and home renovations, and making their sons birth and christening extremely private. Fans think Harry and Meghan dont listen to their PR experts enough RELATED: Critic Explains Why Princess Dianas Biography Evoked More Sympathy Than Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Finding Freedom After the release of Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, a biography which aims to tell Harry and Meghans side of the story, fans are now beginning to think the couples PR mishaps could have been prevented had they listened to the experts around them. In the book, there were a few instances in which Harry and Meghan clashed with their royal aides and chose to ignore other peoples advice. I think H&M are feeling self righteous indignation that theyve been wronged and if they dont agree with an expert, they move on, one fan wrote on Reddit. They are so sure of their (mostly) self-conceived victimization that they feel they need to be heard. Meanwhile, another person agreed, writing, [Finding Freedom] basically confirms your comments about H&M moving on if they disagree with an aide or expert giving them advice. Harry was told not to take the private jet back to England from the Google summit and he did anyway. Its mind blowing that they think they always know best. They may know whats best for them personally, but they dont always know best when it comes to heir public image. Fans think Prince William and Kate Middleton have managed to improve their image over time RELATED: Queen Elizabeth Could Have Made 1 Arrangement for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Stay in the Royal Family On the other end of the spectrum, fans believe Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge have listened to advice from their aides, and this is paying off for the couple. Unlike Harry and Meghan, William and Kate continue to receive high approval ratings from the public. Additionally, they do not often find themselves in PR messes. However, some fans have also noted the negative coverage of Harry and Meghan could be doing William and Kate a favor. I think W&K are doing a great job, but also benefiting from the terrible job H&M are doing, a fan said on Reddit. If there only W&K to write about, the press would be pushing for more. But now its, W&K do an event, release a photo, squee squee nice, is that dress a rewear, who did her highlights And then, Meghan and Harry are douching it up with another press release! WILMINGTON, Del. - Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice-president on Wednesday, cementing her place in history as the first Black woman on a major party ticket and promising she and Joe Biden will rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and riven by racial and partisan divides. In an address capping the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention, the California senator evoked the lessons of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a biologist and Indian immigrant, saying she instilled in her a vision of our nation as a beloved community where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from or who we love. In this election, we have a chance to change the course of history, Harris said. Were all in this fight. Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice-president on Wednesday, cementing her place in history as the first Black woman on a major party ticket and promising she and Joe Biden will rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and riven by racial and partisan divides. Mixing a former prosecutors polish with the deeply personal, Harris also spoke of her Jamaican father and getting a strollers eye view of the civil rights movement as her parents protested in the streets in the 1960s. There is no vaccine for racism, Harris said. We have got to do the work. Harris addressed a party that has staked its future on bringing together a racially diverse coalition of voters. She was preceded in the convention program by Barack Obama, meaning the nations first Black president introduced the woman trying to be the first Black person to hold the vice presidency. Obama said Harris was an ideal partner for Biden and was more than prepared for the job. Harris is a former district attorney and California state attorney general. She promised to speak truths to the American public. She said she and Biden, who tapped her as his running mate last week, believe in a country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity and respect. Democrats hope Harris can galvanize their partys faithful who are divided between progressive and moderate wings and win over swing voters still deciding between Biden and Trump. But she also was introducing herself to a national audience that may not have been paying close attention to the race until now. For somebody with her wealth of background and experience, shes still fresh. Shes still new, said Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus who endorsed Harris 2020 presidential primary run before throwing her support behind Biden in March. Harris spoke at a convention centre in Bidens home state of Delaware that was empty except for socially distanced reporters and a few campaign staffers. She was introduced by her sister, Maya, her niece Meena and Ella Emhoff, her stepdaughter who calls her Momala. At the end of her speech, Biden walked out to join her from a distance and both were soon joined by their spouses. In sweeping remarks that touched on the legacy of Black women who paved the way for this moment, Harris noted that this week marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Except that right, Harris said, came much later for most Black women, who helped secure that victory yet were still prohibited from voting. Without fanfare or recognition, they organized, testified, rallied, marched, and fought not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table, Harris said. Were not often taught their stories. But as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders. Harris also blistered Trump, something shes expected to do frequently as she campaigns with Biden in the coming months though in-person events may remain impossible as the coronavirus rages. She recalled her days in the courtroom when she would declare Kamala Harris for the people, reviving a slogan from her presidential campaign, while noting, I know a predator when I see one. She didnt mention the president by name then but didnt spare him later. Donald Trumps failure has cost lives and livelihoods, Harris said. She later added, Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons. Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose. The Biden campaign is hoping Harris can excite young voters and people of colour, especially after months of protests over institutional racism and police brutality that swept the country. Shes known for her tough questioning in the Senate, particularly during confirmation hearings of two Trump nominees, Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court justice and William Barr for attorney general. She also caused a stir by broadsiding Biden during a primary debate last summer over his opposition to busing in the 1970s to integrate public schools. But things didnt always go smoothly. Harris launched her presidential bid with expectations that she would electrify the field, only to see her campaign struggle to find a consistent message and fizzle months before the first votes were cast. Some voters are paying particularly close attention to Harris because she could be called upon to step into the role of party standard-bearer as soon as 2024, should Biden who will be 81 by then opt not to seek a second term. Biden hasnt expressly said hed serve just a single term, but he has talked about being a bridge to a new generation. Harris said her mother instilled in her and her sister values that charted the course of their lives. She raised us to be proud, strong Black women, Harris said. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. The campaign is deeply personal for Harris in others ways, too. She spoke Wednesday of her friendship with the former vice-presidents son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. He and Harris became close while both were state attorneys general. I knew Joe as vice-president. I knew Joe on the campaign trail, she said. But I first got to know Joe as the father of my friend. ___ Weissert reported from Washington and Stafford from Detroit. Ukraine has sent about five tonnes of humanitarian assistance to the victims of the explosion in Beirut. National Guard officers and rescuers will accompany the cargo of medicines and food, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's press service reported. A terrible disaster happened in Beirut - an explosion at the port claimed the lives of 220 citizens. More than 100 people went missing, over 1,000 were injured. The capital suffered enormous destruction. Therefore, at the request of the Lebanese Embassy in Ukraine, by decree of the President, it was decided to provide humanitarian aid. On Monday, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allocated funds from the reserve fund for the purchase of medicines, medical goods and wheat flour, First Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Yarovy said. According to Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykola Chechotkin, UAH 8.450 million was allocated from the state budgets reserve fund. The cargo weight is five tonnes. I would like to express my words of support to the Lebanese people. I wish them to cope with this situation as soon as possible, he said. Ukrainian Ambassador to Lebanon Ihor Ostash noted that more than 4,000 Ukrainian families live in Lebanon. More than 20 families were injured in the explosion. They all are waiting for help and support. In turn, Lebanese Ambassador to Ukraine Ali Daher thanked the Ukrainian side for its support, assistance and solidarity with the people of Lebanon. As reported, on August 4, 220 people (including 1 citizen of Ukraine) were killed and over 6,000 were injured in powerful explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital. The massive blast was caused by the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port for years. The explosion damaged buildings in a radius of several kilometers in Beirut, leaving more than 300,000 people homeless or living in homes with no windows or doors. ish The Donald Trump administration will soon act on its threat to trigger a return of international sanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Pompeo said Wednesday, days after the United States lost its bid to indefinitely extend an arms embargo on Tehran. The presidents made clear were going to do that soon, and we will, Pomepo said during a joint press briefing with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. We have every expectation they will be enforced just like every other UN Security Council resolution. After an embarrassing but expected defeat at the United Nations Security Council last week, in which all but the Dominican Republic voted against or abstained from the American effort to extend a 13-year-old arms embargo on Iran, the administration is now seeking to reimpose the sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. UN Resolution 2231 allows for the deals member countries to trigger a snapback of sanctions by filing a complaint to the Security Council if Iran is no longer abiding by its nuclear obligations. But critics argue the United States gave up the legal authority to invoke this provision when it withdrew from the agreement two years ago. Pompeo, who has previously said the United States technically remains a participant to the deal, said Wednesday he expects the 15-member council to take seriously the international commitments to which they have signed up for. Why it matters: The deals backers oppose the move, believing that returning sanctions would strip Iran of any incentive to comply with restrictions on its nuclear program, effectively killing the deal. But it remains to be seen how the deal's signatories US allies Germany, France and Britain as well as Iran patrons China and Russia would challenge Washingtons snapback attempt. Some observers have speculated that members could simply ignore it, plunging the United Nations into an unprecedented crisis of credibility. Whats next: Reuters reports that Pompeo will travel to New York on Thursday to submit the US complaint to the Security Council. The 15-member body then would have 30 days to vote to extend sanctions relief, but the United States would veto any such resolution, ensuring restrictions on Iran are automatically restored. Know more: Read how the vote unfolded at the Security Council last Friday, and why hard-liners in Irans parliament are pushing for Tehran to exit the nuclear deal entirely. Ekta Kapoor had collaborated with ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial and had announced Pavitra Rishta fund in memory of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, to create awareness among people about mental health. As the fund was launched, Sushant's fans took to social media to troll Ekta for using the late actor's name for mental health awareness initiative. As trolling intensified, Sushant's face was dropped from the Pavitra Rishta Fund logo. Netizens also trended #ShameOnEktaKapoor and called out the producer for supporting depression theory in Sushant's death, which many close ones of Sushant have rejected. After Supreme Court ordered CBI probe into Sushant's case today (August 19, 2020), Ekta disassociated herself from the Pavitra Rishta Fund. Sharing a note on Twitter, Ekta wrote, "Even though this is not a fund started by me, but started by Zee and is a needed one at that, I am always with Zee for any other mental awareness fund that they want to do, but on this one I would like to respectfully dissociate myself. #SSR Hope the truth prevails." The note read, "While I support the cause of mental health, I disassociate myself from the 'Pavitra Rishta fund' till investigations are carried out and we have a clear picture on Sushant's unfortunate death. I withdraw myself from this fun individually as of now, as it seems there's more to this tragic incident. Like the rest of the country, I would like the truth to come out." Even though this is not a fund started by me, but started by Zee and is a needed one at that, I am always with Zee for any other mental awareness fund that they want to do, but on this one I would like to respectfully dissociate myself. #SSR Hope the truth prevails. pic.twitter.com/XGjiVEUZ1t Ekta Kapoor (@ektarkapoor) August 19, 2020 It has to be recalled that Ekta Kapoor had launched Sushant in her show Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. The late actor then got a big break with Pavitra Rishta, in which he played the role of Manav Deshmukh. He was paired opposite Ankita Lokhande in the show and their jodi was a big hit. They had also dated for long time, but moved on as things didn't work out. Although Ankita has moved on, she is still seen supporting and fighting with Sushant's family for justice. How dare you Ekta Kapoor ? The proceeding is on process and people like you declared him mentally unstable! You and your whole gang should check your sanity !!@narendramodi @PMOIndia take back her Padma Shri !!! #SCAssignCBIForSSRCase#ShameOnEktaKapoor pic.twitter.com/adOryyM29G (Justice for Sushant) (@Shilpi_Flyhigh) August 18, 2020 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 Also Read: CBI For Sushant Singh Rajput: Erica Fernandes, Arjun & Others Celebrate First Step Towards Victory Also Read: Ankita Lokhande & BF Vicky Jain Request Everyone To Join Global Prayer Meet For Sushant On I-Day Sooraj Pancholi Says Sushant's Family Should Get The Closure They Have Been Asking For The tabloid quoted him as saying, "I am happy he got CBI, at least the rumour mongers will shut up now. I am as happy as Sushant family's right now. My concern was his family. They should get the closure that they have been asking for. I wish the CBI had stepped in a little earlier but it's never too late. I am happy that they have it now. I am sure the CBI will do justice to this case." Sooraj Pancholi Wants CBI To Investigate People Spreading Fake News And Rumours Sooraj said, "I don't know if CBI will have that much time but if they do, I would want them to investigate the people who have been spreading fake news, lies and rumours. Acting like they were witnesses to it. They are as involved in misleading the investigators, creating confusion in this case as anybody else. They need to be investigated. Irrelevant television debates feed on these rumours. I hope that the media will report whatever the CBI investigates truthfully. The media should show what is happening instead of concocting facts." Sooraj Pancholi On Getting Trolled The actor said that he had to disable comments on his social media page owing to massive trolling. Emphasizing on the need to stop social harassment and online bullying, the actor said that trolling is as criminal as hurting someone physically. Sooraj said that people have taken out their anger on certain people of the film industry and merged it with Sushant's case, without realising that these two are different things. Speaking about it, the actor said, "The first conspiracy theory was that he killed himself because of certain people in the industry and those people were trashed left right and center. The second theory was that it was a murder and not a suicide. Will you say sorry to the people who were trashed before? These trolls have spoken with so much conviction as if they were a part of Sushant's life and were witness to whatever may have happened to him. So CBI should look into this as well. It is these people who spread the dirt." Sooraj Says He Wished The CBI Had Taken Over Sushant's Death Case Sooner As A Lot Of Damage Has Already Been Done "I am happy for Sushant's family and fans but I wish the CBI would have taken over sooner. A lot of damage has already been done. Judiciary is made for a reason. Sushant's family has all the right to voice their protest but not the gossip mongers who spread hate without any evidence. Their assumptions are hurtful to people. Doubt if these people will learn a lesson because it's a never ending process," he was quoted as saying by the tabloid. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on August 18, 2020 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China CCTV: The medical team sent by the Chinese government to Azerbaijan returned home on August 17. Can you give us some details about their work on the ground? What has China done to help Azerbaijan in fighting the virus? Zhao Lijian: The medical team to Azerbaijan, consisting of experts selected by the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission, was organized by the National Health Commission. All ten members of the team selected from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University possess rich experience in epidemic prevention and control. The team of experts arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on August 4. Over the past two weeks, they visited local hospitals, test labs and blood banks in Baku, Jalilabad and Sumgayit, held group seminars with relevant departments and medical experts to analyze the current epidemic situation, epidemic prevention measures and treatment process, helped train local medical personnel, and shared China's anti-epidemic experience with them unreservedly. Their work illustrates the traditional friendship between China and Azerbaijan, demonstrates the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and has won acclaims from the government and people of Azerbaijan. China and Azerbaijan have friendly and cooperative relations. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have been supporting each other to overcome difficulties together, reflecting profound bilateral friendship. China will continue providing as much help as we could to Azerbaijan, and will continue enhancing international cooperation to fight the virus. With concerted efforts, we believe the pandemic will be defeated at an early date. Bloomberg: Following the restrictive measures announced in May, the US Commerce Department declared further restrictions on Huawei. These were aimed at cutting Huawei's access to commercially available chips. These changes add 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to an economic blacklist. What is China's comment? Zhao Lijian: China firmly opposes the deliberate smearing and suppression of Chinese enterprises including Huawei by the US side. For some time now, the US has been abusing national security concept and state power to impose all sorts of restrictive measures on Chinese companies like Huawei without producing any solid evidence. This is stark bullying. What the US has done shows clearly that the market economy and fair competition principle it claims to champion is nothing but a fig leaf. Such practice violates rules of international trade, disrupts global industrial, supply and value chains, and will inevitably damage America's national interests and image. I'd like to stress that the more hysterically the US tries to keep Huawei and other Chinese companies down, the more it proves they are doing great and the US is bringing hypocrisy and bullying to a whole new level. Many successful businesses of other countries have suffered the same treatment in the past. The shameful behavior of the US has been and will continue to be rejected by countries in the world. The US claims that Huawei threatens US national security, which is totally baseless. Let's take a look at the facts. Over the past 30 years, Huawei has developed over 1,500 networks in more than 170 countries and regions, and served 228 Fortune 500 companies and more than three billion people all over the world. Not a single cybersecurity incident like those revealed by Edward Snowden or WikiLeaks has there been. Not a single tapping or surveillance operation like PRISM, Equation Group or ECHELON has there been. And not a single country has produced evidence of any backdoors in Huawei products. The US is really the top empire of hackers in this world. American companies Cisco and Apple admitted years ago that there are security loopholes and backdoors in their equipment. US intelligence has long been running indiscriminate, illegal surveillance programs on foreign governments, businesses and individuals including those of its allies. Even American citizens don't have any secrets to speak of. These are open facts. We urge the US to immediately correct its mistakes and stop smearing China and suppressing Chinese companies. The Chinese government will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests. The Paper: China's Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday it is launching an anti-dumping investigation into some wines imported from Australia. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: This is a normal anti-dumping investigation. As we learnt, the Chinese competent authorities received application for anti-dumping investigation from the Chinese wine industry on July 6. After examination according to law, the application is considered to meet the statutory requirement and an investigation was initiated on August 18. The Chinese competent authorities will conduct the investigation in a legal, fair and just manner. FSN: Could you elaborate a little bit more what that criterion is? The Australian side said that it does not sell wine at below market price. What is the basis for the investigation? Some reports say that the move is politically motivated. How do you respond to that? Zhao Lijian: I made very clear China's position on this case. If you are interested in the details of the investigation, please refer to the competent authorities. On China-Australia relations, we have repeatedly stated that China's position on developing China-Australia relations is consistent and clear. A sound and stable China-Australia relationship serves the common interests of both countries, but it calls for the joint efforts of both sides. We hope the Australian side will work with China in the same direction, earnestly uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and do more things that are conducive to China-Australia mutual trust and cooperation and in line with the spirit of our comprehensive strategic partnership. AFP: Do you have any response on Taiwan opening a representative office in Somaliland? Zhao Lijian: There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The one-China principle is a universally recognized norm governing international relations and the consensus of the international community. China firmly opposes the establishment of official institutions or any form of official exchanges between Taiwan and Somaliland. The Democratic Progressive Party's frantic search of support for its separatist activities in the international arena will never succeed. Bloomberg: Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam said in a recent interview that she is having trouble using credit cards after the US imposed sanctions targeting Chinese officials and their supporters in the city. At the same time, many Chinese lenders with operations in the US have turned cautious about opening new accounts for the 11 people sanctioned, as Bloomberg reported. These banks include Bank of China, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: China rejects illegal US sanctions against the relevant officials in Hong Kong, and this position is clear and consistent. Reuters: Earlier this year the Chinese Ambassador to Australia said that Chinese people would reconsider drinking Australian wine if relations between the two countries turn sour. Just now you said that this probe is a normal case of investigation. Is it coincidence that this probe was launched after the Ambassador said those words? Is China worried that launching this probe will further damage China-Australia relations? Zhao Lijian: I made clear China's position. This is a normal anti-dumping investigation. There's no need to read too much into it. AFP: Meng Wanzhou's lawyers have requested the release of classified documents by Canadian authorities. But the Canadian government said yesterday that it has already handed over all relevant documents. What is your response? Zhao Lijian: China's position on the Meng Wanzhou case is consistent and clear, which has been stated on multiple occasions. I'd like to stress that the Chinese government is determined in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals and companies. We support our people and companies in upholding their rights and interests through legal means. Regarding the specifics you mentioned, you may ask the Canadian government. Why can't they present the pertinent evidence and documents? What on earth is going on between them and the US government? NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kroos: There were some malicious celebrations after Barcelona's defeat Real Madrid - La Liga Catalans embarrassed by Bayern Munich Toni Kroos has revealed that the Real Madrid squad enjoyed the way in which Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 8-2 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The 30-year-old explained what the WhatsApp group containing Los Blancos' players was like during that match. "You could not show everything that was said, but you can imagine that there was no pity," Kroos said on the 'Einfach mal Luppen' podcast. "There were some malicious celebrations." The German midfielder also recalled celebrating when Roma famously knocked out Barcelona, with Kostas Manolas' header being the goal that secured the lead for the Giallorossi. "People were running around screaming up and down the rooms," Kroos stated. "Everyone here lives it that way." Rickman in Die Hard (Credit: 20th Century Fox) While it was testament to how well he embodied the role of German terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard, it sounds like the aftermath of the iconic action movie wasn't pleasant for Alan Rickman. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure star Alex Winter has shared an experience he had while chatting with the late British actor in a new interview. Discussing being frequently associated with a single role, Winter told The New York Times: It could be worse. I remember walking down the street with Alan Rickman once. Read more: How Laurence Fishburne ended up in court over Die Hard sequel A fan came up to us, and afterwards Alan was like, Youre so lucky that youre known for playing Bill and not Hans Gruber the terrorist. 'People come up to me and spit in my face. They come up to you and tell you how much they love you. Bruce Willis in Die Hard (Credit: 20th Century Fox) Rickman's Gruber faced off with Bruce Willis's off-duty policeman John McClane in the 1988 action classic, directed by John McTiernan. Gruber's dastardly legacy was then revisited in Die Hard With A Vengeance, in which Jeremy Irons plays Simon, the brother of Gruber who intends to rob the Federal Reserve Bank and also avenge the death of Hans, killed by McClane in the first movie. (Credit: 20th Century Fox) Though it was indeed a popular role for Rickman, he was also known for many others, from a career spanning decades, including Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. RADA and RSC alumnus Rickman died in 2016 at the age of 69 from pancreatic cancer. NEW YORK New York state filed civil charges on Tuesday accusing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Allergan Plc with insurance fraud for downplaying the risks of their opioid painkillers to patients and doctors. Governor Andrew Cuomo said the charges by New Yorks Department of Financial Services are the third this year in that regulators opioid industry probe, following charges against Endo International Plc and Mallinckrodt Plc. Teva denied the allegations. Abbvie Inc, which bought Allergan in May, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. New York said Teva, which made 20% of opioids distributed from 2006 to 2014 in the state, intentionally marketed opioids such as Actiq for off-label use, and drafted form letters of medical necessity for doctors to boost prescriptions and insurer reimbursements. It said Allergan misrepresented the safety of its drugs in marketing materials, citing a 2010 U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning letter over its Kadian pain treatment. New York also accused Teva and Allergan of using front groups and doctors known as key opinion leaders to mislead people about the safety and effectiveness of opioids. It cited the 2012 annual meeting of the New York Pain Society in White Plains, New York, where Allergan was a exhibitor. The state said a key opinion leader present downplayed addiction signs by promoting the concept of pseudoaddiction. Opioids have contributed to more than 400,000 deaths since 1997, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cuomo called the nations opioid crisis an American tragedy that has taken too many lives and caused irrevocable harm to communities, and he pledged to hold drugmakers accountable. New York charged Teva and Allergan with violating two state insurance laws, with civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. A hearing was scheduled for Oct. 26 at the financial services departments offices in Albany, New York. The United States has told Britain it will not insist on the death penalty for two alleged so-called Islamic State militants, part of a group dubbed The Beatles, who are suspected of beheading Western hostages. It could open the way for Britain to cooperate with the US in the sharing of information for any potential case against Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are in US custody. The decision was revealed in a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel from US Attorney General William Barr. It is understood the move is seen as a welcome development by the Home Office. According to the Associated Press, Mr Barr said in the letter: I know that the United Kingdom shares our determination that there should be a full investigation and a criminal prosecution of Kotey and Elsheikh. Home Secretary Priti Patel (Stefan Rousseau/PA) These men are alleged to be members of the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and to have been involved in kidnappings, murders, and other violent crimes against the citizens of our two countries, as well as the citizens of other countries. In March, the Supreme Court heard a challenge over the UKs decision to share evidence about the two suspected so-called Islamic State terrorists without receiving assurances they would not face the death penalty in the US. A panel of seven justices ruled that then-home secretary Sajid Javids decision to share evidence with the US was unlawful and was made at a time when UK authorities were coming under political pressure from the US. Elsheikh and Kotey, who were caught in January 2018, are accused of belonging to a brutal four-man cell of executioners in Syria, nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents, responsible for killing 27 captives. The militant dubbed Jihadi John (PA) Their capture sparked an international row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or face justice in another jurisdiction. Other members of the cell are said to include Mohammed Emwazi, the groups ringleader, also known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences. Story continues Kotey and Elsheikh, who were raised in the UK but have been stripped of their British citizenship, were captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces in January 2018. Emwazi appeared in a number of videos in which hostages, including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were killed. US officials have not announced any charges against Elsheikh and Kotey, but have spoken publicly about their desire to see members of the group face justice. A Home Office spokesman said: The Governments priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for the victims and their families. We continue to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh are brought to justice. Iran's foreign minister said that the U.S. "miscalculations" in major international issues resulted in its global failure, Press TV reported on Tuesday. The latest defeat for the United States was the UN Security Council's recent move to reject its draft resolution on the extension of a UN arms embargo against Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a televised interview on Monday night. The UN Security Council vote once again proved that even the dead body of the Iranian 2015 nuclear deal, or the JCOPA, could defeat the United States, Zarif said, adding that "the reason is the member states of the council feel that Washington is standing against the global community by killing the JCPOA and the UN Security Council Resolution 2231." The Americans' failure at the UN Security Council showed a victory for the Iranian nation, he added. On Friday, UN Security Council rejected the U.S.-drafted resolution to extend the current arms embargo against Iran which had been presented by the United States who unilaterally announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. YEREVAN. If the hostilities in April 2016 were prolonged, Armenia would have recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday, answering a journalist's question why Armenia did not recognize Artsakh's independence during the aforesaid events, when before that Sargsyan had stated that if Azerbaijan continued its aggressive policy, Armenia would have no choice but to take the necessary legal steps related to Nagorno-Karabakh. "I did not say that we will recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh on the very first day of the war; and thank God, those military operations lasted only four days. If they were prolonged, we would definitely have recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh because it would have become obvious that we are determined to also fulfill our promise we had given to our people; that is, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia are the guarantor of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia will use everything to protect the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. So, even now I am convinced that if there really will be a large-scale war, the Republic of Armenia is obligated to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh," he said, adding. "When we had stopped the attack of the Azerbaijanis on the very first daywith the perseverance of our commanders and soldiers, I believe excessive haste in that issue could have hindered our further diplomatic success. And I believe there is no doubt that later, that four-day [war] also turned into our diplomatic victory." According to Serzh Sargsyan, the recognition must be a justified decision based on the situation. And when asked why he did not become the first passenger of the Yerevan-Stepanakert-Yerevan flight, as he had promised, the third president of Armenia gave a short answer. "Because the first flight was not carried out," he said, noting that he would address the reasons during another press conference, which will be on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Courteney Cox modeled a shirt for charity Tuesday as she joined designer Zuhair Murad in his initiative to help the people of Beirut following a deadly blast there earlier this month. 'I am joining [Zuhair Murad] in his initiative to help the people of Beirut who have lost so much during this devastating tragedy,' the 56-year-old Friends star said in a statement alongside the image. Cox said that '100% of the profits from this T-shirt will support the relief efforts of [Offre Joie] who are currently on the grounds responding to humanitarian needs. Please help support by swiping up and purchasing your tee!' The latest: Courteney Cox, 56, modeled a shirt for charity Tuesday as she joined designer Zuhair Murad in his initiative for a fundraiser to help the people of Beirut following a deadly blast there earlier this month Cox, who played Monica Gellar on NBC's Friends, posed outside in the Murad-designed white top, that read 'Rise from the Ashes.' In the image, she had her brown locks down and parted and paired the top with white pants. The Mothers and Daughters actress was joined by other notable celebs including Sofia Vergara and model Alessandra Ambrosio in the campaign, in which money will be forwarded to relief efforts. It comes two weeks after an explosion of 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in the city's port area which was felt from as many as 150 miles away, decimating nearby blocks, buildings and structures. Gorgeous: model Alessandra Ambrosio posed in a black top for the campaign Focused: Modern Family alum Sofia Vergara also posed in support of the campaign Murad, 49, who was born in Ras Baalbek, Lebanon, took to the social media site earlier Tuesday to advertise his charity drive. 'Together we will #RiseFromTheAshes,' the fashion designer sad. 'Join me in helping the people of Beirut who have lost so much during this devastating tragedy.' Compounding problems in Lebanon is an uptick of coronavirus cases in the wake of the calamitous blast, which did damage to a pair of the hospitals that had been focused on treating the pandemic, the AP reported. Medical authorities in Lebanon have requested two weeks of lockdown in an effort to quell the spread of the virus. First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has commissioned Moree Community library and ICT Center in Moree community at Abura Asebu Kwamamkese in the Central Region as part of her Rebecca Foundation Initiative. The First Lady's donation is aimed at improving studies in the community. She explained that the 40-seater computerised library built by her foundation will enable the residents, especially children, in the community and its environs to access quality information and also help turn them into great future leaders. "When a child's ability to read and write is enhanced, the learning outcomes and success at their academic achievements are also greatly improved," she said. "On 25th October, 2018, the Rebecca foundation's learning to read, reading to learn initiative was launched to improve literacy in children between the age 6 to 15. Under this initiative libraries in clusters of schools were built across the country and also a broadcast of television reading programme that is currently ongoing and is in its 2nd season was initiated," she added. She also interacted with the queen mothers, market women and other women groups in the community. The First Lady was accompanied by the Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan and his Deputy, MMDCEs, Regional health and Education Directors as well as party faithfuls. The Central Regional Minister thanked the First Lady for her kind gesture and urged school children in the Region to take advantage of it to acquire knowledge. Source: Sally Ngissah/Peace News 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 New Delhi, Aug 19 : Ordering a CBI probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said he was a talented actor in the Mumbai film world and died well before his full potential could be realised. The top court said the CBI probe would also be desired justice for Rhea Chakraborty, "as she herself had called for a CBI investigation." In a 35-page order, Justice Hrishikesh Roy said: "When truth meets sunshine, justice will not prevail on the living alone but after life's fitful fever, now the departed will also sleep well. Satyameva Jayate." The top court noted that the dissemination of the real facts through unbiased investigation would certainly result in justice for the innocents, who might be the target of vilification campaign. "Equally importantly, when integrity and credibility of the investigation is discernible, the trust, faith and confidence of the common man in the judicial process will resonate", observed Justice Roy. The top court emphasised that it must strive to ensure that search for the truth is undertaken by an independent agency, not controlled by either of the two state governments. "Therefore while according approval for the ongoing CBI investigation, if any other case is registered on the death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the surrounding circumstances of his unnatural death, the CBI is directed to investigate the new case as well. It is ordered accordingly", added Justice Roy. Invoking the power conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution, Justice Roy said "in such a backdrop, to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, this court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution. As a court exercising lawful jurisdiction for the assigned roster, no impediment is seen for exercise of plenary power in the present matter." Emphasising on a fair and impartial investigation into the case, Justice Roy said Sushant's family, friends and admirers are keenly awaiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest. "Therefore, a fair, competent and impartial investigation is the need of the hour. The expected outcome then would be a measure of justice for the complainant, who lost his only son", added Justice Roy. Citing the trading of charges by Bihar and Maharashtra governments, Justice Roy said both states are making acrimonious allegations of political interference against each other, and the legitimacy of the investigation has come under a cloud. "Accusing fingers are being pointed and people have taken the liberty to put out their own conjectures and theories. Such comments, responsible or otherwise, have led to speculative public discourse which has hogged media limelight. These developments unfortunately have the propensity to delay and misdirect the investigation. In such a situation, there is reasonable apprehension of truth being a casualty and justice becoming a victim", said the top court. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- Syndicated from IANS FORTHRIGHT Zanu PF politburo member and former Cabinet minister, Tshinga Dube, has once again warned that only dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the opposition will save the country from plunging into civil strife and total implosion. Speaking to the Daily News in another interview yesterday, the respected former military officer and freedom fighter also said it was time that both the ruling Zanu PF and Parliament persuaded Mnangagwa to initiate the much-needed national dialogue in the interests of the country. This comes as political tensions continue to rise in the country, attracting the attention of both the region and the broader international community, following last months foiled anti-government mass protests. Dube told the Daily News yesterday that it was particularly important that there was earnest and urgent engagement between Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa. There is an urgent need for people to sit down and talk at this moment. Such talks are inevitable. President Mnangagwa and Chamisa must talk to save the people of Zimbabwe. We have a lot of institutions such as Cabinet, the (Zanu PF) politburo, central committee and Parliament. I believe all these institutions must now engage the president and implore him to appreciate the need for talks, Dube told the Daily News. The former War Veterans minister also said the biggest threat facing Mnangagwas rule was the countrys shrinking economy warning further that rising poverty would drive Zimbabwe into civil strife. The solution is peace. We must bring peace in the country. Our economy is not performing well. We are concentrating too much on politics. Lets work on the economy There is also a need to solve problems affecting the health sector rather than concentrating on politics. If I get a chance to talk to the president, I would say to him lets create a peaceful environment, improve our economy and talk to all stakeholders, Dube added. This is not the first time that the straight-talking Dube who is a well-known Mnangagwa backer has called for dialogue to end the countrys worsening political and economic crises. In May, Dube called on Mnangagwa to form a government of national unity (GNU) with the opposition to lift the country out of its quagmire. Speaking in that exclusive interview with the Daily News then, Dube said Zimbabweans needed to put aside their political differences in the interests of the country. At the current rate, it will take a long time for us to get it right. I have always said economics and politics are like two legs of men. If the other leg is dysfunctional, the other wont be able to walk straight. You cannot have a good economy where there is no good politics. I am calling for a government of national unity, not because there is a vacancy but I feel it will make us focus on running the economy only, instead of spending so much time fighting and squabbling over politics, Dube told the Daily News then. All these things we are hearing about abductions and torture are caused by divisions, and they affect the reputation of our country. So, if they (politicians) can come together, all this will be over and we dont lose anything as a nation. But there are some people in government who feel that maybe if this GNU comes into effect, they will lose their positions, the former Zipra bigwig further told the Daily News. But we are not looking at that, we are looking at the development of the country. Look at how neighbouring countries are fast developing ahead of us. Everyone here is thinking about power. Where have you seen a country with 23 people aspiring to be a president? Its not surprising that in the next elections, this number may double, Dube added referring to the record number of people who stood as presidential candidates in the disputed 2018 national elections. This comes as Mnangagwa, who ascended to power via a popular military coup in November 2017, has come under growing pressure from long-suffering Zimbabweans over his governments failure to mend the countrys broken economy. As a result of Zimbabwes worsening rot, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa has stepped in to try and end the countrys crises, which have once again attracted international attention following the governments alleged breach of human rights during last months foiled protests. Ramaphosa has appointed special envoys former South Africa vice president Baleka Mbete and ex-ministers Sydney Mufamadi and Ngoako Ramatlhodi to try and end Zimbabwes decades-long political and economic crises. The appointment of the envoys came after authorities were accused of gross human rights violations, following the governments heavy deployment of police and soldiers ahead of the foiled July 31 mass protests. Rights groups have claimed that dozens of opposition figures and activists were tortured and assaulted in a retributive exercise by suspected security agents. On its part, the government has refuted the allegations claiming instead that the opposition is allegedly working with foreigners to destabilise the country. South Africa and its leaders including former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma have in the past successfully mediated Zimbabwes political crises. A decade ago, both Mbeki and Zuma helped to broker the stability-inducing 2008 government of national unity between former opposition giant Morgan Tsvangirai and former president Robert Mugabe who are both late following the hotly disputed 2008 presidential election. Zuma also assisted in minimising Zimbabwes chaotic approach to the equally disputed 2013 national elections. Both Chamisa and Mnangagwa have previously said that they were interested in dialogue, although nothing concrete has happened primarily because of differences over the form and platform on which the talks should take place. On his part, Mnangagwa has been consistent that any talks with Chamisa should be held under the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) where he regularly holds meetings with fringe opposition leaders. For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When scientists sit down to design a vaccine, they are trying to thread the eye of a needle. A vaccine needs to make the body feel as though it is under assault from a deadly virus. But it needs to do that without actually making you sick. ChAdOx1, the vaccine Australias government has signed up to buy, is one of the leaders among the more than 165 COVID-19 vaccines under development around the world. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the Australian government has signed a letter of intent with British-Swedish big pharma company AstraZeneca to make 25 million doses of the vaccine for Australia. The government says the injections will be free. That letter of intent is contingent on the vaccine working and, scientists have emphasised, we dont yet know if it will. The vaccine is undergoing a 30,000-person, phase 3 clinical trial in the US. We wont know the results until September at the earliest. If it does work, Australia could receive its first doses by the end of the year. But based on early data, independent scientists say it has a good chance of success. Of all the data sets Ive seen, it is one of the most promising, says Professor Stephen Turner, Monash University's head of microbiology. So how is ChAdOx1 meant to work? Advertisement CSLs biotechnology manufacturing facility in Broadmeadows where vaccines such as the Oxford candidate may be made if a deal is formalised. OK, so we dont know if it works. How is it meant to work in theory? ChAdOx1 is what is known as a "non-replicating viral vector vaccine". In essence, scientists genetically engineer a harmless virus to look like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Its a bit of a bait-and-switch approach, says Dr Kylie Quinn, a vaccine designer working on a separate COVID-19 jab at RMIT University. To begin, they take a virus known to be harmless to humans in this case, an adenovirus that infects chimpanzees and gives them the sniffles. The viruss genetic code is gutted, says Quinn, so that it cannot reproduce. Then scientists insert a gene from SARS-CoV-2. That gene contains instructions to make the spike protein SARS-CoV-2 uses to gain entry to human cells. That adenovirus now looks to the immune system like a big, bad virus, and it will mount a really strong immune response. However, the virus cannot replicate. So you get all the benefits of a big immune response without getting sick, says Quinn. The virus is then injected into the muscle of the arm. The design team expects youll either get a single jab or two jabs spaced a month apart, possibly with a yearly booster. Then the immune system goes to work. Advertisement Antigen-presenting cells, the sacrificial lambs of the immune system, deliberately let themselves get infected by the virus. They are a trap. These cells contain machinery that cuts up the virus once it gets inside. They then take SARS-CoV-2s spike and display it like a sign saying "this is what got me" while emitting danger signals. The cells then head for the lymph nodes in the neck, armpits and groin, where our immune cells wait. Our lymph nodes contain millions of B and T cells, each one specialised to recognise a particular piece of a virus. The antigen-presenting cell essentially wanders around the lymph node, showing SARS-CoV-2 to all the B and T cells, until it finds the right one. Loading That cell then arms up. It clones a vast T and B-cell army. B cells are giant factories that make huge volumes of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, that flow into the blood. T cells are hunter-killers they head out into the bloodstream themselves, looking for infected cells to kill. This army will expand in size and kill off the fake infection. Advertisement And then, once the phoney war is over, the body will forcibly retire its antibodies. They are an inefficient way for the body to maintain immunity, because it takes a lot of energy to produce them, says Dr Rob Grenfell, director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO. But it will keep some B and T cells, sliding them into the lymph nodes and bone marrow where they will continue to surveil the body for SARS-CoV-2. That is how if everything goes well you end up with lasting immunity to COVID-19. So does it work in humans? Are there any side effects? Scientists dont know if it works. The vaccine has been studied only on animals and in small, phase 1 trials in humans. A vaccine has to progress through three phases of trials each with more people to prove it is both safe and effective. But there are promising signs. The CSIRO tested the vaccine on ferrets at its high-security Geelong lab, and found that it was safe. They then exposed the ferrets to SARS-CoV-2 to see if it would protect them. Grenfell is coy on the results, which have not yet been published. But a bit of reading between the lines tells you Oxford is unlikely to have gone to phase 3 trials if the animal results were not promising. Advertisement The vaccines base technology also effectively protects primates against the coronavirus that causes MERS a virus that is genetically very similar to SARS-CoV-2. It has been tested on the flu and tuberculosis in small-scale human trials. Results from the vaccines first 543-person trial were published in The Lancet in July. The vaccine induced the volunteers immune systems to produce both antibodies and T cells against SARS-CoV-2. Thats exactly the sort of wide-ranging immune response scientists are looking for. But that study did not look at whether the vaccine actually protected volunteers from infection that's the role of the phase 3 trial. There were side effects, but they were mild to moderate. Some 67 per cent of volunteers given the jab reported mild to moderate pain, 70 per cent reported fatigue, 68 per cent reported headaches, 60 per cent reported muscle aches while 18 per cent reported a fever. This side-effect profile is not unexpected, and in some ways is a good sign. Its a live virus. There is always a small risk of some sort of reaction against the vaccine. But thats also a plus. When you feel a bit crappy after getting a vaccine, thats a sign of the immune system working, says Turner. Its important to note the people studied in that trial were all aged between 18 and 55, and most of them were white. Vaccine effectiveness generally declines as you age because your immune system is not as strong. And this group is particularly important in a coronavirus study because they are the ones most at risk of death from the virus. Further trials are under way to test the vaccine on children and the elderly. Advertisement BERLIN A day after a bizarre series of crashes on a Berlin autobahn left several people injured, the citys public prosecutors office announced on Wednesday that it was investigating whether what happened was part of an Islamist terrorist attack. A 30-year-old man in a car was strongly suspected of having hunted down motorcyclists, Martin Steltner, the spokesman for the prosecutors office, said at a news conference. The driver, who the authorities said was an Iraqi citizen born in Baghdad, appeared to cause three separate crashes by ramming his car into two motorcycles and one scooter on different sections of the A100, an autobahn that runs through Berlin, during the Tuesday evening rush hour. He later yelled God is great in Arabic and threatened to detonate a bomb. Berlin has endured an Islamist vehicle attack before: In 2016, an assailant plowed a stolen truck through a popular Christmas market in the city, leaving 12 people dead. Earlier this year a Tunisian man was convicted of planning an attack using ricin, a lethal toxin, and given a 10-year jail sentence. After a tip, the police arrested the man in 2018. But in recent years, most terrorist attacks in Germany including one in the west of the country that left 10 people dead six months ago have been carried out by right-wing extremists. New Delhi, Aug 20 : Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil on Wednesday claimed that during UPA-II, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had offered Rahul Gandhi his place as he wanted to step down due to health issues. However, Rahul Gandhi turned down the proposal and requested Manmohan Singh to complete his term, he said at a press conference in response to a question on party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi's expressed willingness to work under non-Gandhi Congress chief. "This is the graciousness of the Gandhi family... they don't hanker after power. Sonia Gandhi refused to become Prime Minister in 1991 and then in 2004 and Rahul Gandhi declined the offer during UPA-II," Gohil said. Asked when Manmohan Singh made the offer, he responded that it was widely reported in the media. The Congress leader's comment came in the wake of a claim made in book "India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders" by Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah. The book says Priyanka Gandhi was ready to work under a non-Gandhi President after Rahul Gandhi's resignation following the party's rout in the 2019 general elections. "If there were to be another party President, he would be my boss. If he tells me tomorrow that he doesn't want me in Uttar Pradesh but wants me to be in Andaman and Nicobar (Islands), then I would jolly well go to Andaman and Nicobar," she had said, as per the book. Rahul Gandhi had also said that the party should elect a President from outside the Gandhi family, but in August last year, Sonia Gandhi was appointed as the interim President of the Congress. However, the Congress downplayed Priyanka Gandhi's purported remarks, and charged the BJP with stoking the issue. "We, at INC India, appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by BJP) in a year old remark (dated July 1, 2019) of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," party's chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said in a statement. By Express News Service CHENNAI/THOOTHUKUDI: Sterlite Copper CEO Pankaj Kumar said the company will be challenging the Madras High Court verdict at the Supreme Court. Speaking to TNIE, Kumar termed the verdict shocking and sad for India. He said the verdict comes as an utter shock to the employees of the company and thousands of small businesses, entrepreneurs and community members dependent on its continued operations. We firmly believe in the safe and environmentally sound nature of our operations and are discouraged by the wilful reliance on anecdotal evidence and half-truths by certain parties to spread falsehoods against our operations. It is also disheartening to note that at a time when our nation is forced to depend on hostile neighbours for copper imports, certain forces are conspiring to stifle our nations ability to be an independent copper manufacturer. At no point in our operations were any concerns of pollution raised by the appropriate authorities. We will therefore pursue all available legal remedies in pursuit of justice in the coming days, he said. Earlier in a statement, he claimed that the plant was operating lawfully for over two decades, and has been shut for the past two and a half years, which had affected the livelihoods of over 50,000 dependent families and allied industries. When asked about the future of the employees, Pankaj said, There is a possibility of layoff given the current economic crisis, however, we have managed to safeguard employees interests. We (Sterlite alone) loose about Rs 5 crore per day and in addition, the companys contribution of Rs 600 crore to the money circulation in Thoothukudi corporation, and the revenue generation of the chain of industries depending on Sterlites by-products, have also been affected, Pankaj added. He also said that the judgment on the closure of the copper smelter will definitely have an adverse impact on the potential investors looking forward to invest in the State. When asked if there is a suspicion of political reasons behind the closure, he declined to comment on it. He added, We believe in the law. Although there has been a set back for now, we hope the apex court shall render an order in our favour. On the argument that the company was the only unit emitting toxic gas substances among the 51 industries functioning there, he said that it was the governments stand and not the legal one. In fact since 2013, there has not been a single case of pollution or non-compliance against our plant on record, he said. A federal judge has halted a Houston-area school district from enforcing a dress code policy that would require a Black teen to cut his dreadlocks. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. in Houston this week granted a preliminary injunction to Kaden Bradford, a rising junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu. He and his cousin, DeAndre Arnold, drew nationwide attention when they received in-school suspension for refusing to cut their hair, in defiance of the school policy. The students parents ultimately withdrew them from the Barbers Hill Independent School District and enrolled them in the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, from which Arnold graduated. Bradford is returning to the Barbers Hill ISD for his junior year on Friday. Im feeling relieved. Im so excited that the judge ruled in our favor, Bradford, 16, said in an interview Wednesday. Ive been in the lowest place that Ive been in my entire life. Although the injunction will enable Bradford to return to Barbers Hill High School, the case remains in its early stages as lawyers proceed with a suit filed in May against the district, its Board of Trustees and several individual defendants, said Michaele N. Turnage Young, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and one of the lawyers representing the young men. Every student deserves a fair shot at a great education, Young said. We hope to have the court make clear that a hair and grooming policy that makes it impossible for students to wear locs or wear their hair in culturally significant ways is in fact a form of racial discrimination that violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and our constitution. Growing up with Trinidadian culture, Bradford decided to start forming his locs around the time he was in the seventh grade, he said. Initially his friends noted the style was different but told him that his hair looked nice, and no one bothered him about it. But when he entered Barbers Hill High School as a freshman, the school had a dress code that applied to male students mandating that hair not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows, below the ear lobes, or below the top of a t-shirt collar. Corn rows and/or dread locks are permitted if they meet the aforementioned lengths, according to court documents. To comply with the rule, Bradford wore a headband and tied his hair back and up so it would not extend below his earlobes, neck or eyebrows. According to court documents, though, Bradford was frequently scrutinized, getting pulled aside by the schools assistant principal at least once a week during his freshman year to check if his hair met the protocol. The supervision continued into his sophomore year when school officials gave Bradford verbal warnings about his hair length, though he was always found to be in compliance with the dress code. Then in December, halfway through his sophomore year, officials at the predominantly white district with about 5,400 students changed the dress code to say a male students hair could not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down. The case attracted national attention, with Arnold being interviewed on Ellen DeGeneres TV show and invited to attend the 92nd Annual Academy Awards show by a celebrity couple who produced an Oscar-nominated short film about a Black father learning to style his daughters hair. Neither Superintendent Dr. Greg Poole, a defendant in the suit, nor a district spokesperson responded to a request for comment Wednesday. People want to call us racist, but were following the rules, the law of the land, Poole told CNN earlier this year. Were certainly not making this up. The districts Board of Trustees voted in July not to change the policy, according to lawyers representing Bradford and Arnold. Bradford eventually transferred in early 2020 to Sterling High School to complete the remainder of his sophomore year. The months that followed were filled with difficult days my bad days, as Bradford considers them where he could not find a desire to roll out of bed. I would shut everyone out, basically, he said. I felt that I was almost targeted. I was like thinking to myself, Why out of all the thousands of kids that go to this school, why am I being called out for something like my hair? Most days I was so worried about Am I going to be able to go back to school or am I going to have to move? he said. His mother, Cindy, would walk into his bedroom and try to encourage him. You cant give up, Kaden, she recalled telling him. Everything is going to work out, Kaden. Young said hair discrimination is often hidden behind policies such as the one at Barbers Hill, located 35 miles east of downtown Houston. When looking at how schools enforce the policies, she said, it becomes apparent that they disproportionately affect Black students. Thats completely unacceptable, Young said. It deprives those students of the opportunity to learn. With a court ruling in his favor, Bradford said he is looking forward to returning to class with the friends hes grown up with and restarting his education. He is also eager to resume playing trombone in the school band, which he considers almost like a second family. His hair now extends to his shoulders and he has no plans to cut it. Im hopeful that the policy will be changed for future African American students or any students, he said. alejandro.serrano@chron.com The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, August 19, resolved the jurisdiction issue over Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, by transferring the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. A team from the CBI will be visiting Mumbai to probe the case. The CBI has already readied a special investigation team. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had come under severe criticism for forcibly quarantining a Bihar Police officer earlier, revealed the quarantine rules for the CBI team. BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, reportedly told ANI that if the CBI team visits Mumbai for 7 days, they will be automatically exempted from quarantine. They must have a confirmed return ticket to qualify for the exemption. However, if their visit will be for a longer period, they will have to ask for an exemption from the BMC which would provide it. ANI quoted the Commissioner as saying, "If CBI team comes for 7 days they'll be automatically exempted from quarantine & if they come for more than seven days period then they have to apply for exemption through our email id & we'll exempt them." The Mumbai Police has come under criticism by many, including the Supreme Court, for ineffective probe of Sushant's case. There was even a tug of war going on between the Bihar police and Mumbai Police in the investigation, after an FIR was registered with the former by Sushant's father. When a team of four members of the Bihar Police had visited Mumbai to conduct their investigation of Sushant's case, their SP Vinay Tiwari was quarantined by the BMC. Earlier, the Supreme Court had said that quarantining of the Bihar Police officer had not sent a good message despite the fact that the Mumbai Police has a good reputation. 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 ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput Case: CBI Team To Visit Mumbai Soon, Issues First Statement After SC Verdict ALSO READ: Rhea Chakraborty On Supreme Court Ordering CBI Probe In Sushant's Death: Truth Will Remain The Same The Golden State Killer on Wednesday came face to face with the ex-fiancee who whose name he shouted during rapes after she dumped him as a teen. Bonnie Ueltzen was in court to hear day two of Joseph DeAngelo's sentencing hearing, four decades after he committed 13 known murders and dozens of rapes that spanned much of California. DeAngelo, 74, in June pleaded guilty to all 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnapping, and confessed to 161 uncharged crimes - many of which were rapes - which go back beyond the statute of limitations. Ueltzen, who was engaged to DeAngelo in the early 1970s before breaking it off, was not allowed to speak to the court as she is not listed as a victim of his crimes but she joined rape victim Jane Carson-Sandler. Bonnie Ueltzen, right, who was engaged to DeAngelo in the early 1970s before breaking it off, was not allowed to speak to the court but she joined rape victim Jane Carson-Sandler, left Introducing Ueltzen, Carson-Sandler said: 'I also want to especially thank a friend who is accompanying me here today. That friend is Bonnie. 'If Bonnie were able to speak Joe, she would want you to know Joe that as just a teenager 50 years ago she broke her engagement to you when she realized that you had become manipulative and abusive. 'Even a gun pointed at her face could not make her choose you.' Standing in the front row, Bonnie removed her face mask so DeAngelo could see her face and looked him in the eye. Joseph James DeAngelo came face to face with the ex fiancee who whose name he shouted during rapes after she dumped him as a teen on the second day of victim impact statements During the testimony, the killer sat in an orange jail jumpsuit, staring straight ahead and wearing a mask as protection against the coronavirus. Ueltzen then Bonnie Jean Colwell was engaged to DeAngelo in the early 1970s but she broke it off and both went on to marry other people. But she clearly preyed on his mind. During at least one of his series of attacks, the killer lay down next to his victim after raping her and sobbed: 'I hate you. I hate you. I hate you, Bonnie.' Jane Carson-Sandler confronts Joseph James DeAngelo during the second day of victim impact statements at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse on Wednesday All told, he admitted harming 87 victims at 53 separate crime scenes spanning 11 California counties in a plea deal that spares him the death penalty, prosecutors said. His sentencing, expected Friday after three days of testimony from his victims and survivors, brings to an end a sinister, decades-long saga of kidnappings, rapes and murders. Carson-Sandler told the court Wednesday: 'DeAngelo, I want you to look at me...and I want you to remember what I say. 'You didn't destroy my life in your cowardly, cruel and sick behavior. 'One quarter of me, being a Christian, I want to say to you, 'May God have mercy on your soul,. Then there is another three-quarters of me that want to say to you, 'Buddy, just rot in hell.'' DeAngelo, 74, in June pleaded guilty to all 13 counts of murder, 13 counts of kidnapping, and confessed to 161 uncharged crimes - many of which were rapes - which go back beyond the statute of limitations During the testimony, the killer sat in an orange jail jumpsuit, staring straight ahead and wearing a mask as protection against the coronavirus Years before DeAngelo is suspected of starting his reign of terror, he met Bonnie Colwell when they were both students at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, 20 miles from Sacramento. 'We always thought there was a Bonnie significant in his life, it could be a mother, a wife, a girlfriend, a childhood crush,' Paul Holes, an investigator who has been looking into the case for years, told The Mercury News. 'Most certainly if he's making the statement, 'I hate you, Bonnie,' while he's attacking another female, he is what we call an anger retaliatory rapist. Instead of directing his anger at what's making him angry, he's directing it sideways on to someone else to be able to satisfy that anger,' Holes said. The couple never married. Instead, DeAngelo would marry Sharon Huddle in 1973. They eventually had three children, but the couple would separate sometime in the 1990s. Many victims have said they thought their opportunity would never come as the former police officer seemingly vanished after each crime, confounding investigators until he was arrested in 2018 by using a new form of DNA tracing. Others planned to tell Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman on Wednesday and Thursday how DeAngelo's crimes changed their lives. Gay Hardwick, left, is comforted by her spouse Bob Hardwick, center, and San Joaquin County's District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar during the second day of victim impact statements with Joseph James DeAngelo present Rape victim Gay Hardwick said Wednesday: 'I've heard that he may have been abused as a child, that he experienced sad things in his life, that he had to move around a lot, that his fiancee jilted him. 'But a lot of people go through bad times, and they don't become serial rapists and murderers.' The only time DeAngelo looked down Wednesday was during testimony from his youngest victim, Mary Berwert, who was 13 when he raped her. Judge Bowman will sentence DeAngelo to life in prison on Friday under a plea agreement that allows DeAngelo to avoid the death penalty. In June, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges between 1975 and 1986. He also publicly admitted dozens more sexual assaults for which the statute of limitations had expired. 'He truly is an evil monster with no soul,' Patti Cosper, the daughter of rape survivor Patricia Murphy, read from her mother's statement. DeAngelo as a police officer for Exeter Police Department, in the early 70s Lisa Lilienthal described DeAngelo as a sadistic 'boogeyman' as she testified by video about the attack she witnessed on her mother. DeAngelo's nicknames illustrated the sweep of his crimes: the Visalia Ransacker, thought to be responsible for about 100 burglaries and one slaying in the San Joaquin Valley farm town; the East Area Rapist; the Original Night Stalker; and finally, the Golden State Killer when investigators finally linked the crimes that stretched across much of the state. The family of Debbie Strauss, who died in 2016, recounted what became the signature that marked DeAngelo's crimes after he escalated to attacking couples instead of single women and girls. He would force his victims to bind themselves with shoelaces then balance plates on the man's back with a warning that he would kill both victims if he heard the plates rattle while he raped the woman. 'He spent hours raining his terror through threats and unspeakable abuse. He would leave his victims shaking in fright while he went to the kitchen to eat, only to return and then the abuse and vileness started all over again,' said Strauss' mother, Dolly Kreis. THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER: HOW A VIETNAM VET TURNED COP GOT AWAY WITH RAPE, BURGLARY, KIDNAPPING AND MURDER FOR DECADES BEFORE BEING BROUGHT DOWN BY A GENEALOGY WEBSITE DeAngelo Jr., a former cop, eluded law enforcement for decades until his DNA was linked to the crimes through GEDMatch.com, a genealogy website that one of his relatives had submitted their DNA to. DEANGELO'S CRIMES 1974-1975: 120 burglaries in Visalia and surrounding areas June 18, 1976: Sexual assault/rape, Rancho Cordova July 17, 1976: Sexual assault/rape, Carmichael August 29, 1976: Burglary, attempted sexual assault, Rancho Cordova Sept. 4, 1976: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Oct. 5, 1976: Sexual Assault/rape, Citrus Heights Oct. 9, 1976: Sexual Assault/rape, Rancho Cordova Oct. 18, 1976: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Oct. 18, 1976: Carjacking, Rancho Cordova Nov. 10, 1976: Kidnapping, Citrus Heights Dec. 18, 1976: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Jan. 18, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento Jan. 24, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Citrus Heights Feb. 7, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Feb. 16, 1977: Assault, attempted murder, Sacramento March 8, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento March 18, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Rancho Cordova April 2, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Orangevale April 15, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael May 3, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento May 5, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Orangevale May 14, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Citrus Heights May 17, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael May 28, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento Sept. 6, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Stockton Oct. 1, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Rancho Cordova Oct. 21, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento Oct. 29, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento Nov. 10, 1977: Sexual Assault/rape, Sacramento Dec. 2, 1977: Attempted sexual assault, Sacramento Jan. 28, 1978: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Jan. 29, 1979: Sexual Assault/rape, Carmichael Feb. 2, 1978: Brian and Katie Maggiore were killed, Rancho Cordova March 18, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Stockton April 14, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Sacramento June 5, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Modesto June 7, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Davis June 23, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Modesto June 24, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Davis July 6, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Davis Oct. 7, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Concord Oct. 13, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, Concord Oct. 28, 1978: San Ramon Nov. 4, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, San Jose Dec. 2, 1978: Sexual assault/rape,San Jose Dec. 8, 1978: Sexual assault/rape (DNA link), Danville Dec. 18, 1978: Sexual assault/rape, San Ramon March 20, 1979: Sexual assault/rape, Rancho Cordova April 4, 1979: Sexual assault/rape, Fremont June 2, 1979: Sexual assault/rape, Walnut Creek June 11, 1979: Sexual assault/rape (DNA link), Danville June 25, 1979: Sexual assault/rape, Walnut Creek July 5, 1979: Attempted sexual assault, Danville Oct. 1, 1979: Attempted sexual assault/murder (no DNA) Goleta Dec. 30, 1979: 2 people killed, Goleta March 13, 1980: Sexual assault/rape, Lyman and Charlene Smith were killed (DNA link), Ventura Aug. 19, 1980: Sexual assault/rape, Keith and Patrice Harrington killed, Dana Point Feb. 5, 1981: Sexual assault/rape, Manuela Witthuhn killed (DNA link), Irvine July 27, 1981: 2 people killed (DNA link), Goleta May 4, 1986: Sexual assault/rape, Janelle Cruz killed(DNA link) Irvine Advertisement While his real identity remained a mystery until then, his crimes earned him a series of ominous names. First, he was the Visalia Ransacker, a burglar who ravaged people's homes from 1974-1975, stealing personal items and scattering women's underwear around the crime scenes. Next, he was the East Area Rapist, a shadowy predator who assaulted dozens of women between 1976 and 1979. Between the burglaries and rapes, he started killing, earning himself the name of the Golden State Killer and the Original Nightstalker. What triggered his sadistic tendencies remains largely a mystery. DeAngelo grew up following his US Airman father around with his mother and sister. Little is known about his upbringing beyond that they were, at one time, stationed in Germany. His sister's son, Jesse Ryland, has told in the past how DeAngelo would often see his father beat his mother, Kathleen. He also claimed that he witnessed his sister being raped by two airmen when she was just seven and he was nine. Ryland speculated that may have been the catalyst for his obsession with rape later in life. DeAngelo has never commented on it. The family returned to the US and settled on the West Coast by DeAngelo's teenage years. His father was posted overseas in Korea later but he and his mother and sister stayed. His mother, according to a profile in the Los Angeles Times in 2018, started seeing a married man who had his own family. It left DeAngelo in charge of caring for his younger siblings. Former childhood friends told how he would try to fit in to their families as if they were his own. He graduated from Folsom Senior High School in 1964 and joined the Navy, working as a damage control man aboard the Canberra during the Vietnam War. No other details of his military career are known. A 1967 article in The Auburn Journal, the local newspaper where his parents live, describes him as a 21-year-old due home on leave. After returning to the US from Vietnam, he met Bonnie Colwell, a science student who ultimately broke his heart. He and Bonnie were at one time engaged but she broke it off in 1971. When he was arrested in 2018, Bonnie went into hiding. DeAngelo's next known milestone was not until 1972, when he graduated from California State University with a degree in criminal justice. From there, he joined The Exeter Police Department where he worked as an officer on the burglary unit. It's in this job that he learned how to commit seemingly perfect burglaries himself. It was also while he was working there that he married Sharon Marie Huddle. The pair had three daughters, who are now all adults. Between 1974 and 1975, a figure who became known as the Visalia Ransacker carried out more than 120 burglaries in the area. For decades, his identity was unknown. When DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 for the murders and rapes of dozens of others, he was quickly tied to the Visalia Ransacker crimes and blamed for them. His signature, when burglarizing, was to leave women's underwear scattered at his crime scenes. In 1975 was when he graduated from burglarizing to attempted kidnapping and then killing, shooting dead Claude Snelling who was protecting his teenage daughter, Elizabeth, from being kidnapped. Elizabeth, 16, woke up at 2am on September 11, 1975, to see a man in a ski mask, standing over her bed, telling her to go with him or be killed. He dragged her from her room and out of the family's backdoor towards their carport but was stopped by Snelling who happened to be in the kitchen at the time. Elizabeth later recalled: 'I heard a yell and saw my dad charge out the back door. 'The kidnapper] threw me down and shot my dad twice. Then he pointed the gun at me.' DeAngelo hit her with the gun and kicked her but fled. Snelling died on his way to the hospital. In 1976, he left the Exeter Police Department and started working for the Auburn Police Department. That is when his relentless raping began. Between 1976 and 1979, he raped dozens of women in the area. It terrorized the neighborhoods where he picked his targets and earned him the name East Area Rapist. One of the victims recalled how he lay down next to her after the attack and sobbed: 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you Bonnie.' DeAngelo was fired by the police department in 1979 after being caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent from a drugstore in Citrus Heights, one of the areas where he would attack women. He then spent 27 years working at a Save Mart Supermarkets distribution center, fixing trucks, before retiring in 2017. It's unclear when but he and his wife separated some time before his 2018 arrest which came as a shock to his neighbors and relatives. It was the first time police had tested samples of DNA found at some of the crime scenes against DNA being stored by GEDMatch. One of DeAngelo's relatives had willingly submitted their sample to find out more about their ancestry. Since his case, it has been used as a crime-solving technique hundreds of times. DeAngelo's neighbors described him as 'cantankerous', unlikable and a 'curser'. While he has been blamed for 88 crimes, he has also been exonerated in others. Among his rapes is the attack of a 13-year-old girl who recalled in detail being assaulted while he shone a flashlight in her face. 'In a very harsh whisper, he would say, 'Do you want to die? 'Do you want me to kill your mother? Do you want me to slit her throat?'' Wardlow said. 'I answered him immediately, 'I don't care,' and he'd say, 'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'' Margaret Wardlow, who was raped by him in 1977, recalled to Inside Edition after his arrest last year. DeAngelo's wife and children have never spoken of his crimes. His sister was stunned when he was arrested. 'As stunned as I am - because I've never seen him display any kind of madness or anything like that - I just can't believe it. 'I've never seen anything to allow myself to think he could do such things,' Rebecca Thompson, his older sister, told The Sacramento Bee at the time of his arrest. Christian meetings occurred online on Saturday before Pastor Luo was arrested for investigation. Regarding the safety measure, Christians in China have been meeting online instead of meeting in- person. According to ICommitToPray, authorities in Wuhan seized the pastor of the Nanjing Road Church on Sat during an online Christian gathering. In a different case, Pastor Luo stated, "I rebuke them, calling them out that they are not minding business that they should be minding. Christians disregard their own lives to do good things, yet the police treat them as the bad guys, this is unreasonable." (Reported to I.C.C) China has been in need of Prayer throughout the pandemic. Unable to worship freely, Chinese Christians reach out for prayer especially for the remaining 70 million worshipers which are unapproved house churches. Chinese house churches have been getting raided recently as well as the government are taking down crosses to cease them from worshiping God. Not knowing what will happen next to their country, they are filled with fear and anxiety from Pastor Luo's arrest. Some additional information as well as prayer requests are shared by the beloved brothers and sisters from all around the country. https://www.persecution.com/globalprayerguide/china/?_source_code=WBPGGPG20B The chairwoman of PSD (Social Democratic Party) Bucharest and the General Mayor of the Capital City, Gabriela Firea, says the motion of censure of the Social Democrats is "as legitimate as possible" and it will pass. Firea made this statement before the meeting of PSD's National Executive Committee (CExN), in response to a question according to which the Liberals accuse the fact that, if it were not for Congress, PSD would not have submitted the motion of censure and this would be a force movement of the Social Democrat acting leader Marcel Ciolacu."Liberals have said so many crazy things lately that I am not surprised they have issued such a statement too. But I would like them to tell us instead why they do not double the allowances, why they do not increase pensions, why the PNL (National Liberal Party) government defends pedophiles, hiding after all sorts of legal squabbles and they don't care about the victims of violence against minors, I would them to tell us about these things, why didn't they work all year at the Capital City's bypass and yesterday the Prime Minister announced to us with fireworks that the work is beginning, why now, in the campaign, and the motion is as legitimate as possible and it will pass, because, unfortunately, the PNL government has not taken any of the sanitary measures beneficial to the population, which were taken in civilized countries," concluded Firea. The Supreme Court (SC) is likely to deliver on Wednesday (August 19) its verdict on a petition filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty, who had approached the top court seeking the transfer of an FIR lodged against her at Patna for allegedly abetting Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, to Mumbai. The SC is likely to pronounce its verdict at 11 AM. The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai Police said the actor had died by suicide and has been probing the case keeping different angles in mind. Trouble started for Rhea after nearly a month when Sushant's father KK Singh filed a case in Bihar, accusing the actress and her family of cheating Sushant financially and mentally harassing him, forcing him to tkae his own life. The FIR in Patna was registered by Sushant's father against Rhea and others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). During the hearing in this case, Rhea said in SC that the Bihar Police's FIR in this matter was "completely illegal" and the state did not have jurisdiction to send the case to the CBI. The 28-year-old actress, however, also said the apex court that she has no objection if the case is transferred to the CBI. "The comments made at the last hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the 11th of August 2020, make it evident that this has become more about politics than the truth. Unwanted and irrelevant submissions are being made. The number of politicians taking advantage of this case on the eve of elections in Bihar," Rhea said in a statement on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Bihar government has rejected Rhea's charges and claimed that it has the legal rights to file the FIR and Bihar government was following the law in seeking CBI probe in Sushant's death case. "After ascertaining the cause of death, any further probe can be carried out only after registering FIR. Mumbai Police did not register any FIR and its probe is not valid or legal," the Bihar government told the Supreme Court. "It is apparent that it is on account of political pressure in Maharashtra that neither the FIR was registered by Mumbai Police nor did they extend any cooperation to Bihar Police in discharging their obligation to conduct investigation expeditiously," the Bihar government noted, adding that Bihar police officers who had gone to Mumbai to probe this case were not treated well by their Mumbai counterparts. Labour MP Dawn Butler has thrown her weight behind a campaign to boycott the BBC for 24 hours today over the corporation's use of the N-word in recent TV news reports. More than 18,000 people complained last month after a report by social affairs correspondent Fiona Lamdin on a suspected racially-motivated attack in Bristol saw her repeat a racial slur allegedly used during the incident. The story ran on the BBC News Channel and local news programme Points West on July 29, however later that day the broadcaster stopped running the report which featured the offensive language. Labour MP Dawn Butler, pictured left on day she was controversially stopped by police, has thrown her weight behind a campaign to boycott the BBC for 24 hours today after a report by social affairs correspondent Fiona Lamdin, pictured right, on a suspected racially-motivated attack in Bristol saw her repeat a racial slur allegedly used during the incident The movement today received the backing of the Brent Central MP, who wrote: '#BBCBLACKOUT Join in by tuning out' As well as thousands of complaints, it sparked much discussion in the weeks that followed and saw Radio 1Xtra host David 'Sideman' Whitely resign in protest against bosses said to have 'sanctioned' use of the term. More than 100 black professionals last week penned an open letter urging people to boycott the BBC on August 19 and the movement today received the backing of Brent Central MP Ms Butler, who shared a poster for the event, adding: '#BBCBLACKOUT Join in by tuning out.' The campaign poster asks people to turn off all of the BBC's major media channels on TV, radio, digital and social from 9am this morning until 9am tomorrow and pledges to 'stamp out racism at the BBC'. The campaigners argue it took '18,000 complains, 11 days and the resignation of a presenter' for chiefs to accept full use of the N-word was wrong. Demanding change, action and accountability, it calls for the resignations of BBC Directors of News and Editorial Policy, compensation for DJ Sideman and the introduction of external race advisors. It adds: 'BBC's actions caused trauma and could be considered a hate crime. If they can't hear, they must feel.' Ms Butler herself has also been at the centre of a recent row, having accused the police of racially profiling her after she was pulled over while driving in East London. The politician filmed her heated confrontation in Hackney with two officers, who she claims demanded to know what was in the back of car. The campaign poster asks people to turn off all of the BBC's major media channels on TV, radio, digital and social from 9am this morning until 9am tomorrow and pledges to 'stamp out racism at the BBC David 'Sideman' Whitely, pictured left, resigned from BBC1 Extra after a department run by David Jordan, pictured right - the corporation's chief trouble-shooter tasked with upholding its editorial standards - defended the use, in full, of the N-word in the report After being left 'irritated and angry', she branded the Metropolitan Police 'institutionally racist' - claims that were subsequently denied by commissioner Cressida Dick, federation chief Ken Marsh, as well as Boris Johnson's official spokesman. However, Inspector Andrew George, the new interim president of the National Black Police Association told the Guardian this week the stop of Ms Butler was rooted in systemic racism that is 'damaging the legitimacy of policing'. Just days after the N-word was spoken in Ms Lamdin's report, it was used again by TV historian Lucy Worsley in a feature about slavery on BBC Two's American History's Biggest Fibs. After it emerged that 'senior editorial figures,' at the BBC okayed the use of the slur in the Points West news bulletin, the corporation would not reveal how many of those editorial figures were white, instead saying: 'We would not share this level of detail about any of our staff.' DJ Mr Whitely then resigned from BBC1 Extra after a department run by David Jordan - the corporation's chief trouble-shooter tasked with upholding its editorial standards - defended the use, in full, of the N-word in the report. As the BBC desperately struggles to woo a younger, more ethnically diverse audience, the episode has shone a light on a cultural and generational clash at the heart of the corporation. Insiders say Mr Jordan who is paid 177,000 a year is attempting to protect the independence of reporters and editors by not bowing to noisy campaign groups and Britains mounting cancel culture. Others argue that the corporations mainly white, middle-age managers remain impervious to change and are undermining their 100 million drive to produce diverse and inclusive content. Just days after the N-word was spoken in Ms Lamdin's report, it was used again by TV historian Lucy Worsley in a feature about slavery on BBC Two's American History's Biggest Fibs A number of black social media users called on people to turn off BBC TV, iPlayer, radio and social media for 24 hours Earlier this month, BBC director-general Tony Hall overruled Mr Jordan and apologised for the use of the racist slur. His intervention is understood to have been prompted by fears of further resignations by black and ethnic minority presenters. However, it has failed to end the row. BBC sources say that the corporation remains gripped by confusion over whether or not there is now a blanket ban on the full use of the N-word. Lord Hall accepted its use in a report about an attack on an NHS worker caused distress and admitted the BBC should have taken a different approach. Yet the Mail on Sunday found eight examples of the word being used in full across five articles on the BBC News website. One, posted in 2016 about a BBC2 series called Black Is The New Black, used the word four times in just three paragraphs. Another, posted in 2014 about a councillor using a racial slur live on BBC radio, contained the full N-word in its opening paragraph. Indias top naval commanders will discuss important operational issues during a three-day conference in New Delhi beginning today, amid the ongoing border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh. The navy has been on an operational alert in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) where scores of warships are ready for any task in the aftermath of the border row. While the Indian Navy is keeping a sharp eye on the IOR, it is also playing a key role in the Ladakh sector. Its P-8I maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, imported from the US, are being used for surveillance of the Ladakh sector and gathering intelligence on Chinese deployments across the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC). Here are five reasons why the conference is significant: It comes at a time when the navy has stepped up surveillance and activities in the IOR, which, it believes, China will inevitably try to enter in its quest to become a global power, just as it has laid claim to large portions of the disputed South China Sea. The conference will provide the naval leadership a forum to discuss issues related to operations and the scenario in the IOR where the Chinese navy has been trying to expand its footprint. India is keeping tabs on Chinas aggressive moves in the South China Sea and taking steps to ensure that the Chinese navy doesnt muscle its way into the Indian Ocean where combat-ready Indian warships are carrying out round-the-clock surveillance for any unusual activity. The stage is also set for Australia to be part of the next Malabar naval exercise conducted by India with the United States and Japan. The next edition of Malabar, already delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to be held by the end of the year. Australias participation could be discussed at the conference. The conference also comes at a time when self reliance in the defence sector is a top priority for the government. Several of the 101 defence items in the negative import list, released on August 9, include naval weapons and systems, including conventional submarines and ship-borne cruise missiles. The navy will be steering one of the costliest Make in India programmes to build six next-generation submarines in the country. WASHINGTON (Aug. 18, 2020)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is awarded amodification (P00021) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract N00019-18-C-1021. This modification exercises an option to procure additional Lot 15 F135 propulsion systems long lead components, parts and materials in support of the Navy, the Marine Corps and the governments of the United Kingdom and Italy's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana (80%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (20%), and is expected to be completed by November 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,171,706; and non-Department of Defense participant funds in the amount $6,055,602 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded ancost-plus-fixed-fee, cost order N00019-20-F-5008 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-20-G-0005. This order provides for aircrew, flight test engineering, instrumentation, aircraft technicians and test management personnel to support E-2D Integrated Test Team Delta System/software configuration builds. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (91%); and Melbourne, Florida (9%), and is expected to be completed by June 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,626,041 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data., is awarded amodification (P00011) to previously-awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract N00019-18-C-1068. This modification provides for the production and delivery of 58 additional Lot 20 AIM-9X Block II all up round tactical missiles (29 for the Navy and 29 for the Air Force); an additional 61 Block II Captive Air Training Missiles (one for the Navy and 60 for the Air Force); an additional 35 all up round containers (12 for the Navy and 23 for the Air Force); and one lot of spares assets for the governments of Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Turkey and Poland. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (31%); Andover, Massachusetts (10%); Keyser, West Virginia (9%); Santa Clarita, California (8%); Hillsboro, Oregon (5%); Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (5%); Goleta, California (4%); Cheshire, Connecticut (4%); Heilbronn, Germany (3%); Simsbury, Connecticut (2%); San Jose, California (2%); Valencia, California (2%); Anaheim, California (2%); Cajon, California (2%); Cincinnati, Ohio (1%); Anniston, Alabama (1%); San Diego, California (1%); Chatsworth, California (1%); Amesbury, Massachusetts (1%); Claremont, California (1%); Sumner, Washington (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (4%), and is expected to be completed by July 2023. Fiscal 2020 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $23,081,565; fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,021,806; fiscal 2019 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $135,020; fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $40,506; fiscal 2018 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $40,506; fiscal 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,502; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $416,765 will be obligated at the time of award, $54,008 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded amodification (P00006) to previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00421-18-D-0016. This modification provides sustainment engineering, training and tools in support of the Naval Air Systems Command engineering group. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (91%); and Jacksonville, Florida (9%), and is expected to be completed by April 2023. No funds are being obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data.No applicable data., is awarded anot-to-exceed, undefinitized contract modification (P00018) to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-19-C-0010. This modification provides systems integration engineering support and procures long lead material to ensure the ASQ-239 electronic warfare/countermeasures production capability remains on track to meet Lot 17 deliveries. This modification provides for the continuation of Block 4 electronic warfare development without creating a gap in engineering resources in support of the Navy, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (85%); and Fort Worth, Texas (15%), and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $3,026,680, will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded ancost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides non-recurring engineering for the development and maturation of the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) in support of data migration and transition to the newly developed F-35 Operational Integrated Data Network (ODIN). ALIS and ODIN provide maintenance capabilities to support worldwide F-35 operations. Additionally, this contract provides software and hardware engineering in support of F-35 ODIN development, delivery and associated data management activities for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (75%); and Fort Worth, Texas (25%), and is expected to be completed by June 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-D-0007)., is awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price order (N00019-20-F-0493) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-15-G-0003. This order provides non-recurring engineering in support of upgrading the existing Tactical Tomahawk Guidance Test Set (TTGTS) product baseline to eliminate obsolescence and production issues. Additionally, this order provides for the development, test and delivery of six new TTGTSs. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (77%); Clearwater, Florida (4%); Glenrothes Fife, United Kingdom (3%); Midland, Ontario (3%); Huntsville, Alabama (2%); Scottsdale, Arizona (2%); North Salt Lake, Utah (1%); various locations within the continental U.S. (7.5%); and various location outside the continental U.S. (0.5%). Work is expected to be completed by December 2022. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,229,374 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data., is awarded amodification (P00026) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00421-15-D-0007. This modification exercises an option to extend services for organizational, selected intermediate and limited depot maintenance and logistics support for Northrop F-5F and F-5N aircraft in support of the Specialized and Proven Aircraft Program. Work will be performed in Key West, Florida (40%); Fallon, Nevada (30%); and Yuma, Arizona (30%), and is expected to be completed by January 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded amodification (P00005) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to provide for the production and delivery of a maximum quantity of 20,000 AN/SSQ-125 Sonobuoys production. Sonobuoys are air launched expendable, electro-mechanical anti-submarine warfare acoustic sensors designed to relay underwater sounds associated with ships and submarines. Work will be performed in De Leon Spring, Florida (51%); and Columbia City, Indiana (49%), and is expected to be completed by July 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity.Contracts For July 16, 2020No applicable data.Contracts For July 17, 2020, is awarded acontract, which consists of an $895,531,143 not-to-exceed cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm, firm-fixed-price undefinitized line item; and a $39,999,459 cost-plus-incentive-fee definitized line item. The undefinitized line items procure support equipment, autonomic logistics information system hardware, training systems, site activations and integrated contractor support for the F-35 Lightning II. Additionally, definitized line items on this contract support tasking that will result in improvements to the reliability, availability, maintainability and total ownership cost of the F-35 Lightning II for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (76%); Fort Worth, Texas (10%); Redondo Beach, California (9%); Owego, New York (4%); and Samlesbury, United Kingdom (1%), and is expected to be completed by March 2026. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $205,656,772; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $153,835,313; non-DOD participant funds in the amount of 279,748,427; and FMS funds in the amount of $62,479,903 will be obligated at time of award. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-C-0032).Contracts For July 20, 2020, is awarded anmodification (P00040) to previously-awarded fixed-price incentive (firm target), firm-fixed-price contract N00019-17-C-0001. This modification exercises options to procure eight Lot 14 F-35A Lightning II repositioned aircraft as a result of the Republic of Turkey's removal from the F-35 program, and six Lot 14 F-35A aircraft for the Air Force. Additionally, this modification establishes undefinitized line items that provides recurring engineering in support of the modification of the eight Lot 14 F-35A Lightning II repositioned aircraft to a full operationally capable F-35A Air Force configuration. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (63%); El Segundo, California (14%); Warton, United Kingdom (9%); Orlando, Florida (4%); Nashua, New Hampshire (3%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); San Diego, California (2%); various locations within the continental U.S. (1.3%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (0.7%). Work is expected to be completed by May 2026. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds for $848,881,778 will be obligated at time of award. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.Contracts For July 21, 2020No applicable data.Contracts For July 22, 2020, is awarded afirm-fixed-price contract for construction of training facilities at Marine Corps Base (MCB), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The work to be performed is for the construction of Special Operations Forces Human Performance Training Facilities, miscellaneous supporting structures, modifications to buildings RR-136 and RR-136A, utilities, parking, roadways and site work. The structures will be single-story steel frame buildings with brick veneer over metal studs, standing seam metal roofs, metal soffits, translucent wall panels and mezzanines. Special construction features include soil surcharge loads and storm water best management practices. Electrical systems include primary power distribution; lighting; energy monitoring/control systems; intrusion detection system; telephone/data and switch/server rooms; electrical switch gear; transformers; circuits; and fire alarms. Mechanical systems include plumbing; fire protection; compressed air; dehumidification; air conditioning systems; a chiller yard; and digital controls. Information systems include telephone, data, local area network, mass notification and intercom. Site work will include building utility systems; traffic control; parking; domestic water; fire protection water; sanitary sewer; sewage conveyance; propane gas networks; perimeter security fencing; gates; storm water; management; fiber/copper communications; cable television; and area lighting. Construction includes sustainable features complying with high performance sustainable building guiding principles. Work is expected to be completed by February 2022. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $7,173,707 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and three proposals were received. The, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0142). Welland will take care of some missing links this summer. No, contractors wont be searching for some hypothetical extinct creature halfway in the evolutionary chain between humans and apes in the Rose City. Instead, CTC Contracting will carry out $289,375 worth of sidewalk work across the city, linking areas lacking connections to the existing networks. The city budgeted $301,000 for the project. Ward 4 Coun. Bryan Green was glad to see a staff report about the missing sidewalk links before city council Tuesday night. Were going to address sidewalks near Niagara College and (Welland) Centennial (Secondary School). Its great news for people in those areas, said Green. The report said an assessment of the citys sidewalk network identified missing link sections on the south side of Quaker Road from First Avenue to Goodwillie Drive on the south side; St. Augustine Avenue from St. George Street to St. Augustine Catholic Elementary School; the west side First Avenue from College Park Drive to Woodlawn Road; and the west side of Centennial Drive from Cola Street to Thorold Road. Sidewalks are important municipal assets that promote active transportation, pedestrian safety and connectivity. New sidewalk installations are prioritized within road allowances where links are missing at bus stops, schools, community facilities and institutions, said the staff report. Green said the link on Quaker from First to Goodwillie is a good start and wondered when a link from Goodwillie east to Niagara Street might go in. It would provide connectivity, said Green, adding with development in the northern half of the city a link for children to reach Quaker Road Public School down Quaker would be good. Travers Fitzpatrick, the citys general manager of infrastructure and development, said there arent many outlets from the subdivisions south of Quaker between First Avenue and Niagara Street. Id have to speak with staff on that matter. It could be next in line, maybe, he said. It has been raining chocolate in Switzerland, quite literally. On August 18, the residents in a small Switzerland town were startled to witness a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Hollywood flick scene after they found the city covered in fine cocoa powder and choco-chips instead of snow. Reason being, ventilation malfunction at the Olten factory of Lindt Chocolate manufacturing. As per local media reports, the chocolate company Lindt & Sprungli notified that a default in the ventilation for a line of roasted cocoa chocolate led to cocoa powder pouring across the area due to heavy winds. On Twitter, the account for Olten town located between Zurich and Basel shared the photos of the roads laded with brown chocolate dust particles. Cocoa rain in the Olten industrial quarter: the ventilation system is to blame, the tweet translated. Excited at this particular disaster from the year, the internet said, Finally 2020 delivers! The company said, in an AP news agency report, that many cars, pavements, and roads were covered in the chocolate due to the malfunction. But the company was ready to provide cleaning assistance. The choice company has also applied for ventilation system repair, after which, they would resume the production. [Cocoa rain in the Olten industrial quarter. Credit: Twitter/@Olten] While the residents didnt seem to complain about their chocolate laden backyards and car bonnets, many secretly wanted to stand there munching some particles with their mouths open as can be made apparent from Twitter. Stand outside with your mouths open, wrote an excited user. Cocoa rain, cocoa rain, said another, exhilarated. Im moving to Switzerland, only Trumps Americans there not allowed, said the third. I welcome more catastrophic news like that, said the fourth. Ooooh I wish I was there Elo Cinquanta (@Elocinquanta) August 17, 2020 I could live someplace like this! CatMom (@SMSCats2) August 18, 2020 This is my dream. heedmywords (@tugweltp) August 18, 2020 i would like to live on the planet where this should be the only problem that the entire world is facing right now. cocoa snowing. NicuBivol (@BivolNicu) August 18, 2020 This is it. This is what my last day on earth should look like. The nation is dead (@Mathriel) August 18, 2020 Chocolate snow. That is the stuff of dreams, not an apocalypse. Trump Must Go (@DrumpfMustGoNow) August 18, 2020 Were there mini-marshmallows too? Rob G. (@RobInBaltimore) August 18, 2020 I read about the Swiss Lindt chocolate rain and being me think, wow, that is way better than any of the things that went up the stacks and fell back down again at Hanford over the decades...The radioactive iodine, the radioactive ruthenium, &c. Even more socially distant Michael Pereckas (@GreatLakesBeige) August 19, 2020 Read: Portuguese President Swims To Help Rescue Two Women, Netizens Hail 'heroic Act' Read: American Chef Prepares A Perfect Indian Thali Leaving Netizens Stunned Liquid chocolate on road Earlier in May, a street in Poland was engulfed in chocolate after a truck full of liquid chocolate overturned spilling almost 12 tonnes. According to reports, traffic at A2 motorway between the towns of Wrzesnia and Slupca in Western Poland came to a halt after several kilometers of the road was covered with loads of liquid chocolate. Citys fire brigades used hot water cannons to melt the chocolate and clean it away. [Tons of liquid milk chocolate are spilled and block six lanes on a highway after a truck transporting it overturned near Slupca, in western Poland. Credit: AP] Read: World Photography Day: Netizens Share Breathtaking Images To Express Love For Camera Read: World Photography Day 2020: History, Significance And Celebration Details In human history, smallpox is the only disease that science has managed to eradicate till date. Every other major illness was brought under control through a strict regimen of vaccination, as in the case of polio. Now, for Covid-19, around 150 vaccine candidates are under different stages of trial around the world, including three from India. Scientists have made it clear that lockdowns and restrictions are mere temporary efforts. In the long run, herd immunitydeveloped through vaccinationis the only solution. But challenges to achieving that are many. For starters, scientists have warned against vaccine nationalism. As during the space race in the Cold War era, countries are rushing at breakneck speed to bring out a vaccine to contain Covid. The irony of the situation is completely lost on Russian policymakers, who have named their vaccine Sputnik. To win the race, international news agency Bloomberg reports that Russian authorities have decided to approve the vaccine even before crucial tests to ascertain its safety and efficacy were conducted. Noted infectious diseases specialist Paul Offit feels Russias recklessness could encourage more countries to follow suit. It does not help that the US has named its vaccine production efforts Mission Warp Speed. For India, the bigger problem would be ensuring equitable access to the vaccine once one hits the market. Number predictions suggest that India would have the most number of Covid cases by early 2021. And unlike in the case of pulse polio, the sheer number of Covid vaccines needed to keep India safe will be mind-boggling. The production, logistics and distribution chains have to work seamlessly to ensure that the loss of lives is minimised. The greater challenge would be the finances. The government will have to provide free vaccination for the poor. But where will the money come from for such large quantities, especially when state treasuries are battered by successive lockdowns? Indian policymakers have their task cut out. Even as vaccine production is underway, states and the Centre must begin work on putting together a system for effective vaccine delivery to cover the maximum number of people. A man identified by police as Marquise Love (L) kicks Adam Haner in the face in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 16, 2020. (Kalen DAlmeida/Scriberr News) US Attorney Fears Violence in Portland Could Turn Deadly The nightly violence in Portland, Oregon, could lead to someone being killed, Oregons U.S. Attorney Billy Williams warned late Aug. 18. Williams, whose office oversees the entire state, said he was sickened by the video showing a brutal assault on Aug. 16, when a man identified as Marquise Love allegedly punched and kicked another man until he lay unconscious on the pavement. While the circumstances leading up to this brutal assault are still under state and federal review, I must condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this depraved violence, Williams, a Trump nominee who served as acting U.S. attorney in Oregon in the Obama administration, said in a statement. We must all continue to work together to achieve peace in the streets of Portland. If we are not successful, I fear one day soon we will wake up to news that a Portlander has been killed. We cannot let this happen. The statement came shortly after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, called for federal prosecution of people who commit assaults. Marquise Love in an undated photograph. (Portland Police Bureau) So much for peaceful protests in Portland. This shocking attack by a mob against a young man in the streets of Portland is beyond the pale, Graham said. The people responsible appeared to violate the victims constitutional rights, the senator added, urging the Department of Justice to actively pursue prosecution of the perpetrators of this horrific attack. A manhunt is underway for Love, 25, police officials said. It isnt clear what sparked the assault, though detectives are exploring reports that the victim, Adam Haner, was intervening in the assault of a transgender female. Tammie Martin, Haners girlfriend, said they were in his truck when they saw someone being harassed. He pulled over and got out to help. He was trying to help and they called him a white supremacist, and then some black lady smacked him and he got in his truck, Martin told KPTV. Video footage showed Martin punched by at least one black female and forcibly prevented from reentering the truck. Because her vehicle was also downtown, she told Haner to drive away. Black Lives Matter protesters march past the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., on July 31, 2020. (Noah Berger/AP Photo) Haner crashed into a tree a few blocks away before being punched and kicked by a man authorities say is Love. Haner was rushed to the hospital unconscious with serious injuries. When I got there, he was on the ground, I didnt know if he was breathing and I didnt know what happened, Martin said. This little group was not a protesting group. They were just looking for a fight. They were trying to fight people driving by. They were just looking to fight somebody. Haner was later released from the hospital and is resting at home, his brother and girlfriend said. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell called on members of the public to provide information and refrain from tampering with evidence. He and other local officials condemned the violence. The actions depicted in these videos are universally rejected as wrongand the actions are illegal, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said in a statement, vowing to prosecute those responsible. Democratic Mayor and Police Commissioner Ted Wheeler added: I denounce all violence, including the assaults that were filmed and posted to social media last night. The work this community and others nationally are doing towards criminal justice reform and racial justice are in an effort to make our communities safer. Assaults like these make our community less safe. The Home Ministry had withdrawn 10 CAPF companies in May from the region, while 72 such units were told to return in December last year New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday ordered "immediate" withdrawal of about 10,000 paramilitary personnel from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. This is the biggest de-induction of these forces after additional troops were rushed to the UT post the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave the erstwhile state a unique status. They said the decision was taken after the Ministry of Home Affairs reviewed the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the UT. The Home Ministry had last withdrawn 10 CAPF companies from the UT in May, while 72 such units were taken out in December last year. A senior official told PTI that a total of 100 CAPF companies have been ordered to be withdrawn "immediately" on Wednesday and they have been asked to revert to their base locations in the country. As per the directions, a total of 40 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 20 each of the Central Industrial Security Force, the Border Security Force and the Sashastra Seema Bal, will be taken out from Jammu and Kashmir by this week. The CRPF has been asked to make arrangements for airlifting of these units to Delhi and other locations, they said. A CAPF company has an operational strength of about 100 personnel. "The units that are being withdrawn are deployed both in Jammu and Srinagar. It was felt that the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist grid is intact in the UT and these additional units that were sent in last year can be de-inducted giving them the much-required rest, recuperation and training," a senior CAPF officer said. Also, he said, with the winters soon setting in, it would have been an onerous task to keep these units in make-shift and temporary dwelling units especially in the Kashmir valley region. With the latest de-induction, the lead counter-terrorist force CRPF will have a strength of about 60 battalions (about 1,000 personnel in each battalion) in the Kashmir valley apart from very few units of the other CAPFs. Photo credit: Francesco Carrozzini From Town & Country Shop to save the elephants: that's the pitch behind "Walk for Giants," the newly-launched fundraising and awareness-building campaign from Net-a-Porter, Gemfields, and wildlife conservation charity Space for Giants. This week, Net-a-Porter and Gemfields each released capsule collections to benefit the charity, alongside a stunning campaign highlighting the sustainable wares. Shot by Francesco Carrozzini with creative direction from Riccardo Ruini, it features models Arizona Muse and Selena Forrest against the backdrop of the Enasoit Game Sanctuary in Laikipia, Kenya. "What 'Walk for Giants' so brilliantly amplifies is that conserving existing natural landscapes is not just critical for the future of humanity but is also the best economic deal around," said Dr. Max Graham, Founder and CEO of Space for Giants, in a statement. "Nature-based businesses bring jobs, buy from local suppliers, pay taxes, and build national economies. But the natural assets these enterprises rely onincluding Africas last populations of mega-faunaare under grave risk. We must protect them now, so they can continue to deliver their value, forever." Photo credit: Francesco Carrozzini Net-a-Porter's safari-inspired capsule collection includes designs from brands like Burberry, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Brunello Cucinelli, and Chantecaille, with price points ranging from $75 to $9,100. And for its part, Gemfieldsa sustainability and ethics-minded supplier of colored gemstonespartnered with labels like Bina Goenka, Faberge, and Sandy Leong to create a 44-item collection of pieces, all of which feature Gemfields' Zambian emeralds and Mozambican rubies. Said Sean Gilbertson, the CEO of Gemfields, "We need everyone to walk the talk for these giant causes." You Might Also Like remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The working session between Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Tran Don and Cuban experts (Source: VNA) Deputy Director of the Vietnam Military Medicine University Maj. Gen. Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Luong said that while Cuban experts were quarantined in early August after entering Vietnam in line with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations, the university organised virtual working sessions between Vietnamese and Cuban medical experts on disease prevention and control measures in the two countries, Cubas plan of action to contain the pandemic, COVID-19 treatment drugs manufactured by Cuba as well as the countrys diagnosis system. After they finished their medical quarantine period as regulated, from August 11-18, the experts were invited to visit the universitys units, centres and hospital to exchange opinions on the possibility of cooperation in research and technology transfer. Sen. Lieut. Gen. Tran Don, who is also head of the Ministry of National Defences Steering Board for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said that the Cuban experts working visit to Vietnam manifests the special traditional friendship between the two countries in general and the two defence ministries in particular. He suggested both sides continue exchanging experience in treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and other newly-emerging diseases. Don also affirmed that the Ministry of National Defence will create all favourable conditions to help Cuban experts fulfil their assigned tasks. Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Lianys Torres Rivera said that Cuba is willing to share its experience in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and boost technology transfer with Vietnam and help train the countrys experts./. Meghan King has fired back at estranged husband Jim Edmonds after he accused her of repeatedly leaving their three children with a nanny during her custodial time. The duo split in October 2019 when Jim filed for divorce following accusations he'd been unfaithful and they now share custody of their three children; daughter Aspen, three, and twin sons Hayes and Hart, two. Since they parted way their separation has been less than friendly but now Jim is reportedly asking for full custody of their kids as he fires accusations at the former Real Housewives of Orange County star. Divorce drama: Meghan King has fired back at estranged husband Jim Edmonds after he accused her of repeatedly leaving their three children with nanny during her custodial time 'Jim is talking with his legal team about getting full custody of the children because he is getting increasingly upset that Meghan has been out of town during portions of her custodial time,' a source told Us Weekly. 'There have been numerous times where Jim has brought the kids to Meghan for her custodial week only to find she is out of town and he has to leave them with Meghan's nanny.' The source also claims Meghan is looking for a second nanny to help her with the kids during her custodial time. '[This] raises his concern even more about the amount of time Meghan is away during her custodial time and the amount of time she is actually spending with the children,' they added. 'Jim is talking with his legal team about getting full custody of the children because he is getting increasingly upset that Meghan has been out of town during portions of her custodial time,' a source told Us Weekly 'Jim feels if Meghan cannot be present during the week she has the children, then he should just keep them at his house and not leave them with the nannies.' 'Jim feels if Meghan cannot be present during the week she has the children, then he should just keep them at his house and not leave them with the nannies.' Meghan responded to Jim's accusations, telling Us Weekly, 'I am a working, single mother and I have one live-in nanny (with no plans to hire an additional nanny). 'In the 10 months since Jim walked out on our children and myself, I have left Aspen, Hart and Hayes with my mother for three days (with my nanny helping her). 'I told Jim I had to be out of town for those days but he told me he couldnt take custody of the kids because he would also be out of town.' Meghan also took aim at the former MLB star's values claiming again that he cheated with their former nanny, Carly Wilson. Wilson at the time denied the accusations on social media. The duo split in October 2019 and they now share custody of their three children; daughter Aspen, three, and twin sons Hayes and Hart, two Meghan responded to Jim's accusations, telling Us Weekly, 'In the 10 months since Jim walked out on our children and myself, I have left Aspen, Hart and Hayes with my mother for three days (with my nanny helping her).' 'Jim even set Carly [up] with a happily married friend of Jims [one] evening and this was not the first time Jim has set Carly up with a married man. This further drives home the tattered value system of this man,' Meghan continued, 'additionally, our childrens GAL (guardian ad litem, a court appointed attorney for our children) knew about me leaving for the three days Jim is questioning. 'I told her why I had to leave and she said that was completely fine, that parents have to go out of town all the time and find coverage for their children. I have had primary custody of my children since he left us, including when I quarantined them for nine weeks in L.A. while Jim contracted COVID while partying in Nashville (and also infected his entire home). 'And as much as I hate to bring up the past, it was Jim who was sending pictures of his penis to another woman on the day the twins were born, and it was Jim who left us and didnt request to see the kids for weeks afterward.' She ended her statement saying she has the evidence to back up her claims and added, 'For Jim to suggest I did anything inappropriate, wrong, or questioning my parenting is quite frankly not only laughable but unfortunately in line with the way he has treated and spoken to me,' Earlier this year the blonde beauty revealed she's found love again with Christian Schauf and regularly goes to see him in Utah where he lives. Jim, 50, meanwhile, has moved on with Kortnie O'Connor, a former friend of Meghan's and someone who reportedly had a threesome with the couple before they split 'Ive kept my mouth shut through months of abuse and Ive tried to take the high road knowing this is my childrens father, and I will have to have some sort of relationship with him for the rest of my life as we work to coparent,' Meghan, 35, is based in Los Angeles while Jim lives in Missouri in the home they built together during the last year of their marriage. Earlier this year the blonde beauty revealed she's found love again with Christian Schauf and regularly goes to see him in Utah where he lives. Schauf, 40, told Page Six in July that he admires the way shes able to cooperate with 'an ex who is not that easy to deal with.' Jim, 50, meanwhile, has moved on with Kortnie O'Connor, a former friend of Meghan's and someone who reportedly had a threesome with the couple before they split. Meghan and Jim married in 2014 and their relationship was documented on the Real Housewives of Orange County, as Meghan adjusted to becoming stepmother to Jim's four kids from previous marriages Meghan and Jim married in 2014 and their relationship was documented on the Real Housewives of Orange County, as Meghan adjusted to becoming stepmother to Jim's four kids from previous marriages. Since they split they have traded barbs in the press and on social media, each accusing the other of being abusive in the marriage. In April Meghan claimed she was receiving 'barely' enough in child support to pay for 'groceries for my tribe.' A rep for Jim later responded that the former athlete 'continually goes above and beyond what he is required to do.' The Birtherism 2.0 brouhaha began the way so many do. A Trump sycophant, in this case Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, handed the president a hot-take opinion piece as if it was breaking news. Mere hours later at a press conference, he acted as if that op-ed was a settled legal ruling from a court or perhaps his office of legal counsel: Kamala Harris is ineligible to be vice president because her parents werent yet U.S. citizens when she was born on American soil. When asked about the claim, Trump took the bait. I just heard it today that she doesnt meet the requirements, Trump said. And by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. Its all so pointlessly stupid. Im not even referring to the argument put forward in Newsweek by the very talented lawyer, John Eastman, questioning more than a century of law, constitutional interpretation and the plain text of the 14th Amendment on the meaning of persons born or naturalized in the United States. I dont find it persuasive, nor do most legal scholars, although I dont think its necessarily racist to question whether birthright citizenship is good policy. Most countries dont have it, and I dont see how proposing that we have the same policy as, say, Sweden or Belgium would make us moral monsters. Whats pointless and stupid is using Harris, Joe Bidens half-Jamaican, half-Indian but legally all-American running mate, as the poster girl for the issue. At least Eastman had something of an excuse in that birthright citizenship has been his white whale for a long time, and any news peg will do when youre obsessed with a topic, I suppose. On the other hand, Eastman and his co-religionists on this issue werent as enthusiastic about using the presidential bid of Republican John McCain (born in Panama) as fodder for their theories, not to mention Ted Cruz (born in Canada). It seems that having elected officials who are supposedly less than 100 percent American is only terrifying when those officials are Democrats, particularly nonwhite Democrats. But Trumps decision to promote this new birther claim immediately triggering his surrogates to do likewise suggests that Trump thinks he can run a 2016 campaign in 2020. This shouldnt be surprising given that hes often governed as if that campaign never really ended, acting like a heckler of the government he supposedly runs. And thats the problem. Because even if you think his 2016 campaign proved he was the four-dimensional chess master of legend and fable, and even if you enjoy his 24/7 own the libs presidency, this just isnt 2016 anymore. Lay to one side the fact that Eastmans argument, like a ship in drydock, has gone nowhere for years and will continue to be a nonstarter. It has all the political and legal force of a cocktail party conversation starter. Trump rode the original birther conspiracy theory that Barack Obama wasnt born in Hawaii and that he was hiding the evidence to prominence on the right. But as president of the United States, Trump doesnt need an issue to get media attention anymore. Moreover, Obama birtherism was an actual conspiracy theory, and conspiracy theories are always good for clicks and eyeballs. This Harris thing isnt a conspiracy theory at all. Its just an arcane legal claim. Theres no implied big reveal in the way there was when Trumps personal Indiana Jones went off in search of Obamas birth certificate. This story has no MacGuffin. Also, the people Trump won over with Birtherism 1.0 are still with him; indeed, theyre a sizable chunk of his base. Likewise, those favoring the repeal of birthright citizenship are probably already in Trumps column as well (even though hes failed to follow through on promises to get rid of it). Of course, most people who think Birtherism 2.0 is racist, sexist or nativist are probably already committed to voting against Trump. But the swing voters in this election, by definition, are more sympathetic to Trump or Trumpism. They may be undecided, agnostic or apathetic about birthright citizenship or the candidates themselves, but many are likely exhausted with the pointless theatrics and relentless fighting over sexism, racism and nativism driven by the presidents sops to the one segment of the electorate that has been in his corner all along. Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Russias deposit insurer seeks seizure of assets of alleged organizer of Crimean blockade RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:03 19/08/2020 MOSCOW, August 19 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court is to proceed with the Deposit Insurance Agencys (DIA) petition to seize 1.7 billion-ruble ($22 million) assets of Lenur Islyamov, one of the initiators of food blockade of Crimea and ex-board chair of Just Bank" LLC., on September 14, according to court records. The motion also includes a demand to attach assest of six former top managers of the bank. In July, the court extended an asset sale procedure against Islyamov for six months. In May 2017, the court found the deal between bank Eurocredit and Islyamov to be unlawful and ruled to include a house in the Moscow Region into the list of property restructured by bankruptcy procedure. In December 2016, the court held that Islyamov owes Eurocredit Bank 234 million rubles (about $4 million at the current exchange rate). Islyamov was declared bankrupt on July 18, 2016. On March 16 of the same year, the court introduced a procedure for restructuring of Islyamovs debt upon the application of Sberbank of Russia. According to the banks representative, the businessmans debt under two loans is estimated at 1.1 billion rubles ($17.4 million). Islyamov was a loan guarantor for the Queen Group Company that received these credits. The company later has been declared bankrupt. Islyamov owns TV company ATR, transportation company SimCityTrans, and retail chain ICom selling Apple products. In June 2016, the Commercial Court of Crimea suspended operations of SimCityTrans for 90 days on the grounds that the company committed a serious administrative offence with regard to licensing regulations. In May 2014, Islyamov, who at that time was Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers responsible for repatriates, water provision and utilities, was dismissed as failing to cope with these responsibilities. The Crimean investigators launched probe into Islyamov and in November 2015 raided the offices of companies he controlled on the peninsula. Earlier, Crimea's Prosecutors Office informed that two men (Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov) behind the peninsula blockade had been put on the international and one (Lenur Islyamov) on the federal wanted lists. Kylie Jenner showcased another fierce outfit on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star rocked a black and white tie-dye outfit which revealed her cleavage as she got ready to go out. Taking to Instagram the mother-of-one modeled the look in front of the mirror, showing off a lace-up tube top, matching pants and a jacket which she buttoned only at the top. Fire: Kylie Jenner showcased a sexy lace-up look on Instagram on Tuesday as she posed by her red Lamborghini Urus Kylie captioned the photo album 'Leo season' and also included a snap of her getting into her red Lambourghini Urus, a sporty SUV which goes for around $207,000. The Kylie Cosmetics mogul has an impressive fleet of cars including a Lamborghini Aventador, a Rolls-Royce Wraith, a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Bugatti Chiron, a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Ferrari LaFerrari and a Rolls-Royce Phantom. She also owns a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG as well as the first car she bought, a Land Rover Range Rover. Kylie completed her outfit with some huge studded earrings, some diamond-studded sunglasses and a snakeskin handbag. Loving the look: Kylie captioned the photo album 'Leo season' as she smoldered for the mirror selfie Busty: Taking to Instagram the mother-of-one modeled the look in front of the mirror, showing off a lace-up tube top Luxury life: Her outfit was complete with some huge studded earrings , some diamond-studded sunglasses and a snakeskin handbag During the day she also shared photos from her birthday trip to Turks and Caicos last week, posting sweet videos of her daughter Stormi, two, playing with her cousin True. 'My loves' she captioned a clip of the tots squealing as they played on the beach and splashed in the water. This comes after Kylie's baby daddy Travis Scott, with whom she shares Stormi, told GQ that he is mindful of how he is raising his daughter. Kylie and Travis have been co-parenting Stormi and often spend time together as a family in LA and on vacation. The Sicko Mode rapper revealed that he was having an 'amazing' time watching Stormi grow as he spends time in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic and said the pair do not have a set daily routine. Travis said: 'I just get it going ... I just go. It's amazing just to watch my daughter, you know.' Eyeful: Kylie made sure to treat fans to a good look at her cleavage Fashion statement: The matching pants, bodice and jacket featured a black and white tie-dye print Special memories: Kylie shared a cute clip of her daughter Stormi having fun on the beach with her cousin True during the trip to Turks and Caicos last week He also said fatherhood has made it easier to relate to his parents and has strengthened their relationship. When asked if his relationship with his parents had changed after he welcomed Stormi, Travis explained: 'No, not at all, man. It's actually cool, because now we have things to relate on, right? Just raising a daughter. I'm always talking to my parents. They try to remind me of how I was when I was kid.' He continued: 'I was energetic. I was super energetic. Jumping off the walls ... The good life: Kylie also delighted fans with this snap of her using an outdoor shower as she cooled off during her birthday vacation to the Bahamas 'Nah. It's so funny to my mum. She'd be like, "Yo, you don't get tired?"' He also talked about Kim's husband Kanye West, whom he considers to be a mentor. He admits he feels responsibility to express his political opinions to his 'big bro', amid Kanye's bid to become President of the United States. He said of the Bound 2 hitmaker's politics: 'Everyone's entitled to their own [opinion]. I just tell him how I feel. How people feel about this s***.' By Associated Press ATHENS: A Greek-flagged cargo ship with 18 crew on board caught fire in the Arabian Sea early on Wednesday, leaving one crew member dead and another one injured, Greece's Shipping Ministry said. The ship had been sailing without cargo from the United Arab Emirates to Port Elizabeth in South Africa when the fire broke out in the middle of the night, the ministry said. It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze. The ministry said that the fire was extinguished by mid-morning, and the ship was drifting without steering, far from land. Nearby ships had been notified to render assistance. The ministry said the ship's 55-year-old second engineer had died in the blaze, while the 26-year-old third engineer was injured. Both are Greek. For decades, Home and Away has filmed its exterior scenes in Sydney's Palm Beach. But producers have been forced to 'get creative' during the coronavirus pandemic, after being told they wouldn't be able to shoot scenes in the northern suburb. Aerial photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia show how an artificial beach was set up in another area of Sydney to replicate the feel of Summer Bay. A long way from Summer Bay! Home and Away producers used a 10-tonne truck filled with sand to created a 'fake beach', after being unable to film in the usual Sydney location A 10-tonne truck filled with sand was reportedly used to make the scenes appear as if they were taking place by the beach. One photo shows how a beachside walkway has been made using sand and wooden posts, even though the surrounding area is greenery. It comes just days after it was revealed that COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that producers had to find an alternate location to film their 'away' shoot, because they were unable to travel to the Northern Territory. Not Palm Beach: Aerial photos show how an artificial beach was set up in another area of Sydney to replicate the feel of Summer Bay. Pictured: trucks and catering facilities on set Cast and crew are believed to be filming in the Blue Mountains, about an hour's drive from Sydney. 'Corona isn't going to get in the way of us telling beautiful stories to the audience,' series producer Lucy Addario told The Sunday Telegraph last week. 'Creatively it made us think outside the square,' she added. Change of scene: For decades, Home and Away has filmed its exterior scenes in Sydney's Palm Beach. Pictured: cast members Lukas Radovich (left) and Ray Meagher (right) Home and Away shot a few episodes in Alice Springs in 2016, but production likely won't be able to return there for many months. The soap opera usually films its indoor scenes at Seven's Eveleigh Studios, and uses Palm Beach for its exterior beach scenes. The show had been temporarily suspended in March due to COVID-19 safety fears. New normal: Home and Away had been temporarily suspended in March due to COVID-19 safety fears. When filming resumed on May 27, the stars all observed social distancing and strict hygiene practices. Pictured: Cameron Daddo, Ray Meagher and Georgie Parker When filming resumed on May 27 after a nine-week break, the stars all observed social distancing and strict hygiene practices. COVID safety measures are still being implemented to ensure the safety of the cast and crew, including regular temperature checks. Scripts have also been rewritten to allow for social distancing between the actors. By Seng Li Peng SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia will likely import record volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2020 as firms snap up the fuel to make petrochemicals used in protective gear against the coronavirus, while households under lockdown ramped up purchases for cooking. The region will buy some 67-69.5 million tonnes of the gas from abroad this year, surpassing last year's record, analysts from consultancy firms IHS Markit, FGE and Wood Mackenzie said. That would represent a 1-3% increase on 2019 import volumes. Strong Asian demand could weigh on supplies in coming months just as Europe is likely to step up purchases of the fuel for heating in winter, an industry source in Singapore said. While supply was hit by a cut in commodity production in the second quarter, output has recovered some ground since then. "We expect (LPG) import demand to increase in 2020 over 2019 with stronger demand in both residential and petrochemical sectors," said Rui Hou, research analyst of Wood Mackenzie. He Yanyu, IHS Markit's executive director of natural gas liquids research, said some 33 million tonnes of LPG had already been imported in the first half of 2020. In total, Asia would get some 52% of its LPG supplies this year from the Middle East, 35% from the United States and the rest from countries including Canada and Australia, said He. LOCKDOWNS BOOST COOKING While lockdowns and travel restrictions to curb the spread of the pandemic crushed appetite for oil products such as jet fuel and gasoline this year, there was growing demand for LPG as a cooking fuel in places like India and Indonesia, as more people stayed at home. India, Asia's second biggest importer of LPG, is expected to buy a record 15.8 million tonnes of LPG from abroad this year, a 9% rise from 2019, data from FGE showed. The country's imports had surged 16% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year after the government said it would provide free LPG fuel for cooking for three months until June. Story continues Indian LPG imports Indian LPG imports https://graphics.reuters.com/ASIA-LPG/DEMAND/jbyprkzdwve/index.html Although India has overbought the fuel, the backlog could clear by September, with demand set to rise ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepavali in November, industry sources said. "In general we should continue to see strong demand from India but maybe after a slight slowdown as stocks are absorbed," said Alexander Booth, head of research at data intelligence firm Kpler. This sentiment was shared by consultant Jeslyn Chua at FGE. "We believe the Indians will definitely be back for October delivery (cargoes) given that their inventories would be drawn down by then. On top of that, the Indians will need to prepare for Deepavali," she said. Another country which uses LPG predominantly as a cooking fuel is Indonesia, Asia's fifth largest LPG importer. Indonesia's LPG imports are expected to hit 6.1 million tonnes this year, a 7% rise from 2019, and a record high volume for the country, said Chua. "The demand in the rest of Asia is largely being driven by good petrochemical demand, primarily to satisfy the explosion in global PPE (personal protective equipment) requirements," said Kpler's Booth. "There is no reason to think this will disappear quickly." (Reporting by Seng Li Peng; Additional reporting by Muyu Xu in Beijing and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Florence Tan and Ana Nicolaci da Costa) Kwamena Duncan, Central Regional Minister, has appealed to Ghanaians not to make a mistake and re-elect former President John Dramani Mahama during the general elections. President John Mahama seeks to come back to power and in his bid for re-election in the December polls, has been feeding Ghanaians with achievements of his previous government. In order to keep his achievements refreshed in the minds of the Ghanaian electorates, Mr. Mahama has been talking about health and educational projects among other development activities that his government commenced, and completed, as well as those that were under construction before Ghanaians voted him out of power. He has promised to resolve Ghana's unemployment situation, review President Akufo-Addo's free SHS policy into what he believes will be more effective to provide quality education for all Ghanaians and pledged to fulfil more promises, if re-elected as President. But speaking on Wednesday's ''Kokrokoo'' on Peace FM, Kwamena Duncan reminded Ghanaians of the type of leader that former President Mahama is. He asked them not to forget his abysmal performance while as Vice President and eventually Head of State. He noted that Mr. Mahama is so desperate for power that he has resorted to a dangerous campaign by playing the tribal card, explaining the former President goes to the Volta Region and tries to knock heads against President Nana Akufo-Addo. To him, Ghanaians should not lose sight of his track record when going out in their numbers to vote during the general electiosn. ''President Mahama has never been consistent. Sometimes, you wonder whether he knows or understands the things that he puts across. But because he does not put premium on the things he says, he has now resorted to dangerous political campaign. When you hear it, then you cringe,'' the Central Regional Minister said. Watch 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 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19 2020 Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has instructed his subordinates to prepare for a possible baby boom in the capital in the next few months as a result of the stay-at-home policy and social restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic. Theres an increase in pregnancies all over the world [due to the pandemic]. We need to prepare to anticipate [a similar situation], Anies said in a meeting at City Hall on Aug. 7, which was then streamed for the public on the Jakarta administrations YouTube channel a week later. In the meeting, Anies told the Jakarta administrations assistant for public welfare, Catur Laswanto, to collect pregnancy data in the city between March, when the pandemic began to hit Indonesia, and August to estimate the number of beds for deliveries needed in the coming months. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login 1 of 2 Assam to give scooties to 22,000 girl students who secured 1st division in 12th boards Assam Education Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a press conference held in Guwahati that the state government will provide scooties to 22,000 girl students of the state who passed the higher secondary final examinations with first division marks. The state government will deliver the scooties to girl students by October 15 this year. Each scooty will cost Rs 50,000-55,000," Himanta Biswa Sarma said. "The government will be launching a website sebaonline.org and the students who want electric scooty, may choose to their choice of the variant to visit the website. The students will have to bear the cost of registration and they will not be able to sell the scooties for at least three years, he added. The Assam minister also said that aiming the implement the National Education Policy in Assam, the state government has constituted a 40-member high-level committee. The committee will be divided into various subgroups and it will give recommendations on how to implement the National Education Policy in Assam. By this year, we will make a framework for implementation of the National Education Policy in Assam, Himanta said. On the other hand, the state government has urged all colleges of the state to increase their undergraduate seats by 25 percent this year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CBSE could not be completed Class 12 examinations and the central board had given marks to the students just as projected marks. So, many students of the state under the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) could not able to get seats in the colleges," Sharma said. Read More... BEACHWOOD, Ohio Theft: Cedar Road At 7:40 p.m. Aug. 11, police arrested a Kent man, 52, and a Stow woman, 33, who were together as they stole merchandise valued at a total of $1,203.70 from Dillards at Beachwood Place. Further, the couple were found to be in possession of an additional $33.25 worth of stolen mall merchandise. Both were charged with theft and receiving stolen property. Police also found that the man was wanted on warrants issued by sheriffs offices in Medina, Summit and Trumbull counties and by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The woman was wanted on warrants issued by Beachwood police and Trumbull County. Psychiatric situation: Cedar Road At 6:25 a.m. Aug. 13, police received calls about a man using his hands to hit cars in traffic and throwing his hat at passing vehicles. Police found that the man, 36, of Akron, had recently been released from the hospital. He was taken to Ahuja Medical Center for further evaluation. Warrant arrest: Cedar Road At 10:15 p.m. Aug. 14, police responded to an alarm at a Cedar Road dwelling. A woman at the residence, 36, of Cleveland, told officers that she had accidentally set off the alarm. The woman was found to be the subject of a Richland County Sheriffs Office warrant and was arrested on that warrant. Theft: Cedar Road At 3:55 p.m. Aug. 15, a male suspect concealed a pair of sunglasses valued at $565 while at the Sunglass Hut at Beachwood Place mall, 26300 Cedar Road. An employee saw the crime taking place and removed the sunglasses from the suspects possession. The suspect then left the store without being identified. Warrant arrest: Chagrin Boulevard At 2:50 p.m. Aug. 11, a Shaker Heights man, 79, was involved in a minor two-car crash in which his car struck the back end of another vehicle. It was subsequently learned that the man was wanted on several Beachwood police warrants for failure to appear in court. The man was arrested on the warrants. Read more from the Sun Press. If Scott Franklin is not the Republican nominee, I do not believe that Ross Spano can win a general election, Gaetz said at a town hall, according to the Tampa Bay Times. I think he will lose, and that will help Nancy Pelosi, and it would just be so sickening to me to have to go two more years with Nancy Pelosi as speaker. I dont want to stare at her face for one more second up there. Chingari said says the money will be used for product development, hiring talented engineering team of ML/AI engineers and engineering team to enhance the camera features. Indian internet company Chingari has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Brian Norgard, Chief Product Officer of Tinder, and from French entrepreneur Fabrice Grinda, founder of OLX. The latest funding comes shortly after the homegrown social company raised $1.3 million in seed funding from the likes of AngelList India, iSeed, Village Global, LogX Ventures and others. Chingari has become one of the top homegrown applications to have gained massive traction since the ban on TikTok and several other Chinese applications. The desi application has so far garnered 25 million downloads. The company has also continued to enhance the application with a variety of features aimed to woo users and content creators. Chingari also made the headlines for winning the social media category in #AtmaNirbharApp Challenge, held by the Indian government. Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO of Chingari App, said, We are humbled that globally acclaimed entrepreneurs like Brian Norgard and Fabrice Grinda loved the vision of the Chingari team and invested into what we are building. We are absolutely delighted to have them onboard the Chingari rocket ship and look forward to learning from them the art of building and scaling Global product companies. The company says the latest funding will be used mostly on product development, hiring talented engineering team of ML/AI engineers and engineering team to enhance the camera features. (Natural News) Researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are monitoring a slowly splitting dent in the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAA, the region in Earths magnetic field that is weaker than the rest. Recent observations and forecasts revealed that the anomalys valley the portion within the region with the lowest field strength is splitting into two lobes. This split is caused by the fluctuations in the flowing magma deep within Earth, in the boundary between the outer core and the mantle. Scientists also said that the SAA, which is located over the southern Atlantic Ocean and South America, is drifting westward and continues to weaken. These changes have major implications for the satellites roaming around Earths upper atmosphere. Earths magnetic field serves as a protective barrier against cosmic particles and the solar wind. But due to the SAA, these space particles dip closer to the surface and cause significant damage to nearby satellites. With the continued weakening of SAA, satellites are exposed to more harmful particles, which increases the likelihood of a technical malfunction. The South Atlantic Anomaly is evolving The SAA is caused by the swirling flow of molten metals in Earths outer core and the tilt of the magnetic axis. Earths magnetic field is quite like a bar magnet, except that it is tilted and unstable. Thats because the magnetic field originates within 1,800 miles underground where Earths outer core is located. Liquid iron flows vigorously and acts like a massive generator that creates electric currents, forming the majority of the magnetic field. The motion of the flow changes over time due to complex conditions within the core and at the boundary abutting the mantle. As a result, the magnetic field fluctuates too, generating the SAA in tandem with the tilt of the magnetic axis. And as the iron flow changes, so does the SAA. Recent research found that a second center of minimum strength developed in the anomaly. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), this region emerged southwest of Africa over the past five years, leading scientists to theorize that the SAA is going to split into two cells. The new, eastern minimum of the South Atlantic Anomaly has appeared over the last decade and in recent years is developing vigorously, said Jurgen Matzka of the German Research Center for Geosciences. ESA added that the SAA is slowly but steadily drifting westward at around 12.5 miles per year. It is also getting weaker, with its intensity dropping from 24,000 to 22,000 nanoteslas over the past 50 years. This caused Earths entire magnetic field to weaken by nine percent over the course of two centuries. Due to these changes in the SAA, people speculated that Earths magnetic field is headed for an imminent pole reversal in which the north and south magnetic poles switch places. A pole reversal is not uncommon across Earths geologic history; evidence shows that 171 magnetic field reversals occurred during the past 71 million years. It is also overdue a reversal is estimated to take place every 250,000 years on average. And the last time it occurred was about 780,000 years ago. However, scientists said that the SAA is still within the normal levels of fluctuations. (Related: Earths magnetic field over the South Atlantic is WEAKENING and scientists arent entirely certain why.) Forecasting changes in Earths magnetic field NASA is working on models of the SAA to monitor and predict possible changes in the anomalous region in the future. Using data from the ESA as well as from previous missions by agencies around the world, NASA scientists are developing geodynamo models that integrate core physics to forecast near-future changes in the SAA. KEY FACTS 6:26 a.m.: South Korean health workers find more than 600 coronavirus infections linked to a Seoul church 6:25 a.m.: Iran surpasses 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday. The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Wednesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available. 8:56 p.m.: The Guatemalan government said Wednesday that the Unites States has deported 127 detained migrants who had suffered from COVID-19 but recovered. Previous U.S. deportation flights were criticized for deporting people with apparently active cases of the disease to Central America. But Guatemalas Immigration Institute said the migrants who arrived Wednesday aboard a deportation flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, had medical certificates saying they no longer had the virus. 7:19 p.m.: Testing for COVID-19 is being stepped up as the number of new cases increases in British Columbia. Health Minister Adrian Dix and deputy provincial health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson say new testing centres and extended hours of service have been added in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions. In a joint statement, they say the province can now complete 8,000 tests a day. Another 68 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the province, bringing the active cases in the province to 798. 7:13 p.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:13 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2020: There are 123,490 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Quebec: 61,316 confirmed (including 5,729 deaths, 54,238 resolved) _ Ontario: 40,972 confirmed (including 2,792 deaths, 37,216 resolved) _ Alberta: 12,501 confirmed (including 227 deaths, 11,167 resolved) _ British Columbia: 4,745 confirmed (including 198 deaths, 3,749 resolved) _ Saskatchewan: 1,586 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1,410 resolved) _ Nova Scotia: 1,076 confirmed (including 64 deaths, 1,007 resolved) _ Manitoba: 763 confirmed (including 12 deaths, 528 resolved) _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 268 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 263 resolved) _ New Brunswick: 186 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 172 resolved) _ Prince Edward Island: 44 confirmed (including 40 resolved) _ Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved) _ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved) _ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved) _ Nunavut: No confirmed cases _ Total: 123,490 (0 presumptive, 123,490 confirmed including 9,049 deaths, 109,823 resolved) 6:52 p.m.: After a long and, in many cases, jobless summer, university students are due to pay thousands in tuition for a semester that will mostly consist of sitting in front of a computer at home. Many universities across Canada are not decreasing tuition rates this fall despite offering most of of their classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 6:34 p.m.: Puerto Ricos governor announced Wednesday that she will place the U.S. territory on a 24-hour lockdown every Sunday as part of stricter measures to fight a spike in coronavirus cases. Gyms, theatres and bars will remain closed and only restaurants with outdoor areas will be allowed to seat people, but at 25% capacity. Gov. Wanda Vazquez said violators will be shut down for a month. 6 p.m.: The City of Toronto and public health officials are warning young people to keep wearing masks and practise social distancing amid an increase in COVID-19 infections among teenagers and millennials. In the most recent two weeks, the average age of COVID-19 cases was 39 years old, compared to 52 years overall for the entire pandemic outbreak, said Mayor John Tory, speaking at a COVID-19 update at city hall. 5:53 p.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 5:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 19, 2020: There are 123,422 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Quebec: 61,316 confirmed (including 5,729 deaths, 54,238 resolved) _ Ontario: 40,972 confirmed (including 2,792 deaths, 37,216 resolved) _ Alberta: 12,501 confirmed (including 227 deaths, 11,167 resolved) _ British Columbia: 4,677 confirmed (including 198 deaths, 3,704 resolved) _ Saskatchewan: 1,586 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1,410 resolved) _ Nova Scotia: 1,076 confirmed (including 64 deaths, 1,007 resolved) _ Manitoba: 763 confirmed (including 12 deaths, 528 resolved) _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 268 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 263 resolved) _ New Brunswick: 186 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 172 resolved) _ Prince Edward Island: 44 confirmed (including 40 resolved) _ Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 14 resolved) _ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved) _ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved) _ Nunavut: No confirmed cases _ Total: 123,422 (0 presumptive, 123,422 confirmed including 9,049 deaths, 109,777 resolved) 5:16 p.m.: Quebecs health and welfare commissioner is the latest senior official investigating the provinces handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of at least 5,729 Quebecers. Health Minister Christian Dube said Wednesday his government has mandated Joanne Castonguay to evaluate the performance of the health network in particular its hard-hit long-term care and seniors homes and come back with a report by September 2021. 5 p.m.: As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Ontarios regional health units are reporting a total of 43,025 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, including 2,828 deaths, up another 84 cases and no deaths in 24 hours, according to the Stars latest count. Three health units reported 10 or more cases Wednesday: Toronto, with 24 new cases, Ottawa, with 18, and Peel Region, with 14. The three cities have each reported the highest case totals in the province so far the month. Meanwhile, the worst-hit region of the province accounting for population continues to be in southwestern Ontario. On average, the four health units that have seen the highest rate of cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days Huron Perth, the Southwestern health unit, Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex are all in the southwest, which has seen several notable outbreaks in large agricultural workplaces. The long term average for daily case reports has been consistently below triple-digits since the province saw a brief spike late last month, and the province remains near the lowest rate of new infections since before the pandemic first peaked in Ontario in the spring. That rate rose Wednesday to an average of 92 cases per day over the last week. At the pandemics worst, Ontario saw the same average reach a mid-April peak of nearly 600 daily. Ontario has averaged less than a single reported death per day over the last seven days. The vast majority of the provinces COVID-19 patients have since recovered; the province lists fewer than 1,000 active cases of the disease. The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test. The province cautions its separate data, published daily at 10:30 a.m., may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date. 4:34 p.m.: Cuba will start testing its own COVID-19 vaccine candidate next week, according to the official Cuban registry of clinical trials. The vaccine, Soberana 01, was produced by the state-run Finlay Institute of Vaccines and will be tested during a phase I and II trial involving 676 adults between 19 and 80 years old. The results will not be published until February 2021. 4:03 p.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4:01 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2020: There are 123,340 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Quebec: 61,316 confirmed (including 5,729 deaths, 54,238 resolved) _ Ontario: 40,972 confirmed (including 2,792 deaths, 37,216 resolved) _ Alberta: 12,419 confirmed (including 225 deaths, 11,025 resolved) _ British Columbia: 4,677 confirmed (including 198 deaths, 3,704 resolved) _ Saskatchewan: 1,586 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1,410 resolved) _ Nova Scotia: 1,076 confirmed (including 64 deaths, 1,007 resolved) _ Manitoba: 763 confirmed (including 12 deaths, 528 resolved) _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 268 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 263 resolved) _ New Brunswick: 186 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 172 resolved) _ Prince Edward Island: 44 confirmed (including 40 resolved) _ Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 14 resolved) _ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved) _ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved) _ Nunavut: No confirmed cases _ Total: 123,340 (0 presumptive, 123,340 confirmed including 9,047 deaths, 109,635 resolved) 3:51 p.m. An aggressive push by Iowas pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. The clash in the Midwest has illustrated in condensed form the tension between science and politics and between economic concerns and health fears that has characterized the nations response to the outbreak from the White House on down. The virus has devastated the U.S. economy and killed over 170,000 Americans. 3:16 p.m.: Canadas largest school board has proposed a new back-to-school plan that will reduce class sizes only in elementary schools located in Toronto neighbourhoods at the highest risk of COVID-19. Toronto District School Board had initially proposed a plan to cut class sizes in all of its elementary schools, but that was rejected by the Ontario government last week because it also shortened the school day by 48 minutes. 2:30 p.m.: The Manitoba government has changed course and is going to make masks mandatory in many schools. Premier Brian Pallister says the change is being made out of an abundance of caution and after public feedback. The province had planned to reopen schools next month with a strong recommendation that masks be used. Pallister says masks will now be mandatory for students and staff in Grades 4 to 12, in classes where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Manitobas chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, says the government may make masks mandatory in other indoor areas in the future. Roussin announced 15 new COVID-19 cases and the death of a man in his 60s, who had been in intensive care in the Southern Health Authority region. That brings the total fatalities from COVID-19 in Manitoba to 12. 2:14 p.m.: The B.C. Teachers Federation wants the province to reduce class sizes and make the use of masks mandatory wherever physical distancing isnt possible as part of its back-to-school plan. In a statement today, federation president Teri Mooring says the federation has been working with the province but some of its biggest concerns have not been met. 1:30 p.m.: The Manitoba government is adopting a new COVID-19 response that allows restrictions to be imposed on specific communities, business sectors, or even individual schools or restaurants. Until now, the government has enacted rules provincewide on such things as store openings and size limits on public gatherings. The new approach uses colour codes so that rules can be applied to specific areas where COVID-19 numbers spike. Yellow or caution denotes the current situation, which includes caps on public gatherings of 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors. A community or facility where the pandemic is more problematic could be designated Orange, which means restricted, or Red, which signifies critical. Those designations carry more restrictions. 1 p.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting one new case of COVID-19. Health officials said today the new case was identified Tuesday in the northern zone and is currently under investigation. Currently, there are five active cases of COVID-19 in the province, none of which require hospitalization. The province completed 448 COVID-19 tests on Tuesday. Nova Scotia has reported a total of 1,076 cases and 64 deaths since the pandemic began. Of those cases, 1,007 have recovered. 12:25 p.m.: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says it has temporarily suspended pork exports to China after a few dozen workers at one of its plants tested positive for COVID-19. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company says in a statement late Tuesday it continues to have rigorous safety measures at the Brandon, Man., plant to prevent workplace transmission, and the plant continues to operate. It notes public health officials have said there is no sign the coronavirus was spread in the workplace. The company says it voluntarily suspended its pork exports to China after the Chinese government adopted new protocols that require Canadian processors who report a positive COVID-19 case to do so. 11:55 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 64 new COVID-19 cases and two additional deaths linked to the novel coronavirus. Health officials said today both people died between Aug. 12-17. The latest figures raise the provinces totals to 61,316 confirmed cases and 5,729 deaths since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations climbed by one to 146, with 26 people in intensive care. Its the sixth straight day the province has reported fewer than 100 cases. At least 54,238 people have recovered from the illness. 10:25 a.m. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says the province is reporting 102 new cases of COVID-19. Almost 26,000 tests were completed Tuesday. Locally, 30 of the provinces 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 17 of them reporting no new cases. The Stars Robert Benzie has the full story. 10:08 a.m. Roma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante says he has the coronavirus but is currently asymptomatic. The 37-year-old Mirante says in a video on Instagram that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation. He says I feel well, I have no symptoms, neither a fever nor a cough. The news comes a day after Roma announced that two of its youth team players had tested positive for the virus. 10:06 a.m. The University of Toronto says it has launched a pandemic institute to help shape government responses to the COVID-19 crisis. The university says the institute will focus on working with public health workforces to help with pandemic preparation and recovery. It says the institute will also help with Canadas capacity to model infectious diseases. The academic body will study how the pandemic has worsened inequality between the rich and poor around the world. Dean Adalsteinn Brown says academics have the freedom to move faster than governments and are politically neutral, allowing them to help respond quickly to emerging threats. The Institute for Pandemics was launched after a $1 million donation from Toronto philanthropist Sabina Vohra-Miller. 9:05 a.m.: At least one visitor to Torontos Brass Rail strip club has contracted COVID-19, say health officials who last week warned the public that an ill staff member had potentially exposed 550 people to the virus. To date, one person who was contacted by (Toronto Public Health) from the establishments contact tracing log who had attended the establishment, had symptoms and has tested positive for COVID-19, Dr. Vinita Dubey, a senior TPH official, said in a statement Tuesday to the Star. This person lives outside of Toronto and TPH is working with the applicable health unit who will request information about possible sources of infection as part of their investigation. Read the full story by the Stars David Rider 8:55 a.m. Hawaii Gov. David Ige has hinted about it for weeks as COVID-19 cases in the state surged, and on Tuesday he made it official: The state wont reopen to tourism until October at the earliest. The planned Sept. 1 start of a program that would allow out-of-state visitors to bypass Hawaiis strict 14-day quarantine upon arrival by presenting a negative COVID-19 test at the airport has been delayed until at least Oct. 1, Ige said late Tuesday. We will continue to monitor the conditions here in Hawaii as well as key markets on the mainland to determine the appropriate start date for the pre-travel (COVID-19) testing program, he said. 8:40 a.m. (updated) Statistics Canada says the consumer price index was up 0.1 per cent compared with a year ago as gasoline prices were down nearly 15 per cent. The annual inflation rate compared with a reading of 0.7 per cent in June. The average economist estimate had been for a year-over-year increase of 0.5 per cent for July, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. 7:26 a.m. FIFA forecast the pandemic will cause a $120 million (U.S.) drop in its revenue plan through the 2022 World Cup in a revised four-year budget published Wednesday. Cost-cutting is also predicted to help offset a $200 million (U.S.) hit from being unable to stage a revamped Club World Cup in June 2021, when Europe and South America stage their postponed continental championships. Still, FIFA said most World Cup broadcast and sponsor deals were already signed and should keep the same profit in the 2019-22 financial cycle, even on reduced income of $6.44 billion (U.S.) 7:25 a.m. U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government is working on introducing tests for COVID-19 at airports, a move that would ease the requirement on travelers to self-isolate on arrival. This is one of the examples of why mass testing can help, Hancock told BBC Radio on Wednesday. If you can have a test technology where the test result comes back in a matter of minutes rather than the next day because you dont have to send it to the lab, then you can check that people dont have and arent transmitting the virus now. With many British schools on their summer vacations, the requirement for holidaymakers to isolate for two weeks on returning from abroad is one of the most prominent examples of the tension between the governments desire to get life back to normal and its fear that infection levels will start to rise. Last week, the U.K. said people returning from France must self-isolate. 7 a.m. Statistics Canada will say Wednesday what the countrys inflation barometer read in July. The consumer price index was up 0.7 per cent in June compared with a year earlier, following two months of negative readings. The turnaround from May to June matched the fastest acceleration in the so-called headline inflation reading since March 2011, but still left the measure well below the Bank of Canadas two per cent target. The jump to July isnt expected to be as sharp. Financial data firm Refinitiv says the average economist estimate is for a year-over-year increase of 0.5 per cent. The Bank of Canada forecast last month that annual inflation will be 0.6 per cent this year and vowed to maintain its key interest rate at the lower limit of 0.25 per cent until inflation hits the central banks two per cent target. 6:31 a.m.: Thousands of downtown workers wont be cramming into Torontos subways and office tower elevators any time soon as the city continues to grapple with COVID-19. A number of large firms and banks have asked employees to continue to work from home until at least the end of the year, leaving Torontos financial district a virtual ghost town heading into fall. Office towers are all those things that we dont want with respect to COVID-19: bringing lots of people together in small spaces breathing recycled air, said infection control epidemiologist Colin Furness. Its basically a high-density working environment, and from a public health standpoint and pandemic standpoint, really unsafe. Some of the countrys largest banks were among the first major companies with large downtown Toronto offices to announce that most of their employees wont be returning to their desks until at least 2021. Read the full story from the Stars Jacques Gallant here. 6:30 a.m.: As Ontarios eviction moratorium has lifted, new research shows that the Toronto neighbourhoods where tenants have faced the highest eviction filing rates in recent years mirror those where COVID-19 has hit hardest. The findings, shared exclusively with the Star, suggest that if a wave of evictions follows the pandemic as tenant advocates fear residents of the same neighbourhoods will bear the brunt of a secondary crisis. Its a parallel that Scott Leon, who co-authored Wednesdays study for the Wellesley Institute, called troubling. Read the exclusive story from the Stars Victoria Gibson here. 6:28 a.m.: Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its abrupt, months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard. Several months into the pandemic, many women now have second-trimester pregnancies because they could not find care in time. Across 37 countries, nearly 2 million fewer women received services between January and June than in the same period last year, Marie Stopes International says in a new report 1.3 million in India alone. The organization expects 900,000 unintended pregnancies worldwide as a result, along with 1.5 million unsafe abortions and more than 3,000 maternal deaths. Those numbers will likely be greatly amplified if services falter elsewhere in Latin America, Africa and Asia, Marie Stopes director of global evidence, Kathryn Church, has said. 6:27 a.m.: India reported 1,092 new fatalities from COVID-19 on Wednesday, its highest single-day total. The country has the fourth-most deaths in the world and the third-most cases, with over 2.7 million including more than 64,000 new infections reported Wednesday. The actual numbers, like elsewhere in the world, are thought to be far higher due to limited testing. Four of Indias 28 states now account for 63 per cent of total fatalities and 54.6 per cent of the caseload. The western state of Maharashtra and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the countrys worst-hit regions. 6:26 a.m.: South Korean health workers have found more than 600 coronavirus infections linked to a Seoul church led by a vocal opponent of the countrys president as officials began restricting gatherings in the greater capital area amid fears that transmissions are getting out of control. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said Wednesday that health authorities are also seeking location data provided by cellphone carriers while trying to track thousands who participated in an anti-government protest on Saturday, which worsened the viruss spread. The march was attended by members of the Sarang Jeil Church and its ultra-right pastor, Jun Kwang-hun, who has been hospitalized since Monday after testing positive. Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Koreas National Health Institute, said 623 cases have been linked to church members after the completion of some 3,000 tests. Police are pursuing around 600 church members who remain out of contact. 6:26 a.m.: Finland says it will tighten travel restrictions and reintroduce and step up border checks for arrivals from 10 countries starting Monday due to the worsening pandemic situation in Europe and elsewhere. The Finnish government says border checks will apply for passengers to and from Nordic neighbours Denmark, Iceland and Norway as well as Germany, Greece and Malta all countries belonging to the European Unions borderless Schengen area. Outside the Schengen area, border checks will be stepped up for arrivals from Cyprus, Ireland, San Marino and Japan. 6:45 a.m.: Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. The announcement came as the Islamic Republic, which has been struggling with both the regions largest outbreak and the highest number of fatalities, went ahead with university entrance exams for over 1 million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shiite commemorations later this month. Iran suffered the regions first major outbreak, seeing top politicians, health officials and religious leaders in its Shiite theocracy stricken with the virus. It has since struggled to contain the spread of the virus across this nation of 80 million people, initially beating it back only to see it spike again beginning in June. 6:23 a.m.: A coalition of Ontario educators says substitute teachers are concerned about health and safety risks related to working in multiple schools as they prepare to return to classrooms in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario Education Workers United, an organization made up of high school teachers, is the latest to sound the alarm over the Ontario governments back-to-school plan, which has also drawn criticism from teachers unions as well as some parents and students. The plan, announced weeks before the school year is set to begin, allows elementary students and many high school students to be in class five days a week in standard class sizes. Occasional workers have been left out of the conversation on how to safely reopen schools, the coalition said. We have been hearing a lot from occasional workers that they are very worried and feel unseen in this whole process, said James Campbell, one of the groups organizers. They are often the most precarious of all educational workers because they are often earlier in their career and dont always have permanent contracts. Wednesday 1:48 a.m. Japans exports in July plunged 19.2 per cent from a year ago, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to slam the worlds third largest economy. The Finance Ministrys provisional numbers showed Japans imports in July fell 22.3 per cent. Exports to the U.S. especially suffered, declining 19.5 per cent last month. They include plastic goods, iron and steel and computer parts. But Japan recorded its first trade surplus in four months on the back of a recovery in China. Japans export-reliant economy has been ailing since the outbreak caused some plant production to be temporarily halted, squelched tourism and generally hurt economic activity. Japan has never imposed a lockdown but has encouraged people to work from home, wear masks and social distance. Some stores have closed or shortened their hours. Tuesday 6 p.m.: As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Ontarios regional health units are reporting a total of 42,941 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, including 2,828 deaths, up another 115 cases in 24 hours, according to the Stars latest count. It was the first day since Aug. 1 that the province had reported a second day in a row with a jump into the triple digits. Four health units reported 10 or more cases Tuesday: Windsor-Essex, with 25 cases, Toronto, with 22, Peel Region, with 15, and Huron-Perth, with 13. In the last week, Huron-Perth, the smallest health unit in southern Ontario by population, has seen infections jump to the highest rate the region has seen since the beginning of the pandemic. (Even adjusting for population, the units case average is still well below the worst levels seen in larger cities in April and May.) The long-term average for daily case reports has been consistently below triple digits since the province saw a brief spike late last month, and the province remains near the lowest rate of new infections since before the pandemic first peaked in Ontario in the spring. That rate rose Tuesday to an average of 91 cases per day over the last week. At the pandemics worst, Ontario saw the same average reach a mid-April peak of nearly 600 daily. A single new fatal case was reported Tuesday, in Ottawa; Ontario has averaged less than a single reported death per day over the last seven days. The vast majority of the provinces COVID-19 patients have since recovered; the province lists fewer than 1,000 active cases of the disease. The Stars count includes some patients reported as probable COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test. The province cautions its separate data, published daily at 10:30 a.m., may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date. Read Tuesdays rolling file children in the UK are allowed to consume alcohol at home from the age of five When Clare Matthews and her family sit down for a celebratory meal, they always make sure there is a bottle or two of their favourite wine on the table. Glasses are poured and raised by Clare and her husband Rob, as well as their daughter Sophie and son Ben if they fancy it. It's a convivial family scene recreated in millions of middle-class households. Yet some may raise eyebrows when they learn that Sophie and Ben are only ten and nine respectively. While they are otherwise careful parents, Clare, 41, a part-time administrator, and Rob, 38, a diver, have no qualms about allowing their children to drink alcohol. In fact, they've been having the odd tipple since the age of eight. Charlotte Jackson who allows her boys Joshua, 12, (left) and Oliver, 11, (right), to drink alcohol, at home in Torquay The couple are not doing anything illegal children in the UK are allowed to consume alcohol at home from the age of five. And one survey suggests that half of parents with children under the age of 14 allow them to drink alcohol at home. Yet this week a study found that children who are allowed to try alcoholic beverages are more likely to grow up to be binge-drinkers. Researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Australia, who carried out the seven-year study, reported that among children who had been allowed sips of alcohol by their parents, 69 per cent reported binge drinking by the age of 18 compared with 42 per cent for children who were not allowed alcohol at all. The drinks industry itself has also condemned the practice. Albert Baladi, chairman of the industry-funded International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, has appealed directly to parents not to share alcohol with their children 'even if they do so with good intentions'. Clare Matthew and kids Sophie, ten, and Ben, nine, from Colchester, Essex Meanwhile, the UK Chief Medical Officer has recommended an alcohol-free childhood as the healthiest option, and some studies suggest children's physical and mental health may suffer in the long-term if they start drinking at an early age. Yet many people swear that a little tot now and then nurtures a healthy attitude to drink. The Duchess of Cornwall, for example, admits that her love for wine was fostered at a young age. 'My father was in the wine business so I was brought up as a child drinking wine and water, rather like the French,' she said. But for Clare, from Colchester, Essex, the decision to allow her youngsters to try alcohol under supervision came from lessons learned in her own childhood. 'I was always allowed a glass of wine on Christmas Day from the age of ten onwards, but other than that, my parents didn't really have it in the house,' she says. 'I didn't have any awareness of the dangers and around the age of 13 I started hanging around with friends who used to get drunk on alcopops and spirits. We were bored teenagers, growing up in a small, northern town Cleethorpes and there was nothing more to do than hang around in the park. The older kids would buy drinks for us from the newsagent and it chills me to think of the situations I put myself in. I once ran drunk into the cold North Sea with two other girls. I fell asleep in a nightclub when I was 14. I even ended up at a male stranger's house with two friends when I was really drunk. Thankfully, nothing happened but I was so lucky. 'When I joined the Army at 19, I carried on binge-drinking. It got me into situations I regret sleeping with people I shouldn't have and doing stupid things. I once went on a massive binge with friends and crawled in at 4am, only to drive up the motorway at 8am the following day to a christening. I must still have been hugely over the limit and I massively regret doing that now.' Christine and Shaun Connor are pictured with their two sons William, 15, (centre left) and Henry, 13 (centre right) at their home in Tedburn St Mary, Exeter, Devon Around the age of 30, when Clare met her husband, she decided enough was enough. 'Rob and I would still have the occasional drink socially and I now enjoy a glass of wine with a meal. But we're not big drinkers and can take it or leave it. 'When our children were born, I didn't want them to have the same unhealthy relationship with alcohol as I'd had. Sophie's first taste of alcohol was aged about two. I had a glass of Asti and she was pointing at it so I dipped my finger in to let her taste it and gave her a tiny sip, expecting her not to like it. But she wanted more and of course I said, "Noooo, that's far too young!" 'But if you restrict kids from anything, it makes it more appealing. So a couple of years ago, when she was about eight, she asked if she could try some of my drink and I said yes. I poured her a tiny glass of sparkling wine and let her have that. She drank it and, although she got a little bit more talkative and a little flushed, it didn't affect her badly. She has tried wine and gin as well but doesn't like the taste. Ben has tried it and doesn't like any kind of alcohol so steers clear. But he is allowed to have it if he wants.' Two years on, Sophie is allowed to drink alcohol on a handful of occasions as long as her parents are present. 'It's interesting because when I hand the glass to Sophie, she always says, 'I don't want to get drunk mum' and is very cautious,' says Clare. 'I want her to have that approach with alcohol. I'd prefer her to be able to have a drink or two openly with her mum at home than sit in the park with friends and binge-drink. Parents and children share alcoholic drinks (file photo). Clare says she has lost friends over her relaxed style of parenting 'Some people will find this shocking or plain wrong. I've even lost a couple of friends over my relaxed style of parenting. But some mothers are too afraid to let go and they micro-manage their children. They place strict rules on them and it absolutely terrifies the kids. 'Sophie and I are able to discuss anything from alcohol to sex and drugs very openly. I'd rather they have the facts and the knowledge than get it wrong. I want to make her responsible, trustworthy and respectful with things like alcohol. I believe I'm doing the right thing.' Clare may see her approach as sensible but official guidance on young people and alcohol is clear. 'Experts advise that parents shouldn't try to de-mystify alcohol by allowing children to try it, especially around special occasions,' says GP Dr Sarah Jarvis, an expert in child health issues and a medical adviser to Drinkaware. 'Our research shows that only one in ten middle-earning parents are aware of the Chief Medical Officer's guidelines on delaying drinking to the age of 15, but when presented with this guidance, nearly seven in ten parents agreed with the recommendations.' Teaching assistant Charlotte Jackson admits mistakes in her youth when it came to drink and is determined not to let her sons Joshua, 12 and Oliver, 11, fall into the same traps. 'I wasn't allowed alcohol when I was a child,' says Charlotte, 33, from Torquay, Devon. 'I remember first tasting Baileys at Christmas with my auntie and thinking it was delicious but I could never tell mum. But like any teenager, I drank. A study found children who try drink from young age more likely to binge-drink in later life 'We moved to Spain when I was in my early teens and it's so easy to access alcohol out there. I'd go out with my friends around the age of 14 and we'd end up drinking in clubs. 'My mum had no idea until one time, when I was 16, I had far too much, mixing my drinks, and ended up being taken to hospital to have my stomach pumped. I was ill for a week. Mum was furious and grounded me. But there was no long-term damage. I was much more sensible after that. 'Joshua first asked me about alcohol when he was about ten and I told him it was a special drink for grown-ups and allowed him to have his first Buck's fizz that Christmas. He sipped it and seemed to like it. He got a bit giggly and excited but wasn't sick. I'd always keep a close eye on him. 'Now, I allow them to have a little can of cider at barbecues or birthday parties as long as they are with me. I'd never allow them to be out drinking on the streets with their mates. I've told my boys about the dangers and about the stomach-pumping incident when I was a teenager so they know it can be dangerous. I'm much more worried about them trying drugs than alcohol.' In a major global study this year, Britons reported getting drunk an average of 51.1 times a year. The U.S., Canada and Australia were close behind but countries like France, Spain and Italy didn't even feature in the top ten. Christine Conner, 55, is another mother who believes children should be allowed to drink under the age of 16. The TV producer lives in Exeter with husband Shaun, a partner in an insurance company, and they have five children between them including sons William, 16, and Charlie, 14, who have both been allowed to drink alcohol from the age of around 12. 'I was allowed to drink from a fairly young age and at Sunday lunch I'd be allowed diluted 'children's wine',' she says. 'By the time I was in my mid-teens, my mother would let me have a little bit of alcohol on occasions. But I'm no stranger to the damage alcohol can do. 'Both my grandfather and my father were alcoholics and both died from the complications, as have some other family members. But I can say honestly that none of them became alcoholic from being introduced to a small amount of drink on a Friday night at home, as we have here. The decision to allow all my sons alcohol from an early age does not come lightly. 'As parents, we need to guide our children, talk to them and give them information not only about drink but also about sex and drugs. I want my boys to be able to discuss with me if they've overdone it with drink and not be ashamed to tell me if they have a hangover. It's about them taking responsibility for their actions.' Christine believes that banning alcohol until children are 18 is unrealistic in modern parenting. 'If children are told they can't do something, they want to do it all the more. That's not to say children should get drunk. I don't want to see a 14-year-old throwing up thanks to alcohol, but I'd be naive if I thought it's never going to happen. 'William is allowed to take a couple of beers to parties and sleepovers if others are, but I always ensure that the parents at the party know he's taking it and make sure he has permission. If anything, it's not so much the boys taking booze, but the girls. I once saw some 14-year-old girls taking what I thought were bottles of water into a party, and was impressed at how sensible they were being until my son told me it was vodka. 'Charlie has been allowed the occasional drink on a special occasion, or a beer on a Friday night with the rest of the family. I want my children to grow up knowing what their limits are. William likes a local cider and is allowed to take a couple of bottles of that to parties or drink it at home. 'I'm not worried about them damaging their liver at this age. I think it's an exaggerated worry. They could damage themselves with paracetamol if they had too much. It's binge-drinking later that could damage them. 'We certainly don't encourage them to get drunk, but I'm sure the older ones have with their mates at some point. I don't like the thought of it but just hope that the lessons learnt at home with the odd beer or two will stand them in good stead.' 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. An internet blackout in Belarus last week was the latest reminder of why an open internet is essential to human rights in the 21st century. The Belarusian government began disrupting internet service early on Sunday, Aug. 9, shortly before voting started in a presidential election that opposition candidates and activists believe was rigged in favor of longtime strongman Alexander Lukashenko. By the end of the day, when protesters flooded into the street, the internet blackout had grown more entrenched, preventing real-time coverage of the bloody crackdown that ensued. According to the independent monitoring group NetBlocks, service only resumed on the morning of Aug. 12. By that point, more than 6,000 people had been arrested and many opposition leaders driven out of the country, including the main opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. During the blackout, one of the few lifelines between protesters and the outside world was an information channel called Nexta, operating out of Poland through the messaging app Telegram. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What happened in Belarus is a reminder of why a free and open global internet is vital for democracy. Perhaps most famously, the Chinese Communist Party has fenced off Chinas internet from the rest of the world. The Chinese people are surveilled, censored, and manipulated with propaganda and disinformation through apps, networks, and networking equipment controlled by Chinese companies that are held liable for everything their users say and do. Chinas sovereign internet doctrinewhich states that all governments have a sovereign right to control what technologies and networks their citizens can use and how they can use themappeals to many world leaders who fear strong political opposition. Internet sovereignty is embraced not only by the likes of Russias Vladimir Putin but also by democratically elected populist leaders seeking to shore up their power. For example, Indias Narendra Modi recently moved to block Chinese apps including WeChat and TikTok, citing national security concerns, with the side benefit of denying activists channels for dissent. Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration is pursuing its own version of internet sovereignty. Trump recently announced a ban on Chinese-owned apps like TikTok and WeChat, and the State Department announced the expansion of its clean network program, which seeks to purge Chinese companies and technologies from U.S. networks. There are indeed valid security concerns about networking technology sold by the Chinese company Huawei. It is certainly true that, as Chinese-owned apps, TikTok and WeChat are subject to surveillance and censorship demands by their home government, extending Chinese government controls to users around the world. But eliminating Chinese tech from U.S. networks and platforms only protects people from Chinese government surveillance conducted directly via Chinese companies. It does nothing to protect users from hackers and spiesincluding Chinese state-sponsored attackswho take advantage of companies security vulnerabilities and lax privacy standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Trump obtains a second term, his policies will empower and legitimize efforts by governments around the world to fence off different parts of the internet in service of their own geopolitical and domestic objectives. Asserting internet sovereignty already helps incumbent leaders and their political parties tip the scales to manipulate elections and manufacture their own legitimacy, particularly in countries with weak or deteriorating rule of lawwhich is now on a steady global decline, including in the U.S. If the Trump administration helps to normalize the banning and blocking of entire apps and platforms, strongmen will be in an even stronger position. Cross-border trust between and among governments, companies, and individuals has hit an all-time low, even with democratic allies and longtime trading partners. In July, the European Court of Justice struck down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement, a legal mechanism that enables U.S. companies to transfer data between the EU and the U.S. (For example, when somebody in Europe uses Google or Dropbox to store and share documents, that data may be stored or pass through U.S.-based computer servers.) The court determined that Europeans rights are insufficiently protected under U.S. jurisdiction. It pointed to the failure of U.S. law to offer adequate privacy protections, surveillance programs that grant overly broad access to personal data by U.S. government agencies, and the absence of a right of private action by EU citizens in U.S. courts. This is the second time that a U.S.-EU data transfer agreement has been struck down in court. The implications are clear: If the next Congress fails to pass a strong federal privacy law and enact significant surveillance reforms, the EU will erect even stronger digital boundaries, further fragmenting the internet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the American people deny Trump a second term, the Biden-Harris administration will need to reboot Americas internet policy and recommit to a vision of an open internet through which data and information can flow freely. Congress must take decisive steps to protect internet users from abuse of government surveillance powers. It must curb invasive and opaque commercial data tracking that not only enables platforms and advertisers to manipulate users behavior, but also serves up a treasure trove of behavioral data that is currently available for purchase on the open marketby anyone, including directly and indirectly by a range of intelligence agencies. Legislative action to protect the rights of people who use U.S. companies networks and platforms will make it easier for governments and companies to work together toward further transparency and accountability standards. Advertisement Transparency standards for government access to data are the next essential step. If the U.S. and EU take the lead, other nations that seek to benefit from being part of an open and interconnected internet are likely to follow. In the wake of the revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013, many U.S. companies sought to repair the loss of trust with their global customers about the extent of U.S. surveillance access to their data. A growing number of companies have begun to publish transparency reports, containing information about the volume and nature of government requests for user data that they receive and comply with. Some European telecommunications companies (such as Spanish multinational Telefonica and Swedens Telia) and even some East Asian companies (like South Koreas chat app Kakao and the Japanese-Korean chat app LINE) have since followed suit. As the implications of TikToks Chinese origins came under increasing scrutiny in Washington, the company responded by producing a transparency report of its own. Zoom, which is U.S.-owned but has substantial operations in China, has also promised to publish transparency reports to address consumer and regulatory concerns. Right now, however, transparency reports are voluntary, vary widely in quality and scope, and are not independently audited or verified. Lawmakers could change that. Advertisement Advertisement Trumpian internet sovereignty offers nothing to the people of other nations beyond an invitation to choose sides in the competition between great powers. Governments seeking to improve mutual cross-border trust could make transparency reporting mandatory for companies over a certain size, or otherwise confer an official certification to companies whose transparency reports meet certain standards and have been audited. More importantly, governments themselves need to be more transparent and accountable about their surveillance activities through commercial digital services. A 2017 report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that while some countries have made steps toward greater transparency and accountability in surveillance practices, the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms was mixed, and citizens access to legal remedy in cases of abuse was generally not straightforward. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence does issue an annual report with data on the use of national surveillance authorities. Buried in the most recent report is evidence that the FBI recently failed to comply with warrant requirements. It is not currently possible, however, for European users of U.S. digital services to obtain redress for such abuses of surveillance power. Establishing such cross-border mechanisms and norms between countries with strong rule of law and human rights protections is essential to building confidence in the viabilityand desirabilityof an open internet through which data and information can flow freely across borders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. must work with allies to ensure that the design, operation, and governance of digital platforms, services, and devices is consistent with universal human rights standards. Back in 2011, more than a year after thenSecretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the Obama administrations global internet freedom agenda, the U.S. and the Netherlands launched the Freedom Online Coalition, a group of governments who have committed to work together to support Internet freedom and protect fundamental human rightsfree expression, association, assembly, and privacy onlineworldwide. Membership in this coalition, which has received little media attention since its founding, has since grown from 15 to 32 members. The coalition is led mainly by foreign ministries that negotiate statements and diplomatic communiques at the United Nations and other multilateral policy bodies, but it has had little effect on member countries national legislation, or on the actions of members domestic surveillance agencies. There is presently no mechanism for member states to hold one another accountable for their human rights commitments. At the very least, member states should submit action plans for how they will uphold their commitments to protect human rights online. A key metric should be an assessment of the extent to which national laws affecting the internet are consistent with international human rights standards, with a report on progress made toward reforming laws that are not, accompanied by independent civil society responses. Countries that show no progress or obvious bad faith should be put on notice and, ultimately, expelled if necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Across Europe, there is growing legislative momentum around requiring companies to conduct formal due diligence processes to identify how their business operations affect human rights, and to demonstrate to shareholders and consumers what they are doing to mitigate harm. A new U.S. administration should work with Congress to pass similar laws, thereby empowering consumers and shareholders to hold companies accountable for whether companies that offer digital services to millions of Americans are even paying attention to how their business models and product design affect users rights. In both Europe and the U.S., such due diligence laws must include digital rights such as freedom of expression and privacy. Trumps vision of internet sovereignty is an attempt to beat China at its own game of great power competition among digital spheres of influence. But Trumpian internet sovereignty offers nothing to the people of other nations beyond an invitation to choose sides in the competition between great powers. A Biden administration will need to address real challenges posed by China while also restoring global faith in an open, interoperable internet upon which open societies and open markets depend. This agenda for privacy and security, transparency, and accountability will require extraordinary leadership and political will to implement. The future of democracy around the world likely depends on it. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Italy's principals seek clarity on covid-19 protocols with schools just weeks away from reopening. Italy is to make two million covid-19 tests available for teachers, janitors and school staff between 24 August and 7 September, one week before the scheduled reopening date of 14 September, reports Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The finger-prick tests, which will be free and voluntary, will be carried out on teachers and school staff from kindergartens through to high school. If a teacher or school staff member tests positive, a swab test must be conducted within 48 hours at the latest, according to a circular sent from the health ministry to regional school offices, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The news comes as Italys head teachers demand protection from prosecution if pupils become infected by covid-19 at school, amid fears that the school could be held legally responsible. With the start of the academic year just weeks away, the Italian government is scrambing to establish protocols as it prepares to announce the restrictions to be implemented, expected by the end of this month. In the meantime many details remain unclear and there is increasing pressure on Italy's education minister Lucia Azzolina for clarity regarding rules around key issues such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Italian media has reported that each school must appoint a staff member to act as a link between the school and the health authorities in the advent of a covid-19 case. Each school will reportedly be obliged to have a room available to send suspected cases for immediate isolation, with the room being designated exclusively for this purpose. Schools are also reportedly waiting for the nationwide roll-out of single-seat desks, designed to ensure interpersonal distance, however there are concerns that the desks will not arrive at all schools in time for the reopening date. "The schools must not only be reopened," - Azzolina said - "we must also ensure that they do not close", reports Italian news agency ANSA. If a pupil tests positive for coronavirus, schools will close temporarily and then reopen, deputy health minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Sky Tg24 on 18 August. Close contacts of the student will be quarantined, with pupils following online lessons from home for 14 days, according to Sky Tg24. Italy's schools closed in the early stages of the covid-19 crisis on 5 March and did not open before the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Earlier this summer the Italian premier Giuseppe Conte promised that Italy's schools would reopen "in complete safety" on 14 September. The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns to deal with it have led to a big spike in domestic violence and other forms of abuse, with two-thirds of victims reporting violence for the first time. "There has been more violence in more Australian homes. The severity of violence has increased and COVID is actually being weaponised within the home as a tool of abuse," Natasha Stott Despoja, chair of campaign group Our Watch, told the National Press Club on Wednesday. Domestic violence campaigner Natasha Stott Despoja says the coronavirus pandemic has led to "more violence in more Australian homes". Credit:Alex Ellinghausen A survey of 15,000 Australian women found nearly one in 20 suffered physical or sexual violence from their current or former partner between March and May. Two-thirds of these said it was the first time. Nearly one in eight reported experiencing at least one form of emotionally abusive, harassing or controlling behaviour. Frontline domestic violence workers around the country have also reported increases in the frequency and severity of violence during the pandemic, with many hearing from women for the first time. Services in Canberra said new domestic violence cases in June more than doubled compared to last year, while two-fifths of Victorian frontline workers said in April - during the first lockdown - they saw a rise in first-time violence. Three crew of a Seattle fishing boat who were found to have antibodies able to neutralise the new coronavirus remained uninfected in an outbreak that swept through the ship, sickening most people on board, researchers have reported. The small real-world study, which has not been peer-reviewed, is among the first in humans to suggest a link between neutralising antibodies -- those that stop the virus latching onto host cells -- and protection from infection. Researchers from the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle screened 120 of 122 people before they boarded the fishing vessel in May, testing both for active virus and for antibodies in the blood that would indicate a previous or ongoing infection. None of the crew tested positive for the virus, but six had some antibodies and of those, three had evidence of neutralising antibodies. More than two weeks after the boat set sail, it returned to shore with an infected crew member who needed hospital treatment. Researchers then tested all the crew over several weeks and found that 85 percent -- 104 crew members -- were infected. But none of the three with neutralising antibodies tested positive, nor did they report any symptoms during the outbreak. "Therefore, the presence of neutralising antibodies from prior infection was significantly associated with protection against re-infection," the authors of the study said. - 'Important insight' - Scientists have not been able to run direct human tests to find out about the protection conferred by neutralising antibodies, because of ethical concerns over potential severity and long term impacts of the virus, the study authors said. Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said the new study, though small, was a "remarkable, real-life, human experiment at a time when we've been short of hard-line, formal, proof that neutralising antibodies genuinely offer protection from re-infection" -- although that had been predicted by animal testing. Story continues "In short, it's good news. Who knew immunology research on fishing boats could be so informative?" he added. But the research does not necessarily show people cannot catch COVID-19 twice. The three crew who had weaker antibodies before setting sail all tested positive on return -- although researchers said their initial results could have been a false positive or sign of early infection. In a commentary on the study, Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at University of Nottingham, said it "suggests that individuals who have had a prior exposure to virus are susceptible to reinfection unless they have appreciable levels of neutralising antibodies". Ball, who was not linked to the research, said this "gives us an important insight into the type of immunity that might protect from future infection", but it does not show whether or not past exposure can protect against severe infection in people who do not develop neutralising antibodies. klm/mh/tgb CAIRO Sudan has fired its foreign ministry spokesman following remarks he made concerning contacts" between Khartoum and Israel, the state news agency SUNA reported on Wednesday. Spokesman Haydar Sadig made the comments to regional media and confirmed them to Reuters on Tuesday, describing the United Arab Emirates decision to normalise relations with Israel as a brave and bold step". Sudans foreign ministry said it was astonished" by his remarks and stressed that the government had not discussed the possibility of diplomatic relations. 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 The US interdiction of oil shipments bound from Iran to Venezuela represents a dangerous escalation of the maximum pressure sanctions that Washington has imposed against both countries, raising the threat of armed conflict. The Department of Justice issued a statement Friday bragging that it had carried out the largest-ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran. It said that approximately 1.116 million barrels of petroleum had been stolen with the assistance of foreign partners. There has been no indication of what foreign partners were involved in this act of piracy, but US officials claim that the seizure did not involve military force. Rather, it appears that some combination of threats and bribes were used to convince the Greek owners of the four tankers carrying the fuel identified as the Bella, Bering, Pandi and Luna, all of them flying Liberian flagsto give it up. According to the Wall Street Journal, the threats included sanctions against the ships owners and crews that would prevent them from accessing US ports, US banks and US dollars. The Greek-owned tanker Bella, one of four ships from which the US hijacked oil bound for Venezuela. The pseudolegal basis for Washingtons act of high seas piracy was a seizure order issued by a US District Court judge in Washington, DC based upon the Justice Departments claim that the oil constituted foreign assets or sources of influence for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a major component of the Iranian military, which Washington has branded as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This designation, imposed without any justification in April of last year, represented the first time that Washington has deemed a branch of another countrys government as terrorist. Since unilaterally abrogating the JCPOA nuclear deal between the major powers and Tehran in 2018, the Trump administration has imposed a crippling economic sanctions regime against Iran tantamount to a state of war, while building up US forces in the region in preparation for military confrontation. Gloating over the operation, President Donald Trump falsely claimed at a White House press briefing last Friday, We seized the tankers, and were moving them ... to Houston. In reality, the oil was offloaded from the Greek-owned vessels onto tankers contracted by the US military. Two of these transfers took place off the coast of Oman, and two off the coast of Mozambique. The Greek-owned ships themselves were not seized. While denouncing the US action, Iranian officials have pointed out that the oil had already been sold to Venezuela and did not belong to Iran. Furthermore, the ships themselves were neither owned nor flagged by Iran. When the seizure order was issued in July, Iran denounced it at the United Nations as an act of piracy. Any attempt on the high seas to prevent Iran from involving itself in legal trade with any country that it chooses would be an act of piracy, pure and simple, Alireza Miryousefi, the spokesman for the Iranian mission to the UN, said in a statement. This is a direct threat to international peace and security and contravenes international law, including the United Nations Charter, he added. Iran had warned that any attempt to interdict its own ships would be met with swift retaliation. The Islamic Republic will reciprocate any hostile action to contain its legal rights and has not allowed any country to take any such action so far, an official of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council warned. The Iranian militarys boarding of the tanker Wilda in the Gulf of Oman last week was an apparent response to the US oil seizure. The vessel appeared to be owned by the same Greek shipping company that agreed to surrender the oil from the four tankers targeted by Washington. The US act of piracy follows Irans successful shipment of $46 million worth of gasoline and petroleum products, including diluents needed by Venezuelan refineries to turn the countrys crude oil into gasoline, to the South American country in May. Iranian tankers carried the cargo. Washington reacted with rage toward this breaching of the maximum pressure sanctions regime that it has imposed against both Iran and Venezuela. At the time, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned, If our oil tankers face problems in the Caribbean Sea or anywhere in the world by the Americans, they will face problems reciprocally. Iranian officials warned that if Iran was prevented from shipping oil, then no country would be able to do so, suggesting a possible blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which some 30 percent of sea-borne oil products pass. The seizure of the Venezuelan-bound oil by means of threats and bribery is just one step from the use of US military force against Iranian shipping that would spark a major new war in the Middle East, which in turn could provoke a global conflagration. The worldwide crisis that has been triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, most intensely within the United States itself, has done nothing to blunt the aggressive pursuits of US imperialism and militarism. Iran, with over 345,000 coronavirus cases and more than 20,000 recorded deaths, has been the worst hit country in the Middle East. While Venezuela had initially appeared spared the horrific toll being recorded in Brazil, Peru, Chile and Colombia, it is now recording over 1,000 new cases daily, while reporting less than 300 deaths. The spread of the deadly virus has been accelerated by the return of Venezuelans who migrated to other Latin American countries in search of work as the Venezuelan economy cratered under the impact of falling oil prices and the punishing US sanctions regime. Washington sees the crisis and the immense human suffering that it entails as another weapon of war, to be exploited in its quest for hegemony over the Persian Gulf and Latin America. Even as millions are infected and hundreds of thousands die, the threat of a global war that could claim the lives of billions only continues to grow. US military threats against Venezuela have escalated since April, when Trump took the stage at a supposed COVID-19 briefing to announce the dispatch of a naval task force to the Caribbean for the so-called purpose of stopping drug trafficking, in particular, from Venezuela. Under the phony pretext of narcotics interdiction90 percent of the worlds cocaine comes out of Colombia, whose right-wing government is Washingtons closest regional allythe Pentagon has deployed the largest military force in the region since the 1989 US invasion of Panama. The US military deployment against Venezuela was followed by an abortive invasion at the beginning of May by mercenary units led by ex-US special forces troops. A Venezuelan court last week sentenced two former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, to 20 years in prison for their part in the operation, which was aimed at seizing and killing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has vowed that Washington will use all means to secure the release of the mercenaries. US aggression against both Venezuela and Iran, which respectively hold the worlds first and fourth largest oil reserves, is bound up with the strategic confrontation between the US and China, which has cemented ties with both countries. Iran has become even more of a focus for US military aggression following the revelation last month that Beijing and Tehran had signed a 25-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement involving $400 billion in Chinese investment in Iranian infrastructure in return for guaranteed energy exports. The deal also includes a significant security component, allowing China to deploy some 5,000 security forces to guard its projects, make free use of Iranian bases and build a port on the strategic Strait of Hormuz. US imperialism is not about to surrender enforcement of its unilateral sanctions regimes against Venezuela or Iran. Significantly, the Trump administration has announced that Elliott Abrams, convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s, will now serve not only as its special representative to Venezuela, where he has led the administrations unsuccessful attempts at regime change, but as its special envoy to Iran as well. The appointment signals a shift towards stepped up aggression. Driven by US imperialisms attempts to offset its crisis and decline by military means, the threat of war against both Iran and Venezuela is sharpened by the domestic crisis of the US itself and may be accelerated by the electoral calendar, with a new war a distinctly possible October surprise. Capacitors that rapidly store and release electric energy are key components in modern electronics and power systems. However, the most commonly used ones have low energy densities compared to other storage systems like batteries or fuel cells, which in turn cannot discharge and recharge rapidly without sustaining damage. Now, as reported in the journal Science, researchers have found the best of both worlds. By introducing isolated defects to a type of commercially available thin film in a straightforward post-processing step, a team led by researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has demonstrated that a common material can be processed into a top-performing energy storage material. The research is supported by the Materials Project, an open-access online database that virtually delivers the largest collection of materials properties to scientists around the globe. Today, the Materials Project combines both computational and experimental efforts to, among other goals, accelerate the design of new functional materials. This includes understanding ways to manipulate known materials in ways that improve their performance. Growing requirements for cost reduction and device miniaturization have driven a push toward development of high energy density capacitors. Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply while a battery is being charged. The new material developed at Berkeley Lab could ultimately combine the efficiency, reliability, and robustness of capacitors with the energy storage capabilities of larger-scale batteries. Applications include personal electronic devices, wearable technology, and car audio systems. The material is based on a so-called "relaxor ferroelectric," which is a ceramic material that undergoes a rapid mechanical or electronic response to an external electric field and is commonly used as a capacitor in applications like ultrasonics, pressure sensors, and voltage generators. The applied field drives changes in the orientation of the electrons in the material. At the same time, the field drives a change in the energy stored in the materials, making them a good candidate for use beyond a small-scale capacitor. The problem to solve is how to optimize the ferroelectric so that it can be charged to high voltages and discharged very rapidly - billions of times or more - without sustaining damage that would render it unsuitable for long-term use in applications such as computers and vehicles. Researchers in the lab of Lane Martin, a faculty scientist in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) at Berkeley Lab and professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, accomplished this by introducing local defects that allowed it to withstand bigger voltages. "You've probably experienced relaxor ferroelectrics on a gas grill. The button that lights the grill operates a spring-loaded hammer that smacks a piezoelectric crystal, which is a type of relaxor, and creates a voltage that ignites the gas," explained Martin. "We've demonstrated that they can also be made into some of the best materials for energy-storage applications as well." Placing a ferroelectric material between two electrodes and increasing the electric field causes charge to build up. During discharge, the amount of energy available depends on how strongly the material's electrons orient, or become polarized, in response to the electric field. However, most such materials typically cannot withstand a large electric field before the material fails. The fundamental challenge, therefore, is to find a way to increase the maximum possible electric field without sacrificing the polarization. The researchers turned to an approach that they had previously developed to "turn off" conductivity in a material. By bombarding a thin film with high-energy charged particles known as ions, they were able to introduce isolated defects. The defects trap the material's electrons, preventing their motion and decreasing the film's conductivity by orders of magnitude. "In ferroelectrics, which are supposed to be insulators, having charge that leaks through them is a major issue. By bombarding ferroelectrics with beams of high-energy ions, we knew we could make them better insulators," said Jieun Kim, a doctoral researcher in Martin's group and lead author on the paper. "We then asked, could we use this same approach to make a relaxor ferroelectric withstand bigger voltages and electric fields before it catastrophically fails?" The answer turned out to be "yes." Kim first fabricated thin films of a prototypical relaxor ferroelectric called lead magnesium niobite-lead titanate. Then, he targeted the films with high-energy helium ions at the Ion-Beam Analysis Facility operated by the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics (ATAP) Division at Berkeley Lab. The helium ions knocked target ions from their sites to create point defects. Measurements showed that the ion-bombarded film had more than twice the energy storage density of previously reported values and 50 percent higher efficiencies. "We were originally expecting the effects to be mostly from reducing the leakage with isolated point defects. However, we realized that the shift in the polarization-electric field relationship due to some of those defects was equally important," said Martin. "This shift means that it takes larger and larger applied voltages to create the maximum change in polarization." The result suggests that ion bombardment can help to overcome the trade-off between being highly polarizable and easily breakable. The same ion beam approach could also improve other dielectric materials to improve energy storage, and provides researchers with a tool to repair problems in already-synthesized materials. "It would be great to see folks use these ion-beam approaches to 'heal' materials in devices after the fact if their synthesis or production process didn't go perfectly," said Kim. ### This research was supported by the DOE Office of Science and grants from the National Science Foundation. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Lab's facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. Several months into the pandemic, it's becoming clear that even those with seemingly mild cases of coronavirus may sustain long-term health damage. During a live episode of the podcast Healthy You: Surviving a Pandemic, hosted by George Washington University, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's go-to infectious disease expert, warned about these "long haulers"those who battle a more mild form of the virus but suffer from lingering side effects for months after. Read on, and click here for the full 98 Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus. 1 On the Serious Long-Term Side Effects Long haulersthose who are still experiencing the wrath of COVID-19 long after the virus subsidesare extremely concerning to Dr. Fauci. He explains that many of the most troubling cases of the virus involve people who did not require hospitalization, and actually recover within a few weeks. However, "a substantial proportion of them don't feel right," experiencing fatigue, muscle aches, and brain fog. "The thing that worries me more is what we're seeing about the subtle insidious effects on the cardiovascular system and the nervous system, namely MRIs and PET scans that show abnormalities of inflammatory processes in the brain, in the heart of some individuals," he explained, adding that it isn't just "1% or 2%" of individuals, but "double digit percent" who are experiencing this. "Now they may be reversible and they may completely clear after a while, but we don't know that. So we better be careful that just because a person survivesand obviously the overwhelming amount of people do survivethat there may be a certain percentage of people who might have serious residual effects to follow that." 2 On How Children Are Not Immune to the Virus Grandparents Relaxing On Sofa At Home With Granddaughters Children are not immune to coronavirus, points out Dr. Fauci. "We should not neglect the fact that children, some can get seriously ill," he said, adding that the chances are "much lesser, lesser likelihood than the adults." He also touched upon some of the serious health conditions seen in younger people, revealing that we still don't have a grasp on what the long term damage may be. "There are other syndromes that we're just starting to see right now, inflammatory syndromes that children have. We don't know the extent of that. It seems to be unusual, but we don't know the full extent, but the issue is we're starting to learn a lot about children getting infected. They clearly do. And there've been some studies to show that children from 10 to 19 can transmit to adults as easily as adults transmit to them," he said. Story continues 3 On the Not-So-Likelihood That Russia Has a Safe and Effective Vaccine An asian woman in a protective suit and mask holds an injection syringe and vaccine "It's not bogus because he has a vaccine, what's bogus is to say you have a vaccine that's safe and effective," Fauci responded when asked about Russian President Vladamir Putin's claims of a coronavirus vaccine."There's a big difference between having a vaccine and proving in trials, that are really well-designed, randomized placebo-controlled trials, that when you're starting to give it widely to hundreds of millions of people, that you're giving a safe and effective vaccine," he said. "The Russians, to my knowledge and I'm pretty sure I'm correct, have not been studying this intensively in very large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials." 4 On the Best Way to Convince People to Get Vaccinated Doctor filling syringe with medication, closeup. Vaccination and immunization Fauci pointed out that "vaccine disinformation can lead to vaccine hesitancy." Therefore, it is important to engage these individuals rather than criticize themespecially those in minority communities. "You get out there and you get community representatives to engage them, to try and be as transparent as you possibly can with the data, answer the questions that they have and try to convince them that vaccinations in general, particularly a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19, is something that's important for them, their families and society in general," Fauci said. While he hopes that most people will choose to get vaccinated, he would never support a mandated approach, as it would be "unenforceable and inappropriate." 5 On How to Send Children Back to School Safely Girl with face mask back at school after covid-19 quarantine and lockdown. Fauci explained that there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to sending children to school, and that it should be entirely dependent on the level of infection in the community. "You really want to think twice before you get the children back to school," he admitted. "I don't think there should be an all or noneall the kids go back or all the kids stay locked in. You've got to look at extenuating circumstances and you've got to look at the location where the school is." 6 On the Potential for Infection in Colleges and Universities Student in protective face mask in empty college indoors "It's a big, big difference," Fauci said, when asked about how the reopening of colleges and universities should be handled. "People are coming from all over the country. You might be having people coming from red zones, yellow zones and green zones. It really varies." While he admits it may be "conceivable" to successfully bring people back to colleges and universities, it would involve a lot of worksuch as testing everyone before coming in, doing intermittent surveillance testing, and having the capability of identifying, isolating and contact tracing. 7 On How You Can Help Control This Outbreak man washes his hands with soap in the sink In terms of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci is most concerned about those who aren't abiding by the fundamental principles. "It is completely in our power, even prior to a vaccine, to be able to control this outbreak," he said. "If we abide by the certain fundamental public health principles that we talk aboutwearing of masks, physical distancing, avoiding crowds, outdoor more than indoor, sanitation, washing hands with soap and waterif you just do that, you could definitely influence the course of the outbreak." So do as he says, and to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 37 Places You're Most Likely to Catch Coronavirus. Seniority, clout and power are directly related to caste privilege, and this may sound less shocking if you keenly observe who holds top positions in academia presently, and in the past. In India, and unsurprisingly even outside the country, classroom environments in both schools and colleges are moulded by caste dynamics. This is also true of the digital classroom during the coronavirus pandemic, where there is no face-to-face interaction between teachers and students. This is because caste insidiously manifests itself in several forms, and haunts you everywhere you go. Caste privilege renders itself visible through ones name, clothes, and social life who one can call their peers in academic settings and outside it. Discrimination along these lines can also be observed in teaching and teachers behaviour, in particular the figure of the rude upper caste professor, known for their discriminatory and offensive ways, which have been normalised by the larger education system they are part of. * The nature of teaching is such that at the start, the knowledge sets of the teacher and that of the student are mostly non-overlapping. The teaching relationship is considered successful if at the end of the process, both knowledge sets (or at least the students) are significantly larger and show a bigger overlap. Most teachers who are established and respected in academia seem unaware of the power imbalance inherent in such a pedagogic contract between themselves and their students. The idiosyncratic behaviour of senior professors who are known to be rude and callous is tolerated and even venerated even though it negatively impacts students learning experiences. Seniority, clout and power are directly related to caste privilege, and this may sound less shocking if you keenly observe who holds top positions in academia presently, and in the past. The scales have always been tipped against those who are lower caste. Clout is usually the result of several factors, such as access to publications, proximity to those who are famous and powerful, ones resume, positions held in projects, book offers all of which are more easily available to those who have privilege and social capital. * Patterns of bullying by professors, in my opinion, dont just stem from their intellect. They are tied into their awareness about their social capital and achievements, which the student in question may not possess. Take for example fluency in English: Perfect articulation is seen as necessary if one wants to be treated with basic respect. A lack of argumentative coherence becomes an invitation for mockery. Any slip-up or breaking of a grammatical rule, and your background the schools you went to, your parents professions, the embarrassing lack of opportunities you have suffered, and the caste your ancestors belonged to all stand exposed. With respect to such an attitude towards language, as well as other factors, Indian academia needs to seriously consider how ingrained ideas of Brahminised meritocracy are, and how marginalised positions and perspectives are systematically disregarded. Additionally, this bullying is not indiscriminately practiced. Which students do you think are more prone to harassment? Those whose social capital and family background can challenge such bullying and the institutions they study at, or those who cannot shake the foundations of established schools and universities? What makes this situation more worrying is that students from marginalised backgrounds can often find themselves without care frameworks to rely on, when something untoward happens. They are left to fend for themselves and survive on their own, in the absence of community, welfare committees, grievance redressal networks and hardship grants and scholarships. Considering these circumstances, it is shocking that professors, seemingly aware of their prestige and aura, continue to engage in such alienating, damaging behaviour. Asking questions, especially those that arise out of a lack of knowledge, is discouraged, even though asking questions is the very foundation of academics. Can it not be said then that these professors expect creativity and intelligence only of some students, while the rest must never be anything but obedient and silent? * A few weeks ago, I was scheduled to interview a famous Indian theorist who currently teaches abroad and has tenure for life. They are nearly worshipped in academia and considered a literary genius and amazing philosopher. Any string of adjectives would be insufficient to describe their intellect. I work for a nascent student-run publication, and when they accepted our interview request, I was delighted. But I was also nervous and spent three days immersing myself in their work, which I was familiar with before, but not as extensively. I considered their obscurantist style as being a mark of their intellect rather than a criticism and trusted that writing in such an opaque manner was not guided by politics; that no matter which caste you belong to, you must rise up to the challenge that critical theory poses. I couldnt have been more wrong. At one point during the interview, the professor asked me and my co-interviewer about the etymological origins of a word that we used. Since neither of us has expertise in the subject, we could not answer their question. It turns out that the root of the word was French, and since neither of us knew the language, it was deeply distressing when we were mocked by the professor for this reason. The assumption that we would know the answer to such a question, or have fluency in French, comes from the belief that education is not capital and knowledge about such concepts can be taken for granted (its obvious which group of students has the opportunity to learn and master foreign languages). The truth is, even if you do have proficiency in a foreign language or are aware of a certain concept, when faced with an intimidating upper caste celebrity professor, words can fail you. I wasnt bothered by the idea that our questions didnt perhaps do justice to the professors knowledge and stature, I was affected by their behaviour during the interview: constant interruptions, mocking expressions, mimicking us, being temperamental and outright rude. Over the course of our 30-minute interaction, my co-interviewer and I were left feeling humiliated and shocked at their rudeness. When we couldnt identify an important philosopher by a photograph, the professor asked why they even bothered to have a conversation with us. This interaction seemed more like a test aimed at us than an opportunity to ask questions to and learn from a veteran. It was as though our questions werent worthy of their answers. * Dignity in a teacher-student relationship should not be contingent on how quickly youre able to respond to questions, or how well you can articulate an idea. A student who knows less than their peers still deserves respect. A hierarchical relationship does not justify the lack of mutual respect. Most importantly, abuse should no longer be considered a legitimate by-product of the teaching process. Such treatment is discouraging and comes at a cost: not only does it actively limit the scope of marginalised peoples academic hopes in the future, but it can also tragically claim lives. A student commits suicide every hour in India. Twenty-eight such suicides are reported each day, as per data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The NCRB data shows that 10,159 students died by suicide in 2018, an increase from 9,905 in 2017, and 9,478 in 2016. What does it mean to lose Dr Payal Tadvi, Rajini Krish, Rohith Vemula, Senthil Kumar, Madari Venkatesh, and Aniket Ambhore, among countless others, to institutional murder? Many of these deaths involve first-generation learners, whose presence at such institutions shows that despite the cruelty of oppression and hurdles put in place through discrimination, members from oppressed communities managed to carve a place for themselves. The rude upper caste professor is but one more hurdle they are forced to deal with. Simple Rajrah is a researcher at the University of Oxford With EVFTA, Vietnams pharmacy firms will have to compete fairly with the manufacturers from the EU. A recent study of BMI Research found that in the next five years, Vietnams pharmacy industry will continue to be among 20 markets with the fastest and most stable growth rates. Regarding market scale, it predicted that market value would reach $7.7 billion by 2021 and $16.1 billion by 2026, with CAGR of 11 percent if calculating in Vietnam dong. In order to compete with Indian and Chinese low-cost products, some US pharmacy firms have licensed local pharmacy firms to make drugs, or buy into enterprises in local underdeveloped markets like Vietnam, so as to use the cheap labor force and cut production costs. Vietnam is believed to be an attractive destination for multinationals to set up their production facilities which make products for export to third countries. Many large-scale projects have kicked off including the $80 million medicine factory in the HCM City High-Tech Park Zone developed by Vietnamese Vinapharm and French Sanofi Group. More recently, Vietnam has witnessed the establishment of AstraZeneca Vietnam, a subsidiary of the worlds big pharmacy manufacturer AstraZeneca. The group pledged to invest VND5 trillion, or $220 million in Vietnam in 2020-2024. Vietnam is believed to be an attractive destination for multinationals to set up their production facilities which make products for export to third countries. In the past, foreign businesses were subject to limitations in drug distribution, including storage and transportation services. But with EVFTA, Vietnamese enterprises will have to compete fairly with businesses from the EU like AstraZeneca. Vietnamese businesses have every reason to worry about the competition as European pharmacy firms can join more deeply into the supply, production and distribution chains in the Vietnamese market. The quality of many made-in-Vietnam products is nearly the same as the quality of foreign imports, while the price is just equal to 1/20, but Vietnamese patients still prefer foreign products. To prepare for competition, many Vietnamese firms including Hau Giang Pharmacy, Bidiphar, Imexpharm and Pymepharco have planned big investments to upgrade their factories with modern technologies to improve the quality of products. However, equipping factories with imported GMP-EU standard technology, which costs VND300 billion on average, is a big challenge for Vietnams enterprises. Mai Lan VN pharmaceutical market: stiff competition fosters M&A wave Vietnam ranks 17th among 'pharmerging' markets, or markets expected to become a pillar for the worlds pharmaceutical industry, according to IMS Health. By Lucas Landau NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (Reuters) - Indigenous protesters blocked a key Brazilian grain highway again on Tuesday evening after a six-hour pause to allow a long line of trucks carrying corn to pass, and plan to stay there for another 24 hours before obeying a court order to leave. The Kayapo tribe said in a statement that the federal government had failed to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed four of their elders, and has not consulted them on a plan to build a railway next to their land. "We are tired of unkept promises," the tribe said. Kayapo men carrying wooden weapons and wearing warrior body paint and headdresses of bird feathers on Monday blocked the BR-163 highway in center-west Brazil with tires and wooden planks, jamming up loaded trucks for 3 kilometers (2 miles). The BR-163 links towns in the nation's biggest farm state Mato Grosso to the port of Miritituba, an important export river gateway in Para state. With the soy season almost over, the main grain transported on the road at present is corn. A judge issued a ruling on Monday ordering the demonstrators to unblock the road in the region of Novo Progresso, southern Para state. Tribal leaders at the roadblock said they would continue blocking the highway for another 24 hours until the court order for their eviction comes into force on Wednesday. The tribe's grievances include the building of the so-called Ferrograo railway, set to cross part of the Amazon to connect the grain-producing Mato Grosso state to river ports for soy and corn. The railway will run parallel to the BR-163 highway, which has become an important route for exporting grains to the river ports for transshipment on to larger ships on the Amazon river. The Kayapo, who live on the adjacent Menkragnoti e Bau indigenous reservations, claim the road has brought illness to their people and are seeking owed reparation money. The tribe said the government's indigenous affairs agency Funai had not helped them deal with the pandemic or expel illegal loggers and gold miners from their land, 6.5 million hectares (25,100 square miles) that include the last extensive rainforest still standing in the eastern Amazon. Funai did not respond to a request for comment for this story. (Reporting by Lucas Landau; writing by Anthony Boadle; editing by Richard Pullin) COLUMBIA South Carolina social workers have tracked down nearly 2,300 children in the last month but nearly 800 more who went missing after schools closed in March remain unaccounted for as classes resume. The search, which has involved Department of Social Services workers in other divisions volunteering to knock on doors, has provided lessons on the need to "not wait for people to call in for abuse and neglect," DSS Director Michael Leach told state senators Wednesday. Social workers and law enforcement officers have paired up across the state since July 29 to find the students who stopped communicating with their teachers amid the spring's online and paper-packet instruction. They're still trying to reach 371 students in eight school districts using the contact information schools provided, including 120 in Colleton County, 66 in Charleston County and 20 in Richland County. For 409 others, the search is moving into the next phase following multiple phone calls and attempted home visits, according to Leach's update. "These diligent efforts have been unsuccessful in leading to face-to-face contact with these children/youth," reads Leach's official report. Next steps include cross-checking school districts' latest enrollment records in case parents have recently registered their children for the 2020-21 school year with new contact information. That includes possibly being in another part of the state. Search efforts have already determined 159 students on DSS' original list simply moved to another address, Leach told senators. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! When students are found, the goal is to address whatever barriers they faced in the spring so they don't fall ever further behind as classes resume with mostly online instruction, he said. Of the 2,295 students successfully reached, the reasons their parents and guardians cited for ending communications include the lack of a computer, no internet service, parents' inability to help their children with difficult material, struggles with trying to help children of different ages while working full time, an inability to reach teachers for help with assignments, no transportation to pick up or drop off packets, and Spanish-speaking families unable to understand materials printed in English, according to the DSS report. "We don't want to get in that same situation this school year," Leach said. "We cannot let some of our students fail. ... My worry is that the gap could increase and leave some families behind." Senators said they're impressed the effort whittled down what started in May as concern over an estimated 40,000 students who had little to no contact with their teacher. "I sleep better now already," said Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, who pushed for the search. Investigations of child abuse or neglect were already underway for 152 of the more than 3,200 students social workers were asked to find. DSS has not provided any details about those open cases. Advertisement London and Cardiff pocketed a combined 58.2million from drivers who committed moving traffic offences in a year, a new report by the RAC has found. More than half of the fines - at 31.4million - were from yellow-box junction infringements in the financial year 2018/19, which continue to prove lucrative for authorities across both capitals. One of these junctions, a yellow box in Westminster generated a staggering 333,295, the investigation found. These figures could soon be just the tip of the iceberg after the government announced plans to give all authorities across England and Wales the powers to enforce moving traffic offences, which will ultimately result in millions more drivers facing penalties for minor offences. Body blow for boxed-in motorists: Of the 58.2million in revenues from fines to motorists committing moving traffic offences in the English and Welsh capitals in 2018/19, more than half (31.4million) were for yellow-box junction infringements, it has been revealed in a new report Moving traffic offences also include motorists caught making an illegal turn or driving down a 'no entry' road. The enforcement of these in the two cities increased by 25 per cent compared to two years earlier. A similar investigation by the RAC found that authorities raked in 46.7million from these types of fines in 2016/17 - meaning an additional profit of 11.5million in the most recent earnings report. The figures were revealed after the motoring group issued a freedom of information request to all local authorities that are currently able to enforce these offences in England and Wales. Only Transport for London, London boroughs and Cardiff Council have the powers to issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) to motorists for these offences. However, the Department for Transport confirmed last month that it plans to extend these enforcement powers to all local authorities in England and Wales, which could see a huge spike in moving traffic offences. Currently, local authorities outside of London and Cardiff only have powers to enforce bus lane contraventions. The interactive table below shows the number of fines in thousands and the money brought in. If you're reading this story on the Mail Online app and can't see the table, click this link to view in on our website. Commenting on the findings, the RAC said the percentage increase in the number of PCNs issued was greater than the revenue increase. In 2016/17 councils issued 752,871 PCNs, rising to 1,007,405 in 2018/19, which equates to a 34 per cent hike. Yellow box junctions were - yet again - by far the most lucrative. Drivers can be fined up to 130 for unlawfully stopping in a yellow box, though most PCNs issued will halve this cost if paid within a fortnight of the ticket being issued. Motorists caught stopping in them by CCTV cameras were fined a combined 31.4milllion in 2018/19, compared to 22.3million for 'no turn' offences and 4.4million for 'no entry' contraventions. Authorities in London and Cardiff pocketed revenues of 4.4million for 'no entry' contraventions in 2018/19 RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: 'It's plain for all to see that London boroughs, TfL and Cardiff are generating phenomenal sums of money from the enforcement of moving traffic offences. 'The vast majority of drivers we've surveyed agree that those who stop on yellow boxes, make illegal turns or go through 'no entry' signs need to be penalised, but when it comes to extending powers to other councils many are concerned, with 68 per cent thinking local authorities will rush to install cameras to generate additional revenue.' Lyes added that four in 10 drivers (39 per cent) also believed that road layouts and signage will be made to be 'deliberately confusing' to increase the number of PCNs issued. 'Clearly, the priority for enforcement should be to improve road safety and reduce congestion,' he explained. 'The Department for Transport has decided to extend enforcement powers to other local authorities, however we believe guidance should be issued setting out where enforcement should be targeted and the types of signs that must be used to make drivers aware that enforcement cameras are operating, and for what type of moving traffic offence. 'It should also make clear the circumstances in which a PCN can be appealed and where mitigating circumstances may apply such as stopping in a yellow box to allow an emergency services vehicle to go by.' There are currently proposals for first offenders to be issued with a warning letter before subsequent penalties apply. The RAC backed this move, adding that it is particularly important where changes are made to road layouts, such as the introduction of hatched yellow-box markings at congested junctions. 'What we do not want is this being seen by cash-strapped local authorities as a way to generate revenue,' Lyes added. The RAC has also called on local authorities - once granted powers to enforce moving traffic offences - to publish annual reports, including receipts by type and by junction. 'We would also encourage them to monitor hot spots where an unusually high proportion of PCNs are issued as this is more than likely a clear indication of a problem with signage or road layout,' the motoring group's road policy spokesman explained. Where are the moving traffic offence 'danger zones'? Transport for London has 399 yellow box junctions but declined to disclose to the RAC how many are enforced Yellow box junctions Of the authorities which benefitted the most from the enforcement of yellow box junctions, TfL topped the table with a revenue of nearly 10million (9,969,545 135,923 PCNs) in 2018/19. However, in terms of single councils, Hammersmith & Fulham was the runaway leader with a 3.5million yellow box revenue pot (from 53,576 PCNs) generated from 16 enforced junctions out of 23 in its area. It was 1.1million ahead of its nearest rival Redbridge, which made 2.4million (34,782 PCNs from 14 enforced junctions out of a total of 35). Merton, the only other council to pocket more than 2million in yellow box penalties, was third on 2.2million (31,081 PCNs from 27 enforced junctions, no overall total of junctions available). In terms of average revenues per enforced junction, Westminster recorded the highest figure with a single junction generating 333,295 from 4,595 PCNs. Hammersmith & Fulham had the second largest average on 223,472 (3.5million from 16 enforced junctions) and Richmond had the second largest average revenue with 156,117. TfL has 399 yellow box junctions but declined to disclose how many are enforced. The interactive table below shows the number of fines in thousands and the money brought in from yellow box contraventions. If you're reading this story on the Mail Online app and can't see the table, click this link to view in on our website. Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras located at junctions with 'no turn' instructions helped authorities issue fines worth 22.3million in 2018/19, says the report No turn offences Three authorities topped 2million in revenue from 'no turn' offences with Ealing even managing to outdo TfL with a revenue of 2.6million (from 44,612 PCNs) versus 2million (2,093,651, from 28,978 PCNs). Hackney had the third highest total on 1,888,845. No entry offences Harrow was top for 'no entry' offences with a revenue of 549,785 followed by Southwark on 420,760 and Islington on 357,265. SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 19 August 2020 - Ultimaker, the global leader in desktop 3D printing, and leading global additive manufacturer 3D Metalforge, announced today their partnership and launch of Southeast Asia's largest industrial FFF printing facility. The new facility will offer industrial-grade, fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing from Ultimaker's professional S-Line 3D printers, providing a complete ecosystem of certified 24/7 printers, engineering materials, 3D print fleet management and 3D print preparation software. Against the backdrop of increasing demand for 3D-printed parts, this will enable 3D Metalforge to ramp up its printing capabilities for its clients in the defence, maritime, medical, and the oil and gas industries. 21 units of Ultimaker S3 in 3D Metalforge's print facility The print facility, located in the western part of Singapore, comprises 21 units of Ultimaker S3 3D printers. Metalforge decided to invest in FFF 3D printers with Ultimaker, due to the latter's partnerships with large globally operating material companies through the Material Alliance, an open platform that consists of more than 45 brands and 150+ material types. This has enabled 3D Metalforge to broaden its offerings, catering to diverse needs and requirements in different sectors. It is currently printing various parts required for COVID-19-related projects. 3D printing which is also known as additive manufacturing (AM), is suitable for such projects as there are limitations to traditional manufacturing -- the challenge of tight deadlines, and rapidly changing design parameters. Additionally, AM is more suited for high-mix, low-volume production, common factors necessitated by the changes brought on by the pandemic. As part of its expansion plans and upcoming projects with its customers, 3D Metalforge is looking to recruit eight trainees from The SGUnited Traineeships Programme as well as add another four engineers to its team. Through this programme, 3D Metalforge seeks to build a workforce with future-ready skills in AM, which is poised to take a more prominent role post-pandemic. Story continues The launch of this facility has also helped 3D Metalforge realise and manage the local, distributed additive manufacturing vision with Ultimaker's Digital Factory software platform, a remote 3D print fleet management system. This means that the company could potentially divert its production capability from Singapore to its upcoming facility in the US, or vice versa, to meet customer demand. This serves to create a more sustainable and agile supply chain. "We deal with clients from blue-chip companies that have stringent criteria on the production of end-use parts. It is thus imperative that we invest in reliable FFF 3D printers that can meet our needs and benchmarking standards", said Mr Matthew Waterhouse, CEO of 3D Metalforge. "Ultimaker also has an open solution that allows us to work with over 150 materials. This has enabled us to experiment and/or print with the most suitable material, depending on customers' needs. Furthermore, I am pleased with the excellent after-sales support that I have received to date," Mr Waterhouse added. Mr Benjamin Tan, Vice President of Ultimaker APAC enthused, "We are pleased to be selected as the partner of choice by 3D Metalforge. As an established 3D printing company, Ultimaker offers a comprehensive solution to FFF 3D printing needs with its superior printers, industry-leading 3D print preparation and management software, and open material programme." Mr Tan added: "With FFF 3D printing, lead time is often halved, as compared to conventional methods like injection moulding. This allows companies to have quicker go-to-market strategies. A printed prototype also allows close examinations for modifications, and customisations before embarking on mass-printing. This helps companies save costs before committing to bulk print orders. We are confident that Ultimaker is well-poised to support 3D Metalforge's journey in FFF 3D printing." About Ultimaker Since 2011, Ultimaker has built an open and easy-to-use solution of 3D printers, software and materials that enable professional designers and engineers to innovate every day. Today, Ultimaker is the market leader in desktop 3D printing. From offices in the Netherlands, New York, Boston, and Singapore -- plus production facilities in Europa and the US -- its global team of over 400 employees work together to accelerate the world's transition to digital distribution and local manufacturing. Ultimaker .com About 3D Metalforge As a leading global Additive Manufacturing company that supports cutting-edge companies with their global production printing requirements, 3D Metalforge's hi-tech facility and engineering teams are based in the global cities of Singapore and Houston, Texas. We have one of the most advanced range of metal and polymer printing equipment including FFF, Multi Jet Fusion, Selective Laser Melting and Directed Energy Deposition printers that can produce high quality metal parts up to 1.5metres in size, and at a speed of up to 750g/hour. Our full range of additive manufacturing (AM) services include consultancy (including site and opportunity assessment and diagnostics), engineering and design optimization, printing/production as well as post production services (eg. heat treatment). 3D Metalforge was first awarded the ISO9001:2015 certification in 2017 for achieving consistent and high quality standards in 3D printing for its world-class customers and our facility is also approved by Lloyd's Register for the production of metalic parts. Key industries we support include maritime, oil & gas, precision engineering as well as manufacturing. For more information, please visit www.3dmetalforge.com A 52-year-old Beaverton man is out of federal custody on a $10,000 unsecured bond until his Dec. 1 jury trial for allegedly threatening a whistleblowers attorney in a presidential case. Brittan Atkinson was indicted and arrested in February after investigators learned of the threats he allegedly emailed to Washington D.C. attorney Mark Zaid on Nov. 7, 2019. Zaid is an attorney for a whistleblower whos allegations led to President Donald Trumps impeachment hearings. KELOWNA, BC, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - The Valens Company Inc. (TSX: VLNS) (OTCQX: VLNCF) (the "Company" or "The Valens Company"), a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products, today announced that it has received its Cannabis Research Licence under Health Canada's Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Valens Agritech Ltd. This licence permits The Valens Company to conduct research involving the administration or distribution of cannabis to human subjects for the assessment of taste, sight, smell or touch, subject to conditions laid out by Health Canada. The Company will use this licence to conduct controlled human trials for the sensory evaluation of its cannabis extracts, concentrates and oils, including vaporizers, and beverage and edible products, at its extraction, manufacturing and testing facilities in Kelowna, B.C. "This exciting and strategic milestone gives us the competitive advantage to further innovate and differentiate our leading oil-based product offerings," said Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer of The Valens Company. "With this research licence, we are now able to perform sensory assessments at the product development stage to determine quality and marketability of our products to maximize potential launch success. Findings from future proprietary research initiatives will advance our understanding of cannabis preferences allowing us to continue developing premium, next generation products that meet evolving customer and consumer needs." Sensory evaluation measures, analyses, and interprets the reactions of human subjects to products as perceived by the senses, and is used as a way of determining whether product differences are detected, the basis for those differences and the diversity of preferences. This evaluation method will enhance the Company's custom manufacturing and white label services with the added ability to assess the palatability of bespoke cannabis blends formulated with Valens' extensive terpene database. It will also expand the Company's innovation pipeline across all key product divisions. Jeff Fallows, President of The Valens Company, added, "Cannabis research derived from human trials is highly critical and valuable at this stage of the industry's growth cycle, and we look forward to having data-backed knowledge of how consumers experience different products to advance our research and development strategy, and in turn, bring consumer focused products to market. This research licence not only solidifies our position as a one-stop shop for our customers by increasing our presence within their value chains, but also provides added credibility to our platform as we look to expand to new markets." About The Valens Company The Valens Company is a global leader in the end-to-end development and manufacturing of innovative, cannabinoid-based products. The Valens Company is focused on being the partner of choice for leading Canadian and international cannabis brands by providing best-in-class, proprietary services including CO2, ethanol, hydrocarbon, solvent-less and terpene extraction, analytical testing, formulation and product development and custom manufacturing. Valens is the largest third-party extraction company in Canada with an annual capacity of 425,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp biomass at our purpose-built facility in Kelowna, British Columbia which is in the process of becoming European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant. The Valens Company currently offers a wide range of product formats, including tinctures, two-piece caps, soft gels, oral sprays and vape pens as well as beverages, concentrates, topicals, edibles, injectables, natural health products and has a strong pipeline of next-generation products in development for future release. Finally, The Valens Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Valens Labs is a Health Canada licensed ISO 17025 accredited cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical services and has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop a Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Science. For more information, please visit http://thevalenscompany.com . The Valens Company's investor deck can be found specifically at http://thevalenscompany.com/investors/ . Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements All information included in this press release, including any information as to the future financial or operating performance and other statements of The Valens Company that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are included for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Wherever possible, words such as "plans", "expects", "scheduled", "trends", "indications", "potential", "estimates", "predicts", "anticipate", "to establish", "believe", "intend", "ability to", or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will", or are "likely" to be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of these words or other variations thereof, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding future results of operations, economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, regulatory risk, United States border crossing and travel bans, reliance on licenses, expansion of facilities, competition, dependence on supply of cannabis and reliance on other key inputs, dependence on senior management and key personnel, general business risk and liability, regulation of the cannabis industry, change in laws, regulations and guidelines, compliance with laws, reliance on a single facility, limited operating history, vulnerability to rising energy costs, unfavourable publicity or consumer perception, product liability, risks related to intellectual property, product recalls, difficulties with forecasts, management of growth and litigation, many of which are beyond the control of The Valens Company. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by The Valens Company, and which may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of The Valens Company to be materially different from estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, please refer to The Valens Company's latest Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com or on The Valens Company's website at www.thevalenscompany.com. The risks described in such Annual Information Form are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Although the forward-looking statements contained herein reflect management's current beliefs and reasonable assumptions based upon information available to management as of the date hereof, The Valens Company cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. The Valens Company cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Valens Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Nothing herein should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell securities of The Valens Company. SOURCE The Valens Company CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In hematology oncology, it is critically important to understand the genetics driving acute malignancies to quickly determine how best to address the disease. Today, Thermo Fisher Scientific announces a new portfolio of hematology-oncology assays for the Ion Torrent Genexus System* designed to enable a future in which turnaround times for next-generation sequencing (NGS) results can be reduced to less than 24 hours. The Oncomine Myeloid Assay GX* is the first in a series of clinical research assays available from the new suite of hematology-oncology solutions. The new panel enables simultaneous analysis of DNA mutations and RNA fusion transcripts in myeloid samples in a single day. It also provides researchers the ability to profile 40 DNA targets and 29 fusion driver genes, enabling detection of more than 600 fusion isotypes to identify biomarkers associated with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Traditionally, analyzing myeloid samples involves serial single-gene testing to determine the mutation's specific genetic drivers, a process that can be laborious and time-consuming as the number of known biomarkers continues to grow. Yet in AML, conditions can deteriorate quickly, driving the need for rapid results. In such cases, clinicians today commonly request STAT testing, which requires pushing the sample to the front of the queue for immediate analysis, potentially disrupting the laboratory's workflow. "Once histopathological analysis comes back with the diagnosis of AML, in many cases instantaneous decisions have to be made. Commencing appropriate treatment within 24 hours of identifying the disease will represent a significant step towards achievement of improved outcomes," said Kojo Elenitoba-Johnson, M.D., director of the Center for Personalized Diagnostics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "A simplified, automated workflow that provides comprehensive NGS results in a single day would be a game-changer for laboratories and patients in the future." The Oncomine Myeloid Assay GX maximizes detection of relevant biomarkers, including TP53, CEBPA, NPM1, RUNX1, PML-RARA, IDH 1, IDH 2 and FLT3-ITD, a common driver mutation that is associated with poor prognosis in AML. The European LeukemiaNet recently recommended FLT3 analysis for AML, with results required in three days. Additionally, hematologists now call for optimized, multigene platform analysis that includes FLT3 mutations.1 Thermo Fisher plans to introduce additional hematology-oncology clinical research assays for B-cell and T-cell clonality and somatic hypermutation assessment through immune repertoire sequencing to study lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), multiple myeloma (MM), and Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Additionally, Thermo Fisher will introduce a lymphoid gene panel covering a comprehensive set of targets relevant for a range of lymphoid neoplasms. All assays will be available for the Genexus System, the first fully integrated NGS platform to feature an automated workflow that delivers results economically in a single day. "We are driven to provide solutions that will enable our customers to generate answers faster in areas where NGS can make a real difference for the future of healthcare," said Garret Hampton, president of clinical next-generation sequencing and oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Heme-oncology is another critical sector that is in need of this game-changing technology, which is why we will continue to innovate by expanding our portfolio of assays and work to democratize NGS." For more information on Thermo Fisher's portfolio of hematology and oncology assays, please visit www.oncomine.com/myeloid. *For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. 1 Patnaik, Mrinal M. The importance of FLT3 mutational analysis in acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia Lymphoma. 2018. Media Contact Information: Mauricio Minotta Phone: 760-805-5266 Email: [email protected] Jen Heady Phone: 617-275-6547 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com MANILA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2020 ) :The World Health Organization (WHO) in the Western Pacific on Tuesday lauded the Philippines' efforts to suppress COVID-19, urging the Southeast Asian country to further to improve its strategy. "The Philippine government has been putting a lot of efforts to continuously improve their (healthcare) capacity," Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said in a virtual media briefing, citing Manila's ongoing efforts to improve the testing and contact tracing capacity, and upgrade health services. Kasai added they had not really seen the number overwhelming the healthcare facilities so far. "I think it's very important for the (Philippine) government to continue to improve (their healthcare) capacity but also very important for the government to continue to communicate to people to encourage them to maintain their healthy behavior," Kasai said. The WHO noted that the Philippines and Papua New Guinea have rising COVID-19 cases affecting the young. In the Philippines, for instance, the WHO noted that more than half of the reported cases are people under 40 years, a similar trend that is also observed in the rest of the region. "The epidemic is changing. Young, healthy people are increasingly driving its spread. Many are unaware they are infected, with very mild symptoms or none at all. This can result in them unknowingly passing on the virus to others," he said. Kasai said the trend increases the risk of spillovers to the most vulnerable: the elderly, the sick, people in long-term care, people who live in densely-populated urban areas and under-served rural areas. "We must redouble efforts to stop the virus from moving into vulnerable communities," Kasai said. As the Philippines has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, Kasai stressed the need to control the spike so as not to overwhelm the healthcare facilities. Kasai said the strict lockdown imposed by the government in the early stage of the pandemic in mid-March has "prevented a significant number of infections and deaths," adding that it prevented the country's healthcare system to be overwhelmed. The Philippines is easing the lockdown restrictions in Metro Manila on Wednesday. "(In easing) the level of movement control, I think it's very important for everybody to voluntarily do very similar things so that we can continue to suppress (the rise of infections) and not overwhelm the healthcare facility in this country," he added. In the same briefing, Kasai also stressed the need to "redouble" the efforts of governments to contain the disease and protect the vulnerable in the region. "What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. We believe it's a signal that we've entered a new phase of the pandemic in Asia," Kasai said. He said countries are increasingly able to minimize large scale disruptions to people's lives and economies by combining early detection and rapid responses to emerging infections, and people sticking to the prevention measures that are part of the "new normal." "The direction the epidemic now takes depends on the actions of governments and people across the region," Kasai added. Kasai stressed the need to "continue to refine, learn and adjust our response in pursuit of the new normal, because COVID-19 will likely be with us for the foreseeable future." He specifically urged the government to focus on "refinements" such as "greater targeting and earlier introduction of localized movement control measures and public health interventions." "Approaches like this are more effective and minimize social disruption and impact on economies. We also have to continue to strengthen the capacity of systems to identify cases, isolate and treat them, and trace and quarantine their contacts," he added. The Philippines now has 169,213 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 2,687 deaths and 112,861 recoveries. The WHO regional office said that more than 400,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the region and over 9,290 have died from the disease. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the completion of the federal secretariat projects started in 2011 in five states. The projects are in Anambra, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Osun, and Zamfara states. The council approved N3.975 billion as a variation for the completion of the projects which were assigned since 2011. Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, said the ministry applied to the council to revise the costs of the materials for the projects as the costs since 2011 have changed significantly We applied to council to revise the estimates and total cost of files of 16 contracts because the cost of materials had altered significantly since 2011 when these projects started and we want to complete them and these are the federal secretariat projects in Anambra, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Osun and Zamfara states. The variation was for N3.975 billion total for all the five. They are handled by different contractors, but each one wanted a variation and the total sum of variation came to N3.975 billion and we sought Councils approval and the approval was granted so the old contract price of N13,565,621,307 has now been increased to N17,541,456,168. These secretariats are necessary to enable us to house federal workers in these states. The problem arose from the creation of new states, in assets sharing some of the old states took the whole secretariats, so our staff in those states, across all federal ministries, are either in rented official premises for their work or squatting in state government premises. For example, my ministry has controllers in all the 36 states; Controllers for Works, Controllers for Housing. These are some of the people, apart from other ministries who have staff in those states. Council approved this variation and the intention is to enable us to complete the projects, he said. Mr Fashola said the furniture for the facilities are completed and waiting in the warehouse till the building is completed before they can be installed. The minister of information, Lai Mohammed, who also spoke with journalists, clarified that the council approved N3.9 billion and not N17 billion What was approved today is N3.9 billion, not N17 billion. The N17 billion is the total cost of the projects. These projects started since 2011 and many of them have reached completion, like Gombe State. Some are in various stages of completion, money has been paid to a certain level. So all that has been approved today was the variation of N3.9 billion, not N17 billion.. People's Bank of China Buys Stake In ICICI Bank Business oi-Olga Robert The People's Bank of China has picked up 0.006 percent stake in ICICI Bank by investing Rs 15 crore in the private sector lender's Rs 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) exercise which concluded last week. The Chinese central bank was among 357 institutional investors, including domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and global institutions, that subscribed to the issue The prominent investors were Government of Singapore, Morgan Investment and Societe Generale, according to regulatory filings. Shares of ICICI Bank closed 2.5 percent higher at Rs 369.50 apiece. While the PBOC's investment is modest, it has attracted attention amid tensions between India and China, after the Galwan valley clash. In March, the Chinese central bank had increased its stake in HDFC Ltd to over 1 percent. However, in April, the government notified new norms for FDI (foreign direct investments) by neighbouring countries which would require approvals. It is not clear if portfolio investments need to go through some vetting process or the government will continue with this open route till the time no FDI approval is required. For investment related articles, business news and mutual fund advise Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, August 18, 2020, 17:24 [IST] Ridership may never recover to 2019 levels, certainly not soon, Farmer said. We had big hopes that after Labor Day we were going to see kids back in school and we were going to see unemployment down and the workplaces opening up. All three of those are progressing much more slowly than we had hoped for. Bottom line: Google has been trying to solve Android fragmentation for years, going as far as publicly shaming manufacturers that wouldn't support their phones for at least two years. Samsung has promised to break free of that habit, and its new update policy will now extend to lower-priced phones and tablets. Samsung announced a slew of new Galaxy devices at its Unpacked event earlier this month, including the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 smartphones. At the time, the company promised it would start supporting its phones for at least three years, in an effort to match Google Pixel devices' software update policy. Then today the mobile tech giant reaffirmed that promise, which will apply not only to S, N, and Z series of phones, but also budget-minded A-series phones like the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71. The new list of eligible devices is as follows: Galaxy S series: Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, S20 Ultra, S20+ 5G, S20+, S20 5G, S20 in addition to S10 5G, S10+, S10, S10e, S10 Lite and upcoming S series devices Galaxy Note series: Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G, Note20 Ultra, Note20 5G, Note20, Note10+ 5G, Note10+, Note10 5G, Note10, Note10 Lite and upcoming Note series devices Galaxy Foldable devices: Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G, Z Fold 2, Z Flip 5G, Z Flip, Fold 5G, Fold and upcoming Z series devices Galaxy A series: Galaxy A71 5G, A71, A51 5G, A51, A90 5G and select upcoming A series devices The same update policy will apply to Samsung Tab S6 and Tab S7 tablets. Samsung has committed to three OS upgrades starting with Android 11 that will land later this year. It's hard to predict if these updates will be as timely as you get with Pixels, but this is a clear response to Google who extended the same level of support for budget devices like the Pixel 4a. Samsung's new update policy reflects the longer upgrade cycles observed in the smartphone industry. Many consumers hold onto their phones for longer than they used to, and this trend is likely to continue as a result of the economic downturn. Not to mention, it is more than deserving on expensive devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Microsoft Surface Duo which cost well north of $1,000. In a repeat of yesterday, morning marine clouds will pop up early in some metro areas, then clear for a sunny Wednesday afternoon. The National Weather Service expects temperatures to hit about 84 degrees, which is average for this time of year. Areas along the coast will be cooler as a new system makes its way eastward from the Pacific. High temps will range from the mid-60s to the low 70s for many coastal towns. A damp cold front arrives at the coast Wednesday night. It will mostly stay to the extreme far northwestern part of Oregon with only some push into the Portland area. The north coast will see rain Thursday, but the metro area will likely only see increasing cloud cover. There is a slight chance for a shower before about noon, and some chances for a stray shower in the afternoon. Skies will be mostly cloudy, and the high temperature will be 82 degrees. A stronger weather system arrives Thursday night and promises Friday rain in Portland. Showers are 60% likely in town with some heavier rain totals expected near the coast. Fridays system will spread to the south of the metro area bringing some rain to locations throughout the Willamette Valley. Temperatures will stay fairly warm for a rain event, with highs likely to reach 78 in Portland. The rain is short-lived. Forecasters with the weather service are currently predicting a mostly sunny weekend. Wildfires southwest of Sacramento, CA have prompted emergency overnight evacuations: A slightly more humorous face mask sign in a barbers shop in Belfast. Photo By Justin Kernoghan No further deaths and 34 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health has confirmed. The death toll remains at 559. Among the 2,140 people tested, 34 positive cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 6,505. So far 184,458 people have been tested for the virus. There is currently seven Covid-19 patients in hospital, however none of these patients are in intensive care. There is seven active outbreaks of coronavirus in care homes. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann has said that a limit on gatherings both inside and outside, as well as at sporting events are likely to be announced following tomorrow's Executive meeting. Speaking on the Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr Swann said he will be making a number of recommendations to executive colleagues when they meet tomorrow which will help "arrest that spread of this virus". Read More "There isn't any possibility of us continuing as normal following tomorrow's Executive meeting. The recommendations we will be making to the Executive is to take further steps in regards to implementing some of the restrictions we have removed in the past," Mr Swann said. Mr Swann also called for the public to re-engage with the simple public health guidelines. Read More Here's how Wednesday unfolded: About Bavarian Nordic Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of life-saving vaccines. We are a global leader in smallpox vaccines and have been a long-term supplier to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile of a non-replicating smallpox vaccine, which has been approved by the FDA under the trade name JYNNEOS, also for the protection against monkeypox. The vaccine is approved as a smallpox vaccine in Europe under the trade name IMVANEX and in Canada under the trade name IMVAMUNE. Our commercial product portfolio furthermore contains market-leading vaccines Rabipur/RabAvert against rabies and Encepur against tick-borne encephalitis. Using our live virus vaccine platform technology, MVA-BN, we have created a diverse portfolio of proprietary and partnered product candidates designed to save and improve lives by unlocking the power of the immune system, including an Ebola vaccine, licensed to Janssen. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com . 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 law on combating criminal subculture [in Armenia] works; minister of justice Rustam Badasyan on Wednesday wrote this on Facebook. One of the media outlets published an article today, entitled They cannot prove in court who the thieves in law are, noting that based on the law aimed at combating criminal subculture [in Armenia], submitted by me in the NA [National Assembly], in real life, the law enforcement system [in the country] is unable to prove in court who the thieves in law or the criminal authorities are in order to punish. Let me remind the author of this publication that this is not the first case of application of this law. Therefore, this law works in practice, and the criticisms voiced at the stage of the draft law that it will not work in practice were fabrications. The law has had very little time for practical application, albeit it is already clear that there is no problem at the level of law; it stems from international track-record, and there is no obstacle at that level. I am confident there will be new exposures in the near future," Badasyan added, in particular. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ An air-to-air front view of an RC-135 Stratolifter. (By Master Sgt. Patrick Nugent via Wikimedia Commons) Russia Says It Intercepted US Spy Planes Over Black Sea: Officials Russias Ministry of Defense said Wednesday it scrambled a jet near the Black Sea to intercept to American spy planes approaching its border, according to state-run media. To identify the airborne target and prevent it from breaching the Russian state border, Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled, said Russias National Centre for Defence Control (NDCC) on Wednesday, according to Sputnik News. The U.S. plane was identified as a Boeing RC-135 by officials. Its not clear what military branch it belonged to. Two days before that, the agency said a Su-27SM fighter escorted a U.S. Air Force plane over the Baltic Sea. On the same day, a Russian fighter jet intercepted three UK and U.S. planes near the Baltic Sea, officials said. The defense ministry said that in both cases, the American planes were turned away before reaching the Russian border, according to Reuters. The U.S. Air Force has not responded to a request for comment. In early June, Russian nuclear-capable bombers were intercepted and escorted by American fighter jets during a flight over neutral waters close to Alaska. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed to Reuters F-22 Raptor planes accompanied four Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS nuclear-capable bombers during some periods of their flight. Later in June, U.S. F-22 stealth fighter aircraft scrambled to intercept four Russian reconnaissance planes off Alaska, said NORAD, the U.S and Canadian defense organization. The interception of the Russian Tu-142s marked the 10th time this year that Russian military aircraft have been intercepted off Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said in a statement. The Russian aircraft did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD said. Reuters contributed to this report. Barack Obama will address the 2020 Democratic National Convention on Wednesday as his former vice president, Joe Biden, receives the partys presidential nomination. Obama, who served two terms as president, will speak remotely as the party gathering largely takes place virtually rather than in Milwaukee due to the coronavirus pandemic,. Obama and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris are scheduled to speak between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Convention proceedings will run for just two hours through Thursday, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Before Obama and Harris on Wednesday, the partys 2016 nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak, along with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who unsuccessfully sought the 2020 Democratic nomination and later was considered as Bidens running mate. Obamas 2004 Democratic National Convention speech began his path to the White House. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Washington: The United States (US) on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) announced nearly $204 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq, Iraqi refugees in the region, and to generous communities hosting them. "This funding includes nearly $133 million from the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and more than $71 million from USAIDs Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance," read the official statement. With this, the total amount for the US humanitarian response for Iraq has increased to over $706 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2019. "In addition, the United States has provided $49.5 million in COVID assistance in Iraq and more than $22.7 million to date in Fiscal Year 2020 to assist over 244,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq," added the statement. According to the statement, this assistance will provide critical shelter, essential healthcare, emergency food assistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services across Iraq. "It will also improve access to civil documentation and legal services, the capacity of health care facilities and increase access to education and livelihoods opportunities," read the statement. Earlier in the day, US Secretary Mike Pompeo met Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. Good meeting with Foreign Minister Hussein today to discuss the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue. I expressed my support for the government's efforts to address the Iraqi peoples demands for a more just nation and a budget deal for the Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/kSHJI9bgXI Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 19, 2020 "As Iraq moves forward from the ISIS persecution and genocide, the US is helping the most vulnerable including Christians, Yezidis, and Shabak recover," said Pompeo. He added, "The United States is committed to supporting Iraqs security forces, including through the NATO Mission and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, to curb the power of militias that have for far too long terrorized the Iraqi people and undermined Iraqs national sovereignty." In Pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai today India has everything needed to be hub for medical tourism: PM Modi No decision yet on re-opeing Tamil Nadu schools India oi-Madhuri Adnal Erode (TN), Aug 19: Schools and colleges across the country are closed since the government had announced the nation-wide lockdown to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Meanwhile, a question that has been frequently asked by people, especially students, across the country is when will schools and colleges reopen in the country. In Tamil Nadu, the state government has not decided yet on re-opening of schools in the state in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan said on Wednesday. Coronavirus: Will not open schools in Delhi unless fully convinced, says Kejriwal Chief Minister K Palaniswami would take a decision on it, the Minister said while taking part in a function at Chithode near here on the occasion of Tamil Maanila Congress founder G K Moopanar's birth anniversary. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Sengottaiyan paid floral tribute to a portrait of the late leader. Referring to the Chief Minister, he said Palaniswami was an agriculturist by birth, so he was aware of farmers' problems. The Minister said there was enough water in Mettur and Lower Bhavani reservoirs and that uninterrupted water supply for irrigation would be provided. It should be noted that schools and colleges across the country are closed since March 23, two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nation-wide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. BLOOMINGTON A 25-year-old Normal man died in a work-related accident Wednesday outside the YWCA McLean County, county coroner Kathy Yoder said. The accident did not involve clients, children or staff of the YWCA, 1201 N. Hershey Road, Bloomington, said Christy Germanis, a YWCA spokeswoman. Yoder said that the man, identified as Hunter W. Arbuckle, had been mowing the lawn outside the YWCA. "Preliminary autopsy findings indicate that Mr. Arbuckle died from traumatic compressional asphyxia sustained as the operator of a riding lawnmower that overturned," Yoder and Bloomington Police said in a media release late afternoon Wednesday. Toxicology testing is pending. Bloomington police and firefighters were dispatched to the 1200 block of North Hershey Road for a medical assist call for service after a man was found trapped under a large mower. Officers investigated the scene and called the coroner's office. Yoder pronounced Arbuckle dead at 8:36 a.m. Analisa Trofimuk contributed reporting. Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. Love 1 Funny 5 Wow 2 Sad 19 Angry 1 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Paul Swiech Health Reporter Health reporter for Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Follow Paul Swiech Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today By ANI KABUL: Afghan security forces on Tuesday repelled a Taliban attack, killed one of the terror group's commanders, and injured several other terrorists in the eastern Nangarhar province, the press office of the provincial government said on Wednesday. "Yesterday, the Taliban attempted to attack security forces in the Sherzad district, a local Taliban commander was killed and two others were injured," the press office said in a statement. According to the local government, Afghan forces also discovered and dismantled eight mines planted by the Taliban in the Nazyan district of the province. The movement has not yet commented on the incident. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 11:11:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai reported eight new imported COVID-19 cases and no increase in domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday, the municipal health commission said Wednesday. Seven of the imported cases were Chinese nationals returning from overseas, while the other was an Indian national from Britain. All the eight patients have been transferred to designated medical institutions for treatment, and 90 close contacts of the patients on the same flights have been put under quarantine. As of Tuesday, Shanghai had reported 508 confirmed imported cases and 342 locally transmitted cases. Enditem Quarantine gave rise to several viral food trends on social media with people experimenting and sharing their version of it on various platforms. Be it the beautiful foccacia bread or rich and creamy Dalgona coffee, netizens went gaga over these food trends. And just when we thought that we are out of the quarantine hangover, there is another food trend which is grabbing eyeballs on social media called the cloud bread. The fluffy bread is visually arresting to say the least and definitely tempts you to devour one. It can be made with ingredients which are easily available and doesnt consume much of your time. All you need are eggs white, sugar, corn flour and food colours to make it more interesting. We share simple steps to make these fluffy cloud breads at home. Method 1. Whip the egg whites in a grease free bowl until it turns frothy. 2. Add sugar while whipping and stop whipping it only when you see the foam coming. 3. Add cornstarch and mix it well till there are no lumps. The density should be thick. 4. Repeat the process with three different food colour. 5. Place it on a parchment paper and bake it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, will deliver the verdict on Rhea Chakraborty's plea to transfer the investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case from Patna to Mumbai at 11 am on Wednesday. As per the apex court website, a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy would be delivering today's verdict on Rhea's plea. This will be the fourth hearing in the case. The first hearing happened on August 5, in which the Centre told the SC that they accepted the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the case to CBI. However, the CBI needs SC's nod to investigate the case.The second hearing was held on August 11, in which all five parties- the Bihar government, Maharashtra government, Rhea, Sushant's family, and the CBI argued their points and were asked to submit a brief report by August 13. The SC reserved its verdict on Rhea's plea. The third hearing happened on August 13, where all parties presented their final submission before the apex court. Sushant, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. The Mumbai Police said the actor had died by suicide. It began investigating the industry's top-notch and claimed depression as a probable cause of the actor's death. However, more than a month later, Sushant's father filed a case in Bihar, accusing Rhea and her family of cheating him financially, mentally harassing him, and for the abetment of his son's suicide. After the FIR, Rhea moved to the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case's jurisdiction to Mumbai. The petition was filed by Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde. In her petition, Rhea denied the allegations levelled against her by Sushant's family. After a brief inquiry by the Bihar Police, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) began the probe, in connection with a money laundering case, linked to Sushant's death. The Bihar government told the SC that Mumbai Police did not even register an FIR in Sushant's case due to political clout. The CBI had re-registered Sushant's father FIR as a fresh case. Yesterday, the ED recorded the statement of Singh, father of Sushant. The ED has also quizzed Rhea, her brother Showik, father Indrajit Chakraborty, Sushant's business managers, chartered accountants, house helps, his friend and flatmate Siddharth Pithani in the case till now and their statements have been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Chakraborty's counsel had told the bench that probe by Mumbai Police has "proceeded quite substantially" as it has recorded statements of 56 persons in the case. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Sushant's father had countered submissions advanced by Chakraborty's counsel and said that they have "no faith" in Maharashtra Police. Chakraborty's lawyer had argued that FIR lodged by Rajput's father has absolutely no connection with any offence in Patna and there was a considerable delay of around 38 days in its lodging. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput case: Rhea Chakraborty releases statement, accuses actor's sister of groping her Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput honoured: California State Assembly recognises late actor for contribution to cinema Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak has met with UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has reported on Facebook. The parties discussed the prospects for further cooperation and the reform of the Ukrainian army's management system. Colonel-General Khomchak said at the meeting that protection against Russia's armed aggression remains the main task of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and thanked the British Government for its principled position, as well as political, diplomatic, financial and economic support, advisory and logistical assistance being provided to Ukraine by the British side. Khomchak briefed Wallace on the reform of the management system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces following the example of NATO member states, which is taking place with the direct participation of British advisers. "In the context of counteracting Russian aggression, we are transforming the system of the joint leadership of the defense forces and military management of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Khomchak stressed. At the same time, Khomchak said that Ukraine was monitoring preparations for the active phase of the Kavkaz-2020 exercise and had been informed about the concentration of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine. The Ukrainian and British sides also discussed preparations for the Strategic Command and Staff Exercise "Combined Endeavour 2020" and the training of personnel and units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the Operation Orbital program. The program was launched in 2015 as a sign of the UK's unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. During this time, British instructors have trained more than 20,000 Ukrainian servicemen as part of the mission, the General Staff said. According to the report, Wallace paid an official visit to Ukraine on August 18. Photo credit: General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Facebook Meritage Homes acquired land in Tomball's upcoming Alexander Estates community where it plans to build 125 homes. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company will build about half of the homes in the 251-lot community off Hufsmith-Kohrville and Spell Roads. Miami-based Lennar is also building homes in the 68-acre community, which is projected to open this fall. The Meritage homes will start in the upper $200,000s and range from 2,067 square feet to 3,237 square feet. Zoned to Klein ISD, Alexander Estates is near the Tomball Business and Technology Park within a few miles of both the Grand Parkway and Texas 249. RELATED: Meritage Homes launches value community in Rosharon Alexander Estates will be ideal for families looking for a spacious new home within the sought-after Klein ISD, Houston Division President Kyle Davison said in an announcement. Meritage will offer floorplans with up to four bedrooms and three bathrooms, island kitchens and extra spaces such as studies, game rooms and flex rooms in Alexander Estates. A model home will open at 21314 Adela Point this fall. Meritage, the nation's seventh-largest public homebuilder, builds in 35 communities across the Houston area. New Zealand will deploy an extra 500 defence staff to its borders and quarantine facilities and reduce the use of private security guards, as the country recorded another six COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Jacinda Ardern cited lessons learnt from abroad as she announced the total deployment of defence staff would rise to about 1200. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Credit:Getty Images The Prime Minister also declared the governments rapid return to a stage-three lockdown in Auckland a week ago to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak was working. Of the new cases reported, five were linked to the growing Auckland cluster and one was a returned traveller. Asus Zenfone 7 key specifications have leaked ahead of its launch on August 26 Asus Zenfone 7 key specifications have leaked ahead of its launch on August 26. The Zenfone 7 series has been confirmed by the company, and so we expect Asus to launch the Zenfone 7 Pro alongside the regular Zenfone 7 with flip camera system. The latest leak reveals some key specifications of the upcoming smartphone by Asus. According to a report by Japanese website Reameizu, some key specifications of the Zenfone 7 was spotted inside the kernel source of Asus ROG Phone 3 that launched last month in July. As per the leaked information, the Zenfone 7 is slated to feature a 6.4-inch LCD screen with a Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. If this leak comes to be true, the Zenfone 7 will be among the very few flagship phones not to come with a high refresh rate display. Having said that, it is also likely that the Zenfone 7 Pro will have a 90Hz or 120Hz screen. Asus Zenfone 7 key specifications leak ahead of launch on August 26 Another surprising bit about that LCD screen is that it more or less confirms that the Zenfone 7 wont come with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The kernel source code indicates that the Zenfone 7 uses a Goodix gf3626 sensor which is found on the Honor X10 as well. On the X10, it is side-mounted, and we could see a similar implementation on the Zenfone 7. The Zenfone 7 will also come with a dedicated microSD card slot allowing users to expand the storage further. The Zenfone 7 is expected to come with a triple camera setup, housed in a flip camera module. The main camera, according to the leak is a 64MP Sony IMX686 followed by a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 3D ToF sensor. The latest Zenfone 7 leak also corroborates some earlier rumours that the Zenfone 7 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset while the Zenfone 7 Pro is expected to come with the Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset paired with upto 16GB RAM. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with the media in her New York City district. BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned NBC News after the network published a tweet suggesting the congresswoman snubbed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the DNC. Ocasio-Cortez was selected to deliver a procedural nominating speech for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who earned enough delegates to be formally nominated at the Democratic convention. NBC falsely suggested the congresswoman, who endorsed and campaigned for Sanders, had snubbed Biden by nominating Sanders. It later deleted and clarified the tweet. The congresswoman went after the network, accusing it of spreading "malicious" misinformation that sparked confusion and a backlash against her online. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned NBC News after the network published a tweet suggesting the congresswoman snubbed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during her Tuesday night convention speech. Ocasio-Cortez delivered brief remarks symbolically nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders, who she endorsed and campaigned for, for president on Tuesday a purely procedural move. But in a tweet promoting its story about the speech, NBC wrote that Ocasio-Cortez "did not endorse Joe Biden," sparking confusion and backlash online about Ocasio-Cortez's motivations. Shortly after her 60 second-long speech aired, Ocasio-Cortez celebrated Biden's nomination, tweeting "Congratulations, @JoeBiden - I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November." After a host of reporters and others criticized NBC's tweet on Tuesday night, the network deleted the message and shared an editor's note correcting it three hours after its publication. "Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention," the network wrote. "Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches." Story continues The 30-year-old freshman lawmaker called NBC's tweet "completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling" and accused it of an effort to "generate hate-clicks." She argued that it was "malicious & misleading" and "sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol." The purpose of the convention is to bring Democrats and Biden-supporting Republicans together from across the ideological spectrum in a united push to defeat Trump. The week's events have featured a wide range of voices, from Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez on the left to Republicans John Kasich, Colin Powell, and Cindy McCain on the right. Ocasio-Cortez pushed the network to do more to correct its mistake. "So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?" she wrote. "Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn't it." Read the original article on Business Insider An artist's rendition of Dynetics' HLS lander on the Moon's surface. Dynetics The race to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon has a dark horse seeking an upset. A few months ago NASA awarded three teams with contracts to develop competing options for the agency to use to deliver people to the lunar surface as early as 2024. Known as the Human Landing Systems (HLS) program, two of the three teams that NASA picked are led by easily recognizable companies: Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. But the third team, Dynetics, knows what it's up against. While Dynetics has been around for nearly half a century and has done a wide array of work for the Pentagon and NASA, the company has its head down to develop its HLS lander with an appealing combination of innovation, cost effectiveness and flexibility. "We recognized that if we came out with a concept that was like what others presented, given that we're not as well known and not as well established, it would be hard for us to compete but we also had to come up with something that was innovative," Dynetics HLS deputy program manager Andy Crocker told CNBC. "Not all of NASA knows us as well as they know SpaceX or even the members of the Blue Origin team." The Huntsville, Alabama-based company was acquired by defense contractor Leidos early this year in a $1.7 billion cash deal, just a few months before NASA announced the three teams for HLS. While a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leidos, the contractor kept Dynetics' leadership intact as it seeks to grow the company's defense and space technologies. Here's what the Dynetics team is putting together, with potentially billions in NASA funding on the line. The plan The Dynetics HLS spacecraft begins its trip to the Moon in this artist's rendering. Dynetics The first mission would see the Dynetics spacecraft carry two NASA astronauts on the final leg of their journey to the Moon's surface. The company's spacecraft would meet the astronauts in lunar orbit, connecting with either the Orion capsule the crew launched in or NASA's proposed orbiting Gateway station. "The initial mission plans for six days on the surface, but future missions will likely go well beyond that," Crocker said, adding that he expects later NASA missions will be "as long as 42 Earth days." The company's spacecraft is formally known as the "Autonomous Logistics Platform for All-Moon Cargo Access," or more simply: ALPACA. it has room to "ferry" up to four astronauts at a time down to the surface, Crocker said, once there's a habitat established for the other two astronauts. The spacecraft has eight rocket engines to descend and ascend from the surface, with four on each side of ALPACA. The company plans to develop those engines in-house. "We've chosen eight because it allows us to simplify the engine design somewhat and also gives us the ability to abort in every case all the way down to when we land on the surface," Crocker said. Bringing enough fuel along is key so Dynetics designed a set of modular propellant spacecraft to connect with ALPACA in lunar orbit. The company would likely use United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket to get its spacecraft to orbit, so a single Dynetics crewed mission would require three Vulcan launches: One for the ALPACA and two for each of the propellant spacecraft. Currently Dynetics plans to space each of those launches out by about two weeks, Crocker said, "so it's about a month for all three launches." Because ALPACA won't have people on board until after it reaches the Moon, Dynetics will send the spacecraft "on a slow trajectory" to save fuel. That indirect route will mean taking "up to three months to get from the Earth to the Moon," he added. "It's an innovative trajectory that that doesn't go directly but minimizes the propellant we use and therefore maximizes how much propellant we have left for the actual lunar mission," Crocker said. "From the time the first spacecraft launches to the completion of the crewed mission it could be as much as 10 or 12 months, depending on how long the crew waits to launch after we do." But the astronauts part would be much shorter. They would only spend about two weeks away from Earth for the first mission, since they fly separately from Dynetics' spacecraft. The competition SpaceX SpaceX and Blue Origin also have separate proposals for how to land NASA astronauts on the Moon. While SpaceX plans to build a lunar-specialized version of the Starship rocket its developing, Blue Origin is building a more traditional lander design. Bezos' company has also brought together several aerospace heavyweights to help build its lander, partnering with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. HLS is modeled after the success NASA had with its Commercial Crew program, which pit SpaceX against Boeing in a race to build new capsules to send astronauts to the International Space Station. The agency estimates that having the companies compete under Commercial Crew saved NASA tens of billions of dollars. Each company's distinct approach to HLS means that there is also a wide range in how much the companies expect it will cost to develop each lunar lander system. For the first phase of development, which are essentially 10 month study contracts through February, NASA awarded SpaceX with $135 million, the Dynetics team with $253 million and the Blue Origin team with $579 million. How NASA chooses to proceed with development after this phase will be dependent upon a number of factors, including how much funding Congress gives the program in the years ahead. Blue Origin Notably, NASA gave Dynetics the highest marks among the three winning teams. In the agency's explanation for why it chose each company, Dynetics was the only team to get "very good" ratings in both technical and management aspects of its proposal. "We're actually really excited, not just for for our place in the HLS program, but excited for NASA and for the country that there's such a diversity among the options," Crocker said. Early stages of development Dynetics put together its own team of partners and subcontractors as part of its bid, with a wide range from space industry specialists like ULA, Maxar and Astrobotic to contractors like L3Harris and Sierra Nevada Corporation. "We really looked first to fill in the gaps that we as a prime contractor had in certain specialty areas," Crocker said. He says Dynetics' development process has already begun in earnest, "because the schedule is is so aggressive with a 2024 human landing date." Most recently his team has completed a "system requirements review" and a "conceptual design review." While neither of those were required by NASA, the Dynetics team undertook those reviews itself due to the complexity of building a spacecraft capable of carrying humans. Crocker said that his team has now begun the "certification baseline review," which is "to establish the foundation or the basis for our design activities going forward." "It gets us on the same page with NASA," Crocker said. Reusing spacecraft Dynetics The Ethics And Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has assured Kenyans that investigations are ongoing into the multi-billion shilling Covid-19 tender scandal at the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa). In response to an expose by NTVs investigative journalist Dennis Okari on the looting of Covid-19 funds by government officials, EACC urged members of the public not to be carried away by sideshows that may water down investigations. We wish to reassure the public that investigations are already going on to verify these allegations with a view of taking appropriate actions against officers who may be involved in accordance with the law, Philip Kagucia, EACC head of corporate communications, said in a statement. EACC said the Kenya Medical Suppliers Association (KEMSA) is cooperating with the Commission to establish the truth behind the matter. We urge the members of the public not to be carried away by sideshows that may water down and pre-empt the investigations, EACC said, adding that continued cooperation from the Kemsa board will see the matter come to a conclusion soonest. It added that it had instructed KEMSA to suspend three officials to allow for expeditious investigations. The officials include CEO Jonah Mwangi Manjari, Charles Juma (procurement director), and Eliud Muriithi, the Director Commercial Service and Operations. We will continue to escalate the war against both corruption and unethical conduct in line with Chapter 6 of the Constitution, Procurement and Disposal Act, the Leadership and Integrity Act, and other laws, said the Commission. There will be no sacred cows in this war, it added. All nursing home staff will have to undergo mandatory training in infection control to help prevent residents suffering the devastating effects of a second wave of Covid-19 in the coming months. The recommendation is one of the key demands in the report of a Government-appointed expert panel who investigated nursing homes in the wake of the first phase of the pandemic. Read More They will deliver their findings this afternoon. Nursing home residents accounted for more than half Covid-19 deaths so far after the virus swept through several of the private and public facilities. In some cases Hiqa found poor infection control standards which led to serious gaps in the battle to contain the virus. Todays report calls for infection control training to be compulsory for staff and said the responsibility for this rests with the nursing home. The panel, chaired by Prof Cecily Kelleher of UCD, also calls for better communication channels between nursing homes and families of residents. There was criticism by some families that they were not informed early enough about cases of the virus where a loved one was living. Nursing Homes Ireland also asked that nursing homes be alerted if there is an outbreak of the virus found by public health officials nearby in a workplace or other setting. This would allow nursing homes to introduce protections such as visitor restrictions to prevent the virus getting into the home. The Cabinet is due to consider the recommendations which could also see staff having to get the winter flu vaccine. Vaccination is currently voluntary but the take up is below target annually. Beirut: An estimated 3,000 people were evacuated from the last rebel-held pocket of Syrias Aleppo early on Monday after hours of delay, a medical official said. About 20 buses carrying people from Aleppo have arrived at the staging ground west of the city, said Dr Ahmad Dbis, who heads a team of doctors and volunteers coordinating evacuations. Another 25 vehicles arrived less than two hours later, he said, bringing the total evacuated this morning to around 3,000 people. Dbis said he saw families wrapped in several layers of coats getting off the buses and receiving packs of bottled water and food. One thin young boy was biting into an apple while his family sat on the cold earth behind him. More than 30 buses packed with people had waited overnight in freezing temperatures to leave Aleppo under a complex evacuation deal. Just 350 people were able to leave after Russia and Turkey urged the government to allow five buses to pass its final checkpoint, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The departure of the remaining buses had reportedly been delayed until hundreds of people could be evacuated from two northwestern villages under siege by the rebels. The Britain-based Observatory said an estimated 500 people were bussed out of Fuaa and Kafraya early on Monday. Ten buses carrying about 500 people have left Fuaa and Kafraya and are on their way to government-controlled territory in Aleppo, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. The evacuation deal for Aleppo was brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey, and has been overseen by the International Committee for the Red Cross. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura estimated that as of Thursday around 40,000 civilians and perhaps as many as 5,000 opposition fighters remained in Aleppos rebel enclave. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. When they link all this to the case of my husbands death, believe me when I say that my children and I and my husbands parents relive the pain. This is what Lilit Avetyan, wife of military doctor Vahe Avetyan who was killed eight years ago, said in response to speculations according to which third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will be giving a press conference at Harsnakar Restaurant (this is where Vahe Avetyan was killed in 2012), the selection of which, according to the source, has been speculated by various circles of government officials. No matter how many years have passed, its quite hard for me to talk about this. I would simply like to ask people to not politicize the incident. My husband had many friends who represent the current and former authorities, and my family still has close ties with them. I wouldnt like for the incident to be politicized, Lilit Avetyan said, adding that she fully hopes that the real culprit will be punished and that the culprit will definitely be punished by God, if not by law. Vistara on Tuesday said it will operate special flights on Delhi-London route from August 28 to September 30 as part of the bilateral air bubble arrangement signed between India and the UK. Moreover, the full-service carrier is seeking necessary regulatory approvals to soon operate similar special flights to Paris in France and Frankfurt in Germany, it said in a press release. Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. Since July, India has established such bubbles with the following countries - the US, the UK, France, Germany, the UAE, Qatar and the Maldives. India is negotiating with 13 other countries to establish similar bubbles. Between August 28 and September 30, Vistara said it will fly thrice a week on Delhi-London route - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Delhi-London flights would be operated on its newly-inducted B787-9 aircraft, it noted. The airline has a fleet of 43 aircraft, including 34 Airbus A320, one AirbusA321neo, six Boeing 737-800NG, and two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, special international flights have been operating with the approval of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Also Watch: After a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25. However, the average occupancy rate in Indian domestic flights has been around just 50-60 per cent since May 25. 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. Mumbai, Aug 19 : The over 8,700 per cent surge in Ruchi Soya's share price, post its relisting, with the public shareholding at a meagre 0.97 per cent, has drawn the attention of the SEBI. The market regulator, among other options, has proposed to make it mandatory for post-CIRP companies to have at least 10 per cent public shareholding at the time of relisting. Such companies may be provided three years to achieve a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent, it said. In case of IPOs, in terms of Rule 19(2) (b) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, companies are mandated to have at least 10 per cent public shareholding. Another proposal put forward by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in a consultation paper issued on Wednesday, is to reduce the timeline for post-CIRP firms to achieve the public shareholding of 10 per cent to six months. SEBI norms currently say that in case of companies where public shareholding falls below 10 per cent due to the implementation of the resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), then such companies should attain the 10 per cent level within 18 months and 25 per cent within three years from the date of such fall. "Post-CIRP companies may be mandated to achieve at least 10 per cent public shareholding within six months and 25 per cent within 3 years from the date of breach of MPS norm," it said. Another option proposed in the paper is that post-CIRP companies may be mandated to have at least 5 per cent public shareholding at the time of relisting and such companies may be provided 12 months to achieve public shareholding of 10 per cent and further 24 months to achieve public shareholding of 25 percent. The SEBI, however, said that a concern in the 5 per cent threshold is that it may not be significant to allay concerns. But, the positive side is that a lower threshold, such as 5 per cent, will incentivise companies from staying listed and any higher threshold may push for total delisting. The regulator has sought comments on the proposals by September 18. The SEBI noted that although relaxations are available, it is possible that, pursuant to implementation of the resolution plan, the public shareholding in such companies may drop to abysmally low levels. Citing the instance of Ruchi Soya which was acquired by Patanjali Ayurved through CRIP and relisted in January, the consultation paper said: "In one recent case, it was observed that post-CIRP, the public shareholding has decreased to 0.97 per cent, and showed 8,764 per cent increase in its share price in spite of additional preventive surveillance actions, including reduction in price band and moving the scrip into trade for trade segment." On January 27, the day it was relisted, Ruchi Soya's shares on the BSE closed at Rs 16.90 and in June, it touched a high of 1,507.30 per share. Market experts raised concerns on the incessant rise in prices at a time when the public shareholding is very low. BSE data shows that as of June, the public shareholding stands at 1.03 per cent and the promoter shareholding at 98.97 per cent. Sonam Chandwani, Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates, said: "Numerous options in relation to post-CIRP companies may be mandated to achieve at least 10 or 5 per cent public shareholding. A major concern with 5 per cent threshold is that it is a miniscule threshold to allay certain concerns, however a lower threshold may incentivise companies from staying listed and any higher threshold may push for total delisting." She noted that the additional disclosure requirements pertaining to pre and post net-worth of the company, description of business strategy, impact on investors, resolution plan details, among others, are steps in the right direction and are likely to enhance transparency of the CIRP and reinstate investor trust and confidence. US President Donald Trump's campaign has called Democratic presidential nominee and his Indian-origin running mate the two most spineless, career politicians ever, and that their candidature indicated the formal takeover of the Democratic Party by the radical left. Biden, 77, and Harris, 55, will challenge President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the November 3 presidential polls. Biden was officially nominated the Democratic presidential candidate at the party's virtual convention on Tuesday. The future of our great nation rests in the outcome of this election, and we need to come out in full force on Election Day to deliver four more years to President Donald J Trump," said Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair of Trump Victory Finance Committee. " and Kamala Harris, two of the most spineless, career politicians ever are campaigning on the most radical platform in American history and it is a critical threat to our country," alleged Guilfoyle at a virtual event hosted by the Trump campaign on Tuesday. Trump, 74, would be formally nominated by the Republican Party as its presidential candidate at its virtual convention next week. Someone should have explained to that he is now the official nominee of the Democrat Party, meaning his supervisors from the radical left are now formally in charge, said Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director. The Democratic National Convention has exposed what the Left truly thinks of America: That we are an irredeemably awful country that must be handed over to the socialist mob to be saved, said Lara Trump, Trump 2020 Senior Advisor. In contrast, President Trump recognises that America is the greatest country in the world, and knows that we need to maintain our constitutional ideals if we are going to continue to excel, she said. While Joe Biden and are working to advance their radical socialist agenda, President Trump will continue championing policies that unleash opportunity for all Americans, said Katrina Pierson, Trump 2020 Senior Advisor. While the Democrats launch baseless accusations against President Trump, they are simultaneously undermining our election integrity through their embrace of universal vote-by-mail, said Justin Clark, Trump 2020 Deputy Campaign Manager. Don't believe the Democrats' lies: While they seek to unravel measures intended to protect voters, President Trump is standing up for the free and fair elections that are integral to American democracy, he said. Biden and the Democratic Party's lackluster attempt to fool voters with a never-ending, over-produced infomercial is a waste of time and effort, said Mercedes Schlapp, Trump 2020 Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications, referring to the Democratic Party's virtual convention. The American people see right through Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' promise to radically transform our country into a socialist nation," he said. Trump stands for American strength and security, and will always fight for the liberties and freedoms granted to us through our Constitution, Schlapp said. When they were counting the delegates tonight, somebody should have been totaling the USD 4 trillion in new taxes that Joe Biden would heap on Americans if elected, Murtaugh said. Another informative exercise would have been for each state delegation to announce how many jobs Biden's failed policies have killed in their communities, through high taxes and regulations, disastrous trade deals, and coddling of economic rivals like China, he said. While television networks will never get that time back, someone should have explained that Biden will give taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal aliens and award them work permits so they can compete with Americans for jobs, Murtaugh said. (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.) Senate committee on labour hears Phuket unemployment woes PHUKET: The Senate Standing Committee on Labour, led by Suthep Au-on, has been told that the Phuket Social Security Office has paid out more than B1.4 billion in welfare payments since the COVID-19 outbreak began. COVID-19economics By The Phuket News Wednesday 19 August 2020, 04:12PM Many officials were present for the meeting on Monday (Aug 17). Photo: PR Dept Many officials were present for the meeting on Monday (Aug 17). Photo: PR Dept Many officials were present for the meeting on Monday (Aug 17). Photo: PR Dept Suthep Au-on of the Senate Standing Committee on Labour at the meeting on Monday (Aug 17). Photo: PR Dept The committee was in Phuket on Monday to assess the current economic impact on workers on the island, the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket) reported yesterday (Aug 18). However, it was state news agency NNT that reported the payout figure from the Phuket Social Security Office (SSO). Pheeraporn BorwonThanasarn of the Phuket Social Security Office told the Senatorial committee that 11,541 business owners and 199,516 workers are currently registered with the Phuket SSO. Ms Pheeraporn added that the Phuket SSO had assisted in making payments totalling B1.442 billion to help workers left unemployed or with diminished income due to the economic crisis. Payments were made to 135,285 workers entitled to compensation under Section 33 of the Social Security Act, to 32,241 workers entitled to payments under Section 39 of the act (people who had resigned their jobs, but keep paying into the Social Security Fund), and to 32,017 workers entitled to payouts under Section 40 (people who were never employed, but pay into the fund), Ms Pheeraporn explained. From March 1 through July 30, 42,978 people had reported themselves to the Phuket SSO as unemployed, and the office recognised that 137,346 workers had reported themselves as unemployed due to unavoidable circumstances. However, B1.442 billion paid out by the Phuket SSO, and 199,516 workers registered with the office, the average payout per person over the past five months has been no more than B7,227.49 in total. Present at the meeting were Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong together with Phuket Provincial Administrative Chief (Palad) Wikrom Jaktee and other officers. Senator Suthep explained that the meeting aimed to listen to problems affecting workers and employment in Phuket, which he recognised was heavily affected from the COVID-19 economic crisis, especially workers in the tourism industry. A lot of hotels and restaurants in Phuket are still temporarily closed, while some have already shut down permanently, even though the central government has already implemented many measures to help business owners and workers, such as deploying funds from the Social Security Office, he said. In closing the meeting, Senator Suthep said that the committee will take the information to present it to relevant officials in Bangkok and push for the government to develop more measures to help people affected by the crisis. No other comments from the committee were reported by PR Phuket or NNT. Queensland police say young men are most likely to have been issued on-the-spot fines for breaching COVID-19 public health directions but any further demographic breakdown would "take a lot more work". New analysis of about 2300 fines handed out over the course of the pandemic follows concerns raised by lawyers and human rights groups about the potential for unfair targeting of certain communities. Traffic delays at the Coolangatta police checkpoint on March 26 - when the interstate borders were first locked down. Credit:Chris Hyde/Getty Images Deputy Commissioner and State Disaster Co-ordinator Steve Gollschewski told a parliamentary committee hearing into the state government's COVID-19 health response fines were proportional to population areas and certain regions were not "getting more" than anywhere else. More than half of all fines issued so far had been to people between the ages of 19 and 29, he said, with more than 70 per cent under 40. About 72 per cent of those fined were male. New Delhi, Aug 19 : White collar criminals are coming up with new ways to dupe the unemployed and needy looking for government jobs. The Delhi police cyber cell has recently unearthed many rackets which create bogus websites resembling government websites to lure people and extort money from potential victims. Recently, the cyber cell of the Delhi police busted a racket which floated a fake Central Government Scheme titled 'PM Shishu Vikas Yojna' which claimed to cover government school students and offered bogus monetary benefits for education and health needs. They had even established a network of State, District and Taluk-level agents for luring gullible people into the scheme. All states across the country were covered by these agents. Three persons, who were the masterminds behind the elaborate, nation-wide fraud have been arrested from different parts of UP and Bihar. In July this year, Delhi police was compelled to block a fake website that lured people in the name of Pradhan Mantri Berozgar Bhatta Yojna 2020. The Delhi police noticed that on social media a URL/Link of one fake website in the name of Pradhan Mantri Berozgar Bhatta Yojana 2020 was being pushed through WhatsApp messages in different groups targeting gullible citizens. Immediately, the fake website was blocked. People fall prey to these websites as they are meticulously designed with just a minor change in the URL that is hard to detect. Sometimes even bogus government schemes are floated to lure people in. So, what are the precautions that a person could take to safeguard themselves from online fraudsters? "Citizens are advised to verify any online information about government schemes and their benefits from credible, official websites. They should not fall prey to fraudsters who lure them through fake websites, marketing gimmicks," said Anyesh Roy, DCP Cyber Cell. Earlier the Delhi police has also arrested five people for duping hundreds of job seekers on the pretext of providing jobs in the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at IGI Airport, New Delhi. The accused used to give advertisements on Facebook seeking applications for jobs in AAI and even sent fake appointment letters to the applicants. They asked for money to be deposited in several bank accounts on various pretexts until the victim walked out of the communication. "People are advised to rely on genuine Government websites with ".gov.in" extension. Citizens should also verify information from multiple sources (Genuine Sites, PIB Bulletin, Verified Social Media accounts of Govt. Departments, etc.) before making any financial transaction," said a senior police officer. (TNS) Nearly one-quarter of New Mexicos students lack access to the internet at home a challenge exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and a move to remote learning.State lawmakers heard testimony on the scope of the problem Tuesday as they explored how to address the problem with legislation or funding in next years session.In the meantime, they were told, school districts in the state are deploying temporary Wi-Fi networks in their communities, turning school sites into internet hot spots and patching together other short-term solutions.About 99 percent of the states school sites now have high-speed internet, said Jonathan Chamblin, executive director of the state Public School Facilities Authority. But about 76,000 students or 23 percent of the student population dont have internet service at home, he said. Our work really needs to expand beyond the school site, Chamblin told members of the legislative Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee. Now we need to ensure each district has a network that connects the kids when they leave the school campus.About half of the 76,000 students without internet at home, he said, could probably obtain service if their families had a voucher to pay for it. Chamblin estimated it would cost about $5.7 million to help each household install equipment and $18 million to $73 million a year to pay for the service.It clearly reveals how much more work we have to do, said Sen. Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe. That is a lot of people a lot of students. Thats not acceptable.The gaps in internet service are a particular focus this month as New Mexico public schools start the academic year without in-person classes. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration directed schools to begin with remote learning for most students at least through Labor Day as part of a strategy to limit the transmission of COVID-19, the contagious disease that has killed more than 700 residents since March.Schools have scrambled to come up with temporary solutions for students without home internet service.My biggest fear is were going to have an entire generation of kids who live in poverty who wont be able to catch up, said Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen.Kimball Sekaquaptewa, chief technology director at Santa Fe Indian School, said the challenge is pronounced in tribal communities. Even families with internet service, she said, often lack the speeds necessary for remote learning.Everybody is under-connected, Sekaquaptewa told legislators.Lawmakers this week have discussed establishing a new agency to take the lead on developing broadband throughout the state a recommendation of legislative analysts. Some also said the state needs a dedicated revenue stream for student internet access.The pandemic has exposed our vulnerabilities, John Badal, CEO of Sacred Wind Communications, said in Tuesdays hearing. We have to develop a statewide plan, and we need to do it quickly. EDISON, N.J., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, have utilized its statewide observational database of more than 5,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients to show that a drug normally used in rheumatoid arthritis and cancer treatments, tocilizumab, improves hospital survival in critically-ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The findings were published in The Lancet Rheumatology on Aug. 14, and Hackensack Meridian Health researchers have updated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other national leaders of the findings to potentially accelerate improved outcomes. "Our clinicians and researchers at Hackensack Meridian Health have moved quickly and intelligently since the start of this global health crisis," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Their work in treating this terrible virus, and learning more about it each day, continues to benefit thousands of patients as the pandemic continues." The study included 630 patients who were admitted to the ICUs of 13 Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals from March 1 to April 22 the height of the pandemic in New Jersey. Among other treatments, tocilizumab was considered for off-label usage for the patients whose respiratory symptoms were declining; many of whom were requiring mechanical ventilator support. In the observational study 210 patients received tocilizumab, and the other 420 did not. COVID-19 has three phases: the early or viral phase (with fast viral replication), the pulmonary phase (marked by inflammation and pneumonia as the body tries to fight the virus in the lungs) and the inflammatory phase (in which excessive inflammation reaches and affects many organs and patients are often in the ICU). As part of both the pulmonary and inflammatory phases the immune system is "supercharged" and secretes in the blood numerous cytokines, particularly interleukin (IL)-6, which induces further inflammation. Tocilizumab is a monoclonal antibody, which binds and blocks the interleukin (IL)-6 receptor and helps damper the inflammatory response. The activity of tocilizumab was first shown in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, where a similar phenomenon of overactive and growing T cells induce a "cytokine storm." This provided a rationale to try tocilizumab in COVID-19 patients. The findings showed a statistically-significant decrease in hospital-related deaths among the patients who received the tocilizumab: a roughly 36 percent decrease in hospital-related mortality among the ICU patients who received the drug, as compared with patients in the ICU who didn't receive it. The data from the outcomes was adjusted to account for multiple factors, including comorbidities, and was assessed using statistical survival models. Importantly, it appeared that higher levels of a blood test marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein, could predict which ICU patients might benefit most from the tocilizumab therapy, potentially allowing doctors to tailor therapy to those most in need. "These real-time findings have helped to point us the way forward," said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, Hackensack Meridian Health regional president, Northern Market and chief research officer. "Our clinicians and scientists were at the forefront of COVID research from the beginning of the pandemic." The results are based on evidence collected in the HMH Universal Observational Database for COVID-19, or RE-COV-RY, which compiles outcomes from 13 Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals throughout New Jersey, using electronic health records (EHRs). The outcomes division of the John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC) at Hackensack University Medical Center, under the leadership of Dr. Stuart Goldberg and Dr. Andrew Ip, created a database to guide the analysis of more than 3,000 patients admitted to Hackensack Meridian Health facilities for urgent care. The database has been used to constantly assess COVID-19 treatments over the last several months, including the most promising and high-profile drugs and interventions. "We need to know more as soon as possible," said Stuart Goldberg, M.D., hematologist-oncologist and chief of the Division of Outcomes and Value Research at John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. "Our database has allowed us to rapidly expand our knowledge of COVID-19 throughout the Hackensack Meridian Health hospital network. We are moving fast to help guide interventions and potentially save lives." The lead co-authors on this study are John Theurer Cancer Center hematologist-oncologists Andrew Ip, M.D., from the Division of Outcomes and Value Research and Noa Biran, M.D., from the Division of Myeloma. Both had experience with tocilizumab as part of the JTCC active CAR-T cell transplant program and recognized the potential of this immune modulating therapy in COVID-19. "This is a great example of our science having impact far beyond cancer," said Andre Goy, M.D., M.S., physician-in-chief of Oncology, Hackensack Meridian Health. The research work was done in partnership with Georgetown University's Biostatistics Department, as part of the collaboration with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and its National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Consortium, of which Hackensack Meridian Health is part. The results are observational, and not yet fully proven, according to the authors. A large multinational Phase 3 (randomized and placebo-controlled) clinical trial of tocilizumab is currently underway, with HMH investigators also participating in that effort. But Hackensack Meridian Health's real-world observational study offers early indicators of potential effectiveness of the monoclonal antibody. ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick. Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves. The network's notable distinctions include having four of its hospitals are among the top hospitals in New Jersey for 2020-21, according to U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, the health system has more top-ranked hospitals than any system in New Jersey. Children's Health is again ranked a top provider of pediatric health care in the United States and earned top 50 rankings in the annual U.S. News' 2020-21 Best Children's Hospitals report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. The Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), housed in a fully renovated state-of-the-art facility, seeks to translate current innovations in science to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and other life-threatening and disabling conditions. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it. Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies. To learn more, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org. SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health Related Links http://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 Trend: Touching upon the hostilities of April 2016, former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan expressed absurd judgments that allegedly, there were military instructors from Turkey and Israel in the Azerbaijani army. Sargsyan made the statement during a press conference held on August 19, Trend reports. Commenting on Sargsyans statement, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that it is exactly the Armenian armed forces that apply a wide practice of using foreign mercenaries due to the lack of conscripts and mobilization resources. "It is not surprising that Sargsyan, who recovered from the blow inflicted by the Azerbaijani army during the April battles only four years later, voiced such nonsense in an attempt to justify himself. So, the consequences of the defeat of the Armenian army in those battles, on the one hand, and the appeal of the parliamentary commission to determine the reasons of these failures and their perpetrators and to severely punish them, on the other hand, forced Sargsyan to take such a step," the ministry said. "We declare that the Azerbaijani army is presently staffed with professional military personnel trained both in our country and at the most prestigious military educational institutions of the world, and has the most modern weapons and military equipment in its arsenal," noted the ministry. "The false and ridiculous statements voiced by Sargsyan are a futile attempt aimed to restore the lost prestige in the eyes of partners and the Armenian society and, in particular, to influence the decisions of the parliamentary commission. The Armenian people should know that Sargsyan and his military-political regime are the cause of the crushing defeat of the Armenian army in the April battles," added the Azerbaijani ministry. "We reiterate that the Azerbaijani army, which resolutely prevented the military adventure committed by the current government of Armenia in the direction of Azerbaijans Tovuz district of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, remains capable of preventing any provocations of the Armenian side," the ministry stated. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:22:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will travel to Singapore and the Republic of Korea (ROK) this week, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will visit Singapore from Wednesday to Thursday, at the invitation of Singapore government, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing. Yang will also have consultations with ROK officials in the city of Pusan from Friday to Saturday, at the invitation of Suh Hoon, top national security adviser of the ROK, Zhao said. Enditem A man was knocked out during an argument over face masks at Clapham Junction station. Police are investigating after 'William', not his real name, was punched by a fellow passenger at the London railway stop. The victim was sent to hospital where he was treated for a severe laceration and given stitches for a head wound following the scuffle. Along with a friend, William had been arguing with South Western Railway staff by the ticket barrier because one member was not wearing a mask. Footage shows a male in a grey hoodie pushing a pram past the heated exchange. He had a child with him and was also not wearing a mask Footage taken by the friend shows a male in a grey hoodie pushing a pram past the heated exchange. He had a child with him and was also not wearing a mask. Do you know the people involved in the incident? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk Advertisement William is heard saying 'you're not wearing one either', which he said was not directed at the man. In response, the man turns around and walks away from his pram shouting 'don't f****** start on me' and punches William, knocking him to the floor unconscious. The man quickly leaves the area with his pram and child, while William is seen bleeding on the ground. A member of rail staff is heard saying: 'I told you both to go didn't I?' William said: 'My friend asked one of the station staff a totally reasonable and polite question: ''are you exempt from wearing a mask''. 'She'd snapped back saying ''none of your business''. 'Admittedly I lost my temper a bit. It escalated into a row with other station staff... then you can see the rest... thug leaves the scene, staff do nothing. The victim said: 'No idea who [the attacker] is, just some random person who was walking without a face covering assumed when I was talking to the guard just flew off straight away bang' Police are investigating after the victim was punched by a fellow passenger at the London railway stop 'No idea who he is, just some random person who was walking without a face covering assumed when I was talking to the guard just flew off straight away bang.' WHERE TO WEAR A FACE MASK The Government says people in England must wear a face covering in the following indoor settings: Public transport, such as aeroplanes, trains, trams and buses Transport hubs including airports, rail and tram stations and terminals, maritime ports and terminals, bus and coach stations and terminals Shops and supermarkets Shopping centres Auction houses Premises providing professional, legal or financial services, like post offices, banks, building societies, high-street solicitors and accountants, credit unions, short-term loan providers, savings clubs and money service businesses Hair salons, barbers, nail salons, massage centres, tattoo and piercing parlours Premises providing veterinary services Visitor attractions and entertainment venues, such as museums, galleries, cinemas, theatres, concert halls, cultural and heritage sites, aquariums, indoor zoos and visitor farms Libraries and public reading rooms Places of worship Funeral service providers, funeral homes, crematoria and burial ground chapels Community centres, youth centres and social clubs Exhibition halls and conference centres Public areas in hotels and hostels Storage and distribution facilities Members of the public are expected to wear a face covering before entering any of these settings and must keep it on until you leave unless there is a 'reasonable excuse' for removing it. Advertisement In the footage, staff did not pursue the man but could be heard saying they have called emergency services. South Western Railway said the member of staff who was not wearing a mask had a medical exemption. It said the assault was an altercation between members of the public and staff had assisted with first aid and alerted the police. A spokesperson for South Western Railway, said: 'Our staff reported this incident to the British Transport Police who are now investigating this. 'We will cooperate in this investigation fully, but as it is ongoing it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.' Masks were made compulsory on public transport on June 15 and in shops on June 24. Last week Boris Johnson announced that repeatedly refusing to wear a face mask could lead to a fine of up to 3,200. Those who do not cover their faces in shops or on public transport can be ordered to pay a penalty of 100 or 50 if they pay within a fortnight. But the Prime Minister said those caught without a mask for a second time would now face a fine of 200, with the amount doubling on every repeat offence to a maximum of 3,200. As part of stricter rules brought in to prevent a second wave of coronavirus, organisers of illegal raves will face fines of up to 10,000. The tough fines will apply to anyone organising unlawful gatherings of more than 30 people. Mr Johnson said: 'Most people in this country are following the rules and doing their bit to control the virus, but we must remain focused and we cannot be complacent. 'That is why we are strengthening the enforcement powers available to use against those who repeatedly flout the rules.' He added: 'As I have always said, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes if required, or to continue to implement local measures to help to control the spread of the virus.' MailOnline has contacted British Transport Police for comment. Do you know the people involved in the incident? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk A scientific advisory panel has recommended that the platypus be listed as vulnerable in Victoria, with its numbers declining due to habitat destruction as well as drought and bushfire exacerbated by climate change. It is thought that since the late 1990s the numbers of platypuses in Victoria has crashed by around 30 per cent, says wildlife ecologist Joshua Griffiths, who provided data for the application for the animal to be added to the states threatened species list. A platypus photographed by Douglas Gimesy, who made the initial application to have the animal listed as vulnerable almost two years ago. Credit:Douglas Gimesy Though population numbers are unknown Mr Griffiths said they were estimated to be in the tens of thousands in Victoria. "The platypus is not at immediate threat of extinction, but if we keep down this pathway it is heading that way," Mr Griffiths said. "And youve got to remember that this research was done before the bushfires." Cuomo gets book deal to write on Covid-19, leadership: The states response efforts to the Covid-19 pandemic have been all consuming of the governors time the past five months. But he still managed to find the hours to write a book. Read more The Editorial Board: Online learning will be back; schools need to do it right: School districts had three months to prepare for this day. Parents and teachers have a right to be frustrated. Schools know how to do in-person learning. Now they must quickly make up for a lost summer and master remote learning, writes The News' Editorial Board. Read more "They would just sit and joke, it was like a comedy show sometimes to watch the two of them," Cindy McCain said of her husband's friendship with Joe Biden. The widow of Sen. John McCain spoke in a video, "An Unlikely Friendship," that aired during the second night of the Democratic convention. With her appearance at the virtual Democratic event, the wife of the Arizona senator joined a growing list of high-profile Republicans willing to cross party lines to help Biden's presidential bid. A central theme of this year's Democratic convention has been the need to unify America, and a number of Republicans have had featured appearances, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and California billionaire Meg Whitman, both of whom have endorsed Biden. Cindy McCain praised Biden's ability to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans like her husband. "It was a style of legislating and leadership that you don't find much anymore," she said in the video. Earlier this year Meghan McCain Cindy and John's daughter made clear she also plans to vote for Biden in November. "There's one man who has made pain in my life a living hell and another man who has literally shepherded me through the grief process," Meghan McCain said in April during an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen." John McCain and Biden met in the 1970s as Biden was serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and McCain was the Senate liaison officer for the Naval Legislative Office, tasked with accompanying members of Congress on overseas trips. Cindy McCain, shown in January, spoke in a video about the friendship between her late husband and Joe Biden. (Associated Press) The Democratic convention video describes how those trips led to a lifelong friendship that brought the two families closer together. That relationship has withstood politics, even when McCain competed against Barack Obama with Biden as his running mate for the presidency in 2008. Biden delivered an emotional eulogy for McCain following his 2018 death from brain cancer. "My name's Joe Biden. I'm a Democrat. And I love John McCain," Biden said. The late senator's relationship with President Trump was strained. During his first presidential campaign, Trump said McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese camp, was only a war hero because he was captured. "I like people who weren't captured," Trump said in 2015. Two years later, McCain voted against the GOP's bill to repeal Obamacare, angering Trump. When McCain died, Trump faced criticism when the flags at the White House were lowered to half-staff for only two days. The president was not invited to McCain's funeral. In their first-ever joint exercise in Germany, Israeli and German fighter jets today paid tribute to the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack and those killed during the Holocaust. On Monday, an Israeli fleet of six F-16s, two Gulfstreams and two Boeing 707 air-to-air tankers arrived at Norvenich air base near Cologne for two weeks of military exercises with their Luftwaffe counterparts. Due to the coronavirus, the training mission involving some 180 Israeli personnel will be the Israeli air forces only mission conducted abroad this year. In a statement, Luftwaffe chief Ingo Gerhartz called the two weeks of maneuvers "a sign of our friendship today and a reminder that Germany must always fight anti-Semitism with the utmost consistency" due to its Nazi past. A joint formation flew over Furstenfeldbruck air base, the main site of the Munich Olympics massacre that left 11 Israelis and a German police officer dead. On Sept. 5, 1972, eight Palestinian terrorists stormed the Olympic Village and killed two Israelis and took nine others hostage. Those nine Israelis were killed by the Palestinians during a botched German rescue operation the next day. The German and Israeli jets also flew over the nearby Dachau concentration camp today. The Nazis first and longest-operating concentration camp was built in 1933 about 11 miles (17 kilometers) northwest of Munich. Of the camps 188,000 prisoners, an unknown number were murdered or died from forced labor, hunger and disease; one oft-cited estimate of those who perished is 41,500. This story contains reporting from AFP. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy, who is also the president of Telangana Plasma Donors Association, on Tuesday offered to set up a Covid-19 Plasma Bank in the State if the State Government provides necessary permission and space. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy, who is also the president of Telangana Plasma Donors Association, on Tuesday offered to set up a Covid-19 Plasma Bank in the State if the State Government provides necessary permission and space. Narayana Reddy made the offer through his Twitter handle in response to an earlier Tweet done by IT Minister K. Tarakarama Rao April 6, 2020. KTR had Tweeted, Yesterday good friend @kiranshaw called me and suggested that we set up a Covid blood bank in Telangana; with antibody-rich plasma from patients who had recovered from Covid. Have requested Health Secretary & Commissioner to explore further. Responding to KTRs Tweet, Narayana Reddy wrote on his Twitter page, Dear dynamic @KTRTRS where is the rich Covid-19 plasma bank in Telangana? Its been more than 4 months since you made this tweet, govt has not set it up yet! If govt gives me permission and space, I am ready to set it up in 48 hours with my own funds! Also read: India records highest single-day Covid-19 recoveries, case count surpasses 27 lakh mark Also read: Punjab will burn if SYL canal is built: CM Amarinder Singh Narayana Reddy said that Minister KTR should not adopt a casual approach in the combat against Covid-19. This is a deadly virus which is killing innocent people every minute. We must act on a war footing basis to explore ways to save as many lives as we could. Plasma Therapy has given encouraging results so far. We couldve saved many lives if the State Government wouldve established the proposed Plasma Bank four months ago. However, Im ready to set up the Plasma Bank with my own funds, if the State Government provides necessary permission and space, he said. He informed that the Telangana Plasma Donors Association, which he floated after he himself recovered from Covid-19, has been rendering great service to the people by motivating hundreds of people who recovered from Covid-19 to donate their plasma. He said that the Plasma Bank was a good idea and it should be implemented immediately without wasting any time. Also read: SSR death case: SC to deliver judgement on Rhea Chakrabortys petition today By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: As many as 74.95% of students have passed the annual Plus II Examinations 2020 in Commerce, the results of which were declared by the Council of Higher Education (CHSE) Odisha on Wednesday. Girls with a pass rate of 77.8% have outperformed boys whose overall pass percentage remained 73.37% in the annual examination. Announcing the results School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said 32,772 students, including 16,648 boys and 9,142 girls, had appeared the examination this year of which 19,318 students, including 12,215 boys and 7,103 girls, have passed. The pass percentage is up by 4.69% than that of the previous year. As many as 70.26% of students had cleared the test last year. Nayagarh district remained on top with the highest 88.7% of students coming out successful while Deogarh was at the bottom with a pass rate as low as 34.17%. While 6,610 students secured first division, 4,259 got second division and 8,361 third division. With 567 marks, Situ Behera from Nayagarh Higher Secondary School emerged as the top scorer in the examination. Manaswita Mohanty from the same school, who got 562 marks, secured the second position. Rahul Prasanna Sahu from Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School Berhampur was ranked third with 561 marks. The Minister said 40 students have scored 90% and above in the examination this year compared to 31 students last year. The results remained 100% in 29 higher secondary schools and nil in two schools, he said. The announcement of the results for the commerce stream was delayed by two and a half months due to coronavirus pandemic besides the subsequent lockdown and shutdown that affected the evaluation process severely. Officials said the results are available on www.orissaresults.nic.in and www.chseodisha.nic.in. India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist Oxford Covid Vaccine update: This may be the first shot available for Indians India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: India looks for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate which is likely to be the first shot available for Indians by the end of 2020. Two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are likely to be launched with a gap of few weeks if cleared in trials, said a report in the Times of India. The vaccine developed by the universities ahead of the two local vaccines that have also entered the human clinical trials, the report also said. The Serum Institute of India, which is Pune based is a manufacturing partner of AstraZeneca for manufacturing the potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the Oxford University. SII has been permitted to conduct advanced human clinical trials of the vaccine in India. It has started Phase 2 and 3 trials, the report also said. COVID vaccine tracker: First batch of Russian vaccine ready On the other hand, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Zydus Cadila's Zycov D are both in early phases of human clinical trials. The trials by SII are the largest and is being conducted with around 1,600 people above the age of 18 in across 17 selected sites across the country J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News SII plans to make 100 million doses of the vaccine every month and 400 million doses of the Oxford Vaccine by the end of 2020. The vaccine has received a funding of 150 million USD from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gibbs & Cox, Inc. congratulates L3Harris Technologies for being awarded the U.S. Navy's MUSV Design and Construction contract. As part of the L3Harris MUSV team, Gibbs & Cox will serve as the ship design agent and engineering plant automation lead on the program. The contract awarded by the U.S. Navy, includes the design and construction of the prototype lead vehicle with options to provide up to eight additional MUSVs. According to the contract announcement, if all options are exercised, the cumulative value of this contract for the L3Harris MUSV team will be $281 million. In 2018, Gibbs & Cox founded its Unmanned and Autonomous Programs group in response to the growing need to develop autonomous surface vehicles and their enabling technologies. This specialized capability, combined with our position as the United States' largest independent Ship Design Agent, makes Gibbs & Cox uniquely positioned to support the L3Harris team with the development and delivery of the MUSV. "The experience in the autonomous maritime space offered by the combined capabilities of L3Harris and Gibbs & Cox gives the U.S. Navy a capable, low-risk solution for MUSV. We are very glad to be a part of this strong team," said Chris Deegan, Gibbs & Cox President and Chief Executive. Gibbs & Cox, Inc. is a global leader in maritime engineering and design, with 24 classes of combatants and nearly 7,000 vessels built to our designs since 1929. Gibbs & Cox supports military and commercial clients in the U.S. and internationally with all phases of marine design, construction, and lifecycle management. Independent and privately held, Gibbs & Cox is headquartered in Arlington, VA, with offices in New Orleans, LA; Newport News, VA; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; Chesapeake, VA and Canberra, ACT, Australia. SOURCE Gibbs & Cox, Inc. Related Links http://www.gibbscox.com With a record number of New Mexicans expected to vote by mail again in November, now is no time to be playing politics with the U.S. Postal Service. In fact, recent criticism of the USPS shows it is past time for Congress and the White House to put it on solid footing. President Donald Trump last week conceded during an interview that a political battle over funding for the Postal Service could make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. This is the same president who has repeatedly expressed concerns about voter fraud with mail-in balloting. And the same president who can call the postmaster general a major campaign donor. Louis DeJoy instituted myriad cost-cutting measures after he was appointed in May, including removal of mail-sorting machines, suspension of overtime pay, slashed post office hours and an end to late delivery trips needed to ensure mail arrives on time. On Tuesday, facing a Postal Service Inspector investigation, congressional scrutiny and lawsuits from more than 20 states including New Mexico, DeJoy announced to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. Thats important the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has made some version of mail-in balloting our countrys principle method of voter participation. In New Mexicos June primary, a record 264,793 cast absentee ballots by mail about 63.4% of all votes cast and given the lack of a coronavirus vaccine as well as impending flu season, thats expected to continue. In addition to DeJoys now-on-hold cuts, Trump said during the interview on Fox Business Network that without the two funding provisions Democrats are seeking in a stalled relief package, the Postal Service wont have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters. If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting; they just cant have it, he said. To be clear, New Mexico does not have universal mail-in voting, whatever that is. In the primary, as in years past, we have relied on absentee ballots when we cant get to the polls in person. Its a reliable system that has worked for decades. And millions of Americans cant live without the mail system. Military service members especially those overseas rely on the Postal Service and its Military Post Offices. Who else will deliver a care package from the parents of U.S. service members in New Mexico to the mountaintops of Afghanistan? The Postal Service delivers about 333,000 medications to the homes of veterans every day. Then there are all the paychecks, benefits checks, bills and other correspondence and often mail is the only option in a state like New Mexico, which has one of the worst internet connectivity ratings in the nation. Yes, the USPS has serious money issues $160 billion of them but they have virtually nothing to do with how the mail operates and everything to do with the fact Congress requires it to pre-fund its retiree pensions and health care at a ridiculous 100%, 75 years in advance; mandates it invest only in government bonds; forbids it to lower prices to increase business; and wont allow it to add new products that compete with the private sector. So yes, hamstringing the Postal Service in advance of Novembers presidential election in search of a self-fulfilling prophecy of election fraud is unconscionable. But blame for all the Postal Services woes cannot be laid on the White House steps. Pre-, during and post-pandemic the USPS remains our nations best bet of extending democracy, medications and much more to every American. Congress and whoever is in the White House need to finally do whats best for the Postal Service and the people, not whats politically expedient. 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. Clinical and sociodemographic features of early COVID-19 patients Clinical and sociodemographic features of early COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts: MGH study suggests vulnerable populations are hardest hit BOSTON - Data from the first COVID-19 patients treated at three large Massachusetts hospitals reveal important trends, including disproportionate representation of vulnerable populations, high rates of disease-related complications, and the need for post-discharge, post-acute care and monitoring. "Our medium follow-up revealed that many of these patients are very sick even after leaving the hospital," says senior author Jason H. Wasfy, MD, MPhil, director of Quality and Outcomes Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center. The study was published today in EClinicalMedicine. For the study, the group created a detailed registry based on physician review of 247 patient charts for demographics, baseline characteristics, symptoms, home medications, laboratory data, electrocardiogram (EKG) data, imaging, and treatment. Patients were included if they were admitted from March 7 through 30, 2020, with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, to one of three Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners HealthCare) system's hospitals -- MGH, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH). These represent three of the largest hospitals in New England's largest integrated health care system. MGH and BWH are both academic medical centers, and Newton-Wellesley is a community hospital. "I'm glad we got that mix because we need data from across different kinds of settings," says Wasfy, who is also an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Most of the study patients were initially treated with hydroxychloroquine (72 percent) and statins (76 percent, with 34 percent of those newly initiated), a practice that has since changed. "We don't use either of those treatments at our institutions anymore, which highlights the dynamic nature of COVID-19 patient care," says study lead author Cian P. McCarthy, MD, investigator in the Division of Cardiology at MGH. Another trend that stood out was the ethnic and socio-economic mix: 30 percent of patients were Hispanic, 21 percent were enrolled in Medicaid, and 12 percent were dual-enrolled Medicare/Medicaid. "This strongly suggests that there are some built in disadvantages that fall on these populations' shoulders," says Wasfy. "They may have more family members living in one home, have greater difficulty accessing care, or other circumstances making them more likely to become infected and sick." The study patients also showed a surprising range of symptoms and outcomes. More than 100 patients (42 percent) required intensive care during their stay. At the end of the data collection period, 213 patients (86.2 percent) were discharged alive, 2 patients (0.8 percent) were still in the hospital, and 32 patients (13 percent) had died. Among those discharged alive, 70 (32.9 percent) were discharged to a post-acute facility, 31 (14.6 percent) newly required supplemental oxygen, 19 (8.9 percent) newly required tube feeding, and 34 (16 percent) required new prescriptions for antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, methadone or opioids. About 10 percent of the study patients were readmitted when followed for an average of 80 days after discharge. "Our data demonstrates that the road to recovery extends far beyond the hospital and we must ensure we are supporting our patients physical and emotional needs after discharge," says McCarthy. ### About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 8,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2019 the MGH was named #6 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its list of "America's Best Hospitals." This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04763095/?utm_source=PRN The Powder Coatings market is projected to grow from USD 11.6 billion in 2020 to USD 14.9 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.2% between 2020 and 2025. Strong growth can be witnessed in the powder coatings market in the APAC region, especially in China, India, and South-East Asian countries. The increasing use of Powder Coatings in the appliance and automotive industry is projected to create new opportunities for the market players. The penetration of powder coatings is expected to increase in the long term and is projected to witness a high CAGR during the forecast period. The abundant availability of raw materials, especially in APAC, is expected to support the production of powder coatings. The appliances industry, being highly dependent on China, was the hardest hit by COVID 19.However, it is expected to witness a V-shaped growth trajectory as the demand for appliances, especially refrigerators, grew even during the initial phase of the pandemic. The introduction of antimicrobial surfaces on appliances is also expected to trigger the demand for powder coatings. Automotive segment is projected to be the largest end-use market of Powder Coatings. The automotive industry is expected to lead the overall Powder Coatings enduse market, in terms of value, between 2020 and 2025.The powder coatings market in the automotive segment is anticipated to witness healthy growth owing to increased competition among players, growing demand for vehicles, supportive government policies, development of transportation infrastructure, and rapid economic growth. APAC accounts for the largest share of the automotive coatings market owing to large demand and production of automobiles, rising number of joint ventures among key players, and favorable political and economic scenarios. While the major challenge that Europe and North America face is the economic slowdown, the market for powder coatings in both the regions is anticipated to benefit from stringent environmental regulations.. Thermoset resin is the fastest-growing segment of the Powder Coatings market. Thermoset powder coating is the preferred powder coatings technology for industrial applications.Epoxies and polyesters are predominantly used. Epoxies are preferred for their overall physical properties, while polyesters exhibit better outdoor weathering properties.The resin component in the formulation will largely determine the processing and performance properties of powder coatings. The thermoset resin segment is expected to lead the growth during the forecast period. Thermoset powder coatings are used on a wide array of automotive, appliances, and general industrial products. APAC is the fastest market for Powder Coatings during the forecast period. APAC is projected to be the largest and the fastest-growing market for Powder Coatings during the forecast period.The high growth in the region is fueled by booming economies in China, India, and a few smaller countries such as Indonesia and Taiwan. Thermosetting powder coatings are preferred more than thermoplastic powder.As the end-use industries in the APAC are growing rapidly, especially in China and India, the market for powder coatings is increasing significantly. The demand for powder coating has increased in countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam because of the growing automotive, furniture, appliances, industrial, and agriculture sectors. Extensive primary interviews have been conducted, and information has been gathered from secondary research to determine and verify the market size of several segments and sub-segments. Breakdown of Primary Interviews: By Company Type: Tier 3 27%, Tier 2 34%, and Tier 1 39% By Designation: D Level 30%, C Level 30%, and Others 40% By Region: APAC 40%, North America 20%, Europe 20%, South America- 10%, and the Middle East & Africa 10% The key companies profiled in this report are PPG Industries, Inc. (US), The Sherwin-Williams Company (US), Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands), Axalta Coating Systems, LLC (US), and Jotun A/S (Norway). Research Coverage: The Powder Coatings market has been segmented based on resin type (thermoset and thermoplastic), coating method (electrostatic spray, fluidized bed), end-use industry (appliances, automotive, general industrial, architectural, furniture, others), and region (APAC, Europe, North America, Middle East, South America, and Africa). The end-use industry segments are further analyzed for each country in the respective regions. Reasons to Buy the Report From an insight perspective, this research report focuses on various levels of analyses industry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the market; high growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges. The report provides insights on the following pointers: Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on Powder Coatings offered by top players in the market Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the market Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets the report analyzes the market for Powder Coatings across regions Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the market Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of leading players in the market. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p04763095/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links www.reportlinker.com The political journey of Sen. Kamala Harris, the first vice presidential candidate of Indian origin, has inspired millions of Indians, many of whom lofted banners of congratulations in her ancestral city of Chennai after learning that she had been named the Democratic vice presidential nominee. The admiration goes both ways. The senator's extended Indian family, particularly her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an inspiration for Harris as she rose to the pinnacle of American politics, her uncle Gopalan Balachandran said in an interview at his home in India's capital, New Delhi. "That is the value the value that you treat everybody equally. Don't worry about where you are from, where do you go, what do you eat, what dress do you wear, what languages they speak. It all doesn't matter," Balachandran said. "That's what my father told me and my sister. That's what Shyamala told Kamala and [her sister] Maya. That's the values they have." Those values will be on display Wednesday night when Harris, D-Calif., will address the Democratic National Convention to introduce herself as the first Black and Indian American vice presidential nominee. IMAGE: Kamala Harris and Gopalan Balachandran (Courtesy Gopalan Balachandran) For Harris, leadership is a legacy. Her grandfather P.V. Gopalan was a highly regarded diplomat who played a key role in resettling refugees from East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in India following the horrors of its partition war with Pakistan in 1971. Harris' grandfather, who died in 1998, also imparted in Harris' mother a fierce sense of independence and resolve. He blessed his daughter's decision to move to America at 19 in 1958 to pursue graduate studies in California, even though he learned about the opportunity only after she had been accepted, Balachandran said. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics He may have been accepting of her choices, but that generosity of spirit extended only so far financially. The elder Gopalan told his daughter that he would pay only for her first year of studies. After that, he said, she was on her own, according to Harris' uncle. Story continues That was because Harris' grandfather expected his children to plot their own course in life by using their own means an up-by-the-bootstraps mentality that Harris' uncle said his sister passed to her daughter. "Look, I can speak for hours about Shyamala now. She was a pioneer," Balachandran said. "She was a great inspiration to Kamala and Maya. There's no question about it. She was the single most important person in their lives." Harris' mother died in 2009. It was not just Harris' mother who may have been an inspiration: Balachandran himself also studied in the United States, receiving his doctorate in economics and computer science from the University of Wisconsin. He later returned to live and work in India. Harris' uncle watched with admiration as Gopalan threw herself into the political ferment of the University of California campus at Berkeley during the early 1960s, joined the surging civil rights movements for Black Americans and eventually earned her doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology. "At the time, there were not many Indians living in the Bay Area. And certainly no single girls," Balachandran said. "She did a lot of things which ... very few had done at the time. And she did it on her own volition because of what she believed in." Image: Kamala Harris with her mother, Shyamala (Kamala Harris campaign via AP) Harris was raised in that activist culture. Harris "has been active in the civil rights movement from the day she was born," Balachandran said. "Kamala went to a lot of demonstrations from the age of 3. But in the early years, she used to see only the feet around her because she was sitting in a stroller." Balachandran is sure she would carry that same sense of racial justice to the White House, even if she was too small to remember those early days. Among Gopalan's daring choices was her marriage to Harris' father, a Jamaican graduate student named Donald Harris, in 1963, five years after she arrived in America. By both Indian and American standards, it was not a conventional match, as it flouted both religious and racial boundaries. But Gopalan would not be constrained by convention, and her parents accepted the match with the same open-mindedness with which they accepted many of their children's choices. Image: Gopalan Balachandran (Adnan Abidi / Reuters) Years later, Balachandran got his first glimpse of his family's ambitious legacy in person when he saw Kamala Harris campaign for attorney general of California in 2010 while still serving as district attorney of San Francisco, a position she held from 2004 to 2010. "I knew that she would go for bigger. You know she wouldn't be content with just being a district attorney," he said. "Either go to the state level or national level, but not till then." It was an ambition Balachandran recognized. He had seen it years earlier, in his sister. 'We are learning from every patient who is admitted, treated and discharged.' IMAGE: Workers clean the floor at the NMMC General Hospital, a COVID-19 treatment centre at Vashi in Navi Mumbai. Kindly note the image has only been posted for representational reasons. Photograph: PTI Photo Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope explains to Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com why the state is witnessing a rise in COVID-19 patients. Why is the number of COVID-19 cases increasing in Maharashtra? It is bound to happen when we open up the lockdown and people begin to move out. Taking this into account, what people must do now is strictly follow the protocol issued by the state government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. While the government will do whatever it needs to do stop the contagion, it is also up to the people to follow social distancing norms, hand hygiene discipline, wear face masks and ensure that they also follow these rules very diligently at the individual level. One of the reasons why you are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases is because the state government has asked all district health officials to undertake tracing aggressively. From 15 for 1, we are now doing 20 for 1, which means if we were tracing and isolating 15 people who came into contact with one COVID positive patient, that number now has been increased to 20. And the biggest challenge we are facing right now is to track and trace huge numbers. To bring the spread under control, we are also ensuring that these people are properly isolated and then tested and treated. While these measures have been undertaken on war-footing, the results will take time to become visible because of the huge scale that we are dealing with. What extra measures is the state government undertaking to stem the number of rising cases? We have aggressively increased the number of tracking, tracing and testing. This is being done on mission mode and we are continuously monitoring the situation. Today (August 18), we are going to have a review of the situation with all of the collectors and commissioners in Maharashtra and come up with a new plan if need be. Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai has raised concern about the number of rising cases in rural areas. What is the difference between the COVID-19 cases in rural and urban Maharashtra? We have not observed any particular reason why the disease is spreading to rural areas now. As many people moved from urban areas to their villages before and during the lockdown, there is definitely a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in rural areas. We are using the same formula in rural areas -- tracing, tracking, testing and treatment -- that helped us bring the number of patients under check in urban areas. We have now all the necessary medical and health infrastructure in place in rural areas of the state. All public health hospitals, rural hospitals, dedicated COVID health care centres are now equipped with the necessary equipment to deal with the rise in rural areas. Tertiary health care equipment like ventilators and well-equipped ICUs are now available at district headquarters. Patients who require admission into ICUs are referred to district headquarters. Isn't it a cause for concern that Maharashtra has now crossed 20,000 deaths of COVID-19 patients? We agree this is a cause for concern. Our efforts are directed towards preventing deaths at any cost, but unfortunately people die mostly because of comorbidities. The other crucial reason why the number of deaths is rising is because many people visit hospitals at the last moment. These are the two major reasons which I can point out why the number of deaths is increasing. What measures is the government taking to ensure that these patients don't reach the hospital only when they reach a critical stage? We are ensuring that critical cases get detected early and that is the reason why we have gone aggressive on tracking, tracing, testing and treatment protocol so that those who are comorbid and critical could be detected quickly and provided with medical care that one gets at the ICUs. We are taking measures to improve upon the effectiveness of these methods. What has the government and you as the health minister, learned about controlling COVID-19? What is your biggest learning since the pandemic began? This is a contagious disease and to handle it we have to make people aware. Our success will rest on how effectively and quickly we communicate with the people about the importance of maintaining face and hand hygiene and social distancing. It is also important to encourage people to visit the hospitals before the situation gets critical so that we can save precious lives. Based on our learning and experience we have undertaken steps to educate people, make them aware about how to live with this virus. People showing mild, moderate or advanced symptoms should be immediately rushed to the hospitals. We have been successful in creating awareness among the people about regularly checking their oxygen levels. They now know that if this level goes below 95-90 they have to immediately rush to the hospital and get admitted, more so for those having comorbidities. Early detection helps doctors control it at an early stage. If it gets derailed and if oxygen levels go below 85-80, then it becomes very difficult. When patients come to hospitals at such stage they have to be provided ventilator support and at such last moments it becomes very, very, difficult for the doctors to manage the patients' health. Out of the 20,000 or so deaths in Maharashtra related to COVID-19 is it the case that they reached the hospitals late and suffered from comorbidities? Yes, hundred percent. That is the major chunk, I would say, and I am saying so because every COVID-19 death is audited in Maharashtra. There are reasons listed for every COVID-19 death, how we could have managed that particular patient in a better way so that we could have saved him is also a point that the doctors and audit committee mentions. We are learning from every patient who is admitted, treated and discharged. We are also learning from every patient who dies. Any other important findings from this audit that the Maharashtra government can undertake to reduce the number of casualties? We are continuously giving the best orientation to health workers, motivating them about effective house-to-house surveys, finding comorbid patients, isolating patients and monitoring their health parameters regularly to find out if they are facing any difficulties or problems in breathing, and if so, get them immediately admitted. There have been reports about non-availability of drugs like Remdesivir, which many doctors prescribe but are always in short supply or are not available to patients when they need it the most. What measures is the government undertaking to bridge the gap between prescriptions and non-availability of Remdesivir? There is some shortage, I would say, but compared to what the situation was last month or in June, we have taken several measures to bridge the gap. The drug is now freely available, but in my personal opinion the numbers need to be increased manifold given the demand for the drug. There is shortage of the drug because of the supply. We have given orders to several companies; money is not an issue, orders are not an issue but the supply is not there. Are you saying that the pharma companies are not manufacturing enough? The supply is not there and we are trying to find out the reason. It is not like that there is no availability at all in the hospitals. Every government hospital in the state has adequate Remdesivir. While Tocilizumab is not that effective (in treatment of COVID-19) as we have been told by doctors, we are not relying more on that drug. Remdesivir is available, but given the spike in the number of cases, I think the supply should increase to match the number of rising cases. There is not a huge deficit of Remdesivir. How long before the Serum Institute's vaccine becomes readily available? We are in regular contact with the Poonawalas of Serum Institute. (Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad) Pawar saheb and I will be meeting them this week. What we hear is they are working hard to get the vaccine out in the market at the earliest. I am very positive that we will have a vaccine out before the end of this year. How is Sharad Pawar doing now? He is doing absolutely fine. I spoke with him yesterday and there is no cause for concern at all. Unfortunately, his PSOs (personal security officers) and some household staff have been infected and so we are following only precautionary protocols. All the close and high-risk contacts (who came in contact with those who have been infected) have been tested yesterday and we will do whatever has to be done further depending upon their test results. Pawar saheb is absolutely normal and in good health. There is no cause for concern at all. As some staff members tested positive, he has been isolated but very active. Is there a dispute brewing in the Pawar family again given his statement against his nephew Parth Pawar? The Pawars are an ideal family and they will stick together through thick and thin. It is not a big issue at all. I have been in close contact with the family for long now and have seen that Pawar saheb has always been at the helm of the affairs in the family. Everyone listens to him and he commands respect not only in his family, but across Maharashtra and India. The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) is calling for an independent investigation into the exam leakages tied to the West African Examination Council amid the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). According to NAGRAT, all persons found culpable should be made to face the law. The National president NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, who spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, with Bernard Avle said this will bring an end to leaks during examinations. We think that an investigation should be instituted. An open investigation should be instituted and persons found culpable be dealt with. I think there should be an independent investigation body set up by the government. This investigation should go beyond the West African Examination Council because the council has its integrity to protect. The Ghana Education Service will have its integrity to protect so they cannot set up any committee, he added. Mr. Carbonu further stressed that the integrity of the WASSCE certificate was at stake. We are very disappointed with what is happening. In fact, the whole of yesterday, myself and my officers were discussing the integrity of this years exams. There is a particular West African country that we all thought that when to show you their certificate, we need to further interrogate the sanctity of that certificate and if we are not careful, we will also be gradually gravitating towards that situation, he further added. WAEC to probe leaks Meanwhile, WAEC says it will be unfair to blame it for these leaks. It, however, said it is committed to maintaining the integrity of the examination, adding that an investigative team has been formed. The Public Relations Officer for WAEC, Agnes Teye Cudjoe made this known in a Citi News interview. As an examining body, we will not compromise our paper not for anything because we are interested in preserving the integrity of our examination so if there is a website with any WAEC links, posting our questions from our strong room, I do not think it is fair to say that this is coming from WAEC. Our investigative team has alerted us and they are trying to track these websites. We are investigating this development. ----citinewsroom Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi The Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contacted the Malaysian Embassy in Hanoi and expressed deep concern over Malaysian law enforcement forces chasing of Vietnamese fishing that led to the death of a Vietnamese fisherman, according to the ministrys spokeswoman. Answering reporters questions on August 17 regarding the case, Le Thi Thu Hang further said Vietnam demanded the Malaysian side to investigate the serious case, in which two Vietnams fishing ships and the remaining fishermen are detained by the Malaysian with the accusation of illegally fishing in Malaysias sea, seriously deal with the guilty and offer humane treatment to the Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen. Hang said that according to initial information from the Malaysian side, a clash happened on August 16 between Malaysian marine law enforcement forces and two Vietnamese fishing ships in the waters off Malaysias Kelantan state, killing a Vietnamese fisherman. The Foreign Ministry has directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to continue working with Malaysian authorities and ask them for more details of the case, while organising consular meetings with the fishermen and taking protection measures for the dead. At the same time, the ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies at home to identify the victim, gathering more information to deal with violations, implementing citizen protection measures and ensuring the legitimate rights and interest of Vietnamese fishermen, stated Hang. Rahul B. Shukla, President/CEO My deep appreciation on how the company has been responding to the pandemic and for the help for the families in need. In these troubled economic times when employers are issuing pink slips and reducing benefits, a local manufacturer of aerospace parts and orthopedic instruments has shown there are still employers that truly care for their employees. S.S. White Technologies and its subsidiary SHUKLA Medical are located in Seminole/St. Petersburg, Florida. The company has 120 employees at their main manufacturing plant in Seminole and 500 total employees worldwide. Owner/CEO Rahul Shukla moved his plant from New Jersey to Florida 30 months ago. The company has already earned a reputation for supporting community causes and for looking after their employees. We stayed a few steps ahead, implementing safety measures for the COVID crisis, said HR Manager, Sheryl Sheppard. In early March, we installed hands -free faucets and bathroom fixtures, paid each of our employees a $4/hr bonus for working during the lockdown period, and made and distributed free masks to our employees and their families along with local medical organizations and other manufacturing companies. Two weeks ago, Ms. Sheppard told CEO Rahul Shukla of her agonizing decision to not send her son to school for a while. She went ahead and hired a private tutor for her son. When Shukla heard this, he said, Many employee-parents must be going through a similar dilemma. To decide whether to send a child to school or tutor at home would be a deeply personal and a heart wrenching decision. I would hate to make such a decision strictly on financial considerations. He said to Ms. Sheppard, Give me a proposal where we can give $50 per week to an employee who decides to hire a tutor. Just before approving the proposal from Ms. Sheppard, Shukla thought of his own struggling days 45 years ago when he was a low-level factory worker in the same company. He then raised the amount of tutor assistance to $100 per week. Last Thursday, Sheppard made an announcement to all the employees about the new policy on Tutor Assistance. Judith Arocho, an employee who works on the production line, said, My two kids are staying home. Getting the money from S.S. White will really help us sleep at night. Other employees, even those without children came forward to share how much they appreciated the gesture. Dr. Santosh Yerrabolu, research engineer, sent an email to Sheppard, My deep appreciation on how the company has been responding to the pandemic and for the help for the families in need. Giving new benefits in this difficult time was not an easy decision. The companys business has decreased to less than half of what it was prior to April. Yet, we have hung on to 120 employees, close to our full strength of 125. In addition, last month we announced an improvement in our maternity leave benefit. We will now provide a 4-week paid leave not just to an employee-mother but 4-week paid time off to an employee-father too, said Sheppard beaming with pride. When asked, how a small company can afford improving benefits when business has seen a 50% reduction in sales, CEO Rahul Shukla said, Its just a matter of priorities. To us, our employees are our family. They are our priority one. Cookie Preferences Cookie List Cookie List A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website when visited by a user asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. 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You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website. Blacklisting must follow due process The government and its entities hold the largest number of contracts. Therefore, if any of them blacklists a contractor, manufacturer, supplier or consultant, it could be a financial disaster for them. Since public sector undertakings are seen to be liberal in taking this drastic step, the Supreme Court of India had asked them to draft some guidelines. In one judgment related to a real estate firm two years ago, it had even given a two-week deadline to do so. But it has not been adhered to. Last fortnight, the court struck down yet another ... A new partnership offers travel insurance policies for countries that the Foreign Office (FCO) currently advises against travelling to. The FCO has issued a blanket advisory against all non-essential international travel since March, with the exception of an ever-evolving list of destinations that it deems low-risk. Popular holiday destinations including France, Spain, Portugal and Malta are not on the exempt list at present, meaning that, while holidaymakers can still go there, most normal travel insurance policies will be automatically invalidated by the FCO advisory. However, Holiday Extras, the UK market leader in holiday extras such as airport parking, airport hotels, lounges and travel insurance, has teamed up with Battleface, a specialist insurance provider. Battleface provides policies for destinations not on the FCOs safe list and will cover customers if, for example, they fall ill and require medical or emergency assistance, including medical expenses caused by Covid-19, as well as covering loss of baggage, personal money and passport and personal liability. The insurer normally issues policies for people working in conflict zones or other dangerous parts of the world, but its market has expanded rapidly since the government started removing many major tourist hotspots from its list of acceptable destinations. We are excited to be partnering with Holiday Extras to offer customers the chance to be covered for travel to countries under UK government non-essential travel advisories, said Sasha Gainullin, CEO of Battleface. Whilst we are not actively encouraging people to travel to places the FCO is advising against, its important that travellers are covered in the event of an emergency and understand the quarantine requirements upon return to the UK. Prices are not as high as travellers might anticipate; when The Independent searched for a policy covering a week in France, cover started from 25. Battleface isnt the only insurer offering policies that cover countries where the FCO advises against non-essential travel. Specialists such as Campbell Irvine and High Risk Voyager also provide cover. Of course, even those who have secured the correct travel insurance are not immune to the two-week quarantine upon their return to the UK. Most countries not on the FCO exempt list are also not on the Department for Transports separate quarantine-exempt list, meaning travellers arriving home will have to self-isolate for 14 days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is eager to convince global companies and investors that India is a business-friendly alternative to China. A top court ruling this summer told another story, highlighting the infamous judicial delays that threaten to stymie businesses and scuttled deals. The Supreme Court ended the 38-year saga of an alleged turmeric forger, who was arrested in 1982 and, eventually, sentenced to a month in jail and a 500 rupee ($6.70) fine. After a decade, the top court reversed his conviction; the two lower courts took around 14 years each to render verdicts. The lifespan of the turmeric case is extreme but not unique among the nearly 40 million cases pending across the country's three-tiered judicial system. Among cases in 25 state high courts, roughly 173,000 have been pending for more than 20 years, and roughly half of those for more than 30, government data showed. The World Bank ranks India in the top one-third of countries for overall ease-of-doing-business, but when it comes to enforcing contracts -- a measure of legal efficiency -- the south Asian nation lands in the bottom 15%, worse than Pakistan, Syria and Senegal. "It's pretty incredible," said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank in Singapore. "The complexity, the unnecessary delays -- it shows how India lags countries like China in their judicial system and just how much further they have to go." Legal and compliance expenses of companies listed in India increased to just over $3 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2018, up 57% in five years, according to national business daily Mint. Judicial delays have also tied up some of the country's biggest corporations and would-be massive deals: --IHH Healthcare's attempt to take over hospital chain Fortis Healthcare was scuttled by Daiichi Sankyo's four-year fight to enforce a $500 million arbitration agreement against Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh. --After 10 years, the Indian Supreme Court directed the provincial government in West Bengal to return land leased to Tata Motors's back to local farmers. --A twenty-year dispute ended with a $19 billion judgment against all the country's telecom companies, including those that have shuttered since the case began. The long time to resolution creates a lot of uncertainty for foreign companies otherwise interested in doing business in India, said Souvik Ganguly, Managing Partner at Mumbai-based Acuity Law. "Uncertainly makes investors nervous," Ganguly said, adding that India is "competing against a Singapore, Thailand and other countries which are much faster to resolve disputes." Part of the backlog is a result of judicial vacancies. In 25 high courts, which hear most of the commercial disputes, 37% of judgeships were vacant as of August 1, according to government data. In the lower district courts, the most recent data identified a vacancy rate around 23%. India's law ministry told Parliament in 2019 that it is coordinating with the judges of the Supreme Court and high court to fill up the vacancies, and last week a panel of Supreme Court judges recommended 11 new judges for appointments across three different high courts. Emails and phone messages seeking comment from the law ministry remained unanswered. An asteroid has flown past Earth closer than any seen before. The tiny object, known as asteroid 2020 QG, came just 1,830 miles over the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday, the space agency said. As it did so, it was spotted by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a robotic camera that scans the sky in search of a variety of objects, from the smallest asteroids to the largest supernova. The asteroid 2020 QG is particularly small. It is about three to six meters across, scientists said, roughly the size of a large car. Its small size meant that it never posed much of a threat to Earth. If it had flown towards us rather than just past, it would have turned into a fireball and broken up in Earth's atmosphere, as numerous small asteroids do each year. By flying by so closely, however, it has entered the record books as the closest asteroid known to have flown past Earth. Its really cool to see a small asteroid come by this close, because we can see the Earths gravity dramatically bend its trajectory, said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Our calculations show that this asteroid got turned by 45 degrees or so as it swung by our planet. Such asteroids are not thought to be rare an object of this size passes by this close to Earth once a year or so. But it is spotting it as it does that is difficult, with new technology allowing such small objects to be spotted more easily. Nasa needs to be able to track these near-Earth asteroids in case any of them are large and close enough to put Earth in danger. The space agency has been tasked with finding 90 per cent of near-Earth asteroids that are 140 meters or bigger, since those objects could pose a significant threat and are easier to spot from a distance. Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust standing at three-light-years tall, bursting with jets of gas from fledgling stars buried within, was captured by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010 Nasa/ESA/STScI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012 Nasa/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Death of a star: This image from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our Milky Way galaxy Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, pictured here on 1 January 2019 by a camera on Nasa's New Horizons spaceraft at a distance of 4.1 billion miles from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving Nasa, and released on 10 April 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light-years from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Pluto, as pictured by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew over the dwarf planet for the first time ever in July 2015 Nasa/APL/SwRI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures A coronal mass ejection as seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks running downhill on the surface Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary flowing water. It has since been suggested that they may instead be formed by flowing sand Nasa/JPL/University of Arizona Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Morning Aurora: Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station in October 2015 Nasa/Scott Kelly Its quite an accomplishment to find these tiny close-in asteroids in the first place, because they pass by so fast, Chodas said. Theres typically only a short window of a couple of days before or after close approach when this small of an asteroid is close enough to Earth to be bright enough but not so close that it moves too fast in the sky to be detected by a telescope. The object was discovered by looking through the images from the ZTF, as part of a Nasa-funded programme to track and study such asteroids. As they fly across the sky, they leave streaks across the ZTF images, and every night an algorithm looks through about 100,000 pictures in search of those streaks, forwarding any promising ones onto staff for further investigation. A lot of the streaks are satellites, but we can quickly go through the best images by eye to find the actual asteroids, said Bryce Bolin, a postdoctoral scholar in astronomy at Caltech and a member of the ZTF team. This latest find really demonstrates that ZTF can be used to locate objects very close to Earth that are on potentially impacting trajectories. Julian Blissett, GM executive vice president and president of GM China, speaks during the automaker's "Tech Day" for China on Aug. 19, 2020. GM General Motors plans to launch vehicles capable of 5G connectivity for Chinese consumers beginning in 2022, providing the groundwork to expand the company's in-vehicle and connected technologies. The upgrade from its current new vehicles with 4G LTE in North America and China will provide faster connectivity for remote, or over-the-air, updates as well as communications with other connected vehicles and infrastructure. It will also better enable technologies such as autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assist systems, which depend on connectivity and advanced mapping in addition to sensors and radars on the vehicles. Julian Blissett, president of GM China, said Wednesday all new Cadillac models and most new Buick and Chevrolet vehicles will be equipped with 5G connectivity starting two years from now in China. He announced the plan as part of a "Tech Day" for the region. GM declined to discuss plans to deploy 5G-connected vehicles in the U.S. But given the importance of North America to the automaker, the U.S. isn't likely too far behind China, which has been more aggressive in deploying the technology. GM has more than 5.5 million connected vehicles in China, according to Blissett. That compares to more than 16 million in the U.S., according to GM. Blissett also said the company is developing a next-generation driver-assist system, currently known as Super Cruise, that features "door-to-door intelligent driving technology." The company declined to provide additional details. "Our ultimate vision is a system that will enable hands-free transportation in 95% of all driving scenarios," GM said in an emailed statement. "We do not have a name or anything specific to announce today, but stay tuned." GM's Enhanced Super Cruise will include automated lane change, which will allow the hands-free system to change lanes on the highway when requested on demand. GM Two Venezuelan nationals on a Learjet taxiing to a takeoff from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Saturday were charged with smuggling in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the criminal complaint, agents found Luis Alberto Patino Linares and Gregori Jerson Mendez Palacios were about to take off with 18 assault/bolt action rifles with optics; six shotguns; 58 semi-automatic pistols; 63,000 rounds of ammunition; body armor; a firearm silencer/suppressor; $20,312 in U.S. cash; and $2,618.53 in endorsed checks. The criminal complaint says they were in the United States on B1/B2 non-immigrant visas, used for those visiting for business or tourism. That makes shipping or transporting firearms a crime. Also, that cash amount far exceeds the $10,000 limit for not reporting the amount of currency being taken out of the country. Each man faces charges of smuggling goods from the United States; alien in possession of firearms; bulk cash smuggling out of the United States. The guns and ammunition Customs and Border Protection says it found on the Venezuela-bound Learjet. The criminal complaint says though the Learjet, with tail number YV3441, is registered in Venezuela and Patino Linares and Mendez Palacios are from Venezuela, the flight plan filed had them heading for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Special agent Jared Rine wrote in the complaint, From my training and experience, I know that pilots have filed flight plans to third party countries to avoid detection of their ultimate destinations to avoid scrutiny of law enforcement authorities. CBP called the plane back to the Customs area at the airports general aviation facility. Instead, after getting that direction from air traffic control, Mendez Palacios drove the plane back to the Jetscape private plane terminal about a mile and a half away. He then met Customs agents at the general aviation facility. While Mendez Palacios claimed only $8,000 cash, the complaint said, agents headed over to Jetscape. When they got there, an FAA agent saw Patino Linares and a Jetscape ground crew taking boxes off the plane. Story continues The FAA Inspector requested documents related to a safety inspection, the complaint said, Patino Linares stated that he did not speak English. The FAA Inspector asked Patino Linares in Spanish for documents related to a safety inspection. Again, Patino Linares stated that he did not speak English. After CBP saw a .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle unloaded, they stopped the unloading and took stock of the planes cargo. The complaint said Patino Linares admitted under questioning that he and Mendez Palacios bought the guns, ammunition and accessories while spending the previous three months living in a Coral Springs apartment. They were taking it all back to Venezuela. Haiti corruption scandal: Billions wasted in Venezuelan PetroCaribe aid, new report shows Federal El Dorado task force targets kleptocrats who wash billions in South Florida Woman found stabbed to death in Sunrise home, police say Opposition supporters protest against disputed presidential elections results at Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 18, 2020. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images) EU Announces Sanctions Over Rigged Belarus Elections BRUSSELSThe European Union condemned the rigged elections in Belarus and rejected Alexander Lukashenkos authority as it announced sanctions against officials involved in violence, repression, and vote fraud. Leaders of the blocs 27 countries unanimously authorized travel bans and asset freezes against key figures in the regime and security services during an emergency video conference on Aug. 19. They also issued a strong warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin not to intervene in the crisis, insisting that the future of Belarus has to be decided by the people in Belarus, not in Brussels, not in Moscow. European Council President Charles Michel said a substantial number of figures involved in the rigging of the election and subsequent violent repression of peaceful protests will face sanctions. He said that a list of targets will be drawn up and given the legal sign off as quickly as possible. He added that it isnt decided whether Lukashenko himself will be included in the list, and the issue will be decided in the coming days. EU leaders called for a complete and transparent investigation into abuses and the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained unlawfully during the 10 days of protests. The 9 August elections were neither free nor fair, therefore, we do not recognize the results. The people of Belarus have a right to determine their future, EU leaders said in a joint statement. The EU will shortly impose sanctions against a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression, and the falsification of election results. In a direct warning to Lukashenko not to escalate the violence, they warned him, Any further deterioration of the situation will impact on our relationship and have negative consequences. Michel said that Putin had assured him during a phone call on Aug. 18 that the Kremlin has no intention of involving its military in dealing with the crisis. The EU Council president said the pair had a very clear and very frank exchange of views and that he had stressed to the Russian president the need to avoid external negative influences on Belarus. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will not get involved in the internal politics of Belarus, adding that the future of Belarus must be decided by the Belarusian people. It must grow from within. It is the Belarusian people who are demanding a rerun of truly fair and free elections. We support them in choosing the path they want to go down. Its their decision on where they want to lead their country to. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the EU should also look at working out certain mechanisms to help reduce the former Soviet states economic dependence on Russia. A defiant Lukashenko immediately hit back by accusing a number of European countries, including France and Germany, of fueling the protests against him, instructing his government to warn them about the responsibility for fomenting unrest. He also ordered police to put down protests in a move that drew condemnation from European leaders including Gitanas Nauseda, the president of neighboring Lithuania, who said it could lead to bitter sorrow. The Belarusian central election committee announced that it will press ahead with plans to inaugurate Lukashenko as the countrys president within the next two months despite the widespread protests. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out acting as a mediator in the crisis, saying she had tried to speak to Lukashenko on the phone but he refused to talk to me, which I regret. Instead, EU leaders said they strongly support using the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, currently chaired by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, as a go-between. Few things could have actually enlivened the funereal proceedings that were the second night of this years virtual Democratic National Convention. But one thing that might have gone a long way in that direction was hearing from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, the one 2020 primary candidate who was awarded delegates but not given a speaking role. It is strange to think that only four years ago Gabbard was still considered a rising star in the Democratc Party. At the DNC in 2016, it was Gabbard who was chosen to nominate Sen. Bernie Sanders as the official second-place finisher in the delegate tally, the role taken on Tuesday night by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. These days Gabbard is a pariah in her party. There are some fairly obvious reasons for this. Not only did she tear apart Kamala Harris' record as a prosecutor during last year's debates; she also voted against one of the articles of impeachment against President Trump back in February. Like most principled critics of America's foreign policy, her lack of interest in knee-jerk partisanship has done her no favors. Foreign policy is a topic about which we've heard little so far at this years convention. If nothing else, Tuesday night's endorsements from John Kerry, Cindy McCain, and Colin Powell served as a reminder that a Biden administration would be committed to the same interventionism that left us with an unwinnable war in Afghanistan and perhaps the most geographically expansive refugee crisis in human history in North Africa and the Middle East. Tulsi is not the only former Democratic presidential candidate who would have made Tuesday night better television. I would have paid $50 for a pay-per-view convention in order to hear Marianne Williamson talk about the power of love. More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office The elephant in the room at the DNC Sen. Elizabeth Warren will speak to millions of Democrats nationwide from Western Massachusetts on Wednesday. Warren will deliver her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech on Wednesday evening from the Early Childhood Education Center, a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten facility within the Springfield Public Schools system. The Springfield school served 169 students during the 2019-2020 school year and was among the thousands of public and private schools across Massachusetts to shift to remote learning in March amid shutdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19. It will reopen fully remote this fall. The Springfield School Committee voted earlier this month to start the 2020-2021 school year with remote learning, joining a growing number of school districts in shifting away from a push to return to in-person learning. Of course, we want to get our children back in schools as soon as possible, but our decision must be based not only on educational aspects, but also public health, medical aspects and the science of COVID-19, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said. The Democratic National Convention began Monday, drawing 18.7 million viewers across six networks during its first evening of convention proceedings. Former First Lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were among the featured speakers during the first night of the convention. On Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Former Secretary of State John Kerry and Dr. Jill Biden spoke. Warren will be among a number of speakers Wednesday including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden will close out the convention on Thursday. LAS VEGAS - Democrats hoping to create a surge of enthusiasm behind Joe Bidens presidential bid will look to Wednesdays convention headliners to broaden the partys focus from a multipart rebuke of President Donald Trump to a message of change. Former President Barack Obama, a transformational figure for the Democratic Party who picked Biden as his running mate a dozen years ago, has top billing for the third night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention, starting at 9 p.m. EDT. Before Obama tries to tap into the broad coalition that elected him as the countrys first Black president, the lineup is set for America to hear from Sen. Kamala Harris in her first prime-time appearance as Bidens history-making running mate. Hillary Clinton, another barrier breaker as the first female presidential nominee of any major party, will also speak. What to watch on the third night of the convention: OBAMA While his wife, Michelle, opened the convention Monday night by delivering a grave censure of Trump, Barack Obama will likely focus more on the Democratic nominee and a revival of the message of hope and change that ushered in his own term in office. After remaining conspicuously absent from the fray as Biden pushed through a crowded primary contest, Obamas address will give one of the partys most popular figures a chance to make a personal case for the man who served by his side for two terms. Whether Obama can pass on his personal popularity to Biden wont be immediately clear without a live audience, but expect the 44th president to describe Biden as a trusted counsellor and copilot who helped him pass his signature health care law and navigate a complex world. HARRIS Harris, the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman selected for a major-party ticket, gives Democrats a barrier-breaking team that echoes the landmark of Obamas election. The California senator, who often invokes other groundbreakers such as Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, will get a chance to highlight her own historic role. She will also use the moment to argue for Biden at the top of the ticket and set aside a notable moment from her first debate appearance as a presidential candidate last year, when she criticized his record on race over his previous opposition to federally mandated busing. CLINTON Clintons historic campaign for the White House remains a rallying point for party faithful, something the former first lady is likely to pay homage to in her speech. But divisions remain in the party after her candidacy and the rise of the Bernie Sanders coalition on the left. Clinton drew attention last year for seeming to magnify the split by saying about Sanders in a documentary: Nobody likes him. Nobody wants to work with him. Shes unlikely to revive that sentiment this week. Instead, look for her reiterate a message that does unify Democrats: skewering Trump. THE BIDEN AGENDA Though Obama will offer Democrats nostalgia for his election to and tenure in the White House, the party hopes to send a message that a Biden presidency wont be a 2008 redux. The theme of the night is A More Perfect Union, with speakers set to lay out goals for a Biden presidency. Speakers include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who unveiled a catalogue of action plans during her own presidential campaign, some of which Biden has adopted. Others slated to appear include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was considered a potential running mate for Biden, and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a prominent advocate for tighter gun restrictions who was shot in the head in an attempted assassination in 2011. TRUMP Trump is working to stay in the mix this week with a series of trips to counter the Democratic convention programming. He made appearances on Monday in Wisconsin and Minnesota and on Tuesday in Arizona, with speeches taking on Biden and the Democrats. The president plans to travel to Pennsylvania, where Biden was born, on Thursday, hours before the Democrats acceptance speech. The Republican president doesnt have any travel planned for Wednesday but is likely to continue delivering his reactions to the Democratic convention on Twitter. HOW TO WATCH The program runs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. The DNCs official livestream is available online and via its social media channels. CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and PBS will air the full two hours, while ABC, CBS, Fox News Channel and NBC will air the final hour, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. The convention is also available to watch on Twitch, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 05:39:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRASILIA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Wednesday, while meeting with the new Argentinean ambassador to Brazil Daniel Scioli, his intention of working together with Argentina on issues of common interest and on strengthening the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). Scioli also delivered to Bolsonaro a message from Argentinean President Alberto Fernandez, wherein the president also expressed a desire to work together, the Argentinean embassy said in a release. During the meeting, issues surrounding bilateral relations were addressed, particularly trade and the strategic role that the relationship between the countries has for Mercosur. According to the Argentinean embassy, Bolsonaro told Scioli that he wholeheartedly desires the best for Argentina, and that "both countries are going to work together." Scioli will meet on Friday with Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, with whom "he will remain in direct contact to unblock pending issues on the bilateral agenda," and will then meet with the rest of the members of Bolsonaro's cabinet. Scioli, a former vice president and presidential candidate, arrived in Brasilia last week to assume his post at the Argentinean embassy. Enditem A month has gone by since the last earnings report for ManpowerGroup (MAN). Shares have added about 4.9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Manpower due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. ManpowerGroup Misses Q2 Earnings Estimate ManpowerGroup reported mixed second-quarter 2020 results, with earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate but revenues missing the same. Quarterly-adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share beat the consensus mark by 38.5% but declined more than 100% year over year. Revenues of $3.74 billion missed the consensus mark by 1.5% and declined 30.4% year over year on a reported basis and 28% on a constant-currency basis. Declines in both top and bottom lines reflect impact of the coronavirus-related reduction in hiring activity. Segmental Revenues Revenues from America totaled $836.6 million, down 21.7% year over year on a reported basis and 16.7% on a constant-currency basis. In the United States, revenues came in at $515.9 million, down 21%, both on reported and constant-currency basis. In the Other Americas subgroup, revenues of $320.7 million decreased 22.8% on a reported basis and 10% on a constant-currency basis. Americas contributed 23% of total revenues. Revenues from Southern Europe were down 38.6% on a reported basis and 7.7% on a constant-currency basis to $1.5 billion. Revenues from France came in at $76 billion, down 48.4% on a reported basis and 47.5% on a constant-currency basis. Revenues from Italy were $268.5 million, down 31.9% on a reported basis and 30.7% on a constant-currency basis. The Other Southern Europe subsegment generated revenues of $466.3 million, down 18.9% on a reported basis and 18.2% on a constant-currency basis. Southern Europe contributed 39% of total revenues. Story continues Northern Europe revenues slid 27.5% on a reported basis and 24.2% on a constant-currency basis to $865.7 billion. The segment accounted for 23% of total revenues in the quarter. APME revenues totaled $569.1 million, down 27.5% on a reported basis and 24.2% on a constant-currency basis. The segment contributed 15% of total revenues. Operating Performance Gross profit in the quarter was $576.7 million, down 33.8% year over year on a reported basis and 31.9% on a constant-currency basis. Gross profit margin came in at 15.7%, down 30 basis points (bps) year over year. The company incurred operating loss of $50 million in the quarter against operating profit of $130.8 million in the year ago quarter. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow ManpowerGroup exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents balance of $1.4 billion compared with the prior quarters $1.1 billion. Long-term debt at the end of the quarter was $1.01 billion, compared with the $995.6 million witnessed in the preceding quarter. The company generated $415.1 million of cash from operating activities, and Capex was $9.8 million in the quarter. It paid dividends of $63.8 million in the quarter. Q3 Guidance The company expects revenues to be down 18% to 20% on a constant-currency basis. Earnings per share is anticipated to be in the range of 59 cents to 67 cents. How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then? In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in fresh estimates. The consensus estimate has shifted -9.02% due to these changes. VGM Scores At this time, Manpower has a great Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Manpower has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ManpowerGroup Inc. (MAN) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is "open to all options" to ensure Australia achieves a strong take-up of a successful COVID-19 vaccine, including measures aimed at compelling people to be vaccinated. Mr Morrison said on Wednesday his government's signing of a letter of intent with UK-based drug company AstraZeneca to manufacture 25 million doses of Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine for Australia marks "a day of hope" after hundreds of deaths and months of disruption. Prime Minister Scott Morrison toured the AstraZeneca laboratories in Macquarie Park. Credit:Nick Moir Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly flagged potential levers to make the vaccine mandatory if not enough people agree to be vaccinated voluntarily - such as "linking vaccines with other programs", as the government did with childcare for pediatric vaccines under the "no jab, not play" policy introduced by Mr Morrison when he was social services minister. Professor Kelly did not outline what privileges could be denied to vaccine refusers, saying the government's initial approach would be "a voluntary call" for people to receive the vaccine. Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd On Wednesday announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India. The launch is part of the global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that grants the Indian drug maker the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and distribute the tablets in India, Chief Executive Officer of Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy's Laboratories, M V Ramana said. Avigan(Favipiravir) has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease. Speaking to reporters, Ramana said: "We are pleased to bring this important innovator medicine to the patients in India. The need for high quality and efficacy, affordability and better disease management are key priorities for us. We believe that Aviganwould provide an effective treatment option to the COVID-19 impacted patients in India." Avigancomes in a complete therapy pack of 122 tablets with a two-year shelf life. To ensure accelerated access to the medicine, Dr Reddy's has initiated a free home delivery service in 42 cities in the country, and a Helpline Centerbetween 9 am to 9 pm IST, Monday through Saturday. Ramana further said as of now they are importing the drug from Japan and soon will manufacture it in India. Replying to query, he said they have already approached regulatory authorities of two or three countries including the US seeking approvals to sell the drug and seek fast track approvals from them once trials are completed. Dr Reddy's is set to launch another COVID-19 treatment drug, Remdesivir in the first week of September, he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Records of the case relating to "unnatural death" of actor Sushant Singh Rajput do not prime facie "suggest any wrong doing" by the Mumbai Police, but its "obstruction" to the Bihar Police team could have been avoided as it gave rise to suspicion over the bona fide of the inquiry, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. IMAGE: People in Patna celebrate Supreme Court's decision to allow the CBI to probe the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Photograph: ANI photo The apex court, "according approval" to the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the FIR registered against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with Rajput's death, said that the Mumbai Police has not yet lodged an FIR and they are conducting inquiry under section 174 of the CrPC which deals with finding out the apparent cause of the unnatural death. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy noted in the judgement that while Chakraborty's lawyer has reposed confidence in the Mumbai Police, the advocate representing Bihar has claimed that it was "trying to suppress the real facts and not conducting a fair and professional inquiry". It said Rajput's father and the Bihar government have alleged that the Mumbai Police is "attempting to shield the real culprits under political pressure", while the Maharashtra government has strongly refuted it and said that the Patna Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime when the incident has taken place in Mumbai. "The records of the case produced before this court, does not prima facie suggest any wrong doing by the Mumbai Police. However, their obstruction to the Bihar police team at Mumbai could have been avoided since it gave rise to suspicion on the bonafide of their inquiry," the bench said. The verdict came on a plea filed by Chakraborty who had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then the Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. In its verdict, the apex court said that, "The police at Mumbai were conducting only a limited inquiry into the cause of unnatural death, under Section 174 CrPC and therefore, it cannot be said with certainty at this stage that they will not undertake an investigation on the other aspects of the unnatural death, by registering a FIR." "In the present case, the Mumbai Police has attempted to stretch the purview of Section 174 without drawing up any FIR and therefore, as it appears, no investigation pursuant to commission of a cognizable offence is being carried out by the Mumbai police," it said, adding, "Therefore, it is pre-emptive and premature to hold that a parallel investigation is being carried out by the Mumbai Police". The top court noted in its judgement that "uncertain about the future contingency at Mumbai", Rajput's father Krishna Kishore Singh had filed a complaint at Patna levelling serious allegations against Chakraborty, following which an FIR was registered. "The case is now taken over by the CBI at the request of the Bihar government. The petitioner has no objection for investigation by the CBI, but is sceptical about the bona fide of the steps taken by the Bihar government and the Patna police," the bench said. It noted that during the pendency of Chakraborty's plea before it, the FIR at Patna was subsequently transferred to the CBI with consent of Bihar government. "As the CBI has already registered a case and commenced investigation at the instance of the Bihar government, uncertainty and confusion must be avoided in the event of Mumbai Police also deciding to simultaneously investigate the cognizable offence, based on their finding in the inquiry proceeding," it said. "Therefore, while according approval for the ongoing CBI investigation, if any other case is registered on the death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the surrounding circumstances of his unnatural death, the CBI is directed to investigate the new case as well. It is ordered accordingly," the bench said. It said under the "federal design" envisaged by the Constitution, police is a state subject under List II of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. "Therefore, investigation of a crime should normally be undertaken by the concerned state's police, where the case is registered. There can be situations where a particular crime by virtue of its nature and ramification, is legally capable of being investigated by police from different states or even by other agencies," it said. The bench said that entrustment of investigation to the CBI is permitted either with consent of the concerned state or on orders of the constitutional court. "However, investigation of a crime by multiple authorities transgressing into the others domain, is avoidable," it said. The Maharashtra government had earlier told the apex court that Mumbai Police has registered an accidental death report and commenced inquiry under section 174 of the CrPC to ascertain the cause of death and also to determine whether the death was a result of some criminal act committed by some other persons. It had also said that statements of 56 persons have been recorded and if the inquiry discloses commission of a cognizable offence, the Mumbai Police would register an FIR. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Baixarsertanejomp3.com scored 44 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 20 Jul 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the baixarsertanejomp3 homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if baixarsertanejomp3 has a Facebook fan page). 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Basic Information PAGE TITLE Baixar Sertanejo Mp3, Baixar Musicas , Musicas Gratis DESCRIPTION Baixar Sertanejo Mp3 , Baixar Musicas Sertanejas , Download de Musicas , Download de Cds , Baixar Mp3 , Baixar Cds , baixar 4shared , Cds Completos 3.5.1 KEYWORDS baixar sertanejo mp3, baixar musicas, baixar cds, download cds, ouvir musicas, musicas online, download musicas OTHER KEYWORDS baixar, musica, sertanejo, mp3 nenhum comentrio baixar musica, mp3 nenhum comentrio baixar, nenhum comentrio baixar musica, mp3 nenhum comentrio The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE Portuguese Portuguese SERVER nginx/1.0.15 OPERATIVE SYSTEM Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. The language of baixarsertanejomp3.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for baixarsertanejomp3.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee ElSheikh are being held by the US military in Iraq - AP Donald Trump's administration has told the UK it has bowed to its request to take the death penalty for British Isil suspects The Beatles off the table, The Telegraph understands. Bill Barr, the US Attorney General, on Tuesday informed the Home Office of its decision and gave it a deadline to hand over all evidence they had on Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee ElSheikh to help bring a prosecution, according to UK and US officials. If Britain is unable to provide them with the materials, which includes wiretaps, intercepted communications and witness testimony, by mid-October Mr Barr's office threatened to hand the pair over to authorities in Iraq, where they are currently being held by the US military. On behalf of the United States Department of Justice, I am writing to provide an assurance that, if the United Kingdom grants our mutual legal assistance request the United States will not seek the death penalty in any prosecutions it might bring against Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, and, if imposed, the death penalty will not be carried out," read the letter sent by Mr Barr to Priti Patel, Home Secretary, on Tuesday. A Home Office official said on Wednesday that they "welcomed the developments". A copy of the letter sent to Priti Patel, Home Secretary, by US Attorney General Bill Barr The issue has been a sticking point between the allies. The Supreme Court in London ruled in March that it was unlawful for authorities to cooperate with the US in a high-profile terrorism case without first being assured that Kotey, 36, and ElSheikh, 32, would not face the death penalty, which the UK objects to. The UK earlier this month told their American counterparts that they were suspending sending over all evidence in criminal cases because the US still uses capital punishment. An appeal in the case, which had originally been brought by Elsheikhs mother, is due soon. Captured by allied Kurdish forces in Syria in early 2018, the pair was turned over to US troops and have been in US military custody at al-Asad base in Iraq since October, amid questions over how and when they will face justice. Story continues The Telegraph understands US military personnel in Iraq have raised concerns about guarding the Londoners at al-Asad, which has come under attack in recent months from Iran-backed Iraqi militias that left scores of American troops injured. Their fears, and the wishes of the families of US victims of The Beatles, pressured the administration into a U-turn. British Islamic State (IS) group fighters El Shafee el-Sheikh (L) and Alexanda Kotey (R), posing for mugshots - AFP The men form half of a four-man cell of British Islamic State members whose gruesome hostage beheadings for propaganda videos drew global attention in 2014. The US Department of Justice in return wants the UK to hand over intelligence on the two men, who have been stripped of their British citizenship, that would assist a prosecution. Washington is seeking to try the pair in the Eastern District of Virginia. The US desperately needs evidence held by the British to make a strong enough case to prosecute the suspects. If the UK does not act quickly on this, sources told The Telegraph that the US could threaten to instead hand the men over to Iraqi authorities for trial. This would be problematic for Britain as Baghdad also has the death penalty and has already handed down to several European Isil fighters. Time is of the essence Mr Barr said in his letter, warning the US will give up custody of the men on October 15 unless all litigation in the United Kingdom seeming to prevent the use of United Kingdom evidence in a (US) prosecution has been resolved. However, such a move is complicated by the legal case before the Supreme Court, which ruled the then home secretary Sajid Javids decision to share evidence with American authorities without assurances on the sentence breached data protection laws. The deadline set by the US of October 15 would come just two weeks after the Supreme Court returns from a recess. The families of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Kayla Mueller, who were tortured and killed by The Beatles, have urged the Department of Justice to do whatever they could to ensure the pair were brought to the US for trial, including dropping the option of the death penalty. Pressure on the administration has grown following revelations this month that Kotey and Elsheikh had been involved in the kidnapping of American volunteer Ms Mueller. They appeared to confirm their roles in the captivity of the aid worker who is believed to have been killed in 2015, in videoed interviews shared with NBC News. Diane Foley, the mother of James, an American journalist executed by British Isil leader Mohammed Emwazi, told the Telegraph she did not agree with the death penalty and wanted to see the men face justice in a US court as soon as possible. Ms Foley, of New Hampshire, said she would not want to see the pair tried in the UK, fearing they would receive a lesser sentence. I hope the two countries can work together to bring those two to trial in the US, she said. Theyve been held without charges for over two years, which is not fair to them either. It really is time to act. Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, a Spanish photojournalist who was held captive by The Beatles in Syria for eight months before he was freed in 2014, told the BBC: "Today is the anniversary of Jim's murder (James Foley). The Beatles are responsible for the murder of at least 27 people. "I believe it is necessary that this trial not be delayed any longer for the families of all the victims and I hope that if their participation in these events is demonstrated then the result will be life imprisonment." Talk to Dr. Paul Garmirian and his son, Kevork, for any length of time and one thing becomes abundantly clear: They have as much passion for PG Cigars as they do contempt for the industrys pervasive gimmickry. The PG philosophy, after all, isnt about publicity stunts, bikini-clad models, creative marketing schemes, or the next big thing. Its about blending finely tuned cigars to meet the most discriminating of palates. In fact, the Garmirians shared with us how, during the height of the cigar boom, they refused to sell a stash of prized Dominican leaves at a significant profit because they were patiently aging them to perfection. This is one example of the sacrifice that must be made to create cigars that look, taste, and feel like pre-Castro Cubans. As we learned how Paula cigar traditionalist and pioneer ever since he wrote The Gourmet Guide to Cigars in 1990emphasizes excellence over higher income and accelerated growth, we were reminded of a July commentary written by George E. The article calls for the industry to address the vital underlying issues of quality and consistency instead of rushing flashy duds to market. It struck a note with those of us who would like to see manufacturers focus on doing one thing right instead of a lot of new things halfass. Reading it today, we realize it was a sin for us not to mention PG Cigarsbut now we know better. From their humble yet exquisite headquarters in McLean, Virigina, Kevork and Paul were nice enough to impart their wisdom and share their passion. The following was taped after they closed their shop on one chilly November evening: Many thanks to Kevork and Paul for their time, generosity, and willingness to participate in StogieGuys.coms first Cigar Insider video. We encourage you to check out the list of authorized PG retailers on their website and explore their many wonderful cigars. Patrick A & Patrick S photo credit: Stogie Guys LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine revealed that Roundstone is No. 2649 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, a prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Many well-known companies such as Microsoft gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. "Being named an INC 5000 company for the third consecutive year, among such high-performing companies, is an honor for Roundstone," said Michael Schroeder, President of Roundstone. "We understand how healthcare costs can burden businesses, especially in the current climate, which is why we've delivered innovative solutions that save small to mid-size businesses an average of 20 percent on health insurance. Our entire team is dedicated to this cause and it shows in our year-over-year growth." Roundstone was formed in 2003 to help employers save on their health benefit plans by allowing companies to control and proactively manage their health care costs. Unlike traditional insurance companies who retain health care cost savings as profits, employers covered by a Roundstone plan pay for what they use while keeping the savings. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, creating over 1 million jobs in the past three years. "The companies on this year's Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism." About Roundstone Management Ltd. Roundstone Management, Ltd. (Roundstone) based in Lakewood, Ohio is an insurance organization offering small to mid-size employers (20-1,000 employees) a proven health insurance strategy that helps business owners access affordable health insurance for their employees paying only for the healthcare they use while keeping the savings. For more information on Roundstone, visit the company website at www.roundstoneinsurance.com Contact: Mike Schroeder, President [email protected] 440-617-0333 Roundstone Management Ltd. SOURCE Roundstone Related Links http://www.roundstoneinsurance.com NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ChannelVision Magazine has awarded BCM One, a leading managed technology solutions provider, the 2020 Visionary Spotlight award for Business Technology in Multi-Location Deployments. Specifically, BCM One was awarded for a recent complex, multi-site deployment to a large online furniture retailer which involved the network design and deployment of managed SD-WAN with dual SD-WAN devices, two-fold Internet routers and a virtual connection to AWS across multiple locations nationwide. Outstanding Multi-Location Deployments Business Technology BCM One has a team of experts on staff, including multi-certified engineers, network architects, and project directors, who work with every client to plan, design, deploy, and manage customized network solutions across a company's wide-area-network supporting their critical network infrastructure. "We're honored to be recognized by ChannelVision as a niche player in providing multi-location network deployments for businesses," stated Andy Steinke, Head of Channel Sales at BCM One. "Particularly with SD-WAN, it's easy to get wrapped up in the research of which provider to go with, and figuring out exactly what's needed to support the business, but most organizations simply don't have the time, resources, or expertise to do that. When they work with us, they know they'll get a solution that's designed specifically for their needs, and most importantly a specialized SD-WAN implementation team to deploy their solution correct the first time around." Each year, ChannelVision's editors hand-pick the winners that best demonstrate creativity, feature set differentiation and forward-thinking ability, as well as the ability to help drive growth," stated Berge Kaprelian, Beka Business Media President and CEO. "The annual VSA program serves as a helpful guide, showcasing the top-performing companies and most exciting innovations while demonstrating 'who's who' in the telecom industry." For a listing of all Visionary award winners by category, visit the ChannelVision Magazine site. ABOUT BCM ONE Founded in 1992, BCM One is a leading managed solutions provider offering businesses a one-stop shop for integrated technology needs. Serving over 4,500 customers worldwide, BCM One offers a variety of solutions supporting businesses' critical network infrastructureincluding technology expense optimization, unified communications, SD-WAN, cloud, security and connectivity solutions. BCM One prides itself on its long-standing client relationships backed by their mission statement, "Providing a World-Class Experience with Every Human Interaction." To learn more about BCM One, visit www.bcmone.com. ABOUT CHANNELVISION MAGAZINE ChannelVision is a bi-monthly digital and print magazine, read by channel partners selling all manner of voice, data, access, managed and business services (both on-premise and "in the cloud"), as well as, technology, gear, and equipment. ChannelVision is a highly focused and efficient way for service providers, hardware, and software companies to reach experienced channel partners targeting the small/medium business space. Serving a controlled circulation of providers and indirect distributors of communications, network, IT and cloud-based business services, ChannelVision is telecom's gateway to perspective on how to adapt, what to sell, and how to sell it. For Media Inquiries: Paula Como Kauth Office: 212.906.7255 | [email protected] Related Images outstanding-multi-location.jpg Outstanding Multi-Location Deployments for Business Technology Outstanding Multi-Location Deployments Business Technology SOURCE BCM One Public Relations Related Links http://www.bcmone.com Christian teacher facing execution in Syria after refusing to give school to Islamist group Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The headmaster of a school in the city of Afrin in northern Syria has been accused of apostasy and arrested by an Islamist group loyal to Turkey, which wants to punish him for refusing to convert the school into an Islamic educational institution, according to reports. Forty-year-old Radwan Muhammad, a Kurdish Christian who teaches English, is being held at the headquarters of Failaq Al-Sham, an Islamist group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, in Afrin, according to the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide. We are extremely worried about Radwans life and wellbeing," Pastor Nihad Hassan, who leads a Kurdish church in Beirut, Lebanon, told CSW. "[T]hey may execute him. The group had ordered Muhammad to turn over his school so they could turn it into an Islamic educational institution, but the Christian teacher refused, saying, I will hand you the building in one case only: if Jesus Christ comes down to earth again, CSW reported. He was arrested on July 30. Afrin was taken over by the Turkish army in March 2018. Hassan noted, Those Islamist groups and their Turkish masters are walking in the footsteps of IS (Islamic State). In fact, many of their fighters are former IS and al Qaeda members. CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas called for his immediate release. We also urge the Turkish authorities to intervene by restraining the various Islamist militia groups functioning under its command, and to immediately bring to an end all forms of violence and human rights abuses in the areas they control," Thomas said. Failaq Al-Sham functions in northwest Syria under the Syrian National Army, an umbrella group for different Islamist factions under direct Turkish command. Turkish forces have been giving Syrian armed groups free rein to commit serious human rights abuses against civilians in the Syrian city of Afrin, human rights group Amnesty International said earlier this month after an investigation into life in Afrin under Turkish military occupation. Afrin residents are enduring widespread human rights violations, mostly at the hands of Syrian armed groups equipped and armed by Turkey, Amnesty found. Violations include arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and confiscation of property and looting to which Turkeys armed forces have turned a blind eye. Some of these groups, and Turkish armed forces themselves, have also taken over schools, disrupting the education of thousands of children. The supplies were donated by The Will Group, a Chicago-based lighting consultant and infrastructure firm that assists the city of Gary with street lighting. Rod Young, who works in business development for The Will Group, said, Weve been very fortunate and very blessed. We felt we should share with others. Weve had a long relationship with the city of Gary, and we felt it was only right to donate to the city. The local airport has been a center to assist response efforts, coordinating relief efforts among 16 local hospitals throughout five Northwest Indiana counties. The airport recognized these airborne donations with a water cannon salute during landing to honor the pair of single-engine aircraft carrying supplies. Dominique Scott, executive director of Tuskegee NEXT, said the 6-year-old institution is rooted in the heart of service. Located in Chicago, Tuskegee NEXT honors the legacy of the famed Tuskegee Airmen by seeking to transform the lives of at-risk youths through education assistance, training in aviation and career path opportunities. The mission is for these young people to transform their communities. I knew him very well. In the party, he was invariably non-controversial, low-profile, well-mannered and always very guarded and measured in his utterances. A perfect description of the late George Michael Chambers, the countrys second prime minister and political leader of the Peoples National Movement (PNM), from Ferdie Ferreira, a foundation member, in his book Political Encounters 1946 -2016. The structure of the stabling deck has been designed and constructed keeping a provision for future development of 11 floors above In a first of its kind project, an 11-storey commercial tower would come up on the roof of the stabling deck of the Delhi Metro's busy Mundka depot in northwest Delhi. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has proposed the development of 32,696 sq m over 11 floors of 2,972 sq m each, above the train stabling deck, officials said. A stabling deck is a place where rail locomotives are parked while they await their turn. DMRC has floated tender to invite bidders to carry out Property Development (PD) above the stabling deck structure of Mundka depot of the Green Line near Mundka Industrial Area Metro station, they said. The structure of the stabling deck has been designed and constructed keeping a provision for future development of 11 floors above. The site has a frontage of about 950 m on the Rohtak Road and is approximately 7 km from Delhi-Haryana state border. The existing land use of the depot plot is industrial, and all requisite approvals from local authorities for property development will be required to be taken by the developer, officials said. Through this tender, DMRC intends to select a lessee for development above the already constructed stabling deck at Mundka depot for a period of 30 years from the commencement date to utilize the area as permitted under Master Plan of Delhi 2021 (MPD 2021). For carrying out the construction works, the successful bidder would be permitted a lease rent fee free period up to three years from the date of signing of the lease agreement. The lessee shall be entitled to sub-lease the built up space to any person or entity only after adding the necessary structures and utility services. At the end of the lease period, on any ground whatsoever, DMRC shall have the absolute right to run the project site on its own, or re-lease or lease it to any third party or to manage it in any other manner as it may deem fit in its sole discretion. The lessee shall also ensure that the proposed property development is neither an impediment for smooth flow of traffic nor a safety hazard for the nearby station structure and for commuters. Ramps for vehicular movement above deck level and basements below the deck level for parking purpose have already been constructed. DMRC has been mandated by the government to undertake value capture from property development initiatives for sustainable revenue generation so as to raise additional capital for part finance the Delhi Metro project. Seven men and two women are being questioned about terrorist activity (Niall Carson/PA) Nine people have been arrested as part of an investigation into dissident republican group the New IRA. The seven men and two women, aged between 26 and 50, are being questioned at Musgrave Street police station in Belfast. As part of the police operation, codenamed Arbacia, gardai in the Irish Republic carried out six searches in Dublin, Laois, Cork and Kerry. Nine people arrested under Terrorism Act. pic.twitter.com/uTPvczPLEv Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) August 19, 2020 PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray said: I can confirm that nine people were arrested on Tuesday under the Terrorism Act in connection with an ongoing investigation into the activities of the New IRA. All nine remain in custody. The seven men and two women, aged between 26 and 50 years, were arrested as part of Operation Arbacia. They are currently in Musgrave Serious Crime Suite, where they continue to be questioned on suspicion of a wide range of terrorist activity. Mike Huckabee warns against unending church closures: 'They better have a reason that's overwhelming' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has denounced the idea that state and local governments can continue to force churches not to hold in-person services, especially when a church agrees to engage in social distancing practices. Huckabee was interviewed by Jason Yates of the Christian group My Faith Votes, which Huckabee serves as honorary national chairman, as part of an online town hall Tuesday evening. Ahead of the program people submitted questions to be answered during the town hall, with some of the submissions being asked by Yates to Huckabee. Huckabee addressed the need for people to return to daily routines, such as work and going to church, especially as the shutdown orders begin to be lifted in May. We cant have people saying you can go to a drive-in liquor store, but you cant do a drive-in church service, he added, referencing multiple legal controversies on that issue. We should very much be concerned, Huckabee stressed. Its one thing for us to have a period of weeks in which churches voluntarily do their services online or in the parking lot or the drive-in. But we dont want a government that can say to a church, We are suspending the First Amendment. The very first right in the First Amendment is freedom of religion, followed by freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Huckabee said that for the government to say that those have been suspended, they better have a reason thats overwhelming. When the mayors of places like Greenville, Mississippi, and Louisville, Kentucky, started sending police officers to give tickets to people in their cars for $500 for attending a drive-in service, this is the first wave of when government says, Hey, these people went along pretty willingly. The next time we have an issue and we want to make a church conform to something thats politically correct, well just tell them they cant meet. Huckabee said Americans should never get used to this idea that the government can tell us when we can gather, what we can say, and how we can get around it. When Yates asked what people can do about local or state orders banning all in-person worship services, Huckabee responded by urging people to contact their elected officials and use our rights as citizens. Churches are fighting back, he said, noting examples of congregations that have sued governments over stay-at-orders that hinder their worship services. We should not be critical of that, we should be grateful. When asked whether the economic shutdown was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19, Huckabee said he believed political leaders made a sensible decision. Was it necessary? I think that the people making the decisions saw information that most of us are not going to have access to see, he responded. Theres no way they would have done the things they did to shut down virtually the entire economy had they not been genuinely alarmed. In response to the spread of the coronavirus, several states have issued orders for people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people without exempting religious services. While the vast majority of churches have agreed to halt in-person worship services, some congregations have refused to do so, arguing that such measures violate their religious freedom. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John W. Broomes of the District of Kansas ruled against a state executive order prohibiting worship services with more than 10 people in attendance. Broomes argued that the temporary restraining order on behalf of two churches and their pastors was justified because they were likely to prevail on the claim that the shutdown violated their religious freedom. while these executive orders begin with a broad prohibition against mass gatherings, they proceed to carve out broad exemptions for a host of secular activities, many of which bear similarities to the sort of personal contact that will occur during in-person religious services, wrote Broomes. Plaintiffs have made a substantial showing that development of the current restriction on religious activities shows religious activities were specifically targeted for more onerous restrictions than comparable secular activities." OIREACHTAS members, including senior cabinet minister Eamon Ryan, are in crunch talks to ensure the future of Shannon Group and its companies in response to the shock of the pandemic economy. This comes a day after tourism body, Shannon Group, announced that it was seeking 6.4m from the Government, in order to keep its two flagship attractionsKing Johns Castle, and Bunratty Castle and Folk Parkalive through the winter period. But as it stands, the key tourist attractions will shut their doors on September 1, following a huge slump in international tourists. Green Party TD, Brian Leddin told the Limerick Leader this Wednesday afternoon that he and a number of Oireachtas members are in "intensive" discussions to see how the Shannon Group can be supported through the Covid-19 crisis. This includes input from his party leader, Eamon Ryan, who is ministerially responsible for the Shannon Group, Deputy Leddin said. Im hopeful that we can get a resolution that will allow workers in the group to retain their jobs." The most immediate deadline is the proposed closure of Shannon Heritage properties at the end of August. The staff team have done a fantastic job of pivoting their business to focus on the domestic market in the light of the disappearance of international tourists. But they need more time to find a sustainable future for the business. "But we also need to find a sustainable future for Shannon Airport as it has seen a dramatic drop-off in flights. Whats important is that we treat each area of the business separately and try and find a sustainable future for employees so they can have certainty," Deputy Leddin said in a statement this week. Deputy Leddin acknowledged the work of his Oireachtas colleagues. Ive also been working with all TDs to meet with people affected. The way that representatives from all parties have worked together has been very positive and shows the importance of Shannon Heritage, Shannon Airport and Shannon Properties to the region. Mekedatu padayatra: After Karnataka HC chides Cong, Siddaramaiah says permission not taken for protest Privilege Motion vs Privilege Motion: Congress, BJP spar over Facebook issue India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Aug 19: Hours after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor moved a notice for breach of privilege against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, the lawmaker from the ruling party returned the favour. A Twitter duel had erupted between BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Opposition MPs Tharoor and Mahua Moitra (TMC) over the prospect of the panel seeking views of Facebook on a Wall Street Journal report. Tharoor alleged that Dubey made "disparaging remarks" on social media over his decision to summon a panel meeting to discuss alleged "misconduct" of Facebook. FIR against Facebook policy head Ankhi Das, 2 others over posts In his letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Tharoor took strong objection to Dubey's remarks on Twitter that "the Chairman of Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members". Tharoor said Dubey accused him of championing his political party's "agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker". J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Dubey's remarks came after Tharoor had said on Sunday that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would like to hear from Facebook about a media report on its conduct and what it proposes to do about hate-speech in India. In the notice, Dubey alleged that Tharoor had sent the notice to Facebook without following rules and had "surpassed all limits of decency, ethics and basic tenets of Parliamentary procedures and practices". The BJP MP has sent the notice to Speaker Om Birla, requesting him to initiate a privilege motion against the Congress leader. In the report published on Friday, US newspaper Wall Street Journal cited interviews with unnamed Facebook insiders to claim that one of its senior India policy executives intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana after he allegedly made communally charged posts. Reacting to the controversy, Facebook on Monday said the company's social media platform prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence, adding these policies are enforced globally without regard to political affiliation. "While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy," a Facebook spokesperson said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 22:04 [IST] Nominees who failed to obtain the necessary absolute majority for the remaining 26 seats are to go to a run-off in September A pro-government coalition led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party has secured a landslide victory in Egypts Senate elections, claiming, along with its allies, the majority in the newly reconstituted 300-seat council, the National Elections Authority (NEA) announced on Wednesday. Amid protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic, Egyptians cast their ballots from 9 to 12 August to choose their representatives in the new chamber, whose members are chosen via the individual candidacy, the closed party list system, and presidential appointment. One-hundred-and-seventy-four senators, representing different constituencies countrywide, have been officially named after receiving the absolute majority of votes during the first round of elections, while 26 seats are still up for grabs in a run-off in September, head of NEA Lashin Ibrahim told a press conference. Ibrahim said that 8.95 million out of 62.94 million eligible voters cast their ballots during the four-day long voting period, a total turnout of 14.23 percent. Valid votes were recorded at 7.5 million, 84.58 percent of the total turnout, and the invalid ballots numbered 1.38 million, 15.42 percent, he added. A total of 797 candidates competed for the 100 individual seats of the upper chamber, while one list ran unopposed for the 100 seats reserved for party lists. The 100 seats allocated for party lists in the Senate were won unopposed by the 11-party National Unified List, led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party (Future of the Homeland), after meeting the 5 percent threshold necessary to be declared the winner, according to the NEC. Mostaqbal Watan has 59 candidates on this list, while 10 other parties have the rest. Another 74 individual seats were won during the first round of elections, including 68 candidates from Mostaqbal Watan according to a statement by the party. The remaining 26 seats, whose nominees failed to obtain the necessary absolute majority, are to go to a run-off in September, said NEA head Ibrahim. The undecided 26 seats are distributed over 14 governorates: Qalioubiya, Menoufia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Giza, Beni Suef, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, and Marsa Matrouh. The run-off election will be held on 6-7 September for Egyptians abroad and on 8-9 September for resident nationals. The final result is set to be announced on 16 September. Ibrahim noted that the first round of voting was supervised by judges and the polls were monitored by the media and civil society organisations. The NEA received 49 appeals, but all of them were rejected, Ibrahim said. He assured that the voting process went regularly at all polling centres, but some stations saw a delay in opening as some of the supervisory judges arrived late. The NEA received some complaints but found that they did not affect the regularity of the election process, he added. The Senate, which was created in accordance with constitutional amendments approved last year, will act as an advisory chamber to the House of Representatives. It will be in place of the Shura Council, an upper house of parliament that was dissolved in 2014. The first session of the new council, where the senators are required to be sworn in, is set to be held in October. The first five-year term of the Senate will end in 2025. Search Keywords: Short link: Alexander Krasnoshtan, Transport industry expert Motion is life. At the same time, this expression is valid not only for the individual - it is also true for society: society develops only through movement, rapprochement, communication. Without properly organized passenger transportation within the country, it is useless to talk about balanced economic development of the regions, the strengthening of interregional economic and socio-cultural cooperation. Without this, you can forget about domestic tourism. Especially for children's health tourism - because it is difficult to imagine the transportation of a group of children from, e.g. Mariupol to Lviv on a bus tour - it is more than one and a half thousand kilometers and more than 24 hoours in on the way. As we see, the governments of all developed countries are investing huge amounts in the development of the high-speed rail network. The same is true for countries that are showing intensive development and want to become developed in the long run. And if we want to see Ukraine as a developed and prosperous country, our government has no alternative then to invest taxpayers' money from the state budget in the development of passenger rail transport. We often hear the question: can private business invest in the development of passenger transport? And here follows an unequivocal answer - no! After all, the only and main goal of any business is to make a profit. In turn, passenger rail transport is unprofitable in almost all countries of the world. They are deeply unprofitable in Ukraine as well - after all, the tariff paid by the passenger covers less than half of the transportation costs. Accordingly, there is no alternative to public investment for their development. In fact, for the operator, including Ukrzaliznytsia, passenger transportation is a loss-making business. Thus, in 2019, UZ's losses from passenger traffic exceeded UAH 12 billion, and the state currently does not compensate for these losses. The railway covers these costs at the expense of freight profits. But this is not a panacea, but rather a pernicious practice: these funds are used to cover costs, instead of being directed to the renewal and development of means of production - especially infrastructure and locomotives. This is partly the reason for the virtually complete lack of development and renewal of fixed assets of the railway. At present, passenger traffic in Ukraine is in the process of degradation. If in 2015-2019 the passenger flow, albeit slightly, but increased (this was achieved through more efficient operation of existing passenger cars), then from 2020 there is a reverse trend. This is due to the reduction in the number of passengers suitable for carriage, so UZ will no longer be able to maintain the level of traffic, and it will decrease. If decisive measures are not taken immediately, in 3 4 years no more than 1,200 of today's 2,900 passenger cars will remain. As a result, long-distance traffic will be reduced from the current 55 million passengers a year to 20 million passengers. In other words, 2/3 of the traffic will be lost. In suburban communication, the situation is even worse. The need for today in the renewal of passenger rolling stock UZ for the coming years is: - passenger wagons - 3000 units. These are 200 trains that will replace the rolling stock in the existing areas, which is subject to excluding from operational fleet. Moreover, there is a need to strengthen passenger traffic in many regions, in particular Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi. Connection with Donbass remains very important. It is necessary to organize the trains operation that will connect remote regions of our country. - high-speed trains - 30 units. Even today there is a need to increase the frequency of communication on existing routes from Kiev to Konstantinovka, Kharkov, Lviv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rig and Zaporizhzhya. There are also many perspective areas for the development of high-speed traffic: Cherkasy, Mykolayiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sumy (after the completion of electrification), Rivne, Lutsk and other areas. - suburban electric and diesel trains - 1000 units. Their use is especially relevant in the suburban area of large cities: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhya, Lviv, as well as other large cities. Ensuring the purchase of such a number of rolling stock with the correct organization of its operation would allow to carry at least 130 million passengers a year in long-distance communication, and in suburban - at least 200 million passengers. Why is investing in the development of rolling stock benificial for the state and what will the citizens and the state get as a result? Let's find out! First of all, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the allocated budget funds will be used to purchase the means of production. With their help, the railway will provide a service, which is an added cost and the corresponding taxes. Funds invested from the budget for the purchase of a passenger car will be returned to the budget in the form of taxes on services provided by this car for 7 years. In the following years (the service life of the passenger car is at least 28 years), the budget will receive funds from this, 3 times the amount of investment. That is, we are talking about a pure kind of public investment. It is public investment that creates a reliable source of budget replenishment plus comfortable conditions for citizens to travel. Obviously, for this reason the current Law "On Railway Transport" provides for the use of state budget funds for the purchase of passenger cars. Article 10 of this law contains such a direct rule. The next important point is the formation of the internal market. After all, the cost of purchasing the necessary passenger rolling stock is estimated at 14 15 billion dollars - a very significant amount. It will provide stable orders for the car building industry for the next 10 years. Moreover, it will enable the industry to engage in its own innovative development, which will allow it to plan a systemic expansion into world rolling stock markets. A very important aspect is job creation. Thus, at least 5,000 new jobs will be created directly in production to secure such orders (if the program is designed for 10 years). But that's not all! Jobs will be created and in operation - and this is at least 35,000 jobs. After all, each passenger car is 5 jobs, a high-speed train is 50, and a commuter train is 20 jobs. It is equally important to mention import substitution. Today Ukraine has the opportunity to produce passenger rolling stock with a level of localization of at least 80%. But here, as in the case of job creation, we need to remember about import substitution in operation, because spare parts, materials and electricity for traction are produced in Ukraine. If the same number of people will be transported by road (rolling stock, spare parts and fuel mainly imported), the import of spare parts and materials will need to spend $ 600 million a year. In this case, the money will actually be withdrawn from the economic. We should not forget about the energy balance. A lot of material has already been written about the fact that in Ukraine there is a difficult situation with a surplus of electricity generation. More than 90% of passenger traffic is carried out using electric traction. That is, the implementation of the program for the development of passenger traffic will increase electricity consumption by at least 1 billion kilowatt-hours. This will have a very positive effect on the country's energy balance. Of course, ecology will benefit from the development of passenger rail transport. But most importantly - people will win. Citizens will be able to travel comfortably and quickly across the country. Territories will receive a new impetus. The regions that have a well-developed communication also have the best indicators of economic development. Conversely, regions in "transport isolation", even with strong potential, often cannot realize it. A very good example is the Chernivtsi region: until the issue of fast and comfortable communication of the region with the capital and other regions is resolved, there can be no question of any intensive development of tourism in the region. The development of suburban communication is in fact the only chance for megacities to get rid of "traffic jams" at the entrances to the city. In particular, without the systematic development of suburban rail transport, the problem of reducing transport problems in Kiev has no solution. What will happen if the government does not intervene and the degradation of the passenger rail system continues? Of course, people will travel - this markret will be occupied by road transport. At the same time will do it with some pleasure, because it is a good piece of the market. Legal and illegal carriers, Bla-Bla-Car, Uber and other services will all benefit. But the country as a whole will be more reminiscent of sub-Saharan Africa in terms of transport security. more and more often we will receive news about terrible accidents involving buses and dozens of victims, we will periodically hear about situations similar to what happened recently in Brovary. Residents of megacities and their suburbs will continue to spend hundreds of hours of their lives each year in traffic jams at the entrances to cities. And people who have economic potential, but do not want to spend part of their time in wheeled barns called "minibuses", will simply leave and take their potential to those countries where the government cares about the comfort and safety of its citizens. "Spinocerebellar ataxias" are diseases of the nervous system associated with a loss of motor coordination. A European research alliance headed by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Bonn has now registered whether and how symptoms of ataxia developed over the years in around 250 persons at risk, who initially did not show symptoms. This is the first study worldwide to investigate the onset of spinocerebellar ataxia directly and in a large group of individuals. The results published in the journal The Lancet Neurology provide valuable data for prevention studies. The term "ataxia" - which is derived from the Greek expression for "lack of order" - describes a series of nervous diseases in which the interplay between different muscle groups and, as a result, movement coordination is impaired. "Ataxia manifests as motor disorders such as gait insecurity and a tendency to fall. Handwriting becomes blurred and gripping and holding, for example cutlery, gets difficult. Also, speech can become unclear and blurred," explained Prof. Thomas Klockgether, Director of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Bonn and Director of Clinical Research at the DZNE. Slow development Ataxias are among the "rare diseases" and are estimated to affect around 16,000 people in Germany. Various causes are known for the associated damage to the cerebellum and spinal cord. So far, however, it is only possible to alleviate disease symptoms. "Many ataxias are caused by genetic defects. Other forms of ataxia are acquired and may be triggered, for example, by immune processes or vitamin deficiencies," said Klockgether. In general, ataxias develop slowly, over years. In the subgroup of "spinocerebellar ataxias", which belong to the hereditary ataxias, marked symptoms usually do not appear until adult age. "During the presymptomatic phase, nerve damage is still slight. It is assumed that during this period the chances of influencing the later course of the disease and possibly slowing it down, that is acting preventively, are best," Klockgether continued. "In addition to better early diagnosis, the development of therapies also requires a more precise understanding of the progression of the disease. This allows identifying time windows in which a treatment has a chance of success." Largest study so far Significant findings in this regard are now provided by the largest study to date on the onset of spinocerebellar ataxias. The data were collected by a research network coordinated by Thomas Klockgether, which includes 14 scientific institutions from seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain). In total, the researchers studied 252 adults - all of them children or siblings of people with spinocerebellar ataxia and therefore persons at risk - to determine how their movement coordination developed over a period of several years. The study, which started enrolling volunteers in 2008, covers the four most common types of spinocerebellar ataxia: These are designated SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6 according to international nomenclature. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants showed ataxia. However, about half of them were "mutation carriers", i.e. they had ataxia triggering gene variants. These genetic findings were anonymised in order not to influence data analysis. About half of the mutation carriers actually developed symptoms of the disease during the study period. "For the remaining mutation carriers, this is also expected. We will continue to monitor the health development of all study participants," said Klockgether. Better biomarkers needed The now available results provide precise data on the progression from the presymptomatic phase to the emergence of disease symptoms. "Our study now shows that with the established tests of movement coordination, ataxia can actually not be detected until the disease is relatively advanced. This would be too late for early intervention. Thus, there is an urgent need for additional biomarkers that are indicative even before the onset of clinical symptoms," said Dr. Heike Jacobi, a physician at the University Hospital of Heidelberg, who shares the first authorship of the current publication with a French colleague. Ideally, readings derived from a simple blood sample would be the best option. Brain scans could also possibly provide valuable clues, according to Jacobi. "Some of our study participants were examined by magnetic resonance imaging. We tend to see that in some forms of ataxia certain regions of the brain shrink even before symptoms of ataxia manifest. However, since our sample of MRI scans was relatively small, this effect should be checked in larger study groups." Bases for the development of therapies For prevention studies, the current results provide valuable information. Such studies are planned in detail. "For this, it is important to estimate how large a study group needs to be in order to be able to establish within a certain period of time whether a new drug is effective. Our findings now provide for the first time data that allow such a calculation," said Klockgether. About 170 to 270 mutation carriers should be included in such studies in order to be able to expect a statistically significant delay in the onset of the disease over a trial period of two years. The exact size of the study group depends on the type of ataxia. "For the treatment of spinocerebellar ataxia experimental approaches exist that aim to reduce the effect of the disease-causing gene mutations. The pharmaceutical industry is planning clinical studies on this. Our results provide important bases for the design of such trials," said Klockgether. ### Original publication Conversion of individuals at risk for spinocerebellar ataxia types 1, 2, 3, and 6 to manifest ataxia (RISCA): a longitudinal cohort study, Heike Jacobi, Sophie Tezenas du Montcel et al., The Lancet Neurology (2020), URL: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30235-0/fulltext Thu Cuc International General Hospital has received over $26 million from VinaCapital Last week, VinaCapital announced that its flagship fund, the Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF), had invested in Thu Cuc International General Hospital (TCI) in Hanoi. VinaCapital led a consortium to invest $26.7 million to obtain a significant minority stake along with a board seat at the healthcare provider. TCI was established in 2011 in one of most populous and rapidly-developing areas of Hanoi by Nguyen Thu Cuc, who in 1996 became the first woman to launch and operate a private healthcare company in northern Vietnam. By working with some of the countrys most experienced doctors, Cuc quickly established TCI as a trusted destination for high-quality services at affordable prices in the fields of obstetrics, gynaecology, and oncology, while also offering comprehensive health checks. Andy Ho, chief investment officer at VinaCapital said, TCI is widely recognised as one of the top private hospitals in Hanoi a position it reached in a relatively short amount of time. That speaks to the vision and focus of the founder, the dedicated and professional medical staff, and the high-quality care they provide. As Vietnams middle class continues to expand, consumers are seeking greater access to private medical services, thereby relieving the burden on the public health sector. As one of the first investors in the private healthcare industry in Vietnam dating back to its investment in Hoan My in 2009, VOF has long recognised the enormous growth potential of this industry. TCI joins our existing healthcare portfolio of Thai Hoa in the Mekong Delta region, and Tam Tri Medical Corporation, which has hospitals in southern and central Vietnam. This investment in TCI will raise the VOF portfolios exposure to the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors to 8 per cent of net asset value and will position VOF as the leading private equity investor in private hospitals and clinics in Vietnam, Ho added. Similarly, Hoang Quan Group Co., Ltd. under Hoang Quan Group has recently inked a deal with Medika Investment Vietnam to develop international hospital chains in the country. In the first phase, the two plan to develop 12 international-standard hospitals with 2,500 beds as well as polyclinics with total investment capital of VND6 trillion ($260 million). Hoang Quan Group is specialising in real estate development with several social housing projects in Vietnam. This time, the company decided to venture into the new field of hospital development to tap into the markets growth potential. The group owns a large reserve of land across many localities and will thus be responsible for legal land procedures and project development. Meanwhile, Medika has extensive experience in building and operating hospitals. The company will be in charge of building and managing the system of hospitals. Both groups aim to complete the development of the 12 hospitals and polyclinics in the next five years. Back in February, British Real Capital London launched the $156 million Hong Anh Medical Campus project in Ho Chi Minh City.The facility is a state-of-the-art healthcare system incorporating a 462-bed hospital, a medical training centre, a network of general practice clinics and pharmacies, and senior residencies and nursing homes, adding much needed facilities and services to Vietnams healthcare system. The project is divided into four stages, with the final phase expected to be completed by 2030. Generally, fresh funds are injected into Vietnams private healthcare sector. The Private Equity in Vietnam 2019 report by Grant Thornton shows that healthcare and pharmaceuticals ranked fourth in terms of industry attractiveness for investors, which was voted by 29.2 per cent of participants as most attractive. Eng Aik Meng, chairman of the Singapore-Vietnam Cancer Centre in Ho Chi Minh City is also upbeat about the outlook of Vietnams private healthcare sector and forecast much room for private healthcare providers to operate in the country. Vietnams population is ageing quickly, with more than 10 per cent of the population at or above the age of 60 in 2017 and in 1520 years, the elderly will account for one third of the total population. Moreover, the rapid urbanisation is stimulating demand for quality healthcare within the country, and overcrowding in government hospitals is expected to intensify, resulting in long wait times and a shortage of beds, he said, noting that all the factors will drive the investment wave into Vietnams private healthcare sector in the future. KYODO NEWS - Aug 19, 2020 - 08:41 | Arts, All, Japan South Korean actress Son Ye Jin, who played the role of a wealthy heiress who lands in North Korea in a paragliding accident in smash hit drama "Crash Landing on You," said she is "overwhelmed" at the immense popularity the romantic comedy has generated in Japan. "It has been a while since the series ended (in South Korea), but I'm surprised that people have continued to express their interest and love for it," Son said in a recent written interview with Kyodo News. The 16-episode melodrama -- a love story between a South Korean heiress of a conglomerate family and a North Korean military officer -- has taken Japan and other parts of Asia by storm since it premiered on Netflix at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay at home. "I think the warm atmosphere and sense of comfort surrounding the drama have offered (viewers) inspiration and happiness in the face of the global threat of the spread of the novel coronavirus," she said. The 38-year-old actress also said she is "overwhelmed" to hear that their work "played a role in raising interest in South Korean dramas" in Japan. In the series, which was aired on the South Korean cable network tvN between December and February, Son plays Yoon Se Ri, who crash lands on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone after her paraglider is caught in a tornado. Forced to live in the North while searching for ways to return to South Korea, she falls in love with Ri Jeong Hyeok, a military officer who comes from a powerful political family. The hero was portrayed by popular South Korean actor Hyun Bin. Son said she gave much thought to how she could effectively portray her character, whom she refers to as "very optimistic and positive," as the heroine adapts to life in the North. "There were many scenes where I had to deliver my lines like a rapid-fire gun," said Son, who is also popular in Japan for her role in the 2004 film "A Moment to Remember" in which she played a woman who has Alzheimer's disease. "I tried to be expressive in various ways, not just facially but also through my body and hand movements," she added. While the popular melodrama depicts life in North Korea, the filming was done in South Korea and Mongolia, among other places. It has scenes in which the protagonists travel to Pyongyang on a train, as well as eat and drink with locals. Son said she cannot forget the scene towards the end of the series where the two characters bid farewell at the Military Demarcation Line that separates the North and South. "It was when the emotions of the two characters exploded. I really thought about how to act it out and devoted much energy to it," she said. "Many people who watched the drama told me that it shows the tragedy that resulted from the division and that they were moved," she recounted. The series, which also portrays scenes of corruption in the North Korean leadership, is thought to have drawn criticism from Pyongyang, which has said that South Korean TV dramas are full of "falsified" and "fabricated" information. Copyright 2020 Kyodo News All rights reserved. No reproduction, republication or redistribution without written permission. This year, results are likely to be more complicated. The race could be too close to call. Or the candidate who is ahead on Tuesday night may end up losing once absentee and provisional votes are counted. Or an election lead might actually widen. Since 2000, Democrats have done better as later ballots are counted the blue shift first identified in a 2013 paper by one of us, Edward Foley which could significantly impact results. Hypothetically, Trump could be winning on election night by a small margin in one or more swing states and claim he has enough electoral college votes to declare victory. Yet after all votes are counted, Joe Biden could be the actual winner. Trump has been pushing the false narrative that any change after election night is fraudulent. That is unequivocally not the case. By Joanna Plucinska WARSAW (Reuters) - Belarusian activist Veronika Tsepkalo plans to meet opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Lithuania to discuss their next steps towards ousting President Alexander Lukashenko, but she indicated she would not return to her country soon. Tsepkalo also said it could take "some time" for the movement against Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years and has faced mass protests since an election widely viewed as rigged, to succeed in its aims. Tsepkalo fled Belarus for neighbouring Poland after the Aug. 9 election upon receiving threats from the government that she would be arrested. She was reunited with her husband, Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to Washington, who was barred from running in the election and fled to Russia with their two sons before the vote. Tsikhanouskaya, a 37-year-old former English teacher, took the place of her own activist husband on the ballot after he was jailed. She has fled to neighbouring Lithuania. Speaking to Reuters in Warsaw on Wednesday, Tsepkalo said: "The only legitimate president is Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Our main target, our main aim is just to make Lukashenko go." Tsepkalo said she was looking forward to talks with Tsikhanouskaya in the coming days. "I would like to sit down with Sviatlana and discuss the next steps. Discuss what we are going to do in the near future because we understand the movement which we started, it will be continued for some time." But she indicated she would not herself return to Belarus soon as she feared being arrested. "I wish I could go back to Belarus as soon as possible but at the same time I understand the chances of me getting to the jail are very, very high," she said. "If I'm back (in jail) it means my husband will not be able to speak up to the international community anymore." On Wednesday, the European Union held an emergency summit on the crisis, rejecting Lukashenko's re-election and announcing financial sanctions against officials the EU blames for election fraud and a crackdown on protests. Story continues Tsepkalo will spend a few days in Warsaw with her family and meeting Polish officials and civil society leaders in an effort to bolster support for the Belarusian protesters before moving on to Lithuania. On Wednesday, she and her husband met Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz and will on Thursday meet Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki. After the meeting with Czaputowicz, Valery Tsepkalo said he had discussed setting up a Polish-U.S. fund with officials to support Belarusian civil society financially and legally, in particular those who had been wounded in the protests or had lost their jobs. "It's very important for the ordinary people to understand that they would not be left by themselves (with) their problems," he told Reuters. (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, additional reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Waves crash on the Front Strand in Youghal, Co. Cork. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire STORM Ellen hit the south with a vengeance causing flooding, power outages and bringing trees down on rural roads. A Status Red alert is in place for Cork from now until midnight as forecasters warn the county of Storm Ellen's "very severe and destructive winds". A Status Orange wind warning is in place for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford until midday tomorrow. Skibbereen in west Cork suffered serious flooding after heavy rainfall from 8pm which was described as "like a monsoon." Drains were unable to cope with the deluge and serious flooding occurred in parts of the west Cork town. Flooding fears were heightened by high tide scheduled for the early hours of Thursday morning. The floods came just days after nearby Rosscarbery suffered damage due to heavy rainfall and flash floods. Thousands of people across Cork, and particularly in north Cork, were left without power from 10pm. ESB repair crews were unable to deploy because of the severe weather until after the Status Red alert was lifted. Multiple trees were brought down as Gardai pleaded with people to stay off the roads until the worst of the storm had passed. The storm impacted further east than initially feared with parts of Waterford expected to endure very damaging gusts before the storm tracked up over the centre of Ireland. Social Democrat TD for West Cork, Holly Carins, shared a video on Twitter apparently showing the flooding in Skibbereen, Co Cork. Warning to campers People holidaying or living on campsites and caravan parks were warned to seek alternative accommodation. Gerard OFlynn, Coast Guard head of operations, said people should seek shelter if they are staying on a campsite. We are appealing to the public not to engage in any form of coastal activity and to be mindful of the risks posed by the extreme tide ranges, he added. Irish Coast Guard teams around the coast are prepped & on standby to come to the aid of those in need during conditions. Please give them a quiet night and heed the warnings, stay away from exposed beaches, cliffs and harbours. Stay Back, Stay High & Stay Dry!#StormEllen pic.twitter.com/CIw8PHzLnh Irish Coast Guard (@IrishCoastGuard) August 19, 2020 Were heading towards what we call astronomical high end, low water tide which means we get a very, very high tide and very, very low tide. He urged the public to stay back, stay high and stay dry. We are asking people to stay away from the coast and to stay away from the sea and to avoid the temptation to try and get a fancy photograph or a selfie, he continued. Its not the time to take a risk. Damage to homes Met Eireanns Evelyn Cusack has predicted that roofs will be blown off houses and roads damage. Ms Cusack said todays events are a consequence of Hurricane Kyle which formed just off the US East Coast last week. Status red warning for Cork For all current warnings see here :https://t.co/ozrQHtoOkt pic.twitter.com/gmGf5RZS8x Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 19, 2020 The National Directorate of Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) Crisis Management Team met this morning to assess the latest weather warnings. Local authorities are now deploying temporary flood defences and putting response staff on standby in preparation of Storm Ellen's arrival. The NDFEM said this is an "exceptional" storm for August and advised holidaymakers staying in coastal locations to avoid the coastwhile the warnings are in place. ESB Networks are preparing for significant power outages. Staff are on standby to repair faults in all areas as a significant numbers of trees could fall, blocking roads and damaging power lines. Homeowners and motorists have been warned to take action to mitigate the impact of Storm Ellen. Advice to motorists The RSA is advising road users in Cork to not to make any non-essential journeys during the storm window. Households have been advised by brokers to check external walls and windows to ensure they are adequately water resistant. Expand Close A pedestrian makes their way past sandbags on the seafront in Clontarf as bad weather takes hold ahead of Storm Ellen. Picture; Gerry Mooney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A pedestrian makes their way past sandbags on the seafront in Clontarf as bad weather takes hold ahead of Storm Ellen. Picture; Gerry Mooney And motorists have been advised by broker Insuremyhouse.ie to ensure their car is not parked under or near anything that could come loose and cause damage during the storm, and to avoid any unnecessary journeys. Home insurance brokers Insuremyhouse.ie warned homeowners and motorists to take action to, where possible, negate any impact of the storm. Managing director of the brokerage Jonathan Hehir said: Ireland is no stranger to high winds and heavy rain brought about by storms but this summer storm is forecast to be stronger than anything weve experienced in quite some time. He said that every year homes in Ireland are destroyed by flooding, high winds, burst pipes etc. causing devastation for many affected. In the event of a flood warning, it might be worth investing in sandbags and/or flood barriers to protect the property, particularly if the property is in a flood risk area, Mr Hehir said. During more risky periods he advised householders to keep personal and expensive items as high above ground level as possible. People should ensure they know where water, gas and electricity mains are, should they need to turn them off or on at any stage. If necessary, arrange for emergency repairs to be carried out to stop any damage getting worse, he said. Mr Hehir added: Where possible keep evidence of damaged goods and/or receipt everything that you replace. Photographic evidence is useful. Motorists should ensure their car is not parked near anything that could potentially come loose and cause damage during the storm. They should avoid any unnecessary journeys. Drivers were also advised to give vehicles more space than usual. And they should slow down due to the threat from extra surface water, high gusts and objects coming loose. Drivers should also check their tires. If they are not roadworthy they should not drive, Insuremycars.ie said. Mr Hehir said anyone unfortunate enough to suffer any property damage or who are involved in an accident, should contact their insurer immediately to initiate the claims process. Emergency funding is being prepared for areas hit over recent days. Office of Public Works Minister Patrick O'Donovan visited west Cork yesterday, where 12 major areas were hit by flooding over the past five days. Parts of Rosscarbery endured the worst flooding since 1961 after 230mm of rainfall - more than a month's expected total - fell in the space of just 96 hours. Torrents and flood devastation In one area, more than 50mm of rain fell in the space of just 24 hours, turning streams into raging torrents and damaging more than 20 properties, numerous local roads - including the N71 main Cork-Bantry road - as well as culverts and walls. Flood damage was also caused in Kerry, Limerick and west Waterford, though west Cork bore the brunt of the flood devastation. "It is only when you see the damage at first hand that you can fully appreciate the devastation the recent severe weather has brought to communities in Connonagh, Dunmanway and Rosscarbery," Mr O'Donovan said as he toured flood-hit areas of west Cork. "I have met with officials in Cork County Council, my own OPW (Office of Public Works) officials, and the many residents and business owners who have been dealing with this terrible situation for the last week." Mr O'Donovan pointed out that the OPW and Cork County Council had undertaken hugely successful flood defence measures in Fermoy, Mallow, Bandon and Skibbereen - and were now examining further schemes in Midleton, Ballymakeera and Bantry. "Over 39m has been provided for the minor flood mitigation works scheme since it started in 2009. "I would now encourage the council to avail of this scheme where possible to benefit these areas," he said. "However, I will also report back to my ministerial colleagues in Government on the overall picture here in Cork and every effort will be made by those other departments to step in and provide the necessary financial resources to the council. I would like to reassure the communities affected that this will be done and it will be done as quickly and efficiently as possible". Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey said the authority was faced with a daunting task. "With two flood events in less than four days resulting in over 230mm of rainfall, it has been extremely challenging for the communities that have been impacted by the recent flooding in west Cork," he said. Some council crews have worked around the clock. They were assisted by local volunteers, including farmers with tractors, as well as the emergency services. The flooding around Rosscarbery was so severe that an entire road was carved away and parts of the popular coastal village were cut off. "Over the course of the weekend, the council's fire service and roads crews attended flooding events at 12 locations across west Cork, placing and issuing over 2,500 sand bags," Mr Lucey said. With further heavy rainfall forecast over the next 48 hours, council crews remain on alert for further potential flooding. Senator Tim Lombard said the damage in west Cork will run "to millions of euro", with heartbreaking scenes for both householders and business owners in the areas affected. Cork South West TD Christopher O'Sullivan said the scale of the damage was unprecedented in some areas. "The Taoiseach Micheal Martin and I spoke at length and I made him fully aware of the damage and devastation for homeowners and to businesses," he said. Around 20 homes suffered significant flood damage, while roads, walls, culverts and even beaches have been swept away. In Rathbarry and Glandore, entire roads were ripped up by the force of the floodwaters. The main N71 route through Rosscarbery was closed for almost 48 hours. Cork County Council partially reopened the road on Sunday and emergency repairs are underway. Both the Garda and Road Safety Authority urged people to drive with care. With additional reporting from PA Xiaomis Mi and Redmi smartphones and POCO phones come pre-loaded with Mi Browser / Mi Browser Pro and some phones come with Mint Browser. This week the company has announced that it will roll out MIUI update for its smartphones in India to enable option to uninstall them as these apps have been blocked in the country as per interim order issued by the Government of India. The Mi Browser Pro and Mint Browser have already been removed from the Play Store. This comes months after a report that said that Xiaomi was accused of collecting information even in incognito mode, and the company released an update to disable it. Indian Government banned 59 apps, including Xiaomis Mi Community app back in June. Xiaomi doesnt say why its browsers are blocked by the government, but it said that it is working with the government and privacy and security of the users are important. IMPORTANT news about #Xiaomi phones in #India: 1) None of the blocked apps will be available 2) MIUI Cleaner app is not using Clean Master app banned by Indian Govt. 3) 100% of Indian user data stays in India A new version of MIUI coming soon. Please read & spread the news. pic.twitter.com/I1WPAkXVWi Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) August 7, 2020 Earlier this month Xiaomi said that all the blocked apps that are pre-installed will be removed with MIUI update soon. The Government of India has issued an interim order for blocking the Mi Browser Pro/Mint Browser App. As a responsible corporate, we have complied with this order by disabling all online content feed including news service and games centre, until further notice from the Government. Xiaomi will roll out MI UU update shortly for phones Mi Mix 2, Redmi 6, Redmi 6 Pro, Redmi 6A, Redmi 7, Redmi 7A, Redmi 8, Redmi 8A, Redmi 8A Dual, Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro, Redmi Y2, Redmi Y3, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi Note 6 Pro, Redmi Note 7, Redmi Note 7 Pro, Redmi Note 7S, Redmi Note 8, Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Redmi Note 9, Poco F1, Poco X2, Poco M2 Pro to enable the users to uninstall the app in order to ensure complete compliance with the Government Order. The privacy and security of our users is of utmost importance to us, and we assure you that Xiaomi has always, and will continue to adhere to all the data privacy and security requirements under Indian law. We thank you for your incredible support and request you to be patient with us as we work with the Government Please stay safe! Thief in Assam caught red-handed after cooking Khichdi in the middle of burglary Unlock 3.0: Assam readies schools to re-open from Sep 1; Mandatory Covid tests for teachers India oi-Madhuri Adnal Guwahat, Aug 19: The Assam government is getting ready to reopen educational institutions in the state from September 1 but the ultimate decision will depend on the Union Home Ministry, said Assam Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Talking to the media, he said that all teachers and employees of the schools would compulsorily have to get themselves tested for Covid-19 between August 21 and 30. No decision yet on re-opeing Tamil Nadu schools "We have drawn up a preliminary plan for reopening schools but it is still open for further discussions with parents and other stakeholders, and will be implemented only in accordance with the directives of the Union government," Sarma said. Schools will remain closed for students up to Class 4 till September-end, he said. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Classes will be held in open spaces such as the playground or courtyard of the school for students of standard 5-8, he said. The classes will be divided into sections of 15 students and only these many students can attend classes at a time, he said. Students of standard 9 and 11 will attend classes in their classrooms for two days a week with 15 students being present at a time. Those in standard 10 and 12 will attend classes four days a week. Only 15 students will be present at a time in a classroom and classes will be held for only three hours in a day, the minister said. "Efforts will be made to ensure maximum social distancing with schools initiating shift systems with a particular class coming at an allotted time of the day," he said. Coronavirus: Will not open schools in Delhi unless fully convinced, says Kejriwal At the degree level, classes will be held only for the final semesters while for the post-graduate students, the universities will take a decision. All these proposals will be put up on the website of the Education Department and people are welcome to give their suggestions till August 20, Sarma said. "We will work on these suggestions but also wait for the Centre''s directive before taking a final decision," Sarma said. The minister further said that the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) have also been asked to consider either reducing the syllabus or providing maximum options in the question paper so that students do not face any difficulty if a portion of the syllabus has not been covered. Earlier this month, Sarma had stated that all teachers and employees of the schools will have to get themselves tested, and the Education and Health departments will coordinate the efforts for the tests that will be conducted from August 23-30. Whatever the outcome of its ongoing legal spat with the state of California, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi doesnt believe his company can employ all the people who drive for the platform in California, at least not without a fundamental rethinking of its business. "We can't go out and hire 50,000 people overnight," the executive said in an interview with the Pivot School podcast (via The Verge). Everything that we have built is based on this platform that... brings people who want transportation or delivery together. You cant flip that overnight. The comment is the latest development in the ongoing drama between the ridesharing company and California. On August 10th, the state won a preliminary injunction against Uber and Lyft. A judge ordered the two companies to comply with California's Assembly Bill 5 labor law. The legislation attempts to reclassify some contract workers as employees. If the court upholds the injunction, both Uber and Lyft said they would need to suspend operations temporarily. In an interview with MSNBC, Khosrowshahi said the company would shut down until November. That's when the state votes on Proposition 22. If passed, the measure would allow Uber to continue employing drivers as contractors but would require the company to offer them benefits such as health insurance. "It'll take time but we're going to figure out a way to be in California," Khosrowshahi told the Pivot School podcast. As he's down in past interviews, Khosrowshahi went on to warn that Uber's forced compliance with AB5 will hurt consumers. He said the cost of Uber rides in cities like San Francisco could increase by approximately 20 percent, with the price of service growing even more in more sparsely populated communities. He also warned that close to 80 percent of drivers who work about five to 10 hours a week would likely no longer be able to earn money through the app. The Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole has neutralised some commanders and fighters of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) in two separate airstrikes on their locations in Borno. The Coordinator, Defence Media operations, John Enenche, in a statement on Wednesday, said the attacks were carried out under subsidiary Operation HAIL STORM. Mr Enenche, a major-general, said the two locations were the ISWAP logistics facilities at Bukar Meram on the fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno state and Dole, a settlement on the Southern part of the state. He said the air interdiction missions were executed on the heels of credible intelligence reports indicating a resurgence of terrorists activities in the two settlements. According to him, Bukar Meram is a major ISWAP logistics hub linking other Island settlements of the Lake Chad, which also houses several of their fighters and some of their key leaders. He said that it was attacked by an enhanced force package of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The fighter jets hit designated targets in the area leading to the destruction of the logistic facilities and neutralising of several of the terrorists and their leaders. READ ALSO: Nigerian Air Force attacks ISWAP Lake Chad camp The attack at Dole was carried out after Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions showed a build-up of activities in the area after the relocation of some terrorists from nearby settlements of Kokiwa and Yale. Overhead the area, the ISR aircraft spotted no fewer than 20 terrorists in the area, which were taken out by the NAF attack aircraft, he said. (NAN) Earlier this year BlackBerry announced that TCL Communication will stop selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices from August 31, 2020 as the deal that was signed with TCL is coming to an end. Today a Texas-based startup OnwardMobility has signed an agreement with BlackBerry and FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn to sell new smartphones. The first one will be a 5G BlackBerry Android smartphone with a physical keyboard that will be introduced in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe. The company plans to launch more smartphones in 2021 since it says 5G smartphones are coming next year. OnwardMobility said that it will conduct product planning and market development for BlackBerry smartphones in North America and FIH Mobile will design and manufacture the BlackBerry devices under strict guidelines to ensure component, device and supply chain integrity. John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry, said: BlackBerry is thrilled OnwardMobility will deliver a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with physical keyboard leveraging our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand. We are excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer. Source Penn State to lead $30 million university research alliance The Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has awarded a combined total of $51.1 million to two university research alliances to counter threats of destruction, with a specific focus on improving current and developing future warfighter technology. Penn State is leading the Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Matter University Research Alliance, which was awarded $30 million for the next five years, with the potential of extending the alliance for a total of nine years and $54 million of funding with additional funding opportunities available. Led by Doug Wolfe, head of the Department of Metals, Ceramics and Coatings Processing in the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL), professor of materials science and engineering, professor of nuclear engineering by courtesy and professor of engineering science and mechanics, Penn State's efforts are focused in ARL, the College of Engineering, and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The alliance includes three other permanent members: the University of Michigan (UM), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Florida (UF). The rest of the alliance includes eight other universities and several national laboratories and industry partners. "We have a very strong, multidisciplinary group who proposed transformative research addressing DTRA's needs," Wolfe said. "Our collaboration consists of extremely talented investigators from a variety of institutions and disciplines with a wide range of technical expertise." Primary Penn State contributors include Meghan Flannery Hayes, head of the Department of Complex Systems Monitoring at ARL; Mareka Flaska and Azaree Lintereur, both of whom are assistant professors in the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering; Aman Haque, professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science and mechanics; and Saptarshi Das, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics and law, policy and engineering. The team is investigating how ionizing radiation interacts with matter. According to Wolfe, this research could lead to higher-resolution radiation detectors capable of identifying dirty bombs or concealed radiation materials. By understanding the material interactions, the researchers plan to design low-cost, high-efficiency room-temperature detectors that would eliminate the need for extreme temperatures to control detecting materials. They also plan to develop electronics and systems that would be secure against radiation damage. "Current electronics, including banking and satellite systems, could not withstand a nuclear explosion," Wolfe said. "We hope to develop devices and systems that would be insensitive to radiation. In the event of a bomb explosion, we would still be able to communicate with one another." University Research Alliance team members are focusing on the basic research of ionizing radiation interactions over three research areas, with research area leads from MIT -- materials, UM -- devices and device integration, and UF -- survival and response. The rotating alliance members will contribute via shorter-term projects that explore specific sub goals of the larger aims. Beyond the primary research goals, the alliance has also established a workforce development program that gave the team their competitive edge, according to Wolfe. "Fundamental to every stage of research is education," Wolfe said. The team aims to foster an inclusive academic community to recruit and train undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to become the next generation of researchers and engineers. "This is a landscape-changing opportunity for nuclear engineering at Penn State," said Jean Paul Allain, head of the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering. "Our team has already demonstrated their collaborative research strengths through a variety of other projects, and now they are combining forces to elevate ionizing radiation interaction research in a way that will transform how we protect against radioactive threats, as well as how we innovate and design digital devices and radiation-hardened electronic systems. Scholars at all levels will come to Penn State to contribute to this project." ### This story has been published on: 2020-08-18. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Ellen DeGeneres with Kermit the Frog on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." (Michael Rozman / Associated Press) This week, Ellen DeGeneres attempted successfully? who can yet say? to turn the page on a bad chapter in the book of her career, one that began last month with a pair of BuzzFeed pieces alleging a toxic work environment on the set of her daytime talk-dance-and-presents fest "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," including sexual harassment and racist comments on the part of executive staff. (DeGeneres herself was accused only of allowing it to happen, and of being weird not wanting to be looked at or spoken to and such.) Two producers and a head writer have been let go, a reportedly teary DeGeneres announced Monday on a video conference call to staffers. Since the story broke, the star has made various statements of appreciation and remorse, taken responsibility, promised "to do my part" and "change and grow," and reiterated her original desire for a show that would be "a place of happiness no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect." The latest instance of employees increasingly speaking truth to employers, or speaking truth to reporters about employers, it has seemed especially fraught because of the host's nice-gal image, and the positivity she so assiduously cultivates. ("Be kind to one another" is her sign-off.) That a celebrity one loves may not in fact be lovable feels like a betrayal, an insult added to injury. Some commentators swear that DeGeneres' awfulness has been an open secret for ages; it's not one I ever heard. But I loved her sitcom. In the olden, golden days of the Hollywood studio system, battalions of publicity agents labored to control a star's public image, to craft them into something at once glamorous and ordinary, thrilling yet unthreatening, with a heavy lid over even the intimation of any deviation from "the norm." Inevitably, the practice of selling the public personalities too good to be true ran into the business of revealing them as all too human gossip columnists and scandal mags like Confidential made this their meat and this tension exists to this day. Story continues YouTube swarms with videos meant to tell us that famous people are not who they want us to think they are. Celebrities Who Are Not Nice is a genre of its own usually the same small pool of suspects, hung on not always substantial evidence. DeGeneres gets whole videos to herself, many posted just this year as Ellen Disfavor Fever mounted: "Top 10 Times Celebs Clapped Back at Ellen." "Top 10 Most Awkward Ellen Moments," "Top 10 Times Ellen DeGeneres Got Exposed," "Ellen DeGeneres Is a Hollywood PSYCHO." The presenters strike a tone, usually unconvincing, between shock and concern, with a little snark sprinkled on top. (In the midst of all this, the news went around I can't say it was reliable, but it went around that "Late Late Show" host James Corden was being looked at to take over the "Ellen" slot, which occasioned a raft of comments that he is not supposed to be very nice either.) As for the moments in which DeGeneres' onscreen behavior is reputed to have "exposed" her true nature, viewers of the show have not deserted the host over her having been a little weird with Dakota Johnson about not being invited to her birthday party, or her attempt a dozen years ago, but hauled out in the latest round of bad press to force Mariah Carey to announce her pregnancy by trying to get her to drink Champagne on the air. None of the reports that I've read or watched mention the fact that Carey has been back to the show since. The notion that show business might not be all it's cracked up to be is a notion often put round by the business itself, in backstage comedies, dramas and memoirs. "All the sincerity in Hollywood you could stuff in a flea's navel," comedian Fred Allen famously remarked, "and still have room left to conceal eight caraway seeds and an agent's heart," which is a funny line, a frightening thought and easy to suspect is true, in part because we have heard that story for years. When the industry looks at itself, it is often askance. Whether the setting is the stage, a movie studio or a TV network, the characters are well known to us: meddling producers, tyrannical directors, impossible stars, bitter and cynical writers who go on to write with cynical bitterness of their experiences. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote 17 short stories about hack screenwriter Pat Hobby even as he was himself trying to make a go of screenwriting. To S.J. Perelman, who co-wrote two Marx Brothers pictures and "Around the World in 80 Days," Hollywood was "a dreary industrial town controlled by hoodlums of enormous wealth, the ethical sense of a pack of jackals, and taste so degraded that it befouled everything it touched." "The Bad and the Beautiful," "Barton Fink," "Swimming With Sharks" and "The Player" have all taken aim at Hollywood; "Network" took a scalpel to television news. Elia Kazan's 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd" with a pre-Mayberry Andy Griffith as a vagabond who becomes an influential national TV personality, his folksy charm masking utter disdain for his audience has been often mentioned as a metaphor for the Trump era. Griffith's character is brought down in the end by a hot microphone, as he dismisses them as "morons," "slobs" and "trained seals. I toss em a dead fish and they'll flap their flippers." Television has also taken its business as a subject. Around the turn of the century, there were Darren Star's "Grosse Pointe," a wicked take on the production of his own "Beverly Hills, 90210," and Fox's acid "Action," with Jay Mohr as a studio head recovering from a catastrophic flop and Illeana Douglas as the child star-turned-prostitute he makes his head of production. Long before either, yet especially resonant in this moment, was the highly regarded, short-lived "Buffalo Bill," a resolutely hardhearted 1983-84 sitcom, with Dabney Coleman as the popular host of a local talk show, as awful offscreen as he is lovable on. In one episode, Geena Davis, as a production assistant, describes him cheerily to an interviewer, in words that might have been spoken yesterday, in a less chirpy tone, somewhere in this town: "Bill can be crude, and hateful. He doesn't mean to be as petty and prejudiced as he is, he just never really learned to like people. On the other hand, he's very nice to me, so there's hope. And lately, he never tries to get me into bed with him. ... This is all very therapeutic for me." That would play differently today, on television and in the world. TV hosts Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley, the last just ordered to pay PBS $2.6 million in damages, all lost jobs and status over sexual harassment. Lauer seems superficially to be the inspiration for Steve Carell's cashiered breakfast show cohost on Apple TV+'s "The Morning Show," currently nominated for a clutch of Emmys. The series was inspired by Brian Stelter's book "Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV," and it is indeed rife with scheming and double-dealing as characters strive to keep their jobs or move into someone else's, before a principled stand is finally taken. Working in TV, the series says, might break your heart or warp your values, but it is not beyond hope. Garry Shandling, right, as Larry Sanders on HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show," with Jeffrey Tambor as Hank Kingsley. (Darryl Estrine / HBO) No series captures this doubleness better than Garry Shandling's "The Larry Sanders Show," from back in the 20th century, a comedy set at a late-night talk show. We understand on a formal level that Larry lives in two worlds: onstage, with guests, where he is in control (shot on video), and anywhere else (shot on film), where he is not. Still, the character is too conflict-averse he literally turns away from confrontation and too needy to be an active tyrant. Shades of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," it's his producer, Artie (Rip Torn), who maintains the perimeter (and bullies him a little, deferentially). Most every character on the show lives at least a little bit in fear. Authenticity, and the lack of it, was a concern of Shandling's; he told me in 2010 when the complete series was released on home video that "Sanders" was conceived as a way of looking internally at myself, which meant taking a show and looking at it internally. And what better show to do that with than a talk show, which pretends to be a normal conversation, half-acknowledging that people are watching and half-pretending that the host and the guest have a certain intimacy, which really revolves around plugging product. Guest stars, appearing as themselves, played against their public image, sometimes in a negative way. DeGeneres was on that show, playing a version of herself; interestingly, in a pre-echo of DeGeneres' pressing Carey to reveal her pregnancy, she finds herself pressured by Larry to announce on camera whether she'll be coming out on television. (In life, she already had.) "Let's just be real," Larry says to Ellen during a commercial break, after a frustrating first segment, and when they come back she details how they slept together the night before. President Nana Akufo-Addo has mentioned that the program for his second term in office should Ghanaians vote for him will focus on recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country. According to him, his government has programs for the recovery and restarting to move on to the next stage of the economy especially the industrial development of Ghana as the COVID-19 has affected the whole world including Ghana. We have programs for recovering and restarting to move on to the next stage of our economy especially the industrial development of Ghana. All the work we have done so far is about cleaning up the economy, he hinted. Mentioning the plans of his government for the next term, President Akufo-Addo said that his administration has done all the necessary for taking off as it has cleaned up the economy and put more responsible management of the macroeconomy. Speaking on Skyy Power 93.5FM, President Akufo-Addo revealed that his government will be able to secure the macro-economic base which could have hindered the acceleration of economic development. President Akufo-Addo held the conviction that his government in the next term will be able to achieve the industrial development of Ghana as the signs for that feat are clear. He further assured that his government in the second term will consolidate all their promises to Ghanaians in the area of the one-village-one-dam, one-district-one-factory, and other notable promises which have already started. He stressed that no promise will be left out in his next term should he get lucky. President Akufo-Addo again mentioned that the NPP will on Saturday in Cape Coast in the Central Region launch the partys manifesto to roll out policies for the next term in government that will make Ghanaians happy. 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. Featured Video WOODS HOLE, Mass. - The flashy Flamboyant Cuttlefish is among the most famous of the cephalopods (octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) - but it is widely misunderstood by its legions of fans. A new paper from the Roger Hanlon laboratory at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, sets the record straight. "This animal is well known in the Internet community, has been on TV many times, and is popular in public aquariums," Hanlon says. "In almost all cases, [its skin] is showing this brilliantly colorful flamboyant display." But Hanlon's field studies in Indonesia, reported here, tell a different and richer story. "It turns out in nature, flamboyant cuttlefish are camouflaged nearly all of the time. They are nearly impossible to find," he says. In the blink of an eye, they can switch from some of "best camouflage known in the cephalopods" to their dazzling flamboyant display. But they only use this display on certain occasions: For elaborate male courtship rituals; or when males are fighting over a female; or to flash briefly at a threatening object when it approaches too close, presumably to scare it away. "The flamboyant display is common when a diver approaches close enough to photograph, which is why the public may think this species always looks so colorful," Hanlon says. "But it is rare to see this species in flamboyant display in the wild." A Flamboyant Courtship The courtship displays by male flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi) are among the most elaborate of all cephalopods! This study reveals new observations about the sex life of the flamboyant cuttlefish -- from courtship to mating to egg laying - gleaned from hours of video taken during many SCUBA dives in Indonesia with teams of volunteers. Males, which tend to be significantly smaller than females, approach and court a camouflaged female with flamboyant displays and elaborate rituals, which include "waves" (rapidly waving three pairs of arms while displaying "passing cloud") and "kisses" (male darts forward and briefly, gently touches his arms to hers). Females generally ignore males while they are courting; they stay camouflaged and motionless or just keep on foraging and hunting. Male courtship goes on non-stop for prolonged periods (6 to 52 minutes observed in this study). In three observations, two males competed simultaneously for a female. Males can display flamboyant courtship signaling on one side of the body while flashing white (signaling aggression) on the other side toward the rival male. In one case, male competition ended abruptly when one of the males, while facing the female and waving and kissing, backed into a camouflaged scorpionfish and was eaten! "Sex can have a real cost," Hanlon notes. Females were choosy and often rejected courting males. Female receptivity was obvious when she widely spread her first three pairs of arms (while standing on the fourth pair of arms). The male would then swim within the arm crown and quickly deposit spermatophores in the buccal region where the seminal receptacle is located. Average duration of mating was only 2.89 seconds. After fertilization, the successful male guarded the female for a while but not, curiously, up to egg laying, as is common with other cuttlefish. When another male was present, mate guarding was aggressive. The female lays her eggs while camouflaged and staying still. She then pushes her eggs under a coconut shell and affixes them to the inside of the shell. When the hatchlings exit the egg case and jet away, they are fully formed and capable of camouflage and signaling. Flamboyance for Secondary Defense The primary mode of defense for both male and female Metasepia pfefferi is camouflage, and they remain camouflaged almost all the time. If a predator or threatening object (such as a diver) comes too close, though, the cuttlefish will flash the flamboyant display - switching from camouflaged to flamboyant in 700 milliseconds! Elaborate Dynamic Signaling Rivaling That of Any Vertebrate The vibrant colors (white, yellow, red and brown) of the flamboyant display are combined with apparent "waves" of dark brown color that produce a dazzling and dizzying kaleidoscope of motion, color, and patterning. The fast neural control of many thousands of chromatophore organs in the skin enable this unique signaling capability - all turned on or off in less than a second, and changed depending on the behavioral context of the courtship, or in the case of defense, the fish predators that discover them. "Birds are renowned for highly evolved visual displays that depend partly on dramatic postural changes (with wings of different color and pattern, in particular), yet this invertebrate cuttlefish species has evolved equally dramatic and complex displays mainly with its skin coloration," Hanlon says. ### Hanlon is a senior scientist in the MBL's Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering. The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery - exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago. Hariri was a momentous figure in Lebanon's politics, a charismatic billionaire businessman with extensive relationships in the United States, Europe and Saudi Arabia who used his wealth and connections to jump-start growth in Lebanon after its disastrous 15-year civil war ended in 1990. But his killing in 2005 ushered in a new, turbulent era in Lebanese politics during which his Western and Gulf-aligned political bloc competed for power with rivals backed by Syria and Iran, including Hezbollah. A string of assassinations of other prominent figures followed, with none of their killers ever identified or punished. Initially, many Lebanese hoped that the creation of the international tribunal would provide a way for justice to be done. But the investigation and hearings dragged on as the killing faded into the past. In recent months, protests over corruption and poor governance have flared against the political elite, and the economy and currency have all but collapsed. The country is also reeling from the massive explosion in the Beirut port that killed more than 170 people and wounded 6000. Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut, said it felt as if the tribunal were "from a different era". The verdict came as politicians are wrangling over the possibility of an international investigation into the Beirut blast; its limited convictions could undermine hopes that those responsible for the explosion will be held accountable. "After 15 years and a Special Tribunal for Lebanon with international investigators, and we end up with this?" Yahya asked. "How is anyone ever going to be held accountable for the port explosion?" Former prime minister Saad Hariri speaks to the media after the verdict against one of four men accused of assassinating his father. Credit:Getty Images Saad Hariri, a son of the assassinated politician and himself a former prime minister of Lebanon, attended the session and told reporters after the verdict that he and his family accepted it. Writing on Twitter, he called it a "historic moment" and "a message to whoever carried out and planned this terrorist crime that the era of using crime for politics without punishment and without a price has ended." The court announced the verdicts after hours-long statements from its judges summarising the case and the arguments of the prosecution and defence teams. The court deemed the killing a politically motivated terrorist act and described all four defendants Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra as supporters of Hezbollah. Rescue workers and soldiers stand around a massive crater after a bomb attack that tore through the motorcade carrying Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, Lebanon in 2005. Credit:AP Months before he was killed, the elder Hariri had resigned as prime minister in anger at Syria's continuing interference in the country, including the presence of Syrian troops. The judges did not say who had planned the attack but said it was "very likely" that the decision to kill him was made after a February 2, 2005, meeting at which Hariri and other politicians had agreed to call for the "immediate and total withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon." After he was killed, general suspicion fell on Syria, which denied any role. The brazen attack, which injured hundreds of people and left a yawning crater near Beirut's waterfront, brought more than 1 million protesters into the streets, and the outcry, combined with international pressure, forced Syria to withdraw its troops. Loading In reading a summary of their 2600-page ruling, the judges said the murder plan relied on a massive load of high-grade explosives and was intended to cause "fear and panic" that would resonate throughout Lebanon and the region. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has repeatedly dismissed the tribunal as a Western conspiracy and has threatened to go after any followers who cooperated with it. The group did not immediately comment on the verdicts, but Nasrallah said recently that it considered the court's finding irrelevant. The key figure among the suspects, prosecutors said, was Mustafa Amine Badreddinne, a veteran of Hezbollah's special operations and close to its top leaders. But the case against him ended when Badreddinne was killed in Syria in 2016. To critics of the tribunal, the prosecution of a few low-level Hezbollah operatives is a far cry from the findings of UN investigators who were sent to Beirut soon after the assassination. Loading In a report, these investigators called the killing an elaborate professional conspiracy that required "substantial logistical support," considerable financing and "military precision in its execution." Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor who led a second inquiry, ended a six-month investigation in 2005 with a list of close to 20 suspects, including several senior Lebanese and top Syrian officials. Diplomats said at the time that Mehlis had reluctantly ended his mission because he had been warned about two assassination plots against him. At least two Lebanese police officers who assisted the tribunal's investigations have been killed. The prosecutors built their case largely on circumstantial evidence, much of it extensive records of mobile phones used as operatives covertly tracked Hariri's movements for weeks. The court-appointed defence lawyers had all asked for acquittals, saying there was no proof that their clients had used the phones in question. Electronic records of hundreds of calls could reveal location, date and time, the lawyers argued, but they did not confirm the identity of the users. The verdict was originally scheduled for August 7 but was postponed after the Beirut port explosion. Questions have been raised about the cost of the court's 400-strong staff, including a roster of prosecutors and 11 full-time judges who were involved in the case. Half of its $US60 million ($82 million) annual budget has been paid by Lebanon, with help from Saudi Arabia, and half by voluntary contributions from Western countries and Arab Gulf states. For many critics, this enormous expense has not justified the symbolism of an absentee trial. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Appalachian Power Co. is defending what critics call an improper accounting practice used to justify its request for a rate increase. The company exercised its statutory rights in December 2019 pursuant to the plain and unambiguous text of the law that was in effect at the time, it said in a filing Friday with the State Corporation Commission. In seeking to raise base rates which would amount to a 6.5% increase for residential customers and a 5% overall hike Appalachian listed the costs of the early retirement of coal-fired power plants to offset its earnings in 2019. That brought the utilitys return on equity over a three-year period to below the 9.4% rate authorized by the SCC, which in turn allowed it to seek a rate increase. But opponents pointed out that the shutdowns actually occurred in 2015 and 2016, before the 2017 beginning of a three-year period on which a rate increase is based. Witnesses for the Virginia Attorney Generals Division of Consumer Counsel called the practice unconscionable in prefiled testimony with the SCC, saying it would lead to an unjustified increase for ratepayers. The SCC is scheduled to hold a hearing starting Sept. 14 on the rate increase, which would take effect early next year if approved. In July, the Virginia Poverty Law Center one of nearly a dozen participants in the regulatory case asked the commission to rule in advance of the hearing whether a law passed this year prevents Appalachians accounting practices. No such ruling is necessary, the utility responded last week, in part because the rate increase proposal was filed in March, well before the July 1 effective date of the new law. Supporters say the law should apply retroactively to prevent exactly what Appalachian is trying to do. However, the utility noted its intention to list the costs of early retirements of coal plants in the triennial reporting period to its independent auditor and in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Notably, neither the Companys independent auditors nor any federal commissions have found the impairment to be incorrectly determined or unreasonable, Appalachians filing states. The coal plants, including ones in Giles and Russell counties, could have kept operating, but Appalachian determined it would be too costly to make changes that were required to bring them into compliance with new environmental regulations. In an unrelated action Friday, the SCC sent a letter to state lawmakers that provided a sample of what is owed to utilities by customers who have been unable to pay their bills because of financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 16, the SCC ordered utilities not to cut off the service of those customers until further notice. While the move was intended to offer temporary protection for consumers, it does not absolve them of the debts. The amount owed to Appalachian, which has about 500,000 customers in the western part of the state, was $20.8 million. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Iraq's Foreign Minister Hussein at the State Department in Washington WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq expects to sign an agreement with U.S. oil company Chevron Corp on Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, without providing details. "Regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding or an agreement with Chevron, I believe that it will be signed today, yes," Hussein told a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Chevron tentatively planned to sign a memorandum of understanding with Iraq to develop one of the country's large oil fields, citing people familiar with the matter. Chevron and the Iraqi government are discussing the potential execution of exploration work in Iraq's southern Nassiriya oilfield, which is estimated to hold about 4.4 billion barrels of crude, the newspaper report said. On Monday, Chevron said it does not comment on market speculation or matters of a commercial nature. (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky) Imerys set to acquire 60% stake in refractory supplier 19 August 2020 France-based Imerys has signed an agreement for the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Turkeys Haznedar Group, a high-grade monolithic refractories and refractory brick manufacturer. The industrial minerals company will also have the option to purchase the remainder of Haznedar. "With this deal, Imerys will complement its current offer with basic and acidic refractory bricks and extend its industrial footprint with a competitive production base in Turkey, strategically located between Europe, Middle-East and Africa," said the company. The transaction is expected to complete in the 4Q20, subject to antitrust approvals. Published under This is one in a series of opinion essays from public safety experts about how to make Black lives matter when it comes to policing. The main story was published last week. A live webcast on the topic will be held Thursday, Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. at Facebook.com/NJ.com. By CJ Griffin Like millions of others who are enraged by the latest police killings of Black people, I believe policing in America must be transformed. Access to records of police misconduct is a necessary starting point, as we must be able to identify problems in policing before we can demand change. Many are surprised to learn how little transparency exists in New Jersey when it comes to records about police misconduct. For those who are unfamiliar, police departments across the nation investigate alleged misconduct through an internal affairs (IA) process. Certain officers work in the IA Unit and investigate complaints against their fellow officers. Those investigations result in one of several findings, including not sustained, meaning that the investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation, and sustained, meaning that it did. In more than a dozen states, including Florida and Colorado, IA records are fully open to the public. Given that the IA process amounts to police policing themselves, public oversight ensures that complaints are investigated properly and misconduct isnt swept under the rug. Opening IA files also benefits police officers. In addition to building community trust, which is an essential component of effective policing, transparency permits officers to see whether discipline is imposed fairly across the board. This is especially important for Black, Latinx and women officers, who often allege that discipline is imposed in a discriminatory manner. In stark contrast, New Jerseys IA records are top secret. Recently, the Attorney General (AG) changed state policy to order disclosure of the names of officers who receive major discipline, i.e., a termination, demotion, or suspension of five days or more. Although the police unions are fighting even this small sliver of sunlight and have obtained a judicial stay of the directive, the reality is that this minor reform still leaves New Jersey as one of the nations more secretive states. Most IA complaints are not sustained, let alone result in major discipline. For example, agencies in Bergen County concluded 756 IA investigations in 2018. Only 241 (31.8%) complaints were sustained. Major discipline was imposed in only 19 (2.5%). This leaves 97.5% of cases completely confidential. In the past, the names of those 19 officers would have been kept secret and now per the AGs directive they will be disclosed, which is some progress. But names are all we will get. We will have to blindly trust that the disclosure is full and accurate because we have no access to any actual documents to verify it. Recently during a police reform hearing, the AG admitted that New Jersey lags behind the pack when it comes to police transparency. He said that we can and should be a national leader on this issue. On that, I agree with the attorney general. Thankfully, Senator Loretta Weinberg has introduced S-2656, a bill that would finally make police IA and disciplinary records open to the public. The police unions will no doubt also challenge this bill, so we must work even harder to ensure its passage and to debunk the false rhetoric the unions use to maintain their system of total secrecy. They argue that harm will fall upon them and their families if their IA records are released, but none of the doomsday scenarios have happened in the numerous other states where the public has full access to IA files. The unions have also argued that IA records mostly encompass minor administrative rule violations, yet we know officers receive major discipline for conduct as serious as engaging in racially offensive behavior and falsifying reports. The unions have gone so far as to argue in court that the public does not deserve to know who has been disciplined for receiving DWIs, failing to pay child support, or committing domestic violence. We should know, however, when police officers fail to comply with the very laws that they enforce. Identifying officers who commit misconduct both holds them accountable to the public they serve and deters others from committing misconduct in the future. Earlier this month, New York lawmakers realized that this moment demands significant change when they repealed 50-A, the law that shielded police misconduct files from the public for decades. In doing so, New York was added to the growing list of states that make IA records public and New Jersey fell further behind when it comes to police transparency. We can change that by passing S-2656 and bringing full transparency to this state. The bill gives reporters, attorneys, and advocates the data necessary to expose misconduct and to identify systemic problems that need to be rectified. We can support their efforts by letting our lawmakers know that this moment demands the passage of S-2656 and an end to the culture of secrecy within New Jerseys police departments. CJ Griffin is a partner and director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden in Hackensack and has litigated nearly 100 police records cases. This article represents the views of the author only. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The army on Wednesday asked eyewitnesses to share credible inputs for its probe into the killing of three alleged militants in an encounter in Shopian last month. In an advertisement issued in different newspapers, the army has asked people having any information about the encounter to come forward and assured full confidentiality. Any person having any credible inputs/ information on the encounter by security forces at Shopians Amshipora village on July 18, 2020, may please contact Deputy GOC, HQ CIF (Victor) on 01933-247026 within the next 10 days. The identity and details of the person will be kept secret, reads the advertisement. Pamphlets of similar nature were circulated in the neighbouring villages of the encounter spot. The army has begun a probe into the killing of three militants in an encounter in Shopian in July, following allegations by families in the Rajouri area of Jammu region that many of their kin were missing from the same place. Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said on Tuesday that the Army was committed to ethical conduct of all counter-terrorist operations. Statements of key witnesses are being recorded and the progress is being monitored closely. Additional civil witnesses are being asked to depose before the court of inquiry. Concurrently, DNA samples have been collected from Rajouri, under the aegis of JK Police, and are being matched with those of terrorists killed on July 18, he said. Cases where doubts are raised are investigated under due process as per the law of the land. Since the case is under investigation, further details will be shared periodically, as appropriate without affecting due legal process, he had said. The encounter took place on July 18 when the army claimed to have killed three militants at Amshipora in the higher reaches of Shopian in south Kashmir. However, little over two weeks thereafter, missing complaints were lodged in Rajouri area of Jammu region by the families of three youths, working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards, who had disappeared from the same region and they had last talked to them on July 17. School will not start as usual, but "it's very clear that it must start," in order to not have a lost generation, stated, on Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis. "It's obvious that when a student accuses symptoms, he/she must be sent to the physician to check what the issue is. In the situation of an epidemic, even more so. It's however very clear that school will not begin as usual, when people were gathering in the courtyard, all glad to start school. They will not gather. School, however, must start, because it's inadmissible we have a lost generation. In specialty mediums there are talks to prevent the generation of the pandemic," said the head of state in a press conference held at the Cotroceni Palace. According to him, children must go to school, must learn, must meet other children their age, but for this there is need for regulations, orders, special procedures in the times of the pandemic. "And this is worked on together by the Education Ministry with the Health Ministry. There are draft regulations, they are discussed and in a very short time, certainly, they will be approved and made public. The measures are not complicated, so people shouldn't imagine there will be a great book of rules. No, the basic rules are the same: mask, distance, hygiene. The rest are specialty matters - what's to be done if they notice a pupil is sick, what to be done when the school truly has cases of the disease, which schools shut down, which do not. These are already matters of specialty and will be treated as such by those in that specialty," the president mentioned. Covid Agreement for Students COVID Agreement for Students (Fall 2021) Wesleyan University continues to be informed by guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Connecticuts Department of Public Health (DPH), and other agencies in determining how to safely operate our residential campus in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic. All members of the Wesleyan community faculty, staff, and students must do their part to protect themselves as well as other members of the campus and surrounding communities. In order to help mitigate health risks, all students will be expected to abide by the directives of the Davison Health Center staff and the Pandemic Operations Committee as a condition of being on campus. Updates will be shared via email and posted to the Keep Wes Safe webpages. Compliance All Wesleyan community members must act in a manner that demonstrates respect and consideration for the health and safety of others by following the policies outlined here. The University will initiate disciplinary proceedings against students who fail to adhere to these policies. In some cases a simple warning or reminder may be adequate, but the Dean of Students may refer cases to be reviewed by the Community Standards Board for non-compliance. Returning to Campus Students must comply with the vaccine requirement in order to return to campus for the fall semester. Students who have COVID-19 symptoms (cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, muscle aches, and loss of taste and/or smell) or have had a known COVID-19 exposure prior to arrival should delay their return to campus until they are symptom-free. Those who develop symptoms or have a known exposure to COVID-19 after returning to campus should remain in their residence and report their symptoms to Health Services. Students at high risk for complications of COVID-19 should decide whether returning to campus is in their best interest. Those who believe that they have high-risk medical conditions should consult with Health Services and/or with their primary health care provider. Campus Community Guidelines Face coverings Students must wear masks or face coverings that cover the mouth and nose indoors other than in their private residential space or when they are eating/drinking in a dining hall. Note: students who are unable to wear a face covering or mask because of a medical condition are required to consult with Health Services and/or with their primary health care provider to document their condition and need for an accommodation. Precautionary Sanitization Students will exercise precautionary sanitization practices to include wiping shared surfaces, thorough and regular hand washing, and other recommended actions to promote good hygiene. The University will continue regular cleaning in all campus buildings, including residences. Capacity Students will adhere to normal capacity limits in residences, classrooms, assembly and dining locations. Travel Student travel off campus will be permitted during the fall semester but students are advised to take precautions (including physical distancing, face coverings, etc.) when leaving campus and particularly in settings where the risk of transmission may be greater (restaurants, bars, and stores). Testing and Contact Tracing Students will be required to follow COVID-19 testing and contact tracing established by the University. As the semester begins all students will be tested upon arrival to campus and will be asked to have one additional test in the week after their arrival. Quarantine/Isolation All persons must comply with all public health and safety directives issued by University officials related to COVID-19 cases and those deemed to be close contacts. Students determined to be a COVID case, by either a positive test or diagnosis of symptoms, will be advised to self-quarantine in their residence or relocated to quarantine housing assignment for a minimum of 10 days. Vaccinated students who are COVID cases will be advised to wear a face covering, take their meals to go and will be directed not to attend classes until they are cleared to return by Davison Health Center staff. Close contacts who are vaccinated will be advised by health services to wear a face covering, take their meals to go and get tested at health services in 3-5 days after their exposure. Close contacts will be permitted to attend classes but will be required to wear a mask until they receive a negative COVID test result. Campus Visitors For arrival day, each student is limited to two guests who are allowed to enter their residential building to assist with moving in, as long as they are fully vaccinated. After moving in, only students, faculty, and staff will be allowed in campus residences. In addition to following these guidelines, all students are expected to take constructive action to help others adhere to these safety measures. Maintaining public health during this pandemic requires shared accountability and collective purpose. Together, we can do this! When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dropped their bombshell announcement to step down as senior royals earlier this year, people expressed mixed reactions. Some supported the royal couple's decision, while others criticized them for abandoning their duties. Since then, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have always been in hot waters. They faced criticism for spending taxpayers' money for their Frogmore Cottage renovation and leaving it after two years. They were also slammed for allegedly keeping the Royal Family "blindsided" with their decision. After completing their final royal engagements, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle flew back to Canada, where they spent the holidays with their one-year-old son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. But after officially cutting ties with the Royal Family in April 2020, the Sussexes made a sneaky move to Meghan's native city in Los Angeles. They stayed in the $19 million rented mansions owned by Tyler Perry and have participated in some philanthropic efforts to help the residents affected by the coronavirus global pandemic. Four months after their big move to L.A, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to their "ever after home" in Santa Barbara. According to reports, the $14.6 million mansion boast nine-bedroom and 16-bathroom and other amenities fit for royals. But even if they are now miles away from the Royal Family, controversies are still following the Sussexes. Because of this, a fellow aristocrat believes that the couple will no longer be welcome in the United Kingdom after creating such a scandal in the royal world. Speaking to Fox News, Lady Colin Campbell said that while she is rooting for the 39-year-old former "Suits" actress, she thinks the people of the U.K. might have harsh treatment to the Sussexes should they decide to visit Prince Harry's homeland. "I have said all along, and I still say, I am rooting for Meghan," the 70-year-old Jamaican-born British aristocrat said. "Because I still see where, because of her natural gifts, if she gets her act together, she could still do so much good for people all over the world," she added. Lady C claims that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have damaged their reputation so bad, that it will be difficult for the couple to redeem themselves to the British people. "I try not to show them at their worst, and I also try to show what their possibilities were and could be. I think they have damaged themselves very badly. I think there will be a very difficult way forward, no matter what the way is," Lady C said. "I think if they try to come back to this country, they will not be welcomed," she added. The author of "Meghan and Harry: The Real Story" said that if the couple would not have a successful life ni L.A., things may be a little different. "I think there is a distinct possibility if they don't make their great fortune that they were hoping to make in Hollywood, they're going to have to move on somewhere else," Lady C continued. READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth Heartbreak: Monarch Devastated Over Death of Special Someone Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Its not just me doing this. I think its the senior leadership of the Air Force, and weve got to be in this together, Brown said. Most of the senior parts of the Air Force are not African American, and so theyve also got to buy into this as well. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has already been one for the record books, and the peak of hurricane season is still yet to come. An astounding eight of the 11 named tropical storms this season have been the record-earliest for their respective letter, including Tropical Storm Kyle, which formed off the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula last week, 10 full days before the historical Hurricane Katrina that ravaged Louisiana in 2005. The 11 named systems that the Atlantic generated through Aug. 18 alone is noteworthy, since there is an average of 3.4 named storms in the basin to date, according to data from Colorado State University. And, the Atlantic typically yields 12 named tropical storms in an entire hurricane season, based on the 30-year average from 1981-2010. The season officially stretches from June 1 to Nov. 30, but storms sometimes occur earlier and later. In the Atlantic and East Pacific basins, tropical storms are given a name when sustained one-minute-average winds of the system reach 39 mph or greater. AccuWeather expert meteorologists have seen dozens of such storms over the decades, including the '50s, '60s and '70s, but they were never named. "There are many factors for named' tropical systems," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Evan Myers. "As technology improves, a much denser network of data exists now from satellites, ships and other sources. Also, the decision to name a storm is a human decision, and not one made by nature. Historically systems that brought death, destruction, high winds and heavy rain were often not named, but they were tropical entities nonetheless. Today the very same storms would likely be named." The National Hurricane Center (NHC) declined to comment on whether criteria or processes of naming tropical storms have changed over time. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Still, it is clear that the number of short-lived named storms, defined as storms lasting less than two days, in the Atlantic has notably increased since the late 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Story continues Figure 1: The number of Atlantic tropical storms lasting more than two days has not increased. Named storms lasting less than two days have increased sharply, and one reason for this is likely due to better observational technology. Figure adapted from Landsea, Vecchi, Bengtsson and Knutson (2009, J. Climate) (NOAA) So, that may lead some to ask why there are far more named tropical storms over the past 10 years compared with even 20 years ago. AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski offered up one of several explanations for the uptick in named tropical storms. "The technology has steadily improved over the past 30 or 40 years, so that we are better able to determine whether a weather system has acquired a closed circulation, which defines a tropical depression, and has attained winds of 39 mph or higher, to become a tropical storm," Kottlowski said. An excellent example of this technological advantage was with Tropical Storm Kyle this past week, he added. Tropical Storm Kyle formed at 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 14, 185 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, packing sustained winds of 40 mph. The storm churned up rough surf along the Northeast coast as it quickly moved to the east-northeast off the Eastern Seaboard. By Sunday morning, the storm had dissipated and was located well to the northeast of Newfoundland. The above satellite image is of a tropical low just off the coast of North Carolina on Friday, Aug.14, 2020. AccuWeather meteorologists were able to use data, like these satellite images, to warn the public that Tropical Storm Kyle would soon form. (Photo/RAMMB) "We were able to see high resolution satellite images showing the development of a low-level swirl, and a plethora of buoy and wind satellite data showed the wind speeds up to 39 mph," said Kottlowski. Utilizing upgraded technology, AccuWeather was able to warn its clients of a tropical storm along the East Coast, and predicted it would later be named Kyle, early on Friday afternoon, a full four hours before the National Hurricane Center (NHC) did in fact name the storm and issue the first warnings and advisories. The latest technology helps meteorologists feel more confident about tropical development and strength of tropical systems both close to the United States and those that are well offshore, Kottlowski said. Unlike in the Atlantic this season, many of the named East Pacific storms have formed over the open waters of the basin and have had little impact on land. Improved coverage for meteorological data has helped with earlier detection of offshore systems in the basin over recent decades. "There was a lack of consistent satellite coverage over the East Pacific until 1976, which has hindered the record keeping. Pre-season storms as well as weak storms that were well removed from land in the East Pacific were often ignored until the 1990s," explained Kottlowski. The above image shows Hurricane Douglas spinning in the middle of the East Pacific Ocean on July 23, 2020. Douglas was able to be detected early on, helping meteorologists to warn Hawaii residents of the hurricane well before impacts began. (NOAA) The improvement in technology enables meteorologists to more easily track the movement of tropical cyclones in the open waters of the oceans and also near-coast systems like Kyle, allowing for not only better record-keeping, but also earlier warnings to the public. Kottlowski points out that better observation networks and data may not be the only causes behind the increase in tropical cyclones. "Another issue at hand is the warm Atlantic water. Sea-surface temperatures are averaging 0.5C-1.0C [above normal] across most of the tropical and even subtropical basin," Kottlowski explained. "The Atlantic is in its 26th year of the positive phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, where sea-surface temperatures average above normal during a 20- to 40-year cycle." "I also believe some of this warming is due to the warming of the Earth," he added. "The oceans are natural heat sinks and absorb most of the excess heat so that global temperatures are not rising at an even higher amount." Regardless of the exact cause in the increase in storms, meteorologists concur that the earlier advisories and information about developing tropical systems are issued to the public, the better. Advanced notice can allow people to prepare ahead of storms, which is critical. "The greater the accuracy and the earlier the detection and detailed communication of weather forecasts and their expected impacts, the sooner people will have the information they need to make better decisions when faced with hazardous and severe weather," said AccuWeather Founder and CEO Dr. Joel N. Myers. "That means more lives are saved, more property is protected, and more losses are prevented. When Hurricane Michael threatened, which struck near Mexico Beach, Florida, in 2018, AccuWeather predicted the area would look as if a bomb or a tsunami would hit the area and estimated the total loss and economic damage caused by Michael to be $30 billion. Because of our early warning and detailed weather forecast, people understood the gravity of the disaster and countless lives were saved." Myers said that better communications surrounding the impact of hurricanes and tropical storms for the greater safety and the protection of life and property is why he and his team of meteorologists developed its AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes. The innovative scaled is based on a broad range of critical factors to provide information people can use to evaluate the threat posed by a hurricane or tropical storm. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale which has been used by meteorologists for decades classifies storms by wind speed only. Like the Saffir-Simpson scale, the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes uses the 1 to 5 rating, but also adds an additional rating of "Less than 1." The "Less than 1" score provides insight on tropical cyclones that do not rise to a Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Forecasters urged people living along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast to remain vigilant for additional threats this season. In late July, AccuWeather forecasters, led by Kottlowski, upped their number of predicted tropical storms to 20-24, nine to 11 of which could strengthen further into hurricanes in 2020. Kottlowski called for a "hyperactive" heart of hurricane season, which begins in the middle of August and lasts until October. AccuWeather Ready's hurricane preparedness checklist can help to keep you and your family prepared ahead of the next storm. Visit the AccuWeather hurricane center for all tropical weather news. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. The Night 2 host, Tracee Ellis Ross, presiding from a studio in Los Angeles, proved as poised and professional as her predecessor, Eva Longoria Baston. With a large chunk of Tuesdays show and thats what it is, a show devoted to the roll call vote that installed Biden as the official nominee, Rosss duties were truncated. As a result of the restrictions on delegate attendance in Milwaukee imposed by the covid-19 threat, the vote was turned into a whimsical travelogue: Representatives reported their tallies mostly from outdoor locations in their states. This provided some flavorful backdrops and props: If you did not know that calamari was the state appetizer of Rhode Island, for instance, well, the chef brandishing a full plate confirmed it when it was the Ocean States turn to report. China News Service | Getty Images Billionaires theyre just like us. That statement couldnt be further from the truth in most situations, but when it comes to the unpredictability and stress of 2020, even the wealthiest among us are struggling. And the most stressed billionaire of them all? Bill Gates. Even if we consider ourselves empathetic, determining someone elses stress levels might feel like an impossible task. Well, theres actually a way to do it kind of. Using a tool developed by Mike Thelwall, professor of IT at Wolverhampton University, talent innovation company SHL ranked prominent business leaders by how stressed their recent tweets have been. Cannonball Loop. Alpine Slide. Tarzan Swing. If the mere mention of these attractions sends a hit of dopamine your way either because you can still feel the burn of the concrete and asbestos slide on your skin or the rush of a summer on the edge a new documentary about Action Park may be up your alley. Class Action Park, a film headed to HBO Max next week, is the latest expression of what might be called the Action Park Nostalgia Vortex, which includes a book, a feature film inspired by the place and a TV series in development. On Wednesday, the streamer announced details for the documentarys premiere (see more below). The Vernon water park, which fizzled in the mid-90s, was so notorious for causing injuries that people called it Class Action Park, Traction Park and Accident Park. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the parks uninhibited thrill-seeking stands as a particularly potent relic of the freewheeling summers of the 80s. Now, all we have to do to put ourselves at risk is forget our masks when we go outside. A scene from the Action Park documentary "Class Action Park." The Cannonball Loop waterslide has emerged as on of the most extreme examples of the park's approach to thrill-seeking.Seth Porges | HBO Max Class Action Park directors Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott attempt to cut through a thick layer of nostalgia-fueled admiration and myth to deliver harsh reality, including the human cost of the park. Action Park opened in 1978 and closed in 1996, in part because of its ride-at-your-own-risk approach. The park was connected with five deaths by 1987. Accidents generated a series of lawsuits and six-figure settlements. We would try to die for fun, says comedian Chris Gethard in the film. Gethard, who grew up in West Orange, is one of a handful of celebrities whose memories and takes on the park are featured in the film. Park owner Eugene Mulvihill claimed to be insured by London and World Assurance, Limited, but the company turned out to be a phony offshore corporation of his own creation (he faced charges and was fined). Mulvihills son, Andy Mulvihill, co-authored the book Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of Americas Most Dangerous Amusement Park (Penguin Books) with Jake Rossen. A scripted TV series based on the book, published in June, is in development for Hulu. Class Action Park co-director Seth Porges didnt grow up in New Jersey, but he remembers visiting Action Park in the early 90s. As an 8 or 9-year-old, I could tell there was something different about this place, he told NJ Advance Media last month. There was just something chaotic in the air about Action Park and it stuck with me. Those who remember going there and those who are fascinated with how a place like this ever existed now visit by way of grainy footage posted to YouTube. Now, with COVID, the contrast couldnt be starker, Porges said. People arent just nostalgic for the 1980s, theyre nostalgic for the very idea of going outside. The 360-degree turn on the Cannonball Loop waterslide, in particular, has become a subject of curiosity. The teeth of people who tested the ride were later found embedded in the slide, a macabre reminder and danger for anyone who came barreling down the same chute. Here are the details for the films premiere. And here are our interviews with the filmmakers, New Jerseyans who frequented the park and people whose lives were irrevocably changed by accidents at Action Park. What is the premiere date for Class Action Park? When can you expect to catch all the Action Park action? Class Action Park will premiere 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT Thursday, August 27 on HBO Max. Note: The documentary is special to the streaming service and will not air on regular HBO (theres currently a seven-day free trial available for HBO Max, then its $14.99 per month). Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Send a coronavirus tip here. Welcome to Opinions commentary for the second night of the Democratic National Convention. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rank the evening on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 means the night was a disaster for Democrats; 10 means it could lead to a big polling bump for Biden-Harris. Heres what our columnists and contributors thought of the event, which highlighted the roll call, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bill Clinton and Jill Biden. See rankings from the first night of the Democratic National Convention here. Best moment Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination via livestream from Delaware, flanked by family. Brian Snyder/Pool via AP Wajahat Ali Democrats are making the case that they represent a majority, with a broad coalition of diverse communities, including life-long Republicans. Well, they showed it. Jamelle Bouie The roll call! I am a sucker for earnest pride in ones home and community, and I found it genuinely moving to see Americans of all colors and backgrounds speak to that pride and to their faith in this country. It is good stuff! Also, it should be a reminder that the United States owes its territories either independence or full voting rights and representation in Congress. Frank Bruni Joe Biden saying, with a Roman candle of a smile, thank you, thank you, thank you, when the nomination was finally and formally his. Gratitude, along with humility, is foreign to Donald Trump. Gail Collins Have to admit the virtual roll call was better than expected. Really thought Id miss all those delegates howling commercials for their state from the convention floor. But actually seeing them on their home turf was nice. Michelle Cottle This is how nominating roll calls should be conducted. Rather than focusing on spun-up delegates in daffy hats jammed into a convention hall, this vote looked outward at America, with on-site shots from every state and territory, starting from the Edmund Pettus bridge in Alabama. Michelle Goldberg In many ways, a virtual convention is a pale imitation of a real one, but the tour-of-America roll call vote, with its moving diversity, homespun production values and slightly uncanny masked tableaus, was a huge improvement over the usual procedure. Nicole Hemmer The roll call. Over the past several months, many Americans have barely left their homes, much less their states, so that tour of the country felt a little like traveling. And it brought some kitschy fun to a convention woefully short on funny hats. Liz Mair It was, by far, when Rhode Island used its roll-call vote to feature a man holding a platter of calamari a prime-time earned media ad for the calamari comeback state. The video roll call was genuinely fun and gave a good glimpse of the breadth and depth of American culture. Daniel McCarthy The Biden family video humanized him well after his rather stiff acceptance of the nomination, and Jill Bidens follow-up in the classroom was potent. Melanye Price The delegate roll call. There is no way the Republican Party can match the Democrats when it comes to reflecting the diversity of America. Effective and uplifting! Mimi Swartz Jill Biden. Gee, it would be nice to have a real first lady again. Hector Tobar The worlds biggest Zoom conference call, i.e., the around-the-U.S.A. delegate vote. Great landscapes, and a wonderfully diverse sampling of young Democratic leaders, activists and citizens. It offered the viewer a real proud to be an American moment. Even the Fox News pundits liked it. Peter Wehner Not any of the speeches, which were average at best, but two D.N.C. videos one about Jill Biden and her relationship with Joe; the other on the unlikely friendship between Biden and John McCain. Honorable mention to the virtual roll call, which was better and more interesting than any in the past. Worst moment Senator Chuck Schumer of New York spoke with the Statue of Liberty in the background. Democratic National Convention, via Associated Press Wajahat Ali Tom Perez needs to stop trying so hard. As the party chairman, just come out and say it straight. Bill Clinton delivered, as he always does, but Democrats have to navigate their future without him and his scandals. The rising star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez needed more than 96 seconds. Jamelle Bouie I am finding it hard to identify a worst moment that isnt just an ideological gripe on my part. (And on that point, the foreign policy segment wasnt for me!) I suppose I would have loved to hear more from Representative Ocasio-Cortez, who is an extremely talented political communicator. Frank Bruni The relay-race keynote speech. This gimmick meant the remarks had no shape, pacing or heft, and the swiftly changing faces and backdrops instilled motion sickness: Political bromides met The Perfect Storm. At one point 17 keynoters said, in unison, Thats a big effing deal! I effing cringed. Gail Collins Sticking to a five-minute speech must have been hell for Bill Clinton, and he sounded sorta flat. And John Kerry oh, wow, forgot what it was like to stare blankly at a screen when John Kerry was making an important address. Michelle Cottle After the roll call, the cameras lingered a bit too long on Joe and Jill standing around grinning awkwardly as people in masks threw streamers at them. The nominee looked happy but also as though he wasnt sure what to do. Wave? Dance? Hug Jill? Lets keep it crisp, people! Michelle Goldberg Post #MeToo, there was no reason to have Bill Clinton speak. Nicole Hemmer Chuck Schumer kept gesturing meaningfully toward the Statue of Liberty during his speech, seemingly unaware that it was just a distant green smudge. You could spin that as symbolism the erosion of liberty and all that but it was just bad camera work for an otherwise forgettable speech. Liz Mair Both parties desperately need a new inventory of celebratory music. Teeing up tunes that remind everyone of autumn 1980 isnt a great way of projecting youth, vigor, stamina and a forward-facing outlook. Daniel McCarthy Colin Powell is an impressive man who put his prestige behind a needless and disastrous war in Iraq, which Biden backed, too. Powell and the videos before and after him were a reminder that Biden is the candidate of the war party. Melanye Price The old guys in the middle. John Kerry, Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel and even Bill Clinton harkened back to a version of politics that is on life support. In a high-tech, diverse, increasingly progressive political moment, they seemed too stoic and out of place. Mimi Swartz It pains me to say this, but the scene of Joe Biden in the library after winning the nomination was underwhelming after the heroic buildup. Maybe anyone would long for the lift of a live crowd at that moment, but Biden looked like someone still waiting for his cue. Hector Tobar Chuck Schumer. A speech completely devoid of any original ideas, delivered with a stiff posture and wooden tone, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. Ugh. It was the one moment of the night that most resembled a Saturday Night Live sketch. Peter Wehner Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs searing indictment of America, which fit in a lot in 96 seconds: racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, homophobia, the violence and xenophobia of our past, and the unsustainable brutality of our economy. Democrats should be glad she wasnt granted more time. What else mattered The broadcast included livestreams from across the country. Democratic National Convention, via Associated Press Wajahat Ali Its easy to forget Republicans remain committed to dismantling Obamacare. The Democrats put a human face on health care. Americans with disabilities shared their stories with Biden. He listened and cared. He showed us whats at stake if Trump gets another term: the health of a nation. Jamelle Bouie The showcase of young leaders. The next generation of Democratic Party leaders are here and working their way through the ranks and up the ladder. Seeing them was also a reminder of how Americas national leadership is in deep need of generational turnover. Frank Bruni John Kerrys devastating review of Trump on the world stage (when this president goes overseas, it isnt a goodwill mission, its a blooper reel), followed by testimonials from Marie Yovanovitch and Colin Powell, was a crucial reminder that foreign policy matters and that Trumps stinks. Gail Collins It would be pretty hard to come out of the night not liking Joe Biden at least a little bit. Or if you already did, a little bit more. Michelle Cottle The group keynote address delivered by 17 Democratic up-and-comers county commissioners, mayors, state legislators, etc. helped focus attention on the partys future leaders, not just its past ones. It was a risk, and a tech challenge, but it had great energy and flow. Having Stacey Abrams as the closer was an especially nice touch. Michelle Goldberg The people who put this thing together struck just the right tone, mixing grief-stricken sobriety with earnest hope. But while I understand why Bidens team wants Republican validators, his campaign didnt need to give more time to John McCain than to A.O.C. and Stacey Abrams combined. Nicole Hemmer Just eight years ago, Bill Clinton stole the convention with his lengthy prime-time speech. This year, his role shrank to five unexceptional minutes, making clear that the Party of Clinton has been fully eclipsed by the Party of Obama. Liz Mair Biden as listener and empathizer in chief works very well. Biden moderating panels with ordinary Americans on issues makes for some compelling and watchable content. But tonights session on health care when he talked about his personal experiences and thoughts as Beau Biden lay dying of cancer showcased whats most appealing about him: his personality, as opposed to a set of policies or good soundbites, and the message that this is about you, not him. Daniel McCarthy Trump is the overwhelmingly dominant theme of the convention so far forward-looking hope and change have given way to anti-Trumpism and nostalgia. Melanye Price It was crystal clear that the people who know Biden really like him. Its less clear whether he can maintain the crisp and coherent narratives that have been so powerful here, as the campaign continues. Mimi Swartz The roll call worked in that hokey American way the landscapes, the regional accents, the hopes and enthusiasms, and the kids holding up signs of what looked like Joe Bidens sunglasses. Even Mayor Pete, on what looked like the movie set for Delegates in Black. Hector Tobar The storytelling discipline of the producers of this nightly infomercial is admirable. Theyre hammering away relentlessly at two storylines: Joe Biden as the defender of common Americans, with a compassion born of personal suffering; and Trump as the nations callous divider in chief. Peter Wehner Day 2 of the Democratic convention lacked the energy and galvanizing moments of the first day. But what came through to me is how effectively the convention is at humanizing Joe Biden. Personal tragedy and loss are central to his story, and so, too, is empathy, decency and healing. That doesnt guarantee hell be a successful president, but those qualities mean something, especially in the age of Trump. Two men have died after their boat capsized while they were fishing in rough waters in Moreton Bay off Brisbane. Emergency services including a rescue helicopter were sent to the scene about 1.30pm on Wednesday, with police divers entering the water. People on another boat helped pull one man out the water before alerting emergency services, police said. Two men have died after their boat capsized while they were fishing in rough waters in Moreton Bay off Brisbane Earlier, Queensland Ambulance Services said one man was flown to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition. Police have since confirmed both men have died. The men were fishing when the boat capsized in windy conditions near Green Island, between Manly and North Stradbroke Island. Authorities are continuing to search the area, but police told reporters they believe only the two men were on board the vessel. If you were hoping to escape California wildfire season and jet off to Hawaii, you'll have to push those plans back...again. After dropping hints last week that Hawaii might not reopen to tourists on Sept. 1 after all, Gov. David Ige has made it official, pushing back the reopening date to Oct. 1 at the earliest as the islands continue to see increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases. That means the states current restriction on out-of-state visitors a mandatory 14-day quarantine after arrival will remain in place through the end of the summer. The wording of Iges announcement left open the possibility that even the new Oct. 1 reopening date might be subject to an extension in the weeks ahead. The states original restrictions, which were imposed in late March, also required all inter-island travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days; that rule was eventually lifted, but it was reinstated last week for individuals traveling to Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Lanai or Molokai from any other island including Oahu; it does not apply for those traveling inter-island to Oahu. Ige said this week that those new quarantine rules for inter-island trips will remain in place for now. Hawaiis reopening plan whenever it starts -- would require visitors from the mainland to obtain a negative result on a COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before leaving home. Ige noted last week that might be a problem as well since it is difficult or impossible for many people on the mainland to get such a quick testing result. Airbnb Ige said this week that the reopening, along with pre-travel testing protocols, will be announced well in advance to allow businesses to prepare for the return of visitors. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. By mid-July, some 200 individuals had been arrested for violating the quarantine rule, and the arrests have continued since then. Violators are subject to hefty fines and possible jail time. The state collects information from arriving travelers about where they will be staying and has asked operators of hotels to keep an eye on guests to make sure they remain in place for 14 days. Police also have visitor tracking procedures in place, including phone calls, emails, watching social media accounts and even stopping by to visit those who have recently arrived and should be in quarantine. They have also set up tip lines for residents to report anyone who appears to be violating the quarantine. The rules also bar quarantined visitors from staying in short-term vacation rentals such as VRBO or Airbnb and from renting cars on the islands. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. People who are not following Covid-19 safety measures have been ordered to wise up in a stark warning from the Chief Medical Officer. As it emerged that Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate out of the UK and Ireland, health officials have fired a warning shot over the deadly risk posed by the virus. Local lockdowns and province-wide measures including restrictions on family visits, closing pubs and restaurants and stopping car shares are among the steps that could be put in place to help suppress Covid-19, according to Dr Michael McBride. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Health Minister Robin Swann poured cold water on the possibility that other restrictions, including the reopening of all pubs, will be lifted in the near future. But he said he believed lockdown measures had been relaxed at the correct time. However, a top public health expert has said officials missed the opportunity to completely stamp out the virus here. Expand Close Dr Gabriel Scally / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Gabriel Scally Professor Gabriel Scally, a member of the independent Sage committee, said: Im so disappointed that when the number of cases were so low that we didnt press on and get down to zero. We were so close, then they could have just put in controls at the border, at airports and ferries, and we could be operating normally again. The comments were made as the most senior figures in the Covid-19 battle here appeared together publicly for the first time in a number of months, signalling the level of concern there now is over the spread of the virus. Read More In an impassioned plea to the public to take the threat seriously, Dr McBride said: It is easy to ignore the reality when it is a reality that we dont want to live in and live through, and its easy to pretend that were through the worst and the worst wasnt that bad after all. This virus doesnt have a plan; its only plan is to spread and to survive, and whether it does that and how successful it does that is in all our hands. I have a simple message to those who are not following the advice: wise up. This is far too important. Follow the advice, watch your distance, wash your hands, wear a face covering, download the app. And if you have symptoms, get a test, and if you are contacted by the contact tracing service, get a test and self-isolate. Chief scientific officer Professor Ian Young said there had been a progressive increase in the transmission of the virus in recent weeks. If we go back to the end of June and the beginning of July, there were three to four cases of Covid-19 per day in Northern Ireland, he explained. That number has progressively risen and over the last few days the average number of cases per day has been over 40, peaking at around 45 a couple of days ago. Professor Young said it was wrong to conclude that increased testing rates was the reason for a rise in the number of people being diagnosed as positive. He said while four times as many tests were now being carried out, the number of cases has increased by about tenfold. He added: So, increased testing as a result of our Test Trace Protect programme is not sufficient to explain the increasing number of cases that we are detecting. In line with that, if we go back to the beginning of July, then around 0.3% of tests around one in 300 were positive. Now were consistently over 1% of tests that are positive, thats more than one in 100. Prof Young said we have had an infection rate of 16 per 100,000 of the population over the last seven days and 24 per 100,000 in the last fortnight. Those figures are slightly higher than the rest of the UK or Republic of Ireland on average, indicating that the epidemic is increasing significantly in Northern Ireland, he added. Prof Young also aired caution over relying on the number of hospital admissions, warning of the delay between a person contracting the virus and becoming seriously unwell. Municipalities and Ontarios Indigenous Friendship Centres could do a better job tackling issues if they worked more closely together, says Jennifer Dockstader, executive director of Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre. She hopes an agreement struck Wednesday will lead to that. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres signed a declaration of mutual commitment and friendship. Its a promise to rely on each other, and another move away from a history that has kept them apart, Dockstader said. We dont expect municipalities to be culturally competent with Indigenous people. They need the expertise of friendship centres to help them with that, she said. Too often governments havent asked, said Dockstader, who is also president of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. The centres have access to programs and funding, as well as cultural awareness, that can help improve the lives of Indigenous people while helping solve larger community problems like homelessness. I think thats the biggest misnomer, that were only solving issues for urban Indigenous people, she said. I hardly think so. Her own centre has enjoyed a good relationship with the Town of Fort Erie, but it has taken longer with Niagara Region. Weve had good relationships with certain departments in the Region. Its breaking the silos, she said. She added: Now this collective agreement has us all talking together about issues, and they are talking to one another in-house as well as talking to us. I think thats where were going to see positive change. Dockstader also called it another step toward ending racism, by bringing the community closer together. While 85 per cent of Ontarios Indigenous people live in municipalities, she called it preposterous that many people still believe they belong on reserves. Its racism, tied to a sustained, historic propaganda campaign against Indigenous people since the formation of Canada that started with the federal government, she said. I dont put that on the local communities, but I do think that a form of re-education does need to occur. For instance, the role Indigenous people have played in Canada since before the country was formed needs to be better told. Once we start to actually look at the real history of Indigenous people, we start to recognize and maybe debunk some of the myths that the government has perpetrated upon the average Canadian and Indigenous people, she said. She pointed to the celebration of War of 1812 history in Niagara. The military aspect is well known. Less talked about are the treaties reached among different Indigenous groups around the same time, which affected not only them but also the early settlers. The treaties were worked out on grounds near Fort George. At a treaty house in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Isnt that fascinating, she said. Why dont people know this? The country is facing a battle to stop the slide back toward lockdown after a wave of new Covid-19 restrictions were announced which will have an impact on both old and young. Older and vulnerable people will feel the brunt of the new restrictions, but they will also hit families, young people and those involved in sport. The new measures which were described as the "most draconian in Europe" will see family gatherings strictly limited to just six people and all outdoor gatherings limited to 15 people. Sport can go ahead but without spectators and stringent limits on the number of people who can train before matches have been introduced. However, restaurants and pubs that can serve food will be permitted to stay open a half an hour later until 11.30pm. Thousands of people who have returned to their offices in recent weeks are now being told to work from home once again until at least September 13. Expand Close Shoppers wearing masks in the city centre yesterday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shoppers wearing masks in the city centre yesterday Rules Public transport is also to be avoided where possible and masks should be worn by anyone travelling in a vehicle with someone who is not from their household. Despite new rules on public transport for the majority of the population, the Government insisted schools will open and students will be free to travel on buses and trains to get to classes. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly yesterday warned the country is at a "tipping point" and he said Ireland's rate of growth over the past two weeks is the fourth highest in Europe. Mr Donnelly announced the number of new cases yesterday was 190 while Ireland's five day average of new cases is 160 new cases per day, and rising. "I agreed with my cabinet colleagues that we implement a number of measures to reverse the spread of Covid as outlined by the Taoiseach. We're doing this to protect public health, and protect lives," he said. "We're doing it to protect our health services, to protect jobs, and to get our schools open and to keep them open." There will be no further restrictions on attending mass or any other place of worship where up to 50 people can gather. Up to 50 people can also still attend a wedding despite the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) recommending that this should be significantly reduced. Taoiseach Micheal Martin yesterday said he rejected this advice and has asked Nphet to review the recommendation they made on weddings. Over-70s and the vulnerable are being asked to "use their judgement" and keep the number of people they meet as low as possible. If they do meet someone they should keep a two-metre distance and stay in their company for as short a time as possible. They are also being told avoid public transport where possible and only shop during designated hours which are safe for shopping for older people. Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said older people can go on staycations, but should avoid staying in hotels. Nphet's advice to Government was that over-70s should stay at home as much as possible but this was not highlighted when the Taoiseach announced the new measures. Limit Many of the new measures were aimed at stamping out house parties and unorganised gatherings. This is why no more than six people from three households will be allowed in a home and a limit of 15 people will be imposed on non-sport outdoor gatherings. The Taoiseach said restaurant and pub opening hours had been extended to encourage people not to go to house parties and to give the hospitality industry a boost. "The government have decided a more reasonable time for restaurants, and in particular would be 11.30pm to allow the last sitting to conclude in an orderly manner, but that would be a deadline then a timeline, that's currently not there in the mandatory sense," he said. Powers The Government is also drafting new enforcement powers for gardai so they can clamp down on house parties or pubs found in breach of the new guidelines. Mr Martin said he would examine the case of opening pubs that don't serve food before the end of the month, but could not give any commitment. There was some concerns raised at a Cabinet meeting on the new measures. Ministers raised issue about older people being able to go on staycations, communications around restrictions on working from home and avoiding public transport. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar criticised his Fianna Fail colleagues for rushing through the new measures without debating them in a cabinet committee meeting with public health experts. Several sources at the meeting said the Fine Gael leader said: "If we keep doing business like this, we won't be doing business for very long." The Fine Gael leader was described as "furious" by one Cabinet source who said the party is "growing tired of the bad news constantly being announced under Fianna Fail". Frustrations have also been raised among Fine Gael ministers over the severity of the advice given by Nphet. "You'd need a certain set of skills to deal with Nphet, because anyone who can make logic of their recommendations needs to be a genius," a minister said. "We are implementing the most draconian restrictions in Europe," another minister said. The Illinois delegation to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday celebrated its wide array of female leaders, many of whom gave speeches commemorating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote and condemning what they described as President Donald Trumps sexism and attacks on women. The virtual gathering served as a substitute for what would have been a daily round of speeches at a delegation breakfast at the DNC in Milwaukee until concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic forced the festivities to be held remotely. The nearly 90 minutes of speeches highlighted top women elected officials in the state, several of whom spent significant portions of their remarks emphasizing the need for Trump to be voted out of office in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden. Donald Trumps incredible attacks on women in every possible way that we see every day is intentional, said veteran U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of Evanston. He really is a woman hater. Schakowsky noted the presidents penchant for using the term nasty to refer to many women, including most recently California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, the partys vice presidential candidate. Women in general to Donald Trump are nasty, dont deserve equal pay for equal work, dont deserve to control our own bodies, she said. Its been really, really tough. Mayor Lori Lightfoot started her remarks by lauding former first lady Michelle Obamas blistering Monday night convention remarks against Trump, calling it a searing and inspiring speech at a time when we really needed it most. Like many of her colleagues, Lightfoot acknowledged Tuesdays 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. She compared that fight to the current one against Trump. The 19th Amendment corrected a great wrong. It showed our nation and the world that our form of government has the capacity to adapt to correct our mistakes and to get it right, Lightfoot said. Today that constitution is again being put to the ultimate test as our current president bends and tears at every page to reshape the document to his own will. We know from our own history that we, our democracies are resilient. ... We never shrink from a fight. State Comptroller Susana Mendoza provided the most political red meat of the evening, comparing Trump to former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, saying both made us a laughingstock to our neighbors and our allies and both vigorously pursued policies that harm women, working families and marginalized populations. Now, I dont now about you, but Im certainly tired of an incompetent, inexperienced, uncaring, vacuous bully boy like Donald Trump occupying the highest elected office in the land, Mendoza said. Folks, we do not have to live this way. In keeping with the days theme, the Illinois delegations official nominating votes for Biden were announced by former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman elected to the Senate. Discrimination has denied too many Black Americans the chance to own a home and build wealth. Joe Biden has a plan to end racism and sexism, and help more people of color see the American Dream of owning a home, Moseley Braun said in a recorded message from Old State Capitol in Springfield. This isnt just about racial justice, its about strong communities and more economic security for working families. While the delegations day largely focused on womens rights and issues, the controversy embroiling Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan also lingered, with some of Tuesdays speakers again facing questions about whether the longtime powerful leader should step down. Two years ago, Madigan eventually fired his chief of staff and key campaign operatives after he faced criticism that he did not do enough to deal with complaints of sexual harassment involving lawmakers and staff. Madigan, who has served as House speaker for all but two years since 1983, also has been implicated in an alleged federal bribery scandal involving Commonwealth Edison. The utility has agreed to pay a $200 million fine and cooperate with federal prosecutors for three years over what investigators allege was a near decadelong effort to gain influence with Madigan through the use of jobs and contracts to his allies. Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied he ever made a legislative decision with improper motives. During a news conference earlier in the day to preview the evening of speeches, some officials were asked whether Madigan should resign his leadership post and chairmanship of the state party because of the sexual harassment scandals and federal investigation. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, of Matteson, said she has told Madigan that if the federal allegations connected with ComEd turn out to be true, he should step down from both positions. Mendoza agreed. Neither addressed Madigans handling of the sexual harassment complaints, and Schakowsky virtually departed the online news conference without answering the question. I think what we need to focus on right now is making sure were successful in November, and whatever we deal with after that, we deal with after that, Kelly said of Madigan. But I just think we need to keep our eyes on the main prize, and thats Biden, Harris and all the other Dems who are running. 15 photos from the 2016 Republican National Convention Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CLINTON Connecticut Water has awarded funds from its Firefighter Grant Program for 2020, including two stations in lower Middlesex County. Applications were open to any fire department in Connecticut Waters Service Communities and the grants will cover various items from equipment to education, according to a press release. The Chester Hose Co. was given $1,395 for slow-close hydrant valves, while the Essex Fire Department received $1,500 for a LDH Hydrant Assist Valve. The grants were award based on certain criteria, with the highest priority given to items that would also help protect the water system, such as slow close hydrant valves that reduce likelihood of a water hammer that can cause water main breaks when hydrants are closed too quickly, the release said. The program was available to any fire department served by Connecticut Water. The grant program is part of the utilitys ongoing support of local communities. In 2020, the company has doubled its charitable contributions to local nonprofit and community organizations. More than $25,000 has already been donated to state and local food assistance programs in 2020 helping to meet the increased number of food insecure residents of the state following COVID-19, and an additional $15,000 grant program was launched to provide schools with touch-free water bottle filling stations as students return to school with enhanced safety measures this fall, the agency said. The program was designed to help departments supplement municipal budgets to further strengthen their ability to provide service to their districts. Even with fewer travelers venturing out because of COVID-19, the journey to and from the airport and the car rental center can be difficult. Picking up your rental can take almost as long as a short flight. I was unhappily reminded of that the other day at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport CRACF. What is a CRACF? Its short for Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility. Think lots of rental cars. My journey via shuttle bus from the rental facility to the airport terminal took 31 minutes. The bus wait was 20 minutes, and loading added another six minutes. The actual ride was five minutes. My flight to San Antonio was only 44 minutes. Over the last decade or so, CRACF has become a buzzword among airport officials. On ExpressNews.com: Wary Traveler: Hotels compete for guests with Lysol, partnerships Airports get to charge rent to the car rental companies, something they cant do when each company has its own off-site lot. The PR spin from airports is that they are getting rental car shuttles off the road, relieving traffic. I am all for clean air and less traffic. The problem is the long shuttle waits from transportation companies that generally hold exclusive agreements to provide service between the CRACFs and terminals. My experience at various airports is that the lack of a CRACF is good news. With competing car rental companies and no central facility housing them each ones vans arrive every few minutes or so. Avis knows that if it doesnt have enough buses, National or Hertz is going to steal its lunch. Maybe I shouldnt have mentioned Hertz, since it's in bankruptcy, but you get the picture. But creating a monopoly for one shuttle company is a recipe for slow service. Its just the nature of a monopoly theres not much incentive to provide good service. Travelers, however, can fight back in some cases. If theyre flying to the Dallas area, passengers can fly to Love Field on Southwest. At the smaller Love Field, compared to DFW, the competing rental car vans are usually waiting for you for the four-minute trip to the rental center. On ExpressNews.com: The Wary Traveler: Joy in the seat pocket Some airports, including Orlando International in Florida, Austin Bergstrom International and San Antonio International, have conveniently placed their car rental centers across the street from the terminal. In those cases, the trip to the car rental center is as fast as you can walk or run. The airports are actually improving the rental car experience while collecting rent from car rental companies. But be careful changes do occur. At Tampa International Airport in Florida, the rental car center was across the street from the terminal. In the name of progress, its now a train ride away, adding another 10 minutes to get your rental car. I may also may have bad timing. The bus to Terminal C at DFW pulled out just as I entered the bus platform during my recent trip. When the next bus finally arrived, I asked: Why so long? The driver maintained that buses run every five minutes and that it was all controlled by a dispatcher with GPS who made sure there was never a long wait. He could not explain my 20-minute wait. It was an unexplained mystery of life! But this same thing has happened to me before at the DFW car rental facility and numerous others. In fact, at other CRACF facilities, my experiences have been worse. Before the pandemic, I encountered delays numerous times at McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas, waiting for the shuttle to the car rental center. Long lines resulted in waits as long as 30 minutes in the Las Vegas heat. Add another seven minutes to load the bus and ten more minutes for the trip to the rental facility. I began to wonder why an Uber did not enter my mind. My worse CRACF experience was several years back at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. It was 5:30 a.m. and my flight was at 7:15 a.m. The wait for the bus was more than 30 minutes. About 40 other travelers and I kept hoping the shuttle would arrive soon. When the bus finally came, the ride to the terminal took 10 minutes in a standing-room-only vehicle. I made my flight, but just barely. The absolute worst place to rent a car at a U.S. airport is Miami International Airport. The shuttle bus is not to blame because there is no bus. Instead, its a long walk of 10 to 15 minutes on endless moving walkways. Its easy to get lost. This has happened to me several times. Eventually, you end up at a train station for the trip to the consolidated car rental facility. With the wait for the train, you can easily add another 15 minutes to your journey to the CRACF. One way to fight back is to learn the secrets of an airport you use a lot. At DFW, while I was waiting 20 minutes for my shuttle bus to Terminal C, two successive buses marked terminal A appeared. What I realized later was that there is an internal train that connects all the terminals at D/FW and runs every few minutes. All I had to do was jump on the Terminal A bus and then grab the internal train. If I had thought ahead, I would have gotten to my gate sooner! Randy Diamond covers tourism and the travel industry. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net The leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in New York has compared the US government to 'terrorists', as he defended protesters and looters during a heated exchange with Fox News host Martha MacCallum. Hawk Newsome, the chairman of BLM's Greater New York chapter, appeared on The Story with Martha MacCallum on Tuesday where he responded to Rudy Giuliani branding BLM a terrorist group. Giuliani on Monday said President Trump should consider declaring Black Lives Matter a 'domestic terrorist organization', citing looting and vandalism by demonstrators during the recent George Floyd protests across the country. Giuliani claimed BLM activists had 'basically engaged in stealing', and called the group an 'illegal organization' whose intent is 'to overthrow our government.' Scroll down for video During a heated exchange on Tuesday night, BLM chairman Hawk Newsome (pictured) defended the organization while comparing the US government of being terrorists Newsome (pictured with Nick Cannon) said BLM activists have been fighting for 'human rights' and equality and question why there hasn't been a harder stance on white supremacists During the interview, Newsome fired back at Giuliani, but refused to directly say whether or not he condoned looting by protesters. He accused the former mayor of New York City and now personal attorney to the president of accomplishing nothing since his tenure ended, and said he was mischaracterizing protesters who are fighting for human rights. 'He's talking about mothers and fathers who are out there protesting,' Newsome said. 'He's talking about black people and white people who are out there fighting for the rights of every human being - for equity, for human rights - and he's calling us terrorists?' He also questioned why Giuliani had not taken a hard stance on white supremacists and the KKK instead, which he said 'is responsible for bloodshed over hundreds of years.' MacCallum interjected to say Giuliani was likely referring to the looters and rioters that destroyed local businesses and properties during the demonstrations. The interview then took an awkward turn as Newsome responded by suggesting the American government were the true terrorists for 'pillaging' foreign countries. 'OK, so when America goes and steals diamonds and oils, who's calling us terrorists?' Newsome told MacCallum. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Fox News Privacy Policy His comments were in response to Rudy Giuliani's calls for Trump to declare BLM a 'domestic terrorist organization' Giuliani said BLM protesters had engaged in stealing and are intent on 'overthrowing' the government 'When the American government goes and pillages different countries, who's calling us terrorists?' MacCallum then asked Newsome if he agreed with fellow BLM leader Ariel Atkins in Chicago, who during a recent interview said looting was a form of reparations. In a clip aired during the segment, Atkins said she 'didn't care' if people targeted high-end stores like Gucci or Macy's, if it meant they had something to eat. Newsome responded by once again deflecting, saying criticizing looters was a byproduct of white supremacy. 'The problem with oppression and white supremacy is, white supremacy will have you criticizing the oppressed and worshiping the oppressors,' he told MacCallum. 'Now, if you want to talk to me about reparations, nothing falls short of a solution other than people cutting a check. If you want to do something about reparations, cut the check.' Sephora located at 119 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District was left ransacked after it was looted and vandalized during the George Floyd protest in New York City on June 2 BLM activist Ariel Atkins in Chicago said she didn't care if looters targeted high-end stores or corporations and claimed it was a form of reparations He then digressed saying reparations should not come out of the pockets of everyday Americans, but rather the banks and other institutions who benefited from slavery. MacCallum, appearing frustrated, then asked Newsome again to answer her question on whether or not he believed it was 'ethically okay' to loot businesses. Newsome continued to talk over her by further explaining how he believed reparations should be made to the black community. 'In fairness, I listened to you and now I want you to answer my question,' MacCallum said as Newsome continued his rant. 'Do you agree that it's okay to go in and break the windows at Gucci or Macy's or Nike because it makes sure that that person eats and that person has clothes - that was my question to you,' she said. Newsome skirted the question a third time saying: 'OK. Before I answer that, I want to ask you this: Do you think it's okay that our government kills people in their homes like Breonna Taylor?' 'No I don't think that's okay. Of course, I don't think that's okay,' MacCallum said, 'but you don't answer my question.' BLM demonstrations took over NYC following the death of George Floyd in May, with some protests escalating into riots Newsome, 43, told DailyMailTV in June, he believes his group can lead the 'war on police' Newsome, ignoring MacCallum, continued to speak out against the fatal shooting of Taylor, who was killed by police in March, prompting her to wrap up the interview. 'There's two different issues here and I wish you had answered my question, which you said you would but you didn't,' she said as Newsome continued. 'You're having a circular conversation. You don't wanna answer questions about looting and stealing,' MacCallum added, before producers cut Newsome's camera. Newsome has been an outspoken figure for his BLM chapter since the protests erupted over George Floyd's death. In an interview with DailyMailTV in June, he revealed the BLM group was 'mobilizing' its base and aims to develop a highly-trained 'military' arm to challenge police brutality head on. He said the chapter planned to release a blueprint for change that involves Black Panther style armed 'patrols' monitoring the behavior of officers on the streets. 'We want liberation. We want the power to determine our own destiny. We want freedom from an oppressive government, and we want the immediate end of government sanctioned murder by the police,' he said. 'And we prepare to stop these government sanctioned murders by any means necessary.' Black Lives Matter has had tens of thousands of activists protesting the death of George Floyd in dozens of cities around America and across the world since his killing in May. BLM's Greater New York chapter has since emerged at the forefront of the movement as black rights become a topic for debate. Newsome said he believes his group can lead the 'war on police'. President Donald Trump has put immigration at the forefront of his Arizona campaign speech on Tuesday. Trump boasted his office's intense focus and achievements on the issue of immigration. With the Arizona campaign, the President hoped to carry the support from the key swing state for the November elections. Trump also aimed at presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, reported The Hill. He called Biden's immigration plans the most "radical, extreme, reckless, dangerous and deadly" one ever put forward by a major-party candidate. A big crowd welcomed Trump for his Yuma, Arizona campaign. The President flaunted his administration's achievements in rounding up migrants and putting more security measures at the border. He said he kept his key promises like building a border wall and cutting tax prices. Trump rattled off statistics on border crossings and arrests. The President also defended the intense focus on criminal activity and the crackdown on immigrants. He said the efforts improved safety in the United States and boosted the economy. While he'd gone through it four years ago, Trump finds the coming election the most important one for him. In his speech, he said it is the "most consequential presidency." There were hundreds of people who came to the Yuma event. He delivered his speech at Joe Foss Hangar, and it lasted for 45 minutes. The 104-degree heat caused some people to seek medical care. There were about two dozen people who had health issues both inside and outside the hangar, the Arizona Republic reported. The Yuma Fire Department took four people to the hospital. In his speech, Trump acknowledged the heat in jest: "You know it's 122 degrees in this place... This is like a test." Many of those who came to the event wore masks, but only a few kept the recommended gap from others for social distancing, reported the CNN. Trump Warned Against Democratic Agenda Trump said the Democratic Party's plans to strip away gun rights and reopen the nation's borders are "radical and beyond socialism." He called the Democratic tandem's plan, "a step-by-step recipe for abolishing America's borders." For Trump, it could also displace many American workers and make some communities less safe. He also pointed out that Biden was part of a "failed strategy" along the border where illegal crossings reached alarming levels. Trump's focus on illegal immigration isn't new. Bloomberg even noted that his comments in the Arizona campaign speech were like the central theme of his 2016 campaign. Trump's Campaign So Far The national surveys and polls on voters from key states saw that Trump is trailing Biden by a small gap. According to a recent Gallup poll, Trump sees a job approval rating of 42 percent. It was four percent higher than his rating in the previous months. Trump's poll numbers likely went up because of his return to having regular coronavirus news briefings. In less than three months, voters will be casting their ballots to determine if Trump still gets another term in the White House. Even though his approval rating has been better than before, Biden is still in the lead. One of the things that Gallup's poll respondents found lacking in Trump was his race relations. If Trump does want his poll numbers to go higher before November, he will need to work on this aspect of his office. Check these out! Trump, First Lady Request Vote-by-Mail Ballots in Florida Trump Eyes White House Funeral for Late Brother on Friday Trump Says to Pardon a Very Important Person Toyota Motor Corp will offer its cars in India on leases or shorter-term subscriptions, hoping to tap growing demand for private transport as travellers cut down on communal journeys in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Japanese automaker said on Tuesday it would offer leasing plans to corporate and retail customers of three to five years across its portfolio of cars - including the Glanza hatchback, Yaris sedan and Fortuner sport-utility vehicle - for as little as 21,000 rupees ($281) a month. Naveen Soni, senior vice president, sales and service at the carmaker's India unit, said the need for safe transport was growing and leasing or subscription models offered a more cost-effective solution than buying a car. So far, leasing and subscription services in India have largely focussed on the higher end of the auto market and therefore make up a fraction of the overall numbers, said Soni. "The lower end of the market is where the bulk is," he said, adding that was where Toyota would also focus. Toyota's competitors in India, such as Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor Co, have formed partnerships to offer similar services, as carmakers look to boost revenues amid the pandemic. Toyota's India unit has formed a separate team to drive the business and it will partner with its Japanese parent's global mobility services brand, KINTO, as well as ALD Automotive and SMAS Auto Leasing. Also read: Renault launches Duster with turbocharged petrol engine; check out price, features Also read: Amazon to assist Toyota in building cloud-based data services Christina Anderson has been too unwell to attend court FITNESS to plead issues are expected to be raised in the case of a mother-of-three accused of murdering a man in a knife attack in Dublin. Christina Anderson's defence said the issue "will arise," after the DPP issued formal directions for her to face trial for killing father-of-seven Garreth Kelly. Judge Carol Anne Coolican adjourned the case and further remanded Ms Anderson (38) in custody in her absence, as she was too unwell to attend court. Ms Anderson is charged with murdering Mr Kelly (39) on February 25 last on the street outside her home at Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood, where he was stabbed after trying to start his car. Expand Close Garreth Kelly / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Garreth Kelly She has been unable to attend court since she first appeared on the charge in February, and has been detained at the Central Mental Hospital. Today, a state solicitor told Dublin District Court the accused remained at the CMH and formal directions had been issued by the DPP - for prosecution on indictment. Defence solicitor Jenny McGeever said there was consent to a two-week remand in custody. The state solicitor asked if the defence could confirm if there was a fitness to plead issue, and said this could be raised on the next court date. "I think it certainly will be a matter that will arise," Ms McGeever said. She asked if the prosecution anticipated that the book of evidence would be ready on the next date. The state solicitor said this was unlikely. A book of evidence is required before an accused can be returned for trial to the Central Criminal Court. Judge Coolican adjourned the case to September 2. Previously, the court heard the garda investigation was a complex one involving 140 witness statements and electronic evidence. In a hearing last month, defence solicitor Michael Kelleher had queried the length of time it was taking at that point for the DPP's directions to be given. Any charge of this nature was complex but he did not think his clients case was particularly complicated for this type of offence. We have somebody in custody who is not terribly well, there should be some level of priority, Mr Kelleher said. Gardai believed there was no undue delay, referring to the complexity of the case. Legal aid was previously granted after the court heard the accuseds husband was working and they had three children. There was no garda objection. A judge had earlier ordered the accused to be medically and psychiatrically assessed. On the first court date in February, Det Sgt Dara Kenny said Ms Anderson made no reply when charged. Mr Kelly, from Tallaght, had been living in Clondalkin and was believed to have been staying over at a house in the Brownsbarn estate at the time of the incident. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Biden says Putin will pay 'dear price' if he invades Ukraine Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbay Jeenbekov held Tuesday an online meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of the republic Akram Madumarov, Trend reports citing Kabar. According to the press service of the president, the sides discussed measures to ensure the country's border security amid coronavirus pandemic and the development of cross-border cooperation, as well as issues of socio-economic development of Batken Oblast. Deputy PM Madumarov informed about the activities carried out in these directions. In order to prevent various incidents at the state border sections, local authorities together with law enforcement bodies carry out explanatory works among the population. Negotiations with Uzbekistani and Tajikistani sides at the level of deputy PMs are planed in the nearest future. President Jeenbekov noted the importance of intensifying the activity of the intergovernmental commission on delimitation and demarcation of Kyrgyz-Uzbek and Kyrgyz-Tajik borders in the conditions of coronavirus infection pandemic. The Kyrgyz leader emphasized the special need to provide all possible support to the development of Batken Oblast, whose population lives in difficult conditions. He noted that despite the budget deficit, the planned financing of all programmes for the development of the oblast will continue in full. While Pilot, who declared a week ago that he was placing no conditions for returning to the government, reportedly doesn't want a berth for himself, he has sought places for his followers. Aditi Phadnis reports. IMAGE: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, right, Congress leaders Sachin Pilot, left, and K C Venugopal pose for a photograph, in Jaipur. Photograph: @kcvenugopalmp/Twitter Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot might have a Cabinet reshuffle thrust upon him. With one of his ministers in a coma in hospital and another recently appointed chief of the Rajasthan unit of the Congress, he will have to undertake an expansion not just to fill the vacancies in the council of ministers but also to accommodate the claims of the 'rebels'. The maximum number of ministers Gehlot can have is 30. Right now he has 22: Of these, Bhanwarlal Meghwal is critically ill in hospital, and Govind Singh Dotasra has been made chief of the Congress in Rajasthan. Three other ministers, including Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh, and Ramesh Chand Meena were sacked. The Pilot group is now asking that some of them be accommodated in the Cabinet. While Pilot, who declared a week ago that he was placing no conditions for returning to the government, reportedly doesn't want a berth for himself, he has sought places for his followers. His priority is his two most loyal supporters Vishvendra Singh and Meena, along with two other senior Congress leaders who sided with him: Hemaram Choudhary and former Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat. And, he would also like two positions of ministers of state. Gehlot is expected to see this as empire-building on Pilots part but will have to yield ground if New Delhi insists. But he has his own political compulsions. He will have to reward Independents like Sanyam Lodha who stood loyally with him through the crisis. And the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs who crossed over to the Congress will also have to be accommodated. What will follow is a fragile balancing of competing interests. But this much is clear: That if he wants to keep his government, Gehlot will have to take some of the rebels in the government and work to wean them away from Pilot. At the same time, Pilot, having won the first round by forcing the replacement of the general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan earlier Avinash Pandey and now Ajay Maken will have a friend in Delhi he can call in case Gehlot tries to queer his political pitch again. Weve known from the beginning how the end will arrive. Eventually, the coronavirus will be unable to find enough susceptible hosts to survive, fading out wherever it briefly emerges. To achieve so-called herd immunity the point at which the virus can no longer spread because there are not enough vulnerable humans scientists have suggested that perhaps 70 per cent of a given population must be immune, through vaccination or because they survived the infection. Now some researchers are wrestling with a hopeful possibility. In interviews with The New York Times, more than a dozen scientists said that the threshold is likely to be much lower: just 50 per cent, perhaps even less. If thats true, then it may be possible to turn back the coronavirus more quickly than once thought. The new estimates result from complicated statistical modelling of the pandemic, and the models have all taken divergent approaches, yielding inconsistent estimates. It is not certain that any community in the world has enough residents now immune to the virus to resist a second wave. But in parts of New York, London and Mumbai, India, for example, it is not inconceivable that there is already substantial immunity to the coronavirus, scientists said. Im quite prepared to believe that there are pockets in New York City and London which have substantial immunity, said Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. What happens this winter will reflect that. The question of what it means for the population as a whole, however, is much more fraught, he added. Herd immunity is calculated from the epidemics so-called reproductive number, R0, an indicator of how many people each infected person spreads the virus to. The initial calculations for the herd immunity threshold assumed that each community member had the same susceptibility to the virus and mixed randomly with everyone else in the community. That doesnt happen in real life, said Dr. Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. Herd immunity could vary from group to group, and subpopulation to subpopulation, and even by postal codes, he said. For example, a neighbourhood of older people may have little contact with others but succumb to the virus quickly when they encounter it, whereas teenagers may bequeath the virus to dozens of contacts and yet stay healthy themselves. The virus moves slowly in suburban and rural areas, where people live far apart, but zips through cities and households thick with people. Once such real-world variations in density and demographics are accounted for, the estimates for herd immunity fall. Some researchers even suggested the figure may be in the range of 10 per cent to 20 per cent, but they were in the minority. Assuming the virus ferrets out the most outgoing and most susceptible in the first wave, immunity following a wave of infection is distributed more efficiently than with a vaccination campaign that seeks to protect everyone, said Tom Britton, a mathematician at Stockholm University. His model puts the threshold for herd immunity at 43 per cent that is, the virus cannot hang on in a community after that percentage of residents has been infected and recovered. Still, that means many residents of the community will have been sickened or have died, a high price to pay for herd immunity. And experts like Hanage cautioned that even a community that may have reached herd immunity cannot afford to be complacent. The virus may still flare up here and there, even if its overall spread is stymied. Its also unclear how long someone who has recovered may be immune, and for how long. Virus-Resistant Communities? The coronavirus crashed this years Purim celebrations in the Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods of New York City, tearing through the parades and masquerades in Brooklyn on March 9 and 10. Schools and synagogues soon shut down to quell the spread, but it was too late. By April, thousands in the Brooklyn communities were infected, and hundreds had died. Its like a black hole in my memory because of how traumatic it was, said Blimi Marcus, a nurse practitioner who lives in Borough Park, which was hit hard by the virus. But all that has changed now, Marcus added: The general feeling is one of complacency, that somehow weve all had it and were safe. Is it possible that some of these communities have herd immunity? In some clinics, up to 80 per cent of people tested had antibodies to the virus. The highest prevalence was found among teenage boys. But people at clinics are more likely to be showing symptoms and therefore more likely to be infected, said Wan Yang, an epidemiologist at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health in New York. Random household surveys would probably find lower rates but still well above the 21 per cent average reported for New York City, she said. Researchers in Mumbai conducted just such a random household survey, knocking on every fourth door or, if it was locked, the fifth and took blood for antibody testing. They found a startling disparity between the citys poorest neighbourhoods and its more affluent enclaves. Between 51 per cent and 58 per cent of residents in poor areas had antibodies, versus 11 per cent to 17 per cent elsewhere in the city. The lowest-income residents are packed tightly together, share toilets, and have little access to masks. These factors contributed to a silent infection spread, said Dr. Jayanthi Shastri, a microbiologist at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai who led the work. Most researchers are wary of concluding that the hardest-hit neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, or even those in blighted areas of Mumbai, have reached herd immunity or will be spared future outbreaks. But models like Brittons hint that its not impossible. Other researchers have suggested, controversially, that herd immunity can be achieved at rates of immunity as low as 10 per cent or 20 per cent and that entire countries may already have achieved that goal. Criticism trailed Sunetra Gupta, a theoretical epidemiologist at Oxford University, after a widely circulated interview in which she said that London and New York may already have reached herd immunity because of variability among people, combined with a theoretical immunity to common cold coronaviruses that may protect against the new one. That could be the explanation for why you dont see a resurgence in places like New York, she said. Most experts reject that notion. Several studies have shown that certain immune cells produced following infection with seasonal coronaviruses may also recognize the coronavirus. But where is the evidence that its protective? asked Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida. These cities have not returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity, other experts noted. We are still nowhere near back to normal in our daily behaviour, said Virginia Pitzer, a mathematical epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health. To think that we can just stop doing all that and go back to normal and not see a rise in cases I think is wrong, is incorrect. A second wave might also hit groups or neighbourhoods that were spared by the first, and still wreak havoc, she said. Immunity is a patchwork quilt in New York, for instance: Antibodies were present in 68 per cent of people visiting a clinic in the Corona neighbourhood of Queens, for instance, but in just 13 per cent of those tested at a clinic in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. But another group, led by mathematician Gabriela Gomes of the University of Strathclyde in Britain, accounted for variations within a society in its model and found that Belgium, England, Portugal and Spain have herd immunity thresholds in the range of 10 per cent to 20 per cent. At least in countries we applied it to, we could never get any signal that herd immunity thresholds are higher, Gomes said. I think its good to have this horizon that it may be just a few more months of pandemic. Other experts urged caution, saying these models are flawed, as all models are, and that they oversimplify conditions on the ground. Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, said it wasnt clear to him that Gomes model offered only one possible solution. And he was suspicious of the big ranges among the four countries. I think wed be playing with fire if we pretended were done with this, Shaman said. The new models offer food for thought, he and other experts said, but should not be used to set policy. Mathematically, its certainly possible to have herd immunity at these very, very low levels, said Carl Bergstrom, an infectious disease expert at the University of Washington in Seattle. Those are just our best guesses for what the numbers should look like. But, he added, theyre just exactly that, guesses. Imperfect Immunity But what about immunity at levels lower than those needed for herd immunity? Definitely the disease would not spread as well if it gets back into New York, said Joel Miller, a mathematical modeller at La Trobe University in Australia. The same level of behaviour change will have more effect on the disease now than it did four months ago. Thinking of a city or country as composed of subgroups, demarcated by age, race and level of social activity, might also help governments protect those with the least immunity. That perspective also might help put a renewed focus on groups who require the higher levels of immunity, because of greater exposure levels and other inequities, including Black and Latino residents, said Dr. Manoj Jain, an infectious disease expert at Emory University. Thats where this info is very useful, he said. The models also suggest a vaccination strategy: Rather than uniformly vaccinate all groups, governments could identify and immunize those most likely to be exposed in superspreader events. Getting those people vaccinated first can lead to the greatest benefit, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. That alone could lead to herd immunity, Vaccination schemes for other pathogens have successfully exploited this approach. For example, when children were given the pneumococcal vaccine in the early 2000s, rates of bacterial pneumonia in the elderly rapidly dropped because of a herd effect. Vaccines that offer just 50 per cent protection are considered to be moderately effective, but at that efficiency, even a low herd immunity target would require that a large proportion of the population be immunized, Bergstrom noted. If there are early reports of side effects that may scare away some people, he said, wed do well to start thinking about all that now. Back in Brooklyn, fewer than one per cent of people tested at neighbourhood clinics over the past eight weeks have had the virus. But there are still handfuls of cases, Marcus said, adding that her 10-year-old niece was in quarantine because a counsellor at her day camp had tested positive. Sometimes thats all you need, right? she said. Im still hoping we dont see what we had in March and April, but Im not so sure that weve seen the end of it. The World Health Organization warned at a news briefing on Tuesday that "people in their 20s, 30s and 40s" are increasingly the primary spreaders of the coronavirus. Why it matters: The words of caution come as schools and colleges across the United States weigh the risks of in-person classes, which could exacerbate the trend of young people transmitting the virus. What they're saying: "The epidemic is changing," Takeshi Kasai, the WHOs Western Pacific regional director, said. "Many are unaware theyre infected with very mild symptoms or none at all. This can result in them unknowingly passing on the virus to others." "This increases the risk of spillovers to the most vulnerable: the elderly, the sick, people in long-term care, people who live in densely populated urban areas and under-served rural areas. We must redouble efforts to stop the virus from moving into vulnerable communities." The big picture: About half of the clusters in a study of outbreaks in Japan were traced back to people aged 2039 at karaoke bars, offices and restaurants and 41% of them did not have symptoms at the time. Some young people can and do get very sick from the coronavirus. Some have developed blood clots in their lungs and inflammation of the heart, lungs and brain. Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill all announced this week they will be holding online-only classes for the fall term. Notre Dame and UNC-Chapel Hill both reported a spike in COVID-19 cases within their student bodies. Go deeper: More young people are getting and spreading the coronavirus Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, nicknamed IBK, and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested Tuesday afternoon in Bamako by soldiers in revolt. "We have taken control of the President of the Republic and his Prime Minister," a mutiny leader told RFI's correspondent, Serge Daniel. We went to his home where he was with the Prime Minister. We asked him to come with us for a discussion. They are currently in our hands and we are going up to Kati, the mutineer added. Soldiers shot guns in the air Tuesday morning at Soundiata Keita military barracks in Kati, some 15 kilometres from Bamako, the capital, before taking control of the barracks and military officials. After travelling to the capital, the mutineers arrested high-ranking army officers, including the Minister of Defence, and reportedly other civilians. The mutineers have not indicated why they are unhappy and what their aims are. French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed his full support for mediation efforts after speaking to his Niger and Ivorian counterparts, Mahamadou Issoufou and Alassane Ouattara, respectively, as well as Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall. Macron is "closely following the situation and condemns the attempted mutiny in progress, according to the president's office. The Land Trust of North Alabama is asking again for donations to preserve 122 acres on Monte Sano mountain in Huntsville, and theres an extra incentive: a donor will match donations up to $20,000 until Sept. 18. The land is on the northeast corner of the mountain next to Monte Sano State Park. It contains parts of popular hiking trails including a way around Logan Point, and it is home to native wildlife. The Land Trust has until February to raise $305,000 to buy the land, and donors have already contributed $214,470. The balance is $90,530, and a donor has promised to match each dollar received before Sept. 18 up to $20,000. The Land Trust, a nonprofit active in 10 north Alabama counties, makes the case for preserving the tract like this: " North Alabama is experiencing incredible growth and Huntsville is on track to overtake Birmingham as the largest city in Alabama in less than 10 years. This means economic vigor and stability for our entire region. It means new and exciting corporate and individual opportunities. But with this incredible growth also comes great responsibility. Our natural lands could be threatened. And, though many of us may not think of their benefits on a daily basis, these natural lands give us places for exercise and respite. They give our children places to learn and explore. They protect our air and water. They provide homes for plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Our incredible natural lands are life sustaining. They must be protected before they disappear. Click here to donate to the effort. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev on Tuesday issued a joint statement in Delhi. Highlights of President Almazbek Atambayev's speech: #Thank you for inviting me to India and for your warmth and hospitality: Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev Highlights of PM Modi's speech: #I wish President Almazbek Atambayev a memorable and productive visit in India #We will encourage engagement in healthcare, tourism, IT, agriculture, mining and energy #We have decided to build on our development cooperation including capacity building and training, will give youth priority #We will work to strengthen bilateral trade and economic linkages and facilitate greater people to people exchange #President Almazbek Atambayev and I agreed on the need to connect our economies more deeply #Kyrgyz Republic is a valuable partner in our common pursuit of making Central Asia a region of sustainable peace, stability & prosperity #President Almazbek Atambayev and I reviewed our co-operation in defence field #We focused on common priority of diversifying, deepening bilateral engagement #We discussed how we could work together to secure our youth & society against common challenges of terrorism, extremism& radicalism #Much credit goes to President Almazbek Atambayev for nurturing and building strong foundation of democracy in Kyrgyz Republic #Our societies share a sense of warmth, we are also bound by a common belief in democratic values, traditions #I am delighted to welcome President Almazbek Atambayev on his first state visit to India For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The latest Texas poll shows President Trump up by 7 and Senator Cornyn by 8. I'm not surprised by those numbers, but the information about Hispanics is very interesting: Among Hispanic voters who spoke Spanis h at home either predominantly or equally with English, Biden was the clear favorite, particularly in Spanish-only homes. But in homes where Hispanics spoke mostly English, Trump had a slight lead of 43.6% to 43.1% with 12.2% of those voters undecided." It's a poll, and let's always be cautious and skeptical. Nevertheless, this poll is very interesting and tells me two things: First, Hispanics who speak Spanish are likely to get their news from the anti-Trump Spanish-speaking press. On the other hand, Hispanics who speak English are probably listening to talk radio or mainstream networks. I find that those Hispanics are not obsessed with the immigration issue. Second, it tells me that Hispanics are open to GOP ideas, from school choice to law and order and opposition to late-term abortion. We will see in November, but Hispanics will surprise the Democrats. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Needpix Journalists for Responsible Fisheries and Environment calls on Ghana govt to end saiko by Zadok Kwame Gyesi August 17,2020 | Source: Graphic Online The Journalists for Responsible Fisheries and Environment (JRFE), a network of Ghanaian journalists promoting responsible fishing on Ghanas waters, is calling on the government to as a matter of urgency stop illegal transshipment of fish at sea. The JRFE believes that the practice, which is popularly known as Saiko, if not stopped immediately will threaten the livelihoods of many artisanal fishers at the countrys coastal communities. The group in a statement issued and signed by its Executive Director, Kingsley Nana Buadu, on Monday, August 17, 2020, said The JRFE is worried about how the livelihoods of artisanal fishers in the four coastal regions of Ghana, are being affected with the wanton disregard for the fisheries laws in Ghana by some industrial trawlers, especially in these times of COVID-19. According to him, Saiko is threatening the jobs and food security of the fishing communities and Ghanas economy in general. He noted that although the countrys laws forbid the practice of saiko, some trawlers licensed to fish on Ghanas waters engaged in the practice with impunity, hence promoting and encouraging the practice. Some of these trawlers have been and are still engaging in the transhipment of fish at sea which the countrys fisheries laws forbid. The worrying aspect is that, they target species meant to be caught by local fishers, freeze them and then resell to the fishermen for profit, Nana Boadu explained. He said considering the fact that, saiko has contributed to the decline and near collapse of the small pelagic stocks such as sardinella, chub mackerel and anchovies, it is necessary for the government to take decisive action against the practice. He also called on the government to stop other illegal fishing activities such as over fishing and overcapacity, light fishing and fishing with chemicals to help save the lives of local fishers. 2011 - 2020. All Rights Reserved - Graphic Communications Group Ltd. Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. By PTI WASHINGTON: In a sign of the growing political prominence of Hindus in America, the Trump and Biden campaigns are wooing this small religious minority community like never before. Hinduism is the fourth largest faith in the US, representing approximately one per cent of the US population in 2016. While the Trump campaign promises that re-electing President Donald Trump will "reduce obstacles to religious freedoms" for Hindus in America, the rival Biden campaign on Tuesday said former vice president Joe Biden has made outreach to the Hindu faith community a priority. ALSO READ | It's official: Democrats nominate Joe Biden for epic challenge to oust Donald Trump For the first time in an American presidential election, the Trump Campaign on August 14 announced the formation of the "Hindu Voices for Trump." Two days later, prominent Hindu leader Neelima Gonuguntla participated in an interfaith service to kick off the Democratic National Convention, which the Biden campaign said was another sign of the growing political prominence of Hindus in America. The details of the new coalition of the Trump Campaign to woo the Hindu-American community in the US is expected to be announced during the Republican National Convention next week. "Hindus for Trump honours contributions by millions of Americans of Hindu faith," said the campaign which has taken a lead ahead of the Biden campaign. "The inclusive economy, commitment to building up US-Indian relations, and fierce support for religious liberties for all is unmatched. Re-electing President Trump will reduce obstacles to religious freedoms for Hindus in America," asserted the Trump campaign. ALSO READ | TNIE Expressions - Kamala Harris will take India on its merits Biden, who on Tuesday was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee, "has made outreach to the Hindu faith community a priority," South Asians for Biden, a political platform, said. Over the weekend, the Biden campaign released the platform for Indian-Americans, which addresses several key concerns of the Hindu community. Notably, Biden proposes stiffening penalties for hate crimes committed at houses of worship, such as temples, and increasing the security grants available to such houses of worship. He has also pledged to make the prosecution of hate crimes a priority for his Department of Justice, the campaign said. "Increased access to the security grants and prioritising the prosecution of hate crimes is critical for our Hindu community," said Niki Shah, a Hindu community organiser who worked closely on Hindu initiatives for former president Barack Obama's faith-based council. "It was important to have a representative from the Hindu community because we wanted this interfaith service to reflect our nation's religious diversity," said Josh Dickson, National Faith Engagement Director at Biden for President, explaining inviting Gonuguntla to participate in the interfaith service. Gonuguntla, who serves as a board member of the Chinmaya Mission Dallas Fort Worth, shared verses from sacred Hindu texts, including the Vedas and the Mahabharata. "The participation of a Hindu-American took on added significance, given that Senator Kamala Harris, who is Vice President Biden's running mate, grew up in a household that was both Hindu and Christian," South Asians for Biden said. Biden has shown key insight into the issues affecting the Hindu community, it said. For example, he recently promised to streamline the processing of religious worker visas, which are relied upon by Hindu swamis and other religious scholars who visit the United States for religious events. He has also promised to build an administration that reflects America's diversity, including through the inclusion of Hindus. The Biden campaign already relies on the contributions of Hindus, who serve in several key roles, South Asians for Biden said. In the November 3 election, Democratic presidential candidate Biden and his Indian-American running mate Harris will challenge current Republican President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Oslo, 19 August 2020 Reference is made to the announcement by Thin Film Electronics ASA (the "Company") on 29 July 2020 regarding the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 19 August 2020. The Nomination Committees proposal in respect of agenda item 8 in the Notice is attached hereto. Thinfilm is Energizing Innovation with ultrathin, flexible, and safe energy storage solutions for wearable devices, connected sensors, and beyond. Thinfilm's innovative solid-state lithium battery (SSLB) technology is uniquely positioned to enable the production of powerful, lightweight, and cost-effective rechargeable batteries for diverse applications. The company's state-of-the-art flexible electronics manufacturing facility, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, combines patented process technology and materials innovation with the scale of roll-to-roll production methods to bring the advantages of SSLB technology to established and expanding markets. Thin Film Electronics ASA is a publicly listed company in Norway with corporate headquarters in Oslo and global headquarters in San Jose, California. Contact: Kevin Barber - Chief Executive Officer E-mail: kevin.barber@thinfilmsystems.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Attachment Former Vice President Joe Biden officially became the Democratic Partys nominee for president on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention. The longtime senator and former chair of the Foreign Relations Committee has a long record on Middle East policy, as well as relationships with many of the leaders in the region. Foreign policy has not been the biggest issue during this presidential campaign. The election cycle is largely a referendum on Donald Trump, and the convention has focused on the presidents handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, social justice, and protests against racism and police brutality some of which have turned violent. As vice president, Biden is associated with the policies of former President Barack Obama's administration, including the 2015 Iran deal, the US withdrawal of forces from Iraq in 2011 and the formation of a global coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in 2014. He might have cooler relations than Trump does with Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but perhaps better dialogue with Iran. On the Iran deal, Biden supports conditionally rejoining the agreement the Obama administration negotiated, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which removed sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for its compliance on its nuclear program. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018. Biden thinks the deal successfully prevented Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and he would become party to it again if Iran can prove it is abiding by it. If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Irans other destabilizing activities, reads Bidens campaign website. Iran is an election issue this year. Trump supports a maximum pressure campaign against the country, and tensions in the Gulf are at a high. Iran will insist on an even better deal than they made with Obama, said Trump on a Biden presidency at a Monday rally. Bidens campaign website includes an anti-war message that echoes Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2008. Biden pledges to end forever wars and remove troops from Afghanistan. The campaign website also states that the US military should focus on fighting IS and al-Qaeda, which indicates Biden is not in favor of ending all US military operations in the region. The United States has several thousand troops in Iraq and Syria, where they fight alongside Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against IS. Bidens past positions on Iraq and Obamas legacy there are controversial and have come up during the 2020 election. In 2002, Biden voted for the US invasion of Iraq, later calling the vote a mistake. In 1991, he voted against the United States fighting in the Gulf War against Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. Obama eventually removed US troops from Iraq in 2011, fulfilling a campaign promise. The withdrawal created a power vacuum in the country, leading to IS sweeping through northern Iraq in 2014. The same year, the Obama administration sent American forces back in as part of the global anti-IS coalition led by the United States. Moreover, as a senator in 2006, Biden wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling for the division of Iraq into three autonomous zones: one Kurdish, one Sunni and one Shiite. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq was already an autonomous region at the time. There has also been talk of a Sunni autonomous zone recently. Bidens proposal did not account for the ethnic and religious diversity in Iraq in the article and has been criticized by some on the left. On the Gulf, Biden pledges in his campaign website to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. This is a difference he has with Trump, who is a staunch ally of Saudi Arabia. Biden is a pro-Israel Democrat, but he does not enjoy the close, personal relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump does. Netanyahu had a rocky relationship with the Obama administration, despite US support for Israel continuing throughout its tenure. In 2015, Netanyahu addressed Congress and called the Iran nuclear deal the Obama administration would later sign a very bad deal. Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel and recently helped the Jewish state establish diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates. Trump also conditionally backed efforts by Israel to annex parts of the Palestinian West Bank, which many in the region felt harmed the prospects of a two-state solution to the conflict. Obama supported two states for Israel and the Palestinian territories, and Biden is following in his footsteps, which puts him at odds with Netanyahu. In December, Biden said the United States must "pressure" Israel into supporting a two-state solution and said Netanyahu was not committed to this. Bibi Netanyahu and I know one another well, said Biden during a debate. He knows that I think what hes doing is outrageous. On Turkey, Biden may also usher in cooler relations should he win. In December, Biden called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an autocrat, which angered many Erdogan supporters. Biden also criticized Trumps repositioning of US troops in Syria in October that preceded Turkeys incursion into northeast Syria to fight Kurdish groups. Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. The California native has similar views to Biden on the region. Harris backs re-entering the Iran deal, wants to end US support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen and is pro-Israel. SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SupportLogic, the world's first intelligent support platform for customer support/success teams, announced today that it has raised $12 million of seed and series A funding, led by Sorenson Ventures. This latest series A round will help the company drive its market expansion and fuel customer acquisition efforts. SupportLogic has enabled organizations to reduce their operational costs by 35%, reduce costly customer escalations and appeasements by up to 40%, and reduce mean time to resolution by 25% while helping them to scale their teams and increase customer satisfaction. By easily syncing with your existing ticketing systems, this next-generation technology provides prescriptive recommendations, intelligent workflows, and seamless integration with collaboration software. Krishna Raj Raja, founder and CEO at SupportLogic, Krishna Raj Raja, who was one of the early employees for VMware and was instrumental in establishing the company's office in India in 2004 and scaling its support function across the globe. Many of the collaboration challenges that Krishna faced between technical support, engineering, and product teams led him to start SupportLogic in 2016. SupportLogic was founded in 2016 by Krishna Raj Raja. Krishna established VMware's office in India in 2004 and scaled that company's support functions across the globe. That experience exposed him to collaboration challenges between technical support, engineering, and product teams, and SupportLogic emerged to fill that gap. SupportLogic's intelligent support platform helps Chief Customer Officers and VPs of Customer Support/Success extract the voice of the customer from the company's existing data no need to run expensive survey programs anymore. SupportLogic reads every support ticket using natural language processing and deep neural network methodologies. The software extracts sentiment and other latent signals, then maintains context across ticket boundaries. SupportLogic has enabled organizations to reduce their operational costs by 35%, reduce costly customer escalations and appeasements by up to 40%, and reduce mean time to resolution by 25% while helping them to scale their teams and increase customer satisfaction. By easily syncing with your existing ticketing systems, this next-generation technology provides prescriptive recommendations, intelligent workflows, and seamless integration with collaboration software. A number of global companies have deployed SupportLogic's technology long-term, including Nutanix, Rubrik, and Databricks. "The role of support has changed due to the rise of SaaS, the subscription economy, and product-led growth. Companies must iterate their products faster than ever before, and customer churn has become a monthly concern," Krishna says. "70% of customer engagement happens via support and support dataset contains valuable insights about how customers feel about the product. It's critical to extract signals from this dataset and foster collaboration between support, sales, customer success, and product teams. This trend has only been further driven by the recent global pandemic organizations are forced to rethink their product strategy and look for tools that facilitate remote collaboration." "The core functionality of CRM systems hasn't changed in years," says Tim Guleri, managing partner at Sierra Ventures. "SupportLogic's unique approach in extracting signals from unstructured data and letting organizations collaborate on these signals was very exciting to see and we saw an opportunity for new category creation in this space." (Tim built two successful companies in the CRM space Scopus was acquired by Siebel, and Octane Software was sold to Epiphany for $3.2 billion.) "With the world moving into the subscription economy, churn and customer retention is a top priority for organizations," says Ken Elefant, managing partner at Sorenson Ventures. "The role of systems of record has to change from static, reactive bookkeeping to a proactive recommendation engine. SupportLogic's unique approach to this problem space and the technology that they have built to extract signals from existing systems of record really excited us." SupportLogic's latest series A round combined with its earlier seed round brings the company's funding to $12 million. In addition to Sorenson and Sierra Ventures, SupportLogic has previously attracted top-tier angel investors like Bogomil Balkansky, Gokul Rajaram, Jocelyn Goldfein, and Ankur Jain. About SupportLogic Founded in 2016, SupportLogic provides the world's first intelligent support platform that is home to intelligent applications for cloud-based support ticketing systems. SupportLogic uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep neural networks, and natural language processing to extract signals from structured and unstructured data alike. It provides continuous recommendations and intelligent collaborative workflows to help organizations reduce customer churn, prevent customer escalations, and understand the voice of the customer without using surveys. SupportLogic seamlessly integrates with popular ticketing systems like Salesforce Service Cloud, ServiceNow, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Atlassian JIRA, and Microsoft Dynamics. It also works with collaboration software like Slack and Microsoft Teams. To learn more, visit supportlogic.io or connect on social media: Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram , Facebook About Sorenson Ventures Sorenson Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California, and Lehi, Utah. The fund's principals partner with product-oriented businesses in enterprise software and security to help them generate revenue, create foundations for accelerated growth, and build value-add connections to Global 2000 customers. Sorenson Ventures has more than $110 million in capital under management and leverages the analytic and operational capabilities of Sorenson Capital, a growth equity and buyout firm founded in 2002. Visit sorensoncapital.com or connect on Twitter (@SorensonCap) to learn more About Sierra Ventures Sierra Ventures is an early-stage venture firm in the Bay Area that invests globally with a focus on next-generation enterprise and emerging technologies. With over three decades of experience and more than $2 billion of assets under management, Sierra has created a vast network of successful entrepreneurs, Fortune 1000 CXOs, operational executives, and deep domain experts to provide a platform for entrepreneurs around the world. For more information visit, the Sierra Ventures website at https://www.sierraventures.com Twitter: @Sierra_Ventures LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sierra-ventures Contacts: Krishna Raj Raja (855) 787 5442 [email protected] SOURCE SupportLogic Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:50:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equipment and oil services company Kerui Petroleum said it has successfully lifted the derrick and substructure for the first 1500HP drilling rig at Ethiopia's Aluto-Langano Geothermal Energy Project. The completion of the first rigging up marks a milestone in the 70-MW geothermal energy project, which is part of Ethiopian government's plans to expand geothermal energy generation in the coming few years, the Chinese firm said in a statement issued on Tuesday. In February 2019, Kerui Petroleum, in partnership with Kenya's state-owned power producer Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC, signed a contract with Ethiopia's state utility firm Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP). Under the contract, Kerui Petroleum will supply two sets of 1500HP drilling rigs, personnel training, drilling operation and related technology transfer for the drilling initially of the 22 wells at Aluto-Langano. The Aluto-Langano geothermal project's first exploration work began in 1981. The site already has a geothermal power plant that began operation in 1998 with a production capacity of 7.3 MW. The facility, however, has been closed since 2018 due to technical issues. Ethiopia, occupying the longest section of the 7,000-km great East African Rift Valley boasts an estimated geothermal potential of 10,000 MW, envisaged to tap into the potential of the geothermal energy to power the country's development projects. The energy sector is one of Ethiopia's priorities as the country envisages becoming a light manufacturing hub in Africa and middle-income economy by 2025. The East African country had also recently unveiled a 10-year energy roadmap that aims to increase energy generation four-fold using various energy sources such as geothermal, hydro, wind, co-generation and solar power. Enditem Inspired by her album, The Gift for Disney's retelling of the classic movie The Lion King, American artist, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, delved deeper into the Disney film and worked with a number of international directors and artists to create a visual album filled with creativity and grandeur that was rooted in African culture. Global social reach vs social volume of Black Is King social media mentions between 28 June and 15 August 2020 click to enlarge Global heat map of Black Is King social media mentions between 28 June and 15 August 2020 click to enlarge Global sentiment, in percentage, on Black Is King social media mentions click to enlarge Black supremacy and white butler, which refers to these keywords mentioned in this tweet about Beyonce getting called out on Instagram masterful way, which refers to online fans of the artist praising her for artistic abilities in bringing a visual film, such as Black Is King , to life , to life Black woman which refers to this tweet from a Twitter user who praised Beyonce for writing, producing and singing in the film Global trending themes on Black Is King social media mentions click to enlarge The epic journey that Beyonce depicts in her lush visual album "Black Is King" echoes Black Americans search for an ancestral home, Zandria F. Robinson writes. https://t.co/J3aGVqjjdr The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) August 15, 2020 African heat map on Black Is King social media mentions between 28 June and 15 August 2020 click to enlarge With over 370,000 global social media mentions onbetween 28 June and 15 August 2020, Meltwater - the global leaders in media intelligence - tracked social media mentions on the hashtag to analyse how Beyonce has, yet again, managed to infamously stop the world with her artistry.When Beyonce released the trailer for the upcoming visual album on 28 June 2020, there were over 27,000 global social media mentions on, as fans began to mark their calendars for 31 July 2020, the release date for the visual album on Disney+ .With a total social media reach of 277 million people on the day that thetrailer was released, online users began to gear up for the visual album that Beyonce wrote, directed and executively produced.On 31 July 2020, the day thatwas finally released, a total of 878 million people, worldwide, were mentioning the visual album on social media. The United States of America was the top country to lead the social media conversation, followed by Brazil and South Africa.In the days and weeks following the release of the trailer,has since been received positively from social media users, who have praised Beyonce for not only collaborating with numerous African artists to create the visual spectacle, but also for the diversity and representation of a variety of African cultures portrayed in the film to tell the story of a young king.Some social media users, however, did not share the same positive sentiments on the visual album. From mentions on how users felt the music was subpar to others calling Beyonce racist , these have been some of the contributions to the negative sentiment thathas received since the trailer was released.In a similar fashion to her previous visual album,, Beyonce lends her voice to narrate the story of a young king throughout, presented to audiences in a chronological way and with titles revealing the theme of each section of the film.While there were predetermined themes for this film, trending themes from social media mentions to emerge fromincluded:While online users have called the visual album controversial in its portrayal,has also created a global conversation about the glory of Blackness, African culture and the search for home.With a number of visually significant moments in both the trailer and the film, a moment of glory came from a number of social media users within the African continent who recognised artists from their home countries being featured in. South Africa led online mentions on Black Is King (38%), followed by Ghana and Nigeria respectively.South Africans were especially proud to see artists such as Moonchild Sanelly, Busisiwa, Nandi Madida and Connie Chiume, while Beyonce celebrated Ghana in the Already music video that played duringOnce again, Beyonce has managed to make the world stop in the wake of releasing a new visual album.delivered a visual spectacle that not only reimagined the story, and lessons, from Disneys, but took viewers on a journey rooted in a rich African history. Social media users have since responded positively to Beyonces creation of a film that celebrates Black excellence and the world can only hold their breath to see what Beyonce may create next.For a free demo of the Meltwater platform and ad monitoring capabilities, click here With 20 years of experience in the field of online media monitoring, Meltwater is a global leader in media intelligence and social analytics solutions, helping to bridge the gap between public relations, communications and marketing departments with an all-in-one solution powered by AI-driven insights. Over 30,000 of the worlds most respected brands rely on Meltwater to help inform their marketing and communications strategies and executive decision-making.With over 55 offices across six continents, Meltwater is a truly global partner with local customer success teams. Meltwater also supports the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (Mest), a nonprofit organisation devoted to nurturing future generations of entrepreneurs.For more information, follow Meltwater on Twitter LinkedIn or visit www.meltwater.com INDIANAPOLIS By this point, we're familiar with the ways we can help keep ourselves safe during the coronavirus pandemic. We wear face masks in public, wash our hands for at least 20 seconds and practice social distancing. Although these practices help prevent the spread of COVID-19, they can also come with annoyances. These problems can be bothersome, but they aren't without solutions and they don't serve as an excuse not to be safe. Here are fixes for some of the pandemic problems you might experience. Coronavirus updates: Pope warns against the rich getting vaccine priority; another NC university reports cluster; world cases top 22M Glasses fog If you're a glasses wearer, then you know the pain that comes with stepping out of an air-conditioned car into hot summer weather hazy, hard-to-see-through lenses. When wearing glasses, the humidity from the mask gets pushed up onto the lenses, which is what causes the fog, said Christopher Clark, a lecturer at the Indiana University School of Optometry. But the problem might lie in what kind of mask you're using. "It depends on the type of mask you have and the seal you have on your mask," Clark said. "Masks with wire holders at the top, like a surgical mask, are better because you can get a tighter seal at the top to keep that humidity from going up." A researcher wearing a face mask made of electroceutical fabric. Masks with metal strips allow the wearer to form the mask more closely around the face and nose, which will seal any gaps where humidity could travel upward. The best fix is to put on a mask, form it to your face, and put the glasses on last, Clark said. He also suggested carrying a cleaning cloth to wipe down lenses regularly. "You can expect it to be worse if you're going from a cool environment, like an air-conditioned room, to outside," Clark said. "So that will help reduce it if you know you're transferring from one environment to another." Homemade remedies and anti-fog products like wipes and sprays have popped up as potential solutions to this issue, but Clark said these could come with a price. Story continues "The risk is the long-term wear and tear on your glasses," he said. "A lot of those things can eat away at the coatings or gum up your lenses permanently. So we don't recommend them to people." Cotton mask or neck gaiter?Check out how effective different kinds of masks are Mask acne If there's one way to feel like a teenager again, it's by getting breakouts. If you've noticed pimples popping up on your chin or cheeks for the first time in years, it could be from your face mask. When a mask rubs against the skin and causes friction, it can lead to acne in those areas, said Lawrence Mark, an associate professor of dermatology at Indiana University. This irritation, or acne mechanica, can lead to the disruption of the hair follicle where your oil glands are and cause "maskne." One way to prevent the hair follicle from getting plugged is to use a good face wash, Mark said. "Chemical peelers can help keep the follicle or the hair opening stay open. Like over-the-counter salicylic acid acne washes or benzoyl peroxide washes," Mark said. Moisturizing your skin is also a key step. A light lubricant can help reduce the friction caused by the mask, but you don't want a moisturizer that's too heavy, or you run the risk of it clogging your pores, Mark said. If you notice blackheads, try to open those pores with something like a Biore pore strip, Mark added. Washing cloth face masks frequently can also help. "Any bacterial load that's sitting on the mask, you're kind of keeping down, you're reducing," Mark said. Although face masks can lead to breakouts, that's not a reason not to wear them. "I haven't had anybody come to me with some real severe issue or something that I'd be worried about because they're wearing a mask," Mark said. Mask keeps shifting If your face mask keeps falling below your nose, that's a clear sign your mask is too loose. The fastest and simplest solution is to tie a knot in your oversized mask's ear loops, measuring where the knot should go to best fit your face. You can also try masks with adjustable ear loops. These face masks come pre-tied with knots or cord locks that make securing the straps to your ears easier. You could also use a face mask lanyard, which is similar to a lanyard you might use for glasses. The lanyard attaches to a mask's ear loops and sits on the wearer's back. Many of these lanyards come with adjustable cord locks, which can be used to pull the mask tighter to the face from behind the head. Children might also need their face masks to be tightened, since most face masks come in adult sizes. Try looking for face coverings in youth sizes. They run smaller than adult masks and often come in fun patterns. 'How do you sleep at night?': Anderson Cooper rips MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on COVID 'cure' claim Behind-ear soreness Maybe frequent mask use is leaving you sore behind the ears. If this is the case, you'll want to hook your mask loops onto something other than your ears. Fortunately, there are plenty of Amazon, Etsy and other online products that can help. Some people have begun to create headbands and other accessories in matching patterns. Some of these pieces have buttons sewn on the sides that masks can attach to. "Ear savers" are similar, and allow mask loops to hook onto a strap that sits on the back of the head. They can be homemade with fabric and buttons or manufactured with several notches for different sizing options. Another option is to avoid masks that use elastic straps altogether. Some face masks use loose cloth ties instead of stretchy loops, and these ties can be a good solve if the elastic is bothersome. For a no-cost solution, try fastening both mask loops to a paperclip behind your head or even two hair buns or pigtails. 'The sky is the limit': Indiana grad accepted to 65 colleges will go to Howard University Dry hands If you're washing your hands and using sanitizer frequently, you might notice your hands getting dry or cracking. The solution? Moisturize. A lot. "How thick you use depends on how bad and how sensitive your skin is," Mark said. "Somebody who's not that sensitive might moisturize a couple times a day with some lighter Neutrogena or Aveeno moisturizer or something like that. But then I've got other folks who have more sensitive skin, and they really need something that's not a white cream, but rather more ointment-like, like Vaseline or they might need Neutrogena's Norwegian hand formula." While it's probably not feasible to use these products each time after you wash your hands, people should try to use them several times a day to lock in moisture, Mark said. Mark said he washes his hands between every single patient he sees, and sometimes even more often. He said he avoids using alcohol-based hand sanitizers when he can help it. "I'd rather wash my hands with a gentle soap and water every time because the alcohol is really a major irritant," Mark said. "Gel sanitizer or liquid sanitizer is almost all alcohol, and to kill things with alcohol, it has to actually dry in place. And every time you do that, you're actually wicking more moisture out of the hands and making it break down." Mark said his go-to soap is a Dove unscented bar soap for sensitive skin. "You can't avoid using the hand gel altogether, but if you're able to minimize that part, you may find you like your hands better," he said. Follow IndyStar Pulliam Fellow Madison OConnor on Twitter @madisonoconn. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mask acne, dry hands, glasses fog and other pandemic irritants, solved Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 24th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 11th of September. Brunswick's next dividend payment will be US$0.24 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.96 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Brunswick has a trailing yield of 1.5% on the current share price of $64.85. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing. Check out our latest analysis for Brunswick Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Brunswick paid a dividend last year despite being unprofitable. This might be a one-off event, but it's not a sustainable state of affairs in the long run. Given that the company reported a loss last year, we now need to see if it generated enough free cash flow to fund the dividend. If cash earnings don't cover the dividend, the company would have to pay dividends out of cash in the bank, or by borrowing money, neither of which is long-term sustainable. The good news is it paid out just 23% of its free cash flow in the last year. Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing? Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Brunswick reported a loss last year, and the general trend suggests its earnings have also been declining in recent years, making us wonder if the dividend is at risk. Story continues The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, Brunswick has increased its dividend at approximately 34% a year on average. Get our latest analysis on Brunswick's balance sheet health here. To Sum It Up Should investors buy Brunswick for the upcoming dividend? We're a bit uncomfortable with it paying a dividend while being loss-making. However, we note that the dividend was covered by cash flow. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Brunswick. With that being said, if you're still considering Brunswick as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Brunswick that we strongly recommend you have a look at before investing in the company. A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend. 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. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The votes were swiftly counted, winners were declared, and by about 10 oclock that night most of the results of Tuesdays primary election one with large numbers of mailed votes were known in Florida. Yes, Florida. The poster child for election meltdowns, where the recount of the 2000 presidential race dragged on for 33 days until it was resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Where, in 2018, the outcomes of the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races were up in the air well after Election Day. Despite its reputation for confusing ballot design and controversial election administration, Florida was, in some respects, a model for how to conduct an election and count the vote in a pandemic-era election. That model is getting more attention as many states are considering adjusting their voting rules to prepare for a surge in mail-in votes and avoid a slow vote count. One key to Floridas performance Tuesday was state law allowing election officials to begin processing mail ballots weeks before Election Day. That means signature verification can be done in advance, speeding up the count and leading to faster results. Roughly 1 million more people voted by mail compared to four years ago, with about three-quarters of the nearly 3 million votes cast remotely. Floridas going to be in such a great position moving forward here into the general because this isnt new to us. Weve been doing this for a while, said Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County supervisor of elections, who added that one-quarter of his countys mail voters cast ballots in person in 2018. In contrast, in a trio of key Rust Belt states that may decide the election Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Republicans have resisted loosening rules that limit the processing of ballots to Election Day or the day before. Election officials in those states warn that may make it impossible to determine who won the presidential race there for several days. In Michigan, a bill to allow earlier processing of mail ballots remains stalled in the GOP-controlled state Senate. If the Legislature doesnt act, were going to really be reaching the limits of what our current system can provide both with people and machines, said Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat and the secretary of state in Michigan. A prolonged count and unsettled presidential election could create days or weeks of chaos. Democrats are particularly worried about how President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said that he could only lose an election through fraud, might behave in that time. Theres already been a mixed bag of results of states that had to hurriedly shift to a mail-voting system during the primaries since the novel coronavirus became widespread in March. Some, like Georgia and Wisconsin, were marred by huge lines at the few polling places that could remain open and chaos in the mail balloting system. Others, like in Nebraska and Pennsylvania, went comparatively smoothly. Still, voting advocates warn its too early for Florida to celebrate. Its still possible, they say, for Floridas election system melting down under the strain of the much-larger turnout of the presidential election in November. Florida still has work to do as we head into the general election, said Michael Pernick, a voting rights attorney for the NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund. There also werent many nail-biters on Tuesday night. One reason Florida elections are so notoriously drawn out is the state is so evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, leading to many close elections especially presidential ones. In situations where every vote counts, the best mail-balloting system in the world may not prevent drawn out tallies that extend the uncertainty of the election. In other words, dont take Florida for granted in November. ___ Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan in Tallahassee and David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the Michigan bill would allow earlier processing of ballots, not counting. New Delhi, Aug 19 : Power generation major NTPC on Wednesday said that the newly constructed railway bridge on the river Bhima will help it bring down the transportation cost of coal to its Kudgi super thermal power station in Karnataka and consequently the power generated there. The transportation cost of coal is expected to come down by around Rs 200-500 per metric tonne (MT), thereby bringing down the cost of electricity generation too. The transit time will also be reduced by 8-15 hours. "The newly constructed 670-metre bridge, the longest in South Western Railway, will benefit the NTPC Kudgi by helping reduce the cost of power generation. It will also help the Railways by handling more material with the available infrastructure," an NTPC statement said. The NTPC has provided assistance in doubling of the lines on the existing tracks from Hotgi in Maharashtra to Kudgi in Karnataka, apart from help in the construction of the bridge. "Besides, with the availability of double lines, travel time from Sholapur in Maharashtra to Gadag in Karnataka will be reduced, saving the travel time of passengers." Haulage of heavy load on the old bridge is restricted, with the result that most traffic is diverted through Guntakal to Bellary-Gadag route. "The NTPC is awaiting final approval from the South Western Railway and will start operations on the bridge as soon as it gets the clearance," the statement said. YEREVAN. Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Today, RA third President Serzh Sargsyan convenes the first press conferenceon the topic of the April 2016 warafter his resignation (). He chose open-air part of Harsnaqar restaurant complex as the place of the press conference. Let us recall that the complex belongs to [former ruling party] RPA ex-MP Ruben Hayrapetyan. After Dr. Vahe Avetyan's fatal beating at the restaurant, the public was boycotting the complex for a long time, and the attitude is still not unambiguous. To the question why in Harsnaqar, RPA deputy chairman Armen Ashotyan answered: "The extension of the state of emergency [in Armenia due to the COVID-19 pandemic] has drastically reduced the possibility of choosing the venue for such a predictably crowded press conference, forcing the organizers to a number of restrictions. We feel responsible to the journalists, and in the current situation we have found a solution that best meets the technical and anti-epidemic requirements. The rest of the so called criticism is a primitive hypocrisy, based exclusively on the pro-government and near-government fears in connection with Serzh Sargsyan returning to the public political platform. If they had canceled this senseless state of emergency, the press conference would have taken place elsewhere." Parth Pawar, the grand-nephew of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, tweeted Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs) minutes after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the handing over the probe of actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday. Though Parths tweet stopped short of making any mention of the high-profile case, it is being assumed that the loaded tweet alluded to the apex courts order in the Rajput death case. If the allusion holds good, then the Pawar clans potboiler is likely to gather momentum in the coming days. Last week, Parth was publicly reprimanded by the NCP chief over the CBI probe demand in the case, as it was at odds with the partys stand. The NCP, which is part of the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government that also comprises the Shiv Sena and the Congress, had handed over the probe to the Mumbai Police, days after Rajput was found dead by suicide at his Bandra apartment on June 14. Pawar had called Parth immature and said no importance must be attributed to his grand-nephews remarks. We give no importance to what my grand-nephew says. He is immature, Pawar had told media persons last Wednesday. The veteran leaders public statement had triggered speculations that Parth is sore with the NCP and may quit the party. He has also held meetings with other family members over quitting the party. Parth, who is the son of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, had lost last years parliamentary elections from Maval Lok Sabha constituency to the sitting Shiv Sena lawmaker Shrirang Barne. On July 27, Parth had met the state home minister Anil Deshmukh, who also belongs to the NCP, and demanded a CBI investigation in the Rajput death case. With the whole country, especially youth, seeking a proper investigation into the death of late Sushant Singh Rajput, I urged Anil Deshmukh to take national emotions into consideration and initiate a CBI probe, Parth had tweeted in which he had also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Home Affairs minister Amir Shah. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The insurgency began with an assault on the port town of Mocimboa da Praia in 2017 and has since ramped up significantly, with Mozambique experiencing the sharpest rise in Islamist attacks globally last year. The sophistication, scale and frequency of incursions has continued to escalate this year, with the attackers utilizing rocket-propelled grenades and other powerful weapons seized from the military. More than 1,500 people have died and more than 250,000 have been displaced since the violence began. Several sub-contractors on the gas projects have been killed while outside the perimeter of their sites. The bulk of the violence has been directed against remote villages, although three major towns have been temporarily captured. They include Mocimboa da Praia, a key logistics hub, which has been occupied several times. The Chairperson, Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo has called on the members of Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP to respect International war and humanitarian laws by ensuring the protection of lives of all humanitarian workers. Hajiya Kolo made the call while speaking at the World Humanitarian Day 2020, tagged Real life Heroes which was held at the Bakassi IDPs Camp Maiduguri, on Wednesday. She said I call on the Non State Armed Group to always respect the lives and safety of all humanitarian aid workers as contained in the world war and humanitarian laws. The SEMA Boss further called on the Federal and State governments to come to the aid of all humanitarian aid workers killed while providing humanitarian assistance to the internally Displaced persons (IDPs), pointing out that, 7 million people in the North East are in need of humanitarian assistance. "It could be recalled recently that members of the Boko Haram insurgents abducted and executed five aid workers, captured along Maiduguri-Monguno road while on their way to Monguno for humanitarian service and 2 are still in their captivity. I also call on the military to ensure security and safety of all aid and humanitarian workers across the Northeast region. A situation where aid workers were abducted and killed while providing assistance to the needy posed a great danger to the humanitarian situation in the region, Yabawa said. Also speaking, the Director of Peace Ambassadors Centre, Ambassador Ahmed Shehu said, I call on the military and Federal government by extension to provide adequate security to all aid and humanitarian workers. "The recent killing of humanitarian workers in Borno has made a lot of parents to withdraw their children and wards from the humanitarian work. "We call on the military to re-strategize their fight against insurgents and protection of the lives and property of the people. The humanitarians in the Northeast are tirelessly working to ensure the the provision of Aids to over 5 million of Nigerias most vulnerable in the Northeast. We are calling on the government and relevant stakeholders to provide support, protect civilians and aid workers and ensue unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable women, children and men who are in desprate need as we are all scaling up efforts amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. On behalf of the humanitarian community we extend our sincere condolences to the families of the humanitarian workers who lost their lives while serving humanity. On this day our thoughts are with the countless members of their families.. "As we commemorate the World Humanitarian Day 2020 we want to categorically state it loud and clear that we are committed to providing service to humanity, hence the attacks will not deter us from providing life serving assistance to the most vulnerable in Northeast, Shehu said. In his address, the Borno state Chairman of Nigerian Labour Congress ( NLC), Comrade Bulama Abiso said , Humanitarian workers are the link between the needy and donors and they should be be protected." "We are saddened by the challenges of security issues, recently what happened to the Governor is unacceptable. We call on the military to change their strategy in the fight against insurgents. Federal and state government should do everything possible to ensure safety along Mauduguri- Damaturu road and other roads linking the state capital Abiso said. In his Goodwill message, the Commandant, National Security and Civil Defence Corp ( NSCDC), Abdullahi Ibrahim who was represented by Mr. Ndubisi Obi assured that the NSCDC is strongly behind the humanitarian community and will continue to be with them. The Peace Ambassador in collaboration with Stanbic Bank and other stakeholders also donated food items and charcoal to 250 households in the Bakassi IDPs Camp Maiduguri. The pope said the world can't return to normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic if 'normal' means social injustice and degradation of the natural environment Vatican City: Pope Francis on Wednesday warned against any prospect that rich people would get priority for a coronavirus vaccine. "The pandemic is a crisis. You don't come out of it the same either better or worse," Francis said, adding improvised remarks to his planned speech for his weekly public audience. We must come out better from the COVID-19 pandemic, the pope said. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the pope said, the world cant return to normality if normal means social injustice and degradation of the natural environment. Francis said: How sad it would be if for the COVID-19 vaccine priority is given to the richest. He also said it would be scandalous if all the economic assistance in the works, most of it using public funds, ends up reviving industries that dont help the poor or the environment. The pandemic has laid bare the difficult situation of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world," the pope said in his speech. "And the virus, while it doesn't make exceptions among persons, has found in its path, devastating, great inequalities and discrimination," Francis said, adding and it has increased them". Throughout the pandemic, many poor, who often have jobs that don't allow them to work from home, have found themselves less able to shelter from possible contagion during stay-at-home strategies enacted by many nations to reduce the contagion rate. Access to the best health care for the poor is often impossible in many parts of the world. Francis said response to the pandemic must be twofold. On one hand, it's indispensable to find the cure for such a small but tremendous virus, that brings the entire world to its knees". On the other hand, we must treat a great virus, that of social injustice, of inequality of opportunity, of being marginalized and of lack of protection of the weakest, Francis said. Francis has dedicated much of his papacy to highlighting the plight of those living on life's margins, saying societies must put them at the center of their attention. Noting how many are eager to return to normality and resume economic activity, Francis voiced caution: Sure, but this normality must not include social injustices and degradation of the environment. Today we have an occasion to build something different. For example, we can grow an economy of integral development of the poor and not of welfare," the pope said. History is not always written by the winners. Take the Confederacy. (Some would say, Take the Confederacy, please.) Go into most towns in this part of the world and youll find something commemorating that rebellion. Drive down a state or U.S. highway in Virginia, and you have a good chance of spotting a marker noting some often-obscure fact about the Late Unpleasantness. The Southern rebellion was defeated, at the cost of more than 600,000 American lives, yet it is memorialized to the point of exhaustion, and to many Americans, sentimentalized far past that point. A New York Times article in February reported that there were more than 1,740 Confederate monuments, statues, flags, place names and other symbols of the Lost Cause in the United States. As of February, fewer than 115 had been removed, a number that grows almost daily in these woke times. By contrast, fewer than 100 monuments pay tribute to the civil rights movement, in which Black and white Americans joined forces to bravely move us toward a more equal society. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: Industry body FISME has told government that goods worth hundreds of crores are lying uninspected at factories Representing 740 MSME associations, the industry chamber has noted that Centre and states don't seem to be on same page when it comes to helping the industry Government spending was front loaded, but delay in testing and inspection has negated part of the positive impact envisaged for the industry MSMEs are the worst affected due to the pandemic with a majority of them facing cash flow issues and weak demand Frustrated over varied quarantine rules in different states and lack of public transport, Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) has told government that goods worth hundreds of crores are lying uninspected at factories, choking their finances. The industry body representing 740 MSME associations also noted that Centre and states don't seem to be on same page when it comes to helping the industry. "It was recommended that in order to ease liquidity the performance guarantee money would be released to the extent of work completed. But states are not following it," FISME Secretary General Anil Bhardwaj said. Narrating his ordeal, Dinesh Singhal, Managing Director of Kanohar Electricals Ltd said that supplies worth Rs 10 crore remain stuck in the factory as the buying agency has failed to inspect them and give clearance for dispatch. Industry executives said that high-value capital goods supply agreements generally have clause of inspection before their dispatch to the concerned buyer. "Certain items have to be tested in designated lab in Karnataka but due to quarantine rules there is significant delays," said Singhal who supplies transformers to various state power utilities. Notably, there are only a few nationally recognised labs and many of them are located in states with strict quarantine rules. VK Aggarwal, Managing Director of Shashi Cables, a Lucknow-based medium enterprise concurred with Singhal but said that some of the central power companies like Power Grid and BHEL had been carrying out the inspection online. Flagging various issues faced by the industry, FISME has said that government spending was front loaded, but delay in testing and inspection has negated part of the positive impact envisaged for small and medium firms. The industry body also flagged the issue of suspending custom operations at ports after reports of coronavirus cases. "There are several reports that once a Covid case is reported at a (Custom) station, the functioning is seized for days together. The hapless importers/exporters have to bear the brunt by way of penalties. There is a need to put in place SOPs to ensure uninterrupted functioning," FISME has said. MSMEs have been one of the worst affected from the pandemic with a majority of them facing cash flow issues and weak demand. The government in May announced Rs 3 lakh crore emergency credit at concessional rate to help them survive the slowdown. Also Read: How to reverse India's economic slowdown? World Bank draws up a revival plan Also Read: Flipkart revenue exceeds pre-Covid level: Walmart CEO (Bloomberg) -- New U.S. restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co. threaten to weigh on South Koreas economy, which is counting on chip exports to China to drive its rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Commerce Department said this week it would further restrict the Chinese company from access to commercially available chips, adding that even foreign firms will be affected if they use U.S.-made design software and gear. Both Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., South Koreas two biggest exporters, use U.S.-made equipment while generating a large share of their earnings by trading with Huawei and other Chinese firms. Samsung earned almost 20% of its revenue from China in the latest quarter, while Hynix generated almost 40%. U.S. curbs on Huawei can lead to smaller Chinese tech exports that contain South Korean semiconductors, said Kim Yang-paeng, an analyst at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade in Sejong, South Korea. South Koreas exports may never be the same with chip demand slackening from China. China is South Koreas biggest trading partner, and chips are the countrys largest single export category -- worth $94 billion last year, or 17% of total exports, according to the Korea International Trade Association. Huawei has risen as a major buyer of South Korean chips in recent years as it expands its lineup of devices from smartphones to wireless networks. The company expected to buy more than $10 billion from South Korea in 2019, ZDNet Korea reported last year, citing a Huawei official. Huaweis decline may still prove a boon for some South Korean sectors such as smartphones, an industry where Samsung competes with the Chinese company for the top spot globally. But other Chinese rivals may take Huaweis place, potentially limiting the benefits for South Korea from the U.S. move. Huawei is going to be in bad shape, said Dan Wang, technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics. But even if it mostly has to stop operations, there are other Chinese phonemakers that can erode the competitive position of Korean firms. Story continues For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. MBABANE Eswatini tourism is one of the sectors that have been prioritised under the economic recovery plan, which was launched by Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. The plan was launched last Friday at the Royal Villas in Ezulwini where officials from the local business sector gathered. The Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan Task Team (PCERPTT) put together eight-sector work streams under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development to identify high impact private sector-led projects that would stimulate the economy and lift it out of decline. Impacts In the plan, it is stated that on April 27, 2020, the prime minister assembled a team of Cabinet ministers and tasked them with developing a Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy by creating opportunities for income generation and wealth creation in key priority sectors of the economy. Among those opportunities, an aquarium worth E63 million was proposed to be built at the Maguga Lodge and would be named Maguga National Aquarium, which would create over 40 jobs. An aquarium is an enclosure of any size having at least one transparent side, in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fish keepers use aquariums to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians and aquatic reptiles such as turtles, and aquatic plants. Orientated According to Derrik Hopf, who is an architect linked to the project, the aquarium was set to increase the population of indigenous species locally and also drive tourism in the country towards the northern region, which was a tourism orientated initiative. The project was proposed to be started immediately through the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy as well as the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Proposing It is also part of four other projects that the sector is proposing to invest an amount of E466 million and set to create 345 job opportunities. The sector is also committing to stimulate activities through product enhancement to attract tourists when the pandemic subsides and through an Eswatini Unlocked Campaign that will encourage locals to participate in domestic travel for leisure to support and grow the tourism industry. Investment In terms of the big projects, the tourism industry will attract investment across the country, which includes the aquarium at Maguga Lodge. Speaking to this publication, the owner of Maguga Lodge, Brian Figuaredo, confirmed the proposed project. The project is in the pipeline, which was approved to be in the recovery plan and we are looking forward to it, he said. It is worth noting that Maguga Lodge is located at the Maguga Dam, which is along the Komati River in Eswatini and is 115 metres high, located about 12 kilometres south of Piggs Peak. During the launch, the prime minister said the economic recovery plan was a response to the looming economic contraction and negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the different sectors of the economy. This plan aims to protect the economy from a downward spiral and set it in motion for sustained growth, he said. Strategic Dlamini highlighted that the recovery plan was not meant to replace the National Development Plan, the National Development Strategy, and the Government Strategic Road map launched last year and instead served as a catalyst or practical action plan to all of them. It also provides the fiscal space for government to invest in critical public service delivery as outlined in the National Development Plan, he said. The prime minister further mentioned that the focus on Big Projects and a private sector-led economy was to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy in the short term in order to make up for the anticipated losses in GDP. To do that, government intends to reposition herself as a facilitator and enabler of business development, he concluded. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. (Alliance News) - Xtract Resources PLC on Wednesday said it has signed a mining contractor agreement with Longhau Tianci Mining Co Ltd to exploit the Guy Fawkes deposit at its Manica mining concession in Mozambique. Shares in Xtract were up 8.2% at 1.65 pence in London at midday. The agreement was signed between Longhau and Xtract's wholly-owned Mozambican subsidiary, Explorator Ltd, with Longhau to mine the Guy Fawkes hard-rock gold deposit for a period of six years, or until the ore body is depleted or no longer visible. Under the agreement, Explorator would receive 20% of gold production, after a 6% mining production tax settlement by Explorator. Explorator will remit 35% of its share of Guy Fawkes production to Mutapa Mining & Processing LDA, Explorator's existing hard rock collaboration partner. The other 75% of gold will be retained by Longhau for services provided. Guy Fawkes has a SAMREC-compliant indicated and inferred resource of 1.13 million tonnes at 1.91 grams of gold per tonne of ore. There is also potential for additional upside in several dimensions. The agreement includes performance targets whereby Longhau is required to commission a plant with a throughput of at least 60 tonnes per day within two months of the signing date, with throughput tonnage to rise to 120 tonnes per day within three months of beginning operations. Explorator will be responsible for recording gold concentrate produced, while Longhau will be responsible for smelting the gold concentrate and delivery of gold dore bars. Explorator will also take on responsibility for all statutory and legal requirement for the licence along with the 6% tax payment. Executive Chair Colin Bird said: "We are pleased to report the signing of this agreement, which should provide the opportunity for incremental cash flow during MMP's Fair Bride construction and building phase. The Guy Fawkes deposit shows considerable variation both in mining width and grade, demonstrating propensity for selective higher-grade mining. Longhau intends to work a portion of the deposit by open cast methods where drilling indicates that suitable grades locally can run close to surface. Underground mining will be selective. "We are currently in discussions in respect of the Boa Esperanza deposit and look forward to updating shareholders shortly." By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Donald Trump has congratulated Laura Loomer on winning the GOP primary for the district that covers his Mar-a-Lago estate, despite the conspiracy theorist having been banned from social media for hate speech and accused of fanning false claims about mass shootings. Loomer, 27, defeated five candidates to win the Republican primary Tuesday for the House of Representatives seat that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. 'Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!' the president tweeted in a show of support for Loomer late Tuesday. He will vote by mail in her November election. The ultra-conservative activist, who has the backing of Trump's eldest son Don Jr., his friend and former adviser Roger Stone, firebrand Congressman Matt Gaetz and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, will now take on Democratic Representative Lois Frankel in the November general election. The Democratic four-time congresswoman is expected to win easily in the deep blue district. She ran unopposed in 2018 and won 62.7 to 35.1 in 2016. Donald Trump has congratulated Laura Loomer (pictured) on winning the GOP primary for the district that covers his Mar-a-Lago estate The president tweeted in a show of support for Loomer late Tuesday after she defeated five candidates to win the Republican primary for the US House of Representatives seat that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach WHO'S BANNED LAURA LOOMER PLATFORMS Twitter Facebook Instagram PAYMENT SYSTEMS PayPal Venmo GoFundMe RIDESHARES Uber Lyft TECH FIRMS XFinity / Comcast processing of her campaign mass texts EVENTS CPAC - Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019 Advertisement Courtesy of Ali Alexander Loomer took the lead in the Republican primary with 42.7 percent of the vote, with nuclear engineer turned professor Christian Acosta coming in second with 25.5 percent. Other candidates in the race included a former burlesque dancer who now runs an exotic animal business and a former IRS investigator. Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, after changing his official residence from New York to Palm Beach back in October. His and Melania's ballots were returned to Palm Beach officials Monday in time for their votes to be counted, reported the Washington Post. The president's decision to cast his own vote by mail comes after he has repeatedly claimed mail-in ballots lead to widespread fraud and even threatened to redo the election if he loses through what he has blasted a 'rigged' system. It is not clear if the president voted for Loomer but his social media post confirmed he approved of her victory. Loomer has been a high-profile figure on the fringes of the alt-right since working for Project Veritas when she was a college student. While working with Alex Jones of InfoWars she went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and accused students there of 'reading a screen or notes.' 'It's obvious these kids are reading a screen or notes someone else wrote for them. Notice how media is only talking to the same group of students. They aren't talking to the pro gun ROTC students who actually saved lives, unlike these students,' she tweeted. She also pushed a theory that there was a second gunman in the Las Vegas massacre in September 2017 and went to a press conference a month later to harry the Las Vegas county sheriff with her claims. 'All of the evidence that is being leaked is further showing how the Deep State is covering it up,'she claimed. The controversial 27-year-old has been slammed for making anti-Muslim comments on several occasions in recent years. She called the FBI the 'Federal Bureau of Islam' as she pushed deep-state conspiracy claims. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar 'anti-Jewish' - which led to her being removed from Twitter. 'Isn't it ironic how the twitter moment used to celebrate 'women, LGBTQ, and minorities' is a picture of Ilhan Omar?' Loomer tweeted about the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman. 'Ilhan is pro Sharia Ilhan is pro-FGM Under Sharia, homosexuals are oppressed & killed. Women are abused & forced to wear the hijab. Ilhan is anti Jewish.' Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, where Loomer (pictured) took the victory The controversial conspiracy theorist has been accused of hate speech on more than one occasion. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar (left) 'anti-Jewish'. She slammed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (right) for suspending her account over the incident Far-right activist Loomer, who has the backing of Trump's friend and former adviser Roger Stone, Representative Matt Gaetz and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, will now take on Democratic Representative Lois Frankel (pictured) in the November general election When she was banned from Twitter over the incident, Loomer handcuffed herself to Twitter's New York offices. That same month, she was removed from a congressional hearing on social media when she hit out at CEO Jack Dorsey for 'shadowbanning' conservatives and accused him of trying to sway the midterm elections toward the Democrats. This came after she was banned from using Uber and Lyft in November 2017 for tweeting that 'someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft' and complaining that she was late to a meeting because she could not find a 'non-Muslim' driver. In June 2017, Loomer rushed the stage during a Shakespeare In The Park production of 'Julius Caesar' in New York to accuse the cast of normalizing 'political violence against the right' and calling them 'Isis'. 'Stop the normalization of political violence against the right!' she shouted. 'Shame on the New York Public Theatre for doing this! You guys are Isis! CNN is Isis!' Loomer will now go head to head in the November election with the current seat holder Franklel - who has been undefeated for four terms and served in Congress since 2013. The district is strongly blue and Frankel is expected to retain her seat. The middle of a raging storm is a terrible time for a ship to lose its first mate. Its confusing for the crew. Its worrisome for the passengers. But the same kind of jarring change hit the Canadian ship of state on Monday when it lost Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the midst of a global pandemic and the worst economic turbulence since the Great Depression. Whatever the reasons for Morneaus abrupt resignation from politics his departure is unsettling and unfortunately timed. The news that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is having Parliament prorogued or put on hold for a month only adds to the sense Canadas lurched into a new crisis. Having borrowed and spent hundreds of billions of dollars to carry this country through the first wave of the COVID-19 emergency, the federal Liberals are preparing to invest billions more in economic recovery. Now the minister whose knowledge, experience and efforts have ushered us this far is gone. In the short-term, at least, Morneaus goodbye leaves clouds of uncertainty hanging over the government and nation. Just last week, the prime minister insisted he had full confidence in Morneau. Yet even then reports swirling out of Ottawa said irreconcilable differences threatened to end the successful partnership between the two men. Yes, Morneau was granted the face-saving dignity of being able to say hed resigned. But does anyone believe this accomplished, ambitious and publicly-minded minister is voluntarily walking away from the career-defining job of healing the pandemic-ravaged Canadian economy? Does anyone buy his explanation that instead of winning a place in the history books, he really wants to become the next secretary general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development? Its not likely Morneaus resignation is his way of taking the fall for the WE Charity scandal that engulfed the government this summer, either. In a major error of judgment, he failed to recuse himself when cabinet approved the now-cancelled $543.5-million distribution agreement between the government and WE Charity. This despite his family ties to the organization. Yet Trudeau is in a similar ethically-challenged situation. And hes staying put. The likeliest explanation is that Morneau was not fully on board with the prime ministers ambitious dreams of not only kick-starting the stalled Canadian economy but making it greener, more socially equitable and a lot more expensive. If so, Morneaus penchant for greater fiscal discipline could be sorely missed. That said, Canadians who look will find two bright spots in the current gloom. First, Trudeau quickly named Chrystia Freeland, his highly respected deputy-prime minister, as the new finance minister. Freeland has consistently proven Trudeaus most stellar minister. That shes the first woman to become finance minister and has accepted the job in a recession that has hit women hardest are also pluses in her favour. The appointment is being well-received with Doug Ford, Ontarios Progressive Conservative Premier, voicing his hearty approval among many others. Second, Trudeau has enlisted Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada and, until recently, head of the Bank of England, as an adviser to help chart Canadas economic recovery. When it comes to managing an advanced industrial economy, Carney hardly takes a back seat to Morneau. Indeed, while we lament Morneaus departure, it could turn out that Trudeau has now assembled the right crew to steer Canada through the treacherous recessionary shoals surrounding it. Well know soon enough. U.S. Attorney John Durham speaks to reporters on the steps of U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., on April 25, 2006. (Bob Child/AP Photo) Former FBI Attorney Pleads Guilty in First Case Brought by John Durham The FBI attorney who altered an email as part of the process to obtain a secret court warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser admitted to one count of making a false statement on Aug. 19 before a federal judge in Washington. Former FBI assistant general counsel Kevin Clinesmith made the plea as part of a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to propose a sentencing range of zero to six months. Judge James Boasberg set the sentencing hearing for Dec. 10. At the opening of the hearing, Boasberg noted that hes the head judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which signed off on the warrant application cited in the charge against Clinesmith. The judge said he didnt see any issues with the overlap, but offered the parties to call for his recusal because the FISC could be viewed as a victim. The government and Clinesmith declined the offer. Clinesmiths guilty plea is the first secured as part of an investigation by special attorney John Durham, who is investigating whether the FBIs probe of the Trump campaign was conducted lawfully and free of improper motive. President Donald Trump has long claimed that the Obama administration weaponized government surveillance against his campaign. As part of the plea agreement, Durhams team agreed not to prosecute Clinesmith for any of the conduct described in the 10-page statement of offense, which wasnt public at the time of the hearing. The prosecutors also agreed not to modify the conditions of Clinesmiths release. Although the government proposed a sentencing range of up to six months, Boasberg may still sentence Clinesmith above the proposed range, depending on the review of the case. Before accepting the plea, Boasberg asked if Clinesmith altered the email in question knowing that the statement he added was not true. Clinesmith said that he thought at the time that the statement was true, but admitted to forging the email. At the time, I believed that the information I was providing in the email was accurate, but I am agreeing that the information I entered into the email was not originally there and that I have inserted that information, Clinesmith said. Clinesmith altered the email on June 19, 2017, while working as the primary FBI attorney assigned to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which Mueller had inherited a month earlier. According to the court documents, Clinesmith inserted the words and not a source into an email from a CIA liaison that described the relationship between Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page and the CIA. As the primary FBI attorney on the case, Clinesmith was asked to find out if Page was a source for the agency before the FBI applied for the fourth and final warrant to continue surveilling Page. As a result, an FBI special agent relied on the altered email to submit a warrant application to the FISC, which described Page as a Russian asset without disclosing that he was an approved operational contact for the CIA who reported on his interactions with Russian intelligence officers. The Department of Justice inspector general last year flagged Clinesmiths admitted forgery as one of the most egregious faults among the 17 serious errors and omissions contained in the applications the FBI used to surveil Page. The CIA had provided certain members of the FBIs team working the Crossfire Hurricane casethe codename for the probe of the Trump campaignwith a copy of the memo about Page in August 2016, two months before the FBI applied for the first Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Page. None of the subsequent FISA applications mentioned Pages history or work with the CIA. Clinesmith was assigned as the primary FBI attorney providing legal support to the Crossfire Hurricane team in early 2017 and was removed in February 2018. While the inspector generals reports and other evidence in the public realm have already substantially clouded the credibility of the Mueller probe, Clinesmiths guilty plea is the first admission of criminal conduct carried out as part of the special counsel investigation, which roiled the nation for 22 months but found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The plea also raises serious questions about the culture within the broader special counsel operation, where Clinesmith played a key role for roughly a year before being removed upon the discovery of his blatantly anti-Trump text messages. Clinesmith wasnt the only FBI official to have been removed from Muellers team over biased text messages. FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page ridiculed Trump, spoke of stopping him from winning the election, and mentioned an insurance policy in the unlikely event he won. The pair, who at the time was involved in an extramarital affair, broached the subject of impeachment around the time Mueller was assigned to lead the inquiry. Mueller removed Strzok upon learning of the messages. Page had left on her own prior to the discovery. The inspector general didnt find evidence that bias motivated any of the investigative actions, but told Congress that he was baffled by the sheer number of serious errors committed by three handpicked teams working on the FBIs most sensitive case. The government, represented by U.S. attorneys Anthony Scarpelli and Neeraj Patel, requested that Clinesmith turn in his passport, refrain from international travel, and limit his domestic trips to a handful of states. The judge concurred with the request. Former South African President Jacob Zuma was on Tuesday, August 18, represented in court by his advocate Nqabayethu Buthelezi after being sued by his third wife, Tobeka Madiba over maintenance money for her and her schoolgoing daughter. Zuma was dragged to the Durban Magistrates Court by Tobeka, who is demanding a monthly maintenance fee of R14 000 for the upkeep of their 14-year-old daughter. Arguing at the Durban Magistrate Court, head of Zumas legal team Eric Mabuza denied claim of him not paying for the upkeep of his 14-year-old daughter. Mabuza who countered the claim of the former President not supporting his daughter since his split from his wife earlier this year, also pointed out that Tobeka has not worked since the child was born. Read Full Story .... signaturetv.org >>> : 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 New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday sent a special message to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as Afghanistan celebrated its 101st Independence Day. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan sent his greetings calling the country a "brother", at the special Independence Day event, organised at the Afghan mission in Delhi. In the message, President Kovind wrote, "Afghanistan and India have a lot in common. Our long-standing relationship has lasted for centuries, further strengthened as we jointly fight enemies such as poverty, injustice, contagious diseases and terrorism." He added, "We reaffirm our support for a democratic, secure, peaceful, prosperous and pluralistic Afghanistan, and I wish that this anniversary of independence will bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan". Calling Afghanistan a "close friend" and a "beloved brother", MoS MEA said, "India and Afghanistan are strategic partners. We have extremely good relations, both at people to people level and government to government level." Highlighting India's "commitment" for Afghanistan's capacity building Muraleedharan said, "More than 65,000 Afghan students have studied in India and they carry the message of friendship deep down to Afghan villages and towns." He said India and Afghanistan are "contiguous neighbours, it is our PM's vision to see the peaceful prosperous and developed neighbourhood and to ensure greater connectivity in this region" reiterating, "India's support for a united, sovereign, stable, peaceful, prosperous, democratic and inclusive Afghanistan". Indian envoy to Afghanistan Vinay Kumar was present at Afghanistan's Independence day celebrations at Kabul. In Delhi, celebrations took place at the Afghan embassy in Delhi, presided over by envoy Tahir Qadiry, with Joint Secretary in MEA's PAI Division --Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, JP Singh, being the chief guest and a special video message by MoS Muraleedharan. Both the Indian and Afghan foreign ministers on Wednesday spoke to each other. EAM Jaishanker in a tweet said, "A productive conversation with Acting FM Haneef Atmar of Afghanistan. Greeted him on Afghan Independence Day. Discussed recent developments in Afghanistan and our bilateral cooperation. Reaffirmed our development partnership and connectivity linkages." India has been Afghanistan's largest development partner in the region and has built a number of the infrastructure project in the country including the Afghan Parliament. Dubai is open for business and is looking forward to receiving tourists for the new cruise season with a draft safety protocol for the industry in the pipeline, a webinar participated by key stakeholders heard. P&O Marinas, a DP World Company and the world-class developer for marinas, hosted the virtual workshop, in collaboration with Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and Emirates Airline, to discuss the resumption of the cruise season 2020/2021 in Dubai. The company invited leading shipping agents and stakeholders to take part in the event. Chaired by Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai Tourism, and Mohammed Al Mannaei, CEO, P&O Marinas and Executive Director, Mina Rashid, the event kicked off with a general discussion of the state of the tourism industry in Dubai and the fact that strict safety protocols are now in place at every hotel and all other tourism touchpoints across the city. Dubai has assured global travellers that comprehensive safety measures have been put in place to prevent the transmission of Covid-19. With the reopening of many public and private facilities, amenities and attractions, Dubai recently launched the Dubai Assured stamp, a compliance programme - which is also applicable to the cruise industry - to certify and recognise hotels, tourism and retail establishments and attractions that have implemented all public health protocols for the prevention and management of the pandemic. Dubai has also been awarded the Safe Travels safety stamp by the World Travel & Tourism Council, further enhancing its position as one of the worlds safest destinations. World-leading destination Almarri commented: We have been working with various cruise liners and relevant authorities to ensure that we are all aligned with the efforts being made under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai to restart the economy with great emphasis on establishing detailed health and safety guidelines for each sector. The precautionary measures and safety protocols that are being formulated for cruise tourism will be implemented when cruise ships arrive in Dubai during the forthcoming season. We can assure cruise tourists of the highest global safety standards at every stage of their travel journey from the time they disembark in Dubai to the point they depart from our cruise terminals. Almarri added: The cruise sector in Dubai has always shown great potential and the sustainable year-on-year growth that we have achieved is due to the continued support of our partners such as DP World, GDRFA and Emirates. Since the reopening of the city to tourists on July 7, we are encouraged by the response and continue to welcome visitors to the city. We expect to see cruise ships bringing tourists back to Dubai once all the relevant protocols are in place. Dubai Tourism has also put together an impressive excursion itinerary as part of efforts to position the city as the cruise tourism destination of choice for international cruise travellers. Mohammed Al Mannaei, CEO, P&O Marinas and Executive Director, Mina Rashid, said: The cruise sector is the fastest growing sector in the travel industry, so we know consumers want to see it back in action as quickly as possible. We were pleased to see the high number of participants in this virtual event and it is reassuring to know we are all coming together to ensure the cruise ship industry returns to normality as quickly as possible. We are also looking forward to seeing our landmark Mina Rashid Marina welcome cruise ships again. We have been monitoring the situation closely and feel confident we can assure customer safety. Our long-standing relationship with shipping lines and our mutually beneficial relationship with stakeholders around the world have held us in good stead as we identify appropriate solutions to ensure tourism flows and business continuity in Dubai. Backing cruise liner business Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates airline, said: As far as Emirates Airline is concerned, we are fully committed to backing the cruise liner business and the Dubai strategy. We are ramping up our weekly services and regarding Europe, where the cruise business mainly comes from, we serve 24 destinations, this will be ramped up to 26 in September and we are considering opening more gateways in the near future. In terms of safety and health on board we have taken all required measures. The message is that we are back proficiently to business. The workshop ended with a Q & A session that provided additional information to participants on cruise tourism and health and safety measures that will be adopted for this sector. The workshop was also attended by senior executives, representatives of shipping agents and cruise lines, including: Carnival Cruise Lines, MSC Cruise Lines, Tui Cruise Lines, Aida Cruises and Costa Cruises , who affirmed that Dubai has grown to be a major cruise destination and a stop-off point for many others. P&O Marinas announced the seamless conclusion of the cruise season in April in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with all customers returned safely to their home countries. This emphasised Dubais leading role in the maritime sector and its global efficiency in receiving 13 giant cruise ships, the statement said. TradeArabia News Service Faces of leaders of the coup which forced President Boubacar Keita to resign have been unveiled. The coup was reportedly led by Sadio Camara and Malick Diaw. Malian journalist, Seydou Oumar Traore said Camara was the ex-director of the military Prytaneum of Kati and had just returned from training in Russia. Malick Diaw is also said to be the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Military Region of Kati. Though it is not clear how many senior officers were involved in the coup, Lieutenant-Colonel Mama Seku Lelenta and Brigadier General Cheick Fanta Mady Dembele were mentioned. The coup plotters stormed Bamako from their Kati base to arrest many Malian officials. Some of the government officials arrested include President Boubacar Keita, Prime minister Boubou Cisse, Chief of Staff of the National Guard and his Administrative and Financial Director (DAF), Abdoulaye Daffe, Minister of the Economy and Finance, Tiebile Drame, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Moussa Timbine, President of the National Assembly. 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 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Avirat Parekh (The Jakarta Post) Mumbai, India Wed, August 19, 2020 With a recent purge by American social media giant Facebook on advertisements for the illicit sale of animals in Yangon, Myanmar, the discourse around such trade has resurfaced. The ad more specifically sported a picture of a caged cat and described it as Not too wild, not too-well behaved. If interested, call... which is alarming for the platform as it has a strict ban on the sale of animals. According to a report by an international non-governmental organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) illegal wildlife trade occurs across the Southeast Asian region from the remote corners of Myanmar and Laos, to markets in Bangkok and Hanoi, but its center of gravity is the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar, Lao, China meet. Thereby, categorizing the region as a major hub for trade of this nature. The region is a biodiversity hotspot that sits at the heart of wildlife trade. Although, such trade is carried out for specific purposes the scale of trade in the region is quite large. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has scheduled two crucial meetings on August 27 and September 19. On August 27, the Councils 41st meeting would consider a proposal to borrow money from the market to compensate states for their revenue shortfalls, and on September 19, the apex federal body 42nd meeting would take up other issues such as the resolution of the inverted duty structure, tax on pan masala and more measures for the ease of doing business, two officials said, requesting anonymity. Earlier, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said after the 40th meeting of the Council on June 12 that the August 27 meeting would be special, as it would discuss a single matter. The meetings only agenda will be how to pay compensation to states at a time when the compensation cess collection has plunged because of weak economic activities owing to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. While briefing media persons after the 40th meeting, Sitharaman had said on request of members, the Council would meet again in July to discuss a one-agenda item --- compensation to states. Compensation, which has to be given to states, and, if at all, it results in some kind of borrowing, how and who is going to pay for it, she had said. The meeting was, however, deferred to August, due to some technical reasons, the officials said. At the time of introducing the new indirect tax regime in July 2017, the GST law assured states a 14% increase in their annual revenue for five years (up to 2022) and their revenue shortfall should be made good through the compensation cess levied on luxury goods and sin products such as liquor, cigarettes, aerated water, automobiles, coal, and other tobacco products. The 41st meeting of the Council is to resolve the difference between the Centre and states over the responsibility of the cess liability. While states argue that it is the Centres responsibility to pay compensation in time, the latter cited the GST law, where the responsibility lies with the Council, the officials said. The Council is headed by the Union finance minister and finance ministers of states are its members. Usually, the Councils decisions are unanimous. One of the officials mentioned above said although the GST law assured a 14% increase in annual tax revenue of states, the GST collection in 2020-21 is unlikely to see such growth. There is virtually no money left to pay compensation to states from April. Market borrowing is one of the solutions, but who will take the guarantee is a big question and that issue needs to be resolved, he said. The states were paid Rs 1,65,302 crore GST compensation in 2019-20, even as total cess collection for the fiscal year was Rs 95,444 crore. This gap is expected to widen this year because of the pandemic, he said. Law is very clear, compensation has to be paid from the amount collected through compensation cess and not from the Consolidated Fund of India, he added. According to a note circulated in the 40th GST Council meeting, compensation cess collected in 2017-18 was Rs 62,612 crore, rose to Rs 95,081 crore in 2018-19, and to Rs 95,444 crore in 2019-20. However, compensation paid in 2017-18 was less than the total collection at Rs 41,146 crore and Rs 69,275 crore in 2018-19. Officials said it is up to the Council to find a solution about ways to augment revenue collection and pay the compensation. Theoretically, the options before the Council for meeting the shortfall could be to rationalise tax rates, include more items under the compensation cess or widen the net, or recommend higher borrowing by states to be repaid by the future collection into the compensation fund, they said. However, states, particularly ruled by the Opposition parties, said that timely payment of full compensation is the responsibility of the Central government. Officials said, the 42nd meeting of the Council on September 19 would be generic in nature and could consider revising tax on several items that suffer from inverted duty such as fertilisers, footwears, renewable energy devices, tractors, man-made yarns, and fabrics. Inverted duty structure is a mechanism, where inputs are taxed at a higher rate than finished goods. Atriva Therapeutics, a Tubingen and Frankfurt, Germany-based biopharmaceutical company developing host-targeting antiviral therapies, closed a 8.6m ($ 10.2m) convertible loan. The round was led by Meneldor B.V. and High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF), joined by existing shareholders and new German and international investors. The proceeds of the transaction will enable Atriva to start a multinational, double-blind, randomized clinical Phase II study in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 infections, once authorization is granted by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut fur Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM). It will further be used to prepare a Phase II trial in influenza and to continue building a therapy platform to treat respiratory diseases induced by RNA viruses, such as Hantavirus. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Rainer Lichtenberger, CEO, Atriva Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of host-targeting antiviral therapies. The company aims to develop a therapy platform to treat severe respiratory diseases induced by RNA viruses with a high unmet medical need, such as influenza and COVID-19. Its lead product ATR-002 is a host-targeting agent which inhibits viral replication in influenza and favorably modulates the bodys immune response. ATR-002 is a clinical stage MEK inhibitor drug candidate targeting the intracellular Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway. This pathway is central for replication of many RNA viruses, such as the influenza virus, hantavirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and also SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In influenza virus infected cells, the interaction of ATR-002 with MEK (MAPK/ERK kinase) prevents export of the viral genome protein complexes (ribonucleoprotein, RNP) from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, thus blocking the formation of functional new viral particles. This ultimately reduces the viral load in the body. In addition, ATR-002 has the potential to modulate the pro-inflammatory cytokine response of the body, avoiding overshooting cytokine response that can be caused by such viral infections. MEK inhibition can reduce the gene expression of some of the cytokines involved, like TNF-, IL-1, IP-10, IL-8, MCP-1 and MIP-1a, and thus mitigate the overactive inflammatory response in the lungs of patients who are severely ill with influenza or COVID-19. ATR-002 is under clinical development and has successfully completed a Phase I trial to demonstrate safety and tolerability in healthy subjects. A Phase II study to evaluate efficacy in hospitalized COVID-19 patients is in preparation; a Phase II study in influenza is planned to start in early 2021. The company owns eleven patent families with broad international coverage related to the use of MEK inhibitors and other kinase inhibitors for anti-viral therapies. The patent life runs through 2041. FinSMEs 19/08/2020 The EU sanctions will hit a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud. The European Union has rejected the result of the disputed Belarus election, saying President Alexander Lukashenkos victory was neither free nor fair, and warned of imminent fresh sanctions against his government. After Wednesdays emergency video summit, EU Council President Charles Michel told the people of Belarus the bloc stood by your side as unprecedented protests against Lukashenko entered an 11th day. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for national dialogue in Belarus including Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. The EU has been working on a new round of sanctions against Belarus, targeting those involved in allegedly fixing the August 9 vote and in the bloody repression of protests, which have shaken Lukashenkos grip on the ex-Soviet republic as never before. Michel said this would lead shortly to a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud being hit with EU travel bans and asset freezes. These elections were neither free nor fair and did not meet international standards. We dont recognise the results presented by the Belarus authorities, Michel told reporters. The people of Belarus deserve better. They deserve the democratic right to choose their leaders and shape the future. Call for dialogue Michel, along with Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, all held telephone talks with Lukashenkos close ally Russia to push for dialogue to end the crisis peacefully. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country could intervene in the crisis and this week warned against unacceptable foreign interference in Belarus or pressure on its leadership. Ahead of the summit, Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old political novice who fled to neighbouring Lithuania after claiming victory in the vote, called on EU leaders not to recognise these fraudulent elections. Afterwards, Merkel told reporters in Berlin there is no doubt that there were massive rule violations in the election and said the people of Belarus sometimes described as Europes last dictatorship must have the right to choose their future. Demonstrators participate in an anti-Lukashenko rally in Minsk [Misha Friedman/Getty Images] The people in Belarus know what they want thats why we want an independent path for Belarus where the political conditions are decided by the country itself, she said. Merkel also revealed that Lukashenko had rebuffed her offer of a phone call. Mr Lukashenko rejected the telephone call, which I regret. You can only mediate when you are in touch with all sides. Lukashenkos claim to victory in the election with 80 percent of the ballot sparked the largest demonstrations in Belarus since it gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. As the meeting began, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the EU cannot accept the result of these elections and called for resolute and concerted action. F our men were stabbed in a violent brawl outside a central London bar, police have said. The men were stabbed outside Club 29 in High Holborn in the early hours of Sunday, August 2. Two of the victims took themselves to hospital for treatment. Officers said they found the other two in a car with its hazard lights flashing and gave them first aid until an ambulance crew took them to hospital. One of the four men is still in hospital more than two weeks later, although police said his injuries are no longer life-threatening. Police said they believe the fight took place at around 3am. Six men have been arrested and released on bail while the investigation continues. Five of the men, whose ages range from 23-34, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The other man, 22, was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Club 29 describes itself as a "cocktail bar" as well as a "busy nightclub". Nightclubs are still not allowed to open in England because of coronavirus social distancing rules, although pubs have been allowed to serve customers for about six weeks. Police declined to comment on whether Club 29 was breaking any social distancing rules. Detective Constable Stephanie Latzke said: This was a truly shocking attack on four friends who had gone out to enjoy themselves. We know the nightclub was busy at the time of the incident, so Im confident someone will have the information we need to find those responsible for this unacceptable violence. I also want to hear from anyone who was driving on High Holborn around the time of the attack who may have captured the fighting on dash cam. Police have asked anyone who has any information on the incident to call 101, quoting CAD 1760/2Aug, tweet @MetCC or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 11. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2020 officials have clarified that students who are awaiting their reevaluated Class 12 Board Exam papers can upload their current provisional mark sheets online. The TNEA would obtain the updated results directly from the Directorate of Government Examination (DGE), a senior official told The New Indian Express. The clarification comes after confusion among some engineering aspirants. The last day to upload the mark sheets is Thursday. However, students who have applied for revaluation of their board exam results have not received their revised mark sheets yet. The DGE released the scanned copies of Class 12 examination answer sheets on its website dge.tn.gov.in on Wednesday. For candidates who are not satisfied with their score, DGE has also opened a window to apply for re-totaling and revaluation. While students who are satisfied with their scores can upload their marksheets for TNEA, those who have applied for revaluation were confused about what to do. Some even took to social media and asked the varsity to issue an official clarification. "Students can upload the provisional mark sheets issued by the government. They do not have to wait for their updated mark sheets to come. We will directly receive the revision from the DGE," said T Purushothaman, the Secretary of TNEA. A total of 1.6 lakh students have registered for TNEA this year, an increase of about 30,000 students from the last academic year. Random numbers will be assigned to students on Friday and the rank list will be issued on September 7. CHICAGO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "HVAC Filters Market by Material (Fiberglass, Synthetic Polymer, Carbon, Metal), Technology (HEPA, Electrostatic Precipitator, Activated Carbon), End-use Industry (Building & Construction, Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverage), and Region - Global Forecast To 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global HVAC filters market size is projected to grow from USD 5.5 billion in 2020 to USD 7.1 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2020 and 2025. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=205419850 Browse in-depth TOC on "HVAC Filters Market" 125 - Tables 51 - Figures 179 - Pages View Detailed Table of Content Here: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/hvac-filter-market-205419850.html HVAC filters are the separation media used in HVAC systems to remove pollutants or harmful substances from air that is taken in by the HVAC systems to be distributed into building spaces or rooms. These pollutants can be solid air particles, dust, pollen, and even toxic gases. The HVAC filters find their application in various end-use industries, such as building & construction, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, automotive, electronics & semiconductor, and livestock. Increasing demand for HVAC systems, growing awareness about indoor air quality, and government regulations and policies for efficient filtration are major factors driving the HVAC filters market. In terms of value, the metal segment is projected to account for the largest share of the HVAC filters market, by material, during the forecast period. Metal filter material consists of metal fibers, which are sinter bonded together to produce a highly porous structure of fixed pore size. The greatest advantage of this type of filter media is that it can be cleaned and re-used. Metal is resistant to chemicals and mechanical wear and has the maximum lifespan. Metal filters are commonly used in the pharmaceutical, food & beverage, building & construction, and livestock industries for ventilation purposes. These metal filters find applications in outside air intake ducts, rooftop economizer hoods, and air handling units. The HEPA segment is projected to be the fastest-growing technology in the HVAC filters market during the forecast period. HEPA technology consists of a filter that forces air through a thin mesh, which traps harmful particles such as pollens, molds, pet dander, bacteria, and dust mite debris to prevent them from entering the ambient environment. HEPA filters have diverse application areas, including residential buildings, pharmaceutical production, food & beverages, and clean rooms in the electronics & semiconductor industry, among others. In the pharmaceutical industry, HEPA filters are installed in the production spaces, which are required to be free from contaminants. These filters also protect patients from infection and employees and visitors from airborne organisms. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=205419850 The pharmaceutical industry is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. It is important to maintain the quality of pharmaceutical products during the manufacturing process. Pharmaceutical products can be contaminated through air particles, dust, and microorganisms. To avoid contamination, HVAC systems with highly efficient filters are installed in the pharmaceutical industry. This industry uses filters for the removal of suspended particles and the reduction of bacteria in the process components. The choice of filter media used in the filtration application depends on the size of the particle to be retained and permeability, holding capacity, and resistance to fluid flow of the medium. The pharmaceutical industry mainly adopts HVAC filters with HEPA technology with high MERV ratings, to prevent the entry of very fine particles through HVAC filters. The APAC region lead the HVAC filters market, in terms of volume. APAC is projected to be the fastest-growing market for HVAC filters during the forecast period. Improved economic conditions of developing countries and rising global warming have contributed to the growth of the HVAC filters market in the region In APAC, several associations, including the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE), Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH), Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association of Australia (AMCA), Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA), and Air Conditioning Engineering Association of Thailand (ACAT), support the adoption of efficient HVAC systems. This support drives the market for HVAC filters in the regionRelated Reports: Major players operating in the global HVAC filtersmarket include 3M Company (US), Parker-Hannifin Corporation (US), Camfil AB (Sweden), Mann+Hummel (Germany), American Air Filter Company, Inc. (US), Donaldson Company, Inc. (US), Ahlstrom-Munksjo(Finland), Filtration Group Corporation (US), Freudenberg Group (Germany), Sogefi Group (Italy), GVS Group (Italy), Spectrum Filtration Pvt. Ltd. (India), Emirates Industrial Filters LLC (UAE), Koch Filter (US), Sandler AG (Germany), Troy Filters Ltd. (US), DHA Filter (US), General Filter Havak (Turkey), Johns Manville (US), and Hollingsworth &Vose (US). Related Reports: Industrial Filters Market by Type (Liquid and Air Filter Media), End-use Industry (Food & Beverage, Metal & Mining, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Power Generation), and Region (APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and SA ) - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2023 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/industrial-filter-market-131934396.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/hvac-filter-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/hvac-filter.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg WASHINGTON Russian intelligence services pursued myriad avenues to influence the Trump campaign in 2016, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but none was more important than the relationship between the campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a man who had been his friend and co-worker for years: a Russian intelligence officer named Konstantin V. Kilimnik. Their link was the single most direct tie between senior Trump campaign officials and the Russian intelligence services, according to the fifth and final volume of the committees report on its bipartisan three-year investigation issued Tuesday. While the committee was stymied in its efforts to fully plumb the relationship between the two men, investigators found enough there to declare that Mr. Manafort created a grave counterintelligence threat by sharing inside information about the presidential race with Mr. Kilimnik and the Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs whom he served. The report portrayed Mr. Manafort as deeply compromised by years of business dealings with those oligarchs. Collectively, they had paid him tens of millions of dollars, lent him millions more and may also have owed him millions. Saudi Arabia reaffirms no Israel deal without Palestinian peace At a press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (R), his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud renewed criticism of Israeli policy on the Palestinians Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will not follow the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians. The UAE last week became the first Gulf state to normalise relations with Israel, in a historic US-brokered accord that raised the prospect of similar deals with other Arab states including Saudi Arabia. But after days of conspicuous silence and in the face of US pressure to announce a similar deal, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan ruled out the possibility until the Palestinian issue is resolved. "Peace must be achieved with the Palestinians" on the basis of international agreements as a pre-condition for any normalisation of relations, Prince Faisal told reporters during a visit to Berlin. "Once that is achieved all things are possible," he added, in a comment that was consistent with Saudi Arabia's previous stance on the issue. Saudi Arabia has long maintained this public stance even as it has cultivated clandestine relations with Israel in recent years, in a shift spearheaded by de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Prince Faisal's remarks are the kingdom's first official reaction since the UAE's landmark deal with Israel, which is only the third such accord the Jewish state has struck with an Arab country after Egypt and Jordan. At a news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Prince Faisal reiterated criticism of Israel's "unilateral policies" of annexation and building settlements in the occupied West Bank as "illegitimate" and "detrimental" to a two-state solution. But he also voiced cautious optimism over last week's deal, which saw Israel agreeing to suspend the annexation of occupied West Bank territories, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said the plan was not off the table in the long run. Story continues "Any efforts that result in holding back the threat of annexation could be viewed as positive," Prince Faisal said. - 'Biggest constraint' - Until now, Saudi Arabia had maintained a notable silence over last week's agreement even as local officials hinted that Riyadh was unlikely to immediately follow in the footsteps of the UAE, its principle regional ally. Amping up US pressure on the kingdom, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner insisted on Monday that it would be in Riyadh's interest to formally establish ties with Israel. Further putting the kingdom in the spotlight, Netanyahu on Monday said Israel was working on opening a corridor over Saudi Arabia for flights to the UAE. But Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy and home to Islam's holiest sites, faces more sensitive political calculations than the UAE. Not only would a formal recognition of Israel be seen by Palestinians and their supporters as a betrayal of their cause, it would also hurt the kingdom's image as the leader of the Islamic world. "The notion that Saudi Arabia will be next to normalise relations with Israel was far-fetched," said Aziz Alghashian, a lecturer at Essex University specialising in the kingdom's policy towards Israel. "The biggest constraint for Saudi-Israeli normalisation is not the fear of a domestic and regional backlash. "Rather, Saudi Arabia deems it necessary to not normalise relations outside the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative that called for resolving the Palestinian issue, if it still wants to be seen as the leader of the Muslim and Arab world," Alghashian told AFP. In 2002 Saudi Arabia sponsored the Arab Peace Initiative which called for Israel's complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied after the Six-Day War of 1967, in exchange for peace and the full normalisation of relations. But a shared animosity towards Iran, along with Saudi attempts to attract foreign investment to fund Prince Mohammed's ambitious Vision 2030 economic diversification plan, appear to be pushing the kingdom closer to Israel than ever. In 2018 Riyadh quietly opened its airspace for the first time for an Israel-bound passenger plane. Riyadh has also pursued a bold outreach to Jewish figures in recent years, even as it appears wary of a public backlash. dlc-ac/hkb Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night, as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his party's all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Biden, who had sought the presidency twice before and is now cemented as the embodiment of Democrats' desperate desire to defeat President Donald Trump this fall. The roll call of convention delegates formalized what has been clear for months since Biden took the lead in the primary elections' chase for the nomination. It came as he worked to demonstrate the breadth of his coalition for a second consecutive night, this time blending support from his party's elders and fresher faces to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad. Also read: US Elections 2020: Ex-First Lady Michelle Obama rips into Trump, calls him 'wrong President' Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, also made an appearance. Donald Trump says we're leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple, Clinton said. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Tuesday's speaking programme underscored Biden's challenge as he seeks to inspire a new generation of voters. While the Democratic leaders of yesteryear can point to experience and achievement, many of them are aging white men. Just 77 days before the election, Biden has neither history nor enthusiasm on his side. Just one incumbent president has been defeated in the last four decades. And Biden's supporters consistently report that they're motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden, a 77-year-old lifelong politician. Also read: US Election 2020: Biden campaign raises $48 million in 48 hours after picking Kamala Harris as VP choice That deficit could hurt turnout among less consistent voters, particularly minorities and younger voters, whom Biden needs to show up in great numbers this fall. Biden formally captured his party's presidential nomination Tuesday night after being nominated by three people, including two Delaware lawmakers and 31-year-old African American security guard who became a viral sensation after blurting out I love you to Biden in a New York City elevator. Delegates from across the country then pledged their support for Biden in a video montage that featured Democrats in places like Alabama's Edmund Pettis Bridge, a beach in Hawaii and the headwaters of the Mississippi River. In the opening of the convention's second night, a collection of younger Democrats, including former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were given a few minutes to shine. But overall, there was little room on Tuesday's program for the younger stars of the party's far-left wing. In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve, said Abrams, 46, who emerged as a national player during her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018 and was among those considered to be Biden's running mate. Biden is fighting unprecedented logistical challenges to deliver his message during an all-virtual convention this week as the coronavirus epidemic continues to claim hundreds of American lives each day and wreaks havoc on the economy. The former vice president was becoming his party's nominee as a prerecorded roll call vote from delegates in all 50 states airs, and the four-day convention will culminate on Thursday when he accepts that nomination inside a mostly empty Delaware convention hall. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, will become the first woman of color to accept a major party's vice presidential nomination on Wednesday. Also read: Kamala Harris once asked Chennai aunt to break coconuts for luck Until then, Biden is presenting what he sees as the best of his sprawling coalition to the American electorate in a format unlike any other in history. There is no live audience for any of the speakers, who have so far delivered their remarks standing or seated alone in mostly prerecorded videos. For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans. Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in years past, was endorsing the Democratic candidate. In a video released ahead of his speech, he said, Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family. For Joe Biden, that doesn't need teaching. Powell joins the widow of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who was expected to stop short of a formal endorsement but talk about the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared. While there have been individual members of the opposing party featured at presidential conventions before, a half dozen Republicans, including the former two-term governor of Ohio, have now spoken for Democrat Biden. No one on the programme Tuesday night has a stronger connection to the Democratic nominee than his wife, Jill Biden, a longtime teacher, was speaking from her former classroom at Brandywine High School near the family home in Wilmington, Delaware. Also read: US Presidential Elections 2020: Trump campaign creates alliances to woo Indian-American, South Asian voters Yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a damning, dense, bipartisan report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the Trump campaigns ties to it. The report describes the conduct of Paul Manafort, Trumps onetime campaign manager, as a grave counterintelligence threat; identifies Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime Manafort associate, as a Russian intelligence officer who may have been involved in the hack of Democrats emails; concludes that Trump did communicate with Roger Stone, his jailed-then-freed consigliere, about WikiLeakss handling of those emails, even though Trump told Robert Mueller that he didnt; and devotes pages to Trumps liaison with women including a former Miss Moscow. Like Muellers before it, the report stops short of alleging a coordinated conspiracybut, in the words of the Washington Post, it attributes this conclusion more to ineptitude than any principled commitment to the sanctity of American democracy. (Republicans on the committee used the technicality to parrot Trumps no collusion catchphrase, and contradicted their own work in the process.) The Senate report, many journalists agreed, went substantially beyond Muellers findings. The Mueller report was not as clearly written as this Senate document, every word of which was signed off on by Republican Trump allies, Ken Dilanian, a national security reporter at NBC, wrote. That is not a ringing endorsement of the Mueller report. In progressive corners of Twitter, a related narrative took holdthat Mueller ultimately failed to make his case sufficiently damning and clear. On MSNBC, Nicolle Wallace asked Andrew Weissmann, who worked on the Mueller report and is now an MSNBC analyst, whether Muellers team had failed to stop Trump. Weissmann replied that stopping Trump hadnt been in the Special Counsels purview. Online, other legal pundits, including Asha Rangappa, of Yale, made a similar point. ICYMI: Calling out your colleagues on Twitter can get results. But it also has risks. As Mueller slowly (by the impatient standards of 24/7 news, at least) went about his work, speculation about the secrets he may have been privy to rampaged through a frenzied news cycle. Last spring, the weeks in between Attorney General William Barrs confirmation that Mueller was finished (which was accompanied by a misleading summary of Muellers key findings) and the release of the report itself ratcheted up the suspense to Hollywood levels, as media outlets readied themselves for a race to find the most scandalous segments. Muellers report contained much that was very damning, but his specific mandate and legalistic way of doing business were, ultimately, never likely to match our expectations. Just over a year ago, Mueller appeared before Congress; we prayed loudly for a belated injection of drama, but Mueller stuck to his script. The pundit class concluded that hed bombed, and agreed that there was no longer much to see here. Yesterdays Senate report, by contrast, landed with an unexpected jolt in a very different media context. As the day progressed, we caught glimpses of obsessions past, especially on cable news. It also, however, underscored how much the texture of the news cycle has changed since then. At the time, the Mueller cycle felt high-stakes and hectic; in hindsight, it looks more like an appetizer for all the chaos that has followed. Back then, Trumps possible impeachment was seen as the mythic apotheosis of the Mueller arc; today, weve been there and done that (for reasons that, on the surface at least, had little to do with Mueller) and accountability did not ensue. The pandemic has loaded todays news with the sobering weight of thousands of deaths, which can be feltin our collective fatigue, in the increasingly introspective tenor of our coverage, and beyondeven when we arent discussing them overtly. And Trumps misconduct has, somehow, only grown more brazen over time. The pretense that his darkest deeds lurk in shadowy corners beyond public view has become harder and harder to sustain. In recent days, the latter reality has exploded into a huge scandal about the Postal Service. Trump said last week that he would decline to provide the USPS with extra funding because he didnt want the money used to process mail-in ballots; since then, tales of missing mail-sorting machines and public collection boxes, service delays, cronyism, and apparent conflicts of interest have fused with Trumps admission to drive an urgent news cycle across the mainstream media. Yesterday, a dam broke: Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general (and leading GOP donor), said that the USPS would suspend cost-saving measures, including the removal of machines, until after the election, to avoid even the appearance of meddling. Congressional Democrats insisted that DeJoy must reversenot merely suspendthe policies in question. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Also yesterday, we learned that DeJoy, who was already slated to testify before a Democratic-controlled House panel next week, will appear before the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday. That looks like an effort at spin; indeed, Ron Johnson, the Republican senator who chairs the committee, said yesterday that he was inviting DeJoy to tell his side of the story before he appeared before a hostile House committee. Johnson has been no stranger to spin of latehes currently leading an investigation into the intelligence communitys conduct around its 2016 Russian-interference probe and the period between the 2016 election and Trump becoming president. Last week, Johnson said his probe would certainly help Trump win reelection. Johnson is also still digging for dirt on the Biden family and Ukraine. Democrats and outside analysts, including Rangappa, have accused Johnson of indulging Russian disinformation tactics. (He denies this.) These and other similar gambitsincluding a separate investigation, tied to the origins of the 2016 Russia probe, thats being led by the prosecutor John Durham and has been hyped by Barrare set to come out before election day. And, as intelligence officials recently acknowledged, the specter of Russian election interference isnt merely historictheyre trying to do it this year, too. (The officials also said that China wants Biden to win, but does not pose a Russia-sized meddling threat.) Taken together, these storiesplus the Mueller and Senate Intelligence reports, plus the mess at the USPS and Trumps war on mail-in votingall add up to one knotty story, spanning four years and multiple countries, about the basic integrity of our elections. Its not yet clear which threads of this story historians will choose to emphasize when they look back on the Trump presidency. Perhaps theyll view Mueller, as many of us have come to, as a warm-up act, or perhaps theyll see him as a central character. (Historians love a good espionage caper.) The centrality of the USPS scandal will likely be defined by what happens in November. All we can do, right now, is hold all these threats in mind at once, ignore the information warfare raging around them, isolate those that pose the gravest immediate risk, and yell about them. Without media pressure, DeJoy wouldnt have backed down yesterday. Thats a first step, but theres much more to be done to ensure that the USPS and mail-in voting run smoothly. And the election still faces many other threats, both foreign and domestic. We must be hyper-vigilant. Below, more on the election: Other notable stories: ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump? Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist 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. 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... Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long has warned the country looks set to face new COVID-19 hotspots in the community in the coming days and urged localities to stay vigilant to quickly detect new infections. Residents in Cau Giay District, Hanoi who visited Da Nang between July 15 and 29, wait for their turns for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday. The city will continue to give the tests to more than 50,000 returnees from Da Nang. VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Dat Speaking at a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Monday, Long cited northern Hai Duong City as a hotspot of community transmission with 11 cases confirmed so far, all linked to a restaurant on Ngo Quyen Street. The infection source started from the restaurant in late July. The coronavirus strain detected in Hai Duong is similar to the SARS-CoV-2 in central Da Nang City. There will be more new locally-transmitted cases in Hai Duong in the coming days, he said. About 800 people linked to Hai Duong were identified as having direct contact with positive cases and as many as 2,000 people in the city have been tested tests. The city will also test people who had direct contact with positive cases. Long asked the city to test people in high-risk areas as well as medical workers, patients at hospitals and clinics, focusing on tracing, zoning off and taking samples as quickly as possible. With 11 cases linked to Da Nang, Hanoi has given PCR tests to more than 28,000 returnees from the central city and will continue to conduct the tests on a wider scale. Long said the hotspots in Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province were expected to be contained in late August. The daily number of new cases detected in those areas had reduced from 20 cases between August 3 and 8 to 10 cases from August 10 to 17. Experts had issued high-level warnings for community transmission but in many places, people hadn't strictly followed pandemic prevention regulations, he said, urging drastic measures to slow the transmission rate and limit infection sources. As Vietnam was facing COVID-19 community transmission risks, medical experts at the meeting proposed increasing the pandemic alert level, especially in urban areas and densely-populated places. The ministry also urged people to download the Bluezone app to quickly and accurately detect people likely to be COVID-19 patients and declare their health status on the NCOVI app. Vaccine The Ministry of Health announced at the meeting the authority had ordered vaccines created by Russia, which would have to follow Vietnamese vaccine testing procedures for use in the country. The imported vaccine, before being used in Vietnam, does not need testing on animals but needs clinical trials on humans to ensure its safety. This process will take six months to several years before the vaccine is widely applied, said Associate Professor Tran Dac Phu, a senior advisor of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre. Medical experts highlighted that before vaccines or effective treatment, people must stay vigilant and safely cohabit with the pandemic. According to Long, since July 25, Vietnam conducted more than 342,000 Realtime RT-PCR tests. Testing capacity at health care facilities has increased by 10 to 40 per cent. The health ministry ordered central-level hospitals to set up laboratories with high testing capacity to assist localities. The Steering Committee and the health ministry agreed not to permit paid COVID-19 testing services. Health care facilities which violate the regulation will be penalised. VNS Seven more Covid-19 cases confirmed, one in Hanoi This morning the Ministry of Health announced that seven new cases were diagnosed with Covid-19, including 6 community infections and one returnee from the Philippines, bringing the infection tally to 983. L abour shadow ministers have accused exam regulators of using an "unlawful" system to work out students' A-level grades. Grades were first assigned last week by exams regulator Ofqual, using an algorithm that moderated the results that teachers had predicted for students, based on previous grades and their school's performance in recent years. But thousands of students, many of whom were from disadvantaged backgrounds, found themselves with much worse grades than expected. After days of public outrage from across the political spectrum and student protests, results went back to grades predicted by teachers on Monday. But Labour Shadow Attorney General Lord Falconer of Thoroton has argued that the system itself was unlawful on at least three counts, in a joint letter with Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green addressed to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and Ofqual boss Sally Collier. Lord Falconer (Jonathan Brady/PA ) / Jonathan Brady/PA The letter says: If the system involves in essence no more than the teachers putting their students in order and then an algorithm assigning grades to the students based principally on the grades students in previous years in that institution achieved, it does not accurately reflect that students level of knowledge skill and understanding. A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures 1 /26 A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) REUTERS Students from Codsall Community High School march to the constituency office of their local MP Gavin Williamson, who is also the Education Secretary, as a protest over the continuing issues of last week's A level results which saw some candidates receive lower-than-expected grades after their exams were cancelled as a result of coronavirus. PA An A level student reacts during a protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results. PA People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results PA Olivia Styles, 18, from Basingtoke, sets her A-level results on fire during peaceful protest in Parliament Square PA An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, REUTERS LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 16: Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA Ofqual acknowledge this is what they have done by expressly accepting that CAG (centre-assessed grades) is secondary to standardisation. This is clearly not in compliance with objective one, and therefore cannot allow for a proper comparison with other boards or years, because there is no proper assessment of this years students. It continues: Separately it is inherently unfair not to have any right of appeal against the grade awarded, beyond errors of application in the system. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson / PA They should have the right to complain they were wrongly graded on the merits. The decision is so important to their life chances. That is a second unlawfulness. There will be a mass of discriminatory impacts by operating the process on the basis of reflecting the previous years results from their institutions. It is bound to disadvantage a whole range of groups with protected characteristics, in breach of a range of anti-discrimination legislation. That is a third unlawfulness. It comes after Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), demanded that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson launch a review into the results process to rebuild trust after the fiasco left public confidence... badly shaken. Student protesters / PA He said: It seems to be clear that the statistical model for moderating centre-assessed grades was flawed and that it produced many anomalous results. "But how did this happen, why were the problems not foreseen, and why were ministers not on top of this? Most importantly, what lessons can we learn for the future? Mr Barton's call for a review comes after the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and the Commons Education Select Committee both launched investigations into what went wrong with this years exam results. The OSR said its review will consider to what extent Ofqual's system was in line with the UK's statistics code of practice, but will not look at individual results or make a judgement on how to award grades without exams. A student protester / AFP via Getty Images Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, called the situation an absolute disgrace and said his panel will launch an inquiry after MPs come back from the summer recess. He told Times Radio: We need to also ask very deep questions as well as to whether Ofqual is fit for purpose in its current role, or whether it needs to be completely integrated into the department so you know for sure who is behind the decision making. Mr Williamson said that Ofqual didnt deliver the right grading system despite the Government being reassured it would be in place. Mr Williamson has apologised to students but has repeatedly refused to say if he will resign. A student protester / Getty Images New polling figures show backing for the Conservative party has dropped markedly in the past week, when the results chaos took place. YouGov found that found that public support for the Conservatives dropped from 44 per cent to 40 per cent in just a week. The Tories' slide happened as backing for Labour rose from 35 per cent to 38 per cent over the same period, the poll claimed. Doug Emhoff, whose wife, Kamala D. Harris, is to set to become the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is taking a leave of absence from his law firm, where he has worked for an array of powerful clients, including those his boss described as "some of the biggest names in Hollywood." Emhoff, 55, is an attorney at the Los Angeles office of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms. Emhoff represented "large domestic and international corporations and some of today's highest profile individuals and influencers in complex business, real estate and intellectual property litigation disputes," the firm said on its website. "Doug's influence and achievements as an insider across many spectrums has made him one of California's go-to lawyers for several decades." If Emhoff returns to his job, that description would raise questions about whether any of his work would conflict with federal policy that could be influenced by Harris if she is elected vice president. Emhoff's leave was announced by the firm. Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University who specializes in ethics, said after reviewing Emhoff's credentials on the DLA Piper website that he would need to be careful to ensure that he doesn't put himself in a position where clients may try to influence Harris by hiring him. "What you don't want is for DLA Piper to become the law firm version of the Trump hotel in D.C., where people go and pay tribute," Clark said. A spokesman for the firm did not return a call seeking comment. Unlike other federal officials who are directly subject to a criminal prohibition on financial conflicts, the president and vice president are exempt, Clark said. Nonetheless, if Harris is elected vice president, she could be subject to questions about whether her husband was receiving benefits from foreign governments, just as Trump has been the subject of lawsuits based on the Constitution's emoluments clause on grounds that his company has profited due to his position as president. In addition, Clark said, the public may become concerned if Harris became involved in federal matters that her husband had worked on as a lawyer or from which he would derive financial benefit. "You don't want federal officials exercising discretion in a way to benefit the vice president's spouse or his clients," Clark said. Don Fox, who served as general counsel and acting director of the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration, noted that federal law does not require Emhoff to disclose his clients. By comparison, an individual who has been nominated for a federal position would have to disclose clients who paid at least $5,000, he said. "I'm sure it never occurred to drafters of that law in 1978 that a partner in a major international law firm would be the spouse of a president or vice president," Fox said. "It is probably worth Congress taking another look" at the law. Harris, in introducing herself last week as Joe Biden's running mate, said she "cannot wait for America to get know my husband, Doug." The two met on a blind date set up by one of Harris's close friends and married in 2014, when Harris was California's attorney general. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. The Biden-Harris campaign declined to comment, including about whether Emhoff would leave the firm if Harris is elected. The campaign did not make Emhoff available for an interview. In an example of how a spouse's work can reflect on a candidate, the Associated Press reported last year that Emhoff headlined a fundraiser for Harris's campaign that was hosted by partners of a firm she had criticized on the same day for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein was accused of molesting underage girls and pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution. Epstein killed himself last year while in federal custody in New York, authorities say. Throughout the Trump presidency, critics have raised questions about whether his company or one that had been run by his son-in-law Jared Kushner have benefited from the administration's decisions. The White House has said such questions are unwarranted, but Trump has declined to release his tax returns. Harris released her tax returns during her presidential bid last year. They showed that she and husband had earned about $1.9 million in 2018. Some of Emhoff's work remains private because the parties reach a settlement, and he also serves as a strategic adviser to companies and individuals. In what may be his most-publicized case, Emhoff represented Taco Bell's former advertising agency regarding the origin of a campaign that involved using a Chihuahua to market the fast-food chain's products. The advertising agency was initially subject to a $42 million judgment against it, but Emhoff successfully argued that the penalty should be paid by Taco Bell. In describing Emhoff's work, his law firm listed cases without providing the names of clients. They included defending a "global retailer" in a class-action suit related to the collection of consumers' personal information; representing a "global manufacturer of workplace products" regarding trademark infringement; and defending a studio executive in a breach of contract related to a "blockbuster film." Emhoff told the Hollywood Reporter last year that his legal career took off after he began representing clients in the entertainment industry, including Hollywood Video and dozens of productions companies. He co-founded a firm in Beverly Hills in 2000 that eventually was bought by the law firm Venable in 2007. He left that firm three years ago to join DLA Piper, where he is a partner specializing in intellectual property, technology, media, sports and entertainment. When Emhoff joined DLA Piper, the firm's global co-chairman, Roger Meltzer said, without providing specifics, that "Doug has served as litigation counsel and trusted advisor for some of the biggest names in Hollywood and across the entertainment, media and sports spectrum." In a 2011 interview with Law360, Emhoff said the most challenging lawsuit he had worked on involved representing investors "who were conned out of millions of dollars by a now-convicted felon." He filed suit against a bank for allowing money to be transferred overseas without approval. He called that "a classic example of David versus Goliath" that ultimately was settled. Asked to describe his worst mistake, Emhoff recounted that he once said his opposing counsel was a liar, leading the judge to criticize him in open court. In a lesson that could be applicable during his wife's campaign, he said, "I realized then that you don't lose your cool, ever, and just file away the information to be used at the appropriate time, in an appropriate manner." - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites and Michelle Ye Hee Lee contributed to this report. Senator Chuck Grassley was in Davenport Tuesday, touring the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. Sporting a face covering with images of corn on it, Iowa's senior senator fielded questions from the media after his tour. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump approved part of Gov. Kim Reynolds' emergency declaration funding request for aid after the derecho storm Aug. 10. Trump did not fund financial assistance for individuals in 27 counties who suffered an estimated $82.7 million in damage to homes and property, or farmers who had an estimated $3.77 billion in damage to farm land, grain bins and buildings, or private utilities, who Reynolds said needed $100 million. Grassley said damage is being evaluated and without a doubt, were going to qualify for individual assistance. But assessing the damage to farms is going to take a long time, he said. Ive never seen anything this bad. In the past, Ive seen a few acres, maybe even a few miles of flat corn, but I have never seen hundreds of miles of flat corn, he said, adding he has surveyed damage from Boone to Cedar Rapids in recent days. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 10:11:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The national security law in Hong Kong will help Hong Kong participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and integrate into national development, said Xie Feng, commissioner of the Chinese foreign ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The law plugs national security loopholes in Hong Kong and will usher Hong Kong into a new phase of implementing "one country, two systems," Xie said Tuesday at an online forum on Hong Kong-Indonesia business opportunities. Hong Kong will be able to focus on developing the economy, improving people's livelihood and further integrating into national development, which will provide global investors with a safer, stabler and more predictable business environment and brighter prospects for cooperation, Xie said. The central government and the Chinese people will always be the firm backing of Hong Kong in the face of challenges, no matter the COVID-19 epidemic or the so-called "sanctions" imposed by foreign countries, Xie said. HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam, vice-minister of foreign affairs of Indonesia Mahendra Siregar, and Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian delivered speeches at the forum. The online forum was jointly held by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the HKSAR government and the consulate general of Indonesia in Hong Kong, assisted by the commissioner's office. The forum gathered more than 900 business leaders and professionals from Hong Kong and Indonesia. Enditem It takes a certain kind of documentary to make sifting through old papers look exciting, but in Coup 53, the director Taghi Amirani sets an expectation of suspense early on. Visiting the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the filmmaker, who also serves as an on-camera M.C., looks at an ordinary file cabinet and sees documents that essentially changed the fate of my country. Born in Iran and educated in Britain, Amirani, who has worked mainly in television, took about a decade to make Coup 53, and that obsessive quality is palpable in the film. His goal: to shine new light on British involvement in the 1953 coup that overthrew Mohammad Mossadegh, then the prime minister of Iran. (The films release date, Aug. 19, is the anniversary of the overthrow.) Skillfully interweaving Amiranis own hunt for information with a detailed account of the steps leading to Mossadeghs ouster, the film does a remarkable job of matching archival footage from a wide array of sources and years. Across time and space, a single, consistent story emerges. For a narrative shrouded in subterfuge, thats a considerable achievement. That Britain, whose oil interests were thrown into question by Mossadeghs push to nationalize the industry, had involvement in the coup hardly qualifies as a secret. And the United Statess participation has been acknowledged to varying degrees: In 2000, James Risen of The New York Times reported on the C.I.A.s secret history of the coup. A parishioner enters St. Michael Roman Catholic Church on Sunday. The Rev. Arturo Chagala made major changes to church's interior ripping out wooden pews and altar rails and covering the marble floors in bright red carpeting without consulting parishioners or the Archdiocese. Read more For the last 12 years, Donna Panno, who leads the singing for Sunday Mass at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church in North Philadelphia, sat in the first pew. It was the same pew in which her mother, now 91, fainted as a 6-year-old from a fever. But while St. Michael was closed because of the pandemic between March and early June, that pew, along with many others, was ripped from the historic churchs hardwood floors, the altar rails removed. The center-aisle marble floor down which members and their parents before them had marched to be married as well as the hardwood floors beneath the remaining pews were covered in bright red carpeting. It all happened under the direction of the Rev. Arturo Chagala, who, since 2014 has led both the traditional Catholic congregation at the church, at Second and Jefferson Streets, as well as the members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, an evangelical ministry thats been acknowledged by the Vatican since 2008 and that at St. Michael comprises about 10% of the almost 250 parishioners. Word spread as photos were shared on Facebook. When I showed my mom the pictures, said Panno, a hospital surgical coordinator who lives in Bucks County, she said to me, You get my wheelchair and you get me down to that church. Im going to let him have it. READ MORE: Black members of St. Charles Borromeo Church in South Philly allege racism and will protest to declare their parish lives matter The uproar marked the second instance this summer where members of a Catholic parish have publicly condemned a Neo-Catechumenal Way leader for major overhauls of their sanctuaries without their input, exposing a growing rift between longtime parishioners and Neo-Catechumenal members. At St. Charles Borromeo in South Philadelphia, parishioners have taken to public protests, alleging that the Rev. Esteban Granyak made renovations to the chapel without consulting its longtime, predominantly Black, parishioners. Among other changes, he converted the basement gym into a separate worship space for Neo-Catechumenal followers, even though its longtime members used it to gather for repasts after funerals. Also, the marble altar railings used when kneeling for prayer or Communion were removed. Granyak did not return calls for comment, and neither did Chagala, the parochial administrator for St. Michael. In a June 20 letter to the St. Michael parish, Chagala conceded he had made renovations without a broad consultation with parishioners or permission from the archdiocese. Archbishop Nelson J. Perez was frank and clear about his deep concerns with regard to these renovations and directed a pathway to move forward, Chagala wrote in the letter, which he read aloud at a Sunday service and now is posted on the church website. He promised that some aspects of the interior of the church would be restored as much as possible. Parishioners were told that would happen by Sept. 11, but many have doubts, as changes have yet to be made, said Stuart Brian, the churchs former organist. (Brian retired after Chagala sent him a May 28 email that when the church reopened in June, his services would no longer be needed on a regular basis.) I apologize for all of the upset, Chagala concluded in the letter. I am hopeful that, together with all of you, we can move forward from this moment. A recent meeting between Granyak and parishioners at St. Charles was postponed after concerns he had been exposed to COVID-19, according to Kenneth Gavin, an archdiocesan spokesperson. Architectural vandalism Architectural historian Oscar Beisert said his blood boiled when he saw pictures of the remodeled St. Michael sanctuary. Although its historic designation by the city only protects a buildings exterior, he called the changes a travesty. He took a classically beautiful building and vandalized it, he said. I call it architectural vandalism. An archdiocesan spokesperson wrote in an email that it is believed that everything removed from the sanctuary of Saint Michaels Church is still on the property, and Perez is considering next steps for both St. Michael and St. Charles. Reverend Arturo Chagalas letter to the Saint Michael Parish community is accurate, the spokesperson wrote. Archbishop Perez delegated a liturgical expert to visit each church [St. Michaels and St. Charles Borromeo] and report back to him on what the renovations entailed. Who are the Neo-Catechumens? Also known as the Way, NCW, " or the Neo-Cats, the Neo-Catechumenal Way began in Spain in 1964 and was approved by the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI as a return to the traditions of the early church and to resist the secularization of society. Followers often worship in small groups, and commit to sharing the Catholic faith. They have become one of the most vital and biggest and most interesting new Catholic movements, said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of historical theology at Villanova University. READ MORE: An evangelical Catholic movement inspires commitment, stirs controversy The communities are usually invited to parishes with declining memberships, and followers are mostly lay missionary families, who tend to have many children and they tend to move to other countries to serve in a missionary endeavor, he said. In 2014, then-Archbishop Charles J. Chaput invited two missionary families to live at St. Michael and at St. Charles. There are Neo-Catechumenal communities in about 15 parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a spokesperson said, with 20 to 25 lay leaders each. Some parishes have more than one community. Yet the Way has become controversial, and adherents have clashed with more traditional bishops and parishes around the world, said Faggioli, author of two books discussing the movement. Their style is quite assertive and aggressive in relations with local churches, he said, adding that members of the Way usually worship apart from the traditional parish. Those [Neo-Catechumenal] liturgies tend to not be opened to other Catholics, which is, theologically, very problematic, Faggioli said. If theres an opportunity to take over a local church and parish, [they think], We are going to do it, and we are going to do it without any doubt. It will be done. At the same time, Faggioli said, the Vatican supports Neo-Catechumenals because without them, the Catholic Church would see even sharper declines in attendance. Gavin, the archdiocesan spokesperson, responded: Any claim regarding the Way taking over a parish is baseless. The Catholic Church embraces and celebrates diversity while maintaining focus on what unites us as a family of hope and faith the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Further, Gavin said, parishioners who are not part of the Way are welcomed to attend their Saturday evening celebrations: The Neo-Catechumenal Way is a distinct charism within the Roman Catholic Church that is sanctioned by the Vatican, Gavin wrote in an email. Its liturgical celebrations have some elements that are different from what parishioners would traditionally experience. Neo-Catechumenal followers have worshiped without controversy at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Holmesburg for more than 25 years. We have no problems, said Patricia Aberle, a longtime member. We respect them, but we dont infringe. They do their thing. They do a wonderful job. They go into the community to meet with the people. They pray and read the Bible. They are like apostles. They go out and evangelize, she said. At St. Dominic, though, a pastor, the Rev. Edward T. Kearns, leads the parish. At St. Charles and St. Michael, parochial administrators trained in the Neo-Catechumenal Way lead the parishes. Diane Benson, a St. Dominic member for 18 years, attended St. Michael as a child. She helped plan the school reunion last year, and was among those who alerted the archdiocese about the renovations. She said she wont set foot in there again until it is restored to the church she remembers: Everybody is heartbroken that this happened. When she saw the pictures, she said, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. A long family legacy Pannos ties to St. Michael span four generations: Her great-grandmother, an Irish immigrant, worshiped there in the late 1800s. Her mother baptized seven of her eight children at St. Michael. And before the pandemic, her mother was still attending church occasionally despite her bad knees. For Panno, like others, the sanctuary held generations of family memories: of marriages, baptisms, confirmations and funerals. Now theyre seeing those memories discarded, literally, as some of the pews were piled up outside, exposed to the elements. They came in and tore the church apart, Panno said. How do you take a church thats belonged to people whose families have been here 70, 80 years, and force me out? Hundreds of people wait in line for hours at a downtown Brooklyn office for their EBT Food Stamp cards in New York City on May 12, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) IRS Warns People Must Pay Taxes on Unemployment Compensation Americans who receive unemployment payments are being warned that the compensation is taxable. Federal law dictates that unemployment compensation is taxable and must be reported on a 2020 federal income tax return. Taxable benefits include any enhanced payments from the CARES Act or from President Donald Trumps recent executive order. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials are advising people to consider having taxes withheld from the payments to avoid a tax-time surprise. Witholding is voluntary. A recipient can choose to have 10 percent withheld from the benefits, which will cover all or part of the tax liability, depending on their yearly income and other factors. To have taxes withheld, people should fill out a Form W-4V (pdf) and give it to the agency thats doling out the payments. Another option is making quarterly estimated tax payments. For more information on that option, the IRS advises looking at Form 1040-ES and Publication 505. Recipients who return to work before the end of the year can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to make sure they are having enough tax taken out of their pay. The number of Americans filing jobless claims went to near-record highs earlier this year, though such claims fell below 1 million for the week ending Aug. 8. A boost of $600 per week to the unemployed was part of the CARES Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by Trump in March. Those enhanced payments ended in late July. The Internal Revenue Service Headquarters (IRS) Building in Washington on March 8, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Trump signed an executive order earlier in August giving states the option of adding $400 a week to payments, if the states provided a quarter of the funds. That option was later adjusted to $300, if state leaders preferred not to pay any of the money. The offer has been accepted by some states, declined by others. It is still being considered by some. Negotiations over a fresh stimulus bill have stalled, with Democrats preferring a larger package and Republicans desiring more narrow legislation. A small group of House Democrats are trying to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to pursue a bill that focuses on extending federal unemployment benefits. We owe it to people waiting to get back to work across the country not only to extend unemployment benefits to help them pay their bills, but to tie these benefits to economic conditions so workers are not held hostage by another cliff like this one, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Pelosi. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the White House is open to a so-called skinny bill that includes Post Office funding, but we want included in there relief for the American people that thus far Speaker Pelosi has been entirely uninterested in, including another round of stimulus checks. Tom Ozimek and Jack Phillips contributed to this report. Weve come together with our clients, employees and partners to forge a community of trusting and supportive relationships that are unmatched in the industry." Inc. magazine today revealed that E2 Optics is No. 3416 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, Yelp and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. Our team is excited, humbled and fortunate to have sustained the growth that results in remaining part of this distinguished community, said Kristi Alford CEO and Founder of E2 Optics. Weve come together with our clients, employees and partners to forge a community of trusting and supportive relationships that are unmatched in the industry. Were proud of that uniqueness because it allows us to deliver value to the market that has become the driving force behind our growth and leadership position. E2 Optics is being engaged by some of the largest global companies to undertake challenging and necessary projects that invest for a better future, adds Ed Thompson, COO and Co-Founder. Our growth means our clients are growing, and that has allowed all of us to to create jobs during these difficult times. That brings us a tremendous sense of purpose and passion for our clients and for the American economy. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 18. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. About E2 Optics E2 Optics is an award-winning, Woman-Owned Integrated Solutions Provider headquartered in Denver, Colorado, specializing in emerging technologies, integrated communications, networking, and media solutions. E2 Optics provides turnkey, mission critical services, installations and operational solutions for government and enterprise customers. Our service portfolio includes structured cabling, audio visual and video, electronic physical security, wireless and DAS solutions. Our certified engineers attention to safety, solution design, and installation yields efficiencies and cost reductions unachievable through other providers. As a result, our clients achieve high returns on investments. E2 Optics supports Enterprise and Federal Government market sectors as an SBA (8a) certified and WBENC certified WOSB company. Founded in 2010. E2 Optics has become the leading industry visionary and one of the fastest growing technology integrators in the United States. Media Contact: Gary Iles, Marketing marketing@e2optics.com More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multi-platform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. ## Biden officially nominated as partys candidate to take on Donald Trump in November race for White House. US Democrats opened the second night of their convention with voices from across the partys politic divide. Moderates like John Kerry and progressive star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will made appearances. Response to the first night was positive from many Democratic loyalists, but some criticised its lack of policy proposals and time given to prominent Republicans supporting Biden. Two former US presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, spoke. Carter, an elderly one-term president, is widely respected. Clinton is remembered fondly by many, though his association with convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein has caused some controversy, though no allegations of impropriety have been levelled against Clinton. Jill Biden, wife of presumptive nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, delivered the final speech highlighting their familys struggle after Biden accepted the nomination. Heres what happened: Tuesday, August 18 02:55 GMT Jill Biden makes case for her husband based on his humanity through loss Dr Jill Biden, married to the former vice president since 1977, highlighted the story of the Biden family as part of her pitch for the US to elect her husband as she walked through an empty high school where she previously taught, highlighting the cost of the coronavirus pandemic in the US. The Bidens had to navigate the loss of Joes first wife and daughter with their two young, suriving sons. In tender moment, Joe Biden embraces Jill Biden following her keynote #DemConvention remarks. "I'm Jill Biden's husbandYou can see why she's the love of my life and the rock of our family." https://t.co/g2aifw44ZR pic.twitter.com/yEM18SMx2l ABC News (@ABC) August 19, 2020 How do you make a broken family whole? Jill found herself asking at age 26. We figured it out together. Jill said you mend a broken family with the same way you mend a divided, with love. The Bidens again had to deal with loss again when their son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 of cancer. After our son Beau died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again. Four days after Beaus death, Jill said she watched her husband steel himself to return to public life. He does it for you, Jill said. I know that if we entrust this nation for Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours. Bring us together, and make us whole. 02:38 GMT Former State Secretary Colin Powell endorses Biden Former Secretary of State and four-star General Colin Powell, a prominent Republican, endorsed Biden after the the vice president accepted the Democratic nomination. Our country needs a commander-in-chief who takes care of his troops the same way he would his own family, Powell said. Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute. In this image from video made available before the start of the convention, former Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) [Daylife] Powell, who spoke after a series of national security and military officials, said that Trump had diminished the US on the world stage. Biden will restore relations with important allies, Powell said. After Powell finished his address, Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Republican Senator John McCain spoke about her husbands longlasting friendship with Biden. McCain stressed that Biden can disagree with people on the issues while still caring for them, personally. 02:20 GMT Biden formally nominated as Democrats 2020 candidate Biden formally nominated with the majority of votes at the second night of the DNC. Biden received the nomination in a roll call across America, which saw Democratic delegates and normal people from all 50 states and seven territories of the US cast the majority of votes for the former vice president. It is the honor of my life to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America. #DemConvention Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 19, 2020 It means the world to me and my family, Biden said as he accepted the nomination standing next to his wife. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Delaware, Bidens homestate, was the last to pledge their votes. The various speakers spoke about Bidens plans to further economic equality, contain the coronavirus pandemic, combat climate change and unite the US. All of them referred to Biden as the next president of the United States. 01:45 GMT AOC nominates Sanders in DNC speech Progressive star Representative Ocasio-Cortez addressed the DNC to second the nomination of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ahead of the roll call vote to nominate Biden. In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America, Ocasio-Cortez said, following former President of the United Auto Workers Bob King nominated Sanders. https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1295900638866558978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw The nomination was a formality, as Sanders withdrew from the contest in April and has no chance of attaining the nomination. Ocasio-Cortezs speech was highly anticpated, as she is widely seen as a future leader of the partys progressive moment. AOC, as shes popularly known, did not formally endorse Biden in her speech. 01:28 GMT Former President Clinton says Biden will build back better Former President Bill Clinton called on voters to support Biden, calling out Trumps response to the coronavirus and the economic slump that ensued. Clinton echoed Michelle Obamas comments from the previous night, saying Trumps failures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic caused the US to lead the world in unemployment and virus cases. Biden wants to put forward reconstructive policies like innovative financing for modern factories and working to make sure all people especially those left behind by the Trump administration are full participates in our economy and our society. Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited for our changing world. Bill Clinton: "If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man. Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses." Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 19, 2020 Clinton stressed that Biden will work to make sure the economy works for everyone. You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years, Clinton said, while Biden will build back better, one of his campaign slogans. 01:00 GMT Biden set to accept nomination tonight Democrats will formally nominate Biden on the second night of the partys national convention after a roll call of delegates. Democrats will turn to elder statesmen, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State John Kerry, to argue that Biden has the experience and knowledge to restore normalcy after what they characterise as the chaos of Donald Trumps administration. Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden and his vice presidential running mate Senator Kamala Harris appear on a video feed at the start of the second day of the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention at its hosting site in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. August 18, 2020. [REUTERS/Brian Snyder/Pool] [Reuters] The roll call vote process has long been a lengthy affair as delegations in the convention pledge delegates to candidates who ran in their primary or caucus. The process can take hours, though tonight it is expected to take 30 minutes as another tradition is bucked at the virtual DNC. 00:40 GMT Key quotes from DNC night two A range of speakers are set to address the virtual convention, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy, along with national security stalwarts like John Kerry. Jill Biden, Joes wife, will deliver the final speech of the evening. She is expected to commend Biden for his strength in the face of personal loss. "How did you get this number?" Those were the first words I spoke to Joe when he called me out of the blue on a Saturday in 1975. Ill be speaking tonight at the #DemConvention. I hope youll tune in! pic.twitter.com/t0amDEM2kT Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) August 18, 2020 There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But Ive always understood why he did it He does it for you, she said in prepared remarks. Read more key quotes from the night here. 00:15 GMT What to expect on the DNCs second night Democrats will continue their virtual nominating convention by promoting the message of presidential leadership to stress the differences Biden Trump. Two prominent Republicans, former State Secretary Colin Powell and Cindy McCain, wife of the late Arizona Senator John McCain, are set to speak favourably of Biden. Powell, who was once floated as a Republican candidate for president, is expected to endorse Biden for president. Read more here. 23:31 GMT Colin Powell, state secretary under Bush, to endorse Biden Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a four-star general who served in the position under former President George W Bush, is expected to endorse Biden for president tonight. Powells endorsement was first reported by MSNBC. He is the latest in a growing group of prominent Republicans to endorse Biden. Here's a preview Secretary Colin Powell's speech for tonight's DNC. #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/ObF9VqAv1s The ReidOut (@thereidout) August 18, 2020 While welcomed by many, the newest endorsement and time alloted to Powell to do so will likely upset members of the progressive wing of the party. One of its rising stars, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will receive one minute for a pre-recorded statement tonight. Some commentators, including Rebecca Traister, have equated the prominence given to Republicans during the DNC to self-sabotage. The relegation of Ocasio-Cortez, who electrifies multiple parts of a Democratic base, to one meager minute, a segment that isnt just a snub, Traister wrote in The Cut. The failure of a major political party to showcase one of its most talented politicians, a young person whose communicative reach and facility positions her to be among its leaders deep into our future, is self-sabotage. 23:05 GMT Cindy McCain, wife of late Republican Senator John McCain, set to speak Cindy McCain will lend her voice to a video set to air during Tuesday nights Democratic National Convention programming focused on Bidens close friendship with her late husband, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, though it isnt expected to be an outright endorsement. In an advance clip from the video shared with The Associated Press, Cindy McCain talks about how Biden, then a Delaware senator, met her husband when John McCain was assigned to be a military aide for him on a trip overseas. The two became friends, and the families would gather for picnics in the Bidens backyard. A portrait of how much Donald Trump turned the GOP establishment upside down Cindy McCain is speaking at the DNC about her late husband's relationship with Biden, and neither the last Republican president (GWB) nor the last Republican nominee (Romney) are speaking at the RNC Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) August 18, 2020 McCain is the latest Republican to join in the convention, after a number of notable GOP former elected officials including former Ohio Governor John Kasich endorsed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on Monday night. Its a continuation of a major theme that Democrats have pushed through the first night of the convention -an effort to broaden the partys appeal to occasional Republicans and disaffected Trump voters. 22:02 GMT Jill Biden to get personal about familys struggles Jill Biden will offer a personal glimpse into her familys struggles and vouch for her husbands ability to lead the nation through adversity during her opening remarks at the Democratic National Convention. There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But Ive always understood why he did it. He does it for you, shell say in her speech, according to advance remarks. Ready to hear from the next first lady of the United States, @DrBiden, on night two of the #DemConvention? Tap or below to get a reminder when shes LIVE! pic.twitter.com/s5HYCd1h7J 2020 #DemConvention (@DemConvention) August 18, 2020 During their decades in public life, Jill and Joe Biden have faced considerable personal loss. Shortly after getting elected as a senator in 1972, Bidens first wife and infant daughter were killed in a crash, leaving him to raise his two sons alone. Biden married Jill about four years later, but the two faced tragedy together when Bidens son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. Both speak openly on the campaign trail about the challenges theyve experienced, and Jill Biden will speak about what it takes to make a broken family whole. The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding and with small acts of compassion. 21:44 GMT Stock market surges to record high in boon for Trump The S&P 500 index closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, completing its recovery from the stock market crash after the onset of the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than 170,000 in the US, in February. The index ended at 3,389.78 points, above the previous record close of 3,386.15 on February 19. A pedestrian with a mask walks past the New York Stock Exchange, which appears to be on an upward trend despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic [File: Lucas Jackson/Reuters] The record confirms, according to a widely accepted definition, that Wall Streets most closely followed index entered a bull market after hitting its pandemic low on March 23. The news should be welcome for Trump, who is trailing Biden in most national polls but has campaigned on the strength of the economy prior to the coronavirus crisis. 21:20 GMT Embattled postmaster general pauses controversial changes to mail delivery US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday suspended all mail service changes until after the November election after an outcry by Democrats about concerns the changes were an attempt to bolster President Donald Trumps chances in the November polls. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded, DeJoy, a Trump ally and consistent donor to the Republican Party, said in a statement. A US Postal Service (USPS) office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters] The reversal follows complaints that the cuts could slow the handling of mail-in ballots, which could account for as many as half of all votes cast in Novembers election as the coronavirus pandemic raises fears of crowds. 20:50 GMT Trump responds to Obamas criticism Trump, the object of much ire during the first night of the Democratic National Convention, responded to the stinging attack from former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered on the first night. Obama said Trump was in over his head it is what it is in an apparent reference to Trumps own comments on the US death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic. Somebody please explain to Michelle Obama that Donald J Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it werent for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama, the president tweeted on Tuesday, calling Biden an afterthought. Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it werent for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama. Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020 Biden was merely an afterthought, Trump, a frequent and continued critic of the Obama administration, said. Former Clinton highlighted Trumps response to the coronavirus pandemic, echoing Michelle Obamas comments from the previous night. Innovative financing for modern factories are full participates in our economy and our society. Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited for our changing world. Clinton stressed that Biden will work to make sure the economy works for everyone. You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years, The head of pizza seller Domino's expects Australia could be living with COVID-19 for another two to three years and is preparing for more Victorian-style strict lockdowns as virus outbreaks continue to occur. Don Meij, the chief executive of the $7.2 billion fast-food chain, said the pandemic is likely to affect the country and his business for another 18 to 36 months, and he was making long-term investments in new stores and staff with this timeframe in mind. Domino's has missed profit expectations due to coronavirus costs. Credit:Jason Alden On Wednesday, Domino's reported its full-year results, showing a jump in both earnings and sales for the 2020 financial year. However, the figures were dragged down by $14.4 million in costs incurred for in-store cleaning and supporting struggling franchisees during the pandemic. Mr Meij said while he hoped he wouldn't have to, the company would not hesitate to incur those costs again if necessary, pointing to scenarios such as Victoria's current lockdown. - A young boy in Ghana who was spotted carrying a big log of wood has been blessed by social media users - Nana Tea, a popular social media influencer who took the photo of the boy, got calls from many wishing to assist with donations - The monies were gathered and varieties of useful items were purchased for the young boy and his family Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in A young Ghanaian boy who was captured in a photo carrying a big log of wood has received massive blessings from Ghanaians on social media. In the heartwarming report sighted by YEN.com.gh in the popular Facebook group Tell It All, Nana Tea, the brain behind the entire movement, gave a detailed account of how it all unfolded. Nana Tea is famous for taking interesting shots everywhere he goes and sharing them with the public on social media. READ ALSO: Former watchman becomes medical student at hospital he worked at Poor boy gets blessed by Ghanaians Source: Facebook, Tell It All, Nana Tea Source: UGC READ ALSO: Lady shares her love story after marrying man she met 15 days earlier (photos) On one of his many commutes, Nana Tea came across the young boy who was from a poor family and had to assist, even at his age, by engaging in strenuous activities. After sharing the boy's photo online, many people reached out with donations to help the young boy and Nana Tea gladly received them on behalf of the child. Before anyone could say jack, the young boy's life was totally transformed with the donations as Nana Tea had purchased many goods including provisions, clothing, as well as different schooling and working equipment for the boy and his family. READ ALSO: Man melts hearts as he surprises mother by opening new restaurant for her See full narration by Nana Tea Source: UGC In a different heartwarming story, Kofi Oppong Owusu and his beautiful wife Mrs Gracy Adwoa Owusu are young graduates from the University of Ghana who now run their own business called Aperto Windows. In an exclusive interview with YEN.com.gh, Kofi, who can be reached on +233 55 811 3447, revealed that his wife was his coursemate that he properly encountered when they were both in level 300. The two, who also attended the same church, drew close to each other over time and decided to settle down as a married couple soon after they finished university. Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Faces of Ghana: 2 brothers paving roads in Ghana with granite and cobblestones: Share your stories and news by getting interactive on our Facebook page! Source: YEN.com.gh It takes seconds, not minutes, for Recorder Queen to dispel the conventions that so often govern the biographical documentary. Beginning with an animated flourish, director Sophie Raymond doesnt just tell the story of internationally acclaimed Australian recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey, she captures the musicians vivid mindset, complete with Lacey playing a version of herself in stylised scenes or amid fantastical imagery. Through live action and animated scenes, the half-hour work adds the otherworldly to autobiographical detail and literally positions the act of creativity as an inspiring force of magic. Music can sometimes reach places where words cannot, Lacey, who co-wrote the script with Raymond, notes in her narration, and Recorder Queen boldly reaches for that same space. Filmmaker Sophie Raymond with recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey Credit:ABC Its a story of collaboration and it weaves in and out of stylistic forms. It takes risks, and thats Genevieves story as well, says the Sydney-based Raymond. We felt that we were telling a story bigger than Genevieves alone. I could relate to the idea of being taken over by the power of music. When you have that moment you cant ignore it. We felt that the stepping stones of the story had a universal aspect to it. As we developed it visually we just naturally looked to fairytales and storybooks. The two women met when Raymond was shooting the 2011 documentary Mrs Careys Concert, which she co-directed with Recorder Queen producer Bob Connolly. Lacey was coming to give a masterclass to the high school students of the titular music teacher, and the wave of anticipation that preceded the soloists arrival alerted Raymond to her standing. By the time Raymond fitted Lacey with a radio mic the pair were deep in conversation, and their old souls bond has only grown stronger since. Joe Biden has officially been nominated the Democratic presidential candidate at the party's unprecedented virtual convention to challenge Republican incumbent President Donald Trump in the November 3 election. IMAGE: US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden speak from Brandywine High School, where she taught English from 1991 to 1993, during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photograph: 2020 DNC/Pool via Reuters Biden, 77, who served as vice president of the US for eight years from January 2009 to January 2017, would deliver his acceptance speech on Thursday. 'It is the honour of my life to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America,' Biden, who served as Senator from Delaware, said in a tweet. "We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage," said his wife Jill Biden said. "We just need leadership worthy of our nation, worthy of you," she said in her speech from inside the classroom of the Brandywine High School, in Delaware where she once taught English in the 1990s. Democratic Party delegates from across the country nominated him in the unprecedented virtual convention on Tuesday due to the raging coronavirus pandemic in the country that has killed over 170,00 people. Biden clinched the nomination following a virtual 'roll call' featuring party luminaries from all 50 states and lesser-known Democrats who described Biden as ready to lead the nation through the twin crises of a pandemic and economic uncertainty. Biden, who played an important role in the Congressional passage of India-US civil nuclear deal and was a key player in strengthening bilateral ties with India during the eight years of Obama administration, has scripted history by nominating Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. 'After a spectacular roll call that showed the heart and soul of our nation, it's official. Congratulations, Joe Biden,' Harris said in a tweet. Harris, 55, is scheduled to deliver her remarks on Wednesday night. Biden is leading over Trump by 7.7 points nationally, according to the average of polls by Real Clear Politics. This is a few points drop from his previous lead of 10.2 points he held in June. Trump, 74, would be formally nominated by the Republican Party as its presidential candidate at its virtual convention next week. Two Democratic former US presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, endorsed Biden. Clinton told the virtual convention that Biden helped bring the United States back from a recession before, and he can do it again. "Joe is committed to building America back again," he said. "Donald Trump says we're leading the world," Clinton said in his five-minute message pre-recorded from his home in Chappaqua, New York. "Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, it's a storm centre. There's only chaos," he said. Carter said that Biden is the right person for this moment in America's history. "He understands that and understands dignity are essential traits that determine not only our vision but our actions. That's what we need," he said. Powell said that Biden will be a president they will all be proud to salute. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around. He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots," he said. "He will make it his job to know when anyone dares to threaten us. He will stand up to our adversaries with strength and experience. They will know he means business," he added. A policy document released by his campaign over the weekend said that as Senator, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as Vice President, Biden has supported Indian-Americans and a strong friendship between India and the United States. "Diverse and vibrant communities of Indian Americans enrich the fabric of our nation in every state of the union. As President, Biden will work in partnership with these communities; celebrate their extraordinary contributions to America's success, prosperity, and safety; listen to Indian Americans' needs and put in place policies that address their priorities," it said. Indian-Americans, like all Americans, are deeply invested in the core elements of our future -- education, access to high-quality, affordable health care, addressing the climate crisis, and reforming and modernizing our immigration system in a way that aligns with American values. "Biden will ensure that South Asian Americans are represented in his administration, starting with his Vice Presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris, whose mother emigrated from India to study and build a life in the United States. Our government will reflect the diversity of the United States, and Indian American voices will be included in shaping the policies that impact their communities," his campaign said. A federal appellate court dealt a blow against litigation funding companies by ruling that the U.S. Justice Department can dismiss any False Claims Act lawsuits that it deems meritless without first proving that dismissal is justified. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision by a federal judge in Illinois who found that the government had not shown a rational basis to dismiss a case titled United States of America ex rel. Cimznhca LLC v. UCB Inc. The panel rejected Southern Illinois District Court Judge Staci M. Yandles finding that the Justice Department had shown a personal animus toward the litigation funding company that filed the action. This is not government irrationality, the panel said in its opinion. It oppresses no one and shocks no ones conscience. The Cimznhca case is one of 11 filed against 38 health care providers in eight judicial districts by affiliates of the National Healthcare Analysis Group, according to an article by Crowell & Moring, an international law firm headquartered in Washington D.C. All of the suits make nearly identical allegations about violations of the federal anti-kickback statute. NHCA was founded by a New Jersey attorney who analyzed Medicare claims data to find indications of fraud in billing patterns, the article said. He teamed up with Wall Street investors to create a holding company called Venari Partners, which in turn created separate companies that funded False Claims Act lawsuits against potential violators. The False Claims Act, passed in 1863 to fight against corrupt vendors during the Civil War, is a favorite for litigation funding companies. It allows awards of treble damages to parties who prove their claims that the government was defrauded. Such actions are called qui tam lawsuits. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in an amicus brief, said $59 billion has been awards under the False Claims Act since 1986, but less than $2.5 billion of that came from cases in which the government did not intervene. False Claims Act litigation is time-consuming, lengthy, and extremely costly, the Chamber said. Litigation under the Act touches nearly every sector of the American economy. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of nonintervened cases are meritless, defendants nonetheless face tremendous pressure to settle because the costs of defense are so high and the potential downside so great. Under the act, private parties who file lawsuits on behalf of the government are called relators. The law allows the Justice Department to take over prosecution of relators lawsuits, if it chooses, and share in any award of damages. The statute also allows such lawsuits to proceed without any involvement by the government. But more importantly in this case, the law gives the Justice Department authority to file motions to dismiss claims that it finds lack merit. The statute requires a district court to hold a hearing before granting such motions to dismiss, but gives no guidance on what standards should be used when deciding whether to grant dismissal motions. The district courts have disagreed on how much deference should be given to federal prosecutors. The lack of guidance didnt matter much because under previous administrations, the Justice Department rarely dismissed relators qui tam lawsuits. That changed in 2018 when Michael Granston, director of the departments commercial fraud unit, issued a memorandum instructing U.S. attorneys to seek dismissal of any claims that lacked merit. The memo noted that 600 new matters had been filed annually and said the government needs to conserve its resources. The Cimznhca lawsuit alleges that UCB and RXC schemed to provide free nursing services and reimbursement for support services to medical providers who prescribed a UCB drug called Cimzia to treat patients with Crohns disease. The government sought to dismiss the suit because government policy actually condones some of the practices that the litigation funding company labeled as kickbacks. Judge Yandle cited a 1998 ruling by the California-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Sequoia Orange v. Baird-Neece Packing Corp. in denying the governments motion to dismiss. The 9th Circuit ruled that the hearing required by the False Claims Act must serve a purpose, so judges should not dismiss lawsuits unless the government shows a rational basis. But the 7th Circuit panel noted that in 2003, the District of Columbia Circuit Court held inSwift v. United States that the government isnt required to go through any hoops before dismissing a relators lawsuit. The law states only that a hearing must be heard. The 7th Circuit said Swift comes closer to the right interpretation of the False Claims Act. The court said if the government can dismiss any lawsuits that it wishes as long as it follows due process rules. The panel said the government presented very good arguments for dismissing the Cimznhca lawsuit. The government proposed to terminate this suit in part because, across nine cited agency guidances, advisory opinions, and final rulemakings, it has consistently held that the conduct complained of is probably lawful, the panel majority said. Not only lawful, but beneficial to patients and the public. A dissenting judge agreed with the dismissal, but for narrower reasons. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:39:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Mosquitoes infected with deadly West Nile virus were found in northern and southern Israel, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP) reported on Wednesday. The infected mosquitoes were discovered during routine sampling conducted by the MoEP in four settlements in the southern Arava valley and in the northern Gilboa region, near the Kishon River. The infections were detected in mosquitos trapped and sent to laboratories run by the Ministry of Health. Following the detection of the infected mosquitoes, the MoEP warned that the affected local authorities should increase monitoring efforts, and if deemed necessary, the authorities should carry out exterminations. It also called on residents in these areas to remain vigilant amid a lack of a vaccination, and preventing mosquito hazards in the first place is the best way to break the cycle of transmitting the disease to humans. West Nile fever, which can be fatal, is caused by a virus mainly found in birds and transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. Most people exposed to the West Nile virus suffer from flu-like symptoms such as fever, headaches, and muscle aches. A small percentage, however, can develop an infection in the brain, which can lead to paralysis, brain damage, and death. Israel's Minister of MoEP Gila Gamliel warned that such events will increase in frequency in the coming years, as climate change worsens. Enditem There are so many wonderful money-saving tips related to car maintenance and repair. And yet there is one thats very overlooked: free air for tires. This article goes over why its important. Moreover, it answers the question, Where is there free air for tires near me? Why Air in Your Tires Matters for Your Budget Many people dont even think about the air in their tires unless there is a problem. However, you should get in the habit of checking your air pressure regularly. Thats because having the right air pressure in your tires can save you a lot of money over time. First and foremost, you get the most efficient gas mileage from your car if you have the right amount of air in your tires. Gas isnt cheap. Therefore, every little bit that you can save when you fill up at the gas station can really add up over time. Its helpful to remember this as a reason to check your air pressure, too, because habits are best formed when paired with another habit you already do. Therefore, you might always check your air pressure at the same time that you get gas. Proper air pressure is also important to avoid accidents. The wrong air pressure can lead to tire damage, which can lead to a car accident that can be dangerous and costly. You want your car in tip-top shape. The better you maintain it, the better it runs. The better it runs, the less likely youll have expensive maintenance and repair costs. Your tires naturally lose air due to weather changes, road conditions, and other factors. Keeping them filled with the right pressure is an important habit. Get a $10 Costco Shop Card Where to Get Free Air for Tires Near Me Obviously, you dont want to reduce the amount of savings that you get from proper tire maintenance by paying to fill up your tires with air. That would defeat the purpose. Take the time to do a little research about where to get free air for tires near where you live and work. Keep a list on your phone or in your glove compartment. That way you always know where to go when your tires need more air. Here are some of the best ways to find free air for tires near you: Check Local Gas Stations Does your local gas station almost certainly have air for tires? However, they may or may not offer it for free. Places that sell air for tires usually only charge a dollar or two. But still, thats a dollar or two that you could invest in something else. Therefore, you want to get familiar with the local gas stations that offer free air for tires. If you live in or are traveling through California and Connecticut,t then any gas station you stop at should have free air for tires. However, its a requirement in these states that some places may require you to purchase gas first. If youre in Florida on the Turnpike then pull off at a rest stop and there is likely to be free air available or air available free with purchase of gas. In other states, you might not be as lucky, although many places will still be available. Here are some popular gas station/convenience store chains that offer free air for tires: GetGo in the Midwest offers free air at some of its locations. In fact, you can use the Filter option on their Store Locator to choose those with free air. in the Midwest offers free air at some of its locations. In fact, you can use the Filter option on their Store Locator to choose those with free air. Holiday Stationstores has over 500 locations across the following states: Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming has over 500 locations across the following states: Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming QuikTrip offers free air at all of its 800+ US locations. This gas station chain can be found in eleven different states: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. Use their store locator to find the location closest to you. offers free air at all of its 800+ US locations. This gas station chain can be found in eleven different states: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. Royal Farms is an East Coast gas station / convenience store with more than 200 stores across five states. If a location has gas, then it also has free air. Fun fact: in 2014 the company was sued for charging for air in Baltimore, a city that has a law requiring gas stations to offer one free air pump. Store locator here. is an East Coast gas station / convenience store with more than 200 stores across five states. If a location has gas, then it also has free air. Fun fact: in 2014 the company was sued for charging for air in Baltimore, a city that has a law requiring gas stations to offer one free air pump. Store locator here. Sheetz is proud to offer free air for tires at their 500+ locations. This convenience store is available in six states (see the store locator): Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. is proud to offer free air for tires at their 500+ locations. This convenience store is available in six states (see the store locator): Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Wawa is such a popular place to get free air that some locations added additional air pumps. Wawa has new stores opening in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. They also have stores in Delaware and Washington DC. See store locator here. This is not a comprehensive list. There are dozens of different gas station chains across the country. Check the ones closest to you. Free Air at Tire Stores Another obvious, but sometimes overlooked option, is to head to a tire repair shop, including the Tire Centers of big wholesale membership clubs. Of course, if you have actual tire damage them youll have to pay for repairs. But if you just need free air for your tires, here are some places that will provide it free of charge: Atlantic Tire and Service is a good option if youre located in North Carolina. is a good option if youre located in North Carolina. BJs is a popular wholesale club and its members are able to get free air for tires. You can also get your tires rotated, repaired, or replaced at their Tire Center. is a popular wholesale club and its members are able to get free air for tires. You can also get your tires rotated, repaired, or replaced at their Tire Center. Costco doesnt have free air at the gas pumps but head to their Tire Center and youre in luck. If you have a Costco membership, just head to a location with this service. doesnt have free air at the gas pumps but head to their Tire Center and youre in luck. If you have a Costco membership, just head to a location with this service. Discount Tire (which is also known as Americas Tire at most California locations) offers free tire air pressure checks at all of their locations. Theyll fill up the tire and check the treads for you at no charge. They ask that you schedule an appointment in advance but it isnt always necessary. When you pull up, look for the sign that says free air check. Here is their store locator. (which is also known as at most California locations) offers free tire air pressure checks at all of their locations. Theyll fill up the tire and check the treads for you at no charge. They ask that you schedule an appointment in advance but it isnt always necessary. When you pull up, look for the sign that says free air check. Here is their store locator. Firestone will also offer a free tire check. Many people come to stores like this when the Tire Pressure Light goes on in their car. As soon as you see it, find a place to get them checked. will also offer a free tire check. Many people come to stores like this when the Tire Pressure Light goes on in their car. As soon as you see it, find a place to get them checked. Just Tires is another tire store that offers a free tire check. is another tire store that offers a free tire check. Sams Club members get free air. Moreover, if you have a tire that actually needs repairs, theyll repair it for free, whether or not you bought the tire from them. Other Businesses With Free Air for Tires Here are some of the other places that you might want to check: Car dealerships if you bought your car at a dealership then its worth asking whether or not they offer this service free of charge. Car wash services will often include air for free; sometimes you have to buy the car wash but if its a DIY car wash then they may have a machine available for use. Oil change companies such as Jiffy Lube and Pep Boys sometimes offer free air especially if youre already there to get service. Parking garages will occasionally offer this free service. For example, the UCSF parking garage in San Francisco is one such place. Private mechanics and anywhere else where you get your car repaired may also offer this service if you ask. Roadside assistance is good to remember if you actually get a flat tire while driving. AAA members, some credit cards with travel press, and your insurance are all options to look at if youre trying ti find roadside assistance to fill up your tire for free in a pinch. Look Online for More Free Air for Tires Near You What if youre out and about in a neighborhood that youre unfamiliar with and dont know where to get free air for your tires? Turn to the Internet, of course. One of the most popular options is to check FreeAirPump.com. Enter an address or zip code and find all of the options nearby for filling up your tires with free air. Here are some other sites that you can check: Reddit may have a thread that can help you out. Heres one example. Yellow Pages online is a surprising place that makes it easy to find free air for tires near you. Heres an example from Leesburg, Virginia. Yelp: just search for the best gas stations with free air near you. For example, heres a list from Daly City, California. Alternatively, you could always purchase your own tire gauge and a small air compressor. Then fill up your tires yourself. Its not free, since you have to buy the machine, but it pays for itself over time. Give the gift of savings! Learn more Read More: If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. If you want to be able to customize your blog on your own domain and need hosting service, we recommend trying BlueHost. They offer powerful hosting services for $3.95/month! It was an exodus in Ondo West as more members of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and African Democratic Party (ADP) have defected to the APC on Wednesday. The defection happened amidst high-power politicking that has seen Ondos Dep Gov Agboola Ajayi defect twice to the PDP and ZLP in his bid to contest the October guber election. Analysts initially thought that Ajayi hopping into the ZLP, whose mainstay is the states former Gov Olusegun Mimiko, would still help his candidacy and grassroots fame puts up a good showing against APCs candidate and Gov Rotimi Akeredolu and PDPs Eyitayo Jegede. But the turn of events since Ajayis defection has made things more volatile. Among those that dumped the ZLP were Alhaji Basiru Oluwole, a former House of Assembly Candidate of ZLP, Hon. Ademulegun Adeala, Hon. Adesemoye Segun, a former ADC State Publicity Secretary, Legislative Aide to the member of House of Representatives, Ondo East /West, Hon. Alaba Oladele, Councillorship candidate of ADC in ward 5 Ondo West, Mrs Tessy Ibijoke Ajayi, among others. Receiving the defector, Chairman of the Ondo APC, Ade Adetimehin, said the state might soon become a one party state owing to the number of prominent politicians defecting from other political parties. With what I am seeing here today, it is very safe to predict that Ondo State is gradually moving closer to becoming a one-party state, he said. Chairman of the African Union issued a statement demanding ;the Malian military release from detention the president, the prime minister, ministers and other Government executives' Chairman of the African Union and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday condemned the "unconstitutional change of government" in Mali and demanded the release of its leaders. In his first official reaction since President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced out on Tuesday, Ramaphosa issued a statement demanding "the Malian military release from detention the president, the prime minister, ministers and other Government executives." Keita said Wednesday he had stepped down to avoid "bloodshed" after he was detained in a coup, whose leaders pledged new elections. Ramaphosa called for the "immediate return to civilian rule and for the military to return to their barracks". He also urged other leaders in Africa and beyond to "denounce and reject" the military-led government. Separately, Angolan leader Joao Lourenco tweeted that despite the reasons behind Keita's ouster, "we repudiate and discourage this way of forcing the alternation of power." "In the middle of the 21st century, Africa must follow the example of Latin America, which has successfully overcome the tragic period of successive coups d'etat of the 1970s." "We hope that with the direct involvement of the African Union, the best ways to get out of the crisis will be found," he added. Search Keywords: Short link: "The extraordinary pressures on medical practices have profound implications for the overall healthcare infrastructure of the United States," said Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer at MGMA. "Medical practices are the backbone of U.S. healthcare, and the health of our country depends on the ability of our healthcare providers to navigate the exceptionally difficult challenges they are facing right now. That is why and how we have designed the content of the MPEC20 to survive 2020 and thrive in 2021 and beyond." The theme of the MPEC20 (formerly known as The Annual Conference) is "Rise Above" in recognition of the critical role that medical practice management professionals will play in how their organizations navigate the multi-faceted challenges this year and in the coming years. The conference will take place online October 19-21, 2020 and will feature an impressive line-up of speakers sharing insights into topics such as ensuring successful financial management in COVID-19 times, strategies for surviving through a pandemic, technology trends practices should consider or implement, best practices for staff and building operations, and delivering solid leadership in difficult circumstances. MPEC20 will offer three keynote speakers, 36 concurrent sessions and more than 70 sessions total throughout the three days. The virtual convention center will provide opportunities to participate in breakout meetings, small group discussions, networking and will house a virtual exhibit hall with more than 30 participating sponsors and exhibitors including CareCredit, Jackson Physician Search, Audi, Greenway Health, Humana and United Healthcare. The virtual format of MPEC20 provides attendees with the opportunity to attend even more sessions than in the traditional format, participating not only in live sessions but also attending concurrent sessions on a delay by watching the archived versions of other sessions at a later time. "Our organization knows firsthand the struggles and obstacles medical practices are currently facing, and it's our responsibility to contribute everything we can to ensure their survival through this pandemic," said Andrew Swanson, MBA, CMPE, vice president of industry insights at MGMA. "Every aspect of our conference is designed to foster conversations and share lessons learned through COVID-19, create opportunities for peer-to-peer interactions and provide relevant, high-impact content to help them navigate through these circumstances." Key speakers on the MPEC20 program include: Monday, October 19 : "Becoming a Future-Ready Leader" by Tasha Eurich , PhD , organizational psychologist, researcher and New York Times best-selling author : "Becoming a Future-Ready Leader" by , organizational psychologist, researcher and best-selling author Tuesday, October 20 : "Creating A Great Place to Work for All" by Michael Bush , CEO, Great Place to Work for All : "Creating A Great Place to Work for All" by Great Place to Work for All Wednesday, October 21 : "Balancing the Human Touch with Digital Innovation to Enhance Patient Experience" by Wendy Sue Swanson , MD, MBE, renowned pediatrician, entrepreneur, consultant, author, media contributor and online voice And MPEC20 will feature sessions on a number of timely topics aligned with critical challenges members are facing: Sessions about how practices can successfully address the operational challenges of COVID-19 include: "Optimizing Patient Access in a Post COVID World" by Michael O'Connell , MHA, FACHE, FACMPE, Senior Vice President, Operations, Stanford Health Care; "Optimize Your Clinic Space for a Pandemic and Beyond" by Adrienne Lloyd , MHA, FACHE, Chief Administrative Officer, Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, MGMA Independent Consultant; and other sessions. include: "Optimizing Patient Access in a Post COVID World" by , MHA, FACHE, FACMPE, Senior Vice President, Operations, Stanford Health Care; "Optimize Your Clinic Space for a Pandemic and Beyond" by , MHA, FACHE, Chief Administrative Officer, Ophthalmology, Medical Center, MGMA Independent Consultant; and other sessions. Sessions about effective leadership strategies for the challenges facing medical practices include: "A Steady Captain in a Stormy Sea: 8 Effective Ways to Lead in Crisis" by Aimee Greeter, MPH, FACHE, Senior Vice President, Coker Group , and Alan Vierling , DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FABC, Senior Vice President, Sparrow Hospital; "Effective Leadership Strategies for Medical Practice Executives" by Ronald Menaker , CPA, MBA, EdD, FACMPE, Administrator, Mayo Clinic and Michael O'Connell , MHA, FACHE, FACMPE, Senior Vice President, Operations, Stanford Health Care; and other sessions. for the challenges facing medical practices include: "A Steady Captain in a Stormy Sea: 8 Effective Ways to Lead in Crisis" by Aimee Greeter, MPH, FACHE, Senior Vice President, , and , DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FABC, Senior Vice President, Sparrow Hospital; "Effective Leadership Strategies for Medical Practice Executives" by , CPA, MBA, EdD, FACMPE, Administrator, and , MHA, FACHE, FACMPE, Senior Vice President, Operations, Stanford Health Care; and other sessions. Sessions about how to navigate the financial challenges of the COVID-19 era include: "Financially Thriving as an Independent Practice Through Better Claims and Collections" by Daniel Pope , Senior Vice President, R1 RCM and Lawrence Jones , MD, One Pediatrics; "Cutting Losses in Hospital-Employed Networks" by Travis Ansel , MBA, Managing Partner, HSG and Eric Andreoli , MBA, Director, HSG; and other sessions. of the COVID-19 era include: "Financially Thriving as an Independent Practice Through Better Claims and Collections" by , Senior Vice President, R1 RCM and , MD, One Pediatrics; "Cutting Losses in Hospital-Employed Networks" by , MBA, Managing Partner, HSG and , MBA, Director, HSG; and other sessions. And sessions about how to successfully expand and deliver telehealth services include: "Leveraging the Power of Technology for Success in Value-based Care during a Pandemic" by Keith Fernandez , MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Privia Health and Maureen Clancy , MBA, FACHE, CPC, SVP Operations, Privia Health; "RPM and Telehealth: Strategies to Transform Practices to Virtual Care" by Ann Conrath , MSW, LCSW, Business Development Executive, CareSignal; Doral Jacobsen , CEO, Prosper Beyond , VBC Inc; Heather Spillman , Principal, Citrin Cooperman; and Avni Thakore , MD, FACC, Chief Medical Officer, Catholic Health Services of Long Island; and other sessions For a complete list of speakers and sessions, please visit https://www.mgma.com/events/medical-practice-excellence-conference. MGMA members and healthcare professionals can register for the conference here. For more information about the conference schedule, click here. (Members of the press receive complimentary access. To register as a press guest, please contact [email protected].) And please follow the Medical Practice Excellence Conference hashtag (#MPEC20) to get more updates about the event as we get closer to October 19-21. About MGMA Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the premier association for professionals who lead medical practices. Since 1926, through data, people, insights, and advocacy, MGMA empowers medical group practices to innovate and create meaningful change in healthcare. With a membership of more than 58,000 medical practice administrators, executives, and leaders, MGMA represents more than 12,500 organizations of all sizes, types, structures and specialties that deliver almost half of the healthcare in the United States. www.mgma.com Media Contact: Hollon Kohtz, Assistant Director of Public Relations [email protected] 877.275.6462 x 1209 317.847.5658 (Cell) SOURCE Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Related Links https://www.mgma.com/ In a big push for the high-speed Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor between Delhi and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $1 billion loan for the venture, officials of the NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC), the entity executing the project, said on Tuesday. Civil construction work for the project, which aims at providing a high-speed rail link between Delhi and Meerut to cut down on travel time and boost housing in NCR towns and cities to ease pressure on the national capital, is on in full swing over a 50km stretch between Sahibabad in Ghaziabad and Shatabdipuram in Meerut. The 82-km corridor that will connect Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut will have with a total of 24 stations -- 21 in Uttar Pradesh and the rest in Delhi. According to officials, the detailed project report states that about eight lakh passengers will board the high-speed RRTS trains, which will run at 180kmph, for long and short-distance commuting every day. Commuting time between Delhi and Meerut is expected to reduce drastically from around 120 minutes at present to 55 minutes once the line is commissioned. The Delhi-Meerut expressway is another project aimed at improving connectivity between Delhi, Meerut and other western UP towns. The approval of the $1.049 billion funding package by ADB for the high-speed, high-capacity Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS reflects upon the funding agencys trust in the project that promises to transform regional mobility besides giving push to polycentric economic development across the region and will lead to improvement in the quality of life of the citizens, Vinay Kumar Singh, managing director of NCRTC said in a statement. Efficient and integrated transport solutions are critical for managing the rapid urbanisation and ensuring balanced urban development of the region, ADBs principal transport specialist, Sharad Saxena, said in statement. This project will provide safe, reliable and seamless travel between Delhi and other cities and pave the way for a paradigm shift in mobility across the NCR, he said. The cost of the RRTS project is pegged at Rs 30,274 crore. The project will involve loans to the tune of about Rs 14,000-15,000 crore from external sources while the rest will come from the Centre and the state governments (UP and Delhi) involved, besides Rs 270 crore from the private sector, officials associated with the project said. A total loan of about $2.049 billion will come from three sources and will amount to $1.049 billion and two other parts of $500 million each. ADBs approval will give a major boost to the project. Civil construction tenders for the 50km stretch from Sahibabad to Shatabdipuram have been already awarded and construction activities are on. Tenders for rolling stock was awarded earlier. The rest of the tenders are in different stages, said Sudhir Sharma, chief PRO of NCRTC. The NCRTC has first identified a priority stretch of 17km in Ghaziabad (Sahibabad to Duhai) for which work had started in the first phase. Work has also begun for another 33km from Duhai to Shatabdipuram in Meerut. The priority section is scheduled for commissioning in March, 2023, while the entire 82-km corridor from Delhi to Meerut is expected to be open by March 2025. The Dome Fire continued to ravage Mojave National Preserve in Southern California on Tuesday evening, leaving countless Joshua trees incinerated across 43,000 acres of ruined desertscape, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. A park ranger told the Desert Sun that a lightning strike started the blaze on Saturday night near Cima Dome, a granite formation that soars 1,500 feet above the worlds largest Joshua tree forest. Three days later, the fire is only 5% contained. The nearby Teutonia Peak Trail and some primitive campsites are closed because of the fire, and crews are working on the ground and in the air to contain it, according to the preserves website. JERSEYVILLE Jersey Community Middle School prepared a virtual tour for students and parents as the school prepared for the first day of classes on Thursday. JCMS Principal Jason Brunaugh said, that in the past, the school has had a transition program for students new to the building. I am fortunate enough to get to visit all 4th grade students throughout the district and sit down with each class and go over our rules and expectations, share stories about the middle school, and answer all questions that the students might have, Brunaugh said. We also have our current 5th grade students communicate back and forth with our 4th-grade students through a special pen pal program led by our teachers, he said. Due to COVID-19, all of the events had to happen virtually this year at JCMS. Mr. (Thomas) Leslie (Dean of Students) and I recorded, edited, and published the videos for a digital orientation and virtual tour, he said. We did the same for the Meet The Teachers videos, but the teachers were responsible for recording their own contribution. Leslie also makes a cameo in the 15-minute video, telling students he cant wait to have them in the building soon. According to Brunaugh, there were many hours devoted to each video recording and its editing. But he added it was worth it in the end. Our students and families deserve as much information as possible, given all of the mandates and restrictions, he said. We wanted to do all that we could to make this transition and re-opening of school as informative, positive and helpful as possible. Brunaugh said the virtual tour is designed to help students know all they can about the school even if they could not do it in person before classes resumed. Hopefully, we have helped to make them feel loved, welcomed, and less nervous/anxious as they join our family, he said. To watch the video, visit https://www.jersey100.org/article/286678?org=district. SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- eDynamic Learning, the largest publisher of online Career and Technical Education (CTE) and elective courses for middle and high schools in North America, has announced its partnership with Transeo and CareerCraft. These two companies support schools in providing work-based learning opportunities for high school students. With Perkins V (The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act), schools are tasked with conducting a local needs assessment and offering CTE programs aligned with industries in their region that are highest in demand. The Act also calls for work-based learning options to give students service hours, internships, and apprenticeship opportunities to develop, refine, and apply what they learned in class. As the largest provider of online CTE curriculum, school partners repeatedly asked eDynamic Learning how to give students the practical skills necessary for many of the industry certifications aligned in the courses. "We were happy to identify Transeo and CareerCraft. Both are a tremendous help to schools in developing long-lasting business partnerships and offer work-based learning opportunities, giving schools a comprehensive CTE program," said Jerry Wooden, President of eDynamic Learning. And eDynamic Learning's new Workplace & Internship Readiness course will help prepare students before entering work-based learning opportunities. This course will provide students with the foundational skills they'll need to feel confident and assure companies that they will come consistently prepared. Since the July launch of this new course, schools have already enrolled students and are excited by what the course offers their students. "We're thrilled to offer this much-needed curriculum and provide a new course support toolbar that will help all students find success, including ELL students and those with learning disabilities," said Tyler Wood, Vice President of Marketing, eDynamic Learning. Besides offering CTE courses aligned at the onset to industry certification exam standards, eDynamic Learning also provides a variety of career exploration courses and job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused professional development workshops for teachers. About eDynamic Learning With offices in Southlake TX and Kelowna, BC, eDynamic Learning is a teacher-founded company offering over 150 CTE and elective courses for grades 6-12. eDynamic Learning's rigorous, high-quality curriculum can replace a textbook and is used in a variety of online and blended learning environments. It meets WCAG 2.0AA guidelines and is available on all technology platforms and devices. To learn more, visit: https://edynamiclearning.com/courses Press Contact: Tyler Wood eDynamic Learning 904-253-0728 [email protected] SOURCE eDynamic Learning Related Links www.edynamiclearning.com Andre Edwards just wanted somewhere inside to play chess once, maybe twice, a week. But after years of living on San Franciscos streets in a wheelchair, the 57-year-old had accepted that hed probably never again live with a roof over his head. So when he was placed in a city-funded hotel room for the homeless as part of San Franciscos response to the coronavirus pandemic, he cried a lot. He finally had his own bed, a TV, a bathroom, four walls and a ceiling. It was a glimmer of hope that things could get better. It was like he had been given this whole new lease on life, recalled Miss Ian Callaghan, an advocate for safe drug use and a close friend of Edwards, known to everyone as Dre. But a few weeks later, Edwards became part of a troubling new trend that has risen during the pandemic: The number of the citys homeless dying, both on the streets and inside the hotel rooms, has increased. According to data obtained by The Chronicle, 125 homeless people have died so far in 2020 more than double the number in the same time period last year. As the coronavirus collides with San Franciscos existing homelessness, mental health and drug crises, Edwards story highlights the intractability of dealing with everything at once. Not only has the pandemic disrupted the citys already fragile ecosystem of social services, but experts say the increased use of stronger opioids, along with loneliness and isolation, have resulted in more overdoses among the citys most vulnerable. What happened in Edwards final moments is hard to know for sure the San Francisco Medical Examiner did not respond to a request for information on his cause of death. But his friends say that, as someone who had myriad health issues and struggled with substance use since the age of 12, it was likely an overdose that may have been prevented if he hadnt been alone. We know people are more likely to pass away from an overdose, simply because they are alone, said Kristen Marshall, who manages the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education project at the Harm Reduction Coalition, a city-funded program that helps coordinate San Franciscos response to overdose prevention. The big recommendation to avoid COVID-19 is the opposite of what we recommend to prevent fatal overdoses, she added. Every root cause for overdose has been exacerbated by this pandemic. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Edwards was definitely no saint, said Callaghan, the executive director of the Drug Users Union, a community center in the Tenderloin that provides people with the tools they need, such as clean needles, to use safely. But, she said, her friend had an undeniable charm, a genuine interest in others and a memorable, mischievous smile. Hed spend days volunteering at the union where Callaghan said he developed this quirky, estranged uncle role. Edwards struggled to overcome his substance use but was still passionate about helping others use safely and cope with the realities of living on the streets. He was a longtime activist who pushed City Hall for a minimum wage increase in the 1990s, for Project Homeless Connect in the early 2000s, and more recently, for safe injection sites. When he moved into the hotel and no longer had to worry about where he was going to sleep or get his next meal, he was excited to dive in even more to helping people like himself, Callaghan said. It seemed unfair that he had to pass so early into this new chapter of his life, Callaghan said. Even before the pandemic began, an increasing number of people had been dying on San Franciscos streets. The rise was largely attributed to the increased prevalence of fentanyl a synthetic opioid that can be 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine in the citys drug supply. Department of Public Health data recorded 147 deaths among the citys homeless in 2019, a slight increase from 138 deaths in 2018. It is unclear how many of those deaths were directly related to overdoses. Those numbers climbed dramatically in March, when Mayor London Breed first announced the shelter-in-place. Between January and the end of March, the number of cumulative deaths among the citys homeless rose from 15 to 28. Then rose to 65 in April. To 96 in May. And to 125 in June. John Blanchard Dr. Barry Zevin, medical director of street medicine and shelter health for the Department of Public Health, said the numbers for July are expected to be just as bad. While it can take months for the medical examiner to determine an exact cause of death, Zevin believes many have been related to narcotics, like heroin and fentanyl. He said the majority of the deaths have occurred on the streets, while others have also died in hospitals and other shelters. Of the deaths that occurred from April through June, about 17% were among those staying in hotel rooms the city has leased to house homeless people vulnerable to the coronavirus, he said. The citys hotel program began in April. It would make sense if at least a portion of those deaths was caused by overdoses, he said, as people live alone in the hotel rooms, and there is a strict no-visitor policy unless the guest lives in the same hotel. The second the shelter-in-place order came into place we were like, Oh, God, this is going to be bad, said Marshall, who was also friends with Edwards. It has created more chaos, more stress ... and people have lost access to their communities. And the number of deaths could have been even higher. Overdose reversal data kept by the coalition provide a window into how many more fatal overdoses could have occurred had someone not been given Narcan, the medication used to reverse the effects of an overdose and save a persons life. The coalition logged 609 overdose reversals in 2015, a number that soared to 2,610 in 2019, as Narcan became more widely available and fenantyl showed up increasingly on the citys streets. More than 1,500 reversals had already been reported by June 2020. These numbers are probably an undercount, as not all of the reversals are reported. But for a Narcan reversal to happen in the first place and to save someone like Edwards another person needs to be around. Overdose victims cant save themselves. Fifteen hotel guests have died since the shelter-in-place program began in April, Zevin said. After a string of deaths and near-fatal overdoses, Zevin said the health department ramped up staff training on harm reduction and also began frequent wellness checks for those who might be at risk. Each hotel also has Narcan on every floor, along with safe syringe disposal, safe injection kits and test strips that can determine whether fentanyl is in a substance. Zevin is hopeful those measures will bring the number of deaths down. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle In a city where more than 8,000 people are struggling with homelessness and often, mental illness and drug addictions, too treatment beds, shelter beds and case managers were already hard to come by before the pandemic. Now, theyre even harder to find. Many drop-in service centers had to shut their doors, while shelters stopped accepting new residents and some drug treatment programs reduced their capacity. This disruption could also be driving the increased number of deaths, said Thomas Wolf, a case manager in the Tenderloin who helps coordinate care for those struggling with drug use. He said some of his clients have relapsed as treatment becomes harder to come by. So many people are dying on the street in front of us, and it is very visible, he said. Just going with the status quo of how it was before COVID-19 is not acceptable. Pre-pandemic, City Hall was extremely focused on plugging the holes in the behavioral health care system, by adding more shelter and treatment beds, hiring more social workers, and investing in new ideas like a meth sobering center and a safe injection site. Now, with a looming $1.5 billion budget deficit, many of those ambitious proposals and ideas have been delayed. That comes amid a staggering rise of overdose deaths, mostly attributed to fentanyl: 259 died of overdoses in 2018, and 182 in the first six months of 2019, the most recent Department of Public Health data available. The rest of 2019 and 2020 are expected to be worse. Breed and the Board of Supervisors say they remain committed to investing in services for those on the streets, despite the colossal deficit. And the health department says it has been able to provide behavioral health services such as therapy and withdrawal medication to more people than it normally would, as service providers regularly visit shelter-in-place hotels. New federal guidelines have also made it easier to prescribe longer courses of potentially lifesaving withdrawal medication. The 2,300 city-funded hotel rooms have also been a blessing for many previously living on the streets, though the Board of Supervisors contends the city does not have nearly enough rooms to meet the demand. As of Wednesday, 1,943 were occupied. People dying alone in their hotel rooms was a major worry for me, said Zevin, of the health department. There has been a tremendous amount of harm reduction work to try and mitigate that risk. But, he added, It continues to be a major issue. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Usually, whenever Edwards visited the Drug Users Union, he needed something or other, Marshall said: somewhere to sleep for the night, clean needles, medical help. But the last time she saw him, weeks after he moved into the hotel, things were different. I just came down to say hi, he said, beaming. He was strong enough to lift himself off his wheelchair and slowly walk down the narrow staircase to the unions office. Marshall was elated at the sight of her friend clean, happy, nourished. It was only a few weeks later that she got the shattering news of his death. There is not one thing that could have saved Edwards, she said, but there are many more things that San Francisco should be doing from creating more housing, to hiring more staff, to opening a safe injection site and, most importantly, reducing the stigma against those who struggle with drug use. This whole system is set up for people like Dre to not survive in it. He is an older Black man, disabled, sick and homeless, Marshall said. It has been extraordinarily frustrating and heartbreaking to watch city leadership scratch their heads on what to do. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani If you want to know who really controls MJ Gleeson plc (LON:GLE), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. 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. MJ Gleeson is a smaller company with a market capitalization of UK373m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about MJ Gleeson. View our latest analysis for MJ Gleeson What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About MJ Gleeson? 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. MJ Gleeson 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. 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 MJ Gleeson, (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. Hedge funds don't have many shares in MJ Gleeson. Harwood Capital LLP is currently the company's largest shareholder with 11% of shares outstanding. With 8.3% and 7.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Schroder Investment Management Limited and Castlefield Investment Partners LLP are the second and third largest shareholders. Story continues We did some more digging and found that 10 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. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of MJ Gleeson 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. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. 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. We can see that insiders own shares in MJ Gleeson plc. In their own names, insiders own UK23m worth of stock in the UK373m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership The general public holds a 18% stake in MJ Gleeson. 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 MJ Gleeson better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with MJ Gleeson , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. 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. "Proud Islamophobe" and Far-Right Conspiracy Theorist Laura Loomer Just Won A Republican Nomination In Florida While Kamala Harris was selected as presidential candidate Joe Bidens VP, far-right extremist Laura Loomer just won the GOP primary in Floridas 21st district. The seat is currently held by Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fl), the four-term incumbent in a solidly blue district. If you havent heard of her, Laura Loomer is not a Disney supervillain, even though her conservative activism makes her seem like one. She refers to herself as a proud Islamophobe and has called Islam a cancer on humanity. With that information, it comes as no surprise that Loomer is an open Zionist and has been to Israel to work with United West, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center deems actively anti-Muslim. ADVERTISEMENT An agitator and provocateur, Loomer has been banned from virtually every social media platform, including, but not limited to, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Periscope. And because she tweeted in 2018 that someone needs to create a non Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver, shes been banned from both Uber and Lyft. Loomer was supported through this primary with $1 million in contributions from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Trump ally Roger Stone, and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. And lets not forget the campaign contributions from Lydia Brimelow, who is married to the founder of VDARE, a white nationalist website. A conspiracy theorist herself, Loomer is a proponent of QAnon and has claimed that the Parkland mass shooting was staged. But dont worry. Floridas 21st district is very blue and Loomer has failed to garner support from within the district itself. Florida Congressman Ron Klein told Jewish Insider, people think shes a viable candidate, but thats not necessarily the case. If she was raising money in the district, it would mean she had more momentum. Header image: screenshot from YouTube More from BUST No, AOCs Sanders Nomination Was Not A Jab At Biden, Thats Literally How National Conventions Work Trump Is Back On His Birtherism Bullshit And Kamala Harris Is His Latest Target Sarah Cooper, Trumps Worst Nightmare, Is Getting Her Own Netflix Special Grace Weinberg (she/they) is a senior at Simmons University pursuing BAs in English, Women's & Gender Studies, and Spanish in addition to interning at BUST. When she's not reading in bed with her french bulldog, you can find her rollerskating or watching the next feminist horror flick. Follow her on Twitter at @GraceWeinberg6. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speaks to supporters following the primary in his home state of Florida: AP Republican senator Marco Rubio has been widely mocked on social media after he criticised Democrats for choosing Eva Longoria to host the partys national convention. The actress, who has a long history of political activism, kicked off proceedings on day one of the convention, which concluded with a speech from former first lady Michelle Obama. Ms Longoria, who spoke at the 2016 convention in Philadelphia, acted as emcee for the unique event which had been forced to forgo the typical large gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic. Actresses Kerry Washington, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Tracee Ellis Ross will host over the next three nights. Brilliant move! Mr Rubio tweeted sarcastically, in response to Longorias appearance. No one is more in touch with the challenges & obstacles faced by everyday Americans than actors & celebrities, the Florida senator added. Both prominent figures and ordinary Twitter users were quick to point out to Senator Rubio that the current occupant of the White House had a lengthy stint as a reality TV star. Others alluded to the fact that celebrities had spoken at previous GOP conventions. This years Republican convention is set to take place next week. Cuz Trumps & Kushners are so in-touch w/challenges & obstacles of everyday Americans, tweeted Republican strategist and political commentator, Ana Navarro-Cardenas, in a scathing rebuke. Unlike Trump, @EvaLongoria is self-made. She didnt get millions in bail-outs from her daddy, she added. Unlike you, she doesnt remain in complicit silence while our community is demonized. Responding to Rubios post, one Twitter user said: Dude, you literally spoke right after Clint Eastwood at the 2012 Republican convention. How could you forget that? He spoke to a f***g empty chair. Nobody remembers what you said, though. You literally elected a Reality TV star to be the President. Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) August 18, 2020 Another simply wrote: Not now, Marco, the grownups are talking. Story continues You literally elected a Reality TV star to be the President, another tweeted. Fred Guttenberg, a gun control activist whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was murdered in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida in 2018, wrote: Shame on you. I am involved in this convention but not an actor or celebrity. My daughter was murdered in the state you represent because of the gun violence you fail to address. This convention represents me & all others wanting leadership. Real Americans. Monday nights event ended with an emotional speech by Michelle Obama. The former first lady launched a blistering attack on Trump in her pre-recorded speech. Ms Obama, along with her husband, had until recently avoided criticising Trump by name in public. She accused the president of faking his way through the presidency, adding that Mr Trump was the wrong president for our country. He is in over his head. He cannot meet the moment ... It is what it is, she added. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. The virtual DNC will continue on Tuesday evening and include speeches from former president Bill Clinton and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Read more Michelle Obama says Trump in over his head in DNC address Trump attacks Cuomo in retweet spree as Michelle Obama delivers speech Michelle Obama tears into Trump's record in powerful speech When Bernie Sanders makes a speech like that, you know things are bad COVID-19 has placed a spotlight on the inequities of Canadas current curative health-care system and the problems associated with viewing health policy in isolation from social factors. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion COVID-19 has placed a spotlight on the inequities of Canadas current "curative" health-care system and the problems associated with viewing health policy in isolation from social factors. Post-COVID-19, we should not "go back to normal." Instead, we should push for a health-care system that values prevention and acknowledges that all policy is health policy. We need to ensure that we address all factors that can produce and maintain health, not just help people once theyre sick. To best address population health, there needs to be a balance between preventive and curative measures, equitable access to social services, policies that emphasize the social determinants of health and a move away from the "sickness care system." What was normal? Curative health care The curative approach to health care focuses on curing and treating the individual once they have been diagnosed with an ailment. The Canada Health Act defines "health" narrowly, and only ensures that "medically necessary" services are provided. Aside from being reactive, there is no firm definition of what constitutes a medically necessary service, and what is deemed medically necessary can change depending on the context in which it is provided. Services deemed not medically necessary include prescription medications, optometry, dental care and physiotherapy, among others. Even further removed from the medically necessary definition are social determinants of health, including safe housing, income security and an adequate social safety net. With the curative approach its impossible to have a population that is well, since that was never the goal of the system. There is also an argument that the curative approach to health care does more harm than good, as evidenced by medical errors, negative pharmaceutical interactions and the medicalization of everyday life experiences. The curative approach focuses on disease in the individual, rather than looking at social aspects and proximate factors that may impact the disease. Now, with COVID-19, there is no cure for the disease and so the curative approach already falls short. Where normal failed The advice given to the Canadian public as the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to stay home whenever possible, and wash their hands frequently. Although this may sound like good advice, it cannot be practised by all Canadians equally. Canadians are told to stay home as much as possible. But what if they dont have a home? Do they take a chance on a homeless shelter, where overcrowding is inevitable? Although on the surface this may seem like a housing policy issue, a labour policy issue or an economic policy issue, it is truly a public health policy issue. The privilege of owning a home is highlighted by the federal government, which allowed for mortgage payments to be deferred for eligible homeowners while no similar policy was put in place to defer rent payments. Instead, that decision is left to the individual landlords, and negatively impacts those with a lower socioeconomic status. Further, access to clean water is not available to all Canadians, as 61 Indigenous communities across the country are under boil-water advisories. Evidently, access to social determinants of health is not equally distributed. At the federal level, short-term financial measures have been put in place to help Canadians stay afloat, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). With more than three million Canadians out of work, COVID-19 has highlighted how precariously many Canadians were living. While these economic efforts may be useful right now, theyre merely Band-Aid solutions that are unlikely to have any lasting impact on the social determinants of health. Like the curative health system, they are reactive, not proactive; curative, not preventive. That means many of the factors that contribute to the spread of COVID-19 cannot be effectively managed because theres no adequate social safety net in place. Creating a new normal When health and economic systems are in disarray, theres no better time to reconstruct from the bottom up. There is no doubt that a preventive approach to health care would not only lead to a healthier population and more equitable access to social services, it would also be less expensive than our current system in the long term. 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. As the largest chunk of GDP is spent on health care, shifting money to other policy areas that influence the social determinants of health will require major restructuring. Because we have a federal health system, change often occurs slowly and large-scale reform rarely occurs at all. This is demonstrated by Canadas lack of a national pharmacare program, mental health strategy and national home-care program, despite them all having been discussed for the last several decades. In response to COVID-19, every Canadian province declared a state of emergency, and so it wasnt deemed necessary by the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act. However, invoking the act may have been an opportune time to expand the definition of medically necessary services and pass sweeping health reform measures, such as national health programs, without pushback from the provinces. Health policy should be all-encompassing and consider the bidirectional relationship between upstream (preventive) and downstream (curative) measures, and it should be analyzed in the context of social determinants of health, including gender, race, education and socioeconomic factors. Canada should seize the opportunity for collaboration between the provinces and among government, private sector and community groups. Now is the time for integrative policies over reactive measures; public programs over privatization; and embracing preventive measures to avert illness. Now is the time for change. We should never go back to "normal." Kaitlyn Kuryk is a PhD candidate in health sociology at the University of Manitoba. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Clinical and sociodemographic features of early COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts: MGH study suggests vulnerable populations are hardest hit BOSTON - Data from the first COVID-19 patients treated at three large Massachusetts hospitals reveal important trends, including disproportionate representation of vulnerable populations, high rates of disease-related complications, and the need for post-discharge, post-acute care and monitoring. "Our medium follow-up revealed that many of these patients are very sick even after leaving the hospital," says senior author Jason H. Wasfy, MD, MPhil, director of Quality and Outcomes Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center. The study was published today in EClinicalMedicine. For the study, the group created a detailed registry based on physician review of 247 patient charts for demographics, baseline characteristics, symptoms, home medications, laboratory data, electrocardiogram (EKG) data, imaging, and treatment. Patients were included if they were admitted from March 7 through 30, 2020, with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, to one of three Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners HealthCare) system's hospitals -- MGH, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH). These represent three of the largest hospitals in New England's largest integrated health care system. MGH and BWH are both academic medical centers, and Newton-Wellesley is a community hospital. "I'm glad we got that mix because we need data from across different kinds of settings," says Wasfy, who is also an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Most of the study patients were initially treated with hydroxychloroquine (72 percent) and statins (76 percent, with 34 percent of those newly initiated), a practice that has since changed. "We don't use either of those treatments at our institutions anymore, which highlights the dynamic nature of COVID-19 patient care," says study lead author Cian P. McCarthy, MD, investigator in the Division of Cardiology at MGH. Another trend that stood out was the ethnic and socio-economic mix: 30 percent of patients were Hispanic, 21 percent were enrolled in Medicaid, and 12 percent were dual-enrolled Medicare/Medicaid. "This strongly suggests that there are some built in disadvantages that fall on these populations' shoulders," says Wasfy. "They may have more family members living in one home, have greater difficulty accessing care, or other circumstances making them more likely to become infected and sick." The study patients also showed a surprising range of symptoms and outcomes. More than 100 patients (42 percent) required intensive care during their stay. At the end of the data collection period, 213 patients (86.2 percent) were discharged alive, 2 patients (0.8 percent) were still in the hospital, and 32 patients (13 percent) had died. Among those discharged alive, 70 (32.9 percent) were discharged to a post-acute facility, 31 (14.6 percent) newly required supplemental oxygen, 19 (8.9 percent) newly required tube feeding, and 34 (16 percent) required new prescriptions for antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, methadone or opioids. About 10 percent of the study patients were readmitted when followed for an average of 80 days after discharge. "Our data demonstrates that the road to recovery extends far beyond the hospital and we must ensure we are supporting our patients physical and emotional needs after discharge," says McCarthy. ### About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 8,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2019 the MGH was named #6 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its list of "America's Best Hospitals." File image India Ratings and Research on August 19 said banks are likely to restructure up to Rs 8.4 lakh crore of loans, or 7.7 percent of the overall system's credit, under the newly announced recast package. Over 60 percent of Rs 8.4 lakh crore could slip into the non-performing assets (NPAs) category, and the restructuring will help banks' bottomlines as the money to be set aside as provisions will be lower, the domestic ratings agency said. Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced a recast package which focused on a case-by-case approach for restructuring rather than a blanket or sectoral approach. The central bank had also allowed small value non-corporate loans to be recast. Unlike the earlier experience post the global financial crisis, when nearly 90 percent of the restructuring happened in corporate loans, the non-corporate segment, which includes small businesses, agricultural loans and retail lending, will account for a higher share this time, the agency said. It estimated the total amount of non-corporate loans to be recast at Rs 2.1 lakh crore. It further said the non-corporate segment was showing signs of stress even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when things seemed to be normalising in the corporate space. In the corporate segment, loans worth Rs 4 lakh crore of were already stressed before COVID-19 struck, and the same has gone up by over Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The jump in the non-corporate segment is more pronounced, as the stressed portion was only Rs 70,000 crore, which is now slated to go up to Rs 2.1 lakh crore, it said. Within the corporate segment, the restructuring may range from Rs 3.3 lakh crore to Rs 6.3 lakh crore, depending on the strategies the banks adopt, the agency said, adding the range is so wide because it feels 53 percent of the pool is at high risk, while 47 percent is at moderate risk. A high proportion of debt from real estate, airlines, hotels and other consumer discretionary sectors is likely to be restructured, but the largest contribution by quantum will be from infrastructure, power and construction sectors, it said. In the non-corporate segment, the micro, small and medium enterprises will account for half of the loans which will be restructured, while the rest will be split evenly between agro and retail advances, it said. Banks will start working on the restructuring as soon as the moratorium gets over by the end of this month and provide money accordingly, the agency said, adding the KV Kamath committee will look at advances of over Rs 1,500 crore and even in the case of large loans, the banks will do the groundwork in advance. The overall provisions will be lower by 16-17 percent to 2.3 percent for the banking system, because restructuring requires banks to set aside only 10 percent of the loan outstanding as provisions while for NPAs, it is much higher, it added. (With PTI Inputs) L.A. parks and recreation staffer Chris Smith and Salvation Army volunteers set up cots for homeless people at Westwood Recreation Center in March. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times) As the summer heat crested in the late afternoon Monday, Royal Fahrner left the Pan Pacific Park recreation center with a large plastic bag and her backpack. A long bus ride downtown to a storage facility was in her future. The rec-center-turned-homeless-shelter, where she had been staying for several months, was scheduled to close Tuesday. So she was getting ready to move to the Westwood Recreation Center along with 42 other people. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, she has shuttled among several shelters in Los Angeles city recreation centers. Some legal trouble meant she couldn't leave the county, and since she had nowhere else to stay, Fahrner said these shelters had been a lifeline and a salvation from staying on the streets. "It's surprising. Everyone thinks it's going to be terrible, but it's been pretty great," she said through a yellow mask with a tongue sticking out on it. "The community has been really nice." After The Times began inquiring about why this shelter was closing, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, Alex Comisar, said the city had reversed course, and it would remain open. Still as temperatures reach record levels in California, activists and homeless Angelenos are wondering why more Park Department gyms and recreation centers aren't being used to get people off the streets. When the pandemic began earlier this year, the city quickly opened up more than two dozen of these facilities to homeless people as it worked with the county to lease hotel rooms through a statewide program, Project Roomkey. Garcetti said this effort would shelter as many as 6,000 people but at its peak in mid-May, when there were 26 parks and recreation facilities being used, their total sleeping capacity was only about 1,000, according to data provided to an L.A. City Council office and shared with The Times. On May 13, 860 of the beds were occupied. Now there are just seven sites open, including the Pan Pacific Park location, with a total of 166 available beds. About 140 beds are occupied. Local activists say the closures came too early, when the need for emergency shelter is still great. Story continues "We are in the middle of a viral pandemic," said Emily Kantrim of the Midtown Los Angeles Homeless Coalition. "This pulls people away from the medical care and support they were getting. " On May 12, these shelters stopped taking new admissions, according to Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency (LAHSA) Executive Director Heidi Marston. The city had previously said that it wanted to return these facilities to their original use by September. Marston said her team has been working with service providers to get people staying in these sites into permanent housing or into hotel rooms through Project Roomkey. "The response [from the mayor's office] that we have received is that these were always intended to be temporary programs, so let's start to sunset them and let's also do everything we can to be compliant with public health guidance," Marston said. Comisar, the Garcetti spokesman, said: "Were consolidating sites and resources to make it easier for LAHSA and service providers to prioritize placements in longer-term shelter and housing." At first, Marston said there was a lot of concern about moving people into congregate settings like this and there have been coronavirus outbreaks in several of the shelters. Since it opened, there have been eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the Pan Pacific Park shelter's staff and residents. There have been no deaths. Echo Park Community Center guards anticipate arrivals from Skid Row and other areas in March. This shelter has since closed. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Joseph Manko and a friend who offered only his initials, N.N., sat on a park bench outside the shelter in the shade smoking cigarettes and chatting. They both have been here since April and, within weeks of arriving, were forced to stay inside and isolate after a resident tested positive. Manko, who had a stroke that left him struggling to use his left hand, had been living in a hotel but quickly ran out of money. The bills for his healthcare piled up, and he moved into this shelter. Manko and N.N. said the staff had been very attentive and caring during a tough time. "They handled it well," N.N. said. Marston said concerns about social distancing remain, but it would still be useful to have the recreation sites open because it would mean fewer people on the streets. At the beginning, the city and county and LAHSA were trying to build up a larger capacity of hotel rooms available. Now that that's in place, even though it's less than desired, she said it would still be good to keep these facilities available. "Any option that we can have to offer folks is a valuable one as long as we're maintaining social distancing," Marston said. Amid a brutal heat wave, with temperatures in downtown Los Angeles hovering near 100 degrees, six of the recreation centers have been turned into cooling centers for people who had no place to beat the heat. But Genevieve Liang, a board member of the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, which serves seven neighborhoods northeast of downtown, said the number of cooling centers is woefully inadequate and that the public has had to step up by making sandwiches and bringing ice water for people on the streets. "Where is the infrastructure the city is supposed to provide? There is a lack of capacity and planning. And where are these folks going to go?" Local outreach workers and activists such as Liang said that they felt in the dark about why these facilities had been closing as shelters and left to worry where homeless people would end up. "The only thing we heard early on was [Deputy Mayor for Homelessness] Christina Miller said the recreation centers have to go back to their original use," said Kantrim, noting that a large encampment sprang up around the corner when the Hollywood Recreation Center on Cole Avenue shut down. Miller recently announced her resignation, effective at the end of the month. Kantrim said the use of this facility had been successful. Giving homeless people the opportunity to stay indoors allowed them to stabilize and clean up after the trauma of the street, she said. "There is no reason for it to go. There is no answer from our elected officials about what is the strategy," she said. Arnali Ray, chief of strategy and programs officer at the Saban Community Clinic, said her agency has been going into Pan Pacific Park to link people staying there to medical care and that often started with a shower and some food. "Theyre hungry, thirsty and dehydrated. Its not great during a pandemic to be unhealthy," she said. "Weve been going around in circles, not sure who has the plan, what is the plan? It seems to me no one has an answer, which leads me to believe there is no real plan. What is the rush to get the recreation and park centers back?" Back in the park, a man staying in the shelter sat in the shade cleaning out a pipe and waiting for his friend to return with cigarettes. He declined to give his name but said he had been staying on the streets in South Los Angeles before this. The shelter was safe and secure, he said, because the police kept a close eye and there were a nurse and staffers from the Department of Mental Health on site. For him, it was no surprise the shelter would be closing soon. "Rich people want their park back," he said. "You can't blame them for that." By PTI MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday announced that their original series "Utopia", starring John Cusack, Rainn Wilson and Sasha Lane, will release on September 25. Inspired by the 2013 British series of the same name, the eight-part conspiracy thriller is written by author-screenwriter Gillian Flynn, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer. The series centres on a group of comic fans who bond over their obsession of a seemingly fictional comic called "Utopia" and unearth hidden meanings cloaked within its pages predicting threats to humanity. WATCH TRAILER: "They realise these are not just the makings of a conspiracy, they are very real dangers coming alive right now in their world. "The group embarks on a high-stakes adventure, bringing them face-to-face with the comic's famed central character, Jessica Hyde (Lane), who joins them on their mission to save the world while harbouring secrets of her own," the official plotline read. The series also stars Ashleigh LaThrop, Dan Byrd, Jessica Rothe, Desmin Borges and Javon Walton. Alongside Flynn, best known for her books "Gone Girl" and "Sharp Objects", "Utopia" is executive produced by Jessica Rhoades, Sharon Levy, Sharon Hall, Toby Haynes, Karen Wilson, and Dennis Kelly. The show is a co-production between Endemol Shine North America, Kudos and Amazon Studios. Discovery is mourning the loss of a familiar face. Jesse Goins, a miner who appeared on the network's Gold Rush franchise, has passed away. He was 60. "We are absolutely heartbroken to hear about Jesse Goins' death," Discovery said in a statement to E! News. "Our hearts and prayers go out to his family." According to Variety, Jesse was on set for Gold Rush in Colorado when he was discovered unconscious by another crew member on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The miner was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. His cause of death has yet to be revealed. The publication reports that Jesse's brother Larry Goins also confirmed the news in a social media post. "Jesse loved his Gold Rush family," Larry wrote. "I could never find the words to express how grateful to Dave Turin and the guys for the love they showed him. And for sharing and making sure the Lord and the Gospel was a big part of his daily life. He was in such a good place because of this. Love you guys." Celebrity Deaths: 2020's Fallen Stars Discovery fans last saw Jesse appear in the May 29 episode of Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mines. In total, he appeared in 15 episodes while serving as a gold miner and gold room operator alongside Dave. The series, which recently wrapped season 10, follows the placer gold mining efforts of various family-run mining companies, mostly in the Klondike region of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. When news surfaced of Jesse's passing, cast member Nathan Clark paid tribute on social media. "I'm truly lost for words right now. We lost the man that I trusted with my future and my kid's future. Jesse Goins was the kindest soul you could ever have met," Nathan shared on Twitter. "Love you brother! Jesse would give up his meal for the man next to him that was not as hungry. #Dtlm #GoldRush." Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), has saluted President Akufo-Addo for making a strong and legitimate case for the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in Accra. This included the Government contributing financial resources to ensure that the AfCFTA Secretariat was built. Mr Mahamat gave the commendation when President Akufo-Addo commissioned the Secretariat building and handed it over to the AUC. He (Mahamat) also paid special tribute to President Issoufou Mohamaddou of Niger and Champion of the flagship AfCFTA project. Mr Mahamat said President Mohamaddou's strong and sustained advocacy oversaw the fastest ratification and entry into force of an AU instrument, second only to that of the AU Constitutive Act; adding; "Merci Monsieur le President!" He expressed gratitude to the unfailing support and leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Chair of African Union (AU), who made the operationalisation of the AfCFTA a priority during his tenure. "Indeed, today marks a historic milestone in the road to fulfill the vision of our Founding Fathers for Continental Integration, that dates back to the inaugural session of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, articulated most strongly by then President Kwame Nkrumah in his landmark speech," Mr Mahamat said. "We stand here today despite a global Covid-19 pandemic that has caused major disruptions to global trade and the movement of goods and people." It was, therefore, fitting that the Secretariat had its home in Accra, he said. Mr Mahamat said Ghana was a historical trading centre for gold, cocoa and timber among other valuable goods and remained an important centre of commerce on the Continent and beyond. "Accra is also, and has always been, a guardian of our collective Pan African memory, not only as a home of thought but also as a port of safety and freedom for fellow Africans fleeing persecution, and for people of African descent seeking refuge or simply coming back home." He said while the operationalisation of the Secretariat was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the same pandemic had also magnified the urgent need to accelerate economic integration on the Continent. The crisis with its negative impact on trade and the multilateral system, was also an opportunity to rethink the value chains and reduce the reliance on traditional supply routes, he said. "To ensure we can absorb the negative impacts of future pandemics, we must integrate our markets, accelerate industrial development, enhance competitiveness to ensure a prosperous, peaceful and integrated future for our people," Mr Mahamat stated. "When Covid-19 hit, Africa took strong and early action, to the surprise of many, adding that AU agency for public health emergencies was ably coordinating the continental response. "It is this same spirit of unity that has brought us here..., to this physical manifestation of a key economic Pan African agenda that will be led by Mr Wamkele Mwene, the Secretary-General of AfCFTA, whose vast experience, vision and competence belies his relative youth. "Congratulations and I'm sure you will take care of this beautiful headquarters!" ---GNA BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's leading Sunni cleric on Wednesday joined calls for early parliamentary elections and an international investigation into the explosion at the Beirut port, which he said deepened the country's existential crisis. At least 179 people were killed and 300,000 left effectively homeless when massive amounts of highly explosive material stored unsafely for years detonated early this month, destroying swathes of the city and prompting the government's resignation amid mass protests. "The existential threat to Lebanon requires urgent attention: an international investigation to delineate responsibilities and restore confidence," said Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian. The president must adhere to the will of the people and conduct parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister, he added. On Sunday, Lebanon's top Christian cleric called for early parliamentary elections, saying Lebanon was today facing "its biggest danger". Leading politicians who were not part of the now caretaker government, which had support from Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies, have called for an international investigation. (Reporting by Raya Jalabi; editing by Barbara Lewis) SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Authorities say at least one resident has died in wildfires that are raging through Northern California and threaten tens of thousands of homes. Solano County Sheriff Sheriff Thomas A. Ferrara announced the mans death Thursday, but he didnt have additional details. At least two other people have died in the dozens of major fires that have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, wine country and portions of the Sierra Nevada. A Pacific Gas & Electric utility worker assisting with advance clearing was found dead Wednesday in a vehicle in the Vacaville area between San Francisco and Sacramento. A pilot on a water-dropping mission in central California also died Wednesday when his helicopter crashed. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. More than two dozen major fires were scorching California on Thursday and taxing the states firefighting capacity, sparked by an unprecedented lightning siege that dropped nearly 11,000 strikes over several days. The fires have destroyed 175 structures, including homes, and are threatening 50,000 more, said Daniel Berlant, an assistant deputy director with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In all, 33 civilians and firefighters have been injured, and two people have died. Most of the activity is in Northern California, where fires have chewed through about 500 square miles (1,250 square kilometres) of brushland, rural areas, canyon country and dense forest surrounding San Francisco. More than 10,000 firefighters are on the front lines, but fire officials in charge of each of the major fire complexes say they are strapped for resources. Some firefighters were working 72-hour shifts instead of the usual 24 hours. The state has requested 375 engines and crew from other states. Thats going to allow our firefighters that have have been on the front line since this weekend to have an opportunity to take some rest, Berlant said. In Marin County, just north of San Francisco, where a smaller fire is burning near the Pacific Ocean, county fire chief Jason Weber said he is waiting for assistance from Montana to arrive this weekend. He said in his 25 years in fire service, weve never seen this level of draw-down from co-operating agencies, as there is heavy competition in the western United States for equipment and people. In the coastal mountain regions south of San Francisco, where 26,000 people were under orders to evacuate, the CZU complex fire grew overnight to 62 square miles (160 square kilometres). Officials warned it has the potential to grow significantly in the next day. Given depleted resources, one of the best tools firefighters have for public safety is to get people out of harms way. But some people refused when officers went door-to-door Wednesday night, Cal Fire Chief Mark Brunton said. With the resources that we are lacking, we ask you to help us to help us to do our jobs and to keep the public safe, he said. Kevin Stover, 42, was struggling with indecision early Thursday when a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the rugged and small town of Felton outside the beach city of Santa Cruz. I dont want to leave, said Stover, a camera operator and rigger now driving for Door Dash and Lyft because of the pandemic. His car, loaded with important papers, his fathers urn and some arrowheads that meant a lot to him, had a flat tire. Im trying to figure out if I should cut these original oil paintings out of the frame to salvage them, he said. The unusually large size and number of simultaneous fires, other fires throughout the West and the loss of inmate firefighting crews because inmates were released from prisons to prevent the spread of coronavirus, have created the perfect storm for firefighting. Our agency is taxed to the limit, said Incident Commander Mike Smith at the fire near Santa Cruz. Officials there are awaiting help from other states, but they are having to look further afield than usual, meaning it will take days for crews to arrive, he said. The U.S. Forest Service cant help because they are busy fighting fires on federal lands. This is a very dangerous fire. The probability of an ember igniting something is 100 per cent, which is very high. Embers are travelling as far as mile and igniting trees and brush, Smith said. In addition to about two dozen major blazes, small fires kept erupting, though most were quickly stopped. Crews were also battling blazes in the Sierra Nevada and Southern California wild lands. In Monterey County along the coast, about 9,000 people have been evacuated for a fire thats now 52 square miles (136 square kilometres). The fires have claimed two lives, including a Pacific Gas & Electric utility worker assisting with advance clearing who died at a fire in the Vacaville area between San Francisco and Sacramento. The worker was found Wednesday in a vehicle and CPR was performed, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital, Cal Fire said. In central California, a pilot on a water-dropping mission in western Fresno County died Wednesday morning when his helicopter crashed. Two fires in Sonoma County prompted evacuation orders for 8,000 residents near the Russian River Wednesday. Residents of Healdsburg, with a population of about 12,000, were warned Wednesday night to be ready to flee. Fires in that region destroyed more than 100 buildings, including some homes, and threatened 25,000 people across five counties. Tim Edwards, president of the union representing 7,000 Cal Fire firefighters, said lawmakers need to allocate more money at a time when firefighters are working 40 to 50 days at a time without real relief. Here we are, were not even into our peak fire conditions, and we dont have enough resources throughout the whole state because were stretched so thin, he said. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who pulled out of speaking at the Democratic National Convention Thursday, said that California received a federal grant to reimburse some of its firefighting costs. Travis Air Force Base ordered non-mission-essential personnel to evacuate. Residents in nearby Vacaville, a city of 100,000, were roused before dawn Wednesday by orders to flee. California State Parks announced full or partial closures of more than two dozen parks, including Big Basin Redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the park headquarters and other facilities were damaged. The park featuring towering stands of ancient coast redwoods dates to 1902 and is the states oldest. In Southern California, firefighters worked in high heat to increase containment of fires in mountains north and east of Los Angeles. A huge fire also burned in the remote Mojave National Preserve. ___ Har reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. - This story has been corrected to show that the county where the Russian River is located is Sonoma, not Solano. Massachusetts health officials on Wednesday announced that influenza immunization will now be required for all children aged 6 months or older who are attending Massachusetts child care, pre-school, kindergarten, K-12, and colleges and universities, part of a measure to address respiratory illness during the coronavirus pandemic. Students are expected to have received a flu vaccine by Dec. 31 for the 2020-2021 flu season unless either a medical or religious exemption is provided, said the state Department of Public Health. Those students in K-12 who are homeschooled and higher education students who stay completely off-campus and are engaged in remote learning only are also exempt, DPH said in a statement. The new requirement is in addition to existing vaccine requirements for those attending child care, preschool, K-12 and colleges and universities in the state. Elementary and secondary students in districts and schools that are using a remote education model are not exempt, DPH said. Every year, thousands of people of all ages are affected by influenza, leading to many hospitalizations and deaths, said Dr. Larry Madoff, the medical director of DPHs Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences. It is more important now than ever to get a flu vaccine because flu symptoms are very similar to those of COVID-19 and preventing the flu will save lives and preserve healthcare resources. New students who enter schools Jan. 1 and March 31 must have received a dose of vaccine for the current flu season before entry, the department said. All children at least 6 months old who attend child care or preschool must be immunized in accordance with the ACIP Recommended Immunization Schedule. Depending on the childs age and flu vaccination history, DPH said a second dose of flu vaccine in the same season may be recommended. But, in those cases, the second dose is not required for school entry. The flu vaccine requirement applies to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students younger than 30 years of age and all full- and part-time health science students, the department said. The requirement also includes students from outside the U.S. who are attending or visiting classes or educational programs in Massachusetts as part of an academic visitation or exchange program, DPH said. The only exception is for college and university students who exclusively attend classes online and never visit campus in person. College students who attend any classes or activities on campus, even once, must be vaccinated by December 31, DPH said. More information on school immunizations can be found online. Related Content: 19 New Areas Showing Anomalies Where No Previously Known Veins Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - FenixOro Gold Corp (CSE: FENX) (OTC PINK: FDVXF) (FSE: FD8) is pleased to announce that it has received additional results from a program of soil sampling at its Abriaqui Project in Antioquia State, 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. Over the last 80 years artisanal miners have discovered over 80 high grade gold veins hosted by a diorite intrusion and hornfels in adjacent sedimentary rocks within the project area. Recently, company geologists have discovered additional veins, a zone of replacement mineralization, and indications of potential porphyry-style mineralization on FenixOro's land package. The veins, many of which assay over 20 grams per tonne gold and as high as 146 grams per tonne gold, are meters to tens of meters apart and occur in east-west and northwest trending families. In several areas, gold-bearing stockwork mineralization crops out between the veins indicating potential for significant widths of mineralization. A property-wide program of soil sampling on a 25 by 100 meter grid is being carried out to search for additional, non-outcropping mineralization in areas of vegetation and soil cover. Results from the first phase of the program in the Southeast Vein Area were reported in a press release dated July 23, 2020. That program delineated numerous new areas of vein potential and led to increased expectations for the soils program in the Main Vein Zone in the northwestern part of the property. Figure 1 summarizes the geology and all soil results to date in the Main Vein Zone. The area has always been considered to be the highest priority drill target given the number, density, and high grade of the known veins. As seen in the Figure, the vein outcrop areas are characterized by multi-point soil anomalies of 100-1000+ parts per billion gold. The newly received soil results illustrate the fact that most areas in between the vein families are also characterized by anomalies of similar magnitude. To date nineteen such areas with no previously known veins have been delineated with soil anomalies which are very similar to those developed over known veins. FenixOro VP Exploration Stuart Moller stated "We anticipated strong soil results over the known veins that could be used as a baseline for interpreting soil results in virgin areas. The major new anomalies between and adjacent to the known veins were a tremendous surprise and as a result we now see greatly enhanced potential for the vein/stockwork model." The planned holes were designed to be drilled at 45-60 degree angles from the surface, with each intersecting multiple known veins and areas of intervening stockwork mineralization. An analysis of vein outcrops, mine dumps, tailings, etc. along with topography indicates that very few of the new soil anomalies are likely to be the products of soil contamination. Therefore, most of the nineteen are considered to be newly discovered areas of near-surface mineralization, probably additional vein and/or stockwork zones. The drill program will not have to be modified significantly to test the best of the new areas as most are immediately adjacent to known veins. The impact will be in the number of veins intersected by each hole and the total width of the mineralized corridors, two of which now appear to be in excess of 300 meters. Additional areas of potential will be addressed with the 20% of the program samples yet to be received from the laboratory and future expansions to the soil grid. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6188/62104_fenix2.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/62104 A pensioner gave a hospital worker 'the shock of her life' when she came back from the dead after spending the night in a Russian morgue. Zinaida Kononova, 81, was pronounced dead after surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction at the Gorshechensky Central District Hospital on August 14. She was taken to the morgue at 1.10am, but almost seven hours later at 8am a female worker 'got the shock of her life' when she found the grandmother sprawled across the floor. Ms Kononova had fallen as she attempted to climb off the morgue table and escape. Zinaida Kononova (pictured), 81, was pronounced dead after surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction at the Gorshechensky Central District Hospital on August 14 An ambulance driver overheard the commotion as he entered the building. He told how the 'frightened' morgue worker said: 'Grandma, lie down, granny, be quiet.' The paramedic thought the morgue employee had gone 'crazy', but then he saw the pensioner grab the woman's hand pleading for help. Ms Kononova was covered in blankets and rushed to intensive care. The hospital called the grandmother's niece Tatiana Kulikova and a senior doctor told her: 'We have an unusual situation. She is alive!' Ms Kulikova rushed to the hospital as a team of medics from regional capital Kursk were sent to treat Ms Kononova. She was taken to the morgue (pictured) at 1.10am, but almost even hours later at 8am a female worker 'got the shock of her life' when she found the grandmother sprawled across the floor Ms Kononova had fallen as she attempted to climb off the morgue table and escape at the Gorshechensky Central District Hospital (pictured) Ms Kulikova was delighted her aunt was alive but asked the doctors: 'How could this happen?' She was told Ms Kononova had been registered as clinically dead for 15 minutes, and was 'literally pulled back from the other world'. Ms Kulikova said: 'She initially did not recognise me or recall that she had a surgery. But she talked about her old knee problem.' A doctor and anaesthetist later confessed they had sent Ms Kononova to the morgue one hour and 20 minutes after she died, instead of two hours as rules dictate. The back-to-life pensioner has been transferred to Kursk for further treatment. The hospital then called the grandmother's niece Tatiana Kulikova (pictured) and a senior doctor told her: 'We have an unusual situation. She is alive!' Roman Kondratenko, chief doctor of Gorshechensky Central District Hospital, has been suspended pending an investigation. Relatives of the pensioner are planning to sue the hospital, according to reports. Acting hospital head Alexander Vlasov said: 'For 30 minutes the patient underwent resuscitation measures.' Ms Kononova did not respond, he said. 'As a result, the resuscitation doctor established biological death, ascertained it,' he added. 'The anaesthetist is very worried. She feels very bad and we are afraid for her. 'Every person makes mistakes. What will happen next with the career of this anaesthetist is still a question.' The Bench said that a factor considered relevant for the induction of central agencies like CBI is to retain 'public confidence in impartial functioning of state's investigative agencies' Transfer of investigation to the CBI cannot be a routine exercise and should be done only in exceptional circumstances, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. A Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said one factor considered relevant for the induction of a central agency like the CBI is to retain "public confidence in the impartial working of the state investigation agencies". The court referred to its recent decision in a case related to journalist Arnab Goswami and said it not for the accused to choose the investigating agency. The apex court made these observations while upholding the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the FIR lodged in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case in Patna to the CBI. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on 14 June and since then Mumbai Police had been probing the case but was yet to file an FIR in the case. The top court's verdict came on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her and six others at Patna by Rajput's father accusing them of abetting the actor's suicide, to Mumbai. The court noted that while Rajput's father and the Bihar government have alleged that Mumbai Police is attempting to shield the real culprits under political pressure, the Maharashtra government has strongly refuted it saying Patna Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime as the incident has taken place in Mumbai. It said political interference has been alleged against both the states and that has the potential of discrediting the investigation. "The legal process must therefore be focused upon revelation of the correct facts through credible and legally acceptable investigation." "It must be determined whether the unnatural death was the result of some criminal acts. In order to lend credibility to the investigation and its conclusion, it would be desirable in my view, to specify the authority, which should conduct the investigation in this matter," the court said. It said that while the CBI cannot conduct any investigation without the consent of the concerned state as mandated under section 6, the powers of the Constitutional Courts are not fettered by the statutory restriction of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act. It said the FIR at Patna against Chakraborty was subsequently transferred to the CBI with consent of the Bihar government during pendency of her Transfer Petition. "However, in future, if commission of cognizable offence under section 175(2) CrPC is determined, the possibility of parallel investigation by the Mumbai Police cannot be ruled out," the court said. The apex court said that Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946 read with Section 5 prescribe the requirement of consent from the State government, before entrustment of investigation to the CBI. "As the CBI has already registered a case and commenced investigation at the instance of the Bihar government, uncertainty and confusion must be avoided in the event of Mumbai Police also deciding to simultaneously investigate the cognizable offence, based on their finding in the inquiry proceeding," the top court said. The court said it would therefore be appropriate to decide at this stage itself as to who should conduct the investigation on all the attending circumstances relating to the Rajput's death. "This issue becomes relevant only if another FIR is registered on the same issue, at Mumbai. A decision by this Court on the point would confer legitimacy to the investigation," it said. Interview Kokang Party Vows to Make Friends With All if It Wins Seats in Myanmars Election SSKDP chairman Antony SU / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint Political parties are making preparations for the November election in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in the northeastern area of Shan State. Seven seats are up for grabs in Kokang with three partiesthe Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), United Democratic Party and Shan State Kokang Democratic Party (SSKDP)running in the election there. The USDP candidates are members of the leading body of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. The USDP won in both the 2010 and 2015 general elections in Kokang. The SSKDP was formed by local Kokang politicians and is preparing to confront the USDP in the November election. SSKDP chairman Antony Su recently talked to The Irrawaddys senior reporter Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint about the partys preparations for the election and the political landscape in Kokang. Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint: In which constituencies will your party contest? What preparations has your party made? Antony Su: There are seven seats that are up for grabs in Kokangtwo in the Lower House, four in the Shan State Parliament and one in the Upper House. We will run for all seven seats. We have selected candidates. All of them are men. We encouraged women to run, but they did not put themselves forward. But even the men do not have much political awareness, so the women can be forgiven. Women are focused on their livelihoods. They dont understand politics. They have no time to engage in politics. There are no female politicians in Kokang. Are there any special challenges in competing with a major party like the USDP? We field candidates in the election due to the requirements of the multi-party democracy system. We are happy if the election is fair, and there is no vote rigging and advanced voting. The losers will be satisfied and the winner can have dignity if the election is fair. However, we have raised objection to advanced voting. Advanced voting paves the way for vote rigging. We were leading in four seats in 2015, and but then lost all due to advance votes. For example, consider [then Union Vice-President] Dr. Sai Mauk Kham of Lashio [in Shan State]. He won that way [in the 2015 election]. When controversy arose, he confessed that he won due to advance votes. Are you against advance voting? Since the time of Union Election Commission [UEC] chairman U Tin Aye [under the U Thein Sein government], we have opposed organizing advance voting. And we will call on the UEC again not to organize advance voting. It is up to them. I heard that military personnel will cast ballots at polling stations outside cantonments. Thats good, but military personnel should cast votes independently. Only then, will they earn our respect. No matter which party wins, it will only rule for five years. Let it rule if it has support. Dont be afraid. Do you think the upcoming election will be free and fair? Let bygones be bygones. We have to learn and make corrections if we were wrong. We cant lie to the people. I think the upcoming election will be better than the 2015 vote. What is your assessment of the NLD governments performance regarding the peace process? Only when we have armed forces that listen to the people, are controlled by the people, and are able to protect the lives and property of people will we achieve internal peace. Only when we have such armed forces will we have permanent peace. Unless and until that is the case, the civil war will persist. What specifically do you mean by armed forces? I mean all the armed groups including Kokang, Karen and all the others, not just the Tatmadaw. There will be peace only when we have armed forces that understand that they hold arms and wear uniforms to protect lives and protect people, and their duty is to protect the lives and property of people. U Pheung Kya-shin [the leader of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army-MNDAA] has carried out attacks to retake control of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. Whats the impact of this fighting upon the region? I am not a sympathizer of U Pheung Kya-shin. We belong to the same race, Kokang. But they take up arms, while we chose to live in a self-administered zone. I dont know the plans of U Pheung Kya-shin. No armed groupincluding U Pheung Kya-shin and the KIA [Kachin Independence Army]will succeed if they dont focus their attention on the interests of the people. Our party works for the people. Our principle is to work for the people from all walks of life. If an armed group does not have that policy, that group is nothing but a group of robbers. I dare say that, and they can come and kill me [if they dont like being called that]. If the armed groups are to turn themselves into political parties, they must behave like political parties. The parties must control their armed wings. All the problems would be solved if only they cared to work for the people. Ethnic revolutionary groups say they are fighting for rights and self-determination of ethnic people. There is, for example, the Kokang Group [MNDAA]. So, my question is what is your view on such ethnic revolutionary groups? I answer this question only because you ask me. Ethnic people ask for equality, but can they work as well as Bamar people? Does any ethnic group, either Kokang or Kachin, have the same skills as Bamar? Can they do customs, police and education work? No, they cant. If equal rights are given to those who lack capacity, what will happen to this country? Equal rights are not held by Bamar people. Dont ask for that. We have to try ourselves to be able sit with Bamar as equals. Kokang have to try, and all the other ethnic groups have to try. When we have the same capacity, we can ask Bamar to come and sit together. Under the NLD government, the Northern Alliance has targeted roads to disrupt the countrys border trade. As border trade is the main engine of the economy in the Kokang region, what is your view on those attacks? Bullets have no eyes. We can be hit by bullets from the Tatmadaw or the Kokang armed group. We have to flee when clashes take place, losing our belongings. And people from 15 villages still cant return to their homes. I dont want to say who is right and who is wrong. It is the people who have to bear the brunt of fighting. All the armed groups must try to protect the lives and property of the people. I mean all the armed groups. They can hold the arms because there must be armed forces in a country. From where do armed groups get the money? People pay them in the form of taxes. The money is not intended for the armed group members to take lesser wives. And there are large numbers of casinos in Kokang. What do you want to say about it? There are also casinos in Singapore. But they are legal, and you cant just enter them as you please. I mean you can enter it only when you have money. But here, anyone can enter the casinos as they please and problems arise as a result. We endorse legalizing casinos. But dont kill the people for not being able to repay the money borrowed to bet. I have evidence of that happening. We allow operation of casinos because of the approval of the [Laukkai] regional operations command chief of the Myanmar military. He only asked us to do the best and avoid problems. But problems happen. We cant blame him. In their view, the area, being a border town, is not very lively, without fun like casinos. But there are murders. Casinos are controlled well in Mongla. Problems barely arise there, unlike here. But levying taxes on gambling will never help the development of the country. The gambling business also ruins people. Local people could learn useful vocations, but because there are casinos, they choose to work at them [due to better pay]. They are paid 4,000 to 5,000 yuan [about 780,000 to 980,000 kyats per month], but then they learn nothing. I feel sorry about that. Still, without casinos, there is nothing else in Laukkai. Only because there are casinos, people from the neighboring country come in. So, people here get jobs. There are four to five casinos in Laukkai. I want the casinos to be legalized so that the government can levy taxes. But, they have existed since the area was under the control of U Pheun Kya-shin. I found that there are armed guards at the casinos. The bosses employ guards and have armed them. They can hold arms for security reasons. Are their arms licensed? You had better ask this question to the military. We dont know. It is the concern of the Tatmadaw [Myanmars military]. Were culprits in murder cases at casinos apprehended? As Ive said, murder is not good. It is not good whether a person is killed rightfully or wrongfully. The situation is not much different from Lower Myanmar. Some cases were solved, and some cases werent. How would you like to see Kokang develop in the future? If we are lucky enough to win the majority in Kokang, we will make friends with all. All including Tatmadaw are friends. Nobody shall harm our three main national causes. We will give top priority to education, and then health. We want to open the best schools that teach Kokang, Burmese and English. And we want to open a high-standard hospital in each township in Kokang. For example, hospitals with all the diagnostic facilities for COVID-19; hospitals where patients can receive one-stop service without needing to go to Lower Myanmar or Singapore. We will send party members to Singapore and fellow ASEAN countries to learn what can be done in our region. The USDP has been in office in Kokang for 10 years. But they havent gone on a study trip abroad. If we won, we would seek permission from the Union government, and go on study trips. And we would submit reports and design [regional development] plans after we come back. The biggest market [China] is just beside us. China is short of cattle. If only we can do breeding, we can export right away. There are many things that need to be done in Kokang, like levying tax on exports and imports. There is the existing Yan Long Kyaing border gate, and we can legalize other gates, and levy taxes. We will give a certain percentage of the taxes to the Union government, and spend the rest on development of Kokang. Taxes are levied now, but I dont know where all the money has gone. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: High Court in Myanmars Kayah State Rejects Militarys Appeal to Increase Farmers Sentences Five Abducted as Feud Between Myanmars Ethnic Rakhine Groups Continues Ukraines deputy foreign minister has told Radio Farda that Kyiv most of all seeks the truth about the downing of its airliner by Iran and monetary compensation is a secondary goal. In his new interview with Radio Farda Yevhen Yenin has emphasized that Ukraine's primary goal is obtaining the whole truth behind downing UIA's plane that killed all 176 onboard. Regretfully admitting that Kyiv has so far failed to persuade Tehran to take a "constructive approach," Yenin said that receiving compensation for the relatives of the victims of the tragedy should be addressed after achieving the truth about the catastrophe. "Relatives of the victims expect the same. Under no circumstances should we accept money in exchange for covering up the truth. We must first know the truth. Then, based on the details of the events that led to the downing of the Ukrainian plane, we will calculate the compensation to be paid to the relatives of the victims, the airline and the country of Ukraine," Yenin reiterated. As Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport on January 8, heading to Kyiv, two missiles were fired at the plane. The three-year-old Boeing crashed near the capital city, killing all 167 people aboard. After three days of secrecy and denial, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps admitted its missiles had brought down the plane but ascribed the incident to "human error." Iran refused for months to hand over the doomed plane's black boxes for deciphering, while repeatedly admitting that it was not capable of reading the flight recorders. Ultimately, under international pressure, the flight recorders were delivered to France on July 17 to be deciphered. However, according to Yenin, while decoding the flight recorders is important, it is only one of the three stages of the technical investigation into the plane crash. "We had three goals in analyzing the black box information. We wanted to prove that the plane was not technically defective, that the pilot and flight crew did not make a mistake, and we also wanted to confirm that the plane crashed following missile strikes. We achieved all three of our goals," Yenin reveals for the first time. Meanwhile, Yenin admits that it is the Islamic Republic's responsibility to provide the information recorded in the black boxes to the public. "Based on ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) regulations, Iran, as the country in charge of technical research, must submit a final report about the plane crash within one year, by January 8 next year, and at least a preliminary report if there is not enough time," Yenin notes. Nonetheless, Tehran has not yet officially issued a report on the disaster. Has Ukraine decided to find out whether shooting down the UIA's Boeing was deliberate? "In the process of the investigation, all possibilities are weighed. I do not doubt that the possibility that Iran's action was deliberate is also one of the inspections' axis. But because information about the ongoing criminal investigation is confidential, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry is not aware of its findings," Yenin admits. "All the wreckage was not found, and only a few seats were discovered by chance. Despite such issues, we hope that the technical and criminal investigations that Iran is responsible for will be conducted following international standards," Yenin says. Referring to an unknown number of Iranians arrested for protesting the downing of the plane, Yenin offers his sympathy, adding, "There is no political or legal tool to allow us to address this issue. We do not want our negotiations with Iran to be politicized. We seek answers to specific questions and clarify the actions taken, or not taken, regarding the downing of our plane." MINSK/BRUSSELS European Union leaders holding an emergency summit were expected to endorse sanctions on Belarusian officials blamed for election fraud on Wednesday, but signalled reluctance to take steps that might be seen as a bid to pry the country from Moscows orbit. President Alexander Lukashenko has faced mass street demonstrations since officials declared he had been reelected on Aug. 9 in a vote his opponents say was rigged. Authorities have cracked down on his opponents with thousands of arrests. It is the biggest crisis in a former Soviet state since a popular uprising toppled a pro-Moscow leader in Ukraine six years ago, which led to Russian military intervention and Europes deadliest ongoing conflict. Violence has to stop and a peaceful and inclusive dialogue has to be launched. The leadership of #Belarus must reflect the will of the people," Charles Michel, the EU summit chairman, wrote in a tweet announcing the start of the video meeting. The European leaders are expected to endorse financial restrictions on Belarus officials they hold responsible for election fraud and the crackdown on protesters. But EU officials made clear they had little appetite for a bold stance in support of the opposition, which might trigger intervention from Moscow. Belarus is not Europe," EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said, comparing it to pro-Western Ukraine and Georgia, both targets of Russian military operations. Belarus is really strongly connected with Russia and the majority of the population is favourable to close links with Russia." Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a 37-year-old political novice who stood as the main challenger to Lukashenko in the election after better-known opposition figures were jailed or banned from standing, had urged EU leaders to reject Lukashenkos victory. I call on you not to recognise these fraudulent elections," Tsikhanouskaya said, speaking in English in a video address from exile in neighbouring Lithuania, where she fled after the vote her followers say she won. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world." Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss who has run Belarus for 26 years, appears to have underestimated the public anger in the country after official results gave him victory with 80 percent of the vote. Large state-owned factories have gone on strike in sympathy with protesters, and the authorities have acknowledged some police officers have quit their posts. Speaking to his security council on Wednesday, Lukashenko repeated accusations that the protesters are funded from abroad. MOSCOWS RESPONSE Attention is firmly focused on how Russia will respond to the crisis. Of all the former Soviet republics, Belarus has by far the closest economic, cultural and political ties to Russia, and its territory is central to Russias self defence. Since the 1990s, the two countries have proclaimed themselves part of a union state", complete with a Soviet-style red flag. Flight tracking data showed a Russian government plane used in the past to carry senior government officials, including the head of the FSB security service, had made a quick flight to Belarus and back. Russian and Belarus officials did not publicly comment on the flight. Despite their close ties, Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a difficult personal relationship with Lukashenko. The Kremlin now faces the choice of whether to stick with him as his authority appears to drain away, or try to manage a transition to a new leader who would keep Minsk in Moscows orbit. Opposition figures set up a council on Tuesday to negotiate a transition. Lukashenko denounced it as an attempt to seize power and said he would take appropriate measures. Putin has offered Lukashenko military help if needed. During phone conversations on Tuesday the Russian leader warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron against meddling in Belarusian affairs. The protests have spread to some of the countrys major industrial plants that underpin Lukashenkos Soviet-style economic model. Police dispersed a demonstration and detained two people at the Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) plant on Wednesday. Police also took control of the main state drama theatre in Minsk. The theatre became a flashpoint for protests when its director, a former Belarusian diplomat, was fired after speaking out in favour of the protests. 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 Police arrest stolen vehicle suspect who fled, entered occupied home The homeowner was able to get out of the home safely, but Aberdeen police are now negotiating the surrender of the suspect. Meth and heroin-addled drug addicts have sparked fury in an inner-city Melbourne neighbourhood by shooting up in public, defecating in the street and gathering in large groups despite the city's strict COVID-19 lockdown rules. Residents in North Richmond have also reported used syringes being discarded on sidewalks even though the suburb has its own safe injecting room where drug users can shoot up under supervision. One man who lived near the injecting room said people would gather in large groups throughout the day in public areas in complete disregard for the city's stage four restrictions. Another said those injecting in the street appeared to be 'immune' to the lockdown and the rules did not apply to them. A large gathering is pictured outside a safe injecting room in North Richmond in Melbourne's inner-east. Locals have complained about groups congregating in high numbers outside the facility not wearing masks Witnesses reported as many as 20 people congregating in a park for a birthday party near the inner-city injecting room 'We're in a stage 4 lockdown and they act as if nothing is happening they could be the ones spreading the virus for all we know,' the resident told NCA News Wire. 'We've seen syringes and human faeces in the streets. Children live around here, it's disgraceful we're supposed to be minimising the risk of spreading disease.' One photo shared to a local social media group campaigning to have the injecting room moved showed a syringe discarded in a children's playground. In a flagrant disregard for lockdown rules preventing no more than two people from gathering outside at once, witnesses reported as many as 20 people congregating in a park for a birthday party. Complaints about drug users not wearing face masks in North Richmond have become so vocal state Liberal MP Craig Ondarchie has asked for more police to patrol the area. 'That is unacceptable during this pandemic when so many Victorians are obeying the rules,' he said in state parliament. The state government has re-assured residents 'high-visibility' patrols are in place to target crime and catch those violating public health laws enforcing the use of face masks. Pictured: Syringes left discarded in North Richmond. The suburb has its own bespoke safe injecting room where drug users can shoot up under supervision In June, mother Charlotte Spencer-Roy revealed she regularly found people using drugs in the laneway beside her North Richmond home. Her nine-year-old son, Angus, was traumatised after discovering a man who had apparently overdosed laying unconscious outside their home just 10 minutes from the injecting room. 'He said ''mummy, mummy there's a dead body'',' Ms Spencer-Roy told Nine News at the time. Ms Spencer-Roy opened her door as two men scrambled to pick up their drug paraphernalia. WHAT IS THE NORTH RICHMOND COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE? North Richmond Community Health Centre has a medically supervised injecting room. It opened in June 2018 for an 18-month trial and has recorded more than 60,000 visits and managed more than 1,800 overdoses without a death. Before the room was opened staff would attend 59 overdoses a year in carparks and gutters without any notice. In the first week 400 people went to the room. A review of the trial was due in June 2020 to help decide of it would continue to operate. There has been loud public opposition to the centre since it was established. Locals want it moved to another area as they claim it has created more drug use within the community. Some claim to have seen heroin users take the drug near schools. Advertisement Mother Charlotte Spencer-Roy (pictured right with her son Angus) lives just streets away from the controversial injecting room in North Richmond Ms Spencer-Roy said she was spat on and threatened by a drug addict (pictured right and left) who had been shooting up outside her home in November 'Why are you choosing to inject here? This isn't the injecting room,' she asked as the pair quickly scurried away. The men told the furious mother the queues at the Lennox Street injecting room were too long and said it was 'too far away'. But Ms Spencer-Roy said the controversial injecting room, which opened in 2018, is just a ten minute walk from her house. One of the men also told the family he was banned from going into the injecting facility. One of the country's most conservative industry organisations, the National Farmers Federation, has called for Australia to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, which sets a more ambitious climate change agenda than the Morrison government. "Overwhelmingly our members support an aspiration for an economy wide commitment to net zero emissions by 2050," said National Farmers Federation (NFF) president Fiona Simson, who represents a membership comprised of industry and state agriculture groups with grassroots farmer membership. National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The Morrison government has committed to achieve net zero emissions by sometime in the second half of this century. NFF's policy resolution was thrashed out in a heated debate among state bodies and groups representing commodities including grains, beef and horticulture. Some were concerned about potential economic damage from ambitious climate action, while others, including pork and beef, argued for a tougher stance. Appointment 19 August 2020 Azerai Can Tho has appointed a new executive chef, Ricardo Lujan, as the resort continues to elevate its seasonal and healthy cuisine offerings in the Mekong Delta, one of Vietnam's most exciting culinary destinations. Chef Ricardo, a Mexico native, brings a global perspective to the kitchen at Azerai, having worked around the world with extended stints in Bali, Yangon and Mexico City prior to arriving in southern Vietnam last year. He has received formal training in classic European cuisine, including French, Italian and Mediterranean, and credits his experience working alongside Japanese chef Fujimura San for awakening his curiosity in Asian cuisines. The chef will seek to further Azerai Can Tho's development of special wellness dishes, along with regularly updated seasonal menus to spotlight the distinctive ingredients, including abundant fruits, that have helped put the Mekong Delta on the international culinary map. The new seasonal menus will be updated three to four times a year. Since arriving in Can Tho last month, Chef Ricardo, who is also an accomplished sculptor, has spent time exploring the region's famous wet markets, and says he has discovered some "beautiful palm hearts, a variety of mangrove oysters, fresh bamboo shoots and live Delta seafood," along with other ingredients that he plans to use in the Azerai kitchen. Health investigators are still trying to figure out how a security guard contracted COVID-19 while working at a Sydney quarantine hotel. The guard was one of seven new coronavirus cases announced on Wednesday in New South Wales. Of the new cases, two were from hotel quarantine - one from overseas and one from Victoria - and four were from community transmission. NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the security contractor became infected from two females travellers who had returned from the US. The women had been staying in a room on the same floor the guard had worked on. Dr Chant said it was still unclear out how transmission occurred. She said after viewing the security tapes there was no obvious point of contact between the guard and the travellers. The security guard worked at the five-star Marriott Hotel in Circular Quay on August 3, 4, 7 and 8 as part of Australia's hotel quarantine program Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was concern that the virus may have been transferred from a surface The two travellers were taken to hospital on August 5. What are the new cases in NSW? NSW reported seven new cases on Wednesday Two are returned travellers in hotel quarantine one from overseas and one from Victoria Five are locally acquired There were 19,414 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period. Advertisement Health investigators are trying to figure out if there was an overlap between the travellers and the guard. Dr Chant said they would also be looking at whether there could be a third case involved. 'We have reviewed CCTV footage at the times of overlap, and theres no clear answer as to how transmission occurred.' Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was concern that the virus may have been transferred from a surface. She said it was a 'miracle' a similar kind of transmission had not occurred sooner. The guard worked shifts at the Sydney Markets at Flemington on August 9 between 8am and 4pm last Sunday while infectious, sparking calls to stop hotel guards working at various locations. Ms Berejiklian said the guard had done nothing wrong in how he acted once becoming infectious. 'The key message here, is no matter what job you have, as soon as you feel any symptom, you should go home and isolate for 14 days and that is what this guard did for 14 days theres no indication he ever did the wrong thing.' NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant (pictured) said the security contractor 'most probably' became infected after coming into contact with a return traveller from the US NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said community transmission was concerning (Pictured: People wearing face masks out shopping in the CBD in Sydney) She said it was also concerning that there were cases with no known source, indicating 'chains of transmission' spreading through south western and western Sydney. Of the new cases, one is a close contact of a previously reported case with no known source. Dr Chant urged anyone with minor symptoms to get tested. 'We urge you to come out on day one of symptoms, however minimal these symptoms are,' Dr Chant said. There have been 3,777 COVID cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic. There are eight patients in ICU, five of whom are ventilated. Description GIS 19 August 2020: Government remains committed in providing the necessary assistance and in empowering the vulnerable segments of the society with particular attention for the homeless, said the Minister of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, today, at the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF), in Port Louis. The Minister was speaking during an event organised for the homeless by the NEF in the context of World Humanitarian Day 2020, which is celebrated every year on 19 August. On that occasion, blankets were distributed to the needy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, was also present. In her address, Mrs Jeewa-Daureeawoo spoke about the importance of the social housing project and one of the key priorities of that project which is to help the most vulnerable by giving them access to a decent housing as well as the setting up of some 12 000 housing units across Mauritius. The Minister also highlighted the importance of social work which requires perseverance and patience to assist the vulnerable integrate into mainstream society. She reiterated Governments dedication in fighting poverty and called upon the civil society, Non-Governmental Organisations, and the private sector to team up with the authorities in this endeavour. Moreover, Mrs Jeewa-Daureeawoo recalled that since 2014, to-date, Government has implemented several projects for those who are at the lower rung of the social ladder. One such projects, currently in the pipeline, is the construction of two rehabilitation centres in Roches Brunes and Vacoas with financial assistance under the Covid-19 Solidarity Fund to cater for the homeless, she indicated. For his part, Minister Bodha, spoke of the need to empower the vulnerable by providing them with adequate social assistance and family support. According to him, these are the requisites towards helping and ensuring that the needy integrate into mainstream society. World Humanitarian Day It is recalled that World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. This year, the WHD comes as the world continues to fight the Covid-19 pandemic over recent months. Aid workers are overcoming unprecedented access hurdles to assist people in humanitarian crises in 54 countries, as well as in a further nine countries which have been catapulted into humanitarian need by the Covid-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump filed their requests for vote-by-mail ballots in Florida's primary election. The vote-by-mail submission came despite Trump's frequent attacks on voting by mail. The county's election office received the completed vote-by-mail ballots on Monday; an office spokesperson told The Hill. Both ballots were dropped off in person instead of being returned to the county by mail, and Wendy Sartory Link told the Palm Beach Post. According to Link, the ballots will be counted on Tuesday. Trump asked a designated representative for the vote-by-mail request and scheduled them to be picked up last week. The completed ballots were dropped off early, beating the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline. The Trumps also submitted vote-by-mail ballots last March for Florida's presidential primary. They switched their permanent address to Palm Beach County, where the president's Mar-a-Lago resort is located, reported CNN. Records at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website showed that the ballots were mailed to the resort, as it was what Trump listed as his residence last year. Absentee Voting vs. Universal Mail-In President has drawn a line distinguishing absentee voting and universal mail-in voting. He slammed the mail-in way as opening risks for the election to run widespread fraud, despite lack of evidence. He said absentee ballots are good by universal mail-ins can "lead to terrible things." In an interview with Fox Business Network, Trump said that if the U.S. Postal Service doesn't get the money needed for universal mail-in voting, "they just can't have it." In a tweet earlier this month, he said: "Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True." He added that the voting system in Florida "has been cleaned up." He encouraged those in Florida to request a ballot and vote by mail. To keep themselves safe during the coronavirus pandemic, American voters are turning to mail-in voting. There have been 174,444 Palm Beach County voters who cast their ballot by mail as of noon on Tuesday. This is a good 83% of those who had voted. With this new number, mail-in ballots are now about 20,000 higher than in the 2018 or 2016 elections. Florida Doesn't Have Universal Vote-by-Mail There are only nine states that offer universal vote-by-mail ballots, which are automatically mailed to registered voters. According to the New York Times, five states had already been offering it before the coronavirus pandemic. Florida is not one of these states. Prior to 2002, Florida voters had been required to provide an excuse to get an application for a vote-by-mail ballot. As the U.S. is in the middle of a pandemic, coming up with an excuse is no longer needed. But voters will still need to get their applications themselves, as they are not mailed in automatically. According to the Palm Beach Post, the Florida legislature changed the ballot name from "absentee" to "vote-by-mail" back in 2016. This was to avoid confusion among ballots. Check these out! Trump Ready to Act on Stimulus Checks, Meadows Reveals Gallup Poll: Trump Job Approval at 42%, Rises 4% from June Trump Says to Pardon a Very Important Person Though the book was released recently, Priyanka's interview was conducted after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as president, taking responsibility for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll drubbing, the party said The Congress on Wednesday said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remarks on party leadership issue that were carried in a new book, were made in July last year in a different context and now workers throughout the country want Rahul Gandhi to return as party chief. In the book, Priyanka supported Rahul's stand on a non-Gandhi president for the Congress, saying there are plenty of people capable of leading the party. In the book India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders, she added that Rahul is her leader and will always be. Though the book was released recently, the Congress said Priyanka's interview was conducted after Rahul stepped down as party president taking responsibility for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll drubbing. In the book, which features interviews with young leaders in India, Priyanka told authors Pradeep Chhibber and Harsh Shah, "He (Rahul Gandhi) has said that none of us should be the president of the party and I am in full agreement with him. I think that the party should find its own path also." Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the remarks were made by Priyanka on 1 July, 2019. "Nehru-Gandhi family has held together and served Congress unmindful of the trappings of power. In 2004, Sonia Ji set an example by sacrificing power to serve the party," he said. In 2019, Rahul showed the courage of conviction and stepped down as Congress president, Surjewala added. "We at @INCIndia appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by BJP) in a year old remark," he said in a series of tweets. "The context today is to take on the vicious attack on India's polity by Modi-Shah dispensation & fight it fearlessly on front foot," Surjewala said. Millions of Congress workers and leaders have seen that Rahul has led the fight tirelessly, undaunted by the setbacks and "vile attacks by Modi government" on a daily basis, he said. It is this fearlessness and uncompromising courage that the Congress requires, workers respect and nation needs, he said. At a media briefing, party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil, when asked about Priyanka's remarks, said the Gandhi family has always shown large heartedness and has never aspired for power. "All workers of the Congress across the country want that Rahul Gandhi should lead us," he said, adding that it is the Congress Working Comitteee and AICC has the final say in such matters. School boards and superintendents are asking lawmakers for protection from lawsuits that may arise if they choose to ignore guidance from Gov. Tom Wolfs administration and a COVID-19 outbreak occurs in their buildings. With school starting in some corners of Pennsylvania already and in others within the next few weeks, lawmakers say school leaders are finding themselves in a situation of deciding whether to shift gears to comply with the last-minute changes in state guidance or continue down the path they charted for themselves at the risk of getting sued. The issue of liability that schools may carry if they ignore the states guidance was among several topics raised during a joint hearing on Wednesday of the House and Senate education committees with state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. Senate Education Committee Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria County, led off the hearing, complaining about the new guidance the departments issued in recent days about the type of instructional delivery a school should use based on the community spread of COVID-19 in a county. He also criticized an order issued on Monday requiring students to wear facial coverings all day, with limited exceptions, even if they are six feet away from others has led to upheaval in schools. When are we going to trust local school districts and stop issuing recommendations that are essentially mandates that leave them more confused than they were in June? Langerholc said. Sen. Andy Dinniman, R-Chester County, said school leaders across the state fear that ignoring the state guidance will make it difficult for schools to get insurance and lead to lawsuits if something should occur. He pointed out in Chester County, the local health department recommended on Friday no school should open until Oct. 9, which led to districts abandoning plans to do a blended online/in-person instructional model and going all virtual. How could they defend themselves if anything happened? Dinniman said. You are not going to get kids back any time in this year unless we deal with that question. Levine pointed out the departments issued recommendations for a safe school opening earlier in the summer but at the strong urging of superintendents and school boards, the additional guidance was offered. As the governor has always said these are recommendations. These are not mandates, Levine said. There is local control and as you know, the superintendent and the school boards are free to make their own decisions but they specifically asked for guidance and we provided it. Dinniman asked the secretaries if they recommended legislation to the governor to deal with the liability concerns that K-12 schools and higher education institutions have as they bring students back this fall. Rivera indicated he understands liability from an educational and educational leadership perspective but didnt know what the broader implications that granting that liability protection would carry so he has not provided a full opinion on the right direction to move. Sen. Dave Arnold, R-Lebanon County, suggested it was irresponsible for the departments not to consider the legal implications for schools if they choose not to follow the states guidance. Rivera responded, The guidance we put out to school districts is exactly what we called it, public health guidance. Levine repeated that the guidance was issued at superintendents and school boards requests. She went on to say the guidance allows schools some leeway in deciding how their instruction should be delivered, depending on whether they are in counties with low or moderate risk of community transmission. Those at moderate risk are recommended to go either fully online or in a blended model, with in-person instruction some days and remote learning on others. Schools in low-risk counties can go with a blended model or fully in-person. But the recommendations allow only one choice for counties with a substantial risk of spreading COVID-19: going fully online. Of course we want them to follow the recommendations, Levine said. That why we put them out. But House Education Committee Chairman Curt Sonney, R-Erie County, challenged that message by noting Levine said schools were free to decide how they choose to operate and that its a local decision. So in other words, the state will not shut down a school, he said. Itll be up to that school whether they are going to operate in substantial, in moderate, or in low? Levine responded: That is correct." Throughout the three-hour hearing, lawmakers touched on the important role schools play for students and how not having school in session in the spring hindered not only their educational growth but their social and emotional growth as well. Others asked questions about the need for child care if students do not return to in-person instruction, lack of broadband access, teacher shortages, among other topics. Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford County, questioned the education departments interpretation of how schools that dont have in-person learning can meet the 180-day school year requirement. Were saying if a school district remains completely virtual from now until next May, were going to count that as a school year for those kids? Topper said. Deputy education secretary Matt Stem said as long as the students are under the instruction of a teacher, attendance is taken daily, students are engaged in learning, among other conditions, it will count toward that requirement. But he reiterated a point that Rivera and Levine made that in-person instruction is clearly the best mode of instruction for students and we hope to see more of that. But Topper said if it becomes apparent that online instruction is not getting the job done, at what point do we look at this and say if this is not working then simply the school year will start whenever we can go back to school. And If thats in February then we go through the summer or whenever it is. I think those conversations need to happen as well because Im not sure we can really count this or interpret this as a school year if that happens. Langerholc wrapped up the hearing asking Rivera and Levine to walk back the mask mandate and allow local decision-makers to decide whats right for their schools. To school officials, Langerholc encouraged them to carry on with the plans for a safe school reopening that they spent the summer developing regardless of how that squares with the state guidance. He said legislators will have their backs. Anybody can go to that courthouse and pay that $65 to file a lawsuit, he said. Doesnt make it right. I submit that no matter what happens, no matter what decisions you make on the local level, someone will challenge it. Someone will question it. Do what you prepared for months on the safe reopening of schools. You can do it. We are here with you. And those school boards that feel its not safe, I have no issue with that. But let the local control, let local decisions dictate the policy here. Dont let the fear envelop you. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy has enhanced India's diplomacy stature on global forums. His farsightedness has not only won several friends in the Islamic block, where Pakistan so far had a greater presence but has also increased its influence among Muslim countries through trade and strategic partnership. So far, six Muslim countries have awarded their highest civilian award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2016, Saudi Arabia gave PM Modi its highest civilian honour King Abdulaziz Sash Award. UAE also honoured Prime Minister Modi with its highest civilian honour, Order of Zayed Award in 2019. Other nations include Bahrain and Maldives in 2019, Palestine in 2018, and Afghanistan in 2016. All these honours show Prime Minister Modi's close relations with these Islamic countries. On the contrary, Pakistan is being snubbed on international fora due to its anti-India narrative. Recently, Saudi Arabia insulted Pakistan as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman refused to meet Pak Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who reached there to apologize on behalf of his country. General Bajwa was accompanied by ISI chief, but Saudi Arabia ruler did not spare time to meet them despite their repeated requests and they returned empty-handed. Saudi Arabia's royal snub to Pakistan is symbolic of changing equations in the Islamic world. Notably, there are 53 countries in the world where Islam is the largest religion, and Saudi Arabia is considered the most powerful among these nations. There are three big reasons for this: The first reason is that Saudi Arabia has 18 percent of the world's oil reserves; Secondly, it has a very strong economy among the Arab countries. The third and the most important reason is that Saudi Arabia is the center of Islam religion because of Mecca and Medina, which are considered the most sacred places for global Muslims. Except for Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq, Saudi Arabia enjoys good relations with all other countries in the Arab League, and 20 percent of the Muslim population of the world live in these Arab countries. Pakistan too is a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is second in the world in terms of the Muslim population, after Indonesia, and is the only Islamic nation with nuclear power. Because of this reason, many Islamic countries don't dare go against Pakistan and often support it. The situation has now changed as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan came face to face on the issue of India, and the former refused to stand with Pakistan. The DNA report will let you know why this happened and how India managed to win Saudi Arabia's favour. On August 5, the completion of one year of the removal of Article 370 from Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated that the OIC and Saudi Arabia are not supporting Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. He also threatened Saudi Arabia that Pakistan is always ready to sacrifice for Mecca and Medina, but Saudi Arabia does not listen to Pakistan. He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to go ahead on this issue alone and stop trusting Saudi Arabia. After his statement, Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to return the loan amount of Rs 7500 crore. Shocked Pakistan borrowed from China to repay the debt. In 2018, Saudi Arabia has a loan of Rs 46000 crore to save Pakistan's economy. Reports say that Saudi Arabia has also sought the repayment of another installment of Rs 7500 crore from Pakistan. Shah Mehmood Qureshi's statement of 15 seconds on Saudi Arabia has cost Pakistan Rs 15000 crores. Qureshi later tried to control the damage citing his country's historical relations with Saudi Arabia, but it was too late. Saudi Arabia even ended the contract to sell oil to Pakistan. This is a big diplomatic victory for India as this is the first time when Arab nations have supported India on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan also failed to call a high-level meeting of OIC to put forth its anti-India agenda through Kashmir. India has managed to separate Pakistan from Arab block which now stands with India like a rock. This development has shocked Pakistan. Pakistan Army Chief and ISI Chief were sent to Saudi Arabia in a huff to control the damage but were snubbed. Experts believe that Pakistan is also showing its back to Saudi Arabia at the behest of China, which wants Pakistan to emerge as the leader of the Islamic world. In an interview, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, claimed that his country's ties with Saudi Arabia are still strong and he is rather trying to connect the Muslim world. "The rumours that our relations with Saudi Arabia have soured are totally false," Khan said told Dunya News television channel, adding "Our relations are very good. We are constantly in touch." "On the Kashmir issue, there is a view that OIC should have stepped forward," Khan said, adding "Saudi has its own foreign policy. We shouldn`t think that because we want something Saudi will do just that." He also rejected any possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. "Our policy on Israel is clear: The Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) had said that Pakistan can never accept the state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and an independent state," Imran Khan added. Imran Khan further said, "If we recognise Israel and ignore tyranny faced by the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do." His remarks came in the backdrop of recent peace overtures between the UAE and Israel, with the former becoming only the third Arab nation to enter into a peace deal with the Jewish state. On the UAE's ties with Israel, Khan said that every state had its own foreign policy. Khan, however, praised Pakistan's ties with China and said that the country's future was linked to China which stood with it in all difficult times. Pakistan currently has an international debt of Rs 43 lakh crore, comprising 90 percent of its GDP. Pakistan pays an interest of Rs 1.60 lakh crores every year. In such a situation, Pakistan has to pay a heavy price after losing the support of Islamic countries. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images President Donald Trump on Tuesday pointed out that former first lady Michelle Obama cited an outdated coronavirus death toll in her prerecorded speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night. "She was over her head, and, frankly, she should've made the speech live, which she didn't do," Trump told reporters. "She taped it. And it was not only taped, it was taped a long time ago, because she had the wrong deaths." Trump's remarks were a reminder that his administration has largely failed to control the spread of COVID-19 in the US. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump tore into former first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday after she delivered a poignant speech on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention and said Trump's failure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in thousands of American deaths. Four years after her husband, President Barack Obama, left office, "the state of this nation is very different," Michelle Obama said in the prerecorded speech on Monday evening. "More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long." Trump on Tuesday pointed out that the number of coronavirus deaths in her speech was wrong because it was prerecorded. Indeed, as of Tuesday morning, 170,568 people in the US had died from COVID-19, more than 20,000 more deaths than the statistic Obama cited in her DNC speech. "She was over her head, and, frankly, she should've made the speech live, which she didn't do," Trump told reporters. "She taped it. And it was not only taped, it was taped a long time ago, because she had the wrong deaths." Trump's remarks were a reminder that his administration has largely failed to control the spread of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March. Story continues More than 5.4 million people in the US have been infected by the virus. In recent weeks, states in the South and the West that had lifted lockdown measures have seen spikes in new cases. The pandemic "has left millions of people jobless," Obama said in her DNC speech on Monday. "Too many have lost their healthcare. Too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent. Too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely." Earlier in the night, Kristin Urquiza, a California woman who lost her father to the coronavirus, also gave a sober speech in which she blamed the president for her father's death. "He had faith in Donald Trump," Urquiza said of her father. "He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and his mouthpieces when they said that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear. That it was OK to end social-distancing rules before it was safe. And that if you had no underlying health conditions, you'd probably be fine." Urquiza said that in late May, after Arizona lifted its stay-at-home order, her father went to a karaoke bar with his friends. "A few weeks later, he was put on a ventilator. And after five agonizing days, he died alone, in the ICU, with a nurse holding his hand," she said. "My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life." Read the original article on Business Insider Strikes continue to spread across Belarus, after the disputed August 9 presidential elections and amid mounting anger at President Aleksandr Lukashenkos disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This weekend, Belarus saw the largest demonstrations since the Stalinist bureaucracy restored capitalism and dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991. Around 200,000 people marched this weekend in the capital, Minsk, demanding Lukashenkos resignation and denouncing police violence and mass arrests targeting protesters. The growing mobilization of the working class has alarmed the European bourgeoisie. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron both called Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, before an extraordinary closed-door meeting of the European Council on Belarus today. Several state-owned factories joined the strike action yesterday, including the Belaruskali potash factory in Soligorsk. The worlds fifth-largest producer of the chemical, used to produce fertilizer, it earns a substantial portion of Belarus export earnings. State broadcasters also joined the strike, as well as the Kupalausky Theater in Minsk. Actors at the theater resigned en masse after the director, Pavel Latushko, was fired for siding with protesters. They were joining strikes, by Minsk transit workers and at auto and tractor factories as well as hospitals, that began on Monday amid calls for a nationwide general strike. Workers are holding public strike meetings in workplaces including Belaruskali and the MSKT tractor plant in Minsk. Belarusians gather for a protest rally in front of the government building at Independent Square in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Union bureaucrats in Belarus are warning the state that they may lose control of the movement, and demanding Lukashenkos removal to halt the protests. The authorities should understand that they are losing control. Only Lukashenkos resignation and punishment of those in charge of rigging and beatings [of protesters] can calm us down, miners union official Yuri Zakharov told AP yesterday. Merkel and Macron both called Putin to discuss the political situation in Belarus, a country of just under 10 million people bordering Russia. They transmitted terse reports to the media, indicating deep concern over the situation and calling for power in Belarus to be shared, or transferred to NATO-backed opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhonovskaya. The chancellor has emphasized that the Belarusian government must refrain from using violence against peaceful demonstrators, release political prisoners immediately and initiate a national dialogue with the opposition and society in order to overcome the crisis, said Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert. The Elysee presidential palace said Macron told Putin to favor calm and dialogue to resolve the crisis. Macron added that the European Union (EU) intends to play a constructive role so that violence against the population ceases immediately, and so a political solution can rapidly emerge, respecting aspirations that have been pacifically and massively expressed in recent days. The Kremlin, for its part, reported that the call with Merkel was an in-depth discussion to focus on the developments in Belarus. It said, The Russian side stressed that any attempts to interfere in the countrys domestic affairs from the outside, leading to a further escalation of the crisis, would be unacceptable. Yesterday, Maria Kolesnikova, a leading figure in the opposition since Tikhonovskaya herself fled to Lithuania after the elections, said a coordination council would be formed to negotiate the transfer of power from Lukashenko. She also stressed the oppositions desire and readiness to build mutually beneficial relations with all our partner countries, including of course Russia. The Financial Times of London wrote that calls from Berlin and Paris to Moscow constituted an acknowledgment of Moscows over-sized influence on both Mr Lukashenko and the Belarusian economy. It added that the EU powers want Putin to end the movement by brokering a deal between Lukashenkos and Tikhonovskayas supporters: The hope in European capitals is that Mr Putin will use that influence to engineer a peaceful resolution to the crisis. After the New York Times and the Washington Post in America published editorials this week demanding Lukashenkos ouster, the FT warned against overt attempts at regime change, citing Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank: Any future leader of Belarus will have to maintain good relations with the Kremlin and pay a certain amount of deference to its sensitivities and sensibilities. To attempt a different course would be unrealistic, dangerous, and run counter to the attitudes of the Belarusian public. Friends of Belarus need to recognise that. Such claims to respect Russia and abhor police violence against protesters are shot through with imperialist hypocrisy. While Merkels government played the leading role together with Washington in orchestrating a fascist-led coup in 2014 to oust a Russian-backed government in Kiev, plunging Ukraine into civil war, Macron is infamous for his violent police repression of social protests at home. However, it is apparent that Merkel and Macron are reacting to what they perceive as a new and dangerous political development. Le Monde warned, The Belarusian movement does not resemble any of the color revolutions that have shaken the post-Soviet space. It does not defend a Western model or oppose Russia. The daily added that no one can foresee what the coming days will bring. But one truth is self-evident: this small country is undergoing accelerating change that is without precedent since the fall of the USSR in 1991. Wethe experts, diplomats, and journalistsdid not see it coming. The EU powers are moving somewhat more cautiously because, surprised by the strike movement, they want the opposition and the Putin regime to jointly strangle it. For now at least, they propose to deal with the threat from below before resuming the aggressive military build-up across Eastern Europe targeting Russia, begun with the Kiev coup. Workers in Belarus need to organize a politically independent struggle against both Lukashenko and the opposition forces around Tikhonovskaya. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, is a reactionary strongman presiding over the capitalist kleptocracy that emerged from the Stalinist bureaucracys restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union in 1991 and its resulting looting of state assets. But the opposition represents only another faction of the same kleptocracy, maneuvering between the NATO imperialist powers and the Putin regime. Opposition leaders like Viktor Babariko, a former banker at the Belgazprombank owned by Russian state gas firm Gazprom, or Valery Tsepkalo, a businessman who worked closely with Lukashenko before fleeing to Russia this April, have no principled differences with the regime. The EU is willing to install them in power, because they would continue austerity and Lukashenkos murderous herd immunity policy on COVID-19, which the EU also implements at home. Nils Schmid of the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) told Deutschlandfunk that his preferred model for regime change in Belarus is not the 2014 Kiev putsch, but the restoration of capitalism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He said, the broad popular movement in Belarus recalls more the change in Eastern Europe in 19891990. So I also think the model for organizing a political transition is more sitting around a round table than a movement that in one blow from the streets topples the regime. Lukashenko is still holding onto power, until now very few officialsmayors or security forceshave broken with him. To fight COVID-19, poverty wages and police-state violence, the principal allies of workers in Belarus are workers across Europe, Russia and internationally. As the EU hands out trillions of euros in bank and corporate bailouts for the super-rich, it is clear that the ruling class will neither provide the resources needed to treat the pandemic, nor halt the explosion of military-police violence across Europe. The workers must take control of the urgently-needed resources, which are created by their own labor, as part of an international struggle to take power and build socialism. Within Belarus and Russia, this means opposing the bankrupt political settlement that emerged from capitalist restoration in the Soviet Union, breaking with parties and unions affiliated to the regime or the imperialist-backed opposition, and a turn to the Trotskyist movements struggle for Marxist internationalism against Stalinisms nationalist and counter-revolutionary role in the Soviet Union. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Helsinki, Finland Wed, August 19, 2020 16:15 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f28c7e 2 News finland,coronavirus,coronavirus-restrictions,COVID-19,COVID-19-travel-restriction,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free Finland has removed most EU countries from its "green travel list", with only arrivals from a handful of states now able to enter the country without restrictions, the government announced on Wednesday. The tougher rules, aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, mean that only people coming from Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania will now be allowed into Finland without proving they have a valid reason for travel and self-isolating for two weeks. Arrivals from a number of non-EU countries including Georgia, Rwanda and South Korea continue to be freely permitted under the measures which will come into force next Monday. "Finland's border policy is the tightest in the European Union, because we have wanted to preserve the relatively good virus situation in Finland," Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo told a press conference. Since June, the government has said it will allow arrivals from countries with fewer than eight new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population in the last two weeks, although ministers have now made exceptions for countries with under 10 cases. Nonetheless Finland's cut-off point is considerably stricter than its Nordic neighbors, such as Norway which permits arrivals from countries with up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people. Finland currently has one of Europe's lowest incidences of COVID-19, registering only 5.3 new cases per 100,000 in the past two weeks, although the number is rising. Ohisalo also announced that restrictions on Finland's land borders with Sweden and Norway will be loosened to allow residents living on either side to cross more easily for everyday purposes. During cabinet talks ministers also discussed banning flights from the North Macedonian capital Skopje, which have brought "an extremely high number of infections" to Finland, Transport Minister Timo Harakka told the press conference. Harakka said legislative hurdles mean officials and not ministers will have to make the decision to suspend flights from a particular airline, but he said he expects connections from the Balkan city to end by 29 August. Directed by Anees Bazmee, Ready is a 2011 action-comedy movie starring Salman Khan and Asin. The movie was an adaptation of the 2008 Telugu film of the same name. The plot of the film revolves around the story of mistaken identity that leads to love. The premise unveils how a man and his family fabricate a grand scheme to win over the hearts of his lady love and her greedy uncles. Apart from the perfect comic timing of all the characters, Ready was shot at several exotic locations. Here we have compiled a list of several picturesque locations where this Salman Khan starrer was filmed. ALSO READ| Exclusive: Kavita Seth Says Mira Nair Had Already Envisioned Songs In 'A Suitable Boy' Readys shooting locations: Dhinka Chika It isnt just the pristine beaches of Thailand that attract filmmakers, even the glittering skyline of Bangkok, the historical architectures have been the setting of several Bollywood films including 'Ready'. The peppy dance number Dhinka Chika was reportedly shot in Bangkok at the Don Mueang International Airport and Rama VIII Bridge. ALSO READ| Paras Chhabra's Rumoured Ex-GF Pavitra Punia To Be Part Of Salman Khan's 'Bigg Boss 14'? Humko Pyar Hua Humko Pyar Hua is another hit song from the film 'Ready' which sees Salman & Asin romancing each other. The backdrop setting of the song is serene as its tempo. As per various media reports, the song was shot against the background of the architectural marvels of The Ancient City. ALSO READ| 5 Salman Khan Starrers That Were Announced But Never Saw Light Of The Day Other locations The shooting of the movie began on June 2010 at Colombo. After being extensively shot in Thailand, 'Ready' was also filmed in Mumbai. The scene of the Marriage Registrar office was shot in Pattaya's Exhibition and Convention Hall. The resort booked for Modi family in the film was shot in Taj Samudra located at Colombos Western Province in Sri Lanka. As reported by DNA, the movie was originally scheduled to be shot in Mauritius, but after enjoying Colombo during the IIFA Awards, Salman Khan reportedly persuaded the director to change the shooting location to Sri Lanka. ALSO READ| Salman Khan And Other Celebs Who Turned Their Homes Into Studios Amid Quarantine 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. The Montana health department has decided to withdraw a proposed rule that would ban flavored vaping products in the state. The decision came after 13 state senators and seven representatives, all Republicans, signed letters last month opposing the rule and stating that the health department does not have the authority to implement such a ban. Montana law dictates that a poll of the entire Legislature is required when 20 or more legislators object to a proposed administrative rule. Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Sheila Hogan said the decision to poll the Legislature revealed that additional education and collaboration is necessary to protect Montanas next generation. Hogan spoke in favor of the ban during a special meeting Wednesday of the Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee. She referred to a recent study by Stanford University researchers that linked vaping with a substantially increased risk of COVID-19 in young people. The research found that youth who used vaping products were five to seven times more likely to be infected with the respiratory virus than those who did not use e-cigarettes. Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, was one of the 20 legislators who opposed the rule. He said during the committee hearing that the health department was circumventing the legislative process by trying to create law within rule. Sue OConnell, a legislative research analyst, said none of the survey ballots had been mailed to legislators as of Friday, and the poll would likely be canceled once the health department formally withdraw the rule. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Press Release Sunrise deploys Nokias Converged Charging software to drive 5G Monetization Sunrise completed the initial live deployment of Nokias Converged Charging solution, enabling consumer and enterprise service innovation today and for future use cases Sunrise is at the forefront of the industry to benefit from the cloud-native charging solution designed specifically to address the needs of 4G, 5G and IoT 18 August 2020 Espoo, Finland Sunrise Communications AG, the Swiss operator, has deployed Nokias cloud-native converged charging software in order to more rapidly package, price and promote a wide range of consumer and business services and to future enhance the user experience for the companys 3.5 million customers. Developed for the needs of 5G, internet-connected devices and multi-vendor deployments, Nokia Converged Charging (previously called Nokia Smart Plan Suite) provides the flexibility to react quickly to changing market conditions. 5G enables new business speed, scale and innovation, along with growing demands for premium digital experiences. In the era of digitalization, this trend touches B2C, B2B and B2B2x business models and sets a new pace for service launches. This calls for agile, highly flexible Business Support Systems (BSS) capabilities. Converged Charging offers the performance and reliability required to efficiently deliver high-quality digital services and is built on Nokias Common Software Foundation, which makes Nokias software products easier to deploy, integrate, use and service. Nokia together with Sunrise delivered deployment and migration services. With this deployment and the future phases, Sunrise can now quickly create differentiated offers even for the most complex IoT use cases and services enabled by 5G network slicing. Over 270 service providers around the world rely on Nokias Monetization solution to deliver service innovation, covering more than 1.8 billion subscriptions. Elmar Grasser, CTO/CIO, Sunrise, said: We believe in creating intuitive, high-quality experiences for our customers. Nokias cloud-native monetization software enables Sunrise to rapidly launch innovative services for our private and business customers, support emerging use cases enabled by 5G and IoT, and further increase customer loyalty. Story continues Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Chief Digital Officer, said: 5G requires service providers to update not just their networks, but also their operations and business systems. By implementing our Converged Charging solution, Sunrise can improve the customer experience today and cost-efficiently monetize current and future business models. Additional Resources Webpage: 5G monetization Webpage: Converged Charging 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 Communications Phone: +358 10 448 4900 mail: press.services@nokia.com About Sunrise Sunrise Communications Group AG (Sunrise) is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich and is the largest non state-controlled telecommunications company in Switzerland, offering mobile, Internet, TV, and landline services to private and business customers. Sunrise offers the biggest and fastest 5G mobile network in Switzerland (connect magazine 1/2020). Sunrise is the 5G pioneer and was the first provider to introduce 5G in the beginning of April 2019. Beginning of July 2020, Sunrise covered already more than 554 cities/towns, offering the largest 5G network in Switzerland and Europe. In addition to this, Sunrise offers the best geographic 4G/LTE coverage across more than 96% of Switzerland to 99.98% of the population. 4G+ coverage is approximately 84.5% of the Swiss population, with speeds of up to 900 Mbit/s. As at December 31, 2019, Sunrise generated a total revenue of CHF 1,887 million and an adjusted EBITDA of CHF 668 million and had more than 3.5 million customer relationships. For more information on Sunrise, please visit: www.sunrise.ch . Media Inquiries Sunrise Communications AG media@sunrise.net Phone: 0800 333 000 Outside Switzerland: +41 58 777 76 66 The Interior Department on Monday finalized plans to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, a pivotal but hardly the final step in a decades-long battle over the ecologically sensitive region thought to hold huge oil deposits. The big picture: Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign said he would look to prevent drilling if elected. "His plan released last year made clear that he will permanently protect ANWR and other areas impacted by President Trump's attacks on federal lands and waters," the campaign said. But The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, points out that the decision makes it "difficult to unwind the decision should Democrats recapture the White House in November." The final "record of decision" paves the way for selling drilling leases in the refuge's 1.6 million acre coastal plan, a step enabled by the GOP's 2017 legislation that ended longstanding restrictions. What's next: Actual oil-and-gas production is expected to be years from commencing, perhaps a decade, but earlier steps in the development process would begin sooner if leasing proceeds. The late 2017 law called for lease sales to begin within four years. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt declined to offer specific timing but told reporters that a sale could occur this year. "I am confident that we can certainly move forward quite promptly," he said. The other side: Environmentalists and Democrats have long opposed drilling in ANWR, calling it a risk to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife. Groups quickly pledged legal battles to thwart development. "The Trump administrations so-called review process for their shameless sell-off of the Arctic Refuge has been a sham from the start. Well see them in court," said the Sierra Club's Lena Moffitt in a statement. The administration is looking to "liquidate our nations last great wilderness, putting at risk the indigenous peoples and iconic wildlife that depend on it," said Adam Kolton of the Alaska Wilderness League. Bernhardt, while declining to outright predict what the courts might do, told reporters on a call this morning that "I would not be going forward if I was not very comfortable" with how the agency crafted the plans. The intrigue: Another question is the degree of industry interest in the region. Some of the world's largest companies have ruled out seeking leases there, and several major banks have said they would not finance development. However, it's likely to be of interest to independent producers with operations in the state. Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from the Biden campaign. Gov. Charlie Baker said on Wednesday that Massachusetts should not pass on the opportunity to take advantage of more federal unemployment funding that could be coming to states amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order allocating Federal Emergency Management Administration funds for certain unemployed workers. The new funding comes as talks over more federal COVID stimulus money collapsed, leaving millions of unemployed Americans concerned about when the next boost will come. The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, which provided an additional $600 check to Americans out of work because of the virus, expired July 27. Baker said hes sent a letter to FEMA signaling the states intent to formally apply, but expressed reservations about the plan. I dont think this is the right way to do this, he said. I worry a lot that were taking money from federal reimbursements for emergency services provided associated with the first four months of COVID under FEMA to fund this program. The lost wages program would give governors the authority to provide $400 weekly payments to unemployed workers $300 of which would come from the federal government if states chip in 25%. Another plan would provide only $300 a week. The new payments will be made retroactive to Aug. 1. If this program is there, and it turns out to be the only thing thats there, I dont think Massachusetts should pass on that, Baker said. Related Content: Despite normalization, Israel pressing US not to sell UAE F-35 jets Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 10:00 AM Israel has kept up the pressure on the United States not to provide the United Arabs of Emirates (UAE) with F-35 stealth fighter jets despite a recent normalization deal reached between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. Two unnamed Israeli officials, familiar with the moves to establish diplomatic relations with the UAE, told Haaretz on Monday that Tel Aviv had pressured Washington to block the sale of the advanced fighter planes fearing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his confidants may have made a secret agreement without consulting military officials. Since the announcement of the normalization pact last week, several sources, who had been previously involved in contacts between the two sides, raised concerns that as part of the new understandings, Netanyahu may have abandoned Israel's traditionally vehement opposition to the sale of sensitive military equipment and technology to the UAE, particularly F-35 fighter jets. According to the report, during the secret talks led by Netanyahu and Netanyahu confidants Mossad head Yossi Cohen, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat, there may have been a secret agreement made on this issue without informing Israel's top military officials, who were excluded until now from the talks. The Israeli sources said that the Persian Gulf Arab states, including the UAE, had pressed Israel numerous times to lift its objections so that such deals could go through. They said that the normalization agreements would not change Israel's long-standing objection to the sale of American F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi. Under understandings dating back decades, Washington has refrained from Middle East arms sales that could blunt Israel's "qualitative military edge" (QME). This has applied to the F-35, denied to Arab states, while Israel has bought and deployed it. Reports say that the driving factor for the UAE to sign the agreement with Israel has been a US weapons deal to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, including supplying F-35 jets, advanced UAVs and other arms. A day after the normalization deal, Amos Yadlin, a former general in the Israeli air force and the ex-head of the Israeli military tweeted, "It is important to remember that Abu Dhabi seeks to acquire very sophisticated weapons from the United States." In an interview with Israel's Kan Bet public radio on Sunday, Yadlin said, "We know they are asking for very sophisticated weapons from the Americans and the Israelis, and what's stopping this is that there is no peace treaty between the countries and the Israeli qualitative edge. And it could be, and that's what I was warning about in my tweet". In a statement on Tuesday, Netanyahu's Office said that Israel has not softened its opposition to any US arms sales to the UAE that could diminish its military superiority as part of the US-brokered normalization pact. "In the talks (on the UAE normalization deal), Israel did not change its consistent positions against the sale to any country in the Middle East of weapons and defense technologies that could tip the (military) balance," Netanyahu's office said. The statement followed a report in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that the Trump administration planned a "giant" sale of advanced F-35 jets to Abu Dhabi as part of the Persian Gulf country's move last week to normalize ties with Israel. The Trump administration has signaled that the UAE could clinch unspecified new US arms sales after last Thursday's normalization announcement. Under pressure from Israel and the Israeli lobby in Washington, the US Congress had earlier blocked a plan for such a sale. The US has sold the warplanes to a range of allies, including South Korea, Japan, and Israel, but experts say sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states require a deeper review due to US policy for Israel to maintain a qualitative military edge in the Middle East. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Associates of a private loan shark took control of a bus in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Wednesday to recover the loan taken by the owner after he died. All 34 passengers were reported safe and have reached Jhansi. The bus has been recovered by Etawah police from near an eatery in Balrai. Senior officers have reached the spot and are conducting an inquiry. Details of the probe are being shared with Agra police. Meanwhile, the hunt is on to nab the accused, Pradeep Gupta, who had lent money to the bus owner. On Wednesday morning, a group of men took over a private bus that was headed to Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior from Gurugram with 34 passengers on board. The incident took place in Agra's Thana Malpura area in the wee hours of Wednesday. After asking the driver and conductor to get off, the men had driven the bus to an unknown location. The conductor of the bus said that a group of four men first asked the driver to get off and later, forced him into another car. Senior Superintendent of Police, Agra, Babloo Kumar had earlier, blamed a finance firm and said three people who got off the bus told the police that representatives of the finance company had boarded the vehicle. "Preliminary information reveals the bus has been taken away by the people from a finance company which had financed the vehicle. A case has been registered and police teams formed to search for it," he said. "The men in SUVs then rode after the bus and overtook it at Malpura area. They got into the bus and forcibly brought down the driver and the conductor. They also told the passengers to not scream and told them that they would not be harmed," he added. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, personnel and passengers are safe. "Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance firm had illegally seized the bus. The driver, staff and passengers are safe. The bus owner died yesterday (Tuesday) and his son is conducting the last rites," he said in a statement. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken note of the incident and has said that strict action would be taken against the culprits. Appointment 19 August 2020 Aimbridge Hospitality, the leading, global, third party hotel management company, has announced the appointment of Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, to its Board of Directors. Christine is president of Carnival Cruise Line, certified as a Great Place to Work and the biggest brand of Miami-based global cruise industry leader Carnival Corp., the world's largest leisure travel company. She leads a company that sails more than five million guests each year and employs more than 40,000 people from 110 nations around the globe. She joined Carnival Cruise Line in 2015 after a successful five-year tenure as the CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), an association representing the $120 billion global cruise industry. Prior to joining CLIA, Duffy spent 10 years at Maritz Travel Company, where she served six years as president and CEO. Duffy sits on the executive committee of the U.S. Travel Association, currently serving as its first vice chair, as well as the Professional Advisory Board for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of which Carnival is the official celebration partner. Throughout her career, Duffy has been a strong supporter of women's leadership in the travel and hospitality industry. Duffy has been honored by the Convention Industry Council, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Commonwealth Institute of South Florida and the South Florida Business Journal. When it comes to mobilizing Black voters, Kamala Harris has something even President Barack Obama didn't have as America's first Black president. Her degree from Howard University, a historically Black university, and membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's oldest Black sorority, could give her an advantage among loyal members and alumni, including in Delaware. "Its a part of Black America that most Americans are not aware of," Akwasi Osei, a political science and history professor at Delaware State University, said about the Greek organization. "And it is huge." It could be the blessing Joe Biden's campaign needs after Black voter turnout dropped in 2016. Osei expects Harris to revitalize turnout to match, if not surpass, historic levels during Obama's presidential bids. Since her presidential bid last year, members of the sorority have formed into Harris' unofficial private army. California Sen. Kamala Harris appears at a fundraiser for Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, of which she is a member, on Jan. 25, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. It's one of nine service-oriented Black sororities and fraternities known as the Divine Nine, and those familiar with the organizations said they should not be overlooked as a pervasive and organized sector of the Black community. AKA boasts more than 300,000 members, and for the first time, it is watching one of its own run for vice president. Harris joined the sorority in 1986. "It is that level that I think Kamala has, as it were, tuned into," Osei said. "And that is enough for some people to say, Im with her because Im a Greek and I identify as such.' " Joe Biden: The story of Delaware's most prominent politician AKA is active at Delaware State University, Wesley College and the University of Delaware. Sorority members drove from around the state Thursday to stand outside A.I. du Pont High School in Greenville, where Biden and Harris made their first joint appearance, in support of their sister. "She has definitely energized the African American community because of her affiliations," said L. Germaine Cheatham-Hemphill, a DSU graduate and AKA member. "The HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) community, for example, is tightknit, and its small, and its nurturing. ... Greekdom, within that, is even deeper." Story continues Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, is greeted by Alpha Kappa Alpha South Central Regional Director Katina Semien at the sorority's annual conference in New Orleans on April 19, 2019. In other words, it transcends politics. Cheatham-Hemphill, who lives in Camden, compared the allegiance to a lifelong marriage. "I dont know that people really understand the real power of Greekdom in the African American community and the seriousness of it," she said. "It stretches from teachers to preachers to lawyers to doctors to housewives, everybody. If youre an AKA, if youre Greek in any way, shape or form, you are buzzing. You are excited right now. Spotting Joe Biden: Delawareans share their sightings of the former VP The "friendly rivals" within the Divine Nine are coalescing around Harris, largely via social media. Members plan to galvanize their networks outside the Greek organizations and will probably throw money at Biden's campaign. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority South Central Regional Conference in New Orleans, April 19, 2019. AKA includes other famous members such as Jada Pinkett-Smith, Phylicia Rashad and Toni Morrison. To have one of their own taking the national stage as the potential vice president is another level. Republicans run against John Carney: Republicans line up to challenge Gov. John Carney in 2020 election "I would daresay it was immediate," Cheatham-Hemphill said about members' organizing around Harris. "One, it was Congratulations to us as AKAs for a member of our sorority being named to this role. And number two it was, All right, everybody get together to get out to vote.' ... The mobilization is going to be amazing." When Harris ran for president in 2019, AKA members hosted fundraisers, donated money and showed up to campaign events. Busing: Joe Biden's complicated opposition to busing for school desegregation California Sen. Kamala Harris appears at the Pink Ice Gala, hosted by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on Jan. 25, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. Harris is a member of the sorority. Before Cheatham-Hemphill learned that Harris was her sorority sister, she was attracted to her personality and politics, watching her question Supreme Court nominees and Trump administration members such as Attorney General William Barr in the Senate. Once she found out, it made perfect sense. "Shes one of us," Cheatham-Hemphill said. "Shes a leader. Shes an alpha woman. Shes a go-getter." Biden and Harris speak at Chase Center: Biden, Harris to give DNC convention speeches at Chase Center in Wilmington Obama, who graduated from Columbia and Harvard, gave communities of color unprecedented hope that a Black man could be president. Delaware State University professor Alexa Silver said Harris' degree "gives credence" to the value of an education from a historically Black school, especially for minority students who don't know how far the degree might take them. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, arrive for a campaign event at A.I. du Pont High School in Greenville, Del., on Aug. 12. "Theres just been more talk in the news about HBCUs, and most people dont even know what they are, and most people dont even think about what they mean," she said. "This is an opportunity for people to see how colleges devoted to helping particular portions of the population are creating leaders. Its not just that were giving students who arent as strong an opportunity to get a college degree. No, were creating future leaders." Delaware liberals: Do candidates have a shot in 2020 after coronavirus hurt campaigning? When classes resume, Silver said, she expects her students especially women of color will feel hopeful about Harris and possibly more empowered than in 2008 when Obama was elected. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is introduced as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate at A.I. du Pont High School in Greenville, Del., on Aug. 12. The day after Obama's election 12 years ago, Silver said, she arrived to teach her survey history class where her 30 or so freshman and sophomore DSU students typically sauntered in and threw themselves down into their chairs. That day, she remembers, they walked in lighter with smiles on their faces. They just kind of emanated this sense of hope that something that no one ever thought could happen," she said. "For those who had actually gone home and voted, they were feeling super proud of themselves. I just remember it was the happiest day of teaching I ever had. Just to see the looks on their faces, the level of engagement." First day after the announcement: Biden, Harris make first joint appearance It was an opportunity for Silver to remind them about the importance of voting and that America's political system of representative democracy, though it's not perfect, does work. Contributing: Julie Hinds and Chanel Stitt, USA TODAY Network Sarah Gamard covers government and politics for Delaware Online/The News Journal. You can reach her at sgamard@delawareonline.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @SarahGamard. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Kamala Harris' HBCU, AKA sorority affiliations could help ticket New US rules against Huawei draw backlash Global Times By GT staff reporters Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/18 20:22:17 The US government's latest crackdown on chip supplies for Huawei Technologies Co sparked widespread backlash from Chinese officials and industry leaders on Tuesday, underscoring the force of mounting opposition against an increasingly erratic US administration whose reckless words and deeds could cause deep disruptions and losses for global industries and commerce. In Beijing, Chinese officials harshly criticized the new US rules that essentially seek to cut off Huawei from foreign chip suppliers, and vowed to take "necessary" measures to protect Chinese interests. On the island of Taiwan, share prices of major chipmakers tanked as companies weigh up on potential impacts from the new rules. In the US, industry leaders expressed "concern" and warned of "significant disruptions" to the US semiconductor industry. Huawei was noticeably silent as of press time on Tuesday. Industry insiders said that while the move could deal a major blow to the Chinese telecom giant, it will not be existential as the US intended. For starters, the company had time to draw up contingency plans for such a scenario; also, the US government left open the possibility of reprieve for certain US suppliers, as no detailed action plan was given, experts noted. Still, Chinese experts said that Huawei might have to make drastic decisions, including cutting its burgeoning handset business. Also, powerful countermeasures from China are warranted to exert pressure on the US administration to send a clear signal that its intensifying crackdowns on Chinese tech firms from Huawei to TikTok and WeChat won't go unchecked. Widespread backlash The US Department of Commerce on Monday issued new rule that would prevent Huawei from acquiring chips developed or produced with US technology and software, in a move that analysts say essentially cuts off supplies of key components for smartphones to Huawei. The new rule was an extension of an earlier ban imposed in May to bar companies from using US technology and software to make chips designed by Huawei. At a routine press conference on Tuesday in Beijing, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry harshly criticized the US' latest move with a lengthy scathing statement that calls the US move a "naked act of hegemony" and accused the US of being the "real empire of hacking." "We urge the US to immediately correct their wrongdoing, stop slandering and smearing China and halt cracking down on Chinese companies," said Zhao Lijian, the ministry's spokesperson. "The Chinese government will continue to take necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies." At Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, there was no palpable anxiety felt in the workplace while a large number of employees arrived at the office in the early morning of Tuesday. Though the latest US ban on Huawei has put the company's major businesses - telecom equipment and smartphones - in a highly uncertain situation as it may cut off whole supply of American-made chipsets; the Chinese company has been operating normally and steadily moving forward in spite of tremendous pressure. In stark contrast to the calm atmosphere at Huawei's headquarters, chipmakers in the island of Taiwan and the semiconductor industry in the US were put on edge by the US move as their multi-billion dollar business with the Chinese firm could be at risk. In Taiwan, major chipmaker MediaTek's shares plunged by 10 percent on Tuesday following the US ban. The company reportedly signed an agreement with Huawei as early as this month to sell about 120 million chipsets, accounting for 60 percent of Huawei's total demand. MediaTek said on Tuesday that it is paying close attention to the changes in US export control rules and consulting external legal counsel to obtain the latest regulations in real time for legal analysis to ensure compliance with the new rules, according to a report from yicai.com. In the US, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which represents 95 percent of the US' semiconductor industry, also voiced concern over the new US rule. "We are still reviewing the rule, but these broad restrictions on commercial chip sales will bring significant disruption to the US semiconductor industry," SIA CEO John Neuffer said in a statement. Experts said that the new rules, if implemented, could also affect chipmakers in South Korea and other places, posing a serious threat to the global supply chain of semiconductors, including US companies like Qualcomm and Intel, as they would lose a huge client of Huawei. In 2018, Huawei spent $70 billion on component procurement, of which $11 billion went to US companies such as Qualcomm, Intel and Micron, according to Reuters. Qualcomm is reportedly lobbying the US government to sell chips to Huawei. That adds to pressure on the US government to refrain from taking further reckless measures after it fails to shut down the Chinese firm with a multi-year global campaign, experts said. "The new rule also means that the US' previous tricks didn't work on Huawei and the US has basically played all its cards against it," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst and close follower of Huawei, told the Global Times on Monday night. Impact on Huawei The US' "final card" will unlikely pose existential threat to Huawei, which had a global sales revenue of 858.8 billion yuan ($129.01 billion) in 2019, despite the potentially profound disruptions it may bring, experts noted. "Given the current inventory, there won't be a huge problem for Huawei in near future, but this buffering period would only last for two or three years, during which hopefully, it would find a way out," Jiang Junmu, chief writer at telecom industry news website c114.com.cn, told the Global Times on Tuesday. Huawei has spent over $23 billion on stockpiles of essential components, including chips, in anticipation of a US ban, according to media reports in March. Some experts said that given the mounting pressure within the US, the US government might allow certain domestic suppliers to continue selling chips to Huawei, experts said. "It's also possible that the Trump administration could offer leeway for US firms such as San Diego-based Qualcomm, while banning all its competitors to supply Huawei, for the upcoming presidential election," Ma said. Even if that does not happen, the worst case scenario for Huawei would be shutting down some consumer businesses, while continuing on its core business of telecom equipment, particularly for 5G, some analysts noted. Despite the US crackdown, Huawei remained the world's largest supplier of 5G equipment, with a market share of nearly 40 percent in the first quarter of 2020. Still, the US' new rules, following a series of recent clampdown measures against a growing list of Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, might call for concrete countermeasures from the Chinese government to send a clear signal, experts said. "If the US forces Huawei into a corner, the Chinese government will retaliate without hesitation," Ma said. While Zhao stopped short of mentioning any countermeasures at the press conference, a source close to the Chinese government told the Global Times in May that China was ready to take a series of countermeasures against the US, including targeting US firms like Qualcomm, Apple, Boeing and Cisco, if the US moves to cut off chip supplies to Huawei. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Companies should "watch out" for millennials when it comes to how environmental, social and governance issues influence where they invest their money, according to the head of ESG governance at PR firm Edelman. Chuka Umunna, a former British lawmaker, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday that around $24 trillion of wealth, in the U.S. alone, was in the process of being transferred to millennials from baby boomers and older generations. A 2015 study by Deloitte said that nearly $24 trillion of wealth would be transferred in the U.S. over the following 15 years, while a separate 2017 UBS study predicted millennials' could be worth that amount as soon as this year. The Pew Research Center defines millennials as those aged 24- to 39-years-old and baby boomers aged between 56- to 74-years-old. The so-called silent generation is aged between 75-92-years-old. Umunna warned that millennials were much more "militant" on ESG issues and, subsequently, where they invested their money, including savings and pensions. He added that this wealth transfer would only increase as "sadly, life goes on and some of the baby boomer generation pass away." This might also explain the "explosion" of interest in ESG, he continued. "It's not necessarily all happening at the instigation of politicians here, the market is demanding change." Umunna was the former shadow secretary of state for business in Britain's opposition Labour party, before switching parties to become a member of parliament for the Liberal Democrats. He retired from politics after losing his seat in the U.K. general election last year. The former politician also referred to Edelman's annual "Trust Barometer" as evidence that over its nearly two decades of surveying consumer and investor sentiment, it had learned that people would "punish companies that they don't think do the right thing by all stakeholders." Indeed, in this year's survey, conducted amid the coronavirus pandemic, nine out of 10 respondents said they wanted a company to protect the well-being and financial security of their employees and suppliers, even if that meant suffering financial losses. Two-fifths of the 22,000 people polled across 11 markets, said they had convinced other people to stop using a brand they felt was not acting appropriately in response to the crisis. ESG funds outperforming the wider stock market during the coronavirus-fueled sell-off has also been a signal of this change, Umunna suggested. Bank of America recently found the top 50 stocks most commonly held by the ESG-focused funds outperformed the bottom 50 stocks by 22 percentage points. In this sense, there has been a "big difference" in how companies are coming out of the pandemic compared with the 2008 financial crisis, Umunna said, in that they have learned they "cannot just go back to business as usual." Umunna warned that if we continued with a "dysfunctional variety of capitalism that doesn't deliver enough for people, that doesn't raise living standards, that doesn't deal with the looming climate crisis, then the entire system will lose support altogether." CNBC's Pippa Stevens contributed to this article. M any people have lost confidence in the Conservative party after the past week of A-level results chaos, a new poll has suggested. The YouGov survey found that public support for the Conservatives dropped from 44 per cent to 40 per cent in just a week. The Tories' slide happened as backing for Labour rose from 35 per cent to 38 per cent over the same period, the poll claimed. The Green Party and Liberal Democrats are both polling at six per cent, up from five per cent. The Brexit Party is at four per cent, compared with three per cent last week. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer / PA It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer nosed ahead again on the question of who would make the best Prime Minister. Current PM Boris Johnson had pulled level last week, but 35 per cent of respondents this week said that Sir Keir is best-placed to lead the country, compared to 31 per cent for Mr Johnson. Some 31 per cent of people could not decide between the two. The 35 per cent figure is the highest personal rating yet for Sir Keir, YouGov said, and is outside the margin of error - meaning he is clearly ahead, according to the poll. Prime Minister Boris Johnson / POOL/AFP via Getty Images In mid-May, Mr Johnson's personal rating stood at 46 per cent, but declined rapidly until early June, when it levelled off. Since then it has continued to decline but more slowly. Public support for Sir Keir as Prime Minister stood at just 22 per cent in mid-April but converged with Mr Johnson's level of support in June. More people said he would be the best Prime Minister for the first time in early August. The Government and Mr Johnson have faced months of tough headlines throughout the coronavirus outbreak, with figures suggesting the UK has had most deaths from coronavirus in Europe and suffered one of the worst economic shocks among developed nations. A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures 1 /26 A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) REUTERS Students from Codsall Community High School march to the constituency office of their local MP Gavin Williamson, who is also the Education Secretary, as a protest over the continuing issues of last week's A level results which saw some candidates receive lower-than-expected grades after their exams were cancelled as a result of coronavirus. PA An A level student reacts during a protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results. PA People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results PA Olivia Styles, 18, from Basingtoke, sets her A-level results on fire during peaceful protest in Parliament Square PA An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, REUTERS LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 16: Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA A-levels became the latest headache for ministers last week, when thousands of students found results downgraded by exams regulator Ofqual, after assessments were cancelled because of coronavirus. After days of protests and public outrage, the Government announced a U-turn that saw all downgraded students' marks revert to their teachers' predictions. A man has been charged over the fatal shooting of his neighbour's dog Splinter after the pet wandered into his front yard. The kelpie, doberman cross entered the Jurien Bay Vista property, about two hours north of Perth, at 12.30pm on Sunday. Police allege Splinter was called back by his owner as a 49-year-old resident walked out from his front door and shot the dog with a rifle. Splinter (pictured) was allegedly shot dead by his neighbour after wandering on to his property Police searched the 49-year-old's home and allegedly found seven rifles, a shotgun, ammunition and drug paraphernalia The dog was taken to the Dongara Veterinary Clinic but died en route. Police searched the 49-year-old's home and allegedly found seven rifles, a shotgun, ammunition and drug paraphernalia. He has been charged with animal cruelty and five counts of possessing an unlicensed firearm. The Jurien Bay man is also facing convictions over allegedly discharging a firearm to cause fear to the public and the alleged possession of drug paraphernalia, among other charges. The 49-year-old will appear in the Geraldton Magistrates Court on September 3. Splinter (pictured) tragically died on his way to Dongara Veterinary Clinic A Texas restaurant has offered a free meal to anyone called Karen after the name got a bad rap because it is used to describe entitled white women who have been seen spitting on essential workers, throwing fits of rage in supermarkets over wearing face masks - and in one case, calling 911 on a black man who asked her to leash her dog. Chick'nCone - a fried chicken chain - says the idea behind the very targeted promotion was to 'show sympathy to the good 'Karens' of the world' by offering anyone with Karen as a legal name free food. A Houston restaurant ran a special offer allowing anyone called Karen free food Chick'nCone said it wanted to show 'sympathy' to 'good Karen's' of the world The promotion also poked fun at the behavior of 'bad Karens' people and asked that eligible participants show ID before saying the phrase: 'I want to speak to the manager.' Word spread far and wide to Karens across the Houston area leading to around 40 women with the name showing up to take advantage of the free meal, which consists of a waffle cone filled with fried chicken. 'The event was well received and got a lot of attention,' Karen De Amat told Fox News. At one point the manager of the chain, Terrance Foley, forgot about the Karen Day promotion and after two Karens asked to 'speak with the manager', he ended up asking what it is they wanted. There have been a number of notable 'Karen's in recent months, the most famous of which is probably Amy Cooper, 41, who was branded 'Central Park Karen' in May There have been a number of notable 'Karen's' in recent months, the most famous of which is probably Amy Cooper, 41, who was branded 'Central Park Karen' in May after she was filmed telling 911 she was being threatened by a black man when he asked her to put her dog on a leash. Cooper was ultimately charged with falsely reporting an incident and will be arraigned on October 14. If convicted, she could be given a conditional discharge or sentenced to community service or counseling rather than jail time. A woman was filmed spitting at a gas station employee after being told that she needed to wear a mask In June, a woman was caught on camera at a gas station spitting at a worker who was serving behind the counter after being asked to wear a face mask. Incensed at being asked to one, she responded by lashing out and spat onto the countertop. Also in June, another 'Karen' was caught on camera deliberately coughing over a fellow customer at a bagel shop in New York City after being called out for not wearing a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic. The customer was picking up her order in the Manhattan bagel bar when she appeared to lose her temper after being told that she was putting other people at risk by not wearing a face covering. 19.08.2020 LISTEN The usual media hype, controversies, high stakes, and the assembling of Ghanaians at big theatre halls to watch and hail the works of Anas Aremeyaw Anas have dwindled within a split second. One may be wondering why but truth be told Anas has lost it. The accompanied printing of tickets for the public to catch a glimpse of his entrapment works where monies are used to influence investigations, alas!. Ever since the public's eye was opened by Hon. Kennedy Agyapong about his persona and dealings as not too clean as he parades himself, Ghanaians have lost total interest in his methods of fighting corruption. I must say that his latest work in collaboration with the BBC Africa Eye investigative team is one of the poorest ever. The video in reference is the 'Cashing In On Coronavirus' investigative documentary. In the video, Anas exposed the rot at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge), where some staff of the facilities were believed to have been diverting PPE supplies meant for frontline workers. The materials including protective overalls, face shields, and nose masks were being sold to the public by some workers at the hospital. The Ridge Hospital in a statement mentioned that the sold PPE was not for the hospital adding that their staff had personally procured those items. The two; Thomas Osei, a Pharmacy Worker, and Divine Kumordzi have since been suspended. Though punitive measures have been taken against the alleged culprits, all these, amongst others, show that Anas was in a hurry to once again paint Ghana Black to the world. The Europeans, Americans, Asians also have their own level of corruption even in high proportions but we don't make a big deal out of them as if corruption only sits in Africa. One thing that also makes the COVID-19 Cashing In investigations fall flat is the fact that only one Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge was the focus when there are other public health facilities that should have also been investigated. Nobody is against the exposure of the ills of society but it should be well done for the public eye and not just take one facility as the focus. Anas should spare us these antics and stop painting Africa black to the world. An explosion beneath a fire equipment company in Ashland that forced multiple people to evacuate their homes Tuesday evening was caused by a carbon dioxide leak, officials said. Authorities responded around 6:20 p.m. to numerous 911 calls about a large explosion at Kidde Fenwal, a business on Main Street, according to the towns police department. Firefighters immediately checked for injured workers, began searches of adjacent buildings and conducted air monitoring to avoid a secondary explosion. A Tier-1 Hazardous Materials incident was declared, the department said in a Facebook post. Carbon dioxide was leaking from a ruptured supply line at the company, which prompted the blast and subsequent hazmat response, the Ashland Fire Department said. Residents on Brook Street as well as Columbus and Leland avenues were evacuated from their homes as a precaution, the department said. The blast occurred in an underground service line to a production warehouse from a carbon dioxide storage tank, according to officials. Because the tank was unable to be shut down, it was vented freely into the atmosphere and safely drained, authorities noted. Nobody was injured, and there was no immediate threat to the community, the fire department said. The explosion remains under investigation. 2130hrs Update. The Hazmat Team and the contracted gas supply company have begun venting operations on the damaged... Posted by Ashland Fire Department on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 The Malaysian state fund has been at the centre of a global corruption probe and helped to topple the former government. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Malaysia signed an agreement to finalize the banks $3.9 billion settlement over the 1MDB scandal. The U.S. bank, which had announced an agreement in principle on July 24, confirmed the formal accord in a regulatory filing late Tuesday in New York. The firm must make a $2.5 billion cash payment to Malaysia within 10 days, people with knowledge of the matter said this week, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The pact marks a major step toward resolving the scandal surrounding 1MDB, a Malaysian state fund thats at the center of global investigations into corruption and money-laundering. The deal announced in July called for Goldman to pay $2.5 billion while guaranteeing the return of $1.4 billion of 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world, in exchange for Malaysia dropping charges against the bank. The deal helps the bank move on from its worst scandal since the financial crisis, while Malaysia gets to recoup much of the $4.5 billion that prosecutors said were lost from 1MDB at a time when its seeking funds for its massive stimulus package. Over much of a decade, 1MDB has become shorthand for one of the worlds most daring heists a conspiracy that spawned probes in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. Authorities spent years tracking funds that allegedly flowed from 1MDB into high-end art and real estate, a super yacht and, ironically, the hit Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street, chronicling an earlier era of financial crimes. The case against the bank focused on its work raising $6.5 billion in 2012 and 2013 for the fund formally known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd., much of which was allegedly siphoned off by people connected to the countrys former prime minister. Goldmans investment-banking group, led at the time by now-Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, collected an unusually high $600 million from the bond sales. The pact doesnt resolve other pending governmental and regulatory probes related to 1MDB, including one from the U.S. Department of Justice. Akufo-Addo government has been advised by Colonel Festus Aboagye (rtd), not to get the military anywhere close to where the citizens are going to cast their ballots in the upcoming 2020 general elections. According to the Security Expert with the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre, it will be chaotic for the country to deploy the military to the political scene as it happened during the voters registration exercise. On December 7, I would wish that we dont get the military anywhere close to where the citizens are casting their ballots. They can be part of what the police call a rapid reaction force or patrols in order that confidence will be built among the population who will be encouraged to vote. It is my personal opinion that some of the missions or tasks that we got the military to undertake and the way and manner in which the soldiers on the ground sought to undertake those tasks draws the military into the political battle space. This is not healthy that in this election when there is no provision in CI 126 for any form of pre-screening, he said. Speaking on Joy FMs Morning Show on Tuesday, Col Festus Aboagye suggested that the military should rather be deployed as a supporting mechanism to the Police Service in their operations if their service is required. He added that engaging the military in a democratic process will spell doom for the country as it has a recipe to foment the democratic gains made by the country. Any function which technically relates to EC work; inspection of ID cards, certification of identities are not the function of the election security team members. Theirs is to deal with security issues that emanate from the process not to be in the thick of it. Ideally only police must be deployed at the static points where the elections will take place, that way we are protecting the military from getting involved in the politics of the country which has its dangers. Our history shows, he explained. He complained that the pockets of violence that characterised the just ended voters registration exercise were as a result of the deployment of soldiers to some parts of the country. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Income and Unemployment deadline is August 22nd PHILIPSBURG:---The Ministry of Finance would like to remind you to apply to the Income Support for Sole Proprietors, Vendor License Holders, Bus and Independent Taxi and Tour Drivers and COVID-19 Unemployment Support. Both programs pay ANG. 1,150 per month to qualifying individuals. In order to receive continued Income Support, applicants must resubmit monthly. In order to apply for Income support, you will need: A Completed Income Support Application Form. Upload a copy of a valid Sint Maarten issued ID or passport (expired no longer than six (6) months). Upload a copy of a valid copy of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry registration, this is only required from the sole proprietor (not older than 6 months); Upload a copy of a valid (or not expired longer than 6 months as of the date application) vending permit (of any kind), bus or taxi license Upload a stamped (Tax Office) copy of the 2018 Income Tax Return up until August 31, 2020. As of September 1, 2020, a stamped copy of the 2019 Income Tax Return will be required. In order to apply for Unemployment support you will need: A completed COVID-19 Unemployment Support Application Online Form; Upload copy of valid Sint Maarten issued ID or passport (expired no longer than six (6) months); Upload an original Letter of Termination or Dismissal (On Company letterhead with Company Stamp); Upload a copy of the applicants last pay slip (from a payroll system with the Companys name clearly visible) There is now a portal for your application, making it easier to keep track of your submitted documents. Please visit the official stimulus website for all information and updates. There is also a helpdesk available for all of your inquiries, the official SSRP website can be accessed at www.ssrp.sx. The deadline to submit your application is the 22nd of August. Traces of crude oil are seen on the banks of the Napo River (www.ivancastaneira.com) A coalition of 117 Catholic leaders send a letter in support of indigenous communities at odds with Ecuadors government following a massive oil spill. By Devin Watkins Ecuadors indigenous communities are calling on the judicial system to hold the government and oil companies accountable for the damage caused by an oil spill in early April. Catholic leaders from across Latin America and from other parts of the globe joined in that appeal with a letter expressing support for their plight. Ecological disaster On 7 April 2020, a landslide burst three pipelines carrying crude oil along the Coca River. Over 16,000 barrels of oil spilled into the river, washing downstream and polluting vast tracts of land. The pipelines are managed by state-run oil company Petroecuador and a private company, Heavy Crude Pipeline (OCP). The resulting environmental damage hit Ecuadors indigenous communities hardest, due to their heavy reliance on sustenance fishing and hunting in the affected area. Wide range of Catholic leaders Now, months later, judicial hearings resumed to discover who was responsible for the disaster. A group of 117 Catholic leaders sent an amicus brief to the judge overseeing the case. In it they present relevant information and arguments for consideration. The letters signatories include Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso, two Archbishops, 42 Bishops, and a wide complement of religious superiors and directors of lay organizations. Unhindered exploitation As people of faith, the letter reads, we call attention to one of the most urgent moral questions with which we are confronted today in the Amazon region of Latin America. The Catholic leaders say the Ecuador disaster is sadly only one of many recent examples in a long history of ecological and human health crises that are the result of the unhindered extraction and exploitation of natural resources. They explain their desire to defend and promote human rights as both a social duty and a demand arising out of faith. Reparation and prevention Defending the rights of indigenous communities, say Catholic leaders, includes condemning extractive destruction and encouraging states to fulfill their obligations in this regard. May justice be done, they urge, calling for comprehensive and urgent measures to repair the harm done to the communities and ecosystems damaged by the oil spill. Preventative strategies must be put in place, conclude Catholic leaders, so that serious incidents such as these are never repeated in Ecuador or in any other Amazonian nation. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:25:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to constantly deepen strategic cooperation with Morocco and continue to assist Morocco's fight against the coronavirus pandemic as well as efforts to resume production, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. In a telephone conversation with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Wang said under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the China-Morocco strategic partnership has withstood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic and further grown. China cherishes its friendship with Morocco and is willing to continuously deepen strategic cooperation with the country and strengthen mutual understanding and support, Wang said. China, he added, will continue to provide assistance for Morocco's effort to fight COVID-19 and resume the economy, and will continue to support Morocco's legitimate claims on international and regional arenas. Wang pointed out that once China's COVID-19 vaccine is developed and put into use, it will be an item of global public goods and African countries will be among the first to benefit. China supports close communication and cooperation between Morocco and relevant enterprises to reach consensus on the research and development as well as the use of the vaccine, he said. For his part, Bourita said King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government are deeply grateful for China's strong support and assistance to Morocco at the most critical moment of the coronavirus epidemic. China's experience in fighting COVID-19 is very valuable to Morocco, and Morocco has full confidence in China's vaccine technology, the diplomat said, adding that Morocco hopes that the two sides sign a cooperation agreement as soon as possible. Whether in the United Nations or on other occasions, Morocco firmly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a clear-cut unequivocal stand, Bourita said. Morocco, he added, supports China in promoting health cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and hopes that the Morocco-China friendship will be further deepened to better benefit the two peoples. Enditem One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Year 11 and 12 students have been given the go-ahead to return to the classroom during Melbournes stage four lockdown, but only under strict conditions. VCE students sit for assessments at McKinnon Secondary College on Wednesday. Credit:Simon Schluter Assessments and course work for VCE and VCAL subjects can be done on-site when they cannot reasonably be done from home, schools have been told. The new head of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Stephen Gniel, has written to principals confirming that schools are free to open their doors to students from this week. Teachers and staff are also permitted to leave their homes to undertake support for the delivery of mandatory VCE and VCAL assessments on-site, Mr Gniel wrote. Advertisement Portland police declared yet another riot Tuesday night on the 83rd consecutive day of protests after a 200-strong mob of protesters torched the city's famous Multnomah Building. The group had marched to the county seat of government for the first time, smashing windows and sparking a blaze by pushing lit newspapers through the windows. One image shows the protesters had marked a window to the building with the graffiti: 'Aim here.' Demonstrations that often turn violent have racked Oregon's biggest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Video taken Tuesday night shows protesters calling for 'no cops, no prisons, total abolition'. According to Oregon Live, the demonstration remained peaceful for more than an hour, but protesters started to set fire to dumpsters and broke windows, and after about an hour, small fires could be seen inside the building. Police said lighter fluid was also sprayed inside the Multnomah. People could be seen throwing stones through the windows, followed by flaming materials, setting the office ablaze. Some were carrying shields and wearing helmets and gas masks, according to law enforcement. Police later tweeted to tell protesters the 'gathering had been declared a riot', ordering those there to disperse. There were also reports of a stabbing and a shooting in the city overnight. Two people were arrested - 23-year-old Jesse Hawk and Peter Curtis, 40. Hawk was charged with riot, interfering with a peace officer, resisting arrest, unlawful use of a weapon, assaulting a public safety officer, harassment, disorderly conduct II, and attempted escape. Curtis was charged with attempt criminal mischief and reckless endangering. A group of around 200 protesters marched to the city's Multnomah Building - the county seat of government - for the first time, smashing windows and sparking a blaze by pushing lit newspapers through the windows Portland police declared a riot last night on the 83rd consecutive day of protests when a group of demonstrators set a government office building alight Some smashed windows and threw lit debris through the windows, setting fire to parts of the building (pictured in a video from The Oregonian) Deborah Kafoury, Multnomah County Chair said of the building: 'This is the heart of our County, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity.' (pictured in a video from The Oregonian) Portland police announced on their Twitter page that the 'gathering outside the County Building at 501 SE Hawthorne has been declared a riot' at around 11:30 p.m. local time Local reports say that a group gathered at around 8 p.m. PDT in Colonel Summers Park at Southeast 20th Avenue and Belmont Street, and at around 9 p.m., the group marched through the streets of Southwest Portland. The march, which organizers described s a 'direct action march', eventually arrived at the Multnomah Building at Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard and Grand Avenue. At around 10.30 p.m., police - who had not been on the scene previously - moved into the area and declared a riot an hour later, and began pushing protesters away from the scene while asking them to disperse. In a Tweet at 11:30 p.m., Portland Police said: 'The gathering outside the County Building at 501 SE Hawthorne has been declared a riot. Everyone must disperse to the north immediately. 'Failure to comply with this order may subject you to citation or arrest, and may subject you to the use of tear gas, crowd control munitions and or impact weapons.' Protesters continued to move through the inner streets of the city for the next hour and a half, while being pushed north by groups of police. One officer is said to have suffered a minor injury during the dispersal. Videos of police appearing to use heavy-handed tactics were also shared on social media, with some showing groups of police outnumbering protesters, hitting them with batons and pushing them to the ground. In a statement police said: 'Some crowd control munitions were used during dispersal. No CS gas was used.' There was damage to a lobby where protective equipment against the spread of the coronavirus is distributed, she said.The building is used for marriages, among other services. Deborah Kafoury, Multnomah County Chair, released a statement about the damage to the Multnomah Building, saying: 'This is the heart of our County, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity.' According to Oregon Live , the demonstration remained peaceful for more than an hour, but protesters started to set fire to dumpsters and broke windows, and after about an hour, small fires could be seen inside the building Two people were arrested - 23-year-old Jesse Hawk and Peter Curtis, 40. Hawk was charged with riot, interfering with a peace officer, resisting arrest, unlawful use of a weapon, assaulting a public safety officer, harassment, disorderly conduct II, and attempt escape. Curtis was charged with attempt criminal mischief and reckless endangering Several people in the crowd were seen carrying shields and wearing helmets and gas masks .@PortlandPolice has declared the gathering near the Multnomah Building a riot after individuals vandalized, repeatedly smashed first floor windows with rocks and threw burning material into an office. https://t.co/PtByF6Gx6h Multnomah Co. Sheriffs Office (@MultCoSO) August 19, 2020 Cop 37 shoves woman hitting her from behind in the head with baton, then hits her again in the face with baton while she is sitting on the ground pic.twitter.com/t4phwbWpsK John #ProtectThackerPass (@Johnnthelefty) August 19, 2020 The space is dedicated to community members 'marginalized by the traditional political process,' she said, noting 'The lobby where the first same-sex marriage in Oregon took place, and where millions of pieces of personal protective equipment are being distributed to help our community battle COVID-19, was damaged.' 'I acknowledge that there is grave injustice in our world and there is a violent and tragic history of oppression in our County,' she added. 'I am committed to transformational change.' Police on Tuesday said they have identified a suspect accused of punching and kicking a man to the ground after he crashed his pickup truck on a sidewalk near ongoing demonstrations. At around 10.30 p.m., police - who had not been on the scene previously - moved into the area and declared a riot an hour later, and began pushing protesters away from the scene while asking them to disperse Local reports say that a group gathered at around 8 p.m. PDT in Colonel Summers Park at Southeast 20th Avenue and Belmont Street, and at around 9 p.m., the group marched through the streets of Southwest Portland . The march, which organizers described s a 'direct action march', eventually arrived at the Multnomah Building at Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard and Grand Avenue There were also reports of a stabbing and a shooting in the city overnight Authorities had received a report around 10:30 p.m. Sunday of protesters chasing a truck a few blocks from the downtown federal courthouse. The driver crashed and was then assaulted, authorities said. Authorities are trying to track down the suspect, Marquise Love, 25, police said in a statement. The victim of the assault has been released from a hospital and is recovering. A social media account apparently connected to Love has been disabled and efforts to locate him for comment were not immediately successful. Demonstrations that often turn violent have racked Oregon's biggest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On Monday night, authorities said people marched to the police union building and tried to break into the facility. No arrests were made during Monday night's protest and authorities said most of the crowd dispersed by early Tuesday morning. The LAPD is investigating an assault and robbery of three transgender women in Hollywood as a hate crime. (Josie Norris / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles police are calling the robbery and assault of three transgender women on Hollywood Boulevard early Monday a hate crime and have launched an investigation into the attack. They also are reviewing the response of officers in the area, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. Police said the women were attacked about 2:15 a.m. Monday in the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard, near Wilcox Avenue. The incident was partially captured on videos that were later reposted to Instagram by the women: social media influencers Eden the Doll, who has 410,000 Instagram followers, and Jaslene Whiterose and Joslyn Flawless, who also have large followings. The videos, which have been viewed extensively online, show a man threatening Flawless with a crowbar as he robs her, and shows him hitting Whiterose over the head with an object. The videos also show bystanders taunting the women and laughing. Police said the man demanded Flawless' shoes and bracelet as he threatened her with the crowbar, and struck Whiterose with a bottle all while making "derogatory remarks" about their gender identity. On Instagram, Flawless described the encounter as the "scariest moment" of her life. "He held a crow bar to my face and threatened to kill me unless I stripped my shoes off and gave him my jewelry and all my [possessions]. He said if I was trans he would kill me," she wrote. "He then forced me to hold his hand while he looks for my friends to kill them for being trans," she wrote. "Meanwhile men and WOMEN screaming that I'm a man and telling him to beat me." "I got beat up," Whiterose wrote on a video she posted recounting the attack. Eden the Doll wrote that she was also struck and had her phone stolen, and that she was "completely traumatized" by the encounter. The women could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. On Tuesday, multiple members of the public who had called in to a virtual meeting of the Los Angeles Police Commission asked about the incident and demanded that LAPD officials release more information. They asked why an LAPD officer had driven by the scene without stopping which was also captured on video. Story continues Commission Vice President Shane Murphy Goldsmith also asked about the encounter. Moore told the commission he is "very concerned about any hate crimes," and said that the incident and the department's response were both being reviewed. Moore said an officer did pass the scene in a squad car with its lights activated, en route to an emergency call, but he said few other details were immediately available. Some time passed before an officer stopped where the women were attacked. Moore said he planned to find out what call the first officer was responding to, whether the officer realized what was happening to the women as he passed by, whether the officer alerted dispatch to the incident and "whether or not we took appropriate action." He said the investigation will include a review of body-worn camera footage to determine whether officers followed procedures. Goldsmith asked for additional updates from Moore when more is known about the case, and Moore promised to comply. Police are asking anyone with information to contact detectives at (213) 972-2934 or send anonymous tips to (800) 222-8477. MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says it has temporarily suspended pork exports to China after a few dozen workers at one of its plants tested positive for COVID-19. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Maple Leaf Foods employee walks past a Maple Leaf sign at the company's meat facility in Toronto on Monday, December, 15, 2008. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says it has temporarily suspended pork exports to China after a few dozen workers at one of its plants tested positive for COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says it has temporarily suspended pork exports to China after a few dozen workers at one of its plants tested positive for COVID-19. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company says in a statement late Tuesday it continues to have rigorous safety measures at the Brandon, Man., plant to prevent workplace transmission, and the plant continues to operate. It notes public health officials have said there is no sign the coronavirus was spread in the workplace. The company says it voluntarily suspended its pork exports to China after the Chinese government adopted new protocols that require Canadian processors who report a positive COVID-19 case to do so. Try our Dish The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Dish arrives in your inbox every other Friday. See sample. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. RBC Dominion Securities analyst Irene Nattel says in a note to clients that the news "is a slight negative" for Maple Leaf. She says the pork originally intended for export to China can likely be sold domestically or exported elsewhere though at lower margins and that price forecasts already assume some coronavirus-related disruptions. Maple Leaf says it is seeing short-term increases in absenteeism, but believes this is a short-term situation rather than a material financial event. CEO Michael McCain says the company is confident in its promise to provide customers with safe food. "But we respect China's new import protocols for Canadian products and are working co-operatively with Canadian and Chinese authorities to resume exports quickly." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020. North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest ended a testy legal battle with campaign rival and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper last week after a judge rejected Forests demand to block Cooper from shuttering businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forest sued the governor last month, seeking to prevent Cooper from unilaterally issuing executive orders limiting business activities and mass gatherings without the approval of a 10-member state body. The Council of State includes Cooper, Forest, Attorney General Josh Stein and several other statewide elected officials. Cooper argued he had sufficient emergency authority to take executive action in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Jim Gale ruled that Forest didnt prove he was likely to win arguments that Cooper has exceeded his emergency authority or that the law is unconstitutional. The lieutenant governor informed the court on Wednesday he was dismissing his lawsuit. I did my part, Forest wrote on Twitter shortly after the judges decision. If yall want your freedoms back youll have to make your voices heard in November. Liz Doherty, a spokeswoman for Coopers campaign, called Forests lawsuit reckless and said in a statement that it would have hurt public safety. While Dan Forest makes reckless decisions that endanger North Carolinians in an effort to prop up his campaign, Governor Cooper will continue to do what is right for their health and safety, Doherty said. Public opinion polls have consistently shown Cooper with a double-digit lead over Forest and a stronger chance of victory than other prominent Democrats in key races, such as Senate challenger Cal Cunningham and presidential hopeful Joe Biden. A July NBC News/Marist poll of 882 registered North Carolina voters found Cooper leading Forest by 20 percentage points, while Cunningham led Republican Sen. Thom Tillis by 9 points and Biden led President Donald Trump by 7 points. The poll reported a margin of error of 4 percentage points. ___ Anderson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits COVID-19 North Carolina President Donald Trump. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst President Trump backed an Oracle acquisition of Chinese-owned video app TikTok, which has until November 12 to sell off its US business or face a ban. Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Oracle was "a great company" and that it "could handle it." He added that Oracle had until mid-September to conclude a deal for TikTok. Oracle's cofounder and executive chairman, Larry Ellison, is a Trump supporter who held a fundraiser for the president in February 2020. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Trump has backed Oracle's bid to buy TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that must sell its US business within months or face a ban in the country. The Financial Times first reported Tuesday that the software giant had entered the race to buy TikTok. It is working with US VC firms such as Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst, both investors in TikTok parent ByteDance. Asked on Tuesday what he thought of Oracle, Trump said: "Well, I think Oracle is a great company, and I think its owner is a tremendous guy. He's a tremendous person. I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it. Yeah. We gave them until September 15." Trump appears to be referring to Oracle cofounder and executive chairman Larry Ellison, who owns more than a billion shares in Oracle. He is a high-profile Trump supporter, and held a fundraiser for the president in February, leading to a walkout by Oracle employees. It isn't clear how close Oracle is to striking a deal. Microsoft confirmed at the beginning of August that it was in talks to buy TikTok's operations in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, alongside other potential investors. CEO Satya Nadella has spoken to Trump directly about the deal. The negotiations follow Trump issuing two executive orders targeting ByteDance. The first bans US companies or individuals from "transacting" with ByteDance and sets a 45-day deadline for the Chinese company to strike a deal to sell off TikTok's US business. A second executive order sets a 90-day deadline on completion of a deal. The Trump administration claims TikTok is a national security threat because of its ties to China, something the company has consistently denied. TikTok has threatened to take the administration to court over the executive orders. Separately, TikTok's US employees are preparing a lawsuit against the admnistration because they fear the orders mean they won't get paid. Read the original article on Business Insider Trier's Mayor Wolfram Leibe, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Trier head Dr. Jan Glockauer and Klaus Jensen, Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg pen joint letter to federal administrations. The classification of Luxembourg as a risk zone should be withdrawn as soon as possible, demand Mayor Leibe, IHK Chief Glockauer and Jensen. The letter, sent on Tuesday to Health Minister Jens Spahn, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, outlines frustrations and contradictory information regarding the restrictions placed on Luxembourg and therefore the effects this has on the German people, business and economy. This move echos that of Rheinland-Palatinate Mayor Malu Dreyer, last week. Leibe, Glockauer and Jensen state in their letter: "The measures taken in Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate and Luxembourg to contain the pandemic have been largely successful, albeit at the cost of a major stagnation in economic and social life. At the same time, however, the losses resulting from dormant trade relations and under-reported services add up to enormous amounts that cannot be compensated for by any state budget or support programme. Reduced working hours, the loss of jobs and insolvencies are increasing" The prominent officials argue that, in this situation, it is essential to review any remaining restriction and consider its suitability, necessity and adequacy. "Every day counts. No single day on which the health situation allows us to return to economic normality must be lost." This is particularly true of the importance regarding the regional economic accord between Germany and Luxembourg. The number of new infected persons in Luxembourg is now again less than 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The letter points out that there is no longer any objective reason to prevent the free movement of persons, and, further, the free movement of services. Leibe, Glockauer and Jensen conclude: "We therefore urge you to immediately end the classification of Luxembourg as a risk area." Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 19 : The Kerala government and the opposition Congress on Wednesday expressed strong reservations over the Centre's nod to lease out Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani Enterprises and demanded that the decision be revoked. The decision to lease out the airport under the PPP model for 50 years comes at a time when a petition against it is pending in the Kerala High Court. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran slammed the Centre and asked the state BJP unit to explain the development. "This is one of the biggest scams to hand over the country's first international airport in independent India to a private party. This is a big corrupt deal and all of us here will oppose it tooth and nail. Spread over 657 acres of prime land acquired over many years, this airport makes a profit of Rs 170 crore in a year but has been handed over to Adani Group for a pittance," Surendran said. "It must be noted that this leasing comes at a time when the Airports Authority of India is investing Rs 600 crore for a new runway and the acquisition process for another 18 acres is underway. The lone Keralite in the Union Cabinet, V Muraleedharan, and other BJP leaders here should explain why this corrupt deal is taking place. We will seek legal recourse also," the Minister added. In February 2019, the financial bid for privatising five airports in the country was opened and it was won by Adani Enterprises. The other airports that the Adani firm got are situated in Mangaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Jaipur. The Kerala government too placed a bid but the Adani firm won it by quoting a bigger amount. While the Kerala government bid for Rs 135 per passenger, the Adani firm quoted Rs 168. "Our government presently runs the airports at Cochin and Kannur and is well-versed in the operations. We even went to the extent of matching the figure quoted by the Adani company, but it was not accepted. We will continue to raise the issue and we will not give up," Surendran asserted. Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded that the Centre reconsider its decision. "This airport is the wealth of Kerala. The Centre is doing all sorts of things when the Covid-19 pandemic is peaking. The state government had appealed that it was willing to take over the airport, but the Centre ignored it. We register our strong protest over this deal," said Chennithala. President Akufo-Addo has responded to claims by former President John Dramani Mahama that he is only good at giving promises but poor at delivering them. President Akufo-Addo in a tweet on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, reject such propaganda against his government and reward him with victory in December 2020. I am someone who promises and delivers, and that is something I want Ghanaians to know, so they can trust me. Mahamas accusations Mr. Mahama who was addressing some supporters of the NDC in the Volta Region on Monday, August 17, 2020, said the promises made by President Akufo-Addo before the 2016 elections were sweet things that have not been fulfilled. Our major opponents (NPP) are good at promises but poor at delivering. For them, their policy is that; say anything that the people will believe and vote for you, he said. Mr. Mahama further added that the governing New Patriotic Party is only interested in political power and not making Ghana better. Political power is the most important thing to them. And when you get the power, whether you fulfill the promises or not; it doesn't matter. Mr. Mahama thus called for a comparison of achievements between the previous NDC government and the current NPP government. Let's compare track records; how many communities have been electrified in the last four years? he quizzed, adding that: We took electrification in this country to 86 percent, one of the best in Africa. Below is President Akufo-Addos tweet ---citinewsroom The Nissan Bottom Line Sales Event offers $0-down, 0%-APR financing and no payments for three months for qualified buyers. Available models include a 2020 Nissan Versa rental model listed with a clearance price of $13,900 and a 2020 Nissan Kicks rental model listed at $15,900 for qualified buyers. For many people, buying used vehicles is the definitive way to upgrade. Those people are encouraged to visit Palm Springs Nissana Nissan dealer located in Cathedral City, California, that serves Riverside Countyto take advantage of the Nissan Bottom Line Sales Event. The sales event is can potentially save customers a lot of money on used vehicles. Interested parties need to act quickly, though, as the sale is set to end August 31, 2020. The Nissan Bottom Line Sales Event offers $0-down, 0%-APR financing and no payments for three months for qualified buyers. Available models include a 2020 Nissan Versa rental model listed with a clearance price of $13,900 and a 2020 Nissan Kicks rental model listed at $15,900 for qualified buyers. Those who want more information regarding the Nissan Bottom Line Sales Event or wish to view more used eligible Nissan vehicles can visit the Used Specials page. Buyers looking to trade in their current vehicles are also encouraged to utilize the True Market Value tool powered by Edmunds. With it, potential buyers will receive an estimate of what their vehicle is worth. All that is needed for a quote is the model year, the make, model name and few other details regarding the vehicle. Those that are interested in the Nissan Bottom Line Sales Event can visit the Palm Springs Nissan website at https://www.palmspringsnissan.com/ or by calling the dealership at 760-328-2800. Palm Springs Nissan is located on 68177 Kyle Road, Cathedral City. On August 5, Oracle announced its San Jose Cloud Region , marking the companys 25th Cloud Region worldwide. The opening is part of Oracles aggressive plan to add 11 Cloud Regions by July 2021, bringing its total to 36. Now, North American customers and partners on the west coast have regional access to all of the companys cloud services, including Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Autonomous Linux, as well as Oracle Cloud Applications to unlock innovation and securely protect their applications and data. The San Jose site also houses the sixth multi-cloud interconnection between Oracle and Microsoft Azure . These interconnects enable customers to run their mission-critical workloads across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Azure seamlessly.Were doubling-down on our global expansion and rapidly scaling our public cloud around the world to meet growing customer demand, said Clay Magouyrk, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Enterprises need fully independent Cloud Regions in multiple sites and in-country, to meet data residency requirements and to safeguard disaster recovery measures.Oracle opened eight Cloud Regions in 2020 and currently operates 25 regions globally19 commercial and six governmentthe fastest expansion by any major cloud provider. To help customers build true business continuity and disaster protection while meeting in-country data residence requirements, Oracle plans to establish at least two regions in almost every country where it operates. The U.S., Canada, E.U., South Korea, Japan, India and Australia already have two Cloud Regions. Upcoming Cloud Regions include second regions in the U.K., Brazil, U.A.E, and Saudi Arabia, additional E.U. regions in Italy, Sweden, and France; as well as new regions in Chile, Singapore, South Africa, and IsraelLearn more about Oracle State and Local government solutions. The process of shutting down Google Play Music seems to be on the high swing. And as a final step, Google is now converting the gifted Google Play Music subscription to Play Store credits. Notably, Google Play Music is set to go out of service this year. Regions like Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa will be the first to lose access to Google Play Music in October. Later on, this shut down will continue to other regions and Play Music will eventually go offline later in the month. However, users with gifted Play Music subscription that goes beyond September need not worry. Advertisement Because as per 9to5Google, Google will now convert these gifted Google Play Music subscription to Play Store credits. Emails are being sent over to such users, notifying them that the subscriptions will get converted over to Play Store credit. This process will begin from September onwards. Google started transitioning Play Music users over to YouTube Music Well, this is not a sudden decision and Google had planned it ahead of time. Earlier this month they announced the method to transition over from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. Advertisement Then yesterday, we have highlighted that Google is sending out a lengthy user survey to already transitioned YouTube Music users. The survey includes questions related to the user experience on this transition from Play Music to YouTube Music. And now, this conversion of subscription over to Play Store credit is a welcome offer for the users. Notably, the value of the Play credit might vary for different users. In one of the Reddit post, a user that goes by the name pseudonym u/sevs, reported that he received a Play Store credit of $150 even though he had a subscription at a discounted holiday pricing of $5/month. Advertisement It is unclear how Google arrived at that value of the Play Store credit Lucky is the user, who received more Play Store credit than the original subscription cost. We see this as a consolation to the users who are forced to transition over to YouTube Music. However, there is no clarity on how Google arrived at that particular Google Play Store credit. So, who known users might get lucky and receive actually more than the cost. Moreover, as per the Redditor who received $150, also revealed that as per customer support, his subscription and will carry over to YouTube Music. Advertisement This means that the user can have the Play Store credit along with subscription being shifted over to YT Music, with no cost. It will be interesting to see what Google says officially on this matter. Itll be interesting to see whether all users will get the same treatment or not. Now that Mayor Ron Nirenbergs workforce development plan is on the November ballot, the focus must turn to three important themes: assuaging concerns about sustaining Edwards Aquifer protection and the citys greenway trails program; crafting a clear message about investing in people; and ensuring workforce program participants will be placed in new careers. Lets start with aquifer protection. Supporters of Edwards Aquifer protection have raised concerns about a potential abandonment of this long-running and popular program even though Nirenberg has been unequivocal in his commitment to it. The program uses city sales tax dollars to buy conservation easements over the aquifers recharge zone in Bexar County and beyond. It strikes an elegant balance of preserving private property rights and the Edwards Aquifer, San Antonios primary source of drinking water. If anything, we have only seen and heard concern not opposition to maintaining these programs from the mayor and City Council. And for good reason. Since 2000, voters have backed using a 1/8-cent sales tax on aquifer protection and expanding the citys greenway trail system. But Nirenberg, who rose to political prominence championing aquifer protection, has signaled a way forward without sales tax dollars. He has suggested using $100 million over the next decade from San Antonio Water System funds to continue the Edwards Aquifer protection program. No, its not $200 million over 10 years, but its a substantial investment in water security and extends the popular program. And it does not preclude other entities say, the Edwards Aquifer Authority from pursuing conservation easements to supplement the program. The greenway trails are just as popular and either can be completed by Bexar County or folded into an the next city bond. Nirenberg needs to formalize future funding for both programs well before the election. Any uncertainty will fuel potential opposition to workforce development. Supporters of aquifer protection and greenway trails should be natural allies for investing in people and addressing endemic poverty in one of Americas most economically segregated cities. If protecting the aquifer is about preventing a future crisis, we also must recognize too many San Antonians are living in the crisis of poverty. This brings us to messaging. Yes, the ballot language for workforce development and transit will be complicated. Under the plan, the city will dedicate $154 million in sales tax revenue to workforce development through 2025, potentially aiding 40,000 people in gaining new skills and developing new careers. After that, the sales tax would shift to VIA Metropolitan Transit, which has been chronically underfunded compared with similar transit authorities in major Texas cities. But the message should be simple: This is about investing in people. Its about providing opportunity to the 154,000 residents who have lost jobs in this pandemic. Its about building a new, higher wage economy in San Antonio and striving for generational change. Its about reducing endemic poverty and shortening the persistent food distribution lines that have been a hallmark of this pandemic. Investing in transit is also about investing in people and the effort to end economic segregation. Its about delivering on the promise of a rapid transit line that links the North Side, San Antonio International Airport, downtown and Brooks City Base. Its about providing mobility options in one of Americas fastest-growing big cities. Finally, Nirenberg needs to assure voters about accountability. One reason the Edwards Aquifer protection and greenway trail system programs are so popular is the public has immense trust in how these sales tax dollars are spent. This workforce development program needs to match that trust with clear metrics for program completion, college graduation, wages and job placement. This is a tremendous opportunity to invest in San Antonio and create generational change while preserving popular programs. Assuage public concerns about aquifer protection, tighten up the messaging around investing in people and promise accountability, and voters will endorse this plan in November. Press Release August 19, 2020 COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS COMMITTEE HEARING August 19,2020; 9:00AM Session Hall OPENING STATEMENT SEN. DELA ROSA: Magandang umaga sa ating lahat. It is unfortunate that we are having this hearing today to discuss a matter concerning not just the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police but also the State's ability to maintain peace and order as a whole. On June 29, 2020, two (2) commissioned officers and two (2) enlisted personnel of the AFP were killed in Jolo, Sulu, allegedly by some members of the PNP and PDEU Sulu... they are all under the PNP. Records show that the four AFP personnel identified as Maj. Marvin Indammog, Capt. Irwin Managuelod, Sgt. Jaime Velasco and Cpl. Abdal Asula who were assigned to the Philippine Army's Intelligence Regimen of the 9th ISU or Intelligence Service Unit were killed while in their mission. They were allegedly shot by six (6) members of the Jolo Municipal Police Station and three (3) personnel of the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit of Sulu PPO. Conflicting claims have been presented by the different parties about how the tragic incident happened. But I am happy that the PNP and the AFP agreed to let the NBI conduct an independent probe in the incident. I would like to congratulate Gen. Felimon Santos, the former Chief of Staff (CS), AFP and Gen. Gilbert Gapay, the former Commanding General, Philippine Army and now the current Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Gen, Archie Gamboa, the Chief PNP for effectively handling the situation from going out of control. I would also like to recognize the local government of Jolo, under the leadership of Mayor Kerkhar Tan for their cooperation in the investigation. Last July 21, 2020, as a result of the joint investigation conducted by the NBI Western Mindanao Regional Office and Death Investigation Division, the Bureau already submitted to the DOJ its final report. The report contains the recommendation for prosecution of four (4) counts of murder and one (1) count of planting of evidence against the nine (9) policemen from Jolo MPS and Sulu PDEU who were involved in the incident. It also recommends the filing of an administrative case of Neglect of Duty under the Doctrine of Command Responsibility against the Chief of Police, PDEU Chief, and Police Provincial Director. I am leading this Committee hearing today not as a former Chief of the Philippine National Police or an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy, but as a Senator of the Republic. Alam kong hindi maiibsan ng pagdinig na ito ang sakit na nararamdaman ng mga kaanak ng mga pumanaw nating sundalo. Ngunit sana ang pagdinig na ito ay makapagbigay ng pag-asa na makakamit nila ang hustisya ng pagkawala ng mga mahal nila sa buhay. We are here today to hear all sides of the story, to help serve justice to the aggrieved parties, to see the loopholes in policies and laws, and to prevent the repeat of such incidents in the future. This inquiry will focus mainly on the role of Congress, by virtue of Section 21, Article VI of the Constitution regarding inquiries in aid of legislation. This Committee is interested to unravel the truth in the events in Jolo last June 29, 2020, in order to review and introduce possible amendments to existing laws and to craft much needed legislations concerning the subject matter. I would just like to remind our invited resource persons to respond and answer the questions truthfully. The Committee is well-aware of the case filed in the DOJ and the sub judice rule. However, we are also cognizant of the string of cases already decided by the Supreme Court, specifically in the case of Standard Chartered Bank v. Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies (G.R. No. 16713, December 27, 2007) that "the mere filing of a criminal or an administrative complaint before a court or quasi-judicial body should not automatically bar the conduct of legislative investigations." It is likewise enunciated by the Court that "exercise of sovereign legislative authority, of which the power of legislative inquiry is an essential component, cannot be subordinate to a criminal or administrative investigation." It also elucidate in Arnault v. Nazareno (G.R. No. L-3820, July 18, 1950) wherein the High Court articulated that "The power of inquiry--with process to enforce it--is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function. A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information regarding the conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change; and where the legislative body does not itself possess the requisite information." Furthermore, in a more recent case of Romero II v. Estrada (G.R. No. 174105, April 2, 2009) wherein the Supreme Court averred that when the Senate Committee "issued invitations and subpoenas to petitioners to appear before it in connection with its investigation, it did so pursuant to its authority to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation." And so, the invited resource persons have the "duty to cooperate, to respond to subpoena, to respect the dignity of the Congress and its Committees, and to testify fully in the matters under investigation." Kaya ngayon inaasahan ko ang kooperasyon ng lahat ng ating mga panauhin, para matulungan ang komiteng ito. As we proceed with this investigation, we have three main issues today. The first is what triggered the shooting. Based on eye witness accounts vis-a-vis the police operational procedures the shooting was allegedly not justified. The second is the issue on lateral coordination of operations between the AFP and the PNP in fulfilling their respective mandate. How can we improve on the existing operational procedure of the AFP and the PNP which is vital in the interoperability of our forces? What are the legislations needed in order to prevent the repeat of such incident? And third is the issue on the protecting and preserving the scene of the crime and the pieces of evidence related thereto. Is there a need to introduce amendments to our existing laws on the obstruction of justice under PD 1829? As recommended in your BOI report, which was jointly conducted by both the AFP and the PNP, you need legislative enactment by Congress providing the manner in the treatment and management of crime scene and penalty in violation thereof. This Committee will try to give answers to these questions. Maraming Salamat po. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria, including overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world. "To go above and beyond for families doesn't require specific degrees, licenses and certificationsIt requires desire, tolerance and compassion, and we have tons of those here at CSD!!" Pete said. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November during a virtual awards gala. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2021. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries all supported by vast EY resources. Sponsors Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In Northern California, sponsors also include Woodruff Sawyer and Chatham Financial. About Entrepreneur Of The Year Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy About EY Private As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/private About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, strategy, transaction and consulting services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. SOURCE Center for Social Dynamics Related Links https://csdautismservices.com The Food and Drug Administration is warning that a widely used coronavirus test could product false results. FDA alerted healthcare providers and laboratories about issues with Thermo Fishers Scientific TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit. The issues which resulted in both false negatives and false positives - involve the laboratory equipment and software used to run the popular tests. The FDA said technicians should follow updated instruction and software to avoid the problems. The FDA is working with Thermo Fisher Scientific and our public health partners to resolve these issues. The FDA will continue to keep clinical laboratory staff, health care providers, manufacturers, and the public informed of new or additional information, the agency said. Here are other coronavirus headlines: No large gatherings, Birx urges White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx is urging people to skip large gatherings until there is an effective vaccine against COVID-19. What does social distancing mean? It means that were asking every citizen to not have large gatherings in their backyards until we have an effective vaccine, Birx said. We know theres amazing asymptomatic spread. We all want to believe our family members, our neighbors couldnt possibly have COVID. I can tell you across the United states they do, she added. Birx said reducing community spread would allow schools and universities to reopen and many of the current social distancing restrictions to end. Cluster of cases traced to university party A cluster of COVID-19 cases has been traced to an off-campus party at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, university officials said. The party took place last week and is linked to the cluster, defined as at least five connected cases or 20 people in quarantine stemming from one event. The cluster was identified through contract tracing. UT currently has 75 active cases of COVID-19 and 270 in self-isolation. Notre Dame shifts to remote learning The University of Notre Dame is shifting to remote learning for the next two weeks amid a coronavirus spike. University President Rev. John I. Jenkins said the university has seen a dramatic increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 during students first weeks back on campus. The spike in cases is very serious. And we must take serious steps to address it, Jenkins added. For the next two weeks, all undergraduate classes will be remote and public spaces will be closed. Residence halls will be restricted and students that live off campus are urged not to come to the university. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 "Documenting 75 years of resilience" is a series of special reports by The Jakarta Post to celebrate Indonesias Independence Day on Aug. 17, 1945. The day after the United Arab Emirates announced it would become the first Gulf Arab country to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel last Thursday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi received a phone call from her Emirati counterpart to discuss the new development. The agreement between the UAE and Israel, dubbed the Abraham Accord, was facilitated by the United States and includes Israels commitment to suspend plans to annex Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank. The policy shift was the most significant development since Washington unveiled its deal of the century early this year. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login CHICAGO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- rMark Bio, a leader in the application of AI to accelerate innovation, collaboration, and scientific discovery for the life sciences industry, today announced the formation of its new Advisory Board. This new Advisory Board will help lead rMark Bio through its current global market expansion in commercial analytics, data services, medical affairs and devices. The Advisory Board consist of: Mark Niemaszek . Mr. Niemaszek is an experienced pharmaceutical professional with more than 30 years of financial and operations experience. Mr. Niemaszek had a successful career at Astellas Pharma as the Vice President of Commercial Operations, where he developed the company's domestic and global commercial operations capabilities. Mr. Niemaszek is joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to accelerate adoption of the AI platform in commercial sales and analytics teams. Upon joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board, Mr. Niemaszek stated, "I am excited to join rMark Bio's Advisory Board. rMark Bio is a cutting-edge organization that has been able to utilize artificial intelligence to develop impactful solutions to medical affairs organizations. I hope to provide commercial insights to rMark Bio's management team to expand their AI expertise for potential commercial solutions. rMark Bio has an experienced team that understands the issues facing manufacturers and is utilizing their expertise to develop answers that will improve efficiency and effectiveness." Mr. Niemaszek is an experienced pharmaceutical professional with more than 30 years of financial and operations experience. Mr. Niemaszek had a successful career at Astellas Pharma as the Vice President of Commercial Operations, where he developed the company's domestic and global commercial operations capabilities. Mr. Niemaszek is joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to accelerate adoption of the AI platform in commercial sales and analytics teams. Upon joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board, Mr. Niemaszek stated, "I am excited to join rMark Bio's Advisory Board. rMark Bio is a cutting-edge organization that has been able to utilize artificial intelligence to develop impactful solutions to medical affairs organizations. I hope to provide commercial insights to rMark Bio's management team to expand their AI expertise for potential commercial solutions. rMark Bio has an experienced team that understands the issues facing manufacturers and is utilizing their expertise to develop answers that will improve efficiency and effectiveness." Patrick Retif . Mr. Retif is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience building and leading global business and technology organizations. In 2018, Mr. Retif was recruited by IQVIA to serve as the SVP/GM of the US Technology Solutions business. Prior to IQVIA, Mr. Retif spent eight years with Allergan where he served in multiple executive roles leading the global commercial IT organization and all technology services supporting 12,000+ commercial users across 75 country markets. Mr. Retif is joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to accelerate adoption of the AI platform and data services for commercial, medical affairs and R&D departments. Upon joining the Advisory Board, Mr. Retif stated, "I am excited to join rMark Bio's Advisory Board. rMark Bio is uniquely positioned to bring true digital transformation to Medical Affairs organizations. Cue is an impressive application that leverages a proprietary and innovative AI technology. It magically brings all needed information at the fingertips of MSLs, strengthening their customer engagements through automated and intelligent scientific discovery. The capability and power of Fabric, the underlying AI platform, has many potentials in Life Sciences. I look forward to leveraging my background and experience to help apply Fabric to many other areas." Mr. Retif is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience building and leading global business and technology organizations. In 2018, Mr. Retif was recruited by IQVIA to serve as the SVP/GM of the US Technology Solutions business. Prior to IQVIA, Mr. Retif spent eight years with Allergan where he served in multiple executive roles leading the global commercial IT organization and all technology services supporting 12,000+ commercial users across 75 country markets. Mr. Retif is joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to accelerate adoption of the AI platform and data services for commercial, medical affairs and R&D departments. Upon joining the Advisory Board, Mr. Retif stated, "I am excited to join rMark Bio's Advisory Board. rMark Bio is uniquely positioned to bring true digital transformation to Medical Affairs organizations. Cue is an impressive application that leverages a proprietary and innovative AI technology. It magically brings all needed information at the fingertips of MSLs, strengthening their customer engagements through automated and intelligent scientific discovery. The capability and power of Fabric, the underlying AI platform, has many potentials in Life Sciences. I look forward to leveraging my background and experience to help apply Fabric to many other areas." Philip Rackliffe . Mr. Rackliffe has 20+ years of global healthcare leadership and executive management in medical device/technology and pharmaceutical industries across both public and private sectors. Mr. Rackliffe is currently the CEO of Centerline Biomedical, a spin-off of Cleveland Clinic. Mr. Rackliffe will be joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to help accelerate the adoption of rMark's Cue solution to Medical Device and Medical Affairs' teams. After a recent demonstration of the Cue solution, Mr. Rackliffe noted, "I was blown away when I saw a demo of Cue. It solves numerous, critical unmet needs in the healthcare space across analytics and real-time data to drive business results and make sense of rich data from internal and external sources. I have been part of teams that have spent thousands of man hours trying to solve this Medical Affairs riddle, the team at rMark Bio has solved it." Mr. Rackliffe has 20+ years of global healthcare leadership and executive management in medical device/technology and pharmaceutical industries across both public and private sectors. Mr. Rackliffe is currently the CEO of Centerline Biomedical, a spin-off of Cleveland Clinic. Mr. Rackliffe will be joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to help accelerate the adoption of rMark's Cue solution to Medical Device and Medical Affairs' teams. After a recent demonstration of the Cue solution, Mr. Rackliffe noted, "I was blown away when I saw a demo of Cue. It solves numerous, critical unmet needs in the healthcare space across analytics and real-time data to drive business results and make sense of rich data from internal and external sources. I have been part of teams that have spent thousands of man hours trying to solve this Medical Affairs riddle, the team at rMark Bio has solved it." Jeffrey A. Judd . With over 15 years of R&D, business strategy and IT delivery responsibility in the space, Mr. Judd has had the great fortune to work with both world class consultants and best-in-class companies. Mr. Judd was a founding employee at Veeva, where he worked in a strategic role to design and launch several early adopter programs with pharma customers while experiencing a period of hyper growth, as one of the true "unicorns" in the SaaS technology space. Mr. Judd will be joining rMark Bio's Advisory Board to help advise on enterprise sales and delivery pipeline. "I am excited and humbled to welcome these industry leaders to rMark Bio and augment our already strong leadership team," said Jason M. Smith, CEO of rMark Bio. "We have a powerful AI platform designed for the life science industry that is poised to easily scale and solve the many unique business and data challenges across the industry. This new Advisory Board will help ensure we deliver to our full potential in this important next stage of our evolution." About rMark Bio rMark Bio, Inc. was created to transform the life sciences industries by making artificial intelligence simple to adopt, easy to use and continuously transformative through a holistic approach incorporating strategy, technology and people power. Founded in 2015 by Jason M. Smith, CEO, and Lev Becker, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, rMark Bio is based in Chicago and Seattle. rMark Bio provides services to the top 20 pharmaceutical companies globally and has partnered with industry-leading technology and healthcare organizations, including West Monroe Partners, Microsoft, nVidia, Apigee/Google, and MATTER. Learn more about rMark Bio at www.rmarkbio.com. SOURCE rMark Bio Inc. Related Links https://www.rmarkbio.com Nations that store possible COVID-19 vaccines while not sharing them with others will deepen the pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The WHOs chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, appealed to countries to join an international agreement on vaccines. The WHO has urged wealthier nations to join its COVAX Global Vaccines Facility for sharing possible vaccines with developing nations. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHOs 194 member states, telling them to sign up for the program by August 31. Tedros push for COVAX comes as the European Union, Britain, Switzerland and the United States are making deals with companies testing possible vaccines. Russia and China are also working on vaccines. The WHO fears national interests could hurt international efforts to slow the spread of the virus. We need to prevent vaccine nationalism, Tedros said during an online meeting. He added that sharing limited vaccine supplies is in each countrys national interest. The European Commission (EC) has urged European Union member countries to avoid the WHO-led call for joining COVAX. The EC is worried about its cost and speed. More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide and 772,647 have died. Those numbers come from Reuters news agency. To date, 92 poorer countries hoping for voluntary donations have expressed an interest in COVAX. Eighty wealthier nations have also shown an interest. The numbers have not changed much from a month ago. The WHO hopes to get wealthier countries to join and finance the agreement. Some countries will not join until the agreements terms are set, noted Bruce Aylward. He leads the WHOs ACT Accelerator initiative. The program was set up to speed supplies of COVID-19 diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines to those needed. We are not twisting arms for people to join, he said. Increasing odds There are more than 150 vaccines in development, over 20 in human studies and several in late-stage drug trials. The WHO said that even countries making one-on-one deals with other countries increase their chances of getting the vaccine by joining COVAX. Which one will be the candidate that will be successful, we dont know yet, said WHOs Mariangela Simao. She added that any country that joins COVAX is actually betting on a larger number of vaccine candidates. COVAX now covers nine vaccine candidates. The WHO said Tuesday that it remains worried that infections among younger people are rising worldwide. It said many younger men and women do not know they are carrying the coronavirus. They could endanger the sick and older adults, the health agency said. The epidemic is changing, said WHOs Western Pacific regional director, Takeshi Kasai. People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread. Im Susan Shand. The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story pandemic - n. a contagious illness that crosses national boundaries global - adj. worldwide accelerator - n. an item or system that speeds things up diagnostic - adj. a way of examining an illness to figure out what it is twist - v. to pull out of shape late-stage - adj. at the end of its process epidemic - n. a contagious illness that is not controlled PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently completed economic impact study of Hilco Redevelopment Partners ' (HRP) proposed redevelopment of the closed former Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in South Philadelphia is projecting significant job creation and a positive economic impact to the city and region. HRP, the real estate development unit of Hilco Global , remediates and redevelops complex and obsolete industrial properties in cities nationwide. The study, performed by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions Inc. (ESI), found that anticipated proposed operations of the redevelopment will support an estimated 19,000 full-time permanent jobs and deliver an annual economic impact of approximately $3 billion to the region at full build out. These jobs include direct, indirect, and induced jobs and are in addition to the over 13,000 jobs generated during the decommissioning, remediation, demolition, design, and construction phases of the project. The proposed redevelopment is estimated to take about a decade and will result in an environmentally conscious state-of-the-art multi-modal park with approximately 13 million to 15 million square feet of modern facilities. "The proposed permanent and project job projections, as well as the positive economic impacts, is very good news for the City of Philadelphia as well as the region as a whole during a challenging time," says Jeremy Grey, HRP Executive Vice President. "The scale of the project, its infrastructure, and strategic location are the key drivers for the number of new jobs that the proposed development will create once placed back into commerce." If ranked as a single employer, the projections would establish the location as one of the largest non-healthcare employers in the city limits. Fortunately, as the study points out, the site will attract dozens of employers, making for a more resilient local economy and ending the boom-and-bust cycle the former refinery had long operated under. The refinery had employed over 1,000 workers before it was shuttered in 2019. "The long-term jobs will include e-commerce, warehouse and distribution positions, as well as light manufacturing, commercial, rail and marine operations at the site, in addition to jobs in other sectors such as health care, real estate, and retail," says Gina Lavery, Senior Vice President and Principal of ESI. The redevelopment costs of the new multi-modal logistics park will support over 13,000 project jobs and deliver $2.3 billion of economic impact for the city over a period of about a decade. "Remediation of the site is a difficult, complex and expensive proposition that would never happen if HRP had not won the auction and invested $225.5 million to purchase the facility," says Roberto Perez, Chief Executive Officer at HRP. "The scale of the clean-up alone is daunting, with some 950 miles of existing pipes that will be abated and/or demolished enough to stretch from Philadelphia to Florida, approximately 850,000 barrels of tank product that will be safely removed from the site, and about 30,000 tons of asbestos that will be abated and removed." The majority of the existing facility will be recycled or reused as part of the development process after abatement and remediation which will divert thousands of tons of materials from landfills and reduce the need to truck demolished materials. To perform this work, HRP and its partners will rely heavily on its local union partners during the project phases of decommissioning, remediation, demolition, site work, and vertical construction. To help tenants tap Philadelphia's rich pool of talent and a strong labor force, HRP will focus on local minority, WBE, and DSBE hiring with targeted recruitment and virtual job fairs. The company has already partnered with the City of Philadelphia to recruit and inform the community of upcoming employment opportunities. HRP will be working with the appropriate entities to expand the public transportation network to serve the site and keep jobs in the community. "These are accessible jobs inside the urban core that will be made available to workers in nearby neighborhoods and will offer the training needed for workers to quickly gain competencies and build careers," says Jasmine Sessoms, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, who grew up in the Grays Ferry neighborhood where the refinery once operated. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring real economic gain and thousands of jobs to the people who live where I grew up. Nothing could be more important to creating a more just and equitable economy and environment in the place I call home." About Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP): HRP ( www.hilcoredev.com ) provides a single integrated solution to maximize the value of industrial sites by leveraging the unique capabilities of Hilco Global to efficiently redevelop complex assets by considering and addressing the needs of all stakeholders. As an industry leader in redeveloping large industrial projects, HRP is a trusted partner and principal investor that creates exceptional value by developing and managing state-of-the-art warehouses, fulfillment centers, and industrial facilities located near major transportation hubs, ports, and strategic infrastructure assets to create supply chain efficiencies for end users. HRP's facilities are developed to meet our customers' needs by locating in markets with strong labor pools near major population centers. About Hilco Global: Hilco Global ( www.hilcoglobal.com ) is a privately held diversified financial services company and the world's preeminent authority on maximizing the value of assets for both healthy and distressed companies. Hilco Global operates as a holding company comprised of over 20 specialized business units that work to help companies understand the value of their assets and then monetize that value. Hilco Global has a 30-year track record of acting as an advisor, agent and/or investor in any transaction. Hilco Global works to deliver the best possible result by aligning interests with clients and providing them strategic insight, advice, and, in many instances, the capital required to complete the deal. Hilco Global is based in Northbrook, Illinois and has 625 professionals operating on five continents. SOURCE Hilco Redevelopment Partners Related Links https://www.hilcoredev.com (ANSAmed) - ROME, 19 AGO - An Italian court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by disco operatprs against the government's recent ordinance closing dance clubs after a COVID spike amid young people. The Lazio regional administrative court (TAR) rejected the appeal from sector group SILB. It said public health concerns trumped the operators' economic interests. "The position of the appealing party is secondary with respect to the public interest in safeguarding health within the context of the grave ongoing epidemic," the TAR president wrote in his ruling. A hearing to weigh whether to admit an appeal was set for September 9. SILB said the ruling would encourage unauthorised dance gatherings in villas and parks. "We will be closed until September 7 and now illegality will proliferate, the rejection of the reopening is an incentive to parties in villas," SILB FILP President Maurizio Pasca told ANSA. SILB had suggested they might withdraw the appeal if the government's planned aid to the sector turns out to be "serious". However, SILB also said they were ready for a class action law suit after the TAR verdict, saying "we want damages". The government on Sunday closed discotheques across Italy after a COVID spike and made the wearing of facemasks compulsory for 'movida' youth street partying gatherings. Masks will have to be worn inside and outside bars and at gatherings in streets and piazzas from six o'clock in the evening until six in the morning. "Young people must help us, otherwise the reopening of schools next month is at risk," said Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who signed the new ordinance. Sector operators will receive government aid. Dance operators have already asked for CIG lay-off fund access and VAT cut to 4%. They said some four billion euros in turnover was at risk. The number of people in Italy infected with the coronavirus rose by 403 in the last 24 hours, a rise of 83 on Monday's gain, the health ministry said Tuesday. But the number of swabs also rose, to some 54,000 from Monday's 30,00, the ministry said. There were five new victims Tuesday, compared to four each on Monday and Sunday. The overall tally of cases has now risen to 254,636. The death toll now stands at 35,405. Italy has been the second hardest hit country in Europe after the UK but is generally regarded as having coped well with the emergency after an initial crisis. Italy has shown its "moral and civic energies" during the coronavirus pandemic, President Sergio Mattarella has said. (ANSAmed). Most young people envision or desire to become medical doctors when they grow up. Interestingly, this is a dream for most people as very few become actual doctors. The competition for the prestigious profession is quite high as it calls for only top-performing students in the country. The question of how to become a doctor in Ghana is often asked by students who wish to pursue the course. Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC Becoming a medical doctor in Ghana comes with high expectations. This is because there are few options available compared to the relatively high competition. However, the situation is slowly changing as more medical schools have been started to curb the problem. One is expected to spend about six to six and a half years while pursuing medicine in Ghana. What are the medical college entry requirements? If you choose to pursue medicine, acquiring excellent grades is the only option for you. Here are requirements to fulfill which include academic requirements. The core subjects that you will be required to perform well include Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and English. As a WASSCE student, you need to score an A in all eight subjects. You will also be subjected to an entrance exam after attending a two-week access course and an interview. For private medical schools, you are required to have a minimum of a pass (aggregate C6) in three core and three elective programs. Once you complete the course duration for about six years, you will be awarded a Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). If you are wondering about how you can become a gynaecologist after attaining your Bachelors, this is possible as you will undergo more years while specializing in the field. It is vital that physicians train in a comprehensive OB/GYN department and have well-trained faculty teachers and researchers. How to complete a residency? Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC Once you are done with medical school, you will require to enroll and complete residency training. This comes after you have passed the Ghana College of Physicians & Surgeons Primary Examination or West Africa College of Physicians (Surgeons). Before making your application, you need to meet the following requirements: Successfully completed your MBBS degree in the medical university. Be fully registered and completed a period of houseman-ship training and one-year rotation as required by the Ministry of Health, Ghana. There are several significant specialities in the residency program, which include Internal Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics. This means that you will be rotated through these different specialities. One is also subjected to a selection interview at each faculty. How to obtain a license to practice medicine? One must obtain a license before practising medicine. As a candidate, you need to meet the following requirements: Earn a degree from an accredited medical school either in Ghana or abroad. Complete a residency program and register with the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana. For foreign doctors, you are required to undertake an exam to be granted the license to practice medicine in Ghana. Can a nurse become a doctor? Image: pixabay.com Source: UGC Yes, a registered nurse can become a doctor, but only after pursuing additional schooling, training and exams. You must have an undergraduate bachelors degree. If the degree is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), then most of the coursework will be ample and sufficient for medical school. You will also be required to take a medical college admission test or MCAT. The test must be taken within three years of applying to medical school. How much do doctors earn in Ghana? It is not entirely clear on the exact figure which Ghanaian doctors take home for their services. However, it was once reported that senior medical officers could be taking home a gross monthly salary of GH 1900.00 which after-tax deductions, comes to GH 1600.00. How much does it cost to study medicine in Ghana? Medical education is not cheap. The annual tuition fee for the course is relatively lower than those for international student. The University of Ghana appears to offer a lower rate, though it is also the most competitive institution to enter in the country. University of Ghana medical school fees about GHS 7,000 University of Cape Coast medical school fees about GHS 14,000 per annum. Accra College of Medicine school fees $12,500 annually for Ghanaian students. Family health charges school fees $10,000 annually for Ghanaian students. Remember to consult the official school administration for the most updated schedule of fees. READ ALSO: I cannot be a doctor because of my looks - AY Poyoo How many medical schools are in Ghana? If you are wondering how many medical schools are in the country, here are some of the top medical schools in Ghana. The University of Ghana Medical School - Accra Family Health Medical School The Medical School at the University of Cape Coast Accra College of Medicine Accra University of Allied Health Sciences Volta region The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, University of Development Studies Tamale C4C Homeopathic Medical College Community Health Nurses Training College The Accra School of Hygiene If you are aspiring of becoming a medical practitioner one day, the above guide on how to become a doctor in Ghana will come in handy for you. Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh also reported on a doctor on Twitter who posted a photo of himself and his colleague who used to be his science teacher. Interestingly, followers on Twitter are having a hard time deciding who is the student and who is the teacher as the men seem so similar in age. Some followers said the photo shows that "Black doesn't crack". READ ALSO: How to become a lawyer in Ghana Source: YEN.com.gh What if we reimagined how to support educators amidst the extraordinary stress and turbulence they face in their roles and prioritized teacher well-being to inspire and support well-doing for students? DALLAS , TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2020 / Lao Tzu once said, "to care for the teacher is to love the learner." For too long, there has been a silent epidemic plaguing our communities and schools-the alarming rate of teacher drop-out. The Commit Partnership publishes what these rates look like and DFW loses an average of 6,500-7,000 teachers each year. When asked why they left, teachers push the following reasons to the top of the list: toxic work environments, lack of respect and support, stress, and burn out. In 2018, Uplift Education leadership shined a spotlight on one of its schools where teachers and leaders were suffering to stay afloat and meet the needs of their students and families-and each other. Uplift Meridian, a primary school located in Stop 6, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Fort Worth, where only about 2% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher, and where the crime rate is 42% higher than the national average, was struggling to catch its breath as it pursued success for its students. Teachers, leaders, and staff worked hard to provide a quality IB education amidst high levels of trauma and adversity that often proved hard or impossible to surmount. Teachers at Uplift Meridian tried harder and harder to help students feel safe and secure but neglected to pay attention to the toll that this work took on their own minds, hearts, and bodies. Rather than sacrificing teachers' wellbeing in exchange for student support, Uplift Education offered another choice: what if we reimagined how to support educators amidst the extraordinary stress and turbulence they face in their roles? What if we prioritized teacher well-being to inspire and support well-doing for students? Thus was born a comprehensive approach to caring for people as Lao Tzu suggested. With generous support from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, Uplift and the Meridian staff embarked on a different kind of professional development journey that its facilitator and Uplift's Chief Well-Being and SEL Officer Dr. John Gasko calls "not PD but HD, human development." In collaboration with Dr. Gasko, educators from Uplift Meridian engaged in intensive HD that focused on vulnerability as a foundation-namely teacher voice and experience as something to be listened to and responded to-and achieving transformation by creating shifts in three areas of one's life: (1) change one's physiology; (2) change one's focus; and (3) change the stories one tells oneself and others. Together, educators at Meridian did calisthenics, yoga, tai chi, and body-based meditations developed by medical professionals at the UMass Medical School. Gasko taught the tools of meditation-secular approaches anchored in neuroscience and positive psychology-that created more hopeful and optimistic narratives to remind educators of their fundamental worth and that they are superheroes in disguise. By interrupting negative narratives, educators at Uplift Meridian learned how to shift the language they used on the inside and the outside to radiate joy and positivity. The work was hard and naturally there was some resistance to the type of work Dr. Gasko introduced. It wasn't uncommon for teachers to feel silly or question this use of their time when there were other tasks to be done. But over time, hopeful signs emerged. Some educators begin to experience what it "feels" like to not have to do one's work while mitigating a migraine. One teacher said: "Wow! All I did was move my body a bit and regulate my breathing and the pain that I constantly feel in my jaw and the headache that persists disappeared. I like that feeling." This teacher impact statement shows what a profound impact this had on Uplift Meridian: "I also think [Dr. Gasko's] sessions shifted the atmosphere of our school from being overwhelmed, overworked, and distant to empowered, intentional, and one team. I've gotten to know people in the school that I would have never interacted with on a personal level. I can't wait to see what's next!" The data suggests that the HD work Fort Worth teachers engaged in also led to the reversal of alarming teacher and leader dropout rates at Uplift Meridian. Instead of the school leader turnover the campus sees every year, this one stayed. The teacher dropout rate fell from 40-50% to just 5%, and there were academic gains for students, too. Schools can help students and families win without losing sight of the importance of the health and well-being of its greatest resource. Teachers are the heartbeat of America and our communities. Let us throw them lifelines so they can truly show up, be present, and be more supportive to each other and to the kids they serve. Remember, to care for the teacher is to love the learner. Uplift Education Uplift Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the lives of teachers, families, and, most importantly, students. With a network of 43 college preparatory, public charter schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Uplift offers students of any background the powerful chance to study within a multidisciplinary curriculum and prepare for the college career they deserve. Uplift is the largest International Baccalaureate district in Texas and the #2 IB district in the nation because of the number of holistic extracurricular and educational programs. The incredible educators in the Uplift network guide and teach nearly 20,000 students in Pre-K- 12th?grades, with the majority being low-income and minority students who will be the first in their family to attend college. For more information Uplift's mission and their blind lottery selection system, visit?uplifteducation.org?or?facebook.com/uplifteducation. CONTACT INFORMATION: Deekay Fox Senior Marketing and Communications Director dfox@uplifteducation.org 661-378-2353 SOURCE: Uplift Education View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602310/Uplift-Education-Focuses-on-Teacher-Well-Being-as-a-Means-to-Inspire-and-Support-Well-Doing-for-Students Paul Cezanne famously wrote: Dont be an art critic, but paint, there lies salvation. The French artist, who had repeated bouts of depression, gave expression to the feeling in a number of canvases such as the Pyramid of skulls and The Murder. Vincent van Goghs Barred Window and Starry Night, which he painted from his room in an asylum, are representations of his psychotic perceptions. A particular shade of yellow was said to have provided spiritual succour to the Dutch Master. What Cezanne and Van Gogh did is recognised by scientists today as Art Therapy. The process of painting isnt the only vehicle for such therapy. Take the altarpiece sculpted and painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in France for instance. The monks there specialised in hospital work, focussing on those suffering from plague and skin diseases. Christ on the cross in the altarpiece is depicted with boils and sores on his body, and the painting is believed to have brought solace to the similarly-affected patients who gazed at it. As the pandemic forces people all around the world to stay indoors, therapists are promoting art therapy as a means to relieve pent-up anger, stress and other emotions. How can art help? Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses the creative arts to help release emotion, connect with your surroundings, and find a voice, says renowned psychologist Dr Nisha Khanna. In art therapy, a persons unconscious and subconscious mind plays an important role. People are encouraged to draw their imagination, their perception, their experience. And its true that when your feelings are involved, or when you listen to your emotions, then a simple painting or artwork becomes a masterpiece and other people who have experienced similar thoughts find a connection and deep meaning in them. By focusing on ideas and experiences which are separate from the pandemic experience, we are able to divert our focus onto things of beauty which can instil hope. Being hopeful may make it easier to cope with new norms in a post-pandemic world. The sensory response to art is said to allow newer ways of seeing, looking and perceiving. This in turn may support the creation of new neural pathways, says Anupa Mehta, a Narrative Therapist, art critic and curator.Art has an imperceptible, intangible value which can be harnessed to shift experience, says Anupa. Empathy and healing Ask any artist and they will tell you that art in any form is therapeutic. There are paintings and frescos in cathedrals, sculptures and images of gods and goddesses in temples, and murals in monasteries. Just looking at them elevates ones spirits. Roadside shrines and Sufi darghas too offer peace and reassurance in difficult times. Beliefs and faith are what sustain the human spirit during times of crises such as Covid-19. In the olden days every village practiced art therapy, with people decorating the walls and floors of their homes with images to overcome grief and pain, says G. Ravinder Reddy, a well-known artist. Till the mid-19th century, psychopathology hadnt evolved as a medical science, says artist Ramakanth Thumrugoti. Before that, art therapy was essentially faith and belief-driven. Religious beliefs helped patients. The unusual, distorted representation of Christ on the Isenheim Altarpiece would have touched a chord with patients suffering from similar health issues, generating empathy and producing strong psychosomatic results. In the modern medical world of psychiatry too, healing methods involve art. Psychiatrists encourage patients to express their frustration, anger or any other inexplicable mental trauma through painting or music, he says. The approach is also used to treat patients with cognitive disorders, dementia, depression or any other kind of progressive neurological conditions. Institutions like Harvard claim that through art we can not only improve memory and reasoning but also prevent the onset of severe neurological conditions like cognitive disorders, Thumrugoti adds. Constructive channelisation of energy Indians have been quite innovative during quarantine, from doing yoga and meditation together, to singing bhajans, dancing the garba and playing cricket. These activities, especially when done together, not only distract people from their illnesses but also foster a spirit of unity. Using art to express oneself helps calm restlessness and use energy in a focused constructive manner, sums up Dr Anjali Chhabria, a leading psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Seven men and two women have been arrested and are being held in Belfast as part of a major cross-border operation investigating the New IRA's activities. Nine people, aged between 26 and 50, are being questioned at Musgrave Street Police Station in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It comes after gardai in the Republic of Ireland carried out six searches in Dublin, Laois, Cork and Kerry. Seven men and two women are being questioned at Musgrave Street police station in Belfast after searches were carried out in the Republic of Ireland following an investigation into the New IRA The raids were part of a cross border operation dubbed Operation Arbacia. Assistant Chief Constable at Police Service Northern Ireland, Barbara Gray said: 'I can confirm that nine people were arrested on Tuesday under the Terrorism Act in connection with an ongoing investigation into the activities of the New IRA. All nine remain in custody. 'The seven men and two women, aged between 26 and 50 years, were arrested as part of Operation Arbacia. 'They are currently in Musgrave Serious Crime Suite, where they continue to be questioned on suspicion of a wide range of terrorist activity.' The New IRA has been behind a number of attempted attacks on police and is considered to be the largest dissident republican group. The group claimed responsibility for the death of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead while observing riots in Londonderry last year. Kanye West recently shared that he received a "vision" for a new version of the video streaming TikTok application that you can watch on and not be distrubed called "JesusTok" that is primarily marketed for Christians. This collaboration with TikTok would be an app safe for young children because of some disturbing content found on the app by West. Also known as his alter ego, "Yeezus," Kanye West engaged in a variety of tweets that explain his experience in the video streaming application, TikTok. The rapper saw that some content was disturbing for him and is primarily concerned with his daughter, who is a frequent user of the application. A VISION JUST CAME TO ME... JESUS TOK I WAS WATCHING TIK TOK WITH MY DAUGHTER AND AS A CHRISTIAN FATHER I WAS DISTURBED BY A LOT OF THE CONTENT BUT I COMPLETELY LOVED THE TECHNOLOGY ye (@kanyewest) August 17, 2020 West also clarified that he "loves" the technology or the streaming platform despite his concerns as a Christian Father. Kanye West is known to be vocal about his faith as a Christian, which he strongly advocates. "Ye" also said that this application is intended for his children and the world's safety from the disturbing and possibly harmful effects of modern technology. Kanye's daughter, North, who is seven years old, is a user of the social media and video streaming platform, TikTok. The internet is a broad spectrum where everything can be found, ranging from various contents. ALSO READ: Lebron James Unveils Tune Squad's New Uniforms for Space Jam: A New Legacy Kanye's Christianity In Kanye West's recent tweet, he invoked the name of Jesus Christ and even affirmed to preaching His holy name by including "Amen." A Christian monitored application version of TikTok called "JesusTok" would help in the safety of the world and the children according to the 43-year-old rapper. WE PRAY WE CAN COLLABORATE WITH TIK TOK TO MAKE A CHRISTIAN MONITORED VERSION THAT FEELS SAFE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND THE WORLD IN JESUS NAME AMEN ye (@kanyewest) August 17, 2020 West is watching videos with his daughter, North, when he found disturbing content that raised his concern for the safety of children. Kanye: Jesus Saved My Life Faith Pot retells Kanye West's testimony that shows his past experiences as a mainstream rapper when he was possessed or taken by the 'Devil,' explaining his past behavior, up to the time that he redeemed himself. "I believe Jesus died for my sins. There was a time when the devil had me," West said on the "Strength to Stand" conference in Pigeon Forge, Tenessee, back in 2019. West attested to this in front of a large crowd composed of 12,400 student attendees. "Do you know the good news? Jesus can save a wretch like me," he added. Kanye's Transformation from God to servant Christian Today also mentioned that Kanye West previously portrays a "Christ Complex" that makes him think that he is a God or someone like Jesus Christ in the modern era. His monicker like "Yeezus" and albums that portrayed the gospel but mentioned curses and phrases that go against a Christian's moral behavior. Kanye West has moved past his "Christ complex" phase and continues to advocate for Christianity as a servant of Jesus Christ. West actively uses the phrases found in the Bible and Gospels that he proliferates on talks and worships and his social media, Twitter, that has a massive 30.7 million follower base. Praise God We would like to thank our staff for making sure all Covid safety guidelines were followed today during Sunday Service at our West Mountains family ranch in Wyoming We are beyond blessed to be able to share the love of Christ through worship #SUNDAYSERVICEISBACK pic.twitter.com/ou8hQVeNU3 ye (@kanyewest) August 17, 2020 The collaboration with TikTok to create "JesusTok" is not yet answered by China's ByteDance, whether it will push through or not. ByteDance's TikTok is currently facing a crisis operating in the US following President Donald Trump's ban on the application. Kanye West is also running for presidency in the upcoming 2020 November Elections. ALSO READ: B2B Firm Reportedly with 'Aggressive Sales Tactics' Joins Microsoft and Twitter in TikTok Bidding War This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Sonu also spoke about how hes being flooded with movie offers, and all of them are positive heroic characters. He added, They are different, larger-than-life, positive roles that I have always wanted to play. It's heartening that the best of producers, directors and writers want to work with me today. But Ive been so busy that I haven't been able to read too many of these scripts because my mind is still preoccupied with this work. I have asked the makers for some more time to get back." Heres looking at the real-life hero ready to transcend his heroics on the big screen. GREENWOOD When the Emerald Ash Borer was discovered in Greenwood in 2016, the villages Parks and Recreation Committee decided to be proactive, taking down about 10 ash trees in the village park before the insect caused so much damage that they would become a safety hazard. Were trying to replace those and get ahead of it, said Parks and Recreation Committee Co-Chair Matt Holsten. The committee has been slowly replacing the trees as funds warrant. This summer, the village received a grant from Black Hills Energy to plant two trees at the park. Holsten said they planted a maple tree at the east end of the park and an oak tree in front of the Greenwood Depot Museum in mid-July. The maple tree is about 12 feet high and has a trunk that has a nearly 4-inch diameter, Holsten said. The oak tree is smaller, with a two-inch diameter trunk. To the public, this tree may look sickly, but Holsten said it is still in shock after being planted by professionals. The trees came from Lanoha Nurseries in Omaha, which also planted them. The $1,400 project was funded by Black Hills Energy. The company regularly donates to communities in its service area to buy and plant trees, Holsten said. Being a morning person could be linked to the development of Alzheimers. Scientists have discovered that a higher risk of the disease was significantly associated with going to bed and waking up early. The team from Imperial College London studied over half a million individuals and analysed their genetic information as well as sleeping patterns. They found that those with twice the genetic risk for Alzheimers were 1 per cent more likely to call themselves morning people. They also seemed to sleep less. Results of the study, published in the journal Neurology, do not mean that being a morning person causes dementia. Scientists have discovered that a higher risk of the disease was significantly associated with going to bed and waking up early (file image) Scientists are keen to stress that sleep patterns do not cause the disease, but could instead be an early sign of it. They say it could be because genes that predispose people to get dementia may also affect sleep. We found that those who genetically are at risk of Alzheimers disease are more likely to be morning people, said Dr Abbas Dehghan, one of the authors of the study. But we did not find any effect of sleep traits on the risk of Alzheimers. We had seen that people experience sleep disorders prior to the occurrence of the disease, but were unsure if they were causing it or were early warning signs. This study provides evidence against the first scenario. Further studies need to be done to evaluate the second scenario. Most people in the research were European, so the scientists warn the results may not apply to people of different ethnicity. It was revealed earlier this month that a drug said to stop the progression of Alzheimers is to be fast-tracked to be made available as soon as possible (file image) Dr Sara Imarisio, research chief at Alzheimers Research UK, said: This research shows a small link between different sleep patterns and the risk of developing Alzheimers disease, but did not find any evidence for sleep disturbance causing the disease. 'Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing and more evidence on the complex topic of sleep is needed before we can make a judgment on its impact on dementia risk. It was revealed earlier this month that a drug said to stop the progression of Alzheimers is to be fast-tracked to be made available as soon as possible. Likely to be morning people The treatment could even be prescribed to patients within six months, providing hope to millions of sufferers worldwide. Patients given Aducanumab showed an improvement in language skills and capacity to keep track of time. Those using the drug also saw a slower loss of memory. The medicines currently available to treat Alzheimers only hide the symptoms of the disease and cannot slow its development. But Aducanumab helps untangle clusters of plaque in the brain, suggesting it could stop the progression of the disease. Around 500,000 Britons suffer from Alzheimers, which slowly destroys memory, thinking skills and the ability to carry out the simplest of tasks. Touchstar Cinemas Madison Square 12 is pulling the curtain back on a new drive-in theater. The one-screen drive-in will debut Aug. 20 with an 8:15 p.m. showing of Unhinged, a new thriller starring Russell Crowe. The 40-foot screen is built into the parking lot on the left side of Touchstars building, address 5905 University Drive N.W. in Huntsville. Along with Touchstars pre-existing 12 indoor auditoriums, this will give the theater 13 total screens on which to show movies. Touchstar Madison Square has been working on their drive-in for about 30 days. The theaters owner, Karishma Dattani, decided to open their drive-in with Unhinged because its the first major Hollywood release to theaters since coronavirus changed nearly every facet of public life mid-March. "Everyone has been eagerly awaiting new releases," Dattani says, "and now that there is one, guests can enjoy it on the big screen in the safety of their own vehicle. The ongoing pandemic has definitely brought about challenges to all industries. Drive-ins have started coming back in popularity over the last few months and we thought it would be terrific to offer it in Huntsville too." Touchstar Madison Square's drive-in will operate nightly. Right now, they're planning on doing one show a night, at 8:15 p.m. "Some nights we might offer two shows," Dattani says. Tickets are $8 per person, and available for purchase online or at the parking lot entrance. The drive-in will be able to accommodate up to 98 cars. Touchstar will open up parking for their outdoor movies 30 minutes prior to showtime, and spaces are first-come-first-serve. For Huntsville residents who like to watch big new films on big screens, the drive-in couldnt arrive at a better time, given coronavirus concerns and complications. Upcoming new releases Touchstar plans to show at their drive-in include two of the years most anticipated titles: Director Christopher Nolan time-traveling spy saga Tenet and superhero sequel Wonder Woman 1984. Touchstar Cinemas Madison Square 12 has added a new permanent drive-in screen to the theater. (Courtesy photo) Guests will access sound for Touchstar Madison Squares drive-in movies via a specified FM radio channel. Guests will be able to call in concessions orders and have them delivered to their cars. Dattani says the drive-in screen is a permanent addition to Touchstar Madison Square. As long as weather permits, we will continue to operate shows nightly, she says. This appears to give Touchstar the only permanent drive-in setup in Huntsville showing new releases. The Whitesburg Drive In Theatre was a fixture for local moviegoers from 1949 to 1980. Current drive-ins in Alabama include Athens Cinemagic, Boazs Sand Mountain Twin and Centres 411 Drive-In Theater and Grill and Guins Blue Moon. Touchstar previously partnered with RCP Companies for a pop-up drive-in showing previously released movies. The new drive-in isnt the first adaptation Touchstar Madison Square has made during the pandemic. Since June, the theater has offered private rentals of four of its 12 indoor auditoriums. Guests wary of how seriously others at a public movie showing might be taking coronavirus safety can watch a film with a group of family or friends. Most of the rentals have been for groups of 15 to 20. Touchstars private rentals start at $100 for showings of classics like 1984 comedy Ghostbusters and $125 for new releases such as indie horror flick The Rental. The private screenings have been a tremendous success, Dattani says. We are selling out of all available shows daily. Upcoming Marvel Comics based film The New Mutants will be available both as a private rental and drive-in showings. In addition to Touchstar Madison Square, Dattanis family owns three other theaters, all of them in Florida. She welcomes the news that much bigger national chains, including AMC and Cinemark, are reopening after being shutdown due to the pandemic. This is great news for our industry, she says. MORE ON CULTURE 9 beers perfect for the pool, lake and beach Muscle Shoals musics unsung guitar genius Larger than life Little Richard mural set for Huntsville X-Men legend talks Wolverine, superhero movies, more 25 recent songs by Alabama musicians to know A 25-year-old student who allegedly had anal sex with his co-tenant's son who is 11-Year-Old, at Teshie has been put before an Accra Circuit Court charged with defilement. Samuel Offei Kwaku Gyan in the company of his lawyer denied the offence. Gyan has been admitted to bail in the sum of GHC60,000 with three sureties one of whom must be a public servant earning not less than GHC2,000. The court presided over by Christina Cann ordered Gyan to stay 100-meters away from the 11 year old victim. Prosecution was also ordered to file its witness statements and all documents they intend to rely on the accused for the trial. The matter has been adjourned to September 16 for Case Management Conference (CMC) Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agnes Boafo said the complainant is Sierra Leonean and mother of the victim and they both reside at Teshie. DSP Boafo said Gyan is a cotenant to the complainant and on August 8, this year, while the complainant was at work, the victim went to the accused room to play television game and fell asleep in a couch in the room. Prosecution said Gyan took advantage of that and had sexual intercourse with the victim through his anus and warned him not to tell anyone. She said on August 9, this year the victim visited the accused again and he repeated the act. She said the victim not happy with the situation informed her mother and the mother reported the matter to the Domestic Violence and Victim's Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service at Nungua. The Prosecution said the complainant was given a Police medical report form to seek treatment at the hospital and report back. Prosecution said Gyan was later arrested by the Police. GNA Hey, everybody, its me, Kamala. Tonight we are going to hear from so many phenomenal women who are working to help us build that more perfect union. Tonight Im thinking of the girls and boys who see themselves in Americas future because of Kamala Harris a black woman, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and our nominee for vice president. This is our countrys story: breaking down barriers and expanding the circle of possibility. Im in love with my future, and you dont know ... Donald Trumps ignorance and incompetence have always been a danger to our country. Covid-19 was Trumps biggest test. He failed miserably. Today America has the most Covid deaths in the world and an economic collapse. My mom worked hard and paid taxes, and the Obama administration told her she could stay. My dad thought you would protect military families. So he voted for you in 2016, Mr. President. He says he wont vote for you again after what you did to our family. The wife of a U.S. Marine veteran was deported to Mexico. Instead of protecting us, you tore our world apart. My mom is a good person, and shes not a criminal. Donald Trump hasnt grown into the job, because he cant. And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone, while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. But more than anything, what I know about Joe, what I know about Kamala, is that they actually care about every American, and that they care deeply about this democracy. They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballots, not harder. They understand that in this democracy, the commander in chief does not use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil. This president and those in power, those who benefit from keeping things the way they are, they are counting on your cynicism. They know they cant win you over with their policies. So theyre hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote does not matter. With only one nomination received and pursuant to our rules, I hereby declare that Kamala Harris is elected as the Democratic candidate for vice president. She is the first black woman, first South Asian woman to be named on the Democratic ticket. This is a historic pick. Someone who looks like us on a presidential ticket, thats crazy. That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me: women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty and justice for all. This week marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. And we celebrate the women who fought for that right. Yet so many of the Black women who helped secure that victory were still prohibited from voting long after its ratification. But they were undeterred. Without fanfare or recognition, they organized and testified and rallied and marched and fought, not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table. My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight, but I know shes looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian woman, all of five feet tall, who gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, Calif. On that day she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now and speaking these words: I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America. Make no mistake: The road ahead is not easy. We may stumble. We may fall short. But I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly. We will speak truths, and we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place in us. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. [music and applause] - Kimani Ichung'wah's remarks came a few days after arrest of three senators, Cleophas Malala (Kakamega), Steve Lelegwe (Samburu) and Christopher Lang'at (Bomet) - Ruto and Raila had also, in a rare show of solidarity, called out the state following the dramatic arrest of three senators before the debate on the revenue sharing formula on Monday - Netizens expressed mixed reactions to the MP's remarks saying Matiang'i and Kibicho were acting on Uhuru's orders and as such he could not sack them Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah has challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to sack Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i and his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho claiming the duo portray him as a dictator. The Tanga Tanga allied lawmaker argued Kenya could not return back to the days where people were arrested without valid reasons. READ ALSO: CJ David Maraga free to suspend errant judges after petition to limit his powers flops Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah has condemned increasing cases of police brutality in Kenya. Photo: Kimani Ichung'wah. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Nairobi woman says she conceived 1st time she slept with makanga boyfriend While replying to Deputy President William Ruto's tweet that the police were abusing their power to threaten and intimidate leaders, Ichung'wah said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti should also be sent home. "Couldnt agree more, very wrong. But William Ruto if I were to advice your boss Uhuru Kenyatta, I would fire a few souls like Fred Matiangi, Karanja Kibicho, @DCI_Kenya to carry the burden of making the president look like a dictator. Kenya cannot go back to the dark days. No!," he said. Ichung'wah's remarks came a few days after arrest of three senators Cleophas Malala (Kakamega), Steve Lelegwe (Samburu) and Christopher Lang'at (Bomet) over their alleged stand on the controversial third basis revenue formula. The trio were later released after protests from their supporters. Here were some reactions from Ichung'wah's tweet: Rayal George: "How do you expect Uhuru to fire the trio yet they are acting on his orders? Ckebira: "It is good to feel what the ordinary citizens experience daily." Nyaga: "Do they act on their own? I believe they follow orders from the president. Tell it as it is!" 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. Kenyan lady confesses to infecting men with HIV, begs for forgiveness | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke YEREVAN, AUGUST 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a consultation on the prospects of paving the streets of rural communities, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister. Opening the discussion, the Prime Minister said: Dear colleagues, we are here to discuss our actions aimed at building and rehabilitating inter-community roads. This is especially true for those communities that lack roads. Our task is to modernize the environment in rural communities, in general. And here we are facing the following problem: asphalting may be a solution to the problems faced in some villages, and we have seen in recent days that large-scale works are underway in many communities. But there are quite a few communities where we cannot build, pave or repair a road due to relief, climatic and other peculiarities. We need to discuss what we can do else to have normal streets in rural communities. First, we can resort to tiling, and I have already issued an instruction to that effect. But it turns out that different technologies are being used in the world, and in this respect, we have other options as well. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the reason for holding todays discussion was what he had witnessed during the latest regional trips, namely that this program needs streamlining the functions and application mechanisms. The meeting went on to discuss different models for repairing roads in rural communities. The Premier made a point of developing innovative solutions for effective use of local raw materials, including the stone resources available in Armenia. Different options for building intra-community and inter-community roads were discussed, from design to the implementation stage. Issues related to the use of raw material processing technologies, the procurement of equipment, the programs deadlines and financial aspects, the implementation format and mechanisms, as well as the development of standard guidelines were discussed during the meeting. The possibility of implementing a pilot program in one of Armenias rural communities rich in local raw materials was considered as a means to assess the proposals effectiveness and expediency. The Prime Minister instructed to submit a draft model based on the results of a specific community by the end of next week. WINSTED Since the late 1940s, Winchester has been bound by state statute to pay annual tuition to the Gilbert School, a semi-private high school. Ninety percent of Gilberts operating budget comes from that annual tuition. But over the years, according to Mayor Candy Perez, the annual tuition payment has become a burden, and is not always set before the town begins its own budget approval process, which includes Gilbert School tuition. In March 2019, for example, Gilbert brought forth a budget with a $600,000 increase, and negotiations between the town and the school were stalled for several months. If the statutes were changed, Perez reasoned, the stalling would stop, because the tuition fee would be agreed upon beforehand. The statutes include 10-164-33, requiring tuition in towns where no (public) high school is maintained; and 10-164-34, requiring approval by a state board of an incorporated or endowed high school. Perez this week proposed to the Board of Selectmen that it and the Winchester Public Schools Board of Education ask the state legislature to change the state statute and allow tuition to be negotiated and set before the town and school budgets are approved, thereby eliminating any unexpected increases levied by the Gilbert School Corp., which serves as Gilberts school board. Instead of getting an additional bill out of the blue, we could negotiate tuition before our budget season starts, Perez said, during the selectmens meeting Monday night. That way, theres not this tug and pull, back and forth. In May, Gilbert School Superintendent Anthony Serio said the tuition increased because contract negotiations between the town and the school broke down. According to a story in the Register Citizen, in 2019, Gilbert and Winsted had settled on a one-year extension of the contract, with $6,849,000 to be paid from the district to Gilbert. But Gilbert requested to be named the sole designated high school for Winsted students, which was unanimously rejected by the Board of Education, according to the minutes. Gilbert then billed the district $6,943,193 for the coming school year, according to the minutes for the July 22 meeting of the Winchester Board of Education. The board had budgeted for the cost of tuition under the terms of the most recent agreement between the two sides. To make up the difference, the Winchester Public Schools drew funding from the Additional Town Support for Non-Educational Expenses line item in the town budget, the boards non-lapsing fund. The state statutes governing semi-private schools apply to schools and academies that exist in a town that has no high school of its own. In Winsteds case, the Gilbert School Corp. leases the school building from the Gilbert Trust, and depends on the annual tuition for its students to pay its bills. The Gilbert School also has an international student program, drawing a group of student from China, primarily. During the 2020 budget season, the Gilbert School learned that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, less than half of the usual 30 or more students would not return in 2020-21. Serio on Tuesday acknowledged that while the change would affect any school governed by these statuted, for Winsted its simply directed at Gilbert. They want to have more say in our budgetary process, more control, Serio said. As far as the increases Candy is referring to, they didnt come out of the air, they were part of contract negotiations that fell apart. Eventually we were able to work that out. Its a continuing problem. Its my understanding that they (the selectmen) are joining forces with the Winchester Board of Education to make this happen, Serio said. In May, the Gilbert School also applied for and received a $900,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan, and said it would use it for salaries. At that time, Perez argued that the school should use the funds for tuition, to lessen the burden on Winsted taxpayers. Board of Selectmen member Linda Groppo thought having the statute changed was a good idea. Its 2020, and the statutes are 71 years old, she said. Selectman Jack Bourque agreed on examining the statute. This kind of proposal to the state, to clarify state law, is very important, he said. But its not just for one school. Any request we make here is to make changes for all endowed academies in the state. Its a tough road to face, and I suspect there will be a lot of resistance. We should be able to negotiate this here in town, Bourque said. We continue to look at the Gilbert School as completely independent. Bourque said that because the Gilbert School Corp. has four members who also serve on the Winchester Board of Education, while the other five members represent Gilbert alone. The issue is that the makeup of the board is so difficult, he said. We can go through the state law thing, and I think its a great idea, but I also think we can find ways to work together. If the Gilbert board didnt have 5 against 4 all the time, we wouldnt have these issues. Bourque pointed out that Winsted didnt pay tuition (to Gilbert) until the 1960s, and at that time, Gilbert was more focused on providing lower cost education. Theyd just present a budget and get paid, he said. Lets see if we can encourage the Gilbert School Corp. to manage these issues themselves. Theyre in independent board. They should be able to do that. The selectmen agreed to establish a committee to work with the legislature to change the statute. Its a start, Bourque said But we should also be doing other things, locally. In the second day of its national convention, the Democratic Party officially nominated Joe Biden as its candidate for president in the 2020 election. Overall, the four-day event has been a highly scripted act of political theater, full of trite cliches and empty rhetoric. The most notable element of yesterdays proceedings was the decision to feature remarks from former general Colin Powell and a video highlighting the unlikely friendship between Biden and former Republican presidential candidate and Senator John McCain. A Biden/Harris administration, the Democrats emphasized, would be prepared to wage war. In his remarks, Powell, who served as Secretary of State under the administration of George W. Bush, declared that Biden, as commander-in-chief, will trust our intelligence agencies and stand up to our adversaries with strength and experience. They will know we mean business. Powell will forever be associated with the lies manufactured by the Bush administration to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On February 5, 2003, Powell appeared before the United Nations to claim that the Iraqi government was stockpiling weapons of mass destructiona claim that was false and he knew was false. It was the climax of the Bush administrations campaign to justify an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, a horrific war crime that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed one of the most advanced societies in the Middle East. The war in Iraq is associated with some of the most horrific atrocities, including the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the destruction of Fallujah and the massacre of civilians at Haditha in 2005. American society itself suffered terrible consequences, including the death of nearly 4,500 soldiers and the maiming of tens of thousands more. Powells remarks were preceded by a speech from John Kerry, Secretary of State under Obama, who helped oversee the 2014 regime-change operation in Ukraine, spearheaded by fascistic groups, and the US-backed civil war in Syria. Kerry denounced Trumps foreign policy, particularly focusing on what is seen within the military-intelligence agencies as the administrations insufficiently aggressive attitude to Russia. Our interests, Kerry said, cant afford four more years of Donald Trump. Kerry referred to the strength of Bidens moral compass, citing his support for war in Yugoslavia in the late 1990s, though avoiding reference to his vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq. Kerry was followed with a video segment featuring Republican Chuck Hagel, along with career diplomats under both Republicans and Democrats, including Brett McGurk (the longest-serving civilian adviser overseeing the war in Iraq and Syria, going back to the Bush administration); Marie Yovanovitch (US ambassador to Ukraine under Trump and witness in last years impeachment trial); Jack Weinstein (US Air Force general and high-ranking nuclear weapons officer); and Rose Gottemoeller (former deputy secretary general of NATO until 2019). In the ad, the officials insisted that Biden had made the tough calls (Yovanovitch, referring to the Obama administrations operation in Ukraine) and there was no one more qualified to be sitting at the head of the table in the Situation Room (Hagel). They criticized Trump for having a love fest with dictators (Gottemoeller, referring to Russia) and being a danger to national security (McGurk). After Powell spoke, the Democrats aired the ad on the unlikely friendship with McCain, one of the most ferocious warmongers in the US Senate, who consistently advocated for aggression against Iran, Russia and China, before his death in 2018. Even though they were members of different parties, McCains widow Cindy explained, the two enjoyed backyard dinner parties together. One has the distinct impression that if the Democrats could get George W. Bush or John Bolton to speak at the convention, they would jump at the chance. Perhaps this is still to come. Yesterdays events underscore the character of the Democratic Party campaign and the entire framework of its opposition to Trump. In all of the calls at the convention for unity against Trump, the real appeal is to the military, Wall Street, and sections of the Republican Party to support the Democrats on the basis that Trump has proven to be a poor defender of the interests of the ruling class abroad. As the WSWS has repeatedly stressed, the conflict within the state is a conflict within the ruling class, centered on issues of foreign policy. Over the past nearly four years, the Democrats have worked to suppress all popular opposition to the Trump administration and direct it behind the reactionary campaign for a more aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East and against Russia. At every point, the Democrats ceded all opposition to Trump to the military and the generals, including when Trump staged his coup attempt on June 1, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and branding protests over police violence as terrorist. This is their most important constituency, along with Wall Street and the intelligence agencies. When it came to basic elements of class policythe expansion of military spending, tax cuts for the rich, attacks on immigrantsthe Democrats facilitated and collaborated with Trump every step of the way. In the process, they continually downplayed and covered up the far-reaching danger that the Trump administration posed to the working class. The concerns within the ruling class are expressed in the most recent edition of Foreign Affairs, a leading publication of US geopolitics, which worries that historians will not judge Trumps handling of foreign policy kindly. It writes: After nearly four years of turbulence, the countrys enemies are stronger, its friends are weaker, and the United States is increasingly isolated and prostrate. The Democrats effort to divert opposition to Trump behind the military and intelligence agencies is entirely compatible with the other element that will dominate the campaign and has been the focus of the convention: the politics of racial and gender identity. The historic character of the Democratic Party ticket is premised entirely on the background of Harris, an ex-prosecutor who had the enthusiastic support of Wall Street, who, if she were to become president, could become the first African American woman to be commander-in-chief. In the 2020 elections, the contest between Trump and the Democrats is a contest between two reactionary factions of the ruling class. In its election campaign, the Socialist Equality Party is oriented to the development of the class struggle. The pandemic is already producing an immense growth of social angeramong workers who have been forced to return to work, teachers who are being sent back to schools, tens of millions who are unemployed, thrown into poverty and facing eviction. The coming weeks and months must be dedicated not to the election of Biden and Harris, but to the organization and unification of these struggles into a mass social and political movement against the entire ruling class and the capitalist system. Concerns for South Koreas capital Seoul intensified on Wednesday (August 19) as coronavirus infections increased by triple-digits for the sixth straight day. At least 297 new cases were reported, the highest daily rise since early March. The majority of those are related to the Sarang Jeil Church - which officials worry could lead to broader outbreaks. Some members of the church, which is run by a radical conservative preacher, are reluctant to come forward and get tested, or to self-isolate, officials have said. Here's the country's vice minister of health and welfare, Kim Kang-Lip "...We also see the spread of infections at related churches and workplaces in capital area and other various regions." South Korea has been widely praised for its efforts in tracking outbreaks, with Seouls 25 million inhabitants only suffering localized clusters so far. The government ordered the closure of nightclubs, karaoke bars and buffets earlier this week, as well as banning all in-person church services. Indoor and outdoor gatherings are also restricted to no more than 50 and 100 people respectively. By enrolling in the Affiliates program, travel agents will have the opportunity to earn one of the highest commission rates in the market (TRAVPR.COM) MEXICO - August 18th, 2020 - Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, (August XX, 2020) - As international travel bookings pick up, Original Group, the leading expert in Mexicos adult hospitality industry, is encouraging travel agents to sign up for the Original Affiliates program to maximize their profits when selling Temptation Cancun Resorts & Cruises and Desire Resorts & Cruises. By enrolling in the Affiliates program, travel agents will have the opportunity to earn one of the highest commission rates in the market, which starts at 10 percent for each client booking a reservation. Additionally, Original Affiliates as well as certified Travel Agents are eligible to earn up to $15 per night as an incentive for qualified reservations through their Temptation and Desire Rewards program. The biggest perk of the Original Affiliates program is it allows travel agents, influencers, bloggers, and digital platform owners to publish trackable banners on their website or social media platforms. Each time a person visits the link through the banner and makes a reservation, the travel agent / affiliate receives a commission. Some of the most convenient features of this program include: Original Affiliates can earn up to 20% commission. Travel Agents can refer a potential client to our websites by promoting our banners and they can book the reservation for the client on our website or through our Original Affiliates dashboard. Bookings can be reported in our Temptation and Desire Rewards Programs which earns you extra benefits. Both the Original Affiliates and the Rewards Program are free to join, and can easily be set up online at https://www.originalaffiliates.com/ and at https://temptationrewards.com / https://desirerewards.com. Travel agents are also encouraged to reach out to Bertin Cortez, affiliates sales manager, with any questions regarding the programs via email at affiliates@original-group.com Moreover, agents can rest assure that Temptations Sexy & Sanitized and Desires Seductive & Sanitized new protocols will keep their clients safe in this new era of travel. For details on the specific protocols, each brands website will have a dedicated landing page outlining all the measures implemented on property in video and written format. For more information on Temptation Cancun Resort and Desire Resorts new and enhanced protocols, please visit: https://www.temptation-experience.com/ and https://www.desire-experience.com/ # # # ABOUT ORIGINAL GROUP Original Group is a Mexican company with more than 35 years of experience, with commercial activity in the hotel sector, the cruise industry, vacation clubs and real state. We encourage innovation to create and develop businesses that leave a mark. Our brands maintain the highest standards of the group and, simultaneously, provide concepts that that stand out for their uniqueness. We have developed successful tourist brands, including by offering unique experiences for adults only, in top destinations around the world, creating a perfect atmosphere for couples and singles looking to add a new dimension to your holiday. Our strong corporate culture allows us to provide a consistent service characterized by warmth and attention, creating long term relationships with our customers. We promote environmental care with a high sense of social responsibility, as an active part of our environment and society. For more information, visit www.original-group.com. ### From Popular Mechanics Two Cold War veteran F-100F Super Sabre fighters are up for auction online. The fighters, built during the Eisenhower Administration, are reportedly flyable. The F-100F was used in Vietnam, could carry nuclear weapons, and take off using rockets. A few of the most versatile fighter jets from the Cold War are up for auction and ready to flywith some exceptions. Two F-100F Super Sabre fighter jets are being auctioned with current bids right around the cost of a decent used car. A veteran of the Vietnam War, the Super Sabre also carried nuclear bombs and could forgo long rolling jet-powered takeoffs in favor of a quick boost into the air on rockets. You like badass planes. We like badass planes. Let's nerd out over them together. The F-100 Super Sabres are part of a listing from the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California. The planes, tail numbers N417FS and N418FS , are later model-F series jets that were originally built for the U.S. Air Force and then transferred to the Royal Danish Air Force. The planes were flown to the U.K. in 1983, when they apparently passed into private ownership. Photo credit: picture alliance - Getty Images In July 1989, F418FS had a runway mishap when the aircraft failed to slow down on landing and the plane skidded into the ditch. The pilot, a veteran with approximately 10,000 flight hours (5,460 in the F-100), was not injured. In the 2000s, the jets were registered to Big Sky Warbirds in Montana. The planes last known gig was with Tracor Flight Systems, where they flew as radar targets. The F-100, also known as the Hun (short for Hundred), was the F-16 of its time. It was the first U.S. fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight and the first of the Century Series of Air Force fighter jets that included the famous F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, and F-105 Thunderchief fighters. A relatively low-cost single-seat, single-engine fighter, the Hun was originally designed as a fighter, but gradually took on air-to-ground strike missions, air-to-air refueling, and other roles. The Hun also provided close air support for ground troops during the Vietnam War. Later versions were capable of toss-bombing the B7, the U.S. militarys first tactical nuclear aircraft bomb. Story continues The F-100s most dramatic trick involved taking off without an airfield. One of the most vexing problems facing the Air Force during the Cold War was getting planes off the ground during wartime, when the Soviet Union was anticipated to target NATO runways. In response, the Zero-Length Launch program sought to do away with runways altogether by installing a Rocketdyne XM-34 solid rocket booster under a F-100. In just 5 seconds, the XM-34 could boost the F-100 to an altitude of 400 feet and speed of 275 miles an hour. (How the F-100 landed on a damaged runway was never explained.) The two jets, according to auction hosting site Proxibid , are flyable, though N417FS has some damage to the tail and front landing gear. N418FS is in better shape, with only a hard-to-open canopy. Both planes are two-seaters, so you can take your spouse up for a spin after telling them you bought a jet fighter at an auction. You Might Also Like Alabama has applied for a program that would allow people who are collecting unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic to receive a $300 weekly federal supplement, Gov. Kay Ivey announced. The payment would be in addition to the state unemployment payment of up to $275 a week. That means recipients could receive up to $575 a week. But its uncertain how long those payments would last. The Lost Wages Assistance Program is an option for states offered under an executive order issued by President Trump after the $600 federal supplement expired in July. To be eligible for the $300 federal benefit, people must receive at least $100 a week in state unemployment compensation or one of six other programs: Unemployment Insurance (UI) Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX) Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Extended Benefits (EB) Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) They must certify that they are unemployed or partially unemployed because of COVID-19. The payments would be retroactive until August 1. Ivey and Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington announced the decision to apply for the program today. This additional program provided by the Trump Administration provides an opportunity for those who are still struggling with the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to receive a boost in their unemployment compensation, Ivey said in a press release. While Alabama continues to improve economically, we know that there are those who still need assistance. Alabama will work expeditiously to provide these needed funds as quickly as possible. The Lost Wages Assistance Program will receive its funding from Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief funds. FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor indicated that states should receive about three weeks worth of benefits with approval, with additional approval being granted on a weekly basis. But the payments could stop at any time if FEMA funding is exhausted, or the federal government enacts new law, or by Dec. 27, whichever comes first. For more information on unemployment compensation in Alabama, visit www.labor.alabama.gov. Alabama Department of Labor Communications Director Tara Hutchison said Alabama chose the $300 option over another one offered under Trumps plan. It would have allowed weekly benefits of up to $400, with the federal government providing $300 and the state providing a $100 match. The chairs of the House and Senate General Fund budget committees had expressed concerns about whether the state could afford to pay that match. Alabamians have filed more than 700,000 initial unemployment claims since mid-March, although the weekly number has fallen sharply since a peak in April. Related: New Alabama unemployment claims reach lowest point since first week of COVID-19s economic effects. This story was edited at 8:12 a.m. to add that payments would be retroactive until August 1 and to list other programs that allow people to be eligible. WASHINGTON -- Jill Biden made a passionate and personal argument for her husband, Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday at the second night of the Democratic National Convention. "How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding-and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith," said Biden, recounting how she met her future husband shortly after his first wife and baby daughter were killed in a car crash in 1972. "Joe's purpose has always driven him forward. His strength of will is unstoppable. And his faith is unshakablebecause it's not in politicians or political partiesor even himself. It's in the providence of God. His faith is in youin us," said Biden. Biden's overarching message of unity and compassion could hardly have been more different than the divisive "us vs. them" message that Joe Biden's opponent, President Donald Trump, is pinning his reelection hopes on. But Jill Biden did not mention Trump at all, not even in passing. Instead, she focused on her husband, her family, and her optimistic vision of America. "There are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly divided, that our differences are irreconcilable," said Biden. "But that's not what I've seen over these last few months. We're coming together and holding on to each other. We're finding mercy and grace in the moments we might have once taken for granted. "We're seeing that our differences are precious and our similarities are infinite. We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. And that's the soul of America that Joe Biden is fighting for now." The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will from Tuesday, 18th August 2020, embark on a five-day working visit to the Western and Central Regions, where he is expected to commission projects, cut the sod for the construction of projects, and pay courtesy calls on traditional rulers. On Tuesday, 17th August, President Akufo-Addo will commence his official working visit at Egyam in the Western Region, where he will be inspecting work on the ongoing construction of the Ankyernyin-Egyam road. He will then move to the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira constituency to inspect the Axim Fishing Habour Project. From Axim, the President will cut sod for construction of the Esiama-Nkroful road at Esiama, in the Ellembelle constituency. He will also inspect ongoing road construction works at Gwira Aiyinase, and to launch the Gwira Community Mining Scheme. He will also cut the sod for a 100-bed capacity District Hospital in Shama. On day two, he will meet with the Regional House of Chiefs at Sekondi; visit the Essiam Bypass and Railway Training School at Essikado, and cut the sod for the construction of the GNPC Operational Headquarters, at Takoradi, in fulfillment of a 2016 manifesto pledge. Beginning his tour of the Central Region, on Thursday, 20th August, cut the sod for the construction of a landing site and fishing harbour at Elmina in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem constituency. He will also pay a courtesy call on the Mokwamanhene, in Twifo Praso, and inspect the ongoing construction of the Twifo Praso District Hospital. Also, in Twifo Praso, the President will also cut sod for a bridge over River Pra, commission the Ekumfi Fruit Juice Factory, and later visit the Gomoa West constituency where he would join the Chiefs to inspect work an ongoing construction of a Landing Site. On Saturday, President Akufo-Addo will cut the sod for the construction of the NHIA Office at Cape Coast, and attend the ceremony for the launch of the NPP 2020 Manifesto. Source: presidency.gov.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Home Office is pressing ahead with the deportation of asylum seekers who have recently arrived to the UK in small boats, despite mounting concern about the safety and legitimacy of carrying out removals at a time when coronavirus rates across Europe are rising. Two charter flights are set to remove asylum seekers to three EU countries next week under the Dublin regulation, a law that requires asylum seekers to claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive in. Among the receiving countries are France, which is set to introduce quarantine measures for people arriving from the UK within days, and Germany, which recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases last week. A number of individuals who have arrived in the UK on small boats in recent months were taken from their asylum accommodation and detained in Brook House removal centre last Friday. They have since been informed that they will be deported either on a charter flight to both France and Germany on 25 August, or to Spain the following day. Campaigners said the decision to pursue the removals amounted to an affront to public health and called on the home secretary to urgently review her plans to deport people under the Dublin regulation. A separate Dublin removal flight destined for France and Germany took off last week with 14 asylum seekers on board. Nineteen people who were due to be on the flight did not board after last-minute legal intervention found that their removal could constitute a breach of their human rights. Among those who had their deportation stayed were torture victims, people with severe PTSD and people who were at risk of homelessness and destitution on return to the EU country to which they were set to be removed. Ammar, 24, a Yemeni national who was detained in Brook House on Friday after arriving by boat in March, is facing removal on the flight to Spain on the grounds that he claimed asylum there last year. He told The Independent he was forced to try get to the UK because he was poorly treated within the Spanish asylum system. I didnt plan to just pass through Spain. I wanted to find safety there, but the asylum system lacked organisation. I had many problems," he said. "I had nowhere to live I told a charity I was living in the streets and I got somewhere to stay, but people there stole from me. I didnt speak Spanish. I didnt get an interpreter. Then I ran away to Paris, but smugglers occupy that place. I decided to come to the UK because I went to Spain and didnt find safety, and I went to France and found myself in the street. "I speak the English language. I can speak directly about my pain here, but in Spain and France, who will look after me if no one will translate for me? Ammar, who said he had fled persecution but the Houthi rebels in Yemen, added: I will die here I wont go. Ive started to have hope in this country. Ive started to feel normal. I cant go back to Spain. The future for me there is bleak. Bella Sankey, director of charity Detention Action, said: The government's giddy attempts to restart mass deportation flights, as both France and the UK introduce quarantine measures, is an affront to public health. It also trashes the UK's record for refugee protection. History will not judge kindly a department which, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, raids asylum accommodation to forcibly remove terrified asylum seekers from Yemen, Iraq, Syria and other war ravaged countries. Where is the leadership and moral courage? Toufique Hossain, director of Public Law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, called on the government to urgently review its removal plans under the Dublin Regulations, adding: Many of those who Priti Patel is so desperate to return have legitimate reasons to stay in the UK. Minister Nick Gibb says boats could be used to block Channel migrants More than 4,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, including more than 1,200 in August alone compared to 2,758 in the whole of 2019. Humanitarian organisations have pointed out however that rather than denoting a surge in arrivals, the rise marks a shift in method, as many of those arriving on small boats would have previously arrived as stowaways in lorries. Immigration lawyers and charities have urged that in order to reduce the number of people making risky sea journeys, the government must create safe and legal routes to the UK for asylum seekers. A Home Office spokesperson said: People should claim asylum in the first safe country they enter and we make no apology for seeking to remove migrants who have travelled through a safe country and have no right to remain in the UK. This is part of our strategy to stop people attempting this dangerous journey, make the route unviable and send a signal to anyone considering it, or being exploited by the criminal gangs who facilitate them, that we will do everything in our power to return them. Last week 15 people who had arrived on small boats were removed from the UK who had no right to be here close to the number we had agreed with the receiving countries. We are working to increase the number of returnees countries are willing to accept on each flight. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The need for remote monitoring of patients is rising, especially in developing countries, where not everyone lives near a medical care facility. Owing to this reason, the global telemedicine market revenue is projected to grow to $144.2 billion in 2030, from $27.8 billion in 2019, at a massive CAGR of 15.8% between 2020 and 2030, according to the research report published by P&S Intelligence. Not only does remote monitoring reduce healthcare expenditure, but it also allows faraway patients to get a diagnosis and follow-ups. This is helping the telemedicine market grow, as the usage of wireless communication technologies for allowing patients to virtually visit doctors is rising. Similarly, telemedicine-powered remote monitoring allows healthcare professionals to address issues related to diagnosis and prescription errors and worker productivity. Therefore, the demand for such solutions, especially in areas that are far away from a proper medical center, is rising. Get the sample copy this report @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/telemedicine-market/report-sample The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a boost to the telemedicine market, as the lockdown imposed in numerous countries to reduce the spread of the infection has led to restrictions on the movement of people. This is why people are connecting with healthcare professionals over numerous telemedicine platforms. Further, non-critical patients, who do not need to be in intensive care departments or hospitalized, can simply get a diagnosis or follow-up through telemonitoring or teleconsultation, thereby reducing the load on an already-overburdened healthcare system. The tele hospitals and clinics category, based on type, is expected to continue generating the higher revenue in the telemedicine market in the years to come. This is attributed to the rising adoption rate of telemedicine solutions in clinics and hospitals, for monitoring, consulting, and other purposes, to ultimately lead to reduced strain on the system, more efficient distribution of the available staff, and higher patient handling capacity. Browse report with detailed TOC on "Telemedicine Market Research Report: By Type (Tele Hospitals and Clinics, Tele Home), Service (Tele Consulting, Tele Monitoring, Tele Education, Tele Training), Specialty (Dermatology, Gynecology, Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopedics) - Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030" @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/telemedicine-market In the past, the teleconsulting category dominated the telemedicine market, on the basis of service, as this service lets patients consult specialists across all medical subspecialties, whenever they want. Moreover, with teleconsulting, patients also obtain advice on which medical practitioner to choose, get relevant information on how serious their ailment is, and receive regular follow-ups. The neurology category, under segmentation by specialty, would experience the highest CAGR in the telemedicine market, on account of the proven ability of the telemedicine approach to help manage emergencies such as sudden paralysis, seizures, and stroke. North America holds the largest share in the telemedicine market, owing to the growing prevalence of lifestyle-associated and chronic diseases, booming geriatric population, and increasing government funding for the field. For instance, as per the National Cancer Institute, cancer would be detected in around 1.8 million people in the U.S. in 2020, and the disease will kill about 606,520 people in the said year. Make enquiry about this report @ https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=telemedicine-market Asia-Pacific (APAC) is projected to witness the fastest advance in the telemedicine market in the immediate future. This would be a result of the increasing population of the elderly and incidence of chronic diseases and expanding medical tourism industry. In addition, the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network (APAN), Asia-Pacific Tele-Ophthalmology Society (APTOS), Asia-Pacific Tele community (APT), and several other organizations are stepping up efforts to offer telemedicine services to the regional population. In order to dominate the competition in the telemedicine market, companies offering such solutions are merging with or acquiring related firms, with the intention to: Integrate each other platforms for ensuring patient access to quality healthcare Developing telemedicine solutions for Federal Government employees Expand their customer base in international markets Offer virtual care services to a larger number of patients Improve their position in the industry The major players in the global telemedicine market include Honeywell International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Cerner Corporation, Medtronic plc, McKesson Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Aerotel Medical Systems Ltd., Teladoc Health Inc., Care Innovations LLC, OBS Medical Ltd., AMD Global Telemedicine Inc., Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Polycom Inc., BioTelemetry Inc., and GlobalMedia Group LLC. Related Reports Digital Health Market The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest progress in the global digital health market, primarily driven by the increasing investments in the healthcare IT sector, rising number of cases of chronic diseases, and growing geriatric population. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/digital-health-market IoT in Healthcare Market In LATAM, the IoT in healthcare market is expected to witness the fastest growth in Brazil, driven by IoT-related initiatives by the Brazilian government. For instance, the Brazilian government launched the IoT National Action Plan, for which the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (MCTIC) and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) announced a set of initiatives to develop and accelerate the adoption of IoT in Brazil. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/internet-of-things-in-healthcare-market About P&S Intelligence P&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness. Contact: Prajneesh Kumar P&S Intelligence Contact: +1-347-960-6455 Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1224988/P_and_S_Intelligence_Logo.jpg SOURCE P&S Intelligence Retired U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, has come out in full support of his friend and longtime colleague U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal in his primary race against Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse. Further, the Newton Democrat dismisses allegations that Neal played any part in making a campaign issue of Morses sexuality. Frank, a congressman from 1981 through 2013, in a statement and interview on Wednesday, called Neal both a great legislator and a solid ally over the years for LGBTQ issues. The statement goes on to say that Frank strongly doubts Neal or anyone in his campaign had anything to do with what he called Mayor Morses situation. That situation, for anyone not paying attention over the better part of the last two weeks, involves members of the UMass chapter of College Democrats publicly disinviting Morse from future events, alleging he inappropriately used his political position as a mayor and a congressional candidate to seek out romantic relationships with college students. Morse, 31, has acknowledged having consensual relationships with college students but denied abusing his power or doing anything wrong. In the past week, there have been counter-allegations that the authors of the College Democrats letter had ulterior motives for its publication, namely seeking to harm Morse in order to curry favor with Neal possibly for future employment. There have also been allegations that officials in the state Democratic Party helped the College Democrats craft their original letter. The University of Massachusetts Amherst has hired an independent counsel to investigate the charges. The Morse campaign has claimed members of the Neal campaign, if not Neal himself, are spreading political smears to ruin his campaign a charge that Neal has publicly denied. Reached at his home, Frank said the statement was supposed to have gone out Saturday, prior to Mondays first televised debate between Neal and Morse, but there had been a mix-up on his end, and it never got distributed. Frank said he is standing up for Neal because the Springfield Democrat always supported Frank. Not just me, but LGBTQ rights, he said. He said Neal has been fully supportive of LGBTQ issues, and advocates for those issues need to support him in return. He said it is morally unacceptable and politically counterproductive for LGBTQ advocates to withdraw support for Neal now because his opponent is gay. Of the charges that Neal or members of his campaign worked to smear Morse, Frank said, I believe Richie (Neal). There is an absence of evidence there is no evidence of that. The only evidence Ive seen is one college student hoped to someday work for Richie, Frank said. That doesnt show Neal or his people were co-conspirators, he said. No one has connected the Neal campaign to that, he said. Generally, the greater number of people involved in a conspiracy means a greater potential for leaks, and Frank said he hasnt heard anything from anyone that would indicate Neals involvement. Somebody would have told someone something, he said. He said he has talked to people involved with the Democratic State Committee, and not heard anyone say they believe Neal or the committee were involved. In his statement, Frank wrote Neal is a great legislator who is respected by his colleagues and a great asset for progressive accomplishments. Neal became a member of the House of Representatives in 1989, two years after Frank became the first openly gay member of Congress. Frank said it was a different time, and people were not as accepting of gay people or as open about gay issues back then. He said it was not easy finding colleagues who would support him on the floor of the House, but not with Neal. He has been a strong enthusiastic supporter of every step in our fight for his entire Congressional career, Frank said. I believe my obligation to defend allies against unfair accusations is as strong, for both ethical and practical reasons, as my duty to counter-attack the bigots. Frank said Neal was literally by his side during a 1989 congressional hearing to reprimand Frank for ethical breaches involving a male prostitute. Frank had paid the man for sex in 1985, and later hired him as a live-in personal aide, who was later found to be running a prostitution operation out of Franks home without his knowledge. During the congressional hearings prior to the vote on July 26, 1989, which were broadcast nationally by CSPAN, Neal put himself in the picture by sitting next to me, Frank recalls. In a bipartisan vote of 418-18, the House reprimanded Frank after Democrats blocked efforts to expel him from Congress. According to records of the roll call vote, Neal voted in favor of the reprimand. Frank recalled the episode as his own example of poor judgment in a sexual relationship. He added, I acknowledge that I had behaved inappropriately and that it was not the fault of society, or my political opponents or anyone else but myself. Morse Wednesday afternoon said he had the utmost respect for Frank and his career, and has met him many times. It would be an honor for me to be the next openly gay congressman from Massachusetts and to follow in his footsteps, he said. That said, Morse said Neal has not been as solid a supporter for LGBT issues as Frank suggests. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, Morse said. Neal voted for the bill in 1996, which banned gay people from marrying, but by 2011 had reversed his position prior to the law being struck down by the Supreme Court. I appreciate that Neal has evolved, Morse said, but to say he has been a life-long ally of LGBT is just false. Franks statement: As a gay man who worked closely with Cong. Richie Neal and benefitted both personally and in advancing important public policy goals from his strong support I am disappointed by suggestions that he is in any way to blame for Mayor Morses situation, or that he has done or said anything in this campaign -or at any other time in the thirty-two years that I have known him--that reflects or exploits anti-LGBT prejudice. My hope that he is reelected is based primarily on my appreciation of his effective, thoughtful advocacy of liberal positions. He is a great legislator and the respect his colleagues have for him has not only been a great asset for progressive accomplishments in the past, these strengths, combined with his leadership role in the house means he will be even more influential in the next two years after the election in expanding medical coverage, reversing the regressivity of the tax code, advancing the construction of affordable housing and other issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee he chairs. I know that Speaker Pelosi counts on his ability to win support for her agenda from across the spectrum of the House Democratic caucus--without which none of it can become a reality. But as important as that factor is, it is not the main reason I have decided to speak out publicly now. I feel obligated to do so to protect the credibility and integrity of my own career-long work for full equality for LGBT people. Since I filed the first gay rights bills-as they were then called -in Massachusetts history in my first term as State Representative in 1972, I have made persuading my colleagues to vote with us one of my highest priorities. When Richie Neal came to the House in1989-two years after I had voluntarily come out-this was a much harder job than it has since become, especially in the midst of the AIDS crisis. But not with him. He has been a strong, enthusiastic supporter of every step in our fight for his entire Congressional career. So my question to those for whom LGBT rights is a very high priority is simple: do I say to representatives, Congresspeople and Senators who have voted with us 100% of the time -even when this was politically difficult -that I appreciated their help, but if someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender runs against them, I will help defeat them because of their heterosexual orientation or gender identity. This is not only morally unacceptable, it is politically counter-productive as well. Telling elected officials who have taken risks on your behalf that your future support for them is conditional on a factor over which they have no control is a bad way to win them over. I believe my obligation to defend allies against unfair accusations is as strong for both ethical and practical reasons as my duty to counter attack the bigots. On a personal level, two years after I came-out I had to deal with the revelation of my own poor judgement in a sexual relationship. While the major accusations were easily disproved, and it was clear that no one had been victimized I did acknowledge that I had behaved inappropriately, and that it was not the fault of society, or my political opponents, or anyone else but myself. I was worried that, despite the finding of the House Ethics Committee that there was no truth to the most serious charges, given the then prevailing anti-gay prejudice, the publicity they had received would cause my colleagues to dissociate themselves from me, obviously reducing my effectiveness. I was worried that, despite the finding of the House Ethics Committee that there was no truth. Instead, having joined in the vote that showed disapproval of my poor judgment, most of them apparently decided that having hurt no one but myself, I deserved a second chance. And some made a particular point of defying the homophobia that was still strong in 1989. to the most serious charges, given the then prevailing anti-gay prejudice, the publicity they had received would cause my colleagues to dissociate themselves from me, obviously severely reducing my effectiveness. For example, the day the house voted to reprimanded me, when I was the focus of the CSPAN cameras Richie Neal literally put himself in the picture by sitting next to me. Pelosi Not Satisfied After Speaking to Postmaster General About Halting Changes to USPS Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she is not satisfied after speaking to the Post Master General about reversing changes already made to the USPS before his Tuesday statement. Pelosi issued a statement after speaking to Postmaster General DeJoy about his pause in operational changes that the Speaker alleges are delaying the mail and threatening to disenfranchise voters. This morning, I spoke with Postmaster General DeJoy and conveyed to him that his announcement is not a solution and is misleading, said Pelosi. On Tuesday DeJoy said in a statement, To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. The Postmaster Generals alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked. The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes, and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works, Pelosi continued. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized Pelosi and Democrats for falsifying information about USPS in a statement Wednesday. Shamefully, Democrats also fueled conspiracy theories about mailboxes being moved en masse, a lie spread by Joe Biden. The Postal Service regularly removes mailboxes for lack of use and relocates them in growth areas. In fact, from 20112016, the Obama-Biden administration removed roughly 14,000 mailboxes according to the USPS Inspector General, McCarthy said. Pelosi said the changes that DeJoy is unwilling to reverse will cause voter suppression. All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color. At the same time, we are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed, she added. You can find valid operational reasons for the actions taken by the Postal Service so far, Mike Plunkett, another longtime USPS executive who now leads the Association for Postal Commerce told The Wall Street Journal. In no way do I detect any criminality behind them, and Im at a loss as to how one would reach that conclusion. Pelosi said that Democrats will be the ones to deliver for the American People by passing the Delivering for America Act (pdf), which will provide $25 billion in support of the Postal Service. McCarthy said, Contrary to Democrats claims, the Postal Service is also properly funded for the election and beyond. It is not being sabotaged. Under the USPSs own analysis (pdf), the USPS is financially solvent through at least August 2021. In his Tuesday statement, DeJoy also said retail hours at Post Offices will not change; mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are; No mail processing facilities will be closed and we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed. The Treasury has authorized $10 billion for the USPS and administration officials including White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows said the administration is open to further funding for USPS if it a part of a large CCP virus relief package. Despite the administrations efforts to fund the USPS, Pelosi slammed the President for what she called his effort to have the American public choose between voting and their health. CHANHASSEN, Minn., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lift Brands , a parent company of fitness-minded businesses, including Snap Fitness , 9Round and Fitness on Demand today announced three team members who will transition into new executive roles and the addition of new executive talent in a fourth role, joining a global leadership team with more than 40 cumulative years of experience within Lift Brands. Ty Menzies, former CEO of Asia Pacific, is now CEO of Lift Brands, and will focus on helping each brand navigate business obstacles in the midst of COVID-19. Ali McElroy, former Chief Global Development Officer & Chief Legal Officer, will serve as President, International & CLO for Lift Brands. In this role, McElroy is responsible for improving communication with International teams and growing the group of fitness brands globally. Additionally, former COO of Lift Brands for Australia & New Zealand, Andy Peat, is now Chief Product Officer. Peat's main role is to define the Snap Fitness product group and pinpoint areas of opportunity for the brand to make an impact in the lives of franchisees and members. The growing leadership team also enlisted Chris Caldwell to join Lift Brands as CEO of Asia Pacific. He will focus on club success in those regions in addition to leading the launch of Snap Fitness in Japan later this year. During the past 15 years, Caldwell has served in senior executive roles at a variety of businesses and franchise organizations instilling confidence and creating momentum, including Bakers Delight , Pie Face , Lenard's Chicken and more recently, BOUNCEinc . "There has never been a better time for our #OneTeam mentality," said Ty Menzies, CEO of Lift Brands. "Our franchisees are weathering the COVID-19 storm and we continue to support them with a strong leadership team. We think that investing from within allows us to best support our franchise and we are excited to see what the future holds!" Despite the pandemic, Lift Brands is devoted to investing in team members. More specifically, the company has adopted a #OneTeam mentality, determined to support franchisees who are running small businesses and weathering the economic storm accompanied by the global pandemic. Amidst growing coronavirus concern and recommended social distancing efforts, the Lift Brands leadership team has also shown support for fitness enthusiasts by rolling out a partnership between Snap Fitness and FitnessOnDemand. The partnership offers free access to the market-leading virtual fitness platform, available to all members looking to "stay fit, stay healthy and stay home" during these uncertain times. For more information on Lift Brands, visit the website at www.liftbrands.com . ABOUT LIFT BRANDS Lift Brands is a leading innovator in the fitness industry as the parent brand to several fitness franchises and fitness brands worldwide including Snap Fitness, 9Round International Franchise, YogaFit Studios Franchise, and Fitness On Demand. With over 1 million members and 2,000 locations open or scheduled for development and locations in over 26 countries, Lift Brands delivers results through the most rewarding fitness experiences in the world and changes lives daily. For more information on Lift Brands, please visit www.liftbrands.com . SOURCE Lift Brands Related Links https://www.liftbrands.com Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has indicated that he will not assume the reins of the party in the immediate future and maintained that he stepped down from the post after the 2019 Lok Sabha election debacle to develop a culture of accountability in the organisation, according to a new book. Im here, standing by the Congress party and ready to fight for it because I believe in the Congress party. I dont need to be the Congress president in order to fight for the Congress party or to work on strengthening it, he said in an interview with US-based authors Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah for their book India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders. Gandhi was asked by the authors if he would be open in the future to lead the party once again if his colleagues want him back as the Congress president. Gandhi has indicated on many occasions that he is not willing to reconsider his decision and has often referred to his letter to Congress workers on July 3 last year to make his point. He had resigned as the party chief at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on May 25 last year following the partys drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress managed to win just 52 seats in the 543-member House while the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power with a bigger majority of 303 seats. At the CWC meeting, Gandhi slammed the veterans for placing the interests of their sons above the party, and also mentioned that some leaders had even lost the election from their strongholds even as he criticised a section of the so-called GenNext for hankering for posts. He brought finality to his decision to step down as the party president on July 3 when he tweeted a four-page farewell note listing the reasons why he resigned. In the letter, Gandhi took a dig at his party colleagues for the electoral drubbing the Congress received and spoke about the lack of support to him, saying he had stood completely alone in the fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). I personally fought the Prime Minister, the RSS and the institutions they have captured with all my being. I fought because I love India. And I fought to defend the ideals India was built upon. At times, I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it, he wrote. Asked by the authors why he resigned from the post, Gandhi said, The Congress party lost the 2019 elections, under my command. The Congress has to develop a culture of accountability and that begins right at the top. Im pretty clear in my mind that I am accountable for the 2019 loss and that I had to step down as a consequence. Asked if his family supported his decision, the former Congress chief said: Weve obviously discussed this as a family and Ive listened to and appreciated my mother and sisters perspectives. But I feel that the culture of accountability is missing at present in the Congress party and the only way to inject that into the Congress system is by beginning at the top. To another question on the Gandhi family being the Congresss biggest asset but also a liability because the BJP keeps bringing back the namdaar versus kamdaar issue, he dismissed it just propaganda. I can give you a list of over a hundred senior RSSBJP leaders all of whom come from political dynasties. As far as my mother, my sister, and I are concerned, we are driven by ideology. We fundamentally believe in the Congress ideology and will not compromise with our belief just to grab political power. The RSSBJP that keeps changing like a chameleon in its blind pursuit of power, understands the power of the Gandhi familys commitment to the Congress ideology. In fact, they fear it, which is why we are the primary targets of their propaganda and systematic disinformation, he said. Asked what role he envisions for himself and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in the party, Gandhi said, My sister is an extremely capable person, who has to chart her own political course. Im happy that shes working in Uttar Pradesh because I think theres a huge opportunity for the Congress party to make a strong comeback in the next state elections over there. To another question, if it easy to convince her to join the politics, the former Congress chief said, Priyanka and I had spoken about this before and her view was that while her children were growing up and still in school, she wouldnt be able to do justice to a full-time political career. Now that theyre going to college, she can immerse herself fully and do justice to the role she has agreed to play as a general secretary of the Congress party. Concluding the interview, when asked how he would like to be remembered after his retirement, Gandhi said, Im not too bothered about what people will say about me after Ive gone. Im more interested in the here and now and in what I do, what I stand for, who I stand with, and who I can help. Jawaharlal Nehru said that hed like his ashes to be scattered in the Himalayas. He didnt even want a memorial in his name. I dont think he was too bothered about what people were going to say after he was gone. Or whether they would remember him or not. I think he was much more bothered about his actions, while he was still alive! I think thats a good model to follow. In the interview, Gandhi also talked about his hobbies, passions, and interests outside the Congress. Im passionate about Aikido, a Japanese martial art in which I have a Black Belt. Im a pilot. I love diving and Im both a free diver and a scuba divemaster. I enjoy running and cooking. In fact, I can cook you the best omelettes youll ever have! By nature, Im a curious person. When I get interested in something, I tend to deep dive into it, to understand its nature. Thats just the way I operate. I will tend to go into detail and build a certain level of competence and understanding in that subject. Amongst the broad sweep of subjects, Im interested in are Indian philosophy, Buddhism, the history of the Mongols, WWI/WWII history, Middle Eastern history, Pakistani history, and Chinese. When pointed out that a lot of his critics have said that it seems like he is in politics out of compulsion and not passion, Gandhi said: I hate labels. Politics is a labelPolitics is very important to me, it takes up a lot of my time, but, I have other interests as well. My political approach is built around listening to people and trying to help them achieve what they want to achieve. I go to people who I think need my help and I will raise their issues and try and fight for them. I spend a lot of time thinking about politics and discussing it. I love what I do. Im passionate about it. Im certainly not doing what I do out of any compulsion. Asked about the criticism regarding his frequent vacations, he said: In India, I live my life surrounded by security men, 24X7. As a consequence, in India, I have very little privacy, other than when Im in my own home. When Im out of India, I have more space, more privacy. I enjoy learning from other cultures and I love interacting with people from different parts of the world. I dont see my trips abroad as vacations. For example, when Im in the United States and if I visit Berkeley to interact with students over there, I learn from that experience. There are new ideas Im exposed to; new ways of looking at things. These are extremely enriching experiences and thats what I enjoy most about travelling abroad. Gandhi alleged that this perception has been created by the RSS and the BJP as they see him as a threat. The truth is, Im up against a formidable RSSBJP political machine that attacks me 24X7, because it sees me as a threat, because it sees the ideas that I represent as a threat. So it has to paint me as someone who isnt interested, as someone with no understanding, as someone who only wants to go abroad on vacation. The fact that you are asking me this question, proves that their propaganda is somewhat successful, he said. Parts of Australias south including NSW are in for a cold snap with damaging winds, hail and possible snow ahead of the weekend. South Australia and NSW have already been hit by a series of cold fronts. Adelaides suburb of Morphett Vale is believed to have been hit by a tornado caused by one of the fronts on Tuesday night. A Sydney woman struggles with the wind and rain. Source: Getty Images Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said another cold front would cross the southeast corner between Thursday and Saturday. This front will cause more damaging winds, showers, hail and snow, Mr Domensino said. One of the most impressive features of this front will be a pool of cold polar air in its wake. Temperatures should reach low enough for snow to reach about 400 to 500 metres elevation in Tasmania, Victoria and southern NSW on Friday and Saturday. Inland Tasmania including Liawenee, which earlier this month plummeted to -14.2 degrees, Lake St Clair and New Pelion Hut are all forecast to receive snow. Parts of Tasmania received snowfall for the first time in 40 years just recently. Mr Domensino added as this cold air mass moved north, snow would also blanket parts of Central NSW from late Friday into Saturday possibly falling to about 600 metres with about 10 centimetres. Snow could also fall in Northern NSW, he said. The cold air mass can be seen approaching Australia. Source: NASA via Bureau of Meteorology Steamrolling straight towards us Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Dean Narromore told Channel Nines Today show the system was very cold and straight off Antarctica. [It] probably left Antarctica 36 hours ago and is steamrolling straight towards us, he said. He added snowfall in NSW and the ACT was likely for elevated suburbs of Canberra through Orange, Oberon, the Blue Mountains, Barrington Tops and possibly Armidale. Canberra is in for a chilly spell and will end the week with a high of 8 on Friday and a low of 2. The city will plummet to a low of 0 Saturday and -1 Sunday with highs of 7 and 11 respectively. Snowfall at Canberra's National Arboretum's in July 2016. Source: Getty Images, file Barrington Tops is forecast for snowfall above 1300 metres on Friday and 1000 metres on Saturday. It could drop to a low of 0C on Sunday, following lows of 1 on Friday and Saturday. Expect highs between 3 and 5. Story continues Goulburn could also receive snow on Saturday as the temperature hits a low of 1 and high of 6. Mr Narramore said Victorians could see snow in Dandenong and Mount Macedon. Dandenongs forecast for lows of about 5 to 6, ending the week with highs of about 12. Rainfall is also forecast with 2 to 5mm on Friday and Sunday, and 10-15mm on Saturday. NSW set for wild winds Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rebecca Kamitakahara told the ABC the front would also bring wild winds to NSW. Sydneysiders can breathe a sigh of relief as they wont feel the brunt of the winds. BoM has issued a warning for areas including Maitland, Wollongong, Nowra, Bowral, Katoomba and Goulburn, with wind speeds averaging 60 to 70 km/h and gusts in excess of 90 km/h on Thursday. The gusts should ease in the afternoon. "With the quite windy conditions we are expecting, it is going to make for quite a significant windchill factor," Ms Kamitakahara said. Newcastle was belted by winds of about 70km/h just after midnight. Temperatures were sitting about 11C at 6am, with it expected to hit a max of 19 on Thursday. Temperatures across Friday and weekend will be a bit chillier with lows of about 6 to 7 and highs of about 17 to 18. Ulladulla can expect slightly cooler temperatures between 8 and 16 from Friday across the weekend. 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. OTTAWA - Opposition parties are taking issue with the black ink applied to many of the thousands of pages of newly released documents about the WE Charity controversy, suggesting the redactions are part of a continuing coverup by the federal Liberals. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the 5,000-plus pages released to MPs on the House of Commons finance committee Tuesday as he announced the prorogation of Parliament until Sept. 23. The documents contain numerous exchanges between federal civil servants, ministerial staff and WE Charity officials about the plan to have the Toronto-based organization run a multimillion-dollar program encouraging students to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canada Student Service Grant program gradually took shape over a period of weeks, initially including the possibility of a scholarship or bursary, and eventually fixed sums linked to the number of hours spent volunteering. By proroguing Parliament, Trudeau put a temporary end to the four committees that have spent the summer probing the decision to enlist WE Charity, which has close connections to the families of the prime minister and Bill Morneau, who resigned as finance minister this week. Trudeau announced the launch of the program on June 25. But there was immediate controversy over his perceived conflict of interest and WE Charity pulled out of the agreement, which was to have paid the organization $43.5 million, on July 3. The newly released documents seem to back up the Trudeau governments assertion it was federal public servants who recommended the student service grant program be administered by WE Charity. They also suggest bureaucrats may have been encouraged to pursue that course by their political masters. Yet many of the pages have been blacked out, either in part or in their entirety. In a letter to the clerk of the finance committee that was released with the documents, the clerk of the Privy Council said the redactions were made in accordance with the committees own decision to protect cabinet secrets and personal information. The committees motion stipulates that cabinet confidence and national security information are to be excluded from the package, Ian Shugart wrote to committee clerk David Gagnon on Aug. 7. A principled approach was adopted to this information to ensure a non-selective application of the protection afforded by cabinet confidentiality. As a result, considerable information on the Canada Student Service Grant that would otherwise constitute cabinet confidences is being released. Shugart went on to say that information on the pages was withheld if deemed not relevant to the grant program. Still, the redactions emerged as a focal point for opposition anger and frustration on Wednesday, with Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre waving several partially and completely blacked-out pages during a news conference on Parliament Hill. Among the documents that Poilievre focused on was an email that WE co-founder Craig Kielburger sent to Morneau on April 26 with two attached documents, the contents of which are withheld. Wed love to learn about the attached documents in it, but unfortunately, in what is to become a trend throughout this package, all the relevant information in the two documents are completely blacked out, Poilievre said. Poilievre held up several other redacted documents before tossing them aside. This page blacked out, he said. This page blacked out. This page, blacked out. Why dont we ask whats in those pages at a parliamentary committee? Well, Ill tell you why: Justin Trudeau shut down those parliamentary committees. The New Democrats also complained about the documents Wednesday, with NDP finance critic Peter Julian writing a letter to finance committee chair and Liberal MP Wayne Easter arguing it wasnt up to the government to make redactions. Rather, he said the committees motion had called for the government to provide unredacted documents for the parliamentary law clerk to vet, with the understanding members would then be able to challenge redactions they thought were excessive. Nearly a quarter of the documents provided to committee members were redacted in whole or in part, Julian wrote. It is over 1,000 pages that we as parliamentarians do not have full access to shed light on this scandal. MPs on the finance committee actually received late Tuesday a second version of the same documents, which had been undergoing vetting by the parliamentary law clerk since they were submitted to the committee Aug. 9. That version redacted all the names and email addresses of bureaucrats so that it is impossible to tell who wrote what or who was talking to whom, which rendered them far less informative than the set Trudeau ordered released. Easter said he does not fault the law clerk for being cautious, but the end result rendered the documents essentially useless. Our intent as a committee in terms of the motion was (to find out) whos talking to who and what time did they talk to who and what did they say. So without the names theyre not going to be very effective for you, if at all, Easter said. If not for Trudeau ordering release of the documents as originally submitted to the committee, Easter said, there would have been far less information available. I think what the prime ministers documents show is the prime ministers trying to be transparent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020. Read more about: Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. by Sergio Ticozzi Contrary to what some journalists say, the last five episcopal appointments have more to do more with internal issues in their respective dioceses or with relations to the local government. Fr Sergio Ticozzi, PIME missionary and a China expert, provides some insight. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) Yesterday, Mgr Francis Xavier Jin Yangke (1958-) was officially installed as ordinary bishop of the Diocese of Ningbo (Zhejiang), almost three years after the death in 2017 of the then bishop, Mgr Matthew Hu Xiande, who was very aged. As he approached 80 years and was getting feebler, Bishop Hu felt compelled to ordain Jin as his coadjutor bishop, which he did it, quietly, on 28 November 2012. Upon Hus death, Mgr Jin succeeded him without much fanfare, not only as head of the Diocese, but also of the local branch of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA). The Council of Chinese Bishops finally agreed to his installation and the president of the Council, Mgr Joseph Ma Yinglin, led the ceremony that saw the participation of all the diocesan clergy and about 200 believers. Yesterdays was the fifth official installation for ordinary diocesan bishops since the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement on 22 September 2018. Two more episcopal ordinations took place in official communities, but some clarification is needed to avoid misunderstandings. The ordination of Mgr Anthony Yao Shun (1965-) as bishop of Jining (Inner Mongolia), on 26 August 2019, and Mgr Stephen Xu Hongwei (1975-) as bishop of Hanzhong (Shaanxi), on 28 August 2019, do not come under the Agreement, but had been in the making for a long time, under the separate auspices of the local community and the aged local bishop respectively. Circumstances and reasons were different for the five other installations. Negotiations for the first, that of Mgr Peter Jin Lugang (1956-) who became bishop of Nanyang (Henan) on 30 January 2019, had been going on for more than four years and was part of the slow and tiring process involving eight unofficial priests in Nanyang, faced with the dilemma of registering or be sent away, thus leaving their churches without clergy. Despite various appeals, they managed to find a practical solution on their own, including the official installation of Bishop Jin. Two underground bishops Mgr Peter Lin Jiashan (1934-) of Fuzhou (Fujian) and Mgr Paul Ma Cunguo (1971-) of Shuozhou (Shanxi) were also officially installed. Bishop Lin had been hoping for a long time to be officially recognised as a "metropolitan," but he dithered over asking for Romes approval. In the end, 86 years old and feeble, perhaps pushed by some priests with ulterior motives, Bishop Lin accepted (9 June 2020). Conversely, Bishop Ma did things calmly on 9 July 2020, with the cooperation of local authorities, to avoid further difficulties to his pastoral ministry. The other two installations are that of Mgr Peter Li Huiyuan (1965-) on 22 June 2020, who was ordained bishop in 2014 by Mgr Lucas Li Jingfeng, Bishop of Fengxiang (Shaanxi), and succeeded him in 2017, and that of Mgr Jin Yangke of Ningbo. Both were already official bishops, who succeeded their respective ordinary bishop after their death, but without being officially installed, as the Bishops' Council was late in agreeing to it for various reasons. Most likely, the delay was due to the fact that both had been ordained by their aged predecessors in a way that was deemed not in accordance with the rules. In the end they were given the green light and took the step without any reticence because they were already connected to the CPCA. It seems clear that each case must be examined on its own merit, and this can sometimes be difficult. Unfortunately, some journalists tend to put recent events under the rubric of the Sino-Vatican Agreement and give them an ambiguous, if not false twist. For the International Labour Organisation and the Asian Development Bank, employment prospects for 663 million young people of working age are dim with some 10-15 million jobs at risk. China reported the largest increase in unemployment so far. By the end of the year, the unemployment rate in several countries will be double at least. Young workers are found in the sectors most affected by the pandemic. Targeted policies by governments are needed. Bangkok (AsiaNews) Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of unemployed young people in the Asia-Pacific region is up and rising. A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that about 10-15 million people aged 15 and 24 are at risk of losing their jobs this year. The study shows that, as Asian economies sharply contract, job prospects for 663 million young people of working age are dim. Of the countries surveyed, China (with Hong Kong) recorded the highest rise in the unemployment rate, from 7.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 to 10.1 per cent in 2020. According to Chinas National Bureau of Statistics, youth unemployment in the country hit 13.8 per cent in April with a slight drop in July. In the same period, the number of unemployed also increased in Indonesia (+0.9), Malaysia (+0.7), Australia (+0.6), Vietnam (+0.5) and Japan (+0.3). Unemployment remained stable in Thailand; and despite the recessionary effects of COVID-19, South Korea saw unemployment decline by 0.3 per cent; 0.1 per cent in New Zealand. The forecast for the end of the year are negative though. Both the ILO and ADB expect the unemployment rate in Cambodia, the Philippines, Fiji, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand to at least double over 2019. The regions young people are more at risk than older age groups because half of them (about 110 million) work in sectors most affected by the pandemic crisis, namely wholesale and retail, services, hotels and restaurants, manufacturing. With education and training put on hold, the picture gets worse. For this reason, the LO and ADB urge the regions governments to adopt economic policies that target young people. Government should provide unemployment benefits or subsidies to complement wage cuts, as well as implement public employment programmes and measures to mitigate the impact of school closures on students. Panaji, Aug 19 : Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari arrived in Goa on Wednesday, hours after outgoing Governor Satya Pal Malik left for Meghalaya to take up his new brief as the Governor of the north-eastern state. Koshyari will hold additional charge as the Governor of Goa. He is scheduled to be administered the oath of office at a formal ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here in the evening. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, Chief Secretary Parimal Rai, and other top officials welcomed Koshyari at Goa's Dabolim International Airport. "Gave a warm welcome to Shri @BSKoshyari Ji, Governor-designate, on his arrival at Dabolim Airport," Sawant tweeted. Malik, who served as Goa Governor for 10 months, was seen off by Sawant, political leaders and senior officials hours earlier. Malik's departure was preceded by a series of run-ins with the Goa Chief Minister over issues related to Covid-19 management and a proposal to construct a new Raj Bhavan amid the ongoing pandemic. Brandon Deonte McDaniel, 21, has been taken into custody in a homicide that occurred at a residence in the 4800 block of 15th Avenue on Monday. Donald Troutwine, 25, was shot Monday evening and died from his injuries after a shot was fired into his home following an altercation. Multiple witnesses said the victim was sitting in his living room when a man came into the residence yelling about a missing cellphone. The man said he was going to "shoot up" the residence. Then he walked outside. Just as he left the witnesses said they heard one shot. Donald Troutwine said he had been shot and he got up and ran into the kitchen, where he collapsed on the floor. One witness said he saw the man fire one time into the residence with a dark-colored firearm. He then ran to a white Jeep and fled the scene. Two witnesses were shown a photo lineup and they picked out McDaniel. A single shell casing was found in the front yard. A window on the front of the house was damaged. Police found blood on the floor of the kitchen. Chattanooga Police responded to a person shot call in the 4800 block of 15th Avenue at approximately 8:13 p.m. Upon arrival, police located Mr. Troutwine suffering from a single gunshot wound. He was taken by Hamilton County EMS to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Police earlier said, "It was stated to investigators that prior to the shooting an adult male entered the residence threatening violence then exited the home. Soon after, a suspect shot into the home, striking the victim. The incident appears to be isolated to those involved." Acting on a tip that was called in to police, the CPD Fugitive Unit, CPD Gun Team, Hamilton County Fugitive Unit, U.S. Marshals, and ATF apprehended McDaniel at a residence in the 2700 block of Dodson Avenue. McDaniel is being held at the Hamilton County Jail. While talking about the statement that actor and ex-girlfriend of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Rhea Chakraborty made in the court, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Wednesday said she has no stature to comment on Bihar Chief Minister. The comment from the Bihar DGP came just days after Rhea approached the Supreme Court to file an affidavit seeking an end to media trial. #WATCH "Bihar ke mukhyamantri pe comment karne ki aukaat Rhea Chakraborty ki nahi hai," says Bihar DGP when asked about the actor's comments on CM Nitish Kumar. #SushantSinghRajput pic.twitter.com/qDPKkHINhE ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 She reportedly has stated in her affidavit that Sushants case is being blown out of proportion as Bihar elections are just round-the-corner and also an FIR was filed in Bihar because the Chief Minister got involved in the matter. Notably, holding that the FIR registered in Bihars Patna over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput was legitimate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to investigate the case. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actors death after the Centre accepted Bihar governments recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. An FIR was registered in Patna on a complaint filed by KK Singh, Rajputs father, under sections related to abetment to suicide. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. BOSTON - Shiv Pillai, MD, PhD, investigator in the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS), recently published a paper in Cell showing that that high levels of some cytokines seen in COVID-19 patients, as part of a cytokine storm, may prevent the development of long-term immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. "We've seen a lot of studies suggesting that immunity in COVID-19 may not be durable because the antibodies decline over time," says Pillai. "More telling for us was that in patients with both mild as well as severe disease, asntibodies lacked a key structural feature that is a hallmark of the 'highest quality' antibodies in a normal immune response. By using our understanding of how two different types of immune cells normally collaborate to make the best antibodies, we were able to find a mechanism that could explain this lower-quality immune response in COVID-19 patients." Pillai's group, working with Robert Padera, MD, PhD, associate professor at HMS, examined the spleens and lymph nodes of deceased COVID-19 patients and found that a lack of germinal centers, an essential part of a durable immune response. Germinal centers are structures induced within the lymph nodes and spleens during infection or vaccination. In them, B cells, the immune cells that produce antibodies, mature to become long-lived "memory" cells. This process, along with controlled mutations in antibody genes, allows the immune system to select for and immortalize B cells that make the best antibodies against a particular pathogen. This creates a life-long "memory" of a pathogen which allows the body to quickly and effectively identify and attack the pathogen in the case of re-infection. Without germinal centers, there aren't enough B cells that can create a high-quality antibody response to produce long-term immunity. To form germinal centers, B cells depend on key support from another specialized type of cell called a helper T cell. Pillai's group showed that in COVID-19 patients the specialized type of helper T cell does not develop, and as a consequence B cells are not helped in the right way. The study found no germinal centers in acutely ill patients. Previous studies with infectious disease in mice have shown that high levels of cytokines, small signalling molecules unique to the immune system, can prevent the formation of these helper T cells and therefore of germinal centers. Large amounts of a cytokine called TNF, in particular, prevented germinal center formation. Severe COVID-19 cases were found to have massive amounts of TNF in the location where germinal centers would normally form. Lack of germinal centers has been observed in other diseases, including SARS, and does not mean there is no immune response. "There is an immune response in COVID-19," Padera says. "It's just not coming from a germinal center." However, the lack of geminal centers could have major implications for development of herd immunity "Without the formation of germinal centers, there is unlikely to be long-term memory to this virus developing from natural infections, meaning that while antibodies may protect people for a relatively short time, a single person who recovers from the disease could get infected again, perhaps six months later, or even multiple times with SARS-CoV-2. This suggests that developing herd immunity may be difficult," adds Pillai. This finding would likely not affect vaccine-induced immunity, as vaccines do not induce cytokine storms. A vaccine-induced immune response would likely include the development of a germinal center, and the ensuing creation and immortalization of high-quality antibodies that would provide long-lasting protecting against COVID-19. ### About the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard was established in 2009 with a gift from the Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Foundation, creating a collaborative scientific mission among these institutions to harness the immune system to combat and cure human diseases. With a focus on HIV and infectious diseases, the Ragon Institute draws scientists, clinicians and engineers from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to study and understand the immune system with the goal of benefiting patients. For more information, visit http://www.ragoninstitute.org About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 8,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2019 the MGH was named #6 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in its list of "America's Best Hospitals." Democrats Hold Unprecedented Virtual Convention From Milwaukee In this screenshot from the DNCCs livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) addresses the virtual convention on August 18, 2020. Credit - Handout/DNCC Getty Images Former Vice President Joe Biden was nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee on Tuesday, as a parade of his old allies appeared onscreen for the second night of the virtual convention. Many are supporters who have long run in the highest echelons of the Democratic Party; former U.S. Presidents and other legacy names made up the bulk of the program. Despite the extraordinary circumstances, the evening would have sounded a lot like the Democratic conventions before it if not for several memorable appearances by up-and-comers within the party, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who gave a short speech seconding the nomination of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Georgia state House minority leader Stacey Abrams, who closed out a joint keynote delivered by 17 of the partys next generation of leaders from around the country. Democratic power structures have long favored politicians like Biden and other establishment figures, and the primary made clear that the progressive positions many of those young leaders have embraced are not the center of gravity for the party. But as the presidential candidate who, in a sign of the times, returned his mask over his face after he briefly thanked the party for the nomination casts himself as a transitional figure for the party, the ever-looming question of what comes next? hangs constantly in the air. On Tuesday, it was the progressive wing and young leaders who offered some answers. Ocasio-Cortez said she was there in fidelity and gratitude to a mass peoples movement working to establish twenty-first century social, economic, and human rights including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States. Story continues It was an ode to the movement Sanders and progressive allies attempted to expand during the presidential primary. Though progressives are now working to convince their supporters that they should back Biden included Sanders himself, who gave the latest such speech Monday night Ocasio-Cortezs statement was a nod to the resilience of a strain of politics growing in popularity within the party, especially among its younger members. Ady Barkan, a health care activist diagnosed with ALS, a deadly disease that has paralyzed most of his body, also appeared to vouch for Biden. Barkan first endorsed progressive Senators Elizabeth Warren and then Sanders. In poignant remarks delivered via computerized voice, Barkan urged Americans to elect Biden and to get a bill through Congress that would guarantee health care. We live in the richest country in history, and yet we do not guarantee this most basic human right, Barkan said. Everyone living in America should get the health care they need, regardless of their employment status or ability to pay. The Democratic Party has long prided itself on being a big-tent party, and its diversity in both ideology and its members was evident throughout the night. The keynote address featured trailblazing leaders including Nevada state Senator Yvanna Cancela, the first Latina to serve in the state Senate; Sam Park, the first openly gay man in Georgias state legislature, and Randall Woodfin, the youngest mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, in more than a century. For the roll call, delegates cast their votes from around the country, appearing in settings tailored to local flavor and to the times. There was defense of mail ballots from Utah; a request to keep Iowa in your thoughts after the derecho that hit the state on August 10; and pushback against white supremacy from Virginia. The Biden campaign has participated in Unity Task Forces on various issues, where Biden-world allies and progressives have worked together to create proposals for Biden and the party. Both have made a point in collaborating after a long primary, seeking to stitch together a broad coalition to go up against Trump in November. Tuesdays convention gave a sense of which stars and policy ideas it has waiting in the wings, even if theyre not the ones on this years top ticket. New Delhi, Aug 19 : As coronavirus cases continue to surge in India, restricting several economic activities, the World Bank may project a steeper contraction of the Indian economy for the current financial year, revised from the previous estimate of 3.2 per cent. In its report 'India Development Update' for July 2020, the World Bank said that amid rapidly evolving conditions, projections made in May are likely to be revised as new information is incorporated, especially as the daily number of cases continues to increase resulting in several states and districts re-imposing lockdowns, and available high frequency indicators show that the economy has not yet reverted to baseline. In May, the World Bank had projected the Indian economy to contract by 3.2 per cent in FY 2020-21, and predicted rebound slowly in the next fiscal. In its report released on Wednesday, the World Bank said that in the current, rapidly evolving context these projections are likely to be revised as new information is incorporated. "In our revised projections, which would be available in October 2020, we would likely project a steeper contraction in the economy," it said. It noted that although a rebound is expected in FY 2021-22, it will take place "very slowly, reflecting the impact of the crisis not only on India's current growth but also on potential output, which is expected to return to trend only over the next several quarters". Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India, said: "While the government of India, with the support of the Reserve Bank of India, is continuing to take action to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a recognition of both the uncertainty of the nature of the economic revival globally and the emergence of opportunities opened by the current crisis." He noted that the countries that invest in sectoral reforms -- infrastructure, labour and land, human capital -- and ensure that their national systems are connected to the global value chains, are more able to respond to uncertainties and are better placed to take advantage of any global shifts. "Investing in these areas will give India the ability to navigate these uncertainties and be more competitive as the world emerges from the pandemic," Ahmad said. On the government disinvestment plans, the World Bank report said that given unprecedented financial market volatility, planned disinvestment is expected to proceed more slowly in the near-term. As a result, the fiscal deficit and debt of the central government are likely to increase sharply over the next two years, it said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:16:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Doctors' Day, also known as Medical Workers' Day, falls on Aug. 19. In late 2017, the State Council, China's cabinet, set Aug. 19 as the national Doctors' Day starting from 2018. The decision was made to show care to the country's health and medical workers and to acknowledge their outstanding work. According to health authorities, activities will be held on this day to promote the noble spirit intrinsic to the medical profession, foster a sound social environment that respects medical workers, and accelerate implementation of the Healthy China initiative. Enditem Zarif: US trying to resuscitate the past IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Aug 18, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to the attempt made by the US and the UK to suffocate Iranians, saying the US has tries to resuscitate the past. "67 years ago today, US/UK tried to suffocate the Iranian people's demand for dignity in a coup overthrowing their elected government," Zarif wrote in his Twitter account on Tuesday. "Since 1979, the US has desperately tried to resuscitate the past. Yet it keeps getting humiliated by the Iranian people," he added. "Time to change tack?" Earlier, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad in a message referred to the 1953 coup in Iran, saying the UK should apologize for its infringement against Iranian national sovereignty. The coup staged by the US in Iran on August 19, 1953, is a prominent example of West's interference. Though the coup looked successful at first, its achievement was ruined with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when the Iranian people won their national sovereignty and became a totally independent country. 9376**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The evacuation zone for the CZU August Lightning Complex named for the fires ignited by a rash of thunderstorms early this week now encompasses all of California's oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods. The Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office released a map of the recommended evacuation areas for the fire Wednesday morning, revealing the reaches of the devastating fires that have already torched 10,000 acres and threatened 6,000 buildings. Gabe McKenna, public superintendent for California State Parks Santa Cruz, told SFGATE that Big Basin is already completed evacuated. Its evolving right now, we dont have real time updates, he added. The CZU complex, made up of a group of large fires, swept through San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties overnight pushing smoke into the Santa Clara Valley. Last night, we saw a major increase in fire activity throughout both San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, and we saw several of the fires merge together, said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jonathan Cox during a briefing Wednesday morning. This is a very active timber fire burning in two counties, with a serious threat to both public safety and for structures that are out in front of it. Santa Cruz Sheriff Office Established in 1902, Big Basin is California's oldest state park. It forms part of the Northern California coastal forests ecoregion and contains the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. The park is home to a plethora of wildlife including deer, banana slugs, raccoons, bobcats, egrets, herons and acorn woodpeckers. The lush canyons are also home to many waterfalls. The existential threat posed to the flora and fauna in the California Historical Landmark's 18,000 acres has never been so severe. Alongside Big Basin, other state parks located near the CZU August Lightning Complex are now closed until further notice, including: Portola Redwoods State Park, Butano State Park, Rancho del Oso Unit, Ano Nuevo State Park, Castle Rock State Park and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, including the Fall Creek Unit. This video shared by Cal Fire over the weekend shows a plane dropping fire retardant on the smoke emanating from a forest in the region. A press conference on the status of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire will be held at 6 p.m. by the Cal Fire at the incident basecamp at 361 Kings Village Road in Scotts Valley. Andrew Chamings is an editor at SFGATE. Email: Andrew.Chamings@sfgate.com | Twitter: @AndrewChamings YEREVAN. I propose lets not to talk today about the April inquiry committee and the events that took place because I promised at the committee that if they at least provide me with my answers, I will not publish any opinion or question voiced in the committee. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan said this Wednesday at his press conference, when asked how he assessed the setting up of the parliamentary inquiry committee on the April 2016 war. "I even said [to them], 'If you give everythingand they gave me everythingI promise not to publish anything until 2050, unless there is a very big extremeness.' It would be right for me to keep my promise. I would like to add that the inquiry committee will present its report to the National Assembly; after that we will definitely have the opportunity to meet so that we either agree or disagree with the opinions of the committee," the third president of Armenia added. Ryanair has described the National Public Health Emergency Team and Ireland as "the laughing stock of Europe" as they called for more countries to be added to the so-called 'green list' of countries where it is safe to travel to. They also criticised health officials for only making facemasks mandatory three months after Ryanair announced they would be required on flights on the low-cost airline. The airline called on the government, to allow business to resume next month, to add the UK and Germany to the 'green list' and to consider adding other nations such as Portugal, Austria, Poland and Greece. The 'green list', a spokesperson for Ryanair claimed, has "clearly failed" in preventing the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, with health officials having "spectacularly mismanaged" the pandemic. NPHET and Ireland are the laughing stock of Europe," the spokesperson said. "We have operated the most isolationist travel policy in Europe since 1 July, yet our Covid case rates are now significantly higher than many other EU countries such as Italy and Germany, who removed intra-EU travel restrictions in July and have successfully managed a return of economic activity with much lower Covid case rates than Ireland." The remarks came as CSO statistics show that over 10.3m fewer passengers used Irish airports in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period 12 months ago - representing a 98.4% drop. For the first half of the year, airline passengers fell by 66%, compared to 2019. "The figures show a dramatic decrease in international travel during Q2 2020," CSO statistician Olive Loughnane said. "In particular, data for April 2020 shows a fall of 99.2% in passengers handled by Irish airports compared to the same month in 2019. This is associated with restrictions imposed due to Covid-19." Randall & Quilter II Holdings Limited has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Inceptum Insurance Co. Inceptum is closed to new business and the companys principal activities are the run-off of general insurance business, settling claims and expenses within the established reserves. Inceptum recorded a loss in 2019 (588k compared to a profit in 2018 of 160k) due largely to an increase in gross outstanding reserves not being matched proportionally by reinsurance recoveries. Inceptum was incorporated in England and Wales in 1998. According to its 2019 financial status report, Inceptum has its origins as HSBC Insurance Limited, a subsidiary of HSBC Bank. This subsidiary wrote personal and commercial UK motor business. A small volume of household and schools business was also underwritten. In 2009, HSBC decided to return to core business. That decision, combined with deteriorating results, led to the cessation of underwriting. In 2011 the business was acquired in its entirety by Syndicate Holding Corp., a Puerto Rican holding company. Inceptum is part of the Vibe Group of companies. Paul Corver, group head of Mergers & Acquisitions, said R&Q is seeing clear evidence of increased demand for legacy solutions throughout 2020 and R&Q has a healthy pipeline of opportunities and a number of further transactions which are nearing completion. R&Qs legacy insurance unit profits from management of legacy non-life insurance portfolios. Topics Mergers 'We want to make sure that we are certainly targeting the entire Indian American community. IMAGE: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris at their first joint appearance since Biden named Harris as his running mate, at the Alexis Dupont high school in Wilmington, Delaware. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters Long before Kamala Harris was picked as the vice-presidential candidate, a group of Indians were already working to get presidential candidate Joe Biden elected. It has now come together as the Indians for Biden National Council, under the South Asians for Biden umbrella. As Neha Dewan, national director of the SAB, said in a press release, 'Joe Biden's experience and know-how, along with Kamala Harris's unrelenting grit and passion for fighting for justice, is exactly what is needed for these unprecedented times.' 'That Senator Kamala Harris is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, adds another dimension to this moment,' Diwan added. In a nod toward President Donald Trump's nativist rhetoric, Sanjeev Joshipura, director, IBNC, said the upcoming election could decide the future of the Indian-American community. He argued that his group would also be "working to educate community members about Biden's long history of supporting India and the Indian American community, as well as educating voters about Senator Harris's illustrious career in public service, and highlighting Harris's Indian heritage." Dewan and Joshipura spoke to Rediff.com'S Senior US Contributor P Rajendran about the nascent group and the steps it plans to take get to the diverse groups that make up the Indian community. When you set up this organisation, what did you propose to achieve? Neha Dewan: Before I get to that, with regard to SAB, we're a national grassroots organization. What we are trying to do is get Biden elected, but it's through the engagement, education and mobilisation of the South Asian community -- and that's the entireSouth Asian Diaspora. However, through our outreach, a process learned is that perhaps it might also be best if you had a little bit more of a surgical process, the kind that addresses the individual needs of the community. So it makes sense to have these individual councils that fall under this SAB umbrella so that they're still benefiting sort of from the messaging, the training, the resources, but have their own sort of, you know, emphasis, especially in outreach with respect to the Indian American community, specifically ... with respect to this launch. We've already been targeting the Indian American community, but we want to make sure that we are certainly targeting the entire Indian American community. So really the purpose of the council is to address those efforts. IMAGE: Kamala Harris signs the official documents needed to receive her party's official nomination. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters The Indian community is pretty fragmented in the way that it thinks right, like, for example, the older people. They used to be generally Democrat, especially in the northern states, not so much in the southern. But that's because of where you live decides how you behave, right? So, the older people nowadays are turning or swinging more right. Aren't they? Neha Dewan: I mean I think it depends on you know who you speak to in which states, you sort of go into, But that's one of the concerns that we've had -- that a traditional Democratic voting bloc is voting Republican at times. So that's one of the reasons what we thought was that if we actually had a dedicated council to do outreach to these particular individuals that are swinging right this time, we would be able to develop the appropriate messaging. We are already doing that as part of SAB. But we certainly want to make sure that we are listening to communities that we may not necessarily have been able to reach before. IMAGE: A scene from a South Asians for Biden campaign event. Photograph: Kind courtesy southasiansforbiden/Facebook.com People who are highly motivated, like the supporters of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are likely to vote for Donald Trump (who stood with the Indian leader at a huge event in Houston and later visited him in India), while others are usually not that motivated to vote either way. Besides, Indians who tilt further left in their politics have been a little disappointed by the fact that Bernie Sanders has lost out to Biden. So, you know, at least as far as Indians go, things are uncertain. Would that be accurate? If so, are you looking to address that? Neha Dewan: We're looking to address the entire needs of the Indian American community, right? Which is why we sort of gave birth to the council -- to make sure that we are one hearing from everybody. We can only hear from our reach, and if we don't have a reach to everybody within the community, certainly with respect to the generational differences, then we're not necessarily addressing it. So within SAB our infrastructure ranges all the way from college students to retirees, but we really want to be very surgical with respect to this in some of the points that you've made -- to be able to speak to the voters directly, to be able to, you know, speak to sort of Biden's policies and agendas and things of that nature, and just also highlight policies that affect the South Asian community specifically. Sanjeev Joshipura: Let me just add to that a little bit. So three quick points I'll make one is one you're already kind of alluded to yourself: The community is not a monolith. I will acknowledge that in certain segments of the community there are some questions about Biden-Harris and there is some leaning towards Donald Trump-Mike Pence. However, I have heard in my work with not only with Indians for Biden, but I've been a volunteer with the Biden campaign in different capacities even before this... that there is a very significant bloc, a large bloc, of Indian American voters who are also strong Biden supporters. There is a lot of disinformation floating around in the media right now which I have read, that there are some Indian supporters of the Trump campaign who are claiming that the entire Indian community or the vast majority would vote for Trump en masse and blindly. And that is really not true because there are no surveys, no legitimacy to back this up. The last point is you alluded to is about the bit of tension in the Democratic party between the moderate centre and the more left flank of the party. The only thing I would say to that is that if you look at the campaign platform that Biden had himself released, Joe Biden has incorporated ideas from the progressive (side) as well -- and very strongly and enthusiastically so -- and specifically the Indian Diaspora platform that has been recently released, and the US-India platform, he is very, very strongly pro-Diaspora. But the younger people generally tend to be more progressive, I guess -- the Saikat Chakravarti kind of group. There are others. Look at Kshama Sawant, or Pramila Jayapal. They are generally young. That group is is leaning farther left and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and similar issues in a way the older people have not quite embraced. Particularly we Indians often do have race issue ourselves. Sanjeev Joshipura: No, I don't disagree with you and that is why, as I said, that is why, as Neha said, this council has been created. IMAGE: Scene at a South Asians for Biden campaign event. Photograph: Kind courtesy southasiansforbiden/Facebook.com What are the actual things on the ground, you'd be doing to make changes? How are you planning to reach out? IMAGE: Neha Dewan, National Director, South Asians for Biden. Photograph: Kind courtesy Southasiansforbiden.org IMAGE: Neha Dewan, National Director, South Asians for Biden. Neha Dewan: I'll just give you at least the SAB perspective. We're already developing some of the talking points. We have a rapid response team that works on messaging with respect to graphics and videos and things like that with respect at least to primarily dispelling some of the incorrect and false and mythical information that's out there. And then second, to highlight some of the other aspects that are not necessarily being focused upon. So, our hope is that we can work with the council to disseminate that information. Sanjeev Joshipura: First of all, I'll just divided into two pieces. The August 15 event that you know that the Biden-Harris campaign did was a tremendous event. Frankly, no other event has received this kind of attention in terms of videos by Biden. That itself is a testament to that outreach to the community. That's number one. Number two, in terms of forward looking in future, I think we are going to be focused on four or five very specific things at the Indians for Biden National Council. The overarching theme you've already mentioned is outreach to a generation of voters who might not consider themselves South Asian but consider consider themselves more Indian; outreach in swing states; outreach including to people who have some questions about Biden and to increase the enthusiasm among those that don't have any questions about Biden. So all of these are the overarching themes. Within that, in terms of tactical implementation, we will be looking at media outreach, sort of like we're doing now; direct voter outreach -- get out the vote, that kind of thing -- then outreach to leaders of organisations that are active in the Indian community in various swing states and so forth; and a tremendous social media push, which we already just started. It will take up from a life of its own. I'm building an advisory council of prominent folks in the community who can support this effort. We are looking at a very preliminary way right now -- this is not something that I can talk to you about with any degree of certainty or confidence at this moment because I literally took this job two days ago as a volunteer -- but we are looking at further events/fundraisers potentially down the road. IMAGE: Sanjeev Joshipura, Director, Indians for Biden National Council. Photograph: Kind courtesy Indiaspora.org IMAGE: Sanjeev Joshipura, Director, Indians for Biden National Council. So much of a social media, what, what is it the tack you are planning to take? Some people have been using ridicule because that seems to work for some. Is there any strategy out there in place or is it still up in the air. Yeah, we're not we're not looking at going low. We have a social media Facebook page and a Twitter handle already. If you look at those you will find that they are all positive proclamations, positive article, promoting) empathy. They are not hitting below the belt. They are not resorting to the kind of tactics that the other side resorts to. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra agreed with her brother, Rahul Gandhi, last year when he said that a non-Gandhi should lead their party, according to a new book. The book, India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next generation of Political Leaders written by US academicians Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah, also quotes Priyanka Gandhi as having said that the Congress should have its own path. Perhaps not in the (resignation) letter but elsewhere he has said that none of us should be the president of the party and I am in full agreement with him, the book quotes Priyanka Gandhi as having said in her interview to the authors. Commenting on it, a senior Congress functionary said, on the condition of anonymity, that a 15-month old comment of Priyanka Gandhi is being projected as a fresh interview. The authors had met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on July 2019 for the interview and they had also spoken to Rahul Gandhi around the same time. Congress leaders recall that Rahul Gandhi had offered his resignation from the presidents post at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25 last year, taking responsibility for the partys crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi remained firm on his decision and posted a farewell note to his supporters on July 3 last year to put a stamp of finality on his resignation. In the CWC meeting, Rahul Gandhi slammed the veterans for placing the interests of their sons above the party, and also mentioned that some leaders had even lost the election from their strongholds even as he criticised a section of the so-called GenNext for hankering for posts. Also Read: Dont need to be Congress president to strengthen it: Rahul in new book He also told the CWC a non-Gandhi should be elected as the new Congress chief. In the same meeting, Priyanka Gandhi, while insisting that only one person could not be held accountable for the poll debacle, had agreed with her brother that a non-Gandhi should become the Congress president. The Congress did try to find a non-Gandhi as its chief but failed to do so. Ahead of another CWC meeting on August 10, its members were divided into five groups to interact with state leaders from five regions of the country and evolve a consensus on the party chiefs name. While Sonia Gandhi was in the group that interacted with the leaders from the eastern region of the country, Rahul Gandhi was in the group for the west. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was part of the group for the north, Manmohan Singh south and Ambika Soni for the northeast. Priyanka Gandhi had outright rejected the demands for her to take over the party. On August 1, at a meeting of Congress general secretaries and in-charge of states to discuss preparations for the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on August 20, Priyanka Gandhi vetoed a suggestion that she assume the leadership role, squarely telling her party that she did not want to be dragged into this. Her move was aimed at firmly spiking an idea that has been supported by several senior Congress leaders over the last few weeks. A section of the Congress, including Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Thiruvananthapuram lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, had backed her for the post of the party president. These developments have surfaced at a time when several members among the party have been demanded that Rahul Gandhi be reinstated as the party president. Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari have also put forward a suggestion that the party should hold internal elections if Rahul Gandhi does not withdraw his resignation. Several ministers, MPs and former chief ministers have urged Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi to settle the leadership issues and uncertainty in the Congress party. Priyanka Gandhis response came when a party general secretary, in the course of the meeting, suggested that she should come forward and assume the leadership role. She firmly told him and others present to desist from taking her name as her brothers replacement. Dont drag me into this, she had said. Before the CWC meeting on August 10 last year, senior leader Mukul Wasnik had emerged as one of the frontrunners for the top party post. However, consensus eluded the meeting and finally, the CWC requested Sonia Gandhi to once again accept the responsibility and after Rahul Gandhi turned down repeated demands to withdraw his resignation. She had given up the post in December 2017 when Rahul Gandhi assumed the reins of the party. Initially, Sonia Gandhi refused to accept the request but agreed after repeated pleas by party leaders on the condition that she would stay on interim chief only till the election to choose a full-time president was held. Sonia Gandhi has then said her returning as the party chief would again give a handle to the opponents to attack the Congress on grounds that the Gandhi family was unwilling to give up its hold over the party. Priyanka Gandhis remarks created a buzz in Congress circles amid a clamour for Rahul Gandhi to take up the responsibility once again. Leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari have suggested that there should be internal elections if Rahul Gandhi refuses to withdraw his resignation. There is also a talk in the party that many leaders, including former chief ministers and MPs, have written to Sonia Gandhi to settle the leadership issue and end the uncertainty at the top. Sushant Singh Rajput Death Anniversary: A Timeline of the of events that have transpired so far At least 6 members of Sushant Singh Rajputs family killed in road accident in Bihar Sushant Singh Rajputs death case: A timeline of events India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Aug 19: Following is the chronology of events in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case in which the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the case to the CBI. Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Supreme Court orders CBI probe, rejects Rhea's plea | Oneindia News Jun 14: Rajput, 34, found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai. Mumbai Police starts inquest proceedings under CrPC to ascertain the cause of unnatural death. Jun 18: Rajput's girlfriend and actress Rhea Chakraborty records her statement before Mumbai Police. Jul 6: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali records statement in the case. Jul 18: Filmmaker and Yash Raj Films (YRF) chairman Aditya Chopra records his statement with Mumbai Police. Jul 25: Rajput's father K K Singh lodges an FIR in Patna for several offences including abetment of suicide against Rhea and her family members. Jul 27: Mumbai Police records filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's statement. Jul 29: Rhea moves SC seeking transfer of the FIR in from Patna to Mumbai. Jul 31: ED says it has filed a money laundering case in the matter. Aug 4: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar says the state government has recommended CBI investigation in the matter. Mumbai Police Commissioner says 54 persons in all have recorded their statements in the case. Aug 6: CBI says it has lodged an FIR in the matter. Aug 7: Centre moves SC seeking to be made a party in Rhea's plea. Aug 8: Rajput's father K K Singh moves SC, opposing Rhea's plea. Aug 10: Rhea moves fresh plea before SC alleging media trial. Aug 11: Maharashtra govt tells SC that Bihar Police lacks jurisdiction. SC reserves judgement on Rhea's plea. Aug 19: SC upholds transfer of the Patna FIR to the CBI in the case. 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Kamala Harris to speak on Day 3 of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Sen. Kamala Harris will accept the Democratic Party's vice presidential nomination, and former President Barack Obama will make the case for his own ex-running mate during the third night of the Democratic National Convention. Joe Biden became the party's official presidential nominee on Tuesday night. Harris, a California Democrat, is expected to vouch for the ticket's readiness for office and criticize President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Obama, meanwhile, will be the third former president to advocate for Biden during the convention. (See the highlights from the first and second nights). Speakers will start at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday. They will address the convention virtually from around the country after the coronavirus pandemic forced the party to scrap its event in Milwaukee. Germany recorded the highest number of new coronavirus cases in nearly four months, fueling fears about a resurgence of infections across Europe. Officials are already tightening restrictions on movement again in an effort to prevent summer partying and travel from spreading the disease. Spain and Italy have shut nightclubs and Greece limited hours for bars and restaurants to try to avoid more drastic measures after the holiday season winds down. Governments are desperate to foster a recovery after activity collapsed in the second quarter, but a failure to act decisively to prevent a widespread resurgence could mean more pain for the economy later on. Officials in Austria and Ireland will discuss possible new restrictions later on Tuesday, while the Netherlands may reintroduce limits on numbers at group gatherings. Tourist-reliant Croatia is feeling the sting of an uptick in covid infections, which is raising concern over further countries introducing quarantines for those returning from holidays there. The latest figures showed the Adriatic Sea nation with 85 new cases on Monday after a record 208 on Friday. After an exodus of Austrian guests over the weekend, who wanted to beat the virus travel warning effective from Monday, neighboring Slovenia may be next to ramp up measures. A key road transit route for European Union residents to Croatia's sunny coast, Slovenia has been considering tightening its border regime and ministers have suggested that citizens return home as soon as possible. "We agree that quarantine should be imposed for all returnees" from Croatia, Slovenian Health Minister Tomaz Gantar said late on Monday. The government in Ljubljana is expected to make a decision within days. Germany remains a primary concern. Credit risk advanced, with investors taking fright at the uptick in Europe's biggest economy and most populous nation. An index of default risk on Europe's highest quality companies rose and an equivalent measure for junk bonds also gained. There were 1,693 new German cases in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, the most since April 25, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The number of daily cases reached almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in the spring. There have been a number of outbreaks in recent weeks in settings such as larger family events and leisure activities, as well as in educational and professional facilities, according to the country's RKI public health institute. Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a meeting of her CDU party in Berlin on Monday that rising infections are a concern, though manageable, and there is currently no scope for loosening curbs. The government may move to restrict social gatherings to close family members for the time being. There are more encouraging signs elsewhere in Europe. Italy -- the original epicenter of the outbreak on the continent -- reported 320 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the lowest increase in a week. France recorded 493 new infections Monday. While that was a sharp drop from a day earlier, the rise in new cases in recent weeks has prompted authorities to consider new measures, such as wearing masks in offices. President Emmanuel Macron on Monday urged French citizens to remain vigilant. "In the weeks to come, we will have to continue fighting a health crisis which is taking another form," Macron said. "The virus is accelerating again, so a lot of vigilance is required." Over the summer, local authorities sealed off some public areas such as beaches to prevent parties. Nightclubs have been closed since mid-March and a ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people was extended until the end of October. Austria is discussing changes to its border regime after vacationers returning from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey were among the factors driving up daily infections to four-month-highs. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz may announce new measures after meeting with his health and interior ministers later on Tuesday. Austria recorded 295 new infections on Tuesday, keeping the seven-day average at the level of mid-April. More than 2,200 Austrians currently have the virus, the most since the end of April and about six times more than in June. In Ireland, government officials will meet to decide on new recommendations from health authorities. Older and vulnerable people are to be told to limit their time outdoors, the Irish Independent reported on Tuesday. Indoor family gatherings will be limited to six people, and outdoor home gatherings to 15 in an effort to curb parties, the newspaper said. Amsterdam is expected to announce tighter measures on Tuesday, Dutch news agency ANP reported late Monday, citing Health Minister Hugo de Jonge. In eastern Europe, Romania continued to struggle to contain the spread of the virus as social-distancing rules have been largely neglected during the summer holidays. Romania has surpassed 3,000 fatalities from Covid-19 after a record number of new cases last week. The government extended restrictions to a total of 13 counties and the capital Bucharest, ordering outdoor restaurants and casinos to close at midnight. Romania recorded 1,014 cases on Tuesday, about two-thirds of last week's peak. Poland is also seeing a gradual decline in infections after a spike earlier in the month, with 597 new cases on Tuesday, while Ukraine registered 1,616. Even in the Baltic states, which have been relatively less affected by the virus, authorities are clamping down. Estonia imposed stricter alcohol sales rules in a city which saw an outbreak, while Lithuania's government is discussing reintroducing mandatory masks in outdoor public spaces. In the Czech Republic, whose capital Prague is another tourist magnet, face masks will become obligatory in public indoor areas as of Sept. 1. Healthcare workers conduct disinfection procedures at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Tuesday, amid a surge of other church members testing positive for COVID-19. / Yonhap By Park Ji-won A Protestant church ignited the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic last week, months after the country saw its case curve flattening with daily new infections in the single digits. Since the first member of the Sarang Jeil Church was confirmed to be infected, Aug. 12, 279 new cases had been reported by Sunday, the first three-digit infection figure going beyond 200 since March. As of noon Wednesday, at least 623 infections have been linked to the Sarang Jeil Church, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The Seoul-based church, led by Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon well-known for his sharp-tongued criticism of President Moon Jae-in has been likened to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus religious cult which sparked the first wave of infections here earlier this year. Why, among other religious groups, have Protestant churches become the epicenters of COVID-19 outbreaks? Lee Jin-gu, director of the Seoul-based think tank the Korea Institute for Religion and Culture, said the worship culture and the relatively loose denomination-local church relationships appear to have made Protestant churches more vulnerable to outbreaks than other religious groups such as Buddhists or Catholics. He said Catholics and Buddhists have been more cooperative than Protestants in government-led anti-virus measures. Compared to Catholics, he said the worship culture in evangelical churches is livelier as people are crowded inside and sing hymns loudly while clapping. "The way Protestant churches work can also explain why they are so vulnerable," he said. "Unlike Catholicism or Buddhism which have a centralized system with effective top-down decision-making, Protestant churches are decentralized. Major decisions are made in the general assembly but their decisions are not binding. Some local churches don't follow the rules set by the denomination. This difference may explain why Protestant churches are more vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks than Catholic ones." Buddhist temples are mostly located on mountainsides and thus are not as crowded as churches. "There are some temples based in urban areas. But like Catholics, Buddhists have a centralized decision-making system and local temples faithfully follow the rules set by head temples," Lee said. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / World High Life Plc (AQSE:LIFE)(OTCQB:WRHLF) ("World High Life" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, London-based CBD brand, Love Hemp Limited ("Love Hemp") reports a 57% growth in sales in July 2020 over June 2020. "The wellness industry isn't showing any signs of slowing down. What we have witnessed is an increased consumption of CBD during the pandemic, and we expect this to continue post-Covid. We believe that people who continue to feel anxious or have trouble sleeping and are increasingly turning to more natural health and wellness solutions to add to their self-care routines," says Tony Calamita, CEO at Love Hemp. Love Hemp Growth Highlights 57% increase in sales in July 2020 across online, retail and wholesale compared to June 2020 Online sales remain significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, with this channel making up 62% of sales in July 2020 compared with 40% of sales in January 2020 Continued growth highlights the success of the brand strategy, with Love Hemp focused on building an accessible and supportive brand that is destigmatising CBD consumption while demystifying CBD in the UK "As the government takes steps to stimulate the economy and lift consumer sentiment, we are seeing a welcome boost for physical store sales. At the same time, our online sales remain well above pre-pandemic levels, cementing the importance of our eCommerce strategy in underpinning brand experience," adds Mr. Calamita. For further information please contact: David Stadnyk Founder & CEO North America: 1 (236) 521-7211 North America toll-free: 1 (888) 616-WRHLF (9745) +44 (0) 7926 397 675 info@worldhighlife.uk AQSE Corporate Adviser Mark Anwyl/Allie Feuerlein Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 ma@peterhousecap.com af@peterhousecap.com Financial PR Camilla Horsfall/Megan Ray Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3224 Camilla.horsfall@blytheweigh.com Megan.Ray@blytheweigh.com For more information on World High Life please visit: www.worldhighlife.uk Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information We seek safe harbour. Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of securities laws. Forward looking information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds of the non-brokered private placement and payment of the debt settlements. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. We do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event, except as required by law. SOURCE: World High Life Plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602303/Love-Hemp-Reports-57-Growth-in-July-2020 Inc. magazine today revealed that DeNyse Companies, Inc. is No. 4993 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. We are so excited to have the honor of being part of the Inc. 5000 for 2020. DeNyse Companies is not just a sign company, but we are a partner with our clients. Our goal is to ensure that every project is completed with creativity, workmanship, and budget in mind. When my parents founded this company in the basement of my childhood home, they could never have imagined the growth we have today. I am honored to continue the work that they started in 1983, and we will continue to ensure that we provide a fun environment for our employees, and a great experience for our clients. Mark DeNyse, President Since inception in 1983, DeNyse Companies has developed a diverse product offering in markets nationwide. Specializing in award-winning design, fabrication, installation, service, and repair for signage and architectural elements. As a family-owned, Certified Women Owned Business, they take pride in promoting strong, lasting relationships with customers, and a healthy, fulfilling work environment for employees. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 18. Touted by President Donald Trump as a major Mideast breakthrough, the agreement was in fact the culmination of more than a decade of quiet links rooted in frenzied opposition to Iran that predated Trump and even Barack Obama, as well as Trump's avowed goal to undo his predecessor's Mideast legacy. And the deal leaves behind what had been a cornerstone of US policy in the region: resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor TCN News Indian American network of civil rights organizations and activists, The Coalition to Stop Genocide in India, has urged the US House of Representatives on Monday to probe the role of Facebook in amplifying hate speech across the world. Support TwoCircles There exists ample evidence in the public domain that hateful rhetoric online, especially by influential groups and individuals, have led to actual violence destroying countless lives in India, Myanmar and other countries, the Coalition stated in its latest session. Citing the Delhi Minorities Commission Fact-Finding Report on the February 2020 Delhi pogrom, the Coalition quoted that many of the killings were coordinated over WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook. It also stated that a hair-raising news report by online magazine Quint documented how Facebook live sessions were used to make open calls to target Muslims and Dalits. In addition, The Wire also pointed out how violence against Dalits, Adivasis and other dissenters was organized using one of the Facebook platforms. Outrage and calls for a public accountability process of Facebooks role in knowingly enabling the incitement of mass violence in India have grown, the Coalition said. As an urgent act of remedial, it has demanded that Ankhi Das, Facebooks Policy Chief in India be fired. By blocking punitive action against some Facebook accounts belonging to high ranking politicians from the ruling BJP party, Ms Das has allowed the accounts to continue their hateful and violent rhetoric. The statement further accused of Das being an enabler for them to incite hate and mass violence against social and religious minorities. In its statement against the social media platform, the Coalition also mentioned the Wall Street Journals incisive expose titled Inside Facebook, Hate Speech Rules Collide with Indian Politics that was recently released unequivocally establishing Facebook India as actively complicit in fanning the flames of Islamophobia and caste atrocities in a quest for chasing markets and money at any expense. The report, made public on the eve of Indias 74th Independence Day, extensively details how individuals and groups who were flagged for promoting or participating in violence by Facebooks internal processes were allowed to stay on the platform even though the social media platforms rules required such entities to be expelled immediately. The Coalition found that according to internal communications at Facebook India, Das justified overruling concerns raised by its employees as necessary to prevent hurting the companys relationship with Indias ruling party, and consequently its business prospects in the country. Additionally, she also played a role in suppressing information that hateful content Facebook did remove from the platform was tied to BJP. Based on the above, Sana Qutbuddin, Director of Advocacy at Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) said, We welcome scrutiny into the scandal announced by Indias Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. Supporting the decision, Pawan Singh, Director of the Organization of Minorities in India continued, while a full extent of corruption within Facebook can only be gauged through a Congressional probe launched by the US House of Representatives and that while it may not run deep, especially within Facebooks corporate offices in India, firing Ms Ankhi Das would be the right step it needs to take to demonstrate accountability. Further, the Coalition highlighted that Facebook was also found abetting post-COVID-19 Islamophobia in India, and that Dass team took no action after BJP politicians posted inflammatory content falsely accusing Muslims of intentionally spreading the coronavirus. Online hate has real-world repercussions on the lives of millions of people, reiterated Raja Swamy of Coalition Against Fascism in India. He urged civil society organizations around the world to join in demanding accountability and implementation of stern processes for monitoring hate speech. The Coalition to Stop Genocide in India, on behalf of partner associations reassured of its commitment to safeguarding American institutions and discourse from the virulent Hindutva ideology and echoed its fight to expose not only Hindutva front organizations in the US but also the role of US-based corporations in enabling the human rights abuses and religious freedom violations in India. Educational publishers in Hong Kong have begun erasing references to banned political groups and inserting positive references to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, as authorities there begin rolling out "patriotic education" in the city's schools. Textbook publishers said they were deleting references to the now-dissolved pro-democracy political groups Demosisto and Hong Kong Indigenous, while a reference to the separation of powers typical of democratic societies had been erased from Liberal Studies teaching materials. The postponement of Legislative Council (LegCo) elections for one year, and the imposition of several decrees on Hong Kong by Beijing, show that Beijing is already moving towards an executive-led government in Hong Kong. The ruling Chinese Communist Party has already outlawed any talk of the separation of powers in mainland China. Liberal Studies, a compulsory subject required for college entrance in Hong Kong, has been blamed by Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities for fueling a string of mass protests by young people in recent years, including movements against Beijing's "patriotic education" program and for fully democratic elections in the city. Former Liberal Studies teacher Yeung Chi-chun, who was blinded in his right eye when riot police moved against protesters outside government headquarters on June 12, 2019, said the authorities are ignoring the root causes of protests in recent years. "Civil disobedience has always been discussed as part of Liberal Studies, but now they seem to be avoiding it, because they are afraid that something bad will happen if they talk about it, so they don't talk about it," Yeung told RFA. "I don't think they understand the root of the problem, why young people have participated in demonstrations for so many years: it's because the government has really done a poor job," he said. Turning point for education The move comes after chief executive Carrie Lam said that the imposition by Beijing of a draconian national security law for Hong Kong was a "turning point" for education in the city. The education department sent out a memo to schools in July, shortly after the law banning subversion, sedition, separatism, and terrorism took effect, warning them to strengthen the "national identity" and work within the ethos of the national security law. Hong Kong security secretary John Lee has also warned of a crackdown in the city's schools, referring to some teachers as "bad apples" who had engaged in "unprofessional conduct" by influencing their students in a way likely to encourage their opposition to the authorities. Some 26 teachers have been sanctioned for "misconduct" since the anti-extradition movement escalated in June 2019, broadening into mass demands for official accountability and full democracy, as well as a cry of protest over ever-diminishing freedoms. Hong Kong police have said that 3,725 of the 9,216 people arrested during the protests were students, around 45 percent of whom were still in secondary education. Article 10 of the new law requires the Hong Kong government to "promote national security education in schools and universities." Catholic Diocese urges compliance The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong has asked its schools to nurture their students sense of national identity, the Apple Daily newspaper reported. "Starting from the new academic year in September, Catholic schools should guide their teachers and staff members to help students better understand the national security law and national anthem law," it quoted the diocese as saying in a letter to schools. It urged schools to implement policies to prevent the "politicization of campuses," adding that schools should respond positively to suggestions made by the Education Bureau, and should write to parents on issues of particular concern, the report said. China has already set up a "national security education center" for young people from Hong Kong and Macau across the border in Shenzhen, state media said in a recent report. The center "aims to help Hong Kong and Macau young people enhance their constitutional and national awareness through education," the Global Times reported. "Fifteen minutes from Hong Kong by high-speed train, Shenzhen is a window to learning more about the Chinese mainland for many Hong Kong youths, who visit the city to see the great development and achievements made by the motherland," the paper, which has close ties to official Communist Party paper the People's Daily, said. Around 100 teachers, staff arrested Around 100 staff members from primary schools and kindergartens have been arrested since protests began last year, it said, citing education secretary Kevin Yeung. The Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday that the government is "using the new law to curtail peaceful speech and protests and arrest critics," citing the arrest earlier this month of media mogul Jimmy Lai and a raid on his Apple Daily newspaper. "The events of the past week clearly show the laws potential for abuse in establishing a climate of fear and self-censorship and the threat it poses to rule of law and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong," RSF said in a statement co-signed by other non-government groups including Freedom House and Human Rights Watch (HRW). "The national security law provides for criminal penalties of up to life imprisonment for the broadly-defined crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers," the group said. Reported by Lau Siu-fung for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The Tamil Nadu government has filed a caveat petition in Supreme Court seeking reopening of the Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin. The plea comes a day after the Madras High Court upheld the May 2018 order by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) directing closure of the unit over pollution concerns. The plant was closed following violent protests against the facility where 13 people were killed in police firing. Vedanta had approached the Madras High Court in February 2019 seeking permission to reopen the Sterlite Copper facility. Sterlite Copper is a subsidiary of Sterlite Industries, which is owned by Vedanta. In its order on Tuesday, the Madras High Court had rejected a plea by the company. A division bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan dismissed a batch of writ petitions from the mining giant and others challenging the closure of the unit. ALSO READ: Madras High Court dismisses plea to reopen Vedanta's Thoothukudi Sterlite Copper plant "We are inclined to accept the stand taken by the TNPCB to hold that the increase in the levels of TDS, chloride, sulphate and total hardness are all attributable to the petitioner's operation and therefore the order of closure cannot be stated to be on account of speculation," the 815-page judgement said. The high court also noted that Vedanta has consistently violated mandatory rules and regulations in the past and only attempted compliance under the threat of judicial orders of closure or intervention. Hence the firm "cannot be allowed to run a highly polluting red category industry, when the petitioner is oblivious to ecological sensitivities, especially after having polluted the area substantially over the past 22 years of its operation," the court said. Rejecting Sterlite's argument that if their plant was shut, the requirement of copper in India cannot be met, and that it would be a great blow on the economy, the court said when the economy was pitted against the environment, only the latter aspect received primacy. ALSO READ: Vedanta share falls over 6% after court rejects plea to reopen copper smelter "Therefore, economic considerations can have no role to play while deciding the sustainability of a highly polluting industry and the only consideration would be with regard to safeguarding the environment for posterity and remedying the damage caused." On Sterlite Copper's stand that local people wanted the plant to continue, the court said such submissions deserved outright rejection as it pointed to the compilation filed by TNPCB containing details of complaints against the petitioner not only from the public, but also political parties and MLAs. "As per the report of the Government of India - National Clean Air Programme dated January 10, 2019, giving a list of most polluted cities in the Country, in Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) is the only District which finds place in the list of most polluted city in Tamil Nadu." (With PTI inputs) RICHMOND, Va. - Three Democratic state attorneys general asked a court Wednesday to declare that the Equal Rights Amendment is valid and part of the U.S. Constitution. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford made the request in a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit they filed in January against the archivist of the United States. The lawsuit was brought just days after Virginia became the key 38th state to ratify the amendment and the National Archives and Records Administration announced Archivist David Ferriero would not certify it. Wednesdays motion also asks the court to order Ferriero to publish the ERA as part of the Constitution and declare that his refusal to do so violates federal law. Congress passed the measure that supporters say will guarantee women equal rights under the law in 1972, sending it to the states for ratification. constitutional amendments must be ratified by three-quarters of the states, or 38. Congress set a ratification deadline of 1979 that was later extended to 1982, but it went by with three more states still needed. Nevada and Illinois became the 36th and 37th states to ratify in 2017 and 2018. The attorneys general argue in their lawsuit that the deadline is not binding. The ERA has satisfied the constitutional requirements to be added to the United States Constitution, and the Archivist has a nondiscretionary duty under federal law to publish and certify the Equal Rights Amendment as valid, the motion said. The plaintiffs separately filed a brief Wednesday opposing a motion for summary judgment that five other intervening states Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee have sought in the case. Two of those states never ratified the ERA, and three say they have rescinded their ratifications. The Trump administration has previously asked the court to dismiss the case. The U.S. Department of Justice issued an opinion in January saying it was too late for states to sign off because of the deadline. The department said the amendment process must begin all over again. Many legal observers have long expected the issue to make its way to the Supreme Court. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MGID , the global pioneer in native advertising, today announced it has signed a global deal with Microsoft to provide native advertising across its news properties, including MSN. The agreement signals MGID's commitment to working with news aggregators that are responsible for quality content in the fight against fake news. Through the deal, MGID will gain access to Microsoft's native placements across its news outlets in major markets including the US, Asia-Pacific, Europe and MENA in their associated languages, enabling MGID to offer expanded reach for advertisers across vast news audiences. This agreement covers Microsoft's full news suite of more than 1,200 publishers representing over 4,500 of the world's most popular brands and a global audience of almost half a billion monthly readers. The partnership will also enable MGID and Microsoft to accelerate their shared commitment to promoting quality digital content. MGID'S user-centric approach ensures publishers remain in complete control of their audiences and monetization; allowing them to choose from a variety of ad formats, placements and yield-optimization models. Combined with Microsoft's reader-activated customization for news layout, sources, topics and stories MGID's versatile ads will produce a highly personalized news experience that drives success for both advertisers and publishers. Commenting on the partnership, Sergii Denysenko, CEO of MGID, said: "MGID works with thousands of premium publishers globally and we are very excited to now be expanding our portfolio with one of the world's most reputable media outlets to power better results for brands." Sergii continued: "Partnering with Microsoft enables us to combine premium inventory and content with our diverse ad solutions to connect marketers with their audiences at scale. Both companies are focused on localization to ensure global consumers are served relevant, engaging, and reliable content which is especially important in a time of increasing fake news." About MGID MGID is a global innovative pioneer in native advertising that drives revenue growth for all participants of the ecosystem. Since its foundation in 2008, MGID has become a leading content recommendation platform, targeting 850 million unique readers with 185 billion recommendations monthly. The MGID platform helps publishers retain and monetize audiences, while driving performance and awareness for brands by connecting them to unique audiences, at the right time, with the right content. For more information: www.mgid.com SOURCE MGID Related Links https://www.mgid.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:54:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Cuba received 23 tons of health supplies on Tuesday from China to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. A sixth and final flight arrived with a shipment of rapid tests, real-time molecular biology tests known as PCR, and other medical supplies to Havana. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel thanked China for helping the country fight the health emergency. Since mid-April, Cuban planes have transported around 80 tons of medicines and medical supplies from China to guarantee a stable supply to Cuban health institutions. While the Supreme Courts decision to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the Sushant Singh Rajput death is seen as a major setback for the Mumbai Police and state government, a section of the government and state cabinet blamed the mishandling of the case for it. The state, however, is unlikely to file a review petition against the SC order. The state authorities goofed up on many fronts, including quarantining Patna SP Vinay Tiwari, delay in investigation, focussing on investigation on nepotism in Bollywood and failure in transparency about the case in public domain, according to leaders. A section of the state cabinet is of the opinion that the government should not have made CBI probe a prestige issue and could have handed it over immediately after the demand was raised. The police kept calling the whos who from Bollywood for investigation, but could not arrive at a conclusion even after two months. There was no proper briefing on the status of the investigation. This led to doubts and confusion about the investigating agency. The strategy for the contention in the Supreme Court too was not foolproof, said an official from the home department. Meanwhile, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a high-level meeting of ministers and officials to discuss the verdict and its fallout. Home minister Anil Deshmukh said the government welcomed the SC decision and the CBI will be given full cooperation. The SC has said the Mumbai Police has conducted the inquiry in the case in a very professional manner. Some people are trying to politicise the issue. Shiv Sena leader and transport minister Anil Parab said the SC decision cant be termed setback as they never opposed the CBI probe. It was Rhea Chakrabortys petition for the CBI probe which has been admitted by the court. Our contention was that it should not be handed over without our consent to safeguard the federal structure of the country. The probe by the CBI will prove the allegations levelled against Aaditya Thackeray or the government are false. The SC has categorically stated that it did not find any fault in the investigation done by Mumbai Police, he said. IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh said, There were doubts raised over the investigation and conduct of the Mumbai Police. To clear all doubts and ensure justice, the SC has rightly handed over the case to CBI. Mumbai Police failed to come out clearly and maintain transparency in the investigation by briefing on a regular basis on the findings. The act of quarantining Bihar SP Vinay Tiwari was immature. The state BJP unit slammed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, even as Parth, grandnephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, stirred another controversy by tweeting Satyamev Jayate soon after the SC verdict. Going against his partys view, Parth had demanded a CBI probe in the case, irking his grandfather, who publicly slighted him as immature. Pawar had said, He is immature, I dont give a dime to what he has said. Rohit Pawar, NCP MLA and another grand-nephew of the NCP chief, said he doesnt know why Parth tweeted it. Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, BJP former minister Ashish Shelar said, The invisible hands that have been interfering in the police investigation will now be exposed. Who were the people who did not allow the Mumbai Police to investigate the case? Will the state take the responsibility for forcible goof-ups by the Mumbai Police? Thank you to the Supreme Court. The pub and party gang enjoyed illegally, while 15,000+ Mumbaikars died in lockdown! Note- Justice will be done. The Chairman of Vice-Chancellors Ghana (V-CG), Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, has entreated the government to support public universities with infrastructure and logistics to enable them to admit more students. Following the introduction of the free senior high school (SHS) policy, it is expected that a large number of the first batch of beneficiaries of the policy will qualify for tertiary education this year. Prof. Owusu said although the universities had stepped up preparations for the prospective students, they still needed the intervention of the government to accommodate as many students as possible. Citing the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, of which he is the V-C, Prof. Owusu said the university was putting up new lecture halls made of prefabricated materials that could accommodate more students. As vice-chancellors, we have sent proposals to the government, while putting in our own plans to deal with the challenge, he said. Prof. Owusu made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic on preparations being made by the public universities to admit the free SHS students. It is expected that about 360,000 students will complete SHS in the country this year, including beneficiaries of the free SHS policy, a situation that will increase admission numbers to tertiary institutions. However, the Legon V-C said with the needed support from and collaboration of stakeholders, the institutions might surmount the challenge. Infrastructural development Prof. Owusu said since August 2016, four new buildings had been completed and inaugurated, including a $28-million advanced laboratory facility for the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), which was sponsored by the Japanese government; the World Bank Centre of Excellence buildings for the West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI); the World Bank Centre of Excellence for the West African Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) and a Credit Union building. The university had also seen the resurfacing of roads and car parks, which is about 80 per cent complete, the construction of walkways and the provision of security posts at sensitive spots, he said. It was also during his first tenure that the International Association of Universities made the U-G a world-leading institution in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) reducing poverty, he added. Prof. Owusu said he also spearheaded the signing and execution of 55 partnership agreements with both local and international institutions. He said he also introduced an endowment fund, explaining: I do not believe people should pay huge sums of money for their Ph.D. This can only happen if there is an endowment. COVID-19 On the COVID-19, the Professor of Entomology said restrictions imposed on people had led to the introduction of online teaching. We have been faced with challenges during this period with online platforms and we will deal with the issues, going forward. One of them is to ensure that assignments given to students are handled by themselves, he added. Rankings Responding to issues on the global ranking of universities, the Legon V-C said the government could select specific public tertiary institutions for support to enable them to compete favourably in the global space. He cited Egypt where the government was supporting some specific universities which were performing well on the world rankings. The UG was recognised as the leading university in West Africa in the July 2020 Webometrics ranking of universities and still maintains its enviable position as the leading university in the country. Source: Graphiconline.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 Diners' club tastecard has unveiled shock plans to take on the might of Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat with a new takeaway delivery and collection service offering customers a permanent discount of at least 10%. The group behind the restaurant discount card plans to launch the delivery service on September 21, starting with London and then rolling out to Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle. It has aims to expand this to 25 cities across the UK by January next year, while collection will be nationwide from launch. The move marks an aggressive bid to take on the established delivery giants, with more than 1,000 restaurants signed up so far. It will launch initially exclusively for its 2.55 million tastecard members, who will pay no service or delivery fee, before opening up to non-members as well via the tastecard app. tastecard has over 2,450,000 members and thousands of restaurants in the high street tastecard co-founder Matt Turner (pictured) said the company's delivery launch due in September will 'disrupt the disruptors' as they aim to roll out across the UK by January What is a tastecard? tastecard is a discount card accepted by many high street restaurants in the UK offering discounts such as 50% or two meals for the price of one at participating restaurants. The company was founded as tastelondon in 2006 with the aim of helping restaurants by encouraging people to eat out more often. It also wanted to help their members by making eating out more affordable. Starting with just 150 restaurants in Central London the company grew and re-branded to tastecard in early 2010 as they reached 2,500 nationwide restaurants. Today, tastecard has more than 2,450,000 members and thousands of restaurants as its customers spend an estimated 600 million annually. Advertisement Customers will be able to order takeaways from a raft of nationwide restaurant chains as well as independent eateries, with those not already signed up to tastecard also set to join the service. Restaurants will offer customers a minimum of 10% off their order price - but with the option to increase the discount whenever they want to boost business. It comes as the latest move to bolster the hard-hit restaurant sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Eat Out To Help Out scheme offering 50% off the cost of meals this month. Matt Turner, tastecard co-founder and chief executive, has said the group's launch will 'disrupt the disruptors'. He added: 'Supporting restaurants, by encouraging diners, has never been more vital and we're proud to throw our hat into the delivery ring. 'Our aim has not changed at tastecard: We want to support the industry with lower fees and a service model made to reflect how restaurateurs want to do business, combined with a better value proposition for customers, to reward them for being the backbone of our hospitality industry. 'We hope that our competitor set follow suit to offer customers better value.' Diners' club tastecard plans to take on Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat with takeaway service Just Eat was one of the first takeaway delivery services to launch in the UK back in 2005 The group will offer restaurants a cut-price commission rate to help support the sector, charging between 5% and 7%, with the minimum 10% discount off the order total on top. This compares with around 30% commission to its rivals, according to the group. Mr Turner said it comes at a vital time for restaurants, while also offering customers more choice and value at a time of uncertainty. 'It's been a very difficult time for restaurants,' he said. 'The (Eat Out To Help Out) scheme has given the industry a temporary boost and we hope to continue that into September. 'But we're offering something that goes beyond Eat Out to Help Out.' The group has signed up DPD Group-owned firm Stuart to handle deliveries for the new service. While Scotland is not covered by the service initially, tastecard said it is working with Stuart and other deliveries players to expand there as well. Tastecard was launched in 2006 with just 150 restaurants on board in central London and now has more than 6,000 restaurant partners. Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris will deliver her acceptance speech on Wednesday as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate to become the first-ever American of Indian and African descent to be nominated by a major party for the top post. Harris, 55, is the first Indian-American to be selected for the second-highest elected office of the United States after that of the president. She is also the first-ever Black and first-ever African American to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate by a major political party. If elected in the November 3 presidential elections, Harris, whose mother is from India and father from Jamaica, would be the first-ever women vice president of the United States. Incidentally, her acceptance speech comes a day after the United States commemorated the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendmentknown as the Susan B Anthony Amendment of women securing the right to vote. It was a monumental victory for equality, for justice, and a monumental victory for America, US President Donald Trump said at a White House event on this amendment, Hundred years ago today the 19th Amendment was ratified, but many Black women and women of colour were unable to exercise their constitutional right for decades, Harris said in a tweet. I would not be the Democratic candidate for Vice President without those who fought and paved the way before me. Vote, she said. Joe Biden, who has scripted history by nominating Harris as his running mate, said that the US nation was founded on a simple idea: All menand womenare created equal. We've never fully lived up to it, but we won't stop trying. As we mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, let's make sure we don't wait another 100 years to fulfil that founding promise, he said. Earlier in the day, Trump said at the White House that today, a record-breaking 131 women are serving in Congress. Nearly 70 million women vote in elections. Fifty-six per cent of our nation's college students are women. More than 11 million women own successful businesses. In other words, women dominate the United States, he said. However, unlike many developing countries like India and Sri Lanka, which gained their independence much later than the US, they elected a woman as a leader decades ago, a development that deprives the United States till date. In the previous 2016 presidential elections, the former second lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton came within a striking distance in breaking that glass ceiling. Harris, who has had a stellar career so far beginning as a public prosecutor in California, also from the same Democratic Party is making another shot at breaking the glass ceiling in American politics. And before she takes the centre-stage of American politics at the virtual convention of the Democratic Party, the stage would be set by speeches of Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and none other than Barack Obama, the former president of the United States. Four years into her first term as the US Senator from California, Harris who was born in Oakland, emerged as a strong critic of the Trump administration. Many often called her a Trump counterpuncher. The daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, she has known many firsts. She has been a county district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco the first woman and first African-American elected to the position. She was also the first female African-American to become California's attorney general. In 2017, she became the second African-American woman to join the Senate, winning the California seat vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer. Harris announced her presidential bid in January 2019. However, she withdrew from the race by December that year as her poll numbers plummeted. Early this year, she endorsed Biden for president. A week ago, Biden surprised many by selecting Harris as his running mate. It has been one week since Joe Biden asked me to be his running mate and I could not be more thankful for the outpouring of love and support (husband) Douglas Emhoff and I have seen, Harris tweeted on Tuesday. Johnston claims that poorly-maintained voter rolls lead to voter fraud. However, updating voter rolls is needed for administrative efficiency, not to prevent fraud. Many studies (e.g., bit.ly/BrnCtrVote ) show that voter fraud is infinitesimally small. Of much greater concern is the purging of registered voters for discriminatory or partisan purposes under the guise of updating records. Johnston endorses absentee voting but shuns vote-by-mail, yet mail-in ballots in PA are processed almost identically to absentee ballots, making them equally secure. Mail-in ballots are sometimes called no-excuse absentee ballots because anyone can request them for any reason. Vote-by-mail is a safe option, but steps can be taken to make it run more smoothly for the upcoming General Election. For example, Delco is gearing up to handle the substantial influx of mail-in ballots expected due to coronavirus concerns by adding staff, space, equipment, and other secure voting options. The U.S. Postal Service must be adequately funded for vote-by-mail to work optimally, yet the Senates HEALS stimulus package provides for no needed USPS funding. Citizens should be demanding that their Senators approve funds for the USPS. Voters can take preemptive action by applying now for their mail-in ballot at votespa.com , and completing it (carefully following instructions) and returning it as soon as possible after receiving it. Whether you vote by mail or at your polling location, vote! S. Harrison, Haverford, and S. Keller, Upper Darby, for Let People Vote SEPA To the Times:Vote-by-mail is a secure way to cast ballots, notwithstanding guest columnist Kelly Johnston calling it an invitation to disaster (Daily Times, Aug. 11), but he gets it wrong. Unit 1 of the UAE's Barakah plant the Arab world's first nuclear energy plant has connected to the national power grid, in a historic moment enabling it to provide cleaner electricity to millions of residents and help reduce the oil-rich country's reliance on fossil fuels. "This is a major milestone, we've been planning for this for the last 12 years now," Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), told CNBC's Dan Murphy in an exclusive interview ahead of the news. Unit 1 is the first of what will eventually be four reactors, which when fully operational are expected to provide 25% of the UAE's electricity and reduce its carbon emissions by 21 million tons a year, according to ENEC. That's roughly equivalent to the carbon emissions of 3.2 million cars annually. The Gulf country of nearly 10 million is the newest member of a group of now 31 countries running nuclear power operations. It's also the first new country to launch a nuclear power plant in three decades, the last being China in 1990. "The UAE has been growing from an electricity demand standpoint," Al Hammadi said. "That's why we are trying to meet the demand (and) at the same time have it with less carbon emissions." The UAE's electricity mix will continue to include gas and renewable energy, with "the baseload from nuclear," the CEO added, which he described as a "safe, clean and reliable source of electricity" for the country. The project is also providing "highly compensated jobs" for the Emiratis and will introduce new industries for the country's economy, Al Hammadi said. The company noted that it has awarded roughly 2,000 contracts worth more than $4.8 billion for local companies. The Ion innovation hub being built inside the shell of the old Midtown Sears building finally has its first announced tenant, and its a familiar name in Houston. Chevron Technology Ventures, an arm of the oil-and-gas major that scouts and funds energy-related tech startups, has signed a lease for third-floor space in the Ion, designed to be the centerpiece of an innovation corridor being developed in the southern end of Midtown. Ion Interim Director Jan E. Odegard said Chevron is considered a program partner. Chevron has been a partner supporting the Houston innovation ecosystem throughout the years, Odegard said. Theyll have a hand in developing events and activities, as well as focusing on training Houstons workforce for the kind of jobs that will be necessary in the future. UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Ion on track for Q1 2021 opening Barbara Burger, Chevron Technology Ventures president, wouldnt say how many square feet her organization has leased, only that its just the right amount. We will have space that is Chevron-exclusive, Burger said. The actual opportunity for us is not just the space that is ours, but the whole space. The Ion will have about 300,000 square feet when completed, and is on track for a first-quarter, 2021 completion, said Ryan LeVasseur, managing director of real estate for the Rice Management Company, the arm of Rice University that is overseeing the project. The land for the Ion was donated by Rice, and is part of a 16-acre spread. Release Notes: Get Dwight Silvermans weekly tech newsletter in your inbox Burger said the building and the programs developed there will be open to all Chevron employees, not just those working for Technology Ventures, with a goal toward collaborating with other individuals, startups and larger companies. She added that Chevron will not be moving seats to the Ion from its downtown headquarters building, but that employees will come and go as needed to the location. Thats really the ethos we expect at the Ion, LeVasseur said. This is not the type of building where you come in the building, close the door to your office and dont come out until nighttime. This is going to be a place of openness and collaboration. dwight.silverman@chron.com twitter.com/dsilverman houstonchronicle.com/techburger Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global wellness tourism market size is expected to reach USD 1.2 trillion by 2026 registering a CAGR of 7.1%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising number of health-conscious people is contributing to the increasing demand for wellness activities at popular travel destinations. Promotional campaigns arranged by various governments are also encouraging wellness tourism across the globe. Rising disposable income levels, especially in developing regions like China, India, and Mexico, have contributed to the increasing demand for wellness activities. Key companies in the market offer various wellness services, such as spa services, mindfulness training, accommodation, and food & beverages. Preference for wellness activities along with vacation due to rising cases of various health issues associated with stress, such as insufficient sleep and physical inactivity, will drive the market further. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health (NCCDPHP), the productivity losses from absenteeism cost employers USD 225.8 billion or USD 1,685 per person, annually. Europe was the dominant regional market in 2018 as it has been a popular travel destination for years. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to witness the fastest CAGR from 2019 to 2026. China and India are the key markets in Asia Pacific region. In India, Heaven on Earth airport spa chain announced their merger with Serena Spa in January 2016. This merger helped Heaven on Earth become the largest spa company in India. Thus, such business strategies adopted by key companies in the region will augment the market growth further. To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/wellness-tourism-market Further key findings from the study suggest: The lodging services segment held the largest market share in 2018 and is projected to maintain its leading position throughout the forecast period Wellness activities segment is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR over the forecast period from 2019 to 2026 as these services focus on health and wellbeing while traveling Based on travel purpose, the market is segmented into primary and secondary wellness tourism. The secondary segment led the market, in terms of revenue, in 2018 The domestic travel type segment held the largest market share in 2018 owing to increased expenditure by domestic tourists on wellness activities Some of the key companies in the global wellness tourism market are Accor Hotels, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Group, Marriot International, Radisson Hospitality, and Rosewood Hotels In May 2018, Accor Hotels acquired Mantra Group to expand the geographical presence, especially in Asia Pacific. Accor also acquired Fairmont Raffles Hotels in July 2016 These acquisitions helped enhance Accors brand portfolio and provided Accor with a significant position in the hospitality industry Grand View Research has segmented the global wellness tourism market on the basis of service, travel purpose, travel type, and region: Wellness Tourism Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026) In-country Transport Lodging Food & Beverage Wellness Activities Shopping Others Wellness Tourism Travel Purpose Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026) Primary Secondary Wellness Tourism Travel Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026) Domestic International Wellness Tourism Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2026) North America US. Canada Europe UK. Germany France Italy Spain Asia Pacific Japan China India Australia Thailand Indonesia 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. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stressed the importance of broad progressive priorities during a brief speech to the virtual Democratic National Convention Tuesday night that made no mention of the party's nominee. The New York Democrat, who was given a 60-second slot as part of her role in the symbolic nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, opened her speech by offering her thanks to a mass peoples movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States. She ended by formally seconding the nomination of Sanders, I-Vt., to be her party's presidential nominee, a procedural move. Joe Biden officially claimed the party's nomination moments later. In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espiritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America, she said. The convention proceedings Tuesday included a formal roll call of delegates, an archaic procedure by which each candidate who won sufficient support during the primaries and caucuses to receive delegates can then be nominated for president (unless the candidate has already turned over those delegates to the presumptive nominee). Its all part of the convention process of actually nominating the partys nominee. That she nominated Sanders at a convention designed to formally nominate Biden, however, caused a bit of confusion on Twitter among those who tuned in. Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter after her speech to clear up the point of her remarks. It came as little surprise that Ocasio-Cortez like Sanders, a democratic socialist was invited to formally back Sanders, who she also endorsed and campaigned for during the primaries. Story continues But it was notable that Ocasio-Cortez one of the most outspoken, progressive and youngest members of Congress spent no time pushing the specific policies that she and Sanders have championed. She did not mention by name any of the signature policies that she and Sanders support, including the Green New Deal or Medicare for All, nor did she namecheck Joe Biden or President Donald Trump. The convention organizers' decision to give the Ocasio-Cortez only a minute of speaking time rankled activists who noted that former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, had more time to speak at the Democrats convention on Monday. (Kasich had criticized Ocasio-Cortez in an interview prior to the event kicking off as not being "representative" of the Democratic Party, and she responded sharply on Twitter.) Download the NBC News app for alerts and all the latest on the Democratic convention. At the same time, in a tweet posted hours before Tuesday nights convention programming kicked off, Ocasio-Cortez, who is known for stinging her critics on social media, said shed aptly be able to speak to progressive values in 60 secs, noting that she has been able to regularly roast Trump sycophants in 280 characters or less. Her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches. Ocasio-Cortez was among a small handful of Latinos to speak at the Democratic National Convention a fact that has frustrated several Latino activists. South Korea says Chinas top diplomat Yang Jiechi will hold talks on North Korea and other issues with new national security adviser Suh Hoon this week the first high-level visit by a Chinese official since the coronavirus pandemic began late last year. Seoul officials said on Wednesday that Yang, a state councillor and member of the Communist Party Politburo, will be in the southern port city of Busan on Friday and Saturday. South Koreas Yonhap news agency reported that the choice of Busan as the venue of the meeting came in consideration of Yangs itinerary and request, and had nothing to do with the recent spread of the coronavirus. It would also be Yangs first visit to South Korea in more than two years. He doubles as director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee. Suh, who took up the top security job last month after serving as intelligence chief, will meet Yang on Saturday and discuss North Korea, coronavirus cooperation and a potential trip to Seoul by Chinese President Xi Jinping, presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said. Both sides have been working to make it possible for President Xi to visit at an appropriate time when the COVID-19 situation stabilises and fosters such conditions, Kang told a briefing Suh and Yang would also discuss holding an annual trilateral summit involving Japan, he added. The coronavirus pandemic wiped much of the global diplomatic calendar clean, but the two countries resumed exchanges last month when South Korea sent a high-level diplomat for a bilateral economic meeting. After grappling with the first major epidemic outside China, South Korea had largely managed to bring the outbreak under control without significant disruptions, although a recent resurgence in cases has prompted authorities to tighten distancing rules. China is an ally of North Korea and plays a key role in US-led efforts to bring a negotiated end to its nuclear programmes, but talks have stalled since last year. Inter-Korea tensions have also escalated in recent months with Pyongyangs decision to downgrade relations with Seoul, culminating in North Koreas decision to blow up an inter-Korean liaison office in June. The Trump administration is starting to constrict the supply of Huawei to make handsets by not allowing access to U.S. technology which is needed to make them. Last Monday, Trump stated on Fox News that any equipment sold by the Chinese telecom is meant to spy on America. So, we don't want it in the U.S. and added any country that gets their equipment. There will be no sharing of intelligence with them. The Commerce Department will raise the gauntlet that prevents the Chinese telecom from getting any more American chip components. Last year, as a measure to penalize the mobile phone maker, it initially stopped the selling of crucial components that they need. This involved hard moves like not accessing Google music and important smartphone services. In May, the restrictions were very tight with the White House stipulating all U.S. Technology companies not to sell or produce for the Chinese company, reported New York Times. One Huawei executive remarked this month that they are losing their supply of processor chips used to make bestselling smartphones because of sanctions. As a result, making advance chips will be on the back burner soon. According to the Commerce Department, in statement released on Monday, the restriction was inevitable as the Chinese Telecom avoided sanctions actively with third party technology. Now, the rules will include all American made equipment that will be not used to make chips or components by them. Also read: China Furious Over Planned 'Smash and Grab' of Tiktok, Condemns U.S. In a press brief, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business, under the updated rules that will expressly prohibit any American software or American fabrication equipment that is under license to sell to Huawei. He stressed that the Chinese telecom has been taking advantage of these loop holes to get access to American tech, adding that the Chinese are notorious in conducting themselves in such a manner, cited St. Louis Post Dispatch. The company is suspected as it is part of the rising tensions that both U.S. and China are getting in row over technology and security. Another victim of the distrust is TikTok and WeChat messaging which are China-based. Coming September, they will be banned in America. Despite the accusations heaped on it, the Chinese telecom has not admitted it is part of Chinese espionage. Chinese officials have called out Washington using the ploy national security to shut down Chinese companies that are getting more than U.S. Tech companies, noted Financial Express. Ross remarked the new rules are directed at enforcing what the U.S. wants, adding that it is not connective whatsoever to trade talks. Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security said that she is concerned about technology and Sino-American relations that the sanctions on security threats by Chinese telecom is relevant. The actions taken to punish the company and other Chinese companies are harsh and are not clear at times. She added if the move is meant to terminate Huawei and not accounting for the negative feedback that will affect American firms. Many tech firms will be hit and damaged because of going after the Chinese telecom. Related article: U.S. Administration Limits China's Access to Chip Technology @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Princes William and Harry didnt speak for two months during the fallout from Harry and Meghans decision to step back as senior Royal Family members, according to a royal biographer. Omid Scobie, one of the authors of Finding Freedom, the biography of Prince Harry and Meghan, said the two brothers did not speak from the time of the Sandringham Summit, in January, until the Commonwealth Day service. The Commonwealth Day service, which was Harry and Meghans last royal engagement, was the setting for an awkward reunion of the couple with the rest of the Royal Family, and all eyes were particularly on how theyd be greeted by Prince William and Kate. The two couples entered Westminster Abbey separately, and did not speak for long before the service. There are claims Kate avoided eye contact with Meghan. Read more: Nine things we learned about Prince Harry and Meghan as Finding Freedom is released Scobie, speaking on The Royal Beat on True Royalty TV, said: We saw a point where the Cambridges supported them what ever - if they wanted to leave, they wanted to leave. I dont think there was much attempt to make them stay. Where it really went wrong for Harry and Meghan and the Cambridges was that decision to go public with the road map to their new working model the statements that werent discussed internally. That caused the most amount of hurt to William, because he wears two hats. Hes not just the brother, hes also future king and he felt that damaged the reputation of the family, that it puts family business in the public domain. There was a lot of hurt there, that continues to this day. Its why we saw such an awkward moment at that Commonwealth service. The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham Summit. They hadnt seen each other. Thats going to take some time to heal. William and Kate were sat near Harry and Meghan at the service in March but weren't seen speaking to them. (Getty Images) Kensington Palace declined to comment. A source close to the Sussexes told PA: The family are in contact with each other a suggestion that theyre not talking is untrue. Story continues Harry and Meghan announced they planned to step back from their royal duties in January, soon after returning from a six-week break in Canada over Christmas. The Commonwealth Day service, on 8 March, was the last time they were seen with the Royal Family at an engagement, and Meghan went straight back to Canada when it finished. Its understood Harry remained in the UK for a few days before he was reunited with Meghan and their son, Archie. Harry, 35, and Meghan, 39, confirmed they have bought their first family home in California last week and Meghan made her first appearance from there as she spoke at a virtual summit on Friday. Read more: Is Meghan Markle taking a risk as she aligns herself with new media outlet while suing another? The Cambridges did chat to Edward and Sophie who were next to Harry and Meghan. (Getty Images) Interviewing Emily Ramshaw, the founder of The 19th* news agency, she confessed to feeling devastated when she saw the state of the US as she and Harry set up life there. The Duchess of Sussex said: It was so sad to see where our country was in that moment and if theres any silver lining in that, I would say that in the weeks that were happening after the murder of George Floyd, in the peaceful protests you were seeing, in the voices that were coming out, in the way that people were actually owning their role and acknowledging their role that they played, either actively or passively, in the discrimination of other people, specifically of the black community. She added to see the changes that are being made right now, its something that I look forward to being a part of and using my voice in a way I havent been able to of late. Finding Freedom was released last week and charts the couples lives from their first meeting to marriage and then stepping back as senior royals. The authors, Scobie and fellow royal correspondent Carolyn Durand, claim they have spoken to more than 100 sources, and said in an authors note that they had also spoken to Harry and Meghan on occasion. However the couple have been clear that they were not interviewed for the book, and Scobie tweeted: Theres a huge difference between exchanging a few words with a member of the Royal Family on an official engagement or tour to actually interviewing them. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Lifestyle Victoria's Health Department allowed hotel quarantine guests infected with coronavirus to leave as soon as three days after a positive test if they were not displaying symptoms. Michael Tait, a nurse who worked for the program at the Crown Metropol hotel, said in his submission to Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry on Thursday that "it seemed like the department did not care if COVID-19 patients just left the hotel and walked into the street". Nurse Michael Tait described Melbourne's quarantine hotel program as 'very chaotic'. He testified that "the department policy was very relaxed - if someone tested positive, we would call them up three days later and check their symptoms. If they had no symptoms, they could leave." Mr Tait claimed a Department representative told him not to swab a known positive patient so the guest could leave quarantine early. I told him the policy was bullshit, but you just had to get on with it, he said in his submission to the inquiry. He also said a female patient who had tested positive was left waiting in the lobby for almost two hours without a mask. Two nurses, Mr Tait and another identified by the inquiry only as 'Nurse Jen', told Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry on Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services' management of the hotel quarantine system was shambolic and resulted in guests and healthcare workers being placed in danger and distress. At Crown Metropol, where Mr Tait worked, a returned traveller who had COVID-19 was left waiting in a lobby without a mask or gloves for 10 hours, surrounded by security guards also with lax personal protective equipment. Mr Tait said no swabbing kits were available for use on incoming travellers for the first three days of his posting, even though he was hired to test guests for coronavirus. Legislators at the Capitol that day testified that the two seemed too intoxicated to lead the Senate in the final hours of the session and that Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden stepping in was the only reason the Senate could to finish its work. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The verdict was pronounced at 11 am. The apex court also said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. The Supreme Court also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Rhea Chakraborty, who was in a relationship with Sushant, had approached the top court to seek transfer of the Patna FIR to Mumbai. She had raised questions over the manner in which the Bihar Police registered the FIR and argued that the matter has no connection with the FIR registered in Patna. Sushant's father KK Singh had filed the FIR in Patna against her and six others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). Meanwhile, Shweta Singh Kirti, sister of Sushant Singh Rajput, expressed her happiness with a series of tweets posted soon after the apex court verdict. Shweta also expressed her faith in the CBI. Her tweets read: "There we go!! Finally!! CBI for SSR!! #CBITakesOver." There we go!! Finally!! CBI for SSR!! #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 "Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver." Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 "Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI." Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his residence on June 14. The Mumbai Police has been probing the case since then. However, Sushant's family, friends and fans had been vocal on social media for quite some time demanding a CBI probe into his death. A Natural Resources Economist says Ghana will need more political will to address issues of over fishing and depleting of stock catches in the country's waters. He noted that due to climate change, tropical fish stock catches have reduced to over 40 per cent and the issue of over fishing as a result of illegal use of fishing gears continue to be a challenge in the sector. Professor Wisdom Akpalu, Director of Environment and Natural Resources Research Initiative (ENRRI) and Dean of School of Research and Graduate Studies, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) said this in a day's seminar in Accra on the theme:" Managing Capture Fisheries in Ghana: Challenge and Opportunities." It brought together key decision makers and actors in the fishery sector. Prof.Akpalu noted that artisinal fishermen may not get anything in their nets " if we continue to do the things that we are doing now." He called for a reduction in the number of canoes from 12,728 to 9,000 noting that each canoe should also be licensed. "There are too many canoes than we need. We need to reduce them in order to obtain the maximum sustainable support yield as well as ensure profitability in the fishing sector. Tuna Vessels should be reduced to 50." According to him, if canoes and trawlers were reduced 38,890 fisher folks would be affected and government could raise more revenue from the remaining canoes and trawlers and find alternative jobs for the affected persons. He opined that Ghana stands at obtained $ 371 million annually as against $169 million in the fishing sector should the number of vessels and trawlers be reduced. He noted that fines imposed of trawlers should not be disturbed by political actors and all breaches of offences should be treated as crimes. "In Ghana we find out that Trawlers that breached the law and are fined, do not pay the specified fines. If people breach fishing laws and they pay less, people would continue to indulge in more crimes. We should allow institutions to carry out their mandate as stated by law." Prof Akpalu called for the fixing of video devices on trawlers to check their activities of fishing to ensure transparency. According to him, fixing of the video devices were adopted in Chile and same was used in monitoring vessels from afar. Prof Akpalu noted that Trawler catch per vessel which was 3,000 tonnes in the 1970's had reduced to 500 tonnes by 2016 and could adopt Chile's best practices by enhancing the Vessel Monitoring Systems currently used by Ghana to sustain the fishing industry. During discussions on Professor Akpalu's research, participants called for the elimination of illegal use of fishing gears such as the use of small meshed nets and addressing the challenge of light fishing. They also called for digitization of data on fishing to help policy makers in decision making. In Ghana, fishing industry is estimated to have employed 2.5 million fishermen and 500,000 women and constitute about four per cent annually to Ghana's economy total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Bhopal : Badjhiri in Madhya Pradesh will soon become first cashless village in the state having shops equipped with Point of Sale (PoS) machines, ATMs and kiosks for online payment facilities. A nationalised bank has come up with a plan in cooperation with the state government to transform Badjhiri into a cashless village, MPs Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya told on Monday. Badjhiri is located on the outskirts of MP capital - Bhopal. I will visit the village tomorrow with the bank officials to know how the plans will be materialised on ground to make this village entirely cashless, Malaiya added. Finance Minister said that the Bank would provide PoS machines to all shopkeepers in addition to installation of ATMs and kiosks and all other measures ensuring digital transactions. Earlier in the morning today, Malaiya held a meeting with the officials to discuss measures of cashless transactions being adopted by various state government departments. I held a meeting with the officials. They informed me that the training of master trainers has been completed. These trainers would further educate other employees across the state about the cashless transactions, Malaiya said adding, no deadline has been set for completion of this training programme. A meeting of MP cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday morning also discussed measures for going cashless across the departments. Chief Minister has told all his cabinet colleagues to ensure cashless transactions in dealings of their respective departments, Minister for Public Relations and MP Government spokesman Narottam Mishra told reporters after the cabinet meeting Finance Minister will oversee all the plans in this regard, Mishra added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The LDF government in Kerala and Opposition Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the Centre over its decision to lease out three airports, including the one here, to the Adani group and charged it with privatising all PSUs while the country was battling COVID-19. Terming the decision as "daylight robbery", the government demanded that it be withdrawn. The Congress too made a similar demand and said the airport belongs to the state. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports - Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati - through the PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. "This should be consideredas daylight robbery. The Centre has decided to hand over the airport to the Adani group when the state government, which has immense experience in handling two international airports in a profitable and efficient manner, was ready to take it over," tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran told reporters. He said the state government has been managingthe Cochin and the Kannur International Airports (CIAL and KIAL) in a profitable manner by forming a company. "They have already sold out our port (Vizhinjam). Now our pride, the airport, has been handed over. While the Centre does not have time to handle the pandemic, they convened a cabinet meeting to hand over the airports to the Adani group for 50 years. This amounts to challenging the people of the country. They should withdraw this decision," Surendran said. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said though the state government had expressed interest in taking over the airport, the centre refused and handed it over to a private company. "It's the centre's policy to privatise all Public Sector Undertakings in the country amid the COVID situation. We condemn this move. The Centre took this decision after rejecting the state government's proposal to take over the airport," Chennithala said in a statement. Surendran demanded that state BJP leaders and the union minister from the state V Muraleedharan explain their stand on the matter to the people of Kerala. He said successive state governments had acquired at least 635 acres of land for developing the airport and recalled steps were initiated recently to take over 18 acres for runway expansion. Surendran said the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was the "first airport in independent India" and the "historic airport has been sold to a private person". "The Centre has not even considered the future of thousands of workers employed in these airports. The state government had even agreed to match the rate quoted by Adani, for acquiring the airport," Surendran said. One of the enterprises to press on during the pandemic has been the third Jurassic World movie itself, despite that sort of hubris being actively discouraged in literally every other film in the franchise. Even though the production boasted a crapload of fancy new safety features, things seem to have hit a snag. While no rogue employees deactivated every hand sanitizing station while making off with footage hidden inside a shaving cream can, Universal has reportedly decided to change the "scope" of their location shooting in Malta. Why? Well, four crew members "tested positive for coronavirus," and others are now in isolation. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The production in Malta has switched "from a first unit crew to a second unit one" presumably to protect the health and safety of Chris Pratt but not, you know, the less handsome/more expendable, technicians. Good thing this film hasn't made a big point of bringing older actors that might be in dang-- Oh, wait ... Continue Reading Below Advertisement Just gonna leave this here. Again. Is all this really worth it? After all, if there's one thing this pandemic has proven, it's that folks are pretty happy just watching the original Jurassic Park ... You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter! And check out the podcast Rewatchability Top Image: Universal Bollywood celebrities have welcomed the verdict of the Supreme Court in the questionable death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered CBI probe in the case. Read Bollywood reactions here. Bollywood celebrities have embraced the verdict of the Supreme Court in the obscure death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered CBI probe in the case. Many celebrities from the B-town along with the fans of Sushant Singh Rajput had been raising demands for CBI probe in the matter. There was outrage all over social media against Rhea Chakraborty, her family and Mumbai police as they were accused of having manipulated the case. Sushant supporters, friends and his fans were running campaigns on Twitter and Instagram demanding CBI probe and justice for the late actor. After todays verdict of Supreme Court in the favour of CBI probe, people including Bollywood celebrities and Sushants family are welcoming and embracing the judgement. The Supreme Court announced its judgement over a petition filed by Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of Sushants death case to Maharashtra police, the apex court has given the case to CBI and had asked Maharashtra police to handover all the pieces of evidence to the CBI. Also read: Big win for Sushants family, SC orders CBI probe, asks Maharashtra to provide evidence Now that the country's premier investigating agency has taken over, we believe that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice. Today's development reaffirmed our faith in India as a robust democracy: #SushantSinghRajput's family pic.twitter.com/4txSukPiml ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 Also read: Kangana Ranaut on Gunjan Saxena row: Govt should take back Karan Johars Padma Shri Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar had welcomed the verdict of the top court in the case of Rajputs death. He took it to Twitter to say that the Supreme court has directed CBI to investigate Sushants death. He prayed for truth to always prevail. SC directs CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajputs death. May the truth always prevail #Prayers Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 19, 2020 Actor Kangana Ranauts team tweeted on her behalf that humanity has won. They congratulated all the SSR warriors, for the first time Kangana felt such a strong force of collective consciousness. Humanity wins, congratulations to each one of SSR warriors, first time I felt such strong force of collective consciousness, AMAZING #CBITakesOver Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 19, 2020 Sushants sister, Shweta Singh Kirti who had been running campaigns on social media seeking justice for her brother expressed gratitude to God and wrote in a tweet that their prayers have been answered by God, but it was just the beginning, the first step towards truth. She added that she had full faith in CBI. Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Kriti Sanon who is rumoured to have date Sushant Singh Rajput in the past and a close friend of Sushant, took it to twitter to say that the past two months had been extremely restless with everything being so blurry, supreme courts order to let CBI investigate Sushants case was a ray of hope that truth would finally shine. She further said that everyone shall have faith, stop speculating and let CBI do their work now. Last 2months have been extremely restless with everything being so blurry. Supreme Courts order to let the CBI investigate Sushants case is a ray of hope that the truth will finally shine Lets all have faith, stop speculating & let the CBI do their work now! #CBIForSSR Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) August 19, 2020 Television actor Ankita Lokhande who had openly supported the CBI probe demand in the case of Sushants death shared a post on her twitter handle and wrote that justice is the truth in action, truth wins. Also read: Ganesh Chaturthi: Bhumi Pednekar urges fans to opt for eco-friendly Ganpati idols Justice is the truth in action Truth wins . #1ststeptossrjustice pic.twitter.com/2CKgoWCYIL Ankita lokhande (@anky1912) August 19, 2020 Even though this is not a fund started by me, but started by Zee and is a needed one at that, I am always with Zee for any other mental awareness fund that they want to do, but on this one I would like to respectfully dissociate myself. #SSR Hope the truth prevails. pic.twitter.com/XGjiVEUZ1t Ekta Kapoor (@ektarkapoor) August 19, 2020 OTTAWAThe opposition parties are pushing back against Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus proroguing of Parliament, saying the House of Commons must continue ongoing probes into the WE Charity controversy and the scrutiny of the Liberals pandemic plans. Trudeau announced Tuesday afternoon that hed asked Governor General Julie Payette to prorogue Parliament, in order to give the Liberals a chance to reset before navigating the next stage of the pandemic and guiding the economic recovery. But with Parliament already in recess until late September, prorogation has little concrete effect other than to disrupt the Commons committees that had been probing the WE Charity controversy. We are proroguing Parliament to bring it back the exactly same week it was supposed to come back anyway and force a confidence vote. Were taking a moment to recognize the throne speech we delivered eight months ago had no mention of COVID-19, had no conception of the reality we find ourselves in now, Trudeau said. The House of Commons finance, ethics and official languages committees have all launched studies into the Liberal cabinets decision to have WE Charity administer a $544-million student volunteer grant program. Trudeau and then finance minister Bill Morneau apologized for failing to recuse themselves from the May 22 cabinet decision to approve WEs involvement. While they insisted it was the recommendation of the public service to use WE Charity, both politicians had more extensive family ties to the organization than had been known publicly or even to fellow cabinet ministers when the government signed the deal. Since 2015, WE Charity had paid about $500,000 on speaking fees and expenses for Trudeaus mother Margaret and brother Alexandre, and covered expenses for his wife Sophie for appearances at WE Charity events. Morneau, whose daughter works for WE Charity, paid the charity $41,000 last month for two trips he had taken in 2017 at the organizations expense. On Monday, Morneau resigned as finance minister in order, he says, to put his name forward to become director general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Trudeau framed the decision to prorogue as necessary to lay out his governments plan for rebuilding the economy after COVID-19s first wave. But in practice, he could have requested prorogation on Sept. 22 and delivered a throne speech the following day while allowing the committees to continue their work for the next four weeks. Trudeau committed during the 2015 election never to use prorogation to duck difficult political circumstances, as the Liberals had accused Stephen Harper of doing. Notwithstanding the prorogation, opposition parties have made clear they will continue to demand accountability for the WE Charity controversy. Trudeau insists the government is not hiding anything, pointing to his promise to release thousands of pages of internal records related to the deal. The prorogation will not affect the federal ethics commissioners investigations on the decision to outsource the student grant program to WE Charity. By proroguing Parliament, Trudeau has also set up a showdown with the opposition parties over support for his minority mandate. When the government resumes with a Speech From the Throne, a confidence vote will be forced. The Conservatives, who will have a new leader, are not likely to support the Liberals agenda. And on Tuesday, the Bloc Quebecois laid out a series of demands for its support. Those include additional federal supports for seniors, compensation for dairy farmers under supply management, unconditional health transfers to the provinces, and giving the Quebec government control over the provinces share of the student service grant. The leader of the Bloc Quebecois has serious doubts about his partys support for the Speech from the Throne, but believes it is his duty to discuss it first and wait for its content, read a statement from the party, which has already threatened a confidence motion. Shutting down Parliament in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis, with a planned sitting next week and committees working hard to get answers and solutions for Canadians, is wrong, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a written statement Tuesday evening. Canadians shouldnt be forced to pay the price for Mr. Trudeaus scandals. Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer accused the prime minister of being spineless, and called proroguing Parliament a disgusting attempt to make Canadians forget about his corruption. Hiding out for two months wont solve the Liberals ethical problems, said Scheer in a statement. Lori Turnbull, a Dalhousie University political science professor who worked at the Privy Council Office during Trudeaus first mandate, questioned why the Liberals needed to prorogue Parliament even if they want to reset the political narrative. To a certain extent, (Trudeau) is going to get a lot of the way there just by appointing (Chrystia) Freeland as finance minister, because she is such a compelling story, Turnbull said in an interview Tuesday. The story about Morneau was over very quickly, and to me thats problematic but people are really changing the channel very quickly towards Freeland and prorogation and what all that means. Turnbull added that if Trudeau was looking to press reset on his minority mandate, he could just as easily do that with a budget from Freeland as a Speech from the Throne delivered by Payette. Global IT Supply Chain Shifts from China to India and ASEAN: Current Status and Future Challenges BANGALORE, India, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The change in China's investment, combined with the ongoing US-China trade war, has led the supply chain industry to move from China to ASEAN and Indian markets to dilute the risks. But the current trade conflict between India and the United States may impact India 's strategy to replace China as the next export base. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/MICR-Comp-2N16/Global_IT_Supply_Chain Despite this, some brands have asked their OEM / ODM partners to move to India. This move is in tune expected to help India develop its industry supply chain. This study gives an overview of the changes in the global supply chain, analyses the shift to ASEAN and India, studies the effect of India's industrial policies on the sector, and explores the potential threats and opportunities behind these shifts. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/MICR-Comp-2N16/global-it-supply-chain Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=MICR-Comp-2N16&lic=single-user Huawei's Supply Chain and Its Future Prospects amid the US-China Trade War (pre-order) 2019 was a landmark year for 5G growth, as the world 's telecommunications heavyweights tried to gain a foothold in mobile technology. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/MICR-Semi-2W17/huawei_supply_chain Benefiting from robust government funding, the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei last year was the world's largest manufacturer of 5G equipment and the No. 3 smartphone producer by shipments. The United States opened a new front in the US-China trade war, concentrating on ICT (Information and Communications Technology), acknowledging that China was poised to take the global lead in 5G rollout. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/MICR-Semi-2W17/huawei-supply-chain-and To ensure the quality of its supply chain, Huawei will slowly turn its emphasis toward reducing dependence on US suppliers. Around the same time, Huawei's supply chain disruptions are having knock-on impacts around the global ICT market. With that in mind, this report looks at the changes in the supply chain for Huawei in detail and explores the context and future impact on the industry. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=MICR-Semi-2W17&lic=single-user Supply Chain Management Market Report The global supply chain management market size was valued at USD 15.85 Billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 37.41Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2020 to 2027. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Manu-0W17/Supply_Chain_Management_Market The on-premise segment held the largest supply chain management market in 2019, and this trend is expected to continue over the forecast period. This is due to the high adoption of on-premise supply chain management systems by industries where it is not permissible to store confidential information in a public cloud environment. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-0W17/supply-chain-management However, the cloud-based segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR due to its numerous benefits such as reliability, scalability, integrated design, cost-effectiveness, and immediacy over traditional SCM models. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-0W17&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Manu-0W17&lic=enterprise-licenese Supply Chain Analytics Market Report The global Supply Chain Analytics market size is projected to reach USD 3595.2 Million by 2026, from USD 3299.9 Million in 2020. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-6S3312/Global_Supply_Chain_Analytics Increasing data volume and size, need to increase efficiencies in the process and supply chain, and the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI ) and machine learning into supply chain management is expected to increase the growth of Supply Chain Analytics Market size during the forecast period. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-6S3312/global-supply-chain-analytics Factors such as increasing cloud-based supply chain analytics and growing awareness among organizations of supply chain analytics tools are expected to fuel the adoption. However, information security issues and inaccuracies in data sets are likely to limit the market growth. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-6S3312&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=QYRE-Auto-6S3312&lic=enterprise-user Supply Chain Analytics Software Market The top companies in the Supply Chain Analytics Software Market are SAP, PeopleSoft, JDA, Manhattan, Ariba, SAS, IBM Cognos, Tableau, TARGIT, Kinaxis, Birst, Logility, etc. Get Free Sample: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Auto-35Y921/Global_Supply_Chain_Analytics_Software The Supply Chain Analytics Software Market report focuses on the global Supply Chain Analytics Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market, and key players. The study objectives are to present the Supply Chain Analytics Software development in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and Central & South America. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-35Y921/global-supply-chain-analytics-software Supply Chain Analytics Technology Software Market https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-24T990/global-supply-chain-analytics-technology-software ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains detail research methodology employed to generate the report, Please also reach to our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources CONTACT US: Valuates Reports sales@valuates.com For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp: +91 9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg NYPD officers in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, on June 3, 2020. (Scott Heins/Getty Images) NYC Shootings up Another 50 Percent Last Week The spree of gun violence afflicting New York City shows no signs of abating as shootings surged more than 50 percent in the week ending Aug. 16, New York Police Department data shows. During the week, 78 people were shot, including 14 fatally, in 63 incidents. Thats up from 57 who were shot, including six fatalities, in 41 incidents the previous week. Compared to the same period last year, shootings are up more than 140 percent, and more than 150 percent in the past four weeks. The city hasnt seen such levels of violence since the mid-1990s. From June until Aug. 16, 729 people were shot, compared to 272 in the same period last year. Homicides are up more than 30 percent this year. The NYPD has blamed the crime on a series of policies that have complicated their work. Last years bail reform measures banned judges from requiring cash bail for most nonviolent and some lower-level violent crimes, resulting in criminals getting quickly back on the street after arrests. Starting in May, protests sparked by the death of George Floyd during his arrest in Minneapolis turned violent and fueled resentment toward police. In July, police use-of-force restrictions kicked in, outlawing, among other things, officers accidentally pressing their knee against a suspects back or chest during an arrest. Police officers and other experts have criticized the law for criminalizing martial arts techniques routinely used by police to safely subdue resisting subjects. They warned it will lead police to use more severe methods, such as tasers, or avoid arrests. Some NYPD officers told The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity that officers are indeed hesitant to arrest resisting suspects, unless they pose a present danger to the officers or the public. Only a small portion of people released due to the bail reform have been involved in shootings, The New York Post reported. But the officers cited the reform as a major demoralizing factor, since it makes their efforts seem pointless. Police have also been retiring at a faster pace, said Sgt. Jessica McRorie, an NYPD spokeswoman. There have been 789 retirements and 1,130 have filed for retirement from May 25 to Aug. 11. During the same period last year, there were 545 retirements, and 424 filed for retirement. While the decision to retire is a personal one and can be attributed to a range of factors, it is a troubling trend that we are closely monitoring, McRorie told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed the violence on the economic impact of the pandemic lockdowns as well as the slowdown of the court system. The Office of Court Administration rejected blame, saying much of the court proceedings have continued virtually, the New York Daily News reported. Blizzard in Midsummer China; No more credit card for HK officials; Xis Marxism In Gansu Province, the floods reached three stories high, and the wooden homes of many villagers collapsed. The province is among the hardest hit by the floods along the Yangtze River, which is already seeing a fifth wave of the floods, despite the fourth wave still not being over. Meanwhile, the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Guo Shuqing, is warning of a potential global financial crisis and is blaming the United States for impacting the US dollar through a Federal Reserve stimulus, and for blacklisting Chinese companies and entities. And in a recent article, Xi Jinping, the head of the communist party in China, said The foundation of Chinas political economy can only be a Marxist political economy, and not be based on other economic theories. These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads. Crossroads is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube. Join Patreon to Support Crossroads: https://www.patreon.com/Crossroads_Josh Listen to Outbreak Alabama: Stories from a Pandemic, above. Today, we hear Hannah Saad, a senior at the University of Alabama and the photo editor at The Crimson White, the schools student-run newspaper. UA begins the fall semester today, and Hannah is on track to graduate in spring 2021, so theres obviously a wide gulf sitting between her and walking away with a degree in news media. These are obviously unprecedented times for everyone across the world, including college campuses, many of which are moving ahead with in-person classes, including UA this week. The school tested 25,000 students for COVID-19 as of August 16th, and they report that less than 1 percent have tested positive. There remain questions about how the university will operate this semester, with more than 38,000 students back in town, creating new logistical challenges and concern that the school will switch to online learning in the event of an outbreak. I spoke to Hannah Saad about the start of the University of Alabamas fall semester amid COVID-19, how the school has kept students updated on information and protocols related to operations and safety and how the campus newspaper The Crimson White is approaching covering this school year. Outbreak Alabama will release two or three episodes per week, chronicling the experiences of those directly impacted by COVID-19s spread, including health care professionals, business owners, city leaders, artists, AL.com reporters and many others. If you or anyone you know is affected by coronavirus and want to share your story, please email bflanagan@al.com. For all of our coverage on the outbreak and how it continues to impact Alabama, visit AL.com/coronavirus. Listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like the show, please rate it and write us a review. Thank you for listening. More from Outbreak Alabama: Why do we suck at this? Close one restaurant, open another Being black with COVID-19 Are bars really the problem? Historic theaters in grave situation Will the college football season really happen? Masks on, mourners from near and far honor John Lewis A restaurant celebrates 40 years, despite the pandemic Moderating a COVID-19 Facebook group The scramble to reopen schools Yall have to wear a mask COVID-19s psychological toll Setting the wrong records What its like to have coronavirus Its not about you The death rate Its on us, yall The unemployment crisis Trending the wrong direction Do we even want a football season? Where is God right now? Are you ready for concerts again? CNNs Kaitlan Collins on covering COVID-19 and Trump Protesting during a pandemic Cases are surging in Tuscaloosa Nick Saban steps it up Whats next for schools? The spike in Montgomery Astonishing disparities in the rural South Where is the nursing home data? Is it a mistake to reopen now? Whiter Thomas on staying creative during the pandemic Our successes and failures so far The return of retail A barbers dilemma Is it really time to reopen Alabama? A coronavirus survivors message to the rest of us Ivey not ready to reopen just yet Crime in the age of coronavirus What role do our churches play? The absence of sports Learning from a distance Walt Maddox on leading Tuscaloosa through coronavirus Social distancing, or not Coronavirus early impact on musicians Alabama restaurants An internal breach at Twitter Inc. a half decade ago yielded data that was later used by Saudi Arabia to harass or arrest people critical of the government, according to lawsuits, human rights groups and the relative of a person apprehended in 2018. In 2015, two Twitter employees allegedly accessed more than 6,000 accounts while acting as spies for the government of Saudi Arabia. Some details of the incident have been disclosed by U.S. prosecutors, who charged the two men last November, and in recent lawsuits by people who alleged their accounts were among those breached. But few other details have emerged about what the Saudi government may have done with the data. Now, the sister of a Saudi man who ran an anonymous Twitter account said her brothers disappearance resulted from the activities of the alleged Twitter spies. Abdulrahman al-Sadhan was working at his office in Riyadh on March 12, 2018 when Saudi Arabias secret police showed up and took him away, according to his sister, Areej al-Sadhan. His family hasnt seen him since, and until he was permitted to make a short phone call to a relative in February, they worried that he might have been killed. A 36-year-old employee of the humanitarian group Red Crescent Movement, al-Sadhan was a regular commentator on human rights and social justice issues in Saudi Arabia. He voiced his opinions on an anonymous Twitter account that had garnered thousands of followers, according to his sister. It is clear this was a targeted attack on purpose on activists and critics on Twitter, said Areej al-Sadhan, who explained that she was told that her brothers account was breached by a person familiar with the U.S. investigation. My brother, unfortunately, is one of those who was targeted. Now we are seriously concerned about his well being and health, given the awful history of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. Several Middle East human rights organizations said they have identified six Saudi citizens who ran anonymous or pseudonymous Twitter accounts critical of the government who have been arrested. In at least five of those instances, the timing of the arrests and the Twitter breach indicate they are connected, according to Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, or ANHRI, an Egypt-based group that monitors human rights violations in the region. Three of the five Saudis who were arrested since 2015 used the Twitter names @sama7ti, @coluche_ar, and @mahwe13, according to ANHRI. A sixth case was identified by the human rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which said a Saudi man who posted political commentary on Twitter under the name @albna5y had been arrested in September 2017. I think all of them were arrested as a result of the Twitter hack carried out by the alleged spies within the company, Eid said, adding that the arrests left him deeply concerned about the fate of activists in the country. Saudi Arabia is spending millions of dollars on digital espionage and hacking the accounts of human rights defenders, critics and opponents. Two other Saudi dissidents, one in Canada and the other in the U.S., have claimed in lawsuits that their Twitter accounts were among those targeted by the alleged internal spying, an action that they say endangered them or their friends in Saudi Arabia. Last month, Twitter suffered an embarrassing data breach in which 130 accounts were hijacked, including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. A 17-year-old Florida man was accused of being the mastermind, and two others were arrested for their role in the scheme, a cryptocurrency scam that allegedly netted more than $100,000. While the Justice Departments indictment of Twitters Saudi infiltrators has generated less publicity, it exposed a more serious issue: The reams of data collected on users by Twitter and other social-media companies makes them an ideal target for nation-state spying operations against which there are few effective defenses. The Saudi operation underscores the stakes involved. Government critics in Saudi Arabia have been jailed and even executed, as in the case of the former Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The recent hack of Twitter got a lot of attention because there were a lot of powerful people who were targeted, said Ben Gharagozli, a California-based civil rights attorney. The 2015 incident was so much worse, he added. I dont think theres enough awareness of that, he said. Its put a lot of people at risk of harm. Saudi Arabias Ministry of Foreign Affairs didnt respond to a request for comment, nor did the Saudi Embassy in Washington. In August 2017, one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmans then-closest advisers, Saud al-Qahtani, issued a warning through his own verified Twitter account against anonymous Twitter accounts: Does a pseudonym protect you from the #blacklist? al-Qahtani wrote. No. Al-Qahtani explained that governments could find out the real identities of people using Twitter anonymously. He mentioned technical ways of tracing peoples IP addresses, as well as a secret Im not going to say. In September 2019, Twitter permanently suspended al-Qahtanis account, citing violations of our platform manipulation policies. Al-Qahtani was removed from his government post after the Khashoggi murder and placed under investigation. The public prosecutor later said there was insufficient evidence to charge him; however, he remains on a U.S. government sanctions list for his alleged role in the killing. A Twitter spokesperson said once the company had learned of the alleged breach by the two employees, it cooperated with federal authorities and took immediate action to notify and protect affected individuals. Twitter said its teams, including information security and corporate security, work to support employees around the world when they deal with concerns, including pressures they may be put under for access to non-public information. Twitter declined to provide the names of accounts that were compromised, saying it only provides disclosure of non-public information of users for valid legal reasons. In 2015, the FBI notified Twitter that at least one of its employees was spying for Saudi Arabia, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation that followed. Twitter employees Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen, and Ahmad Abouammo, a American-Lebanese citizen, were charged by the U.S. Justice Department last year with secretly working as spies for the Saudi government. They collected information from Twitters internal systems that revealed the phone numbers, IP addresses and other details associated with Saudi dissidents who were operating on the platform, according to the DOJs case. They were accused of either accepting gifts and cash, or promises of future employment, from Saudi officials in exchange for private information about Twitter users who criticized the Saudi royal family and government. In a single day in June 2015, Alzabarah allegedly accessed without authorization the private data of approximately 5,502 Twitter users, according to a criminal complaint filed in November last year. Abouammo is currently awaiting trial for offenses including acting as an agent of a foreign government, wire fraud and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty. Alzabarah was confronted by Twitter in December 2015 about his alleged actions and fled to Saudi Arabia the next day. There, Alzabarah was appointed as the chief executive officer of the Misk Initiatives Center, a subsidiary of the Saudi crown princes Misk Foundation. (Bloomberg has an agreement with the Misk Foundation to improve financial literacy and develop financial journalism skills for young professionals in Saudi Arabia.) Neither Abouammo nor Alzabarah responded to an emailed request for comment. Following the charges against its former employees last year, Twitter said it had made changes to its internal systems, employee training and security policies. The company also said it had sent notices to owners of accounts that Alzabarah appeared to have accessed without authorization. Some of the few dozen recipients, which included security and privacy researchers, surveillance specialists and journalists, worked at the Tor project, which seeks to allow users to use the internet anonymously, without interference from government censors or surveillance, according to the New York Times. A few other details about the Twitter breach have emerged from lawsuits filed against the company by men who claim they were targeted by Saudi Arabia as a result. Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi dissident video blogger, alleges in his lawsuit that Saudi Arabia recruited Alzabarah to access his private Twitter information, including direct messages and other information. He said the company never warned him that his account had been compromised on behalf of the Saudis, putting him in danger and forcing him to leave his apartment in Canada and to quit his graduate studies. Twitter said it properly warned Abdulaziz that his account had been targeted by a state-sponsored effort. On Aug. 12, a U.S. magistrate judge dismissed the case, while questioning Twitters responsibility to police rogue employees conducting a covert espionage campaign for a nation-state. Abdulazizs lawyers said they plan to file an amended complaint. Another Saudi dissident, Ali al-Ahmed, who is based in Washington, filed a lawsuit against Twitter in July alleging that his account was one of those compromised by Alzabarah and Abouammo. Al-Ahmed said in an interview that he used his account to communicate using private messages with other Saudi dissidents and sources close to the Saudi government, who would sometimes leak information to him. Twitter said it also notified al-Ahmed in 2015 that his account had been compromised, which al-Ahmed denies. A lot of people inside the country dont use their real name on Twitter. So they followed me and we exchanged messages, al-Ahmed said. Some of them ended up dead or in jail. Al-Ahmed runs the Institute for Gulf Affairs, a Washington-based think tank that draws attention to human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. He said that he gained political asylum from the U.S. in 1998 and has for more than two decades attracted negative attention from Saudi authorities, due to his criticism of the countrys rulers. Al-Ahmed is hoping that his lawsuit may be able to uncover more individuals who were allegedly targeted by the two former Twitter employees. This is the test case, he said. We cannot allow the Saudi government to dictate who is allowed to be on Twitter and to access information from Twitter that could lead to imprisonment, death and torture. It is outrageous. The information the former Twitter employees allegedly passed to Saudi officials could have proven useful at tracking down the precise locations of different dissidents, according to Iyad el-Baghdadi, an Arab pro-democracy activist. El-Baghdadi has attracted his own unwanted attention from the Saudi government due to his opposition to its policies. Last year, he was placed under protective custody in Norway after authorities there reportedly received a tip from the CIA that he was in danger. I think what they were looking for was the phone numbers that were associated with particular accounts, he said. If they get the phone number for someone in Saudi Arabia who is using a pseudonym on Twitter, they could then find out who the person was. They can look at phone records associated with the number or triangulate the calls. Another Saudi man reported to have run an anonymous Twitter account was arrested around the same time as al-Sadhan, el-Baghdadi said. The man Turki Bin Abdul Aziz al-Jasser had been connected by human rights groups to @coluche_ar, one of the accounts that ANHRI has cited as being among those accessed by the Twitter breach. Some media have reported that al-Jasser died while being tortured in custody. But Ines Osman, director of the MENA Rights Group, said Saudi authorities in February informed a United Nations team monitoring enforced disappearances that al-Jasser was being held in Al Hair Detention Center near Riyadh. We believe he is still alive, said Osman. Areej al-Sadhan, who lives in the U.S., fears for the safety of her brother, but hopes he will eventually be freed. Campaigning for his release hasnt been easy. Since she began trying to raise awareness about his case on Twitter and elsewhere, she said she has endured a torrent of threats from supporters of the Saudi government, who have warned her that, if she continues to speak out, she is going to regret it. I will keep speaking up, she said. In case something happens, people will know that I have been threatened. I just want to see my brother again. It shouldnt be a crime to express opinions on social media. With assistance from Vivian Nereim, Jordan Robertson and Kartikay Mehrotra. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Stacey Abrams, who unsuccessfully ran for governor of Georgia and then made a national name for herself by insisting that she had actually won, was fantasizing again at the virtual Democrat convention. This time, she claimed that Trump is a do-nothing coward. Whether one likes Trump or not, those are the two least realistic words ever to describe him. Abrams's straw man president is worth noting because so much of what's happening at the DNC is fake. Like Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams has managed to make a career out of being a loser. Abrams is so certain that voter suppression (i.e., cleaning deadwood out of the Georgia voting rolls) caused her to lose that she still insists that Governor Brian Kemp is not the governor. Instead, in her mind, Abrams is governor. Abrams has also distinguished herself by writing bad romances and by pushing aggressively to become Biden's vice presidential candidate. Abrams's disconnect from reality continued at the DNC when she used her time to accuse President Trump of "cowardice" and contended that he knows only how to "deny or distract." And while she was fantasizing, she also made the utterly bizarre statement that Joe Biden is a "public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he's done before": Whatever else Trump is or is not, he's most certainly not a coward. No coward could have stood up to the unrelenting hatred the Democrats have heaped upon him or to the attempted coup against his presidency. Where others would have wilted, Trump stood strong and fought back. The claim that Trump has done nothing but deny or distract is also untethered to reality. Democrats might not like his accomplishments, but they've been extraordinary, especially to the extent that Trump, unlike any other president in our lifetimes, kept his campaign promises. Here's a list of his achievements as of the beginning of August. Keep in mind as you read the list that he accomplished these things despite an attempted coup, a faux impeachment, a passively hostile House in his first two years, and an actively hostile House in his second two years: Trump Accomplishments by Breitbart News on Scribd As for Biden leading us out of a crisis "just like he's done before," what in the world is Abrams talking about? For one thing, Biden has never had a leadership role in his life. For another thing, let me ask again, what in the world is she talking about? Abrams wasn't the only DNC speaker who was disconnected from reality. Bill Clinton, who despoiled his office by engaging in a sordid affair with an intern and then lied about it to the nation and under oath, triggering an impeachment, had the chutzpah to lecture Trump for an Oval Office of chaos and denial: "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center," Clinton said. "Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there." As further evidence of the DNC's retreat from reality, it included Sen. Elizabeth "Fauxcahontas" Warren in its Native American Caucus: Im excited for the DNC Native American Caucus meeting today. Please join @Deb4CongressNM, @sharicedavids, @ewarren, and me (and whole bunch of other good folks) today! https://t.co/LLcjb6ZQJR Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) August 18, 2020 The American people would do well to remember that fantasy can be sustained for only so long. Inevitably, reality will triumph. Having a president and a party that face reality head-on is the only way this nation will survive. Image: Stacey Abrams (altered), Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. One of the biggest stories leading into the virtual Democratic National Convention was that New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the partys most popular leftist under the age of 78 depending on how you classify Elizabeth Warren, was to be allotted only 60 seconds of speaking time. Given the regular sass directed at AOC and The Squad by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the mini-slot was interpreted as another insult to the younger, more progressive, and less white cohort of Dems that the institutional party tends to take for granted when its not overtly denouncing them to impress fiscally moderate baby boomers. Advertisement The actual convention, thoughincluding Ocasio-Cortezs Tuesday night remarksshould be taking the air out of those (understandable!) concerns. AOC, the left, and the youth vote are being treated as one part of a party that needs to maximize general election chances against a catastrophically inept incumbentnot the only part, but a part that is too important to ostracize. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. There was no guarantee this would be the case. Four years ago, Bernie Sanders entered the convention on poor terms with Hillary Clinton, and some of his delegates booed when he urged them to support her during his speech. But on Monday, Sanders, who endorsed Biden months ago, spoke in support of his former Senate colleague in intense, characteristically furious terms. He was able to point to several progressive Biden-platform goalsa $15 minimum wage, a clean electricity transition by 2035, universal pre-K starting at age 3that were not part of Clintons campaign four years ago. The nations foremost crazy-eyed socialist even defended the DNCs decision to feature Republican speakers at the convention, making a rare reference to his own personal life in doing so. Said Sanders: Under this administration authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I, and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency, and humanity. As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat. In 2020, he is on board with telling his people to listen up and join the fight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the necessary context for Ocasio-Cortezs Tuesday segmentwhich was, in fact, 90 seconds, and involved formally nominating Sanders rather than talking up Biden. (Convention rules require the formal nomination of anyone who reaches a certain delegate threshold, so this wasnt an act of defiance on her part.) It could have been longer! But it fit the pace of the night, and its rhetoric was even stronger than what Democrats are used to hearing from Sanders (who also appeared on Tuesday, amiably, in the background of the Vermont delegations on-location roll-call video). Ocasio-Cortez, in her words, is a participant in a mass peoples movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia, and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subversive stuff! And consider, after reading it, that as recently as 2004 the entire left of the Democratic Party was embodied by Howard Dean, who wanted to balance the federal budget and had an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Bernie Sanders didnt even attend a DNC until 2008. Twelve years later, the party is projecting comfort that it can accommodate envelope-pushing policy vision and representational diversity alongside the broadly targeted, feel-good American sepia stuff that Biden prefers. In addition to Sanders prominence and Ocasio-Cortezs appearance, Warren is scheduled to speak Wednesday to (presumably) tear Wall Street a new one. The Monday night party establishment speaker, Michelle Obama, stated as fact that a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered in the U.S. On Thursday, the convention will highlight a Black mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose city (Atlanta) is prosecuting several police officers for inappropriate use of force against Black citizens. On Tuesday, two central broadcast segmentsa montage of 17 rising star figures that culminated with an appearance by Stacey Abrams, and the surprisingly inspiring states-and-territories roll callhighlighted regular, idealistic Democrats, young and old, from all across the country. The danger that AOCs small role foretold was that the convention was going to be a turgid, turnout-depressing platform for vague, CEO-friendly generalities about progress. That sort of thing is a long way from being eradicated from the partyPete Buttigieg did show up Tuesday, and will be back on Thursday. But these days he has to share the stage. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. Hong Kong to launch 3rd round of relief measures for virus-hit economy People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 13:25, August 18, 2020 Hong Kong will roll out the third round of relief measures to mitigate impacts of the continued COVID-19 epidemic on the economy. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam announced the decision at a press briefing ahead of an Executive Council meeting Tuesday morning. Lam said she has asked government officials to hammer out the scheme as soon as possible and widely heed opinions of coronavirus-hit sectors. The move came as Hong Kong's economy slumped 9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, falling short of market expectations and only slightly improving from a record 9.1-percent drop in the first quarter. Lam attributed the economic recession to what she described as "triple blows" from tightened trade environment, prolonged social disturbances, and a serve epidemic situation. The HKSAR government has already implemented unprecedented relief measures worth nearly 290 billion Hong Kong dollars (37.4 billion U.S. dollars) to help safeguard jobs, support enterprises and relieve people's financial burdens. As the overall jobless rate in Hong Kong remained at the over-15-year high of 6.2 percent during the April-June period, Lam said the second phase of an over-80-billion-HK-dollar pro-employment subsidy program will be open to applications at the end of August. The second phase will step up aid to elderly workers, property management companies and supermarkets, Lam said. Under the program, the HKSAR government helps businesses to pay the salaries of their employees. Around 43.9 billion Hong Kong dollars have been distributed to employers, with 97 percent of which as small and medium-sized enterprises, in the first phase covering June to August. The program has as far met the goal of preventing unemployment from deteriorating further, Lam said. Hong Kong has adopted the strictest social distancing measures and restrictions on inbound visitors to cope with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of July. Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection reported 44 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total tally to 4,524. The risk of a community outbreak still exist, Lam said, citing continued daily increases and nearly 40 percent of cases with unknown sources. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 Hong Kong dollars) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address More workers joined a growing strike Tuesday to oust authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after he extended his 26-year term in an election that detractors contend was rigged. Thousands of workers began walking off the job Monday at state-controlled facilities, joining actors and broadcasters. Unrest began to escalate after Lukashenko dismissed demands to resign following a severe police crackdown on peaceful protesters days after the August 9 election. Lukashenko sought to secure the loyalty of law enforcement amid escalating protests and strikes by honoring more than 300 police officers for their service. Opponents condemned Lukashenkos awards to the police, who fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at peaceful protestors and used clubs against them, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and the detention of nearly 7,000 people. Hundreds of others were injured. The chance of a nationwide strike would pose an unprecedented challenge to Lukashenko, who has relied on blue-collar workers as his most loyal supporters. But during a visit Monday to a factory in Minsk, he was greeted by workers who shouted Go away! The first government official to challenge Lukashenko was the ambassador to Slovakia, who said in a video Saturday before he resigned that he supported the protests. The ambassador to Spain, Pavel Pustav, posted a statement Tuesday on Facebook urging a vote recount and the prosecution of those who beat peaceful protesters. Officials from Western countries have refused to recognize the election as free and fair, and they have denounced the police crackdown. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Belarus in a closed-door session Tuesday, one day before European Union leaders are to discuss the matter. The ICT industry can create a pair of wings for the country to fly. One wing is digital technology and the other is communication," Information and Communications Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) introduced eight core programs for the 2020-2025 period and reviewed results achieved by the information and communications (ICT) sector in the past five years at the 5th Congress of the Ministrys Party Committee held in Hanoi on August 18. Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung speaks at the meeting. During the 2015-2020 period, the Ministry has achieved and exceeded the goals and tasks set out by the Resolution of the 4th Party Congress. Last year, the total revenue of the whole industry is estimated at nearly $135 billion, an increase of 2.5 times compared to 2015. The sector contributed over $4.3 billion, 1.6 times more than that of 2015, to the State budget. Some large ICT firms of Vietnam have been known internationally. In the International Telecommunications Unions (ITU) global cybersecurity index rankings, Vietnams position rose sharply from 100 in 2017 to 50 in 2019. Delegates at the meeting. New missions The ICT industry can create a pair of wings for the country to fly. One wing is digital technology and the other is communication," Minister Hung said. He said a country that wants to develop and make a breakthrough needs spiritual strength. Development must rely on technology. Digital technology and digital infrastructure play a decisive role in the digital economy, contributing to making Vietnam a prosperous country in 2045, when Vietnam is 100 years old. The Minister mentioned the eight core programs for the new development period. First, transforming postage from newsletter delivery into the infrastructure of the physical flow of the digital economy. Building postal infrastructure to ensure the physical flow of the digital economy in addition to the data flow. Second, transform telecommunications infrastructure into infrastructure of the digital economy; deploy 5G, one smartphone per person, and one fiber-optic internet line for each household; Cloud infrastructure, digital identity platform, technology provision platforms such as: AI, IoT, big data, blockchain, digital transformation platform for industries, etc. Third, turn Vietnam into a cybersecurity powerhouse, with a focus on mastering the ecosystem of cybersecurity products, to ensure Vietnam's prosperity in cyberspace; ensure cyber sovereignty. Vietnamese cyberspace is a new living environment, so it must be clean and healthy. Fourth, transform from e-government to digital government; all Government activities to be performed on a digital environment; create many useful services for the people; more interaction between the people with the government. Fifth, transform from outsourcing to product development. The program Make in Vietnam, with the focus on research and manufacture of 5G, IoT equipment, platforms for national digital transformation. Instead of processing and assembling, Vietnamese businesses will focus on making products. Sixth, develop digital technology enterprises, from 50,000 to 100,000 businesses, including those that own core technologies, both product development firms and innovative startups. Seventh, the media must protect the national sovereignty of information, reflect honestly the main flow of Vietnamese society, create social consensus, social trust, spread positive energy, contribute to creating stability for national development, arousing aspirations for a strong and prosperous Vietnam, contributing to creating spiritual strength for Vietnam to thrive. Eighth, transmit from IT applications to digital transformation; lead and promote national digital transformation. Digital transformation is a revolution of the whole nation, the whole people. Digital transformation must go hand in hand with the protection of digital sovereignty. Minister Hung emphasized that these eight programs are the new new mission of the ICT industry to the country. Huong Quynh Vietnam aims to be among top 30 countries for Global Cybersecurity Index By 2030 Vietnam will be listed as one of the top 30 countries for the International Telecommunication Unions (ITU) Global Cybersecurity Index, targeted the national digital transformation program. Princeton Mortgage Princeton Mortgage succeeded in achieving our largest funding month in company history, with a growth rate of 1650% in the last two years. We are an amazing group of people doing amazing work. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. We began this journey almost three years ago with the audacious goal to connect 50,000 people per year with the Effortless Mortgage by 2028, said Rich Weidel, CEO of Princeton Mortgage. This year Princeton Mortgage succeeded in achieving our largest funding month in company history, with a growth rate of 1650% in the last two years. We are an amazing group of people doing amazing work. This kind of growth and national recognition from Inc. is special and I am grateful to our entire team. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 12. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. About Princeton Mortgage Founded in 1983, Princeton Mortgage is a licensed mortgage banker and is backed by a 100+ year old multi-faceted real estate brokerage, investment, and insurance company. We are positioned as a well-capitalized banker, ranked in the top 1% for customer satisfaction in the nation, debt free and creating dynamic new opportunities within our industry. Our mission is to help people thrive, and we do that by delivering The Effortless Mortgage. We do what we say were going to do and back it up with The Princeton Promise: if you are unhappy with your experience for any reason, get $1,000 back. No strings attached. More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. A Belfast priest remains missing after a boat he was on capsized in the United States on Sunday. Father Stephen Rooney is one of two men missing after the incident happened in the Detroit area. Fr Rooney, who is originally from the Short Strand, and fellow parishioner, Robert Chiles (52), were declared missing after the 39ft boat they were on capsized on the Detroit River. The Belfast priest's home parish of St Matthew's asked for prayers from parishioners on social media. Several other people were rescued from the water. A social media post from Fr Rooney's family read: "Thank you to everyone who has sent their love and offered prayers for our brother Fr Stephen Rooney. "The search commenced again today at 7am, please keep praying that his body and that of his friend is recovered soon." Expand Close Father Stephen Rooney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Father Stephen Rooney Michele Devlin, who is the niece of Fr Rooney, posted on Twitter on Wednesday: "Today my birthday is overshadowed by the most terrible tragedy. "Sunday night I was chatting by text to my uncle and 3 hrs later he was in a horrific boating accident. The search for his body & that of his friend continues today." Well known Belfast priest Father Gary Donegan told the Irish News that Fr Rooney had served almost all of his life in America but that his heart "remained in Ireland." "The esteem in which Fr Rooney was held was very clear from the reaction to the news in the Archdiocese of Detroit and the way people gathered on the river bank, he said. While he served his people with great care, his heart was in Ireland." Fr Rooney was a pastor at St Joseph Catholic Church in Trenton. He has been a priest for more than 30 years. The incident occurred near Grosse Ile, an island between Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Grosse Ile police Lieutenant Kenneth Pelland said it was "very unusual" for a 39ft boat to capsize. It made a quick turn, he said. It may have hit a wake, causing it to capsize. One witness has informed us that the boat may have rolled at least once and caused all of the passengers to be ejected. Nearly 200 people gathered on Monday night at Fr Rooney's church for a vigil in the parking lot. Parishioner, Tricia Mohr said of Fr Rooney: He always made you laugh. He served God with such joy. He was a great guy. Tober Mhuire Passionist Order retreat centre in Crossgar, Co Down, where Fr Rooney had spent a short time at the start of his training, also posted on social media. The post read: As a young man at the start of his journey towards priesthood, Stephen studied for a short time in Tobar Mhuire along with our current and former superiors, Frs Tom Scanlon and John Friel. Stephen was ultimately ordinated for the Archdiocese of Detroit where he became widely loved as a caring and compassionate pastor. "We send our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends in Belfast and to the people and the clergy of the Archdiocese of Detroit." The Ion's LEED-certified building in midtown Houston is set to open in the Spring of 2021 with Chevron leasing space for collaboration among Chevron teams, startup companies, and community organizations contributing to Houston's innovation ecosystem. Chevron's space will be led by the Chevron Technology Ventures group and will be available for all Chevron employees for networking, professional development, and opportunities to collaborate with other innovation ecosystem players. The organization also plans to leverage The Ion community in its efforts to access and support local innovation. "Our first tenant at The Ion is one of the most recognizable brands in the world," said Ryan LeVasseur, Managing Director of Real Estate, Rice Management Company. "We're thrilled to welcome Chevron into the Innovation District. They'll be the first of many companies, local startups, and business owners who make a home at and around The Ion as we continue to develop this groundbreaking, mixed-use space." Barbara Burger, President of Chevron Technology Ventures, said, "We are thrilled to support The Ion as a key component of Houston's growing innovation ecosystem. We have a long history in Houston with its role as the global energy capital. We believe The Ion will help to ensure that Houston retains that distinction and plays a leading role in the energy transition through innovation." As a founding program partner of The Ion, Chevron has long supported Houston's innovation community. Since 2017, Chevron employees have mentored startups and entrepreneurs at The Ion's current space, served as judges for The Ion's innovation showcases, and sponsored programming for K-12 students. "By becoming our first tenant and a founding program partner, Chevron has shown it is committed to ensuring The Ion is Houston's premier destination for innovators, entrepreneurs, and academics to collaborate on workforce development, build tech-enabled businesses, and support the community," said Jan E. Odegard, The Ion's Interim Executive Director. "We're grateful to welcome such an esteemed organization to our space with which we share the same mission and values." Chevron and all future tenants of The Ion will have access to the building's cutting-edge amenities and resources, including its prototyping and immersive reality labs, 70,000 square feet of public and shared spaces for event programming, business incubation and acceleration, and curated connections. The Ion's leasing operations are led by Drew Morris at Savills. About The Ion: The Ion will anchor the 16-acre Innovation District and is destined to become the epicenter for Houston's innovation ecosystem as an inclusive, dynamic, vibrant and dense hub focusing on quality collaborations between entrepreneurs, incubators, accelerators, corporations, academics, and the Houston community when it opens in 2021. The 300,000 square-foot building will accommodate multiple uses, including shared workspace, prototyping and maker resources, event space, classrooms, food and beverage offerings as well as indoor/outdoor communal areas with shared amenities. For more information, please visit https://ionhouston.com/ . For Leasing: Drew Morris, [email protected] Press Contact: [email protected], 312-329-3983 SOURCE Rice Management Company and The Ion Related Links https://ionhouston.com/ More snow on the way in Pennsylvania; here's how much to expect Four days later, and after the surveillance video had been provided to Glades attorney, Glade finally submitted to a police interview, the suit states. By this time, Glade and his attorney were able to determine the camera which would have shown Regans fall was apparently not functioning. Lisa Robertson also alleges that Inhofe, who did not attend the funeral, changed his story from a possible suicide to say Regan was actually in a good state of mind and that he left her on the ledge to respect her autonomy. She said the two met at a local coffee shop but claims Inhofe lied to her by saying Robertson was sitting at a table on the roof when he left for the restroom, suggesting that in the two to three minutes he was gone, Regan had climbed up on the ledge and fallen to her death. The suit asks for damages in excess of $75,000 based on the belief that Inhofe knew Robertson was in a dangerous position and intoxicated when he left her, a guest at his apartment building, alone. It contends that Wiggin Properties and Mayo 420 knew or should have known the rooftop was being used unsafely. Yves here. Forgive us for proving up Godwins law with our choice of post. In all seriousness, however, in the wake of the financial crisis, some economists warned that stagnant and falling living standards historically led to a political move to the right, and would support the rise of a radical right. That has come to pass in Europe and the US. So the notion that austerity played a role in the Nazis coming to power is no surprise. However, this post shows that the areas of Weimar Germany that suffered the most distress, and in particular, showed the biggest increases in mortality, showed the most pronounced shifts towards the Nazis. Yet most of America looks at deaths of despair and shrugs, or worse, blames people in flyover for not learning to code. By Gregori Galofre Vila, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona Institute of Political Economy and Governance; Christopher Meissner, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis; Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and David Stuckler, Professor of Political Economy and Sociology, University of Oxford; Research fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Originally published at VoxEU Many Western countries pursued deep austerity measures in response to debts from the financial crisis of 2007-2008, and may again do so in the wake of COVID-19 stimulus packages. This column reviews how in the early 1930s, austerity measures worsened social suffering and contributed to political unrest paving the way for the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. The authors argue that the absence of a coherent response to social suffering from the Weimar government worsened the slump, contributing to the radicalisation and polarisation of the German electorate. Many pages have been written about what drove Hitler to power. While economic factors (from the Great Depression to high unemployment rates) and socio-cultural conditions (arising from the oppressive measures in the Treaty of Versailles) played an indisputably important role, the rapid rise of the Nazi Party is still, nearly a century later, a topic of considerable debate (Adena et al. 2015, Doerr et al. 2018, Eichengreen 2018, Ferguson and Voth 2008, Satyanath et al. 2017, Voigtlander and Voth 2012, Voth 2020). In our recent work, we show how fiscal austerity contributed to Nazi electoral success in the early 1930s (Galofre-Vila et al. 2020). Localities that experienced larger declines in spending and higher rises in taxes had higher vote shares for the Nazi Party in each and every German federal election between 1930 and 1933. Fiscal policy at the time can was implemented through a series of emergency decrees, largely circumventing parliament, and they were introduced with the knowledge that they would cause enormous hardship. Chancellor Heinrich Bruning hoped that international media reports of German suffering would lead the international community to relax debt and reparations obligations on an economical prostrate Germany. Yet, as Hitler foresaw in June of 1931, [t]his emergency decree will help my party to victory, and therefore put an end to the illusions of the present system.1 The Impact of Austerity on Electoral Outcomes Between 1930 and 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression, Bruning cut spending, increased taxes and rolled back the social safety net. Real expenditure was cut by 8% and central real expenditure by 14%. Relief payments and unemployment benefits were limited, social overhead expenditures faced the axe and government salaries were reduced. The impact was substantial in many respects, since government spending was already around 30% of GDP in 1928. Tax rates were also raised, hitting the lower income tax brackets the hardest in percentage terms. Rising numbers of Germans faced economic insecurity and marginalisation at a time when they needed it the most. Instead of an expansionary fiscal policy to combat the depression, Germans were forced to rely on an increasingly exclusionary and exhausted system of relief. Could these austerity measures have contributed to radicalization of the electorate? And, if so, did this happen by disenfranchising the squeezed middle classes? We test both these hypotheses using data from official German statistics from over a hundred cities and a thousand smaller districts in the period covering the four elections between 1930 and 1933. Overall, we find that areas more severely affected by austerity had relatively higher vote shares for the Nazi Party. Models controlling for other explanations for the Nazis success, while including city and election fixed effects, show that each one standard deviation increase in the depth of austerity was associated with between a two and five percentage point increase in vote share for the Nazis or, equivalently, between one quarter to one half of one standard deviation of the dependent variable (Figure 1). We also find that tax hikes correlate positively with Nazi electoral success. These results are robust to a range of specifications including an instrumental variable strategy and a border-pair policy discontinuity design. We also investigated alternative explanations. The most prominent of these is, of course, pocket-book voting: the rise of the Nazis came simply from the economic downturn. Importantly, we can differentiate party votes in the data. As shown below, most of the shift in political support associated with austerity came from the Centre Party (which was Brunings party) transitioning to the Nazi Party. Moreover, none of the other main parties of the German political spectrum (including the German National Peoples Party, which was another party with a far-right ideology) gained votes that could be linked to austerity. The worst off economically, the unemployed, turned not to the Nazis but to the communists. This is consistent with the notion that those just above them in the economic hierarchy, who had more to lose from the tax hikes and spending cuts, favoured the Nazis when their party failed to provide them economic relief. Figure 1 Impact of city expenditures on the Nazi party vote share, elections 1930, 1932 and 1933 Austerity and Worsening Avoidable Mortality We also study the impact of austerity on Nazi electoral gains in relation to different types of expenditure. Here we find that most of the electoral impact of austerity was driven by cuts to social spending on health and housing, two of the budget lines severely affected by austerity. These cuts in social spending plausibly exacerbated the suffering of many Germans. Indeed, we find that the localities experiencing relatively severe austerity experienced relatively high suffering (measured by mortality rates) and electorates in these areas with higher mortality were often more likely to vote for the Nazi Party. This is in line with the views of commentators at the time. For instance, by the fall of October 1930, Hjalmar Schacht (former head of the Reichsbank) gave an interview to the American press warning that if the German people are going to starve, there are going to be many more Hitlers (The New York Times, 3 October 1930). Conclusions The demise of Weimar Germany and the rise of Nazi fascism reveals that too much harsh austerity can trigger social unrest and unintended political consequences. Even after correcting for alternative explanations, including the economic downturn, it is clear austerity played a critical role. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that austerity led to substantial human suffering and exacerbated inequality and inequity. At a time when people needed the most from their government, the government failed them, and they were lured by the siren calls of radical populist parties. See original post for references Azerbaijan sees cement production decline 3% YoY 19 August 2020 Azerbaijan saw the value of construction materials produced in the country fall 4.8 per cent YoY to AZN426.7m (US$250.9m) in the first seven months of 2020, according to the State Statistics Committee. At the same time, the production of cement decreased by 2.7 per cent and precast concrete structures were down 25.6 per cent. Published under UPDATE: Oregon exhausts its $500 payouts, which brought relief to some and frustrations for others Oregon will begin paying one-time $500 relief checks Wednesday to as many as 70,000 Oregonians, targeting those who have jobless claims the state hasnt yet paid. State lawmakers approved the payments in July, aiming to help out unemployed workers who havent received their benefits from Oregons faltering jobless claims system. The $35 million program is first-come, first-served. And to prevent fraud, applicants will need to pick up their money in person at a bank or credit union there are at least 150 locations statewide. Oregon says it doesnt expect the money to run out immediately, but the state fielded 240 applications in just the programs first 90 minutes Wednesday. So people should move quickly to make their claims. The state has posted a five-page application form online at https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov; the website has a list of participating financial institutions, their locations, and instructions on submitting an application online or in person. The $500 is an outright grant, not a loan. Benefits are limited to Oregon residents with valid identification who are suffering financial hardship due to the pandemic and who were earning less than the equivalent of $48,000 per year before the coronavirus hit (the states average annual wage is about $57,000.) If applicants have sought unemployment benefits during the pandemic, either through the regular benefits program or for the new program for self-employed workers, they are only eligible for the $500 if the state is behind in payments to them (excluding the waiting week payment, which Oregon has not made to anyone.) People who have not applied for unemployment benefits are eligible for the $500 if they meet the other criteria on residency, financial hardship and income. Applicants must adhere to coronavirus safety measures when picking up their checks or submitting an application in person, and program administrators recommend checking qualification criteria carefully before going to a participating bank. Those who cannot access the states application website can call 2-1-1 for instructions. Participating financial institutions include members of the Northwest Oregon Credit Union Association, Umpqua Bank and Columbia Bank. Oregon lawmakers say those financial institutions have agreed not to charge fees to the state or to payment recipients. There may be some variation among financial institutions in how people receive their $500, but legislative staff say it will frequently be available for direct deposit in a bank account or as a cashiers check. We know these limited funds are not enough for the thousands of individuals and families across the state, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said in a statement Wednesday. But after months of hearing from increasingly desperate Oregonians who were doing everything right and still not getting the benefits they are owed, we hope this is a streamlined way for some measure of relief. A bipartisan legislative committee unanimously approved the payments on July 14 in acknowledgement of the persistent setbacks the state has sustained in paying out jobless benefits during the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands of people are waiting for their benefits, and some have been waiting for months. The money comes from federal relief funds Congress allocated to states in March. Lawmakers originally discussed directing the $500 payments specifically to those waiting for unemployment benefits. Legislative staff said this week that restrictions on the federal money preclude limiting it just to those who have filed for unemployment. Thats why the payments are available to others experiencing financial hardship. The Legislature initially hoped to launch the program within a couple weeks of approving it on July 14, but Oregons Department of Administrative Services warned from the start it would take several weeks to establish a procedure for the payouts and a mechanism to prevent fraud. The program lawmakers outlined in July didnt include an income threshold. Legislative Democrats said Gov. Kate Brown urged the adoption of an income threshold to target the payments toward workers most affected by Oregons coronavirus shutdown service workers, gig workers and those in the hospitality sector. The $500 payments are being managed through the states administrative department, not the Oregon Employment Department. Were keeping the employment department away from this so they can focus on unemployment, Kotek said Wednesday. For more information on the $500 payment program, visit the states website for the program at https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov. -- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Registration of new companies in India surged to the highest in more than seven years in July in one of the clearest signs yet of renewed investor interest and plans by entrepreneurs to set up new business ventures. A total of 16,487 were incorporated in July, data from the corporate affairs ministry showed. This is the highest since January 2013the maximum available historical datawhen 5,508 companies were registered. The July figure is a sharp rise from the 3,209 companies incorporated in April when Asias third-largest economy was under a strict lockdown to control the coronavirus pandemic. In May, 4,835 were registered, increasing to 10,954 in June. To be sure, setting up a company shows the intention to invest, but prevailing economic conditions will play a big role before the companies finalise their investment decisions. The total authorized capital of all companies set up in July is 2,294 crore. Data for new company registrations in July is more optimistic than certain other high-frequency economic indicators, which had suggested that a revival of the Indian economy may be prolonged due to the severe impact of the pandemic and the extended lockdown measures. The spike in the number of companies registered merits a lot of attention, said Mahesh Vyas, managing director at Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a business information company and think tank. However, whether it is indicative of investor interest can only be known after investigating it. Setting up a company is an act of commission and I would not ignore this data, said Vyas. The spurt in new company registration suggests a shift in economic activity after the pandemic. The number of companies in agriculture, an employment generating sector that weathered the shock dealt by the coronavirus crisis, rose from 138 in April progressively to 903 in July. The share of farm and allied sector companies among all the companies set up in a month too rose from 4.3% in April to 5.4% in July. Farm activity was exempted from the national lockdown. The number of industrial companies registered, mostly manufacturing entities, too rose from 803 in April, i.e. 25% of all companies formed in the month, to 5,041 in July, representing 30.5% of all the companies. Meanwhile, the number of services companies set up rose more than fourfold from 2,268 in April to 10,543 in July, its share came down from 70.6% in April to 63.9% in July. [The stream is slated to start at 9 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] After delivering a message of unity on Day 1, the Democratic National Convention is set Tuesday to focus on the importance of leadership as the party contrasts Joe Biden with President Donald Trump. Former President Bill Clinton and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are scheduled to speak during Day 2. Jill Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee's wife, is slated as the headline event. The DNC is also set to broadcast a collaborative keynote address featuring 17 "rising stars" within the party who will deliver remarks. The first night of the Democratic convention, which featured speeches from former first lady Michelle Obama and Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., offered a showcase for how politics have adapted to the coronavirus pandemic. The event, traditionally held in a large and densely populated convention hall, is taking place virtually due to fear of spreading the disease, which in the U.S. has infected more than 5.44 million and killed at least 170,500, according to Johns Hopkins University. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. California ride-hailing almost shut down on Friday, Aug. 21 and its future is still uncertain. The day before, the companies won a last-minute reprieve from a preliminary injunction that would have forced them to turn drivers into employees on Friday. Had they not been granted that delay, Uber and Lyft had planned to shut down California rides then and to keep cars off the road until at least November, when voters weigh in on Proposition 22, their ballot initiative to keep their workers as independent contractors. The impetus is a lawsuit by the state of California and the city attorneys of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles that says Uber and Lyft are ducking the states gig work law, AB5, by keeping drivers as independent contractors. The state won a temporary injunction that could have forced drivers to be reclassified as soon as Friday, but an appeals court agreed to stay the injunction until it hears an appeal by Uber and Lyft. Oral arguments are scheduled for Oct. 13. Meanwhile, the companies engaged in an enormous public relations campaign, emailing passengers and drivers about the looming threat and urging them to support Prop. 22 to continue service. Here are answers to some questions about whats going on: Q: Why did Uber and Lyft say they might cease ride service on Aug. 21? Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press 2019 A: The drastic threat was their response to a preliminary injunction ordering them to reclassify their drivers as employees immediately. Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman issued the order on Aug. 10 but stayed it for 10 days until Friday. Now Playing: Demonstrators in a car caravan honk and post grievance notes, hang banners and show support for app-based drivers outside the home of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 in San Francisco, Calif. Video: San Francisco Chronicle The companies appealed the injunction, and the appellate court paused the order while that appeal proceeds. That means ride-hailing service will continue for now. Q: How long could it take to resolve this? A: While Californias lawsuit against Uber and Lyft could take years, the appeals court put the companies on notice that they must be ready much sooner than that to comply with the injunction. It said each companys CEO must submit a sworn statement by Sept. 4 confirming that it has developed plans to comply with the injunction if the appeals court ultimately upholds it and voters reject Prop. 22 in November. The court said the companies must be prepared to comply within 30 days of a decision in the appeal. Q: What about Uber Eats? A: Ubers food delivery service was not affected by the injunction and is not directly targeted in the lawsuit. However, it uses the same gig worker model and eventually would be affected by the lawsuits outcome. Q: Why cant Uber and Lyft just comply with the injunction? A: The companies say they could not possible hire their tens of thousands of drivers as employees at the flip of a switch. Its also likely that they dont want to set a precedent showing that they can operate under an employment model, since much of their Prop. 22 argument is that employing drivers would be nearly impossible for their business. Q: Was pausing service an empty threat? A: Theyve done it before. The ride-hailing companies pulled out of Austin, Texas, in 2016 over a city requirement that they fingerprint drivers for instance. They returned a year later after successfully lobbying for a statewide law they found more favorable. Q: How big of a financial hit would a pause inflict on Uber and Lyft? A: The companies already have seen ride volumes plummet during the pandemic, with consumers staying home and drivers fearful of contagion. Their business is down by about three-quarters. Q: Would it really be too hard logistically for them to hire the drivers? A: As Schulman noted, theyve had two years to prepare for this, since a 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex made it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. The lawyers suing them also point out that they already have an infrastructure to hire and pay their white-collar workers as employees. Q: Why dont they want drivers to be employees? A: Its a lot more expensive all those benefits can add 30% to labor costs. Plus, the companies prefer the flexibility of the freelance model and say that many workers do as well. With employment, ride prices would increase and service would be curtailed in many areas, they say. They say they would have to switch to hiring full-time drivers and slotting them into rigid shifts, jettisoning the legions of people who drive just a few hours now and then for extra income. Q: Could they leave California for good if Prop. 22 fails and the court case forces them to reclassify drivers? A: Its unlikely that theyd permanently leave the nations most populous state, which accounts for a big chunk of their revenue. California accounted for 9% of Ubers worldwide rides before the pandemic. Its even more crucial for Lyft, which does not operate overseas except in Canada, and does not have other businesses besides rides. California accounted for 21% of Lyft rides before the pandemic and now provides 16% of its ride volume, it said last week. Q: How might they continue California service under an employment model? A: The companies reportedly are exploring a fleet model, in which theyd hire third parties that operate fleets to fulfill rides. The fleet operators then would be responsible for hiring drivers. Uber said thats similar to its original Uber Black service with higher prices and less reliability. Its not sure that would be viable in California. Lyft said its focused on Prop. 22 as the best solution for the state. Q: What exactly is Prop. 22? A: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart have put $110 million so far into the November initiative, which would keep app-based drivers and couriers as independent contractors, but allow them to receive some earnings guarantees and benefits. It would guarantee these gig workers at least local minimum wage and 30 cents a mile during their engaged time (from when they accept a ride or delivery request until it is finished). It would provide health insurance subsidies to drivers who average at least 15 hours of weekly engaged time per quarter. Companies would provide occupational accident insurance similar to workers compensation. Q: Why are unions battling Prop. 22? A: Organized labor says it is sticking up for gig workers rights. If the hundreds of thousands of gig workers became employees, the unions hope they would provide ready recruits for a new generation of members, at a time when fewer Americans than ever work in unionized jobs. Q: Why is California pursuing the companies? A: California regulators and union organizers say the independent contractor drivers and couriers are being exploited with precarious work situations that lack the protections and benefits of employment. Californias new gig work law, AB5, gives them ammunition. Q: What started this? A: A 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex made it harder for companies to say that workers are independent contractors. The court relied on a strict ABC test in ruling that workers should be employees unless A, they work free from a hiring entitys control; B, they perform work outside the hiring entitys usual course of business; and C, they have independent enterprises doing that type of work. The decision prompted the Legislature to pass AB5, a new gig-work law, which took effect Jan. 1. AB5 codified and clarified the decision. In some ways AB5 expanded Dynamex applying it to aspects of employment other than just wage claims. In other ways AB5 limited Dynamex with a lengthy list of professions such as architects, engineers, doctors and lawyers that were exempt from the ABC test. Q: Why do Uber and Lyft say AB5 does not apply to them? A: The companies both say they are technology platforms rather than transportation services. Their argument is that this means drivers are not central to their business, and therefore they pass the crucial B prong of the ABC test. Q: Why are there so many lawsuits? Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes A: AB5 did not automatically turn Uber and Lyft drivers and other gig workers into employees. It empowered state and city attorneys and state agencies to enforce it in court. By suing, the state and cities hope to win court rulings forcing the companies to change their business models. Q: What are the government lawsuits? A: All the lawsuits allege workers are misclassified under AB5, and seek restitution for workers, penalties for companies and a change in the workers status to being employees. These cases can take years to wend their way through the courts, but the plaintiffs are accelerating them by requesting temporary injunctions to force reclassification before the cases even go to trial. Here are the most important ones to watch: California against Uber and Lyft The biggest case was filed against Uber and Lyft in May by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the city attorneys of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman said he thinks it is likely the plaintiffs eventually will prevail. Meanwhile, he issued a preliminary injuction compelling Uber and Lyft to reclassify drivers immediately. He stayed it for 10 days until Aug. 20, giving the companies time to appeal. They hope an appellate court will give them a longer stay. San Francisco against DoorDash City Attorney Chesa Boudin sued DoorDash in June. In August, he filed for a preliminary injunction to force quick reclassification of its food-delivery couriers. A hearing on that is set for Oct. 5. San Diego against Instacart San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott sued Instacart in September. San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor in February said the city was likely to prevail and issued a preliminary injunction saying Instacart could not classify workers as independent contractors within the city of San Diego. That injunction is on hold pending Instacarts appeal. Written arguments in the appeal are not due until November, so a decision is months away. California Labor Commissioner against Uber and Lyft Californias labor commissioner, Lilia Garcia-Brower, sued Uber and Lyft in August in Alameda County Superior Court for wage theft due to willfully misclassifying drivers. California Public Utilities Commission against Uber and Lyft The state utilities commission, which regulates Uber and Lyft, has referred to drivers being employees under AB5 in some recent memos and letters. In December it asked the companies to explain why they contend drivers are not covered by AB5. In late June, Uber, Lyft and two smaller services for children called Zum and HopSkipDrive, filed papers challenging the agencys authority over classification. Uber and Postmates against California Uber and Postmates sued California in late December in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that AB5 is irrational and unconstitutional. Uber wants Becerras lawsuit to be paused while it awaits a decision in that federal case. Q: Are there other related legal disputes? A: The gig companies for years have been legally targeted by some workers over classification. Because most gig workers agree to mandatory arbitration, they cannot participate in class-action lawsuits, so only a subset of drivers are covered by these cases. Some have resulted in monetary settlements, but without the ammunition of class action, none is likely to result in widespread reclassification. Q: Why cant gig companies hire workers and let them still have flexibility? A: Both AB5 and the Dynamex decision specifically say that companies can let workers set their own hours and reject or accept assignments. The gig companies say they need schedules to make sure there are enough drivers when demand is high. They also need to ensure theyre not forced to pay people who log on in the wee hours when theres no demand. Q: Are there any cities where the companies operate with driver scheduling? A: New York instituted a minimum wage requirement for Uber and Lyft drivers last year. Both companies responded by limiting times when drivers could work to prevent having too many drivers when demand is low. Uber lets drivers request guaranteed shifts in advance with priority to those who drive most often. Drivers are not committed to their sign-up times and can still try to get online on short notice. Lyft only allows drivers online if there is sufficient demand for rides in their area. However, Lyft has paused those changes since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Q: Do gig workers want to be employees? A: Drivers for the gig companies are a huge, dispersed group. There are vocal drivers on both sides of Prop. 22. No driver poll has been done with rigorous methodology to ensure that responses are representative of the driver population. However, the RideShare Guy, a media operation that includes a blog and a podcast, surveys drivers through email and social media channels. Of the 734 drivers who answered its May survey, 71% said they want to remain independent contractors and 17% said they want to be employees. Q: Is gig worker classification just an issue in California? A: Other states increasingly are adopting and enforcing the ABC test. Its been on the books for several years in Massachusetts, which just filed a misclassification lawsuit against Uber and Lyft similar to that in California. It could become a federal issue too. Many Democratic senators support a bill to make the ABC test a nationwide standard. The Democratic presidential ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support AB5 and oppose Prop. 22. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Colin Packham (Reuters) Sydney, Australia Wed, August 19, 2020 07:00 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066eecf0f 2 World Australia,AstraZeneca,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-vaccine,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free Australia has signed a deal with drugmaker AstraZeneca to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine, the Prime Minister said on Tuesday, joining a growing list of countries lining up supplies of the drug. AstraZenecas candidate is seen as a frontrunner in the global race to deliver an effective vaccine against the coronavirus that has killed more than 770,000 people and infected nearly 22 million, according to a Reuters tally. With several countries moving to secure supplies that some fear may lead to a global shortage, Australia said it had signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses for its population. "Under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in an emailed statement. "If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians." Countries around the world are looking to secure supplies of Astrazeneca's potential vaccine. Most recently Argentina and Mexico said last week they would produce it for much of Latin America. Morrison, however, cautioned that while AstraZeneca's candidate is showing early promise, there was no guarantee it would materialize as an effective tool in preventing COVID-19. Once heralded as a global leader in combating COVID-19, Australia has seen a surge of new infections in the past month. Yet its tally of nearly 24,000 cases and 438 deaths is still far fewer than many other developed nations. Morrison said Australia is also committed to ensuring early access to a vaccine for Pacific countries, which are increasingly wooed by China, much to Canberra's concern. Earlier, Australia's biggest biotech company CSL Ltd said it was in talks with AstraZeneca to determine if the potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the British drugmaker could be manufactured locally. In addition to pressing ahead with securing a potential vaccine, Australia said it had also signed a A$24.7 million ($17.9 million) deal with U.S. medical technology company Becton Dickinson to buy 100 million needles and syringes. Ashton Kutcher has found a novel and interesting way to raise money for a cause that is near and dear to him. The Dude Where's My Car actor, 42, appeared in a TMZ video Tuesday for a new crypto-technology auction platform called Cryptograph, in order to raise money for environmental charities Global Wildlife Conservation and Oxygen Seven. In the snippet, Ashton is seen holding up a rather pedestrian doodle he's made on a piece of notebook paper, which includes a star, some scribbles and his signature. For a good cause: Ashton Kutcher appeared in a video Tuesday for a new crypto-technology auction platform called Cryptograph, in order to raise money for environmental charities He tells viewers he has taken a photo of it, and 'there's only one photograph of it, that has been taken.' The That 70s Show star then holds up a lighter, and says, 'I'm gonna light this on fire, and the original copy will be gone forever.' He proceeds to torch the piece of paper on camera, as he films it turning to ash on the coals of a fire pit. In the snippet: Ashton is seen holding up a rather pedestrian doodle he's made on a piece of notebook paper, which includes a star, some scribbles and his signature The That 70s Show star then holds up a lighter, and says: 'I'm gonna light this on fire, and the original copy will be gone forever' The reasoning behind the clip is that Cyptograph, a blockchain service, offers 'one-of-a-kind digital collectibles from your favourite icons and artists that raise money for charity forever, all secured by blockchain technology,' according to its website. And Kutcher's big page on the Cryptograph site explains that his 'idea here is to show that his physical creation is fully transcending into the digital realm, where its authenticity and immortality is absolute. 'This action [of burning the original artwork] is deeply symbolic and provokes one to think more on how the physical and digital realms can be combined in new and interesting ways.' Gone: He proceeds to torch the piece of paper on camera, as he films it turning to ash on the coals of a fire pit Kutcher's big page on the Cryptograph site explains: His 'idea here is to show that his physical creation is fully transcending into the digital realm, where its authenticity and immortality is absolute' The statement also says that 'Ashton here is probably playing on the idea that all art is subjective and that art wholly exists in the eye of its beholder. Perhaps he has created a minimal artwork to symbolise the subjective nature of art and to provoke the viewer into deriving their own meaning from his piece.' At press time, bidding for the doodle had already reached $4,217.82 in cryptocurrency. And the auction of the piece of 'art' from Kutcher, a noted techie, still has over two days remaining to go. A lawsuit, filed publicly on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, alleged the Oscar-winning actor attacked the woman after she met him at a Greenwich Village VIP lounge. Lawyer Mark Heller, who represents the 52-year-old actor, said the alleged event never took place. She's probably just somebody who's looking for some glory to bask in the publicity and notoriety of Cuba Gooding Jr's case He added: My client is totally innocent of any of these false allegations and were confident it will be dismissed. Shes probably just somebody whos looking for some glory to bask in the publicity and notoriety of Cuba Gooding Jrs case, he added. Gooding already faces criminal charges of sexual abuse and forcible touching related to claims women have previously made against him, and has pleaded not guilty to those charges. The federal lawsuit said the woman agreed to accompany Gooding to a hotel in Manhattan, where they were to be joined at the hotels ground floor bar and restaurant by Goodings friends and a friend of the woman who was with her when she met Gooding at the VIP lounge. Advertisement But when they arrived at the hotel, Gooding convinced her to go upstairs with him to a room, saying he wanted to quickly change his clothes, the lawsuit said. Instead, he put on music and attacked her, taking off her clothing and holding her arms to pin her down as he sexually assaulted and raped her twice, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit said the woman said no to Gooding numerous times but he wouldnt stop. According to court papers, the August 2013 attack has left the woman with emotional pain, suffering, and a loss of enjoyment of life. Gooding appeared last week in Manhattan state court, where he has pleaded not guilty to six charges of forcible touching and sexual abuse. If convicted, he faces up to a year behind bars. State prosecutors said more than two dozen women have made claims against Gooding since allegations were first made against him. MINSK : More workers in Belarus joined a widening strike Tuesday as they press for the resignation of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has extended his 26-year rule in an election the opposition says was rigged. Lukashenko has bluntly rejected the demands to step down following a harsh police crackdown on peaceful protesters in the days after the Aug. 9 vote. In a move intended to secure the loyalty of law enforcement agencies amid the swelling demonstrations and strikes, he signed a decree honoring over 300 police officers for their service. The opposition denounced the awards as a national insult following the suppression of protests with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs. Nearly 7,000 people were detained, hundreds were injured and at least two people died. The Interior Ministry that oversees police insisted the awards weren't linked to the crackdown that has galvanized public anger and drawn international criticism. Lukashenko's actions prompted thousands including workers at state-controlled factories and plants, actors and broadcasters to walk off the job. The prospect of a massive nationwide shutdown was an unprecedented challenge to Lukashenko, who has relied on blue-collar workers as the core of his supporters. During Mondays visit to a factory in Minsk he was heckled and jeered by workers shouting Go away!" The authorities should understand that they are losing control," head of an independent miners union Yuri Zakharov told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Only Lukashenkos resignation and punishment of those in charge of rigging and beatings can calm us down. The strike will continue and grow until he steps down." The labor action that began Monday quickly grew to several major industrial plants, including a huge factory that accounts for a fifth of the worlds potash fertilizer output. In the city of Soligorsk, home to the giant Belaruskali potash factory, strike organizer Anatoly Bokun said workers at all potash mines have halted work. The factory, which employs 16,000, is Belarus' major cash earner. They are putting pressure on us and threatening us with mass dismissals, but we will not return to work until Lukashenko steps down," Bokun said as thousands of workers joined a protest rally. They have stolen our choice," said one striking worker, 32-year-old Gleb Sandros. What else can we do to stop the authorities' arbitrary and lawless action?" Belarus ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Leshchenya, became the first government official to challenge Lukashenko on Saturday when he posted a video in support of the protests before handing in his resignation. He was joined Tuesday by Belarus ambassador to Spain, Pavel Pustavy. In a statement posted on Facebook, he urged authorities to recount the vote and prosecute those who beat peaceful protesters. Workers at state-controlled television and the nation's most prominent theater also have joined protests. Nearly 1,000 people gathered in front of the Janka Kupala National Theater in Minsk to support members of its troupe who gave notice en masse after its director, Pavel Latushko, was fired for siding with the protesters. Culture Minister Yuri Bondar visited the theater to try to assuage concerns. The actors demanded he reinstate Latushko, a former diplomat and a former culture minister himself, but Bondar refused. He left after being heckled and jeered by the performers, who threw a stack of resignation letters at his feet. Its important to speak out, important not to stay silent," prominent actor Kristina Drobysh told supporters outside the theater. Weve overcome our fear, our society has overcome its fear. Belarusians have changed which means Belarus will change, too." Several hundred demonstrators also gathered in front of a detention center in Minsk where the husband of Lukashenko's top challenger in the vote, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was being held to cheer him on his 42nd birthday. Tsikhanouskaya joined the race after the jailing of her husband, Sergei, a popular opposition blogger who had wanted to run for president. Last week, Tsikhanouskaya left the country for Lithuania in a move her campaign said was made under duress. On Monday she declared her readiness to act as a national leader to facilitate a new election. Her top associate, Maria Kolesnikova, said that members of an opposition coordination council" being formed to negotiate the transition of power would meet Tuesday. Our goal is to unite society, all of Belarus, so that the Belarusian society has a legitimate institution to negotiate and make demands," Kolesnikova told the AP. Lukashenko, a 65-year-old former state farm director who has been in office since 1994, described the opposition council's meeting as an attempt to grab power and warned that the government will take adequate" steps to cool those hotheads." Western officials refused to recognize the election as free or fair and criticized the violent crackdown. The U.N. Security Council scheduled a closed-door discussion of Belarus on Tuesday, and European Union leaders are to discuss it on Wednesday. The EU has anxiously watched a response from Russia, which has a union agreement with Belarus envisaging close political, economic and military ties. Lukashenko spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin twice over the weekend and said that the Russian leader promised him security assistance if Belarus needs it. Russia has remained tight-lipped and said nothing about possible security assistance. Putin on Tuesday had phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel to discuss developments in Belarus. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said she "underlined that the Belarusian government must refrain from violence against peaceful protesters, immediately release political prisoners and enter into a national dialogue with the opposition and (civil) society to overcome the crisis." According to Macron's office, he underscored the EUs determination to play a constructive role at the side of Belarus people so that the violence toward the population stops immediately" and try to help expedite a political solution. Terse readouts from the Kremlin said Putin underlined the need to refrain from foreign interference in Belarus' affairs. Asked about developments in the country, President Donald Trump said it doesnt seem like theres too much democracy there in Belarus." But we are speaking to lots of people and well be speaking at the appropriate time to Russia and well be speaking to other people that are involved," he said. - Associated Press writers Daria Litvinova and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attends a news conference as efforts continue to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada March 23, 2020. Chrystia Freeland, who helped negotiate Canada's free trade deal with the United States and Mexico, was named the country's first female finance minister Tuesday, a day after her predecessor resigned after reportedly butting heads with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Freeland, a former journalist who had been Canada's foreign minister, is a trusted ally of Trudeau and will keep her job as deputy prime minister. "It's about time that we broke that glass ceiling," Freeland said of being the first woman in the powerful post. The 52-year-old is a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar who speaks five languages. Trudeau named her to the job after Bill Morneau stepped down on Monday amid reported differences with Trudeau's administration, which has been spending heavily to shore up the pandemic-hammered economy. He said he was no longer the appropriate the person for the job. "This crisis has exposed flaws and weaknesses in our country that we need to fix," Trudeau said. Canada's government is predicting a historic C$343 billion (US$260 billion) deficit for 2020-21 resulting from its economic and stimulus plans to battle the impact of Covid-19. Trudeau has called the spending a lifeline to Canadians battling to stay afloat. On Tuesday, he said taxes won't go up. "The coronavirus is still with us. This is a once in a lifetime challenge for whole country," Freeland said. "We will do whatever it takes to support Canadians." Trudeau personally recruited Freeland to join his Liberal Party while it was the third party in Parliament in 2013. Freeland had a senior position at the Reuters news agency but was ready to move on after setbacks in her journalism career, friends said. Freeland previously had risen rapidly at the Financial Times where she became Moscow bureau chief in her mid-20s during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Freeland also served as deputy editor of the Globe and Mail in Toronto and the Financial Times, but left the latter publication after a clash with the top editor. She was familiar to many TV viewers in the U.S. because of her regular appearances on talk shows like Fareed Zakaria's on CNN. She has been a frequent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who banned her from traveling to the country in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions against Moscow. "The appointment of Freeland will be very popular, especially with women," said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. "She's risen quickly because she is smart and competent. She impressed Trudeau in the NAFTA negotiations. It is still too early to speculate about a successor to Trudeau, but there is little doubt that she is currently the favorite with Liberal voters and, probably, the Liberal backbench." Opposition parties had been calling for Morneau's resignation over allegations that he had a conflict of interest in a controversy with WE Charity, a scandal that has also touched Trudeau. Trudeau has said he should have recused himself from a Cabinet decision to award a contract to We Charity to administer money to students having trouble finding work due to the pandemic. Trudeau's wife, brother and mother have been paid a combined C$300,000 (US$228,000) for speaking at a number of WE events. Trudeau also announced he will suspend Parliament until September 23 when his government will deliver a speech outlining priorities for a new Parliament session. If the three main opposition parties oppose what the government outlines an election could be triggered. Trudeau said Morneau did not wish to run in the next election. "We need a team this is focused on the future," Trudeau said. Trudeau said he will "absolutely" run for a third mandate in the next election. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Grief-stricken family members of the Manchester Arena bomb victims have described the devastating void caused by the atrocity, repeating their demand for answers. Parents of those killed in the blast took to the witness box at the Old Bailey during the start of a two-day sentencing hearing, but Hashem Abedi, younger brother of homegrown suicide bomber Salman Abedi, refused to attend. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, said the 23-year-old had been brought to the court building from prison, but added that he was powerless to drag him into the courtroom. It was left to tearful family members of the 22 killed and dozens injured in the blast, on May 22 2017, to describe how the Abedi brothers actions affected their lives. Hashem Abedi in a previous court appearance (Elizabeth Cook/PA Lisa Rutherford, mother of 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford, who died in the blast, said: As a family we need answers we are destroyed. Ms Rutherford, who was supporting herself on crutches as she read her statement in court, said her heart snapped when she received a telephone call with the news. Wiping away tears, she said: We are lost, we are devastated and we feel an overwhelming loss. Caroline Curry held up a photo of her son Liam, 19 who died with his girlfriend Chloe when she appeared to address some of her comments to the absent Hashem Abedi. She said: You took from me something more precious than gold, a beautiful boy, inside and out. I want you to look at Liam and remember the beautiful boy that was snatched away. Your actions have caused this heartbreak. I just feel cheated. You took his future, my future, my familys future. All we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if. Survivor Claire Booth broke down in tears as she read her victim personal statement. Her sister, Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, died in the blast Ms Booth said: My dad has not been able to walk his daughter down the aisle, my mum cant take her shopping for a wedding dress. We will never see her grow old. Story continues As a family, we have been thrown into a world of chaos. Figen Murray, mother of 29-year-old Martyn Hett, described how she is now unable to go to bed until after 10.31pm, the time the bomb went off. Figen Murray (Family Handout/PA) She said: I still cannot reconcile that I was fast asleep while my son lay dead on the floor, and I am ashamed about that. Mrs Murray said Mr Hett had a farewell party with family the weekend before he died, ahead of a planned two-week trip around America. She said: Little did we know it was to be our final goodbye. Hashem Abedi was found guilty by a jury in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. The Old Bailey heard that the Islamic State-inspired jihadi helped his brother order, collect and store materials needed for the plot, before the latter blew himself up as thousands of men, women and children left an Ariana Grande concert on the night of May 22 2017. Salman Abedi (GMP/PA) The defendant, who travelled to Libya the month before the bombing, was arrested hours after the attack and was extradited back to Britain last summer. He initially told police he wanted to co-operate to prove his innocence, but he absented himself from much of his trial and sacked his legal team. It meant grieving families and survivors have not heard from the man police believe may have masterminded the plot. The judge confirmed that Hashem Abedi cannot be handed a whole life sentence because he was under the age of 21 at the time of the offences. However, he could be given multiple life sentences with a minimum starting point of 30 years. During the trial, prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Hashem Abedi was just as guilty as the bomber who killed 22 men, women and children aged between eight and 51. From January 2017, the brothers set about buying nuts and screws for shrapnel and ordering chemicals from Amazon for the homemade TATP explosive, with unwitting help from friends and relatives. They hid their activities by switching mobile phones and using a variety of vehicles and homes to store the materials. Their plans were briefly scuppered when their parents insisted they join them in Libya in April 2017 amid possible concerns about their descent into radicalisation, police said. CCTV of Salman Abedi making his way to Manchester Arena (GMP/PA) Salman Abedi returned alone the next month, and bought a rucksack and more shrapnel, constructed his bomb in a rented flat in central Manchester, and carried out reconnaissance missions. Jurors were shown chilling CCTV footage of the 22-year-old travelling to the foyer of the Arena, before detonating his bomb at 10.31pm, just as crowds were leaving the venue. Mr Penny said Hashem Abedi was at times chauffeur, at times quartermaster, at times electrical technician in the plot. Following his arrest, he tried to point the finger of responsibility at his dead brother, but Mr Penny said it was merely an attempt to evade responsibility for his own culpability, for the cruel and cowardly carnage that took place at the Arena that night. A public inquiry into the bombing is scheduled to start next month. (FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Edgar Su) SINGAPORE The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued prohibition orders (POs) against a former insurance agent and a former bank employee for fraud and dishonest conduct. The POs were issued following their convictions in the State Courts of Singapore, and took effect 18 August, according to a MAS statement on Wednesday (19 August). The two court cases were not related. Aw Yong Seng, a former representative of Prudential Assurance Company Singapore Pte Ltd, was issued a five-year prohibition order. In June 2017, Aw forged a document purporting to be an official receipt issued by Prudential. His client had earlier entrusted him with approximately $25,000 in cash to be paid to the insurer as the annual premium for the clients policy. Instead of handing over the payment to the company, Aw used the money for his own purposes. Aw was convicted of forgery under the Penal Code and sentenced to four months imprisonment. He has also made full restitution of the sum to Prudential, and the clients policy was reinstated. Under the prohibition order, he is banned for five years from providing any financial advisory services or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act. He is also not allowed to carry on business as, or take part in the management of, any insurance intermediary under the Insurance Act. The other individual is Chew Swee Sun, Johnny, a former representative of Bank of Singapore Limited, who was issued a three-year prohibition order. Between April and December 2012, Chew used a scheme to defraud securities firm IG Asia Pte Ltd by placing false orders for securities in three SGX-listed counters. He did so in his personal capacity using his personal trading accounts, as well as accounts belonging to his relatives and a friend. This was done with the sole purpose of influencing the associated Contracts for Differences (CFD) prices offered by IG Asia in his favour. Story continues The trades in the underlying securities were ultimately never executed, and would be withdrawn shortly after the CFD orders were executed. Chew was convicted of employing a scheme to defraud and for unauthorised trading under the SFA. The court sentenced him to 8 weeks imprisonment. Chew is banned for three years from providing financial advisory services or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act. He is also prohibited from performing any regulated activities, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market licensee under the Securities and Futures Act. Related stories: MAS bans four individuals for 6 to 25 years for fraudulent conduct MAS bans 6 individuals for 6 to 12 years over fraud and dishonest conduct MAS issues prohibition orders against former HSBC senior V-P and two others The Ministry of the Solicitor General says it has launched an internal investigation to determine how an inmate was accidentally released from Miltons Maplehurst Correctional Complex on Monday. Halton police were notified of the improper release at approximately 11 p.m. Amritpal Singh Aujla, 28, of Brampton, was last seen leaving the correctional complex on foot. Police said he was wearing a blue track suit and an orange turban. Officers are also confirming that Aujla was in custody at Maplehurst awaiting a video court appearance on Tuesday for charges laid by Peel Regional Police. Peel Police Const. Heather Cannon said Aujla is charged with possession of property obtained by crime, breach of a probation order, failing to comply with an undertaking, failing to comply with a release order, three counts of possession of a controlled substance (cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines) and two counts of possession for the purpose. Kristy Denette, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General, said the ministry is working closely with police to assist in locating Aujla. She also said the ministry would be conducting an internal investigation into this matter. Aujla is described as east Indian, five foot 10, 170 pounds with a slim build. He carried a black backpack. Anyone with information about Aujlas location is asked to call 911 or contact police anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). This is the second time in four months that an inmate has been mistakenly released from Maplehurst Correctional Complex. On April 14, Lee Madore was released as the result of a clerical error. He had been serving a 17-month sentence for a number of offences, which included two counts of breaking and entering, assaulting a police officer, theft under $5,000 and fraudulent use of credit cards. Madore was rearrested by Hamilton police on April 21. DL David Lea is a general assignment reporter for InsideHalton.com and its sister papers. Reach him via email: dlea@metroland.com SACRAMENTO, Calif. As they faced their tormentor, Joseph DeAngelo, in court on Tuesday, survivors of the man dubbed as the "Golden State Killer" proclaimed their nightmare to be over. His, they said, is just beginning. "You will forever be known as a repulsive coward who hid behind a mask of evil. The devil can keep you company in your prison cell as he gnaws away at whatever soul you have left, at whatever life you have left," said Kris Pedretti, who was bound, gagged and raped at 15. Pedretti was one of several survivors to speak at DeAngelo's sentencing hearing in a Sacramento courtroom Tuesday. The man known also as the East Area Rapist, Visalia Ransacker and Original Nightstalker is thought to be one of California's most prolific serial killers. Previously: Joseph James DeAngelo pleads guilty to 13 murders tagged to California's 'Golden State Killer' The 74-year-old man and former police officer is expected to be sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. DeAngelo eluded police for nearly four decades before his arrest in 2018. On Tuesday, DeAngelo sat quietly in an orange jumpsuit next to his attorneys, with much of his face covered by a mask. Everyone in the courtroom was required to wear one due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty, DeAngelo pleaded guilty in June to 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping with robbery. That agreement also included that he admit to multiple uncharged crimes, many of which were related to the sexual assaults. Prosecutors could not charge those crimes because the statute of limitations had run out. In this June 29, 2020, file photo, Joseph James DeAngelo, center, charged with being the Golden State Killer, is helped up by his attorney, Diane Howard, as Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman enters the courtroom in Sacramento, Calif. Pedretti was alone in 1976, a week before Christmas, when DeAngelo broke into her home. She said she thought she was going to die and sang "Jesus Loves Me" in her head as he left her naked in the cold December night. "Standing here today with the knowledge that DeAngelo will spend the rest of his life in prison for his heinous acts has ended my dark journey so that I may begin a new one," she said. Story continues The East Area Rapist was linked to at least 50 sexual assaults in the Sacramento area that began in the 1970s. It was among DeAngelo's first known crime sprees that would grow to encompass at least six counties and span two decades. His crimes included rape, kidnapping, burglary, robbery and murder. The advent of DNA testing was crucial in advancing the case. In the early 2000s, DNA associated with these different monikers was linked to one unidentified person. As the survivors put it Tuesday, the monster was unmasked in April 2018. Semen from a second rape kit taken from the body of Charlene Smith, 33, in 1980, matched DeAngelo's. Authorities used genealogical DNA to track his family tree and identify him as a suspect. Charlene and her husband Lyman Smith, 43, were found bludgeoned to death with a log in their Ventura home in March 1980. DeAngelo's sentencing hearing is expected to last four days to allow his numerous victims and their loved ones to share their struggles and triumphs. Family and friends of the 13 murdered people are expected to speak Thursday. The rape survivors were the first given that opportunity. "Remember, youve waited a long time for this. No need to hurry. Take your time," said Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman. As they addressed the court Tuesday, many expressed common threads of pain. DeAngelo's first victim, known as Jane Doe #1, was ill and could not make it to court. Her sister, Karen Veilleux, read the statement of behalf of her sister, who was 22 at the time. Choking back tears, Veilleux spoke about DeAngelo, "the devil incarnate," tying up her sister in June 1976 and threatening her with a knife. She wished he'd "rot in hell." "Life as I knew it irrevocably changed that day. That once happy girl became fearful, suspicious, hyper vigilant. My sense of safety was shattered," Veilleux read from her sister's statement. "The ringing of the telephone invoked terror, afraid I would hear his voice again when he called to taunt me, as he did in January 1978." Pedretti, another survivor, shared how her parents wouldn't let her talk about the rape and that brought guilt and shame. Over the years she has understood that it's the rapist who should carry those feelings, Pedretti said. Sharing this message has become a focus for her as she helps other sexual assault survivors navigate life, she said. Former Sacramento County Sheriff's detective Carol Daly, an original investigator of the East Area Rapist, read a statement on behalf of one survivor as the woman stood by staring at DeAngelo. Afterward, the judge thanked Daly for her dedication to the case. Tuesday's statements underlined the impact the attacks had on the survivors' families too. Pete Schultze was sleeping in bed with his mother and 5-year-old sister when DeAngelo forced his way into their home in October 1976. His mother, Wini Schultze, will not be known as "Jane Doe #22," he said. Her courage to live through the experience and the bravery she showed in the years afterwards deserved more than that, he said. DeAngelo locked Schultze's sister in her bedroom during the attack, Schultze said. He was tightly bound so he couldn't get help. Like many of the survivors, Schultze said he wanted DeAngelo to know he did not win. They went on to reclaim their lives and create families. "While we all have suffered for 44 years, your suffering sir, has just begun," Schultze said. Follow Megan Diskin on Twitter: @megandiskin This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 'Golden State Killer' Joseph James DeAngelo faces victims in courtroom Zou Yingzi demonstrates her embroidery skills at the embroidery art exhibition on August 14, 2020. [CNSPHOTO/Wang Jiankang] An embroidery art exhibition featuring Zou Yingzi's works was launched on August 14, 2020, at Suzhou Museum, in Suzhou City, East China's Jiangsu Province. Zou is a distinguished Chinese artist and master craftsperson. The exhibition displays Suzhou's unique embroidery culture and art, with more than 20 representative Suzhou embroidery masterpieces created by Zou available for audiences to view. Born in Zhenhu Sub-district, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, in 1972, Zou has been devoted to traditional embroidery for decades. She began to learn embroidery from her mother at the age of 6 and has dedicated herself to the study of embroidery techniques for the past 40 years. In addition to traditional embroidery skills, Zou has integrated other artistic practices into her works, including painting, photography and sculpturing. In 2008, Zou created "Zou's Di Di needlework," which is derived from her experiences stitching soles on shoes. The name conveys that people should have a heart of thankfulness and be grateful to those who have helped them. In 2011, Di Di needlework obtained national patent status. Being a senior craftsperson, Zou has won many honors and titles over the years, including National Outstanding Young Arts and Crafts Artist, Arts and Crafts Master of Jiangsu Province and Outstanding Young Folk Arts Talent in Jiangsu Province. "I believe that from the day I was born, I was destined to embroider," Zou said. The exhibition will run until October 22, 2020. A woman enjoys a work by Zou Yingzi at the exhibition. [CNSPHOTO/Wang Jiankang] Two visitors examine a piece of art at the exhibition. [CNSPHOTO/Wang Jiankang] A woman takes a photo at the exhibition. [CNSPHOTO/Wang Jiankang] (Source: CNSPHOTO/Translated and edited by Women of China) The cancer burden in India is on the rise, with as many as 7.84 lakh deaths due to the disease recorded in 2018 Cancer cases in India could increase by 12 percent to 15.7 lakh by 2025, from the current 13.9 lakh cases, according to a report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The report contains five years' (2012-16) data from the network of cancer registries working under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP). The cancer incidence (new cases) in men is estimated to be 6.8 lakh in 2020 and 7.6 lakh in 2025. Among women, it is estimated to be 7.1 lakh in 2020 and 8 lakh in 2025. Tobacco-related cancers are estimated to constitute about 27 percent of all cases in the country. Highest incidence of tobacco-related cancers was observed in the North East. The report noted that the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya had the highest relative proportion of cancers associated with the use of tobacco. Image: ICMR report The report noted that cancer of lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus were the most common types in men, while cancer of breast and cervix uteri were the most common types seen in women. Additionally, the highest burden of breast cancer was observed in metro cities. While there is a rise in the trend of incidence of breast cancer, cervix uteri cancer is on the decline. The cancer burden in India is on the rise, with as many as 7.84 lakh deaths due to the disease in 2018, according to data from India Against Cancer, an initiative by doctors and researchers at the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR). The data also notes that one woman dies of cervical cancer every 8 minutes in India, while for every two women in the country newly diagnosed with breast cancer, one dies. The U.K. government has started a consultation on the use of Automated Lane Keeping System technology on Britain's freeways. Unveiling its plans on Tuesday, the government described ALKS as "an automated system that can take over control of the vehicle at low speeds, keeping it in lane on motorways." It explained that the tech had been developed to enable drivers to "delegate the task of driving to the vehicle," noting that a human would need to be ready to retake control of the vehicle when prompted. Among other things, the government's consultation is seeking views on "whether vehicles using this technology should be legally defined as an automated vehicle." If this were the case, the providers of the tech, instead of the driver, would have responsibility for vehicle safety when the ALKS is being used. Opinions are also being sought on proposals that would enable the system to be used at speeds as great as 70 miles per hour. The consultation will close in October, with the government saying the systems could be seen on vehicles as early as next spring. The development and widespread rollout of self-driving technology could transform the way people undertake car journeys. With systems seemingly developing at a rapid pace, efforts are underway to create a framework of standards to help usher in the technology. In June, for instance, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe approved an ALKS Regulation, describing it as "an important step towards the wider deployment of automated vehicles to help realize a vision of safer, more sustainable mobility for all." The U.K. is a member of UNECE. "Automated technology could make driving safer, smoother and easier for motorists and the UK should be the first country to see these benefits, attracting manufacturers to develop and test new technologies," Rachel Maclean, the transport minister, said in a statement. The government's announcement was welcomed by a number of organizations, including the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a major trade association. "Autonomous vehicle technologies, of which automated lane keeping is the latest, will be life-changing, making our journeys safer and smoother than ever before and helping prevent some 47,000 serious accidents and save 3,900 lives over the next decade," Mike Hawes, the SMMT's chief executive, said on Tuesday. "This advanced technology is ready for roll out in new models from as early as 2021," he added, describing the government's announcement as "a welcome step in bringing the regulation up to speed so that the UK can be among the first to grasp the benefits of this road safety revolution." It comes after the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, unveiled plans last week to create a 40 mile "connected and autonomous vehicle" corridor in the state. Partners in the scheme include the University of Michigan, the American Center for Mobility, Ford and Cavnue, which will act as master developer. The initial phase will test technology and look into the viability of the corridor, which would link Downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor. Advertisement The number of people getting diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK shrunk again today as health chiefs recorded just 812 more cases of the life-threatening disease and 16 new deaths. Department of Health statistics show 1,043 Britons are now testing positive for Covid-19 each day, with the rolling seven-day average having dropped every day since dismissing mounting fears of a second wave. Daily infections had risen consistently since the start of July following 'Super Saturday' the first major easing of lockdown, which top scientists warned would inevitably trigger a surge in cases. They doubled within a month and reached a six-week high of 1,094 on August 15. Troublesome UK figures, alongside signs the virus was making a resurgence in Europe, spooked Boris Johnson into 'squeezing the brake pedal' on re-opening parts of the economy late last month. But casinos, bowling alleys and beauticians were finally allowed to re-open this week after No 10 grew confident that Britain was not hurtling towards another crisis reminiscent of the darkest days of the first wave in April. Neither hospital admissions or deaths two other ways health bosses track the disease ever spiked in line with cases, giving experts confidence that infections were only ever on the up because more testing was being carried out in badly-hit areas such as the North West. Data showing the virus is in retreat will likely reassure ministers that Britain can cope with the infection with local 'whack-a-mole' style lockdowns in hot-spots, allowing further coronavirus-controlling policies to be relaxed and let the country return to some normality before the winter. Britain today recorded 16 more laboratory-confirmed coronavirus deaths taking the official number of victims to 41,397. By contrast, 12 deaths were declared yesterday across Britain and 20 last Wednesday. Ten infected patients are succumbing to the illness every day, on average. In other coronavirus developments in Britain today: Matt Hancock suggested there is no excuse for people not to return to offices as he said only a 'relatively low' number have caught coronavirus at their place of work; The Health Secretary vowed to introduce mass testing of the public but failed to offer any time frame and called it 'a moonshot' after months of calls for population-wide surveillance; Fears that Greece and Croatia could be added to the UK's quarantine list were sparked after figures revealed both popular destinations saw a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases; Boris Johnson faced calls to end his holiday in Scotland early to return to Downing Street and take charge of the Government's education omnishambles as Tory MPs warned ministers they are being 'laughed at'; Locking down Oldham would devastate the town's already-crippled economy, three Labour MPs have warned amid fears the Greater Manchester borough is on the brink of being hit by tougher measures; Diners using the Eat Out to Help Out scheme have been slammed as 'rude' by over-worked staff as the number of half-price meals sold under Rishi Sunak's plan hits 35million. MATT HANCOCK SUGGESTS THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR PEOPLE NOT TO RETURN TO THEIR DESK Matt Hancock today suggested there is no excuse for people not to return to offices as he said only a 'relatively low' number have caught coronavirus at their place of work. The Health Secretary said official data showed 'very largely' the disease is being passed on when one household meets with another 'usually in one of their homes'. He said household transmission is 'the root of passing on this virus in this country'. Mr Hancock made the comments after he was asked whether the UK will follow the lead of France and require face masks to be worn in all workplaces. The new rules in France are due to come into effect on September 1 and will require face coverings to be worn in all shared and enclosed workspaces, including open-plan and shared offices. The Health Secretary said 'we are not currently considering doing that'. Advertisement The most up-to-date government coronavirus death toll released yesterday afternoon stood at 41,381. It takes into account victims who have died within 28 days of testing positive. Ministers a fortnight ago scrapped the original fatality count because of concerns it was inaccurate due to it not having a time cut-off, meaning no-one could ever technically recover in England. More than 5,000 deaths were knocked off the original toll. The rolling average number of daily coronavirus deaths dropped drastically. Before the original count was scrapped, around 59 deaths were being declared each day. It now stands at just ten. Few changes were made to tallies declared during the brunt of the crisis in April. The deaths data does not represent how many Covid-19 patients died within the last 24 hours. It is only how many fatalities have been reported and registered with the authorities. And the figure does not always match updates provided by the home nations. Department of Health officials work off a different time cut-off, meaning daily updates from Scotland and Northern Ireland are out of sync. The toll announced by NHS England every day, which only takes into account fatalities in hospitals, doesn't match up with the DH figures because they work off a different recording system. For instance, some deaths announced by NHS England bosses will have already been counted by the Department of Health, which records fatalities 'as soon as they are available'. Department of Health officials also declare new Covid-19 cases every afternoon. Yesterday they revealed another 1,089 Brits had tested positive for the life-threatening disease. It means around 1,071 Britons are being diagnosed with the disease each day a figure that has dropped for three days in a row after it had risen consistently for well over a month. The figures may reassure ministers that the easing of lockdown measurements so far has not triggered a wave of cases, which some infectious disease scientists warned was inevitable. HEALTH SECRETARY VOWS TO BRING IN POPULATION-WIDE MASS TESTING Matt Hancock today vowed to bring in population-wide mass coronavirus testing but failed to offer a time frame and referred to the project as a 'moonshot'. The Health Secretary told the BBCs Today programme that the government would bring in mass testing and ministers were working as 'fast as we can' on the scheme that is crucial for a further return to normality. His pledge follows months of calls from top experts and politicians to set-up a mass-testing programme. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair warned it was the only way to prevent a second wave and said Britain is 'running out of time' to get a scheme up-and-running. But Mr Hancock was vague on details when he revealed the government was trialling new tests, saying some give results in just 10 minutes and rely on saliva cutting out the need to have long swabs stuck down throats. Current tests can take several days to produce results because they need to be sent to laboratories. Around 100,000 people are being tested for coronavirus each day but academics have warned it needs to be scaled-up massively to cope with the coughs and colds that will arise this winter. Mass-testing allows ministers to see exactly where outbreaks are and stops infected people unknowingly spreading it. Rapid coronavirus tests could also mean travellers do not need to quarantine for the full two weeks, if they come back negative. Advertisement They may even encourage the government to relax existing rules even further, if the trend continues. Concerns the virus was rebounding prompted Boris Johnson to 'squeeze the brake pedal' last month and delay the re-opening of parts of the economy by a fortnight. Data shows most infected patients show no symptoms, meaning they will never be tested. It means the daily cases released by the government is not an accurate measure of the true scale of the crisis. Separate data released every week by the ONS based on random swab tests of thousands of people suggest that around 3,800 people are getting infected every day in England alone. Separate promising data released yesterday showed Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales have reached another low and that flu and pneumonia are now killing six times as many people. Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the viral illnesses killed 1,013 people in England and Wales in the week up to August 7, compared to 152 patients who lost their lives to coronavirus. By contrast, there were almost 9,000 weekly deaths attributed to Covid-19 during the darkest days of the crisis in April and just 2,000 from flu and pneumonia. The 152 registered deaths from coronavirus in the most recent week is down by a fifth on last week's 193 and marks the lowest number of victims in 20 weeks before the UK locked down in late March. In other developments today, Matt Hancock suggested there is no excuse for people not to return to offices as he said only a 'relatively low' number have caught coronavirus at their place of work. The Health Secretary said official data showed 'very largely' the disease is being passed on when one household meets with another 'usually in one of their homes'. Mr Hancock made the comments after he was asked whether the UK will follow the lead of France and require face masks to be worn in all workplaces. He said 'we are not currently considering doing that'. The new rules in France are due to come into effect on September 1 and will require face coverings to be worn in all shared and enclosed workspaces, including open-plan and shared offices. Mr Hancock today also vowed to bring in population-wide mass coronavirus testing but failed to offer a time frame and referred to the project as a 'moonshot'. He told the BBCs Today programme that the government would bring in mass testing and ministers were working as 'fast as we can' on the scheme that is crucial for a further return to normality. His pledge follows months of calls from top experts and politicians to set-up a mass-testing programme. MPS WARN LOCKING DOWN OLDHAM COULD 'DEVASTATE' THE LOCAL ECONOMY The Government will decide whether to order the closure of the Greater Manchester town's bars, restaurants and gyms on Thursday. Greater Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Preston are in lockdown Locking down Oldham would devastate the town's already-crippled economy, three Labour MPs have warned in a letter to Matt Hancock. Oldham West MP, Jim McMahon, Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East, and Labour's new deputy leader Angela Rayner have urged the health secretary to avoid a 'blunt lockdown' that will 'cost more job losses'. They claim there is 'no evidence' to suggest more people are actually catching the virus and blame climbing infection rates on more widespread testing. Despite strict rules banning separate households from meeting indoors last month, Oldham has seen infections double the in the past seven days. Some 107.5 people per 100,000 population are now getting infected with the viral disease every week, latest Public Health England data shows. Cases are also rising in dozens of boroughs across England, including Swindon, Northampton and the Nottinghamshire district of Newark and Sherwood. Mr Hancock will decide tomorrow if restrictive measures should be rolled back in the Greater Manchester town, which became the UK's new Covid hotspot this week. New rules could see the closure of Oldham's bars, restaurants and gyms, which were crippled financially by the initial lockdown and spent months adapting to ensure they were 'Covid secure' and could reopen. Advertisement Former Prime Minister Tony Blair warned it was the only way to prevent a second wave and said Britain is 'running out of time' to get a scheme up-and-running. But Mr Hancock was vague on details when he revealed the government was trialling new tests, saying some give results in just 10 minutes and rely on saliva cutting out the need to have long swabs stuck down throats. Current tests can take several days to produce results because they need to be sent to laboratories. Around 100,000 people are being tested for coronavirus each day but academics have warned it needs to be scaled-up massively to cope with the coughs and colds that will arise this winter. Mass-testing allows ministers to see exactly where outbreaks are and stops infected people unknowingly spreading it. Rapid coronavirus tests could also mean travellers do not need to quarantine for the full two weeks, if they come back negative. There were fresh fears today that Greece and Croatia could be added to the UK's quarantine list as both popular destinations saw a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases. Both nations have witnessed an upsurge in the past week and this morning posted cases that almost match their highest point in August. A decision to bring them in line with other nations like Spain, Portugal and France could be made by this Friday on a move that would dash the holiday plans of thousands more Britons. It came as Mr Hancock also said ministers are working with Heathrow Airport to find a way for coronavirus testing to reduce the quarantine period. In other developments today, three Labour MPs have warned that locking down Oldham would devastate the town's already-crippled economy. Oldham West MP, Jim McMahon, Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East, and Labour's new deputy leader Angela Rayner have urged the health secretary to avoid a 'blunt lockdown' that will 'cost more job losses'. In a letter to Mr Hancock, they claim there is 'no evidence' to suggest more people are actually catching the virus and blame climbing infection rates on more widespread testing. Despite strict rules banning separate households from meeting indoors last month, Oldham has seen infections double the in the past seven days. Some 107.5 people per 100,000 population are now getting infected with the viral disease every week, latest Public Health England data shows. Cases are also rising in dozens of boroughs across England, including Swindon, Northampton and the Nottinghamshire district of Newark and Sherwood. Mr Hancock will decide tomorrow if restrictive measures should be rolled back in the Greater Manchester town, which became the UK's new Covid hotspot this week. New rules could see the closure of Oldham's bars, restaurants and gyms, which were crippled financially by the initial lockdown and spent months adapting to ensure they were 'Covid secure' and could reopen. ST. LOUIS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Northside Urgent Care Property, LLC completed its funding for the construction of the first phase of its planned academic health care campus a 16,536-square-foot three bed full service, 24/7 emergency care hospital being built near the intersection of Jefferson and Cass Avenues on the former Pruitt-Igoe housing site. Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and concerns, a groundbreaking event will take place at a future date, but construction is scheduled to commence next week. Board Chairman of the new hospital and President of Ponce Health Sciences University, Dr. David Lenihan, conveyed thanks to the Bank of Washington, United Bank of Union, and to the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council for their Phase 1 project funding and their commitment to an innovative healthcare vision. Similarily he conveyed appreciation to the City for its support and offered special thanks to the leadership provided by Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard. The Phase 1 Homer G. Phillips Hospital facility will begin to address the unmet medical needs of North St. Louis residents, who currently have no 24/7 emergency care medical facilities in their community when completed they will no longer have to travel outside of their own neighborhood for medical care. Lenihan noted that Phase 2 of the Hospital also will serve as the teaching hospital for the new $80 million Ponce Health Sciences University MD Medical School in the HealthWorks Village campus announced this past March, adjoining the Phase 1 Hospital site. The objective is to provide both access to high quality health care in North St. Louis and to recruit and train a more diverse pool of doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers for the future. Lenihan noted, "We and Ponce Health Sciences University look forward to the University bringing to St. Louis its innovative model of medical education, as successfully implemented at its existing Ponce, Puerto Rico campus." M Property Services is the project developer, HOK is the architect, and St. Louis-based KAI Build, LLC will construct the project. SOURCE Northside Urgent Care Property, LLC Kylian Mbappe admits he would prefer Lyon, rather than Bayern Munich, to be Paris Saint-Germain's opponents in Sunday's Champions League final. Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe admits he hopes Lyon will beat Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday and set up an all-French final in Europe's elite club competition this weekend. "I'd prefer Lyon for sure, because they are a French team," Mbappe said when asked if he had a preferred opponent in the final after PSG's 3-0 semi-final victory over RB Leipzig in Lisbon on Tuesday. "It will be a very tough game. If it's Bayern, fine, but if it were Lyon it would certainly make it a very special occasion." PSG are the first French side through to the final of the Champions League since Monaco in 2004 after goals by Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat saw off Leipzig in a one-sided encounter at the Estadio da Luz. They would perhaps not be favourites in a final against Bayern, but they certainly would be against Lyon. PSG won the Ligue 1 title while Lyon came seventh in a season that was curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The teams met as recently as the end of July in the French League Cup final, with PSG winning on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Mbappe missed that game because of an ankle injury, suffered in the French Cup final against Saint-Etienne a week earlier. - Emotional injury - However, he returned to play a key role off the bench in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Atalanta last week and started against Leipzig. "The truth is that the night I got my injury against Saint-Etienne I thought that was it, that I wouldn't come back" for the Champions League 'Final Eight', he said. "I cried all night, but the next morning I woke up and said to myself that I would do everything I could, get treatment all day and come home and get more treatment. "I knew the team would need me at some point, maybe not for my physical presence on the field but also being around the team and showing them I was ok. "I never wanted them to see that I was suffering. It was a difficult time but it was a real pleasure to come back against Atalanta and help the team qualify today." Story continues Mbappe, 21, admitted he is still not back to peak fitness. "I feel good, better and better all the time, but I still have to wear a heavy strapping around it. "There is no more pain. I still need to take certain precautions but I am ready to help the team, give everything on the pitch. All I want is to win, that's why I came here." as/iwd The Eagles announced Wednesday running back Miles Sanders is week-to-week with a lower body injury. Sign up for Eagles Extra: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text directly with reporters Other Eagles who were sidelined at practice include tight end Dallas Goedert (upper body injury), cornerback Sidney Jones (lower body injury), and running back Boston Scott (lower body injury). All three are considered day-to-day. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox also remained off the field Wednesday, but he was scheduled for a planned day off. Buy Miles Sanders Eagles gear: Fanatics, NFL Shop, Lids The injuries may not be a cause for concern due to the fact the team has been cautious when it comes to players and their ailments, given the nature of the new-look training camp. Sanders is expected to miss some time, but NJ Advance Media has learned the Eagles are not concerned about him missing game time, meaning it is more than likely Sanders will be ready for the teams Week 1 matchup against Washington. Sanders absence means an increased workload for fellow running back Corey Clement. It also allows the team more chances to evaluate Elijah Holyfield, and rookies Mike Warren and Adrian Killins. The three running backs are fighting for what may be one remaining roster spot at the position. The Eagles have previously said they are happy with the depth they have at the position. If Sanders was to ever miss significant time, the team is happy with what they have. One thing is for sure, there will not be a lack of opportunities for the running backs to prove themselves while Sanders remain sidelined. Get Eagles text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with beat writer Chris Franklin. Plus, exclusive news and analysis. Sign up now for a free trial. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. The first nine days of New Zealand's COVID-19 lockdown were unlawful, the country's high court has found. Wellington lawyer Andrew Borrowdale had challenged the legality of steps taken in the early stages of lockdown, including calls by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and others between March 26 and April 3 for New Zealanders to stay home. A full bench of three judges waved away a string of complaints about the lockdown's legality - but the court found authorities erred by not placing their initial request for Kiwis to stay in their household 'bubbles' into law. An order imposing stay at home restrictions was not passed until April 3, meaning New Zealanders' freedoms were unlawfully limited for those first nine days, the court said. 'While there is no question that the requirement was a necessary, reasonable and proportionate response to the COVID-19 crisis at the time, the requirement was not prescribed by law and was therefore contrary to section 5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act,' the judges said. Scroll down for video Jacinda Ardern's (pictured) decision to place the country into level four lockdown on March 26 was a breach of parliamentary law dating back to the 1990s 'Those announcements had the effect of limiting certain rights and freedoms affirmed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 including, in particular, the rights to freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and association.' In a media briefing on March 23, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered residents to stay at home. 'You can leave your home for fresh air, a walk, exercise. To take your children outside. But remember the simple principle. It must be solitary,' she said. 'People are afraid and they are anxious. We will play the role of enforcer.' As part of the nationwide lockdown sports matches were banned, all non-essential services were closed and foreigners prevented from entering the country. Ms Ardern was heralded for her role in suppressing the spread of the virus - with the country as of Wednesday recording just 1,649 cases and 22 deaths compared to Australia's 23,993 infections and 450 deaths. But legislation allowing authorities to enforce the directive wasn't written into New Zealand's law books until April 3, the New Zealand Herald reported. While an official order was made to legally ban congregations and close essential business, the order to stay within 'bubbles' was only made in announcements. Attorney-General David Parker held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon where he defended the government's swift action. CORONAVIRUS IN NEW ZEALAND: A TIMELINE FEBRUARY 3: New Zealand bans travellers from China amid coronavirus outbreak. FEBRUARY 28: New Zealand records its first COVID-19 infection after a person in their 60s returned from Iran. MARCH 16: All return travellers must self-isolate for 14 days. MARCH 20: Borders close to everyone except citizens, permanent residents and their families. MARCH 26: Alert Level 4 'Eliminate' begins. Residents are required to stay at home. APRIL 28: New Zealand drops to Alert Level 3. MAY 14: Alert Level 2 begins. JUNE 9: New Zealand drops down to Alert Level 1. Residents encouraged to take precautions. AUGUST 9: 100 days without community transmission of coronavirus. Advertisement Lockdown measures were extended in New Zealand after new community transmissions were detected on August 10 Testing ramped up after several clusters formed across the country last week putting an end to a 100 day streak without community transmissions for COVID-19 'We always thought we were acting legally all of the way through,' he said. 'What we were trying to do during those early days was take people with us from... very few restrictions to ... very broad restrictions. 'You can see that the court has gone to a lot of effort to record that this was an emergency... they just think things should have been written down a little bit more.' The news could present a legal issue for the government if anyone arrested or detained from March 26 to April 3 takes action. Pictured: The drop in cases in New Zealand as the country put in place a level four lockdown Attorney-General David Parker held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon where he defended the government's decision to act the way it did Auckland University of Technology Professor of Law, Kris Gledhill raised those concerns in May. 'If the lockdown was not lawful until part-way through, people arrested in the week between March 26 and April 3 should not have been,' he wrote in the Conversation. 'And if, despite the strong arguments of the government, the lockdown was arbitrary, even arrests after April 3 will have been improper. Those people will have a pretty clear claim for unlawful detention and compensation, despite their selfish actions. ' Mr Gledhill told Daily Mail Australia it's possible people convicted of criminal charges could have them overturned. 'This means that any prosecutions for breaching the lockdown in that initial period will fail,' he said. New Zealand has four coronavirus alert levels. The nation is currently under Level 3 restrictions after new community transmissions were detected last week But he said it was unlikely anyone would successfully argue they were falsely imprisoned. 'If the police detain someone and it tuns out that their legal power did not exist, that is a false imprisonment,' he said. 'The real question will be whether people were detained for long enough for lawyers to be willing to take on the cases.' Over the nine day period 15 charges were laid under the Health Act. But authorities expect few, if any lawsuits will emerge as result of the High Court ruling. Rajkumari Sharma Tankha By Express News Service A humble person who was always there for his shishyas is how Pandit Jasraj is being remembered. The 90-year-old Padma Vibhushan recipient died on August 17 in New Jersey, USA, after a cardiac arrest. His passing away is a personal loss to many whose lives he touched and changed. About the maestro, Hindustani classical vocalist Ghulam Hasan Khan of Rampur- Sahaswan-Gwalior Gharana says, The news of Panditjis passing away came as a shock. He was one of the strongest pillars and greatest vocalists of classical music in India. Hasan considers himself lucky to have heard Panditjis rendition of Raag Puriya Kalyan at the Delhi Classical Music Festival a few years ago and met him on several occasions thereafter. But for that an hour, I must confess, I was transported to another world, he recalls, adding Panditji was an immensely spiritual person. He always said, Whenever I close my eyes, there is god and whenever I open my eyes, there is music. To us, he was a saint. Hasan puts in, adding he learnt to be humble from Panditji. Veteran film journalist and author of 101 Cine Personalities, Pramod Laitu reminisces Pandit Jasraj as one of the most polite human beings a person could ever come across. There are loads of remembrances of the great man that he was. His trademark Jai Ho to greet people is one thing I can never forget. When I requested him to release my book, he readily agreed to do. The book was released at his residence, which speaks volumes about his humility. In spite of the fact that he was such a big name of Indian classical music, he had no airs, no ego. A simple man to the core. I pray that he now becomes one with the light, avers Laitu. Hindustani vocalist M Venkatesh Kumar says Pandit Jasraj was always concerned about his students. These days, it is impossible to find such gurus who are completely dedicated for their shishyas. It is in centuries such great souls transcend on earth, he says. The NIRS XDS Process Analyzer is ideally suited for continuous process monitoring and control. Chemical and physical properties of quality- relevant parameters are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively without any further sampling or use of chemicals. Measurements can be performed within liquids as well as suspensions or solids. The results of several parameters are available almost in real time and simultaneously. This provides a 100%- inline monitoring and control 24/7. Thanks to fiber optic technology, the distance may vary several hundred meters between analysis system and measuring point. Implementation of the system into an ATEX regulated area is also possible as well as a GMP environment. The process software, developed for PAT requirements, provides a user-friendly interface with the option to control further external components (e.g. pumps and valves) and to integrate third-party systems (e.g. further analysis methods). An engineering team and product specialists support the implementation of the customized solution. From first consultation and method development to installation and support during the entire life cycle, Metrohm Process Analytics considers every important step for a successful implementation. More than 1.7million renters propped up by JobKeeper wage subsidies are facing financial disaster within weeks. Emergency measures introduced in March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic are due to end in September. The young and those with part-time jobs would be most at risk following the end of rent holidays and moratoriums on tenant evictions. Digital Finance Analytics calculated 34.5 per cent of renters were in financial stress, where they couldn't pay their bills and had cash flow issues, despite the rent holidays, JobKeeper wage subsidies and the boost to unemployment benefits. More than 1.7million renters propped up by JobKeeper wage subsidies are facing financial disaster within weeks. The young and those with part-time jobs would be most at risk following the end of rent holidays and moratoriums on tenant evictions. Pictured is a McDonald's in the Melbourne suburb of Laverton North being closed for coronavirus deep cleaning In New South Wales, 48 per cent of renters are in dire straits where more money is going out than coming in, compared with 35 per cent in Victoria which is in a Stage 4 lockdown. Across Australia, 1.7million rental households facing financial disaster at the end of next month. Digital Finance Analytics principal Martin North said young renters were particularly at risk Economist Martin North, the principal of Digital Finance Analytics, said the end of rental holidays and eviction moratoriums would be a particularly stressful time - with the young most at risk. 'Many people will be essentially under water when those support mechanisms drop,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'People are going to really struggle - younger people tend to be more caught in this, people with young families, and interestingly quite a proportion are people who have migrated to Australia relatively recently. 'This is a huge deal. It's very significant.' Many renters were also confused about whether they had been given a six-month rental amnesty or were required to pay the arrears later. 'That's very unclear,' he said. The Real Estate Institute of Australia estimates up to five per cent, or 150,000 of Australia's three million rental households have either deferred their rent or negotiated a reduction. Digital Finance Analytics calculated 34.5 per cent of renters were in financial stress, where they couldn't pay their bills and had cash flow issues, despite the rent holidays, JobKeeper wage subsidies and the boost to unemployment benefits. Pictured is a house for lease in Melbourne REIA president Adrian Kelly said investor landlords would be under more financial pressure from next month as the banks ended mortgage repayment holidays. 'The issue with the non-eviction periods coming to an end - it's going to create a problem for those tenants who are still without employment,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'At around about that time is when all of the banks are going to start to want their mortgage repayments started up again.' Mr Kelly said a crisis could only be diverted if the government provided more rental assistance and built more social housing. 'Tenants can't continue to live in private housing and not paying rent,' he said. Tenants who have been relying on JobKeeper are at particular risk when the $1,500 a fortnight wage subsidies are scaled back on September 28 to $1,200 a fortnight for full-time workers and to $750 for part-time staff putting in less than 20 hours. Tenants who have been relying on JobKeeper are at particular risk when the $1,500 a fortnight wage subsidies are scaled back on September 28 to $1,200 a fortnight for full-time workers and to $750 for part-time staff putting in less than 20 hours. Pictured is a closed shop in Melbourne The unemployed from September 25 will also see their temporary $550 a fortnight coronavirus supplement reduced to $250 - taking overall JobSeeker benefits from $1,115.70 to $815.70. Mr North said the federal government may have to revisit its planned winding down of JobKeeper and JobSeeker coronavirus supplements. 'This category of people who got support and it's eroding, the government is going to have to revisit this,' he said. 'I don't think we're in a position to take these down anything like as quickly.' Tenants Victoria has also revealed 18 per cent of renters were too afraid to ask for a rent reduction, despite the eviction moratorium and the state government offering hardship payments of $2,000. The advocacy group's chief executive Jennifer Beveridge has called for the eviction bans to be extended. 'There is no doubt the pandemic with its resulting restrictions and lockdowns - especially in Victoria - have put many renters under financial pressure with loss of jobs and hours in vulnerable sectors such as retail and hospitality,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Tenants Victoria chief Jennifer Beveridge has called for the eviction bans to be extended and said Melbourne's Stage 4 lockdowns had put many renters under financial pressure 'The case for extending rental protections beyond September is compelling as the virus threat and financial stress persists.' With residents of Melbourne in a Stage 4 lockdown, Mr North predicted median house prices in Australia's second biggest city could plunge by up 35 per cent during the next three years as Sydney's equivalent values fell by up to 18 per cent. 'If this virus goes on and we get another round or two, it could be more like 35 per cent,' he said. The worst economic downturn since the 1930s Great Depression is also causing unemployment to climb. The Reserve Bank of Australia is now forecasting a 10.5 per cent jobless rate - a level unseen since 1994. Martin North will be joining Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki and Harvard economist Harry Dent at the Global Crisis Summit online on Sunday, August 30. Register for your free place now at www.crisislivestream.com The Embassy urges a swift and comprehensive investigation. The U.S. Embassy has expressed concern over incidents targeting journalists in Ukraine. "Free media is a critical element of a vibrant democracy, and journalists must be allowed to report without harassment and intimidation. We are concerned by recent incidents targeting Radio Svoboda staff, including the burning of a vehicle and the suspected wiretapping of a home. We appreciate the authorities taking initial steps to look into these incidents and urge a swift and comprehensive investigation," the Embassy said in a statement on Facebook on August 18. Read alsoPresident's Office condemns arson attack on investigative journalists' car Latest incidents targeting the Skhemy project The Collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf Superb works spanning Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art are among the highlights of one of the finest cross-category collections ever presented at auction For renowned Chicago collectors and philanthropists James and Marilynn Alsdorf, collecting art represented a unique opportunity for exploration, adventure, and the pursuit of beauty. We looked for objects, Marilynn said, to delight our eyes and our souls. Over the course of their four-decade marriage, the couple assembled a remarkable collection of artworks and objects spanning all eras and areas of the world. The Alsdorf Collection is an example of cross-category collecting at its finest, says Christies Chairman of the Americas Marc Porter. It is crowned by masterpieces in the collecting realms of antiquities, works on paper, European and Latin American art, and Indian and Southeast Asian art. In addition, some of the biggest names of modern and contemporary art are represented, including Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Joan Miro and Jean Dubuffet, among others. Selected works from The Alsdorf Collection were offered as part of the 20th Century Week sales in November at Christies in New York. A further selection spanning Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, among others, will be offered in Sacred and Imperial: The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection Part I and Part II on 24 September. Two of Chicagos most important cultural patrons Married in 1952, James and Marilynn Alsdorf built a life that was centred on art, philanthropy and family. As a couple, my grandparents were the picture of elegance, and they had impeccable taste, but to their family and many friends they were known for their warmth, wit, and humour, recalls Bridget Alsdorf, the couples granddaughter. Studying and collecting art was their all-consuming passion, and it took them all over the world. Their spirit of adventure was unique; they went places that few collectors at the time were curious and confident enough to explore. One such place was India, which they visited for the first time in 1968. It was during this trip that they met former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and French novelist and Minister of Cultural Affairs, Andre Malraux, a close friend of the art dealer Robert Rousset, from whom they had acquired their first work of art in 1955. The Alsdorfs love of Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan art informed their early collection in the 1960s, at a time when such works were largely undervalued. As their interests diversified, so did their collection. They were not strategic in their collecting, recalls Bridget. They were guided by what fascinated them and gave them pleasure, by knowledge and instinct. They were an incredible team. James and Marilynn Alsdorf, pictured in Miami in 1950. Photograph courtesy of the consignor As well as being great collectors, the Alsdorfs were loyal supporters of museums and cultural institutions across Chicago and the wider United States, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago. James Alsdorf served as Chairman of the AIC from 1975 to 1978, and Marilynn sat on various committees. In 1967, the Alsdorfs joined other prominent Chicago collectors, including, Edwin and Lindy Bergman and Robert and Beatrice Mayer, in founding the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, an institution to which they would provide extensive financial and personal leadership. After Jamess passing in 1990, Marilynn, who was known as the queen of the Chicago arts community, collected works by Rene Magritte, Wassily Kandinsky and Frida Kahlo, among others. She continued to build upon her husbands legacy in art and philanthropy, making a transformative bequest to the AIC in 1997 (which was celebrated with a landmark exhibition: A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection) and funding a curatorial position in Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the AIC in 2006. That same year, Marilynn was presented with the Joseph R. Shapiro Award from the Smart Museum of Art. Sign up today Christies Online Magazine delivers our best features, videos, and auction news to your inbox every week Subscribe During the first century and a half of Chola rule in India (c. 855-1280), representations of Shiva as Vanquisher of the Three Cities, holding a bow in his upraised left hand and an arrow in his lowered right hand, were revered by Chola kings. Devotional bronze icons such as the present example were usually worshiped during temple rituals. The power inherent in images of Shiva as a mighty warrior and conqueror was an important symbol for Chola rulers, who were themselves actively seeking to expand their territory. Another standout work from Part I is a rare larger than life-size marble head of Buddha dating to the Sui dynasty (550-618 AD). This head is more sensitively modeled than those of earlier sculptures of the Buddha and thus less mask-like. Like virtually all early Buddhist sculptures of stone and wood, it would have been originally embellished with brightly coloured mineral pigments. Other notable highlights include a Qianlong-period (1736-1795) guan-style pear-shaped vase, covered with a greyish-blue glaze suffused with a golden crackle. Made in the Yongzheng (123-1735) and Qianlong periods (1736-1795), this form of vessel was primarily used for holding wine. Also offered is an album of landscapes and calligraphy attributed to the Ming-dynasty painter and poet Zhang Ruitu (1570-1641) from 1625. Part I also features a large bronze figure of Uma, which comes fresh to market for the first time in more than thirty years; and a 15th-century Ming-dynasty gilt-bronze sculpture representing the White-Robed Guanyin, the graceful bodhisattva of compassion. Although frequently depicted in Buddhist paintings of the Song (9601279 AD), Yuan (12791368 AD), and Ming (13681644 AD) eras, the White-Robed Guanyin was rarely portrayed in sculpture. In the present figure, she is elegantly seated on a mat of leaves, draped in long robes. Part II spans Chinese Works of Art and paintings, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art, as well as Japanese art and European decorative arts and fine art. Highlights of Part II include a gilt-bronze figure of Amoghapasha Lokeshvara, a blue and white dragon dish (above), and a hanging scroll depicting a horse by Xu Beihong (1895-1953). The sale also presents a selection of decorative arts from the Alsdorfs Chicago residence. In January, a selection of Old Master Drawings from the Alsdorf Collection to include an important grouping of French and Italian works from the 18th century were offered at Christies New York. Among the standout French drawings was A nude woman playing a flute (above) by Francois Boucher, which sold for $37,500, nearly double the low estimate. Italian drawing highlights included sheets by celebrated draughtsmen Giovanni Battista and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. The Earth is running a high fever, not only from the Covid-19 pandemic but from climate change. This summer, Svalbard experienced its highest-ever recorded temperatures, causing the Arctic archipelago's glaciers to shrink away into growing turquoise meltwaters. And night sweats from the heavy monsoons that pummelled the foothills of the Himalayas resulted in floods and the displacement of millions. Yet at the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread at a feverish pace. There have been 17.3 million recorded infections, with 1.7 million in Europe. And the financial carnage caused by the disease has been equally devastating, with the EU's economy expected to shrink 8.7pc. With the world reeling from overlapping crises, it is increasingly clear the status quo in many countries is untenable. This is especially true at one of the most fundamental levels, how mankind relates to the natural world. Right now, human action has significantly altered three-quarters of the land-based environment and about two-thirds of the marine environment, and up to one million species are now at risk of extinction, a staggering indication of the harm we are inflicting upon nature. It is critical we understand what the implications of this environmental degradation are to our collective wellbeing, and to those people who are most vulnerable, including women, and indigenous and rural communities. The crises we face are laying bare and risk deepening the pre-existing inequalities that, amongst other challenges, already limit access to healthcare and economic opportunities. More than half of the world's GDP depends on nature, and climate change and global biodiversity loss are considered by the World Economic Forum to be two of the top five risks facing the global economy. In a landmark study, over 400 experts from 50 countries cautioned that transformative change is needed to reform and protect nature. As nations develop economic stimulus plans to put their citizens back to work and recover from global recession, there is increasing interest from governments in advancing "green" stimulus packages. Some countries - including South Korea, the EU, China, and Canada, amongst others - have talked about the opportunity to implement recovery plans that lower carbon emissions and transition to a more sustainable world. This is a critical opportunity that we encourage every country to seize, and we strongly believe investing in nature should be a core component of any recovery plan. Specifically, that should include establishing and better managing protected areas on land and in the ocean, supporting communities that depend on and help manage protected areas, restoring degraded landscapes, and scaling up nature-based solutions to address climate change. A recent report from a global team of 100 scientists and economists makes the case that protecting nature is a smart financial investment, finding that the benefits of protecting 30pc of the planet would outweigh the costs by a factor of at least 5:1. The report found that expanding and enhancing protected areas would boost the global economy and deliver key benefits like climate change mitigation, flood protection, clean water and soil conservation. Based on the overwhelming scientific and economic evidence, we have joined with a group of select international leaders - the Global Steering Committee to the Campaign for Nature - urging nations to set a goal of protecting at least 30pc of the world's land and ocean by 2030. There are several key reasons why supporting this goal and investing in nature are now more important than ever. First, protected areas play a critical role in keeping poverty, unemployment and depression among local communities at bay. Currently, local revenue has dried up as a direct consequence of the pandemic. The halting of tourism has led to lay-offs and the breakdown of clinics and other safety nets these protected areas provide. At the same time, it's seen a rise in violence and illegal activities like poaching, logging and mining. Second, with stimulus aid, protected areas could generate significant economic activity. Prior to the pandemic, nature-based tourism was one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, and studies have shown that investing in protected areas and restoration would generate twice as many jobs as supporting industries more commonly discussed in stimulus plans, including the oil and gas and the airline industries. Third, investing in nature would address biodiversity loss, another major crisis of our time. Dramatically enlarging the global system of protected areas, the "cornerstone of biodiversity conservation" should be a key element of the Convention on Biological Diversity's strategy to safeguard nature around the world, which is expected to be finalised in 2021. Doing so would also tackle climate change. Scientists have found that protecting at least 30pc of the land and ocean by 2030 - including conserving additional natural areas as climate stabilisation zones - is key to achieving the Paris Climate Agreement. Lastly, in light of growing evidence of the link between the destruction of nature and the spread of infectious disease, it's clear that establishing new protected areas would be a critical component of a broader strategy to reduce the risk of future pandemics. The world is ready for transformative change. We urge governments to strive for this change and to recognise the important role investing in nature can play in achieving a more sustainable, resilient, and healthy world. Otherwise the fever gripping the world right now won't break; it will only get worse. Mary Robinson is the first woman President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Russ Feingold is a former US Senator and former Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa. They are both members of the Campaign for Nature's Global Steering Committee, a group of former heads of state, foreign ministers and diplomats from four continents who are calling on governments worldwide to support a new global goal to protect at least 30pc of the planet's land Among the protected material, according to Burkes attorneys, are some details of the governments 87-page Title III wiretap application that allowed the FBI to tap Burkes cellphone. The motions will also include discussions of witness statements and other sensitive evidence that should be kept from public view, according to Burkes attorneys, though the entirety of the motions are not expected to be kept from the public. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: As the United Nations prepares to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, Israel is working with Security Council members to push for tough changes in the way the force deals with the Hezbollah militant group, Israeli officials said Wednesday. Israeli diplomatic and military officials say the force, known as UNIFIL, has been largely ineffective and see the upcoming vote on extending its mandate as an opportunity to make reforms. UNIFIL was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded in Lebanon under a U.N.-brokered cease-fire after a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah militants in 2006. Alon Bar, a senior Israeli diplomat, said the force has failed in two key responsibilities _ helping the Lebanese government and army extend their authority in southern Lebanon and ridding the south of Hezbollah weapons and forces. Israel accuses Hezbollah of blocking UNIFIL from conducting proper inspections and says the U.N. has done a poor job of reporting violations by the Iranian-backed group, giving an impression that the situation is better than it really is. He said Israel is demanding that UNIFIL be given greater access to suspicious sites, and that the force provide more accurate and detailed reports about Hezbollah's activities to the Security Council. Although Israel is not a member of the council, he said the country has been working with its close ally, the United States, as well as other council members including France, Germany and Britain. UNIFIL's current mandate expires Aug. 31. ``We made it clear that this time we insist that at least some of the changes will be introduced and that this is unacceptable for us to continue with the situation as it is,'' said Bar, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director general for the U.N. and international organizations. Israel considers Hezbollah to be its most serious immediate threat. Israeli officials estimate the group has amassed an arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel, and believe it is trying to develop precision-guided missiles as well. Tensions have been rising over the past two years. In December 2018, Israel uncovered what it said was a network of cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnels, apparently built without the knowledge of UNIFIL. Last month, Israel said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by Hezbollah militants along its northern frontier. Brig. Gen. Efraim Defrin, head of the Israeli army's international cooperation unit, said relations with UNIFIL are good, but that the force's ``hands are tied'' and it must do a better job. He said, for instance, UNIFIL still has not been able to inspect the tunnels on the Lebanese side of the border. Both officials acknowledged the recent blast in Beirut has added to Lebanon's instability, but said that made it even more critical to improve UNIFIL. ``You are looking at this way as an opportunity to force a change,'' Defrin said. Search Keywords: Short link: President Tsai makes pitch for Taiwan-U.S. trade agreement ROC Central News Agency 08/18/2020 07:07 PM Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () said Tuesday that a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between Taiwan and the United States would be mutually beneficial and would help to strengthen their existing trade and business exchanges. In a meeting with the top executives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham Taipei), Tsai said the Taiwan-U.S. partnership continues to deepen, as evidenced by the signing of their first memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation and the launch of the Taiwan-U.S. Business Alliance earlier this month. During the meeting at the Presidential Office, Tsai congratulated C.W. Chin () on assuming the position of AmCham Taipei chairman in January and said she was pleased to see the chamber join the new Taiwan-U.S. Business Alliance. "With this exchange platform, we will be able to better utilize national resources to serve industries in both countries, and I am delighted that AmCham Taipei has also joined this initiative," Tsai said. AmCham Taipei has also taken a keen interest in the progress of a Taiwan-U.S. BTA and has been pushing for the U.S. government to quicken its pace on such an agreement, Tsai said, expressing thanks to Chin and Amcham Taipei President William Foreman for the chamber's efforts. Tsai said the establishment of a BTA would help build stronger trade and business exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan. "I firmly believe that with a BTA, Taiwan and the United States would be able to capitalize on the complementarity of our industries," she said. "Enhancing economic and trade exchanges between Taiwan and the United States would also create more business opportunities, benefiting both sides." Since the start of the year, Taiwan has been facing stiff challenges, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and significant changes in the global economic order, Tsai said, thanking Amcham Taipei for recognizing Taiwan's pandemic prevention efforts and for offering several economic and trade policy recommendations in its annual Taiwan White Paper in June. Taiwan has done a lot in recent years to improve its investment environment, Tsai said, adding that she agreed with Chin that Taiwan can leverage its pandemic prevention success to promote its business and investment environment. "Over the past few years, Taiwan has made considerable improvements in this area," Tsai said. "The U.S.-China trade conflict and the latest developments in Hong Kong have created new challenges and opportunities for Taiwan's industries. We have set a goal of transforming Taiwan into Asia's center for enterprise capital management and high-end asset management." As part of a broader plan, Taiwan is also working to boost its Six Core Strategic Industries including the ICT, digital, biotechnology, and medical technology industries, and has established a Talent Circulation Alliance, Tsai said. "These will help Taiwan become a critical force in the global economy and the U.S.' most reliable ally in Asia, as the United States faces the realignment of global supply chains," she said. (By Wen Kuei-hsinag and Evelyn Kao) Enditem/pc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Oscar winner Halle Berry wore an impossibly short mini-dress while posing on a bicycle during day two of her photoshoot with Variety Magazine in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. The John Wick 3 action star easily defied her 54 years in sky-high platform heels and a diagonal-striped white-and-gold sequinned frock, which would create a wardrobe malfunction if she actually sat down. Crew members on set made sure to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus by wearing masks, which California Governor Gavin Newsom made mandatory for all public outings on June 18. Hair flip: Oscar winner Halle Berry wore an impossibly short mini-dress while posing on a bicycle during day two of her photoshoot with Variety in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday As of Wednesday, there have been over 224K confirmed COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, which has lead to 5,340 deaths - according to Johns Hopkins University. Halle (born Maria) also flaunted her fit 5ft5in figure in a black sequin mini-dress featuring silver detail, which she wore with comfy sandals between takes. Berry kept her make-up surprisingly minimal for the spread and she wore a highlighted and fringed, middle-parted wig. For her third look, the biracial beauty rocked a skin-tight pair of purple PVC leggings and white stilettos with a conservative houndstooth blazer and white ruffled blouse. Werrrk! The John Wick 3 action star easily defied her 54 years in sky-high platform heels and a diagonal-striped white-and-gold sequinned frock, which would create a wardrobe malfunction if she actually sat down Put 'em up! Crew members on set made sure to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus by wearing masks, which are mandatory in California Peace! Halle (born Maria) also flaunted her fit 5ft5in figure in a black sequin mini-dress featuring silver detail, which she wore with comfy sandals between takes Later that same day, Halle - who boasts 10.1M social media followers - reposted mental health therapist Faith Broussard Cade's post about 'refusing to be paid anything less than what you're worth' via Instastory. After over a year of being single, Berry recently made headlines over sharing two posts of herself playing footsie with a mystery man. 'I no longer feel the need for a relationship,' the thrice-divorced mother-of-two declared to Westworld star Lena Waithe on Instagram Live back in April. 'So I don't feel the need to rush or accept something that's not totally right for me. Not that anything's wrong with the people I've been with, but I'm going to wait for my match or I will stay solo and be with my kids and do my life the way I'm doing it.' Ready for her close-up: Berry kept her make-up surprisingly minimal for the spread and she wore a highlighted and fringed, middle-parted wig Yasss! For her third look, the biracial beauty rocked a skin-tight pair of purple PVC leggings and white stilettos with a conservative houndstooth blazer and white ruffled blouse 'Refuse to accept anything less than what you're worth': Later that same day, Halle reposted mental health therapist Faith Broussard Cade's post via Instastory Halle is mother to 12-year-old daughter Nahla Ariela with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, and six-year-old son Maceo Robert with her ex-husband #3 Olivier Martinez. Berry's directorial debut Bruised will premiere at the 45th Toronto International Film Festival sometime between September 10-19 as a 'gala presentation.' TIFF's reimagined physical and digital fest will host physical screenings and drive-ins, digital screenings, virtual red carpets, and industry talks. Who could it be? After over a year of being single, Berry recently made headlines over sharing two posts of herself playing footsie with a mystery man The thrice-divorced mother-of-two declared to Westworld star Lena Waithe on Instagram Live in April: 'I'm going to wait for my match or I will stay solo and be with my kids' Loves of her life: Halle is mother to 12-year-old daughter Nahla Ariela with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, and six-year-old son Maceo Robert with her ex-husband #3 Olivier Martinez (pictured May 10) Bruised was truly a labor of love for the Respin founder, who 'broke some bones' in November while shooting action scenes as her disgraced MMA fighter character Jackie Justice. Jackie must conquer her demons, face one of the fiercest rising MMA stars, and reunite with her estranged six-year-old son Manny (Danny Boyd Jr.) in the Rocky-style drama. Before Halle was attached to head up and helm the project, it was slated to star The Rhythm Section actress Blake Lively and be directed by Daytime Emmy winner Nick Cassavetes back in 2017, according to Deadline. Labor of love: Berry's directorial debut Bruised will premiere at the 45th Toronto International Film Festival sometime between September 10-19 as a 'gala presentation' Japan experts head to Mauritius for oil spill clean-up The MV Wakashio bulk carrier ran aground and broke into two parts in the Mauritius, spilling over 1,000 tonnes of oil A new team of experts left Japan for Mauritius on Wednesday with special oil-absorbent materials to help the clean-up of tonnes of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned ship. "The oil leak from the stranded ship has caused severe damage to the people of Mauritius, the economy of which largely relies on tourism and the beautiful ocean," environment ministry official Yukihiro Haisa told reporters before the departure. "I am terribly distressed." Six members of the team are travelling to Mauritius from Japan, with the leader of the group joining from New York. Haisa said the government of Mauritius has asked the team to assess the leak's impact on local coral reefs. The Japanese-owned MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on July 25 and began leaking oil more than a week later, spilling over 1,000 tonnes and threatening a protected marine park boasting mangrove forests and endangered species. "We would like to apply our technical skills to help clean the oil-covered mangrove forests," said Noriaki Sakaguchi, an environmental expert at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. "Once damaged, it will take a long time for an ecological system to recover," he said. The team is bringing 20 boxes of special oil-absorbent materials capable of soaking up 1,200 litres (265 gallons) of oil in total. The material has been donated by Tokyo-based company M-TechX and was used in an oil leak accident in Japan last year. "I would like to see how we can use the absorbent material to clean the coastal area and the forests' complex root structure tainted by oil," Haisa said. Tokyo has already dispatched one team of six experts, including a coastguard and diplomats, to aid in the response. Both the Mauritian and Japanese governments have come under fire for not doing more immediately to prevent a large-scale spill. Mauritian authorities on Tuesday arrested the Indian captain of the ship. Story continues In a statement on Wednesday, ship operator Mitsui OSK Lines said it was "doing everything possible" to help the vessel's owner Nagashiki Shipping and specialist teams mitigate the spill. "MOL deplores any incident of oil pollution and continues to offer support to all involved," the statement said. It added that the firm has sent equipment to help recover oil from the sea and shore, which is expected to arrive on August 21, and plans to dispatch a second team of specialists later in the month. Officials have yet to reveal why the ship, which was making its way from Singapore to Brazil, came so close to the island, which is now reeling from ecological disaster. The boat had been carrying 4,000 tonnes of oil, and salvage crews managed to pump some 3,000 tonnes out of the bulk carrier before it split in two on Sunday, preventing a much larger environmental catastrophe. oh-nf/sah/rma Crossover 101 presenter Grace Ekirapa has shared little known details about her past relationships and how close she was to getting married. Speaking on Chat Spot, Ms Ekirapa recounted calling off her wedding back in 2018. She said she was all set to walk the aisle on her birthday, April 27, barely a month after she held a traditional wedding which was attended by more than 400 people. According to the NTV presenter, she cancelled the wedding after realizing that she had rushed to get into a relationship with her groom-to-be. Ekirapa said she had gone through a rough break up back in 2017. 2017 I went through a very rough breakup, something I was in for four years, heading to marriage and it broke. And then the same year I think I was on zombie mode-numb, I got into another relationship and I was heading to marriage. So, 2018 I was supposed to get married on my birthday which was April 27th because I got engaged in February, she recalled. The media personality revealed that a week after the traditional wedding in March, she asked God to either give her unconditional love for husband-to-be or the strength to break it off with him. In March I had my traditional wedding and then in April, I was to have the wedding. But I realized I was making a huge mistake, I was going to get into something I hadnt thought through. It wasnt Gods idea for me, I knew it. I was going to get into something and hurt someone who didnt need to be hurt, Ekirapa said. I did not see myself living with someone yet I was not fully committed to the marriage. He is a great man. The thing that hurt me was that I was going to put this man through pain because I had been hurt; he did not deserve it. So, I came back [after the 2-day break] and asked him to meet me, and I broke it off, she narrated. According to the TV presenter, she had rushed into the relationship to prove to people that she could get married. The guy was in love, he was my very good friend but we were not good as a married couple, we were good as friends. But because I had been hurt, I jumped into something, it was a rebound out of pain and I was rebelling; God I have waited kept myself all these years and then it doesnt happen. I wanted to prove to people I can get married, she said. Grace noted that her decision to cancel the wedding did not come without backlash as she was called all sorts of names. And then hell broke loose, I got backlash from everything and everyone. I was called all kinds of names. People didnt understand but they had an opinion, she said. No one knew what I was going through, no one cared. They cared about their perspectives and what they thought was right according to them; they did not care about me, she went on. Asked if she is currently dating, Ekirapa said: I am where I need to be; I am the happiest that I have ever been, and the sky can only be the limit. WASHINGTON California Sen. Kamala Harris will take the virtual convention stage Wednesday night for the highest-profile and highest-pressure speech of her career. Harris vice presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention will let her introduce herself to Americans who may only now be tuning in to the election, make the case for why presidential nominee Joe Biden should occupy the White House, and energize Democratic voters depressed by four years of President Trump. But it will also be a test of whether she can shine when the traditional trappings of the campaign trail including adoring crowds are unavailable during the coronavirus pandemic, and win over detractors who didnt support her during her run for president. The vice presidential speech is always a balancing act between demonstrating what the candidate brings to the ticket and focusing on the nominee for president. But the Biden-Harris candidacy is different from traditional pairings in that Biden was rewarded by Democratic voters for being well-known and reliable, while Harris is making history as the first Black and first Asian American woman to be nominated for vice president. Shes the one Democrats hope will energize voters. She is widely seen as a better speaker than Biden at this stage of his career, is known for sharpness in the spotlight, and will be expected to dazzle in her prime-time address. Now Playing: Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden has named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. The Oakland native is the first Black woman and first person of South Asian American descent to be nominated for national office by a major party. See highlights from her barrier-breaking career. Video: San Francisco Chronicle Of the four candidates on the major parties tickets, she is not just the best messenger ... she is the best messenger by a mile, Jon Lovett, a onetime speechwriter for Barack Obama, said on his podcast with other former communications staffers for the ex-president. Lovett and former Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor praised Harris first speech with Biden in Delaware, saying it showed her skill even without a crowd present. Vietor said Harris shares Obamas ability to deliver attack lines against Republicans with a smile, with humor, something hed like to see more of from Biden. Lovett added that Harris often shines when attention is focused on her. She sort of crushes, and in hearings where she really needs to have a moment and step up, she can make those moments really count and really go far, Lovett said. It was striking to me just how much that energy, that capability, was needed in this campaign. This will not be Harris first time in the national spotlight and not her first time at a national convention. She spoke at the Democratic gathering in 2012, when she was a rising star as California attorney general. At the time, she admitted: Im nervous. Harris said then that she was looking to strike a balance between the die-hard Democratic voters and persuadable viewers. Thats the question Ive asked of myself and others many times, Harris told The Chronicle. Who is the audience? Harris comes to Wednesdays address with far more experience. She delivered her presidential stump speech multiple times a day last year, all over the country, and appeared in the televised debates. She gained national notice with her sharp questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during the Judiciary Committees confirmation hearings in 2018. Harris is likely to be closely involved in the writing of Wednesdays speech and insist on putting her spin on it, those who have worked with her say. She is also demanding of the material. Her former communications director in the Senate had a Post-it note on her computer that said, Show the math, a common refrain from her boss. But the delivery will be different. Early nights of the convention showed that even skilled politicians can come across as wooden in the straight-to-camera setting. But other speakers showed that the format can be used to their advantage former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a well-received keynote Monday that conveyed far more emotion and connection with viewers at home than a traditional convention hall speech could. In addition to the virtual setting, Harris will be facing the new challenge of representing not just herself, but also Biden. Much of Harris staff was chosen for her by the Biden campaign, though she was able to bring along some political aides. It takes time for a vice presidential nominee to get used to answering to a campaign that is not her own, said Matt Paul, who served as chief of staff to the Democrats 2016 vice presidential nominee, Tim Kaine. But he said Harris has already shown that she can adapt quickly. This is where it matters that shes been on the presidential stage, it matters that shes been through these debates, and you saw that in a very strong performance at her introductory speech last week, Paul said. That speech is usually handed to the running mate by the presidential campaign, with a short time for adjustments, Paul said. Youre going through the speech in that rehearsal to find the lines that really matter, those either zingers on Trump or very positive lines about Vice President Biden, that you want to hold on to, Paul said. This is going to be different in that youre delivering this to a studio. You dont get the natural energy that comes with the crowd. That didnt seem to bother her in the least in the announcement speech, so I expect the same here. While Harris own presidential campaign fell short, former Obama aide Vietor noted that being a running mate requires different skills. Harris campaign lacked a clear message, he said, but as a vice presidential nominee, she will be adopting Bidens. Navigating that huge, unruly Democratic primary is very different than prosecuting the case against Trump, Vietor said. She is an expert at prosecuting a case, and we saw it already. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan by Melani Manel Perera The area is the last virgin tropical forest left in the country, a World Heritage Site since 1988. Army engineers began work on 10 August. The UN agency blocked the same project in 2013. Colombo (Asia News) The Centre for Environmental and Nature Studies (CENS) has asked UNESCO to stop the construction of a road inside the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. The biodiversity hotspot is located in a hilly area in southwestern Sri Lanka, and is the countrys last remaining virgin tropical forest. UNESCO declared it a biosphere reserve in 1978 and a world heritage site in 1988. In a letter sent to the UN agency, CENS director Ravindra Kariyawasam explains that the government ordered the construction of the road to connect Lankagama and Deniyaya. However, "UNESCO blocked the same project in 2013," he explained. Army Engineers began work on 10 August. A group of environmentalists immediately asked the authorities to stop building, but President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Ministry of the Environment and the Department of Forestry have not yet responded. According to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the conservation status of the forest is of significant concern. The value of Sinharaja as a natural world heritage site continues to be recognized by the discovery of several endemic species of plants and animals, the report reads. Some of the recent discoveries include several species of herpetofauna [*] that are restricted to the eastern region of Sinharaja. [*] Amphibians and reptiles. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has scoffed at criticism she is keeping the state's borders closed to help her win a third term of government at the October state election. Queensland's border remains closed to all residents of Victoria and NSW, with hundreds of people turned away at airports and borders in the past week. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro accused Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk of keeping the border closed for political reasons. Credit:Getty NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro suggested Ms Palaszczuk was keeping the borders closed to better her chances of winning at the election. "Queensland's tagline; beautiful one day, locked down the next," he told the ABC on Tuesday. Unification Minister Lee In-young, right, fist bumps with Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming during the latter's courtesy visit to the ministry in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap Top Chinese diplomat to come to Korea Friday By Kang Seung-woo Unification Minister Lee In-young has doubled down on his plan to engage with North Korea, seeking to create a favorable environment for inter-Korean projects through meetings with a series of envoys from neighboring countries, according to diplomatic experts, Wednesday. Lee met with U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Harry Harris, Tuesday, followed by his talks with Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming, Wednesday. Lee is also expected to sit down with Japanese Ambassador Koji Tomita next week. According to the ministry, these meetings are courtesy visits to the new minister, who took office last month. "Lee is seeking to break through the deadlock in inter-Korean relations by any means, but with the North remaining unresponsive, he intends to build an environment, which is conducive to improving bilateral ties between Seoul and Pyongyang," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University. In talks with Harris, Lee said the South Korea-U.S. working group needs to be revamped as it has sometimes served as a stumbling block to improvements in inter-Korean ties, asking the U.S. to support inter-Korean projects. The working group is a joint Seoul-Washington entity coordinating Pyongyang-related issues. In a meeting with Xing, Lee asked for more efforts from China for peace on the Korean Peninsula. The government has pushed for individual tours by South Koreans to the North through a travel agency in a third country, or China. "The unification minister may have asked the Chinese government to use its influence to realize the project," Park said. At the same time, the foreign envoys are using the meetings for a sneak peek of the Moon Jae-in administration's policies toward the North, according to Shin Beom-chul, the director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "Whenever a new minister takes office, ambassadors make a courtesy visit. However, the counterpart of each embassy is the foreign ministry, but given that Lee is an influential minister, the envoys may weigh in on the government's future plans toward the North via the meetings," Shin said. "In that respect, Lee explained to the ambassadors his ideas to facilitate inter-Korean affairs." Shin believes that President Moon may once again try to become a facilitator in the denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S. with the Lee appointment, but that this is not the right time for the South to ask the North to return to negotiations. "The current deadlock is due to the North's refusal to engage with the South and the changing point is likely to come after the U.S. presidential election in November. If U.S. President Donald Trump wins reelection, the North is likely to resume talks with the U.S. and subsequently, the South would have an opportunity to do something for inter-Korean affairs," he said. "What the government can do now is to hold back-channel negotiations with the North to offer aid for the recent floods, which could pay off, rather than seeking cooperation on nuclear issues." Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Cheong Wa Dae announced that Yang Jiechi, a leading Chinese diplomat, will make a two-day visit to Busan starting Friday for talks with Suh Hoon, the new director of the National Security Office. The meeting between Suh and Yang is scheduled for Saturday, where they are expected to discuss Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea in the second half of the year. Cheong Wa Dae did not disclose who Yang will meet besides Suh during his stay. The Oak Park facility is more than four times larger than the company's Ferndale shop, and it will be the primary base of operations for the growing Bollinger Motors team. The company estimates its current team of 40 will double in size by the end of 2020 as it works towards production on the all-electric B1 Sport Utility Truck and B2 Pickup Truck, as well as the B2 Chassis Cab variant and Chass-E. Bollinger Motors has operated out of the new space since August 10, 2020. For more information about job opportunities, please visit BollingerMotors.com/careers. About Bollinger Motors Founded in 2015 by Robert Bollinger, Bollinger Motors is a U.S.-based company, headquartered outside of Detroit in Oak Park, Michigan. Bollinger Motors will manufacture the world's first all-electric, on- and off-road trucks, the B1 Sport Utility Truck (SUT), the B2 Pickup Truck, the B2 Chassis Cab, and the Chass-E . Its first prototype, the two-door B1, unveiled in 2017, is displayed at The Peterson Museum in Los Angeles, as part of the 'Alternating Currents' exhibit, through October 2020.The B1 and B2 trucks can be reserved with a $1,000 deposit at www.BollingerMotors.com SOURCE Bollinger Motors Related Links http://www.BollingerMotors.com SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Contentstack , the leading Content Experience Platform (CXP), today announced the launch of the Catalysts partner program as a major boost to its ecosystem of industry-leading technology and service providers to accelerate digital experience innovation. Catalysts advance the use of a microservices-based, API-first, cloud-native SaaS, headless (MACH) architecture, bringing award-winning technology, best practices and a proven methodology for delivering exceptional digital omnichannel engagement. According to a recent Deloitte CMO survey spending on customer experience increased during COVID-19 and has increased 71% over the last three years. Businesses report increased openness among customers to new digital offerings introduced during the pandemic (85%) and increased value placed on digital experiences (84%) -- they also believe that these numbers will stay high and never return to pre-pandemic levels. Companies that can help businesses transform to meet the new digital imperative, accelerated by COVID-19, are experiencing increased growth opportunities. On the heels of unprecedented company growth , Contentstack is collaborating with top agencies, consultants and technology companies to provide businesses cutting-edge solutions and expert insights to accelerate their transformation to delivering personalized, omnichannel digital experiences. The Catalysts program is led by Peter Fogelsanger , who recently joined Contentstack as Global Head of Partnerships. Previously, Fogelsanger was Vice President of Partner Engagement at Thunderhead where he led their North American partner program and launched the company's strategic partnership with Salesforce. Prior to that, Fogelsanger was a Regional Sales Director at Sitecore, where he was instrumental to the company's move into the enterprise market through partner engagement and driving major revenue with key brands including AFLAC, Duke Energy, Humana and Stanley Black & Decker. "As businesses embrace the need for exceptional digital experiences, they are looking for partners that can help them transform their technology architecture to support continuous innovation," said Fogelsanger. "Using a composable architecture, Catalysts help customers build end-to-end content experiences quickly, securely, and globally. Unlike other partner programs in the industry, the Catalysts program is part of our core sales and marketing strategy, built on providing Catalysts dedicated sales alignment and co-selling, collaborative go-to-market support, world class enablement tools and seamless integration. Contentstack and its Catalysts are building the future for enterprise technology." As members of the ecosystem, Catalysts will gain recognition as industry thought leaders as they work with partners to drive market visibility, manage growth opportunities and deliver transformational customer success. Contentstack will provide Catalysts with the CMS industry's most powerful integrations framework and the ability to build new integrations to meet customer needs. Catalysts also receive the same high level of service that Contentstack provides its customers. To support the Catalysts, Contentstack also launched a suite of partner enablement tools. These tools include the Catalysts Hub, a portal containing Contentstack's "secret sauce," including product information and direct access to the Catalysts credentialing program through a learning management system. Catalysts can enroll in Sales or Developer enablement tracks with a range of credentials and can register for and collaborate on deals. "We are passionate about helping our customers successfully combine experience design, technology development and marketing strategy to drive the innovation needed for the new economy of experience," said Todd Harris, Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances at Valtech . "With Contentstack's Catalysts program, we are able to quickly and easily build our qualifications and get certified on its technology and best practices. The Catalysts program is just the right combination of technology innovation and collaboration to enable us to deliver unique digital experiences even more seamlessly." "In today's environment, companies need experiences to be designed, built, deployed and improved in less time and with greater insight," said Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Strategy at EPAM Systems . "Meeting these objectives requires a composable ecosystem that operates with transparency. Contentstack's Catalysts program allows us to bring together the best players in the market to deliver successful programs. Working with other leading Catalysts, such as commercetools, we can create powerful digital experiences that unlock new value for our customers and provide a clear path to market share." "We are committed to building innovative digital engagement experiences which empower our client partners to achieve rapid revenue, market share and customer growth," said J.M. Guthrie, Partner and Chief Customer Officer at Authentic . "A key to our approach is what we call 'Contributor Design,' allowing us to align all key stakeholders across both business and technical functions within the organization. After years of working with other vendors, we are confident that Contentstack delivers a solution that meets the needs of both developers and marketers seeking a modern, future-proof and flexible solution to deliver exceptional customer experiences. As a Catalyst, we are excited to be able to extend the Contentstack solution at speed through both the open architecture and the expanding ecosystem of best-of-breed technology partners available to us." Contentstack is the pioneering API-first enterprise SaaS platform at the intersection of content management and digital experiences. The first headless CMS to enable business and IT to easily collaborate, Contentstack removes silos between business units and enables organizations to provide unparalleled customer experiences. More information on the Catalysts program can be found at https://www.contentstack.com/partners Follow Contentstack Blog: https://www.contentstack.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/contentstack Twitter: https://twitter.com/Contentstack About Contentstack Contentstack combines the best of Content Management System (CMS) and Digital Experience Platform (DXP) technology. It enables enterprises to manage content across all digital channels and create inimitable digital experiences. Renowned for earning the highest customer satisfaction in the industry, Contentstack pioneered the headless CMS category and combines content infrastructure with the industry's #1 integration capabilities to deliver a best-in-class Content Experience Platform (CXP). The preferred API-first CMS for SAP customers, Contentstack was designed from the ground up for large-scale, complex, and mission-critical deployments. Contentstack is a founding member of the MACH Alliance , an industry organization that advocates for an open and best-of-breed enterprise technology ecosystem that is Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless. For more information, visit http://www.contentstack.com . Media Contact: Cathy Summers Summers PR [email protected] 415-483-0480 SOURCE Contentstack Related Links http://www.contentstack.com These are the numbers Mike Lee remembers while in between doctor appointments: When he was 50 years old, he was benching two 45-pound plates on each side of the bar for 10 reps. Over a 27-year career, he had saved a couple dozen peoples lives as a firefighter and paramedic. At 6-foot-2, he used to weigh 238 pounds and pick up his two daughters when they were 4 years old and eager to be in his arms after his 24-hour shift in Ladder 1 at the Albany Fire Department. Now, during numerous doctor appointments, here is what Mike confronts: He is 60 years old and a begrudged retiree. He is struggling to gain weight after the chemotherapy took him down to 150 pounds. He has lost 10 friends, all fellow firefighters, to some form of cancer during the last 10 years. He is waiting for one person to save his life. He is praying Be The Match a national bone marrow and stem cell registry can find someone, a single person, whose bone marrow matches with Mikes and can help him prevent the Myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, from leading to leukemia. He is thinking about the number of days or months or years that he will have to see his grandson, Mason Haynes, now 6, grow. So as he waits for a match, he is doing what he hears you're supposed to after retirement. The small shih poo, Teddy, is taken on walks around Bethlehem. He makes fried eggs in the morning. He sees his Albany firefighter friends, who have all been calling on people between the ages of 18 and 44 to register online and receive a cheek swab kit. The swabs will be sent back to Be The Match where they'll be processed to see if there's a match to their former lieutenant, Mike, who is now frequently traveling to Boston for checkups. Mikes wife, Mary Jo Lee, told him last year to go to counseling. He was skeptical, but he reckoned post-traumatic stress disorder was possible because he was going and going like a bandit for 30 years and then the rug gets pulled out of your feet, and you cant walk anymore. Before MDS, he had a neuroendocrine tumor. Then the tumor developed into esophageal cancer. And the radiation from treating the cancer likely caused MDS, a disorder that can be treated with bone marrow transfusions or medication. The treatments can lessen the need for blood transfusions to prevent the progression to leukemia. Everything is so sudden, he said. You have to figure out how to live. He knew something was wrong in June 2017. He wasnt sleeping, wasnt eating. Food was getting stuck in his throat. He had been a paramedic for 22 years, so he self-diagnosed himself: internal bleeding, gastric problems. People always say that doctors, nurses and medics are the worst patients. They wait until something catastrophic happens before going to the hospital, Mike said. When the worst did happen he was in the firehouse, dressing in his bunk room. A friend said he didnt look so hot. Around five minutes later, Mike was vomiting in a wastebasket, again self-diagnosing himself: digestive blood. He was hospitalized. When he recounts what happens, he repeats the same refrain. The blood transfusions? It was traumatizing. The tests? It was traumatizing. The questions being asked by everyone he loved? Traumatizing. Swallowing a mouthful of water, he said, was like drinking fire. The doctors told him it was a tumor, and then that it was cancer, so Mike asked what he usually did at the fire station when help was needed. More Information Click here to learn how to join the Be The Match registry or visit join.bethematch.org Information from Be The Match: Only 10 percent of people who join Be The Match will ever get contacted as a potential match. Less than 1 percent will donate. Most donors donate stem cells through a painless process that involves two IVs. Only 25 percent of donors donate bone marrow. Because you are under general anesthesia for the procedure, there is no pain involved. Most donors are achy, sore, or stiff afterward. From the time you're contacted to the time you're done donating, it is only 20 to 30 hours of your time. See More Collapse I just said, How are we going to deal with this? and Whats the plan of attack? he recalled. The plan of attack was radiation, pills and chemotherapy. I went from a guy who could smash through a front door in about two seconds into something totally different, he said. He recalls walking into a room with other cancer patients and sitting in a chair, waiting for another dose of radiation. He felt angry with the doctor. This is 50 years of cancer research. Billions of dollars, the best minds, and youre still dumping poison in people? he recalled telling the doctor. The doctor listened and proceeded to try to save Mikes life in the only way that it was possible. Mike always understood cancer was a likely fate. He had joined a profession whose workforce faced a 9 percent increase in cancer diagnosis, a 14 percent increase in cancer-related deaths, according to the National Fire Protection Association. He had come home from another burning building, another venture into a smoke-induced blackness, racing against time and depleting oxygen levels. He remembers frequently asking his wife if she smelled anything on him, and she did. She smelled house fires. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. You go fight a fire and three days later, youll go take a shower, and you will still smell the smoke and stuff coming off your body, he said. Dan Green, a lieutenant with the Albany Fire Department, worked with Mike for nine years. Hes experienced what Mike describes, and he said thats why hes intent on spreading awareness about the bone marrow transplant Mike needs. This battle is out of his hands, Green said. Theres only so much he can do himself to fight this if he doesnt find a match. Green said Mike was a mentor and friend for him and many other firefighters in Albany, and they all want him to get what he needs so they can keep seeing him at the station. Hes like our big brother, Green said. And Mike said the people at the station are like his second family. Its nothing short of that, he said. Mikes daughter, Brianna Lee, 25, is a 50 percent match for the bone marrow transplant. The doctors want better odds, but its the best hes got right now, unless more people reach out to Be The Match and see if they have a better shot of saving his life. Hes waiting until Aug. 27 to see what comes in. If nothing does, then his daughter will be his best chance. My daughter gets to save my life, he said. The last person whose life was saved by Mike was an older gentleman in his early 60s. The man was as tall as Mike and about to take a shower, so he was undressed. Mike, in his paramedic uniform, found him on the floor, soaking wet. Hey, did you take a shower? Mike asked the man, who looked weary. No, I never made it in, he recalled the man saying. The man was sweating profusely. He realized it was a heart attack. Mike dragged the man into the living room and delivered a shock to him. Around five minutes passed. The man closed his eyes. Then the machine beeped, and his heart had a life-sustaining rhythm again. Time, he said, makes all the difference in the world. Is a cheap Chromebook good enough for distance learning and homework? Definitelydepending on whats inside. As a parent or a student, you may already have weighed the pros and cons of Windows laptops vs Chromebooks. One of the appeals of a Chromebook is cost, especially if a family has to buy several. But some of the cheapest Chromebooks weve seen come with some big caveats. Well go over the key factors to consider before you buy. Consider these while you check out our best Chromebook deals for Black Friday. The first thing you should do when considering any Chromebook, especially one thats enticingly cheap, is to check it against Googles Auto Update Expiration list. While Microsoft supports Windows PCs for a long time, Google sets a limitcurrently about six years from the products original ship date for most consumer models, though some (especially education and enterprise models) get a few years more. When a Chromebook goes off support, Google wont upgrade the Chromebooks ChromeOS any further, which means no new features and no security patches. If you buy an older Chromebook, its already a few years closer to its expiration than a brand-new model would be. Retailers do not publicize this, so its worth checking out. My son spent most of last school year doing schoolwork on an original Chromebook Pixel from 2013, which was way out of date, with no problems whatsoeverbut there are no guarantees. Display quality: Resolution and brightness A classic feature of cheaper Chromebooks is a lower-quality display. Whether youre young or old, looking at a small, low-res screen for hours at a time can be fatiguing at best and detrimental at worst. Thats why you should buy a Chromebook with a Full HD (19201080) display if at all possible. An HD (1366768) screenoften found on the cheapest Chromebookscan be tolerated on smaller 11.6-inch displays, but we dont recommend it. Eye fatigue can affect kids as well as adults. The displays on cheaper Chromebooks can also be on the dim side. They may suffice for indoor use, but outdoor light will wash out the screen. If you can find a brightness spec, look for something 250 nits or higher. Memory matters more than storage While Chromebooks can store data locally, the vast majority of schoolwork is performed online. To my knowledge, neither of my children have ever saved something on to a Chromebook directly, so the size of the onboard storage rarely matters. PC enthusiasts may also prefer faster SSDs over an eMMC flash drivebut for a Chromebook? It really makes no difference, and you shouldnt even really pay attention to how much storage a Chromebook has if your work is mostly or always done online. Memory plays a bigger role, because thats where your browser data is loaded. More memory means you can have more available browser tabs for surfing the Web. Most Chromebooks come with at least 4GB of memory. Anything less than that (such as 2GB) may have a detrimental effectin fact, Zoom recommends 4GB of memory. A child in elementary school might not be using a Chromebook for more than Google Classroom, Zoom, and some other app. An older child might need to have multiple tabs open for research. With older students, teens, and adults, consider a Chromebook with a bit more memory. (Unfortunately, Chromebooks arent usually designed to be upgradeable.) Connectivity As with any laptop, smaller and thinner models tend to skimp on ports. Think about what you need to connectsuch as a USB drive, a headset, or a display. In general, look for an HDMI port (for an external display option), a microSD or SD card slot for loading photos, and a USB-A port (ideally more than one) to plug in peripherals. Youll also see USB-C ports on some Chromebooks, but usually not the cheaper ones. (We see a lot of discounted Chromebooks ignoring HDMI ports entirely, especially the ones being sold for Black Friday or the holidays.) Choosing an older, cheaper Chromebook might mean suffering with an older Wi-Fi radio. Generally, however, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi or better, plus Bluetooth, should work, even for Zooms bandwidth requirements of 2.5 Mbps for group video chats at 1080p resolution. Webcam: Just make sure there is one No well-meaning teacher is going to care about the quality of a childs webcam as long as there is one. A better webcam can make it easier to see your child, or make their work more visible if theyre holding it up for inspection, but a well-lit room can probably offset any shortcomings. Processor performance: Zoom requires more Chromebooks designed for browser-based schoolwork traditionally havent required much processor powerand often saved cost with lower-end chips. Now, however, both Zoom and YouTube play a more significant role. YouTube shouldnt give even old, cheap Chromebooks much of a workout, especially as YouTube automatically scales the resolution to deliver a good experience. But with Zoom becoming more prevalent, it might be worth leaning toward a Chromebook with an Intel processor, either a Celeron a full-fledged Core chip. Zooms system requirements call for a 1 GHz processor for Zoom calls. Youll typically find Chromebooks offering Core chips (far more horsepower than necessary), Celeron or modern Pentium chips (probably sufficient) and Arm chips from Qualcomm and Mediatek. Wed typically agree that even an Arm chip can run a Chromebook just fine (after all, theres one in your smartphone) but a quick web search of the processor cant hurt. If the chip was manufactured more than five years ago, you may want to consider a newer model. This story was updated with additional information on November 25. Opposition supporters wave a huge old Belarusian national flag as they rally in the center of Minsk on Aug. 16, 2020. (Sergei Grits/AP Photo) EU Leaders Seek to Ramp up Pressure on Belarus President BRUSSELSEuropean Union leaders put on a show of support on Wednesday for people protesting in Belarus. At an emergency teleconference they underlined their concern about the contested presidential election and ratcheted up pressure on officials linked to the security crackdown that followed. The EU believes that the results of the Aug. 9 polls, which handed President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term with 80 percent of the vote, have been falsified, and the 27-nation bloc is preparing a list of Belarus officials who could be blacklisted from Europe over their roles. European Council President Charles Michel addresses European lawmakers at the European Parliament in Brussels, on July 23, 2020. (Francois Walschaerts/AP Photo) Our message is clear. Violence has to stop and a peaceful and inclusive dialogue has to be launched. The leadership of Belarus must reflect the will of the people, European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter, minutes after the summit he is chairing got underway. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also wrote on Twitter: The people of Belarus have the right to a result that accurately reflects their vote. The EU, including the Netherlands, cant accept the results of these elections. Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and clubs in the first four days of demonstrations. At least two protesters died. Belarusian opposition supporters rally in the center of Minsk on Aug. 16, 2020. (Sergei Grits/AP Photo) Workers at state-controlled companies have joined strikes this week, as the unprecedented mass protests enter their 11th day and erode the authority of the man once dubbed Europes last dictator. Its not entirely clear what the Europeans can do right now, but they appear determined to help maintain the momentum that began in the streets of Minsk with a show of political support, and to revive a sanctions program on Belarus that was eased four years ago as relations with Lukashenko improved. In a joint statement, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakiacountries known as the Visegrad Fourcalled on Belarus authorities to open the way for a political solution, and to abide by the fundamental human rights and freedoms while refraining from the use of violence against the peaceful demonstrators. Belarusian miners gather for a rally in Salihorsk, about 120 km (75 miles) from Minsk on Aug. 18, 2020. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo) They urged unnamed foreign actors to refrain from actions that would undermine Belarus independence and sovereignty. In a video statement ahead of the virtual EU summit, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Europe to support the awakening of Belarus. I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world, Tsikhanouskaya said. On the eve of the meeting, Michel had a half-hour telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin to share the EUs concern about election irregularities and the scale of the security crackdown, and to impress upon the Russian leader the right of the Belarus people to determine their own future. They discussed ways to encourage talks between Lukashenko and the opposition, possibly by supporting a dialogue process fostered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Judy Dempsey, Nonresident Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and Editor in Chief of Strategic Europe, said the emphasis from the Europeans appears to be on getting Lukashenko to start talking to an opposition whose legitimacy he has tended to question. Time is of the essence, she warned, if Belarusians are not to see their hopes for change hijacked. The EU already said it does not recognize the outcome of the presidential election. The idea of new elections would rattle Putin, whose own record on free and fair elections has been challengedso far unsuccessfullyby protesters in Russia, Dempsey said. The relatively small EU nation of Lithuania is playing a major role as the protests unfold by giving refuge to Tsikhanouskaya. Its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, are also deeply involved in diplomatic efforts, as is Poland. Some in Europe are concerned that hitting Lukashenko and his associates too hard might drive Belarus into the arms of Russia, even though relations between Minsk and Moscow have been troubled in recent years and even more tense in the run up to the polls. Others fear Russian intervention. But experts tend to play down those worries, and say the people of Belarus only want to secure independence, and are not interested in deeper relations with Russia, the European Union, or in joining Moscows nemesis, the NATO military alliance. Belarus is not Georgia or Ukraine, where Putin fanned the flames of conflict by backing pro-Russian separatists. Ekaterina Pierson-Lyzhina, a Brussels-based researcher into Belarus EU foreign policy, said that recent surveys suggest around 60 percent of people want the country to remain independent and reject any kind of union. Smaller groups are divided up into those who support European or Russian integration. There are no European flags, no Russian flags. This revolution is about domestic dissatisfaction of the majority of Belarusians with their president, who has held a grip on power for 26 years, she said, and urged the EU to set up a fund for victims of the crackdown and help build a database on police crimes. By Lorne Cook Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo, Japan Wed, August 19, 2020 14:02 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f1b7d3 2 News theme-park,Harry-Potter,Tokyo,Japan,tourism,The-Studio-Tour-Tokyo Free Muggles in Japan can discover how the Harry Potter films were made at a new amusement park opening in 2023 in Tokyo, Warner Bros said Tuesday, in the latest expansion of the multibillion-dollar wizarding franchise. The attraction, offering visitors a behind-the-scenes look into the production of the eight hit movies, is the second of its kind, modeled on the original permanent studio exhibition in Britain. "The Studio Tour Tokyo" will stretch across 30,000 square meters, with its walking tour taking visitors through Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. It is being constructed on the site of Toshimaen amusement park, set to close in late August, according to the US movie studio and Seibu Railways, which runs the Japanese park. Read also: Warner Bros to open Harry Potter theme park in Tokyo in 2023 The first "Making of Harry Potter" film-studio park outside London opened in 2012 and attracted 6,000 visitors a day before the coronavirus pandemic. There are also Harry Potter theme parks created by Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood in the United States, and Osaka in Japan. Harry Potter grew into a global phenomenon from the books about the boy wizard by British author J.K. Rowling -- seven volumes published between 1997 and 2007. One of the most ancient practices, yoga has gone through major transformation since its early forms. While the true core of it still remains the same, the forms of practice have evolved tremendously to fit the modern lifestyles and health requirements. From aerial yoga, hot yoga to power yoga, its hard to keep a track of the many forms of it. Having gone through so many changes, yoga is also a health practice that carries the most number of myths. Today, we will not only debunk such myths about yoga but also discuss facts about yoga. Get ready to know all about it! Residents of a Swiss town received a dusting of a fine cocoa powder after the ventilation system at a chocolate factory malfunctioned. The Lindt & Spruengli company confirmed local reports Tuesday, Aug. 18 that there was a minor defect in the cooling ventilation for a line for roasted cocoa nibs in its factory in Olten, between Zurich and Basel. Strong winds spread the powder around the immediate vicinity of the factory, leaving a fine cocoa dusting, USA Today reports. The company says one car was lightly coated, and that it has offered to pay for any cleaning needed. Factory production was able to continue as normal and the company says the particles were completely harmless to people and the environment. The ventilation system has now been repaired, USA Today reports. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Instacart, the North American leader in online grocery, today announced a new partnership with Doctor On Demand to offer free access to COVID-19 screenings and virtual medical consultations to the shopper community. Additionally, Instacart is enacting a new health and safety measure to keep the entire Instacart community safe, calling on all shoppers to wear face masks in stores and when they come in contact with customers, and asking customers to do the same. "As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we remain deeply committed to evolving our health and safety measures to support all members of the Instacart community. Starting today, we're offering all Instacart shoppers free access to COVID-19 screenings as part of a new partnership with Doctor On Demand. We want to make it as easy as possible for shoppers to quickly gain access to quality health care as they may need it," said Nilam Ganenthiran, President of Instacart. "As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across North America, we're taking additional steps to create a safe experience for customers and shoppers. Beginning today, we're rolling out a new policy asking both shoppers and customers to wear a face mask. We believe the simple act of wearing a face mask can help save lives and keep our loved ones, neighbors, and others in our communities safe." The new partnership with Doctor On Demand marks the national rollout of a successful program Instacart piloted in Pennsylvania and Washington, DC, earlier this summer and will run until the end of the year. As part of this program, any shopper experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 may take Doctor On Demand's online assessment to determine whether or not they should seek additional medical attention. Based on the results of the assessment, shoppers can schedule a free telemedicine appointment with a Doctor On Demand clinician to discuss whether they should get tested. Instacart will cover the cost of the visit to ensure shoppers have access to healthcare when they need it. If a shopper is clinically diagnosed with COVID-19 by the healthcare provider, they will continue to be eligible to receive up to 14 days of extended pay to ensure they are financially supported during their recovery. "It is critical that everyone has access to high-quality care in this difficult time, not just for their own health and safety, but for the health and safety of their families and broader community," said Hill Ferguson, CEO of Doctor On Demand. "Instacart shoppers are providing an essential service for communities nationwide, and we are pleased to expand our partnership to ensure these shoppers on the front lines can quickly and cost-effectively access care, no matter where they are located." To further support the health of the entire Instacart community, starting next week, shoppers and customers will see new in-app messages with simple safety steps and reminders to wear face coverings to keep our community safe. Any active shopper who needs a face mask can order a health and safety kit free of charge, even if they've already ordered and received one from Instacart earlier this year. These kits include a multi-layer face mask that is washable and reusable and a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer that will ship directly to shoppers with a leak-proof seal. To date, Instacart has distributed nearly 450,000 health and safety kits to shoppers, with more kits shipping every week. Since April, the company has invested more than $20 million to support shoppers' health and safety, supporting new policies, guidelines, product features, resources, increased bonuses, and personal protective equipment to ensure the health and safety of shoppers. In addition to consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to refine policies, products, and education, Instacart also consulted with a team of health and safety experts , including an epidemiologist, a distinguished professor specializing in microbial risk modeling, and a medical doctor specializing in infectious diseases. Practicing healthy habits during the Instacart experience protects not just our community, but helps protect everyone. About Instacart Instacart is the North American leader in online grocery and one of the fastest-growing companies in ecommerce. Instacart shoppers offer same-day delivery and pickup services to bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada. Instacart has partnered with more than 400 beloved national, regional and local retailers, including Albertsons, ALDI, Costco, Kroger, Loblaw, Publix, Sam's Club, Sprouts, Walmart Canada, and Wegmans, among others, to deliver from more than 30,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Instacart's delivery service is available to more than 85% of U.S. households and 70% of Canadian households. The company's cutting-edge enterprise technology also powers the ecommerce platforms of some of the world's biggest retail players, supporting their white-label websites, applications and delivery solutions. Instacart offers an Instacart Express membership for unlimited free delivery on orders over $35. For more information, visit www.instacart.com . For anyone interested in becoming an Instacart shopper, visit https://shoppers.instacart.com/ . SOURCE Instacart Related Links http://www.instacart.com DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Secret talks and quiet ties thats what paved the way for last weeks deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations. Touted by President Donald Trump as a major Mideast breakthrough, the agreement was in fact the culmination of more than a decade of quiet links rooted in frenzied opposition to Iran that predated Trump and even Barack Obama, as well as Trumps avowed goal to undo his predecessors Mideast legacy. And the deal leaves behind what had been a cornerstone of U.S. policy in the region: resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The effort to achieve that goal picked up speed 17 months ago at a U.S.-led conference in Warsaw, according to officials involved. That February 2019 meeting, originally conceived as an anti-Iran gathering, morphed into a broader Mideast security endeavor after European objections to its agenda. Many countries opted not to send their top diplomats, and Russia, China and the Palestinians skipped it entirely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended, however, as did the foreign ministers of key Arab states. At the summit, diplomats from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain spoke of the threat Iran posed to their security and its use of Shiite proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. They stressed that confronting Iran had become the top priority ahead of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in comments appearing in leaked video, whose authenticity was confirmed by a U.S. official who attended the gathering. Netanyahu followed, echoing similar concerns. Iran was very high on the agenda in Warsaw because Irans foreign policy is the biggest driver of instability in todays Middle East, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, told The Associated Press. Four months after the summit, a secret meeting between the UAE and Israel took place on June 17, 2019, in Washington. The trilateral focused on regional, cyber and maritime security, as well as diplomatic coordination and disrupting terror finance, according to a U.S. official who participated but was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. More meetings followed in the U.S., Israel and the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, culminating in Thursdays Trump announcement that his administration had brokered a deal between Israel and the UAE to establish diplomatic relations and exchange embassies. The UAE said Israel also agreed to halt its controversial plans to annex large areas of the occupied West Bank sought by the Palestinians. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, told White House reporters that discussions for the deal took place over the past year and a half. Look, at the end of the day, its an inevitability, right? Kushner said, adding later: No Israeli has ever killed an Emirati, right? Theres not that hatred between the people. To be sure, Israel and the UAE have never fought each other in war and do not share borders. Still, the agreement was far more warmly welcomed in Israel than the UAE, where the public has long viewed Israel with suspicion. But criticism has been muted, in part because of government suppression of free speech. The UAE, composed of seven emirates run by hereditary rulers led by Abu Dhabi, will be only the third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full ties with Israel. By doing so, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed laid a path for countries like Morocco, Bahrain, Oman or Sudan to potentially follow. There are many, though, who shun any Arab embrace of Israel. To the Palestinians, who say they had no prior notice of the deal, the UAE turned its back on the longstanding Arab consensus that recognition of Israel can only come after Israeli concessions in peace talks lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. I think the UAE is least beholden to these old formulas of solidarity which gives them more strategic flexibility, said Kristin Smith Diwan, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Theres no question that among the broader Arab and Gulf public, this will be a very unpopular move, she said, adding that the agreement also leaves the UAE vulnerable to whatever decisions Israel makes in the future. For the UAE, however, the calculus to build relations with Israel carries a number of strategic advantages beyond countering Iran and suspending West Bank annexation. Through Israel, the UAE can build stronger ties with both Republicans and Democrats a crucial hedge considering the uncertainty of Trumps reelection chances against former Vice President Joe Biden in Novembers U.S. presidential elections. Another impetus was the perception among Arab Gulf states that U.S. dependability had waned, from the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran, to Trumps unpredictability in foreign policy. Their views on the matter have been reflected in state-linked newspaper columns and in quiet grumbling at private gatherings. Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also barred by Congress from purchasing billions of dollars in U.S. weapons due to the humanitarian toll of their war in Yemen, before Trump vetoed the measures. Their first preference is to have the United States heavily involved in the Middle East as their primary ally. If they cant get that, which under Trump they absolutely cannot, then theyre going for second best, and Israel is second best, said Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA analyst and now Mideast expert at the American Enterprise Institute. The Saudis and Emiratis want to build up military strength and want the U.S. to give them more freedom of maneuver in places like Libya, Yemen and the Horn of Africa. With a stronger Emirati-Israeli alliance, they can count on the Israelis to also make that case in Washington, Pollack said. Hook argues it was the Trump administrations aggressive Iran policy and decision to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear accord that helped seal the latest deal. Israel and UAE felt betrayed by Obamas Iran strategy. With us, they knew we stood with our allies and partners, and that trust was a critical factor in getting this peace agreement done, said Hook, who was involved in the trilateral talks. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has eroded vital oil and tourism revenue, the UAE will look to its ties with Israel to deepen trade links, security cooperation and technology sharing. Already, the UAE has deployed Israeli spyware against dissidents, according to a lawsuit brought against the company in Israel. UAE efforts to seek better ties with Israel as a means of improving its standing in Washington dates back to 2006, according to Sigurd Neubauer, author of the book The Gulf Region and Israel: Old Struggles, New Alliances. It began with a public-relations crisis over Dubai port operator DP Worlds failed bid to manage major ports in the U.S. The longtime UAE ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al-Otaiba, held his first meeting with an Israeli official in 2008 and a diplomatic channel was established to focus on Iran, Neubauer said. The relationship hit a snag in 2010 when the UAE accused Israeli Mossad operatives of assassinating Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel. Nearly a decade later, an Israeli minister stood in Abu Dhabi and sang her countrys national anthem at a judo competition, shook hands warmly with Emirati officials and toured the emirates grand mosque in a public spectacle of warming ties. In January, when Trump unveiled his Mideast plan which was rejected by the Palestinians the ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain and Oman attended the White House ceremony, which featured Netanyahu. Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash said the relationship with Israel grew organically over the last 15 years or so. Through engagement with the Trump administration, the idea developed and percolated, and it was right to do it, he said. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Aya Batrawy on twitter at https://twitter.com/ayaelb The First Lady of the Republic, H.E. Mrs. Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo has identified reading as the sure panacea to enhancing the quality of education and deepening the intellect of the youth. According to her, a people with high literacy skills are better positioned to expedite the development of a country and meet its challenges, stating, a literate population and communities are in a far better position to develop and innovate than less literate societies. Mrs. Akufo-Addo who is also the Executive director of the Rebecca Foundation, made these comments when she commissioned a forty seater computerized library facility in Moree in the AAK district of the Central region. The library, stocked with modern computers and books on different subjects is expected to serve as an attractive and welcoming environment for the youth to develop the habit and delight in reading. Stressing on the importance of reading and its many benefits Mrs. Akufo-Addo said, in a growing competitive world where life-long learning has become the only way to grow intellectually and build a wealth of knowledge, many children in sub-Saharan Africa struggle at the lower primary level to read in the official or any local language and in instances where they can read, they are unable to understand what they read. She said a vast amount of information in the world, is spread through written works and considering the impact of newspapers, books, and the internet on our daily lives anyone with limited literacy skills is virtually excluded from written information that can change their lives. Mrs. Akufo-Addo stated that it is this plethora of benefits inherent in the ability and habit of reading that informed the Rebecca Foundation to come up with the Learning to Read, Reading to Learn initiative, a two part concept made up of a television reading programme, now in its second season, and provision of much needed libraries in some school clusters across the country. She said the Rebecca Foundation has so far built three of such computerized libraries in the Dafiama Bissue Issah in the Upper West Region, Sefwi Debiso in the awe stern North Region, Wenchi in the Bono Region and will soon construct three more libraries at Kumawu in the Ashanti region, Krachi East in the Oti Region and Achimota school in the Greater Accra Region. The First Lady charged the youth to strive to read as many books as possible stating, when I launched the Learning to Read, Reading to Learn initiative, "I charged our children to read a book each day. I repeat this charge today. Read, learn new words, learn new things and consider writing your own little stories.dhe stressed. Mrs. Akufo-Addo also urged the Ministry of Education, to incorporate library services as a critical component of the educational reforms for Basic schools as research has shown the significant role of school libraries in building a reading culture. On behalf of The Rebecca Foundation, the First Lady extended her profound gratitude to the Ghana Library Authority, Ghana Book Development Council, Metropolitan and District Assemblies, the Ghana Education Service and donors for assisting the Foundation in its literacy enhancing endeavors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on May 18, 2020. (Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images) Texas Governor Proposes Freezing Property Taxes to Cities That Vote to Defund the Police Cities that defund the police in Texas will see property taxes frozen at the current level under a newly unveiled proposal from Gov. Greg Abbott. Defunding the police puts residents in danger, and it invites lawlessness into our communities, the Republican told reporters on Aug. 18. Any city that defunds police departments will have its property tax revenue frozen at the current level. They will never be able to increase property tax revenue again if they defund police. Cities that endanger residents by reducing law enforcement should not then be able to turn around and go back and get more property tax dollars from those same residents whose lives the city just endangered, he said. Lawmakers signaling support for the proposal include Republican state Sen. Jane Nelson, Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, and Republican state Reps. Giovanni Capriglione, Charlie Geren, Craig Goldman, and Stephanie Klick. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the president of the Senate, was also present for the briefing in Fort Worth. Bonnen, a Republican, told reporters, Law enforcement is not a tool of political agendas, and I would ask the city of Austin to stop using them as one. Lawmakers in Austin, the fourth-largest city in Texas, last week approved $150 million in cuts to the Austin Police Department. Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat, in a virtual press conference later Aug. 18, took issue with the characterization officials made about the defunding approval. People hold up signs outside Austin Police Department after a vigil for Garrett Foster, a Black Lives Matter protester who was shot dead after allegedly brandishing his firearm at a driver, in Austin, Texas, on July 26, 2020. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images) Austin Mayor Steve Adler during a trip to Paris in October 2017. (Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images) Out of the $150 million, $80 million was shifted from the police department budget by moving some offices to civilian control, Adler noted. Another $50 million came from creating a safety fund that will divert money toward alternative forms of public safety and community support, according to the City Council. That may or may not actually happen, according to the mayor. The other $20 million was cut from the budget, but was the same percent of the budget that the governor requested be cut from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Adler said. He described the overall efforts as aimed at redefining public safety and about black lives matter. Pressed on why a city audit wasnt done to look at other agencies, Adler said the defunding approval wasnt punitive but focused on trying to find a way to make our community safer, recognizing that police is but one aspect of being able to deliver public safety to a community. The Austin Police Association, a police union, praised Abbotts legislative proposal. Our officers and families appreciate @GovAbbott leadership and genuine concern for their well-being and the safety of our community. We are looking forward to working with Gov. Abbott and the Texas Legislature to help secure public safety for Austin, it wrote on Twitter. Voters in Forth Worth, the states fifth-largest city, in July rejected efforts to defund the police. Houstons City Council in June passed a budget that included a $20 million increase in the Houston Police Departments budget. Lawmakers in San Antonio and Dallas are still weighing budget proposals. New York, August 18, 2020 In response to Harare Magistrate Ngoni Ndunas ruling today that Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa be barred from representing jailed journalist Hopewell Chinono, as reported by the state-run Herald newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: Magistrate Ngoni Ndunas decision to disqualify Beatrice Mtetwa from representing Hopewell Chinono has effectively stripped the journalist of his constitutional right to a lawyer of his choice and is in breach of his constitutional rights to a free trial and the African Charter to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Todays ruling shows how Zimbabwes courts are being abused for a political agenda. We hope that a higher court will reverse this travesty on appeal and ensure that Chinono will be guaranteed a fair trial. Ndunas decision, published in the Herald, said that Mtetwa was in contempt of court in relation to letters Mtetwa wrote to judicial officers that Nduna said demean the court severely, and in relation to comments about the case on the Facebook page of a documentary about Mtetwas work, which the state alleged were made by Mtetwa. According to reports, Mtetwa denied making those comments and said she was not responsible for that Facebook page. Chinono was arrested on June 20 and faces charges of incitement, as CPJ documented at the time. He is scheduled to appear in a closed hearing in court tomorrow for a bail application, according to reports. Mtetwa, who was awarded CPJs Benjamin Burton Memorial Award in 2008 for her work defending journalists and upholding press freedom, told reporters today that the court ruling was meant to instill fear and could have a chilling effect on young lawyers who may be dissuaded from taking on human rights cases, according to news reports. Chrystia Freeland has again busted through the glass ceiling, becoming the first woman in Canadian history to be appointed the finance minister. While it has taken too long for this day to come, there is no question in my mind that Freeland is more than capable of the job. She has written extensively and studied the global economy for years as a journalist. She has shown herself as both a skilled negotiator with our biggest trading partner, and one of the few Liberal cabinet ministers who has a proven ability as a premier whisperer in a tough partisan environment. But Freeland cannot overcome every shortfall the Trudeau government has, although she keeps being appointed to do so. The communications roll out of Morneau stepping down, allegedly because he suddenly has a desire to serve at the OECD, was in some way genius. The announcement came after more than a week of leaks from senior government officials signalling the PMOs unhappiness with Bill Morneau, thus making it virtually impossible for him to continue. Having a media availability at 7:30 p.m. EDT when most political reporters were awaiting the start of the DNC convention was a nice touch. Immediately announcing the next morning both Freelands appointment and the proroguing of Parliament is a classic flooding the zone with news, designed to pull apart media coverage and change the channel. While I can admire the strategy behind this more is less approach to communications (and advise clients occasionally that while bold and scary this can work) it of course does nothing to address what is in my view the governments core challenge. The key problem the WE Charity debacle, and all of the Trudeau governments other self-inflicted wounds, is that they talk the talk about being here for Canadians, but they dont seem to understand the day-to-day lives and priorities of Canadians. During COVID-19 they did move swiftly with programs to save our economy and its citizens from the very worst. The almost immediate introduction of programs to support individuals, families and businesses was, if not perfect, at least meaningful. From putting our public health officials front and centre, to making concerted efforts to work with the provinces, they have got a lot of things right. But, once again, the federal government is derailed because fundamentally they are tone deaf to how most people the middle class and those working hard to join it experience the world. And have thus derailed their own efforts and they are again mired in an own goal mess of seeing the world only through the lens of their own privilege. Take Morneau. Unlike many Canadians who have struggled through COVID, lost jobs, or are trying to figure out how to get their families finances on track while protecting their health, the former finance minister can step down easily and go back to his privileged life on Bay Street. Far from being chastened in his media conference, he seemed relieved. And why not? Hes probably had enough. Unfortunately, millions of Canadians, and in particular women, immigrants, and Indigenous communities, arent so lucky. And while Canadians struggle to figure out where their next paycheque is coming from and how to get their kids back to school, their government is MIA. Instead, for more than two months, they have been sidetracked by a scandal of their own making that shows just how far removed they are from the lives of the vast majority of us. And now they have asked Freeland to come to the rescue. Freeland has busted a glass ceiling, but I also think she has been put on the glass cliff. This is the phenom well-known to women in both corporate and political leadership. Because in a time of crisis when the chance of failure is highest, thats when these positions are offered to women. Its too bad theres apparently only one of Minister Freeland. If we had a few more like her, perhaps we would right now be focused on the critical issues of child care and health care instead of a scandal caused by a fundamental spot blindness to the realities of most Canadians. The job of finance minister of a G7 country during the worst economic crisis since the Depression and the biggest opportunity for reconstruction since the end of the Second World War is one Freeland is no doubt capable of and suited for. I can only hope that, in this time, where Canadians need this minister and this government to succeed, they will provide Freeland with the resources necessary to be a success. Or get out of the way if she is in fact the only person capable of the job. WILMINGTON, Del. - She was last seen blurting "I love you" to Joe Biden as she escorted him in an elevator to an editorial board meeting at the New York Times last December, part of an exchange that went viral as the Biden campaign cast her adulation as a bigger deal than the news organization's endorsement, which he lost. On Tuesday night, Jacquelyn Brittany, a 31-year-old African American security guard, did something else for Biden: she became the first person to put his name into nomination for president. Her role was first disclosed by The Washington Post. Jacquelyn epitomized for the Biden campaign the dynamics of the primaries: The hopes of Biden, who was spurned by others, rested on Black women and working-class voters, who would eventually resurrect his campaign. On Tuesday, she praised Biden as "my friend." "I take powerful people up my elevator all the time," said Jacquelyn, who requested that The Post identify her by her first and middle name, Brittany. "In the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me." "I knew, even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story with him," she said. As others have on the first two nights of the convention, she contrasted her view of Biden with Trump. "Joe Biden has room in his heart for more than just himself," she said. In an interview with The Post before her nomination remarks, Jacquelyn said she has followed Biden since he became Barack Obama's running mate. "I just like Joe. I've always liked him," she said. She said she finds inspiration in his life story and the tragedies he has endured - the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a December 1972 car accident and of his son to brain cancer in May 2015. "He's been through so much. And he doesn't show it on the outside. He may feel it on the inside - and I'm that type of person," she said, adding that her outward cheer masks a difficult life, including stints in foster care as a child. Jacquelyn said she had not realized that she was going to be filmed for the episode of the Times' cable show, The Weekly, which included Biden's visit to the news organization. But in December, before Biden arrived for his interview, she chatted with an aide and revealed that she was thrilled to be escorting him upstairs. "Once he came in, he was just genuinely, genuinely nice to people. We don't get that from everybody," Jacquelyn said. For most of the elevator ride, Jacquelyn was silent - she does not speak to guests she is escorting unless they first speak to her - but her mind was racing. "I kept thinking to myself, this was a person I want to lead the country," she said, adding that she was thinking it could be her only chance to talk with him. The aide prompted her, suggesting that she say something to the former vice president. Jacquelyn turned to look at Biden, and he smiled at her and said "Hi," she recalled. "That was my time," she remembered thinking. "I love you," she told him. "I do. You're like my favorite." (She told The Post she regretted saying "like" in that sentence.) Biden thanked her and asked if she had a camera, and the two posed for a selfie that he took with her phone. As Biden took the photo, she said, she suddenly realized that the exchange had been caught on video. Two of Biden's primary foes got the Times' endorsement - Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. But when asked about that snub, Biden seized on his moment with Jacquelyn: "I got something better. I got to meet Jacquelyn," he said in Waukee, Iowa. Jacquelyn said she has bristled at online commentary suggesting that she was merely star-struck by Biden in the moment. A week earlier, she said, she had escorted Oprah Winfrey into the building and had not made a big show of that. She said that she has never escorted President Donald Trump and does not want to. "I keep telling them, 'If he comes, I'm taking off that day.' " She will join Sen. Christopher A. Coons, D-Del., and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., to deliver remarks ahead of Tuesday night's roll call vote. Jacquelyn has watched other Democratic conventions, and she said the idea of nominating Biden is "overwhelming." "I never thought I would be in a position to do this," she said. "I never thought I was worthy enough to do this." U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (R) arrives with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein for a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC on Aug. 19, 2020. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) In Strategic Dialogue, Iraq Tries to Strike Balance Between US, Iran Iraq tried to strike a balanced foreign policy between the United States and Iran as its high-level delegation held a second strategic dialogue with their U.S. counterparts in Washington, according to experts. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held a joint press availability on Aug. 19 with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, where Hussein spoke about Iraqs relationships with its ally, the United States, and also with its neighbor, Iran. With respect to the Iraqi policy, we see that the United States of America is an ally and a strong ally for Iraq and well continue to protect this alliance and to deepen it and to expand it. And regarding Iran, Iran is a neighboring country and as a result, there are ties pertaining to geography, history, culture, economy, and Iraqi policy or Iraqs foreign policy is out of Iraqs national interest, he said, responding to a question about snapback sanctions against Iran and how they affect Iraq. We want to have good relations with our neighbors, provided that nobody interferes in Iraqs affairs and the Iraqi decision will be made by the Iraqis to protect our alliances and relations with others, including the United States of America. Experts told The Epoch Times that Iraq is trying to maintain a balanced foreign policy between the adversaries United States and Iran, and the on-ground development is that, for the time being, both have taken a step back from their confrontational stance in Iraq. The Iraqi government generally, and the new Prime Minister Kadhimi (as well as the foreign minister), have to maintain a delicate balance, Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Middle East Center, told The Epoch Times in an email. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (R) meets with Iraqs Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein during a press conference at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 19, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) So the FM could hardly say anything different. But Kadhimi is regarded as trying to contain Iranian influence, especially within the security and defense sectors, in part by asserting more control over the Popular Mobilization Units, some parts of which are closely allied with Iran, said Sayigh, who is based in Beirut. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who was named as the nations 43rd prime minister by President Barham Salih in April, after the previous government collapsed after months of public protests, will visit the White House on Aug. 20. As close partners, the United States and Iraq will look to expand our relations across a range of issues, including security, energy, health care, and economic cooperation, the State Department said in an Aug. 7 statement. Sayigh said Iraqi officials want to reiterate a positive neutrality toward Iran and the United States but also want to be able to reduce Iranian influence. They dont just do this to please the U.S., but also to defuse anti-Iranian sentiment among Iraqis Sunni Arabs and also Iraqi nationalists among the Shia and other constituencies. So their approach reflects diverse factors, Sayigh said. Iran faces a difficult situation as both the United States and Iran compete for supremacy in the Middle East, according to Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow and the director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington. This has been true for successive Iraqi governments since 2003. It is a reality that will not change anytime soon. The good news is that both Washington and Tehran have chosen to reduce their competition for influence in Iraq to give Kadhimi some space to put his government in place, Vatanka told The Epoch Times in an email. Both Iran and the U.S. want the other party out of Iraq, but are happy to settle for a long-term strategy to achieve it instead of risking fueling the collapse of the Iraqi state. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the prime ministers office in Baghdad, on June 4, 2020. (Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via Reuters) Can Iraq Be Hostile Toward Iran? Sayigh said Iraq cannot and will not adopt a foreign policy thats hostile toward Iran, because the country has suffered because of it previously. The country suffered massively from that kind of policy under Saddam Hussein and will not go that far, no matter how much pressure the Trump administration places on it. Sam Bazzi, an independent Middle East expert and the founder of the Hezbollah Watch project, told The Epoch Times in a chat message that Iraq is in a tough situation. Iraq is stuck between a rock and a hard place: the rock is America and the hard place is Iran, Bazzi wrote, adding that in Iraq, the United States has thousands of troops stationed and has allies who rely on the United States for security and for sustaining political power. U.S. soldiers stand guard during the handover ceremony of Qayyarah Airfield to Iraqi Security Forces, in the south of Mosul, Iraq, early on March 27, 2020. (Ali Abdul Hassan/AP Photo) He said, on the other hand, the Iranian regime has backed several large Khomeinist sectarian militias inside Iraq for its agenda. Thus, even West-leaning, Washington-friendly governments in Baghdad have to tread a fine line. Tehran looms large in Iraq and, simply put, its interests and agenda cannot be ignored, he wrote. Secretary of State Tre Hargett is encouraging voters to prepare now to vote in the presidential election on Nov. 3. Tennesseans should make sure their voter registration is up-to-date and make decisions about whether they will vote in-person or absentee by-mail if eligible. We want every eligible Tennessean to be ready to vote in the November election, said Secretary Hargett. Whether voting in-person or by-mail we want your vote to count. Tennessees early voting period starts Oct. 14 and lasts until Oct. 29. Voters who choose to vote in-person during early voting or on Election Day will see the same precautions used during the August election. Voters should expect to see signs with further safety instructions at their polling locations. Poll officials will be supplied with gowns, face shields, gloves and other PPE. All poll officials will be wearing face coverings and are trained in social distancing protocols. Voters will experience precautions taken such as single-use pens, disposable stylus to select their candidate and sanitizer at the polling location. For voters, voting absentee by-mail county election commissions will start mailing out ballots in September. Election officials are currently taking steps to finalize the November ballot, including certifying August election results as well as waiting on both major parties to officially confirm their presidential nominees. In Tennessee, voters must have a legal reason listed in the law to be eligible to vote absentee by-mail. Some of the most common legal reasons are voters who are 60 or older and voters who will be out of their counties during the election. Eligible voters who have a special vulnerability to COVID-19 due to an underlying illness, physical disability, or other health condition and who cannot appear at the polling place on Election Day due to this condition may vote by absentee ballot under the illness or physical disability reason. Likewise, eligible voters who are caretakers to individuals with a special vulnerability may vote by absentee ballot under the caretaker reason. Voters should consult trusted guidance from medical experts and use common sense in determining whether they have a special vulnerability. The CDC provides a website with helpful information that voters may wish to consult. If you make your request now to vote absentee by-mail, counties will be prepared to send you the ballot as soon as it is available, said Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins. Once you receive your ballot, vote it and mail it back in as soon as possible so it is ready to be counted on Election Day. Absentee by-mail ballots must be returned by-mail. This includes the U.S. Postal Service and services like FedEx and UPS. Each state is different when it comes to election law. Tennessee law does not permit voters to turn in their ballots in-person or for the use of drop boxes. For the latest information on the Nov. 3 election, follow our social media channels Twitter: @SecTreHargett, Facebook: Tennessee Secretary of State and Instagram: @tnsecofstate. For more information on the voting process, go to GoVoteTN.com or call the Division of Elections toll-free at 1-877-850-4959. New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Wednesday (August 19) approved the proposal for leasing out three airports- Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram - of Airports Authority of India (AAI) through Public-Private Partnership (PPP), said Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Jitendra Singh while briefing the media on the cabinet decisions. Earlier, the Modi government had decided to privatize 12 airports of the AAI. The decision on privatisation of six airports of Ahmadabad, Mangalore, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur have already been taken in the first phase. Adani Group got all these airports through the highest bid in the bidding process, as the Group had signed the concessionaire agreement with the AAI for three airports - Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, and Lucknow - on February 14, 2020, and for the other three airports, it is yet to sign the concessionaire agreement. During a webinar on Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the ministry would place a proposal for "further" privatisation of airports before the Union Cabinet. "We are going to the Cabinet tomorrow for further airport privatisation. We have got many more airports lined up, dozens of them, and the 100 new airports we will build between now and 2030," Puri added. In February 2019, the first round of privatisation, airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati were cleared for operation, management, and development through public-private partnership (PPP) model. Notably, the AAI in September 2019 had also recommended the Civil Aviation Ministry to privatise airports in Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur, and Trichy. The AAI, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country. New Delhi, Aug 19 : Taking another step towards diversification of its portfolio beyond travel, Yatra.com on Wednesday announced its collaboration with Amazon Business in an effort to provide hospitality partners with a wide selection of products across categories. Hospitality partners of Yatra can enjoy benefits of bulk pricing and GST invoices to ensure compliance and claim input tax credit along with four per cent "unlimited cashbacks" on business purchases, the company said. The initiative by the online travel firm comes amid disruption of traditional supply chains due to Covid-19. "We are glad to announce our association with Amazon Business to help our hospitality partners for all their daily and monthly product requirements," Dhruv Shringi, Co-founder and CEO, Yatra.com, said in a statement. "This is another step towards diversification of our portfolio beyond travel. Backed with our extensive network of hotels across India, we are moving ahead to extend our portfolio through seamless integration on the Yatra partner platform," Shringi said. This partnership aims to create "one-stop-shop" for 108,000 hotels across the country, thereby improving accessibility and procurement processes. These partners can choose from a wide selection of products like commercial grade kitchen appliances, kitchen storage solutions, linen and decor items, waste management products, large appliances, office supplies, safety and sanitisation products and much more. They will get access to deals from over 3.5 lakh sellers across the country. "We are happy to partner with Yatra.com and help its hospitality partners get access to a one stop destination for all their emerging operational needs," said Peter George, Director, Amazon Business. This initiative is live on Yatra's hospitality partner platform and is available pan-India, Yatra.com said. "40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWIIs Bloodiest Battles" is being released in sync with V-J Day and the end of World War 2 by Author Joseph Tachovsky with Cindy Kraack "It was like a puzzle was in front of me that I felt compelled to put together." - Joseph Tachovsky, Author of "40 Thieves on Saipan," after opening his father Lt. Frank Tachovsky's "off limits" footlocker filled with personal letters, photographs and medals from his WWII Elite Marines Platoon In sync with the 75th Anniversary of V-J Day (Victory over Japan, end of World War II, September 2, 1945), Midwest Authors Joseph Tachovsky and Cynthia Kraack announce the release of their new WWII history book: 40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWIIs Bloodiest Battles about a covert Special Operations platoon led by Josephs father, Lieutenant Frank Tachovsky (Ski). Known as the 40 Thieves, these brave men contributed to the V-J Day Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, and official signing of papers on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay. After Lt. Frank Tachovsky passed away in 2011 at age 96, Joseph opened his fathers off limits footlocker, and recently reflected on WBAY ABC 2 News Green Bay, It was like a puzzle was in front of me that I felt compelled to put together. This treasure trove included personal letters, medals, photographs and memories, which are now the basis of this historic book about his fathers undercover platoon on Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. As part of the Greatest Generation and elite Marines in the South Pacific Theater, Lt. Frank Tachovsky never wanted to share his military war stories with family while alive. After discovering the documents, Joseph learned his father received the Silver Star Medal from the President of the United States (which was presented by Admiral Chester Nimitz), and became dedicated to researching the history of the 40 Thieves. Over the next nine years, Joseph Tachovsky interviewed the surviving members and their families from coast-to-coast to record this untold story. Joseph discovered how the platoon worked behind enemy lines and used everyday items as weapons, including crushed glass and piano wires with handles. And after documenting 600+ pages of oral histories, Joseph worked with his Award-Winning Co-Author Cynthia Kraack to turn this treasure trove into a 300-page book. Roscoe Mullins, one of the 40 Thieves, expressed his gratitude: I am thankful that someone took the time to tell our story. Otherwise the world would never know the 40 Thieves, how we lived, what we went through, and how some of us died. I remember every one of my buddies and pray for them every day. All 40 Thieves names are on the book cover. Some of the highlighted American war heroes include: Lt Frank Tachovsky (Sturgeon Bay, WI, and Josephs father) Roxie Tachovsky (Sturgeon Bay, WI, and Josephs mother) Wild Bill Emerick (Chicago, IL) Don Evans (Mr. Kansas City. Twice. Kansas City, MO) Lonnie Jackson (Seattle, WA) Bill Knuppel (Mesa, AZ) Roscoe Mullins (Kayford Mountain, WV) Jesus Orozco (San Francisco, CA) Bob Smotts (Atlanta, GA) Marvin Strombo (personally returned Good Luck Flag to Yasue family in Japan in August 2017 with Author Joseph Tachovsky. Missoula, MT) Al Yunker (Los Angeles, CA) During World War II, Japan considered the island of Saipan to be part of the last line of defense. The 40 Thieves on Saipan were instrumental in winning the Battle of Saipan (June 15 July 9, 1944) and V-J Day. The Battle of Saipan was considered one of the bloodiest World War II battles, and resulted in 2,949 U.S. Troops killed and 10,464 wounded (Wikipedia). Today, there is only one surviving member of the 40 Thieves, which makes this documentary-style book even more important. Readers can learn more about their war story challenges, the important women in their lives, and see historic black and white photographs in this new book: AMAZON 40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWIIs Bloodiest Battles (Regnery History, June 2020) https://www.amazon.com/40-Thieves-Saipan-Scout-Snipers-Bloodiest/dp/1684510481 FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/40ThievesSaipan MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Kelly, 310-987-7207 ABOUT THE AUTHORS JOSEPH TACHOVSKY (Green Bay, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an Author and son of WWII Lieutenant Frank Tachovsky (Ski), whose new book 40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWIIs Bloodiest Battles (June 2020) documents many stories, photographs, letters and memories of the 40 brave men in his fathers undercover platoon. Known as the 40 Thieves for their covert Special Operations, these American war heroes took great risks and contributed to VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day). After his father passed away in 2011 at age 96, Joseph opened the off limits footlocker in the family garage and has dedicated the past decade to uncovering the stories of these American Heroes. As a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Joseph is a successful Minneapolis-based restaurant consultant (Chez Bananas). Members of the 40 Thieves and this book have been featured on the TODAY Show, WBAY ABC Green Bay, Wisconsin, KTMF ABC/FOX Missoula, Montana, and in Stars and Stripes, FoxNews.com, AP, Missoulian, Montana Standard, and more. https://www.40thievessaipan.com CYNTHIA KRAACK (Minneapolis, Minnesota and Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an Award-Winning fiction writer, who partnered with Co-Author Joseph Tachovsky to write the story of his fathers WWII War Hero Platoon in 40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWIIs Bloodiest Battles. Kraack holds a B.A. in Journalism and History from Marquette University, a Masters degree from the University of Minnesota and an M.F.A. from the University of Southern Maine. https://cynthiakraack.com/ The president's remarks come 'in light of the current challenges the region is witnessing and the Egyptian Armed Forces huge ability in all branches, specialties and armament systems' Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in a meeting with army chiefs, called for maintaining competence and the highest level of military preparedness to execute any tasks assigned to the Armed Forces to protect national security, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. The president met with Nabil Hasaballah, commander of Egypts Second Field Army headquartered in the northeastern governorate of Ismailia; Ehab El-Faar, chairman of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority; and Ahmed El-Shazli, chairman of the Armed Forces Finance Authority. El-Sisis remarks come in light of the current challenges the region is witnessing and the Egyptian Armed Forces huge ability in all branches, specialties and armament systems, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said. During the meeting, El-Sisi hailed efforts by the Armed Forces to preserve the security, stability and resources of the Egyptian people, according to the statement. This meeting comes a month after Egypts parliament unanimously approved the deployment of Armed Forces abroad to defend Egypts national security, it said in a statement, amid the expansion of Libyas Turkey-backed Government of National Accord, which has reportedly moved fighters to capture the key coastal Libyan city of Sirte. The decision came days after El-Sisi said that Egypt would not stand idle in the face of any attack on Sirte, which he earlier described as a red line for Egypts national security and warned that it could prompt military intervention by Cairo. "The Egyptian nation, throughout history, has advocated for peace, but it does not accept trespasses nor does it renounce its rights. Egypt is extremely able to defend itself, its interests, its brothers and neighbours from any peril or threat," the statement said. "The Armed Forces and its leadership have the constitutional and legal licence to determine when and where to respond to these dangers and threats," it added. Search Keywords: Short link: Winnipeg school divisions are strongly encouraging the use of masks by students returning to school in the fall amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but have stopped short of making them mandatory, giving many students, parents and teachers pause. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg school divisions are "strongly encouraging" the use of masks by students returning to school in the fall amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but have stopped short of making them mandatory, giving many students, parents and teachers pause. Masks are recommended for crowded, indoor places where physical distancing isnt always possible. So, you know, schools. I bet if we started calling masks "spaghetti-strap tank tops," we might get some traction on regulation. JEFF CHIU / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Schools already have some say on what students can and cannot wear via their dress codes dress codes that are quite actively enforced. My "no-no clothes" references are dated; I was in high school in the early 2000s, when the humble camisole made the transition from underwear to streetwear. But my point is this: schools already have some say on what students can and cannot wear via their dress codes dress codes that are quite actively enforced. If administrators can enforce rules about, say, straps less than two fingers wide or a T-shirt with a bad word on it, its reasonable to conclude they could also enforce a mask policy. In some ways, masking is easier to enforce than dress codes, which tend to be loaded with baggage. Masks dont come with slippery and usually deeply sexist definitions of what is or isnt "inappropriate." You are either wearing a mask or you are not. With masks, no one would have to be sent home to change; they could simply be given a disposable mask and reminded to bring their own next time. Beyond dress codes, all schools have all kinds of rules intended to keep their students safe. We dont "strongly recommend" safety goggles in shop classes; they are required. We dont "strongly discourage" bringing weapons or drugs to school; they are banned. And it can help to have something thats "strongly recommended and encouraged" become an official rule or requirement. Its clarifying, for one; having clear guidelines and expectations can help mitigate anxiety, especially among young people. It crystallizes shades-of-grey technicalities and interpretations into something black and white and easy to follow, thus setting up students for success. Mandatory mask laws are popping up across the country; Quebec was the first province to make masks mandatory (which is deeply ironic considering its track record on the niqab). But schools dont need to enforce a law, or hand out tickets or detentions. Rules around masking could resemble the relatively recent advent of nut-free or scent-free policies: greater-good regulations that rely more on students cultivating new habits i.e. laying off the PB&J and Axe body spray than active policing. 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. And for many, living in the time of COVID-19 has meant adopting all kinds of new habits and routines, masking included. Are a lot of them a drag? Yes. Are they necessary? Yes. DARRELL SAPP / TRIBUNE MEDIA FILES We dont strongly recommend safety goggles in shop classes; they are required. This pandemic has asked a lot of our young people, no question. School is more than just reading, writing and arithmetic; its a place where you learn how to be a person in the world. Formative school experiences, from learning Hot Cross Buns on a recorder to graduation, have been altered or taken away by COVID-19, and there is a lot to grieve. Masks dont exactly allow one to suspend disbelief. But learning to live with this virus will inevitably mean learning to live with disappointments and personal inconveniences in the name of public health. Masks, then, are a teachable moment about harm reduction, about thinking beyond oneself. If making them mandatory gives students clarity and security, it merits serious consideration. Or at least as much discussion as "distracting" yoga pants. jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti I cant tell you how it feels to know that I cant go home because I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that my country has shut the door in the faces of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of Australians trying to return home from overseas. It has never happened before. Australia closing its borders. Not only to immigrants but to its own citizens. Many Australians trapped overseas cannot make it as far as an Australian airport. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams Expats all over the world me, in New York, among them are suddenly finding they can no longer call Australia home. And it is a bitter experience. On August 7, Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a press release containing the bland announcement: National cabinet agreed that existing caps on international passenger arrivals would continue in order to manage and maintain quarantine arrangements across jurisdictions. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the decision by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Ghana Gas Company (Ghana Gas) to support the government to finance road projects in the Ellembele District in the Western Region is laudable. The President was speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the reconstruction of the 24-kilometre Taleku-Bokazo to Anyinase road in the Ellembele District yesterday. The truth is that the GNPC and Ghana Gas generate their incomes from the offshore Western Region in the ongoing upstream oil and gas activities. Therefore, it is just fair that these two national companies invest part of their revenues in the communities or the region in which they are operating, he said. Road projects The President said the reconstruction of the Taleku-Bokazo to Anyinase road was significant, knowing very well that Nkroful is the birthplace of the countrys first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. The significance of the construction of the Taleku-Bokazo to Anyinase road is that history will have it that it was during my tenure as the President of the Republic of Ghana that this very important road was constructed, he added. President Akufo-Addo said although Dr Nkrumah had on several occasions been mentioned for international recognition, not much had been done to make his hometown more attractive. I am here to restore the glory; we will construct the road to make the place accessible to people and communities, he said. Making reference to the declaration of 2020 as the year of roads, he said the country would attest to the fact that the declaration was not a fluke, adding that the people would witness massive road infrastructure for the accelerated development of the country. According to the President, ongoing road projects in the country were not a political gimmick or mere Green Book propaganda roads but genuine roads on the ground, visible for the entire populace to see. I will not limit my office to the Jubilee House in Accra, but from time to time we will step out, fold our sleeves to see what is going on on the ground, especially what my government is doing to meet the needs of the people, the President added. The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwesi Amoako-Atta, mentioned some of the ongoing road works in the region and around the country. The President had earlier visited Eyam, Esiama, Gwira-Ayinase, Nsuaem, Tarkwa and Aboso, where he was met by enthusiastic crowds. Commendation The Omanhene of the Eastern Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Amihere Kpanyile III, commended the President for the projects. On the Atuabo Port project, he said: The port project has the prospect of huge employment for the people and boosting of both the local and the national economy. In the Eastern Nzema Traditional Area, we have always talked about the port because its dear to us. Mr President, please help us get the project off the ground; we know the government is capable of ensuring that the project sees the light of day. Awulae Kpanyile said the area also expected the commencement of safety mining programmes to ensure that mining activities were carried out in an environmentally acceptable manner. Source: Graphiconline.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 By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was astonished by remarks made by its own spokesman in which he said Khartoum had "contacts" with Israel, stressing that the government had not discussed the possibility of diplomatic relations. Haydar Sadig, the ministry's spokesman, made the comment to Reuters earlier in the day and praised the United Arab Emirates' decision to normalise relations with Israel as "a brave and bold step". He was confirming remarks made earlier to regional media. Under the U.S.-brokered deal announced last week, the UAE becomes the just third Arab country to forge full relations with Israel in more than 70 years. The pact could reshape Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. In February, Israeli officials said Israel and Sudan had agreed to move towards forging normal relations for the first time during a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's military-led, transitional sovereign council, in Uganda. "The Emirates' move is a brave and bold step and contributes to putting the Arab world on the right track to build peace in the region and to build sustainable peace," Sadig told Reuters by phone on Tuesday. "I cannot deny that there are contacts between Sudan and Israel," he added. Netanyahu welcomed Sadig's remarks, saying on Twitter: "Israel, Sudan and the entire region will benefit from the peace agreement (with the UAE), and together can build a better future for all people in the region. We will do whatever is necessary to turn this vision into a reality." But the Sudanese foreign ministry issued a statement later saying it had learned of Sadig's comments "with astonishment". "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan confirms that the issue of relations with Israel was not discussed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in any way, and Ambassador Haydar Badawi (Sadig) was not assigned to make any statements in this regard,", the statement added. Story continues Sadig was not immediately available for comment. Back in February, Burhan confirmed the meeting with Netanyahu but cast doubt on any rapid normalisation of ties, saying Sudan's stance on the Palestinian issue remains unchanged, and that relations between the two countries was the responsibility of the civilian cabinet in Khartoum. Scores of Sudanese protesters condemned Burhan's meeting with Netanyahu in February. Under the long rule of Islamist strongman Omar al-Bashir until his fall in a popular uprising in 2019, Khartoum counted among hardline Muslim foes of Israel. Sadig said any normalisation of relations with Israel would not be at the expense of "Sudan's moral values and independence" and be "according to Sudan's interests". "We will not accept unequal relations with Israel." Israel says it expects other Gulf Arab countries and Muslim nations in Africa to follow in normalising ties after its breakthrough with the UAE. (Aditional reporting Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will disclose the marks of the candidates of Civil Services Examination 2019 on September 7. The commission announced the date through an official statement that is flashing on the homepage of its official website at upsc.gov.in. The marksheet was expected to be released today, August 19. UPSC had declared the final results of CSE 2019 on August 4 in which a total of 829 candidates have been recommended for appointment to Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service; and Central Services, Group A and Group B. The official notice dated August 4 read, Marks will be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of Result. However, the release of marksheet is delayed. Read More: Exciting and satisfying career of public service awaits you, PM Modi congratulates UPSC CSE qualifiers This year, Pradeep Singh of Haryana has bagged All India Rank - 1 followed by Jatin Kishore (AIR-2) and Pratibha Verma (AIR-3). The UPSC will conduct Civil Services preliminary Exam 2020 on October 4. Moreover, the commission has also announced the dates for 2021 examination. According to the annual calendar of 2021, the notification for CSE 2021 exam will be out on February 10 and the preliminary test will be held on June 27, 2021. The CSE main exam 2021 will be held on September 17, 2021. A Lincoln man facing murder and gun charges in connection to the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man downtown in March has pleaded not guilty. Marcus Winston, 35, had been set for arraignment Wednesday morning but instead entered the plea in writing and waived his court appearance. Winston hasn't yet been given a trial date on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony for Timothy Montgomerys killing during a disturbance at 13th and O streets shortly before bar break. Police said multiple officers working in the downtown area heard gunshots at 1:31 a.m. March 15 and found Montgomery, who had been shot once in the chest. He died about an hour later at a Lincoln hospital. Police contacted another man, Nathaniel Love, after being called to a medical emergency at an apartment near Eighth and G streets about 20 minutes after the shooting on O Street. He had been shot in the leg. Police suspected he had been shot by Winston. Love, who is accused of being an accessory to a felony in connection to Montgomery's killing, entered a written not guilty plea last week. Latest missing persons cases in Nebraska Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Rep. Liz Cheney secured the Republican nomination for Wyomings sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday, setting her on course for a third term in Congress. With 24% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, the two-term Wyoming representative garnered over 75% of the Republican vote, enough for the Associated Press to call the election. Democratic contender Lynnette Grey Bull secured a win and will face the Republican in Novembers general election. The competitiveness of this years primary race paled in comparison to 2016, when Cheney battled a packed field of contenders for the seat. Nonetheless, she won the 2016 primary by over 30 points and has only gained more momentum in Washington since. U.S. House of Representatives Republican primary Liz Cheney: 76% Blake Stanley: 24% Democratic primary Lynnette Grey Bull: 66.4% Carol Hafner: 19% Carl Beach: 14.6% Note: 24% of precincts reporting The congresswoman, who some say is one of the most powerful Republicans in the country, faced only one primary contender this time around, Blake Stanley, a political newcomer. I am honored that Wyoming Republicans have nominated me to serve as their representative in Congress, Cheney said. I have had no greater honor than serving as Wyomings lone representative in the U.S. House and I am humbled by the support and trust that voters have placed in me. In January, Cheney announced she would not run for the states open Senate seat and instead would focus on regaining a Republican majority in the House, which the party lost in the 2018 midterm elections. Many analysts predict that her ascension to House speaker could be just around the corner. Cheney, a self-proclaimed constitutional conservative, ran on her sustained commitment to the preservation of free markets, protections for Second Amendment rights, religious freedom and advancing President Donald Trumps agenda. As the third-ranking Republican in the House, Cheneys work in Washington has focused, in part, on lifting regulatory requirements for energy operators and funding research into alternatives for coal. She has been a consistently outspoken critic of her Democratic colleagues in Congress, often standing in line with the Trump administrations prerogatives; shes cast more than 96% of her votes in line with his positions. In recent months, though, her opposition to the withdrawal of troops from the Middle East and criticism of the administrations COVID-19 pandemic response garnered intense backlash from some fellow Republicans and close Trump allies, including those in the Freedom Caucus. Grey Bull, Cheneys Democratic opponent, carried 66.4% of the votes with 24% of precincts reporting. Wyoming voters have not elected a Democrat as a U.S. senator or representative for several decades, with many left-leaning candidates having to campaign against the backdrop of the states Republican stronghold. But with the state facing the worst economic crisis in a century and a massive revenue shortfall due to a dependence on fossil fuels, there are Wyoming residents eager for new leadership. The three-person Democratic primary field consisted of Grey Bull, Carl Beach and out-of-state perennial candidate Carol Hafner. All ran on platforms to expand health care coverage, repair the economy, advance racial justice and address climate change. Grey Bull, a member of the Hunkpapa Lakota and Northern Arapaho tribes, is the first Native American woman in the states history to run for federal office. The candidate has extensive leadership experience having served as the executive director for the Wind River Native Advocacy Center and the chair of the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs. She has dedicated herself to addressing the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women and has become a vocal advocate for gender and racial equality across the state. She is also the vice president of the Global Indigenous Council and has helped develop the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womens Task Force. In addition to calling for a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, Grey Bulls platform aims to decriminalize addiction, reform policing and ensure adequate investment in tribal nations. Grey Bull received endorsements from several progressive state lawmakers, including Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie; Rep. Stan Blake, D-Green River; Rep. Sara Burlingame, D-Laramie; and Rep. Andi Clifford, D-Fort Washakie. U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico, also extended an endorsement to Grey Bull. Her main contender, Beach, also ran on a social justice platform. He hoped to bring his experiences as an international educator to the role, championing universal access to health care and rights for working people. He currently resides in Ryan Park near Saratoga. Grey Bull will face a formidable challenge from the well-funded, two-term Republican incumbent. The general election will be held on Nov. 3. Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Members of a church in Seoul's Jungnang-gu head to a makeshift COVID-19 testing facility at the church, Wednesday, following an outbreak of infections there. / Yonhap Six-day COVID-19 total exceeds 1,000 By Jun Ji-hye More than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases have been reported here in less than a week with Korea's daily new infections soaring by three-digit figures due mainly to infection clusters traced to churches in Seoul and the surrounding areas, the health authorities said Wednesday. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 297 new cases Tuesday, including 283 locally transmitted ones, taking the total caseload to 16,058. Nearly 1,300 new infections have been identified since Aug. 13 when the nation added 103 cases. Since then, the number of daily new cases has hovered between 103 and 297. Among the 283 locally transmitted infections, 252 were reported in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, including 150 in the capital and 94 in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Other parts of the country including Busan and Gangwon Province also reported several cases, raising concerns that a second wave of infections could be about to strike nationwide. The Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul led by pastor Jun Kwang-hoon has continued to be a hotbed, with 166 more infections reported, raising the total related cases to 623 as of noon Wednesday. SEOUL South Korea reported the highest daily rise in coronavirus cases since early March on Wednesday as an outbreak in the capital Seoul appeared to intensify. The 297 new infections mark the sixth straight day of triple-digit increases in a country that has managed to blunt several previous outbreaks, bringing South Koreas total to 16,058 infections with 306 deaths, health officials said. Most of the new cases appeared in Seoul and the surrounding areas, raising concerns of a broader outbreak in a metropolitan area of more than 25 million people that has only seen small clusters so far. The government ordered the closure of nightclubs, karaoke bars, buffets and cyber cafes earlier this week, banned all in-person church services, and restricted indoor and outdoor gatherings to no more than 50 and 100 people respectively. If the numbers rise or continue at current levels, the government will likely impose the highest level of social distancing rules, under which schools are closed, businesses are advised to work from home, and gatherings limited to 10 people. EDWARDSVILLE Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles campus was vibrant and upbeat Tuesday as residents began their return to campus during the first of five Move-In Days planned through Saturday Aug. 18. During the five-day period, nearly 2,000 residents will move in to SIUEs four residence halls and the Cougar Village apartments. Welcome to SIUE! a housing staff member sang while being accompanied by a first-year student strumming her guitar as she walked toward her new home away from home. At SIUE, the safety of our students is our priority, always, said University Housing Director Mallory Sidarous. We are excited to be here and to start welcoming our residents back to campus. Instead of Move-In Day being a one-day process, this year it will occur over five days, she said. Weve implemented a number of changes including scheduled, staggered move-in times, limiting the number of guests, and increased cleaning and sanitization. I was nervous last night, but this morning Im excited. I danced in the car the whole way here, said Halie Hebron, of OFallon, Missouri, a freshman majoring in art and dance. Im excited to be a baby Cougar here at SIUE. Were moving our son, our second son, into SIU Edwardsville, noted Bruce Reeves, as he moved his son into Bluff Hall. Its been very organized. Everythings running smoothly. While the usual assembly of Movers and Shakers were not moving individuals in this year, Chancellor Randy Pembrook, SIU System President Dan Mahoney and numerous students, faculty and staff members from across campus,volunteered their time to greet new residents and their families, answer questions and help them navigate campus. We have music going, and were dancing and welcoming students to SIUE, said Mcall Wertin, resident assistant at Bluff Hall. Move-In Day is different this year, but were making the best of it, said Dana Merritt, resident assistant at Prairie Hall. With things spread out over five days, we get to meet with our residents individually and have a little bit of one-on-one time with them, Merrit said. Its been a great way to build connections with our residents. SIUE classes begin Monday. Details on the return to SIUE plan are available at siue.edu/coronavirus. Washington: American universities will reportedly offer Chinese students code names and the chance to opt out of political discussions to protect them from being targeted under Beijing's new national security law for Hong Kong. Several top institutions will offer warning labels when their classes resume in the northern autumn, according to the Wall Street Journal, amid fears that the new law could lead to students and teachers facing prosecution from the Chinese authorities. Peter B Lewis Library, Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. Credit:File Chinese politics students at Princeton University will be given codes to use instead of their names when submitting their work, while Harvard Business School will allow students to sit out class discussions on politically sensitive issues, the newspaper reported. The new national security law, aimed at stamping out anti-government protests in Hong Kong, gives the authorities the ability to impose lengthy jail terms for vaguely defined national security crimes, such as subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. The Chronicles Fire Updates page documents the latest events in wildfires across the Bay Area and the state of California. This is an archive of the page covering the period from Sept. 27 to Oct. 8, 2020. The Chronicles Fire Map and Tracker provides updates on fires burning throughout California, including these huge lightning-sparked blazes in Northern California: The Chronicles PG&E Outage Map provides real-time locations of where the power is out. The San Francisco Chronicles ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. Latest updates from Oct. 8: 9:50 a.m. Firefighters stop Glass Fire spread: Cal Fire officials said in a video briefing Thursday that containment lines around the Glass Fire have grown and the forward spread has been stopped. The 67,420-acre Wine Country fire was contained in all areas but the northern edge of the fire in the Napa Valley, where crews aggressively battled flames, said Jeff Ohs, a Cal Fire battalion chief. Teams were working to reopen Highway 29 into Lake County, he said. 8:23 a.m. Sonoma County grapples with future: Lingering trauma from the deadly Tubbs firestorm three years ago has bled into the devastation of this years still-burning Glass Fire as Sonoma County and Santa Rosa officials look to shape the countys future, using about $245 million received through PG&Es massive bankruptcy settlement this year. Read The Chronicles story here. 8:03 a.m. August Complex fires still growing, as is containment: Firefighters increased control of the massive August Complex blaze burning across seven Northern California counties overnight, but the flames continued to spread. The fire grew by more than 3,000 acres overnight but containment increased to 70% from 65%. The fire is the largest in state history and the first to burn through more than 1 million acres. Now Playing: Wildfires are once again ravaging Northern California's Wine Country. The Glass Fire threatens communities in Sonoma and Napa counties, including Santa Rosa, that suffered destruction from blazes in 2017. Video: San Francisco Chronicle 7:40 a.m. No growth for Glass Fire: Firefighters held the Glass Fire in check overnight in Napa and Sonoma Counties, Cal Fire officials said. The fire was still at 67,420 acres as of Thursday morning. Containment grew by 4%, to 66% overnight. 7:55 a.m. Creek Fire grows overnight: The Creek Fire in Fresno County and the Sierra grew to nearly 331,000 acres, Cal Fire reported Thursday morning, an increase of nearly 2,300 acres in a 12-hour period. The fire was 49% contained Thursday morning. 7:39 a.m. Hopes for rain in North Bay all but vanished: Cool temperatures have arrived in the Bay Area but that first substantial rain that many hoped for isnt likely to come this weekend, or for the foreseeable future. National Weather Service forecasts call for the weather system to steer north toward Oregon with a chance of light rain in the northern edge of the state. Bay Area arent expected to rise above the 70s in inland areas, as much as 30 degrees cooler in some places than last week. Read the story here. 7:11 a.m. Zogg Fire now 90% contained: The Zogg Fire burning in Shasta County is now 90% contained, Cal Fire said Thursday. Containment of the fire, which has killed four people, has been steady for days. The blaze is 56,338 acres in size. Updates from Wednesday, Oct. 7: 6:49 p.m. Investigation opened into illegal private firefighting on Glass Fire: Cal Fires law enforcement division is investigating allegations that a group of private firefighters set illegal backfires to protect properties threatened by the Glass Fire, a Cal Fire spokesman said Wednesday evening. The spokesman would not say where in Wine Country the private firefighters were apprehended, but confirmed that the incident occurred over the weekend. Private firefighters are authorized to remove flammable objects and carry out preventive measures. They are not authorized to use fire, Cal Fire said. The investigation is ongoing. 6:35 p.m. CO poisoning victim released from hospital: A firefighter who was hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning has been released from a Santa Rosa hospital and returned to fire duty, a Cal Fire spokesman said Wednesday evening. The firefighter was hospitalized Tuesday morning after 16 firefighters were exposed to the odorless gas at their sleeping quarters while off duty from the Glass Fire. Carbon monoxide is released in the fumes of active wildfires and can cause sudden illness when it builds up in a persons bloodstream, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 4:50 p.m. Supply and support stations open in Santa Rosa for people impacted by Glass Fire: Santa Rosa residents impacted by the Glass Fire can now pick up re-entry safety materials and information at supply and support stations before returning to their homes, city officials said on Twitter. Residents of burned areas can obtain materials such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, hand wipes, water bottles, goggles, shoe covers and a bucket. For more information and locations go online. 3:55 p.m. Evacuation warnings rescinded in Calistoga for Glass Fire: Evacuation warnings have been lifted in Calistoga, effective immediately, said Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. All roads within Calistoga city limits are open, officials said. 3:45 p.m. Evacuation warnings rescinded in St. Helena for Glass Fire: Evacuation warnings have been rescinded in St. Helena, effective immediately, said Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. All roads within St. Helena city limits are open, officials said. 3:42 p.m. Evacuation orders changed to warnings in parts of Napa County: Evacuation orders were reduced to evacuation warnings in portions of Napa County for the Glass Fire, according to Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. 3:05 p.m. Evacuation orders downgraded to warnings in parts of Sonoma County: Glass Fire evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings in portions of Sonoma County around Highway 12 and Calistoga Road, sheriffs officials said. (Full details in this nixie.) 12:53 p.m: Glass Fire controlled in Sonoma County: The western zone of the Glass Fire, predominantly Sonoma County, is completely encircled by containment lines and the heat of the fire has cooled, said Battalion Chief Sean Norman. For us, that signifies that the line is in, its held, its contained and controlled, he said. That clears the way for utility crews, hazard cleanup and infrastructure work and means residents will soon be allowed to return to the area, he said. 12:52 Fire chief: Glass Fire no longer a threat to St. Helena: St. Helena Fire Chief John Sorenson said Wednesday that the Glass Fire, now 58% contained, no longer poses a threat to the city. Sorenson called it a miracle that only three houses were destroyed by the fire. Centers to aid returning evacuees have been set up at the St. Helena First Presbyterian Church, 1428 Spring St., and in Angwin at the volunteer fire station at 275 College Ave. 12:32 p.m. Yuba County fire quickly contained: Firefighters rapidly contained the small Fields Fire, a small, 56-acre blaze sparked Wednesday near Marigold in Yuba County. Cal Fire reported the blaze was 100% contained just hours after the firefight began. 12:27 p.m. Newsom calls for California to conserve land, coasts to capture carbon: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that he would sign an executive order setting a target to conserve 30% of the states land and coastal water by 2030 joining dozens of nations in a global pact to preserve biodiversity and prevent species loss. The governor will also direct his administration to develop strategies to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store in the states natural and working lands such as forests, farms, wetlands and coasts. Read The Chronicles full story here. 12:01 p.m. Biggest fire in state history keeps growing: The August Complex Fire, the largest conflagration in California history, is now at 1,011,493 acres in size, Cal Fire said Wednesday. After burning for nearly a month the fire started on Sept. 10 the August Complex is now 60% contained. 8:28 a.m. Hope fades for fire-dampening rainfall in Napa, Sonoma counties: The Bay Areas hopes for weekend rains to help snuff the Glass Fire and dampen the parched hills seem to be evaporating. Rain could still fall, probably north of the Golden Gate, on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, but a Friday storm will head far north and miss the Bay Area. Saturdays storm could deliver a tenth of an inch of precipitation. Read The Chronicles full story here. 8:05 a.m. I just cant deal with this anymore: Wine Country residents grapple with a fiery future: As devastating wildfires pummel the North Bay for three of the past four years, some residents wonder how much more trauma they can take and whether they should continue living in a region altered by climate change. Smoky air, planned power outages and fire threats only compound the high living costs in the region, many said. Read The Chronicles full story here. 7:24 a.m. Glass Fire grows slightly: The Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties grew by just 150 acres overnight, Cal Fire said Wednesday morning, bringing the blaze to 67,200 acres in size. Containment grew by 4%, to 58% in the span of about 12 hours. The fire has destroyed more than 620 homes and damaged still more. More than 20,000 structures of various kinds remain under threat. 7:00 a.m. New fire sparks in Yuba County: The Fields Fire, a 50-acre blaze off of Gold Field Road and Hammonton Road, northeast of Marigold, is now burning in Yuba County, Cal Fire said. Little additional information was immiediately available, other than the fact that the fire began burning Wednesday. 6:49 a.m. Zogg Fire containment grows: Firefighters were able to grow containment lines around the Zogg Fire in Shasta County overnight, after another evening in which the blaze didnt grow at all. Containment increased 2%, to 86%, overnight. The fire remained at 56,305 acres, according to Cal Fire. Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 6: 7 p.m. Glass Fire grows to 67,050 acres: The Glass Fire, which is burning in Napa and Sonoma counties, has burned 67,050 acres and was 54% contained as of Tuesday evening, Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said. Officials said 2,522 firefighters were battling the blaze along with 341 engines, 40 water tenders, 20 helicopters and 26 dozers. 6:10 p.m. Containment of Zogg Fire grows to 84%: The Zogg Fire, which is burning in Shasta County, has burned 56,305 acres and was 84% contained as of Tuesday evening, Cal Fires Shasta Trinity Unit said. Officials said 1,275 firefighters were battling the blaze along with 160 engines, 42 water tenders, six helicopters and 16 dozers. 5:45 p.m. Fire officials warn embers can travel up to a mile from active fires: Officials with the Southern Marin Fire District tweeted that flying embers can be carried up to a mile from the actual fire and damage or destroy structures. In the tweet, fire officials compared two photos of an unnamed school that was damaged by the Glass Fire. Prepare your home now before a wildfire starts by creating 4 types of defensible zones, fire officials said. 3:20 p.m. The awww factor arrives with scared kitty: A Glass Fire damage inspector rescued a scared kitten from under a truck, Cal Fire tweeted Tuesday. Cal Fire called it a puurrfect save and said the tortoise shell kitten will be taken to an animal shelter to locate its family. 3:17 p.m. Crews secure canyon as North Complex approaches full containment: Crews ignited portions of steep terrain by hand Tuesday in an effort to contain flames in Feather River Canyon east of Highway 70, the final uncontained area of the North Complex, fire officials said. The fires were 86% contained as of Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters continued to patrol for hot spots near control lines, where extremely dry timber and strong canyon winds have slowed efforts to contain the 318,724-acre blaze. The two-month old fire killed fifteen people and destroyed more than 2,450 structures across Plumas and Butte counties. 3:10 p.m. Evacuation orders lifted for some in Sonoma County: Glass Fire evacuation orders have been lifted in some portions of Sonoma County, county sheriffs officials said. Full details are here. 2:20 p.m. One firefighter sent to hospital for possible CO poisoning: One of 16 firefighters potentially poisoned by carbon monoxide was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, Cal Fire officials said Tuesday afternoon. The exposure occurred at location outside the fire area, and early reports listed it at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds, which serves as the command center for the Glass Fire. After evaluation 15 firefighters were sent back to the fire lines, Cal Fire reported. 12:19 p.m. Potential CO poisoning at Glass Fire: Several firefighters were evaluated for possible carbon monoxide poisoning Tuesday morning after they were exposed to the odorless gas while fighting the Glass Fire, a Cal Fire spokesman said. They were being evaluated by medical personnel; their conditions were unknown, the spokesman said. It was unclear how many were exposed. Carbon monoxide is released in the fumes of active wildfires and can cause sudden illness when it builds up in a persons bloodstream, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Read the story here. 12:03 p.m. Even a little rain could help, Cal Fire says: The prospect of a small amount of rain, perhaps a quarter of an inch, is in the forecast for the Glass Fire area Friday and Saturday. Cal Fire Battalion Chief Sean Norman said it wont be enough to extinguish the fire, but also shouldnt be enough to trigger dangerous debris flows in areas scarred by the flames. Overall, it would be extremely beneficial to us, he said. 11:48 a.m. Returning evacuees need to watch out for wildlife: Firefighters battling the Glass Fire are seeing a lot of displaced wildlife, more mountain lions than in my entire life in the past few days alone, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Sean Norman said Tuesday. He advised people returning to evacuation zones to be prepared as you repopulate that you are sharing the area with wildlife that has had their environments shrunk down and their livelihoods have been impacted just like everyone elses. 11:40 a.m. Lake County still fire-free: The Glass Fire hasnt been contained on its northern front but firefighters managed to keep it out of Lake County, Battalion Chief Sean Norman said in a video news briefing Tuesday morning. Fire lines held overnight and the flames did not move to the north. For all the people in Lake County, this is really good news, he said. 9:20 a.m. Creek Fire grew by 4,000 acres overnight: The Creek Fire in the Central Sierra continued to burn after forcing new evacuations Monday in the Florence Lake area. It grew by about 4,000 acres overnight, and remained 49% contained, burning in Fresno and Madera counties on both sides of the San Joaquin River near Mammoth Pool, Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake. After igniting on Labor Day weekend, it forced people to flee popular recreation areas, with the National Guard rescuing scores by helicopter. 8:59 a.m. August Fire continues to grow: The August Complex Fire, which surpassed 1 million acres on Monday, continues to grow across seven Northern California counties. The largest fire in state history has ripped through 1,006,140 acres and is 58% contained. Cal Fire officials report that the firefighters are battling steep, rough terrain and dangerously low humidity levels, which are unprecedented for this area. 7:31 a.m. Glass Fire growth slowed overnight: Firefighters increased containment of the destructive Glass Fire to 50% overnight and held the acreage to 66,840, according to Cal Fire figures released Tuesday morning. Warm overnight temperatures and low humidity continued to fuel the fire, burning in Napa and Sonoma counties, overnight, according to a Cal Fire report. 7:08 a.m. Rainfall could be a reprieve but wont snuff Glass Fire: The hot, dry weather will begin to fade away Wednesday and Thursday and could bring some precipitation on Friday and Saturday but not enough to extinguish the Glass Fire in Wine Country, meteorologists said. And certainly not sufficient to spell the end of the hellish 2020 fire season. Temperatures will drop 5 to 10 degrees and humidity will climb Thursday and Friday and rain could arrive Friday, said Matt Mehle, a National Weather Service meteorologist, delivering maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch of rain in the North Bay and higher amounts further north. But warm, dry weather is expected to return next week. Its not a season-ending event but it could be a season-slowing event, he said. It should provide a reprieve for firefighters in this part of the state. 6:45 a.m. No growth for Zogg Fire overnight: Cal Fire reported that the Zogg Fire burning in Shasta County did not grow overnight, and remained at 56,305 acres in size as of Tuesday morning. Containment grew from 80% to 82% overnight, according to fire officials. Updates from Monday, Oct. 5: 7:30 p.m. Glass Fire now 41% contained: It was another day of progress fighting the Glass Fire, with Cal Fire reporting 41% containment of the blaze that has grown to 66,840 acres across Napa and Sonoma counties. At least 553 single-family homes have been destroyed, and 21,785 structures remain threatened. 7:15 p.m. August Fire grows slightly: The massive August Fire, which stretches across seven counties in Northern California, grew by another 1,000 acres during the day on Monday. It is at 1,003,387 acres. The West Zone which includes portions of Mendocino, Humboldt and Lake counties is now 60% contained, Cal Fire reported in its nightly update. 6:45 p.m. Glass Fire the priority for the state, says Cal Fire chief: With 2,774 fire-fighting personnel making use of 408 fire engines to fight the Glass Fire, we are the priority for the state here, division chief Ben Nicholls of Cal Fire said Monday during Sonoma Countys daily update on the sprawling two-county blaze. And while the fire remains just 30% contained as of Monday morning, Nicholls expressed confidence that we have turned the corner on the fire as a whole. 6:30 p.m. Zogg Fire is 80% contained: The Zogg Fire has burned 56,305 acres in Shasta County and is 80% contained, according to a Cal Fire update Monday evening. Fire officials warned, though, that fuels remain very receptive to ignition due to the hot and dry temperatures over the past two months. More than 1,700 responders are fighting the blaze, which has destroyed more than 200 buildings. 5:00 p.m. Air quality worsens in parts of Bay Area: After dramatic improvement over the weekend, air quality deteriorated in some parts of the Bay Area on Monday as smoke again drifted in from the Glass Fire burning in the North Bay. On Monday afternoon, the only areas with good air quality were along the coast. In the central Bay Area, conditions were moderate, and farther east, they turned unhealthier. The North Bay also had a mix of moderate and unhealthy air. Read more. 2:46 p.m. Rain forecast is hopeful news, or is it?: The Bay Area is welcoming predictions that rain might fall by the end of the week but whether it can snuff out record-busting fires that have scorched more than 4 million acres is another matter. The anticipated wet weather may help firefighters short term, but is likely not late enough in the season to have a long-term impact. Read the story here. 12:43 p.m. Newsom confirms over 4 million acres burned in California in 2020: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the fact wildfires have burned more than 4 million California acres this year shows the deadliness of climate change. The fires have led to 31 deaths and destroyed 9,000 structures. If thats not a proof-point testament of climate change, I dont know what is, Newsom told a news briefing. He said progress on the Glass Fire is one of the states top priorities. 10:29 a.m. New evacuations ordered in Sierra due to Creek Fire: New evacuation orders are in effect in areas around Florence Lake, as firefighters anticipate the 322,089-acre Creek Fire to spread in deep-seated fuel, Cal Fire said Monday.On the fires north side, flames were expected to burn up into the rocks with potential movement into the wilderness and Lion Fire burn. The fire was 48% contained not 62% as had been reported Sunday due to a data input error, according to Cal Fire. The Sierra National Forest is fully closed through Nov. 1. 9:23 a.m. Winery devastation revealed through camera lens: Horrific photos reveal the beating that wineries took at the wims of the rampaging Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties. At least 17 have been damaged, several reduced to ashy piles of rubble. See the photos here. 8:02 a.m. North Complex terrain poses challenge to containment: The North Complex fires were 83% contained as of Monday as aerial crews surveyed the 318,724-acre blaze. Drone and helicopter crews may ignite fire in the steepest areas in an effort to halt flames spread through Plumas National Forest, where steep terrain and old fuels have challenged firefighters, fire officials said Monday. 7:55 a.m. Glass Fire now 30% contained: Firefighters grew containment lines around the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties by 4% overnight. The blaze is now 30% contained and 65,580 acres in size. The fire grew by fewer than 700 acres overnight, Cal Fire said. 7:46 a.m. August Fire driven by overnight winds: Firefighters attacked the massive August fire from the air and ground as it vigorously burned with wind-driven torching, overnight, Cal Fire reported Monday morning. Firefighters continued to persevere as smoke and embers pushed back towards crews working on containment lines and structure protection. The blaze, which started in and around Mendocino National Forest, has destroyed 21 structures, and 31 minor structures. Crews anticipated another hot, dry day Monday with challenging conditions in heavy timber and steep, rugged terrain. 7:36 a.m. August Fire tops 1 million acres: The monster August Fire raging in Mendocino, Lake and Trinity counties, thats smashed all records as Californias biggest wildfire ever, now has now reached a stunning milestone: its scorched 1,002,097 acres, Cal Fire reported Monday morning. Read The Chronicles story here. 7:23 a.m. Glass Fire forecast: A patchy, dense fog prevailed over the Bay Area coastline Monday morning enough to ground airplanes at SFO, but not deep enough to bring moisture to Wine Country hills where the Glass Fire rages on, National Weather Service meteorologists said. Dry, south-blowing winds buffeted the North Bay at sunrise Monday, enough to ferry smoke to Santa Rosa, though not likely to affect San Francisco air quality, meteorologists said. 6:52 a.m. Wildfire smoke to drift to Bay Area Tuesday: Smoke from the regions wildfires will have the greatest impact across the North Bay and potentially the East Bay during the next 36 hours, the National Weather Services Bay Area division tweeted Monday. The smoke is not expected to be quite as dense as it was last week, however. Air quality across much of the Bay Area Monday morning was rated as good. 6:38 a.m. Destruction from Glass Fire surges: The number of single family homes destroyed or damaged by the Glass Fire nearly doubled Sunday, as fire officials surveyed the areas most affected by the 64,900-acre blaze. In Sonoma County, 235 homes were destroyed and 73 damaged as of Sunday evening, a 42% increase over tallies taken in the morning. In Napa County, 252 homes were destroyed and 64 damaged, a 33% increase over the course of the day. Cal Fire is set to release new tallies Monday morning as officials get a clearer picture of the damage to residential properties. 6:31 a.m. Zogg Fire now 76% contained: The Zogg Fire burning in Shasta County is now 56,305 acres in size and is 76% contained, Cal Fire said Monday. The fire grew little overnight, allowing firefighters to increase containment by 6%. Updates from Sunday, Oct. 4: 8:10 p.m. Looting not a problem in Napa County: Undersheriff John Crawford, who spoke at a Sunday evening press conference about the Glass Fire, took the microphone just after Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick announced that county had arrested eight people on suspicion of intent to loot in evacuation zones. Looting has never really been a problem in Napa, Crawford said. Weve been through fires, earthquakes and floods. But weve historically been very blessed. That said, he added, we will be asking you to explain your presence in an evacuation zone. 8:01 p.m. Fire recovery help from Santa Rosa and Sonoma County: Santa Rosa and Sonoma County are opening a Local Assistance Center (LAC) Monday as a one-stop shop for residents affected by the fire who need to connect with services. The states Office of Emergency Services is a partner in the plan. For more information, visit SRCity.org/LAC. 7:36 p.m. Warnings for residents of southern Lake County: The Lake County Sheriffs Department issued a warning Sunday for residents to be prepared to evacuate, as the Glass Fire approaches the county line bordering Napa and Sonoma counties. For the specific areas under warning, see the sheriffs alert here. To sign up for alerts on your phone, text your zip code to 888777. 7:16 p.m. Sonoma County Sheriff arrests eight suspected looters: Sheriffs deputies arrested eight people who made their way into a Glass Fire evacuation area since the fire broke out a week ago but were unable to say why they were there. We determined that they were looking for crimes of opportunity, county Sheriff Mark Essick said at a news conference on the status of the massive wildfire. They were up to no good. 7:02 p.m. Glass Fire now 26% contained: Containment of the nearly 65,000-acre Glass Fire burning in Sonoma and Napa counties is now at 26%, but it will be weeks before its fully contained and controlled, Calfire said Were feeling good about our lines, a Calfire team leader said. But were not done with this fire. 7:10 p.m. August Complex fires near 1 million acres: The massive set of fires, burning across Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Lake, Colusa and Glenn counties, has grown to 993,191 acres and is 54% contained, Cal Fire said. 3:46 p.m. Some evacuation orders now warnings in parts of Santa Rosa, other areas of Sonoma County: Residents in certain areas affected by the Glass Fire may return home, said Calfire and local law enforcement. In Santa Rosa, those areas include Oakmont South and some areas of Oakmont North and Stonebridge. Check here for the exceptions, which are still under evacuation order. Elsewhere in Sonoma County, residents in certain areas of Kenwood and Porter Creek Road may return. For those zones, check here. 3:27 p.m. Evacuation orders reduced to warnings in Calistoga, other areas: Cal Fire will allow residents to return to Calistoga and a number of other areas affected by the Glass Fire. Evacuation warnings remain in effect for those areas, however, and evacuation orders remain in place in other areas of the fire. Click here for details. 2:05 p.m. Evacuation orders lifted in San Mateo County: The deadly CZU Lightning Complex, which burned 86,509 acres across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties and killed a Santa Cruz County man, is contained and evacuation orders have been lifted for San Mateo County, Cal Fire reported. Lightning ignited the fire Aug. 16 and it blazed for 37 days, destroying 1,490 buildings. Firefighters contained it Sept. 22, but had not yet controlled it. 11:11 a.m. When blazes spark, Fire Twitter warns and informs: Each year when fires flare up, so does a loose-knit Twitter community of scientists, amateur radio operators and journalists. Fire scientists post threads about the dynamics of fire tornadoes, foresters answer questions about land management, and radio operators track wildfires through scanner chatter and a network of publicly accessible wildfire cameras. In many cases, they are vital sources of information in fire zones. Ryan Kost reports the full story here. 10:58 a.m. Astonishing milestone for California wildfires: Deadly wildfires burning this year in the state eclipsed 4 million acres (6,250 square miles) Sunday more than double the previous record. About two months remain in the fire season. The old mark set two years ago was 1.67 million acres. The 4 million mark is unfathomable. It boggles the mind, and it takes your breath away, said Scott McLean, a Cal Fire spokesman. An area larger than Connecticut has been scorched. 10:13 a.m. New evacuations in northern Napa County: Officials ordered evacuations Sunday for several areas in northern Napa County, bordered on the west by Highway 29 at the Robert Louis Stevenson trailhead, north by Livermore Road, east by Aetna Mine Road and the existing evacuation orders to the south. Officials have closed Pope Valley Road between Pope Valley Cross Road and Aetna Springs Road and Highway 29 between the Lake County line and Deer Park Road. Residents must leave the area immediately. 10:11 a.m. Heroic story of evacuation at senior home: As an Oakmont Gardens couple both nearly 100 fled from the Glass Fire, an administrator at the Santa Rosa home dodged checkpoints to go toward the fire and help. Nanette Asimov reports the story here. 9:55 a.m. Glass Fire burning away from Calistoga: The Glass Fire was burning east, away from the town of Calistoga on Sunday morning, a Cal Fire spokesman said. Firefighters have dozers along the towns eastern border to reinforce fire lines in the area, but the fire is not pushing toward Calistoga, currently, said Cal Fire spokesman Chris Valenzuela. 9:37 a.m. Creek Fire grows by 1,753 acres overnight: The Creek Fire burning in Fresno and Madero counties reached 315,413 acres overnight Sunday. Containment rose to 62%. The blaze is burning on both sides of the San Joaquin River near Mammoth Pool, Shaver Lake and Huntington Lake. 7:50 a.m. August Complex fire shows little growth overnight: The August Complex fire showed nearly no growth overnight, Cal Fire said early Sunday. The fire is burning 985,304 acres in seven Northern California counties and is 51% contained. Cal Fire said it expects to fully contain the wildfire by Wednesday. 7:25 a.m. Glass Fire 17% contained: The Glass Fire is burning 63,885 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties and is 17% contained, Cal Fire said early Sunday. Strong, dry winds and above-average temperatures in the North Bay are fueling the fire, the agency said. The blaze has destroyed nearly 300 homes. 7:01 a.m. Zogg Fire containment rises to 68%: Thats up slightly from 66% on Saturday night. The fire has burned 56,305 acres. 6:49 a.m. Glass Fire has now damaged 17 Napa Valley wineries as world-famous region remains under grave threat: One week after the Glass Fire began its violent path through northern Napa Valley, one thing is certain. This is the most destructive fire Americas most famous wine region has ever faced. Chronicle wine writer Esther Mobley has the story. 6:05 a.m. Winds diminish on Mount St. Helena: After peaking around midnight with gusts of up to 31 miles per hour, wind speeds on Mount St. Helena, near the fire zone, have fallen to 4 mph, with gusts of up to 12 mph. A red flag warning for the fire zone expired at 6 a.m. Updates from Saturday: 9:30 p.m. Winds rise on Mt. St. Helena: Wind speeds were rising in Mt. St. Helena on Saturday night, with 18 mph winds gusting up to 29 mph at 9:20 p.m., according to data collected by the National Weather Service at a station on the mountain. 8:38 p.m. Firefighters monitoring weather next weekend: Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said one model for next weekend suggests a potential for some dry lightning, which he said is not a good thing for us to hear, but it is on the outside possibility and that will be closely monitored as we get closer to that event this weekend. He said another, separate model suggests there could be precipitation, but warned that even an inch of rain would not be enough. If we do get some precipitation, will it be a game changer to really change things? At best maybe for a day or two, but its not gonna change it enough where itll completely put the fire out or take us out of fire danger, Brunton said. All its gonna take is a day of just some dry, north winds and that will erase any of that moisture that we get. 8:15 p.m. Glass Fire assistance center to open in Santa Rosa: Sonoma County residents impacted by the Glass fire can visit a new local assistance center opening on Monday at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, according to Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena. The center will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, and then Tuesday, October 6 through Saturday, October 10 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7:55 p.m. Cal Fire to host virtual community meeting for Glass Fire: A community meeting for the Glass Fire will be livestreamed on the Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Facebook page at 6 p.m. Sunday. 7:52 p.m. Sonoma County opening Glass Fire help center: The county is opening a Local Assistance Center on Monday, Oct. 5 at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa. It will be open on Monday from 1 to 7 p.m. and then Tuesday, Oct. 6 through Saturday, Oct. 10 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 7:35 p.m. Helicopters drop nearly 200,000 gallons of water on Glass Fire: Roughly 22 helicopters dropped close to 200,000 gallons of water on the Glass Fire on Saturday, said Battalion Chief Mark Brunton in a video update. Brunton said the helicopters, along with four or five large air tankers, were pounding the area throughout the day on Saturday, which has helped slow the progress in the Division Hotel area of the blaze. 7:30 p.m. Highway 12 corridor looking really good, Cal Fire said: The Highway 12 corridor is looking really good, said Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said in video update. Brunton said utility crews have been working in the area, which he said will help in repopulation efforts once the area is reopened to residents. The road remains closed. 7:25 p.m. Glass Fire moving into Bothe State Park, Cal Fire says: Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said in video update that some fire is moving into Bothe State Park in Napa Valley, citing increased fire activity due to the wind and the dry conditions. Brunton said there are a lot of resources in that area, such as helicopters, ground crews and other sources battling the fire within the state park. 7:20 p.m. Angwin looking really good, Cal Fire battalion chief says: Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said in video update that Angwin is looking really good, still. Brunton said there are good control lines and a lot of resources in the area, making Cal Fire crews very comfortable with that protection against the Glass Fire. 7:15 p.m. Glass Fire containment rises to 15%: The Glass Fire is 15% contained and 63,450 acres, up from 10% contained and 62,360 acres this morning, Cal Fire said. 6:53 p.m. August Complex fires grow to 984,804 acres: The massive fire complex, which is burning across multiple counties (Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Lake, Colusa & Glenn County), has reached 51% containment, Cal Fire said. A red flag warning is in effect in the area for Saturday night. 6:40 p.m. Containment of Zogg Fire grows to 66%, Cal Fire says: The Zogg Fire, which is burning in Shasta County, has burned 56,305 acres and was 66% contained as of Saturday evening, Cal Fire said. Thats up from 57% Saturday morning, with no fire growth. Officials said 1,767 firefighters were battling the blaze along with 196 engines, 55 water tenders, 14 helicopters and 24 dozers. 5:38 p.m. FEMA firefighting assistance available for Glass Fire: FEMA granted a Fire Management Assistance on Sept. 28 to cover up to 75% of eligible firefighting costs for the Glass Fire, but no federal disaster has been declared, which means victims are not yet eligible for aid. Congressman Mike Thompson, a Democrat from St. Helena, said Saturday thats not able to happen until currently ongoing assessments of the damage are completed, submitted, and reviewed to see if they meet criteria. 5:27 p.m. Napa County fire chief warns residents fire season is now year round event: The reality of living in California now, fire season is a year round event and folks need to really start planning and building that into their mindset, Napa County Fire Chief Geoff Belyea said during a Facebook live video Saturday afternoon. He urged residents to get go bags ready with important documents, clear defensible space, leaves from gutters, and stacked firewood from beside homes, and know at least two evacuation routes out of their neighborhoods. 5:26 p.m. Glass Fire grows in Palisades: The main fire growth Saturday was in the Palisades area just west of Highway 29, Napa County Fire Chief Geoff Belyea said. The good news is that firefighters have been successful in fighting the fire off from Angwin. The fire also hasnt advanced north toward Calistoga or on the southern end on the east side of Silverado Trail. Crews are making progress constructing fire lines on the west side of Highway 29 between Spring Mountain Road and Whitehall Lane, but the terrain is very treacherous and the work slow-going, Belyea said. 5:25 p.m. Cal Fire video aircraft video shows smoky conditions near Bothe-Napa Valley State Park: Video taken from an aircraft flying near Bothe-Napa Valley State Park shows thick clouds of smoke rising from the Glass Fire, according to video shared by Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Saturday afternoon. Cal Fire officials said the Glass Fire has been very active. 5:23 p.m. Middletown residents may see smoke, flames: The Glass Fire has not crossed into Lake County, Cal Fire officials said Saturday afternoon, but residents of Middletown, a Lake County city thats no stranger to wildfires, may see smoke and flames. No evacuation orders or warnings have been issued for Lake County but residents are advised to remain vigilant. The Glass Fire is burning near Highway 29 in northern Napa County near the Lake County line. 5:08 p.m. Santa Rosa releases damage map: The city of Santa Rosa has released an interactive online map that shows damage to properties in the city by the Glass Fire. The fire ripped through eastern Santa Rosa Sunday and Monday. The map allows people to enter addresses and see the extent of damage to property . 5:10 p.m. Nearly four million acres burned across California: Shawna Jones, unit chief for the Sonoma Lake Napa unit of Cal Fire, said that 3.9 million acres statewide have burned this year, killing 31 people. Around 17,000 firefighters are actively fighting fires, with 2,500 assigned to the Glass Fire. Seven additional states are helping. 4:56 p.m. Wind gusts of up to 35 m.p.h. expected in the fire zone: Winds are expected to continue from the northwest at 15-25mph, with 25-35mph gusts, the National Weather Service tweeted. 4:30 p.m. Red-flag warning reissued in North Bay: The National Weather Service has reissued a red flag warning for the North Bay mountains effective immediately and continuing through 6 a.m. Sunday. An earlier warning had been allowed to expire at 6 a.m Saturday but clearing smoke allowed hot dry conditions to develop and for gusty northwest winds to return, the weather service said. The reissued warning is a disappointment for firefighters who had been hoping for cooler temperatures and light winds overnight. 3:23 p.m. Some Santa Rosa evacuation warnings lifted: Click here for details. 3:15 p.m. Tankers return to Glass Fire: Three large air tankers, including a 747, returned to the Wine Country skies Saturday afternoon to join the fight against the Glass Fire. Smoky skies had prevented Cal Fire from using fixed-wing aircraft the past couple of days, but clearer skies allowed their return, said Donna Sager, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire. The tankers were dropping huge loads of bright orange fire retardant and joined a fleet of helicopters dumping buckets or water or retardant. 2:09 p.m. Not a lot of destruction or damage in St. Helena: Janet Upton, a spokeswoman for Napa County Emergency Operations Center, said the Glass Fire didnt burn into downtown and there was not a lot of impact in terms of destruction or damage. Cal Fire is still conducting its investigation to tally an official count. Overnight fire activity into Saturday was moderate due to lack of developing winds and the blaze didnt move down the hillside toward Highway 29 or hit Bale Grist Mill, a city press release said. Priority areas Saturday include Aetna Springs, Angwin, Pope Valley, and Robert Luis Stevenson area near Mount St. Helena. 1:28 p.m. City of Calistoga warns of increased fire activity: The city under evacuation orders warned residents in a Nixle alert Saturday afternoon that significant fire activity had picked up in some areas, particularly along Highway 29/Lake County Highway just south of the Lake County Line and in Diamond Mountain/Kortum Canyon area near the Sonoma County Line. Air quality is at hazardous levels. The fire has destroyed 173 single family residences and 264 commercial properties in Napa County, none within Calistoga city limits. 1:26 p.m. Sonoma County Sheriff does not expect to lift evacuations today: After conversations with Cal Fire, the sheriffs office does not expect to lift any evacuation orders Saturday, according to a Facebook post. The Glass Fire had destroyed 120 single family homes, four multi-family residences, and eight commercial buildings in the county. 1:20 p.m. Evacuations eased in parts of San Mateo County: Cal Fire downgraded evacuation orders to warnings in three areas in San Mateo County affected by the CZU Lightning Complex fire, which is now fully contained. 12:44 p.m. Angwin well-protected, Cal Fire says: The Glass Fire remains dangerously close to the city of Angwin, which has been totally evacuated for days, but Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said firefighters are confident that the city, home to Pacific Union and a hospital, is well protected, surrounded by fire lines and staffed with a number of fire crews. Its also home to a base where helicopters load up with retardant to dump on the Glass Fire. This is a very important community to the Napa Valley, he said in a recorded video briefing Saturday. 12:40 p.m. Firefighters injured in Zogg Fire: On Friday evening, two inmate firefighters were injured fighting the Zogg Fire in Shasta County and transported to a local hospital. One firefighter was released and one remains hospitalized, Cal Fire reported Saturday. 12:30 p.m. Clearer skies, marine layer could aid Glass Fire firefight: Cal Fire officials hope that light winds this afternoon could help clear the skies enough to allow the use of more aircraft in the battle against the Glass Fire. Thick, gray smoke hanging in the hills, canyons and valleys has limited the use of helicopters and especially air tankers that dump water and fire retardant on the fire. Weather forecasts for a marine layer to enter the Glass Fire zone up to 1,000 feet in elevation Saturday night is also giving firefighters hope, Cal Fire spokesman Chris Valenzuela said. Hopefully we can make some real progress tonight, he said Saturday afternoon. 12:18 a.m. Conditions around Calistoga improving: Firefighters continue to battle the Glass Fire but Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said Saturday afternoon that Calistoga is looking at lot better with fire crews establishing more control lines in the area. Winds did whip up embers in some areas overnight but firefighters were able to keep spot fires from spreading. 12:01 p.m. Zogg Fire progress continues: Firefighters continue to make progress on the Zogg Fire burning west of Redding in Shasta County. The fire, has blackened 56,305 acres and destroyed 179 buildings, including homes and businesses like the iconic Ono Store, but is now 57% contained. Fire officials have lifted some evacuation orders and Whiskeytown Reservoir, no longer being used by firefighting helicopters to scoop up huge buckets of water, has reopened to boating and recreation. 11:40 a.m. People who fled Creek Fire can retrieve belongings: Dozens of people who fled the Creek Fire when it roared into a popular recreation area during the Labor Day weekend will be allowed to make reservations to return to campgrounds and cabins to retrieve belongings they left behind, Sierra National Forest officials said Saturday. The fire, which has charred 312,063 acres is 51% contained. It raced into the popular Mammoth Pool area on Sept. 4, displacing hundreds of people, forcing hundreds to flee through flames by foot or car. Scores also had to be rescued by military helicopter. 11:37 a.m. Rescued mountain lion cub has a name: The injured and orphaned mountain lion cub rescued by a Cal Fire firefighter from the Zogg Fire and being treated at the Oakland Zoo has gained a name and an appetite, zoo officials reported. The four- to six-week- old male cub has been dubbed Capt. Cal, the name of the Cal Fire mascot. Hes being treated for burns to his feet and seems to be regaining his appetite, according to zoo veterinarians. 7:55 a.m. Latest on Creek Fire in Fresno, Madera counties: The Creek fire is now 312,063 acres in size and 49% contained, according to Cal Fire. 7:46 a.m. Deadly Zogg Fire grows, but so does containment: The Zogg Fire in Shasta and Tehama counties grew slightly overnight, to 56,305 acres, Cal Fire reported Saturday morning. The fire, which has killed four people, is now 57% contained. Air tankers from across the state are dousing the fire, as conditions allow, Cal Fire said. 7:32 a.m. August Complex now 979,386 acres: The August Complex fire the largest blaze in California history is now 979,386 acres in size, Cal Fire reported Saturday morning, and is 51% contained. There are still more than 11,000 structures threatened by the massive fire, which is burning across swaths of Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Lake, Colusa and Glenn counties. 7:18 a.m. Glass Fire grows overnight: The Glass fire in Napa and Sonoma counties grew by just over 1,200 acres overnight, standing at 62,360 acres as of Saturday morning, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters were able to slightly grow their containment of the fire from 8% to 10% in that time. 6:00 a.m. Red flag warning expires: A red flag warning, signifying significant fire risk fo the North Bay Mountains, East Bay hills, the Diablo Range mountains and the Santa Cruz Mountains expired Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. With a few exceptions, forecasted winds that worried firefighters never materialized. Another brief burst of northwest winds may impact the Glass Fire later Saturday afternoon and evening, but should be localized to gusts in the 25-30 mph range, the NWS said. 5:52 a.m. When blazes spark, Fire Twitter heats up: Each year when fires flare up across California and the West, so does a small, loose-knit Twitter community of scientists, amateur radio operators and journalists. Theyre all using social media to satisfy a growing demand for real-time information, analysis and discussion as wildly destructive fire seasons become the horrifying norm, and the information they provide is a part of the critical link between firefighters, the media and the public. Read the full story here. 5:26 a.m. Heroic story of senior home evacuation during early hours of Glass Fire: With her heart pounding, Jamie Gralund pressed her foot to the gas and blew through the police checkpoint, trying to help evacuate seniors from Oakmont Gardens in Santa Rosa. Read the full story here. 12:25 a.m. Winds calm in Glass Fire zone: Winds have remained calm so far in the Bay Area with the exception of Mt. Tamalpais and the Altamont Pass, which have seen red-flag level wind gusts of 18-25 mph, according to the National Weather Service. 12:18 a.m. Firefighters battling several spot fires: Firefighters have been battling several spot fires in the Glass Fire zone, including fire off of Ink Grade Road near Angwin, according to scanner reports. Updates from Friday, Oct. 2: 7:30 p.m. Glass Fire still rages, but containment rises slightly: The blaze that began Sunday has now burned 61,150 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, up from roughly 59,000 acres on Thursday evening, according to a Cal Fire report Friday evening. It is 8% contained, compared to 5% at the end of Thursday. There are 2,611 personnel involved in the efforts as well as 21 helicopters for water drops and 74 bulldozers to make fire lines. The conflagration has now destroyed 293 single family homes, and more than 28,000 structures are still threatened. 7:05 p.m. Cal Fire shares photo of Glass Fire the night it started: Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit shared on Twitter a photo showing flames in the hills above a vineyard off of Crystal Springs Road in Napa County just after 7 p.m. the day the blaze broke out, Cal Fire said. 6:48 p.m. Cal Fire invites people to call Glass Fire Information Center with questions: Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit invited people on Twitter to call the Glass Fires Information Call Center to get their questions answered about the blaze. Callers can reach the call center at 707-967-4207, or call 211. 6:50 p.m. More progress against Zogg Fire: Cal Fire reported another day of progress in battling the Zogg Fire near Redding that killed four people after breaking out Sunday afternoon. It grew by only 150 acres during the day, bring the total burned land to 56,168 acres, and it now is 56% contained up from 39% on Thursday evening. There have been 170 structures destroyed, and 101 structures remained threatened. 6:30 p.m. Fire conditions in Sonoma County mostly stable: Though the Glass Fire continues to threaten large stretches of Napa County, the west flank in Sonoma County on Friday was calm, county officials told a press briefing. But 16,542 people remain under evacuation orders, many of them residents of eastern Santa Rosa. Christina Rivera, the Emergency Operations Director, said the county also has more than 400 animals in its care: 200 horses, 123 chickens, 68 goats, 12 quail and two llamas. We are taking care of everyone, even the precious pets that we have, Rivera said. 6:21 p.m. Fire-scorched California land approaches 4 million acres this year: Cal Fire reports that since the beginning of the year, more than 8,200 wildfires have burned well over 3.9 million acres in California. MOre than 53,000 residents now are evacuated across the state. Fatalities statewide increased this week to 31 after another victim of the LNU Lightning Complex succumbed to their injuries, Cal Fire reported. 3:55 p.m. Most evacuated Santa Rosa residents can return home: Cal Fire has lessened evacuation orders to evacuation warnings for all parts of the city of Santa Rosa that were not actually burned. However, the notice from the state agency on Friday afternoon warns returning residents to stay vigilant on current fire conditions. 3:30 p.m. Napa wineries in evacuation or warning zones number 215: There are now 215 wineries in Napa County under mandatory evacuation or evacuation warning, according to Napa County public information officer Janet Upton, an increase of 72 since Monday. So far, 17 wine properties have registered significant damage by the Glass Fire. 3:15 p.m. Sonoma County evacuation orders lifted: Several areas that were under evacuation orders along the west edge of the Glass Fire have been improved to evacuation warning status. They include areas east and south of Santa Rosa, south of Annadel State Park and in the ridges east of Windsor. A full list is here. 2:55 p.m. Glass Fire conditions remain near critical: Although high winds that triggered a Bay Area red flag warning did not materialize Thursday evening, breezy conditions and hot temperatures through Saturday could hasten the spread of the Glass Fire along its north and east flanks in Napa County, Cal Fire meteorologist Tom Bird said Friday afternoon.We still continue with elevated to near-critical fire conditions today and into tonight, Bird said in a briefing on the Cal Fire Facebook page. Sunday may bring better conditions, he said, with winds from the west carrying a little more moisture and cooling the temperatures. 2:30 p.m. People trying to get past fire barricades: Santa Rosa police are having trouble dissuading evacuees from trying to get back into evacuated areas to check on their houses as well as people hoping to take a look at the devastation in burned areas, Police Chief Ray Navarro said. He said his department had made no looting or robbery arrests in evacuated areas, but added, If you dont live in the area, please dont come to look. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said his department has added 50 additional deputies to patrol evacuated zones for looters. 2:24 p.m. Air quality in Napa hazardous: Air quality at a Napa Valley College monitoring station reached levels rated hazardous between 10 and 11 a.m. Friday before dropping back slightly to very unhealthy in the following hour. Air quality across the rest of the Bay Area was at unhealthy levels due to smoke. 2 p.m. Cal Fire watching out for winery workers: Despite the nearby flames, and expected winds that could drive the Glass Fire through the Highway 29 corridor, many winery workers are still on the job during the critical harvest season. While thats understandable, its another concern for Cal Fire, Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said at a Friday media briefing. Theres a lot of industry working in the area, he said, and its their safety as well as the fire that has firefighters attention. 1:35 p.m. CHP says this is not a weekend to tour Wine Country: The CHP commander in Wine Country, Aristotle Wolfe, said people have done a good job staying away from road closures and barricades during the Glass Fire. But he worries about weekend travelers heading to wineries or a favorite park or restaurant, getting firefighters way and snarling traffic, especially on Highway 29 and Silverado Trail, both of which have roadblocks. These are routes people are used to traveling, he said. This is just not a good weekend for it. 12:28 p.m. Record heat, wind, climate are not the only wildfire quagmires: Californias fiery, record-breaking wildfire crisis could quickly become a political one too, as state leaders scramble to contain a worsening problem with myriad solutions, none of them easy, with disagreement about next steps. Climate change is not the only issue: the state will need to grapple with its overgrown forests and misguided development patterns. Read The Chronicles rundown of how the path to solutions looks. 10:38 a.m. Oakland Zoo treating mountain lion cub from Zogg Fire: Oakland Zoo vets are treating an orphaned mountain lion cub rescued by a firefighter from the Zogg Fire in Shasta County. The male cub, four to six weeks old, suffered burns to his paws, whiskers completely singed off and severely irritated eyes. With medication and a special milk formula, he was acting feisty, a promising sign, according to the zoos Dr. Alex Herman. Because mountain lion cubs usually stay with their mothers for two years, he wont be released into the wild once hes recovered, zoo officials said. 9:25 a.m. Store once owned by assemblywomans family burns: Among the 159 buildings destroyed by the Zogg Fire in Shasta County was the Ono Store, a classic general store in the town of Ono, west of Redding, near where the fire ignited on Sunday. It was owned by Bruce and Sherry Wicks, parents of Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley, in the 1970s, she tweeted. She called it a gem of a general store...a restaurant, bar, grocery, weather reporting service, & library during that time. It was wiped out when the fire blasted through Monday. 8:50 a.m. Firefighters continue to gain on Zogg Fire: The Zogg Fire, burning west of Redding in Shasta County, has killed four people and destroyed 159 buildings as it tore through 56,018 acres since it ignited Sunday. But over the past two nights, firefighters have made significant progress surrounding the fire with containment lines. As of Friday morning, it was 46% contained. 8:46 a.m. August Complex Fire continues to grow: Already by far the largest fire in California history, the massive August Complex stretching across parts of five Northern California counties continued to grow overnight, surpassing 970,000 acres. The fire, started by lightning on Sept. 10 in Mendocino County, was 51% contained as of Friday morning. The conflagration is burning in timber land and steep, rugged terrain, and remains very active, according to Cal Fire officials. 8:39 a.m. Bay Area heat advisory until 8 p.m.: The Bay Area heat advisory remains until Friday at 8 p.m. Santa Rosa and other valley towns in the North Bay were expected to hit 101, while temperatures in the mid-80s were forecast for Oakland and San Francisco, and triple-digit mercury for inland areas including Gilroy, Livermore and Concord. But National Weather Service meteorologists predict cooler temperatures throughout the weekend and into next week. 8:14 a.m. Strong winds feed Glass Fire: Sustained winds and gusts of up to 45 mph were expected to buffet the Bay Areas highest elevations Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Winds were expected to be strongest between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m., which could complicate efforts to contain Glass Fire. Fuels are incredibly dry. Theres an active fire. Any increase in winds is not a good recipe, said Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun. 7:45 a.m. Glass Fire still barely contained: Despite lighter than expected winds overnight, the Glass Fire continued to grow, according to Cal Fire officials. The fire has now consumed 60,148 acres, growing by about 2,000 acres overnight, and is now 6% contained. A total of 220 houses have been leveled in Napa and Sonoma counties along with dozens of other structures. About 29,000 buildings are still threatened. 6:47 a.m. Zogg Fire containment rises to 46%: That is an increase from 39% containment Thursday night. The fire, which is in Shasta and Tehama counties, has burned 56,018 acres, Cal Fire said, up slightly from 55,803 on Thursday night. It has destroyed 159 structures and taken four lives. 6:09 a.m. Spare the Air alert in effect through Tuesday: Smoke and smog will continue to impact the Bay Area, prompting officials to extend a Spare the Air alert through Tuesday. 5:59 a.m. Heat continues, winds may pick up this afternoon: The National Weather Services Bay Area arm reports that very warm to hot and dry conditions will persist over the region through Friday, and that will bring critical fire weather conditions over the higher terrain, especially where ongoing fires continue. In addition, while winds have been relatively quiet, the weather service expects a pulse of stronger NW later this afternoon and this evening. 5:39 a.m. Air quality remains poor: Fine-particle measurements across the Bay Area ranged from unhealthy for sensitive groups to very unhealthy early Friday morning, with the worst reading in the very unhealthy category at 3 a.m. in Napa. Official air quality data lags real-time by a few hours. 5:19 a.m. Wind gusts on Mt. St. Helena remain low: Despite fears of risky fire weather, the winds on Mt. St. Helena which is in the Glass Fire area remained in the single digits overnight. Shortly after 5 a.m., wind speeds were 6 miles per hour, gusting to 8 miles per hour. 2:30 a.m. Firefighters battle grass fire in Solano County: Firefighters with Fairfield and Solano County fire departments were battling a grass fire near Business Center Drive and Suisun Parkway, a Fairfield emergency dispatcher told The Chronicle. The fire was reported just before 2 a.m. There was no threat to structures, and there were no reports of injuries. Dispatch said forward progress of the fire had stopped before 2:30 a.m. Friday. The cause of the fire was immediately unknown. 1:45 a.m. Crews respond to house fire near Calistoga: Firefighters were responding to a report of a two-story house fire at 1320 Tucker Road. The home was fully involved and residents had evacuated safely, according to scanner reports. 9:30 Massive August Complex fire grows: Already the largest fire in state history by far, the August Complex of blazes that stretch across portions of five northern counties consumed another 500 acres on Thursday, bringing the total to 956,084. Containment remains at 47%, according to a Cal Fire report Thursday evening. Relatively speaking it was a pretty good day it could have been a lot worse because of winds and parched landscapes, said Capt. A.J. Lester of Cal Fire. But 500 acres in itself is pretty big. Updates from Thursday, Oct. 1 8 p.m. Firefighters working to save home just off Highway 29 near Calistoga: Firefighters were working to save a home just off Highway 29, just north of Old Lawley Toll Road, as flames were creeping up behind the residence on Thursday night. The Chronicles Michael Williams captured the scene on video. 7:30 p.m.: Glass Fire nears 60,000 acres, just 5% contained: The Glass Fire grew to 58,880 acres as of Thursday evening, according to a Cal Fire update, an increase from Wednesday evening of 7,500 acres. It also has destroyed a total of 220 homes in Napa and Sonoma counties up from 143 on Wednesday and 28,835 are threatened. The fire situation on Thursday is especially perilous in Napa County, where several small communities remain under evacuation orders, but Sonoma County officials at a press conference Thursday evening said that the threats to Santa Rosa have receded. 7:35 p.m. Glass Fire burning near Angwin: Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean told The Chronicle that while the Glass Fire was actively burning around Angwin, there is nothing in town proper. McLean said that the Glass Fire is close, dont get me wrong, (but) it is not in town destroying structures. McLean said Angwin, Calistoga and the area near Highway 29 have proved challenging areas for firefighters on the ground. With the weather conditions, they are busting it, trying to make sure that theyre prepared and continue to be so, and get some lines in. Its been a hard one, getting around it, McLean said. 7 p.m. Zogg Fire now 39% contained: Firefighters had a very successful day in their efforts to rein in the Zogg Fire near Redding, according to Cal Fire. The blaze that began on Sept. 27 consumed 55,803 acres as of Thursday evening, what the agency describes as a minimal growth in size, and the 39% containment is up from the 26% reported earlier in the day. There continue to be numerous road closings, however; 153 structures have been destroyed, and another 1,548 are still threatened. 5 p.m. We all feel sucker-punched, says Napa supervisor: The Napa County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting Thursday afternoon to ratify a state of emergency and public health emergency that officials declared on Monday after the Glass Fire erupted. Supervisor Belia Ramos urged residents to stay strong: We all feel sucker-punched right now. Its not going to be easy, we know that, but were going to make our way out of these difficult times. 4:09 p.m. The strange saga of the Napa Valley Museum: On Sept. 24, the museum opened an online exhibition of wildfire photography by Tim Carl, a native of St. Helena and a current Calistoga resident. Four days later, the photographer and the museums executive director both evacuated their homes as the Glass Fire spread. One took shelter in the museum itself. Read the story here. 4:08 p.m. Firefighters battle edge of Glass Fire: About four miles north of Calistoga, fire crews overlooked flames in a steep ravine below a home. Hand crews had already cleared fire lines and a California National Guard helicopter repeatedly looped around dropping water on the fire. Winds were fairly calm in the remote hills. 3:35 p.m. Luck runs out for Napa vineyard area: Few areas of Napa Valley have evaded wildfire over the last few years, but Spring Mountain was lucky. Luck ran out, however, for this vineyard-dotted mountain above St. Helena in Napas western flanks, as the Glass Fire has swept across the region: Spring Mountain became Napas latest battleground. Read the latest here. 3:27 p.m. Napa County goofs on alert, creating confusion: An unknown number of Bay Area residents even in non-fire zones received erroneous emergency alerts Thursday warning of imminent fire danger. Residents of Solano, Marin and Napa counties, and perhaps others, received messages meant just for a small number of Napa County residents threatened by the Glass Fire. The blunder was traced to a glitch in the Napa County warning system. Read more here. 3:17 p.m. Highway 29 closed in Lake County: Caltrans has closed Highway 29 at Bradford Road about a mile north of the Napa/Lake county line because of the nearby Glass Fire. No specific time is projected to reopen it. Cal Fire officials have said the fire is not yet burning in Lake County but is threatening to enter the county near Highway 29. 3:05 p.m. Flex Alert in effect: With high temperatures across the state, electric grid officials are asking Californians to save power until 10 p.m. Thursday. Read more here. 2:40 p.m. Santa Rosa fire chief: Early evacuations, awareness led to no deaths: So far, no fatalities have been reported in the Glass Fire, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Anthony Gossner said Thursday. He credited the communitys awareness and evacuations that took place almost immediately after the fires started on Sunday. We are a battle-hardened community, he said. 2:30 p.m. Cal Fire director says fire lines are long enough to reach New York: Firefighters battling Californias hellish series of blazes have put down enough fire containment lines to stretch from San Diego to New York City, Cal Fire Director Thom Porter said Thursday. As of Thursday afternoon, 23 major fires were burning in the state and firefighters from several states, and from the National Guard, Canada, Mexico and Israel are fighting the fires. 2:07 p.m. Fight against Glass Fire includes Lake County: The fight against the Glass Fire now includes Lake County, Billy See, a Cal Fire assistant chief, said Thursday. Even though the fire is not burning inside the county, which has experienced several large fires in the past five years, it could still cross the county lines. Crews are working inside Lake County to prevent that from happening, he said at an afternoon press briefing. 2 p.m. In search of the Glass Fire ignition: On the Fifth & Mission podcast take a walk up steep North Fork Crystal Springs Road with reporter Matthias Gafni. He describes the scorched landscape near the Dancing Bear Ranch Vineyard, part of Cakebread Cellars, where Cal Fire has been focusing investigation on finding what started the Glass Fire. Click here to listen. 1:40 p.m. Firefighting teams now include 2,200 military: Some 2,200 military personnel are helping to fight Californias 23 active wildfires, California National Guard Adjutant General David Baldwin said Thursday afternoon. Seven helicopters, a surveillance plane and drone aircraft from the military are being used to map the fires and drop water and retardant, he said at a press conference in Santa Rosa. 1:50 p.m. Raindrops maybe could come: Californians suffering a hellish wildfire season just got a sliver of hope: Meteorologists say we could start to see measurable rain as soon as a week from now. Forecast models show about a 50% likelihood that the Bay Area will receive above normal precipitation from Oct. 8-14, according to the National Weather Service. Read the details here. 1:22 p.m. Californians told to conserve energy 3-10 p.m.: Californians are being urged to prevent rolling blackouts by conserving electricity as excessive heat and smoke strain the electric grid. The operator of the power grid covering most of the state, issued a call to save electricity for 3-10 p.m. Thursday. People should set air conditioners at 78 degrees or higher and turn off unnecessary appliances to reduce demand. Read the story here. 1:11 p.m. New evacuations in Napa County: Authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation order for Whitehall Lane to the Bella Oaks area near Rutherford in Napa County. It covers the area south of the end of South Whitehall Lane and north of the end of Bella Oaks Lane, west to the Sonoma County line and including addresses greater than the 500 block on Wall Road. An evacuation warning was issued for areas from Bella Lane to Oakville Grade. 12:51 p.m. Blaze threatens Angwin and Pope Valley: Cal Fire said Thursday that active fire was pushing Glass Fire flames toward the communities of Angwin and Pope Valley. We have a lot of resources in and around Angwin, said Battalion Chief Mark Bruntwin, but overall resources are short. 12:37 p.m. Newsom tours Glass Fire: Gov. Gavin Newsom, touring destruction left by the voracious Glass Fire raging across Napa and Sonoma counties, said Thursday on Twitter: Heartbreaking to see the devastation that this fire has caused. Immensely grateful for the firefighters and first responders that have tirelessly fought to keep this community safe. 12:25 p.m. Highway 29 in Napa has some fire: Cal Fire said Thursday the Highway 29 corridor through the Napa vineyard zone has had some flames and fire threat. Grape harvesting is allowed to continue as its a crucial time for the industry, said Chief Mark Brunton. We are going to be watching that closely. 12:20 p.m. Glass Fire at outskirts of Calistoga: Firefighters on Thursday worked to slow the Glass Fire at the outskirts of Calistoga as it threatened the town, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said Thursday. The blaze had not reached city limits, he said, and firefighters were doing active structure defense. Concern centered on winds coming from the northwest with potential to push into the Highway 29 corridor, he said. In the rural Palisades area near St. Helena, rough, steep terrain and combustible vegetation was making it difficult for firefighters to make headway and cut off its northward advancement toward Lake County. 11:51 a.m. Marin County says fire-danger alert not intended for county: Marin County officials on Thursday told residents not to worry if they received an extreme fire danger message, as it was not intended for them: Weve received word that @CountyofNapa sent out an extreme fire danger message via the Wireless Emergency Alert system. This was not intended for Marin County residents; there are NO evacuations in effect for #MarinCounty, the countys official Twitter page tweeted. 11:30 a.m. Cal Fire at small fire on Oakville Grade Road: Cal Fire have responded to a small fire on Oakville Grade Road west of Yountville, several miles south of where the Glass Fire is active, spokesman Dominik Schwab confirmed. He was unable to provide more details but a source at the scene told The Chronicle that the flames were extinguished, crews were mopping up and a Cal Fire investigator was trying to determine the cause. 10:45 a.m. Fires wreak havoc on internet, cell connectivity: The destructive Glass Fire has damaged vulnerable internet and cell phone infrastructure, the latest to highlight the urgent need for more resilient connections as Northern California fires increasintly topple utility poles, wreck optic cables and cut off power all while evacuation orders and other emergency communications depend on online communication. Read the story here. 10:08 a.m. Newsom to tour Glass Fire zone: Gov. Gavin Newsom was scheduled to tour the Glass Fire zone late Thursday morning as firefighters braced for threatening fire conditions with high dry winds and hot temperatures. The governors press office did not disclose the precise location, but said he would be onsite at 11:30 a.m. 10:05 a.m. LNU and SCU complex fires fully contained: The LNU and SCU complex fires, sparked by lightning on Aug. 16, have finally been fully contained. Cal Fire officials announced the elusive 100% containment figure Thursday morning. The fires, the LNU in the North Bay and the SCU in the East Bay and Central Valley, burned through more than 760,000 acres, killed five people and destroyed 1,700 structures. 9:14 a.m. Heat advisory stay inside: The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Thursday, predicting punishing temperatures, rising well above 100 in the fire zones and other inland areas. Bay Area temperatures were warmer than usual before dawn, with little if any fog along the coast, and were expected to climb to the low 90s in San Francisco and along the bay to around 100 in Napa and inland East Bay cities like Livermore and Brentwood. The Weather Service urged people to stay inside, stay hydrated and avoid extended periods of strenuous exercise. Read the story here. 9:03 a.m. How to help firefighters and victims: Numerous relief groups are providing aid to firefighters and residents suffering in the wake of record-smashing wildfires in Northern California. The Chronicle provides a list of options on how you can help. 8:22 a.m. Glass Fire 5% contained: The Glass Fire burning in Napa and Sonoma counties was 5% contained Thursday morning, Cal Fire said, a 3% improvement overnight. The fire, which has displaced tens of thousands and destroyed more than 100 homes, has grown to nearly 57,000 acres in size. 8:15 a.m. Extreme fire hazards in August Complex: Firefighters in the northern section of the record-breaking August Complex fires in Trinity and Humboldt County have reported zero visibility due to dense smoke, Cal Fire reported Thursday. The seven-county blaze has grown to 955,513 acres and was 47% contained as of Thursday morning. . Highly combustible vegetation, falling trees, downed powerlines and exploding fuel tanks are among the hazards, Cal Fire said. 8:05 a.m. Icky air Thursday: Air quality for much of the Bay Area was expected to worsen Thursday as smoke from the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties blows south, driven by winds that could gust up to 30 mph later in the day. A Spare the Air alert which has persisted for much of the week is in effect until at least Friday. Read the story with details about air quality throughout the area. 7:32 a.m. Battered Butte County struggles to house the displaced: Housing and homeless advocates say that the pandemic and wildfires have combined to overwhelm a hardscrabble county that was already struggling with a housing crisis, with hundreds of families living in cars, lean-tos and tents, and cramming into apartments. The North Complex fires have left hundreds of families homeless as the county still is recovering from the 2018 Camp Fire that flattened the town of Paradise. Read the story here. 7:14 a.m. Wildfires elevate housing needs: The CZU fires last month spurred evacuation of 1 in 5 Santa Cruz County residents, some 60,000 people, and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes. In a troubling warning for North Bay wildfire regions, the blaze affected some of the countys most affordable housing, adding pressure on an already costly market amid a statewide housing crisis. Read the details here. 6:54 a.m. Thursdays red flag warning expands: The National Weather Service expanded the territory included in its red flag warning, which takes effect Thursday afternoon, to include the East Bay hills and the Santa Cruz mountains. The initial warning, issued Wednesday, includes the North Bay mountains and the region around the Glass Fire. The warning will take effect 1 p.m. Thursday and last at least until 6 p.m. Friday as forecasts predict gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidity conditions that could fan the flames of the Glass Fire. 6:48 a.m. Evacuation warning lifted for Paradise: Reduced fire activity and improving weather conditions prompted the agencies responding to the North Complex fire to lift the evacuation warning hanging over the town of Paradise Wednesday afternoon. 6:34 a.m. Zogg Fire 26% contained: Firefighters reported substantial progress against the Zogg Fire in Shasta and Tehama counties, with containment growing from 9% to 26% overnight. The fire itself grew minimally by just 257 acres according to a Cal Fire report Thursday morning. The fire, which has killed four people and destroyed 147 structures, is now 55,303 acres in size. Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 30: 7:20 p.m. Glass Fire grows to 51,266 acres acres: The Glass Fire has burned 51,266 acres and was 2% contained as of Wednesday evening, Cal Fire said. The fire has destroyed 36 single-family residences in Sonoma County and 107 in Napa County, and is threatening another 26,290 structures, Cal Fire said. Officials said 2,108 firefighters are battling the blaze along with 37 water tenders, 22 helicopters and 81 dozers. 7:05 p.m. More evacuation orders, warnings in portions of Napa County for Glass Fire: The Glass Fire is prompting new evacuation orders and warnings for portions of Napa County, Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said on Twitter Wednesday evening. 6:50 p.m. States grid operator asks customers to cut energy use on Thursday afternoon, evening: The California Independent System Operator called for a Flex Alert for 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday in anticipation of triple-digit heat, according to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials. Conserving energy is a way to make sure that the supply of power stays ahead of demand,. PG&E officials said. With high temperatures in the forecast, the grid operator is predicting an increase in electricity demand, primarily from air conditioning use, PG&E officials said. Reduced capacity, along with fire activity and heat, has led to a potential shortage of energy supply tomorrow evening, CAISO says. 3:40 p.m. All of St. Helena now under either evacuation order or warning: St. Helena Police Chief Chris Hartley told The Chronicle that the north and western ends of the city limit specifically the parts of the city that are up against the hillside are under an evacuation order, which is probably only about a quarter of our city limits. Hartley said: The other three-quarters are under an evacuation warning. The majority of the city is under an evacuation warning only. 3:38 p.m. Fires bring internet outages: Wildfires can take out internet and cell-phone infrastructure, causing residents fleeing the flames more problems as they miss emergency alerts. Heres why Northern California networks arent more resilient to the regions increasingly threatening fires. 3:22 p.m. Nearly 4 million acres have burned in state this year: More than 8,100 wildfires have ripped across well over 3.9 million California acres this fire season, according to Cal Fire, pushing toward the 4-million-acre milestone. Thats twice the 2018 record of 1.98 million acres burned. With the blazes have come 29 deaths, and destruction of more than 7,200 structures as of Wednesday. 3:15 pm. Body found in Shasta County: Cal Fire said the body of the Zogg fires fourth victim was discovered amid the ashes in Shasta County. The fire, near Redding, has burned 50,000 acres remained out of control, with 146 structures lost. More than 1,500 homes and other buildings remained threatened, officials said Wednesday. 3:10 p.m. Glass fire a huge challenge: The Glass fire has made its main push into east Santa Rosa, where nothing has burned in 80 years, creating tinderbox conditions after a dry winter, as more than 2,000 crew members battle the blaze. It isnt taking much for fires to establish there, Cal Fire Chief Mark Brunton said Wednesday. Even without the wind, its still a huge challenge. Read the story here. 2:55 p.m. Camp Pendleton evacuations: Fire officials ordered residents to evacuate Camp Pendleton (San Diego County) on Wednesday after a brush fire started on the east side of the Marine Corps base. Base officials said on social media Wednesday that the De Luz housing area and surrounding buildings were being evacuated and suggested that evacuees go to Paige Field House. 2:12 p.m. Five arrested in evacuation zones: Five people were arrested for being inside Glass Fire evacuation zones without approval, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said Wednesday, but no looting was reported. Those people had no lawful business being there, but we suspect they were looking for crimes of opportunity, he said. Santa Rosa also had no reports of looters in the city. Sheriffs deputies and police officers are patrolling evacuated areas. 1:39 p.m. Zogg Fire claims 4th victim: The Zogg Fire tearing though nearly 52,000 acres of Shasta County has killed a fourth person, according to Cal Fire. The conditions surrounding the persons death were not immediately clear. 1:24 p.m. How did Glass Fire start?: Cal Fire officials believe the Glass Fire blaze started Sunday in the 200 block of North Fork Crystal Springs Road, off Silverado Trail, east of Larkmead Lane. The cause is not confirmed. The smaller Shady Fire, one of two that merged with the Glass Fire on Monday, is believed to have ignited from wind that blew sparks or embers from the Glass Fire, but that also is not confirmed, officials said. Read the story. 12:47 p.m. Glass Fire burning near Robert Louis Stevenson State Park: Cal Fire reported that the Glass Fire is now burning in the Palisades adjacent to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in Napa County. A tweet from Cal Fires Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit included a video of the fire ripping up a mountainside, its furious clouds billowing rapidly above the ridgline. 11:47 a.m. Glass Fire threatening 22,500 structures: The Glass Fire has destroyed 80 homes but 22,500 structures are still threatened, Cal Fire said Wednesday. At a briefing, officials voiced concern that a deadly combination of intense heat, very low humidity and stronger winds may test containment lines. The blaze remained 2% contained Wednesday morning. 11:35 a.m. Red Flag fire warning for Thursday: The National Weather Service announced a Red Flag fire-danger warning for the North Bay mountains and areas around the Glass Fire starting at 1 p.m. Thursday. While not expecting the same critical fire conditionsof earlier this week, forecasters expect critically dry and breezy conditions in the area. 11:25 a.m. Refusing to evacuate to save a building: As the Grass Fire bore down on Pope Valley and evacuations were ordered, a group of residents refused to leave, staying to protect the 1915 Pope Valley Garage which they said had never closed its doors. Read The Chronicles story on how they rationalized defying fire and law enforcement officials insistence that such actions are dangerous and put the lives of residents and firefighters at risk. 11:17 a.m. Thursday will bring Bay Area winds, heat: The Bay Area is about to get slammed again with dry, gusting winds and hot temperatures on Thursday, meteorologists said. Dry winds with gusts over 25 mph are expected in the North Bay mountains, creating conditions likely to spread the Glass Fire, and lasting into the weekend. Unusually high temperatures, reaching well past 100 in the North Bay and other inland areas, are expected on Thursday. Read the story here. 10:59 a.m. New Glass Fire evacuations: The Glass Fire is forcing new evacuations even as some people return to their homes. People living northwest of Calistoga were ordered to evacuate early Wednesday morning. While the fire is still largely uncontrolled, evacuees from the Skyhawk neighborhood in east Santa Rosa were allowed to return home Tuesday night and some evacuation orders were reduced to warnings. Read the latest details here. 10:47 a.m. Firefighters forced to use shelter: Two firefighters, trapped by wind-driven flames, were able to escape injury after they deployed their fire shelter, Cal Fire officials said Wednesday. The firefighters, in an undisclosed area of Napa County, deployed the tent-like structure at about 11:45 p.m. Sunday. They were uninjured, Cal Fire reported, but a number of fire transportation vehicles were damaged by the flames. 9:19 a.m. Bay Area firefighters in thick of fire fury: The Alameda County Fire Department tweeted that its crews and East Bay teams have been helping out with protection of structures and livestock in the Calistoga-St. Helena area, passing live fire enroute and faced with extreme weather and fire behavior. The department posted a dramatic video of the fury theyve seen. 8:53 a.m. How global warming and fires converged: The Chronicle has created insightful interactive maps showing how the climate crisis has spiraled out of control, with extreme drought, diminished tree cover, torrential rains that fed underbrush fuel, and hot weather conditions joining forces to inflame the record-setting wildfires of recent years. Check out the compelling map project here. 7:57 a.m. Glass Fire continues to spread: In hot, dry conditions, the Glass Fire burning through Sonoma and Napa counties grew by about 2,000 acres overnight. It has consumed 48,440 acres and was 2% contained as of Wednesday morning, Cal Fire reported. A total of 115 structures, including 80 homes and a number of winery buildings, have been destroyed and more than 22,000 are threatened. 7:35 a.m. Zogg Fire 7% contained but growing: Firefighters began to establish containment lines overnight Wednesday on the Zogg Fire, which is burning in grass, oak and chapparal west of Redding in Shasta and Tehama counties. The fire, which grew by about 2,000 acres to 51,955 acres, was 7% contained as of Wednesday morning, after 0% containment Tuesday night. The fire near the towns of Ono and Igo has destroyed 146 structures. 7:14 a.m. Diablo winds lurk, with prospect of worse fires:The fierce fires that have consumed Northern California over the past few weeks could grow exponentially worse as dry, seasonal gusts called Diablo winds kick up in October, weather experts say. Similar to the Santa Ana winds in Southern California, they typically arrive when the state is at its most vulnerable, The Chronicles Aidin Vaziri reports. 5:39 a.m. Video shows devastation along Sonoma-Napa border: The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office posted a video Tuesday night of the fire damage along St. Helena Road on the border of Napa and Sonoma counties. The footage showed downed utility poles and charred landscapes in an area that the sheriffs office said has been one of the most active fire zones in Sonoma County as the 46,600-acre Glass Fire rages on. 5:24 a.m. Air quality at unhealthy levels for much of Bay Area: A Spare the Air alert remained in effect Wednesday morning as air quality was rated unhealthy for much of the Bay Area, with high levels of pollutants detected in North and East Bay skies, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Areas south of the Glass Fire, from Petaluma, Vallejo and Concord all the way to Livermore are expected to see poor air quality throughout the week. Air-quality regulators said a Spare the Air Alert would run through at least Friday. 5:10 a.m. Fire conditions predicted in mountainous Napa, Sonoma counties: Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 30 mph at the highest elevations in the North Bay mountains this week, which could spark more fires in an area already under siege by the 46,600-acre Glass Fire, according to the National Weather Service. The prospect of strong winds coupled with low humidity has meteorologists worried. The agency issued a fire watch for much of northern Sonoma and Napa counties that begins Thursday at 1 p.m. and runs through Saturday evening, though wind gusts are expected to continue through the weekend. Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 29: 8:55 p.m. Weather Service issues fire weather watches for Glass, Dolan fires: The National Weather Services Bay Area office issued fire weather watches for the Glass and Dolan fires, saying that while upcoming weather wont be nearly as strong as this past weekend for the Glass Fire but still critical with hot temps, low humidity, dry fuels and breezy winds. The Weather Service has not yet called for a red flag warning, which is one step above a fire weather watch. 8:30 p.m. Weather Service doesnt expect red flag warning but heat will be intense: The National Weather Service said it had no plans to issue a red-flag warning but some intense heat is coming to the fire zone. Temperatures were expected to hover mainly in the low- to mid-90s on Wednesday before jumping up to over 100 degrees on Thursday, said David King, a meteorologist for the weather service. Officials in Sonoma County earlier said they believed a red-flag warning was possible in the fire zone in the coming days, with one Cal Fire chief putting the odds at 50-50, largely because of expected high temperatures and dangerously low humidity levels. 8:05 p.m. Newsom responds to Trumps debate comments on forest fires: California Gov. Gavin Newsom quote-retweeted CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL of a PolitiFact tweet fact-checking President Trumps comments about the cause of forest fires. During the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, Trump claimed without evidence that forest fires are caused by poor forest management. PolitiFact, an independent fact-checker part of Poynter Institute, tweeted, Donald Trump blames the forest fires on forest management. False. Californias stronger winds, higher temperatures and drier conditions driven by climate change are also making the fires worse. 7:15 p.m. Evacuation order issued for portions of Napa County for Glass Fire: Cal Fire said a previous evacuation warning has been upgraded to an evacuation order for all areas west of SR 29/128 (Foothill Boulevard) to the county line, between Diamond Mountain Road and Petrified Forest Road. 7:10 p.m. Glass Fire grows to 46,600 acres: The Glass Fire has burned 46,600 acres and was 2% contained as of Tuesday evening, Cal Fire said. Officials said 2,099 firefighters were battling the blaze along with 261 engines, 31 water tenders, 16 helicopters, and 71 dozers. 5:32 p.m. Hood Mountain park burns again: The Glass Fire has burned nearly all of Hood Mountain Regional Park east of Santa Rosa, according to Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin. The park also burned in the 2017 Nuns Fire. Gorin warned that the picturesque viewshed along Highway 12 outside Santa Rosa will take a very long time to recover. 5:20 p.m. More road closures in and near Calistoga: Officials with Napa County Office of Emergency Services announced more road closures related to the ongoing Glass Fire including: Highway 29 at Tubbs Lane in all directions; Highway 128 at Petrified Forest Road in all directions; Highway 29 at Deer Park Road in all directions. 5:13 p.m. Glass Fire still 0% contained, firefighters expect worse weather to come: The Glass Fire is 42,360 acres and 0% contained and has burned 113 buildings, officials said at a Sonoma County news conference. Among those buildings, 28 were homes in Sonoma County and 52 were homes in Napa County. Firefighters are racing to gain as much ground as possible as they expect another red-flag warning amid triple digit temperatures, fast wind and low humidity forecast Wednesday and Thursday. Theres a lot that can still burn, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner said. 4:24 p.m. Three days in, Glass Fire is already wreaking more havoc on Napas wine industry than fires did in 2017: Critic Esther Mobley has been surveying the damage in the region, and so far, at least 12 wineries have had structural damage. In 2017, that number was just six. That doesnt include other potential issues that will take time to reveal, such as smoke and water damage or longterm health issues for vines. 3:57 p.m. A St. Helena hospital evacuated twice in five weeks due to California wildfires: The fast-growing Glass Fire, which erupted Sunday near St. Helena, forced the citys only hospital to evacuate more than 50 patients by helicopter and ambulance. It was the second time in five weeks Adventist Health St. Helena had to close and relocate all patients and staff due to encroaching flames. Read the whole story here. 3:30 p.m. Meadowood owners say theyll rebuild: Just hours after learning their famed Restaurant at Meadowood had been completely gutted when the Glass Fire tore through the property, the owners of the St. Helena resort are committed to rebuilding, according to a statement from managing director David Pearson. Read the story here. 3:01 p.m. More than 80,000 evacuated in Napa, Sonoma counties: Officials have ordered more than 80,000 people to leave their homes due to danger from the fast-spreading Glass Fire. That includes 35,556 in Santa Rosa, 33,870 in unincorporated Sonoma County and 10,917 in Napa County, according to emergency officials. 2:02 p.m. Gusty winds, hot weather could return: Gusting winds and hotter-than-usual temperatures could return to the Bay Area Wednesday night through Friday, the National Weather Service said Tuesday, but should be less severe than weather last weekend that sparked the Glass Fires three origin blazes. Gusty winds will likely be limited to North Bay mountains and East Bay hills. Temperatures could reach into the mid- to upper 80s in downtown San Francisco on Thursday and Friday. 1:40 p.m. Sonoma County sheriff acknowledges fire fatigue: Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick urged residents in a Tuesday media advisory to heed evacuation orders despite fire fatigue. We are nearing the three-year mark of the Tubbs Fire and this is the fourth major fire in our county since 2017, he said, urging residents to stay vigilant and be ready to evacuate if ordered. This fire is still unpredictable. You should be packed up and ready to go. 12:36 p.m. At least two more wineries on Spring Mountain damaged: Spring Mountain Vineyard, known in part as a location in the 80s drama Falcon Crest, has serious damage to its vineyards. Sherwin Family Vineyards, started by Steve and Linda Sherwin in 1996, also burned. 12:30 p.m. Internet restored temporarily to Calistoga: A Comcast official confirmed that the company in cooperation with public safety worked overnight to temporarily restore internet access to the Calistoga area Tuesday morning. Residents, however, were ordered to evacuate. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California 12:23 p.m. Missing people in Glass Fire found: Cal Fire officials said Tuesday their No. 1 priority was to keep the 42,560-acre Glass Fire away from highly populated areas around Santa Rosa and Pope Valley. Several people who had been missing were found by Tuesday morning, Santa Rosa Police Chief Rainer Navarro said at a press conference. No firefighter injuries were reported in the fire. 11:39 a.m. 140-year-old Burgess Cellars winery destroyed: The Burgess Cellars CEO Carlton McCoy confirmed Tuesday that wildfire has demolished the original Burgess Cellars winery and a barrel warehouse. The tasting room and house remain intact. 11:30 a.m. Glass Fire unpredictable and fast-moving: Cal Fire officials said Tuesday they have split the 42,000-acre Glass Fire into two management zones. Eastern zone crews established control lines around Angwin in Napa County, and while Angwin escaped damage the flames left significant damage in Deer Park. The fire was active on the Highway 12 corridor and the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in the western zone Tuesday. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick urged residents to follow evacuation orders, calling the fire unpredictable and fast-moving. 11:19 a.m. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area partially closed: The south side of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is closed due to proximity to the Zogg Fire thats burning across Shasta County. The closure includes Brandy Creek Beach, campground and marina; and campgrounds and trails along Paige Bar Road and South Shore Drive. Water recreation is barred, while firefighting aircraft draw water from the lake. Cal Fire maps show wildfire in some of the same areas the 2018 Carr Fire torched in the 42,000-acre recreation area west of Redding. 11:08 a.m. New evacuation orders issued in Napa County: Cal Fire and Napa County sheriffs officials have extended a mandatory evacuation order to everyone in the Angwin area as well as people south of Chiles-Pope Valley Road, east of Ink Grade Road and west of Pope Valley Cross Road. The order cites an immediate threat to life and says the area is closed to public access. 10:57 a.m. Rombauer Vineyards is safe despite rumors: Calistogas Rombauer Vineyards winery was in close proximity to wineries like Chateau Boswell, which experienced significant damage from the Glass Fire prompting questions and rumors around its demise. But Rombauers structures are safe, and its Chardonnay was picked well before the fires start this harvest season, the company said. 10:50 a.m. Massive August Complex surges dramatically: The August Complex fires grew by more than 60,000 acres in the past 24 hours as the record-breaking blaze spread to 938,044 acres, a Cal Fire spokesman said Tuesday morning. The surge was driven by powerful wind gusts that drove the flames further into the northern and western fire zones, near Ruth Lake in Trinity County and Covelo in Mendocino County, the spokesman said. Crews established solid containment lines on southern portion of the complex, but worked to contain the growth on the northern portion Tuesday. The fire remained 43% contained. 10:35 a.m. Napa restaurant owners reeling in Glass Fire devastation: The Glass Fire has broughts scenes all too familiar to the restaurant industry in Wine Country like the mid-meal evacuation of a dinner party hosted by owners fine-dining restaurant Single Thread at a Forestville winery. Restaurants are canceling reservations due to smoke and ash, and some are losing hope that 2020 will bring with it an eventual return to normalcy. Read the story here. 10:15 a.m. Metallica gives $250,000 to wildfire relief: Metallica announced it has donated $250,000 to five wildfire relief funds through its All Within My Hands foundation. It is the fourth consecutive year the multiplatinum-selling Bay Area rock group has donated to wildfire funds of the California Community Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, North Valley Community Foundation and Community Foundation of North Central Washington. 9:56 a.m. Glass Fire tripled in size in one day: Pushed by high winds on Monday, the Glass Fire had destroyed 113 structures by Tuesday morning, including homes and all or parts of several iconic wineries as it raced across Wine Country, Cal Fire reported. The blaze grew to more than 42,000 acres by Tuesday morning. 9:49 a.m. Calistoga quiets down: Calistoga was quiet Tuesday morning with a small but active fire burning along Highway 128 and the Silverado Trail, which flanks the small town known for mud baths and wineries. Fire crews were stationed along Highway 128, and on Silverado Trail where small fire patches were visible burning down the ridge, stopping at the edges of vineyards. 9:45 a.m. Fire burns outside Redding: Deadly wildfires raging uncontrolled Tuesday morning burned outside of Redding as well as in Wine Country, with flames also forcing evacuations in Paradise areas that have grown uncomfor GEA (dpa-AFX) - German Technology company GEA Group AG (GEAGF.PK, GEAGY.PK) said that it will discontinue production at the Bodenheim site near Mainz, Germany by the end of 2024. Meanwhile, the company said that the plant in Koszalin, Poland, will be expanded into a Center of Competence for pump production and comprehensive machining. It will invest around 30 million euros in the expansion. The company is planning to invest and a further consolidate production at other locations, too. As part of the new production strategy, about 150,000 production hours are to be transferred from Germany to GEA's Polish site in Koszalin between 2022 and 2024. In this context, the Koszalin site will be significantly expanded. Around 90,000 production hours, which are currently performed by external providers, will gradually be implemented in Koszalin from 2021. The relocation of production hours to Poland is expected to lead to a reduction of around 160 jobs in Germany by the end of 2024. Around 60 of these are planned to be reduced through natural fluctuation and partial retirement solutions. As part of the site consolidation, the company plans to close down pump production at the Bodenheim site near Mainz with its around 90 production employees by the end of 2024. The remaining functions located there, such as R&D, are not affected. GEA aims to reduce its workforce without any compulsory redundancies. In addition to Koszalin, the new production strategy defines eight further Centers of Competence. Of GEA's 26 German sites, four - Berlin, Bonen, Buchen, and Oelde - will also be extended to Centers of Competence, along with the Italian factories in Parma, Colognola and Manfredonia as well as the plant in Tianjin, China. Investments for expanding these sites as part of the production strategy are planned, too. GEA plans to add additional Centers of Competence in the future. All investments will take place within the scope of the existing financial planning framework and will neither impact the outlook for 2020 nor GEA's medium-term targets. Meanwhile, GEA has already relocated around 40,000 production hours from Chateau-Thierry in France to Tianjin in China. The transfer of a further 120,000 production hours within China by consolidating the Shanghai plant with Suzhou will be completed by the end of this year. The current productivity initiative and associated investments in digitalization and automation are expected to increase productivity and reduce overall costs. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de By PTI AGRA: A privately-operated bus with 34 passengers on board was hijacked by recovery agents of a finance company in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Wednesday morning, officials said. The incident took place in the Malpura police station area when the bus was en route to Panna in Madhya Pradesh from Gurgaon in Haryana, according to police. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. "Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance company had illegally seized the bus. The driver, staff and passengers are safe. The bus owner died yesterday (Tuesday) and his son is conducting the last rites," he said in a statement. However, the statement did not mention the whereabouts of the bus. Senior Superintendent of Police, Agra, Babloo Kumar said three people who got off the bus informed the police that representatives of the finance company had boarded the vehicle. "Preliminary information reveals the bus has been taken away by the people from a finance company which had financed the vehicle. A case has been registered and police teams formed to search for it," he said. He said it was a finance-related incident and the action of the men was "audacious". The registration number of the sleeper bus is UP75M 3516 (Etawah in UP) but it is owned by a private operator in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 34 passengers were on board the bus, according to the police. SSP Kumar said the episode started around 10:30 PM on Tuesday when the bus was near Raibha toll plaza at Dakshin bypass and eight-nine young men in two SUVs intercepted it. These men claimed they were from the finance company and asked the bus driver to get down but he ignored them and continued the ride, he said. "The men in SUVs then chased the bus and overtook it at Malpura area. They got into the bus and forcibly brought down the driver and the conductor. They also told the passengers to not scream and assured them that no harm will be done to them," he added. Later, four of these men boarded the bus and sped away on the Delhi-Kanpur highway, Kumar said. He said the driver and the conductor of the bus were taken in one of the SUVs and dropped off in Kuberpur area on the highway around 4 am after which they approached the local police for help. Police personnel, including the district police chief, then reached the spot and a search operation was launched to track the bus, he said. In the wake of the incident, opposition parties targeted the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government over the law and order situation in the state. "The so-called finance company hijacking the bus in a filmy manner suggests lawlessness in UP. The incident has laid bare the hollow claims of law and order in the state. Dear government, is this the 'Yogi model' of law and order?" Congress state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a tweet in Hindi. The Samajwadi Party asked the government to ensure safe return of all passengers. "The hijacking of a bus with 34 passengers in Agra is a very sad and frightening incident. The law and order situation in UP is so severe that even the biggest of crimes are being carried out anywhere. Prayers for the safety of all travellers," it said in a tweet in Hindi. Japanese shares eked out small gains on Wednesday, as some technology firms rallied after US tech giants drove the S&P 500 to a record peak overnight. The Nikkei share average rose 0.22 percent to 23,101.76, after two straight sessions of losses that pulled it down from a six-month peak of 23,338 hit last week. The broader Topix edged up 0.13 percent to 1,612.99. "Some technology shares that benefit from new types of demand after the coronavirus epidemic will continue to do well. But for the overall stock index to rise, investors need more positive factors to buy," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Softbank Group, which invests in tech firms around the world, rose 2.0 percent while Nintendo gained 1.2 percent to a 12-year high. IT equipment and service firms Fujitsu and NEC gained 2.5 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Start-up shares in the Mothers market rallied to a two-year high, with Modalis Therapeutics, which listed earlier this month, gaining 12.2 percent. Sony, meanwhile, dropped 2.4 percent following the news that Third Point LLC has sold off a large part of its investment in the company, although some investors think the long-term impact of the US activist fund's move would be negligible. Sony was also under pressure due to concerns over Washington's tightening restrictions on sales to China's Huawei Technologies. Other Huawei suppliers also dropped, with Taiyo Yuden losing 2.3 percent and Murata Manufacturing shedding 0.8 percent. The market showed little reaction to domestic data showing an unexpected drop in machinery orders as well as a fall in exports. Advertisement Visitors to one of the most dramatic waterfalls in Norway will soon be able to experience a brand new thrilling view of it, thanks to a staircase spanning the gorge it thunders through. Voringsfossen plunges 182 metres (nearly 600ft) from the Hardangervidda plateau to the Mabodalen valley. And up until now, visitors beheld its majesty from man-made viewpoints on the surrounding cliffs. On Friday, though, a spectacular new 'step bridge' right above the torrents will open, yielding an altogether more adrenalin-pumping perspective. Visitors to one of the most dramatic waterfalls in Norway will soon be able to experience a brand new thrilling view of it, thanks to a staircase spanning the gorge it thunders through The spectacular new 'step bridge' yields an altogether more adrenalin-pumping perspective of Voringsfossen The 154ft-long (47m) construction is something of an architectural marvel as newly released images and video show and likely to become an attraction in its own right. It has 99 steps and an acute angle, because the two sides of the gorge it connects have a height difference of 52ft. The architect behind it is Norwegian Carl-Viggo Holmebakk, who has long enjoyed exploring the connections between architecture, technology, infrastructure and nature. The 154ft-long (47m) construction is something of an architectural marvel and likely to become an attraction in its own right The bridge has 99 steps and an acute angle, because the two sides of the gorge it connects have a height difference of 52ft If you suspect you won't want to tear your eyes away from the waterfall if you visit, check into the Fossli Hotel, which overlooks it The architect behind the 'step bridge' is Norwegian Carl-Viggo Holmebakk, who has long enjoyed exploring the connections between architecture, technology, infrastructure and nature He said: 'Several conditions have influenced the shape of the bridge. 'The construction needs to be safe and solid, the bridge needs to connect with the old, historic road and the landscape, and of course emphasise the views and experiences.' Visit Norway said in a statement: 'The development of the tourist icon Voringsfossen has happened step by step over several years to make sure that visitors and the local tourism industry can enjoy the project as it is being finished. Carl-Viggo Holmebak said: 'Several conditions have influenced the shape of the bridge. The construction needs to be safe and solid, the bridge needs to connect with the old, historic road and the landscape, and of course emphasise the views and experiences' A fascinating view of the waterfall pre-step bridge. This perspective is the one afforded guests of the Fossli Hotel 'The first leg of the project was finished in 2018 and included viewpoints, paths, a parking lot and service facilities near the Fossli Hotel. 'By 2021, there will be new viewpoints and paths added.' If you suspect you won't want to tear your eyes away from the waterfall if you visit, check into the aforementioned Fossli Hotel, which overlooks it. From the hotel to the river below, it's a drop of 1,000ft. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.19 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Turan Drilling & Engineering Company LLC (A KCA Deutag and SOCAR AQS Company), today announces that it has been awarded a contract amendment to manage procurement, maintenance and warehousing activities on behalf of BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited (BP), Trend reports citing KCA Deutag. The agreement, effective 15 June 2020, means Turan Drilling & Engineering JV will manage the SAP maintenance system, wells procurement activity, inventory, storage and warehousing for the BP Global Wells Organisation in Azerbaijan. Turan Drilling & Engineering has employed an additional 71 people to support this activity, 69 of whom are Azerbaijani nationals. The amendment has a value of up to US $120 million and applies to the contract awarded by BP to Turan Drilling & Engineering in 2019 for the operations and maintenance of seven platform drilling rigs operated by BP in the Caspian Sea pursuant to Product Sharing Agreements. These are the East, West and Central Azeri, Deepwater Gunashli, West Chirag, Chirag and Shah Deniz installations. The initial term is for five years with two one-year extension options. Bob Petrie, General Director, Turan Drilling & Engineering said, We are delighted that BP has demonstrated its faith in Turan Drilling & Engineering, by broadening the service we provide in Azerbaijan to include procurement activities. This shows our ability to offer value at, and beyond the rig site, providing solutions for customers across their operations. Formed in July 2018, Turan Drilling & Engineering is a joint venture between KCA Deutag and SOCAR AQS. It is jointly owned by the two companies and combines KCA Deutags expertise as a world leading drilling and engineering contractor with SOCAR AQSs unrivalled knowledge, experience and infrastructure in the Caspian region. KCA Deutag is one of the worlds leading drilling and engineering contractors working onshore and offshore. The group consists of four business units: Land, Offshore, RDS and Bentec. KCA Deutag and its affiliates operate drilling rigs globally, employing people in Africa, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea, Canada and South East Asia. With over 40 years of platform drilling experience, KCA Deutag is one of the worlds largest platform services operators. Either directly or through its joint venture arrangements, the group is responsible for the management of drilling and maintenance operations on around 30 platforms and two Gusto CJ70 Jack Ups. The group currently employs approximately 816 people in Azerbaijan, 86% of whom are Azerbaijani nationals. Restricting the number of people who can meet inside is among fresh measures introduced by the Stormont Executive to stem the spread of coronavirus, Health Minister Robin Swann said (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) The number of people allowed to meet indoors in Northern Ireland could be reduced under fresh restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus. Health Minister Robin Swann said the Stormont Executive will discuss a range of potential restrictions when it meets on Thursday. He said these could include reducing the number of people who can meet together in a household, as well as indoor and outdoor gatherings, and sporting events. Expand Close Ballymena United fans in the stands at Windsor Park in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ballymena United fans in the stands at Windsor Park in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) Mr Swann said chief medical officer Michael McBride and chief scientific adviser Ian Young will make recommendations to ministers. Dr McBride said he will recommend a return to full lockdown if the region reaches the point of 80 cases per 100,000 head of population. The Executive may wish to consider, and we may wish to advise, that we intervene even before that because, obviously, if we intervene at an earlier stage then we can prevent the excesses of some of the measures that we had to introduce before, he told the BBC. But certainly if we are getting up to that sort of level then we need to act. My consideration on this, and Ians consideration will be, is it preferable to advise the Executive to act earlier to avoid us getting into that situation where we do so much damage again to peoples lives, to peoples livelihoods with the extreme measures that we had? The infection rate per head of population in Northern Ireland is the highest in the UK or Ireland 16 per 100,000 in the last seven days, or 24 per 100,000 in the last 14 days. There is considerable variation in areas, from less than three per 100,000 in the Fermanagh and Omagh council area to consistently more than 50 in the Mid and East Antrim council area. There have been almost 300 new cases confirmed in Northern Ireland over the past seven days. Expand Close Health Minister Robin Swann, chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young and chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Health Minister Robin Swann, chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young and chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) Mr Swann said it has not been possible to pinpoint a reason for the increases. At this minute in time we cannot put our finger on any specific either location or activity or industry as to a cause of the number of increases in positive tests that we have seen, he told the BBC. Theres no one trend across Northern Ireland causing these increases; if there was, it would be very easy for us to act. Because we are seeing that mixture, thats why were looking at the introduction of a more generic reduction on relaxations. Mr Swann also said he could not rule out a return to full lockdown later this year. I wont rule that out because the combination of flu and Covid-19 is something that will have a dramatic effect on us, he said. I hope we dont have to get there. If people act responsibly now, we can arrest this spread of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland so we dont have to get into the place where we need the full lockdown again. We could look at a series of incremental measures over a period of time that could be enforced, that can be relaxed as we see the spread of Covid-19 either increasing or reducing. I sincerely hope that we dont, that we never get to the position again that we were at the start of this year because we have put so much work into reducing the spread of Covid-19, that it is too valuable a prize to lose over the next couple of weeks. There's an opportunity for everybody to wise up, as the chief medical officer put it, and possibly to turn us back up away from this slippery slope Chief scientific adviser Ian Young Earlier, Professor Young said the current trajectory will result in increased hospitalisations and deaths if we allow the cases to keep going. I will not hesitate to make recommendations as to what I think should be done, but those recommendations are ones which need to go to the Executive at the appropriate time for them to make a decision, he said. Theres an opportunity for everybody to wise up, as the chief medical officer put it, and possibly to turn us back up away from this slippery slope. The Department of Healths daily figures on Wednesday included notification of another 34 positive cases in the region, bringing the total number of cases to 6,505. No further deaths with Covid-19 were reported leaving the tally in the region, according to the department, at 559. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended Tiger King Star's, Jeff Lowe, federal Animal Welfare Act exhibitor's license on Monday. The owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Thackerville, Oklahoma, became famous after the release of Netflix docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness." The suspension on Lowe's zoo license happened on the same day that he was supposed to be in Las Vegas Municipal Court for a 2017 citation of conducting business without a license. Lowe tried to start a business where Las Vegas tourists could visit a house he rented to take pictures with a tiger cub and a baby liger, a lion and tiger hybrid. Lowe was arrested at his house in November 2017 by Clark County animal control officers. He pleaded guilty in April 2018 and paid a fine of $10,000. He also surrendered his tiger, liger, and lemur to a private sanctuary in Pahrump, Nevada. Lowe still owes $2,500 to the city of Las Vegas for restitution. The court hearing was postponed, but several protesters with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) demonstrated at the Regional Justice Center. The protesters accused Lowe of animal abuse. The federal government immediately prohibits lowe from exhibiting any big cats or USDA-regulated species with his USDA license suspension. This applies to his Oklahoma animal park and anywhere else. Investigation on Lowe The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and the USDA both investigated Lowe's Wynnewood park in June. The investigation was caused by PETA's released photos and videos that allegedly showed young lions at his park suffering from medical neglect. USDA discovered during an announced June 22 inspection that the animals at the park are suffering from alleged veterinary neglect. Included in the USDA's report was a lethargic 16-week-old lion cub named Nala with discharge around her eyes. Two old wolves were also found to have sores on their bodies from being made to sleep on hard surfaces. Two thin grizzly bears whose bones are showed outlines through their fur, and a fisher cat with disabled left rear leg and thinning hair. The USDA demanded that Lowe immediately call veterinary treatment for the animals. Regardless of that, the agency still canceled his license. It is not yet clear what this will pose for the fate of the zoo or when Lowe will present himself in a Las Vegas court again. Katerina Davidovich, leader of the Las Vegas protest against Lowe, said that people are waking up to what these animals are going through. "We want people to know that these animals should be protected and respected, instead of used for a quick buck," Davidovich was quoted in a report. Oklahoma Park Possession The said Oklahoma park came to Lowe's possession after the park's previous owner, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic, accepted Lowe's financial help for his financial troubles. The park came into despair after Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist, sued Maldonado-Passage for copyright infringement. Maldonado-Passage was found guilty of eight violations of the Lacey Act in April 2019. It was a federal law prohibiting the illegal acquisition and transport of rare violations. The known Joe Exotic was also found guilty of nine violations of the Endangered Species Act for killing five tiger cubs. He was also guilty of hiring a hitman to kill Baskin. Maldonado-Passage has publicly appealed to Trump for a pardon. Check these out: Rich Guys With Lions Of Instagram: Lions, Porsches, and Mansions...Oh My! In Florida, It's Pay to Play - with Wolves Abused Elephant News: Study Finds Ivory Poaching Has Killed 35K Elephants in Africa Every Year Since 2010 The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), has commended the National Peace Council's (NPC) recommendations to the security agencies, the Electoral Commission (EC), political parties and other key stakeholders in the electoral process, after the 2020 registration exercise. A statement issued by Mrs Theodora Anti, Programmes Manager, FOSDA, which was copied to the Ghana News Agency, described the Peace Council's recommendations as a step in the right direction in promoting a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the impending Ghana 2020 elections. "We particularly support the call of the Peace Council to the Ghana Police Service, especially the Inspector General of Police to expedite actions regarding the investigation into all the criminal matters which came up during the registration exercise," it said. "All perpetrators of the said crime must be brought to book within the shortest possible time." According to the Foundation, the cases of violence reported during the registration exercise, leading to the death of two citizens was unacceptable. It said by all standards, Ghana had matured as a democratic state and such acts of intolerance and violence as displayed during the just-ended voter registration exercise did not only dent the image of the country, but also derailed the peace and political stability. It said the recorded violent cases during the registration exercise though, relatively minimal posed a threat to the December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, if the Ghana police did not move swiftly to bring finality to those cases. "A swift action is critical to deter others from repeating similar actions and also to prevent reprisal attacks. It is important that going into the 2020 elections, the police are seen as independent, acting fairly and promptly," the statement said. "We therefore, endorse the suggestion of the Peace council for the Ghana Police Service to establish a platform through which it can regularly inform and update citizens on security issues especially pertaining to the elections." It noted that such a platform would deter violence and criminal activities before, during and after the elections, and it would also promote transparency and trust in the Police. "We entreat the Ghana Police service not to write this suggestion aside but strongly consider it. "We also call on the Ghana Police Service to strictly enforce all relevant laws, especially the recently passed Vigilantism and Related Offences Act 2019 (ACT 999)."We are convinced that a strict enforcement of this law and other relevant laws will go a long way to minimise violence in the December 2020 elections." It said, the Foundation was urging the leaders of all the political parties especially, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to encourage their members and followers to conduct themselves peacefully and avoid hate speech. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In contrast, China's Huawei increased its market share by 1.2 percentage points to 18.7 percent despite a war against it being waged by the U.S. According to market researcher Strategy Analytics on Tuesday, Samsung held on to its lead with a global smartphone market share of 20.2 percent, but that was down 1.8 percentage point on-year. Samsung was the only major smartphone maker in the world to lose market share in the first half of this year. Apple's market share rose by a substantial 2.3 percentage points thanks to strong sales of its mid-priced iPhone SE series that hit stores earlier this year. The three smaller Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo also boosted their market share by between 0.4 to 1.1 percentage points. Samsung's shrinking sales volume was to blame for the decline. The Korean giant sold 24 percent fewer phones worldwide than in the first half of last year to total 12.5 million. Huawei's sales also declined, but by only 11.5 percent, Apple's by just one percent and Xiaomi's by 5.9 percent. Industry insiders believe Samsung's dominance in the global premium smartphone market is rapidly weakening. Sales of the premium Galaxy S20 that hit stores in February were poor due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company now hopes to bounce back with the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 2 and others. Mass production of foldable phones remains difficult, but Samsung claims it has gained an edge over its rivals with the innovative gadget. By Associated Press CAIRO: Sudan on Wednesday fired the spokesman for the foreign ministry, a day after he remarked that the African country was looking forward to making a peace deal with Israel. The development comes after last week's bombshell announcement of a deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations, which will make the UAE only the third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full ties with Israel. Sudan's acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din said he dismissed Ambassador Haidar Badawi from his post after Badawi said Tuesday that Sudan was "looking forward to concluding a peace agreement with Israel". "There is no reason to continue hostility between Sudan and Israel," Badawi was quoted as saying by Sky News Arabia. "We don't deny that there are communications" with Israel, he added, saying both countries would gain much from a deal. Badawi's remarks immediately drew a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "do all that's needed" to wrap up a deal. Qamar al-Din, the foreign minister, sought to distance himself from Badawi's comments, saying they were received "with astonishment". He insisted his ministry had not discussed the issue of ties with Israel. In February, Netanyahu met with met Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan's transitional government, during a secret trip to Uganda, where both leaders pledged to pursue normalization of ties. "President Burhan put Sudan on the right track with his meeting with the Israeli prime minister," Badawi said. Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Israeli news site Ynet in an interview that he believes the talks with Sudan will lead to a peace deal. "There is communication between the two states and I believe that it will develop into the advancement of an agreement between the countries. But we need to look, we need to wait. Is it right for Israel and Sudan? The answer is yes," he said. A Sudanese government official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that deliberations between Sudanese and Israeli officials have been going on for months, with help from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. "It's a matter of time. We are finalising everything. The Emirati move encouraged us and helped calm some voices within the government who were afraid of backlash from the Sudanese public," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. An Israeli deal with Sudan would mark another setback for the Palestinians, who have long counted on the Arab world to press Israel to make concessions to them as a condition for normalisation. That wall of Arab support had long served as one of the Palestinians' few points of leverage against Israel. Sudan, a majority Arab nation, hosted the landmark Arab conference after the 1967 Mideast war where eight Arab countries approved the "three no's": no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations. But in recent years those hostilities have softened. Sudan is now on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A military-civilian government rules the country, with elections deemed possible in late 2022. At the time of the Burhan-Netanyahu meeting, the Sudanese military said the talks with Israel were an effort to help end Sudan's status as an international pariah state. Sudan is desperate to lift sanctions linked to its listing by the US as a state sponsor of terror. That would be a key step toward ending its isolation and rebuilding its battered economy. The US and Israel are staunch allies. The designation dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan was also believed to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel was thought to have been behind airstrikes in Sudan that destroyed a convoy in 2009 and a weapons factory in 2012. Small pieces of plastic ingested by seabirds could release toxic chemicals in their stomachs and pose a threat to their long-term health, scientists have said. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, are based on an analysis of stomach oil of northern fulmars, a common seabird found around the coasts of the UK. Plastic pollution is seen as a growing threat to wildlife as birds, such as fulmars, can mistake it for food. Ingesting plastic has been known to cause blockages in the digestive system but scientists have wondered whether these human-made substances could also release harmful chemicals as well. Lead author Susanne Kuhn, a student at the Wageningen Marine Research in the Netherlands, said: Ive been working on northern fulmars for almost 10 years. As these seabirds ingest plastics regularly, and 93% of the fulmars from the North Sea have some plastic in their stomachs, it is important to understand the potential harm this could cause. A group of fulmars foraging in the North Sea (Susanne Kuhn/Wageningen Marine Research) Ms Kuhn, along with a team of researchers, replicated the conditions of the fulmar stomach in the laboratory. The researchers exposed stomach oil, a nutrient-rich liquid found in the fulmar stomach, to small pieces of plastic typically found in the beach which seabirds would be likely to ingest. The plastic samples were incubated in stomach oil for 90 days and chemical analysis was performed at different time points to see whether the pieces of plastic leached over time to release chemicals. The researchers found evidence of 15 chemicals, added by plastic manufacturers during the production process, in the stomach oil. These included plasticisers, antioxidants, UV stabilisers, flame retardants and preservatives. Some of these substances are known for endocrine disruptive, carcinogenic, and other negative effects on organisms, the researchers said. Stomach content of a northern fulmar from the Faroe Islands (Jan van Franeker/Wageningen Marine Research) They also found that some stomach oil samples from fulmar chicks already had some of the plastic-derived chemicals in it before the experiments began possibly due to the young being fed plastic by parents. Story continues While the long-term health implications for the birds remain unclear, the researchers say previous studies show leached chemicals from plastic can disrupt hormone release and reproduction. Ms Kuhn said: You may be familiar with distressing images of birds caught in plastic packaging or fishing line, but this study reveals that discarded plastic could also have long-term toxic effects on seabirds. I hope that these results will increase awareness of the various negative effects of plastic debris in the oceans. We urgently need to reduce the amount of plastic in the marine environment. CARBONDALE When H. Byron Earharts father enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, the youngster and his family moved into his grandparents old-fashioned home, which has inspired his latest work, At Grandmas House: The World War II Homefront in Havana, Illinois. Even though Earharts mother took charge of the family business, a frozen food locker, his grandmother, with her coal-fired range and potbelly stove, was the undisputed head of the family. While Earharts father served on the battleship USS Missouri, his grandparents and mother held the family and the business together, as told in At Grandmas House, published by Southern Illinois University Press. Earharts story is a tribute to everyday Americans who provided the social glue for a country at war as they balanced fear and anxiety for loved ones with the challenges and pleasures of daily life. The experiences of the Earhart family and this Midwestern community, supplemented by contemporary documents, family photos and professional illustrations, recount with vivid local color the drama that played out on the national and international stage. I cant say enough about how enjoyable and informative this book is, noted Mason County administrator William R. Blessman. As a lifelong resident of the Havana area, I can say that the history of the community is vividly brought to life in the everyday events of the real-life characters, he said. I learned so much about the impact that World War II had on the lives of the people who did not physically go to the war, particularly the children. This book will entertain and inform people of all ages, whether you remember World War II yourself, are doing a research project, or simply want to read a good story about a fascinating time in our nations history. Earhart attended Knox College in Galesburg, majoring in philosophy and religion, where a course about Native American cultures was a real eye-opener for the young scholar from a small town. Native American views of social harmony and oneness with nature inspired Earhart to study how other races, cultures and religions made sense of their lives, he has explained. Thus, he decided to get a doctorate in the study of world religions. Impatient to begin graduate school, he dropped out of college and dropped into a graduate program at the University of Chicago. This progressive school allowed him to enroll in a doctoral program without an undergraduate degree, by passing a rigorous entrance exam. That makes me an oddball college dropout without a bachelors degree, but with three graduate degrees from the University of Chicago, including a Ph.D., he said. On a Fulbright grant, Earhart went to Japan for three years of doctoral research. His first book was a college textbook, Japanese Religion, that appeared in 1969, and is still in print, in a fifth edition (with a new title, Religion in Japan). You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The U.S. Government's "Largest Ever Seizure Of Cryptocurrency In The Terrorism Context" WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / On August 13, 2020, the U.S. government announced that it had seized about $2 million in Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency from accounts that had sent or received funds for three foreign terrorist organizations: Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades. Also seized were over 300 cryptocurrency accounts, four websites, and four Facebook accounts associated with cryptocurrency schemes. The action involved the U.S. Department of Justice, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Departments of Treasury and Homeland Security, as well as the FBI. According to the Department of Justice announcement, this was "the government's largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency in the terrorism context" and involved "the solicitation of cryptocurrency donations from around the world." Seizure Follows Publication Of MEMRI CJL Report On Terrorist Use Of Cryptocurrency This government action against the terrorist groups followed the publication of research by the MEMRI Cyber Jihad Lab (CJL), which was established 15 years ago. It came a year after the publication, in August 2019, of the CJL's seminal report, The Coming Storm: Terrorists Using Cryptocurrency, documenting two years of research, led by MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky and the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) team, on jihadi use of cryptocurrency, including in fundraising campaigns for purchasing weapons and supporting jihad. MEMRI was the first organization to publish research on this subject and to conduct briefings on it at the highest level of the U.S. government and worldwide. Since the report's release, MEMRI has been briefing government agencies in the U.S. and abroad on its contents, including the Department of the Treasury, and has also continued to publish reports on the subject. The MEMRI CJL report includes a preface by Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Vincent R. Stewart, former Deputy Commander of the United States Cyber Command and current Special Advisor and Chairman of the MEMRI Board of Advisors. In his preface, he wrote: "This study is the first significant research of its kind to show the scope of cryptocurrency use by terrorist organizations and their supporters, for fundraising and for financing attacks, purchasing equipment, supporting fighters and their families, and more. MEMRI research shows that over the past five years, this has developed from encouragement on jihadi blogs to donate "millions of dollars" in bitcoin to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and many others to terrorist groups and their supporters soliciting donations in various cryptocurrencies on social media." (Read the report here.) U.S. Officials: The Government's Actions Deprive Terrorists Of Millions Of Dollars On the dismantling of the terrorist cryptocurrency financing John Demers, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's National Security Division, said: "Today's actions deprive Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS of millions of dollars they solicited to buy weapons and train terrorists. By raising cryptocurrency on social media, these terrorists tried to bring terrorist financing into the current age. But these actions show that law enforcement remains a step ahead of them." Attorney General William Barr said: "Our enemies use modern technology, social media platforms and cryptocurrency to facilitate their evil and violent agendas... We will prosecute their money laundering, terrorist financing and violent illegal activities wherever we find them." Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said: "Terrorist networks have adapted to technology, conducting complex financial transactions in the digital world, including through cryptocurrencies... Today's actions demonstrate our ongoing commitment to holding malign actors accountable for their crimes." 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. Cyber & Jihad Lab (CJL) - https://www.memri.org/cjlab 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/602473/MEMRI-Cyber-Jihad-Lab-CJL-Impact-MEMRIs-Ongoing-Work--And-Major-Report-On-Terrorist-Use-Of-Cryptocurrency--Preceded-US-Governments-Seizure-Of-Millions-In-Cryptocurrency-From-Al-Qaeda-ISIS-Hamas-Donation-Campaigns The Democratic Party will make history tonight when it formally nominates Kamala Harris to stand for vice president in the United States national election. Harris, whose parents were Jamaican and Indian immigrants to the US, will be the first ever woman of colour and the first woman of South Asian descent nominated on a major party ticket Republican or Democratic. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced last week he had selected the California senator to be his vice-presidential running mate in the upcoming campaign. Here are five things to watch for in tonights convention programme: Harriss nomination Harris will be formally nominated by her sister Maya Harris, her niece Meena Harris and stepdaughter Ella Emhoff. She is will likely use her moment in the spotlight to define her barrier-breaking candidacy as not just a victory for women, or people of colour but as a victory for all Americans as Democrats seek to cast a broad appeal to voters. She will speak about her affinity for Biden, friendship with his late son Beau, and make the case for Bidens character and qualifications to be president. At the same time, Harris will seek to demonstrate her own toughness and ability to step into the job from day one, an essential criterion for the vice president. A former prosecutor who has proven herself a tough interlocutor for Trump administration officials appearing before the Senate, Harris is also expected to devote a portion of her remarks to attacking President Donald Trumps record. In addition to Harris, Wednesdays convention programme features an ensemble of Democratic heavy hitters; former President Barack Obama, primary contender Senator Elizabeth Warren, and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Former President Barack Obama hugs then-Vice President Joe Biden after presenting him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington in 2017 [Yuri Gripas/Reuters] Obama. Him, not her. While his wife, Michelle, opened the convention Monday night by delivering a grave censure of Trump, Barack Obama will likely focus more on the Democratic nominee and a revival of the message of hope and change that ushered in his own term in office, according to The Associated Press news agency. Until recently, Obama has carefully observed a norm of American politics as a former president by staying out of current debates and he refrained from endorsing his former vice president during the crowded Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year. But Obamas gift for oratory was evident when he made waves with just a few remarks during his eulogy for the late civil rights activist and leader, Representative John Lewis. A ground-breaker in his own right as the first Black president, Obamas job on Wednesday night will be to fire up the convention audience for Harriss history-making remarks. Hillary Clinton, accompanied by former President Bill Clinton, right, pauses while speaking to staff and supporters at the New Yorker Hotel in New York, Wednesday, November 9, 2016, where she conceded her defeat to Republican Donald Trump after the hard-fought presidential election [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo] HRCs Return Hillary Rodham Clinton occupies a unique place in Democratic politics as the first woman to win the presidential nomination and even though she won the national popular vote in 2016, she lost to Trump where it counts, in the state-by-state tally of the USs Electoral College. Her return to the convention stage will serve as an inspiration to women, who only earned the right to vote in the US 100 years ago with the passage of the 19th Amendment, to keep fighting for their place in leadership roles. Millions of women have taken to the streets to protest against Trumps presidency and large numbers of women ran for office in 2018 helping Democrats take back control of the US House of Representatives. Six of 22 Democratic presidential candidates including Harris, were women, a record according to a study cited by the AP. Then-Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks during a primary election night rally in March [Patrick Semansky/AP Photo] Elizabeth Warren Warren, who ran against Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, has a speaking role in Wednesdays convention programme and is considered a likely candidate for a top cabinet post in a Biden administration. Famous for her detailed policy plans I have a plan for that she often said on the campaign trail Warren will address the USs economic inequalities that have only been worsened by enormous job losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden platform Democratic positions on key issues gun violence, climate change, immigration and the economy will be highlighted in Wednesdays convention programme. DeAndra Dycus, an Indiana mom whose quadriplegic teen son was paralysed by a stray bullet, will be featured, along with gun safety advocate former Representative Gabrielle Giffords who was wounded in the head by an attacker. Bidens plan to tackle climate change, which focuses on creating new jobs in clean energy, will be introduced by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Silvia Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant in North Carolina, will appear with her daughter Jessica, who is a Dreamer brought to the US as a child to talk about reforms to US immigration laws to help keep families together. It is not a loss, underlined Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday soon after the Supreme Court approved the ongoing CBI probe recommended by the Bihar government into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The Sena leader said that he does not intend to politicise the matter after the SC has given its order. Rejecting the charge that the top courts order was a major setback for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government, he said, It is not a loss; when there is a legal battle such things happen. Refusing to comment further, Raut did add that creating a question mark on the ability of Mumbai police to probe the Sushant Singh Rajput case was a conspiracy. Until we read the copy of the order we cannot react to it. Once the order is received, either the advocate general or the state DGP will talk about it. Raising questions on the ability of the Mumbai police was a conspiracy. According to me, the Mumbai police carried out the probe effectively. Now, that the SC has given its judgment in the matter, someone who is not in the government should not speak on it, said Raut. The apex court also asked the Mumbai police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order. Putting a quietus to the ongoing high-decibel political statements for and against the CBI probe, the top court held that Patna Police had not committed illegality in lodging an FIR against Chakraborty and six others on the complaint of Rajputs father, who has accused them of abetting the suicide of the 34-year-old actor. The verdict came on a plea filed by Chakraborty who had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Therefore, while according approval for the ongoing CBI investigation, if any other case is registered on the death of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the surrounding circumstances of his unnatural death, the CBI is directed to investigate the new case as well. It is ordered accordingly, the bench said, while invoking the plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution. Shaun McCaughey brought his case to the Court of Appeal (stock photo) A man jailed over a knife attack on a father and son in a farming dispute nearly 20 years ago has failed in a bid to have his convictions quashed. Shaun McCaughey, 46, was attempting to challenge a verdict that he wounded Brian and Barry McSorley in Co Fermanagh back in April 2001. The Court of Appeal heard at one stage he disputed forensic results on a knife and claimed the case involved pigs blood which was never tested. But senior judges rejected his application after ruling that all grounds advanced were "manifestly devoid of merit". Lord Justice McCloskey said: "Speculation, unsubstantiated assertion and demonstrable inaccuracies are its hallmarks." In 2003 McCaughey was sentenced to two years in custody following a jury trial at Belfast Crown Court. According to a report at the time the offences occurred at the height of the foot and mouth crisis. The trial heard the McSorleys had been moving cows to a field beside McCaughey's farm on the Bolies Road near Fivemiletown when they were attacked. McCaughey continued to dispute the prosecution case and commenced steps towards an appeal in 2009. He went on to claim his convictions were unsafe and, in 2014, submitted a document which also contended that the father and son's clothes had no punctures in them. Lord Justice McCloskey described other, undisclosed allegations as "purely fanciful, speculative and manifestly irrelevant". He confirmed, however, that the alleged offending related to "contentious issues about the use of adjoining agricultural lands in circumstances of previous conflict involving the same people". Dismissing McCaughey's application, the judge said the case had been dogged by inordinate delays of up to 11 years. He also concluded: "It is inconceivable that this appeal would succeed in the event of time being extended." There is an urgent need for additional investments in federal nutrition programs for our Lowcountry neighbors during this unprecedented pandemic. The Senates COVID-19 stimulus package, the HEALS Act, doesnt include a requested 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. SNAP is the nations best defense against hunger, proven to lift Americans, and especially children, out of food insecurity during economic downturns. In the Lowcountry Food Banks 10-county service area, an increased demand for food continues. Feeding America, the Lowcountry Food Banks umbrella organization, estimates that 4 in 10 people served by food banks are newcomers. We cannot do it alone. We need the federal governments help. We also urge lawmakers to support the Emergency Food Assistance Program and ensure food banks can continue to serve people in need by increasing funding by $500 million. In addition, food banks nationwide will need $543 million to cover rent/lease costs and purchase of assets like trucks, trailers and refrigerators. We urge elected officials to extend and improve Pandemic-EBT. With many school districts holding only virtual classes, this extension will ensure food-insecure children are properly fed when school buildings are closed. We greatly appreciate all of the support that our elected officials have provided to Lowcountry Food Bank, and we hope they will consider these requests to ensure South Carolina families can put food on the table. PAT WALKER President and CEO Lowcountry Food Bank Azalea Drive Charleston Earth Fare returns The Earth Fare store in West Ashley recently reopened under new ownership. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I was a loyal customer of the old store and a little apprehensive that it wouldnt be the same. Well, it wasnt, but in a good way. I noticed a big increase in the amount of organic produce, and another previously hard-to-find item was back on the shelf. The other pleasant surprise was that a number of former employees had returned to the store. Abby, the manager, and Zoe, the bookkeeper, are so friendly and passionate about their work. They both greeted me like an old friend. No one is more passionate about his work than Andrew, who works in the wellness section. He has been with Earth Fare for more than 20 years and, in many ways, is the soul of the store. When the grocery closed, many in the community said goodbye to him with tears in their eyes because they had come to depend on him to find just the right supplement for whatever ailed them. It was such a joy to see him working at the new store. Going back reminded me of why I like Earth Fare so much: It has the feel of an independent bookstore, full of people who love what they are doing because they are working in a place where the owners have their hearts in the right place. I encourage everyone to shop there. Earth Fare is reborn and better than ever. KEVIN McQUADE Harbor Cove Lane Charleston Adopt safety rules What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I wrote a letter to the editor in response to an article about bullet-resistant backpacks and how some companies were preying on parents fears of gun violence to sell these expensive items. Believe it or not, the days when school shootings were possibly the No. 1 safety concern for parents seem like a distant memory. Now we are faced with an even more challenging task: Getting our children into classes safely. Lets put things in perspective. Children, as others have expressed, must have face-to-face interaction with a teacher. Others have clearly pointed out how children are not only losing academic skills but social skills as well. Here are some steps our schools should consider: Provide students and staff with masks. Set up sanitizer stations, especially at entrances and exits. Rotate teachers between classes except for fine arts and lunch. Above all, ensure each school has a full-time nurse. We have all read and heard about various school districts plans and what models they want to adopt, whether virtual classes, in-person classes or a hybrid. It has been clearly stated why children need to be in in-person classes. Lets hope these safety guidelines are adopted so our children can have the best school year possible. BRIAN KIZER McAlhany Road Reevesville Para reforzar la atencion oportuna y contener la propagacion del #COVID19 en las regiones de Tacna, Cusco, Ayacucho e Ica, se enviaron 36 000 pruebas rapidas y 25 000 kits de medicamentos, en el marco del Operativo Tayta. https://t.co/p6yduQ78e1 Chinese Citizens Returning From Thailand Angry at Quarantine Policies On Aug. 5, a group of Chinese people, mostly young students, returned to China from Thailand and had to go through a 14-day quarantine in a hotel in Yunnan Province. However, local authorities demanded that they turn in their passports and other ID documents before the quarantine. In addition, the quarantine fee is outrageously high. The returnees tried to resist, but the police arrived at the hotel to threaten them. Police officer: For those of you who refuse to check into the hotel room within the next 30 minutes, we will follow legal procedures and subject you to detention or other types of punishment after the quarantine period. In addition, we will report you to your respective schools or work units, as well as your local police station. As you know, it will certainly have an impact on your future education and career opportunities. If you have any questions or demands, check in the hotel first, and resolve your issues afterwards. This is a mandatory quarantine that you must go through. I hope you have a clear understanding of your current situation. Older adults who took a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement with zinc and high amounts of vitamin C in a 12-week study experienced sickness for shorter periods and with less severe symptoms than counterparts in a control group receiving a placebo. The findings by Oregon State University researchers were published in the journal Nutrients. The research by scientists at OSU's Linus Pauling Institute involved 42 healthy people ages 55 to 75 and was designed to measure the supplement's effects on certain immune system indicators. It also looked at bloodstream levels of zinc and vitamins C and D while taking the supplement, as these micronutrients are important for proper immune function. The immune indicators, including white blood cells' ability to kill incoming pathogens, were unaltered in the group receiving the supplement. The multivitamin group showed improved vitamin C and zinc status in the blood. Most intriguingly, illness symptoms reported by this group were less severe and went away faster than those experienced by the placebo group. The same percentage of participants in each group reported symptoms, but days of sickness in the supplement group averaged fewer than three compared to more than six for the placebo group. The observed illness differences were striking. While the study was limited to self-reported illness data and we did not design the study to answer this question, the observed differences suggest that additional larger studies designed for these outcomes are warranted - and, frankly, overdue." Adrian Gombart, corresponding author, professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the OSU College of Science and a principal investigator at the Linus Pauling Institute As people get older, the risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that contribute to age-related immune system deficiencies rises. Across the United States, Canada and Europe, research suggests more than one-third of older adults are deficient in at least one micronutrient, often more than one. "That likely contributes to a decline in the immune system, most often characterized by increased levels of inflammation, reduced innate immune function and reduced T-cell function," Gombart said. "Since multiple nutrients support immune function, older adults often benefit from multivitamin and mineral supplements. These are readily available, inexpensive and generally regarded as safe." The multivitamin supplement used in the study focused on vitamins and minerals typically thought to help immunity. It contained 700 micrograms of vitamin A; 400 international units of vitamin D; 45 milligrams of vitamin E; 6.6 milligrams of vitamin B6; 400 micrograms of folate; 9.6 micrograms of vitamin B12; 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C; 5 milligrams of iron; 0.9 milligrams of copper; 10 milligrams of zinc; and 110 micrograms of selenium. "Supplementation was associated with significantly increased circulating levels of zinc and vitamin C, and with illness symptoms that were less severe and shorter lasting," Gombart said. "This supports findings that stretch back decades, even to the days of Linus Pauling's work with vitamin C. Our results suggest more and better designed research studies are needed to explore the positive role multivitamin and mineral supplementation might play in bolstering the immune system of older adults." NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wagmo, a modern pet insurance company built with new pet parents in mind, today announced it is expanding into New York and California to bring its innovative insurance and wellness plans to even more new pet parents nationwide. The company, whose plans are currently available in Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, is the only one in the market to unbundle Wellness from traditional pet insurance offerings to ensure pet owners can easily access the right care for their pet from day one, without ever having to compromise. Wagmo co-founders Christie Horvath and Ali Foxworth, with dog Aspen. "When my beloved dog Denver was having a seizure on the floor of the pet hospital, I was quickly confronted with how traumatic and challenging pet parenting can be," said Christie Horvath, CEO and co-founder of Wagmo. "I soon realized that if built correctly, pet insurance has the opportunity to be a product that can make a meaningful difference in pet parents' lives, even before something tragic happens. We are thrilled to be introducing Wagmo's groundbreaking pet insurance and wellness solutions to new pet parents throughout New York and California and to being right by their side during this very important journey." As a company built with new pet parents in mind, Wagmo is designed to be incredibly easy to use. To access, new pet owners simply visit Wagmo's site, peruse wellness and insurance plan options and choose the plan that fits their budget and pets needs. For new pet parents that might be confused as to what plan is right for them, Wagmo offers a recommendation engine to help hone in on coverage areas to consider. Wagmo Wellness offers pet owners three tiers of coverage that extend from routine to preventative care, including vet visits, vaccines, grooming, dental care and more. Wagmo Insurance provides pet parents with a single, comprehensive product that covers emergency care and unexpected expenses like surgeries, x-rays, lab tests, prescription medications and cancer treatments. Wagmo's insurance product is the only one in the market that is 100 percent reimbursable across all policies. "The Pet Insurance industry is ripe for an overhaul," said Dr. Lisa Lippman, one of the most followed and socially influential Veterinarians in the United States. "While there are a number of players in the space, coverage is often limited, premiums cost a lot and their policies just confuse the process. But with Wagmo, pet owners can easily afford to get their pets the routine and emergency care they need when they need it the most. I will continue to refer my customers to Wagmo as it's the forward looking solution they've been waiting for." Once pet owners determine the Wagmo Wellness plan and insurance offering that is right for them, they are empowered to visit any vet or groomer they want, and get their treatment. All they have to do is submit a picture of their Wellness invoice and Wagmo will reimburse them as soon as the next day from Venmo or PayPal. "When we met the founding team of Christie and Ali at Wagmo, we were instantly blown away by their vision of what the space could be," said Jarrid Tingle at Harlem Capital. "The team has harnessed their passion for insurance with a love for animals to create a simple and viable solution that pet owners around the country need. No other company in the space is better positioned to transform the pet insurance industry and we are proud to be partnering with Wagmo in this next important stage of growth." Wagmo's wellness plans begin at $20. Insurance plans start as low as $9 for cats and $13 for dogs and vary based on your pet's age, breed, and zip code. For more information about how to access Wagmo's Wellness and Insurance products, please visit www.wagmo.io About Wagmo Wagmo is a modern pet insurance company, built with new pet parents in mind. Wagmo's wellness and insurance plans empower pet owners to get the care they need for their pets, when they need it the most. From grooming to essential care, cancer treatments and emergencies, Wagmo alleviates the financial stress of routine and emergency pet care, without having to compromise. The company was founded in 2017 by Christie Horvath and Ali Foxworth and is headquartered in NY. To learn more about Wagmo, please visit: www.wagmo.io Media Contact: Rachel Rogers [email protected] SOURCE Wagmo Related Links http://www.wagmo.io Omio (formerly GoEuro), a Berlin, Germany-based multi-modal travel booking platform, secured US$ 100m in funding. Backers included Temasek, Kinnevik, Goldman Sachs Asset Management L.P., NEA and Kleiner Perkins. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate organic growth and opportunistic M&A activities while strengthening its product and service offering. Led by Naren Shaam, Founder and CEO, Omio provides a multi-modal travel booking platform featuring all transport options (including Rail, Bus, Flights, Ferries, Rental Cars, and Car Sharing) diversified across 37 countries in Europe and Northern America under the Omio brand, combined with global reach through the planning engine Rome2Rio, which offers search and discovery of transport to and from more than 10 million locations worldwide. The company also offers the Open Travel Index (OTI) to help travelers easily understand where they can travel to within Europe and Northern America. FinSMEs 19/08/2020 When Jonathan Zumkehr woke up Thursday morning with mild symptoms of COVID-19, he said he figured he should get tested for the virus. Later that day he found out he was COVID-19 positive, he said, making him the 20th staff member to test positive at the United States Penitentiary Thomson just outside of Chicago, Illinois. But Zumkehr, like his colleagues, did not get tested at work, or through the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Zumkehr said he had to find an independent testing site on his own. "Testing for staff isn't available at the prison but they test inmates for COVID-19 at the prison," Zumkehr, who also serves as the institution's union president, told ABC News. "Staff also can't get tested due to being forced to work double 16-hour shifts almost on a daily basis," he said. MORE: Bureau of Prisons spends nearly $3 million on UV sanitizing gates, contracts show Zumkehr says the overtime combined with the lack of testing for staff on site at the prison means that staff regularly don't get tested. Zumkehr contends that if the Bureau would mandate testing for staff or provide on-site testing, the number of positive cases would rise. Meanwhile, according to the Bureau of Prisons, only three inmates have tested positive for the virus and they list no staff as having contracted the virus. "We cannot require that staff members be tested for COVID-19. However, for those staff that are presenting with symptoms or have been identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 diagnosed individual, given the critical role our staff play with regard to public safety, we have developed a letter for staff who are in close contact of a COVID-19 positive individual to provide to the local Health Department, to ensure such persons receive priority COVID-19 testing," the Bureau said in a statement to ABC News. They also said that the facility is following Center for Disease Control guidelines, just like all other BOP facilities. Story continues The BOP has been under scrutiny for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, so much so that Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Fred Keller introduced a bill to require Senate confirmation for the BOP director. In a letter to the Warden dated Aug. 4 and obtained by ABC News, Council of Prison Locals President Shane Fausey wrote that Thomson is operating at 55% capacity -- and calls this development "alarming." MORE: 70% of inmates tested have COVID-19: Bureau of Prisons PHOTO: A jail is seen here in this undated stock photo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) In addition, the facility as a whole is operating at just 67% capacity with 193 vacancies at the facility. "Who is going to man the prison if everyone tests positive," Zumkehr asked. Union officials have long said that the BOP has a staffing crisis, but the COVID-19 pandemic has further strained the system, they say. Fausey said that the Warden at USP Thomson and others have done an "outstanding job" trying to hire the staff required. "The staffing crisis is not unique to USP Thomson, however, Thomson is one of the lowest staffed facilities in the agency," Fausey said in a statement to ABC News. "The Correctional Officers and employees of Thomson are extremely hardworking and dedicated men and women. Their efforts are nothing short of heroic and selfless during the current staffing shortfalls and limited resources at that facility. Their drive and focused motivation is to protect the surrounding community and each other. " "The staffing crisis at Thomson is more concerning for me because it is one of the highest security prisons in the world. Operating with inadequate staffing, relying on excessive and mandatory overtime, leads to fatigue and a potential for an increase in errors. Errors that in such a serious environment can have dire consequences," he continued. In his letter to the Warden, Fausey said multiple employees at the facility are suffering from "extremely low morale." "This is in no way the fault of the employees at Thomson. Immediate intervention to alleviate the staffing crisis is necessary to reduce the immediate dangers facing the employees," Fausey writes. The low staffing levels at USP Thomson have drawn the attention of members of Congress. "We write to support the efforts of the correctional staff at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Thomson to recruit qualified staff to work at the facility," Rep. Cheri Bustos, Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Tammy Duckworth, all Democrats from Illinois, wrote to the Director of the BOP. The members quote a letter written by Warden Chris Rivers to the staff in June underscoring just how overworked employees at the facility are. "You have handled more correctional services issues than most correctional staff across the Bureau deal with in a 20+ year career." The Bureau of Prisons told ABC News that they do not respond to Congressional letters in the media. "Out of respect and deference to Members, we do not share our Congressional correspondence with media," a BOP spokesman told ABC News. 'Who is going to man the prison if everyone tests positive?' Corrections officer union warns of dual threat facing federal prisons originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Russias seaborne crude oil exports are trending lower so far in August compared to July, but with Russia ramping up production with the easing of the OPEC+ cuts, this summers trend of low volumes of exports to Europe may not last long, IHS Markit said on Tuesday. Russia has already increased its crude oil production in early August to 9.8 million barrels per day (bpd), up from below 9.4 million bpd last month, Fotios Katsoulas, Liquid Bulk Principal Analyst, Maritime & Trade, at IHS Markit wrote. As OPEC+ is easing the record collective cuts of 9.7 million bpd to 7.7 million bpd as of August 1, Russia plans to raise its oil production by 400,000 bpd. Russian seaborne crude oil exports plunged by 42 percent year-on-year in July and declined by 14 percent compared to June, according to data by IHS Markit Commodities at Sea. In the first half of August, cargoes loaded from Russian ports are 10 percent lower compared to July and 34 percent lower compared to August 2019. Related: Norways Oil Fund Loses $21 Billion In First Half Of 2020 Other suppliers have been quickly filling the gaps so far, but the increase in Russian production since early August could bring this trend to an end, IHS Markits Katsoulas said. While Russian shipments to Europe were at record low levels in July, crude oil cargoes from the U.S. to European importers strengthened in July, following three months of very low activity. U.S. cargoes loaded for Europe in July exceeded 1.2 million bpd for the first time since March 2020, while shipments in the first half of August remained above 1 million bpd. Refineries in north Europe are importing most of the U.S. crude oil as they prefer U.S. grades to Russias flagship crude export grade Urals, Katsoulas noted. In Russias refined products exports, an interesting development in recent weeks is increased Russian flows to the United States, especially of fuel oil. According to IHS Markit, trade seems to be following seasonality, as August is typically a strong month for flows of refined products from Russia to the US. Nevertheless, Russia has generally exported more refined product volumes to the U.S. this year than in 2019, IHS Markits data showed. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: 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 New mathematical models reveal the links between the structure of cities and the dynamical nature of growth and inequality in human societies Newly published research in Science Advances by University of Chicago researcher Luis Bettencourt proposes a new perspective and models on several known paradoxes of cities. Namely, if cities are engines of economic growth, why do poverty and inequality persist? If cities thrive on faster activity and more diversity, why are so many things so hard to change? And if growth and innovation are so important, how can urban planners and economists get away with describing cities with Groundhog Day-style models of equilibrium? Developing improved collective actions and policies, and creating more equitable, prosperous and environmentally sustainable pathways requires transcending these apparent paradoxes. The paper finds it critical that societies embrace and utilize the natural tensions of cities revealed by urban science in order to advance more holistic solutions. "To understand how cities can be simultaneously fast and slow, rich and poor, innovative and unstable, requires reframing our fundamental understanding of what cities are and how they work," says Bettencourt. "There is plenty of room in cities to embody all this complexity, but to harness natural urban processes for good requires that we modify current thinking and action to include different scales and diverse kinds of people in interaction." This is the goal of a new paper entitled "Urban Growth and the Emergent Statistics of Cities," by Luis Bettencourt, the Inaugural Director of the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation and Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. In the paper, Bettencourt develops a new set of mathematical models to describe cities along a sliding scale of processes of change, starting with individuals and deriving emergent properties of cities and nations as urban systems. At the heart of these models is a balancing act: humans must struggle to balance their budgets over time, including incomes and costs in units of money or energy. For most people, incomes and costs vary over time in unpredictable ways that are out of their full control. In cities--where we are all part of complicated webs of interdependence for jobs, services and many forms of collective action--these challenges gain new dimensions that require both individual and collective action. Accounting for these dynamics allows us to see how meaningful change at the levels of cities and nations can emerge from the aggregate daily hustle of millions of people, but also how all this struggle can fail to add up to much. The paper shows that relative changes in the status of cities are exceedingly slow, tied to variations in their growth rates, which are now very small in high-income nations such as the U.S. This leads to the problem that the effects of innovation across cities are barely observable, taking place on the time scale of several decades--much slower than any mayoral term, which blunts the ability to judge positive from harmful policies. Of especial importance is the negative effect of uncertainty--which tends to befall people in poverty but also everyone during the current pandemic--on processes of innovation and growth. Another challenge are policies that optimize for aggregate growth (such as GDP), which the paper shows typically promotes increasing inequality and social instability. In the paper, these ideas are tested using a long time series for 382 U.S. metropolitan areas over nearly five decades. "Growth and change accumulate through the compounding of many small changes in how we lead our daily lives, allocate our time and effort, and interact with each other, especially in cities. Helping more people be creative and gain agency, in part by reducing crippling uncertainties, is predicted to make all the difference between a society that can face difficulties and thrive or one that becomes caught up in endless struggles and eventually decay," says Bettencourt. ### View the Science Advances paper here: https://advances.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat8812. For more information or to arrange an interview with the author, please contact: Grace Cheung Assistant Director of Communications, Mansueto Institute gcheung@uchicago.edu cell: 917-834-4803 About the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation The Mansueto Institute is a hub for urban science, dedicated to training the next generation of urban scholars. We study the fundamental processes that drive, shape, and sustain cities. Our researchers come from the social, natural, and computational sciences, along with the humanities. Together, we pursue interdisciplinary scholarship, develop new educational programs, and provide leadership and evidence to support global, sustainable urban development. Learn more at miurban.uchicago.edu. WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate Tuesday night, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining together in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped virtual convention to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump. For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment was the realization of a long-sought goal. But it played out in a way that the 77-year-old Biden couldnt have imagined just months ago as the coronavirus pandemic prompted profound change across the country and in his presidential campaign. Instead of a Milwaukee convention hall as initially planned, the roll call of convention delegates played out in a combination of live and recorded video feeds from American landmarks packed with meaning: Alabamas Edmund Pettus Bridge, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, a Puerto Rican community still recovering from a hurricane and Washingtons Black Lives Matter Plaza. Biden celebrated his new status as the Democratic nominee alongside his wife and grandchildren in a Delaware school library. His wife of more than 40 years, Jill Biden, later spoke of her husband in deeply personal terms, reintroducing the lifelong politician as a man of deep empathy, faith and resilience to American voters less than three months before votes are counted. There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going, she said. But Ive always understood why he did it. He does it for you. The conventions most highly anticipated moments will unfold on the next two nights. Kamala Harris will accept her nomination as Bidens running mate on Wednesday, the first Black woman to join a major party ticket. Former President Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor. Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home. Biden used the second night of the four-day convention to feature a mix of party elders, Republican as well as Democratic, to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, also made a brief appearance. Some of them delivered attacks against Trump that were unusually personal, all in an effort to establish Biden as the competent, moral counter to the president. Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world, Kerry said. And like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it. When this president goes oversees it isnt a goodwill mission. Its a blooper reel. Clinton said Trumps Oval Office is a place of chaos, not a command center. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man, Clinton said. For his part, Trump spent Tuesday courting battleground voters in an effort to distract from Bidens convention. Appearing in Arizona near the Mexican border during the day, the Republican president claimed a Biden presidency would trigger a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen. Such divisive rhetoric, which is not supported by Bidens positions, has become a hallmark of Trumps presidency, which has inflamed tensions at home and alienated allies around the world. Biden has the support of a sprawling political coalition, as demonstrated again during Tuesday's convention, although neither history nor enthusiasm is on his side. Just one incumbent president has been defeated since 1992. And Bidens supporters consistently report that theyre motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden. A collection of younger Democrats, including former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were given a few minutes to shine. But overall, there was little room on Tuesdays program for the younger stars of the partys far-left wing. In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve, said Abrams, 46, who emerged as a national player during her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018 and was among those considered to be Bidens running mate. For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans. Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in years past, endorsed the Democratic candidate. He joined the wife of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who stopped short of a formal endorsement but spoke in a video of the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared. While there have been individual members of the opposing party featured at presidential conventions before, a half dozen Republicans, including the former two-term governor of Ohio, have now spoken for Democrat Biden. The Democrats party elders played a prominent role throughout the night. Clinton, who turns 74 on Tuesday, hasnt held office in two decades. Kerry, 76, was the Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004 when the youngest voters this fall were still in diapers. And Carter is 95 years old. Bidens team did not give the nights coveted keynote address to a single fresh face, preferring instead to pack the slot with more than a dozen Democrats in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The younger leaders included Abrams, Rep. Conor Lamb., D-Pa., and the president of the Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez. It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum hes looking for. Preliminary estimates show that television viewership for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clintons onsite nominating party four years ago. An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers. Bidens campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night. We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching, Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo tweeted. ___ By Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price and Alexandra Jaffe. Julie Pace contributed. Amazon's massive distribution and sorting center adjacent to the Colorado Springs Airport is on schedule for a mid-2021 opening, with structural steel nearly complete and work starting on the roof, a company spokeswoman said this week. The Seattle-based online giant is building a 3.7 million-square-foot complex in the airport's Peak Innovation Park to ship customer orders for books, electronics, toys and other smaller items to the Colorado Springs area, across the rest of the state and to surrounding states. The center is adjacent to a delivery station Amazon opened last year to make deliveries to customers in the Springs area. Amazon sets another record for Colorado Springs distribution center Everything about Amazons planned distribution center at the Colorado Springs Airport shouts big, and the building permit issued for it last m Anne Laughlin, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the project is "on schedule" and the company plans to begin hiring more than 1,000 workers for the center about two months before it opens. The company hasn't posted any jobs at the center on its employment website (www.amazondelivers.jobs/) but will do so once it begins hiring. Potential employees can sign up on the site for text alerts that will be sent when jobs in the Colorado Springs area are posted. The five-story building will be the largest in Colorado Springs, and likely in Colorado; it is larger than the combined size of the Air Force Academy's Fairchild Hall and The Citadel and Chapel Hills malls. Amazon fulfillment centers are designed to make same-day deliveries to the surrounding area, while Whole Foods stores and small delivery stations handle one- and two-hour deliveries to Amazon Prime customers in the immediate area. Amazon buys Colorado Springs Airport site for massive distribution center, 1,000-plus jobs coming Securing its future in the city, Amazon has bought land at the Colorado Springs Airport where it will build a 4-million-square-foot distribution and sorting center, a commercial project that will be one of the citys biggest ever and one that could propel additional development at the airports business park. Amazon announced plans Tuesday to spend $1.4 billion expanding tech hubs in Denver and five other cities and hire another 100 in Denver and 3,400 employers in the other cities, mostly in New York, Dallas and Phoenix. More than 700 people work in Amazon's downtown Denver tech hub supporting Amazon's web services, Alexa, advertising, fashion, food and operations. The company employs 10,500 across the state and has spent more than $2.8 billion expanding its Colorado operations. The Colorado Springs project is part of Amazon's plan to expand its logistics facilities by 50% this year. The Amazon center is among several projects underway or recently completed in and around the airport: Colorado Springs museum adding hangar space to display aircraft, exhibits The National Museum of World War II Aviation will break ground next month on a hangar that will increase its display space by about 50 percent The National Museum of World War II Aviation opened a 40,000-square-foot expansion last month called the Kaija Raven Shook Aeronautical Pavilion that has allowed it to display more vintage aircraft. The $6 million project was financed with grants from the Slattery Family Foundation, headed by Jim Slattery, a vintage aviation buff who donated 16 vintage aircraft to the museum, and by El Pomar Foundation, the Gates Foundation and the Anschutz Foundation. A 40,000-square-foot addition to the pavilion is planned and fundraising is underway. The U.S. Forest Service opened a temporary regional firefighting base last week at the airport that will allow air tankers to load retardant to battle fires in five states and parts of 10 others. The $20 million base, which is now being used to load DC-10 and other large tankers with retardant to fight several fires on the Western Slope, will next year include offices, a storage building for retardant, an area where retardant will be mixed and seven stations to load the retardant onto waiting aircraft. Colorado Springs Airport to be home to regional firefighting base The Colorado Springs Airport and U.S. Forest Service will spend $17 million to build a regional firefighting base at the airport that will all A fourth hangar and for Sierra Nevada Corp. is under construction at the airport and the $7.5 million, 30,000-square-foot project is scheduled to open late next month or early October. The company's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance unit, based in Centennial, employs about 230 people at three other nearby hangars to modify structural, avionics, sensors and other components under several Department of Defense contracts to support the global war on terror. Sierra Nevada hangar at Colorado Springs Airport expected to be completed in February A 60,000-square-foot hangar under construction for Sierra Nevada Corp. at the Colorado Springs Airport is expected to be completed by February The COS Owners Association is finishing a 20,000-square-foot addition to its 136,000-square-foot hangar condominium complex that houses Trine Aerospace and several privately owned hangars. $100 million research center to be built at Colorado Springs Airport California-based defense and security research nonprofit Aerospace Corp. will announce plans Wednesday for a $100 million research and develop California-based defense and security research nonprofit Aerospace Corp. announced plans last month for a $100 million research and development facility at the Colorado Springs Airport that will employ 200 people. That complex is adjacent to a 78,000-square-foot building opened in 2007 that employs 240 engineers, scientists, analysts and cybersecurity specialists. Meanwhile, construction of two hotels, a 130-room Courtyard by Marriott and a similar-sized Residence Inn or equivalent Marriott brand that are planned near the airport's passenger terminal, has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Greg Phillips, aviation manager for the city of Colorado Springs, which owns the airport. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's hint of sanctions against those who refuse a COVID-19 vaccine without a specific health exemption has sparked concern the tough approach could backfire. University of Sydney behavioural scientist Julie Leask, an expert in vaccine hesitancy and refusal, said it was "premature and unhelpful" to talk about mandating a COVID-19 vaccine, warning that tough talk from the Prime Minister "can risk a backlash". Any measures taken must be "proportionate to the effectiveness of the vaccine", she said. Asked if sanctions could include people not being allowed to go to restaurants or use public transport, deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said "these are clearly policy decisions" that need to be discussed. He expected "the majority of Australians will get vaccinated". Tourists visit a duty-free store in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, Aug. 18, 2020. China's island province of Hainan has recorded 2.49 billion yuan (about 360 million U.S. dollars) in duty-free shopping by tourists in July. During the period, about 384,000 tourists visited the island, up 54.1 percent year on year. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng) 8 1 [ Editor: SRQ ] NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2020 / Liana Zavo is a self-made serial entrepreneur who has been a powerful advocate of women empowerment. People may know her as the former celebrity-stylist-turned-media-mogul, but leaving behind all the glitz and glamour, Zavo actually grew up in an environment as what she described to be an extreme minority. "As an immigrant from Russia and growing up in the states as a minority - from a political, racial, and religious standpoint, I was on the outskirts of the majority," she revealed. But she used her vulnerability and differences to propel her forward instead. "Being a minority woman in business made me stick out in a crowd, and I decided to own it, embrace it, and become fearless in entering any room with confidence in who I am, because I found my true power," she said. Behind the Scenes of ZavoMedia Now, as the founder and chief branding strategist at ZavoMedia, Zavo has finally found her superpower. The New York-based digital marketing and public relations agency was made for the ambitious, professional modern women. Zavo is the chairwoman of a secondary division of the communications company, What Makes A Woman, which is a successful and unique service-based media brand and publishing platform to help women around the world share their unique stories, showcase their expert advice and voice their well-informed opinions. This platform shows and inspires women around the world that even they can have it all. "I'm able to make genuine connections with anyone of any background easily because I understand the power of confidence and vulnerability in your own identity, and that is my power," she expressed. Like Zavo, many women have experienced being discriminated against and ostracized - maybe because of their ethnicity or racial background, or perhaps for choosing an entirely different career path in opposition to familial traditions, or through other unique circumstances. Growing up in a household where there were solely men entrepreneurs, Zavo had to change the narrative and break the stigma by becoming the first woman entrepreneur of her family. Shedding light on the gender disparities in the industry, Zavo uses vulnerability to champion the voice of women as they pursue change and inspire others in today's society. "My mission is to empower women and get them involved from all backgrounds and walks of life to grow, thrive ,and succeed in business," Zavo said. Building Up the Success of ZavoMedia This new arena for business is being built from recycled fragments of the glass ceiling. It welcomes women entrepreneurs where collaboration, consensus, and diversity prevail. In the midst of chaos, vulnerability can be scary for most women as they think that opening up to a highly critical society, especially for new female-owned businesses, maybe risky since they are still fragile and new to the industry. Their mindsets might dictate them to not step forward bravely and just play safe rather than having their reputations tarnished when they are out in the open. However, For Zavo, vulnerability and confidence were the key factors to her success. "My mission is to help 200 women entrepreneurs become millionaires within the next three years. The community of women in business needs a place where women feel safe and not judged or belittled by the knowledge gaps when it comes to marketing sales, automation systems, and how to leverage her intellectual property, or a rundown mindset about money. We have all been there," she shared. But Zavo's success did not happen overnight. "I never stay complacent in my line of work. It is through constant reinvention and pivoting that I started to see results," she said. What Makes A Woman platform is a place where smart, practical women go to rise up, get educated, make boss moves, and build their wealth. Zavo also known as 'The Media Mogul,' she started her women leadership academy by mentoring 1,500 women in business from orphanages, high schools and colleges over the last five years. Through her popular book club and podcasts, What Makes A Woman Show aka WMW, Zavo shares advice with other groundbreaking female entrepreneurs on her show on how to achieve multimillion-dollar businesses, wealth, love, health and happiness. With over 500,000 people tuning in from the U.S, Europe and Australia, What Makes A Woman Show gets around 80,000 downloads per month. WMW's unique membership model and wealth support system has attracted some of the top female thought leaders to the platform and is still reaching a global audience of women who turn to the site for business mentorship. "The problem today is that very few women are making six figures, let alone seven figures, which means very few women hold serious financial power. This leaves most women feeling broke financially and emotionally, trapped in poor marriages and other bad situations, buried in debt, unable to save properly for retirement, and limited in so many ways. I am determined to change all of this. As a strong advocate for women entrepreneurs, I strongly believe that millionaires are made and not born. To be rich in money, time, power, liberty, serenity and happiness, it takes self-awareness, grit and perseverance. We live in a world that runs on keeping women - especially women who are challenging the status-quo - from being the wealthy entrepreneurs that they are capable of. It's time for that narrative to end," said Zavo. Setting An Example Of True Leadership During Difficult Times The Russian-American entrepreneur, speaker, and internet personality succeeded in building a brand because she knew she had a story to share. Zavo knew how to authentically leverage her story and use her voice to elevate her message and further position herself as a thought leader in the medium space. She is setting an example of leadership and employer resilience, yet again through her excellent support and constant encouragement of her employees. During a time where businesses are closed, millions of people are unemployed and furloughed. Zavo, who hosts the celebrated popular business podcast, What Makes A Woman, is breaking the notion of indifferent employer outlook by paying her furloughed crew's wages out of her own pocket. "Furlough has been strictly implemented in various sectors of the business world, and we are maintaining every precaution and promoting these practices across my organization as a way to combat the pandemic," Zavo sympathized. Everyone in her crew has been supportive and involved since the very first day of the show, and all of their salaries will be taken care of until production is open for business. "I am hoping this has set a benchmark for employers around the world who have been compelled to release employees on pay leave because of the unprecedented crisis," she boldly stated. ZavoMedia also extended its pandemic relief program to help 200 women in New York City who lost their jobs during this unfortunate contagion. "As part of the comfort and relief program, we have also launched an initiative to recruit 200 new female freelancers with a knack for media and digital platforms, specifically those who have lost their jobs unexpectedly," Zavo explained. The criteria for the job doesn't require a college degree. "As my organization continues to grow, the engagement of employees with a background in hospitality will further enable my business and organization to provide quality service and customer convenience in the days to come," she said. "There are many guidelines and standards of service in the hospitality business. By imbibing a customer-centric mindset, and being able to manage work calmly and effortlessly even during tremendous pressure is what pushes a company towards achievement," says Zavo. Dealing with Ethnic Issues Being a female and a minority leader, she faced many struggles along the way, so she wanted to remain open about her experience and be able to relate and connect with other women who face similar struggles. In June, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many other Black lives, and also in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests happening all across the country, Zavo dedicated a whole month of her podcast What Makes A Woman to amplifying the experiences of many outstanding Black women entrepreneurs in a series called BlackWealthMatters. What Makes A Woman has always been committed to diversity, and Zavo wanted to take more time to learn further about the racial wealth gap, and how race and racism interfere with wealth building, specifically in the Black community. "I have learned to better understand what it means to be Black in America; to fight racism and try to achieve career and financial success at the same time through my groundbreaking guests on the show," said Zavo. It's a reminder that money and power don't provide protection against racism. On Redefining Women Zavo has spent numerous years and efforts in chasing her dreams and successfully became the media mogul she is today. It wouldn't have been possible without sheer gut, audacity, and pure intent to not only help herself, but also help the other women who needed empowerment, encouragement and guidance. "I strongly believe in encouragement, and support in building aspiring female entrepreneurs lives and obtaining the wealth and happiness that they deserve," says Zavo. Looking at Zavo's life through the years, may this serve as an inspiration to all women and that they should remember that no matter the ethnicity, racial background or social status, you can achieve the things that you want as long as you persevere, keep moving forward, and never back down. ZavoMedia Group Kate Peterson 707 278-6842 SOURCE: ZavoMedia View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/601818/Liana-Zavo-The-Media-Mogul-Is-Breaking-The-Glass-Ceiling-By-Redefining-Women-In-Business A 51-year-old Waste Collector, who sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court. Daniel Martey Commodore Okine charged with indecent assault, pleaded guilty, and asked the court presided by Mrs Christina Cann, to deal leniently with him and that it was the first time he had committed such an offence. According to Okine, his wife has passed on and he had no one to support him. The judge before passing sentence on Okine, said the court considered his plea, the fact that he was advanced in age and had also shown remorse over his conduct. However, the court stated that in order to preserve the sanctity of girls, it would still go ahead and hand down a stiffer punishment to serve as deterrent to others. Detective Sergeant Opoku Aniagyei said the complainant is a trader and mother of the victim and that the complainant lives at Chorkor, Accra, while accused resides in the same vicinity. Sgt Aniagyei said Okine spotted the victim who was on her way to buy toffees in the area. Prosecution said Okine took advantage of the situation and lured the victim to a spot close to a bath house, and inserted his finger into the victims vagina, and gave the victim GHC1.00. The prosecution said Okine told the victim not to inform any one. He said that, when the complainant was bathing the victim, she exhibited signs of pain in her vagina, and when the complainant ascertained what had gone wrong, the victim narrated her ordeal to her. Prosecution said the complainant reported the matter to the police at Mamprobi, in Accra, where she was given a police medical report form to seek medical examination for the victim. Prosecution said the victim spotted Okine in the area and he was arrested and escorted to the Mamprobi Police where he was detained. The prosecution said accused admitted the offence in his cautioned statement. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video file photo Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan should be quarantined in a government hostel for two weeks after returning from Turkey as per the Covid-19 regulations, feels Subramanian Swamy. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swamy tweeted from his verified account on Wednesday: "Under the COVID-19 Regulations, Aamir Khan has to be quarantined in a government hostel for two weeks upon return." His tweet comes in response to another tweet posted by an unverified Twitter account, which goes by the name of Hindu Nationalist. Earlier this week, Aamir Khan faced flak from netizens after his photos of meeting the First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan, went viral. The actor has flown to Turkey to shoot portions of his forthcoming film, "Laal Singh Chaddha". Taking a sarcastic jibe at Aamir, Swamy had tweeted on Monday: "So I have been proven right in classifying Aamir Khan as one of the 3 Khan Musketeers?" Aamir Khan has been criticised for meeting the First Lady of Turkey owing to the strained political relations the country currently has with India. AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rethink, the leading provider of commercial real estate dealmaking technology, today announced a partnership with New Story, a non-profit charity dedicated to pioneering solutions that end global homelessness. The partnership consists of two commitments: Rethink will donate 1% of proceeds from all new sales to New Story. Rethink employees will donate 1% of their work hours toward volunteering with the organization. "Everyone deserves a safe place to live, a place to call home," said Rethink CEO Vijay Mehra. "It's our hope that these contributions will, in some small way, help New Story achieve their goal of ending global homelessness." Vijay went on to explain that, for Rethink, commercial real estate has always represented economic opportunity, and the most basic opportunity starts with a safe place to live. As Rethink continues to help its clients shape their communities, New Story is helping to build new communities that empower families to thrive. "There are more than 1B people without access to adequate housing. This is a massive problem that requires bold and innovative partners to set up in generosity to impact families. We are thrilled for Rethink to join us in the pursuit of pioneering solutions to end global homelessness," said New Story CEO Brett Hagler. Since 2015, New Story has served more than 11,000 people, building 25 communities in four countries. Because they are funded directly by a group that covers operational expenses, every dollar they collect in donations goes toward ending homelessness. About Rethink CRM Rethink is powered by the idea that commercial real estate is the catalyst of opportunity and economic growth. Rethink's solutions combine leading commercial real estate technology with hands-on customer success and seamless integrations to industry-leading tools. This gives CRE professionals unparalleled insights and competitive advantages in their markets. The Rethink vision is to be the future of CRE dealmaking. Learn more at http://www.rethinkcrm.com About New Story New Story pioneers solutions to end global homelessness. The nonprofit organization currently works in Mexico, Haiti, and El Salvador and, in just five years, has built more than 2,700 homes for families in need. Their 100% model ensures that every penny of each donation goes to build homes while organization operating expenses and R&D is covered by private donors such as Y Combinator, prominent venture capitalists, and other leading executives. The homes are built to last for generations and each donation is paired directly with a family so donors can see their impact. Learn more at https://newstorycharity.org/ SOURCE Rethink Related Links https://www.rethinkcrm.com Investigators think Sedgwick shot Gooden in the early-morning hours of Aug. 12 in an apartment in the 4100 block of Southern Avenue in Capitol Heights, according to charging documents. Officials said they later obtained surveillance footage showing the suspect fleeing the area in Goodens car minutes after a witness reported hearing loud pops. Advertisement In all, 73.5% of the study's community-based population filled at least one prescription for an antidepressant, an opioid painkiller, epilepsy drug, anxiety medication or antipsychotic drug in a one-year period, according to Medicare prescription records.The percentages generally were even higher among women, non-Hispanic white patients, people in their late 60s and early 70s, and people with low incomes.The study is published in the journal JAMA and based on data from 737,839 people with dementia and is the first large-scale study of prescription-filling patterns for psychoactive medications outside of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.Nearly half of those in the study received an antidepressant, which might be prescribed to try to counteract the withdrawal and apathy often seen in dementia, says lead author Donovan Maust, M.D., M.S., a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. Unfortunately, antidepressants don't treat this aspect of dementia, he says.Even so, the study shows antidepressant prescribing at nearly triple the rate for older adults overall.Meanwhile, for each of the other drug types studied, nearly a quarter of the adults with dementia filled at least one prescription."As a nation, we have a goal of keeping dementia patients living in the community as much as possible. But the use of these medications appears to be as high for them as it is for those who are in nursing homes," says Maust, who specializes in helping patients with dementia-related behavioral issues at Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center. "Clinicians and caregivers may need more support to provide non-drug based approaches to prevent or address the symptoms that these medications are probably being prescribed for."None of the drug classes studied has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use in dementia, and Maust says that evidence for their off-label use is slim.But all of the drugs are associated with special risks to people in their 60s and older, including falls or dependence that could lead to withdrawal. Most are included on the list known as the Beers criteria, which identifies medications with extra risks for all older adults, not just those with dementia.While there is limited evidence that antidepressants help people with dementia, Maust notes that someone who had depression before they developed dementia might benefit from staying on a drug that worked for them in the past.And while there is little evidence of benefit, all these medications have side effects. For example, some people starting a new antidepressant can experience nausea or feel a little "jittery." Unfortunately, a person with dementia might have difficulty articulating such side effects to the loved one who takes care of them. Instead, they may appear more agitated - leading to another prescription medication to calm them.While the current study doesn't look at polypharmacy - the use of multiple psychoactive drugs by the same patient - Maust is exploring this issue further in the Medicare data.Maust notes that, of the 29% who received opioids, they most often filled just one or two short-term prescriptions, which may indicate the treatment of an injury or acute pain.But those receiving other drugs tended to fill multiple prescriptions in the year that Maust and his colleagues studied. This included epilepsy drugs that are sometimes prescribed as substitutes for antipsychotic drugs or to treat chronic pain.Taking these drugs for months on end is especially risky, says Maust. "A brain that has dementia is doing its best to function as well as it can," he explains. "If we add a psychotropic medication into the mix, it may not be a helpful thing - and it comes with risks."One bright spot in the data, Maust says, is that only one in five of the dementia patients studied had filled a prescription for an antipsychotic medication such as Abilify, Seroquel or Risperdal. Because of the safety risks associated with antipsychotics, they have received a lot of regulatory attention, and professional guidelines such as the "Choosing Wisely" for physicians urge caution.On the other hand, this class of drugs has more evidence than the others that it actually helps some patients with behavioral problems such as aggression. "So it is worrisome that all the other classes -- which have less evidence of benefit -- are all prescribed more widely," says Maust.In addition to helping caregivers and clinicians understand both the lack of evidence and the elevated risks that come with psychoactive medications, and to learn the non-drug caregiving strategies they can use to reduce behavioral issues in the person they're caring for, Maust notes they may just need better education about the disease itself.Accessing support services through local, state, and federal agencies, including Area Agency on Aging programs and nonprofits such as the Alzheimer's Association and AARP, could help caregivers, too, he says."Apathy and withdrawal, and a tendency to get agitated, are common symptoms of dementia," he says. "And as much as health care providers want to help these patients and their family caregivers, these medications are just not helpful enough to justify this amount of prescribing."Source: Eurekalert Deputy Minister for Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Mohammad Hossein Talebian on Tuesday heralded bright prospects for Iran's tourism revenues in light of the figure of eight million tourists visited Iran last year (ended on March 20, 2020), Trend reports citing IRNA. Mohammad Hassan Talebian told IRNA that the number of foreign tourists would have increased if there was not the international dilemma, coronavirus pandemic. Iran with its natural diversity and historical monuments has all the features to attract foreign tourists, he said. Meanwhile, Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Ali Asghar Mounesan said during a visit to Shahroud city, that COVID19 outbreak was a major factor that caused the decline of the tourism industry in the country. The minister also pointed to the remarkable ease of business in the tourism sector which unlike other industries demanded no big investments to flourish and when compared to other ministries, one could easily see creating jobs in the tourism sector needs remarkably lower funds. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was sworn in as the Governor of Goa on Wednesday evening at a simple ceremony hosted at the Raj Bhavan. Koshyari, who succeeds Satya Pal Malik, will hold additional charge as the Governor of Goa. Earlier today, Malik left Goa in a special flight from Goas Dabolim airport and is expected to take charge as the Governor of Meghalaya succeeding Tathagata Roy. The Governor was sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Dipankar Datta, who also flew down to Goa for the ceremony. Koshyari took oath in Konkani, Goas official language reading out from the text and despite some fumbling appeared fairly deft at the language. On his arrival, Koshyari was welcomed to the state by chief minister Pramod Sawant, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, chief secretary Parimal Rai. Malik it is believed was transferred out of Goa as his relationship with chief minister Pramod Sawant quickly soured due to his differences with the chief minister on at least three occasions. He also regularly hosted delegations of people and politicians who sought his intervention on various issues. The survey also demonstrates how certain roles have been affected by the changing workplace, as for example 10% of offices have eliminated the role of the receptionist, with many choosing to divert phone lines to mobiles instead or hire a virtual receptionist company. This trend was particularly marked in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector, where 38% of businesses have chosen to let go of this position. 15 % of men in Director and Senior Management roles have started using a telephone answering service compared to only 3% of women. The survey further showed that in the Clerical sector almost 7% of women have chosen to no longer have a receptionist and to either leave a message on their business line asking customers to contact their mobiles or to divert their phones lines. Small businesses with 50-99 employees have been forced to return to the workplace quicker (74%) than companies with staff in excess of 500 people (59%), yet 22% of all companies are planning a full return to the office in the fall and a further 12% planning to go back in 2021. In other findings, one third (34%) of those who are back in employment (52%) are still working from home. However, there are large variations across different industry sectors. For those working in Human Resources, more than two-thirds (67%) are still remote working, compared to: 56% in finance 52% in IT 43% of architects and engineers 27% in sales, media and marketing 21% in travel and transport 10% in retail and catering When it comes to remote working the survey further discovered that 58% of the U.S. employees surveyed were given no help by their employers when they were required to make the shift to remote working. In addition to not receiving support, close to a quarter of these workers (23%) were expected to buy their own equipment. In Georgia 61% of employees were left to fend for themselves at home with South Carolina close behind at 54%. The Moneypenny survey also looked into how schools are planning to return in the fall and whether this is likely to have an impact on workers. Of the 1040 survey respondents who have school age children: More than of schools (78%) are not opening as normal 36% of schools are planning a hybrid return, with some virtual and some in person lessons Over one quarter (29%) are only offering virtual lessons for the foreseeable future Interestingly, 12.5% of parents are now actively opting for virtual teaching for their children, which marks a significant increase for homeschool as the preferred education model. Traditionally, homeschooling accounted for the education of only 3.4% of school-age children. However, US workers seem very accepting of the situation: when asked about schools not returning in the fall in the usual way, 66% of parents understand this decision, of which 43% don't feel it will affect their work at all, while 23% are already set up to work from home. Interestingly 60% of women with manual labour jobs feel it will affect their work compared to only 40% of men in the same roles. Overall only 5% are unhappy as their company has asked them to return and they don't have childcare in place. Joanna Swash, CEO of Moneypenny comments: "It's clear that many companies are relying on their staff having a full home office to enable them to work from home. For employee satisfaction, I would like to see more companies auditing what support their staff need and providing them with the necessary resources. While employees are understandably nervous about the virus, it is positive to see that a significant number of the workforce are happy to work with their company in following the new health and safety rules. We are impressed by how innovative and agile our own clients have been in adapting to the new normal at work." www.moneypenny.com/us For further information, please contact: Mary Jane Greenhalgh / Leila Bibby [email protected] / [email protected] +44(0)333-2021005 Moneypenny is the world's leading provider of telephone answering, outsourced switchboard, Live Chat and customer contact solutions. Moneypenny works with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from small business owners right up to multinational corporations. Moneypenny has over 1000 staff based in the USA and UK. The company was founded by a brother and sister team in 2000 and currently handles over 20 million calls and live chats for 21,000 businesses. Moneypenny now includes award-winning VoiceNation and NinjaNumber. SOURCE Moneypenny Related Links http://www.moneypenny.com/us Oracle has announced its San Jose Cloud Region, marking the companys 25th Cloud Region worldwide. The opening is part of Oracles plan to add 11 Cloud Regions by July 2021, bringing its total to 36. Now, North American customers and partners on the west coast have regional access to all of the companys cloud services, including Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Autonomous Linux, as well as Oracle Cloud Applications. The San Jose site also houses the sixth multi-cloud interconnection between Oracle and Microsoft Azure. These interconnects enable customers to run their mission-critical workloads across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Azure seamlessly. Were doubling-down on our global expansion and rapidly scaling our public cloud around the world to meet growing customer demand, said Clay Magouyrk, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Enterprises need fully independent Cloud Regions in multiple sites and in-country, to meet data residency requirements and to safeguard disaster recovery measures. Oracle opened eight Cloud Regions in 2020 and currently operates 25 regions globally19 commercial and six government. Oracle plans to establish at least two regions in almost every country where it operates. The U.S., Canada, E.U., South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia already have two Cloud Regions. Upcoming Cloud Regions include second regions in the U.K., Brazil, U.A.E, and Saudi Arabia, additional E.U. regions in Italy, Sweden, and France; as well as new regions in Chile, Singapore, South Africa, and Israel. Currently available Oracle Cloud Regions include: Asia Pacific: Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Chuncheon, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Sydney, Melbourne Americas: San Jose, Phoenix, Ashburn, Toronto, Montreal, Sao Paolo Europe: Frankfurt, London, Zurich, Amsterdam Middle East: Jeddah Government: two general U.S. Government regions, three U.S. Department of Defense specific Government regions, one in the United Kingdom Oracle Cloud offers cloud services, including application development, business analytics, data management, integration, security, AI, and blockchain. For more information about Oracles Cloud Region strategy and locations, go to www.oracle.com/in/cloud/architecture-and-regions.html. There was a fisherman in Alaska, a veteran firefighter in Connecticut and the father of a student killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. There was a fourth-generation family farmer in Kansas, a recent college graduate in Montana, a registered nurse in New York and a tribal activist in South Dakota. And finally, after a roughly 30-minute virtual tour of America, there were Gov. John Carney and Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, standing at the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington. I have known Joe Biden for 40 years, Mr. Carper said. Theres nobody I trust more to lead our party, unite the country and restore our standing in the world. Facebook employees in the US and around the world are also raising questions about whether adequate procedures and content regulation practices were being followed by the India team, the report said Eleven Facebook employees, in an open letter to the company's leadership, have demanded that it should acknowledge and denounce anti-Muslim bigotry and ensure more policy consistency, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The letter comes five days after an article in the Wall Street Jounal, which alleged that a top Facebook India official turned a blind eye to hate speech by a BJP leader and three other Hindu nationalist individuals and groups to avoid damaging the social media platforms business prospects. It is hard not to feel frustrated and saddened by the incidents reported... We know were not alone in this. Employees across the company are expressing similar sentiment... The Muslim community at Facebook would like to hear from Facebook leadership on our asks, Reuters quoted the letter as saying. The agency also quoted sources as saying that Facebook employees in the United States and around the world are raising questions about whether adequate procedures and content regulation practices were being followed by the India team. The report drew strongly-worded reactions on Twitter, with some condemning the "free pass" for hate speech by right-wing leaders on the platform, and others questioning the silence of media outlets in India on the issue. @Facebook employees have some questions about #AnkhiDas and the free pass that rightwing bigoted hate speech gets on FB India.https://t.co/UuEfNPc0Af Cassandra ranjona banerji: prophet of doom (@ranjona) August 19, 2020 Another foreign publication follows up the Facebook India fiasco, meanwhile the press, think tanks, journalists in India are busy defending.Facebook and its employeeshttps://t.co/XyMaLFZvTh Cyril Sam (@cyrilsam) August 19, 2020 Some Facebook employees are showing more spine than most of the Indian media. But looks like the line from top management is, as usual, that they have done nothing wrong. https://t.co/jMkK4cu8MO visvak (@visvak) August 19, 2020 According to the Wall Street Journal report, the speeches made by BJP leader T Raja Singh and other Hindu nationalist leaders were flagged internally for promoting or participating in violence". However, Ankhi Das, the public policy director of Facebooks India, South and Central Asia division, opposed applying hate speech rules to them, the report said. In Facebook posts and public speeches, Singh allegedly said Rohingya Muslim immigrants should be shot, called Muslims traitors and threatened to raze mosques. The WSJ report has sparked off a political slugfest in India, with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor saying that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology "would certainly wish to hear" from Facebook about the allegations. Tharoor is the chairperson of the committee on Information Technology. In response, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, a member of the committee, claimed that Tharoor was using the committee's platform for politics. He also alleged that Tharoor decided to call Facebook officials to satisfy the ego of Rahul Gandhi who had alleged that BJP and RSS were controlling the social media platform. Both Tharoor and Dubey have sought breach of privilege proceedings against each other after the spat. On Tuesday, the Congress wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding a probe into the alleged "bias" and interference of the social media giant's India leadership team in the country's electoral democracy. In response, the BJP took a swipe at the Opposition party, saying any organisation that does not work to its liking is accused of acting under BJP-RSS pressure. Reacting to the controversy, Facebook had on Monday said the company's social media platform prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence, adding these policies are enforced globally without regard to political affiliation. "While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy," a Facebook spokesperson had said. With inputs from PTI Authorities in Mauritius have arrested the Indian captain of the Japanese ship that ran aground near Mauritius and spilled 1,000 tonnes of oil on the Indian Ocean island's protected coastline. Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, captain of the MV Wakashio and who is from India, was charged with endangering safe navigation and is in custody pending a bail hearing next week, police inspector Sivo Coothen said. AFP The ship's first officer was also charged and is being held, he said. We are carrying out a full investigation and interviewing all the crew members, Coothen said. afp The Wakasio ran aground a coral reef on July 25 and after being pounded by heavy waves for several days the vessel cracked and started leaking oil on August 6. Over 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled The damaged ship spilled more than 1,000 tonnes of its cargo of 4,000 tons of fuel into the turquoise waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, one of the island's most pristine coastal areas. Most of the remaining 3,000 tonnes of fuel was pumped off the ship before it split into two but environmental groups warned that the damage to the surrounding coral reefs could be irreversible. Owner Nagashiki Shipping is investigating why the ship went off course and it has sent experts to help clean up the damage. On Wednesday, Nagashiki issued a statement after the arrest of the captain on charges of endangering safe navigation. It did not provide further details on the situation in Mauritius beyond saying it would support the crew and their families. AFP "We sincerely apologise for causing a great deal of inconvenience to everyone involved, including everyone in Mauritius, due to this grounding accident and oil spill," the statement said. 'Crew celebrating birthday' Wakashio was meant to stay at least 16 kilometers from shore but it ran aground just a mile from the island. Local media had reported that the crew of Wakashio were celebrating a crew member's birthday on July 25 and veered off course in search of a wifi signal. The ship that broke into two after it ran aground is turning out to be an ecological disaster for Mauritius which is heavily dependent on tourism. REUTERS After the government declared an environmental emergency, thousands of volunteers rushed to the shore to create makeshift oil barriers from tunnels of fabric stuffed with sugar cane leaves and even human hair, with empty plastic bottles tucked in to keep them afloat. The Mauritius government has closed off the coastal area of the eastern part of the island, where thousands of civilian volunteers worked for days to try to minimize damage to the Mahebourg lagoon and protected marine wetlands polluted by the spilled fuel. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Khimji Jewels, one of Indias oldest and most trusted jewellery brand, launches its latest line of personal jewellery titled Collection ME. Crafted in pure gold and bejewelled with precious Swarovski stones, the collection boasts of a wide and thoughtfully put together repertoire of fine jewellery that sings to the free hearts of young women across India. Launched on all media from television, print and OOH to digital, social and www platforms, the collection is the newest in the long line of successful launches by the venerable and deeply loved House of Jewellery that people across all age groups in Odisha swear by. Commenting on the launch, Nishit Nanda, CEO - Consumer Business at Khimji Jewels, said, - The brand that we have inherited from our elders is a tremendous responsibility. People in Odisha not just love and trust Khimji Jewels, they include it in their lives when they weave their stories and create memories for a lifetime. For over eight decades, we have been honoured to be a part of every milestone in the lives of people from births and weddings to anniversaries, celebration of the new-born to commemoration of sacred festivals. As we step into a new era of transparency, transformation and trust my team and I are gearing up with renewed energy to be ready for the winds of change. With this collection, we celebrate freedom and youth. The new youth that is fearless and unshackled as well as deeply responsible and completely aware of the self. This also marks a major milestone for us as we are now ready to deliver to the entire country based on our cloud strategy focusing on customer experience and fulfillment. We are hoping that with this collection, it will be the beginning of a journey that will let us deliver to India what we have been delivering to Odisha for 84 years. Conceptualised and crafted by Digital Dogs, the campaign is positioned on the platform of the spirit of freedom. A lyrical musical of free-flowing verses that swing gently in the breezes of change. Commenting on the campaign, Ambarish Ray and Anjali Rawat, Founders of Digital Dogs Content and Media said,- We had promised ourselves from the day we set up our venture that everything we do will be authentic and impacting. There is no dearth of mediocre work out there and today we have more white noise than real stories. We are thankful for Khimji Jewels to place their faith and future in our beliefs. With this collection, we have created a lyrical panorama across platforms and brought it alive through technology and experience design. Collection ME is a tribute to the spirit of freedom and the eternal, indomitable force that is youth. Design synergy and emotional honesty are at the core of this integrated content programme and we intend to build further on this. Todays consumers are audiences first and buyers second and we intend to form a lifelong relationship with them based first on authentic storytelling and narrative impact before selling them anything. In fact, if people buy into you first, they will buy from you happily forever after. Digital Dogs has worked with teams across Los Angeles, Russia and India to create the core campaign and its various extensions. The launch is across television, print and outdoor, retail and ambient platforms as well as deeply integrated experiential encounters in the cloud across social, mobile-first platforms, digital and www forums. The collection can be seen on the website www.khimjijewels.com and is available across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, social search platforms and in showrooms. Nearly Half of Students Registered for August SAT Wont Be Able to Take the Test The College Board, the New York City-based company that administers the SAT college admissions test, announced Tuesday that 178,600 of 402,000 students who signed up to take the test on Aug. 29 will not be able to do so because nearly half of test centers have closed due to the ongoing pandemic. SAT and SAT subject tests are typically administered in local school buildings that are designated as test centers. The College Board said 46 percent of test centers have closed, while some of the remaining 54 percent have said they are only operating at a reduced capacity. We know this is a challenging time for students who want to take the SAT, Priscilla Rodriguez, the College Boards vice president of college readiness assessments, said in a statement. Our top priorities are the health and safety of students and educators, and we are working with test centers that need to close or need to reduce their available seats because of new safety measures. The College Board is requiring that test centers follow local public health guidelines as well as the College Boards own health-related policies. Students and staff at test centers must wear a mask or protective face covering throughout the three-hour test, and students must be seated at least six feet apart. Students will also have to verify that they dont have symptoms of COVID-19 and that they are not violating any travel or quarantine restrictions in order to enter the test center. We are notifying students as quickly as possible about test center closures and capacity reductions to reduce uncertainty before test day, the College Board statement reads. It also links to a test center closings page that helps students look for up-to-date information on the location where they were registered to take the test. Students whose test center wont open on the scheduled date will be offered a refund, the College Board said. The SAT test currently costs either $49.50 or $64.50 for a version that includes an essay. Each SAT subject test costs $22 with a $26 registration fee for each testing date. Most colleges and universities have dropped standardized test score requirements for the 2020-21 academic year due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak, which makes large-scale, in-person standardized tests infeasible. According to non-profit advocacy group National Center for Fair & Open Testing, 1,240 of the nations 2,330 bachelors degree-granting schools have said they will not require students to submit SAT or ACT scores when they apply for fall 2021 admission. QUITO, Ecuador, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Republic of Ecuador (the "Republic") announced today that it received the consent of holders representing a majority of the aggregate principal amount Outstanding of all Series of Eligible Bonds to extend the deadline to settle (the "Settlement Deadline") the Republic's previously announced Consent Solicitation and Invitation to Exchange (together, the "Invitation") from August 20, 2020 to September 1, 2020. As a result, the Republic has extended the Settlement Deadline to September 1, 2020. The terms and conditions of the Invitation are described in the invitation memorandum dated July 20, 2020 (as amended, the "Invitation Memorandum"). Except as described in this press release, all other terms of the Invitation as described in the Invitation Memorandum remain unchanged. Capitalized terms used herein but not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in the Invitation Memorandum. The Invitation is contingent upon the satisfaction of the condition that, on or prior to the settlement of the Invitation, the International Monetary Fund (the "IMF") shall have announced an IMF staff level agreement on a new funded program for Ecuador (the "IMF Condition"). As of the date of this release, the Republic continues negotiations with the IMF staff. Settlement of the Invitation is expected to occur two business days after announcement that the IMF Condition has been satisfied, or as soon as practicable thereafter but no later than September 1, 2020. Eligible Holders, or custodians for such holders, of Eligible Bonds may obtain a copy of the Invitation Memorandum by contacting the Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent at the contact information set forth below, or by download, following registration, via: https://gbsc-usa.com/ecuador. This announcement is for informational purposes only and is not an invitation or a solicitation of consents of, or an offer to buy or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities from, holders of Eligible Bonds. The Invitation to Eligible Holders of Eligible Bonds was only made pursuant to the Invitation Memorandum. Ecuador will continue to make (or cause to be made) all announcements regarding the Invitation by press release in accordance with applicable law. Ecuador did not register the Invitation, the Eligible Bonds or the New Securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state securities law. The Invitation was not made in the United States or to any U.S. persons except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Invitation was only made to (A) "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act, (B) "accredited investors" within the meaning of Rule 501(a)(1), (2), (3) or (7) of Regulation D under the Securities Act ("institutional accredited investors") and (C) (x) persons outside the United States, (y) if located within a member state of the European Economic Area or in the United Kingdom, a "qualified investor" as defined in Regulation (EU) 1129/2017, and (z) if located outside the EEA or the UK, is eligible to receive this invitation under the laws of its jurisdiction. Only holders of Eligible Bonds who returned a duly completed eligibility letter certifying that they were within one of the categories described in the immediately preceding sentence were authorized to receive and review the Invitation Memorandum and to participate in the Invitation ("Eligible Holders"). None of the DEALER MANAGER, the Trustee, the Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent, the financial advisor nor any of their respective directors, employees, affiliates, agents or representatives made any recommendation as to whether Holders should deliver their consents or TENDER THEIR ELIGIBLE BONDS pursuant to the INVITATION, and no one was authorized by any of them to make such a recommendation. The Invitation Memorandum is available from the Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent. The Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent for the Invitation is: Global Bondholder Services Corporation 65 Broadway Suite 404 New York, New York 10006 Attn: Corporate Actions Banks and Brokers call: (212) 430-3774 Toll free (866)-470-3800 By facsimile: (For Eligible Institutions only): (212) 430-3775/3779 Confirmation: (212) 430-3774 Email: [email protected] Any questions regarding the terms of the Invitation should be directed to the Dealer Manager or the Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent at their respective addresses and telephone numbers set forth on this communication. Requests for additional copies of the Invitation Memorandum, the eligibility letter or any other related documents may be directed to the Information, Tabulation and Exchange Agent. The Dealer Manager for the Invitation is: Citigroup Global Markets Inc. 390 Greenwich St, 1st Floor New York, NY 10013 Attention: Liability Management Group U.S. Toll-free: +1-800-558-3745 Collect: +1-212-723-6106 Email: [email protected] The Republic of Ecuador Ministry of Economy and Finance Av. Amazonas entre Pereira y Union Nacional de Periodistas Plataforma Gubernamental de Gestion Financiera, Pisos 10 y 11 Quito, Ecuador (Financial Advisor to the Republic of Ecuador) Lazard Freres 121 Boulevard Haussmann 75008, Paris SOURCE The Republic of Ecuador L abour is calling for the Government to prevent a "homelessness crisis" by extending the ban on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. A quarter of million people are said to be at risk when a ban on evictions expires on August 23. The protection against evictions in England and Wales was aimed at preventing tenants losing their homes during the Covid-19 outbreak. Labour is calling for the measure to be extended, with shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire urging the Government to act now to avoid more chaos of its own making when evictions are allowed to resume. In a letter to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, she asked what action he was taking to prevent a self-made homelessness crisis at the worst possible moment, as the furlough scheme winds up and we face the risk of growing infections of coronavirus. Labour wants the abolition of Section 21 no fault evictions and reform of Section 8 evictions where the terms of a tenancy have been broken to protect people whose livelihoods have been hit by the pandemic. Ms Debbonaire said: (Homelessness charity) Shelter estimates that nearly a quarter of a million people are at risk of eviction because of Covid economic impact. The shadow housing secretary wrote to Robert Jenrick calling on the Housing Secretary to extend the ban on evictions / Getty Images Veering from crisis to crisis is no way to run a country. After the incompetent handling of the exams fiasco, the Government must act now to avoid more chaos of its own making. A Government spokesperson said: The Government has taken unprecedented action to support renters, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries meaning no tenants have been forced from their home. Prince William calls for end to homelessness in wake of Covid-19 We will give appropriate support to those particularly affected when proceedings start again and we have changed court rules so landlords need to provide more information about their tenants situation when seeking an eviction with judges able to adjourn a case if they dont. Legislation introduced in March requiring landlords to give all tenants three months notice will remain for possession cases, including section 21 evictions, until at least September 30. It comes after as homelessness charity StreetLink said reports of people sleeping rough during the first three months of the coronavirus lockdown have risen more than a third compared with the same period last year. StreetLink received 16,976 alerts from members of the public between April and June a 36 per cent increase from the same period the previous year. Of these, 12,134 alerts were regarding rough sleepers in London, where the number of reports was 76 per cent higher than during the same three months in 2019. StreetLink, which operates in England and Wales, said the increased reports it received could be due to concern as a result of the pandemic, and the closure of many day services providing facilities and support. Matt Harrison, director of StreetLink, said: The alerts received from members of the public point to particular concern for people sleeping rough during this public health crisis, and we cannot rule out the fact that new people were continuing to arrive on the streets at this time. He continued: While thousands of people were placed in emergency accommodation as part of the Everyone In scheme, we now hope this progress can be built on in the next phase of the response, with people offered longer-term housing. It will also be important to prevent new people from sleeping rough, and it is our concern that the end to the ban on evictions next week may be detrimental to this aim. Additional reporting by PA Media. Actor Kangana Ranaut has hailed the Supreme Court verdict in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and handed it over to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further probe. Speaking to a news channel, she said that we were witnessing history as CBI would ensure a fair investigation into the actors death. Kangana, like many others, has been demanding a CBI probe for almost a month. Kangana told the channel, I want to congratulate the SSR warriors. This is a great verdict. Because nobody is pointing fingers at anyone, we just want a fair investigation. I am so thrilled, We just wanted a fair probe in the matter and today we have witnessed history. I was following everything, every detail of the case and I want to say that we may have had many individuals who suffered the same like Sushant but now people of India have awakened, no one will face the same fate, like Divya Bharti, Sridevi, etc. Now they (movie mafias) are scared of the power of people. Kangana had also tweeted as soon as the SC verdict was out. Humanity wins, congratulations to each one of SSR warriors, first time I felt such strong force of collective consciousness, AMAZING #CBITakesOver, she wrote on Wednesday morning. Humanity wins, congratulations to each one of SSR warriors, first time I felt such strong force of collective consciousness, AMAZING #CBITakesOver Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 19, 2020 Also read: Jasmin Bhasin denies she is dating Aly Goni, says he doesnt meet that criteria she looks for in a partner Sushant was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Mumbai Police, investigating the matter, declared it a case of death by suicide. Towards July end, Sushants father KK Singh filed a case in Patna accusing the late actors girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of abetment to suicide and cheating among other charges. Bihar Police began probing the case, thereafter. With a turf war breaking out between Maharashtra and Bihar, a demand for an impartial probe by CBI was demanded by many, including the family of Sushant. In the initial days after the actors death, Rhea too had asked for a sCBI investigation. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sudan Fires Spokesman Who Said He Was Looking Forward to Peace With Israel Sudan on Wednesday announced the firing of a diplomat who told a news agency the day prior that he was looking forward to peace between his county and Israel. Haidar Badawai Sadiqs firing was announced by SUNA, Sudans state news agency. Badawi had been quoted by Sky News Arabia as saying he looked forward to a peace agreement with Israel and that he wouldnt deny contacts between Sudan and Israel. A deal would be in the best interest of both countries he said, adding: There is no reason for the continuation of hostility between Sudan and Israel. Shortly after the comments were made public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said he welcomed the position of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry. Israel, Sudan and the entire region will benefit from the peace agreement and will be abletogetherto build a better future for all peoples of the region. We will do whatever is necessary to turn vision into reality, said Netanyahu, who met earlier this year with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the transitional head of Sudan, in Uganda. The secret meeting was denounced by Abdalla Hamdok, Sudans prime minister. Gabi Ashkenazi, Israels foreign minister, said Badawis announcement highlights the fundamental change that is taking place in the Middle East in general, and in Sudan in particular, 53 years after the Khartoum Conference in which Sudan called for no recognition of the State of Israel. Also known as the Khartoum Arab Summit, the conference in 1967 featured nations agreeing to not undertake negotiations with Israel. Officials also said they wouldnt recognize Israel, which had recently triumphed in the Six-Day War, gaining the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and other land. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, and Transportation Minister Miri Regev, left, tour Ben-Gurion Airport and are briefed on preparations for the resumption of flights between Israel and the UAE, southeast of Tel Aviv, on Aug. 17, 2020. (Emil Salman/Haaretz/Pool via AP) Later Tuesday, Omar Qamar al-Din, Sudans acting foreign minister, said Badawis comments were met with astonishment. Al-Din said his ministry hasnt discussed the issue of relations with Israel and downplayed Badawis authority. These statements have created an ambiguous situation that needs clarification, the statement read. Israel secured recognition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, the third such recognition from an Arab country in the existence of the Jewish nation. Badawi had called the normalization of ties a brave and bold step. Israel re-established ties with the African nation of Guinea in 2016, nearly 50 years after the country halted diplomatic relations with the former French colony. Netanyahu said the UAE deal was likely to be followed by similar ones with other countries. Sudan, a north African county of nearly 42 million, is separated from Israel by Egypt. Its also located across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia. A Sudanese government official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that Sudan and Israel have been negotiating for months, with assistance from Egypt, the UAE, and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker the UAE-Israel deal. Its a matter of time. We are finalizing everything, said the official, who wasnt authorized to speak publicly. The Emirati move encouraged us and helped calm some voices within the government who were afraid of backlash from the Sudanese public. The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has advised businesses to take advantage of Ghanas hosting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat to become competitive. Nana Dr. Appiagyei Dankawoso I, President, GNCCI, said this when he was accompanied by executive members of the Chamber from Accra and Tema on a business visit to Zonda Tec Assembling plant in Tema. He said the AfCFTA secretariat provided a bigger platform for Ghanaian businesses to thrive. Nana Dankawoso asked Ghanaian entrepreneurs to take advantage of government policies including long term funding from the EXIM Bank to expand their businesses. He encouraged them to add value to their produce as well as build capacity to enable Africa move from importation to exportation through industrialization which would lead to job creation and better livelihood for the people. He said the Chamber would served as a link between the private sector and the government to enable members strategize and engage policy makers on how best to benefit from AfCFTA. On the visit to Zonda, he said his outfit periodically engaged the business community to promote and protect their operations. Nana Dankawoso added that their visit was to enable them familiarize themselves with the activities of Zonda Tec as well as the challenges it faced in the automobile industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chamber, he noted, encouraged the business community to adopt modern operations and management strategies and systems to ensure safe and healthy working environments in order to stay competitive. He commended Zonda for contributing to the economic and industrial growth of the country especially in the automobile sector through job creation and training. Ms Yang Yang, Chief Executive Officer of Zonda, thanked the Chamber for the visit and stated that the company had not regretted investing in Ghana, saying Zonda had enjoyed a cordial business relationship with the country. She told the Ghana News Agency that she was happy to invest in people by training mechanics of clients, saying in 2019 the company assembled over 300 trucks at its assembly plant in Tema which was opened under the One District, One Factory policy of government. Zonda Tec Ghana Limited is a heavy-duty vehicle trading company which started operating in Ghana in 2013. Their products included oil and water tankers, tipper trucks, LPG tankers, semi-trailers, concrete mixtures, flats and lower beds, pay loaders, road rollers and backhoe loaders among others. The visiting members of the GNCCI toured the companys assembling plant, training centre, warehouse and service centre. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who disappeared at sea has been found dead on a beach near Calais, a French minister has said. Marlene Schiappa, who is in charge of citizenship in Frances government, said the teenager was found on the beach of Sangatte on Tuesday morning. The tragedy comes as migrants making the perilous crossing of the English Channel has been a focus of the UK Government amid a record number of journeys. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has pledged to make the route unviable, said the death is an upsetting and tragic loss of a young life. This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people, she added. Working together we are determined to stop them. Ms Shiappa also said the death highlighted the need to tackle the smugglers. Immense sadness: A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who disappeared in the sea last night was found dead in the beach in Sangatte this morning, she tweeted. Karen OConnor Corrigan, owner president of OConnor Insurance in St. Louis, Missouri, has been honored by the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) as Person of the Year. The award is presented to an individual who has significantly contributed to the American agency system of independent insurance agents within the state of Missouri. Corrigan, who has more than 35 years of insurance industry experience, is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Community Insurance and Risk Management Specialist (CIRMS). She is the chairperson of the Technical Affairs Committee for Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA). She also serves on MAIAs Coverage Advisory Committee. Corrigan is a past president who currently sits on several committees for Community Associations Institute (CAI), a non-profit organization of leaders and service professionals who are involved in community associations. Founded in 1975, OConnor Insurance is a full service insurance agency offering business, life, home and auto insurance and specializes in community associations. The company is a member of Valley Insurance Agency Alliance, the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA). Founded in 1899, MAIA educates, promotes and advocates for independent agents and their clients, encourages networking and works to perpetuate the independent agency system. Topics Agencies Missouri Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The UN Security Council will meet this Wednesday in emergency and behind closed doors on the crisis in Mali, where President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his Prime Minister were arrested on Tuesday by soldiers who carried out a coup, corroborating sources said A New York man has been arrested for threatening to shooting up a Jewish childrens day camp because kids werent social distancing. Nicola Pelle, 58, of Inwood, Long Island called police threatening to go to the Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island's children's camp with a 'friggin' machine gun' to 'shoot at all these people' on Monday. He first called police to report coronavirus social distancing violation at the camp on Monday. He reported there were 'approximately 500 students wearing no masks,' cops said. When officers were on their way to the center, Pelle called a second time allegedly threatening to 'get a gun and shoot' if the police didnt arrive quickly. 'If I gotta go out there with a friggin' machine gun and shoot all these people, I will,' he allegedly said in the call. New York man Nicola Pelle, 58, was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats for threatening to shoot up a Jewish children's day camp in Long Island on Monday Police seized 14 weapons as evidence, including five handguns, rifles, shotguns, and two assault weapons, officials said. All were legal except for a Bushmaster .223 rifle, which is illegal under the New York State Safety Act Another view of the arms found at Pelle's home and seized by police above He made both complaints to the county health department, according to WABC. Officers found about 30 children with their parents at the camp on Monday. Nassau County police identified Pelle, who lives next door to the yeshiva, as the caller and he admitted to making the call, and was arrested, it was announced Tuesday. Police seized 14 weapons as evidence, including five handguns, rifles, shotguns, and two assault weapons, officials said. All were legal except for a Bushmaster .223 rifle, which is illegal under the New York State Safety Act because it has a pistol grip and a detachable clip. Pelle has a valid Nassau County Pistol Permit. He was charged with making a terroristic threat and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm - all felonies, according to ABC News. Nassau County police identified Pelle, who lives next door to the yeshiv (above), as the caller and he admitted to making the call and was arrested 'Our officers did an outstanding job by questioning the subject, getting him to admit that he did make that complaint and did make the threat to shoot the school up, and then going in and recovering the weapons,' Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Tuesday 'Our officers did an outstanding job by questioning the subject, getting him to admit that he did make that complaint and did make the threat to shoot the school up, and then going in and recovering the weapons,' Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at a press conference Tuesday. Pelle, who runs a landscaping business, posted bail and was taken home by ambulance. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. The yeshivas principal Rabbi Tzvi Krigsman Menahel said he was 'very thankful' for the quick police response. 'Theyve been extremely informative, transparent, and we are very thankful to them, and we feel secure and we're confident in the safety of our children and staff,' he said. WASHINGTON Former President Barack Obama delivered a searing critique of his successor, President Donald Trump, during his keynote address Wednesday night at the virtual Democratic National Convention. Obama spoke live from Philadelphia, where he described why he thinks his former vice president, Joe Biden, is the right man for the White House. Asked to respond to excerpts of Obama's criticism Wednesday, Trump told reporters, "President Obama did not do a good job. ... The reason I'm here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden. Because if they did a good job, I wouldn't be here." Below are Obama's full remarks: "Good evening, everybody. As you've seen by now, this isn't a normal convention. It's not a normal time. So tonight, I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come. "I'm in Philadelphia, where our Constitution was drafted and signed. It wasn't a perfect document. It allowed for the inhumanity of slavery and failed to guarantee women and even men who didn't own property the right to participate in the political process. But embedded in this document was a North Star that would guide future generations; a system of representative government a democracy through which we could better realize our highest ideals. Through civil war and bitter struggles, we improved this Constitution to include the voices of those who'd once been left out. And gradually, we made this country more just, more equal, and more free. "The one Constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency. So at minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have or who we voted for. "But we should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy. We should expect that regardless of ego, ambition, or political beliefs, the president will preserve, protect, and defend the freedoms and ideals that so many Americans marched for and went to jail for; fought for and died for. "I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. "But he never did. For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. "Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. "Now, I know that in times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind. But maybe you're still not sure which candidate you'll vote for or whether you'll vote at all. Maybe you're tired of the direction we're headed, but you can't see a better path yet, or you just don't know enough about the person who wants to lead us there. "So let me tell you about my friend Joe Biden. "Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn't know I'd end up finding a brother. Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about him is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief. Joe's a man who learned early on to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him: "No one's better than you, Joe, but you're better than nobody." "That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts that's who Joe is. "When he talks with someone who's lost her job, Joe remembers the night his father sat him down to say that he'd lost his. When Joe listens to a parent who's trying to hold it all together right now, he does it as the single dad who took the train back to Wilmington each and every night so he could tuck his kids into bed. When he meets with military families who've lost their hero, he does it as a kindred spirit; the parent of an American soldier; somebody whose faith has endured the hardest loss there is. "For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president and he's got the character and the experience to make us a better country. "And in my friend Kamala Harris, he's chosen an ideal partner who's more than prepared for the job; someone who knows what it's like to overcome barriers and who's made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream. "Along with the experience needed to get things done, Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality. "They'll get this pandemic under control, like Joe did when he helped me manage H1N1 and prevent an Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores. They'll expand health care to more Americans, like Joe and I did 10 years ago when he helped craft the Affordable Care Act and nail down the votes to make it the law. They'll rescue the economy, like Joe helped me do after the Great Recession. I asked him to manage the Recovery Act, which jump-started the longest stretch of job growth in history. "And he sees this moment now not as a chance to get back to where we were, but to make long-overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody whether it's the waitress trying to raise a kid on her own, or the shift worker always on the edge of getting laid off, or the student figuring out how to pay for next semester's classes. "Joe and Kamala will restore our standing in the world and as we've learned from this pandemic, that matters. Joe knows the world, and the world knows him. He knows that our true strength comes from setting an example the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators. A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats like climate change, terrorism, poverty, and disease. "But more than anything, what I know about Joe and Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And they care deeply about this democracy. "They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballot, not harder. They believe that no one including the president is above the law, and that no public official including the president should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters. "They understand that in this democracy, the commander-in-chief doesn't use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil. They understand that political opponents aren't "un-American" just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn't the 'enemy' but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up. "None of this should be controversial. These shouldn't be Republican principles or Democratic principles. They are American principles. But at this moment, this president and those who enable him, have shown they don't believe in these things. "Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better. But here's the thing: No single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president. Democracy was never meant to be transactional you give me your vote; I make everything better. It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability to embrace your own responsibility as citizens to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. "Because that's what at stake right now. Our democracy. "Look, I understand why a lot of Americans are down on government. The way the rules have been set up and abused in Congress make it easier for special interests to stop progress than to make progress. Believe me, I know. I understand why a White factory worker who's seen his wages cut or his job shipped overseas might feel like the government no longer looks out for him, and why a Black mom might feel like it never looked out for her at all. I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there's still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and conspiracy theories and think, what's the point? "Well, here's the point: this president and those in power those who benefit from keeping things the way they are they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can't win you over with their policies. So they're hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn't matter. That's how they win. That's how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That's how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That's how a democracy withers, until it's no democracy at all. "And we cannot let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too. Do what Americans have done for over two centuries when faced with even tougher times than this all those quiet heroes who found the courage to keep marching, keep pushing in the face of hardship and injustice. "Last month, we lost a giant of American democracy in John Lewis. Some years ago, I sat down with John and the few remaining leaders of the early civil rights movement. One of them told me he never imagined he'd walk into the White House and see a president who looked like his grandson. Then he told me that he'd looked it up, and it turned out that on the very day that I was born, he was marching into a jail cell, trying to end Jim Crow segregation in the South. "What we do echoes through the generations. "Whatever our backgrounds, we're all the children of Americans who fought the good fight. Great grandparents working in firetraps and sweatshops without rights or representation. Farmers losing their dreams to dust. Irish and Italians and Asians and Latinos told to go back where you came from. Jews and Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs, made to feel suspect for the way they worshipped. Black Americans chained and whipped and hanged. Spit on for trying to sit at lunch counters. Beaten for trying to vote. "If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work, it was those Americans. Our ancestors. They were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from the myth. And yet, instead of giving up, they joined together and said somehow, some way, we are going to make this work. We are going to bring those words, in our founding documents, to life. "I've seen that same spirit rising these past few years. Folks of every age and background who packed city centers and airports and rural roads so that families wouldn't be separated. So that another classroom wouldn't get shot up. So that our kids won't grow up on an uninhabitable planet. Americans of all races joining together to declare, in the face of injustice and brutality at the hands of the state, that Black lives matter, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism. "To the young people who led us this summer, telling us we need to be better in so many ways, you are this country's dreams fulfilled. Earlier generations had to be persuaded that everyone has equal worth. For you, it's a given a conviction. And what I want you to know is that for all its messiness and frustrations, your system of self-government can be harnessed to help you realize those convictions. "You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place. You're the missing ingredient the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed. "That work will continue long after this election. But any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes for them to win. So we have to get busy building it up by pouring all our efforts into these 76 days, and by voting like never before for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for today and for all our days to come. "Stay safe. God bless." NASA's Webb to study quasars and their host galaxies in three dimensions Supermassive black holes, which likely reside at the centers of virtually all galaxies, are unimaginably dense, compact regions of space from which nothing -- not even light -- can escape. As such a black hole, weighing in at millions or billions of times the mass of the Sun, devours material, it is surrounded by a swirling disk of gas. When gas from this disk falls towards the black hole, it releases a tremendous amount of energy. This energy creates a brilliant and powerful galactic core called a quasar, whose light can greatly outshine its host galaxy. Astronomers widely believe that the energy from quasars is responsible for limiting the growth of massive galaxies. Shortly after the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scientists plan to study the effect of three carefully selected quasars on their host galaxies in a program called Q3D. A supermassive black hole is very small compared to its host galaxy -- it's the equivalent of a penny in relation to the size of the entire Moon. Still, supermassive black holes have an immense influence on the galaxies they inhabit. "Physically very small objects, supermassive black holes seem to have an enormous impact on the evolution of galaxies and eventually on the way our universe looks today," said Q3D principal investigator Dominika Wylezalek, a Research Group Leader at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Two decades ago, scientists hypothesized the critical role of quasars in limiting galaxy growth, but specific observational evidence has been surprisingly hard to come by. Scientists think a quasar's torrential winds push out the equivalent of hundreds of solar masses of material each year. As the quasar winds sweep across the galaxy's disk, material that otherwise would have formed new stars is violently carried away from the galaxy, causing star birth to cease. But observing the power and reach of quasars on their host galaxies remains a major unresolved issue in modern astrophysics. The Webb telescope could change that. Analyzing Data in 3D In addition to its exquisite sensitivity, resolution and infrared vision, Webb's capabilities include unique three-dimensional imaging spectroscopy. This special observing technique allows the team to get detailed measurements of light for every single pixel across the field of view. It stitches together many images at slightly different wavelengths. This allows scientists to spatially map gas motions inside the galaxy. The technique will revolutionize the understanding of the relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies by allowing scientists to probe the stars, gas and dust in nearby and distant galaxies. "Imaging spectroscopy is important for us because the winds in these distant quasars are not necessarily symmetric," explained co-principal investigator Sylvain Veilleux, a professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park. "So, one needs a spectrum at every position to determine what is their geometry and be able to draw the important information from these winds and the impact they have on their host galaxies." Studying Three Quasars and Their Hosts The Q3D team will study three bright quasars to measure the activity that comes from accreting material onto supermassive black holes, and how the host galaxies are affected by that activity. The team chose the three quasars for scientific reasons, but also to test and assess the capabilities of Webb. The objects intentionally span a very broad range of distance from Earth, from relatively nearby to very far away. They are also among the most luminous quasars at their respective distances and are known to have outflows of material. Powerful quasar outflows appear to prevent a galaxy's gas from forming new stars and growing the galaxy. Scientists think this quasar-galaxy connection is crucial in determining how galaxies evolve from the early universe to today. It's especially important for galaxies a few times larger than the Milky Way, because quasar hosts are generally more massive galaxies. Seeing Beyond the Bright Light Quasars are very bright compared with the material around them, so the team is developing special software tools that allow them to study the phenomena. When quasars were discovered in the 1950s, they were brilliant radio sources that looked like stars on photographic plates, so they were called "quasi-stellar radio sources." Eventually, astronomers learned that quasars were actually inside of galaxies, but they were so bright that they outshone their host galaxies. "We're interested in the quasar itself -- the bright, star-like thing in the middle -- but we're also interested in the fainter host galaxy. And not just the host galaxy, but the even fainter outflow from the host. This is the gas that's not circling around the quasar, or the center of the galaxy, but is instead flowing out. To see this really faint stuff behind the quasar, we have to remove the quasar's light. That's one unique thing the software will do." said co-investigator David Rupke, associate professor of physics at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Rupke is leading the effort to write the software to analyze the Q3D data. Paving the Way for Future Webb Studies The Q3D study is part of the Director's Discretionary-Early Release Science program, which provides public data to the entire scientific community early in the telescope's mission. This program allows the astronomical community to quickly learn how best to use Webb's capabilities, while also yielding robust science. "From a technical standpoint, with our observations, we are testing different modes, filters and combinations," explained Wylezalek. "It will be very useful for the scientific community to see the performance in these different modes. Scientifically, we are probing quasars at different luminosities and cosmic times to inform the community about Webb's performance when assessing different scientific questions." The Q3D software will not only be useful for users observing quasars but for anyone observing bright, point-like, central sources on top of fainter sources. Such observations could include super star clusters, supernovas, tidal disruption events, or gamma-ray bursts. The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information about Webb, visit http://www. nasa. gov/ webb . ### This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A day after the controversial departure of the countrys finance minister, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his replacement but also suspended all Parliamentary proceedings for a month, a strategy seen by the Opposition as an attempt to prevent further probing into a nearly billion-dollar contract given to a charity with links to Trudeau and his family. Bill Morneau resigned as finance minister on Monday, and on Tuesday, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland took over his portfolio, making her the first woman to hold this key post. However, Trudeau also prorogued Parliament till a Throne Speech by the countrys Governor-General on September 23, the equivalent of the Presidents speech opening Parliament in India. By proroguing Parliament, Trudeau has ensured all activity ceases. In a statement, his office said, This speech will present the governments detailed vision for the future. This could well turn into a vote of no confidence, as one major Opposition party, the Bloc Quebecois has already said it will precipitate such a vote unless Trudeau resigns. Also read: Canadian foreign minister resigns over differences with Trudeau Party leader Yves-Francois Blanchet reiterated that position to reporters in Ottawa, as he said of the Throne Speech, If it does not contain what it must contain, he will simply not survive a vote on his speech from the throne. If the Liberal Party Government does lose that vote, it may mean fresh elections to the House of Commons before the end of 2020, barely a year since Trudeaus returned to power in October last year, though with a minority mandate. The change in who will be in charge of the finance ministry at a crucial juncture attracted plenty of flak from the Opposition. Pierre Poilievre, finance critic for the principal opposition Conservative Party, said, We now have a government of corruption, coverup and chaos at a time of a deadly pandemic and the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression. That point was also reflected in the view of Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, who said in a statement, Shutting down Parliament in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis, with a planned sitting next week and committees working hard to get answers and solutions for Canadians, is wrong. Canadians shouldnt be forced to pay the price for Mr Trudeaus scandals. Trudeau, meanwhile, stressed that a new Throne Speech, which lays out the Governments agenda, was necessary, since the one delivered eight months ago made no mention of Covid-19, had no conception of the reality we find ourselves in right now. He also said his Government will seek to reset its approach for a recovery to build back better. The decision to prorogue Parliament comes in the context of hearings by two Parliamentary panels into the grant of a $912 million contract to WE Charity, which was cancelled after an uproar over its links to Trudeau and his family, including making payments to his mother, wife and brother. Those investigations will be stalled, even as the countrys Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner continues with his own probe of Trudeau in this matter. Those whove been keeping up with Selling Sunset are aware Jason Oppenheim from The Oppenheim Group has a serious romantic history with Mary Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald marries her French partner, Romaine Bonnet, on the show. But now, Christine Quinn, the pot-stirrer of the real estate group, mentioned something about Fitzgerald and Oppenheim still being in love. Mary Fitzgerald and Jason Oppenheim from Selling Sunset have quite a history RELATED: Selling Sunset: Heather Rae Young Credits Her Work With Playboy for Her Success With the Oppenheim Group From the start of Selling Sunset, fans are aware that Fitzgerald and Oppenheim dated at one point for about a year. And they appear to have left things off on a good note. Fitzgerald and Oppenheim seem totally comfortable around each other, and they even take care of their dogs together. So, why did the two break things off? Its still unclear and it sounds messy. [The break up is] probably more on me, Oppenheim explained in the show. We were good friends before but were much closer now. Fitzgerald then added that post-breakup the two continued to date though all bets seem to be off now. Today, theyre the best of friends, or so they claim. The truth is my three ex-girlfriends are three of the closest friends in my life right now, Mary being my best girl-friend, Oppenheim explained to Express. Ive never done anything to disrespect anyone and neither has anyone done anything to disrespect me, so at the end of the day when it didnt work out it wasnt because anybody cheated it just came to the point where the relationship wasnt going to go any further and we just broke up. Fitzgerald married Romaine Bonnet, as seen on the show The show follows Fitzgeralds romance with Romaine Bonnet. Bonnet is over a decade younger than Fitzgerald, and Fitzgeralds coworkers grew concerned that their age gap wouldnt work for Bonnets plans for kids in the future. But the two lovebirds continued on anyway and had a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony. While theres notable tension between Fitzgerald and Bonnet on the show in season 3, it seems the two are still making their relationship work. Life & Style reported in August 2020 that Bonnet and Fitzgerald are as happy as ever, as theyre just about 10 months into their relationship. Seems like just yesterday I was walking down the aisle towards Romain on the Doheny property, Fitzgerald told Life & Style. Married life has been so busy! We are working non-stop. Even while the rest of the world is in quarantine, it seems like we cant catch a break! Romain is out the door at 6:30 am each morning for work. Christine Quinn thinks Oppenheim and Fitzgerald arent really over each other (L-R) Brett Oppenheim, Brandon Riegg, Christine Quinn, and Jason Oppenheim attend Netflixs Selling Sunset private viewing party | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images While Fitzgerald seems truly happy, Quinn thinks something else might be brewing beneath the surface. Quinn and Fitzgerald were best friends during the first season of Selling Sunset, but they had a rift right around Fitzgeralds wedding. And it seems Quinn suspects Oppenheim and Fitzgerald still have feelings for each other. Yahoo reports Quinn told the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that Quinn and Fitzgerald have this really strong relationship and connection and have a very different bond that theyve always had. Quinn then dropped an additional bomb by adding, I think that theyre both in love with each other. Quinns comment couldve been a serious jaw-dropper but she attempted to downplay it after she said it. In a platonic way, she added. It doesnt look like Bonnet and Fitzgerald will be breaking up over Oppenheim anytime soon. But well keep watch to see how everything continues to unfold on Selling Sunset. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Popular Nollywood actor, Kanayo O Kanayo, has thrown his weight behind fellow veteran, Pete Edochie, about the un-Africanness of men kneeling to propose to a woman. He made this known in an Instagram live post on his page on Tuesday, where he discouraged the act. According to him, it is against the African culture to do this but an act copied from the westerners on Instagram. He said, Im an African and I stand with Pete Edochie on what he said. It is un-African today to kneel down to propose to a woman. Im an African to that level. Like we always preach it is not all you see on TV that you copy. It is an Instagram lifestyle. It doesnt stop you from living it. Live it the way you want. We are not also saying you must live with us in our stone age. Because when we talk about this, some people who think they are more intelligent than us tell us we are coming from the Stone Age. Dont worry, live your technology age but it is not part of our culture. Earlier this year, Edochie, 72, elicited a heated reaction on social media after he said men who kneel to propose to women are fools. Pete Edochie He said this in a video that went viral on social media at the time. Any young man who gets on his knees to propose to a girl, is not just an idiot, hes a bloody fool, a compound buffoon, he said. The father of six said in the video that the act is an imitation of foreign culture which could mean that the woman has taken over the house from the man. We are trying to copy white people, right? I believe in the sacrosanctity of our culture, the essence and the core of our culture, he said. The white man kneels down to propose to a girl, you know what it means? The girl takes over the family. This is why whenever you disagree with your wife overseas, you are kicked out and the wife takes the house. As a young man, you should be in charge of your destiny. Kneeling down for a woman makes you a fool.. Mortal remains of Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, who passed away on Monday following a cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey, would be brought to Mumbai on Wednesday, his family said in a statement. The 90-year-old music doyen, who belonged to the Mewati Gharana, was in the US when the coronavirus-led lockdown was announced and decided to stay back in the country. "Pandit Jasraj ji's mortal remains will arrive in Mumbai on Wednesday, 19 August," the family said in the statement. According to Pritam Sharma, media coordinator for the family, Pandit Jasraj's 'antim darshan' will be held on Thursday at his Versova residence, followed by the last rites which will take place at Pawan Hans Crematorium, Vile Parle. The classical vocalist will be cremated with state honours and be given a 21-gun salute, Sharma added. Pandit Jasraj is survived by his wife Madhura, son Shaarang Dev Pandit and daughter Durga Jasraj, both musicians. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The COVID-19 crisis has tested the strength of our great state, but it has also revealed the depths of our kindness as a people. Since this crisis began, I have personally connected with thousands of Georgians in all 159 counties by hosting constituent conference calls. From Hahira to Hiawassee, from Columbus to Augusta, Georgians voiced their concerns and shared constructive feedback. They have asked me hundreds of questions. They have also shared stories of communities lifting each other up. Id like to share some of what Georgians have told me. First, I heard how truly devastating this crisis has been. Workers have lost their jobs. Some hospitals, especially in hard-hit Albany, struggled to keep up with COVID-19 cases. Many brave essential workers, such as Barbara, a nurse from Warner Robins, worried whether there would be enough protective equipment to keep them safe. I also learned how important it was for Congress to provide relief quickly. In March, we passed three phases of relief. Phase one focused on supporting our medical community. Phase two focused on supporting families. Phase three, the CARES Act, focused on maintaining the employer-employee relationship and ensuring small businesses could stay solvent and pay their employees. Speaking directly with Georgians, I heard how helpful these steps have been to keep them going. The Paycheck Protection Program has saved over 1.5 million Georgia jobs and over $14.7 billion in loans were provided as a life-line to Georgia small businesses. However, I also learned that we still have more work to do. Many Georgians are still struggling to pay their bills. Our health care providers still need support. Many parents from across the state are worried whether their kids will be safe when they go back to school. Right now, Congress is working on another potential package to provide additional relief. In the meantime, President Trump has taken strong executive action to provide tax relief for workers, protect unemployment benefits, and prevent evictions during this crisis. Ive proposed two bipartisan bills to solve some of these problems. First, I introduced the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act to provide more nurses and doctors for hospitals with shortages. I also introduced the SCHOOL Act to provide grant funding for protective equipment, connect schools with health care professionals or telehealth options, and share best safety practices. These proposals arent all-encompassing, but they are a start and offer meaningful solutions that address many of the concerns Ive heard directly from my constituents. What inspired me most by speaking with Georgians has been hearing about how communities are helping each other. Neighbors are buying groceries for each other. Restaurants are donating meals to health care workers. Schools, businesses, and even individuals are making protective equipment for first responders. It is always a humbling experience to connect with so many people across the state. This is an unprecedented time for all of us, but I have no doubt that Georgia and our country will rise to the challenge and emerge stronger than before. Senator David Perdue People with his smartphones with bright screen in the night taking pictures for sharing on the social media networking websites. A month after Europe's top court struck down a flagship data transfer arrangement between the EU and the US as unsafe, European privacy campaign group, noyb, has filed complaints against 101 websites with regional operators which it's identified as still sending data to the US via Google Analytics and/or Facebook Connect integrations. Among the entities listed in its complaint are ecommerce companies, publishers & broadcasters, telcos & ISPs, banks and universities -- including Airbnb Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Danske Bank, Fastweb, MTV Internet, Sky Deutschland, Takeaway.com and Tele2, to name a few. "A quick analysis of the HTML source code of major EU webpages shows that many companies still use Google Analytics or Facebook Connect one month after a major judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) -- despite both companies clearly falling under US surveillance laws, such as FISA 702," the campaign group writes on its website. "Neither Facebook nor Google seem to have a legal basis for the data transfers. Google still claims to rely on the 'Privacy Shield' a month after it was invalidated, while Facebook continues to use the 'SCCs' [Standard Contractual Clauses], despite the Court finding that US surveillance laws violate the essence of EU fundamental rights." We've reached out to Facebook and Google with questions about their legal bases for such transfers -- and will update this report with any response. Update: A Facebook spokesman said the company is not commenting on individual cases but pointed to a blog post from yesterday in which it writes that it "has relied upon Privacy Shield as the data transfer mechanism for our ads and measurement products". "In light of the CJEU ruling, we are working to migrate to SCCs for these products. We will update the respective terms to reflect this, and more information will follow," it adds, without specifying whether it has carried out an assessment of the legality of using SCCs given the lack of an adequacy agreement between the EU and the US. Story continues Privacy watchers will know that noyb's founder, Max Schrems, was responsible for the original legal challenge that took down an anterior EU-US data arrangement, Safe Harbor, all the way back in 2015. His updated complaint ended up taking down the EU-US Privacy Shield last month -- although he'd actually targeted Facebook's use of a separate data transfer mechanism (SCCs), urging its data supervisor, Ireland's DPC, to step in and suspend its use of that tool. The regulator chose to go to court instead, raising wider concerns about the legality of EU-US data transfer arrangements -- which resulted in the CJEU concluding that the Commission should not have granted the US a so-called 'adequacy agreement', thus pulling the rug out from under Privacy Shield. The decision means the US is now what's considered a 'third country' in data protection terms, with no special arrangement to enable it to process EU users' information. More than that, the court's ruling also made it clear EU data watchdogs have a responsibility to intervene where they suspect there are risks to EU people's data if it's being transferred to a third country via SCCs. European data watchdogs swiftly warned there would be no grace period for entities still illegally relying on Privacy Shield -- so anyone listed in the above complaint that's still referencing the defunct mechanism in their privacy policy won't even have a proverbial figleaf to hide their legal blushes. noyb's contention with this latest clutch of complaints is that none of the aforementioned 101 websites has a valid legal basis to keep transferring visitor data to the US via the embedded Google Analytics and/or Facebook Connect integrations. We have done a quick search on major websites in each EU member state for code from Facebook and Google. These code snippets forward data on each visitor to Google or Facebook. Both companies admit that they transfer data of Europeans to the US for processing, where these companies are under a legal obligation to make such data available to US agencies like the NSA. Neither Google Analytics nor Facebook Connect are essential to run these webpages and are services that could have been replaced or at least deactivated by now, said Schrems, honorary chair of noyb.eu, in a statement. Since the CJEU's Schrems II ruling, and indeed since the Safe Harbor strike down, the US Department of Commerce and European Commission have stuck their heads in the sand -- signalling they intend to try cobbling together another data pact to replace the defunct Privacy Shield (which replaced the blasted-to-smithereens (un)Safe Harbor. So, er... ). Yet without root-and-branch reform of US surveillance law, any third pop by respective lawmakers at papering over the legal schism of US national security priorities vs EU privacy rights is just as surely doomed to fail. The more cynical among you might say the high level administrative manoeuvers around this topic are, in fact, simply intended to buy more time -- for the data to keep flowing and 'business as usual' to continue. But there is now substantial legal risk attached to a strategy of trying to pretend US surveillance law doesn't exist. Here's Schrems again, on last month's CJEU ruling, suggesting that Facebook and Google could be in the frame for legal liability if they don't proactively warn EU customers of their data responsibilities: "The Court was explicit that you cannot use the SCCs when the recipient in the US falls under these mass surveillance laws. It seems US companies are still trying to convince their EU customers of the opposite. This is more than shady. Under the SCCs the US data importer would instead have to inform the EU data sender of these laws and warn them. If this is not done, then these US companies are actually liable for any financial damage caused." And as noyb's press release notes, GDPR's penalties regime can scale as high as 4% of the worldwide turnover of the EU sender and the US recipient of personal data. So, again, hi Facebook, hi Google... The crowdfunded campaign group has pledged to continue dialling up the pressure on EU regulators to act and on EU data processors to review any US data transfer arrangements -- and "adapt to the clear ruling by the EUs supreme court", as it puts it. Other types of legal action are also starting to draw on Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework -- and, importantly, attract funding -- such as two class action style suits filed against Oracle and Salesforce's use of tracking cookies earlier this month. (As we said when GDPR came into force back in 2018, the lawsuits are coming.) Now, with two clear strikes from the CJEU on the issue of US surveillance law vs EU data protection, it looks like it'll be diminishing returns for US tech giants hoping to pretend everything's okay on the data processing front. noyb is also putting its money where its mouth is -- offering free guidelines and model requests for EU entities to use to help them get their data affairs in prompt legal order. While we understand that some things may need some time to rearrange, it is unacceptable that some players seem to simply ignore Europes top court," Schrems added, in further comments on the latest flotilla of complaints. "This is also unfair towards competitors that comply with these rules. We will gradually take steps against controllers and processors that violate the GDPR and against authorities that do not enforce the Court's ruling, like the Irish DPC that stays dormant. We've reached out to Ireland's Data Protection Commission to ask what steps it will be taking in light of the latest noyb complaints, a number of which target websites that appear to be operated by an Ireland-based legal entity. Schrems original 2013 complaint against Facebook's use of SCCs also ended up in Ireland, where the tech giant -- and many others -- locates its EU HQ. Schrems' request that the DPC order Facebook to suspend its use of SCCs still hasn't been fulfilled, some seven years and five complaints later. And the regulator continues to face accusations of inaction, given the growing backlog of cross-border GDPR complaints against tech giants like Facebook and Google. Ireland's DPC has still yet to issue a single final decision on any of these major GDPR complaints. But the legal pressure for it and all EU regulators to get a move on and enforce the bloc's law will only increase, even as class action style lawsuits are filed to try to do what regulators have failed to. Earlier this summer the Commission acknowledged a lack of uniformly "vigorous" enforcement of GDPR in a review of the mechanism's first two years of operation. The European Data Protection Board [EDPB] and the data protection authorities have to step up their work to create a truly common European culture providing more coherent and more practical guidance, and work on vigorous but uniform enforcement," said Vera Jourova, Commission VP for values and transparency then, giving the Commission's first public assessment of whether GDPR is working. We've also reached out to France's CNIL to ask what action it will be taking in light of the noyb complaints. Following the judgement in July the French regulator said it was "conducting a precise analysis", along with the EDPB, with a view to "drawing conclusions as soon as possible on the consequences of the ruling for data transfers from the European Union to the United States". Since then the EDPB guidance has come out -- inking the obvious: That transfers on the basis of Privacy Shield "are illegal". And while the CJEU ruling did not invalidate the use of SCCs it gave only a very qualified green light to continued use. As we reported last month, the ability to use SCCs to transfer data to the U.S. hinges on a data controller being able to offer a legal guarantee that U.S. law does not impinge on the adequate level of protection for the transferred data. Whether or not you can transfer personal data on the basis of SCCs will depend on the result of your assessment, taking into account the circumstances of the transfers, and supplementary measures you could put in place," the EDPB added. Update: Both the Irish DPC and France's CNIL have now confirmed receipt of several noyb complaints apiece, saying they will proceed to investigate. In further comments to TechCrunch, the CNIL also emphasized the need for a common approach by regulators to applying the CJEU decision. "The question of the consequences to be drawn from the recent decision of the CJEU cannot be settled in isolation by a single European authority. The approach must be common and coherent at European level. We are working with the other authorities within the EDPS to achieve this," it said. "The issues at stake are systemic and require a reflection with all stakeholders, including data controllers, to secure the processing of data of European citizens." Staten Island, N.Y. Gunfire on a West Brighton street last month could cost the alleged shooter some serious time behind bars. Hassan Bility, 22, of the 100 block of Lockman Avenue, has been arraigned on attempted murder and other charges stemming from the alleged July 11 incident. The episode occurred around 7:32 p.m. on the 600 block of Cary Avenue, said a criminal complaint. Bility fired multiple times at another person while other people were on the street, the complaint said. The alleged target is not identified. Apparently, no one was hit. Besides attempted second-degree murder, Bility was charged with attempted first-degree assault, criminal weapon possession, criminal firearm possession and reckless endangerment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George. If convicted at trial of attempted murder, Bility would face a sentence of between five and 25 years in prison. His next court date is Sept. 21. He remains free on $300,000 bond, online state court records show. Defense lawyer Richard Terrazas declined comment on the case. Political commentator Laura Loomer on Tuesday night succeeded in her outsider bid to win a House GOP primary in Florida, defeating five opponents and getting congratulations from President Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago home is in her district. Loomer, 27, will now face four-term Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel in the states Democrat-leaning 21 congressional district, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties. Loomer dubbed the Republicans AOC emerged late in her primary as a frontrunner largely on strong fundraising and support from bold names Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser, and far-right radio host Alex Jones. Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet! https://t.co/pKZp35dUYr Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020 Loomer got the name tag from Stone, who has compared her to political provocateur and freshman New York Democratic Rep. Alexenadria Ocasio-Cortez. Shes young. Shes energetic. Shes feisty. Shes anti-establishment, and she has an enormous national following, as does AOC, which can help finance a congressional race, Stone said this spring. To be sure, some of Loomers opinions are not those of the establishment or mainstream. Her views about Islam have resulted in her being banned on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman PC Mody has assured income-tax officials that the faceless assessment scheme will not result into either a large-scale transfer of taxmen or reduction in existing resources of the income-tax department, two officials said. CBDT chairman, through a virtual meeting with income-tax officials on Tuesday, dispelled doubts in the field formation that the faceless assessment will lead to a reduction in the workforce and a large scale of transfers, the officials present in the meeting said requesting anonymity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 13 announced three key structural tax reforms under the Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest platform Faceless Assessment, Faceless Appeal and Taxpayers Charter. While faceless assessment and taxpayers charter were formally implemented from Thursday, the faceless appeal will be implemented from September 25. The technology-driven faceless assessment system aims to end overreach by officials and the charter defines the rights and responsibilities of taxpayers. Also read: What is faceless tax assessment? All you need to know The faceless tax assessment system was first proposed by the prime minister in 2017 and received a mention in the first budget of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 5, 2019. The system was subsequently launched on October 7, 2019. The system enables a random selection of tax cases through Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, with reduced discretion from for or no human interface with the income-tax department. The objective of faceless assessment is to completely eliminate physical contact between the taxpayer and the taxman to make tax administration objective, transparent and corruption-free. The system works under the National Assessment Centre (NeAC) headquartered in Delhi and eight Regional Assessment Centres (ReACs) located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. CBDT chairman and its members on Tuesday explained taxmen about the implementation of the faceless assessment system and constitution of NeAC and ReACs including the reallocation and reorganisation of the manpower, the officials said. Mody told officials that the faceless assessment is being implemented with existing manpower preferably at the existing locations. He sought to dispel all kind of misgivings and misapprehensions which may have been reflecting on the minds of the officers and officials of the department with regard to the national launch of the faceless assessment scheme, one of the officials said. Mody reiterated that the implementation of the faceless assessment scheme was important to uphold the dignity of the service and, also, to change the narrative of negative public perception into a positive one. He expressed confidence that given the immense talent pool within the income-tax (I-T) department, the officials would definitely rise to the occasion and make the transition to transparent taxation a reality. The CBDT also made a presentation on the newly introduced taxpayers charter. The officers were sensitised about the rights of the taxpayers as enshrined in the charter. It was emphasised that the charter be implemented in letter and spirit, the official said. Officials said the demand management strategy to be adopted by the I-T department was also discussed in the meeting to identify and clean-up pending demands so that the correct demand, if any, could be made available to the taxpayers. As a part of cleaning-up of demand, all pending rectifications and appeal effects were to be attended on priority as this was also one of the key factors of a transparent tax administration, another official said. Omaha City Council Opts Against Defunding the Police City Council members in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday declined to slash funding to the citys police department. City Council President Chris Jerram, a Democrat, proposed cutting $2 million from the Omaha Police Department and redirecting the money to mental health services. The cut would have taken a little over 1 percent from the departments $161 million budget. Most council members spoke out against Jerrams proposal, including Councilman Ben Gray, a Democrat. I think this police department has gotten a bad rap, he said during a meeting. Were in the midst of a gang war. I need all hands on deck, including every police officer we can get. Cutting the budget would be a knee-jerk reaction, he said, KETV reported. Jerram said during the meeting that he hopes activists know about what he did. At the end of the day, I hope people understand at least, I heard you, I was willing to introduce this resolution, he said. Defunding the police has been pushed by a number of groups in Omaha, including ProBLAC, which is also calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for-profit prisons. The group says on its website that it is working to create a black-led intersectional movement in Omaha. A woman holds a sign during a rally in Lincoln, Neb., on Aug. 2, 2020. (Lincoln Journal Star) Police Chief Chief Todd Schmaderer told lawmakers on Tuesday that a cut could mean firing some officers or going without purchasing new police cars. Councilman Pete Festersen, a Democrat, introduced a different amendment that would draw funds from the citys cash reserves and put it toward mental health services. Im sure well hear theres no way they can do this. Its not advisable given all the unknowns for next year. And frankly, that is a concern, but if $2 million is a concern in that respect I think this whole budget is a concern, Festersen said. The amendment passed 4-3. Republican Mayor Jean Stothert told WOWT that she will veto the amendment. Going into 2021 in the 2021 budget, with so much uncertainty out there about revenue thats coming into the city, we should never want to take money out of the cash reserve, the mayor said. Before the council meeting, Stothert said she would veto any amendment that reduced funding to the police department. Jerrams proposal requires us to reduce the number of officers, directly impacting the citizens of Omaha, she said, adding: Its not police services or community services. Its not one or the other, its both, and we do both. Stothert told a council meeting last month that she wouldnt defund the police, referring to calls to cut the departments budget by 25 percent. We cannot cut the police budget by 25 percent. It would be irresponsible. It would be reckless and a city cannot survive without law enforcement. And so we are going to continue to fund our police department, the way we need it to be funded, she said at the time. Cities that have opted to slash funding to the police include Austin, which last week cut about a third of the budget, and Seattle, where lawmakers this month approved reducing police funding by nearly $4 million. The US International Trade Commission says it has launched an investigation into whether certain Apple mobile devices and laptops have infringed patents held by Japan's tech firm Maxell. The commission announced the Section 337 investigation on Wednesday following allegations made by the Japanese consumer electronics company last month. In seeking the ITC probe, Maxell has alleged Apple devices violate patents covering technology, including an unlocking feature and video transmission processes. Maxell has asked the commission to prohibit the importation and sale of the alleged infringing devices into the United States. The Commission has said 'mobile devices, tablets, smartwatches, and laptop computers sold under the Apple brand name' are included in the investigation, according to a notice from the ITC. Maxell has filed multiple lawsuits against Apple in the past, alleging repeatedly that the California-based company's devices infringe on their intellectual properties. The US International Trade Commission says it has launched an investigation into whether certain Apple mobile devices and laptops have infringed patents held by Japan's tech firm Maxell The Japanese tech company, which is based in Kyoto, has previously accused Apple of infringing on more than 10 patents, including on its 'Maps' and 'Find My Friends' iPhone apps. The alleged infringements include walking navigation, wireless communications and passcode unlocks. The first lawsuit was filed by Maxell in 2019 and the second was filed earlier this year. Both lawsuits are still ongoing. In its probe, the commission will now schedule an evidentiary hearing before making a final determination. The commission had said it will aim to have the probe completed within 45 days. Investigations into patent infringements can often take years. The announcement of the investigation comes on the same day Apple became the first US company to boast a market value of $2 trillion - just two years after it became the first to reach $1 trillion. Apple's share price rose more that 1 percent on Wednesday to $468.35 for a market capitalization of $2 trillion. Apple shares have gained nearly 60 percent this year as the company overcame the shutdown of factories in China that produce the iPhone and the closure of its retail sales amid the coronavirus pandemic. But with the growth have come increasing question's about Apple's size and influence, with CEO Tim Cook and other top tech executives recently being called to testify in Congress and facing hard questions about potential antitrust concerns. An all-time view of Apple's stock price is seen above. The company's share price rose more that 1 percent on Wednesday, to $468.35 at 11am, for a market capitalization of $2 trillion Apple CEO was called to testify before Congress last month over antitrust concerns With Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet, all now worth around $1 trillion or more, the big US tech companies are together worth more than $6 trillion. Just five companies - Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Googles parent company - account for nearly 23 percent of the S&P 500's entire value. Last week, 'Fortnite' video game giant Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of 'monopolistic' behavior for demanding a 30 percent cut of all fees charged by apps in its ecosystem. The suit seeks a court order ending Apple's commission structure and forcing Apple to allow users to install software on iPhones outside the confines of the App Store. Apple takes a cut of between 15 percent and 30 percent for most app subscriptions and payments made inside apps, though there are some exceptions for companies that already have a credit card on file for iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app payment that would benefit Apple. Epic's lawsuit relies almost completely on the one argument that Apple's iOS app distribution and in-app payment systems are their own markets. It also goes further to argue that Apple purposely created those markets by building an 'ecosystem' of devices and services meant to favor Apple products. 'A customer choosing to purchase or switch to a non-Apple device loses access to these services, leading to increased costs a customer must face when choosing to leave Apples ecosystem,' Epic wrote. In a statement, Apple said Fortnite was removed because Epic had launched the payment feature with the 'express intent of violating the App Store guidelines' after having had apps in the store for a decade. 'The fact that their (Epic) business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users,' Apple said. Apple's primary defense in the past when confronted with allegations of anticompetitive practices is that it does not have a majority share of the global smartphone market. 'Apple does not have a dominant market share in any market where we do business,' Chief Executive Tim Cook told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on competition in digital markets in July. Evidence shows that food is an unlikely route of transmitting the coronavirus across borders, but contaminated items continue to grab the spotlight, deepening the uncertainty over whether the $US220 billion ($303 billion) cold chain industry could be implicated in the spread of COVID-19. China has repeatedly found traces of the pathogen on packaging and food, raising fears that imported items are linked to recent virus resurgences in Beijing and the port city of Dalian. In the nation's strongest action since it began testing food items in June, a major Chinese city on Sunday banned imports of frozen meat from coronavirus hotspots. The virus has been found on shipments of frozen foods in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Yantai. Credit:Bloomberg Cold-storage facilities and meat processing plants are ideal environments for the virus to spread, as the pathogen thrives in cold and dry environments. But there has been no concrete evidence the virus can be transmitted through food, and experts remain doubtful that it's a major threat. "We know that viruses usually can survive being frozen. So that means in theory it's possible that infection could spread that way," said Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong. "But in reality, it's a very low risk that that would happen because so many steps would need to be involved." Six years ago, Chrystia Freeland was a rookie political celebrity on stage in Montreal, part of a cast of other star recruits to Justin Trudeaus Liberal party, when everything seemed possible. She is now Canadas first female finance minister and arguably the most powerful woman in politics in this country. But inside Trudeaus Liberal government, Freeland also enjoys another distinction she is one of the last one of those stars still shining. With the exception of Freeland, power has not really been all that kind to the fresh-faced optimism that Trudeau promised to bring to federal politics, back when it seemed that all Canada needed was sunny ways and new faces. Flash back to the others on that stage in 2014 Trudeaus first Liberal convention after assuming the leadership of the party: There was Jody Wilson-Raybould, who rose to the heights of the justice ministry, only to leave in a blaze of controversy in the SNC-Lavalin saga. There was Andrew Leslie, a much-decorated Canadian Forces general, who exited politics after four desultory years on the back bench. There was Chima Nkemdirim, who served as chief of staff to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, and never did make his way to Ottawa. Jim Carr, who remains in Trudeaus cabinet in a low-profile role due to cancer treatments, and Bill Morneau, the now-former finance minister who is exiting politics for an uncertain future, were also there. How Freeland rose above all these others may someday be the subject of a book. It was a book by her, Plutocrats, that drew her to Trudeaus attention when she was a journalist and author. But a clear and obvious theme is how Freeland has managed to step in when others falter or are found wanting by Trudeau. The new finance minister was asked on Tuesday by the Stars Tonda MacCharles when she had ever said no to Trudeau. Freeland demurred; the key to their working relationship, she said, was that she didnt air those differences in public. But a pattern has emerged: Freeland steps up and says yes when Trudeau says no to others. She stepped into the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 2017 when Stephane Dion, the former Liberal leader, wasnt working out for Trudeau. The story then was that Freeland was better suited to deal with the new Donald Trump administration than Dion would be. She became deputy prime minister after the last election in large part to fill the gap left by Gerald Butts, Trudeaus long-time friend and principal secretary, who was also a casualty of the SNC-Lavalin saga. In the first term, Butts had served as an unofficial deputy prime minister; Freeland got the job to make that role official. She also took on federal-provincial relations after the last election because it was a realm in which Trudeau had become a flashpoint for antagonism amid a sea of Conservative-blue premiers. Again, from failing hands, the torch was passed to her. Now Freeland is taking over from Morneau, whose relationship with Trudeau had become problematic, though the precise nature of the problems remains buried amid a swirl of talking points, anonymous news reports and official denials. We may find out what Morneau did wrong by watching what Freeland tries to set right in the days and months ahead. Some say that Morneau was simply too earnest and naive for politics he never did learn how to be an effective communicator. He constantly looked out of touch with the day-to-day life of the middle class, whether it was his ill-fated 2017 tax proposals for the self-employed or his more recent failure to remember a $41,000 bill he forgot to pay to WE Charity for family travel. Others say that Morneau was just too often an ethics challenge for Trudeau and the WE Charity involvement was the last straw. Then theres the more recent set of rumours about Trudeau and Morneau at loggerheads on policy, especially with regard to pandemic recovery. This is the least believable, given that tension with the Prime Ministers Office goes with the job of being finance minister, and this cant have been breaking news to Morneau or Trudeau in the past few weeks. Freelands rise to the top of Trudeaus government is the story of what she has done right. Much has been written, and will be written, about the nature of her success in this government. But its also the story of where things have gone awry for Trudeau, and how far he and his team have travelled since the days when all it seemed the Liberals needed were stars and sunny ways. As it turns out, Trudeaus future wasnt foretold in the sky. The biggest star in his world, Freeland, has achieved that standing through all the ways that this prime minister has fallen to earth. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:28:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARARE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo has denied depiction that the country is in crisis, saying activities were stage-managed to manipulate the perception of the international community. He also denied that there were human rights violations being perpetrated by the state against its citizens, and challenged purveyors of such information to provide evidence of such activities. The negative reflection of Zimbabwe on social media was internally generated and intended to reach foreign destinations, particularly ahead of international and regional summits, The Herald newspaper on Wednesday quoted Moyo as saying. "There is no crisis in Zimbabwe. There are challenges, which are found in any other nation," he said. He called on Zimbabweans to be patriotic and said that there should be dialogue whenever necessary to deal with sticky issues. "The whole gamut of issues has been associated with activities that have been stage managed to a point that they are seen as real. As Zimbabweans, we must be Zimbabweans first. That must be our priority. "It is pointless to destroy your home as if you have a second country. If there are issues that are not better understood, there must be dialogue," Moyo said. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Zimbabwe is a member, held its ordinary heads of state and government summit at the beginning of the week and did not raise any issues about the situation in Zimbabwe. "Yes, as a nation like any other country we have got challenges, especially under COVID-19. We have had lockdowns. For the past two decades we have been under sanctions and the economy has been limping. "There is climate change, a direct consequence of drought, Cyclone Idai and lower generation of electricity. So there is less generation of food in the agriculture sector. Government has by all means developed strategies to arrest some of these challenges," he said. Moyo said the negative perception of Zimbabwe has emanated from within to influence the international community. "Negativity, which has recently mushroomed against Zimbabwe... Let us look at what is the source. The source is internal, generated locally by our own people for the purpose of social media consumption so that it can reach certain personalities, destinations and capitals, which should respond negatively to Zimbabwe. "That is the scenario. The consumer is social media and mostly those people who are outside," he said. Enditem A police officer looks at his cell phone at Shanghai Film Center (SFC) in Shanghai on July 25, 2020. (Yifan Ding/Getty Images) Shanghai Police Director Sacked as Chinese Regime Targets Security Apparatus for Purge Gong Daoan, director of the Shanghai police bureau and the citys deputy mayor, was sacked on Aug. 18, representing the first Shanghai official, and the third top official from the Chinese regimes security apparatus, to be punished this year. Shanghai is known as the stronghold of a political faction loyal to former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zeminthe chief political rivals of current leader Xi Jinping. The Partys internal anti-corruption watchdog, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), announced on Tuesday: Gong Daoan is suspected of seriously violating discipline and laws, and is under investigation and inspection. After the announcement, the Party boss of Shanghai Li Qiang and Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng urgently hosted two meetings with senior Party officials in Shanghai that day to express their loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and their faith in the central government. U.S.-based China affairs commentator Li Linyi analyzed that Gong was very close to Meng Jianzhu, former Jiang loyalist and former head of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC), a Party agency that oversees the countrys security apparatus, including police, courts, and prisons. Chinese leader Xi Jinpings authorities are investigating Gong to target Meng Jianzhu, Li said. Gong Daoan Gong was director of the Shanghai police bureau, and sixth-ranked out of the eight deputy mayors of Shanghai. According to state-run media Xinhua, Gong, 55, began his career as a police officer in Hubei Province and worked his way up the ranks. In 2010, Gong was promoted to become deputy director of the No. 12 Bureau, the criminal investigation branch of Chinas Ministry of Public Security. Two years later, he was promoted to director. In June 2017, Gong was appointed director of Shanghais police bureau. Then, in January 2018, Gong was granted another title as Shanghai deputy mayor. After CCDI announced its investigation of Gong, his resume was removed from the Shanghai municipal governments official website. CCDI did not give details about Gongs suspected wrongdoing. As deputy mayor of Shanghai, Gong maintained the second-highest ranking as a vice-provincial-level official within the Partys bureaucratic system. He is the first official of that ranking in Shanghai to be sacked since nearly three years ago, when the Party held an important conclave, the 19th National Congress. Meng Jianzhu When Gong worked at the Ministry of Public Security, Meng Jianzhu was the minister. Gong was broadly believed to be loyal to Meng. Meng Jianzhu attends the opening session of the rubber stamp legislative conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 3, 2014. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Taiwan-based China affairs commentator Chen Simin wrote in a 2017 commentary that Gong was involved in cases led by Meng, such as an anti-corruption investigation into Zhang Jian, then-director of the No. 12 Bureau. Meng, 73, was loyal to former Party leader Jiang Zemin. Since Xi took power in November 2012, he has sought to purge officials loyal to Jiang under a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. Those include former PLAC head Zhou Yongkang, former Party boss of Chongqing city Bo Xilai, and former vice-chairman of Chinas top military council Guo Boxiong. Unlike his peers, Meng quit Jiangs faction and showed his loyalty to Xi Jinping in February 2012 as the latter came to power. However, China observers speculate that Meng was actually still faithful to Jiang. Meng retired in 2017. Target In the past four months, two of Mengs followers have been sacked. On April 19, CCDI announced an investigation into Sun Lijun, who was suspected of serious violations of Party discipline and the law. Sun, 51, was No. 5 vice-minister within the public security ministry. On June 14, CCDI announced Deng Huilin was sacked. Deng, 55, was director of the Chongqing police bureau. Insiders from the Chinese central government told The Epoch Times in April that Sun was involved in a coup to force Xi to resign. The Epoch Times could not independently verify this information. Commentator Li Linyi analyzed that Sun, Deng, and Gong used to work with each other closely to support Meng. I believe that [Xis] target is Meng Jianzhu. He is using a similar strategy as when Zhou Yongkang was investigated and detained, which is investigating the targets followers to collect evidence. Then, arrest the target, Li said. Li analyzed that Zhao Fei, current PLAC director of Tianjin city, might be investigated soon because Zhao is another key follower of Meng. In July, PLAC Secretary-General Chen Yixin hosted a meeting in Beijing to begin a cleansing campaign within the agency nationwide. Chen announced that the Party will complete the purge by the first quarter of 2022, right before its 20th National Congress, a conference that occurs every five years to determine the next succession of Party leaders. Asia will likely import record volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2020 as firms snap up the fuel to make petrochemicals used in protective gear against the coronavirus, while households under lockdown ramped up purchases for cooking. The region will buy some 67-69.5 million tonnes of the gas from abroad this year, surpassing last years record, analysts from consultancy firms IHS Markit, FGE and Wood Mackenzie said. That would represent a 1-3% increase on 2019 import volumes. Strong Asian demand could weigh on supplies in coming months just as Europe is likely to step up purchases of the fuel for heating in winter, an industry source in Singapore said. While supply was Also read: Indias trade with South Asia less than 4% of global trade; Chinas up by 546% We expect (LPG) import demand to increase in 2020 over 2019 with stronger demand in both residential and petrochemical sectors, said Rui Hou, research analyst of Wood Mackenzie. He Yanyu, IHS Markits executive director of natural gas liquids research, said some 33 million tonnes of LPG had already been imported in the first half of 2020. In total, Asia would get some 52% of its LPG supplies this year from the Middle East, 35% from the United States and the rest from countries including Canada and Australia, said He. LOCKDOWNS BOOST COOKING While lockdowns and travel restrictions to curb the spread of the pandemic crushed appetite for oil products such as jet fuel and gasoline this year, there was growing demand for LPG as a cooking fuel in places like India and Indonesia, as more people stayed at home. India, Asias second biggest importer of LPG, is expected to buy a record 15.8 million tonnes of LPG from abroad this year, a 9% rise from 2019, data from FGE showed. The countrys imports had surged 16% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year after the government said it would provide free LPG fuel for cooking for three months until June. Indian LPG imports Indian LPG imports https://graphics.reuters.com/ASIA-LPG/DEMAND/jbyprkzdwve/index.html Although India has overbought the fuel, the backlog could clear by September, with demand set to rise ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepavali in November, industry sources said. In general we should continue to see strong demand from India but maybe after a slight slowdown as stocks are absorbed, said Alexander Booth, head of research at data intelligence firm Kpler. This sentiment was shared by consultant Jeslyn Chua at FGE. We believe the Indians will definitely be back for October delivery (cargoes) given that their inventories would be drawn down by then. On top of that, the Indians will need to prepare for Deepavali, she said. Another country which uses LPG predominantly as a cooking fuel is Indonesia, Asias fifth largest LPG importer. Indonesias LPG imports are expected to hit 6.1 million tonnes this year, a 7% rise from 2019, and a record high volume for the country, said Chua. The demand in the rest of Asia is largely being driven by good petrochemical demand, primarily to satisfy the explosion in global PPE (personal protective equipment) requirements, said Kplers Booth. There is no reason to think this will disappear quickly. A man has caused a series of motorway accidents in Berlin, injuring six people including three seriously in what German prosecutors Wednesday described as an Islamist act. The man appears to have had an "Islamist motivation according to our current knowledge", prosecutors told AFP. Local media reported that the man was a 30-year-old Iraqi who had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) when getting out of his car Tuesday night. Search Keywords: Short link: Wilfredo Lee/AP American Airlines is making a few changes to their facial covering policy, following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said facial coverings with one way valves or vents allow air to get through holes in the material and can actually contribute to the spread of coronavirus, so effective Aug. 19, they will no longer be allowed when flying with American, the airline said in a press release. With the recent news that Hyundai will create a sub-brand of all-electric vehicles all using the Ioniq name starting in early 2021, the Korean companys compact hatchback will become Hyundais OG of EVs: the model that originally proved to the company that vehicles that used only electrons could actually sell to mainstream consumers. Granted, it also launched versions of the Ioniq that used a little gas (the Ioniq plug-in hybrid PHEV) and a Hybrid that cant be plugged in at all, to provide a family of drivetrain choices similar to what its rival the Toyota Prius offers though Toyotas famous hybrid still hasnt produced an electric-only version. Ironically, the Ioniq BEV tested here wont be part of the new Ioniq brand, at least not in its current form, and its currently unclear whether the Ioniq BEV will be renamed or retired. What we do know is that the first of this new brand of vehicles will be called the Ioniq 5, based on the Hyundai 45 electric concept, a mid-size all-electric SUV that will be built on the E-GMP platform, the dedicated architecture for all three Ioniq models planned between now and 2024. The Ioniq 6 will come in 2022, its sedan body style suggested by even numbers, while SUVs will be odd numbered and roughly correspond in size to their values in the Ioniq lexicon. The Ioniq 6 was previewed by Hyundais stunning Prophecy concept unveiled in early March, with a larger Ioniq 7 SUV slated to arrive in 2024. With that E-GMP architecture confirmed as an EV-dedicated platform, it looks like every upcoming Ioniq-brand vehicle will be all-electric, perhaps suggesting that the current Ioniq strategy of multiple levels of electrification may soon be drawing to a close. If thats the case, then this or a tweaked version of this Ioniq Electric could easily become an Ioniq 2 or 4, given that Hyundai just refreshed and upgraded the 2020 Ioniq in significant ways. But maybe not, as there is still some evidence of compromises necessitated by the one-size-fits-all current platform. The best news is clear: Hyundai has endowed the 2020 Ioniq with a larger 38.3 kWh battery, compared to the earlier 28 kWh fuel tank, which means significantly more driving range theres now 274 kilometres, compared to the 200 km available in earlier models, according to official government figures. Thats a huge improvement, clearly, but its also still significantly lower overall than the best-in-class 415-ish km ranges of the latest Chevrolet Bolt or the pricier Hyundai Kona EV. Theres also a slightly quicker on-board vehicle charger, now 7.2 kW from 6.6, which allows for roughly the same charging times of about six hours if youre pulling into your garage on electron fumes. If you need a quicker charge, the Ioniq can use a CCS Combo charger (480V) for Level 3 charging that can offer a near zero to 80 per cent charge in 54 minutes, according to Hyundai. This latter ability was key over my week with the Ioniq, as we took it on a 300 km weekend cottage trip with the family and lots of gear. Before leaving, I made special note of the estimated range at full charge on the Ioniq: 335 km with no climate control, and 310 km with the AC switched on plus wed likely be less efficient on this 90 per cent highway trip. This all meant the 150 km trip there would be smooth sailing, but for the return trip, Id likely need at least a bit of a top up, to avoid any range anxiety over the hour and a half drive back home. We arrived at the cottage with 167 km left showing on the dash, which proved both an amazingly accurate range prediction, and amazing efficiency overall. And thanks to a nearby Lake Simcoe country charger, a quick 15-minute stay added a confidence-boosting 72 km of range up to a healthier 239 km reading, or roughly an 80 per cent charge. The top up, by the way, cost $5.17, and could be done conveniently by credit card, even without the affiliated Greenlots app or RFID card. Could we have made the 150 km return trip without the extra charge, as the 167 km dash reading suggested? Perhaps, and theres a handy navi mode that graphically maps out for the driver how far is possible on its current state of charge. One downside to this years update? Hyundai didnt upgrade the speed at which the latest Ioniq EV can quick charge sadly, it actually downgraded that capability, from a maximum charge speed of roughly 70 kW previously, to a maximum of about 50 kW now, as reflected in its 54-minute quick charge time to 80 per cent, compared to its former 24-minute estimate on the smaller 28 kWh battery. The fastest I saw those electrons pumping into the Ioniq was at 23 kW, about half its max rate, though it stayed fairly consistently near that speed until I unplugged at just under 80 per cent. This slower max charge rate wont make any difference if the quick charger youre at maxes out at 50 kW anyway, which many of the older ones do. But newer 100 kW to 350 kW quick chargers are now springing up, and the Ioniq EV is unfortunately not going to be able to take advantage of the quicker charging speeds offered at these newer L3 quick chargers many of which charge by time, no matter how many electrons your vehicle can slurp up per minute. That said, the Ioniq EV is one of the least expensive BEVs on the market, with a starting price of $41,499 for the base model, which includes a healthy set of standard equipment: heated steering wheel, automatic emergency braking (with pedestrian and cyclist detection), active cruise control (which can bring the Ioniq to a stop and restart automatically), seven airbags (including driver knee bag), plus Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. The $45,899 top Ultimate trim tested here adds niceties such as leather seats, heated rear seats, two-person memory seat settings, a sunroof, a wireless phone charging pad which strangely but perhaps safely faces the phone away from the driver plus LED lighting inside and out. The Ioniqs practical five-door hatchback body is lower than its Kona EV sibling, making it slightly tougher for older or less mobile folks to climb in and out of it, with a roomy cargo area marred only by seats that dont fold flat, and a charge cable case that looks like it could be much better integrated underneath the floor. Then again, the pricier Kona is in such high demand that it must now be special ordered, according to Hyundais consumer site, unlike the Ioniq. But the Ioniq arguably drives nicer than the Kona EV, with no artificial train whistle sound at low speed to its smooth and quiet electric powertrain that constantly had me looking around for sirens in the electric Kona. It has similar regeneration paddles that provide some active driving involvement although the flat bottom steering wheel seems to promise dynamic chops the Ioniq EV cant provide, either in a straight line (0-100 km/h in 9.7 seconds, via EV-database.org) or in corners, where its confident but not electrifying. Just because you can see through a glass panel on the rear hatch doesnt make this a modern sporty Honda CRX funster. Sure, it would be great if there was at least some cargo room under the front hood, as in other EVs, but not available on platforms shared with gas-using versions. And it would be even better if there was not a nearly identical-looking Ioniq Hybrid on sale that starts at $25,399. For that last reason alone as much as the Ioniq EV is nicer-driving compared to the Hybrid, and for all its worthy 2020 improvements Hyundai may wish to turn its Ioniq EV into a unique-looking Ioniq X sooner rather than later. 2020 Hyundai Ioniq EV Ultimate Body style: Compact EV hatchback Drive method: Front-wheel-drive, single-speed reduction gear, 100 kW motor, 38.3 kWh lithium-ion battery Engine: NA; 134 hp, 218 lb.-ft. Fuel economy: 1.6/1.9/1.8 Le/100 km (Range: 274 km) Cargo volume: 650 litres (22.95 cu. ft.) Tow rating: Not recommended Price: $45,899 not including destination fee taxes and options Website: www.hyundaicanada.com (Natural News) Most consumers who indulge themselves with mood-enhancing treats like sugar, nicotine, alcohol, or high doses of caffeine, are also paying a price on the back end when the dopamine crutch wears off, and they experience what has come to be known as the chemical hangover. With the chemical hangover, the only mainstream relief for it comes as more of the same, which compounds the pain and agony when it runs out or cant be accessed due to location. Anyone who smokes, vapes or boozes up regularly knows this suffering all too well, like when theyre stuck at work, on a plane or train, at an event or training, or even at the movies. Thats when the chemical hangover kicks in, whether in the form of anxiety, headaches, energy crashes or just plain depression. So why do people over-indulge in nicotine, sugar and caffeine to begin with? Its not usually because of some dare to take as much as they can and see how wild they feel. Its a long term curse that keeps getting worse, as your body builds tolerance, and you have to consume more and more to get that fix. Yes, its a fix, like a drug. And its got a hangover, like a drug. Yet, Mother Nature has a cure for everything, you just have to find it and take it. Theres a counter for everything, and some of these supplements and superfoods have been around for thousands of years, working their magic for the health and longevity enthusiasts who know the secret power of the most powerful herbs, tinctures and powders. Some of these superfoods include: #1. Chaga Mushrooms #2. Rhodiola #3. Schisandra Berry #4. Vitamin B-12 (as Methylcobalamin) #5. Mucuna Krave Kicker Chaga spores levitate to fight aging and increase longevity #1. Without a doubt, chaga mushrooms are the premiere way to boost immune function, cognitive function and longevity. If you take it by tincture, youll feel it kick in within minutes, heightening your awareness, your mood and your drive to improve your life and the world. For an elevated feeling that lasts for hours, try chaga mushrooms in powder (capsules) or tincture form, and look for organic to get the most bang for your buck. Ready to drop the nic crutch and boost your immunity with some cancer-fighting chaga spores? Get with the program and swallow it whole. Get healthy. #2. Ever heard of an herb called Rhodiola Rosea (pronounced like rodeo la ro zay-ya), also known as rose root? Most smokers and people who eat processed food every day arent seeking out natural remedies like rose root, so they have no idea that the rewards for simply supplementing properly outweigh the hurt theyre inflicting on themselves from continued overuse of those immediately gratifying bad habits. Its all about the reward with natural remedies, with no side effects, hangovers, crashes or ill-health effects. Looking to regulate those hormones and fix depression? Want to increase endurance and energy? Rhodiola is an adaptogen that helps your body adapt to stressful situations (mental and physical) that throw you off balance. Get it? Thats why smokers smoke and vapers vape because stress throws them off balance and darkens their outlook. Stressed at work? Try rhodiola. #3. Schisandra berry packs a stronger energy punch than most energy drinks out there, but few people know it. Native to Russia and northeast China, these sweet-n-pungent adaptogen berries are dried in the sun and put in supplements. For increased physical endurance due to fatigue reduction, schisandra berry also increases mental performance. How valuable is THAT when youre trying to quit or cut back on nicotine, sugar or caffeine? Key supplement combination: Vitamin B-12 with mucuna pruriens makes a world of difference Get numbers 4 and 5 together in new supplement beverage invention that kicks nicotine and sugar cravings for hours on end, and effectively. Its time to balance your central nervous system and help boost dopamine production at the same time. Thats how you beat and defeat the chemical hangover from smoking, vaping or even over-consuming caffeine and sugar. That, my friends, brings us to the key supplement Vitamin B-12, and you should seek it in the form of methylcobalamin. This is how you find balance when the pesticides from cigarettes hit you, when that nicotine wears off and you cant resume business as usual. Feeling anxious? Feeling nervous? Getting stressed and depressed as the nicotine, sugar and caffeine wear off? Now, a revolutionary, evolutionary blend of key supplements that have never been introduced to the beverage industry before. The new supplement beverage Krave Kicker is the ultimate dopamine boost. Backed by solid science and peer-reviewed research, a superfood called mucuna pruriens helps boost dopamine levels in a safe and very effective way. Tune your internet dial to StopSmoking.news for more info on the nicotine challenge and natural ways to end useless addictions. Sources for this article include: Naturalife.org KraveKicker.com NaturalNews.com MedicinalHerbals.net StopSmoking.news Born in Kolkata, India, in 1963, Banerjee now works in the US. She is renowned for works about the splintering of identity, tradition, and culture often prevalent in diasporic communities. In a single assemblage, one can find materials sourced from around the world, including African tribal jewelry, Murano glass, and South Asian antiques. "While the works can be enjoyed as vividly colored and sensuously layered sculptures, they also address themes of multiple identities, feminism, the impact of colonialism, cultural appropriation, and globalization," says Frist Art Museum chief curator Mark Scala. Banerjee's works often reflect her South Asian ancestry, but are not limited by biography, ethnicity, race, or class. "You see an elasticity of boundaries in her hybrid characters, which contain associations with the feminine but avoid socially constructed expectations of gender," says Scala. "Banerjee seeks to transcend labels and reject fixed definitions and by doing so frames identity as an ongoing process of negotiation and personal choice." Humanity's interactions with the natural environment are another major theme in Banerjee's practice. Juxtaposing organic objects such as oyster and cowrie shells with synthetic products, she shows this relationship to be both interdependent and destructive. The exhibition is organized thematically and begins with In breathless confinement . . . , an updated version of Infectious Migrations, a work included in the 2000 Whitney Biennial that links metaphors of disease with immigration. Also on view will be a selection of sculptures that were featured in the 2017 Venice Biennale. The titles of Banerjee's works, often more than fifty words long and filled with idiosyncratic spelling and free association, represent her rebellion against the worldwide dominance of the English language. These titles, Banerjee says, are "my attempt to massage [the English language] to speak for a vast number of people who use it sparingly, awkwardly, creatively under the pressures of globalization, colonization, and the commercialization of English culture." "While containing echoes of the displacement that resulted from India's history of colonialism, independence, partition, and religious nationalism, her works also relate to diasporas worldwide," says Scala. "They raise a question: when people are uprooted from their place of origin, how do they cultivate a new identity that goes beyond the cultural legacy that has been left behind? A dilemma for any migrant, this question is particularly acute for the transient artist." In an interview quoted in the exhibition catalogue, Banerjee notes, "In Western art, to explore something you cannot identify with is a kind of dishonesty, because authenticity is a compass . . . [but] authenticity does not exist for the diaspora." By embracing this rootlessness, Banerjee's works recast the idea of authenticity from being a measure of geography, history, and genetics to being an encapsulation of human fluidity. This change in perspective affirms the role of displaced individuals in redefining contemporary society. Programs Friday, October 9 Artist's Perspective: Conversation with Rina Banerjee and Mark Scala Noon Free; registration required Register here Rina Banerjee joins chief curator Mark Scala in conversation about the exhibition Make Me a Summary of the World. Learn more about Banerjee's artistic practice and how exhibiting at the Frist Art Museum, which occupies Nashville's former main post office, symbolizes the ideal of egalitarian communication that is at the core of her work. This program will be presented on Zoom. Exhibition Credit Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World was co-organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and the San Jose Museum of Art, California. Supporter Acknowledgment Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World is made possible in part by major grants from the William Penn Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Exelon Foundation and PECO, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Platinum sponsor: HCA/TriStar Health Silver supporter: The Sandra Schatten Foundation Supported in part by Ameriprise Financial Hospitality sponsor: Union Station Hotel Education and community engagement supporter: The Windgate Foundation The Frist Art Museum is supported in part by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Connect with us @FristArtMuseum #TheFrist #FristBanerjee About the Frist Art Museum Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Frist Art Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art exhibition center dedicated to presenting and originating high-quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach activities. Located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tenn., the Frist Art Museum offers the finest visual art from local, regional, national, and international sources in exhibitions that inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways. Information on accessibility can be found at FristArtMuseum.org/accessibility. Gallery admission is free for visitors ages 18 and younger and for members, and $15 for adults. For current hours and additional information, visit FristArtMuseum.org or call 615.244.3340. SOURCE Frist Art Museum Related Links https://fristartmuseum.org/ A new commercial for Amazon Prime has triggered a new boycott movement as it features some controversial celebrities as reported by Campaign Asia. The Japanese hashtag #Amazon, which translates to "AmazonPrimeCancellationMovement" topped the trending list on Twitter in Japan on August 17 after the hashtag began to trend since the day before. According to Japanese daily The Mainichi, many users canceled their Amazon Prime subscription because the 15-second ad commercial includes the appearance of celebrities like comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto and political scientist Ruri "Lully" Miura. Amazon Prime is a monthly paid subscription that provides streaming services across multiple devices as well as free delivery for some items. In the video advertisement, personalities including comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto and political scientist Ruri "Lully" Miura are watching movies and videos on TV and tablets while their voices are narrating on the background. Japanese consumers did not like the TV commercial of Amazon that features the two controversial celebrities. More and more people have tweeted that they already canceled their contract for the paid streaming service with the hashtag promoting the boycott. Miura rose to popularity after arguing about the use of a conscription system. In 2018, she appeared in a TV program and made controversial remarks, including her comment about the city of Osaka being risky. She also commented that there were terrorist elements from North Korea, as critics said her remarks would "fuel discrimination" towards Koreans living in Japan. Miura countered the criticisms in her blog, saying there was nothing new about her comments as they were a known fact shared among experts. Meanwhile, in 2019, Matsumoto also appeared on the same TV program and went under fire after describing the suspect in the Tokyo stabbing incident as a "defective product." Read also: Amazon to Build First Robotic Warehouse in Australia; Retail Stores Gear Up for Robots Amazon Prime: What the consumers say about the ads The recent TV advertisement published by Amazon Prime has been trending on social media, but not for good reasons. It triggered a movement to boycott the company or cancel the services. "To use a person who said something wrong or things that hurt others is tantamount to the company giving its consent to those statements," a Twitter user said on a tweet slamming Matsumoto and Miura's presence in the commercial. Another Twitter user explained that featuring certain personalities in TV ads reflects the messages that companies want to convey and their corporate stance. "It is only natural for consumers opposing the use of those celebrities (in the Amazon Prime ads) to boycott the service," he added. Meanwhile, brain scientist Kenichiro Mogi questioned the boycott movement. "This hashtag is not right. As a human being, you shouldn't oppose someone just because they have a slightly different position from yours," Mogi said. Takachiho University International Political Science Professor Ikuo Gonoi said the online boycott movement is "a form of 'hashtag activism." In this new form of consumer movement in social media, citizens express their opinions on Twitter using hashtags. In response to the public's reactions, an Amazon Japan public relations staff said the company takes "customers' reactions seriously" and incorporate them in their future productions. Read also: Amazon 'Stole' Data From Its Own Sellers to Launch Competing Products, Report Says This is owned by Tech Times. Written by CJ Robles 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. At first glance it looks like a real estate listing for an ordinary, two-storey red brick home but a shocking hidden feature has propelled the house to online fame Listed for sale in the city of Fayette, Missouri, the home comes with two bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms, and wait for it nine jail cells tucked away behind a door in the kitchen. The US$350,000 (AUD$482,287) house includes a 2500 square foot jail, complete with a booking room. The exterior of the home shows an ordinary looking two-storey brick house. Source: House of Brokers Realty Behind a door in the kitchen is a feature that has set tongues wagging around the world. Source: House of Brokers Realty Photos of the kitchen show an inconspicuous white door next to the marble bench, but once opened another heavier, metal door can be seen. Behind the mysterious door, a world away from the rest of the family home, is a dual-level prison with iron bars, metal bunks and concrete floors. The real estate listing markets the jail as the best part of the home, and says the possibilities are amazing. The house features nine cells and a holding room. Source: House of Brokers Realty The large, cold space is worlds away from the rest of the family home. Source: House of Brokers Realty A US journalist shared the unbelievable home on Twitter, joking that the cells are the perfect place for misbehaving children or your daughters boyfriend. This is extremely alarming, one Twitter user wrote in reaction. Whoever buys this house should absolutely be monitored by the authorities, a man said. Other parts of the family home, like this bathroom, are luxurious. Source: House of Brokers Realty In this family room, guests would have no idea that a complete jail was just metres away in the next room. Source: House of Brokers Realty Why dont they just say only human traffickers and pedophiles need apply? This is very disturbing and seems like it should not be legal, another person added. A look into the homes history shows a less sinister reason for the cells - the historic building constructed in 1875 was once a sheriffs house and jail. The home stands next to the current county jail. 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. You are here: China China honored "the most beautiful doctors" on the country's third Doctors' Day, which fell on Wednesday. This came as part of China's efforts to honor medical and health workers for their contributions in the fight against COVID-19. A total of 10 individuals and a team, excelling at both medical skills and work ethics, received the title from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the National Health Commission. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:06:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- Rain-triggered floods have affected tens of millions in dozens of provincial-level regions in China, and destroyed vast stretches of farmland and agricultural facilities. -- In the face of the floods, Chinese authorities have been mobilizing resources, using upgraded technology, and providing material support to ensure grain security and make up for losses in production. -- China's summer grain output has reached a historic high in 2020. The increasing plantation area of autumn grain and the well growing crops have laid a solid foundation for another bumper harvest. BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Since mid-July, Huang Xiaoping has been busy working in his 110-hectare paddy field, harvesting early rice and sowing for the next season. Huang also runs a rental business involving farm machinery in a village near the Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake in the central Hunan Province, helping local farmers during the "double rush" season. "We need to fight the current flood and strengthen the embankments," Huang said. According to China's Ministry of Emergency Management, rain-triggered floods had affected some 54.8 million people in 27 provincial-level regions as of late July, causing direct economic losses of 144.43 billion yuan (about 20.8 billion U.S. dollars). Restrictions on food exports and panic hoarding in some countries and regions, as well as 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, projected that COVID-19 could push up to 132 million people into starvation globally this year. Villagers transplant rice seedlings in Gaitian Village in Lixian County, central China's Hunan Province, July 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) Though downpours and floods destroyed vast stretches of farmland and agricultural facilities, flood control situation in the hard-hit provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui is improving as the water level in major waterways continues to recede. The flood control and drought relief headquarters of the two provinces have successively downgraded their emergency response level since early August. In the face of the floods, the Chinese provinces have been mobilizing resources, using upgraded technology, and providing material support to ensure grain security and make up for losses in production. For farmers like Huang, time is the essence. In the low-lying township of Liaonan near the Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, Wu Baolin was busy sowing seeds of late rice with two workers. He saw some two hectares of his crops damaged in the floods. "The harvest is finally guaranteed even if it might be delayed," Wu said, adding that there is no time to lose when it comes to growing crops. In Anhui, replantation of single-cropping rice has been carried out on every piece of farmland where the floodwater has receded. As of early August, more than 100,000 hectares of crops had been resowed, accounting for 38 percent of Anhui's total area of farmland needing replantation, according to the provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs. Aerial photo taken on July 20, 2020 shows villagers transplanting rice seedlings in Gaitian Village in Lixian County, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) China's total grain output consists of three parts -- early rice, summer grain and autumn production. Summer grain is the first season of the annual grain production, which accounts for more than a fifth of the annual output. Various measures have been adopted by authorities to ensure stable grain output amid efforts to control the COVID-19 epidemic, such as fully implementing support policies like the minimum purchase price for rice and wheat and improving the quality of spring plowing. As the world's top food producer and consumer, China saw its grain output reach a record high of 664 million tonnes last year, the 16th bumper year in a row. The country'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. Autumn grain crops, which include corn, middle- and late-season rice and soybean, account for the bulk of China's grain production. The total plantation area of autumn grain has increased steadily this year and the crops are growing fine, thus laying a solid foundation for another bumper harvest. In order to strengthen the prevention and control of plant diseases and pest, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has called for ramped up efforts against the invasion of fall armyworms, rice planthoppers and rice leaf rollers, the three migratory species of pest that threaten autumn grain production. A man uses a drone to spread pesticide on late rice in a rice field in Mixiang Village of Yiyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge) Pan Wenbo, a crop management official with the ministry, said despite severe floods in parts of the country, crop farming remains stable overall. Efforts have been made in grain reserves and circulation, grain purchasing, local grain reserves, and improving the capacity for emergency supply. The Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Finance have earmarked 935 million yuan in disaster relief funds to aid local disaster relief work in provinces including Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Anhui. Agricultural authorities have built up a 50,000-tonne seed reserve to cope with disasters and crop failures, with more than 7,000 tonnes of seeds already handled to support crop farming for 320,000 hectares of farmland. According to the department of agriculture and rural affairs in Hunan, the overall flood situation in the province is relatively stable compared with previous years, and the safety of grain production remains within a controllable range. Rice crops are loaded onto trucks heading for grain reserves in Nanchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Aug. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi) Wu Liquan, professor at Anhui Agricultural University, said the flooding is unlikely to cause a sharp decrease in grain production since the reinforced dikes and embankments along the Yangtze River have made farmlands safer. Besides, improved irrigation and drainage facilities coupled with advanced agricultural technologies, have further improved safety. In Hubei, more than 4,000 sci-tech workers from agricultural research institutions have been providing online and offline technical guidance to local farmers, donating more than 700 tonnes of farming supplies and distributing some 300,000 copies of various technical materials. "We will continue to listen to the needs of farmers and enterprises, help them solve problems and better serve the recovery of agricultural production," said You Aiqing, a rice breeding expert and deputy head of the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences. (Reporting by Ma Yunfei, Zhang Yujie, Zhou Mian, Liu Fangqiang, Wu Zhonghao) (Video reporter: Liu Bin, Yao Yu, Dai Wei; video editor: Zhao Xiaoqing) Commentary By Fred McMahon In a little-noted move, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) flexed its imperial muscle criminalizing criticism of it anywhere on the planet by issuing an arrest warrant for U.S. citizen Samuel Chu, a pro-democracy advocate for Hong Kong. In fact, by publishing this op-ed, this media outlet and I are breaking CCP laws and subject to trial by a CCP-controlled court and life imprisonment under concentration camp conditions. Be warned, just by reading this you too are breaking CCP law, as you are showing sympathy for criticism of the CCP. Dont think this is a rhetorical overstatement. The CCP may not come for us in the near future, but it has been busy abducting foreign citizens in other countries, threatening and assaulting protesters, and attacking free speech outside of China. While Canadians know of many bad acts by the CCP, including taking hostage two Canadians (Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor) on spurious charges after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Canada, the extent to which Supreme Leader Xi Jingping has ramped up his assault on freedom internationally is less understood. And there are no sign things will get better after they get worse just that they will get worse. The newest assaults rise from the security law the CCP forced on Hong Kong just over a month ago. It effectively outlaws any criticism of the party anywhere on the planet. Article 38 states: This Law shall apply to offences committed against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region. In other words, the security law doesnt just impose CCP law on Hong Kong; it imposes it on the world. The law criminalizes advocating Hong Kong independence, subversion (effectively any criticism of the CCP), terrorism (any opposition to the CCP), and working with foreign groups such as the Fraser Institute, which had deep ties in Hong Kong. I have keynoted several events in Hong Kong promoting freedom. They are now illegal and everyone involved would be arrested and thrown in prison. The language in the law is so broad that it means just what [the CCP] chooses it to mean, to quote Humpty Dumpty. In other words, anyone can be arrested anywhere for anything the CCP chooses. It was imposed on Hong Kong on June 30. The CCP could hardly wait to use its new toy, making for an eventful month of freedom suppression. The first day it was in force, Hong Kong police arrested 300 protesters. The government banned a dozen pro-democracy candidates from an election scheduled for Sept. 9, then cancelled the election and arrested four young people, ages 16 to 21, for pro-democracy social media accounts. Officials have been pulling books from schools and libraries and started a purge of teachers and professors. And now the police have asserted global power and have issued arrest warrants for six pro-democracy advocates outside Hong Kong, including U.S. citizen Chu. Other countries issue warrants for crimes committed by foreigners, but this is the first time a government has officially made criticism of its rulers an international crime. The CCP has pursued enemies outside China for years. In 2015, it abducted five Hong Kong booksellers one, a Swedish citizen, Gui Minhai, in Thailand, at least two in mainland China, and another one, a British citizen, disappeared from Hong Kong. China temporarily released Gui in 2017 and then re-arrested him while he was being accompanied by two Swedish diplomats. When Sweden protested, it was subject to CCP bullying, threats, insults and economic attacks, all too familiar to Canadians. Sweden probably has the worst relationship with China of any EU country, said Bjorn Jerden, of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Chinese embassy and consulate officials have orchestrated attacks on anti-CCP dissidents across the globe, including recent incidents in Britain, Australia and Canada. CCP diplomats are the least diplomatic in the world, attacking host countries with outrageous charges, frequently labelling any criticism of the regime as racist, which is rich, given that regime mouthpieces often stoop to racist attacks. Just ask the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, a Japanese-American who was attacked by Chinese media during his time as a naval commander in the Pacific because of his blood, background, political inclination and values. All of this was accelerated last year from the top. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ordered diplomats to assume a fighting spirit. Not to mention the horrors the CCP is visiting on Uyghur Muslims, the military confrontations it orchestrates globally, and the use of loans as a cudgel against governments. This has created an anti-CCP backlash across Asia, Africa, Europe, India and the Americas. But it doesnt matter. The CCP takes the world as its oyster. Its actions and rhetoric are becoming more bellicose. Expect worse. Fred McMahon is an analyst at the Fraser Institute. Actor Sanjana Sanghi who made her Bollywood debut with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's last film - 'Dil Bechara' - termed the Supreme Court's verdict directing CBI inquiry in Rajput's death case as "judgement of justice" on Wednesday. New Delhi [India], August 19 (ANI): Actor Sanjana Sanghi who made her Bollywood debut with late actor Sushant Singh Rajputs last film Dil Bechara termed the Supreme Courts verdict directing CBI inquiry in Rajputs death case as judgement of justice on Wednesday. The debutant actor took to her Instagram stories and described the two-month-long period, after Rajputs demise as treacherously painful. A treacherously painful 2 months later, finally the judgement of justice. #GlobalPrayers4SSR. TRUTH IS MIGHTY AND Will PREVAIL, she wrote in the story. Sanjana wished for the peace of the actors family for the path towards the truth. All the strength, peace & love to you for the path towards the truth that lies ahead @shwetasinghkirti & the entire family, she wrote. As the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death, several Bollywood celebrities took to social media and hailed the order. ALSO READ : Big win for Sushants family, SC orders CBI probe, asks Maharashtra to provide evidence ALSO READ : No connection to Aaditya Thackeray: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer on Sushant Singh Rajputs death probe The order came on actor Rhea Chakrabortys plea seeking to transfer the case filed against her in connection with the actors death from Bihars Patna to Mumbai. The late actors family has alleged that Chakraborty had abetted the alleged suicide of the actor and registered a case against her in Patna. The case was later transferred to the CBI. (ANI) ALSO READ : Taapsee Pannu talks about getting out of the skin of Prakashi Tomar for Saand Ki Aankh Exceptional Updated Gold Pre-Feasibility Study Results Ballarat, Aug 19, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - White Rock Minerals Ltd ( ASX:WRM ) is pleased to announce the results from a review and update to its 2017 Stage One Gold First Preliminary Feasibility Study1 ("2017 PFS"). This review - The Stage One (Gold First) 2020 Pre-feasibility Study Update ("2020 PFS Update Report" or "the Report") - has seen an increase in the gold Resource and gold Ore Reserve and significantly improved financial metrics, re-confirming a technically and economically robust and viable mining and gold processing project for its 100% owned Mt Carrington gold and silver Project in northern New South Wales, Australia ("Project").Management CommentsWhite Rock's MD&CEO, Matt Gill, said the outstanding results of the 2020 PFS Update for the Mt Carrington gold and silver project highlighted the opportunity to develop a substantial low cost Australian gold project with outstanding economics and strong financial returns, with genuine exposure to possible future silver production:"White Rock's Mt Carrington project is wonderfully placed with exposure to two strong and sought-after commodities - gold and silver. We have the best of both worlds - a low entry cost to gold production with exposure to potential silver production at the right time.This Pre-feasibility Study Update confirms Mt Carrington as a viable and robust project with significant potential upside in subsequent silver production and future gold and silver exploration.The compelling 2020 PFS Update outcomes demonstrate the Board's view that the Mt Carrington gold and silver Project is one of the best undeveloped gold projects on the east coast of Australia, with the potential to deliver an average of 35,500oz of gold per annum at an "all-in sustaining cost" ("AISC") of A$1,327/oz over an initial 5 year production period. At an assumed base case gold price of A$2,300/oz, well below current spot prices, the Project is expected to deliver robust margins and generate strong free cashflows averaging A$32M pa during its first five years of operation."Our project development strategy is underpinned by the construction of an onsite 1 million tonne per annum capacity CIL plant capable of producing gold dore bars and incorporating room for a flotation circuit and potentially producing a silver concentrate for sale in the future."The silver dominant Mineral Resource, containing some 8.3M ounces of Indicated Resource (refer ASX announcements 13 February 2012 & 20 November 2013) will be the subject of further mineralogy studies, metallurgical test work and concentrate sales discussions. Mining of these silver resources constitutes Stage Two of the Mt Carrington project."A low forecast pre-production capital investment of just A$39 million and a 14 month capital payback makes this a financially attractive proposition, with a base case pre-tax NPV8% of A$93 million and 82% Internal Rate of Return at the assumed gold price of A$2,300/oz. Using current spot prices of around A$2,600/oz, we have a Project with a 100% margin on its costs, and the pre-tax NPV improves to A$132 million and the IRR to 112%."There is substantial upside to our base case PFS numbers with strong potential to grow the current resource base of 352,000 ounces of gold and 23.2 Moz of silver through successful exploration on our large 183km3 land tenement package."The definition of an improved 174,000 oz Ore Reserve over that stated in 20171 indicates the financial viability of the project, with 88% of the mining plan underpinned by Ore Reserves."The focus now for this low cost high margin gold project, with a possible Silver Stage Two to follow, is to review options to fund and advance the project through the environmental approvals stage such that Development Consent can be achieved and a Final Investment Decision made."The robust economics of this Gold First PFS demonstrate the benefits of taking this project forward. As we mentioned in our June Quarterly Report, the updated financial and operating metrics will now allow the Company to complete a strategic review of Mt Carrington and select the best path to enhance Shareholder value from this project in light of the very strong gold price environment and significant interest in sliver."To view tables and figures, please visit:About White Rock Minerals Ltd White Rock Minerals Ltd (ASX:WRM) (OTCMKTS:WRMCF) is a diversified explorer and near-stage producer, headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria. The Company's flagship exploration project is Red Mountain in central Alaska. At Red Mountain, there are already two high grade zinc - silver - gold - lead VMS deposits, with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 9.1 million tonnes @ 609g/t AgEq / 13% ZnEq. The Company is also exploring its recently discovered large intrusion related gold anomaly at Last Chance, also located in the Tintina gold belt of Alaska, home to multi-million gold ounce deposits like Pogo, Fort Knox and the Donlin Project. The Company also has the Mt Carrington project, located near Drake, in Northern NSW, which is a near-production precious metals asset with a resource of 341,000 ounces of gold and 23.2 million ounces of silver on an approved mining lease, and with a Gold First PFS and JORC Reserve. Some New Vehicle Technologies Risk Failing While Others Become Must Have, J.D. Power Finds SEE ALSO: My Car Does What? The Latest ADAS Technologies and How They Work SEE ALSO: Reality Check: IIHS Reports Problems With Driver Assistance Technology SEE ALSO: AAA: Most Drivers Don't Understand New Car Driver Assistance Technology SEE ALSO: AAA Says Active Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) Interfere More Than Help Volvo Ranks Highest Overall for Tech Innovation; Hyundai Ranks Highest among Mass Market Brands Troy Michigan August 19, 2020 New-vehicle buyers are being offered an increasing number of advanced technology features, some of which are hits while others are currently missing the mark. The J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study,SM released today, finds that automakers that innovate and are early to offer new technologiesso long as customers value themstand to benefit most as those technologies enter the mainstream. The race never ends to develop must have vehicle technologies, said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & human machine interface research at J.D. Power. New technology continues to be a primary factor in the vehicle purchase decision. However, its critical for automakers to offer features that owners find intuitive and reliable. The user experience plays a major role in whether an owner will use the technology on a regular basis or abandon it and feel like they wasted their money. The study, now in its fifth year, has been redesigned for 2020 and specifically focuses on the most advanced technologies when they are first introduced in the market. The TXI Innovation Index measures how effectively each automotive brand brings these technologies to market, measured on a 1,000-point scale. The index combines the level of adoption of new technologies for each brand with the excellence in execution. The execution measurement examines how much owners like the technologies and how many problems they experience while using them. Following are key findings of the 2020 study: Sights set on creative camera views: Owners think highly of technologies that provide an extra set of eyes to help them drive their vehicle. Notably, owners in the luxury segment rate such technologies highest in five of the six satisfaction attributes measured in the study. Camera rear-view mirror earns the highest Execution Index score (894) among luxury owners, followed by ground view camera (884). Among advanced camera/vision technologies, camera rear-view mirror receives the highest overall execution in the mass market segment (889), followed by transparent trailer view (874) and ground view camera (858). High percentages of owners who have these three features say they definitely will want these features on their next vehicle (73% for camera rear-view mirror, 62% for ground view mirror and 53% for transparent trailer view). Owners think highly of technologies that provide an extra set of eyes to help them drive their vehicle. Notably, owners in the luxury segment rate such technologies highest in five of the six satisfaction attributes measured in the study. Camera rear-view mirror earns the highest Execution Index score (894) among luxury owners, followed by ground view camera (884). Among advanced camera/vision technologies, camera rear-view mirror receives the highest overall execution in the mass market segment (889), followed by transparent trailer view (874) and ground view camera (858). High percentages of owners who have these three features say they definitely will want these features on their next vehicle (73% for camera rear-view mirror, 62% for ground view mirror and 53% for transparent trailer view). Giving the finger to interior gesture controls: Among luxury owners, interior gesture controlstechnology that allows the user to control various features in the vehicle using hand gestures instead of touching anythingis the lowest-rated technology by far across all satisfaction attributes. (The technology isnt yet available in the mass market segment.) Owners who have this feature on their vehicle experience a high rate of problems (36 problems per 100 vehicles), which is more than twice the rate of the next closest technology. A high proportion (61%) of these owners use the technology less than half of the time they drive, with 14% having never tried it and 16% having tried it but no longer using it. Among luxury owners, interior gesture controlstechnology that allows the user to control various features in the vehicle using hand gestures instead of touching anythingis the lowest-rated technology by far across all satisfaction attributes. (The technology isnt yet available in the mass market segment.) Owners who have this feature on their vehicle experience a high rate of problems (36 problems per 100 vehicles), which is more than twice the rate of the next closest technology. A high proportion (61%) of these owners use the technology less than half of the time they drive, with 14% having never tried it and 16% having tried it but no longer using it. Many owners dont trust technologies necessary for more automated driving: Active driving assistance is designed so that the vehicle is able to perform functions such as acceleration, braking and steering, while the driver remains engaged in the driving task. Some drivers mention the positive experience they have from using the system (e.g., lower stress and arriving at their destination more refreshed), yet this necessary step to achieve higher levels of automated driving is failing to earn the trust of most drivers who consider it to be annoying or distracting. There is wide variation in the execution strategy across brands for how the technology works and when or why it engages. Training drivers on the proper usage of such systems is imperative to eliminate misunderstanding of the technologys capabilities and, in many cases, this training is simply not happening. Active driving assistance is designed so that the vehicle is able to perform functions such as acceleration, braking and steering, while the driver remains engaged in the driving task. Some drivers mention the positive experience they have from using the system (e.g., lower stress and arriving at their destination more refreshed), yet this necessary step to achieve higher levels of automated driving is failing to earn the trust of most drivers who consider it to be annoying or distracting. There is wide variation in the execution strategy across brands for how the technology works and when or why it engages. Training drivers on the proper usage of such systems is imperative to eliminate misunderstanding of the technologys capabilities and, in many cases, this training is simply not happening. Tesla profiled for first time: Tesla receives an Innovation Index score of 593. The automaker is not officially ranked among other brands in the study because it doesnt meet ranking criteria. Unlike other manufacturers, Tesla doesnt grant J.D. Power permission to survey its owners in 15 states where it is required. However, Teslas score was calculated based on a sample of surveys from owners in the other 35 states. Highest-Ranking Brands Volvo ranks highest overall with an Innovation Index score of 617 and offers a high level of advanced technologies across its entire product lineup. In the luxury segment, BMW (583) ranks second, followed by Cadillac (577), Mercedes-Benz (567) and Genesis (559). Hyundai ranks highest in the mass market segment with a score of 556. Hyundai offers an above average level of technologies and scores well for excellence in execution. Subaru (541) ranks second, followed by Kia (538), Nissan (534) and Ram (520). Advanced Technology Award Recipients The TXI Study analyzes 34 technologies, which are divided into four categories: convenience; emerging automation; energy and sustainability; and infotainment and connectivity. Only technologies classified as advanced are award eligible. Cadillac CT5 is the luxury model receiving the convenience award, for rear seat reminder technology. Subaru Ascent is the mass market model receiving the convenience award, for camera rear-view mirror technology. is the luxury model receiving the convenience award, for rear seat reminder technology. is the mass market model receiving the convenience award, for camera rear-view mirror technology. Cadillac Escalade and Genesis G70 both receive the luxury model emerging automation award (in a tie), for rear cross traffic warning technology. Chevrolet Camaro is the mass market model receiving the emerging automation award, also for rear cross traffic warning technology. and both receive the luxury model emerging automation award (in a tie), for rear cross traffic warning technology. is the mass market model receiving the emerging automation award, also for rear cross traffic warning technology. Cadillac XT5 receives the infotainment and connectivity award in the luxury segment, for navigation live traffic technology. Kia Sportage receives the infotainment and connectivity award in the mass market segment, also for navigation live traffic technology. The 2020 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study is based on responses from 82,527 owners of new 2020 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership. The study was fielded February through May 2020. The study, which complements the annual J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS)SM and the J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study,SM is used extensively by automakers and suppliers worldwide to provide an overview of how vehicle owners perceive the advanced technology features and to help the industry address any problematic areas before the technologies are made widely available across automotive portfolios, thus improving the future owner experience. For more information about the 2020 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, visit http://www.jdpower.com/resource/us-tech-experience-index-study. J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies. J.D. Power is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the companys business offerings, visit JD.Power.com/business. The J.D. Power auto shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com. As one state lawmaker put it, cell phone service is more than just checking Facebook. A reliable connection is needed for emergency messages, especially now as Californias landscape erupts with runaway wildfires and the power supply flickers. Its taken a year but Sacramento is nearing agreement on a law requiring cell phone towers in fire-prone areas to be equipped with 72 hours of backup power. A recent spate of power blackouts makes the requirement ever more necessary. Last year, electricity was shut off to hundreds of towers during a blackout aimed at preventing power lines from sparking. But that meant in the event of a fire, residents couldnt send or receive messages. Cable systems were likewise down, further cutting communications. A measure, SB431, by two senators, Steve Glazer, an Orinda Democrat, and Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat, would require the three-day backup power supply. The state Public Utilities Commission has announced a similar plan, but the legislative bill would stay on the books as law. The measure has worked its way through the Legislature fairly easily, but it faces a showdown vote before the key Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. That pressure point has focused opposition from the telecommunications industry concerned about cost and further legal controls on the sector. Glazer has offered concessions such as easing the requirement that all towers in high-risk areas be equipped to provide only basic service. Also, the guaranteed level of speed could be brought down to a bare-bones level, enough to let residents call for help and emergency services to send out crucial messages. Tapping the power of telecommunications is essential in keeping California safe in the event of disaster. Last years blackouts exposed a weakness in the systems. Now at last the Legislature has a reasonable solution in the form of SB431. It deserves to pass. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. Stacker compiled a list of the signature dishes in each U.S. state, consulting local newspapers, histories, and recipe collections. TDT | Manama Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa launched a campaign aimed at enhancing public awareness as the Kingdom continues to grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Themed Because You Are Important, the drive is in support of Team Bahrains efforts, led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, to combat the disease and protect psychological and economic stability in Bahrain. The Capital Governor gave the go-ahead for the campaign remotely, in the presence of Bahrain Islamic Bank (BiB) CEO Hassan Jarrar and other experts, in addition to the organisers. He stressed the importance of protecting citizens and residents psychological safety and empowering them to deal with crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a heavy toll on societies and peoples worldwide. The Capital Governor underlined the need to harness all efforts to prepare for the post-COVID-19 time, and hailed the efforts of people in charge of the campaign, which seeks to achieve noble humanitarian goals. China and the United States will each allow air carriers to double current flights to eight per week between the worlds two largest economies, the US Transportation Department said on Tuesday. The department said it will allow four Chinese passenger airlines currently flying to the United States to double flights to eight weekly round-trips, as China has agreed to allow US carriers to double flights to China. Also read: India plans air bubbles with five neighbours, Pakistan not among them US carriers voluntary halted flights to China after the coronavirus outbreak. President Donald Trump on Jan. 31 barred nearly all non-US citizens from traveling to the United States from China. United Airlines said Tuesday it will increase flights to China to four flights per week from San Francisco to Shanghai starting Sept. 4, while the department said Delta Air Lines was also eligible to go from two-times weekly to four-times weekly. Delta is also going to four flights after it said in June it would operate flights to Shanghai from Seattle and Detroit beginning in July, all via Seoul. On Tuesday, Delta it would add one weekly flight from Detroit and Seattle each to Shanghai, via Seoul, beginning Aug. 24. Also read: Flights under air bubble agreement between India and Canada start Aug 15 The US government still hopes China will agree to restore full US flight rights under their bilateral aviation agreement, the Transportation Department has said, adding as China allows additional flights it will respond in kind. The US-China agreement allows both countries to operate more than 100 weekly flights between the two nations. The United States had threatened to bar Chinese passenger flights in June after Beijing did not immediately agree to restore flights by US airlines. In May, the Trump administration said Air China, China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co, Hainan Airlines Holding Co and their subsidiaries had to file schedules. Chinese authorities previously agreed to some changes on requirements for US carriers, including allowing temperature checks to be done before flights take off for China, rather than mid-flight as previously discussed, Reuters reported in June. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been backed up in processing tax refunds because of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many taxpayers to complain that their tax refunds have been many months late. Now they will get a small payday, but it comes at a hefty cost to taxpayers. The IRS said it will send interest payments to about 13.9 million taxpayers who filed their tax returns but received their refunds late. The average interest payment will be about $18, the agency said. That adds up to more than $250 million dollars. The payments will go to taxpayers who filed their returns by the extended July 15 deadline. This years COVID-19-related July 15 due date is considered a disaster-related postponement of the filing deadline, the IRS said. Where a disaster-related postponement exists, the IRS is required, by law, to pay interest, calculated from the original April 15 filing deadline, as long as an individual files a 2019 federal income tax return by the postponed deadline July 15, 2020, in this instance. The refund interest only applies to individual income tax filers, Businesses are not eligible, it said. About 12 million payments will be direct deposited into the same account to which a taxpayers refund was sent, it said. The rest will be delivered by check with a notation saying INT Amount, which indicates its a refund interest payment. These interest payments are taxable, the IRS said, and it must be reported on a taxpayers 2020 tax return if the interest amount is larger than $10, the agency said. The IRS also explained the interest is paid at the legally prescribed rate and is adjusted quarterly. The rate for the second quarter ending June 30 was 5%, compounded daily, it said. Effective July 1, the rate for the third quarter dropped to 3%, compounded daily. When the calculation period spans quarters, a blended rate applies, it said. If you got your refund before April 15, you wont be due any interest. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China auto outputs and sales reached 2.201 million units and 2.112 million units in July, jumping 21.9% and 16.4% from the year-ago period respectively, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The upturn in overall auto market signals that quite a few automakers recorded year-on-year sales growth as well. Eight of ten Chinese major automobile groups enumerated here succeeded in gaining two-digit increase in July sales. Of them, Changan Automobile was the fastest-growing one thanks to the sweeping growth of all subsidiaries. In spite of the smallest increase, BYD procured year-on-year rise for the first time so far this year. Regarding year-to-date sales, Changan was the only one that achieved increase compared to the corresponding period a year ago. The other automakers got their sales decrease further contracted over the previous month. SAIC Motor logs bigger YoY sales increase in July With 457,558 new vehicles sold, SAIC Motor recorded a 4.04% year-on-year growth in July sales, 1.27 percentage points higher than the increase in June sales. Except SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC Motor PV and SAIC GM Wuling Indonesia Co.,Ltd., the other subsidiaries all saw their July sales rise over the previous year. Notably, CV makers, such as SAIC-IVECO Hongyan Commercial Vehicle and Naveco Ltd., had their sales over doubled from the previous year. In terms of July sales, SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) took the runner-up place among SAIC's subsidiaries by selling 130,000 new vehicles, only 4,000 units fewer than that of the champion SAIC Volkswagen. It also attained a robust growth standing at 19.82%, the fourth-month-in-a-row increase achieved this year. (Buick Velite 7 BEV, photo source: SAIC-GM) SAIC-GM secured this year's first-time growth in July with 112,767 vehicles sold. According to Buick's announcement, the brand saw its July wholesale mount up 36.6% from the previous year to 76,926 units. To be specific, the sales of the Lacross, the Regal and the Excelle reached 5,739 units (+191% YoY), 13,309 units (+223% YoY) and 17,305 units respectively. Besides, it also sold 20,551 SUVs last month, a year-on-year jump of 32.3%. As for year-to-date performance, the decrease SAIC Motor posted has shrunk to 25.77% as of July from 30.24% for the first-half of the year. FAW Group sees July sales vigorously grow 23.2% YoY FAW Group said its new vehicle outputs and sales leapt 28.6% and 23.2% from a year earlier respectively to 337,265 units and 322,471 units in July. Both PV and CV sectors attained manifest growth in production and sales volumes last month. Specifically, PV outputs and sales reached 286,263 units and 275,507 units, jumping 18% and 15.6% year on year respectively, while the CV arm boasted much bigger increase by producing 51,002 vehicles (+159.4%) and selling 46,964 vehicles (+99.5%). (All-new Hongqi H5, photo source: Hongqi) With 17,508 units sold, Hongqi scored a remarkable 98.8% growth in July, achieving its seventh-month-in-a-row year-on-year growth for the year of 2020. As one of sales contributors of Hongqi, the Hongqi H5's refreshed version formally hit the market at the 2020 China Changchun International Automobile Expo in July and significantly contributed to the brand's July sales growth. As for joint ventures, the sales of FAW Mazda, FAW-Volkswagen and FAW-Toyota amounted to 8,106, 168,492 and 78,086 units, growing 1.2%, 6.9% and 40% over the previous year. Dongfeng Motor Group garners 12.13% growth in July sales Dongfeng Motor Group Company Limited (Dongfeng) boasted a 12.13% year-on-year growth in July primarily credited to the 57.07% surge achieved by its CV unit. In addition, its PV sales also climbed 4.66% over a year ago to 198,189 units thanks to the rising momentum conveyed by both car and MPV sales. Thanks to the consecutive rises, the Wuhan-headquartered automaker witnessed the decrease in its year-to-date sales contracted to 12.74%, versus the 16.73% decline in the first-half volume. Dongfeng Motor Company Limited logged a 14.45% year-on-year increase which substantially resulted from the sales growth achieved by Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Automobile Co.,Ltd. Dongfeng Honda's sales in July rose 9.82% from a year ago. The joint venture has put the mid-cycle refresh of the CR-V and the hatchback version of the Civic this year and will reportedly launch five models in the second half of the year, including an all-new entry-level hatchback. (Peugeot 5008, photo source: DPCA) Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile (DPCA) was confronted with a 68.43% and a 63.93% plunge in its July and Jan.-Jul. sales respectively. DPCA launched in September 2019 the Yuan plan to restructure operations, slash cost and boost annual sales. During the period from 2020 to 2021, the joint venture will strive to increase its yearly sales volume to 250,000 units and make its break-even point reduced to 150,000 vehicles with a restored system capability and stable profits. However, the current sales showed that the Yuan plan has been push ahead with much slower than expected. GAC Group boasts two-digit growth in both July outputs and sales GAC Group produced 202,379 and sold 183,937 new vehicles last month, representing year-on-year jump of 21.63% and 16.38% respectively. GAC Honda still maintained a high speed growth rate in wholesales. The joint venture sold 71,741 vehicles in July, a robust year-on-year growth of 35.09%. According to the data released by Honda, a total of 69,187 consumers in China took delivery of the vehicles developed by GAC Honda, representing a year-on-year jump of 24.5%. There were four models of GAC Hondathe Accord, the Vezel, the Breeze and the Criderwhose July deliveries all exceeded 10,000 units. GAC Toyota saw its July wholesales leap 20.26% to 74,561 units in July. For the first seven months, the Sino-Japanese joint venture logged a 5.95% year-on-year increase by selling 395,449 new vehicles. GAC Motor, the group's self-owned PV subsidiary, sold 28,293 vehicles last month, which were 6.38% more than that of the prior-year volume. Its MPV sales skyrocketed 116% over the previous year. (Aion V, photo source: GAC NE) GAC Group said its sales of new energy PVs shot up 46% year over year to 6,585 units, of which 5,076 units were sold by GAC NE, featuring a 49% surge compared to the previous year. Changan Automobile garners sales hike of 38.47% in July Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd reported a 38.47% year-on-year hike in July sales. Among 164,931 vehicles the automaker sold last month, 123,548 units were from Changan's self-owned brands, a 49.9% robust increase compared to the year-ago period. Both indigenous and joint-venture brands achieved rising performance in July. The biggest sales contributor was Chongqing Changan, whose sales volume leapt 35.36% from a year ago. Hefei Changan still boasted the largest year-over-year growth, and its year-to-date sales zoomed up 193.94%. Besides, Hebei Changan garnered a double-digit sales growth as well. (UNI-T, photo source: Changan Automobile) The sales of such key models as the Changan UNI-T, the Changan CS75 and the Changan EADO all exceeded 10,000 units in July. The automaker sold 10,081 UNI-T SUVs, the 21,358 CS75 SUVs and 18,735 Eado cars respectively. Moreover, the sales volume of the Changan CS35 and CS55 amounted to 6,389 units and 7,575 units. Changan Ford's sales jumped 20.22% in July, the fifth-month year-on-year growth the joint venture achieved this year. It is also one of the two subsidiaries who obtained growth in year-to-date sales. Geely Auto cuts 2020 sales target by 6% to 1.32 million units Geely Automobile Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the "Group") sold 105,218 new vehicles in July, a year-on-year jump of roughly 15%. Last month, the Group's export volume rose about 13% over a year ago to 4,523 units, and its domestic sales leapt around 15% to 100,695 units. During the same period, the automaker sold 35,581 sedans, 66,387 SUVs and 3,250 MPVs respectively. (Haoyue, photo source: Geely Auto) On June 23, Geely put its all-new SUV Haoyue onto the market, thus enabling its SUV lineup to cover such powertrain types as fuel-powered, plug-in hybrid and all-electric versions. The sales of the new SUV amounted to 3,027 units in July. Lynk & Co saw its July sales soar roughly 78% to 15,331 units, hitting the brands record high monthly sales volume. The automaker was still bruised by a 14% year-over-year decrease in the Jan.-Jul. sales, versus 19% decline in the sales for the first half of the year. With 635,664 units sold as of July, the Group has completed 45% of its 1.32 million-unit annual sales target, which has been recently reduced from 1.41 million units as the sales recovery has so far been slower than expected and near-term uncertainties remain in the global macro environment. Great Wall Motor scores 29.79% YoY leap in July sales Great Wall Motor (GWM) said its July sales surged 29.79% year on year to 78,339 units and Jan.-Jul. sales total 473,436 units. WEY, the SUV brand embodying GWM's ambition to move upscale, boasted a 25% blooming increase over the previous month. The automaker offered the first glimpse of the all-new off-road SUV dubbed Tank 300 at the Chengdu Motor Show 2020. This is the first model built on the Tank platform GWM launched in July 20. Selling 47,517 new vehicles in July, Haval SUV brand logged a 10.79% growth from the prior-year period. The sales of the Haval H6 and the Haval F7 amounted to 23,723 units and 8,157 units respectively, and the volume of the Haval M6 was doubled over a year ago to 10,094 units. (Third-generation Haval H6 , photo source: GWM's WeChat account The presale of the third-generation Haval H6 kicked off on July 24. Featuring GWM's self-developed 1.5GDIT engine, second-generation 7-speed dual clutch transmission and the all-new chassis based on the Lemon platform, the new Haval H6 is said to deliver stronger power, greater acceleration performance while consume less fuel. The BEV-focused ORA brand scored a 47.95% vigorous jump in July by selling 3,064 units. The sales of the ORA Heimao (meaning Black Cat), which was previously known as the ORA R1, shot up 65% year on year to 2,771 units. Chery Holding says domestic, export, NEV businesses all gain sales growth in July Chery Holding obtained a year-on-year sales increase of 14.2% in July by selling 55,922 new vehicles. Notably, its domestic, export and NEV businesses all posted rising performance with their growth standing at 10.37%, 39.7% and 9.8% respectively. Both Chery Jaguar Land Rover and Cowin achieved sales hike in July, seeing their sales surging 47.8% and 46.8% over the previous year. (All-new Tiggo 7, photo source: Chery Holding's WeChat account) Chery Automobile's sales in July jumped 17.9% year on year and leapt 21.3% compared to the previous month. The company has rolled out so far this year the all-new Tiggo 5x, the all-new Tiggo 7, the all-new Tiggo 8's upgraded version and the Arrizo 5 Sports. Chery New Energy saw its July sales vigorously rise 20% from the prior-year ago. In July, the NEV arm of Chery Holding witnessed the 150,000th Chery eQ1 roll off the production line. Jetour, a PV brand owned by Chery Commercial Vehicle, has by far sold over 210,000 vehicles since it was launched in August 2018. The brand successively put such key models as the Jetour X70M and the X70 Coupe onto the market in March and April. JAC Motors' PV sales jump 28.67% year on year JAC Motors saw its July sales leap 33.61% from a year ago to 36,816 units. With 12,682 units sold, its PV business boasted a 28.67% year-on-year jump thanks to the growth acquired by the SUV, MPV and car units. The automaker announced that its Jan.-Jul. sales dipped 6.29% over the previous year to 246,186 units. PV sales still tumbled 24.33% to 79,474 units with all of three units hit by double-digit downturnthe SUV suffered the steepest drop. As of July, the Hefei-based automaker has won its fourth-month-in-a-row year-on-year sales growth. The blooming performance was significantly buoyed by the impressive increase in its CV sales, which has been standing at over 28% since April. (Jiayue X4, photo source: JAC Motors) The upturn in July PV sales may partly owe much to the frequent roll-out of new products bearing the Jiayue badge. During the first half of 2020, JAC Motors has put such new models as the Jiayue X7, a new variant of the Jiayue A5 and the Jiayue X4 onto the market. BYD achieves 2020's first-time YoY sales growth BYD Company Limited (BYD) said it sold 31,382 new vehicles in July, which were up by 1.28% compared with the prior-year period. It is noteworthy that the slight growth was the first-time increase BYD gained this year. With 16,282 units sold, BYD's fuel-burning vehicle business posted a 12.93% growth in July from a year earlier. The oil-fuel vehicle sales added up to 114,233 units in the Jan.-Jul. period, jumping 17.96% from the year ago significantly thanks to the impetus stemming from the Song Pro, the five-seater SUV that hit the market in July 2019. The NEV business had a sales volume of 15,100 units in July, which were slid 8.85% over the year-ago period. It was rather a big rebound as BYDs NEV sales had been showing plunge of over 45% for ten straight months. (BYD Han EV, photo source: BYD) Regarding year-to-date performance, BYD's NEV sales were still more than halved compared to the same period a year ago. Notably, in the new energy PV sector, the BEV branch witnessed its July sales evidently grow 9.95% to 10,462 units, terminating the 10-consecutive-month downturn. The increase may owe much to the relatively low year-ago base number resulting from the NEV subsidy phase-out and the advent of BYD's flagship Han EV. 'Poldark' star Ciara Charteris has chosen to speak out about her rape. (Getty Images) Poldark star Ciara Charteris has revealed that she was raped by a close friend five years ago. The 25-year-old actress - who played Emma Tregirls in the BBC period drama - said she had only found the courage to report the incident to the police last year after her best friend broke their pact to never see or speak to her attacker again. Charteris has spoken out in an open letter to I Am Arla a platform for women who have experienced abuse, trauma and discrimination to connect and share support. The South African actress revealed her rapist was a close friend, slightly older than me, who she had known, since I was 16 after meeting at a youth theatre group. Read more: Duffy says opening up about rape ordeal was 'liberating' She revealed the attack happened in 2015 after a night out to celebrate her best friends birthday party. Charteris wrote: Although I have struggled to say the word rape out loud for a long time, I knew thats what had happened. Despite saying no numerous times, begging him to get off me, trying to physically pull him off, my flight mode was not attuned to protect me from a rapist that had the face of my best friend. So I just shut my eyes and passed out in terrified defeat. Only waking later to clean myself up and try and find my bottoms. The Mary Shelley star revealed she told her best friend the next morning and after deliberating, decided not to report the incident. But they agreed to cut the attacker out of their lives. Ciara Charteris, second from left with the cast of 'Poldark' in 2018. (Getty Images) Charteris said she then discovered in 2018 that her best friend and her attacker were still in touch on social media. And when she confronted her friend, she told the actress she blamed her for having put her in an incredibly difficult position for years. Read more: 'Poldark' star Aidan Turner reveals he is often groped by women The Poldark star said the betrayal broke me and forced her to face what had happened to her and post-traumatic stress she had tried to bury for several years. Story continues Charteris revealed she retired from acting and moved to New York in 2019 in an attempt to escape the ordeal. Ciara Charteris found the courage to report her rape over three years after the event. (Getty Images) But in December 2019, after seeking advice from lawyers and the charity Rape Crisis, she returned to London and reported the rape to the police. Her best friend refused to give a witness statement and in March 2020 the police informed her they would not be pressing charges, adding: It does not make him innocent. Charteris said: When it comes to sexual assault and rape, I am not the worst case, I am not the first case, and sadly I will not be the last. But I am done letting the weakness of others define me. For confidential emotional support at times of distress, contact The Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB: BLGO) ("the Company"), an innovator of technology-based products and environmental engineering solutions provider. BioLargo President & CEO Dennis Calvert joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's 10-Q quarterly report for the period ending on June 30, 2020. "We've got some developments that are going to turn into significant commercial successes," shared Calvert, noting the Company's diversification of its products. "We have a couple of big wins coming to the table, and more after." Calvert then expanded on the Company's FDA registered personal protection spray Clyraguard. "Clyraguard is a very exciting product. It was developed by our medical subsidiary Clyra Medical," explained Calvert. "It is a [personal protection equipment] (PPE) disinfectant, which is FDA registered, hospital grade, and safe. Literally, you can spray it on your skin and face mask, and it provides an extra layer of protection," said Calvert, adding that the product was proven to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus in a third party study. Calvert shared that Clyraguard is in the process of undergoing a multiphase launch. "We have a number of online sellers, and we have some distributors," shared Calvert, adding that a very large distributor is currently preparing to come onboard. "The product is a four ounce bottle. That little bottle lasts about two months," he added, noting that Clyraguard will retail for around $25 per bottle. "There's no odor, stickiness, or residue, and it provides this incredibly effective product." The conversation then turned to the Company's solution for the current per and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) water contamination crisis. "The experts say that PFAS touches 98% of the world; it's in your food, it's in your water, it's in products, and it's in coatings," explained Calvert. "Nature won't break them down, and a little bit over a long period of time creates a problem," he added. "Our engineering group came out with a solution, got a grant, proved out the first phase, and we've been advancing that design to be ready for commercialization," said Calvert, before elaborating on the importance and cost of this crisis. "We'll be in commercial trials soon, and it's a significant opportunity." Calvert then commented on the Company's AOS water treatment technology. "This was another innovative development that provides extremely efficient destruction of micropollutants and efficient disinfection," explained Calvert. "It's a remarkable scientific achievement," said Calvert. He then shared that the Company received a significant funding commitment from a new client, as well as from grant authorities. "The total revenue for the company for that project is going to be about half a million dollars." To close the interview, Calvert expressed his confidence in the Company's resiliency, as well as the potential of their diversifying portfolio. "We think the future is extraordinarily bright for this company." To hear Dennis Calvert's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7661365-biolargo-covers-its-diverse-portfolio-with-the-stock-day-podcast. Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/. About BioLargo, Inc. BioLargo, Inc. is an innovator of technology-based products and environmental engineering solutions provider driven by a mission to "make life better". We feature unique disruptive solutions to deliver clean air, clean water and a clean, safe environment (www.biolargo.com). Our engineering division features experienced professional engineers dedicated to integrity, reliability, and environmental stewardship (www.biolargoengineering.com). Our industrial odor control division, ONM Environmental, Inc. (www.onmenvironmental.com) features CupriDyne Clean Industrial Odor Eliminator (www.cupridyne.com), which eliminates the odor-causing compounds and VOCs rather than masking them, and is now winning over leading companies in the solid waste handling and wastewater industries and other industries that contend with malodors and VOCs. Our subsidiary BioLargo Water (www.biolargowater.ca) develops the Advanced Oxidation System "AOS," a disruptive industrial water treatment technology designed to eliminate waterborne pathogens and recalcitrant contaminants with better energy-efficiency and lower operational costs than incumbent technologies. We are a minority stockholder of and technology licensor to our subsidiary Clyra Medical which features its breakthrough product Clyraguard (www.clyramedical.com/clyraguard), an FDA Registered, hospital grade disinfectant for personal protective equipment including facemasks, proven 99.999% effective against viruses and bacteria, and safe for skin, as well as its other products offering gentle solutions for chronic infected wounds to promote infection control and regenerative tissue therapy. Contact Information Dennis P. Calvert President and CEO, BioLargo, Inc. 888-400-2863 Safe Harbor Act During the course of the stockholder presentation, BioLargo may make "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company that are subject to change. Actual results may differ from expectations, estimates and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media (602) 821-1102 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62112 Photo: (Photo : Photo by Somchai Kongkamsri from Pexels) On Saturday, police officers responded to a call reporting two people fighting. When the authorities arrived in the area, they found four cousins dead. The four cousins were identified as Sarah Tanner, Laura Tanner, Forrest Sampson, and Neil Sampson. Recent news says that the ex-fiancee of Laura Tanner, Raymond Bailey, is the suspect to the horrendous killing of the four Michigan cousins. READ ALSO: Pregnant woman shot to death while pushing 1-year-old daughter in a stroller The police investigation On the Facebook page of Sumpter Township Police Department, the incident was described as a quadruple homicide. All of the victims had gunshot wounds and were then dead when the police came. The incident happened on the evening of August 15, Saturday. The Crime Response Team of the Michigan State Police Forensic Division assisted in the investigation. Not long after the initial inquiry, detectives identified Raymond Lee Bailey as the suspect. He is Laura's ex-fiancee. READ ALSO: 2 brothers and girlfriend, arrested in the death of 3 best friends in Florida The suspect allegedly confessed to the crime. Officials were able to learn that Bailey was heading to the Upper Peninsula. Shortly after that, police were told that the suspect admitted the killing through many people via phone calls and text messages. Police quickly sent out a statewide search for Bailey. Suspect turns himself to authorities. During the search of the police for Bailey, his car was left near Bay City. At around ten in the evening, on August 16, Bailey turned himself into the Bay County Sheriff's Office. The Sumpter Township Police Department took the suspect into custody last Monday at 10:30 am. The suspect's charges are still pending and will be resolved by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. READ ALSO: Florida Dad Kills 11-Year-Old Daughter Who Was Terminally Ill, Then Commits Suicide The suspect's history Aside from being one of the victims' ex-fiancee, Bailey has also been charged with assault and domestic violence. According to a report from WXYZ Detroit, the charges were filed by Laura last fall. The specific charges were Assault with Intent to Do Great Bodily Harm and Domestic Violence Assault. However, these charges were dropped when Laura did not show up in court. The report from WXYZ Detroit also described Laura and the suspect's relationship as rocky. The family's grief As the families are waiting for the suspect's formal charges, they are also preparing to lay the four cousins to rest. A GoFundMe page has been put up to gather funds for the funeral expenses of the four cousins. On the page, the cousins are described as fiercely loyal to each other and their families. Laura and Sarah are sisters, and Neil and Forrest are brothers. READ ALSO: Son killed, husband injured in a shooting incident at New Jersey judge's home Tobii AB (publ) today announced its results for the second quarter 2020 STOCKHOLM, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Comment by Tobii's CEO Henrik Eskilsson: "Due to COVID-19, the second quarter of 2020 was one of the most challenging in Tobii's history. Given the circumstances, I am proud that Tobii managed to improve our operating result for the quarter compared with the same period in 2019, an accomplishment that would not have been possible without the fantastic efforts of all of Tobii's employees, who did an amazing job. Activity in the organization has been high with creative sales activities, several important product launches, advances with Tobii Aware to Lenovo and key milestones in major projects within VR. In summary, we are well prepared for continued uncertainty and well positioned to resume growth soon after restrictions in society are lifted. Our ambition is to achieve profitability shortly thereafter." Second quarter April-June 2020 Consolidated revenue fell by 4% to SEK 332 million (346) compared with the second quarter of 2019. Organically the decline was 6%. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong negative impact on revenue, but this was offset in part by positive momentum in large parts of the business. (346) compared with the second quarter of 2019. Organically the decline was 6%. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong negative impact on revenue, but this was offset in part by positive momentum in large parts of the business. Gross margin was 65% (69%). The decline can in part be attributed to non-recurring write-downs. The Group's operating result was SEK -45 million (-47). Tobii Dynavox contributed SEK 28 million (25) and Tobii Pro SEK -24 million (-2) to operating results, while investments in Tobii Tech had an impact of SEK -49 million (-72) on the Group's operating result. (-47). Tobii Dynavox contributed (25) and Tobii Pro (-2) to operating results, while investments in Tobii Tech had an impact of (-72) on the Group's operating result. Earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.75 (-0.59). Significant events Tobii Pro launched Glasses 3, a new generation of the segment's flagship product. With Glasses 3, Tobii secures its world-leading position in wearable eye tracking and the market's reception has been strong. launched Glasses 3, a new generation of the segment's flagship product. With Glasses 3, Tobii secures its world-leading position in wearable eye tracking and the market's reception has been strong. Tobii Dynavox introduced the option for advanced eye tracking outdoors with the I series. Tobii Dynavox has also made available some of the world's most popular apps, including Spotify, Facebook and Netflix. The new features entail great improvements in quality of life for the user and have been very well received. Tobii Tech launched its gaming optimized Eye Tracker 5 . Tobii Tech continues to deepen its relationship with Lenovo and expand Tobii Aware through integration in two Lenovo ThinkCentre models. As was previously announced, a cost reduction program was implemented during the quarter with the result that operating costs dropped 20% compared with the second quarter of 2019. Comments from the CEO Due to COVID-19, the second quarter of 2020 was one of the most challenging in Tobii's history. Given the circumstances, I am proud that Tobii managed to improve our operating result for the quarter compared with the same period in 2019, an accomplishment that would not have been possible without the fantastic efforts of all of Tobii's employees, who did an amazing job. Activity in the organization has been high with creative sales activities, several important product launches, advances with Tobii Aware to Lenovo and key milestones in major projects within VR. In summary, we are well prepared for continued uncertainty and well positioned to resume growth soon after restrictions in society are lifted. Our ambition is to achieve profitability shortly thereafter. During the second quarter, we have been working hard on adapting the organization and our ways of working to handle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We took measures early on to protect the health and well-being of our employees and have limited the impact on our operations to a minimum. Our employees have shown a strong team spirit and have with great passion and creativity collaborated to find new ways to conduct sales and develop products in challenging times. Because of pandemic-related measures at universities, healthcare facilities and enterprise customers, sales came under pressure on a broad basis and resulted in sharp revenue declines in parts of the business. This has largely been counteracted by the positive momentum for the new I-Series and continued strong growth within Tobii Tech. Organically, revenue for the Group fell 6 percent for the quarter. During the quarter, we initiated a COVID-19-related cost reduction program across the Group, as well as structural measures specifically aimed at Tobii Tech. I am pleased with the outcome, since we achieved 20 percent lower costs compared to the same quarter last year, which was in line with our goal. Thanks to our cost savings, strong performance of the new I-Series and growth in Tobii Tech, our operating result in the quarter improved somewhat compared to the same period 2019. Tobii Dynavox sales were negatively impacted by the temporary shutdown of important functions in society. This was partly offset by continued strong performance in many parts of the division, driven by the new I-Series. Revenue fell 4 percent organically, but thanks to the cost reduction program and the new I-Series we still achieved improved operating profit and a 13 percent operating margin, compared with 11 percent in the same quarter in 2019. The shutdown of important functions in societies globally made it more difficult to reach prescribers and individuals in need of assistive technology for communication. Consequently, conducting sales and supporting our users has been challenging. We have adapted our working methods, partly by working from home and partly by meeting our customers and users in new creative ways and through digital platforms, which has been more effective than expected. I am impressed that Tobii Dynavox successfully maintained its education initiatives for therapists by rapidly transitioning to digital trainings. In general, we see that the pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the entire industry, which in the long run could lead to efficiency gains for Tobii Dynavox and make it easier for users to get access to our technology. Should COVID-19 lead to a recession, we believe that the growing demand for products from Tobii Dynavox should be relatively unaffected. Therefore, we feel confident that this business will return to good growth as soon as the restrictions ease up and our communities reopen. Tobii Prohad the most challenging quarter in its history. Revenue fell by 33 percent organically with an operating loss of SEK 24 million. As the pandemic spread, we saw sharp slowdowns in most of our markets, both to scientific research customers and commercial customers. Most markets continued with weak trends throughout the quarter, with China as the notable exception, where we saw clear improvements and 25 percent sales growth, compared with the same quarter in 2019, indicating an element of pent up demand. Despite the challenging situation, Tobii Pro successfully launched its new flagship product Glasses 3, which further strengthen our position as the world leader in wearable eye tracking. The product has been well received in the market and we expect that this product will be a growth engine for Tobii Pro for many years to come. The first deliveries of Glasses 3 were carried out after the end of the quarter. In the short term, we expect the pandemic to continue to have a strong negative impact on Tobii Pro, driven primarily by the weak performance in the US, which has been confirmed by the development so far in the third quarter. Tobii Tech continued to increase sales at a high pace despite the pandemic. Revenue from external customers increased by 60 percent organically. The pandemic mainly impacted revenue for the division within Niche Applications and resulted in lower volumes and delayed development projects. In addition to the Tobii Group's COVID-19-related cost reduction program, Tobii Tech carried out a long-term action program in the second quarter that included reduction of about sixty consultants and employees. In July, eye tracking was added to OpenXR, which is a new standard for VR and AR products. Tobii has together with Microsoft been the leaders in this effort, since we believe this type of standardization helps to promote broader adoption of eye tracking. We also announced additional agreements with Lenovo and our Tobii Aware software is included in two ThinkCentre PC models that were launched in the quarter. The sales trend for Aware is still in its infancy, but these agreements should be viewed as a stepping stone for more and larger deals. We are engaged in several discussions at advanced stages with leading computer manufacturers, and we are optimistic regarding the future prospects of this product. During the quarter Tobii Tech launched its new Eye Tracker 5 for gamers. We see that simulator games and esports training are the main drivers of demand for this product. In summary, we have successfully navigated through the effects of the pandemic this far. We have limited the impact on our operations to a minimum, while maintaining a high level of activity and taken the necessary cost reduction actions. We consider ourselves to have an adequate financial position for the plan that we are now executing on. We are well equipped for continued uncertainty and with an updated product portfolio, we expect to return to growth soon after restrictions in society are lifted. Longer-term, it is clear that the use of eye tracking continues to develop in the right direction and that Tobii is well positioned to maintain our world-leading status and thereby drive continued strong growth and reach profitability. Henrik Eskilsson CEO Conference call Today at 10:00 a.m. CET, Tobii will host a conference call with web cast presentation for media, analyst and investors. Please find dial-in details on Tobii's website under Calendar. This report has not been subjected to review by the Company's auditors. This is a translation of the Swedish original. In case of any inconsistency between the Swedish and English version, the Swedish version shall prevail. This information is inside information that Tobii AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 07.30 CET on Aug 19, 2020. CONTACT: Henrik Mawby Investor Relations Tobii Group phone: +46-(0)72-219-82-15 email: ir@tobii.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/tobii-ab/r/tobii-interim-report-for-the-second-quarter-2020,c3173046 The following files are available for download: Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The European Union (EU) has announced a 10-million-euro (US$ 12 million) additional funding for the new initiative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Libya, to cover concerns, stability, unity and social cohesion in the North African country Dear Heloise: When I am finished with a jar containing spaghetti sauce, olives or another food product, I wash it out, remove the label, rinse and dry. I have a small box of clean jars to put flowers in to deliver to my friends or people in care centers. They do not have to worry about returning the "vase." I recycle the lids rather than throwing them in the trash. Some lids can be used for spoon holders while cooking or for other messy activities. OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) - After nearly two hours of public comments, the Blue Valley school board decided they will determine the criteria to use when deciding if schools can be in-person instead of virtual when students return this fall. The naked angel figure of Spirit of the Confederacy faces a reckoning. The eight-foot bronze, which for decades stood in a shady bower at Sam Houston Park, has a new home in a narrow courtyard behind the Houston Museum of African American Culture. It looks enormous there, literally the elephant in the room placed opposite Eyes, a display of a half-dozen quirky, stone-topped pedestals by the late Houston artist Bert Long, Jr. The eyes of Bert and Black America are now ever on the Spirit of the Confederacy and the ideology it represents, said John Guess, Jr., the museums CEO emeritus. This symbol of hate exists in a context where it will constantly be engaged. Houstons African American museum is the first in the nation to take possession of one of the contentious monuments celebrating Confederate ideals and heroes that have been removed from public view in recent years. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which tracks Confederate-themed symbols of all kinds across the U.S., has identified more than 1,700 symbols of various kinds (including the names of buildings, institutions and roads) that still exist. They pop up nationwide but are overwhelmingly present across the South. Of the total symbols, 725 are monuments, and of those, 63 are located in Texas. One of the problems with these huge outdoor statues is that they dont say anything. Theres no context, said Lecia Brooks, the Centers chief of staff. In an African-American space, Spirit has a whole new story, she said. Naked defiance Spirit looks more defiant in its new setting than it did at the park, and not just because of its size. With its firm stance, intensely fixed eyes and crossed arms that rest on a sword nearly as high as the figure, this is no serene angel but a warrior. A large palm frond covers its genitals. Guess opted to take Spirit rather than a homeless statue of Confederate Gen. Dick Dowling because it conveys more than a narrative about an individual, he said. I wanted it because the religiosity of it is clear. Theres so many conversations that can come out of this. One is about the evangelical Christian movement that supports racism and preaches white supremacy. (To Guess, the sword implies a God-given right. The palm frond references Jesus walk into Jerusalem, and the wings and nakedness arrogantly suggest righteousness protected by God.) Sculpted by Louis Amateis, an American from Italy, Spirit was erected in 1908 by a Houston chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Brooks places it within a large category of monuments depicting heroic figures who were on the losing side of the Civil War. These symbols were erected to assert their narrative, and they often gave them to cities where they procured in-perpetuity clauses, she said. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Daughters organization developed from local aid societies that operated throughout the South during the Civil War. The Texas division came along somewhat later, organized in 1896 and incorporated in 1905. The Daughters website describes the group now as historical, educational, benevolent, memorial and patriotic. A statement posted on its national website denounces persons who are militant, unpatriotic, racist or subversive to the United States of America and its flag, also asserting that Confederate memorials are part of a shared American history and should remain in place. During the early 20th century, the Daughters placed about 450 Confederate symbols across the U.S., and it has filed lawsuits in recent years against several cities that have removed them. The groups Texas and national leaders could not be reached for comment. Shift in energy Since the killing of George Floyd in May, 59 Confederate symbols have been removed across the U.S., more than the previous three years combined. With this latest wave Brooks senses a shift in energy and understanding. Its really encouraging, she said. When people in these numbers are beginning to question these symbols, change can and will happen. She cited NASCAR and the Armed Services Committee as stellar examples of organizations that have recently pivoted. It really speaks to people understanding that the narrative weve been taught is false and under-girds white supremacist culture, Brooks said. While some monuments have been destroyed by protesters, most have been put into storage, Brooks said. Our recommendation is to send them to archives and museums, but theyre so big, most places dont have space for them. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Guess has worked with Mayor Turners administration since last year to bring Spirit to HMAAC. First, he had to raise funds to install a base and a fence. With help from the Houston Endowment, the museum also established a series of scholarly talks, Lest We Forget, and a fellowship program for a resident artist who will create projects that involve the statue. The museum is currently open on weekends by appointment, although Spirit cannot yet be viewed in person. For the near term, it will be seen only on a new HMAAC website that debuts soon. Guess plans for it to be somewhat interactive, with a feature that allows viewers to post their own video reactions to the monument. The COVID-19 has made some of that necessary, but Guess said he also wanted to give the concept time to breathe. This isnt about the monument. Its about having a multi-cultural conversation on race, he said. We have an opportunity here that nobody else has around the country. Spirit looks just as it did the day it left downtown, embedded with cobwebs and leaf debris that might have been a birds nest at some point. A turquoise patina washes over its feet like paint splatters. Guess declined to shine it up. Were letting it be seen for what it is, he said. molly.glentzer@chron.com By Express News Service KOCHI: The district on Tuesday reported its highest single-day tally of Covid cases with 192 more people contracting the disease. What has left health officials concerned is that 185 of the new patients contracted the disease through local contact. The remaining seven persons came from abroad or other states. Two more people died of Covid on the day, taking the districts death toll to 35. Indicating an alarming situation, four healthcare workers and 11 Navy personnel also contracted the disease through local contact. Multiple cases were reported from critical Covid clusters across the district. Major urban locations like Angamaly, Edappally, Aluva, Tripunithura, Thrikkakara, Thoppumpady, Fort Kochi and Mattanchery reported more than five cases each. Reporting of Covid cases within the city limits is a cause for concern. Since people from various parts are coming to these localities, it can lead to a further spike in local transmission cases. Though the cases showed a decline in Aluva cluster recently, it too reported a high number of cases on the day. The situation in West Kochi is yet to be brought under control, said a health official. Meanwhile, areas like Ayavana, Chengamanadu, Kunnathunad, Kumbalam, Kumbalangi, Kothamangalam and others also contributed to a majority of Tuesdays cases. We managed to track the sources of infection in most of the cases. Most of the new patients are family members of people who tested positive in the past few days, said an official.An 85-year-old woman from Choornikkara and two 80-year-old men from Kaloor and Kumbalangi are receiving special care at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital considering their age. A few other cases were admitted with comorbidities, said the official. As many as 64 patients recovered on the day. The district has 1,572 active cases. two deaths T V Mathai, 67, of Kothamangalam, and Muhammad Kutty, 73, of Arakkakadavu (Vennala), who were under treatment at Government MCH, Kalamassery, after testing positive for Covid-19, died on Tuesday. Their swab samples were sent to National Institute of Virology, Alappuzha, to ascertain if they died of Covid. Mathai was suffering from heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and kidney illness, while Muhammad Kutty suffered from severe diabetes and renal disease. Stringent curbs to mark Onam Kochi: Due to the spike in Covid cases, the officers concerned have decided to impose strict restrictions during Onam. In separate meetings on Tuesday, the officers said shops should only be opened as per governments Covid guidelines. Shop owners have to maintain a register for recording the name and contact number of visitors. Thermal scanners and sanitisers are mandatory in all shops. Big shops should have separate entry and exit points. Staff in vulnerable category and pregnant staff should not be allowed to work during these days, deputy collector P A Pradeep said while presiding over a meeting at Kochi taluk. A team of officers will monitor supermarkets, malls and fish markets to prevent crowding. Shops in containment zones will be allowed to open from Atham. Onasadya (Onam feast) will only be allowed in homes. The fish and vegetable market at Chambakkara will be allowed to function this week. The standard operating procedure for the market will be finalised by a market managing committee which will includes representatives of the corporation, health, police and revenue departments and the market association. Canadas Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, on August 17 resigned from his position after coming under fire for not repaying travel costs covered by WE charity while on overseas trips to see its work. According to international media reports, while stepping down, Morneau said that he would not run for parliament again. He added that instead, he would seek to become the next secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). At a news conference, Morneau said that he was no longer the appropriate person for his role in Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus cabinet. He told the reporters that he met with the PM and informed him that he does not plan to run again in the next election. READ: Canada Says Over 9,000 Government Accounts Were 'acquired Fraudulently' Trudeau, on the other hand, in a series of tweets thanked Morneau for his unwavering leadership and commitment to the service. The ex-Finance Minister has served under Trudeaus government since the PM was first elected in 2015. The Canadian PM said that he has always counted on Morneaus leadership, advice and close friendship. He further thanked Morneau for everything he has done to improve quality of life of Canadians. Earlier today, I spoke with and accepted Minister @Bill_Morneaus resignation. Since he was first elected and became Canadas Finance Minister, Bill has worked tirelessly to support all Canadians and create an economy that benefits everyone. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 17, 2020 READ: 'Tiranga Car Rally' Organised In Canada To Celebrate Independence Day | Watch Morneau, Trudeau embroiled in charity scandal Morneaus resignation comes after it was reported that he and Trudeau had been embroiled in the scandal over a nearly billion-dollar contract given to a charity with close links to them. According to international media reports, in Morneaus case, the charity employs one of his daughters and had paid travel expenses for his family trips of Kenya and Ecuador. The PM and the Finance Minister are facing investigations by Canadas Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner in the aforementioned context, while also being probed by Parliamentary panels. A Canadian media outlet, last week, also reported that the PM and the Finance Minister had clashed over economic measure taken to counter the impact of coronavirus pandemic. However, Trudeau had said that he has full confidence in Morneau and any reports contrary were false. A statement by the PMO praised Morneau and even said that the has worked relentlessly and closely with Trudeau to build a strong and resilient Canadian economy. (Image: @DefendSmallBizz/Twitter) READ: Canadas Niagara Falls Illuminated With Colours Of Indian Flag On Independence Day READ: COVID-19: US, Canada, Mexico Travel Ban Extended Amid Increasing Cases Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 19:57 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f356dc 1 National defense,Education,military,defense-ministry,Education-and-Culture-Ministry,state-defense,state-defense-program Free Deputy Defense Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has said the planned national defense education program, which will allow civilians to enlist in the military reserve component program, is different from a military education. This followed previous concerns from human rights activists that the military reserve component program might result in civilian militarization and rights violations. Its not a military education, but [part of] national defense. [Saying it is a military education] will give the impression of militarization, Sakti said in a radio interview on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com. Last year, the Defense Ministry stipulated the enlistment of the military reserve component in Law No. 23/2019 on the management of national resources for state defense, aiming to recruit a total of 25,000 people aged 18 to 35. Read also: University students can volunteer for national defense program: Education ministry Sakti said the Defense Ministry was currently in discussions with the Education and Culture Ministry on the implementation for college students. However, he said the defense program would also target other civilians eligible for the program. He emphasized that the defense program was voluntary. It is by choice. If a student wants to learn discipline, he/she can join. For those who are not interested, it is okay. So, it is not something mandatory, he said. The education ministrys acting higher education director general, Nizam, said on Monday that students completing the program would be awarded not only a graduation diploma but also a rank as a commissioned officer in the reserve force. According to the 2019 law, enlisted personnel are required to undergo basic military training for three months, but Sakti previously proposed that the training should last for a whole semester. The program could be included in the students semester credit system (SKS), Sakti said. (syk) In a shocking incident, a passenger bus was hijacked by some employees of a finance firm from New Southern Bypass in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Wednesday (August 19) morning. The employees of the finance firm forced the driver and the helper of the bus to get down and seized control of the vehicle. It is learnt that 34 passengers were onboard the bus when it was hijacked. The bus was headed to Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior from Gurugram when it was seized by employees of finance company in Agra. Sources told media that the employees of the finance company forced the driver to stop the bus before seizing control of the vehicle. Uttar Pradesh government has said in a statement that finance company had illegally seized the bus. The statement added that all driver staff and passengers are safe. According to UP government, the bus owner died yesterday and his son is doing last rites. The bus was later found at Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. Agra SSP Bablu Kumar is quoted by ANI as saying, "Three people from Gwalior filed a complaint today that the bus they were travelling in from Gurgaon to Panna was overtaken and seized by members of a finance company, that apparently financed the bus. A case is being registered, we're investigating the matter." Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil on Wednesday claimed that during UPA-II, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had offered Rahul Gandhi his place as he wanted to step down due to health issues. However, Rahul Gandhi turned down the proposal and requested Manmohan Singh to complete his term, he said at a press conference in response to a question on party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi's expressed willingness to work under non-Gandhi Congress chief. "This is the graciousness of the Gandhi family... they don't hanker after power. Sonia Gandhi refused to become Prime Minister in 1991 and then in 2004 and Rahul Gandhi declined the offer during UPA-II," Gohil said. Asked when Manmohan Singh made the offer, he responded that it was widely reported in the media. The Congress leader's comment came in the wake of a claim made in book "India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders" by Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah. The book says Priyanka Gandhi was ready to work under a non-Gandhi President after Rahul Gandhi's resignation following the party's rout in the 2019 general elections. "If there were to be another party President, he would be my boss. If he tells me tomorrow that he doesn't want me in Uttar Pradesh but wants me to be in Andaman and Nicobar (Islands), then I would jolly well go to Andaman and Nicobar," she had said, as per the book. Rahul Gandhi had also said that the party should elect a President from outside the Gandhi family, but in August last year, Sonia Gandhi was appointed as the interim President of the Congress. However, the Congress downplayed Priyanka Gandhi's purported remarks, and charged the BJP with stoking the issue. "We, at INC India, appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by BJP) in a year old remark (dated July 1, 2019) of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," party's chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said in a statement. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.19 Trend: Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises have become a warning signal for the occupying country of Armenia, head of the military affairs department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Colonel General Maharram Aliyev said in an interview with Trend. As Aliyev noted, in accordance with the Agreement on Military Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey and based on the annual plan, Azerbaijan hosted large-scale Live-Fire Joint Tactical and Flight-Tactical Exercises of the Land and Air Forces of the two countries. The exercises were held this month according to schedule. I would say that these exercises differed from the previous ones in their scale and new and very important strategy. They were in the spotlight of the whole world and demonstrated the military power of our countries in a wider coverage, the colonel general stressed. It should be noted that the joint exercises involved personnel of the armies of the two countries, armored vehicles, artillery and mortars, military aviation and air defense. The exercises were held in Nakhchivan, Ganja, Kurdamir and Yevlakh, as well as in Baku, the capital, he said. Of course, such large-scale military exercises could not be ignored by the world community, as, in my opinion, fraternal Turkey at present is the leading state and has one of the most powerful armies, including in terms of conducting anti-terrorist operations and protecting state borders. Currently, we are witnessing the successful operations of the military contingent of the fraternal country in various countries of the world. Azerbaijan has become an influential state both in the Caucasus region and in the international arena, and this factor was seen during the military exercises that we are talking about, Aliyev pointed out. Given that 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan is still under occupation as a result of the aggressive policy of Armenia, and that our treacherous neighbor committing from time to time military provocations and incidents, seeks to continue its occupation policy, its easy to guess why Armenia is so alarmed. In this regard, I want to remind about the provocation of Armenia in the direction of[Azerbaijan's] Tovuz district. As a result of an unsuccessful sortie, the Armenian army was repelled back retreating with significant losses, the colonel general further said. Another important point is that our heroic officers, regardless of their ranks, fought together with their soldiers on the line of contact; they werein front of them, inspiring them to fight Armenian armed forces, noted Aliyev. He went on to say: "The fact that Major General Polad Hashimov, who died in these battles, fought on the line of contact as a professional high-ranked officer should do and gave his life for the territorial integrity of the country, proves that our servicemen, from ordinary soldiers to senior officers, are ready to go along this path as one, resolutely fighting for their Motherland, for Azerbaijan! Surely, the heroic deed of our general Polad Hashimov is an unparalleled example for every soldier, officer and citizen, he emphasized. Of course, we can consider the large-scale military exercises that followed the Armenia's provocation as a warning signal. In this case, truth and justice are on our side; the norms of international law, numerous resolutions and documents confirm that the Azerbaijani lands are under occupation, and Armenia is an aggressor country, he said. Many states supported the position of Azerbaijan after the provocation in Tovuz, and brotherly Turkey declared unity with Azerbaijan. Armenians are undoubtedly worried about this, and the exercises in Nakhchivan seriously shocked Armenia. From this point of view, I believe that the [joint] exercises of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey were one of the last warnings to the occupying country of Armenia, which realizes that in case of a local military confrontation, Armenia as a state will face the threat of disappearing from the world map, and in this case, all responsibility will definitely fall on the leadership of the occupying country," Aliyev stressed. He noted that after the military exercises, Azerbaijani foreign and defense ministers visited Turkey, held meetings in an expanded format, met with the countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the tasks ahead. "Furthermore, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Turkeys Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, chief of the general staff, commanders of the land, air and naval forces of Turkey. At these meetings, it was emphasized that the[joint] military exercises have become a tradition, which is manifested in the annual holding of more than 10 joint exercises, the colonel general noted. Another issue is that the two countries have established cooperation in the military-technical sphere, especially in the military industry. This is an unprecedented cooperation; there are no other countries in the world which would hold such close military contacts, he said. However, it is no secret to anyone that Turkey currently has a very strong military-industrial potential, and we also benefit from this potential, because Turkey has one of the most modern military-technical arsenals in the world, and most of them are of its own production. The presence of such military power in Turkey naturally worries some circles, and the occupying country Armenia is also concerned about this factor, Aliyev pointed out. The statements made by President Ilham Aliyev during the meeting that military-technical cooperation with Turkey will continue to expand and this country will become the main partner for Azerbaijan, determine the transformation of our countries into a single power center capable of ensuring stability and security in the region. Commenting on the bellicose statements of the Armenian leadership and politicians, in particular on the threat to strike at Ganja and other large cities of Azerbaijan, the colonel general noted that attempts to remain on agenda through such absurd judgments is yet another unsuccessful move designed for the internal audience. "They just twaddle. These are the same occupiers who made similar statements in 2016, but received a formidable response several times during the April battles, he said. Nevertheless, in order to hide from the people a heavy defeat, numerous losses, recaptured occupied territories and heights, they hardened military rhetoric, made false threats, but what happened? The Azerbaijani army won the Gunnut victory in Nakhchivan, further strengthening its military fortifications and keeping the military-strategic regions of Armenia under control. This country seemingly still adheres to the old thinking and ambitions, and is seriously worried about the impending fiasco. The forces that the Armenian side hoped for are already turning away from them, the colonel general pointed out. At present, we are witnessing a worsening of the internal situation in this country. The [Armenian] broad masses dont trust their leader; the army is weak, and the soldiers are hungry and technically poorly equipped. At the same time, the Armenian prime minister continues to dishonor himself in the political scene. As the most recent example, it is pertinent to remind his goofing when answering questions in an interview with the BBC TV [HARDtalk] channel. Making absurd statements while denying the obvious facts is beyond any logic, he added. Presently, not only the Azerbaijani, but also the Armenian people know and understand that the Armenian leadership will never be able and will not dare to perpetrate its public threats. On the contrary, the Azerbaijani army is capable of liberating the occupied territories, in a short time, and international political centers, I repeat, are on our side; as well as its historical lands," the colonel general summed up. Johann Zarco underwent surgery on his right wrist on Wednesday, a bruising legacy of his controversial role in last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix in which nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi escaped serious injury by centimetres. French rider Zarco hurt himself when he collided with Italy's Franco Morbidelli. Both men came off leaving their bikes to cartwheel at speeds of up to 300 km/h (187mph) back across the track. Morbidelli's machine flew right past the head of Rossi leaving the Italian badly shaken and claiming the stray Yamaha "almost killed" him. Ducati rider Zarco, who may miss this weekend's Styrian Grand Prix at the same Spielberg circuit, has been widely blamed for the accident. "I understand that in the race we play for so much and everyone gives their best to be at the front, but we must not forget that ours is a dangerous sport, and the safety of us and our opponents is far more important than gaining a position," Rossi, 41, wrote on Instagram. "Zarco didn't intentionally cause such a 'carambola' (pile-up/ crash) but it still remains a serious error in judgement, one which a MotoGP rider cannot afford, especially at 310 km/h." Zarco said before the operation that he hoped to be at the circuit by Thursday when a decision on his fitness for the weekend could be made. bur-jld/dj/mw The war isnt over yet, although peace has broken out in most of Syria. The fighting is concentrated in a few places, like Idlib province on the Turkish border. There is a lesser number of deaths to the east in Hasaka and Deir Ezzor provinces, especially along the Turkish and Iraqi borders. In the south there is still fighting along the Israeli and Jordanian borders. Over the last few months there have been 10-12 deaths a day. This is about a third as many in 2019 and much less than the peak year of 2014 when about 210 a day were dying. Since 2011 about 400,000 have died in the civil war, which is far less than in Iraq since 2003. The war in Syria was more violent because more countries were involved, and still are. Moreover, Syria provided recruiting opportunities for Islamic terrorist groups and allowed ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) to emerge. ISIL and al Qaeda were a major factor in the nine years of Syrian violence and that brought in Iran to a much greater extent than in Iraq. Syria also saw major involvement by Russia, Turkey and Israel. The U.S. was also a presence, but mainly in the form of airstrikes, particularly against ISIL. The war should be over by now but it isnt because the foreign factions, especially the Iranians and Turks have unresolved issues. Iran is obsessed with destroying Israel and is not having much success at all. Turkey wants to eliminate Kurdish separatists (both Turkish and Syrian) from Syria and that is proving very difficult. The Americans want to keep ISIL down and support their Kurdish allies while Russia wants to prop up the Assad government in order to keep the airbase and port facilities arrangements they have obtained from the Assads. Which is the most dangerous faction in Syria? Probably Iran, which is becoming increasingly aggressive and desperate. Iran needs a win against Israel and all it is getting in Syria is an endless string of defeats. Because of the death to Israel obsession Iran is destroying its alliance with Turkey and Russia. Yet Iran is not the only one with an Israel obsession. Turkey would prefer that Iran go home. Many Iranians and Syrians openly agree with Russia and Turkey on this point. The Iranian government responds with Israeli airstrikes are killing people in Syria. Syrians note that most of the dead are Iranians or mercenaries (usually Arab) on the Iranian payroll. The Iranian government deliberately keeps as few Iranians as possible in Syrian bases likely to be hit. Iranians getting killed in Syria, even if they are IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) Iranians, is very unpopular back in Iran. Syrians just dont like all these Syrians who are working as mercenaries for Iran or Turkey getting killed by whoever. Similar situation with Russia and Turkey. Both nations keep as few of their own troops in Syria as possible. Russia and Turkey both have the majority of voters back home hostile to their soldiers getting killed in Syria. Russia uses a lot of Russian military contractors; whose deaths are less of an issue in Russia. The Turks, as they have done for centuries, use Arab mercenaries to fight other Arabs. There are lots of Turkish troops in Syria providing support, and ensuring that Turkish mercs do what they are paid for. Iran wants a more Islamic government in Syria, which has long been a secular dictatorship led by the Shia Assad clan. The Assads always hated Islamic movements, be they Moslem Brotherhood or anything else with Islamic attached to it. Israel sees this Islamic angle as the key reason why so many Moslem states are so unstable and close to another revolution or civil war. There is no easy solution to this Islamic problem and more Moslem majority states are at least admitting the problem exists and trying to do something about it. That takes time and is prone to creating more violence. There are other sources of disagreement. Turkey, Iran and Syria are angry at Russia over the poor performance of Russian air defense systems. The Syrians frequently claim to have intercepted Israeli air-launched, often from inside Lebanon or Israel, missiles but the reality is that few of the Israeli missiles fail to hit their targets. Commercial satellite photos are available to determine damage and there is always a lot of it. Iran and Syria complain that the formidable Russian air defense system in Syria is not used to stop the Israelis. The Russians dont want a fight with the Israelis, if only because the Israelis might publicly demonstrate the ineffectiveness of Russian air defense systems. These systems are a major export item for Russia and the Israelis could reduce those export sales with demonstrations of how Israelis get past the Russian air defenses. Iran offered to provide Syria with Iranian made air defense systems. That was not appreciated because the Iranian systems are seen as old tech and more propaganda than performance. Idlib Deadlock Turkey and Syria disagree over what to do with the million pro-rebel civilians trapped in Idlib. The Turks have backed one of the many Islamic terrorist factions that became dominant in the rebel coalition after 2013 and is now trapped in Idlib province. While secular groups were the most prominent rebels initially (2011) the Islamic terrorist groups quickly turned the rebellion into a religious war because the Assad government was socialist, not religious. The Turks backed al Nusra, the local al Qaeda affiliate. Another al Qaeda affiliate, from Iraq, attempted to displace and absorb al Nusra. Al Qaeda supreme leadership ordered Iraqi al Qaeda to behave and instead the Iraqi al Qaeda turned itself into ISIL. The Turks tried and failed to establish some sort of relationship with ISIL. That did not work and al Qaeda related rebels became the only ones the Turks could deal with. That led to a faction of those Syrian al Qaeda Islamic terrorists being unofficially and discreetly recognized by Turkey as the ruler of Idlib province, where most of the remaining Islamic terrorist rebels are trapped in northwest Syria. Currently Turkish forces are monitoring Idlib because Russia and Iran are backing Syrian forces seeking to defeat the Islamic terrorist groups there and return Idlib to Syrian control. The Turks are on the defensive in Idlib because they want to concentrate on preventing any of the two million Syrians in Idlib from fleeing to Turkey. Getting across the heavily guarded border would be difficult, but not impossible. The Turks want to extend the Safe Zone into Idlib and maintain control of over who gets into Turkey. Meanwhile Turkey has recruited over 30,000 Syrians to serve as mercenaries in Syria and Libya. Turkey has worked with Syrian Arab mercenaries for a long time, not just in the last few years in northern Syria, but for centuries before that. Turkey offers acceptable terms and tends to fulfill its agreements. Despite all that Turkish military efforts in Syria (and Libya) are stalled. August 17, 2020: In the northeast (Hasaka province) an SDF (Kurd)/American patrol was fired on by someone at or near a Syrian Army checkpoint outside the Kurdish controlled border city of Qamishli. The patrol had communicated with the checkpoint and were assured of safe passage. But as the patrol passed the checkpoint someone opened fire and the troops in the patrol returned fire. Within 30 minutes two American helicopter gunships showed up and fired on the checkpoint. At least two Syrian soldiers were killed and several others wounded. The Syrians abandoned the checkpoint and the patrol returned to its base. Russian, American, Kurdish and Syrian forces control different stretches of main roads and that has been the cause of many incidents, although few of them involve casualties. Hasaka is the home province for Syrian Kurds and there are over 40,000 armed Kurds there plus about 600 American troops. Russians are in Hasaka for joint patrols with Turkish forces near the Turkish border. To the west, in Idlib province, a roadside bomb was used against a joint Russian-Turkish patrol. There were no casualties but some vehicles were damaged. Further east (in neighboring Aleppo province) Russian troops shot down a Turkish UAV flying near the border town of Kobane. The Turks had been firing artillery at Kobane recently and the Kurds demanded that Russia do something. The Russians were obliged to act because of an agreement with the SDF that allowed Russians to have a base near Kobane and patrol the area in return for protecting the Kobane residents from Turkish attack. August 15, 2020: In the north (Aleppo) a motorcycle bomb went off in a market killing one civilian and wounding several others. No one immediately took responsibility. In the east (Deir Ezzor province) an airstrike, apparently by armed Israeli UAVs, attacked an Iranian base, killing 23 Afghan and Iraqi mercenaries and destroying large quantities of ammo and weapons. This could be seen by the number of secondary explosions (caused by the UAV missiles). August 14, 2020: In the north (Idlib province) Russia and Turkey announced they had halted the joint patrols, especially along the M4 highway. The problem was the growing number of attacks on the patrols. In mid-July a roadside bomb on the M4 highway injured members of joint Russian-Turk patrol. Three Russians and several Turks were wounded. The bomb was apparently planted by Islamic terrorists in the half of Idlib province still controlled by Islamic terrorist rebels. Syria controls about half of Idlib and Turkey occupies much of northernmost Idlib. Further east (in neighboring Aleppo province) Turkish troops shelled Kurdish SDF forces near the border town of Kobane. There were no casualties. August 13, 2020: In the north (Idlib province) an American UAV used a R9X version of the Hellfire missile to kill a military training expert working for al Qaeda factions in Idlib. The R9X missile does not use explosives but instead penetrates a vehicle and then activates several sharp blades that kill anyone in the vehicle without harming anyone near the vehicle. Th R9X Ninja Hellfire has been used several times since 2017. Israel and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) agreed to establish diplomatic relations. Other Arabian states are expected to follow. Israel and the UAE have had covert relationships for over a decade but making it formal is all about Iran and Turkey. These two nations aspire to lead the Moslems in the region, at the expense of Arab Moslems. This new alliance is, in part, because of the realization that Israelis are also Semites while the Turks are Turks and the Iranians are Indo-European. Such differences matter, especially in the Middle East. August 12, 2020: Israel has reduced the number of airstrikes inside Syria because there are fewer targets. Meanwhile there is more activity on the Israeli border with Syria and Lebanon as well as in the south (Gaza) where Hamas and other Gaza-based Islamic terror groups have become more active. During the past three years Israeli forces, mainly the air force, have used over 5,000 missiles to hit about 950 Iranian targets in Syria. During this period Syria fired 844 SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) at Israeli aircraft. Only one of these missiles damaged an Israeli F-16 and that was in 2018 because the pilot did not, as he was trained to do, carry out evasive maneuvers when his missile warning system alerted him to the threat. The pilot tried to complete his mission first and then evade. The F-16 was damaged and crashed in northern Israel. The pilot safely ejected. This incident demonstrated that the Syrian Air Defense systems could be dangerous if a pilot did not pay attention. As a result, more attacks (firing long range missiles) were carried out from Israel, Lebanon or Jordan, with missiles launched near the border. With new missiles Israeli aircraft were still able to hit anywhere in Syria. Israeli did attack Syrian air defense units that were particularly dangerous. These SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) missions are difficult and dangerous but Israel managed to destroy a third of Syrian air defense systems (launchers and radars) without losing any aircraft. August 11, 2020: In the northwest (Idlib province) Turkish forces have a built a new base near the border with Latakia province. This province is vital to the Assad government because is the most loyal province and contains the Mediterranean ports and the Russian airbase. Most of the Latakia population is Shia, as is the Assad clan. Further east, where the borders of Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa provinces meet an ISIL attack killed six pro-Assad militiamen. August 10, 2020: In the east (Deir Ezzor province) an airstrike, apparently Israeli, killed 14 Iranians and Iranian mercenaries, some of them from Iraq. August 7, 2020: In the south (Daraa province) a bomb hidden in a pickup truck went off in a residential area, killing 21, including ten women and children. Nearby Syrian troops were accused of planting the bomb in an area where pro-rebel civilians live. The Syrian troops have been unable to subdue the local rebels, who control some of the nearby Jordanian border. August 6, 2020: In the north (Aleppo province) Kurdish SDF forces clashed with Turkish Syrian mercenaries in the eastern part of the province. There were several casualties. This apparently not a planned attack but more of an accident. Turkish forces have been halted here for months, unwilling to risk the heavy casualties a major move into neighboring Hasaka province would entail. August 4, 2020: In Lebanon, a 1.1 kiloton explosion in the Hezbollah controlled port of Beirut triggered another round of anti-Hezbollah and anti-Iran demonstrations in Lebanon. The national government has resigned. Hezbollah is denying any responsibility for the explosion even though Hezbollah has boasted of controlling the port area for years. Everyone blames government incompetence for allowing 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explosives to be stored in an abandoned cargo ship or locked up warehouse for seven years. The dangerous cargo was no secret and local media reported on the port officials warnings of the danger and years of demands that the explosives be removed from the port. A French-led relief coalition has pledged a quarter of a billion dollars in relief money. The Arab oil states have also stepped up. Iran and Syria, who have dominated Lebanese politics since the 1980s, are broke and offering some relief supplies, condolences and blaming it all on Israel and America. Iran accuses the French and Arab relief efforts as an attempt to destroy Hezbollah and Iranian influence in Lebanon. Unfortunately for Iran, most Lebanese appear to agree with that assessment. In the south, on the Israel border (Golan Heights) Israeli warplanes, UAVs and armed helicopters attacked Syrian Army positions being used to observe Israeli troops in the Golan Heights. These airstrikes were largely in retaliation for Syrian or Iranian efforts on the 2nd to get men across the border to plant bomb. Israeli intel later reported that this attack had been ordered by Iran. In the east (Deir Ezzor province), near the Iraq border an Israeli airstrike hit several Iranian targets next to the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq. Fifteen Iranian mercenaries were killed. Since late April Israel has carried out twenty or more airstrikes in Syria. Nearly half the attacks were in Deir Ezzor province, where the Al Bukamal crossing is, as well as other Israeli targets further away from the Iraq border. The rest of the airstrikes were all over southern Syria, wherever Iranian forces were operating. August 2, 2020: During July there were about 320 deaths in Syria. About 30 percent were government (Assad) forces, 30 percent were civilians, 30 percent Islamic terrorist rebels while the rest were non-Islamic terrorist rebels. August 1, 2020: In the south on the Israeli border (Golan Heights) a Russia-backed Syrian militia has been taking control of the Syrian side of the border. Called the Huran Army, the militia contains many former rebels who are hostile to Iranian influence in Syria but willing to cooperate with the Assads. July 29, 2020: In the east (Deir Ezzor province) Iran backed Iraqi Katab Hezbollah have been seen operating 20 kilometers from the Iraq border. The Iraqi government forbids Iraqi militias from operating in Syria without government permission. Iran is increasingly flaunting this rule. Further north (Hasaka province) ten Islamic terrorists were killed when Kurdish forces clashed with ISIL. July 28, 2020: Since May Israel has carried out at least ten airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria. In addition to large quantities of weapons and munitions destroyed, at least sixty Iranian or local mercenary personnel have died. Iran is building a new mercenary force by hiring Syrians rather than bringing in Shia Afghans or Shia from other nations. The Afghans were good fighters but there was a limited supply of Afghan Shia willing to serve as Iranian mercs in faraway Syria. A growing number would not renew their contracts and returned to Afghanistan or Iran, where mercenary service also earned a residency permit. Iran is short of cash and the local mercs are cheaper, especially given the bad shape the economy is in and the dire poverty many Syrians live with. There are over 10,000 of these Syrian mercs in service now and most are based on or near the Israeli or Jordanian borders. Many Syrians see the Iranians and their Syrian mercs as another foreign occupation force. Syrians are tired of war while the Iranians want more of it, against Israel. That is not popular because attacking Israel generally fails but always brings very effective counterattacks. Moreover, a lot of Syrians living along the Israel border befitted from the medical aid Israel provided for badly injured Syrians. S ince 2011 Israel has provided medical treatment to several thousand badly injured Syrian civilians and rebels. This was done at a few border crossings where a field hospital was set up nearby and Syrians were told they could bring badly wounded kin or people they would vouch for to the crossing where Israelis doctors would examine them at the border, admit those who did need care and first try to treat the patient at the field hospital. If that was not possible the patient was sent to a hospital in Israel where specialists could provide the needed care. Family were notified of the progress and when to be at the border to pick up their mended friend or family member. Via this program Israel established contacts on the Syrian side as well as receiving a steady supply of what the chatter was on the Syrian side of the border. Israel has many Arab speaking medical personnel and has no problem treating Arab speaking patients. This medical program earned Israel a lot of good will on the Syrian side of the border. The care was free and there were no strings attached other than no Islamic terrorists were welcome, and these would be arrested if identified as such. There were a few such cases and that was not seen by the Syrians as a bad thing. Same attitude towards the Iranians and their mercs, who are seen as a danger to nearby civilians and an enemy of Syria. July 27, 2020: In the southwest Lebanon the Israeli border security system detected a group of armed men crossing the border from Lebanon near the disputed Shebaa Farms (occupied by Israel but claimed by both Lebanon and Syria). Israeli rapid reaction forces drove up and spotted the intruders and opened fire. The men ran back into Lebanon. Hezbollah denied the incident occurred and said they had nothing to do with it. The Israelis have video from their border surveillance system, which they are willing to release, and other electronic evidence, which they are not willing to release. Israel regularly taps into Hezbollah communications, despite frequent Iranian efforts to upgrade the security of Hezbollah comms. It was revealed that a Hezbollah attack was expected, somewhere on the Lebanon border, to coincide with the Moslem religious celebration of Eid al Adha. July 26, 2020: The Arab world has noticed that Turkey is actively fighting Arabs in Libya, Syria and Iraq and ready to get involved elsewhere as well. Centuries of Turkish rule over Arabs ended a century ago when the Western allies defeated the Ottoman Empire. The Turks are determined to keep their own separatists and Arab Islamic terrorists under control in or near Turkey, no matter what the cost. July 22, 2020: In the south Israel launched another series of airstrikes on Damascus as well as in central Syria. This time more of the targets were Syrian air defense facilities (radars and missile launchers). Israel is doing this in preparation for Iranian efforts to bring in and use air defense systems similar to the ones Syria already has. Up to a point Israeli air strikes can evade Syrian air defenses but if there are too many air defense systems operational there is more risk of Israeli aircraft being shot down or forced to abort their attack. To deal with that Israel has to carry out a sustained (weeks or longer) SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) operations and repeat that as needed if Iran and Syrian keep bringing in replacement air defense systems. Another new complication was Russia sending a jet fighter to intercept, but not interfere with an incoming Israeli strike force. This was to make the point that Russian radars can track Israeli air operations and intercept them. The Israel strike force did not include any F-35s. Israeli police revealed that an investigation that began in April had led to the arrest of ten Palestinians who were recruited by an Iran-backed Syrian militia and Hezbollah in Lebanon. There were actually two separate groups operating in the West Bank and their main goal was to kidnap an Israeli soldier and hold him for ransom. That would consist of freeing a lot of imprisoned Palestinian terrorists. July 20, 2020: In the south an Israeli airstrike south of Damascus killed eight Syrian soldiers, but one of the dead turned out to be a Hezbollah commander. Israel later sent a message to Hezbollah that the Hezbollah commander was not targeted on purpose and Israel did not know he was there. Israel was trying to give Hezbollah an excuse not to retaliate and trigger a series if exchanges that would hurt Hezbollah and Lebanon more than Israel. July 17, 2020: In the east (Hasaka province) a Russian convoy was stopped by American forces. This is the eighth time so far this year that American troops have blocked Russian efforts to move into Kurdish controlled parts of Hasaka and Deir Ezzor provinces. Russian and American forces interact regularly in Hasaka and most of the time there are no problems. Russians have even fewer problems with the Turks. Joint patrols with Turkish troops in Idlib province, to prevent fighting between Islamic terrorist forces and Turkish or Syrian forces, have been a success. American-backed Kurdish forces control most of Hasaka province, where the local population is largely Kurdish. Russian. Turkish and Syrian forces are trying to move troops into Hasaka and gradually displace the Kurdish forces. In some cases the Syrians, Russians or Turks are, via negotiation with the Kurds, allowed to base troops or patrol certain areas. The Americans have more surveillance capabilities than the Kurds and more frequently spot Russian troops moving into areas they are supposed to stay away from. The government of Vietnam has pushed back its end-2020 deadline for privatising several state-owned firms as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to business publication DealStreetAsia, Vietnams government was aiming to sell stakes in 128 state-owned companies between 2017 and end-2020, but has thus far divested holdings in only 37 of these. In a report, the government noted that the pandemic was partially responsible for holding up its plans, as Covid-19 has impacted all socio-economic aspects, market demand and the stock market. TeleGeography reports that the government has planned for years to partially or fully privatise Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation. The government has extensively restructured both telecoms firms in a bid to boost their efficiency and therefore competitiveness, although it has not audited either in preparation for a possible initial public offering (IPO). In more cheering news for Vietnamese authorities, the local unit of Samsung has shot down speculation that it was planning to transfer device factories from Vietnam to India despite plans by its parent firm to strengthen its presence and investment in India. Indias Economic Times newspaper reported that the South Korean firm was planning to take advantage of the Indian governments incentive scheme by manufacturing $40 billion worth of smartphones in the country. However, Samsung Vietnam told local outlet VNExpress that the market would always be Samsungs important production base in the world, dismissing the Economic Times report as unfounded. Samsung opened its first manufacturing plant in Vietnam in 2008, and the country now accounts for around half of the vendors device output. In March this year, it commenced construction on a $220 million R&D facility in Vietnam. However, Samsung has exited markets previously most notably China, in which it shuttered construction late last year as it looked to streamline operations. Photo: (Photo : Facebook/WakeMed Health and Hospitals) After suffering two strokes, Joe Korst relearned Kenny Rogers' song "All That You Could Be" and continued with his singing tradition. He sang it to his wife, Sharon Korst, to celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary. Could not talk much after two strokes The couple's daughter, Theresa Kostrzewa, told TODAY that his 87-year-old dad had lost much of his ability to speak after suffering a stroke twice. In five days, Joe was able to relearn the lyrics of the song so that he could serenade his wife on their wedding anniversary. On August 10, Kostrzewa got her camera ready to film the rendition. Medical staff who took care of Joe at WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina, shared the clip on Facebook. See also: Police and Community Help Illinois Teen Boys Raise Almost $4k After Lemonade Stand Got Robbed The couple sat at a dining table as seen in the video, and they held hands as they serenade one another. Joe told his wife to come closer and then they shared a kiss. Learned the song days before the anniversary In late June, Joe had his first stroke, which was followed by another one month after. Kostrzewa encouraged his dad and his speech therapist to learn the song many days before their wedding anniversary. Since their 50th anniversary, Joe had been singing the same song every year. Kostrzewa explained that his father probably had sung the song about 150 times. She said that after the first stroke, her dad could only say "I love you," and "I'm sorry." She said that while her dad did not learn the whole song, he was able to sing the most important part. A Very Special Anniversary Joe and Sharon celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary this past week. . After recently having two strokes, Joe, one of our WakeMed rehab patients, was unable to remember the words to their song: All That You Could Be by Kenny Rogers. . Joe has been practicing this song in speech therapy so that he could surprise his wife by singing it to her on their anniversary. . Happy Anniversary, Joe and Sharon! . #wakemed #stroke #strokesurvivor #kennyrogers #anniversary #wakecountync #raleighnc ABC11 WTVD WRAL TV Posted by WakeMed Health & Hospitals on Monday, August 17, 2020 See also: Alaska Mom Suddenly Gives Birth After Airplane Took off [Son Receives Unique Name] She shared that the performance was awesome for everybody because it was so sweet. The secret to a long and happy marriage The Korsts' love story has captured the hearts of the staff at WakeMed. The couple met when Joe was 22 and Sharon was in her late teens. Kostrzewa shared that she remembered one moment when one of the staff at WakeMed asked her about her father's secret to a long and happy marriage. The daughter explained that her dad would advise people to "love the hell" out of your spouse. Joe tells people that he is 63 years in love. Kostrzewa said that her dad unfailingly loved her mom and made sure to let everybody know and see it. See also: The Story Behind the Beirut Blast Nurse Who Saved 3 Babies She added that her mom has been blessed to have her husband love her throughout her life. Sharon feels everything is going to be okay because Joe lets them know that they have got everything under control through the song he sings. Kostrzewa's mom was reticent to be on TV when a local news outlet wanted to share their video on the screen. However, her dad, Joe, felt differently about it. She explained that her dad and mom were like yin-yang. Joe believes that it is a story that needs to be told because it is his wife's love story. OSLO/MOSCOWNorway said on Wednesday it had expelled a Russian diplomat on suspicion of espionage, drawing a rebuke from Russias embassy, which said the accusation was groundless. Norways decision followed the recent arrest in Oslo of a Norwegian citizen suspected of illegally handing information to the diplomat, whom police believe to be an intelligence officer. He has engaged in actions that are incompatible with his role and status as a diplomat, Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Trude Maaseide said of the Russian man. Norways PST security police said on Monday the arrest of the Norwegian was made when he met the Russian diplomat at a restaurant, and that the case could harm vital national interests. The Russian man, who worked in the trade section of the embassy, had diplomatic immunity and was not arrested, Norway said. But the Russian embassy said it had filed a protest against what it believed to be a violation of the diplomats immunity. The deputy trade representative was apprehended by the PST without cause during a meeting with a Norwegian citizen, it said in a statement. He was searched and was not allowed to contact the embassy or to summon representatives from the consular department. There was no immediate reaction from the Russian government, but Konstantin Kosachev, a senior lawmaker, said Moscow would expel a Norwegian diplomat in response. I have no doubt that Russia in this case, as always, will adhere clearly to the principle of reciprocity, Kosachev, head of the Russian upper house of parliaments foreign affairs committee, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. Risk management and quality assurance consultancy DNV GL late on Tuesday said the Norwegian suspect worked at its oil and gas unit, specialising in 3D printing and materials technology. By Nora Buli and Tom Balmforth Democrats on Tuesday night officially nominated Joe Biden for president in a unique roll call vote that featured delegates participating from dozens of locations across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alicia Andrews, the chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, stood with supporters in front of the Black Wall Street mural in the Greenwood District to remind America of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and urged the country to refrain from the same violence that hurt a once-strong community. Ninety-nine years ago violence devastated a thriving black community here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Andrews said before announcing support for Biden. Today, hatred still lives in our nation, but so does resolve. Oklahoma refused to let ourselves be defined by division then, and our nation must turn back the tide of violence again now. Andrews later announced that state delegates cast 13 votes for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and 24 votes for Biden. Kendrick Marshall 918-581-8378 kendrick.marshall@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @KD_Marshall ISIS jihadists have taken hundreds of people hostage after a ferocious firefight with soldiers guarding a Nigerian town. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), also known as Boko Haram, rolled into the town of Kukawa in the Lake Chad region in 22 trucks at around 4pm on Tuesday. 'The terrorists engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle,' said Babakura Kolo, head of a local militia. The people of Kukawa had only returned to their hometown two weeks ago after spending the last two years living in a refugee camp near the Borno state capital following a bloody attack on their settlement in November 2018. Residents of Kukawa, escorted by the military, had returned to the town on August 2, on the orders of the Borno state authorities They were provided a military escort and ordered to leave the refugee camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, 120 miles away, by Borno state authorities on August 2. A local chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people had returned with the hope of cultivating their farmlands 'only to end up in the hands of the insurgents'. 'We don't know what they would do to them but I hope they don't harm them,' said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons. A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets were deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to 'tackle the situation', without giving details. The decade-long jihadist conflict has forced around two million out of the homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno. Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they rely on handouts from international charities. In the last two years, local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to return home, despite concern by international charities that this is not safe. Residents have been returned to five major towns since 2018, where they are confined under military protection, with trenches dug around towns to try to fend off jihadist raids. Nigerian soldiers have been fighting jihadists in the country for more than a decade (file photo) Despite the fortifications, the insurgents have continued to launch attacks. Residents who venture out to work on their farms or collect firewood have been killed or abducted. The United Nations last Friday said 10.6 million out of the 13 million people in the conflict-ravaged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe would need humanitarian assistance this year. It said the figures represented a 50-percent increase since last year, and the highest tally since the beginning of the joint humanitarian response five years ago. Recent talks with the Chinese Army show that China refuses to disengage from the Ladakh Border despite negotiations.This causes a dilemma for India which has told Beijing to leave the areas where they intend to occupy over the Actual Line of Control. China refuses to back out from the high-tension area, Depsang plains and Gogra, after several negotiations to peacefully settle the issue. India's top civilian and military officials will discuss on Monday how to resolve Chinese presence on their borders, according to Dev Discourse. Actions by Beijing at the borders of its neighbors show that they have no concern over the ramifications. India has reported that the Chinese soldiers are now camping in contested territory, specifically the Finger area in over 90-days. There are signs of building fortifications that include bunkers and sangars. According to ANI, the top echelon of Indian leaders and their military planners will be getting together to come up with a course of action to deal with the tension in the Eastern Ladakh border. So far, it has gotten worse as the Chinese got so bold to occupy multiple locations, as mentioned in Times of India. One of the topics on the table is the fact that the Chinese have settled down and by all indication are not intending to leave anytime soon. Right now, the Chinese forces are standing off against Indian elements in the Finger area and Gogra for the last 90-days while playing hardball. The meeting of the senior officials in Delhi was attended by generals of both armies at the Daulat Beg Oldi. It was specifically asked of the Chinese to stop putting obstacles that were impeding Indian patrols going to Point 10, 11, 12, and 13. Also read: Indian Navy's Aggressive Deployment Serve as Warning to Beijing Over Border Disputes Despite China starting the confrontations, they are demanding that India should lessen troops from the DBO and Eastern Ladakh. But India remains firm in letting China know that the buildup is their message to Beijing that it will cost them if their aggression continues. Based on their equipment, the Chinese don't intend to engage their troops with long-range artillery with armored carriers on one side of the DBO. India has beefed up its armored units and artillery, with the AH64 Apache Longbow, to give any Chinese unit a shellacking. The Defense Ministry mentioned that the Chinese are getting rowdier along the LAC, from April to May, and have inched their way to Indian domains. They wet to Kungrang nala and Galwan valley, just to name a few places that the PLA has dared enter. Last June 15, the standoff evolved in a battle that took the lives of 20 Indian troopers. This was the first engagement in a long time, located in PP-14 in the Galwan valley. Last July 17, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that discussions were ongoing with China to peacefully end the disputed Ladakh border incident. He adde that all peaceful means must be pursued, but gave no assurance that China intends to comply with any resolution. To bolster the morale of the Indian Forces, he said no power (referenced to China) can ever take away or possess Indian sovereignty. China refuses to disengage and leave the Finger 5 location, brazenly saying they will keep it in Chinese hands but putting an outpost with 30 soldiers manning it. Related article: India-Japan Naval Exercises Ramp up Push Back Against Chinese Navy @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, facing intense backlash over cost-cutting moves that Democrats, state attorneys general and civil rights groups warn could jeopardize mail-in voting, said Tuesday that the Postal Service would suspend those operational changes until after the 2020 election. The measures, which included eliminating overtime for mail carriers, reducing post office hours and removing postal boxes, have been faulted for slowing mail delivery and criticized as an attempt to disenfranchise voters seeking to vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic. DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump who was tapped in May to run the Postal Service, said in a statement that to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail he was suspending changes that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic. DeJoy said retail hours at the post office would not change, no mail processing facilities would be closed and overtime would continue to be approved as needed. It was unclear, however, whether the agency would reverse measures already put in place across the country that union officials and workers say have inflicted deep damage to the Postal Service. That includes the removal of hundreds of mail sorting machines, according to a June 17 letter sent from the Postal Service to the American Postal Workers Union. Some of those machines have already been destroyed, union officials and workers said. The announcement came as lawmakers summoned DeJoy to testify before the House and the Senate in the coming days and as two coalitions of at least 20 state attorneys general said they would file lawsuits against the Trump administration over the postal changes. Those lawsuits, which are being led by Washington state and Pennsylvania, seek to reverse DeJoys changes, which they called unlawful. Lawmakers in both parties and voting rights advocates have accused DeJoy, a longtime transportation and logistics executive, of making policy changes that jeopardize not only voters ability to cast their ballots safely in the general election, but also the delivery of important medicines, paychecks and documents. DeJoys ongoing financial ties to companies that stand to benefit from his work at the Postal Service have also prompted concerns from lawmakers. Concern about DeJoys changes was so pronounced that Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California interrupted the Houses annual summer recess and scheduled a vote on Saturday on Democratic legislation that would revoke policy changes until Jan. 1, 2021, or the end of the pandemic. The bill would also include $25 billion in funding for the beleaguered agency. DeJoys announcement did not change those plans to return, a senior Democratic aide said Tuesday, although text of the legislation had not yet been released. They felt the heat, Pelosi said at a Politico Playbook event moments after DeJoy released his statement. And thats what we were trying to do, make it too hot for them to handle. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader and one of dozens of Democrats who spent Tuesday denouncing the changes at in-person events outside postal facilities, said that while DeJoy had vowed to stop any changes, Democrats were going to make sure in law that that is the case. While several Senate Republicans have condemned the changes enforced by DeJoy and signaled openness for more funding for the agency, top Senate Republicans have not yet coalesced around legislation to address the agencys issues. I dont think well pass, in the Senate, a postal-only bill, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, told The Courier Journal on Tuesday. DeJoy is scheduled to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday and the House Oversight Committee on Monday, as lawmakers continue to push for answers. Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Postal Service board of governors, is also expected to testify before the House committee on Monday. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, spoke to DeJoy on Tuesday and asked for a written explanation of which policy changes were rescinded or kept and for an explicit promise that the agency would treat election mail as first-class priority. I told him theres a lot of mistrust because of statements he and the president have made about cutbacks in mail delivery during COVID and about mail-in voting through Election Day, Schumer said in a statement, adding, We cannot allow two things as sacred to our country as the Post Office and our elections to be undermined. As criticism and public pressure mounted, the Postal Services board of governors held emergency meetings via conference call on Saturday and Monday, where the outcry was discussed, according to a person familiar with the meetings who asked for anonymity because they were closed to the public. According to a notice in the Federal Register, the Postal Services general counsel certified that the meeting may be closed under the Government in the Sunshine Act. While the board oversees the strategic direction of the Postal Service and selects the postmaster general, who serves at the pleasure of the board members, it is not clear what role it played in approving the cost-cutting changes or suspending them until after the election. Board members declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment on DeJoys moves and what role, if any, they have played. A Postal Service spokesman declined to comment on the boards role or the meetings, instead asking a reporter to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the agendas of the meetings. DeJoy and his administration allies have argued that the removal of underused mailboxes and replacing sorting equipment were policies first set into motion by DeJoys predecessors. But DeJoy has carried them out with a speed and vigor previous postmasters general had not, according to people familiar with their execution. So, Postmaster General DeJoy, two weeks ago, and again, recently, has reiterated his commitment to pay overtime to postal workers and letter carriers if theres an increase in volume that demands that in order to be able to get ballots or any other first class mail to its destination as efficiently and as fast as possible, Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, told reporters on Tuesday. President Trump at no time has instructed or directed the post office to cut back on overtime, or any other operational decision that would slow things down. Union officials said that some very limited overtime requests had been fulfilled. The bigger concerns, they said, were the routing and transportation changes detailed in a memo in July that was widely circulated. Among the changes, mail carriers are supposed to avoid waiting for delayed trucks or taking multiple trips. The cost-cutting measures DeJoy carried out came after years of public criticism by Trump, who has accused the Postal Service of being poorly run and not charging high enough rates to private companies like Amazon and UPS. Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE! he tweeted in December 2017. The president reiterated that idea Tuesday: @Amazon and others in that business, should be charged (by the U.S. Postal System) much more per package, and the Post Office would be immediately brought back to good health, now vibrant, with ALL jobs saved, he tweeted. No pass on to customers. Get it done! In April 2018, Trump tapped Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to lead a task force on updating the Postal Service, which culminated in a report that offered a broad critique of the agencys business model and concluded that an antiquated mission along with changing market forces left it ripe for financial collapse. The report suggested that postal workers were overpaid relative to other government employees and private sector delivery services, and that compensation reductions along with other cost-cutting measures were needed. Their wages and benefits should be aligned to comparable U.S. federal employee groups, including aligning their ability to collectively bargain for wages and benefits with other federal employees, the report said. There were also recommendations to cut services, such as scaling back delivery days and making it easier to close post offices and remove mailboxes. The task force said that to be more cost efficient, the Postal Service should exercise discretion to lower service standards. But those recommendations came before the pandemic, which has upended plans to vote in person this November and is likely to cause an influx of mail-in ballots. On Tuesday, Washington and Pennsylvania filed lawsuits accusing the administration of unlawfully pushing through changes at the Postal Service. Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general, said on Tuesday that she intended to file a separate lawsuit. William Tong, Connecticuts attorney general, said that his office had received complaints from across the state about slowdowns in mail delivery. Among them, medicine was not being delivered to sick seniors and child support payments were arriving late to financially insecure mothers. In August, some Connecticut voters were denied the right to vote when their absentee ballots arrived late, he added. We will not allow Donald Trump to steal the election by sabotaging the United States Postal Service, Tong said in a statement. The president greatly misjudged the anger his unlawful policies would unleash across this country. The states plan to pursue their lawsuit despite DeJoys announcement on Tuesday. James E. Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine and a professor at Harvard Law School, said the lawsuit provided assurance to the attorneys general that the postmaster general would follow through on his promise. The attorneys general dont trust the word of the Postal Service, Tierney said. They feel more comfortable having this done in open court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Advertisement says Parag Joshi, M.D., a cardiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.Women and Black individuals generally have higher stroke risk, Joshi says.says Anurag Mehta, M.D., the first author of the study, formerly at UT Southwestern and now at Emory University School of Medicine.The findings could help guide health care providers as they decide how aggressively to treat patients with risk factors such as high cholesterol and blood pressure but who have never had a major cardiovascular event.In 2018, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued joint cholesterol management guidelines that recommend using the CAC score as an aid when deciding whether to prescribe a cholesterol lowering statin drug in situations where the decision - based on the routine risk assessment using systolic blood pressure, cholesterol level, etc. - is uncertain.Joshi's study evaluated data from more than 7,000 participants in two large studies - the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the Dallas Heart Study at UT Southwestern.The authors divided study participants by the AHA/ACC calcium risk categories - 0, 1-99, and 100 or above - to evaluate how useful the calcium scores would have been in predicting heart attacks and strokes. It also subdivided the participants by sex and race (Black, white, and Hispanic) to calculate the risk levels for the different groups.For participants with a calcium score of zero, there was a similarly low risk of either a stroke or a heart attack in the coming 10 years - less than 2 percent for either event among all study participant categories, according to the study.The risk level for both heart attacks and strokes rose a bit for those with scores of 1-99, yet still remained below 6 percent - increasing about equally for both and across most demographic groups. At this level, women did have a greater increase in the risk for stroke than for heart attack, whereas men had higher heart attack risk than stroke.Greater differences were found when the CAC scores rose to 100 or above, with heart attack risk twice as high as stroke risk for the entire study population. While 10-year heart attack risk jumped above 12 percent for men and over 14 percent for Hispanic individuals, heart attack risk for women was approximately 8 percent, according to the study.Meanwhile, stroke risk remained below 8 percent across all groups, although women, Black, and Hispanic people had higher risk than men and white participants.For doctors and patients, the findings could help tilt the scales either toward or away from using statin drugs to lower cholesterol in cases where the decision is not clear-cut from factors such as age, sex, cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and smoking history.Patients are sometimes reluctant to begin what is likely to become a lifelong drug therapy, Joshi says.he says.Source: Eurekalert The National Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joseph Akamba, has justified former president John Mahama's call for citizens to fiercely protect ballot boxes on Election Day. According to Mr. Akamba, the call is necessary to ensure the transparency and sanctity of the election. Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, he said the call was not a shift to violence but a call to vigilance. We want to have a free and fair election devoid of intimidation. We are not going there with guns like the NPP vigilantes will carry. We are just going there to be citizen police. We will defend and protect the ballot boxes, we will help the EC protect the boxes if they don't need it, we'll employ ourselves, he said. He said the party had reasonable grounds to believe that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will attempt to use vigilante groups to disrupt the polls. We have been on the grounds and we have seen the kind of things the vigilantes from the NPP will always do to frustrate members of the general public and so we have decided that the people in the communities protect ballot boxes In many such occasions, you hear the EC say they haven't seen anything. Even recently the president himself said he hasn't seen that people were murdered or injured so I'm sure the laws agree that we should defend ourselves, he added. Responding to queries from host Umaru Sanda Amadu on whether the NDC's action will not amount to an offence, especially as security personnel will already be deployed to provide security services during the elections, he said the NDC is only seeking to complement the efforts of the police and other security agencies. We respect the police and their activities but we think we should go into self-protectionAfter voting, I will stay until everybody votes and counting and done before you see me leaving We're not in for violence, Mr. Akamba said. ---citinewsroom Bengaluru ophthalmologist Rehman was developing medical app to help injured ISIS terrorists India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: The ophthalmologist Abdur Rehman who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in Bengaluru was in the process of developing a medical application to help the injured Islamic State terrorists. ISIS linked Bengaluru doctor arrested | NIA crackdown on ISKP members | Oneindia News He had visited an ISIS medical camp in Syria in early 2014 for treatment of ISIS terrorists and stayed with Islamic State operatives for 10 days and returned to India, the NIA said. He was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Islamic State Khorasan Province case. During interrogation, arrested accused Abdur Rahman confessed that he was conspiring with accused Jahanzaib Sami and other Syria-based ISIS operatives on secure messaging platforms to further ISIS activities. He was in the process of developing a medical application for helping the injured ISIS cadres in the conflict-zones and a weaponry-related application for the benefit of ISIS fighters. Bengaluru ophthalmologist accused of furthering ISIS cause arrested by NIA The case, it may be recalled was initially registered by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in March 2020. The Delhi Police registered this case after arresting a Kashmiri couple Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar in Delhi. The couple was found to be having affiliations with ISKP, a banned terrorist outfit affiliated with the ISIS. The couple were found to be involved in subversive activities and were also in touch with Abdul Basith, who is now lodged in the Tihar jail in connection with another case being probed by the NIA. The probe also led to the arrest of Sadiya Anwar Sheikh and Nabeel Siddique Khatri, both residents of Pune. They were allegedly part of the conspiracy to carry out subversive activities under the garb of protesting against the amended citizenship law. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 9:52 [IST] Hours after Sanjay Dutt and his wife Maanayata Dutt were spotted at Mumbais Kokilaben hospital on Tuesday, she issued a statement for the actors fans and friends, thanking everyone for their prayers and asking them to stop speculations around his health. Sanjay was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last week and has been making regular visits to the hospital. Maanayata also clarified that Sanjay will be treated in Mumbai for now and any travel plans will only be decided as per the developments in his health. For those asking, Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the Covid situation eases. As of now, Sanju is in the best hands of our esteemed doctors at Kokilaben hospital. I request everyone, with my folded hands, to stop speculating the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work. We will update you all regularly with his progress. To all of Sanjus fans and well wishers, I cant begin to thank you for the love and warmth you have shown him all these years. Sanju has been through many ups and downs in his life, but what has kept him going through every tough phase has always been your adulation and support. And for this, we will always be grateful. We are now being tested through yet another challenge, and I know, the same love and warmth will see him through this time as well, Maanayata said in her statement. Actor Sanjay Dutt waves as he leaves from his residence for Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday. (ANI) As a family, we have decided to face this with positivity and grace. We are going to go about our life as normally as possible, with a smile, because this will be a tough fight and a long journey. And, we need to do this for Sanju, without any negativity setting in. In these trying times, unfortunately, I have been unable to be by his side in the hospital, due to my home quarantine which ends in a couple of days. Every battle has a torchbearer and someone who holds the fort. Priya who has worked extensively over two decades with our family-run cancer foundation, and who has also seen her mother battle this illness, has been our incredible torchbearer, while I will hold the fort, the statement read. Sanju is not only my husband and father to our children, but he has also been a father figure to Anju and Priya, after losing their parents. He is the heart and soul of our family. While our family is shaken up, we are determined to fight tooth and nail. With God and your prayers on our side, together we will overcome, and emerge as winners, Maanayata signed off. Also read: Sanjay Dutt gives wife Maanayata a hug, joined by sisters Priya Dutt, Namrata Dutt as he leaves for hospital. See pics Sanjay is yet to comment on the nature of his diagnosis. Maanayata had said last week in a statement that the Bollywood star is a fighter who has always emerged a winner amid adverse conditions and urged fans to not fall prey to speculations. We need all the strength and prayers to overcome this phase. There is a lot that the family has gone through in the past years but I am confident, this too shall pass, she had said. Sanjay will be complete the dubbing of his upcoming film Sadak 2 before taking a break from work for his medical treatment. The 61-year-old had announced last week that he would be taking a short break from his work commitments to take care of his health. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An Iranian-Canadian software developer, who was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard during a January visit to Iran and freed after agreeing to serve as an informant for the Guards intelligence service, is going public about his experiences in order to prevent his family in Iran from being harassed. Behdad Esfahbod, a 37-year-old tech professional who worked for Facebook at the time of his visit to Iran, was arrested by four plainclothesmen with a Revolutionary Guard warrant on allegations of "activity against the security of the Islamic regime and cooperation with hostile entities. In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, Esfahbod said the Revolutionary Guard held him at the Guard's enclave in Tehrans Evin Prison, and threatened to frame him as an American spy responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian flight shot down by Revolutionary Guard on January 8 over Tehran. In a post published on Medium on August 17, Esfahbod described how he was kept in solitary confinement for seven days, questioned for more than six hours a day and subjected to two episodes of psychological torture to force him "to cooperate. His interrogators, interested in his connections with human rights activists and software developers outside Iran, downloaded all his private data from Google, social media and other applications. Esfahbod told Radio Farda that the Guard searched his data and devices for information about groups developing proxy servers to allow free internet access to Iranian users. Esfahbod recalled that, after the Guard found no incriminating information on his devices, they told him that hed be allowed to leave Iran on the condition that he "cooperated" by establishing contact with these groups of interest and provide the Guard with information on them upon his return to North America. Under coercion, he agreed to the deal, he said. Esfahbod was released on bail and returned to Canada, but became paranoid after his return, avoiding contact with other people for weeks and quitting his job with Facebook. When he notified Canadian authorities of his circumstances, he claimed that officials told him they were unable to help him because he had entered Iran on his Iranian passport. Matters grew worse when Esfahbod ignored his interrogators repeated messages to establish contact after his return to Canada. After he remained silent, the Guard sent a notice addressed to him to his sister's residence in Iran, requiring him to present himself for "further questioning" in Tehran within five days. The summons compelled him to go public with his story, he said. "I will definitely not go back to Iran," he told Radio Farda, adding that he is very worried about his family in Iran. "I decided to make a disclosure through the media which may help support my family. Four-time Ugandan presidential hopeful and veteran opposition leader Kizza Besigye announced Wednesday he would not run again in 2021 against long-term rival Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986. Besigye, who waged a two-decade struggle against Uganda's strongman leader marked by arbitrary arrests and harassment, told supporters he would maintain a presence behind the scenes but was now passing the baton. "I have taken a decision not to participate in the coming elections as a presidential candidate, but this does not mean I am giving up the struggle against dictatorship," the 64-year-old told AFP after the Forum for Democratic Change party nominated two other contenders. "My focus, as agreed with colleagues, is to fight for our freedoms that Museveni has taken away from the people". His departure from the race shifts the opposition spotlight squarely on Bobi Wine, a 38-year-old musician turned presidential aspirant who has cultivated a strong youth following, railing against Uganda's old political guard. Wine, nicknamed the "Ghetto President" but whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has rattled the ruling party and its patriarch Museveni, who had the constitution amended for a second time to allow him to run a sixth time in 2021. The 75-year-old ruler is the only president most Ugandans have known -- the country's median age is less than 16. Wine's catchy pop songs about social justice, poverty and corruption have shaken up Uganda's creaking political landscape. But in his campaign to unseat Museveni -- who if successful again would be cemented one of Africa's longest-serving rulers -- the rapper MP has already faced the same tactics wielded so successfully against Besigye since he first ran for the presidency in 2001. In previous elections, Besigye was routinely prevented by police from holding political rallies, and marches were frequently declared illegal and broken up by force. He was arrested many times and detained on charges such as treason and inciting violence, which his party said were crafted to entangle him in the court system and keep him off the campaign trail. Wine, too, has seen his concerts and rally appearances dispersed with live fire and tear gas. This month, he said police opened fire on his supporters in the country's east, injuring several. Museveni seized power at the head of a rebel army in 1986 and many observers say they doubt he will ever give up power through democratic elections. There have been calls for the opposition to join forces as a united front against the Museveni or risk being weaker in divide. "Unless the opposition unites, the status quo will remain," said political analyst Gerald Walulya. We strongly believe this collaboration with Macnica is a major step for SafeAI to accelerating autonomy in construction. I am very pleased to partner with Macnica and looking forward to a long journey into the future together. Macnica, Inc. (Japan),a $5 billion global service and solution provider for semiconductors, networks, cyber security, artificial Intelligence and IoT has signed an agreement with SafeAI, Inc. (USA) to bring SafeAIs autonomous vehicle technology, designed and built specificallyfor heavy equipment and vehicles, to Japan. The construction industry has been facing a global labor shortage over the past decade, and the recent COVID-19 outbreak has only exacerbated the labor shortage and added labor uncertainty to this critical industrial sector. This problem is acute in Japan which has a low birth rate and ageing population which has significantly increased the average age of an operator. Thus, Macnica and SafeAI have formed a partnership to make the vision of autonomous construction a reality. Their joint solution will offer construction companies the ability to deploy labor-saving, productivity-increasing autonomous solutions on existing equipment on-site and immediately address pain points with minimal capital expenses. SafeAI leverages production experience, knowledge of safety standards, and expertise in the implementation of artificial intelligence to provide solutions for retrofitting existing heavy construction vehicles with completely autonomous capabilities, allowing task-specific autonomy for its clients. SafeAI will deploy their perception, path planning, and AI algorithms and alongside with Macnica who will bring the best hardware providers for drive-by-wire, lidar, camera, GPS etc. SafeAIs platform is designed with openness, modularity and upgradeability in mind to help ensure that its clients can take advantage of new advances in autonomy hardware as they become available. Bibhrajit Halder, Founder, and CEO of SafeAI said, We strongly believe this collaboration with Macnica is a major step for SafeAI to accelerating autonomy in construction. I am very pleased to partner with Macnica and looking forward to a long journey into the future together. Macnica will provide SafeAIs autonomous solution to domestic heavy machinery and equipment manufacturers. Macnica has been involved in the autonomous driving market of Japan for several years and foresees a high demand for automation in the construction market. Atsushi Sato, General Manager of Strategic Innovation Group in Macnica said, I am thrilled to announce the collaboration with SafeAI. We see many companies willing to achieve autonomous driving for construction machinery, and I am confident that we can build strong solutions for them with SafeAI. This partnership represents the initial phase of the business alliance. The companies said they will continue to explore areas for further growth as part of a long-term partnership. About SafeAI Founded in 2017, SafeAI specializes in bringing autonomy to the mining and construction industry by retrofitting heavy equipment for autonomous applications. The SafeAI team has 30 years of cumulative experience in advanced autonomoustechnology, having worked on Autonomy 1.0 and 2.0 at Caterpillar, Apple, Google, and Uber. SafeAI is backed by automotive and construction venture funds including Autotech Ventures, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Embark Ventures, Monta Vista Capital, Obayashi, and Foundamental. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA with regional offices in Australia and Canada. For details, see the website: http://www.safeai.ai/ About Macnica Since it was established in 1972, Macnica has provided leading-edge semiconductors, electronic devices, networks and cyber security products with high value-added technology. More recently, Macnica has been actively developing new businesses in the fields of AI, IoT, automated driving and robotics, based on its strength in global sourcing and strategic planning for world-leading technologies. With its slogan "Co.Tomorrowing", Macnica connects leading-edge technologies with Macnica intelligence to provideunique services and solutions, *creating social value and contributing to the betterment of future societies. Headquartered in Yokohama, Macnicas global business spans 24 countries and 84 locations worldwide. For more information, please visit https://www.macnica.co.jp/en/ WASHINGTON Former President Bill Clinton laid out a stark choice Tuesday night for voters during the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention: Either elect a "go-to-work president" in Democrat Joe Biden or reelect incumbent Donald Trump, who would use a second term to "blame, bully and belittle." "If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man," said Clinton. "Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards." By contrast, said Clinton, Democrats are "united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide." It was vintage Clinton, both a spirited endorsement of Biden and a withering, mocking critique of Trump. "Donald Trump says we're leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple," Clinton deadpanned. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there." The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Clinton's remarks about the unemployment rate. Clinton framed November's election as a hiring decision, the same way he did in his memorable 2012 convention speech in support of then-President Barack Obama. "In this job interview, the difference is stark," said Clinton in his recorded remarks. "You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better." Ever since Clinton's speaking role was announced earlier this summer, some in the party questioned whether his "New Democrat" vision of America still belongs in today's increasingly progressive Democratic Party. Clinton's speech, though brief, should satisfy those doubters. The 74-year-old former president showed once again that he can deliver a compelling message about economic opportunity and a strong social safety net, the same message that has carried Democrats to victory in presidential elections since the Great Depression. "Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited to our changing world. Better for young people. Better for families, working and raising their kids. Better for people who lost jobs and need new ones. Better for farmers tired of being collateral damage in trade wars," said Clinton. "Joe won't just put his signature on a check and try to fool you into thinking it came from him. He'll work to make sure that your paycheck reflects your contribution to, and your stake in, a growing economy." Still, there was no ignoring Clinton's diminished status among Democrats. For the first time in 30 years, the former president was not given a key speaking slot at the convention, a decision that reflects his tarnished legacy in the "Me Too" era. His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to speak Wednesday night. 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: 19 August 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 26,607 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,932 pence 25.47 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,910 pence 25.18 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,920 pence 25.31 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 19 August 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 15,863 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 25.40 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 25.30 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 25.35 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 19 August 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 23,986 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 25.50 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 25.25 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 25.35 USD PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 37.82 USD 28.56 GBP which was calculated as of 18 August 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 193,462,837 Public Shares outstanding, or 199,476,511 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 17,493,913 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. PSH also announces that it has published to its website, in accordance with the EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052, details of transactions in its own shares for the past week. Information is available at https://pershingsquareholdings.com/company-reports/other-materials/. 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/20200819005727/en/ Contacts: Media Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk MAPLEWOOD, NJ SOMA Action, a South Orange/Maplewood-based grassroots organization, will hold a rally at the Maplewood Post Office this Friday afternoon at noon that they said is meant to support the United States Postal Service. In a release, they said, "We must act now to stop these attacks and protect our election process. The new postmaster general, Republican mega-donor Louis DeJoy, is orchestrating a general slowdown in operations..." DeJoy recently eliminated overtime for most postal workers, reduced the quantity and use of mail-processing equipment, and restricted transportation. Many people have reported mailboxes being removed from the street and getting their mail weeks late. DeJoy said the measures were an effort to make the money-losing agency more efficient, but seemed to come suddenly and at an odd time, considering the presidential election in 11 weeks and the reliance on mail-in ballots amid coronavirus. On Tuesday, DeJoy's office announced it will halt the changes until after the election. SOMA Action said, of the protest, "Face masks and 6-foot social distancing requirements will be strictly complied with at all events." They characterized the protest as "a community protest to support the USPS in the face of Donald Trumps attacks and defunding efforts which threaten our right to vote and the integrity of the 2020 presidential election." The event will run from noon to 1 p.m. at the Maplewood Post Office at 195 Maplewood Ave. SOMA is among organizations partnering with Blue Wave NJ to stage demonstrations across New Jersey to "demand that the full Postal Service funding passed by the U.S. House of Representatives be immediately enacted into law and Trumps political appointees cease their sabotage of mail operations and prepare the postal service for the surge in mail-in ballots this fall." The movement apparently has some supporters in the area. On Tuesday, a resident of Westfield posted in a community Facebook group, "Does anyone know if there are local rallies planned at any post offices?" Story continues Someone replied, with a smiley face emoticon, "With this one post you could have sent out 100 letters to people in Westfield with 100 stamps that you bought from the post office. But you decided to use free social media." The group has more than 2000 members in South Orange and Maplewood, and was formed after the 2016 election, they say. For more information, contact info@somaaction.org. Got news? Email caren.lissner@patch.com. To keep up with breaking news in Maplewood as soon as it happens, or to get a free local newsletter each morning, sign up for Patch breaking news alerts and daily newsletters. This article originally appeared on the Maplewood Patch South Africa: Upgraded Emfuleni roads boost for local economy Gauteng MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo, says the recently upgraded roads in Emfuleni Local Municipality will go a long way in facilitating the smoother running of commerce in the district. The Department of Roads and Transport undertook a five-month road rehabilitation project, valued at R9 million, as part of the drive to improve the state of road infrastructure in Emfuleni, which is located in the Sedibeng District. Mamabolo said the rehabilitation of the roads is part of his departments Smart Mobility strategy, which prioritises the delivery of quality infrastructure and contributes to growing the economy of Gauteng. Road infrastructure forms the core of the sixth administration's efforts to reignite the economy of our province. If we are to reposition Gauteng as the inland hub for freight and logistics, we need to be smart in the upkeep and maintenance of our roads, Mamabolo said on Tuesday. Roadworks on the projects included the rehabilitation of the pavement structure along Adams Road, Moshoeshoe and Vilakazi Streets, improving pedestrian safety by installing sidewalks, as well as improving functionality of drainage structures. "These roads are major arteries in Emfuleni and their state posed a huge challenge in the economic activities in the Vaal area," Mamabolo said. A total of 30 workers were employed on monthly basis for the entire period of construction. Benefits to residents, motorists, business and communities include improved roadway capacity, reduced travel times, enhanced driving experience, easy access to business, residential and agricultural estates, as well as improved general road safety. Mamabolo, who was in Emfuleni to officially unveil the upgraded roads, visited Evaton taxi rank and the local malls taxi rank to inspect compliance measures in place to curb the spread of Coronavirus. "Taxi rank visits form part of our site visits to check on the work done by the taxi rank support committees, who have been tasked with enforcing social distancing, cleaning and disinfecting of loading bays and taxis, sanitisation of all commuters and ensuring that no one gets into a taxi without a mask, Mamabolo said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Brussels: The European Union on Monday extended for another six months damaging economic sanctions against Russia over its intervention in Ukraine. EU leaders decided at a summit last week to roll over the sanctions first imposed in 2014 and the European Council, which groups the 28 member states, confirmed the decision on Monday. The Council prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2017, said the statement from the council. The sanctions target the financial, energy, and defence sectors and items that could be used for both industrial and military means. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said last week they wanted the sanctions extended because Moscow was not living up to its Ukraine truce commitments. They said there had been no progress in implementing the Minsk ceasefire accords which they helped broker between Ukraine and Russia, and so there was no option but to keep the measures in place. The 28-nation EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia after a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014. The sanctions have been rolled over regularly since then but several member states, led by Italy, have increasingly questioned their effectiveness and cost. Donald Trumps shock US election victory added to the doubts given his apparently softer line on Russia, prompting a debate over whether they should be extended for six months or three. The West says Russia supplies the rebels with military hardware and assistance, a charge Moscow denies although it says it does support their cause. Besides the economic measures, which target Russias oil, financial and military sectors, the EU has also imposed a separate series of travel bans and asset freeze sanctions against Ukraine and Russian figures deemed to have undermined Ukrainian territorial integrity. These sanctions expire in March. Similar sanctions imposed over Russias annexation of Crimea run until the end of June 20. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. We've never met some of the Sun's closest neighbors until now. In a new study, astronomers report the discovery of 95 objects known as brown dwarfs, many within a few dozen light-years of the Sun. They're well outside the solar system, so don't experience heat from the Sun, but still inhabit a region astronomers consider our cosmic neighborhood. This collection represents some of the coldest known examples of these objects, which are between the sizes of planets and stars. Members of the public helped make these discoveries through Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, a NASA-funded citizen science project that is a collaboration between volunteers and professional scientists. Backyard Worlds incorporates data from NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite along with all-sky observations collected between 2010 and 2011 under its previous moniker, WISE. Data from NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the facilities of the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab were also instrumental in the analysis. "Vast modern datasets can unlock landmark discoveries, and it's exciting that these could be spotted first by citizen scientists," said Aaron Meisner, assistant scientist at NSF's NOIRLab and the lead author of the study describing the brown dwarfs. "These Backyard Worlds discoveries show that members of the public can play an important role in reshaping our scientific understanding of our solar neighborhood." Why these brown dwarfs are important Brown dwarfs are not massive enough to power themselves like stars but are still many times heavier than planets. Despite their name, brown dwarfs would actually appear magenta or orange-red to the human eye if seen close up. While brown dwarfs can be extremely hot, even thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, many of the newly discovered ones are colder than the boiling point of water. Some even approach the temperature of Earth and are cool enough to harbor water clouds. Brown dwarfs with low temperatures are also small in diameter and therefore faint in visible light. Still, they give off heat in the form of infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye yet detectable by telescopes such as NEOWISE and Spitzer. For cold brown dwarfs like those in this study, the infrared signal is also faint, so they are easier to find the closer they are to our solar system. Discovering and characterizing astronomical objects near the Sun is fundamental to our understanding of our place in, and the history of, the universe. With their relatively cold temperatures, these newly discovered brown dwarfs represent a long sought missing link within the brown dwarf population. In 2014, scientists discovered the coldest-known brown dwarf, called WISE 0855, using data from NASA's WISE mission in infrared light. WISE 0855 is about minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 23 degrees Celsius. No other brown dwarf came close to this object's low temperature. Some researchers wondered if 0855 was actually a rogue exoplanet - a planet that originated in a star system but was kicked out of its orbit. This new batch of brown dwarfs, together with others recently discovered using NEOWISE and Spitzer, puts 0855 in context. "Our new discoveries help connect the dots between 0855 and the other known brown dwarfs," said astrophysicist Marc Kuchner, the principal investigator of Backyard Worlds and the Citizen Science Officer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Kuchner is also an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Since the same physical processes may form both planets and brown dwarfs, the new findings offer prospects for research into worlds beyond our solar system. "This paper is evidence that the solar neighborhood is still uncharted territory and citizen scientists are excellent astronomical cartographers," said coauthor Jackie Faherty of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "Mapping the coldest brown dwarfs down to the lowest masses gives us key insights into the low-mass star-formation process while providing a target list for detailed studies of the atmospheres of Jupiter analogs." How professional scientists and citizen scientists collaborated To help find our Sun's coldest, nearest neighbors, the professional astronomers of the Backyard Worlds project turned to a worldwide network of more than 100,000 citizen scientists. These volunteers diligently inspect trillions of pixels of telescope images to identify the subtle movements of brown dwarfs. Despite the abilities of machine learning and supercomputers, there's no substitute for the human eye when it comes to scouring telescope images for moving objects. For this new group of brown dwarfs, 20 citizen scientists across 10 different countries are listed as coauthors of the study. "Being that this will be the first scientific paper that I'm a coauthor on, its publication will definitely be the highlight of working with Backyard Worlds so far," said Les Hamlet, a citizen scientist in Springfield, Missouri, who has worked on Backyard Worlds since 2017. "Also, being connected in some way with the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope through this paper is kind of special to me." Backyard Worlds volunteers primarily examine sky maps produced from observations by WISE and NEOWISE. Participants then scour additional archival data sets, like those from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, programs of NSF's NOIRLab. Spitzer, which NASA retired in January 2020, provided the crucial brown dwarf temperature estimates. The results will be published in The Astrophysical Journal. Backyard Worlds volunteers have already discovered more than 1,500 cold worlds near the Sun. The new discovery of 95 brown dwarfs is the largest published sample of these objects ever discovered through a citizen science project. Alongside the dedicated efforts of the Backyard Worlds volunteers, NOIRLab's Astro Data Lab science platform was instrumental in this research. The approach of the Backyard Worlds project - searching for rare objects in large datasets - is also one of the goals for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, an NSF/Department of Energy facility currently under construction on Cerro Pachon in Chile's Atacama Desert. The Rubin Observatory will image the entire southern sky every three nights over 10 years, providing a vast amount of data which will enable new ways of doing astrophysical research. The new Backyard Worlds discoveries also underscore Spitzer's pioneering legacy of revealing the Sun's coolest neighbors. NASA's forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope will also be a powerful tool for examining brown dwarfs for more insights into these mysterious objects and what they can reveal about the formation of planets and their atmospheres. About Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 The ongoing Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project, funded by NASA, lets anyone join the quest to find more mysterious objects in spacecraft data. Check it out at backyardworlds.org. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Residents of a Chinese city were shocked to see a Ferris wheel cabin swinging uncontrollably on top of the structure during a typhoon today. Social media footage has captured the scary scene in the southern province of Guangdong after Typhoon Higos made landfall, bringing winds of up to 78 miles (125.5 kilometres) per hour. It is understood that no one was on the Ferris wheel at the time or injured from the incident. The operator of the ride has called the event a 'normal phenomenon'. A clip of the spinning pod in the city of Foshan, southern China, has gone viral on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter. It is understood that no one was on the Ferris wheel at the time A clip of the spinning pod in the city of Foshan has gone viral on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter. The Ferris wheel, which measures 325 feet (99 metres) in height, was shut from yesterday - along with other rides in the Happy Ocean theme park - in preparation for the adverse weather. A spokesperson from the park told local news outlet Southern Urban Daily that it was normal for the pods on a Ferris wheel to sway in a circle continuously during cyclones. She added that it would be safe for the attraction to reopen. Typhoon Higos has battered parts of southern China since yesterday. The above picture shows dark clouds hanging over the skyline of Shenzhen as Typhoon Higos approaches on Tuesday A man enters Hong Kong's IFC mall whose glass door has been reinforced due to the typhoon Typhoon Higos drenched Hong Kong overnight before making landfall this morning in Zhuhai Typhoon Higos has battered parts of southern China since yesterday. It drenched Hong Kong overnight before making landfall in the morning in Zhuhai, a city 87 miles (140 kilometres) south of Foshan. It brought maximum sustained winds of 78mph, China's National Meteorological Centre said. The typhoon weakened to a tropical storm as it moved west towards the neighbouring Guangxi region. More than 65,000 people were evacuated, schools were closed and many fishing boats returned to port along the coast, according to Chinese media reports. Power was knocked out in Meizhou city in north-eastern Guangdong province on Tuesday night after trees fell on to power lines, the electric company said. Elsewhere in China, floodwater reached the toes of a famous Buddhist statue for the first time in decades as the country suffered flooding and landslides from unusually heavy seasonal rains. In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, floodwaters flow near the historic Giant Buddha in Leshan in south-western China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday A man rides a bicycle during a rainstorm in Macao on Wednesday during Typhoon Higos It was the first time in at least 70 years that water had reached the foot of the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 233-foot-tall (71-metre-tall) statue carved into the side of a mountain in the eighth century in Sichuan province. The worst of the flooding appeared to be in Sichuan, but the emergency level was lowered on Wednesday morning, and the toes of the statue re-emerged as waters receded, news reports said. Emei Mountain, a nearby tourist site, reopened to visitors after being closed for nearly three days. In addition, five people were missing in Yunnan province in the south-west after a landslide destroyed two houses, the official People's Daily newspaper said. In Sichuan province, 21 vehicles parked in a square in Yibin city fell into a hole after the road beneath them collapsed in the middle of the night. No-one was injured, according to media reports. On the Yangtze River, the inflow of water into the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam hit a record 2.5million cubic feet (72,000 cubic metres) per second, state media said Flooding has left more than 200 people dead or missing in China this year and caused 25billion dollars worth of damage, authorities said last week. The sprawling Chongqing municipality saw its worst flooding since 1981. Water covered roofs in low-lying areas of the historic town of Ciqikou, which was closed to tourists because of the rains from Tuesday evening. On the Yangtze River, the inflow of water into the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam hit a record 2.5million cubic feet (72,000 cubic metres) per second, state media said. The inflow is expected to peak on Thursday at 2.68million cubic feet (76,000 cubic metres) per second, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping visited hard-hit Anhui province, where the 13 sluice gates of the Wagnjiaba dam had been opened, flooding farmland and forests to prevent more extensive damage downriver. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The territory of the Khazarasp free economic zone will be expanded via empty land plots, Trend reports citing Uzbekistan National News Agency. This was stated in a resolution of the President of Uzbekistan from August 17, 2020 on the development of entrepreneurship in Khorezm region and increasing investment attractiveness of the region. The decree provides for the establishment of an Infrastructure Fund under the Khorezm regions administration. Its funds will be used to finance infrastructure construction in FEZs. The Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan will allocate $13 million to Khorezm Invest Project for construction of engineering and communications infrastructure in the expanded territories of FEZ Khazarasp. The investment company with an initial authorized capital of $30 million (with a further increase to $100 million) was established at the founding of investment companies NBU Invest Group, PSB Capital and Asaka Capital Invest. The Resolution also approved the targeted list of 84 investment projects with a total value of $214.3 million to be implemented in the Khorezm region in the period from 2020 through 2022, as well as a list of 26 major promising investment projects worth $516.8 million, also being implemented in the region. The launch of 26 projects as well as new industrial production projects in each district of Khorezm is scheduled for April 1, 2021. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini The guy who headed Donald Trumps presidential campaign for a time in 2016 took actions that represented a grave counterintelligence threat. Run that up your flagpole and salute it. Because while it may appear, at first blush, to be the partisan wailings of some hysterical leftie madman, it is, in fact, the determination of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a majority-Republican panel. The committee on Tuesday released the fifth and final volume of its exhaustive report on Russian interference in our nations 2016 election. Though some went to work immediately to put their own partisan spin on the findings, what matters ultimately is what is contained in the nearly 1,000 pages of the full document. Because the report states what happened, as best as it can be known, while the foolish yakking of some who are still out to defend Trump, no matter what, will soon enough be lost to history. And the bottom line is undeniable: There were extensive ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives who were looking to aid Trump and damage Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. Much in the report is damning in the extreme. Paul Manafort, who was chairman of Trump's campaign for a time, had a close associate who is now identified as "a Russian intelligence officer." The report also detailed the extensive connections between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, which released damaging materials stolen from the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. WikiLeaks, the report stated, "very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort." And to think that Trump has for years been dismissing the Russia investigation as a "witch hunt" and a "hoax." He'll continue to do just that, of course, and his most-loyal supporters will merrily go along for the ride, but the Intelligence Committee's report will forever stand as the definitive account of the links between those inside the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The fact is, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin wanted Trump to defeat Clinton, and he got what he wanted. But because Trump has been so successful at obfuscating and dodging and feinting, making normal folk believe that lies are truth and vice versa, there are still lots of people in our nation who don't believe that the Trump campaign in 2016, and again now, is connected with Russia. It was, and it is. Related: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is undergoing "preliminary treatment" at Mumbai'sKokilaben hospital, his wife Maanayata Dutt said on Tuesday amid reports that the actor was battling lung cancer. Dutt was earlier in the day photographed leaving for the hospital with sister Priya Dutt. "Prarthana karo ( pray)," the 61-year-old actor said to the paparazzi standing outside his home. Maanayata said the plans to take Dutt abroad for medical treatment will be taken later depending on the coronavirus situation. "For those asking, Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the covid situation eases. As of now, Sanju is in the best hands of our esteemed doctors at Kokilaben hospital," Maanayata said in a statement. Without specifying the nature of his disease, she said their family was "shaken up" but "determined to fight tooth and nail". Dutt was admitted to Lilavati Hospital on August 8 after he complained of breathlessness. After his discharge on August 10, the actor tweeted about taking a "short break" from work owing to medical treatment. As rumours swirled around the actor's heath condition, Maanayata requested well-wishers to avoid speculating about the "stage of his illness". "I request everyone, with my folded hands, to stop speculating the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work. We will update you all regularly with his progress." Maanayata said she couldn't be by her husband's side at the hospital as she was under home quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. She said Dutt's sister, Priya, has been "an incredible torchbearer." "Every battle has a torchbearer and someone who holds the fort. Priya who has worked extensively over two decades with our family-run Cancer foundation, and who has also seen her mother battle this illness, has been our incredible torchbearer, while I will hold the fort." In the long statement, Maanayata, 42, expressed gratitude to fans and said she hopes they would continue to love and support the family during these trying times. "Sanju has been through many ups and downs in his life, but what has kept him going through every tough phase has always been your adulation and support. "And for this, we will always be grateful. We are now being tested through yet another challenge, and I know, the same love and warmth will see him through this time as well." She further said Dutt was the "heart and soul" of the family and all of them are determined to fight this battle and emerge winners. "Sanju is not only my husband and father to our children, but he has also been a father figure to Anju and Priya, after losing their parents. "While our family is shaken up, we are determined to fight tooth and nail. With God and your prayers on our side, together we will overcome, and emerge as winners," she added. Dutt is the eldest child of late Bollywood stars Nargis and Sunil Dutt. He has two sisters -- Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. He has two children, a son and a daughter, with Maanayata. The actor also has a daughter Trishala Dutt from his first marriage to Richa Sharma. She died of brain tumour in 1996. The pro-government Mostaqbal Watan secures a landslide in the Senate elections, according to semi-official results. Semi-official results of last weeks Senate election show that the liberal Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) party has swept the polls. Of the 100 individual seats being contested Mostaqbal Watan gained almost 70. Whats more, 20 of Mostaqbal Watans candidates will face a re-run on 8 and 9 September. In party list seats, the 100-candidate National Unified List led by Mostaqbal Watan won uncontested. The list was able to secure the five per cent threshold necessary to be declared the winner. Prominent names on the list include the businessmen Ahmed Sabbour, Mohamed Al-Manzlawi and Gamal Abul-Fotouh. The semi-official results were released by the Mostaqbal Watan Partys Youth Secretariat. The official results were unavailable as Al-Ahram Weekly went to press. In Cairo, Mostaqbal Watan won eight out of 10 contested individual seats, and in Alexandria six out of seven contested individual seats. In the governorates of Beheira, Qalioubiya, Damietta, Daqahliya, Sharqiya, Giza, Fayoum, and Minya, Mostaqbal Watan appeared to have won all the available seats. The party is a vociferous supporter of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis economic reform and anti-terrorism policies. The Peoples Republican Party, led by steel tycoon Ahmed Abu Hashima, won five individual seats. A single independent, Hadi Louis Morgan, won a seat in Cairo. The semi-official results showed eight independents, three Islamist Nour Party candidates, as well as candidates affiliated with Tagammu, Congress, Reform and Development, Guardians of the Nation, Egyptian Freedom and Wafd parties will compete in second round run-offs. Lasheen Ibrahim, head of the National Elections Authority (NEA), announced on Monday that the official and final results of the Senate poll would be available on Wednesday. The final results can only be announced once the election appeals filed with the NEA are settled, said Ibrahim. He added the poll was conducted in an atmosphere of integrity and transparency. The voting was fully supervised by judges, the polls were monitored by the media and civil society organisations, and the NEA received just five complaints from foreign reporters covering the vote. In general, the media was free to cover the Senate elections across Egypt. Indeed, 564 foreign reporters from 163 media institutions reported on the polls. Ibrahim said the army and the Interior Ministry intensified security measures to secure the ballot and ensure a safe environment for citizens as they cast their votes. The Health Ministry also provided 2,800 ambulances and 7,000 medical staff across polling locations nationwide, said Ibrahim. Sterilisation measures were applied throughout the voting process. They included the disinfection of areas where voters were present, including the polling stations, offices, ballot boxes and tents outside polling stations, said Ibrahim. Disinfection gates were installed in front of every polling station to protect voters against infection, and face masks and social distancing were mandatory inside polling stations. A total of 787 candidates competed for individual seats in the new chamber, created when constitutional amendments were approved last year. The Senate, which has a five-year term, has 300 seats. One third of senators are elected via the individual candidacy system, a third through closed party lists, and a third will be named by the president. Ibrahim said large numbers of voters, particularly women and young people, were keen to cast their votes in the first round of the polls. Civil society organisations monitoring the two-day poll said the turnout was highest during late afternoon and evening hours. Ibrahim said campaigning for run-offs will begin on 20 August and continue until 5 September, while the vote will be on 8 and 9 September, from 9am to 9pm, in Egypt, and on 6 and 7 September for Egyptian expats. *A version of this article appears in print in the 20 August, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Campus News Magazine recognizes innovative UB biosciences diversity program In the summer of 2019, these undergraduates from throughout the U.S. came to Buffalo to participate in CLIMB UP, UB's biosciences diversity program. By ELLEN GOLDBAUM At the heart of CLIMBs success is our passion for helping students and junior scientists develop into tomorrows scientific leaders. CLIMB, an innovative and comprehensive diversity program at UB that provides intensive mentoring experiences for biosciences students from undergraduate through postdoctoral levels, has received an award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. The magazines 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). CLIMB (Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences) was founded at UB in 2009 by Margarita Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Since then, it has supported and mentored 469 summer undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers throughout the U.S., nearly half of whom (44%) were from underrepresented backgrounds, to help advance their careers through intensive research experiences at UB. UBs CLIMB program has three divisions: CLIMB-UP (Undergraduate Program) provides undergraduate students from diverse groups from institutions throughout the U.S. with the support they need to adapt and thrive in summer research at UB, and guides them toward graduate and professional careers in the biosciences. CLIMB-HI (High Impact) helps PhD students at UB improve communication and professional skills needed to be a successful scientist. CLIMB-NS (Next Step) is aimed at helping postdoctoral scientists advance toward a fulfilling career and leadership in their field. In July 2020, the new cohort of PhD students participating in the CLIMB-HI program successfully started the program virtually as a result of the pandemic. Dubocovich was inspired to start the CLIMB programs because of her own background growing up in rural Argentina, where advancing to complete professional or scientific careers was not encouraged, an environment similar to other students from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds. In her experience, the desire to pursue a scientific career in that kind of environment can be very isolating. At UB, the CLIMB programs are carefully designed to provide intensive and customized experiences with an emphasis on mentoring by prominent UB scientists for students from the undergraduate through postdoctoral level. According to Dubocovich, the programs philosophy is to help all students who are excited about doing scientific research succeed at every level so that they can keep advancing. At the heart of CLIMBs success is our passion for helping students and junior scientists develop into tomorrows scientific leaders, she said. CLIMB will be featured along with the other award recipients in the September 2020 issue of INSIGHT into Diversity magazine. Inspiring Programs in STEM Award winners were selected by INSIGHT Into Diversity based on efforts to inspire and encourage a new generation of young people to consider careers in STEM through mentoring, teaching, research, and successful programs and initiatives. We want to honor the schools and organizations that have created programs that inspire and encourage young people who may currently be in, or are interested in, a future career in STEM, said Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of the magazine. We are proud to honor these programs as role models to other institutions of higher education and beyond. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan increased by 660 to 36,760, Trend reports with reference to the statistics of the Uzbek Ministry of Health. To date, 32,223 (+643) patients have fully recovered in the country, while 245 have died. Under the instructions of President of Uzbekistan, unlimited movement of vehicles as well as local air rail traffic in Uzbekistan was resumed since August 15, 2020. In addition, from August 17, 2020, Tashkent resumes public transport traffic. Citizens are required to wear a medical mask when entering the bus, otherwise, passengers will not be allowed on the buses. Moreover, from August 20, 2020, clothing and building material markets, large shops, gyms, fitness clubs and swimming pools will resume operations. The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband and grandson also tested positive for coronavirus. The outbreak in the Chinese Wuhan city - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini The promise of economic development at Camp Navajo saw its most significant step forward after it was included in both the U.S. Senates and Houses versions of the annual defense authorization bill. Both bills were passed last month, but the differences between the two versions still need to be hashed out before the final result can be signed into law. This is like a miracle to have this happen, said Julie Pastrick, president of the Northern Arizona Military Affairs Council, during a call with Senator Martha McSally last month. McSally led the effort on the Senate side to include the language addressing Camp Navajo in the bill. In the House, the push was spearheaded by Representatives Tom OHalleran and Ruben Gallego. The bill would allow for the transfer of close to 3,000 acres of land owned by the U.S. Army at Camp Navajo to be owned and managed by the State of Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. Being managed by the state should allow for private investment and businesses to begin locating in and around the camp. To this point, private investment has been largely impossible, mainly due to the intricacies of how the army manages its property. Still, the effort to get the land transferred has not been an easy one. The whole process has taken close to five years and was originally started with the help of the late Senator John McCain. But for Pastrick, when it is finally done, it will have been well worth the effort. Its a key piece of how we will grow our economy and focus on high wage jobs, Pastrick said. We have an opportunity for business and private investment to locate here, in that area, and that will definitely shape the future and that landscape. We have fought for economic diversifications for so long. Pastrick said she and the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, of which she is CEO, have already seen interest on the part of businesses. The areas position along a both a major rail line and the Interstate 40 corridor makes it an attractive location for many businesses. Camp Navajo itself is yet another asset that may make it attractive for businesses, Pastrick added. Originally built as a munitions depot during World War II, the camp has several large igloos built to securely hold explosives and other sensitive materials. At the moment, many of those igloos are unused, but they offer a unique capability that could help bring defense industry jobs to northern Arizona. Arizona already has a nearly $5 billion defense industry, but most of those jobs are centered in the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. Travis Schulte, the legislative liaison with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, has also been working on the economic development effort. The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs will be managing the land after it is transferred from the army, and Schulte said the change could also lead to more forest restoration. Last year, Northern Arizona University tested the viability of a wood chipping operation at Camp Navajo and showed it could be profitable. NAU took materials from local forest thinning efforts and then shipped and sold them to a company in South Korea. The transfer of this land represents the last big hurdle to achieving the goal, Schulte said. But even after it becomes law, the work is not done. Although they have a general sense for which areas of land will be transferred to state control, Schulte said they still need to survey the area and finalize exactly which acres will be involved. They will then conduct an environmental analysis and work with Coconino County on a feasibility study for appropriate economic development opportunities. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 7 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency has refuted allegations of state Anti-Terrorism Squad that it conducted investigation in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case in a pre-determined and calculated manner to negate the effects of earlier probe by ATS and CBI. The NIA on Monday filed its affidavit in response to a petition filed by Maharashtra ATS challenging the discharge of eight Muslim persons from the 2006 blasts case. In April this year, a sessions court had discharged the eight persons (accused by ATS and CBI) of all terror charges after the NIA submitted that a Hindu Right Wing organisation was behind the blasts. The ATS approached HC claiming that the sessions court order was illegal, unjust and goes against evidence on record. Its conclusion that Muslims would not plant bombs inside a mosque was absolutely wrong, and had no legal basis, the ATS claimed. In its affidavit, the NIA said it arrived at the conclusion that the blasts were carried out by Hindu group only after a thorough probe was carried out. It is not correct to say NIA conducted investigation in a pre-determined and calculated manner to negate the effects of earlier probe by ATS and CBI, the affidavit filed by NIA Superintendent of Police Vikram Khalate said. The affidavit further said that as per NIA probe, Manohar Narwaria, Ranjendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh Shiv Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sunil Joshi, Ramesh Mahalkar, Sandeep Dange and few others allegedly entered into criminal conspiracy between January and September 2006 to commit terrorist acts in Malegaon. Training camps were organised in Indore where bombs were prepared and then transported to Malegaon. Narwaria, Chaudhary, Singh and Kalsangra planted the bombs in Malegaon. They (accused) wanted to set off the bomb in a Muslim dominated area so that it would result in communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in Malegaon, the affidavit said. The affidavit further relied on a statement of Swami Assemanand, accused in the Mecca Masjid blast, in which he has said the Malegaon blast was handiwork of his boys. The NIA in its affidavit also said that the ATSs claim that accused Mohammad Jahid Ansari had planted bomb in Malegaon on September 8, 2006 is wrong. It is revealed in NIA probe that on the day of the blast, Ansari was in Yavatmal, which is about 400 kms from the blast site. Twelve witnesses have supported this, it said. It further claimed that Shabbir Batterwala, who according to ATS had supplied explosives, was in judicial custody from August to September 2006 after he was arrested by Crime Branch Mumbai. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A painting by the 19th century French artist Nicolas Rousseau, stolen by a German soldier during the second world war, has been returned to France and has gone on display at the Centre for Peace in Verdun. The small landscape by the student of the Barbizon school had been hanging in the Forner family living room in Berlin for 75 years. Alfred Forner, an officer in the German Luftwaffe who was stationed in Pas-de-Calais during World War Two, was tasked by a superior to take the painting to an address in Berlin during a leave of absence in 1944. Upon arrival, he found the building had been destroyed, so he decided to keep the painting in his home. He died a few months later and the painting remained intact. His son, Peter, decided to return it to its country of origin and contacted the French embassy in Berlin to do so in January 2019. Original owners unknown After an investigation carried out by the French ministry of culture and the commission in charge of compensation for victims of war theft in Berlin (CIVS), the painting arrived back in France in August 2020. Philippe Hansch, the director of the Centre for Peace in Verdun, says he hopes the public will come forward with information related to the original owners, who have not yet been identified. "It's an example of the French school, a bucolic landscape with a fisherman in the foreground and a village in the distance," he told RFI. Hansch said that he went to Berlin in a car at the beginning of August to fetch the work, which, with an estimated price of around 3,500 euros, has more of a historical value than a monetary one. Testament to Franco-German friendship The painting is an excellent symbol of the franco-german friendship, he says, and can act as a bridge between the past and the present. "It's a slightly different way of presenting the second world war," Hansch added. "It could prompt high school students to stop and ask questions about this period of the war, which is slipping away from us but still an essential part of understanding the world today." He said that Peter Forner, who died at the age of 80 last year, had expressed hope the artwork would be one day returned to its rightful owners. "It's a difficult case, because the painting doesn't have enormous value, so it's not necessarily in catalogues," explained Julien Acquatella, from CIVS, in Berlin. (Photo : Screenshot from Freedom Platform TV) (Photo : Screenshot: Facebook) Facebook's Community Standards Violation (Photo : Screnshot: Facebook) Facebook's Community Standards Violation (Photo : Screnshot: Facebook) (Photo : Screenshot from Freedom Platform TV) Screenshot of Alternate Link from Freedom Platform A novel coronavirus conspiracy movie sequel "Plandemic: Indoctornation" is banned by social media giant, Facebook, after its initial release facilitated a widespread proliferation of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Freedom Platform TV is the production company behind the short movie that is considered a conspiracy theory that contains false information. The film is currently available on their website and can be streamed online. One of the world's largest social media platform, Facebook, recently banned the movie and its link to be shared around the website due to its nature that gives unverified and unfactual information about the global pandemic, COVID-19. Mashable reports that it is banned just this Tuesday, August 18. Currently, Facebook sharing of the link and video itself is prohibited and immediately flagged by the social media. A pop-up message will appear: "You can't post this" and that the URL is spam that goes against Facebook's Community Standards. A series of pop-up messages will also appear on user's computers as they attempt to post on the platform explaining how the link is a violation and potential threat to Facebook's community. Plandemic Series: False Information The first Plandemic movie became viral on social media that took on a different approach to the coronavirus, falsely saying that beach sand can build immunity against the disease. However, this is denied and rejected by scientists and medical experts as it poses misinformation that may lead people to believe. Despite the threat and misinformation it brings, conspiracy theorists and followers still believe that this is the "correct" information and is an "eye-opener" to non-believers. The first 26-minute video revolves around the Novel coronavirus being a hoax used as ways and means by the government and several industry leaders to scare and profit from people. The film also focused on QAnon's theory that the current US government led by President Donald Trump is fighting a satanic underground organization made up of elites and Hollywood personalities that exploits children and use them as sex slaves. ALSO READ: Facebook Shuts Down QAnon's Largest Conspiracy Theory Group After Violating Serious Policies Plandemic: Indoctornation/ Indoctrination The sequel to the conspiracy movie "Plandemic" which was initially released in May, is revealed by its producers as a full-length documentary that expands more on the themes present in the first film. The Verge stated that the movie expands more on the conspiracy that the pandemic is brought by those who have remarkable influences and that the disease is staged. Plandemic: Indoctornation even mentioned that Microsoft co-Founder Bill Gates orchestrated the release of the pandemic that endangered the world. New York Times Reporter, Davey Alba, shared his thoughts about the sequel on his Twitter account (@daveyalba), which created a thread. Alba then pointed out several topics that were stated as misinformation in the film and corrected them with facts and links. Watching Plandemic 2 live. Already heard a false piece of misinformation stating Dr. Fauci & other medical experts were behind a scheme to profit from the coronavirus pandemic. Here's our story debunking the Fauci/Deep State narrative from back in March https://t.co/uEB8olb3vM Davey Alba (@daveyalba) August 18, 2020 Alba clarified information about Dr. Judy Mikovits, an anti-vaccine activist and discredited scientist, about not being criminally charged against her false claims that Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci were the masterminds behind the pandemic to gain profit. The website currently has compiled separate video interviews of the so-called "experts" on the conspiracy theory film. Supporters and believers of the false information use an alternative link that is yet banned by Facebook to be shared and proliferated online. Conspiracy theories are being banned by the social media platform, especially during this pandemic, because of the threats and dangers it brings to people who will succumb to it. Misinformation may lead them to believe and do the things that the film promotes. ALSO READ: Ex-Apple Software Engineer Leaks "Top Secret" iPod Project for US Department of Energy This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Only two years after a candidate for The Woodlands Township Board of Directors was kicked off the ballot for not filling out a candidate application correctly, the same issue resurfaced Wednesday and one of the 13 candidates for the four seats was booted from the ballot. A second candidate announced he was dropping out of the race only five days after filing his candidate papers. Related: Board candidate in The Woodlands Township is removed from ballot Amanda Beth Beasley, who had filed her candidate papers on Monday for the Position 2 seat on the board, was notified by township officials via email that she had been removed from the ballot after not filling out her occupation on her candidate paperwork. The occupation entry is required under state election laws. Another candidate, Position 1 hopeful Adrian Heath, has quit his bid to replace incumbent Gordy Bunch. Heath said in an email he was quitting the race. Township officials said any candidate who wishes to drop out of contention has until 5 p.m. Friday to file a written, signed and notarized letter stating their intent to withdraw. It is not known if Heath has taken those steps. Related: Paroled Woodlands resident a hero to some in Montgomery County Heath is well known to many in The Woodlands after his controversial felony conviction for illegal voting in the May 2010 Road Utility District No. 1 election when he and others claimed to reside in a hotel and voted in the election. He had told the Villager in a profile interview on Tuesday that he was interested in incorporation, flooding, mobility and other issues. Incomplete applications Beasley, who works for a company called Triton Consulting, said she received the news of her removal on Wednesday. I received an email that sand my candidacy had been rejected. My occupation was missing, Beasley said of a letter she received that was signed by township official Karen Dempsey and dated Aug. 18. I did take a look at (my application), and it was incomplete. I have withdrawn my candidacy. Beasley was one of five candidates that had filed papers to seek election to the Position 2 seat currently held by appointee Jason J. Nelson. One of the other challengers for Nelsons seat is the man who was himself kicked off the ballot in 2018, Luis Louis Granados. In the 2018 election, Granados had filed candidate papers to challenge Position 3 incumbent John Anthony Brown. However, in 2018, Granados did not list the mandatory entries on the form of time of residency in both Texas and The Woodlands. He was removed from the ballot after the filing period had ended and was unable to correct his errors. Brown ran unchallenged, winning his second term on the board with 100 percent of the vote. Granados appealed his removed to the State of Texas, however that appeal was rejected. The controversy irritated former director John McMullan, who at the time lobbied strongly for changes to the process employed by the township in accepting candidate applications. Among the informal changes implemented were having two staff members review applications and notifying candidates of rejected forms sooner. Related: Woodlands tweaks township election policies to avoid repeat of 2018 In 2019, another controversy arose after then candidate Bob Milner listed inaccurate information about his length of continuous residency in Texas and The Woodlands. However, because Milner still met the minimum requirements of residency, his factual errors were deemed not sufficient to remove him from the ballot. Related: Woodlands board candidate lists inaccurate information on application; still eligible for Nov. 5 election Milner went on to win the Position 7 seat in 2019, defeating three other candidates. Several anomalies According to both Township Communications Director Nick Wolda as well as township Attorney Robin Cross, multiple candidates for the 2020 Board of Directors election who filed applications had made entries that required extra scrutiny to determine if the applications were acceptable. In an email to the Villager on Wednesday, Wolda said that as township staff received applications, several anomalies were identified on applications submitted for a place on the ballot. Staff followed the process that was reviewed by the Board in 2019 and in accordance with State Law. The review of each application took place within five days of receipt and anomalies were reviewed with legal counsel and, if needed, the Secretary of States Office. The extent of the townships responsibility and authority in reviewing applications for a place on the ballot is to determine whether, on its face, the application complies with the requirements as to form, content, and procedure, Wolda said in his email. As discussed with the board in 2019, staff does not remove names from the list during the filing period. After the drawing for ballot order, the list of application filings will be removed and the final list of candidates will be listed in their ballot order on the township website. Township officials did not identify any of the other candidates aside from Beasley that had their applications scrutinized. Those other candidates were able to fix their applications, Wolda added. Filers who had anomalies that impacted their candidacy or the listing of their name on the ballot were notified by certified mail, and were also sent the letter by email as a courtesy to the email address listed on their filing forms, he added. All except one issue was resolved prior to the close of filing. With the removal of Beasley and the withdraw from the race by Heath, there are only 11 candidates remaining vying for four seats. Three candidates are in the running for Position 1 seat; four candidates for the Position 2 seat and two candidates are seeking the Position 3 and 4 seats. The election is Nov. 3, with early voting beginning on Oct. 13 and continuing in three periods through Oct. 30 with varying hours and days when in-person early ballots can be cast. jeff.forward@chron.com Sixteen Candles made the movie careers of a lot of people involved. It was John Hughes first film as director. Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall essentially became Hughes own acting company. Joan and John Cusack, Haviland Morris and Gedde Watanabe also got a boost from being in it, but did you know the New Wave Nerd became a director himself long after Sixteen Candles. Adam Rifkin | Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images Adam Rifkin eventually directed films like The Dark Backward, The Chase, Detroit Rock City, Look and The Last Movie Star. His first Hollywood job was playing the New Wave Nerd in Sixteen Candles. He didnt have lines because he was just an extra. Rifkin gave an interview on Arrow Videos new Sixteen Candles Blu-ray about how he turned a cameo into a directing career. Adam Rifkin worked on Sixteen Candles when he was in high school Hughes filmed his movies in Chicago, Illinois. When local high school student Rifkin heard about it, he wanted to get involved. When I was 16 a movie was being made in Chicago, Rifkin said. They approached our school, probably other schools as well, and said, We need extras for this high school comedy thats being shot in the suburbs. They said, Any students who were at our school who wanted to be in were welcome to be in it. I thought, This is a great opportunity to get to hang out on a movie set, watch a real movie being shot and learn and just soak it all in. I wanted to be around it. Adam Rifkin got typecast in Sixteen Candles Sixteen Candles was looking for two types of teenagers to fill in the background. Sixteen Candles Blu-ray | Arrow Video RELATED: Sixteen Candles: Long Duk Dong Originally Had a Love Scene Deleted From the Film They said to our school, You have to either show up dressed like a nerd or like a tough kid, Rifkin said. So I put together my toughest tough kid ensemble and when I showed up, the director walked down the line of all the kids that had gathered there. I thought I was looking pretty tough and he personally chose me, John Hughes personally chose me to be head nerd. Which was a life lesson. Its good to know these things early. John Hughes gave Adam Rifkin the new wave glasses You can always pick out Rifkin from those thin, orange glasses hes wearing. Hughes gave those to him. It turned out that actually opened the doors for a really exciting experience for me, Rifkin said. John Hughes said, I love your face. I said, Thank you. He said, I want you to wear these glasses. New wave was the thing. That was the cool fad at that time in the 80s. New wave glasses, youre the New Wave Nerd. For the rest of the movie, I was the New Wave Nerd. Adam Rifkin kept working with John Hughes on Sixteen Candles Hughes ended up becoming a mentor to Rifkin. Rifkin wrapped as an extra but asked to return. I went up to him and said, Mr. Hughes, I want to be a movie director someday just like you. Im done working as an extra now. I was hoping I could come back and just shadow you, and just watch you work some more and just learn by watching. Ive learned so much already just watching you up to this point and I know you have umpteen number of weeks left to go. Can I come back again and keep watching? Rifkin said. Hughes invited Rifkin back, so Rifkin showed up every day. John Hughes | Paul Natkin/Getty Images RELATED: Pretty In Pink: John Hughes Rewrote This Scene for Molly Ringwald Over the Phone I learned so much about the mechanics of filmmaking but I also learned, because he was so down to earth and so nice, everybody on the movie was down to earth and nice, Rifkin said. It was a very welcoming environment. Nobody looked at me funny for being there hanging out and learning. I always remember those things as Im making films. Adam Rifkin paid it forward Once Rifkin was making Detroit Rock City for New Line Cinema, he did the same thing for another extra that Hughes did for him. One of the kids who was an extra came up to me and said, I want to make movies one day like you. Ive been learning a lot watching you work. Can I ever come back and just shadow you and learn more? Rifkin said. I immediately thought of John Hughes and how valuable that experience was to me and how meaningful that experience was to me. Then we hired him on the movie as a P.A. so he was getting paid to hang out and learn. I owe a lot to John Hughes without him ever knowing it. CAMBRIDGE A teen is in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries after a stabbing in Cambridge on Tuesday night. Police were called to the area of Preston Parkway and King Street East at 7:30 p.m. for a report of a disturbance involving a group of people. When police arrived, they found a girl with multiple stab wounds. Two youths have been arrested and police are looking for a third. A filmmaker has claimed that children have become a 'status symbol' for gay men amid a rise in same-sex couples welcoming babies. Israeli director Yuval Hudadi, whose latest feature explores the breakdown of an affluent gay couple's relationship when one partner decides he wants to become a father, told Air Mail there is 'pressure and expectation' for gay men to welcome children. He explained: 'Children have in a way become a status symbol among many gay men. They signify a certain level of time, money, and ambition.' His comments come after a host of famous fathers welcomed children into their brood in recent years include Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black and Anderson Cooper. However Yuval's comments were criticised by Michael Johnson-Ellis, co-founder of TwoDads UK an organisation supporting British Intended Parents, who called the comments 'discouraging', adding: 'No parent, gay or straight, goes into a surrogacy journey, which is often lengthy, emotional and occasionally complex viewing it as buying the latest Rolex, or Bentley.' Filmmaker Yuval Hadadi has called children a 'status symbol among many gay men' and said there is now a rising 'pressure and expectation' for men to become fathers (pictured, Sir Elton John, 72, and David Furnish, 56, with their children Zachary, 8, and Elijah, 6, who were born by the same surrogate in California) Michael, who has two children Talulah, three, and Duke, one, with his partner Wes and is founder of The Modern Family Show, explained: 'Firstly I find the article quite discouraging, objectifying children is never healthy or positive is it really? 'Viewing family building as a status symbol - whether that's adoption, which can also be costly in the US, or, like in our case, surrogacy - is not fair on the child. 'The urge to create your family as a gay man is no different to that of our straight colleagues, that's where the comparison ends sadly.' He continued: 'Legally heterosexuals have been allowed to become fathers via surrogacy for over 30 years in the UK. The director's comments come months after Anderson Cooper, 53, welcomed his first child Wyatt via surrogate in April of this year. The journalist co-parents his son with his ex Benjamin Maisani, 47. He called the process 'incredibly expensive,' as well as difficult and 'time-consuming.' 'Gay men have been allowed to use Surrogacy as a route to parenthood legally since 2010, via the parental order route. 'There are still countries that don't allow gay men to become fathers through Surrogacy. He added: 'We should celebrating paths to parenthood, not judging them.' Meanwhile Michael explained that becoming a father was 'a gift', saying: 'For some people in the LGBTQ and heterosexual 'Trying to conceive' community, surrogacy is not obtainable at all, which adds additional stresses to either infertility or creates financial infertility, something many gay US men are faced with due to the increased costs of surrogacy.' 'Becoming a father in the UK via surrogacy is more challenging than the US, due to the surrogacy laws here, however I, or anyone I've ever met with, have never viewed parenthood as a status symbol, more as an absolute gift. Diver Tom Daley and filmmaker Dustin Lance Black welcomed their first son Robert in 2018. The couple both donated sperm to their egg donor and had their baby via a surrogate. At the time, they said they don't want to know who is the biological father of their surrogate baby son 'Everyone deserves the right to be a parent, free of criticism and judgement.' Celebrity gay icons including Sir Elton John and David Furnish, as well as Anderson Cooper have welcomed children in recent years. The son of the late fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt revealed in April that ever since he realized he was gay at age 12, he thought he could never become a father which was heartbreaking for him. And now that he has a child, he says it is a 'dream come true.' Ron Poole-Dayan, executive director of Men Having Babies, explained that expectations surrounding parenthood have shifted between generations. Celebrity couples who have welcomed children via surrogate Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka Neil Patrick Harris, 47, welcomed twins Harper and Gideon with his husband, David Burtka, via surrogate in 2010 Neil Patrick Harris, 47, has twins Harper and Gideon with his husband, David Burtka. The children were born via a surrogate from eggs fertilised by sperm donated by Neil and David in 2010. In 2014, Neil told Barbara Walters that he still has 'no interest' in learning which twin is his biological child. 'I have no interest in [finding out]. We are their parents and I love them implicitly,' Neil explained on the subject of paternity. 'We inserted one of my sperm and one of David's sperm into two eggs with the hope that they would both take, just because we both wanted to be dads biologically,' Neil said of the babies' conception. Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent Nate Berkus and his partner Jeremiah Brent have two children, Poppy, six, and Oskar, two Nate Berkus and his partner Jeremiah Brent announced they were expecting a baby girl via a surrogate mother in 2014. The duo welcomed Poppy, now six, before announcing the birth of their son Oskar in 2018. Berkus told USA Today they formed 'lovely relationships' with both surrogates and would be 'thanking them forever' for 'completing our family.' Andy Cohen Andy Cohen, 51, made headlines in February 2019 when he introduced son Benjamin Allen, born via surrogate and now almost two years old Andy Cohen, 51, made headlines in February 2019 when he introduced son Benjamin Allen, born via surrogate and now almost two years old Cohen has also been offering support to pal Anderson Cooper who became a dad himself via surrogacy in late April, welcoming a baby boy he named Wyatt. Cooper has hired the nanny that cared for Benjamin during his first year and Cohen has spoken publicly about his delight at the CNN anchor joining him in fatherhood. 'I'm so happy for Anderson,' Cohen said on his SiriusXM show. 'We've been talking about this for a long time and I have been really enjoying Anderson coming over. His visits with Ben have taken on a special significance since we both knew for a while that Anderson was planning on [becoming a dad] himself.' Advertisement He said for older members of the community, gay men may have 'got a pass' when it came to children but that a rise in famous fathers such as Anderson Cooper had meant this is 'no longer the case.' However the pricetag for fatherhood can be extremely expensive and inaccessible to the average person. Ross and Chris Muller, who are believed to be the first same-sex couple to have IVF treatment on the NHS, revealed a surrogacy journey could have cost them 'about 45,000.' The couple, who are from Edinburgh, spoke out in May ahead of welcoming a baby boy via surrogate. Ross, 33, a primary teacher, said: 'We knew we were doing the right thing and we just know the joy children can bring and we wanted to have some of that and to be part of it.' Edinburgh based Ross (L) and Chris Muller a same sex male couple who are having a baby via surrogacy in late July/early August 2020 'I think a lot of same-sex couples, male and female, don't know that this exists, like we didn't until we found out about it.' The NHS has until recently refused to give gay male couples such treatment because of a blanket ban on using surrogate mothers. The Scottish Government changed that policy two years ago so any couple, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, is eligible for free fertility treatment. That decision marked the biggest shift since 2013, when NHS guidance across Scotland, England and Wales made IVF available to same-sex couples and single women with fertility problems. But because of the ban on surrogates, in practice same-sex couples meant only women. They had to demonstrate their infertility by showing they had failed to get pregnant after several attempts with artificial insemination. Where is surrogacy legal? Where is commercial surrogacy legal? Places where it is legal for women to be paid to carry a child for a foreigner include Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and parts of the United States, where the practice is regulated at state rather than federal level. Thailand and Cambodia used to be hubs for overseas commercial surrogacy, particularly for prospective parents from China, until it was banned in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Some forms of altruistic surrogacy are allowed in Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Britain and Australia (except for the Northern Territory which has no laws on the matter), but for-profit surrogacy is banned. Countries including Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain outlaw all forms of surrogacy. Where is LGBT+ surrogacy allowed? Gay couples will soon be able to access surrogacy in Israel, after the country's top court ruled against a law that excludes them in February, giving the government a year to pass a new one. Tens of thousands of people protested against the law, which gave single and infertile women access to state support for surrogacy, when it was passed in 2018. Taiwan bans all surrogacy. But since same-sex marriage was legalised in May 2019, commercial surrogacy agencies from the United States have marketed their services to gay couples on the island, including from Asian countries like China. Gay couples are banned from surrogacy in countries including Nigeria and Russia, which also banned foreign same-sex couples from adopting children in the country in 2013. India, where gay sex has been legal since 2018 but same-sex marriage remains illegal, restricted the use of surrogate mothers to married couples and single women in February. Nepal, another former commercial surrogacy destination, now only allows infertile Nepali married couples to access it. But it excludes couples where one or more person is transgender and same-sex marriage is also not legal in the Himalayan state. Which LGBT+ celebrities have used surrogate mothers? Gay celebrities who have fathered children through surrogates in California include popstar Elton John and his husband David Furnish. Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, whose son Robbie with his British Olympic diver husband Tom Daley was born in 2018, said the U.S. state was 'the safest place' to have a surrogate child. Andy Cohen, a U.S. presenter and close friend of Cooper's, welcomed his surrogate son, Benjamin Allen Cohen, in February 2019, while other gay fathers through surrogacy include U.S. actor Neil Patrick Harris and Latino popstar Ricky Martin. Advertisement It is thought there have been no cases of IVF treatment for a gay male couple being funded by the NHS in England. In Wales, fertility treatment for gay couples is in theory available on the NHS, although its policy states that 'surrogacy IVF will only be provided where no other fertility treatment options are available' and strictly for 'medical reasons'. Ross said: 'Before we knew we could get it on the NHS we looked privately and the surrogacy journey is about 45,000. After we contacted the NHS, they initially said they wouldn't look at us.' 'We had to keep pushing on that door and it was new to the hospital so they hadn't done this before. 'That's when they told us that we would be the first in Scotland to go through this.' A surrogate mother, from Cambridge, was hired through a private company. In the wake of two massive cyber attacks that breached thousands of Canada Revenue Agency accounts, a Saskatchewan woman has found that her CRA access was illegally used to redirect CERB proceeds to another bank. Mirroring the plight of Tara McWilliams and a worryingly growing number of Canadians, Regina resident Jenn Fink told CBC News that a fraudster applied for CERB using her CRA account. Said account was among those hacked in the recent cyberattacks. I was just checking my email and I got a legitimate email from CRA saying that my email address had essentially been removed from my account and that I wouldnt be getting any more notifications through this email address, Fink said. It was a legit email from CRA, I had recently received the same sort of style of email that told me my notice of assessment was ready when I did my taxes. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / JNC Resources Inc. (CSE:JNC) ("JNC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has recently visited the Imperial Property to collect grab samples that will be sent off for validation and testing. The Imperial Property is located 18 miles northeast of Goldfield, Nevada in the Silver Peak District within the Walker Lane. Silver Peak is the second largest gold producing area in Esmeralda County after Goldfield. 6 samples were taken in total, 5 of which were in the immediate area of the upcoming drill program. An additional sample was obtained further to the northeast in an area of previous drilling with good surface alteration. Four of the samples will represent sampling of the main Imperial vein, while two were of surface alteration that represents different, but related veins. All of the samples taken were heavily limonite stained and silicified, with much of the material also being brecciated. Quartz after calcite replacement textures were also noted in the sample material. "We are very excited about the collection of our grab samples at the Imperial Property and look forward to the results," stated CEO, Mike Mulberry. "With the overall excitement around gold, historical results of the area and the exploration potential of the Imperial Property it is becoming a very exciting time for us. We are permit ready and look forward to receiving the results of our preliminary sampling as we move towards our drilling program," continued Mr. Mulberry. Qualified Persons Warren Robb, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the Company as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the technical information presented within this news release. About JNC Resources Inc. JNC is a North American-based junior venture mineral exploration company with a goal to develop under-explored properties and benefit from deal flow generated by strategic partnerships and growth opportunities. Currently the Company is developing its 100% optioned Triple 9 Project in South Central British Columbia. The Triple 9 Project is a gold property with a new discovery of high levels of base metals, located 20 km from the town of Sicamous. JNC also has an option agreement with Great Basin Resources to acquire 100% control and interest in the Imperial Project in Nevada. The Imperial Property is located in Esmeralda County, Nevada, which has been a prolific mining area in the state. The Property is in close proximity to the town of Goldfields, where gold production occurred in the early part of the 20th century. For further information please contact: Michael Mulberry T: 778-855-5001 info@jncresources.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in applicable forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in such statements. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. SOURCE: JNC Resources Inc. 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For the last few weeks, KTR, as the chief ministers son is popularly known, has been addressing official meetings and holding virtual conferences. There have been instances of KTR holding official meetings of other departments as well like the meeting on Kaleshwaram irrigation project he had held on July 3 which was attended by senior officials of these departments. What led to the latest speculation about KTRs role as de facto chief minister was an informal meeting of the council of ministers convened by him in the absence of his father to discuss food processing and logistics at Pragati Bhavan, the camp office of the chief minister last week. Apart from all his cabinet colleagues, the meeting was attended by top bureaucrats including chief secretary Somesh Kumar, government chief advisor Rajiv Sharma, principal secretaries of various departments and Telangana state planning board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar. Though KTR clarified later that he had held the eight-hour long meeting with all his cabinet colleagues to discuss the food processing and logistics policies as directed by the chief minister, it led to a debate as to whether KCR was slowly delegating his powers to his son. Telangana Congress legislature party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka raised objections over KTR heading a cabinet meeting in the absence of the chief minister. In what capacity and under which rule did KTR chair the cabinet meeting? Was the chief minister not in a position to attend the cabinet meeting? he asked. Political analyst and Osmania University professor K Nageshwar said there was no clarity as to whether it was a cabinet meeting with a specific agenda and protocol or just an informal meeting of the council of ministers. If it was not a formal cabinet meeting, it cannot be questioned technically. But politically, it shows KTRs clout as the chief ministers son. One wonders whether any other minister be it finance minister T Harish Rao or health minister Eatala Rajender can call for such informal cabinet meetings, he said. Unlike his father who is mostly confined to running the government from Pragati Bhavan, KTR has been extensively touring districts to inspect the implementation of government schemes and holding official meetings. He prefers to go to the people and interact with them directly to solve their issues. When the entire northern Telangana region was reeling under heavy floods, the chief minister was confined to his camp office reviewing the situation, while KTR chose to make a whirlwind tour of the affected areas to personally monitor the relief and rehabilitation measures. Wherever KTR goes, the official machinery in the district goes providing him with all protocol measures though he is only one of the cabinet ministers, because he is the chief ministers son, an official in the revenue department said on condition of anonymity. Interestingly, KTRs visit to the flood-hit areas of Warangal and other parts was covered by the publicity wing of the CMO, rather than his personal public relations team. The official release and the photographs were shared with the media by the CMO, lending credence to the speculations that KTR might be on his way to being the next CM. TRS legislator from Bodhan in Nizamabad district Mohammad Shakeel expressed hope that KTR would be made the chief minister of the state soon. Young and dynamic minister KT Rama Rao has all the abilities and eligibility to become the CM of the state, he observed. Nageshwar said there was no surprise if it happened sooner or later. When KTR was made the TRS working president soon after the December 2018 elections, it was evident that he would succeed KCR. It is only a matter of time that KTR is anointed as the chief minister, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) When farmer May Cho Win learned that a conservation project proposed by the U.N. Development Program in Myanmar would include the land shes worked for over a decade, the 28-year-old wondered how she and her husband would be able to support their three children. Without our land we cant live, she told The Associated Press, speaking by phone from her single-room bamboo home. If they come and do this project, we will have nothing to do well be like dead people. The $21 million Ridge to Reef project funded by the Global Environment Facility with support from the Smithsonian Institute, the Myanmar government and other partners would conserve nearly 5,500 square miles (14,000 square kilometers) of land, coastline and marine areas in southern Myanmars Tanintharyi Region. But Indigenous and land rights activists say the project will disrupt largely agrarian and fishing-based livelihoods among residents of about 225 villages in the proposed park area. The project now on hold while the U.N. programs inspector general investigates their complaints is but one example of conflicts between well-meaning, top-down conservation efforts and Indigenous peoples. With increasing development and deforestation across the globe, both international conservation groups and Indigenous activists recognize the importance of protecting lands that provide havens for biodiversity and valuable carbon storage for a warming planet. Tigers, Asian elephants, tapirs and other endangered species live in what is the largest area of lowland wet evergreen forest remaining in the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hot spot, as well as some of the largest contiguous blocks of mangrove forest in mainland Southeast Asia. Yet the region has been environmentally degraded by palm oil concessions, aquaculture projects, mining and illegal logging. Between 2010 and 2015, the U.N. says, Myanmar experienced the world's third-highest forest loss after Brazil and Indonesia, with an estimated annual loss of about 2% of the countrys total forest cover. Story continues However, local Indigenous and land rights activists contend that when the U.N.'s development program designed the conservation project, the organization didnt adequately consult with communities, violating the right of free prior informed consent under the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That's the bare minimum standard for engaging with Indigenous peoples and communities in the context of any project that may affect them, said Holly Jonas, a global coordinator at ICCA Consortium, which promotes Indigenous rights. Although the U.N. said there were various stakeholder meetings and consultations with the community, activists said many villagers were not informed of the project until after it was approved. Both the project side and government sides didnt come and inform us about the project, Saw Min Yin, a 36-year old village administrator and gardener in the proposed project area, said by phone. We dont accept this project, because our traditional ways of life may disappear because of it." Indigenous activists fear the conservation project also would deny people forced to flee their homes during decades of civil conflict the right to return, which is protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Conservation Alliance Tanawthari, a coalition of Indigenous community organizations, made a formal complaint in September 2018 to the independent U.N. development program inspector general for investigation. We found that the project officials didn't do proper consultation, said Paul Sein Twa, executive director of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network, a member of the alliance. The U.N. said project activities are currently fully suspended, and the inspector general still has no estimated release date for findings. The projects intention is to invest in improving the lives of people in Tanintharyi while conserving the wildlife through an agreed plan, Biplove Choudhary, chief of Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, UNDP Myanmar told the AP in an emailed statement. The U.N. turned down requests for interviews. The Myanmar project isnt the first time a UN-Global Environment Facility conservation projects have been contested. In January 2020, a draft report by the U.N. development program found that Indigenous Baka people living close to a Republic of Congo national park it funded along with other international partners had been evicted from their native forests and beaten by park rangers, and that female tribe members had been sexually harassed. Such violence is rooted in a deep history of the idea that parks need to be people free, said Jonas, the Indigenous rights advocate. Theres been a false narrative of nature being better without people and that we have to protect nature from people when actually that landscape was created ... with the indigenous peoples there. After learning about the Ridge to Reef project, indigenous land rights activists spent nearly a year consulting with local communities to develop an alternative proposal for a landscape conserved by Indigenous people. Their report outlined traditional community-led conservation efforts used for generations, including land and forest administration as well as traditional customs and practices that safeguard biodiversity. We consider ourselves like an animal of the forest. Its like we are tigers when you take a tiger out of the forest, how will it live? said Paul Sein Twa. We consider it part of our life and duty to protect our lands. Evidence of the effectiveness of such community-led conservation already can be found in Myanmar. Between 2002 and 2014, indigenous-majority states and regions in Myanmar, including Tanintharyi, were found to have higher rates of deforestation in government-controlled areas, according to Win Myo Thu, director of EcoDev Myanmar, a non-governmental organization that advocates for local environmental governance. In Tanintharyi, areas controlled by ethnic minority armed groups had an average of 6% less deforestation. And earlier this year the Salween Peace Park an Indigenous, community-led conservation project in Myanmars eastern Karen State received the UN Equator Prize for local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities. For May Cho Win, the desire to continue to protect her densely forested land and to grow durian and cotton remains firm U.N. project or not. We have responsibility to protect our lands by ourselves for our living conditions, she said. Because If we lose our land, where can our children live and work? ___ Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw contributed from Yangon, Myanmar. Follow Milko on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevmilko ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Actor Sonu Sood has done it again - this time he has sent migrant workers back to their villages in Maharashtra and Konkan to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, which begins from Saturday. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, 300 have already left and more will leave soon. Through the pandemic, Sonu has arranged for buses, trains and even flights for workers stuck in different parts of India. Speaking to the publication, Sonu said: Recently, some migrant workers who live in Lalbaug and behind Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi reached out to me with a plea. I organised buses for them with all the necessary permissions. The first batch of around 300 left five days ago and another batch will leave soon. Sonu is not only helping migrant workers stranded across the country, he is also helping medical students stuck in different countries because of the pandemic. Elaborating further, Sonu said: We are also evacuating medical students stuck in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and the Philippines. He reiterated that migrant workers in particular need jobs to sustain through the pandemic. Through their Pravasi Rojgar initiative, his team has employed over a lakh. He added that another 10,000 interviews are lined up. Also read: Kangana Ranaut responds to Naseeruddin Shahs comment: Would you say this to me if I was Prakash Padukone or Anil Kapoors daughter? Amid all the work Sonu has been doing, the actor doesnt miss a chance to share a joke, particularly when some people send him bizarre requests. A fan recently wrote to him, asking the actor to help him with his internet speed. The fan had written: @SonuSood Please help me to increase the internet speed of my mobile Its disgusting. Sonu was quick to respond, listing out other important work that he was busy with including arranging someones marriage to solving someones water problem. Sonu wrote: Can you manage till tomorrow morning? right now busy with getting someones computer repaired, someones marriage fixed, getting someones train ticket confirmed, someones houses water problem. Such important jobs people have assigned to me. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea questioning setting up of a three-member judicial commission led by former apex court judge Justice B S Chauhan to inquire into the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey. IMAGE: Social workers garland policemen for killing of gangster Vikas Dubey, outside the mortuary at the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur. Photograph: PTI Photo A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said that there were enough safeguards to ensure fair inquiry by the judicial panel into the encounter which took place in Kanpur. The verdict came on a plea field by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhaya seeking re-constitution of the inquiry commission and substituting its members -- Justice (retd) B S Chauhan, former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd) Shashi Kant Agarwal and retired Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police K L Gupta -- with other former judges of the apex court and retired DGPs. He had alleged that brother of Justice Chauhan is a legislator in Uttar Pradesh and his daughter is married to a Member of Parliament. On August 11, the bench also comprising justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian has said that it would not allow anyone to cast aspersions on the basis of media reports on the retired apex court judge heading the panel. It had pulled up the petitioner and asked him whether a relative of a judge belonging to a political party, be termed as an illegal act. It had said that there are several judges who have Members of Parliament as their relatives. "There are judges whose father or brother or relatives are MPs. Are you (petitioner) saying that they all are biased judges? If any relative is belonging to a political party, is this an illegal act?" the top court had told Upadhaya. The top court had earlier dismissed an application seeking removal of two other members of the inquiry commission saying that it would not allow the petitioner to cast aspersions. The apex court had on July 22 approved the Uttar Pradesh government's draft notification for appointing Justice (retd) Chauhan as the chairman of the three-member inquiry commission. Eight policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3. Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of July 10 when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said. Prior to Dubey's encounter, five of his alleged associates were killed in separate encounters. The Uttar Pradesh government, in an affidavit filed earlier in the apex court in the matter, had said that the police party escorting Dubey from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur had to 'fire back in self-defence' as he had tried to escape and was killed. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Lebanon is a land of impunity. The bigger the crime and the worse the culprit, the less chance there is of meaningful accountability. Witness the convoluted and inconclusive verdict of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast in Beirut, shortly after he had decided to join demands for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from his country. Many Lebanese, despairing of a clean investigation and fair trial in their own law-enforcement and judicial systems, hoped that the United Nations tribunal based in the Netherlands would replace the incapacities of the Lebanese state with international legitimacy and authority. Fifteen years laterand after the expense of almost $1 billion, much of it paid by Lebanon itselfthe tribunal has issued what amounts to a split decision. It had initially indicted five Hezbollah operatives, but dropped charges against the most senior of them after he was killed in Syria in 2016. Of the four remaining, three were acquitted due to lack of evidence. One, Salim Ayyash, was convicted of helping to plan the attack. While the tribunal noted this was an act of political terrorism and that Syria and Hezbollah had obvious motivations, it said their direct guilt could not be established. The ruling will be a Rorschach test, with every side in the Lebanese political arena seeing what it wants. Hezbollah and its allies will point to the verdict as proof of their innocence. Their critics will point out that Ayyash had neither the personal motive nor the means to engineer a massive and precise attack, one that required enormous logistical support and significant organizational capacity, and bespoke a confidence of impunity. But the tribunal did not have the ability to make a U.S.-style racketeering case, indicting an entire organization for a crime of its operatives. It could not investigate states or groups, but only those individuals directly involved. Story continues The UNs efforts to secure truth and justice, where the Lebanese state obviously couldnt, began well: the initial investigation established an enormous body of credible facts. They clearly established that the killing was indeed the work of a complex and military-style conspiracy, closely linked to Hariris growing opposition to Syria. There were details about the means and motives Assad and his Hezbollah allies had in orchestrating the killing. The tribunal, led by German judge Detlev Mehlis, appeared headed towards real revelations and high-level indictments. But after a few months, Mehlis faced credible threats of assassination himself. In January 2006, he stepped down and was replaced by a Belgian judge, Serge Brammertzwho, for some reason, did not inspire similar threats. The investigation bogged down and never recovered. By 2008 at the latest, it was clear that the tribunal was not interested in identifying the true authors of the murder; ever since, careful observers have expected something like Tuesdays diplomatically convenient verdict. All four indicted Hezbollah members are in hiding, including Ayyash. Hezbollah swore never to give them up. Even if Ayyash were somehow captured, hed have to be tried again. French President Emmanuel Macron, who is taking a leading international role in Lebanon these days, will be gratified by the verdict. It affords him maximum room for maneuver in his complicated dealings with Hezbollah, and by extension its patron, Iran. He can use the conviction of Ayyash to pressure Hezbollah, even while justifying his continued engagement with it on the grounds no evidence was found to prove its direct responsibility. In isolation, the tribunals verdict looks like yet another victory for impunity in Lebanon, the more egregious because it bears an international imprimatur. But for Hezbollah, the bigger picture remains grim. The verdict will not long overshadow other trends that challenge its authority in Lebanonthe protest movement, the economic meltdown, the coronavirus pandemic and, of course, the massive explosion that destroyed much of Beirut. To its deep discomfort, Hezbollah can no longer operate behind the facade of the state. The Lebanese government most directly responsible for the port explosion was entirely made up of Hezbollah allies. Its militia defends the corrupt political and economic system that has hollowed out the country. The verdict may be legally and diplomatically equivocal on Hezbollahs responsibility for Hariris killing. But the intense pressures that have accumulated over the past year will not ease. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. SARATOGA SPRINGS - Maura Pulver is not closing up shop because of COVID-19, but she said the pandemic gave her clarity. Pulver has owned Saratoga Five Points Market & Deli in the city's Five Points neighborhood for eight and a half years, and worked in the store for several years prior to taking over. It's been hard work, and because she lives across the street, she was rarely off the clock. But she wouldn't change a thing, Pulver said Wednesday, as she prepared for a sidewalk sale -- starting at 9 a.m. Thursday -- to clear out the contents of the store. "I'm a better person because of it. My kids are better people. There's a feeling in this place, and it's been the best experience of my life," she said. Pulver announced at the beginning of August she was starting a catering business, Simply Food by Maura, but news of the store closing was still a shock to Pulver's neighbors and regulars. The Wednesday announcement drew such a strong reaction on Facebook, Pulver said she had to take a 10-minute break in the morning to go home and cry. Reactions ranged from sadness at Pulver's departure to disappointment the neighborhood market would be closing its doors - a misconception Pulver wants to correct. Jim Morris, owner of the iconic building, said "aspects of the market" will remain after a face lift. Morris said he wasn't ready to disclose information about new tenants, but said he is "in talks with folks who will be renovating the space." Morris has owned the building since 2007 and said he respects the neighborhood and the desire among the residents to have a market there. In addition to the grocery, there is a dog spa and a hair salon on the first floor and five apartments on the second floor. Pulver said she experienced a "pandemic pivot." When COVID-19 started, Pulver reduced her staff, menu and hours of operation. At the height of quarantine, staples were a brisk business. Locals who didn't want to venture out to a larger grocery store came to Five Points for milk, flour, sugar, yeast. It was a scary time, Pulver said, she started making free bagged lunches for kids who would ordinarily get food at school. Pulver also discovered she didn't do much business in the late hours of the day. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Suddenly, she was locking the door and going home when it was still light out. Instead of 15 and 16-hour days, she had time to do other things besides run the store. Then, her brother died, and Pulver's large family gathered in South Carolina for several weeks to lay him to rest. The time away gave Pulver a chance to sort out what she did and did not want to keep doing. "If I never slice roast beef again, that's fine, but I can't not make breakfast sandwiches anymore," Pulver said. Breakfast is Pulver's favorite, along with the customer and chatter it brings in - friends, neighbors and out-of-towners here for the horse races. The recipes she developed over time while feeding her four children. It's comfort food, she said, messy sandwiches made with love. It's those she's bringing with her and she will sell out of the commercial kitchen at the Saratoga Springs Senior Citizen Center a half-mile away at 5 Williams St. She will also continue the catering business she started at Five Points, and "Take Five Dinners," a popular take-out option she offers at the market on Tuesdays. Pulver said she is making her next steps small, with a "let's see how it goes" attitude going forward. It feels right, but departing Five Points is bittersweet. She made hundreds of friends over the years and knew the habits of customers as well as her own family. Once, when one regular seemed off when he came in for his Saratoga Daily Racing Form, Pulver followed him home. When it was clear he was having a health crisis, she stayed until he was in contact with one of his children. A week later when the man died, Pulver was invited to the funeral, where he was buried with the Racing Form under his arm. A solider from Fort Hood has been killed while assisting at the scene of a car accident - the eleventh death at the embattled Texas Army base this year alone. Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Science Hill, Kentucky was standing in the roadway trying to direct traffic around a minor traffic accident in Killeen near the base when he was hit by a car on Wednesday August 12. The car that hit him crested an overpass on Interstate 14 and the driver didnt see him in time. He was injured at the scene and later died from the injuries he sustained. Its unclear if he was involved in the accident itself. The case is under investigation by thte Texas Department of Public Safety. Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Kentucky died on August 12 as he was assisting at the scene of a car accident near the Fort Hood Army base in Killeen, Texas Aton was a Patriot missile operator with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade since August 2018. Timeline of Fort Hood disappearances/deaths August 19, 2019: Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales, 24, disappeared. He was last seen driving his personal vehicle outside of Fort Hood days before he was due to be discharged. He was listed as a deserter by the Army one month after he was last seen. April 22, 2020: Vanessa Guillen goes missing and is last seen in the parking lot of the base. She disappeared after telling her family she was being sexually harassed by a sergeant on the base. May 18, 2020: Body of Army Pfc. Brandon S. Rosecrans, 27, was discovered with gunshot wounds and his Jeep was found three miles away engulfed in flames. June 19, 2020: Search teams discover the corpse of missing soldier Wedel-Morales following a tip to Army base investigators. Remains were found in a field in Killeen, just over 10 miles from Stillhouse Hollow Lake, five miles from Fort Hood. June 30, 2020: First parts of Giullen's remains found about 20 miles east of Fort Hood July 17, 2020: Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, of Pensacola, Florida was found unresponsive July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, around 15 miles from the Fort Hood base. August 2, 2020: The body of Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas, 24, is recovered from Stillhouse Hollow Lake following boating incident not far from where Morta was found. August 12, 2020: Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Kentucky died after he was hit by a car as he was assisting a minor accident scene August 13, 2020: National Guard soldier, Sgt Bradley Moore dies during a training exercise at the base Advertisement No charges were filed in his death. Col. Ethan Hall, the commander of the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, offered his condolences to Atons family. 'Specialist Aton was a professional, committed to the mission. His selfless service and care for others are in keeping with the highest traditions of the "Lightning Brigade" and our Army,' he said in a statement. 'The entire team is heartbroken,' he added. Aton's awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon. Hes the 11th soldier death at the base this year alone. The base was thrust into the national spotlight with the disappearance of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen who vanished after reporting she was being sexually harassed at the base. She was killed and dismembered by a fellow soldier and her remains were found late June. Of the 11 deaths, foul play is suspected in five of those. The dead are: Spc. Vanessa Guillen; her alleged killer Spc. Aaron David Robinson, 20; Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales; Pvt. Mejhor Morta; Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas; Pfc. Brandon Scott Rosecrans; Spc. Freddy Delacruz Jr; Spc. Christopher Wayne Sawyer; and Spc. Shelby Tyler Jones. Last week Sgt. Bradley Moore, 36, of Mansfield, Texas, with the Texas Army National Guard died at the base during a training exercise. On social media Aton shared petitions and posts demanding answers into the mysterious deaths and disappearances at the base. Guillen, 20, vanished from the base on April 22. The first parts of Giullen's remains were found about 20 miles east of Fort Hood on June 30. Spc. Aaron David Robinson, 20, was the main suspect in Guillens disappearance and murder. He killed himself when confronted by investigators in the early hours of July 1. Guillen's remains were found days after a tip led authorities to the body of missing soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales, who disappeared last year, nearby. Aton was a Patriot missile operator with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade since August 2018 On social media Aton shared petitions and posts demanding answers into the mysterious deaths and disappearances at the base Aton shared this petition last month demanding answers and justice for the disappearance and death of Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales, who disappeared last year and his remains were found this summer In June Army Secretary Ryan McCarty announced announced an independent investigation will take place into the base. Five civilian experts have already been sworn in for the investigation to assess command culture to 'root out' why there's been such high cases of violence, deaths, and disappearances. Those review results will be released in October. Covid-19 cases have been confirmed at two nursing homes in the south-east in the past 24 hours. A staff member at Mooncoin Residential Care Centre in south Kilkenny has tested positive, as well as a person at Kerlogue Nursing Home in county Wexford. BEARDSTOWN JBS USA is making $2.5 million available for the Beardstown community through its Hometown Strong Initiative. The pork production company said the contribution is to help projects related to food insecurity, community infrastructure and well-being, and COVID-19 emergency response. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out three airports, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, to Adani Enterprises that won these in an auction last year. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led private developer had emerged as the successful bidder in a global competitive bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The AAI will get an upfront amount of Rs 1,070 crore from handing over the airports to the private developer, said Union minister Prakash Javadekar. "The upfront Rs 1,070 crore that will come to AAI will be used for developing airports in smaller airports. The other benefit is travellers will get better facilities," the minister said while briefing media after the Cabinet meeting held earlier today. The Adani Group has won rights to operate, maintain and develop these airports in a public private partnership mode. The company has the right to operate these airports for 50 years. The leasing out of these airports was part of the original six that were awarded to the Adani Group. The Ahmadabad, Lucknow and Mangalur airports were awarded earlier to the conglomerate. Also Read: Adani Group seeks deadline extension to take over Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru airports "The Union Cabinet accorded its approval for leasing of three AAI airports namely, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for operation, management and development to Adani Enterprises Ltd, who is declared as the successful bidder in a global competitive bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India, for a period of fifty years," Ministry of Civil Aviation notified. These projects will bring efficiency in service delivery, expertise, enterprise and professionalism apart from harnessing the needed investments in the public sector, it added. Also Read: Big beneficiaries of Tranche IV stimulus: Adani, Vedanta, Tata Power, Anil Ambani's Reliance Airports Authority of India has released request for proposal in December 2018 through global competitive bidding wherein per passenger fee was the bidding parameter. The technical bids were opened on February 16, 2019 and the financial bids of the qualified bidders were opened on February 25, 2019. Adani Enterprises has won all the bids by quoting highest per passenger fee for all the three airports i.e. Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvanathapuram. Boosted by the development, shares of Adani Enterprises jumped 11.86 per cent to close at Rs 239.05 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange. By Chitranjan Kumar . The Government is increasing the number of defence force personnel supporting the Managed Isolation and Quarantine System and maritime border, further bolstering protections against community COVID-19 spread. Around 500 more defence personnel will be deployed taking the total to about 990 defence personnel at our managed isolation facilities following ongoing checks and assessments of the managed isolation and quarantine system as part of a continual improvement process. That will bring the total Defence Force personnel supporting the COVID-19 response to around 1200 the largest military contingent since Timor-Leste, says Minister of Housing Megan Woods. It is important we do all we can to strengthen the layers of security systems in our facilities. "So far we have, improved policies, procedures and increased staffing numbers across all managed isolation facilities. "Over the last month we have been trialling the use of technology such as CCTV to help with the management of the perimeters and it is likely this will be rolled out more widely. This boost in defence force personnel will be progressively rolled out over the next six weeks and will see the number in each managed isolation and quarantine facility increase from around 4 people to 19 people, and also see around 80 extra personnel stationed at the maritime border to assist Customs. There are currently 32 managed isolation and quarantine facilities. Since managed isolation started around four months ago, almost 40,000 people have successfully been through managed isolation and quarantine facilities. While the current community cluster has not been sourced to a managed isolation and quarantine facility, nothing is fail-safe and strengthening security is a step we believe is useful, says Woods. Thirty staff will deploy to Auckland this Thursday to staff the first two MIQ facilities. Each week after that 75 people will be provided until each MIQF is staffed by an additional complement of 15 NZDF staff. "We are reducing our reliance on private security guards by scaling up Defence Force personnel, especially in the highest risk facilities. "They will staff the higher risk security areas such as entry and exit points and public areas. "We will be moving to a model of direct employment of security guards with the appropriate training and paying the living wage." LSCs share our commitment to listening to the communities they serve and acting in their best interests, Lightfoot said. I applaud them for stepping up to generate the change they want to see and look forward to working with them as we continue to create an optimal school environment. G ermany has signalled it will extend coronavirus furlough scheme to 24 months, with Angela Merkel backing the proposals. The country's furlough programme - called Kurzarbeit, or "short work" - is limited to 12 months at the moment, but ministers said it made sense to extend it with coronavirus still curbing much business activity. Finance minister Olaf Scholz said on Sunday: "The coronavirus crisis wont suddenly disappear in the next few weeks. Businesses and employees need a clear signal from the government: weve got your back for the long haul in this crisis, so that no one is being let go without need. A passenger wears a face mask at a tram stop in Gelsenkirchen, Germany / AP A final decision on the fate of the scheme will be taken on August 25, but a spokesperson for Chancellor Merkel said the extension had her support. Kurzarbeit allows companies to apply for funds if at least ten per cent of their workforce have lost at least ten per cent of working hours. Companies are estimated to have signed up about 10.1 million workers to the scheme, which dates back originally to the financial crisis of 2008-2009. It comes as the UK's furlough scheme, which pays 80 per cent of furloughed workers' wages up to 2,500 per month, has begun to wind down. People relaxing by the sea in Rostock, northern Germany / REUTERS Companies are expected to pay furloughed staffs' pension and national insurance contributions from August, before taking on 10 per cent of wages in September and 20 per cent in October. The scheme will close at the end of October. Opposition parties are campaigning for the scheme to be extended in some way at the end of October, to avoid the mass lay-offs feared by some commentators. Loading.... Labour's Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: The chancellors refusal to abandon his one-size-fits-all withdrawal of furlough is a historic mistake that risks a python-like squeeze on jobs in the worst-hit sectors. "The reward for months of hard work and sacrifice by the British people cannot be a P45. Projects to boost Phuket water supply stall in Bangkok PHUKET: The main public water supply reservoirs in Phuket have been healthily replenished by the ample rainfall we have had since the long dry season broke in May, but the security of having enough water to supply businesses and residents on the island is likely to be short-lived, says Phukets water supply chief. By Tanyaluk Sakoot Wednesday 19 August 2020, 06:05PM The water level at Bang Wad reservoir earlier this week is looking much healthier, but will be short-lived, warns Phukets water supply chief. Photo: PWA The water level at Bang Wad reservoir earlier this week is looking much healthier, but will be short-lived, warns Phukets water supply chief. Photo: PWA The water level at Bang Wad reservoir earlier this week is looking much healthier, but will be short-lived, warns Phukets water supply chief. Photo: PWA The water level at Bang Wad reservoir earlier this week is looking much healthier, but will be short-lived, warns Phukets water supply chief. Photo: PWA The news comes following confirmation that the project to install a pipeline from Phang Nga to supply tap water to the island has been delayed, despite being approved by Cabinet in September last year. Also, yet to be approved are six smaller projects aimed at being stop-gap measures to help boost Phukets water-supply ability in the short term. Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) Chief Graisorn Mahamad told The Phuket News that Bang Wad reservoir in Kathu as of Monday (Aug 17) contained 3.053 million cubic metres of water, or 29.9%, of its 10.2mn-plus m3 capacity. Bang Neow Dum reservoir in Srisoonthorn, Thalang, currently contains 2.513mn m3 of water, or about 34.9% of its 7.2mn m3 capacity, he said. Meanwhile, the Klong Kratha reservoir in Chalong contains 1.082mn m3, or 25% of its 4.32mn-plus m3 capacity, he added. However, Mr Graisorn pointed out that now the islands weather has returned to sporadic showers instead of consistent downpours, the total daily water usage from the reservoirs of 0.042mn m3 already outpaces the 0.032mn m3 of rainfall estimated to be flowing into the reservoirs. This is why the Phang Nga pipeline is so important, and construction was supposed to have started already, Mr Graisorn said. We will need this water-supply pipeline from Phang Nga to supply water in the long term, and construction needs to start because it will take a long time to complete, he added. This project is the Number One way to help Phuket out of its water supply problem. This project is crucial because the demand for water supply in Phuket will increase to 98mn m3 per year, he said. Mr Graisorn explained that he had yet to be informed of a clear reason why the project had not yet begun. I have heard that the project has been postponed, and that it might begin with a budget in 2021. But I dont know when the budget will come. I have not heard with confidence their exact plan to send money, he said. Mr Graisorn pointed out that since arriving on the island in June, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew had already twice presented to Cabinet and to the Office of the Natural Water Resources (ONWR) Phukets water problems and proposed seven projects, including the Phang Nga pipeline, to help avoid another water crisis. The Cabinet has apparently agreed with the Phang Nga pipeline project, as they already know that Phuket people are in need of reliable water supply, but no explanation has come about the budget needed to make sure the project can go ahead, he added. I understand the Phang Nga pipeline project was presented to cost about B3.5 billion and it was approved by Cabinet on Sept 17 last year. The project was supposed to start, but nothing has happened. They [Cabinet] might have another important issue to deal with at this time, Mr Graisorn admitted. However, he added, But we must keep pushing as much as we can to start this project. STOP-GAPS STALLED Mr Graisorn pointed out that of the seven projects, the PWA was involved in only one: the Phang Nga pipeline. The other six projects are under the responsibility of other government bodies and were presented to the Office of the National Water Resources, with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon present to hear in person, he added. Three of the projects are under the responsibility of the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO), two are to be carried out as Phuket City Municipality projects, and one is to be carried out by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO, or OrBorJor). Issara Anukul, of the PPIOs Water Management Division, explained, All six projects have been presented to the Cabinet, but they have not yet been approved. Mr Issara described the six smaller projects as follows: B40mn to install additional water pumps at Bang Wad reservoir to increase supply by about 10-14mn m 3 per year B170mn to expand the capacity of Bang Neow Dum reservoir and boost its supply by about 0.50mn m 3 per year B610mn to install water pumps to feed raw water from Ban Khok Tanode to Bang Neow Dum reservoir to increase water supply by 10mn m3 per year B58mn to increase water supply from wastewater sources by 0.60mn m 3 per year B15mn to increase water supply at the desalination by 6mn m 3 per year B40 million to increase water supply ability along the Phuket Bay coastal area All six projects are still in the presentation process. They have not been approved or agreed to by the Cabinet, Mr Issara said. Regardless, Mr Graisorn, whose office is responsible for delivering the water to those in need, noted, even with these smaller projects, the water they supply wont be enough. Phuket will need more water anyway. (Photo : Carlo Allegri / REUTERS) Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he will make COVID-19 vaccine "as mandatory as possible." As the year 2020 is nearing its end, the majority of people that are still affected by the coronavirus pandemic are hoping that the global health issue would also be resolved soon. To achieve that, the Australian government is willing to ban Aussie anti-vaxxers from international flights, public transportation, and restaurants. Vaccine is Coming to Australia According to the Daily Mail, the government is considering the ban to encourage 95% of its citizens to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it arrives. On Aug. 19, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Coatsworth said in a press conference that health officials and ministers would be discussing methods to ensure the public will get vaccinated against the highly-infectious virus. The government is hoping that a COVID-19 vaccine will reach Australia early next year after signing a deal with Oxford University Tuesday, Aug. 18, to bring their vaccine to the country. For Dr. Coatsworth, he believes the majority of Aussies will do the right thing. "I suspect the majority of Australians will get vaccinated, and there will be a strong public view that for those who choose not to get vaccinated, there needs to be some sort of incentive, or stick perhaps, to make it happen," the official said. Read Also: China May Have the Perfect Christmas Gift: A COVID-19 Vaccine - And It's Only $72 Each Dose Banning Anti-Vaxxers and Removing Support One of the methods they are considering is withholding government support to anyone who chooses not to get the vaccine, among others. A similar rule is already in place, specifically the 2015 "no jab, no pay" rule of the Australian government, which would stop parents from receiving benefits from the government, such as Child Care Benefit, if they refuse to get their children vaccinated. Additionally, the government is considering banning anti-vaxxers. "Looking at specific things like not being able to go into restaurants, not being able to travel internationally, not being able to catch public transport...these are clearly policy decisions that will be discussed," Dr. Coatsworth further said. However, he confirmed that there are no current mechanisms that enforce that as of now. So, how will the government know who has been vaccinated and who refused the jab? According to the health official, the government is considering giving people certificates after they have been vaccinated as proof. "As Mandatory as Possible" Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison shared the same sentiments as Dr. Coatsworth and said earlier that he would make the COVID-19 vaccine "as mandatory as possible." He said those who are unable to take the vaccine due to legitimate medical reasons would be exempted, but everyone else should be protected. Sure enough, the announcements did not go well with thousands of anti-vaxxers, who immediately bombarded the politicians with online abuse and saying they would never take the vaccine, saying that mandatory vaccination is "a human right violation." However, the prime minister seems to be unaffected by the backlash, saying that he is already used to it, especially as he was the one who established the no jab, no pay rule. "My view on this is pretty clear and not for turning. You have to do it for yourself, your family, and for your fellow Australians," PM Morrison said in an interview with 3AW, a Melbourne-based radio station. Read Also: COVID-19 NEW Update: Yale Creates an FDA-Approved Saliva-Based Virus Test That Costs $10 With 94% Accuracy This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Nhx Tingson 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WALLACE, Idaho, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB: MAGE) (Magellan or the Company), a precious metals exploration and development company, today announced that the Company has posted the bond required under its permit from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to reopen portals at the Center Star Gold Mine (Center Star) in Idaho. With bond placed, Magellan has hired a contractor to commence work immediately. This includes rehabilitating roads leading to the Center Star Gold Mine and reopening the mines main portal and emergency access portal. We are thrilled to begin development work on Center Star Gold Mine. We are moving very quickly to advance this project, after just recently receiving our permit, said Mike Lavigne, President of Magellan. Given its historical production, we strongly believe in the potential for this project. As such, reopening the mines portals to understand its underground workings is an important milestone in our progression, and one that would define our future development and strategic direction. Center Star, located near the Elk City mining district of Idaho, hosts high-grade gold mineralization that was discovered in the early 1900s, with periodic historic production and development work done under different ownership through the 1980s. It has not had any exploration or development work conducted in the last 35 years. Since acquiring the Center Star project on July 1, 2020, Magellan acquired additional unpatented mining claims adding 320 acres of land to increase its holding to 620 acres of claims along the Center Star gold trend. Recently, the U.S. Forest Service issued the permit to allow work on the project subject to the posting of a bond with the USFS. About Magellan Gold Corporation Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB: MAGE) is focused on the exploration and development of precious metals in North America. Magellans flagship project is the Center Star Gold Mine in Idaho. We are additionally working to build a collection of interests in operating mines in the Western United States. Our goal going forward will be to achieve production and expand our resource base to achieve greater market recognition for the benefit of our shareholders. Story continues To learn more about Magellan Gold Corporation, visit www.magellangoldcorp.com. Cautionary Statement The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can legally extract or produce. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a final or bankable feasibility study is required to report reserves. Currently we have not delineated reserves on any of our properties. We cannot be certain that any deposits at our properties will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant reserves. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of any resource estimates will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that they can be economically or legally extracted. Forward Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that Magellan Gold Corporation believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in Magellan Gold Corporations periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Magellan Gold Corporation Mike Lavigne, President & Director contact@magellangoldcorp.com Sustaining energy through four days of a political convention is never easy. Its even more challenging during this, the first virtual convention. On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, party leaders tried to blend its past with its future. Key takeaways from night two. DEMOCRATS DISPLAY BIG TENT Joe Biden, who was formally nominated Tuesday night in a virtual roll call of states, doesnt shy away from the obvious: Hes a 77-year-old white man leading a party that celebrates its racial and ethnic diversity and gets a majority of its votes from women. He has at times offered himself as a bridge to bring together that coalition, calling himself a transitional figure for the party and the country. Democrats tried to put that on vivid display, an ideological arc that spanned the New Democrat centrism of former President Bill Clinton to the new century progressive movement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who was born in 1989, the year after Bidens first presidential run. Democrats were trying to show that their party tolerates differences in ways that the Republican Party led by President Donald Trump does not. The Democrats honoured Clinton, and former president Jimmy Carter, along with the partys nominee in 2004, former Secretary of State John Kerry. Cindy McCain, whose husband, John, was the Republican nominee in 2008, appeared in a video praising Biden. Former President George W. Bush, the only living GOP ex-president, and Sen. Mitt Romney, the partys nominee in 2012, will not be part of the Republican convention next week. In a 17-person keynote address that was part relay, part reminder of the partys blended constituencies, followed by a roll call of the states, the ethnic and racial contrast with Republicans is obvious. For Democrats, that was the point. PUNCHES LANDED, NOT PULLED Donald Trumps journey to the presidency began with then-President Barack Obama mocking the reality TV star relentlessly during the White House correspondents dinner in 2011 a brutal ribbing that propelled the notoriously sensitive mogul toward his 2016 run. But nobodys making jokes now. During the first two days of the Democratic National Convention, the partys luminaries and even some Republicans have grimly warned the public that he represents a fundamental danger to democracy. He treats our country like its his family business, warned former Assistant Attorney General Sally Yates. America, Donald Trump has quit on you, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. He wont defend our country, he doesnt know how to defend our troops. The only person hes interested in defending is himself, said former Secretary of State John Kerry. Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton also devoted chunks of their speeches to warning that the president is a fundamental threat to the country. Usually conventions feature stinging put-downs of the rival standard-bearer and the occasional lacerating speech. But the 2020 Democratic convention is notable for the consistency of dire warnings about the other partys leader. KEYNOTE BY COMMITTEE Conventions usually follow a standard ritual. But its not surprising that a virtual convention would change that. Bidens campaign used the moment not to anoint a single emerging party star, but rather 17 of them, reflecting the diversity of race, age, geography and identity. It was a stunt for sure, with selfies, ring lights and tightly scripted hits on Trump. But it also seemed effective to make the point, that Biden wants to provide a gateway for young leaders. A new generation of leaders is rising up, said Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, an openly gay lawmaker who praised Biden for supporting marriage equality earlier than many older politicians. Kenyatta and 15 other speakers led up to Stacey Abrams, the 46-year-old Georgian who in 2018 narrowly missed becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. Abrams also was among the 11 women that Biden interviewed as finalists for his running mate. The keynote was bookended by a lineup of the Democratic old guard, led by Kerry and two former presidents, Clinton and Carter. Biden has made clear hes casting a wide net in November. The conventions first night was mostly showcasing ideological diversity. The keynote and the rest of Tuesday showcased what Biden hopes is generational diversity in his coalition. ROLL CALL: DIFFERENT, BETTER As much as any segment, the roll call to nominate Joe Biden officially highlighted the difference between a traditional convention and a virtual one. And this change seemed to represent an improvement. Rather than hopscotch across a convention floor, the roll call hopscotched across the country and overseas, with delegates celebrating their home states and territories and making plenty of pitches for Biden. (They still had those placards with the delegation names.) Alabamas votes were cast from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the 1965 voting rights marches and Bloody Sunday. Utah highlighted its statewide mail voting and 80% voter turnout. Iowas presentation, set in a cornfield, noted the states recent storm devastation. Pennsylvania cast its votes in front of Bidens boyhood home in Scranton. The ending featured a live shot of Biden, with his family, thanking delegates from the bottom of my heart. Awkward in spots, but a more engaging approach than the usual. CLINTON, BRIEF FOR ONCE, HAMMERS TRUMP Bill Clinton has now spoken at 11 Democratic national conventions. But hes never had a more tentative grasp on the party, or a tighter window, than he had Tuesday. That Clinton was speaking at all was mildly surprising given how his sexual dalliances appear to some in the post-MeToo era. But the notoriously prolix president whose 2012 speech for Barack Obama ran nearly 50 minutes was kept to five minutes during the tight, all-online convention. And he wasted no time scorching the man who defeated his wife in the 2016 election. If you want a president who spends his day watching hours of TV or zapping people on social media, hes your man, Clinton said of Trump in his prerecorded speech. He slammed Trump for making the Oval Office the storm centre rather than the command centre during the pandemic, and for the nations dismal track record fighting the disease. For once, Clinton showed that less was more. JILL BIDENS AUDITION Speaking from a classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she once taught, Jill Biden juggled several jobs Monday: tell her own story, humanize her husband and validate him as a would-be president. And it came with a big spotlight. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours bring us together and make us whole, she said. His faith is unshakable, she added. Jill Biden talked of her own career as an educator she continued to teach college full-time as the vice-presidents wife. And she told of how she struggled after the Bidens son Beau died during Joe Bidens second term as vice-president. I wondered if I would ever smile and feel joy again, she said, but she noted that her husband went back to work amid his own grief. Jill Biden may not have the presence that Michelle Obama brought to the screen Monday. She wont run for president herself, like Hillary Clinton. But shes proven herself a skilled, adept defender of her husband. On this night, she also let Americans take a measure of her. UPDATE: Couple convicted in sucker punch attack on teen Sesame Place worker after mask reminder A couple from New York City is facing charges in the assault of a 17-year-old Sesame Place employee who reminded them to wear a mask, police said. Middletown Township police said the man, identified as Troy McCoy, was arrested Wednesday with the help of the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. McCoy, 39, tried to barricade himself in his Bronx home, marshals were able to make it through and arrest him, ABC channel 6 reported. He is facing charges including aggravated assault- attempt to cause serious bodily injury, recklessly endangerment and simple assault. The woman was expected to turn herself in to authorities. The TV station reported she was identified as Shakerra Bonds, 31. Police previously said on Aug. 9, the employee reminded the couple about the mask requirement at the Bucks County park during the COVID-19 pandemic. The employee was punched in the face before the two fled, police said. The teen was taken to St. Marys Medical Center in Middletown for injuries to his jaw and a tooth, police said. A GoFundMe campaign was started for the teens medical, mental health, and unforeseen expenses following the attack. The teen underwent double jaw surgery and had a tooth removed before being released from the hospital last Friday, according to the campaign site. Sesame Place issued a statement Wednesday. We want to thank the law enforcement agencies involved for their quick actions and support. We have issued a lifetime ban to the individuals involved for all of our parks across the country. The safety of our team members and guests remains our top priority, the park said. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. A new study from The University of Texas at Austin is helping scientists piece together the ancient climate of Mars by revealing how much rainfall and snowmelt filled its lake beds and river valleys 3.5 billion to 4 billion years ago. The study, published in Geology, represents the first time that researchers have quantified the precipitation that must have been present across the planet, and it comes out as the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is making its way to the red planet to land in one of the lake beds crucial to this new research. The ancient climate of Mars is something of an enigma to scientists. To geologists, the existence of riverbeds and paleolakes -- eons-old lake basins -- paints a picture of a planet with significant rainfall or snowmelt. But scientists who specialize in computer climate models of the planet have been unable to reproduce an ancient climate with large amounts of liquid water present for long enough to account for the observed geology. "This is extremely important because 3.5 to 4 billion years ago Mars was covered with water. It had lots of rain or snowmelt to fill those channels and lakes," said lead author Gaia Stucky de Quay, a postdoctoral fellow at UT's Jackson School of Geosciences. "Now it's completely dry. We're trying to understand how much water was there and where did it all go." Although scientists have found large amounts of frozen water on Mars, no significant amount of liquid water currently exists. In the study, researchers found that precipitation must have been between 13 and 520 feet (4 to 159 meters) in a single episode to fill the lakes and, in some cases, provide enough water to overflow and breach the lake basins. Although the range is large, it can be used to help understand which climate models are accurate, Stucky de Quay said. "It's a huge cognitive dissonance," she said. "Climate models have trouble accounting for that amount of liquid water at that time. It's like, liquid water is not possible, but it happened. This is the knowledge gap that our work is trying to fill in." The scientists looked at 96 open-basin and closed-basin lakes and their watersheds, all thought to have formed between 3.5 billion and 4 billion years ago. Open lakes are those that have ruptured by overflowing water; closed ones, on the other hand, are intact. Using satellite images and topography, they measured lake and watershed areas, and lake volumes, and accounted for potential evaporation to figure out how much water was needed to fill the lakes. By looking at ancient closed and open lakes, and the river valleys that fed them, the team was able to determine a minimum and maximum precipitation. The closed lakes offer a glimpse at the maximum amount of water that could have fallen in a single event without breaching the side of the lake basin. The open lakes show the minimum amount of water required to overtop the lake basin, causing the water to rupture a side and rush out. In 13 cases, researchers discovered coupled basins -- containing one closed and one open basin that were fed by the same river valleys -- which offered key evidence of both maximum and minimum precipitation in one single event. Another great unknown is how long the rainfall or snowmelt episode must have lasted: days, years or thousands of years. That's the next step of the research, Stucky de Quay said. As this research is published, NASA recently launched Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover to visit Jezero crater, which contains one of the open lake beds used in the study. Co-author Tim Goudge, an assistant professor in the UT Jackson School Department of Geological Sciences, was the lead scientific advocate for the landing site. He said the data collected by the crater could be significant for determining how much water was on Mars and whether there are signs of past life. "Gaia's study takes previously identified closed and open lake basins, but applies a clever new approach to constrain how much precipitation these lakes experienced," Goudge said. "Not only do these results help us to refine our understanding of the ancient Mars climate, but they also will be a great resource for putting results from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover into a more global context." ### This study was supported by a grant through NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program. Just as it is currently struggling to curb the spread of COVID-19, Nigeria, at about this period in 2014, was battling a different outbreak Ebola, a highly deadly disease, with a fatality rate of roughly 50 per cent. While COVID-19, a pneumonia-like disease has so far infected nearly 50,000 people in Nigeria, killing almost 1,000, the spread of Ebola in Africas most populous country was limited to less than 20 people and eight fatalities. The near excellent containment of the deadly Ebola incursion in Lagos, Nigerias largest city, would not be possible if not for a team of health workers. However, it came at a heavy cost. Exactly six years ago, on August 19, 2014, Ameyo Stella Adedavoh, passed on. She was the physician who discovered that a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who arrived in Nigeria via the Lagos airport, was infected with Ebola. Mrs Adedavoh, then 57, and four of her colleagues Amos Abaniwo, a doctor; Justina Ejelonu, a nurse; and Evelyn Uko, a nurse aide died after contracting the disease while trying to treat Mr Sawyer and prevent the disease from spreading further. Mr Sawyer, an American-Liberian lawyer, had collapsed upon arrival at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. It was in late July, 2014. He was taken to First Consultant Hospital in Obalende, where Mrs Adadevoh, was working as a Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist. She was not a virology or public-health expert but her sharp diagnosis identified Nigerias first case of the virus then 40-year-old Mr Sawyer. She prevented him from leaving the facility. When threatened by Liberian officials who wanted the patient to be discharged to attend a conference in Calabar and later by the patient who was also suffering from Ebola denial, the physician resisted, saying, for the greater public good she would not release him. Her bravery came at a mortal price. She contracted Ebola alongside three of her colleagues and on August 19, nearly a month after Mr Sawyers death, she died. She was one of eight people that had primary contact with the Liberian. Before Nigeria was declared Ebola-free on October 20, 2014, there were a total of 19 cases and 11 survivors. Local and international health officials and responders made a total of 894 identified contacts in the affected states of Lagos, Rivers, and Enugu. They also made an estimated 18,500 face-to-face contact visits. While Mr Sawyer went down memory lane as the harbinger of Ebola in the West African nation, Ms Adadevoh is remembered as an Ebola heroine. The late medic and her colleagues were eulogized home and abroad for their heroics at the time. She received several local and international awards posthumously including the 2018 ECOWAS Prize of Excellence alongside former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. No Remembrance But as time went by, the heroic act of Mrs Adadevoh and her colleagues seem to have become blurry in the minds of many Nigerians. Her remembrance has continued to be low-key or non-existent and Thursday was no exception. It is believed by many that the late physician will not be fully honoured if she does not receive any of Nigerias national honours. There have been calls for Mrs Adadevoh to be immortalised. In June 2018, the clamour received a boost after President Muhammadu Buhari conferred posthumous national honours on late Moshood Abiola, winner of the annulled 1993 general elections and late Gani Fawehinmi, a rights advocate. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the presidents move reignited the protracted debate on whether national awards can be conferred on a dead Nigerian. Evidently, the National Honours Act (PDF) is silent on whether or not the national honours could be bestowed on a deceased citizen. Advertisements The law states that a fallen member of the armed forces could be posthumously awarded a medal for pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy, or for devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy, but was silent on the national honours, which are civilian honours different from medals. Amid the legal conundrum, Mr Buharis action gave credence to the push for Mrs Adadevoh. Movement for Adadevoh During last years remembrance, the Guild of Medical Directors of Nigeria said the Nigerian government should declare August 19 each year a national holiday in memory of the deceased. Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES, called for a national honour for late Adadevoh at the 2019 National Health Dialogue, an event this newspaper organised to find ways to bridge the funding gaps in Nigerias quest for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Premium Times Publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi speaking at the National Health Dialogue Mr Olorunyonmi said an online petition was created to galvanise momentum for the call. The petition was created by the Centre for Impact Advocacy via Change.org, a petition website which claims to have over 240 million users and hosts sponsored campaigns for organisations. Peter Nkanga, the convener, said each time a Nigerian signs the petition, it is sent directly to the emails of the presidency and the principal officers of the National Assembly. He described the petition as a living document that will continue to be a blight on the government until they heed to the call. Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr Nkanga, a journalist, said his position has not changed. This APC government led by President Buhari does not believe that late Dr Adadevoh and her medical team who died to save Nigeria from the Ebola pandemic in 2014 is deserving of a National Honour. Fact. Lai Mohammed proved this himself during an interview at the University of Cambridge in the UK in June 2018, when he said the Nigerian government would only confer a National Honour on Dr Adadevoh if she is deserving. So if six years after her sacrifice for the nation, she has not been conferred her due national recognition, it is because the Nigerian government does not see Dr Adadevoh as deserving of the highest National Honour in the country. And this is clearly contrary to popular general public opinion. Amayo Adadevoh way Mr Nkanga also said that a street named after the late medic in Abuja earlier this year is yet to be commissioned. This newspaper reported how authorities in Abuja announced plans to commission a street named after Mrs Adadevoh. The Cable had reported how a Twitter user shared the pictures of the signpost to the road, along Ahmadu Bello Way, close to the Nigerian Air Force Conference Centre. Abuja street named after Stella Adadevoh But Magaji Galadima, the director of urban affairs department of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) said the honour is yet to be officially unveiled. The official whose office is directly responsible for street and road naming in the federal capital said the trending signpost showing Ameyo Adadevoh way preempted plans for an official unveiling ceremony. In the southwestern corner of the Nigerian Air Force conference centre lies Amayo Adadevoh way tucked inside the Jahi district. That road is like any other road in Abuja, that Nigerians in other parts of the country will possibly never know exists for the rest of their existence, Mr Nkanga added. So these pieces of evidence are proof that this APC government does not hold in esteem the sacrifice of Dr Adadevoh and her medical team for Nigeria. And that is the shame this government will keep carrying year-in, year-out, until a time that whichever government is in power does the right thing to give due honour to whom it is due. Asia as a region faces extreme hazards from climate change including flooding, drought, severe typhoons as well as conditions of rising heat and humidity, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute. Asia faces climate hazards with potentially severe socioeconomic impacts, and thus has a keen interest in playing a front-line role in addressing the challenges, Jonathan Woetzel, a director at McKinsey Global Institute who is leading the research, said in a statement. The research outlines the scope of potential impact climate change may have on Southeast Asian nations and South Asia countries, including Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Between $2.8 trillion and $4.7 trillion of GDP in Asia on average will be at risk annually from a loss of effective outdoor working hours because of hotter temperature and more humid environment by 2050, the report said. Southeast Asia potentially will face more severe consequences of climate change than other parts of the world, according to McKinsey. The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting the importance of risk and resilience to lives and livelihoods, and as the world focuses on recovery, it is important to not lose sight of the role that climate plays, said Woetzel. In addition to the impact on Southeast Asia, the research also outlines the potential impact of extreme weather on countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan a region they termed Frontier Asia. We estimate that by 2050, between 500 million and 700 million people in Frontier Asia could live in regions that have an annual probability of a lethal heatwave of about 20 percent, said the report. Coastal flooding made worse by rising sea levels is a severe risk around the world and reports have estimated trillions of dollars could be on the line from damaged assets in the future. Flooding not only damages infrastructure but sometimes contaminates sources of drinking water. By 2050, between $2.8 trillion and $4.7 trillion of gross domestic product in Asia will be at risk every year from a loss of effective outdoor working hours due to higher temperatures and humidity, according to the report. Asian countries with lower levels of per capita GDP would be at most risk and the poor will be hit hardest, the McKinsey report said. Thats because they are more exposed to extreme climates than the wealthy, relying more on outdoor work and natural capital, and may have fewer financial means to adapt. McKinsey also highlighted some of the potential climate hazards that countries in Southeast Asia face. They were referred to as Emerging Asia in the report, and consist of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Countries in the region are set to experience an increase in heat and humidity. By 2050, in an average year, anywhere between 8% and 13% of GDP could be at risk in those countries due to rising heat and humidity. Chances of extreme precipitation could increase three- or four-fold by 2050 in Indonesia. While flooding is a common occurrence in Vietnams Ho Chi Minh City, resulting infrastructure damage could mount up to between $500 million and $1 billion by 2050, with knock-on costs ranging between $1.5 billion and $8.5 billion. One advantage that Southeast Asia, and more broadly many developing parts of Asia, has is that infrastructure and urban areas are still being built, McKinsey said. That gives countries a chance to build infrastructure that is more resilient to extreme climate changes and can withstand severe events. Like all parts of the world, Asia can also contribute to reducing emissions; climate science tells us that further warming will continue until net-zero emissions are reached, the report said. If policymakers and business leaders can harness the regions innovative spirit, talent, and flexibility, Asia could lead a global response to climate risk by adapting and by mitigating the most severe potential consequences, it added. The researchers used the Four Asias framework to contextualize climate hazards, their socioeconomic impacts, and potential responses. Frontier Asia - This analysis consists of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. All three countries could see extreme increases in heat and humidity, which may significantly affect workability and livability. For example, by 2050, Frontier Asia could face an increased likelihood of lethal heatwaves than the rest of Asia. The study estimates that by 2050, between 500 million and 700 million people in Frontier Asia could live in regions that have an annual probability of a lethal heatwave of about 20 percent. Rising heat and humidity could also affect human beings ability to work outdoors, as they tire more easily or need more breaks. Climate change would also have the biggest negative impact on Asian crop yield in this group of countries. Emerging Asia - This analysis consists of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. These culturally diverse countries see a high share of regional trade, capital, and people flows, and are a major source of labor. Like Frontier Asia, they are expected to see increases in heat and humidity. By 2050, in an average year, between 8 and 13 percent of GDP could be at risk as a result of rising heat and humidity. The region could also experience growing exposure to extreme precipitation events and flooding. Advanced Asia This analysis consists of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. Overall, these countries are expected to see slightly lower impacts of climate change along many dimensions than Frontier Asia and Emerging Asia countries. For some countries in the region, the impact on water supply and drought are the main challenges. Typhoon and extreme precipitation risk could also increase in some parts of Japan and South Korea. China is large and distinct enough from other parts of Asia to sit in its own category. The country on aggregate is projected to become hotter. In addition, eastern parts could see threats of extreme heat, including lethal heatwaves. Central, northern, and western China could experience more frequent extreme precipitation events. In the country overall, the average share of outdoor working hours lost each year to extreme heat and humidity would increase from 4 percent in 2020 to as much as 6 percent in 2030 and 8.5 percent in 2050. On Aug. 16, there was a peaceful demonstration in front of the Greensboro home of Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general, to protest the dismantling of the United States Postal Service. Like many, I have grave concerns that the blatant attempts to slow down our mail service are connected to election interference. But it is also clear that the impact of these actions puts people at risk when they cant get prescriptions on time. So I attended this protest. In a social media post, U.S. Rep. Mark Walker characterized this protest as creating havoc, intimidation and harassment. The group of protesters was peaceful. None of the people blocked traffic, although I believe the police department blocked off the streets. I have contacted Mr. Walkers office numerous times to express my concerns on a variety of issues. His email responses were unhelpful, condescending or simply unresponsive to the issue I raised. Mr. Walker further stated that Louis DeJoy was appointed to try and clean up the USPS, which has been losing billions of dollars. DAKAR, Senegal The plotters behind the coup that toppled the leaders of the West African nation of Mali vowed on Wednesday to hold new elections as they defended the arrest and forced resignation of the countrys democratically elected president. In an address to the nation early Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the coup plotters asked the many foreign forces that have been trying to stabilize the insecurity-wracked country for years including United Nations peacekeepers and thousands of French soldiers to continue supporting Mali. The plotters said the arrests of the president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and the prime minister, Boubou Cisse, on Tuesday night were justified by years of bad governance, corruption, nepotism and a deteriorating security situation. Political patronage, the family management of state affairs, have ended up killing any opportunity for development in what little remains of this beautiful country, said the spokesman, Ismael Wague, reading into a microphone from a sheaf of papers. He made the remarks while flanked by his fellow coup leaders, all military men, in uniforms and berets. Mismanagement, theft and bad governance have become virtues. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Australia will be one of the first countries to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine from U.K.-based biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. The Australian Government has struck a deal with the drug company to receive the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, if AZD1222 vaccine candidate proves successful. AstraZeneca is developing the vaccine in partnership with the University of Oxford. Under the deal, the government will offer all 25 million Australians the COVID-19 vaccine for free. 'The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian,' Morrison said. An Australian vaccine already has commenced trials in Australia. The Prime Minister said he also remains committed to ensuring early access to the vaccine for countries in the Pacific family, as well as regional partners in Southeast Asia. Australia has contracted U.S.-based medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co. or BD (BDX) to supply vital consumables, such as needles and syringes, to ensure the vaccine doses can be delivered as soon as it is available. Australia is contributing significantly to vaccine development work both in Australia and around the world, investing $333 million in vaccines, therapeutics and COVID medicines. Nearly 200 vaccine candidates are in various stages of development across the world. AstraZeneca's vaccine is among the leading vaccine candidates. AstraZeneca may begin delivering doses to the U.K. as early as September. The pandemic has claimed more than 780,000 lives, worldwide. In late April, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford had entered into an agreement for the global development and distribution of the University's potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection from SARS-CoV-2. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca would be responsible for development and worldwide manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine. In July 2020, interim results from the ongoing Phase I/II COV001 trial, led by Oxford University, were published in The Lancet, that showed AZD1222 was tolerated and generated robust immune responses against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all evaluated participants. The late-stage Phase II/III trials are currently underway in the UK, Brazil and South Africa and are due to start in the US, Japan and Russia. The results are anticipated later in the year. Last week, the European Commission (EC) struck a deal with AstraZeneca to supply up to 400 million doses of its AZD1222 COVID-19 vaccine. The company has entered into similar deals with Russia, South Korea, Japan, China, Latin America and Brazil to take the global supply capacity towards three billion doses of the vaccine. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Kabul, Aug 19 : Two persons were killed and two others injured in twin bomb blasts in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, police said. The first blast took place when a magnetic bomb placed in a police vehicle went off at 06:45 a.m. (local time) 12 killing one police constable and wounding another, police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz said. In the second blast which targeted a car of education ministry in Police District 5 happened at 08:07 a.m. (local time), killing one personnel of the ministry and injuring another, the official told Xinhua without providing more details. On Tuesday, 10 persons including four children and one woman were wounded as 14 rockets fired by militants struck Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area and other neighbourhoods in Kabul when the government was celebrating the 101st anniversary of the war-ravaged country's independence. AI Auto Annotation Application: Robot Random Bin Picking ITRI developed the worlds first AI Auto Annotation Application, which enables robot random bin picking. ITRI developed the worlds first AI Auto Annotation Application, which enables robot random bin picking. TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The curtain opened today on the 2020 edition of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show (TAIROS) at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. ITRI is exhibiting its latest achievements in intelligent robot technology, specifically displaying its AI Auto Annotation Application that accurately engages in bin picking, as well as its Advanced Robotic Grinding and Polishing System that assists factories in manufacturing a range of products without having to halt the production line. These technologies highlight the sustainable environment concepts being promoted in ITRIs 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap, which will assist industry in its digital transformation and seize business opportunities in the post-pandemic era. Dr. Jwu-Sheng Hu, ITRI's Vice President and General Director of Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, commented that in the post-pandemic era, the manufacturing sector is looking to become more automated, more adapted to frequent line change, and more customized. The 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap that ITRI has drafted responds to the rapidly changing production needs of manufacturers and looks to integrate Taiwans advantages in machinery, information and communications, and electronics R&D in the development of intelligent robot technology. These robots feature AI, 5G, and cloud communications technologies, offering a path for the digital transformation of factories, and helping manufacturers move towards smart manufacturing. This ultimately enhances their international competitiveness, he said. ITRI is unveiling several achievements in smart robotics at this years TAIROS: AI Auto Annotation Application: Robot Random Bin Picking ITRI has developed the worlds first auto annotation application, which enables robot random bin picking. The app is able to automatically collect and label data and use a variety of AI recognition imagery to teach robots to access materials. Compared with the bottleneck created by being able to label only 25 images in one hour using traditional methods, this technology enables the labeling of 10,000 images an hour, speeding up labeling by a factor of 400. The configuration time of a bin picking robot, which used to take 30 days, can now be achieved in just one day with this new technology, providing a 30 times faster process. This technology is applicable in warehousing and logistics, shoe manufacturing, and plumbing hardware. Story continues RobotSmith: Advanced Robotic Grinding and Polishing System ITRI has developed Taiwans first Advanced Robotic Grinding and Polishing System, which reduces actual grinding error by simulating the robots grinding path. The grinding error is less than 1 mm using this system, which can also simulate grinding force to an accuracy of 80%, thus improving grinding quality. When a new workpiece is introduced into the production line, reliable machine vision recognition avoids the need for the factory to halt the production line, as the system can immediately identify the new workpiece and simulate the grinding path, enabling large-variety small-quantity flexible manufacturing. This technology has been applied to metal processing, plumbing hardware, and hand tool industries. Visiting Information: ITRI Booth: I-608 Date: Aug 19-22, 2020 Venue: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 About ITRI Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the worlds leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. It focuses on the fields of Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. Over the years, ITRI has incubated over 300 innovative companies, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote opportunities for international cooperation around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.itri.org/english . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f8818221-6f52-44d5-bcfb-329b6da701f8 CONTACT: Media Contact Chloe Chen Office of Marketing Communications, ITRI +886-3-5918167 chloechen@itri.org.tw Callon Petroleum Company CPE has witnessed upward estimate revisions for 2020 earnings in the past 60 days. In fact, four out of eight analysts have revised their estimates upward. However, weakness in commodity prices has been casting a pall over the upstream energy firms near-term outlook. Callon Petroleum Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Callon Petroleum Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Callon Petroleum Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Callon Petroleum Company Quote Factors in Favor The company, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), entered Permian, the most prolific basin in the United States, in 2009. It had spent $16 million to acquire 8,800 net acres. Over time, with the execution of acquisitions and rationalization strategies, the company boosted its footprint in the Midland and Delaware Basins (sub-basins of the larger Permian) to roughly 75,000 net acres. In 2019, with the completion of merger with Carrizo Oil & Gas firm, Callon Petroleum again expanded its footprint to roughly 200,000 net acres in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford shale plays. Importantly, the merger has boosted core Delaware basin footprint two times with significant inventory of low-risk premium oil drilling wells in the Permian that could provide production for more than 17 years. The companys strong portfolio of assets in the shale plays is likely to boost production in 2020. In, fact, for 2020, Callon Petroleums total production is expected in the range of 99-101 MBoe/D, suggesting an improvement from 2019 production of 41.3 MBoe/D. Risks Although the company is expecting its total production to increase, a weak crude pricing scenario owing to the coronavirus pandemic has been denting its upstream business. Notably, although crude price has improved in the past few months, the commodity has witnessed a steep decline in price since early 2020 when crude was trading above $60 per barrel. Moreover, the company is unlikely to combat the energy market downturn by leaning on its debt-laden balance sheet. As of Jun 30, 2020, the companys total cash and cash equivalents amounted to $7.5 million, down from the first quarters $14.8 million. Moreover, long-term debt totaled $3.4 billion, up from $3.2 billion in the first quarter, suggesting a debt to capitalization of 64%. Story continues In fact, the companys debt-to-capitalization ratio is significantly higher than 45.6 of the composite stocks belonging to the industry. Also, given the unfavorable business scenario, the companys ability to pay off a portion of its debt load in the near term is in question. Stocks to Consider Meanwhile, a few better-ranked players in the energy space include Concho Resources Inc. CXO, Noble Energy Inc. NBL and EOG Resources, Inc. EOG, each holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Concho is likely to see earnings growth of 21.6% in 2020. Noble Energy has witnessed upward estimate revisions for its 2020 bottom line in the past 30 days. EOG Resources 2020 bottom-line estimates have risen more than 200% over the past 30 days. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) : Free Stock Analysis Report EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Concho Resources Inc. (CXO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Callon Petroleum Company (CPE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Video PlayerClose Medical staff of Wuhan No. 1 Hospital gesture to bid farewell to medics from Guangdong Province before their departure from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 23, 2020. [Xinhua/Chen Yehua] BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has sent greetings to medical workers across the country ahead of China's Medical Workers' Day. Noting that medical workers are a vital force in advancing the cause of healthcare, Xi said since the COVID-19 outbreak, a great number of medical workers have raced against time and fought tenaciously against the virus at the frontlines. They have made significant contributions in fighting the epidemic, and demonstrated the noble spirit of giving priority to saving lives with total devotion and ultimate love, Xi added. A doctor helps a recovered COVID-19 patient with rehabilitation training in a ward of Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, June 17, 2020. [Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu] Xi called on medical workers to adhere to the people-first approach, uphold medical ethics, strive to excel professionally and make new contributions to advancing the Healthy China initiative and improving people's health and well-being. Xi also urged Party committees and governments at all levels, as well as the entire society, to care for medical workers and foster a sound social environment that respects the medical profession. (Source: Xinhua) Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2020 -- The report "Bromine Market by Derivative (Organobromine, Clear Brine Fluids, Hydrogen Bromide), Application (Flame Retardants, Water Treatment & Biocides, Hbr Flow Batteries, Mercury Emission Control, Pta Synthesis), & Region - Global Forecast To 2025", The global bromine market size is projected to grow from USD 3.2 billion in 2020 to USD 4.1 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.0% from 2020 to 2025. The market growth is driven by the increasing demand for bromine in flame retardants, mercury emission control, water treatment, and oil & gas drilling. Download PDF brochure of the Report @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=42782196 The flame retardants segment accounted for the largest share of the bromine market in 2019. By application, the flame retardants segment accounted for the largest share of the bromine market in 2019. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are bromine-containing compounds that are added to substances to inhibit or reduce their rate of combustion. BFRs are more widely used than other commercialized chemical flame retardants. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), Polybrominated Biphenyl (PBB), and Brominated Cyclo-hydrocarbons are some of the examples of BFRs. The growing demand from electronics and automotive industries (due to stringent fire safety regulations) and the expanding shipbuilding industries are driving the market for flame retardants across the globe. The organobromine segment accounted for the largest share of the bromine market in 2019. By derivative, the organobromine segment accounted for the largest share of the bromine market in 2019. Organobromine compounds, such as tetrabromobisphenol-A, hexabromocyclododecane, and bromodiphenyl ethers, are used as flame retardants in many industries, mainly electronics, textile, and plastics. The major applications of organobromine are flame retardants and biocides. Some organobromine derivatives are also used in water treatment applications, such as the cleaning up of pools and spas. They are an important ingredient for making dyes. Organobromines are used as intermediates for preparing pharmaceuticals like nicergoline and brotizolam, and as an anticancer agent pipobroman. Bromoform and dibromodimethylhydantoin organobromine are used in water treatment applications, to prevent the growth of algae, bacteria, and other microorganisms as well as for the prevention of foul odor in water. The flourishing electronics & telecommunication, textile, plastic, and construction industries are expected to drive the market for organobromine. Don't miss out on business opportunities in Bromine Market. Speak to Our Analyst and gain crucial industry insights that will help your business grow. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=42782196 Browse in-depth TOC on "Bromine Market" 248 - Market Data Tables 52 - Figures 261 - Pages Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global bromine market in 2019 The Asia Pacific region accounted for the largest share of the bromine market in 2019. China, India, Japan, and South Korea are key countries contributing to the increased demand for bromine in this region. Substantial development in infrastructure and growing demand for flame retardants in the automobile, building & construction end-use industries are expected to drive the bromine market in this region. Israel Chemicals Limited (Israel), Albemarle Corporation (US), LANXESS Corporation (Germany), Tosoh Corporation (Japan), Tata Chemicals Limited (India), Gulf Resources Inc. (China), TETRA Technologies, Inc. (US), Hindustan Salts Limited (India), Honeywell International Inc. (US), and Perekop Bromine (Republic of Crimea) are some of the leading players operating in the bromine market. Get This Report @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Purchase/purchase_reportNew.asp?id=42782196 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Houston Police Department A man was shot and killed Tuesday at an apartment in southeast Houston, police said. Houston police responded to the shooting in the 8400 block of Broadway. Aliitama Sotoa and Petti Matila of American Samoa speak during the state roll call vote on second night of the Democratic National Convention. Read more The Army is investigating how a pair of soldiers ended up in a Democratic convention delegate video, the service said. In the announcement for American Samoa on Tuesday, two delegates from the U.S. territory declared their vote for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. They were flanked by two soldiers in camouflage wearing black facial masks. This may have run afoul of Pentagon guidelines that regulate political activity, which draws a line between the military and appearances of political influence. The soldiers, assigned to the Army Reserve's 9th Mission Support Command, are now under investigation, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Emanuel Ortiz said Wednesday. "Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited," Ortiz said in a statement. "The Army follows the Department of Defense's long-standing and well-defined policy regarding political campaigns and elections to avoid the perception of DoD sponsorship, approval or endorsement of any political candidate, campaign or cause." A Democratic convention official told Politico that the inclusion of soldiers in uniform was an "oversight" and meant to highlight the contributions of American Samoans serving in the military. The Pacific Island territory has for years contributed more U.S. soldiers per capita than any of the U.S. states, according to Army data provided to The Washington Post in January. Pentagon polices outline how service members can and cannot participate in political events. Typically, the uniform itself is the deciding factor. "Examples of prohibited political activities include campaigning for a candidate, soliciting contributions, marching in a partisan parade and wearing the uniform to a partisan event," Ortiz said. It is unclear if the soldiers involved understood the ramification of appearing in the video. Both soldiers are specialists, a lower enlisted rank that does not often flirt with the political world, which is dotted with retired senior officers. The military under the Trump administration has sometimes struggled with navigating political faultlines. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was roundly criticized in June for appearing in uniform with President Donald Trump in uniform as officials walked to a church near the White House after protesters, demonstrating in reaction to the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans, were subdued for Trump to take a photo op there. Milley later apologized: "I should not have been there. My presence in that moment, and in that environment, created the perception of the military involved in domestic politics." The White House last year asked the Navy to minimize the name of the USS John S. McCain during Trumps visit to Japan. The Navy did not meet the request for the ship, named after the father and grandfather of the late Sen. John McCain, a political foe of the president. The Ekiti State Commissioner for Health, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, on Wednesday said the state is still grappling with treating 80 persons at its 120-bed capacity COVID-19 isolation centre. She also said there were 98 active cases so far in the state. Speaking at a task force press briefing in Ado Ekiti, the commissioner said the state had recorded four deaths; the last one involving a 54-year-old man who died recently due to complications with an underlying factor of diabetes. Ekiti still has 98 active cases while we have recorded 206 cases with 80 patients still being treated in our isolation, Mrs Yaya-Kolade said. From inception, we have treated and discharged 104 patients. We had recorded four deaths, with the last one involving a 54- year-old man who had diabetes. She noted that the state government had done a lot to ensure improved testing capacity through the establishment of a molecular laboratory. The isolation centre has the necessary life support facilities and we are taking our tests to all the 16 local governments, she further said. The patients are being given immune boosters and we are telling our people to make themselves available. This disease is treatable, so our people should not hide. Shedding light on the issues, the coordinator of the task force, Bolaji Aluko, said 187 schools that were taking part in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) had reopened and are being monitored. Mr Aluko also expressed satisfaction with the compliance by churches and mosques that reopened on August 14, 2020. Mosques and churches have begun operation and we had good reports that they were abiding by the rules, he noted. We have a monitoring group that are visiting all worshipping centres and they are giving us good reports. He said the task force was beaming its searchlight on pharmacy stores and hotels with clubbing facilities, noting that the closure of some of these premises had not been arbitrary. Nigeria currently has 48,895 confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to the NCDC. About 37,051 have been treated and discharged, while 981 deaths recorded so far. "Crimson River," a new Chinese web drama in the "Light On" suspense series from online streaming platform iQiyi, has released on Tuesday evening. It comes on the heels of "The Bad Kids," another show in the highly anticipated "Light On" series, which became a hit after its release two months ago. "Crimson River" revolves around an unsolved murder case of a young girl, which repeats itself 20 years later and awakens the memories of a peaceful river town. In the show, a man, once a witness to the murder case, returns to the town to seek out the truth as a policeman. "The Bad Kids," adapted from a novel, stars Qin Hao as a math teacher who hatches an elaborate murder plot to kill the parents of his unfaithful wife after she demands a divorce. However, his actions are recorded by three children playing nearby. "The Bad Kids" currently boasts a rating of 8.9 points out of 10 on Douban, a Chinese review platform, based on more than 740,000 reviews. In the aftermath of heavy water logging that Mumbai experienced during the monsoon this year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will appoint a technical consultant who will study reasons for waterlogging in the city, the design of roads and stormwater drains, and provide solutions and technical support. The consultant will be given a list of chronic waterlogging spots, such as Hindamata, Gandhi Market near Matunga, Chembur colony, Andheri subway, for the study. A senior officer of the stormwater drains department said, We are appointing a consultant for Mumbai to find a permanent solution to waterlogging at problematic spots in the city. This will be an extensive survey, with a special focus on chronic flooding spots and low lying areas. We need to check if a permanent solution can be found, such as deep tunnelling. Also read: Tablighi Jamaat money laundering case - ED raids at four locations in Mumbai The officer added, Despite our efforts, waterlogging was quick to surface across the city this year too. The BMC will hire a consultant with technical and engineering expertise for stormwater drains along with prior experience in handling such projects. The decision comes on the back of the last four years of allocating and spending dedicated budgets to study and find solutions to curb waterlogging at individual 273 spots across the city. After the monsoon of 2018, the BMC had changed the methodology by micro-planning to deal with flooding. The stormwater drains department was tasked with studying each chronic flooding spot individually and come up with personalised solutions to prevent waterlogging. While this method did not replace the earlier plan of cleaning water entrances, laterals and desilting drains and nullahs, it was expected to curb flooding. On August 4 and 5, Mumbai experienced very heavy rainfall that resulted in severe waterlogging in various parts of the city. It also took several hours of the water to drain out, like in 2019. Subsequently, the BMC pumped out 17,145 million litres of water from the city. This is equivalent to twice the capacity of Tulsi lake - 8,046 million litres, one of the seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai. Waterlogging was reported at 9 prominent locations in the island city, 4 locations in the Eastern Suburbs and 3 locations in the western suburbs. Many areas submerged in two or three feet deep water. In South Mumbai, many locations that had not flooded previously were inundated this year, such as Babulnath, Girgaum Chowpaty, and Nariman Point. However, this can be partly attributed to the heavy rainfall. On August 5, the Colaba weather station recorded 293.8mm of rain in 12 hours (between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm), the highest ever in August since 1974. Out of the 273 water logging spots identified across the city over 2017 and 2018, the BMC said only 69 spots remained to be tackled before the monsoon of 2020. Moreover, 49 other flooding spots out 273 were categorised as localised flooding spots - where waterlogging takes place due to a local and temporary reason such as very heavy rainfall in a short duration combined with high tide, hence they do not face the threat of submerging every monsoon just like chronic flooding spots. The BMCs budget for 2020-21 declared that during the monsoon of 2020, only 24 waterlogging spots would remain, as the others had been dealt with over the past three years. However, with the outbreak of Covid-19, the civic body lost out on crucial months of March, April, and May for its monsoon-preparedness work and was unable to complete the fixing process of over 40 waterlogging spots this year. Mantrac Ghana Limited, as part of its contribution to the National efforts to curb the spread of COVID -19 has donated Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) to some health facilities in communities, where Mantrac Ghana operates. Mantrac Ghana has committed a total amount of $40,000 to help the COVID-19 fight in Ghana, out of which $10,000 was donated to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund in June. The health facilities are the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Effie Kwesimintsim Health Directorate, the Ahanta West Health Directorate in Takoradi, and the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital all in the Western Region and the Bibiani Municipal Hospital in the Western North region. Head of Human Resources at Mantrac Ghana, Mr Kingsley Amoako-Mensah said the Company also presented the PPE the leadership of the Tarkwa District Police Station. He said, as an organisation that provides support to key sectors of the economy, Mantrac Ghana considers the health and wellbeing of its stakeholders a priority. He said the donation to the health facilities and security agency, in particular, was Mantrac Ghanas way of giving back to society. This is a demonstration of the fact that we recognize as a private sector organisation that the government cant do it all. So, we decided to make these donations, he added. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Burundi is well on the way to eradicating Coronavirus (Covid-19), Health Minister, Dr Thaddee Ndikumana, said on Wednesday, based on 416 positive cases, including 339 recoveries and one death from tests conducted on 20,149 persons over the past six months Dubai-based global trade enabler DP World has posted revenue of $4.076 billion during the first half (H1) of 2020, as against revenue of $3.463 billion in H1 2019, marking a growth of 17.7% supported by acquisitions. While like-for-like adjusted EBITDA grew 1% year-on-year, profit for the period attributable to owners of the company decreased to $313 million from$753 million during H1 2019, reflecting a Like-for-like 46.5% decrease at constant currency Results highlights Like-for-like revenue decreased by 11.6% and down 3.4% excluding Emaar land sale in 2019. Adjusted EBITDA of $1,534 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 37.6% Adjusted EBITDA declined 4.8%, and EBITDA margin for the half-year stood at37.6%. Like-for-like adjusted EBITDA margin of43.9%. Adjusted EBITDA excluding Emaar land sale in 2019 increased 1.1% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis displaying resilience of the wider portfolio. EBITDA margin declined due to a change in mix with the consolidation of lower margin Logistics businesses. Profit attributable to owners of the Company before separately disclosed items decreased 58.5% on reported basis and 34.5% excluding Emaar land sale in 2019. Cash from operating activities remains strong at $1,124 million in 1H2020 compared to $1,046 million in 1H2019 DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said: The Covid-19 outbreak has undoubtedly resulted in one of the most challenging periods in the history of our industry. Our gross volumes have declined by 3.9% in 1H2020 which compares favourably against an estimated industry decline of 10%. However, our like-for-like EBITDA6, excluding land sale in the prior period, has grown by 1.1% during this period which demonstrates that we have managed costs efficiently. This outperformance once again demonstrates that we are in the right locations and a focus on origin and destination cargo will continue to deliver the right balance between growth and resilience. Despite the challenges, we have continued to make progress on our strategy to deliver an integrated supply chain solution to cargo owners. We have focused our efforts on digitizing logistics and developed solutions for several verticals including the Automotive, Oil & Gas and FMCG industries. We are pleased to state that cargo owners have responded positively, and we are now delivering efficient solutions to our customers, which bodes well for the future, he added. In 2020, DP World de-listed its equity from the stock exchange and returned to private ownership. The strength and resilience that our business continually demonstrates throughout the cycles is due to the investment the Group has made over the years in response to changes in our industry. Our ability to adapt and change has been the key to our success, and we must continue to evolve for continued growth. We believe this long-term approach to business is not aligned with the short term thinking of equity markets and consequently the next stage of DP Worlds development will take place as a private company. Looking ahead, our focus is on the safety of our employees, integration of our recent acquisitions to drive synergies, containing costs to protect profitability and managing growth capex to preserve cashflow, he explained. Overall, we are encouraged that our business has performed better than expected given the Covid-19 pandemic and, while the outlook is still uncertain, we remain positive on the medium to long-term fundamentals of the industry, Bin Sulayem concluded. TradeArabia News Service Forecasts compiled by the government show the average prediction for UK GDP this year is now -10.1%. Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Private sector forecasts for the UK economy continue to worsen, with economists now the most pessimistic about the outlook for Britain since the coronavirus pandemic began. Forecasts compiled by the government and published on Wednesday show the average prediction for UK GDP this year is now -10.1%. Unemployment is expected to hit 8.3% by the end of the year. The economy is expected to rebound by only 6.5% in 2021, with unemployment remaining at 6.6% by the end of next year. The consensus forecasts are based on 18 new predictions made by private sector bodies between 3 August and 13 August. They include banks like Barclays and Morgan Stanley, as well as think tanks and research agencies such as Oxford Economics. READ MORE: UK economy officially enters recession after record 20.4% contraction Last week Deutsche Bank and Barclays both downgraded their forecasts in the wake of second quarter GDP data that showed the UK economy shrank by 20.4% between April and June. A resurgence in COVID-19 caseloads and Brexit risks are additional factors suggesting the UK economy could underperform its peers, Barclays economists Fabrice Montagne and Abbas Khan wrote in a note last week. Additional policy support now appears inevitable. HSBC followed suit on Wednesday, downgrading its forecast from a 7.8% contraction to a 10.3% slump. Unlike BoE Chief economist Andy Haldane, who thinks it is now time to see the economic glass as 'half-full', recent data outturns have made us more pessimistic about the lasting economic impact, HSBC senior economist Elizabeth Martins wrote on Wednesday. The figures published by the government on Wednesday do not include HSBCs latest forecast, suggesting Septembers report may be even worse. Augusts consensus figures already mark the worst outlook for UK GDP and unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began, surpassing Junes previous low point. READ MORE: Bank of England: UK economy to have biggest annual decline in 100 years Story continues The economy's high reliance on consumer services and the impending withdrawal of government support for the labour market suggests that the level of GDP will track a lower path than in most other economies going forwards, Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note on Wednesday. Augusts private sector consensus is worse than the Bank of Englands analysis. The central bank said at the start of August it expects the UK economy to contract by 9.5% this year, which would be the worse collapse in a century. In February, before the coronavirus struck, private sector economists said they expected the UK economy to grow by 1.2% in 2020. Amaravati, Aug 19 : The Centre has conveyed to the Andhra Pradesh High Court once again that it has no role to play in deciding the capital city of a state. The Ministry of Home Affairs said this in a counter-affidavit filed in response to a High Court notice while hearing petitions challenging the state government's move to trifurcate the state capital. The counter-affidavit filed by MHA Under Secretary Lalita T Hedao submitted that the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020, was introduced and passed by the state Assembly. "While framing the Act, the state has not consulted the central government. The subject matter purely concerns the state government and the Centre has no part therein. Further, the state's capital is decided by the respective state government whereas the central government has no role to play in it," the affidavit read. The court was told that under Section 6 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Centre had constituted an expert committee on March 28, 2014 under the chairmanship of retired IAS officer KC Sivaramakrishnan to study alternatives for a new capital for Andhra Pradesh. The committee submitted its report on August 30, 2014, which was sent to the Andhra government on September 1, 2014. Subsequently, the state government vide Government Order dated April 23, 2015 notified that the capital city be named 'Amaravati'. It was also submitted that under Section 94 of the Reorganisation Act, the Centre shall provide special financial support for the creation of essential facilities in the new capital of the successor state of Andhra Pradesh, including the Raj Bhavan, High Court, Secretariat, Assembly, Legislative Council, and other essential infrastructure. "The state government through the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, published in the state gazette notification on July 31, 2020, has provided that there shall be three seats of governance in the state of Andhra Pradesh, to be called as capitals," the affidavit said. A HC bench of Justices Rakesh Kumar, AV Sesha Sai and M Satyanarayana Murthy had extended on August 14 the status quo on three capitals till August 27. The court took up hearing of nearly 55 petitions filed to challenge the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, and the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Repeal Act, 2020. The counsel for the petitioners had argued that the three-capital move was "violation" of the Reorganisation Act as it "talks of only one state capital". Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan on July 31 had approved the two Bills and the same day the government issued the gazette notification. Under the Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill of 2020, the government has sought to shift the key capital functions out of Amaravati. It proposes to develop Visakhapatnam as the executive capital. With the shifting of the offices of the Chief Minister, Governor, Ministers and Secretaries, the coastal city for all practical purposes will become the seat of power. Kurnool will be developed as the judicial capital by shifting the High Court there. Amaravati, which was originally planned as the only state capital and a world-class city, will only be a legislative capital. The move by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has led to fresh protests by farmers in 29 villages in Amaravati. About 24,000 farmer families had given 33,000 acres of land for development of Amaravati under the land pooling scheme five years ago. Then Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government headed by Chandrababu Naidu had embarked on the mega plans to build Amaravati on the banks of Krishna river as the dream capital and a world-class city. Naidu had got its design prepared by the Singapore government. Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports through PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February 2019 New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through public-private partnership (PPP). Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati -- through PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. These six airports are owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Adani Enterprises had signed the concessionaire agreement with AAI for three airports - Ahmedabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow - on 14 February, 2020. At a press conference on Wednesday, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the cabinet has approved the proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram airports through PPP model. Parks Coffee has been an industry leader in office coffee service since its founding in 1986. In 2004, Parks Coffee began roasting their own coffee sourcing beans from farms all around the world to perfect their cup. The specialty grade coffee is roasted and packaged at the flagship Parks Roastery and Cafe in Carrollton, TX. "Thinking back to where this started - our family garage - to now shipping coffee anywhere in America is a proud moment for us," Randy Parks, Founder of Parks Coffee. "Our team works hard to create top quality coffee at competitive prices, and we're excited to provide a cup of coffee that people enjoy." "Our commercial clients have been asking about getting Parks Coffee at home for years," says Scott Parks, Marketing Director. "With more people working from home due to Covid-19, we feel this subscription launch couldn't have come at a better time. Our office customers are excited to receive the same quality and freshness delivered to their homes." For more information, visit parkscoffee.com/store. You can also take a tour of the roastery to see the coffee-making process, with precautions taken for Covid-19. About Parks Coffee Parks Coffee was founded in 1984 by Randy Parks in the garage of his Carrollton, TX home. After many years of hard work and dedication by he and his wife Debbie, they have grown Parks Coffee into 13 markets across the Southwest, spanning from Dallas to Los Angeles with over 15,000 customers. Through our sourcing relationships, we are proud to support the Seeds of Progress Foundation, and Parks Coffee has been a long supporter of local Carrollton non-profit Metrocrest Services. All corrugated shipping cases use 100% recycled material. Follow their story on Instagram or Facebook. SOURCE Parks Coffee Related Links https://www.parkscoffee.com The Baoshang bankruptcy marks Chinas first commercial lender to be liquidated through judiciary procedure Chinas decision to allow embattled regional lender Baoshang Bank to file for bankruptcy marks an important development in the countrys financial sector, which for decades has rarely experienced a bank failure. Inner Mongolia-based Baoshang, which was 89% owned by private conglomerate Tomorrow Holding Co. Ltd., was taken under state custody last year amid severe credit risks. The bank was found to have a financial black hole of 220 billion yuan ($32 billion) due to massive fund misappropriation by its largest shareholder. While some of Baoshangs good assets were taken over by two lenders, the rest of the banks assets including shareholders equity and some creditors rights will be liquidated, the central bank said. The decision followed regulators years-long efforts to combat financial market risks stemming from shadowy borrowing activities of sprawling conglomerates. It also came as Chinas financial industry faces greater challenges from continued economic slowing and fallout from the pandemic. The collapse of Baoshang reflects corporate governance failures in financial institutions that fed corruption and misconduct, sending a warning shot to many small and midsize banks, regulators said. The Baoshang case underscored the need for China to establish an effective mechanism to allow failed financial institutions to exit, Wang Yongli, chief economist at pharmaceutical company Shenzhen Neptunus Group Co. Ltd., wrote in a commentary. Such mechanism will guard the countrys financial sector from excessive risks and the economys liquidity quality, Wang said. As regulators move to find a balance between pro-growth policies and financial risk control, there will be more institutions to follow Baoshang in being allowed to fail, Wang said. Here are five things to know about Baoshangs failure and its implications for Chinas financial market. Why is the Baoshang failure significant? The Baoshang bankruptcy marks Chinas first commercial lender to be liquidated through judiciary procedure. Authorities have long been reluctant to allow banks to fail because of concerns over the social impacts. In 1998, Hainan Development Bank became the first commercial bank in China to be forced to close due to capital inadequacy. But the Hainan bank never entered bankruptcy proceedings in the absence of related laws at that time. The banks assets were disposed of in accordance with administrative rules. Chinas Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, which took effect in 2007, lays the legal groundwork for financial institutions, including banks, brokerages and insurers, to file for bankruptcy. The Law of Commercial Banks also regulates bankruptcies of banks. In the Baoshang case, the central bank said the institution will file for bankruptcy and the equity of its original shareholders and unprotected creditors rights will be liquidated in accordance with law. The move indicated a major step toward Chinas long-sought goal of creating an exit mechanism for banks under market rules, analysts said. The cleanup of troubled Baoshang also marks a crucial step forward in regulators years-long efforts to dismantle the risky assets of Tomorrow Holding, a sprawling conglomerate once controlled by fallen tycoon Xiao Jianhua. As one of the high-profile targets in Chinas financial risk crackdown, Tomorrow used a massive web of affiliates to control financial institutions and misappropriated huge amounts of funds to serve its own interests. Overwhelmingly controlled by Tomorrow, Baoshang was a main fundraising platform of Tomorrow and created the most dangerous risks. What caused Baoshangs crisis? Regulatory inspection of Baoshangs assets found that from 2005 to 2019 the bank extended 156 billion yuan ($22.4 billion) of illegal loans to 209 shell companies controlled by Tomorrow. All of them ended up becoming nonperforming. The banks management embezzled an additional 50 billion yuan. Assets were gradually chipped away, resulting in severe financial and operational risks and violating the interests of other shareholders and all depositors, regulators said. Read more Cover Story: How China Prevented a Local Bank Crisis From Snowballing Regulatory inspection after the bank was taken over found a 220 billion yuan capital shortfall, mainly caused by bad loans to Tomorrow and its affiliates. Loan business with Tomorrow-linked companies had always been granted priority at Baoshang, with no proper risk controls, sources from the bank said. Even as most of the loans turned nonperforming, the bank never pursued the defaulters, they said. The bank was controlled entirely by the major shareholder and insiders who had captured local regulators, leading to corporate governance failures and miring the whole operation in corruption and lawbreaking, said Zhou Xudong, former director of the central banks general office who led the Baoshang takeover team, in a commentary. Why did the bankruptcy happen now? The decision to liquidate Baoshang reflects Chinas transforming economic conditions, which call for a more effective mechanism to allow failed financial institutions to exit, analysts said. Chinas economy has embraced profound changes since 2015 as governments debt burden mounted after years of expansive spending. Meanwhile, the countrys monetary structure shifted to rely more on commercial bank loans and bond purchases to adjust market liquidity instead of directly via the central bank. That means the quality of corporate borrowing and bank assets becomes more decisive as a reflection of the economys liquidity condition. The 2015 stock market crash, fueled by speculative trading, exposed risks caused by conglomerates like Tomorrow and left lingering concerns about the financial sector, forcing regulators to restore market order. The Covid-19 pandemic and escalating tensions with the U.S. further took a toll on Chinas economy, making efforts to tame financial risks more urgent. Who paid for Baoshangs losses? According to the central bank, regulators originally planned to invite strategic investors to bring in new capital to help in Baoshangs restructuring. However, new investors were unwilling to participate because of the banks hefty risks. To restore investor confidence, authorities deployed about 170 billion yuan of public funds, including money from the national deposit insurance fund, the central banks relending and other liquidity tools. Part of the money was injected into the newly formed Mengshang Bank to take over Baoshangs Inner Mongolia-based operations and wealth management business. The national deposit insurance fund provided 34.4 billion yuan to Huishang Bank to help cover losses from buying the rest of Baoshangs good assets. The fund also acquired Baoshangs 150 billion yuan of Tomorrow-related bad loans based on market value. In addition, the central bank provided 80 billion yuan of relending and 23.5 billion yuan of liquidity support through a standing lending facility. The equity of Baoshangs shareholders, totaling 31.8 billion yuan according to regulators inspection, will be wiped out, according to the central bank. What losses did Baoshangs creditors and customers suffer? According to the central bank, the deposit principal and interest of all individual Baoshang depositors were fully repaid by the central banks national deposit insurance fund. Corporate clients with less than 50 million yuan of deposits or debts with the bank were also fully protected. Bigger creditors had 90% of their debts repaid, compared with less than 60% on average without state intervention, the central bank said. Caixin learned that big creditors incurred total losses of about 30 billion yuan. Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com). Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that the vote of the Social Democrat lawmakers to reject the government's emergency ordinance providing for a 20 percent increase of child allowances appears to him as "blatant populism". "I would want much more for every child in Romania. But desire alone never solves the financial problems. Money can only be shared out when you have it. Everyone knows from home: you can only give out as much money as you have. Now back to the parliamentary approach, it seems to me that this issue, or to put it more clearly, PSD's approach of relentlessly rejecting such ordinances is blatant populism, to not term it otherwise. I know just as well as the government that there is no money. We are in an economic crisis, we have problems caused by the epidemic, or better said by the pandemic, because we are not alone and we are also influenced by developments in other countries. And then, for the Opposition to tear down in Parliament the regulatory acts that manage the remaining resources can only be read in an electoral key, which is why I allow myself to say that this is blatant populism. The money available is just what the government has calculated it to be. It's a sign of utter irresponsibility to come and relentlessly tear down ordinances that attempt to save as much as possible of the budget," said the head of the state. The Chamber of Deputies, in its capacity as decision-making body, rejected on Wednesday Ordinance No. 123/2020 which modifies and complements Art. 3 of Law 61/1993, providing for the gradual increase of child allowances Serbia - Montenegro passenger traffic Flights between Serbia and Montenegro resumed this morning following a five-month hiatus, marking an end to the longest period without scheduled commercial operations between the two since World War Two. Air Serbia and Montenegro Airlines, which boast a codeshare partnership, will operate 61 weekly flights between the two countries. Air Serbia has scheduled fifteen weekly rotations between Belgrade and Podgorica, as well as sixteen weekly flights from Belgrade to Tivat. Starting August 21, the Serbian carrier will resume seasonal two weekly operations between Nis and Tivat, which will run until September 20. Montenegro Airlines will maintain double daily flights from both Podgorica and Tivat to the Serbian capital. Year PAX 2016 513.162 2017 510.466 2018 526.174 2019 548.679 Commenting on the service resumption, Air Serbias CEO, Duncan Naysmith, said, I am very pleased that conditions have been met for the resumption of flights to Tivat and Podgorica. We plan to offer some 60.000 seats to our passengers on flights between Serbia and Montenegro until the end of the summer season. He added that Air Serbia will continue to closely monitor developments and will constantly adjust its Montenegro operations based on travel restrictions and demand. Overall, at this point, the airline has scheduled 296 flights to Montenegro until the end of the 2020 summer season on October 25. The General Manager of operator Airports of Montenegro, Danilo Orlandic, said, The Serbian market is one of the most important to us, while the Belgrade route is the most frequent for both our national carriers. Airports of Montenegro sends its sincere welcome to Serbian citizens. Belgrade - Podgorica - Belgrade passenger traffic Year PAX 2016 282.874 2017 293.913 2018 299.517 2019 312.301 Belgrade - Tivat - Belgrade passenger traffic Serbia and Montenegro is currently the busiest cross-border market among the former Yugoslav states with 548.679 passengers travelling between the two last year. This year was set to be another record breaker. Prior to the pandemic, Air Serbia and Montenegro Airlines planned to jointly operate 103 weekly flights between the two countries at the height of the summer season, with the Serbian carrier scheduling sixty weekly services, while its Montenegrin counterpart 43. Flights were suspended on March 18, marking the longest period without operations between the two states in the post-World War Two period. The first scheduled service in post-war Yugoslavia was between Belgrade and Podgorica on April 8, 1946. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the longest period without commercial services between the two was during the NATO bombing in 1999, from March 23, until operations to Tivat were restored on June 18 that same year. During the golden era of Yugoslav commercial aviation in the 1980s, the Serbia - Montenegro market was the sixth busiest in the country, preceded by Serbia - Croatia, Croatia - Croatia, Serbia - Slovenia and Serbia - Macedonia. Parliament should use its own avenues to express its concerns and seek consensus on the way forward. PHILIPSBURG:--- In a recent statement, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams stated that its imperative that the Parliament of St. Maarten verbalizes its position regarding this new entity very clearly. It is one thing to argue the point of autonomy and autonomous competencies of the Dutch Caribbean countries, its another thing to dissect the proposal as to its workability in our democratic system. Democracy is the hallmark of our system, so is the state of law. This entity as proposed puts all that aside and I am sure our colleagues in the Hague can relate to this argument. The MP recently requested a Parliamentary Meeting of the Committee for Kingdom Relations, to contemplate how to move forward as Parliament. After rejecting the New Entity draft law in its present form, we should table our position where this law will eventually be decided on, namely in the Dutch First and Second Chambers. For it to formally reach there, there must be consensus, but this proposal is already at the Second Chamber and the debate regarding these conditions, especially the CRE, is raging. The opinions and legal briefs on this topic are many, most of them very critical of the proposed entity. Most opinions consider this proposal a serious intrusion into the autonomous affairs of the countries, which is a valid assessment. I however take this proposal from a different angle and that is one of the democratic state of law, in which the Government is responsible for its people and accountable to its Parliament. Constitutional representative democracy! The proposal for a CRE wipes that democratic tenet out., the MP continued. The conditions imposed by the Government of the Netherlands form part of a package of reform and creation of a so-called Caribbean Reform entity. The Parliament has been made aware of the negotiations between the Caribbean countries of the Dutch Kingdom and the Government of the Netherlands. Currently these negotiations are at the point of a third tranche of liquidity assistance, much needed by the Caribbean countries. Like I have stated on several occasions, it is the Dutch Governments money and if we accept it, we need to agree on what it is for and give account for it. But to move the governance of the country outside of the democratic sphere of by the people, for the people, which I believe the new entity is doing, is turning back the hand of time. I think our colleagues in the Hague, elected as we are, cannot and should not even entertain such a proposal. The Dutch Chambers have the possibility to request advice from the Council of State (their equivalent to our Council of Advice). I implore my Dutch colleagues to timely seek this advice. MP Wescot-Williams further stated. The MP has proposed for a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Kingdom Relations to meet on the following action points: 1) a tripartite meeting of the Dutch Caribbean Countries; 2) consultations with factions and or members of the First and Second Chambers, as agreed to during the last IPKO; and 3) formally meeting with the Kingdom Government and the Dutch Chambers. Let it be clear however, that this does not relieve the Government of its responsibilities to act in the interest of the people of St. Maarten when deciding on the way forward. If these conditions are rejected by the government, the people should know what the alternative is. Alluding to something in the pipeline is not enough. Not when so much is at stake for our country. We can no longer accept that the government is doing all it can with the means it has and that we should be patient. Overall, the uncertainty and the lack of direction, is taking a massive toll on even the most resilient ones among us. MP Wescot-Williams opined in closing. The French carmaker Renault's new group CEO had "reassuring messages" for the Formula 1 team when he visited the paddock in Barcelona last weekend. That is the news from the mouth of boss Cyril Abiteboul, after a tumultuous and uncertain period for the team's parent company. Formerly with Volkswagen and SEAT, Luca de Meo started work as Renault CEO on July 1, following a long scandal involving the alleged corruption of his predecessor Carlos Ghosn. The scandal had put a dark cloud over Renault's future, but in late May as she announced a restructuring plan, interim CEO Coltilde Delbos stated: "We confirm that we intend to stay in Formula 1." And now, the full-time CEO is getting to know Renault's F1 operation. "He (Luca de Meo) started on July 1 and he tours all the sites, and this is a site like any other," team boss Abiteboul told Canal Plus. "He will also come to visit us in Viry at the end of this week, but he came with reassuring messages on the role that F1 will play in the reconstruction - the transformation of Renault that is in process now," he said. Renault driver Esteban Ocon confirmed: "Before the race, he (de Meo) gave a speech to the team. He has interesting plans, but it does not add pressure - on the contrary, we only feel support." (GMM) Welcoming July housing sales figures which have overcome the gloomy impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Turkish construction sector is hopeful for 2020 despite expecting a slowdown in the upward trend, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah. The July figures are striking, according to Mithat Yenigun, the head of the Turkish Contractors' Association (TMB). Residential property sales in July hit an all-time monthly high with 229,357 units, a 124.3% year-on-year increase, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said. Spurred by low-interest mortgages state lenders provided in June and July, the surge in figures is a relief for the companies in the sector, Yenigun underlined. The low rates also encourage people to mobilize their savings to buy houses while reviving the economy, he told Anadolu Agency (AA). However, as mortgage rates increased by end-July, the rise in sales will be lower in the coming months, he added. I want this upward trend to continue, even if it will at a slower pace, Yenigun said. He opined that an annual rise of 45.5% in construction permits might be due to document renewals, not for proceeding with new construction. "This is still a good sign for the economy with it meaning some builders lay the groundwork for future businesses," he said. Echoing Yenigun's view, Ahmet Erkurtoglu, the deputy head of the Contractors Association of Istanbuls Anatolian Side (AYIDER), underlined that the promising figures, despite the pandemic, were driven by mortgage rates below 1%, which he called a "psychological limit." Erkurtoglu stressed the importance of the rise in July, as the summer season is generally stable for the construction sector. He also underlined that interest in summer houses was another reason behind the uptick in figures. We may hit another record high number of housing sales by the end of this year, Erkurtoglu said. Drawing on the drop in housing sales to foreign buyers, he said the coronavirus pandemic was the No. 1 culprit that has created drastic uncertainty worldwide. Housing sales to foreigners fell 34.6% on an annual basis to 2,741 in July, according to the TurkStat data. Erkurtoglu said, however, Chinese buyers showed great interest in Turkish residential properties. The number of housing units Chinese citizens bought rose threefold in January-July, he said, adding: If the pandemic ends with the vaccine, housing sales to foreigners will reaccelerate. Nearly 1.35 million housing units were sold in the country in 2019, while up to 45,500 houses were bought by foreigners, seeing a 14.7% increase compared with the previous year. 2020 target axed by coronavirus On the coronavirus impact on the Turkish construction sector, Yenigun said the sector will not achieve its target of $20 billion in 2020. We may make $10 billion to $12 billion this year when the data from the first six months is considered, he stated, citing that the normalization from the coronavirus has not fueled the sector considerably as flights operate partially and logistics are still disrupted worldwide. On the memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and Libya last week to boost trade and economic ties, Yenigun said the move was welcomed by the Turkish construction companies. This is very important for us as there are projects which should be completed urgently especially in the field of education and health, he said. The memorandum aimed to lay the groundwork for clearing up pending issues between Turkish firms and Libyan employers and making new investments. Yenigun said the deal will pave the way for Turkish builders to undertake new projects that will be announced by the Libyan government. Al-Hadi al-Taher al-Juhaimi, Libyas planning minister, said last week the country plans to begin 184 development projects worth $16 billion and invited Turkish firms to take part in these. Yenigun said the sector also expects ongoing issues with Gulf countries to be resolved. We took $3 billion less work from the Gulf countries due to political strain with Turkey, he said. He highlighted that Turkish builders may focus on Indonesia during the post-pandemic period, as the country plans to relocate its capital from Jakarta to the province of East Kalimantan. The Indonesian minister of public works invited us to take part in this great investment, but the presence of Japan, Korea and China is very strong, Yenigun said. Kansas City Almost Restored Museum team finalizes details at Corinthian Hall as renovation nears completion Abby Hoover Managing Editor Corinthian Hall, home of the Kansas City Museum, is adjusting to major structural changes as the exhibits are being finalized and design details are ironed out. The mansion at 3218 Gladstone Blvd. has been closed since 2017 to undergo a $20 million renovation and restoration project. 2nd Look At Gun Suspects ATF offering $20,000 reward in string of metro gun thefts KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - The ATF is now offering up to a $20,000 reward for information to catch a ring of thieves who are stealing guns from federally licensed firearms dealers in the Kansas City area. Golden Ghetto Corona Trending Health officials tell school leaders that Johnson County, Kansas, in Red Zone for COVID-19 Health officials in Johnson County, Kansas, shared guidance Tuesday for reopening schools with the superintendents of the county's six school districts.The Health Department said the county is in the Red Zone for COVID-19. In the last 14 days, the average number of new cases has increased. Show-Me Po-Po Platform Have an opinion on Missouri police training and discipline? State agency seeks public input Gov. Mike Parson appointed two new members to the board in June after criticism over vacant spots and expired terms. The governor also announced at the time that he is considering changes to the program as part of a broader effort to address concerns about policing. Kansas GOP Hates Snail Mail??? KS candidate Marshall believes USPS has enough money Kansas Senate candidate Roger Marshall said he believes the United States Postal Service has all the money it needs. Kansas City Chiefs Earn Crackdown Love From Mayor Q Mayor Lucas: Chiefs working hard to make sure everyone stays safe KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas on Tuesday addressed the safety of having a limited number of fans at Arrowhead Stadium for Chiefs games this fall. The Chiefs announced Monday that fans will be allowed at games at 22% capacity and with significant changes to the overall experience. Amazing August Again Another great summer day is ahead with sunshine & low humidity This refreshing summer weather pattern will continue through the rest of the week High temperatures will stay below average through Friday with mostly sunny skies KANSAS CITY'S MOST ACCURATE FORECAST Back to the summertime warmth & humidity build this weekend Wednesday: It will be another great summer day with slightly cooler temperatures and low humidity. These news items are important and deserve a peek if many not a post, here's the early overview of the local news scene for right now . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . After 26 years at the helm, Alexander Lukashenkos days are numbered. European prudence can help accelerate his demise. Protests of unprecedented scale have filled the streets of Belarus since the president claimed an implausible landslide re-election just over a week ago. A brutal crackdown, mass arrests, and savage beatings followed, angering even those previously indifferent. Yet, in the past few days, security forces have largely stood aside, as they did on Sunday when huge crowds again demonstrated in the capital and beyond. Strikes have been spreading too, with growing numbers of workers walking out last week even at crown jewel state enterprises such as Minsk Tractor Works, and government television. Its a turning point for the most enduringly Soviet of the former Soviet nations, and one with echos of 1989, the year that saw communist regimes toppled across Europe. Post-election demonstrations have been violently quashed before in Belarus, but this time the movement is far broader. It has spread to villagers, and those employed in heavy industry the very people who once backed Lukashenko for supporting them and their jobs when the Soviet Union collapsed. Like Svetlana Tikhanovskaya the accidental leader of the opposition, now across the border in Lithuania many of those marching are women. In a video address on Monday, she said she was ready to be a transitional leader and to allow a new, fair, vote. Read More Embattled Belarus leader jeered by workers as strikes grow There are signs of modest cracks within the pro-Lukashenko elite, with unverified videos and reports circulating on Twitter, Telegram, and elsewhere of security forces resigning, throwing away their uniforms, or lowering their shields even if, as analyst Franak Viacorka in Minsk points out the largely technocratic political establishment remains loyal for now. Endgames are slow and messy. They are always hard to predict with precision. What we do know is that decisions made beyond Belaruss borders will help determine what happens next. Most obviously, that means Belarus's neighbour, Russia. Moscow, in an invidious position, has so far hedged its bets. President Vladimir Putin last week congratulated his counterpart on the electoral victory, but he also made a point of mentioning the continued push toward a merger between the two countries. A unified state was agreed two decades ago, but has stalled. The Kremlin has also allowed significant critical voices to speak up, both in Russian media and among prominent politicians one lawmaker said the results were not credible, and the election falsified. The trouble is that while Russia does not want an authoritarian leader overthrown on its doorstep the resonance is too great it also has little to gain from backing yesterdays man, not least one with whom it has had a troubled relationship. Hawks are pressing Russia to step in. Certainly, Moscow is watching closely. The Kremlin on Sunday noted external pressure, a potential trigger for action, and said it could provide security support. While Belarus is a vital buffer for Russia, and a country it sees as its back yard, this is not Ukraine in 2014, when it stepped in after protests triggered the ouster of the pro-Moscow president. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses workers of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant in Minsk on Monday. Picture: Nikolai Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP Lukashenkos regime predates Putin. This struggle against the leadership is not about Russia, or the West. Indeed, rather than another 2014, this is another 1989, or, better yet, 1991 the delayed denouement for an unreconstructed remnant of the Soviet Union. In that context, it would be understandable if Putin, who has enough to deal with at home, preferred not to step into a quagmire that could fuel anti-Russian sentiment in a sympathetic neighbouring state. That, of course, doesnt mean he wont. Which brings us to Europe. Here, there is room for a proactive stance, but also the risk of causing plenty of damage. It will be imperative for Europe to steer clear of grandiloquent promises and statements that risk alarming Moscow, and fuel the hardliners talk of an external threat. Lukashenko is already making claims NATO troops are massing on the border. In public, that will mean swiftly imposing the sanctions it has threatened on individuals in the Lukashenko administration and on Belarusian security forces complicit in the crackdown. The effectiveness of sanctions may be debatable, but the message will be clear. As important, then, is what Europe does not do. That means leaving out of its pronouncements the red line issues bound to inflame Moscow, such as talk of European Union membership in any case, a distant prospect. Simply, Europe must not bring itself into the fight, says Nigel Gould-Davies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a former British ambassador to Belarus. That does not mean being passive: He argues the the EU should start thinking now about what help it can offer once Belarus is ready. That could be loans, given the need for external financing, aid, or investment assistance. Generosity is warranted. In the meantime, diplomats from Europe and indeed the US can listen to the opposition, and make quietly clear to the military and the elites that their interests will be better served in a free country with open economic relations, which is able to receive foreign capital. With the Belarus economy stagnating, the question of future opportunities should sharpen minds. Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the UK, Italy, and Russia. A private school in Jalaun conducted classes by calling students to the school amid COVID-19. The students were seen without masks and flouting social distancing norms. Premchand, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) said that strict action will be taken against the manager and principal of the school. No instructions have been issued by the government or the district administration to reopen schools. Strict action will be taken against the manager and principal, he told ANI. Educational institutions across the country are closed since March when the first lockdown was announced to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Most voters have already made up their minds when it comes to giving Donald Trump a second term or voting for his opponent, Joe Biden, this November. Trump won via the electoral college in 2016 thanks to a slim 70,000-80,000 win in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin three states not won by a Republican since 1988. Joe Biden's convention speech is not likely to change minds automatically. Still, the address will set the tone for the remainder of the campaign. Re-election campaigns typically have centered around the incumbent it is a referendum for the years the sitting president spent in office. But Donald Trump wants to make the election similar to 2016, which was a choice election. Joe Biden must be careful not to fall into that trap. While Democrats haven't gone as far as some did in 2016 in making 'Flight 93' analogies, prominent Democrats have engaged in rhetoric such as claiming "our democracy is at stake" and "Donald Trump is a threat to the republic." They argue only Joe Biden can stop the country from descending into a banana republic or a state of fascist authoritarianism. The thing is, Biden has to go beyond "I am not Donald Trump." He must give people a reason to go to the ballot box for him and not against Trump. People without a clear motivation to vote for a candidate will choose, more often than not, to sit on the sidelines instead. Biden has several options to do this during his acceptance speech. First, he can promise a return to a sense of normalcy. For over three and a half years, Trump has managed to treat the nation like a captive of his delicate ego. The Twitter bickering, the constant fights with the press, and his braggadocio about hiring the best personnel, only to trash them publicly when they get fired or leave and criticize Trump after they've left. It's exhausting. Biden can get some mileage by simply promising not to center the news of the day around himself. One question typically raised about Trump back in 2016 concerned how he would perform in the event of a crisis. With most polls showing a large share of the public giving Trump low marks for his coronavirus handling, Biden has the opening to discuss competence. Trump can spin his response all he wants, but it is a strong possibility the US death toll from Covid-19 will reach 200,000 before election day. His claims the United States has more cases because it only does more testing is farcical. Biden will have to seize upon that and argue that a more competent administration will not only clean up that mess but also be better prepared in the event of another outbreak. Normalcy and competence come off as a simple recipe for an election strategy. Still, Biden won't be dealing with an opponent willing to get into the weeds on policy and ideology. Trump will throw everything he can at Biden and hope something sticks, zeroing in on the alleged spying by the Obama administration and attempting to throw Biden off by attacking his son Hunter as a by-product of Biden's supposed "corruption." Joe Biden will soon be given his first opportunity to make a case for why he's the better choice to lead the country than Donald Trump. He will be laying out his campaign strategy and deciding how he chooses to pursue the goal of making Trump the first one-term president since 1992. Suppose Biden can stick to making it a referendum on Trump without engaging in the frenzy and chaos that one can easily find on social media. In that case, he'll effectively reach the people who want to hear a compelling argument for change, but havent heard it yet. Those are the people he needs to swing the election his way. Jay Caruso is the Managing Editor of the Washington Examiner Magazine When Belarusians came out on August 9 to protest what they saw as a mass falsification of the presidential elections, Marat Mikhal knew that a violent police crackdown was imminent. It had happened before. In December 2010, after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed 80 percent of the votes in the presidential election amid allegations of vote-rigging, protests erupted in the capital Minsk but were swiftly suppressed by police forces. The events of that year affected Mikhal, who was then just 16 years old, and politicised him. Ten years later, as a young adult, he came out in the streets of Minsk to protest Lukashenkos fifth re-election, despite the heavy police presence. He was arrested, severely beaten and held in detention for several days. The violence, however, did not deter Mikhal and many others from continuing to protest against Lukashenko. My relatives urged me [not to join the protests again]. But if not me, then who would? So I went out to protest despite [the warnings], Mikhal told Al Jazeera. On August 16, he joined more than 200,000 people who gathered in central Minsk for what some say has been the largest opposition demonstration in the recent history of Belarus. Meanwhile, workers at various state factories and institutions announced strikes in solidarity with protesters, while videos of members of the security forces announcing their resignations circulated on social media. Lukashenkos defiance Despite the growing opposition against his rule, Lukashenko has remained defiant. He has rejected calls to hold new elections and has instead proposed to amend the constitution in order to redistribute executive power. He has also reached out to Russias President Vladimir Putin to request help, which has stirred fears of possible Russian military intervention, similar to the one in Ukraine in 2014. But according to analysts, what happens next in Belarus will be determined not just by decisions made in Moscow, but also by the resilience of protesters like Mikhal and their ability to maintain mass mobilisation on the ground. Although Lukashenko is seeking help from the Kremlin, he is not on the best of terms with the Russian leadership. In recent years, the Belarusian president has shifted between anti-Russian and anti-Western rhetoric, trying to exploit Russian-EU tensions to secure oil and gas price discounts from Moscow. In pursuing this strategy, Lukashenko is said to have incurred Putins resentment. A rejected union Earlier this year, Moscow announced that Belarus would start paying for Russian oil and gas at global prices after the Belarusian president resisted Russian pressure to go forward with a union between the two countries. In 1999, Lukashenko had signed an agreement with then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin for the creation of a political and economic union, where the two countries would have common political institutions, economic policies, and currency. The agreement was never fully implemented, but close ties to Moscow ensured the flow of cheap Russian oil and gas, which propped up the countrys economy and precluded the need for privatisation of state-owned enterprises and political opening. In the 2010s, as the Russian economy was hit by the slump in oil prices and Western sanctions, the Kremlin found it difficult to sustain subsidies for Belarus and sought to change this arrangement. Opposition supporters take part in a protest rally in front of the parliament building in Minsk [Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA] In response, Lukashenko pursued closer relations with the West, which led to the European Union lifting most sanctions on Belarus. From Moscows perspective, a union with Belarus would have justified the continuation of subsidies, but Lukashenko saw this as a direct threat to his power. Before the August 9 vote, the Belarusian president repeatedly accused Russia of supporting the opposition. On July 29, the Belarusian authorities arrested dozens of Russian citizens, claiming they were mercenaries from Russias best-known private military contractor, Wagner, who were preparing a plot to destabilise the country. As it became clear that the crackdown was not effective in suppressing the protests, Lukashenko switched to anti-Western rhetoric. He has since accused the opposition of planning to join NATO and the European Union, ban the Russian language, and establish an Orthodox church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate policies that Ukrainian nationalists have pursued since 2014, angering Russia. Since the elections, he has also had at least two phone calls with Putin to discuss Russian assistance in case of a foreign threat. On August 18, he spoke for a third time with the Russian president, who informed him of his conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the situation in Belarus. The same day, Russian media reported that an aeroplane belonging to the Russian security service FSB and previously used by FSB director Alexander Bortnikov had landed in Minsk, but no details were provided on any formal meeting between Lukashenko and Russian officials. A Ukraine scenario While Lukashenkos about-face has provoked fears of a Ukrainian scenario in Belarus, a Russian military intervention does not seem to be forthcoming. According to Anton Barbashin, a research fellow at the Atlantic Council, apart from the Kremlins dislike for the Belarusian president, what also makes such a scenario unlikely is the fact that any military action would be very costly for the Russian leadership. It would mean further deterioration in relations with the West and more heavy sanctions. Although Lukashenko is trying to stir fears of anti-Russian sentiment and actions by the opposition, the Belarusian protests have not adopted any nationalistic narratives that would alienate the Russian-speaking communities in the country and encourage local support for Russian military action, Barbashin said. And while Belarus falls within the Russian sphere of influence and regional security calculus, it has no major Russian military base, unlike the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. In Barbashins opinion, an Armenian scenario is more likely than a Ukrainian one. In 2018, a nationwide protest movement toppled Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan after he sought to remain in power despite previous pledges to step down. Although Sargsyan had warm ties with Moscow, the Russian government did not oppose the protests, which had not expressed any anti-Russian sentiment. Lukashenko addresses his supporters gathered at Independent Square of Minsk [Dmitri Lovetsky/AP] Belarusian protesters and opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya have repeatedly emphasised that they do not want a Maidan in Belarus, referring to the protest movement in Ukraine in 2013-2014. At an August 18 news conference of the coordination committee for the transfer of power, formed by Tikhanovskayas campaign, its members expressed commitment to maintaining close relations with Russia. Similar sentiments have been voiced by protesters who, unlike their Ukrainian counterparts, have not raised the EU flag during rallies or called for Euro-Atlantic integration. Mikhal told Al Jazeera that he does not want Belarus to become a battlefield for the Russia-EU standoff and hopes that his country will be able to maintain neutrality and good relations with both. Fear of prosecution Although military intervention from Russia remains unlikely, Lukashenkos resignation is also far from certain. According to Aleksey Bratochkin, a historian and lecturer at the European College of Liberal Arts in Belarus, what is making his exit more difficult is his fear of prosecution. During his 26-year rule, many crimes have been committed that could lead to criminal investigations, including the forced disappearances of a number of politicians, businessmen and journalists who had been critical of his presidency. There are many claims against Lukashenko from various political groups. He is not a president who would retire peacefully, Bratochkin said. Although pressure from the streets has increased since the August 9 vote, the foundations of Lukashenkos rule still seem intact. While there have been some resignations among low-ranking officials and members of the security forces, no significant defections from the political elite have taken place, Bratochkin said. Lukashenko has also rejected negotiations with Tikhanovskaya, calling the formation of the coordination committee an attempt to seize power and threatening its members with legal action. The elites There is also continuing heavy security presence in Minsk and elsewhere in the country, which is raising fears that the president could resort to violence again at any time. According to Katia Glod, a London-based scholar and consultant on former Soviet countries, Lukashenkos current strategy is to protract the political process and wait for the protests to dissipate. To counter his intransigence, the opposition would have to find a political insider who has more authority and standing to lead negotiations with him and his elite, she said. [The elites] know that Lukashenko has some compromising materials against them. They understand that if they defect, they would lose their economic [benefits], Glod said. They would not do it, unless there is someone very credible and strong who can persuade them and give them certain guarantees, she said. In her view, pressure from the EU in the form of sanctions and refusal to recognise Lukashenkos government could also encourage negotiations, but ultimately the outcome of the current standoff will be determined by the opposition movements ability to find allies within the political elite and sustain mass mobilisation. According to Mikhal, there is such a society-wide consensus against Lukashenkos rule that the protest momentum is unlikely to slow down. In 2010, the society swallowed [the falsification of the vote], but today it is no longer the same society. It has matured politically, he said. The current situation will only end if there is handover of power. Follow Mariya Petkova on Twitter: @mkpetkova On Wednesday, August 19, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI inquiry in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. This came as a massive victory for his fans, family and supporters, who have been demanding a clean investigation of his death. In its first statement after the Supreme Court verdict, the Central Bureau of Investigation said that the team will visit Mumbai for further investigation. "The investigation related to #SushantSinghRajput's death is continuing. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team will visit Mumbai in due course for further investigation. Other details cannot be shared at this stage: CBI," said the CBI, as reported by ANI. In its verdict, the Supreme Court asked Mumbai Police to cooperate with CBI for the case, and hand over all the evidence it has gathered so far. The SC also said that the Bihar government was competent in registering an FIR in Patna based on a complaint given by Sushant's father. It further added that the Mumbai Police, which had only registered an accidental death report in the case, had limited investigation powers. The SC has asked the CBI to investigate all FIRs registered in connection with Sushant's death. A special investigation team has already been formed by the CBI. Responding to the SC verdict, Sushant's family said in a statement, "We believe that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice." Sushant died on June 14, 2020. He was allegedly found dead in his Mumbai apartment. 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 ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut & Others React As SC Orders CBI Probe Into Sushant Singh Rajput's Death ALSO READ: CBI For Sushant: Late Actor's Family Thanks Fans, Friends And Well-Wishers Who Stood By Them 91-year-old Yukiko Yamabe (left) is in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency in her residence in Tokyo, Japan, on August 12, 2020. By Guo Dan, Gang Ye and Deng Min "There is smoke and dust everywhere, the entire sky is dark, and there are dead bodies hanging on hydro poles..." This is the dreadful memory told by Yukiko Yamabe, a 91-year-old Japanese veteran once assigned to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Nearly 80 years ago, she followed her father to Benxi, China from Tokyo. The tragic scene of the gas explosion in the Benxi Lake coal mine had been so unforgettable that it always haunted Yukiko Yamabe. At that time, she did not understand why Japan had invaded China. After August 15, 1945, Yukiko Yamabe understood the feeling of defeat. When the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army (later renamed the Northeast People's Liberation Army) started to recruit personnel, Yukiko signed up. With some simple knowledge of medical dressing, she moved to the north and south with the Chinese PLA. She participated in the campaigns of Liaoshen, Pingjin, Yisha, Hengbao, and Guangxi as a military nurse. In 1953, Yukiko returned to Japan and made a living by doing part-time jobs. After retirement in 1984, she contacted her comrade-in-arms when she was in the Chinese PLA and went to the Changchun Bethune Medical University to work as a Japanese teacher. In 1990, the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences organized a delegation to Jilin, Changchun, Harbin and other places to conduct field research themed on the 14-year history of Northeast China under the occupation of Japan. Yukiko, who had been concerned about this issue for a long time, participated in the field research, during which she witnessed the iron-clad evidences of the tragic crimes committed by the Japanese invaders, and also heard of the victims' testimony. Thereafter, she devoted herself to exposing and criticizing the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese invaders in China, thus opening her second life of extraordinary significance. She established the "Unit 731 Crime Certificate Exhibition Executive Committee", and is also committed to investigating the chemical weapons left by the Japanese military, actively helping Chinese people injured by gas bombs to claim compensation from the Japanese government. She has repeatedly negotiated with the Abandoned Chemical Weapons Office of the Japanese Cabinet on the issue of compensations for Chinese victims. Yukiko, who was once a silly girl in her fathers eyes, has spared no effort to run around, just to let more Japanese people understand the truth of the history. BERLIN Saudi Arabias foreign minister on Wednesday cautiously welcomed an agreement between its close ally the United Arab Emirates and Israel to establish full ties and exchange embassies. Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the deal, which also halted unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory sought by the Palestinians, could be viewed as positive. But he refrained from outright backing the move and stressed Saudi Arabia is open to establishing similar relations on condition that a peace agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians. His remarks during a news conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas were the first public comment by Saudi Arabia on Thursdays surprise announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that his administration helped broker the UAE-Israel agreement. Bahrain, Oman and Egypt issued official statements welcoming the agreement. The kingdom did not issue similar statements and did not respond to requests for comment until Wednesdays news conference in Berlin. The UAE framed its agreement as a successful measure that halted Israeli plans to annex West Bank territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has said the suspension is only temporary. The Palestinians have issued scathing statements saying the UAE undermined Arab consensus and describing the move as a betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause." Saudi Arabia, like other Arab Gulf states, has built quiet ties with Israel over the years, in part because of shared concerns over Iran and its policies in the region. Prince Faisal reiterated during the press conference the kingdoms long-stated public stance of support for the Arab Peace Initiative sponsored by Saudi Arabia in 2002 which promises Israel full ties with Arab states if a peace settlement is reached with the Palestinians. Conditions for that, however, must be based on internationally recognized parameters, he said. Once that is achieved, all things are possible," Prince Faisal said. He reiterated the kingdoms long-held public stance that a future Palestinian state should include east Jerusalem as its capital. ___ Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 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 Sushant Singh Rajput passed away on June 14 and his post-mortem was performed at a city hospital by a team of five doctors are now facing abuse. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, details of the doctors who had signed on Sushant's post-mortem examination report were shared online a few days back. Along with their names and a copy of the autopsy report, their phone numbers were shared online. Mumbai police had revealed that Sushant Singh Rajput's post-mortem report mentioned "asphyxia due to hanging" as the cause of death. Meanwhile, the actor's family lawyer alleged that there was no mention of the time of death in the autopsy report, and KK Singh said that no one had seen his son hanging. The team of doctors has now reported that they are receiving abusive phone calls and have faced online trolling too. Some have even demanded that the doctor's licences should be cancelled while others have said that they should be booked for murder. Dr Pinakin Gujjar, Dean of the hospital also confirmed with the daily, that the five doctors were being abused online and on calls. He added that he too has been facing similar harassment. The abuse started when an unverified report stated that the doctors who had conducted Sushant Singh Rajput's autopsy had gone into hiding. The doctors are scared to file a police complaint in fear of further harassment. The report stated, one of the doctors is concerned for his family members, as his picture was widely circulated on social media. A senior forensic science expert was quoted by Mirror saying, "He refused to file a complaint even on Tuesday. We understand their reservation; these are young doctors." 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 CBI Takes Over Trends On Twitter; Ankita Lokhande Says 'Truth Wins' Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut & Others React As SC Orders CBI Probe Into Sushant Singh Rajput's Death Australias largest specialty beauty retailer, Mecca Brands, is taking its first steps into the Chinese market via a partnership with Alibabas Tmall Global. Launched Wednesday at an event at The Middle House hotel in Shanghai, the site will initially offer more than 200 stockkeeping units across 22 brands, approximately one third of which are Australian. Fourteen brands will be new to the Chinese market and exclusive to Mecca. They include Australian brands Frank Body, Go-To, Lanolips, The Beauty Chef, Ere Perez, Mecca Brands Mecca Cosmetica and Mecca Max lines and international lines Dr Dennis Gross Skincare, Cosmetics27, Goldfield & Banks, Sol de Janeiro and Merci Handy. The Mecca Tmall global flagship will also offer digital and beauty services, in a bid to re-create, as best as possible, Meccas customer service experience in Australia and New Zealand. The company has trained 10 Hangzhou-based beauty advisers to support the store and organized Mecca-branded gift boxes and packaging for Chinese customers. Meccas Beauty Loop loyalty program, which boasts 1.9 million members in Australia and New Zealand, will also be extended to Tmall customers, offering product previews and exclusives, gift cards, birthday surprises and event invitations. Meccas China launch offer is a tight edit of the companys portfolio of more than 170 brands in Australia and New Zealand, with more brands due to be added. China will be the second international territory for Mecca Brands, which operates 109 brick-and-mortar stores in Australia and New Zealand, split between its three retail concepts: Mecca, Mecca Cosmetica and Mecca Maxima. The mecca.com.au website does not currently offer international shipping. In development for two years, the launch is happening against the backdrop of a Stage 4 lockdown of metropolitan Melbourne, where Mecca Brands is based, the citys second lockdown in five months, due to a resurgence of COVID-19 in the state of Victoria. The city of Auckland, New Zealand, has also reentered lockdown due to a resurgence of the virus there. Story continues Mecca Brands chief executive officer Jo Horgan joined the Shanghai launch via a livestream from her home in Melbourne, as the Mecca Brands office is currently closed, as are 24 of its Melbourne stores for at least six weeks, as well as eight Auckland stores. Following national lockdowns in both Australia and New Zealand earlier this year, the company had begun reopening stores in late April with new COVID-19 safety protocols that included mandatory temperature checks for all customers and face shields for retail team members. Said Horgan, I started Mecca with the desire to make every customer look and feel their best. From our very first store in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, to now launching in China our second international market, we have stayed true to this philosophy over the last 23 years. I am thrilled that we are assisting Chinese customers, some of the most well-informed beauty shoppers in the world, to unearth incredible new brands and products and know that once they experience the Mecca magic, it will be love at first add to cart. Meccas China move follows on the heels of Perth fashion retailer Richard Poulson launching a new English-Mandarin language e-commerce start-up called Showroom-X, tailored to Chinese consumers and offering Australian and New Zealand fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The China share market finished session lower on Wednesday, 19 August 2020, snapping four days of winning streak, as profit booking triggered amid geopolitical development in Australia-China relations after China's Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation into some wines imported from Australia. The delay of high-level trade talks on the implementation of a U. S.-China Phase 1 deal also weighed on market sentiment. . At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.24%, or 42.96 points, to 3,408.13. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, declined 1.95%, or 44.77 points, to 2,253.68. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.5%, or 72.08 points, to 4,740.68. . CURRENCY NEWS: The yuan was up against greenback on Wednesday, inline with firmer mid-point fixing by central bank. Prior to the market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 6.9168 per dollar, 0.23% firmer than the previous fix of 6.9325. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Can Take Down the Chinese Regime in 3 Ways, Says Taiwan Economist As the United States continues to intensify its efforts of restraining the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), relations between the two countries have worsened. According to Taiwanese economist Wu Jialong, the United States will be able to drive the CCP to its death in three ways by denying political legitimacy to the regime. To accomplish this, the United States top priority is to restore diplomatic relations with Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China (ROC). In social media posts, the content of which Wu has allowed The Epoch Times to reprint, the economist said the United States is dealing with the CCP on all fronts, including economic interests, national security, and ideology. As to how the United States can actually bring the CCP down, Wu suggested three possible approaches: Not to recognize the CCPs political legitimacy and removing its sovereign immunity; allowing the American people to file a class-action lawsuit against the CCP and start claiming compensation for the damages caused by the CCP virus (novel coronavirus) pandemic; defining the CCP as a terrorist organization and a criminal group. Of these three approaches, the most important one is to deny the CCP political legitimacy, Wu said. This includes abolishing the one China policy and replacing it with a two China policy, and restoring diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The CCP considers Taiwan as part of its territory and insists on a one China policy that precludes any international space for Taiwan. Taiwans predicament is exacerbated by the fact that its archaic constitutional framework also upholds its own version of the one China policy, which insists the Republic of China is the sole legitimate government of China. As a result, all other nations are forced to choose between recognizing Taiwans Republic of China or the bigger, more powerful Peoples Republic of China. So far no nation has ever formally recognized Taiwan and China simultaneously. Wu said the CCP acquired the seat in the United Nations as the successor to the seat once held by the Republic of China. And its nine-dash line of territorial and sovereignty claims in the South China Sea is also a successor claim held by the ROC as well. The CCPs entire political legitimacy is based on being the successor of the ROC. Wu said that if the United States supports Taiwan and gives it diplomatic recognition, that in itself is not enough to deny the CCPs legitimacy. In other words, Taiwan would be recognized as an independent country and not ruled under the one China policy. The United States must challenge the CCPs political legitimacy and system of justice, so the highest priority is to restore diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Wu said. The United States should use the flag of Taiwan to deny the CCP. Wu also said that Taiwan needs to take the initiative to further discuss with the United States the threat coming from the CCP. While Americans have largely come to realize the threat from the CCP and are changing their attitude towards it, many people in Taiwan have not, and even believe in the CCPs rising of China propaganda. They do not see clearly that Chinas rise over the past decade was actually made possible through the support from the United States. But once the United States shuts off markets that were previously open to China, closes off Hong Kong as a window to the Chinese economy, and enters a confrontational or cold war mode with the CCP, China will only decline. Wu said the Taiwanese people should grasp the opportunity to put Taiwan on the global stage and to be less fearful of the CCPs retaliation as they were in the past. Furthermore, Taiwan should put forward a discussion and stop being trapped in the victim mentality, thinking that the United States pushes peaceful evolution towards the CCP and thus marginalizing Taiwan. Taiwans loophole in the past was that it didnt make Americans understand that its wrong to expect something from the CCP. Americans now understand that they misjudged the CCPs nature over the past 90 years, Wu said. But Americas relationship with Taiwan over the past four decades has fallen victim to this misjudgment. During this time, Taiwan did not put forward a discourse on international politics to influence Americans diplomatic and strategic thinking. Its now time for Taiwan to quickly do that. Wu said Taiwan has to take more initiative. Taiwan needs to put forward effective theoretical arguments, from geopolitics to ideology, to expose the dangers behind the CCPs aggressive actions, and let Americans know how to go against the communists. This is what Taiwan should do and can do. A second wave of coronavirus is crashing on South Korea a country once hailed for its response to stopping the spread of COVID-19. The Asian nation of 52 million people reported 279 new cases on Sunday, more than double the 103 reported on Friday, with most of the new infections found in and around Seoul. It comes as people took to the streets, with huge crowds gathering to protest the government over the weekend. The figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday brought the national caseload to 15,318, including 305 deaths. Members of pro-US conservative right-wing and religious christian groups wave flags and shout slogans during an anti-government rally in Seoul on Saturday. Source: Getty The number of new cases is the highest since 367 on March 8 when the country was concentrating public health tools and personnel nationwide to bring an outbreak in a less populated southern region under control. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo urged people to stay home on Monday, a special holiday the government had drawn up with hopes of spurring domestic consumption, and for residents in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province to avoid visiting other parts of the country for two weeks. Doctors and medical students took to the streets in the South Korean capital Friday to protest the government. Source: Getty Frustrations at the latest outbreak have been directed at a conservative pastor who is accused of violating self-isolation rules and obstructing contact tracing at a church where 240 infections have fuelled the country's worst cluster in more than five months. The focus on the Sarang Jeil Church, led by Reverend Jun Kwang-hoon, has revived bad memories of the country's biggest outbreak, among followers of a secretive Christian sect back in February. Aside from the infections linked to the church, there were also smaller clusters, including about 30 cases linked to a Starbucks outlet in the city of Paju, north of Seoul. Doctors and medical students wearing face protective equipment attend a rally against the government's medical plan on August 14 in Seoul. Source: Getty Images The surge in COVID-19 cases prompted authorities on Sunday to reimpose tighter social-distancing curbs in the Seoul metropolitan area. The health ministry said it had filed a complaint against Rev Jun, an outspoken government critic, for violating self-isolation rules by taking part in a rally on Saturday, and for obstructing a medical investigation into the outbreak by failing to provide a full list of church members for testing and tracing. Story continues There are concerns the spread could worsen after thousands of anti-government protesters rallied in Seoul despite official pleas to stay home. On Saturday, a National Liberation Day holiday in both Koreas, thousands of demonstrators took part in street protests against President Moon Jae-in's policies, defying a ban on rallies in the capital. Thousands of anti-government protestors defied official social-distancing warnings on the weekend. Source: Getty Images The protesters gathered to demand President Moon Jae-in step down. Source: Getty Images Mr Moon said the latest outbreak posed the biggest challenge to efforts in combating COVID-19 since the large cluster of infections traced to secretive religious sect Shincheonji Church of Jesus six months ago. On August 1, South Korean authorities arrested the sect's founder, Lee Man-hee, for allegedly hiding crucial information from contact-tracers. Mr Moon warned of "stern and strong measures" against "some churches", calling their behaviour an "unforgivable act that threatens public lives". with Reuters and AP Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. A fourteen-year-old Indian origin boy in Sudbury, Canada has developed a new LIGHT IR device that is able to detect cancer cells far quicker than any other device. His name is Aaryan Harshith who will soon enter class 10. Harshith got professional help from the MakerSpace Program at Algonquin College to develop the light device. He received help to create the circuit board for the device as well as resources to 3D print some of the components for the device. Algonquin College He developed the device because extended members of his family had suffered and died from cancer. Due to this reason, Harshith got curios about cancer treatments. He developed the light device to quickly detect cancer cells which takes time using traditional equipment. Suspected cancer cells are required to be sent to a pathology lab and then one waits for the confirmation to see if those cells are cancerous or not. His device aims to shorten that period for quicker treatment, especially during surgery and save lost time. The LIGHT IR device is essentially a portable spectroscopy machine which can detect cancer cells faster than the traditional method. Unsplash/national-cancer-institue Harshith also claims that his device can detect cancerous cells in real0time and is 99 per cent accurate. "The simplest way to explain it is that cancer reflects light differently than healthy cells would, It allows them to differentiate between healthy cells and what could potentially be cancerous. He told Sudbury dot com. Harshith is now looking to test the product as much as possible and network with key individuals in the medical and innovation field to help move his project forward. "I am looking at getting grants from the Government of Canada as well as other institutions, he said. I have just filed a patent. Harshith is now looking to become an entrepreneur and does not want to pursue a career in medicine or bioengineering. Source: Sudbury.com Kanojia, who previously has been booked at least thrice by the UP police, said that he had uploaded the post on the orders of Hindu Sena chief Sushil Tiwari, who denied the allegation The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a journalist for allegedly sharing an objectionable social media post on Ram temple, claiming that he did so on instructions of a Hindutva outfit's chief, an official said on Wednesday. Accused journalist Prashant Kanojia had also been arrested in June last year for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media, but had been granted bail on orders of the Supreme Court. "Journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested from Delhi yesterday in connection with an indecent post," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Somen Barma said on Wednesday. The FIR against him was registered at the Hazratganj police station on 17 August for allegedly sharing an "indecent" post on his Twitter handle and saying that he did it on orders of Hindu Sena chief Sushil Tiwari, who denied the allegation. The FIR registered on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Dinesh Kumar Shukla said, "On 17 August, it was seen that Prashant Kanojia through his twitter handle (@Pjkanojia) had uploaded an indecent post related to Ram temple stating that it was done on orders of Tiwari." The post was uploaded to "malign Tiwari's image", said the sub-inspector in his complaint, adding that "such posts can disturb peace". The case against Prashant Kanojia was lodged under various sections of Indian Penal Code, including section 420, and those of Information Technology Act. In a Facebook post on 17 August, Sushil Tiwari had denied he had anything to do with the indecent post on the Ram temple. He had asserted that he was with 'Hindutva' and not with 'fake posts'. When numerous complaints made to police failed to stop the alleged harassment from several of her white neighbors, Jennifer McLeggan, a single Black mother, posted a large handwritten sign on the front door of her New York residence informing the community "I live in FEAR for my life at home." McLeggan, a registered nurse, listed on the sign a litany of allegations against her neighbors, including dropping dog feces on her property in the Long Island town of Valley Stream and shooting a pellet gun across her yard in a dangerous way at a nearby sign. The three years of alleged harassment culminated on Monday with the arrests of two of her neighbors, John McEneaney, 57, and his live-in girlfriend, Mindy Canarick, 53. MORE: White California man charged with hate crime in car attack on Black people "The last straw was the dead squirrels for me," McLeggan, 39, told ABC News of the rodents she said she found in her yard and accused McEneaney of placing them there. "I think enough was enough at that point. That to me was a sign -- you meant me harm." Up until that point, McLeggan "suffered in silence," one of her attorneys, Heather Palmore, told ABC News. "She thought that they were really going to do something to her. So, she posted the sign on her door and that's really what caused this whole thing to go viral," Palmore said. McLeggan said she put the sign up at her home out of fear for her life. "I put [up] the sign in case something would happen and ... someone would see theres a baby inside and kind of, at least, call my mom to pick up the baby," said McLeggan, who wrote on the sign, "My name is Jennifer and I am a single mom and Registered Nurse." Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said she immediately launched an investigation into McLeggan's complaints once she was informed of the sign posted on her home in early July. PHOTO: Jennifer McLeggan talks to reporters in front of her home in in Valley Stream, N.Y., where she says she was the target of racial harassment from neighbors. (WABC) "I was heartbroken when I saw the sign on Ms. McLeggan's door," Singas said in a video statement announcing the arrests of McEneaney and Canarick. "Nassau County is a very safe place to live and no one should feel threatened in their own home. I hope that [McLeggan] and her daughter can sleep better tonight knowing that we have her back and that those who harass their neighbors will be held to account for their actions." Story continues Singas said that while investigators from her office did not find evidence to support a hate crime, the alleged conduct of McEneaney and Canarick "crossed the line between being a bad neighbor and into the realm of criminality." McEneaney was charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree and harassment in the first degree, both misdemeanors. Canarick was charged with criminal tampering in the third degree, also a misdemeanor. The couple was released following an arraignment at the Hempstead District Court. PHOTO: A sign taped the to the front door of the home of Jennifer McLegggan, who is Black and says she fears for her life due to racial animus in her neighborhood, July 13, 2020, in Valley Stream, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP) Singas said that in an attempt to "prevent future contact and harassment," Judge Erica L. Prager granted a request from her office for an order of protection against the suspects. But McLeggan told ABC News that she feels even less safe for her and her baby knowing the suspects are still living next door. "I just feel like now theyre more dangerous because now theyve been arrested," McLeggan said. Following the arraignment, McEneaney told reporters that the charges against him and Canarick were "absolutely ridiculous." "When she moved in, I thought, 'This is great, I finally have a neighbor I can talk to, I can help her with things around her house,'" said McEneaney as Canarick stood next to him. "We're the victims," McEneaney said without elaborating. "I am not a racist. I never was." McEneaney's lawyer, Jason Kolodny, told ABC News that his client doesnt have a racist bone in his body" and described the dispute with McLeggan as squabbles as neighbors. MORE: FBI warns of potential surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans amid coronavirus Palmore said that McLeggan, 39, was pregnant with her now 2-year-old daughter when she moved to Valley Stream in 2017 from an apartment she was renting in Queens, New York. "She found this house. It was a foreclosure and she got it for a discounted price," Palmore said. "She wanted to provide a safe place for her daughter and her to live. And it's unfortunate that she had to experience this." PHOTO: Jennifer McLeggan talks to people in front of her home in in Valley Stream, N.Y., where she says she was the target of racial harassment from neighbors. (WABC) Palmore said the house was badly in need of repairs and that McEneaney and Canarick immediately began complaining about the house being in disrepair the moment she moved in. "Then she started to see that this was more than just about the upkeep of the house, that they did not want her there because she is Black," Palmore claimed. She said McLeggan made numerous complaints to the Nassau Police Department to no avail. MORE: Couple arrested for hate crime in Brooklyn, allegedly blaming spread of COVID-19 on Jews: Police "They didn't act on any of her complaints," Palmore said. "Some of the officers would ask her, 'Were you hurt?' Just downplaying the incident and she became increasingly frustrated over the course of the last three years." She said McEneaney would allegedly shoot pellet guns from his backyard across McLeggan's property, leaving a street sign near McLeggan's yard pockmarked. "Many of these incidents have been caught on surveillance tape," Palmore said. PHOTO: Jennifer McLeggan talks to reporters in front of her home in in Valley Stream, N.Y., where she says she was the target of racial harassment from neighbors. (WABC) After McLeggan's placed the sign on her home, community residents rallied in support of her and a group of men even took shifts guarding her home. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder called a news conference on July 14 in hopes of "ratcheting down" the tensions. Ryder said that after McLeggan's posted her sign, detectives interviewed her extensively. He said detectives also interviewed McEneaney's father and seized a pellet rifle and a pellet handgun from the family home. "At this time, we do not have any evidence of any bias. But that does not mean that it is not there," Ryder said at the time. "We have more work to do." Ryder confirmed that his officers have responded to up to 50 complaints made to his agency by both McLeggan and her next-door neighbors about each other since 2017, including the allegation from McLeggan about dead squirrels left in her yard. "There are allegations that [the suspects] have shot squirrels. There are neighbors who have found dead squirrels in their yards," Ryder said. "None of those squirrels have been shown to have been shot by a BB to our knowledge. We're still looking into that matter." MORE: Father and son charged with murder of unarmed black man Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia Singas said the charges against McEneaney and Canarick came after investigators interviewed other neighbors, police witnesses, code enforcement officers and reviewed surveillance videos. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is now representing McLeggan, called it "outrageous" that McLeggan had to endure the alleged harassment for so long before action was taken by law enforcement. "Ms. McLeggan was simply trying to live while Black -- and her life was turned into a living hell by neighbors whose aim was to drive her away," Crump alleged. "Enough is enough. This long-overdue arrest sends an important message: That in America in 2020, people of color have the right to breathe, the right to live, the right to own a home, and the right to protection by their government. That is what we demand, and we will not accept less. ABC News' Stephanie Wash, Janai Norman, Sasha Pezenik and Ed Wiese contributed to this report. White Long Island couple charged following harassment complaints by Black neighbor originally appeared on abcnews.go.com WASHINGTON - An exhaustive investigation led by members of President Donald Trump's own political party portrays his 2016 campaign as posing counterintelligence risks through its myriad contacts with Russia, eager to exploit assistance from the Kremlin and seemingly determined to conceal the full extent of its conduct from a multiyear Senate probe. The long-awaited report from the Senate Intelligence Committee contains dozens of new findings that appear to show more direct links between Trump associates and Russian intelligence, and it pierces the president's long-standing attempts to dismiss the Kremlin's intervention on his behalf as a hoax. Like the Mueller report before it, the nearly 1,000-page Senate document does not contain evidence of direct collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence. But the Senate report carries particular weight because it is the first major investigation of Russian interference in 2016 to be conducted by a Republican-controlled committee and endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats. The report's language is often stark, describing Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's receptivity to Russian outreach as a "grave counterintelligence threat" that made the campaign susceptible to "malign Russian influence." At one point, the document concludes that members of Trump's transition team probably fell prey to Russian manipulation that they were too callow to recognize. Kremlin operatives "were capable of exploiting the transition team's shortcomings," the report says. "Based on the available information, it is possible - and even likely - that they did so." Other sections of the report may furnish Trump supporters new material to use in attacking the FBI and one of its informants. The probe is particularly critical of the credibility and sourcing of a "dossier" assembled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele as part of an opposition research effort funded by Democrats. But Trump will have difficulty taking exculpatory advantage of a report that is replete with damning details about his conduct and that of his associates. The Senate probe is the first to flatly declare that a longtime partner of Manafort was, in fact, a Russian intelligence officer. The report also for the first time cites evidence that that alleged operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, may have been directly involved in the Russian plot to break into a Democratic Party computer network and provide plundered files to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. The committee determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally directed the hack-and-leak campaign. In one of its most startling passages, the report concludes that one of Trump's core claims of innocence cannot be credited. In written testimony to the team of federal prosecutors led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Trump insisted that he could not recall ever discussing the WikiLeaks dumps with political adviser Roger Stone or any other associate. "Despite Trump's recollection," the Senate report said, "the committee assesses that Trump did, in fact, speak with Stone about WikiLeaks and with members of his campaign about Stone's access to WikiLeaks on multiple occasions." The document describes Trump and associates of his campaign as often incapable of candor. It offers new proof that former national security adviser Michael Flynn lied about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States, raises troubling questions about Manafort's decision to squander a plea agreement with prosecutors by lying to Mueller's team, and accuses Blackwater founder Erik Prince of "deceptive" accounts of his meetings with a Russian oligarch in the Seychelles weeks before Trump was sworn into office. The overall portrait that emerges from the report's 966 pages is of repeated collisions between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, but no formal collusion. The two sides shared the same objective - the defeat of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton - and basked in one another's admiration. But more because of ineptitude than any principled commitment to the sanctity of American democracy, the partnership was never consummated, the committee determined. The report is the last of five installments in the Senate probe that confirm the broad outlines presented in 2017 by U.S. intelligence agencies: that Russia waged a massive campaign of cyber-intrusions and social media disinformation at first to disrupt the 2016 election, then to try to sway its outcome. The document would read more like a harrowing historical account were it not for mounting evidence that many of the same forces of disruption are lining up for the 2020 election. The top U.S. counterintelligence official recently warned that Russia is again waging a far-reaching interference campaign and favors Trump in the upcoming election. The United States has taken some steps to thwart Moscow's plans, including a reported effort by the State Department to flood Russian citizens' cellphones with offers of reward money for information on the Kremlin's operations. But Trump continues to amplify many of Russia's divisive messages. Attorney General William Barr has intervened in criminal cases against Trump allies Stone and Flynn. And Trump supporters on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have reportedly accepted material from Russian-tied sources to discredit former vice president Joe Biden, Trump's opponent in November. Some of the Senate report's most damaging material centers on the conduct and connections of Manafort. The longtime GOP operative not only fed sensitive campaign reports to Kilimnik but then worked with him after the election "on narratives that sought to undermine evidence" of Russian interference, the report states. Among the Russian-planted ideas they sought to advance, the committee found, was that Ukraine was the true culprit in the 2016 election. A Russian lawyer who met with Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner at Trump Tower before the 2016 election also had more "significant connections" to the Kremlin than has been previously reported, the Senate probe concludes. The "dirt" that Natalia Veselnitskaya offered on Clinton was "part of a broader influence operation targeting the United States that was coordinated, at least in part, with elements of the Russian government," the report states. The Senate probe was conducted in an unusually bipartisan fashion given the polarized atmosphere in Congress. For most of the past three years it was led by Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va., though Burr stepped down earlier this year amid investigations of his stock sales at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. There were partisan differences, however, in how to interpret the outcome of the probe, which includes some findings likely to be seized upon by Trump supporters. The panel concluded that the FBI's handling of Russian threats to the election was "flawed," for example, and that the bureau gave "unjustified credence" to allegations about Trump's Russia ties made in the dossier compiled by Steele, "based on an incomplete understanding of Steele's past reporting record." The committee said it did not rely in any way on Steele's memos, but it included references to separate sources related to one of his dossier's most explosive allegations. The report cited "testimony and other information provided by several witnesses" referring to the possible existence of compromising tapes and witness accounts of Trump's conduct with women during past visits to Moscow. The panel agreed that the FBI overestimated Steele's reliability and that Manafort and other aides exposed the campaign to undue Russian influence. But its leaders were divided along party lines in how they interpreted other findings, and several members - including the committee's acting chairman, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. - endorsed dissenting conclusions about Trump's culpability. "After more than three years of investigation by this Committee, we can now say with no doubt, there was no collusion," a group of six panel Republicans, including Rubio, wrote in a statement that instead accused the Democratic Party of coordinating with foreign actors to produce Steele's dossier. The FBI's conduct remains under investigation by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was tapped by Barr to explore the origins of the Russia probe. A former FBI lawyer is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to falsifying a document in the Russia case. Durham is also likely to interview former CIA director John Brennan on Friday, according to a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Five Democratic senators - including Kamala Harris of California, the party's 2020 vice-presidential nominee - asserted that the report "unambiguously shows that members of the Trump Campaign cooperated with Russian efforts to get Trump elected." Referring specifically to their findings on Manafort, the Democrats wrote, "This is what collusion looks like." Warner, the ranking Democrat on the panel, did not sign onto the Democrats' dissent but noted "a breathtaking level of contacts between Trump officials and Russian government operatives that is a very real counterintelligence threat to our elections." Burr and Warner launched the probe before Trump's inauguration in January 2017. Since then, Mueller released a 448-page report on Russian interference, and Trump was impeached and acquitted after Democrats accused him of coercing Ukrainian leaders to interfere in the 2020 election. The Senate probe involved interviews with more than 200 witnesses and gained access to classified materials relating to Russian disinformation efforts. And although it covered much of the same turf as Mueller's investigation, the committee's work was different in nature. Mueller ran a criminal probe; the Senate committee conducted an intelligence investigation - a distinction that helps explain some of the nuanced differences between their conclusions. Mueller eventually secured the convictions or indictments of six Trump aides. The Justice Department later sought to withdraw charges against one, Flynn, and Trump commuted the sentence of a second, Stone. The special counsel also indicted 26 Russians, charging 12 military officers with involvement in the hacks and 13 Russians with manipulating social media to influence U.S. opinion. Kilimnik was charged with obstruction of justice. The Intelligence Committee's report notes that it had made referrals to the Justice Department "for potential criminal activity" suspected during the course of its investigation. As The Washington Post reported late last week, Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort were among those flagged to federal prosecutors because the committee believed that their testimony was contradicted by information unearthed by Mueller. It is unclear whether the Justice Department took action on the referrals. - - - The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Greg Miller and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. The PM said the decision to require the test for all travelers came due to 'increasing infections in some countries' Egypt said it will require all travelers arriving to the country to present a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) lab test result certificate for the coronavirus starting September 1, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced in a news conference on Wednesday. Madbouly said the decision to require the test for all travelers came due to increasing infections in some countries. We are keen on ensuring the health of those arriving to the country and Egyptian citizens; therefore, we agreed that any traveler arriving to the country should be tested, he said. The new decision comes days after Egypt only required some travelers, excluding Egyptians, to present a negative PCR lab test result certificate for the coronavirus for entry to some areas in the country, including Cairo. Egypt began a gradual resumption of regular international flights starting July 1, having shut its airspace in March in the wake of the pandemic. Foreign tourists are currently allowed entry only into the three coastal Egyptian governorates with the lowest coronavirus infection rates in the country South Sinai, Red Sea, and Matrouh. The government has so far allowed around 600 hotels that have met safety protocols to reopen at a reduced occupancy rate of 50 percent in a bid to revive the country's key tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the virus restrictions. More than 100,000 tourists have visited Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh since Egypts resumption of inbound tourism on July 1, the Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism said on Tuesday. The tourists come from Belarus, Ukraine, Switzerland, Hungary and Serbia, according to the ministry. Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 10:43:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A motorcyclist rides past fallen signs of a bus stop in Macao, south China, Aug. 19, 2020. China's Macao Special Administrative Region has downgraded its typhoon signal from highest No.10 level to No.8 on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. local time, but the low-lying areas near the coastline were flooded, as Typhoon Higos had made landfall in the neighboring city of Zhuhai in the morning. Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau had upgraded its typhoon signal to No.10 level on Wednesday at 5:00 a.m. local time, before downgrading it to No.8 later on. The red storm surge warning was also issued at 5:30 a.m. local time. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) MACAO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region has downgraded its typhoon signal from highest No.10 level to No.8 on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. local time, but the low-lying areas near the coastline were flooded, as Typhoon Higos had made landfall in the neighboring city of Zhuhai in the morning. Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau had upgraded its typhoon signal to No.10 level on Wednesday at 5:00 a.m. local time, before downgrading it to No.8 later on. The red storm surge warning was also issued at 5:30 a.m. local time. The meteorological bureau said Typhoon Higos is now located about 70 km northwest of Macao and moves away from Macao. The low-lying areas near the coastline of Inner Harbor were flooded as some streets witnessed water depth of more than 80 centimeters. Macao's Civil Protection Operations Center urged all people staying in those areas to evacuate to safe place. As of 10:00 a.m. local time, there were 192 people moving into Macao's 17 emergency shelters. The electricity company had shut the power supply in low-lying areas to protect people's safety and the equipment during the flooding. Some 185 incidents such as falling trees and advertisement boards have been reported so far, said Macao's Civil Emergency Response Center. Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau said it will further downgrade the typhoon signal to No.3 at noon. Enditem A migrant was attacked on a Kent beach just moments after landing onshore in a dinghy on Sunday. The man, thought to be in his 20s and from the Middle East, was set upon by an unknown assailant who watched the boat arrive on the beach near Deal. It is thought to be the first assault on a migrant arriving on the Kent coast. Police said the victim was not injured but a search for the attacker has begun, according to The Times. Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover & Deal, condemned the attack. 'While urgent action is needed by the French and the Home Office, there is no excuse for violence or vigilante behaviour,' she said. Police were called at around 11.05am on Sunday after the attack in Kingsdown near Deal in Kent. The man, thought to be in his 20s and from the Middle East, was set upon by an unknown assailant who watched the boat arrive on the beach near Deal. Pictured, migrants arriving at Dover on Monday The force said: 'Officers attended to ensure the welfare of the man, who was not seriously injured and did not require hospital treatment. 'Inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and the identity of the person responsible are ongoing.' Hundreds of migrants have been landing on the Kent coast in recent weeks as warm weather and calm sea conditions encouraged them to travel in small boats from France. On Monday a five-year-old girl was among 17 migrants to arrive in Dover on the 14th consecutive day of Channel crossings as it was revealed smugglers offer 'gold, silver and bronze' packages to desperate passengers. The previous day 112 migrants arrived at Kent's shores, bringing the total for this month so far up to at least 1,232 - smashing July's record 1,118 arrivals. Traffickers take advantage of vulnerable asylum seekers desperately fleeing their homelands by offering the paid-for arrangement at a camp in Calais. Hundreds of migrants have been landing on the Kent coast in recent weeks as warm weather and calm sea conditions encouraged them over from France. Pictured, UK border force officials with migrants on August 15 The most expensive package, gold, costs 10,000 and means you get a larger boat with better conditions, less other people and lifejackets, as reported by The Sun. One migrant who was hoping to make the journey in the next few days told the newspaper: 'The prices vary. It depends on the size of the boat and how many people are inside. 'People come around offering the crossings. We pay and keep in touch. They tell us when and where to go and pick us up. 'I'm looking forward to it. Britain is like heaven to me!' The silver package costs between 3,000 and 5,000, and means you get a worse boat. And the lowest package, bronze, means you pay a prize of 1,000 or less and are often crammed onto a stolen boat. Seventeen migrants, including one child, were found off the coast of Dover by a Border Force Vessel Hunter on Monday Dan O'Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said other countries caps' make it difficult to send refugees back, if they don't have a legitimate asylum claim to stay in the UK. He said: 'It is a fact that these crossings are illegally facilitated by criminals who are making money exploiting migrants desperate to come to our country.' Meanwhile Kent County Council no longer have capacity for unaccompanied migrant children. Roger Gough, the leader of Kent county council, said on Sunday that more unaccompanied migrant children arriving over the weekend had 'tipped the balance' in the area. Large numbers of migrant children reaching the UK led to an 'unthinkable' situation where the council said it 'cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals'. Back in 2012, the Library of America published special facsimile editions of two Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels: "Tarzan of the Apes," introduced by Thomas Mallon, and the nearly as famous planetary romance, "A Princess of Mars," introduced by Junot Diaz. This year, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. has begun to issue a uniform authorized edition of the entire Tarzan series, each volume featuring action-filled cover art by Joe Jusko. The company has also continued the "Carson of Venus" saga with a newly commissioned exploit by Matt Betts called "The Edge of All Possible Worlds." While Burroughs (1875-1950) churned out every kind of pulp adventure, including several books set in the hollow-earth realm of Pellucidar and a fast-moving lost-world trilogy assembled as "The Land That Time Forgot," the first Tarzan novels, in particular, show how deeply his mythic storytelling can captivate the imagination. The books do this, moreover, despite Burroughs' sometimes stilted language, period stereotypes (dotty professor, "humorous" Black maid, cartoon Russian anarchist) and myriad improbabilities in their plotting. Racial attitudes and beliefs are typical of the time, yet more nuanced than you might expect: Tarzan judges people, regardless of their skin color or ethnicity, solely by their character. Courage, fortitude and compassion - these are the qualities that matter. Burroughs opens "Tarzan of the Apes" (1914) with an irresistible hook: "I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other." The pages that follow describe how the infant son of the dead Lord and Lady Greystoke is reared by an anthropoid ape named Kala and learns to survive and flourish in the African jungle. One day, the grown Tarzan swings out of the trees to rescue a party of shipwrecked Westerners, thereby encountering Baltimorean Jane Porter and her suitor, the English aristocrat William Clayton, heir-apparent to the Greystoke title and estates. Many adventures follow but, with a daring that most writers would shrink from, Burroughs brings the novel to a climax in, of all places, Wisconsin. There, Jane and Tarzan finally acknowledge their love for each other, even though Jane feels honor-bound to keep her promise to wed Clayton. Shortly after a tearful farewell, the brokenhearted ape-man learns that he is, in fact, the rightful Lord Greystoke. Just then, Clayton enters and cheekily asks, "How the devil did you ever get into that bally jungle?" The answer provides the novel's throat-catching final lines: "'I was born there,' said Tarzan, quietly. 'My mother was an Ape, and of course she couldn't tell me much about it. I never knew who my father was.'" This act of renunciation drives home one of Burroughs' main themes: That despite a brutish, not British, upbringing, Kala's son possesses unassailable nobility and fineness of character. Note that this isn't due to aristocratic blood, family background or race. Rather the novel presents Tarzan as Rousseau's unspoiled child of nature, a literally noble savage free from the vices and corruption associated with advanced industrial society. However, the encounter with Jane Porter has seriously shaken his equanimity. As "The Return of Tarzan" (1915) opens, the ape-man feels psychologically divided between the claims of "civilization" and the call of the wild. (This is a common literary theme of the era - think of Jack London's sled dog Buck, Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray.) What should a lord of the jungle do with his life? First, Monsieur Jean C. Tarzan tries to adapt to Parisian high society - at least until a dastardly Russian named Nikolas Rokoff contrives to make it appear that Tarzan's friendship with the Countess de Coude masks a full-fledged love affair. To save the lady's honor, Tarzan again chooses self-sacrifice, resolving to die in a duel with her husband, the finest pistol shot in France. Miraculously, he survives and, for good measure, proves the countess's innocence. Next, the ape-man travels to Algeria to expose a traitor in the French Foreign Legion. By freeing a young Arab woman from slavery, he earns the undying gratitude of her father, a powerful desert sheikh. "All that is Kadour ben Saden's is thine, my friend, even to his life." Tarzan rapidly comes to admire the sheikh and his stern, dignified warriors, but resists the temptation to settle among them permanently. After thwarting several murder attempts by Rokoff, our hero finally returns to his beloved African homeland. "Who would go back to the stifling, wicked cities of civilized man when the mighty reaches of the great jungle offered peace and liberty? Not he." Before long Tarzan, by now a specialist in rescuing people from certain death, saves an African named Busuli, then joins his new friend's people, the Waziri, among whom he finds contentment - for a while. Even the most casual reader of "The Return of Tarzan" will notice its neatly orchestrated shifts, as its displaced protagonist "tries out" life among White Europeans, sunburnt Arabs and Black Waziri. But Tarzan's journey of self-discovery isn't over yet. While exploring the mysterious, half-ruined city of Opar, he is captured by its savage inhabitants, most of whom are virtually indistinguishable from H.G. Wells' bestial Morlocks. Only Opar's high priestess La preserves a fully human beauty and Tarzan the Irresistible naturally catches her eye. Following a lucky escape from Opar, the weary-hearted lord of the jungle finally decides, in Walt Whitman's phrase, to "turn and live with the animals. They are so placid and self-contained." He rejoins the apes he grew up with and gradually begins to forget the heartache and complexity of being human. At which point Jane reappears - along with Clayton and Rokoff. As this precis indicates, the Tarzan novels repeatedly extol glad animal spirits and natural instinct over western culture's soul-deadening constraints and artificiality. This is a simplistic dichotomy, albeit useful for highly melodramatic storytelling. In his many, many adventures to come, the ape-man will sometimes appear as the urbane and proper Lord Greystoke, but whenever serious danger threatens, he will, in approved superhero fashion, quickly doff his bespoke suit and take to the trees as Tarzan the untamed, Tarzan the invincible. Paul Mescal has revealed what he thinks will happen to Connell Waldren. Viewers watched the compelling coming-of-age BBC drama Normal People end with the literature student gaining a scholarship in New York, while his girlfriend Marianne Sheridan (Daisy Edgar-Jones) vowed to stay in Ireland to complete her studies. Now, in a podcast for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Paul, 24, has revealed his post-finale predictions for the complex character, who was created by novelist Sally Rooney. Future predictions: Paul Mescal has revealed what he thinks will happen to Connell Waldren (pictured in July) Paul said: 'My opinion kind of changes with the breeze in the sense that I think he goes to New York. 'I think Connell is not somebody who's particularly well-equipped to exist in New York, but I think that him being so drastically out of his comfort zone will allow him to really focus on his identity as a writer. I think he will, at some point, start to thrive in New York.' When asked if he thinks Connell's relationship with Marianne will be able to last the long distance, the actor replied: 'Of course there's the question of where do him and Marianne fit in? And this is the tricky one. I don't know. Young love: Viewers watched the coming-of-age BBC drama Normal People end on a cliffhanger, after he gained a scholarship in New York (pictured with Daisy Edgar-Jones) 'I think there's probably room for another major relationship in his life, potentially not with her, and likewise with her.' He continued: 'I think that they will cause a lot of hurt to their potential partners before they end up being back together, because fundamentally I believe that they will...see what's in front of them, and commit, and that's what I like. 'I don't think it would be an easy five to 10 years.' Paul added he thinks the character has the potential to become a brilliant writer. Last month, the actor was astounded when he won a surprise nomination at the forthcoming 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. Interesting: Paul said: 'I think there's probably room for another major relationship in his life, potentially not with her, and likewise with her' Mescal has been nominated in the category for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, but he faces stiff competition from fellow nominees Jeremy Irons, High Jackman, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Pope. Paul has since thanked Daisy, 22, for her work and championed her 'extraordinary talent' for the show's success. Sharing a picture of Connell in tears, the Irish star thanked Daisy, as well as Normal People director Lenny Abrahamson. He wrote: 'My actual face right now! Thank you to absolutely everyone at @ElementPictures, @Hulu and @BBCThree! Turbulent romance: Paul predicted: 'I think that they will cause a lot of hurt to their potential partners before they end up being back together' (pictured together at the BAFTAs last month) '@lennyabrahamson I will never be able to thank you enough! @DaisyEdgarJones this only exists because of you and your extraordinary talent it's as simple as that! Thank you all x.' Mescal has also shared his disappointment for co-star Daisy being snubbed, he told Vulture: 'If it was me I would have given her all the love in that category. I can't speak highly enough of the work she did on the show. 'I know there are extraordinary actresses nominated in that category, but I think Daisy's work is just phenomenal in this.' This year's Primetime Emmy Awards will be conducted virtually as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, with guests participating from home for the first time in the show's history. Watch every episode of Normal People on BBC Three, or on Stan in Australia. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the AAP government to complete its process of issuing 10,000 fresh auto permits by March 31 next year to increase the number of auto rickshaws plying on the city roads. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi is directed to complete the process for issuance of fresh Letters of Intent (LoIs) by March 31, 2017, Justice Manmohan said. The courts order came on the Delhi governments plea that it be allowed to start a fresh process which would be carried out online to ensure transparency. The Delhi government has filed an application in the ongoing plea by some autodrivers who have moved the court challenging the cancellation of 324 permits to ply auto rickshaws in the city. The permits were cancelled by the government on receiving complaints of irregularities in the allotment process. The high court gave its consent to start the fresh process while observing that it was in favour of protecting the 324 individuals who had purchased autos after getting the LoIs from the Delhi government keeping in view their financial liability. It allowed 324 drivers who had purchased autos after getting the LoIs in 2015 from the Delhi governments transport department to participate in the process. The parties (the Delhi government and the auto drivers) have agreed that the Delhi government shall initiate process for fresh 10,000 three-seater auto rickshaw (TSR) licences within a period of two weeks. They further agreed that applications of those who have a valid badge will be received and processed online. Those who do not have a valid badge will not be allowed to participate in the process, the court said, adding that besides these 324, there were others who were also given LoIs in 2015 and they too were entitled to participate in the process for applying for auto permits. The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the AAP government to complete its process of issuing 10,000 fresh auto permits by March 31 next year to increase the number of auto rickshaws plying on the city roads. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. U.S and Vietnamese authorities partnered on an investigation for fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the arrests of three Vietnamese suspects, the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City said in a media release on Tuesday. The investigation originated in Tampa, Florida in March, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) forwarded information related to the case to the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security. In response to the information provided by HSI, Vietnamese authorities conducted their own investigation and arrested three defendants. As detailed in the civil complaint and accompanying court papers filed in the United States on August 3, 2020, defendants Thu Phan Dinh, Tran Khanh, and Nguyen Duy Toan, all residents of Vietnam, are alleged to have engaged in a wire fraud scheme seeking to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Consulate Generals Public Affairs Section said in the media release. According to the complaint, the defendants allegedly operated more than 300 websites that fraudulently offered for sale products that became scarce during the pandemic, including hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Over 7,000 victims in all 50 U.S. states attempted to purchase these items from the defendants websites. The victims paid for items supposedly sold through the websites but never received the purchased products. The complaint alleges that the defendants set up hundreds of email accounts and user accounts with a U.S.-based payment processor to carry out the scheme and keep it hidden from law enforcement. The defendants are also alleged to have listed misleading contact addresses and phone numbers on the websites, causing unaffiliated individuals and businesses in the U.S. to receive numerous complaint calls from the victims who had been defrauded by the scheme. HSI investigators identified nearly 40,000 fraudulent transactions worth approximately US$975,000. The arrest of multiple suspects by Vietnams Ministry of Public Security (MPS) clearly demonstrates the Government of Vietnam takes COVID-19-related crimes seriously. This investigation resulted in significant financial losses to people who were already facing enormous challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink. We are proud of the partnership between MPS and Homeland Security Investigations on this complex transnational fraud investigation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! An anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F Kennedy Jr has accused Facebook of censorship after its fact-checking program flagged multiple posts containing 'misinformation' about vaccinations. In a lawsuit filed in a California federal court on Monday, the Children's Health Defense claimed the social media company violated its First and Fifth Amendment rights by actively 'suppressing vaccine safety speech' online. The non-profit group, which regularly posts anti-vaccine propaganda to its 122,830 followers, claimed it was wrongfully targeted after Facebook implemented a new algorithm to track and censor misinformation in February 2019. At the time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg had come under pressure by U.S. lawmakers who threatened to remove the tech company's immunity unless it imposed measures to curb the spread of false content and ads. Robert F Kennedy Jr filed a lawsuit against Facebook on Monday accusing it of censoring posts published on anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense's page The lawsuit cited multiple posts that were flagged as false or misleading by Facebook's fact-checkers The CHD claimed Facebook then teamed up with the CDC and the WHO to consistently censor its posts by tagging them with a 'warning label' or other notices indicating disinformation. But in reality, the lawsuit claims, fact-checkers censored 'valid and truthful speech, including speech critical of those agencies and their policies.' The CHD also argued the fact-checking practice has damaged its reputation as a public health advocate 'to both the risks of environmental toxins, vaccines, 5G and wireless networks, and the conflicts of interest in government oversight of those products and services.' 'This case arises in a pandemic when the need for public debate on health issues has never been greater,' the lawsuit states. The complaint cited multiple social media posts that were blocked or flagged by Facebook's Politifact program for containing 'partly false information' or false headlines. In June, CHD published an article on its page claiming infants death rates had significantly declined during the pandemic due to the reduced use of vaccines. A post shared on April 16 was flagged for containing a 'false headline' that claimed the flu vaccine made people more susceptible to coronavirus Fact-checkers later tagged the post with a warning label stating the article contained misleading information. Another post shared in April 2020 was flagged after citing a study in the journal Collective-Evolution.com that claimed there was a 'significantly' greater risk of contracting coronavirus among individuals who received the flu shot. 'Facebook and Politfact fraudulently misrepresented to all third-party users that the post was "False Information Checked by independent fact-checkers",' the suit states. 'Indeed, the very name "Politifact" suggests that the putative "fact-checking" here is more political than scientific.' CHD also argued it has been unfairly targeted by the company, highlighting Facebook's 'exemption' for climate change deniers, whose views are considered 'opinion' - adding that its posts should also be viewed as such. 'By using Facebook's pre-populated options to mislabel [CHD's] articles and videos, Science Feedback and Facebook intentionally tell the public that [CHD] is presenting false information, when they know that the information presented is, at most, opinion and not false fact,' the suit states. In a written statement accompanying the company's press release on the lawsuit, Kennedy Jr accused the government of trying to silence its critics. 'This is an important First Amendment case testing the boundaries of government authority to openly censor unwanted critiques of government policies and pharmaceutical and telecom products on privately owned internet platforms,' he said. CHD was founded by RFK Jr, 66, the son of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, in 2016. Kennedy Jr has received criticism over the years from people who claim he has helped spread misinformation on vaccines. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Patna : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that donation sources of an amount as little as Re 1 to political parties should be disclosed. Talking about the Election Commissions proposal to bring an amendment to laws to make political parties reveal donations above Rs 2,000 from anonymous sources, he said, its good and an amendment should be made in laws. Why only Rs 2,000 and above? Parties should reveal who has given even Re 1 or Rs 10 to it, Kumar said. He, however, expressed doubt if the BJP-led NDA government would bring an amendment to this effect. The Election Commission has urged the government to amend laws to ban anonymous contributions of Rs 2,000 and above made to political parties so that flow of blackmoney in polls could be checked. Replying to a question over the appointment of Bipin Rawat as the new Army chief superseding two seniors, Kumar said the Army and Judiciary should be kept out of any controversy. I do not know much about it as I am busy with preparation of celebration of 350th Prakash Parva anniversary of Guru Govind Singh. But institutions like Army and judiciary should be kept out of any controversy, he said. The chief minister also favoured filling vacancies of judges for speedy delivery of justice. He was talking to reporters after the second Lok Samvad (dialogue with people) programme held in his Secretariat. In the programme, Kumar in the presence of ministers concerned and senior officials of the departments which have been earmarked date-wise, addresses grievances of the people. The Lok Samvad is organised on the first three Mondays of the month except if the date coincides with any festival or gazetted holiday. It could not be held on December 12 due to the holiday on Eid-e-Milad. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Facing a coronavirus pandemic that preys on people with underlying health conditions like obesity, state governments in Mexico are taking extreme measures to halt the virus by prohibiting the sale of junk food to minors. This week, state legislators in the southern state of Tabasco voted to ban the sale of sodas, sugary drinks, and other highly processed foods, like chips and candy, to anyone under the age of 18. The vote comes on the heels of a similar measure in nearby Oaxaca, which has the countrys highest rate of childhood obesity, and is among a dozen or so Mexican statesrepresenting about a third of the countryworking on legislation to limit the sale of junk food to minors. Advertisement The problem of obesity and the junk food that helps fuel it is not new to the country: Mexicans drink more sugary drinks per capita than any other country in the world, and a recent study in the state of Guerrero said 70 percent of schoolchildren reported having soda for breakfast. A January 2020 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that 73 percent of Mexicans are overweight. The findings are linked, which has prompted a host of measures over the years to reduce consumption, including a sugar tax in 2014 and a new labeling law on junk food set to go into effect in October that treats junk food packaging much like cigarettes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Mexico has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus, with more than 500,000 confirmed cases and 57,000 fatalities, the third-highest number of virus-linked deaths in the world. With its ley antichatarra, or antijunk food law, the southern state of Oaxaca, in a vote of 31 to 1, prohibited the sale of items such as chips, candy, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages to children under 18, putting these foods in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol, the Washington Post reports. The law establishes fines, store closures and jail time for repeat offenders. The ban also applies to vending machines in schools. Mexicos coronavirus czar, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, applauded the move to restrict junk food sales, calling sugary drinks bottled poison. The Wednesday refused to entertain a plea challenging the government's decision to appoint M V Rao as the acting Director General of Police (DGP) saying a PIL cannot be accepted in a service matter. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, dismissed the plea filed by a resident. During the hearing, senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the government, said that it is proxy litigation and the court cannot interfere in the service matter under Article 32 jurisdiction. Senior advocate R Venkataramani, appearing for the petitioner Prahlad Narayan Singh, said that he is a resident of the state and wants to know as to how was the incumbent DGP (Rao) appointed as acting DGP despite the verdict of top court in the Prakash Singh case (2006) on police reforms. The bench told Venkataramani that it is not going to entertain this petition. You have come to the Court with a public cause. A public cause seeking reforms in the police force cannot be a service matter. So, please do not equate yourself with the Prakash Singh case. We will not entertain this matter, it said. Rao, an IPS officer of 1987 batch, was given the additional charge of DGP on March 16 after the then DGP Kamal Nayan Choubey was transferred as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Police Modernisation Division Camp in New Delhi. The plea has challenged the appointment of acting DGP alleging that the decision violates the top court's orders regarding fixed tenure and seniority of state police chiefs. Singh, who hails from Giridih district and claims to be a social activist, has alleged in his plea filed through advocate Sanchit Garga that he is aggrieved by the blatant violation and disregard of orders of the top court with regard to appointment of "in-charge DGP" in the state by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government "to satisfy their political interest". The plea claimed that Rao, who stands fourth in seniority of Jharkhand-cadre IPS officers, was already holding charge of the Director General (Fire services and Home Guard). It claimed that Choubey was transferred within 10 months of his appointment as the DGP "just to accommodate M V Rao, who is otherwise not eligible but a favourite of the JMM-led government". It alleged that Rao has been unlawfully appointed as in-charge DGP in gross violation of the directives and guidelines given by this court with regard to the appointment and tenure of DGP in every state. The state's action "clearly demonstrates that the removal of the earlier DGP (Chaubey)...is political and whimsical and a good officer has been made a victim of some political vendetta, the plea has alleged. It has sought a direction to the Jharkhand government to end the interim arrangement and re-instate Chaubey in the post of DGP with immediate effect. The plea has also sought a direction to the Centre, the Jharkhand government and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), to comply with the law laid down by the apex court in the Praksah Singh versus Union of India case of 2006. The top court has passed a slew of directions on police reforms on a PIL of former Uttar Pradesh DGP Prakash Singh, fixing two-year tenure for police chiefs and restraining states from appointing acting DGPs. (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.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:11:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HEFEI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zhuangtai is a residential area on raised ground that functions as a safe haven from river floods. A type of elevated village that is unique to the Huaihe River Basin, zhuangtais have long been serving as a type of Noah's Ark, offering villagers shelter from flooding. The Huaihe River originates in central China's Henan Province and traverses some 1,000 km through several provinces, including Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu. It used to flood a vast area of land, mainly in Anhui Province, every three to four years on average. Created in 1953, alongside the Wangjiaba hydrological station, the zhuangtais in the Mengwa flood buffer zone are located dozens of meters above sea level, either on naturally occurring low hills or artificially built structures. Altogether, they provide homes to 195,000 residents of four townships in Funan County of Anhui. At present, there are 131 zhuangtais in the Mengwa buffer zone of Funan County, including 77 scattered in the middle of the area like islets and another 54 along the river embankment. During the flood diversion period, zhuangtais in the middle are like islets surrounded by floods, and daily living supplies need to be brought in by boat from outside. On July 20, three days after the first flood this year following torrential rains, spillways at the major flood diversion facility of Wangjiaba were opened in a move to reserve capacity in flood zones. Water roared through the diversion area at a rate of 1,360 cubic meters per second, in the midst of pouring rain, inundating local farmland and turning the zhuangtais into isolated islets. A total of 375 million cubic meters of water, 20 times the water volume of the West Lake, was stored in the Mengwa buffer zone this year, submerging an area of more than 180 square km. The move is expected to alleviate the pressure from both the upper reaches and downstream sections of the swollen Huaihe River. The spillways of the Wangjiaba hydrological station have been opened to divert floodwater 16 times since it was put into use in 1953, with the last time being in 2007. Enditem The United Nations Security Council held a discussion on Belarus Tuesday in which members were urged to do everything they can to stop the crisis from escalating. Estonia and the United States requested the dialogue, which was held during a closed-door meeting on Yemen, under a portion of the session reserved for discussion of "any other business." Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told the 15-member Council that it "has a key responsibility in the prevention of violent conflict and mass atrocities," according to a statement. "Using preventive diplomacy at all levels is of utmost importance for avoiding the escalation into violent conflict," the AFP cited him as saying. "Today's meeting sends a signal that we are closely following the events in Belarus and make sure the secretary-general receives the support necessary to use his preventive diplomacy toolbox where necessary. "This Council shall remain engaged with the situation and receive update of events if the developments so require," he added. China, however, said the situation in Belarus was not a matter for the Security Council. Beijing's permanent representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, "emphasized, what's happening in Belarus is the country's internal affair, and does not pose any threat to regional or international peace and security," according to a Chinese statement. Belarus is gripped by mass protests against disputed elections earlier this month in which Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory and a sixth term. The Chinese God Of Wealth Welcomes Players To Habanero's New Wealth Inn Slot Published August 19, 2020 by Arthur M Wealth Inn is a new slot from Habanero where the Chinese God of Wealth is an expanding wild symbol who completes combinations across the 3 reels. Cai Shen, the Chinese God of Wealth welcomes players to a new slot from Habanero. Wealth Inn plays out on a 3x3 grid crossed by 8 paylines, and it comes with enriching features such as expanding wilds and jackpots. Welcome To The Inn Rich reds dominate the colour scheme, with red lanterns swaying to the sides of the 3 reels. 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Harris will be joined at the third night of the virtual Democratic National Convention by Hillary Clinton, the Democrats' 2016 pick - and the first woman to ever be nominated for president by a major party - as well as President Barack Obama, the first black man to serve as commander-in-chief. Former President Bill Clinton, the last white male Democrat to serve as president, spoke Tuesday night, with some questioning his role in a party that's striving to show off its diversity and grapple with a post-#MeToo world. Sen. Kamala Harris will officially become the Democrats' vice presidential nominee Wednesday night at the virtual Democratic National Convention. She'll deliver remarks from Wilmington, Delaware Hillary Clinton, the only woman to ever top a major party's presidential ticket, will be part of Wednesday night's programming that will conclude with Harris becoming the first woman of color to ever be nominated for vice president House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold the job, will speak after Clinton during Wednesday night's DNC programming President Obama, the nation's first black president, will speak before Harris' family members appear and deliver her nominating speech The party's parade of firsts come one day after President Bill Clinton appeared at the DNC, which attracted some criticism in the post-#MeToo era and as the Democrats want to showcase their diversity The theme of Wednesday night's festivities is a 'more perfect union' and showcases a number of Democratic firsts - politicians who have broken boundaries thanks to their gender or race. Hillary Clinton will appear during a part of the night's programming dedicated to female leadership, which has helped create said 'more perfect union.' Clinton was the first woman to ever win a major party's presidential nomination when she did so four years ago, only to be bested by President Donald Trump. That part of the program will also feature a video marking 100 years of suffrage for some American women with the adoption of the 19th Amendment, an anniversary celebrated Tuesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - the country's first female speaker of the House - will follow Clinton, getting an introduction from actress Taraji P. Henson, according to Politico. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ran against Harris and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 race, is also slated to speak Wednesday night about a 'more perfect economy.' Then, President Barack Obama - the country's first black president - will address the DNC and deliver what's expected to be a blistering rebuke of Trump - and a wholehearted endorsement of Biden, his former vice president. Harris will be formally nominated by three of her family members: Sister Maya Harris, who served as the campaign chairwoman for Harris' presidential bid, Maya's daughter Meena and Harris' step-daughter Ella Emhoff, who refers to her as 'Momala,' the California senator said when she talked about her family members during her debut speech in Wilmington, Delaware last week. She'll appear again Wednesday night in Wilmington, at the city's Chase Center, which has been set up for Harris and Biden to give their nomination acceptance speeches. There, she'll only be joined by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, due to social distancing protocols. The DNC was supposed to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but instead is being pieced together virtually from multiple locations thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden campaign wouldn't say whether Harris or Biden will be tested for the coronavirus prior to their appearances, though all other people on-site will have been tested for multiple days. Locust control operations have been carried out in 2.76 lakh hectares area in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana since April this year, the Union Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday. "Starting from 11th April 2020 till 18th August 2020, locust control operations have been done in 2,76,267 hectares area in States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana by Locust Circle Offices (LCOs)," an official statement said. Till August 18, control operations have been done in 2,87,374 hectares area in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Bihar by the state governments. "Control operations were carried out during day and night time yesterday at 10 places in 5 districts viz Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu and Hanumangarh of Rajasthan and 2 places in Kutch district of Gujarat against hoppers by LCOs," the statement said. Presently, 104 control teams with spray vehicles are deployed in the Rajasthan and Gujarat, and more than 200 central government personnel are engaged in locust control operations. Fifteen drones are deployed at Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagaur and Phalodi in Rajasthan for effective control of locusts on tall trees and in inaccessible areas through spraying of pesticides. Drones are used in hopper control also. A Bell helicopter has been deployed in Rajasthan for use in Scheduled Desert Area as per the need. "No significant crop losses have been reported in the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Haryana. However, some minor crop losses have been reported in some districts of Rajasthan," the statement said. On Wednesday, hoppers were active in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu and Hanumangarh of Rajasthan and Kutch district of Gujarat. As per the Food and Agriculture Organization's Locust Status Update of August 14, 2020, swarms persist in the Horn of Africa. Good rains fell in Yemen where more hopper bands and swarms are likely to form. Hopper groups and bands continue to form along the Indo-Pakistan border. Weekly virtual meeting on Desert Locust of South-West Asian countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan) is being organised by Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Twenty-two virtual meetings of the technical officers of South West Asian countries have taken place so far, the statement said. Every year during the dry season, the Kuikuro and eight other Indigenous groups of Upper Xingu gather to honor the dead. This important celebration, known as the Kuarup, marks the closure of a long mourning period for the families, who offer fish and beiju, or tapioca, to hundreds of guests. They cry and pray around ornamented logs that are later thrown into a river or lagoon so as to free the souls of the deceased, and members of different villages engage in a physical fight called huka-huka. In June, for the first time in 50 years, the Kuarup had to be canceled. Advertisement Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, the traditional rituals and communal lifestyle of the Indigenous peoples in the Xingu Indigenous Territory in Brazils central-western state of Mato Grosso have turned dangerous. Daily tasks like securing food, shelter, and well-being pose their own set of risks: Community members often travel to the nearest municipalities of Gaucha do Norte and Canarana, roughly 100 miles south of the territory, to buy fuel for their fishing boats and motorcycles and supplies to build their homes, as well as to receive medical treatment at an Indigenous health support house. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When news broke of a foreign virus in early March, Indigenous leaders in the 6.5 millionacre territory that is home to more than 7,000 people from 16 different groups promptly mobilized to try to keep the disease at bay. They adopted a voluntary quarantine and produced videos and other educational materials with prevention tips in Karib languages. Still, despite their best efforts, the coronavirus arrived in Xingu. Since the first death from COVID-19, a 45-day-old Kalapalo baby in early June, at least 10 other deaths and more than 210 confirmed cases have been registered. Advertisement Its really scary for us, says Kumessi Waura, a member of the Kuikuro people. We are specially terrified of losing the elderly because they are the only ones who can carry on telling our stories. Advertisement But the Kuikuro, who make up about 10 percent of the overall population of the territory, have managed to mitigate the spreadin part, thanks to innovative use of technology. In collaboration with a transnational collective of researchers and social scientists, the Kuikuro Indigenous Association of Upper Xingu, or AIKAX, has developed a community-level contact-tracing system to monitor who is coming in and out of the Ipatse village, as well as potential coronavirus cases. Advertisement Advertisement First, they carried out a census of the village, registering the number of houses and the men, women, and children living in them. Then, using a phone app, trained contact tracers regularly updated the system with information about travelers within each family and indicated whether anyone had presented symptoms in the 14 days prior. They also recorded dates of entry and departure to and from town and between villages. We believe it makes it easier to control [the spread] if we know where the disease is coming from and who the person is so we can isolate them, says Waura, who is one of three Indigenous geo-spatial technicians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Kuikuro are not new to the use of collaborative data collection technology. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they were already employing these tools to map out archaeological, sacred places and ancestral settlements, as well as cultivated areas. In one year, they recorded as many as 500 locations. The community had also recently started to receive training to monitor areas at risk of deforestation and wildfires. When the time came, they swiftly adapted this technology to tackle a public health emergency. We knew it would be impossible to stop everyone from coming and going, particularly in a communal village where social contact is everything and the very idea of isolation is terrible, says Carlos Fausto, an anthropology professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiros National Museum and member of the Amazon Hope collective working closely with the Kuikuro. What we needed was to buy enough time to shift from the monitoring stage to response preparation. Advertisement If one person catches the virus, everyone gets infected at once. Kauti Kuikuro As cases continued to spike in nearby villages in the Xingu territory and surrounding towns of Mato Grosso, the Ipatse village showed no sign of community spread. The first two confirmed cases were patients who contracted the virus at the health care unit in town and were discharged without getting tested. Our three contact tracers identified them and updated the system and our medical team was able to monitor these patients, the president of AIKAX, Yanama Kuikuro, says. Upon arrival at the village, they were immediately put in isolation at a traditional home the community built to house the sick. Advertisement Advertisement In July, the Kuikuros preparedness was put to the test when many of the residents of Ipatse fell ill after attending a funeral at a nearby village for a COVID-19-related death. With help from the monitoring system, the technicians quickly identified and isolated the sick. The tests initially came back negative for COVID-19, but a second round detected 55 confirmed cases, only two of which remain active and are currently under control. Advertisement One house sometimes has 20, 30 people living together so if one person catches the virus, everyone gets infected at once, says Kauti Kuikuro, a nursing technician and health monitor who goes door-to-door checking in on the older residents and patients with diabetes or high blood pressure. Doing it every day, sometimes you get tired but I keep doing it because its getting to us. Not all communities have been so successful. More than 26,000 cases and 689 deaths from COVID-19 among 154 different Indigenous groups have been recorded across the country, according to Brazils Indigenous People Articulation. (These figures are higher than the official statistics from the Ministry of Healths Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health as they also include Indigenous people living in cities.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The mortality rate among Indigenous people is almost double that of the overall population, underscoring a historic susceptibility to highly transmissible and respiratory illnesses largely due to a lack of access to health care services and basic sanitation. The challenge for our generation is to prevent COVID-19 from becoming the measles from 1954, Fausto wrote in an op-ed referring to an epidemic that took the lives of 1 in 5 Indigenous people in Upper Xingu. The combination of President Jair Bolsonaros refusal to confront the virus with his previous policies opening up Indigenous lands to mining and logging has led advocates to allege that a genocide against the countrys 800,000 Indigenous people is underway. On the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples, commemorated on Aug. 9, protesters in London covered Trafalgar Square in fake blood to raise awareness to the plight of Indigenous groups in Brazil. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also remembered the tragic death from COVID-19 of Chief Aritana Yawalapiti, one of the main leaders of Xingu, and highlighted the importance of ensuring that indigenous peoples can exercise their rights to self-government and self-determination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Brazilian government says it has invested more than $12 million in actions to protect the Indigenous peoples that include the distribution of masks, gloves, and COVID-19 rapid testing kits among the 34 Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts. But Indigenous groups and rights activists say the official response has been slow and insufficient to protect these populations, pointing out that the national contingency plan is vague and lacks critical input from the communities themselves. Some groups worry that health agents, the military, and missionaries might be contributing to the spread of the virus. The government is not helping us here. Yanama Kuikuro In July, Bolsonaro signed into law an emergency plan to protect at-risk groups but vetoed provisions obligating the government to provide access to drinking water, hygiene products, and internet, and to ensure that villages have more hospital beds and intensive care units, citing financial burden as a reason. The Supreme Court has since ordered the installation of sanitary barriers restricting movement into the Indigenous territories and called on the government to address the ongoing issue of land invaders. Advertisement The government is not helping us here, Yanama Kuikuro says. Were struggling; the supplies we buy arent enough, and we just dont have the resources to reach the other villages. Advertisement Advertisement That leaves groups like the Kuikuro to do most of the heavy lifting themselves. They are relying on the data they collect on the ground to inform strategies including launching public awareness campaigns, raising funds to hire additional health professionals, arranging the regular delivery of fuel and food to families, and setting up a new oxygen therapy center. Many of them dont want to leave the village because they often feel they are treated in a hostile way at the hospitals, says Bruno Moraes, a researcher with the Emilio Goeldi Museum and the collectives operations director. He says it can take as many as 12 hours by land transportation to reach the closest hospital equipped to treat COVID-19 patients. If we can offer basic assistance and prevent the disease from progressing without having to remove them, then they can continue their traditional treatments. The more lives we can save, the better, he adds. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Belarusian women, one of them carrying a poster that reads "My brother is not a criminal," rally in solidarity with protesters injured in the latest rallies against the results of the country's presidential election in Minsk on Aug. 13, 2020. (AP Photo) Belarusian Leader Orders Police to Quash Protests, EU Announces Sanctions MINSK/BRUSSELSBelarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered his police on Aug. 19 to put down protests in the capital Minsk, signaling an escalation after a week and a half of mass demonstrations against his rule. The European Union held an emergency summit on the crisis, rejecting Lukashenkos reelection in a disputed vote on Aug. 9 and announcing financial sanctions against officials the bloc blames for election fraud and a cracking down on protests. Our message is very clear. Stop the violence, said Charles Michel, the EU summit chairman. EU commission head Ursula von der Leyen said the list of those hit by sanctions would be prepared swiftly. European Council President Charles Michel addresses European lawmakers at the European Parliament in Brussels, on July 23, 2020. (Francois Walschaerts/AP Photo) This is about the Belarusian people and their legitimate right to determine the future path of their country, she said. The European Union stands at the side of the Belarusian people. Lukashenko, a gruff former Soviet collective farm boss facing the biggest crisis of his 26-year rule, has blamed foreign countries for stirring the unrest and says the protesters are funded from abroad. There should no longer be any disorder in Minsk of any kind, he said in remarks reported by state news agency Belta, announcing the new police crackdown in the capital. People are tired. People demand peace and quiet. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures as he delivers a speech during a rally of his supporters near the Government House in Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 16, 2020. (Stringer/Reuters) Police had kept a low profile during a mass protest in Minsk on Aug. 16, and the protests have spread to some of Belaruss major industrial plants. On Aug. 19, police dispersed a demonstration and detained two people at the Minsk Tractor Works plant. Police also took control of the main state drama theater in Minsk. It became a flashpoint for protests when its director, a former Belarusian diplomat, was fired after speaking out in favor of the opposition rallies. Lukashenko ordered border controls to be tightened to prevent an influx of fighters and arms, and intelligence agencies to search for the organizers of demonstrations. Opposition supporters protest against disputed presidential elections results at Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 18, 2020. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images) The EU wants to avoid a repeat of violence in neighboring Ukraine, where a pro-Moscow leader was ousted in a popular uprising six years ago, triggering a Russian military intervention and Europes deadliest ongoing conflict. For us it is clear that Belarus must find its own path, that must happen via dialogue in the country, and there must be no intervention from outside, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She bluntly said she saw no role for herself as a mediator in the crisis, noting she had tried to phone Lukashenko, but he refused to talk to me, which I regret. Belarus Is Not Europe Russia has consistently warned the West against meddling in Belarus, which has the closest economic, cultural and political ties to Moscow of all the former Soviet republics and is central to its European defense strategy. On Aug. 19, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused unidentified foreign powers of interfering, which he called unacceptable. Tens of thousands of Belarusian opposition supporters join a March for Freedom in Minsk on Aug. 16, 2020. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images) Some European officials have stressed that the Belarusian opposition, unlike in Ukraine, does not seem to be committed to loosening ties with Russia, merely to getting rid of Lukashenko. Belarus is not Europe, EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said, comparing it to pro-Western Ukraine and Georgia, both targets of Russian military operations. Belarus is really strongly connected with Russia, and the majority of the population is favorable to close links with Russia. But some European officials, especially in countries close to the frontier, have pushed for a firmer line to support the opposition and push back if Moscow backs any move to crush it. Belarus opposition supporters carry of a giant former white-red-white flag of Belarus used in opposition to the government, during a demonstration in central Minsk on Aug. 16, 2020. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images) The Kremlin faces the choice of sticking with Lukashenko to see if he can cling on, or trying to manage a transition to a new leader who would keep Minsk in Moscows orbit. Flight tracking data showed that a Russian government plane used in the past to carry officials, including the head of the FSB security service, flew to Belarus and back overnight. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged the EU to reject official results giving Lukashenko 80 percent of the vote. A 37-year-old political novice, she stood as his main challenger in the election after better-known opposition figures were jailed or banned from standing. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world, said Tsikhanouskaya in English, in a video address from exile in neighboring Lithuania. Belarusian opposition figures set up a council on Aug. 18 to negotiate a transition, a move denounced by Lukashenko as an attempt to seize power. By Andrei Makhovsky and Gabriela Baczynska MBABANE Lucky Obama Matsenjwa is now suing government a sum of E3 million. He claimed that during his incarceration, he was assaulted by officers from His Majestys Correctional Services and as a result, he suffered injuries on his leg and head. He further alleged that while he was detained in the facility, he also suffered abuse at the hands of Correctional Services officers. Matsenjwa alleged that after the assault, he was placed in solitary confinement. Compensation Through his lawyers from MLK Ndlangamandla Attorneys, Matsenjwa has caused to be issued a demand to government, where he wants to be paid the sum of E3 million as compensation for pain and suffering, medical costs, loss of dignity and for future medical costs. He contended that the assault and abuse was a violation of his right to dignity and protection from inhumane and degrading treatment. While he was still incarcerated, Matsenjwa once moved an urgent application seeking the courts intervention and/or protection, claiming that there was a clandestine move to kill him in prison. In the application, which was filed by his then attorney Sipho Gumede, Matsenjwa was also seeking an order directing the commissioner of His Majesty Correctional Services and/or her subordinates to remove him from solitary confinement with immediate effect and place him in any holding cell within the Zakhele Remand Centre. Matsenjwa was further praying for an order interdicting the warders from assaulting him while still under their custody. He also wanted the court to also interdict the warders from threatening him with death. Narrating events leading to him being isolated from other prisoners, Matsenjwa stated that on December 17, 2018 around noon, he was removed from the cell he had been detained in at Zakhele Remand Centre. He said the senior officer who carried out his removal from the cell was King Maseko. I was taken to a cell where I was put under solitary confinement. I was not given reasons for the removal. At around 8pm on December 17, 2018; officers came to where I was detained and heavily assaulted me, submitted Matsenjwa. According to Matsenjwa, the officers were using batons to assault him. He told the court that during the assault he screamed inyandzaleyo. Screaming Matsenjwa explained that while he was screaming, some inmates from the other cells nearby started shouting at the officers that they were hearing that he was being assaulted. He alleged that the officers then stopped assaulting him. I sustained injuries on my left leg. The injuries were observed by my attorney Sipho Gumede when he came to check on me on December 18, 2018, said Matsenjwa. He informed the court that for the past months, he had been receiving threats from one of the senior officers. Matsenjwa stated that he was now aware of the senior officers particulars but he heard that he was a Mr Zwane. Zwane, according to Matsenjwa, had been threatening that he was going to ensure that he died in custody. These are allegations whose veracity is yet to be tested in court. Matsenjwa further alleged that he was also refused an opportunity to be attended to by a medical practitioner to the injuries, he sustained when he was being assaulted. According to Matsenjwa, after he was assaulted by the warders, he requested to see a doctor to attend to the injuries but the senior officer allegedly refused. I have on two occasions found my food items in the form of juices with punched holes. There has been allegations that, some of the officers wanted to poison me, alleged Matsenjwa. He said, while he was in the bigger cell, he would request those next to him to guard his food while he went to see his visitors. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) A vaccine against coronavirus may be available to Filipinos by the second quarter of 2021, an official from the Department of Science and Technology said on Wednesday. If we are talking about the availability en masse, we believe this is going to be happening in the second quarter of next year, said Rowena Guevara, the chair of the Sub-Technical Working Group on Vaccine Development and DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development. She added a clinical trial on a COVID-19 vaccine is slated to start in the later part of 2020. The Philippines is in talks with Russia and at least 16 other vaccine manufacturers. The country's expert vaccine panel said they have yet to receive the complete records from Russia a requirement for the Food and Drug Administration to approve holding the clinical trial for "Sputnik-V" in the country. Dr. Nina Gloriani said the Moscow-based manufacturers have only submitted a synopsis on its research. FDA said it will not allow a Phase 3 clinical trial to be held in the Philippines if the regulatory and ethics board haven't thoroughly reviewed the documents from Phases 1 and 2, ensuring that the vaccine will be safe. President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesperson, Harry Roque, previously said the Philippines will simultaneously conduct the Phase 3 with Russia from October 2020 to March 2021. Once it has received FDA's approval for a nationwide distribution, Duterte will be inoculated with the Sputnik-V vaccine. The World Health Organization on Tuesday advised countries against idly waiting for a coronavirus vaccine. WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr. Takeshi Kasai said countries should focus on improving their COVID-19 response as there may not be enough supply of the vaccine during the initial production. Meanwhile, DOST said it does not have a research facility for the Philippines to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine, adding it requires a huge investment. But Guevara said they are working on establishing a virology institute in the country, adding DOST already has funding for research and development, which is set to start next year. Malacanang earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte is reviewing the recommendation to establish a Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines that will serve as premiere research institute in virology and diseases to strengthen local vaccine development in the country. The government is also starting discussions on public-private partnerships for the local production of vaccines known as "fill and finish" after Russia presented the option. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the virtual DNC convention on Aug. 18, 2020. (DNCC via Getty Images) Clinton, Kerry, and Schumer Attack Trump in Convention Speeches Former president Bill Clinton, former secretary of state John Kerry, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) focused their speeches at the second day of the Democratic National Convention on attacking President Donald Trump. Clinton blamed Trumps leadership for the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed to statistics which suggest the United States has been hit harder than other nations. Donald Trump says were leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, its a storm center. Theres only chaos, Clinton said. Clinton, Kerry and Schumer were among a group of speakers who delivered pre-recorded remarks at the second day of the convention, which is being held virtually amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Former deputy attorney general Sally Yates and former secretary of state Colin Powell likewise took swipes at Trump. Democrats formally nominated Biden as their presidential candidate on Tuesday, months after all of the other candidates in the race endorsed the former vice president. Biden is scheduled to accept the nomination on Thursday. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden embrace as they speak from Brandywine High School, where she taught English from 1991 to 1993, during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links from the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Aug. 18, 2020. (2020 Democratic National Convention/Pool via Reuters) Bidens supporters consistently report that theyre motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden, a lifelong politician who would be the oldest president ever elected. The Trump campaign responded to the second day of the convention by highlighting Bidens agenda. When they were counting the delegates tonight, somebody should have been totaling the $4 trillion in new taxes that Joe Biden would heap on Americans if elected, Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director said in a statement. Another informative exercise would have been for each state delegation to announce how many jobs Bidens failed policies have killed in their communities, through high taxes and regulations, disastrous trade deals, and coddling of economic rivals like China. In this image from video, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) Schumer used the pandemic to criticize the president and accused Trump of dividing the nation. America: Donald Trump has quit on you. He has quit on you, Schumer said. We need a president with dignity, integrity, and the experience to lead us out of this crisis, a man with a steady hand and a big heart who will nevereverquit on America. That man is my friend Joe Biden. Kerry focused his criticism of Trump on the presidents foreign policy, claiming that Trumps agenda has made our nation more isolated than ever before. When this president goes overseas, it isnt a goodwill mission, its a blooper reel. He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at, Kerry said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. (@FahadShabbir) HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2020) The UN Security Council, at the initiative of the United States and Estonia, considered the situation in Belarus and its impact on peace and security in Europe, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said. Estonia initiated a discussion of the situation in Belarus as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, representing Estonia, expressed deep concern in his speech about the excessive use of force by the Belarusian authorities during the protests after the presidential election in the country, the ministry said. "The Security Council is obliged to prevent violent conflicts. Therefore, it is our duty to warn in advance and raise awareness. We have seen what happens in different countries of the world when unfree and dishonest elections fail and the justified discontent of people is not taken into account," the ministry quoted Reinsalu as saying. Mass opposition protests began across Belarus on August 9, after the presidential elections, which Lukashenko won - according to the Central Election Commission, he gained 80.1 percent of the vote. In the early days, the rallies were crushed by law enforcement officers: tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets were used against the protesters who did not agree with the election results. Then the law enforcement agencies stopped dispersing the rallies and using force. In line with official data, over 6,700 people were detained in the first days. According to the Interior Ministry, hundreds of people were injured during the riots, including more than 120 law enforcement officers. According to the Belarusian Health Ministry, two protesters have died. The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) within the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) has discovered the activation of the Gamaredon hacking group, which is monitored by the special services of the Russian Federation." "Specialists of the NCCC within the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine have identified a trend towards the modernization of cyberattack software in order to increase the effectiveness of overcoming protection means and concealment of their activities in compromised systems. The analysis of malicious programs revealed signs of preparation for a large coordinated attack on government agencies and critical infrastructure, aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine before the Independence Day and during preparations for the next local elections," the press service of the NSDC said. During the latest attack attempts, the attackers reportedly used malicious attachments that counterfeited government documents, in particular the Security Service of Ukraine. Attackers send malicious documents by e-mail, and when they are opened, they gain access to the systems and networks of a government institution. NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danylov said that all subjects of the security and defense sector, which ensure cybersecurity in various spheres, work in a constant mode of monitoring, preventing and repelling cyber attacks. "Urgent informing the NCCC within the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine about detected cyberattacks on the information systems of government agencies, critical infrastructure facilities for coordinating rapid response is extremely important, because the consequences of cyberattacks can pose a significant threat to the vital interests of the state and society," Danylov said. "Cyber threats from the Russian Federation are extremely dangerous for both Ukraine and European countries," he said. The NCCC within the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has already warned cybersecurity subjects about the danger. In case of revealing indicators of compromise, it is necessary to immediately inform the NCCC within the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (e-mail: report@ncscc.gov.ua). Brad Pitt reportedly thinks his estranged second wife Angelina Jolie has gone 'way too far' with their divorce proceedings stretching into year four. 'Brad says Angelina has gone way too far this time,' a source said in the August 31st edition of Us Weekly, on newsstands now. 'He's left with no other option but to dig in and fight back - hard.' Custody trial is set to begin in October: Brad Pitt reportedly thinks his estranged second wife Angelina Jolie has gone 'way too far' with their divorce proceedings stretching into year four On August 10, the 45-year-old actress-humanitarian requested to disqualify Judge John W. Ouderkirk for 'failing to disclose' his working relationship with one of the 56-year-old actor-producer's attorneys. Ouderkirk also happens to be the judge who married the Oscar-winning former couple at their French estate Chateau Miraval in 2014. 'The individuals hurt most by Jolie's transparently tactical gambit are the parties' own children,' Pitt's lawyers said in response to Jolie's filing. 'They continue to be deprived of a final resolution to these custody issues.' A source said in the August 31st edition of Us Weekly: 'Brad says Angelina has gone way too far this time. He's left with no other option but to dig in and fight back - hard' Brad and Angelina co-parent five children - Pax, 16; Zahara, 15; Shiloh, 14; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12 - while Maddox, 19; studies abroad in South Korea. 'Any delay in these proceedings is due to [Pitt's team's] zealous attempt to create an unrecognized special exception for their client's benefit,' her legal team wrote. The Ad Astra action star and the One and Only Ivan actress' custody trial is set to begin in October. Angelina has reportedly 'threatened to move their children to Richmond,' an affluent suburb in Southwest London. 'She believes [Richmond is] a perfect environment for the kids, from a cultural standpoint and educationally,' an insider told the Mirror. 'One scenario is that she could have the kids a few months at a time in the UK, then they'd be allowed back to see Brad for longer periods.' However in November, Jolie specifically told Harper's Bazaar: 'I would love to live abroad and will do so as soon as my children are 18. Right now I'm having to base where their father chooses to live.' He wed the Oscar-winning former couple in 2014: On August 10, the 45-year-old actress-humanitarian requested to disqualify Judge John W. Ouderkirk for 'failing to disclose' his working relationship with one of the 56-year-old actor-producer's attorneys American universities are struggling to conduct certain classes this fall in a way that will protect Chinese students from prosecution under that countrys new national-security law. China applied a law to the territory of Hong Kong in late June that gives the government broad authority to arrest any resident suspected of offenses against the national security of the country. The legislation states that it will apply to offenses committed against the Hong Kong administration from outside the Region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the Region, meaning anyone in the world can be prosecuted under the law. American universities host thousands of students from China and Hong Kong, many of whom will be taking online courses this year. Universities and professors are now struggling to teach the courses in ways that will protect students from prosecution under the national security law. We cannot self-censor, Rory Truex, assistant professor of Chinese politics at Princeton, told the Wall Street Journal. If we, as a Chinese teaching community, out of fear stop teaching things like Tiananmen or Xinjiang or whatever sensitive topic the Chinese government doesnt want us talking about, if we cave, then weve lost. However, Truexs course will be presented with a warning that some material will be sensitive to the Chinese government, and students will hand in assignments with code names in order to protect their identities. A Harvard Business School course that requires students to read diaries of Uighur Muslims detained in concentration camps in Xinjiang will also attempt to minimize risk for Chinese students. There is no way that I can say to my students, You can say whatever you want on the phone call and you are totally free and safe here, Meg Rithmire, the political science professor who teaches the course, told the Journal. Its more about harm mitigation. With many students learning online from their homes in China, it will be especially tricky for professors and schools to teach subjects that are censored by the Chinese government. More from National Review The publicity department for the Grand Circuit has sent out its weekly recap and preview of racing on the Grand Circuit. This Week: Zweig Memorials, Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY; North America Cup and Fan Hanover eliminations, Woodbine Mohawk Park, Milton, Ont., and Gold Cup and Saucer final, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino, Charlottetown, PEI. Schedule of Events: Grand Circuit action kicks off this Friday (Aug. 21) as Vernon Downs will host the $330,000 Zweig Memorial for three-year-old open trotters and the $160,140 Zweig Memorial for three-year-old filly trotters. On Saturday (Aug. 22), Woodbine Mohawk Park will host a pair of $50,000 eliminations in the North America Cup for three-year-old open pacers and a pair of $35,000 eliminations in the Fan Hanover for three-year-old filly pacers. Also on Saturday, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino will host the $60,000 Gold Cup and Saucer final for older pacers. Last Time: Last years Indiana Sires Stakes champion, Odds On Osiris, left the Hoosier State for the first time to compete, and made it count by winning the $250,000 Carl Milstein Memorial at MGM Northfield Park on Saturday night (Aug. 15). For more, click here. Grand Circuit Standings: In 2020, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2020 Grand Circuit awards. Here are the leaders following this past weekend: Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras 327; 2. Tim Tetrick 244; 3. Andrew McCarthy 237; 4. Dexter Dunn 229; 5. Brian Sears 219. Trainers: 1. Ron Burke 316; 2. Nancy Takter 250; 3. Marcus Melander 203; 4. Tony Alagna 192; 5. Ake Svanstedt 164. Owners: 1. S R F Stable 82.5; 2. Brad Grant 82.4; 3, Courant Inc. 67; 4. Burke Racing Stable 66.3; 5. Crawford Farms Racing 59.7. Looking Ahead: Grand Circuit racing will be taking place next week at Woodbine Mohawk Park with the North America Cup final for three-year-old open pacers, the Fan Hanover final for three-year-old filly pacers, the Roses Are Red for open pacing mares and the Armbro Flight for older trotting mares leading a busy week of stakes action. Mohawk will host a total of 10 stakes over three days. (With files from the Grand Circuit) PREZ BUBBA RETURNS!!! Bill Clinton lays out a stark choice for voters in his Democratic National Convention speech WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton laid out a stark choice Tuesday night for voters during the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention: Either elect a "go-to-work president" in Democrat Joe Biden or reelect incumbent Donald Trump, who would use a second term to "blame, bully and belittle." AOC Offers Counterpoint AOC nominates Bernie Sanders and snubs Joe Biden in DNC address Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only got a minute to speak at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night but she made it count as a warning that Joe Biden not ignore the party's far-left wing, nominating socialist Bernie Sanders and making no mention of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Second Lady Level Up?!? Jill Biden outshines Bill Clinton, and more takeaways from Night 2 of the Democratic convention Ever since the dawn of the #MeToo era, Democrats have had a hard time figuring out with what to do about Bill Clinton. In the midterm elections, there was a reluctance to deploy him, as the party sought to avoid a rehashing of his sexual transgressions - and anything that might blur the party's contrast with Trump. AOC Hot Minute Mess AOC calls out 'racial injustice, colonization, misogyny' in minute-long DNC speech Firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called out "racial injustice, colonization, misogyny" as she helped nominate progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., to be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. While former Vice President Joe Biden was assured to win the nomination vote, Sanders did earn delegates during the primary and was formally nominated during the Democratic National Convention proceedings. Virtual Reality Begins Democrats formally nominate Joe Biden for president in virtual roll call Former Vice President Joe Biden officially became the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night after an unconventional roll call vote of party delegates conducted virtually from landmarks across the country. Once he amassed the votes, a camera appeared on Biden from Delaware, where he celebrated the moment with wife, Jill, and bundles of red, white and blue balloons as the family popped streamers. Progressive Review 5 winners and 2 losers from night 2 of the Democratic convention The first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention was about highlighting ordinary Americans, and the second night was about putting the spotlight on its leaders - the figures who dominated the party in decades prior and those who hope to take the reins in the decades ahead. Former Boss Shares The Love Obama congratulates Biden on formal nomination Former President Obama congratulated on being formally nominated as the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee. "Congrats, Joe. I'm proud of you," Obama tweeted Tuesday night. Congrats, Joe. I'm proud of you. https://t.co/YVyctn5o3N - (@BarackObama) August 19, 2020 Biden, who served as Obama's vice president for eight years, officially clinched the nomination on Tuesday after delegates formally cast their votes. A double take on tonight's festivities that dominate political chatter with only typical push back and without any sense of humor about the best 2nd best infomercial we've ever seen . . .Developing . . . Kaden Bradford and Deandre Arnold are suing a Texas school district for suspending them over their locs. Juanell Core of J.Core Photography A Texas school district ordered two Black high school students not to return to school unless they cut their locs. On Monday a federal judge blocked the school from carrying out the suspension of one of the young men, Kaden Bradford, allowing him to return to school without cutting his hair. Barbers Hill Independent School District is majority white and has refused to change its dress code, which is deemed racist by many. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A Black Texas high school student is allowed to return to class this year without cutting his locs, a Federal judge ruled Monday. Kaden Bradford and his cousin De'Andre Arnold made national headlines in January when they were told by the Barbers Hill Independent School District that they couldn't come to school unless change their appearance. Their families sued the district in federal court in Houston, claiming that the schools dress code, forbidding long hair, is unconstitutional as discriminates based on race, sex, and is in violation of freedom of expression. While the case is ongoing, US District Court Judge George Hanks issued a preliminary injunction that orders the district to allow Bradford back without changes to his hair. Arnold had transferred to a different school for the end of his senior year and has since graduated. "The Bradfords are elated," Attorney Patricia Okonta, of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, told Insider. "I just spoke to KB yesterday and he was thrilled. He had a zoom call planned with his friends to talk about what the first day of school would be like, what their outfits would look like, just normal 16-year-old excitement about returning to school." The Legal Defense Fund has been working around the country to push back against dress and grooming policies that they argue are discriminatory towards students of color. It is litigating Arnold and Kaden's case with attorneys from Akin Gump. Story continues After being suspended for several days in January and February, Kaden's mom enrolled Bradford temporarily in a nearby district. Despite what Kaden and his family view as unfair treatment, he wanted to maintain a part of the Barbers Hill school community. "He's been at Barbers Hill since first grade," Akin Gump Attorney Nick Petree told Insider. "He has an older brother who graduated from Barbers Hill. His mom graduated from Barbers Hill. His cousin just graduated, but had been at Barbers Hill his entire life." While Kaden and Arnold's high profile case is playing out in federal court, attorneys have also went to bat against administrators in Florida and Boston for Black students facing punishment for their braids or locs, Okonta said. Hanks' memo notes that data reviewed by attorneys show that Black students at Barbers Hill High School were three times more likely than their white classmates to lose at least one day of instruction because of the hair policy. The data also showed that Black students who were placed in in-school suspension lost an average of 3.5 days of class, which which students lost an average of one day. "In other words, there is credible statistical evidence in the record showing that African-American students were more likely than white students to be punished, and to be punished harshly, on account of the hair-length policy," Hanks' wrote in the injunction, which was viewed by Insider. Kaden Bradford returned to school on August 19, after a judge blocked the district's hair policy. Juanell Core of J.Core Photography Hanks also said that Kaden showed "a substantial likelihood" that his rights under the equal protection clause and the First Amendment will be violated in the injunction was denied. The district's hair policy requires that male students not have hair that extends past the collar, earlobes and eyes. Students used to be able to keep their hair long, but comply by the dress code by wearing it up. In 2019 the school board made the code more stringent, requiring that that the hair has to be short even if it was pulled back, according to court documents. Attorneys for the teens had previously argued in front of the school board that the policy was racist and should be changed, but they voted in July to keep it in place. "We are disappointed with the most recent decision," Barbers Hill Superintendent Dr. Greg Poole said in a statement to Insider. "This ruling has the potential to impact many school districts in the state of Texas that maintain similar dress code language. The Board of Trustees will consider its appellate options." Barring certain natural hairstyles, such as dreadlocks and braids, can be discriminatory, as many of those styles hold cultural and historical meaning. Several states have passed The Crown Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The law prohibits discrimination against natural hair and protective styles in schools and workplaces. Arnold, whose father is from Trinidad, started growing his dreadlocks in seventh grade as an expression of his Black and West Indian heritage. "Locs are communicative. They express pride in one's black identify as well as their West Indian heritage and it's critical for this district and other districts grooming policies to not infringe on the expression of racial identity or cultural heritage of students of color," Okonta told Insider. Deandre Arnold arrives for the 92nd annual Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 9, 2020. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images The story of a small Texas town digging its feet into a policy over how young men wear their hair has drawn celebrity attention. Earlier this year, Ellen Degeneres and Alicia Keys surprised Arnold with a $20,000 scholarship on "The Ellen Show." He also attended the Oscars as a guest of the producers and director of "Hair Love," an animated short film about a Black father doing his daughter's hair. The Legal Defense Fund continues to hear from students of color around the country who are being punished for how they wear their hair. Some districts try to defend the grooming policies by saying they banned styles don't represent "professionalism" or "excellence." "Those ideals often come from the notion of white supremacy and we want to ensure that within this district and other districts that all dress and grooming rules allow students to express themselves racially and culturally, but also aren't bias towards any sort of system or standards of racial hierarchy," Okanta said. Read the original article on Insider Fox News opinion and hard news wings have seemingly gone all-in on a new, misleading narrative about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Tuesday evening DNC speech nominating runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president, repeatedly suggesting that the progressive star snubbed Joe Biden as a sign of Democrats in disarray. Shortly after Ocasio-Cortezs largely procedural and symbolic act of seconding Sanders nomination on Tuesday eveninga speech which also featured her checking off a number of policy positions she shares with the democratic-socialist senatorseveral media outlets noted that she never mentioned by name Joe Bidenthe partys actual nomineein her brief remarks. The New York congresswoman immediately clarified her role in the conventions formalities while simultaneously pointing out that she supports Bidens candidacy in the general election. If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call, she tweeted. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden - lets go win in November. NBC News, meanwhile, tweeted that the congresswoman did not endorse Joe Biden in her speechfundamentally misrepresenting the tradition and formality behind her speech. Eventually the network deleted the tweet and issued an editors note and clarification noting that NBC should have included more detail in the nominating process. Ocasio-Cortez, however, said the damage had already been done, adding that media outlets knew WELL in advance the nature of her routine speech. You waited several hours to correct your obvious and blatantly misleading tweet. It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, & now the misinfo you created is circulating on other networks. All to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion. https://t.co/crDlEymgMD Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020 While NBC News corrected its story, the right-leaning New York Post ran headlong with the narrative that Ocasio-Cortez essentially went rogue and publicly dissed the former vice president, publishing the headline: AOC nominates Bernie Sanders, snubs Joe Biden in DNC address. The paper, a Murdoch-owned sister publication of Fox News, also ran a cover photo of the congresswoman with the caption AOCYA, JOE! Story continues And so, of course, the deceptively twisted narrative made its way over to Fox, with the networks hosts and reporters devoting multiple segments to peddling the line that Ocasio-Cortez used her 60-second ceremonial speech to burn Biden. As the Fox & Friends hosts held up a copy of the Post, Brian Kilmeade declared that one of the biggest stories coming out of the DNC was the hostage video of AOC endorsing Bernie Sanders. This was all a plan by the far left to take over the Democratic Party, the Fox host suggested. It looks like there is an agenda trying to get out with Bernie Sanders leading off day one and AOC with her held-to-one-minute speech endorsing Bernard Sanders right after, Kilmeade continued. The theory is, and its hard to push it down, that once Joe Biden is elected, this party is going flying left, and when things like that happen and you see someone like AOC with the social media rock star she, is basically saying everything bad about the country, where she wants to take it, and what Bernie Sanders would do for it. Bad combination! Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins, meanwhile, called Ocasio-Cortezs speech the snub of the night, later adding that the symbolic and long-traditional procedure of nominating a candidate who passed a delegate threshold was shocking. Now, many people wondered what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would do with her short time, Jenkins said. She nominated Bernie Sanders, which shocked many. She later clarified in a tweet that the convention organizers had asked her to do so, because Sanders had met the delegate threshold to be nominated. However, the organizers did not instruct her to specifically not mention Bidens name, which was perceived by many as a snub. Speaking to the hosts about the convention, The Hills media reporter Joe Concha also suggested Ocasio-Cortez deliberately snubbed the Democratic Party standard-bearer. AOC, on top of that, during her 60-second speech doesnt bring up two words very key. It's a name. Joe Biden, Concha said. Didnt even mention him once. How do you have a Democratic National Convention and not even bring up the nominee? The concerted effort to push a classic Dems in disarray narrative continued on Americas Newsroom, one of the networks ostensibly straight news programs. I cant help but ask you about what we saw and heard from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her one-minute delivery, anchor Sandra Smith wondered during an interview with conservative pundit Byron York. She didn't even mention Joe Biden by name. The New York Post takes it on this morning: AOCYA, JOE! She had her moment and didnt say Joe Biden's name. The program ran several other segments featuring on-air graphics that blared Ocasio-Cortez Pushes Progressive Platform During Speech, But Doesnt Mention Biden and Critics Blast Rep Ocasio-Cortez For Leaving Biden Out Of Convention Speech. The critics in question, however, were left to the viewers imaginations. At the same time, while the show obsessed over the non-story, Smith corrected White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for claiming Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Sanders at the DNC. To be clear, thats been reported as a lack of endorsement on her part for Joe Biden. She has asked for clarification from other news outlets this morning, not us, saying that that wasnt the case, Smith said. She didnt mention Joe Bidens name last night, but she does support Joe Biden. She put that out there this morning. Moments later, however, Trace Gallagher questioned a Democratic flack over what the Fox anchor said was a very confusing message delivered by the progressive lawmaker at the DNC. I know it was symbolic, Zach, you know, this nomination of Bernie Sanders, but it was also very confusing, Gallagher said to ex-Obama campaign spokesperson Zach Friend. This cannot, Zach, be the message that the Biden campaign was hoping for. After Friend pointed out that this was actually fairly common in past conventions and that it was intended to be a good show of unity, Gallagher insisted that it was still extremely confusing before blasting the DNC for not providing more clarity. And so Foxs admitted confusion about a fairly mundane process results in a bogus narrative pushed across its programming. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. John Ratcliffe testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 5, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AFP via Getty Images) Beijings Election Interference a Major Threat, Director of National Intelligence Says The biggest foreign threat to election security in the United States is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. U.S. intelligence officials have recently warned about Beijings capability to interfere in the election, during hearings with the Senate Intelligence Committee. Last year, a number of government agencies identified Russia, China, and Iran as actors seeking to interfere in the voting process by influencing voter perceptions. But Ratcliffe went further in emphasizing the danger posed by Beijing. China poses a greater national security threat to the U.S. than any other nationeconomically, militarily, and technologically. That includes threats of election influence and interference, Ratcliffe told Fox News in a statement. Ratcliffe said Beijing is concerned that President Donald Trump will win reelection, adding that the intelligence community has briefed hundreds of members of Congress to raise their concerns about China and its increased efforts to impact the U.S. policy climate in its favor. The assessment by Ratcliffe follows a series of comments by U.S. intelligence officials making the point that the CCP doesnt want Trump to remain in the White House for a second term. National security adviser Robert OBrien said earlier this month that China is targeting the nations election infrastructure with cyberattacks. Theyd like to see the president lose, OBrien said on CBSs Face the Nation on Aug. 9, referring to the CCP. Chinalike Russia, like Irantheyve engaged in cyberattacks and phishing and that sort of thing with respect to our election infrastructure, with respect to websites and that sort of thing, the adviser said. The State Department announced this month that its Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who works with or for a foreign government for the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain illegal cyber activities. William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said in a statement on Aug. 7 that We assess that China prefers that President Trumpwhom Beijing sees as unpredictabledoes not win reelection. The CCP is working hard to influence the election and policy arguments, including putting pressure on elected officials and candidates that Party leaders view as being opposed to the CCPs interests. The Trump administrations increasingly hard-line stance against China, including its forced closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, has led to an increase in criticism against the administration, according to Evanina. Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current Administrations COVID-19 response, closure of Chinas Houston Consulate, and actions on other issues, Evanina said. He noted that recent statements from Beijing support his assessment. The Trump administration, meanwhile, is utilizing an all-of-government national security approach to counter Beijings infiltration of the United States. Its a large-scale effort not seen from previous U.S. administrations, which critics say failed to properly identify the threat. A string of U.S. officials this year has given speeches dedicated entirely to exposing the CCPs influence and how the different U.S. departments are handling the risks. One example of how this all-of-government strategy is being rolled out has been the nations response to Chinas Huawei technology as well as the recent bans on Chinese-owned TikTok. On Aug. 6, Trump issued executive orders that ban transactions with TikTok and the social media app WeChat after Sept. 20. The orders also ban transactions with TikToks parent company, ByteDance, and WeChats parent company, Tencent Holdings. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. Nearly four years after their split, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are still in the middle of their nasty divorce. Recently, Jolies legal team filed a motion to have the private judge removed from their case. In response, Pitts lawyers have fired back with accusations that Jolie is stalling. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie | Fred Duval/FilmMagic Brad Pitts parents have seen their grandchildren in four years According to The Sun, Pitt and Jolies six children have not visited their paternal grandparents William and Jane since their parents split in 2016. Jolie and Pitt are the parents of Maddox, 19, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, Knox, 12, and Vivienne, 12. An insider claims that Jolie and Pitt would take the kids to visit his parents when they were together. The Pitt family home in Springfield, Missouri, features a huge backyard. The source says the kids would run riot, and enjoy campfires during the summer and sledding in the winter. RELATED: Brad Pitt Is Done Running from the Pain of His Split from Angelina Jolie The source blamed tension between Jolie and her former in-laws as the reason the Jolie-Pitt kids havent seen their grandparents. Jane is a Christian conservative who once slammed gay marriage, while Angelina is a liberal who has dated women, explained the source. So, it was never a recipe for a friendship. But no one ever thought it would turn out like this. Angelina Jolie wants the judge disqualified In mid-August, Jolies legal team filed a motion asking for the private judge in their divorce case to be disqualified. In the Los Angeles Superior Court filing, the Oscar winners attorneys accused the judge of having a business relationship with one of Pitts lawyers. Jolies legal team argued that Judge John Ouderkirk failed to disclose that he had been hired to take part in other cases that Pitts attorney Anne C. Kiley was also involved in. The filing claims that Judge Ouderkirk didnt disclose cases that demonstrated a current, ongoing, repeat-customer relationship between himself and Kiley. RELATED: How Brad Pitt Came Out On Top After His Nasty Split From Angelina Jolie Jolie believes that Ouderkirks business relationship with Kiley will prevent him from being impartial. Judge Ouderkirk has already granted Jolie and Pitt a bifurcation. This means that both A-listers are legally single. But, they are still battling over custody of their children and the division of assets. The majority of documents in Jolie and Pitts divorce case have been sealed. Its not clear what issues the former couple are still hashing out. Brad Pitts lawyers call Jolies latest filing a Hail Mary After Jolies lawyers filed their motion for Judge Ouderkirks disqualification, Pitts legal team responded. According to USA Today, they pushed back against Jolies request to have Judge Ouderkirk removed. Ouderkirk actually has a history with Jolie and Pitt prior to their divorce, as he presided over their 2014 wedding. The former couple hired him to help them privately settle their divorce. However, four years into the proceedings, Jolie suddenly has had a change of heart. RELATED: This Move By Angelina Jolie Reportedly Doomed Brad Pitts Marriage To Jennifer Aniston Against this backdrop, Jolies abrupt cry of judicial bias reeks of bad faith and desperation, not to mention careless disregard for the procedural rules intended to root out legitimately conflicted judicial officers, Pitts legal response read. The World War Z star also claims that his legal team fully disclosed to Jolie everything she needed to know ahead of time. He believes this is a thinly-veiled attempt to delay their long-pendy custody case. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitts custody trial is scheduled to begin in October. A woman has discovered a bush turkey tried to steal a package from her front porch while she was at work. Gail Giles-Gidney, Mayor of the City of Willoughby in Sydney's Lower North Shore, shared a video to a local Facebook group of a bush turkey trying to steal her mail. The video showed a parcel from Australia Post sitting on Ms Giles-Gidney's tiled porch outside of her front door on Friday. Gail Giles-Gidney, Mayor of the City of Willoughby in Sydney's Lower North Shore, shared a video to a local Facebook group of a bush turkey (pictured) trying to steal her package A bush turkey suddenly appeared and began to inspect the package. After a few moments inspecting the package, the bush turkey began to pick it up and attempted to run off with it. But the turkey struggled to keep the parcel in its beak and gave up, dropping the large package on the ground. 'I thought it was funny. We live in a lovely bushland environment in Castlereagh,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'People always say to watch out leaving things on your porch and its finally happened to us.' She said the family had never experienced anything like this, but they were very amused by it. The video showed a package from Australia Post sitting on Ms Giles-Gidney's tiled porch outside of her front door on Friday before a bush turkey (pictureed) tried to steal it 'It's not often a bush turkey tries to take your mail - and the package was remarkably intact!' Social media users were left in hysterics at the feathered thief. 'Worse than the bin chooks,' one social media user commented. Another said: 'A turkey thief.' A third social media user hoped the bush turkey enjoyed whatever was inside the package. Russian senator proposes introduction of term criminal subculture in legislation RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 16:35 19/08/2020 MOSCOW, August 19 (RAPSI) Amendments envisaging that term criminal subculture needs to be introduced in the law on principles of offence prevention system in Russia has been submitted to the State Duma, according to a document in the database of the lower house of Russias Parliament. The bill is authored by Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Alexander Bashkin. The term is to encompass a system of principles, views, ways of life, and behavior shared by a group of persons informally banding together with an aim to popularize and promote criminal traditions, attributes of the criminal world, as well as to manifest antagonism to law abidance and to justify criminal behavior. Bashkin notes that crime and offence prevention is a priority of the policy pursued by the Russian Federation; at the same time, criminal societies still have their negative influence across a number of the countrys regions. The lawmaker believes that especially dangerous are the actions aimed at creating criminal internet communities, which are carried out mainly by convicts, who seek to influence young people by promoting criminal values and inciting hatred towards law enforcers and justices. The legislation currently in force, Bashkin observes, contains regulations aimed at fight against the propaganda of extremism; however, the propaganda of criminal way of life and criminal ideology remains outside provisions of federal laws; hence the need and feasibility of introduction of respective mechanisms empowering law enforcers to combat this activity, he stresses. Among the measures the Senator proposes is the banning of websites promoting criminal subculture and internet communities created with the same aims. The bill has been developed by a decision of the Expert Advisory Committee at the Federation Council Commission on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, the document reads. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Police will not be part of the local search teams that will go house-to-house to detect and isolate residents with symptoms of COVID-19, Malacanang said on Wednesday. The police will not have any business going on a house-to-house I dont think the public should worry, this is a purely health initiative, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines The Source. Roque explained that only health professionals particularly Department of Health officials, municipal health officers, community nurses, and barangay health workers will be part of the new initiative, which he said has been on a pilot run for two weeks now. The house search for symptomatic individuals was launched as part of the governments refreshed response against the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson noted. Under this program, health and village workers will be knocking on houses in search of symptomatics, who will then be given real-time polymerase chain reaction tests for the virus, and will also be isolated for the time being. Roque said the program which he said was adapted from Indias coronavirus response has proven to be hugely successful during the two-week pilot period. Its proven successful as well and is manageable," he said. "We may not be able to do it in all barangays simultaneously but we certainly will start with the areas with the highest clusters of COVID-19." Previously, patients who cannot comply with the home quarantine protocols were also fetched from their homes under the "Oplan Kalinga" program, wherein individuals were brought to government quarantine facilities to control the transmission of the viral disease. To date, coronavirus infections in the Philippines have spiked to over 170,000. The United Nations and the International Advertising Association (IAA) have commended humanitarian workers, who are going the extraordinary lengths to help women, men and children whose lives are overturned by crises and the global COVID-19 pandemic. In a joint statement to mark the World Humanitarian Day, the two organisations said the dedication, perseverance and the sacrifice of these real-life heroes represent the best of humanity as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis and the massive increase in humanitarian needs it has triggered. This is the eleventh World Humanitarian Day, designated by the UN General Assembly. It falls on the day of the attack on the UN compound in Baghdad on 19 August 2003 which claimed the lives of 22 people including the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. This year's World Humanitarian Day comes as the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic. To pay tribute to the efforts of humanitarians, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in collaboration with International Advertising Association IAA, presents the personal stories of some of the heroes who are stepping up to meet the challenges, particularly local humanitarian workers. First responders are often people in need themselves, refugees, members of civil society organizations and local health workers. They bring food, shelter, health care, protection and hope to others amid conflict, displacement, disaster and disease. But humanitarian workers are being tested like never before, struggling with unprecedented movement restrictions and insufficient resources as needs are outpacing funds, they said. According to Humanitarian Outcomes Aid Worker Security Database, major attacks against humanitarians last year surpassed all previous years on record. A total of 483 relief workers were attacked, 125 killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped in 277 separate incidents. This is an 18 per cent increase in the number of victims compared to 2018. A surge in attacks against health workers was recorded in 2019, including strikes against medics in Syria and shootings of Ebola workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of the attacks occurred in Syria, followed by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. Mali and Yemen both saw a doubling of major attacks from the previous year. The UN condemns these attacks and calls for accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors. Relief workers cannot be a target. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said: To humanitarians everywhere doing important, courageous work on the front lines we say Thank You. You are saving lives every day and as new challenges and crises are piling on to existing ones, your perseverance is an inspiration. Your protection is also paramount to making sure we can deliver to people most in need. The best way to pay tribute to humanitarians is by funding their work and ensuring their safety. Echoing the sentiments, Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman & World President of International Advertising Association (IAA) said, there can be no supreme sacrifice than the work done by the healthcare workers. They know the extreme risk they take in assisting the humanity at times of health crises like the current one. IAA stands with them and want to offer respect and salute these extraordinary #RealLifeHeros. It was a privilege for the IAA to partner with the OCHA team and engage our members in the development and activation of the #RealLifeHeros campaign. More than ever, the industry needs to collaborate more closely together to demonstrate how advertising can be a positive force globally, said Dagmara Szulce, Managing Director of IAA Global. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Nate wont face Boss case probe THAILAND: The Public Prosecutor Commission yesterday (Aug 18) decided not to set up a panel to investigate Deputy Attorney-General Nate Naksuk over his decision to drop Red Bull scion Vorayuth Boss Yoovidhyas reckless driving causing death charge in the 2012 hit-and-run case. accidentsdeath By Bangkok Post Wednesday 19 August 2020, 08:36AM Nate: Defended decision. Photo: Bangkok Post Athapol Yaisawang, head of the Department of the Public Prosecutor Commission, said that a meeting of the commission decided with a vote of five, with nine abstentions. The commission reasoned that the proposed panel would duplicate another panel set up by the attorney-general to review the case, Mr Athapol said. He added that the attorney-general has not yet approved the resignation tendered by Mr Nate. The attorney-general has the authority to put on hold the resignation for three months, Mr Athapol said. Previously, Mr Nate defended his decision to drop the charge against Mr Vorayuth in his resignation letter, saying the decision was above board. With the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) coming under mounting pressure as a result of his decision in the hit-and-run case, he thought it best to resign to protect its image, an OAG source said previously. To date, three panels have been formed to look into the dropping of the reckless driving causing death charge, after the decision sparked a public outcry. One was set up by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and headed by former National Anti-Corruption commissioner Vicha Mahakhun, and the other two were launched by the Office of the Attorney-General and the Royal Thai Police Office to look into their roles in the case. A police source said the police panel was preparing to seek an arrest warrant for Mr Vorayuth on a charge of cocaine abuse after the panel asked medical experts for their opinions about substances found in Mr Vorayuths system. The panel will also summon another three witnesses this week to testify on the speed of the Red Bull scions Ferrari when it crashed into the victim, a policeman, in the 2012 hit-and-run case. Pol Lt Col Thanasit Taengchan, an officer from the Office of Police Forensic Science who examined the hit-and-run scene in 2012, yesterday appeared before the panel led by Mr Vicha to give information on the cars speed. Photo credit: Getty From Esquire The list of speakers for Tuesday nights Democratic National Convention is stacked with familiar political faces for the theme Leadership Matters. Theres Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former president Bill Clinton, and former secretary of state John Kerry. One speaker you likely dont recognize, though, is John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, who goes by Jack and is the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy. With little fanfare, Schlossberg announced his appearance on his Instagram Stories Monday evening before Night One of the convention began. Schlossberg will be speaking with his mother, Caroline Kennedy, for a segment called We Lead from the Oval Office, the DNC confirmed Tuesday morning. Former president and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter will speak after them, followed by Bill Clinton. A Kennedy at a DNC is nothing new. Senator Ted Kennedy spoke at several conventions during his life. And Caroline Kennedy campaigned for then-senator Barack Obama before comparing him to her father at the 2008 DNC. But her 27-year-old son Jack has so far kept a fairly low profile. Though hes been coy about his political ambitions, its hard not to read into his stepping onto the most-watched political stage tonight. Heres what to know about him. He grew up in New York before going to Yale and Harvard. Schlossberg is the third child of designer and author Edwin Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Since President Kennedys assassination in 1963, many Kennedys have entered public service, including Caroline, who is the former ambassador to Japan. Photo credit: Rabbani and Solimene Photography - Getty Images Schlossberg was valedictorian at the prestigious Collegiate School on Manhattans Upper West Side. He went to Yale and then attended his grandfathers alma mater Harvard to pursue a J.D. and an M.B.A. As of the spring, Schlossberg was still a student, according to a Today interview. Story continues The Kennedy legacy is palpable in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When he started there, Schlossberg told Boston.com: My favorite restaurants are on JFK Street, so I definitely notice it. Its humbling, but overall its nice that its just out in the open. Theres no pretending that its not here when Im at Harvard. The first few days it felt a little weird, but now I dont think about it so much. Schlossberg, who has two older sisters, has been the sibling most often at his moms side for the initiatives that carry on President Kennedys legacy, like the New Frontier Awards, created by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard, and the Profiles in Courage Awards. In 2017, Schlossberg made a confident live-TV debut on the Today show with his mother to discuss that years Profiles in Courage Awards. The Kennedys have a history with Biden and tonights speakers. Caroline Kennedy was on the committee that selected Joe Biden as President Obamas vice president back in 2008. And Schlossberg was a Senate page and an intern for then-senator John Kerry, who is speaking tonight as well. Kerry said in Schlossbergs commencement address: A sense of humor is not genetic, but apparently in the Kennedy family it can be inherited. In President Kennedys grandson, Jack Schlossberg, this quality seems to abide. Photo credit: JONATHAN ERNST - Getty Images Hes already got some impressive bylines. Schlossberg bears a striking resemblance to his late uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., who married media and politics with his magazine, George, in the late 90s. Like John, Schlossberg has dabbled in media and has had bylines in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time, and New York magazines The Cut. He hasnt shied away from his familys legacy, and in fact most of his writing deals with it. For Politico in 2016, Schlossberg responded to Senator Ted Cruzs assertion that if President Kennedy were alive today, he would be a Republican. As Kennedys grandson, and as a student of his life, legacy and administration, I find this notionand the suggestion that Ted Cruz is somehow taking up his mantleabsurd, he wrote. Were my grandfather alive today, hed be excited about how far we have come as a nation since 1963, he would feel a sense of urgency about the challenges that lie ahead and he most certainly would not be a Republican. Politics aside, his Instagram is worth checking out. Unlike generations of Kennedys before him, Schlossberg gives the public a peek into his personality with a truly quirky social-media presence. He mostly creates wordplay memes analyzing the difference between similar phrases like waterproof and water resistant, and in his Stories he often shoots close-up videos of himself singing pop songs. We learn too from Instagram that he is a dedicated fan of the Rock, and that his favorite show is Blue Bloods, on which he had a guest appearance in 2018. He could join the latest generation of Kennedys running for office. Schlossbergs DNC appearance comes as two of his cousins are in heated races of their own. Representative Joe Kennedy III, the son of Representative Joseph Kennedy II and the grandson of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, is mounting a primary challenge to incumbent Massachusetts senator Ed Markey, who has used the Kennedy legacy against the 39-year-old. Markey released an ad this month set to the song Rich Girl, which is of course about relying on the old mans money, an allusion to the Kennedy familys wealth. And Markey has made sly references to the famed Kennedy Compound in an attempt to contrast his own working-class roots. Free advice for Joe Kennedy. Don't rely on the old man's money. pic.twitter.com/APfTasd9Z4 Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) August 12, 2020 Kennedy responded this week in a speech, saying of Markey, If he wants to talk about the Kennedys, Ill talk about the Kennedys, before detailing his familys civil-rights legacy. Meanwhile, Amy Kennedy, who is married to Patrick Kennedy, the youngest son of Senator Ted Kennedy, just won her congressional primary in New Jersey. When asked about his political ambitions, Schlossberg has dodged the question, pointing to the fact that he was still a student and still figuring it all out. Fair enough. But if hes learned anything from his mother, it could be a while before we get a straight answer. After Caroline spoke at the 2008 DNC, she sat down with Katie Couric, who began winding up for the inevitable question of whether she would follow in the footsteps of her father and so many of her relatives, saying,Do you ever feel any pressure, I know youre very shy... Caroline interrupted: Are you going to ask me if Im going to run for office, by any chance? Is that where youre going with this question? Caroline shot back sarcastically: Well, you know, its incredible, youre just so creative. You Might Also Like The opening night of the Democratic National Convention featured an appeal to right-wing Republicans to support the Biden-Harris ticket, with Senator Bernie Sanders declaring that it was necessary to unite yes, with conservatives to defeat President Trump for reelection. Sanders was given a prominent position in the evenings proceedings, second only to Michelle Obama. He went beyond even his groveling endorsement of Hillary Clinton in 2016which has been repeatedly attacked by the Democratic Party establishment as insufficiently enthusiastic. He declared the election of Joe Biden to be the solution to all the social and political evils of modern America and, above all, to the growing threat of authoritarian rule emanating from the Trump White House. As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat, Sanders said. Former first lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich speak during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) Claiming that the Democratic party had embraced progressive ideas such as universal health care and free public education, Sanders declared, Many of the ideas we fought for that just a few years ago were considered radical are now mainstream. This is a ridiculous fraud. Joe Biden was the Senator from Delaware, the corporate tax evasion capital of America. His entire life has been dedicated to the defense of the social interests of Wall Street, consummated by his stint as vice president under an administration that funneled trillions to the banks, declared crooked bankers too big to jail while it allowed millions of families to lose their homes. Harris is a vicious ex-prosecutor and California Attorney General who dragged non-violent drug offenders to prison and presided over the nations largest prison population. The unofficial slogan of their campaign, bluntly stated in private by Biden to wealthy donors in New York, is nothing would fundamentally change. The first night of the Democratic convention was carefully choreographed by the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party establishment. Sanders spoke only minutes after the appearance of former Ohio Governor John Kasich, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, and three other former Republican politicians, including billionaire CEO Meg Whitman. All declared their support for Biden, while Kasich, given the role of spokesman for this group, gave this pledge on behalf of the Biden campaign: Im sure there are Republicans and independents who couldnt imagine crossing over to support a Democrat. They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I dont believe that, because I know the measure of the man. Hes reasonable, faithful, respectful. And you know, no one pushes Joe around. This reassurance must have been approved word-for-word by Biden himself, and it amounts to a pledge to the American ruling class that there will not a trace of radicalism if the Democratic candidate replaces Trump in the White House. Sanders own claim that he has pushed Biden and the Democratic Party to the left is nothing more than demagogy aimed at sustaining illusions in this right-wing party. The real policy orientation of a future Biden-Harris administration was signaled by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who in the course of his remarks described America as a country that wins wars. There is little doubt that a Biden administration will act on the basis of the anti-Russia and anti-China agitation that the Democratic Party has put forward as the political axis of its opposition to Trump. Michelle Obama, the final speaker of the evening, was extravagantly praised for her address, which was devoted to a purely personal denunciation of Trumps handling of the coronavirus pandemic as incapable, incompetent and indifferent. This is not a hard case to make, but in comparing Trump unfavorably to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, she avoided the central questionthrown back at her by Trump in a tweet the next morningif the record of the Obama administration was so wonderful, how did Trump get elected in the first place. The Democratic Party explanation for the 2016 debacle, made implicitly throughout the speeches and videos Monday night, was that Trump won because white workers are racist. There was not a hint from any speaker that the Obama administration, by bailing out Wall Street and imposing the burden on the backs of working people, by continuing and expanding the wars of the Bush administration, alienated large sections of workers, black and white, which allowed Trump to win his narrow victory in the Electoral College. The video format of the Monday night session, with speakers addressing the television audience from remote locations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, underscored the acute social and political contradictions of the Democratic Party. The oldest capitalist party in the United States, the Democratic Party pretends to represent and defend the interests of workers, the poor and racial minorities, while in reality it is the favored party of Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus. In the first hour of Mondays session, working people speaking from the heart about police violence and the devastating impact of coronavirus alternated with right-wing bourgeois politicians who are just as culpable as Donald Trump for the social, economic and public health crisis wracking American society. The most powerful attack on Trump came from Kristin Urquiza, a young Arizona woman whose father had voted Republican in 2016, believed official reassurances that it was safe to resume normal activities in May, then contracted coronavirus and died. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life, she said bitterly. Urquizas remarks were deeply affecting, but equally angry statements could have been recorded from those who lost parents in New York nursing homes because of the negligence of Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, or from the bereaved survivors of workers who died after being forced back into Michigan auto plants under Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Instead of a place in the rogues gallery of coronavirus criminals, however, Cuomo and Whitmer were given featured speaking slots Monday night which they used to denounce Trump for the mounting death toll from the pandemic. Meanwhile, they falsely claimed that their own approachin two states with nearly 40,000 fatalities and 600,000 infections combinedhad been successful and humane. Similarly, two brothers of George Floyd spoke movingly about his murder by Minneapolis police, recalling his compassionate and generous nature. Other speakers described their participation in the mass protests that erupted after Floyds killing on May 25. This was followed less than an hour later by the appearance of Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, given a featured slot to sing the praises of Biden. As the top prosecutor in Hennepin County before her election to the Senate, Klobuchar refused to prosecute a single Minneapolis police officer for violence against the people of that city. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served prominently in Republican George W. Bush's administration, added his voice to the Democratic convention Tuesday night. I support Joe Biden for the presidency of the United States because those values still define him, and we need to restore those values to the White House," Powell said of the former vice presidents Scranton, Pa., roots. Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute, Powell added. With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries never the other way around. It's not surprising that Powell would publicly endorse the Democratic presidential nominee. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also backed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the previous presidential cycles. He had revealed his support for Biden in June. Moreover, Powell is part of a swath of former generals who have denounced Trump a list of military figures that includes several members of Trump's own administration. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said in June that he was "angry and appalled" by Trump's forceful clearing of peaceful protesters near the White House. (Trump tweeted back that Mattis was "the worlds most overrated General.) Former White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, has also criticized Trump on a number of fronts, especially on foreign policy. (Trump fired back that Kelly was way over his head and should keep his mouth shut.) Colin Powell speaks during the virtual Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2020. (via Reuters TV) Powell did not mention Trump by name, but he touted Bidens foreign policy vision and contrasted it with the incumbents. He will trust our diplomats and intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. He will make it his job to know when anyone dares to threaten us. He will stand up to our adversaries with strength and experience. They will know that he means business, Powell said. Powell also represents the latest in a series of Republican-aligned figures to back Biden at the Democratic convention. On Monday night, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former New York Rep. Susan Molinari and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman to speak in support of the Democratic ticket. Story continues Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa told the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery this week that the cross-party endorsements were intended to send a unity message to the country. We understand that regardless of who you voted for in 2016, or whether you voted in a Democratic primary, or whether you have never voted at all, its important to bring everybody together, Hinojosa said. Thats the only way we win. Read more from Yahoo News: D emocrats have formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee. Delegates from around the country cast votes remotely to confirm Mr Biden as the nominee on Tuesday. It comes as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his partys all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Mr Biden, who had sought the presidency twice before and is now cemented as the embodiment of Democrats goal to defeat Donald Trump this autumn. The roll call of convention delegates formalised what has been clear for months since Mr Biden took the lead in the primary elections chase for the nomination. Joe Biden reacts in a video feed from Delaware after winning the votes to become the Democratic Partys 2020 nominee for president / POOL/AFP via Getty Images Former Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton endorsed Mr Biden during the second night of the Democratic National Convention which is being held online due to the coronavirus outbreak. Two former Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, offered their endorsements of Mr Biden. Mr Clinton condemned Mr Trump's leadership during the pandemic saying: Covid hit us much harder than it had to". In comparison Mr Clinton praised Mr Biden as a "go-to-work president". Our party is united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president," he said. Joe Biden leads a conversation on health care with Julie Buckholt, Steve Gomez, Jeff Jeans, Laura Packard, and Dr. Angie Taylor / AP "A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide. Tuesday's programme featured17 stars in a video address, including Stacey Abrams, whom Mr Biden once considered for a running mate. She said: America faces a triple threat: a public health catastrophe, and economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality. "So our choice is clear: a steady experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like hes done before, or a man who only knows how to deny and distract. Jill Biden addressed the nation for the first time as the prospective First Lady, offering a deeply personal portrait of her husband of more than 40 years. A longtime teacher, she was speaking from her former classroom at Brandywine High School near the family home in Wilmington, Delaware. She reflected on the devastating death of Biden's son, Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. "There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going," Mrs Biden said. "But I've always understood why he did it. He does it for you." It comes after former First Lady Michelle Obama offered a sharp rebuke of the Trump presidency during the first evening of the Democratic National Convention. Michelle Obama says Trump is 'in over his head' She told viewers Mr Trump has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment, she added. "If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can. Mr Biden will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination inside a mostly empty Delaware convention hall on Thursday. His running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, will become the first woman of colour to accept a major party's vice presidential nomination on Wednesday. Until then, Mr Biden is presenting what he sees as the best of his coalition to the American electorate in a format unlike any other in history. There is no live audience for any of the speakers, who have so far delivered their remarks standing or seated alone in mostly prerecorded videos. Additional reporting by Associated Press. Welcome to Money Diaries College Edition where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. Were asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period and were tracking every last dollar. Have you moved to a new state/city/town during COVID-19 or are you considering it? For what reasons? Have your feelings on where you live shifted over the pandemic? We want to hear your thoughts here for an upcoming story. Today: a history major who pays $72,000 a year for tuition and spends some of her money this week on donated tampons. Major: History Age: 20 University Location: Western Massachusetts University Size: 2,500 Salary/Allowance: $18/hr at my archives internship Yearly Tuition Cost: $72,000 (Federal aid and merit scholarships from my school cover $65,000 of it, my grandparents and I usually both contribute about $4,000, and my parents contribute around $2,000 (this varies semester to semester depending on how much Im able to save)) Current Student Loans Total: $13,000 Net Worth: Currently $4,000 in savings, but almost all of this will go towards my tuition bill for the spring semester Pronouns: She/her Monthly Expenses Rent: $966 (this is for the summer for an Airbnb in a different Massachusetts town where I have an internship) Massachusetts Bail Fund: $5 Spotify Premium/Hulu: $5.99 Car Insurance: $0 (currently using my moms car for the summer) Health Insurance: $0 (still on my parents plan) Netflix: $0 (use my parents) Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? My parents are both teachers and value education, so there was definitely some expectation I would attend college. They never explicitly pressured me about college, but that was the path I wanted to take. I am currently in my last year as an undergraduate. My tuition is paid primarily through merit scholarships and need-based aid, and what isnt covered is split by me, my parents, and a fund set up by my grandparents. Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? My parents never really talked about money or educated me about money as a kid, and even when I started making money and thinking about getting a credit card, my parents generally trusted me to make good decisions and educate myself about things. What was your first job and why did you get it? I started working at a thrift shop when I was 16. I got it so that I would have spending money and so that I could start saving up for college. Did you worry about money growing up? I worried a little bit about money growing up. We were comfortable and always had a roof/food on the table but couldnt afford many luxuries, like the clothes, toys, or vacations that my friends had. I know now that my parents had a lot of credit card debt when I was young, so I think I could sense that anxiety about money when I was young. Do you worry about money now? Yes, all the time. Since Im not going into a high-paying field, I dont want to take out much debt for my education. I do hope to go to grad school, and want to use the money from the fund my grandparents set up for me, which means that I try to put as much of my own money into my undergrad tuition as I can. I work as much as I can during the semester and summer to build up my savings, but I worry a lot about spending money on frivolous things. At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net? I became mostly financially responsible for myself after my first year of college when I stopped living at home during the summers. My parents still claim me as a dependent on their taxes but havent paid for any of my expenses since then. They would absolutely help me financially in any way that they could, and I know that I could always live at home if I needed to. Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain. The only thing I can think of is Social Security payments that I received from when I was 17 to 18. I got the payments due to my fathers age and my status as a dependent and luckily we were able to put those payments in savings and use it to pay for part of my first year of college. Story continues Day One 6 a.m. Monday alarms are the worst. I hit snooze two times before I can open my eyes and I spend another twenty minutes scrolling on my phone before I get up. 7 a.m. I get dressed for work then head downstairs to make instant oatmeal for breakfast, plus a turkey wrap with arugula and cheese to bring for lunch. Since Im feeling especially tired this morning, I also make myself an iced coffee from instant coffee (this might be unpopular, but Im not a coffee snob and its good enough for me) with creamer. Out the door by 7:30. 8 a.m. Get to work and realize I forgot my badge to get in the building! Im annoyed at myself and have to wait a few minutes before I see someone heading into the building that can hold the door for me. I punch in only a few minutes late. I usually start my day by catching up on the New York Times and then ease into working. As an intern, Im used to doing pretty mundane and menial tasks, but this work is particularly boring. Basically all I do is file things and occasionally enter some data into a spreadsheet. This was not what I expected to be doing this summer, but the other internship programs Id been accepted to were canceled due to COVID. 10:15 a.m. So far, a predictably uneventful day at work, Im worried that this diary might put people to sleep. I do take a break from filing to send some emails about the org that I lead at school and to text two of my friends about my birthday plans in a few weeks. 12:00 p.m. Lunch! I eat my wrap as well as a granola bar and a banana that is a little too ripe for me. 1:15 p.m. I see an email from my remote internship advisor canceling our weekly meeting later. My school gives out stipends for unpaid internships, so I reached out to my professors to see if they knew of any remote opportunities and was able to get an internship transcribing oral histories for my schools library. Im so glad I did, as I get some extra cash to save for tuition, and the work is super interesting and easy to do on my own time. I dont mind that the meeting was canceled since we usually just chat and Im feeling pretty low energy today. 4:30 p.m. Finally time to leave! It is so hot and humid outside, and the air conditioning in my car is broken, so I am incredibly sweaty. 5:15 p.m. I make it home and immediately start making dinner. Im craving stir-fry, but dont have many veggies, so I make a super basic version with just rice, soy sauce, and sauteed zucchini. I watch Criminal Minds while I eat. 5:30 p.m. My dad calls and I pick up since he almost never calls. We just chat a little bit, especially about the fall, which is very up in the air right now. My school announced that only freshman and sophomores will be allowed on campus in the fall, and since I was supposed to graduate this semester, I decided to just take the semester off so that I would be able to take classes in person and see my friends in the spring. Ive been considering living in Western Mass in the fall though because I love the area and my partner lives there, but its a tough financial decision since I wouldnt pay rent if I lived at home with my parents. My dad just tells me to consider all my options carefully and to stay positive, which has been hard 8:15 p.m. I shower and then watch some more Criminal Minds. While I watch, I work on altering a pair of overalls. After two episodes, I get ready for bed. I dont have a skincare routine, which makes my nighttime routine pretty simple: brush my teeth, wash my face, and take my medications and melatonin. Im in bed by 10, but watch TikTok for another half hour before I put on a sleep story from Calm and fall asleep. Daily Total: $0 Day Two 6:15 a.m. My alarm goes off and I go through my daily process of snoozing it, then scrolling for a while. 7 a.m. I get dressed for work, wearing a turtleneck and long pants since my coworkers like to blast the air conditioning in our office. Its always a bit of a shock when I leave work and its hot out after Ive been freezing all day. Pop some instant oatmeal in the microwave and pack leftovers for lunch and a few snacks. 8 a.m. I feel very sluggish and sleepy on my drive to work, so I grab some free coffee from the kitchen when I get there. Its one perk of corporate life that I definitely enjoy. Catch up on todays news and then get started on filing. 8:30 a.m. My boss brought in donuts today and I eat one. My breakfast of instant oatmeal is pretty bland and unfulfilling, so this is a nice surprise! 10:15 a.m. Get a text from my mom about our plans later today. Shes coming to visit me and my aunt, who also lives in the area, and theyll take me out to dinner. I am pretty reluctant to go out to eat, even with the outdoor dining available, but my mom doesnt understand why and I dont want to be the sole voice of dissent that ruins our plans. I only hope that my mom and aunt are at least on the same page as me with wearing masks as much as possible and tipping the servers extra for working through a pandemic. 12:15 p.m. I heat up my leftover rice and zucchini for lunch. 4:30 p.m. I leave work and head downtown. I park ($4.50) and then meet my mom and aunt at a seafood restaurant. It definitely feels weird to be eating at a restaurant even though were outside. I order a lobster roll, but also try some of my moms salmon poke bowl. Its so much fun to catch up with them and listen to them tell stories about when they were kids. My mom and aunt split the bill. When we leave the restaurant, we walk for a little bit along the waterfront and then say goodbye. My mom is also an angel and brought me some snacks: cherries, Oreos, Kind granola bars, popcorn, and peas from her garden! $4.50 7:15 p.m. Before I head home, I see that my partner (N., who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns) texted me to tell me they submitted an application for an apartment near my school! Its a three-bedroom apartment that seems great and I would be able to live with them and split rent before I move onto campus for the spring semester. Im really excited and hope they get it! 7:45 p.m. Make it home and do a bit of picking up before I change into comfy clothes and get in bed to watch Criminal Minds. 9:30 p.m. I Facetime N. to catch up about our days and the apartment and to say goodnight. We both struggle with depression and anxiety and went through a pretty rough patch during quarantine. They live about two and a half hours from me, so I go visit them on the weekends and we try to FaceTime at least two nights a week. When we hang up, I do my nighttime routine and get in bed but dont fall asleep until around 10:45. Daily Total: $4.50 Day Three 6:15 a.m. My alarm goes off and I am exhausted. Ive been trying to go to bed earlier lately because Im always so tired in the morning, but its been really hard, and I think its because I spend so much time looking at a screen before I sleep. I snooze my alarm, then finally roll out of bed at 7. 7:30 a.m. Instant oatmeal for breakfast, pack another turkey wrap for lunch, and then head to work. 11:15 a.m. Realize I havent had any caffeine yet and go to the kitchen to get some coffee. 12 p.m. Time for lunch! I eat my turkey wrap and a granola bar while scrolling on my phone. 2:45 p.m. The day is dragging by. I spend some time updating my LinkedIn profile and working on grad school applications. Since Im taking the fall off, I have a big goal of taking the GRE and submitting applications for MLIS programs for next fall. There are four programs I really love, but the hardest part has been studying for the GRE since I can barely remember basic math from high school (would welcome any tips)! 4:30 p.m. Head home! 5:30 p.m. I Zoom with two of my friends from school, who are dating and living together near Boston. We havent seen each other since March, when we left school, except for the occasional Zoom meeting for our org. We catch up for an hour and they rant about the other couple they live with, also two of our friends. Theyre getting a place in Western Mass together soon, so I hope to be able to hang out with them in the fall. We also talk about how sad it is to be spending our senior year studying online and not being able to do things we love. Campus life and traditions are a huge part of the college experience at my small liberal arts school and its honestly been really hard to deal with the loss of that, even though I know all the restrictions and precautions are necessary. 6:45 p.m. I make Annies mac and cheese for dinner and eat while watching Criminal Minds. 7:30 p.m. N. Facetimes me and we talk for about 30 minutes. They have lots to tell me since they started a new job and toured an apartment today! We say goodbye so they can go to bed early and I jump in the shower. 8:15 p.m. I work on my remote internship for a while, but its pretty slow going. Im hoping to finish this project so I can move on to the next one. When Im done, I watch Criminal Minds (I am addicted). 10:15 p.m. Nightly routine and get in bed. I watch TikTok for a little while because I have no self-control and then try to sleep. I finally fall asleep around 11. Daily Total: $0 Day Four 6:15 a.m. I wake up and am somehow not that tired? I dont even have to snooze my alarm, although I do stay in bed and scroll for almost forty minutes. 7 a.m. Usual morning routine: get dressed, make oatmeal and coffee, and pack my lunch which is, you guessed it, a turkey wrap and some cherries. I promise I usually have more variety in my eating, but I just havent had many leftovers this week. I use my last tortilla for the wrap, so I add that to my grocery list. 7:30 a.m. Head to work. 8 a.m. Punch in and start filing. I skim the headlines of the New York Times, but I dont know if I can stand to read another days worth of depressing news. Sometimes too much of the news cycle just sends me spiraling. Its a bit terrifying to be a young person right now and trying to think about starting my life when the future just feels so bleak. 9 a.m. I see an Instagram story about the homeless shelter in Portland closing due to COVID and a group thats collecting supplies for the homeless. Im originally from Maine and have been trying to support protests and activism going on there since its a predominantly white state with a lot of disparities with housing, education, and COVID deaths. Since I cant drop off supplies in person, I go on the CVS website and add tampons, chapstick, and sunscreen to my cart then ship it to the group to hand out. $27.06 10 a.m. I have a Skype meeting with an HR representative and the rest of the interns at the company to check in and talk about our projects and a presentation we have to give at the end of the summer. Its super short and I grab coffee from the kitchen when its over. 12 p.m. Lunchtime! I eat my wrap and do some GRE prep questions on an app. 4:30 p.m. Just as Im getting ready to leave work, N. texts me with amazing news! They got the apartment that they saw yesterday! Its a really nice apartment with a great location and relatively cheap rent for the area, so I am ecstatic! I cant stop smiling as I drive home. 5:15 p.m. Make one of my favorite meals for dinner: vegetable fried rice and pork dumplings from Trader Joes. I eat while watching Criminal Minds. 6 p.m. I work on my remote internship and finally finish the interview Ive been transcribing. I also do a little bit of research about food delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats, which I hope to do in Western Mass in the fall for extra income/backup for if I cant find a full-time job. 8:30 p.m. N. texts and asks if we can FaceTime as they fall asleep. Theyre feeling spooked because theyre home alone and its storming. I set up my phone so they can see my face and watch Criminal Minds as they try to fall asleep. 9:30 p.m. Switch to watching TikTok because N. is fast asleep. They look so cute! I get ready for bed and fall asleep around 10:15. Daily Total: $27.06 Day Five 5:30 a.m. I wake up before my alarm, the worst feeling in the world. Im still pretty tired, so I stay in bed and close my eyes until my real alarm goes off, but I dont fall all the way back asleep. 6:45 a.m. I get out of bed and start getting ready for the day. I get dressed (jeans because its casual Friday!) and pack a bag for the weekend with workout clothes, pajamas, and my bathing suit. On Fridays, I leave work and drive straight to Western Mass to see N. I also make oatmeal and coffee and pack my lunch for the day. 7:30 a.m. Head to work and listen to the new Taylor Swift album on the drive. 8 a.m. Read the New York Times at my desk. I suddenly remember today is payday, yay! I especially love payday at this job because its the highest paying job Ive ever had, so its crazy to see the amount of money in my bank account. I check my balance in my checking account and then make a payment on my credit card balance ($100). About a year ago, I got a credit card so I could start to build a credit score. Since I get cashback when I use it for gas or food, those are the only expenses I put on it, and I pay off about 75% of the balance each month since I noticed my credit score increases more when I have a small running balance. 10:30 a.m. I work on updating my LinkedIn while my coworkers discuss where to get takeout from (its a Friday tradition). They decide on Indian food. Ive never ordered lunch with them before, but my boss offers to pay for my order, so I just get a side of garlic naan. 12:15 p.m. Lunch! I eat my leftover fried rice with dumplings and some naan, but there is a ton left. It will be a good snack tomorrow! 2:15 p.m. The afternoon is dragging by. I do some small, quick tasks before going back to filing for the rest of the day. 4:30 p.m. Free at last! I fill up my car with gas before I start the two-hour drive to Western Mass to see N. Normally I have to buy a snack for the trip, but I have some cherries from lunch that I didnt eat, so I snack on those as I drive. $25 7 p.m. Make it to N.s house. Were both hungry, so we jump right into their car and head to our favorite burger place for dinner and I call to place our order on the way ($23.09 with tip). After we park downtown, we grab our food and walk to a park to sit on the grass and eat. N. has a cheeseburger and I have a turkey burger, which is good but disappointing compared to what I usually get from there. $23.09 7:45 p.m. We walk over to the CVS across the street so that N. can get a new toothbrush since their electric one died. They forget their wallet so I buy it for them and we head home. $4.24 8:30 p.m. Get home and draw a bath! We love taking baths together. 9:45 p.m. After our bath, we have sex (no euphemisms from me, sorry!) and then cuddle in bed while watching Shark Tank until we fall asleep. Daily Total: $52.33 Day Six 9:30 a.m. N. wakes me up and we lay in bed and talk about our plans for the day. Since its supposed to be in the nineties today, we decide to head to the tennis courts to play before the heat is too unbearable. 9:45 a.m. Were about to leave when I remember Im supposed to pick some things up from school at 10! We scramble to jump in the car and speed to school. 10:15 a.m. A campus safety officer lets me into my residential hall so that I can grab some things that I stored before we were sent home in March. We spend almost twenty minutes trying to find my stuff in the mess of things that people left behind. 11:30 a.m. After we stop at home to pick up a few things, we head back out so that I can treat N. to lunch for helping me pick up my things. I place an order for burritos online and we go pick them up and eat them at a spot that overlooks the river. $20.42 12:30 p.m. The burrito was way too spicy and did not agree with my stomach at all. We head home and I take a cold shower. We lay and watch a few episodes of Shark Tank. 3 p.m. Im feeling better, so we head out to Goodwill to look for furniture for the new apartment. While were there, I see a couch that I absolutely love. Its red, velvet, super comfortable, and only $40! N. is a little skeptical about it, so we take a picture of it and agree to talk more about it with our other roommates. I also see a cute button-up from L.L. Bean on clearance and N. grabs some khaki pants for work (we dont try anything on). N. pays for both. 3:30 p.m. We see a tag sale as were driving and decide to pull over and check it out. A lot of the stuff doesnt seem great, but we spot a nice cart with pull-out wicker baskets that would be perfect for the bathroom. N. buys it for $10. 4:30 p.m. Our next stop is Target, where we get some broccoli, cauliflower, and a sweet potato. N. pays. 5:15 p.m. We get home and start making dinner stir fry with frozen veggies, plus the broccoli and cauliflower. N.s two roommates come home and we chat a little bit with them. We eat while watching Shark Tank and debating about the couch. Im really trying to convince them to get it, but they convince me to at least consider some of the options on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. We also make plans to go check out some yard sales tomorrow. 8 p.m. Game night with N. and their roommates! We play a bunch of different card games and some miniature ping pong. 10:15 p.m. We all take a walk around the neighborhood. The sky is super clear and we can see so many stars and constellations, including the Neowise comet! We get a little spooked by something that is either a neighborhood cat or a raccoon and head back to the house. 11 p.m. Brush my teeth and then get in bed with N. to watch an episode of New Girl. I fall asleep the second we turn it off. Daily Total: $20.42 Day Seven 9 a.m. Wake up to N.s roommates making noise in the kitchen. N. has already been up for a while and wants to take another bath, so I fill up the tub. 10 a.m. We decide on the yard sales we want to check out and toast onion bagels with cream cheese and Trader Joes Everything But the Bagel Seasoning (because it wouldnt be a Money Diary without it) to take with us on the drive. 10:30 a.m. Score! At the very first sale, we find a nice little bedside table that matches the other furniture we have so far and its only $5! N. pays and we load it into the car. 12:15 p.m. After three more unsuccessful yard sales, we decide to call it quits and head home. N. heats up their leftover burrito for lunch and we watch Shark Tank while laying on the couch. I end up dozing off for almost an hour. 2:30 p.m. When I wake up, N. shows me some more couches they like and I keep advocating for the red velvet one I loved. We also have sex again and cuddle a lot. 3:15 p.m. N. has to leave for work at 4:30 so they make an early dinner/late lunch of mashed sweet potatoes and roasted cauliflower and broccoli. I eat the rest of the leftover stir-fry and finish the garlic naan bread from my lunch on Friday. 4 p.m. I suggest playing a game of Yahtzee before we both have to leave. We play two games and then have time to play another card game too. 4:30 p.m. Start my drive home. The traffic is terrible for some reason and Im sweating without any air conditioning. 6:25 p.m. Home! I know all my clothes are dirty so I start a load of laundry as soon as I get home. I scroll for a while and then put on Criminal Minds. 8:15 p.m. I decide to do some work for my remote internship and start working on a new interview thats pretty interesting. As I work, I snack on Oreos. Then I call it an early night. Daily Total: $0 Money Diaries are meant to reflect an individuals experience and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29s point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior. The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here. Do you have a Money Diary youd like to share? Submit it with us here. Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here or email us here. Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here or email us here. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? A Week In Mesa, AZ, On A $62,000 Salary A Week In The Great Lakes On A $30,000 Salary A Week In New York, NY On A $50,000 Salary Aviation traditions crumble as airlines take on new restructuring approaches The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the worldwide demand for air travel in March decreased by 52.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, which was an unprecedented drop in aviation history due to the social distancing measures practised by many governments to prevent the spread of the pandemic. The total number of aviation passengers in China, the first country to experience the outbreak, decreased by 84.5 per cent from February to March compared to the same period last year. The stock price of major Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Southern, and China Eastern Airlines all fell at least 15 per cent on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In mid-April, Virgin Australia became the first major airline in Asia to collapse due to COVID-19, and control of the business was handed over to Deloitte. The following month, Thai Airways International filed for bankruptcy protection after six years of losses, with the pandemic being the final straw. In fact, by the end of 2019, Thai Airways total assets were 257 billion ($8.26 billion) while its total debt was 245 billion ($7.88 billion). Not to the level of bankruptcy like Thai Airways, but other airlines in Southeast Asia have also been struggling during the pandemic. Garuda Indonesia laid off about 800 employees in May, while Singapore Airlines issued additional shares and bonds to raise more capital. Also in May, many major airlines in Europe such as British Airways, and Spanish outfits Vueling and Iberia, had to announce drastic cost-cutting to maintain operations. Another British airline, Flybe, even declared a halt in operations as it experienced unendurable losses by March. Lufthansa, Germanys flagship airline, also had to apply for bankruptcy protection. Avianca, the national airline of Colombia and the worlds second-oldest airline, was driven to bankruptcy. It closed its business not long after the coronavirus pandemic broke out, with more than 140 aircraft shut down and 20,000 employees losing their jobs when Colombian President Ivan Duque closed the countrys airspace in March. Vietnamese aviation damage As reported by the Ministry of Transport, from April 1 to 23, the social distancing duration, the fleet exploitation ratio was only around 1-2 per cent. Despite having initially recovered, 70-80 per cent of total aircraft are still grounded. Pham Viet Dung, chairman of the Board of Members at Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), anticipates that the groups total flight management output for 2020 is only 436,000 flights, decreasing more than 537,000 flights compared to 2019 and only equal to 44.8 per cent of total flights operated last year. At the end of the second quarter of 2020, Vietjet a local budget airline also saw a great fall of its revenue from air transport services. Revenues were at VND1.97 trillion ($85.65 million), down 54 per cent compared to equal term in 2019, and losses recorded at VND1.1 trillion ($47.8 million). Duong Tri Thanh, CEO of Vietnam Airlines said that the epidemic has dragged the airline back by three or four years and has stroked out the progress that the company made in the last four or five years. Due to the effects of the pandemic, the national carrier has asked the Vietnamese government to provide a financial bailout up to VND12 trillion ($521.7 million) to secure its viability. States bailout In late May, the German government and Lufthansa reached a preliminary agreement on a bailout of 9 billion ($9.8 billion) after weeks of negotiations. The plan includes Germany taking a 20 per cent stake in Lufthansa, which it plans to sell by the end of 2023. As part of the rescue package, the government will also inject 5.7 billion ($6.74 billion) in non-voting capital into the company. Part of these funds can be converted into an additional 5 per cent equity stake, which would enable the government to veto any potential hostile takeover bids. Separately, Lufthansa will receive a 3 billion ($3.55 billion) loan from KfW, the German state-owned development bank, and private banks with a term of three years. Also in May, Thai Airways received approval from the Thai government for reorganisation under a bankruptcy court. The airline is currently 51-per-cent owned by the Thai government and is managed by its State Enterprise Policy Committee. However, along with the approval for the restructuring, the Thai cabinet also approved the divestment of the governments stake to bring it below the 50 per cent majority. At the same time, eight other airlines (Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Lion Air, Thai Vietjet Air, Thai Smile, NokScoot, and Nok Airlines) applied to the Thai government for a support loan of $770 million, with a preferential lending rate of 2 per cent and instalment payment within five years. Restructuring As the effects of COVID-19 continue to unfold, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been taken as a resolution to save companies that are operationally healthy and were profitable before the coronavirus outbreak, but had got into trouble because of the pandemic. In Vietnam, national carrier Vietnam Airlines and its Australian partner Qantas Group agreed to carry out restructuring to Jetstar Pacific to improve the operations and profitability of the low-cost airline and promote the scale and brand of Vietnam Airlines in the domestic market. Particularly, Qantas Group transferred all of its 30 per cent shares in Jetstar Pacific to Vietnam Airlines and will withdraw from the Vietnamese market. Also, the low-cost carrier will be set to officially operate under the new name Pacific Airlines and feature a new logo and livery inspired by Vietnam Airlines brand colours and design. On July 23, Jeju Air, after months of negotiations and trading barbs, finalised its decision to scrap plans to purchase 51 per cent of shares in Eastar Jet for 54.5 billion ($46 million), even though the deal had been signed in March. Eastar Jets debts, estimated at 170 billion ($143 million), include the companys delayed payments for fuel and the use of airport facilities as well as the unpaid wages that total about 24 billion ($20.3 million). A Jeju Air official said although it was regrettable that the airlines acquisition plan has failed, this decision is necessary as the M&A deal could put Jeju Air at uncertainty and probably hurt its shareholders and other interested parties. Considerations The restructuring has been taking place around the globe during the pandemic as a necessary resolution for the airlines that are already at the edge of bankruptcy. However, large-scale M&A transactions may affect the aviation market of many countries so that they would primarily be subject to merger filing with local competition authorities. It seems unlikely that competition authorities will take a more relaxed approach to airline merger reviews in light of the current crisis. Canadas Competition Bureau, for example, has announced that Air Canadas proposed acquisition of Transat is likely to weaken competition in the sale of air travel or vacation packages to Canadian consumers. Although the bureau stated that the impact of COVID-19 may be relevant to the merger review process, it has still taken a traditional approach to its analysis by focusing on the possibility of consumer harm in the form of increased prices, decreased consumer choice, drop in service, and a reduction in travel on a variety of routes. The Law on Competition of Vietnam requires enterprises proposing to participate in an M&A (except for those engaging in credit, insurance, and securities sectors) to notify the National Competition Commission prior to carrying out the economic concentration in any of four cases. The first case is when total assets in the Vietnamese market of the enterprise or group of affiliated enterprises of which such enterprise is a member was VND3 trillion ($130.4 million) or more in the financial year immediately preceding the year of proposed implementation of economic concentration. The second case is if total sales turnover or input purchase turnover in the market of Vietnam of the enterprise or group of affiliated enterprises of which the enterprise is a member was VND3 trillion ($130.4 million) or more in the financial year immediately preceding the year of proposed implementation of economic concentration. Third is if the transaction value of the economic concentration is one VND1 trillion ($43.48 million) or more. Lastly, it is required if the combined market share of the enterprises proposing to participate in the economic concentration was 20 per cent or more in the relevant market in the financial year immediately preceding the year of proposed implementation of economic concentration. Jimmy Carter gave an off-camera endorsement to Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention last night, 44 years after he himself first accepted the nomination. The former president, 95, said Biden has the 'experience, character and decency to bring us together' and hailed him as 'the right person for this moment in our nation's history' on the night that Biden was formally chosen as the Democratic nominee. Biden, 77, was already on Capitol Hill during Carter's presidential term from 1977 to 1981 and the 39th president described him as 'my first and most effective supporter in the Senate' when he ran for the White House. Carter's wife Rosalynn, 93, also paid tribute to Biden for having the 'heart and the talent to make life better for all Americans'. The couple's voices were played over a montage of photos of Carter and Biden before Bill Clinton appeared on screen to deliver his own remarks. Former president Jimmy Carter gave his endorsement to Joe Biden (pictured together at the Democratic National Convention in 2008) in last night's DNC proceedings Carter and his wife Rosalynn in one of the photos which appeared in a video montage while the former president and first lady spoke to Democrats Jimmy Carter had appeared by video-link at the 2016 convention which nominated Hillary Clinton, but his face was not seen on screen this time. 'When I ran for president in 1976, Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate,' Carter said. 'For decades he has been my loyal and dedicated friend. Joe has the experience, character and decency to bring us together and restore America's greatness. 'We deserve a person with integrity and judgement. Someone who's honest and fair, someone who's committed to what is best for the American people. 'Joe is that kind of leader. And he is the right person for this moment in our nation's history. 'He understands that honesty and dignity are essential traits that determine not only our vision, but our actions. More than ever, that's what we need. 'In these uncertain times, Joe Biden realises that many American lives can be saved each day with the use of masks and testing, as recommended by our medical experts. 'Joe Biden must be our next president.' Rosalynn Carter said the couple had 'known and admired Joe and Jill for many years' and paid tribute to their work for America's care-givers. She also referred to Biden's own family tragedies, having lost his wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash and his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015. Jimmy Carter giving a speech in Washington in 1980, the year he was defeated by Ronald Reagan in his bid for a second term 'Joe knows well - too well - the sorrows and struggles of being a family care giver, from Joe's time as a young widower thrust into single parenthood with a demanding job to he and Jill caring for their own parents and their son Beau at the end of their lives,' Rosalynn said. 'He knows care giving is hard, even on the good days. Jill and I also know the challenges of care giving for those who served in the military and returned with visible and invisible wounds. 'And we know those care givers need a leader in the White House. 'Jimmy and I are voting for Joe because he recognises the challenges facing our families and has the heart and the talent to make life better for all Americans.' The Carter segment was immediately followed by former president Bill Clinton's speech to the DNC. Carter, who will turn 96 in October, became the longest-lived US president in history on March 22 last year, surpassing George Bush senior. The achievement defied medical odds more than three years after Carter announced he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. Carter also holds the record for the longest post-presidency retirement, having left office nearly 40 years ago after losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan. 'I spent four of my ninety years in the White House, and they were, of course, the pinnacle of my political life,' Carter wrote in a memoir to mark his 90th birthday. 'Those years, though, do not dominate my chain of memories, and there was never an orderly or planned path to get there during my early life.' The former president and first lady still live in Plains, Georgia, the town where they grew up and were married in 1946. Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden with Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention where Barack Obama was nominated for president All three living Democratic presidents are backing Biden at this year's election, with Clinton giving his remarks immediately after the Carter segment last night. Barack Obama is due to speak on the third day of the convention tonight after former first lady Michelle Obama spoke on Monday. By contrast, reports have claimed that Trump's only living Republican predecessor George W. Bush will not vote for the president in the November 3 election. The elder George Bush - who died in 2018 - voted for Hillary Clinton four years ago, according to the author of a book about the two Presidents Bush. Jeb Bush openly admitted that he could not support Trump in 2016, saying he would not vote for either Trump or Clinton. The former Florida governor raised more than $150million before the primaries even started but was powerless to stop Trump surging to the nomination. Trump repeatedly belittled Bush as 'Low Energy Jeb' and Bush later berated his rival's lack of 'temperament or strength of character'. The president did not attend Barbara Bush's funeral in 2018, although he did go to George H.W. Bush's funeral later that year. Earlier this year he criticized George W. Bush for being 'nowhere to be found' during the impeachment process against Trump. Kamala Harriss prime-time speech at the Democratic convention on Wednesday night will be the first glimpse of how Joe Bidens campaign plans to deploy a history-making vice presidential nominee as they work to define her role for a campaign that has largely been grounded by the coronavirus. The Biden campaign has a clear idea of the people they want Harris to win over in November: Black voters, younger voters and women. But as they strictly abide by health guidelines forced by coronavirus, they are severely limiting the candidates travel to in-person events and sharing few details about how Harris will engage with voters. Harris, a California senator and former state attorney general, distinguished herself during the primaries with sharp attacks on Bidens civil rights record, nearly turning the race upside-down and exposing a possible liability to Bidens candidacy among liberals, minorities and young people. Now, shell attempt to rally those same key constituencies around Biden, starting with the day before he accepts his partys nomination. Her speech on Wednesday will be a critical opportunity to re-introduce herself to what will be one of the largest audiences she will reach before November. She is expected to share her cross-cultural origin story which echoes that of former President Barack Obama. The daughter of divorced immigrant parents, a University of California-Berkeley biologist from India, and a Stanford economics professor from Jamaica, she grew up a child of the civil rights movement in 1960s Oakland, California. She later attended Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, DC. That biography has energized key constituency groups, especially Black women. Members of her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority were mainstays on the campaign trail when she was running for president and are expected to mobilize in force to support the new ticket. Harris will also have to navigate her background as a prosecutor after a summer of nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. She was elected district attorney in San Francisco in 2003 and attorney general of California in 2010. After her election to the U.S. Senate in 2017, she earned a reputation for her incisive cross-examination of witness in Senate hearings, in particular Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Shes already signaling that shell bring that prosecutorial style to the campaign. The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut, she said last week as Biden announced her as his running mate. In the week since, shes proved to be a safe choice, but not a game-changing one. And thats the best that any presidential candidate can ask for. I dont think it matters who the vice presidential candidate is historically, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on MSNBC before Harris was selected. She noted exceptions like Lyndon Johnson for victory and Sarah Palin for defeat, but added, By and large its all about the two candidates for president. Indeed, polls show Harris has made no difference to the vast majority of voters. An ABC/Washington Post poll Monday found 69% said the choice did not make them more or less likely to vote for the Democratic ticket. Only 18%, mostly liberals and African Americans, said Harris made them more likely to vote for Biden, and 11% said they were less likely to vote for the former vice president. Still, she seems to have passed the most important test. Voters see her as just as ready to take over the presidency as current Vice President Mike Pence, with 55% of voters seeing them both as qualified. Christopher Devine of the University of Dayton, and Kyle Kopco, authors of the book Do Running Mates Matter? say the choice matters mostly because of what it says about the candidate at the top of the ticket. The pick is the first presidential decision a candidate makes, and this one provides a window into Bidens judgment and his ideology. Its a signal of whether Joe Biden is going to the left or anchoring himself in the center where hes always stood, Devine said. Harris probably nudges him a little to the left. At the very least its a signal that he sees the importance of the left to his campaign. During her 10-month campaign for the presidential nomination, Harris herself struggled to define herself ideologically in a crowded field of candidates. She positioned herself to the left of moderates like Biden, but never ventured as far as Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. She briefly soared to second place in the polls after her debate takedown of Bidens past positions on forced busing to enforce school desegregation and his work with senators who were segregationists. But among the biggest differences with Biden during the primary campaign was her short-lived support for Medicare for All the latest branding of a single-payer, government-run health care system. She retreated from that position while still a presidential candidate. Her lack of a defined message combined with staff infighting and fundraising struggles led to the demise of her campaign in December, an early exit that likely helped preserve her chances to join the ticket. After Wednesdays speech, Harriss next big moment will be her debate against Pence in October, but most of her attacks are sure to be directed to the top of the Republican ticket. And how Trump responds could be more revealing than the attacks themselves. Trump has called her a mad woman, the meanest senator, a nasty woman and disrespectful to his Supreme Court picks and even Biden himself. Weve seen this with Donald Trump going back to 2016, Devine said. His response seems to be more aggressive when it comes to being challenged by women as opposed to men. Kamala Harris could be that threat, he said. Television actor Shoaib Ibrahim held an Instagram AMA session with his fans recently. While some asked a few fun questions, others got a little rude. One such fan asked Shoaib who would he choose between his wife, actor Dipika Kakar and his parents. I pray to God that it doesnt but if a dire situation ever arises, who would you choose between your wife and your parents, read the question. Shoaib was in no mood to take up the inappropriate question and replied, You shouldnt worry. Such a situation will never come up. If you had to ask questions on made-up scenarios, why not ask something better? During his last AMA session, another fan had asked if Shoaibs family forces Dipika to wear conservative clothes. Deepika ji hamesh salwar suit me hi kyu hoti hai. Kya aapki family force karti hai? (Why does Dipika always wear salwar suits? Does your family force her to?). To this, Shoaib replied, Iska jawab main aapko dena zaruri nahi samahjta. Sach main jaanta hu aur meri wife jaanti hai... Baaki jiski jaisi soch waisa hi sawal. Upar wala aapko khush rakhe. (I dont think it is important for me to answer this question. My wife and I know the truth. Questions like this reveal the mentality of the person asking them. May God bless you.) Also read: Abhay Deol slams his movie Raanjhanaa for its regressive message: History will not look kindly at this film Dipika was previously married to pilot Raunak Samson when she first met Shoaib on the sets of their show, Sasural Simar Ka, in 2011. While it was being said that her affair with her co-star was the reason for her divorce in 2015, she denied the news. Its not mandatory that every love marriage should work; it can have its issues like compatibility too. Breaking off any relationship is difficult, almost traumatic. Thats exactly what happened with me. My parents supported me and Shoaib helped me pull through those difficult times. We were not dating then, she told Bombay Times in an interview in 2016. She married Shoaib in 2018. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hyderabad, Aug 19 : The recent restoration of the Moazzam Jahi Market or MJ Market, one of the famous landmarks in Hyderabad, reopened the debate on the long pending demand for UNESCO heritage status for this historic city. B0y Mohammed Shafeeq Hyderabad, Aug 19 (IANS) The recent restoration of the Moazzam Jahi Market or MJ Market, one of the famous landmarks in Hyderabad, reopened the debate on the long pending demand for UNESCO heritage status for this historic city. The MJ Market was reopened last week after two-year long restoration work and is all set to be transformed into a cultural hub. The majestic triangle shaped stone structure was built in 1935 as a fruit market during the times of the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of erstwhile Hyderabad state. At the event organised to mark the opening of the renovated MJ Market, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said the state government would intensify its efforts in securing UNESCO's heritage city status for Hyderabad. The city has both an old world charm and a new age vibrancy, said Rama Rao. Rama Rao, who is the son of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, said the state government will do its best in restoration and conservation of heritage structures like Golconda Fort, Katora Houz and Murgi Chowk. "The Telangana government is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the state's heritage. Hyderabad is a blend of old world charm as well as new age vibrancy. You can find people of all faiths, regions and states here. The city is a symbol of cosmopolitan culture of the country," he said Heritage activists, however, say there is contradiction between what the government says and what it is doing. Only a few days before the restoration of MJ Market, the city lost another heritage structure. Saifabad Palace, one of the 10 blocks at the old Telangana secretariat, was demolished to make way for the construction of a new complex. The government went ahead with the demolition of the heritage structure despite the objections raised by the concerned citizens and heritage conservationists. Saiafabad Palace, one of the finest examples of Asaf Jahi architecture, was built in 1885 by the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahabub Ali Khan, and served as the seat of power for the princely state of Hyderabad and subsequently for undivided Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The city convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), P. Anuradha Reddy, believes the demolition of Saifabad palace was a major blow to the heritage of Hyderabad. Steeped in history and endowed with rich architectural legacy and vibrant culture, Hyderabad is considered by many as a natural choice for the global status but the city is fast losing its built heritage which may dent its claim. The landscape of this 427-year-old city, now a leading information technology hub, has changed a lot with many heritage structures vanishing over the last few decades. The activists point out how the government was bent upon demolishing the nearly 150-year-old Errum Manzil to build a new state legislature complex. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had even laid the foundation stone for the complex last year but the legal fight by some heritage conservationists saved the key landmark. Errum Manzil is a palace built in 1870 by Nawab Fakrul Mulk, a noble of the erstwhile Hyderabad state. Built in Indo-European style of architecture, it has 150 rooms and is located on a hillock in the heart of the city. Earlier, the government's proposal to demolish heritage building of Osmania Hospital had also triggered a huge row. The activists, historians, concerned citizens and eminent people from various walks of had joined hands in opposing the move. The heritage conservationists question the government's commitment to work towards getting heritage status for the city when it was busy pulling down the heritage structures. There is long pending demand for United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) status for Hyderabad, famous for its pearls, palaces, minarets, rich culture and lip-smacking cuisine. It was nearly a decade ago that the proposal was submitted for including Charminar, Golconda Fort and the Qutb Shahi tomb complex in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. The activists say the neglect of heritage and official apathy in proper documentation denied the city monuments a certain place in UNESCO list. While the Government of India submitted a nomination dossier to UNESCO for securing the much-coveted tag for these monuments, the world body had termed it incomplete. The proposal was not re-submitted, say the heritage activists. The three monuments are the most significant heritage sites in the city and are visited by hundreds of tourists every day. Built in 1591 by Hyderabad's founder Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah, Charminar is the symbol of Hyderabad. The majestic Golconda Fort was built by the Kaktiyas of Warangal during 10th century as a mud fort. They ceded it to Baihamnis in 1363. The fort was later fortified by the Qutb Shahi kings, who ruled from 1518 to 1687. Qutb Shahi tombs complex comprises 72 monuments including mausoleums of rulers of Qutb Shahi dynasty. Historians say there is no other site like this in the world as it offers a huge diversity of architectural styles. Jaipur was last year declared UNESCO world heritage site because of its Hindu-Muslim and European architecture and culture. Anuradha Reddy pointed out that Hyderabad also has the same rich diversity and in addition to this it also has its own style Osmanian. The best example of Osmanian is Arts College on Osmania University campus. It has Chinese Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic Qutb Shahi architecture incorporated in it. "If we don't care for our heritage we stand to lose the opportunity of getting recognition as world heritage status. In many cases it is the government which is responsible for safety of built heritage but they are demolishing. I fear for my city and my heritage," she said. The city has intricately designed structures belonging to three dynasties of Deccan Kakatiyas, Qutb Shahis and Asaf Jahis but most of them are crumbling. The city has either lost many heritage structures or is on the verge of losing them due to the neglect by authorities, encroachments by land sharks and also people being insensitive about their own heritage. Activists say two dozen monuments of historical, cultural, medical and educational importance of the Asaf Jahi era are facing serious threat. Rapid expansion of the city and massive construction activity especially over the last 20 years has claimed several structures of historical importance. Palaces, beautiful arches and giant wooden gates either collapsed due to lack of proper care or were demolished to widen the roads or provide other amenities to the burgeoning population. COVINA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / North America Frac Sand, Inc. dba Voycare (OTC PINK:NAFS) ("NAFS", "Voycare" or "Company"), a California-based telemedicine service provider and Chinese language digital health platform exclusively dedicated to women's health, today announces financial results for the second quarter of 2020. The Company's total revenues were $326,875 for the second quarter, as compared to $0.00 revenue reported for the same period in 2019. This was an increase of $326,875 when compared to the second quarter of 2019. The Company's total revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2020 were $540,894, as compared to $0.00 for the six months ended June 30, 2019. This was an increase of $540,894 when compared to the six months ended June 30, 2019. To view the 2020 Second Quarter Financial Report and Disclosure Statement, please click below: https://backend.otcmarkets.com/otcapi/company/financial-report/255497/content "We are pleased to report positive earnings during this past second quarter despite challenges facing many businesses during this turbulent year," said Hong Cheng, CEO of Voycare. "We remain committed to building a strong Chinese language digital health platform for women around the world, providing access to quality health care. We feel optimistic for our space and product, and look forward to taking advantage of growth opportunities as they arise that can further maximize value for our clients, investors and shareholders." The Company is currently developing new modules for its client-side dashboard as it continues a closed beta testing prior its September debut and official entry into China's rapidly growing telemedicine industry. China's tele-health market size is 700 billion RMB or approximately $US100 billion by the end of 2020 according to according to Phoenix News Media. The Company has also recently began vetting Medical Directors to serve on its Board of Directors, and expects to share more updates in the weeks to come. For more information about Voycare, please visit, www.voycare.com or follow us on Twitter @nafsvoycare. About Voycare North America Frac Sand, Inc. (OTC: NAFS) dba Voycare is a California based telemedicine service provider and Chinese language digital health platform exclusively dedicated to women's health in Asia, with the primary focus on China. Voycare is creating a new type of cross border health care experience for women by leveraging telehealth and the gig-economy, giving women a voice when making the right health care decision for themselves and their families. Voycare currently focuses on two important areas in women's health, Counseling and Fertility. Founded in 2019, Voycare has offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai. Safe Harbor Statement This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All information, other than information regarding historic fact that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future is forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or modify such forward-looking information, either because of new information, future events or for any other reason. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Contact Information Voycare +1.626.784.5846 info@voycare.com www.voycare.com SOURCE: North America Frac. Sand Inc. / Voycare View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602367/Voycare-Announces-2020-Second-Quarter-Financial-Reports-and-Disclosure-Statements Icelands Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir announced during a press conference that from Wednesday, August 19 onwards every person arriving in Iceland will be tested twice for the virus. First they will get tested for the coronavirus at the border, they will then be required to spend four to five days in quarantine, and subsequently be tested for the virus again. This decision has come after several new domestic coronavirus cases were confirmed, almost every day, since July 23 in Iceland, and elsewhere too. According to Icelands Chief Epidemiologist orolfur Gunason, this is the most effective way to contain the spread of the pandemic in the country. The Government of Icelands website elaborated, Passengers arriving in Iceland on and after 19 August 2020 may choose either to submit to two screening tests for COVID-19, separated by five days quarantine until the results of the second test are known, or else not to undergo border screening but instead to spend 14 days in quarantine after arrival. The ministerial regulation announcing this takes effect as from midnight on 18 August. The requirement regarding quarantine and/or testing applies to all people who have spent more than 24 hours during the past 14 days in locations that are defined as potential infection risk areas; at present, this means all countries. Children born in or after 2005 are exempt from the screening and quarantine requirements, and the same exemption applies to persons who have been certified by the Icelandic health authorities, following a PCR test, as having previously been infected with COVID-19 and have completed a period of isolation, or if they have been shown by antibody measurements to have recovered from COVID-19. Transit passengers who do not leave the terminal facilities at the border are not required to undergo screening or quarantine. Travel Restrictions in Finland On the other hand, Finland said on Wednesday it will bring back travel restrictions for several countries which it had for months considered safe destinations, including Germany and its Nordic neighbours, to stop the spread of COVID-19. Travelling from Iceland, Greece, Malta, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, San Marino and Japan to Finland will be limited to essential trips starting August 24, with people returning from those countries required to self-quarantine for two weeks, Minister of Interior Maria Ohisalo said. Prior to Wednesdays announcement, Finland had already restricted travelling to and from most other countries around the globe. In June, Finlands government set a maximum of eight to 10 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over two weeks for countries to be considered safe destinations. Gradually, it has been removing countries from its list of safe destinations as a second wave of infections has crept from one country to another. Our strong message is that travelling to risky countries should be avoided. Returning to Finland from them will lead to quarantine and trouble, Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka told reporters. Finlands own 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants stood at 5.2 on Tuesday, among the lowest rates in Europe, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. But the number of cases has been on the rise in recent weeks, with health authorities counting a total of 7,776 cases and 334 deaths in Finland and a rise of 24 new cases and one death on Tuesday. Harakka said 43 cases had been detected on travellers arriving on three different Wizz Air flights from Skopje in North Macedonia to Turku in Finland recently and authorities were looking into ways of cancelling the connection. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to notify the UN Security Council that the U.S. intends to initiate "snapback" sanctions on Iran. The formal request is expected on Thursday, Israeli officials told Axios. The backdrop: This move could create a diplomatic and legal crisis unlike any seen before at the Security Council. It comes days after the U.S. failed to mobilize support at the council to extend an international arms embargo on Iran. The big picture: Despite having withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. is invoking its terms in an attempt to force sanctions lifted under the pact to snap back into place. The deal says any of the signatories the U.S., Russia, China, France, Germany and the U.K. can demand sanctions be reimposed automatically if they believe Iran has committed substantial violations. No country can veto such a move. Russia and China contend that the U.S. gave up its right to reimpose the sanctions when it withdrew from the deal. That view is shared by others on the council, and even by John Bolton, the hawkish former national security adviser. The U.S., on the other hand, claims it has the right to initiate the snapback mechanism because it is a party to the Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and included the snapback mechanism. The European signatories, who have tried desperately to save the nuclear deal, also oppose the U.S. move. How it works: Pompeo is expected to arrive in New York on Thursday and present formal letters to the UN secretary-general and the UN ambassador from Indonesia, who holds the Security Council's rotating presidency. The letter will then be circulated to other members, beginning a 30-day consultation period. What to watch: Israeli officials and Western diplomats both say they expect a major diplomatic crisis over those 30 days. If any member of the Security Council submits a resolution to stop the snapback move, the U.S. will be able to veto it. U.S. officials believe that the renewal of international sanctions will lead Iran to withdraw from the nuclear deal and likely make it impossible for Democratic nominee Joe Biden to put the deal back together if he wins in November. Israeli officials were notified on Monday that the Trump administration intended to submit the official complaint on Thursday. The latest: When the United States entered into the Iran deal, it was clear that the United States would always have the right to restore the UN sanctions that would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," Trump claimed in a press conference on Wednesday. Soldiers have set up a mobile unit to test 900 workers at the chicken factory where 17 people have now been confirmed as suffering COVID-19. The figure includes 15 staff at the 2 Sisters plant, in Perthshire, as well as two members of the community and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the incident as a 'complex and potentially significant cluster'. She described the situation as a 'complex and potentially significant cluster' and said she could not rule out imposing a local lockdown. The testing site, in a marquee in the grounds, was put in place to check all the factory's employees. The outbreak was started by a manager at the George Street plant, who contracted the virus from a close relative. Soldiers from the army prepare to construct a tent on site at the 2 Sisters chicken factory in Coupar Angus, Scotland, where they will test 900 factory workers for coronavirus A masked soldier preparing the site to set up a mobile testing unit for staff at the factory First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the incident as a 'complex and potentially significant cluster' after an outbreak of cornavirus at a 2 Sisters factory in Coupar Angus, Scotland The factory was closed on Monday morning and is expected to remain shut for some time. Workers have been told to stay at home and self-isolate until August 31. At her daily briefing yesterday, when the total number of confirmed cases was still nine, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I will be very surprised - albeit pleasantly - if we don't see that number rise in the days ahead. 'Seven of the cases so far are employees of the factory and two are people in the wider community. Contact tracing is ongoing.' She said: 'This is a complex and potentially significant cluster. 'In addition to the over-riding public health concern relating to the outbreak, the closure of the plant potentially, of course, has an economic impact. 'We also need to consider possible animal welfare issues. The animals which would have been sent to the factory in the next few days can't currently be sent there, so for all of these reasons we are monitoring all aspects of this situation very carefully and closely.' The factory (pictured) was closed on Monday morning and is expected to remain shut for some time. Workers have been told to stay at home and self-isolate until August 31 Workers at the factory have been told to self-isolate until the end of August after cluster found Asked if the case could lead to a local lockdown, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I'm going to be very cautious about speculating here. We don't rule anything out whenever we're faced with clusters. 'If we can't keep a cluster under control purely through test-and-protect then additional measures always have to be possible.' 2 Sisters has been contacted for comment by the Mail Online. A spokesman earlier this week said: 'Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of all colleagues, and we will be reviewing the situation closely in partnership with the relevant regional and national Scottish Covid-19 taskforces before we restart production.' NHS Tayside Public Health was first alerted to the outbreak on Sunday. A judge in Zimbabwe sparked controversy this week when he barred a prominent lawyer from representing a journalist facing charges of stoking violence. The judge said attorney Beatrice Mtetwa should be charged with contempt of court and asked the Law Society of Zimbabwe to revoke her license. Critics say it is an attempt to curtail the journalist's right to choose his attorney. Richard Chidza, spokesman of the Law Society of Zimbabwe the statutory body which licenses lawyers told VOA his organization has yet to receive the ruling by magistrate Ngoni Nduna which orders the organization to review the license of Beatrice Mtetwa. Once we receive the order, we can then apply our mind to it and issue a necessary response to what has been ordered by the magistrate. But for now, a position is that we await the order and the judgment, he said. Mtetwa is a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers of Human Rights, a group that has often challenged the government. Judge Nduna said Mtetwa showed contempt for the justice system when she said journalist Hopewell Chinono had been abducted rather than arrested. He also cited a letter she wrote to court officials, accusing the judge of denying bail to suspects arrested on politically motivated charges. Lovemore Madhuku is a professor of constitutional law at University of Zimbabwe and a veteran lawyer. He said the right of an accused person to be represented by the lawyer of his or her choice is one of the most fundamental rights in any democratic society. So if there were any issues relating to the conduct of Beatrice, that ought to have been handled outside the court. They should have given more focus to the fact that what was before the court was the right to liberty for Hopewell. The only recourse is to approach a High Court judge to have that decision set aside on an urgent basis. (The) decision can set aside without the difficult formalities because it is a decision made while proceedings for liberty are in progress, said Madhuku. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Zimbabwes justice minister, said Wednesday that the government will not comment on the developments, as it was not cited in the judges ruling. Mtetwa believes she did nothing wrong in her quest to secure bail for journalist Chinono who has been in prison since his arrest July 20. Chinono was arrested together with opposition leader Jacob Ngaruvhume on allegations of stocking violence ahead of an anti-government protest. Mtetwa sees the hand of the government at work and suspects the judges order will affect both her own career and the work of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. It is not a coincidence that an order that says I must be prosecuted. When an order comes from a court that is hearing the case, there will be that chilling effect. The intention is to stop us from defending certain types of clients. Obviously, we are going to challenge the decision. But it means the right to legal representation has been severely curtailed by the courts, which are actually supposed to be expanding that right, she said. On Wednesday, Chinono was back at the court for his third bail attempt with another official Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. Mtetwa was at the same court representing members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change facing charges of participating in an illegal public gathering. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has halted a controversial cost-cutting program that slowed mail delivery ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, which could see a doubling in the number of ballots cast by mail because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Lawsuits filed to block the moves revealed details about the scale of the planned cuts: * The Postal Service had planned to remove 671 mail sorting machines nationwide, including 502 delivery barcode sorting machines capable of processing 35,000 pieces of mail per hour, by Sept. 30. * As of Aug. 16 it had already decommissioned 95% of its target, according to a lawsuit filed jointly by the Urban League, Common Cause and the League of Urban Voters. * Overall DeJoys plans would have decommissioned 10% of the sorting machines in Postal Services inventory, the lawsuit said, citing Postal Service planning documents. * Postal Service officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. STATE-BY-STATE The following are state-by-state cuts highlighted in a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington, including in the election battlegrounds of Michigan and Wisconsin: * Michigan said the loss of machinery in a Pontiac facility has reduced processing capacity by 394,000 pieces of mail per hour. * Wisconsin projected that seven of 36 mail sorting machines at a Milwaukee distribution center will be removed, and said staff shortages mean one worker rather than two now operates each. * Washington state said three of five processing facilities are no longer processing outgoing mail, and the Postal Service is in the process of removing eight mail sorting machines. * Colorado said six mail sorting machines are being removed. * Connecticut expects 18 mail sorting machines will be removed by the election. * Illinois said the Postal Service is in the process of removing 28 mail sorting machines, including 15% of all delivery bar code sorters. * Maryland said the Postal Service removed six mail processing machines in early August. * Minnesota said at least 20 mail sorting machines have been or are being decommissioned. It said 10 letter-sorting machines can process 5 million pieces of mail a day. * Nevada said at least four mail sorting machines have been removed. * New Mexico said four mail sorting machines are being removed. (Compiled by Jonathan Stempel and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool) 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 WASHINGTON Two years ago, the suburbs revolted against President Donald Trump, helping Democrats take control of the House as they campaigned to serve as a check on the president. Now Trump is campaigning to save those suburbs from an invasion of low-income housing and crime and chaos. In campaign speeches, tweets and a Sunday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Trump has repeatedly warned of what a Joe Biden presidency would mean for the suburbs, which are the only battleground in Texas, as one Republican strategist put it. Democrats, Trump said in a campaign speech on Monday, want to abolish the suburbs by allowing far left Washington bureaucrats to force the construction of low income housing projects in every neighborhood in America. Thats what they want to do, thats their goal, he said. And were going to let you preserve your American dream in the suburbs. OK? Republicans say its a way for the president to draw attention to his administrations moves to end Obama-era fair housing initiatives that conservatives saw as federal overreach, while also underlining the law-and-order plank of his campaign. Democrats in the Texas suburbs some of fastest growing and most rapidly diversifying parts of the state say Trump is giving them a gift as he attempts to appeal to suburban housewives by warning of threats to their way of life. They see it as more of the same racist and sexist rhetoric that turned many in the suburbs away from Trump in the first place. HARRIS APPEAL: In fight to win Texas, Kamala Harris was Joe Bidens perfect VP pick, Democrats say Cynthia Ginyard, chairwoman of the Fort Bend County Democratic Party, said she saw a sign in a neighbors yard recently that she believes sums up the sentiment: I am a Republican. I am not a fool. Biden 2020, it said. That sums it up for those people. Theyre Republicans. But theyre not buying into Trumps hate and vitriol. They know better and think better, Ginyard said. These suburban housewives, as he calls it, they know who their neighbors are. Fort Bend County is a prime example of the demographic shifts in the Texas suburbs that Democrats hope to cash in on. Roughly a quarter of the countys population is Latino, 21 percent is Black and another 20 percent is Asian American. In Texas, the more than half-dozen congressional seats Democrats hope to claim in November are virtually all centered in suburban areas, including around Houston and San Antonio. So, too, are many of the state House seats the party has targeted, with hopes of flipping nine to gain control of the chamber for the first time since 2002. And the rapid growth along Interstate 35 driven largely by ever-expanding suburbia has formed a blue spine that could be Democrats clearest path to a statewide win in a generation. Fair housing policies President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have fundamentally different approaches to the issue. Trump Ended an Obama-era regulation that required more robust planning from suburban communities to end racial segregation. Replaced it with a rule that takes a broader view of fair housing that his administration says will still require communities to "certify" that they will advance fair housing initiatives. Says his administration is getting the federal government out of local decision making. Biden Proposes a $640 billion investment in fair housing initiatives, including home buyer and renters assistance. Calls for a new homeowner and renter bill of rights aimed at ending housing discrimination. Would reinstate the Obama-era rule that Trump replaced. See More Collapse THE BLUE SPINE: Voter registrations growing at faster rate along I-35 than rest of the state combined The Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night featured appearances by two suburban Texans who the party has branded rising stars: U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat who flipped a Dallas-area district in 2018 and state Rep. Vicotria Neave, who ousted a Dallas-area Republican in 2016. Trumps reelection campaign, meanwhile, hosted a DNC counter-event in Katy aimed at highlighting how out-of-touch the Democrat Party is with Texans. Cat Parks, vice chairwoman of the Republican Party of Texas, told the couple dozen attendees that Democrats have let political agendas take priority over public safety, pointing to Austin, where city officials last week voted to cut at least $20 million from the police budget and are considering larger reductions. Over the last two years, the decline of the city has become visible, Parks said. The streets reek like urine. As a female, I am no longer safe considering returning from a restaurant after dark to my car. I wouldnt even consider it, she said. Law and order to even these local city councils is not a priority. Thats where the Trump campaign has worked lately to draw a distinction between himself and Biden. President Trump is the leader of law and order, while Joe Biden and the Democrats condone the lawlessness and destruction of cities all across the country, said Samantha Cotten, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. Their radical ideas of defunding the police and taking away firearms from law abiding citizens do not sit well with suburban and rural America. We wish Biden luck with running on that platform in the Lone Star State. Shining example of the American dream The populations of African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans have grown at a faster clip than the overall population in a key congressional district centered on Fort Bend, where Democratic primary turnout nearly doubled from 2016 to 2020, far outpacing the growth in Republican turnout. Those trends apply in half a dozen congressional districts where Democrats plan to devote resources leading up to November. They include Houstons western and northern suburbs and areas north of San Antonio. Suburbia is not all white anymore, Ginyard said. Those people already have folks of color all up and down their streets. Trump is clearly aware of the demographic shifts, writing in the Wall Street Journal op-ed with Housing Secretary Ben Carson that every American has a stake in thriving suburbs and that a majority of the country lives in the suburbs, including majorities of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian-Americans. Americas suburbs are a shining example of the American Dream, where people can live in their own homes, in safe, pleasant neighborhoods, Trump wrote in the op-ed. The left wants to take that American dream away from you. As much as Trumps framing may at times seem detached from the reality many Texas suburbanites know, the president is still touching on a very real not in my backyard mindset that exists in many areas, said Kyle Shelton, an expert on urban development at Rice Universitys Kinder Institute. Its more appealing to base emotion than reality, Shelton said. Its not the typical NIMBY approach, like complaints about too much traffic or crowded schools. Hes going to its most base racist and classist version as an invasion. Trumps comments refer to his administrations move to end a rule adopted by the Obama White House that is aimed at quelling racial segregation in the suburbs. The rule required communities to craft plans to address housing inequities or face losing federal funding. Shelton said the Obama rule was more of a clarification of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination, though critics say it was too burdensome on communities because it required more robust planning. The rule would have also targeted suburban areas that are still highly segregated by income, even if they are far less racially segregated than they have been in the past, Shelton said. Trump has touted its cancellation as a key to his administrations efforts to reduce such regulations one that will ensure suburbs are allowed to grow organically, from the bottom up. His administration replaced the rule with another Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice that takes a broader view of fair housing. Biden, on the other hand, has proposed investing $640 billion over 10 years to bolster fair housing efforts, including financial assistance for home buyers and renters and to help increase housing supply. Shelton said that while Trump has warned efforts like it to encourage more low-income housing would destroy suburbia, theres actually no evidence such housing has any effect on property values or crime rates in a community. It cant be said enough that there is actually no rationale to preclude folks of different incomes and housing types of different price points in communities, Shelton said. Thats where the messaging is pretty dishonest. Republicans say the president is hitting on something that the party hopes will be a winning issue in November: law and order. Theres fear out there In a speech in Oshkosh, Wisc. on Monday, the president described a weekend spree in Chicago in which he said 78 people were shot and 18 people died. This is the future that Joe Biden plans to bring to every city, town and suburb in our nation, Trump said. Matt Mackowiak, a GOP consultant in Texas, said its an effective way to highlight the differences between Trumps vision and Bidens vision that he believes will have resonance in Texas suburbs. For anyone whos worried about safety, I think there are legitimate lines of argument to make there, Mackowiak said. Theres fear out there that the worst stuff weve seen in the cities could eventually migrate to the suburbs. Thats a message he wants to drive home. Yet in many parts of Texas, where seemingly endless sprawl moves ever outward, the suburbs themselves are the invasion. In Comal County outside of San Antonio, growth along I-35 since 2010 has contributed to a 40-percent population increase. The county of 156,000 is still two-thirds white, though more than 28 percent of its residents are Latino. The Democratic Party chair in Comal County, Gloria Meehan, says the toll of that breakneck growth is a big concern. Were dealing with these environmental issues, including the over-development, people looking for more affordable housing and developers coming in and razing the land, Meehan said. Its more the upshot of that rather than the esoteric sense of suburbia. Mitch Sanchez, who chairs the Democratic Partys candidates committee in neighboring Hays County a fast-growing stretch along I-35 between San Antonio and Austin that is more than 40 percent Latino, said he hopes the president keeps up the talk about the suburbs: Trump is our best fundraiser, so every time he opens his mouth the wallets start to open up. Alejandro Serrano contributed reporting from Katy. ben.wermund@chron.com KABUL -- Police say two sticky bombs that targeted Afghan government employees in Kabul killed two people on August 19 and wounded two others. The attacks came a day after a rocket salvo that hit residential and diplomatic areas in the city claimed the lives of three people and wounded 16, according to the Interior Ministry. One of the sticky bombs was attached to a police vehicle, while the other was attached to a car belonging to the Education Ministry, according to Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. Abdulbaqi Amin, head of the Education Ministrys Science Council, was killed in the second blast, a spokeswoman for the ministry was quoted as saying. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said he was not aware of the attacks, which took place as the United States is withdrawing troops while trying to usher in peace talks between the Taliban and the Western-backed government in Kabul to end nearly 19 years of war. On August 18, officials said a total of 14 rockets were fired into central Kabul as Afghanistan marked the 101st anniversary of its independence. Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said that those killed in the strikes included two government employees. He did not specify who the employees were, but the AFP news agency quoted two officials as saying they were members of President Ashraf Ghani's guard of honor. Another six honor guard members were reportedly wounded when one of the missiles landed in the presidential palace compound. The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for these attacks. With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa The IT sectors skills mismatch between what organisations want and what candidates want has been laid bare, in a new pan-European study into the 25 most popular technology jobs. In fact, while Brits yearn to learn Python and land Data Analyst jobs, their employers need System Engineers, and their European rivals want them too. Or if not, Software Engineers. Except not in Germany -- the only EU nation to rank Systems Admins as the most sought-after, and not in Italy or Romania either, where the most desired techies are AI Engineers. 'Software developers, cloud engineers' Denmark and Luxembourg also defy Europes leaning towards System and Software Engineers, preferring Data Engineers instead, found the study by Prolifics Testing. Similarly, Poland and Russia want Java Developers more so than any other techies, while in Greece and the Ukraine, Software Developers and Cloud Engineers dominate, respectively. Hinting at a match (of sorts), Profilics pointed out that Software Developer is the third most trawled tech job by Brits, ahead of Data Scientist, and way ahead of Network Admin. 'Data Analyst interest trumps Web Developer interest' But such candidates will more likely search for Web Developer roles, which came in a very distant second to Data Analyst, found the firm which assessed Indeed.com data in August. So Ireland may be the nearest overseas destination closest to the heart of the job-hopeful Brits, as Ireland is in the top-half of the list of six countries prioritising software engineering. Outflanked by the Netherlands (745 openings) and the Czech Republic (673 openings), Ireland offered 522 openings for Software Engineers, over the 14-day assessed period. 'Rife' That makes Ireland a more fertile environment for software engineers than Austria, Belgium or Norway, despite all three being considered tech-rich, contractor-friendly destinations. But it is system engineering where Prolifics said the demand from European countries, six in particular including the UK (3,759 openings), is significant enough to be described as rife. In fact, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, France and Turkey all want software engineers the most, competitively (some of the total openings are alike), albeit at a lesser rate than the UK. 'Astonishing' Among Brits, SQL was the language of choice to pick up behind Python (an astonishing 18,400 searches a month), closely followed by those looking to train in Java or JavaScript. Upskilling is quietest around R (the least-sought course), Prolifics added, CSS, and HTML, despite the latter still piquing the professional development interests of 2,150 searchers. Queenslanders have been told they will have to keep dancing at home, with no plans to ease strict coronavirus restrictions in bars, clubs and pubs. Restrictions in Queensland's pubs and clubs were tightened again after coronavirus outbreaks in southern states. Queenslanders will have to stay seated at bars and pubs for the foreseeable future. Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young reimposed a rule in late July requiring patrons at hospitality venues to remain seated. While Queensland has not detected any locally acquired COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks, there are no plans to allow dancing in pubs and clubs, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Wednesday. By Express News Service KOCHI: Adding another feather to the cap of Keralas battle against Covid, a 103-year-old patient recovered from the viral infection and was discharged from the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) in Kalamassery on Tuesday. A native of Aluva, Pareed was admitted to MCH on July 28 with severe fever and body ache. Within 20 days, he walked out of the hospital after having cleansed his body of the deadly disease. Recovery of elderly patients is a proud feat in our fight against Covid, said Health Minister K K Shailaja. I congratulate each one of them who approached the patient with compassion. Although his wife Aamina was admitted along with him, she was discharged soon as she tested negative. His son too contracted the virus but recovered earlier. Hospital Superintendent Dr Peter Vazhayil said there was little complication in his treatment. A medical team led by Medical College principal Dr V Sathish and comprising Vice-Principal Dr Fathahudheen, Superintendent Dr Peter Vazhayil, Deputy Superintendent Dr Geetha Nair and RMO Dr Ganesh Mohan, among others, was in charge of Pareeds treatment. MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Second quarter comparable sales grew 24.3 percent, the strongest the Company has ever reported. Store comparable sales increased 10.9 percent. Digital comparable sales grew 195 percent, accounting for 13.4 percentage points of Target's comparable sales growth. Stores fulfilled more than 90 percent of Target's second quarter sales. Same-day services (Order Pick Up, Drive Up and Shipt) grew 273 percent and accounted for approximately 6 percentage points of total Company comparable sales growth. The Company saw unusually strong market-share gains across all five of its core merchandise categories. In the first half of the year, the Company has gained approximately $5 billion in market share. Second quarter GAAP EPS from continuing operations of $3.35 was 84.4 percent higher than last year, and Adjusted EPS1 of $3.38 was 85.7 percent higher than last year, as strong operating performance offset unprecedented investments in team member pay & benefits. For additional media materials, please visit: https://corporate.target.com/article/2020/08/q2-2020-earnings Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today announced its second quarter 2020 results, which reflect the continuation of heightened sales volume and significant investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company reported GAAP earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $3.35 in the second quarter, an increase of 84.4 percent from $1.82 in 2019. Second quarter Adjusted EPS of $3.38 grew 85.7 percent compared with $1.82 in 2019. The attached tables provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures. All earnings per share figures refer to diluted EPS. "Our second quarter comparable sales growth of 24.3 percent is the strongest we have ever reported, which is a true testament to the resilience of our team and the durability of our business model. Our stores were the key to this unprecedented growth, with in-store comp sales growing 10.9 percent and stores enabling more than three-quarters of Target's digital sales, which rose nearly 200 percent. We also generated outstanding profitability in the quarter, even as we made significant investments in pay and benefits for our team," said Brian Cornell, chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corporation. "We remain steadfast in our focus on investing in a safe and convenient shopping experience for our guests, and their trust has resulted in market share gains of $5 billion in the first six months of the year. With our differentiated merchandising assortment, a comprehensive set of convenient fulfillment options, a strong balance sheet, and our deeply dedicated team, we are well-equipped to navigate the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, and continue to grow profitably in the years ahead." Fiscal 2020 Guidance During the first quarter, the Company withdrew its guidance given the unusually wide range of potential outcomes, in light of the highly fluid and uncertain outlook for consumer shopping patterns and government policies related to COVID-19. Operating Results The Company's total comparable sales grew 24.3 percent in the second quarter, reflecting comparable stores sales growth of 10.9 percent and digital sales growth of 195 percent. Total revenue of $23.0 billion grew 24.7 percent compared with last year, reflecting sales growth of 24.8 percent and a 16.6 percent increase in other revenue. Operating income was $2.3 billion in second quarter 2020, up 73.8 percent from $1.3 billion in 2019. Second quarter operating income margin rate was 10.0 percent in 2020 compared with 7.2 percent in 2019, driven primarily by strong expense leverage on robust topline performance. Second quarter gross margin rate was 30.9 percent, compared with 30.6 percent in 2019. This increase reflected sales strength across our entire multi-category assortment and lower discounts driven by high sell through rates. Second quarter SG&A expense rate was 19.4 percent in 2020, compared with 21.2 percent in 2019, reflecting higher compensation costs, including investments in wages and benefits, which were more than offset by the net impact of other factors, most prominently the leverage from strong sales growth. Interest Expense and Taxes The Company's second quarter 2020 net interest expense was $122 million, compared with $120 million last year. Second quarter 2020 effective income tax rate was 22.8 percent, compared with 23.0 percent last year, reflecting a larger rate benefit from discrete items, primarily related to share-based payments, compared with the prior year. Shareholder Returns The Company paid dividends of $330 million, compared with $328 million in second quarter 2019, reflecting a 3.1 percent increase in the dividend per share, partially offset by a decline in average share count. On March 25, 2020, the Company announced that it had suspended share repurchase activity as a result of the high level of uncertainty in the current environment. As of the end of the second quarter, the Company had approximately $4.5 billion of remaining capacity under the repurchase program approved by Target's Board of Directors in September 2019. For the trailing twelve months through second quarter 2020, after-tax return on invested capital (ROIC) was 17.2 percent, compared with 15.2 percent for the twelve months through second quarter 2019. The increase to ROIC was driven primarily by increased profitability combined with a small decrease in capital base. The tables in this release provide additional information about the Company's ROIC calculation. Webcast Details Target will webcast its second quarter earnings conference call at 7:00 a.m. CT today. Investors and the media are invited to listen to the meeting at Investors.Target.com (click "investors" then click on "events & presentations"). A replay of the webcast will be provided when available. The replay number is 1-800-391-9846. Miscellaneous Statements in this release regarding the Company's future financial performance and future effects of COVID-19 on the Company's business are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially. The most important risks and uncertainties are described in Item 1A of the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Feb. 1, 2020 and Item 1A of the Company's Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended May 2, 2020. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement. About Target Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at nearly 1,900 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5% of its profit to communities, which today equals millions of dollars a week. For the latest store count or for more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter. For more on the Target Foundation, click here. 1Adjusted EPS, a non-GAAP financial measure, excludes the impact of certain discretely managed items. See the tables of this release for additional information about the items that have been excluded from Adjusted EPS. TARGET CORPORATION Consolidated Statements of Operations Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (millions, except per share data) (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Change August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Change Sales $ 22,696 $ 18,183 24.8 % $ 42,067 $ 35,584 18.2 % Other revenue 279 239 16.6 523 465 12.3 Total revenue 22,975 18,422 24.7 42,590 36,049 18.1 Cost of sales 15,673 12,625 24.1 30,183 24,874 21.3 Selling, general and administrative expenses 4,460 3,912 14.0 8,520 7,575 12.5 Depreciation and amortization (exclusive of depreciation included in cost of sales) 542 561 (3.5) 1,119 1,142 (2.1) Operating income 2,300 1,324 73.8 2,768 2,458 12.6 Net interest expense 122 120 1.9 239 246 (2.5) Net other (income) / expense (11) (13) (19.5) 11 (27) (141.9) Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes 2,189 1,217 79.8 2,518 2,239 12.5 Provision for income taxes 499 279 78.3 544 509 7.0 Net earnings from continuing operations 1,690 938 80.3 1,974 1,730 14.1 Discontinued operations, net of tax 3 Net earnings $ 1,690 $ 938 80.3 % $ 1,974 $ 1,733 13.9 % Basic earnings per share Continuing operations $ 3.38 $ 1.83 84.6 % $ 3.94 $ 3.37 17.1 % Discontinued operations 0.01 Net earnings per share $ 3.38 $ 1.83 84.6 % $ 3.94 $ 3.37 16.9 % Diluted earnings per share Continuing operations $ 3.35 $ 1.82 84.4 % $ 3.91 $ 3.34 17.0 % Discontinued operations 0.01 Net earnings per share $ 3.35 $ 1.82 84.4 % $ 3.91 $ 3.35 16.8 % Weighted average common shares outstanding Basic 500.1 512.1 (2.3) % 500.6 513.9 (2.6) % Diluted 504.4 516.1 (2.3) % 505.1 517.8 (2.5) % Antidilutive shares Dividends declared per share $ 0.68 $ 0.66 3.0 % $ 1.34 $ 1.30 3.1 % Note: Per share amounts may not foot due to rounding. TARGET CORPORATION Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (millions, except footnotes) (unaudited) August 1, 2020 February 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 7,284 $ 2,577 $ 1,656 Inventory 8,876 8,992 9,122 Other current assets 1,463 1,333 1,341 Total current assets 17,623 12,902 12,119 Property and equipment Land 6,027 6,036 6,054 Buildings and improvements 30,946 30,603 29,908 Fixtures and equipment 5,665 6,083 5,622 Computer hardware and software 2,631 2,692 2,627 Construction-in-progress 811 533 667 Accumulated depreciation (19,341) (19,664) (18,866) Property and equipment, net 26,739 26,283 26,012 Operating lease assets 2,233 2,236 2,062 Other noncurrent assets 1,405 1,358 1,373 Total assets $ 48,000 $ 42,779 $ 41,566 Liabilities and shareholders' investment Accounts payable $ 10,726 $ 9,920 $ 9,152 Accrued and other current liabilities 5,057 4,406 4,059 Current portion of long-term debt and other borrowings 109 161 1,153 Total current liabilities 15,892 14,487 14,364 Long-term debt and other borrowings 14,188 11,338 10,365 Noncurrent operating lease liabilities 2,241 2,275 2,111 Deferred income taxes 1,121 1,122 1,082 Other noncurrent liabilities 1,980 1,724 1,808 Total noncurrent liabilities 19,530 16,459 15,366 Shareholders' investment Common stock 42 42 43 Additional paid-in capital 6,248 6,226 6,114 Retained earnings 7,121 6,433 6,461 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (833) (868) (782) Total shareholders' investment 12,578 11,833 11,836 Total liabilities and shareholders' investment $ 48,000 $ 42,779 $ 41,566 Common Stock Authorized 6,000,000,000 shares, $0.0833 par value; 500,252,831, 504,198,962 and 511,335,375 shares issued and outstanding as of August 1, 2020, February 1, 2020, and August 3, 2019, respectively. Preferred Stock Authorized 5,000,000 shares, $0.01 par value; no shares were issued or outstanding during any period presented. TARGET CORPORATION Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Six Months Ended (millions) (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Operating activities Net earnings $ 1,974 $ 1,733 Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax 3 Net earnings from continuing operations 1,974 1,730 Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to cash provided by operations: Depreciation and amortization 1,245 1,267 Share-based compensation expense 104 86 Deferred income taxes (12) 104 Noncash losses / (gains) and other, net 86 42 Changes in operating accounts: Inventory 116 375 Other assets (14) 64 Accounts payable 795 (731) Accrued and other liabilities 822 (127) Cash provided by operating activitiescontinuing operations 5,116 2,810 Cash provided by operating activitiesdiscontinued operations 2 Cash provided by operations 5,116 2,812 Investing activities Expenditures for property and equipment (1,414) (1,394) Proceeds from disposal of property and equipment 10 10 Other investments 2 Cash required for investing activities (1,402) (1,384) Financing activities Additions to long-term debt 2,480 994 Reductions of long-term debt (126) (1,026) Dividends paid (662) (658) Repurchase of stock (706) (662) Stock option exercises 7 24 Cash provided by / (required for) financing activities 993 (1,328) Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 4,707 100 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 2,577 1,556 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 7,284 $ 1,656 TARGET CORPORATION Operating Results Rate Analysis Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Gross margin rate 30.9 % 30.6 % 28.3 % 30.1 % SG&A expense rate 19.4 21.2 20.0 21.0 Depreciation and amortization (exclusive of depreciation included in cost of sales) expense rate 2.4 3.0 2.6 3.2 Operating income margin rate 10.0 7.2 6.5 6.8 Note: Gross margin rate is calculated as gross margin (sales less cost of sales) divided by sales. All other rates are calculated by dividing the applicable amount by total revenue. Other revenue includes $158 million and $324 million of profit-sharing income under our credit card program agreement for the three and six months ended August 1, 2020, respectively, and $168 million and $328 million for the three and six months ended August 3, 2019, respectively. Comparable Sales Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Comparable sales change 24.3 % 3.4 % 17.7 % 4.1 % Drivers of change in comparable sales Number of transactions 4.6 2.4 1.6 3.3 Average transaction amount 18.8 0.9 15.8 0.7 Contribution to Comparable Sales Change Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Stores originated channel comparable sales change 10.9 % 1.5 % 6.0 % 2.1 % Contribution from digitally originated sales 13.4 1.8 11.7 1.9 Total comparable sales change 24.3 % 3.4 % 17.7 % 4.1 % Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding. Sales by Channel Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Stores originated 82.8 % 92.7 % 83.7 % 92.8 % Digitally originated 17.2 7.3 16.3 7.2 Total 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % RedCard Penetration Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Target Debit Card 11.8 % 12.5 % 12.2 % 12.8 % Target Credit Cards 8.7 10.7 9.2 10.6 Total RedCard Penetration 20.5 % 23.2 % 21.4 % 23.4 % Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding. Number of Stores and Retail Square Feet Number of Stores Retail Square Feet (a) (unaudited) August 1, 2020 February 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 1, 2020 February 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 170,000 or more sq. ft. 272 272 272 48,613 48,619 48,619 50,000 to 169,999 sq. ft. 1,505 1,505 1,499 189,224 189,227 188,711 49,999 or less sq. ft. 94 91 82 2,745 2,670 2,357 Total 1,871 1,868 1,853 240,582 240,516 239,687 (a) In thousands, reflects total square feet less office, distribution center, and vacant space. TARGET CORPORATION Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures To provide additional transparency, we have disclosed non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (Adjusted EPS). This metric excludes certain items presented below. We believe this information is useful in providing period-to-period comparisons of the results of our continuing operations. This measure is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). The most comparable GAAP measure is diluted earnings per share from continuing operations. Adjusted EPS should not be considered in isolation or as a substitution for analysis of our results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Other companies may calculate Adjusted EPS differently, limiting the usefulness of the measure for comparisons with other companies. Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Adjusted EPS Three Months Ended August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 (millions, except per share data) (unaudited) Pretax Net of Tax Per Share Pretax Net of Tax Per Share Change GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 3.35 $ 1.82 84.4 % Adjustments Gain on investment (a) $ (9) $ (6) $ (0.01) $ $ $ Other (b) 25 18 0.04 Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 3.38 $ 1.82 85.7 % Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Adjusted EPS Six Months Ended August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 (millions, except per share data) (unaudited) Pretax Net of Tax Per Share Pretax Net of Tax Per Share Change GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 3.91 $ 3.34 17.0 % Adjustments Loss on investment (a) $ 12 $ 9 $ 0.02 $ $ $ Other (b) 25 18 0.04 Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 3.96 $ 3.34 18.6 % Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding. (a) Includes an unrealized (gain) / loss on our investment in Casper Sleep Inc., which is not core to our continuing operations. (b) Includes store damage and inventory losses related to civil unrest. Earnings from continuing operations before interest expense and income taxes (EBIT) and earnings from continuing operations before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these measures provide meaningful information about our operational efficiency compared with our competitors by excluding the impact of differences in tax jurisdictions and structures, debt levels, and, for EBITDA, capital investment. These measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, GAAP. The most comparable GAAP measure is net earnings from continuing operations. EBIT and EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitution for analysis of our results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Other companies may calculate EBIT and EBITDA differently, limiting the usefulness of the measures for comparisons with other companies. EBIT and EBITDA Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (dollars in millions) (unaudited) August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Change August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Change Net earnings from continuing operations $ 1,690 $ 938 80.3 % $ 1,974 $ 1,730 14.1 % + Provision for income taxes 499 279 78.3 544 509 7.0 + Net interest expense 122 120 1.9 239 246 (2.5) EBIT $ 2,311 $ 1,337 72.8 % $ 2,757 $ 2,485 11.0 % + Total depreciation and amortization (a) 604 624 (3.2) 1,245 1,267 (1.9) EBITDA $ 2,915 $ 1,961 48.6 % $ 4,002 $ 3,752 6.7 % (a) Represents total depreciation and amortization, including amounts classified within Depreciation and Amortization and within Cost of Sales. We have also disclosed after-tax return on invested capital from continuing operations (ROIC), which is a ratio based on GAAP information, with the exception of the add-back of operating lease interest to operating income. We believe this metric is useful in assessing the effectiveness of our capital allocation over time. Other companies may calculate ROIC differently, limiting the usefulness of the measure for comparisons with other companies. After-Tax Return on Invested Capital (dollars in millions) Trailing Twelve Months Numerator August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 Operating income $ 4,968 $ 4,395 + Net other income / (expense) (28) 42 EBIT 4,940 4,437 + Operating lease interest (a) 87 85 - Income taxes (b) 1,076 937 Net operating profit after taxes $ 3,951 $ 3,585 Denominator August 1, 2020 August 3, 2019 August 4, 2018 Current portion of long-term debt and other borrowings $ 109 $ 1,153 $ 1,044 + Noncurrent portion of long-term debt 14,188 10,365 10,108 + Shareholders' investment 12,578 11,836 11,167 + Operating lease liabilities (c) 2,448 2,285 2,183 - Cash and cash equivalents 7,284 1,656 1,180 Invested capital $ 22,039 $ 23,983 $ 23,322 Average invested capital (d) $ 23,011 $ 23,652 After-tax return on invested capital 17.2 % 15.2 % (a) Represents the add-back to operating income driven by the hypothetical interest expense we would incur if the property under our operating leases were owned or accounted for as finance leases. Calculated using the discount rate for each lease and recorded as a component of rent expense within SG&A. Operating lease interest is added back to Operating Income in the ROIC calculation to control for differences in capital structure between us and our competitors. (b) Calculated using the effective tax rates for continuing operations, which were 21.4 percent and 20.7 percent for the trailing twelve months ended August 1, 2020, and August 3, 2019, respectively. For the twelve months ended August 1, 2020, and August 3, 2019, includes tax effect of $1,057 million and $919 million, respectively, related to EBIT and $19 million and $18 million, respectively, related to operating lease interest. (c) Total short-term and long-term operating lease liabilities included within Accrued and Other Current Liabilities and Noncurrent Operating Lease Liabilities. (d) Average based on the invested capital at the end of the current period and the invested capital at the end of the comparable prior period. SOURCE Target Corporation Related Links www.target.com Joe Biden was formally nominated as the Democratic Party presidential nominee Tuesday night, as the traditional roll call vote was done by video messages filmed all around the United States and territories. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania cast the Keystone State's votes in front of Biden's Scranton childhood home. While Sen. Bernie Sanders, who retained his delegates until tonight, stood with wife Jane Biden, in a field in Vermont as Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman announced that state's totals. Joe Biden celebrated officially earning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States Tuesday night from a school library in Wilmington, Delaware where his wife Jill used to teach Joe Biden (left) was formally nominated as the Democrats' presidential nominee Tuesday night after the roll call vote featured videos from around the nation Joe and Jill Biden's daughter Ashley and their grandkids can be seen tossing confetti at the newly named Democratic nomined at the school where Jill Biden will address Democrats Tuesday night Supporters around the nation were seen celebrating virtually once Joe Biden's nomination was made official Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania announced Pennsylvania's delegate count in front of Joe Biden's Scranton house Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper stood at Biden's favorite Wilmington Amtrak station to make the former vice president's nomination official Bernie and Jane Sanders (right) stood behind Vermont's Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman (center) as he announced Vermont's delegate count In Indiana, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a former 2020 contender, announced his state's Democratic delegate total College student Keely Sage cast Tennessee's votes from the historic Hermitage Hotel, where suffragettes cheered 100 years ago Tuesday when the state got the 19th Amendment, allowing some American women the right to vote, over the line Khizr Khan, who became a national figure when he criticized Donald Trump at the Democrats convention four years ago, represented Virginia during Tuesday night's roll call vote The spirit of Rep. John Lewis was kept alive during the roll call vote, with Rep. Terri Sewell announcing Alabama's count in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who became a national figure when he condemned Donald Trump's Muslim ban at the 2016 Democratic National Convention spoke on behalf of Virginia. 'He's a decent compassionate man,' Khan said of Biden. There were cameos from former Biden rivals: former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking from Indiana and Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaking from Minnesota and Rep. Tim Ryan speaking from Ohio. Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie cast their votes from an Iowa field, and asked for the country's help after the recent series of storms to damage the state. Rep. John Lewis was kept alive starting with the first votes, Alabama's, which Rep. Terri Sewell announced in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Washington, D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser stood on a building overlooking Black Lives Matter Plaza, the last public place Lewis was photographed. While State Sen. Nikema Williams, running for Lewis' Congressional district, spoke in front of a mural of the late congressman to cast Georgia's votes for the nomination. Some delegates cast their votes in front of famous landmarks, like Rep. Dina Titus did at the Las Vegas sign to represent Nevada. While North Dakota's delegate, Geraldine Waller, a meatpacking plant employee, was seemingly positioned in front of her house. 'They call us essential workers, but they treat us like expendable,' she said, arguing Biden would treat workers better. Another essential worker, Scheena Iyane Tannis, represented New York, shouting 'It's Joe Time!' In Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Trump held his disastrous June 20 rally, party leader Alicia Andrews brought up the Tulsa race riots as she cast her state's vote. College student Keely Sage cast Tennessee's votes from the historic Hermitage Hotel, where suffragettes cheered 100 years ago Tuesday when the state got the 19th Amendment, allowing some American women the right to vote, over the line. The tour of the U.S. ended back in Delaware as Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper stood at Biden's favorite Wilmington Amtrak station to make the former vice president's nomination official. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, another 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, announced Minnesota's delegate count Tuesday night Rep. Dina Titus stood in front of the famous Las Vegas sign to announce Nevada's delegate total in front of several essential workers In the Wilmington school where Jill Biden would later speak, Joe Biden and Jill were feted with confetti from daughter Ashley and their grandchildren Finnegan Biden, Hunter Biden, Natalie Biden, Naomi Biden and Maisy Biden. 'Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. Means the world to me and my family. And I'll see you on Thursday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,' Joe Biden said. Earlier, former President Bill Clinton backed Biden by taking on President Donald Trump, accusing him of spending 'hours a day watching TV.' Clinton called Trump's Oval Office 'chaos.' Also, progressive firebrand AOC had helped nominate Sanders, who came up short in delegates and endorsed Biden in April. 'In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of healthcare out of a love of all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America,' Ocasio-Cortez said. Two prominent members of the Kennedy clan, President John F. Kennedy's namesake grandson Jack Schlossberg and daughter Caroline Kennedy, also endorsed Biden. TUESDAY'S DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION LINE UP Mayor of Milwaukee, Wis., Tom Barrett James Roosevelt Jr. and Lorraine Miller give the report of Credentials Committee Barney Frank and Maria Cardona give the report of the Rules Committee Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Dennis McDonough give the Credentials Committee report Keynote Address by 17 rising stars in party: Stacey Abrams, Tennessee State Senator Raumesh Akbari, Rep. Colin Allred, Rep. Brendan Boyle, Nevada State Senator Yvanna Cancela, f ormer State Rep. Kathleen Clyde, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, South Carolina State Senator Marlon Kimpson, Rep. Conor Lamb, Michigan State Rep. Mari Manoogian, Texas State Rep. Victoria Neave, Navajo President Jonathan Nez, Georgia State Rep. Sam Park, New Hampshire State Rep. Denny Ruprecht, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Actress Tracee Ellis Ross Former Acting AG Sally Yates Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador, daughter of President John F. Kennedy Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter Former President Bill Clinton Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez Bob King, former President of the United Auto Workers Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Senator Chris Coons Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester Roll Call Across America Activist Ady Barkan Former Secretary of State John Kerry Dr. Jill Biden Performance by John Legend Advertisement Despite the progressive and establishment divide, the Democratic Party has worked hard to maintain and present a united front as they prepare to nominate Joe Biden to become their candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November. The second night of the Democratic Convention opened with a keynote address as unconventional as the virtual event itself with 17 different speakers claiming Biden's ideas are a 'big f'n deal.' The diverse group of local, state and federal level political leaders issued their endorsement of Joe Biden and said what they feel he will do to improve their respective areas based on the key issues their constituents face. Most recognizable among the group of speakers considered rising stars within the Democratic Party was Stacey Abrams, a former representative in Georgia's House who lost her race for governor in the state in 2018. A large chunk of the multi-person keynote address focused on Biden's efforts to expand the Affordable Care Act. 'Joe's working to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. He'll make sure millions of people keep their coverage,' Texas Representative Colin Allred assured, adding he would give Medicare the ability to 'negotiate drug prices.' 'That's a big f'n deal,' Michigan State Representative Mari Manoogian said as shorthand for the expletive as she held up her hand like she were telling a secret. Her claim was repeated by four other speakers in unison: 'That's a big f'n deal!' 'Because Joe knows that we can't have a healthy economy if people can't afford healthcare,' former Ohio State Representative and current county commissioner in Portage County, Ohio Kathleen Clyde said. Donald Trump's campaign immediately went on the attack against the speakers, calling them the 'Radical 17' in a campaign email sent out immediately ahead of their remarks. 'Despite refusing to accept the results of her election, Stacey Abrams was chosen to lead a band of 17 'rising stars' in delivering the keynote address of the Democrat National Convention,' the campaign lashed out against the opening act of the second night of the convention. It continued: 'If this band of 17 radicals is the future of the Democrat Party, Americans should be very worried. They all hold far-left positions that are well outside the mainstream.' Abrams closed out the keynote address with a little less than two minutes of dedicated speaking time longer than most other politicians received without cutting to another. 'America faces a triple threat, a public health catastrophe, and economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality. So our choice is clear, a steady experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he's done before, or man who only knows how to deny and distract, a leader who cares about our families, or president who only cares about himself,' she said in contrasting Biden to Trump. The failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate who became the face of voter suppression was on the short list for Biden's running mate. In her short close, she took a shot at President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting and the crisis in the U.S. Postal Service by saying Biden will champion free and fair elections. 'He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them, or undermining our elections to keep his job in a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections for a public health system that keeps us safe for an economy that we build back better than before,' she said. Caroline Kennedy (left) and her son Jack Schlossberg (right) endorsed Joe Biden during Tuesday night's convention exhibiting the still-present divide between progressive and establishment Democrats The most noticeable face of them all was Stacey Abrams, the failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate who was once on the short list to become Biden's running mate New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her 60-second speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday evening to nominate progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as president Actress Tracee Ellis Ross emceed the night from Hollywood The second night of the Democratic Convention kicked off Tuesday with 17 local and state politicians delivering an unconventional keynote address where they said presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's ideas about healthcare are a 'big f'n deal' Democrats called their 17 speakers the 'next generation of party leaders' and made the unusual decision to have multiple speakers in a spot that was used as a springboard for other speakers. Past keynote speakers at Democratic conventions include Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ann Richards and Mario Cuomo. Playing emcee from Hollywood Tuesday night was 'Black-ish' star Tracee Ellis Ross, who introduced the evening's theme of 'leadership.' 'This unprecedented moment calls for leadership. Steady, inclusive, leadership,' she said. 'As a black woman I find myself at a crucial intersection in American politics. For far too long black female leadership in this country has been utilized without being acknowledged or valued,' Ross said. 'But we are turning the tide.' 'Hello Kamala,' Ross said with a smile, calling the nomination of the first black woman to a presidential ticket 'historic for anyone who believes in 'we, the people.'' Ross then described Biden and Harris as leaders who will bridge the country's burdened past to create a 'safe, equitable and even joyful future.' The Centre on Wednesday decided to withdraw 100 companies of security forces from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was taken after a security review by the ministry of home affairs (MHA). The companies of paramilitary personnel to be withdrawn include 40 companies of CRPF and 20 each of the BSF, CISF and SSB from the Kashmir Valley, officials said. The decision was finalised after the MHA reviewed the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the union territory. A total of nearly 100 CAPF companies have been asked to withdraw immediately and go back to their base locations in the country from where they were mobilised to the UT after the abrogation of Article 370, in August last year. A CAPF company usually has an operational strength of about 100 security personnel. The home ministry had last withdrawn about 82 CAPF companies from Jammu and Kashmir in December. So after the new MHA order, 182 companies of security forces stand withdrawn now in the Kashmir Valley. According to the MHA order, a total of 40 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 20 each of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), will be moved out of Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this week. With the latest withdrawal of security personnel, the CRPF will have a strength of about 60 battalions (about 1,000 personnel in each battalion) in the Kashmir Valley apart from very few units of other CAPF staff. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Students walk through the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on August 18, 2020 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images The University of North Carolina and University of Notre Dame moved their classes to online learning for the fall semester after COVID-19 outbreaks on campus. Michigan State University also moved to remote learning this week, citing concerns over outbreaks at other schools. A number of schools that have had outbreaks are remaining open, though they're having students quarantine and isolate in hopes of preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Colleges across the country are suspending in-person classes because of COVID-19 outbreaks weeks after opening their doors to students. As the novel coronavirus pandemic spread across the US through spring and summer, several universities spent months contemplating if they should open to students in the fall. And after many schools opted for in-person learning, some schools haven't had success: The University of North Carolina and University of Notre Dame have canceled in-person classes because of COVID-19 outbreaks, while several other schools are quarantining students because of the virus. Michigan State University, meanwhile, opted to go online on Tuesday, just two weeks before classes were expected to start. Insider has compiled a list of schools who have suspended classes or quarantined students because of COVID-19. You'll find information on all of them below. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is going remote for the fall semester UNC announced on Monday that it was suspending in-person classes after the school's COVID-19 positivity rate jumped from 2.8% to 13.6% in just one week. According to the school's COVID-19 dashboard, 130 people on campus tested positive for the virus between August 10 and August 16 up from 10 the week prior. In the school's announcement about remote learning, officials said 177 people were in isolation because of the virus, and another 349 were in quarantine. Story continues "There are no easy answers as the nation navigates through the pandemic. At this point, we haven't received any information that would lead to similar modifications at any of our other universities," university president Peter Hans said in the statement. "Whether at Chapel Hill or another institution, students must continue to wear facial coverings and maintain social distancing, as their personal responsibility, particularly in off-campus settings, is critical to the success of this semester and to protect public health." University of Notre Dame is suspending classes for two weeks University of Notre Dame. Nicole Abbett/NHLI via Getty Images University of Notre Dame suspended in-person classes for two weeks on Tuesday, just eight days into the semester, after 146 students tested positive for COVID-19. "This virus is formidable, and the health and safety of you, our faculty and staff, and the local community remains our top priority. These are difficult times, so please be attentive to both your physical and emotional well-being," the school's Vice President for student affairs, Erin Hoffmann Harding, said in a statement. "Notre Dame's desire to offer an on-campus experience stands at great risk, yet we are here to support one another. Preventing further spread requires urgent action from each of us." Michigan State University shifted to remote learning just two weeks before classes were supposed to start Michigan State President Samuel Stanley announced all in-person classes were canceled for the fall semester on Tuesday. A sign for Michigan State University is seen near the campus in East Lansing. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook The school hadn't yet opened its dorms to students, but Stanley said the school decided to go remote after seeing outbreaks on other campuses. "It has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus," he said. East Carolina University had to isolate more than a dozen students after a dorm outbreak East Carolina University moved at least 17 students into isolation off-campus after they an outbreak at one of the school's dorms on Monday. The students live in Gateway Residence Hall, according to WITN. East Carolina is continuing classes despite the outbreak, while urging students to social distance, wear masks, and avoid crowds. "We are working closely with local health department officials to ensure notifications are made quickly to those who may have come in contact with those who tested positive for COVID-19 so they can be directed as to their next steps," the school said in a statement. An entire sorority house at Oklahoma State University is under quarantine and isolation after 23 members tested positive for COVID-19 Oklahoma State University. Ken Wolter/Shutterstock OSU has quarantined an entire off-campus sorority house after 23 members of Pi Beta Phi tested positive for COVID-19. The school is currently conducting contact tracing to ensure no other students have the virus. "This was expected," Monica Roberts, OSU director of media relations, told USA Today. "When you bring back 20,000 students, there will invariably be more cases related to campus. We've prepared for this for five months and have protocols in place to manage the situation. Our priority is the safety and well-being of our campus community and transparency in communications." Colorado College has quarantined 155 students in one of its dorms Colorado College quarantined 155 students inside the Loomis Hall dorm after one student tested positive for COVID-19. The school is continuing in-person classes, but only for first-year students to start the year. Second, third, and fourth-year students will be allowed back on campus later in the fall. University of Kentucky has at least 189 people in quarantine At least 189 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the University of Kentucky since classes began on August 3. Sarah Geegan, the university's director of executive communication, told CNN that parties have led to a rise in cases. University of Kentucky. Ken Wolter/Shutterstock Parties are against current student code at the school, but Kentucky officials are aware of at least 21 party-related citations since August 8, Geegan said. "We are working closely with the city to enforce the Code of Student Conduct, sharing information daily and meeting weekly to discuss issues of concern," she told CNN. The school is still conducting in-person learning with increased precautions. Iowa State University has 175 students in isolation Iowa State officials told CNN that 2.2% of students, or 175, tested for COVID-19 received positive results. Student health center director Erin Baldwin told CNN that the school has a strict isolation policy for people who have tested positive for COVID-19. "Students who tested positive are required to isolate for 10 days. About half of the students are isolating in isolation rooms provided by the department of residence," she said in a statement. "Quarantine rooms are also available for students notified through contact tracing that they were exposed to a positive case." Read the original article on Insider A 103-year-old Grandmother got her first tattoo to celebrate her escape from a nursing home after spending months isolated due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dorothy Pollack, 103, (pictured) decided to celebrate her discharge from a nursing home with a tattoo, an item on her bucket list Dorothy Pollack, from Michigan, celebrated her birthday on June 16 in a home in Muskego, and surprised her friends and family when she announced her wish to get a tattoo once she was finally discharged. Ms Pollack, a former bartender and chemists assistant who retired in her mid-90s, went to the Awol Custom Tattooing parlor near her home to get an image of a frog tattooed on her arm. Teresa Jones, her grandson's girlfriend, said that she had been unhappy living in the nursing home and had been confined to her room during the worst of the pandemic. 'When we couldn't take her out to her favourite bar to get a hamburger and a beer on her birthday because of Covid we decided to bring her home with us,' Jones said. 'She'd pretty much been locked up in her room [because of the pandemic] and was feeling down.' 'The nurse in the home said she was horribly depressed and we needed to get her out,' she added. 'We couldn't see her so we had no idea how she really was. She's extremely hard of hearing so phone calls were not helpful.' Ms Pollack said that the tattoo was partly a way to celebrate her new-found freedom. 'After being in covid-19 prison, I thought it was time to start living again,' Pollack said to The Washington Post. 'I decided that a good way to celebrate was to get a tattoo.' Teresa Jones, her grandson's girlfriend, said that Pollack had been unhappy living in the nursing home during the coronavirus lockdown, and wanted to celebrate. She got the tattoo on her left forearm by tattoo artist Ray Reasoner Jr. (right) She got the tattoo on her left forearm by tattoo artist Ray Reasoner Jr., ignoring any concerns she may have over regretting the decision when she was older. 'It was pretty exciting because years ago my grandson wanted me to get [a tattoo] and I wouldn't do it,' Pollack told CNN. 'All of a sudden, I decided I would like to have one. And if I could, a frog... Because I like frogs,' she added. Reasoner Jr said: 'She took it like a champ. I didn't even see her wince. Maybe she had half a wince once. She was just so excited. It was an amazing experience. If someone over a century old tells you to do something for them you just gotta do it.' He added that she was the oldest person he has ever tattooed. The tattoo artist said the session took a bit longer than usual as he wanted to be careful of Ms Pollack's skin, and said she gave him the most heartfelt thanks he had ever received afterwards The tattoo artist said he received the most heartfelt thank you he had even been given after the 90-minute session, taking slightly longer than usual out of concern for the 103-year-old. Mr Reasoner said that he was told the tattoo was also an item on Ms Pollack's bucket list that she wished to fulfill, as was wanting to ride a motorbike for the first time, so he called his father - Ray Reasoner Sr - who happened to own a Harley-Davidson. To tick another item off her list, Reasoner Sr took her off on the motorbike and out for lunch. Jones, almost afraid of the answer, asked Pollack what her next adventure would be, said the Washington Post. 'Sooner than later,' she told Jones, 'I'd like to go skydiving.' The sun shines through clouds of smoke in an area consumed by fires near Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil. AP photo Novo Progresso, Brazil: A year ago this month, the forest around the town of Novo Progresso erupted into flames the first major blazes in the Brazilian Amazons dry season that ultimately saw more than 100,000 fires and spurred global outrage against the governments inability or unwillingness to protect the rainforest. This year, President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to control the burning typically started by local farmers to clear land for cattle or to grow soybeans, one of Brazils top exports. He imposed a four-month ban on most fires and sent in the army to prevent and battle blazes. But this week the smoke is again so thick around Novo Progresso that police have reported motorists have crashed because they cant see. As smoke wreaths Novo Progresso, this years burning season could determine whether Bolsonaro, an avid supporter of bringing more farming and ranching to the Amazon, is willing and able to halt the fires. Experts say the blazes are pushing the worlds largest rainforest toward a tipping point, after which it will cease to generate enough rainfall to sustain itself, and approximately two-thirds of the forest will begin an irreversible, decades-long decline into tropical savanna. But residents of Novo Progresso like businessman Claudio Herculano believe the city has only grown in the last few years because of increased ranching in the area. It pains anyone to breathe this air, Herculano, 68, said this week. I have a little house uphill, and I do worry a bit that it could be destroyed. But all the people here are looking for better days, and we know what drives this economy. Bolsonaro is sending mixed signals: He greenlit an army-led operation to fight Amazon destruction in May, but then this month he denied the regions trees can catch fire. Speaking at a video summit about the Amazon with fellow South American leaders, he also touted a year-on-year decrease in July deforestation data, omitting the fact it was still the third-highest reading for any month since 2015. This story that the Amazon is burning is a lie, he claimed, even as smoke from more than 1,100 fires wafted over the region that day. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, reporters from The Associated Press did not see a single soldier in or around Novo Progresso. And this year could see more fires than last, according to Paulo Barreto, a forest engineer and deforestation researcher at environmental group Imazon. At the start of the Amazons dry season, in July, more trees had been felled, given that deforestation from August 2019 to July jumped 34% from the prior 12 months, according to preliminary data from Brazils space agency. Typically, after felling, the next step is burning, usually without the required authorization since its a far easier and cheaper way than using heavy machinery to clear brush and trees. Further, forest area degraded by logging which is much more susceptible to wildfire than native forest surged 465%, Barreto said. August and September are when the burning kicks into overdrive. And in the first half of August, satellites detected 19,000 fires across Brazils Amazon putting the month on track to match August 2019s blazes that drew global outcry. The 2019 fires, while almost a 40% jump from the prior year, were only slightly higher than the average for the preceding decade. But Bolsonaros drive to reduce environmental protections to spur economic development coupled with the surge in deforestation had primed the world for outrage. Some of Europes heads of state railed against Bolsonaro or suggested pulling funding, and its lawmakers threatened to refuse ratification of the free-trade deal Brazil spent two decades negotiating. Brazils agribusiness exporters feared boycotts, and asset managers considered divesting from Brazilian companies. If Joe Biden is the transition candidate, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday served as the unlikely bridge to another historic nominee: Kamala Harris. Appearing at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Clinton did little to re-litigate her loss four years ago, as she has done other times to Democrats dismay. Instead, the woman Democrats once expected to become president yielded to the woman who may one day be. Joe picked the right partner in Kamala, Clinton said. Shes relentless in the pursuit of justice and equity, and shes kind I know something about the slings and arrows she'll face, and believe me this former district attorney and attorney general can handle them all. The shape of the Democratic Partys transformation was pre-ordained with Bidens selection of Harris as his running mate last week. He is the transition candidate, as he once called himself. And she became the instant frontrunner in the partys next contested primary whether in 2024 or 2028. But the transition could have been so much more painful for the party. Somehow, it was Clinton who made it less so. But it was Harris's night, as she accepted the vice presidential nomination. Here are some key takeaways from Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention. Harris matters. Really. Biden is leading in public opinion polls mostly because his supporters want to get rid of Trump, not because their hearts burn for the Democratic nominee. That would be fine if the election were tomorrow. But Democrats are eager to more fully define Bidens candidacy on its own terms ahead of a fall election season in which Republicans will spend enormous sums to drag him down. Harris helps with that. She's viewed favorably by 54 percent of Americans, versus 29 percent who have a negative opinion, according to recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. A majority views her as qualified to take over for Biden if necessary (a not inconsequential concern, given his age). Story continues Harris also speaks to critical swaths of the electorate in ways that Biden cant, including younger voters, women and people of color. And on Wednesday, Harris worked to warm those constituencies to her running mate. We must elect a president who will bring something different, something better, and do the important work, she said. A president who will bring all of us together Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous to achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden." Of course, Harris has bigger plans. It can be easy to dismiss a vice presidential nominee. Nobody is talking with such certainty about Mike Pence as the future of the Republican Party. Nor did Democrats have high expectations for Tim Kaine. But Harris is different so much so that one source of uneasiness surrounding her was how loyal she might be to Biden. On Wednesday, Harris did something to address that. She introduced herself. She was an antagonist to Trump. But the framing was all Biden. "Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons, she said, in a line thats continuation mattered just as much as its start. Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose." Biden was watching from Delaware, where the campaign is attempting to keep the focus on Harris. Hillary, revisited Hillary Clinton has been a headache for Democrats since losing in 2016, losing a contest decided in large part by voters who liked neither her nor Donald Trump. And the Democratic Party clearly had no interest in looking back. Tonight, were going to talk about where we are and where were going, Kerri Washington, the emcee, said at the outset. And if that was too subtle, Billie Eilish sang, My future. But Clintons endorsement of Biden and Harris was full-throated. Yes, it still takes a village, she said, referencing her 1996 book. And we need leaders equal to this moment of sacrifice and service. We need Joe Biden and Kamala Harris." But there also was was a hint of a re-litigation of her 2016 election loss to Trump that many Democrats would rather avoid. For four years, people have told me, I didn't realize how dangerous he was. I wish I could do it all over. Or, worst, I should have voted. But public opinion is fluid. Just ask Jimmy Carter. At some point, sharp edges tend to fade. Since Clintons loss, women asserted themselves in the midterm elections and, if Trump loses, they will likely be the proximate cause. In that light, Clintons brief, rhetorical return to the last election served as less of a lament than a warning. Look, she said, this can't be another would have, could have, should have election. Now Obamas the "friend" It will all change in November if Joe Biden beats Donald Trump. But for now, the Democratic Party is still, in important ways, the party of Barack Obama. For Democrats, no politician can speak with more authority, as Obama did Wednesday, about the custodianship of democracy. Obamas stature was clear during the presidential primary, in which Biden keenly aware of Obamas lingering glow mentioned his association with the former president ad nauseum. It was easy to snicker at the cling-iness then, while Obama was not publicly taking sides in the campaign. But now he is, and the attachment matters more than ever. Cue Obama on Wednesday calling Biden both a brother and a friend. Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didnt know Id end up finding a brother, Obama said. Joe and I come from different places, different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about Joe Biden is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief. Joes a man who learned early on to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him: 'No ones better than you, Joe. But youre better than nobody.'" Put Obamas stinging indictment of Trump aside (Donald Trump hasnt grown into the job because he cant, Obama said). It was the kind of speech that could ensure some of his popularity rubs off on the current, less-thrilling-to-Democrats nominee. The progressive powerhouse Step away from Twitter, and there was at least as much if not slightly more Democratic excitement about hearing from Elizabeth Warren at this convention than there was for Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And for viewers itching talk of Oklahoma, rigged systems and plans, plans, plans, Warren didnt disappoint. The way I see it, big problems demand big solutions, Warren said. I love a good plan, and Joe Biden has some really good plans.There were signals during Bidens vice presidential search that Warren might not pursue the presidency again. But she has not ruled it out entirely. If Biden doesn't win in November or if he does, but Harris stumbles its easy to imagine her giving a run a second look. At 71, she is younger than both Trump (74) and Biden (77). And what if the 2020 campaign was her last? Warren may end up proving, more than anyone in this years sprawling Democratic primary field, that a politician can have enormous influence on the party from the inside. Biden has taken economic advice from Warren, and he has adopted some progressive causes she has supported, including on college affordability, bankruptcy and Social Security. Treasury secretary is a real possibility for Warren. One Democratic Party politician who spoke with Biden advisers during the vice presidential vetting said, It would be a stroke of genius. It would terrify Wall Street. W&M provides more flexibility with enhanced D.C. Semester Program Studying in the nation's capitol: Students who participate in the D.C. Semester Program are afforded resources and experiences that are only available in Washington, D.C. File photo Photo - of - Hide Caption Starting in spring 2021, William & Mary will enhance its D.C. Semester Program to include a wider variety of course themes and more flexibility for students and faculty members. The D.C. Semester Program, based out of W&Ms Washington Center in Washington, D.C., is geared toward students who are interested in learning and working in the nations capital, although the program has pivoted to temporary virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full semester program, which began in 2006, follows the same academic calendar as the university and is open to students of all majors and academic experience. D.C. Semester Program students participate in an internship and take two additional courses during the semester. Starting in the spring, those courses will cover more topics, and students will have more mentorship and internship opportunities. Rhys Tucker 14, who manages the D.C. Semester Program, said changes were made to adjust to students needs and to attract a wider population of applicants. Were excited about these changes and hope they will allow more students to participate in the program, Tucker said. We want participants to be more self-guided based on their interests and to focus on the exact internship they want. Student applications for the spring 2021 program are open now and will close on Sept. 28. The D.C. Semester program is an experiential learning opportunity where students participate in an internship in a professional setting while also taking courses that utilize the resources of D.C. The program will no longer focus on a singular theme for each semester. Students will now participate in courses that provide multiple modules of study. Instead of a singular focus on a broader D.C. application, students could get a couple of weeks looking at environmental science, for example, or national security or arts and culture, Tucker said. We want to appeal to a larger base of students, not just those hyper-focused on a specific issue. By offering multiple modules of study, the program can involve a larger cohort of faculty members as well. In addition to traditional seminar lectures, the D.C. Semester Program offers guest speakers and site visits. The program also provides a professional reflection course facilitated by interim director Roxane Adler Hickey. Students can think more deeply about their internship experience and make connections to their larger career goals by reflecting on their own and talking together as a group, Tucker said. In the past, one faculty member led the specific-topic focused program for the semester. The new program has increased that to eight faculty members for both the spring and fall semesters. The modules for Spring 2021 will be: History of Washington, D.C., taught by History Professor Adrienne Petty Addressing Environmental and Sustainability Challenges in D.C. and Beyond, taught by Geology Professor Nick Balascio, Professor Elizabeth Canuel of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Geology Professor and Director of the Environmental Science & Policy Program Jim Kaste and Chancellor Professor of Geology Heather Macdonald International Security and Development, taught by Rebecca Halleran Latourell, assistant director of programs at the Global Research Institute, and David Trichler, director of programs & outreach at the Global Research Institute Built Environment: The Architecture of Transportation, taught by David Brashear, director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art The D.C. Semester Program is a fabulous opportunity for students, Macdonald said. In the new version of the semester course, with its four modules, students will be able to explore aspects of history, international relations, environmental science and architecture and consider how practitioners in different arenas approach issues and solve problems. As students participate in the course and engage with the speakers addressing topics in each of the different modules, they will develop their ability to persuasively communicate with different audiences. The D.C. Semester Program is also offering more flexibility with internships. In the past, students were required to choose an internship that fit the overall theme of the semester. Now they can participate in any internship of their choosing. In expanding high-impact learning opportunities through increased internships, the program advances W&M priorities to support students in developing skills for their successful futures of knowledge, work and service, Tucker said. Because of the pandemic, the D.C. Semester Program will be administered remotely this fall. Courses will be conducted over Zoom through a mix of synchronous sessions with faculty and guest speakers, as well as through online discussion groups, pre-recorded lectures and engagement with online media. Certainly some of the impact may be affected where you dont get to go into an organization and see what its like for people who work there, but you still have access to the people working in those realms who can still provide that insight and expertise that you wouldnt get in a traditional class, Tucker said. If the program has to go remotely in the spring, the Washington Center will be prepared. Were able to be flexible, and I think part of our planning for the spring is being mindful that conditions still may not be ideal and we may need to adjust and plan for remote offerings, but it will be fairly easy to achieve that if thats the case, Tucker said. FILE PHOTO: A sign for the Maple Leaf food processing plant is seen in Toront in Toronto By Kelsey Johnson OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian meat processor Maple Leaf Foods Inc has voluntarily suspended exports of pork to China following an outbreak of COVID-19 in a Manitoba plant. The company said late Tuesday that it was proactively complying with new Chinese government protocols for Canadian processors that require that any plant reporting a positive COVID-19 case suspend exports to China temporarily. "We respect China's new import protocols for Canadian products and are working cooperatively with Canadian and Chinese authorities to resume exports quickly," Maple Leaf chief executive Michael McCain said in a statement. Shares of the Mississauga, Ontario-based company were trading up 2.03% at C$30.20 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Maple Leaf has been grappling for weeks with an outbreak of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, at its pork processing plant in Brandon, Manitoba. Fifty-five people have tested positive for the virus. Of those, 53 cases remain active, while two people have recovered, Maple Leaf spokeswoman Janet Riley said in an email on Tuesday. She said the plant is operating and health officials have said there "remains no evidence of workplace transmission." Canada is the world's No.3 shipper of pork. In 2019, China bought some C$609 million ($462.7 million) in pork, making it Canada's third largest pork market in both value and volume terms, according to industry data. Maple Leaf Foods said it believes the suspension of pork exports to China is a "short-term" situation and "not material financial event," given the company's diverse markets. Last week, seven Argentine meat processing plants said they had temporarily halted exports to China after registering coronavirus cases among employees. $1 = 1.3162 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa; editing by Grant McCool) Emergency services were called to the scene in Dunmurry. A woman allegedly sustained puncture wounds in a struggle to stop her ex-partner taking car keys, the High Court heard on Wednesday. Prosecutors claimed she was assaulted late at night at her home in west Belfast, with a five-year-old child shouting in the street for help when an ambulance arrived. Adjourning her alleged attacker Colin Allsopp's application for bail, the judge ordered a report from social services. Mr Justice McAlinden said: "It's shameful and disgraceful that such behaviour should take place when young, vulnerable children are present in a house." Allsopp, 31, of Haywood Avenue in Belfast, faces charges of wounding with intent, aggravated vehicle taking causing damage, drink-driving and driving while disqualified. Emergency services were called to the scene at Juniper Way, Dunmurry on July 15. Crown lawyer Suzanne Gallagher said the woman claimed she had been asleep, with another one-year-old daughter nearby, but woke to find Allsopp standing over over. During an argument he allegedly wrestled to get her car keys and struck her a number of times. The older child was outside shouting "help me (help) my mummy", according to the prosecution. The woman was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital for treatment to five puncture wounds to her body. Ms Gallagher claimed Allsopp got into the Nissan Micra car and drove for up to 100 yards before stalling. He then allegedly got out, jumped on the bonnet and smashed the windscreen before leaving in a taxi. During police interviews Allsopp claimed he had been drinking with the woman when she became aggressive and told him their relationship was over. He denied punching her or taking the keys, insisting instead that any struggle was to prevent her from attacking him. Ms Gallagher added: "He said her injuries could have been from wrestling for the keys." But Mr Justice McAlinden made clear that he wanted more information from the relevant authorities before ruling on Allsopp's bid to be released from custody. He stressed: "One of the issues the report will have to address is whether a grant of bail, in the opinion of social services, will give rise to an increased risk of harm to these young children." Census workers have begun going door to door in Fort Bend County, hoping to fill in the gaps of the 2020 federal census. The U.S. Census Bureau last week launched the Nonresponse Followup operation where workers visits households which have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. The bureau reports that workers will be wearing face masks and gloves, and will observe physical distancing during visits. To avoid a knock on the door, residents are encourages to visit www.My2020Census.gov, Filling out the 2020 Census should take about 10 minutes. Related: Sugar Land Legacy Foundation helping local small businesses With the deadline to respond to the 2020 Census cut short by one month to Sept. 30, it is now even more critical to encourage friends and neighbors to respond right away, County Judge KP George said in a news release. Everyone in Fort Bend counts toward funding for schools, roads, and hospitals in our communities. With a complete count, we ensure Fort Bend, one of the fastest growing counties in the state, has the funding it needs for the next 10 years. According to Fort Bend County officials, for each person counted, $15,000 of taxpayer dollars will come back to Fort Bend in the form of federal funding for public education, health care, transportation, and social services. Related: COVID-19 testing sites expand in Fort Bend County The count is also how the CARES Act funding was distributed at the state and local level. The census will also help determine apportionment to the U.S. House of Representatives for each state as well help set up redistricting for state and federal congressional seats. According to county figures, Fort Bend leads the state of Texas in response rates as of Aug. 13, 2020, 70.7 percent of households in the county have been counted. The success in the county is due in large part to the efforts of the Fort Bend Complete Count Committee. Their recent activities include texting neighbors in low-response areas, emailing their networks, and amplifying 2020 Census posts on social media, county officials report. Their efforts are in coordination with the 2020 Census Amplification Program, which is grounded in data and utilizes modern tactics to reach hard-to-count residents. It is funded by three foundations: Houston Endowment, the Henderson-Wessendorff Foundation, and the George Foundation. rkent@hcnonline.com Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat" in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) Is a Borat revival on the cards? That certainly seems to be the case after Sacha Baron Cohen was spotted filming while dressed as his iconic comedy creation in Long Beach, Los Angeles. A video on social media platform TikTok, shared on 18 August by user Alexandheir, shows Baron Cohen driving a battered yellow pick up truck, while sporting his Kazakh personas trademark thick moustache, and ill-fitting tan suit, The video shows hes being filmed from a camera van driving in front, but its not clear what hes being filmed for. Yahoo has contacted the actors reps for a response. The British comedian is rumoured to be shooting something new possibly a second season of his 2018 HBO series Who Is America? and has recently been rumbled twice while filming undercover. In June Cohen was seen at a far right event in Washington, attempting to dupe attendees into singing an offensive song that referenced Hilary Clinton, antifa and the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Then in July he was caught pranking former New York City mayor and Donald Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani said that Cohen looked absurd in the bikini, which he wore underneath a translucent mesh top. Read more: Sacha Baron Cohen tears into Zuckerburg He added: This person comes in yelling and screaming, and I thought this must be a scam or a shake-down, so I reported it to the police. He then ran away. Sacha Baron Cohen as "Borat" at the Cannes Beach in Cannes, France. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage) I only later realised it must have been Sacha Baron Cohen. I thought about all the people he previously fooled and I felt good about myself because he didnt get me. The character of Borat Sagdiyev was first developed for a sketch show in the 1990s, and appeared in a number of different forms before he was revived by the British comic for Da Ali G Show in 2000. In 2006, the character headlined Larry Charles acclaimed mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. His wide-eyed innocence, propensity for outrageous taboo-busting statements, vulgar language and comedy pratfalls earned the character legions of fans, and won Baron Cohen a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Performance. Baron Cohen subsequently retired the character, but has revived him a number of times, appearing twice on Jimmy Kimmel Live as Borat in 2015 to promote Grimsby and in 2018 to promote Who Is America?. 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. && Chancellor Rishi Sunak places an Eat Out to Help Out sticker in the window of a business during a visit to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. (PA) Several restaurants have pulled out of the governments Eat Out to Help Out scheme because of unwelcome behaviour from some diners. The initiative, which was introduced at the start of August, sees restaurants take 50% off the bill, which is then claimed back from the government. Some 85,000 restaurants signed up, but now several owners have spoken out about levels of hostility towards staff since the scheme started. Kelly Hill, who runs the Tavern Inn in Newquay, told the BBC she had pulled out of the scheme because the demand has brought them nothing but negativity. Advertisement signs for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, seen outside a bar. (PA) She said: "People are ordering big, big meals; they are not willing to wait for their food; our staff are being shouted at for having no tables, or for the service being slow. It's put an awful lot of strain on our waiting staff and kitchen staff. Waitress Claudia Casey, 22, described a recent experience during the campaign as the worst night of my eight years in the hospitality industry. Waitress Claudia Casey told Yahoo News UK that she 'dreaded' how nights would go during the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. (Twitter/@claudiaasiann) Claudia, who works at a contemporary pub and restaurant in Nottinghamshire, told Yahoo News UK: Weve had a lot of eye rolls if we happen to run out of certain items on the menu, and being cut off when youre trying to explain certain things and then turning their backs to us. She said that she almost dreaded how work nights will go now as a result of rude customers, but the scheme was a good idea on paper, but added: I do understand why some [restaurants] have pulled out already. The team at the Paddock Inn in Tenby, Wales, aired their frustrations about the extreme levels of rudeness they had experienced from customers. The bar, which only has one chef in the kitchen, wrote on Facebook: The government's scheme doesn't really do much for us as the custom is already there but we decided to do it for you During the promotional period there is almost always a wait on food, this is explained to everyone both when they book and when they place their orders at the bar. Story continues If you are incapable of understanding this then go and get a table elsewhere in Tenby. They added: We are seriously considering pulling the plug on this due to the extreme levels of rudeness, lack of understanding, and complete impatience of some of our recent customers. The Heron Inn in Truro has pulled out of the scheme already, claiming recent customers had been posting negative reviews about it online. The establishment wrote on Facebook: We are very aware that our recent decision to withdraw from the Eat Out Scheme has upset a few people, but we will NOT tolerate any more hospitality bullying from the likes of these people. They added: With the increased amount of people visiting us, it is making it difficult for us to manage with social distancing rules in place. We have received unpleasant comments and general unwelcome behaviour from customers when they are unable to eat/drink/find a table due to us having reached capacity. Steph Dyer, landlady of the Westleigh Inn near Bideford in Devon, also confirmed the restaurant had pulled out of the scheme, which she said should not just be limited to August. She said her staff had to endure physical and mental stress, adding: Everybody I have spoken to is finding it difficult to maintain standards of service. Eat Out to Help Out was introduced on 3 August, and means diners can have half of the cost of a meal, up to 10 a head, taken off the bill. A sign featuring Chancellor Rishi Sunak advertises the Eat Out to Help Out scheme at a Wetherspoons pub. (PA) There is no limit to how much diners can take advantage of the discount, but it is only in place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the month. Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced the scheme in an attempt to kickstart the economy following months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury announced this week that more than 35 million half-price meals have been served by restaurants across the UK in the first two weeks of the scheme. Around 85,000 restaurants signed up to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. (PA) Around 48,000 different claims have so far been made for money back, the Treasury said. The Treasury urged people to enjoy the scheme "as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Stephen Wall, co-founder of restaurant chain Pho, said: "The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has really been amazing. "It's so nice to see our restaurants full of happy staff and customers again. Living victims of Joseph DeAngelo, better known as the notorious Golden State Killer, lined up inside a California courtroom on Tuesday to tell emotional impact statements. Mixed feelings took center stage in court, with the victims recalling how badly the Golden State Killer haunted their lives for decades. Their loved ones also joined the victims in court. DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of rape, kidnapping, murder and other cases last June. Other than being a Golden State Killer, he was also known as the East Area Rapist. He had terrorized people in the 1970s through the 1980s and eluded capture for four decades. He was a police officer from 1973 to 1979. Some of his cases are past the statute of limitations and, therefore, could not be tried in court, the NBC News reported. Victim statements are expected to continue until Thursday, as the hearings will last three days in Sacramento County. DeAngelo will be formally sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on Friday. He dodged the death penalty when he entered a plea agreement in June that would spare him from the punishment, according to ABC News. Emotions Flow in the Courtroom On Tuesday, the Golden State Killer's victims had to describe how they endured hours of torture in attacks that date back to 1975. Some of the names DeAngelo received that day were "sick monster," "devil incarnate," and "horrible man." The victims painted him to be a man who robbed several people of their childhoods and permanently scarred countless others. Some of the victims managed to tell in court how they healed from their traumatic experiences, but some still search for answers. According to Los Angeles Times, several said they find it in their heart to forgive DeAngelo. Others seek emotional revenge from their attacker by humiliating him. Back in the 1970s, women were "treated more like suspects than victims" when they get raped. A woman detailed how her experience grew so much worse because of this stigma. Another victim, Pat Murphy, raised her middle finger to the 74-year-old admitted serial killer and told him to "go straight to hell," the CBS News reported. Kris Pedretti said she was living her life normally as a 15-year-old girl in 1976 until a serial rapist and murderer snatched her childhood. "Wielding a knife told me would kill me if I didn't do what he demanded," said Pedretti, who was 15 at the time of her abuse. Pedretti noted that she woke up the next morning, knowing she "would never be a child again." Pedretti said if she's the one to decide on DeAngelo's case, he would have him read the impact statements as reading material for the rest of his days. "DeAngelo must not be allowed to ignore what he's done for as long as he breathes," she said. "Although I was truly grateful to be alive, I also felt that I had died." Pete Schultz came to court on behalf of his mother. "We suffered for 44 years," he said, recalling how the man before him tied him up and performed horrific acts to his mother. There were 16 victims and family members who confronted DeAngelo on Tuesday. But the man sat stone-faced through it all. DeAngelo's plea deal includes 53 attacks on 87 victims in 11 counties. Having 11 life-without-parole sentences to be served back-to-back puts the Golden State Killer in a rare criminal class. He is now lined up next to Mafia bosses and serial murderers. Check these other articles about the Golden State Killer: Golden State Killer Pleads Guilty to 13 Murders Golden State Killer Who Terrorized Hundreds Likely to Avoid Death Penalty When Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West began dating in 2012, fans were perplexed. After all the conscious rapper from Chicago and the LA-born socialite didnt seem to have anything in common. Still, after a while, their union began to make sense. The pair went on to have four beautiful children together, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. Also, while West publically struggled with some mental health issues, eventually revealing his bipolar disorder, the Skims founder stood by her husbands side. Unfortunately, the last few months have truly put the duos marriage to the test. Though they appear to be in a good place now, The A-list couple might not ever live together again. RELATED: Kanye West Would Be OK With Kim Kardashian West Divorcing Him Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have been struggling lately Recently, West suffered a major bipolar episode. The episode caused him to lash out against friends and loved ones publically and on social media. The rapper also decided to run for the 2020 Presidential election seemingly on a whim. This choice has opened him up to accusations of voter fraud. Clearly, Wests public struggles deeply affected Kardashian West who tried her best to be there for her husband and her children while keeping her businesses running smoothly. Still, the issues that the pair reportedly had did not begin in the last couple of months. Kardashian West and the Jesus Is King artist began struggling when they were isolated with their four children in Calabasas amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. An insider told The Sun, Kim and Kanye are arguing and at each others throats during this pandemic. Kim is getting stir crazy, as shes used to being on the go. Its also a lot of time alone with the kids for her. Kim is also frustrated with Kanye and thinks hes not pulling his weight in family responsibilities, Theyve been staying at opposite ends of the house to keep things civil. RELATED: Fans Think Kim Kardashian Wests Daughter North Looks So Different in New Instagram Pic of the Kids Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West have been spending quality time together with their kids Despite everything that has been happening, the KKW Beauty mogul and the billionaire rapper refuse to let any issues they may be having affect their children. In early Aug. 2020, the duo picked up their children and headed to the Dominican Republic to hash out their issues away from the spotlight. Later, the family headed to Wests Wyoming ranch to spend some more time together before Kardashian West and the kiddos returned to LA. West stayed behind. An insider explained to People, Kim still seems focused on making her marriage work. She is pretty quiet about her exact plans for the future, but for now she seems OK with Kanye living in Wyoming. He is moving ahead with the presidential campaign. This is a decision that no one can change his mind about. RELATED: Kim Kardashian Taking a Selfie While Kanye West Eats KFC Is the Best Thing on the Internet Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West may never live together again Once restrictions lifted in LA, rumors swirled that Kardashian West was looking into purchasing another home in Calabasa that would allow her some much-needed space from her husband. It appears that she wont have to do that now that West seems to be living in Wyoming permanently. Wyoming is where he wants to live, the source explained. [Kim] is happy to be back in L.A. Its hard traveling with the kids for such a long time. Many public school districts have chosen to offer fully online learning as children head back to school this fall. As more children will go home-schooling this year, demand for Chromebooks will definitely shoot up. The problem is, the economy is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic. And that leaves many American households in a position where they can hardly afford to buy a new laptop. However, there are affordable alternatives to pricier laptop brands for your kid's home-schooling. Chromebook is a popular choice when it comes to educational laptops. Chromebooks are designed to be cheap and easy to manage. And as online learning become the go-to alternative amid the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for Chromebooks is expected to rise. In fact, Google's search data revealed that the term "Chromebook" had seen an increase of over 100% since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Over the last three months, there have been 673,000 searches a month on average. Before lockdowns began, the average was around 301,000. Additionally, five years of Google Trends shows interest in Chromebooks was higher than ever in March and April 2020. And according to Statista, Chromebook is forecast to ship 20 million units globally this year. That is a growth of 17 percent from last year's shipment of 17 million units. Read also: Uber Pass Now Available in Cities Across the U.S., Excluding California How much does a Chromebook costs? Chromebooks' price range is between $100 and $1,000. Yet, households don't need to buy a brand new Chromebook and shell out that much for a kid's home-schooling. A great way to further save on your laptop purchase is buying pre-loved devices. And there are several platforms offering affordable laptops for those on a tight budget. Some notable platforms include eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Best Buy, and Swappa. Incidentally, Swappa is offering back-to-school deals right now. Included in their line-up of back-to-school tech under $500 is the Samsung Chrome Book Series 3. Samsung Chrome Book Series 3 is said to one of the better affordable Chromebook available. It boasts of a bright screen, long battery life, and low price point of under $200. Check this out: How to Build a Gaming PC on a Budget: An Exciting and Delightful Discovery for Enthusiasts About Swappa Swappa is a user-to-user marketplace for slightly used devices. It was founded by Ben Edwards in 2010. Ben is a long-time software and mobile developer. Ben got the inspiration to establish Swappa when he had trouble sourcing test devices for his development projects. It did not help that turning to platforms such as eBay and Craiglist just proved to be risky and a waste of time. That was when he decided to begin a side-project with the aim of building a better marketplace for trading mobile devices. And so Swappa was born. Swappa has come a long way from its first sale - a Motorola Droid. Today, Swappa has built a reputation as the ultimate used-tech marketplace trading millions of dollars each month. Read next: Facebook to Apple: In-App Fees Are Hurting Small Businesses During the Pandemic On Thursday, August 20, at 12:30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference on the subject: "Using Lockdown as a Cover: People with Disabilities were Canceled Payments for Medicines, Care, and Workers were Deprived of Rehabilitation. What Payments were Stopped by MPs During Lockdown." Participants include Director of the National Scientific Center M.D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology, Academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of Science and Technology, Vice-President of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine Volodymyr Kovalenko; Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Neurology at the National Medical University of Bogomolets, expert in neurology of the Health Department of Kyiv City State Administration, Honored Doctor of Ukraine, President of the Association of Neurologists of Kyiv Maria Prokopiv; Medical Director of the Zhovten clinical health center, candidate of medical sciences Oksana Stremeniuk; chief expert of the Department of Health of Kyiv city and Kyiv region on occupational pathology, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Natalia Hrechkivska; Head of the Medical and Social Services Department of the Executive Directorate of the Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine Olena Pukhka and others ((8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. Additional information by phone: (067) 218-46-44. Around 50 members of the community gave emotional testimony at a Harrisburg City Council town hall meeting to discuss a bill that would establish a Citizens Law Enforcement Advisory Committee to improve the relationship between police and the community. This is the third town hall for Bill 8, though it is the first to be held in person. Reservoir Park was filled with residents who spoke of concerns ranging from granting the committee more independence from police agencies to addressing the larger issue of racism in policing as a whole. A handful of community members shared stories about the personal discrimination they felt from police officers or instances of police brutality they have experienced. Were trying to make sure we put something real on the table, Public Safety Chair Ausha Green said. If we just wanted to pass something, we could have passed something a couple of months ago before we went on hiatus. Thats not the purpose. The purpose is to have a conversation. We want to hear your voice. Bill 8 would be the first of its kind in the state of Pennsylvania, according to Green. Weve reached out to other solicitors to see whats going on in their areas and they say were waiting to see what you guys do, Green said. Kimeka Campbell, of Harrisburg, spoke up for a group of community members who had concerns with the bill. We believe police officers should be held to the same standards as civilians when they commit crimes, i.e. excessive use of force, actions that result in loss of life, actions that target people from specific demographics, she said. She passed out flyers with suggested amendments to the bill, including giving the committee subpoena power and the ability to conduct independent investigations on police officers, as well as access to information about police officers with complaints made against them. Local activist Kevin Maxson said the bill didnt have any teeth and wouldnt really hold police officers accountable for their actions. Its really not structured to reprimand them, theres not going to be a real mechanism to hold them accountable, Maxson said. They have no real respect of what its like to be Black in America. Vishal Bajpai of Harrisburg spoke up about the lack of access that the community has had through the committee town hall process, and said the bill seemed like it was for show. How this bill reads right now is like a PR vehicle for the police, a PR vehicle for the mayor, Bajpai said. We dont really believe you want to hear us because you make it look like you dont. This was the third town hall hosted to discuss the topic, and Green said the participation and attendance have been steady at all of them. The council will return from its summer hiatus Aug. 24. Members said they will take their time adding amendments to the bill before voting on it later this fall. Thats the purpose of tonight is just to get feedback from the citizens, see what peoples thoughts are, what their concerns are, what they like what they dislike so that we can incorporate this into the bill as we move on to the next process, Green said. Heres what we know about the bill so far: The committee is intended to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the community and to promote public safety The committee will give residents a forum to voice concerns about police interactions and responses and identify critical, systemic or recurring issues of importance for residents. The committee can provide recommendations to the Harrisburg Bureau of Police and the Mayor and city council on policies. The committee will be made up of seven voting members and two ex officio members: Public Safety chair Green and the Cheif of Police Four of those members will be appointed by the city council and three will be appointed by the mayor. Members of the committee will be required to attend one ride along a year with the police department and attend an orientation. The committee would be tasked with gathering and analyzing data and information about local law enforcement training and reports. You can read the full bill here. 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. Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita poses for a picture during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania June 30, 2020. (Ludovic Marin /Pool via Reuters/File Photo) Mali President Resigns After Detention by Military BAMAKOMali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned on Tuesday and dissolved parliament hours after soldiers detained him at gunpoint. Looking tired and wearing a surgical mask, Keita resigned in a brief address broadcast on state television hours after troops seized him along with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other top officials. A banner across the bottom of the television screen referred to him as the outgoing president of the former French colony. If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice? he said from a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako where he had been detained earlier in the day. I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power, Keita said. I have decided to step down from office. Images posted earlier on social media said to be taken at the Kati garrison showed Keita and Cisse surrounded by armed soldiers. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the videos. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Bamako since June calling for Keita to resign over what they say are his failures to address worsening security and corruption. Tuesdays developments already had been condemned by the African Union, the United States, and the regional bloc known as ECOWAS that had been trying to mediate Malis political crisis. Former colonizer France and the United Nations, which has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Mali since 2013, also had expressed alarm ahead of Keitas speech, fearful that the fall of Keita could further destabilise Mali and West Africas entire Sahel region. Regional mediators from ECOWAS had failed in recent weeks to bridge the impasse between Keitas government and opposition leaders, creating mounting anxiety about another military-led change of power. Mali has long faced a jihadist insurgency and mass protests. By Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako and David Lewis The Associated Press contributed to this report. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hotel Association of Los Angeles issues the following statement, attributable to Executive Director Heather Rozman about recent use of Southern California hotels as migrant detention centers. "The Hotel Association of Los Angeles condemns the use of hotels as migrant detention centers and calls on any hotel that knowingly is providing rooms for such purposed to stop immediately. We applaud Council Member Gil Cedillo for his quick and appropriate response, ensuring the safety and fair treatment of every individual no matter their country of origin." About the Hotel Association of Los Angeles The Hotel Association of Los Angeles has advocated for the Los Angeles lodging industry for more than 70 years through legislative support, coalition building, lobbying and public advocacy. Its members represent a cross-section of the lodging industry, including owners, managers, suppliers and vendors. Media Inquiries Pete Hillan 831-227-5984 [email protected] SOURCE Hotel Association of Los Angeles New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) Inaugurating the three-day-long Naval Commanders Conference here, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday complemented Indian Navys role in protecting the countrys maritime interest and also expressed confidence about preparedness to meet any challenge through a proactive response in deploying ships and aircraft. The conference which will conclude on August 21, would review of the evolving regional maritime security architecture as well as the border row with China in eastern Ladakh. Speaking on the unprecedented challenge posed by Covid-19 pandemic he congratulated the Indian Navy, on the conduct of the biggest ever repatriation operation "Operation Samudra Setu", which has contributed extensively to the national interest. Despite the difficult sea conditions and the challenges of dealing with an unseen enemy in the form of the coronavirus, the Navy was instrumental in bringing home almost 4000 people from neighbouring countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Also, under 'Mission Sagar', medical aid was provided to the countries of South West Indian Ocean Region (Maldives, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Madagascar). He also lauded the efforts of all Naval Commands in setting up of the quarantine facilities to aid the civil administration in managing Covid-19. Mr Singh said inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region), the Indian Navy has effectively carried out Mission Based Deployment to protect maritime interests by deploying naval ships and aircraft at major and sensitive locations. Since the commencement of Mission Based Deployment in June 2017, these deployments have facilitated enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), provided swift Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) to the Indian Ocean Region littorals and security to the international maritime community. Speaking on the dynamic changes taking place in the armed forces, the minister highlighted the creation of the post of CDS and Department of Military Affairs/MoD (DMA) as major milestones in bringing more synergy amongst the three services, especially in training, procurement and staffing and bringing jointness in operations. He also said accepting the challenges arising out of the Covid-19 situation in the current financial year Indian Navy has continued to progress the operational, administrative and modernization efforts. Notwithstanding these fiscal challenges, the government has invoked the Emergency Powers to meet the emergent requirements of the services, he added. Speaking on Indian Navys proven commitment towards Atmanirbhar Bharat in consonance with the Make in India initiative of the Government, he appreciated that the Navy has been at the forefront of the indigenisation process. He also stated that it is important that we keep pace with the successes which have been achieved so far. The recently inaugurated NIIO (Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organization) is one such step. Wishing success to the conference, Mr Singh expressed confidence that the key focus areas and strategies would be deliberated threadbare. On arrival, he was received by Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff and was briefed on the innovations carried out by Indian Navy in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. These included various equipment developed and designed by the Navy, being effectively utilised by various agencies. UNI ASH SHK1735 A jogger runs in extreme heat under high-tension electrical lines in North Hollywood on Aug. 15. California has ordered rolling power outages for the first time since 2001 as a statewide heat wave strains its electrical system. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) In June, the Arctic experienced a disturbing heat wave. One town in Siberia recorded a high of 100 degrees, possibly the highest temperature ever recorded for the Arctic and more befitting the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley. Speaking of which, Death Valley may have just hit the highest recorded temperature recorded anywhere in nearly a century, 130 degrees. What do record temperatures in these two extreme regions have to do with the rolling blackouts that California utilities are imposing this week amid a brutal heat dome over the Western United States? A lot, actually, though not in the way green power critics would have you believe. Simply put, the climate is changing and fossil fuels are part of the reason why. While so much of the country remains stubbornly committed to fossil fuel-powered sources of energy, California has been embracing renewable power sources with a goal of dumping fossil fuels completely in 25 years. The state is already one-third of the way there. Thats a remarkable achievement. But its the nature of great undertakings, particularly those that require charting a brand-new course, to encounter missteps and unanticipated problems that can then serve as case studies for those who follow. (Youre welcome, America.) The rolling blackouts that began Friday, which may continue through Wednesday and are making life miserable for millions of Californians, appear to be one of the inevitable bumps along the way to sustainability. People who've dismissed humanity's role in accelerating climate change, including President Trump, have predictably seized on the blackouts as a cautionary tale. If the Green New Dealers within the Democratic party take control, they argue, the rest of the United States will be stuck with power grids that can't meet the demand. Hogwash. The shift to tapping the sun, wind and waterways for power isnt the root cause of the state's rolling blackouts; it was the failure to adequately prepare for an entirely predictable scenario of a prolonged and widespread heat wave that would make power imports less accessible to a grid that was in the middle of a difficult but essential transition to sustainability. Story continues In fact, this was predicted. Nearly a year ago, the California Independent System Operator, the entity that moves power around the state as needed and buys from plants outside the state to ensure an adequate supply, warned of this exact scenario occurring this summer. On Monday, officials at the Independent System Operator blamed public utility regulators for failing to act, and public utility regulators in turn suggested the Independent System Operator was at fault. Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched an investigation to sort this out, but undoubtedly there is enough blame to go around and to share with policy makers and even power users who don't lift a finger to conserve energy. Climate change is everybody's problem to solve. The blackouts are a reason not for California to back away from its commitment to building a sustainable power grid, but to do a better job of making the transition. That means moving quickly to build backup capacity and storage facilities that can make power available when solar panels and wind turbines aren't generating any. It means expediting smart meter installations that help consumers and utilities better control electricity usage by shifting the demand for power to non-peak times. And it means looking ahead so that the state won't face new shortages in four years, when Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant, will begin shutting down. With the right kind of planning and investment, we shouldn't have to worry that California won't be able to keep on the lights during the next extreme weather event. Nor should anyone else. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a heartfelt endorsement of Joe Biden during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, handing the former vice president another boost to his national security bona fides. "Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute," the former George W. Bush administration official said during in a video message. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversariesnever the other way around." Powell, a Republican who served in a variety of national security roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, is the latest prominent figure from Washington's defense community to line up behind Biden as he seeks to take on President Donald Trump for the position of commander-in-chief in November. "The values I learned growing up in the South Bronx and serving in uniform were the same values that Joe Biden's parents instilled in him in Scranton, Pennsylvania," Powell said. "I support Joe Biden for the presidency of the United States because those values still define him, and we need to restore those values to the White House." Democrats have sought to highlight Biden's capacity to handle the nation's national security. Also on Tuesday, Cindy McCain, the wife of the late GOP Sen. John McCain, spoke of Biden's close friendship with her husband, who was taken prisoner and tortured while fighting in Vietnam. She stopped short of endorsing Biden, however. The rollout comes as Biden has sought to portray a contrast with Trump while embracing Republican moderates. While he was alive, Sen. McCain sparred sharply with Trump, who while running for president in 2016 said of McCain's imprisonment in Vietnam that "I like people who weren't captured." Powell has criticized Trump in the past, and said in June he would vote for Biden. He leaned into his criticism of the president during Tuesday's address. "Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way, Powell said. "What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul." National security has not played a strong role in the 2020 election thus far, overtaken largely by the spreading Covid-19 pandemic and the effect of lock downs and other preventative measures on the economy. But Trump, who is behind in national polling averages, has nonetheless faced problems with former members of his administration attacking his national security decision making after their departures. John Bolton, the president's former national security advisor, published a critical book about the president earlier this year, and has indicated that he will not vote for Trump or Biden in November. In an op-ed Monday in The Washington Post, Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security, accused the president of making the country less secure. Taylor also endorsed Biden. Trump has said that Bolton's book is made up of lies and characterized Taylor as a disgruntled employee. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The union that represents New York City teachers announced that no school in all five boroughs should open during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic unless it meets all criteria in the unions School Safety Report released Wednesday -- which sets standards for cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and more. While our members want to be back in their classrooms, the safety of our students, their families and our staff comes first, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Michael Mulgrew said. Working with medical experts, we have created a set of health and safety standards we will apply to every building. Any school that fails to meet these guidelines should be off-limits to children, parents and teachers until the problems are corrected. SAFETY STANDARDS FOR EACH SCHOOL The UFT has trained 100 staff members to evaluate schools, which have already started reviewing more than 1,400 school buildings. The trained staffers are checking for health and safety measures that include: the presence of a school nurse; six-foot separation between student desks; sufficient masks and other PPE; working ventilation systems to reduce the concentration of air-borne virus particle; and an isolation/quarantine room for students who develop symptoms of infection. It is time that all city schools receive the same support and meet the same criteria -- so that all children, all teachers, all parents, will understand whether their school is ready to open safely in the health challenge that we all face, Mulgrew said. He pointed to the individual school plans that were submitted to the city, which included key site-specific contacts and safety measures. Mulgrew said schools should have a more in-depth plan on the entrances and exits students will use, who will use school buses and take public transportation, and what happens when someone in the school has COVID-19 symptoms. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** SCREENING, TESTING Once a school has the proper supplies and procedures in place, it would move on to the screening and testing phase of reopening, Mulgrew said. The union is strongly recommending that adults and children should receive antibody testing. If a person doesnt have antibodies, he or she should be required to receive a negative diagnostic COVID-19 test 10 days prior to the start of school in order to return to a school building. Those who test positive for coronavirus would attend school remotely. What happened in March cannot happen again inside this city, Mulgrew said. ...We are asking the mayor to adopt this school safety report. It is time. We can no longer have parents and all those who work in school suffering trying to make a very difficult decision. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten said that the UFT has been working since April about how to reopen schools that would really work for children, would really work for educators. What the UFT has proposed here, right now, is so important and so profound, she said. They have three basic issues here. One was obviously was the community spread, which Gov. Cuomo and others have talked about. Two is this safety report card, which others have talked about. But third is this point that the doctors, Michael Mulgrew and others have talked about today, which is so important, that kind of robust, testing, tracing and isolation situation. Because without it, even if you open, how do you stay open? Weingarten said without testing and tracing, there will be a risk of another outbreak. SHOULD SCHOOLS OPEN SEPT. 10? When asked how schools will be able to open with the new testing procedures under the unions plan, Mulgrew said he doesnt believe its possible for schools to open on the tentative first day of school on Sept. 10. Even without the testing piece, it is our judgment at this point, as well as the principals union, that if you open schools on September 10th, it might be one of the biggest debacles in the history of the city, Mulgrew explained. The union is urging all parents to opt for remote learning until the city Department of Education (DOE) notifies them that their childs school meets the procedural and testing standards outlined in the safety report, even if it means delaying the opening of some schools. If a school is not deemed safe, Mulgrew said the union is prepared to go to court and to take action -- even if the court determines they are breaking the Taylor Law, which defines the rights and limitations of unions for public employees in New York. That means the union could go on strike, Mulgrew said. If a court determines we are breaking the Taylor Law, so be it, he said. We have promised the teachers and the parents of New York City that we would stand and fight if we felt a school was unsafe, and that is a promise we are going to keep. FEAR MONGERING' Miranda Barbot, a spokeswoman for the DOE, called Wednesdays announcement fear mongering. We spend hours a day, literally, talking to the UFT about policies and procedures and have delivered on a robust and practical testing protocol, a nurse in every building, and a 30-day supply of PPE for every school, Barbot said. We have the most comprehensive and rigorous plan in the country, coupled with record-low infection rates. When we see a full plan that is rooted in data and science, well review it -- until then, it seems like they just dont want to say the quiet part out loud: they dont want to open schools at all for students and families. The DOE said over the course of negotiations, the UFT hasnt asked for required testing for teachers and has expressed agreement with encouraging testing for teachers in line with the citys reopening plan. According to the DOEs reopening plan, schools will not reopen if the community transmission rate is above 3% on a seven-day rolling average. Under the current plan, public school classrooms will be closed and teachers and students are quarantined and transition to remote leaving if there is one case of the coronavirus in that cohort. If two cases are found in different classrooms at the school, the school will close and all staff and students will be quarantined and moved to remote learning. The only way we are going to get through the coronavirus crisis is by working together to keep each other safe, Mulgrew said. The best safeguards for the health of our children, their families and our staff are strong procedures and protections, enough supplies and equipment, and rigid enforcement of testing and tracing measures. We will do what we have to do to keep our kids and our families safe. Related stories: Sending your kids back to school? Tips from experts on how to keep them safe. Coronavirus: Reopening plans for Staten Island charter schools NYC teachers push for schools to stay closed come fall 2020-2021 school year in NYC: Guidelines on gym, music and more Coronavirus: How NYC plans to safely reopen schools in fall 2020-2021 academic year: Reopening plans for schools across Staten Island NYC schools reopening: State guidelines for special education The Catholic elementary school reopening plan: Face masks, temperature checks and more NYC schools reopening: Transportation plan for students remains unclear 2020-2021 academic year: Reopening plans for schools across Staten Island Returning to school: NYC to improve air circulation in classrooms With or without air conditioning, face masks will be required in Staten Island classrooms FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Matt Hancock faced criticism today after telling workers to get back to their offices because the risk of catching coronavirus there is minimal. The health secretary said official data which has not been made public showed only a 'relatively low' number of people had contacted Covid-19 at their place of work. But experts claimed the reason office transmission remained low was because most people worked from home for months and a huge chunk of the workforce was still doing so. One called Mr Hancocks comments 'cavalier', while another said his blase attitude towards Covid in the workplace could certainly see offices suffer outbreaks in the future. Mr Hancock made the comments after he was asked whether the UK will follow the lead of France and require face masks to be worn in all workplaces. The new rules in France are due to come into effect on September 1 and will require face coverings to be worn in all shared and enclosed workspaces, including open-plan and shared offices. The Health Secretary said 'we are not currently considering doing that'. Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: If most office workers were still working at home until recently or are even still working at home, then of course office based transmission isnt going to feature in the statistics. For any situation to play an important part in transmission the people have actually got to be in that situation. 'Clearly the UK needs to get back to work but simply relying on data to date when many people have been working at home is not an adequate measure of risk.' Keith Neal, an emeritus professor of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline: Working for home minimises you and your familys risk from Covid-19 and flu. 'Working from will keep down the overall number of transmissions in the whole country. 'If you can work from home without any detriment then it is reasonable to carry on doing this. Just last month two clusters were linked back to a call centre in Port Glasgow in Scotland and a pharmacy in Greater Glasgow. Several super-spreader events have occurred in factories and food processing plants elsewhere around the UK. Yet the Health Secretary said today that data showed 'very largely' the disease is being passed on when one household meets with another 'usually in one of their homes'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this morning that only a 'relatively low' number of people had caught coronavirus at their place of work He claimed household transmission is 'the root of passing on this virus in this country'. The Government ditched its lockdown work from home guidance at the start of August as ministers encouraged staff to return to offices. The decision was made amid growing fears that continued working from home risked the death of town and city centres as businesses reliant on commuter footfall struggle to survive. Mr Hancock today suggested there is no reason for workers not to be back in the office. Asked if the UK will follow the lead of France on face coverings in workplaces, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'We constantly look at the scientific advice and the answer here is that we are not currently considering doing that. 'And the reason is that the evidence from NHS Test and Trace that we were talking about for where people catch the disease is that very largely they catch it from one household meeting another household, usually in one of their homes. 'So it is that household transmission that is the core, the root of passing on this virus in this country. 'The amount of people who have caught it in workplaces is relatively low, we think, from the evidence that we have got.' But Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said: 'Only a month ago, Matt Hancock said that face masks in the workplace were ''something we've looked at and rejected''. 'Now his view seems to have softened somewhat to being something that ''we are not currently considering'', leaving open the prospect of a change to policy in the future. 'Other than arguments over the effectiveness of masks in a workplace, it misses the point to state that workplace transmission is less significant than those that take place in the home. 'While that may well be true, any transmission spreads the virus and pushes up the R number. The virus needs to be taken into homes by someone and they will have had to pick it up from somewhere else. 'Therefore, even a single workplace transmission could lead to multiple onward infections in a family, household or other setting. 'In the absence of appropriate data, it seems rather cavalier to dismiss workplaces as a source of potential infection, but label shops as higher risk and requiring masks, even though interactions with people are far more fleeting and less intimate.' Professor Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, added: 'Everyone in my NHS Trust is wearing masks at work, including when in office areas, and I'm strongly encouraging my team members to do likewise in my lab. 'Most people seem happy enough to do so once they understand the thinking behind it namely, that everyone is doing it to protect everyone else. 'The government may have evidence and other reasons for not wishing to compel people to do this, but I think people should at least be encouraged to don a mask whenever they are sharing space with others.' Professor Paul Hunter told MailOnline: 'For any situation to play an important part in transmission the people have actually got to be in that situation. 'It is a bit like saying that because there were no cases associated with churches in the UK from April to July then churches are safe and we should encourage everyone to go to church. 'The fact that churches were closed for worship during that time may have had more than a little to do with the fact that there were no cases there and so this gives no real evidence for whether or not churches are safe. 'I know some offices have continued to operate but generally with rather fewer workers who were able self-distance. 'We do know that there have been office related outbreaks elsewhere in the world and in the UK. So office based transmission has been known to occur. 'Clearly the UK needs to get back to work but simply relying on data to date when many people have been working at home is not an adequate measure of risk. 'Employers have to undertake a proper risk assessment of their work places and then act on this to reduce risk to their staff and consider how to protect any particularly vulnerable employees. Otherwise we are certainly likely to see work environments feature more highly in the future.' Mr Hancock's comments came after Tony Blair warned of the 'consequential damage' which will be done to businesses in urban centres if staff do not return to work. The former prime minister told Sky News he had recently spoken to someone who works in the City of London at a firm with more than 300 employees where only eight members of staff have returned to the office. Mr Blair said the only way to give workers the 'confidence' to return is to roll out mass testing so that people can be sure that they and their colleagues do not have the virus. He said: 'That is your problem. If you think of the consequential damage that does to all the other businesses who are dependent on those people being in those places. 'When you stack all of this up if you want to give people the confidence, not just the permission, but the confidence I just don't see how you do that unless you do the testing at the scale that we have said.' WASHINGTON More than one-third of Americans intend to vote by mail in the November presidential election, but Democratic voters are much more bullish about the option than Republicans, according to a new survey. Thirty-seven percent of registered voters said they are likely to vote by mail in the November election, by receiving a mailed ballot and either mailing it back or returning it in person, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape project. Among them, 48% of voters who plan to vote for Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden said they are likely to vote by mail, according to the survey. That's more than twice the 23% of voters backing President Donald Trump who said they are likely to vote by mail. More: Where you can vote by mail, absentee ballot in the 2020 election The numbers underscore the heightened political polarization that has consumed mail-in voting while Trump has railed on "universal mail-voting," characterizing it without evidence as more fraudulent than in-person voting and a plot by Democrats to "rig the election." A box of absentee ballots wait to be counted at the Albany County Board of Elections in Albany, N.Y. on June 30, 2020. Several states expanded mail-in voting for safety reasons amid the coronavirus pandemic, fueling record vote-by-mail turnout in recent state primaries and likely again in November. "At least for right now, we're seeing some relatively big differences between different demographics and political groups, said Rob Griffin, research director of the Voter Study Group. More: In dramatic shift, half of Americans fear difficulties voting in November election, poll says Forty-eight percent of registered voters who plan to vote for Trump said they will vote in-person Election Day, while another 22% said they will vote early in-person. Among Biden supporters, 28% said they intend to vote in-person on Election Day, while another 19% said they will vote early in-person. The Democracy Fund and UCLA Nationscape Project is a large-scale study of the American electorate designed to conduct 500,000 interviews about policies and the presidential candidates during the 2020 election cycle. The survey was conducted between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12 and included 5,545 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points. Story continues Among all registered voters, the survey found 37% of voters intend to vote in-person on Election Day, matching the same percentage who intend to vote by mail. Twenty percent of all registered voters said they intend to vote early in-person. More: 'America is not intimidated by you': Dems push back at Trump over mail voting, Postal Service at DNC Some Republican leaders have openly worried Trump's strong rhetoric has discouraged Republican voters from requesting mail-ballots in key battleground states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Trump campaign, in coordination with state parties, has promoted absentee voting in these states to work around some of Trump's strong messaging. Trump has said he is OK with absentee voting offered to seniors, the military, people with disabilities and others who are unable to vote in person on Election Day. But more recently, he's increasingly condemned "universal mail-voting" in which ballots are automatically sent to registered voters. Twenty-five percent of all voters who said they voted on Election Day during the 2016 presidential election now say they will vote by mail in November, according to the survey. Twenty percent of voters who cast ballots early four years ago said they will vote by mail this year. More: Where do Americans stand on election issues? Let them tell you. More: 'He's scaring our own voters': Republicans run into a Donald Trump problem as they push mail voting Mail-voting is most popular among seniors. The poll found 44% of voters 65 and older are likely to vote by mail, followed by 40% of voters ages 45 to 64. Thirty-four percent of voters 18 to 29 said they intend to vote by mail, while 27% of voters 30 to 44 said they do. Among ethnic groups, 54% of Asian Americans said they intend to vote by mail, followed by 38% of white voters, 33% of Hispanic voters and 31% of Black voters. The divide is starkest among political party, however 47% of self-identified Democrats said they intend to vote by mail, compared to 28% of Republican and independent voters. Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2020: Biden voters twice as likely to vote by mail, survey finds Dia Simms Director, TILT Holdings Director, TILT Holdings PHOENIX, Ariz., Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TILT Holdings Inc. (TILT or the Company) (CSE: TILT) (OTCQB: TLLTF), a leading provider of business solutions to the global cannabis industry, today announced the appointment of Dia Simms to the Companys Board of Directors. Simms will replace Gary Smith, who is resigning from TILTs board effective this month. Simms spent more than a decade at Combs Enterprises, where she served as President of the company founded by entertainer and entrepreneur Sean Combs. In this role Simms was responsible for the strategic direction of the companys alcohol, fashion, fragrance and media divisions, fueling the growth of CIROC to a retail value of more than $2 billion. Simms entered the cannabis space last year with a focus on brand management and consulting. Simms previously held executive sales and marketing positions at ClearChannel, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and Madison Marketing, after beginning her career as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense. Dia was listed as One of the Most Powerful Executives in the Industry by Billboard in 2017 and 2018 and has been named to the Ebony 'Power 100' list. Dia is a fantastic addition to our board at a time when TILT is moving into a new phase of growth, said Mark Scatterday, CEO of TILT Holdings. Her experience developing and reinvigorating global brands across cannabis, spirits and retail sectors brings a diverse and dynamic perspective to our management team as we seek to scale our products and services and drive shareholder value. Added Simms, Its an honor to join this distinguished board at a leading publicly traded global cannabis company like TILT. I look forward to working with TILTs board and management team to create value for TILTs customers and shareholders while amplifying the Companys impact on our industry. Gary Smith will depart the board after serving since January 2019, shortly before the company began trading on the OTCQB Venture Market. Prior to his appointment to TILTs Board, Mr. Smith held senior management positions at PepsiCo, Red Bull and Big Red, Inc, where he was CEO. Story continues As a founding member of our board, Garys leadership has helped to guide TILT through several years of evolution and growth, said Scatterday. His contributions have been invaluable and we thank him for his service. About TILT TILT helps cannabis businesses build brands. Through a portfolio of companies providing hardware, software, logistics, cultivation and production, TILT services more than 2,000 brands and cannabis retailers across 33 states in the U.S. as well as Canada, Israel, Mexico, South America, and the European Union. TILTs core businesses include Jupiter Research, a wholly owned subsidiary and leader in the vaporization segment focused on hardware design, R&D and manufacturing; Blackbird, a software and operations solutions provider for wholesale and retail distributors; and cannabis operations CAC in Massachusetts and Standard Farms, LLC in Pennsylvania. TILT is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.tiltholdings.com . Investor Relations Contact: Gary F. Santo, Jr., IRC SVP, Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations gsanto@tiltholdings.com Media Contact: Lisa Weser Trailblaze on behalf of TILT Holdings, Inc. lisa@trailblaze.co The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b49a58f2-3603-4cca-ac68-60b86a82cd9d Russian commercial bank Expobank is said to have issued the country's first crypto-backed personal loan. Russian business daily Kommersant reported the news on Wednesday, saying that the loan, backed by Waves tokens, was issued to businessman Mikhail Uspensky. Waves founder Sasha Ivanov confirmed the news in a tweet. The loan value was not disclosed. Expobank's head of legal department Tanzila Yandieva told Kommersant that the loan is a "precedent-setting for both the legal and banking communities" in Russia. The bank reportedly consulted lawyers and crypto experts for the deal and concluded that Waves tokens are "other property" and not payment tokens. The use of cryptocurrencies for payment is set to be banned in Russia starting next year. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that will prohibit cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in the country. The bill comes into effect from January 2021. 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. Cuba Gooding Jr has been accused of rape in a new lawsuit. The suit, filed on Tuesday in New York, alleges that the actor raped an anonymous woman twice in 2013. The plaintiff, identified under the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges that she was approached by Gooding at a Manhattan restaurant/lounge, and was invited to join him and his entourage at a hotel for drinks. Once at the hotel, the woman alleges that Gooding motioned for her to get into an elevator and said he needed to change his clothes. Inside the room, Gooding allegedly raped the woman twice. Goodings attorney, Mark Jay Heller, told Reuters the allegations are untrue. The allegations are false. Its an event that took place seven years ago. No complaint was ever lodged. We believe the allegations and the complaint will be dismissed, Heller said. Heller had no additional comment when reached by The Independent. The woman is seeking a jury trial as well as compensatory and punitive damages. Gooding, 52, won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1997 for the film Jerry Maguire. He is known for roles in movies including A Few Good Men and The Butler, and in the television miniseries The People v OJ Simpson. In 2019, the actor pleaded not guilty in New York to charges of groping three different women. Those criminal cases have yet to be resolved. Reuters contributed to this report That U.S. restrictions are not about cybersecurity but are really designed to safeguard American dominance of global tech. It has repeatedly denied that it helps Beijing spy on other governments or companies. But bracing for continued pressure, it outlined plans to shake up its management ranks as revenue growth slowed. The company, which says its owned by Ren as well as its employees through a union, has in recent years begun releasing financial results, spent more on marketing and engaged with foreign media in an effort to boost transparency. Ren has become more outspoken as he fights to save his company. While he said he was proud of his military career and Communist Party membership, he rejected suggestions he was doing Beijings bidding or that Huawei handed over customer information. In March 2019, Huawei went on the offensive, filing a lawsuit in federal court against a statute that blocks U.S. government agencies from using its equipment. Delhi woke up to heavy rain on Wednesday morning that led to waterlogged roads and major snarls in several parts of the city. It also triggered a school wall collapse damaging several cars, but surprisingly, decades-old Minto Bridge fared better this time with hardly any water-logging. While the showers that continued till late evening came as a respite to residents from the muggy weather -- the citys maximum temperature fell to 27.7 degrees Celsius, six degrees below normal -- it spelt bad news for office goers, who were caught in jams on waterlogged roads. Delhi traffic police officers said jams were reported from Dwarka Link Road, Barapullah, Rao Tula Ram Marg, Moti Bagh intersection, South Extension (Ring Road), Ashram intersection, Delhi-Noida-Direct Flyway, Noida Link Road and Vikas Marg. Traffic crawled at a snails pace near Dhaula Kuan towards Gyarah Murti, Surajmal Marg, Bhairon Marg, near Sultanpur Metro station on MB Road, near Munirka Metro station, Sanjay T-point towards Rao Tula Ram Marg, Civil Lines police station towards Mall Road, Mathura Road, Chandgiram Akhara Road, Rani Jhansi Road and Mayur Vihar phase-2 underpass. Traffic from Vasant Kunj to the airport was diverted towards Mahipalpur Chowk because of knee-deep water on the stretch. Vehicles were also diverted away from Pul Prahladpur underpass that got inundated. Portions of roads were under water, slowing down traffic on arterial stretches. Our personnel were stationed to direct traffic, but in many areas, the situation was quite bad, said a senior Delhi traffic police officer, requesting anonymity. Even residential colonies of Krishna Nagar, parts of Amar Colony, Model Town, Prem Nagar in Kirari, Sant Nagar and Laxmi Vihar in Burari, and Rajiv Nagar in Begampur, among others, were inundated. It doesnt look like we are living in the national capital. Every year, we suffer the pain of water-logging. Its been raining since morning and the colony streets are under water, because of choked drains and sewer lines, said BS Vohra, a resident of Krishna Nagar and the president East Delhi RWAs Joint Front. According to the Delhi traffic police, civic bodies and road owning agencies, water-logging was reported from over 45 locations in the city. The public works department (PWD) maintained that adequate arrangements were in place to drain the accumulated water. Temporary pumps have been installed at waterlogged streets to clear roads. Our staff are in the field to constantly monitor and immediately address the water-logging issues, a senior PWD official said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows that till 5.30 pm, Safdarjung observatory, which is taken as representative of the city, recorded 32mm of rain, Palam observatory 49.4mm rain and Lodi Road 25.1mm rain. Aya Nagar received 66.1mm rain while Ridge recorded 42.7mm rain. Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMDs regional weather forecasting centre, said the axis of the monsoon will remain close to Delhi-NCR till Thursday. He said south-westerly winds from the Arabian Sea and south-easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal were also adding to moisture in this region, which was causing the downpour. We will continue to receive spells of heavy rain till Thursday, he said. At least seven parked cars were damaged after a portion of the boundary wall of Apeejay School in Sakets Block J collapsed in the rain, said deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur. Nobody was hurt, he added. Delhi Fire Services officials said it received a call at 11.46am and dispatched two rescue teams. The debris removal operation is on, a fire officer said. Residents lodged a police complaint and demanded that school authorities compensate them for the damages. Meanwhile, Minto Bridge near Connaught Place, a rail underpass known for going under water every time it rains, saw no water-logging on Wednesday, largely due to prompt response from the authorities. On July 19 this year, a heavy spell of rain had inundated the underpass; a bus was submerged and a 56-year-old driver of a mini-truck had drowned. After the incident, the PWD and the Delhi traffic police took a number of measures, including installing a monitoring system, additional pumps and imposing restrictions on traffic flow, all of which seems to have paid off. By Aaron Ross DAKAR (Reuters) - A month after becoming president of Mali in 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining the power of government in the capital Bamako were over. "Kati will no longer scare Bamako," he said, referring to the Kati military base outside the capital where a mutiny the previous year had toppled then-President Amadou Toumani Toure. Seven years later, Keita, 75, has suffered a similar fate. He was overthrown on Tuesday by a military coup that began with a mutiny in Kati. Within hours, the putschists, firing shots in the air, drove into town, detained Keita, took him to Kati and forced him to resign and dissolve parliament. Despite lofty promises to root out the problems that led to his predecessor's demise - a security crisis caused by insurgents in the north and public perceptions of high-level corruption - those same factors proved Keita's undoing. Disputed legislative elections in April and an anaemic economy further fuelled public anger, drawing tens of thousands of people on to the streets of Bamako in recent weeks to demand his resignation. Keita, widely known by his initials IBK, won re-election two years ago and his ruling coalition enjoyed a healthy majority in parliament. But that masked the depth of popular dissatisfaction, said Ibrahim Maiga, a Mali-based researcher at the Institute for Security Studies. "He wasn't able to understand quickly enough the anger that cut across the entire society," said Maiga. "He didn't fully appreciate the strong demand for change in the country." Keita came to office with a reputation for firmness forged as a prime minister in the 1990s when he took a hard line with striking trade unions. But from the start he was unable to get a handle on the security crisis in northern Mali. French forces had intervened in January 2013 to drive back al Qaeda-linked jihadists who had hijacked an ethnic Tuareg rebellion to seize the northern two-thirds of the country. Story continues Keita's government struggled to assert control over Tuareg militias that continued to push for autonomy. The jihadists regrouped, inflicting heavy losses on Malian soldiers and civilians while extending their presence into central Mali and neighbouring countries. Attacks by the jihadists - some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State - stoked tit-for-tat clashes between rival herding and farming communities that have eclipsed the violence by militants, claiming hundreds of lives this year alone. CORRUPTION Keita, who usually wears white flowing robes and has a tendency to slur his words, won a crushing election victory in August, 2013, with over 77% of the vote, and vowed to take on corruption. Junior military officers said widespread anger over graft under Toure was one of the triggers of their March 2012 coup. "Let me be clear. There is no question of sharing out the cake. I have not promised that and it will not happen," Keita said, vowing to put an end to political patronage. Keita enjoyed strong international support, especially from former colonial master France, who poured money and troops into Mali. But his government quickly found itself mired in allegations of fraud and waste related to the purchase of a $40 million presidential jet and inflated spending on military supplies that led the International Monetary Fund to briefly delay aid. "In time of massive foreign military presence, there are opportunities for massive corruption," said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, a Mauritanian diplomat and former U.N. special representative in West Africa. Accusations of cronyism focused on Keita's son, Karim, over his lavish lifestyle and position as chairman of parliament's powerful defence and security committee. In a televised statement early on Wednesday, a spokesman for the putschists denounced the "political clientelism and family management of state affairs" under Keita. Videos shared on social media after Keita was detained show revellers splashing in the pool in Karim's Bamako residence. Keita and his son always denied allegations of impropriety. The mass protests began in early June, spearheaded by a charismatic Muslim cleric, Mahmoud Dicko, who had supported Keita in the 2013 election but quickly soured on him. During demonstrations in July, security forces opened fire, killing at least 14 people and hardening opposition demands that Keita resign. He offered a series of concessions to the coalition of political opponents, religious leaders and civil society activists leading the protests, but they were rejected. As word of Keita's detention spread in Bamako on Tuesday, thousands of people filled the streets, cheering soldiers as they sped through in military vehicles, firing rounds of celebratory gunfire into the air. "IBK did not want to listen to his people," said Nouhoum Togo, a spokesman for the M5-RFP coalition that has led the protests. "He thought that France ... or the international community could save him." (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako and David Lewis in London; Editing by Bate Felix and Mike Collett-White) The federal regulator of aged care providers took action against a Sunbury nursing home that has been linked to 100 COVID-19 cases after determining there was an immediate and severe risk to the health and safety of residents. Commissioner Janet Anderson said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission took regulatory action against Japara Goonawarra on August 9 and issued the aged care service with a notice to agree. Goonawara Aged Care Facility has been linked with 100 COVID-19 cases. Credit:Darrian Traynor In light of information received from a range of sources about the providers response to the outbreak, the commission determined there is an immediate and severe risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of care recipients at the service, Ms Anderson said. The notice bans Japara Goonawarra from accepting any new residents until it can demonstrate the serious risk to care recipients at the service has been addressed. Yves here. Even though this post discusses why the UKs renters have retreated from the plan to hold a rent strike, many of the power dynamics it describes in the landlord-tenant relationship hold true here, particularly when trying to secure a new lease. UK renters seem to have wound up in a similar position to Americans, of having evictions suspended, here due to the CARES Act moratorium, which expired at the end of July, the UK due to courts being shuttered. Note that in the US, how quickly evictions proceed is a function of the strength of renter rights as well as court backlogs. In some jurisdictions, evictions are swift, while in New York City, even in normal times, they take six to nine months. But a key issue, which is implicit in this article, is that the power of the landlord is the rest of the legal regime. For instance. Germany has strong tenant protections because cheap housing was seen as an important element of Germanys economic strategy: rentierism by landlords translates into higher living costs, which means workers need higher wages, which results in higher product costs. Thats not conducive to being an export superstar. One would think that landlords would now accept reduced, even considerably reduced, payments given the poor prospects for finding decent tenants at anything approaching old normal lease levels. But property owners can be good at denial. Ive seen retail spaces in New York City go vacant for well over a year due to landlords sticking to unrealistic rent rates. By Jacob Stringer, a housing researcher and campaigner, and a member of London Renters Union. Originally published at openDemocracy London Renters Union twitter There was a moment, just after the declaration of lockdown, with the immediate loss of jobs and hours, when it seemed that a rent strike might be inevitable. Many members of London Renters Union thought there might finally be a moment of unity between renters affected by the pandemic that could be leveraged into much greater power against landlords. When evictions were temporarily suspended some members grew even more excited: for once private renters did not have the sword of Damocles hanging over them. This was the moment to strike! Others had a similar idea and Rent Strike London was launched, pulling ahead of London Renters Union, necessarily slower-moving as a large democratic organisation. For a week or two it felt like we might get the biggest rent strike going in British history. But that wasnt what happened. Some months later, London is not on rent strike. In fact London Renters Union (LRU) decided not to call its campaign a rent strike, instead going with Cant Pay Wont Pay, a slogan with a venerable history that is deliberately less aggressive. Meanwhile Rent Strike London has only a few hundred people signed up to their campaign, despite the fact that the rent strike had to happen to some extent, just because many people had to stop paying rent. The involuntary rent strike is very much on, and both campaigns in London are supporting these people. The LRU Cant Pay Wont Pay campaign has four thousand people signed up good but a long way short of the numbers needed to build the idea of a city-wide rent strike. The union conceived of the campaign as a way to spread non-payment far enough to become a political issue, and eventually force the government to concede the demands of the campaign, including cancellation of rent debt and, as a wider demand, introduction of rent controls. But a political programme can only unfold from a high level of non-payment, and agitators for a rent strike in the renters union had to moderate their positions as, via phonebanking and an online survey, they went through the process of speaking to struggling members. Fear and Precarity The reason the rent strike has not taken off can be summed up in one word: fear. Private renters in London have learned to fear their landlords, even when courts are closed and possession orders cant be issued. In the same way that fear of the boss at work can be qualified by the notion that you can just get another job, fear of the landlord is qualified by market relations that say there is always the option to move house. But one of the many problems of Londons exploitative rental market is that it isnt that easy to move. On benefits? Forget it, says the letting agent. Low income? Give us six months rent up front. Pets? Nope. Children? Wed rather not. No good references? You deserve the street. Visa documents? Too much trouble to check. Poor credit? Dont waste our time. You want the luxury of a sitting room for your family? With your income youll get cockroaches with that. Many LRU members need to stay in their area for job or community reasons and arent confident of finding another place. Many facing rent shortfalls were concerned their tenancy would not be renewed, or that eviction would immediately follow the end of lockdown. Some couldnt risk their current home because it was slightly below market rent and they couldnt afford more. Some had more people in the house than were on the tenancy, making collective action more complicated. Some were on Universal Credit and worried about the landlord reporting them. Some were worried that when it came to look for a new place the landlord would sabotage their references. Some had no tenancy because they lacked the documents to get one. Some had no recourse to public funds so couldnt count on official help if made homeless. At the root of most of the concerns is the continued existence of Section 21 (no-fault) evictions, which can be enacted at the end of a fixed-term contract or any time during a rolling tenancy. The government have promised to abolish Section 21 but are moving slowly on it, and have specifically ruled out the possibility of moving more quickly as Covid-19 evictions loom. In the meantime eviction is a constant possibility for most renters, either now or at the end of the tenancy. Many people have experienced powerlessness in the face of a landlords vindictiveness, and vindictiveness was exactly what people expected if they went on rent strike. Section 21 makes all private renters in Britain precarious. A temporary suspension of evictions assuaged almost no-ones fears. An important part of the difficulty of rent striking is that, unlike in many countries, few people in London live in blocks owned by the same landlord, so instead of being able to switch the balance of power through a rent strike, most people must strike alone against a landlord who has the power to make them homeless. A rent strike, historically, usually means a specific thing: many people with the same landlord withholding their rent at the same time. What some had dreamed of happening during the pandemic is what we might call a general rent strike against all landlords, transforming itself into a political movement. But this would require a very rare unity of thought and action among a large number of people that neither the two-year-old London Renters Union, nor any other organisation, has yet had the time to organise. No Good Landlords? London Renters Union has sometimes said, provocatively, that Theres no such thing as a good landlord. Some people love that statement, other people think of landlords whove been nice to them and object. Landlords hate it. What the statement means is that the power imbalance between landlords and renters in the UK is so great that exploitation is always present, and the potential for abuse is just around the corner. A friend of mine had a landlord who until recently was friendly enough and did all the repairs on time, then just before the pandemic struck she had a baby. The landlord immediately began to complain about increased wear and tear on the flat. With the tenancy heading for renewal just as lock-down was starting, he tried to increase the rent. When my friend resisted, he gave notice to a new mother in the middle of a pandemic. Even good landlords take more of your income than you can afford, but they are also just one fit of irritation away from becoming bad landlords, because the laws are so weighted in their favour. There are many stories of evictions following requests for basic repairs. Blatant discrimination against welfare recipients among others, is standard, and even the minimal standards that exist for rental accommodation largely go unenforced. The resistance to changing the situation is predictable. Even as they promised to scrap Section 21, the government said they would simultaneously strengthen Section 8, the section of the law that lists legitimate reasons for eviction. This already has reasons that landlords can turn into loopholes, such as the landlord being able to claim they want to move into the flat. Similar clauses in the United States are routinely abused by landlords with no intention of moving in (who actually monitors the next resident?) and the reason that hasnt been abused in the UK is probably because Section 21 is easier. It seems likely the new Section 8 will have loopholes that will still give landlords a fairly free hand to evict. This is the type of thing you expect when so many MPs are also landlords. Tony Blair spent his years in power building up a buy-to-let portfolio. The Conservatives have even more landlord MPs than Labour. Even when the MPs and peers arent landlords themselves, we know that their friends are: thats the strata of society most of them come from. The market in housing in fact creates a relationship of power between the asset owner and the renter. The landlord-tenant relationship opens up a clear divide between those in control and those without control. Alas many middle class people are now invested in this relationship of domination. Isolation If domination seems like a strong word, consider that even with the fear of eviction temporarily removed, renters in London are scared of their landlords. There are, it should be said, other factors making rent striking in this moment tricky: it is difficult to build solidarity when you cant meet people. Zoom calls and Whatsapp conversations are not conducive to a culture of creative action. Isolated and destabilised in lockdown it can be difficult to channel anger into collective channels that was why Black Lives Matter protesters had to ignore the lockdown rules. Yet it feels like the result would have been the same even if renters could have met face to face. The power of landlords is so great that people have found it difficult to imagine triumphing over them. All the more reason then to open up the next front in the battle as courts re-open. As we approach the end of the evictions pause on 24 August and the end of the furlough scheme in October, the true impacts on housing security are about to make themselves felt. Private renters expect to face the biggest evictions crisis of our lifetimes, and the need for organisations like London Renters Union, ACORN and Living Rent in Scotland is ever more apparent. The government will not protect renters, so tenants unions are preparing themselves for eviction resistance and for standing up to the ruthlessness of landlords. Private renters may not have the upper hand yet, but we can make it clear that the power of landlords will not go unopposed. If enough people join in with eviction resistance over the coming year we can get the voice of private renters heard, and we may just begin to change the balance of power between renter and landlord. A n urgent review of the grading process that led to thousands of A-level results being overturned is needed, the headteachers' union has said. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has demanded that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson launch a review to rebuild trust after the fiasco left public confidence... badly shaken. After days of outrage and student protests over predicted A-level grades being marked down by exams regulator Ofqual, the Government announced on Monday that students could receive grades based on teachers estimates. Mr Williamson has apologised to students but has repeatedly refused to say if he will resign. A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures 1 /26 A-level Protests 2020 - In pictures A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) REUTERS Students from Codsall Community High School march to the constituency office of their local MP Gavin Williamson, who is also the Education Secretary, as a protest over the continuing issues of last week's A level results which saw some candidates receive lower-than-expected grades after their exams were cancelled as a result of coronavirus. PA An A level student reacts during a protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results. PA People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results PA Olivia Styles, 18, from Basingtoke, sets her A-level results on fire during peaceful protest in Parliament Square PA An A level student holds a placard during a protest at Parliament Square REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest at Parliament Square REUTERS People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA People take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square, London PA A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education REUTERS A level students hold placards as they protest outside the Department for Education, REUTERS LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 16: Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Students take part in an A-Level results protest opposite Downing Street Getty Images Getty Images REUTERS Getty Images Getty Images PA Mr Barton called for greater transparency from the Department for Education and Ofqual. He said: It seems to be clear that the statistical model for moderating centre-assessed grades was flawed and that it produced many anomalous results. "But how did this happen, why were the problems not foreseen, and why were ministers not on top of this? Most importantly, what lessons can we learn for the future? Meanwhile GCSE students have been told they will receive their results on Thursday - despite the Governments U-turn on grading. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson / REUTERS Exam boards said they have been working hard to provide centre assessment grades, based on teachers estimates, or moderated grades if they are higher. Mr Barton's call for a review comes after the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and the Commons Education Select Committee both launched investigations into what went wrong with this years exam results. The OSR said its review will consider to what extent Ofqual's system was in line with the UK's statistics code of practice, but will not look at individual results or make a judgement on how to award grades without exams. Robert Halfon, chairman of the education committee, called the situation an absolute disgrace and said his panel will launch an inquiry after MPs come back from the summer recess. A student protester / AFP via Getty Images He told Times Radio: We need to also ask very deep questions as well as to whether Ofqual is fit for purpose in its current role, or whether it needs to be completely integrated into the department so you know for sure who is behind the decision making. Mr Williamson said that Ofqual didnt deliver the right grading system despite the Government being reassured it would be in place. Many pupils were pleased with the sudden change in results policy but the Government's dramatic U-turn has left universities scrambling to work out if they can honour all the conditional offers they made - although ministers also lifted a temporary cap on student numbers. And Labours shadow universities minister Emma Hardy said Mr Williamsons delay in allowing pupils to be given teacher-predicted grades has caused a massive headache for universities. Students take part in a peaceful protest in Parliament Square in response to the downgrading of A-level results / PA Ms Hardy told BBC Breakfast: His delay in making this decision has meant that more and more places at university have been filled up. Many students have gone ahead and accepted their second-place offers or other offers, or in fact got offers that maybe in the past they wouldnt have actually been entitled to. Many have called for urgent support from the Government to ensure A-level students do not miss out on their first-choice places. Students who now have higher grades after the U-turn which came four days after results were announced could still be asked to defer their place if there is no space left on their preferred course. Student protesters / REUTERS It came as a new taskforce that aims to help universities meet the challenges caused by the Governments exams U-turn met first for the first time on Tuesday. In a statement, education minister Michelle Donelan said: We are working closely with the higher education sector to understand the challenges facing universities and provide as much support as we can. Today, I led the first meeting of our new taskforce and I will hold meetings every day with the sector to resolve these issues. We are supporting universities, including by announcing our intention to remove temporary student number controls and working with them to help them prioritise students and uphold their first choice either this coming year, or as a last resort the following year. We announced a package of support for the sector during the pandemic, including bringing forward tuition fee and research funding, and a scheme to assess any restructuring support higher education providers may need. Student protesters / PA Meanwhile a small number of results for students who took vocational and technical qualifications will also be reviewed. Btec students grades were not included in the original announcement, but Mr Williamson said his department was working with awarding body Pearson to extend the change to the vocational qualifications. Loading.... Pearson has said grades that were adjusted downwards through the awarding process only around 0.5 per cent of teachers grades will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with colleges. All exams were cancelled this year after schools were forced to close to most students during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made national news this week for a hot mic comment including a mouthed expletive about Shark Week and now you can wear it. While the Discovery networks Shark Week ended on Sunday, the merchandise related to a joke from Michigans governor is just starting to roll out. While waiting to deliver her remarks during the Democratic National Convention Monday night, Whitmer could be seen making a joke for the room: Its not just Shark Week, its Shark Week (expletive mouthed). Gov. Whitmer (D-MI) jokes before going live: "It's not just Shark Week ... it's Shark Week *mouths expletive*" pic.twitter.com/KSndbTvLZi The Recount (@therecount) August 18, 2020 RELATED: Gov. Whitmer mouths expletive on hot mic while waiting to deliver DNC speech Boyne-based Outdoor Beerdsman has a shirt to commemorate the moment. The blue T-shirt says, Its Shark Week Mother F*****! The word its appears inside a shark icon that serves as the Upper Peninsula while the A in the word shark is replaced by the Michigan mitten. Owner Ivette Lopez woke up Tuesday to her email and Facebook blowing up with messages requesting the shirt. It was designed and available online by 8 p.m. After just a Facebook post announcing the new design, theyve sold over $2,000-worth. The shirt costs $22. Thats a lot for me just putting up a shirt, Lopez said. I had several customers message me about making a shark week tee so here it is! None of our designs reflect our... Posted by Outdoor Beerdsman on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 Whitmers joke was caught by a live feed that was preparing to broadcast nationwide during the convention. It was not broadcast on television, but still garnered national news coverage and trended on Twitter. The line was met with laughter from those in the room as Whitmer paused to hint at why she didnt say the actual word: I have learned about the hot mic, she said. Shark Week is part of annual programming from Discovery that focuses on shark shows. The massively popular week-long event has become part of pop culture thanks to its unique and informative programs. Outdoor Beerdsman isnt the only company memorializing the governors joke. Michigan companies are making shirts, candles and face coverings with the quote. Traverse City-based t-shirt company Tee See Tee came out with a t-shirt that says, Its Shark Week motherf***ers! the Detroit Free Press reports. Adrian-based That Gay Guy Candle Company, which makes environmentally friendly handmade candles known for featuring humorous phrases, debuted a candle with the governors line, the Freep reports. Its available in four scents. Detroit-based Well Done Goods has a facemask with the quote in red text above a Jaws-inspired shark, the Freep reports. Lopez is sending one of the Outdoor Beerdsman Shark Week shirts to Whitmer today. Back in April, the governor wore Outdoor Beerdsmans That Woman from Michigan shirt during an appearance on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. That shirt design came about after President Donald Trump criticized Whitmer for her response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and referred to her that woman from Michigan, instead of using her name. READ MORE: Northern Michigan distiller opens 4th tasting room amid pandemic, economic slowdown 30 famous celebrities you may not know are from Michigan Geologist solves puzzle of mystery rock found near Lake Huron Traverse City asks visitors to keep it a happy place after breweries say staff have been bullied Wednesday, Aug. 19, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Menominee joins Ontonagon in the red zone Sensex, Nifty Highlights on August 19: Domestic benchmarks ended on a bullish note on Wednesday, tracking positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. Sensex ended 86 points higher at 38,614 and Nifty closed 23 points higher at 11,408. As per analysts, gains were checked as market traders turned cautious ahead of AGR hearing in SC later today and US Federal Reserve meet outcome scheduled to release tonight. SGX Nifty was rising 90 points higher at 10,690, indicating positive trend in domestic grounds today. Meanwhile, April-June quarterly earnings announcements by Muthoot Finance, CSB Bank, Ruchi Soya Industries, V2 Retail, Ramky Infrastructure and Tips Industries among others will also set the tone for the stock market today. Yesterday, Sensex ended 477 points higher at 38,528 and Nifty added 138 points to close at 11,385. Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today 3. 45 PM: Closing session Domestic benchmarks ended on a bullish note on Wednesday, tracking positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. Sensex ended 86 points higher at 38,614 and Nifty closed 23 points higher at 11,408. 3. 30 PM: Market outlook Commenting on market outlok today, S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said,"Today's trade was indeed different in that it can be aptly termed as a Day of Unusual Gainers. A plethora of stocks outside the Index which normally we are used to seeing trending down made bold up moves forcing investors and traders to pay attention". 3. 21 PM: Nifty tenchincals Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said," The index has held the 11350 level for the entire trading session. There could be a brief pause after yesterday's rally. The trend continues to remain bullish and we should expect higher levels of 11500 and then 11700. Traders could use any dip as a buying opportunity." 3. 10 AM: Market update Domestic benchmarks traded on a bullish note on Wednesday, tracking positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. Sensex was rising 95 points higher at 38,624 and Nifty was trading 29 points higher at 11,415. 2.55 PM: Sector update Sectorally, barring IT, FMCG and pharma, all the other sector-based indices traded in green territory today, with medis index rising over 5%, followed by 2.5% rise PSU Banks. 2.43 PM: Market outlook Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said," The Nifty has opened in splendid form going past the 11450 level. We should be targeting 11500 - 11700 levels and this could be achieved during the course of this month's expiry itself. The support has been upgraded to 11350. A buy on dips strategy can be implemented." 2. 33 PM: Evening round up by Angel Broking On currency front, dollar index weakened to more than two year low against the basket of rival currencies. Precious metals surged higher on feeble US dollar and brewing tension between US and China. Gold in international spot market reclaimed above $2000 an Ounce. Cautious move has been witnessed among risky assets on renewed tension between US and China after further US restriction on China's tech giant Huawei. Besides, resurgence of corona cases in some areas also weighed the investor's sentiments. 2. 25 PM: PVR stock price gains over 5% Share prices of PVR and Inox Leisure were trading higher in afternoon session today on reports that government is likely to allow opening of cinema halls from September. The halls will be opened with limited viewers and strict social distancing rules. Cinema halls have remained closed since March 23, 2020 on the imposition of coronavirus lockdown. PVR share price gained 5.7% to Rs 1,337 against previous close of Rs 1,261 on BSE. The stock has gained 7.4% in the last 2 days. The mid cap share trades higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day and 100 day moving averages but lower than 200 day moving averages. PVR, Inox Leisure shares gain up to 8% on reports cinema halls may open from September 2. 14 PM: Zee Entertainment share gains 5% Zee Entertainment Enterprises share price jumped over 5% intraday in Wednesday's session after the company declared its April-June quarter numbers. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Tuesday reported 94.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 29.3 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020 against Rs 529.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Zee Entertainment share gains 5% despite weak Q1 earnings; check what brokerages say 1. 37 PM: SBI share gains 3% as lender to raise Rs 10,000 crore via bond sale State Bank of India (SBI) share price rose almost 3% on Tuesday amid a report that the lender would raise Rs 10,000 crore through sale of bonds. State Bank of India share gained 2.61% to the intraday high of Rs 200.2 on BSE against the earlier close of Rs 195.10. The large cap stock stands higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day and 100 day moving averages but lower than 200 day moving averages. SBI share gains 3% as lender to raise Rs 10,000 crore via bond sale 1. 20 PM: RIL share gains 1.5% after firm buys majority stake in Netmeds Share price of Reliance Industries (RIL) gained in early trade today after the firm's retail arm Reliance Retail acquired a majority stake in Vitalic Health and subsidiaries, collectively known as Netmeds for Rs 620 crore. RIL share price gained 1.5% or Rs 32 to Rs 2,150 against previous close of Rs 2,118 on BSE. RIL share gains 1.5% after firm buys majority stake in Netmeds 1.09 PM: Dollar index The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.08 per cent to 92.34. 12.51 PM: Oil prices flat today Oil price remained flat as fear of lower demand offset the recent OPEC+ suppliers commitment to supply cuts. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.75% to USD 45.12 per barrel. 12. 46 PM: Global markets Asian markets are trading mixed despite overnight gains in US. Japan's export declined in July to 19.2% YoY and was below Reuters poll. Wall Street closed higher with S&P500 saw record close and many including Howard Silverblatt believe that this is the start of a new bull market. European markets closed lower as investors continued to give more weight to the pandemic and growing tensions between US and China. 12. 30 PM: Nifty outlook As per Geojit Financial Services, A bullish marubozu pattern, encourages us to extend the upside objective from 11600 to 11800. A higher opening today is likely to invite a bit of long liquidation, but favoured view expects such bear attacks to be limited. Alternatively, a close below 11314 today will be a clear bear call, re opening 10640 views. 11.51 AM: Top gainers and losers SBI, followed by L&T, M&M, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, ITC and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers on Sensex pack. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Nestle India, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and Infosys were among the laggards. 11. 44 AM: Market update Domestic benchmarks traded on a bullish note on Wednesday, tracking positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. Sensex was rising 210 points higher at 38,738 and Nifty was trading 60 points higher at 11,450. As per analysts, gains were checked as market traders turned cautious ahead of AGR hearing in SC later today and US Federal Reserve meet outcome scheduled to release tonight. 11.31 AM: AGR case expert outlook On SC AGR case hearing today, Keshav Lahoti, Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said,"On the Supreme Court's question on whether to make Jio liable for Rcom AGR dues based on spectrum sharing. Jio has made it clear that there is no question of one operator paying dues of another operator and AGR dues payable by it is already paid. Government is of the opinion to allow a 20 years time frame for companies like Airtel, Vodafone Idea to clear their AGR dues. We believe Bharti Airtel will be able to make upfront AGR payment even if asked by court by raising money from QIP, debt. Overall, we see upfront payment of AGR dues as a positive development for Airtel and Jio as it raises question mark on survival of Vodafone Idea in the industry." 11. 22 AM: Real estate sector update Speaking on outlook for real estate sector Mohit Goel, CEO, Omaxe Ltd said, "Being an end-user driven market, the demand has picked up faster in 2/3 cities due to a host of reasons like government's industry and infrastructure push, corporates looking for cheap real estate and skilled workforce that are staying back or returning and higher capital appreciation. The demand in the residential real estate segment is gravitating towards reputed developers. As a result, developers with a strong balance sheet and good delivery record are witnessing an upsurge in demand." 11.07 AM: Coronavirus toll Worldwide, there are 223 lakh confirmed cases and 7.84 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, the death toll in India crossed 53,000 mark and total coronavirus stood at 27.68 lakh as of Wednesday. 10. 54 AM: Stocks in news IDBI Bank, Indiabulls Real Estate, YES Bank, RIL, SBI among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Wednesday's trading session. Stocks in news: IDBI Bank, Indiabulls Real Estate, YES Bank, RIL, SBI 10. 43 AM: Gold outlook Commenting on Gold's outlook, Hareesh V, Head Commodity Research at Geojit Financial Services said," A weak US currency and expectations of more economic easing measures amid slow global growth continue to lift the safe-haven demand of gold. However, an intermittent profit booking cannot be ruled out on signs of easing US-China trade tensions and optimism about coronavirus vaccine." On London spot technical outlook, he added," A direct break of $2020 is required to continue the bullish outlook, else intraday bias largely on the downside. However, major downside moves are likely only if prices break $1970." Gold vs Reliance Industries stock: Which has given better returns in 2020 so far? 10. 26 AM: AGR hearing Telecom stocks, Vodafone Idea and Airtel, will continue to remain in focus as the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the issue of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues from telecom companies to Wednesday. The three-Judge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra on Tuesday heard arguments from Reliance Jio pertaining to the sale of the spectrum by the bankrupt companies RCom and Aircel. The apex court had earlier indicated that entities using the spectrum must discharge the AGR dues. 10. 32 AM: Earnings Today Muthoot Finance, CSB Bank, Ruchi Soya Industries, V2 Retail, Ramky Infrastructure and Tips Industries among others will be announcing their April-June quarterly earnings today. 10. 13 AM: Gold outlook As per Geojit Financial Services, inability to break $2020 intraday bias most likely to be on the lower side. However, support is seen at $1960 which needs to be cleared for the continuation of the trend. A direct rise above $2022 would lift prices much higher later. For MCX Gold August, resistance is placed at 54,000 and support is at 51,400. For MCX Silver August futures, the resistance is at 71,500/74,980 and the support is placed at 65,100/60,800. Gold price falls ahead of US Fed's policy meet outcome; silver rates at Rs 68,500 10.05 AM: Key upcoming announcements Traders will also keep an eye on the minutes of the RBI monetary policy panel meeting which will be released on August 20. The foreign exchange reserves data will be released on August 21. On the global front, the US will release FOMC minutes on August 19, followed by Initial Jobless Claims on August 20, and Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash and Existing Home Sales on August 21. Share market expectations: 5 things you need to know before opening bell on Wednesday 9. 53 AM: Global cues Globally, European markets closed lower on Tuesday on concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and rising tensions between the US and China. Meanwhile, US stocks were trading higher as investors awaited further developments on economic relief and US-China trade relations. Apart from this, the upcoming OPEC meeting will be closely watched. 9. 40 AM: MCX Gold today On the Multi-Commodity Exchange, gold September Futures traded 0.57% or Rs 305 lower at Rs 53,266, after hitting an intraday low of Rs 53,125 against the previous close of Rs 53,571 per 10 gm. MCX gold futures currently trade almost Rs 2,925 lower than the lifetime high of Rs 56,191 per 10 gm, hit on August 7. The yellow metal has risen 35.2% since the beginning of this year, amid concerns over rising coronavirus cases around the globe. The yellow metal on MCX has risen 41.5% to the life-time high since the beginning of the year. The bullion that was trading at Rs 39,000 on December 31, 2019, recently hit a lifetime high of Rs 56,191 per 10 gm on August 7, 2020. 9. 27 AM: Rupee movement Tracking positive cues from equity market, the Indian rupee closed at a one-month high against the US dollar. The local currency ended 13 paise higher at 74.76 against the US dollar, against its previous close of 74.89. The Indian unit was also supported by sustained foreign fund inflows coupled by weak US currency. 9. 33 AM: Opening session Sensex and Nifty opened on a bullish note on Wednesday, amid positive global equities. Sensex was rising 210 points higher at 38,738 and Nifty was trading 60 points higher at 11,450. SGX Nifty was rising 90 points higher at 10,690, indicating positive trend in domestic grounds today. 9. 15 AM: Global cues Overseas, Asian stocks are mostly trading higher on Wednesday after a strong Wall Street session in which the S&P 500 hit an all-time high, rebounding from huge losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In US, the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Tuesday, rebounding from huge losses triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Fed has cut rates to near zero to bolster business through the pandemic. 9.00 AM: FII/ DII action data Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,134.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 379.38 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 August, provisional data showed. 8. 50 AM: Market valuation As per technical indicators, Nifty has finally crossed the earlier consolidation phase of 11300-11370 zone. "We should now endeavor 11500-11700 as the next two levels for the market to achieve. A stop can be placed below 11200 as that is the new support for the index," said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments. 8. 40 AM: Nifty outlook Expressing views on near term Nifty outlook, Ruchit Jain (Senior Analyst - Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said, "The follow-up move in the coming session will be important as if the momentum continues, then it will lead the index towards 11465 followed by 11625. These are the projections done by the reciprocal retracements of the recent corrective move. On the flipside, 11250 will now be seen as important support. In the last few sessions, in spite of the consolidation in the index, the stock-specific moves have provided good trading opportunities." 8.30 AM: Closing Domestic benchmark indices ended largely bullish on Tuesday, amid heavy buying in realty and media scrips, despite mixed global equities. Sensex ended 477 points higher at 38,528 and Nifty added 138 points to close at 11,385. Yesterday, Sensex ended 173 points higher at 38,050 and Nifty gained 81 points to close at 11,385. Sensex ends 477 points higher, Nifty at 11,385; realty stocks rally Welspun Foundation for Health & Knowledge is the Corporate Social Value arm of Welspun Group launched a home learning initiative Karona Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai in order to provide continuous education for government school students in Anjar, Valsad and Bharuch, during the pandemic. The company has already enabled education for 7500+ students across 30+ government schools so far and is looking to expand its outreach to include more students within the district. This effort is an extension of Welspuns flagship program Wel-Accelerate that aims to promote the importance of education amongst children and the community at large. Schools and students across the country have faced challenges with sustenance of education, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. In response to this, Welspun Foundation has launched a home learning project through which the company aims to leverage its technology tools and digital content to introduce education packages that encourage and support continued learning in a fun and engaging manner. Welspun Foundation has interacted with over 100 primary teachers of government schools, across the three districts to discuss the various challenges and suggestions for creating the home learning programme. Taking those into consideration, the programme will use both offline and online platforms to ensure the students not only learn in a fun way but also be able to complete their syllabus as per NCERT guidelines. It includes teachers creating worksheets on various subjects for the students to enable schooling at home and also a WhatsApp and SMS series to enable parents or older siblings to engage children in project-based activities focused on a variety of topics such as math, science, english, art, music and theatre. Speaking about this project Ms. Dipali Goenka, Trustee, Welspun Foundation said, Welspun has always been at the forefront of encouraging and enabling childrens education with its marquee programme Wel-Accelerate. Taking cognizance of the disruptions caused by the ongoing pandemic to Indias educational system, we have launched a home learning initiative Karona Thodi Masti, Thodi Padhai. At a time when our teachers are working endlessly to ensure COVID-19 doesnt act as a barrier to education, this initiative will aid and enable them through a structured, technology-backed and extensive programme. While we have extended our support to 7500+ students across Anjar, Valsad and Bharuch, we aim to amplify our reach to ensure more students have access to our resources for continued remote learning. Being a purpose-led organization, Welspuns corporate social values and community welfare initiatives are enshrined in the three Es which stand for Education, Empowerment and Environment & Health. It has always been committed to contributing towards the economic development while putting sustainability and community wellbeing at the core of its operations. On Thursday August 13, 2020, Donald Trump uploaded a Twitter post announcing a Historic Peace Agreement with Israel and the United Arab Emirates. "HUGE breakthrough today! Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates!" Trump tweeted Thursday morning" President Trump tweeted along with a separate Twitter post of the Joint Statement. President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed "agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates." "This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region," the statement read. "All three countries face many common challenges and will mutually benefit from today's historic achievement." Israel agreed to "suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President's Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world" in this "diplomatic breakthrough" which was made at the request of President Trump. Israel's ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer responded triumphantly to the agreement in a Twitter pose, "A great day for peace! Israel commends the courage of MBZ for the historic decision of the UAE to join Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) in making peace with Israel. Israel deeply appreciates all. @POTUS Trump has done to make this breakthrough possible. More to come!" Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also congratulated the agreement in a Twitter post, "The United States congratulates Israel and the Emirates for this remarkable achievement, which is a significant step forward for peace in the Middle East. Blessed are the peacemakers. Mabruk and Mazal Tov." Mabruk and Mazal Tov is an expression of joyous congratulation used by Jewish people who feel connected to Israel or those with Sephardi or Mizrahi heritage. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:28:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NICOSIA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A French frigate was sailing inside Cyprus' territorial waters in the context of a defense agreement between the eastern Mediterranean island and France, Cypriot Foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides said Wednesday. Cyprus News Agency reported earlier that "la Fayette" frigate sailed close to Cyprus' eastern coast after receiving permission from the Cypriot government to train its crew in diving, before resuming patrols in the open sea. It added that the frigate would stay close to the Cypriot shores for the whole day on Wednesday before returning to patrol duties "in the context of monitoring the eastern Mediterranean." "The presence of the French frigate in the region is sending out a message that security and stability in the eastern Mediterranean can be achieved through such defense cooperation," Christodoulides was quoted by Cyprus's state radio as saying. Cyprus and France signed a defense cooperation agreement in April 2018, and it came into force as of Aug. 1, 2020, according to a statement by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. The agreement provides for cooperation between Cyprus and France in the fields of energy and maritime security, early warning and crisis management, as well as combating terrorism and piracy. "La Fayette" was operating close to two Turkish ships being active in waters declared by Cyprus as its exclusive economic zone. Barbaros, a survey ship, and Yavuz, a drillship prospecting for natural gas, were reportedly in an area off the eastern coast of Cyprus, after having been licensed by the Turkish Cypriot state, which is recognized only by Ankara. The two ships were being protected by Turkish frigates. Turkey repeatedly accused France of cooperating with the Cypriot government and Greece in trying to deprive Turkey of its rights on what it considered to be its continental shelf. It also said that France has no littoral interests in the eastern Mediterranean. Two French Rafale planes have also been sent to an airbase in western Cyprus to train with Cypriot military units, according to local media reports. Enditem Story King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn issued the following statement after learning Wednesday of the passing of former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton at 92: Slade Gorton was a political giant whose magnanimity shone through until his final days. He was one of the greatest minds to have ever served Washington State in elected office, and the significance of his lifes work will be felt long beyond his time on earth. Though Slade had many causes that could be mentioned, I will always remember him for being instrumental in preserving the Mountains to Sound Greenway for future generations. He was also a longtime friend and political ally of my mom, former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn. If you trace back my family lineage, we share an ancestor by the name of Samuell Gorton, who first brought the Gorton family to Americamaking him and my mother distant cousins as well as political colleagues. I will always appreciate Slades role in my familys life. As a mentor to many and supporter of countless causes, the loss of Slade will be felt by many but he will live on through the strength of his legacy. He will be greatly missed, and impossible to forget. Nepal is fast becoming the victim of Chinese colonial design as Beijing is slowly and gradually encroaching upon Nepali land in several places. According to Nepali government agencies data, China has illegally occupied Nepal's land in at least seven bordering districts and is slowly moving forward, further pushing Nepali boundaries, and encroaching upon more and more landmass. It is pertinent to note that the data is being under-reported and the actual scenario could be worse as the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) is trying to shield the expansionist agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is believed that China has made inroads into several other areas of Nepal and has occupied vast areas of land. Diplomatic experts on China -Nepal relations said that Prime Minister KP Oli government has preferred to keep mum over the illegal occupation of the village by China under fears of displeasing the CCP. The Nepali districts which are victims of Chinas land grabbing plan include Dolakha, Gorkha, Darchula, Humla, Sindhupalchowk,Sankhuwasabha and Rasuwa. According to the Surveying and Mapping Department of Nepal, China has pushed the international boundary 1,500 meters towards Nepal in Dolakha. It has pushed the boundary pillar Number 57 in Korlang area in Dolakha, which was previously located at top of Korlang. The pillar has been an issue of confrontation between the two countries and China has pressurised the Nepali government not to sign the fourth protocol on resolving and managing border disputes between the two countries as China wanted to maintain status quo and further transgress the boundary arrangements. The Surveying and Mapping Department has also reported that China has occupied Nepali villages in Gorkha and Darchula districts. Similar to Dolakha, China has relocated Boundary Pillar Numbers 35, 37, and 38 in Gorkha district and Boundary Pillar Number 62 in Nampa Bhanjyang in Solukhumbu. The first three pillars were located in Gorkhas Rui village and areas of Tom River. China occupied Rui village and merged it with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the year 2017.Though Rui village is being represented as a part of Nepal in maps and citizens of the village have been paying taxes to the Nepali Similarly, the Human Rights Commission has reported that a portion of Jiujiu Village of Darchula has also been occupied by China. Numerous houses that used to be a part of Nepal have been now taken over by China and assimilated in the Chinese territory. Besides the reports of land grabbing by the two Nepali agencies,Ministry of Agriculture also recently came up with a report highlighting multiple cases of land grabbing by China. The Ministry reported about Chinas occupation of Nepali land in at least 11 places falling under four Nepali districts. Most of the areas occupied in these districts are catchment areas of rivers, including areas of Bhagdare river in Humla,Karnali river, Sanjen river, and Lemde river in Rasuwa; Bhurjug river,Kharane river, and Jambu river in Sindhupalchowk,Bhotekoshi river and Samjug river in Sankhuwasabha; Kamkhola river and Arun river. Nepal has refrained itself from going ahead with the border talk with China since 2005 as the Nepali government doesnt want to offend China by reclaiming Nepali land and at the same time dodge criticism at the domestic front for losing territory to China. The Nepali government has also suspended the 2012 border talks to save itself from getting into an indecisive situation. During the past few years ,the NCP has been acting like a puppet of the CCP-which has kept dominating the decision making process in Nepal. As per some analyst,"The entire world is observing the developments wherein the Chinese ambassador to Nepal is acting as a mediator and sorting out between Oli and Prachanda factions of the NCP. The friendship and assistance of China to Nepal is a part of the colonial design to further the expansionist agenda by China." Virus-hit India is deploying migrant workers who have recovered from coronavirus in hospitals to ease workloads. The bizarre initiative will be rolled out across the state of West Bengal after 49 recovered cases are employed at hospitals across its capital Kolkata, the Press Trust of India reported. The group of workers, dubbed COVID-19 Warriors, will assist with patients fighting coronavirus. The men will provide moral support for patients and liaise with their families over their conditions, government sources said. The migrant workers will assist medical teams in hospitals. Source: Getty While mainly offering counselling services, they have been trained to change oxygen cylinders, check blood pressure, body temperature and other simple tasks after a minimum seven days of training. All of the men will live together at the same hostel and be paid $280 a month. The move comes as droves of migrant workers returned to major cities in search for work as coronavirus restrictions eased in India despite a surging death toll. On Monday, the death toll surpassed the grim milestone of 50,000. On Tuesday, daily deaths surpassed 1000 as its daily toll continues to rise. While the rise in daily infections appears to be slowing, there were 65,000 new cases on Tuesday, taking its overall number of infections to 2.7 million the third highest globally behind Brazil and the US. Thousands of migrant workers were pictured arriving by bus in capital New Delhi on Monday as they returned after the nationwide lockdown introduced in March. They were made to wait in crowded areas and long queues for rapid COVID tests with those who tested positive were taken away to quarantine centres. Migrant workers arrive in New Delhi in the hope of finding work. Source: Getty The rest were allowed to leave the citys busy inter-state bus terminus with their luggage. Almost all of them wore masks or covered their nose and mouth with scarves or handkerchiefs, though in the countryside such virus-fighting measures have become tough to enforce and the infection rate has surged. Story continues India conducted more than 730,000 tests for COVID in the past 24 hours, the state-run Indian Council for Medical Research said. The governments stated goal is to run 1 million tests a day, though experts say the rate is still too low for a sprawling country of 1.3 billion people. Fears are also rising about Indias heavy reliance on rapid antigen tests, which have a high rate of false negatives. with Reuters 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. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:38:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon continued on Wednesday to receive foreign donations after the massive explosions that rocked the capital Beirut, LBCI TV channel reported. The Lebanese army received a vessel with flour offered by the World Food Programme, as well as an aircraft carrying medical equipment from Morocco. Two planes from Egypt carrying 14 tons of medicines and medical equipment, 17 tons of flour and five tons of other supplies including food items were also received by the army. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Lebanon issued a statement saying the UAE will help treat the injured in the explosions, especially those in need of artificial limbs. The Iranian Red Crescent announced that it has offered medical services to 2,750 people injured in the blasts. Two huge explosions rocked Port of Beirut on Aug. 4 at around 6:10 p.m. local time (1510 GMT), shaking buildings all over Beirut and killing at least 177 and wounding 6,000 others. The explosions came at a time when Lebanon is suffering from a dire economic crisis. Enditem YEREVAN, 19 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 19 august, USD exchange rate up by 0.09 drams to 484.30 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.95 drams to 578.21 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 6.60 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 3.07 drams to 640.87 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price up by 564.69 drams to 31277.45 drams. Silver price up by 22.04 drams to 441.04 drams. Platinum price up by 111.74 drams to 14901.07 drams. Salim Parray gone: Cops gun down Kashmirs most dreaded terrorist Former Jammu and Kashmir CMs to lose SSG security cover Night and weekend curfew in Jammu and Kashmir 2022: Know guidelines, rules: What is allowed, what is not J&K youth being tricked into joining terror ranks by Pakistan: Officials J&K: One militant killed in encounter with security forces in Shopian India oi-Deepika S Srinagar, Aug 19: One unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of South Kashmir on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Based on specific inputs about the presence of militants in Chitragam village of south Kashmir district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there, PTI reported quoting a police official. He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired on a search party of the forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing exchange of fire, one militant was killed, the official said. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News The encounter is still underway. China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine imports, as trade tensions between Beijing and Canberra continue to fester. Australia owes much of its recent prosperity to China, its biggest trading partner. Last year, two-way commerce was worth $170 billion, but cracks are appearing in this valuable relationship. Australian wine growers are the latest to be caught up in escalating geo-political tensions. Exporters are accused of cutting their prices and taking market share from local companies in China. An anti-dumping inquiry has been requested by the Chinese Alcoholic Drinks Association. It will examine whether Australian firms are being supported by government subsidies. Canberra has insisted wine sales to China have been fairly priced, and officials have said they would cooperate fully with the investigation. Trade minister Simon Birmingham says Australian wine makers have done nothing wrong. We find these suggestions deeply troubling and quite perplexing. Australian wine is by no means subsidized, it is by no means sold at or below anything other than market rates in the world market. Indeed, Australian wine during the first half of this year proved itself to be the second highest priced wine sold in the Chinese market," Birmingham said. The investigation comes against a backdrop of increasing friction between Beijing and Canberra after the Australian government called for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which first emerged in Wuhan, China late last year. China recently imposed tariffs on Australian barley, suspended some beef imports and told Chinese students and tourists it was not safe to travel to Australia because of allegations of racism. China is also suspected of orchestrating cyber-attacks on Australian institutions, allegations that Beijing strongly denied. But Matt Canavan, a federal government lawmaker in Canberra, accuses China of economic coercion. It is a pattern of behavior we are seeing from China and I do not think they can be a trustworthy business partner anymore the way they are acting, and I think every Australian business must be very careful about how much they get exposed to a jurisdiction whose behavior is increasingly threatening and bullying Canavan said. China has insisted its anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine would be undertaken in a fair and just way, according to the law. A foreign ministry spokesman denied suggestions it was politically motivated. As bilateral tensions grow, analysts fear that Australia's lucrative iron ore and coal exports could be next to suffer. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 11:33 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f10560 1 Business tourism,recovery,2021-state-budget,Lake-Toba,story-telling,storynomics,COVID-19 Free The government is turning to the power of storytelling to promote the countrys major tourist destinations, which will likely involve help from social media influencers, to revive the sector that has been deeply impacted by the pandemic. President Joko Jokowi Widodo, in his annual state address and financial note speech at the House of Representatives on Aug. 14, stated that the approach, dubbed storynomics, would utilize the strength of narration and creative and cultural content to promote the countrys tourist spots. It will be part of the governments allocation of Rp 14.4 trillion (US$972.6 million) to fund tourism recovery efforts next year. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministrys undersecretary for tourism products, Rizki Handayani, stated that the government believed tourists would stay longer and spend more at tourist destinations if they understood the tales and contexts surrounding the destinations. As we shift our focus to quality tourism, we aim to offer experiences to tourists. What the President means by storynomics is providing tourists stories and narration behind the destination, which would amaze them and spur a sense of adventure so they stay longer, she told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on Aug. 15. The average length of stay for foreign tourists in starred hotels in the country stood at 2.77 days in December 2019, slightly down from 2.87 days in December 2018, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data. The pandemic has continued to reduce foreign visits to the country, as foreign arrivals fell by 59.96 percent year-on-year to 3.09 million in the first half of the year, amid international border closures and travel restrictions, according to BPS data. With the decreasing visits, the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) estimated that the ongoing health crisis had wiped Rp 85 trillion of Indonesias tourism revenue as of mid-July. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry expected a full recovery of foreign tourist arrivals by 2025, while it predicted 2.8 million to 4 million foreign visitors by year-end, a far cry from the governments initial target of 18 million visitors. To support the promotional initiative, Rizki said the ministry would use the help of online influencers to promote stories and tales of Indonesia's tourist destinations to lure foreign visitors. We would also need online influencers to market our destinations in the future. However, they should also have to tell the story behind the destination and attractions inside their promotional material to inspire visits, she said. Read also: Jokowi sets sights on economic recovery, structural reform in 2021 state budget Indonesia boasted 160 million social media users as of January 2020, up 12 million from last year, according to a digital report by social media management Hootsuite and global agency We Are Social. It will also provide training for locals at tourist attractions to become interpreters and guides, while also building supporting infrastructure, such as placards and signage, which will tell the locations stories. The stories should be educational while still enticing, she said. Our first step will be building the story for the destinations. Then, we will train the locals on how to tell stories and interpret the meaning of those stories to tourists, she said. Aside from the promotional strategy, the government will also channel funding for infrastructure development in the so-called super priority tourist destinations, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara and Likupang in North Sulawesi, according to Jokowis speech. Gadjah Mada University (UGM) head of master and doctoral programs in tourism studies, M. Baiquni, told the Post on Tuesday that the governments storynomics idea could lure corporate and high-end tourists in the future. I think knowledge-based tourism, which was previously described as storynomics, could be transformed into a comprehensive tourism product that would improve the quality of travelers experience, he said. He added that travel companies could also work together with academia to provide deep knowledge and interpretations of the tourist destinations for high-end tourists. Baiquni said the government could learn from Amsterdams canal tour in the Netherlands regarding knowledge-based tourism, which extends tourists' spending and length of stay. In the Amsterdam canal tour, tourists are provided audio with multiple language options that tell the history of the surrounding areas and building. Those tourists can visit the area by themselves and thus increase the chance of them spending more while extending their visits, he said. Bengaluru, Aug 19 : Congress legislator H.D. Ranganath from the Kunigal assembly segment in Karnataka's Tumakuru district donated his plasma to Covid patients at a private hospital here on Wednesday. "As I recovered from the infection on July 28 with anti-bodies, I have donated 500 ml plasma at HCG Hospital in the city, which will be used to treat two Covid patients in need of it," Ranganath told IANS here. The convalescent plasma therapy involves using antibodies from the blood of a recovered Covid-19 patient to treat those affected by the corona virus. Though Ranganath, an orthopedic surgeon, his aged parents, son and brother tested Covid positive in early July, they got treated and discharged in 2-3 weeks, as they were all asymptomatic. "My younger brother Ramchandra Prahbhu, who is a physician, also donated 500 ml plasma along with me at the same hospital so that two more Covid patients can be treated for the infection," said Ranganath. Allaying fears about the pandemic and the stigma attached to it, Ranganath said testing and treatment with all precautions like quarantining and timely food would ensure early recovery from the infection. "As a public representative, I have also distributed over 2-lakh Vitamin C, Vitamin D and other immunity boosters to many people in my constituency over the last 2-3 months to ensure they remain free from the virus," said Ranganath. Congress state unit president D.K. Shivakumar congratulated Ranganath and his brother for donating their plasma for treating Covid patients. "Ranganath is the first lawmaker in the country to donate plasma and set an example for other Covid recovered patients to offer their plasma to treat others,a said Shivakumar in a statement in Kannada. With no sign of let-up in containing the disease, a record 8,642 new cases were registered across the southern state on Wednesday, taking its Covid tally to 2,49,590, including 81,097 active after 1,64,150 were discharged till date, with 7,201 in the last 24 hours, while 4,327 succumbed to the virus since March 9, with 126 during the day. Of the fresh cases, Bengaluru Urban recorded 2,804, taking its tally to 96,910, including 33,380 active after 62,041 were discharged so far, while 1,588 died of the infection till date, with 56 in the last 24 hours. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) The mysterious death of a married businessman whose body was found in a Queensland hotel room is being probed by police. The body of Anthony Brady, 52, was found in his hotel room at the Sunshine Tower Hotel in Cairns on Friday after he failed to return home to Brisbane from his business trip. Madeleine Joan Lewin, 32, was arrested on Sunday morning after she allegedly fled the hotel room after a sex act went wrong. She was charged with manslaughter and has been remanded in custody. Her case will return to court on October 28. Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened on the night Mr Brady died. Police have remained tight-lipped over Mr Brady's likely cause of death but it is understood images taken by investigators at the crime scene are particularly graphic. Brisbane businessman Anthony Brady (pictured) was found dead in a hotel room in Cairns on Friday Sex worker Madeleine Joan Lewin (pictured) has been charged with manslaughter over Mr Brady's death Officers were seen combing through bushland off Ray Jones Drive in Woree on Thursday after Mr Brady's phone 'pinged' in the area. Post-mortem examinations are still underway. Queensland police allege Lewin and Mr Brady met on Wednesday night and that sometime between then and Friday he died. CCTV footage from a Caltex petrol station shows him buying items before returning to his hotel. He was due to return home on Thursday, when he failed to arrive his family raised the alarm. Mr Brady was captured on CCTV in a Caltex service station on Wednesday, August 12 before heading back to Sunshine Tower Hotel where he was found dead on Friday Police initially released an image of Lewin in an effort to identify her to help with their investigation. They now allege Mr Brady's death was due to a sex act gone wrong between the pair Cairns Police Detective Senior Sergeant Ed Kinbacher told media that Mr Brady was a 'family man' and that his death had shocked his loved ones. 'He was last seen on Wednesday night. We have managed to track his movements to about 9pm that night where he was on Sheridan Street,' Det Snr Sgt Kinbacher said. 'It appears that he was just going about his business inside the service station, he has obtained some items and then left. 'This man is a person of regular habits, he is a family man, he had flights back to south Queensland the following day and he didn't attend the flight, nor did he attend the business arrangements he had the following day. NSW Police released this image of Lewin when she was reported as a missing person in 2019 'My understanding is this is only the second time he had been in Cairns on business, and that was in the last few months. He'd attended functions in the days prior to his disappearance.' Mr Brady's cousin Ian Brady posted on Facebook that he hopes those responsible for 'taking his life away' are brought to justice. 'Unfortunately Tonys body was found yesterday,' he wrote. 'We dont have much more information yet, hopefully the investigation will quickly bring justice to those responsible for taking his life away.' TIMELINE OF MYSTERY - THE DEATH OF TONY BRADY: Monday, August 10 - Anthony Brady, 52, arrives in Cairns from Brisbane for a series of key work meetings Wednesday, August 12 - Mr Brady attends business meetings during the day. - About 9pm that night he is seen at a service station on Sheridan Street in Cairns Thursday, August 13 - Mr Brady is due to attend a number of business meetings and then fly home to Brisbane, but he does not attend his meetings and misses his flight - Late on Thursday evening his family raise the alarm Friday, August 14 - Police and hotel staff find Mr Brady's body in a Sunshine Tower Hotel room. He was staying at a different hotel 650 metres away Saturday, August 15 - Police issue an appeal of help to find Mr Brady and identify one key woman of interest, Madeleine Joan Lewin, 32 Sunday, August 16 - Ms Lewin is arrested in Cairns and is charged with manslaughter Advertisement Suzie Stapleton made a noticeable splash in London's ultra-cool music scene, after being invited to record alongside Mark Lanegan for The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project, released in 2014. The third volume of songs celebrating the life and music of Pierce, the late frontman and leader of the Gun Club, had a glittering array of stars including Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, and Cypress Grove, the latter recruiting Stapleton after seeing her perform in London's 12 Bar Club near Soho. Suzie Stapleton's new album We Are the Plague is out now. Credit: Soon after recording her parts for the track Constant Limbo (Constant Rain), Stapleton uprooted herself from 10 years of living and performing in Melbourne, relocating to the United Kingdom with a view to more frequently touring in Europe and recording her music. Originally from Sydney, Stapleton's distinctive husky voice and searing, moody guitar playing was well recognised in Melbourne's underground scene but the pull to play more regularly in Europe had become too strong. Throwing caution to the wind, she moved to London in 2015 and now lives by the sea in Brighton, not far from where her grandmother was born in the 1920s. Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register Something is rotten in the state of Denmark And by Denmark, we mean the auto industry. Obviously. More specifically, Japan. The third-largest economy in the world and a manufacturing superpower, Japan has long led the world when it comes to making cars. But could it now be facing a Shakespearian tragedy? Japan is the worlds third-biggest producer of automobiles indeed, Toyota is the worlds leading manufacturer, and other Japanese brands like Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki are household names. But the economic downturn precipitated by COVID-19, as well as emerging trends in the auto industry, have threatened to topple two of Japans biggest carmakers. Explosive news has emerged this week that the Japanese government tried to merge Honda and Nissan earlier this year, only for both companies to vehemently reject the idea, Financial Times reports. It reflects a growing Japanese concern that their once-mighty car brands might topple and get snatched up by foreign buyers particularly those from China, such as SAIC Motor (which owns MG and also produces Chevrolets and Volkswagens) or Geely (which owns Lotus and Volvo among others). Honda is still a reasonably healthy company. Japans third-largest carmaker, selling over 4.8m vehicles annually, Honda remains completely independent, an outlier among Japanese car manufacturers. Its lack of vertical integration has been cited as a concern by Japanese government officials, however. Nissan however is not so healthy. Part of the RenaultNissanMitsubishi Alliance, Nissan has been treading water for years, and the huge Franco-Japanese conglomerate has had a sword of Damocles hanging over its head ever since its former CEO Carlos Ghosn was ousted due to fraud claims. Ghosn remains an international fugitive, and Nissan has seen multiple consecutive quarters of plummeting sales. The stakes are even higher in 2020, with a global recession looming and the ascendancy of auto industry disruptors such as Tesla. Hondas not in as much danger: as the worlds biggest motorcycle and engine manufacturer, Hondas able to weather the storm better than most manufacturers. Nissan might not be so lucky. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nissan Australia (@nissanaustralia) on Aug 18, 2020 at 1:09am PDT One of the most common criticisms levied at Nissan is their tardiness at bringing new models to market. Nissan may be an innovator when it comes to electric vehicles, but many of their current models are over a decade old. The sixth-generation Nissan Patrol SUV has been on the market since 2010. The current Nissan Navara was released in 2014 not as bad as the Patrol, but glaringly old in the highly-competitive ute segment. The list goes on: the X-Trail is 7 years old, as is the Pathfinder and Qashqai; the 370Z has been on the market since 2009; and their halo car, the GT-R, since 2008. The only Nissan thats less than three years old on the Australian market right now is the current-generation Nissan Juke. Theres nothing wrong with car models having a long lifespan. For example, the original Porsche 911 was in production for 25 years if it aint broke, dont fix it. It only becomes an issue when auto makers dont update their models with the times, which is what Nissan is guilty of. Case in point: the 370R is a great car that still holds up today, but its more or less the same car that went on sale in 2009. An infotainment system designed over a decade ago is not going to hold up in 2020, for example. Technology advances so quickly, as do consumer expectations. This is where Japan should take a leaf out of Americas book. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dodge (@dodgeofficial) on Aug 3, 2020 at 9:12am PDT Chrysler has been selling the current versions of the Dodge Charger and Challenger since 2006 and 2008 respectively, yet they remain strong sellers for the brand precisely because Dodge has made the effort to continuously update the models. They dont feel like decades-old cars, unlike Nissans. Through paying attention to market trends and making the effort to keep pace with technological developments, Dodge has kept their products relevant. In particular, the monstrous 626kW Challenger SRT Demon the first production car to be able to pop a wheelie and the fastest non-electric production car to reach 0-100 (in a blistering 2.3secs) proves that with clever engineering, you can make sure even a 12-year-old car can still grab headlines. The need to innovate has never been stronger in the auto industry, with EVs and hybrid technology threatening the supremacy of the internal combustion engine and upstart brands threatening the status quo. Japanese auto makers like Nissan who are struggling in 2020 need to take stock and make sure they dont get left in the dust. Read Next PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The mayor and city attorney of a Florida Panhandle city are the latest to be charged in the theft of $5 million in Hurricane Michael debris removal funds, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and City Attorney Adam Albritton are the subjects of a 64-count indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Panama City, according to court records. They were both arrested Wednesday morning. Lynn Haven is located just north of Panama City. After Hurricane Michael Hit the Florida Panhandle in October 2018, prosecutors said Albritton and Anderson indefinitely extended a debris removal contract with a private company for the city. Both then had work done by the company at their homes, as well as the homes of friends and relatives, and charged it to the city, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Anderson and Albritton also received kickbacks from projects that they approved. Among other charges, the two have been accused of theft concerning federal programs and conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud. This case is an example of what happens when public servants becomes complicit in corrupt behaviour rather than standing up to it, Rachel L. Rojas, the special agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division, said in a news release. Anyone who puts personal greed above their responsibility to protect the public should be held accountable, and that is why rooting out corrupt public officials remains the FBIs number one criminal investigative priority. Five others who previously pleaded guilty in the case are former City Manager Michael White, former Community Services Director David Horton, Erosion Control Specialist owner David White, ECS bookkeeper Shannon Rodriguez and Greenleaf Lawn Care of Bay County owner Joshua Anderson. Theyre scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29 in Tallahassee. Court records didnt list attorneys for Margo Anderson or Albritton who could comment. Lynn Haven officials held an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the new arrests. The Florida governor has the authority to suspend local elected officials charged with serious crimes, and a spokesman said his office was reviewing the mayors case. The city attorney wasnt elected by voters and isnt under the governors authority. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- T.C. Morrison's first book, Torts R Us: A Legal Farce, is available on Amazon starting today. In the book, Morrison, a renowned trial and appellate lawyer for almost 50 years who has been described as the "dean of false advertising litigation," humorously explores the modern American legal system through a series of bizarre lawsuits. The book satirizes our modern legal system from a variety of absurd angles, featuring wacky lawsuits, venal plaintiffs, double-talking trial lawyers, and much more. From a case involving lap dancers at three gentleman's clubs -- "Tops Down," "Bottoms Up" and "Below the Belt" -- to another with a defendant accused of shooting at geese with an "assault weapon," the book bounces around from hilarious case to hilarious case. The best part? Each one is derived from real court cases, some from Morrison's own legal career. The legal world is already embracing the book. Maureen Bateman, former General Counsel of United States Trust Company and also General Counsel of State Street Bank and Trust Company, says, "I recommend this book absolutely - it treats our human condition with humor and laughter, while making some important points about our legal system!" Harry Woods, a renowned trial lawyer and former President of the Oklahoma Bar Association, agrees: "Torts 'R Us is highly readable and entertaining. From beginning to end, the farce flows brilliantly. It hooks the reader early on, and Morrison sustains the high level of humor and spoofing, page after page, masterfully presenting factual situations and characters, who communicate with a sustained flow of unusually humorous plays on names, words and concepts." After graduating from New York University Law School where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar, T.C. Morrison helped Patterson Belknap pioneer the field of false advertising litigation. Many of his cases in this field, as well as the field of trademark and trade dress infringement, have become landmarks. Published by iBooks, an imprint of J Boylston & Company, Publishers, Torts R Us: A Legal Farce is a must-read for any lawyer, law student, tort reformer or anyone else that likes to laugh. You can learn more about Torts R Us: A Legal Farce at tortsrusbook.com and purchase the book exclusively on Amazon. Media Contact: Stephen Finan 410-841-4992 [email protected] SOURCE Torts R Us Related Links http://tortsrusbook.com The Supreme Courts judgement to order to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue with the probe against Rhea Chakraborty in the Supreme Court has been hailed by the politicians. We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar. Our stand vindicated, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Twitter. BJP MLA Ashish Shelar also appreciated the apex court for allowing CBI enquiry into the late actors case stating that hidden hands misguiding police would be exposed. Thanks Honble SC! CBI enquiry = #Justice4ssr! Hidden hands misguidinh (misguiding) police investigation will be exposed! Jail time for Pub & party gang who enjoyed illegally, while 15,000+ Mumbaikars died in lockdown! Note- Justice will b done, Shelar tweeted Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan said the courts order has brought relief to Rajputs family. Not only the truth will surface now but those name will also come out who were behind disrupting the investigation in the case. I hope the Courts order has brought relief to Sushant Singh Rajputs family, he said after the verdict. A single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy refused to grant relief to Chakraborty and instead agreed that Bihar Police will have jurisdiction in the case. As a consequence, the court said, Bihar Police was competent to give consent to CBI. Chakraborty had approached the apex court questioning the lodging of FIR against her at Patna and sought its transfer under Section 406 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to Mumbai. Our family thanks the Supreme Court, and all those who were a part of this movement for justice. Now, we are certain that Sushant will get justice, said Niraj Singh Babloo, Bihar BJP MLA. The apex court also agreed with Mumbai Police and Chakraborty that contents of the complaint did indicate Mumbai Police does possess jurisdiction. However, the court stated, If any other case or complaint is registered in connection with the unnatural death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the CBI can register a new case as well and carry out probe. The court had reserved its judgment on August 11 after hearing the lawyers appearing for Rhea Chakraborty, Sushants father, Bihar government, Maharashtra government and CBI. PHOENIX, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, University of Phoenix announced a new commitment to students and alumni that will further the university's efforts to continue making college more affordable: up to $1 million a month in scholarships for students with a track record of success. The funds will be distributed through 13 new, merit-based scholarship types: Alumni Scholarships, Persistence Scholarships, and the Academic Achievement Scholarships. High-achieving students and alumni may qualify to receive thousands of dollars in scholarships this fall to support them on their education journey. Scholarships are available to students and alumni who have maintained a 3.0 or higher GPA, depending on the scholarship, and reflect the university's commitment to students and alumni in their pursuit of higher education. "These new scholarships will help students and alumni with a track record of success advance their education and career goals; and it is just one of the ways we're helping to meet the needs of working adults," said Peter Cohen, president of University of Phoenix. "In addition to these scholarships, our tuition guarantee has also lowered the cost of tuition and provided financial commitment certainty for our students. And, our partnerships with employers provide savings for eligible employees pursuing higher education. This new scholarship commitment furthers our ongoing efforts to support students throughout their academic journey and make it more affordable." The new scholarships, available September and October, are worth between up to $2,000 and $3,000 per scholarship, can be applied to tuition charges in a bachelor's or master's degree program. Interested students and alumni can now apply through the scholarship portal, which can be accessed at: https://www.phoenix.edu/tuition_and_financial_options/scholarships/institutional-scholarships.html. SOURCE University of Phoenix Related Links http://phoenix.edu Soon after being named CEO in 1980, he helped break a weeks-long strike by factory workers. The strike was triggered by Fiats plans reportedly urged by Mr. Romiti to lay off about 23,000 of its 238,000 workers. Sixty-one he targeted were fired on the spot, for what he said was their role in running a prostitution ring on the property and involvement in violent left-wing extremism. Trade Minister Denies Australian Wine Targeted in China Trade War Australias trade minister has rejected the Chinese regimes claims that Australian winemakers are dumping wine into the Chinese market. He also denied that the threat of tariffs on wine is part of a trade war. Chinas Ministry of Commerce will launch an investigation and is considering placing countervailing duties, or tariffs, on Australian wines. Speaking at a press conference on Aug. 18 Australias Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said that the government found the allegations deeply troubling and quite perplexing. Australian wine is by no means subsidised, it is by no means sold at or below anything other than market rates in the world market, said Birmingham. The investigation is expected to take between 12-18 months according to a media statement released on Aug. 18 by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. A spokesperson for the peak body of the Australian wine industry, Australian Grape and Wine, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 19 that they would work closely with producers, the Australian government, and the Chinese regime. Our producers have a long and positive relationship with Chinese customers, and it is a strong and high-value market for Australian wine. We hope to continue and build on this relationship in the future, the spokesperson said. The Australian wine industry exports an estimated $1.1 billion worth of wine to China every year, making it the largest export market for Australian winemakers. Dumping, according to the Australian government, is when an exported product is sold in another country at a price below that charged in the land of production, or below the manufacturing cost. A product can also be considered dumped if an exporter profits from government assistance, thereby allowing the exporter to sell the goods at a lower price. According to Birmingham the Chinese government had cited government programs like those designed to help recover water and restore environmental flows in the Murray River or programs that support research and development across the wine industry as subsidies for Australian wine exporters. Trade Minister Denies Australia-China Trade War Birmingham denied this is another volley in a burgeoning trade war that China is launching against Australia. Well, Australia is certainly not engaging in any type of war. What we want is a constructive trading relationship, one where we can work together in the areas of mutual interest, he said in response to a reporter. There are concerns that the Chinese regimes decision could end with tariffs on Australian wines similar to the tariffs placed on Australian barley exports in May. Birmingham acknowledged this concern. I can understand why people would be concerned given the experiences the Australian barley industry has had, he told reporters. All we can do at this time is to support our winemakers, hundreds of them across Australia in terms of making the strongest possible case in their defence to Chinese authorities. Thats what well be doing. It will be based on evidence and fact, and we are confident that it will be a compelling one, said Birmingham. A report by the Department of Agriculture noted that Chinas barley tariff had effectively made Australian barley uncompetitive in the Chinese market causing an estimated loss of up to $750 million. MOEN transcosmos China will not only offer daily operational services for MOEN's flagship store but also help MOEN expand its sales through live streaming and Alibaba big data. transcosmos inc. is pleased to announce that Shanghai transcosmos Marketing Services Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China; CEO: Eijiro Yamashita; transcosmos China), its wholly-owned subsidiary, held a joint press conference, and signed a strategic business alliance agreement with MOEN, a world-renowned consumer faucet brand under FORTUNE BRANDS Home & Security-GPG, in Shanghai, China, on July 29, 2020. Under this partnership, transcosmos China will assist MOEN in opening its flagship store (https://moenjiaju.tmall.com/) on TMALL, the leading e-commerce mall in China operated by Alibaba Group. As a MOEN's online distributor, transcosmos China will contribute to MOEN in enhancing customer experience and increasing sales in the post-Covid-19 era through the provision of store operation and customer support services. The spread of Covid-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, brought unprecedented challenges to many businesses, whilst drastically changing consumer purchasing behavior in each country. At the same time, amid the rise of China's new economy, businesses are striving to adjust and make their business strategies fit the post Covid-19 era, thereby achieving new growth to reach a broader range of customers effectively. As a TMALL Ecological Partner and online distributor, transcosmos China has access to various digital tools offered by Alibaba that include the Alibaba databank and strategy center. Leveraging such tools, transcosmos China will analyze user interests in client brands and user purchasing habits, and other factors from diverse perspectives, and operate a customer-centric e-commerce business for the brands. Ultimately, transcosmos China helps the clients expand sales and achieve digital transformation. The post Covid-19 era will bring in a dramatic change to the homeware market. Already, an increasing number of younger consumers prefer unique items, and buy online. With highly efficient logistics services and 24/7 customer support, TMALL offers high-quality products where consumers can shop anytime, anyplace. What's more, customers are now able to get product information via live streaming on TMALL prior to their purchases. Building on its extensive experience and expertise in China's new retail and online channel development, transcosmos China helps clients enter into the Chinese market. MOEN has recently opened MOEN Homeware flagship store (https://moenjiaju.tmall.com/) on TMALL, selling sinks, faucets,, and bathroom accessories. transcosmos China will not only offer daily operational services for its flagship store but also help MOEN expand its sales through live streaming and Alibaba big data. Here are the comments received from George Wu, President of Asia Pacific Region, FORTUNE BRANDS Home & Security-GPG. "MOEN, the consumer faucet brand under FORTUNE BRANDS Home & Security-GPG expanded into the Chinese market in 1994. Now MOEN has become one of the favorite brands for Chinese consumers. By developing and offering new products, we will continue to provide Chinese consumers with a better brand experience than ever before. As a global business process outsourcing company, transcosmos has abundant experience in China's new retail and online marketing. We are confident that we can further enhance our online business through the partnership with transcosmos China and the support of TMALL Houseware and FurnitureBusiness Department." Here are the comments received from Toshiya Okada, General Manager of transcosmos China. "We, transcosmos, are honored to be chosen from many other companies by FORTUNE BRANDS Home & Security-GPG and MOEN as their partner. We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Alibaba Group and TMALL for providing us with considerable support in opening the MOEN flagship store, and selling their products on TMALL. Leveraging the databank and digital tools for consumer operations, transcosmos China will provide MOEN brand's shopping experience to many more customers. Through this initiative, we will work on making the homeware product shopping go online." About MOEN Moen Inc. is one of the most famous consumer faucet manufacture founded in 1939. Since day one, MOEN has been dedicated to designing and delivering beautiful products that last a lifetime all over the world. About transcosmos China Since transcosmos China launched its operations in Shanghai as a digital transformation partner for businesses in 2006, the company has continued expanding its business, and now has 10 service bases in 7 cities in China. transcosmos China offers extensive services such as contact center services, new retail services and digital marketing services for over 70 Chinese and global brands. The company launched its e-commerce business in 2009. Now, in partnership with platforms such as TMALL, JD.com, and WeChat, transcosmos China offers a variety of services that include e-commerce store/website development & operations, sales channel development, online and offline data integration, system development, consumer operations, and integrated marketing services in the new retail industry (including cross-border e-commerce) to clients in diverse industries including the 3C Industry (Computer, Communications, and Consumer Electronics), apparel, baby care, toy, sports, beverage, musical instruments, household products, home theater/audio equipment, and more. *transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. In Japan and other countries. *Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies. About transcosmos inc. transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 169 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/ Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a $10 million housing loan program that could benefit hundreds of home buyers in the Florida Panhandle, which was devastated two years ago by Hurricane Michael. DeSantis traveled to Panama City Monday to make the announcement. The governors office called the new funding a relaunch of the Hurricane Michael Recovery Loan Program, which last year provided $5 million in down payment assistance to 335 home buyers across the most hard-hit counties of the region. A powerful Category 5 storm, Hurricane Michael destroyed hundreds of homes when it plowed through Floridas Gulf Coast in the fall of 2018. These storms come and then they go, the governor said, but the damage that they leave behind takes time to rebuild. The program will resume in Sept. 1 and will provide 30-year fixed rate mortgages to more than 600 qualified home buyers. It will include $15,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance. The no-interest down payment loans will be forgivable over five years. The new allocation of money was part of the state budget the governor signed in June. The program is administered by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing). Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Florida Hurricane A jewel box of Moorish elegance is available in the unlikely locale of Stillwater, MN. What was once the private recreation hall of a local titan of industry on Fifth Street North is now an elaborate residence, on the market for $1.4 million. In 1901, a lumber baron named William Sauntry built this building next to his grand mansion at the height of the areas lumber boom. This property was his ballroom, indoor swimming pool, and bowling alley. It was absolutely the top of luxury for the early 1900s, says the listing agent, Sharon O'Flannigan. Over a century later, its now offered as a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home, with 5,426 square feet of colorful space. Exterior of home in Stillwater, MN Space Crafters Interior Space Crafters Historical photo of the Sauntry property realtor.com Interior Space Crafters The architectural style of the residence was inspired by the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, a Moorish fortress originally built in AD 889 and converted into a palace starting in the mid-13th century. OFlannigan told us that Sauntry visited Spain in the late nineteenth century and found a Chicago architect to bring his dreams of Moorish Revival architecture to life. Sauntry died in 1914, at about the time the lumber industry in the area was declining. The next few decades brought a series of new owners and led to some less than stellar choices. This property went through a series of very unfortunate owners, OFlannigan says. Somewhere along the line, someone installed a fake ceiling and divided the structure into three apartments. The current owners bought the property in 1999 for $366,000, in a state of disrepair. They've since revived this unique structure into an eye-popping home. Hallway Space Crafters Everything you see in the listing photos has been carefully restored. When they purchased the property, the current owners set upon an absolute and complete restoration, says OFlannigan. They removed the fake ceiling, repaired water damage, had molds made to repair the plaster arches, created handblown light bulbs, repaired tiles, and breathed new life into the space. Living space Space Crafters The ballroom area is the primary living space. It's big, and the ceilings are probably 20 feet high, says OFlannigan. Master bedroom Space Crafters Bathroom Space Crafters Bathroom Space Crafters Bathroom Space Crafters The master bathroom boasts leaded-glass windows, colorful tile, and stone accents. Kitchen Space Crafters Kitchen Space Crafters The kitchen is not original, but thanks to its granite counters, mahogany cabinets, and a concealed Sub-Zero refrigerator, it's in keeping with the style of the rest of the house. Its all designed carefully to introduce the Moorish influence into the design, OFlannigan says. Its really quite a remarkable property. Everything [the owners] have done was at great expense, and theyre never going to recoup the investment they have made in this property. The current owners raised their family in the house, and OFlannigan says theyre moving on to another adventure. The home first went on the market in 2017 for $1.65 million, but was taken off. Poolhouse Space Crafters Exterior Space Crafters An owner who owned the home after Sauntry added a 2,000-square-foot poolhouse with a large entertaining space, which is connected to the main house. [The pool house] is very nicely done, with a frame structure and vaulted ceiling. The French doors open to the yard, OFlannigan says. Its quite lovely. The house sits near the village of Stillwater, the St. Croix River and the Wisconsin border. The cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis are close by, so commuting into the city is easy, OFlannigan explains. Sauntry's mansion next to this home was built in 1881, and operates as a bed and breakfast, the Sauntry Mansion. That home is not part of this sale, but it is also on the market, for $1.15 million. If we could find a buyer who would have the interest and the money to tie these two structures back together..." OFlannigan muses. "That would be so cool! Interior Space Crafters Exterior Space Crafters Garage Space Crafters Interior Space Crafters The post Patterned on the Alhambra, This Home in Minnesota Is a Moorish Delight appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak was jailed last month for 12 years after being found guilty of corruption charges linked to the 1MDB scandal Goldman Sachs and Malaysia have signed an agreement finalising the US bank's $3.9 billion settlement over the 1MDB scandal, allowing for its implementation. Both parties announced the settlement last month, but the formal signing of the agreement -- disclosed by Goldman in a regulatory filing in New York on Tuesday -- completes the process. Billions of dollars were looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad in a fraud that involved former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies. The cash plundered from state coffers bankrolled a global spending spree, and was spent on everything from artwork, to real estate and a superyacht. 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. In its New York filing, the Wall Street titan said the signing of the settlement pact "implements the prior agreement in principle" announced on July 24. 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. Bloomberg News reported that Goldman must make the cash payment to Malaysia within 10 days, citing sources. Najib was voted out of office in 2018 as he succumbed to public anger over the scandal, and the government that took over charged Goldman and a string of former and current employees over the fraud, as well as demanding hefty compensation. Under the agreement, Malaysia will end all criminal proceedings against the bank. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said last month that, combined with 1MDB-linked funds already returned to Malaysia by the United States, the country will receive a total of $4.5 billion. Najib was last month jailed for 12 years after being convicted on all seven charges in the first of several trials related to 1MDB. Story continues The scandal's alleged mastermind, jet-setting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, has also been charged in Malaysia and the US. Low denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown. jsm/mba/dan Not long ago, actor Amit Sadh spoke about how he was banned from the television industry. He says that it was Vidyut Jammwal who gave him the strength to talk about it. Amit said, "I had become so quiet that I had stopped realising that its time to speak up, stand up, and get rid of the fear. And then I encountered Vidyut, a guy who speaks without any manipulation. And then he (Vidyut) asked me, 'why don't you speak up?' So today, if I am able to speak without any fear, it is because of Vidyut." Vidyut, on the other hand, credits his straightforwardness to his background. "We all are strong beings. Everybody over here is a success story. For people who come from outside the city and just survive over here and are able to pay their rent, it is a success already. And from where I come, I am the biggest achiever I know. When I come to a city like Bombay, I know that I could be just pulled down. But that does not stop me from doing what I want to. This is the army background, said Vidyut. Vijay Varma, however, feels he still has not learnt how to come out with his truth. Vijay said, You go quiet, you get scared and you are fearful. You don't know what will happen if I say this. You are scared of your own words. Frankly, I haven't learnt how to come out with my truth, the only place I can come out with my truth is through my work. So all the pent up anger I have against the system led me to understand that I have to play a very long inning here." Deputy Communications Director of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mame Yaa Aboagye has expressed her heartfelt gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo for the opportunity given her to serve the NPP. Mame Yaa has been nominated as a 2020 election campaign team member for the Ashanti Region. Mame Yaa, in a statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, pledged full support to ensure resounding victory for the NPP in December 7 polls. I wish to thank the First Lady H.E. Rebecca Akufo-Addo for giving me that great opportunity to start active politics. Indeed, it was a baptism of fire and I am who I am today because of the great platform she gave me. She therefore called on all supporters to promote the achievements of President Akufo-Addo and his government. Read full statement below: Today, I am privileged to be named as a member of the Ashanti Regional Campaign team of the NPP for the 2020 General Elections. It is an Honour, deeply cherish and will work hard to preserve it. I wish to thank the First Lady H.E. Rebecca Akufo-Addo for giving me the great opportunity to start active politics. Indeed, it was a baptism of fire and I am who I am today because of the great platform she gave me. I am also eternally grateful to H.E.Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for nominating me to serve as a National Officer of this Great party. Experience is the best teacher. I count myself blessed for the rare opportunity to serve one of the most experienced and longest serving executives of our party - the General Secretary John Boadu. Charity begins at home. Thus, in order to make an impact in politics, one needs to start from home. Ashanti Region is my home and throughout my political life I have served and made my presence felt here. I am excited to be part of this campaign team under the leadership of Chairman Wontumi. It is a blessing to have a young regional chairman who inspires the youth to get involved in active politics. I pledge my full support for this campaign, and I always promise to be available to serve wholeheartedly to ensure another resounding victory for the NPP on 7th December 2020. Let us all - young, old, men, women- get involved to promote the great achievements of President Akufo-Addo and his government. The Battle is still the Lords Indeed, one good term deserves another. #4More4Nana #4MoreToDoMore Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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. Stephanie Schill, a married mother of two, was worried about her retirement savings when the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the global economy in the spring. Schill, a marketing manager for a dental company in Johnsburg, Illinois, said the firm cut her salary by a quarter and eliminated her 401(k) match to conserve cash and reduce layoffs. But the unprecedented event turned into a financial awakening for her, she says. Schill began maxing out her 401(k) after she saved hundreds of dollars on day care costs with her two children at home. Save better, spend better: Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here I want to retire as quickly as possible. Financial freedom will give me the flexibility to do that, says Schill, 38, who saw her salary restored after 10 weeks. By that point, she found a new day care for her children that was 20% cheaper. That put more money into her pocket to invest, a plus since stocks were at bargain prices, she says. Im going to keep plowing toward my retirement goals, Schill says. You cant time the market. You have to remove the emotion regardless of the wild ride. After stocks sold off in the spring, some Americans, like Schill, are happy with their retirement balances again following the market rebound. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 3,389.78, eclipsing its previous Feb. 19 high to finish at the highest closing level on record. That means this years bear market, or a drop of more than 20% from a peak, from the February high to the lows on March 23 was the shortest in history, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. While retirement accounts saw sharp swings in the second quarter due to the uncertainty surrounding the outbreak, investors boosted their IRA contributions, driving record-breaking flows to retail retirement accounts while contributions to 401(k) plans remained steady, according to Fidelity Investments. Bouncing back: Retirement savers cash in after shrugging off stock market woes in the spring Story continues 'Insulin or groceries': How reduced unemployment affects struggling Americans from California to Mississippi So why is the stock market at records while the U.S. economy is in one of the sharpest economic downturns since the Great Depression? Heres what the experts say: The "Fearless Girl" statue in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at Wall Street on July 23, 2020 in New York City. Why a record in a recession? Stocks staged a stunning turnaround propelled by Big Tech as trillions of dollars in stimulus aid from the Federal Reserve and Congress helped prop up an American economy gripped by recession. Although stocks are back at highs, millions of out-of-work Americans are still suffering after a mind-boggling 56.2 million workers sought unemployment aid in just 21 weeks. But there have been recent signs of improvement in the labor market, which has helped rejuvenate optimism for the recovery. Its not so much about good vs. bad news. The market cares about whether things are getting better versus worse, says Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial. The economy is still nowhere near its output prior to the pandemic. But things are getting better. The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits dropped to 963,000 for the week ending Aug. 8, falling below 1 million for the first time since the shutdown began in the spring, the Labor Department said Thursday. The figure still remains above a peak of 665,000 in March 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and topped a previous record of 695,000 in October 1982 during another economic downturn. Job creation has recovered in recent months but layoffs remain historically high, with about 13 million jobs lost during the pandemic. The unemployment rate stood at 10.2% in July, compared with a pre-pandemic jobless rate of 3.5% in February the lowest in a half century. Improved consumer spending, a rebound in the housing market and better-than-feared corporate profits have added to investor optimism. And in a sign that the U.S. economy is faring better than experts initially expected, the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index, which gauges the frequency that economic data beats Wall Street expectations, has hovered at all-time highs recently. How is a stock market high possible? The stock market has remained resilient in the face of the downturn. And higher stock prices during recessions arent unusual: Stocks have risen during seven of the past 12 recessions going back to World War II, with a median advance of 5.7%, according to LPL Financial. High-flying stocks like Apple, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet have powered this years rally, far outpacing the rest of the market as investors bet heavily they could prevail in a stay-at-home economy. On Wednesday, tech giant Apple was the first publicly traded company to top a $2 trillion valuation. Big Tech makes up an outsize portion of the S&P 500, and the performance of the biggest stocks can have a disproportionate effect on the index. Differences also exist between the stock market and the economy. The S&P 500, for instance, is driven more by manufacturing, while U.S. gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced by the economy, is propelled by the services sector, according to LPL Financial. The latter took a bigger hit due to social-distancing measures from the lockdowns, as consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The benchmark index is global, with roughly 40% of sales from S&P 500 companies derived internationally, while U.S. exports account for just 13% of GDP. The S&P 500 is also driven by capital investment, which has been supported by technology spending during the pandemic. Another reason is because investors view the markets as forward-looking, anticipating how the U.S. economy and corporate earnings will perform in the next six to 12 months. Optimism has grown on hopes for a vaccine and further stimulus. The U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases, recently surpassing 5.4 million, or roughly a quarter of global infections. Economic data has improved as parts of the country have gradually reopened. And were getting closer to a vaccination and therapeutics, which is important because its going to affect the direction of the economy over the next six to nine months, says Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors. What's next for the stock market? Stocks could be poised for more gains in the coming months, analysts say. One key reason: Investors are betting that the pandemic will end eventually with a vaccine. And large rallies are usually followed by continued gains, analysts say. The S&P 500 has averaged a 46% return in the 12 months following the start of a new bull market, according to research firm CFRA, which analyzed data going back to 1932. But any setback in the timeline for developing a vaccine could challenge the stock market's rebound, experts caution. With the U.S. presidential election less than three months away, some investors remain cautious due to economic policy uncertainty. Renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China have added to those concerns after both countries reached a deal in January that brought a truce in a tariff war. Some market professionals worry that a stalling U.S. recovery could slow the rally. Investors hope for another coronavirus rescue package from Congress to help sustain the economic rebound, but talks among Republicans and Democrats hit a stalemate this month. Even so, some investors are looking past those risks. "Many businesses have failed and theres been a lot of permanent damage," says Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments. "But once there's a vaccine, we would limit that damage and the economy could be resilient. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: S&P 500 record: Why the stock market is at all-time high in recession To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, former FBI Director James Comey wrote on Twitter: "We need more women in office." "#19th Amendment is an important anniversary but the vote is not enough," Comey wrote, with a photo of him in a shirt that reads "Elect More Women." Comey's infamous letter that he sent to Congress in October 2016 about then Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails is widely considered to have contributed to her election loss. Clinton responded to Comey's post on Tuesday with a GIF of herself. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Former FBI chief James Comey created a stir on Twitter after he uploaded a photo of himself in a T-shirt that read "Elect More Women" in celebration of 100th anniversay of the 19th amendment, which gave white women the right to vote. "#19th Amendment is an important anniversary but the vote is not enough," he captioned the social-media post on Tuesday. "We need more women in office. VP and Virginia governor are good next steps." Many users promptly pointed out the irony in Comey's messaging, including Hillary Clinton, who has widely theorized, along with other Democrats and political pundits, that he played a role in her losing the presidential election in 2016. Clinton responded to his post with a GIF of herself, smirking. Comey entered the political spotlight in 2016 after he led an investigation against then Democratic presidential candidate Clinton over her use of a private email server. In late October, 11 days before the election, he sent a now infamous letter to Congress that announced a reopening of the case. Story continues "Absent that, I believe and I think the evidence shows, I would have won," Clinton said in her first live television interview after she lost the 2016 race. After Comey completed his review of Clinton's emails, he declared the FBI would not pursue criminal charges against her, just two days before the election. He was later fired as director of the agency in May 2017 by President Donald Trump, related to an ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's relationship with Russia. Comey has since defended his choices regarding Clinton's case, though he has called his involement in the election "painful." He wrote about the investigation in his 2018 book. A former Clinton campaign spokesman also snapped back at Comey's post on Tuesday, claiming, "A lot of us tried. You f----d it up. But the tee shirt definitely makes up for it." Clinton also honored the 19th Amendment, which she called an "enormous" but an "incomplete" victory, with a post dedicated to her mother, who she said was born on the day of its passage in Congress. "If she were still with us, she'd urge us to keep going'lifting as we climb,' Clinton wrote. Read the original article on Business Insider The Mali soldiers leading the coup insist that peace is their priority and have promised to stage elections within a "reasonable" timeframe Mali's military coup presents former colonial power France with a diplomatic nightmare, having invested considerable military and political capital in a regional anti-jihadist campaign now in peril. Tuesday's post-coup resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita following weeks of civil protest against his perceived corrupt and inept rule, has robbed Paris of a key ally in the Sahel where France has -- sometimes unpopularly -- been routing jihadists since 2013. The military campaign, spearheaded by France's 5,000-plus Barkhane force in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad, seeks in the end to bring stability to the conflict- and poverty-ridden region, allowing governments to strengthen institutions and focus on much-needed development. But now, France faces having to work with a regime born out of Tuesday's coup d'etat against Keita, often referred to as IBK. "The challenge will be for France to walk a delicate line. It has to condemn the coup. It also has to work with the new leaders," said Michael Shurkin of the California-based RAND Corporation policy think-tank. "It (France) needs a good outcome, but it has to be extremely careful about influencing the outcome," he told AFP. Paris issued a condemnation after initial reports of an army mutiny in Mali, but has yet to explicitly denounce the toppling of Keita claimed by coup leaders. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said "the fight against terrorist groups and the defence of democracy and the rule of law are inseparable. "To leave is to provoke instability and to weaken our fight. It is not acceptable," Macron wrote on Twitter, calling for power to be "returned to civilians" and for the Malian president and his prime minister to be freed. Initially expected to last a few weeks, the French Sahel military intervention has been running for seven years at a cost of some $1 billion annually, according to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Story continues The force has chalked up some wins, but jihadists have continued deadly attacks and 44 French troops have lost their lives in what some have called "France's forever war". The presence of French boots on the ground has become increasingly unpopular and thousands have protested in Mali and Burkina Faso against what they term "forces of occupation". Shrugging off the pleas of the international community, Malian soldiers on Tuesday detained the president, prime minister, cabinet ministers and other government officials. - Better to come? - The leaders of the coup condemned by the EU, UN, African Union and regional grouping ECOWAS, insisted that "peace in Mali is our priority" and promised to stage elections within a "reasonable time". "The junta... does not want to alienate the support of the international community, including Barkhane," tweeted Yvan Guichaoua, a researcher at the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies. "The objective seemingly was mainly to eject IBK and his allies from power." France itself has been doubtful about Keita's ability to improve security and governance in Mali, say analysts. And Shurkin believes the coup "could theoretically work out for the best if it yields a government that functions better and that can lay claim to greater legitimacy. "It has to be acknowledged that things werent going well before the coup; Mali under IBK was making little if any progress, which meant that the success of French strategy was questionable anyway," he said. In the short term, however, French diplomats and military leaders face an uphill battle. "In a way, it's back to square one," said Jean-Herve Jezequel, Sahel specialist at the International Crisis Group in Brussels. "Eight years of effort, investment, presence to basically return to the situation of Mali at the time of the 2012 coup, with a confused situation in Bamako, more violent armed insurrections and increased inter-communal violence." - Change in approach - Military historian Michel Goya predicted a political imbroglio that will last for months. "For the French military, this makes things more complicated. Operations can continue, they can be run independently, but cooperation with the Malian forces will likely be stopped. And armed groups may try to take advantage of the situation to expand their action," he said. France is also likely to see new reticence from European partners it had been trying to convince to enlarge military operations in Sahel, notably a European special forces group dubbed Takuba and the so-called G5 Sahel, an under-resourced force of regional soldiers. There will be "a slowdown of major projects while we wait for the dust to settle and are focused on the nature of the new power to be installed in Bamako," said Elie Tenenbaum, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations. For Shurkin, an extended transition period, or one that yields more of the same, "would be terrible for France and Mali alike". "Maybe, just maybe, there will be a relatively quick transition that yields a stronger Mali, one that will meet the requirements of French strategy," he added. For Jezequel, this was also a chance for France, the Sahel states and other partners to question their approach to providing security aid to the region. "We cannot sustainably secure a space without changing the forms of governance that manage it," he said. dab-mlr/bp/har Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 02:54:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft with two astronauts takes off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral of Florida, the United States, on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) SpaceX planned to launch into space about 12,000 Starlink satellites by 2024, and has revealed a bigger plan to launch 30,000 additional ones, bringing the total to 42,000. WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. private space company SpaceX successfully launched its 11th Starlink mission on Tuesday, carrying 58 Starlink satellites and three of Planet's SkySats to orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Following stage separation, SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Planet's SkySats were deployed sequentially beginning about 12 and a half minutes after liftoff, and the 58 Starlink satellites were deployed approximately 46 minutes after liftoff. It marks the first time a booster has completed six flights. Falcon 9's first stage previously supported the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in September 2018, the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019, and three separate Starlink missions in May 2019, January and June this year. Starlink will deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable, according to SpaceX. Starlink is targeting service in the Northern United States and Canada in 2020, rapidly expanding to near global coverage of the populated world by 2021. SpaceX planned to launch into space about 12,000 Starlink satellites by 2024, and has revealed a bigger plan to launch 30,000 additional ones, bringing the total to 42,000. Each satellite weighs about 260 kilograms and features a compact, flat-panel design that minimizes volume, allowing for a dense launch stack to take full advantage of the launch capabilities of the Falcon 9 rocket, according to SpaceX. A new take on a classic whodunit is heading to cinemas later this year, and the first trailer for Death on the Nile has now been revealed. The sequel to 2017s Murder on the Orient Express sees Kenneth Branagh revisit his role as Agatha Christies detective Hercule Poirot, with a whole host of stars along for the murder mystery. The film follows Poirot as he takes on a new case in Egypt, involving the murderous fallout from a passionate love triangle. The new clip focuses on the central relationship between Gal Gadot and Armie Hammers characters, hinting at the dark events taking place around them. The romance of the desert has the power to seduce, Branaghs Poirot says in the clip. I ask you, have you ever loved so much, been so possessed by jealousy that you might kill them? Prime suspect: Gal Gadot stars in the new film alongside Armie Hammer I have investigated many crimes, but this has altered the shape of my soul, Branagh adds, with the suspects gathered together in a room in classic Christie style. Death on Nile features a selection of huge names, with Gadot, Hammer, Letitia Wright, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Russell Brand all starring. Branagh directs the film, with the script from Murder on The Orient Express screenwriter Michael Green. The new film is set to be released in cinemas on October 23. Thai court issues warrants after protesters tackle royal taboos Thai students have taken to displaying white ribbons and flashing three-fingered salutes from the movie "Hunger Games" as a show of support for the democracy movement A Thai court issued arrest warrants Wednesday for six pro-democracy activists involved in recent rallies that heard calls for an overhaul of the government and even reforms to the monarchy -- a subject usually taboo in the kingdom. Near-daily demonstrations by a youth-led pro-democracy movement have been largely tolerated by authorities so far, but police said Wednesday they now had warrants to arrest half a dozen of the most prominent protesters. They will be charged with "sedition, computer crimes act, violating the diseases control act and using loudspeakers", Pathum Thani provincial police commander Chayut Marayat told AFP. While the use of punitive lese majeste laws has slowed in recent years, legal observers say the military-aligned government has stepped up other legal mechanisms to target dissent -- including using sedition and computer crime legislation. Two of the warrants issued Wednesday are for protesters previously arrested and bailed -- human rights lawyer Anon Numpa and student leader Panupong Jadnok -- but they now face fresh charges related to a rally on August 10 at Thammasat University. Anon was the first activist to openly discuss reforming the monarchy at a Harry Potter-themed rally on August 3. On Wednesday night he was arrested as he left work for that speech, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group said. The later Thammasat gathering drew some 5,000 people as Anon and Panupong spoke about the monarchy. - Apex of power - Protesters at weeks of rallies have been openly critical of the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- a former army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup. At the Thammasat rally, however, they also demanded greater accounting of palace finances and the abolition of the controversial royal defamation laws which carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. King Maha Vajiralongkorn sits at the apex of Thai power, buttressed by a powerful arch-royalist military and the country's billionaire clans. Story continues Since he ascended the throne in 2016, the king has made unprecedented changes to the institution -- including amassing direct control of the palace's fortune, which is estimated to be worth up to $60 billion. So far, none of the pro-democracy activists have been charged with royal defamation, but their demands have angered pro-royalist supporters and spurred several smaller counter-protests. The movement has spread to the country's high schools, with pupils tying a white bow in their hair and on backpacks to show solidarity with the pro-democracy cause. Hundreds of uniformed teenagers protested outside the Education Ministry on Wednesday, chanting "dinosaur" and booing the minister for what critics say is a rigid, antiquated education system. The hashtag "Finish school and head to the ministry" trended Wednesday on Twitter, followed by #SaveAnon after his arrest. bur-dhc/fox STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Samuel Arbeeny, 70, was a bull with a tough exterior, said his daughter, Danielle Messina, but once you pulled back that tough exterior, he had a heart of gold. Arbeeny is one of over 6,000 New Yorkers to die in a state nursing home as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Editor's take: BlackBerry has been down this road before and we've seen plenty of Android phones launch with a focus on privacy and security. Physical keyboards were great for their time but that was nearly 15 years ago. I'm not saying it can't be done but the odds are certainly stacked against OnwardMobility here. The iconic BlackBerry brand is getting yet another lease on life. OnwardMobility, a startup created to deliver comprehensive, secure mobile device solutions to government, enterprise and business clients has licensed the rights to develop, engineer and bring a new BlackBerry mobile device to market next year. The new Android-powered BlackBerry device will be 5G compatible and feature a physical keyboard. Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Limited is also being brought on to help with the design and manufacturing process, were told. OnwardMobility believes there is a need for a secure, feature-rich 5G-ready phone that enhances productivity. BlackBerry smartphones are known for protecting communications, privacy, and data, said OnwardMobility CEO Peter Franklin. This is an incredible opportunity for OnwardMobility to bring next-generation 5G devices to market with the backing of BlackBerry and FIH Mobile, the executive added. The company found early success with its forward-thinking handsets in the early 2000s but as the smartphone revolution started to take shape, the company didnt take its challengers seriously and failed to innovate. Multiple attempts were made to right the ship with the company going so far as to adopt Android as its primary operating system but BlackBerry was never able to recover. In 2016, the Canadian handset maker licensed the BlackBerry brand to Chinese phone maker TCL. That experiment ran its course and earlier this year, it was revealed that TCL would stop making BlackBerry devices in August. Masthead credit: gotvideo Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp arrives at the "Tech for Good" Summit in Paris, France May 15, 2019. Data analytics software company Palantir Technologies is relocating its headquarters to Denver, Colorado from Palo Alto, California, CNBC confirmed Wednesday. The company updated its website where it now lists Denver as the site of its headquarters. It also updated its social media pages to reflect the change. The Denver Business Journal first reported news of a potential move. Co-founded in 2004 by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Palantir is a data analytics company that provides software to large companies and government agencies. Palantir also announced early July that it filed confidentially for a public stock offering. It's not immediately clear how many of Palantir's over 2,500 global employees will be affected. Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp has been open in the past about a potential move. In an interview with Axios on HBO in May, Karp said he was against the "increasing intolerance and monoculture of Silicon Valley" and was nearing a decision on whether or not to move. Karp said at the time Colorado was under consideration. Thiel explained to The Wall Street Journal in 2013 why the Silicon Valley isn't an ideal place for startup employees to work and live. "We have to figure out ways to make housing more affordable in these places," Thiel said. "When people start companies they are typically getting paid in equity and not a large salary. The way rent and housing costs have gone through the roof in a number of cities where people go to start companies is a tremendous problem. Zoning rules, while well-intentioned, have had the effect of making it almost impossible for people to take a pay cut and make a leap." QBE's Global Credit & Surety business unit has locations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, and Hong Kong. QBE's global network makes it possible for us to provide Trade Credit products worldwide. As such, Mann will report to Nicky Ablett, Global Head of Credit & Surety, QBE Group, and into QBE North America through Steve Gransbury, Head of Specialty Insurance, QBE North America. "Harpreet has been an active leader in this business that consistently reaches across national borders in today's global economy," said Ablett. "Her international mindset, and experience, will be a valuable addition to our global leadership team. I am also really pleased that we were able to facilitate Brett Halsey's request to step into another role within the business and thrilled that we have such a capable replacement in Harpreet." Gransbury added, "We're very much looking forward to the leadership and experience Harpreet will bring to our Trade Credit and Surety businesses as the market responds to the challenges presented by COVID-19. Having just finished serving as President of the Association of Trade and Forfaiting in the Americas, she has deep knowledge of the market and is well respected in the broker community." QBE's Trade Credit team leverages its sophistication and experience to solve complex risks for clients with significant industry positions in a wide range of sectors, including: financial institutions, commodity/natural resource trading companies, wholesalers, manufacturing and retail. Learn more here. QBE's Surety business writes both contract and commercial bonds across the construction and energy sectors. About Harpreet Mann Since joining QBE North America in 2008, Mann has served in a variety of leadership roles including VP, Technical Underwriter for Global Credit & Surety; Corporate Counsel, Structured Trade and Political Risk; and Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department. Based in New York, Mann is also the Executive Sponsor of QBE's global Premiums4Good initiative in North America, which directs a portion of our customers' insurance premiums into socially responsible, impact investments to make a difference to the communities and environment we live and work in. Prior to QBE, Mann was Deputy General Counsel for Exporters International, Inc., where she provided legal support to the underwriting group and handled general corporate legal and governance matters. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mann was a Research Associate at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mann holds a Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. She is a licensed attorney in New York and New Jersey. About QBE QBE North America is part of QBE Insurance Group Limited, one of the largest insurers and reinsurers worldwide. QBE NA reported Gross Written Premiums in 2019 of $4.6 billion. QBE Insurance Group's results can be found at www.qbe.com. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, QBE operates out of 27 countries around the globe, with a presence in every key insurance market. The North America division, headquartered in New York, conducts business through its property and casualty insurance subsidiaries. The actual terms and coverage for all lines of business are subject to the language of the policies as issued. QBE insurance companies are rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best and "A+" by Standard & Poor's. Additional information can be found at www.qbe.com/us, or follow QBE North America on LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE QBE North America Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as high compliance with supply cuts from the OPEC+ producer group offset demand fears from the new coronavirus. Brent crude futures rose 9 cents to settle at $45.46 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended unchanged at $42.89 a barrel. Supporting prices on Tuesday, a technical panel found that compliance with OPEC+ oil output cuts in July was between 95% and 97%, according to a draft report seen on Monday by Reuters. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, eased ... According to a new study published today in BMJ Quality & Safety, many hospitals in New York and Illinois were understaffed right before the first surge of critically ill Covid-19 patients. The study, "Chronic Hospital Nurse Understaffing Meets Covid-19," documented staffing ratios that varied from 3 to 10 patients for each nurse on general adult medical and surgical units. ICU nurse staffing was better but also varied significantly across hospitals. New York City, an international gateway to the US with three major international airports and the early epicenter of the Covid-19 surge in the US, had the poorest average hospital nurse staffing on the eve of the Covid-19 medical emergency. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that the workload had adverse consequences on nurses and on patient care. One third of patients in New York state and Illinois hospitals did not give their hospitals excellent ratings and would not definitely recommend their hospital to family and friends needing care. "Half of nurses right before the Covid-19 emergency scored in the high burnout range due to high workloads, and one in five nurses said they planned to leave their jobs within a year," said lead author Karen Lasater, PhD, RN, an assistant professor and researcher at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing). "It is an immense credit to nurses that in such an exhausted and depleted state before the pandemic they were able to reach deep within themselves to stay at the hospital bedside very long hours and save lives during the emergency," continued Lasater. It is very important for the public to take note that in this large study of nurses practicing in New York and Illinois hospitals, half of nurses gave their hospitals unfavorable grades on patient safety and two-thirds would not definitely recommend their hospital to family and friends." Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, CHOPR Director, senior researcher and professor at the University of Pennsylvania She noted that nurses have been rated in the Gallup poll as the profession most trusted by the American public for past 18 consecutive years. The researchers surveyed all registered nurses (RNs) holding active licenses to practice in New York state and Illinois during the period December 16, 2019 to February 24, 2020, immediately prior to the Covid-19 medical emergency. Hospital nurses reported on the number of patients assigned to them to care for at one time. These nurse reports were linked to Medicare patient-reported outcomes for the same hospitals. They studied 254 hospitals throughout New York state and Illinois, including 47 hospitals in the metropolitan New York area (the five NYC boroughs plus Nassau and Westchester counties). Policy debate on safe nurse staffing standards Both New York state and Illinois have pending legislation requiring hospitals to meet minimum safe nurse staffing standards--no more than four patients per nurse on adult general medical and surgical units. The study found that most hospitals in both states currently do not meet these proposed standards, nor do they even meet the safe nurse staffing standard of five patients per nurse set by legislation in California 20 years ago. "This study provides an important public service by documenting in real time and in states debating current nurse staffing legislation actual hospital nurse staffing levels--information not now easily accessible to the public--and the adverse consequences of such great variation in an essential component of hospital care--nursing," said Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, coauthor and Chief Officer, Nursing Regulation at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The study's authors conclude: there is no standardization in nurse staffing in NY and IL hospitals; the majority of hospital nurses in these states were burned out and working in understaffed conditions immediately prior to the surge in critically ill Covid-19 patients; understaffed hospitals pose a public health risk; pending legislation in NY and IL may result in hospital staffing more aligned with the public's interest; the Nurse Licensure Compact also offers a solution and may ease the strain on hospitals. More study findings... Mean staffing in adult medical and surgical units in NY and IL hospitals varied from 3.36 patients-per-nurse to 9.7 patients per nurse and in ICUs from 1.5 to 4 patients per nurse. Each additional patient per nurse significantly increased the proportion of both patients and nurses giving unfavorable hospital quality and safety ratings, after differences in hospital characteristics such as teaching status, size, and technology availability were taken into account. Half of nurses were burned out, 31 percent were dissatisfied with their jobs, and 22 percent intended to leave their jobs within a year. Half of nurses gave their hospitals an unfavorable grade on patient safety, a third gave unfavorable ratings on prevention of infections, and 70 percent would not definitely recommend the hospital where they worked to a family member or friend. 65 percent of nurses reported delays in care were common because of insufficient staff and 40 percent reported frequent delays in care due to missing supplies including medications and missing or broken equipment. Regional Mnp CM, 6 resigned Cong MLAs meet Nadda in Delhi Manipur CM N Biren Singh with BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi on Tuesday. Correspondent IMPHAL, Aug 18 | Publish Date: 8/18/2020 12:12:43 PM IST Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh who is currently camping in New Delhi along with six Congress legislators who recently resigned as members of the state Assembly met BJP national president J P Nadda at latters his office on Tuesday. The chief minister had left Imphal on August 16 along with the six ex-MLAs who switched to the saffron party after resigning from Congress and the Manipur Legislative Assembly. Another Congress MLA, RK Imo, son-in-law of the chief minister also boarded the same charter flight the chief minister and the six ex-MLAs travelled in. Today, I called on BJP National President Shri J P Nadda ji at his office and apprised him of the political development and other issues in the state, Singh stated in a Facebook post. He added that the national president congratulated the BJP-led state government on recently winning the trust vote in the Assembly. During a one-day monsoon session of the state Assembly on August 10, a confidence motion moved by the chief minister was won through voice vote amid strong demand for division vote by the opposition Congress. It was after the session that the six Congress MLAs - Md Abdul Nasir, Ginsuanhau, O Lukhoi, Ngamthang Haokip, P Brojen and O Henry tendered resignations as members of the state Assembly. The Speaker later accepted their resignations. Sources said that the chief minister and the six-MLAs went to Delhi to hold meetings with the BJP national president, Union home minister Amit Shah and other BJP Central leaders to discuss the forthcoming by-election to 13 Assembly seats in the state and to offer party tickets to the resigned MLAs. However, before leaving Imphal, the ex-MLAs told reporters they were going to Delhi at the invitation of the chief minister and had no idea of agenda behind their trip to Delhi. Sources also said that the chief minister during meetings with central BJP leaders was likely to propose a major reshuffle in his ministry before the by-election. The source revealed that the chief minister plans to induct two of the six ex-MLAs who quit Congress into the council of ministers by dropping two incumbent cabinet ministers. Another source said that at least five incumbent ministers were likely to be dropped to induct new faces. Incumbent Speaker Y Khemchand is also likely to be inducted as cabinet minister and the post of the speaker could be given to MLA RK Imo who is still with the Congress but close to Biren since the election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Manipur. It may be mentioned that in the election held on June 19 , Imo and another Congress MLA O Henry crossed vote in favour of the BJP nominee. Page Content Two staff members at the Prison have tested positive for COVID-19. The staff members have had no direct contact with inmates, and therefore pose no immediate threat to prisoners. Additionally, management of the prison have launched their contingency plan of acquiring more personnel in order to avoid any disruption of the house of detention operations. On Saturday, August 15, 2020, a staff member reported having COVID-19 related symptoms to the management of the Prison and House of Detention via telephone. This staff member took precautionary measures, remained at home, and informed the management that theyd visited the doctor, and had tested positive for COVID-19 by Collective Prevention Services (CPS). The staff member has been advised by CPS to remain in quarantine, and per protocol, contact tracing has begun. Inmates of the prison do not have direct contact with this staff member. Per protocol, it is strictly mandatory for all staff members and guards of the prison to sanitize their hands and use a facemask at all times when at work. Prior to this, on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, a guard who works stationed outside of prison contacted management while at home. The guard informed his superior via telephone, that he felt ill, and experienced COVID-19 related symptoms. Per protocol, the individual was asked to contact CPS and take precautionary measures by remaining at home and later tested positive for COVID-19. CPS has begun contact tracing to identify persons in close contact with the staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19. Management of the prison and CPS contacted workers who have possibly been in contact with their colleagues. They have been asked to take precautionary measures, including remaining quarantined at home and monitoring their symptoms, while they wait to be tested. The Civil Court of Appeal of Armenia has ruled to overturn and change the March 4 verdict favoring Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan with regard to remuneration for an attorney, as stated in the court decision published in the Judicial Information System, according to Armenian News-NEWS.am. The decision regards the case of head of the Armenian National Health Council Coalition Gevorg Grigoryan vs Arsen Torosyan. Back in May 2019, Grigoryan had submitted a statement of claim to the court, asking the latter to oblige Arsen Torosyan to publicly refute the news considered slander live on his Facebook page and apologize for the insult. On March 4, 2020, Judge Ruben Buniatyan of the first instance court ruled to reject the lawsuit on the ground of applying statute of limitation of the claim and levied AMD 400,000 from Grigoryan in favor of Torosyan as a reasonable amount for remuneration of the attorney. The plaintiffs attorney had filed an appeal, claiming that the first instance courts decision was rendered in gross violation of procedural norms. Grigoryans attorney had asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision and change it, that is, reject the lawsuit and set a smaller amount of the reasonable remuneration for the attorney. On July 17, the Civil Court of Appeal ruled to uphold the appeal, as well as overturn and change the first instance courts decision with regard to remuneration of the attorney and particularly ruled to levy AMD 200,000 from Grigoryan in favor of Torosyan as reasonable remuneration for an attorney. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 Two days ago, Indonesia celebrated its semi-sesquicentennial anniversary. Yup, thats a fancy name for 75, which like 40, 50, 60 is also considered a landmark birthday. Big celebration! Yaaay! Nah, not in these COVID days! However, I reckon my neighborhood unit (RW) did better than the celebration at the Presidential Palace, which only had 20 people present and was conducted virtually. Over 50 of us residents of my housing complex, all clad in red and white did a 45 (symbolic of 1945 of course!) minute morning walk around the complex, ending in a flag-saluting ceremony, singing the national anthem Indonesia Raya and sharing snacks and drinks afterward. Simple, heartfelt, and unthinkingly and symbolically standard. Anniversaries are actually an opportunity for reflection, and even more so in these pandemic times. As one of the memes I received via WhatsApp said, Bertanya setiap 17 Agustus, apa arti merdeka? (Lets ask ourselves every Aug. 17, what does independence/freedom mean?). to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Love them, hate them ignore them at national peril, is the babu guarantee and Dilips belief. Share significant babu escapades dilipcherian@hotmail.com The Indian delegation is being strengthened with the appointment of an additional deputy permanent representative The India mission is currently headed by T.S. Tirumurthi, with Nagaraj Naidu as deputy permanent representative. File Photo India will take over as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in January 2021. The government has begun preparations by deciding to upgrade Indias diplomatic presence at the UN. The Indian delegation is being strengthened with the appointment of an additional deputy permanent representative and a counsellor to solely handle Security Council matters. According to sources, 1999-batch Indian Foreign Service officer R. Ravindran, who is joint secretary (Central and West Africa) will join the Indian Permanent Mission in New York in the rank of additional deputy representative. He served in the office earlier under Hardeep Singh Puri, who is now minister for civil aviation, urban development and commerce, but who headed the mission when India was a non-permanent member in 2011-2012. Ravindrans colleague Pratik Mathur, who is from the 2007 batch, and is deputy secretary in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), will be a counsellor. Both IFS officers will join the mission before the 75th UN General Assembly opens next month. The India mission is currently headed by T.S. Tirumurthi, with Nagaraj Naidu as deputy permanent representative. It is also said that external affairs minister S. Jaishankar will be keenly following Indias stint at the Security Council with regular monthly reviews. Discriminatory retirement practices? At a time when the Covid pandemic has forced states to tighten their finances, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to increase retirement benefits for retired senior officials. Citing petitions from the IAS Officers Association and senior bureaucrats, it has permitted an additional Rs 10,000 monthly servant allowance to all retired chief secretaries and additional chief secretaries. The move is bound to raise eyebrows since many other states with straitened finances have been forced to hold back DA of government officials and pushed back pension grants. Barely two months ago, the government had increased the retirement age of babus from 58 to 59 years, ostensibly to postpone the huge pension burden it would face. More recently, the government has given retiring chief secretary K Shanmugam a three-month extension. According to sources, the state government has based the order on a similar order by neighbouring Karnataka, in 2015. Then Karnataka had allowed chief secretaries and additional chief secretaries a servant allowance of Rs 6,000 plus telephone and medical allowances over and above the pension and other benefits of the retired babus. Bitter medicine Manipur has a qualified doctor as the states new chief secretary. Senior IAS officer of the Manipur cadre, Rajesh Kumar who was additional chief secretary, has succeeded J. Suresh Babu who superannuated from government service. Incidentally, Babu was also a doctor who became a civil servant. Kumars appointment comes in the backdrop of a demand from several student organisations in the state to appoint a qualified state native to the post of chief secretary. Kumar, who is an IAS officer of the 1988 batch, is not. Once Kumars appointment was announced, some organizations are now demanding that the decision be reviewed. The state government, however, has shown no sign of acknowledging this demand. With the students upset over what they term as denial of rights of the native communities by the state government, Kumar as the new chief secretary may have to apply a healing balm to the hurt sentiments of the student community first, besides getting down to discharging his own considerable administrative duties. FOSTER CITY (dpa-AFX) - What's moving these stocks in the pre-market hours today? In the Green 1. 9 Meters Biopharma Inc. (NMTR) is up over 34% at $0.87 in pre-market trading Wednesday, adding to yesterday's gain of more than 16%. The company's lead product candidate is Larazotide, under a phase III trial for celiac disease, with interim analysis expected in the second half of 2021. A phase 1b/2a clinical trial of NM-002 for the treatment of short bowel syndrome is ongoing, with topline results expected in the first quarter of 2021. 2. Verona Pharma plc (VRNA) is up over 10% at $9.10 in pre-market trading today, on news of initiation of the second, multiple-dose, part of a phase II trial to evaluate the pressurized metered-dose inhaler formulation of Ensifentrine in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Results from this part of the study are expected in the first half of 2021. 3. Accelerate Diagnostics Inc. (AXDX) is up more than 9% at $16.23 in pre-market hours today, following FDA Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 antibody testing system, i.e. for BioCheck SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG Combo Test and fully-automated MS-Fast instrument. Accelerate Diagnostics has an agreement with privately-held BioCheck Inc. to market, commercialize, and support this serology-based testing platform. 4. Precipio Inc. (PRPO) is up over 7% at $2.76 in pre-market trading Wednesday. Yesterday, the stock had lost over 20% of its value on no news. 5. Pulmatrix Inc. (PULM) is up over 6% at $1.33 in pre-market hours today. The company's partner Sensory Cloud is progressing towards the commercialization of FEND, an over the counter nasal hygiene product. FEND is comprised of proprietary Pulmatrix NasoCalm formulations of sodium chloride and calcium chloride salts licensed from Pulmatrix. FEND is expected to be commercially launched in the fall of 2020, with Pulmatrix entitled to receive royalties from worldwide revenues that will be generated. 6. Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO) is up over 3% at $14.68 in pre-market hours Wednesday. The company's COVID-19 DNA vaccine INO-4800 is under a phase I study and positive interim data from the first two cohorts in the trial in the U.S. were reported in June. A phase II/III clinical study of INO-4800 in the U.S. is expected to start in September. In the Red 1. Galapagos NV (GLPG) is down over 27% at $136.93 in pre-market hours, following FDA denying approval for Filgotinib, proposed for the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. Gilead and Galapagos NV (GLPG) are collaborative partners in the global development and commercialization of Filgotinib in rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory indications. Gilead is responsible for the potential commercialization of Filgotinib in the U.S. 2. Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (SRNE) is down more than 11% at $10.84 in pre-market hours today. In an SEC filing, yesterday the company had revealed the termination of Jiong Shao as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Najjam Asghar has been appointed as the company's Chief Financial Officer, effective August 18. 3. Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) is down more than 5% at $65.50 in pre-market hours today as its investigational drug Filgotinib, proposed for the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, failed to secure FDA approval. 4. NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NBY) is down over 3% at $1.02 in pre-market hours, giving back some of what it gained yesterday. The company launched Avenova on Walmart.com yesterday, increasing the availability of its unique facial sanitizer confirmed through independent laboratory testing to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus on hard surfaces. The news had sent the stock up over 10% yesterday. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de (Natural News) There could be more than 200 million tons of minuscule plastic fragments floating across and beneath the entire Atlantic Ocean, and thats just for three of the most littered plastics. In a major breakthrough, scientists from the U.K.s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) found 1221 million tons of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene suspended in the top 200 meters (m) of the Atlantic. Lead author Katsiaryna Pabortsava said that after measuring the mass of microplastics in the top five percent of the ocean, she and her team had been able to estimate the mass of microplastics up to a depth of about 3000 m. This is the first large-scale assessment of microplastic load done across the entire Atlantic Ocean, from the U.K. to the Falklands, she added. Their findings appeared online in the journal Nature Communications. Microplastic load in oceans is ten times higher than earlier estimates In order to determine the dangers of plastic contamination to marine life and to humans, scientists first need good estimates of the amount of this material in the ocean to begin with, said Pabortsava. In using accurate figures, scientists can better understand how plastic degrades and how toxic it is at certain concentrations. But for decades, scientists had been unable to balance the mass of actual floating plastic in the ocean with the estimated mass thought to have entered the ocean since 1950. This is because earlier studies had neglected to measure concentrations of microplastics beneath the ocean surface, she explained. To this end, Pabortsava and her team collected seawater samples from the Atlantic Ocean in a 2016 expedition. The group then filtered samples at selected depths and used spectroscopic imaging techniques to determine the plastic contaminants in the samples. Then, assuming the concentration of microplastics measured at 200 m deep is the same for depths reaching 3000 m, the Atlantic Ocean could hold 200 million tons of three of the most littered plastics alone. This figure is much higher than scientists had estimated in the past, according to co-author Richard Lampitt. That said, considering that plastics of other sizes and characteristics have been found in the deeper ocean and in the sediments, it makes sense that the mass of ocean plastics is much higher than earlier estimates. Therefore, the research indicates that scientists have been underestimating the extent of plastic pollution in the oceans. The next step now would be to determine the sources of these plastics and the processes responsible for or involved in plastic pollution in the ocean. Without this fundamental knowledge, it will be difficult to gauge the harms associated with plastic pollution, and to determine how best to use and dispose of plastic, the researchers concluded. Marine mammals are ingesting microplastics Scientists still do not understand the possible impact of microplastics in the health of marine mammals and ocean health, in general. But existing studies on marine life point to plastic pollution as one of the main culprits behind frequent beachings and deaths of marine mammals like seals and dolphins. In 2019, for instance, researchers from the University of Exeter and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in England studied 50 marine mammals, including dolphins, that had been stranded around the coasts of Britain. The group found that all 50 animals sampled had ingested microplastics. Lead author Sarah Nelms said that their findings are shocking but not surprising. Nelms and her team found that nylon made up more than 60 percent of the microplastics that the animals had ingested. The group suspected fishing ropes and nets as possible sources of these microplastics. Penelope Lindeque, the head of the marine plastics research group at PLM and a member of the research team, said that the ubiquitous presence of plastic is disconcerting. She has found microplastics in all sorts of marine animals, including zooplankton and turtles, as part of her research. (Related: Microplastic pollution is changing ocean ecosystems.) The ocean is a soup of microplastics, said Lindeque. Chemicals from these plastics could be leaching into the ocean and poisoning marine animals, she added. There are also recent studies that affirm this might be so. In 2019, for example, scientists found high amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), among other toxic pollutants, in the blubber of bottlenose dolphins in the English Channels Normanno-Breton Gulf. PCBs, a group of chemicals found in plastics, had been banned for decades because of their potential to harm both animals and humans. But these chemicals still remain in oceans and landfills decades after the ban because of their extreme resistance to degradation. These studies indicate a pressing need for humans to reduce their plastic use. In doing so, humans can better protect marine life, said Lindeque. Read more articles about ocean health and plastic pollution at OceanHealthNews.com. Sources include: ScienceDaily.com Nature.com TheGuardian.com DailyMail.co.uk I am one of them. For my family, it is hereditary. My father had a kidney transplant, as did my uncle. My aunt, like me, gives herself a daily, nine-hour dialysis treatment to help keep her kidneys functioning. Needless to say, my family members are enthusiastic supporters of organ donation. I began dialysis treatments in May 2019. I have been on the donor list for three years. I actually made it to the door and saw it open. My doctor called and said they had a donor. I was admitted to the hospital and went through the pre-op process. Then it was determined that the kidney was not as suitable as they had thought, and the door closed again. It can be a stressful wait, but I have strong faith which has helped me put everything into perspective. My family has helped me through this, too. Like God, my wife, Bridget, is a rock, as are my children. Because of my familys history with kidney disease, I will not ask my children to donate a kidney, as they may have issues of their own later in life. My daughter, Avery, is beginning law school in the fall and my son, Trae, is studying computer engineering, which is my field of study. I am the dean of information technology at Metropolitan Community College, and I am looking forward to many more years in that position. Much of the open source sustainability discussion has focused on the one thing that really needs no help being sustained: software. As Tobie Langel rightly points out, Open source code isnt a scarce resource. Its the exact opposite, actually: Its infinitely reproducible at zero cost to the user and to the ecosystem. Nor is sustainability really a matter of funding, though this gets closer to the truth. No, open source sustainability is really a people problem. Or, as Langel highlights, In open source, the maintainers working on the source code are the scarce resource that needs to be protected and nurtured. The community is the commons Over the past several weeks, Ive interviewed a number of maintainers for popular open source projects. In every case, they talked about how they contribute because its fun, but also acknowledged that some aspects of open source development can make it decidedly un-fun (e.g., demanding users who complain about missing features or existing bugs but dont contribute code or fixes). Most have found ways to turn their passion into financial independence, but Langel stresses that cash is critical to keeping open source humming along: Its precisely this ability of open source code to be reproducible infinitely and at no cost which puts the system at risk. Without revenue, there is no maintenance, and without maintenance, the commons becomes toxic very quickly. Why is that? Because the ecosystem changes at a rapid pace. As new paradigms are invented, reliance on older open source assets becomes a liability that prevents you from adapting quickly to changes in your business. As new security issues are discovered, open source code that isnt updated becomes a security risk. In other words, precisely because theres a big pool of code that costs nothing to reproduce, the removal of people to actively maintain it creates all sorts of issues. In Langels words, the commons deteriorates instead of flourishes at the lack of human intervention. There are many reasons open source contributors might find it hard to justify contributing to a project. Remember the f-word I used above? (Fun.) Communities can become toxic cesspools, warding off would-be contributors. Or they can be welcoming to newbies. As Red Hats Lili Cosic detailed, the Kubernetes community has heavily invested in tools and policies that make it a positive experience for contributors. In the long run [the Kubernetes approach] will create more diversity in the kinds of contributors you can have, she said. Its more than money Ultimately, this feels like an even bigger issue than money, yet money does play a part. Developers need to be able to pay the rent, just like anyone else. This is one reason that Drupal and Acquia founder Dries Buytaert has been correct to point out that open source really is a matter of privilege: A relatively small percentage of people can afford to contribute in their free time. Free time isnt free. Even those developers who are getting paid to contribute are constantly evaluating different options for where to spend their open source time. As Aimee Maree points out, With all the money [in open source] we should not be expecting free work. The current issues are and have been more around how we maintain contributors and why would new people want to join [a particular community] when its a day job. Some developers will put up with garbage behavior in their company, but only until they can find something better. In open source, theres even less reason to put up with abuse because theyre not employees, theyre contributors. Even those who are paid by their employers to contribute dont necessarily contribute for those employers. Not directly, anyway. As Cosic said of her Kubernetes work: Anytime I make a decision in terms of features, I never think of it from a Red Hat point of view. I think, Is this something that the project is meant for? Madelyn Olson, a contributor to Redis (and AWS employee), said the same: Im not a [Redis] maintainer on behalf of AWS, Im a maintainer on behalf of myself.... We should only be contributing stuff thats good for the community and not just good for AWS. This is how open source works: code written by individuals as part of a community. The code itself isnt scarce, but the people who write it are. Which is why Langel is absolutely correct to argue, In an ecosystem with infinite resources, the attention needs to be on the people taking care of and maintaining that resource, because thats where the bottleneck is. Again, thats partly a question of money, but its even more a question of treating people with dignity and respect, while making open source communities a fun, welcoming place. Read more about open source: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 07:28 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066eef452 1 City abortion,Central-Jakarta Free The Jakarta Police have arrested six medical workers for allegedly facilitating illegal abortions at a clinic in the Raden Saleh area in Central Jakarta. Three of them were doctors, another was a midwife and the other two were nurses, Jakarta Police general criminal investigation director Sr. Comr. Tubagus Ade Hidayat said in a release on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com. The police also arrested four administrators of the clinic, who had allegedly played the role of brokers, patient pick-up officers, fetal cleaners and drug buyers, as well as two couples requesting an abortion and a third party who had instructed the couples to do so. The arrest, which took place on Aug. 3, was a follow-up to the police discovery of the illegal practice during an investigation into another case involving the murder of Taiwanese baker Hsu Ming Hu. On July 24, Hsu, 52, was allegedly murdered by his personal secretary and romance partner, identified only as SS, 37, in his residence in Bekasi, West Java. Read also: Illegal abortion clinic reveals high demand amid shortage of formal facilities SS got pregnant and asked [Hsu] for money for an abortion. From there, we developed [the investigation], Tubagus said. The Raden Saleh clinic, Tubagus said, was where SS went for the abortion, before she learned that Hsu had wanted to marry his household assistant instead -- the latter of which led to the murder. Raden Saleh has earned a reputation as an area where illegal abortion services are available in Jakarta, where clinics can operate for years, with unclear permits and medical personnel without an obstetrics background. Based on the 2009 Health Law, abortion is allowed only for pregnancies that pose a medical risk or for pregnancies caused by rape, which can lead to psychological trauma. Experts have urged the government to provide better facilities for safe procedures as high demand for abortion in Jakarta persists. (syk) Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 17:39:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARARE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe reported six more coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, raising the country's death toll to 141. All the six deaths occured in the capital, Harare. The Ministry of Health and Child Care on Wednesday morning reported 70 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the country's total to 5,378. Sixty-seven of the new cases are local infections and three are citizens who returned from Botswana, the ministry said. The country reported 257 recoveries, raising total recoveries in the country to 4,105, with active cases now standing at 1,132. The Zimbabwe government on Tuesday reviewed curfew provisions and extended business operating hours to allow for greater convenience for the public. The curfew, which started last month and ran from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., will now start from 8 p.m. and end at 6 a.m. Business operating hours, which would end at 3 p.m., have been extended to 4:30 p.m., and citizens that test negative upon return to the country are no longer required to be quarantined. Enditem - Karua argued there was no more oversight in the running of government as parliament was no longer performing its role as it was being held hostage Uhuru and Raila - The veteran politician said the duo should form a coalition government so as to give a chance to other parties to form the minority - In June, it emerged Jubilee and ODM were planning to field a joint presidential candidate against Deputy President William Ruto in the next General Election Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has lashed out at President Uhuru Kenyatta for "sleeping " on his job despite being re-elected for a second term in office. The politician who is referred to as the iron lady argued former prime minister Raila Odinga articulated government policies clearly than the head of state despite not being officially in it. READ ALSO: CJ David Maraga free to suspend errant judges after petition to limit his powers flops Narc kenya Party leader Martha Karua. She served as Justice minister in Mwai Kibaki's gov't. Photo: Martha Karua. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for August 19: Ruto, Raila unite in calling out Uhuru's gov't following arrest of 3 senators Speaking to NTV, Karua, however, told the AU infrastructure envoy and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party to decide whether to remain in the Opposition or join the government side. "The unofficial arrangement between ODM and Jubilee is unconstitutional and untenable. Our Constitution is very clear that there shall be a majority party and a minority one. The ODM party members are still holding positions for the minority side and collecting packs yet they aren't delivering to Kenyans. It is okay to have a handshake and a unity of purpose but you have to decide whether you're in Opposition or government. ODM is now having their cake and eating it. If you listen in parliament, the people articulating gov't policies the loudest are in ODM not Jubilee. And outside parliament, the former PM is the one who articulates government policy better than Uhuru." READ ALSO: Wandani wapya wa DP Ruto wafanya mkutano kisiri The veteran politician said Uhuru and Raila should form a coalition government so as to give a chance to other parties to form the minority in parliament. Karua said there was no more oversight in the running of government as parliament was no longer performing its role as it had been held hostage by the duo. "ODM as the minority party has let Kenyans down because they do not know their position. They play both government and Opposition," said Karua. READ ALSO: HIV positive man who thought disease would kill him celebrates 30th birthday Joint presidential candidate In June, it emerged Jubilee and ODM were planning to field a joint presidential candidate against Deputy President William Ruto in the next General Election. The outfit's chairman John Mbadi said a coalition between the ruling and the Orange party "is not a secret". He noted the Opposition party was currently focussed on signing a cooperation pact before considering a coalition agreement later. 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 Barry Avrich is an acclaimed, award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker, who has made more than 30 films and authored three books. He is known for his films The Last Mogul about legendary talent agent Lew Wasserman; Prosecuting Evil that centered on lawyer Benjamin Ferencz's prosecution of Nazi war criminals; The Reckoning about the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and the launch of the #MeToo movement; and most recently David Foster's life in Off the Record. The 57-year-old has penned his account of first learning of Jeffrey Epstein after he spotted him with Ghislaine Maxwell in Florida and details his efforts to make a documentary about the pedophile three years before his death. It was December 2016 in Palm Beach, Florida. I was having lunch with my family at an upscale restaurant tucked away in one of the many alleys off the famed Worth Avenue when Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were shown a table that was far away from the usual Palm Beach A-listers. Epstein did not want to be noticed nor did he acknowledge the rich and powerful in the room. I had no idea that I was sitting next to the alleged Bonnie and Clyde of child abuse - it was nearly three years before Epsteins death and eight years after he quietly pleaded guilty to Florida state charges (one of two) of procuring minors for the purposes of prostitution. Surprisingly, most convicted sex offenders in Florida are sent to state prison, yet Epstein negotiated a brief 18-month sentence, housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade. He was a billionaire with a circle of high wattage friends and yet his admission of guilt to detestable crimes, including unlawful sex with minors and sex abuse, received very little media attention and were largely unknown to the general public. A few tables away at the popular Italian restaurant - a well known 'see-and-be-seen' eatery called Bice Ristorante - I was immediately intrigued by Epstein. Award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker Barry Avrich was dining at an upscale restaurant in Palm Beach in 2016 when he saw Jeffrey Epstein walk in with Ghislaine Maxwell Avrich's sighting of the former couple (pictured together in 2005) occurred in December of 2016. Yet Maxwell's legal team has argued in court that she has not talked to Epstein in at least a decade Avrich writes: 'The waiters knew what to bring him without him ordering and his conversation was hushed in an intimate way as he kept his head down'. Pictured: The well known 'see-and-be-seen' Italian restaurant called Bice Ristorante Perhaps its the documentarian in me, I needed to know who he was. My wife kept telling me not to stare. The waiters knew what to bring him without him ordering and his conversation was hushed in an intimate way as he kept his head down. He was deeply tanned, casually dressed and avoided the perquisite Palm Dress code of jungle chic or garish green or salmon colored pants. On the way out of the restaurant, I pressed a $20 bill in Francescos hand, the white jacketed Maitre D, to get some information. His response was a little ominous in his thick Italian accent: 'Thats Mr. Epstein and his girlfriend, I wouldnt bother saying hello.' The minute I returned back to the hotel I dug into the mysterious world of Jeffrey Epstein. I was astounded by what I uncovered and even more shocked on how he used his political connections and vast wealth to essentially get a slap on the wrist for rape and the sexual abuse of minors. I reached out to Vanity Fair writer Vicky Ward who had previously interviewed Epstein and she helped fill in the blanks for me on Epsteins notorious yet shielded reputation. If indeed it was Maxwell that Epstein was lunching with, as I believe it was, that would prove to be quite revelatory. Her lawyers claimed in court that she had not been in contact with the disgraced financier in over 10 years. That was later disproved as unsealed documents exposed a continuing long email thread between them. And in my experience researching partners in crime, their perversity and determination rarely dissipates. But what would happen next would shake me to the core. The documentary maker's interest was piqued and began looking into Epstein, learning of the pedophile's crimes Avrich even drove to Epstein's Florida home (pictured) where he saw two young girls exit. He wrote: 'They had girl-next-door looks and were simply dressed in shorts and tank tops... I did notice they had vacant and sad expressions' GHISLAINE MAXWELL CLAIMED SHE DIDN'T TALK TO EPSTEIN IN A DECADE - BUT EMAILS, DELIVERIES AND EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS, SAY OTHERWISE Ghislaine Maxwell has insisted she had nothing to do with Epstein for at least a decade. Lawyers for the socialite-turned-alleged-madam said in court that Maxwell had no contact with the convicted child molester 'for more than a decade' after he was released from his initial prison sentence in 2008. 'On August 10, 2019, Epstein died in federal custody, and the media focus quickly shifted to our client wrongly trying to substitute her for Epstein even though she'd had no contact with Epstein for more than a decade,' her attorneys, Mark Cohen and Jeffrey Pagliuca, wrote to the court. Yet emails, photos obtained by DailyMail.com and documentary maker Barry Avrich's eye-witness account seem to prove different. Recently unsealed court documents contain email correspondence between Maxwell and Epstein in January 2015. Court papers pertaining to a 2015 deposition civil defamation case against Maxwell included a January 2015 email Epstein sent to Maxwell insisting she had 'done nothing wrong' In them, Epstein tells his former girlfriend that she had 'done nothing wrong' and to 'start acting like it' after she was sued by Virginia Roberts. The email was in response to a message Maxwell had sent the previous day saying she 'would appreciate it if shelley would come out and say she was your g'friend.' 'I think she was from end 99 to 2002,' she wrote. DailyMail.com recently exclusively uncovered a photograph of a mysterious box labeled 'Mr. Jeffrey Epstein' being delivered to her apartment that same month. DailyMail.com has exclusively uncovered a photograph of a mysterious box labeled 'Mr. Jeffrey Epstein' being delivered to her apartment in January 2015 The picture was taken on January 6, 2015 as a DHL delivery truck was unloading parcels at Maxwell's Manhattan townhouse, just seven city blocks from the huge home where Epstein lived and abused dozens of young girls. And Barry Avrich claims to have seen the former couple discreetly dining together at an upscale Palm Beach restaurant in December of 2016. Avrich's sighting would make it the most recent time they have been linked together in public. Advertisement I had my wife drive me to Epsteins house on 358 El Brillo Way in Palm Beach in the hopes of getting a closer look. The house was carefully set back behind enormous shrubbery and a huge steel fence that prevented any way to look in. We sat outside for a while and contemplated the lurid crimes and wondered if he was still up to his old tricks. The next day, I walked back to the house and I was beyond shocked. Two young teenage girls were exiting the house. They had girl-next-door looks and were simply dressed in shorts and tank tops. I absolutely had no proof these girls were abused or were part of Epsteins documented seduction of girls from low income neighborhoods who took his money in exchange for depravity. But I did notice they had vacant and sad expressions. I also had a look at the flight manifest of his jet the media called Lolita Express' that he used to transport his inner circle and alleged victims to his private Caribbean island and his wealthy party guests. The names were staggering. I decided then and there that I would make a documentary and try to catch him in the act. After consulting with a criminal lawyer, I devised a plan that would include sending in legally aged women into Epsteins house but have them appear much younger. I would wire them with sound and hidden cameras and hopefully film him confessing his depraved preferences and potentially soliciting them to find other underage girls. This was something he and his partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly tended to do. I was genuinely concerned about the safety of these women, so I reached out to a retired police detective and a security firm to partner with, in case things escalated or became violent. While I was planning my film, the book Filthy Rich was published exposing Epsteins expedited and lenient journey through the justice system. The same book would be the basis of the Netflix series that was recently launched. At that time, although salacious and filled with a whos who of alleged co-conspirators, the book did nothing to spook Epstein or cause any real interest in the scandal. I decided I needed to turn up the heat on the film and I leaked my plans to make a documentary to The New York Posts Page Six - what happened next was extraordinary. I was flooded with calls and emails from Epsteins victims and anti-sex trafficking groups and others actually offering to fund the film. A few of the victims that reached out to me remained Jane Does, fearing Epstein, but described disgusting behavior that ran the gamut from gang rapes to pathetic pleading for sexual gratification and to forced abuse. They were minors. One of them told me that Maxwell was present and that she offered cash bonuses if they could procure other girls. Another Jane Doe claimed Epstein threatened to harm her and her family if she ever disclosed what happened. She went back numerous times and was abused each time. The groups that represented victims were delirious that someone was finally going to take Epstein down. They recounted frustrating stories of how his well-oiled sex abuse machine was protected and yet not unknown by both journalists and the police. This was beginning to sound like A Clock Work Orange meets Eyes Wide Shut double bill. A day after the item ran in the Post, I received a haunting call from a retired Palm Beach police officer. He warned me that I was playing with fire and that Epstein had the resources and connections to hurt me both physically and financially. He told me that Epstein used private security firms that played dirty. He scared me sufficiently but in the coming months, I never heard from Epstein. I continued my research and was uncovering beyond disgusting details about lurid abuse and the gang rapes of so many children. I was horrified that Epstein put on a tuxedo and attended galas with Maxwell and then went home to one of his many houses of horrors and abused children. Nothing satiated Epstein and I was beginning to wonder who the audience was for this film. Avrich decided to make a documentary about Epstein and later received a 'haunting' call from a retired Palm Beach police officer. The officer warned him that he ' was playing with fire and that Epstein had the resources and connections to hurt me both physically and financially' Avrich dropped the project because he couldn't stomach the vile stories about Epstein when he had a young daughter himself. He writes: 'From what we understood even then, Maxwell was Epsteins well documented partner in crime... When I finally got her cell phone number from a source, she told me to 'screw off' and hung up' Regardless of the offers to finance the film through various sources, I wanted a premium studio or streamer to partner with. I would soon find out that Hollywood at that time, only four years ago, had very little appetite for this film. As I would make the rounds to the usual suspects, the general response was that the infamous Jeffrey Epstein was not in fact famous enough and so without a real hook despite his famous friends and enablers, they passed. One powerful agent recommended that I partner with a producer who had just been nominated for an Oscar for 13th, a 2016 documentary by director Ava DuVernay. The day I met him, he was in a surly mood. The Academy allowed 'O.J: Made In America' to compete despite its television window and it beat his film. Perfect timing. I pitched the project and he quickly told me he was not going to sully his reputation and follow an Oscar nominated film with a film about a pedophile. My Uber was longer than this meeting. And this was how the story played out all over town. There was no appetite for a film. One streamer actually said to me: 'If the guy kills himself, you have yourself a feature, but not now.' How prophetic. Not having a pre-sale has never stopped me before, but what was now giving me pause was a combination of the faces that belonged to the disgusting stories of grotesque abuse and the innocence and lives this man destroyed and the complete disappearance of Ghislaine Maxwell. From what we understood even then, Maxwell was Epsteins well documented partner in crime and as we know she was eventually charged with four counts related to procuring and transporting minors for illegal sex acts. Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He committed suicide in his jail cell that August. Maxwell was arrested this July in connection to Epstein's sex trafficking ring. Her trial is set for next summer Avrich writes: 'In reflection, it became obvious that making this film or series on Epstein would involve having to do the almost inconceivable task of untangling the devious web of conflict of interests that kept Epstein virtually untouchable for decades. This included his powerful and rich friends, politicians and people like Alex Acosta (pictured) When I finally got her cell phone number from a source, she told me to 'screw off' and hung up. Ultimately, what made me decide to abort this project was that I found it difficult to keep reading the horror stories and look in the eyes of my 12-year-old daughter. I decided to drop the project and make 'Prosecuting Evil', a more noble film about a legendary prosecutor who successfully prosecuted Nazis. In reflection, it became obvious that making this film or series on Epstein would involve having to do the almost inconceivable task of untangling the devious web of conflict of interests that kept Epstein virtually untouchable for decades. This included his powerful and rich friends, politicians like a circuit court judge who continues to refuse to unseal grand jury records related to Epsteins charges in Florida almost 15 years ago and people like Alex Acosta, who served in Donald Trumps Cabinet with William Barr. Acosta was the U.S. Attorney in Miami where Epstein received his shameful plea deal. Barrs father was the headmaster of an elite New York City school that hired college dropout Epstein to teach math. On the day Epstein killed himself, I was not surprised. And I do not subscribe to any theory that he was murdered, in fact, I was told by well-placed sources that the jail guards were paid off through his associates to look the other way while he killed himself. Since the Filthy Rich series has premiered, so many people have asked me if I feel I missed the opportunity or made a mistake not pursuing the film. My response is simple: I am happy with how the story ends. Snapdocs, Inc., the mortgage industrys leading digital closing solution, today announced a new integration with lenders point of sale (POS) systems. This integration allows lenders to provide a seamless, branded experience to borrowers from the loan application all the way through closing. Now, instead of creating multiple logins to complete tasks in different systems, borrowers enjoy a consistent digital experience throughout the homebuying process. The integration is available for both third-party POS systems and homegrown systems built by a lenders internal teams. In either case, borrowers often begin their journey by getting pre-approved through a lenders POS system. Borrowers log into the same system to calculate payments, apply for the loan, and more, as the homebuying process unfolds. When its time for borrowers to preview and eSign closing documents, the Snapdocs integration guides them to login through the same POS system the borrower already knows and is comfortable using. Snapdocs simply sends the borrower an email which takes them to the lenders POS system. Using single sign-on technology, the integration allows borrowers to use the same secure username and password they created for their lenders POS system to login and complete their closing in Snapdocs. If theyre already logged in, borrowers are automatically authenticated and sent to their closing in Snapdocs. If theyre not logged in, borrowers use the same secure username and password created for the lenders POS system to login and complete their closing in Snapdocs. The integration is available now and has been implemented by LoanSnap in southern California. With support from the Snapdocs customer success team, LoanSnap implemented the integration in two days with one internal engineer. We pride ourselves on having built the easiest-to-use website for our borrowers. When theyre used to everything being simple and easy all the way through the mortgage process, its jarring to suddenly toss them into another system and have them create a new account for the closing. Being able to have borrowers go straight into Snapdocs, using our existing login system, and quickly eSign the closing documents has made the mortgage experience simpler for them, said Allan Carroll, founder and CTO of LoanSnap. We believe borrowers deserve a seamless online mortgage experience, regardless of the parties or technologies involved, said Aaron King, CEO and founder of Snapdocs. Snapdocs SSO means our lenders can provide this while building a best-in-breed tech stack instead of settling for subpar options. ### About Snapdocs Founded in 2013, Snapdocs is the mortgage industrys leading digital closing platform. With its patented AI technology and connected platform, Snapdocs is on a mission to perfect mortgage closings for all. Powering millions of closings a year, Snapdocs is leading the charge to modernize, streamline, and improve the mortgage process for lenders, borrowers, and settlement. Snapdocs is the only solution with a proven track record of creating a single, scalable process for every closing. Every day, over 90,000 mortgage professionals rely on Snapdocs to automate manual work and digitize paper processes that plague the industry. Snapdocs is a rapidly growing San Francisco based real estate technology company backed by Silicon Valley venture capital funds, like Sequoia, F-Prime Capital, Y Combinator, Founders Fund, and SV Angel. To learn more, please visit snapdocs.com. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has started construction of a new community-focused, eco-friendly resort in the desert canyons of Ashar Valley AlUla following the signing of a new partnership with Habitas. RCU is expanding AlUlas economic opportunities through light-touch tourism and sustainable development, while Habitas is redefining modern luxury by focusing on bringing likeminded but diverse travellers together, who prioritise human connection and experiences over the traditional luxury experience of five-star hotels, said a statement. Habitas, a brand popular with a new generation of discerning travellers, has resorts in Tulum, Mexico, and in other locations in Asia and Africa. It began as a diverse community of people who would come together around immersive events, seeking human connection, authentic experiences and a better future. AlUla, in north-western Saudi Arabia and home to the countrys first Unesco World Heritage Site, Hegra, has undergone an experiential tourism transformation in recent years. AlUlas heritage sites are set to re-open to visitors in October. With the first phase delivering 50 keys by the first quarter of 2021, Habitas is planning to empower and enable AlUlas communities through micro-economies within the hotel, tourism, and the wider hospitality industries. This approach reflects RCU and Habitas shared focus on social and sustainable development. Amr AlMadani, CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla, said: This agreement reflects our commitment to making AlUla a global destination that offers visitors unique, authentic experiences as we protect, share and celebrate our natural and cultural heritage. Construction is underway, a fact that signals that we are actively opening up new opportunities for regional and international investors in the hospitality sector while empowering and enabling our community. Oliver Ripley, CEO of Habitas, added: From our very first trip to AlUla we were really inspired by the people we met and by its natural beauty and heritage. Travel is an incredible gift to create greater compassion and understanding in the world between different people and cultures. We are grateful to RCU for the opportunity to create our home here and invite our community to discover the unique history of AlUla, to share unforgettable experiences and adventures, and make new friends that stay with us long after we leave. Ripley continued: RCUs approach to sustainable development aligns very closely to our values and DNA and in our mission to support local communities. The world, now more than ever, needs to create places for people to reconnect with one another and with nature. Guided by 12 strategic principles drawn from the commissions Framework Plan and Charter, AlUlas approach to development balances innovation with heritage, arts and culture while unlocking economic potential to provide new opportunities for the local community. The collaboration further supports RCUs Cultural Manifesto for AlUla, which details the principle cultural landscape developments planned for the area over the next 10 years. By 2035, RCU expects to host two million visitors annually. Habitass unique vertical integration (design, off-site modular construction, operations) allows it to create its hotels using sustainable materials, manufactured in its facilities in Mexico and delivered and assembled on-site minimising its impact on the environment. This approach supports RCUs commitment to achieving on-time delivery as AlUla prepares to welcome visitors for the winter season. The first phase, which includes delivery of 50 keys, will be completed in the first quarter of 2021 with more phases scheduled for completion later next year. Designed to blend seamlessly with AlUlas landscape and heritage, the resort will also emphasise experiential luxury through unique, culturally engaging, authentic experiences that immerse guests in the environment, heritage and people of the AlUla region. The framework for inclusive community projects includes a number of initiatives that will be rolled-out in phases: Sourcing local handicrafts for an authentic guest experience. To support this endeavour, Habitas will collaborate with the AlUla Girls School, a former girls-only school that was transformed into a lively hub for AlUla nurturing local artists and artisans. This joint effort is enhanced by Turquoise Mountain and the Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts, both of which already operate in the Kingdom to develop crafts markets and enable artisans from Saudi Arabia. Training schools for local staff who will welcome guests to AlUla - their home - moving beyond the us and them nature of many tourist destinations to create an immersive cultural experience. Developing local artisanal crafts as hotel consumables, creating local jobs based around local artisans, skills, and products. Habitas has already made a tradition of welcome bracelets as gifts for its guests in its other resorts, but also sourcing uniforms, furniture, candles all made using local sustainable materials by local artisans. Showcasing local Saudi artists through collaborations and installations at the Habitas resort. Localising food supplies by sourcing from AlUlas farmers and setting up cooking classes led by local chefs. Establishing community-tourist links through meet and eat experiences with residents and farmers, visits to schools, and local staff. Promoting local conservation efforts by building awareness among guests/tourists of local sustainability and environmental causes. AlUlas human history began more than 200,000 years ago, yet only recently has modern tourism begun to discover the depth and diversity of its experiences and attractions. Archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world are rediscovering this cultural landscape as RCU supports the economic diversification, community empowerment and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 programme. Located 1,100 km from Riyadh in north-west Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering approximately 23,000 sq km, includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years. The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra. A 52-hectare ancient city, Hegra was the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and comprises more than 100 well preserved tombs with elaborate facades cut into sandstone outcrops. Current research suggests Hegra was the most southern outpost of the Romans after conquering the Nabataeans in 106 CE. In addition to Hegra, AlUla is home to a series of fascinating historical and archaeological sites such as: Ancient Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms, which is considered one of the most developed 1st-millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula; thousands of ancient rock art sites and inscriptions; and Hijaz Railway stations. - TradeArabia News Service Children line up to get onto the bus after the first day of school at Goodwin Frazier Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019. MIKALA COMPTON | Herald-Zeitung Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-18 23:54:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The China-developed Z-19E armed helicopter makes its maiden flight in Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua File/Liu Yang) "China has always taken a prudent and responsible approach and exercised strict control on its arms export," said Li Song, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, adding a full-fledged policy and legislative system of export control on conventional arms has been established in the country. GENEVA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will firmly support the purpose and objective of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and faithfully fulfill its obligations, a senior Chinese diplomat said here on Monday. In a statement to the Sixth Conference of States Parties to ATT, scheduled between Aug. 17 to 21 and being conducted through written procedure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Li Song, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, said that China supports the international community to take all necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and to combat illicit transfer of conventional arms. Li told the conference that China's accession to the ATT is a significant step of its active participation in the global governance on arms trade and in safeguarding international and regional peace and stability. The ATT will enter into force for China on Oct. 4 of 2020. "China has always taken a prudent and responsible approach and exercised strict control on its arms export," Li said, adding that a full-fledged policy and legislative system of export control on conventional arms has been established in the country. He proposed to enhance the universality and effectiveness of the ATT, to enhance the interaction and coordination among relevant mechanisms on conventional arms control in the framework of the UN, and to enhance the sense of responsibility in arms trade. "China is ready to join hands with all parties, including the States Parties to the ATT, to consolidate consensus and make greater contributions to the effective implementation of the ATT, to the establishment of a fair and regulated international order of arms trade, and to safeguarding the international and regional peace and stability," said the ambassador. Company Reports Record Fiscal Second Quarter 2020 TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE:GLH) (OTCQB:GLDFF) (Golden Leaf or the Company), a premier consumer-driven cannabis company specializing in retail, production, processing, wholesale, and distribution, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. All financial results are stated in US dollars, unless otherwise noted. Management believes that GLH is substantially undervalued compared to its peers. We have demonstrated the ability to achieve significant growth while navigating the COVID-19 crisis, and its impact on the market as well as our partners in each jurisdiction, stated Jeff Yapp, Chief Executive Officer of GLH. The Company focused on growing sales in Oregon, a tactical decision made to offset unexpected shut-down related losses in Nevada, and slower than expected growth in its other markets. We brought a laser focus to the areas that we believed provided the greatest opportunity for growth, continued Yapp. And we did it everywhere. The teams disciplined approach to the Companys front lines helped us drive innovation, maximize results, and further distinguish us from the competition, despite challenges facing the world and the industry. We believe we are turning the corner and can comfortably put past missteps behind us. GLH remains laser-focused on operational excellence. Q2 Financial Highlights: Record quarterly revenues from continuing operations of $5.5M, an increase of 40% compared to the second quarter of 2019 and 16% greater than the first quarter of 2020. This increase was led by record second quarter Chalice Farms retail revenues of $3.7M. Retail growth was driven by an increase in total tickets of 16% and average ticket size of 16% compared to the second quarter of 2019. Record year to date revenues from continuing operations of $10.2M, an increase of 40% compared to the first half of 2019, driven by Chalice Farms retail revenues and Oregon wholesale revenues. Same store sales growth in the Chalice Farms network of 34% versus the three months ended June 30, 2019 and 25% for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Oregon wholesale revenues up 96% year over year driven by improved supply chain and forecasting resulting in stabilization of inventory levels. Lowest quarterly cash used in operations in Company history of $137,000. Adjusted EBITDA loss (non-IFRS) was $0.7M for the three months ended June 30, 2020, off $0.1M sequentially due primarily to the shortfall in third party toll processing revenues. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure, which the Company considers important in assessing operations. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA (non-IFRS) to income (loss) before income taxes, please see below. Adjusted EBITDA loss (non-IFRS) was $1.4M for the six months ended June 30, 2020, an improvement of $2.5M or 64% compared to the six months ended June 30, 2019 driven by operational efficiencies, increased revenues and reduced G&A expenses and savings related to headcount. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure, which the Company considers important in assessing operations. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA (non-IFRS) to income (loss) before income taxes, please see below. Gross profit before fair value items was $1.5M, flat compared to the same period a year ago and down compared to the first quarter due to the unexpected shutdown and related losses in Nevada as well as the shortfall in third party toll processing revenues in Oregon and the reversal of an audit related adjustment in the first quarter of 2020. Gross profit margin excluding fair value items of $(0.2)M and adjusted for extraordinary circumstances in Nevada $(0.2) and the write-off of inventory deposits in California $(0.1) was $1.8M (non-IFRS), equal to a gross margin rate (after these adjustments) of 33% which is favorable versus the average gross profit margin rate during Fiscal 2019 and only slightly off from 37% in the first quarter 2020, due to the shortfall of third-party revenues as mentioned previously. Lowered operating expenses to $3.1M, a reduction of $0.7M compared to the same quarter of 2019 and $0.2M compared to the first quarter of 2020. Year to date for the six months ended June 30, 2020 operating expenses are down 22% compared to the same period of 2019. In early July, the Company obtained approval from its debenture holders to pay all interest in shares, allowing for continued cash preservation as the Company continues the pursuit of becoming cash flow positive operationally. The Company has sufficient cash on hand to meet its short-term obligations and has strong support from all stakeholders to continue to navigate this period of extraordinary growth, while contemplating various non-dilutive capital opportunities to invest further in the Companys established retail network. Story continues The Company continues to drive top line growth out of Oregon, while gaining momentum in California and Washington. Discipline, rationalizing head count, optimizing inventory and scrutinizing payables turnover will continue to fuel our growth further added Yapp. Preliminary July Financial Results Record revenues continued in July 2020. The Company produced preliminary unaudited estimated revenues of $2.0M at an estimated gross margin of 33%, led by Chalice Farms retail revenues of $1.4M and Oregon wholesale revenues of $0.5M. The Companys Crawl, Walk, Run strategy helped us build the momentum needed for a great Q1 and Q2, said Yapp. Delivery, online ordering and driving innovation in customer experience has led to really solid growth in retail. We are maximizing service to our customers with new products, education and humanity. Our teams have shown up for our customers and continue to perform above our expectations. As of June 30, 2020, the Company offers, directly and through its partners, over 145 SKUs across 23 product lines all under Chalice brands, in four jurisdictions: Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington. Disclaimer Regarding Preliminary Financial Information The financial information presented in this news release for July 2020 is based on preliminary, unaudited financial statements prepared by management. Accordingly, such financial information may be subject to change. Such financial information is qualified in its entirety with reference to the Company's unaudited financial statements for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020, which will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) in November 2020. While the Company does not expect there to be any material changes to the July 2020 financial information presented in this news release, to the extent that it is inconsistent with the information contained in the Company's unaudited financial statements for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020, the financial information contained in this news release shall be deemed to be modified or superseded by the Company's unaudited financial statements. The making of a modifying or superseding statement shall not be deemed an admission for any purposes that the modified or superseded statement, when made, constituted a misrepresentation for purposes of applicable securities laws. Investor Conference Call Golden Leaf Holdings 2020 Second Quarter Earnings Call Golden Leaf management, led by Mr. John Varghese, Executive Chairman and Mr. Jeff Yapp, Chief Executive Officer, will hold a conference call on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 5:00pm ET, to report its financial results for Q2 ended June 30, 2020. Please click here to register and stream the call, or use the following phone numbers: Toll Free: 1-877-407-0784 Toll/International: 1-201-689-8560 Conference ID: 13707968 A live audio webcast will be available online on the Companys website at www.goldenleafholdings.com where it will be archived for one year. An audio replay of the conference call will be available through midnight Tuesday, September 1, 2020 by dialing 1-844-512-2921 from the US or Canada, or 1-412-317-6671 from international locations. The conference ID is: 13707968. Q2 2020 Virtual Webinar GLH will host a Virtual Webinar for shareholders providing a corporate update and a summary of the second quarter. The webinar will be on Wednesday August 19th, at 5:00pm ET. Participants are asked to join approximately 10 minutes before the start of the Webinar. See below for the link to the live webinar. Register for the Webinar by visiting the following link: Q2 2020 Virtual Webinar Webcast Replay A replay will be available approximately one hour after the Webinar ends by following the registration link: Q2 2020 Virtual Webinar Replay About Golden Leaf Holdings: Golden Leaf Holdings is a premier consumer-driven cannabis company specializing in production, processing, wholesale, distribution and retail, with seven dispensaries in Portland, Oregon. The Company is committed to developing a dynamic portfolio built around the recognized brands of Chalice Farms, with a focus on health and wellness. Markets served include Oregon, California, Nevada and Washington. Visit glhmonthly.com for regular updates. Investor Relations: John Varghese Executive Chairman Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. 971-371-2685 ir@goldenleafholdings.com Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys future business operations, the opinions or beliefs of management and future business goals. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. 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 the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks include but are not limited to general business, economic and competitive uncertainties, regulatory risks, market risks, risks inherent in cultivation, manufacturing and retail operations such as unforeseen costs and production shutdowns, difficulties in maintaining brand loyalty, and other risks of the cannabis industry. Although the Company 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. There can be no assurance that such information 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 information. Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of presenting information about managements current expectations relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purpose. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration or an exemption from registration. GOLDEN LEAF HOLDINGS LTD. Interim Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited) As at June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 (Expressed in U.S. dollars) June 30, 2020 December 31, 2019 ASSETS CURRENT Cash $ 1,143,787 $ 3,531,202 Accounts receivable Note 5 212,036 167,178 Other receivables Note 5 and 11 1,005,984 447,901 Income tax recoverable - 74,034 Sales tax recoverable 327,168 271,866 Biological assets Note 7 233,508 88,078 Inventory Note 7 2,989,032 2,965,304 Prepaid expenses and deposits 432,301 325,329 Total current assets 6,343,816 7,870,892 Property, plant and equipment Note 8 2,831,237 3,723,489 Notes receivable Note 6 919,488 919,488 Right-of-use assets, net Note 9 4,089,643 4,333,064 Intangible assets Note 10 10,737,423 10,737,423 Goodwill Note 10 4,056,172 4,056,172 Total assets 28,977,779 31,640,528 LIABILITIES CURRENT Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 2,547,900 1,564,982 Interest payable 456,372 125,900 Income taxes payable 616,975 - Deferred income tax payable 248,852 248,852 Sales tax payable 209,527 187,520 Current portion of long-term debt Note 12 99,894 82,404 Notes payable Note 11 208,817 - Lease liability Note 12 887,070 843,238 Total current liabilities 5,275,407 3,052,896 Long term debt Note 12 - 29,952 Long term lease liability Note 12 4,084,551 4,090,806 Convertible debentures carried at fair value Note 11 4,653,136 4,706,141 Consideration payable - cash portion Note 12 4,517,477 4,218,866 Consideration payable - equity portion Note 12 4,854,132 4,940,667 Total liabilities 23,384,703 21,039,328 SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Share capital Note 13 147,926,008 147,763,499 Warrant reserve Note 14 1,554,929 1,980,217 Share option reserve Note 15 3,843,938 4,181,350 Contributed surplus 59,940 59,940 Deficit (147,791,739 ) (143,383,806 ) Total shareholders' equity 5,593,076 10,601,200 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 28,977,779 $ 31,640,528 GOLDEN LEAF HOLDINGS LTD. Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (Unaudited) For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 (Expressed in U.S. dollars) For the three months ended June 30, For the six months ended June 30, 2020 2019 2020 2019 Revenues Product sales Note 20 $ 5,312,655 $ 3,931,536 9,552,237 $ 7,660,495 Royalty and other revenue Note 20 204,078 8,286 634,800 210,356 Total Revenue 5,516,733 3,939,822 10,187,037 7,870,851 Inventory expensed to cost of sales Note 7, 20 4,041,207 2,465,737 7,005,399 4,981,167 Gross margin, excluding fair value items 1,475,526 1,474,085 3,181,638 2,889,684 Fair value changes in biological assets included in inventory sold Note 7, 20 (34,358 ) - (34,358 ) - Loss on changes in fair value of biological assets Note 7, 20 216,870 - 196,156 - Gross profit 1,293,014 1,474,085 3,019,840 2,889,684 Expenses: General and administration 2,190,871 2,867,526 4,499,030 5,744,595 Share based compensation Note 15 93,697 (82,216 ) 223,276 329,710 Sales and marketing 539,028 377,427 1,074,054 1,006,112 Depreciation and amortization Note 8, 9 230,278 560,571 535,738 1,076,501 Total expenses 3,053,874 3,723,308 6,332,098 8,156,918 Loss before items noted below (1,760,860 ) (2,249,223 ) (3,312,258 ) (5,267,234 ) Interest expense 547,743 753,308 1,098,844 1,484,309 Transaction costs 41,051 2,114 41,051 8,222 Loss on disposal of assets Note 8 310,017 109,856 317,839 92,911 Other (income) loss (9,781 ) 124,240 (38,220 ) (16,957 ) Gain on change in fair value of warrant liabilities - (82,101 ) - (581,763 ) Loss on change in fair value of convertible debentures Note 11 - 155,446 - 119,277 Loss before income taxes (2,649,890 ) (3,312,086 ) (4,731,772 ) (6,373,233 ) Current income tax expense 304,932 4,300 663,216 15,924 Net loss from continuing operations (2,954,822 ) (3,316,386 ) (5,394,988 ) (6,389,157 ) Loss from discontinued operations - (123,195 ) - (96,469 ) Net loss (2,954,822 ) (3,439,582 ) (5,394,988 ) (6,485,625 ) Other comprehensive loss Items that will be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss: Cumulative translation adjustment - 89,831 - 982,045 Comprehensive loss $ (2,954,822 ) $ (3,529,413 ) $ (5,394,988 ) $ (7,467,670 ) Basic and diluted loss per share from continuing operations $ (0.00 ) $ (0.01 ) $ (0.01 ) $ (0.01 ) Basic and diluted loss per share from discontinued operations $ - $ (0.00 ) $ - $ (0.00 ) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding 861,790,774 575,776,971 860,840,418 555,451,438 Adjusted EBITDA For the three months ended For the six months ended June 30, 2020 June 30, 2019 June 30, 2020 June 30, 2019 Loss before income taxes $ (2,649,890 ) $ (3,312,086 ) $ (4,731,772 ) $ (6,373,233 ) Adjustments: Net impact, fair value of biological assets 182,512 - 161,798 - Depreciation and amortization 503,044 560,571 1,071,389 1,076,501 Fair value changes on debt and equity instruments - 73,345 - (462,486 ) Share based compensation 93,697 (82,216 ) 223,276 329,710 Interest expense, net 547,743 753,308 1,098,844 1,484,309 Transaction costs 41,051 2,114 41,051 8,222 Start-up costs(1) - - 119,196 - Extraordinary losses(2) 236,000 - 236,000 - Impairments and other (9,781 ) 124,240 86,780 (16,957 ) Loss on disposal 310,017 109,856 317,839 92,911 Adjusted EBITDA $ (745,607 ) $ (1,770,868 ) $ (1,375,599 ) $ (3,861,023 ) (1) Write-off of significant start up costs related to the Company's California business (2) Losses experienced in Nevada due to unexpected shut down and facility abandonment due to COVID-19 US regulators have put a hold on the emergency approval process for the use of blood plasma taken from coronavirus survivors to treat people still battling the infection, an official told the New York Times. Plasma is rich in immune cells developed by the body as it combats coronavirus and some studies have suggested that transfusions of the blood component can bolster the immune systems of the sick. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was poised to give the treatment emergency use authorization (EUA), a sort of interim rapid approval. But last week, several top officials, including Dr Anthony Fauci, urged the FDA to slow down and wait for more data. It comes after data from the largest US study to-date on plasma, conducted by the Mayo Clinic but not yet published in a journal, found that COVID-19 patients that got the treatment earlier fared better than those who got it later. However, they weren't compared to people who got a placebo instead of plasma, and Dr Fauci as well as National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins were adamant that the evidence was not enough to show plasma actually works. Emergency use authorization for treating coronavirus patients with survivors' plasma (pictured) has been put on hold after top officials said the data on it is insufficient (file) It comes after the FDA gave the same authorization to hydroxychloroquine -the malaria drug now infamously promoted by President Trump - only only to have to strip the designation from the drug weeks later. With more than 170,000 fatalities, coronavirus is now the third leading cause of death in the US, and the urgency of effective treatments can't be over-stated. But particularly following the hydoroxychloroquine debacle, the FDA is wont to hastily approve treatment without solid data. Trump has turned his praise to plasma as well, calling it a 'beautiful ingredient' of blood of survivors. Plasma has been used for much longer to treat a far wider variety of infections than hydroxychloroquine, however, with generally better results and a safer profile. It was used in the 1880s before the discovery of antibiotics, in World War II, and to treat everything from scarlet fever to pertussis and even the 1918 Spanish flu (although results were mixed for the latter). Data from China suggested early on in the pandemic that antibody-rich plasma did in fact help coronavirus patients recover. Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci was among the officials to call for the approval process to be stalled And the FDA, Red Cross and hospitals across the US have been urging Americans who have recovered from coronavirus to donate their plasma to help others. But all plasma may not be created equal. Some studies have found only low levels of antibodies in the plasma of people who had only mild or asymptomatic COVID-19. Plus, antibody levels can decline sharply, especially in those who were not severely ill. Plasma from donors who had relatively weak immune responses may do little to help recipients. In the Mayo Clinic study of 35,000 coronavirus patients, timing was key. Of patients who got transfusions within three days of diagnosis, 21.6 percent ultimately died within a month, compared to 26.7 percent of those who received the treatment four or more days after diagnosis. But the main goal of the study, conducted with the NIH, was not to prove that plasma works, but expand access to the experimental treatment, pending FDA approval for it. So while its results were promising, they weren't enough to convince top officials that plasma is ready for authorization (which requires less proof than full approval). 'The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials, and that a pandemic does not change that,' Dr H Clifford Lane, clinical director at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) told the New York Times. That kind of data will only come from large trials comparing treatment with plasma to outcomes for patients who get a placebo, several of which are underway in the US. The struggle of part-time workers who go from job to job to eke out a living may also become a problem for everyone as COVID-19 cases surge. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The struggle of part-time workers who go from job to job to eke out a living may also become a problem for everyone as COVID-19 cases surge. The situation was recently highlighted in Brandon, where a cluster of cases that included some workers at the Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plant made national headlines. While case counts in the west Manitoba city are slowing, Brandon has a higher per capita rate of COVID-19 than hotspots in Alberta, and nearly 20 times as many cases per 100,000 people as Winnipeg. It likely has something to do with a number of part-time employees who need to work at more than one place to make a living, says one Brandon resident who knows their struggles. "A lot of people are worried. They have no choice but to go out to work, and they're worried they're going to catch it," said Wadood Myireh, who works full-time in the service sector. "They get mixed messages from different companies every company has a different protocol," when it comes to COVID-19, Wadood Myireh said. (Tim Smith / The Brandon Sun) Several public health advisories were issued this month about possible COVID-19 exposure in Brandon at such places as 7-Eleven, Sobeys, and Tim Hortons. "I know people who work at several places, so they may get exposed at more places, and they have a chance of (interacting with) more people," Myireh said Tuesday. Such workers are often immigrants and people of colour, said the man who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan and has lived in Brandon for seven years. "They're mostly from overseas they're the ones doing multiple jobs." During the pandemic, theyre also dealing with both a maze of shifts and rules at different workplaces. "They get mixed messages from different companies every company has a different protocol," when it comes to COVID-19, Myireh said. Some employers tell workers to go for COVID-19 testing and come back with proof of a negative result. But when they attempt to, they're turned away at testing sites because they have no symptoms and don't meet the criteria for testing, he said. On Monday, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer told employers to stop doing that. "Because of our high test numbers, we want to reserve (testing) for symptomatic people for the most part, so don't insist on asymptomatic employees providing test results," Dr. Brent Roussin said. Employers are asked to only send employees for testing if they have symptoms or if testing has been recommended by public health. Meanwhile, not being able to maintain a two-metre distance from each other and from customers, is stressful and nerve-racking for workers, Myireh said. "That's why people are worried." "I know people who work at several places, so they may get exposed at more places, and they have a chance of (interacting with) more people." Wadood Myireh They also fear unknowingly spreading the virus if they're infected but have no symptoms, Myireh said. It is something Manitobans should all be concerned about, anti-poverty and public health advocates say. Many low-paid part-time workers are driven by necessity to hold multiple jobs, putting themselves, their families, and workplaces at risk of COVID-19, said Molly McCracken, Manitoba director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "COVID is laying bare class inequities in the economy," McCracken said. "These workers are more likely to be women, and racialized," she said. "This could very well result in higher rates of the virus and more deaths in low- and moderate-income communities." A cluster of cases that included some workers at the Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plant made national headlines. (File) Even with full-time hours, Manitoba's minimum wage is far below a living wage, McCracken said. The province should immediately require paid sick days for all workers, raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and improve working conditions for precarious workers, she said. Liberal MLA, and former practising physician, Jon Gerrard said the perils of people having to work at multiple job sites during a pandemic were evident in deadly outbreaks of COVID-19 at personal care homes in other provinces. "It was recognized that we needed to get away from part-time people and having more full-time people," Gerrard said. If more people could work at one place full-time, everyone would benefit, agreed Myireh. "That would be the dream. That would create a healthy community." However, looking for a full-time job, upgrading education or advocating for a better system is beyond the reach of most. "The people are working part-time in more than one job they struggle and are exhausted and have weird hours. With that crazy schedule, you're not allowed free time," said Myireh. 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. "COVID is laying bare class inequities in the economy." Molly McCracken Also, when newcomers get stuck in part-time service-industry jobs, the unintended consequence is divisions are being created along racial lines, he said. "We should not be segregated." Meanwhile, Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest said the city is getting a grip on the recent surge of COVID-19 cases. "We had fabulous case numbers prior to this uptick: 70 days in a row without a single new case in Prairie Mountain," he said Tuesday. That ended after someone returned to Brandon from Eastern Canada and did not "perfectly" self-isolate, Chrest said. "We're hoping it's starting to get locked down... We had only one new case (Tuesday)." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca The Wireless Application Service Providers Association (WASPA) has launched a Do Not Contact database that lets any cellular user in South Africa opt out of SMS spam from its members. [It] represents a virtual Do Not Disturb service that can prevent unwanted direct marketing intrusions by SMS, WASPA announced. WASPA said that its database ensures that SMS-based direct marketing messages from WASPA members and their clients only reach mobile users who wish to receive them. The database is updated weekly. You can also remove your number from the database whenever you want. You only have to provide the phone numbers you want to be blocked no other personal information is required to be added to the DNC database. WASPA stressed that only phone numbers are stored in its Do Not Contact list. No other personal information is stored alongside the phone numbers. Mobile content and applications developed by WASPA members have been literal lifesavers during these last few months, said WASPA general manager Ilonka Badenhorst. Mobility enables more of us to stay at home and keep safe by reducing our exposure to the outside world. There are, however, mobile users who wish to safeguard their privacy when it comes to direct marketing messages and the DNC database will be especially useful to them. In addition to the website (www.dnc.org.za), you can access the WASPA Do Not Contact database via USSD by dialling *120*69269# or by sending BLOCK to the short code 40662. USSD access is charged at 20c per 20 seconds and messages to short code 40662 are billed at standard subscriber bundle SMS rates, alternatively up to 50c per message. Free SMSs dont apply. It must be noted that the DNC is a list to block direct marketing SMSs only. It does not block other types of mobile services delivered by SMS, such as subscription or notification services. The service also cannot block direct marketing SMS messages transmitted by firms particularly outside of SA who are not WASPA members. by Sumon Corraya Bishop Theotonius Gomes led the ceremony on Saturday. Sister Provati Mardi is 29 and an ethnic Santal. Some 15 PIME sisters are from Bangladesh, plus more from other countries. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Sister Provati Mardi has officially joined the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception (MdI), the female congregation linked to Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). "With my first vows among the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception, I dedicate myself to God. I shall work for God and his people, she said with a smile. Sister Provati, 29, is an ethnic Santal. She made her first profession at the MdIs provincial house in Mirpur (Dhaka) last Saturday. The MdI Sisters are often referred to as the PIME Sisters. The ceremony took place in the presence of Bishop Emeritus Theotonius Gomes, who led the Eucharistic service, and 40 MdI nuns. Sister Provati noted that 12 of us entered the training house in 2009, but only I took the vows. The others left along the way. I am very happy to become a PIME Sister. The new MdI member comes from Sursunipara parish, in the Diocese of Rajshahi. Her father is a farmer and her mother, a housewife. She is the second of four children. She spoke to AsiaNews about how she discovered her religious vocation. My father's sister is a PIME sister. I have always looked up to her for way of life; it attracted me and led me to join the Sisters training house. I must say I decided to become a nun at an early age. When I told my parents, they encouraged me. My aunt was happy when I told her that I wanted to become a PIME nun like her. The main purpose of the PIME missionaries, she explained, is to preach the Gospel of God to others. I very much want to go somewhere far away to preach the Gospel. I want to work for those who are forgotten, oppressed. I thank God who chose me for His work. Sister Bondona Cruze, provincial superior of Bangladesh, was overjoyed at welcoming Sister Provati Mardi. There hadnt been any local vocation for a long time. I hope that other girls, looking up to her, might wish to follow the same path. Sister Bondona notes that 15 PIME sisters are from Bangladesh, working as missionaries in various foreign countries. In Bangladesh the MdI Sisters have 56 members, including 15 foreign nuns from Italy, Brazil and India. Bangladesh Navy Ship BNS Shongram, a guided missile stealth corvette, made a port call at Mormugao Port, Goa on Monday, August 17 2020. BNS Shongram is en route to participate as a member of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Bangladesh Navy Ship BNS Shongram, a guided missile stealth corvette, made a port call at Mormugao Port, Goa on Monday, August 17 2020. BNS Shongram is en route to participate as a member of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Ship BNS Sangram, a guided missile stealth corvette, made port call at Mormugao Port, Goa. (Picture source: Indian Navy/Spokesperson Twitter Account) The ship was received by officers from Headquarters Goa Naval Area and the Officiating Defence Advisor at the Bangladesh High Commission in India. The vessel departed Bangladesh Navys BNS Issa Khan naval base on August 9 and is in en route to join UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The ship will take over from the Navys Castle-class guided missile corvette BNS Bijoy (F 35) which was damaged in the Beirut explosions. Ship BNS Sangram, a guided missile stealth corvette, made port call at Mormugao Port, Goa. (Picture source: Indian Navy/Spokesperson Twitter Account) About the BNS Shongram corvette (F113): The ship is 90 metres (300 ft) long, has a beam of 11 metres (36 ft) and a draught of 4.4 metres (14 ft). With a displacement of 1,300 tonnes, she has a complement of 78 personnel including 60 sailors and 18 officers. She is propelled by two SEMT Pielstick 12PA6 diesel engines with a distance adjustable tail rotor which can provide enough power for her top speed of more than 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph). She has two power stations, forward and rear, and electricity supply works with one of the power station sunk. BNS Shongram has a helicopter deck aft which can support a medium-size helicopter but has no hangar. She has a complement of 78 personnel including 60 sailors and 18 officers. The ship uses Chinese SR2410C S-band 3D AESA radar for surface and air search purposes. This radar can also be used for helicopter landing control and as a fire control radar. The radar has a detection range of 150 kilometres (93 mi) and has the capability to track 150 targets per rotation. According to Chinese sources, this radar is analogous to the SMART-S MK2 radar of Thales. The ship carries one H/PJ-26 76 mm main gun placed forward. Two 2-cell C-802A anti-ship missiles are installed in the ship for anti-surface operations. Two H/PJ-17 30 mm remote-controlled gun turrets at amidship work as gun-CIWS for the ship. For air defence, she carries an eight-cell FL-3000N launcher, which is the Chinese equivalent of RAM. The ship also carries two 6-cell Type-87 240mm ASW rocket launchers. The Trouble With Marxism Commentary Karl Marx was first a philosopher and then an economist. While accepting Georg Hegels view that history proceeded dialectically in a three-fold mannerthesis, antithesis, and synthesishe stood Hegel on his head by asserting the primacy of material factors. Thus, ancient slavery provokes its antithesis and produces feudalism as a synthesis; feudalism provokes its antithesis, producing bourgeois capitalism as a synthesis; capitalism provokes its own antithesis, the proletarian revolution, which results in a new synthesis of the classless, communist state. This was Marxs grand outline of history. The engine that drove these transformations was economics. Economics is foundational, while ideas, culture, and religion are mere superstructure. In this regard, Marx rejected Hegel, who was a philosophical idealist; Marx was a materialist, as are many today who pride themselves on being realists. Materialism and Morality However, philosophical materialism has many problems that it cant solve. First of all, matter cant be self-creating because, in order to create itself it would have to precede itself, which is impossible. Second, materialism is rigidly deterministic, implicitly denying human free will. If human beings are totally material entitiessystems of electrons, atoms, and molecules whirling around in a predetermined fashionthere can be no objective morality. Morality implies agency, accountability, the power to choose and to change ones decisions. How can there be morality if we are material, predetermined beings? This, of course, results in moral relativism: Whatever morality we espouse is entirely a reflection of our material circumstances, such as our social class. But then, how do we account for the fact that we feel that we are free human beings, with agency, and with the power to choose between right and wrong, and to be held accountable for our choices? Here its worth reflecting on how the materialist-relativist reacts when someone steals his wallet. He feels indignant, and if the culprit can be identified, he very much wants him brought to justice. This of course assumes that the thief is a free agent who should be held responsible for his action. No moral relativism here! The next problem is the phenomenon of thought. The mind isnt the same as the brain. Its the mind, using the brain, that ponders problems and chooses between different possible courses of actionsin other words, exercises agency. A purely physical entity cant exercise agency. Then theres the problem of consciousness. We are alive; we are conscious beingsindeed, we are self-conscious beings. We can reflect upon and think about ourselves. A purely material entity cannot reflect upon, or think about, anything. Other problems: What is a thought? Is it a material entity? What about an emotion? Is that something that can be identified as a material object? What is the materialist explanation for music and the powerful emotions it evokes? As far as I can tell, materialism doesnt provide satisfactory answers to these questions, and because it fundamentally denies the existence of objective morality, it has disastrous results when its taken seriously, as it is in Marxism. Marx dismissed conventional morality as mere bourgeois self-interest. I suggest that this dismissal of morality accounts for the terrible corruption and disrespect for human life that has plagued every communist regime that we have so far witnessedRussia, its Eastern European satellite countries, Cuba, China, North Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Venezuela. And yet, in its beginnings, Marxism was very idealistic. In the Communist Manifesto and other writings, Marx and Engels called upon the downtrodden workers of Europe to rise up, throw off their chains, and establish a workers state, where freedom and equality would prevail, wealth would be shared, and people would give according to their ability and receive according to their need. This clarion call to action attracted many by its vision of a paradise on earth, but, of course, it implicitly rejected materialistic determinism. For how can workers decide to rise up if all their actions are predetermined by forces outside themselves? This is only one of several contradictions at the heart of Marxism. The moral outrage against capitalists is another. Revolution Marx was a self-proclaimed revolutionary who unabashedly embraced violence as the indispensable tool for social change. After all, the ruling class never gives up power willingly; it has to be forced with violence to surrender its dominant position. As a historian, I have been studying revolutions for 50 years and more. The one I know most about is the English Revolution (16401660), but Im also quite familiar with the French (17891815), the Russian (19171921), and the Chinese (c. 19301949). For each revolution, the pattern has been similar. A small, determined, passionately idealistic group organizes to overthrow the oppressive and/or corrupt ruling class of its time, to wipe the slate clean and start afresh with a noncorrupt regime that will establish perfect justice for all. They attract much support in the beginning, but they also provoke strong resistance. A prolonged, violent struggle is necessary to overcome this reactionary resistance. In the English revolution, the human cost was measured in the hundreds of thousands of lives; in the French, if we include the tyranny of Napoleon, which was the direct result of the revolution, the cost was measured in the millions; in the Russian and Chinese, if we count the totalitarian aftermaths, it was measured in the tens of millions. Before long, the majority of the people are appalled at what they have unleashed, turn against the revolution, and work to bring back the old regime in one form or another. In England, we witness the restoration of monarchy in 1660; in France, they bring back the king in 1815; in Russia, the regime by 1989 is so morally discredited, and so devoid of economic accomplishment, that it collapses of its own accord with not a shot being fired. The Chinese regime is still in power, having abandoned many of the key tenets of Marxism, but its still hugely oppressive, with hundreds of thousands (if not more) still in jail, and by all accounts a very discontented population. Its not certain how much longer it will last. Its my observation that genuine improvement in the human condition has occurred in those societies that have adopted a gradualist approach, preserving what is best from the past, and building on these achievements. This is what Britain did after 1660, France did after overthrowing Napoleon, and Russia is haltingly trying to do now. The merits of the gradualist approach are also exemplified in countries that have rejected Marxism: Scandinavia, Finland, and most of Europe, Jordan, Morocco, Canada, Japan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and (yes) the United States, as well as most of Africa and Latin America. Finally, any defender of Marxism (which includes all too many university professors, Im afraid) has to confront the reality that Marxism has caused more human suffering by far than any other system of political ideas. The following books, among many others, document the fact that between 1917 and now, Marxism has been directly responsible for well over 100 million deaths: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago (one of the great works of 20th-century historical literature); Stephane Courtois et al. The Black Book of Communism (1997); Robert Conquest, The Great Terror (1968); and Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao: the Unknown Story (2005). To put it in a nutshell, Marxism is a dead end, and, unfortunately, not the first into which humankind has been seduced. Ian James Gentles, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of York University in Toronto and currently distinguished professor of history and global studies at Tyndale University, Toronto. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. First episode features an interview with Cuppy, Nigerian-born, international DJ and host of Apple Music's Africa Now Radio JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with The Brand is Female, the new weekly series Everyday Ubuntu hosted by Mungi Ngomane, author and human rights advocate, has officially launched today and is now available on Apple and other major podcast platforms. Inspired by Ubuntu, the African philosophy and way of life, the podcast includes conversations with inspiring personalities from around the world who fight for causes they believe in, recognize their own weaknesses and continue to work on making the world a better place. The show's first episode, released during South Africa's Women's Month, features an interview with Nigerian-born, internationally renowned DJ, producer and radio host, Cuppy. "Ubuntu teaches us that we live better together, and this podcast is about exploring our common humanity something that is much needed in our world right now with interesting personalities who are doing their part to bring this concept into their life, no matter where they are in the world," says Mungi Ngomane, host of the Everyday Ubuntu podcast. "Mungi has a unique point of view and a strong voice as an advocate for women's rights and human rights, while her passion for Ubuntu brings people of all backgrounds together, teaching us that we really are one. It is with great pride and excitement that we launch her show as one of the first titles produced by The Brand is Female's new podcast division," says Eva Hartling, Founder of The Brand is Female. Everyday Ubuntu's inaugural episode features Florence Otedola, also known as Cuppy, the Nigerian-born, internationally acclaimed DJ, producer and host of Africa Now Radio, Apple Music's first African radio show. Founder of the Cuppy Foundation and ambassador for Save The Children UK, Cuppy's debut album, distributed by Platoon, launches August 21. Her single Jollof on the Jet has already been topping charts across the world. Born in Lagos, DJ Cuppy graduated with a degree in Economics from King's College, London. She earned a Music Business Masters Degree from New York University while interning at Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint in 2015. The granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and patron of the Tutu Foundation UK, Mungi grew up between the U.S. and South Africa, the latter where Ubuntu was infused into her education from a young age. Mungi completed a Master's in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She has worked in Middle East conflict resolution and for the advancement of women and girls for some of the world's foremost advocacy organisations and initiatives. Since bringing the book Everyday Ubuntu, Living better the African way into the world last year, Mungi has returned to advocacy. She is passionate about human rights, specifically the advancement of women and girls, the protection of refugees and the liberation of the Palestinian people. She is currently the Business Operations Manager for Outvote, a digital organizing tool whose mission is to promote organizing, voter participation and civic engagement within progressive and Democratic campaigns and organisations. Listen to Everyday Ubuntu on Apple Podcasts. Follow Mungi Ngomane on Instagram. Follow The Brand is Female on Instagram. About The Brand is Female: we amplify women's voices The Brand is Female was founded in 2018 by Eva Hartling as a boutique Brand Strategy agency specializing in working with women founders and purpose-driven brands. Following the success of its eponymous podcast, The Brand is Female has expanded to launch a podcast production and distribution network featuring women change-makers from across the world, to inspire and empower. Visit thebrandisfemale.com. Contact information: Jillian Starkie, Brand Communications Manager, The Brand is Female, +1.905.449.5068, jillian@thebrandisfemale.com; Eva Hartling, President and Founder, The Brand is Female, +1.514.804.7022, eva@thebrandisfemale.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1230517/The_Brand_is_Female_Everyday_Ubuntu__a_new_podcast_hosted_by_Mun.jpg Related Links https://www.thebrandisfemale.com/ SOURCE The Brand is Female The Chief Executive Officer of the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), Lawyer Jerry Ahmed Shaib on Monday, 17th August 2020 on behalf of the Authority donated five thousand (5,000) pieces of facemasks and one hundred and fifty (150) bottles of hand sanitizers to the Greater Accra Association of Assembly Members (GAAM) to help in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the CEO, the Authority has taken this initiative to help in curbing the spread of the virus. He said the Authority is distributing facemasks and hand sanitizers across the Coastal Development Zone which is made up of one hundred and nine (109) constituencies under the six (6) regions. He advised the assembly members to continue to educate their constituents within their respective assembly areas to keep observing the safety protocols by frequent handwashing with soap, use of hand sanitizers, and the mandatory wearing of a facemask in order to stay alive for the nation. He promised that the Authority will continue to render its support in order to achieve economic and social development in the Coastal Development Zone. He took the opportunity to motivate the assembly members to ensure that they work very assiduously by ensuring that their environments are always clean enough to help in the realization of the Presidents initiative by making the city the cleanest. The President of GAAM, Hon Moses Abor thanked the CEO for coming to their aid with the PPEs at the time assembly members needed them most. He promised that they will ensure that the PPEs get to the grassroots for their protection against the virus. He also applauded the effort of the CEO and appealed to other agencies to also come to their aid to enable them to help the needy in their various communities. Mandela Wiafe, Assembly Member for Trobu Electoral Area expressed his gratitude to CODA for the support rendered to them. He explained that the assembly members are the ones who work directly with the people at the grassroots and for that matter would appeal that they are supported with more PPEs to be distributed to their constituents since we are not in normal times. 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. Featured Video (CNN) Italian young adults do not have the automatic right to financial support from their parents, even if they aren't financially independent, Italy's Supreme Court has ruled. In a judgment from July -- made public Friday -- a court in Rome ruled against the appeal of a 35-year-old part-time music teacher who still expected financial support from his parents, claiming that his annual income of 20,000 euros (about $24,000) was not adequate. "Reducing his adolescent ambitions" the adult child "is bound to find a way to self-support himself" judge Maria Cristina Giancola, who chaired the panel of the court, wrote. The Supreme Court sentence concludes a five-year case, and a first ruling from a judge in Tuscany, which affirmed the right of the plaintiff to get a monthly allowance of 300 euros (about $360) from his parents. While a child with physical or mental impairment has specific protection in the Italian law system, Giancola wrote, the financial support of parents "cannot continue indefinitely" if this is not the case. The judge also noted that the difficulties in finding a job that meets professional expectations is no excuse. Giancola said: "The (adult) child must in any case actively search for a job to ensure an independent livelihood." According to a 2019 study from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), some 64.3% of Italy's young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 still live at home with their parents. Of these young adults, only 36.5% are students and 38.2% are employed, while 23.7% are in search of a job, the study found. Youth unemployment stands at around 30% among Italians between 15 and 24 years old, according to Istat. Gian Ettore Gassani, head of the Italian Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, welcomed the court's decision. "It's a cultural, pedagogical sentence, it is a warning for everyone in this country," Gassani told CNN in a phone interview, adding that it will encourage young people "to walk on their own legs." There are hundreds of thousands of similar cases, the lawyer said, adding that one of three divorce claims are related to the financial support of the couple's adult children. The court, Gassani said, "has put some limits to avert the always more endless request of financial support also by children in their forties." "Italy is not the only country to experience these requests from adult children" Gassani said, quoting similar statistics in southern European countries such as Spain and France, "but it's definitively the worst." The phenomenon is so familiar in Italy that former Prime Minister Mario Monti nicknamed it "bamboccioni," meaning "big babies," to identify the generation of young Italians who still live at home in their late thirties. "Italian young people must be more courageous, must find the will to take risks," Gassani said, adding, "but that's difficult if your mum keeps on bringing you a cup of coffee to bed every morning." This story was first published on CNN.com "Parents in Italy no longer have to financially support their adult children, court rules" Changes to disability laws rushed through by the Queensland government as COVID-19 restrictions were wound back effectively green-lit actions that would otherwise have been considered "criminal or tortious", an independent watchdog has warned. Amendments to the Disability Services Act allow people with disabilities in care to be locked in their homes if a service provider deems it necessary for them to comply with health directions. The Queensland Public Advocate says the laws raised 'genuine questions' about what it meant for the state to be a human rights jurisdiction. Credit:Izabela Habur Outings into the community and access to services can also be frozen if they pose a risk to the health and safety of a person or others under changes to another act. Queensland's Public Advocate, Mary Burgess, told a parliamentary committee hearing into the state's pandemic health response this was done "inexplicably" as restrictions were easing back. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:04:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China will launch four ocean-observation satellites within the coming 16 months, according to China Youth Daily. Two will be launched in September and November this year, and the other two will be sent into space in 2021, the newspaper quoted director of the National Ocean Satellite Application Center Jiang Xingwei as saying. As of August, China has independently developed and launched seven Haiyang satellites, named after the Chinese word for "ocean" and given the "HY" designation for short. The country launched its first ocean-monitoring satellite, the HY-1A, on May 15, 2002, and sent HY-1D into orbit in June this year. The space-based remote-sensing technology has been used in fields such as marine environmental resources survey, marine disaster prevention and alleviation, marine economy, marine ecology and maritime security, according to a sub-forum of the World Marine Science and Technology Conference. The HY-2A and HY-2B satellites can monitor typhoons in the northwest Pacific region and capture information on all the typhoons throughout the year, providing support for typhoon forecasting during the flood season. Enditem Joe Biden defeating President Trump in Texas would be a "seismic" event that would "once and for all end the Trump presidency and Trumpism in America," former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke predicted at an Axios digital event on Tuesday. Why it matters: Recent polls indicate that Trump and Biden are currently in a dead heat in the state, traditionally a Republican stronghold, suggesting that Texas may be a presidential swing state come November. But O'Rourke warned that the Biden campaign is not doing enough to court Texas voters. Of note: Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win Texas. What he's saying: Biden winning Texas "will allow America to start the necessary next chapter for our country," O'Rourke said. "Texas holds the power to do that." "Young people are going to be the vanguard of this. We saw in 2018 where I came very close to defeating Ted Cruz and won more votes than any Democrat had ever won. Young people led the day. Young voter turnout was up 500% in early voting in Texas over the last midterm election," he continued. "And then you name an issue, whether it is reproductive choice, climate change, access to health care, fighting back against the pandemic young people are on the front lines forcing the conversations and the necessary change that needs to follow." Asked whether the Biden campaign has done enough to take advantage of the rare opportunity to win Texas, O'Rourke responded, "No. But that's nothing new. Texas has really been on its own I mentioned its been 44 years since Texas last voted for the Democratic nominee for president." "We've been pretty much left to our own devices for the majority of that time. But there's been an extraordinary self-reliant movement, born of Texans, run by Texans, with Texans volunteering to reach out to their fellow Texans," he said. The big picture: ORourke said the coronavirus pandemic and the states response to the virus has disproportionately affected Latinos, and he believes voters will go to the polls with the pandemic in mind. The bottom line: By all means, youve got to vote," O'Rourke said. "You do not want to look back on this election, this moment, and wonder 'what if?'" Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey on Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court's decision to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Sushant Singh Rajput case and said that Wednesday's verdict has proved that Bihar Police was 'correct' and Mumbai Police behaved in an 'illegal way'. "I am very happy. The Supreme Court's order has strengthened the trust people have in the court and has assured the nation that justice will be delivered in the Sushant Singh Rajput's death case," the DGP said while speaking to media in Patna. "Today's verdict has proved that Bihar Police was correct. The way Mumbai Police behaved was illegal," he added. Holding that the first information report registered in Patna over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput was legitimate, the SC on Wednesday directed the CBI to investigate the case. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actor's death after the Centre accepted Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. An FIR was registered in Patna on a complaint filed by K K Singh, Rajput's father, under sections related to abetment to suicide. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. But, per Mercy, what the area needs is more access to outpatient care. A statement from Mercy Hospital following the news conference read: What patients on the South Side need is more access to outpatient care. That was the focus of our Southside Transformation merger and it remains our focus looking forward to the future. The current approach to health care on the South Side today is causing rising disparities in outcomes of health that need to be addressed with preventive care. We encourage leaders across the city and the state to take the bold steps necessary not just to maintain the status quo that is perpetuating these disparities, but to do what is needed to truly transform the system so that it works for the patients we serve. New Delhi: India on Tuesday condemned the assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey. India has expressed it shock on the dastardly act and stated that there can never be any justification for terrorism. "India strongly condemns the tragic assassination of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkey. We are deeply saddened and shocked by this dastardly act," the External Affairs Ministry said. Karlov was shot dead by a Turkish gunman at an art exhibition in Ankara last evening. "We offer our condolences to the family of Ambassador Andrey Karlov and share their pain and grief. There can never be any justification for violence and terrorism," the MEA said in a statement. The gunman shouted "God is great!" and "don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria", after killing the envoy. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. At the meeting, Quy expressed his concern over the worsening situation in Yemen, called for the facilitation of humanitarian aid for the country, and stressed the importance of protecting civilians, particularly women and children. Talking about main obstacles to the implementation of the Stockholm and Riyadh agreements as well as commitments of involved parties in Yemen, he urged the continuation of dialogue towards a comprehensive political solution with the UN acting as the intermediary. Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen; Major General Abhijit Guha, head of the UN mission in Hodeida, Yemen; and Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council on latest developments in the country. They noted the worsening situation, which saw many people dead and injured, the economy facing several difficulties, and UN humanitarian aid for Yemen likely to be cut due to funding shortage. Participants shared the concern, voicing their opposition to violence against women and children and their support toward Yemens independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Highlighting the importance of the full implementation of the Stockholm and Riyadh agreements, they called for increasing aid for the country to sustain humanitarian activities and combat COVID-19. They also raised the alarm about the growing risk that the SAFER oil tanker could rupture or explode and discussed an immediate approach of UN technical experts to assess the tankers condition. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday said it would consider certain larger questions in the 2009 contempt case against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal as the issue before it has wide ramifications. The top court said it would like to hear arguments from the lawyers as to what should be the process which should be followed in contempt cases where allegations are being levelled against judges. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said it would like to hear the counsels on whether such statements can be made and the procedure to be adopted for dealing with them. The apex court in November 2009, had issued a 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. Bhushan told the court on Sunday that making corruption charges against the judges would not amount to contempt of court and mere utterance of corruption charge could not be contempt of court. The top court asked senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan -- appearing for Bhushan -- Shanti Bhushan and Kapil Sibal to address it on three issues -- whether such statements can be made, in what circumstances they can be made and what is the procedure to be adopted with respect to sitting and retired judges. The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murari, posted the matter for next hearing on August 24. At the outset, Dhavan said the court should consider certain questions and the matter should be heard by a larger bench. Dhavan also referred to the recent judgement in which Bhushan was held guilty of contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the judiciary and said the lawyer intends to file a review petition against the August 14 verdict. He told the court that it appears that August 14 judgment suffers from many imbalances as in some parts the verdict says that allegations against judges "per se" does not constitute contempt. Sibal, appearing for Tarun Tejpal, then said the matter should be given quietus (discharged). The bench said that even the court wants to give the case a quietus but it there are certain questions which need consideration. Dhavan said the questions posed by the court were very "meaningful" and suggested that the matter be examined by a constitution bench. Shanti Bhusan sought adjournment of the matter by two weeks when the physical hearing is likely to be resumed. Military coup leaders in Mali faced a barrage of condemnation on Wednesday from international powers, with the African Union suspending the countrys membership a day after mutinying soldiers detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita following months of protests against his rule. The chorus of disapproval included statements from the African Union (AU), the European Union and the United States demanding that the military leaders release Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other officials detained on Tuesday. Keita under pressure from months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a continuing Islamist insurgency said in a televised address hours after he was detained that coup leaders had given him no choice but to resign. Jubilant crowds cheered the rebels as they arrived in central Bamako on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Bamako since June calling for Keita to resign over what they say are his failures to address security and economic woes. The mutinous soldiers who staged the coup, who have called themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, have promised a transition to civil political rule with elections to be held in a reasonable amount of time". In the meantime they have closed the country's borders and announced a curfew. A spokesman for the junta, Ismael Wague, said France's anti-jihadist Barkhane force and the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali as well as forces from neighbouring countries were "partners for stability and restoring security". However, France and other international powers as well as the AU have denounced the mutiny, fearful that the fall of Keita could further destabilise the former French colony and West Africa's entire Sahel region. The AU has suspended Mali's membership in response to the militarys seizure of power and the detention of the president, the bloc announced in a tweet on Wednesday. The suspension will last until constitutional order is restored, it said, demanding the release of the deposed president and other senior officials. Story continues The current chairman of the AU, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, called for the "immediate return to civilian rule". An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council convened on Wednesday condemned the mutiny and urged the soldiers to release all detained government officials without delay. The 15 members "underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to constitutional order", according to a statement. 'Unconstitutional' The influential West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it was sending a high-level delegation to ensure the immediate return to constitutional order. The 15-nation bloc which includes Mali also said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that "the fight against terrorist groups and the defence of democracy and the rule of law are inseparable", referring to the situation in Mali. "To leave is to provoke instability and to weaken our fight. It is not acceptable," the French president wrote on Twitter, calling for power to be "returned to civilians," for "milestones (to be) laid for a return to constitutional order" and for the Malian president and his prime minister to be freed. French troops have been fighting in the country since 2013, after Mali asked it to help regain territory seized by Islamist extremists who had hijacked a Touareg rebellion in the countrys northern desert regions the previous year. The French military succeeded in this initial task but the jihadist insurgency has since spread throughout Mali and across the border to Niger and Burkina Faso. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced Keita's overthrow in a statement on Wednesday. "The United States strongly condemns the August 18 mutiny in Mali as we would condemn any forcible seizure of power," he said. "The freedom and safety of detained government officials and their families must be ensured." The EU condemned the events in Mali as "unconstitutional". "The European Union condemns the attempted coup d'etat under way in Mali and rejects all unconstitutional change," the bloc's diplomatic chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement Tuesday. Neighbouring Algeria has also rejected the coup. "Algeria reiterates its firm rejection of any anti-constitutional change of government," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. It said Algeria was following with "concern" developments in Mali, with which it shares an almost 1,400-kilometre (850-mile) border. Morocco also reacted to the coup on Wednesday, stressing the need for "stability" in Mali, calling for "responsible dialogue, respect for constitutional order and the preservation of democratic gains." In a statement shortly after the coup Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Malians to protect their democratic institutions and called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of Mali's president. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the events later on Wednesday. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS) Portlands independent police oversight body is investigating more than 40 complaints related to protest policing since June, according to the director. The Independent Police Reviews quarterly report offers the first look at the swelling number of complaints against Portland police at the nightly protests. The citys complaint process is the publics main avenue to hold police accountable for specific actions The report, which covers April, May and June, was released at a time when the future of the oversight office is in doubt. A proposal for a new oversight system was unanimously referred to the Nov. 3 ballot by the City Council at the end of July. The vast majority of the Independent Police Review investigations are related to allegations of unnecessary force by police at the protests, director Ross Caldwell said. The office also has some open complaints about the general conduct of officers interacting with Portlanders at protests. Protests against police brutality and systemic racism began in Portland in late May after George Floyd died when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The protests have routinely drawn hundreds, and sometimes thousands of people. The protests quickly became a flashpoint between police and protesters. Some protesters scrawled graffiti, broke windows and threw things at officers on May 29. The night culminated in forceful dispersals by police after some protesters looted luxury stores and a Target, and lit a fire inside of an office at the downtown Justice Center. The city responded with several days of curfews and much-criticized tactics of hitting Portlanders with batons and deploying tear gas, pepper spray, stun grenades, impact munitions and an ear-splitting warning sound that caught other demonstrators and journalists in the middle. Police have continued to use force since the early days of protest, as have protesters continued to tag buildings with graffiti and throw various objects at officers, including water bottles, eggs and fireworks. Federal judges have barred or limited use of many of the tactics unless police say they believe life or public safety are at risk. Police have more recently used batons and lines of officers to push people back at protests and occasionally, used tear gas and munitions after declaring civil disturbances. Portlands Citizen Review Committee, an advisory body to Portland police and the Independent Police Review condemned the police tactics in a June statement. While these demonstrations are first and foremost about the worth of Black lives, the response to them is also illuminating a troubling pattern of police violence against protesters that interferes with public safety and freedom of speech, the statement said. Sgt. Brent Maxey, an 18-year veteran of Portland police, told KGW in an interview last Thursday that people who are not engaging in unlawful conduct have been subjected to force by Portland police at protests. In June alone, the office received 185 such complaints, more than in March, April and May combined. At least 113 of those contacts were directly related to protest activity, according to the quarterly report. Some of those complaints were about the same incident, Caldwell said. While the Independent Police Review averaged 6.3 intake investigations a day in April and May, that number jumped to 22.5 a day in June, the report says. While intake investigations are preliminary to assess if the group wants to move forward, Caldwell said the 14-day process includes interviewing people who filed complaints, pulling police reports and identifying involved officers. The Independent Police Review investigations represent a fraction of the thousands of complaints filed since the protests began. Many of those complaints were form letters listing demands the Independent Police Review has no power to enact, like abolishing the Portland Police Bureau, Caldwell said. The office also has a narrow definition of what it can investigate. Complaints related to the conduct of officers who work for agencies assisting Portland police are forwarded to the employing agency, although none have an equivalent oversight body. Caldwell said many of the forwarded complaints were about federal officers and the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office. While Caldwell said people filing complaints have struggled to identify officers or their agencies at times, he said the investigators often pinpoint the information after reviewing reports and protest footage. Caldwell said his office can only investigate community allegations that Portland police officers have violated bureau directives. The sharp increase in protest-related complaints along with others unrelated to protests, drastically increased the oversight bodys workload, Caldwell said. Floyds killing, combined with the numerous killings of Black people by police that came both before and after, exposed previously unaware community members to the inequities built into the system and galvanized an already passionate, vocal population into taking sustained action, the report says. The report called for systemic change and increased accountability to strengthen the current system. Independent Police Review, which is housed in the city auditors office, lacks direct access to reports from police, further complicating its ability to investigate police actions. While the office has a voting member on the board that recommends disciplinary actions, the chief of police and Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as the police commissioner, have the final say. However, the police union can challenge discipline to a state arbitrator, who has the power to overturn it. Police oversight in Portland needs the support of its leaders, policymakers and the community to better address the barriers to full transparency, independence and authority necessary for any oversight system to flourish, the report says. State law and the police union agreement limits what information about investigations the Independent Police Review can turn over to the public. These two constraints mean few cases are ever made public, and when they are it creates the opportunity for an arbitrator to overturn the decision if they conclude the disclosure violated the labor contract, the report says. -- K. Rambo krambo@oregonian.com @k_rambo_ Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Survivors of rapes committed by Joseph DeAngelo, the man now known as the "Golden State Killer," made their voices heard in victim impact statements in court Wednesday. One survivor, who was raped in 1978 at the age of 23, addressed DeAngelo directly, telling him, "You will not defeat me, you will not break me." She said she had loved to waterski since she was 3 years old. But "the night that you violently attacked me you mentioned seeing me at the lake and that I looked good. I've never waterskied again." "You destroyed the life that I had," she told him. But, she said, "I am free to leave this courtroom and lead the life I choose. You are going to spend the rest of your miserable life in a cage." 'Remember what I have to say' "I want you to look at me, DeAngelo ... I want you to remember what I have to say," Jane Carson-Sandler loudly said in court Wednesday as DeAngelo sat silently in a white face mask. PHOTO: Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer, looks on during the first day of victim impact statements at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 18, 2020. (Santiago Mejia/Pool via Reuters) In October 1976, Carson-Sandler was home with her 3-year-old son when a knife-wielding DeAngelo broke in. DeAngelo bound her, blindfolded her and gagged her, and did the same to her son. MORE: The 'Golden State Killer': Inside the timeline of crimes "Then you repeatedly threatened to kill us," Carson-Sandler said. "The fear escalated when you started tearing sheets and clothes. I had no idea what you were planning to do with all that cloth. Strangle us, maybe?" "Yes, I was frozen in fear beyond description," she continued. "My attention was not on the rape, but fully on where did you put my son when you removed him from the bed? Where did you put him and what were you going to do to him?" PHOTO: Jane Carson-Sandler confronts Joseph James DeAngelo during the second day of victim impact statements at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, in Sacramento, Calif. (Santiago Mejia/Pool via AP) "If it wasn't for the trauma I endured, I wouldn't be the person I am today. And I am proud of what I have accomplished. I am blessed beyond words," she said, pausing her prepared marks to say to DeAngelo, "I see your eyes are closing." Story continues MORE: 'Golden State Killer' victims address him in court: 'The devil can keep you company' Carson-Sandler said that now, decades later, scars from her attack remain. Seeing a ski mask or hearing someone yell "shut up" will "forever cause me anxiety," she said. PHOTO: Joseph James DeAngelo sits during the second day of victim impact statements at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, in Sacramento, Calif. (Santiago Mejia/Pool via AP) "My comfort at those times is remembering that you are finally going to prison and will remain there until you die," she said. Carson-Sandler and the other victims were joined in court by DeAngelo's former fiancee, a woman named Bonnie, whose breakup with DeAngelo may have sparked some of DeAngelo's violence, according to an investigator. MORE: A breakup may have sparked the 'Golden State Killer' rampage, investigator says During one rape in 1978, DeAngelo sobbed and appeared to call out the name of his former girlfriend, saying, "'I hate you, Bonnie,' over and over," investigator Paul Holes told ABC News in 2018. In June, DeAngelo, 74, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal, which also required him to admit to multiple uncharged acts, including rapes. The death penalty was taken off the table in exchange for the guilty pleas. PHOTO: Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman listens to a speaker on the first day of victim impact statements at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse in Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 18, 2020. (Santiago Mejia/Pool via Reuters) Three days of victim and family impact statements began Tuesday. DeAngelo, who was a police officer from 1973 to 1979, will be formally sentenced on Friday to life without parole. 'Our lives were never the same' On March 18, 1978, Gay Hardwick was home asleep with her now-husband, Robert Hardwick, when DeAngelo broke in. "He kidnapped me from my bed. He raped me repeatedly, he sodomized me, he forced oral copulation. He stole the few precious pieces of jewelry that I owned," Gay Hardwick told the court Wednesday. "He ate from my refrigerator and he drank two beers while I lay bound and blindfolded ... he ransacked our home and in between he tormented me with threats of death." PHOTO: Gay Hardwick is comforted by her spouse Bob Hardwick during the second day of victim impact statements with Joseph James DeAngelo present at the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse on Aug. 19, 2020, in Sacramento, Calif. (Santiago Mejia/Pool via AP) "I survived those repeated attacks. The hours of terror," she said. "However our lives were never the same." Gay Hardwick said she's suffered decades of PTSD, nightmares, sleeplessness, social anxiety, flashbacks and inability to be alone. "I became the Black Hawk helicopter of all parents," she said. She recounted for the court an incident two decades after the attack at a time "I thought I was fully recovered." Her husband and four children were out of town and she was looking forward to some alone time, but pieces of duct tape left on a counter sent her fleeing in fear to her father's home where she spent the night in her childhood bed. 'He stole my innocence' Mary Berwert was 13 years old, enjoying the summer before eighth grade, when she was raped in June 1979 in her childhood bedroom. "He stole my innocence, my security, threatened my life, threatened the lives of my family," Bertwert said in court. MORE: 'Golden State Killer' pleads guilty as horrific crimes recounted by prosecutors "I had to break the ties on my legs ... I had to open my bedroom door with my hands tied behind my back," she said, and then she ran to her father's room, telling him, "Daddy, I've been raped." "He flew out of his bed. He started crying. I had never seen him cry before," she said. The rape shattered her childhood, she said, from undergoing a rape kit to seeing the pain on her parents' faces. This June, when prosecutors told Berwert that DeAngelo was going to admit to his crime against her, she said "a weight was lifted off my shoulders." "I had no idea how heavy this weight was -- I had been carrying it for so long," she said. "Thirteen-year-old Mary needed justice. If only back then someone could have said to me with confidence that one day he'd be caught," she said. "I can't help but think what of a difference that would've made for my future." DeAngelo committed 13 murders and multiple rapes and burglaries in the 1970s and 80s, terrorizing families from Northern to Southern California. The crimes went unsolved until April 2018, when DeAngelo, a father and grandfather, was arrested in Sacramento County. DeAngelo was the first public arrest obtained through genetic genealogy, a new technique that takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind at a crime scene and identifies him or her by tracing a family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to public genealogy databases. To identify DeAngelo, investigators narrowed the family tree search based on age, location and other characteristics. Authorities conducted surveillance on DeAngelo and collected his DNA from a tissue left in a trash. Investigators plugged his discarded DNA back into the genealogy database and found a match, linking DeAngelo's DNA to the DNA found at multiple crime scenes, prosecutors said. Since DeAngelo's arrest, over 150 other crime suspects have been identified through genetic genealogy. ABC News' Jenna Harrison contributed to this report. 'Golden State Killer' survivor confronts rapist: 'Remember what I have to say' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) announces the Nevada delegates' choice for the presidential nominee during the virtual convention. (DNCC via Getty Images) For four months, Joe Biden has been the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. On Tuesday, that qualifier was dropped as Biden officially was nominated. The milestone, which Biden first sought more than 30 years ago, was marked by a slickly produced evening of virtual convention programming, in which Democrats featured party elders as well as up-and-comers and plenty of Trump bashing. Here's what you need to know about the DNC's second night. An 'only in 2020' roll call Perhaps even more than the first night, Tuesday's prime-time Democratic convention had an "only in 2020" vibe. The all-virtual format, reflecting the year's singular blend of catastrophe the global pandemic, a limping economy, civic unrest around racial justice upended the timeworn tradition of a raucous roll call of the states to nominate the presidential candidate. Gone were the scenes of delegates in funny hats pressed cheek-by-jowl around their state spokespersons as each state was called, in alphabetical order, to announce its votes. That didn't mean the proceedings were completely devoid of the pageantry that political junkies have come to expect. The roll call, as Democratic Party chair Tom Perez acknowledged, was "unconventional," beaming in footage from across the nation's 57 states and territories. But first came the nominating speeches for Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the primary rival who racked up the second-largest number of delegates. Each speaker was aired from a different location. The first of three people to nominate Biden was herself an unorthodox choice: Jacquelyn Brittany, a security guard in the New York Times headquarters who blurted out her love for Biden when they shared an elevator last December. The encounter, which was captured on film, soon went viral. "Joe Biden has room in his heart for more than just himself," said Brittany, calling him her "friend." Story continues Catch a rising star A convention's keynote address can be a prime launchpad for political up-and-comers just ask Barack Obama, whose 2004 speech as a state senator propelled him to the U.S. Senate and then the White House in just four years. This year, in a first, the address was divvied up among 17 of the partys younger, fresh faces: a mix of members of Congress from swing districts, state legislators, a county commissioner, state agriculture commissioner and mayors most from battleground states as well as the president of the Navajo Nation. The jump-cut compilation of multiple people speaking from the same script let Democrats show off the diversity of their party and gave viewers a glimpse of politicians living rooms and kitchens. But the patchwork approach meant that no single politician got the breakout moment that mattered so much to Obama. Even Stacey Abrams the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate who has forged a national profile in her push for voting rights, and was among those Biden considered for his running mate got just a few extra minutes to cap off the keynote address, an elevated role but hardly a memorable one. The convention has come under scrutiny by some in the party for giving some of its most recognizable young stars short shrift. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive firebrand, got just over one minute to speak, in nominating her political hero, Sen. Sanders. Biden's security credentials The first night of the convention included some strenuous courting of Republicans who may feel weary of Trump, but wary of voting for a Democrat. Tuesday's programming continued to extend the welcome. The bipartisan appeal focused largely on foreign policy, for which Biden is well-known, given his experience as the longtime chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and President Obama's vice president. Colin Powell, secretary of State under President George W. Bush, made his first appearance at a Democratic convention (although he has backed Democratic presidential candidates in the past) to tout Biden as far superior to Trump to be commander in chief. "Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute," he said. Powell was followed by a video focusing on Biden's "unlikely" friendship with the late GOP Sen. John McCain, a bond rooted in their shared interest in world affairs. The speakers' criticism of Trump regarding international relations was among the convention's most scathing. An array of former officials from both parties blasted the president as deferential to dictators and an embarrassment on the world stage. "When this president goes overseas, it isnt a goodwill mission, its a blooper reel," said former Secretary of State John F. Kerry. Democratic stalwarts weigh in Biden's age can be a touchy subject for the campaign, particularly as Trump just three years younger seeks to make Biden's stamina a campaign issue. But in giving ample airtime to party elders, the convention program did not shy away from the fact that Biden, 77, is a peer of this older generation of Democrats. "When I ran for president in 1976, Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate," former President Jimmy Carter said. "For decades, he has been my loyal and dedicated friend."He was followed by former President Bill Clinton, who is three years younger than Biden, yet left the Oval Office nearly 20 years ago. Clinton spent less time recalling long-ago memories of Biden, choosing instead to assail Trump's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. "When asked about the surge in deaths, he shrugged and said, 'It is what it is,'" Clinton said of Trump. "But did it have to be this way? No. COVID hit us much harder than it had to." Trump's dismissive phrase from a recent interview is quickly becoming a favorite line of attack for Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York also decried the remark on Tuesday, and Michelle Obama made it a central line in her blockbuster speech on Monday night. America, meet Jill Jill Biden is hardly an unknown figure. She was, after all, the second lady of the United States for eight years. And as a frequent presence on the campaign trail (when there was one), she is considered one of the most effective surrogates for her husband. Still, the closing minutes of the night offered a national audience perhaps the most comprehensive look yet at Jill Biden's biography, including deeply personal insights about the death of Beau Biden, their oldest son, from brain cancer. She gave her speech as she strolled through the hallways and classrooms of a Wilmington, Del., high school where she used to teach a symbolic choice given the country's dilemma over school reopenings amid the coronavirus pandemic. Michelle Obama, Monday's star, was a hard act to follow, and Jill Biden may not have similarly lit up social media with her speech. But she, better than any other speaker, could offer a personal testimonial to how grief and healing have shaped her husband and her family. Particularly touching were her comments on how her husband, a widower with two young boys, began dating her after the death of his first wife and baby daughter, then created a new family with his marriage to her and, eventually, the birth of their daughter. "I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: Bring us together and make us whole," she said. "Carry us forward in our time of need. Keep the promise of America, for all of us." By Andrew Hammond Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan (V-J Day) that brought closure to World War II. While Japan was a major U.S. foe then, today Tokyo's role in the Western alliance is of significant, and growing, strategic importance. Not only is Japan a longstanding member of Western clubs such as the G7, there is also growing policy speculation that the country could be invited to join the so-called "5 Eyes" intelligence alliance which currently comprises Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. A key part of the rationale for Japan's growing geopolitical importance is that, just like the start of the Cold War, it is perceived in the West as a key bulwark against the advance of China and potentially Russia into Asia-Pacific. Yet, while much emphasis is put on the security pillar of the Japanese-Western alliance, economics is important too. Since the end of World War II, the gradual transformation of Japan's world role stemmed, in part, from its phenomenal post-war business success which led to growing calls for it to match its economic power with commitment to international political relations too. Today, it remains one of the world's largest three economies, and it will be critical to helping rejuvenate global economic growth after the shock of the coronavirus crisis. Many other Western countries, including in Europe, particularly welcome Japan's invigorated commitment to international trade. Not only did Tokyo sign last year a bilateral agreement with Washington, it has committed recently to an EU-Japan trade agreement covering around a third of global GDP and almost 650 million people. Moreover, Tokyo was at the vanguard of the so-called Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership last year with 11 nations from Asia-Pacific and the Americas which account for around 13 percent of global trade and a combined population of around 500 million. One of the reasons Europe particularly appreciates Japan's defense of international trade, and indeed a wider "rules-based world order," is the Trump administration's equivocation on these issues. The G20 summit in Tokyo last year saw trade being given key focus, despite the fact that this issue caused much contention between Trump and other world leaders at previous G20 meetings, including in Germany in 2018 which saw a clash between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the president with the latter pushing for protectionist language to be inserted into the end-of-summit communique. Beyond these structural factors driving Japan's international policy, Shinzo Abe now the longest serving prime minister in the nation's history has proven personally very adept at consolidating relationships with Western leaders. This includes Trump who during the 2016 election campaign was critical of Tokyo. Abe spotted this danger and became the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his shock victory four years ago. Since then, Abe appears to have forged a significant personal bond with him to fortify U.S.-Japan ties in the face of significant international uncertainty. Abe has been one of the few foreign leaders, for instance, to agree on a trade deal with Trump. This has helped neutralize the president's previous criticism of what he characterized as Japan's unfair trade practices involving car imports and exports; and his accusations that Tokyo was using monetary policy to devalue its currency to boost exports. Moreover, Trump has repeatedly highlighted the strong U.S. commitment to the security of Japan and said that the relationship is the "cornerstone of peace" in Asia-Pacific. This comes despite his "America First" philosophy, and his 2016 assertions that the bilateral relationship had become too one-sided and Japan needed to undertake more financial burden-sharing in international security. This deepening of U.S.-Japanese ties reflects bilateral concerns about a range of issues, including North Korea. Yet, the major driver in increasing close U.S.-Japan ties is China. In this fluid geopolitical landscape, Abe has sought to align his long-standing foreign policy plans around that of Trump's agenda and he has significantly increased defense spending. Building from last year's U.S.-Japan trade deal, in a context whereby the president appears to want a more internationally assertive Tokyo, the prime minister would now like to overturn much of the remaining legal and political underpinning of the country's post-1945 pacifist security identity so that it can become more externally engaged. One big, specific measure Abe wishes to push for is abolition of Article Nine. This is the clause in Japan's post-war constitution which constrains the country's military to a strictly defensive role rather than a conventional army, and has meant that defense spending has most often remained below 1 percent of GDP for much of the period since 1945. To overturn this, Abe needs not just a two thirds majority in both chambers of the legislature, but also a simple majority in a national referendum. While he continues to push for this as part of his legacy, it may prove an insuperable obstacle even for Abe given the opinion of a sizeable demographic which still values its post-war pacifism as the only country in the world to have been attacked with nuclear weapons. Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) wishes the racial wealth gap would also be known as the "American wealth gap," he said at an Axios virtual event on Wednesday. What he's saying: "[W]hen you have large poverty concentrated disproportionately among African Americans, it actually leads to the deficit of us all," he said, pointing to the economic disparity caused by Black entrepreneurs not having the same access to capital as their white peers. Booker, who will virtually address the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, touted his "baby bonds" proposal as a practical solution to close the racial wealth gap, saying the program could be funded by modifying the tax code. "But it's just going to take getting the political will. It's just going to take all of us deciding as a society, how our policies reflect our values." Catch up quick: Booker pressed the baby bonds proposal during his 2020 presidential bid. The federal government would give every newborn a $1,000 savings account and make additional payments annually. The accounts "could eventually provide up to nearly $50,000," per the Washington Post. US Senate Report Alleges Russia Ordered 2016 Hack of Democrats Sputnik News 16:29 GMT 18.08.2020(updated 16:30 GMT 18.08.2020) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday alleged that Russia engaged in an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to influence the result of the 2016 US presidential election. "The Committee found that the Russian government engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election," the panel said in the fifth volume of the report on its investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion probe. The report claimed that Trump 2016 election campaign chairman Paul Manafort carried out influence operations in Ukraine for the Russian government for five years from 2004 to 2009 under the direction of billionaire Oleg Deripaska. "From approximately 2004 to 2009, Manafort implemented these influence operations on behalf of Deripaska, including a broad, multi-million dollar political influence campaign directed at numerous countries of interest to Deripaska and the Russian government," the report said. Manafort worked closely with an identified Russian intelligence officer who managed his office through the 2016 US elections, the report alleged. "Manafort hired and worked increasingly closely with a Russian national, Konstantin Kilimnik. Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer. Kilimnik became an integral part of Manafort's operations in Ukraine and Russia, serving as Manafort's primary liaison to Deripaska and eventually managing Manafort's office in Kiev. Kilimnik and Manafort formed a close and lasting relationship that endured to the 2016 US elections and beyond," the report said. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hack of Democratic Party computer networks to find and leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, the report also claimed. "The Committee found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian effort to hack computer networks and accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party and leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton and her campaign for president," the report said. "Moscow's intent was to harm the Clinton campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump Campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the US democratic process." WikiLeaks played an important part in the Russian attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election and its leaders probably were aware they were working with Kremlin intelligence, the report also alleged. Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the US political system, saying the allegations have been invented to excuse the loss of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption. US President Donald Trump has long called the attempts to insinuate collusion with Russia a baseless political witch-hunt intended to reverse the result of the 2016 US election. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18) The operations of gyms and internet cafes are now suspended in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ), said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. Hindi muna po pwede ang gyms. Ang general rule ay kung hindi mag ta trabaho, huwag na lumabas, he said Tuesday. [Translation: Gyms are not allowed to operate. The general rule is to stay home if you will not go out to work.] According to Roque, the decision to suspend the operations of such establishments was made in a special Cabinet meeting before the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) was imposed in Metro Manila and four other provinces. Dine-in restaurants, however, are allowed to reopen, the spokesperson said. The government previously allowed the partial reopening of gyms and internet cafes in GCQ areas beginning on August 1. Roque encouraged the public to stay home, except for necessary errands and essential travel. CNN Philippines correspondent Triciah Terada contributed to this story. This is the adorable moment a pair of rare baby Tasmanian Devils named Itchy and Scratchy were seen feeding and playing with their keepers. The five-month-old joeys are being cared for at Australian Reptile Park, on the New South Wales Central Coast, and were bred as part of a conservation program. Adorable footage shows the tiny marsupials relaxing with their keepers and running out of a pair of comparatively-giant boots before being bottle-fed. Two Tasmanian Devils named Itchy and Scratchy (pictured) are being raised by zoo keepers in Sydney as part of a conservation program to restore numbers in the wild Tasmanian Devils are born about the size of a grain of rice and require extensive around the clock care that has left mammals keeper Hewin Hochkins exhausted. 'I can't remember the last time I had a proper night's sleep, but every minute I get to spend with these two is worth it,' Mr Hochkins said. Raising the siblings requires Mr Hochkins to feed them four to five times a day including at 4am. Mr Hochkins said Itchy and Scratchy were named after the iconic Simpsons characters due to their cheeky nature and being full of life. 'They're already showing off their cheeky little personalities, I just knew the names Itchy and Scratchy were perfect for them,' he said. Mammals keeper Hewin Hochkins has been raising the pair which requires him to feed them four to five times a day, including a feeding session at 4am Mr Hochkins will continue to raise the pair for the next eight months before they will be sent back to conservation organisation Aussie Ark, who initially bred the marsupials, before they will be released in a wild protection sanctuary. Aussie Ark president and Australian Reptile Park director Tim Faulkner said the iconic native animal has been decimated in the wild due to a specific type of cancer. 'Devil facial tumour disease has ravaged wild populations and 80 to 90 per cent of all devils have disappeared as a result,' he said. 'The Aussie Ark breeding program is creating a long-term future for this species, Itchy and Scratchy are now a big part of that.' "(They) left him in an apartment by himself with no food, no bedding, no TV, no air-conditioning," the woman wrote. "When the man left he told my son do not step outside the doors or you will be arrested with $1000 fine." The pandemic hasnt dampened tourists desire to visit Yellowstone National Park. Despite the hassles of traveling with hand sanitizer, masks and staying socially distant during the novel coronavirus outbreak, visitation to the park was up by about 2% in July compared to July 2019. Business has definitely been steady, said Wendy Swenson, marketing director for the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce. Weve noticed that increase as well. The park hosted 955,645 recreation visits in July, almost half of which enter from the West Entrance at West Yellowstone. License plates reveal heavy traffic from Idaho, California and Utah, Swenson said. But we are seeing visitors from all 50 states. Grand Teton National Park, just to the south of Yellowstone, saw a 3% uptick in July visitors. While Glacier National Park in northwest Montana saw a 48% decline. Uneasy The crush of visitation this year has been different. Swenson said travelers seem to have less patience as the town's 1,200 residents attempt to service 10 times as many tourists. Melissa Alder, co-owner of Freeheel and Wheel bicycle shop in West Yellowstone, said her staffs usual way of doing business with a focus on customer relations and service has become awkward. Its a little bit different because were nervous about people coming into the store, she said, especially since some tourists arrive from states without mask orders. So Alder and her staff are constantly cleaning in an attempt to kill the hitchhiking virus. The crush of visitors comes despite a reduction in hotel rooms and places to camp inside Yellowstone, forcing many visitors to seek a nights rest at surrounding national forest campgrounds or in hotels and motels in bordering gateway communities. Park use Campsite use in Yellowstone year-to-date was just over 1,000 so far this summer, compared to more than 57,000 last year. Park concession-operated campgrounds saw a decrease of 198,500 this year compared to 380,900 last year. Concession lodging was down 84%, from 465,000 last year to 72,700 this year. Even backcountry camping in Yellowstone was down by half. Jeannette Mikos owns and operates the 15-room Yellowstone Basin Inn with her husband near Gardiner and the North Entrance to Yellowstone. She said their business saw a bump in July but they had also reduced their rates. Shes booked visitors from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Texas, but reservations going into fall have been spotty. People are looking to escape rather than to be somewhere, Mikos said. That would explain why tourists are booking last-minute reservations. Swenson said travelers are looking only five to seven days in the future when planning a trip. In West Yellowstone at least, she said travelers are making reservations for fall and winter visits. Lauren Oswald, public services staff officer for the Custer Gallatin National Forest, said the number of campers has been up in July and August, with a high volume of dispersed camping people pitching a tent anywhere they can find flat ground. Thats prompted the forest to beef up enforcement, which has mainly been educational, Oswald said. Dispersed campsites have no water, toilets or trash cans. Its definitely a challenging landscape this year, she said. At existing campsites, she said the overflow of visitation has meant pumping vault toilets more often. The public lands around us are heavily pressured, Alder said. Unfortunately theres a lot of trash and toilet paper flowers at pullouts. Gregory Lesky, owner of the Livingston/Paradise Valley KOA, said once the Montana gates to Yellowstone opened in June his business shot up and has remained as busy as last year. Many of his clients are arriving in new RVs, Lesky noted. Locals One firm data point that illustrates the desire to be outside is the vehicle counter on Hyalite Road south of Bozeman. In July use of that route, despite road construction, was up 20% over last July to 31,000 vehicles. Whether thats an uptick in tourism or local people spending time on public land, I dont know, said Wendy Urie of the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Part of the increase could be from outdoor-oriented people moving to the community from out of state. Alder noted her friends in resort communities like Big Sky; Jackson, Wyoming; and Sun Valley, Idaho, have seen people moving permanently into their seasonal resort residences. Tales of people selling homes the same day they are listed at above-asking price are rampant in cities like Bozeman. Dollars Visitation to Yellowstone National Park is a huge economic driver for Montana and communities near the park. A 2019 survey by the University of Montana Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research showed Yellowstone as the states top draw when it comes to traveler spending an estimated 34% of the state total or $1.27 billion. All told, travelers spent an estimated $3.77 billion in Montana in 2019. A look back at this years travel spending will show a much bleaker number. The novel coronavirus outbreak stifled travel from March through May. Yellowstone didnt even open its gates in Montana until June. Consequently, many businesses hired fewer staff to save money. Those seasonal employees who did find work are navigating an unusual situation. A sign of the times is an ad in the Gardiner Chamber of Commerce newsletter noting that weekly employee surveillance testing for COVID-19 is being conducted for free for those who work closely with the public. In the air Although travelers seem to be willing to hop in the car, van or RV and drive to the state this summer, air travel is a different story. According to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, which draws the majority of a typical summers Yellowstone visitors, passenger arrivals were down 77% in June and 53% in July compared to 2019. From January through July the airport had seen a 46% reduction in travelers. In Montanas largest city, Billings Logan International Airport reported arrivals down almost 52% in July compared to last year and off by 48% year to date. What the fall season will hold is open to speculation. Some businesses are seeing advanced bookings, and theres a possibility that families with school-aged children may travel if coursework is online. Older visitors typically make up the majority of fall Yellowstone visitors. Some may stay home this fall out of concern for COVID-19. "Who knows what will happen next season," said Lesky, of the Paradise Valley KOA. But at least now businesses have some idea of what to expect, he added. Mutinous soldiers in Mali have detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as a possible coup plot unravelled. According to Reuters, Keita was was detained by the soldiers in the capital Bamako. A spokesman for Keita was not available to confirm the detention. Soldiers had earlier in the day mutinied at the Kati military base about 15 km (9 miles) outside of Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials. Keita has faced mass protests since June, with protesters calling for his resignation over alleged corruption and worsening security. The ECOWAS leaders intervened, calling for a Government of National Unity. But the protesters rebuffed the leaders, saying any solution short of Keita leaving office, was not negotiable. The United States, France and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have all condemned the mutiny. Prime Minister Boubou Cisse issued a brief statement calling for dialogue and urging mutinous soldiers to stand down. Cisse said that his government also called on the participants of the mutiny to calm down, saying there is no reason to use such act whose uncertain outcomes could harm Mali. The government calls for reason and a patriotic sense and asks for the arms to be put down, he continued. However, he did not confirm in the press release if some of his government members were taken by the mutinous military officers. The mutiny began with gunshots in the early morning on Tuesday in Kati, a town near the Malian capital Bamako. An officer reportedly took advantage of Tuesdays morning rally to incite soldiers to revolt. They fired in the air for long minutes before heading to arsenals, said a defence ministry source, adding that since then, access to the camp is impossible, because the road is blocked. Some residents in Kati reached by Xinhua said gunshots were heard in the early morning at the military camp of this city located less than ten km from the presidential palace of Koulouba. According to witnesses, traffic was interrupted between Bamako and Kati where markets and shops are closed and the population seems panicked. In Bamako, reports of the arrest of government ministers and of the President of the National Assembly by heavily armed men circulated on social media and raised fears of an attempt to seize power by the army. The mutiny unravelled as the Movement of June 5 Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) on Tuesday began a week of continuous activities of protest in Mali and within the Malian diaspora to force President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign. Keita has served as President of Mali since 2013. A mutiny in 2012 at the Kati base led to a military coup that toppled then-President Amadou Toumani Toure and hastened the fall of Malis north to jihadist militants, who continue to operate across the north and centre of the West African country. So far, the military officers who started the fresh mutiny have not made any official declaration. Related Telecom regulator TRAI has asked Airtel and Vodafone Idea to submit all pending data post their priority plan presentation on August 10, as the regulator moves closer to finalising its views on the contentious issue, a source said. The regulator recently sent reminders to the two companies to submit the additional data to back their claims, the source told PTI. Following this, Vodafone Idea has sent some information and sought time till August 20 to submit the rest, while Airtel's response is awaited. The source privy to the development said that the companies had made certain claims in the presentation before the regulator on August 10 and that TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) had asked all related data to be submitted. A reminder was sent this week to the two companies to make all pending submissions, and record of discussion has also been circulated by TRAI. The regulator is expected to finalise its views in the next few days, the source added. TRAI has asked the two companies to give details on the source of data they presented, as also international reference or studies. It has asked how the companies intend to accommodate disaster management and other emergency functions, especially keeping in mind needs of the Telecom Department and other agencies, given the backdrop of priority plans. Emails sent to Airtel and Vodafone Idea remained unanswered. TRAI is currently probing Vodafone Idea's priority plan RedX and Bharti Airtel Platinum Offering to see if network preference to specific customers leads to deterioration of services for other non-premium subscribers or violates any norms. The regulator had earlier shot off questions to the two operators asking them to explain their position on the controversial issue and provide relevant data to substantiate their claims. In its presentation to TRAI on August 10, Airtel defended its platinum offering saying it was launched with bonafide understanding that regulator does not have concerns over such an offering as no objection had been raised on a similar plan by Vodafone Idea for 8-9 months. Airtel had argued that operators often bundle their tariff plans and provide plan linked benefits with regard to content, devices, discounts for voice and data. Vodafone Idea too had justified its pay-more-for-priority-experience plan offered to its subscribers and said that telecom operators faced a double whammy of having to make continuous investments in an era of call and data charges falling way below cost due to cut-throat competition. Responding to questions raised by TRAI over the priority plans earlier, Vodafone Idea had argued that a new tariff plan is not a new service. Vodafone Idea has also countered TRAI's contention that the RedX plan that commits higher speeds should have been informed separately so different aspects could have been examined before such service was launched. Delhi HC refuses to stay release of movie 'Nyay: The Justice', purportedly based on Sushant Singh Rajput's lif Sushant Singh Rajput Death Anniversary: A Timeline of the of events that have transpired so far Relief for Rhea Chakraborty, Court allows de-freezing of actress' bank accounts after a year At least 6 members of Sushant Singh Rajputs family killed in road accident in Bihar CBI takes over Sushant Singh Rajput's death case: Who said what India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Aug 19: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and asked the Mumbai police to hand over all evidence collected so far to the investigating agency. Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Supreme Court orders CBI probe, rejects Rhea's plea | Oneindia News The court also said the FIR registered in Bihar based on the complaint filed by Sushant Singh's father was correct and Bihar was competent to ask the CBI to investigate the case. SC orders CBI probe into death of Sushant Singh Rajput Here's who said what: Sushant Singh Rajput was a talented actor & died well before his full potential could be realised. Many are keenly awaiting outcome of probe so speculations can be put to rest. Therefore a fair, competent, impartial investigation is need of the hour: Supreme Court in its order "Justice is the truth in action," actor Ankita Lokhande tweets post verdict. This is a victory for Sushant Singh Rajput's family. SC ruled on all points in our favour. The Court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct: Vikas Singh, Lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father I am very happy. The Supreme Court's order has strengthened the trust people have in the Court and has assured the nation that justice will be delivered in the #SushantSinghRajput's death case: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey "...So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation," tweets Shweta Singh Kirti, Sushant's sister. "Satyamev Jayate," NCP chief Sharad Pawars grandnephew Parth Pawar Once we get the order copy, we will examine it and decide further course of action. We have spoken to our advocates in the Supreme Court to send us the order copy: Mumbai Police Commissioner, Parambir Singh It is a very important day for Sushant Singh Rajput's family and his fans all over the world. Supreme Court accepted all our points, it also held that what Maharashtra Police was doing was in a limited scope: Vikas Singh, lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father SC after examining the facts and circumstances of the case and the report of the Mumbai Police has observed that it will be the desired justice as Rhea herself called for a CBI investigation: Satish Maneshinde, Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Rhea will appear and face the investigation by the CBI as she has done earlier with the Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate. She maintains that the truth will remain the same whichever agency investigates the case: Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde Maharashtra government should introspect on the way Sushant Singh Rajput's death case was handled in the State: Devendra Fadnavis I think SC verdict is natural. There were too many things that were odd about these two Bollywood deaths of Sushant Singh Rajput and his former business manager. This whole issue had struck a chord with millions of people. He had symbolised aspirational India: Jay Panda, BJP The Supreme Court verdict has come, once we get a copy of the order we will comment on it: Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh It's (SC order for transferring case to CBI) a matter of satisfaction for people of Bihar who want fair investigation in #SushantSinghRajput's death case. It was unfortunate that Mumbai police was not carrying out proper investigation in case: Union minister and Arrah MP RK Singh I welcome the Supreme Court verdict recommending CBI probe in the case. This is victory for justice. On 30th June, we had demanded a CBI probe. But, the Bihar Government took 42 days to wake up: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav Supreme Court has given its verdict, it is not right to make political comments. Our state's justice system has always been one of the best in the country, no one is above law here & to provide justice to all has been the norm: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena Those in the government who know the law, the Mumbai Police Commissioner or our Advocate General can talk about it, it is not fit for me to comment on the verdict of Supreme Court: Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) yesterday launched its 2020 Election Coverage in Accra. Election Coverage, is a specific programme designed by the Corporation to offer equal access to all political parties in the lead up to the general election. Present at the launch were representatives of the Ghana Freedom Party, National Democratic Congress, New Patriotic Party, and the National Democratic Progress Party. The others were Eagle Party, Convention Peoples Party, United Front Party, Great Consolidated Popular Party, Progressive Peoples Party and Peoples Action Party. Speaking at the programme, the Director General of GBC, Professor Amin Alhassan, said that Corporation would ensure equity in selling air time to all political parties in this years elections. GBC has a duty to treat all political parties qualified to contest equally by being objective, impartial and fair to all of them, he said, adding that, the Corporation would give free air time to all political parties in September The Chairman of the programme and Chairperson of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh asked political parties to support and cooperate with the GBC while urging Ghanaians not to submit their interests to political parties. Political parties should offer the GBC unblemished support in the discharge of it duties, he said. Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh cautioned political parties to avoid defamatory languages by according each other respect when given the platform. Political Parties must treat themselves with respect by appreciating themselves and doing unto others as they would want to be done to them, Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh stated. Dr Sarah Dsane, a board member of the GBC stated that any issue that would arise from the coverage of political parties should be reported to the Committee while asking for an even playing field for the political parties. Maintain a cordial electioneering campaign and ensure an even playing field for all the political parties, she mentioned. The Director of Television, GBC, Ebenezer Ampaabeng outlined the policies, objectives, and strategies of the election coverage, stating the categories of the airtime to be desired by the various political parties. Mr Ampaabeng said these were in line with the provisions of the 1992 constitution and the NMC to provide fair opportunities to all parties to present their views to the people by ensuring equal access to their facilities. The occasion was also used to outdoor a 10-member Political Broadcast Committee led by Dr Dsane and unveil the official logo with the theme, Ghana Wins Election 2020 for the Corporations Election Coverage. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Speakers Tuesday night included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected to Congress, and President Bill Clinton, now a Democratic Party elder. (Associated Press) When Bill Clinton gave his convention acceptance speech in 1992, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a toddler. Clinton, whose presidency steered the party to the center a generation ago, returned to the convention podium Tuesday night as a gray-haired party elder; Ocasio-Cortez, a rising insurgent pushing the party to the left, got a snippet of speaking time. The two personify a yawning gap within the Democratic Party between baby boomers who have dominated party leadership for decades and a rising generation of more progressive, diverse younger people. The 2020 Democratic convention may do little to close that divide: The program aims to put the partys best face forward, but so far it is still mostly a wrinkled one. The presidential nominee, Joe Biden, at 77 is a few years too old to be a baby boomer. His running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, was hailed for her relative youth when Biden named her, but at 56 on inauguration day would be older upon first taking office than every Democratic president since Harry Truman. Biden is not in much danger of losing young voters to Trump, but he does have to worry about losing them to apathy. Polls show voters younger than 35 are lagging in enthusiasm for him, and many Democrats worry about whether they will turn out in an election where voting will come with multiple logistical challenges because of the pandemic. "The key for us is to make sure that we make the case for voting to a generation that's seen as less likely to vote at all," said Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former South Bend, Ind., mayor whose own presidential bid was framed around a call for generational change, speaking in an interview. "He is winning overwhelmingly among younger voters; the important thing is just to make sure that there is no question about whether it is important to vote," Buttigieg said of Biden. Party conventions are traditionally a way to make that case and build enthusiasm. Tuesday night, with its keynote address, is often a time to spotlight new talent. Story continues This time, however, while a montage of younger officials opened the proceedings, the lineup at the time-crunched virtual convention remained heavily skewed to luminaries who could boast, as several did, that they had known Biden for decades. The age of political leaders is not the only, maybe not even the most important, factor in determining who will excite and engage younger voters. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the oldest candidate in the 2020 presidential field, was a youth sensation. But Biden is often out of step with the strong progressive slant that dominates among young Democrats. In addition, his style, his approach to politics and his personal experiences draw from a world very different than the one in which voters in their 20s and early 30s have grown up. The Biden campaign acknowledges the need to reach out to millennials, who as of 2018 became the largest generation of eligible voters, and to the even younger voters coming after them. "We're using the convention to communicate directly with young voters through our rising stars, party leaders, and ordinary Americans about how Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are ready to confront the huge challenges facing our country after four years of Trump's chaos," said Biden campaign spokesman Mike Gwin, "and we're doing so in an engaging format that allows us to reach voters of all ages no matter how they consume news. Tuesday's lineup spotlighted emerging leaders like Stacey Abrams, 46, who ran unsuccessfully for Georgia governor in 2018, and an ethnically diverse lineup of young members of Congress, state legislators and local officials. The segment, which opened the night, was a substitute for the traditional keynote address that at past conventions gave a chance for standouts to shine, as Barack Obama, still a U.S. Senate hopeful, did in 2004. The spotlight was more diffuse in the 2020 remake, which packed 17 young elected leaders into a 10-minute time slot. They delivered a joint, staggered speech that showcased diversity but made it impossible for any one of them to stand out. Later in the evening, Ocasio-Cortez formally seconded the nomination of Sanders for the roll call, praising him for leading a mass peoples movement working to establish 21st century social, economic and human rights." But she was allowed to speak for only about a minute and a half, an allotment her allies considered insultingly small for a rising Democratic leader, especially when Republican John Kasich spoke for four minutes Monday night. Bidens nomination postpones the passing of the generational baton in a party where baby boomers have been slow to move off the track. Many thought that handoff had begun with Obamas election in 2008. But baby boomers reasserted themselves with Hillary Clinton's nomination in 2016. Last year, the big field of primary candidates introduced voters to a fresh batch of younger Democratic leaders. But amid the turmoil of the Trump era, Democratic primary voters once again turned aside arguments for new leadership, opting for the steady, experienced hand that Biden held out. The Biden campaign is betting that in this fall's election, young voters desire to oust Trump will overshadow any reservations they have about the former vice president. In an August Washington Post/ABC News poll, voters under 40 favored Biden over the president by a 62%-29% margin. The poll also found, however, that while 44% of Biden voters said they were very enthusiastic about his candidacy, just 25% of those under 40 said so. Campaign officials hope that naming Harris as Bidens running mate will inspire more excitement among younger voters, especially people of color. But that remains to be seen as many young Black voters are wary of her background as a prosecutor. Her presence on the ticket is very exciting. She is certainly more digital-savvy and more comfortable being herself in the public space, said Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, a group that supports young progressive candidates. But younger voters are more progressive than where she is on some issues. Whatever is accomplished by this weeks convention, a survey by the Alliance for Youth Action, a progressive group that promotes youth voting, suggests the Biden campaign has a lot of work ahead of it. An August poll of young persuadable voters Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in 10 swing states found that nearly 40% had not heard from the Biden campaign either by phone, digital ads or other forms of outreach. They are running out of time, said Sarah Audelo, executive director of the alliance. This election is not about convincing young people that Donald Trump should not be president. They know that. Its about convincing young people to turn out to vote at all, to navigate many hurdles to voting that will exist, and that Joe Biden is the person that they should vote for. A 4-year-old boy who was getting an ice pop from an ice cream truck was critically injured when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Sunday. Chris Currid is now in a medically induced coma, his father said, and police have just released video showing the silver Honda Accord with tinted windows that they believe was the striking vehicle in the hit-and-run in the citys Tacony section, Action News 6 ABC is reporting. Police say the hit-and-run occurred around 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the 6600 block of Keystone Street. The boy was standing near an ice cream truck and was about to reach up to his father when the driver went around the ice cream truck and hit him, Action News 6 reports. The driver left without stopping, and the boys father, Bobby Currid, carried him to a nearby fire station, seeking help, reports indicate. Hes so innocent, please do the right thing, Bobby Currid told the driver in an interview with Action News 6. I just want you to do the right thing. He has two older brothers that want him to come home...hes my baby. He said the car that hit his son was driving at about 40 mph, reports indicate. Neighbors told the station something has to be done about cars that speed onto the street from Interstate 95. Anyone with information should call the police, 215-686-TIPS. 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. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang Wed, August 19, 2020 08:25 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066ef5ebb 1 National bank-indonesia,banknote,rp-75000-bill,#Indonesia75,NTT,East-Nusa-Tenggara,design,money Free Moris Saubaki and Telly Saubaki-Saudila of Oebobo district, Kupang, in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) were surprised to see the image of their daughter, Ananda Saubaki, on the commemorative Rp 75,000 (US$5.08) bill, which was issued by Bank Indonesia (BI) to celebrate Indonesias 75th Independence Day. The couple recalled that Ananda took part in a photo contest held by BI last year but they did not expect Anandas face to be featured on the special banknote. BI requested that participants send pictures of children wearing traditional attire. Ananda passed the selection and went for the photo shoot, Moris told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Ananda, who is now 7 years old, did a photo shoot wearing traditional NTT attire in August 2019 at BI's NTT office in Kupang. At that time, both Ananda and her parents did not know that the picture taken during the photo shoot was intended to be featured on this years Rp 75,000 bill. Today I just found out that the picture taken a year ago was used as part of the design for the commemorative bill, said Moris, adding that he and Telly were proud of their daughter, a second grader at SD Naikoten 1 state elementary school. Read also: Bank Indonesia releases commemorative Rp 75,000 bill to celebrate 75th Independence Day The new bill features the faces of the country's first president and vice president, Sukarno and Muhammad Hatta, as well as Indonesia's first flag-hoisting ceremony during the countrys Declaration of Independence on Aug. 17, 1945 and the countrys infrastructure pride such as the Jakarta MRT, Papuas Youtefa Bridge and the trans-Java toll road. On the reverse side, the bill depicts nine Indonesian children wearing traditional attire from Aceh, Riau, Central Java, West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, NTT, Gorontalo, Maluku and Papua. Previously, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the special Rp 75,000 bill was an expression of gratitude for the countrys independence and a symbol of revival and optimism in facing future challenges, including challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. "[Bank Indonesia] did not issue the special bills to improve liquidity to fund [the country's] economic activities. [...] but to commemorate Indonesia 75th Independence Day and to express gratitude for the country's independence," Sri Mulyani said during an online press conference on Monday. BI has released 75 million of the new bill. BI also issued three commemorative bills when celebrating Indonesias 25th, 45th and 50th Independence Days. (aly) WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service said it will shelve its controversial cost-cutting initiatives until after the November election, canceling service reductions, reauthorizing overtime and suspending the removal of mail-sorting machines and public collection boxes. Tuesday's reversal comes hours after at least 21 states announced plans to sue the mail service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, arguing that policy changes widely blamed for mail slowdowns will interfere with their abilities to conduct elections. DeJoy is poised to address those issues at a Senate hearing on Friday, then go before a House panel on Monday with Robert Duncan, the chairman of the USPS board of governors. Tensions reached a crescendo Thursday when President Donald Trump said he would block funding for the Postal Service in an attempt to hobble its ability to process mailed ballots. Last month, the USPS notified 46 states and the District that their deadline requirements for voters to request and cast ballots were "incongruous" with its service standards, and encouraged local election officials to use first-class postage, which costs 55 cents per item and arrives in two to five days, on election mail rather than third-class postage, which costs 20 cents and takes three to 10 days, as had been the practice for years. DeJoy's announcement Tuesday did little to quiet those concerns, or address questions about reported backlogs at processing plants or delays in home delivery. Democratic lawmakers continued to press postal officials for answers about the policies and elaborate on the agency's preparedness to collect election mail. "Postmaster General DeJoy cannot put the genie back in the bottle," Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., who chairs the House subcommittee responsible for postal oversight, said in a statement. "Sunshine in the form of public pressure has forced Mr. DeJoy to completely reverse himself. While this is a victory for all voters and every American that relies on the USPS, congressional oversight cannot be interrupted. If Mr. DeJoy has nothing to hide, he will come to Congress with answers to our questions about the service disruptions that have defined his tenure as Postmaster General. Accountability is the cornerstone of our democracy." "Our fight against them is working," Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said during an online panel Tuesday afternoon, referring to DeJoy and USPS. " . . . It shows that the public pressure we are putting on them is working." DeJoy, a former logistics executive and Trump ally, took office in mid-June and swiftly ushered organizational changes, cracking down on overtime hours and banning extra trips by postal carriers trying to ensure on-time mail delivery. Since then, mail service gaps have been reported in localities across the country, ensnaring prescription medications and election mail during some midsummer primaries. The Postal Service also planned to take 671 mail-sorting machines, roughly 10 percent of its inventory, offline to cut costs, and had in recent days removed, relocated and replaced public mailboxes in a number of states including Oregon, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Montana and Arizona. DeJoy also reshuffled the agency's top ranks, removing or reassigning 33 executives. Democratic lawmakers have been taking DeJoy to task over those changes, with several calling for him to resign. Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb launched an investigation into those changes last week, along with DeJoy's financial portfolio. "I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability," DeJoy said in a statement Tuesday. "I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election. "In the meantime, there are some long-standing operational initiatives - efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service - that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded." DeJoy said he would expand the agency's leadership task force on election mail to include labor union leaders and industry associations. Mail processing equipment and mailboxes "will remain where they are" and service hours will not change, he said. "We will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand," he added. "The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall," he said. "Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation's election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day." Democrats in both chambers began clamoring for hearings after Trump said he wanted to withhold funding from the Postal Service to attempt to hobble its ability to process election mail. On Tuesday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows blamed many of the delays on decisions made during the Obama administration. "President Trump at no time has instructed or directed the post office to cut back on overtime, or any other operational decision that would slow things down," he said. Trump and first lady Melania Trump had their absentee ballots delivered to Palm Beach election officials, just in time to be counted in Florida's primary election on Tuesday, the second time this year he has voted by mail in the state. The couple designated someone to pick up their ballots from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office in West Palm Beach on Aug. 12. The ballots arrived back at the office on Monday, according to Ashley Houlihan, an attorney for the supervisor's office. Democrats have alleged that DeJoy, a former Republican National Convention finance chairman, pushed through policies that have caused dysfunction in the mail system and could wreak havoc in the presidential election. Republicans have largely dismissed those allegations, saying DeJoy needed to take decisive action to cut costs at the long-beleaguered agency, which is carrying $106.9 billion in debt. "Postmaster General DeJoy has nothing to be ashamed of," Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. "The Postal Service has been in dire straits long before Mr. DeJoy's leadership and he rightfully took action to improve its efficiency and operations to better serve the American people." Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, will gavel the Friday hearing remotely, and is expected to press DeJoy on whether the Postal Service truly needs the $25 billion in emergency funding that the House has pushed. The Trump administration has started backing away from its hard line stance against any postal aid, signaling over the weekend it would be willing to approve $10 billion. Senate Democrats - including the party's presumptive vice-presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris of California, and Sen. Gary Peters, who launched his own investigation of mail delays last week - are poised to grill DeJoy on his connections to the Trump White House. DeJoy has given more than $2 million to the Trump campaign or Republican causes since 2016, according to the Federal Election Commission, including a $210,600 contribution to the Trump Victory Fund on Feb. 19. He has given more than $650,000 to the Trump Victory Fund and more than $1 million to the Republican National Convention. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in March attempted to leverage an emergency coronavirus loan to the Postal Service that would allow the White House to approve the next postmaster general, along with higher package rates - long a misplaced target of Trump's anger. The announcement also leaves unanswered DeJoy's plans for the agency's long-term finances. The Postal Service has $15 billion in the bank, plus a $10 billion loan from an early round of coronavirus relief spending as a backstop. That's more cash on hand than it had at the start of the pandemic, when the agency forecast it would run out of money in October. Since then, volume declines in first- and second-class mail - USPS's most profitable products - have been smaller than anticipated. Package volume, meanwhile, has skyrocketed, up 55 percent in the last week of July from the year-ago period. That has put off financial calamity until at least spring 2021, and could sustain the agency for another year, according to recent projections. "This is totally a perception issue that the postmaster general is addressing. He and his board of governors," Meadows said. "But any logistical operational concerns in terms of getting mail as quickly as possible to its destination will be addressed through overtime pay. And there's more than enough money in the bank account." Beyond that, however, its financial picture is murkier: If consumer habits endure past the pandemic and e-commerce continues to surge, the Postal Service will be in desperate need of new machinery to process those items and new trucks to carry them. It also will see fiercer competition from the likes of Amazon, FedEx and UPS, which have used gains during the pandemic to expand their own shipping networks. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Trump, who was touring the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma, Ariz., on Tuesday incorrectly suggested that higher package prices on Amazon, which contracts with the Postal Service on "last mile" deliveries from distribution centers to consumers' homes, would solve the agency's financial problems. Instead, postal finance experts say, such a strategy would bankrupt the USPS faster by chasing business away to private-sector rivals. "Amazon will pay for the cost of the post office," Trump said, incorrectly. "Amazon should pay for it. Then you'll solve problems . . . I don't want to lay people off." Despite DeJoy's announcement, a group of Democratic attorneys general said they were proceeding with multiple lawsuits against him and the Postal Service, saying it was essential to obtain court orders to permanently halt service changes that have led to fears that November's election could be disrupted. "A tweet or a statement or a press release is one thing. We need to see binding action to reverse these changes," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at an afternoon news conference. So far, 21 states have signed onto the suits, including one filed Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Washington state. The states argue that the Postal Service broke the law by making operational changes without first seeking approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission. They also argue that the changes will impede states' ability to run free and fair elections. The Constitution gives states and Congress, not the executive branch, the power to regulate elections. The states are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. "We're trying to stop Trump's attacks on the Postal Service, which we believe to be an attack on the integrity of the election. It's a straight up attack on democracy," Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat, said in an interview. "This conduct is illegal, it's unconstitutional, it's harmful to the country, it's harmful to individuals." Problems at the Postal Service have caused particular anxiety this year as many people planned to vote by mail rather than risk exposure to the coronavirus by waiting in lines and lingering inside polling places. Democrats fanned out to post offices across the country on Tuesday in a "Postal Day of Action," turning up at post offices in states including Florida, California, and Colorado on Tuesday in defense of the mail system and the electoral process. "I think this is the scariest and most important election of my lifetime," said Leslie Bouwman, 75, a retired social worker from St. Petersburg, Florida. Bouwman was among more than 50 people gathered Tuesday in front of St. Petersburg's historic Post Office to protest Trump's handling of the Postal Service. Protesters carried signs such as "U.S. Mail Not For Sale" and "Stamp Out 45." In Colorado, Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat, toured a post office in Aurora as part of his effort to determine whether mail slowdowns are systemic in his district. "This is a fundamental part of life, and our community and our seniors really rely on this service," he said. "It's real and it's immediate and if people don't get their medication on time they feel it, if a veteran isn't getting a disability check on time they feel it." Crow said the issue could be particularly acute in his district, home to 70,000 veterans, Buckley Air Force Base and a large veteran's hospital. In downtown Denver, alongside a cavernous post office with glass block windows, Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said that more than 12,000 constituents have emailed, called, and sent handwritten letters to her office with concerns that mail delays could severely impact their ability to receive paychecks or medications. The onslaught amounts to three times more contacts than she's received on any other issue this year, including impeachment. Illinois Democratic Reps. Sean Casten, Bill Foster and Lauren Underwood said they would back legislation in the House to rein in DeJoy's changes, and wanted answers in his testimony about his relationship with Trump. "He owes the American people some answers," Underwood said. "Why was he willingly participating in a politically motivated exercise to disenfranchise voters, to limit the reliability of a trusted institution?" Demonstrators over the weekend held rallies in front of DeJoy's homes in the District of Columbia and Greensboro, N.C., demanding he rescind the new policies. Protesters in Washington banged pots and pans at 8 a.m., Saturday, to "wake up" the postmaster general to problems in his agency, and left letters tacked to the building's front door. Florida Democrats Rep. Charlie Crist and Rep. Kathy Castor decried the Trump administration's attempt to undermine the Postal Service. "I believe this is outrageous for the administration to stand in the way of the delivery of the mail to the people of America," Crist said. - - - The Washington Post's Joshua Partlow, Seung Min Kim, Tony Romm, Christopher Ingraham, Erin Chan Ding, Lori Rozsa, Jennifer Oldham and Jared Leone contributed to this report. YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today held a video call with Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister. Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Masatsugu Asakawa on his appointment as ADB President and invited him to visit Armenia after the epidemic is over. The Prime Minister noted that ADB is one of Armenias reliable partners. Various programs implemented in our country in the fields of transport, energy, urban development, healthcare, education, and the private sector development support provided by the Bank testify to effective ties of partnership between the Government of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank. We appreciate the ongoing cooperation with ADB and are keen to further develop it, Nikol Pashinyan said. The Premier praised the Banks financial and technical assistance to Armenia on the way to overcoming the economic impact of COVID-19. Pleased with Prime Minister Pashinyans invitation to visit Armenia, Masatsugu Asakawa assured of ADBs readiness to deepen the mutually beneficial partnership with Armenia. The ADB President welcomed the Governments anti-crisis programs aimed at minimizing the pandemics adverse consequences. He reaffirmed the Banks willingness to continue supporting Armenia through the bilateral partnership program. Masatsugu Asakawa stressed that the Bank will assist Armenia in overcoming the economic hardships caused by the global pandemic. Mr. Asakawa highlighted the effective ties of partnership established between ADB and Armenia, which facilitate the implementation of SME support initiatives and several lifeline programs to develop transport communications, energy, healthcare, the financial sector and urban infrastructure. The Prime Minister and the ADB President discussed a broad range of issues on the agenda of cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank. Views were exchanged on the epidemiological situation in Armenia, the Governments anti-crisis policy and the prospects for cooperation in this area. Nikol Pashinyan thanked the ADB President for his readiness to support our country, noting that the Armenian government is developing a package of measures for economic recovery after the epidemic, which calls for closer cooperation with all international partners, including ADB. The mother of one of the victims of the Manchester bombing has told a court today how her heart 'snapped' when she heard of her daughter's death. In a tearful hearing at the Old Bailey, families of the victims read out impact statements to an empty dock after Hashem Abedi refused to enter the court room. Abedi, 23, is facing life in jail for the murder of 22 victims after his brother Salman launched a suicide attack during an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. The ISIS-loving terrorist was brought to court from prison but refused to appear in the dock at Court Two of the London courthouse today, remaining in the cells below. He is expected to be sentenced on Thursday morning. A number of families read out emotional statements about the effect of the bombing on their lives. Lisa Rutherford, whose daughter Chloe, 17, died alongside her boyfriend, Liam Curry, 19, said the trip from their home in from South Shields, Tyneside to the Ariana Grande concert had been a Christmas gift. 'Chloe was so excited to go and see her idol with Liam by her side and do a little shopping too,' Mrs Rutherford told the Old Bailey. Lisa Rutherford, mother of Manchester bombing victim Chloe, told the Old Bailey how her heart 'snapped' when she received news of her daughter's death. Caroline Curry paid tribute to her son Liam Curry, Chloe's boyfriend and another victim of the 2017 terror attack Chloe Rutherford, 17, died alongside her boyfriend, Liam Curry, 19. Chloe's mother said the trip from their home in from South Shields to the Ariana Grande concert had been a Christmas gift Manchester-born Hashem Abedi attempted murder and conspiracy to cause explosions, over the 2017 Manchester Arena suicide bomb attack carried out by his brother Salman Abedi She described how her daughter had planned her 18th birthday for the following August in so much detail, that she had chosen the music and picked out a dress. 'We will never get to see our daughter Chloe celebrate her birthdays,' Mrs Rutherford said, taking frequent breaks to compose herself. 'She was never able to enjoy this and just dance the night away as she wished for. We will never get the excitement of her and Liam getting engaged, seeing the ring. 'Me and her dad helping her set up home and her dad doing all the decorating as he would have loved to do, watching her grow. 'Somehow we are expected to get through life without her and it just seems impossible Our lives have changed for ever.' She added: 'From the moment of receiving that call saying something had happened at the arena, my heart snapped. I am emotionally scarred. 'We have lost so much, my giggle buddy, my theatre trip buddy and all those special mother and daughter times.' Her husband was also 'totally devastated', she said. Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester suicide bomber, faces long jail term after being found guilty of 22 murders. Hashem Abedi, 22, was convicted of plotting with his brother, Salman, to carry out one of Britain's deadliest terrorist atrocities Salman Abedi at Victoria Station making his way to the Manchester Arena, on May 22, 2017, where he detonated his bomb, which was shown at the Old Bailey in the court case of Hashem Abedi, his brother The older Abedi, aged 22, killed himself and 22 others in the blast, with the youngest of his victims aged eight and the oldest 51 'Taking her to work or parties or charity gigs was his time listening to her stories listening to what was going on. Special times together are no more.' Chloe's brother Scott had been happy that his friend from the cricket team was going out with his sister and would tell their parents: 'She'll be fine with Liam, mam.' 'Not only has he lost his only sibling, Scott is just broken,' Mrs Rutherford said. Caroline Curry explained how her son had struggled against dyslexia to get into university and raised thousands of pounds for charity. 'There are not enough words in the world to explain the pain I feel,' she said. 'Liam was so many things to so many people and a wonderful boyfriend for Chloe who was snatched away. Life now is not a life it is an existence that I tolerate. 'I hide from the world. It is like I have lost a best friend. I didn't get to go on our shopping day for a ring or see her reaction when he asked for Chloe's hand. 'All we have now is heartbreak and dreams smashed away in a few seconds. I can't see when Liam and Chloe became parents. 'He idolised his dad and I know he would have made the most amazing dad himself.' Paul Hett, father of Manchester Arena attack victim Martyn Hett, (with Martyn's brother Matt, right) speaking outside Manchester Minshull Court Family and friends of the Manchester bomb victims, wearing masks in support of the victims, arrive at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester to watch the sentencing of Abedi via video link Mrs Curry held up a photo Liam, and addressed Abedi, saying: 'You took his future, my future our families future. All we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if. What you took from me was more precious than gold, a beautiful boy, inside and out. 'I want you to look at Liam and remember the beautiful boy that was snatched away. This life has lost a beautiful soul.' Abedi cannot face a 'whole life tariff' because he was under 21 when he helped his brother build the bomb, the court heard. Instead a minimum term will have to be set by the judge. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, asked the prosecution: 'If the accused had been over the age of 21 as was his brother, it would have been the prosecution submission that this was a case where a whole life tariff was appropriate? Duncan Penny QC told him: 'That is correct my lord.' The judge told the court that the written impact statements were served on Abedi in his prison cell. 'My understanding is that, having been brought to this building, Hashem Abedi has refused to come into the court room,' he said. 'I have no power to direct force to be used. In those circumstances, however unsatisfactory it is that Hashem Abedi is not in court to listen to the victim impact statements which are going to be read out to the court during the course of today and tomorrow, there is nothing the court itself can do about it.' Abedi was not in court to hear the jury deliver its verdict in March after sacking his legal team in the trial and deciding to take no further part in proceedings. He offered no defence to the charges that he had helped his brother plan the attack on the Manchester Arena, killing children, teenagers and adults as they poured out of a concert or waited for their loved ones, and critically injuring dozens more. Mr Penny told the jury that Hashem Abedi was 'just as responsible for this atrocity, as surely as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself.' Police were built a circumstantial case against Hashem which included detailed forensic work to determine Hashem's fingerprints were on a prototype detonator. The judge added that it was for parliament to change legislation if defendant's under 21 were to be handed whole life terms. But he could be given multiple life sentences with a minimum term starting point of 30 years. Ahead of the sentencing, family members of the Manchester bombing victims have described how 'life will never be the same', with heartbroken parents breaking down in court as they recalled the moment they discovered their loved ones had died. One woman (left) wears a pink Chloe and Liam wristband in support of victims, Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry Mrs Rutherford, mother of 17-year-old Chloe from South Shields, said her 'heart snapped' when she received a telephone call with the news. Wiping away tears, and supported in court by crutches, she said: 'We are lost, we are devastated and we feel an overwhelming loss. 'Somehow we are expected to get through life without her, without our baby girl, and it just feels impossible. 'There is always that empty chair where she should be.' Caroline Curry held up a photo of her son Liam Curry, 19, also from South Shields, who was Chloe's boyfriend and also died in the blast. Mrs Curry spoke through tears as she appeared to address some of her comments to Abedi, who refused to come into court for his sentencing hearing. Survivor Claire Booth wept as she described her sister Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, as 'my sidekick'. Ms Booth said: 'I can't go anywhere in public on my own, even if it's to the shop. Sometimes I feel like a prisoner in my own home. 'I try as much as possible to find some level of normality. 'My dad has not been able to walk his daughter down the aisle, my mum can't take her shopping for a wedding dress. We will never see her grow old. As a family, we have been thrown into a world of chaos.' Figen Murray, mother of Martyn Hett, a 29-year-old public relations manager who lived in Stockport, described how she is now unable to go to bed until after 10.31pm, the time the bomb went off. She said: 'I still cannot reconcile that I was fast asleep while my son lay dead on the floor, and I am ashamed about that. 'The enormity of the loss has left a massive void, Martyn was at the top of his game, he had wonderful friendships and he was due to travel.' Mr Hett's father Paul Hett said the family would 'never get over' his death. He said: 'Few of us can face going near to the arena or Victoria station. Every subsequent act of terrorism brings fresh anxiety. We are living in constant fear that something like this can happen again - that knock on the door.' Simon Callander described himself as the 'proud father' of 18-year-old victim Georgina Callander, who lived in Preston. Speaking about the aftermath of the attack, he said: 'I didn't see much daylight for the next few days. The house seemed so crowded with family, friends, police and neighbours. I walk the streets at night because I can't go out in the day because everyone wants to come up and talk out of the goodness of their hearts.' The sentencing hearing was adjourned to resume on Thursday morning. No need to deploy military at the moment, Putin's spox says. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov says Russia is seeing no need to provide military assistance to Belarus within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). "As for the Collective Security Treaty Organization, indeed, the parties undertook a number of obligations on mutual assistance. But you know now there is no such need, and, in fact, the Belarusian leadership itself admitted that there is no such need," he told journalists, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia. To a clarifying question, whether Russia will provide military assistance to Belarus in case of an external threat, or "revolution," Peskov said: "I have already answered your question." Russia's military hardware at Belarus borders When asked to comment on media reports that convoys of Russian military equipment were spotted heading toward the border with Belarus, Peskov said that "Russian military hardware is located throughout the territory of the Russian Federation, so there is nothing to comment on." According to him, in the issue of Russia providing assistance to Belarus within the CSTO framework, "such hypothetical reasoning is absolutely unacceptable, impossible" "I repeat once again: it's Belarusians we proceed from the fact that it's Belarusians themselves who will address their issues within the framework of dialogue, within the legal framework, and without any external interference," Peskov said. He also claimed the Kremlin considers events in Belarus an internal affair of that country. Russia "support" for Lukashenko Russia "support" for Lukashenko Russia became one of the first countries to congratulate Lukashenko on his alleged victory in the presidential elections in Belarus, whereas Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia made no such calls. Ukraine did not congratulate Lukashenko either. Later, the EU recognized the elections in Belarus as rigged, and the ex-president himself persona non grata. In parallel lines, the West is preparing a package of sanctions against those involved in the violence and murder of protesters in the early days of protests. At the same time, eyewitnesses reported the movement of convoys of Russian Guard trucks toward the border of Belarus. Earlier, several aircraft of the Belarus air force flew to Russian military bases. European diplomats and U.S. legislators have expressed concern about Russia's interference in Belarus' affairs. Some political experts believe the "Crimea scenario" is unfolding. Zareen Khan says people still assume Salman Khan helps her find work: "I cannot be a monkey on his back" Multiple wildfires are burning in the greater North Bay. Cal Fire is referring to them collectively as the LNU Lightning Complex. LNU stands for Cal Fire's Lake-Napa Unit. The biggest fires are: Napa County Hennessey Fire (merged with Gamble, Green, Markley): Napa County, 100,000 acres Spanish Fire: Near Spanish Flat, 4,100 acres Napa and Lake counties Morgan Fire: 3,500 acres Sonoma County Walbridge Fire: West of Healdsburg, 14,00 acres Meyers Fire: North of Jenner, 2,500 acres --- LATEST, Aug. 19, 10:10 p.m. Cal Fire issued additional evacuations, including some in Lake County, at 9:30 p.m. Find the order here. Aug. 19, 8 p.m. The LNU Lightning Complex Fires had burned more than 124,000 acres as of Wednesday evening and was zero percent contained, Cal Fire said in its latest status report. The fire has destroyed 105 structures, damaged 70 and threatens 25,000. You can find the complete update here. Aug. 19, 7:36 p.m. Napa County issued additional mandatory evacuations Wednesday evening: Community of Angwin Community of Deer Park St. Helena Hospital East side of Highway 29 from Lake County line down to Silverado Trail East side of Silverado Trail from Highway 29 to Highway 128 Northwest side of Highway 128 to Chiles Pope Valley Road Northwest side of Chiles Pipe Valley Road to Pope Valley Road Northwest Side of Pope Valley Road to Butts Canyon Road East side of Butts Canyon to Lake County See the complete warning posted by Cal Fire at 7:10 p.m. here. Aug. 19, 5:55 p.m. An additional evacuation warning was issued for Sonoma County from Cal Fire late Wednesday afternoon. Residents near the Meyers Fire were issued an evacuation warning; this includes all areas east of the Sonoma coast to the south fork of the Gualala River, according to a Cal Fire press release. The areas south of Kruse Ranch Road and Howser Bridge Road to Fort Ross Road are also affected by the evacuation warning. Residents with pets and livestock, or those who need additional time to evacuate, were reminded by Cal Fire to use this issued evacuation warning to leave the area as soon as possible. Aug. 19, 4:25 p.m. Cal Fire ordered mandatory evacuations for areas of Lake County due to the LNU Lightning Complex Wednesday afternoon. Residents in the Hidden Valley Lake and Jerusalem Valley areas are asked to leave the area. The evacuation order includes the areas north of Butts Canyon Road, south of Hofacker Lane to Morgan Valley Road, east of Highway 29, and west of the Lake/Napa county line. An evacuation center has not yet been set up for the area, but a temporary evacuation point has been set up at the old airstrip located off of Highway 53 in Clearlake, according to fire officials. Evacuees are asked to remain in their vehicles and wear masks at the evacuation point, and will be directed to a shelter once one is established. Further mandatory evacuations and warnings were issued for the city of Fairfield as well. For the latest in evacuation announcements for that area, head here. Aug. 19, 3 p.m. Cal Fire gave a press conference on the LNU Lightning Complex Fire at 11 a.m., and you can watch it here. Cal Fire Operations Chief Chris Waters explained the fire is divided into three zones. The West Zone is primarily Sonoma County, the North is northern Napa County and the southern part of Lake County and the South consists of southern Napa County, Solano and a little bit of Yolo County. Waters said the emphasis is on evacuations and beginning to build perimeters to stop the fire from spreading. Aug. 19, 1 p.m. Cal Fire issued a new series of evacuations for the Walbridge and Meyers fires. The full evacuation warning list has been updated below. Aug. 19, 12:30 p.m. Some 4,500 homes in Vacaville are threatened by a portion of the LNU Lightning Complex. The fires, which started in Napa and quickly spread to the Lake Berryessa area, moved into Vacaville and Winters. Evacuations were ordered in Vacaville for all residents of Pleasants Valley Road and the English Hills area as flames raced across roadways. Read more about the fire in Vacaville on SFGATE. Aug. 19, 11:35 a.m. Cal Fire issued mandatory evacuations for Highway 121 (Monticello Road) from Wooden Valley Road to Vichy Avenue. An evacuation warning is in place for the following: Monticello Road from Vichy Avenue to Silverado Trail Ink Grade, from Pope Valley to White Cottage Road Howell Mountain Road, from Pope Valley Road to White Cottage Road Aug. 19: 10:50 a.m. Firefighters battled the Wallbridge Fire Wednesday morning to keep flames west of the Russian River. The blaze has entered the northern part of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, near the Bullfrog Pond area, according to KCBS Radio. The Wallbridge Fire is burning west of Healdsburg and is threatening the lower Russian River region. It's one of many blazes that's part of the LNU Lightning Complex Fires. The following evacuation orders are in effect in this area: All areas East of Russian River North of River Rd. West of Trenton Healdsburg Road & Eastside Road South of western Windsor River Road dead end and Russian River Aug. 19, 10 a.m. Cal Fire issued a new series of evacuations for the Hennessey Fire, one of many blazes that's part of the LNU Lightning Complex Fires that has scorched 46,000 acres as of Wednesday morning. Mandatory evacuation orders are now in effect for Wooden Valley Road from Highway 121, including Wooden Valley Cross Road and Gordon Valley Road, to the Napa County line. Aug. 19, 6:30 a.m. The LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded overnight and an arm of raging blaze was heading into Vacaville Wednesday morning, leading to another series of evacuations. Officials told residents to get out immediately. Evacuations were ordered in Vacaville for all residents of Pleasants Valley Road and the English Hills area as flames raced across roadways. The Solano County Sheriffs Department told residents to leave their homes west of Blue Ridge Road to I-505 in Vacaville and north of Cherry Glen Road to Highway 128. (Find complete list of evacuations below.) The raging blaze has charred 46,225 acres (or 72 square miles) and was zero percent contained, according to Wednesday morning status report from Cal Fire. To put that in perspective, that's a little more than the size of the city of San Francisco. "Extreme fire behavior with short and long range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts," Cal Fire said. Cal Fire spokesperson Will Powers told KTVU much of the fire was tearing through rural areas with steep terrain that's difficult for crews to access. Some 50 structures have been destroyed and 50 damaged, according to Cal Fire, and multiple news reports specifically noted several homes were burned near Highway 128 and the community of Winters overnight. Nearly 2,000 homes are currently threatened. (The full status report can be seen here.) Nichelini Winery in St. Helena shared Tuesday afternoon its facilities are threatened by a wildfire burning in the region. "The fire continues to be close but Cal Fire is amazing and working very hard to keep us safe," the winery shared on Facebook. "Thank you to those who are working so hard to make sure we can exist for another 130 years." The winery, founded in 1890, is one of the state's oldest. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The following areas are under evacuation, according to Cal Fire's Wednesday status report: Napa County Evacuation order: Highway 128 from Lower Chiles Valley Road to Monticello Road Highway 128 from Chiles Pope Valley Road to Lower Chiles Valley Road Chiles Pope Valley Road from Highway 128 to Lower Chiles Valley Road All of Hennessey Ridge Road. From Moskowite Corner to Wooden Valley Rd, Including the community of Circle Oaks Atlas Peak from the Bubbing Well Pet Cemetary at 2462 Atlas Peak Rd to the dead end From Loma Vista Rd / Soda Canyon Rd to the dead end. All of Steele Canyon Rd from Hwy 128 to and including the Berryessa Highlands Sub Divison Wragg Canyon Rd - from Hwy 128 to the end of the road, including Chiles Pope Valley Road - From Lower Chiles Valley Road to Pope Canyon Road Sonoma County Evacuation 0rder: North of Austin Creek Recreational Area East of The Cedars Mill Creek Road west of the intersection of Puccioni Road South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road West of West Dry Creek Road and Westside Road North of Sweetwater Springs Road and McCray Ridge Road East of the East Austin Creek (the actual creek) Evacuation Warning: West of Meyers Grade Road to the coast South of Fort Ross Road North of Russian Gulch State Beach North of Austin Cree Recreational Area East of Cedars West of Mill Creek Rd South of Stewarts Point-Skaggs Spring Road All areas south of River Rd. from Martinelli Rd. to Trenton Rd. West of Covey Rd North of Front St. / Hwy. 116 East of Martinelli Rd All areas south of Hwy. 101 East of the Russian River to the Windsor Town limits North of where Windsor River Rd. dead ends extending west to the Russian River All areas south of the Russian River West of Bohemian Hwy North and East of Coleman Valley Rd and Willow Creek Rd All areas south and west of Willow Creek Rd North of Coleman Valley Rd and Wright Hill Rd East of the California Coastal National Monument (BLM property) An evacuation center is set up at Crosswalk Community Church at 2590 First St. in Napa. (Find evacuation updates on the Napa County Sheriff's Office Nixle page.) People can bring their pets to the Napa County Animal Shelter 942 Hartle Court in Napa. CalFire The following roads are closed: Napa County SR-121 at Wooden Valley Road (this was previously the SR-121 at SR- 128 closure). This closure will be staffed by an officer. Circle Oaks is being or will be evacuated SR-128 at Pleasent's Valley Rd. Woodland CHP and Caltrans are staffing this closure. No traffic westbound on SR-128 from this intersection. Traffic can move east on SR-128 and south on Pleasent's Valley Rd Butts Canyon Road at Snell Valley Rd. This closure is staffed by a CHP officer. We do not want anyone traveling south on Butts Canyon Rd past this intersection SR-128 at Silverado Trail. This closure is staffed by a CHP officer and Caltrans Napa County Roads is working on the following closures: Atlas Peak Rd at Westgate Drive. No traffic north on Atlas Peak Rd. past Westgate Drive. This section of Atlas Peak is being or will be evacuated Soda Canyon Rd at Silverado Trail. Soda Canyon Rd. north of Loma Vista Drive is being or will be evacuated. We do not want any traffic on Soda Canyon Rd north of Loma Vista--it's easier to close it at Silverado Trail Sonoma County SR-1 @ Fort Ross Road- No traffic on S/B SR-1 and no traffic E/B on Fort Ross RdSR-1 @ Meyers Grade Road- No traffic on N/B SR-1 and no traffic on N/B Meyers Grade Rd Fort Ross Road at Seaview Road- No traffic on W/B Fort Ross Rd. and no traffic on E/B Fort Ross Rd Meyers Grade Road at Fort Ross Road- No traffic on S/B Meyers Grade Rd Dry Creek Rd at Dry Creek Yoaking Bridge Rd at Dry Creek Lyton Springs Rd at Dry Creek Westside Rd @ Dry Creek Wohler Rd at River Rd Odd Fellows Park Rd at Russian River Bohemian Hwy at Russian River Mosscow Rd at Hwy 116 Hwy 116 at Hwy 1 (Move Hwy 1 at Myers Grade) King Ridge Rd @ Sewell Rd (private Rd with gates) Skaggs Spings Rd at Sewell Rd (Anvil Ranch) The Hennessey and Gamble fires presumably started by lightning strikes amid a rash of thunderstorms in Northern California Monday, but the definitive cause is under investigation. The Hennessey Fire ignited in the 60 block of Hennessey Ridge Road in Rutherford and was reported at 6:40 a.m. Monday, Cal Fire spokesperson Will Powers said. For updates on the blazes, check the Cal Fire website. MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE: These are the fires burning in the Bay Area right now Map: See where wildfires are burning in Bay Area San Mateo and Santa Cruz fires threaten many mountain towns Vacaville wildfire destroys homes, evacuations extended into Fairfield California's oldest state park now completely surrounded by fire zone What to do to keep wildfire smoke out of your house Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. G reta Thunberg has said two years have been lost in the climate change fight due to lack of action by world leaders. The teenage activist became a household name after her idea for a school strike for the planet took off around the world in 2018. What began as a single 15-year-old skipping school to protest outside the Swedish parliament, calling on world leaders to do more to help the environment, became a movement of millions of young people. Ms Thunberg has since sailed across the Atlantic using no fossil fuels, been nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes, been named the youngest Time magazine Person of the Year, and been included on the Forbes list of the worlds most powerful women. But today she said that the world has wasted time in recent years despite increased political awareness. Ms Thunberg and other activists are to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel this week / REUTERS In a joint editorial on Wednesday, Ms Thunberg wrote in The Guardian: Looking back [over two years], a lot has happened. Many millions have taken to the streets and on 28 November 2019, the European parliament declared a climate and environmental emergency. But over these last two years, the world has also emitted over 80bn tonnes of CO2. We have seen continuous natural disasters taking place across the globe. Many lives and livelihoods have been lost, and this is only the very beginning. [But] when it comes to action, we are still in a state of denial. The gap between what we need to do and whats actually being done is widening by the minute. Effectively, we have lost another two crucial years to political inaction." She argued that G20 government Covid-19 pandemic rescue packages are giving more support to fossil fuels than to low-carbon energy, and pushed for a greener recovery. Ms Thunberg also tweeted on Wednesday, saying that the willingness to act and the awareness needed to create sufficient change is still nowhere to in sight. She added: As it is now, we can have as many conferences as we wantThe only way forward is for society to start treating the crisis like a crisis. This week Ms Thunberg and other school strike activists will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European council. The young activists will demand a halt to all fossil fuel investments and subsidies by the EU. They will also call for the establishment of binding carbon budgets. Loading.... In the UK, the chancellor has set out 3 billion of "green spending", focussing on improving energy efficiency around the country. Photos: PLA Warships Engage in Live-Fire Drills in South China Sea as US Carrier Launches Aircraft Sputnik News 19:12 GMT 18.08.2020 US and Chinese warships both conducted drills in the South China Sea over the weekend, with a corvette from the Hong Kong garrison engaging in live-fire target practice while a US aircraft carrier carried out flight operations. On Sunday, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) corvette Huizhou practiced shooting at a variety of targets in the South China Sea, and the Hong Kong garrison's Sina Weibo account posted a video of the drills. A Type 056 Jiangdao-class corvette, the 295-foot, 1,500-ton warship is dwarfed even by destroyers and commonly used for escort duties and coastal defense. The Chinese Type 056 corvette Huizhou sails in the South China Sea Though she be but little, she is fierce. According to the Global Times, the Huizhou's crew trained in 10 weapons tests including firing jamming bombs, the ship's main guns and light weapons, as well as helicopter landing training and emergency rescue. The warship focused on anti-submarine warfare, practicing tracking down and torpedoing the undersea hunters. Although the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration announced several live-fire drills in the South China Sea this month, the Huizhou's were not on the schedule reported by the Global Times last week prior to the first such drills. Other exercises the PLA has held recently include massive marine assault war games in Guangdong and Hainan, which rehearsed both staging and defending against amphibious assaults, as well as live-fire exercises in the East China Sea. However, the Huizhou was far from the only warship to crowd the waters off China's southern coast. The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan briefly returned to the South China Sea over the weekend, venturing in from the Philippine Sea to conduct flight ops on Friday and Saturday. The Reagan was joined by the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyers USS Mustin and USS Rafael Peralta, according to a Navy news release. "Integrated training included air-to-air operations, combat search and rescue drills, and air defense exercises to increase joint force capability to respond to regional contingencies and maintain warfighting readiness," the Navy said, noting the strike group also coordinated with a US Air Force B-1B Lancer stationed in Guam, which are now used for maritime patrols. An MH-60R Seahawk assigned to the "Saberhawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 lifts off the flight deck of America's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) while conducting operations in the South China Sea. "Operations in the South China Sea continue to demonstrate enduring US commitment to allies and partners and a cooperative approach to regional stability and freedom of the seas," the Navy said. "The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific." In June, the US State Department defined Washington's rejection of Chinese sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, using the conflict over four groups of islands as a leverage point to try and separate regional nations like Vietnam and the Philippines from friendly association with Beijing. Since then, US military activities in the region have increased drastically, with dual-carrier drills, regular bomber patrols and a daily stream of US reconnaissance aircraft flying along the Chinese coast. On Tuesday, CNN published what it said was the first footage from a US spy aircraft over the South China Sea in two years, showing reporter Ivan Watson tagging along on a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol craft as it flew close enough to Chinese-claimed territory to be warned away by PLA officials on the radio. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The fact that almost 40% of those who signed the pledge are potential visitors from outside of California shows that we are starting to reach people outside of California, and they are signaling that they want to travel safely as soon as the city is open for leisure travel. San Francisco Travel, the citys official destination marketing organization, is asking visitors to commit to safe and responsible practices by signing the new Safe Travel Pledge. The Safe Travel Pledge encourages future visitors to come to San Francisco and to do so responsibly. This pledge is designed to remind people not only of what to expect when they visit the city, but what is expected of them as well. Since launching on July 29, 420 people have proactively committed to the ten-point pledge to follow health and safety guidelines designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 62% of those who have signed the safe travel pledge live in California, with 32% being residents of San Francisco and 21% located in Northern California outside of San Francisco. 38% of those who signed are located outside of California. People signing the pledge proactively promise to abide by the following tenants for traveling and visiting safely: Wear a mask or other face covering when in public spaces. Maintain physical distance from others while exploring the city. Practice good hygiene to lower the risk of spreading or contracting disease. Follow all local public health orders, even if they are different from the ones where I live. Research the changes that local hotels, attractions, and businesses have made before I travel so that I can be a responsible visitor. Support local businesses that form the character and culture of San Francisco's many different neighborhoods. Use contactless payment methods wherever possible. Be patient with and respectful to the workers in San Francisco's hotels, restaurants, and stores, who are all adjusting to new protocols and procedures. Preserve and protect the places I visit by not littering or leaving things behind. Lead by example and share these practices with other travelers. As we prepare to welcome people back to San Francisco, we want to encourage visitors to do their part to keep themselves and our residents safe, too. Our Safe Travel Pledge is a way for visitors to show that they are committed to traveling responsibly, said San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe DAlessandro. The fact that almost 40% of those who signed the pledge are potential visitors from outside of California shows that we are starting to reach people outside of California, and they are signaling that they want to travel safely as soon as the city is open for leisure travel. The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. For information on reservations, activities and more, visit http://www.sftravel.com or call 415-391-2000. For information on reservations, activities and more, visit http://www.sftravel.com or call 415-391-2000. For more about San Francisco, follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please use hashtags #sftravel and #AlwaysSF. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 50 international cities on 44 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 85 cities in the U.S. on 12 domestic airlines. In SkyTrax Passengers Choice Awards for 2020, SFO was the highest-rated airport in the United States, ranking third worldwide behind airports in Toronto and Barcelona. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit http://www.flysfo.com. Follow SFO on http://www.twitter.com/flysfo and http://www.facebook.com/flysfo. United Airlines is the preferred airline of the San Francisco Travel Association. # # # Note to editors: Four people died and at least five others were wounded in a spate of shootings and stabbings that started Tuesday evening and continued through the night in the Houston area, according to authorities. Anthony Brown Jr., 38, was gunned down around 6:40 p.m. in a breezeway of an apartment complex at 8405 Broadway St., with police saying there were several suspects. Hours later, two men were found dead of gunshot wounds both in cars. Around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office deputies were dispatched to a shooting in the 6000 block of Pincay Oaks Drive in the Greater Inwood area, where a person had been shot while driving. The motorist then rolled into an intersection and hit a parked car. The vehicle was registered to a city in West Texas and police were unsure if the driver was from out of town. About a half hour later, Houston police found a crashed car in a ditch along the 9200 block of Helmers Street in the Northside neighborhood. There a man had also been shot. Investigators found bullet holes in the windshield and spoke to neighbors who reported hearing multiple gun shots. A fourth man was stabbed to death at an apartment in the 12800 block of Dunlap Road around 1:45 a.m. A neighbor, who declined to be identified, said he heard an argument at the apartment and then flashing lights from the police. Police had no additional details as of Wednesday morning. Several people were wounded overnight as well. A pregnant Jack in the Box cashier who is about six months along was shot around 9:30 p.m. during an attempted robbery at 2218 Little York Road eatery, police said. A customer pulled a weapon on her, shot her in the buttocks and fled. She is expected to survive, according to authorities. A statement from the fast food chain states the employee has since been released from the hospital Another man was shot in the back in the 5800 block of Fondren Road around 1:30 a.m. and two men were shot at a gas station parking lot around 10:30 p.m. at Antoine Drive and Tidwell Road. Around 6:45 p.m., an 18-year-old was shot in the back while walking along the 9600 block of West Montgomery Road in Acres Homes. The assailant opened fire from a vehicle that had made a u-turn to reach him. nicole.hensley@chron.com anna.bauman@chron.com Remember the time when a camera only held around 32 shots of film roll? That was decades ago but now, having close to unlimited shots has become a reality. We started with memory cards with 32MB of storage and like everything that's tech-related, we now have 1TB microSD cards readily available. Look at the food you're about to eat, the landscape you're about to explore, and the familiar faces you've shared frames with. Not considering World Photography Day, more often than not, we've snapped photos of them at the moment we felt immortalizing the moment. And it doesn't stop there. Photography involves sharing the photos you took to other people. More often than not, this is now done via various social media platforms we have access to. World Photography Day's Inception It all started when Lois Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce invented the Daguerrotype in 1837. It's a photographic process that, much to the delight of the entire world, was given copyright-free. From there, World Photography Day unofficially got its traction. Numerous people started experimenting with this new way of preserving the moment. The first unofficial selfie was taken in 1839 by Robert Cornelius. Imagine the speed you need to have for removing the lens cap and then running into the frame. Numerous iterations were later invented up until we arrived to today's hi-res cameras that, most if not all, fit the palm of our hands. You can even have a dash cam in your car nowadays! Photography in the Modern World You've set up your latest gaming PC? Boy, you need to take a pic of it; or even a couple more if you're aiming to get the best angles. You've bought Nvidia RTX's latest card? Why not snap a photo of it inside your glorious PC-Master-Race case? Having a mobile phone handy, or even a tablet, really provides the convenience of sharing memorable moments. Are those deserving of being included in the gallery of World Photography Day? Though the importance of your subjects is a topic for another day, one thing's for sure. Being able to whiff out your phone to get that shot of someone suddenly doing a flash mob dance, beats having to lug around a film-based SLR. We cannot deny that enthusiast and professional grade DSLR systems offer better control and fine tuning but for the average person, having a smartphone with a relatively good camera sensor is more than enough. After all, the photos we upload on most social media platforms don't require to be large enough to fill an entire Hollywood billboard. World Photography Day is not about having the flashiest gears; it's about sending a message to your viewers. Old School Versus New School There would always be comparisons on which tool is better and that's understandable. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you have a decade-old Yashica system or the latest Fujifilm mirrorless camera or Apple's latest iPhone. It's all about the message you want to share to the world through your device's lens. As we celebrate World Photography Day, take a look around and take a snap of something or someone you'd like to remember in the years to come. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 11:26 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f0f333 1 Politics omnibus-bill-on-job-creation,house-of-representatives,sufmi-dasco,willy-aditya,Gerindra-Party,NasDem-Party,Lawmakers,KSPI,said-iqbal Free The House of Representatives and labor unions have formed a team to discuss labor provisions in the controversial omnibus bill on job creation following the unions' demand for the government and lawmakers to drop the provisions in the bill. House Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who initiated the formation of the team on Aug. 11 during the first meeting between the lawmakers and leaders of the unions, said the House Legislation Body's (Baleg) deputy chairman, Willy Aditya, would lead the team. "The team consists of members of the bills working committee from Baleg and the unions' representatives, said the Gerindra Party politician on Tuesday. Willy, a NasDem Party politician, said the labor groups had put forward points to be discussed, including issues surrounding foreign labor permits, wages, job security and severance pay. "There are nine issues that we will be discussed later from Aug. 20 to 21," Willy said, adding that the results of the discussion would be used by the lawmakers in the deliberation of the provisions with the government. He noted that substantial points on the problem inventory list (DIM) had been deliberated, as there were only about 1,900 remaining problems, including the labor provisions, to be discussed. Lawmakers, however, did not have a specific deadline to resolve the draft bill although the government had expressed hope for the House to finish the deliberation in August or September, Willy said. Read also: Guide to omnibus bill on job creation: 1,028 pages in 10 minutes "The House has never set a target," he added. Hendrawan Supratikno, a member of Baleg from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), previously mentioned that lawmakers aimed to complete the bill by September. However, House Speaker Puan Maharani, a PDI-P executive, said the House would continue to deliberate the omnibus bill on job creation with a careful approach. Indonesian Worker Union Confederation (KSPI) president Said Iqbal said labor unions would press ahead with their plan to hold a massive rally on Aug. 25 in protest of the bill, even though they had teamed up with the lawmakers to discuss the labor provisions. Said Iqbal said 32 labor groups were on the team, which were tasked with formulating a list of DIMs to be used by the lawmakers in discussing the labor provisions with the government. "It's so that the bills working committee from Baleg has a strong argument based on the list of problems we propose, he said. He added that the groups had demanded the House scrap the proposed revisions of the prevailing articles in the Manpower Law No. 13/2003, saying the bill's labor cluster should only stipulate new articles that have yet exist in the law, such as, for instance, provisions on start-up workers and freelance workers. Said Iqbal noted that Dasco had said in the meeting that the lawmakers would soon announce which articles the team would accept to be included in the bill and which ones they would reject, So that we wouldnt get stuck in limbo. HALIFAXRaymond Lillington stared at his lottery ticket in disbelief following last Saturdays Lotto 649 draw, thinking he couldnt have won a jackpot worth several million dollars again. I thought, oh my God this cant be real, the Cape Breton man told reporters Wednesday after collecting his $17.4-million prize with his wife, Gaye, in Halifax. So I turned around to Gaye and said its us again! and she said, what? I said, its us again! Lillingtons recent win was the second-largest lottery prize ever awarded in Nova Scotia and it followed his $3.2-million win in 2013. The 70-year-old retired Parks Canada worker from Dingwall, N.S., said its hard to believe his good fortune given the odds of winning once let alone twice. Six out of six numbers with the odds that they are and to do it twice, I was just overwhelmed, Lillington said. I thought ... I must check it again and after checking it six or seven times, well I thought, Ive got to be right. He said he continued to buy lottery tickets after his first win and joked that he would win again, although he didnt really believe that. Gaye Lillington said she also didnt believe it when her husband gave her the news. I thought he was kidding me, but when I saw the look on his face, it was, oh no, here we go again. Its real, she chuckled. Raymond Lillington said his first lottery win set the couple up for retirement and allowed them to travel and purchase things such as a new home and vehicles. The new windfall will mostly go toward helping out their five children and six grandchildren, he said, adding he also intends to support some local organizations. Were from a small area in Cape Breton and we have our own small hospitals and stores, and they all need help, he said. Theyre there for us and wed like to be there for them too if we can. Lillington said he was also happy for the owners of the local store where he bought the ticket the Cabot Trail Food Market in Cape North. The store will get about one per cent of the winnings or about $174,000. When asked if there are any lessons to be learned from his luck at playing the lottery, Lillington was ready with an answer. If you want a chance, you have to buy a ticket. Read more about: Meteorologists monitoring possible weekend tropical depression for Cancun, Riviera Maya Cancun, Riviera Maya, Q.R. Local meteorologists are monitoring three systems in the North Atlantic, two of which are deemed likely to develop further. One of those systems, a tropical wave located over the eastern Caribbean Sea, currently has its trajectory set for the coast of Quintana Roo. According to the National Hurricane Center, the system is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms along with gusty winds. They report showers and thunderstorms continue to become better organized in association with the tropical wave and accompanying broad area of low pressure over the central Caribbean Sea. The agency says satellite imagery suggests that the circulation is becoming better defined and if these development trends continue, they add that a tropical depression is likely to form today or tonight as the system approaches the northwestern Caribbean Sea. By the weekend, however, the wave is forecast to move toward the Yucatan Peninsula with a 90 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression by the weekend. The National Hurricane Center says interests in the Yucatan Peninsula should closely monitor its progress. Regardless of development, this disturbance will likely produce heavy rains across a large portion of Central America and southeastern Mexico late this week and this weekend. Coordinacion Estatal de Proteccion Civil Quintana Roo has posted advisories on social media asking area residents to stay informed of any possible developments of the system. 'Those 10 years in the IAF has made me what I am today.' IMAGE: Guneet Kaur flies an Indian Air Force helicopter at a forward base in the Himalayas. All Photographs: Kind courtesy Guneet Kaur Flight Lieutenant Guneet Kaur was among the first batch of women helicopter pilots inducted into the Indian Air Force in December 1995. She flew extensively in high altitudes of the Himalayas and at the China border. During the Kargil War, she was posted near the western border with Pakistan and conducted several reconnaissance missions which required low-level flying to evade Pakistani radar. In her ten years of service in the IAF, she conducted numerous search and rescue operations and casualty evacuations in different terrain. The officer retired after competing her short service commission in 2004. Now settled in Vancouver, Canada, the former IAF pilot tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih about her varied experience as the first lady pilot in her unit and how the IAF shaped her into what she is today. IMAGE: The Indian Air Force's first batch of women helicopter pilots. Guneet Kaur is standing in front. You were the first batch of women helicopter pilots to join the IAF. What made you sign up? I was in the final year of BSc when I saw the ad that the IAF was going to induct lady helicopter pilots. I was jumping with joy and applied without even telling my parents! I told them after I got the call for the SSB (Services Selection Board) interview. My parents were very happy and my twin brother helped because we were both in the NCC. I knew the SSB will be tough so I started going for my runs. My father, who was an engineer in the IAF, advised me to be honest and truthful in the interview. I passed the SSB which is a series of tests. After that I went for a week-long medical test. There were 6-7 other girls who were selected. In those days there were no cell phones and I called my parents from a landline to tell them the news. The medical test was very thorough. After that your name has to feature in the merit list and only then you get a call letter. The call letter comes with a list of items you need to bring with you. It was a long list of things that you put inside that typical (defence services) black box and take with you. At that time I was also enrolled in a two-year NIIT progamme in the evenings. After I returned from the SSB, the counselor told me why are you going to the air force. Is it only for the salutes? I was told that I would make more money in IT. I told them it's not about choosing a career with money, but about feeling that there is a purpose to my life. That was the whole reason behind joining the Indian Air Force. IMAGE: Guneet Kaur with her course mates at the Air Force Academy. What was the experience at the training academy where you trained with male cadets? There were two batches of women pilots before us, we were the third short service commission, and the first course of women helicopter pilots. We were 10 of us and trained with male counterparts in the academy for one-and-a-half years. The first six months was basic flight training on a fixed wing aircraft and after that it was pure helicopter training in Hakimpet. There were already lady officers doing administration duties at the academy before us. At the academy, we also had some army officers who were training on helicopters apart from IAF pilots. We all trained together and were put through the wringer together. When we signed up, we knew we are joining the military and it was not going to be easy. My father was in the IAF and I had travelled around the country wherever he was posted. So that brought in a lot of resilience and adaptability very early in early in life. Where was your first posting and what was the experience? I was posted to Bareilly and was the only woman pilot in the unit. There was one more lady accounts officer at that base. The first few years were challenging. It was tough, but it's tough for even male officers. It must have been tough for the IAF too because it was transitioning into something new. I remember when I reached Bareilly station, a pilot officer had come to receive me at the railway station. It was a weekend and I had to report on Monday. I was allotted accommodation in the Officers Mess. My unit had a commanding officer, flight commander who is in charge of all the operations and training, 4-5 married officers and a bunch of bachelors -- around 15 to 20 officers. I heard from people that before I arrived they had had a meeting about a lady officer from the first batch of helicopters who was coming to the unit. I think they also removed some posters from the crew room and knew that they could no longer zip down their overalls and crash onto a couch in the crew room in the summer heat of 40 degrees! I was told all this later because we all had become so friendly in the crew room. There was a curiosity from the male officers also, but never was there any hesitation in accepting me. Never were officers or airmen disrespectful. IMAGE: Guneet Kaur, far right, at her passing out parade at the Air Force Academy. What was your flying experience and opportunities in those early months? I did extensive high altitude flying in the Himalayan region for three-and-a-half years in Bareilly as the IAF was supporting the ITBP in high altitude operations. I had to prove myself, which I did. My accommodation was a distance from the office so my father sent me my scooter. When you enter any male dominated organisation, women have to work a little more hard for the simple reason that we are putting ourselves into something which was male dominated. There was no separate toilet for ladies in the initial days, it was constructed later, but I was told to use the commanding officer's bathroom. I could use one of the spare rooms to change into overalls, so these arrangements were made. By the time the next batch of lady officers came six months later, separate toilets and changing rooms were already in in place. I used to go for detachments where you take the helicopter to another base and stay there for a week or two to support another squadron for casualty evacuation or maintenance, etc. I never saw any hesitation in the flight commander assigning me on a detachment. Two separate rooms would be provided in that particular mess for our accommodation. Male pilots usually had to share a room. I think after my first or second detachment, I could see the change in the attitude. Everyone felt that she is one of us. We became friends in the unit. IMAGE: Then Pilot Officer Guneet Kaur, left, with fellow officers at her first posting at the Indian Air Force base in Bareilly. What was the experience with the CO and flight commander? My CO and flight commander were strict, but very encouraging. The middle rung of officers like the squadron leaders were like our mentors who taught us a lot about flying and operations. Even if they scolded me when flying alongside, I took it in my stride because they never treated my male counterparts differently. What arrangements were made for you to change into your flying gear before a sortie? Initially, there was a temporary arrangement where an extra room, maybe a file room was made available. I used to just bolt it and change. In the mess, our rooms were side by side. In the evenings we played games together and went for dinner together. We built a camaraderie and it was so beautiful. I'm in touch with most of my first unit officers because learning together is something else. IMAGE: Then Flight Lieutenant Guneet Kaur. Where were you posted during the Kargil war? During Kargil, I was posted to Jodhpur in Rajasthan where we have a border with Pakistan. We had to fly all over the western border. We did a lot of low-level recce flying so that we were not caught on the Pakistani radar. The Cheetah aircraft has no armament and all we had was our own revolvers! It used to be hot and we flew in 50 degrees inside a glass bubble helicopter with bucket seats! I would just keep wetting my face. It was such a great experience. I loved flying the Cheetah. In my third and final posting in Bagdogra, I used to fly to Bhutan and the China border. There were places we flew to that were at 16,500 feet, we carried oxygen cylinders with us. High altitude flying needs a lot of skill. IMAGE: The first batch of women helicopter pilots in the Indian Air Force. How many years did you serve in the IAF? I was a short service commission officer and women could only serve for 10 years at that time. I could get a five-year extension, but I decided against it. My husband was also in the IAF and left service before me because he was also a short service commissioned officer. I joined Sahara and flew with them for many years. In 2013, we migrated to Canada. I look back at the IAF with great appreciation and pride. The experience shaped me into what I am today. It has been such an important phase of my life. Those 10 years in the IAF has made me what I am today. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Boris Johnson has his head in the sand and is ignoring warnings of a looming crisis for renters, Sir Keir Starmer has told The Independent, as thousands face losing their homes when the eviction ban expires in just four days time. The Labour leaders intervention came as legal experts wrote to Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, claiming that he is on the cusp of breaking his commitment that no tenant will be evicted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The government has so far dismissed pleas from charities to extend the moratorium on evictions for England and Wales and is instead pressing ahead to allow possession cases to resume in the courts after 23 August. According to polling research by leading housing charity Shelter, almost 230,000 adult private renters in England have fallen into arrears since the start of the crisis, while 174,000 have been threatened with evictions by landlords or letting agents. After the results fiasco, the government is yet again ignoring warnings of a looming crisis, Sir Keir claimed. Recommended The renters facing homelessness within days as evictions set to resume Referring to the plans by the Scottish government to extend the countrys eviction ban until spring 2021 pending a vote at Holyrood he said: Other parts of the UK have acted to protect renters, yet the prime minister has his head in the sand. The Labour leader said: Unless the government extends the ban on evictions, provides more support for tenants and follows through on its promise to scrap no-fault evictions, tens of thousands of people risk losing their home. Last week, the incompetence of Boris Johnson and his ministers jeopardised young peoples future. This week, they are risking peoples homes. While no legal evictions of renters have been permitted to take place throughout the pandemic, landlords still have the ability to serve tenants notices to leave a property without giving a reason under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London AP UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois PA UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London REUTERS UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque PA UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelseas Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge Liverpool FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Years Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London EPA UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year PA UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty As it stands, the notice period of no-fault evictions is three months in England, but last month it was extended to six months in Wales, excluding cases involving anti-social behaviour of tenants. It means there is likely to be a backlog of cases when the courts reopen, including those that were paused when the government introduced a moratorium on evictions at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. The Conservatives manifesto committed to abolishing no-fault evictions, and the prime minister included the promise of a renters reform bill in the Queens Speech following the general election. However, no time-frame for scrapping the clause has been provided, and just last month a housing minister told MPs that the legislation will not be brought forward until the urgencies of responding to the pandemic have passed. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has previously insisted that the vast majority of landlords and renters are working together to sustain tenancies, and critically that the overwhelming majority of tenants are paying rent as normal. Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, added: Eviction is not, and need not be, an inevitable outcome where tenants have struggled to pay their rent due to Covid-19. Those who argue otherwise are stoking needless anxiety for tenants. When the courts do start to hear cases again, it is essential that they deal swiftly with the most serious cases, including those where tenants are committing anti-social behaviour or where there are long-standing rent arrears that have nothing to do with the pandemic. With courts set to resume hearings next week, the government has said that landlords and tenants should work together and exhaust all possible options to ensure eviction cases only end up in court as an absolute last resort. Landlords will also be required to set out information to the courts on tenants circumstances, including the impact of the coronavirus crisis on a tenants vulnerability. However, in a letter seen by The Independent to Mr Jenrick, Shelter, the Law Centres Network, Advice UK and Legal Aid Practitioners Group said: We are deeply concerned that, without decisive action from MHCLG [the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government], you are at risk of breaking the promise you made on 18 March: that no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home. With possession proceedings due to restart on 24 August, many renters will face eviction due to the impact of this pandemic. This is because of the lack of discretion permitted in current housing law. For those being evicted under a mandatory rent arrears ground or, indeed, a mandatory section 21 no fault eviction notice the law leaves no choice but for the renter to lose their home. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick warned he could break his pledge to renters (PA) The organisations form part of the Master of the Rolls working group on evictions proceedings, which was tasked with preparing the courts for the lifting of the moratorium and how best to support vulnerable tenants. MHCLG has previously said the group has the full support of Mr Jenrick. The signatories of the letter also said they were concerned that the government had not played its part in addressing risks for renters before parliament entered the summer recess. We urge you now to give the courts and judges discretion to protect renters at the sharp end of the housing crisis, the group said. To disapply these mandatory grounds for possession is a policy decision that is yours to make. We continue to bring our expert legal knowledge to bear in the Master of the Rolls working group. However, we know that the procedural changes agreed by the group are not enough on their own to protect renters who have suffered as a result of this pandemic. They cannot address the mandatory grounds in current housing law, which means certain eviction for thousands of renters. A spokesperson for MHCLG said: The government has taken unprecedented action to support renters, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries meaning no tenants have been forced from their home at the height of the pandemic. We will provide appropriate support to those who have been particularly affected by coronavirus when court proceedings start again. Weve changed the court rules to require landlords to provide more information about their tenants situation when seeking an eviction, and judges have the power to adjourn a case if they dont. Were grateful to the members of the working group for their help in developing these arrangements. Legislation introduced in March requiring landlords to give all tenants three months notice will remain for possession cases, including section 21 evictions, until at least 30 September. By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Russia and China not to disregard the reimposition of all United Nations sanctions on Iran, which President Donald Trump has directed him to trigger at the U.N. Security Council in New York on Thursday. Pompeo will meet with Indonesia's U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani - council president for August - to submit a complaint about Iran's non-compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, even though Washington quit the accord in 2018. The nuclear deal between Iran, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France and the United States aimed to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief. That accord is enshrined in a 2015 Security Council resolution. In response to what the United States calls its "maximum pressure" campaign of unilateral sanctions - a bid to get Iran to negotiate a new deal - Tehran has breached central limits of the 2015 pact, including on its stock of enriched uranium. Diplomats say the so-called sanctions snapback process will be messy as Russia, China and other countries question the legality of the U.S. move given that Washington itself is no longer complying with what Trump called the "worst deal ever." Given questions over the U.S. move, diplomats said Russia, China and other countries are likely to simply ignore it and not reimpose the sanctions on Iran. When asked if the United States would target Russia and China with sanctions if they refuse to reimpose the U.N. measures on Iran, Pompeo told Fox News on Wednesday: "Absolutely." "We have already done that, where we have seen any country violate ... the current American sanctions, we've held every nation accountable for that. We'll do the same thing with respect to the broader U.N. Security Council sanctions as well," he said. The United States had threatened to use the sanctions snapback provision in the nuclear deal after it lost a bid in the Security Council on Friday to extend an arms embargo on Tehran, which is due to expire in October. Story continues Pompeo said it was unfortunate that the European members of the council abstained on the U.S. attempt to extend the arms embargo and that the move "makes the European people less safe." "They just are wedded to this crazy nuclear deal, they're trying to hang on to it," he said. Once Pompeo submits the complaint about Iran to the Security Council, the body has 30 days to adopt a resolution to extend sanctions relief for Tehran or else the measures will automatically snap back. Any attempt to extend the sanctions relief would be vetoed by the United States. Pompeo will also meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Eric Beech; Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman) DANBURY The city plans to clap back at John Oliver after the comedian challenged Danbury residents to a fight. Mayor Mark Boughton said the official city of Danbury response to Olivers comments on his HBO show Last Week Tonight will air Sunday morning on WTNH during Connecticut Capital Report. Wait till you see what the Rock is cooking... Boughton wrote on social media, in reference to former wrestler Dwayne The Rock Johnson. Boughton said he plans to tape his response Friday. Oliver ranted about Danbury on his Sunday night episode where he discussed issues with juries, including in Connecticut. I know exactly three things about Danbury, Oliver said. USA Today ranked it the second best city to live in in 2015, it was once the center of the American hat industry and if youre from there you have a standing invite to come get a thrashing from John Oliver children included (expletive) you. Oliver also mentioned Danburys charming railway museum and historic Hearthstone castle. Boughton said he took the comments as a sarcastic joke and a positive promotion for the city, but he disliked the swearing and challenge to children. Those things were a little too edgy for me, Boughton said in a Facebook Live video Monday. Thats why he will pay the price because you dont mess with Mayor Mark. A spokesperson for HBO did not return a request for comment. Industry Boosted by the Slow Penetration of Credit Cards in Developing Countries The global direct carrier billing platform market size is expected to grow by USD 40.67 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 20% throughout the forecast period, according to the latest report by Technavio. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download a Free Sample of the Market Impact of COVID-19. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005329/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Direct Carrier Billing Platform Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Developing countries are highly dependent on debit cards and cash for transactions and are recording low penetration rate and use of credit cards. This is providing immense growth opportunities for the direct carrier billing platforms to emerge as a deemed payment method. The direct carrier billing payment platform enables the purchase of digital content subscriptions without having to use credit cards or mobile payment methods. The platform allows users to pay through their cellphone bills after keying in the security codes. Thus, the low penetration rate of credit cards in developing countries will propel the demand for direct carrier billing platforms during the forecast period. Report Highlights The major direct carrier billing platform market share came from the apps and games segment in 2019, and it is expected to witness the fastest growth during the next five years. This is primarily because of the rising demand for online games and apps. APAC was the largest direct carrier billing platform market in 2019, and the region will offer several growth opportunities to market vendors during the forecast period. This is attributed to factors such as the fast-economic growth, the high penetration of smartphones, and the increasing access to 3rd generation (3G) and 4th generation (4G) networks. The global direct carrier billing platform market is concentrated. Amdocs Ltd., Apigate Sdn Bhd, Bango Plc, Boku Inc., Centili Ltd., Comviva Technologies Ltd., Digital Turbine Inc., DOCOMO Digital Ltd., Fortumo OU, and Oracle Corp. are some of the major market participants. To help clients improve their market position, this direct carrier billing platform market forecast report provides a detailed analysis of the market leaders. As the business impact of COVID-19 spreads, the global direct carrier billing platform market 2020-2024 is expected to have positive superior growth. As the pandemic spreads in some regions and plateaus in other regions, we revaluate the impact on businesses and update our report forecasts. Read the full report here: www.technavio.com/report/direct-carrier-billing-platform-market-industry-analysis? Rising Demand for OTT Content will be a Key Market Trend The adoption of OTT content, including audio and video streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, and Apple Music, is increasing significantly across the world. Consumers are increasingly opting for OTT content over traditional cable or satellite content owing to the unavailability of quality content on TV and the penetration of high-speed Internet. As a result, OTT content providers are developing quality and region-specific content to compete in the growing content market. The increasing demand for OTT content is propelling the adoption of direct carrier billing as a payment method. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Direct Carrier Billing Platform Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist direct carrier billing platform market growth during the next five years Estimation of the direct carrier billing platform market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the direct carrier billing platform market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of direct carrier billing platform market vendors Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform About Technavio 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/20200819005329/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ HAVANA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Cuba kicks off clinical trials next week of a potential coronavirus vaccine called "Soberana 01" ("Sovereign 01") developed by its state-run Finlay Institute, with results due in February, state-run media said on Wednesday. The potential coronovirus vaccine will be delivered in two injections during the trials that will involve 676 people aged between 19 and 80 years and conclude on Jan. 11. The Communist-run island prides itself on its biopharmaceutical industry, begun by former revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, which is also an important hard currency earner and already produces several vaccines. Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russias sovereign wealth fund, told Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina that Cuba could even be one of the places it could choose to produce the vaccine from November onwards. Authorities say their treatments for the new coronavirus have already helped it reduce mortality in sufferers. They touted interferon long before other producers started hailing the merits of the decades-old antiviral agent that boosts immune system and say dozens of countries have expressed an interest in buying it. The country of 11 million inhabitants has registered just a handful of deaths in the last few months, bringing the total to 88 deaths for 3,482 confirmed cases since the start of its outbreak in March. Cuba has handled its outbreak in textbook fashion through contact tracing and isolation of potential asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, although cases have risen in recent weeks since it eased lockdown restrictions in the capital, prompting it to tighten them once more. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta Writing by Sarah Marsh Editing by Marguerita Choy) Due to concerns about public health during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Lebanon has not been shutting off water to residents who are behind on their utility payments. With some residential bills growing significantly overdue, the Lebanon City Council discussed how to move forward during its public session on Wednesday, August 12. The decision was made to reach out to those who are behind on their payments and encourage them to set up a plan to bring their accounts current. Those who do not respond to the citys request and fail to set up a plan could see shutoffs resume in October. At this time, the city has about $73,000 in past due residential water bills. This represents a fairly small amount of the totals utility billing, which averages $944,000 a month. I dont want to see our citizens get so far in the hole that the hole then becomes insurmountable and they cant get out of it, said councilor Jason Bolen, noting that in rental properties landlords become responsible for these payments if they are not made by the residents. Councilor Michelle Steinhebel did not support resuming shutoffs of past-due accounts. I know Im in the minority on this one. I do think that reaching out to these folks who have past due bills is important and trying to figure out a way to work with them, but Im not in favor of turning off peoples water during a healthcare crisis, Steinhebel said. Councilor Rebecca Grizzle understands Steinhebels concern, but believes the city has to have a way to require that payments be made. Its hard for me, I feel that same way, I really do. But then you have people who are going to be five, six thousand in debt. We dont know. Is this done in December, are we done a year from now?, Grizzle said. Councilor Wayne Rieskamp supports the citys plan but is also concerned about the possible consequences. I also have a problem with shutting people off of clean water to keep their hygiene during this pandemic, Rieskamp said. Interim city manager Ron Whitlatch said the goal is to avoid any shutoffs. I dont think our intent is to shut anybody off, Whitlatch said. Were either going to roll down a road where were not going to do shutoffs and were going to eat those costs as a city, or were going to go back and were going to at least try to develop a system where we can try to recoup those costs. Councilor Karin Stauder said that allowing some residents to simply not pay their water bills isnt fair to the majority of residents who are paying their bill. Grizzle agreed with Stauders assessment. City money is all of our money, especially when it comes to water, Grizzle said, adding that if the city does nothing, residents could reasonably ask How come I have to pay for everybody elses water? Bolen emphasized that all the city is doing at this time is asking those who are behind on their bills to contact the city and make a payment plan. Whether or not to proceed with shutoffs is a decision that will be made at the September council session. During the August 12 session the council also voted to create the new Mill Race Urban Renewal District. The land which will be included in this district was already within the Northwest Lebanon Urban Renewal District, but was carved out to create a new district. The Mill Race district will include 51.45 acres on the north side of town between Gore Drive and Reeves Parkway. The new district will run through the 2028 fiscal year and have a ceiling of $9.6 million in diverted property taxes. State law allows for the creation of urban renewal districts. Once a district is in place, the property values within that area are held steady for tax purposes. As development occurs and the property increases in value, the proceeds from this increased value are diverted to fund the URD instead of the existing taxing districts. Once the URD expires, this additional value benefits local taxing districts. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's to launch Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd On Wednesday announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India. The launch is part of the global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that grants the Indian drug maker the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and distribute the tablets in India, Chief Executive Officer of Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy's Laboratories, M V Ramana said. Avigan(Favipiravir) has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease. Speaking to reporters, Ramana said: "We are pleased to bring this important innovator medicine to the patients in India. The need for high quality and efficacy, affordability and better disease management are key priorities for us. We believe that Avigan would provide an effective treatment option to the COVID-19 impacted patients in India." Avigan comes in a complete therapy pack of 122 tablets with a two-year shelf life. To ensure accelerated access to the medicine, Dr Reddy's has initiated a free home delivery service in 42 cities in the country, and a Helpline Center between 9 am to 9 pm IST, Monday through Saturday. Ramana further said as of now they are importing the drug from Japan and soon will manufacture it in India. Replying to query, he said they have already approached regulatory authorities of two or three countries including the US seeking approvals to sell the drug and seek fast track approvals from them once trials are completed. Dr Reddy's is set to launch another COVID-19 treatment drug, Remdesivir in the first week of September, he added. By Sangmi Cha SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea tightened social distancing rules on Tuesday as it reported a three-digit increase in novel coronavirus cases for a fifth day and authorities scrambled to trace hundreds of members of a church congregation. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 246 new cases as of midnight on Monday, bringing its total infections to 15,761, with 306 deaths. South Korea has been one of the world's coronavirus mitigation success stories but it has suffered repeated spikes in cases. Two days after re-imposing stricter social distancing in Seoul, the government expanded the curbs to include the port city of Incheon, while ordering the closure of nightclubs, karaoke bars, buffets and cyber cafes. It also banned all in-person church services and indoor gatherings of 50 people or more and outdoor ones of 100 or more. "If we can't get the virus under control now we'll have to notch up social distancing to higher levels, and that would have a big impact on our economy and people's livelihoods," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a news conference after an emergency meeting. At least 457 infections have been linked to the Sarang Jeil Church, 10 of whom were confirmed to have attended anti-government demonstrations on the past two weekends in Seoul, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing. Authorities were trying to trace some 500 other members of the congregation to tell them to self-quarantine and get tested as they posed the highest transmission risk, Kim said. This was the second time a church was at the centre of a serious outbreak in South Korea. 'GRAVE CROSSROADS' In February, authorities struggled with an outbreak that emerged in a secretive Christian sect in the city of Daegu, which turned into the country's deadliest cluster. The KCDC has warned that the new cases posed a greater crisis than the earlier church outbreak and could swamp the health system. Story continues "If we fail to contain the spread in the Seoul metropolitan area of 25 million population this week, it can not only halt the daily routine of everyone but also put the safety of the elderly and the weak at risk," KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing. Another cluster has been traced to a Starbucks Corp outlet outside Seoul with seven new cases taking the tally there to 49. Two new cases were reported in the military, bringing the total number of infections on bases to 88, the defence ministry said. Some 461 military personnel were in quarantine, and all troops have been confined to base, with leave cancelled and visits halted. Authorities have set out social distancing rules in three stages, with stage 1 the least strict and stage 3 the toughest, when schools are shut, businesses are advised to work from home and gatherings limited to 10 people. Seoul is at stage 2 but Kwon said the effort was at a "grave crossroads" and stage 3 might be inevitable. "High-risk gatherings in the greater Seoul area could spread nationwide," he said. (Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert Birsel) The Democratic National Convention has brought in two speakers who were ousted from the Womens March in 2019 over allegations of anti-Semitism. Tamika Mallory, a former co-president of the march, spoke on Monday at a virtual meeting of the Democratic Black Caucus. In 2018, Mallory attended an address by anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, during which Farrakhan labeled Jews satanic and called them his enemy. Mallory posted on social media after the event that Farrakhan was the GOAT, or greatest of all time. In January 2019, Mallory refused to denounce Farrakhan when pressed by Megan McCain during an appearance on The View. The DNC dropped its sponsorship of the Womens March following the refusal. Additionally, according to an investigation in Tablet, Mallory and co-chair Carmen Perez blamed Jews as a collective for exploiting people of color at the first meeting of the Womens March. Linda Sarsour, another march organizer, spoke at a Tuesday meeting of the DNCs Muslims and Allies Assembly. Sarsour who has a history of controversial comments on Jews and Israel, and apologized in 2018 for failing to condemn anti-Semitism among march organizers. If what youre reading all day long, morning and night, in the Jewish media is that Linda Sarsour and Minister Farrakhan are the existential threats to the Jewish community, something really bad is gonna happen and we gonna miss the mark on it, Sarsour said at a November 2017 event on combating anti-Semitism. More from National Review Your browser does not support the video tag. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: EU Central Asia COVID-19 Crisis Response (CACCR) will contribute towards longer-term resilience of the national health systems of the Central Asian countries, Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan told Trend. The delegation representative noted that the COVID-19 pandemic calls for a large-scale and coordinated global response to protect all people, save lives and tackle the economic fallout. "Now is the time for international solidarity and leadership, not isolation. As one of the global leaders, on April 8, 2020, the EU has launched a so-called Team Europe package to support partner countries and to fight COVID-19 on a global scale, with more than 20 billion euros," the representative said. The delegation's representative explained that the objective of the Team Europe approach is to combine resources from the EU, its Member States and financial institutions. "In the framework of this program, the EU alone is redirecting more than 15.6 billion euros to tackle immediate needs, strengthen the health, water and sanitation systems, and to address the economic and social consequences in partner countries. And Kazakhstan is no exception," the official said. It was noted that last month, the EU launched a comprehensive Central Asia COVID-19 Crisis Response (CACCR) solidarity package worth 3 million euros, addressing the needs of Central Asian countries with a primary focus on Kazakhstan. "It is a part of the 124 million euros solidarity package, mobilized by the European Union for the Central Asia region in the context of the Team Europe global response to COVID-19. Implemented by the World Health Organization, the two years-long CACCR program will provide support to mitigate the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic," the representative said. The official added that it will also contribute towards longer-term resilience of the national health systems of the Central Asian countries by increasing their capacities to respond to similar public health threats, should they occur in the future. "For example, the CACCR will provide 400,000 sets of Personal Protective Equipment and 1,000 diagnostic test kits for COVID-19. It will contribute to carrying out a total of 2 million Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) tests in Kazakhstan. Ten Kazakh hospitals will be assessed against minimum Infection Prevention and Control Requirements (IPCR). The trainings will be provided to 5,000 health workers on Infection Prevention and Control Requirements (IPCR) and to 400 laboratory staff on the use of PCR tests and biosafety," the official said. The representative added that CACCR will also help to update 80 percent of hospital plans with reference to IPCR assessments and provide expert advice for the revision and update of national emergency preparedness and response plans as well as national action plans for health security. "The CACCR program already started delivering. On August 6, 2020, thanks to the CACCR program, the first humanitarian cargo with 200 oxygen concentrators arrived in Kazakhstan. This equipment will be distributed to different hospitals in all regions in the country," the official said. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Years from now, masks will be the indelible reminder of what living in 2020 looked like. Finding one you're comfortable with today is key to protecting yourself from COVID-19, whether you settle on a bandana or a breathable mask. Many of the most popular face protectors have already sold outlike this Adidas oneand none quicker than Uniqlo's Airism masks when they were released in Japan back in June. But now, the fast-fashion retailer is releasing those same lightweight Airism masks here in the U.S.and a three-pack will set you back just $14.90. AIRism Face Mask (Pack of 3) Airism Uniqlo $15.00 Shop Now The masks come in three sizes: Small, medium and large. And they'll also come in three colors: White, black and grey, although grey won't be available until mid-September. But the "Airism" construction is the real selling point. Each mask consists of three layers: An outer that offers UV protection of UPF 40, a middle filter, and an inner Airism layer that "stays cool and feels smooth against your skin for long-lasting comfort." Uniqlo uses its Airism fabric in all sorts of base-layer products, like undershirts, tanks and leggings, as the ultra-thin, cooling fibers allow for breathability. In fact, because the masks sold out so fast in Asia, there are even tutorials on how to make your own mask from other Airism products. According to Uniqlo, the Airism mask is "more breathable and less restrictive-feeling than cotton, so especially in warmer weather, youll feel more comfortable wearing this mask for extended periods of time." Additionally, it touts Airism fabrice as "self-deodorizing so it stays fresher longer and is less likely to irritate your face and neck." That's more good news for people who suffer from "maskne," just another scourge of the times. If you're not partial to grey, you'll be able to buy Airism masks as early as mid-morning on Aug. 24. Just note that some Uniqlo stores in California are open only for contactless pickup. Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Ryan Craggs is the Director of Content Marketing for Hearst Newspapers. Email him at ryan.craggs@hearst.com. A Peterborough area snowbird stranded alone in Costa Rica in the COVID-19 pandemic says hes living on credit cards and desperate to get home. Im alone in this I feel abandoned by my country, said Troy Patterson in a Facebook video interview on Tuesday. Its just been a bloody nightmare. Patterson, 59, is a building contractor who works for himself doing renovations in the Peterborough area. For years hes spent his summers living and working here; he leases a seasonal cottage on Rice Lake when hes in Canada. He earns enough in the summers to go spend his winters in a home he leases in Puerto Biejo, a coastal town in Costa Rica that he describes as touristy. This year he landed there Dec. 1, with a return plane ticket to Toronto already booked for April 1. When the federal government urged Canadians abroad to come home in mid-March amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, Patterson didnt leave: he thought hed likely be able to fly home April 1 as planned. Hindsight in 2020, he says with a sigh. Since then Patterson has tried four times to buy plane tickets and four times the flight has been cancelled without his money being returned (he got airline credits). He says flights are being advertised and tickets are sold, and then the Costa Rican government claims the airlines were never sanctioned to fly. Patterson could try again, but the ticket prices keep increasing: an upcoming flight out of Costa Rica with Air Canada is nearly $4,000 to Toronto, for example. Hed chance it, but hes run out of money and is living on credit cards. He tried to apply for CERB, he said, but because he didnt file his taxes last year his application needs to be processed by phone. Hes tried unsuccessfully for three weeks to get a CRA staff person on the line. Im exhausted from this, he says. Patterson said he tried emailing the office of Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef, the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha, but hasnt heard back a week later. No comment was available from Monsefs office following a late-day request for information on Tuesday. The Canada Revenue Agency was also contacted too late in the day Tuesday to supply comment. But the CRA website does explain that many Canadians abroad qualify for CERB and that there are also loans available for Canadian travellers stranded abroad in the pandemic with no money to come home to Canada. YEREVAN. We have not done anything to be ashamed of so as to apologize. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday, when asked what his answer would be to the question asked to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the recent HARDtalk program on BBC as to whether he is ready to apologize to Azerbaijan for the "war crimes" of Armenians. "And why should we have apologized to Azerbaijan? Is it because we, following the letter of the law, were trying to exercise our right to self-determination in a peaceful way? And they [Azerbaijan] sent bandits on us and were trying to suppress us with weapons? Is it because they had set up their firing points in the settlements, and thus felt safe, shelling the entire civilian population? Until May 1992, there were days when up to 350 bombs, shells and missiles fell on Stepanakert [the capital city of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)]. Should we have apologized for that? My comrades-in-arms and I do not have any hang-ups to apologize, but we need a basis for that. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We would have been ashamed if we had not resisted, if we had not defended our homes, if we all had gathered in Yerevan and started singing Stepanakert-Stepanakert; then we should have apologizedbut not to Azerbaijan, but to our people, and first of all to the boys who were defending every meter [of our lands] at the cost of their lives. We have no reason to apologize to Azerbaijan," Sargsyan stressed. The ex-president of Armenia noted, however, that he regrets the civilian casualties, both from the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, but unfortunately, that is also one of the peculiarities of war. "We have not done anything to be ashamed of so as to apologize," the third president of Armenia concluded. Growing Belushi | Cannabis 101 with Jim Belushi: The Science of Marijuana What are the three elements of cannabis? Let Professor James Belushi break it down for you. Don't miss the series premiere of #GrowingBelushi tonight at 10p! Posted by Discovery on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Follow comedian, actor, former SNL star and now legal cannabis farmer Jim Belushi on his farm in southern Oregon in the new series Growing Belushi, which begins tonight, Aug. 19, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery. You can also stream it on FuboTV. The series follows Belushi, an outspoken advocate for the medical benefits of cannabis, and a ragtag team of farmers as they navigate the challenges of running a farm in the newly legalized cannabis industry. Note to fans of vintage SNL: Look for guest appearances by Dan Aykroyd and The Blues Brothers. Belushi started his farm in 2015 with just 48 plants; today it encompasses 93 acres along the Rogue River and cultivates a range of brands, from Belushis Secret Stash to Captain Jacks Gulzar Afghanica, a rare strain from the Hindu Kush region that was known in the 70s as the smell of SNL. This is much more than a business for me. Ive seen the positive impact that cannabis has had in treating people from around the world, Belushi said in a statement. Everything grows in Growing Belushi. The cannabis, the business, the family. And especially me. We almost called it Growing Pains! We are always looking for a show that takes you by surprise and this one did its fun and funny and has a lot of heart. I think people will see Jim Belushi in a whole new way after watching, Nancy Daniels, Chief Brand Officer, said in a statement. What channel is Discovery on? You can find which channel Discovery is on by using the channel finders here: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV and Dish. Where can I watch Growing Belushi if I dont have cable? Fans can live stream it on FuboTV (7-day free trial, then $59.99/month). FuboTV is a streaming service that offers access to your favorite TV shows, live sports events and much more. The Santa Ana City Hall is seen in Santa Ana, Calif., on Aug. 14, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Santa Ana Launches Relief Program With CARES Fund Money The City of Santa Ana in Orange County, California, launched a new program on Aug. 17 to offer financial and health assistance to residents, nonprofits, and local businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Santa Ana CARES initiative was set in motion after the Santa Ana City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 4 to allocate $28.6 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds provided by the state budget to support local residents and programs. The hope is that with these programs, well be able to help reduce the number of cases and/or the number of new cases in Santa Ana, and flatten the curve as much as possible, Santa Ana Public Affairs Information Officer Paul Eakins told The Epoch Times. Qualified residents now have the opportunity to apply for and receive monetary aid, including $10,000 grants for businesses and nonprofits including bars and restaurants with fewer than 10 full-time employees, and $50,000 grants for nonprofit arts-related organizations. Local businesses, nonprofits, and artist organizations are extremely important for the community, so the City Council really wanted to support them with grants, said Eakins. The program also allows individual artists to apply for $1,000 in benefits. Here in Santa Ana, we really value our art community, Eakins added. Of the funds allotted, $8 million will be set aside for direct monetary assistance, including $1,500 in rental grants to eligible tenants and landlords. Tenants can also apply for utility bill payment assistance of up to $500 for those with delinquent bills. Eakins said that if necessary, Santa Ana City Manager Kristine Ridge has the authority to shuffle money around to the different programs as needed. If we discover that there is a particular need for one of these services or programs more so than others, then the city manager might reallocate the money toward that, he said. Another key element of the program is the incentive to provide health-related assistance to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A portion of the funds will be allocated toward isolation assistance, which offers a hotel room for larger families living in smaller units who have a member of the household diagnosed with COVID-19. We are utilizing the isolation assistance to separate family members who test positive so the entire family wont get affected by COVID-19, Eakins said. The initiative includes a Mobile Resource Center that will visit dozens of heavily populated neighborhoods where residents are at higher risk of being exposed to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The mobile unit will provide free testing, masks, and health supplies. The program also offers city residents free COVID-19 testing at Santa Ana College. The testing is available by appointment on Saturdays and Sundays. A COVID-19 hotline will help the community access the assistance programs, and a nurse hotline will soon be available 24/7 to answer health-related questions. Santa Ana is the second most populous city in Orange County, with nearly 335,000 residents. As of Aug. 18, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported 8,639 total cases of COVID-19 in the city. The US Department of the Army headquarters made the assessment in its report, titled "North Korean tactics", saying Pyongyang is unlikely to give up these weapons to ensure the regime's survival, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday. Seoul/Washington, Aug 18 (IANS) North Korea is believed to have up to 60 nuclear bombs and the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons totalling to 5,000 tonnes, the US Army said in a report. "Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the capability to produce six new devices each year," the report said. The report also showed that Pyongyang is estimated to possess "2,500-5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons of approximately 20 different types, making it the third-largest possessor of chemical agents in the world. It is "highly likely" that the North Korean military would use chemical artillery shells. The regime has also done research on biological weapons and possibly weaponized anthrax or smallpox, which could be mounted atop missiles for use against South Korea, the USand Japan, it added. "Only 1 kilogram of anthrax could kill up to 50,000 people in Seoul," Yonhap News Agency quoted the report as saying. North Korea is also believed to have secured advanced computer warfare capabilities, which is another key means of coercive diplomacy, according to the report. Under the Cyber Warfare Guidance Unit, more commonly known as Bureau 121, the North manages more than 6,000 hackers, many of whom are operating in foreign countries, such as Belarus, China, India, Malaysia and Russia, the report added. --IANS ksk/ South Shore Clean Cities is thrilled to work with our member NIPSCO and our partners at NIRPC and MACOG to support the addition of public Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations in Northwest and Northern Indiana, Executive Director Carl Lisek said in a release. We are looking forward to transformative projects that reduce dependence on petroleum, improve air quality, support the local economy and enhance the overall quality of life for those who live, work and play in our communities. Safeer comes to Crum & Forster from Beazley, where he focused on Specialty Lines Technology and Privacy underwriting. He worked with several other carriers before Beazley, specializing in Professional Liability, Technology E&O and Cyber. Ross joins Crum & Forster from Marsh, where he was a member of the Financial and Professional Liability team. Prior to his insurance career, Ross worked as a consultant at Accenture. In addition to his underwriting role, Ross will assist in product delivery and customer experience. "Ross and Safeer are important additions not only for their underwriting expertise but for the added value they bring to our team for their abilities to solve customer needs and deliver a superior customer experience," said Nick Economidis, Vice President of the Executive Risk team. "The expansion of our physical presence in the Atlanta market adds one more chapter to our exciting growth story in the Southeast region, and we are happy that they are a part of it." Crum & Forster is a leading national property and casualty insurer, providing specialty insurance products through their admitted and surplus lines insurance companies. Founded in 1822, C&F is one of the oldest U.S. insurance companies, and today has more than 2300 employees across the country conducting business through a network of independent agents, brokers and wholesalers. C&F has $2.8 billion in gross written premium in 2019 and is rated "A" Excellent by A.M. Best. The C&F logo, C&F and Crum & Forster are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company. For more information, visit www.cfins.com http://www.cfins.com/products/professional-liability-crime/ Contact: Hallie Harenski, Corporate Communications, Crum & Forster [email protected] 1.973.738.9526 SOURCE Crum & Forster Related Links http://www.cfins.com (Newser) Authorities in Arkansas believe they've found the body of a missing Kansas mother of three who disappeared two weeks ago while traveling to Alabama. The body was found Tuesday in Marilane Carter's vehicle alongside a credit card with her name on it, reports WDAF, adding foul play isn't suspected. It was Carter's uncle who found the vehicle, which had been parked in one of three shipping containers in a field off Interstate 55 in West Memphis, Ark. It's unclear how the car ended up in the container. Over the weekend, Carter's family had been helping search for her in the area where her phone had last pinged, per WDAF. All but her uncle had returned home by Tuesday. story continues below Carter left her Overland Park home on Aug. 1 before authorities in six states began searching for her. She visited a McDonald's in Rona, Mo., then checked in at a hotel in West Plains, Mo. Continuing south, she next stopped at a convenience store in Hazen, Ark. Her last known stop was at a West Memphis gas station on Aug. 2. Family members who spoke to Carter during parts of the journey say she seemed disoriented. She'd been traveling to see her parents and also intended to seek mental health treatment. "The family asks for your thoughts and prayers right now and in the upcoming days," reads a post on the "Find Marilane" Facebook page, per KIRO. (Read more missing person stories.) Press Release August 19, 2020 HONTIVEROS REMINDS DSWD: GIVE SAP DUE TO 1.26M HOUSEHOLDS IN NCR, REGIONS III AND IV-A Senator Risa Hontiveros today urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to immediately release cash aid under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to 1.26 million qualified households in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon who have yet to receive any subsidy, amid news of record-high unemployment among Filipinos due to the pandemic. "Hindi katanggap-tanggap na lagpas isang milyong kwalipikadong pamilya ang hindi pa rin nakatatanggap ng ayuda. Ilang buwan na ang dumaan, tapos na ang round 2 ng lockdown, pero wala pa rin. If govenrment cannot yet commit to a new, third tranche of SAP releases, at the very least we should see to it that all qualified families get to receive the cash aid allocated to them under the first and second tranches," Hontiveros said. The senator made the call after the DSWD announced that it is nearing the completion of payouts for the second tranche of SAP, since it has already released cash aid worth P74.2 billion to at least 12.28 million beneficiary families. According to Hontiveros, the government must not "close the books on SAP without first ensuring that all families qualified for SAP have actually received cash aid to help buy food, medicine and other basic needs." "Huwag sana kalimutan na base mismo sa mga regulasyon at datos ng pamahalaan, may tinatayang 1.26 million pamilya sa National Capital Region (NCR), Region III at Region IV-A na simula noong Marso ay hindi pa nakakuha ng ayuda sa ilalim ng SAP, kahit na pasok sila sa programang ito. Let's ensure that the funds allocated to help these families will actually end up with them, as intended," she added. Hontiveros noted that the original DSWD memorandum circular (MC No. 04) which contained guidelines on the release of SAP, mandated that 18 million families - or at least 75 percent of households in NCR, Region III and Region IV-A - were qualified for SAP. By extension, 75 percent of households in each of the said regions were supposed to receive cash aid under the program, since these were the areas most affected by community quarantine protocols enforced since March. However, Hontiveros said, Malacanang's last report to Congress under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act indicated that SAP funds were distributed only to 54 percent, 66 percent and 64 percent of NCR households, Region III households and Region IV-A households, respectively. This meant that 668,381 households in NCR, 232,831 households in Region 3 and 360,683 households in Region IV-A were supposed to receive social amelioration funds but did not do so. "The DSWD has recently said that they have cut down the list of beneficiary families to 14.1 million for the second tranche of SAP. Sigurado, may pondo na sila para sa 1.26 milyon na pamilya na matagal nang naghihintay ng ayuda mula sa pamahalaan. Wala nang dahilan kung bakit hindi natin matutulungan ang mga pamilyang ito," she said. The urgent release of the pending SAP funds, Hontiveros said, is necessary to minimize the number of families affected by the record-high 45.5 percent unemployment rate in the country recorded last July. "Nasa 27.3 milyon na ang Pilipino na nawalan ng trabaho dahil sa COVID-19. Mabilis na ayuda ang kailangan ng taumbayan, dahil marami na ang nagugutom at nagkakasakit," she said. "We acknowledge the admission of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez II that government could not allocate new funds to help poor families during the recent two-week lockdown. However, government is not completely without options. Itong SAP para sa 1.26 milyong pamilya ay may pondo na, ibibigay na lang. Sana ihatid natin sa ating mga kababayan ang tulong na matagal na nilang hinihingi," she concluded. Highlights US President Donald Trump has said that Oracle would be a great company to take over TikTok. Trump's comments come after the news of the tech giant Oracle acquiring TikTok surfaced on Tuesday. Meanwhile, TikTok is listing new jobs in the US despite Trumps second executive order. US President Donald Trump has said that Oracle would be a great company to take over TikTok during a speech in Yuma, Arizona, BBC stated. Trump's comments come after reports of tech giant Oracle considering buying TikTok's businesses in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand with investment firms, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital surfaced on Tuesday. On Sunday, Trump signed a second executive order giving ByteDance, Tiktok's parent company a 90-day deadline to sell TikTok failing which it would face a ban. The new deadline was doubled as against the previous deadline which was 45 days. Trump had said the US government treasury should get a substantial portion of the sale price of TikTok's US unit if an American firm buys it. Microsoft and Twitter have also approached ByteDance for a deal. Meanwhile, TikTok is listing new jobs in the US, as per a report by the Business Insider. The number of jobs listed in the company's New York, Los Angeles, and Mountain View, California, offices have increased in the past week to 357 posts, the report stated. These job listings involve the positions in the company's trust-and-safety team tasked with proving the app does not harvest or handle data differently than other social platforms and does not transfer data to China. Other listings include positions in privacy and regulatory affairs. Individuals applying for these jobs will be required to review new products and features to ensure compliance with data protection laws and to assist in compliance and design. The applicants will also be required to develop policies around privacy and data protection practices. Sources at TikTok familiar with the matter told Business Insider the company's US executives are acting and hiring as if it is business as usual. As per reports, TikTok can take legal action against the Trump administration as the company called the executive order baseless and said it had no time to respond to the order. "We have made clear that TikTok has never shared user data with the Chinese government, nor censored content at its request," Tiktok in a blog post stated. "This Executive Order risks undermining global businesses' trust in the United States' commitment to the rule of law, which has served as a magnet for investment and spurred decades of American economic growth. And it sets a dangerous precedent for the concept of free expression and open markets." MOSCOW, RUSSIA / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Mechel PAO (MOEX:MTLR, NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces 1H2020 operational results. Mechel PAO's Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov commented on 1H2020 operational results: "We do not see any significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our mining segment's operational results. Our facilities function in a stable mode and fulfill their obligations regarding product shipments. However, the pandemic's effect on the steel division's 2Q2020 sales is obvious, in both export and domestic markets. There was no traditional seasonal spike in demand. "The seven-percent improvement in overall coal mining volumes quarter-on-quarter is due to the restoration and increase of the mining equipment at our Yakut and Kuzbass facilities, which had a positive effect on this accounting period's sales to Asia Pacific where business has picked up after the coronavirus pandemic passed its peak stage. Nevertheless, the coal prices fell to a four-year minimum and are far from the previous quarter's comfortable levels. The coal prices are under pressure from the policy of Chinese authorities that now adhere to strict ecological requirements toward imported coal and its quality and buy coal according to quotas. In June, the majority of Australian producers - key players on the international coal market - announced that they intend a downward correction of their operational plans. This gives grounds to expect that global coal prices may begin to move back up. "Coking coal concentrate sales went up by 14 percent quarter-on-quarter due to increased mining and stable customer demand. Our sales structure underwent changes as the financial year ended in March (as well as several contracts with Japanese partners). We redirected thus released volumes toward China and South Korea. "The 17-percent increase in PCI sales and the six-percent increase in anthracite sales were due to Southern Kuzbass Coal Company boosting production of these types of coal. PCI coals were fully shipped to export, while in anthracite sales exports accounted for 77%, with sales on the more profitable Asian markets doubling. Also, in Posiet and Ust-Luga ports we formed two shiploads of anthracite that were de-facto sold in the next accounting period. Story continues "In the second quarter, we increased thermal coal sales by 11% thanks to our redirecting sales in favor of Vietnamese customers. We set a quarterly shipment record to this country in the second quarter, reaching 373,000 tonnes. This year we also supply a major volume of thermal coal to Far Eastern Generating Company that we have a long-term contract with. "Iron ore concentrate sales went down by 18% quarter-on-quarter due to a slump in ore mining and lower iron content in the ore. "Sales of metallurgical coke generally remained at the previous quarter's level. Weaker demand for this product in the European Union was partially compensated by a hike in sales to Asia. For example, we sent a test batch of coke to Malaysia. "In the steel division, pig iron and steel output went up by 5% and 6% accordingly as major overhauls of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant's blast furnace and converter were completed. Considering our country's difficult epidemiological situation, we adapted to market needs and our clients' requirements insofar as ready product output and sales policy were concerned. And even though the construction season started out late, the overall sales of long rolls remained at the first quarter's level, with a three-percent increase year-on-year, primarily due to rebar sales. Sales of the universal rolling mill's shapes and sections went down in the second quarter due to a noticeable slump in demand for high-margin products in this period. "In 1H2020 we increased output of rolled flats that are consistently in demand, as this product's high profit margin makes it a priority for the Group. In 2Q2020 we saw a decrease in sales due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Early this year our forgings sales demonstrated growth, as we managed to profit by the situation in European markets where Chinese producers' share fell due to that country's quarantine measures. However, in the second quarter the closure of European storages led to a 24-percent slump in sales of forged rolls quarter-on-quarter. Nevertheless, we increased domestic sales of stainless steel and construction alloyed forgings by 7%. The decrease in stampings sales was due to a weaker demand for railroad axles as Russia's wagonbuilding market hit stagnation. "As Bratsk Ferroalloy Plant launched its upgraded ore thermal furnace #3, the plant increased output and sales of ferrosilicon (+46% quarter-on-quarter). Transfer of a major shipload, already prepared for dispatch, from the first to the second quarter contributed to this result. "As engineering and furniture plants' demand for wire dramatically decreased due to an overall slump in acquisitions, this led to an eight-percent decrease in 1H2020 hardware sales. In 2Q2020 we managed to boost sales of other types of hardware and attain positive dynamics (+1% quarter-on-quarter). "The decrease in generation of electricity and heat by 18% and 52% accordingly in 2Q2020 quarter-on-quarter was due to the end of the cold season and the beginning of sweeping repairs of our heat-power equipment." Production and sales for 1H2020 Production: Product Name 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Run-of-Mine Coal* 8,857 6,098 +45 4,578 4,279 +7 Pig Iron 1,783 1,737 +3 912 872 +5 Steel 1,803 1,861 -3 926 876 +6 Electric power generation (thousand kWh) 1,608,023 1,755,693 -8 723,670 884,354 -18 Heat power generation (Gcal) 2,721,630 2,996,001 -9 885,068 1,836,563 -52 Excluding operational results of Elga Coal Complex. Sales: Product Name 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Coking coal concentrate* 3,052 2,957 +3 1,628 1,424 +14 Including coking coal concentrate supplied to third parties 2,200 2,141 +3 1,152 1,048 +10 PCI 967 545 +77 521 445 +17 Including PCI supplied to third parties 967 545 +77 521 445 +17 Anthracites 552 295 +87 284 268 +6 Including anthracites supplied to third parties 433 234 +85 221 212 +4 Thermal coal* 1,857 1,594 +17 975 882 +11 Including thermal coal supplied to third parties 1,274 1,370 -7 655 619 +6 Iron ore concentrate 1,041 1,199 -13 470 571 -18 Including iron ore concentrate supplied to third parties 16 167 -90 9 7 +40 Coke 1,230 1,265 -3 607 623 -3 Including coke supplied to third parties 370 416 -11 171 198 -14 Ferrosilicon 31 36 -14 18 13 +46 Including ferrosilicon supplied to third parties 21 24 -10 13 8 +58 Long rolls 1,295 1,262 +3 647 648 0 Flat rolls 233 229 +2 109 124 -12 Hardware 268 290 -8 134 133 +1 Forgings 22 21 +2 9 12 -24 Stampings 27 60 -55 4 23 -82 Universal rolling mill: 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Sales of rails 215 90 +139 99 116 -15 Sales of sections 143 142 +1 67 76 -11 Excluding operational results of Elga Coal Complex. *** Mechel PAO Ekaterina Videman Tel: + 7 495 221 88 88 ekaterina.videman@mechel.com *** Mechel is an international mining and steel company. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high value-added products. *** Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions. SOURCE: PJSC Mechel View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602376/PJSC-Mechel-Mechel-Reports-1H2020-Operational-Results New Delhi: In a major step towards further strengthening Indias ties with Bangladesh, sources confirmed late on Tuesday evening that Indias Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Tuesday, with both countries moving towards convening a Joint Consultative Commission at the Foreign Ministerial level to oversee the bilateral relationship, especially projects being carried out for the welfare of Bangladesh with Indian assistance. The Foreign Secretary had begun a two-day visit on Tuesday to discuss and take forward cooperation on matters of mutual interest. Sources said the fact that Shringla was granted a meeting with Sheikh Hasina was extremely significant since the Bangladesh Prime Minister amid the Covid Pandemic has reportedly not met anyone from abroad and very few in the country in the past few months. Sources added that Sheikh Hasina greatly appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modis gesture in sending someone to touch base, convey message and see how the two sides could take relationship forward. Interestingly, Shringla is also an expert on ties with Bangladesh and had earlier been posted there as Indias High Commissioner. The visit comes at a time when China has been trying to increase its economic influence in Bangladesh. This also comes at a time when Pakistan has been trying to fish in troubled waters by reaching out to Bangladesh and raking up the Kashmir issue with it. Security related issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting and also a proposal for travel bubble for business, official and medical travel, sources said. Sources also said the bilateral areas of interest identified during the meeting were development partnership, enhancing connectivity, revival of economy post Covid, cooperation on Covid assistance, including on therapeutics and vaccine, and the joint commemoration of the Mujib Barsho. The Mujib Barsho refers to the centenary birth anniversary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman-popularly known as Bangabandhu-who successfully led the Bangladesh freedom struggle in 1971. Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujib who was assassinated in 1975. Sources also said Sheikh Hasina raised the issue of the Rohingyas currently staying in Bangladesh and the issue of their possible safe repatriation back to Myanmar which they had fled earlier. Sources said Sheikh Hasina also expressed appreciation on India handing over 10 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives to Dhaka last month to boost rail connectivity between the two nations, seen by both countries as a vital element of bilateral cooperation in promoting trade and connectivity and in boosting the economic partnership. India had last month said it was confident that both nations would appreciate mutual sensitivity and mutual respect in building further on this relationship. Last month, in what was seen as an assurance to India, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had termed bilateral ties as rock solid, adding that in the past few years both countries have scripted a golden chapter (sonali adhyaya) under the leadership of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister had also said that bilateral ties with India were based on shared principles, values and history touching almost every sphere of life including politics, culture, trade, security, water, energy and much more. The Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Moh Lukmam on Tuesday said he should be held accountable for all the comments he made, stressing that he was not a voice for any Governor. He disclosed this while reacting to the comments of the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole against him. Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, Lukman said, I respect Oshimhole, not just as a leader of APC, but as a person. I have had a very good relationship with him and my relationship with him is special. I respect him and I respect every leader of the party. The second statement I want to make is that I grew up in a very complex extended family set up and one of the things it has done in terms of my personal make up is that it imposes on me to be accountable at every point in time. I account for my offence. Nobody should transfer my offence to any other leader of the party. That is the reason why I said I dont think it is a matter that we should belabor. I take responsibility and all that I have said, you all have it. It is written in ink. It is not verbal communication that I can dispute. They are written documents. He then appealed to party leaders to show some respect for resolving all the challenges facing the party for the sustenance of the party ethics. So, it is not a matter of running away from certain issues that I had raised. I talked about the dangers of a single story as espoused by Chimamanda and I did not want the story that is all over the air now around what Comrade Oshiomhole said to be the only or single story. I want people to hear from me. I mean, I respect him and that is it. But when asked if the six months period given the Governor Buni led Caretaker Committee would be enough to accomplish its assignment and some of the DGs recommendations in his letter to the committee, Lukman said he has confidence in the committee to deliver. Whether they will have a problem of time? We will cross the bridge when we get there. I think it is better to have that approach than to set out with the mindset that there will be problems, we will continue to be-labour the matter and that will distract them from focusing on getting initiated. That is my position. Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has said the upcoming elections on December 7, 2020, will be determined by which of the two main contenders achieved more in four years. Speaking at governments record on infrastructure at a town hall meeting in Accra, the Senior Minister said for the first time in the history of Ghana, the presidential candidates of the two main contending parties governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have the opportunity to run the country for four years. His Excellency the former President John Dramani Mahama has run the country a little over four years. His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is almost four years. So people will want them to show what they did in each occasion when they had the chance to run the country, he said. He added: I believe that the next election when it is approached from that angle, it wont be based on promises. You had a chance to serve this country on the highest position of the land for a period of four years roughly, what did you do with that opportunity? will be the main measuring rod for the election. The town hall meeting at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, was addressed by Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who gave a comprehensive update of infrastructural development the Akufo-Addo administration has established or has begun in all 16 regions of the country. The Senior Minister and former Finance Minister said he is confident that the achievement of Nana Akufo-Addo government is unmatched when compared to John Mahamas. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Tamil Nadu government has not decided yet on re-opening of schools in the state in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan said on Wednesday. Chief Minister K Palaniswami would take a decision on it, the Minister said while taking part in a function at Chithode near here on the occasion of Tamil Maanila Congress founder G K Moopanars birth anniversary. Sengottaiyan paid floral tribute to a portrait of the late leader. Referring to the Chief Minister, he said Palaniswami was an agriculturist by birth, so he was aware of farmers problems. The Minister said there was enough water in Mettur and Lower Bhavani reservoirs and that uninterrupted water supply for irrigation would be provided. PHILIPSBURG:--- Occupational health provider Medwork and the St Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), in conjunction with health insurer SZV, provided a digital masterclass on Thursday, August 13, for how to manage employee sick leave. SZV used the opportunity to share some changes in SZV procedures with the 35 business and HR professionals from various business sectors, government, and government-owned companies that attended. Dr. Joanne Siebel of Medwork stated that clarity on this topic is good for both employee and employer, as rules are precise, and notices stipulated by law often short. Mrs. Parveen Boertje of SZV provided clarity on the health insurance and administration side of what rules and notices are defined for those involved. New SZV sick leave (AO) rules are in place, make yourself familiar with them urged Boertje. One key change is full digitalization of the process: SZV started a journey of automation. The employer portal is your virtual SZV Office, allowing you to ensure your SZV administration is correct from the convenience of your office or home. Another change aligned with current social distancing practices as well: For SZV, it is no longer needed to visit the family doctor on the 1st or 2nd day of being unfit for work, in order to have the SZV yellow card signed. Essentially making the Yellow card obsolete. Mrs. Boertje urged companies that have not yet done so to register on the employer portal of www.szv.sx. Dr. Siebel continued; Companies are now directly responsible for policy and procedure regarding their employees sick leave due to SZV changes. Managing sick leave and absenteeism, to reduce your sick leave requires specific knowledge and skills. From their experiences on the matter of occupational health from all Dutch Caribbean islands, Medwork advised Make use of all sick leave management tools and recourses to get control over absenteeism. The sessions attendance well exceeded the expectations of the organizers, proving the relevance and importance of the topic. In a closing remark thanking the parties involved, Ricardo Perez of SHTA stated that a course like this in the difficult time of COVID19 is of great relevance for all employers of the private sector labor force. Covid-19 patients with hypoxia respond positively to icatibant treatment, Radboud university medical center researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open. These findings have led to a follow-up study at ten Dutch hospitals into a drug that may be even more effective. The current study has been funded by ZonMw. Rapid fluid overload of the lungs - pulmonary edema - is a hallmark of severe infection with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). In a previous article, Nijmegen researchers suggested that this involves the ACE2 receptor. The coronavirus enters the cells via this receptor, after which it can multiply. However, the ACE2 receptor not only provides a gateway for the coronavirus, but it also keeps vasodilatory kinins under control. The infection causes most of the ACE2 receptors of the lung cells to dysfunction. Without ACE2, these kinins have free rein and - by binding to bradykinin receptors - can make the blood vessels leaky. Internist Frank van de Veerdonk, hospital pharmacist Roger Bruggemann and colleagues hypothesized that this process plays an important role in severe Covid-19 infection. Patient study After consultation with the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CMO) and the Health Care and Youth Inspectorate (IGJ), and with the informed consent of the participating patients, the researchers tested their hypothesis with the drug icatibant. Van de Veerdonk: "This drug is used in patients with the rare condition: hereditary angioedema. These patients sometimes develop acute subcutaneous fluid deposits due to local leakage of blood vessels. Icatibant blocks the bradykinin receptor B2R, which quickly stops the leakage. To determine whether the drug is also suitable for the specific group of Covid-19 patients with fluid in their lungs, earlier this year we administered this drug to nine patients in the Internal Medicine Department and one patient in the Intensive Care Unit." Hypoxia The results of this study have now been published in JAMA Network Open. All the patients, which were in need for oxygen treatment due to fluid in their lungs, were given three doses of icatibant by subcutaneous injection at six-hour intervals. The patient in the ICU recovered sufficiently within 24 hours to be moved to the ward and was discharged after 7 days. Eight of the remaining nine patients needed less oxygen supplementation within 24 hours and the ninth after 38 hours. In 18 comparable patients who served as controls, substantially higher levels of oxygen supplementation were needed over time. Support for the hypothesis Bruggemann: "Although this was not a randomized trial, the results support our hypothesis. In an early phase of the infection with severe oxygen deficit, we see that icatibant improves the situation. A disadvantage is the short-term effect of the drug. Half of the drug is broken down in two hours, so the effect diminishes quickly. After the treatment, three patients had to be given oxygen again because the drug had worn off." Different drug The research published in JAMA Network Open was actually a proof of concept, which the researchers have already built upon. Improved understanding of the role of the kinin-kallikrein system (KKS) in COVID-19 means that the researchers expect even better results from another drug. Bruggemann: "The drug lanadelumab remains active for much longer than icatibant, so you will probably only need to administer it only once or twice". Van de Veerdonk: "Lanadelumab also has a much broader effect. It inhibits the activation of the whole system that causes leakage of the blood vessels. It is therefore not only active for longer but might also be more effective." Research in hospitals Based on the initial results published in JAMA Network Open and these more recent insights, Van de Veerdonk and Bruggemann have been awarded a grant from ZonMw for a phase 2 clinical trial with lanadelumab for this specific group of COVID-19 patients. Several Dutch hospitals are participating in the study. If this approach works, Bruggemann and van de Veerdonk expect that the research can immediately be rolled out on a large scale internationally. This is not only important for rapid recovery of patients with hypoxia admitted to the hospital but can also reduce the pressure on IC capacity. Global organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and REMAP-CAP are directly involved in this research, and the strategy is currently being considered by several others. With this strategy Van de Veerdonk and Bruggemann aim to help patients presenting with hypoxia to recover quickly and thus avoid ICU admission. ### Amidst the current health crisis faced by the whole world due to the coronavirus pandemic, the resurgence of another disease is currently causing fear in California as one resident caught a rare case of the deadly Bubonic Plague. According to reports, the resident came back from walking his dog in South Lake Tahoe before falling ill. After which El Dorado County Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed that the resident has contracted the deadly disease. Based on the provided data, it was stated that some insects and animals carry the disease in the region. However, this is the first reported human case in the past five years. According to Daily Express, the county department stated that the resident may have caught the disease after being bitten by an infected flea while walking their dog since the resident is known to be an avid walker. The department also added that the resident may have been infected along the Truckee River Corridor north of Highway 50 or in the Tahoe Keys area. Based on the statement, medical professionals are already looking into the case and are taking care of the patient at his home. Bubonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis., it is also the disease behind what is considered as the deadliest pandemic in the history of humans also known as the "Black Death." A person who has caught the disease usually exhibits symptoms such as nausea, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and weakness. The symptoms usually begin to show up within two weeks of getting in contact with an infected animal. Read also: Experts Urge People to Get Flu Shot, Fear a Possible 'Twindemic' as Flu Season Approaches In light of this, residents within the area have been told to be cautious when hiking within the proximity of Lake Tahoe. El Dorado County Public Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams stated that plague is naturally occurring in many parts of California including areas in El Dorado, thus people are advised to take precautions when having activities outdoors especially in areas where wild rodents are present. She also emphasized the severity of human cases of bubonic plague. Before the current case, the last bubonic plague case recorded in California was is 2015. The cases were of two visitors who were infected after visiting Yosemite Park. The two recovered from the disease and was said to have contracted it after being exposed to fleas and rodents during their visit, Forbes reported. The resurgence of the plague Aside from California, a troubling resurgence of the bubonic plague has also been seen in China in the past months. The cases in some parts of Inner Mongolia prompted authorities to seal off certain areas in the region. Several people have been put in quarantine including 9 close contacts and 26 secondary contacts of the initial case. The move was done in order to prevent the disease from spreading, which may cripple the healthcare system which is just recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Related article: Seattle Fishing Boat Outbreak Offers Insight on Possible Role of Neutralizing Antibodies in Protection Against COVID-19 @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Delhi, Aug 19 : In a massive relief to the family of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a court monitored CBI probe in the case while also saying that the action of the Patna Police was justified. A single judge bench of the Supreme Court presided by Justice Hrishikesh Kumar held that since the father of the deceased actor is the legal heir of the properties and assets in question, the action of the Patna Police is 'justified'. "Registration of FIR is mandated when information on cognisable offence is received by the police. Precedents suggest that at the stage of investigation, it cannot be said that the concerned police station does not have territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case". Tthe bench said in its order, "The allegation relating to criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of money which were to be eventually accounted for in Patna (where the Complainant resides), could prima facie indicate the lawful jurisdiction of the Patna police," It further said that the Patna police committed no illegality in registering the complaint. "Looking at the nature of the allegations in the complaint which also relate to misappropriation and breach of trust, the exercise of jurisdiction by the Bihar Police appears to be in order. At the stage of investigation, they were not required to transfer the FIR to Mumbai police," the Apex Court held. The bench also said, "For the same reason, the Bihar government was competent to give consent for entrustment of investigation to the CBI and as such the ongoing investigation by the CBI is held to be lawful" Senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Sushant's father KK Singh, had argued that when misappropriation and criminal breach of trust is alleged in respect to the assets of the deceased actor and the concerned property relatable to the alleged offence, will have to be accounted eventually to the Complainant (as a Class I legal heir of the deceased), the action of the Patna Police is contended to be within jurisdiction, under Section 179 read with Section 181(4) of the CrPC which speaks of consequences ensuing at another place, as a result of the alleged crime. However, the said arguments were opposed by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Maharashtra government and senior advocate Shyam Diwan who represented Rhea Chakraborty. The bench has also held that in the event a new case is registered in Mumbai on the same issue, in the fitness of things, it would be appropriate if the latter case too gets investigated by the same agency (CBI), on the strength of this Court's order. "Such enabling order will make it possible for the CBI to investigate the new case, avoiding the rigors of Section 6 of the DSPE Act, requiring consent from the State of Maharashtra," the court said. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi: A massive fire broke out at a power substation of Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) in Noida's Sector 148 on Wednesday (August 19, 2020). The blaze was reported around 8:30 am it was controlled by 10:30 am, the officials said. The transformers were engulfed in the blaze. The area falls under Knowledge Park Police Station jurisdiction. Thick smoke billowed from the power station and could be seen in the sky from a distance. The incident also led to a brief disruption in power supply to nearby areas, locals told PTI. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, according to police officials. (More details awaited) PNM Resources, Inc.s PNM investments in strengthening its existing infrastructure and enhancing clean energy capacity to provide reliable and affordable power will boost its performance. Also, the companys adequate liquidity will allow it to meet its debt obligations amid the ongoing pandemic. We recently issued an updated research report on this presently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.19%, on average. Its long-term (three-five years) earnings growth rate is pegged at 4.87%. Whats Driving the Stock? PNM Resources continues to invest substantially in its utility assets for providing reliable services to its customers. It plans to spend $3.3 billion from 2020 to 2023. These investments will lead to 8.9% rate base growth. The company also expects a 5-6% earnings growth rate in the same time frame. In New Mexico, it received approvals from both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to acquire the Western Spirit Transmission Line in 2021. At present, in New Mexico, 1,227 MW wind projects are under construction while those with 1,328 MW are under advanced development. We note that the company will play an important role with its expanding transmission assets in the region. Management announced the companys Wired for the Future program to enhance its current investments and support grid resilience. Of the $450 million investment plan, 55% will be spent on strengthening its transmission lines while 45% will be utilized to fortify its distribution lines. Also, the utility has been undertaking measures to increase its renewable and battery storage capacity, thereby moving toward clean energy. Furthermore, the company has adequate liquidity to meet its near-term obligations and fund capital investments despite the ongoing economic crisis. Story continues Woes However, the risk behind operating in nuclear plants apart from abiding by the climate change-related stringent environmental policies and regulations remain headwinds to the company. Price Performance In the past three months, shares of the company have gained 13.1%, outperforming the industrys rise of 2.9%. Stocks to Consider A few better-ranked electric utilities are Portland General Electric Company POR, Korea Electric Power Corporation KEP and Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP, all carrying a Zacks Rank#2 (Buy) at present. Portland General Electric Company delivered an earnings surprise of 7.74%, on average, in the last four quarters. The company has a long-term earnings growth rate of 5.14%. Korea Electric Power has a long-term earnings growth rate of 5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has been steady in the past 60 days. Huaneng Power International has a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.14%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 24.4% upward in the past 60 days. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Portland General Electric Company (POR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Huaneng Power International, Inc. (HNP) : Free Stock Analysis Report PNM Resources, Inc. Holding Co. (PNM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:43:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The spokesperson of the mutineers, Col. Maj. Ismael Wague (C) speaks during a press conference in Kati, near Bamako, Mali, on Aug. 19, 2020. Mali's mutinous soldiers on Wednesday announced the creation of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) to lead a political transition toward general elections following the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the dissolution of the National Assembly and the government. (Photo by Habib Kouyate/Xinhua) BAMAKO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Mali's mutinous soldiers on Wednesday announced the creation of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) to lead a political transition toward general elections following the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the dissolution of the National Assembly and the government. "We are not keen on power, but on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organize general elections within a reasonable time-frame to allow Mali to equip itself with strong institutions that are capable of managing our daily lives and restoring confidence between the rulers and the ruled," the spokesperson of the mutineers, Col. Maj. Ismael Wague said in a statement read on national television. "In order to prevent the country from sinking, we, the patriotic forces gathered together in the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), have decided to take our responsibilities to ensure the continuity of the state and public services," he said. The spokesperson also announced a series of decisions coming into force on Wednesday until further notice, including the closure of all air and land borders, and a 9 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew. The CNSP invited civil society and socio-political movements to join in order to create "the best conditions for a better civil transition leading to credible elections." Following a mutiny that broke out early Tuesday at the Soundiata Keita camp in Kati, Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his prime minister were taken there by mutinous soldiers in the afternoon. Detained in the military camp in Kati, president Keita announced his own resignation and the dissolution of the National Assembly and the government late Tuesday on national television. The seizure of power by the mutinous soldiers has been strongly condemned by several countries and regional and international organizations. In 2012, a coup that overthrew then President Amadou Toumani Toure, a few months before the end of his mandate, also began with a mutiny at the same camp in Kati, 15 km from the Malian capital, Bamako. Enditem Three other Hezbollah members were acquitted of all charges that they also were involved in the killing of Hariri writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted one member of the Hezbollah militant group and acquitted three others of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Salim Ayyash was guilty as a co-conspirator of five charges linked to his involvement in the suicide truck bombing. Hariri and 21 others were killed and 226 were wounded in a huge blast outside a seaside hotel in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. However, after a years-long investigation and trial, three other Hezbollah members were acquitted of all charges that they also were involved in the killing of Hariri that sent shock waves through the Middle East. The tribunals judges also said there was no evidence the leadership of the Hezbollah militant group and Syria were involved in the attack. Sketching the complex political backdrop for the assassination, Presiding Judge David Re of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said that in the months before his death, Hariri was a supporter of reducing the influence of Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said judges who studied reams of evidence in the trial of four Hezbollah members accused of involvement in the bombing were of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr. Hariri, and some of his political allies. But he added that there was no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariris murder, and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement in it. Re was speaking as he delivered the final judgments in the trial. The court was not expected to rule on either Hezbollah or Syria but on the four named Hezbollah suspects as the tribunal can only accuse individuals, not groups or states. But the fact the tribunal appeared to explicitly and categorically rule out evidence tying Hezbollahs leadership to the crime was good news for the Iran-backed group, which dominates Lebanese politics and has come under increased scrutiny and pressure at home. The verdicts were delayed by nearly two weeks as a mark of respect for victims of another devastating explosion the detonation of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at Beiruts port. The Aug. 4 blast killed around 180 people, injured more than 6,000, left a quarter of a million with homes unfit to live in and plunged a nation already reeling from economic and social malaise even deeper into crisis. Re started the hearing with a minutes silence to start the hearing to honor victims of the blast and their families as well as those made homeless by the port blast. He was reading a summary of the written judgment that runs to more than 2,600 pages with some 13,000 footnotes. The guilty verdict could compound tensions in the tiny country. Hariri was Lebanons most prominent Sunni politician at the time of his Feb. 14, 2005, assassination, while Hezbollah is a shia Muslim group backed and funded by Tehran. The trial centered on the alleged roles of four Hezbollah members in the suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others and wounded 226 people. Prosecutors based their case largely on data from mobile phones allegedly used by the plotters to plan and execute the bombing. Without the phone data there would be no case against the four suspects, Re said, as he began explaining the complex investigation into the telecom networks prosecutors say the suspects used. Re said that the telecom evidence in the case was almost entirely circumstantial. However, another judge, Janet Nosworthy, later said that judges had ruled that four different networks of mobile phones were interconnected and coordinated with each other, and operated as covert networks at the relevant times. During the trial, which started in 2014 and spanned 415 days of hearings, the tribunal in Leidschendam, near The Hague, heard evidence from 297 witnesses. Initially, five suspects were tried, all of them Hezbollah members. Charges against one of the groups top military commanders, Mustafa Badreddine, were dropped after he was killed in Syria in 2016. The court said Tuesday it could not prove that Badreddine was the mastermind behind the assassination. The remaining suspects were Ayyash, also known as Abu Salim; Assad Sabra, Hassan Oneissi, who changed his name to Hassan Issa and Hassan Habib Merhi. They were charged with offenses including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. A hearing will be held at a later date to determine Ayyashs sentence. As the UN-backed court has no death sentence, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment. Ayyash is not likely to serve time as Hezbollah had vowed not to hand over any suspects. Prosecutors and defense lawyers can appeal the verdicts. The assassination was seen by many in Lebanon as the work of Syria, a charge Damascus denies and which the judges now say was not borne out by evidence in the trial. Some Lebanese see the tribunal as an impartial way of uncovering the truth about Hariris slaying, while Hezbollah which denies involvement calls it an Israeli plot to tarnish the group. Hariris son Saad, himself a former prime minister, is attending the day-long delivery of the judgment and was one of four victims present in the courtroom for the hearing. On Tuesday morning, the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya prepped viewers for the verdict, showing a slick 3-D reenactment of the bombing. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last week insisted on the innocence of the suspects regardless of the verdicts. For us it will be as if they were never issued, he said of the verdicts. Abed Itani, a supporter of the Hariri family in the Beirut neighborhood of Tareeq al-Jadideh, said: We have been waiting for the truth for 15 years and God willing today the truth will be made public. All what we want from the world and the Lebanese state is for those who carried out this explosion to be punished in accordance with justice. 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. WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Wednesday suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong related to extradition and tax exemptions, the latest in a series of measures that escalate tensions between Washington and Beijing. The move comes after President Trump signed an executive order last month ending the special status that the United States granted Hong Kong in diplomatic and trade relations. The administration has sought to punish China for its attempts to stifle political dissent in the former British territory. China announced in June that it was imposing a national security law in Hong Kong to grant security agencies expansive powers, giving Beijing sweeping authority to crack down on a variety of political actions. The Chinese Communist Party chose to crush the freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Twitter. Because of the CCPs actions, we are terminating or suspending three of our bilateral agreements with the territory. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Below is a list of 5 factors that played a role in the courts decision. 1. Maharashtra police yet to investigate The court noted that the Maharashtra police was only conducting a limited inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) into the cause of unnatural death of Rajput. Section 174 of CrPC confers powers on police to enquire into death by suicide and submit a report to the district magistrate. The Supreme Court said that an inquiry under section 174 is limited in scope and cannot be equated to a full-fledged investigation. The Mumbai police have not registered an FIR or started investigation into the incident. Also read| Not a Loss: Senas Sanjay Raut after SC hands Sushant Rajput case to CBI 2. Patna police has jurisdiction to register FIR Rajputs girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty had argued that Bihar police does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter and register an FIR since the incident occurred in Mumbai. The Supreme Court, however, turned this down stating that registration of an FIR is mandated when information on a cognizable offence is received by the police. Precedents suggest that at the stage of investigation, it cannot be said that the concerned police station does not have territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case, the court said in its judgment. Moreover, Rajputs father, whose complaint was the basis for Bihar police to register an FIR, had alleged a criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of money. The consequences of the incident would, therefore, arise in Patna as well. The allegation relating to criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of money which were to be eventually accounted for in Patna (where the Complainant resides), could prima facie indicate the lawful jurisdiction of the Patna police, the court held. The finding that the FIR by Bihar police was valid turned out to be crucial because the CBI had taken over the probe based on the request made by Bihar police. 3. Need for an independent agency due to conflict between two state governments The apex court noted that there is a conflict between the two state governments in the matter and though the steps taken by Mumbai police cannot be faulted, stakeholders have raised allegations of unfair investigation against Mumbai police. Because both states are making acrimonious allegations of political interference against each other, the legitimacy of the investigation has come under a cloud. This Court (Supreme Court) must strive to ensure that search for the truth is undertaken by an independent agency, not controlled by either of the two state governments, the judgment said. Also read| Sushant Singh Rajputs family on SC verdict: We love our country more than ever 4. Need to avoid uncertainty due to possible parallel investigations The court said that CBI has already registered a case and commenced investigation at the instance of the Bihar government. If Mumbai police also decides to commence probe, then it could add to uncertainty and confusion. Uncertainty and confusion must be avoided in the event of Mumbai Police also deciding to simultaneously investigate the offence, based on their findings, the judgment said. 5. Justice for Rajputs father and Rhea The court noted that Rajput was a talented actor in the Mumbai film world who died well before his full potential could be realised. An impartial probe and its outcome will ensure that Rajputs father and Rhea get justice. Moreover, Rhea herself had called for CBI investigation, the court added. His family, friends and admirers are keenly waiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest. Therefore a fair, competent and impartial investigation is the need of the hour, the court said. Law invoked by Supreme Court Article 142 of the Constitution confers wide power on the Supreme Court to pass an order for doing complete justice in the matter before it. It is invoked to grant reliefs which are beyond the scope of the petition or not sought by the petitioners. The court invoked Article 142 in this case stating that to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, it would be appropriate to exercise the powers conferred by the said article. Also Read: Not a Loss: Senas Sanjay Raut after SC hands Sushant Rajput case to CBI Supreme Courts powers to order CBI probe As per section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, CBI can investigate a crime only based on the recommendation of the concerned state which is probing the matter. However, that does not bar constitutional courts (i.e high courts and Supreme Court) from recommending CBI probe as has been held in a long line of Supreme Court judgments in the past, the court said. No power to transfer investigation from one state to another in a transfer petition Chakraborty had filed the transfer petition under section 406 of CrPC seeking transfer of probe from Bihar to Maharashtra. Section 406 confers powers on the Supreme Court to transfer cases from one high court to another or from a lower court in one state to a lower court in another state. Also Read: Sushant Singh Rajputs brother-in-law says his family represents aspirations of India The Supreme Court held that the provision does not grant power to the top court to transfer a matter which is only at the investigation stage from one state to another. Having considered the contour of the power under section 406 CrPC, it must be concluded that only cases and appeals (not investigation) can be transferred, the court ruled. Leading global expert on infectious diseases Curtin University Emeritus Professor Michael Alpers has been named the 2020 recipient of The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) Medal for his exceptional contribution to science. Professor Alpers' pioneering research into the rare brain disease kuru, which he undertook while living with an isolated village community in remote Papua New Guinea, paved the way for a new field of human medicine and included the important discovery of infectious proteins now known as prions. Professor Alpers, who has remained heavily involved with the Papua New Guinean Fore people and kuru research since his fieldwork there in the 1960s, was presented the ANZAAS Medal yesterday at Curtin's Perth campus. Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Chris Moran congratulated Professor Alpers, saying it was important recognition for both his sustained medical research and commitment to combatting kuru disease over many decades. "Professor Alpers is an internationally respected medical researcher and tropical disease expert whom Curtin University is incredibly proud to have among its academic ranks," Professor Moran said. "He remained dedicated to researching kuru from soon after the disease was discovered by medical science until the epidemic ended some 50 years later, during which period he was also Director of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (1977 to 2000) where he worked on the tropical diseases of national importance and in developing and testing malaria and pneumonia vaccines. "The films he made to document his fieldwork in remote Papua New Guinea were included in the Melanesian Film Archive, which was assembled at the National Institutes of Health in the US before being transferred to Curtin University in 2005 where they remain in the care of Professor Alpers." Professor Alpers said he was honoured to receive the ANZAAS Medal, which was the culmination of a career that he began as a medical student in Adelaide in the 1950s when he first read about the obscure kuru disease in a news article. "It was described by some observers as the 'laughing death' disease, producing face and body contortions, tremors and an uncontrollable laugh, which was followed by the progressive loss of all motor functions and eventually death," Professor Alpers said. "In 1961, I relocated to the remote eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea to study the effects of the disease firsthand, building strong links with the Fore people and going on to discover that kuru was transmitted through diseased brain tissue. "For spiritual and cultural reasons, it had been the usual mortuary practice among the Fore community to consume the bodies of loved ones upon their death - this was how kuru had spread." ### The presentation of the ANZAAS Medal to Professor Alpers coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first and only ANZAAS Congress held in Papua New Guinea, in August 1970. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently suggested the United States should approach China with a distrust and verify mindset. If the Secretary speaks for President Trump, the phase one trade deal with China is on its last legs. The question should be what comes next. The best answer is targeted retaliation to deter Chinas predatory economic and security behavior. It is certainly not more grand bargains. Phase ones pillars are expanded American exports, greater Chinese res pect for intellectual property (IP), and additional access to China for American financials. But Congress and the Trump administration are already undoing the third , rightly recognizing that the United States does not want to provide China with even more funds. The IP component borders on meaningless. Beijing published new regulations, but the problem is not laws. China has no law requiring IP transfer in exchange for market access or rewarding IP thieves. Still, coercion and theft are constant. U.S. officials report opening a new China-related espionage case every 10 hours. The Trump administrations investigation into Chinas IP practices noted annual U.S. losses of at least $225 billion, outmatching phase ones $200 billion in export gains over two years. Yet the administration has never mentioned the resources assigned to scrutinize IP or deal results to date. For 2020, the phase one deal thus comes down to exports. The United States just announced goods exports to China in the first half of this year fell 5 percent versus the first half of 2019. In the first year of phase one, goods exports were supposed to rise $5 billion per month over the base year of 2017. To date this year, theyve fallen $1.5 billion per month versus 2017. Including partial services import results, China is $40 billion behind its commitments. COVID-19 is only one reason. Through June, China reported total imports fell 3 percent versus 2019. Imports from the United States fell 9 percent. Despite phase one, American goods are underperforming the overall trend. In the two months of new trade numbers that will be released before the election, the United States can hope to close $8 billion of the $40-billion gap. If phase one is not doomed, it should be. President Trump followed President Obamas lead in making deals with China at the end of an administration. These efforts aimed to require improvement in Chinese economic behavior for friendly U.S.-China relations to continue. Despite loud speeches, the Trump administrations economic actions over the past six months have therefore been tentative, paralyzed by the hope of soaring exports. Beijing has successfully called Washingtons bluff, playing for time. A new administration, whether led by Donald Trump or Joe Biden, will have to try a new approach. There is a simple template that goes beyond additional tariffs. Rather than conditioning the U.S.-China political and economic relationship on massive structural changes in Chinas economy and trade practices, U.S. officials should adopt much more targeted policies. This United States is already doing so in its responses to Chinas human rights violations and destabilizing security behavior. Recent U.S. moves have included sanctioning Communist Party leaders involved in repression in Hong Kong and ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang. State Department officials have also warned that sanctions may be forthcoming for entities and individuals that are violating international law in the South China Sea. Applying these more targeted tools in the economic relationship is an obvious next step. It is time to implement tighter export controls, which passed Congress overwhelmingly two years ago, but were then stalled by the administration . These go far beyond the non-stop chatter about Huawei. Another step is relocating medical and pharmaceutical supply chains out of China. That processes should have begun in March, as the virus spread, yet almost nothing was done. On the security front, it is finally time to penalize Chinese banks that are violating United Nations sanctions and illicitly propping up North Korea. The same is true of Chinese oil and gas companies illegally exploiting the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, and other South China Sea claimants. There should be restrictions on American investments that assist the Peoples Liberation Army. Phase one is a failure, and its past time to reassess our approach to harmful or dangerous Chinese actions. The Chinese leopard did not change its spots in 2016 or 2020 and will not with yet another mutual understanding with the next administration. Targeted penalties for the full range of malign behavior are far superior to the broad, hopeful deals we have tried in the past. The board of directors of Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, working as Beeline, has appointed former Deputy Digital Development Minister Rashid Ismailov as the companys president, the operator said on Wednesday in a statement. According to the decision of the board of directors of VimpelCom as of August 17, 2020, Rashid Ismailov is appointed as president of the company. Alexander Krupnov, who earlier held the position, moves to the position of a presidents advisor, the company said. Ismailov was working at the ministry since 2013 till 2018. VimpelComs charter understands the president as the one responsible for management of provision of connection services for certain state authorities. The changes will not impact the current operating activities of the company or the goals set for the general director. General Director Alexander Torbakhov will remain in charge of operating activities. Rating Action: Moody's assigns national scale ratings to Coruripe; stable outlook Global Credit Research - 19 Aug 2020 Sao Paulo, August 19, 2020 -- Moody's America Latina Ltda., ("Moody's") today assigned a B3.br national scale corporate family rating to Usina Coruripe Acucar e Alcool ("Coruripe"). At the same time, Moody's also assigned Caa2/Caa2.br ratings to the first issuance of debentures maturing in 2021; Caa2/Caa2.br to the first series of the third issuance of debentures maturing in 2025, and Caa3/Caa3.br to the second series of the third issuance of debentures maturing in 2025, all issued by Coruripe. The outlook is stable. Ratings assigned: Issuer: Usina Coruripe Acucar e Alcool Corporate Family Rating -- National Scale: B3.br - BRL85.8 million senior unsecured first issuance of debentures maturing in 2021: Caa2/Caa2.br - BRL457.7 million senior secured first series of the third issuance of debentures maturing in 2025: Caa2/Caa2.br - BRL230.7 million senior secured second series of the third issuance of debentures maturing in 2025: Caa3/Caa3.br Outlook is stable. RATINGS RATIONALE The rated debentures underly issuances of agricultural receivables (CRA). The first issuance of debentures, BRL85.8 million, underlies the first issuance of CRAs by Eco Securitizadora de Direitos Creditorios do Agronegocio S.A. ("Eco Securitizadora"). The third issuance of debentures, BRL688.4 million in two series, underlies the seventh issuance of CRA by Eco Securitizadora in two series, the first series (senior) and the second series (subordinated). The third issuance of debentures is secured by certain sales and purchase agreements and the first lien on IAA (Federal Institute of Sugar & Ethanol) claims, in which Coruripe asks for compensation from the Brazilian Federal Government on losses caused by price controls imposed by the authorities of the now extinct IAA. Coruripe has 2 claims which together are booked at a value of over BRL3 billion. These claims are currently under judicial dispute and therefore there is no existing writ-of-payment obligation relating to them. Despite this credit enhancement, Moody's considers these obligations as senior unsecured given the absence of a real estate asset pledge. Under the current capital structure, we consider these debentures to be subordinated to BRL1.7 billion in secure bank debt which currently comprise around 52% of Coruripe's total debt. Furthermore, we consider the second series of the third issuance of debentures as subordinated to the first series of the same debentures in the hierarchy to receive any proceeds triggered by a default event and is therefore rated one notch below. Story continues Coruripe's ratings continue to consider a weak liquidity profile and high refinancing risk despite the recently announced debt extension. In March 2020, end of the 2019-20 harvest year, Coruripe had BRL605 million in cash, compared to BRL316 million in the end of the prior harvest. Proforma for the debt extensions Coruripe will have around BRL843 million in maturities for the 2020-21 harvest, of which an estimated BRL455 million relating to working capital and export finance lines. Before the announced debt extension the amortization schedule included BRL1.3 billion in the 2020-21 harvest. The creditors that are part of the extension agreement already had the collateral of the Iturama plant, and other assets, and will receive an additional land collateral with an estimated value of BRL400 million and the second lien on IAA (Institute of Sugar and Ethanol) booked at more than BRL3.0 billion. Instead of three amortizations of BRL571 million in 2021, 2022, and 2023, Coruripe will amortize BRL171 million in the present harvest, BRL256 million yearly and a payment of BRL513 million in 2025. Also, the new agreement will have a financial covenant of Net Debt/EBITDA equal to or lower than 3.0x (2.91x as of March 2020) which will reduce to 2.8x in March 2021 and 0.2x per harvest. The prior agreement had a covenant of Net Debt/(EBITDA -- Capex) which proved to be incompatible with the companys high capex expenditures, increasing dollar denominated debt, lower crushing levels and EBITDA. Coruripe had breached such covenant in March 2019 and March 2020, for which waivers were negotiated. Coruripe's ratings also incorporate its scale as one of the 10 largest sugar-ethanol groups in Brazil with a crushing capacity of 15.0 million tons of sugarcane per harvest and a very high capacity utilization, over 97%. The ratings also reflect its cluster organization with ample access to sugarcane and logistic infrastructure and its geographic diversification that provides some protection against weather and other localized event risks, while allowing for a more stable production throughout the year, because of different harvest periods. Historic high capacity utilization and low land lease costs are among the elements that contribute for Usina Coruripes competitive production costs. Coruripe's has a more flexible cost structure to reduce cost volatility since the price paid to sugarcane providers is linked to the company's selling prices through local price index instead of a general price index -- such as Consecana. Coruripe's operating performance improved in 2019/2020 and we estimate results will remain on track during 2020 despite the volatility caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In the 2019/2020 harvest, ended March 2020, revenues reached BRL2.3 billion, 16.1% higher compared to the prior harvest and EBITDA reached BRL1.02 billion, 33% higher. Crushing reached 14,631 thousand tons, a record for the company, sugar and ethanol prices were higher and working capital improved. Since 2018 the company increased investments to improve the quality of its sugarcane and industrial efficiency, actions that helped sustain the observed operating results. Coruripe increased investments to BRL803 million in 2019, from BRL518 million in 2018 and an average of BRL469 million in the two harvests before that. In 2020-21 we expect a crushing of 14,760 thousand tons and EBITDA of BRL1.2 billion, 4.5% higher than in 2019/2020. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak and lower ethanol prices, Coruripe's results will be supported by higher crushing volumes, higher sugar prices in BRL and hedges already in place for sugar at an average price of BRL1,453/ton (0.13 USD/lb.). We believe the production mix will shift to 59% sugar, instead of the mix observed in 2019-20 of 54% sugar/46% ethanol. The stable outlook on Coruripe's ratings incorporates our view that the company will present a more adequate debt amortization schedule in the coming harvests and that operating results and cash flow generation will remain solid. We also expect Coruripe to maintain its liability management strategy in order to adequate its debt amortization schedule to its investment needs. FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS An upgrade would require a considerable improvement in liquidity with cash consistently covering short-term debt during the harvest even in a low price environment. Quantitatively EBITA/Interest Expense would need to be sustained above 1.0x, while Debt/EBITDA maintained below 5.5x and CFO/Net Debt above 10%. A downgrade could happen if Usina Coruripe's liquidity continues to deteriorate or if it is not able to refinance upcoming maturities. Founded in 1925 and headquartered in Coruripe, State of Alagoas, Usina Coruripe is a sugar and ethanol producer and electricity cogenerator with five crushing units, one in the State of Alagoas and other four in the State of Minas Gerais. In the 2019-20 harvest, the company generated BRL 2.3 billion in revenues. The company currently has the largest plant in the Northeast region of Brazil with 3,000 ton capacity. The principal methodology used in these ratings was Protein and Agriculture published in May 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1113389. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com.br for a copy of this methodology. Moody's National Scale Credit Ratings (NSRs) are intended as relative measures of creditworthiness among debt issues and issuers within a country, enabling market participants to better differentiate relative risks. NSRs differ from Moody's global scale credit ratings in that they are not globally comparable with the full universe of Moody's rated entities, but only with NSRs for other rated debt issues and issuers within the same country. NSRs are designated by a ".nn" country modifier signifying the relevant country, as in ".za" for South Africa. For further information on Moody's approach to national scale credit ratings, please refer to Moody's Credit rating Methodology published in May 2016 entitled "Mapping National Scale Ratings from Global Scale Ratings". While NSRs have no inherent absolute meaning in terms of default risk or expected loss, a historical probability of default consistent with a given NSR can be inferred from the GSR to which it maps back at that particular point in time. For information on the historical default rates associated with different global scale rating categories over different investment horizons, please see https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1216309. 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. Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following: parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential and proprietary Moody's information. Information types used to prepare the rating are the following: financial data, economic and demographic data, debt documentations, operating data, historical performance data, public information, Moody's information, and regulatory filings. Sources of Public Information: Moody's considers public information from many third party sources as part of the rating process. These sources may include, but are not limited to, the list available in the link http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1235261. Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing a rating. Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent third-party sources. However, Moody's is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate information received in the rating process. The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure. Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com.br for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests. Moody's America Latina Ltda. may have provided Other Permissible Service (s) to the rated entity or its related third parties within the 12 months preceding the credit rating action. Please go to the report "Ancillary or Other Permissible Services Provided to Entities Rated by Moody's America Latina Ltda." in the link http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1239888 for detailed information. 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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.br. 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. Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com.br for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available. Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com.br for further information. Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Ratings Definitions page on www.moodys.com.br for further information on the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery. 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. Please see www.moodys.com.br 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.br for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating. Erick Rodrigues Vice President - Senior Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's America Latina Ltda. Avenida Nacoes Unidas, 12.551 16th Floor, Room 1601 Sao Paulo, SP 04578-903 Brazil JOURNALISTS: 0 800 891 2518 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Marianna Waltz, CFA MD - Corporate Finance Corporate Finance Group JOURNALISTS: 0 800 891 2518 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Releasing Office: Moody's America Latina Ltda. 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Many European nations have experimented with a wealth tax of some form, with support ebbing and flowing throughout the decades. Thomas Pikettys 2014 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century re-invigorated the debate particularly in European countries with high debt loads, which have eyed wealth taxes as ways to replenish their treasuries. Spain effectively abolished its wealth tax in 2008 but brought it back in 2011. French President Emmanuel Macrons 2017 decision to exempt financial holdings from a longstanding wealth tax contributed to the anger that set off the so-called Yellow Vest protests a year later. Neither Germany nor the U.K. has a wealth tax, but theres been debate within both countries about creating one. In Asia, where inequality has been rising especially rapidly, some countries that arent strapped for cash have considered increases in taxes on large property holdings as a way of putting a lid on inequality. Chinas push to cut taxes for its middle class has led to expectations that the government will squeeze more from its growing ranks of affluent households. - A coronavirus positive patient openly admitted that she tested positive for the virus - She posted on Facebook in an effort to trace whoever she came in close contact with - The woman was working at a call center in Bacolod City and did not hesitate to post her positive results on her account - She outlined her last duty at her workplace and stated the dates when she visited the clinic PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Arlene Flores Jayme took to Facebook and posted the results of her coronavirus test, admitting that she was positive for COVID-19. She made an appeal to those whom she had contact with from July 26 to August 9. She stated that as there were so many individuals, she could no longer recall and send a private message to each and every one of them. She then said that her last duty was at the call center on August 7 and that she was able to visit the clinic from July 26 to August 7. What Ari Flores did was commended by netizens as she selflessly revealed her condition for the sake of protecting those who came in contact with her. Many netizens also sent her their prayers, wishing the brave woman fast healing and recovery from the illness. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback Photo: Pixabay Source: UGC PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! The government faced problems when they imposed the initial community quarantine, which was elevated into enhanced community quarantine. It also suspended transportation causing massive problems with commuters. Doctors have died after being infected by COVID-19. They are among the frontliners who attend to the patients rushing to hospitals amid pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. The Philippines has slowly eased quarantine measures and Filipinos are starting to adapt to the new normal. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! Source: KAMI.com.gh Press Release August 19, 2020 Villanueva: PhilHealth has sufficient funds to cover workers' COVID-19 testing Employers should not think twice about sending their workers to COVID-19 testing because PhilHealth would be able to shoulder the cost, according to Senator Joel Villanueva. Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, sought assurance from Health Secretary Francisco Duque III at the resumption of the Upper Chamber's Committee of the Whole inquiry on Tuesday into the alleged anomalies hounding the state health insurance firm. "Hindi po dapat mag alinlangan na magsagawa ng regular surveillance test ang mga employers," Villanueva said in a statement. "May sapat na pondo ang Philhealth para mag-monitor at mag-test para sa COViD sa mga lugar-paggawa kaya dapat ipatupad ito sa lalong madaling panahon." "COVID-19 surveillance in the workplace should be mandatory, and PhilHealth should pay for it," he added. At the hearing, Duque, who is also concurrent PhilHealth chairman, agreed with Villanueva, saying he was expecting the state health insurance firm to put together a program to cover the cost of testing workers. The regular, random testing of workers forms part of Villanueva's suggested action plan to the government in its management of the pandemic. Of the P22.5 billion the PhilHealth expected to spend for COVID-19 testing this year, the state health insurance firm may have spent close to P7 billion based on DOH data that it has conducted two million tests, the lawmaker estimated. The average cost of COVID-19 test is P3,500. With more tests for workers, authorities would be able to track closely the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, and give policymakers better data to assess the situation, Villanueva explained. He also asked the health secretary, who is co-chair of the IATF, to consider implementing epidemiological surveillance in the workplace, where authorities seek out information from communities and areas where people gather such as workplaces, and use the data to tailor-fit the response. Villanueva also called on the Department of Labor and Employment to continue its efforts to ensure workplaces comply with workers' safety standards. From June 3, 2020 to July 31, 2020, some 77% of inspected establishments comply with DOLE-DTI joint guidelines on COVID-19 prevention, Villanueva said, citing the agency's data. "Despite the relatively high compliance rate of establishments, workplace infections are still rising. This may mean that the guideline is not enough, or inspections being done do not capture the whole OSH situation in the country," the lawmaker said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 10:14:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Oil Facilities Guard of Libya's east-based army on Tuesday announced a decision to reopen the country's oil ports and resume oil export after months of closure. Oil ports can restart operations in order to "preserve the production and export areas, as well as the existing oil installations, such as gas and oil tanks, pipelines, and exploration equipment," Naji al-Maghrabi, commander of the Oil Facilities Guard, said in a statement. Frequent power blackouts in power plants due to a lack of fuel supply are another reason to reopen the ports, al-Maghrabi said. The decision was made on the order of General Khalifa Haftar, the east-based army's commander, after he met with officials of the east-based government, al-Maghrabi added. Libya is politically divided between rival authorities in the east and the west despite a UN-sponsored political agreement and the appointment of the UN-backed Government of National Accord in 2015. Enditem TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc. (CSE:ITKO) (OTC PINK:GLDRF)("Idaho Champion" or the "Company"), announces that a drill has been mobilized for the Company's maiden drill program at the past-producing Champagne Gold Project near Arco, Idaho, USA. Idaho Champion will commence a 5,000 metre drill program using Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling on the patented ground and within the historic past producing pit area utilizing both historic and newly acquired data to target drill holes. About the Champagne Project The Champagne Mine* was operated by Bema Gold as a heap leach operation on a high sulfidation gold system that occurs in volcanic rocks. Bema Gold drilled 72 shallow reverse circulation holes on the project, which complement drilling and trenching from other previous operators. The property has had no deep drilling or significant modern exploration since the mine closure in early 1992. The Champagne Deposit contains epigenetic style gold and silver mineralization that occurs in strongly altered Tertiary volcanic tuffs and flows of acid to intermediate composition in the Lava Creek District. Company geologists have confirmed that sericitic and argillic alteration, with and without silicifcation, are widespread at the Champagne Project. According to historic reports, silica flooding, alunite and barite are closely associated with the gold and silver mineralized zone at the historic mine. Champagne has a near surface cap of gold-silver mineralization emplaced by deep-seated structures that acted as conduits for precious metal rich hydrothermal fluids. Higher grade zones in the Champagne Deposit appear to be related to such feeder zones. * The Company cautions that the information about the past-producing mine is not indicative of mineralization on Champion's property, and if mineralization does occur, that it will occur in sufficient quantity or grade that would result in an economic extraction scenario. The historic data were simply used to evaluate the prospectivity of the property. The Company has not yet conducted sufficient exploration to ascertain if a mineral resource is present on the property. Qualified Person The technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Karelse P.Geo., a consultant to the Company, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Karelse has more than 30 years of experience in exploration and development. About Idaho Champion Gold Mines Inc. Idaho Champion is a discovery-focused gold exploration company that is committed to advancing its 100% owned highly prospective mineral properties located in Idaho, United States. The Company's shares trade on the CSE under the trading symbol "ITKO". Idaho Champion is vested in Idaho with the Baner Project in Idaho County, the Champagne Project located in Butte County near Arco, and four cobalt properties in Lemhi County in the Idaho Cobalt Belt. Idaho Champion strives to be a responsible environmental steward, stakeholder and a contributing citizen to the local communities where it operates. Idaho Champion takes its social license seriously, employing local community members and service providers at its operations whenever possible. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Jonathan Buick" Jonathan Buick, President and CEO For further information, please visit the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or the Company's corporate website at www.idahochamp.com. For further information please contact: Nicholas Konkin, Marketing and Communications Phone: (416) 477 7771 ext. 205 Email: nkonkin@idahochamp.com THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION OF SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN THE UNITED STATES IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. Cautionary Statements Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based on are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws SOURCE: Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602378/Idaho-Champion-Mobilizes-Drill-at-Past-Producing-Champagne-Project A federal judge in Alabama said Tuesday he wont slow down bankruptcy proceedings of firearms maker Remington Outdoor Company for families of the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut. U.S. District Judge Clifton Jessup Jr. declined to slow the timeline of the bankruptcy case requested by nine families of victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Conn. The judge, while saying he was sympathetic to their situation, said the bankruptcy court was not the proper venue to resolve the claims by the families. The Sandy Hook families have outstanding lawsuits against Remington stemming from the shooting and, according to court filings, maintain the gun company is seeking to use its bankruptcy filing to extinguish the claims. The lawsuit said the gun manufacturer should be held liable for its role in marketing the assault-style rifle used by the shooter, Adam Lanza. Twenty children and six teachers were killed in the shooting. Remington did not list plaintiffs in the Sandy Hook lawsuit against the company among its creditors in the bankruptcy filing. Attorneys for the families argued in court documents that omission was done deliberately. A survivor and relatives of nine victims of the shooting are suing Remington in Connecticut Superior Court, saying the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public and alleging it targeted younger, at-risk males in marketing and product placement in violent video games. The lawsuit has been put on hold because of the bankruptcy case. Remington denies the lawsuits allegations and says it is immune from being sued under federal law. Attorneys for the Sandy Hook families asked the judge on Tuesday for a 45-day extension of the schedule that will result in the sale of the company. That extension would permit time for the families to conduct discovery in the bankruptcy case. Attorneys for the Sandy Hook families maintain that Remington is seeking to expedite the bankruptcy process at a breakneck speed. Despite the bankruptcy case being filed only last month, Remington the nations oldest gun maker, based in Madison, North Carolina already is planning to sell off its holdings in a Sept. 17 auction. The families have grave concerns about the speed, the breakneck speed that the debtors are setting up for this sale, attorney David Elsberg told the judge at the hearing Tuesday. Elsberg said Remington has not produced a shred of paper in discovery sought by the Sandy Hook families and even if those documents were produced immediately, it would take the attorneys for the families several weeks to thoroughly review them. Nancy Mitchell, an attorney for Remington, responded to Elsbergs concerns by telling the judge that the Sandy Hook families would have adequate time to address their concerns and investigate. The judge said that it appears the Sandy Hook families are attempting to extend the bankruptcy timeline to continue the discovery process that began in state court in Connecticut and thats a problem for the court. Jessup went on to say that, in the bankruptcy court, the Sandy Hook families would be treated like all other claimants against Remington. Remington opened a manufacturing plant in Huntsville in 2014, the first in a series of celebrated economic developments for Mayor Tommy Battle. The company, though, has struggled throughout its time in the Rocket City, failing to live up to contractual hiring obligations. The Huntsville city council essentially gave Remington a do-over in November 2018 in restructuring its project development agreement. Remington never met the conditions of the restructured deal and filed for bankruptcy 20 months later. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Updated today, Aug. 19, 2020, at 10:28 to clarify claims against Remington in the lawsuit brought by Sandy Hook families. 19.08.2020 LISTEN Member of Parliament for Obuasi East Constituency, Hon. Patrick Boakye Yiadom has called on the Government of Ghana under the leadership of Nana Addo Dunkwa Akuffo Addo to build a major hospital for the Obuasi Municipality. Hon. Patrick Boakye Yiadom when speaking to the press in an exclusive interview stated that despite everything, Obuasi is the powerhouse of Ghana because of the gold mines which has been in an existence for about hundred and twelve years and its one of the biggest revenue mobilization for the country, so building a major hospital for such a town should not be a problem. The Obuasi East Member of Parliament revealed, no mining community in the world has been disrespected like the way Ghana has disrespected the Obuasi community which he made a case for the Cullinan Gauteng in South Africa and the way they have developed such a community. He continues that, the Obuasi population day by day keeps increasing up meanwhile facilities like Hospitals are the same and not even an expansion exercise is going on which is very bad for a golding community like Obuasi. He said Government can even build the major hospital to reward them. Hon. Boakye Yiadom revealed they need a major hospital like the Okomko Anokye Teaching Hospital in the capital of the Ashanti Region Kumasi, Ridge Hospital in the Greater Accra Region in Greater Accra. The Hon. Member of Parliament lastly urged the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dunkwa Akuffo Addo and his NPP government to remember what the Obuasi community has done for the country and they are still doing it for the Republic of Ghana. Obuasi is in the Ashanti Region with the mining company town located in the southern part of the Obuasi Municipal, the Gold Mines was established in the year 1897 and it has been in existence for over 100 years. The Obuasi Goldmines is one of the top nine largest gold mines on earth. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Five former MLAs from Manipur, who recently resigned from the Congress, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party office in Delhi on Wednesday. After the induction, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said there is no threat to the N Biren Singh government in the state. The five MLAs, which included Henry Okram, nephew of the former CM Ibobi Singh, had earlier resigned from the Congress. Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Panonam Broken, Ginsuanhau Zou, and Ngamthang Haokip were the other four who joined the BJP. The five MLAs were later welcomed in the BJP by party chief J P Nadda. The five MLAs had defied the whip issued by the Congress for the no confidence motion against the BJP led government, which was defeated with only 16 legislators supporting the motion. Speaking to reporters, Madhav, who looks after the BJPs affairs in the Northeast, said that the incumbent government will complete the full term. ens To expect that this time is going to be the time to make yourself better and to change yourself, thats the toxic positivity, she said, noting, Theres nothing wrong with trying to make the best of it, but making the best of it is different from toxic positivity. Making the best of it is accepting the situation as it is and doing the best you can with it, whereas toxic positivity is avoidance of the fact that were in a really bad situation. August 19, 2020 As more and more businesses transfer their operations into the digital space, dependency on the cloud has grown more essential than ever. This offsite network offers a slew of benefits for its users including services such as Google Drive, Microsoft (News - Alert) Office, Dropbox, virtual offices, data storage, and more all in an offsite location. Year in and year out, IT consultants find themselves aiding home-based businesses across the world with the set-up of this vital internet application. In fact, experienced industry providers such as Sphere IT an IT support London based company have reported an increase in their offerings regarding cloud services. From layered protections to comprehensive data encryption, businesses must remain cautious when it comes to acquiring their digital tools. Once the initial steps are completed, there are a few key improvements the cloud can provide. If youre a home-based business, youll want to incorporate some of these methods into your workplace. Securely Share Your Files Even if operations are occurring entirely from home, file sharing is something every business must do to maintain proper communication and boost productivity. Email is the most utilised method, but this can pose some risks with professional use. For one, conventional email services are not secure, and can cause incredible damage to your business if theyre being used to send unencrypted classified documents especially if privacy regulations like HIPAA protect them. For this reason, any IT consultant will recommend using the cloud for operations. This secure online environment protects files in full even in the event that you or the receivers systems are hacked and allows users to download any data without the security risks posed by unencrypted emails. Increase Digital Storage Space Businesses will always require a large amount of digital space to manage tasks, else they risk constricting operational potential. Home-based companies face an even higher challenge when it comes to storage, but this is yet another problem the cloud can solve. Using an online service for file storage is not only more comfortable, but cost-effective, as businesses will only need to pay for the amount that they use. As the site is entirely online, employees can store a near unlimited amount of files. Prepare for Anything with Disaster Recovery Any efficient business IT support service will always include protections from potential disasters. Whether they are due to unpredictable natural disasters or in-person crime, any business is at risk for a setback that could throw operations into disarray. Should this occur, crucial data may be lost, and your business might suffer casualties it cant bounce back from. The cloud combats this fear by providing comprehensive storage for essential files. Its systems will not only protect your data, but keep them widely available for your team at all times. It even proves useful for innocent mistakes like the accidental deletion of an important document by maintaining an accessible revision history for every uploaded file. Combat Cyber Crime Even the most comprehensive IT support services cannot always shield your business from the unpredictability of cyber-attacks. This online form of crime will attack your operations from every angle with attempted hacks, ransomware, and viruses. Ultimately, your home business will need to maintain the proper and protected file storage to support an active line of defense. Using the cloud is one of the best methods to achieve complete security. These systems will consistently make encrypted copies of your data and store them in a segregated, secure server that is always accessible to you. Even if a cyber-criminal takes over your data, the cloud can have your operations up and running again within the same day. Conclusion Setting up your home-based business can be a stressful task, but with the security offered by a cloud service, youll have one less thing to worry about. Take the word of IT consultants worldwide, and incorporate this widely-used online tool into your operations to bring your business into the forefront of the digital revolution. YEREVAN. After the ceasefire signed in 1994, when for the first time the first president of the Republic of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was summing up the military operations of the previous four years and those who took an active part in them, only two dozen were awarded the Order of the Combat Cross. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday, referring to several questions addressed to him. A journalist asked the president to draw parallels between the recent events in Tavush Province and the four-day war in April 2016. Sargsyan responded, however, that these two events could not be compared in any way. "Certainly, our Armed Forces showed their best and performed a very important task in Tavush. It would be desirable for our society, including me, to be a little more thoroughly informed that the 71 people shall be awarded the Combat Cross, especially for what heroism; it is a very important circumstance, especially for me, he added. The third president noted that the difference between these two military actions is very big. "It is one thing to carry out large-scale military operations which were carried out in a section of more than 200 kilometers, and another thinga military clash which takes place in sections of several hundred meters. I am very happy that once again our Armed Forces showed their best. At least now no one can say that our Armed Forces are not combat-ready," he said. Referring to the positional improvements and losses, Sargsyan said that this process has never stopped since the 1994 ceasefire. "Until the April [2016] war, we had a lot of improvements in many places (). We simply did it silently, without noise because the important thing for us is the fact that there is a need for positional improvements and expansion of our area under control. It is not important that we blow the trumpet for that, creating a dangerous situation, and thus to interest Azerbaijan to take reciprocal action," the ex-president said. To a journalist's question as to whether the Armenian counterintelligence, political and military leadership was aware of the Azerbaijani attacks in advance, Serzh Sargsyan answered: "I am deeply convinced that all the statements that we as if have known accurate information about the attack were simply made by people who did not have full access to the information provided then and the previous period, including by the intelligence, or if they did, they do not have a good idea of what 'intelligence information' means. No, we did not know in advance that a large-scale operation was being prepared by Azerbaijan." And when asked why they did not know, the third president said that the Armenian intelligence had failed in that regard. "This is also a professional matter, and I must say that, unfortunately, even the best intelligence in the world cannot have complete information. (). Yes, our intelligence has failed in that matter. We had preliminary information already in the second half of the day on the 1st of the month [of April 2016] that a sabotage operation was being prepared by the Azerbaijanis, and the relevant work was done in the supposed parts," Serzh Sargsyan concluded. A parish priest was targeted by far-right Islamophobes after he hosted a blessing for members of the Muslim community in his church. Fr Stephen Farragher was verbally abused outside St Patrick's Church in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, ahead of Mass on Saturday evening. On April 3, Fr Farragher had invited two members of the Muslim community to say the final blessing at that day's 10am Mass. Mohammed Cherbatji and Mohammed Rahmani took part in a blessing for all frontline workers who were battling Covid-19. Last Saturday, fewer than a dozen protesters gathered outside St Patrick's Church, criticising the priest for inviting members of the Muslim community to Mass. Fr Farragher told the group he had "no objection" to a peaceful protest but asked them to hold it outside the gates of the church. A number of far-right activists, who claim to be "Catholic nationalists", started to verbally abuse the priest. One protester claimed the priest had invited a "satanic pagan worshipper" into the church. In response, Fr Farragher quoted that day's First Reading back at the protesters, saying: "Everyone who acts with integrity and justice is welcome at the mountain of the Lord." Fr Farragher was defended by parishioners, who stood in between him and the protesters and asked them to leave. When contacted by the Irish Independent, Fr Farragher declined to comment. It is understood a number of local people have been sending messages of support to the parish priest since the incident last weekend. Ballyhaunis is one of the most culturally diverse small towns in Ireland and has a strong Muslim population. The town's old convent is a direct provision centre, and a number of asylum seekers work in local nursing homes. The group responsible for the demonstration has been trying to spread a video of the incident online. It has also criticised Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for attending the historic Eid celebration in Croke Park last month. About 200 Muslim people attended the historic prayer service at the GAA's home. The protest in Ballyhaunis came after a number of incidents of alleged racism to emerge in recent days. Gardai are investigating after a Chinese woman was pushed into a Dublin canal. The incident involving Castleknock resident Xuedan (Shelly) Xiong (48) can be seen in a video that circulated on social media over the weekend. It shows two boys pushing her into the Royal Canal near Ashtown after she challenged a group of young people about racial discrimination. Separately gardai are investigating an alleged racist attack in which two Chinese men were verbally abused about the source of the Covid-19 virus before being assaulted. The two men - Martin Hong and Arthur Ma - were assaulted by three teens in Cork after they objected to comments about the source of Covid-19. MIAMI, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dorm Doctors, a Miami-based collegiate concierge service, has been making life easier for parents and students with laundry, cleaning and storage services since 2017. But in the wake of COVID-19, the company has become increasingly essential for the families that it serves. Lauren Hillard, CEO of Dorm Doctors, says her company offers peace of mind to parents who worry about the safety of dormitory living. By providing housekeeping and laundry services for students, her company helps them to adhere to CDC guidelines while managing busy schools' schedules. Lauren Hillard, CEO of Dorm Doctors and Laundry 305 "Typically, college students don't maintain rigorous cleaning routines, and that makes parents nervous," said Hillard. "It makes them feel more comfortable to know that we're taking extra steps to help their students minimize the health risks of communal living during the pandemic." Dorm Doctors adheres to CDC guidelines for cleaning services, including using EPA-approved disinfectants. All staff members wear masks and additional PPE, and many of the services offered are contactless. Hillard says she's often asked for advice on how students and parents can better navigate the new normal of on-campus living. She says there are three primary tips that she most often shares with students. Students should simplify dorm living by only bringing the essentials. The less you have, the easier it is to maintain a sterile environment. Students should increase the frequency of their cleaning and laundry routines, including regularly laundering masks and face covers. Students should avoid sharing laptops, remote controls and other devices, and frequently touched shared surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected daily. Hillard says the most important piece of advice she can offer for parents is to have a plan in place in the event a student needs to vacate the dorms due to sickness or school closures. "A lot of parents weren't prepared when their students weren't allowed to return to school after spring break," said Hillard. "And when students were later given the opportunity to retrieve their things from the dorms, many weren't able to travel back to campus and were scrambling to make arrangements." Hillard's company has been able to alleviate the stress for families with moving, storage and shipping services. All services are available via a mobile app where students and parents can register, track and schedule appointments. "It's especially tough for parents and students this year with so many unknowns," said Hillard. "Our goal is to be a trusted and reliable resource, especially for those students that are far away from home and need support." Dorm Doctors serves students at the University of Miami, George Washington University, Georgetown and University of Maryland. It is a division of Laundry 305, a full-service laundry, cleaning and moving company that caters to commercial and residential clients. For more information, visit www.dormdoctors.com or www.laundry305.net . Media Contact: Ty Mays 770-256-8710 [email protected] SOURCE Dorm Doctors Related Links http://www.dormdoctors.com Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors is awaiting the green signal of the Indian government for its foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal in the country. Great Wall Motors had sought approval from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) before its plan to launch vehicles in India in 2021, according to a report by The Economic Times. Also Read: China's Great Wall Motors gearing up to make a big-bang entry with this strategy "The proposal has (also) to be vetted by the Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance," a government official told the publication. There are 40 proposals related to Chinese investment that requires a security clearance, the report said. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. Great Wall Motors had not yet responded when contacted by The Economic Times. In January, Great Wall Motors had purchased General Motors' Talegaon factory for Rs 950 crore, which was a part of its plan to invest $1 billion in India. General Motors had intended to close production at the factory in November, which has been delayed. "We continue to work towards the end of production and deal close," a General Motors spokesperson told the paper. Other Chinese automakers including Changan, Chery and Haima, will be keeping an eye on the India government's decision on Great Wall Motors, sources told the paper. Investments from China have come under increased scrutiny amid border tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and a push to lower India's dependence on Chinese imports. India had in April revised the norms, allowing FDI from companies in neighbouring countries through the approval route only. There has also been an informal call in India to boycott Chinese products. The Centre had on June 29 banned 59 Chinese apps, which included popular short-video platform TikTok. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not mention Joe Biden as she delivered a brief speech at the Democratic National Convention endorsing her progressive mentor Bernie Sanders for president. The New York congresswoman spoke to second the nomination of Mr Sanders, shortly before his rival Mr Biden was confirmed as the party's official candidate in November's presidential election. I want to thank everyone working towards a better, more just future for our country and our world, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said, speaking after the Vermont senator was formally nominated by labour activist and lawyer Bob King. She said she sought to create a mass peoples movement dedicated to addressing the wounds of racial injustice, colonisation, misogyny, and homophobia. When Mr Sanders, 78, announced in April he was suspending his campaign for the presidency, after Mr Biden made a series of stunning primary wins to breathe life into a run that appeared dead, he said his name would remain on the ballot and that he would continue to collect delegates. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greets fellow lawmakers ahead of the State of the Union address Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez participates in an event with Democratic members of Congress EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures The Democrat senator speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol January 30, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Democrat Rashida Tlaib AP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Senate chamber to watch two votes on January 24, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives with Chellie Pingree at a House Democratic Caucus meeting Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez during Donald Trump's State of the Union address Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures New York State Assembly member Catalina Cruz with Ocasio-Cortez AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Nydia Velazquez talks with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez casts her vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez poses with a campaign worker during a whistle stop in the Queens borough of New York Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez outside the US Capitol AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez after casting her ballot in the 2018 midterm general election at a polling site in New York EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looks on during a march organised by the Women's March Alliance in Manhattan Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio Cortez looks on at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 16, 2019 AFP/Getty The purpose was not vanity, he said, as some critics argued, but rather to put pressure on Mr Biden to adopt more progressive policies. That has already resulted in a succession of policy think-thanks that have agreed with Mr Sanders view on points relating to the economy, the environment and criminal and racial justice. Stacey Abrams endorses Joe Biden at DNC Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 30, praised the campaign of Mr Sanders and other progressive candidates who reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past. She said it was a movement that realised the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long term stability for the many. In speaking in support of Mr Sanders, Ms Ocasio-Cortezs appearance on Tuesday night underscored the fact the veteran democratic socialist had lost his attempt to secure the presidency for the second time. Soon after she spoke, Mr Biden passed the delegate threshold of 1,991 and was officially designed the partys presidential candidate. He will accept the nomination on Thursday. Ms Ocasio-Cortez rejected characterisations of her speech as "one of the shortest at the DNC". She said her appearance fulfilled a "procedural purpose" in seconding Mr Sanders's nomination, and NBC later clarified that while she did not endorse Mr Biden on Tuesday, she has done so in the past. An irony of the contrasting fortunes of Mr Biden and Mr Sanders, who is on course to collect more than 1,000 delegates himself, is that the coronavirus pandemic and the death in police custody of George Floyd have further exposed the economic and racial faultiness that his campaign drew attention to. Ms Ocasio-Cortez pointed to that when she delivered her speech. In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espiritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, she said. I hereby second the nomination of senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan continues to chair discussions on the completion of activities of public administration bodies in 2019, as reported the news service of the Government of Armenia. Today the acting head of the State Supervision Service, Deputy Head Rafael Zakaryan delivered a report on the activities carried out by the State Supervision Service in 2019. He stated that the actions were based on the priorities in the Fight against Corruption sector of the Program of the Government of Armenia and the governments policy for the fight against corruption. In particular, the Service participated in drafting the governments decision on approving the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the 2019-22 Action Plan for Implementation of the Strategy, and the head of the Service became a member of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council. Throughout 2019 and during the first four months of 2020, the Service conducted more than 30 studies and 90 monitoring sessions, after which, based on preliminary results, the Service detected various violations, shortcomings, non-compliance, misuse and more. Structural reforms were also made to increase effectiveness of the activities of the Service, and the Service launched an online system for ensuring contact with citizens. Zakaryan also provided information about the completion of the assignments of the Prime Minister in the reporting period. Afterwards, Pashinyan touched upon several issues related to the activities of the Service and particularly shared his comments on supervision over completion of the assignments and attached importance to the work of interested state bodies and elimination of repetition of institutional functions. YEREVAN. A meeting took place in Moscow on April 5, 2016, which was attended by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, General Yuri Khachaturov, and before that meeting, we had agreed on what our maximum and minimum tasks should be. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday "The maximum task would be to demand from the Azerbaijanis to restore the initial arrangement of the [combat] positions, which the Azerbaijanis did not agree with, arguing that they could not justify in any way their return back to the positions after so many losses. But we have reached the minimum, the acceptable, that no new agreement has been signed, and the 1994 agreement has remained in force because it is of a permanent nature," the third president of Armenia added. Way before Alex Trebek was the iconic host of Jeopardy!, he started out his career in his native Canada. In his memoir, The Answer Is, the television personality opened up about finding his way in a new career in a new field. He eventually found success as we are well aware, but it wasnt without its growing pains. Alex Trebek | Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic RELATED: Alex Trebek Gets Emotional About This Famous Jeopardy! Fan He Was My Hero Trebek originally didnt want to write a memoir RELATED: Jeopardy!: Lucille Ball Played a Major Role in Having Alex Trebek Hired as Host of the Quiz Show Trebek has stated that he wrote his memoir, The Answer Is, after years of declining to do so. He shared that his reason for finally getting down to putting his life on paper was to thank his fans for their concern and kindness to him while he dealt with advanced pancreatic cancer. The father of three explained that he quickly discovered there are millions of people out there who seem to care and who feel I have played an important part in their lives. . . There is a very large glass display case inside the Jeopardy! studio that is filled with [cards and letters from fans]. Its a humbling experience. . . So I started to come around to this idea of a book. Alex Trebek doesnt drink for this reason RELATED: Alex Trebek on How Much He Was Paid For His Memoir, The Answer Is It Wasnt John Bolton-Type Money In his book, the television host, who just turned 80 in July 2020, revealed that he doesnt drink or smoke. In particular, as it relates to alcohol, he opened up that he avoids drinking for a specific reason. Having seen the way my father drank, he wrote, it never interested me. Occasionally Ill have a glass of chardonnay, but my drink of choice is low-fat milk. Quite often, Ill get up in the middle of the night, go to the refrigerator, and get a full glass of 1 percent milk. Its become a habit. I drink low-fat milk and chardonnay but not together. So Trebek took up cursing In lieu of drinking or any other vices, Trebek writes that, as a young man, he decided to start cursing in an effort to be cool and fit in. Its interesting to note that the Los Angeles resident consciously made the decision to take up what he calls a vice and decided that having a potty mouth was the way to go. [Cursing] was a deliberate action on my part, he admitted. Around this time in my career, I had the world by the tail. I was the talented newcomer in broadcasting. I was the bright, fair-haired boy. I was good at my job. I didnt drink, didnt smoke, didnt do drugs. There were no big negatives associated with me. And that caused problems, because it held me back from becoming one of the guys . . . People can be suspicious of someone whos so chaste, he said. Theyre afraid to let their guard down and be themselves for fear theyll be judged. I needed a vice. . . I started cursing, or to be more precise, injecting curse words into my conversations. Trebek concluded that deciding to start cursing was not the best decision, only because it didnt help him reach the goal hed hoped for. In the end, he wrote, it didnt help me become one of the guys. It just made me look like a jerk. My bad. Prince Harry and Prince William reportedly didnt talk for two months after Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced their exit from the royal family, the author of Finding Freedom claims. The Sussexes announcement to step back from their royal duties didnt sit well with William, who believed the move could damage the royal family reputation. Prince William and Prince Harry | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a bombshell announcement In January, Prince Harry and Meghan announced some surprising news they wanted to take a step back from royal duties and split their time between the UK and North America. When Queen Elizabeth met with Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles to discuss the details of Harry and Meghans proposal, the final details werent quite what the couple originally hoped for. Ultimately, the queen and senior royals decided that a half-in/half-out arrangement wouldnt work. Finding Freedom co-author Omid Scobie told BBC Today (via Express) that the Sussexes tried to do their best to find a solution that would benefit all parties. This is a couple that clearly tried to do their best to make it work, he explained. They even went as far as presenting a potential roadmap for how they would navigate their roles moving forward. Ultimately, it was the institution that turned back on them and told them what they had presented just wasnt an option, Scobie shared. This was a couple that really wanted to make it work but, ultimately, I think the set up of the royal institution just isnt built for change on that dramatic a level. RELATED: Prince Harry Is Reportedly Becoming Anxious About Royal Exit With Meghan Markle Prince William reportedly thought the Sussexes exit plan should not have been public Scobie dished some more dirt on the feud between Prince William and Prince Harry during an interview for The Royal Beat on True Royalty TV. According to Scobie, there was tension between the brothers after Prince Harry and Meghan made their Megxit plan public because William feared it could damage the familys reputation. We saw a point where the Cambridges supported them whatever the did if they wanted to leave, they wanted to leave. I dont think there was really much attempt to make them stay, Scobie explained. He continued, I think where it really went wrong for Harry and Meghan and the Cambridges was that decision to go public with the road map to their new working model, the statements that werent discussed internally thats really what caused the most amount of hurt to William because he wears two hats. Prince William and Prince Harry reportedly didnt talk after Megxit The way that Prince Harry and Meghan publicly announced their plan reportedly wasnt popular with William. Hes not just the brother, hes also future king and he felt that that damaged the reputation of the family, that it puts family business out in the public domain when it should have been discussed privately, Scobie explained. There was a lot of hurt there, that continues to this day, the author added. Its why we saw such an awkward moment at that Commonwealth service. The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham Summit. They hadnt seen each other. Thats really going to take some time to heal, Scobie added. NEW ORLEANS - Louisianas governor has signed an executive order setting a state goal for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, drawing swift praise from environmental groups. At least 23 other states and the District of Columbia have set greenhouse gas targets, though specifics vary, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. The real unique part about it is this is a fossil fuel-driven state, said Natalie Snider, senior director of coastal resilience for the Environmental Defence Fund. Gov. John Bel Edwards laid out the states first goal for greenhouse gases in an order creating a climate initiatives task force to include members from state government, business, environmental justice, Indian tribes, academics and other areas. A second order signed Wednesday creates a state resilience officer and directs all state agencies to work with that person toward protecting and restoring Louisianas vanishing coast. The United States is among the worlds biggest carbon polluters. Louisianas ultimate and interim goals are in line with those in the Paris agreement of 2017 and those of many other states, Edwards said. He did not mention that President Donald Trump had pulled the U.S. out of the agreement. In many ways, Louisiana is the poster child for climate change, we are the canary in the coal mine, Edwards said during a Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency meeting livestreamed from Baton Rouge. We want to be the gold standard for climate solutions, Edwards said. He said that must include reducing emissions: We cannot build our way out of this problem. But Edwards said theres also tremendous development and jobs potential in renewable energy and such techniques as restoring wetlands, where green plants will take in carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air, and creating ways to capture the gas from refineries and factories and store it in underground formations rather than letting it into the air. We are not turning our back on our traditional energy here in Louisiana, Edwards said. He noted that such companies are setting their own emission goals and that Louisiana is well positioned to move from dirtier fuels to natural gas. At same time we have to be broader, he continued. We have to work with these energy companies theyre not even calling themselves oil and gas companies any more ... to embrace the full range of options that are viable here in Louisiana. Lori Leblanc, interim president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, said in the state news release, Louisiana has long been a global leader in energy production, and this task force presents an opportunity to show the world that energy production and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. David Muth, director of the National Wildlife Federations Gulf of Mexico restoration programs, said, Setting a target for greenhouse gases is really critical. Even if we can do everything possible for the next 50 years to build and sustain wetlands, if we dont get greenhouse gases under control ... were going to see it all under water because sea-level rise is going to outstrip everything we can do. He and Snider both praised the order requiring all agencies to work together on coastal resilience. Its really forward-thinking and no other state has gotten to this level of governance on resilience, Snider said. The risk is to the entire state the roads, the hospitals, the schools ... So it goes across every aspect, she said. After analyzing Treasury Department data on the number of jobs saved by credit union lending and publishing an overview of the top cooperative lenders by state, and nationally, for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), we spoke at length with five credit unions of various sizes and geographic regions to learn how the program has helped their institutions strengthen business relationships and how cooperatives can support small businesses moving forward. A History of Serving Small Businesses One thing all five credit unions have in common is a history of offering business services, specifically loans and deposit accounts. Mountain America Credit Union ($11.0B, Sandy, UT) has offered business loans for over 25 years and business deposit accounts since 2002. With roughly 60,000 business members and over 9,000 commercial loans, one of the largest credit union PPP lender notes that they have seen many repeat borrowers over the years. Strong women in the political arena are being labeled by male politicians as being feisty, nasty and too ambitious. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: Well-behaved women seldom make history. Especially now, as our Democracy teeters on its axis with no moral compass to guide us, Im so proud of these and all women who voice and act on their principles with confidence, passion, clarity and conviction. This is no time to be well-behaved! As fellow nasty women and during this fragile time, we should follow their lead and make our own history! Sharon Brown, Walnut Creek Remove Trump from office It is now out in the open. The postmaster general (who has invested millions in the competition to the U.S. Postal Service) removes mailboxes and sorting machines as the election approaches. President Trump admits that he wont provide emergency funding to the USPS so it cant process mail-in ballots. Trump knows he cant win a fair and honest election, so he is willing to sabotage the USPS, removing the only safe way to vote in the middle of a pandemic. Trump and his minions are an existential threat to small-d democracy. They have no interest in majority rule with Constitutional protections for minorities. He shreds the Constitution daily, and does everything he can think of to suppress the votes of those who oppose him. He envies his authoritarian buddies in Russia, China and North Korea. The postmaster general must be removed from office before he can do any more harm. He belongs in jail, and he should be fined triple the cost of repairing the damage he has done. Come January, Trump should be flooded with indictments, lose all his money, and spend the rest of his miserable life in jail! Brad Trusso, Santa Cruz Tragic statistics of COVID-19 Aside from well-heeled investors, who cares if Gains for tech stocks nudge the S&P 500 even closer to record (Business, Aug. 18)? For millions of Americans who have lost jobs and/or loved ones during the past half year, the most important numbers are the ones that have appeared on the front page of this newspaper since the coronavirus pandemic began, including total number of cases (over 5.4 million) and total number of COVID-19-related deaths (over 170,000). Claire Rosenthal, San Francisco Damages of climate change This pandemic would have been far less severe and shorter if our defaulting legislators had not allowed this unfit president to use it for political gains. In his familiar disinformation rhetoric, he discredits the medical and scientific communities while inventing dangerous and non-effective curing techniques, which sadly impress so many. The damages from these abuses cannot even be measured. Despite the severe consequences of this pandemic, climate change still poses the greatest threats to our planets habitability. Unlike pandemics or wars, which eventually end, warming will only worsen as populations and consumption increase, and food and water supplies diminish from losses of acreage and rising seas. As warming self-perpetuates, methane and carbon dioxide will be released from the melting Arctic regions at increasing rates and eventually reach non-reversing tipping points. Despite the consequences, energy industries continue to perpetuate the use of fossil fuels and forestall clean energy development with disinformation and their stranglehold on our politicians. Ironically, measures for mitigating climate change, such as energy conservation, parallel those for mitigating pandemics. It would be criminally remiss to ignore this incentive. Robert Settgast, San Rafael Outrageous plot One thing not mentioned in Postal plot delivers alarm, outrage (Editorial, Aug. 18) is that President Trump, despite insinuating that massive fraud will occur if mail-in ballots are used in Novembers election, continues to cast absentee ballots by mail when voting in Florida, his new home state. Due to Postmaster General (and wealthy Trump campaign contributor) Louis DeJoys attempts to slow mail delivery and Trumps actions, a more complete title for this editorial would be, Postal plot delivers alarm, outrage, plutocracy and hypocrisy. Marisol Echevarria, Daly City Mail ballots early as possible The letter Restore postal service (Letters, Aug. 15) reminds us the effect of President Trumps effort to sabotage the election by crippling the U.S. Postal Service is not abstract, its real. Based on the assumption the USPS will be diminished but still exist, the most effective way to thwart this threat to the vote is to fill out and return your mail ballot as soon as possible. Taking your time risks having your ballot, even if postmarked before Nov. 3, arrive after that date. Whereas in past elections such ballots have not been challenged, Trumps calculated effort to cripple the Postal Service ensures they will be. Frank Hochfeld, Albany A recipe for disaster Regarding Thoughtful scenario (Letters, Aug. 16) and Ditch school to fight COVID-19 (Insight, Aug. 9): I read both of these with interest. As a mother of two teenagers, Id rather have my kids at home learning online with the teachers they know from school than out trying to convince people to wear masks. As one can read every day, essential workers get yelled at, spit at, shoved and otherwise verbally and physically abused when trying to enforce mask mandates. If there is such disrespect shown to adults doing their job, I cannot imagine it working out better for teenagers. The author of the original op-ed mentions students should be given the right to accost people not wearing their masks. I say thats a recipe for disaster. People have been shot for less. Im very proud of the work our team has done over the last 11 years, and I am very happy to be continuing on the 5 and 6 with Allison, Brant and Siafa, Stafford, 61, told the Tribune. Ive spent a large portion of my career on investigative. I started an investigative team in Florida in the 80s and did consumer work at Channel 2 and then a decade at Dateline. Theres no shortage of stories that need to be done in the city of Chicago and in general, so I look forward to diving into that. The Peoples National Convention (PNC) has expressed their joy about the exit of the partys flagbearer, Dr. Edward Nasigiri Mahama, after the latter recently disclosed that he will not contest as the flagbearer of the party again. "The news about his exit has come as a big relief to us," the Nkrumaist party said, adding that they "find it as very unfortunate to come from him at this period when he knows the party is preparing for its congress." Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia program, National Organiser of the PNC, Desmond Ntow explained that Mr. Nasigiri had abandoned the party right after the 2020 elections. "So to hear about his exit as the flagbearer comes as very welcoming news to us and we have accepted though he is yet to officially communicate to us," he stated. He added that at the moment the party is preparing for its congress and a decision on who to replace him would be discussed at their NEC meeting. Dr. Edward Nasigre Mahama, the 2016 presidential candidate of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), says he will not be contesting this years presidential election. I am stepping aside as the presidential candidate of the PNC. I will not contest either the partys presidential primary or the national elections, he told the Daily Graphic in a telephone interview yesterday. Watch Video Below Born in the village of Sumniboma in the Northern Region on April 15, 1945, Dr. Mahama, running for the first time as the presidential candidate of the PNC in 1996, received three percent of the votes cast.In his second attempt at the presidency in 2000, he garnered 2.5 percent of the votes.In preparations towards the 2004 presidential election, the PNC and two other parties the Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) formed an alliance known as the Grand Coalition and chose Dr. Mahama as its presidential candidate.He placed third out of the four candidates in that election, winning 1.9 percent of the votes.Dr. Mahama was again elected the candidate of the PNC for the December 7, 2008, presidential election.He lost the position of the presidential candidate of the PNC to Mr. Hassan Ayariga in the run-up to the 2012 general election. However, he won the position back from Ayariga for the 2016 elections and garnered 20,910 votes, representing 0.20 percent of the total votes cast. Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Many animals respond to unfavourable environmental changes in their habitat by migrating or dispersing to other areas. Seasonally recurring changes in habitat conditions have led to such spectacular annual events as the large mammalian migrations across the African plains, and the monarch butterfly migrations across North America. India has its share of large-scale migrations and dispersals: millions of waterfowl migrate from the northern regions to India and back around winter, and a countless number of insects disperse over long distances as seasons and habitats change. A new study by researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, published today in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, shows that such dispersals, when undertaken by butterflies in search of unpredictable resources, selectively burden the egg-carrying females on their long flights. This has implications for the persistence of populations in a changing environment, especially in an ever-fragmenting natural world. Let us first distinguish between migration and dispersal for our purposes. Migrations are long-range cyclical movements, i.e. when animals move in a specific direction in a specific season between two known destinations. Thus, seasonal movements of waterfowl between Siberia and India are considered migrations. On the other hand, dispersals are movements in which the direction and distance are unpredictable, and they are undertaken when local resources are exhausted. So, dispersals are essentially movements in a random direction in search of new resource patches whose locations are unknown. Considering these differences in the nature of movement, what effects do dispersals versus migrations have on the decisions of animals regarding whether - and how much - to invest in reproduction and flight when moving? To study these aspects, Vaishali Bhaumik, a PhD student at NCBS and SASTRA University, and her advisor Dr Krushnamegh Kunte, turned to butterflies--their favourite insects. They had observed that caterpillars of the Lemon Emigrant and Mottled Emigrant butterflies (Catopsilia pomona and Catopsilia pyranthe) seasonally strip off nearly all the leaves from their larval host plants. This forces adult butterflies to disperse for uncertain distances in search of new habitat patches where they may be able to find larval host plants with sufficient foliage on which to lay eggs. Emigrants sometimes end up dispersing for hundreds of kilometres before they settle down in a patch to breed. The research team compared the flight morphology and reproductive status of these two species of Emigrant with two other sets of butterflies: one containing milkweed butterflies that migrate annually across southern India in response to the Indian monsoon, and another containing close relatives of Emigrants that do not migrate or disperse long distances at all in India, but mostly breed where they are born. They discovered that female milkweed butterflies that migrate annually in a predictable manner do so in a state of reproductive diapause; i.e., they completely halt reproductive activity and are therefore not burdened with eggs during the long migratory flights, investing all their energies in movement instead. On the other hand, female Emigrants - the long-distance dispersers - fly in a state of full reproductive maturity, i.e., they carry a heavy load of eggs on their flights. By contrast, males of the species always travel light, whether they are migrating, dispersing, or not. Thus, dispersals selectively burden the flight of egg-carrying females. The study suggests that this stark contrast in reproductive strategies of migrating versus dispersing butterflies stems from differences in the predictability of habitat patches and larval host plants. The annual migrations of milkweed butterflies occur between known habitat patches, so there is some certainty about finding the right habitat patch at a predictable time in relation to the monsoon. So, a reproductive diapause, which takes time to break, and subsequently delayed courting, mating and egg-laying, seems to be a feasible option for migrating milkweed butterflies. On the other hand, seasonal leaf flushing makes larval hosts a prime resource that Emigrant caterpillars must exploit while it lasts. These plants occur in randomly available patches, depending on whether other butterflies (and their caterpillars) have already been there. This uncertainty and intense competition for short-lived larval host plant resources mean that female Emigrants have to be ready to lay eggs as soon as they find a suitable host plant patch. Therefore, a reproductive diapause during dispersal is perhaps not a feasible option for them. This might explain why they disperse while being burdened by eggs that are ready to be laid. Thus, the ability to disperse in a reproductively ready mode comes at the cost of a more expensive flight. These findings suggest that some species - and their females in particular - may be more vulnerable to the vagaries of long-distance flights to uncertain destinations. This ought to be a vexing problem for a large number of species because of increasingly fragmented and sometimes vanishing habitat patches in a large unsuitable matrix, in which their colonization potential may be compromised. "Such research findings are a first step towards conservation efforts taken up by the forest department especially for lesser known species such as butterflies," said Shri Ajai Misra, IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, Karnataka Forest Department, which has supported a string of projects by Dr. Kunte's lab. "The Karnataka Forest Department is utilizing such studies in understanding habitat corridors being used for dispersal/migration by different species so that biodiversity in larger landscapes can be preserved." Ms. Bhaumik ponders upon what this might mean for the evolution of female traits and reproductive strategies. "Might females have evolved larger flight muscles to be able to fly long distances with their heavy egg loads? Do older and younger females in a large population vary in their abilities to produce more eggs versus disperse further in an uncertain world? Could this lead to alternative reproductive strategies such as 'stay home and breed' versus 'travel far, die trying, but prosper sometimes if lucky'?" Such thinking opens up a whole new world of looking at butterflies and other critters in fascinating ways. Dr. Kunte and his students cherish these opportunities. He chimed in, "We were fortunate to wonder about how males and females differ in their morphology, reproductive strategies and other biology, and what these differences might tell us about the natural world at large. This has opened up wonderful avenues to start asking interesting questions about the evolution of sexual dimorphism, functional diversity, and biodiversity at large." Dr. Kunte's students have equipped themselves to address such queries with a vast morphometric dataset of hundreds of butterfly species across multiple continents. What secrets of nature will such large datasets reveal? We will find out! ### Citation of the paper: Bhaumik, V., and K. Kunte. 2020. Dispersal and migration have contrasting effects on butterfly flight morphology and reproduction. Biology Letters, 16:20200393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0393. Additional reference: Bhaumik, V., and K. Kunte. 2018. Female butterflies modulate investment in reproduction and flight in response to monsoon-driven migrations. Oikos, 127:285-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04593. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has made history by becoming Canadas first female finance minister, replacing Bill Morneau,who resigned abruptly Monday evening. Here is a timeline of Freelands significant accomplishments in her international career. 1968 Freeland is born in Peace River, Alta. Her father, Donald Freeland, was a farmer, lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. Her mother, Halyna Chomiak, was also a lawyer and ran in the 1988 federal election for the Edmonton Strathcona riding, representing the New Democratic Party. 1989 As a Harvard University student on exchange at the University of Kyiv, Freeland works as a fixer and translator for New York Times reporter Bill Keller. 1990 Freeland graduates from Harvard with an bachelors degree in history and literature. 1993 Freeland graduates from Oxford in the U.K. with a master of arts in Slavic studies from St Antonys College. She attended Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. 1994 1998 Freeland works for the Financial Times as the Moscow bureau chief. 1999 2001 Freeland is the deputy editor of the Globe and Mail. 2000 Freeland publishes her first book, Sale of the Century: Russias Wild Ride From Communism to Capitalism. 2010 Freeland joins Thomson Reuters and later becomes managing director and editor of consumer news. 2012 Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, Freelands second book, is published. The book won the Lionel Gelber Prize and the National Business Book Award. Nov. 2012 Freeland meets then-Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau at a signing for her book. Trudeaus team convince her to run for the Liberals in the following by-election. July, 2013 Freeland wins the party nomination and the byelection in Toronto Centre. Oct. 2015 In the federal election, Freeland wins the redistributed riding of University-Rosedale. Oct. 2015 Freeland is appointed to Cabinet as Minister of International Trade. She is named one of Torontos 50 most influential people by Toronto Life. 2016 Freeland is involved in negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union. Feb. 2016 Freeland signs Canada to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The agreement becomes defunct when the United States, under President Donald Trump, withdraws its signature. 2017 Freeland spearheads the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, also known as the Magnitsky Law, which authorizes the government to freeze assets and ban travel for officials who abuse human rights and are involved in corruption. 2017-2018 Freeland has the difficult job of leading Canadas efforts to negotiate a new North American free trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico. After 15 months of revisions from all three coutries, the deal is signed at the end of 2019. Sept. 2017 Freeland declares the oppression of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to be genocide. Shes the first Western leader to do so. July 2018 Freeland works with the United Kingdom and Germany to extract and resettle some of Syrias White Helmets. RELATED STORIES Chrystia Freeland: Read more 2017 2019 Freeland serves as Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs. Oct. 2019 Freeland is re-elected as Liberal MP for the University-Rosedale riding. Nov. 2019 Freeland is appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. May 2019 Freeland renews pressure on the United States to remove its tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. The American government agreed to end the tariffs, while Canada in turn lifted its own countermeasures. Aug. 2020 Freeland is appointed Minister of Finance, the first woman to hold the role in Canada and the second ever to hold the role in G7 countries. Correction Aug. 25, 2020: This article has been edited to correct the date of Chrystia Freelands graduation from Harvard University. Bill Clinton slammed President Trumps behavior while in office during his Tuesday speech at the Democratic National Convention. The speech came amid criticism of Democrats for giving Clinton a prominent platform following the MeToo movement and revelations of the former presidents connection to alleged serial rapist Jeffrey Epstein. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, its a storm center, Clinton said in his address to the convention, which is being conducted online without a live audience. Theres only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there. Clinton added that Trumps main tactics consist in denying, distracting, and demeaning his opponents and that the president would use a second term to blame, bully and belittle. Some commentators, however, voiced concern that the appearance by Clinton was detrimental to the partys message. I dont think Bill Clinton gets to lecture anyone on what should happen in the Oval Office, late night host Stephen Colbert said in his opening monologue on Tuesday. Those in glass houses should not be allowed near the interns. How is it that Bill Clinton has not been canceled, conservative commentator Scott Jennings said during a Tuesday panel on CNN. Jennings wondered aloud how Democrats could attack Trumps character, and then say, Character matters. Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Clinton. Does this make sense to anyone? If you want Republicans to vote for Joe Biden, having Bill Clinton talk about character How far back are we going to relitigate this? interjected former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, who was also on the panel. This has already been asked and answered decades ago. While Clintons extramarital affairs were the subject of heated national debate during his impeachment, his numerous meetings with Jeffrey Epstein and alleged Epstein victims has only recently been scrutinized in the media. More from National Review Inc. magazine today revealed that Asset Protect One, Inc is No. 4918 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. Brian Gray (President) and I are excited to be part of such an elite list of growing companies. We couldnt have achieved this success without our incredible team and wonderful clients. John Goodhue, CEO Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 12. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. About Asset Protect One, Inc CEO John Goodhue and President Brian Gray of Asset Protect One, Inc. doing business as APO Financial based in Westminster Colorado. APO Financial specializes in comprehensive planning services for professionals, business owners, executives, and women on their own. The firm offers a range of services including investment management, income planning, health care and long-term care planning, tax efficiency planning, and financial estate planning. For more info go to http://www.apofinancial.com CONTACT: MELISSA HUMPREY, 720-588-2000, info@apofinancial.com FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY. More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. The Paramount Chief for Lower Axim Traditional Council, Awulae Attibrukusu III has appealed to President Akufo-Addo to resource the Axim Government Hospital to address the health care needs of the residents. He said due to the inadequate facilities in the hospital, residents suffer the risk of transporting patients with terminal illness to the regional Hospital in Takoradi for treatment. Awulae Attibrukusu III, made the call when the President paid a courtesy call on him as part of his two-day working visit to the Western Region, pointed out that the hospital when resourced would be of great importance to the community and its environs. He indicated that if the hospital was retooled with some biomedical equipment it would enhance health care delivery to the people. The Paramount Chief also disclosed that the Divisional Headquarters of the Ghana Police Service in the Nzema East Municipality (NEMA) did not have the requisite number of personnel to man the station. He said the Division which was supposed to have a total of 70 personnel currently had 30, which he stressed made it difficult for the personnel to carry out their duties effectively and expressed the hope that the President would liaise with the IGP to provide them with more personnel. He commended the President for honouring his promise by putting up a sea defense wall along the coast of Axim to save their lands from further tidal erosion, which was a bone of contention for the fisher folks and residents in the communities. Nana Kwamena Adade II, Divisional Chief of Nsuaem bemoaned that the rubber plantation had taken the chunk of their lands denying them of farm lands and others for building and therefore pleaded with the President to liaise with the rubber companies to make available some lands for them. He also appealed for support for the completion of the traditional palace and commended President Akufo-Addo for giving the Nsuaeman a facelift with massive infrastructural development like roads, a polyclinic and the construction of a community day senior high. On his part, Awulae Amihere Kpanyili III, Paramount Chief of Eastern Nzema Traditional Council called on the President to help complete the Atuabo Harbour Project, and the establishment of a community mining project and a district hospital. President Akufo-Addo promised to get their various request addressed as soon as possible and added that the government was working to complete all on-going projects. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video At first glance, the We Are Washington rally might have looked like an early Fourth of July celebration, all bright stars-and-stripes Americana. It was a cool May morning in the state capital, Olympia, and low clouds were threatening to ruin the red, white and blue archway of balloons above the rally stage, the crepe paper behind it and the cut-out letters propped up in front that spelled FREEDOM. Few people wore masks. A man with a pistol on his hip meandered through the several-hundred-person crowd selling tiny yellow Gadsden flags the Dont Tread on Me rattlesnake for $5 each to anyone who wasnt already carrying something. A canopy of marker-drawn signs held above heads blared complaints about Covid-19 and the stay-at-home order declared by Gov. Jay Inslee, at this point in its 69th day. 0.2% Death Rate. No Muzzle; Inslee Is the Real Virus; Kim Jong Inslee. Some took a more conspiratorial tone: You Are Being Lied To. Near the back of the crowd was a social-media-ready selfie backdrop: a large Q made of squares of cardboard, lying on the grass in front of the Capitol building. Below it, a hashtag: #WWG1WGA, Where we go one, we go all. Its the rallying cry for QAnon, the conspiracy theory that at its most basic centers on a Democrat-run child-sex-trafficking ring and at its most elaborate involves figures like the pope and Joe Biden having been executed in secret and replaced with holograms. It might seem, in other words, like an odd theory to float at a rally that was ostensibly about the reopening of the local economy. But around the country, events like this one had become a beacon to fringe thinkers: anti-vaxxers, internet trolls, gun nuts, Proud Boys, hate groups, antigovernment militias and any other Americans who interpreted social-distancing and face-covering regulations as an infringement of their constitutional freedoms. These reopening rallies had become more than just rallies, allowing everyday Americans suspecting a liberal ploy in the shutdown of the economy and misled by right-wing politicians, up to and including President Trump, about the dangers of the coronavirus to be exposed to the ideologies of a wide variety of extremists. Listen to This Article To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android As the crowd grew in Olympia, a woman in a hooded sweatshirt got up onstage to give a speech and encourage the crowd to join something called Peoples Rights Washington. They could be a part of it by texting the word RIGHTS to a five-digit number, which would then enlist them in a phone tree, allowing any member to report anything they deem a violation of personal freedom. If there is an emergency, if a contact tracer shows up at your door, if C.P.S. shows up at your door, if the Health Department comes to your work and threatens to shut you down, she explained, we can send a text out that says, Get to this address right now. Standing at the rear edge of the crowd, I took a few steps closer when I realized the voice coming from the stage sounded familiar. It was Kelli Stewart. She has been a live-streamer at several federal-court trials Ive covered in the West particularly of the Bundy family in both Nevada and Oregon. After Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and several other defendants were acquitted in 2016 of charges related to occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, Stewart cheered and cried at the verdict, then paced in front of the courthouse reading from the Constitution. In the past two months, she has live-streamed from rallies and from the underground church she opened. For several years, she has referred to law enforcement as Blue ISIS. Now she explained to the crowd in Olympia that just a few years ago, she was just like all of them. She was a mother, a Sunday-school teacher raising goats on a small farm when the news of the refuge occupation broke. But it wasnt until Robert LaVoy Finicum, a 54-year-old Arizona rancher who served as a spokesman for the occupation, was shot and killed by the police that she became an activist. It was her wake-up call, she said: the moment when the world she had always known was forever changed. Stewart is now a fixture at right-wing rallies like this one, and as she spoke, she got at something undeniably true about these gatherings: This is where everyday people like her can be reborn, leaving their world behind and subscribing to a new collective truth. This is where they find fellowship with other people who are upset enough about the same things, who hold the same fears and frustrations. This is where isolation ends, where communion begins. At the back of this crowd, which was mostly mothers and grandmothers and church leaders and business owners and the like, stood a clutch of men with long guns who didnt seem to be listening much to the speeches. They clustered together in small groups, their eyes scanning the crowd behind sunglasses. One man carried a flag bearing the logo of the Three Percenters militia: the Roman numeral III in the center of a ring of stars. There was a cardboard sign propped up with the letters NWO New World Order crossed out. And in this mix were a couple of men wearing body armor decorated with American-flag patches. One wore a blue-and-white floral Hawaiian shirt under a desert-sand-colored vest, packed with as many as 90 extra rounds of ammunition. The other man had a different patch on his vest. It read: Boogaloo. Just what the word Boogaloo means depends on whom you ask. In simple terms, its the newest and youngest subset of the antigovernment movement, born in the full light of the internet age with all the peculiarities that entails. The name comes from 4chan, the lamentably prolific message board where many memes are born, and involves the 1984 breakdancing movie Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. Though the movie was panned, the second half of its name had a long afterlife, eventually wending its way onto forums and social media, where it became slang for a fabled coming civil war a sequel to the first. To some white supremacists, it means a race war. To others, it was all just a joke. But many others take it seriously, and to them it means a less well-defined cataclysm touched off, or sped up by, any number of groups who share antigovernment ideas and a deep love of firearms. The Boogaloo is not just an event; its a movement of people, too. They call themselves Boogalooers or Boogaloo bois. Most seem to have extreme libertarian politics, with a heavy emphasis on Second Amendment rights. The Boogaloo is leaderless, and its goals differ depending on which Facebook or Telegram group youre hanging out in. Some of these men claim to be antiracist, while others hold white-supremacist beliefs and warn of an impending white genocide. While some Boogaloo pages on Facebook feature periodic talk of racial justice and urgent needs to address climate change, many others are filled with memes featuring neo-Nazi black suns. If there is one thing that binds the Boogaloo together besides guns and Hawaiian shirts, it is a firm anti-authority, anti-law-enforcement stance and a willingness, if not an outright desire, to bring about the collapse of American society. When I spoke to Kris Hunter, a 39-year-old Boogaloo boi from Waco, Texas, he painted the movement as just wanting to help. Hunter told me he and his compatriots feel their hands have been forced. A lot of the violence perpetrated by the government, police brutality, foreign wars, civilian casualties, no-knock raids I guess the way we viewed it was: How in the world are we supposed to stand up against this? I reached Hunter through Tree of Liberty, a website that seems to be acting as a public face for a movement that, by and large, congregates on private social-media pages. He says his group the United States Boogalier Corps, by his estimate 80 percent military veterans doesnt take this self-appointed duty lightly. He pointed to the Boston Massacre of 1770, when five colonists were shot by British soldiers. That was this moment when both the British and colonists realized we have run out of all peaceful options, and now theyre literally killing us out in the open, he said. We want the American people to understand that they have the constitutional authority to defend themselves against unconstitutional oppression. But he insisted the movement does not want any actual confrontation with government forces. This is not at all an uncommon stance among right-wing militias, which the Boogaloo both resembles and diverges from. And to truly understand the Boogaloo, you must first understand the militia movement that took root in the United States in the 1990s. The standoff between the white-supremacist Weaver family and the A.T.F. and the F.B.I. at Ruby Ridge in Idaho and the siege of the Branch Davidians compound at Waco led to a rapid expansion in their ranks, but broader societal dislocations were in the background, too. The United Nations and NAFTA, for example, figure prominently in militia ideology, often claimed to be signs of a so-called New World Order. People get sucked into these movements for a bunch of different reasons, says Travis McAdam, former executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, a progressive organization that does research on the states extremists. For some people its guns or environmental regulations, or some people dont like people of color. You have people brought into this wide opening of the funnel cloud for various reasons. But Boogaloo bois are making their way through the funnel cloud, McAdam says. And like militias, theyre arming up for the future. But theres a key difference. With militias, theres always that imminent war coming, theres always that invasion by One World forces, he says. It never happened, but it was always going to happen. Whereas with the Boogaloo stuff, there is a piece of that that is like, We want to make that happen. The Boogaloo has thrived in an environment rife with entry points to the militia funnel cloud the nihilistic swamps of social media and 4chan. Each Boogaloo group takes a different form, but memes are their common language some funny, others less so. Victory or fire. I Will Not Burn Alone, reads one. Posts routinely call for the shooting of pedophiles. Save the Bees. Plant More Trees. Clean the Seas. Shoot Commies, reads another. Fears of climate change figure into the groups apocalyptic worldview, but they often find themselves attaching to reactionary ideas. Its very simple, one meme reads, learn to hate or die silently. Another: Environmentalism and nationalism go hand in hand. It is pride in your people, pride in your nation and pride in the very soil of the land. But one common theme undergirds all these messages, regardless of which Boogaloo subset they attract: Do something about it. And do it now. Back in November 2019, Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, issued a warning about who was using the word Boogaloo and why, in the form of a blog post illustrated with bizarre memes pulled from their forums: Pepe the frog firing a bazooka, a laser-eyed storm trooper with a black-sun halo, a big igloo. Though some still use Boogaloo as a joke, Pitcavage wrote, an increasing number of people employ it with serious intent. Still, he finished with a note of caution: Some people use the word Boogaloo to mock some of the more fanatical or gung-ho elements of their own movement. By that time it had crystallized from more than just a concept or a term, he told me in July. The beginnings of a movement had already started. He went on: It also started manifesting in the real world, with people showing up at events, self-identifying as Boogaloo. The spring of 2020 was like a coming-out party for the movement, as men in colorful floral shirts and body armor festooned with igloo-shaped patches, semiautomatic weapons in hand, showed up at reopening rallies against Covid-19 restrictions across the country, from Lansing, Mich., to Denver, to Harrisburg, Pa. Some carried black-and-white American flags with a red stripe of floral print through the middle and an igloo in the place of stars. In March, a Missouri white supremacist told an undercover F.B.I. agent he planned to detonate a car bomb outside a hospital treating Covid-19 patients. He called the plan Operation Boogaloo. When the F.B.I. tried to serve the man a probable-cause warrant, a firefight ensued, and he shot himself before he could be apprehended and succumbed to his wounds at the hospital. In April, a man in Texarkana, Texas, who identified with the movement streamed a live video on Facebook while dressed in body armor and a Hawaiian shirt, telling viewers he was hunting the hunters: searching for police officers to ambush. He is accused of leading several officers on a high-speed chase, continuing even after his tires were deflated by a spike strip. He was later apprehended and pleaded not guilty to attempted-murder charges. As the movements profile rose, catching the attention of the media, Boogaloo bois bent the word to shield it from the eyes of content moderators. Boogaloo became big igloo, then big luau hence the Hawaiian shirts. Boogaloo bois became boojahideen. On the forums, they would joke about a pig roast code for killing police officers. In June, Facebook claimed that it deleted hundreds of accounts and pages devoted to the movement; by mid-July, the Boogaloo bois were back on Facebook talking about a spicy fiesta. The problem with the Boogaloo bois is theyre not a cohesive movement, J.J. MacNab, a fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, said during testimony to the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism in mid-July. You could actually, in a really bizarre world, have two Boogaloo groups shooting at each other. It is on the issue of law enforcement that the Boogaloo seems to greatly diverge from the militias that came before it, which in many cases collaborate with or even have members that are police officers. Theyre really anti-police, Pitcavage says of the Boogaloo; they may say they want to find common cause with anyone protesting the police but some want to act as agents provocateurs, accelerating street violence and furthering any conflict. For many of them, the protests following the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day looked like the perfect opportunity to create mayhem. On May 29, according to a criminal complaint, Steven Carrillo a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant who has served in Kuwait, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan tapped out a message on Facebook to other Boogaloo bois he had met online. Carrillo was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California and saw potential in the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in Oakland. Go to the riots and support our own cause, Carrillo instructed his friends. Use their anger to fuel our fire. Think outside the box. That night in Oakland, the police clashed with protesters again and again, fogging the crowd in clouds of tear gas. Marchers blocked the freeway. Around 9 p.m., according to local reports, the police tried to disperse protesters again with crowd-control munitions. It was 9:44 p.m. when a white van with no plates and what looked like a missing hubcap rolled through the intersection of 12th and Jefferson in the middle of downtown Oakland, about nine blocks from the protests. As it rolled by the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, the side door slid open, and gunfire came out in bursts of twos and threes. Nine-millimeter rounds ripped through the courthouses squat guard station a beige hut with an eggshell-blue roof dripping with rust stains. Inside were two contracted federal security officers. One was David Patrick Underwood, a 53-year-old Black man who had recently bought an engagement ring for his girlfriend. The bullets from that white van killed Underwood and seriously wounded the other officer. The van was there one second a flash of white on security footage and then it was gone. At a news conference in Washington the day after the shooting, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf of the Department of Homeland Security stood behind a wooden lectern and called the shooting part of an outright assault on our law-enforcement community. Ken Cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary, was more firm. Let me be clear, he said. When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate, that is an act of domestic terrorism. Cuccinelli suggested it was related to the growing Black Lives Matter protests. Reporters asked if it could have been the work of white supremacists. Wolf said it was too early to say. But as reporters kept pressing, he mentioned only one group by name: Antifa. Antifa shorthand for antifascist can be used to classify anyone who opposes fascism. But there also exist loosely organized antifascist groups that have made their presence known at the street protests of the last few years, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Media exposure has fueled the creation of an absurd caricature on cable news and in the minds of Republican politicians, of a well-funded nationwide organization of combatants. Wolfs comments that day at the news conference were, perhaps, one point of origin for an Antifa panic that then began rippling out across the country. Soon, rumors were proliferating on social media: Vans filled with destructive antifascists were coming to small-town America, spreading looting and chaos. That evening, President Trump tweeted that he would be classifying Antifa as a terrorist group (something he does not have the authority to do). The next afternoon, Trump spoke at the White House Rose Garden as the sounds of tear gas and flash grenades echoed, scattering peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square. Our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, Antifa and others, he said. He vowed to send federal troops to stop the rioting and looting and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights. But numerous reports in the past year asserted that violence from right-wing homegrown terrorists was now an equal or greater threat than attacks from foreign jihadist groups. Christopher Wray, director of the F.B.I., told the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on F.B.I. oversight in July 2019 that his agency had recently arrested just as many domestic terrorists as it had foreign terrorists, and that a majority of the domestic terrorists investigated were white supremacists. And by this February, Wray said the F.B.I. had placed racially motivated violent extremism at the highest threat level and that lone actor terrorists were of top concern to the agency. He said that 2019 had been the deadliest year for domestic violent extremism since 1995, the year of the Oklahoma City bombing. Amid the hysteria about nonexistent vans full of Antifa supersoldiers, actual heavily armed militia groups around the country stepped in to provide what they saw as protection to communities, often with the encouragement of lawmakers. In Montana, State Senator Jennifer Fielder took to Facebook on the night of June 1, warning her followers to be on the lookout for Antifa. There were multiple reports from credible witnesses of five white panel vans filled with people believed to be Antifa, she wrote. They had been spotted in a grocery-store parking lot in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, she wrote. No one got a photo. Her post went viral. Soon mobs of armed and angry people came out in force in towns across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In Snohomish, Wash., Representative Robert Sutherland posed with a semiautomatic weapon among other armed men. In Spokane, groups of armed men roamed downtown, telling business owners they had been hired to be there but wouldnt say who hired them. The tiny town of Forks, Wash., along the Pacific coastline, made national headlines when a mixed-race family driving a bus through town on the way to a camping trip was surrounded by people who believed them to be Antifa. Local reports said they later trapped the family in their campsite with felled trees. The campers escaped only when concerned residents brought chain saws to let them go. In Idaho, in the first week of June, armed men and women lined Coeur dAlene, standing guard outside restaurants and slugging liquor at crowded bars. Some wore Hawaiian shirts. Most wore tactical gear. Farther north, in Sandpoint, a county commissioner warned on Facebook of a looming threat. We are hearing from other sources of protesters coming to the county courthouse, he wrote. It would be great to have some of the Bonner County folks come out to counter anything that might get out of hand. A small group of white, teenage Black Lives Matter protesters found themselves being followed and outnumbered by armed men in full tactical gear. A concerned resident shared a video with me of an interaction between the two groups. Dont wreck anything in this town, a white man barked toward a protesters car. Another said: We aint gonna have it not in North Idaho. In Missoula, Mont., a Black teenager who attended a Black Lives Matter protest was followed and questioned by an armed man who had heard that Antifa was coming to town. Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, a progressive social-justice nonprofit group, has been researching white-nationalist groups and militias since the early 1990s, and he says it is common for extremist groups to position themselves as a helping hand to their communities. There are places where libraries arent even open, or they dont want to deliver the mail every day, or maybe the state police dont get through that part of the community but once a month, he says. Hospitals are far away. Emergencies are handled by neighbors. It opens up a space for others to step in, suggesting they will bring solutions, he says. Ward was disheartened when communities around the country embraced the presence of armed militias in their towns. America has spent the past two decades trying to root out terrorism around the world, he told me. Surely we should recognize the tactics of a rogue paramilitary inside our own country. On an overcast April day in Las Vegas, outside a brick government building circled with palm trees, a group of men from a Facebook group called Battle Born Igloo met in person at a reopening rally. Stephen Parshall, a bearded 35-year-old, and Andrew Lynam, a 23-year-old Army reservist, recognized each other and their online friends by their body armor. Lynam was an administrator for the group, which formed earlier that month. Parshall, who went by the nickname Kiwi, had served in the Navy, and his Facebook profile suggests he didnt much care for it. (This isnt China, and I can say whatever I feel, he wrote in 2010. Dont join the navy!!) In 2015, just days after Dylann Roof murdered nine Black people inside a church in Charleston, S.C., Parshall changed his profile picture to a Confederate flag. Lynam, a Nevada native 12 years his junior, was a former altar boy who went to join the Army Reserve. But their Facebook pages showed an interest in similar topics: Lynam liked the page for Being Libertarian and was a member of a group called BoojieBastards: Intelligence and Surveillance. Now, in Las Vegas, as all around them people honked their horns and waved signs during a drive-thru protest, the men talked of making plans to overthrow the United States government. Lynam said that he didnt see the Boogaloo as just another militia group to sit around and be friends with. Parshall had taken out a life-insurance policy, he told the others, and he accepted that their actions whatever they ended up being might get him killed. They didnt know that someone in their midst would soon become a paid F.B.I. informant. The group planned a series of long hiking trips around the red Nevada desert. During each, the men paranoid about surveillance would leave their firearms and phones in a car, before hiking on trails in body armor. They discussed their desire to differentiate their group from antigovernment militia groups, which were, according to the informant, old-style groups that are mostly populated by older individuals and individuals who had antigovernment leanings without being prepared to take violent action. During a late-April hike through the desert with other members of Battle Born Igloo, Parshall floated a plan to destroy a National Park Service fee station at Lake Mead with a firebomb. The target had a deeper significance: Six years earlier, the rancher Cliven Bundy called for the fee stations destruction during his April 2014 standoff with federal Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service agents. Bundy, aided by militias from around the country who offered their support, took up arms against government officers over two decades of unpaid grazing fees he owed, which Bundy believed the government had no right to levy on ranchers. And when those outnumbered officers backed down and the family declared it a victory, it inspired others to go even further. Two months later, a married couple named Jerad and Amanda Miller, who had been present at the standoff, killed two Las Vegas police officers as they ate their lunch, draping a Gadsden flag and a swastika over one victim and pinning a note to the others uniform that read: This is the beginning of the revolution. Battle Born Igloo thought that in targeting that specific fee station, their own group might inspire copycat groups. Though the Nevada Boogaloo group was clearly taking inspiration from the same old guard of right-wing militias they claimed to resent, their differences became more evident in late May, as the Black Lives Matter protests grew. While militias flocked to certain cities claiming to protect them from rioting and looting, the Nevada men, according to the paid informant, saw an opportunity in Black Lives Matter, which they perceived to be anti-law-enforcement. To a grand jury, the F.B.I.s paid informant confirmed that Battle Born Igloo was not just antigovernment but also anarchist in Lynams words, antiracist, anti-tyrant, 100 percent pro-individual liberty. In late May, Lynam, Parshall and the others shifted their focus to twisting the protests for racial justice into a tool for their own nihilistic ends. They considered throwing Molotov cocktails at police cars, hoping that might cause protesters to attack officers and cause a riot. They eventually discussed a new idea: destroying a power substation, again in the hope of starting a riot. On the night of May 30, according to prosecutors, Lynam, Parshall and another military veteran, William Loomis, readied an arsenal of Molotovs, fireworks, guns and ammunition to bring to a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Las Vegas. But before they could get there, they were swarmed by F.B.I. agents and arrested. In June, all three men pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges including possession of unregistered firearms and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. (Through a lawyer, Parshall denied all charges against him. Requests for comment from Lynams and Loomiss lawyers went unanswered.) About a month before the planned attack, Lynam did an interview with the Las Vegas talk-radio hosts Brian Shapiro and JD Sharp, whom he met at a reopening rally. I appreciate you joining us, Shapiro said. How are you? On the recording, Lynam sounds young and unsure of himself: Uh, good. Thank you for having me. For most of the interview, the chatty hosts argue with Lynam about gun rights, but they also want him to explain why Battle Born Igloo came to an otherwise small, peaceful reopening rally armed to the teeth. Were they a new militia? Absolutely not, Lynam insisted. Were aware theres those that might be a little terrified of it, he told the hosts at one point. The point isnt to make people afraid, its to show people and to bring up a dialogue. If that sounded like a lie, it wasnt the only one he told. He had also given the hosts an alias. He told them his name was Duncan Lemp. Around 4:30 in the morning on March 12, a SWAT team in Montgomery County, Md., raided the home of a 21-year-old computer programmer named Duncan Socrates Lemp. They had received an anonymous tip that he was in illegal possession of a firearm, and they were issued a no-knock warrant, allowing them to enter unannounced. A SWAT unit approached Lemps home, where he lived with his parents, brother and girlfriend, and, according to Rene Sandler, the familys lawyer, shattered his bedroom window, tossing flash-bang grenades inside, and then began shooting through the window, fatally wounding Lemp before they even entered the home. (The Montgomery County Police Department, which declined to comment, has given a different account of events, saying that Lemp was armed and refused to comply with their commands.) Lemps pregnant girlfriend, who had been sleeping in his bed, was forced to stay put with his lifeless body for over an hour. On Facebook, Lemp called himself a Boogaloo boi. The Boogaloo has since taken him up as a cause celebre, comparing his death to that of Breonna Taylor, the Black woman who was shot by Louisville police officers executing a no-knock warrant. At a protest over Lemps death in April at the Montgomery police headquarters, men in Hawaiian shirts thrust the Boogaloo flag in the air. People around the world raised over $17,000 for his funeral and the familys legal fees in a GoFundMe campaign. In three days, they cleared out all 125 items in a baby registry for his unborn child. And then they began to invoke his name as their own. In a YouTube video posted in June, which a man recorded after Virginia police officers pulled him over, he tells them his name is Duncan Lemp. Stephen Parshall, of Battle Born Igloo, used a logo from one of Lemps companies as his profile photo on Facebook. By late July, five Boogaloo bois who showed up to a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Ore., told a reporter that they were there in support of the protesters, adding that the police had killed some of our own people. Never forget Duncan Lemp, one said. Never forget, his colleagues echoed. On Lemps girlfriends Instagram page, Boogaloo bois have promised her that they will one day avenge his death. In stickers slapped to street signs, in Boogaloo groups and in YouTube comments, members repeat the words we are Duncan Lemp or his name was Duncan Lemp like mantras. In the last few months of his life, Lemp used social media to show off antigovernment slogans and Boogaloo memes. His mother remembers asking him what it meant. For him it was about Second Amendment rights, she told me. In one Instagram photo, captioned simply III%, Lemp holds a rifle and grins from the back of a group of armed, camouflaged men. In another post, which appears to be a screenshot from a website, hands thrust rifles in the air. Below are the words of Abraham Lincolns assassin, sic semper tyrannis thus always to tyrants the same words that adorned Timothy McVeighs T-shirt the morning in 1995 that he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. In the three-decade life span of modern right-wing militias, they have amassed something of a canon of martyrs. Theres the story of Gordon Kahl, a highly decorated World War II veteran and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist who refused to pay his taxes. When law enforcement tried to serve him a warrant in 1983, he and his son killed two U.S. Marshals, before Kahl went on the run for four months and was killed in a shootout in Arkansas but not before killing another law-enforcement officer. Theres Robert LaVoy Finicum, a leader at the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur wildlife reserve in Oregon, who died after speeding away from the police, hopping out of his vehicle and repeatedly yelling Go ahead and shoot me! while, according to law enforcement, reaching for a loaded pistol. At the May reopening rally in Olympia, Kelli Stewart told the crowd to read the stories of Finicum and Kahl when they got home. Theres the Weaver family, the white separatists at the center of 1992s Ruby Ridge standoff, which ended with three dead: Vicki and Samuel Weaver and one U.S. Marshal. And, of course, the botched assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in 1993, which ended in the deaths of at least 80 civilians (including 20 minors) and four A.T.F. agents an event Kris Hunter, the Texas Boogaloo boi, says he recalls seeing unfold when he was 12. I saw the tanks rolling down the freeway, he told me. Maybe the Branch Davidians had broken the law, he conceded. Does that mean that people need to burn alive in their homes and they need to be sieged for weeks at a time? Thats something that is alarming and should be alarming to all Americans. Timothy McVeigh was in Waco during the siege he had driven there from Florida to see it and it was the event that finally pushed him over the edge, the reason he went on to bomb the federal building in Oklahoma City. McVeighs story demonstrates how powerful even the most absurd ideas can be to disaffected men with dreams of violence. A wayward young gulf war veteran, he drove in looping circles around the United States in the early 1990s, befriending other people at gun shows who shared his passion for firearms, which survivalists like McVeigh believed would one day become more valuable than American currency. At those events, he met other people who also believed in antigovernment conspiracies, and who found solace and inspiration in a book he sold copies of at those gun shows: The Turner Diaries, a 1978 novel written under a pseudonym by the white supremacist William Luther Pierce. To McVeigh, it was more than just a novel. It was a battle plan. The Turner Diaries is a neo-Nazi heros tale: a book that tells the fictional story of Earl Turner, a character so aggrieved at the state of the world that he joins an underground terrorist cell. In the story, after the American government has taken guns away from civilians and begun systematically subordinating white people to other racial groups, Turner and his compatriots wage a campaign of terror in an effort to eliminate all other races from the planet. It is a pornographically violent fantasy that finds glory in ethnic cleansing, where judges, politicians, actors and journalists among others deemed race traitors are killed in mass hangings on what comes to be known as the Day of the Rope. At one point, Turners accomplices park a truck with a fertilizer bomb under a federal building and detonate it crippling the government at a key moment. McVeigh was hoping to deliver a blow to the government so forceful that it would bring it to its knees and ensure another Waco would never happen. In the days leading up to the bombing, McVeigh was said to have warned his sister of a coming revolution against the federal government. When he was arrested, the F.B.I. found a photocopied page from the book in his car with the following passage highlighted: The real value of all our attacks today lies in the psychological impact. ... [The politicians and bureaucrats] learned this afternoon that not one of them is beyond our reach. They can huddle behind barbed wire and tanks in the city, and they can hide behind the concrete walls of their country estates, but we can still find them and kill them. This fantasy about a cataclysmic end of America as we know it is the thing that binds the Boogaloo to a long legacy of violent homegrown terrorists in this country. The similarities between McVeigh and the Boogaloo are countless if you look for them. He was a veteran. He wasnt part of an established group. He didnt subscribe to one ideology or follow some charismatic leader. He was a guy whose beliefs about the government were informed by what happened at Waco and conspiracy theories and a badly written book. And yet, the Oklahoma City bombing remains the largest act of domestic terrorism the United States has ever seen. Boogaloo bois might not be driving the country selling books at gun shows, but through memes, they share the shorthand version of the ideas that inspired McVeigh. Guns are currency. Martyrs are never forgotten. Even the Day of the Rope is having a second life as a hashtag shared by members of a movement that some try to insist is not racist. There is no Boogaloo manifesto not yet, at least. But there is a version of the Boogaloo flag that has been going around the internet more and more lately. Its that same black-and-white flag with the red strip of flowers, but this time, on all the stripes, there are names: His name was Eric Garner. Her name was Vicki Weaver. His name was Robert LaVoy Finicum. Her name was Breonna Taylor. His name was Duncan Lemp. After the late-May shooting of Officer Underwood in Oakland, it would take eight more days for the authorities to receive a tip about a white van with no plates and a mismatched hubcap abandoned on the side of a curving, wooded road deep in Californias Santa Cruz Mountains, 75 miles to the south. Guns, ammunition and bomb-making supplies could be seen through the windows. Authorities tracked the vans owner to a house in Ben Lomond, 20 minutes outside Santa Cruz the home of Steven Carrillo. In photographs, Carrillo has doughy cheeks and a weightlifters build. He married his high school sweetheart, who was also in the Air Force, and they had two children. Carrillos wife committed suicide in 2018, and friends of his have speculated in the media that the experience changed him. In the spring of 2020, prosecutors say, Carrillo met another Northern California man in a Boogaloo group on Facebook: 30-year-old Robert Justus. Carrillo would eventually recruit Justus to drive his van in Oakland on May 29. Prosecutors believe Carrillo was the shooter. (Justus, escorted by his parents, turned himself in to the F.B.I. on June 11. He is currently in custody, charged with aiding and abetting murder and aiding and abetting attempted murder; he pleaded not guilty.) The Carrillo house in Ben Lomond is off a gravelly, shaded road. That day in June, a group of Santa Cruz County sheriffs deputies approached the property, and as they did, a hail of nine-millimeter bullets ripped through two of their uniforms killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, and seriously wounding another officer. There was an explosion, and then Carrillo in a royal blue shirt and khaki pants, bleeding from a wound in his right leg sprinted from the property and down the road. He carjacked an approaching white Toyota Camry at gunpoint. He sped away but abandoned the car minutes later. Erik Thom was driving home to Santa Cruz through Ben Lomond when he saw signs on the highway about a roadblock and an active shooter. He pulled off at a marijuana dispensary and asked a woman in the parking lot what was going on. All of a sudden I hear this Help! Help! Help! he told me. He grabbed his dog, Brown, and sprinted around the corner toward a house. The woman followed him, recording video on her smartphone. Two men were wrestling on the ground. One was the man everyone was looking for: Steven Carrillo. Brown sank his teeth into Carrillos arm, and Thom aided the other man the resident of the home, where Carrillo had tried to take another car in restraining him. In the struggle, Carrillo dropped a pistol. Only when it hit the ground, Thom says, did he notice what else was already there: an AR-15 and a pipe bomb. This is what the roadblock was about, he recalls thinking. This is the active shooter. I was putting a little bit of pressure on his arm, and he said, Hey, dude, lay off my arm, and I said, [expletive] you, Thom says. And he said, Im done fighting the fight. He said it twice. Then he uttered something about Afghanistan. Thoms still not sure what, but he says in that moment, not knowing anything about what had happened in the minutes and days before, he felt bad for him. Thom told me he was sympathetic to those with P.T.S.D., and he had a cousin who had died during a confrontation with the police. The men held Carrillo down until the police arrived and cuffed him. As the officers grasped Carrillos arms, leading him away, he taunted them. Im sick of these goddamn police, he yelled at the stone-faced officers. Listen! Are you listening? Later, investigators found that Carrillos home, too, was filled with improvised explosives, and sources told local reporters they think they interrupted something big. (Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to federal charges and is being held without bail; his attorney declined to comment for this article.) When they found the white Toyota Camry Carrillo had carjacked, they discovered something more Carrillo wanted them to hear. Before abandoning the car, Carrillo seems to have dipped his fingers in his open leg wound and painted three messages across the hood of the car. None of them were his own ideas. He wrote stop the duopoly a reference to the dominance of the Republican and Democratic Parties in the American political system, a fixation of many Boogaloo bois. He wrote I became unreasonable yet another Boogaloo meme, the words of a welder named Marvin Heemeyer, who in 2004 fabricated a nearly indestructible killdozer, a modified earth mover outfitted with a .50-caliber rifle, and plowed it through 13 buildings in the town of Granby, Colo. It was an act of revenge over a land dispute. When he was finished, he shot himself. He is considered a martyr by antigovernment extremists. And Carrillo wrote one more thing. He wanted the whole world to know what this was, to send a message that the killing of two law-enforcement officers was, perhaps, the first shot of a new kind of war one that may have started on the internet, but one that is already starting to play out in real life. It was, in a way, his manifesto, his confession that conspiracy theories and memes found in him the perfect host. This was what he was willing to risk his life for. In his blood, he wrote: BOOG. Sammy Gyamfi 19.08.2020 LISTEN When I was a child, anytime any of the children in the compound house woke up at dawn and started making unnecessary noise, my father will angrily ask such a child to go back and sleep because the day has not broken out yet. The woman from whose room the child came out to make the noise is not spared the admonishing either. (And my father had five women in the same compound) You sit down and allow such a small boy to come out so early in the morning to disturb the peace of our ancestors. Don't you know it is an abomination? the old man will shout from his room. When this boy called Sammy Gyamfi was elected as the National Communications Director of the defeated NDC, I knew he had stepped on chameleon faeces. He used to make ugly noises on radio and TV, so the delegates thought he was the right choice for the party. Immediately after the delegates' congress, this 'boy' hit the grounds disrespecting everybody of the ruling party. Financially supported by Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, this boy strutted the land with impunity. At a point in time, he made President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia looked like a 'discarded' cassava at the Agbogbloshie market. This 'boy' will never end a sentence without mentioning the name of President Akufo-Addo. Even though he is not an economist, instead of leaving matters concerning economics to the other communicators who are versed in economics, this Mr. Know-Too-Much will jump into the saucepan, trying hopelessly to screw it with the economics whiz-kid, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. He makes himself a fool anytime he tries to do! Now that this 'boy' has bitten more than he could chew, only God knows what is in the minds of our men and women in uniform. Our men and women in uniform also do vote during the general election, and I can imagine what is in their minds. It is barely two weeks since Sammy Gyamfi made the unprintable and inflammatory comments, but Mr. Mahama, the power hungry Gonja warrior, has been quiet and has refused to condemn this 'Little Bombino', who is trying to tell us that the NDC in government never enlisted people into the armed forces? Look at the stupidity and foolhardiness of Sammy Gyamfi. Ghana was going to compile a new voters' register and as such there was the need to secure our porous borders. Coincidently, a dangerous virus called coronavirus threatened our country. When a few soldiers were deployed to control out borders, Sammy started 'firing' from all cylinders. And there is this man too who wept like a kindergarten boy when he appeared before the Justice Dzamesi Commission. Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah was appointed as the Minister of Youth & Sports. He was commissioned to take the Black Stars to Brazil and back. Yes, he came back but all covered with debt and disgrace. Instead of the Jubilee House punishing him, ex-President Mahama decided to send him back to the Jubilee House to become an expert in stealing. Today, the man who used our money to play 'chaskele' is the director of elections of the NDC. Anytime I hear Elvis Ankrah, I wonder why he takes Ghanaians for fools. Maybe Mr. Mahama keeps telling him to stay cool because as for Ghanaians, it would not take long before Ghanaians will forget the Brazil debacle. After all, have we not forgotten the Embraer 190 deal and the many cases of corruption hanging around the neck of this man who is looking for a second chance to rape the country? We are waiting for him! From Eric Bawah The boy was approached at around 2.45pm yesterday afternoon in Aylesbury A man lured a 10-year-old boy into a car by offering him a free kitten before police arrested a suspect, 22, over a kidnap bid. The boy was approached at around 2.45pm yesterday afternoon on Berryfield Road in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. He got into the man's car, believed to be a small red Toyota, but was seen by his older brother. Berryfield Road in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where the 10-year-old boy was approached at around 2.45pm yesterday afternoon and got into the car, believed to be a small red Toyota The brother followed the car to the Meadowcroft Community Centre car park, where the boy was let out. A man from Birmingham was arrested in connection on suspicion of kidnap and is currently in custody. Investigating officer Detective Constable Rob Mogridge, based at Aylesbury police station, said a 'thorough investigation' is being conducted into the incident. Meadowcroft Community Centre car park in Aylesbury, where the 10-year-old boy was let out. A man from Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of kidnap and is currently in custody He stated: 'We are appealing for witnesses or anyone who has any information about what happened to please come forward. 'We believe this was a busy area around the time this happened and that there is a good chance that someone saw what happened. 'We would also like to reassure the local community that an arrest has been made and we are conducting a thorough investigation into what happened.' Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Light snow this evening giving way to partly cloudy conditions late. Low -3C. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%.. Tonight Light snow this evening giving way to partly cloudy conditions late. Low -16C. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Actress Lauren Ash of Superstore (shown here with her adopted dog Fox) is the 2020 spokesperson for Best Friends Animal Societys virtual Strut Your Mutt fundraising dog walk on Oct. 24. "I am super excited to connect with like-minded animal lovers from all over the country and even the world. Isn't it exciting to think that together, we can save lives?" - Lauren Ash Due to COVID-19, Best Friends Animal Societys annual Strut Your Mutt fundraising dog walk, like many events, has gone virtual. Strut Your Mutt Day will take place on Oct. 24, with participants walking in their own communities instead of designated event cities to raise funds for Best Friends or another animal welfare organization of their choice. In 2019, Strut Your Mutt raised $2.7 million, with more than 10,000 people and 7,000 dogs participating. This years fundraising goal is $2 million. Actress Lauren Ash is the 2020 spokesperson for Strut Your Mutt Day. A devoted dog and cat "mom" and pet adoption advocate, Ash is best known for her portrayal of the hilariously blunt Dina on NBC's Superstore" and her podcast about oversharing "Giving it Up for Less. In real life, Ash is equally outspoken about the causes she is passionate about, including animal welfare. She has participated in Strut Your Mutt for years and was twice the top individual fundraiser for the event in Los Angeles. I am so honored to be asked to be the spokesperson for Strut Your Mutt this year because I am so passionate about the work Best Friends does. I deeply believe that together we CAN and MUST make America no-kill by 2025 and I am excited that I can play a part in helping make that happen, Ash said. Going virtual this year just means more animal lovers can take part in Strut Your Mutt, according to Ash. "I am super excited to connect with like-minded animal lovers from all over the country and even the world. Isn't it exciting to think that together, we can save lives? she said. Often I feel powerless when I hear stories about animals in shelters across the country whose lives are taken simply because they have no safe place to call home but raising funds through Strut Your Mutt helps people help these pets. Walkers can register at http://www.strutyourmutt.org as individuals or members of a team. The website provides innovative, interactive fundraising tools for walkers to share on social media and raise funds for the animal welfare group of their choice. For more than 20 years, Strut Your Mutt has been an incredibly successful fundraising event for hundreds of shelters, rescues, and other animal welfare organizations, said Holly Sizemore, chief mission officer, Best Friends Animal Society. Now, with the pandemic, funds are needed more than ever to empower lifesaving work, so were very grateful to Lauren for helping us promote Strut Your Mutt. We hope pet lovers everywhere will sign up to walk and raise funds. To learn more or to register for Strut Your Mutt, visit http://www.strutyourmutt.org. About Best Friends Animal Society Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 3,100 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has lifesaving centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from an estimated 17 million per year to around 625,000. That means there are still more than 1,700 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they dont have safe places to call home. We are determined to bring the country to no-kill by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. To check out our pet lifesaving dashboard and for more information, visit bestfriends.org. Join the conversation on Facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety, Twitter (@BestFriends) and Instagram (@BestFriendsAnimalSociety). In the grips of a rare summer weather pattern marked by blistering heat and violent thunderstorms, California has seen hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes erupt into monstrous conflagrations that are tearing through a parched landscape and swallowing homes. Cal Fire spokesperson Jeremy Rahn spoke to the extreme conditions at a Wednesday press briefing and said in the last three days the state experienced a "historic lightning siege" with 10,849 lightning strikes starting more than 367 fires in three days. In all, these fires have burned 300,000 acres, he said. More than 69,000 federal, state and local personnel are battling flames. "Firefighting resources are depleted as new fires continue to ignite," Rahn said. The state has requested 375 fire engines from other states as well as hand crews as the demand for resources has surpassed availability. Nearly all available private firefighting aircraft in the Western U.S. have been hired and assigned to the incidents. "The size and complexity at which these incidents are burning is challenging all aspects of emergency response," Rahn said. "It's important that the community heeds the warnings of law enforcement and remain prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice." Noah Berger/Associated Press The greater San Francisco Bay Area is seeing some of the most severe wildfire conditions. Police and firefighters went door-to-door before dawn Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as fire encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. At least 50 structures were destroyed, including some homes, and 50 damaged. This is an incredibly emotional and stressful time for most of us whove endured a number of wildfires over the last few years," said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick. Ash and smoke filled the air in San Francisco, which is surrounded by wildfires burning in multiple counties to the north, east and south. The LNU Lightning fire is made up of several fires burning in five counties north of San Francisco, including in Vacaville, and had consumed 72 square miles as of Wednesday morning (186 square kilometers). John Gardiner, 60, stayed up all night after receiving an alert from a neighbor of oncoming fire around just before midnight. His house and neighbors' homes were still safe, but he worried that could change as crews anticipate hot winds Wednesday afternoon. It was incredible, things swirling, winds just whipping through like a howling ripping sound and then you could hear explosions going off," he said. You can taste smoke in your mouth." Victoria Gregorich, 54, said her family loaded up the car and left their Vacaville home after deputies rang the gate around 12:30 a.m. to tell them to evacuate. The fire destroyed her greenhouse, but the house was spared. Her neighbors were not so lucky. Its devastating, she said. I just thank God we have our home. Elvis Castaneda, 28, and his father Silverio spent the night moving ranching equipment to a safer location, removing vegetation and making firebreaks with their tractor around the properties of friends. We couldnt see the flames but the sky was pretty orange, and we knew it was coming our way, Elvis Castaneda said. He said he drove home at 3 a.m. and started packing legal documents, photos, passports and his firearms after hearing that his girlfriends family, who live in a ranch two miles (3 kilometers) away, were told to evacuate and move all their farm animals to safety. He got the order to leave after dawn Wednesday. In the East San Francisco Bay, a cluster of 20 separate lightning-sparked fires called the SCU Lightning complex was threatening about 1,400 structures in rugged terrain with dense brush. The fires have torched 133 square miles (344 square kilometers). To the south of San Francisco in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of a fire burning in dense wooded parkland that threatened communities, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said. About 22 fires are part of the complex and most had been burning in relatively remote, dense brush until strong winds overnight Tuesday pushed them into more populated areas, merging some of the fires together. Resources are strapped, he said, given the number of fires burning in California. Were in the unfortunate position where firefighters are going to be spending several days out on the fire line," he said. Its grueling, its exhausting. Christopher Godley, Sonoma County's emergency management director, also conceded that resources are thin. Its difficult to second guess what the fire commanders are doing with their aircraft. But its not like last year when we saw just a huge wealth of resources flowing into the county," he said. It is what it is. The cluster of wine country fires threatens an area that only last year grappled with another massive blaze that forced 200,000 to flee a task made more complicated this year because of the pandemic. The Associated Press contributed to this story. MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE: These are the fires burning in the Bay Area right now Ash falls from the sky as wildfire smoke pours into Bay Area North Bay fires explode overnight, heading into Vacaville SCU Lightning Complex fires grow from 35K to 85K acres overnight Wildfire burns in Point Reyes National Seashore CZU Lightning Complex Fire rages in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Gigi and Bella Hadid are two of the biggest names in the modeling industry and are considered as top influencers of their generation. The duo walked for numerous designers, including Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, and the runways of Victoria's Secret. Born in Washington D.C but grew up in Los Angeles, the Hadids were dubbed as the "first family" of fashion since their mother and former reality star Yolanda Hadid used to be a supermodel herself during the 1980s. In one of the episodes of her reality show "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Yolanda shared that she moved from Holland to New York when she was 16 years old to live her dream to become a model and provide for her family. In 1994, she married real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, who was also an immigrant himself from Palestine. Aside from the trio, the youngest member of the family, Anwar, is also a model and signed under a top agency based in New York, IMG Models. It is safe to say that the Hadid grew up in a well-off and comfortable life since their father is known as a real-estate tycoon and owns a design company called Hadid Design & Development Group. Over a decade, Gigi and Bella graced numerous covers and launched several ads, but who earns more? Gigi Hadid Net Worth The eldest Hadid started modeling for Baby Guess when she was 2 years old before stopping to concentrate on her studies. The blonde beauty returned in 2011 and has sincr walked in several fashion shows for famous designers like Chanel, Marc Jacobs and Versace. In 2018, the 25-year-old model earned $9.5 million, which made her top nine among the highest-paid models of the year -- only $500,000 short of runway royalties Gisele Bundchen and Cara Delevingne. On the other hand, according to Wealthy Gorilla, Gigi Hadid's net worth is said to be $29 million, all thanks to her lucrative contract from companies like Maybelline, Evian, and BMW. Bella Hadid Net Worth Unlike her sister, the brunette bombshell started pretty late in the modeling industry, but that doesn't mean Bella Hadid's net worth is far from Gigi. Then 16-year-old Bella's first modeling job was for an advert for Flynn Skye. Later on, she booked another project for Hanna Hayes' Fall/Winter collection in 2013. Moreover, her breakthrough came in 2014 after she signed under IMG Models, which is also Gigi's agency. That year, she made her debut in New York Fashion Week, and the rest was history. After seven years in the industry, the 23-year old Hadid received multiple awards, such as Model of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards and Model of the Year at the Daily Front Row's Fashion Los Angeles Awards, both in 2016. As of 2020, Bella Hadid's net worth is reportedly $25 million, per Wealthy Gorilla. Apart from her achievements, she also scored a major contract from Dior Beauty and became their new ambassador in 2016, which probably cost millions and added a chunk to her net worth. READ MORE: Kim Kardashian Divorce Rumors: Kanye West Staying in Wyoming? Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:39:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that China stands ready to work with Kenya to safeguard the common interests of developing countries as well as international fairness and justice. In a phone conversation with Raychelle Omamo, Kenya's cabinet secretary for foreign affairs, Wang noted that Kenya is China's strategic partner in Africa, and mutual understanding, trust and support are the distinctive features of China-Kenya relations. Under the guidance of the two heads of state, Wang said, practical cooperation between the two countries has been at the forefront of China-Africa cooperation. China appreciates Kenya's firm support for China on issues concerning China's core interests and major concerns such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, Wang said, adding that China also supports Kenya in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs. China stands ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Kenya to jointly safeguard the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, promote multilateralism, and oppose unilateral bullying, Wang added. For her part, Omamo said Kenya is particularly grateful for China's strong support for its fight against COVID-19 and effort to achieve national development. China has always been an important political, trade and development partner of Africa, she said, adding that Kenya firmly supports the one-China principle, staunchly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty, and stands ready to work with China to uphold the core values of multilateralism. The two sides also exchanged views on issues concerning the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Enditem US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign chairman posed a "grave counter-intelligence threat", due to his interaction with people close to the Kremlin, according to a bipartisan Senate report released yesterday. The report also found extensive contacts between key campaign advisers and officials affiliated with Moscow's government and intelligence services. The Senate Intelligence Committee report states that the former campaign manager for Mr Trump, Paul Manafort, worked with a Russian intelligence officer "on narratives that sought to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election", including the idea that Ukrainian election interference was of greater concern. The report states a Russian attorney who met with Mr Manafort, Donald Trump Jr, and Jared Kushner (Mr Trump's son-in-law) at Trump Tower in 2016 had "significant connections" to the Kremlin. The report states that information she offered to them was also "part of a broader influence operation targeting the US that was coordinated, at least in part with elements of the Russian government." But the panel also found the FBI's handling of Russian threats to the election were "flawed". The panel found the FBI gave "unjustified credence" to other allegations regarding Mr Trump's Russia ties, made in a dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, "based on an incomplete understanding of Steele's past reporting record". The Senate Intelligence Committee's three-and-half-year investigation stands as Congress's only bipartisan examination of Russian interference in the 2016 election. But the panel's leaders were noticeably divided along party lines in how they interpreted the significance of the report - particularly concerning Mr Trump's Russia contacts - a sign that their tome will likely not put to rest the political fights over its substance. "We can say, without any hesitation, that the committee found absolutely no evidence that then candidate Donald Trump, or his campaign, colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election," acting chairman Florida senator Marco Rubio said in a statement yesterday. He acknowledged that "what the committee did find, however, is very troubling" and included "irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling". Vice-chairman Senator Mark Warner, meanwhile, noted "a breathtaking level of contacts between Trump officials and Russian government operatives that is a very real counter-intelligence threat to our elections", and he encouraged "all Americans to carefully review the documented evidence of the unprecedented and massive intervention campaign waged on behalf of then candidate Donald Trump by Russians and their operatives and to reach their own independent conclusions". Previous committee chairman Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina struck a position in the middle. "One of the committee's most important - and overlooked - findings is that much of Russia's activities weren't related to producing a specific electoral outcome, but attempted to undermine our faith in the democratic process itself," Mr Burr said. Mr Burr and Mr Warner launched the investigation before Trump's inauguration in January 2017, and sustained the bipartisan investigation over the next three-and-a -half years, even as other congressional investigations into the same matter faltered along partisan lines. ( Washington Post) Six Vietnamese firms in Forbes Asias Best Under A Billion list Two property developers are among six firms from Vietnam to make it to Forbes Asias Best Under A Billion list. The 2020 ranking, which honors 200 small and mid-sized listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region with revenues of between $10 million and $1 billion, includes real estate developers Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC (PDR) and Century Land JSC (CRE), paper manufacturer Dong Hai JSC of Ben Tre (DHC), seafood processing firm Nam Viet Corp (ANV), Taseco Air Services JSC (AST), and stationery producer Thien Long Group Corp (TLG). All six firms are listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The companies recorded annual sales of $49-193 million, and net income of $8-36 million. Of the six, ANV boasted the highest annual sales of $193 million, followed by PDR ($176 million), TLG ($140 million), CRE ($100 million), DHC ($62 million), and AST ($49 million). PDR enjoyed the highest net income of $36 million, followed by ANV ($30 million), CRE ($17 million), TLG ($14 million), AST and DHC, tied at $8 million. The six Vietnamese companies beat 18,000 candidates when they were assessed for profitability, revenues and indebtedness. Forbes Asia stated that this year's list incorporated the companies' overall track record in measures such as debt, sales and earnings-per-share growth over both the most recent fiscal one- and three-year periods, and the strongest one- and five-year average returns on equity. Companies from mainland China and Hong Kong continue to dominate the ranking with 37 entries. Flash The ongoing U.S. Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday voted to officially nominate Joe Biden as the party's presidential candidate. Biden, already the presumptive nominee since April when all other contenders in the once crowded Democratic field dropped their bids, briefly addressed supporters from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, after a virtual presidential roll call. "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, from my family, and I'll see you on Thursday," he said, referring to his upcoming acceptance speech to wrap up the four-day convention. The Democratic nomination entitled the 77-year-old former vice president to take on incumbent President Donald Trump of the Republican Party in the upcoming election scheduled for Nov. 3. Unlike prior conventions where delegates would gather in an arena and the delegations from each state would be called upon to announce how many delegates pledge for each candidate, this year the presidential roll call happened virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the delegates appearing in the video by and large enthusiastically made the case that Biden was the country's best choice for president in the next four years, first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her slot to nominate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading figure of the progressive wing in the Democratic field and Biden's longest-lasting rival in the primary. Herself a progressive, Ocasio-Cortez used the occasion to pitch for the progressive movement's goals, including Medicare for All, tuition-free college education, and achieving fair wages and protecting labor rights for all. Similar to the previous night, Tuesday night's guest speakers spoke highly of Biden's competence for the U.S. presidency while making scathing criticism of Trump. Among the Democratic luminaries who delivered remarks was former President Jimmy Carter, who said Biden "understands that honesty and dignity are essential traits that determine not only our vision but our actions. More than ever, that's what we need." And former President Bill Clinton said Biden is "committed to building America back again." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the now Republican-controlled Senate, said Biden alone can't "win this battle for the soul of our nation," adding that "Democrats must take back the Senate." Heading into its third day on Wednesday, the DNC is expected to nominate California Senator Kamala Harris as the party's vice presidential candidate. Former President Barack Obama, in whose administration Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017, will deliver a speech on Wednesday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton also invited to speak. The Politics of Data and Design Audits and Accountability When a video of the fatal arrest of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests, it also inspired a period of reckoning about the living legacy of racism in America. The past two months have seen a deluge of editorials, open letters and other public statements from individuals and institutions calling for change in their own industries for diverse hiring, implicit bias training and other measures to address racial inequities.Now, in the face of so much public scrutiny on the issue, some data and police tech companies are grappling with what it would mean to be more responsible for what they put out into the world.For some companies, responsibility starts at the design phase, and understanding the potential relationship between what sort of biases or oversights went into a product and what it will do in practice, at scale. This was the impetus for the formation of Axon s ethics board in 2018, an independent group which has had some success in dissuading the company, for example, from further developing facial recognition on the basis of privacy concerns and racial disparities in accuracy. In short, developing a face-recognizing algorithm with photos of mostly white faces will make it more accurate for white people, and more commonly misidentify people of color. Whats more, product engineers may not know as much about a surveillance tools potential for abuse in the wrong hands as experts in policy or civil liberties.Earlier this year, Axon CEO Rick Smith toldthat the idea was to bring in more civil rights voices it gets input from police all the time because they form the company's client base, but it didn't have that level of natural contact with civil rights advocates.The board also influenced Axon's development of license plate reading technology, including default privacy controls such as limits on how long data is stored for. Smith also toldabout the ethics board's work on license plate readers as well. While developing that technology, the company's engineers have engaged in an "iterative loop" with the board where they gather feedback and then tweak the product accordingly.Its more important that we get it right than that we move fast and break things, Smith said.For some companies, such as the data consulting firm DataMade in Chicago, recent attention on policing has made them reconsider what sort of projects they undertake in the first place. In a blog post on July 13, the company went so far as to say it would never again build tools or technology that supports policing or incarceration, arguing that the companys work had contributed to irresponsible policing by uncritically presenting biased historical data.DataMade founder Derek Eder said the company shut down two websites his team had built, CrimeAround.us and CAPSure, so as not to promote the narrative that the west and south sides of Chicago are in need of more police.We are very likely to use that crime report data again, but were more likely now to use it for a project, say, to hold police to account, but not just to say there were 15 armed robberies in this area at this time. Thats not a productive way to show off that data, we think, he said. One of the prevailing tropes in technology is that technology is neutral, that its not political, and thats false. Everything you build has real political implications, and theres no way to be neutral. What you choose to highlight, what you choose to help and empower with technology, those are political decisions.For all the companies that recently issued statements of solidarity with the cause of racial equity, Eder didnt know of any that took quite the same stance as DataMade. But short of that, he said civic tech companies in particular, being focused on projects for public good, should be in an ideal position to at least think critically about their own work.From the inception of the project: whos at the table, whos asking for it, whos empowered by this, whos potentially harmed by this? These are questions that often times arent asked in different tech spaces, he said. Theres a lot of technology that I think should not be pursued at all, and I encourage anybody in the tech space (to see this as) a critical test thats often missed and needs to be put up front, before you spend time building something.Eder said as population demographics are changing and protests bring these questions to the fore, he was hopeful that a new generation of tech entrepreneurs might be more engaged with them than the last.Now that these systems like Facebook and Twitter are so big that you cant possibly imagine a society without them, now that its almost too late, theyre trying to reckon with the power of the system theyve created and design decisions they made 10 years ago, and who made those decisions, he said. Because by then, how do you pull the plug on a billion-dollar product?Some organizations that have been hammering away at these problems for years agree the attention is overdue, because the technology in question is only becoming more widely used over time. Since 2016, the Algorithmic Justice League , founded by computer scientist Joy Buolamwini and funded in part by the Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation, has been raising awareness about problems with artificial intelligence in predictive policing.Theres also the Policing Project , a center at New York Universitys School of Law, founded in 2015 and run by a dozen full-time employees and several consultants, students and volunteers. Executive Director Farhang Heydari said the goal of the Policing Project, as a research, consulting and advocacy organization, is to work with tech companies to create front-end accountability for police limitations and rules in advance, as opposed to back-end accountability that kicks in only after something has gone wrong. He said that will require more regulation of police technology in general, whether for facial recognition, predictive algorithms or body cameras.The way the courts have interpreted the Fourth Amendment, people get very little protection when theyre in public, and thats where a lot of policing technology operates from drones to facial recognition to license plate readers to predictive algorithms, he said. They suck in data based on where we are in the public, so we get very little constitutional protection. It means police and companies can roll out these products without any real legal constraint.But innovation doesnt have to be a threat to civil liberties. Heydari granted that a lot of police tech, such as body cameras, can be a net good for all concerned if tech companies engage civil rights experts and citizens before going to market. That was the thinking behind the Policing Projects responsible tech audits, which offer to people who make such technology concerns and recommendations regarding civil liberties, racial justice or privacy, based on an evaluative framework detailed on the organizations website I dont think any policing tech company is going to do this right if all the development is coming from their in-house folks. Ive never met a tech company that has meaningful voices from over-policed communities from across the country, and has civil rights lawyers and privacy lawyers, Heydari said. They dont have to do tech audits from the Policing Project, but they'd better be getting meaningful feedback from somewhere.In 2019, ShotSpotter asked the Policing Project to review their ShotSpotter Flex product, a gunshot detection system. The resulting report, which is available online , found the systems microphones didnt pose a significant risk of voice surveillance, but it made recommendations regarding data sharing and storage. ShotSpotter Senior VP of Marketing Sam Klepper said the audit helped ease concerns from potential clients.The Oakland privacy commission in late 2019 was reviewing ShotSpotter, because the surveillance ordinance in the city is considered one of the strictest in the country, he said. The audit was included as part of this review that they had, and the group unanimously voted in favor of approving ShotSpotter.Speaking for a company that has installed gunshot detection equipment in more than 100 cities globally, Klepper said its important for police tech innovators to be open and transparent about what they make and how it works.Its also important, at this time particularly, to have products that help with precision policing, to use objective data and get cops to places where something is actually happening, with the right situational awareness, so theres not a community response of, why are they here, theyre harassing us, he said. We believe that our products provide that kind of objective use of data and pinpoint accuracy as events are unfolding.The question of what to do with biased data historical data amassed across decades of policing focused more in neighborhoods with larger populations of racial and ethnic minorities is a big one, and Heydari didnt have a concrete answer.The alternative cannot be to throw out all the data and not have a data-driven approach, because that doesnt get us to the right place either, he said. I think it starts with better data by police.Heydari proposed ways to improve data. He mentioned victimization surveys to find who in a community has experienced crime, as opposed to the number who reported crimes, as opposed to the number who were arrested for crimes, because those arent the same things. He said theres a role for relatively objective technologies, such as ShotSpotter, to measure incidents as opposed to police activity. And he said he hopes that audits like those the Policing Project does, or some kind of certification process, can become an industry standard.We hear a lot from executive-level people in government that they wish they had these (audits), because the procurement folks dont know how to meaningfully audit technologies, he said. Even police departments dont know how to meaningfully audit technologies, and the last thing they want to do is buy a technology that happens to be spying on users or has a racist algorithm. So weve heard from a lot of procurement folks that they wish more companies had these kind of stamps of approval or rejection, so theyd know who they should buy.Government TechnologyGoverning AURORA, IL A man who was shot by Aurora police during a chase in October 2018 was recently sentenced to serve 15 years in prison. Giovanni Padilla, 28, pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to armed violence and aggravated assault on a peace officer in exchange for the 15-year sentence, according to Kane County prosecutors. An Aurora police officer shot Padilla in the arm Oct. 22, 2018, after a drug deal went wrong, police said at the time. 13-Year-Old Girl Missing From Aurora Area: Police Kane County Assistant States Attorney William Engerman said in a news release that Padilla and two others arranged to buy marijuana that day from a person who lived in the 1100 block of Farnsworth Avenue. The three men went to the home later that day with handguns, intending to rob the man, Engerman said. Father-And-Son Pizzeria Going Strong Despite Pandemic Challenges An officer from the Aurora Police Department tried to stop Padilla shortly after he left the mans home, police said in 2018. Padilla ran away through a parking lot near the intersection of Farnsworth Avenue and East Indian Trail, where he dropped something that the officer thought was a gun, police said. Padilla then picked up the gun and ran, before getting into a shooting stance and aiming at the officer, police said. The officer shot four times at Padilla, hitting him once in the arm, as previously reported. Mobile Coronavirus Testing Lab To Make 2 Stops In Aurora The Kane County States Attorneys Office ruled in December 2018 that the officer, who was not named, was justified in shooting Padilla. Police said they found a loaded .380-caliber handgun with six bullets including one in the chamber and 6 ounces of marijuana near Padilla when they arrested him. Padilla was treated that night at a local hospital and was later charged with a slew of felonies, including armed violence, armed robbery with a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, among other charges. Aurora Police Debunk Timmothy Pitzen Sighting In YouTube Video Story continues Padilla will receive credit for serving 657 days in Kane County jail between his arrest and his sentencing, prosecutors said. Michael Paige, of Montgomery, and Tyrone Smith, of Chicago, was also arrested Oct. 22, 2018, in connection with the alleged robbery. Both were charged with armed robbery, armed violence, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance, according to court records. REGIONAL NEWS: This article originally appeared on the Aurora Patch On Monday the health ministry said it was monitoring 1019 active clusters of the virus, defined as three or more linked cases spread across different households. Loading Social gatherings were behind some 43 per cent of the clusters, with workplace infections linked to around 20 per cent, the ministry said. Sweden records highest death tally in 150 years in first half of 2020 Sweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said on Wednesday. COVID-19 claimed about 4500 lives in the period to the end of June - a number which has now risen to 5800 - a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others including Britain and Spain. In total, 51,405 Swedes died in the January to June period, a higher number than any year since 1869 when 55,431 died, partly as a result of a famine. The population of Sweden was around 4.1 million then, compared to 10.3 million now. Loading COVID-19 meant that deaths were some 10 per cent higher than the average for the period over the last five years, the Statistics Office said. In April the number of deaths was almost 40 per cent higher than average due to a surge in COVID-related fatalities. Sweden has taken a different approach to most European countries in dealing with the pandemic, relying to a greater extent on voluntary measures focused on social distancing and opting against a strict lockdown. Most schools have remained open and many businesses have continued to operate to some extent, meaning the economy has fared better than many others. However, the death toll has been higher than in its Nordic neighbours, which opted for tougher lockdown measures. Norway, with around half the population, has had only around 260 COVID-19 deaths in total. One in four Indians could have been infected, lab chief says At least one in four people in India may have been infected with the coronavirus - a much higher number than official government figures suggest, the head of a leading private laboratory says. Dr A Velumani said an analysis of 270,000 antibody tests conducted by his company Thyrocare across India showed the presence of antibodies in an average of 26 per cent of the people, indicating they had already been exposed to the coronavirus. "This is a much higher percentage than we had expected. The presence of antibodies is uniform across all age groups, including children," Velumani said. Thyrocare's findings are in line with government surveys done in Indian cities such as Mumbai, which showed that 57 per cent of the population in its crowded slum areas had been exposed to the coronavirus. The Thyrocare survey covers paid and tested patients, covering 600 cities in India for the last seven weeks, Velumani added. If the current trend continues, the percentage of India's population having antibodies may reach 40 per cent before the end of December. India currently has a total of 2.8 million cases, third only behind Brazil and the United States globally, but active patients are less than a fourth of its total caseload, according to health ministry figures. Norway adds Britain, Greece, Austria and Ireland to quarantine list Norway said on Wednesday it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all people arriving from Britain, Austria, Greece and Ireland from August 22 due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in those countries. Similar restrictions will also be imposed on those coming from the Danish capital Copenhagen, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement. To try to prevent a domestic resurgence of the coronavirus, Norway quarantines all travellers from countries with more than 20 confirmed new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population during the past two weeks. The Nordic country earlier this month put on hold a plan to remove more coronavirus restrictions and urged its citizens to refrain from foreign travel. With its latest additions, Norway will be restricting travel from two dozen European countries, including France, Spain, Poland and Switzerland. It diagnosed 366 people with COVID-19 last week, the second highest level of any single week since April, but well below the record 1733 cases found in a single week in late March, data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health showed. Florida virus deaths surpass 10,000 The number of people in Florida confirmed to have died from the new coronavirus surpassed 10,000 cases on Wednesday, as teachers and state officials argued in court over whether brick-and-mortar schools should be forced to reopen this month. Florida reported 174 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths for residents and non-residents to at least 10,067 the fifth highest death toll in the nation. Florida's daily average reported deaths over the past week was 167 deaths. Two weeks ago, it peaked at 185 deaths. A man wears a protective mask while walking along the beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Credit:Bloomberg The state reported a total of 584,047 coronavirus cases, a daily increase of 4115 cases. Hospitalisations for the virus have been declining for nearly a month, and the growth in new cases has been decelerating. The positivity rate for COVID-19 testing in Florida has averaged about 11.4 per cent over the past week. There were 5351 patients being treated for the disease in Florida hospitals early on Wednesday down from peaks above 9,500 patients in late July. Meanwhile, Florida's largest teacher's union argued with attorneys for the state of Florida during a hearing over whether schools should reopen during the pandemic. The Florida Education Association sued Governor Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education and others to stop brick-and-mortar schools from physically reopening, arguing it is unsafe to do so until the spread of the virus is under control. The teacher's union is seeking an injunction from a judge in Tallahassee to stop schools from reopening by this Friday. Diamond Princess to sail again next year Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess, which experienced a major coronavirus outbreak that forced the cruise ship into quarantine in February, will sail in South America and Antarctica in 2021 and 2022, the cruise line said on Tuesday. An ambulance leaves the port where the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship was docked in Yokohama in February. Credit:AP Earlier this month, Princess Cruises announced that it would cancel all sailings aboard the 2670-passenger Diamond Princess throughout Japan and Asia, between October 2021 and April 2022 in favour of re-deploying the ship to the new destinations. The ship was docked in Yokohama for the duration of the outbreak, which infected upwards of 700 people according to Johns Hopkins data. The ship departed in May after it underwent a deep cleaning. Loading The decision to move the Diamond Princess sailings doesn't have anything to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, Negin Kamali, spokesperson for Princess Cruises, said. Council elections will go ahead as planned, despite strict measures that will prevent candidates from campaigning, except online, while COVID-19 stage four restrictions remain in place. There had been a strong push within the Andrews government to delay the October 24 poll. Discussions were well under way about postponing the elections possibly until December 5 amid mounting pressure by councils and local government groups. A polling booth official at work during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brisbane. Credit:Jono Searle/Getty Images Local Government Minister Shaun Leane on Wednesday confirmed the elections would go ahead in October. The confirmation comes just nine days before electoral rolls close. The state cabinet debated the matter on Monday, including possible new dates for the elections. At least 45 migrants and refugees have died off the coast of Libya after the engine of vessel they were travelling on exploded, the UN has reported with five children said to be among the deceased. The incident in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Zwara, which occurred on Monday, is the deadliest recorded shipwreck of the year so far according to the agency. Some 37 people, predominantly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, are reported to have survived after being rescued by local fisherman and have since been detained. The Libyan coast is often used as a jumping off point for entry into Europe via Italy and Malta for refugees and migrants looking to reach the European Union. Both the two European nations and Libya have declared their ports unsafe due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, leading to reports of boats in distress being refused help and instances where hundreds of asylum seekers have spent weeks adrift outside harbours waiting to disembark, according to the EU's Civil Liberties Committee. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty In a statement the UN's refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said it was "deeply concerned by recent delays in rescue and disembarkation". The statement added: "We urge states to swiftly respond to these incidents and systematically provide a predictable port of safety to people rescued at sea. Delays recorded in recent months, and failure to assist, are unacceptable and put lives at avoidable risk. "Where commercial vessels are the nearest boat capable of carrying out a rescue, they should be promptly provided with a safe port for disembarking the rescued passengers. They should not be instructed to return people to Libya, where they are at risk of the ongoing conflict, severe human rights violations, and arbitrary detention post-disembarkation." FILE - Back-to-school supplies await shoppers at a store on Saturday, July 11, 2020, in Marlborough, Mass. The pandemic has dragged into the new school year and wreaked havoc on reopening plans. That has extended to the back-to-school shopping season, the second most important period for retailers behind the holidays. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes, File) Analysts expect the back to school shopping season will be choppy and delayed this year, as parents grapple with school re-openings and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but that the right product mix will help some companies through the uncertainty. Back to school shopping, which typically kicks off as early as July, is a key event for many retailers, particularly those in the apparel and office supply categories. Ike Boruchow, a senior retail analyst with Wells Fargo Securities, said in a note to clients this week that a stalled retail recovery and uncertainty around school re-openings has resulted in a delayed shopping period and shifting demand. For companies that rely heavily on kids apparel sales or kids apparel as a traffic driver to other purchases, a choppy back to school season could be a significant hit to their full-year results, Boruchow wrote. With some families still undecided as to how their children will learn this fall, and many school districts still figuring out if and how to re-open their doors to students safely, the traditional back to school shopping timeline may be delayed and traditional back to school wallet share may shift. For Staples Canada, back-to-school is one of the top sales events of the year, chief executive David Boone said in an interview. He said the company had surveyed parents about their needs, shifting their product lineup to meet them. So far, Staples Canada has seen demand grow for personal protective equipment and technology services versus previous years. Theres definitely been a shift towards more online shopping and a shift towards products that are part of the new reality of how education is going to operate in Canada, he said. Clearly weve had to pivot in terms of the products and services and pace with which we can provide them. But some retailers will struggle, said Bruce Winder, a retail analyst who recently wrote a book about the impact of COVID-19 on the industry. Story continues For many retailers, back to school is an incredibly important event. This year it has a lot of uncertainty because of COVID-19 and the state of the economy, he said. Winder expects apparel retailers, particularly those in the higher-end category, will suffer in the back to school season as shoppers shift towards discount retailers instead. Anything thats discretionary like that will not see an uptick in sales, he said. The big uptick youll see is in devices and electronics, and personal protective equipment. Youre going to see a downtick in apparel. A Deloitte survey conducted earlier this summer found that back to school spending will likely remain flat this year. The survey found that spending on technology products such as personal computers and tablets will increase by 28 per cent when compared to last year, while spending on clothing and traditional school supplies will drop by 17 per cent. Winder says retailers that offer personal protective equipment and technology products in high-demand should focus on aggressive marketing and getting the products out in front of the customer. In the meantime, youre going to have to ride this out and hope that things are better for the fall, he said. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief. A group of activists and labour organizers have announced plans to hold a protest outside the Nygard company's former Winnipeg headquarters. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A group of activists and labour organizers have announced plans to hold a protest outside the Nygard company's former Winnipeg headquarters. Organizers announced the protest on social media on Aug. 17, calling the event "Times Up Nygard." It will be held at the former Nygard property on Notre Dame Avenue, which has been sold as part of a court-ordered receivership, at 4 p.m. on Aug. 26. "It is time that Winnipeg comes together to stand up against Peter Nygards legacy of sexual violence and to stand in solidarity with all those affected in Winnipeg and around the world," organizers posted to social media. "Winnipeg will not stay silent." According to the post, the protest is being organized by the "United Against Nygard Organizing Committee," and is being supported by various labour groups, including Canadian Union of Public Employees local 2348 and the Workers United Canada Council. The event is also being supported by Womens March Winnipeg and Winnipeg Youth United, organizers said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, 79, is the subject of two lawsuits related to his alleged sexual abuse. The accusations have not been proven in court. Speaking through his attorneys, Nygard has repeatedly maintained his innocence, claiming hes at the centre of an elaborate conspiracy orchestrated by people with a personal vendetta against him who are seeking to ruin his business and reputation. On Feb. 13, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against Nygard in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The women claim they were drugged, raped and sodomized by Nygard. Since then, 47 other women have added their names to the class-action lawsuit, raising the total number of accusers to 57. The accusations span at least four decades, three continents and five countries. On Aug. 16, two of Nygards sons identified only as "John Doe No. 1" and "John Doe No. 2" filed a lawsuit in U.S. court claiming their father paid a "known sex worker" to rape them when they were teenagers. They were 14 and 15 years old, respectively, at the time of the alleged offences. In a recent interview with the Free Press, Jay Prober, one of Nygards attorneys, said his client was shocked by the latest lawsuit, and categorically denies the allegations. By PTI MUMBAI: Doctors who signed the autopsy report of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput are now receiving a torrent of abuse, threats and allegations. Screen-shots of the autopsy report which had names and mobile numbers of the five doctors from Cooper Hospital here have found their way to social media as conspiracy theories about Rajput's death began to do the rounds. While the doctors were unavailable for comment, president of the Medico-Legal Association of Maharashtra, Dr Shailesh Mohite, said they were receiving abusive phone calls and messages for the last few days. Some media reports said that callers accused the doctors of taking bribe to `suppress' the truth in the report. ALSO READ | Sushant Singh Rajput death: Obstruction to Bihar cops at Mumbai gave rise to suspicion, says SC "The dean of Cooper Hospital Dr Pinakin Gujjar informed me about the harassment of five doctors who signed the PM (post-mortem) examination report," Dr Mohite told PTI. "The hospital's landline numbers were also flooded with similar calls." "I feel that firm legal action should be taken against such trolls, as some of them have gone ahead and found personal details of these doctors and shared screenshots on social media platforms," Dr Mohite said. "It is unfortunate that doctors have to go through such harassment and their families are being targeted," he added. Sushant Singh Rajput allegedly committed suicide at his Bandra residence on June 14. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld transfer of an FIR registered by Bihar police in the case to the CBI, and said the central agency alone will probe the cases related to the actor's death. In late May 2008, two accounts were registered with the popular NZ online marketplace Trade Me: one under the name Susan Wright using the username SW70, and another under the name Shayne Wright using the username Shayne61. Loading During this time, Wright opened bank accounts with both ANZ and BNZ in Napier. She already had an existing account with ASB bank. On May 27 they threw their first bait into the waters of online sales. They used the SW70 profile to advertise an outdoor spa on Trade Me along with the words must help to pay family medical bills. An online bidder won the auction and emailed the seller to arrange for payment. The victim deposited NZ$4165 into Wrights ANZ bank account as directed and emails were exchanged to arrange for the spa to be transported to buyer. The seller stated they were still at Starship hospital with a son on life support. Several emails were exchanged about the boys wellbeing and the buyer expressed her best wishes to the boys parents. The buyer was then told for an extra NZ$350 the spa can be delivered to her front door, and she happily obliged. The spa never arrived and the sellers were never heard from again. A similar version of these events would take place six more times within a few weeks. One of the victims bought a Suzuki quad bike and a silage wagon from Shayne61 for $16,500. While speaking to the seller on the phone, the seller told him it might be hard to get hold of him and his partner over the next few days as they were at Starship hospital with their nephew who had brain cancer. The buyer never received his quad bike or silage wagon, and the sellers conveniently disappeared. The woman on the phone But it was the sale of a Kawasaki motorcycle that likely sealed Wrights fate. The motorcycle was listed on Trade Me in late May 2008, with the advertisement stating our son has cancer and can no longer ride his pride and joy. It stated the bike had been bought in February as a birthday present for the boy. One of the complainants said he was contacted by the seller after being outbid for the motorcycle, and was told the original sale had fallen through. The victim said the man on the phone identified himself as John, and the complainant agreed to pay NZ$2650 for the bike and delivery. The buyer was later emailed bank account details from someone called Susan, who said they were Johns partner. When the buyer called John to tell him that the money had been paid into the bank account, a woman answered the phone. She said her name was Susan and that she was happy to help. The buyer said he had a friendly discussion with Susan by phone, and she told him they planned to use the money for alternative treatment for their son who had brain cancer. He said the story especially resonated with him as he had lost a family member to brain cancer in the past and was the father of a young son. It all sounded legitimate, he said. But it wasnt. The buyer never saw the motorcycle, or his NZ$2650, again. During Wrights trial, she denied ever talking on the phone with someone about the sale of a motorcycle or a sick son in hospital. It mustve been Bennett who put on a womans voice, she said. Not a chance, said the victim. Judge Paul Kellar later said this aspect turned out to be an important part of the case. Being satisfied that the person on the phone was indeed Wright, the Crown had already gone a long way in proving her involvement with the deception. The judge said it did not make sense that Bennett would pretend to be a woman on the phone since he had already spoken to the buyer before when he identified himself as John. The bank accounts As the proceeds from their fraudulent dealings rolled in, Wright and Bennett moved quickly to get their hands on the money. Wright withdrew about NZ$25,000 over two days from the different bank accounts before one of the accounts was frozen. A significant amount of money, the Crown prosecutor submitted, and certainly enough to make anyone question why so much cash needed to be withdrawn. Wright said she didnt regard it as significant and therefore didnt question it. She told the court Bennett drove her to the banks with step-by-step instructions on how to withdraw the money. He waited outside in the car while she was inside and she handed over the money to him when she got back in the car. It was to be used for living expenses. Bennett always took care of all the bills, she said. Wright claimed she thought Bennett was transferring money into her accounts from overseas. She said she had asked Bennett why he was transferring money to her account, and he told her that was the way it has to be done right now. It was all part of the elaborate lies he had told her throughout their marriage, she insisted. Bennet allegedly said he once worked as a helicopter pilot for Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, but had to give up the job after being kidnapped at gunpoint in Crowes helicopter by members of an Australian criminal organisation. He told her he had worked for the CIA, and that there were bad people in the British government who were after him. He had to use a different name because he was in a witness protection program. Outlandish stories but she believed them all, she said. Even under intense cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Penny Brown, Wright continued to plead ignorance. She claimed she had virtually no computer skills at the time and did not know how to set up an email account, register a Trade Me account or do internet banking. She wasnt working and had never got the chance to learn those skills like people usually do, she said. Judge Kellar was not convinced. He said he couldnt accept that Wright did not know what the purpose of the bank accounts was. The judge said he found it highly unlikely that Wright would have agreed to open bank accounts in her name on her husbands instructions and then withdraw large sums of money from these accounts without asking questions. I am therefore sure that Ms Wright was in cahoots with Mr Bennett. Put bluntly she and Mr Bennett told a cruel lie about the reasons for selling the goods. I am also sure that Ms Wright knew that the representations were lies. She knew they did not have the goods they were purporting to sell. The couple returned to Australia but were brought back to New Zealand to face the charges, Bennett in 2016 and Wright in 2018. A couple using the same names was detained entering Sydney on a stolen yacht in 2015, when the pair was also wanted for alleged fraud. The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has called on the government to prosecute people taking advantage of the national fight against the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic to ostensibly enrich themselves. According to Mr. Bright Akwetey, a leading member of CPP contesting for the partys flagbearer slot, the COVID-19 fight was people-centered and taking undue advantage of it for whatever reasons was a criminal offence. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the CPP residential spirant further underscored the need for the government to establish isolation medical facilities to provide healthcare services to patients. The scope of the spread of the pandemic requires specialised health facilities to handle emergencies. Our health personnel are capable of managing the pandemic situation in the country and I believe they can do much better if we have specialised health facilities in place, he said. Mr. Akwetey, a renowned legal practitioner who has contested the CPPs flagbearer position for the fourth time had earlier addressed party delegates and supporters in the Bono Region at a meeting held in Sunyani. He explained he was in the region to canvass for more votes in the forthcoming CPPs congress that will elect a Presidential Candidate for Election 2020. Mr. Akwetey regretted that the CPP had not been able to make significant impacts and win Ghanas general election because its past presidential candidates had not sought the general interest of the party. He alleged its past presidential candidates had been in bed with either the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and it was time delegates gave him the opportunity to lead the party to ensure a resounding victory, and form the next government. Mr. Akwetey promised that a CPP government under his watch would do everything possible to liberate Ghanas flagging economy from the shackles of neo-colonialism. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The COVID-19 pandemic is possibly the most serious challenge credit unions have faced in nearly a century. While credit unions were deemed critical infrastructure and able to remain open for the most part throughout the coronavirus pandemic, most locations had to shift their workforces to remote work, reduce hours, close lobbies and rapidly transition to digital solutions to safely keep services available. With isolation parameters being scaled back or lifted in some states, many credit unions are seeking to expand hours and services to help maintain a stable economy and fully meet their members financial needsall while practicing social distancing requirements and maintaining compliance with regulatory mandates. As credit unions carefully consider how to reopen their branches, here are five tips to follow as we gradually and cautiously shift toward normalcy following this significant public health event. 1. Prioritize the Health of Employees and Members The return to a pre-coronavirus world will take time. While it is tempting to jump right back into the old way of doing business, medical and business experts indicate that significant health precautions will continue to be necessary for the foreseeable future, maybe even into next year. As part of the reopening process, team leaders need to carefully construct plans to implement best health practices that align with employment laws and guidelines for shared spaces for employees and members. While these plans require some patience and long-term thinking, the benefit to the credit union, employees, members and community are well worth the efforts. Demonstrating commitment to your members and community will no doubt have a positive impact on the success of the credit union today and in the future. President Akufo-Addo, says Ghanaians are witnessing, at first hand, The Year of Roads, as road projects in every region of the country are ongoing. Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of the Essiama-Nkroful-Telekubokazo road, in the Ellembelle constituency, President Akufo-Addo expressed his delight that it is under my time as President that the road leading to Nkroful (hometown of Kwame Nkrumah) is about to be constructed. Indeed, the Essiama-Nkroful-Telekubokazo Road links of Kwame Nkrumah, as well as linking major cocoa growing areas in Anyinase North. It will also provide the shortest route from Esiama through Telekubokazo to Aniben junction to Tarkwa and Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Area. Reiterating the comment made by the Chief of Esiama, Nana Enuquagyan II, who described the President a promise keeper, the President added that I am someone who promises and delivers, and that is something I want Ghanaians to know, so they can trust me. He continued, I told Ghanaians that this is the year of roads. Ghanaians can testify to this. We are not doing green book propaganda roads, we are doing genuine roads on the ground for all to see. All my roads are feeli feeli roads, not green book roads. The road was awarded for construction on 5th November 2019, with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation being the funding agency. It is a 6.50-kilometre stretch, which is being constructed by M/S Memphis Metropolitan Ltd, and is expected to be completed on 29th April 2021, at a cost of GH5,520,130.51. Other roads being constructed in the enclave include the 20-kilometre Telekubokazo to Aiyinase Road, which is being fully funded by the Government of the Republic, acting through the Ghana Road Fund; the 30.2-kilometre Essiama to Telekubokazo Road, which, again is being fully funded by Government, through the Ghana Road Fund. Upgrading to bitumen surfacing of the Gwira Aiyinase to Gwira Wiawso feeder road, and upgrading of the 3.20-kilometre Egyam Town Road are other road projects being done. Flight Lieutenant (retd.) Gunjan Saxena, whose Netflix biopic Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, has been courting controversies since its release, has responded to claims that the film is factually incorrect. Gunjan's batchmate, Flight Lieutenant (retd.) Sreevidya Rajan, had recently said that that she was the first female pilot to fly in rescue operations during the Kargil War. In an interview with NDTV, Gunjan said that when she went to Kargil she did not think about setting any record or trying to make history. Her sole focus was to do her job well. Gunjan said that the IAF had arranged for media interaction after the conflict and it was there when her name was projected as the first woman to fly for IAF in a rescue operation. She added, From July 1999 till today, my name has featured in a number of headlines, in a number of articles, and in the Limca Book of Records, and in one of the promotion exams taken by the air force." Saying the controversy has only stemmed due to the film, she added, Between July 1999 and today, I dont see what has changed. The only thing that has changed is this movie being released, she said. Addressing Sreevidya, Gunjan said that she never flew at the same time during Kargil operations. She added that she was not stationed in Srinagar at the same time. I dont think I was looking for any clarification, about who came in one week before, she said. Previously, in an open letter, Retired Wing Commander Namrita Chandi, had accused the film of 'peddling lies.' She also wrote that Sreevidya Rajan was the first lady pilot who flew to Kargil and not Gunjan. Aaron Coleman admitted that he harassed girls online when he was in middle school. He called one sixth-grade girl fat and told her she should kill herself. Seven years ago, he told another girl, who was 13 at the time, that he would circulate a naked photo of her if she didnt send him more nude images. When she refused, she said, he followed through on his threat. Theyre accurate, Mr. Coleman, 19, said of the womens claims. On Monday, Mr. Coleman, a dishwasher and community college student, was declared the winner of a Democratic primary for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives, defeating the incumbent, Stan Frownfelter, by 14 votes. The final count was 823 to 809. What would have been a story about a young upstart taking down a seven-term incumbent during a period of nationwide youth activism has instead alarmed Democratic state leaders, who said they were worried that Mr. Colemans acknowledgment of his troubled past and other comments he made during the campaign would hurt their party's chances in competitive races. FP Studio For a while now, India has been driving back-office functions for some of the large enterprises across the world. However, over the past few years, it has taken giant strides towards becoming the innovation hub of the world, by adding strategic value to multi-billion-dollar businesses from around the world, through Global Capability Centres (GCCs) based out of India. To gain insights into the role and significance of GCCs in India and how they can become future-ready, Automation Anywhere, in collaboration with CNBC TV18 and Forbes India, hosted a panel discussion under its Future Ready India series. The virtual event was a conference of eminent experts - Suman K Das, Managing Director Eli Lilly Services P Ltd; Serge De Vos, Sr. Director Global Operations, AB InBev; Kaushik Majumdar, Managing Director, Principal Global Services; Naveen Gullapalli, Head, NGSC Hyderabad & NBSX; Rama Donepudi, Head of Global Transformation and Innovation Hub (Global Hub), Centre Head - Reckitt Benckiser and Milan Sheth, Executive Vice President, India, Middle East, and Africa, Automation Anywhere moderated by Mridu Bhandari of CNBC TV18. The dialogue also set out to explore the role that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) could play in the journeys of GCCs. Milan Sheth kicked off the session by explaining why India has recently been taking center-stage in the GCC arena. We have abundant process knowledge, domain knowledge, and technical talent. This gives us the potential to play a key role in the digital transformation journey of any global company, he said. The discussion proceeded to cover sharing of cases of successful GCCs in India and the challenges they faced, the role RPA could play in long term cost optimization and revenue generation for these centers, how automation helps to create better experiences for customers, employees and business partners and how success could be achieved by marrying technology with the core purpose of an organization. The participants agreed that RPA is a crucial component of overall automation possibilities and it lays the foundation for the use of digital intelligence, AI, and more intuitive capabilities. Showcasing the proof of the pudding, Milan Sheth concluded, When the pandemic struck, almost 90% of our customers were able to function smoothly because they had not waited for a crisis to integrate automation and digital in their service delivery to end customer; these innovations were already in place. With respect to future-proofing of GCCs, he averred, Unlike the people-led models of the past, next-gen GCCs will be defined by a people + technology-led model. The discussion ended with a consensus on the great opportunities for Indian GCCs to continue to play an innovative role in global parent organizations digital transformation journeys. This is a Partnered Post. The Irish government yesterday reintroduced some of the restrictions on social contact, events, public transport use and workplaces, although it is far from a return to the draconian lockdown measures of March/April. Goodbody Stockbrokers believe the decision was justified based on an uptick in cases over the past week. Data from the ECDC show that the incidence of cases over the last 14 days, relative to the population, stands at 23 per 100,000. This compares to an average of 33 in the 31 European countries reported. There is no doubt that the number of cases has risen recently, but it is also the case that the Irish government has decided to take the more cautious route to managing the virus. Goodbody Stockbrokers say in terms of the economy, in theory, there are very few additional restrictions that would cause further strain but in practice, there is. A survey published yesterday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that businesses biggest concern was another lockdown. The second biggest concern was demand or reduced consumer confidence. The survey also found that while 46% of firms had revenues at (34%) or above (12%) normal, 34% had revenues less than 50% of normal. Another finding was that 50% of firms are receiving some form of governmental support. According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "Politics plays a big role in these kinds of decisions, with the reopening of schools being the biggest single priority right now for the government. That is vitally important but given how long the virus may be with us, some balance must return to these decisions." Source: www.businessworld.ie US customs officers intercepted a Venezuela-bound private jet in south Florida loaded with 82 firearms, including a sniper rifle, plus 63,000 rounds of ammunition, US authorities said. Two Venezuelan pilots Luis Alberto Patino and Gregori Mendez were arrested Saturday and charged with smuggling bulk cash and goods from the US and illegally possessing firearms as aliens, US Customs and Border Protection said in a news release on Tuesday. The plane and its cargo were seized, the statement said. It was not clear why the weapons were purchased. But the arrest comes as tensions between the US and have escalated in recent months, including allegations that opponents of President Nicols Maduro had been seeking the support of a former US Green Beret to violently overthrow the socialist leader. The Venezuelan-registered Lear jet listed as its destination the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the US statement said. But Jared Rine, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint that one of the defendants said after being arrested that the aircraft's ultimate destination was "From my training and experience, I know that pilots have filed flight plans to third party countries to avoid detection of their ultimate destinations to avoid scrutiny of law enforcement authorities," Rine wrote. Venezuelan-registered aircraft and Venezuelan pilots have come under intense scrutiny of late for smuggling gold, cocaine and other goods as the Trump administration has intensified efforts to isolate Maduro's government. As part of those efforts, all US-registered aircraft are banned from flying to The US statement said customs agents were alerted about a suspicious aircraft movement at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. According to Rine's affidavit, the aircraft was referred for a customs inspection shortly before its scheduled takeoff Saturday afternoon. When agents arrived, they found a ground crew removing some 50 boxes from the aircraft, it said. CBP officers observed that the aircraft was fully loaded, from the cockpit back to the lavatory, with cases and boxes of weapons, ammunition and household goods, Rine said. The CBP statement said a total of 82 firearms, including a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle and 18 rifles, plus 63,000 rounds of ammunition, were found. A firearm suppressor was also found as well as body armor, it said. The men were also transporting undeclared cash and endorsed checks worth over USD20,000, CBP said. Patino told agents that he and the co-pilot purchased the weapons on the internet and from retail shops in Florida while renting an apartment for the past three months in the nearby town of Coral Spring, CBP said. The two men are also listed as managers of a Florida-registered company, PM Global Services LLC, created in June for the purpose of any and all lawful business, according to corporate records. Mendez is also affiliated with four additional Florida-registered companies. A public defender assigned to represent Patino did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. There was no listed attorney for Mendez. (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.) Former Minister in the erstwhile NDC government, Murtala Mohammed has cautioned all those seeking to score political points on the issues of morality to desist since no politician is clean in that regard. According to the former Member of Parliament(MP) for Nanton Constituency, that tangent is a very slippery slope which no Ghanaian politician can pass through. Speaking on TV3 New Day via Zoom, the former Deputy Minister said No politician can stand the morality test. If you want to talk about morality you must be very very careful. The former MPs comment was in reaction to the recent brouhaha surrounding the unknown baby daddy of Kumawood actress, Tracey Boakyes 3-month-old baby, whom many have linked to former President John Mahama. Source: ghanacelebrities.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 Pakistani families are hosting smaller ceremonies and spending less on weddings because of virus restrictions. Weddings are usually extravagant affairs in Pakistan but a ban on large public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic has forced many to opt for smaller ceremonies. Pakistan, which has reported more than 290,000 cases of the new coronavirus, removed nearly all of its restrictions as part of a partial lockdown last week. Restaurants, cinemas and gyms have been reopened but educational institutions and wedding venues will remain closed until September 15. Noman Ali said he pushed back his wedding by three months, before going ahead with a smaller guest-list of 250 instead of 800. We waited for a month, then two months, then three. The pandemic just wasnt ending. So we decided to invite fewer people, Ali told Al Jazeera. 200813105615136 Pakistanis host a number of events as part of the wedding, traditionally spending large amounts of money. Families can even go bankrupt and see their life savings disappear. Due to this, some believe the pandemic is a blessing in disguise Parents who are poor but feel pressure to host ostentatious [weddings], theyve been able to save [money] because of coronavirus. I think it should always be like this and society should embrace it. It would be better for everyone, Azam Khan, a wedding guest, told Al Jazeera. However, the growing trend of at-home smaller ceremonies has also put a strain on countless businesses who rely on weddings such as florists, caterers, jewellers and fashion designers. The nearly 650,000 people working at wedding venues nationwide have been sitting at home for nearly six months, Rana Ahmed, president of the Karachi Banquet Hall Association, said. He estimated 50 percent of Pakistans industries are linked to weddings. Weve tried to help, giving them [food] rations, and weve continued to pay salaries to staff employees. But the day labourers, who the government said it would [help], are the most worried. And they account for nearly 500,000 people. Reporting by Zein Basravi in Karachi Former Vice President Joe Biden, who won the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, has pledged to stop new drilling on federal lands and waters to address growing concerns over climate change, a move that would have sweeping consequences for the nations oil and gas industry largely concentrated in Texas. Proponents say a drilling ban on federal property would help combat climate change and protect the environment. Opponents fear a ban could cost thousands more industry jobs and threaten U.S. energy independence. We think the most important second-half-of-2020 narrative for the (energy sector) is the looming U.S. election, given the disparity of views from each political party on energy regulation, Arun Jayaram, an energy analyst with JPMorgan Chase, said in a research note this month. While Bidens platform is not focused on banning hydraulic fracturing, his administration would look to restrict new permits on federal lands and waters, while activity on state lands would not be impacted. The debate over banning drilling for oil and gas on federal property comes as the energy industry is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, which crushed demand for petroleum products and led to tens of thousands of layoffs across Texas. It also is unfolding when more nations, corporations and consumers are shifting to renewable energy sources to mitigate the effects of climate change. Alaska lands offered: Trump plans Arctic drilling rights sale in likely 2020 clash With Biden leading Trump in several polls, many oil and gas companies are growing wary about the prospect of new drilling restrictions, which would deal another blow to the struggling energy sector. A federal ban on drilling would hamper oil and gas production across much of New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming, three of the nations largest oil and gas producing states, as well as offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, which produces 2.3 million barrels of oil and gas per day. Although Texas does not have a lot of federal land used for oil and gas drilling, many energy companies across the state are working on drilling projects on the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin, the nations most productive oil field, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Gloomy forecasts A drilling ban on federal lands and waters could cost the oil and gas industry up to 1 million jobs nationally by 2022, including 120,000 jobs in Texas, according to research from the American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade group. The National Ocean Industries Association, an offshore oil and gas and wind trade group, forecasts offshore jobs in Texas could fall to 39,000 by 2040, down from 147,000 jobs in 2019, if there were a ban on drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico. A ban on drilling offshore would be catastrophic, said Erik Milito, president of NOIA. There are small businesses in every state that provide expertise and services to the Gulf of Mexico. Revenues from oil and gas royalties also would fall as drilling permits and leases expire. Oil and gas royalties from federal property totaled $9.3 billion in 2019, including more than $1 billion from offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. These oil and gas revenues are shared with states with more than $2 billion of revenue paid out to more than 35 states in 2019, including $57 million to Texas. Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox uncredited, HOGP / Associated Press At the same time, demand for foreign oil and gas could rise by 2 million barrels per day to offset the loss of oil and gas production in federal lands, according to the American Petroleum Institute. A recent Morning Consult poll of 798 registered voters in Texas commissioned by the oil and gas trade group found that 69 percent of Texas voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports access to oil and gas produced in the U.S. It would be a disaster for American producers and would significantly impact U.S. energy independence, said Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute. The economic impact of this proposal would be crippling to many states, including Texas and New Mexico. Environmental groups argue the U.S. should continue to preserve public lands for future generations of Americans to enjoy, instead of opening them up to carbon- and methane-emitting oil and gas drilling. They decried moves by President Donald Trump to open up drilling permits on millions of acres of public lands, including most recently the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, home to hundreds of thousands of caribou, rare musk oxen and migratory birds. If were serious about our climate goals, there has to be a pause on new oil and gas leasing on public lands, said Adam Kolton, the executive director of Alaska Wilderness League Action, which for decades has sought to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling. We cant act like business as usual because climate change puts Houston and other parts of our country at risk from hurricanes and wildfires. We should be reimagining public lands and national forests as part of the solutions to the climate crisis. Getting prepared Oil and gas companies that drill heavily on federal lands are preparing for a possible ban under a Biden presidency by applying for more drilling permits and ensuring they have plenty of leases on private property unaffected by a federal ban. They also are prepared for a legal fight to protect leases and permits already approved on federal lands. Devon Energy said it has been building a deep inventory of permits to drill on federal lands ahead of the presidential election. The Oklahoma City-based independent expects to have more than 550 federal drilling permits by November, which could cover more than 75 percent of its drilling activity on federal lands over the next four years. About a fifth of Devons portfolio of oil and gas leases are on federal lands, much of it in the Delaware Basin of New Mexico and Powder River Basin of Wyoming. A battle looms: Texas lake is site of latest skirmish over drilling expansion Jeff Geissler, STR / AP Devon has a clear strategic path forward to create value regardless of who occupies the White House, CEO Dave Hager said earlier this month. While we are well positioned as a company to navigate these issues, I must say that we fundamentally believe that the idea of limiting drilling activity on federal lands is fraught with serious economic ramifications and puts our nations energy security at risk. EOG Resources said it has about 2,500 federal drilling permits that are approved or in progress, which should provide more than four years of drilling activity on federal lands. The Houston independent also has enough drilling permits and leases on private lands to support at least eight years of drilling activity. Our government provides an important system of checks and balances, which provides for due process before any regulatory changes, and these changes have to consider the interest of all stakeholders, Billy Helms, EOGs chief operating officer, told analysts earlier this month. Ultimately, regulatory and legislative changes that deny access to current property rights could amount to a government taking. So therell certainly be some legal consequences of going through the process. Chevrons chief financial officer, Pierre Breber, said the California oil major is willing to work with either Trump or Biden to help the oil and gas industry recover from the pandemic. Were going to continue to work with whatever administration is in place and work to make sure that theres a good understanding of potential regulation and the impacts that it may have as we move forward, Breber said. paul.takahashi@chron.com twitter.com/paultakahashi A drunken woman painted the words all lives matter across Londons Bomber Command Memorial, a court heard. Charlie Barnes, 31, wandered over to The Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park with a tin of blue paint in hand on 10 June this year. The Bomber Command Memorial features seven statues of a Bomber Command aircrew - a tribute to the 55,573 Bomber Command crew who lost their lives in the Second World War. Charlie Barnes, pictured leaving court, admitted criminal damage and will be sentenced later Veterans and families of the deceased visit the memorial to pay tributes to their loved ones, the court heard. Barnes appeared at Westminster Magistrates court wearing a beady white necklace over a stripy brown dress and spoke to confirm her name and address. The 31-year-old stared at her feet as she admitted criminal damage of the historic memorial. Prosecuting, Arfan Ahmed said: This matter took place on 10 June and it relates to criminal damage of the walls inside the Bomber Command Memorial. The defendant took in a tin of paint and placed it on the floor. She then picked up a paintbrush and painted the words in blue paint all lives matter. This is all captured on CCTV, she is also seen in possession of and swinging a bottle of what appears to be brandy. If any family members of The Royal Air Force were to see that, they would have been caused serious alarm or distress, seeing those words painted, and the memorial defaced in that manner. Mr Ahmed said the memorial stone walls were scrubbed clean after the incident at a cost of 500. He continued: Its premeditated, its a planned attack - you dont walk down to the Bomber Command Memorial with a tin of paint. Its aggravated because its a public memorial and the content of the writing. Mr Ahmed told the court Barnes actions were not only premeditated, but political. He said: The nature of the event seems to be stemming from a political event. The nature of these offences seem to be politically motivated. The Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London which was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 has been defaced a number of times, most recently in June this year Laura Bayles, defending, said: There was nothing said about political motivations, there is no evidence of that. Ms Bayles said Barnes did not know what she was doing because her drink had been spiked. She had no awareness of this until she was shown the CCTV by police at interview, the solicitor said. Magistrate Lubbock granted Barnes unconditional bail but warned: You must keep your phone on and charged at all times so probation can get in touch with you. If you do anything else or any other offending you could be arrested and dealt with more seriously. Barnes, of Osram Court, Shepherds Bush Road, Hammersmith, admitted criminal damage. She will next appear at Westminster Magistrates Court to meet with probation on 17 September. In June this year, more than 113,000 signed the petition which was initiated by Len Chappell from the Forces Online veterans' website, demanding anyone who desecrates memorials honouring Britain's war heroes should feel the full force of the law. American retail giant Walmart's CEO Douglas McMillon has said Flipkart has been performing better than expected with the gross merchandise value or GMV exceeding that of pre-COVID-19 levels. Talking to analysts at the company's second quarter earnings call Douglas said that profit for the international business was also better than expected, excluding the forex and discrete tax item impact. "Despite operational limitations in several markets due to the crisis, including the government-mandated closure of Flipkart, net sales increased 1.6% in constant currency, including nearly 40% growth in eCommerce," he said. In the second quarter of FY21 Walmart registered a 5.6 percent (YoY) revenue growth with the total revenue at $137.7 billion dollars. However, the international segment dipped by 6.8 percent with revenues at $27.2 billion dollars compared to $29.1 billion dollars in Q2 of FY20 largely attributable to the forex or currency impact. Flipkart's business also falls under the international sales segment for the parent company. Also read: Walmart reports biggest rise in online sales; store sales surge by 9.3% Walmart said that despite the challenging times it would continue to execute the strategy of building strong local businesses, and investments in India and China to grow the portfolios. "For example, we're excited about the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, creating a B2B marketplace to help small businesses in India source directly from manufacturers and producers. We'll also continue to evaluate opportunities to strengthen our position across the portfolio," said Douglas. Also read: Flipkart eyes alcohol delivery with Diageo-backed startup Walmart also said that it was pleased with Flipkart's performance ever since it made the investment, and also the manner in which the team handled the COVID-19 environment in a really effective way. "We're staying close to the decisions that they're making and excited about the strategy going forward, and with the investment, just wanted to make sure that they've got enough room, enough cash to operate" he added. Walmart though said it was not hung up on the short-term valuation and in the time to come people would understand the value of India business, be it Flipkart or Phone Pe. "This is a time when there's so much of an opportunity that the size of the prize in India is significant and we want to make sure that we're on our front foot and being aggressive," he said . Also read: New entrant in e-pharmacy business, Flipkart aims to up the ante Since she found out about Bali Kitchens imminent closing, shes gone there three times. But the experience has been different. Although the restaurant stopped regular service on Aug. 1, it has opened every weekend since, offering improvisational meals, presumably made with whats left in the kitchen. We cant really order our favorite foods because he is trying to get rid of all the leftover stocks, so the only dish you can buy is a hodgepodge of everything on the menu, Ms. Levy said. But her loyalty is unwavering. If they put 17 things in front of me, she said, Ill buy all of them. Ms. Levy also feels like this is one of her last chances to eat Indonesian food, as restaurants like Bali Kitchen are becoming harder to find in the city these days, she said. Its not like sushi where you can just go somewhere else. Some restaurants actually experienced an uptick in business after announcing their closures. 88 Lan Zhou, a famed dumpling restaurant in Manhattans Chinatown, was supposed to close on Aug. 15. But when it stopped customer service, it continued to sell its frozen dumplings a bag of 50 costs $14. Sales were so successful that the restaurant announced on Instagram last week that it was pushing back its closing date. Its not a flashy, trendy bar enticing young people. Its not a bar that serves food. Its not going to draw hundreds to party nights with the clientele downing expensive cocktails. But most importantly, its not open. Dans Bar, on the Springfield Road in Belfast, is family run, serving the local community who like a quiet pint and a chat. Its similar to many establishments across the country that have been left on the shelf as more illustrious names in the licensing trade have re-opened their doors in the past few weeks. Read More And owner Gerard Keenan, who had hoped to open two weeks ago and is still planning to open on September 1 along government guidelines, fears the doors are going to remain firmly shut unless the industry behaves for the good of all concerned. I understand that people are desperate to make a living, but the truth is that establishments that are finding ways to flout restrictions are ruining it for everyone, said Gerard. I have a real fear that come the date we have been given for reopening of September 1, our doors will have to remain shut. Common sense has to prevail here, but what bars that are reopening and flouting the restrictions are doing is destroying any confidence people have that we are all able to make our pubs a safe place for people to come in to. I firmly believe that if someone like me was able to sit down with Arlene Foster and Michelle ONeill we could come up with a way of making sure every bar was able to open safely. Gerard Keenan, Dan's Bar owner While not mentioning any names, he told how a bar not far from his own business, has felt the consequences already. Theres one bar that opened. It doesnt serve food, but went ahead. Within a week there were five cases of Covid. A week later there were 12. Its shut again. Is that what we really want to see happening? Believe me, I was tempted to do it myself for a while. There are bars who have never served food who are suddenly finding a way. I had to think was I willing to put my family at risk at any cost to get the doors open again? Id love more than anything else to get the business back up and running, I have a family of six and I need to look after them, but not by exposing them to risk like that. I firmly believe that if someone like me was able to sit down with Arlene Foster and Michelle ONeill we could come up with a way of making sure every bar was able to open safely, he said. We were ready to open two weeks ago. We were reducing the number of people allowed in from 80 to 36. We had spent over 3,000 on stock. Thankfully a lot of that is spirits which will keep and I managed to cancel the order of kegs before they arrived otherwise we would have lost a lot of money. But the bottled beer will not keep and thats something were going to lose money on. Solutions need to be found. We would have no objection to routinely temperature testing everyone who comes through the door. We have already bought thermometers and we has already set a new lower limit on the numbers. Its the right thing to do. Expand Close Gerard Keenan and his family outside the bar / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerard Keenan and his family outside the bar But he says the greed of some bar owners is threatening to do unrepairable damage to the industry. Unfortunately elsewhere greed has set in and that has led to complacency, or a lack of thought for the rest of the industry and the health and wellbeing of the community, he said. I have already met with the head of PSNI licensing and have been told they do have new powers. If they receive a complaint and investigate to find bars have been in breach of regulations then they now have the power to shut that bar down there and then and they can only re-open once police are satisfied the business has been made safe and will run on that condition. It should be simple for the authorities to monitor which businesses have been ordering kegs from suppliers and operating while not abiding by the restrictions. Gerard Keenan, Dan's Bar owner Whether police act on what he has been told is another matter. A PSNI spokesperson said: PSNI are guided by the Licensing (NI) Order 1996 and the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020 to ensure laws are upheld and people are kept safe. We have been working with a number of licensees across Northern Ireland to ensure our communities can socialise in a safe environment. Where Police receive a complaint, we will engage with the licensee with respect to the Licensing (NI) Order 1996 and the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020. Where appropriate, advice and guidance is provided to ensure the continued safe and peaceful enjoyment of services. Any warnings issues, said Gerard, have not been strong enough to deter some bars from openly flouting the advice. There are traditional wet bars around the country that have found a way around the restrictions to re-open, whether thats serving a bowl of Doritos to customers as food, he said. Theyre not helping any of us. Some I have been made aware of are using local chip shops to enable them to serve food. Its morally wrong and there is a real fear from the pub owners who are abiding by the restrictions on wet pubs and not opening their door that the industry will be left devastated if we are all forced to close our doors or keep them shut. We need to be grown up about this, be responsible. What happened last time can happen again and none of us want that situation. Im scared I will not be able to meet my bills. My family is everything for me and I want to be able to provide for them. Gerard Keenan, Dan's bar owner And while the industry is calling for more financial support if the deadline of September 1 for reopening slips past again, Gerard is concerned that some who have been flouting restrictions will benefit as much as those who have remained shut. Of course there will be calls for financial aid, grants to make sure businesses can survive what happens next, but here needs to be a way of making sure those who have abided by regulations are the once to benefit. I know those who have kept their doors shut will be furious if those who have gone ahead, bent the rules and opened their doors despite never having served food before benefit as well. It should be simple for the authorities to monitor which businesses have been ordering kegs from suppliers and operating while not abiding by the restrictions. Im scared I will no be able to meet my bills. My family is everything for me and I want to be able to provide for them, but I would never dream of putting them at risk by opening up if I didnt think it was safe to do so, but we will need assistance and that needs to be focused on the businesses who have done all they can to keep their customers safe. Last year our premises was valued at over 500,000. Today Id expect its worth less than half of that. No-one will be interested in buying a bar in the current circumstances. Thats what a family business is up against here. ALBANY When the Democratic Party revealed Kamala Harris as the vice presidential nominee, Ashok Adikoppula immediately told his 10-year-old daughter. An immigrant from India, like Harris mother, Adikoppula wanted to show his daughter what would be possible for her one day. She could motivate so many next generation immigrant kids and women of color to run for office or take up challenging positions and serve, said Adikoppula, a Loudonville resident who is an IT consultant for the state. If your intent is right and you have the will to fight for what you believe, I believe you have an opportunity here. For Adikoppula and many other immigrants, Harris nomination is an embodiment of their American dream: what could be the bright and successful end result of the arduous experience of starting a life and raising a family in a foreign, unfamiliar country. For those immigrants children, Harris nomination is a validation of what they knew all along: just because their ancestors didnt arrive to the U.S. on Mayflower, just because their skin color is not white or their religion may not be Protestant, it doesnt mean they are any less American and patriotic. Harris is scheduled to speak at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. For many people of color and immigrants, Harris nomination also brings a sense of redemption. After four years of Donald Trumps presidency, which some describe as anti-immigrant and racist, Harris is proof of Americas strength: its multicultural, diverse fabric. Sarah Ahmed of Colonie contends that its not just redemption, but acknowledgment. I think its an open acknowledgement that this is who we are as a country that we are diverse and made up of a number of different people, she said. The immigrant experience is integral to America and how America came to be. To have swept that under the rug for so many generations is really problematic. And its not just Harris. American government has seen a wave of newly-elected women of color who have increased representation of citizenry, including but not limited to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Presley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Holding on to the culture from back home remains important in many immigrant households, like Ahmeds, whose parents came from Pakistan and India in the 1970s. Ahmed was lucky, she says. Her large extended family was intentional about living near each other in Loudonville, enrolling cousins in the same school district and even grades so they wouldnt feel alone something she knows wasnt the case for many other children of color in the country. All of her family members taught Ahmed to balance and mesh together her American and desi identities into one, choosing the best of both worlds. The whole point of being in America is that you can have multiple facets to your identity, Ahmed said. I really do credit our parents and aunts and uncles for creating an environment where we were able to be proud of being from the subcontinent and maintain our culture, language, religion, customs and traditions and dont feel like we have to compromise that in order to be American. Ahmeds tone grew more excited as she thought about her younger cousins, nieces and nephews, growing up knowing Harris was the vice presidential nominee and possibly vice president. Im really excited that they can get online and see someone who looks like they do, has a similar experience to them, comes from a multicultural background, grew up with multiple languages and different foods, and is proud of all of that, Ahmed said, compared to her growing up seeing mainly white men in government. That in turn frees them to be who they are and embrace all aspects of who they are. Through her work with the Albany chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), Aliya Saeed and her colleagues place Asian students in internships in governmental offices so they can begin to feel as if they belong in government a sector where they are severely underrepresented. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Especially as I think of our interns and the promise that many of them show, my hope is someday it would not be unusual to see children of immigrants or immigrants in the government, Saeed said. Born and raised in Pakistan, Saeed immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 to train for her psychiatry residency similar, she noted, to Harris mother Shyamala Gopalan who immigrated in the late 50s for her own training, though for breast cancer research. I wanted my children to experience the American society and all that it promises, she said. But society has a way of incorporating people into it even if they grew up elsewhere. Now I feel that I am more American than anything else. That was not something that I planned out to do. Manoj Ajmera never intended to stay in the Capital Region when he first immigrated from Mumbai in 1966. Ajmera, who says he was one of the first Indians to immigrate to the region, planned to get his masters degree, work for a couple of years, then go back home to take over his fathers business. But things change, said Ajmera, who lives in Clifton Park. As time goes by you get more used to the environment and friendship. When his daughter was born, Ajmera told himself he would move his family back to India before she became a teenager. But again, life had other plans, and Clifton Park remained their home. Regardless, like many other immigrant parents, Ajmera raised his daughter with discipline. The main thing most immigrants do is they really take a lot of interest in their kids so they get a proper education, learn proper values and appreciate other people and cultures, too, he said. My father used to say that anything can be taken away from you except the education, so that should be the most important to you. Today, Ajmeras only child owns her own business consulting firm in Kansas City. "This is the first time in history something like this is happening, a woman on the ticket and also from a different culture," Ajmera said. "That opens up the door in the future." President Donald Trump delivered his most extensive remarks on the QAnon conspiracy theory Wednesday, defending followers as 'people that love our country' and going out of his way not to condemn some of the most bizarre claims associated with the movement. 'Ive heard these are people that love our country,' Trump said at the White House. He was asked about the group hours after issuing a tweet backing Florida Republican primary winner Laura Loomer, who has pushed conspiracy theories that deny the school shootings in Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012. 'I dont know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much,' President Donald Trump said Wednesday when asked about the QAnon movement Trump has also congratulated Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won a Republican primary in Georgia, calling her a 'future Republican star,' even as retiring and centrist Republicans issue warnings about the rise of the movement gaining a foothold in the party. Trump, who has backed other QAnon supporters and retweeted its followers in the past, gave the impression he had only a general understanding of the movement. 'I dont know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much,' Trump said. He connected the movement, which like Trump raises alarms about a 'Deep State,' to his own concerns about violence in Democratic-run cities. 'These are people that dont like seeing whats going on in place like Portland and places like Chicago,' Trump said. He didn't flinch when asked about the most far-fetched views of some QAnon followers, that he is saving the world from a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. In this Aug. 2, 2018, file photo, a protesters holds a Q sign waits in line with others to enter a campaign rally with President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Facebook says on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, it will restrict QAnon and stop recommending that users join groups supporting it, but the company is stopping short of banning the right-wing conspiracy movement outright Save The Children hold a demonstration in Tucson against child trafficking and peodophilia. #Save Our Children is a national advocacy group that believes child trafficking has reached pandemic proportions and that politicians, establishment elites, and Hollywood celebrities are part of an organized conspiracy to aid, protect and participate in peodophilia and child trafficking Conspiracy theorist QAnon demonstrators protest during a rally to re-open California and against Stay-At-Home directives on May 1, 2020 in San Diego, California Marjorie Taylor Greene with Laura Loomer two GOP primary winners who earned online plaudits from President Trump Attendees gather before the start of a rally with U.S. President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 'Well I havent heard that. But is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?' he asked. 'If I can help save the world from problems Im willing to do it,' he continued. 'I'm willing to put myself out there. And we are actually. We are saving the world from a radical-left philosophy that will destroy this country.' Trump then during his response attacked calls to defund the police, 'open borders,' touted his border wall, and said poll numbers are 'extraordinary' on the border issue. 'But I will say this. We need strength in our country, not weakness.' Some QAnon followers also believe a 'Deep State' is behind an underground child sex trafficking ring. Among the group's claims are that there is a Satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals led by some of the world's most famous names and covered up by the media and 'deep state,' with Trump claimed to be secretly dismantling it. Among its wilder claims are that children are being kept in tunnels under major cities, that they are being trafficked on popular consumer websites such as Wayfair, and that JFK Jr. is alive and has been spotted on Marine One. The central figure in the conspiracy is Q, supposedly a high-level government official who leaves clues - or 'drops' - on message boards about the imminent 'great awakening,' when the pedophile cabal will be ended. Followers have speculated that Trump is Q and are only likely to be encouraged by his answers at the White House. Another key figure is Mike Flynn, Trump's first national security advisor, who is said to both be the victim of the deep state and central to the cabal's imminent downfall. Followers often put three gold stars on their social media profiles and Flynn himself took part in the 'pledge' in which QAnon believers recite the Pledge of Allegiance then add at the end 'where we go one, we go all.' Followers wrongly believe the slogan was on the bell of the ship John F. Kennedy served on in the Navy, and abbreviate it to WWG1WGA on social media profiles and in hashtags. Q's success is at best mixed: he predicted that JFK Jr. would be Trump's 2020 running mate after emerging from hiding on July 4 2020, a moment known as 'the storm'; that there was going to be an unsealing of 25,000 indictments in November 2017 followed by a period of military control, while Hillary Clinton was going to make for the border as a result, but would be extradited; and that members of the cabal were arrested at National Cathedral in Washington D.C. during George H.W. Bush's funeral in January 2019. QAnon followers have held up their signs at Trump rallies, and former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn last month posted a video where where said the QAnon slogan: 'Where we go one, we go all' at the end of an oath. NBC has reported that Facebook groups connected to QAnon have millions of followers. Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger released a YouTube video last week calling on party leaders to 'denounce' the conspiracy theory now that it has gained a hold in the party. 'The president hasn't fully denounced it or denounced it at all. Now, it's time for leaders to come out and denounce it,' he said, while calling on people to try to persuade followers. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has said he will seat Greene despite past racist statements, and declined to wade into her primary. According to Travis View, who has researched the group, its followers believe that a 'worldwide cabal of satanic pedophiles" run "all the major levers of power,' USA Today reported. The FBI warned in May 2019 lays out the threat of 'conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists.' The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts,' according to the memo, reported by Yahoo News. It mentioned QAnon as well as the Pizzagate, a debunked conspiracy theory that Clinton associates were running a child sex ring out of the basement of a popular Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant. The restaurant does not have a basement. Earlier Wednesday White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany backed up Trump's tweet about Loomer while providing some distance, saying the president hadn't done a 'deep dive' into the Florida GOP primary winner. The 27-year-old right-wing activist is known for pushing conspiracy theories about school shootings and making anti-Muslim statements - and won the GOP primary Tuesday for the Florida Congressional district that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Loomer celebrated Wednesday by talking to fellow right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, calling the hoaxes she's pushed 'factual stories that we have been ahead of the curve on for years,' as J.T. Lewis, a gun rights activist who supports Trump and whose brother died in the Sandy Hook shooting, called for Loomer to be pushed from the party. Donald Trump congratulated Laura Loomer (pictured) on winning the GOP primary for the district that covers his Mar-a-Lago estate. The White House said Wednesday the president hasn't done a 'deep dive' on Loomer's statements White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that the president 'routinely congratulates people who ... get the Republican nomination for Congress' Loomer called into Alex Jones' Infowars show and said that the conspiracy theories and hoaxes they've been pushing are 'factual stories that we have been ahead of the curve on for years' 'Laura Loomer is a Parkland and Sandy Hook hoaxer. She has no place in the Republican Party!' Lewis tweeted. Despite Loomer's controversial views, Trump tweeted congratulations to her late Tuesday. 'Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!' Trump wrote. She also has the backing of Jones, Donald Trump Jr., Trump's former political adviser Roger Stone and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a diehard Trump supporter. Speaking to Jones on his InfoWars show, she complained, 'I was told that if I wanted to win my race ... that I could never do InfoWars again and that I could not speak to you because they say that you are toxic, just like they say about me, and I said screw you, Alex Jones is a freedom fighter, he's a patriot, he's fighting for the First Amendment and I am never going to sideline any of my friends.' 'We were the people who led the culture revolution in 2016 when President Trump was nominated and elected,' Loomer told Jones Wednesday. 'That is what the Republican Party is missing now.' Loomer will face Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel in the fall. The four-time congresswoman is expected to win easily in the deep blue district. She ran unopposed in 2018 and beat her Republican rival in 2016 by 27.6 points. McEnany said Trump's support for Loomer was standard protocol. 'Well, the president routinely congratulates people who have officially - get the Republican nomination for Congress, so he does that as a matter of course,' she said at the White House briefing Wednesday. McEnany was asked about Loomer and about Marjorie Taylor Greene, a GOP candidate from George for the House of Representatives who prescribes to the QAnon conspiracy theory and has also made anti-Muslim statements. 'He hasn't done a deep dive into the statements by these two particular women, I don't know if he's even seen that,' McEnany said. 'But he supports the Muslim community, he supports the community of faith more broadly in this country.' The president tweeted in a show of support for Loomer late Tuesday after she defeated five candidates to win the Republican primary for the US House of Representatives seat that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach WHO'S BANNED LAURA LOOMER PLATFORMS Twitter Facebook Instagram PAYMENT SYSTEMS PayPal Venmo GoFundMe RIDESHARES Uber Lyft TECH FIRMS XFinity / Comcast processing of her campaign mass texts EVENTS CPAC - Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019 Advertisement Courtesy of Ali Alexander Loomer took the lead in the Republican primary with 42.7 percent of the vote, with nuclear engineer turned professor Christian Acosta coming in second with 25.5 percent. Other candidates in the race included a former burlesque dancer who now runs an exotic animal business and a former IRS investigator. Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, after changing his official residence from New York to Palm Beach back in October 2019. He and Melania's ballots were returned to Palm Beach officials Monday in time for their votes to be counted, reported the Washington Post. The president's decision to cast his own vote by mail comes after he has repeatedly claimed mail-in ballots lead to widespread fraud and even threatened to redo the election if he loses through what he has blasted a 'rigged' system. It is not clear if the president voted for Loomer but his social media post confirmed he approved of her victory. He'll be able to vote for her in the November election, which he plans to do absentee. Loomer has been a high-profile figure on the fringes of the alt-right since working for Project Veritas when she was a college student. While working with Jones of InfoWars she went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and accused students there of 'reading a screen or notes.' 'It's obvious these kids are reading a screen or notes someone else wrote for them. Notice how media is only talking to the same group of students. They aren't talking to the pro gun ROTC students who actually saved lives, unlike these students,' she tweeted. She also pushed a theory that there was a second gunman in the Las Vegas massacre in September 2017 and went to a press conference a month later to harry the Las Vegas county sheriff with her claims. 'All of the evidence that is being leaked is further showing how the Deep State is covering it up,' she said. The controversial 27-year-old has been slammed for making anti-Muslim comments on several occasions in recent years. She called the FBI the 'Federal Bureau of Islam' as she pushed deep-state conspiracy claims. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar 'anti-Jewish' - which led to her being removed from Twitter. 'Isn't it ironic how the twitter moment used to celebrate 'women, LGBTQ, and minorities' is a picture of Ilhan Omar?' Loomer tweeted about the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman. 'Ilhan is pro Sharia Ilhan is pro-FGM Under Sharia, homosexuals are oppressed & killed. Women are abused & forced to wear the hijab. Ilhan is anti Jewish.' Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, where Loomer (pictured) took the victory The controversial conspiracy theorist has been accused of hate speech on more than one occasion. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar (left) 'anti-Jewish'. She slammed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (right) for suspending her account over the incident Far-right activist Loomer, who has the backing of Trump's friend and former adviser Roger Stone, Representative Matt Gaetz and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, will now take on Democratic Representative Lois Frankel (pictured) in the November general election When she was banned from Twitter over the incident, Loomer handcuffed herself to Twitter's New York offices. That same month, she was removed from a congressional hearing on social media when she hit out at CEO Jack Dorsey for 'shadowbanning' conservatives and accused him of trying to sway the midterm elections toward the Democrats. This came after she was banned from using Uber and Lyft in November 2017 for tweeting that 'someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft' and complaining that she was late to a meeting because she could not find a 'non-Muslim' driver. In June 2017, Loomer rushed the stage during a Shakespeare In The Park production of 'Julius Caesar' in New York to accuse the cast of normalizing 'political violence against the right' and calling them 'Isis'. 'Stop the normalization of political violence against the right!' she shouted. 'Shame on the New York Public Theatre for doing this! You guys are ISIS! CNN is ISIS!' She also ambushed actress Alyssa Milano at the 2018 Politicon conference in Los Angeles, suggesting she was in cahoots with Linda Sarsour, a Muslim co-founder of the Women's March. 'I want to ask you right now to disavow Linda Sarsour because she is a supporter of Sharia law. And under Sharia law, women are oppressed, women are forced to wear a hijab,' Loomer said, identifying herself as a 'conservative investigative journalist.' 'My question is, will you please disavow her because she is advocating for Shariah law,' Loomer yelled at Milano, who was seated onstage. As Loomer was ushered out of the room, she yelled that #MeToo was a 'sham movement.' BETHLEHEM, Pa., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, DLP Real Estate Capital announces that it has reached a pinnacle milestone, surpassing $1 billion in its assets under management. DLP Real Estate Capital broke the billion-dollar mark with its most recent and, so far, the company's largest acquisition of 2020 - Preserve at Port Royal apartments, a 400-unit multifamily coastal community in Port Royal, South Carolina, located between Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Georgia. DLP partnered with St. Clair Holdings, an asset manager from Atlanta, GA, on the $54.1 million acquisition. DLP Real Estate Capital Originally completed in both 2004 and 2006, Preserve at Port Royal includes both interior and exterior upgrades to many of its apartment homes. There are two swimming pools, an exercise gym, playground, dog park, and additional amenities, and the property is centrally located close to major thoroughfares and schools. DLP will finish the previous owner's upgrade plan and improve the overall property management. With this latest acquisition, the number of DLP-owned multifamily apartment communities totals 45, located in 19 states across the country. Founder and CEO Don Wenner comments, "Fourteen years ago, I started DLP as a small real estate office located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Since that time, we have achieved extraordinary goals, built new companies under the DLP name, and remain focused on driving our core values through our mission and purpose. We experience high growth every single year." Melanie French, President, DLP Real Estate Management, comments, "This extraordinary achievement would not have been possible without our hard-working team members working hard in all of our apartment communities. Their dedication to delivering wow to our residents each and every day is something I am extremely proud of. Congratulations to all of our DLP team members." Next, DLP Real Estate Capital is poised to acquire what will be its largest acquisition: a multifamily property consisting of 11,848 apartments located in 43 communities and across multiple states, with over 300 employees that would join the DLP team, thus increasing the company to almost 700 team members. Wenner continues, "I'm often asked what makes our company so unique, what gives us the competitive edge. It's a combination, really. Nearly 400 hard-working team members, operating with the same mission and direction, sharing the same set of values, and a very disciplined operating system (the DLP Elite Execution System). We accomplish more in 90 days than our competitors do all year because of our dedication to the 20-mile march; putting forth the same effort day in day out, year after year. It's why we are (according to the Inc. 5000), the fourth fastest-growing company in America out of those who made the list eight years in a row or more." This past year, the company launched the DLP Housing Fund, a $1 billion evergreen REIT flagship fund, one of six investment funds within the company. This specific fund invests specifically in 5,000 existing DLP-owned apartments ($250 million in assets) with the benefit of exiting the fund at the investor's choice, with a targeted annual return of 12% net return. Visit dlprealestate.com for upcoming events and webinars happening throughout all of DLP's companies. Learn how to scale business, build wealth, obtain flexible funding, maximize home buying and selling options, and more. DLP Real Estate Capital, under the leadership of founder and CEO Don Wenner, is a leader in the single and multi-family real estate sectors of brokerage, investment management, asset management, property management, construction, and private lending. DLP RE Capital leads and inspires the building of wealth and prosperity through the execution of innovative real estate solutions. The company generates consistent returns and results for its investors and partners and gives back through its Positive Returns Foundation. The family of companies includes DLP Capital Partners, DLP Lending, DLP Real Estate Management, DLP Realty, Alliance Servicing, and Alliance Property Transfer. DLP Real Estate Capital has over $1 billion in assets under management, over 500 loans in portfolio, and has closed over 15,000 real estate transactions totaling more than $3 billion. DLP has been ranked in the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. for eight consecutive years; earned the #3 spot for The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies 2020 in the real estate and property category by Financial Times; and has been named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top 15 real estate firms in the U.S. for the fifth straight year, including the #1 team in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for sales. Media Contact: Jenn LoConte [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg SOURCE DLP Real Estate Capital Syracuse, N.Y. A man has been charged with stabbing another man early Wednesday in Syracuse. Darryl Patterson, 28, was arrested by the Syracuse Police Department and charged with assault. He was arrested near the scene of the stabbing in downtown Syracuse. A caller reported the assault at 12:19 a.m. in the 400 block of South Salina Street. Officers responded and found a 31-year-old man who had been repeatedly stabbed, said Sgt. Matthew Malinowski, police department spokesman. The wounded man told police the stabbing happened near South Clinton and West Onondaga streets. American Medical Response transported the man to Upstate University Hospital. Hes expected to survive, Malinowski said. The Syracuse Fire Department also responded to the stabbing. Patterson was later arrested near the scene of the stabbing. He has been charged with second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies. Patterson is currently being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center, custody records show. Staff writer Samantha House covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach her at shouse@syracuse.com. The Country Head of United Nations Youth Ghana Ambassador, Isaac V. Ankomah, has cautioned all the youth across the country to be agents for peace during and after the 2020 general elections. He said the future belongs to the Youth and it is in their interest to promote peace. He urged them to put Ghana first in all they do and not to allow their political differences to influence them in any way to disrupt the peace of the land. We want peace, it doesnt matter your political affiliation, lets put Ghana first, he said. According to Ambassador Ankomah, during elections, the youth are the main instruments used by political aspirants to perpetrate violence and as part of the organisations efforts to ensure peace, it would embark on a nationwide tour to preach peace to the youth of the Nations. He also called on the traditional councils to welcome UN Youth Ghana representatives whenever they knock on their doors, adding that the youth would bring on board innovative ideas to help bridge the gap between the youth and their traditional leaders. He, therefore, called for the support of corporate Ghana, Civil Society Organisations and government to partner the Association to achieve its goals, since most of their members were volunteers who needed some funding to help drive the UN Youth Ghana agenda. The Country Head tasked the youth to Chanel their energies into productive venture and shun any acts of political vigilantism in the lead up to this years presidential and parliamentary election to advance the countrys democratic credentials. Ambassador Isaac V. Ankomah, made this assertion during a press briefing on this years international youth day which is to celebrate young peoples voice, actions and initiatives as well as meaningful. To him, Dr. Antonio Guiffrida, world Bank Official for Ghana making his presentation on Poor education to effect Ghanas human capital , noted that about 56% of Ghanas human capital would go waste in the next 18 years because of the poor quality of the countrys education system and this would translate into lack of capacity to support sustainable national development, Ambassador disclosed. In view of this, UN Youth Ghana would launch a Ten (10) years strategic blueprint on how to build the human capacity index of the youths in Ghana , across the continent and globe and also develop their unique human intelligence to change the above narrative in the next 18 years. UN Youth Ghana pledges its unflinching support for every Ghana youth, across the continent and the globe and also would not renege on its responsibility to build the human capacity index of every Ghanaian youth , every youth in the continent and the world at large. Ambassador Isaac V. Ankomah, Concluded by calling on all stakeholders, The Ministry of Youth and Sports, The National Youth Authority, the Youth employment agency and the Diaspora to join forces with the UN Youth Ghana to help and support them actualize this dream and vision. Yale University's doors are opening to incoming students despite the pandemic, and one administrator, Head of College and psychology professor Laurie Santos, plainly told them the disease may kill them there this semester and that life will look more like hospital than college. In a July 1 email to Silliman College residents when Yale first announced its plan to reopen on-campus housing, Head of College and psychology professor Laurie Santos warned Yale's "community compact" was not to be taken lightly [and] explained that some staff members are from sectors of society that are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, and that they do not have the choice of whether to come to campus. "We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections and possibly deaths in our community," Santos's email reads. "You should emotionally prepare for the fact that your residential college life will look more like a hospital unit than a residential college." We're past the point where the people in charge have decided widespread death is necessary for the financial wellbeing of American institutions, and at the point where they're calmly explaining to us the terms and conditions of our demise. The Washington Post's Hannah Natanson writes: "Maybe at this point nothing should shock anymore. But this email, from a Yale administrator to returning students, is *stunning*" Notre Dame started in-person classes a week ago; yesterday it reported that 146 students tested positive, more new cases than the whole of Ontario. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, has raised $1.90 billion in new funding. The private rocket company, founded by Elon Musk, revealed the funding in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As per the filing, the company was planning to sell $2.07 billion offering, and now plans to sell further $165 million in equity and preferred stock. The latest funding reportedly is SpaceX's largest single fundraising round to date. Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the company will have an equity value of $46 billion with the new round of funding. The news comes as the company launched sixth flight for its Falcon 9 rocket booster and delivered 58 of its Starlink satellites, along with three SkySat satellites for Planet Labs Inc. to orbit. As of now, the company has launched more than 600 satellites for Starlink for its high-speed satellite-based Internet service. The project, which began development in 2015, is aiming to provide service in the Northern U.S. and Canada this year, expanding to near-global coverage by 2021. Earlier, on August 2, SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying two U.S. astronauts from the International Space Station safely landed in the Gulf of Mexico after completing a historic mission. It was the first commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft. SpaceX's first regular taxi flight for NASA is scheduled for mid-October. 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 International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, are deeply saddened by the tragic death of at least 45 migrants and refugees on 17 August, in the largest recorded shipwreck off the Libyan coast this year. Some 37 survivors mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation. They reported to IOM staff that 45 others including five children lost their lives when the vessels engine exploded off the coast of Zwara. The two organizations are calling for a review of States approach to the situation after this latest tragic incident in the Mediterranean. There is an urgent need to strengthen the current search and rescue capacity to respond to distress calls. There remains a continued absence of any dedicated, EU-led search and rescue programme. We fear that without an urgent increase in search and rescue capacity, is a risk of another disaster similar to incidents that saw large loss of life on the Central Mediterranean prior to the launch of Mare Nostrum. NGO vessels have played a crucial role in saving lives at sea amid a sharp reduction in European state-led efforts. The humanitarian imperative of saving lives should not be impeded and legal and logistical restrictions on their work must quickly be lifted. UNHCR and IOM are deeply concerned by recent delays in rescue and disembarkation. We urge states to swiftly respond to these incidents and systematically provide a predictable port of safety to people rescued at sea. Delays recorded in recent months, and failure to assist, are unacceptable and put lives at avoidable risk. Where commercial vessels are the nearest boat capable of carrying out a rescue, they should be promptly provided with a safe port for disembarking the rescued passengers. They should not be instructed to return people to Libya, where they are at risk of the ongoing conflict, severe human rights violations, and arbitrary detention post-disembarkation. Responsibility for carrying out rescues is increasingly being taken by the Libyan State vessels, which has led to more than 7,000 people being returned to Libya so far in 2020. Any assistance and responsibilities assigned to Libyan search and rescue entities should be made conditional on no one being arbitrarily detained, ill-treated or subjected to human rights violations post-disembarkation. Without such guarantees, support should be reconsidered, and search and rescue responsibilities redefined. At least 302 migrants and refugees perished on this route so far this year. According to IOMs Missing Migrants Project and UNHCR, the current estimated number of fatalities is likely much higher. IOM and UNHCR recognize the continued challenges presented by sea arrivals and welcome the efforts of Mediterranean coastal States to continue receiving rescued refugees and migrants. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, two thirds of European countries have found ways to manage their borders effectively while allowing access to their territories for people seeking asylum. Medical screenings at borders, health certification or temporary quarantine upon arrival are some of the measures put in place by a number of European and other countries. The pandemic should not be used as an excuse to deny people access to all forms of international protection. Over 17,000 people have arrived in Italy and Malta this year by boat from Libya and Tunisia, a threefold increase compared to 2019. However, the number has drastically decreased compared to years prior to 2019 and is manageable with political will and EU solidarity with European coastal States. We reiterate the urgent need to move beyond ad hoc arrangements to a swifter, more predictable disembarkation mechanism. The instability and lack of security in Libya enables smugglers, traffickers, and criminals in general to act with impunity as they prey on vulnerable migrants and refugees. UNHCR and IOM call on Libyan authorities to take firm steps against smugglers and traffickers. This should include disrupting and ending smuggling rings led by criminal groups to prevent further exploitation and abuse. The international community should assist these efforts and provide more support to the authorities in their fight against human trafficking networks. For more information on this topic, please contact: UNHCR IOM Pakistan is looking hard to find a new separatist voice to lead the Hurriyat Conference, multiple government and security officials familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The separatist body, first formed in 1993, has played an important part in Kashmir but has been largely defunct since the states special status was changed last year on August 5. The deep state in Pakistan is looking for younger leaders and has been trying to persuade those who have been a part of militant organizations, including the more battle-hardened groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a home ministry official said. There has been no direction from the Hurriyat leaders to the general masses -- diktats were common before that -- in the past year. In a surprise move, 91-year-old SAS Geelani who was the separatist groups chairman for life resigned from the faction of the Hurriyat he headed. The parallel body, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been silent for nearly a year. Pakistan is looking for fresh faces to take charge and channelize the anger and resentment over the governments decision to strip the state of its special status, once guaranteed under Article 370, said another official, adding that the changes in the domicile law has also led to a lot of disquiet. On August 5 last year, the Rajya Sabha passed laws and resolutions effectively abrogating Article 370 and splitting Jammu & Kashmir into two Union territories. The Lok Sabha passed these the following day. In March this year, the government enacted an executive order where it expanded the definition of domicile to include non-locals who have been living in Jammu & Kashmir for 15 years and the children of Central government employees who have worked in the region for 10 years. The Hurriyat was at the forefront of several agitations in the past and both Geelani and the faction led by the Mirwaiz were instrumental in issuing protest calendars. Most separatist leaders were placed under house arrest ahead of the Centres move to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories and have not been able to organise protests. The Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq broke its silence after almost a year, when in July, it held a meeting and called for the Kashmir problem to be resolved through dialogue between India, Pakistan and the people of J&K. The meeting was held a few days after Geelani resigned and accused his colleagues of inaction and corruption. Soon after the meeting, a statement was issued in which the Mirwaiz faction vowed to work towards the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict. In his resignation letter, Geelani accused his colleagues of having failed to evolve a strategy to counter the reading down of Article 370. Many in the Hurriyat are also being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Pakistan is now trying its best to create a new team, said the first official quoted above. Pakistan has provided a base to several terror groups operating in Kashmir and India has maintained that its neighbour exports terror and foments trouble in the Valley. To mark the first anniversary of the reading down of Article 370, Pakistani Prime Minister released a new, political map in which it identified Kashmir as a disputed territory. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) says concerns of political and other electoral violence raised by former President, John Dramani Mahama, are not true. According to the party, Mr Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has himself not shown a commitment to ending party vigilantism within Ghanas political space. The Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa was responding to Mr Mahamas allegations that the NPP has failed to ensure a peaceful political atmosphere. He accused Mr Mahama of rather deliberately stifling efforts aimed at eradicating political vigilantism. Sometimes, when he talks, it is as if he has forgotten about yesterday and he assumes we all forget when we have not. If he has forgotten, let me remind him. Following what happened at Ayawaso West Wuogon, he went ahead to have a meeting with international diplomats, he lied about incents that had not happened. Why did he lie to international diplomats with his footage about what had not happened? When the president was urging political parties to have a dialogue about political party vigilantism, he never said a word, he said on Eyewitness News. Mr. Asamoa maintained that the former Presidents assurance to ensure law and order can only be described as a joke. John Mahama never said a word during the dialogue between the two political parties about political violence and vigilantism. These were things to reduce political violence in this country and today, he has the effrontery to accuse somebody of being a bad boy and sending vigilantes when he is always presuming violence. This is the same Mahama and he thinks we can take him seriously about these things he has been saying? Let us get serious, the governance of this country is a very serious business. Mahama condemns violence John Dramani Mahama has in recent times condemned violence that characterised the political season ahead of the 2020 polls. Supporters of the NPP and NDC have for instance clashed during the just-ended voter registration exercise leading to assault and deaths in some cases. The former president in condemning such incidents said, violence must never be an option of Ghana's democracy. He further said these acts show President Akufo-Addo has lost control in ensuring the safety of the citizens. ---citinewsroom Already Tuesdays takeover has borne worrisome similarities to the 2012 coup the junta even came from the same military barracks where the last one originated. Many now fear what could happen if those parallels continue. In the wake of the last coup, Islamic extremists seized control of major towns in the north and begin implementing their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 20:14 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f368d9 1 City MRT-Jakarta,MRT-phase-2,construction,sustainability,EnvironmentConservation,urban-development Free Hundreds of trees on roadside green belts in Central Jakarta are to be cut down to make way for the phase 2 development of the MRT line, which is currently under way, the developer has said. A total of 867 trees growing along Jl. MH Thamrin, the National Monument (Monas) complex and Jl. Museum will be relocated or replaced, PT MRT Jakarta construction director Silvia Halim said recently. The process began last week and is expected to be finished within two months, said the official of the city-owned transportation company. Silvia stressed that the whole process would be carried out in compliance with the prevailing rules, with the company consulting the Jakarta Parks and Urban Forestry Agency prior to commencing the removal of the greenery. We have examined the trees and reported to the Jakarta Parks and Urban Forestry Agency to seek guidance on whether the trees should be replaced and what species [should be replanted], Silvia told reporters recently. Provisions for replanting are laid out in Jakarta Governor Decree No. 792/1997. Meanwhile, the agency has identified 214 healthy trees that will be able to be transplanted, while another 653 trees in a poorer condition will need to be removed and replaced with 1,863 new trees. A healthy tree is one that has a high chance of survival and a long lifespan. At the Monas complex, which is one of the capitals largest green spaces, the company will be replanting with trees that have a diameter of more than 40 centimeters, while trees that are to be replanted along Jl. MH Thamrin will range in size from 10-25 cm in diameter. The trees that are to be chopped down because of their poor condition or short lifespan will be brought to the parks agencys lumber yard in Pondok Pinang, South Jakarta, for processing. They will be processed so as to provide added value, instead of just being disposed of, Silvia said. Read also: Jakarta MRT developer keen not to dig up trouble in route expansion The trees that potentially have a longer lifespan will be relocated to the southern side of the Monas complex and a forest nursery in Srengseng, West Jakarta, that is managed by the agency. Twelve types of trees will be replanted by MRT Jakarta including trembesi (Albizia saman), tabebuya (Handroanthus chrysotrichus), bungur (Lagerstroemia sp.), pulai (Alstonia scholaris), damar (Dipterocarpaceae sp.) and flamboyan (Delonix regia). The entire process will require approximately Rp 5 billion (US$339,170), said MRT Jakarta president director William Sabandar. Besides land acquisition, upholding environmental sustainability and the preservation of cultural heritage sites will continue to be crucial aspects in the development of the MRT line in Jakarta, which aims to create a total network of 240 kilometers of railway track over the next few years. In the first phase of the MRT development, the company had to remove some 1,500 trees along its planned route. Earlier this year, city authorities were on the receiving end of criticism over the removal of hundreds of trees in the Monas complex. However, Jakarta is beginning to gain global recognition in its efforts to implement sustainable development in transportation, as it embarks on a long-term plan to develop integrated transportation systems. Read also: Jakarta wins honorable mention for sustainable transportation The development of MRT phase 2A in Jakarta spans 5.8 kilometers from Bundaran HI Station in Central Jakarta to the Kota Tua district in West Jakarta, consisting of seven underground stations. It is scheduled to be completed by March 2026. The phase 2B plan will add two elevated stations from Kota to the train depot in Ancol, North Jakarta. Construction officially commenced on July 15 when the contractor started work on contract package 201 the construction of a 2.67-kilometer underground tunnel between the Bundaran HI and Monas stations. It is scheduled to be completed within five years. The Jakarta Transportation Agency has partly closed one lane on either side of Jl. MH Thamrin, which are impacted by the project, starting from in front of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) building and heading north until the Bank Indonesia complex, and from in front of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry heading south until the Thamrin 10 building on the other side of the road. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the transfer of Patna Police's first information report in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, and said the Maharashtra government needs to introspect on the way it handled the case. Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14 following which the Mumbai Police recorded statements of 56 people, including Rajput's sisters, actress Rhea Chakraborty and some other film personalities. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged at Patna against Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting Rajput's suicide, to the CBI. The apex court said the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. Reacting to the verdict, Fadnavis, who is Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, said they now expect justice in the case. 'A decision that boosts faith in the judiciary system! Maharashtra government now needs to introspect on the way they handled this case. Now, we expect justice in #SushantSinghRajput case and for his fans,' the former state chief minister tweeted. However, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that Maharashtra has always been at the forefront of fighting for truth and justice. "Doubting the integrity of Mumbai Police was a 'conspiracy'," Raut said, alleging that politicians maligned the Mumbai Police. He, however, did not take any name. The Shiv Sena leader said the Mumbai Police had probed the case 'in all fairness'. "Nobody is above law. With the Supreme Court giving its judgment, it is not right to make a political comment," the Rajya Sabha member said. Asked if the verdict was a setback to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, Raut said, "Such things do happen in legal battles." On whether the state government will challenge the verdict, Raut said it will respond after getting the copy of the judgment. On allegations against Shiv Sena leader and state minister Aaditya Thackeray in the case, Raut said, "There are no allegations." Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said he will comment only after studying the apex court's order. "The Supreme Court's verdict has come. We will study the order after receiving copy of the order. Only then I will comment on the issue," he told reporters in Mumbai. Senior BJP leader and former state minister Ashish Shelar alleged that the Mumbai Police seemed to be 'pressurised by someone' in the Maha Vikash Aghadi government. "It is imperative to find out who was behind it," he said. Justice triumphs: Ravi Shankar Prasad BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday hailed the order as a triumph of justice. He also praised the 'exemplary courage' shown by the actor's family and the 'overpowering desire of the people of India' to see justice in the case and called it a new milestone. 'Justice triumphs! The soul of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput will surely now rest in peace with the assurance of a fair investigation by CBI on the FIR filed in Patna by Bihar Police whose request for transfer of case to CBI has been validated by the Supreme Court,' Prasad tweeted. BJP, allies welcome SC verdict The BJP and its allies on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order and slammed the Maharashtra government for its alleged attempts to stall the investigation. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the CBI probe will lead to justice. 'People are happy with the Supreme Court verdict. We are confident that truth will now come out. The Maharashtra government had been stalling the investigation...,' he said. Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has been an early votary of a CBI probe in the matter, said the SC's verdict has 'respected' sentiments of crores of people. In a tweet, he expressed confidence that the CBI will not only bring out truth but also 'expose' those who tried to mislead the probe in the case of alleged suicide. BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said, 'Supreme Court's welcome verdict on #CBIForSSR has given relief to millions; his family members, relatives, friends, fans, followers and the people who are for justice. Hope investigation will be smooth, swift & fair. Power of people and power of judiciary are intact.' The Janata Dal-United has also welcomed the verdict. The education department of Mumbais governing civic body has issued a set on guidelines to teachers about online classes and asked them to speak clearly, avoid compound and complex sentences, answering calls in the middle of classes, and asking questions. Officials said the guidelines have been issued to improve the quality of teaching as schools are holding only online classes because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers have been asked to stick to Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Trainings curriculum and state education departments lesson plan. They have been asked to focus on the background of topics taught in the previous classes to ensure continuity in learning. In the beginning, they should conduct mock classes and try to use interactive tools like PowerPoint, animation, video clips, etc., to make lessons more interesting. They should use proper intonation, exclamation, pauses, and interrogation while speaking, said the guidelines of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)s education department. The teachers are required to ensure there are no network issues or distractions while the classes are on. Care should be taken to ensure that students are made to feel at ease, the guidelines said. An official said online method is a new medium for teachers as well as the students and there are bound to be hiccups in the beginning. However, care should be taken to ensure that learning happens as efficiently as it does in the offline mode... said the official, who did not wish to be named. The new academic year in the state began on June 15. Officials said the government issued standard operating procedures for online classes earlier. The guidelines issued on Monday are for teachers to ensure a distraction-free and effective learning experience for students, they added. Rajesh Pandya, a teacher at Mumbais Fatimadevi High School, said teachers are under immense pressure as online classes are not as easy. It is a difficult thing for teachers to get used to this transition. There are so many students and one cannot focus on everyone at the same time. ...there are distractions even from the students side which we have to get rid of. Teachers should thus be given some time to adapt rather than putting too many rules in place. A principal from a BMC school said some guidelines were required to help teachers. Online learning does not mean that it should be a one-way process. It is a good thing that the BMC is trying to make the process easy and student-friendly. Meanwhile Max Cuzzocrea of Maxton Insurance Brokers and Robert Fraser of Gallagher Alice Springs are battling it out in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Over in Victoria/Tasmania, the finalists are from IMC Insurance Brokers (James Skiadas), Stewart Insurance (Michael Stewart), and Adroit Insurance & Risk (Steven Coltman). Contenders in Western Australia are Michael Davis, Shelley Hymas, and Brian Martinovich. They represent Westside Insurance Specialists, Phoenix Insurance Brokers, and MBA Insurance Services, respectively. On behalf of QBE, Id like to congratulate this years Broker of the Year Award state/territory finalists theres no shortage of talented brokers across the region, so earning a place as a finalist, among so many high-calibre entrants, is a truly impressive accomplishment, especially in this current environment, commented QBEs Jason Clarke, chief customer officer for commercial lines. Our broker partners are key to our success at QBE, which is why were so proud to partner with NIBA to recognise the best in the business at a regional and national level. One winner per region NSW/ACT, QLD, SA/NT, VIC/TAS, and WA will be announced every Wednesday starting September 02. The regional winners will then compete for the Stephen Ball Memorial Award for Insurance Broker of the Year, which will be presented at the 2020 NIBA Virtual Convention. We are delighted to recognise brokers who demonstrate exemplary professionalism and excellence in broking practice, particularly during these challenging and uncertain times, said NIBA chief executive Dallas Booth. Niagara Falls city council has awarded a nearly $892,700 contract to make playground and site improvements at 10 parks. During a meeting last week, politicians approved an $892,626 contract with Peters Excavating Inc., out of Welland, and allocated an additional $120,000 in capital special purpose reserve funding to the citys 2020 playground improvement program. Improvements will be made to several parks, including Balmoral, Bambi, Cherryhill, Coronation, Maple Street, C.B. Wright and Preakness parks. During a meeting in June, council approved a $334,225 contract with Henderson Recreational Equipment Ltd., of Simcoe, to supply the playground equipment. The 2020 playground improvement program has an approved budget of $1.2 million. The budget is expected to cover all engineering design, playground equipment and construction costs for the playground improvements. Funding to improve or develop 10 playgrounds was approved through the 2020 capital budget earlier this year. Budgets for the projects were spread across four capital projects that included the seven playgrounds, as well as improvements to a playground at Oakes Park for the upcoming Canada Summer Games, and the development of playgrounds at Warren Woods West Park and Warren Woods East Park. The site selection for the playgrounds are based on the municipalitys 10-year park infrastructure assessment and the desire to geographically spread the playground replacements across the city. Implementation of the playground replacements are anticipated to begin in September and be completed later this year. Playgrounds across the city, which were closed earlier this year due to COVID-19, have since been reopened with no restrictions. City officials, however, have installed signage to remind visitors that equipment is not being sanitized. A police officer who was dragged 650ft down a road by a speeding getaway driver has backed calls from PC Andrew Harper's widow for cop killers to be jailed for life. Sgt Nick Morley says he nearly died as he was pulled along at speeds of up to 50mph while hanging out the window of a Mercedes. Body-worn footage shows Sgt Morley hanging out the car window while it's driver ignores his pleas to stop and speeds down the road on August 17, 2018. The video has chilling similarities with the death of PC Harper, the Thames Valley Police officer who was flayed alive while being dragged behind a car in August 15 last year. But unlike PC Harper - whose feet were caught in rope - Sgt Morley was able to jump free off the speeding vehicle, breaking his wrist and tearing the skin off his right leg. Pc Harper's widow Lissie is pushing for the law to be changed so cop killers get life sentences, after the trio who pulled her husband to death were sentenced for the lesser charge of manslaughter. Sgt Morley was dragged 650ft while hanging out the side of a Mercedes in Croydon, South London. The man driving the car was let off with a suspended sentence Henry Long - driving the getaway car - and passengers Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were sentenced to 13 years each for the death of Pc Harper. James Williams, 23, was sentenced to 18 months' suspended sentence for ABH assault, criminal damage and dangerous driving for the attack on Sgt Morley. Asked if he backs Lissiie Harper's proposal, he said: 'If you asked anyone that, the majority of people would agree, that would be something they think is right. 'I think that sentences in general need to be stricter. 'Even for something like my assault, he got a suspended sentence so he didn't go to prison. I was disappointed with that.' 'Ultimately, I nearly lost my life that day,' he said. Lissie, had been married to PC Andrew Harper, 28, for four weeks before he was killed on duty by thieves Henry Long (left), 19, and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole (centre) and Albert Bowers (right) were sentenced at the Old Bailey for manslaughter 'I was hanging out the door thinking this is going to get really bad if I don't jump out now, so at that point I made the decision to get out. 'I just had to make a conscious decision to jump out and roll a few times and landed reasonably heavily, it could have been a lot worse. 'When I first landed I thought I'd broken both my ankles. I couldn't stand up and it was like a numb sensation going through my body. 'So I just laid down in the middle of the road.' There were 30,000 assaults on police officers in England and Wales last year, and 10,399 crimes of 'assault with injury on a constable' - up 27 per cent on 2017/18. James Williams, 23, was sentenced to 18 months' suspended sentence for ABH assault, criminal damage and dangerous driving for the attack on Sgt Morley In London - where Sgt Morley serves - 6,668 officers were assaulted between August 2019 and the end of June this year, up 16 per cent on the previous 12 months. Sgt Morley - who has since been promoted - was on patrol in an unmarked car when his team pulled over Williams grey Mercedes' in Hawthorn Avenue, Thornton Heath, Croydon, south London. They were ticking him off for driving at speed and without due care when officers noted a wad of cash in the front, and asked if he had anything illegal in the car. At this point, Williams, of Croydon got in the car and tried to close the door and drive off, but Sgt Morley jumped in after him. Sgt Morley thinks sentences 'in general' should be stricter, agreeing with Lissie Harper's call for cop killers to receive life sentences Williams drove about 100 meters while they grappled for control of the car before crashing into a bollard, at which point another officer tried to taser him but it didn't work. He then sped off a further 100 miles down the road while Sgt Morley was hanging out the window, before then jumped to safety. Williams handed himself in three days later. He was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court in September last year. Sgt Morley's story will be broadcast on Channel 5's Police Code Zero show at 9pm tonight. Scientists from the ESRF, together with teams from CEA and CNRS/Sorbonne Universite, have found the proof for a liquid-to-liquid transition in sulfur and of a new kind of critical point ending this transition. Their work is published in Nature. Everywhere in the environment phase transitions occur constantly. The best-known examples of phase transitions are when water changes state from solid to liquid or gas to liquid at 0C and 100C, respectively, at atmospheric pressure. Despite the prevalence of these events in nature, scientists still do not fully understand how these transitions take place at the microscopic level. Among the many cases of phase transitions, those that involve a latent heat and a discontinuous change of density are termed as first-order. First-order transitions are very common in the solid state, and include for example the one from graphite to diamond, and the semiconductor to metal transition in silicon. However, for years no one thought there could be any kind of first order transition separating two liquid phases of the same pure and isotropic substance. With the new millennia, things changed. A Nature paper in the year 2000 by Y. Katayama et al., from the Japanese synchrotron Spring-8, gave evidence of a liquid-to-liquid transition undergone in phosphorus. "It was a real breakthrough, as it changed the way the liquid state was perceived by the scientific community", explains Mohamed Mezouar, scientist in charge of beamline ID27 at the ESRF and corresponding author of the new publication. "Today we show the second direct evidence of such a transition in liquid sulfur", adds Mezouar. "We chose sulfur because sulfur and phosphorus exhibit important similarities when subjected to high pressures and temperatures", he explains. "Besides, I knew it was a good candidate as it already showed an interesting variety of solid forms, either molecular or polymeric, crystalline or amorphous". Sulfur is also one of the most important elements, being used in many applications such as rubber tyres, sulfuric acid, fertilizers, etc. If scientists have not been able to find proof of other liquid-liquid transition in any other pure and stable liquid since 2000, it is because this type of transformation is scarce and poorly understood yet. Calculations have predicted transitions to occur in liquid hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide but at very high pressure and temperature conditions, still difficult to probe. The experiments of the current publication took place on ID27, where the ESRF team, together with scientists from the CEA and the CNRS/Sorbonne Universite in Paris, applied pressure to liquid sulfur and observed in situ how it evolved at temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius and pressures up to 20 kilobars. "The experiments were challenging because we had to confine liquid sulfur and perform in situ quantitative X-ray measurements of high accuracy", explains Laura Henry, PhD student at the time and first author. First evidence of a liquid-liquid critical point: the singularity of the transition After finding the evidence for the liquid-liquid transition, the team were in for a surprise. Frederic Datchi, CNRS research director at "Sorbonne Universite" recalls: "Completely unexpectedly, there it was, we found what we know as a 'critical point', a singularity where physical properties change drastically". At the critical point, the change in density between the two liquids vanishes, thus one may go continuously from one phase to the other. However close to it, the system "hesitates" between the two states, producing large density fluctuations, a phenomenon known as critical opalescence. Supercritical liquids, that is liquids pressurized and heated above the "normal" liquid-gas critical point are heavily used in the chemical industry because they are very good solvents. On the other hand, the critical point terminating a liquid-liquid transition was to date only a theoretical object. Its existence in liquid water was conjectured to explain its many physical anomalies, and actively searched for in experiments since the 1990's, so far without success. This thus constitutes the first experimental evidence of the existence of a liquid-liquid critical point in any system so far. As it is located in a pressure-temperature domain accessible by experiment, it provides a unique opportunity for the study of critical phenomena associated to LLTs and has thus a general value beyond the specific sulfur system. EBS: taking phase transitions to the next level With the Extremely Brilliant Source, the new generation of synchrotron machine of the ESRF, experiments on liquid-liquid transition will go into more depth: the increase in photon flux and coherence will allow scientists to track very rapid phenomena, and hence observe the fluctuations around the critical point. "In the larger sense, this research can open doors to understanding the complexity of the liquid state of other important systems such as water", concludes Mezouar. ### THE Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has hinted the passage of a law to help protect people accused of witchcraft. He said Parliament is going to seriously apply itself to employ Private Member's Bill as an instrument of social engineering in the next meeting. According to him, the highlights of the proposed Witchcraft Bill include the prohibition or professional witchcraft or wizardry, prohibition against the accusation of witchcraft, participation in the declaration of a person as a witch or wizard and penalty against chief or headman encouraging witchcraft. Prof. Oquaye indicated that the law was being pushed by a research institute in Ghana as part of the Private Member's Bill project. The proposed law comes on the heels of the recent callous lynching of 90-year-old Akua Denteh for being a 'witch' at Kafaba, near Salaga in the Savannah Region. Witchcraft-related beliefs and practices have resulted in serious violations of human rights, including beatings, banishment, cutting of body parts, and amputation of limbs, torture and murder around the world. Women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, especially persons with albinism, have been vulnerable, and in spite of the seriousness of these human rights abuses, there is often no robust response. In his closing remarks to end the second meeting of the fourth session of the seventh Parliament, Speaker Oquaye said he had tasked a consultant on Private Member's Bill, Mrs. Ofori-Boateng, and Lawyer Sena to undertake a research for a law to produce a draft bill which will deal with the injustice. Recently, we all woke up to a shocking revelation that a 90-year-old woman had been beaten to death in public because she was declared a witch by a spiritualist/witch doctor. I also received a petition from a Research Institute in Ghana for a law to be passed in Ghana on this and I charged the consultant on Private Member's Bill, Mrs. Ofori-Boateng, and Lawyer Sena to undertake a research, he disclosed. Prof. Oquaye added that the proposed bill, which will come from the research work, would be referred to the Parliament's Constitutional and Legal Committee for further action. Notably, African nations, such as Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe, have provided for the laws being proposed, he added. ---Daily Guide A worker walks past signage at an Amazon warehouse north of Calgary in Balzac, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press) New Amazon Delivery Station to Open in Cambridge, Ontario by Late 2020 Amazon will open a new delivery station in Cambridge, Ontario by late 2020, the city announced on Aug. 17. The e-commerce giant will repurpose an existing industrial building located in the citys north end for its new 136,000 square-foot facility, the city said. I am delighted by Amazons decision to locate in Cambridge, said Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry in a tweet on Monday. The new facility will serve as the last leg of Amazons distribution chain, receiving packages from Amazons fulfillment and sortation centres and loading them into vehicles for delivery to customers. Hundreds of permanent, full-time and part-time jobs are expected to be created, in addition to work for entrepreneurs, who build their own small business delivering Amazon packages, according to a press release from the city. Cambridge has a skilled workforce and is centrally located with easy access to highway 401, so its not surprising that Amazon has selected Cambridge as the location for its next project, said McGarry in the statement. Grey Durocher, president of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes the new delivery station will boost the economy, as many families continue to struggle with the economic fallout from the pandemic. Because of the pandemic there are individuals, especially with CERB thats going to be running out very shortly from the federal government, Durocher said in an interview with CTV News. There are going to be individuals who are looking for opportunities. I know theres a lot of anxiety around big companies like Amazon, but this is a global brand they have chosen Waterloo Region to set up shop and for very good reason. Yikes. Ugh @ that lawyer... nonsense. Like, gtfo dude and disappear Reply Thread Link That lawyer may feel free to drop dead. Reply Thread Link Woooooooow Reply Thread Link Don't know how the lawyer looks like but I'm a 100% sure he has a punchable face Reply Thread Link i know when i want to bask in publicity and notoriety, i do it...checks notes...anonymously Reply Thread Link Who is in your icon? Reply Parent Thread Link not OP but that's Kimberly Walsh, formerly of Girls' Aloud Reply Parent Thread Link His whole downturn has been sad to see. All this stuff coming out has been horrible. Reply Thread Link This is what I was going to write. I'm jarred at the difference in (what was) his public perception from back in the day to what he's become. Very similar to Cosby. We never really know celebrities. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah. Theres something off abou him cause hes always smiling weirdly in all these photos. So like you said its jarring because of his previous personality :/ Reply Parent Thread Link That lawyer's statement is absolutely sickening. Imagine being so subhuman. Reply Thread Link 30 women?? wow. Reply Thread Link given what we know, this was inevitable Reply Thread Link What do we know? I think I missed something Reply Parent Thread Link https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/115048231.html https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/118654728.html https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/115601203.html as far back as 2012 Edited at 2020-08-20 03:12 am (UTC) a lot of history of assaults: https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/67390163.html as far back as 2012 Reply Parent Thread Link his lawyer is a piece of shit who's checking for Cuba Gooding Jr. in this day and age Reply Thread Link > "She's probably just somebody who's looking for some glory to bask in the publicity and notoriety of Cuba Gooding Jr.'s case. They certainly have a high opinion of Cuba Gooding Jr, even before his. Both of you can drop dead Reply Thread Link as if anyone is checking for Cuba Gooding Jr in 2020 Reply Parent Thread Link Even before all these cases started aside from the OJ thing he wasnt hot Reply Parent Thread Link People promoting the idea that women accuse men of rape to get famous... Show me literally one famous accuser who wasn't already famous or at least "known" as a public figure. Just one. Name them. Reply Thread Link Disgusting Also, did anyone else see that Trey Songs was trending on twitter all of today because someone else came forward with a story similar to Keke Palmer's? Reply Thread Link Yes, i actually came here to see if there was a post. I forgot that it happened. I feel so bad for Keke and the other women. :( I vaguely remember people didn't believe her. Reply Parent Thread Link yep. there's a video clip of bebe rexa (sp?) saying that he just grabbed her and kissed her at a wedding. it was laughed off as a joke by the interviewers ofc. I think one of they made a slightly rapey joke too bleughh. unfortunately I don't think it's gonna damage his rep b/c a) is he even popular anymore b) the accuser has publicly lied in the past about being pregnant with multiple rapper's babies so her trustworthiness is under scrutiny Reply Parent Thread Link PATIENTS at a Limerick hospital face the threat of industrial action after 1,000 nurses began a ballot in a row over working conditions during the pandemic. Nurses at University Hospital Limerick are voting today on action up to and including strike action in a row over vacancy rates and overcrowding. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has accusing management of refusing to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. It will take five weeks to conduct the ballot and the nurses would give three weeks notice, so it would be eight weeks before any action could go ahead. The INMO said in a statement that the nurses are frustrated at the approach to date by management to resolving the persistent high nurse vacancy rates and other related issues. It said nurses concerns include risks to patients, overcrowding in a Covid-19 environment and excessive workloads due to unfilled posts in wards, emergency department and theaters. The union said management has declined to provide the union with details of the vacancy rate. The INMO's assistant director of industrial relations Mary Fogarty said nurses have told the union that the vacancy rate is as high as 17pc to 20pc in the emergency department. She said there are reports that it stands at 30pc on some wards. It is imperative that these vacancies are filled prior to the opening of 96 much needed additional beds on site, she said. Nurses at UHL are exhausted after a very tough winter with record overcrowding levels, followed by a pandemic. She warned that managements refusal to attend talks will lead to delays in opening additional beds at the hospital. The University Limerick Hospitals Group said in a statement that it continued to recruit nurses and midwives throughout the pandemic to meet additional demands due to Covid-19 and plans to recruit more as it increases bed capacity. It said the latest turnover rate data available for 2018 was 6.3pc, the third lowest of the seven hospital groups. The statement said vacancies among nurse and midwives was almost 92 full-time equivalent positions at the end of July out of 1,728 nurse and midwives employed across the group. It said it is recruiting up to 150 nurses from overseas to begin from December this year. The group said it also hires agency nurses and uses overtime to cover temporary vacancies, and all current student nurses and midwives graduating from University of Limerick have been offered permanent contracts. We remain committed to good industrial relations and continue to be available to meet with the unions, said the statement. However, we are disappointed that this ballot for industrial action comes at a time when cases of Covid-19 continue to rise in the MidWest and across the country and the pandemic is far from over. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 14:22 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f1e2f9 1 Business charter-flight,Garuda-Indonesia,coal-miner,partnership,business-strategy,COVID-19,pandemic Free National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia signed a deal with coal mining company PT Putra Perkasa Abadi (PPA) on Thursday to provide unscheduled flights during employee rotations, as the airline seeks to tap into the charter flight market amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra said the airline was focusing on generating more revenue from the chartered flight market as an alternative during the pandemic, which has caused a steep decline in passenger numbers. The chartered flight market has become the business focus we developed during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Charter flights could also become a primary option for the oil, gas and mining industry to transport their workforce with great flexibility, he said in a press release. The airline is using a Boeing 737-800 and a Bombardier CRJ-100 to transport PPA employees, flying to Surabaya in East Java, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, Semarang in Central Java and Yogyakarta. Other chartered airplanes will also fly to the city of Balikpapan and Samarinda in East Kalimantan. PPA president director Christianto Setyo said during the signing ceremony that the company decided to charter flights from Garuda to ensure the health and safety of its employees during the pandemic. We want to make sure that each of our employees can move from and to our sites safely by using air transportation." Garuda turned in a loss of US$712.73 million in the first half of this year after booking a net profit of $24.11 million in the same period last year, as the number of passengers dropped by more than 90 percent. The airlines total revenue in the first six months of 2020 nosedived by 58.2 percent year on year (yoy) to $917.28 million, according to a financial report submitted to the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). Despite the bleak first-half financial results, revenue from chartered flights soared by almost 400 percent yoy to $21.55 million during the period. Here, too, Mr. Trumps claims of fraud are unsupported by the evidence. Absentee ballot fraud is rare; one study found fewer than 500 prosecutions nationwide during a 12 year period in which voters cast over a billion ballots; most of those cases were not aimed at changing election outcomes, and the ones that were tended to involve small elections when there wasnt an active press looking for chicanery. The relative rarity of cases is no surprise because states have all kinds of security measures in place, such as signature matching, ballot tracking and statements signed under penalty of perjury. The idea that Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr have raised of foreign governments sending in ballots is particularly ludicrous because it would require quickly copying the paper stock, color and ballot information specific to each voters ballot, getting ahold of and forging voter signatures, matching the ballot tracking information that election officials include on ballot envelopes, and doing so on a large enough scale to swing a states presidential election contest all without the voters in the state whose ballots have been tampered with noticing when they go to vote and election officials tell them they have already turned in a ballot. Indeed, coordinated mail-in ballot tampering tends to get caught quickly. An operative helping a Republican candidate in the 2018 race for North Carolinas 9th congressional district has been charged with stealing and altering absentee ballots; the scheme led the bipartisan state election board to call a new election. The current scandal in Paterson, N.J., which the president has specifically called out, followed a similar pattern; a postal worker noticed an attempt to mail a stack of absentee ballots, and the ongoing investigation into the ham-handed conspiracy has led to criminal charges and maybe to an election do-over. If Mr. Trump is not really concerned about fraud, whats the real end game? His unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud may be aimed at sowing chaos during the election and depressing turnout to help his side win election. Worse, it could be calculated to delegitimize the election results, which could allow Mr. Trump to contest a close election or weaken a Biden presidency. It is all too possible that in Michigan and Pennsylvania two states that recently changed their laws to allow anyone who wishes to vote by mail to do so Mr. Trump will be ahead in the counting on election night, only to see his lead evaporate days later as Philadelphia, Detroit, and other Democratic-leaning cities process a flood of absentee ballots. A blue shift toward Democrats as later votes are counted is now a well-established phenomenon; as Democrats vote later, their ballots are counted later, leading to a good number of elections where Republican leads on election night turn into Democratic victories when the full and fair count ends. Trump could claim, as he did in a 2018 U.S. Senate race in Florida, that later-counted ballots are fraudulent (a claim he abandoned when Rick Scott, a Republican, won the race). It could lead millions of his supporters to believe that Democrats stole the election, when in fact all that happened was that battleground states engaged in a close and careful count of ballots to ensure the elections integrity. New Delhi, Aug 19 : National carrier Air India's services to Hong Kong have been temporarily halted as few passengers on board recent flights from India have tested Covid-19 positive. Accordingly, the city's administration has asked the airline to halt services for the time being. On its part, Air India in a statement said: "In the wake of recent d evelopments regarding operations to Hong Kong, Air India will not be operating its three flights which had been scheduled for Hong Kong till August-end. " "Only one of these flights will operate as a cargo-only flight without any passenger from India and return from Hong Kong with passengers. Air India was operating flights to Hong Kong under the Vande Bharat Mission. BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota may move forward with efforts to recoup the money it spent policing protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor denied the federal governments motion to dismiss North Dakotas lawsuit seeking to recover more than $38 million in damages the state claimed from the monthslong pipeline protests almost four years ago. The state filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2019, and a hearing on the governments request to dismiss it was held last month in U.S. District Court in Bismarck. The $3.8 billion pipeline has been moving oil from the Dakotas through Iowa to Illinois for more than three years. Thousands of opponents gathered in southern North Dakota in 2016 and early 2017, camping on federal land and often clashing with police. Hundreds were arrested over six months. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposed the pipeline built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners over fears it would harm cultural sites and the tribes Missouri River water supply claims rejected by the company and the state. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Wednesday that the Corps allowed and sometimes encouraged protesters to illegally camp without a federal permit. The Corps has said protesters werent evicted due to free speech reasons. The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday. Traynor, who is based in Bismarck, wrote the Corps failed to comply with its own mandatory permitting process. As a result, there was no limitation on the gathering and no bond available to clean up the spoiled environment that was left, his ruling said. Here, the maxim applies: You break it, you bought it, he wrote. Stenehjem called the ruling significant and the state has an excellent chance of recouping its costs. All were asking is that they pay us back for the expenses they forced us to take, Stenehjem said. President Donald Trump in 2018 denied a state-requested disaster declaration to cover the states costs. The Justice Department later gave the state a $10 million grant for policing-related bills. The pipeline developer gave the state $15 million to help with the costs that were funded from loans from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. Stenehjem has said the $25 million the state has received to offset the costs doesnt get the Corps off the hook for the states $38 million total cost. Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers the keynote address during the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, June 22, 2020. Brooks Kraft | Apple Inc. via Reuters Apple's historic burst through a $2 trillion valuation is largely symbolic, but it underscores CEO Tim Cook's success at changing the iPhone maker's story. When its share price hit $466.77 around 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, the company became the first publicly traded U.S. corporation to break the barrier. While the stock crossed the $2 trillion milestone on Wednesday, it closed at $462.83 per share, giving Apple a $1.98 trillion valuation. It's the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, beating out Saudi Aramco, Microsoft, and Amazon. Apple stock is up about 60% year to date. The milestone comes a little more than two years after Apple became the first $1 trillion company in August 2018. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Investors have started seeing Apple's business less like other hardware makers and more like a software company, as indicated by Apple's quickly rising price-to-earnings ratio, which is now over 33. "Over the past four months, the market has really been valuing Apple as a software company," said Logan Purk, analyst at Edward James, who has a hold rating on the stock. "The services business is growing nicely it seems to give them a multiple over 30, and gives them all the credit in the world for this subscription business." "They're starting to get compared to some really big software heavyweights," Purk added. Microsoft trades at a 36 P-E ratio, and Amazon's ratio is currently over 123. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Apple started to refocus investor attention on its services business back in 2015, as iPhone growth first slowed. Its definition of services includes a lot of different things: iTunes purchases, App Store fees, Apple Music, licensing, AppleCare warranties on hardware, and revenue from Apple Pay. In the past two years, Apple has started to launch new subscription services to bolster the business, such as Apple News+, a digital magazine bundle, and Apple TV+, a competitor to Netflix and Disney+. Last year, Apple also introduced Apple Card, a credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs integrated into the iPhone's software. "The reason we're talking about ... $2 trillion when it feels like it was just passing $1 trillion is just how well they've done vertically integrating through their technology stack, starting with hardware, and then now moving into software," Ark Invest's Nick Grous said. "When we think about Apple, long term, we may not be focused on what other analysts are focused on, being iPhone sales and device sales. We're actually really focused on their services." In January 2016, Apple released new financials related to its services business, and Cook said: "I do think that the assets that we have in this area are huge, and I do think that it's probably something that the investment community would want to and should focus more on." In 2017, Cook set an ambitious growth target for the business: Apple wanted to double its 2016 services revenue by 2020, which would put the goal at roughly $46 billion by this year. It hit that goal six months ahead of schedule. In the quarter ending in June, Apple reported $13.16 billion in services revenue, accounting for about 22% of the company's total sales. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards My girlfriend grabbed my hand and pulled me away. We were running when we heard three blasts in the distance, which I later understood were the stun grenades. Everywhere we walked, there were badly injured people in the streets who said they had been beaten by the police. Some had not even been protesting. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Wednesday tracking positive cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund inflows. The BSE Sensex was trading 217.77 points or 0.57 per cent higher at 38,746.09; while NSE Nifty was up 63.60 points or 0.56 per cent at 11,448.95. SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by L&T, M&M, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, ITC and Bajaj Auto. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Nestle India, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and Infosys were among the laggards. In the previous session, the Sensex had settled at 38,528.32, up 477.54 points or 1.26 per cent, while the broader Nifty surged 138.25 points or 1.23 per cent to end at 11,385.35. Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,134.57 crore on a net basis on Tuesday. According to traders, domestic bourses followed positive cues from US equities which hit fresh records in overnight session, they said. Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended with gains in overnight session as US government stimulus packages to aid the economy began showing signs of growth. Bourses in Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note, while Shanghai was in the red. Investors are also awaiting cues from the minutes of US Federal Reserves meeting, scheduled to be released later in the day. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.66 per cent lower at USD 45.16 per barrel. The PSNI and Garda Special Detective Unit have targeted suspected senior members of the New IRA in a series of raids on both sides of the border. The operation began at dawn yesterday. Multiple searches were linked to leading dissident republicans in Northern Ireland, where there were nine arrests, with six searches being carried out in the Republic, which resulted in no arrests. In Dublin, senior sources said one of those targeted by the SDU is a 53-year-old north inner-city criminal, who has a previous conviction for handling stolen property and has been a major target for specialist gardai for years. Another of those targeted in the capital is a 59-year-old man, who was previously jailed at high security Portlaoise Prison for IRA membership. He also has a previous conviction for being involved in an armed robbery. The six searches by gardai were carried out in counties Dublin, Cork, Laois and Kerry. The 10 arrested in Northern Ireland are being held under the Terrorism Act. Properties were raided in Derry, East Tyrone and Belfast. WILMINGTON, Del. - Former President Barack Obama warned that American democracy could falter if President Donald Trump is reelected, a stunning rebuke of his successor that was echoed by Kamala Harris at the Democratic Convention Wednesday night as she embraced her historic role as the first Black woman on a national political ticket. Obama, himself a barrier breaker as the nations first Black president, pleaded with voters to embrace your own responsibility as citizens to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because thats what is at stake right now. Our democracy. Throughout their convention, the Democrats have summoned a collective urgency about the dangers of Trump as president. In 2016, they dismissed and sometimes trivialized him. Now they are casting him as an existential threat to the country. The tone signals anew that the fall campaign between Trump and Joe Biden, already expected to be among the most negative of the past half century, will be filled with rancour and recrimination. Yet on the third night of the Democrats four-day convention, party leaders also sought to put forward a cohesive vision of their values and policy priorities, highlighting efforts to combat climate change and tighten gun laws. They drew a sharp contrast with Trump, portraying him as cruel in his treatment of immigrants, disinterested in the nations climate crisis and over his head on virtually all of the nations most pressing challenges. Democrats also demonstrated a hope that Biden, a 77-year-old white man, can revive the coalition that helped put Obama into office, with minorities, younger voters and college-educated women blunting Trumps lock on many white and rural voters. The evening marked a celebration of the partys leading women, including remarks from Hillary Clinton, the first woman to become a major ticket presidential nominee; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who challenged Biden during the primary and is now supporting his campaign. Harris, a 55-year-old California senator and the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, addressed race and equality in a personal way Biden cannot when he formally accepts his partys presidential nomination on Thursday. There is no vaccine for racism. We have got to do the work, Harris said, her words emphatic though she was speaking in a largely empty arena near Bidens Delaware home. Weve got to do the work to fulfil the promise of equal justice under law, she added. None of us are free until all of us are free. Just 76 days before the election, Biden must energize the disparate factions that make up the modern Democratic Party a coalition that spans generation, race and ideology. And this fall voters must deal with concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic that has created health risks for those who want to vote in person and postal slowdowns for mail-in ballots, which Democrats blame on Trump. Democrats hope that Harris and Obama in particular can help bridge the divide between those reassured by Bidens establishment credentials and those craving bolder change. The pandemic forced Bidens team to abandon the traditional convention format in favour of an all-virtual affair that has eliminated much of the pomp and circumstance that typically defines political conventions. It was completely silent, for example, as Harris took the stage to make history at the Chase Center in downtown Wilmington. She was flanked by American flags but no family, and her audience consisted of a few dozen reporters and photographers. After two nights that featured several Republicans, the proceedings on Wednesday emphasized core Democratic values on areas like climate change and gun violence that particularly resonate with younger voters. On guns, Biden wants to repeal a law shielding firearm manufacturers from liability lawsuits, impose universal background checks for purchases and ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines. On climate, Biden has proposed a $2 trillion plan to invest in clean energy and end carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035, even though his proposals dont go as far as activists preferred Green New Deal. Wednesday night, former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords reflected on her own journey of pain and recovery from a severe brain injury nearly a decade after being shot while meeting with constituents. She urged America to support Biden. I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice, Giffords said. Vote, vote, vote. Its Trumps turn next. The president, who abandoned plans to host his convention in North Carolina and Florida, is expected to break tradition and accept his nomination from the White House lawn. In the meantime, hes seeking to take attention from Biden. Trump will stop near his Democratic rivals birthplace of Scranton, Pennsylvania on Thursday. Hes also participating in a prime-time interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Hillary Clinton, Trumps 2016 rival, implored Democrats to turn out in larger numbers in November to block the presidents reelection. For four years, people have said to me, I didnt realize how dangerous he was. I wish I could go back and do it over. Or worst, I should have voted, said Clinton, the first woman nominated president by a major party. Well, this cant be another woulda coulda shoulda election. Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, she added, because they are. Obama spoke harshly of Trump, too. Donald Trump hasnt grown into the job because he cant, Obama said, speaking from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, a backdrop chosen to reinforce what the former president sees as the dire stakes of the moment. I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president, Obama continued, describing Biden as his brother. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. Obama confidants say that the former presidents support for Biden is unequivocal, but he worries about enthusiasm among younger voters, particularly younger voters of colour. Democrats concede that one of the reasons Trump won the presidency in 2016 was because those voters didnt show up in the same large numbers as when Obama was on the ballot. Beyond the carefully scripted confines of the virtual convention, there were modest signs of tension between the moderate and progressive wings of Bidens Democratic Party. In particular, some progressives complained that pro-Biden Republicans such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich have been featured more prominently than the partys younger progressive stars like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Climate activists also complained that the party appeared ready to drop a provision in the platform that calls for an end to fossil fuel industry subsidies and tax breaks. Sen. Warren, a favourite of progressives for demanding bold change, spoke for around five minutes. And While Warren urged people to vote for Biden and gave a hearty endorsement for several of his economic and child care plans, she hinted that she would not retreat from her push for a more progressive agenda should her party retake the White House. We all need to be in the fight to get Joe and Kamala elected, Warren said. And after November, we all need to stay in the fight to get big things done. ___ Price reported from Las Vegas and Peoples from New York. AP Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace contributed to this report. With the new school year just weeks away, Harrisburg School District officials found their kindergarten registration numbers lower than they expected, even in a pandemic. According to Superintendent Chris Celmer, he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is a major factor as well as the districts old procedures for registering all students at the administration building on State Street. Traditionally, from what Ive been told, is that the two weeks before school is like a mad rush, Celmer said, speaking late Tuesday afternoon from Scott School Elementary. The central admin building would have people lined up in the hallway, out the door, in the board room, etc. Obviously we cant have that type of rush - number of people, etc. - at one location. Not only does the district currently have limitations for how many people can be inside the buildings, but officials want families to be comfortable with the procedures and not worry about crowds. In response, Celmer and the district have put together small registration tables set up at each of Harrisburgs five elementary schools that will have availability through Thursday. The first one ran from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. I think the combination of our numbers being a little lower than weve normally seen with COVID-19 led us to why dont we try to do something like this that is safe for families, easier to access for families and hopefully we can start to boost those enrollment numbers for kindergarteners, Celmer said. The Harrisburg School District hosts kindergarten registration at Scott Elementary School. August 18, 2020 Sean Simmers |ssimmers@pennlive.com Staff at each registration station will wear masks and shields are up between the staff and families. Social distancing is required as well. But for Celmer, he was happy to have something set up that was walkable for the families, so they could go somewhere in their own neighborhoods. Spanish translators are also available at each school. The registration effort is just one of the ways Celmer sees the district doing what it can to show parents it is serious about helping during the pandemic. Obviously we know that when we made the decision to go 100% virtual that it was a difficult decision. We had to err on the side of safety first, given what weve seen with COVID, he said. While we feel this was the safest decision, we know having students in our classrooms for instruction is absolutely the best way to deliver instruction and we know for our families that the best for them from a work perspective would be to have our students here. The district is offering two virtual programs, depending on a familys situation, and Celmer thanked State Rep. Patty Kim for her newly announced Community Classroom initiative, which he said is a part of the many efforts to help families. I think its an all-out effort across the community to do everything we can during this very difficult time, Celmer said. But nothing is ideal right now. Celmer said along with these efforts, he hopes parents know that the district and schools are fighting for the kids to have a real school experience. August 31 is the first day of school. Yes, it may be virtual. We want [students] the night before to have those first day of school jitters, Celmer said. We want to try to create some of that energy to the best of our ability, knowing it is difficult given these uncertain times. He recognizes that some families are dealing with so much concern about COVID itself and the impact it could or have had on their families. During Tuesdays registration efforts, families trickled in. Others came through with questions about school, which they were happy to answer. The district is planning other events next week to help create information spaces for parents to ask additional questions about the school year, as well as distribute necessary technology for families. Weve been talking a lot as a district, like our ground game. I call this our ground game, Celmer said, referring to the registration stations at elementary schools. To the best of our ability, were out in the communities, trying to connect with families and support them. The district has the kindergarten registration stations at each school during the following times: Wednesday, from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm Thursday, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Device distribution will be done the week of Aug. 24. Outdoor information sessions will be held at the following schools on Aug. 25 from 5 to 7 p.m.: Marshall Melrose (Scott School and Rowland Academy will meet at Melrose) Foose Downey Camp Curtin John Harris (SciTech and Cougar Academy will meet at John Harris) Ben Franklin Read more on PennLive: Ryan Sorenson was excited to celebrate the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in Milwaukee this summer as an official delegate for Joe Biden. But with the party scuttling plans for an in-person convention because of the coronavirus, Sorenson is wearing his foam cheese-head in his living room instead of the Fiserv Forum, and watched the party's first-ever virtual roll call from his couch. "You see a lot of clips running on the news from previous conventions, and it's basically a big party," he said. "Just watching it on TV seems a little different." PHOTO: Ryan Sorenson, a Wisconsin delegate for the Democratic National Convention, watching proceedings for the virtual convention at home. (Courtesy Ryan Sorenson) Democrats across the country are adjusting to the format of this year's convention - nowhere more than in Wisconsin, where delegates who looked forward to hosting the party have traded banners, flags and floor passes for lawn signs and videoconference links. (MORE: 2020 Democratic National Convention Viewer's Guide: Biden anchored in Delaware, a virtual nomination and history to be made) While they quickly acknowledged that 50,000 people wouldn't be coming to Milwaukee once the coronavirus started spreading this spring, some delegates held out hope for a hybrid convention that would include in-person events. At one point, there was even discussion of a socially distant event at Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, before the convention was downsized to its current form. "I would've loved to have actually experienced all the balloons and confetti dropping on the crowds," Chris Walton, the chairman of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, told ABC News. "But, you know, this is 2020." Walton, who praised the safety-related convention changes, has been watching caucus meetings on his phone - he'll address the LGBTQ Caucus on Thursday -- and with friends at night. While "the Zoom calls work great," Dave Boetcher, a Biden delegate who serves on the Waunakee County School Board, told ABC News, the format "does kill some of the ability for delegates to talk to each other." Story continues A veteran of the 2012 DNC in Charlotte, Boetcher lamented missing out on the opportunity to get to know other delegates, schmooze and learn more about the party in other states. In Charlotte, he also worked with a team of Democratic and Republican delegates to build a home for a veteran - one of the many activities that take place on the sidelines of official convention programs. (MORE: Businesses in Milwaukee seeing the impact of a mostly virtual DNC) The delegate experience "is all about building relationships that are going to help you organize in the future," Alexander Kostal, a delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders, told ABC News. "I think that's what we're all kind of doing, is searching for a way to build those relationships in a somewhat less personal online experience." The lifelong Milwaukee resident has organized his own events - hosting a Zoom hangout on Monday night for Sanders supporters affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America. "You kind of have to get a little creative," he said. Still, the new format has its benefits, Boetcher added: less time traveling between caucus meetings at different convention sites. Thanks to the virtual format, delegates can listen in on even more meetings. Katie Van Zeeland, a delegate from Appleton, Wisconsin, was gearing up for her first convention, after getting involved in politics ahead of the 2016 election. "I don't know what I'm missing, so I can't be sad about something I don't really know," she said of an in-person convention. The virtual programming, she said, has given her an opportunity to connect with other family members who wouldn't have joined her at the DNC. "Politics is a tricky thing to talk about," Van Zeeland said. "To be able to have my brother watching the same thing as me, and paying attention, and talking about it is kind of cool." Lauren Yoder, a Biden delegate from Waukesha County and a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has enjoyed the Wisconsin delegation's virtual breakfasts, which has included appearances from prominent lawmakers and celebrities - from Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Doug Jones of Alabama, to actor Adam Scott. She's also been surprised by the number of friends who have tuned in to the primetime programming, and who have asked how to participate in the daytime events. "The convention just seems more accessible to them because everyone's just in the same boat," she said. More than 19.7 million people watched the first night of the DNC across all television networks, according to Nielsen, compared to 26 million Americans four years ago. (The Nielsen numbers don't include any views on digital streaming platforms.) Wisconsin delegates get 'creative,' adjust to virtual convention originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Vietnams steel industry would face many challenges in exporting steel to the EU despite the advantages gained under the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), according to experts. Vietnam's steel producers must improve their production technology to meet the EU standards for steel products exported to this market. Photo tapchicongthuong.vn Trinh Nguyen Khoi, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said to enter the European market, steel products must meet strict standards that force local manufacturers to change their production processes and business practices. Besides that, according to the association, the EU market accounts for about 4.2 per cent of Vietnam's total steel exports. Meanwhile, traditional markets such as ASEAN and China account for a large proportion, nearly 55 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Consumption growth of Vietnam's steel products in the European market has not been high as in emerging markets such as China or other developing countries, Khoi told the Vietnam News Agency. Despite having advantages in export to the EU according to the EVFTA, Vietnams steel products still have to compete with steel products made by countries having developed steel industry such as China, Japan and South Korea, Khoi said. Doan Danh Tuan, Toan Thang Steel Trading Co, Ltds chairman of the management board, said the challenge for local steel products in accessing the EU market is strict quality standards. Therefore, local businesses must improve production technology to meet their standards. The EU also has strict requirements on the origin of goods so the domestic enterprises must have transparency in the origin of products, he said. To grasp export opportunities from EVFTA, some experts on the domestic steel industry said an important solution is to promote market research and forecast, including trends of supply, demand and prices as well as the ability to apply technical barriers to trade activities in the EU market. The State should provide early warnings about technical barriers for enterprises in the value chain of producing Vietnamese export goods to local export firms to overcome technical barriers. Nguyen Van Sua, the former vice-chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, said amid high competition and the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnams steel exports to the EU market have reduced. The trend of applying trade remedies continues to maintain, making it difficult to expand export markets. Meanwhile, besides meeting technical, quality and origin requirements, local enterprises need to pay more attention to the provisions of trade defence in each free trade agreement (FTA) to reduce unnecessary damage in trade defence lawsuits, Sua said. A representative of the Hoa Sen Group said in the first half of June, Hoa Sen exported 35,000 tonnes of galvanised steel sheet to the European market. Up to now, this is the largest such shipment from a Vietnamese company to the European market. However, the representative said, to export those to this market, the group has built a long-term investment strategy for research and development of products to improve technology production and product quality, reported Sai gon giai phong (Sai Gon Liberation) newspaper. In addition, it has upgraded its distribution activities to ensure timely delivery to customers in Europe. Many other steel enterprises such as Hoa Phat, Toan Thang, Ton Dong A Corporation and Nam Kim Steel are improving quality of products and services to meet ISO 9001.2015 standard that is the basic standard for sustainable exports of Vietnamese steel products to the European market. VNS Vietnamese goods face tough road to foreign markets due to trade remedies With an array of free trade agreements (FTAs) inked and coming into force, countries around the world have also increased technical barriers to protect their domestic industries, BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 40 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. Celestine (left) and Carroll Braxton pose in an undated photograph. The two are the parents of former NBC10 broadcaster Monique Braxton. Read more Years before Monique Braxton became an Emmy-winning news broadcaster for NBC10 Philadelphia, she attended Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, Va. a school named after a Confederate general. Earlier this summer, when she learned that the Prince William County School Board planned to change the name of her alma mater and Stonewall Middle School, she rallied friends, family, and former students to nominate her parents, Carroll and the late Celestine Braxton, both trailblazing activists who had a profound impact on Manassas with their integration efforts. Once one of the TV stations in the D.C. area did a story on it. Then other people that we hadnt talked to in decades saw the story and got involved, Braxton said. They were filling out citizen input forms, they were speaking virtually [at the school board hearings], they signed our petition. Some people described it as a movement. Their efforts prevailed in June, when the school board renamed Stonewall Middle School as Unity Braxton Middle School. It was also decided that Stonewall Jackson High School would be renamed Unity Reed High School, honoring a beloved former security assistant, Arthur Reed. Unity Braxton plans to hold an in-person ceremony to commemorate the name change later in the school year, according to principal Mike Nicely. The schools signage is planned to be updated next week. Braxtons mother, Celestine, taught in Prince William County for more than 30 years as an English and reading teacher, including at Stonewall Middle School. She was part of a second wave of Black teachers to integrate the countys teaching staff. Because she didnt want her daughter to attend a segregated kindergarten, in the early 1960s, Celestine Braxton filed a formal complaint with city officials that urged Manassas schools and businesses to accept Black patrons. Consequently, her daughter, Monique, was the first Black kindergartner accepted by Manassas Presbyterian Church. Teaching wasnt a subject or an assignment for her, Braxton said. Teaching was like her ministry. Celestine Braxton was as deeply invested in the success of her students as she was with her own family, her daughter said. She was very strict but very loving, Braxton said. She was a strict disciplinarian, more so than my father, which is surprising because hes the one with the military background. Braxtons father is a Congressional Gold Medal recipient and a retired master gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. He is one of the 20,000 Black Marines from 1942 to 1949 who received basic training at a segregated facility in Jacksonville, N.C. He served in World War II and the Korean War. When Carroll Braxton, now 96, received the news that Stonewall Middle School would be renamed in his honor, I was surprised, as most people would be who grew up in segregation, he said. When this came about, I didnt think it would ever happen. The process of renaming a school is arduous, said Denise McPhail, who was brought on during the early stages of the Braxton campaign. There are many hearings and a mountain of deliberations. Before Unity Braxton, McPhail helped rename two other schools in Prince William County. McPhail is the wife of a Stonewall High School graduate and worked closely with Braxton on organizing the campaign for a Braxton renaming. Its not that easy because of all the other submissions that come forward, McPhail said. Everyone is passionate about who they put forward. Of the dozens of names competing with the Braxtons, author and historian Ibram Xolani Kendi was among them. In 2016, Kendi won the National Book Award for nonfiction for Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Kendi is a graduate of Stonewall Jackson High School. One night I was sitting in bed watching Stephen Colbert and there [Kendi] was, being interviewed, McPhail said. And they talked about his name being submitted for this thing. That was intense for us. According to a census of Confederate symbols in public spaces across America compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 147 schools with Confederate names, and 46 have been renamed. People of color have fought for years in Virginia, where there are Confederate statues and names on schools everywhere, Braxton said. It represents the vestiges of slavery, inequality, and subhuman treatment. The death of George Floyd in May has served as a catalyst for the push to remove names, statues, and other symbols that revere white supremacy. It was something about watching a knee on someones neck for close to nine minutes that made people realize that Black lives matter, Braxton said. In July, a statue of Stonewall Jackson in Richmond, Va., was removed in compliance with an order by Mayor Levar Stoney. The renaming of Stonewall Middle School couldnt have happened at a better time, Braxton said. This country is talking about consciousness, and were talking about reconciliation and healing and equality. Braxton anchored NBC10s weekend evening newscast from 2000 to 2004 and worked as a breaking news reporter until 2017. She worked such high-profile stories as the 2016 Democratic National Convention and Pope Francis visit to Philadelphia. In 2013, she was named journalist of the year by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalist and in 2016, she was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneer Hall of Fame. Now, Braxton works as a media consultant and public speaker. She lives in the Philadelphia area, where shes been taking care of her father during the coronavirus pandemic. Hes anxious to get back [to his Virginia] home and to his very active social life, Braxton joked. Of the many lessons that she and her younger brother, Robert Bob Braxton, who died in 1985, learned from her parents, tenacity and perseverance are among the most important, she said. Her parents told her: Look, theres always going be someone whos better than you, whos smarter than you, whos prettier than you, but be authentic. Bring your authentic self everywhere you go. Braxton believes that her mother, who passed away in 2014, is rejoicing in heaven from the news of a school being named after her family. But shed also be very shy about it. The Message: Sitting with the questions about why there is suffering Eskom has announced that stage 2 load-shedding will continue from 09:00 until 22:00 on Thursday 20 August 2020. This is due to the further failure of three power generation units. While Eskom teams have today and yesterday successfully returned three-generation units to service, a further three units tripped, two of which have returned, Eskom said. Eskom has been implementing load-shedding since Tuesday 18 August and has warned of a continued risk of rolling blackouts going forward. Three generators were returned to service at the Duvha, Tutuka, and Hendrina power stations, Eskom said. A single generation unit at Tutuka has not yet returned to service. Unplanned breakdowns stand at more than 12,100MW of capacity, adding to the 4,350MW currently unavailable due to planned maintenance. Any further deterioration in the generation performance may, therefore, necessitate the escalation of load-shedding at short notice, Eskom said. This is due to Eskoms unreliable and volatile aged generation infrastructure, and this constrained power system is expected to persist for the rest of the week, particularly as the cold front hits, the power utility said. We urge the people of South Africa to help reduce electricity usage in order to assist Eskom to reduce the instance of load-shedding and keep the lights on, Eskom said. Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (431) Rating Action: Moody's confirms ratings on two classes of notes issued by ACIS CLO 2017-7 Ltd.; actions conclude review Global Credit Research - 18 Aug 2020 New York, August 18, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has confirmed the ratings on the following notes issued by ACIS CLO 2017-7 Ltd. (the "CLO" or "Issuer"): U.S.$26,250,000 Class D Secured Deferrable Floating Rate Notes due 2027 (the "Class D Notes"), Confirmed at Baa3 (sf); previously on April 17, 2020 Baa3 (sf) Placed Under Review for Possible Downgrade U.S.$15,500,000 Class E Secured Deferrable Floating Rate Notes due 2027 (the "Class E Notes"), Confirmed at Ba3 (sf); previously on April 17, 2020 Ba3 (sf) Placed Under Review for Possible Downgrade The Class D Notes and the Class E Notes are referred to herein, collectively, as the "Confirmed Notes." These actions conclude the review for downgrade initiated on April 17, 2020 on the Class D and Class E Notes. The CLO, originally issued in April 2017, is a managed cashflow CLO. The notes are collateralized primarily by a portfolio of broadly syndicated senior secured corporate loans. The transaction's reinvestment period ended in May 2019. RATINGS RATIONALE Despite the credit quality deterioration stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, Moody's concluded that the expected losses on the Confirmed Notes continue to be consistent with the notes' current rating after taking into account the CLO's latest portfolio, its relevant structural features, deleveraging of the senior notes, and its actual over-collateralization (OC) levels. Consequently, Moody's has confirmed the ratings on the Confirmed Notes. According to the July 2020 trustee report[1], the weighted average rating factor (WARF) was reported at 3402 compared to 2998 reported in the March 2020 trustee report[2]. Moody's calculation also showed the WARF was failing the test level of 2877 reported in the July 2020 trustee report[3]. Nevertheless, the Class A-1 and Class A-2 notes have been paid down by $119.8 million or 45.93% collectively since the end of the reinvestment period in May 2019 and each of the OC tests has improved since that time. Story continues Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations." For modeling purposes, Moody's used the following base-case assumptions: Par amount and principal proceeds balance: $278,549,831 Defaulted Securites: $1,695,185 Diversity Score: 56 Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3393 Weighted Average Life (WAL): 3.95 years Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.18% Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 48.2% Par haircut in O/C tests and interest diversion test: 1.98% In consideration of the current high uncertainties around the global economy and the ultimate performance of the CLO portfolio, Moody's conducted a number of additional sensitivity analyses representing a range of outcomes that could diverge, both to the downside and the upside, from our base case. Some of the additional scenarios that Moody's considered in its analysis of the transaction include, among others: additional near-term defaults of companies facing liquidity pressure; additional OC par haircuts to account for potential future downgrades and defaults resulting in an increased likelihood of cash flow diversion to senior notes; and some improvement in WARF as the US economy gradually recovers in the second half of the year and corporate credit conditions generally stabilize. The rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the government measures put in place to contain it and the deteriorating global economic outlook, have created a severe and extensive credit shock across sectors, regions and markets. Our analysis has considered the effect on the performance of corporate assets from the collapse in the US economic activity in the second quarter and a gradual recovery in the second half of the year. However, that outcome depends on whether governments can reopen their economies while also safeguarding public health and avoiding a further surge in infections. As a result, the degree of uncertainty around our forecasts is unusually high. We regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under our ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health and safety. Factors that Would Lead to an Upgrade or Downgrade of the Ratings: The performance of the rated notes is subject to uncertainty in the performance of the related CLO's underlying portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions that may change. In particular, the length and severity of the economic and credit shock precipitated by the global coronavirus pandemic will have a significant impact on the performance of the securities. The CLO manager's investment decisions and management of the transaction will also affect the performance of the rated securities. The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in August 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Global-Approach-to-Rating-Collateralized-Loan-Obligations--PBS_1235535. 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. The analysis relies on an assessment of collateral characteristics to determine the collateral loss distribution, that is, the function that correlates to an assumption about the likelihood of occurrence to each level of possible losses in the collateral. As a second step, Moody's evaluates each possible collateral loss scenario using a model that replicates the relevant structural features to derive payments and therefore the ultimate potential losses for each rated instrument. The loss a rated instrument incurs in each collateral loss scenario, weighted by assumptions about the likelihood of events in that scenario occurring, results in the expected loss of the rated instrument. Moody's quantitative analysis entails an evaluation of scenarios that stress factors contributing to sensitivity of ratings and take into account the likelihood of severe collateral losses or impaired cash flows. Moody's weights the impact on the rated instruments based on its assumptions of the likelihood of the events in such scenarios occurring. 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] Trustee report 22-Jul-2020 [2] Trustee report 21-Mar-2020 [3] Trustee report 22-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. Nalin Aeron Asst Vice President - Analyst Structured Finance Group Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. 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Two men from Northern Ireland are facing potential prosecution for alleged fraud involving a Caribbean property development. They are set to be formally charged with offences of dishonestly portraying investment as a "viable and sound investment". The pair, aged 61 and 54, are not being named until they have been formally returned for trial. A preliminary enquiry into the evidence against them was expected to take place at Belfast Magistrates' Court today. But neither defendant appeared and their cases were put back to next month. According to court lists the two men are jointly charged with fraud by false representation. The alleged offences occurred between 2007 and 2014 and involve up to three couples as potential victims. It is claimed that investment in a property consortium was presented as a sound move, with an intention of either making gain or exposing complainants to the risk of loss. As well as the Caribbean-based development, one of the defendants faces a further charge in connection with alleged representations about property in Spain and Cyprus. The alleged offences were all in breach of the Fraud Act 2006. With neither case ready to proceed, District Judge Fiona Bagnall adjourned them to September 23. Leslie Mazoch/Associated Press The Trump administration is considering additional sanctions on Venezuela aimed at halting the remaining fuel transactions permitted with the South American nation, according to people familiar with the matter. The measures could target crude swaps with companies in Asia and Europe, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. U.S. officials have debated the move for months, yet they initially prioritized actions against Iran, which began exporting gasoline to fuel-starved Venezuela. The sanctions havent been decided and talks are ongoing, the people said. Madhya Pradesh (MP) chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that all government jobs in the state would, henceforth, be reserved only for the children of MP, and relevant laws would be framed for this purpose. He has also added that MPs children will have the first right over the states resources. His predecessor, Kamal Nath, promised that 70% of the jobs in industrial units would be reserved for locals. But MP is, of course, not unique in this regard. From Haryana to Gujarat, from Maharashtra to Karnataka, across Indian states, there is either a policy framework which reserves educational seats and/or jobs for locals or there is a strong political push in that direction. The fact that this cry jobs for locals has become a widespread refrain is understandable. There is a severe crisis of unemployment, and both public and private sector jobs have either shrunk or not grown at the pace required to meet the demands of Indias growing workforce. Instead of addressing structural economic issues, which can generate employment, political formations (across the spectrum) take the easy way out by framing the issue as one between insiders and outsiders. A nativist sentiment is built up, and citizens are told that they would have had jobs, but for the fact that those from outside the state have cornered the benefits. The solution then offered is simple reservation. Desperate for hope, voters tend to see this as a panacea and fall for a promise that will do little to address the real and complex issue of joblessness. This competitive populism across states is also dangerous. A key constitutional tenet is equality of opportunity and non-discrimination this push towards policy-based parochialism flouts it. Another key tenet is the freedom to move across the country, and the freedom to reside and settle anywhere and practise any profession the measures adopted by various states will hamper those rights. An important principle that the Constitution strives to inculcate among citizens is fraternity and this is possible only when there is engagement between citizens from different parts of the country, which such policies will only discourage. There is a real jobs crisis. But states turning insular will not solve that crisis, and, instead, create other challenges for national integration. Evolve a consensus across parties and states and refrain from this form of dangerous populism. Renowned Thought Leaders and Experts Discuss Anti-Racism, Intersectional Feminismand Paths Toward Equity Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mount Saint Marys University (MSMU), the only womens university in Los Angeles and one of the most diverse in the nation, released yesterday the 2020 edition of The Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California at the first in a series of virtual conversations. Recognized thought leaders for gender equity including author and cultural critic Roxane Gay, California State Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, First Lady of Los Angeles Amy Elaine Wakeland, and the founder of GirlTalkHQ Asha Dahya discussed intersectional feminism and privilege, anti-racism and the effects of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities. For the last nine years, the Center for Advancement of Women at Mount Saint Marys has published the most comprehensive collection of data on women and girls in California to paint a picture of progress made statewide and to highlight where gender-based gaps persist. This years research shines a light on a wide range of issues, from educational attainment and occupational disparities to earnings and wealth gaps, safety, and health and wellness including areas of concern such as mental health, maternal and infant health, caregiving and food insecurity. Women and girls fight for equality in a typical year. But this year reminds us of the persistent inequities and obstacles still before us. Access to quality education and health care, economic well-being and care of the planet are womens issues and are central to the future of our state, our country and the globe, said Ann McElaney-Johnson, PhD, president of Mount Saint Marys University and a recognized thought leader for gender equity. To address these issues in a substantive manner, we must understand how the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and gender determine overt and subtle systemic privilege and discrimination, added McElaney-Johnson. Story continues After a brief presentation of some of this years key findings, New York Times bestselling author Gay and Sen. Mitchell sparked a spirited discussion on the intersections between racism and sexism, and ways to create systemic change toward equity. Womens rights are mutable they can be given and taken away. And the same holds for Black people and people of color more broadly. We werent given the right to vote and we had to fight for it, explained Gay while discussing her essay The Alienable Rights of Women. As we are talking about the Centennial of womens suffrage, not nearly enough attention is being paid to the fact that we are celebrating the centennial of white womens suffrage. Black womens right to vote didnt come for nearly 45 more years, which is appalling every time you say it out loud, she said. During her concluding remarks, Emerald Archer, PhD, director of the Center for the Advancement of Women and editor in chief of the Report, explained that despite the sweeping improvements in this years report relative to last years, there is still a lot of work to do. Our current political and cultural climate require that we continue to advocate for women and girls with intensity. We are all called to act, said Archer. A sampling of some key findings from this years research include: A record-setting 41 women now serve in Californias 120-body state legislature. Of these, 44% are white women, 39% are Latina, 10% are African American, and 7% are Asian American. However, California currently ranks 18th among states for its percentage of women in the state legislature. Across California, there are 1.58 million women-owned businesses - more than any other state and 59% of those are owned by women of color. The global pandemic has created hardships for many of these business owners and their survival depends on assistance from the government and support from patrons. Californias maternal mortality rate is decreasing and its lower for every race and ethnicity compared to the nation as a whole. However, African-American women and their babies are more vulnerable when it comes to pre- and post-natal care. African American women remain most at risk of any other demographic for example, they are three times more likely than their white counterparts to die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth in California. The wealth gap is worst for women of color. For every $100 owned by white men nationwide, Latinas hold $3 and African American women have 80 cents. More than one in five (21%) of Californias lesbian, gay and bisexual high school students report having attempted suicide. For a more complete understanding of the gains made and gaps that still persist, the full Report is now available here. Yesterdays conversation marked the first in a series of events that Mount Saint Marys has planned for the fall. Two additional conversations scheduled for August 25 and October 1 will take a closer look into the Reports content. Registration for these events is free and open to the public. Click here for more details. For interview opportunities and more information about the Report and the events, please contact Eva Diaz. ### ABOUT MOUNT SAINT MARYS UNIVERSITY Mount Saint Marys is the only womens university in Los Angeles and one of the most diverse in the nation. The University is known nationally for its research on gender equality, its innovative health and science programs, and its commitment to community service. As a leading liberal arts institution, Mount Saint Marys provides year-round, flexible, and online programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. Weekend, evening, and graduate programs are offered to both women and men. Mount alums are engaged, active global citizens who use their knowledge and skills to better themselves, their communities and the world. msmu.edu ABOUT THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN The Center for the Advancement of Women at Mount Saint Marys University is a hub for gender equity research, advocacy and leadership development. Its vision is to find solutions to persistent gender inequities and work with partners to eradicate those inequities in our lifetime. That goal includes eliminating obstacles that women face in the workplace, in their communities, in the media and beyond to make a positive difference in the lives of women and girls in California and our nation. The Center also creates public programming, research guides and training opportunities to engage more partners in its work. Center for the Advancement of Women Attachment CONTACT: Eva Diaz Mount Saint Mary's University 424.394.3731 emdiaz@msmu.edu in-person exhibitions Albany Center Gallery, 488 Broadway, Albany. "Visions." http://www.albanycentergallery.org. featuring the work of regional artists Virginia Bryant, Jon Gernon, Diane Golden, Andrea Hersh, Robert Morgan, and Christopher Murray. ACG will be following CDC guidelines for visitation to ensure the safety and wellness of all our visitors. Through Aug. 28. Albany Institute of History and Art, 125 Washington Ave., Albany. http://www.albanyinstitute.org. "Telling Her Story: New Acquisitions presented by Bank of America." Through Aug. 30. Also, "A Brilliant Bit of Color: The Work of Walter Launt Palmer." Through Aug. 23. Also, "Recycled & Refashioned: The Art of Ruby Silvious." Through Aug. 30. Also, "The Hudson River School: Landscape Paintings from the Albany Institute Collection." Ongoing. Purchasing tickets in advance is strongly encouraged to ensure social distancing guidelines are met. Also, "Fellow Citizens! DeWitt Clinton's Broadsides of the Early Republic." The exhibit will focus on five New York State gubernatorial elections, the context of American life at the time the broadsides were written, and the life and legacy of DeWitt Clinton. It will include a selection of nearly 20 political broadsides, along with contemporary paintings, artifacts from the era, and a rare map of New York from 1796. Through March 14. American Italian Heritage Museum, 1227 Central Ave, Albany. 518-435-1979. "The Good Life of Italy." The Schenectady Art Society shows its art in this judged show about Italian life. Most paintings will be for sale. Open through September. The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls. J.S. Wooley, Adirondack Photographer. http://www.hydecollection.org. J.S. Wooley (18671943) lived and worked in the Adirondack foothills throughout his life. From 1908 to 1923, he served as the official photographer of Silver Bay, during which time he created iconic images of Lake George and the surrounding Adirondack mountains. This exhibition offers a glimpse into the region's past and its sustaining beauty. Also, Hyde House and the Permanent Collection. The Hyde Collection offers works of American and European art that span almost 6,000 years of art from antiquity to the present. The Museum's founders, Louis and Charlotte Hyde, acquired the majority of objects during a 50-year period of avid and highly informed collecting. Many of these works are displayed in Hyde House, the founders' former home. The Laffer Gallery, 96 Broad St., Schuylerville. 8th Annual Upstate Invitational. https://thelaffergallery.com. The exhibition features artists, Cheryl Horning, T. Klacsmann, and Doretta Miller, last years "Best in Show" recipients from the Laffer Gallery's 8th Annual Upstate Artists Juried group show, generously juried by Jon Christopher Gernon. Through Sept. 6. Saratoga Automobile Museum, Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs. "Dyson Racing: The Private Collection." saratogaautomuseum.org. Featuring the varied collection of racing legend Rob Dyson. Ongoing. Also, "Wheels: Woman and Independence 1900-1920." Ongoing. Also, "East of Detroit." Ongoing. Also, "Racing in New York." Ongoing. Universal Preservation Hall, 25 Washington St., Saratoga Springs. "Part of the Machine: Rock & Pinball." universalpreservationhall.org. $10-$20. The interactive Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit showcases rock-themed, playable pinball machines and combines them with merchandise and artifacts to explore the artistic portrayal of artists and bands. UPH, a partner in the Proctors Collaborative, will sell tickets for 90-minute blocks throughout the run. Opens Sunday. Through Sept. 26. Virtual exhibitions Albany Center Gallery, Albany. 2020 Mohawk-Hudson Regional Invitational. albanycentergallery.org. Virtually explore the annual juried exhibit featuring works by Capital Region artists as well as past exhibitions. American Italian Heritage Museum, 1227 Central Ave., Albany. 518-435-1979. "The Good Life of Italy." The Schenectady Art Society shows its art in judged show about Italian life. Most paintings will be for sale. Open through August. The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy. Congressional Art Competition. artscenteronline.org. The exhibit celebrates the artistic achievements of the nation's high school students. Winners are recognized both in their home Congressional district and at an annual Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC. The winning artwork will hang in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one year. Colonie Art League, "Art for a Cause." http://www.colonieartleague.com. Members of the Colonie Art League will be donating their original food-themed artwork for sale. All proceeds from the purchase of their artwork will be donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York along with an additional $25 donation by the Art League for each piece sold. Opens Saturday. Through Sept. 15. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Discover Albany Visitors Center, Albany. albany.org/about/visitors-center/. Take a virtual tour of the "Albany Heritage Exhibit." Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, "Lover Earth: Art and Ecosexuality." tang.skidmore.edu. A student-curated online exhibition that encourages viewers to think critically about their bodies and the planet. Also, Hyde Cabinet #8: Born in the Spirit of Concern. Through Aug. 28. Gallery 51, Massachusetts College of Liberal art's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, "We Are More Than a Moment." http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/area/bcrc/mcla-gallery-51/index. Curated by Genevieve Gaignard, a Los Angeles-based artist whose work focuses on photographic self-portraiture, sculpture, and installation to explore race, femininity, class and their various intersections. New York State Museum, Albany. Online exhibitions. nysm.nysed.gov/exhibitions/online. Explore the museum's various exhibitions online, including "Votes for Women: Celebrating New York's Suffrage Centennial," "A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War" and "1962 Audio Recording: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Mass. "Finding Home: Four Artists' Journeys," "Norman Rockwell in the Age of the Civil Rights Movement" and "Norman Rockwell: Presidential Elections Illustrated." nrm.org/. Curated experiences that collect related images, photography, video, audio and history relating to the museum's renowned collection of Norman Rockwell's original paintings, his Stockbridge Studio, as well as the museum's vast collection of illustration art. Opalka Gallery, Sage College of Albany. 21st High School Regional Exhibition. opalka.sage.edu/. The annual exhibition is a showcase of the best artwork from the Capital Region's high school students. Also, Sage BFA 2020. aThe annual bachelor of fine arts exhibition represents work from all three of the programs: Art + Extended Media, Graphic + Media Design, and Interior + Spatial Design. Saratoga Performing Arts Center, http://www.spacfoya.org. Festival of Young Artists. Works from young photographers, painters, sculptors and illustrators from the Capital Region. Presented by the Adirondack Trust Company. Spencertown Academy Arts Center, Spencertown. "Fifth annual Members' Art Show." spencertownacademy.org, Featuring works made by more than 50 academy community members. University Art Museum, University at Albany. 2020 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. albany.edu/museum/mfa2020/mfa2020.html. View online the work of 2020 master of fine arts degree candidates Courtney Bernardo, Sean Corcoran, Maxwell Goodknight, Anthony Jackson (Bugzdale), Erica Kaufman, Ya Li, Arnela Mahmutovi, Meghan Mason, Anna Nina Pellicone and Tzuyun Wei. LONDON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Greensill welcomes a statement from The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) supporting the action Greensill has taken to cut services to clients that have poor payment terms for SMEs and calling on other supply chain finance providers to follow suit. Greensill has taken decisive action in Australia to ensure that clients do not use its supply chain finance (SCF) to push out payment terms to small business suppliers, issuing discontinuance notices to those that continue to do so. Kate Carnell, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, states: "Greensill has shown that supply chain finance providers can lead by example by cutting off clients that fail to pay on time. This should be the position adopted by all supply chain finance facilitators." Lex Greensill, founder and CEO of Greensill, said: "We are delighted that the ASBFEO has welcomed our action to protect small businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and must be treated fairly." Full statement from the ASBFEO here. About Greensill Reformers at heart, Greensill challenges the status quo by working to make global finance fairer and levelling the playing field for all businesses and people alike. The company unlocks capital so the world can put it to work. Founded in 2011, Greensill is headquartered in London with offices in New York, Frankfurt, Chicago, Miami, Singapore, Bogota, Shenzhen, Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg, Sydney, Warrington and Bundaberg. Greensill provides innovative financing solutions to customers across Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, and Asia injecting more than $143 billion of financing in 2019 to more than 8 million customers and suppliers across more than 175 countries. SOURCE Greensill Leaders from across globe share condemnation after soldiers force embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign. Military officers have taken charge in Mali after detaining President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at gunpoint and forcing him to resign, in a coup detat that drew immediate international condemnation. The 75-year-old Keita had been the target of weeks of mass protests demanding his resignation over what opponents said were his failure to restore security, address corruption and lift living standards. The organisers of the coup have pledged to restore stability and oversee a transition to elections within a reasonable period. Below is a roundup of regional and global reaction to the events in Mali: African Union suspension Cyril Ramaphosa, the chairman of the African Union (AU) and president of South Africa, condemned the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and demanded the release of Keita and other top government officials. The AU also said on Wednesday that it was suspending Malis membership until constitutional order is restored. His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa condemns the unconstitutional change of government in Mali. President Ramaphosa demands that the Malian military release from detention the President, the Prime Minister, Ministers and other Government executives. AUChair2020 (@AUChair2020) August 19, 2020 ECOWAS blockade In a statement, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed great concern over the seizure of power by Malian military putschists. The 15-nation bloc, which had tried to mediate in the political crisis between Keita and the opposition, said its members would close land and air borders to Mali and demand sanctions against all the putschists and their partners and collaborators. The 15-nation bloc also said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies. UN Security Council urges mutineers to return to barracks The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday urged mutineers in Mali to immediately release detained officials, including the countrys president, and return to their barracks without delay. The 15 members also underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to constitutional order, according to a Council statement. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Malis president and members of his government. The secretary-general strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali, a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement To this end, he demands the immediate and unconditional release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and members of his cabinet, added the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. European Union: Return to the state of law European Union leaders also called for the immediate freeing of the detained politicians and for a return to the state of law. We believe that the stability of the region and of Mali, and the fight against terrorism should be an absolute priority, EU Council President Charles Michel said after a video summit of the blocs 27 leaders on Wednesday. South Africa: Immediate return to civilian rule The government of South Africa called for an immediate return to civilian rule. In a statement on Wednesday, Ramaphosa also urged the people in Mali to observe the rule of law and engage in peaceful dialogue to resolve their differences. President Ramaphosa calls for an immediate return to civilian rule & for the military to return to their barracks. The President urged the people of Mali, political parties & civil society, to observe the rule of law & engage in peaceful dialogue to resolve their challenges. DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) August 19, 2020 Nigeria: Restoration of constitutional order Nigerias Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama condemned the military coup and called for the immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order. In a statement on Wednesday, he also welcomed the activation of the ECOWAS standby force. The Nigerian Government unequivocally condemns the the coup d'etat that took place in #Mali yesterday and demands the immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order. We welcome the urgent activation of the #ECOWAS Standby force. @NigeriaGov @ecowas_cedeao Geoffrey Onyeama (@GeoffreyOnyeama) August 19, 2020 Angola: We repudiate this way of forcing the alternation of power Angolan President Joao Lourenco also denounced the events in Bamako. In a post on Twitter on Wednesday, he said his government had carefully monitored the latest events, and despite the reasons on which the president was ousted, his government repudiate[d] and discourage[d] this way of forcing a change in power. Acompanhamos com atencao os ultimos acontecimentos no Mali. Independentemente das razoes na base das quais o Presidente eleito foi deposto, repudiamos e desencorajamos esta forma de forcar a alternancia do poder. Joao Lourenco (@jlprdeangola) August 19, 2020 Translation: We carefully monitored the latest events in Mali. Regardless of the reasons on which the President-elect was ousted, we repudiate and discourage this way of forcing the alternation of power. Algeria: R ejection of any anti-constitutional change Algeria also rejected the coup in its neighbouring country and called for elections in line with its constitution. Algeria reiterates its firm rejection of any anti-constitutional change of government, the foreign ministry said in a statement, It said Algeria was following with concern developments in Mali, with which it shares an almost 1,400km-long (870-mile) border. Algiers called on all parties to respect constitutional order and to return to reason for a rapid end to the crisis, the ministry said. Only polls constitute the path to power and legitimacy, it added. US condemns mutiny United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the mutiny and called on all political and military actors to work towards the restoration of a constitutional government. We urge all stakeholders in Mali to engage in peaceful dialogue, to respect Malians rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and to reject violence, Pompeo said in a statement. The U.S. strongly condemns the August 18 mutiny in Mali. We join our international partners including the Economic Community of West African States and the @_AfricanUnion in denouncing these actions. Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 19, 2020 China opposes change by force The government of China called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mali. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, speaking at a regular press briefing, said Beijing was paying close attention to the situation and opposed the change of power through means such as the use of force. He added that China supported the efforts of relevant regional and international organisations, especially the AU and ECOWAS, in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mali. Turkey deeply concerned In Turkey, the governing AK Partys deputy chairman for foreign affairs called for the immediate release of Keita and other senior officials. Cevdet Yilmaz on Wednesday expressed Ankaras deep concern and said it hoped for peoples unity, stability and a speedy return to a normal democratic political order. Turkey calls immediate release of detained Mali president and senior officials. We are deeply concerned by the military coup. We hope brotherly Mali people unity, stability and speedy return to normal democratic political order. Cevdet Ylmaz (@_cevdetyilmaz) August 19, 2020 Germany: Closely monitoring the situation German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the military putsch and said she wished to promote stability in Mali and peaceful relations. She also said German soldiers stationed in Mali were not in any danger, while the foreign office added that it was closely monitoring the situation and had closed the embassy as a precaution. Mumbai: Eminent doyen of Hindustani Classical Music Pandit Jasraj's son Shaarang Dev & grandchildren Swar Sharma, Avni Jasraj Mehra, Rishabh Dev Pandit & Eshwari Pandit. The mortal remains of Pandit Jasraj who died in the US, brought to Mumbai on Aug Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: Eminent doyen of Hindustani Classical Music Pandit Jasraj's mortal remains were brought to Mumbai from the US, on Aug 19, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: Eminent doyen of Hindustani Classical Music Pandit Jasraj's mortal remains were brought to Mumbai from the US, on Aug 19, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: Eminent doyen of Hindustani Classical Music Pandit Jasraj's mortal remains were brought to Mumbai from the US, on Aug 19, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai: Eminent doyen of Hindustani Classical Music Pandit Jasraj's mortal remains were brought to Mumbai from the US, on Aug 19, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Aug 19 : The mortal remains of legendary Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj (90) reached here on Wednesday from New Jersey in the US where he had passed away following a cardiac arrest on Monday, a family spokesperson said. The body was flown here by Air India flight AI-144 which landed in Mumbai this afternoon after which it was taken to the family residence in Versova in Andheri west. It was received by his wife Madhura, daughter Durga, son Sharang and grandchildren, said family spokesperson Pritam Sharma. On Thursday morning, the mortal remains will be kept for a final glimpse in the building compound to enable his fans and others to pay their last respects. Later, Pt Jasraj will be accorded a funeral with full state honours at the Vile Parle Crematorium in the afternoon, Sharma said. Pt Jasraj breathed his last in New Jersey on Monday, plunging the world of music into a pall of gloom. His death was condoled by President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, leaders of ruling Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, top Bollywood personalities and luminaries from the music world. Salk Institute scientists have made a major advance in the pursuit of a safe and effective treatment for type 1 diabetes, an illness that impacts an estimated 1.6 million Americans with a cost of $14.4 billion annually. Using stem cell technology, Salk researchers generated the first human insulin-producing pancreatic cell clusters able to evade the immune system, as detailed in the journal Nature on August 19, 2020. These "immune shielded" cell clusters controlled blood glucose without immunosuppressive drugs in mice once transplanted in the body. "Most type 1 diabetics are children and teenagers," says Salk Professor Ronald Evans, senior author and holder of the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology. "This is a disease that is historically hard to manage with drugs. We hope that regenerative medicine in combination with immune shielding can make a real difference in the field by replacing damaged cells with lab-generated human islet-like cell clusters that produce normal amounts of insulin on demand." Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong condition that is challenging to manage, even with automated devices that deliver insulin to regulate blood sugar. Transplants of pancreatic beta islets--clusters of cells that make insulin and other hormones--from donor tissue can provide a cure, but require patients to take life-long immunosuppressing drugs, which carry serious risks. For decades, researchers have sought a better way to replenish lost pancreatic cells. Now, device-free transplantation of insulin-producing cells like these brings us a step closer to curing the disease, according to the lab. In a previous study, the Evans lab overcame an impediment in the field, in which stem-cell-derived beta-like cells produced insulin, but were not functional. The cells did not release insulin in response to glucose, as they were simply under powered, according to Evans. His team discovered a genetic switch called ERR-gamma that when flipped, "turbo-charges" the cells. "When we add ERR-gamma, the cells have the energy they need to do their job," says Michael Downes, a Salk senior staff scientist and co-author of both studies. "These cells are healthy and robust and can deliver insulin when they sense high glucose levels." A critical part of the new study was to develop a way to grow beta-like cells in a three-dimensional environment that approximates the human pancreas. This gave the cells an islet-like property. Importantly, the team discovered that a protein called WNT4 was able to turn on the ERR-gamma-driven maturation switch. This combination of steps generated functional cell clusters that mimic human islets: so-called human islet-like organoids (HILOs). Next the team tackled the complex issue of immune rejection. Normal tissue transplants require lifelong immune suppressive therapies to protect the tissue from being attacked by the immune system; however these therapies also increase the risk for infections. Inspired by the successes of immunotherapy drugs for cancer, the team initially showed that the checkpoint protein PD-L1 protected the transplanted cells. "By expressing PD-L1, which acts as an immune blocker, the transplanted organoids are able to hide from the immune system," says first author Eiji Yoshihara, a former staff scientist in the lab. Yoshihara then developed a method to induce PD-L1 in HILOs with short pulses of the protein interferon gamma. When transplanted into diabetic mice, these immune-evasive HILOs provided sustained blood glucose control in diabetic mice with healthy immune systems. "This is the first study to show that you can protect HILOs from the immune system without genetic manipulation," Downes explains. "If we are able to develop this as a therapy, patients will not need to take immune-suppressing drugs." More research needs to be done before this system can be advanced to clinical trials. The transplanted organoids need to be tested in mice for longer periods of time to confirm that their effects are long-lasting. More work needs to be done to ensure they would be safe to use in humans as well. "We now have a product that could potentially be used in patients without requiring any kind of device," Evans concludes. ### Other researchers on the paper were Carolyn O'Connor, Emanuel Gasser, Zong Wei, Tae Gyu Oh, Tiffany W. Tseng, Dan Wang, Fritz Cayabyab, Yang Dai, Ruth T. Yu, and Annette R. Atkins of Salk and Christopher Liddle of the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Sydney Medical School in Australia. This work was supported by grants from California Institute of Regenerative Medicine grant DISC2-11175, National Institutes of Health grant 1RO1DK120480-01, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, to Evans. Liddle and Downes were funded by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Project. Yoshihara was supported by a DRC P&F grant. Thank you also to Steven and Lisa Altman for supporting the lab. About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu. China urges global arms sales ban to non-state actors Global Times By Wang Qi Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/18 12:44:02 China called on countries to refrain from selling arms to non-state actors and stop interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign countries through arms sales, at the sixth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which was convened on Monday. China attended the meeting as a state member for the first time, and submitted a written statement, in which China made proposals on further strengthening the ATT, which included the above-mentioned remarks, according to a post on the WeChat public account of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN Office at Geneva. Some speculated that China's statement, made 38 years after China signed a joint communique with the US in 1982, in which Washington promised to reduce its arms sales to the island of Taiwan, was in response to the US breaking its promise. Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times that the statement is an expression of China's position and principles on arms sales, and reflects China's responsibility and obligations as a responsible country. China's statement came after tensions in the Taiwan Straits rose after frequent arms transactions between the US and the island of Taiwan. An agreement for US arms firm Lockheed Martin to sell 66 F-16V fighter jets to the island was announced in mid-August, a move that China firmly opposes. As a countermeasure, China said it will impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin to safeguard national interests. In the statement on Monday, China also stressed the importance of enhancing the universality and effectiveness of the Arms Trade Treaty, and actively carrying out international cooperation and assistance. China always upholds the interaction and coordination of conventional arms control mechanisms within the UN framework, and actively supports the UN in playing a central role in conventional arms control, Zhang said, noting that China attaches great importance to the humanitarian problems caused by conventional weapons. In phone calls with conference president Federico Villegas and head of the ATT Secretariat Dumisani Dladla, Li Song, Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Disarmament Affairs, said China takes a prudent and responsible attitude toward military exports, and implements strict management. China actively supports the international community in taking necessary measures to regulate the international arms trade and crack down on illicit arms transfers, Li said, noting that joining the ATT shows China's determination and sincerity to support multilateralism and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Villegas and Dladla welcomed China's participation as a state party for the first time, and stressed that China's accession is a milestone in the development of ATT, which is of great significance to boosting the international community's confidence in ATT, and further promoting the multilateral arms control process. As an active contributor to world peace and a staunch defender of the international order, China said that it will work with all parties to make greater contributions to the building of a standardized and reasonable arms trade order, according to China's statement on Monday. China joined the ATT after its envoy to the UN deposited the instrument of accession with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in July. The conference is being held from Monday to Friday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SAN FRANCISCO Airbnb said on Wednesday that it had confidentially filed to go public, taking a key step toward one of the largest public market debuts in a generation of sharing economy start-ups. A public offering by the company, which lets people rent out their spare rooms or homes to travelers, would cap a volatile year in which its business was devastated by the spread of the coronavirus. Airbnb had been privately valued at $31 billion before this year, and the company must now convince investors that it can thrive and turn a profit in a new era of limited travel. Airbnb declined to comment beyond its brief announcement. Airbnbs offering would signal the end of an era for the first wave of highly valued start-up unicorns, many of which were founded in the recession of 2008 and then rode a wave of growth fueled by smartphones, gig work and copious amounts of venture capital. In recent years, many of Airbnbs well-known sharing economy peers have gone public (Uber and Lyft), sold themselves (Postmates), or unraveled spectacularly (WeWork). Its debut will most likely be helped by an ebullient stock market, which has remained robust despite the economic destruction caused by the pandemic. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 hit a new high as investors focused on signs that the worst might be over, and on Wednesday, Apple became the first U.S. company to hit a $2 trillion market value. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared that its members will not return to the classrooms except the federal government meets all of its demands. Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, National President of ASUU, made this disclosure, during a press conference held at the Gwagwalada campus of the University of Abuja. Recall that Nigerian universities have been shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the ASUU strike. The academic union has now laid fresh demands before the government before academic activities can resume in Nigerian Universities. Prof Ogunyemi disclosed that ASUU has unveiled and presented the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as an alternative to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the Government. He added that the software has been demonstrated to the Minister of Education and senior management staff of the Ministry of Education, including the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdulrasheed Abubakar, on Monday. According to him, It is our sincere hope that the government would not renege on its promise because the benefits of UTAS to the university system (both public and private) cannot be found in any other software in Nigeria today. Now that the union is close to meeting the governments demand on an alternative to IPPIS, it is our sincere hope that the substantive issues in the ongoing strike action would be given the desired attention. The ASUU National President also noted that the body wants the five months salaries of its members at the University of Maiduguri and the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, and other institutions that are still withheld by the Accountant-General of the Federation on account of non-registration on IPPIS to be paid to them. Nigerian students, on Twitter, are anticipating the reopening of schools. Below are reactions: @NwaKammaP: As school go resume who knows how lecturers go take rush us with assignment and extortion God na for ya hand we dey #schoolsreopening @AYO_FAD: Landlords waiting for students owing rent before lockdown to come tell stories. #schoolsreopening @iamdahmmie: #schoolsreopening and I cant even remember the course Im studying anymore abi I should goan and learn mechanic @Kingcefo: Not everyone want to scam their parents when school opens, some of us want to defend our projects and leave nothing more.#schoolsreopening Say hello to Finn, the sprocker spaniel whose owner styles his uncannily human-like locks to look like the rich and famous. Belinda Rae has transformed her furry friend into everyone from Tina Turner to Strictly star Claudia Winkleman. The 49-year-old NHS worker from Cumbria says: 'People seem to love his hair and I get told off if I mention he is off to the groomers. 'I've been asked if his hair 'grows naturally like that' and whether I get it highlighted. 'I get asked if people can take his photo and we hear children point and say things like, 'Look at that doggie's funny hair'.' Here's proof that Finn's famous furry impressions are top of the crops... Belinda Rae, from Cumbria, has transformed her sprocker spaniel Finn (pictured together) into a range of famous faces using his uncannily human-like locks Simply the best... And Belinda's amazing pooch even manages to copy superstar Tina's sideways glance Flyaway hair: Finn's centre parting is a perfect match for Virgin tycoon Richard Branson Call me Claw-dia: Finn carries off a fabulous fringe, just like Strictly Come Dancing presenter Ms Winkleman If you don't know me bow-wow: Here's Finn's riff on the curly style of Simply Red's Mick Hucknall You've got tail: Rom-com star Meg Ryan's wavy and luscious locks are a cinch for Finn A top dog's top knot: Finn or is that Hairy Styles? shows he's a One Direction hunk I'm a Belieber! Finn's swept-over hair mimics Canadian heart-throb Justin Bieber as a teenager Do ya think I'm Rex-y? Finn does his best impression of grrrravelvoiced rocker Rod Stewart They are living under some of the most draconian lockdown restrictions in the world. A spike in coronavirus cases led authorities in the Australian state of Victoria to declare a state of disaster on Aug. 2, allowing police checkpoints to be put in place and establishing hefty fines for residents and businesses caught breaching the regulations. And any hope people had of returning to something like normality has been abandoned: On Sunday, lockdown measures were extended for four more weeks. "I actually have my travel letters on the front seat in my car, and I have my hospital identification on me, because I'm afraid I'm going to get stopped," said Dr. Carmen Brown, 47, adding that similar measures should be introduced in the United States to combat the virus. Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Brown, an obstetrician from Atlanta who moved to Victoria's state capital, Melbourne, in 2016, said she has to drive out of the city to the rural hospital where she practices, so she is routinely stopped. "Even more frightening," she said, was the fact that military personnel were monitoring some of the larger checkpoints. "It just feels surreal. It doesn't feel like this is normal life at all," she said. Image: Coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne (Sandra Sanders / Reuters) Victoria was compelled to take action as it emerged that the majority of Australia's COVID-19 cases had been recorded in Melbourne. More than 17,000 cases have been reported in the city, while Australia as a whole has recorded almost 24,000, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. So while much of Australia was enjoying some semblance of normality after pubs, restaurants and other businesses reopened in May, the residents of Victoria can leave their homes only for food, caregiving and essential work. Exercise is permitted once a day within 3 miles of home. Those breaching the rules face fines of $1,000 or more, and repeat offenders can be taken to court and fined almost $15,000. Companies can be fined more than $70,000 for breaking the rules. Story continues Some, including Nafisa Yussf, 31, have criticized the government's handling of the lockdown. "A lot of people didn't know it was happening," she said. "There was not even time for people to prepare and to get essential food and medicine." Yussf, a community engagement liaison officer who works with immigrants in the city, said there had been inadequate messaging and translation services to explain the situation to those who do not speak English. As a result, she said, some residents of tower blocks in northern Melbourne had been stopped and turned back by police as they tried to leave their homes. Some of the blocks had already been locked since July following outbreaks in the buildings, meaning more months of restricted living. "It's been absolutely challenging," she said, adding that such incidents had heightened distrust between the authorities and the communities she serves. Others were more stoic. Emma Browne, 33, admitted that she had been depressed during the lockdown, particularly as she had missed her father's 60th and her grandmother's 80th birthdays, but she said the measures would be worth it if they stamped out the virus for good. Image: Exercise window in Melbourne (Darrian Traynor / Getty Images) "I'm all for whatever we have to do," said Browne, a middle school teacher, adding that everyone was "in it together." "Let's get it done," she said. Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist and epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, agreed that lockdowns were not ideal, but he said they did work. Mina said that while he preferred to roll out rapid testing, lockdowns "should be seen both as an effective avenue but also at this point almost as an avenue of last resort." Brown, the obstetrician, said the U.S. could learn a lot from Victoria. She said people in Australia were "really shocked" by the American response to the virus. "Knowing my family is back home and at risk just really brought it all home," Brown said, adding that the U.S. government should adopt a similarly strict approach. "It's sad watching your home burn." Researchers have designed a new X-ray classification system for adult idiopathic scoliosis that can more precisely define which parts of the spine need correction, an achievement that could enhance treatment, communication, and analysis of spinal deformities affecting older patients, according to a study published in Spine Deformity in August. The team of researchers, led by James D. Lin, MD, MS, a spine surgeon at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said their modern approach to the X-ray classification system could provide a more universal and standard assessment of adult scoliosis. This classification system provides a new language for clinicians and researchers, helping us reliably categorize and communicate the radiographic features of adult idiopathic scoliosis, in order to more effectively facilitate treatment and further analysis. This will help researchers and surgeons scrutinize past results from prior surgeries and refine future treatment." James D. Lin, MD., MS., Spine Surgeon and Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine, The Mount Sinai Hospital Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine, a condition that affects an estimated six million people in the United States. Many develop it in adolescence, but only a small percentage of adolescent cases require surgery. While adult scoliosis can be the natural progression of adolescent scoliosis, adults can also develop it for the first time; those cases are called adult degenerative scoliosis. The symptoms and surgical treatment can differ significantly for older patients; for example, adults often experience more pain from the condition. The new method builds on the Lenke classification system for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which is widely used to define six curve types but is not applicable to adults. The new three-component method maintains the curve types from the Lenke classification and introduces assessments of the global alignment and lumbosacral curve, two features that more commonly deteriorate in older patients. In the study, 12 spine surgeons used the new classification system to grade 30 cases twice, which resulted in near-perfect agreement in the assessment of the patients. This latest method to classify adult scoliosis could improve treatment options because it helps define the different areas of the spine that need to be corrected and fused, and there is currently no widely accepted X-ray classification system for the complex condition. "The development of a new classification system, led by Dr. Lin, strengthens our efforts at the Spine Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital to provide innovative and customized treatment for patients with spinal disorders and injuries," said Andrew Hecht, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System and The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Director of the Spine Center at Mount Sinai. "The new method ensures that we have a more exhaustive, thorough, and rigorous benchmark in how we analyze and treat adults with spinal conditions throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, but also for our colleagues throughout the entire orthopedic community, helping us all to provide exceptional care." Dr. Lin authored the study with doctors from the Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurological Surgery at Columbia University, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University. Michael Bezjian/WireImage Ben Cross, the star of Chariots of Fire, who also appeared in 2009's Star Trek, died Tuesday after a short illness. He was 72. His daughter, Lauren Cross, told the Associated Press her father passed away at his home in Vienna, Austria. He was a man who taught us to embrace our feelings, whatever they may be, a family statement reads. We are grateful for the time we had with him. His spirit lives on in our hearts through his words, his music, and the love that we still feel." The veteran actor first appeared on the big screen with director Richard Attenborough's 1977 film A Bridge Too Far, which starred Sean Connery. He would later reunite with Connery in the movie First Knight (1995), which also featured Richard Gere. Cross broke through in 1981 with his leading performance in Chariots of Fire, helmed by Hugh Hudson. The actor portrayed Harold Abrahams, a Jewish man from England who became an Olympic runner while overcoming prejudice. The film won four Oscars the following year, including Best Picture. Cross also notably appeared as the father of Spock (Zachary Quinto) in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, Prince Charles in the 2011 television film William & Kate: The Movie, the titular Solomon in the 1997 miniseries, and Captain Nemo in 1997's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea TV movie. According to Cross' rep Tracy Mapes to the AP, the actor had finished filming his part in the Lionsgate horror movie The Devil's Light prior to his death. Cross is survived by wife, two children, and three grandchildren. Related content: Industry Boosted by the Increasing Use of Thin-Film Solar PV Modules The global solar PV backsheet market size is expected to grow by USD 2.06 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 15% throughout the forecast period, according to the latest report by Technavio. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download a Free Sample of the Market Impact of COVID-19. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005315/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Solar PV Backsheet Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Thin-film solar PV modules are gaining prominence over other solar PV modules because they can be installed on curved surfaces and offer improved flexibility. They are less expensive and offer a promising growth option for the adoption of solar electricity. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is the most commonly used type of thin-film solar PV module. Moreover, thin-film solar PV modules are extensively used in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs). Thus, the diverse applications of thin-film solar PV modules are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Report Highlights The major solar PV backsheet market growth came from the fluoropolymer segment in 2019, and it is expected to witness the fastest growth during the next five years. This is primarily because of the adoption and implementation of microgrids, declining cost of solar power generation, and a shift in focus toward renewables. APAC was the largest solar PV backsheet market in 2019, and the region will offer several growth opportunities to market vendors during the forecast period. This is attributed to factors such as the adoption and implementation of microgrids, declining cost of solar power generation, and a shift in focus toward renewables. The global solar PV backsheet market is fragmented. 3M Co., Agfa-Gevaert NV, Arkema SA, DuPont de Nemours Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt Co. Ltd., Koninklijke DSM NV, KREMPEL GmbH, Nippon Light Metal Holdings Co. Ltd., and Toray Industries Inc. are some of the major market participants. To help clients improve their market position, this solar PV backsheet market forecast report provides a detailed analysis of the market leaders. As the business impact of COVID-19 spreads, the Global Solar PV Backsheet Market 2020-2024 is expected to have negative inferior growth. As the pandemic spreads in some regions and plateaus in other regions, we revaluate the impact on businesses and update our report forecasts. Read the full report here: www.technavio.com/report/solar-pv-backsheet-market-industry-analysis? Growing Emphasis on Biodegradable solar PV Backsheeters will be a Key Market Trend Solar power generation has emerged as one of the least expensive sources of clean energy. Several governments and organizations are undertaking initiatives and providing subsidies to reduce costs and increase solar power generation. For instance, The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) of the US Department of Energy (US DOE) launched the SunShot Initiative in 2011 to reduce the cost and increase the adoption of solar-powered electricity. Such initiatives are expected to increase the number of solar PV panel installations globally. This will result in the global solar PV backsheet market growth during the forecast period as it is an integral component of the solar PV modules. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Solar PV Backsheet Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist solar PV backsheet market growth during the next five years Estimation of the solar PV backsheet market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the solar PV backsheet market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of solar PV backsheet market vendors Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform About Technavio 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/20200819005315/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ The US State Department is asking colleges and universities to divest from Chinese holdings in their endowments, warning schools in a letter Tuesday to get ahead of potentially more onerous measures on holding the shares. Boards of US university endowments would be prudent to divest from Peoples Republic of China firms stocks in the likely outcome that enhanced listing standards lead to a wholesale de-listing of PRC firms from US exchanges by the end of next year," Keith Krach, undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment, wrote in the letter addressed to the board of directors of American universities and colleges, and viewed by Bloomberg. Holding these stocks also runs the high risks associated with PRC companies having to restate financials," he said. The warning to endowments opens a new front in the Trump administrations multipronged campaign against Chinas government, businesses and individuals. The college and university funds represent billions of investment in Chinese companies, according to a 2019 investigation by Bloomberg, driven by the prospect of better returns. Tensions between the two powers are rising over trade, the Covid-19 pandemic and a U.S. presidential election that has fueled an escalation of anti-China rhetoric. President Donald Trumps administration has tightened limits on Chinese university students, ordering new restrictions in June that canceled the U.S. visas of certain graduate students and university researchers. The Trump administration earlier this month also went after two of Chinas largest tech companies, putting out twin executive orders prohibiting U.S. persons and companies from doing business with ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok video app and Tencent Holdings Ltd.s WeChat messaging service. Endowments will be eager to examine the issues the government is raising, Krach said Tuesday in a Bloomberg Radio interview. These boards have a moral responsibility, and perhaps a fiduciary duty, to really look into this, to make sure their investments are clean," said Krach, former chairman of the Purdue University Board of Trustees. Endowment managers are always monitoring the political winds," said Jim Dunn, chief investment officer of Verger Capital Management, whose clients include Wake Forest Universitys fund. They are blowing pretty hard, but with no real impact yet." China campaign Tuesdays warning is part of a larger campaign by US officials to slow the money that has flowed from investment funds into Chinese companies. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told state governors in February that some pension funds are playing into Chinas hands. The flow of US pension and endowment cash into Chinese equities has boosted the success of global giants such as online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., as well as rising stars like artificial-intelligence company SenseTime Group Ltd., which is now on a list of tech companies banned from doing business in the US. In addition to venture capital, endowments have directed growing portions of their passive investments into Chinese companies that US politicians say are linked to human rights abuses and national security threats. Global index provider MSCI Inc. has added Chinese stocks to its benchmark emerging markets index. US regulators recently urged American stock exchanges to set new rules that could trigger the delisting of Chinese companies, following mounting concerns that investors are being exposed to frauds. Foreign equities made up 13.9% of college endowments with more than $1 billion, according to the most recent data compiled by the National Association of College and University Business Officers for the year ended June 2019. The State Department letter also warns universities of Chinas growing influence on campuses and said the US is accelerating investigations of what it called illicit PRC funding of research, intellectual property theft and the recruitment of talent." Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:12:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about local measures for flood control, disaster relief and post-flood production recovery at a "zhuangtai," a residential structure on raised ground with higher elevation that functions as a safe haven from river floods, in Funan County in Fuyang, east China's Anhui Province, Aug. 18, 2020. Xi on Tuesday inspected Anhui Province. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) HEFEI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has visited flood-stricken residents in east China's Anhui Province. "I have always been concerned about the people in flood-stricken areas," Xi said on Tuesday as he inspected the county of Funan in Fuyang City. Under the burning sun, Xi walked into the fields and visited local residents living on "zhuangtai," a residential structure on raised ground with higher elevation that functions as a safe haven from river floods. Local residents told Xi that they have access to stable power and water supplies, and have daily necessities delivered to them. They also told Xi that as the floodwater receded, they have resumed farm work. Xi said that he felt relieved when he saw people's life and work are ensured and hopeful. Enditem Laois County Council has advised people to secure loose objects ahead of Storm Ellen tonight. Met Eireann has issued a Yellow Wind Warning to include County Laois, valid from 21.00hrs Wednesday 19th August until 23.59hrs on Thursday 20th August 2020. Head of Forecasting Evelyn Cusack says it is a yellow to orange warning, with some parts of Ireland now braced for Status Red wind. read here. The council warns of possible fallen trees and localised flooding. "Taking account of the weather warning for County Laois, forecast winds may give rise to the possibility of fallen trees and some localised flooding. In this regard, Roads staff and Fire & Emergency crews will be on standby to support any necessary severe weather management measures over the weekend. "Please take care to secure loose objects in order to minimise risks of damage or injury during this period," Laois County Council has advised. "Easterly winds will be moderate to fresh and gusty this afternoon, but veering southeasterly and becoming very strong and gusty later in the evening as Storm Ellen approaches, with gales developing tonight. Some damaging gusts are possible and caution is advised. There will be a spell of heavy rain overnight also, with a risk of flooding in places. The rain will clear to the north towards dawn" the forecast says. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is asking road users to exercise caution while using the roads over the next few days and the weekend. Road users should always follow recommended routes and obey signs closing roads to traffic. Where flooding requires road closures, please use diversionary routes and do not drive through floods. For advice on severe weather driving tips, please see severe weather advice on the RSA website or check out the RSA Facebook and Twitter pages. Gateway Genomics direct-to-consumer genetic tests Since last year, the company's ecommerce sales have more than doubled and clinical locations have tripled. Gateway Genomics, a leading developer of direct-to-consumer genetic tests that give families insight into their future children, announces inclusion in the Inc. 5000 2020 list of fastest growing private companies for the second year in a row. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. Ranking in the list is determined by the percentage revenue growth from 2016 to 2019, with minimums set for each year. With 1,623% revenue growth from 2016 to 2019, Gateway Genomics ranked #296 in the list, and #22 in the Health sector. Were incredibly honored by both Inc. and our customers in making this list for the second year in a row, says Gateway Genomics CEO, Chris Jacob. Every time, the revenue growth needed to make the list gets more difficult to achieve as companies work from a higher initial base. Even with our higher revenue in 2016, our ranking was mostly unchanged from last year, highlighting the exponential growth weve seen for our product. Gateway Genomics SneakPeek Early Gender DNA Test product is a fetal sex test that can be taken at just 8 weeks into pregnancy with 99.1% accuracy. The test is available in two ways: An At-Home version that can be ordered from the companys ecommerce website, and a Clinical version that is offered in over 900 participating medical locations in four countries including the US. The two channels give moms the choice of self-administering the test from the comfort of home or visiting a clinic to have blood drawn by a phlebotomist. Both can return gender results in as little as 48 hours. In achieving the Inc. 500|5000 list, Gateway Genomics joins notable biotech companies 10x Genomics, Prometheus Labs and Crescendo Biosciences, which were also recognized by this select group in their earlier years. The three-year average growth rate of this years honorees was over 500% with a median rate of 165%, and the aggregate revenue of the group was $209 billion in 2019. Since last years list, our ecommerce sales have more than doubled and our clinical locations have tripled, continues Mr. Jacob. This expansive growth reflects the desire of parents to know their babys gender as early into pregnancy as possible. It gives us added confidence in our company vision to develop and offer products that allow parents easy access to more information about their future children, to help them live healthier, better lives. About Gateway Genomics Gateway Genomics is a personal genomics company with the mission to develop leading-edge genetic tests that give families a new level of understanding about their future children. Since inception, more than 250,000 SneakPeek Early Gender DNA tests have been provided to help new parents bond with their babies, make plans, and connect with friends and family around them. Gateway Genomics is located in La Jolla, CA. About Inc. Media Founded in 1979, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies. The total monthly audience reach for the brand has been growing significantly, from 2,000,000 in 2010 to more than 20,000,000 today. The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. President Donald Trump said he called off last weekends trade talks with China, raising questions about the future of a trade deal that is now the most stable point in an increasingly tense relationship. I canceled talks with China, Trump said Tuesday in Yuma, Arizona. I dont want to talk to China right now. The phase-one trade deal, which came into force in February, had called for discussions on implementation of the agreement every six months. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Jeff Cook Real Estate was listed 3989 on the Inc. 5000 2020 list. Growth has always been the main focus of our companys initiative in the past few years. Its an incredible honor to see our name on the Inc. 5000 list and we hope to continue climbing the list for years to come. - Jeff Cook Inc. magazine recently revealed that Jeff Cook Real Estate is 3989th on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. Growth has always been the main focus of our companys initiative in the past few years. Its an incredible honor to see our name on the Inc. 5000 list and we hope to continue climbing the list for years to come. - Jeff Cook Jeff Cook Real Estate has continued to grow with new locations across the state of South Carolina. With offices now in Myrtle Beach, Florence, Rock Hill, Greenville, Columbia, and 5 sales offices and an operations center in the Lowcountry, Jeff Cook Real Estate is now home to over 180 agents. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over one million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 18. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. About Jeff Cook Real Estate: Jeff Cook Real Estate focuses on leveraging each other's strengths to provide exceptional service while maximizing each team member's talents. In a company where entrepreneurship and out-of-the-box thinking are the driving factors of our success, we welcome industry leaders who challenge the norms and are looking to take their business to new heights. To learn more about joining Jeff Cook Real Estate visit our website. Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. During a visit to Gyumri today, member of the council of Homeland Party Arsen Babayan met with Gor Martirosyan, who has been on a hunger strike for 21 days now. Babayan also posted a video of his meeting on his Facebook page. During a conversation with Babayan, Martirosyan said whereas the former authorities left the people moneyless, the current authorities have left the people foodless. The current authorities arent helping citizens like me get back on our feet. Im frustrated at the current authorities because citizens currently dont have the right to freedom of speech. Ive been on a hunger strike for 21 days and this hasnt been made public. This means the authorities have exerted pressure on the healthcare industry. Current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is concealing the situation in the country and the demonstrations of citizens protesting against him and doesnt want to hear people say bad things about him, Gor Martirosyan said, adding that he will march from Gyumri to Yerevan to demand Pashinyans resignation and called on citizens to join him. Rep. Joe Kennedy on Tuesday night took aim at one of Sen. Ed Markeys signature bills, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, arguing too many families still cannot afford cable service or access broadband at a time of confusion and concerns for public health as teachers and parents grapple with COVID-19 heading into the school year. In a WCVB debate, both candidates urgently pressed the federal government to assist cash-strapped states and towns with an injection of stimulus aid to help schools reopen safely and to assist with hybrid or remote learning where necessary. Neither advocated a one-size-fits-all approach. Markey said communities must err on the side of caution until theres a guarantee that these schools are safe. He added that hes pushing for $4 billion to expand internet access, broadband and Wi-Fi hotspots across the country and Massachusetts to prevent homework and opportunity gaps because we have to anticipate those kids are not going to be at school. Markey added that as soon as Joe Biden is sworn into office, if elected, hell push for an infrastructure bill including tens of billions of dollars so broadband can be deployed ubiquitously. Kennedy said families are being forced to consider how to go to work if their children dont go to school. This is the biggest issue across Massachusetts today, he said. No one wants to send their kids to school if theres risks to their health. But nobody wants their children to fall behind. He noted that the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, passed by the House three months ago, provides education funding thats been hanging in the balance of stalled negotiations between Democratic leaders and the Trump administration. The federal government has to provide more funding, Kennedy said. He added that communities must make their decisions on reopening doors to schools or having virtual learning, with flexibility given to the parents. But he argued that a lack of additional resources to American families and schools would create a massive divide. Then the congressman, locked in a virtual dead with Markey, targeted the senators comments touting his efforts to expand internet access. At one point Kennedy could be seen smiling in reaction to Markeys statement that many families cant afford cable service. I was on the phone with a teacher who has tried for 10 years to get the internet to her house, Kennedy said. How we are expecting her to be able to teach those kids? That happened as a result of the Telecommunications Act that he says is his proudest achievement. Kennedy argued the landmark bill which Markey says delivered more than $52 billion, including $740 million in Massachusetts, to get schools and libraries online and improved access for low-income students and families created cable bills that are astronomical. There are still 18 towns that dont have access to broadband. Thats not an oversight, thats a critical failure. Markey fired back that the Telecommunications Act created tens of thousands of new jobs in Massachusetts. Im very proud of that. Markey said that hes even more proud that his legislation has helped provide internet on the desks of children in communities like Roxbury and Springfield. That has to get extended, Markey said. Kids are going to be home and the federal government should provide that service. Markeys campaign issued a news release during the debate arguing the Telecommunications Act unleashed competition in the broadband marketplace, driving down prices and creating jobs. His team also highlighted Markeys efforts to help create, review and update the Federal Communications Commissions National Broadband Plan, and his support from the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. Related Content: Bullis Head of School Christian Sullivan sent an email to families Monday saying two employees tested positive that day and were doing well. The email indicated that a Bullis contact-tracing team was involved and that anyone who had contact with the individuals had been asked to self-quarantine. The campus would be closed for two days for a deep cleaning, the message said. Hundreds of farmers on tractors, excavators, harvesters, trucks or horses took to the streets of the small South African town of Mookgophong on Tuesday, protesting what they said was a spike in attacks on farms. Dozens of predominantly white farmers are killed in crime-plagued South Africa every year, and police statistics show that 49 murders occurred on farms in the 12 months up to April. Wearing face masks and with placards plastered to their vehicles, the protesting farmers drove in a long convoy around Mookgophong, which is about 220 kilometres (135 miles) north of Johannesburg. The protest was held as three suspects appeared in Mookgophong magistrate court on charges of murdering a 79-year-old farmer in March. A small group of farmers, including children, stepped out of their vehicles and held up their arms crossed in an "X", symbolising their call for an end to the attacks. The farmers want improved security from the police and better prosecution rates of crimes related to farm attacks. Farmers on the vehicles driving to the protest. By Phill Magakoe (AFP) "This is a real problem, we feel it on our skin everyday, the government also has to do something about that because we are also taxpayers," farmer Hendrik Botha told AFP. Another farmer Toby Swan said "we don't need any of this in our country and we need to stop this. This is killing the whole industry." Protester Adriaan Pont said that because farmers live in isolated areas, "we are soft targets". Murders are generally high in South Africa. In the 12 months up to April, the police recorded 21,325 murders, averaging 58.4 per day and showing a 1.4-percent increase over the previous year, according to official police statistics. Of that number, 49 were farmers. AfriForum, a pressure group that advocates on behalf of the country's nine-percent-strong white population, said 216 attacks have been recorded so far this year, 26 of which were murders. The group said the assaults and murders are not only targeting whites, but also black people and Indians. Attacks dropped drastically during the first few months of the country's coronavirus lockdown due to restricted movement, but from June the assaults "just exploded", according to Afriforum's Ian Cameron. Police minister Bheki Cele last month told parliament that "we do take serious the issue of farm safety". On Monday, Santa Cruz County was dropped off the state's coronavirus watchlist. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press ) California health officials are beginning to mull what the next phase of reopening may look like, offering a glimmer of hope for places like Los Angeles County. For more than a month, the bulk of the states 58 counties have been on a watchlist of municipalities with worrisome COVID-19 statistics. Health officials weigh key metrics to gauge the virus spread in the community and the countys ability to respond to it. Counties that don't meet the state's criteria are restricted from fully opening all parts of the economy. There are several benchmarks that must be met before a county can be removed from the list, and Los Angeles County has hit most of them: the average daily number of infections; hospitalizations and deaths are all declining; and it has enough intensive care beds and ventilators to conceivably handle a sharp rise in patients. But L.A. County is far removed from the required 14-day average of fewer than 100 infections per 100,000 residents. As of Tuesday, the countys rate was 239.2 positive cases per 100,000 people. Still, the average is a marked improvement from last week's 335 per capita. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said state public health officials are crafting a new set of state-mandated protocols on how counties, once off the states monitoring list, can begin to reopen their economies and relax coronavirus restrictions in this second go-round. The last time we did this we empowered local health officers to make decisions for themselves, Newsom said. We're going to be focusing a much deeper emphasis on the how this time, not just the when. People wear masks on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to protect against the coronavirus. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press) L.A. County health officials announced 1,003 new cases Tuesday and 64 more deaths, pushing the county's overall totals to 224,031 cases and 5,335 deaths since the outbreak began. Hospitalizations have dropped by more than a third in the last month. "I hope we can stay on this trajectory," said County Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose district has recorded many of the area's cases. "We've been hitting it very hard, letting people know that they have got to be a part of the solution and the only way we're going to get the economy back and get the people back to work is to lower these rates." Story continues More than 2.1 million people in Los Angeles County have been tested for COVID-19, with about 10% testing positive, county health officials said in a statement Tuesday. "As we work together to prevent more illness and death from COVID-19, it is important to note that while testing can help identify people who are infected, testing alone cannot prevent all transmission," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. "Individuals who test positive are capable of infecting others 48 hours before they have any symptoms or a positive test result. The best way to prevent transmission is to take universal precautions keep six feet apart from others, wear a face covering outside your home and wash hands often." On Monday, Santa Cruz County was removed from the state's watchlist, and Amador, Mendocino, Inyo and Calaveras counties were added. San Diego County, which has been reporting less than 100 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents for days now, was removed from the list Tuesday. Many counties across the state are doing things really well, said state health officer Dr. Mark Ghaly, citing the success of mask requirements, isolating the sick and tracking down new cases as part of the reason. Some of those that are nearing coming off the monitoring list have likely been at some of these efforts potentially a little longer. On Monday, there were nearly 10,000 new cases reported and nearly 100 more deaths. And while infections and deaths have dropped in recent days, hospitalizations increased Tuesday for the first time in two weeks, Ghaly said. One day is not a trend, but its an important number that well continue to watch to make sure it doesnt become a trend, he said. As of Tuesday, California had recorded 632,667 coronavirus cases and 11,342 deaths. A data backlog that had kept the results of up to 300,000 tests off the state's tally has since been resolved and most of the positive cases have been included in the state's total, Ghaly said. Los Angeles County officials, on the other hand, said they anticipate more of the backlogged cases to appear into future totals. Looking ahead, Ghaly urged the public to prepare for the flu season, which is imminent. Because the illness is also a respiratory disease, many of the precautions people are taking against the transmission of COVID-19 should work to slow the spread of the flu. But unlike for COVID, we actually have a vaccine, Ghaly said. Not only will it protect you and your communities, but it may be exactly what you need to avoid a visit to the emergency room. We know that additional movement in the ER and urgent care centers might create an exposure risk to COVID-19. Vaccination trends against the flu dont look promising, though, he said. Initially, the public was being vaccinated in 2020 at a similar rate to last year, Ghaly said. But as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, flu vaccinations dropped dramatically in the spring. Only recently have the numbers ramped up. The fact that we are still fairly low relative to the peak in August, gives us concern and allows me to encourage families and caregivers, parents to use this time to schedule that critical appointment and catch up on vaccinations so we dont lose some of those important gains California has made, Ghaly said. Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this report. Chinese state media has released footage of the country's latest weapon: a 1,100lb munitions dispenser and air-to-surface stealth missile. It can drop up to 240 submunitions to destroy ground targets across 64,000 square feet, according to China's official defence programme. The missile has been described as 'one of the most important advanced weapons for the Chinese military right now'. Its introduction came amid spiking tensions between Beijing and Washington. China's state TV says that the nation's new weapon Sky Thunder, or the Tianlei 500 (pictured), can drop up to 240 submunitions to destroy ground targets across 64,000 square feet The official outlet has released footage of the missile being deployed (circled) in a live-fire drill The weapon, known as the Tianlei 500 in Chinese or 'Sky Thunder' in English, was featured on a military programme by China Central Television on Friday. According to the report, Sky Thunder is a precision-guided, modular and multi-functional munition. It has a square cross-section, which can not only increase its explosive load but also help it dodge radar detection. The missile has a pair of folding wings towards the back, and they can provide the weapon with extra lift. Sky Thunder has a range of more than 60 kilometres (37 miles), which means soldiers can deploy it at a farther distance from the enemy. With the help of the dispenser, fighter jets would be able to attack targets without having to penetrate the enemy zone, according to the station. The 1,100lb weapon has a square cross-section. A presenter from China Central Television says that the shape can not only increase its explosive load but also help it dodge radar detection An anonymous senior weapon engineer claimed that Sky Thunder could carry six types of submunitions for blasting different ground objects, from tanks to airports. 'It can drop different types of submunitions depending on different types of targets to achieve effective destruction,' the expert told the presenter. He added that the missile could scatter as many as 240 submunitions across an area of 6,000 square metres (64,583 square feet) or more. One expert told South China Morning Post that the missile was 'one of the most important advanced weapons for the Chinese military right now'. Hong Kong-based military analyst Song Zhongping explained that it would be 'very effective' in attacking and destroying various kinds of ground targets at once. An anonymous senior weapon engineer (right) tells the presenter that Sky Thunder can carry six types of submunitions for blasting different ground objects, from tanks to airports The state broadcaster shows the different submunitions Sky Thunder can reportedly carry Chinese state media introduced Sky Thunder the same day Taiwan finalised an arms deal of 66 new American-made F-16 fighter jets. The self-ruled island formally signed the agreement to buy the warplanes from Lockheed Martin amid heightened tensions between China and the United States. The Pentagon confirmed the $62billion (47billion) deal on its website on Friday but did not specify the buyer. On Tuesday, the US guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin sailed through the narrow and sensitive Taiwan Strait, the US navy said, in what have become relatively routine trips in recent months, though they always anger China. China's military said today that the latest US navy sailing near Chinese-claimed Taiwan was 'extremely dangerous' and stirring up such trouble was in neither country's interests. The news comes after US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited Taiwan, the highest-level US official to travel to the island since Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing in 1979. Mr Azar is pictured waving to media while visiting Taipei on August 12 The Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army said its air and naval forces followed and monitored the US ship throughout its voyage. 'Any words or deeds that ... cause trouble in the Taiwan Strait are not in line with the fundamental interests of China and the United States, harm the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the strait, pose real threats to peace and stability in the region and are extremely dangerous', it said. Chinese forces would remain on high alert at all times to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it added. Taiwan's defence ministry said the US ship was on an 'ordinary mission' and passed through the Taiwan Strait in a southerly direction. The sailing comes a week after US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited Taiwan, the highest-level US official to travel to the island since Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing in 1979. China responded by sending fighter jets close to Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a purely domestic matter and routinely calls it the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with the United States. In the fight against COVID-19, researchers are finding the best way to determine the true number of community cases may be found in its effluent. Testing untreated wastewater for the coronavirus offers more concise data on a communitys viral caseload, as well as signs of potential outbreaks or hotspots before traditional testing shows an uptick in cases. A group in the Lehigh Valley is now joining that work. Bethlehems water and sewer department, Lehigh University and St. Lukes University Hospital have teamed up to test the citys wastewater for COVID-19. James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd is joining Lucilles chef/owner Chris Williams in supporting struggling bar teams in Houston. Following Lucille's, Shepherds One Fifth will become the second Houston restaurant to host a weekly pop-series featuring guest bar teams from across the city for a full evening of service. New restaurant: Ronnie Killen opens new restaurant in The Heights The Wednesday night patio pop-up series at the Montrose restaurant, at 1658 Westheimer, begins in September, according to a Tuesday release. Sales and tips from the evening will benefit the guest bars staff. Bar owners were dealt a major setback in June when Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all bars in Texas closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. $1 from each drink sold will go to Lucilles 1913. The nonprofit, founded by Williams in June, provides meals to Houston residents in need. The Woodlands gets a new pop-up: Goode Bird pop-up heads to The Woodlands delicious new series Im so honored to be a part of this program, Shepherd said in the release. Its a win-win to be able to support both the struggling bar community and help feed vulnerable communities in Houston that have been devastated by COVID-19. We will get through this crisis together by supporting each other. So lets do it, Houston. Williams first launched the pop-up series in July at Lucille's. It continues weekly on Thursday nights at the Museum District restaurant at 5512 La Branch St. Featured bars to date include The Alley Kat, NettBar, The Ready Room, Galvestons Daiquiri Time Out and Eight Row Flint. At Lucilles and One Fifth, safety measures including social distancing and a no mask, no service policy will be enforced. You can also opt to order cocktails to go for curbside pick-up. To help manage capacity, attendance is available by reservation only, with a maximum time cap on each reservation. Sally Yates, who served as acting attorney general at the start of the Trump administration, pilloried the president on Tuesday for what she described as his abuse of the executive branch particularly her former agency, the Department of Justice. From the moment President Trump took office, hes used his position to benefit himself rather than our country, she said during her speech from Atlanta on the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Hes trampled the rule of law, tried to weaponize the Justice Department to attack his enemies and protect his friends. Sally Yates speaks during the virtual Democratic National Convention on August 18, 2020. (via Reuters TV) Yates, who served as acting attorney general for just 10 days before Trump fired her for refusing to implement his ban on people traveling from several Muslim-majority countries, was one of the first in a long line of career civil servants Trump has dismissed for opposing his policies. Several months after Yates was fired, her former colleague James Comey, the then-FBI director, was likewise dismissed after he refused to defend Trump during the early days of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. National security officials and lawmakers alike have said Russia is still trying to meddle in the upcoming 2020 elections, sowing chaos and planting distrust in the reliability of the U.S. voting process. Yates, who spent 30 years in public service, also said that Trump, rather than standing up to Vladimir Putin fawns over a dictator who is still trying to interfere in our elections. She also addressed news that Trump has refused to allocate funds to the U.S. Postal Service, leading to uncertainty over whether ballots mailed to vote in the election will be received on time to be counted. Hes even trying to sabotage our Postal Service to keep people from being able to vote, she said. It is unusual for a career public servant from the Department of Justice to speak at a political event for a specific political party. Yates said speaking at the DNC is something I never expected to do. However, she said she chose to accept the opportunity because The future of our democracy is at stake. Story continues _____ Read more from Yahoo News: This is part of CNBC Make It's series on what it's like to be Black in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley has long been a culture dominated by white men, with a fraught record of following up on commitments to fix its race problem, from major tech companies that have barely moved their numbers on diversity to a lack of funding for Black founders. Here, CNBC Make It spoke with Black professionals to hear their experiences. Already in his young career, Kyle Woumn, 25, has had disappointing experiences that are too typical for a Black techie in white Silicon Valley. While a computer science student at Georgia Tech, Woumn remembers being one of only one or two Black interns at cloud platform Twilio in San Francisco for two summers running. When he took a job there in 2017 he was one of about six or eight Black engineers at the company, he says. When Shopr, a clothing delivery start-up Woumn helped start, was invited to interview with Y Combinator, an alum of the accelerator alluded to the fact that the business was picked because the accelerator was trying to increase the number of Black-founded companies in its portfolio. The alum then suggested pitching Y Combinator on the idea that ShopR could be used by stores to prevent theft in low-income and Black neighborhoods. "It was just like, 'Wow, is this what people think in terms of Black entrepreneurship?'" Woumn says. "Are these the kinds of things that they talk about, you know, when we are not in the room?" (Twilio says it did not formally track diversity numbers at the times Woumn refers to but currently, 3% of its global staff is Black, with a goal to have 30% underrepresented populations by 2023. Y Combinator says the accelerator is "disheartened" to hear about the founders' experience and it is "actively doing outreach to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and computer science to underrepresented groups.") "Definitely, when it comes to working at Silicon Valley, and working as a software engineer, and being Black, I feel like you have to overemphasize sometimes the value that you provide," Woumn tells CNBC Make It. But as he finds success, Woumn also feels a responsibility to help effect cultural change in Silicon Valley, especially since the killing of George Floyd. Shortly after Woumn left ShopR in May (for reasons unrelated to the experience with the Y Combinator alum) he became a founding team member at philanthropy start-up Overflow. Just weeks later, George Floyd was killed by police. It made it hard for Woumn to function, he says. "I was just kind of paralyzed and, I was obsessively on Twitter," he says. "It was very unsettling. And it was hard for me to sleep even be productive, honestly." Woumn's mom, who still lives in Atlanta where he is from, pleaded with him to comply with officers if he is ever to get pulled over. "That was really heartbreaking," he says. MOBILE, Ala., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- When someone gets hurt through no fault of their own, it can be difficult to decide whether they need to hire a lawyer, and if so, which lawyer to choose. Attorney Russ Copeland of Hedge Copeland in Mobile, AL recently shared some insights about what injured individuals should know before hiring a personal injury lawyer: Question : How does an injured person know if they should take the time to talk to a personal injury lawyer? Russ : Anyone who suffers a personal injury should talk to a lawyer, and here's why: it all comes down to money. If you talk to a lawyer about your injury, the consultation is free and all it's going to cost you is a little bit of your time. That's the beauty of what I do. We don't bill our clients by the hour - I only get paid if I'm successful for my clients. It doesn't matter how long it takes to do that - whether it's 10 hours or 250 hours - I put whatever amount of time I need into it to get it done. And of course, this includes initially meeting with the client to find out if they have a case. The bottom line is that there is no good reason NOT to meet with a lawyer to at least find out more about your case and what options you have. Question : When would it be appropriate to hire a personal injury attorney as opposed to handling the claim on their own? Russ : Every case is different, and not everyone's case is worth a significant amount of money. For example, let's say you got hurt and went to the chiropractor a couple of times and now you are feeling better. If the insurance company is already giving you a decent offer, I probably won't be able to do any better for you. If I think you are already getting a fair settlement, I'm not going to get involved in a case like that. I would tell you that you are better off just wrapping it up on your own. Still, it never hurts to talk to a lawyer first. So, pick up the phone and call me. Even if you want to handle it yourself, before you sign anything, tell me what they are offering, and if I think it's fair, I'll tell you. All of that said, nine times out of 10, you're going to need a lawyer involved. If you have any type of significant injury, you are not likely to get the compensation you are entitled to trying to do it by yourself. There are also complicating factors that you might have to deal with, and there are certain things that you might not be aware of that a lawyer who handles these kinds of cases is going to know. You want to make sure to be tapped into all the potential coverage that's out there, all the theories that might be out there, and that's where a lawyer's expertise is invaluable. Also, with more serious injuries, it's a lot less likely that you will get a fair offer. If an insurance company knows that they are going to lose on liability, for example, then they will nitpick about the seriousness of your injuries, what really caused them, etc. In fact, we typically don't like to deal too much with insurance adjusters in cases like these. Oftentimes, it is better to file that lawsuit so we can deal with a lawyer on the other side who will accurately evaluate the case and let the insurer know that they have a problem. Question : Is it better to work with a larger firm that would presumably have more resources, or a smaller firm that would provide more personalized service and attention? Russ : There is a common theme with some of the larger "billboard" firms - something like "one call is all" or "we'll get you a check fast". They know that the attitude of our society is that we want it and we want it NOW. And that can happen, you can get a quick settlement. But typically, when that happens, you are going to end up settling for something that is a lot lower than what your case is really worth. For example, you might think it's great if you are settling your case for $50k and getting a check right then and there. The problem is that your case might really be worth $250k, and that's the risk you run when you deal with a larger firm that always settles their cases. That type of situation is not going to happen at our shop. Because we don't deal with that kind of volume, you aren't going to get lost in the shuffle with us. We approach things a little differently at our firm. Around here, you get mine or Robert's card, which not only has our email address on it, but also our personal cell phone number. Our clients have access to us whenever they have questions or concerns, and we also have a firm app that our clients can use to get legal assistance 24 hours a day. There are only two of us, but technology is a wonderful thing for a small firm like ours - it is a great equalizer. We go up against firms all the time that have 200 or 300 lawyers, and we don't miss a beat. We sue big companies all the time, and we have no problem funding our cases and holding well-funded adversaries like these accountable. There are no shortfalls when it comes to working with our firm. Resources are not a problem, and they should never be a determining factor in choosing which lawyer you want to go with. The lawyer you choose should be competent, and it should be someone you feel comfortable working with, and you have that relationship with. And I'm confident there, because Robert and I have very good reputations. We've been doing this a long time, and we do it the right way. Question : What would be some of the differences in approach between an attorney who specializes in personal injury law vs. a generalist that does several practice areas? Would you say an injured person would be better off with one or the other? Russ : If it's a simple case without a lot of complicating factors, most lawyers could probably walk you through that without a lot of problems. But with many types of cases - premises liability, product liability, and medical malpractice as examples - there are going to be complex issues that will make the case a lot harder, and you will benefit a lot more by going with someone who specializes in it. It's usually best to go with a specialist who is equipped to handle these types of issues, but that also depends on the area you are in. In smaller towns and more rural areas, for example, you're going to find lawyers who do a little bit of everything. And they do a little bit of everything because this is what the community calls for, and this is what works best in their area. We are in a little larger area here in Mobile, so that gives us more of an opportunity to specialize. I think when you specialize, you gain extra knowledge and extra experience, and this is always beneficial to your client. I would also add that one of the great things about the legal community is that lawyers can refer cases they are not as comfortable with to other lawyers who specialize in that particular area and still share in the compensation. This encourages lawyers to get the clients to the right person to handle the case so the client can be taking care of. Question : How important is trial experience? What concerns, if any, would you have about a firm that settles every case and never goes to trial? Russ : The insurance company for the other side knows more about your lawyer than you do. And by that, I mean they know how many cases they have tried, how many they settle, etc. It's as simple as this - if they know that Lawyer X settles all of his cases and never takes any of them to trial, even though the insurance company might know that the case is worth $100k, they are never going to pay them that, because they don't have to. They know that at the end of the day, they are going to settle that case. So, maybe they offer them $50k for the case and close them out. I don't fault the insurance companies for having this mindset. That's just business. Now, let's be clear. Most civil disputes do not make it to trial. But the problem is that if they know you have never tried a case and you're never going to file a lawsuit, then you won't be taken seriously, and you'll never get full value for your claim. In order for the insurance company to take you seriously, they have to know that you are ready to take it to trial. And that's what Robert and I actually like to do. Collectively, we have tried hundreds of cases, and we have fun doing it. Now this is not to say that we will automatically try a case if we receive a fair settlement offer before the litigation starts, but just our reputation with the insurance companies tells them that we are serious about pursuing full damages at trial when necessary. This motivates the defendant to give you fair value, because they know they have to or else they are going to be in court. This is why the importance of working with a lawyer that has tried lots of cases in the past and is not afraid to go to trial cannot be understated. About Hedge Copeland Hedge Copeland is a Mobile personal injury firm with over 50 years of combined experience serving clients in Alabama and Mississippi. The firm has a strong reputation for taking cases to trial, and they have secured numerous seven-figure settlements on behalf of clients. They have also received several awards and recognitions from their peers for their exceptional work and their commitment to recovering maximum compensation for injured individuals. For more information about Hedge Copeland, go to https://www.hedgecopeland.com/ SOURCE Hedge Copeland P.C. Related Links https://www.hedgecopeland.com Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland on Sunday. Numerous lightning strikes sparked brush fires throughout the region. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) In the last few days, a moisture-laden heat wave has unleashed extreme weather in almost every corner of California. In a single day, Northern California was hit with triple-digit temperatures, as well as hundreds of lightning strikes that ignited brush fires. The mercury hit 107 degrees Sunday in Santa Cruz, known for its moderate climate, and Death Valley reached 130 degrees one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded there. People take selfies at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center's thermometer in Death Valley National Park on Monday. Death Valley recorded a scorching 130 degrees Sunday one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded there. (John Locher / Associated Press) Meanwhile, unusually muggy air made Los Angeles feel like Houston, and warm nights failed to offer much relief. The Central Valley sweltered with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. A fire-caused tornado touched down near the Sierra Nevada community of Loyalton. And a pyrocumulus cloud towered over Southern California, where heat and wildfires pushed smog levels higher than theyve been in years. Did we mention the power went out too? As one of the worst heat waves in years continues to broil California, millions are experiencing the havoc that ensues with extreme weather that is growing more frequent with climate change. Warmer nights in particular have the imprint of global warming, scientists say, and offer a glimpse into California's future as greenhouse gas emissions gradually heat the planet. Climate change is certainly increasing the frequency, severity and duration of extreme heat and warm nights, said Flavio Lehner, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It is safe to assume that climate change contributed to the extreme nature of recent events, though only a dedicated study could attribute to what extent. Medical experts, meanwhile, said they were extremely worried about the health risks posed by this heat wave because of its similarity to a July 2006 heat spell that resulted in thousands of emergency room visits for heat-related illness and hundreds of excess deaths. They are bracing for a jump in such heat casualties, which they fear will be worsened by the closure of air-conditioned public spaces due to coronavirus restrictions. Story continues These recent weather events are the result of three separate meteorological phenomena combining in a way rarely seen in California, experts say. The heat wave broiling the West longer and harsher than is typical for August was the first to arrive. It is a high pressure system rotating clockwise over California, Nevada and Arizona that steered hot, dry desert air over the Golden State, breaking daily and monthly heat records across the Central Valley. Then Tropical Storm Elida off the coast of Mexico began feeding the heat wave moisture, which created instability in the atmosphere. This moisture is why so many of the wildfires burning in California recently have created towering pyrocumulus clouds, said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. Finally, a thunderstorm some 1,100 miles south of the Bay Area in Sonora, Mexico, sent an invisible rippling wave of uplifting pressure north through the atmosphere, where it mixed with the heat and moisture to produce hundreds of lightning strikes across hundreds of miles of the Bay Area on Saturday and Sunday. That created dozens of fires, while farther inland a tornado formed. National Weather Service meteorologist Evan LaGuardia lives in the Reno valley and said he could see a plume that would eventually spawn a fire-created tornado from his back window. It was just amazing that a fire can create something like this, he said. All the ingredients came together at the same time, the atmosphere was primed and ready to go," he said. At least 100 new fires began on Monday due to lightning, on top of others that began from the 1,500 or so lightning strikes that were spread across the Bay Area over the weekend, said Lucas Spelman, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Some of those lightning strikes may have created smoldering piles of timber and brush thats just waiting for enough sunlight and heat to turn into an active fire that can grow away from prying eyes. An Angeles National Forest crew sent to Australia earlier this year had a similar fire spring back to life just recently. The brush is primed to burn; we know that there is huge potential there, Spelman said. In the Central Valley, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento all broke their all-time heat records for the month of August this weekend, with each community reaching temperatures of 111, 112 and 113 degrees, respectively. If temperatures do not dip into the 90s at all this week, Sacramento will be on pace to break its record of 11 consecutive days of triple-digit heat set in July 2006, Mueller said. Its been very unusually hot for August, and even for the summer, Mueller noted. This heat wave will go down as the hottest, or at least one of the top heat waves, for the Sacramento area for all time. Those records likely will continue to topple in the coming years due to the warming effect of greenhouse gas emissions. California has already warmed 1 to 2 degrees since the beginning of the 20th century as a result of the human-caused buildup of greenhouse gases, and according to a state science assessment, could see temperatures rise between 5.6 degrees and 8.8 degrees on average by 2100, depending on how much pollution humanity releases, and how quickly. Greenhouse gases increase the chances of extreme heat by gradually warming baseline temperatures and pushing the bounds of possible weather. So far in the 2000s in the United States, on average there are two daily record high maximum temperatures for every one daily record low minimum temperature, said Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This means with global warming, we experience more extreme heat, and this can be seen in the California heat wave, he said. As average temperatures continue to warm, we'll see even more record high maximum temperatures and extreme heat. But the characteristics of this heat wave that are of greatest concern when it comes to human health are its long duration, high humidity and lack of nighttime cooling, said Helene Margolis, an associate professor of medicine at UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine. That means the built environment, such as homes, buildings and the street itself, are not able to let the heat go, Margolis said. So you have this cumulative heat gain over multiple days. And the entire environment becomes hotter and hotter, amplifying the risk. Because people basically cant cool off. That lack of relief makes it harder for peoples bodies to recuperate overnight and increases the likelihood they will land in the hospital with heat stroke, dehydration and other ailments. Extreme heat also increases risk of complications for people with a spectrum of chronic illnesses including kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Margolis and other health experts also expect this heat wave will be more dangerous because of restrictions in place to control the pandemic. Heat disproportionately affects the elderly and people with preexisting health conditions the same populations already at a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus. But with malls, libraries, movie theaters and other air-conditioned public spaces mostly closed, they have less options for staying cool, Margolis said. COVID-19 has caused them to be fearful of leaving their homes to take advantage of cooler environments, and there are fewer cooled environments to go to," she added. "So the likelihood of heat exposure is greater, and the risk of heat-related health impacts will be amplified. Adding to health-related woes, air quality has also taken a dive. Wildfires and extreme heat generated smog readings that were the highest in Southern California in over a decade. Hourly levels of ozone the invisible gas in smog that triggers asthma and other health problems reached 173 parts per billion, or ppb, in Redlands on Friday and 167 ppb Saturday in Glendora. One-hour average concentrations of ozone hadnt gone above 163 ppb in the region since 2009, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Rolling blackouts and the threat of additional outages are also complicating peoples plans for coping with the heat. Even in Death Valley there is no guarantee the power will remain uninterrupted to activate air conditioners if demand for electricity soars too high, said David Blacker, executive director of the Death Valley Historical Assn. and a resident of Death Valley National Park for 20 years. A person walks on a boardwalk at the Badwater Basin salt flats in Death Valley National Park on Monday. "Climate change is certainly increasing the frequency, severity and duration of extreme heat and warm nights," a climate scientist said. (John Locher / Associated Press) You can tough out being in the hottest place on Earth for two consecutive days provided youve got air conditioning, Blacker said. But this is the last place on Earth you want to be without proper and consistent power. Were looking at a forecast of about 120 degrees for the rest of the week and 122 on Sunday, he added. When its this hot for that long, kids cant play outdoors, adult tempers start getting shorter and theres a lot of yelling at the TV when the news is on. Undeterred were heat-seeking vacationers from around the world, who on Monday flocked to the park's headquarters in Furnace Creek, 190 feet below sea level, hoping to sweat through historic highs. Many of them gathered around a large digital thermometer prominently displayed at the entrance, posing for snapshots. Park spokeswoman Brandi Stewart welcomed the attention, up to a point. But, honestly, people shouldnt be jumping in their cars and heading to Death Valley to experience the broiling temperatures, she said. We are remote, and cellphone service is not available everywhere. Death Valley has contingency plans in the event of a power outage. In a worst-case scenario," Stewart said, "evacuation is part of the plan. Today, I am very pleased to be visiting Cyprus once again, at a very critical time. I had the pleasure and honour of being received by President Anastasiades and, of course, having a long meeting with my friend Nikos Christodoulides. We talked about our bilateral relations and cooperation in the context of the common outlook we maintain and cultivate with the countries of the region who share our values and outlooks. Cooperation that is widely recognized as contributing to maintaining peace and stability in our region. The coordination between Athens and Nicosia is ongoing on the political level, on the level of state officials and in the framework of our common initiatives. Last week, Mr. Christodoulides and I participated in the extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. In the coming days, we will be participating together in the informal Council meeting in Berlin, where we are to discuss the list of sanctions against Turkey sanctions that the High Representative has an institutional obligation to present to us. The escalation in Turkeys aggressiveness is directed against the EU, and this means that the European response must also be escalated. Turkeys illegal conduct will also certainly be discussed at the highest level, at the Summit of the 7 EU Mediterranean states (MED 7) in Corsica, and subsequently at the extraordinary meeting of the European Council, in which President Anastasiades and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will participate. Turkeys provocations ignore the clear stances of the EU, the U.S. and the states of our region. They ignore European values, they ignore International Law, they ignore the Law of the Sea. They constitute an escalation and they constitute unacceptable militarisation. They are the choice of a troublemaker, betraying the impasse of Turkeys own choices. Nikos and I talked about the absolutely condemnable ongoing illegal Turkish activities in the Cypriot EEZ and in regions of the Greek continental shelf. We repeat: persisting in violations produces no faits accomplis, persisting in violations produces no legal effect. It reconfirms Turkey destabilising role in the region. It reconfirms Turkey's lack of arguments. It is obvious that neither Greece nor the Republic of Cyprus are the ones creating the escalation. But that does not mean we are looking on passively. We are taking and will continue to take initiatives to avert the creation of faits accomplis. No one is convinced by Turkeys pretextual calls for dialogue at a time when Turkey is trying to impose faits accomplis, using blackmail and threats. As this concerns us, I reiterate here in Nicosia that we have always been in favour of dialogue. But the dialogue can be carried out only under the rules of International Law, the Law of the Sea, and self-evident good neighbourly relations. As you heard earlier, Mr. Christodoulides and I also discussed the prospects for the resumption of substantial negotiations on the resolution of the Cyprus issue. Prospects that, unfortunately, are hindered by Turkeys constant provocations in the maritime zones of the Republic of Cyprus and in Famagusta. We are well aware of the challenges involved in the Varosha issue, which is critical to progress in resolving the Cyprus issue. Greece stands ready to participate in the effort to resolve the Cyprus issue, in the framework of the Good Offices of the UN Secretary-General. Greece is also prepared to respond to an initiative of the Secretary-General for the resumption of the process at the point where it stopped in Crans Montana, at the soonest possible time. The Cyprus issue is a top national issue and a main concern of Greek foreign policy. And our compass in the efforts to resolve this issue can be none other than International Law, the UN Resolutions and, of course, the European acquis. In closing, being here in Nicosia, I cannot but underscore Greeces undiminished interest in the issue of the Missing Greeks and Cypriots. I reiterated to Nikos Christodoulides that Greece will continue to support the efforts of the Republic of Cyprus until Turkey, at long last, complies with the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Thank you very much. Thank you for the hospitality here in Nicosia. After losing two generations of people in 25 years of fruitless bloody war for realising their dream of independence, Tamils are facing the real world of majority rule. by Col R Hariharan *[Haksar on Indias Sri Lanka Policy, authors: Prof V Suryanarayanan and Dr Ashik J Bonofer, 2020, Published by Centre for Asia Studies and Book Venture, Chennai-600035, India. Price: Rs 200] Professor V Suryanarayanan, one of the countrys leading specialists on South and Southeast Asian studies, along with Dr Ashik Bonofer co-author, has done a signal service by writing the book Haksar on Indias Sri Lanka Policy. Professor Suryanarayanan acknowledges, Sri Lanka is not the major focus of the book, as PN Haksar (1913-1998), one of the leading strategic thinkers of his times, was not associated with Indias Sri Lanka policy; it was in the domain of G Parthasarathy, diplomatic stalwart and contemporary of Haksar. IPKF in Jaffna Prof Suryanarayan quotes from Jairam Rameshs book Intertwined lives: PN Haksar and Indira Gandhi, Haksar contributed heavily to the making of Indira Gandhi, especially in the first six or seven years of her Prime MinistershipThey formed an awesome duo: she with her charismatic appeal, he with intellectual gravitas. Ultimately, she took all the decisions no doubt, but she was heavily influenced by him at every turn. The authors draw heavily upon Jairam Rameshs book to identify how PN Haksar viewed Indias role in Sri Lanka. Moreover, they have used Professors contacts with a large number of policy makers, diplomats, political leaders, academics and analysts of India and Sri Lanka, to provide valuable insights into how Indias Sri Lanka policy was shaped, culminating in the India-Sri Lanka Accord in 1987 and its aftermath. There are many vignettes of information in the book on the main players who shaped Indias Sri Lanka policy. The summing up of Indias Sri Lanka policy during Indira-GP years in page 37 is interesting. India was determined not to permit a military solution of the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. This was adhered to by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987. The mediatory-militant supportive policy was based on this assumption. In hindsight we can say how the self-contradictory policy of mediation on one hand and supporting militants on the other, hardened the stakeholders in evolving a solution. Probably, political expedience of the aftershocks of JR Jayawardanes misconceived July 1983 pogrom strategy that probably influenced Rajiv Gandhi. Of course, it is debatable. Equally important is the disastrous impact of the Accord that led to Indias passive role in Sri Lanka after its bitter experience in active phase of the Accord and the LTTEs assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. They made Tamil militants persona non grata in India. Its direct result was Indias passive support to the elimination of LTTE in Eelam war 2009, removing an external influence affecting India-Sri Lanka relationship. On both sides of the Palk Strait, the Accord is one of the most maligned bilateral instruments signed between India and Sri Lanka. Even, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) sent to ensure the implementation of the Accord, with a half-baked and back-dated mandate, courted its share of ignominy, even after losing over 1300 soldiers in operations against the LTTE, which no one wanted. Many of us who took part in it are living through its effects to this day, the fall out of skewed policy implementation of those days. Many of critics with the benefit of hindsight, say the Accord was conceived in haste, drafted badly and executed poorly. While these comments may have germs of truth, we need to understand the external and internal environment of the time, in which it was conceived. Indias internal political scene was churned up with the passing away of Mrs Indira Gandhi, and the regional security scene was affected by the death throes of Soviet Union, fast losing the Cold War. But in 2020, time has come for even the Accords worst detractors, including Tamil and Sinhala fringe elements, to recognise its good points. It led to the introduction of the 13th amendment to Sri Lanka Constitution. The Amendment created provincial councils to provide a level of autonomy to Tamils. The Accord also made Sri Lanka recognise Tamil language, identity, culture and areas of habitation. When the 13th Amendment - the fig leaf of Tamil aspirations - is running the risk of withering away, many Sri Lanka Tamils want India to take action to force Sri Lanka to fulfil Tamil aspirations, by resolving what they call the national question. They seem to miss the semantics of the Sinhala majority who call it the minority ethnic question. The semantic difference is in reality a strident call of the majority for a unitary state; the reality is now Sri Lankan Tamils have to help themselves, before asking India to help them out. They have to come together, evolve a viable strategy relevant to the current political and strategic situation and then seek Indias support in persuading Sri Lanka to deal with the attention it deserves. To sum up, after the Rajapaksas have gained two thirds majority in parliament in the recently held general election, Sri Lanka Tamils are facing the bleak prospect of losing even the limited autonomy they gained after the India-Sri Lanka Accord was signed in 1987. After losing two generations of people in 25 years of fruitless bloody war for realising their dream of independence, Tamils are facing the real world of majority rule. For them, the book under review provides a useful understanding of the background to the making of Sri Lanka policy in India. They need to understand the complexities of foreign policy making and factor it in their strategy. Col R Hariharan, MI specialist on South Asia and insurgency and terrorism, served as head of MI of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka (1987-90). Email: haridirect@gmail.com Website: https://col.hariharan.info UTEP Advising and Enrollment Services Go the Extra Mile for Students During the Pandemic Last Updated on August 18, 2020 at 12:00 AM Originally published August 18, 2020 By Darlene Barajas UTEP Communications The University of Texas at El Paso, like many U.S. universities, has undergone operational changes since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Providing services such as advising and enrollment assistance in a remote environment has been an undertaking that UTEP faculty and staff have approached with dedication and creativity. Alondra Miranda, Lead Academic Advisor for the College of Health Sciences at UTEP, meets with senior Kinesiology student Jesus Padilla via Microsoft Teams for a video advising appointment. Photo courtesy of Alondra Miranda. Since transitioning to chiefly remote operations, advisors have been spending significant time on individually scheduled appointments with students, hosting meetings on Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other virtual conferencing platforms. Interactions that were previously face-to-face transitioned to a virtual setting, and the workload has increased exponentially throughout the summer. Academic advisors and enrollment support staff at UTEP have shown strong dedication and mission-driven focus during these challenging times, said Provost John Wiebe, Ph.D. Ive been consistently impressed at their work ethic and resourcefulness as theyve found innovative ways to remain engaged with students Academic advisors face many similar struggles to what students have experienced during the pandemic. They understand many UTEP students took on additional responsibilities like work and family care when the pandemic took root. Sdvisors also understand that some students delayed their decision about enrolling for the fall semester until details were divulged about how courses would be managed. Once the University released the modified schedule for Fall 2020 classes, advisors worked diligently to connect with students to make sure they understood the course options available so students could continue their education. UTEP faculty and staff have adapted in extraordinary ways, seeing this as an opportunity to rise above and help students enroll and explore their career options, said Gary Edens, Ed.D., vice resident for student affairs. Heather Smith, associate vice president for academic affairs, said the Student Success Helpdesk has been an important resource for students during this time. Advisors are responding quickly via this platform, supporting students who arent sure who to go to when they need assistance with registering for a required course, have questions about class schedule time conflicts, or are seeking additional resources. When students contact the Student Success Helpdesk, a ticket is created and routed to the appropriate staff member or campus office to handle the request. The system alleviates confusion by connecting students directly to staff members who can provide appropriate assistance and resolution. The communication and the collegiality among offices across campus is what has made remote advising and registration possible and successful, Smith said. Providing quality advising and enrollment services remotely is a very collaborative process. Advisors have increased time spent on email, making sure to meet students where they are. If a students main concern is food or housing security, advisors work to connect them to resources that can help with those immediate concerns. Academic advisors want to make sure students are safe and feel supported during this difficult time. Most academic advisors get into the career because we love helping students on their college journey, said Joy Olimpo, assistant dean for student affairs in the College of Health Sciences. It was an adjustment for all of us advisors and students to figure out how to keep the same level of connectedness while we were working remotely. We hope to continue connecting with students to provide assistance in their academic careers in this challenging time. The Student Success Helpdesk continues to deliver services remotely. For the most rapid response, students should submit their inquiries and requests to studentsuccess@utep.edu. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors approved the expansion of the Countys Small Business Assistance Grant Program which will expand the parameters of the grant funding criteria. Local Businesses are Encouraged to Apply by August 31st to Qualify for Grant Funding To further mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on local businesses and their employees, the County of San Joaquin renewed their partnership with TMC Financing to offer an expansion of the Small Business Assistance Grant Program. This new round of grant funding offers immediate financial assistance to small businesses located in the boundaries of San Joaquin County to address unfunded expenses caused by the pandemic. Funding for the original project was approved by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on May 12, 2020, with the establishment of the Corona Virus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act (CARES ACT). Totaling $15 million, this Economic Development Fund is to be shared between the County's five Supervisorial Districts to provide relief to small businesses affected by COVID-19. TMC Financing, a commercial real estate lender, will independently evaluate and process all grant applications. TMC Financing will leverage their 40 years of lending experience to help verify application completeness and ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of San Joaquin County. Grant Program Updates On July 7, 2020, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors approved the expansion of the Countys Small Business Assistance Grant Program which will expand the parameters of the grant funding criteria and devotes approximately $8 million for the following: Micro Business Assistance Grant Program. This grant is intended to assist business with zero full-time employees (other than the business owners). The maximum grant is $4,000 per applicant. Small Business Assistance Grant Program Round 2. This grant is an extension of the grant program launched on June 1, 2020 and closed on June 30, 2020. This grant is intended to assist small businesses with between 1 and 50 full-time employees. The maximum grant per applicant is limited to the number of full-time employees multiplied by $2,000. Enhanced Small Business Assistance Grant Program. This grant is intended to assist businesses with between 51 and 250 employees. The maximum grant is $100,000 per applicant. Personal Protective Equipment Grant Program. This grant is intended to provide businesses of any size with PPE supplies, such as masks, which will be available for pick-up at a location determined by the County. The Micro Business, Small Business and Enhanced Small Business Assistance Grants are for qualified businesses in San Joaquin County that have documented, unfunded expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant funds may only be used to cover expenditures incurred between March 1, 2020 and the date of the grant application. The Personal Protective Equipment Grant will be open to all qualified businesses in San Joaquin County. How to Apply The grant application forms and associated documents are available on the San Joaquin Countys website http://www.sjgov.link/grants. In order to apply for grant funding, businesses should submit a complete application package via email to SmallBusinessGrant@sjgov.org. Grant applications will be evaluated by a TMC Financing for completeness using a comprehensive set of criteria consistent with Federal statutes, regulations, and terms and conditions of San Joaquin County award. TMC Financing will provide an independent review of the grant applications and ensure a timely and transparent approval process. This new round of grant programs will end on August 31, 2020. Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis for qualified applicants, so business owners are encouraged to apply as soon as possible before all funding is allocated. Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you have any questions about the application process, please email San Joaquin County at SmallBusinessGrantQuestions@sjgov.org. Staff is available Monday Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm. More About TMC Financing TMC Financing is the No. 1 Certified Development Company nationwide. For nearly 40 years, TMC has provided $10 billion in SBA 504 financing for more than 6,000 businesses throughout California and Nevada. For more information on SBA 504 loans and the local businesses they support, visit http://www.tmcfinancing.com. Ms. Horn graduated from Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing in 1977. She began her career at Pennsylvania Hospital, working as an operating room nurse for almost two decades before taking a job as supervisor of the hospitals short-procedure surgery unit. Read more Pamela S. Horn, 67, of Philadelphia, a dedicated nurse and health care provider for many years, died Saturday, Aug. 1, of complications from lupus at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. The eldest of four children born to Carmien and Alfonso Horn, Ms. Horn grew up in Circleville, Ohio, a small town 25 miles south of Columbus. An outgoing person, Ms. Horn was chosen at age 6 to be Little Miss Pumpkin. She rode on a float wearing a frilly dress during the towns 1959 annual pumpkin show. While still young, Ms. Horn moved with her family to West Philadelphia. The Horns had two more daughters, Teresa and Alycia. Ms. Horn enjoyed being their big sister, the family said in a statement. In 1971, Ms. Horn graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls. While attending the school, she became interested in nursing. She also met Marian Dingus, who would become her lifelong friend. Ms. Horn graduated from Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing in 1977. She began her career at Pennsylvania Hospital, working as an operating room nurse for almost two decades before taking a job as supervisor of the hospitals short-procedure surgery unit. Later, Ms. Horn served as nursing director at Concorde Inc. The Center City company provides employee screening and health services, including drug and alcohol testing. It operates throughout the United States, according to a Bloomberg News profile. She retired in 2015 due to declining health. In her 30s, Ms. Horn was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and pain. Despite that, her spirit was undaunted. With a glass-half-full demeanor, Ms. Horn faced her maladies and fought each one with an eye to a better day, the family said. Her brother, Jeffrey, recalled feeling ashamed when he complained to her about his minor ailments. Pam, ever the nurse, would recommend three or four different remedies and then proceed to laugh her way through her description of the terrible night shed just had, he said. She was the strongest person Ive ever known, and as I told her countless times, my hero. Life without her will never be the same. Her calming presence and kind nature made her a natural confidante and adviser. The advice she gave encompassed medical issues and personal problems. A skilled conversationalist, Ms. Horn looked forward to social gatherings. Armed with a quick wit, she could come up with a sarcastic comment when needed, the family said. Nephew Justin Horn described his aunt as one of my biggest inspirations and one of the greatest people Ive ever met in my life. Dan Kroll, a longtime friend, said Ms. Horn was a person he could tell anything. And they still love you unconditionally, Kroll said. She enjoyed following the news, talking politics, and travel. She especially liked Caribbean cruises and trips to London, Luxembourg, Greece, and Russia. When health issues made long-distance travel impossible, she enjoyed seeing a show in New York or playing the slots at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Her brother said she lived a life of grace, purpose, and conviction. Besides her brother and sisters, she is survived by two nephews and two nieces. Services were Thursday, Aug. 6. Memorial donations may be made to the Lupus Foundation of America via https://www.lupus.org/ or the UNICEF USA Kids in Need of Desks (K.I.N.D.) fund via https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/protect/education/kids-need-desks-kind. BRIDGEPORT TWP, MI A duo accused of robbing a Bridgeport Township credit union one chilly afternoon has accepted a plea deal. Antonio J. Buffone, 27, on Aug. 14 appeared via Zoom before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Manvel Trice III and pleaded no contest to bank robbery and conspiracy to commit that crime, both life offenses. He faced no additional charges. The same day, Buffones 23-year-old codefendant Jaylin A. Orlik appeared before Trice and pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit bank robbery, the lone charge against her. In a prior Cobbs hearing, Trice agreed the minimum on Buffones eventual sentence would not exceed 60 months. The judge also agreed Buffones sentence would be served consecutively with a Bay County case, in which Buffone was charged with larceny from a building in January 2019. He has not been convicted in the Bay County case. In another Cobbs hearing, Trice agreed that Orliks minimum sentence wouldnt be more than 12 months, to be followed by long-term probation and drug treatment. A Cobbs hearing sees a judge outline the likely penalty a defendant will face if convicted. By pleading no contest as opposed to guilty, neither defendant orally admitted to having committed a crime. Trice thus had to rely on police reports to enter their convictions on the record. The convictions stem from a holdup of United Financial Credit Union, 5658 Dixie Highway, about 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 29. Responding police learned a person had entered the building and passed a note to a teller demanding cash. The robber made no mention of having a weapon, police have said. On being given an undisclosed sum of cash, the robber walked outside and entered the passenger side of a silver, four-door Chevrolet Cavalier. The car, possibly a 1997 to 2002, then headed southbound on Dixie. Witnesses described the robber who entered the building as a man wearing makeup and clothing typically associated with a womans appearance. Police circulated surveillance camera images of the suspect online and to media outlets. Bridgeport Township Police Sgt. Erik Skabardis previously told MLive that those photos elicited tips, identifying Buffone as the person in them, wearing a disguise. Skabardis said police arrested Buffone and Orlik the night of Jan. 30, at the Knights Inn at 6361 Dixie Highway. The pair had been living at the motel, located about 2.2 miles from the robbed credit union, Skabardis said. Buffone is of Midland and Orlik is of Bay City, jail records indicate. Judge Trice is to sentence Buffone and Orlik at 2 p.m. on Sept. 25. Read more: Man, woman charged in Bridgeport Township credit union robbery Arrests made in Bridgeport Township credit union robbery Police search for robbers of Bridgeport Township credit union The report, originally circulated in June, has classified and unclassified sections, and it represents the consensus of the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies. It still supports the overall notion that Communist Party officials hid important information from the world, U.S. officials said. The report says senior officials in Beijing, even as they were scrambling to pry data from officials in central China, played a role in obscuring the outbreak by withholding information from the World Health Organization. But the report adds to a body of evidence that shows how the malfeasance of local Chinese officials appeared to be a decisive factor in the spread of the virus within Wuhan and beyond. An internal U.S. government assessment of the differences in fault between Chinese leaders and local officials potentially has significant policy implications. It makes a huge difference if it was Wuhan or Beijing, said Michael Pillsbury, a China scholar at the Hudson Institute who informally advises Mr. Trump. If Mr. Xi was not the main person at fault, he said, then that meant that top Chinese officials had not engaged in total deceit on the coronavirus, and American officials had some basis for still trying to engage in good-faith negotiations with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. Though Mr. Pillsbury advocates competing with China, he also supports diplomacy and sticking to a trade agreement that Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump signed in January. Some of Mr. Trumps other advisers, notably Mr. Navarro, have advocated an economic decoupling with China and denounced the trade deal. Mr. Trump oscillates wildly on China. At times, he and other officials have asserted the idea of a cover-up by China to justify policy decisions such as cutting funding to the World Health Organization. When the president announced that move in late May, he accused the W.H.O. of helping China cover up the initial outbreak, though the organization has denied that. Major US Media Outlets Help CCP Promote Marxist Journalism Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University aims to produce journalists adherent to the standards of Marxist journalism. Recently, U.S. media revealed that for many years, some American corporations and media outlets have been supporting such training with human and financial resources. The trained journalists have started to work for Bloomberg and other renowned media outlets, spreading the scourge of communism all over the world. However, as U.S.-China relations worsen, U.S. media is gradually taking a stance to cut ties with the CCP. On July 31, the National Pulsea conservative U.S. media outlet exclusively disclosed connections to the Master of Arts in Global Business Journalism, which was established by the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University in 2007. It has attracted many western financial supporters with the aim of training journalists to meet the standards of the CCP. The financial support came from Bank of America, Bloomberg, consulting giant Deloitte, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Many western mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, CNN, Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post have provided talent, equipment, and internships as part of a long history of cooperation with CCP-controlled Tsinghua University. CNN host Fareed Zakaria and Facebook Vice President Lori Goler, both served as guest lecturers in 2017. On the official Tsinghua University website, the introduction of the School of Journalism and Communication clearly states that it has been actively exploring the theory and practices of Marxist Journalism to applying the Marxist theory in observing the world, selecting and handling news production. The Governor of Bayelsa State, Diri Douye, has challenged the judgement of the states governorship election petition tribunal, which ordered his removal from office. In its judgement on Monday, the tribunal sacked the Bayelsa governor on the ground that Nigerias electoral body, INEC, illegally disqualified the candidate of the Advanced National Democratic Party (ANDP), Lucky King-George, from participating in the November 16 governorship election. However, INEC, in its defence before the three-member panel of justices of the state tribunal, argued that the ANDP candidate was not properly nominated while his initial deputy governorship candidate, David Esinkuma, was 34 years of age, a year shorter than the constitutionally mandated age for the position. The panel, in a split judgement read by Justice Yunusa Musa, on Monday upheld the ANDPs petition, declared INECs decision as unlawful, and ordered that a fresh governorship election be conducted in the state within the next 90 days. Diris appeal Meanwhile, unlike two members of the panel Sikiru Owodunni and Yunusa Musa who found merit in ANDPs petition, Ibrahim Sirajo, who headed the panel, in a dissenting judgement posited that the latters petition should be dismissed since it fielded an illegible candidate. Leveraging on Mr Sirajos dissenting judgement, Mr Diris counsel on Tuesday, in a Notice of Appeal sighted by Vanguard Newspaper, asked the appellate court to set aside the tribunals judgement that sacked its client. Mr Diris counsel, reported to be led by Chris Uche, noted 12 reasons (errors) in the previous judgement and urged the appellate court to uphold the minority judgement of the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Hon. Justice Muhammad I. Sirajo, which clearly appreciated the law and correctly applied same to the facts and rightly dismissed the petition. In their arguments contained in notice of appeal, counsel-led said the ANDP petition was not against the declaration of results but on the election which the party had 21 days since it realised that INEC unlawfully excluded its name from the ballot. From the date, the 1st Respondent had 21 days within which to file a petition against the alleged unlawful exclusion from the election. There was no election on the 14th day of February 2020 held by INEC to ground the 1st Respondents petition filed on 26th February 2020, more than five months after the declaration of results, as the ground of complaint of unlawful exclusion is a complaint against an election not a declaration. The case of the 1st Respondent is not hinged on the nullification of the votes of APC candidate, David Lyon, nor on the declaration of results by the 2nd Respondent on the 14th day of February 2020; nor on the return of the Appellant as the Governor of Bayelsa State, but on its alleged unlawful exclusion from the election held on the 16th day of November 2019, Mr Diris counsels said, according to the details published by Vanguard. The counsel further argued that ANDP is statute-barred as it breached the provisions of section 285(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). In his second ground of appeal, Governor Diri argued that Justices Musa and Owodunni erred in law when they held that ANDPs candidates were validly nominated. The names of the candidates of the 1st Respondent forwarded to the 2nd Respondent were manifestly invalid for being below the constitutional age of 35 years. The 1st Respondents witnesses admitted under cross-examination that the said candidates were only 34 years of age. The nomination of a candidate in breach of the provision of the constitution, the Electoral Act and the INEC timetable and Schedule of Activities for 2019 General Elections (as in the instant case) cannot be termed a valid nomination. The mere proposal of a person as its candidate by a political party in an election to INEC through a letter is insufficient and does not amount to a valid nomination. The 1st Respondent failed to plead and tender the party nomination forms filed by their candidates, the Report of the primary election for all positions, which was monitored by the 2nd Respondent and which was officially sent to the 2nd Respondent. There was no document tendered by the 1st Respondent stating whether the primary election was by direct or indirect election. The 1st Respondent failed to state the date of the primary election from which its said candidates purportedly emerged as to prove valid nomination of the candidates in compliance with section 87(1), (2), (3) and (4b) of the Electoral Act. Also in defence of the INEC, Mr Diris counsel further argued that the electoral body did the right by not shutting its eyes to the inconsistencies in the ANDPs candidates information and the lateness of its submissions and attempt to substitute its candidates after the expiration of the deadline and for reasons other than death or withdrawal by the candidates. The power of the 2nd Respondent to vet, reject or disqualify any candidate of a political party has been restored by the provisions of section 285(14) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. The act of the 2nd Respondent was not in any way unlawful or unconstitutional as to be declared a nullity by the Tribunal. the counsels noted as they further argued that the majority judgement was defensive rather than the available evidence. The learned Justices of the Tribunal (Hon. Justice Yunusa Musa and Hon. Justice S. M. Owodunni) erred in law when they held that the 1st Respondent proved its case as to be entitled to judgement. The said majority judgement is manifestly against the weight of evidence. Further grounds of appeal shall be filed upon receipt of the records of proceeding, Vanguard newspaper quoted Mr Uche-led counsel to have written. Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor (Image: Reuters) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will seek sanction from Yes Banks board to prosecute co-founder Rana Kapoor, after a special CBI court in Mumbai rejected the agencys earlier charge sheet against the banker, which was filed without the banks permission. The CBI court also remitted the case to a lower court for cognisance under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating and criminal conspiracy. CBI has built its case against Kapoor under provisions of the stringent Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988 and will approach the lenders board soon, says a report by The Economic Times. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report. Under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Kapoor as Chairman and Managing Director of Yes Bank was regarded as a public servant and his prosecution has to be sanctioned by a competent authority. The CBI however was unable to seek sanction as they could not record Kapoors statement (mandated by the Supreme Court) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but failing to file the charge sheet within stipulated time (60 days from date of arrest) would allow Kapoor to apply for bail. Hence, the charge sheet was submitted, a CBI official said as per the report. Moving forward with the process the CBI last week sought permission from a local Mumbai court to record the statement and is working with officials of Taloja Jail where Kapoor is lodged to conduct the same. This statement is expected to be attached to the charge sheet and sent to Yes Banks board for approval of prosecution. Once cleared and communicated to the courts, a request for trail will be made before the special court and not the magistrate court, the official added. Notably, some section of PCA are tried before a sessions court, while those with imprisonment of less than seven years are tried before a magistrate court. The CBI is investigating Kapoor and promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan for suspicious transactions in 2018. The investigating agency, which has been probing the case since March this year, named Kapoor, the Wadhawans, RKW Developers Private Limited and Doit Urban Venture India Private Limited (DUVPL) in the charge sheet. Apart from DHFL and RKW, the probe also examined the alleged roles of Rana Kapoor's daughter Roshni Kapoor and two other firms associated with the Kapoors --- RAB Enterprises (India), and DUVPL - that were named as accused along with Kapoor and four of his family members in a charge sheet filed by the ED recently. The CBI said initial investigations by its economic offence wing into alleged deals worth Rs 5,050 crore found the Kapoor family received kickbacks in exchange for giving Yes Bank loans to the Wadhawans of DHFL through various channels and in gross violation of rules. Kapoor used his many companies to get undue benefits from the Wadhawans after influencing Yes Bank to extend large loans to DHFL and other Wadhawan companies by flouting rules, according to the CBI. The agency had on April 26 arrested Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan at Mahabaleshwar for their alleged involvement in the illegal transactions. Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned, after being detained by soldiers on Tuesday, state TV reports. In a televised address, Mr Keita said he was also dissolving the government and parliament. "I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power," he added. It comes hours after he and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were taken to a military camp near the capital Bamako, drawing condemnation from regional powers and France. "If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice?" said Mr Keita. "I hold no hatred towards anyone, my love of my country does not allow me to," he added. "May God save us." Live updates: Mali military makes fresh elections promise Earlier, the mutinying soldiers took control of the Kati camp. There has been anger among troops about pay and over a continuing conflict with jihadists - as well as widespread discontent with the former president. Mr Keita won a second term in elections in 2018, but there has been anger over corruption, the mismanagement of the economy and a dispute over legislative elections. It has prompted several large protests in recent months. A new opposition coalition led by the conservative Imam, Mahmoud Dicko, has called for reforms after rejecting concessions from Mr Keita, including the formation of a unity government. The popular imam taking on Mali's president What do we know about the mutiny? It was led by Col Malick Diaw - deputy head of the Kati camp - and another commander, Gen Sadio Camara, BBC Afrique's Abdoul Ba in Bamako reports. After taking over the camp, about 15km (nine miles) from Bamako, the mutineers marched on the capital, where they were cheered by crowds who had gathered to demand Mr Keita's resignation. On Tuesday afternoon they stormed his residence and arrested the president and his prime minister - who were both there. The president's son, the speaker of the National Assembly, the foreign and finance ministers were reported to be among the other officials detained. The number soldiers taking part in the mutiny is unclear. Kati camp was also the focus of a mutiny in 2012 by soldiers angry at the inability of the senior commanders to stop jihadists and Tuareg rebels taking control of northern Mali. What has the reaction been to his detention? When news first broke of the mutiny, the United Nations and African Union both called for the release of those held by the soldiers. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), a regional body, also said its 15 member states had agreed to close their borders with Mali, suspend all financial flows to the country, and eject Mali from all Ecowas decision-making bodies. In recent months, Ecowas has been trying to mediate between Mr Keita's government and opposition groups. The UN Security Council is to meet on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Mali. Mali's former colonial ruler, France, was also quick to condemn the president's detention, and Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian urged the soldiers to return to barracks. Mali is a key base for French troops fighting Islamist insurgents across the Sahel region. 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 If youre a foodie, youve probably noticed a new phenomenon hitting your neighborhood or Instagram feed. Pop-ups. Are. Everywhere. Fluffy, beautiful Basque cheesecakes. Arepas filled with shredded beef and fried plantains delivered by bicycle. Family-style trays of jerk chicken and coconut rice. Laid off during the pandemic, restaurant workers are left with few options for survival, so theyve turned to the one thing they know best: cooking, anywhere they can. But beneath the ray of hope associated with struggling chefs finding success through side hustles, theres an undercurrent of fear. In almost all of California, its illegal to cook and sell anything out of your home other than an official list of non-potentially hazardous foods, including baked goods, candy, dried fruit jams and jellies. We definitely want to find a way to make it legitimate obviously we dont want to get in trouble, said Bilal Ali, one of the three out-of-work chefs behind successful Oakland pop-up Brokeass Cooks who made a name for themselves selling jerk chicken from their backyard. Having in the back of our minds that we could just get shut down any time. ... That would be really nice to not have that hanging over our heads. Ali and his chef-roommates, Hoang Le and Keone Koki, havent heard of any friends in the industry getting shut down for selling food out of their homes during the pandemic, but enforcement is still possible. RELATED: Why this Bay Area Michelin-starred chef withdrew from the 2020 James Beard Awards Anyone who operates a retail home kitchen from their residence within Alameda County Department of Environmental Healths jurisdiction is in violation of the California Retail Food Code. Violators are subject to closure and further enforcement actions, reads the Alameda County Department of Environmental Healths website. However, selling hot food you cooked out of your home kitchen actually is legal at the state level. In 2018, California lawmakers passed AB626, which legalizes small-scale home food operations. But heres the catch: Each county in the state has to individually adopt the law before home cooks can start capitalizing on it. Over a year and a half since AB626 first took effect, only one county (Riverside) has fully legalized home-cooking operations. San Mateo, Solano, Santa Barbara and Imperial counties, as well as the city of Berkeley, have opted in, but havent started to issue permits yet. Meanwhile, San Francisco and Alameda counties are still stagnating. Lee Thomas, former San Leandro city councilman and owner of home-cooked barbecue business GrilleeQ, has been an avid advocate for the adoption of AB626 in Alameda County. Hes also a county lead for COOK Alliance, an Oakland-based organization that helped to get AB626 passed. Photo by Namchi Van Barbecue has always been a hobby for me, said Thomas. When AB626 passed, it opened up this opportunity for me now, I can actually do something I love from home and sell it to people. Before COVID-19 ravaged the globe, the language in the California Homemade Food Act already presented a way to create economic opportunities for women, immigrants, people of color, and others for whom the bar for entry to restaurant ownership is too high. Its opening up an opportunity for the individual who always wanted to open a restaurant but there's no way they'd ever have the money to do it, explained Thomas. But now, during the pandemic and the devastating effect its had on the restaurant industry, that argument becomes even more poignant. Now, its not just about an opportunity for people that want to cook and make a living now, its about people wanting to cook to survive, said Thomas. Ironically, in a moment when more people are entering the home-cooking game than ever, adoption of the law has come to a standstill in most counties. Terrence Hong, supervisor for the San Francisco Department of Health food safety program, told The San Francisco Chronicle in June that AB626 has taken a back seat due to the coronavirus. In Alameda County, Supervisor Wilma Chan, who previously expressed interest in committing to a pilot program this year, could not be reached for comment at time of publication (AB626 has not yet reached their agenda, either). Were hearing from folks literally every day who were laid off from the restaurant industry or other jobs who say this is the way they can make an income for their family, said Matt Jorgensen, co-founder of COOK Alliance. The demand is there, and people are looking for these versions of resilience in their local communities, but counties are saying their hands are full with other stuff and are reluctant to take on anything ambitious. RELATED: Uni? Pho? Meet the Oakland pop-up reinventing the smash burger Jorgensen believes that Alameda County is closer to adopting AB626 than San Francisco, but the holdup comes down to the Department of Environmental Health. California is the first state where these home restaurants and pop-up permits are going to be available. It hasnt been done before, said Jorgensen. I think whats happening in all these counties where its been slow is they are feeling like the risk of moving quickly outweighs the benefits. With environmental health, there's always concerns that anything new or different is going to create a new outbreak or other concern. Even if more counties start adopting AB626, its worth noting that it wont help every home cook. Brokeass Cooks, for example, wouldnt be eligible to apply for a permit under the law it stipulates that the operation must have no more than one full-time employee (they have three), sell no more than 60 meals per week, and earn no more than $50,000 in annual revenue. A lot of chefs we know live in households together, because we get paid next to nothing, and [with this law] we can only have one full-time person, which excludes us from this automatically, said Ali. And to do $50,000 in revenue, wed have to cut business almost in half, and we want to do more than we do now. But even though it wouldnt directly benefit them, the Brokeass Cooks still want to see their county adopt the new law. I think its a great step forward, said Le. I think the fact that there is a bill acknowledges that our industry needs something. Our entire industry needs a revamp. Madeline Wells is an SFGATE reporter. Email: madeline.wells@sfgate.com | Twitter: @madwells22 NANCHANG, China, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 China-Jiangxi International Virtual Reality Industry Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition formally kicked off in Nanchang on August 17. The contestants will be assigned to the hardware group or the content and application group based on their product categories. Zhejiang Saichuang Weilai Venture Capital Investment Management organized the competition. Through the event organizer's contacts with scientific research institutions, incubators and other professional channels, within a two month period, the competition will attract a wide range of innovative and entrepreneurial projects from around the world, from which the top 10 projects in each group will be selected for the final competition, followed by two remote video trials, an in-depth review of the selected projects, and the the semi-final. One first prize, two second prizes, three third prizes and four "consolation" winners will be decided in the final competition according to five criteria: teamwork ability, technology innovation, project feasibility, commercial development potential of the project, and the feasibility of finding a suitable location for developing the project. The Organizing Committee will grant the first prize winner a cash reward of 200,000 yuan (approx. US$28,900), while the two second prize winners will each receive 100,000 yuan (approx. US$14,500) and the three third prize winners will each be provided with 50,000 yuan (approx. US$7,220). Furthermore, if the award-winning project is implemented within one year following the conclusion of the competition and meets the requirements for talent recruitment, it may enter the high-level talent recruitment process in Nanchang with the possibility of obtaining project funding of up to six million yuan (approx. US$870,000), in accordance with the city's "Hongcheng Plan" policy supporting the recruitment of individuals with top-notch technology skills who, as a result of the policy, settle in Nanchang. Jin Hui, chairperson of the competition's organizer Zhejiang Saichuang Weilai Venture Capital Investment Management, said: "we attract talents and projects from around the world following an effort to fully understand the needs of companies here in Nanchang. We help talented individuals, projects and local firms engage in collaborative efforts and exchanges with the mission of forming a complete industrial chain via accurate identification of good matches and connecting of the identified parties. The ultimate goal is to provide a home in Nanchang for the most worthwhile projects and for the talented individuals that will be make the projects a success." GUILFORD Schiller Shoreline Institute for Lifelong Learning courses are now open for enrollment. Programs will be presented on Zoom; there is no catalogue available, but all information is available on the website, www.guilfordparkrec.com The primary mission of SSILL is to offer meaningful, varied programs during the day to retired and semi-retired citizens, according to a statement. Programs are open to all residents in the surrounding communities who would enjoy a few hours of intellectual stimulation and socializing. There are no grades, homework or previous level of education; the only requirement is interest and enthusiasm. Registration is required. Those who have registered for any course at GCC in the past can log on to www.guilfordparkrec.com. For a lost or fogotten password, call GCC at 203-453-8086 and it will be emailed to you. New registrants can visit the website and create a household, and they will receive a user name and password by email. Once received, students can return to the website to register. The deadline for registration is Sept. 1. Courses that begin Sept. 8: Sept. 8, Joyce Saltman: Pandemic Pandemonium. The title speaks for itself. Read the presenters biography in the spring catalog, 9:30 a.m. Sept. 15, Ray Lombra: Demystifying The Federal Reserve. Course description and bio are in the spring catalog, 9:30 a.m. Sept. 22, Yale Science Diplomats: A Gut Feeling. Course description and YSD bios are in the spring catalog. 9:30 a.m. Sept. 29, David Davison: Connecticuts Vanishing Landscape: Through The Paintings And Prose Of Eric Sloane. Course description and Davids bio are in the spring catalog. 9:30 a.m. Oct. 6, Tom Krattenmaker: A New Vision For Secular Transcendence. Bio and course description are in the spring catalog. Oct. 13, Ray Lombra: The Impact Of The Pandemic On The Federal Reserve, 9:30 a.m. More courses will be announced. Rockfall Foundation accepting grant applications MIDDLETOWN The Rockfall Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2021 Annual Environmental Grants Program, available to non-profit organizations, municipalities, and schools. The Environmental Grants are for projects and programs that support the environment through conservation, preservation, restoration or education in the Lower Connecticut River Valley, which includes Middlesex County as well as Lyme and Old Lyme, according to a statement. Through all the challenges this year, The Rockfall Foundation remains committed to supporting community projects, said Amanda Kenyon, Grants and Communications Coordinator. Its been a hard year for many organizations, and were adapting our grants process to acknowledge that. We want to ensure a sustainable future. All interested applicants are encouraged to attend a virtual information session on September 10. Applications are due by Nov. 10. More information is available at www.rockfallfoundation.org/grants According to the statement, the Rockfall Foundation supports environmental education and conservation in the Lower Connecticut River Valley through public programs and grants. Founded in 1935, the Foundation is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2020. As one of Connecticuts oldest environmental organizations, it continues its mission set by founding philanthropist Colonel Clarence S. Wadsworth. The Rockfall Foundation has awarded over a half million dollars since the inception of its grant program in 1972. The Rockfall Foundation also operates the historic deKoven House Community Center that offers meeting and event room rentals and office space for non-profit organizations. For additional information about The Rockfall Foundation and the grant programs, or to make a tax-deductible donation, go to www.rockfallfoundation.org or call 860-347-0340. Credit union donates to school districts EAST HARTFORD American Eagle Financial Credit Union has donated eight $1,000 grants to each of the school districts in its service areas. The $8,000 donation is being made through the American Eagle Donor Advised Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, according to a statement. The eight public school systems receiving grants are: Bloomfield, Cromwell, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, Middletown, North Haven and Vernon. In these uncertain times, we want to make sure that students, their families, teachers and administrators know that American Eagle continues its education funding that is focused on making the classroom experience, whether in person or online, as valuable as possible, said Dean Marchessault, president and chief executive officer of American Eagle Financial Credit Union. The grants from American Eagle will be used to help each school district purchase and provide classroom supplies to students and teachers during the 2020-2021 school year, according to the statement. The area of greatest need will be determined by each school district. Cat Tales virtual walk-a-thon is on MIDDLETOWN Cat Tales has canceled its annual Walk-a-Thon/Run Aug. 22, but is stil holding its virtual walk to raise funds for this feline welfare organization. For full event details visit CatTalesCT.org/walk-a-thon-run Library receives preservation grant Preservation Connecticut has announced its Connecticut Preservation Awards for 2020. Recognizing individual projects, long-term contributions, and professional achievement, the awards demonstrate the many ways historic places contribute to the life and vitality of Connecticut communities, according to a statement. Branfords James Blackstone Memorial Library is receiving an Award of Merit for its entry pavilion. Thirty years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted as a civil rights measure, to ensure the dignity of all citizens whatever their physical condition. The Blackstone Library has more than met that goal while respecting and enhancing its historic architecture, with a new addition that creates a dignified entry while leaving the architects original design intact and in use at the front, according to the statement. Preservation Connecticut will host a virtual awards ceremony on September 9, as well as individual presentations for each awardee. For information, visit PreservationCT.org. Front page of The Sydney Morning Herald, 22nd August 1968, with coverage of the Soviet invasion of Prague. Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald The Presidium of the Czechoslovak Parliament has demanded that the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies withdraw their troops which occupied the country during the night. Prague, Wednesday, 21 August 1968. Shooting spreads across Prague today [21 Aug 1968] as tank-led Soviet troops seized key points in the capital. At least five Czechoslovaks were reported killed in sporadic street clashes. The invaders have surrounded the Czech Communist Party's Central Committee building where the nation's reformist leader, Mr Alexander Dubcek, is being confined. A report by the last unoccupied radio station in Czechoslovakia at Pilsen, 50 miles south-we-f of Prague, said 25 people had died in clashes throughout the country, but gave no details. In Prague, where jeering crowds surrounded Russian tanks, the Czech newsagency, C.T.K. said "several" people had been killed and at least 57 wounded. C.T.K. said two Soviet tanks were set afire in the tumult as Prague citizens chalked "Russians go home" signs on the walls, raced through the streets in trucks flaunting their national flags and threw up barricades. Troops backing the tanks sprayed bullets over the heads of threatening crowds and into the upper floors of surrounding buildings, low-flying jets screamed over the city. In places, the tanks had to bulldoze their way through makeshift barricades of abandoned vehicles. But the Russians appeared to have been given orders to avoid bloodshed if possible. A Convention Peoples Party (CPP) government is determined to create a progressive society, where basic needs of life are readily available for the ordinary Ghanaian citizen, Mr. Bright Akwetey, a leading member of the party has announced. Mr Bright Akwetey who is contesting the flagbearer position to lead the party in the Election 2020 emphasised that clothing, shelter, food, education and employment were basic necessities and elements of life that no progressive government should deny ordinary Ghanaians. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr. Akwetey who had contested for the CPPs flagbearer slot for the fourth time said already the CPP had identified, and its government would revive all the defunct factories, established by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanas first President to bring hope to the people. Earlier, he addressed party delegates and supporters drawn from the constituencies in the Bono Region at a meeting held in Sunyani to canvass for votes in the party's forthcoming congress. CPP is always proud because the party gained independence for Ghana. This is the highest achievement made so far in the history of our beloved country. A new CPP government will ensure that this independence is reflected in all aspects of socio-economic livelihoods of Ghanaians without discrimination, he said. Colonialism and imperialism are in full operation in Ghana. This is because the nation has not been economically liberated from the shackles of neo-colonialism, Mr. Akwetey indicated, stressing we urgently need to educate Ghanaians for them to understand they can manage their own affairs and create progressive society. My brother I can tell you that Ghana is down and is struggling economically because CPP is down. If the CPP which brought independence in Ghana doesnt rise again, then Ghana will not rise as well. So, we have the utmost responsibility to revive the CPP, and by extension revive the flagging economy of Ghana, he added. He urged the delegates of the CPPs forthcoming congress to elect him as the flagbearer in the supreme interest of the party. This, he explained would enable him to secure an overwhelming victory for the CPP to form the next government, and help alleviate the socio-economic plight of Ghanaians. A CPP government, led by him, Mr. Akwetey indicated, held the key to advancing the socio-economic growth and development of the nation. He therefore called on Ghanaians to ignore the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and give the CPP a chance to govern the nation again in the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections by voting for the party to make life better for them. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Accusing Gov. Phil Murphy of a brazen power grab, President Donald Trumps re-election campaign has asked a federal judge to overturn the states plan to send ballots to all 6.2 million registered voters this fall. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Trump campaign, joined by the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Among their lawyers is state Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cumberland, a frequent Murphy critic. In the state of New Jersey, where their universal vote-by-mail system has already resulted in fraud and disenfranchisement, Governor Murphy continues to remove safeguards against abuse, Trump campaign counsel Matt Morgan said. With a stroke of his pen, the governor told his people their votes may not count they may even be stolen and thats fine by him. Murphy has sought to expand mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, and New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Tuesday said the state will sue the U.S. Postal Service over concerns the Trump administration is purposely crippling the agency ahead of the surge in mail-in ballots. The postmaster general on Tuesday backed off on making changes blamed for delaying mail delivery, but Grewal said the lawsuit would proceed and the House is to vote Saturday to rescind the adjustments to mail operations already made. Governor Murphy has consistently put people ahead of politics and protected the health and safety of New Jersey residents throughout the pandemic, and his decision to allow universal mail in voting in the November election is no different, state Democratic chairman John Currie said. President Trumps lawsuit is another clear attack on our democracy and on our voting rights, just like his efforts to destroy the Post Office and delegitimize the electoral process. Trump and other Republicans, though, claimed that more absentee balloting would lead to more vote fraud. We said every option was on the table, state Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt said. We picked one. Governor Murphy, well see you in court, again. The Trump campaign also has sued Pennsylvania, Nevada and Iowa, which also have sought to expand vote by mail, according to Rick Hasen a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, and author of a blog on election law. Trump last week said he opposed House Democratic efforts to provide $25 billion to the Postal Service and $3.6 billion to states to help them handle an expected surge of mail ballots. The funds are in the House-passed $3.4 trillion stimulus bill that the president has threatened to veto. They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, Trump told the Fox Business Network last Thursday. If they dont get those two items, that means you cant have universal mail-in voting because theyre not equipped to have it. Studies have shown vote by mail has not prompted widespread fraud, as Republicans have claimed. A 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that the rate of voter fraud for mail-in ballots was 0.00004% to 0.0009%. And the Washington Post found possible double voting or voting on behalf of dead people in just 372 of 14.6 million ballots cast in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, which send ballots to all registered voters as New Jersey plans to do this fall. Still, there were cases of voter fraud in Patersons municipal elections in May, where 800 ballots were thrown out and state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal brought charges against four individuals. In New Jerseys primary election, dead people voted, a mail truck carrying ballots actually caught fire, countless voters saw their ballots rejected, and the Democrat attorney general is prosecuting multiple people for fraud, yet Democrats still want to implement a rushed transition to an all-mail election, Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said. Murphy acknowledged some problems with the July 7 primary, the first election conducted primarily by mail, but said that the system overall worked well and county clerks will have a lot more time to prepare for the general election. Primary turnout was 26% of New Jerseys registered voters, the same percentage as the presidential primary four years ago. Both recorded the highest percentage turnout since 2008, when 35% of New Jersey voters cast ballots. We think largely it was a very good result, particularly balancing the sacred right to vote at the center of democracy along with public health and respecting peoples health and the combination of vote-by-mail and in-person, Murphy said Aug. 10 at his coronavirus press briefing. He also contended that the fact that the Paterson voter fraud was easily found showed that systems are in place to prevent ballots from being cast illegally. I view that data point in Paterson as a positive one, Murphy said during his coronavirus press briefing Monday. People tried to mess with the system and they got caught and theyve been indicted, and thats the way it should be. Trump and other Republicans have cited fear of fraud in fighting efforts across the country by states to send out ballots to all registered voters or count votes postmarked by Election Day but received later. Theyve been able to be so active because this is the first presidential election in almost four decades where the Republican National Committees voter activities are not encumbered by court-ordered restrictions stemming from the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Those activities had been limited by a court decree after the state GOP was accused of targeting heavily minority communities that tend to support Democratic candidates. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, seized by mutinous troops on the heels of a weeks-long political crisis, has long relied on an uncompromising image to project command over his West African country. But the man who won election in a landslide in 2013 and was re-elected in 2018 has been left flailing by jihadist and inter-ethnic violence that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. Snail-paced political reforms, a flagging economy, decrepit public services and schools and a widely shared perception of government corruption have also fed anti-Keita sentiment, driving tens of thousands of protesters into the streets. The 75-year-old head of state has been able until now to shrug off the criticism of a divided opposition, partly relying on support from the international community which has seen him as a bulwark against the jihadist threat. But the coronavirus pandemic and the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse by jihadists in March made severe inroads into Keita's standing. The political veteran known as IBK is described variously by his entourage as generous, irascible and divisive. He is also surgically precise in his French, prone to using the imperfect subjunctive -- a mode usually only seen in high-flown literature -- in his speeches. The son of a civil servant, Keita was born in the southern industrial city of Koutiala, the declining heartland of cotton production. After studying literature in Mali, Senegal and France -- his great-grandfather was a French colonial soldier who died in the Battle of Verdun in World War I -- Keita became an advisor for the EU's overseas development fund before heading a development project in northern Mali. He campaigned against general Moussa Traore, Mali's former president ousted in 1991 by a military coup. He then rose through the ranks under Alpha Oumar Konare, the country's first democratically elected president. As a socialist prime minister between 1994 and 2000, he quelled a series of crippling strikes, earning a reputation as a firm leader and helping to set up his landslide election in 2013 -- when he finally ascended to the presidency after losing runs in 2002 and 2007. He had campaigned as a unifying figure in his fractured country, belying his tough-talking reputation. Keita was re-elected in 2018, defeating Cisse. Rumours regularly surface about Keita's health, which he has also dismissed: "It may surprise a lot of people, but I feel perfectly fine." Iraqi Prime Minister Says Not Playing 'Role Of Postman' Between US, Iran Radio Farda August 18, 2020 In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said he does not play the role of postman between the two diametrically opposed countries with close ties to Iraq. Al-Kadhimi who will be visiting the United States on August 20 to meet with President Donald Trump made the remark in response to an AP question on whether he was carrying any messages from Tehran following his recent visit to Iran. "We do not play the role of postman in Iraq," the U.S.-backed prime minister said. Al-Kadhimi assumed office in May and made his first official visit to Tehran on July 21 where he met with the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. This was also Khamenei's first meeting with any foreign dignitary in person since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Iran in February. In the interview with AP, the Iraqi Prime Minister has stressed that Iraq "will still need cooperation and assistance at levels that today might not require direct and military support, and support on the ground" to combat terrorism. In his visit to the Islamic Republic, Al-Kadhimi was accompanied by a large delegation consisting of the ministers of foreign affairs, oil, energy, financial affairs, planning, defense and health as well as his security adviser Qasim al-Araji. The Iraqi Prime Minister's visit was also the first high-level since Iran's Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were killed in a U.S. targeted attack in Baghdad on January 3 and Iran's retaliatory missile attacks on two bases in Iraqi soil that hosted U.S. troops on January 8. In their meeting in Tehran, the Iranian Supreme Leader told Al-Kadhimi that Iran "will strike back at the United States" for Soleimani's killing. Iraq owes $5 billion to Iran for imports including natural gas and electricity but due to U.S. sanctions cannot pay its debt to Iran through banks. The money which Iran has dire need for is currently kept in a special account in Iraq. Al-Kadhimi's government faces many challenges including putting an end to the precarious activities of militant Shiite groups. His promise to bring arms under the authority of the state has pitted his government against militia groups supported by Iran such as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) better known as Hashd al-Sha'abi who have continued to make threats against their political rivals and operations against the government military bases and offices. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iraqi- prime-minister-says-not-playing-role-of- postman-between-us-iran/30789629.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mumbai, Aug 19 : BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy hailed the Supreme Courts order for a CBI probe into the mysterious suicidal death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Swamy took to Twitter and wrote: "CBI jay ho". The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and asked Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected so far in the case to the investigating bureau. CBI jay ho Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 19, 2020 Justice Hrishikesh Roy said the CBI will be competent to probe not only Patna FIR but any other FIR in connection with the case. The top court noted that the Mumbai Police have registered only an accidental death report in connection with Rajput's death, therefore it had limited investigation powers, whereas the case registered by Bihar Police is a fullfledged FIR that has been already referred to CBI. The apex court emphasized that the probe into the case has been ordered by the court and Maharashtra government must comply and assist. The CBI is also free to register a fresh case, if required, added the top court. Swamy on August 16 had tweeted terming the death of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput as a murder. Swami took to his verified Twitter to take a dig at Bollywood, Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government when he made the comment. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- Syndicated from IANS MILWAUKEE, WI AUGUST 18: In this screenshot from the DNCCs livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Former U.S. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden addresses from a classroom the virtual convention on August 18, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images) (Photo by Handout/DNCC via Getty Images) During night two of the Democratic National Convention, Dr. Jill Biden took the virtual stage to address voters about the upcoming presidential election. Over the course of 10 minutes, the former teacher not only discussed the challenges educators are facing during the pandemic, but also explained why her husband, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, is the right candidate to steer this country through economic grief, sickness, and civil unrest. MILWAUKEE, WI AUGUST 17: In this screenshot from the DNCCs livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Former First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the virtual convention on August 17, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Handout/DNCC via Getty Images) I hear it from so many of you the frustration of parents juggling work while they support their childrens learning, she said, speaking from Brandywine High School, where she once taught English. The despair in the lines that stretch out before food banks, and the indescribable sorrow that follows every lonely last breath that follows when the ventilators turn off. Bidens speech about her husbands character and compassion came one night after that of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who spoke powerfully and clearly about why President Donald Trump should not be reelected. As Ive said before, being president doesnt change who you are; it reveals who you are, said Obama. So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. Both women were clear and forceful in their messages, even as they delivered different, though connected, sentiments to voters. The biggest contrast in their approaches was that Biden appealed to the emotions of frustrated families, whereas Obama directly addressed the reason for that frustration: Donald Trump. So, naturally Fox News had to weigh in, and give it their own, toxic spin. In the channels post-convention coverage, political commentator Brit Hume offered his take on the two speeches and it was nothing short of racist propaganda, featuring a description of Biden as very likable, in contrast to Obama, who he said had a hard, angry edge. Story continues Instead of focusing on their messages, Hume employed the racist trope of the angry Black woman. He didnt elaborate on it, but he didnt have to: The allegation that Obama was somehow hard or angry was a clear tactic to invalidate her message and discredit what she had to say. And that harmful stereotype has been used to discredit and invalidate Black women for decades. Calling Michelle Obamas speech angry as a means to invalidate her message is deplorable but its not surprising considering from where and whom the message is coming. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? Trump Is Starting A Rampage Against Michelle Obama How To Watch The DNC From Home Marco Rubio Tried To Take On Eva Longoria & Failed Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Just weeks after being deported to Mexico in September, Luis Talamantes was back in the United States and embarked on a two-month crime spree that ended with the death of Albuquerque resident Jacqueline Vigil, new federal records allege. The mother of two New Mexico State Police officers was shot to death in her car the morning of Nov. 19, 2019, as she tried to leave home for the gym. Vigils slaying became Albuquerques highest profile unsolved homicide. Just recently, it drew the attention of President Donald Trump during a nationally televised appearance. Talamantes was publicly identified as the primary suspect in Vigils death in federal court records filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, Texas. The documents detail the work of an FBI-led multiagency task force that began investigating the case a few weeks ago under the new federal violent crime crackdown Operation Legend. The FBI declaration says that its information was obtained from multiple sources, including Albuquerque police homicide detectives and special agents with the District Attorneys Office in Albuquerque. Talamantes, 33, has been in federal custody in Texas since late January on a felony immigration charge for repeat (fourth) illegal reentry into the United States from Mexico. After Vigils death, Talamantes fled New Mexico and was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Antonio after the Albuquerque Police Department received a number of Crime Stoppers tips, according to the government filings. He has not been charged either by state or federal prosecutors in Albuquerque with crimes related to Vigils death. A federal public defender who represents him couldnt be reached Wednesday. The federal documents were filed in the immigration case against Talamantes, and set forth in excruciating detail his alleged role in Vigils slaying and other crimes. They show Talamantes has a long rap sheet and has served time in both state and federal prison. No prior sentence has ever served to deter Defendant from immediately jumping right back into his life of violent gang activity, stealing and selling firearms, and shooting guns on the streets of Albuquerque. Tragically, this time, Defendants selfish, debased decisions cost J.V. her life, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Texas and New Mexico federal prosecutors. A declaration filed in the case by the task force coordinator, Albuquerque FBI Special Agent Bryan Acee, alluded to the possible motive that Vigil got in the way of an attempted theft. On this particular morning, J.V. suffered the tragic misfortune of opening her garage door and backing her car onto her driveway at the same time defendant was lurking nearby as he was looking for items to steal, Acee wrote in his 18-page filing. Talamantes has been identified as a member of Juaritos Maravilla, a street gang operating in Albuquerque. Bullet casing found According to Acees declaration, the evidence in the case includes witness statements and ballistics that matched a bullet casing from the scene of the homicide to a casing found days later outside Talamantes Jeep Cherokee. And there were several recorded phone calls. For instance, Talamantes confessed to an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center later the day of the killing, according to the FBI declaration. Talamantes told the jail inmate over the phone that he had messed up and what happened was not supposed to happen. He also allegedly confessed to someone else, saying he had blacked out during the incident and was going to San Antonio, Texas, to lay low. The inmate, who may have seen a news story about the slaying on a television at MDC, later called his own brother and expressed concern that everybody was going to be in trouble and suffer for the dumb things that someone else did. The inmate went on to say Defendant should have just stayed in Juarez, because he was doing dumb things. New evidence Talamantes was about to be sentenced for the illegal reentry on Aug. 11 when federal prosecutors sought a continuance because of new evidence that had emerged. That new evidence had everything to do with the Vigil shooting, but according to the court documents criminal activity was nothing new for Talamantes. His rap sheet includes arrests in Colorado and Albuquerque for domestic violence, criminal damage to property, aggravated stalking, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property, shooting at a dwelling or occupied building and commercial burglary, with convictions dating back to at least 2006. Talamantes, the documents say, served four years in New Mexico state prison and 51 months in federal prison. Talamantes had been deported or removed for the third time to his home country of Mexico on Sept. 5, 2019. Of course, any hopes that the defendants third deportation would quell his violent criminal activity in the United States were swiftly destroyed less than three months later when he killed J.V., the governments sentencing memorandum says. Based on his criminal history, Talamantes would face a sentence ranging from about 51 to 63 months in prison for illegal reentry. The government is asking the judge to deviate from sentencing guidelines and impose a stiffer sentence of 20 years in prison in light of the Vigil homicide. Talamantes sentencing has been postponed until next month. A spokeswoman for the office of District Attorney Raul Torrez in Albuquerque told the Journal, While I cannot comment on the specific work done in support of an ongoing investigation, I can confirm that the District Attorneys Office has been working with its state and federal partners for several months. The investigation into Mrs. Vigils homicide is still underway, but we do anticipate filing charges against Mr. Talamantes, among others, once it is concluded and formally submitted to our office. Meanwhile, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller issued a statement Wednesday supporting the APDs investigation into the fatal shooting. Keller said that the suspect was identified and arrested as a result of the work of APD homicide detectives long before Operation Legend and the U.S. Attorney got involved. For many months, we have been aware that we were making real progress on the case but couldnt comment publicly, or push back on a lot of myths being said about our police department, Keller said. Federal prosecutors described Vigil as an entirely innocent victim, who had stepped just outside of her own home, when the defendant callously took her life. The FBI declaration says that hours before Vigils death, a couple of miles away from Vigils home, which was off Unser north of Interstate 40, someone called 911 to report two Hispanic men were breaking into his Cadillac. He confronted them from his balcony, but backed away when he saw one of the men retrieve a pistol. Surveillance video APD later retrieved depicted the men driving in a Jeep Cherokee with a distinctive right front quarter panel. Later that morning, Vigil was leaving her garage in a Cadillac sedan when she apparently noticed an SUV parked on the street behind her, blocking her exit. She hit the cars horn, alerting her husband, Sam Vigil, who was in the house. By the time he came outside, he saw the vehicle speeding away and found his wife of 18 years fatally wounded. Outside the garage, there was another family Cadillac parked, Vigil told the Journal on Wednesday. APD Crime Stoppers subsequently used the photos of the Jeep taken in the earlier surveillance video to solicit information about Vigils fatal shooting. On Nov. 25, APD received the first of at least seven tips from citizens reporting Talamantes, or one of his aliases, was the shooter who was an active gang member and a car thief. By Jan. 16, a tipster reported that Talamantes, aka Pelon, had been out committing robberies, went to Vigils house in his Jeep and shot her at close range. The tipster provided a specific address in San Antonio, where he was arrested five days later. Authorities found numerous photos of Talamantes and his firearms posted on his social media website. After Talamantes was deported in September, his blood was found inside a Ford pickup truck parked at a Hyatt hotel that had been broken into and at least one weapon stolen. In October, Talamantes was identified as being the driver of a car that rammed another vehicle and fired shots at or near the vehicle, according to the federal documents filed Wednesday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered police on Wednesday to put down protests in the capital Minsk, while European Union leaders held an emergency summit expected to endorse sanctions on Belarusian officials. Lukashenko's order came even as EU leaders were holding an emergency summit over the political crisis in Belarus, long Russia's most loyal neighbour, which has heavily militarised borders with the bloc. EU leaders were expected to endorse sanctions on Belarusian officials they blame for election fraud following a disputed August 9 election that the opposition said it won. However, they were also expected to steer clear of more dramatic steps that might provoke intervention from Moscow. "There should no longer be any disorder in Minsk of any kind," Lukashenko said in remarks reported by Belarus official Belta news agency. "People are tired. People demand peace and quiet." Violence has to stop He ordered the border to be tightened to prevent an influx of "fighters and arms". Workers at state media who have quit in protest against the government's policies would not be rehired, he said. Western officials are trying to head off an escalation along the lines of the crisis in Ukraine six years ago, when a violent crackdown by a pro-Russian leader led to his downfall in a popular uprising, followed by a Russian military intervention and Europe's deadliest ongoing conflict. "Violence has to stop and a peaceful and inclusive dialogue has to be launched. The leadership of #Belarus must reflect the will of the people," Charles Michel, the EU summit chairman, wrote in a tweet announcing the start of a video meeting, adding that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with the Russian leader, whose country has close economic and military ties with its neighbour. Merkel told Putin that authorities in Minsk must "enter into a national dialogue with the opposition and society to overcome the crisis", while Macron urged the Russian leader to foster "calm and dialogue". Story continues In Kremlin readouts of the two calls, Putin emphasised that interfering in Belarus and putting pressure on its authorities would be "unacceptable", as the European Union moves to impose sanctions over the vote and the brutal police crackdown on protesters that followed. The flurry of calls came ahead of an emergency video summit of European Union leaders to discuss Belarus on Wednesday. Speaking ahead of the summit, the EU's commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, said sanctions against Belarusian authorities would be reinforced. "It is clear that (the outcome of the Belarus presidential election) is not in line with the wish of the people, there has been unacceptable violence, and the rule of law is not respected. Sanctions have already been taken and will no doubt be reinforced this afternoon," Breton told Europe 1 radio. 'Rotting system' Belarusian state news agency Belta said Putin and Lukashenko had also spoken by phone to discuss the Russian president's calls with European leaders. Moscow has said it is ready to step in if necessary in Belarus through the CSTO military alliance between six ex-Soviet states. But it is unclear how much support Putin is willing to give to Lukashenko, who in recent years has often played off Moscow against the West. Lithuanian lawmakers on Tuesday urged Western governments not to recognise Lukashenko as president and both the United States and Britain this week voiced concerns over the elections and the crackdown. Lukashenko has defied calls to hold a new election and on Tuesday handed out awards to 300 members of the security services, who have been accused of abusing arrested protesters. During a meeting of his security council, Lukashenko accused the oppostion of attempting to "seize power" and sever Minsk's economic and military ties with Russia. Earlier on Tuesday, several hundred people gathered outside the walls of a detention centre to mark the 42nd birthday of Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger who was imprisoned alongside other Lukashenko rivals ahead of the election. Tikhanovsky's wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, was allowed to run in his place but fled to neighbouring Lithuania after claiming that Lukashenko rigged the election to secure his official 80 percent of the vote. In a video message, Tikhanovskaya said her husband was spending his birthday in prison accused of "a crime he did not commit". "All of this blatant lawlessness and injustice shows how this rotting system works, in which one person controls everything, one person who has kept the country in fear for 26 years, one person who robbed Belarusians of their choice," she said. Mass protests Tikhanovskaya, 37, has said she will organise new elections if Lukashenko steps down and her allies have formed a Coordination Council to ensure a transfer of power. On Tuesday evening, the council convened its first press conference and announced members including Nobel Prize-winning author and ardent Lukashenko critic Svetlana Alexievich. "We are just starting to feel like an independent nation," Maria Kolesnikova, the campaign manager of a jailed opposition candidate, told journalists during the briefing. She also denied Lukashenko's claims that the opposition wanted to cut ties with Moscow and vowed that new leaders in Minsk would "maintain friendly, mutually beneficial, pragmatic" ties with Russia and EU countries. Belarus over the weekend saw its largest street demonstrations since it gained independence from the Soviet Union, with more than 100,000 people rallying in the capital to demand Lukashenko stand down after 26 years in power. The police crackdown on post-election demonstrations last week saw more than 6,700 people arrested, hundreds wounded and left two people dead. Authorities gradually released detainees many emerging with horrific accounts of beatings and torture. The interior ministry reported a third death on Tuesday, of a young man hit by a car while demonstrating. The first Belarusian diplomat to publicly support the protesters, Minsk's ambassador to Slovakia Igor Leshchenya, announced his resignation earlier on Tuesday in an interview with the Tut.by news website. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) Ecuador on August 18 accused more than 140 fishing ships operating near the Galapagos islands of cutting off satellite communications with the mainland in order to prevent the authorities from knowing what they are doing. According to reports, the fleet of around 325 fishing ships mostly consist of Chinese vessels and are still fishing in the waters near the ecologically sensitive archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. Ecuador's Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Darwin Jarrin told the press during a conference that of the 325 ships, 149 have at some point cut off communications with the mainland. Read: Ecuador: 30 New Species In Deep Waters Of Galapagos 'Breach of protocol' The Naval Operations Command of the Ecuadorian Navy held a press conference reporting the relevant activities carried out in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) due to the presence of foreign-flag fishing fleets on August 19. As per reports, the foreign fishing ships were not in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Ecuador. The Ecuadorian Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin said that it was a breach of protocol of high seas because the ships cut off communications in order to allegedly hide their activities. Media reports suggest that many ships also changed the name of their vessels to avoid tracking by Ecuadorian authorities. Read: Marine Scientists Discover 30 New Species In Deep Water Surrounding Galapagos Last week, Ecuador also registered a complaint about hundreds of vessels that converged around marine sanctuaries off the Galapagos Islands. China is one of the largest trading partners of Ecuador as it buys tonnes of shrimps from the South American country every year. According to reports, Chinese fishing ships have been arriving near the Galapagos since 2017, particularly in summers mainly for marine life, which is in abundance in the region. China had pledged to prevent illegal fishing in the international waters and had promised to seriously restrict fishermen, who engage in such activities, but experts suggest that it is not doing much. Read: Astronaut Shares Iconic Images Of Galapagos Islands From ISS; See Pics Read: China's Fishing Fleet Near Galapagos Islands Falsifying GPS Location: Reports (Image Credit: @armada_ecuador/Twitter) Detention of Togliattikhimbank head Popov extended for three months RAPSI 15:48 19/08/2020 MOSCOW, August 19 (RAPSI) - The Moscow City Court has extended the period of detention of the former chairperson of the board of Togliattikhimbank Alexander Popov until November 12, the investigator for especially important cases under the chairperson of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Major General of Justice Mikhail Tumanov has told RAPSI. On May 20, the Investigative Committee issued a decision to charge Popov with bribe giving (Article 291.5 of Russias Criminal Code). The investigation established that Popov was involved in the attempted bribe giving to judges of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for more than USD 1.2 million. According to investigators, the severity of Popov's actions does not allow to apply another measure of restraint, since being not in the pre-trial detention center he can put pressure on witnesses and destroy evidence. On January 24, Tumanov issued a resolution to initiate and accept for proceedings a criminal case against the owner of Togliattikhimbank Popov, the main shareholder of Togliattiazot PJSC Sergey Makhlai, the former head of the ToAZ security service Oleg Antoshin, and other unidentified persons since their actions contain signs of crimes provided for in Article 291.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Being the chairperson of the board of Togliattikhimbank (Makhlai is the sole owner of the bank), in October 2015, through his subordinate employees, Popov ensured cashing and then depositing funds in the amount of USD 1,257,569 into a safe deposit box of Togliattikhimbank, opened in the name of intermediaries in giving a bribe, the resolution says. According to the investigation, Popov, by persuasion and bribery, had intermediaries to transfer an especially large bribe to the judges of the Supreme Court of Russia. On May 20, the investigator of the Investigative Group of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Vladimir Sleptsov issued an order to charge Popov with bribing judges of the Supreme Court. In addition, in the end of July, the Second General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of Popov's lawyer against the order to extend the period of detention. Moreover, along with other persons involved in the criminal case, Popov is accused of organizing and participating in a criminal community (Article 210.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, he is being prosecuted in a case of large-scale fraud (Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and dodging taxes on an especially large scale (Article 199.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In April, within the framework of this case, a former specialist in working with foreign partners of ToAZ, and later the general director of OOO Kontaz (ToAZ's subsidiary) Ksenia Balashova was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center. This person admitted her guilt, saying that she acted in accordance with the direct orders of her boss Vladimir Makhlai. In December 2008, she sold to the Cypriot offshore company Borgat Investments Ltd controlled by Vladimir Makhlai more than 860,000 shares of ToAZ for just one million rubles. According to the investigation, the market value of this stake at the time of the sale was about 577 million rubles. According to investigators, together with OOO Rodnichok, this company dodged taxes for more than 320 million rubles. We can safely assume that more members of this organized criminal group will be arrested, since only about a dozen people are mentioned in this one episode of Popov's "exploits". ZIMBABWE is reeling from power cuts again, following a breakdown at two of its creaky power generation units at Kariba and Hwange, the Daily News reports. This comes as one of Zimbabwes main sources of power, Eskom of South Africa, is experiencing major shortages of its own to the consternation of both ordinary consumers and industries in the neighbouring country. Zimbabwe began to experience fresh power cuts on Monday, which sources at Zesa Holdings (Zesa) said were a result of breakdowns at Kariba and Hwange power stations. Officials at the power utility referred the Daily News to Energy and Power Development permanent secretary, Gloria Magombo, who told the paper that she could not comment on operational issues before referring questions back to Zesa. I cannot comment on this because its an operational issue. Maybe the issue you are talking about will be resolved today or tomorrow, she said. The latest power cuts are coming at a time that the government has been saying that power shortages will soon be a thing of the past in coming months following major development works at Hwange Power Station. They also come after President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently visited power generation projects in Hwange including Zambezi Gas and Coal Mine which are expected to produce 750 Megawatts (MW) of electricity on completion. At the same time, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) recently increased water rations for power generation at Kariba, following increased inflows into the dam during the first half of the year. Following the arrival of the upper Kariba catchment peak floodwaters at Kariba in June 2020, and due to increased demand for electricity, the authority effected a four billion cubic metres upward revision in the water allocation made for power generation operations at Kariba, increasing it from 23 billion cubic metres to 27 cubic metres, ZRA said. Last year, Zimbabwe experienced one of its worst power crises which forced Zesa to effect punishing load shedding schedules, which lasted up to 18 hours a day. The return of the power cuts also comes days after Mnangagwa sacked former Energy minister Fortune Chasi following his highly-publicised brawl with suspended Zesa executive chairperson Sydney Gata. She recently returned from a family getaway to Santorini, Greece. And Millie Mackintosh was feeling reflective on Wednesday as she shared a sweet throwback snap from her holiday. In the photo, the former Made In Chelsea star, 31, breastfed her baby daughter Sienna, three months, while relaxing on a sunlounger on the beach. Lovely: Millie Mackintosh was feeling reflective on Wednesday as she shared a sweet throwback breastfeeding snap from her holiday to Santorini Millie looked effortlessly chic in a white cotton maxi dress and stylish nude pink sunglasses. Beaming to the camera as she cradled baby Sienna, the new mother had styled her brunette locks into a relaxed bun and gone makeup-free to soak up the sunshine. In her caption, Millie admitted that she was pining for another holiday and an idyllic beach day with her daughter. The star also lauded her white cotton maxi dress for its duel functionality, revealing she could easily transition from 'Millie' to 'Mamma'. Idyllic: The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, and husband Hugo Taylor recently enjoyed their first family holiday with Sienna to the Greek hotspot She penned: 'Missing beach days with my babe but hoping our UK Indian Summer returns soon! I loved wearing this Angelica dress on holiday. Most of my clothes at the moment need a duel functionality element. 'One to make me feel good and the other being easy access for Sienna when feeding time comes around. With a button down front my transition from "Millie" to "Mamma" was easy be it at lunch / dinner or at the beach thrown over a bikini. 'The perfect combination for hot summer weather and breastfeeding #ad #millieXpitusa @pitusa.co #collab.' The photo comes after Millie posed in underwear while showing baby Sienna, three months, who was recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia, wearing her hip brace in a different Instagram snap earlier this week. Morning! The photo comes after Millie posed in underwear while showing baby Sienna, three months, who was recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia, wearing her hip brace in a different Instagram snap earlier this week The new mum smiled happily as she showcased her slim frame in a black bra and briefs set, after sharing a breastfeeding snap of herself bonding with her little girl. Last week, the mother-of-one admitted it was the 'hardest' thing she has had to overcome as a parent, after being told Sienna would wear a harness for up to 12 weeks. Despite her own initial struggles with the news, Millie praised her baby girl for being able to 'adapt' to wearing a harness - which she is allowed to remove once a day. Discussing Sienna's hip dysplasia, Millie said: 'Now the shock's worn off, babies are incredible at adapting. It's been one of the hardest things we've overcome as a parent. 'Sienna has already adapted, harder for the parents to adapt. Sienna is able to take off her harness once a day.' Bonding: The new mum smiled happily as she showcased her slim frame in a black bra and briefs set, after sharing a breastfeeding snap of herself bonding with her little girl Millie first detailed her 'emotionally challenging' week after discovering her little girl Sienna has developmental hip dysplasia on Saturday. She said her little girl was diagnosed with the condition during a follow up appointment after a routine scan. The diagnosis means that Sienna will have to wear a special harness for six to 12 weeks in order to treat the dysplasia and new mum Millie admitted she is finding it tricky to cuddle and breastfeed her daughter. According to the NHS website, developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a condition where the 'ball and socket' joint of the hip does not properly form in babies and young children. Candid: Millie first detailed her 'emotionally challenging' week after discovering her little girl Sienna has developmental hip dysplasia on Saturday It's sometimes called congenital hip dislocation or hip dysplasia. The hip joint attaches the thigh bone (femur) to the pelvis. The top of the femur (femoral head) is rounded, like a ball, and sits inside the cup-shaped hip socket. In DDH, the socket of the hip is too shallow and the femoral head is not held tightly in place, so the hip joint is loose. Millie explained that 'Sienna had a routine hip scan at 6 weeks because she was breech from 28 weeks onwards.' She added: 'Apparently, it has a 90% chance of totally correcting her hip, so she hopefully shouldn't need surgery or have any issues with her movement, so we are remaining positive and grateful that we found out early.' Millie and her husband Hugo Taylor welcomed their first child together, baby Sienna, in May. CHICAGO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Syntellis Performance Solutions, a leading provider of enterprise performance management (EPM) software, data, and analytics solutions, announced today that clients gave its Axiom suite of EPM software for healthcare, financial services and higher education organizations high scores across multiple categories in BPM Partners' 2020 Vendor Landscape Matrix. Data for the matrix, which evaluates business performance management (BPM) vendors, was collected during BPM Partners' annual Pulse Survey of customers using those solutions for financial, strategic and operational performance management. Syntellis, previously Kaufman Hall Software, brings together Axiom Software and the Connected Analytics capabilities recently acquired from Change Healthcare, to help clients acquire insights, accelerate decisions and advance their business plans so they can elevate organizational performance and transform their vision into reality. Syntellis was rated as an "Established Player" in EPM by virtue of the size of the companies it works with, required functionality and widespread adoption, and was rated "Excellent" in terms of customer satisfaction. "Small, medium and large enterprises across multiple industries rely on the BPM Pulse Survey and the Vendor Landscape Matrix to determine the solutions that will best help them manage the complexities of financial and operational planning and performance," said Craig Schiff, CEO of BPM Partners. "We include only the most active vendors competing for and successfully delivering complete BPM solutions in the North American market. Syntellis' Axiom software was ranked highly by survey participants in the mid-market to large enterprise segment for its ease of use, vertical focus, depth and breadth of functionality, and integrated business planning capabilities. Syntellis' deep industry expertise, coupled with its robust data analytics capabilities, is an outstanding example of using BPM capabilities to drive business decisions." The Axiom Software Suite enables financial professionals in healthcare, higher education and financial institutions to analyze current financial results and use data to create predictive and prescriptive models that optimize future decisions. The cloud-based suite includes tools for budgeting and forecasting, long-range planning, financial and capital planning and management, performance reporting, and decision support and analytics. Recent developments include the acquisition of Change Healthcare's Connected Analytics practice (including Analytics Explorer, Performance Manager and other data solutions), addition of machine learning capabilities to reduce the level of effort required for rolling forecast implementation by 50%, and new API-based connectors for Epic (healthcare) and Ellucian (higher education) applications. Additionally, a new module for health plan budgeting also was recently introduced. "We are pleased to be ranked so highly in the latest BPM Partners Pulse Survey because it directly reflects our clients' terrific experiences using our solutions to manage and improve financial performance," said Kermit S. Randa, chief executive officer, Syntellis Performance Solutions. "We make our solutions extremely powerful, innovative and easy to use, so clients can make better decisions faster. There has never been a time when this is more important than right now, as healthcare, higher education and financial institution leaders navigate their organizations through unprecedented challenges. We're honored to provide the tools and partnership organizations need to continue serving their patients, customers and communities." About BPM Partners BPM Partners is the leading independent authority on business performance management (BPM) and related business intelligence solutions. The company helps organizations address their budgeting, planning, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, profitability optimization, key performance indicator (KPI) development, and operational performance challenges with vendor-neutral experts who can guide companies through their BPM initiatives from start to finish while both reducing risk and minimizing costs. For further details, go to https://www.bpmpartners.com. Follow BPM Partners on Twitter @BPMTeam. About Syntellis Performance Solutions Syntellis Performance Solutions, previously Kaufman Hall Software, provides innovative enterprise performance management software, data and analytics solutions for healthcare, higher education and financial institutions. Syntellis' solutions include Axiom and Connected Analytics software, which help finance professionals elevate performance by acquiring insights, accelerating decisions and advancing their business plans. With over 2,800 organizations and 450,000 users relying on our solutions, we have proven industry expertise in helping organizations transform their vision into reality. For more information, please visit www.syntellis.com. Press Contact: Philip Anast Amendola Communications (for Syntellis) Email: [email protected] Phone: 312-576-6990 SOURCE Syntellis Performance Solutions, LLC Related Links http://www.syntellis.com In this article BRK.A D Recent deals like Warren Buffett's $10 billion acquisition of pipeline assets from Dominion Energy show major market players headed in different directions over climate change, fossil fuels and renewable energy. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images With the coronavirus pandemic slashing demand for the oil and gas that has been booming in the U.S. shale during the past decade, energy pipeline development has stalled. The midstream portion of the energy complex, as it is known, may not recover soon, but it will recover, according to energy experts, and none other than Warren Buffett who has been uncharacteristically shy about making investments during the Covid-19 washout is betting on that. The billionaire investor recently plunked down near-$10 billion to buy gas pipeline assets and related debt. After a decade of capacity buildout in the pipeline infrastructure to match the U.S. fossil fuel fracking growth, demand is lacking and will stay down, despite a doubling in the price of crude following sub-$20 lows reached in March. "The midstream is in a tough spot," said Luke Jackson, senior analyst, natural gas, North America, S&P Global Platts. "You have to consider what drove the infrastructure development: the shale boom. When you look at oil near $40 and natural gas rising, but still sub-$3, we're not in a climate where higher production of oil and gas is supported to support a larger build out," Jackson said. Before Covid-19 hit, Platts Analytics was forecasting U.S. crude oil production to rise by one million barrels per day year over year, and rise by another 600,000 barrels in 2021. Now, as rig counts have declined at the steepest rate since 2009 75% of natural gas production comes from the "associated gas" at oil rig sites, as well crude production is expected to register an annual decline within the next few months, and that decline will persist until at least mid-2021, according to Platts Analytics' forecast. Instead of the substantial growth that midstream companies had been making investment decisions based on and which led to a significant number of pipeline projects coming online within the past two years major shale basins like the Permian will see lower utilization of outbound pipelines for the next few years. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Platts "We're not expecting U.S. crude to return to levels we were at in Q1 2020 until 2023," said Jenna Delaney, lead analyst, North American oil, S&P Global Platts. "It will be even a few more years until we get back to where we started from, and then to satisfy pipeline capacity, we will need even more production growth." But there's more going on then just a typical commodities boom-and-bust cycle. With successful environmental challenges leading to legal and regulatory roadblocks for pipelines, and a political climate becoming more difficult for fossil fuels, companies in the utility sectors are rethinking their midstream investments, and in some cases, reallocating funds towards renewable energy projects. Earlier this summer, the Energy Transfer-owned Dakota Access Pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to Illinois storage facilities and the Gulf Coast, was forced by a federal judge to shut down production pending further environmental impact reviews by the Army Corps of Engineers. The halt in production resulted in a major win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has been fighting a legal battle against the pipeline operating and transporting oil for nearly three years. An August 5 decision by another court allowed the pipeline to continue operating, pending further legal review. "I'm not aware of a pipeline that's been forced to shut down mid-production, that obviously concerns people in the industry," said Pearce Hammond, managing director and equity research analyst for midstream and infrastructure at Simmons Energy. "It just shows how difficult it is to get a pipeline built in the U.S. because of regulation, environmental concerns, and with environmentalists pushing against it." Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline due to "legal uncertainties" surrounding the project. The cost of the project had increased from nearly $5 billion to $8 billion, amid ongoing legal battles surrounding permits and environmental issues. In a separate capitulation, last month Dominion sold its natural gas pipeline assets to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in $9.7 billion deal that included close to $5 billion in pipeline assets, as well as assumption of debt. Why Buffett is bullish on gas According to Steve Fleishman, managing director and utilities analyst at Wolfe Research, Buffett's acquisition will provide a steady stream of revenue and a quality asset, regardless of the lack of midstream development. Buffett also has always preferred investments in a market where more control is reasonable to expect lack of new pipeline supply could be a plus as far as his preference for less competition likely to come into the market. The Dominion gas pipeline and storage assets include operations in Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Virginia. The deal won't burn a hole in his pocket, either, with Berkshire sitting on well over $100 billion in cash and short-term assets, and Buffett always anxious to deploy the capital into projects that generate a return on investment. The incremental investor in utilities is more environmentally conscious than the incremental investor in Berkshire. Sophie Karp KeyBanc Capital Markets' analyst It's not just the political optics, though that plays into the shift highlighted by Dominion away from midstream. The market has been downgrading the value of gas pipeline assets owned by utilities. Even with one of the biggest utility operations in the U.S., Berkshire's cash hoard can operate like a private equity buyer flush with cash., Stand-alone utilities, meanwhile, are increasingly focused on environmentally sensitive portfolios, according to Sophie Karp, KeyBanc Capital Markets utilities and renewables sector analyst. "We've seen in the past year, even before Covid, that the premium commanded by gas assets evaporated," Karp said. "The market was saying that it doesn't want utilities to own gas assets." Morningstar analyst Gregg Warren projects that the Dominion pipeline assets will generate $1 billion in earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization, for Berkshire Hathaway Energy's pipelines unit, which will see mid-single-digit EBITDA growth. The $9.7 billion deal was estimated at a price of 9.7 times EBITDA, a price that Dominion management defended as being above recent, similar transactions. Assets like the ones Dominion sold to Berkshire are harder for utilities to justify given the push among constituents to decarbonize. "The incremental investor in utilities is more environmentally conscious than the incremental investor in Berkshire," Karp said. Referring to sensitive bases of ratepayers in regions around the country where utilities are regulated and resistance to fossil fuels are growing. she added, "A suburb in Boston will not make or break a utility, but it could be a precursor to 'a death by a thousand cuts,' where each incremental rate case there is more severe opposition to capex that is not decarbonized." "It's not 'tomorrow we stop using gas,' but it is a plausible scenario where it gets harder and harder for a utility to put dollars into that infrastructure and derive earnings growth," Karp said. The utilities' market dynamic partially explains why Buffett was able to make the deal without paying a hefty premium. "It wasn't the top of the market," the KeyBanc analyst said. "It sold at the peer group average at a time when the average was down ... but Dominion was trying to rip the Band-aid off." A floorhand works on an oil rig in the Bakken shale formation outside Watford City, North Dakota. Getty Images Dominion is moving in another direction, with significant offshore wind opportunities in some of its markets, like Virginia. "That may be more attractive than gas, and when can redirect the capex and get a return on that, and not deal with gas ownership, it looks like a solid move," Karp said. Dominion pointed to the "state-regulated nature" of its business profile as one of the reasons for the deal, as well as noting its net zero target by 2050 for both carbon and methane emissions, and $55 billion planned in next 15 years for emissions reduction technologies including zero-carbon generation and energy storage. Utilities owning midstream gas assets outside their core business will be slowing down as a business focus, with the premiums formerly commanded no longer available. Utility stocks did well in recent years, but "the stocks have not done well on mistream deals," Karp said. "The trend will be utilities looking at divesting, not investing more. ... But natural gas as a fuel is not going away in our lifetime. The long-term use case is there." Concerns about future oil and gas capacity With declining access to domestic oil supply as midstream development cease, some analysts worry about the potential for energy security risks and the U.S. becoming again reliant on foreign exporters, such as OPEC. Hammond at Simmons Energy said the recent regulatory hurdles in the oil and natural gas markets could ultimately mean, "you'd be relying on increasing very insecure sources of supply, which is something we've tried to move away from in terms of energy security, turning the clock back to the 70's, 80's." "The policy makers are trying to balance the transition to lower carbon and meet the needs now while still being energy secure," he said. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards "Certainly, if we see muted or no U.S. production growth, when demand continues to recover globally, we're gonna have to be more reliant on foreign imports that we would have been, certainly seeing energy security issues," said Leo Mariani, energy stock analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. But in the mid-term, what is maybe more likely is a bifurcation in the U.S. pipeline market, as U.S. oil and gas production growth comes back, rather than a return to the OPEC-dictated era. Platts expects U.S. production growth to start recovering for U.S. shale by 2023, and does not expect midstream constraints, especially as Canadian crude continues to flow into the U.S. and the export market for liquified natural gas continues to grow. "We do believe that the U.S. will need more infrastructure development to support higher movement of gas to markets in the Gulf Coast, in East Texas and Louisiana," Platts' Jackson said. The situation in markets like the Northeast and its big population centers will be more challenging for building pipeline. "It will be much easier to build pipelines in certain areas," said Eric Brooks, Northeast US natural gas analyst, S&P Global Platts. "In the Northeast, it's a more intense regulatory environment and that does come back to politics. Atlantic Coast Pipeline was emblematic and it is no secret it is challenging environment." Broader market shift to renewables What is happening at Dominion is also occurring within the oil and gas industry. BP recently took a step that would have once been considered unthinkable when it reported a loss of $6.7 billion the oil and gas giant halved the dividend that has long been coveted by pension fund investors and committed to a new strategy of increasing investments in renewable energy and cutting oil and gas generation by 40%. Equinor, the Norwegian petroleum company formerly known as Statoil, also is transitioning its business model to include more renewable energy, including offshore wind projects as its primary way to accelerate a transition to low-carbon energy sources. The changes, though, are less than absolute: Equinor's near-record breaking offshore wind project will provide renewable energy to oil and gas platforms. Police officers' body-worn video should be publicly released to protect them from 'unfair vilification' on social media, the national federation chairman has said. John Apter, who heads the Police Federation of England and Wales, is urging force leaders to take action to stop officers facing 'trial by social media' over controversial incidents. Lawyers for the Metropolitan Police, Britain's largest force, are already looking at ways to allow footage from officers' cameras to be made public more easily. His comments come as the Met has faced controversy and accusations of racism due to a number of high-profile stops. Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams received an apology from Met police chief Dame Cressida Dick for the distress her officers caused her in a heavy-handed stop-and-search last month. Ms Williams was stopped outside her home while travelling in a Mercedes with her boyfriend Ricardo dos Santos and the couple's three-month-old son in the back of the car. Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams say police handcuffed them while their son was in the car before eventually being let go. A photo shared on Instagram by Ms Williams of the stop and search confrontation outside her own home in London. She is to the right of the photo, with her three-month-old son Commonwealth gold medallist Bianca Williams, 26, and her Portuguese sprinter partner Ricardo dos Santos, 25, were stopped and searched near their London home Williams and her Portuguese sprinter husband Ricardo dos Santos, 25, were hauled from their Mercedes and handcuffed in front of their three-month-old son in Lanhill Road, Maida Vale, on a Saturday afternoon. Earlier this month, Labour MP Dawn Butler accused the police of racially profiling her after she was pulled over while driving in East London. Scotland Yard said the stop was a result of an officer having 'incorrectly entered' the car's registration plate into a computer to wrongly identify it as a vehicle registered to Yorkshire, but did not explain why the search was carried out in the first place. Ms Butler filmed her heated confrontation in Hackney with two officers, who she claims demanded to know what was in the back of car. The MP for Brent Central (hand seen left) filmed her heated confrontation in Hackney with two officers in a stop and search that sparked the PM to urge police to show 'fairness and equality' Earlier this week, pressure mounted as Inspector Charles Ehikioya, a senior Met Police officer claimed he was racially profiled by two white officers from his own force when they stopped his car. The 55-year-old, who also filmed the incident, claimed the officers stopped him without justification and has complained of racial harassment to Scotland Yard following the incident on May 23. But the force insisted it found no evidence of misconduct following an investigation by the Professional Standards Unit which reviewed the officers' body-worn footage. Mr Ehikioya told BBC News he refused to leave his Toyota iQ when he was stopped because one of the two officers had not yet switched on his body-worn video. The officers asked to see Mr Ehikioya's driving licence and proof of insurance and check that the vehicle was not stolen, he was sober and not using his phone after they his driving was 'unusual'. The officer insisted his behaviour had been reasonable and Mr Ehikioya was being obstructive. Federation chairman John Apter says police are 'damned if they do and damned if they don't' Mr Apter, who leads the Federation that represents more than 120,000 rank-and-file officers, said clips on social media do not show the reality of policing. 'These snippets rarely show the full facts,' he said. 'They are purposefully selective in what they show and can be incredibly damaging for public confidence in policing, as inevitably some people will believe the one-sided story often presented. 'At a time when officers are doing their absolute best in difficult and trying circumstances, this unfounded and unfair criticism often leads to trial by media and is totally unacceptable. 'They are simply damned if they do and damned if they don't.' He is calling for a meeting with the chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council, Martin Hewitt, and the head of the College of Policing, Mike Cunningham, to discuss the issue. Mr Apter added: 'Given the way footage is being used against policing and police officers across all media, I would urge forces to be far more proactive in such circumstances, publicising BWV footage to redress the balance. I believe there is an urgent need for this to happen. 'I fully accept that it might not always be possible to release the BWV footage but doing nothing is not an option. 'We must take the necessary action to protect police officers from unfair vilification, as well as ensuring that public confidence in policing is not undermined.' The European Union should sanction officials responsible for human rights abuses in Cambodia, the countrys banned opposition party said Wednesday, citing the blocs decision to prepare a list of Belarusian officials to be hit with sanctions following a post-election crackdown on demonstrators. In a statement, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) expressed great concern over developments in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko has violently suppressed protesters and strikers in the capital Minsk who have rejected what they say was a fraudulent Aug. 9 election that resulted in an extension of his 26-year rule. The recent events had prompted an emergency summit Wednesday in which Charles Michel, the head of the European Council, called the polls in Belarus neither free nor fair and promised sanctions on a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud. The events in Belarus remind us of the oppressive methods used by the Cambodian regime, which has captured the state in the hands of limited circle of people close to the dictator Hun Sen through abuse of institutions and sham elections without participation of the opposition, the CNRP said. Both Belarus and Cambodia face orchestrated unconstitutional oppression of the citizens by dictators who identify the state with themselves and want to destroy any notion of free thought. The CNRP was dissolved in November 2017 for its role in an alleged plot to topple the government. Along with a broader crackdown on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent mediathe removal of the popular party paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the countrys July 2018 general election. Just like in Belarus, the CNRP noted, authorities in Cambodia have in recent months been arresting those who speak out against Hun Sens nearly three decades of rule and driven much of the opposition into self-imposed exile to avoid what they say are politically motivated charges and convictions. The opposition party pointed to the arrest two weeks ago of outspoken union leader Rong Chhun, who was charged with incitement to commit a felony or create social unrest after alleging that the government had allowed Vietnam to encroach on Cambodian territory, as well that of six of his supporters who had joined near-daily protests in the capital Phnom Penh calling for his release. The situation in Cambodia, just as the situation in Belarus, requires the immediate attention of the international community, the statement said. Those who oppress the people cannot enjoy the privileges of free communication, travel, cooperation and business with the democratic world. They need to bear the consequences of their actions, being directly and severely sanctioned by the international community. The CNRP said it welcomed a decision by the European Council to begin the process of sanctions against those in Belarus deemed responsible for violence, arrests, and fraud in connection with the election, as well as calls from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to bring additional sanctions against those who violated democratic values or abused human rights in the country. European Council President Charles Michel gestures as he addresses a press conference at the end of a European summit in Brussels, Aug. 19, 2020. AFP EBA withdrawal On Aug. 12, the EU implemented the withdrawal of duty-free, quota-free access to its market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for some 20 percent of Cambodias exportsa decision that was announced in February. The EUs move came in response to the Hun Sen governments failure to reverse rollbacks on democracy and other freedoms required under the trade arrangementdemands the prime minister has said are an encroachment on Cambodias sovereignty. Affected exports include goods from Cambodias vital garment and footwear industries. Following the withdrawal, the CNRP last week condemned the government for failing to implement reforms required by the EU to avoid trade sanctions and called on the bloc to sanction Hun Sen and other officials deemed responsible for rights violations in Cambodia through visa restrictions and the freezing of their assets, saying that the tariffs would largely only impact the countrys workers. However, the recent developments in Belarus and the EUs decision to pursue sanctions against officials in Lukashenkos government for similar violations, prompted the opposition party to redouble its efforts Wednesday. Responding to the CNRP statement, CPP spokesman Sok Ey San told RFAs Khmer Service that the situation in the two countries is completely different, adding that the opposition in Cambodia is jealous of development under Hun Sens government and will do anything it can to disrupt peace. They envy uswhen they could not have power, they fled overseas and urged the EU to withdraw the EBA, he said. And now they want the EU to punish Cambodia just like Belarus. But CNRP Deputy President Mu Sochua told RFA that if Hun Sen does not accede to EU demands, which also include the reinstatement of the opposition, he and his officials will also face sanctions. I believe sanctions can include travel to the EU and the freezing of their assets, she said. These kinds of sanction wont affect regular people. An investigation by Reuters last October revealed that Hun Sens niece Hun Kimleng and her husband, National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun, were among eight politically connected Cambodians to obtain citizenship in EU member state Cyprus through a controversial scheme that allows anyone willing to invest U.S. $ 2.2 million in the prosperous island nations business or real estate sectors to obtain it. Supporters urge the government to release and drop charges against union leader Rong Chhun at a protest in Phnom Penh, Aug. 3, 2020. Reuters Use of violence condemned The CNRP call for EU sanctions came a day after a group of 80 Cambodian civil society groups issued a joint statement condemning the Cambodian authorities use of violence against peaceful demonstrators and the recent arrest of more than a dozen activists since the arrest of Rong Chhun. The groups noted that in addition to six more individuals who have been sent to pre-trial detention after advocating for the union leaders release, authorities have also beaten and arrested relativesmost of whom are womenof former members of the CNRP who were protesting against their family members arrests. It is not a crime to call for your family to be released from prison. It is not a crime to speak out against your friends' arrest. It is not a crime to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with people in your community and demand justice, the statement read. All Cambodians have the right to peacefully protest without being shoved, beaten or dragged off by police. We call on the government to immediately release those arrested, drop charges against them and fully respect the Cambodian people's rights to free expression and assembly. Responding to the statement on Wednesday, Ministry of Justice spokesman Chhin Malin called on the Ministry of Interior to investigate whether the civil society groups had violated rules of impartiality as defined by the controversial Law on Association and Nongovernmental Organizations (LANGO). Chhin Malin said that some of the group who signed Tuesdays statement are inactive and sought to criticize the government without foundation. He added that the Cambodias courts are independent and would not yield to pressure from civil society. The government has implemented the law in general without targeting any specific groupif someone acts in breach of the law, they will be punished, he said. The statement from the civil society groups is not the legal way to protect a defendant in a democratic society. If they want to help the defendants, they can only do so through due process. Koul Panha, the former executive director of and currently an advisor to local electoral watchdog Comfrel, questioned Chhin Malins right to make such a statement on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. This institution was not established to defend the authorities actions; it is supposed to uphold justice and human rights, he told RFA. Our rule of law is very weak. The people cant rely on the government and the government doesnt understand its own role. The people are weak and powerless, and they dont know who to ask for help. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has called for a detailed probe into the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight in Karachi, which killed 97 people in May. Preliminary investigation revealed that airworthiness of the aircraft was unquestionable, weather was favourable and the pilot and co-pilot were experienced. However, there were quite a few deviations by the pilots and the air traffic controller from the prescribed procedures, the committee was informed. The National Assemblys Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has called for a detailed probe into the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight in Karachi, which killed 97 people in May. During a meeting held on Tuesday, the committee observed that the mishap took place despite reported unquestionable airworthiness of the plane and experience of the pilots. It said that reasons should be identified to avoid such incidents in the future, The Dawn reported. Aviation Division Secretary Hassan Nasir Jamy told the panel that the inquiry into the crash would be completed within eight to 10 days and a report would be sent to the committee. The committee was apprised that a 12-member investigation team, including aviation experts, representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), PIA and Boeing and a psychologist had conducted an examination of the aircrafts debris and recording of the conversation of pilots with the control power in the black box during the course of the probe. Also Read: Vande Bharat Mission: Over 10 lakh stranded Indians repatriated, says Ministry of Civil Aviation Preliminary investigation revealed that airworthiness of the aircraft was unquestionable, weather was favourable and the pilot and co-pilot were experienced. However, there were quite a few deviations by the pilots and the air traffic controller from the prescribed procedures, the committee was informed. Taking up the matter of suspension of PIA flights to Europe, including the UK, the panel asked the authorities to pursue the resumption of flights to Europe with European and UK airspace authorities. The committee was informed that PIA flights to Europe were discontinued over issues pertaining to the safety management of aircraft and passengers. Also Read: India records highest single-day Covid-19 recoveries, case count surpasses 27 lakh mark A PIA representative told the committee that the objections of European and UK authorities have been addressed and flights would resume only after getting clearance by European and UK airspace agencies, according to The Dawn. The panel was also informed about the fake licenses of PIA pilots or pilots having licenses issued by the CAA. It observed that the matter had brought disgrace to the country. The committee members noted that none of the CAA officials was held responsible for issuing fake licenses. The panel directed the Aviation Division to complete the inquiry so that action would be taken against officials responsible for issuing dubious licenses. Member of National Assembly (MNA) Kishwer Zahra presided over the committee meet and was attended by Muhammad Aslam Khan, Uzma Riaz, Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Naeema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, Syed Mehmood Shah and senior officials of the Aviation Division and Airport Security Force. (ANI) Also Read: PM Modi offers wishes to Afghanistan President on Independence Day After teasing an agreement with a major multibillion dollar retailer for weeks, body measurement company 3DLook is ready to make the partnership known. In an exclusive conversation with WWD, the tech company revealed that it has been working with Tailored Brands, parent company of Mens Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers. The partners are currently working on several phases of roll-out that bring the body measurement technology to those two retail businesses. The main premise of 3DLook is rooted in computer vision, with body measurements derived from two selfies one from the front, and another from the side. The system can then determine measurements that can be used for everything, from tailoring to 3-D design and other virtual applications. Were getting great feedback from them, Whitney Cathcart, cofounder and chief strategy officer at 3DLook, said of Tailored Brands. They beta tested the first 100 doors and have rolled us into 200. And [soon] they will roll it into the balance of those stores. The plan is to bring the tech into more than 1,000 locations this fall. Like other apparel businesses that hinge on in-person services, such as tailoring and made-to-measure services, Tailored Brands has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. As the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, Dinesh Lathi, its president and chief executive officer, described the restructuring plan at the time as a continuation of efforts begun before the pandemic. Now its a matter of refining our assortments, strengthening our omnichannel offering and evolving our marketing channel and creative mix. The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 requires us to further adapt and evolve. The companys goal, Lathi added, was to become a stronger company that has the financial and operational flexibility to compete and win in the rapidly evolving retail environment. Part of that adaptation and flexibility now includes 3DLooks platform, a technology that obviates the need for a human tailor to physically measure customers. Story continues The rise of online shopping has created demand for remote fitting platforms, sparking numerous approaches from Stitch Fixs blend of questionnaire, purchase history and customer feedback to computer vision technologies like that of 3DLook and other start-ups, or some combination. And that was before the pandemic. Now, as the health crisis has amplified e-commerce and made social distancing the norm, the premise of hands-off fitting has become critical for some outfitters. According to Cathcart, that was the issue for Tailored Brands: [They said,] there is no playbook here. What kind of technology is out there, where we can help our customers feel safe when they come in our store and give them a great user experience that allows us to serve them in the same way as weve always served them without having to touch them? she explained. Not only is 3DLook a touchless measurement platform, but it also doubled down on social distancing this week. A new update now brings voice control to the mix. Because the technology requires full-body images, that usually means someone else is nearby, snapping the photo of the subject. The voice-activated feature, titled Hands-free, now lets customers take the photo themselves via voice. And because its a browser-based tool, users wont have to download a separate app. Consider the consumer whos window-shopping on their laptop and comes across something on the web site of jeans company 1822 Denim, another 3DLook partner. If the shopper is interested in checking their remote fit, they can scan a QR code or have a link texted to their phones, where they can open up the online selfie tool. With the voice feature, they can speak to snap the photos required. From there, the measurements can power personalized fit recommendations, possibly even virtual try-ons, depending on the retailers capabilities. In this scenario, the phone works with the desktop browser, so the customer has a unified experience. If the shopper starts out on their mobile device, the experience remains there. The feature will come to all versions of 3DLooks products, whether through e-commerce or the in-store use case at Mens Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, where store associates will use iPads that output the customers measurements, Cathcart said. Either way, mobile device cameras underpin the technology, and development there could see another jump forward soon with Apples upcoming product announcement, expected next month. Previous iOS updates have mattered to companies like 3DLook. We were the most excited over the models encryption in Core ML in the latest iPhone release, said George Moliboga, 3DLooks chief technology officer, referring to Apples approach to machine learning, that allows computations to happen on the device. This means that now theres an opportunity to process the photos right there on the users phone, which ensures the safety of 3DLooks neural network model and the personal photos of the users, he said. It also allows the scanning process to happen faster. The company doesnt store any of the photos, complying with data privacy regulations in Europe and California. But in terms of the number of body profiles it has in its database, which informs the techs accuracy in measuring people, the company projects that it will come close to one million profiles in early 2021. In the upcoming iPhone release, we anticipate the ARKit [augmented reality developer tool] update with the opportunity to use the skeleton and contour detectors at once, added Moliboga. Were also looking forward to the release of LiDAR scanner on the back camera, this should help increase the accuracy of body measurements. Think of LiDAR remote sensing technology as akin to radar, except that it uses light instead of radio waves. In the consumer tech sector, its become something of a trend to pack into smartphones. Such technical improvements could go a long way in convincing more apparel and fashion companies, as well as their customers, that a good fit is just a couple of photos away. So far, 3DLook works with roughly three dozen partners, with enterprise clients in the uniform apparel industry being one of its key niches. But for apparel businesses that fundamentally depend on fitting, such as Jos. A. Bank and Mens Wearhouse, such tools are starting to look like crucial weapons in an ongoing fight for retail survival. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Sushant Singh Rajputs brother-in-law had shared a blogpost about why it was very important to get justice for the late actor. He made the post hours before the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the case from Mumbai Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday. Vishal, married to Sushants sister Shweta Singh Kirti, had shared a family picture of the entire Singh family on Twitter and written, And this is what resonates with the public. Sushant and his family represent the aspirations of India. Sushant and his family represent self-reliance, hard work, economic progression; the great Indian dream. And this is what resonates with the public. Sushant and his family represent the aspirations of India. Sushant and his family represent self-reliance, hard work, economic progression; the great Indian dream. https://t.co/RvKsHOdgdb #CBIForSSR vishal kirti (@vikirti) August 19, 2020 He wrote on the blog, Sushants family was never in the limelight on purpose. While he was alive, the family deliberately stayed away from media. Other than occasional conversations about him with friends, very few actually knew that we were his kin. This setup was by design. It kept the relationship clean and honest. We didnt use the social currency of his association and he enjoyed spending time with us without any burden. After his unfortunate demise, the family has to step out and defend his legacy and fight for justice. This exposes the family to public, media and scrutiny. We are very thankful for all the support we have received. Family members have started off from middle class and while Sushant reached new heights of stardom and fame, his other family members also progressed to upper middle class and higher economic ladders, on their own merit. He went on to add, And this is what resonates with the public. Sushant and his family represent the aspirations of India. Sushant and his family represent self-reliance, hard work, economic progression; the great Indian dream. Also read: Rhea Chakraborty doesnt have the stature to comment on Nitish Kumar, says Bihar DGP Talking about why the general public has been demanding justice for Sushant, he wrote, What happens when the middle class dreams are shattered or when dreams are achieved and then everything is taken away. It shatters the faith of millions of middle-class families. This is why India is hurting so much because it almost feels like the systems in place could not protect this boy from middle class who had made a respectable mark for himself. People are wondering if such a successful person cannot be protected and served justice, will a common man ever be? I hope that Sushant is served justice, not just for his and his familys sake but for the sake of over billion Indians, who are dreaming together a new, more self-reliant India, because what has happened is so symbolic that it is no longer only about Sushant, he added. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Australia's east coast is set to be battered by 120km/h winds as two icy cold fronts sweep across several states ahead of days of wild weather. A severe weather warning has been issued across New South Wales, with dangerous winds expected from Wednesday ahead of a polar blast later in the week. The Bureau of Meteorology says the wind chill factor will be significant on Wednesday and the rest of the week, especially in the south of the state. 'A vigorous cold front will sweep across western NSW this morning, reaching eastern parts of the state this afternoon and evening and bringing very windy conditions with its passage,' the bureau said. Newcastle, Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Goulburn, Broken Hill and Thredbo Top will be among the areas most affected. For alpine areas above 1,900 metres, wind speeds could average 80-90km/h and peak gusts could exceed 120km/h. A severe weather warning has been issued across NSW, with forecasts of strong and gusty winds for much of the state in the next few days. Pictured: Forecast for 8am Friday Areas that may be affected by vigorous cold front include Newcastle, Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Goulburn, Broken Hill and Thredbo Top. Pictured: Women with umbrellas on July 27 in Sydney Temperatures will plummet all the way up to Coffs Harbour and west to Mildura, with the weekend set to feel frosty across the eastern states. The bureau also said there was a high chance of a La Nina forming in the next few months, creating three-times the normal risk of cyclones and deadly rain. 'La Nina in NSW usually brings above average rainfall in winter and spring to areas west of the Great Dividing Range. That also increases the risk of widespread flooding and cooler temperatures,' it said. BOM reported that the likelihood of a dangerous La Nina forming increased to 70 per cent - roughly three times the usual level. This is when strong winds around the equator stir up cold waters to impact weather on land. It means heavy rainfall, which could result in flash flooding and an early start to cyclone season. However there are no currently tropical cyclone warnings in place for Australia. Two cold fronts are expected to blow through NSW between Wednesday and Sunday. Pictured: Woman with face mask on in Melbourne walking through rain In the coming days in far western NSW, including the Lower Western and parts of the Riverina and Upper Western areas, there will be damaging winds, averaging 60-70km/h with peak gusts in excess of 90km/h possible. Similar winds are possible for much of the NSW coast and ranges between the Barrington Tops and the Southern Alps from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning. The threat of severe winds is expected to ease for far western NSW on Wednesday afternoon and for eastern NSW during Thursday, although conditions will still remain very windy in both areas. A BOM Forecaster told Daily Mail Australia there were coastal warnings due to winds and intense swells with gale force warnings in place for Sydney. A series of cold fronts from Antarctica will bring snow from the Great Dividing Range to the Queensland border from Wednesday (pictured, snow in NSW last week) Temperatures are also set to drop across the state with Saturday expected to be the coldest day. Pictured: Air temperature on Saturday However this is in stark contrast to what the temperatures will actually feel like (Saturday pictured), according to BOM's weather tool MetEye A mass of polar air will spread across NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria on Wednesday, followed by another snowy blast just hours later. The first front is expected to bring 20 to 30cm of snow to NSW however a second front - expected from Thursday - is set to dump even more. Some ski fields are expected to get between 80 and 120cm of snow between Wednesday and Sunday - including 'very strange' places just 500m above sea level. The snow is expected to begin on Thursday evening and will fall between the Great Dividing Range all the way up to the Queensland border. This unusually includes towns such as Armidale, Walcha, Orange, Cooma and Goulburn. A BOM Forecaster told Daily Mail Australia there were coastal warnings due to winds and intense swells. Pictured: Homes in Wamberal that are at risk of being swept away on July 28, 2020, due to intense weather Daily showers are also on the horizon for Hobart, where temperatures will plummet to a minimum of 3C and a top of 10C by Saturday. Parts of Hobart, including the Coal River (pictured), also have flood warnings in place Temperatures are also set to drop across the state with Saturday expected to be the coldest day. In Sydney the air temperature is only set to reach a maximum of 15C while areas such as Orange is only set to reach a top of 3C while Goulburn will reach a top of 9C. Most of the eastern part of the state will have a top of 12C while the northern NSW will hit a top of 15C at 10am. However this is in stark contrast to what the temperatures will actually feel like, according to BOM's weather tool MetEye. The winds will make Sydney feel like it is barely reaching double digits at just 9C while Orange and Goulburn will feel as though it is in the negatives. Most of the eastern and northern part of the state will feel as though it will be between 0C and 6C. Snow is expected to fall this week across NSW including areas such as Armidale, Walcha, Orange, Cooma and Goulburn (pictured, snowfall indicated in purple) This powerful weather system is also expected to cause widespread hail, thunderstorms, snow, blustery winds and rain in the same four states. The first front will bring torrential rain, dangerous winds, snow and thunderstorms across the states, according to Weatherzone. The most damaging winds took hold in South Australia on Tuesday afternoon before spreading up into NSW and northeast Victoria on Wednesday. There has been a severe weather warning already in place for parts of South Australia since 11am on Tuesday, including areas such as Adelaide, Eyre Peninsula and Flinders. There is also a severe weather warning in place for the ACT. There have been damaging wind warnings issued (pictured) in NSW regions such as the Illawarra, the Lower Western, the Hunter, South Coast, Central and South Tablelands, the Riverina, Central West and Upper Western Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Diana Eadie said on Monday: 'We're also expecting abnormally high tides, which means seawater is likely to flood low lying areas on Wednesday. 'Temperatures will plummet to be four to eight degrees below average, snow levels dropping to low levels by Sunday.' Showers are forecast all week in Melbourne, where there are severe wind warnings covering the state, which reached a top of 16C on Tuesday. Parts of Victoria, including the Snowy River, also have flood warnings in place. The city's maximum temperature will gradually drop each day to a top of 11C on Friday, when possible hail is forecast. The @BOM_NSW is forecasting strong & gusty winds for much of #NSW over coming days. A reminder for landholders to check local conditions before conducting hazard reduction burns and to notify fire authorities and neighbours before lighting up. #NSWRFS https://t.co/MSXQB2uCEt pic.twitter.com/QWWBZzG1Cq NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) August 18, 2020 This powerful weather system is also expected to cause widespread hail, thunderstorms, snow, blustery winds and rain in the same four states (pictured, snow in NSW on August 11) Daily showers are also on the horizon for Hobart, where temperatures will plummet to a minimum of 3C and a top of 10C by Saturday. Parts of Hobart, including the Coal River, also have flood warnings in place. Sydneysiders should make the most of the 20C forecast on Wednesday which will gradually drop to a maximum 15C by Saturday. In other parts of the nation, Brisbane will be sunny throughout the week with maximum temperatures in the low to mid 20s. Over in the west, the recent rain in Perth is clearing up and will warm up in the coming days to a top of 22C on Friday. Darwin will stay warm with highs of 34C over the weekend. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors hesitantly approved a settlement Tuesday with UC Hastings that compelled the city to clear the Tenderloins dangerously crowded sidewalks of tents but does not require a payout. Still, some supervisors feared their approval would inspire copycat litigation and send a message to the public that lawsuits are the only way to get San Francisco to address its homeless crisis with urgency. Since the Tenderloin lawsuit, at least three other groups of neighbors or businesses have sued the city over tent encampments The settlement passed 7-4, with Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, Hillary Ronen and Shamann Walton in the dissent. There are so many other ways that we could have worked together where we wouldnt be ... forced to solve this through litigation, Walton said. I am ashamed of what I think is a heartless lawsuit. UC Hastings College of the Law filed a federal lawsuit in May on behalf of a group of Tenderloin residents and business owners who were fed up with the neighborhoods deteriorating conditions. The long-troubled area saw a staggering 285% increase in tents within the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, as homeless shelters reduced their populations to permit social distancing and record job loss pushed more people toward poverty. San Francisco and UC Hastings which is located in the Tenderloin reached a settlement in June, in which the city agreed to remove 70% of the tents and move those living on the streets into vacant hotel rooms or sanctioned encampments by the end of July. After July, the city must make all reasonable efforts to permanently reduce the number of tents, along with all other encamping materials and related personal property, to zero. A few weeks later, 10 different city departments, community members and several nonprofits helped clear tents and move people into shelter. City officials said that effort was under way before the settlement was reached. As of Tuesday, San Francisco has cleared more than 87% of the tents from the Tenderloin and moved about 615 people into hotels, safe sleeping sites or other shelter, according to city data. The breakdown between how many people were moved into hotels and safe sleeping sites which are sanctioned lots for people to pitch tents and access portable bathrooms is unclear. There were fewer visible tents in the Tenderloin during a walk through the neighborhood on a recent afternoon, but there are still an abundance of people on the citys streets without the shelter and resources they need especially amid a deadly pandemic. Supervisors who represent other districts, like the Bayview, Mission and the Haight, complain the issue has just been moved to other parts of the city. Although the terms of the settlement were already satisfied, the Board of Supervisors still had to approve the settlement at its weekly meeting Tuesday. The debate that ensued Tuesday night was more about precedent and symbolism than the tents in the Tenderloin. UC Hastings Chancellor and Dean David Faigman told the board Tuesday night that he decided to sue San Francisco because he was frustrated the city hasnt figured out how to solve a fundamental civil rights issue. I always thought that Hastings was on the same side as the city, but maybe we needed a federal court to help us get to where we needed to go, he said. Similar lawsuits have been filed in federal court over the past few months. One was by residents of Larch Street, a block-long alley near Opera Plaza that was overrun with tents. A second was filed in July by a group of businesses and residents over the conditions of Jessie Street in the Mid-Market neighborhood. Another concerns Eddy Street in the Tenderloin. By approving the settlement, the board hereby approves of the now normalized precedent of litigating away the unhoused, with property owners deploying lawsuits against San Franciscos unhoused, the Coalition on Homelessness said in a statement after the vote. While the supervisors were thankful hundreds of people have been moved into hotels in the past few weeks, Preston said he was frustrated that the litigation didnt seek to expand the pool of resources available for the city to respond to its homeless crisis like hotel rooms, housing and other services for the most vulnerable. I am disappointed, he said. I thought the lawsuit might result in that, whether it was the city agreeing to ramp up and get another 500 or 1,000 hotel rooms, or Hastings or other neighbors agreeing to contribute their abilities to increase resources. San Francisco has rented 2,299 hotel rooms for the homeless. As of Tuesday, 1,943 are occupied, according to city data. While the board has been pushing Mayor London Breed to acquire thousands more hotel rooms and to fill them immediately, she has repeatedly insisted that her administration is doing everything it can, legally and logistically, to move people inside as quickly as possible. If the board did not approve the settlement Tuesday night, the litigation against the city could have resumed. Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin, said the continued risk and liability wasnt worth it, given that the terms of the settlement had already been accomplished. He cited positive changes in the neighborhood over the past few weeks, but said there was much more work to be done. The situation two months ago had become so awful and untenable, and we really needed some urgent and sweeping change, he said. And weve seen some of that. But we still have a long way to go. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:44:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUMBAI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Indian companies have been asked to seek exemption before Sept. 29 if they are unable to hold their statutory annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said. A circular issued by the MCA said, "It is once again reiterated that companies unable to hold their AGMs for the year ended March 31, 2020 despite availing the relaxations ought to file their applications for seeking extension of time in holding of AGMs for the financial year 2020 with the concerned registrar of companies (RoC) on or before Sept. 29, 2020." These applications will be viewed liberally and extensions will be granted for a maximum of three months, the circular said. Indian companies are required to hold AGMs with six months of closure of the financial year, which means before Sept. 30 for those who having March 31 as year-end. Though the MCA had allowed companies to hold virtual AGMs using audio-video applications, the prevailing pandemic crisis had made it a logistical nightmare for companies to complete the audit functions and finalise the annual reports. "The MCA has clarified that blanket extension will not be granted, but each company will have to submit a request in Form GNL-1 and get their individual approval. Companies need not wait for the last date of Sept. 29 stipulated by MCA to file the request as the approval if denied would culminate into a long-drawn process of compounding penalty for the companies," said Mohnish Wadhwa, founder of Wadhwa & Shah, Chartered Accountants. Earlier, MCA had extended various due-date pertaining to different compliance of taxation payments and returns, yearly and quarterly results and the extension of timeline to hold AGM by three months is a relief to small and mid-size corporates, said Dhiraj Lalpuria, partner of audit firm M/s SK Patodia & Associates. India, ranked third after United States and Brazil for the total number of COVID-19 cases with partial lockdowns in its fifth month, has over 1 million companies including public and private on the rolls of the RoC. Enditem The Krishna River Management Board coordinates the use of Krishna river waters by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Hyderabad: Union Jal Shakthi Ministry has proposed to hold the Apex Council Meeting with AP and Telangana Chief Ministers on August 25 to resolve disputes between both states pertaining to sharing of waters of Krishna and Godavari rivers. The Union Water Resources Ministry said to have been informed to both the state governments about the proposed date of the meeting of the Apex Council and sought the response from the Chief Ministers of both states. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will chair the meeting which has been convened with the Chief Ministers of both the states, through a video conference. It may be recalled here that the earlier proposed meeting of the Council on August 5 was postponed with the request of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. While asking the postponement of the meeting the Telangana government asked the Union Minister to convene the meeting any date after August 20. The meeting gains significance in view of the complaints and countercomplaints of both state governments to the Krishna River Management Board and Godavari River Management Board pertaining irrigation projects in both states and also the letters of Union Water Resource Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to both chief ministers. In letters dated August 7, the Union minister noted that both states did not furnish detailed project reports (DPRs) of the projects objected to by each other to the river management board concerned despite the chairmen of the board seeking the same The Union Minister in his letters to the chief ministers of both states, made it clear that they cannot take up projects that are not approved by the respective river management boards and the Apex Council. He also asked the AP government not to go ahead with its proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. Despite letters from the Union Minister, the AP government has finalised the tenders for the project. The Apex Council was constituted under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act to resolve water disputes between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The first meeting of the Council was held in September 2016. In the backdrop of the proposed 2nd meeting of the Apex Council, Sriram Vedire, advisor to Minister for Jal Shakthi on Monday held a review meeting with the Chairman of Godavari River Water Management Board and Krishna Water River Water Management Board and their officers here at Jalasoudha in the city. Algeria on Wednesday said it rejects the coup in neighbouring Mali and called for elections in line with its constitution. "Algeria reiterates its firm rejection of any anti-constitutional change of government," the foreign ministry said in a statement received by AFP. It said Algeria was following with "concern" developments in Mali, with which it shares an almost 1,400-kilometre-long (850 miles) border. Algiers called on "all parties to respect constitutional order and to return to reason for a rapid end to the crisis", the ministry said. "Only polls constitute the path to power and legitimacy," it added. Algeria in 2015 hosted negotiations between Mali's government and rebel movements that led to a ceasefire accord. On Tuesday, rebel soldiers took President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody and drove them to a military base on the outskirts of Bamako. Keita, embattled by months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a brutal Islamist insurgency, later said he had resigned to avoid bloodshed. The coup leaders appeared on television overnight to pledge a political transition and new elections within a "reasonable time". Both the European Union and African Union, however, called Wednesday for the immediate release of the prisoners. The EU has operated a mission training the armed forces in Mali since 2013 and in July announced a joint EU special ops force to back Mali's fight against jihadist groups. Search Keywords: Short link: When I got my first apartment after college, I needed my mom to co-sign my lease. The landlord required proof that I made three times the rent, but since I wasnt making nearly enough, I called Mom to sign on that second dotted line. Then, in my mid-20s, when I bought my first condo, I needed a co-signer again. Once again, my mom was there for me. Now I'm almost 30, married, and expecting our first child. Both my husband and I are gainfully employed and have good credit histories, so you'd think we wouldn't need any parent co-signing for us to rent a home! But alas, we'd recently moved to New York City, where rents were so high, snagging a half-way decent apartment would require Mom to co-sign once again. What's going on? Would I need my mother to co-sign forever? Of course, I feel lucky to have a parent whos so supportive. But I cant help but think that theres something wrong with me, where I was choosing to live, or perhaps the housing system in general. So, I started looking into why co-signing is so often required, even in cases where it seems unnecessary. Heres what I learned, and some words of wisdom from experts that could help you get through the inconvenient (and embarrassing) cycle. Why co-signers are required What bothered me most about needing a co-signer was that I felt like I wasnt being taken seriously as a tenant. I had a good job and a college degree, why couldnt I be trusted to pay my rent? As it turns out, many people face this problem. While landlords may have differing requirements, the industry standard is that your take-home income must be three times what you pay in rent. So if you make $3,000 a month, your monthly rent should not exceed $1,000. But is this realistic with today's runaway rent prices? For instance, in 2013, as a fresh college graduate, I paid $1,600 a month for a one-bedroom, third-floor walk-up in Los Angeles. So based on the three-times rule, I should have been earning $4,800 a month, or $57,600 a year. A salary that size was an unattainable dream for me right out of college. Even though I had a great sales job and a minimum-wage side hustle, I was making only about twice the annual rent, or $40,000. And I was one of the lucky ones. The minimum wage in California is $12 an hour, but in 2013 it was $8. To afford a monthly rent of $1,600 in 2013, a minimum-wage worker would have needed to put in 150 hours a week. Is the three-times rent rule realistic? Because I needed a co-signer, I couldn't help but wonder about the three-times rent rule, and the reason for it. Did this mean I'd overextended myself? As it turns out, I had no reason for worry. With a monthly rent of $1,600, I had another $1,600 left for other expenses, and it was more than enough. So I started wondering: If twice my income worked just fine for my bills, why do landlords want proof that renters make three times their rent? The exact origins of the three-times rule is unknown, says Michael Dinich of Your Money Geek. Nonetheless, this rule has remained the industry standardfor renters and home buyers alike. Mortgage lenders have often used the guideline that housing costs should be no more than 30% of income," Dinich says. "The three-times rule is likely a handy approximation based on those old guidelines. This guideline may even contribute to younger generations' low rates of homeownership. The income of many people, particularly younger adults, has not kept up with home prices in many areas, says Andrew Lantham, managing editor of Super Money. "This is why millennials have lower homeownership rates than previous generations. Plus, experts say that most landlords (even the nice ones) dont necessarily care if people arent making as much money as they used to. They care more about finding a renter who will be able to pay their rent on time. And if that means sticking to the tried-and-true method of renting to those who can prove they have plenty of income to spare, or can at least get a co-signer, theyll do it. How I pay my rent without a co-signer today While it's tough for young renters and home buyers almost everywhere to cover their housing costs, it's even worse in New York City. Sure, my mom agreed to co-sign the lease, as always. Yet with a baby on the way, my husband and I decided that, rather than taking my mom up on her kind offer, I'd try to find an apartment with a rent that fell comfortably within the three-times rule. We started crossing things off our wish list. We moved our search from Manhattan to Brooklyn. We stopped looking at homes near subway stations and cute cafes and started touring apartments that were a bit farther out. In the end, we found a studio we liked, and the low rent didn't require a co-signer. The post Why I'm Grown-Up and Employed, but Still Need Mom to Co-Sign on My Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:12:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Brunei reported one new imported case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the national tally to 143. According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, the case is a 31-year-old female arriving at Brunei on Aug. 12 via Kuala Lumpur from the Middle East. The asymptomatic woman is being treated at the National Isolation Center. The Ministry of Health has identified a total of 42 contacts, of which 34 have undergone the COVID-19 swab test and were confirmed negative, while the rest are still awaiting test results. All contacts are undergoing quarantine. Meanwhile, 639 individuals are undergoing mandatory isolation at the monitoring centers provided by the government, who have arrived at the country after traveling abroad. The ministry also said the Case 142, who was recorded on Aug. 7, has recovered on Monday after he was confirmed negative through the COVID-19 swab test. There have been three deaths resulted from COVID-19 in Brunei and a total of 139 patients have recovered. Enditem A group founded by billionaire Tom Steyer is shifting its focus toward educating young voters in key states on how to use mail-in ballots as more states expand that option in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The goal for the Steyer-funded group, NextGen America, is partly to help voters overcome potential hurdles to voting by mail that could arise from significant changes recently enacted at United States Postal Service. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has been under fire from Democratic lawmakers over those changes, promised to suspend any further actions, including reduced overtime and the removal of high-speed sorting machines, to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail," he said Tuesday. The new phase of the campaign is part of a $45 million commitment by NextGen to help Democratic nominee Joe Biden defeat President Donald Trump in November. The organization's overall effort targets voters in at least 11 states, including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Steyer, a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, spent more than $200 million on a presidential campaign that ended after the South Carolina primary. He has since endorsed Biden. Polls taken by NexGen suggest that, while many young voters do want to participate in 2020 via mail-in ballots, some don't fully understand how to do so. The progressive nonprofit organization is pushing ahead with a number of new initiatives to rectify that. Ben Wessel, NextGen's executive director, says the group plans to send 600,000 postage-paid voter registration forms to young voters in the next two weeks. It's creating virtual field offices on Slack for volunteers in targeted states, in order for them to "reach out to their friends via text to request vote by mail ballots," he said. It also released a new show on YouTube titled "Convince Me," that he says will touch on how voters can successfully vote by mail. Steyer told CNBC in a recent interview that he believes the focus on mail-in balloting should be about educating voters on how to go about using the mail system as a way to vote. He pointed to NextGen's recent voter outreach through phone text messages with information on how to best receive a mail ballot. "I think a lot of this is about voter education about how to vote by mail," Steyer said. "A couple of weeks ago, NextGen America did a day of action and contacted directly, with the help of 6,000 volunteers and organizing other organizations to help us, 3.7 million people in one day. NextGen America only contacted 11 million in all of 2016. We did a third of that in one day." Steyer also discussed the work being done by Give Green, a joint fundraising effort between NextGen, LCV Victory Fund and NRDC Action Fund PAC. The groups support more than a dozen candidates, including Biden himself, who they believe has polices that can successfully take on climate change. Steyer told CNBC that Give Green has raised at least $30 million in direct contributions for their candidates. In July, NextGen tapped pollsters at Global Strategy Group to survey just over 1,000 registered voters between the ages of 18 and 34 in critical states such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Texas. Among the findings: 38% of participants said they are likely to vote by mail in 2020 while 36% said they would likely vote in person. Still, the poll suggests that many voters aren't familiar with the ways to secure a ballot and vote by mail. Only 42% said they are "familiar with the mail and absentee ballot deadlines" in their states while 47% of those polled said they "understand what I need to do to get a mail ballot in order to vote by mail or absentee." By Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported on Wednesday its highest daily rise in novel coronavirus cases since early March as outbreaks from churches around the capital spread, prompting a warning of a nationwide wave of infections. The 297 new infections mark the sixth straight day of triple-digit increases in a country that has managed to blunt several previous outbreaks. The national tally rose to 16,058 infections with 306 deaths, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Nearly 90% of the new cases appeared in the capital, Seoul, and surrounding areas, raising concern of the rapid spread of the virus in a metropolitan area of more than 25 million people. "We're in a desperately dangerous crisis where infections are spreading in the Seoul metropolitan area and threatening to lead to a massive nationwide transmission," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing. "The government cannot contain the current spread only with tracing and isolation ... please stay home unless you must go out." At least 166 of the new infections are linked to the Sarang Jeil Church, taking the number of cases from it to 623. Authorities have mobilised some 8,500 police to trace another 600 members of the church's congregation who should be in isolation, and they are trying to test all of its 4,000 members. Some members of the church, which is run by a radical conservative preacher, are reluctant to come forward and get tested, or to self-isolate, officials have said. Many of them also attended anti-government rallies in Seoul on the weekend where thousands of people gathered from across the country, raising fears infections were seeded there. KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook said 10 people at the protests with no ties to the church had been infected and urged everyone who attended to get tested. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun vowed to take legal action against the church for any attempt to disrupt tracing and testing efforts by failing to provide accurate membership lists. Story continues At least three other smaller clusters have been traced to churches in Seoul and one to a church in the city of Yongin. More than 50 cases have been linked to a coffee outlet in the city of Paju. Nightclubs, karaoke bars, buffets and cyber cafes have been ordered to close in Seoul and surrounding regions. In-person church services have also been banned while indoor and outdoor gatherings have been restricted to no more than 50 and 100 people, respectively. Authorities said if the number of infections rises or continues at the current rate of spread, they will likely impose the highest level of social distancing rules, under which schools are closed, businesses advised to work from home and gatherings limited to 10 people. Kwon said the country would be at a "crossroads" for the next few days and the government might have to impose tougher curbs if there was a spike in cases with no obvious origin. (Reporting by Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel) The regime has conducted an arrest campaign in eastern Ghouta, looking for those who are wanted for conscription reports Sowt Al-Asima. On Sunday evening, Military Security patrols carried out a raid campaign, during which they arrested 13 young men from the town of Jisreen in eastern Ghouta. Sowt Al-Asimas correspondent said that during the raid, the Military Security patrols targeted many homes located in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque, and others near the municipal swimming pool in Jisreen, adding that they had set up temporary checkpoints on the main road. The arrests took place at different points, with four of the towns residents arrested at the temporary checkpoints, while eight others were taken from their homes. According to the correspondent, Military Security launched its campaign in the town of Jisreen, after it issued a list of the names of more than 50 young men who are wanted for compulsory and back-up military service within the ranks of the regimes army. The regime intelligence has been carrying out many similar arrests since the beginning of last month, the result of which was the arrest of more than 200 young men from eastern Ghouta and southern Damascus towns. The Sowt Al-Asima team has documented 119 arrests carried out by the regimes intelligence and its military at checkpoints in and around Damascus since the beginning of March. Among those arrested are settlement agents and those wanted for enlistment in the military service. Women were arrested, too, on charges of communicating with people wanted by the Syrian regime. Other young men were arrested for cases related to terrorism, bringing the total number of detainees from Damascus and its countryside to 649 since the beginning of 2020. Five hundred and thirty arrests were documented during January and February of this year alone. 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. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli extended in early August an invitation to his archrival Meral Aksener, chairwoman of the Good Party, to come back home. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in an unofficial coalition with the MHP for the last four years, publicly supported Bahcelis invitation as "reasonable. Erdogan said that for a party we view as native and national, it would not be appropriate to walk hand in hand with terror organizations. These statements are puzzling. The Good Party is an offshoot of the MHP, established in October 2017, in part due to personal rivalries between Bahceli and Aksener. Their cadres share similar ideological roots as ultranationalists, many of whom are referred to as Gray Wolves, or Idealist Hearths (Ulku Ocaklari). Despite their similar roots, opposition to Erdogan and Islamism also factored into the split. Bahceli and Aksener did not even exchange proper Eid [al-Adha] greetings [July 30-Aug. 3]. These two have lampooned each other at every instance for years. The sudden invite is due to Erdogan. Bahcelis health is deteriorating. His party is losing support. Erdogan would like to sustain Gray Wolves' support after Bahceli is gone, said a senior bureaucrat from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on condition of anonymity. Informal alliances became a signature method of Erdogan administrations. Once the alliance collapses, all wrongs can be blamed on the coalition partner. Aykan Erdemir, senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Al-Monitor, Erdogans ongoing alliance with the ultranationalists is a result of his falling out with other tactical allies over the last decade. In 2013, Erdogan parted ways with the liberals during Junes Gezi Park protests and the Gulen movement following the December graft probe into the dealings of his ministers and family members. In 2014, Erdogan abandoned the Kurds once he realized that he would not be able to get their support for his presidency. As Erdogan exhausted all the options for securing a majority with the help of tactical allies, Turkeys ultranationalists took advantage of a vulnerable Erdogan to extract a wide range of policy concessions and spoils from him. Turkeys Islamists depend on Gray Wolves both inside and outside Turkey. When Bahcelis invite made the headlines most observers thought the Good Party would boost the AKP-MHP alliance, especially in case of an early election. Kemal Ozkiraz, director of Eurasia Public Opinion Research Center, told Al-Monitor, I do not think the Good Party will join in the coalition. And if they do, they cannot take most of their voters with them. Prominent political analyst and writer Levent Gultekin concurred with Ozkiraz that the reason for a possible expansion is not to increase Erdogans vote share. Gultekin said, Erdogan hopes to expand his sphere of influence with not only ultranationalists, but also nationalists and Eurasianists, and exclude left-leaning Republican Peoples Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party. Gultekin explained that this coalition would not just be reflecting the interests of Gray Wolves but also those of Islamists, hence can be rebranded as patriotic. This rebranding would then help all parties within the coalition to justify their compromises as a sacrifice for the national interest. Although Gultekin does not predict the Good Party will join the government, he foresees that Erdogan yearns for such a reunion to help sustain his regime. Using the foreign enemies' excuse for example. the current eastern Mediterranean crisis gives Erdogan a good rhetoric to attract other right-wing parties to join him. Gray Wolves serve different purposes in aiding the Turkish government abroad. Yektan Turkyilmaz, a research fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, told Al-Monitor, In Europe, we see these alliances mirrored clearly. Until 2000, the Turkish government was acting like the big brother to Turkish groups in Europe to protect their rights. Since the AKP came to power, gradually we observe that different official and unofficial channels are used to mobilize the Turkish immigrants in Europe to defend Turkish national interests. Turkey has become a state actor. Turkyilmaz explained different marginal groups such as AKP-linked biker gangs, Osmanen Germania, Turkey-sponsored Muslim Brotherhood mosques and networks in Europe, along with Turkish embassies, consulates as well as the National Intelligence Agency have all become one and the same in their service for Erdogan and the Turkish government. Turkyilmaz highlighted that these groups target Kurdish nongovernmental organizations, any former members of the Gulen movement as well as political dissidents who seek refuge in Europe. They also reward Turkish immigrants to spy on their fellow citizens in Europe. In a way, Gray Wolves have become the guardians of Erdogans Muslim Brotherhood activities in Europe, making it all the more difficult to exercise freedom of speech even in Europe. Although the nationalist ideology of these groups in some ways contradicts the AKP's Islamist leanings, they do the AKP's bidding in Europe in exchange for various pay offs for their leaders. Erdemir added, On the policy front, this alliance has resulted in a tradeoff for both sides. While Erdogan had to agree to a brutal repression of Turkeys Kurdish citizens, the ultranationalists have silenced their criticism of Erdogans Syrian refugee policy [domestically]. Overall, the AKP-MHP alliance has created a toxic mix, bringing out the worst features of Islamists and ultranationalists. Levent Koker, professor emeritus of public law elaborated on the impact of the 2011 Syrian civil war on Turkish-Islamists synthesis. The situation in Rojava the Kurdish name for northeast Syria that is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces was a national threat pushing Erdogan closer to an ultranationalist union. He told Al-Monitor, What we refer to as ultranationalism today is, in fact, a synthesis of Islamism and Turkism as a form of Turkish nationalism, and Erdogan has never been in a difficult position to defend such a stance in a world where democracy is in decline. In short, Turkey as a country has been experiencing deep-seated identity and legitimation problems under Erdogans leadership. It has been proved once more that it failed to solve these problems and took yet another authoritarian turn and opted for government by coercion, instead of government by consent. Erdogan a representative of the opportunism of the Turkish political right regards an alliance with ultranationalism as conducive to his position in power. Although Aksener has shown no interest in joining the AKP-MHP coalition, AKP insiders are hopeful. There is more to be negotiated. Aksener repeatedly said her party is ready to do whatever it takes for a switch to a fortified parliamentary system. If the Good Party joins the coalition, the issue of animosity towards refugees, whose flames have been fed by the Good Partys top echelons only to be simultaneously curbed by the AKP, will be rekindled. Except for being critical of ossified economy, Akseners party platform relies on ever-growing anti-Syrian sentiments, said the AKP bureaucrat. When the number of ultranationalists in the coalition increases, so will the strength of their demands and voices within the alliance. Erdogan will have two options: either to find new allies or allow his Muslim Brotherhood ideology to get tainted one more time. Congressional speeches made by US politicians have become simpler since the 1970s and only require the reading age of a 13-year-old to be followed, a study has found. Computer scientists from Kansas State University analysed two million congressional speeches from Republican and Democrat politicians made from the start of 1873 to the end of 2010 - a total of 138 years of speeches. Text analysis algorithms were used by the researchers to discover how congressional speeches have changed in terms of complexity, emotion and divisiveness. More recent speeches use a smaller vocabulary, simpler language and talk about 'the other party' more than speeches made even a decade ago, the authors found. Researchers compared the vocabulary in the speeches to average US school grade reading levels - for example a 13-year-old would be in eighth grade or UK year nine. The authors put the drop in the reading level down to the rise of broadcast media in congress that started in the mid-1970s - with politicians 'playing to the camera'. The study is published as Joe Biden officially becomes the Democratic nominee for President amid dozens of speeches including from former president Bill Clinton who called out President Trump for 'spending hours a day watching TV'. This chart assigns a school grade reading ability (x-axis) to the speeches of US politicians and shows a decline in the required level to understand the speeches over the past 40 years Computer scientists from Kansas State University analysed two million congressional speeches from Republican and Democrat politicians made between 1873 and 2010 Speech numbers in Congress varies, but researchers found they are on an upward trend - with nearly double as many in the 2000s as there were in the 1990s. The reading comprehension level of the speeches changed significantly over the years - increasing in complexity first then getting less complex since the 1970s. The analysis measured the Coleman-Liau readability index, which estimates the reading level of a certain text and associates it with the appropriate school grade. The analysis showed that the reading level of congressional speeches made by both Republican and Democratic legislators increased consistently from the eighth-grade reading level in the 19th century, to the 10th-grade level in the 1970s. But since 1976 the reading level of political speeches has been declining consistently, and as of the 21st century, it is below the ninth-grade reading level. The same trend was also observed with the vocabulary used by congressional members in speeches, which had been increasing consistently until the early 1970s, and then started to declineand it is still declining, co-author Lior Shamir said. During the George W. Bush administration, speeches of Democratic legislators expressed more negative sentiments compared to their Republican counterparts and it flipped when President Barack Obama took office According to the study, the decline in reading level and vocabulary of the speeches can be related to the increasing presence of media. This includes live radio and TV coverage of Congress beginning in the 1970s. Members of Congress started to gradually adjust their speech styles, addressing the public through the media rather than addressing their fellow legislators. As part of the study into congressional speeches, the team, including students Ethan Tucker and Colton Capps and professor Shamir, also looked at sentiment. The algorithms measured aspects of the speeches such as the vocabulary, the reading level and the positive or negative sentiments expressed in the speeches. 'Based on that analysis, the algorithm determines whether a piece of text is positive, very positive, negative, very negative or neutral,' Shamir said. The algorithms also measured the frequency in which different topics were discussed to find out how often ideas repeat themselves using the thousands of speeches made in Congress every yer. The research showed that the frequency of words related to women's identity - such as she, her, hers, woman, women - has been increasing consistently since the early 1980s, while the frequency of words that identify men have been decreasing. The frequency of words related to women's identity in the 21st century is five times higher compared to the 1950s, but lower than words related to men's identity. Since the 1990s, terms related to women's identity are more frequent in speeches made by Democrats compared to speeches made by Republican legislators. Researchers found that the number of speeches spiked in the 2000s, with almost double the number in the previous decade 'For most of the 20th century, however, there were no substantial differences between women's identity in Democratic and Republican speeches, and expressions of women's identity were about 10 times less frequent than expressions of men's identity by legislators from both parties,' Shamir said. The researchers' analysis of the speeches also showed that more recent congressional speeches express more positive and negative sentiments than the speeches made in Congress during the 19th century and early 20th century. The sentiments in political speeches became gradually more positive and peaked in the 1960s, but declined sharply during the 1970s. Since the 1970s the sentiments expressed in congressional speeches have been becoming more positive again, the authors found. Text analysis algorithms were used to examine how congressional speeches changed in terms of complexity, emotion and divisiveness over 138 years Another aspect reflected through the analysis was the partisan split, Shamir said. Starting in the mid-1990s, Republican and Democratic speeches became increasingly different and correlated with the party in the White House. During the George W. Bush administration, speeches of Democratic legislators expressed more negative sentiments compared to their Republican counterparts. That difference flipped immediately after 2008, with the beginning of the Obama administration, during which Republican speeches became more negative. The study only looked at speeches up to 2010 so doesn't include any references to Donald Trump or the response to the highly divisive president from legislators. The findings have been published in the journal Heliyon. ETH Zurich scientists have developed an RNA molecule that can be used in bone marrow cells to correct genetic errors that affect protein production. Patients suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes a painful hypersensitivity to sunlight could benefit in future. Short RNA molecules can be used as medication. Their effectiveness is based on the genetic information they carry: therapeutic RNA can bind to the body's own RNA and thus influence how it functions. However, only a handful of such drugs are available so far. That's mainly because it's tricky to get the RNA molecules to precisely the organ in the body where they need to take effect. Currently, that's the biggest hurdle in the development of RNA drugs." Jonathan Hall, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at ETH Zurich Together with Daniel Schumperli, Emeritus Professor from the University of Berne, and colleagues from ETH, University Hospital Zurich and Triemli Hospital Zurich, he has now succeeded in developing an RNA molecule that can compensate for the effect of gene mutations in bone marrow cells. This therapeutic approach could one day be applied to a rare hereditary disease called erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), which affects people whose mother and father both have a genetic predisposition to the disease. Those who suffer from EPP experience a painful sensitivity to sunlight. Gene mutations cause the body of these patients to produce less of a certain enzyme, ferrochelatase. Ferrochelatase is central to the production of haemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen in the blood and makes it appear red. This ferrochelatase deficiency causes a metabolic molecule, protoporphyrin, to accumulate in the red blood cells. Protoporphyrin reacts to rays of visible light, forming molecules that attack tissue and can cause painful inflammation when the patient is exposed to sunlight or a strong artificial light. Fusion molecule shown to be effective Hall and his colleagues developed several short RNA molecules, which bind to the RNA copy of the ferrochelatase gene in the body's cells. In cell culture experiments, they identified certain molecules that were able to restore a sufficient production of the enzyme and thus compensate for the negative effects of the known EPP gene mutations. However, developing the RNA molecule was only the first part of the task. "This molecule must also be able to reach the right organ in the body and from there penetrate the interior of the cells," Hall says. In the case of EPP, these are the blood stem cells in the bone marrow. To this end, the researchers fused one of the RNA molecules with various chemically active compounds, which they tested in a mouse model of EPP. They identified one fusion molecule - the RNA molecule fused with cholesterol - that was able to compensate for the gene mutation in this animal model. Research not yet complete Hall stresses that it is too early to label the molecule he has identified as an RNA drug. In demonstrating that such molecules can be used to increase the amount of functional ferrochelatase in mice, the researchers are at only an early stage of their work. "This is the first step and it shows that our approach holds promise," Hall says. Next, the researchers need to optimise the fusion molecule or identify other fusion molecules that are even more effective, he explains, adding that they also require additional, more refined mouse models for the EPP disease. Further research is essential to find an optimum drug candidate whose effect can then be investigated in humans. SACRAMENTO A California firefighting system that has come up short of resources repeatedly in recent years is struggling again to handle the hundreds of blazes that broke out this week following lightning storms, and officials are turning to neighboring states for help. We are experiencing fires the likes of which we havent seen in many, many years, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Wednesday. That is a resource challenge where they are stretched in ways where we havent seen in the last few years. Cal Fire is battling 367 wildfires, 23 of which are considered major, Newsom said, including the CZU August Lightning Complex in the Santa Cruz area and the LNU Lightning Complex near Vacaville. Officials have requested 375 fire engines from out-of-state agencies, as well as additional hand crews, through its emergency management assistance compact. Arizona and Nevada have already sent equipment, while Texas has offered some firefighting crews, Newsom said. But the situation is complicated by the severe heat wave across the Western United States that has intensified fire conditions and strained resources in other states as well. Newsom said he hoped that cooling temperatures later in the week would free up more support. The stretch of these requests is not lost on anyone, he said. Lynnette Round, a Cal Fire information officer, said there are already about 6,900 personnel from state, local and federal agencies assigned to the California fires. We have a drawdown of these resources because of all the fires that were facing, she said. We just try and get as much as we can because have so many fires going on, and we do have property and life that are at stake. Californias mutual aid system is designed to swiftly bring in help when local firefighters are overwhelmed, first from nearby counties, then from across the state and, if necessary, from around the country. The program, operated by the Governors Office of Emergency Services, has long been considered a model, but it has become strained by the growing size and frequency of wildfires. During the early hours of the 2017 North Bay fires, as commanders faced a rapidly growing crisis, fewer than half the fire engines and crews requested through the mutual aid system arrived to help tamp down the blazes and evacuate trapped residents, a Chronicle investigation found. A similar pattern was reported in 2018, when thousands of requests for local, regional or state assistance went unfilled as multiple blazes burned up and down California. During the first two days of the Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles County which destroyed more than 1,500 homes and other structures in November 2018 fewer than half the requested fire engines arrived, an after-action report found. Now Playing: A house is engulfed in flames along Pleasant Valley Road in Vacaville, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fire passes through on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Video: Scott Strazzante The Chronicle The inability to send large quantities of firefighting units in recent years has become a serious fire command issue, Los Angeles County officials wrote after the fire. In 2012, there were 134 requests for fire engines or water tenders that went unfilled across California. That number grew to roughly 6,100 in 2017 before dropping to about 2,700 the following year. Brad Bihun, a public information officer for the SCU Lightning Complex blaze, which is burning in parts of the East Bay and South Bay, said Wednesday: Were at a point right now where resources are thin, theyre depleted. He was unable to provide a breakdown of how many engines were requested through the mutual aid system and how many were received. Theyre calling for all resources needed it just depends if theyre available or if theyre already committed to another incident, Bihun said. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, firefighting efforts against the CZU August Lightning Complex, a 10,000-acre combination of blazes in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, were complicated Tuesday night and Wednesday by a sheer lack of resources, said Cal Fires unit chief for the two counties, Ian Larkin. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Right now we are in the position (where) we have no resources to put out on the line today, so well be double-shifting all of our resources that are currently on the line, Larkin said. This is a significant safety hazard for our firefighters that are out there as well as the communities that were out there trying to protect. The governor acknowledged the strain on the mutual aid system in an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency related to the wildfire. But he said Wednesday that the problem was not why California turned to other states for help. Its just how stretched up and down the state the vast majority of counties (are) that are experiencing, because of these lightning strikes, all of these fires, Newsom said. The mutual aid system, at this moment, is working as its designed. And it is not designed to be perfect in every way, shape or form, because localism maintains a determination, meaning local authorities maintain discretion as it relates to what they provide and what they support. The demand on firefighting resources has been exacerbated this year by the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced the availability of inmates who volunteer to clear dry brush and build break lines in exchange for a reduction to their sentences and a small salary. Last month, Newsom announced the hiring of 858 seasonal firefighters to replace prison crews that were quarantined after several inmates tested positive for the virus. The governor said Wednesday that the state has filled 830 of those positions. Rather than lamenting about it, we prepared for it, he said. Were getting them out on the front lines. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Demian Bulwa contributed to this report. Alexei Koseff and Joaquin Palomino are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com, jpalomino@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff @JoaquinPalomino Violent crime has gone up in Houston over the months that the coronavirus pandemic has churned through the city. Murders, aggravated assaults, robberies and sexual assaults make up the violent crime category, which as a whole increased 6 percent in the first six months of 2020 over the same period in 2019 in Houston. Murders increased 7 percent over the same period in 2019, Houston Police Department crime records show. There were 133 in first six months of 2019 and 143 in first six months of 2020. Aggravated assaults jumped 21 percent overall from the first half of 2019, but after hitting high levels by May the assaults dropped dramatically in June. Robberies and sexual assaults were down. The Houston statistics differ from those of other large cities in the U.S., which have seen sharp rises in murders but declines in other crimes. A study of 25 large cities not including Houston by the New York Times found that violent crime was down 2 percent over 2019 in those other cities but that murder was up 16 percent in relation to last year. Houston, with a more modest rise in murders, as well as the overall rise in all violent crimes, seems to be an outlier. Changes in local crime rates were not surprising to a law enforcement expert who said the pandemic has upended daily life for people in recent months. Routines have been disrupted. It does not surprise me to see some disruption in crime trends, said Phillip Lyons, dean of Sam Houston State Universitys College of Criminal Justice. Lyons said he had expected the pandemic to drive up aggravated assaults due to domestic violence from more families staying home. More of the crimes, he suspects, involve intimate relationships, rather than clashes with strangers. Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer As those new cases go up, stress goes up, Lyons said. Lockdowns increase. People spend more time in confined spaces with family members, almost certainly people they know very well. Experts had also predicted that reports of sexual assault would decrease, as people were isolated and not going to work, school or out with friends who might notice signs of violence. Police said a scarcity of drugs due to a disruption in trafficking routes from the pandemic might have sparked some narcotics-related violent crimes and contributed to the rise in murders. There was a spike in May, including three killings in an hour-long rampage in the Almeda area. Joshua Kelsey has been charged in the killings. Police said he gunned down Louis Hodges following what investigators believe was a heroin buy. Kelsey tracked down two more people Michael Miller and Juan Garcia both of whom he knew. Michael Millers roommate told police she heard a knock at their door and then gunshots. She found Miller on the floor of their living room and a man leaving the home. Police initially said the killings were drug-related, although court documents suggest a personal vendetta was a factor. Relatives of Miller have disputed that their 61-year-old brother, a retired plasterer and avid wood carver, was involved in Kelseys criminal activity. He was going blind, Millers brother-in-law, David Jones, said. Im not even sure if he knew who shot him. According to court documents, Kelsey once lived on Millers property but was evicted. Kelsey blamed them for him being homeless, documents state. We did a memorial service here, said Millers sister, Elizabeth Jones. Small number of people. We didnt really want to get too many involved. Ups and downs throughout pandemic A week-by-week look at crime records reveal that some facets of violent crime which HPD categorizes as aggravated assault, robbery, sexual assault and murder shifted amid unprecedented unemployment and as worried Texans hunkered at home to avoid contracting or spreading the virus, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of January to June data. Records for July and August were not yet available because HPD does not share crime data until the end of the following month. Reports of robberies and sexual assaults began decreasing in March, when the first COVID-19 case was reported in Texas and when sweeping stay-at-home orders were issued, to levels that were predominantly lower than the year prior. Aggravated assaults had several ups and downs before reaching below-normal levels in June. There were small spikes in murders in January, April and May. Spikes in murder, violent crime, we believe COVID is part of it, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said. The economy is part of it. During the period in May when statistics show that violent crime as a whole in Houston was at its highest point of 2020, Lyons said, Theyre out and about theyre drinking at bars. Theyre experiencing road rage. And then, lo and behold, we have an increase in COVID-19 cases a week later. Spikes in those crimes waned when the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surged in June: Violent crime plunged about 44 percent between the weeks of May 24 and June 21. Despite the pandemic and the rise in the 2020 numbers, violent crime in Houston is on pace to be similar to levels seen over the past six years, with an average 1,036 incidents per 100,000 people. University of Pennsylvania professor David Abrams, who conducted a nation-wide study of crime during the pandemic, said that the small rise in Houston murders was statistical noise and not a meaningful trend. Too soon to know what it means The Houston Police Department does not distinguish whether a violent crime involves domestic violence in its crime data, but violent crimes reported at homes and apartments are up 4 percent compared to last year. While the overall increase in violent crime is deserving of attention, Lyons continued, he warned that its too soon to know what it means. Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer I think it does raise questions on the veracity of these assumptions on the need for more police, as a disproportionate amount of these offenses are occurring inside households, Lyons said. Thats not an area where the police have a great access to deter crime. Lyons had, however, expected murders to be higher, he said. There were just 10 more murders in the first half of 2020 than in the first half of 2019. Since the end of June, police have tallied up at least 77 more murders, putting the city well ahead of last years numbers for that period. However, police spokesman John Cannon cautioned, those numbers are unofficial and could include deaths that are not ultimately categorized as homicides. Stephanie Lamm, Jay R. Jordan and Erin Douglas contributed to this report. She has jetted to Croatia for a romantic break with boyfriend Kris Boyson. And Bianca Gascoigne set pulses racing as she slipped into a tiny bikini for a day by the pool on Tuesday. The glamour model, 33, oozed confidence as she displayed her ample assets and washboard abs in the scanty two-piece, while soaking up the sun. Gorgeous: Bianca Gascoigne set pulses racing as she slipped into a tiny bikini for a day by the pool on Tuesday A pair of matching bottoms rested high on her hips and drew the eye to her bronzed and honed legs. Opting for ultimate glamour, the former Love Island star wore her blonde locks in bouncy waves. A rich palette of make-up, including smoky shadow, liner and nude lipstick- accentuated her pretty features. Glow: The glamour model, 33, oozed confidence as she displayed her ample assets and washboard abs in the scanty two-piece, while soaking up the sun 'We trust each other so much!' Bianca recently revealed she and personal trainer beau Kris Boyson, 31, moved in together after their first date Bianca recently revealed she moved in with her personal trainer beau, 31, after their first date in a new interview. The couple took their relationship to the next level as they spent the UK's nationwide lockdown together just weeks after embarking on a romance. Despite dating for only five months, the reality stars admitted they'd definitely want to get married and start a family in the future as they 'completely trust' each other. Katie Price's ex told new! magazine: 'We've spent every single day together practically since we met. You wouldn't lock down with someone for 100 days if it was a showmance.' Bianca and Kris were introduced to each other three years ago when he provided her with healthy meals in preparation of a charity fight, which got cancelled when her opponent, his ex Katie Price, pulled out. They lost contact for a while, before fitness enthusiast Kris slid into her Instagram DMs earlier this year. The couple currently reside in Kent and are renovating their pad with a cinema room and a new bar. An administrative law court has recommended that a Camden County employee who used the N-word in her workplace should be suspended for six months without pay, instead of being terminated as the county sought. And Camden County is not pleased with the decision in the case of Betsy Ruggiero, a clerk typist in the finance department, who made the comment in late 2018. Louis Cappelli Jr., director of the county freeholder board, said the ruling was appalling and inexcusable on a variety of different levels and vowed the county will fight it. I cannot in good conscience let this judges ruling go by without sharing my significant disappointment. The type of behavior displayed by this employee should only equate in termination, nothing more, nothing less, Cappelli said in a statement. Ruggiero testified she used the word, but that it was not directed at anyone in the office. She uttered it at the conclusion of a personal call on her cell phone, moments before going into a meeting, and a coworker heard it, the decision says. After the county moved to terminate her on workplace violations, Ruggiero appealed and the case was heard in the states Office of Administrative Law, by Judge Carl V. Buck III. Buck found Camden County proved its case against Ruggiero, and testimony showed it was her second workplace violation - the county sustained a prior infraction of Ruggiero using inappropriate language, cursing, to a coworker in 2016. The penalty was a written reprimand. But Buck found the penalty of termination was too harsh, citing a policy in New Jersey called progressive discipline. The appropriate penalty, Buck wrote in the July 29 decision, is a six-months suspension without pay, plus the county entering into a last chance agreement with Ruggiero should she have a future major infraction. The judge also said Ruggiero should be given additional training in the area of business and societal norms in the workplace. Bucks ruling says he favors a harsher penalty, a longer suspension, but six months is the maximum he could recommend. I further note that should a greater time of suspension been available to the court, that a suspension period greater than six months would have been imposed to acknowledge the severity and gravity of the use of such an offensive word and term. A term exceeding six months, but short of termination, is not available, Bucks decision says. Still, Cappelli, the freeholder director, said the ruling is problematic for an employee using a racial epithet. This individual should be barred from public employment and the states civil service commission should recognize that personnel who use this kind of sick and disgusting language or display racist behavior have no business working on behalf of our countys taxpayers, he said in a statement. The decision now goes to the states Civil Service Commission, which can adopt, modify or reject it. If not acted by the agency within 45 days, it becomes final. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told visiting Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla that Dhaka will not be party to anything inimical to New Delhis interests and will not allow its territory to be used by terrorists or insurgents targetting India, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named. According to diplomats based in Dhaka and New Delhi, the Bangladesh PM emphasized the importance of completing bilateral infrastructure and connectivity projects in time. In this context, it has been decided that a high level project monitoring committee headed by the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary will be set up immediately. The people cited in the first instance added that the two countries have also decided that the meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers will be scheduled soon so that all bilateral projects are brought to speed. In the year when Bangladesh is celebrating 100 years of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman aka Bangabandhu and 50 years of India-Bangladesh bilateral relations, Shringla, during his 90 minute meeting with PM Hasina told her that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about strengthening relations with the neighbours in his Independence Day speech. That India remains top on Bangladesh PMs agenda was evident from the fact that FS Shringla was the first foreign visitor that she met since the outbreak of coronavirus four months ago, the people cited above said, adding that the meeting was characterised by warmth. FS Shringla briefed the leader of Bangladesh about the work happening on a Covid-19 vaccine in India and promised her (in response to a question) that because India manufactures 60% of the worlds vaccines, it will ensure that Dhakas requirements are addressed, the people said. The visiting FS also discussed the prospect of starting an air bubble between New Delhi and Dhaka so that medical, technical and business professionals are allowed to travel by air in the coming days. FS Shringla also spoke to the Bangladesh Army Chief and General Secretary of Awami League party as well as senior ministers through video conference, the people added. PM Hasina also raised the Rohingya issue with FS Shringla and requested that India facilitate the return of the displaced refugees to Myanmar. The people said, she was very clear that Bangladesh will not allow its territory to be used either by terrorists or insurgents. The two sides also discussed the security scenario in the region as well as forces opposing the growth of India-Bangladesh bilateral ties. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PSG are France's fifth Champions League finalist Champions League Lyon could become the sixth Paris Saint-Germain have become the fifth French team to reach the final of the European Cup or Champions League. Thomas Tuchel's side made history on Tuesday night by beating RB Leipzig in the semi finals to progress to Sunday's final. Stade Reims were the first French representatives to play in a European Cup final, losing 4-3 to Real Madrid in 1956. Reims were in the final again three years later, this time beating Stuttgart 2-0 to lift the big-eared trophy. In 1976, St. Etienne lost out to Franz Beckenbauer's Bayern Munich in Glasgow, going down 1-0 thanks to Franz Roth's winner. After a barren spell in the 1980s, French clubs returned to the fore in Europe at the start of the 90s as Marseille reached the 1991 European Cup final. L'OM lost to Red Star Belgrade on that occasion but were successful when returning to the final of the Champions League two years later, beating Milan 1-0 in Munich. The last time a French team reached the final of Europe's premier club competition was in 2004 when Didier Deschamps' Monaco were beaten by Jose Mourinho's Porto in Gelsenkirchen. Lyon could become the sixth team to reach a Champions League final on Wednesday night when they take on Bayern Munich in the second semi-final. Needless to say, if Rudi Garcia's side do qualify, it will be the first all-French final in the competition's history. There are longstanding questions about the presidents affinity for Russia, which intervened in the 2016 campaign to help Mr. Trump, according to American intelligence agencies, a special counsel investigation and the current Senate Intelligence Committee report. Mr. Trump has called it all a hoax, publicly accepted President Vladimir V. Putins word that Russia did not interfere and pushed policies helpful to Mr. Putin and his government. This month, Mr. Trump rejected warnings from the American intelligence agencies that Russia is trying to help him win re-election in 2020. Collectively, the allegations raised a potential counterintelligence concern, that Russia might use compromising information to influence the then-presidential candidates positions on relations with Russia, the report said. The committee sought, in a limited way, to understand the Russian governments alleged collection of such information, not only because of the threat of a potential foreign influence operation, but also to explore the possibility of a misinformation operation targeting the integrity of the U.S. political process. The report released Tuesday provided one of the most detailed official accounts of Mr. Trumps time in Russia. Over dozens of pages in the nearly 1,000-page document, the report said that a Marriott executive told committee investigators that after Mr. Trump traveled to Russia in 2013 for the Miss Universe pageant the executive overheard two colleagues who worked at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow discussing video footage that they said showed Mr. Trump with women in an elevator at the hotel. Similar accusations have arisen before. A dossier of largely unverified information compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, about Mr. Trumps ties to Russia claimed that during Mr. Trumps 2013 trip to Moscow there was video of him with prostitutes in his Ritz-Carlton hotel room. A person Mr. Steele relied on for that information later told the F.B.I. that the allegation was just a rumor he was passing along. The Ritz-Carlton, the Senate report said, is a high counterintelligence risk environment that has at least one permanent Russian intelligence officer on staff, government surveillance of guests rooms and the regular presence of a large number of prostitutes, likely with at least the tacit approval of Russian authorities. The Marriott executive told the committee that one of the colleagues he overheard discussing the footage from the Ritz-Carlton said the video showed Mr. Trump with several women in the elevator, whom the colleague implied to be hostesses. The launch is part of a global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Chemical that grants exclusive rights to manufacture and sell tablets Hyderabad: Dr Reddy's to launch Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd On Wednesday announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India. The launch is part of the global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that grants the Indian drug maker the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and distribute the tablets in India, Chief Executive Officer of Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy's Laboratories, M V Ramana said. Avigan(Favipiravir) has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease. Speaking to reporters, Ramana said: "We are pleased to bring this important innovator medicine to the patients in India. The need for high quality and efficacy, affordability and better disease management are key priorities for us. We believe that Aviganwould provide an effective treatment option to the COVID-19 impacted patients in India." Avigancomes in a complete therapy pack of 122 tablets with a two-year shelf life. To ensure accelerated access to the medicine, Dr Reddy's has initiated a free home delivery service in 42 cities in the country, and a Helpline Centerbetween 9 am to 9 pm IST, Monday through Saturday. Ramana further said as of now they are importing the drug from Japan and soon will manufacture it in India. Replying to query, he said they have already approached regulatory authorities of two or three countries including the US seeking approvals to sell the drug and seek fast track approvals from them once trials are completed. Dr Reddy's is set to launch another COVID-19 treatment drug, Remdesivir in the first week of September, he added. New Delhi, Aug 19 : Subdued vehicle demand along with slowdown in key export markets, amongst others dented the year-on-year financial performance of the country's auto component industry in FY 2019-20. According to data, the turnover of the automotive component industry stood at Rs 3.49 lakh crore ($49.2 billion) for the period April 2019 to March 2020, registering a de-growth of 11.7 per cent over the previous year. The data was furnished by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India. Besides, the ACMA Annual Industry Performance Review for 2019-20 showed that exports of auto components witnessed degrowth of 3.2 per cent to Rs 1.02 lakh crore ($14.5 billion) in 2019-20 from Rs 1.06 lakh crore ($15.2 billion) i n 2018-19. "The automotive industry faced a prolonged slowdown in FY 2019-20 with vehicle sales in all segments plummeting significantly," Deepak Jain, President, ACMA was quoted as saying in a statement. "Subdued vehicle demand, investments made for transition from BSIV to BSVI, liquidity crunch, lack of a clarity on policy for electrification of vehicles and slow-down in key export markets, among others, had an adverse impact on the performance of the components sector in India as also on its expansion plans." However, Jain elaborated that with the unlocking of economy, growth seems to be returning to the industry with uptick in vehicle consumption especially in the two-wheelers, passenger vehicles and the tractor segments, although sales of commercial vehicles continue to be challenged. "The component industry's performance is expected to return to pre-Covid levels by the festive season should the ramp-up be not stymied by lockdowns in manufacturing zones and lack of availability of manpower," he said. As per the statement, ACMA continues to support the vehicle industry in their request to the government for enhancing vehicle demand in the country through reduction in GST on all vehicle categories to 18 per cent and introduction of an incentive based scrappage policy. "For the components sector, ACMA continues to recommend a uniform 18 per cent GST rate across the auto component sector; currently 60 per cent of the auto components attract 18 per cent GST rate, while the rest 40 per cent, majority of which are two-wheelers and tractor components, attract 28 per cent," the statement said. "The latter high rate has led to flourishing grey operations in the aftermarket. A benign rate of 18 per cent will not only ensure better compliance but will also ensure a larger tax base." Hyderabad, Aug 19 : Telangana's Covid-19 tally crossed 95,000 on Wednesday with 1,763 more people testing positive for the virus. The new cases during the last 24 hours pushed the tally to 95,700 while the death toll mounted to 719 with eight more deaths. Of the new cases, 484 were reported from hotspot Greater Hyderabad. This was a big jump from 235 cases reported the previous day. The districts surrounding the state capital also reported over 300 cases. Medchal Malkajgiri reported 169 new cases, while Rangareddy saw 166 new cases. Sangareddy, another district which shares borders with Greater Hyderabad, reported 31 new cases. According to a media bulletin issued by the office of the Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, infections were reported from all 33 districts. Outside Greater Hyderabad and surrounding districts, Warangal Urban remained the worst affected with 88 new cases followed by 65 in Nalgonda, 63 in Kamareddy and 61 in Jagtiyal. Officials said the case fatality rate in the state stood at 0.75 per cent against the national average of 1.92 per cent. Out of the total fatalities, 53.87 per cent had co-morbidities. The day also saw the recovery of 1,789 people, taking the total number of recoveries to 73,991. The state further improved the recovery rate to 77.31 per cent against the national average of 73.18 per cent. The number of active cases in the state stands at 20,990 including 14,461 who were in home or institutional isolation. The health authorities conducted 24,542 tests, the highest single-day number so far. With this, the state has tested 7,97,470 samples. The samples tested per million population are 21,480 against a daily testing target of 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day. The results of 1,042 samples were awaited. A total of 16 government and 23 private laboratories are conducting the RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TRUENAT types of tests while there are 1,076 rapid antigen tests centres. However, the authorities have not been providing breakup of the tests. Age-wise Covid positive details show that 65.9 per cent of those tested positive were in the age group of 21-50 years. Terming this as a susceptible age group, authorities have urged them not to go out unless absolutely necessary. They were advised to strictly exercise precautions like wearing face masks and maintain physical distancing. Among the Covid positive, 24.4 per cent are above 51 years of age. About 10 per cent were aged below 20 years. Officials said 65.10 per cent of those tested positive were male, while the remaining 34.90 per cent were female. According to the media bulletin, out of 20,396 beds in the government-run hospitals, 17,849 beds were vacant. The authorities added 10 more private hospitals to the list of private facilities treating Covid patients. A total of 132 private hospitals treating Covid have a total of 7,855 beds and out of them 3,873 beds were vacant. According to the media bulletin, the state has over 800 containment zones with the highest 125 in Ranga Reddy district, followed by 93 in Mahabubnagar, 81 in Rajanna Sircilla and 80 in Gadwal. Greater Hyderabad has 64 containment zones. In Brazil, most state governors and city mayors in Brazil have been following the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and, in defiance of federal government protocol, have adopted policies of social isolation and distancing. To stay home with our families, going out only when necessary is an effective policy for care and prevention aimed at the general population. Still, when approaching practices of care from the standpoint of feminist ethics (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2017), one should be wary of preconceived norms based on universal principles and reflect on the singularities of specific situations. Thus, a few questions guide our analyses: how do these universal guidelines affect specific social groups? In particular, how do they affect people with disabilities who are part of the so-called risk group? Many people with disabilities spend their lives worrying about viral or bacterial contamination which can be fatal for them. Hence, many sanitary routines that are now widely practiced to avoid contagion by Covid-19 the obsessive washing of hands; the use of masks; the cleaning of spaces, objects, and various prosthetic devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, and canes were already part of their care routines long before the pandemic. If anything, Covid-19, given the new risks, has only made their precaution more urgent. However, these routines have gained in visibility thanks to the fact that non-disabled bodies are now also required to perform them. They are no longer a matter of individual responsibility, but of public health. On the other hand, for people with the kind of disability that requires them to lean on objects and feel out spaces to gather information and move about in the world, it is practically impossible to follow the World Health recommendations to the letter. The recommended policy of distancing oneself from any potentially infected objects requires these people to invent new body techniques. For example, Marina, a young woman with cerebral palsy, tells us how a simple walk is more distressful than ever in this moment: I dont use assistive technology. But when I go do groceries, for example, Ive become terrified of stumbling, of holding on to things for support, or even of falling. More than ever, I do everything in slow motion, always fearful lest something happen. And of course, I have to take care not to damage my mental health with all this worry Marina Beyond assistive technologies and new body techniques, for many people with disabilities, the biggest challenge in this era of Covid-19 is the articulation of their support network. Theories of care stress how we are all interconnected, how the ideal of autonomy can be an illusion that leads us to ignore the actors involved in the infrastructural networks that support our existence. Precisely because it threatens to cut these networks, the policy of social distancing forces us to become aware of how much we depend on others. This awareness, once more, hits people with disabilities hardest. The physical proximity involved in care relationships, particularly for those who depend on someone to perform daily life-supporting activities such as eating, dressing, or bathing, complicates the prescribed preventive measures. As a result, the normally invisible labor of this support network including family members, neighbors, health workers, and other public agents emerges from the shadow, now representing the threat of contagion, exacerbated by the precarious conditions in which many Brazilians live. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for Brazils policymakers is to forge social distancing strategies adapted to the living conditions of lower-income neighborhoods (favelas) and territorial occupations where we often find large families (some including three and four generation families) living in a few square meters. We can cite the example of Lisa, a six-year-old girl born with a severe neurological disability and who lives on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, in a three-room house with her parents and five siblings. Lisa does not speak and until last year, when she turned five, depended on a ventilator to breath. Before Covid-19, health professionals, including physical therapists and health agents, visited the family regularly to check on her and to provide treatment. Now, in the face of increasingly restricted health services, she has come to depend almost exclusively on her family. This new configuration implies a rotation of engaged caregivers who, given the loss of income caused by the pandemic, are forced to leave the house daily, circulating through possibly contaminated areas, looking for ways to support the family. Entangled in a network of interdependencies that require bodily proximity, Lisas care presents particular challenges. Her example underlines the need for any policy of social isolation to adjust to the specificity of these bodies, providing ways to, at the same time, prevent the disease and ensure the continuity of adequate care practices. Another important point that has yet to be properly addressed by the Brazilian media is the situation in collective institutions for people with disabilities. The experience of other countries shows that the vulnerability of people living in group homes and assisted living facilities is appalling. According to a recent report,[1] residents in homes for the disabled and other similar facilities in and around New York are 5.34 and 4.86 times more likely to develop Covid-19 and die from the virus respectively than the general population. A probability that, even representing the way in which some populations are left to die, is understood by many as inevitable. It is no surprise that the father of a young man with cognitive impairment, upon hearing of the death of his sons roommate, exclaimed: If it is the virus, what the hell are we going to do?[2] However, we must ask whether it is the virulence of the disease in this at-risk population that condemns so many residents and employees to a high mortality rate, or if the responsibility does not fall on the extremely precarious conditions of these homes. At first, several European countries computed the death rate caused by Covid-19 only from patients who died in hospitals, simply ignoring deaths in nursing homes. This is worrying, especially in the Brazilian context, in which we have little information on such places. The little we know only exacerbates our concerns : tales of crowded institutions, a shortage of professionals, caregivers without specialized training working with scarce resources, and no protective equipment (such as gloves, masks or alcohol gel). In one case, employees were reported to have improvised face masks from hair caps normally used in the kitchen. To conclude, let us evoke once again the many care practices that, despite being essential for everyone during pandemic times, are often completely overlooked in generalized public policies. WHO recommendations are central to protecting everyones lives , especially those most vulnerable to Covid-19. Still, as Catalina Devandas, the United Nations (UN) rapporteur for disability issues points out, it is urgent that people with disabilities have the assurance of knowing that their survival is a priority.[3] Thus, for broad public policies to be truly effective, they must account for the singularities of specific forms of embodiment as well as the social and cultural contexts in which they are enacted. No experience should be excluded a priori from the global health policies designed to protect the population. Thinking with care presumes looking at contexts that include different people and families, many of whose living conditions are not easily adapted to social distancing. Covid-19 puts us face to face with unanswered questions and unpredictable outcomes, and forces us to live in a situation of constant tension and open-ended futures that render reflections and discussions on care practices ever more urgent. We thank our colleagues from the Group for Studies on Anthropology and Disability of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul(GEAD/UFRGS)for the discussions and contribution to this piece. This piece was first published in Portuguese on June 12th, 2020, as part of the ANPOCS National Association of Post-Graduation and Research in Social Sciences series Ciencias Socias e Coronavirus (Boletim n 61), available here. Helena Fietz is a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She is a member of Grupo de Estudos em Antropologia e Deficiencia (GEAD/UFRGS) and Grupo de Pesquisa Ciencias na Vida (GPCV/UFRGS). Ms. Fietz is also a member of the Brazilian Association of Anthropology (ABA) Committee on Disability and Accessibility. Anahi Guedes de Mello is an anthropologist with a PhD in Social Anthropology from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). She is currently a collaborating researcher at the Center for Disability Studies (NED) with UFSCs Department of Psychology, and an Associate Researcher at Anis Institute of Bioethics, based in Brasilia, Brazil. Ms. Guedes de Mello is also a member of Group for Studies on Anthropology and Disability of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (GEAD/UFRGS), coordinator of the Brazilian Association of Anthropology (ABA) Committee on Disability and Accessibility, and a member of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) Working Group for Critical Studies on Disability. Claudia Fonseca is a professor of Anthropology at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She is also a member of Grupo de Estudos em Antropologia e Deficiencia (GEAD/UFRGS) and of Grupo de Pesquisa Ciencias na Vida (GPCV/UFRGS). References PUIG DE LA BELLA CASA, Maria. Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More than Human Worlds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017. Works Cited [1] New York Times, April 17, 2020. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/nyregion/coronavirus-disabilities-group-homes.html [2] See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/nyregion/coronavirus-disabilities-group-homes.html. [3] See https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-19-who-protecting-people-disabilities-un-rights-expert. Share this: Share Email Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr LinkedIn [view academic citations] [hide academic citations] Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images Warning: This post may contain content that is disturbing to readers. A Catholic priest in Ohio was arrested Tuesday for child sex trafficking and is accused of grooming and abusing at least two victims since the '90s. The FBI cuffed Michael Zacharias, 53, after morning Mass at St. Michael the Archangel in Findlay. The pastor is charged with coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion. According to the feds, Zacharias was taken into custody without incident at his residence. Court filings describe how Zacharias preyed on two vulnerable boys and continued abusing them after they became adults by taking advantage of their struggles with addiction. One of the victims drug problems stemmed from his confusion about his sexuality based on years of inappropriate touching by Zacharias, an FBI agent noted in an affidavit. Systematic Cover-Up: Over 300 Predator Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Children in Pennsylvania Some evidence in the case even includes sickening videos Zacharias created with one of the victims, who kept the footage on a USB drive. The great thing for you is that I actually paid you to make the videos and that you will one day ruin me with them and get rich, Zacharias texted the victim in late July, according to an FBI affidavit. Authorities believe Zacharias victimized more children beyond the Findlay community and St. Michael parish. FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said the priest worked at a slew of Ohio churches, including St. Catherine of Siena in Toledo, St. Peters in Mansfield, St. Mary of the Assumption in Van Wert, and St. Ann and St. Joseph in Fremont. (The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo released a statement claiming these are the first known sexual abuse accusations against the priest, who was ordained in 2002.) We grieve for the loss of innocence for those victims and also for those parishioners who placed their trust in someone who used that trust to prey on not only innocent but oftentimes vulnerable and at-risk children, Smith told reporters at a press conference Tuesday, in front of Zacharias two-story home in Findlay. Story continues Asked why the Cleveland Division of the FBI began to look into Zacharias, Smith answered, Information related to this investigation came as a result of another unrelated investigation and our review of evidence in that investigation. An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint details how a fentanyl possession case involving one of Zacharias victims led to the priests arrest. In late July, FBI agents were investigating a 32-year-old man identified as Victim #1 in the drug probe and seized three of his cellphones. While searching the devices, authorities found graphic text messages with a contact known as FrZ. The number for FrZ was linked to Zacharias, authorities say. The victim told investigators that Zacharias had molested and raped him as a child, the affidavit states, adding that Zacharias paid him in exchange for being able to perform oral sex on Victim #1 when Victim #1 was a minor, and that Zacharias continued to pay him money for sex even after Victim #1 turned 18, including when Victim #1 was drug-addicted and needed the money for his drug habit. The victim never reported these crimes to law enforcement, the affidavit states. I was honored to pray in Adoration with our BHCS/SJCC 6-12 grade students today! #LoveJesus pic.twitter.com/QXVnegIcft Fr. Mike Zacharias (@fathermikez) February 5, 2016 According to the affidavit, the man said he first met Zacharias, who was in the Seminary at the time, when he was a sixth-grader at a Toledo Catholic school. The priest began to groom the victim, whose father was physically abusive and largely absent, and gave the child money, spent time with him, and engaged in inappropriate touching and sexual comments throughout junior high and high school, the affidavit alleges. Zacharias stayed in contact with the victim after he was ordained and transferred to parishes in Mansfield and Van Wert, and the grooming escalated into sexual abuse, investigators say. The victim told authorities that hed become addicted to drugs as a teenager and needed money to support his habit and prevent the effects of withdrawal. Zacharias offered $500 and $1,000 before giving the victim $1,500 in return for the sexual abuse, the document states. The man told police he did not want Zacharias to do it and only relented because he needed the money to support his drug habit. Zacharias allegedly continued to pay the victim after the sexual abuse while he was a minor and the abuse continued when he became an adult. According to the victim, the abuse usually took place at Zacharias rectory in Van Wert. When the victim was in his mid-20s, the affidavit says, Zacharias announced he wanted to make an action video and a confession video which would give the victim power over him. The FBI reviewed a USB thumb drive of these videos, which were apparently created in January 2015 and provided by the victim. The action video depicts Zacharias sexually abusing the victim, while the confession footage shows the priest in clergy attire as he admits to grooming and abusing the victim, using language too graphic and disturbing to print. Meanwhile, the victim told FBI agents that hes visited Zacharias residence or rectory in Findlay on about six or seven occasions in the last year for paid sex. From April to July, Zacharias pressured the victim to make more action videos in exchange for money, according to the FBIs review of text messages. On July 20, 2020, Zacharias texted the victim about the videos: If you really did keep a copy and put them in a safety deposit box in the bank, I would have a whole new respect and admiration for youknowing you planned all along to hold on to them and keep them safe until you decide to use them for your own benefit some day. It tells me youre definitely holding onto them to use them The great thing for you is that I actually paid you to make the videos and that you will one day ruin me with them and get rich. You are such a stud!! Zacharias also warned the victim that if anyone found out about the sexual abuse, the victim would be portrayed as a kid with a drug problem in the news. Drug addiction, depression, unemployment, families in crisis. The solution isn't solely economic, but personal and spiritual. Faith&Families Fr. Mike Zacharias (@fathermikez) May 26, 2016 When the victim informed Zacharias that he was arrested for selling stolen tools, Zacharias replied that police would likely see their texts. It would only take one cop to tell the Bishops, Zacharias wrote, warning that if authorities discovered the abuse, the victim would never receive money from him again. The priest told the victim to destroy the USB drive and toss it in the garbage, the affidavit says. Zacharias is also accused of abusing a 26-year-old man identified as Victim #2, who met the priest as a first-grader at St. Catherines Catholic School in Toledo. The victim told police that Zacharias would visit his home and take his older brothers on walks and went into his brothers bedrooms. Even after Zacharias left Toledo, the priest returned occasionally to visit the victim, his mother, and brothers. Zacharias began to make inappropriate sexual comments to the victim when he was in eighth or ninth grade and struggling with opioid addiction. On one occasion, the victim said he stayed home from school because he was dope sick, or experiencing withdrawal, and Zacharias came over and offered him $50 to purchase an oxy pill. As part of the exchange, the priest sexually abused the victim. The priest continued to abuse the victim over the years, including when the victim was 18 and still suffering from drug addiction. Zacharias again warned Victim #2 not to tell anyone or he could get in trouble, the affidavit states. Victim #2 advised that he was too scared to report what Zacharias did to him, because he felt like no one would believe hima young troubled drug-addict, whether as a minor or adultover Zacharias, a respected Catholic Priest, the document continues. The FBI has asked anyone whod had unwanted sexual contact with the priest to come forward to the FBI, which set up a hotline at (216) 622-6842. On Tuesday, the Diocese of Toledo issued a statement on Zacharias and said he was put on administrative leave. This action was taken immediately upon receiving word of his arrest this morning in Findlay, the organization stated. The Diocese has been informed of the grave and reprehensible charges of a sexual nature, with minors and adults, and is cooperating fully with law enforcement. The statement also included a quote from Bishop Daniel Thomas, who said he was profoundly shocked and grieved to learn of these charges against one of our priests. The Church cannot and will not tolerate any such behavior and takes any sexual abuse or misconduct on the part of a cleric with the utmost seriousness, Thomas said. As we await the outcome of the criminal investigation, our prayers go out to anyone affected by this situation. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. CHICHIJIMA, Japan - Six hundred miles from Tokyo, on a Pacific island that takes 24 hours to reach by ship, live the remnants of a unique culture descended from American, European and Polynesian settlers who sought a new life almost 200 years ago. On the quiet streets of Chichijima walk Japanese people with foreign-looking faces, and names like Savory, Washington and Gonzalez. A few still speak a disappearing island dialect that mixes Japanese, English and the occasional Hawaiian word. It has been buffeted by winds of colonialism, nationalism and warfare, but survives as a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures and languages - a legacy that carries added resonance today in a world facing reckonings over identity and race. For Japan, a largely mono-ethnic nation, this unique community offers a different definition of what it means to be Japanese. It is also an unusual but potentially inspiring vision of a multiethnic Japan as the country grapples with the need to bring in more foreigners to supplement its labor force and aging society. "We're a small island, but we have a lot of history, and we have to preserve that history," said 60-year-old Rocky Savory, a fifth-generation resident, inside the supermarket he now runs on Chichijima. In June 1830, 23 men and women made a perilous, 3,300-mile journey from Honolulu on a British schooner named the Washington to settle a lonely archipelago known in the West as the Bonin Islands, a mistranscription of a Japanese word meaning "uninhabited." The settlers were lured by accounts of lush lands and turtles so plentiful they paved the shore. The aim was to establish a supply stop for Western whaling ships in what is now called the Ogasawara archipelago. Today, their descendants make up around 200 of Chichijima's 2,000 residents, while others are scattered from Guam to Hawaii and the mainland United States. The volcanic islands had first been mapped by Japanese sailors - although not by the mythical samurai Ogasawara after whom they are now named. They were claimed in 1827 by British naval officer Frederick Beechey, who nailed a copper plaque to a tree. Britons had also led that first group of settlers, but the man who emerged as the community's eventual leader was an American: Nathaniel Savory, a former whaler from Bradford, Mass., whose career had been cut short after he lost a finger. It is his name that now echoes through the ages, and his legacy that the community still celebrates. It was Nathaniel Savory who greeted U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry when he visited the islands in 1853, on his way to open Japan to the outside world. Indeed, Perry was so convinced of the islands' potential as a way station between Japan and the United States that he bought a prime plot of land from Savory for $50. But Western interest in the islands also ignited Japan's, which sent its own settlers in 1862 and again in 1875, annexing the territory the following year. The original settlers were forced to become naturalized Japanese citizens - although they were never fully accepted by the Japanese state. To this day, they are referred to in Japanese as "Obeikei," or Westerners, and their central role in the island's history is given only a cursory mention in the Ogasawara Visitors Center. The Japanese, Western and Polynesian settlers lived together peacefully and even intermarried until World War II. Iwo Jima, also a member of the Ogasawara chain, became a fiercely contested prize in the Pacific war. But Chichijima was also massively fortified and extensively bombed, and its civilian population was evacuated to the Japanese mainland. The descendants of the Western settlers mostly ended up working in munitions factories near Tokyo but, with their foreign looks, suffered widespread discrimination, abuse and even violence in wartime Japan. Back on Chichijima, the fate of any American airmen who were shot down was even worse, with eight beaten, tortured and executed, and five partially cannibalized on the orders of a Japanese officer, according to records of the United States Navy War Crimes Trials. George H.W. Bush narrowly escaped the same fate. Just 20 years old, he was shot down during a bombing raid on Chichijima in September 1944, but was picked up by an American submarine, even as Japanese patrol boats pursued his escape raft. Both of his fellow crew members died, and Bush visited the island to retrace his mission and honor their memory in 2002. Japan's surrender in 1945 brought the Ogasawara islands under the control of the U.S. Navy, which was eyeing a permanent U.S. base on a strategically important location in the escalating Cold War. The Pentagon reluctantly allowed 129 "Western" descendants back to the islands, but denied ethnic Japanese islanders the right to return. Symbolizing the widening divide, three Western islanders testified in war crimes trials against Japanese army officers, and many wanted the Americans to stay. "The Navy took care of us really well," remembers John Washington, 71, who was born just after the war and educated in English on Chichijima before being sent to high school in Guam. The Navy Generation, as the Western islanders who grew up in that period are known, reminisce about barbecues on July 4, free medical care and freedom to do as they pleased. Eventually, though, the United States gave in to repeated Japanese demands to return the islands to its rule. On June 26, 1968, the Stars and Stripes was taken down and replaced with the Japanese flag. That same day, the island's school came under the control of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and classes switched overnight from being entirely in English to entirely in Japanese. Rocky Savory was 8 years old at the time, and young enough to adapt. But the transition was tough for older children and young adults. His older sister became a U.S. citizen, eventually going on to work in the Pentagon and settle in Maryland. His cousin John Washington, then 19, served in the U.S. Army for 28 years, including two tours in Vietnam, and now lives in Spanaway, Wash. For the islanders, identity and language has shifted from generation to generation, as Japan and the United States have each claimed the community for their own geostrategic convenience. The eldest and youngest generations are often more comfortable in Japanese, while the Navy Generation often prefers English. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the islands have developed their own Ogasawara dialect, said Daniel Long, a linguistics professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University. "Are you Japanese or American?" the curious visitor might ask Savory's descendants today. The responses, in different languages, depend on who is answering - and who is asking, said David Chapman of the University of Queensland in Australia, who has written an authoritative history of the islands. "It's a good question, hard to answer," laughed Rocky Savory. "Let's say the good answer is islander. I'm an islander." Washington, who for years flew an American flag above his guesthouse in Chichijima and still visits the islands every year, says he's a U.S. citizen, "but deep in my heart, I still consider myself a Bonin Islander." Yet for the younger members of the community, the answer changes again. "I feel like I am Japanese," said 32-year-old Nasa Savory, a distant cousin of Rocky, who grew up on the islands before attending high school and university in Tokyo, where he earned a PhD and met his wife, a mainlander. "I don't feel like I'm an American, but I am an islander." In his childhood, Nasa says, children from all communities mingled "with no difference between anyone," and Long says there has always been surprisingly little ethnic tension on the islands. "Japan is trying to navigate its way to becoming a multiethnic, multilingual society," Long said. "Britain and the United States have struggled with that, but here they found a way to do it, 150 years ago." Yet there is one small but significant obstacle that Nasa Savory can't overcome to be completely Japanese in the eyes of his mainland countrymen, who often tend to equate nationality with racial purity. His family name in Japanese is pronounced "Sebore" and spelled in the katakana script reserved for foreign words. Every time he books a hotel room or a table at a restaurant, the person on the other end of the line does a double take: How is he Japanese with a foreign name? Renting an apartment is even harder, in a country where many landlords openly exclude foreigners. "When I try to rent a home, they tell me to show my passport and explain why I have such a different, American name," he said. "I don't feel happy about that. I'm Japanese and I have lived here for 20 years, but they treat me like a non-Japanese." The Calais Jungle migrant camp is filled with hundreds who have already been told they cannot stay in the EU, it has been claimed. Tony Smith, the former director general of the Border Force, has said that officials are seeing the 'same faces' among those attempting to make the crossing from Calais to the UK. It comes as it was revealed that the majority of migrants using one of the most common sea routes into Europe are not in need of 'international protection', according to a UN report. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found that more than 70 per cent of migrants crossing from Libya to Europe are unlikely to qualify for asylum when they arrive. Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR special envoy for the region, also admitted that a 'fair and equitable return mechanism' must be put in place. The former director general of the Border Force, has said that officials are seeing the 'same faces' among those attempting to make the crossing from Calais to the UK It comes as it was revealed that the majority of migrants using one of the most common sea routes into Europe are not in need of 'international protection' If it is not, then 'the entire asylum system will be called into question'. Of the 41,129 migrants who have come to Europe this year, 18.3 per cent are from Tunisia, while 10.3 per cent are from Algeria. According to the UNHCR report, migrants who travelled from Libya to Italy and Malta made up 68 per cent of arrivals to Europe via the Central Mediterranean between January and May. Around 8,600 people have departed from the North African country by sea, with Bangladeshis, Sudanese and Somalis the most common nationalities making the crossing. The report reads: 'As of the end of May, an estimated 28% of the people who had crossed the sea from Libya are likely to be in need of international protection.' The vast majority of those attempting to reach Britain from Calais have travelled over land through the EU, experts say. The news comes amid an increase in migrant crossings in the UK, with a record number attempting to come over in small boats from Calais. Former Border Force director general Tony Smith told the Telegraph: 'A lot of people who are in Calais have already been told that they cannot stay in the EU, some of them have been refused in a couple of different countries, but they don't want to go back. 'The French can't remove them so they are just their names and details and telling them to stop trying to break the law.' The news comes amid an increase in migrant crossings in the UK, with a record number attempting to come over in small boats from Calais Hundreds of migrants have been landing on the Kent coast in recent weeks as warm weather and calm sea conditions encouraged them over from France. Pictured, UK border force officials with migrants on August 15 Mr Smith now chairs an international border association including the UK border force. He said that smugglers have the 'upper hand' and it will encourage more people to travel to northern France to 'try their luck' as the smugglers have found 'a gap in our defences'. He also insisted migrants crossings were an international issue and called on assistance and action from the French. He added: 'We must put the smugglers out of business. These are busy shipping lanes, the boats could get run over by a ferry without even knowing it, and babies drowning in the Channel is not what anyone wants to see. 'There is a real reason for stopping this no matter what your opinion on asylum is, this is a matter of life of death. These are human beings and these organised criminal gangs do not care if they survive or not.' Home Office chiefs have also apologised for an 'error' after Nigel Farage was filmed visiting a hotel housing migrants in Priti Patel's constituency More than 5,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, with August's total of more than 1,200 so far making it the busiest month on record. Hundreds of migrants have been landing on the Kent coast in recent weeks as warm weather and calm sea conditions encouraged them to travel in small boats from France. A migrant was attacked on a Kent beach just moments after landing onshore in a dinghy on Sunday. The man, thought to be in his 20s and from the Middle East, was set upon by an unknown assailant who watched the boat arrive on the beach near Deal. It is thought to be the first assault on a migrant arriving on the Kent coast. Police said the victim was not injured but a search for the attacker has begun, according to The Times. Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover & Deal, condemned the attack. 'While urgent action is needed by the French and the Home Office, there is no excuse for violence or vigilante behaviour,' she said. In a Zoom call with backbenchers Ms Patel (pictured in Dover last week) suggested that the system was being 'exploited by leftie Labour-supporting lawyers' who were doing everything they could to stop the Government removing people. Police were called at around 11.05am on Sunday after the attack in Kingsdown near Deal in Kent. On Monday a five-year-old girl was among 17 migrants to arrive in Dover on the 14th consecutive day of Channel crossings as it was revealed smugglers offer 'gold, silver and bronze' packages to desperate passengers. The previous day 112 migrants arrived at Kent's shores, bringing the total for this month so far up to at least 1,232 - smashing July's record 1,118 arrivals. Traffickers take advantage of vulnerable asylum seekers desperately fleeing their homelands by offering the paid-for arrangement at a camp in Calais. The most expensive package, gold, costs 10,000 and means you get a larger boat with better conditions, less other people and lifejackets, as reported by The Sun. One migrant who was hoping to make the journey in the next few days told the newspaper: 'The prices vary. It depends on the size of the boat and how many people are inside. 'People come around offering the crossings. We pay and keep in touch. They tell us when and where to go and pick us up. 'I'm looking forward to it. Britain is like heaven to me!' The silver package costs between 3,000 and 5,000, and means you get a worse boat. And the lowest package, bronze, means you pay a prize of 1,000 or less and are often crammed onto a stolen boat. Meanwhile Kent County Council no longer have capacity for unaccompanied migrant children. Roger Gough, the leader of Kent county council, said on Sunday that more unaccompanied migrant children arriving over the weekend had 'tipped the balance' in the area. Large numbers of migrant children reaching the UK led to an 'unthinkable' situation where the council said it 'cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals'. The Home Office has booked 4,000 hotel rooms for asylum seekers amid pressure from a surge of cross-Channel migration and the coronavirus pandemic. Hotels in Hull, Birmingham, Nottingham, Southport and Glasgow have been used amid a shortage of permanent accommodation for newcomers to live while their asylum claims are assessed. Companies who provide accommodation for migrants had also been permitted to find rooms in places that were not part of the scheme that oversees where the newcomers are dispersed across Britain. Priti Patel previously warned France the UK will not cough up millions of pounds for anti-migrant patrols unless it agrees to take back more refugees as she prepares sweeping changes to the 'broken' immigration system. The Home Secretary told Tory MPs that she was preparing sweeping legal changes that would 'send the left into meltdown'. In a Zoom call with hardline backbenchers she suggested that the system was being 'exploited by leftie Labour-supporting lawyers' who were doing everything they could to stop the Government removing people. And she said that France's demand for 30million to fund Channel patrols and surveillance would be dependent on it taking in more of those seeking to get to the UK, the Times reported. The Government has asked for military assistance, which so far has taken the form of two RAF planes, but proposals to send armed forces to the English Channel to deal with small boat crossings have come under fire from France. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said sending the Royal Navy into the English Channel to deal with migrant crossings is a 'declaration of maritime war'. And Labour shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds insisted that ministers must provide solutions rather than 'empty headlines' in order to tackle the issue. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy added: 'Extremely distasteful for Priti Patel to say our asylum system is ''exploited by leftie lawyers''. 'Caricaturing an entire profession, which is subject to a code of conduct and upholds the rule of law, is dangerous and unbecoming of a serious Home Secretary.' Kevin Rudd has written an opinion piece slamming China's recent climate decision as "reckless". Source: Getty The 26th prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, will be speaking at Yahoo Finances All Markets Summit on 17 September 2020. Register here for your tickets. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has slammed China over its thirst for coal in an opinion article for the Washington Post, saying the nations view is shortsighted and environmentally reckless. China has approved the construction of more coal-fired power plants this year than in the previous two years combined, in a move that Rudd said has sent a shiver down the spines of environmentalists. The 26th prime minister of Australia wrote that China would be unlikely to meet its own commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to peak its emissions by 2030 if the new plants were built. And if China doesnt meet its goal, it risks the worlds collective long-term goal to keep temperature increases within 1.5 degrees Celsius, Rudd said. In an interview with The Diplomat, Rudd said that China played a pivotal role in the Paris agreement, and their support had been transformational for the fight against climate change. There would quite simply be no Paris Agreement without China, and it is China that deserves the most credit for holding that framework together after [US] President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from it, he said. But if China continues with its plan to construct these coal plants, the country risks unraveling the good will it has done so far, Rudd added. This will especially be the case in the eyes of many vulnerable developing countries, including the worlds lowest-lying island nations that could face even greater risks if these plants are built. The 26th prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, will be speaking at Yahoo Finances All Markets Summit on 17 September 2020. Register here for your tickets. Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit is back! Don't miss out. Book your ticket for 17 Septemeber. Source: Supplied Are you a millennial or Gen Z-er interested in joining a community where you can learn how to take control of your money? Join us at The Broke Millennials Club on Facebook! New Australian Studio instance empowers customers to use Revu 20 to effectively manage project information and meet local data residency requirements Pasadena, CA, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bluebeam, leading developer of solutions and services that set the standard for architecture, engineering and construction professionals worldwide, announces the newest version of Revu, their flagship project efficiency and collaboration solution. Revu 20 delivers greater flexibility and control with improved user and content management capabilities and streamlines communication with new enhancements designed to increase accuracy and save time. Along with the release of Revu 20, Bluebeam also announces the launch of a new Studio server instance in Australia today, allowing clients to host Studio Sessions and store project data within Australian borders, meeting local data sovereignty requirements. Access is available immediately and is automatic for all users in the region using Revu 20 or Revu 2019. More information can be found here. 'When we think of "teamwork" on a construction project, we think about removing barriers through technology while unlocking the inherent potential of a group of diverse project partners', said Bluebeam CEO Jon Elliott. 'When teams have the right solutions in place to work together seamlessly across distances and time zones, all of the investments an organisation makes in training, management and process development can be realised through clear and measurable improvements in quality, accuracy and efficiency. Revu 20 delivers improved communication management capabilities and productivity improvements that are designed to maximise an organisations investments across the board.' Revu 20 introduces new communication features that are designed to boost productivity and enable more successful project delivery, improved user and content management capabilities to provide greater flexibility and control, and enhancements to the powerful markup tools in Revu that improve project data management when reviewing, commenting, marking up, tracking and managing project documents. Story continues 'Bluebeam has always been a company that has focused on solving problems without reinventing the way teams work in the process', said Bluebeam CPO Roger Angarita. 'In fact, we focus on developing solutions that enhance the existing strength of organisations and meet them at the point where the right tools start to make all the difference. Whether that takes the form of the right features, the right collaborative tools or the right global data network. As proof to the effectiveness of our approach, Bluebeam Global Services surveyed customers at individual companies and found that 82% of Revu users reported saved time, 76% reported boosted efficiency and 88% reported improvement in work quality. These results reflect the incredible benefits of collaborative innovation and teamwork, and were proud to drive results that build a stronger business relationship among AEC companies and their customers.' 'Data security and accessibility are more important than ever, and the Australian construction industry is rising to meet the challenge', said Bluebeam Regional Director Kelly Furtado. 'We've applied Bluebeam's customer-centric approach to the development of our local data infrastructure and listened to the needs of Australian customers. We are proud to have launched a new local server instance that not only allows local projects to meet Australian data residency regulations but improves overall Studio performance in the broader APAC region.' Studio is a collaborative space accessed from within Revu that transforms the application into a real-time collaboration solution, allowing teams to stay connected across the globe from wherever they are whether its the jobsite, the trailer or most recently their homes. Studio Projects provide access to a single centralised location to store documents even entire building projects in the cloud, and Revu 20 delivers improved access and control. Revu 20 also introduces an improved invitation process and administrative controls in Studio Sessions that make it easier than ever for team members and administrators worldwide to instantly connect on the same set of documents and take advantage of real-time connectivity. Revu 20 Standard, CAD and eXtreme editions are available now at Bluebeam.com.au and through our worldwide reseller network Bluebeam, Inc. Trusted by over 1.9 million individuals in more than 130 countries, Bluebeam's smart, intuitive markup and collaboration solutions advance the way technical professionals work, manage and collaborate on projects digitally. Founded in Pasadena, CA, Bluebeam has grown to include additional US offices in California, Illinois, Texas and New Hampshire, as well as offices in England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Australia. Bluebeam is part of the Nemetschek Group. Download a 30-day trial of Bluebeam Revu on our website. Attachment CONTACT: Megan Johnstone Bluebeam, Inc. +61 (07) 3608 5800 mjohnstone@bluebeam.com Oracle's possible pursuit of a deal for TikTok, owned by Chinas ByteDance, makes more sense in light of its desire to build up its cloud-computing and consumer-data businesses. Oracles preliminary interest in making a bid for TikTok, on first glance, looks like an awkward fit -- the 43-year-old software giant best known for legacy corporate databases and the music-video sharing app beloved by teens seem as different as two companies can be. But the match may not be as far-fetched as it first appears. The worlds second-largest software maker has approached investors including Sequoia Capital to partner on a bid for TikToks business in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg late Monday. The companys possible pursuit of a deal for the social network, owned by Chinas ByteDance, makes more sense in light of Oracles desire to build up its cloud-computing and consumer-data businesses -- and comes into even clearer focus considering Oracles close ties to US President Donald Trump and Chairman Larry Ellisons cheerleading for American tech interests. Microsoft has been seen as the front-runner in the race to acquire TikToks US assets, and is the only company to publicly confirm talks with ByteDance. Trump told reporters Tuesday that Oracle also is interested in TikTok and could handle a purchase of the service. The president on Friday ordered ByteDance to sell its US assets within 90 days, adding to an earlier executive order that would prohibit U.S. persons and companies from doing business with TikTok effective 45 days from August 6. While Microsoft at first seemed like an unlikely suitor, the company already has consumer-facing units -- gaming platform Xbox and LinkedIn, a social network for business professionals. Oracle and Microsoft are peers founded in the 1970s, but Microsoft has seen a resurgence because of its success in cloud computing. Oracle, meanwhile, has experienced stagnant sales and reduced relevance, and could badly use a win in the cloud-services market. TikTok has more than 100 million users in the U.S. When the company separates its technology from ByteDance, it will need to find new places to store the huge amount of data generated by these users. The app could be an anchor tenant for Oracles Cloud Infrastructure unit, which hosts client information, but has struggled to keep up with rivals Amazon and Microsoft. Oracle has seven data-center regions for businesses across North America and Australia. The company has declined to comment on its potential interest in TikTok. Oracle is one of the other players with the infrastructure to support an ecosystem and user base as massive as TikTok, said Daniel Elman, an analyst at Nucleus Research. Forgoing payments to external cloud vendors could save TikTok billions annually, he said. While Oracle doesnt have any consumer-facing business, Ellison has sought a piece of the lucrative ad-targeting market with the companys Data Cloud, which includes a data-brokerage business that creates profiles of ordinary people and sells them to advertisers. The billionaire co-founder has boasted about how his trove of consumer data is second only to Facebook, and has said that Oracle needs to help businesses target their customers better than competitors. The unit has struggled since the European Unions data-privacy law, GDPR, went into effect in 2018, and the company curtailed its practice of tracking consumers in the region. Facebook also changed its ad-targeting practices after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, making it harder for third parties like Oracle to help advertisers find niche audiences. Oracle fired around 5% of the divisions staff in 2018. In June 2019, the company said that revenue had fallen 15% in the unit. A month later, the divisions leader, Eric Roza, departed the company. TikTok could spearhead a resurgence for the division, giving Oracle information about consumers that would be useful to advertisers, and also offer a platform where those clients could run their ads -- dramatically simplifying the process. ByteDance would still control TikToks European business, so Oracle wouldnt have to worry about GDPR, but it would face all the other challenges of running a social-media company, including having to remove inflammatory and violent content and answering to US lawmakers increasingly worried about consumer privacy and social-media disinformation. The company has little experience in this area and may face a more hostile administration if Trump loses re-election after Oracle secures a TikTok deal. Oracle is a rare Silicon Valley company with close ties to the president, even partnering with the White House on an effort earlier this year to track the effects of using hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. Ellison and Oracle Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz personally support Trumps re-election effort. Ellison has also emerged as a China hawk, saying in 2018 that its important the US wins the battle with China and deciding to significantly reduce Oracles footprint in the country. Snatching TikToks American business would blunt Chinese progress in the US tech market. Then theres the matter of scale. Oracle, with $43 billion of cash and securities on hand, could easily fund a TikTok acquisition, which is estimated by bankers to be valued at $20 billion to $50 billion. After years of being acquisitive, Oracle has slowed its deals recently, saying it has all of the technology it needs to grow. Now, it seems even 76-year-old Ellison isnt immune to the TikTok phenomenon. The United States has told Britain it will not insist on the death penalty for two alleged ISIS militants suspected of beheading Western hostages. In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, US Attorney General Bill Barr signalled that capital punishment could be dropped in a potential case against Alexana Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, members of the so-called 'Beatles' execution squad. An agreement to remove the death penalty from a successful prosecution could see the men, currently being held in military detention in Iraq, stand trial in the US. In return, the British government would provide evidence in the case. Mr Barr and his predecessor Jeff Sessions initially baulked at efforts to drop the death sentence. It is understood the U-turn has occurred after the Supreme Court in London blocked the 'unlawful' sharing of evidence with US authorities. In March, a panel of seven justices ruled that then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid's decision to share evidence was driven by 'political pressure from the US'. It is understood that US assurances to drop the death penalty in a potential case is seen as a welcome development by the Home Office. According to the Associated Press, Mr Barr said in his letter to Ms Patel: 'I know that the United Kingdom shares our determination that there should be a full investigation and a criminal prosecution of Kotey and Elsheikh. Alexanda Amon Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right), who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles' In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, US Attorney General Bill Barr has signalled that capital punishment could be dropped against Alexana Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, members of the so-called 'Beatles' execution squad Supreme Court judge in ISIS Beatles case blasts UK government for bowing to US pressure in 'unlawfully' sharing evidence against terrorist dubbed 'George' without getting assurances he'd be spared death penalty Giving the lead ruling, Lord Kerr said former Home Secretary Sajid Javid's decision to transfer their personal data was 'based on political expediency'. He said that Mr Javid's behaviour did not meet 'statutory criteria' and argued the transfer would be 'lawful if it is based on what is called an adequacy decision'. Mr Javid, then Home Secretary, was accused of making a 'secret and unilateral' change to Britain's stance by MPs and human rights lawyers. In June 2018, Mr Javid authorised the sharing of 600 witness statements gathered by the Metropolitan Police under a 'mutual legal assistance' agreement in a letter to then US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr Javid faced intense criticism after the letter to Mr Sessions was leaked, with MPs accusing him of breaching the UK's opposition to the death penalty. According to the Supreme Court, civil servants wrote to then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in June 2018, a day after Mr Javid met with Mr Sessions. They advised Mr Johnson to urge the Home Secretary to seek a full assurance. Their submission accepted, however, that sharing information without assurances provided the greatest chance of the US pursuing a federal prosecution. According to Lord Kerr's judgment, the submission said: 'A successful prosecution will serve as a deterrent to others and give the public confidence in our ability to see justice served. However, there are wider national security risks if the prosecution results in execution as this could be used by radicalisers in the UK.' Mr Javid wrote to Mr Johnson on June 11, 2018, indicating that 'significant attempts' had been made to obtain assurances, but that the time had arrived to accede to the request for information without seeking any assurance. He acknowledged that there was a serious risk that Elsheikh and Kotey would, if prosecuted and convicted, face execution as a direct result of UK assistance. Mr Johnson replied on June 20: 'On a balanced assessment of the key risks... I agree that as this is a unique and unprecedented case, it is in the UK's national security interests to accede to an MLA request for a criminal prosecution without death penalty assurances for Kotey and Elsheikh'. Advertisement 'These men are alleged to be members of the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and to have been involved in kidnappings, murders, and other violent crimes against the citizens of our two countries, as well as the citizens of other countries. 'If we receive the requested evidence and attendant cooperation from the United Kingdom, we intend to proceed with a United States prosecution. Indeed, it is these unique circumstances that have led me to provide the assurance offered in this letter.' Elsheikh and Kotey, who were caught in January 2018, are accused of belonging to a brutal four-man cell of executioners in Syria, nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents, responsible for killing 27 captives. Other members of the cell are said to include Mohammed Emwazi, the group's ringleader, also known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences. Kotey and Elsheikh, who were raised in the UK but have been stripped of their British citizenship, were seized by the Syrian Democratic Forces in January 2018. Their capture sparked an international row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or face justice in another jurisdiction. They were transferred to US custody last October as Turkey invaded Syria to attack Kurds who have battling ISIS alongside US forces. They are being held overseas. Emwazi appeared in a number of videos in which hostages, including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were killed. US officials have not announced any charges against Elsheikh and Kotey, but have spoken publicly about their desire to see members of the group face justice. Mr Barr said the British government had until October 15 to resolve any legal objections it may have and to provide US authorities with the evidence they seek. Otherwise, the men will be transferred to Iraqi custody for prosecution by Iraqi authorities, Barr wrote. He said the US would not provide to third countries that might impose the death penalty any evidence it has already received, or may received, from the UK. The British government confirmed that it had received the letter, with the Home Office saying in a statement that its top priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for families. The decision is a significant development in years of wrangling over Kotey and Elsheikh. The US and British governments have an agreement to share documents, records and other evidence in criminal investigations. In 2015, the Justice Department asked for evidence that Britain had gathered on the 'Beatles,' saying it was doing its own investigation into Americans who were murdered in Syria. British authorities had been willing to provide the US with evidence even without assurances that the men would not be executed if convicted. In July 2018, after lawyers for Elsheikh demanded a review of the decision to allow the men to be put on trial in the US, Britain's Home Office temporarily suspended cooperation with US authorities. Then, in March, the British Supreme Court held that it was unlawful for the United Kingdom to provide evidence to a foreign country that could be used in a death penalty prosecution. The court has not yet issued its final order, Barr said, and even after that there could be additional litigation to block transfer of the evidence. Alexanda Amon Kotey (right) and El Shafee Elsheikh (left), who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles' Other members of the cell are said to include Mohammed Emwazi, the group's ringleader, also known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences The IS militants known as the 'Beatles' held Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them, and also beheaded a group of journalists and aid workers in gruesome videos that were released to the world as propaganda. Emwazi was responsible for the beheading of James Foley, a 40-year-old freelance journalist who was killed in Syria after being kidnapped by militants. A video of that killing circulated online six years ago Wednesday. His mother, Diane Foley, said in an interview that she was gratified by the Justice Department's action, which Barr had said would be coming soon in a conversation with her and other victims' families this month. 'I feel that both countries ideally should work together to hold these men accountable and give them a fair trial,' Foley said. 'If they are guilty, they need to be put away for the rest of their lives.' She said the only way to stop acts of terrorism was to hold the perpetrators accountable. 'This would be a huge step, so I am just very, very hopeful and grateful to the attorney general' and the Justice Department, she said. A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government's priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for the victims and their families. 'We continue to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh are brought to justice. 321 Shares Share Julian (his real name) has been extremely careful for many months, working from home, foregoing seeing friends, and avoiding stores. But his new puppy Rufus requires socialization, so by his own admission, he is being less careful as he/the dog interact with humans and other canines. In a completely anecdotal and unscientific manner (and in definitive contrast to the methodology of my training), I have been polling friends, family members, and colleagues about their activities during the current phase of the pandemic. The unrepresentative sampling frame includes no individuals who believe that the coronavirus is hoax. Nor do they subscribe to the just a flu notion. Further, my survey is limited to a few regions of the U.S. I am curious about how people parse decisions about risk based on their own values. I have learned that individuals construct a highly personal value system about risking exposure to the coronavirus; this is risk tolerance. There are so many factors that go into how to assess the exposure risks we are willing to take for non-essential activities versus the rewards we might receive in exchange. The interplay of age, health status, local restrictions, and economics (livelihood, transportation needs) are only a part of the equation. I continue to act as a resource for some about what they should or should not do to minimize risk. Although I am following the science, the updates, and reviewing the emerging literature, the volume of data is overwhelming and distressingly seems to be changing almost daily. Therefore, I usually refer questions to several high-level experts. For practical advice, Dr. Erin Bromage, a professor of biology who studies animal immunology, is unparalleled in his concise, even-toned approach. He ladles out the how-to with a keen understanding that folks are going to need to be out and about, and stratifies the risks in plain language. Im currently focusing on the additive nature of the small/moderate risks we take. Even the activities with low risk of virus transmission, when combined, signify a greater risk regardless of other factors. I term this incremental risk. No one states this idea more clearly than Dr. Bromage: The more we move, and the more interactions we have, the greater the chance of infection. Many other experts have staged risk of exposure, based on science and common sense. I really like the simple graphic from the Texas Medical Association. For adults (excluding work-related activity), there are a series of decisions made each day about what optional activities are ok, safe, probably safe, a little risky, but worth it. This is exhausting; many of us are suffering from decision fatigue. The social isolation, deprivation, and overall pessimistic tone of our world may lead us to take chances in the interest of preserving mental health. So, there is risk-reward inherent in each decision. It has become more and more clear that being outdoors is much safer than being indoors, due to the aerosolization of viral particles. What that means is, despite what you may hear from eager merchants or ones own sense of complacency, going inside whether it is a friends home or a store, is a whole lot riskier than walking in the park yes, even with masks. Think about the activities you engage in during the course of a week and do the calculus: Do you hug your kids who may have been out and about? Do you allow others into your home (friends, cleaners, contractors, etc.) Do you make many trips to stores? Do you go to doctors (nonurgently), barbers, hair, or nail salons? Do you share food with other people not in your household? Do you dine in restaurants, indoors, or outdoors? Do you go to gatherings of more than ten people? And so on and so forth. Each of these actions conveys a certain amount of risk, some more than others. If you did one of these, your risk would be lower than if you did all of these; and that is precisely my point. Its a matter of frequency. This might seem intuitive, but in the setting of economic and social pressure, combined with having to learn a whole new way of adaptive living, it may not be so self-evident, or you may justify the risk. Further, if you have gone to the store and feel safe, you may have created a false sense of security such that multiple trips do not seem to compute as increased risk. Heres what Im hearing about: Grocery shopping is not optional; its necessary. But if you go every day and to multiple stores, you are increasing the chance you will be exposed. From my informal survey, this practice is extremely common. Yet, experts advise to consolidate shopping. In fact, in my experience, there is always at least one person (shoppers AND workers) in every store I have visited who is either not masked or masked incorrectly. Many people report that they are going stir-crazy without seeing friends and family members or being among others. So the trade-off is clear: maintaining sanity is prioritized. Everyone wants things to return to normal, so they are doing normal things, albeit with precautions. In reality, there is still so much that is unknown about coronavirus transmission, so it is too soon to attempt normalcy. I offer my recommendations for decreased risk of acquiring COVID-19: Use the Texas Medical Association graphic (link above) to perform a self-assessment of exposure risk. Evaluate your choices on a continual basis to check in with potential for denial or justification of actions. Look for hidden sources of transmission (e.g., repeated trips to the grocery or other stores). Plan activities in advance to increase efficiency and prevent extra actions or surprises. Consider telehealth visits in lieu of in-person doctor visits. To the extent its possible, move activities to the outdoors. Delay salon visits. (Its a 7 out of 10 on the risk scale!) Personally, Im walking on the side of caution, but I understand how others might take a different approach. When Im asked for advice about what is safe versus not, I emphasize only that it is key to be realistic the opposite of being in denial about the risks we subject ourselves to. Importantly, this denial may be unconscious. I take my cues from Dr. Bromage. When he tells me its ideal to bring ones own food and utensils to a friends backyard barbeque, that is advice I can easily follow. Is this extreme? No doubt, but it aligns with my own preferences, priorities, and values and harms no one. Sara L. Merwin is the co-author of The Informed Patient: A Complete Guide to a Hospital Stay. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa who started his Saudi Arabia visit on Monday to calm diplomatic strains has returned home after been declined a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Gen Bajwa had to settle for a meeting with the Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman, also the younger brother of the Crown Prince, as well as Maj Gen Fayyad Al Ruwaili, the kingdoms chief of general staff, people familiar with the matter in Riyadh and New Delhi. Bajwa is learnt to have conveyed the Imran Khan governments apology over foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshis statement that criticised Saudi Arabia over the reluctance of the Organisation of Islamic Countries to convene a meeting of OIC foreign ministers to discuss Kashmir. But the regret conveyed to Deputy Defence Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Salman during their meeting on Tuesday, didnt get Islamabad any further in Riyadh. General Bajwas interactions in the kingdom were limited to Saudis defence establishment, just as Pakistan military had claimed after news of General Bajwas trip was leaked back home. This version was, however, contradicted by Pakistan minister Sheikh Rasheed on Saturday who told a news channel that the army chief was visiting Saudi Arabia to iron out outstanding minor differences General Bajwa is accompanied on this visit by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Faiz Hameed. There has been a buzz in Islamabad that PM Khan was not averse to dropping Qureshi, who crossed the red line with Saudi Arabia when he threatened to call a conference of Islamic countries outside the OIC if it did not call a conference of foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Kashmir. Pakistan has long pressed the Saudi-led OIC to convene a high-level meeting to highlight alleged Indian violations in the part it controls but hasnt got its way so far. If you (OIC) cannot convene it, then Ill be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told local media last week. An Indian diplomat said after India cemented its ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries over the last six years, Pakistan had distanced itself from its projected Arab legacy and moved towards Erdogans Ottoman revival. Turkeys position on Kashmir mirrors Pakistans stand. At his meeting in Riyadh, Gen Bajwa is also learnt to have floated a proposal for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) contact group on Kashmir on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting to be held under Turkey. The OIC contact group on Kashmir, formed in 1994, is a smaller group of OIC foreign ministers. It has already met on June 22 this year to discuss Kashmir when foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey attended the meeting. A diplomat in Delhi said the proposal appeared to be a face-saver for Imran Khan vis-a-vis his Pakistans domestic audience. Imran Khan hasnt commented on Qureshis statement so far but over the last one week, there has been an effort to distance PM Khan from Qureshi. Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari was the face of this effort when she publicly criticised the countrys foreign affairs ministry by saying that it had let down both the Kashmiris and PM Khan. The criticism was a sharp contrast to PM Khan telling the National Assembly just weeks earlier that Pakistans foreign policy, mostly directed at Kashmir, was the biggest achievement of his government. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:03:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HAIKOU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sales of offshore duty-free shops in China's island province of Hainan exceeded 5 billion yuan (about 720 million U.S. dollars) from July 1 to August 18, an increase of 250 percent year on year, local authorities said Wednesday. Data showed some 740,000 customers visited Hainan's duty-free shops during the period, up 70 percent year on year. Chen Xi, director of the provincial department of commerce, said the newly introduced duty-free goods were welcomed by customers, with mobile phones, liquor and tablets being the best-selling products. Total sales of single products priced above 8,000 yuan reached nearly 1.2 billion yuan, surging by 420 percent year on year. "It has played an important role in winning back consumers who bought high-end products overseas," Chen said. Starting on July 1, Hainan increased its annual tax-free shopping quota from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person. The range of duty-free goods has also expanded from 38 categories to 45, while the previous tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product has been lifted. China released a master plan in early June on building the southern island province into a globally influential free trade port. Enditem Ben Cross, the actor best known to one generation for playing a determined runner in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire and to another audience decades later for his role in a reboot of Star Trek, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Vienna. He was 72. His daughter, Lauren, confirmed the death but did not specify the cause, though she said it was not Covid-19. Chariots of Fire tells the true story of two track stars representing Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics who are vying for medals and world records but also for something greater. Mr. Cross played Harold Abrahams, a furiously competitive athlete and a son of Jewish immigrants who fights anti-Semitism as a Cambridge student while seeking visibility in Anglo-Saxon society. In 2009, Mr. Cross appeared in the Star Trek reboot playing Spocks father, Sarek, who imparts this bit of advice to this son: What is necessary is never unwise. WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Pharmacists Association applauds today's announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which authorizes licensed pharmacists to provide all vaccines recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and approved or licensed by the FDA, to all children ages 3 to 18 during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of state laws and regulations to the contrary. HHS took this important step to increase access to lifesaving childhood vaccines and decrease the risk of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks as children across the United States return to daycare, preschool and school. "This is great news from HHS," said Scott J. Knoer, MS, PharmD, FASHP, Executive Vice President and CEO of APhA. "We have long advocated that pharmacists are uniquely positioned to address this public health emergency, and we worked with HHS to develop this strategy to engage all pharmacists. As Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, said today, pharmacists have always been a trusted voice in the community, and they're accessible. We couldn't agree more!" Under today's action from HHS: The vaccine must be FDA-approved or licensed. The vaccination must be ordered and administered according to the CDC's ACIP-immunization schedules. The licensed pharmacist must complete a practical training program of at least 20 hours that is approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)ACPE training is also required for licensed or registered pharmacy interns. Pharmacists must also complete a minimum of two hours of ACPE-approved, immunization-related continuing pharmacy education during each State licensing period. The licensed pharmacist and licensed or registered pharmacy intern must have a current certificate in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The licensed pharmacist must comply with recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the jurisdiction in which he or she administers vaccines, including: Informing the patient's primary-care provider when available, Submitting the required immunization information to the State or local immunization information system (vaccine registry), Complying with requirements with respect to reporting adverse events, and Complying with requirements whereby the person administering a vaccine must review the vaccine registry or other vaccination records prior to administering a vaccine. The licensed pharmacist must inform his or her childhood-vaccination patients and the adult caregivers accompanying the children of the importance of a well-child visit with a pediatrician or other licensed primary care provider and refer patients as appropriate. Pharmacists and pharmacy interns may still order or administer vaccines to individuals ages two or younger to the extent authorized under state law to meet a community need. APhA and our colleagues in pharmacy are committed to working with the entire healthcare team and other members of the immunization neighborhood to protect our communities from vaccine-preventable diseases. APhA plans to work with our pharmacy and public health partners to advise our states' governors to ensure that all qualified community-based pharmacists and pharmacies play a vital role in every states' vaccine distribution and immunization plans. About the American Pharmacists Association The American Pharmacists Association is the largest association representing all of pharmacy, bringing together practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and others to support pharmacists' ability to deliver optimal patient care. For more information, please visit www.pharmacist.com. SOURCE American Pharmacists Association Related Links http://www.pharmacist.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 Trend: The letter on irresponsible actions and provocative statements of Armenian leadership, which pose serious challenge to negotiation process was published as UNGA and UNSC document, Trend reports with reference to the letter. The letter was written by Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov and was submitted to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General I am writing to convey profound concerns of my Government over continued irresponsible actions and provocative statements of Armenia against the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which pose existential challenges to the already shaky negotiation process under the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Bayramov wrote in the letter. Bayramov noted that on July 12, Azerbaijan yet another time became subject to an armed attack by Armenia along the Azerbaijan-Armenian international border. During four consecutive days, Armenia subjected Azerbaijani military positions and nearby residential areas to heavy artillery shelling. As a result, Azerbaijan suffered civilian and military casualties, and serious damage was inflicted upon civilian infrastructure, including private houses and hospitals, Azerbaijani minister wrote. He emphasized that the attack by Armenia from 12 to 16 July was by no means a spontaneous military incident, but yet another deliberate act of aggression, being the latest manifestation of illegal use of force by Armenia against Azerbaijan, and pursued the goal of seizing new part of Azerbaijan. This reckless military assault was planned well in advance on the basis of aggressive military doctrine, which according to the Minister of Defense of Armenia envisages "preemptive strikes aiming at creating more favorable security situation' and "new war for new territories, Bayramov wrote. He added that acting upon such an aggressive military doctrine, the July 12 attack was deliberately carried out along the international border on the basis of several military and political calculations. First of all, the border was seen by Armenia as the most favorable place to conduct a 'surprise strike' on Azerbaijan, in light of the decision by Azerbaijan to gradually demilitarize the non-occupied part of the border and put it under control of the State Border Service. Apparently, Armenia made an attempt, albeit unsuccessful, to exploit this goodwill gesture of Azerbaijan. Secondly, the attack was carried out in the region through which critical energy and transport infrastructure of Azerbaijan runs, thus threatening the energy resources' supplies from Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the attack along the border pursued the aim of creating a pretext for a possible intervention of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, of which Armenia is a member, Azerbaijani minister wrote. Yet, he said, all these calculations of Armenia proved to be wrong. The attack was successfully repulsed, and the threat to civilian Azerbaijani settlements and critical infrastructure was effectively neutralized by adequate countermeasures by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. But apparently, it did not stop Armenia from exploring further possibilities for its destabilizing purposes, Bayramov said. Thus, Bayramov added, having failed on the battlefield, the Armenian leadership resorted to the campaign of terror and intimidation against Azerbaijanis abroad through radical Armenian diaspora organizations. In different parts of the world, Armenian ultra-nationalist extremist groups, wearing signs of notorious Armenian terror organizations, such as the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), attacked and vandalized the premises of Azerbaijani diplomatic missions, attempted to obstruct peaceful and pre-authorized demonstrations of Azerbaijani community members, and physically and verbally assaulted individual Azerbaijanis including diplomats and journalists. Along with massive physical violence, the Internet as well as social media were extensively abused to disseminate hatred and intimidation, including open death threats against Azerbaijanis, Bayramov said. In his words, all these destabilizing actions of Armenia are accompanied by extremely provocative rhetoric by the Armenian senior leadership, which cannot but seriously undermine the settlement process, rendering the negotiations absolutely meaningless. Most recently, the Prime Minister of Armenia has publicly confessed that the strategic goal for Armenia in the settlement process of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to "safeguard the results of the war". The Armenian leadership publicly conditioned the resumption of negotiations, which is paused due to their own faults, with unrealistic and illegitimate claims pursuing notorious purpose of imposing fait accompli and annexation of currently occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the minister wrote. He added that this is diametrically opposite to the spirit and logic of negotiations under the OSCE Minsk Group. It should be reminded once again that the task of the negotiation process, as defined by relevant OSCE decisions and endorsed by four resolutions of the[UN] Security Council (822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993)), is to eliminate, through de-occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, the consequences of the war unleashed by Armenia. Azerbaijan has been participating in this process for almost three decades with that purpose, aiming at restoring its territorial integrity through peaceful means. This commitment of Azerbaijan to peace is without prejudice to its rights under the Charter of the United Nations and international law, in general, and thus should not be taken for granted and further abused, Bayramov said. He added that it is within this context that the Azerbaijani side appeals to the international community to firmly stand behind the values, norms and principles underpinning civilized international order by condemning the destabilizing actions and inflammatory statements by Armenia that is blatantly violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and to urge Armenia to comply with the principles of inter-state relations and to fulfill in good faith its obligations under the [UN] Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council of 1993. This is crucially important in order to slop Armenia from undermining the remaining perspectives for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In this regard, we count on your solidarity and effective support in defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani minister said. 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. NOGAID Ghana, a forefront development organisation in the Northern Region, has urged the citizenry to applaud the Electoral Commission (EC) for successfully creating a new voters register. NOGAID Ghana said Undoubtedly, Madam Jean Mensa and her colleagues demonstrated real leadership by sticking to their belief that a new voters register is conterminous with delivering free, fair and transparent elections in December. It said The Commissions ability to manage some provocations from social media users and the tact used to carry along almost all stakeholders, coupled with its discreet crisis communication management processes is laudable. This was in a statement issued by NOGAID Ghana signed by Mr Mustapha Sanah, its Executive Chairman, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale. The statement said Jean Mensas strong leadership and commitment to Ghanas democracy has produced for our nation a new register, which we are all proud of. Despite the challenges, tur- out was impressive and majority of qualified voters captured to the satisfaction of all parties. This undoubtedly increased the voters roll from 15,712,505 in the 2016 album to 16,963,306 in 2020, an increase of about 7.4 per cent. It said the Electoral Commission did not have the comfort of sufficient time for mass education and other forms of preparations adding The Commission, by the competence demonstrated despite the challenges, proved capable of winning the trust and confidence of all Ghanaians to deliver free, fair and transparent elections in December. It said We monitored with keen interest the national conversation surrounding the creation of a new voters register and the strong proponents as well as opponents of the idea. This generated enormous public rancour and legal tussles that nearly marred the progress of our national peace and unity. It added that At some stage, our fraternity within the CSO community nearly broke down with the various entrenched positions adopted by actors. It said The innovative Let the Citizen Know concept introduced by the Commission during the registration period to periodically provide timely update to Ghanaians on daily and weekly basis, by breaking down and itemising all key and relevant demographic information and figures for the registration process was a novelty. The statement said In the course of the six-week registration exercise, NOGAID Ghana visited about 122 registration centres across the five Regions of the North, and interacted with more than 1,350 party agents, electoral officers, security personnel and registrants. The verdict of all these stakeholders was that the exercise was a big success and a plus to our democracy. It, therefore, called on all stakeholders To work together to expunge the names of unqualified people, who infiltrated the register, including; minors and foreigners. The EC should declare a two-week amnesty for the voluntary cleansing of minors and foreigners from the register. This will encourage the minors to come forward to delete their names from the voters roll. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Several Republican Pennsylvania lawmakers are voicing concerns about the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show transitioning to a virtual platform. In a press statement, Rep. Mark Keller, a Republican serving Perry/Cumberland counties, said hes concerned about the impact on youth exhibitors who show livestock and present exhibits. I think its going to be devastating. Not only have our young farmers invested time and money in preparing their animals for the Farm Show, but also these are the same teenagers from rural communities without access to high-speed internet for the virtual components, Keller said. The chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee said the Department of Agricultures announcement contained few details and does nothing to ease the concerns of families who have been preparing for the show. During a press conference today, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding said organizers have made the difficult decision to not host the traditional in-person event at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Farm Show is known as the largest indoor agricultural exposition under one roof in the nation, with nearly 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive exhibits and 300 commercial exhibits every year. The virtual event will be hosted Jan. 9-16 with the theme Cultivating Tomorrow. Farmers and their families have sacrificed so much during this pandemic and they should not be punished as a result of the administrations moving goalposts and shifting priorities, said Jason Gottesman, spokesman for the House Republicans. Pennsylvanians have sacrificed their lives and livelihoods in flattening the curve, building healthcare capacity, and mitigating the spread of COVID-19. " Gottesman added Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration made the decision four months ahead of the show without providing justification or data to back up the notion that the situation on the ground will not be any different in January. Shannon Powers, Department of Agriculture spokeswoman, said the decision to move to a virtual platform was made now due to the size and complexity of the event. In addition, youth and adults competing in animal events traditionally purchase those animals now, she said. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-18 23:42:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHENGDU, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday activated the highest level of flood control response for the first time on record, as rain-induced floods ravaged parts of the province. Continuous rainfall has caused 22 major rivers in Sichuan to exceed their flood warning levels. Swelling rivers have flooded some urban areas in the city of Ya'an and Leshan. Local authorities have evacuated more than 100,000 people affected by the disaster. The province's flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the response to Level I, the highest in the four-tier emergency response system, at 5 a.m. Tuesday. The Ya'an section of the Qingyi River was hit by a major flood rarely seen in a hundred years, while water levels in the entire Qingyi River basin, as well as the lower reaches of Dadu River and Minjiang River, are expected to exceed warning levels. "I have never seen such a big flood on the (Qingyi) river. All the furniture on the first floor of my house was soaked in water on Monday night," said Wu Zhongjin, a resident of Caoba Township, Ya'an. Liao Yuanbing, the town chief, said on Tuesday that nearly 20,000 people in the township had been evacuated to safety, as rescuers were still searching for people who might be trapped in low-lying places. Many local people were clearing water, mud and debris from their houses with shovels and brooms. In Leshan, fire fighters sent in by a helicopter and speed boats are helping 1,020 people stranded on Fengzhou Island. Food and drinking water have been sent to the trapped residents, who were suffering from shortages nearly a day after the flood cut off the road traffic. The Jiuzhaigou National Park, also known as the Jiuzhai Valley, a UNESCO world heritage site famed for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forests, serene plateau lakes and karst rock formations in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, announced temporary closure due to safety concerns. Incessant torrential rainfall has blocked roads to the scenic spot, with part of the area flooded by a river, according to the site's administration. Water levels in the main streams of Baishuijiang, Baihe and Tangzhu rivers in Jiuzhaigou County exceeded historic highs, with dykes breached in some sections and arterial traffic cut off, the county's flood control and drought relief headquarters said. Floods also affected the Leshan Giant Buddha, another UNESCO world heritage site situated outside the city of Leshan. Flood water reached the toes of the Buddha statue for the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. On Monday night, local police and scenic-spot staff placed sandbags at the platform under the Buddha's feet, building a dam-like structure to protect the statue. However, by around 10 a.m. Tuesday, with the water levels of local rivers rapidly rising, the flood water had already covered the toes of the statue. There is an old saying in Leshan: the city will be flooded entirely when the Giant Buddha's feet are flooded. Leshan has activated its highest-level flood control response. The Buddha statue, carved into a cliff in Leshan Mountain and overlooking three converging rivers, was built over a 90-year period starting in the year 713, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Chen Changming, vice mayor of Leshan, said that the top priorities of the city government are to protect the lives of those who have been resettled and carry out post-disaster epidemic prevention. The Sichuan provincial meteorological observatory said the main rain belt is leaving the province. However, rain-soaked areas are still prone to geological disasters such as landslides and mudslides. Upstream areas of major rivers in the province are still likely to see floods. Enditem An Iranian delegation in Syria has called on Turkey to implement the Sochi agreement and respect the sovereignty of Syria and its territorial integrity writes The Syria Times. The Senior Aide of the Iranian Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Asghar Khaji has stressed that the Turkish regime should implement all the agreements that were concluded regarding the de-escalation zone in Idleb, reiterating that the Syrian state must extends its sovereignty over all Syrian territory. In a statement to reporters following talks with President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Monday, Asghar Khaji said, We are against any illegal presence of foreign troops or terrorists in Syria. We asked the Turks to implement all the agreements concluded in Sochi and always insisted on imposing the sovereignty of the Syrian state over its land. Replying a question from Syrian newspaper Al-Watan concerning the forthcoming meeting of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, Asghar Khaji said, the Constitutional Committee was formed with specific goals. These goals should be achieved without the interference of any foreign party. Our participation in Geneva meetings doesnt mean that we will participate in the activities of the committee, because the meeting is an intra-Syrian one and we wont accept any foreign interference, Asghar Khaji added. On the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Asghar Khaji said that the agreement is an incorrect step that doesnt serve the interests of the region. The Iranian official made it clear that his visit to Syria was to hold talks with Assad and other senior Syrian officials on important developments, including the situation on the ground in Idleb, the recent parliamentary elections in Syria and the unfair sanctions imposed by the United States under the so-called Caesar Act. 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. Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. The surgery was supposed to be a turning point. Brenda Emery spent a year preparing for the vaginoplasty. To save up for it, she took jobs in food service straight out of college and moved in with her mother. She talked at length to therapists and medical experts to make sure the procedure to modify her lower body was what she really wanted as a transgender woman. After the surgery, Emery hoped, she would be fully comfortable in her own body. Finally, she could pursue dreams of working in local theaters that had been put on hold to save money. So this March, she quit her restaurant job and prepared to travel from her home in the Maryland suburbs to New York for the procedure. Then came the novel coronavirus, halting all non-emergency surgeries. "I just felt numb. I didn't know how to process it," Emery, 26, said. Her surgery got rescheduled for May, only to be canceled again. Unemployed and unsure whether the procedure would still happen, Emery spent her days in bed, grappling with anxiety, sadness and frustration. "It felt like I put my whole life on hold." Even as the coronavirus has upended lives throughout the country, it has taken a deep toll on the transgender community, a population that has long struggled with higher rates of mental illness and poor medical care because of discrimination and abuse. Since the pandemic began, crisis calls to Trans Lifeline - a crisis telephone line staffed by transgender people - have risen 40% and continue to climb. At Whitman-Walker, an LGBTQ-focused community health center in Washington, mental health providers are seeing 25% more patients than they did before the pandemic, and they are no longer able to accept new referrals. Transgender peer support groups at Whitman-Walker have also reached capacity since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, advocates say some are experiencing more abuse than usual, especially as some are forced to move back home or stay closer to people who don't support them. Homicides of transgender people, for example, have skyrocketed. In 2019, the Human Rights Campaign tracked at least 27 deaths nationally from violence against transgender and gender nonconforming people. In the first half of this year, the homicide total has already reached 26, according to the Human Rights Campaign. In recent months, the cratering economy has alarmed many in the transgender population, which experiences a substantially higher rate of unemployment and workplace discrimination. Advocates for transgender rights say unemployment has a domino effect: lack of jobs means lack of insurance and medical care. Such struggles combined with isolation have placed increasing psychological pressure on a population already beset with high rates of suicide and mental health crises. For example, a study in the September 2018 issue of Pediatrics, the flagship journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, showed that transgender adolescents attempt suicide at a much higher rate than young people whose gender identity matches the sex on their birth certificates. "We're survivors as a community," said Elena Rose Vera, executive director of Trans Lifeline. "But all these problems reinforce each other and exacerbate everything we're already facing. . . . It's like the volume has been turned up on everything." While studies have shown the coronavirus has disproportionately infected and killed African Americans and Hispanics, the extent of the coronavirus's effect on the transgender community is unclear because most states do not collect data on the LGBTQ community. In recent weeks - five months into the pandemic - California became one of the few to begin doing so. Experts are particularly worried about an alarming increase in mental health problems. The pandemic has increased anxiety and depression across the country, and transgender people may be enduring the additional stresses of the pandemic with an already elevated risk for mental crises. A survey conducted online among a non-random volunteer sample of 27,715 transgender people found that 40% of respondents had attempted suicide in their lifetimes, 8 times the rate of the general population. Those results provide a glimpse of the mental health experiences of transgender Americans, although the finding cannot be projected to the overall transgender population. In the past, what has driven much of that mental health burden is gender dysphoria - the psychological pain caused by living in a body that does not match one's gender identity. "But that's powerfully alleviated by getting the care that we need," Vera said. "The further struggles we have are due to people treating us poorly." Transgender mental health counselors say they have seen signs those struggles have increased in intensity during the pandemic. In many of the calls fielded by Trans Lifeline, counselors say, people have talked of being forced to quarantine with families or partners who were unsupportive or abusive. Other people, like Emery, have struggled with rescheduled surgery or obtaining other transition-related care. Britt Walsh, director of gender-affirming care at Whitman-Walker, said mental health problems early in the pandemic were often attributable to delays in care. "There's very real devastation and day-to-day upheaval. Access for surgery requires jumping through hoops and gate-keeping to prove to your insurance that this is medically necessary," Walsh said. Some in the transgender community have struggled during the pandemic to maintain hormone therapy. In the early days of the pandemic, Coral Mercy Cruse was turned away when she tried to pick up a refill of her estrogen prescription. The pharmacy technicians insisted not enough time had passed between prescriptions even after she explained they were mistaken. And as she turned to leave, she said, she heard them laughing at her. "I felt dehumanized," Cruse said. "My hormones were being dangled in front of me, and I wasn't even being talked to like a human being. I felt a lot of hopelessness about being treated this way forever." That night, she struggled with suicidal thoughts and called Trans Lifeline for help. "If they hadn't been there," Cruse said, "I don't know what would have happened that night." Amid a pandemic in which health care has become especially urgent, transgender people also face barriers to medical care because of discrimination - clinicians who dismiss medical injuries as minor or somehow related to being transgender because they are uncomfortable with treating them. Advocates describe the phenomenon as "trans broken arm syndrome" - being turned away from medical care when clinicians treat issues such as broken arms as a symptom of being transgender. That discrimination has in turn caused some transgender people to distrust medical establishments or made them less likely to seek medical help. "The president of the United States told doctors they will be protected if they treat me unfairly. That doesn't increase my confidence in my chances if I catch covid-19," said Vera, who leads Trans Lifeline. This summer, the Trump administration rolled back nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in health care, which was seen as a significant setback in the movement for LGBTQ rights. The rollback has since been challenged in court. Advocates say transgender people are also more vulnerable during the pandemic because of how closely America has tied access to health care to employment. The pandemic has made jobs - and the employer-based insurance it offers - a lifeline that transgender people cannot afford to lose, which for some has meant hiding who they are during this time of crisis, crisis counselors say. Monica, an engineer in Upstate New York, said she feels drained every day by the effort of staying in the closet. "What I show out in the field is Charlie. I have to translate from Charlie to Monica, and Monica to Charlie, and that's exhausting." Speaking on the condition only her first name be used for of fear of workplace discrimination, she said she decided to stay in the closet after watching a transgender colleague experience so much harassment she was forced to leave their company and work as an outside contractor. Another friend lost her job after coming out at work. "If you get ridiculed all the time, it's really tough to take," she said. "I fear I could lose my job and insurance at 60 years old. This is what has ruled my world for the last 35 years." Beyond loss of insurance, unemployment puts food, rent and other necessities out of reach, increasing anxiety and chances of mental health crises, counselors say. "There is a joke in the community that we're always passing the same $15 around to each others' fundraisers," Vera said. "That's been true for as long as I've been part of the community. But now more than ever, I'm seeing fundraisers for rent, for food. The need is enormous." As transgender people lose jobs, many have also lost housing. Some younger transgender people were forced to move back in with family members who don't always support them and have in some cases tried to force them back into the closet, according to peer facilitators for transgender support groups at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Since the pandemic started, virtual support groups held by the center have attracted almost twice as many people as their in-person sessions before the crisis. The counseling team at Whitman-Walker has received messages from those trapped in unsafe living situations. "We sometimes get messages from Instagram or Facebook Messenger where someone says: 'You can't call me, I can't email you. It's not safe where I am. But please, can you help me access services?' " Walsh said. As the pandemic stretches on, transgender people have continued a tradition of turning to one another for support. Even amid a pandemic, police brutality, nationwide protests and rollback of transgender rights, "we're still finding ways to see each other and meet our community's needs," said Jessica Austin, a peer support facilitator at the DC Center. "Community allows us to move through all this unrest." "We do this because it's necessary," said Vivian Topping, another peer support facilitator. "There's a world where we say, we're exhausted, we can't do it, and the group doesn't continue. But that doesn't happen because trans folks push really hard to support our people and be resilient. There's still beauty. There's still joy. There's still a life to keep looking forward to." - - - If you or someone you know are transgender and need help, call the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) takes calls around-the-clock. The Crisis Text Line provides free, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text to 741741. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 10:11 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f0647d 1 National British,foreign,Sanur,dead-body Free A 73-year-old British national identified as William Hamilton Mackenzie was found dead in his rented room at Jl. Tukad Nyali, Sanur, Bali on Tuesday. According to the Indonesian Militarys (TNI) Sanur village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa), the British man had been staying in the room for a long time. He had been living in the rented room for quite some time. The cause of his death is still unknown, but I received information that he had been sick for the past couple of days, Sanur Babinsa first sergeant Ibrahim Lema said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com. Ibrahim explained that Mackenzie had been in close contact with an Indonesian couple, one of whom had tested positive for COVID-19. When the husband and wife headed to their hometown, they were required to take a swab test. The result showed that one of them was positive, he added. However, according to Ibrahim, Mackenzies swab test came back negative for COVID-19. The couple were later declared negative for COVID-19 after a series of further tests, and they continued to take care of the 73-year-old Mackenzie until he was found dead on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the dead body was handled in accordance with COVID-19 protocols by four medical staff wearing full personal protective equipment. The location and nearby areas were also disinfected as a precaution. (trn) Jesse Goins, a cast member on the Discovery Channel series Gold Rush: Dave Turins Lost Mine, has died. He was 60 years old. Goins joined the cast of the show which follows Dave Turin as he hunts for riches in abandoned mines in 2019. He worked as a gold miner and gold room operator and appeared on 15 episodes of the series, according to IMDb. Jesse Goins died on the set of Gold Rush Goins was on the Gold Rush set in Colorado on August 18 when another crew member found him unconscious, sources told Variety. He was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A cause of death has not been announced, but TMZ is reporting that he may have suffered a heart attack. We are absolutely heartbroken to hear about Jesse Goins death, a Discovery spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family. Gold Rush: Dave Turins Lost Mine is a spinoff of the hit series Gold Rush. That show premiered in 2010 and has aired for 10 seasons. This isnt the first Gold Rush tragedy RELATED: Naked and Afraid Previews Between Food Network Shows Are Unsettling at Best Goins death is not the first tragedy on the set of the Gold Rush spinoff. Two years ago, producer Terrence Woods Jr. disappeared in Idaho while working on the series. Deadline recently reported on the strange case, highlighting questions from Woods family, who believe the full details of what happened to their loved one are being concealed. Woods, then 27, vanished on October 5, 2018. He was filming at Penman Mine in Idaho County, when, according to his colleagues, he suddenly ran down a steep cliff and into the forest. Despite an extensive, week-long search, he hasnt been seen since. Woods relatives believe theres more to the disappearance than the shows producer Raw TV is letting on. You say my 97-pound son ran down the cliff without tripping, falling, hurting himself. You dont have a trace of his blood or piece of his clothing, and he ran like a hare and ran so fast, nobody could catch him, Woods father, Terrence Woods Sr, told Deadline. Something happened of foul play and theyre trying to cover it up, he said. My son saw something, or heard something that he didnt agree with, and he wanted to leave. Gold Rush producers say theres no evidence to support claims of foul play Gold Miner Dave Turin | TLC RELATED: Alaskan Bush People Might Be Even Faker Than the Kardashians Raw TV told Deadline that Woods disappearance was a tragedy but that there was no evidence to support speculative claims of foul play. Local law enforcement also told the publication that there was no sign of the shows producers had a role in Woods disappearance or that he was mistreated on set. There has been speculation that Woods may have been dealing with mental health issues at the time he vanished, though his family says that is not the case. Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddings did tell Deadline that Woods, who had only recently started working on the show, had an uneasy relationship with his coworkers. We determined that he wasnt happy there and there were several people who werent happy with him, Giddings said. Woods is Black, and the case has attracted more attention in recent weeks in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Its baffling, I just dont understand. I dont know why it happened, Gia Tabasco, a friend and former colleague of Woods, told VICE. Is it because hes a junior member of staff? Is it because hes Black? Anyone who has information concerning Woods disappearance can contact the Idaho County Sheriff at 208-983-1100. SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 420Property.com, the world's leading business and real estate marketplace serving the cannabis industry has seen nearly a 60 percent overall increase in demand for cannabis businesses for sale and available real estate due to the 2020 Election and the COVID-19 pandemic. Real estate speculators and entrepreneurs are getting an early jump on locating properties suitable for operating a cannabis business in states that are likely to legalize medical or recreational cannabis in the upcoming 2020 Elections. The following states will be voting on cannabis laws: Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota are voting to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Dakota are voting to legalize the medical use of cannabis. 420Property.com has seen search traffic in these states rise month-over-month as the election nears. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted businesses across the world. Businesses have been forced to adapt their operations to social distancing guidelines, take on debt, or close indefinitely. However, the cannabis business has gone from illegal to essential and business is booming! Many cannabis businesses have reported as much as a 30 percent surge in sales due to increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. For these reasons, 420Property.com has seen a dramatic increase in demand for cannabis business licenses for sale and turnkey cannabis businesses for sale. 420Property.com has more cannabis listings than any other real estate website in the world and serves nearly 30,000 users a month. Start your search or list a property today on 420Property.com. See all the available listings offered by 420Property.com Here: Cannabis / Hemp Real Estate Listings: https://www.420property.com/listings/real-estate-420-property-listings/for-sale/ Cannabis/ Hemp Businesses For Sale: https://www.420property.com/listings/real-estate-420-property-listings/business-listings/ Cannabis / Hemp Equipment For Sale: https://www.420property.com/listings/equipment/ Contact: NNVOY, LLC, Ryan George, [email protected], 866-742-0776 SOURCE 420Property.com Related Links https://www.420property.com/ Maria Mercedes Coroy as the eerie Alma in a scene from "La Llorona." (Shudder) A woman is spurned by a lover. She goes mad, drags her children to the river and drowns them. In the afterlife, she is condemned to search for them always, haunting riverbanks, dressed in white, crying for the children who died by her hand. The legend of La Llorona, the wailing woman of Mexican and Central American folklore, is ripe for cinematic interpretation. There is jealousy, passion and brutal filicide, all followed by eternal haunting. Over the years, this has provided grist for an array of horror movies with names like "The Cry" and "The Wailer," the latter part of a trilogy. (So. Much. Wailing.) And, of course, there was last year's forgettable "The Curse of La Llorona," in which La Llorona, looking like a gory cadaver, haunts a family in 1970s Los Angeles. (A Los Angeles that, strangely, didn't much feel like the 70s or Los Angeles.) These films represent an unfortunate treatment of this cultural grand dame. La Llorona is a figure whose place in the lore of this continent dates back centuries likely to the precolonial, indigenous myths of Mesoamerica and she deserves much better than the tedious frightfests that have been made in her name. Thankfully, director Jayro Bustamante has delivered a picture worthy of her legend. His "La Llorona," which landed on the horror platform Shudder earlier this month, brings the story into the present and gives this tormented spirit a more compelling milieu. The film is set in contemporary Guatemala at a moment in which the country is coming to terms with the violence unleashed by the military during a decades-long civil war in the 20th century. The story centers on a retired general named Enrique Montevideo (played by Julio Diaz), who is now a shrinking old man, but still given to moments of defiant impunity. The character is a stand-in, both in story and appearance, for the late Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2013 for the systemic massacre of Maya indigenous communities in the Guatemalan highlands during the civil war. As Rios Montt once summed up his policies: "If you are with us, we will feed you. If not, we will kill you." His conviction brought only the briefest moment of justice. It was overturned just days later. Story continues Protesters surround the home of the fictional general, Enrique Montevideo, in a scene from "La Llorona." (Shudder) In "La Llorona," we catch Montevideo at the moment he stands trial for his crimes. In scenes worthy of Latin American mural painting, indigenous women testify to murder and rape as Montevideo, playing the frail old timer, shows up with IV bag in tow. Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who has fought for Indigenous rights in Guatemala, makes a cameo. But the real action takes place at the general's stately home, where Montevideo's family, including his wife Carmen (chillingly played by Margarita Kenefic) and his daughter Natalia (Sabrina de la Hoz), marinate in their complicity as they contend with the fallout of the trial. The household staff has quit en masse. The general has taken to dreamy middle-of-the-night meanderings while brandishing a gun. A sea of protesters surround the house, turning it into a de facto prison. The family remains suffocatingly confined as they reckon with a history of violence (a theme that couldn't be more resonant at this moment in time). Enter Alma (played by Maria Mercedes Coroy), a young Indigenous woman from an unnamed highland village, who arrives to help out the one remaining housekeeper, Valeriana (Maria Telon). It is immediately clear that Alma may not be quite who or what she says she is. All we know about her background is that she once had two children. They are now dead; the cause, a mystery. Coroy, who made a stellar debut as an impetuous adolescent in Bustamante's critically well-received debut, "Ixcanul" in 2016, plays the role with equal parts seduction and threat. Her lines are few. If she is a bit of a cipher, it's because La Llorona is too. The tale of La Llorona can vary widely according to the telling. She is single. She is married. She is jealous. She is heartbroken. She is insane. She is regretful. She haunts womanizing men. She is a familial disciplinary tool. (Some parents tell their kids that La Llorona will get them if they don't behave.) In the film, she is Montevideo's violent past come back to haunt to him. Maria Mercedes Coroy as Alma (left), and Maria Telon, as Valeriana, in a scene from Jayro Bustamante's "La Llorona." (Shudder) "La Llorona" avoids the tropes of horror: the screechy violins and bumping furniture. Instead, this smart and elegant film feels like a languid bit of cinematic magical realism where strange things happen and the real horror lies not in the supernatural but in the savage acts of men. (The fact that it's streaming on Shudder and not on a more prominent service, such as HBO or Netflix, reveals a spectacular lack of imagination on behalf of U.S. distribution companies.) With this film, Bustamante creates a Llorona full of self-assertion and intent, an indigenous woman assuredly facing the source of her pain. This is a Llorona who is no longer trapped in the past. She has landed fully in the present. And she is ready to extract what is due. Real estate firm Lianjia opens Shanghai bookstore By:An ranran, Lu Yukun | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-08-18 19:52 A new bookstore brand, aiming to create an open reading space in cities, was unveiled at the ongoing Shanghai Book Fair on Monday. Entitled "city reading room," the store is a collaboration between Xinhua Bookstore and Lianjia, one of the largest real estate companies in China. In recent years, Shanghai has been encouraging a love of reading to build a city of avid readers. To provide residents with a convenient reading space and encourage them to form better reading habits, Xinhua Bookstore, which has set up numerous stores across the country, collaborated with the real estate giant Lianjia, which has more than 1000 outlets in Shanghai, to establish a new bookstore brand. We are dedicated to the reconstruction of our stores and we hope to use less building to create more space, satisfying citizens growing demand for public services, said Wang Yongqun, chief operating officer of Lianjia. So far, Lianjia has opened a total of 20 bookstores in Shanghai. They plan to open 30 new stores and host at least 200 non-profit cultural activities by the end of 2020. Besides offline events, Xinhua Media and Lianjia will launch a new Wechat mini program where people can borrow books for free with a premium membership. I believe we will do better in the future. Lianjia will make continued efforts to encourage more people to fall in love with reading, said Wang. Saudi foreign minister told reporters on a visit to Berlin that 'peace must be achieved with the Palestinians' on the basis of international agreements as a condition for any normalisation of relations with Israel Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would not establish diplomatic ties with Israel until the latter reaches a peace accord with the Palestinians. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters on a visit to Berlin that "peace must be achieved with the Palestinians" on the basis of international agreements as a condition for any normalisation of relations with Israel. "Once that is achieved all things are possible," he said. Local officials in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy, have hinted that Riyadh is unlikely to normalise relations with Israel. At a news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Prince Faisal reiterated criticism of Israel's "unilateral policies" of annexation and building settlements in the West Bank as "illegitimate" and "detrimental" to a two-state solution. Prince Faisal noted that Saudi Arabia had sponsored 2002 Arab peace initiatives holding out the prospect of a normalisation of ties with Israel but said Riyadh now saw no road to diplomatic relations without a Palestinian peace deal. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: On Wednesday, Goodyear joined a long list of corporations whose products the president has said should be shunned at one point or another. The list which stretches even longer if you include companies targeted over the course of his campaign is a whos who of the American way of life, ranging from Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Harley-Davidson Inc., Macys Inc. and Oreo-maker Mondelez International Inc. Hes also threatened to cancel an order for a new Air Force One jet from Boeing Co. and yank unspecified subsidies for General Motors Co. The reasons for the boycotts range from disagreements over operating decisions such as factory relocations or product selection; a means of pressure for jobs initiatives; leverage for government contract negotiations; and just general dislike. Hes never cared very much if the issues that are the grist for his corporate attacks conflict with or are the result of some of his own policies, nor has he been particularly focused on achieving more than a publicity stunt in most instances. Having a great smartphone app is critical for companies to grow and prosper in the new business environment. Without a strong mobile strategy, a business will lose ground to its competitors and struggle in the post-COVID-19 world. With the rapid growth of smartphone usage in South Africa in particular, a well-designed smartphone app is now a must-have for many businesses. Smartphone apps improve communication with clients, create customer loyalty, and give a company a competitive edge. It is also crucial for a business to have their smartphone app on the home screen of their clients smartphones as it is the best marketing real estate you can get. This is why many businesses are investing in new smartphone apps, or improving on their current apps. It is not only online business-to-consumer apps like Uber and Airbnb which are changing the way people interact with companies, however. Many businesses have launched their own internal apps to improve their operational efficiency and increase staff productivity. This is particularly important in the current environment where remote working has become the norm. Internal company apps offer secure communications, company alerts, location-based task tracking, and task automation. Building an app for your company To build a new smartphone app is a daunting task for many businesses, who often do not know where to start. Fortunately, Codehesion can help. Codehesion is South Africas premier smartphone app development company and can take care of everything for you including planning, designing, building, and launching the app. Their experienced app developers also help companies with the strategy around the app, advice on which features to include, and listing it on the Google Play and Apple App store. Codehesion CEO Hector Beyers said their experience helps them guide clients on which type of app will work best for their business. Beyers encouraged companies who are looking for a new Android or iOS app to contact them via their website. Codehesion offers South African businesses a free and easy consultation process which removes all risk, stated Beyers. For a risk-free consultation: Contact Codehesion here Announcement by BlackRock World Mining Trust plc Adjustment to Net Asset Value of BlackRock World Mining Trust plc (LEI:LNFFPBEUZJBOSR6PW155) Issued on 19 August 2020 Summary The Board of BlackRock World Mining Trust plc (the 'Company') is pleased to announce a positive adjustment of 31 basis points to the net asset value ('NAV') of the Company as at 18 August 2020 due to the recognition of an expected receipt of tax reclaims for a value of 2,560,568 on foreign income in the Company's accounts, as explained below. Background The Company's investments include shares issued by both UK companies and non-UK companies. Until 2009, while dividends paid to the Company by UK companies were not subject to UK corporation tax, dividends paid to the Company by non-UK companies were subject to UK corporation tax, although credit could be given for any withholding tax suffered. A number of cases challenging this difference in treatment, on the basis that it was illegal under European Union law, were commenced against the UK tax authorities ('HMRC'). The litigation most relevant to the Company was commenced in 2003 in the UK High Court, pursuant to the terms of a group litigation order ("GLO"). The Prudential Assurance Company Limited ultimately became the test case under the GLO. The Company took a number of measures to protect its investors in relation to this matter, including filing tax returns for accounting periods to 31 December 2006, 31 December 2007, 31 December 2008 and 31 December 2009 (the 'relevant accounting periods') on the basis that foreign dividends were exempt from UK corporation tax and commencing proceedings against HMRC in the UK High Court (which led to the Company enrolling in the GLO in 2013). In 2018, the Company also filed related statutory claims for double tax relief. On 25 July 2018, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the Prudential case, ruling that dividends on non-UK portfolio shareholdings were taxable but that credit should be given for the underlying foreign tax at the foreign nominal corporate income tax rate of the source country. This decision, and the potential impact of this on the Company's NAV, was previously referred to in the Chairman's Statement contained in the Company's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2018. The Company has now received correspondence from HMRC accepting the entitlement of the Company to make a claim for double tax relief in the relevant accounting periods in relation to underlying tax suffered on dividends from non-UK companies. This double tax relief reduces the corporation tax liability to nil for all periods resulting in a repayment of the corporation tax suffered in the relevant accounting periods. While the amount of the repayment has not been formally agreed with HMRC, and as such a degree of uncertainty remains, the Company now considers receipt of a repayment is sufficiently probable that it should make an accrual for accounting purposes to reflect such treatment. The corporation tax refund expected to be received by the Company following HMRC's acceptance of the claims for the relevant accounting periods amounts to 2,560,568. The accounting rules applicable to the Company determine that an uncertain tax receivable shall be accrued in the NAV of the Company when, in the view of the Board, the successful future receipt of such a receivable is probable. The Board's current assessment is that the future receipt of the tax reclaims described above is probable and so meets this threshold. For further information, please contact : Simon White Managing Director BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited Tel: 020 7743 5284 Joe Winkley Winterflood Tel: 020 3100 0000 The government has begun the construction and rehabilitation of 80 roads in the Western Region, covering about 1,135 kilometres, with the aim of improving road transportation in the region. The Western Region is endowed with minerals and forest resources and it produces the biggest consignment of cocoa in the country. The region also has a maritime port which serves mainly as the exit port for cocoa, timber, gold, bauxite and other minerals. A significant number of oil and gas companies are also located in the region. Region deserves The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, who made the assertion in Takoradi yesterday, said in view of the wealth that came from the region, it was pertinent that massive work was done to improve the road network to support the governments One-district, One-factory (1D1F) initiative. Addressing the media ahead of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos five-day tour of the Western and the Central regions, the minister explained that out of the 80 roads that were being tackled, 27 were under the supervision of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), while the Department of Feeder Roads was supervising 34 of them, with the Department of Urban Roads supervising 17. Status of road He said the Western Region had a road network of 5,289.7 kilometres, of which 45 per cent was in a very poor state and deserved a facelift, while about 30 per cent of the lot, stretching more than 1,641km, could be described as good. Additionally, he said, 1,623km of the roads was considered to be fairly good, adding that in the coming months the region would see massive augmentation to its road infrastructure. Mr Amoako-Atta said the government was aware of the importance of good roads to the countrys development. He said a sod-cutting ceremony would take place soon for the commencement of work on an interchange at the Kwame Nkrumah Roundabout in Takoradi, popularly known as Ezii, in addition to other high-profile projects in the region. The Roads and Highways Minister said due to growth and population increase, Sekondi-Takoradi, the capital of the Western Region and third largest city in the country, was currently experiencing an increase in vehicular traffic and assured the people that the region would experience massive social infrastructure development. He said, One demand echoes everywhere the President goes the demand for good roads and the government is seriously committed to providing them. It is the governments firm belief that road transport infrastructure represents the pivot around which the economic development of the country revolves and we will not relent until the roads are delivered, he said. He assured the people of the region that the President was committed to developing the region, which produces a lot of the countrys wealth. The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said the President had always been committed to seeing the country develop, especially the Western Region. He commended the people of the region for their continued support to the government and assured them that everything was being done to ensure that the projects targeted at developing the region were delivered. On day one of the Presidents visit, he inspected ongoing road projects in the Ahanta West, Elembelle, Nzema East and Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipalities. Source: Graphiconline.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 Defending champion Egan Bernal will line up with the support of 2019 Giro dItalia winner Richard Carapaz, but four-time winner Froome will instead go to the Vuelta a Espana, while 2018 Tour winner Thomas looks to the Giro dItalia. This years Tour, delayed to start on August 29, was Froomes final opportunity to secure a record-equalling fifth Tour title before he leaves Ineos to join the Israel Start-Up Nation squad next year. 3 Grand Tours 3 Leaders 1 Common Purpose Sir Dave Brailsford expands on our racing plans for 2020 INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) August 19, 2020 Froome had made the Tour his number one target as he has spent more than a year rehabilitating from the career-threatening injuries suffered in a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine last year. But, even though he has returned to racing and competed alongside Thomas and Bernal at this years Dauphine last week, his 71st place overall did little to convince anyone that he was ready for the challenge of the Tour. Advertisement Ineos team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: Chris is a legend of our sport, a true champion who has demonstrated incredible grit and determination to come back from his crash last year. We want to support him to compete for another Grand Tour title and the Vuelta gives him that little bit more time to continue his progress to the top level. Brailsford is well known for showing little sentiment in his team selections, and the absence of the 34-year-old Thomas as well as Froome suggests he is looking to Bernal, Carapaz, and the emerging Pavel Sivakov as the future of his team. Egan will once again target the yellow jersey in France and we are very excited to give last years Giro winner, Richard Carapaz, his debut in this years Tour also, he added. Geraint will target the Giro and take on the opportunity to double up his Tour de France win with another Grand Tour title, with the aim of being the first Welshman to win it. Thomas is delighted to have a plan in place and is hoping to erase the memories of his last brush with the Giro. Advertisement He said: It feels like its back to some sort of normality with the team and racing and everything and its nice to finally just have a firm plan in place and know exactly what Im doing, and try to get some sort of positive out of this year. In 2017, I was in great shape, in similar form to what I was in 18 when I won the Tour. The Giro ended badly that year with a crash and its something Ive always wanted to go back to. I enjoy the racing there. I have always loved Italy, the roads and the fans and the food, obviously. Its just a race Ive always enjoyed anyway, a country where I love to race, so Im certainly looking forward to going back. Thats the plan now. Ive had an incredible recovery from the big crash I had last year and Im in a very fortunate position to be back racing, but Im not confident that I can really fulfil the necessary job that would be needed from me at this years Tour de France Froome, who broke his neck, femur, elbow, hip and ribs while preparing for last years Tour, admitted he was simply not ready for the gruelling test this time around. He said: Theres definitely a re-adjustment for me, moving the goalposts from the Tour de France to the Vuelta a Espana, but given where Ive come from through the last yearIve had an incredible recovery from the big crash I had last year and Im in a very fortunate position to be back racing now already, but Im not confident that I can really fulfil the necessary job that would be needed from me at this years Tour de France. I think its a lot more realistic targeting the Vuelta a Espana. It gives me a chance to really get stuck into something thats deliverable. EDMONTONThe mayor of Edmonton says hes concerned and disappointed about a rise in COVID-19 cases in and around the Alberta capital. Health officials say there are 593 active cases in the Edmonton zone. Five areas within the zone are on a watch list. Alberta Health has said that watch status means regions have gone over a particular threshold for cases, but no additional measures are taken. Were reaching out to (Alberta Health Services) to get more details on this rise in cases so we can help protect communities most at risk, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said in a tweet on Tuesday. Alberta Health on Monday reported 177 cases for Friday 103 were new and 74 were added from previous dates, 86 new cases on Saturday and 96 on Sunday. Also Tuesday, the province said officials were aware of a dozen COVID-19 cases connected to a religious gathering in a hamlet in northwestern Alberta. The event was held in Deadwood, Alta., from July 30 to Aug. 2. In a statement, an Alberta Health spokesperson advised anyone who attended or has been in close contact with someone at the gathering needs to book a test online and monitor for symptoms. Health officials in northern British Columbia issued an alert Monday saying they had linked 17 novel coronavirus cases of their own to the same event. Twelve of the cases were due to attendance at the event and five were believed to be from secondary exposures. Another 24 people identified as close contacts are in self-isolation. Most of the cases are in the Fort St. John area, but the exposure alert applies to all of northeast B.C. In central Alberta, a meat-processing plant sent more than a dozen employees home after a worker tested positive for the virus last week. The employee at the Olymel facility in Red Deer, Alta., was sent home and told to get tested after showing symptoms of COVID-19 on Aug. 11, a company spokesman said. Richard Vigneault said the positive test results came in two days later and, as a result, 13 other employees who were at risk of exposure were sent home for testing. Vigneault said the company expects the test results in the coming days. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2020 Read more about: SAN DIEGO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mapp, one of the world's largest independent marketing platforms, today announced record growth in sales for the first half of 2020. The global provider of insight-led customer engagement increased its new sales bookings by 72%, compared to the previous year. The AI-based customer analytics solution Mapp Intelligence has been the catalyst of this growth, following the acquisition of Webtrekk last year. Mapp Intelligence acts as the 'brain' of the modular marketing platform Mapp Cloud, enabling marketers to extract reliable cross-channel customer insights from data which can be used for the sustainable optimization of digital campaigns. The holistic Mapp Cloud portfolio offers marketers comprehensive support in the areas of marketing analytics, cross-channel marketing, and data management. Mapp's offering represents a more cost-effective and powerful alternative to traditional enterprise marketing clouds. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, digital channels have become increasingly important to marketers, leading to a greater need for highly personalized customer engagement. Cost efficiency has also become a top priority, which has been reflected in the interest in customer insights to enable campaign optimization. Mapp's customer engagement platform allows marketers to effectively analyze customer needs and make the most of their budgets by launching targeted communication in the right channel, at the right time and with the right message. In recent months, Mapp has gained numerous retail and e-commerce customers, including Francesca's, The Entertainer, Ella's Kitchen, Orange Square, Original Marines, La Martina and Il Giardino dei Libri. Another record quarter is already on the horizon for Q3 2020, promising an extremely successful financial year despite any challenges associated with COVID-19. Steve Warren, CEO, Mapp, comments: "I am extremely proud of our record-breaking sales performance and the great work of our international team behind the results. The increased demand for our customer engagement platform proves that we can deliver real value for marketers and their brands in challenging economic times." "Unlike many of our competitors, we start by looking at the real challenges of marketers, taking their specific requirements into account in our product development, then providing targeted support to enable the decisive success factor: the regular activation of cross-channel customers. Through insights and the automated control of marketing activities, we help our customers to place their budgets efficiently to increase the ROI of their campaigns." About Mapp Marketers and data specialists should be able to focus on what will make a difference for their business, instead of spending all their time taming the technology behind it. With the insight-led customer engagement platform Mapp Cloud, they can focus on what really counts and the exciting insights that come with it. Thanks to customer intelligence and marketing analytics, companies can easily and effectively gain data-driven customer insights across all channels in order to trigger highly personalized marketing activities. Customers benefit from AI-supported forecasting models that enable targeted and self-optimizing cross-channel campaigns. Automated messages are sent via the most suitable marketing channel, at the right time, with the optimal contact frequency. Thanks to advanced one-to-one personalization, the highest levels of engagement and long-term customer loyalty are achieved. Mapp has global offices in six countries. Mapp's digital marketing platform helps more than 3,000 companies break away from the pack by uncovering missed opportunities, including Xerox, PepsiCo, LG, Qantas, Flixbus, MyToys, ING, Infinity and Lloyds Banking Group. Press contact: PR Agency: The PR Network Matt Cartmell +44 (0)7930 485 333 [email protected] https://www.thepr.network Mapp Digital Harald Oberhofer +49 30 755 415 120 [email protected] www.mapp.com SOURCE Mapp Related Links mapp.com On Tuesday afternoon, as the Virginia Senate was gaveling in at the Science Museum of Virginia and the House prepared for the special legislative session at the Siegel Center, hundreds turned out on Broad Street to call attention to their legislative priorities. One group marched down Broad Street demanding their calls to fund a statewide Marcus Alert System be heard. Another marched from the Capitol to the Science Museum in tactical gear and carried rifles for their Second Amendment rights. A third protest stood nearby calling for an increase in school funding. Earlier in the day, one group lobbied for rent relief and an end to evictions. At one point, the marches walked past each other as the Fund Black Futures march, the largest protest that day, neared the Siegel Center where the House convened at 1 p.m. Thick blocked letters on signs read, End Qualified Immunity and Black Liberation. GRTC riders waiting for the bus thrust their fists into the air, bobbing their heads to fight the power chants. In the 82 days since Richmonds first protests, the demands of organizers against racial injustice havent changed. They include reopening the Marcus-David Peters case; defunding the police; dropping all charges against protesters; removing monuments to white supremacy; establishing an independent civilian review board with subpoena power; funding the Marcus Alert; and releasing the names of Richmond police officers under investigation for use-of-force. Longtime organizer Rebecca Keel spoke to nearly 200 people gathered outside the Capitol for the Fund Black Futures march about how Black activists and the family of Marcus-David Peters a high school biology teacher and VCU alum who was shot and killed by Richmond police in the midst of mental health crisis have advocated for two years for mental health professionals, rather than police, to respond to crises. That is the Marcus Alert, and that is what legislators will be making decisions on throughout the special session, Keel said. We are literally building what does not exist and, goddammit, we are going to do it. Democratic lawmakers, who control the House and Senate, are focused on circumventing excessive use of force by police and holding officers and their departments accountable. The Northam administration is pushing forward policies that would make it easier to decertify police officers for violation of state and department policies and be permanently removed from law enforcement. Princess Blanding, the sister of Marcus-David Peters, said this was barely a start. Peters case is still considered a justifiable homicide as legislators debate a statewide alert system named after him, she said. Once the demonstrators reached the Capitol again, nearly four hours from when the march began and WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion pulsed through car speakers, organizer Kalia Harris took the mic. This is just the beginning, Harris said. *** On Tuesday morning, about 50 people, many with rifles slung across their chests, marched from the Virginia State Capitol to the Science Museum of Virginia. Mike Dunn, a 19-year-old Libertarian and Second Amendment supporter, walked at the front of the crowd. Were tired of being stepped on, Dunn said. Were tired of the freedom of people being oppressed, and were standing against it. While gun restrictions arent being discussed in Tuesdays special session, Dunn said he remains concerned about a bill that would ban assault weapons. The measure, which failed to advance in the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, was tabled until 2021. Feet away from Second Amendment activists, a group of 40 stood on the sidewalk calling for increased funding toward schools. A man named Cory, who declined to give his last name, marched with gun-rights activists and wore a black vest with crossed handguns on his back. When a woman shouted to him to help fund schools, he took a pink pool float with the words fund our schools imprinted on it and held it over the street to attract the attention of drivers. When we talk about our culture, how great it is, this is what we mean, said Robert Walker. Cory stood with the school-funding activists until someone yelled to defund police. Thats where he drew a line, saying that doing so instead of removing bad officers would leave cities in anarchy. Behind the Science Museum stood a group called We Back Blue, which supports law enforcement and was started in June by Melissa Robey, a Manassas resident whose sister is a detective. Her grandfather was a state trooper, and her father was a Washington, D.C., police officer. The organization is against taking resource officers out of schools, ending qualified immunity and defunding police, three main arteries to organizer demands. Robey said she refuses to use divisive language such as blue lives matter or all lives matter, adding that her organization has marched alongside Black Lives Matter protesters and treats everyone with respect. Im just trying to bridge a gap, Robey said. Late Tuesday morning, a Black man who identified himself as Pops walked toward their group with a rifle slung over his chest and a hat that read I cant breathe. Pops, 47, often speaks to crowds at Second Amendment rallies. Hes critical of police, but he told the group they have common ground. Unnecessary police violence, he said, shouldnt be accepted. If you kill someone, it shouldnt matter what color their skin is, Pops said. *** At the anti-eviction event, which took place for about an hour Tuesday morning, dozens of people gathered outside the Science Museum of Virginia. Eviction is violence was the chant that echoed most. Desalojo es violencia, cried those who spoke Spanish. They were about half the crowd. One woman said her entire family suffered from COVID-19, which prevented her husband from working. Now theyre facing eviction. I feel like we have no voice in this country, without papers, the woman said in Spanish. Adolfo Bermudez, also of Richmond, said he was there speaking for those hiding in basements. We are fighting for something that is our right, he said a safe place to call home. Since June 22, when the eviction moratorium expired, which had been put into place after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more than 4,100 evictions statewide, according to Elaine Poon, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center, out of Charlottesville, which had been tracking the cases. In early August, the Virginia Supreme Court granted a temporary statewide moratorium through Sept. 7, which stops all eviction proceedings. There are hearings happening all the time, Poon said, adding that the current stay order doesnt prevent the hearings, but rather the issuance of a document that allows a landlord to enlist a sheriffs deputy to force a person from their home. People think that they dont have to go to court, but they should still go. Organizers, who included members of the New Virginia Majority, Clergy Action RVA, Tenants and Workers and others, are calling for a statewide moratorium on all eviction proceedings and $1 billion in rental assistance. smoreno@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6103 Twitter: @sabrinaamorenoo Staff writer Mel Leonor contributed to this report. Boris Johnson has had an undistinguished first year as Prime Minister. Johnson's other hero, alongside the great wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill, is the outstanding Athenian statesman Pericles. Pericles was famous for defending Athenian democracy, so much so that his critics called him a populist. There is little doubt that Johnson, whether he has modelled himself on Pericles or not, is a modern-day populist - and a very shrewd one at that. It was he who fathomed the popular mood of the English working-class voters prior to the general election in December 2019. It was he who laid waste to the traditional Labour strongholds in the north of England. He captured the zeitgeist of the normally anti-Tory Labour voters, who viewed the European Union with suspicion and disdain. It was they who gave the Conservative Party its 80-seat majority, the biggest electoral success since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. They were responsible for rejecting long-serving stalwart Labour MPs, such as the "Beast of Bolsover", Dennis Skinner. Johnson's genius was to reinforce their belief that Brexit was good and that he would deliver Brexit for them come what may. He understood that they had made a firm decision in the June 2016 referendum to leave Europe and that he would honour their democratic decision. Partially remaining in Europe was the product of a Labour Party that was confused and divided over Brexit. It was controlled by a politically correct elite in metropolitan London, out of touch with grassroots thinking in the wider country, especially in their own red heartlands. That elite in Parliament and outside were wrapped up in their own absurd ideological squabbles and led by Jeremy Corbyn, who saw himself as a latter-day parliamentary Che Guevara, but who was out of touch with the real thinking and feelings of Labour voters. Because of its belief in the focus groups and social media echo chambers, Labour thought the "buffoon" Boris Johnson would crash, but that he did not do. His shock victory was not predicted and was reluctantly acknowledged by a stunned Opposition and a disbelieving media on election night. It was similar to the shock that impacted the Democrats in the USA whenever the populist Donald Trump was surprisingly elected President, defeating favourite of the liberal media Hillary Clinton. Love him or hate him, Johnson's populist anti-European insight confounded opponents within his own party, like former Chancellor Philip Hammond, in addition to Labour and the Liberal Democrats. His outstanding success has been a massive triumph for the Conservative Party, but a disaster for Britain and Northern Ireland as the UK tragically leaves the European Union under his premiership. His jingoism and breezy optimism, as well as his affected buffoonery, is seen by his detractors as proof of his unfitness for government, when in fact it is all theatre, a political conjuring trick to please his support base and to confound his opponents. He may act the fool, but he is no fool and has considerable political skills in communicating a clear message, which his listeners will understand and act on. He is a prolific and talented writer, who can deliver an effective message. The mistake that his opponents have made is to underestimate him. The first few months of his premiership was marked by a ruthlessness in purging 21 Tory rebels who wanted to avoid a no-deal Brexit. This move cost him his majority in Parliament, but laid the way for an inevitable general election in December, successfully based on his promise of getting Brexit done. But his victory and his huge personal endorsement has now been superseded by the terrible impact of the coronavirus pandemic and, in particular, Johnson's perceived poor handling of it. His initial, rather dismissive, attitude has coloured the public's negative perception of his handling of this major peacetime hyper-crisis. This was reinforced by his over-protective and forgiving attitude to top aide Dominic Cummings when he violated, at least in spirit if not technically, the lockdown restrictions. This both angered and alienated the public, who were themselves wearied by the lockdown and its privations. But unlike his great hero Churchill, Johnson has not risen to the challenge of the greatest national crisis in modern times. He has shown poor leadership and has lost touch with the ordinary voter, deeply worried by threat of the pandemic. Alas, poor Pericles succumbed to an unidentified virulent plague in Athens in 429BC. At the time of his death his star was very much on the wane. By contrast, in 2020AD Johnson has survived the contemporary plague of coronavirus, but his political star may wane further if he does not reassert the leadership that he once successfully displayed. G usts of up to 70mph are set to batter parts of the UK this week as Storm Ellen sweeps in from the Atlantic. The fifth named storm of the 2019/20 season is due to strike Ireland on Wednesday evening before moving across the UK. The deepening low pressure system has led the Met Office to issue a series of yellow weather warnings until Friday, with travel disruption expected. Forecaster Craig Snell said the next 48 hours or so will see "quite unsettled and changeable weather" in most parts of the UK, with Northern Ireland and western parts of England, Scotland and Wales set to fare worst overnight and into Thursday. In Ireland, meteorologists from Met Eireann, who named Storm Ellen, have meanwhile issued warnings for very severe and destructive winds on Wednesday night. "The worst of the winds will be across the Irish republic but for western parts of the UK we are likely to see some very windy weather for the time of year," Mr Snell told the Standard. He also said there will also be "patches of very heavy rain" but added forecasters were not "overly concerned about rainfall amounts" as the downpours would be moving through areas "fairly quickly". One warning predicts strong winds could affect an area stretching from the west coast of Scotland, across the Irish Sea, western Wales and down to Plymouth and Cornwall from 8pm on Wednesday through to 4am on Friday. Hot Weather: Tuesday 11 August 1 /24 Hot Weather: Tuesday 11 August People enjoy the hot weather on Southsea beach in Hampshire Andrew Matthews/PA Owen Chisholm, 13, falls into the River Thames from a pontoon at the Richmond Canoe Club, as he enjoys the hot weather in Richmond, south west London Kirsty O'Connor/PA People enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Jacob King/PA Swimmer, Lala, 42, takes to the water at the Serpentine lido as temperatures are set to soar to 30 degrees Lucy Young People enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Jacob King/PA Swimmers take to the water at the Serpentine lido Lucy Young Swimmers take to the water at the Serpentine lido Lucy Young People enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Jacob King/PA A lady shields herself from the sun as people enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Jacob King/PA People enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Jacob King/PA People enjoy the hot weather as they take a punt trip along the River Cam in Cambridge Joe Giddens/PA A person jumps into the sea as people enjoy the hot weather on Southsea beach in Hampshir Andrew Matthews/PA People walk along the sea front as they enjoy the hot weather on Southsea beach in Hampshire Andrew Matthews/PA People enjoy the hot weather as they take a punt trip along the River Cam in Cambridge Joe Giddens/PA People enjoy the hot weather on Southsea beach in Hampshire Andrew Matthews/PA People enjoy the hot weather in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire PA Jack, 10, plays with his kite as he enjoys the hot weather by Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire PA People enjoy the hot weather as they take a punt trip along the River Cam in Cambridge PA In Northern Ireland on Thursday, another yellow weather warning running from midnight to 8am forecasts very strong winds. A third yellow warning, covering Wales and northern, central and south west England on Friday, also predicts strong winds from 4am to 6pm, with gusts possibly reaching 45-50mph inland. Forecasters predict the incoming gusts could bring delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport links and disrupt power supplies. Mr Snell said parts of the east were likely to be "quite sunny for many" on Thursday, with temperatures in the afternoon predicted to reach up towards 25 to 26C in London and other parts of south east England. "It will be feeling like summer in the east tomorrow whereas in the west, especially in Northern Ireland, it will probably be feeling like autumn," he said. "So it will be a very different tale of two halves across the UK tomorrow with very windy and sometimes wet weather in the west and in the east it will be dry and sunny. "But the windy weather does move its way into the east as we go into Friday." He continued: "All in all, over the next 48 hours or so, the UK as a whole will see quite unsettled and changeable weather... and that sets us up for quite a changeable weekend too." The weather warnings come as some parts of the UK were hit by heavy rain on Wednesday morning, with Trengwainton in Cornwall, Ivybridge in Devon and Weymouth in Dorset all seeing 30mm or more in nine hours or less. As of 2pm on Wednesday, the Environment Agency had issued three flood alerts advising people to be prepared. One alert warns of possible flooding on the south Cornwall coast from Lizard Point to Gribbin Head at high tide from Wednesday to Friday due to winds reaching up to force eight and potential large waves. Another alert warns of possible flooding in south Devon rivers on Wednesday morning due to heavy rainfall overnight driving up water levels, with more heavy showers forecast to come. Loading.... A third warning said Wednesday afternoons tide at Climping Seafront on the south coast near Bognor Regnis could be higher than normal due to unsettled weather and strong winds. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning not to let 2020 be a 'coulda shoulda woulda election' and says people still come up to her they wish they had not voted for her 2016 rival Donald Trump. The 2016 Democratic Party presidential nominee who won the popular vote but lost the election after failing to focus on some key states plans to tell convention viewers people come to her to justify their votes for Trump or express that they didn't cast a ballot. 'For four years, people have said to me, "I didn't realize how dangerous he was." "I wish I could go back and do it over." Or worst, "I should have voted," Clinton says in advance remarks released by the Joe Biden campaign. Hillary Clinton, with Joe Biden in the background, campaigning in Scranton. She will speak Wednesday about the 2016 election, saying people still approach her to say the didn't know 'how dangerous' Donald Trump was when they voted for him 'Well, this can't be another woulda coulda shoulda election. If you vote by mail, request your ballot now, and send it back as soon as you can,' she continues. 'If you vote in person, do it early. Bring a friend and wear a mask. Become a poll worker. Most of all, no matter what, vote. Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are.' Clinton, speaking a night after her husband Bill Clinton gave a 5-minute video address, will echo a theme of the convention: Trump 'is who he is.' She is resurrecting a withering line by former first lady Michelle Obama, who also included a similar line in her well-received speech, after Trump used the phrase while explaining the thousands of coronavirus deaths in the country during the pandemic. 'I wish Donald Trump had been a better president. But, sadly, he is who he is. America needs a president who shows the same compassion, determination, and leadership in the White House that we see in our communities,' Clinton says. In this screengrab taken from the PBS News Hour website, former first lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joins former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during a live streamed town hall on April 28, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware where she officially endorsed Biden Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend a portrait unveiling ceremony for retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in Russell Building's Kennedy Caucus Room, December 08, 2016 'For four years, people have said to me, "I didn't realize how dangerous he was." "I wish I could go back and do it over," Clinton will say 'Throughout this crisis, Americans have kept going checking on neighbors, showing up to jobs as first responders and in hospitals, grocery stores, and nursing homes. Because it still takes a village,' she said, quoting her own book. The ex-candidate who spoke of the highest 'glass ceiling' throughout her 2016 campaign will also invoke the historic fight for the vote by women at a time when Biden holds a big edge over Trump with women but trails among men. Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic Party nomination as their candidate for president on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 28, 2016 In this image from video, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden smiles after the roll call vote during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 '100 years ago yesterday, the 19th Amendment was ratified. It took seven decades of suffragists marching, picketing, and going to jail to push us closer to a more perfect union. 55 years ago, John Lewis marched and bled in Selma because that work was unfinished,' she says. Now it is Biden running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris who is positioned as the female politician with the perhaps the best chance of reaching Clinton's unfulfilled White House dream. 'There's a lot of heartbreak in America right now and the truth is, many things were broken before the pandemic. But, as the saying goes, the world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places. Joe Biden knows how to heal, unify, and lead, because he's done all of that for his family and his country.' Roughly 40 people gathered in front of Park Middle School in Scotch Plains to rally for schools to reopen in-person after a surprise late-night announcement last Friday rescinding the districts hybrid plan. We are here because we want that choice [for hybrid instruction] back, rally organizer Danielle Wildstein said to the crowd. And we want to hold our school leadership accountable, keep them transparent and moving forward so that they can open schools safely. Danielle Wildstein of Scotch Plains speaks to the crowd as parents on Tuesday, August 18, 2020John Jones | For NJ Advance Media Attendees called on the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools administration to offer families more information on when schools may reopen and include parental input. Following Gov. Phil Murphys announcement that school districts can opt for a fully remote reopening if they cannot meet health standards, Superintendent Joan Mast sent a districtwide letter around 10 p.m. last Friday announcing that the school year would be delayed until September 14 to allow for extra professional development and that it would begin with virtual instruction. Mast cited state guidance that labels Union County as being at moderate risk for the virus and encourages districts to consider fully remote learning. The reason for the reversal relates to the districts HVAC systems and its inability to accept MERV 13 filters which help capture air particles. Mast told NJ Advance Media the district is intensely reviewing all aspects of our air filtration systems with professional engineers and consultants, though did not provide specifics in the letter on how the HVAC problem will be remedied. Mast also told NJ Advance Media she was not yet aware of when schools would be able to reopen. Attendees of the rally were critical of Masts decision and questioned what additional information led her to make the call. Participants pointed out that the states guidelines on reopening from June included guidance on ventilation from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and no new ventilation guidance has come out since. How hard is transparency? Wildstein asked attendees. Its not. If youre going to communicate just give us honest accurate information. Be vulnerable. Tell us you dont know everything. Include us. Keep up with the latest in N.J. schools coverage. Sign up with your email here: Scotch Plains-Fanwood district parents hold a rally to open district schools in front of Park Middle School in Scotch Plains on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.John Jones | For NJ Advance Media Mast said she also wishes schools could reopen and respects the protesters ability to come together for an issue they feel strongly about. I understand parents frustration about their childs loss of physical contact and proximity with their teachers and friends, Mast wrote to NJ Advance Media in an email. That is my frustration, and the frustration of all educators. I wish that we were able to safely open schools, but I hold deep concerns regarding the safety for all staff and students. The rally demonstrates the deep disappointment the disruption of school causes for so many, and offers another place for people to be heard. I respect that need. Protesters pointed to neighboring school districts like Summit which plans to open for five half-days a week of in-person instruction. They held signs with phrases like, Be a hero teach in person, and Our kids need to go to school!! Mast just needs to go!! and Honk to open schools which many passing cars and trucks heeded. Scotch Plains-Fanwood district parents hold a rally to open district schools in front of Park Middle School in Scotch Plains on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.John Jones | For NJ Advance Media Wildstein said that the Scotch Plains Police were notified about the rally, and a police officer sat in his car across the street for much of the event. Many in the community were displeased with the timing of the announcement late on Friday, capping off a week with two virtual town halls about the districts previous hybrid reopening plan. My office always wants to ensure our communications are concise and thorough, the letter sent on August 14 was no different, Mast said. Friday at 10 p.m. was when the letter was completed and we wanted to get the information to our families as soon as we could because we know how much anxiety school reopening is causing for everyone. Still, Masts letter has set off a firestorm of debate in person and on Facebook, where two large community Facebook groups often see rancorous town-wide discussion, with some applauding Mast and others railing against her. They had to go with what came down from the state and thats totally understandable. I think they made the right decision in that aspect, Anthony Fiore, a Scotch Plains parent and moderator of one of the Facebook groups, told NJ Advance Media, while calling for more parental involvement. Some lambasted the protesters on a Facebook post which garnered more than 600 comments. This rally is reinforcing the very worst stereotypes of entitled suburban parents, commenter Kristin Vassallo wrote. I am just as disappointed as anyone but the complete lack of grace given to the public servants trying their best under impossible circumstances is even more disappointing to me. There is no cabal secretly plotting against the parents of this town. Scotch Plains-Fanwood district parents hold a rally to open district schools in front of Park Middle School in Scotch Plains on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.John Jones | For NJ Advance Media Scotch Plains Mayor Al Smith issued a statement expressing sympathy for families displeased with virtual instruction and also urging residents to stay respectful. Yes, I am disappointed that the student in-school option is off the table at this time, but I support the decision not to send our children, teachers, and administrators into what the State has declared to be an unsafe situation Smith wrote. Lets act like residents of the town we wanted Scotch Plains to be when we moved here. Despite our divisions and disagreements, we are one community. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Photo credit: Kevin Lowery From ELLE Historically, women have needed to be convinced to enter politics. But since the 2016 presidential election, thousands of women announced their plans to run for public office. And we want them to win. So we're giving them examples of women who have run. The point: You can too. Nikema Williams is no stranger to Georgia politics. In 2017, after years working for Planned Parenthood, she won a seat in the state Senate during a special election. In 2019, she became the first Black woman to chair the state's Democratic Party. But when civil rights icon and longtime congressman John Lewis passed away this July, Williams stepped into a new kind of leadership. Following state law, she quickly applied for Lewis' seat and was voted to replace him on the ballot this November, essentially securing her place in Congress representing Georgia's 5th district. Williams officially launched her campaign on August 6th, the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark piece of legislation for which Lewis risked his life. "I wanted to make sure we were grounding ourselves in why I was running and why we're doing this work," she told ELLE.com. Below, she explains why she first decided to run for office and how she's finding her own place in history. I'm from the Deep South in Alabama and grew up a little girl in a home with no indoor plumbing and no running water. For me to become a member of Congressthats the story of Atlanta. I moved here not knowing a soul because Atlanta was a place where Black women, where Black people came to grow and prosper. Now I get to be the voice of my district. Growing up, I was raised by my grandparents. I knew they worked at the polls as Election Day workers. My grandpa would have slate cards that we would pass out so people knew who to vote for. I didn't quite understand the magnitude of it, but it was definitely instilled in me that voting was an important act, that this is something that we all did and was necessary. Story continues In high school, my government and economics teacher took me to D.C. for a trip. I was able to sit in on congressional hearings and meet my member of Congress. We even sat in on a Supreme Court hearing. That was my first time on an airplane, first time traveling without my family, first time in Washington D.C. That peaked my curiosity even more. By the time I ran for office, I had been involved and engaged in the Democratic Party in some form of leadership for 15 years. I lived in heavily Democratic districts with elected officials that were doing the right thing by me. I'm a firm believer that if people are doing their job, you shouldn't replace them just because you want their job. I had been content with helping other people get elected to office. Photo credit: Kevin Lowery Then in 2017, my state senator decided to run for mayor of Atlanta. There was an open seat, and open seats don't come around often in the downtown districts. I knew that it was something I wanted to do someday, and I would regret it if I didn't give it a shot. I had a two-year-old son at the time. I wanted to make sure he had every opportunity in the world, and I didn't want to leave it to chance. Who better to fight for my community and for my child than me? So I stepped up and said I was going to run. I got tons of pushback. Its easy for people to box you in as the worker bee, the helper, the person who gets everyone else elected, but not see you as the candidate themselves. I remember asking one of my current colleagues to support me. I had worked on her campaign and looked up to her as one of the most progressive members of the state Senate. She said, "Well, what if you lose? I don't want your first race to be a loss." I thought, "But if you help me, then I won't lose." People thought it wasn't my turn, that I needed to run for a lower office first. But I did it anyway and was successful. It was late on that Friday night when I got the news Congressman John Lewis passed away. I went in to tell my husband, who had worked for Congressman Lewis for eight years. Congressman Lewis was a national hero and civil rights icon to many, but he was a very personal friend to us. When I was running for state Senate, Congressman Lewis didn't hesitate to endorse me in a contested election with other people he knew in the race. He co-hosted my first campaign fundraiser. After I won, we had a swearing-in at the State Capitol. He was in D.C. but flew in just to be there. That will always hold a special place with me. It was difficult having to grieve while comforting my grieving husband and looking at the task ahead of us as a party, then making the very personal, life-changing decision to offer myself to be considered for the position. This seat is somewhat sacred to Atlantans. It covers the heart of Atlanta and the metro area, there are major corporations, the busiest airport in the world, the international headquarters of Coca-Cola, The King Center. This is a very special district. I knew that there would be pushback, and I had to prepare myself. I think I'm still processing it all. Im trying to understand my place in this moment of American history. I know that I have an obligation to make sure I am living up to Congressman Lewis' legacy. But each generation has an obligation to move the needle one step forward. For all of the people that want me to slow down, I look at what's happening in my communities. I look at my five-year-old son. I'm raising a little Black boy. Its up to us to create a better future for him. For far too long, Black women have not been seen as leaders, not just in our party, but in our country. This year, we see a record number of Black women running for Congressand I am quick to tell people plus one because my race just launched. I'm a believer that it's never the wrong time to do the right thing. I always take to heart: If not us, then who? And if not now, then when? This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Photo credit: . You Might Also Like Postal workers have had a long and difficult year. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images When Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies in the House next week, Mike Cinelli wont be present. But Cinelli, a Long Island postal worker, has plenty to say. About his job, for decades a reliable step toward a middle-class life. About his bosses, who make that job more difficult by the week. From management down, its been pretty much a hostile work environment with the delaying of the mail, he tells Intelligencer by phone. Cinelli is one voice in an angry national chorus. DeJoy, a major Republican donor, has enforced widespread service cuts since he assumed control of the U.S. Postal Service in May. As the mail slows down, and a presidential election approaches, public outrage is beginning to spread. Protesters have gathered in front of DeJoys Washington, D.C., home. On Twitter, users circulate photos of the agencys distinctive blue mailboxes, locked up on curbsides, or stacked onto trucks, headed for destinations unknown. Reports that the postal service also removed mail-sorting machines from some facilities only made the story more urgent. In a middling concession to pressure, DeJoy announced on Tuesday afternoon that he would suspend some service changes until after the election on November 3. The goal, he claimed in a statement, was to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail. But the statement leaves many questions unanswered, and the compromises it offers may not be enough to speed up the mail. That leaves workers and consumers alike in a bind. In conversations with Intelligencer, workers and union leaders blame DeJoy and a longstanding conservative campaign to privatize the postal service for the slowdown. Morale is low, though theyre eager to reassure Americans that the postal service is still functioning, and that workers are still doing their jobs despite a concerted attack on their efforts. To paraphrase the old feminist slogan, Cinellis woes arent just personal, but political. His frustration is palpable when he speaks to Intelligencer. Ive been doing deliveries pretty much my whole life, he says. After 20 years as a teamster working for the milk industry, he moved on to the USPS, where hes a shop steward for the American Postal Workers Union and drives mail trucks. Its a good job, he says, and it still is when politics doesnt get in the way. Once DeJoy took over, work became more complicated and less efficient. Cinellis problems start at the plants where the mail gets processed. Any little hiccup, like when an elevator doesnt come down right away, or any little delay, you cant wait five minutes. You have to go now, he explains. Were forced to make trips with no mail on the trucks because were not supposed to wait for anything anymore. Since they cant wait for the mail, the mail has to wait overnight. And that means delayed deliveries. This problem is exacerbated by reduced hours imposed by DeJoy. Were seeing slowdowns in the mail as a result of DeJoys orders to not use overtime, which is needed because a lot of post offices have been short-staffed for a long time, says Doug Brown, the president of APWUs Indiana state affiliate. In Cleveland, Ohio, Daleo Freeman of APWU Local 72 says his members received memos and directives reducing retail hours, as well as removing mail processing equipment. The formal rationale, he adds, is the pandemic, which reduced letter mail volume. It did not, however, reduce parcel volume, and Brown says that DeJoys interventions deprive workers of the flexibility they need to handle any fluctuation in the mail. According to Brown, truckers in Indiana can no longer carry out extra trucking runs on days with heavier mail volumes. The mail sits at the plants, and the backlog grows. That backlog has consequences. The possibility that DeJoys slowdown will threaten voting by mail in November reinforces anti-democratic rhetoric from President Trump. The beleaguered incumbent has claimed, repeatedly and falsely, that mail-in ballots encourage fraud and that universal voting by mail would be catastrophic. Trump has also blocked a bailout for the postal service, which faced a serious fiscal crisis due to the pandemic even before the Republican-dominated Board of Governors appointed DeJoy to his role. In August, Trump explicitly tied his opposition to a bailout to his objection to mail-in voting. They need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. On his own, DeJoy may not be acting out of a direct desire to hobble the election. He founded his own logistics company, and he and his wife both own investments in companies that are competitors to the USPS, which might be motive enough to push the agency to its limits. The conservative campaign to privatize the USPS is also much older than the Trump administration. But Trumps antipathy for the post office, and DeJoys strong links to the White House, encourage worry over the integrity of Novembers election. Although DeJoy himself has denied any anti-democratic motivation for his reforms, his Tuesday statement was so light on detail that it may not alleviate the publics fears. The press release said only that retail hours would not be reduced, and that equipment, like mailboxes and mail-processing machines, will remain in place. It didnt say anything about replacing equipment that has already been removed, and it didnt mention recent changes to mail-truck schedules a key source of the slowdown. Moreover, it only promised to delay cuts until after election day, an indication that the postal service still faces an uncertain future. The struggle to save the public postal service is far from over, Mark Dimondstein, the president of APWU, said in a statement responding to DeJoy. Postal workers themselves have told reporters that they believe they can handle an election as long as voters mail in ballots well ahead of November 6. Freeman repeats that sentiment to Intelligencer. Im confident in what we do as postal workers, he says. Its the culture to make sure we get the mail out. The postal service wont exactly rebound if consumers avoid using it. But the agency needs a federal bailout, and deprivation has consequences that reach far beyond the election. Even if DeJoy isnt trying to rig the election for Trump, the slowdown can still have terrible ramifications for vulnerable people. Though the busywork of daily life is beginning to move online, the mail is still a lifeline. For low-income Americans, the postal service is a bank and a pharmacy; a voting booth and a link to faraway family and friends. In Houston, an 82-year-old man told a local news station that he waited a week to receive the heart medicine he needs in order to live. The Veterans Health Administration sends about 80 percent of all prescriptions through the mail. Slow mail means late rent checks, delinquent bills, and more hardship. That weighs heavily on postal workers. We service the people, Cinelli says. We deliver the medications. We deliver their checks. If not for us, how are they getting their supplies? I see anything and everything coming through the mail. Diapers, wipes. Its sitting in the main facility and it cant get to the post office where you need them. Cinelli adds that he knows older co-workers who are considering retirement because of the changes, and some younger workers are thinking about leaving the postal service altogether. In Cleveland, Freeman says that although he doesnt know of any members considering a career change, the atmosphere on the floor can be low. They do see whats going on around them across the country, and how people are getting on TV and talking badly about them, he says of his members. They know they come into work every day and put their lives on the line to take care of people. Despite the challenges theyre facing, postal workers are hopeful that a groundswell of public support for their mission will influence legislators to do more than repair DeJoys immediate damage. They want a bailout, and they want longer-term reforms. Brown, for example, criticizes a controversial Bush-era law that requires the postal service to pre-fund employee health benefits 75 years in advance. No other agency is required to do this, he says. Beyond policy, DeJoys handling of the post office could help shape public attitudes toward the same government services that fiscal conservatives routinely try to cut. However inadvertently, he has clarified the value of the USPS as one of the last great public services in American life. The idea that businessmen should run the government the way they run private companies looks like a failure in motion. That doesnt bode well for the push to privatize the USPS. You cannot run a service as a business, Brown says, emphatically, and points out that the USPS is a self-supporting agency with high public-approval ratings. If you try to run it as a business and remove service from the United States Postal Service, then you have defeated its mission. Freeman, meanwhile, frames privatization almost as a version of theft. Why would you privatize something the people own? he asks. Its in the Constitution. Its very clear. Its the peoples post office. HONG KONG, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Neat, a Hong Kong-based FinTech company offering online company incorporation and multi-currency wallets to cross-border SMEs, today announced raising a US$4M extension to their US$11M Series A round closed in April 2020. Existing investors MassMutual Ventures, Pacific Century Group, Linear Capital and Robby Hilkowitz as well as new investor Vectr Fintech participated in the Series A Extension. Neat's vision is to enable the entrepreneur economy and support SMEs trading globally. While global travel has come to a standstill, cross-border trade has not. SMEs trading internationally are increasingly looking for online alternatives to facilitate their international business needs. Neat's online company incorporation package and fully-digital multi-currency wallet, perfectly fit the needs of international entrepreneurs today. While COVID-19 has caused an economic slowdown, new company incorporations are still on the rise with more than 175,000 new companies incorporated in the UK in Q2 of 2020 compared to 170,000 the same period last year; in Hong Kong, over 27,000 companies were incorporated in Q2 of 2020.[1] These are companies that may previously have turned to high street banking providers, but are now looking at digital alternatives to get their businesses up-and-running. "Some of the world's most successful companies were born during or just after the financial crisis of 2008, think of WhatsApp and Uber. The majority of businesses founded during COVID-19 will have a digital-first mindset, which means they will have an opportunity to start trading globally from day one. We're excited to be supporting this new wave of international entrepreneurs," said David Rosa, CEO of Neat. With its offering of online company incorporation, multi-currency wallet, corporate expense cards and international remittances, Neat is primarily focussed on SMEs trading between Europe and Asia. Over the next few years, Neat aims to make international trade frictionless by not only offering a way for customers to move money, but also making use of a vast ecosystem of tools that automate their business processes (payroll, accounting, logistics, etc.), to ultimately enable anyone to run an international business with ease. "Neat has shown great resilience and momentum throughout the current pandemic. The demand for online alternatives to banks has gone up, and the team at Neat has proven their ability to capture this opportunity while maintaining strong unit economics. The new capital injection will allow Neat to double down on their customer acquisition efforts to serve more SMEs looking for a better way to manage their business finances." said Mark Munoz, Managing Partner at Vectr Fintech Partners About Neat Neat's mission is to enable the entrepreneur economy - starting with fully digital multi-currency accounts built for today's international entrepreneur. The Neat Account gives you the ability to send and receive money globally at more competitive exchange rates than you would get from a bank; access Neat corporate expense cards for online and offline spending, as well as ATM withdrawals; it also includes intuitive expense tracking and security features. Learn more at www.neatcommerce.com . Note for Editor Neat is not a bank and should not be referred to as a bank, business account or bank account. You may refer to Neat's services as "alternative to a bank", "banking alternative", "multi-currency wallet". Neat's Hong Kong arm, Neat Limited, is licensed as a Money Service Operator (No. 19-06-02796), Trust or Corporate Service Provider (TC006452) and Money Lender (No. 0464/2020). Our UK arm, Neat Global Limited, is a registered agent of PayrNet Limited which is an Electronic Money Institution authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (900594) for the issuing of electronic money. Neat partners with various regulated financial institutions and banks to provide payment services. More information: https://www.neatcommerce.com/business/security [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/incorporated-companies-in-the-uk-april-to-june-2020 ; https://www.cr.gov.hk/en/publication/fact-stat/statistics/local-companies-incorporated/since-2014.htm Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228608/Neat_Dashboard_and_app.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228609/Neat_Business_Dashboard.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228610/David_Rosa_3.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228612/Neat_Co_Founders.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228613/Igor_Wos_2.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1228614/Neat_Sq_Logo.jpg Key findings from the report show that banks secured 44% of loan approvals while fintech lenders supplied the smallest loans Lehi, Utah, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lendio, the nations leading marketplace for small business loans, today released a report detailing the breakdown of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan approvals facilitated by its network of lenders. More than 100,000 small business owners utilized Lendios online application to access the economic relief funds made available through the SBA. Over the course of the last four months, millions of small business owners have sought economic relief in the form of PPP loans due to COVID-19. During that time, more than 300 lenders joined forces with Lendio to facilitate $8 billion in PPP loan approvals. These lenders include traditional banks, credit unions, non-bank lenders, fintech lenders and non-profit lenders. The report shows the PPP loan funding distribution through the Lendio platform in round one, round two and over the entirety of the PPP across different types of financial institutions. Key Findings by Lender Type: Traditional banks accounted for the most in total dollars approved ($3.3 billion). Non-bank lenders secured the highest number of approvals (50,264). Banks accounted for 44% of PPP loans approved through Lendios platform. Fintech lenders secured only 6% of total loan volume on the Lendio platform; however, this represents 16% of all businesses receiving approvals. Fintech lenders approved the smallest loans on average ($28,584), followed by credit unions ($35,740). Banks approved the largest loans on average ($199,488). Collectively, the lenders on the Lendio platform preserved an estimated 1.1 million jobs. The Paycheck Protection Program was an ambitious endeavor from the onset, said Brock Blake, CEO and co-founder of Lendio. Without our lending partners, big and small, thousands of small business owners would have been left out of the program. We are grateful for the wide array of lenders who joined forces with the singular goal of saving small businesses. Story continues One such business is Love Catering in Los Angeles. Co-owner Jonathan Darr was left reeling when booking after booking suddenly canceled in early March. As a business owner living through the crisis, trying to reposition, resize and manage the company, the paperwork for a loan seemed daunting, said Darr. But the ease of an online application process made it easy. We couldnt have survived without Lendio and Northeast Bank. Its a powerful thing to see so many lender types, with different asset classifications and from various geographic regions band together for a common purpose, said Denada Ramnishta, SVP of Partner and Lender Strategy at Lendio. What Lendios marketplace model provides is an ability to utilize different lender types to fulfill the capital needs of equally diverse small businessesthis was no different during the PPP process. As an aggregator of loan options from the nations top fintech lenders, banks, credit unions, community development financial institutions and non-bank lenders, Lendio is a one-stop-shop for thousands of business owners looking for capital to start, operate and grow. Before its role in facilitating PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lendio had originated just over $2 billion to 110,000 small businesses since its inception in 2011. Attachment CONTACT: Spencer Anopol Lendio 801-748-4782 spencer.anopol@lendio.com When my friends and acquaintances met my baby girl for the first time, there usually came a moment when they would lean toward me conspiratorially and lower their voice and ask, But really, how are you doing? This, I learned, was a question people pose to new moms to make sure they arent going to jump off a cliff. But I thought they were the ones who were out of their minds. I had never felt such intense joy in my life. Advertisement With an ectopic pregnancy and two unpublished novels behind me, I had a beautiful daughter and a book coming out at last. I had recently finished grad school in Iowa City, and my plan to stay home with my baby for a year and prepare for my books release felt like a dream come true. Sure, having the book coming out was a little stressful, and so was the fact that my husband and I were on the academic job market, but did these people not see the warm little ball of love strapped to my chest? I was ecstatic. After my daughter turned 4 months old, people stopped asking how I was, right when I got desperate for help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What started as an innocent night of no sleep turned into an eight-month living hell that lasted until my daughter turned 1. One night in the early fall, I couldnt get my brain to turn off as I prepared for my parents visit the next day. I kept thinking about how to work my folks into my daughters nursing and napping schedule, while the Imagine Dragons song Thunder played over and over in my head as I sweated through three nightgowns and got up to nurse every two hours. A second sleepless night came on the heels of the first one. After a month, Id racked up a dozen. I was bewildered and terrified, and did a lot of things that I now see probably made it worse. Advertisement Advertisement My heart pounded even more wildly when my daughter napped, so there was no chance I could sleep when the baby sleeps anymore. I used that time to Google sleep cures instead of writing. I harassed every friend and family member I knew for advice. I decided to sleep downstairs on a stiff couch, away from my family, and every 30 minutes when I failed to drift off, I marched up to my husbands office to declare, Its happening, its happening again Advertisement I tried every tip I got from friends and the trusty internet: body scans, meditation, yoga, yoga nidra, standing on my head, journaling, puzzles, reading a boring book about high-frequency trading, reciting the name of every Bachelor contestant ever, counting forward and backward to 1,000, sleep apps, videos of sheep, sleeping with all the lights on, falling asleep to Don Lemons soothing voice, cuddling my daughters stuffed animals dressed in her dirty clothes so I felt less alone, not to mention the cocktail of melatonin, passionflower, valerian root, sleepy tea, magnesium, ZzzQuil, and OB-prescribed hydroxyzine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A monster had invaded my brain and wanted to kill me. Most of the time, nothing worked. When I closed my eyes, Id hear pop songs on repeat, but they took on an evil tonethink Shape of You sung by the devil instead of Ed Sheeran. Sometimes an eclectic mix of faces floated before my eyes like some kind of hideous bouquet: Id hear Im in love with the shape of you while seeing my daughter, my landlord, the academic job search committee members who interviewed me over Skype, ex-boyfriends, Post Malone, and the barista at the local coffee shop smiling at me menacingly. Add having to nurse every two-to-three hours plus the whirlwind of fears about becoming a terrible mother and wife on top of that and that was basically how my nights went. I was convinced I was losing my mind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My daughter began sleeping through the night at 6 months, but I did not follow suit. As Iowa approached its polar vortex, I decided to get help. I began spending my free time visiting a therapist, psychiatrist, sleep doctor, and, on one occasion, even a hypnotist. The sleep doctor, my three visits to whom I later learned cost more than $1,000, told me to think of a relaxing place at night, like a beach. The psychiatrist suggested I try anti-anxiety medication, but I said I was strong enough to handle this without the meds. Id never had insomnia or needed medication before. I thought that at worst, I would sleep when my novel came out and I had something else to focus on, though that was months away. Advertisement The therapist told me I was being hard on myself and got me some emergency Xanax to take as needed at night. I quickly ran out and got more. Though it didnt always work, I began taking it several nights a week. Each time, I waited at least four or five hours to take it, convinced Id feel better if I could only fall asleep on my own. I worried I would become addicted, that I would never fall asleep naturally again. I felt like I had been pushed out on an iceberg, spending most of my time either feeling worthless or obsessing over my sleep, feeling terror creep into soul when darkness fell. A monster had invaded my brain and wanted to kill me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dont get me wrong, the insomnia was pure helltheres nothing lonelier than having your heart pound wildly while your family sleeps peacefully above you, like youre the last person on Earth, knowing you have a full day of parenting ahead. But even worse were the destructive thoughts that had settled into my brain like an animal burrowing into a creaky old house. According to the combating my negative thoughts Word doc I made during that time at the suggestion of the self-help book Feeling Good, whose motto was, It feels good to feel good!, the loop went something like this: Why cant you handle being a mom? Everyone else can do it without going insane! Advertisement You will never be normal again. No one will ever hire you because youre terrified of going to bed. Even if you get a job, youll have to quit because you wont be able to sleep. And forget ever having a second kid. Nobody needs you. Youre only a burden to your family and friends and theyll all be better off without you. You dont deserve anybodys love. What is so wrong with you that having a baby and book coming out isnt meeting your needs? This was supposed to be the best year of your life. Advertisement Advertisement What are you going to do to try to fall asleep tonight? It wont work. Nothing will. Advertisement These thoughts played on a relentless loop in my head, as reliable as my daughters white noise machine or my recitation from memory of Goodnight Moon. I went from being pretty confident to feeling like a psychopath with a secret as bad as a serial killers. Any time I spoke about normal things, whether I was interviewing for a job or talking about my book or gossiping with friends, I felt that I was just faking it, hiding that I was an awful, ungrateful person who was so fucked up that she couldnt sleep on her own. Advertisement Advertisement When I closed my eyes, Id hear pop songs on repeat, but they took on an evil tonethink Shape of You sung by the devil. Its funny, because Im a fiction writer, and fiction is supposed to let you enter the inner psyche of complex, misunderstood characters. And yet, before the insomnia, when I studied other people, I always thought the gap between how they felt and how they acted was a neat little stream filled with quirky secrets and grudges that I could access with the right questions. I did not know it could be as wide and impenetrable as an ocean. Advertisement Do you have hope for the future? the psychiatrist asked me once, as I stared at my snow-covered boots. I burst into laughter, a cruel laugh that reminded me I hadnt authentically laughed for months. How can I have hope when Im terrified of sleep? I said, and she looked concerned and jotted something down. It would never, ever end. I was sure of it. I left the hospital through the wrong exit and found myself miles from my car. It was so cold it should have been illegal. I looked up at the sturdy building where I was treated for my ectopic pregnancy and later gave birth to my daughter and couldnt believe it was the same place or that I was the same person. I kicked at the dirty snow and screamed. Advertisement Advertisement Though my sleep slowly improved as winter ceded to spring (instead of pulling an all nighter several times a week, I could sometimes go one or even two weeks without one, though never more), the thoughts did not. When my novel came out, my book tour was my last hope. When I read at Prairie Lights, every Iowa City writers dream, I was baffled when I faced a crowd of strangers and friends. What are you all doing here? I asked them. Everyone laughed, but I wasnt joking. I didnt understand why anyone would come to cheer me on. After that, I began taking anti-anxiety medication for the first time in my life. Advertisement I began to feel human again by early summer. Though my job search was fruitless, my husband got a job in Alabama and we moved there just after my daughter turned 1. Though my sleep isnt perfect, I havent had a night like the ones I had in Iowa again. The sleep got better, but more importantly, I got my mind back. My thoughts are still punctuated by anxiety, sure, but not in a self-destructive way. Im focused on my next book, my friends, art projects with my daughter. Also, I went back to work part time and sent my daughter to day care, which helped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now that Im not in panic mode, I can see how irrational my thoughts wereI had equated my self-worth with my ability to fall asleep!but I couldnt question my logic at the time, as the specialists told me to do. I can also understand what my therapist meant about having self-compassion and gratitude. Now I can appreciate how kind so many people were to me that year and how lucky I am to have a published book and an energetic 2-year-old, and to be able to do ordinary things like watch a movie with my husband without being terrified that I wont sleep afterward. I can laugh again, not in the cruel way I had laughed at the poor psychiatrist, but for real. I can say I had a pretty bad case of postpartum depression and anxiety, instead of calling it the year I went insane. Advertisement When my daughters day care shut down, I was terrified that having her home full time would prove I was a selfish person who fell apart without my own independence and that this would drive me to sleeplessness again. It didnt take long to overcome my fear. In fact, within the course of a single week, my cat got fleas, I found a lump in my breast, my grandmother died from the coronavirus, and my house flooded, and even then I was able to laugh as my husband and I scooped out buckets of water with trash cans to save our home. The truth is I dont feel 1 percent as bad as I felt during my first year as a new mom. I have never been in the same room as that feeling before or sincenot even on the same planet, really. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, Im thinking of all the new moms who arent feeling so good, especially when child care is on holdIm willing to bet there are more of them than ever. Some of them may not feel good for far longer than theyd hoped. They may think this is their new normal. But in most cases, it will pass. Of course, therapy and meditation work wonders on some people; they just werent enough for me, and I wish I had seen that much sooner. As for those people who asked how I was doing those first few monthskeep asking the moms around you how theyre doing long after that fourth trimester, even if their smiles suggest they are doing fine. Former NDC National Organizer, Mr Kofi Adams, has stated that he is unfamiliar with the contents of Prof Kwabena Ahwois book titled Working with Rawlings. Commenting on the book, he claims to have not read yet, Mr Adams said the timing of Prof. Kwamena Ahwois book is inappropriate. He believes the content of the book does not present the National Democratic Congress in a good light, therefore, it should not have been released at a time when the party is preparing for a major election. I havent read the book but it shouldnt have been released at this time. This shouldnt be happening now. At this very critical time when we need to come together and kick out this bad government. Our elders shouldnt be doing this now. We need to be focused. Its not the best of times, he told OKAYFMs Kwame Nkrumah Tikese. Meanwhile, some members of the party including NDCS Chairman for the Volta Regional Council of Elders, Mr Dan Abodakpi, has described portions of the book as an attempt to discredit the political legacy of Mr Rawlings. Many others including Kweku Baako and Raymond Archer have also criticised the timing of the release of the book, predicting that it could affect the NDC in the upcoming 2020 general elections. However, Rawlings himself has also expressed dissatisfaction about the book and how he has been portrayed by Kwamena Ahwoi. There is nothing ill-timed about Kwamena Ahwoi serving dankwansere soup at this time. He needed to knock down Rawlings to preempt the exposure that Rawlingss book, The Triumph of Evil promises to reveal about some of them. "People like him do not expect the NPP to let go of 2020. So they are hoping to utilize the opportunity of a loss to damage Rawlings with some vicious, manufactured stuff. Their cunning calculation is that Mahama and his running mate will step aside after 2020 while they consolidate their control over the party and provide their own flag bearer and running mate for 2024," the NDC founder wrote on Twitter. The book Working for Rawlings chronicles Prof. Kwamena Ahwois experience while working with former president Jerry John Rawlings. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The U.S. Postal Service blocked congressional lawmakers from interrogating the firm that helped select Louis DeJoy as the country's postmaster general, prompting a sharp rebuke from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who called on the organization Wednesday to be more transparent as a federal investigation unfolds. The spat over access has hindered lawmakers as they probe DeJoy's recent, controversial changes to mail delivery, and in the process, potentially concealed key details about the involvement of President Donald Trump and his top aides in those decisions, Schumer, D-N.Y., warned in a Wednesday letter to the agency. The missive threatens to add to the already sky-high tensions between the administration and the Senate as DeJoy prepares to testify at a high-profile Senate hearing Friday, then a House hearing on Monday. Schumer fired off his initial inquiry to the USPS in June, asking to learn more about the process that selected DeJoy, a former top Republican fundraiser, to lead the Postal Service. The postmaster general is a position filled by the USPS Board of Governors, which in this case relied on an executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, to guide its thinking. About a month later, the board responded to Schumer, telling him that "much of the information I requested was confidential," and it declined to provide it, the Democratic leader said in his Wednesday note. A lawyer for the executive search firm said the postal board of governors had refused to waive a nondisclosure agreement, blocking Congress from conducting "oversight obligations to better understand the selection of Mr. DeJoy," according to Schumer. Schumer further sought to learn if the White House and Treasury Department intervened in the search process, particularly given Trump's prominent attacks on the Postal Service and mail-in voting. The top Senate Democrat said his office on its own learned about previously undisclosed contacts between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the board's governors, which troubled Schumer since the board had not disclosed such communications. In response, he called on the USPS board to release the search from its nondisclosure agreement and provide more information about Trump and Mnuchin's involvement in DeJoy's selection. "The administration has repeatedly pointed to the role of Russell Reynolds to defend the selection of a Republican megadonor with no prior experience as Postmaster general while at the same time blocking the ability of Congress to obtain briefings from the firm and concealing the role of Secretary Mnuchin and the White House in the search process," Schumer wrote. Spokespeople from the White House, Treasury Department and USPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Schumer's public rebuke comes amid a frenetic week for the Postal Service as DeJoy and Robert Duncan, the chairman of the USPS Board of Governors, prepare to face off against furious federal lawmakers over the next two weeks. On Tuesday, 21 states announced plans to sue the mail service and DeJoy, arguing that his policy changes had slowed down mail and threatened to undermine their states' abilities to collect and count ballots during the 2020 presidential election. The USPS's actions have taken on added urgency at a time when Trump continues to claim without evidence that mail-in voting is a vector for massive fraud, a line of attacks that critics across the spectrum see as an attempt to delegitimize the November vote. Under siege from the states, DeJoy said hours later that he would "suspend" his efforts to impose service reductions, rethink overtime pay and remove mail-sorting machines and public-collection boxes. "I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability," DeJoy said in a statement Tuesday. "I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election." "In the meantime, there are some long-standing operational initiatives - efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service - that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic," he continued. "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded." DeJoy's reversal has done little to quell anger among congressional Democrats, some of whom have called for his removal by the board, an organization currently consisting of six members that had picked him in the first place. Earlier in the week, lawmakers including Schumer urged the governing body to use its authority to walk back policy changes that they said had kept people from receiving benefit checks and prescription drugs through the mail - and said they should strip DeJoy of his title if he failed to cooperate. We need them to just get rid of Louis DeJoy and say, all those mailboxes they took out, all those [mail] sorting machines they took out, the no-overtime policy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., later said on MSNBC. Wildlife conservationists have demanded an investigation into the deaths of 18 elephants in Odisha over the last two years, citing information obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) that suggests they may not have died of anthrax as previously thought. Biswajit Mohanty, a wildlife conservationist who filed an RTI application with Phulnakharas Animal Disease Research Institute (ADRI), said the information revealed that only two of the tissue samples of the 20 tested positive for the bacterial disease. ADRI found that the deaths of only two elephants in the Hadagada forest range of Keonjhar forest division in May 2018 could be ascribed to anthrax. Mohanty said by citing anthrax as the cause, officials eliminated the need to carry out proper autopsies and investigation for any other cause of death. The bodies were either cremated or deep burials were carried out on the basis of suspicion of anthrax without even waiting for a preliminary test report, Mohanty said anthrax has become a convenient reason to cover up foul play or unnatural causes of deaths. Mohanty has now lodged a complaint with Odishas chief wildlife warden. Anthrax is an infectious zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, and elephants can contract the disease when they come in contact with contaminated soil, plants, or water. The disease can also be transmitted from animals to humans. In Odisha, officials have blamed anthrax for the deaths of 20 elephants between April 2017 and June 2020. They include a female elephant, whose carcass was found in Gayalmunda forest in Keonjhar district in 2019. Mohanty wondered how could the state wildlife officials have missed the mysterious absence of anthrax infections among other wildlife species as well as cattle in the area while elephants continued to die. Unless there is proper and truthful reporting of cause of deaths of elephants, the protection of our national heritage animal in Odisha is seriously imperiled. Mohanty said elephant carcasses have been cremated or buried after their deaths of suspected anthrax over the last 10 months as well in Rairakhol, Keonjhra, and Angul forest divisions. Their tissue samples were neither sent to ADRI nor to the veterinary college of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, he added. In January, the Union environment ministry revised its standard operating procedures (SOP) on anthrax deaths of wild elephants after a four-year-old elephant was suspected to have died of the disease in Sambalpur district. As per the SOP, the chief wildlife warden has been vested with the overall authority of investigation such deaths under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The SOP had laid down rules for the constitution of a team to oversee the assessment and disposal of elephant carcasses suspected to be infected with anthrax. Wildlife activist Aditya Panda said the RTI documents have raised questions on the wildlife authorities attempts of attributing most elephant deaths to anthrax without going through the proper procedure. It needs to be investigated how these elephants had died. The government owes everyone a clarification, he said. Chief wildlife warden, HS Upadhyay, said anthrax has very obvious symptoms. And in all cases, it is certified by local veterinary surgeons. So, the accusation of misreporting is incorrect. In Odisha, the elephant mortality rate is rising alarmingly. The average deaths annually, which were 33 from 1990 to 2000, increased to 46 from 2000 to 2010. Since 2010, the average has been 78. As many as 463 elephant deaths were recorded from 2000 to 2010. The number grew sharply to 784 from 2010 to 2020. Of the 784 deaths in the last 10 years, 281 (36%) elephants died of unnatural causes. In 160 (20%) cases, the causes of death could not be ascertained primarily because their bodies were highly decomposed. LAFAYETTE HILL Aug. 19 was World Photography Day, and, yes as promos for the date reminded us a picture is worth a thousand words. On the other hand, the right words can equal just about any photo. Mokeira Gekonge is only 14. But the sentiment she conveys in her prize-winning monologue about COVID-19, Mutiny, evokes a chill comparable to the most sinister visual. The Lafayette Hill teens perceptive words earned her a top spot in Philadelphia Young Playwrights 2020 Mouthful Digital Monologue Festival. The piece was inspired by her grandparents battle with the virus and is formatted as a first-person declamation by the coronavirus. A professional actor delivered each winning monologue, and although she ends on a hopeful note, Gekonges words coupled with the in-your-face phrasing of Philadelphia thespian Jenna Kuerzi, make for an ominous cautionary tale against complacency. My grandparents had both suddenly fallen sick with coronavirus a few months ago, and it was really scary for me, said Gekonge, a rising Plymouth Whitemarsh High School freshman. They were sicker than theyd let on, so Id never know how they were really doing when I talked to them on the phone. They both have underlying health issues, so it was really just a terrible situation. My grandparents mean the whole world to me, so I was really hurt, and the hardest part was the fact that they were being weakened from the inside, so there was nothing I could do to help them. Happily, Gekonges grandparents recovered and havent experienced any issues since, but when her eighth grade English teacher at Colonial Middle School, Joshua Rothstein, suggested she enter the Philadelphia Young Playwrights contest, she knew she wanted to build her monologue around the coronavirus. The idea of being able to turn COVID into a nasty villain that gets defeated helped me feel more hopeful and lighthearted about my grandparents situation, Gekonge explained. That said, there was nothing lighthearted about the malevolent defiance of COVID-19 as personified in her monologue. In part: You spit and call me names, but youre forgetting that I have taken countless hosts. That I cloned myself until I couldnt anymore. Im the biggest army you have seen in years. Whats that? Im a filthy virus? Well, lets see whos talking after I blow your proteins to bits! (low growl) Even if I fall to your hands in this host, you will never defeat me. If you want to kill me, go for it. I live in millions of other hosts. The hosts do my work for me. Sharing from person to person, until nobodys safe anymore! So, try as you might, you wont succeed. Im far ahead of you. (loud evil cackle) Mutiny means rebellion, and in my story, coronavirus is a feared army that comes and destroys the immune system, Gekonge continued. But the antibodies come to fight down the insurgence of the virus. Her monologues ending the viruss brazen, then quickly diffident summation bodes well for success by those antibodies: I am novel coronavirus. I wont be defeated. (sudden nervous look)Right? Gekonges powerful personification of the virus and the fearsome havoc its wreaked are even more impressive given her compressed deadline. It was my first time writing (a monologue), and I just had to try my best and throw it together within four days all the days I had, she says. I just wanted to try my best, and I definitely didnt expect the results that came out of it. Philadelphia Young Playwrights has been collaborating with area educators to bring the transformative power of playwriting into classrooms and community settings since 1987. The organizations yearly Mouthful Digital Monologue Festival partners its winners with pros like Kuerzi, dramaturg Byshera Williams and director MR Stine to help shape their work. Watching and listening as Kuerzi delivered Mutiny for the first time? A definite thrill for its young author. It was so cool to hear it read by a professional actor, she said. I got to see my own writing come to life, and it made me really happy. Jenna Kuerzi, Byshera Williams and MR Stine all did a great job, and it came out just how Id imagined it to. Not surprisingly, Gekonges grandparents are among her biggest fans. They were so happy, she said. Both of them loved the monologue, and they were so proud. That said, Gekonge isnt resting on her laurels. Ive been working on a few short stories and trying to write a book like Ive always wanted to I love writing, because it helps me express my ideas and creativity. Its really fun to me. Additional information, including access to Gekonges Mutiny, is available at www.phillyyoungplaywrights.org. New evidence uncovered by an international team of genetic scientists suggests the children of one of Australia's most infamous serial killers may not have died at the hands of their mother. Kathleen Folbigg was jailed in 2003 for at least 25 years for murdering her children Patrick, Sarah and Laura - aged from eight months to 19 months - between 1991 and 1999. She was also found guilty of the manslaughter of her first-born child, Caleb, who was just 19 days old when he died in Newcastle in 1989. The 53-year-old has always maintained her innocence. Now, a group of 27 scientists have released findings which show at least two of her children may have died of natural causes. Kathleen Folbigg appears via video link at a convictions inquiry at the NSW Coroners Court in 2019. Folbigg's four children - each of whom she has been convicted of killing - may have died from natural causes, scientists have said in newly-published research Folbigg was jailed in 2003 for at least 25 years for murdering her children Patrick, Sarah (right) and Laura (left) - aged from eight months to 19 months - between 1991 and 1999 She was also found guilty of the manslaughter of her first child, Caleb (left), who was 19 days old when he died in Newcastle in 1989. Patrick Folbigg pictured right In a peer-reviewed study published on Wednesday, researchers in Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Italy and Denmark said a never-seen-before genetic mutation in the two girls' DNA had likely been deadly. The Danish scientists said the mutation, called CALM2 G114R, had been inherited from Folbigg. They said Caleb and Patrick had another genetic mutation which too could have led to their deaths. The CALM2 mutation causes a condition called 'Calmodulinopathy' which can cause sudden cardiac death in very young children, the paper's lead scientist said. They said the boys' mutated genes had two different copies which caused lethal epilepsy in mice in cases where they were faulty. Professor of Immunology at the Australian National University Carola Vinuesa - who revealed the results to a scientists' symposium - was last year tasked with analysing the DNA of Folbigg and the four deceased children. Scientists had analysed the infants' genome using only the blood from their heel-prick cards at birth. Folbigg leaving the Supreme Court of NSW in April 2003. Scientists have said a never-seen-before genetic mutation found in her two girls' DNA had likely been deadly The findings come despite a former chief judge finding an inquiry into Folbigg's convictions reinforced her guilt. The report by Reginald Blanch QC, the former NSW District Court chief judge who presided over the inquiry, said 'the only conclusion reasonably open is that somebody intentionally caused harm to the children, and smothering was the obvious method'. 'The evidence pointed to no person other than Ms Folbigg,' the report said. Folbigg's evidence and listening device transcripts - which weren't before the jury at trial - showed she had been untruthful, unbelievable and 'made deliberate attempts to obscure the fact that she had committed the offences', it said. The inquiry was announced by NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman in 2018 after Folbigg's lawyers lodged a petition casting doubt on some evidence that led to her conviction. At the time, the attorney-general said he'd formed the view it was necessary 'to ensure public confidence in the administration of justice'. Tracy Chapman (pictured) has been friends with convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg since the pair were six and she has maintained her best friend's innocence since she was sent to jail after her 2003 Sydney trial The results of the inquiry left Folbigg 'heartbroken and perplexed', friend Tracey Chapman told 7 News. She said despite the findings, they would continue to fight to prove her innocence. 'I can assure you, it's not over. Not until this gross injustice is recognised, the convictions overturned and this broken, arrogant, biased system apologises for its treatment of Kath. 'We have truth on our side and a growing number of supporters who are becoming very frustrated. I told her to try and find some comfort in these facts.' Production will allegedly resume on The Batman in September, it was reported by Variety on Wednesday. According to the publication cameras will begin to roll at the beginning of the month in Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, after filming came to a halt in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Matt Reeves' take on the caped crusader, which stars Robert Pattinson in the title role, was nearly seven weeks into its filming schedule in London at the time of its hiatus, meaning there is reportedly three months of material left to shoot. He's back! The Batman 'is set to resume filming in September' it was reported on Wednesday, after production came to a halt in March due to the coronavirus crisis It was claimed that because of this the film could finish filming by the end of the year, but it is yet to be seen if that will be the case. The publication also reported that crews have been busy building new sets for the comic book film throughout August, so that they will be ready in time for filming to begin again next month. MailOnline has contacted Warner Bros' representatives for comment. The Batman's release date was delayed until October 2021, after production was halted on March 14 due to the global pandemic. Busy schedule: Matt Reeves' take on the caped crusader was nearly seven weeks into its filming schedule in London, meaning there is reportedly three months of material left to shoot Earlier this year director Reeves confirmed production on The Batman was being put on hiatus for the foreseeable future. Warner Bros originally said it was taking a 'two-week hiatus' due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Matt confirmed that filming was paused for the time being. 'Yes, we have shut down till it is safe for us all to resume,' he stated in a tweet, before the Hollywood blockbuster was bumped back. On hold: Earlier this year director Reeves confirmed production on The Batman was being put on hiatus for the foreseeable future Filming had initially been relocated from London to Liverpool before being halted altogether. A statement at the time read: 'Warner Bros. Pictures feature production of 'The Batman' will be on a two-week hiatus starting today. The studio will continue to monitor the situation closely.' Zoe Kravitz will appear as Catwoman, while Andy Serkis will play Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Nigeria and other West African nations are set to adopt a new system of utilizing satellite technology in better predicting environmental patterns to help mitigate flood. The adoption follows an initiative by African Union (AU) Leaders and the European Union, in the training of key stakeholders in the application of the technology. The training, which opened in Abuja and is also to be held simultaneously in other West African Countries, is being conducted by the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education (CSSTE), under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa) initiative. Giving insights on the training and adoption of satellite imaging, Ganiyu Agbaje, Executive Director, CSSTE Consortium, said that the use of the new technology will make it easier to predict floods and locate the people who are really affected. According to him, the training was not to teach participants how to predict but to show them how to use additional satellite data to do their prediction better and support other methods. He said that the technology has been on for a while around the World, adding that African leaders in collaboration with the EU initiated the training to help Africa better monitor the environment and mitigate disasters. Mr Agbaje said that with the data, rainfall, rivers and the environment will be better monitored, adding that in the case of Nigeria, more information on the activities of River Niger will be known using the technology. So, if we monitor River Niger across West Africa and we know what is going on, then we will know what is coming to Nigeria. There are five countries involved in this, we are all monitoring and using the same method to see how we can monitor flood. If we are able to do this, we will be able to do our prediction effectively, our staff will be better equipped: we will know better how to do damage assessment and what point other stakeholders can come in. We will be able to map flood extents and also know where houses should not be built, he said. He commended the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES & Africa), a joint initiative of the AU and EU. Speaking at the opening, the Director- General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Clement Nze, said that the training is aimed at building the capacity of stakeholders to better utilise satellite technology in providing accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment. He said that the training is the second in the series of training lined up for stakeholders on environmental monitoring and forecasting. Mr Nze said that the training was aimed at enhancing stakeholders capacity in delivering their respective institutional mandate. This training programme will focus on building capacity on the acquisition and use of satellite data, including modelling, damage assessment, and forecast services. CSSTE Consortium has identified strategic training needs of its collaborating stakeholders on the multi-scale flood assessment and monitoring services for West Africa, hence the need to train stakeholders to sustain the benefits from the programmes products. READ ALSO: Hundreds of domestic tourists trapped in Western Mongolia floods This training, therefore, comes at the right time when we are experiencing flooding across the country, and I hope it will go a long way in complementing efforts on flood forecasts and early warning, he said. For the Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency NiMET, Sani Mashi, he noted that the training and the adoption of the technology was very timely given the rising incidences of flooding across the West African Sub-region. During the last decades, the trend in flood damages has been growing exponentially. Improved capacity to forecast, monitor and assess floods using Earth Observation Data is therefore an essential element in regional and national strategies to mitigate this annual event. I am confident that training of this nature will provide the useful skills and knowledge to all the trainees for planning to establish such forecasting system, Mr Mashi, a professor, said. (NAN) Advertisements Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. Read more The spotlight will be fixed on Sen. Kamala Harris Wednesday during the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The Democrats vice presidential nominee might currently represent California, but Harris will deliver her convention speech 2,800 miles away in Wilmington, Del., the home of former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Joe Biden had the audacity to choose a Black woman to be his running mate. How incredible is that? Harris said in an interview with The 19th, a nonprofit outlet that reports on gender, politics, and policy. And what a statement that is about Joe Biden, that he decided he was going to do that thing that was about breaking one of the most substantial barriers that has existed in our country, and he made that decision with whatever risk that brings. With so much attention focused on Harris, its easy to overlook the other headliners speaking Wednesday, including former President Barack Obama, who will be delivering his speech from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Obama is expected to talk about working with Biden in the White House and President Donald Trumps repeated attacks on mail-in voting and the Postal Service. What weve seen in a way that is unique to modern political history is a president who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting, Obama said during an podcast interview with David Plouffe, his former campaign manager. What weve never seen before is a president say, Im going to try to actively kneecap the postal service to encourage voting and I will be explicit about the reason Im doing it. Like previous nights, the speeches will be sandwiched by testimonials and musical acts, including performances by Billie Eilish and Jennifer Hudson Heres everything you need to know to watch or stream the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention: What time does the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention start? The third night of the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last two hours. The convention will stream live on the DNCs website and across all their social media channels. In Philadelphia, it will also air live on NBC, ABC, CBS, and WHYY, with most networks opting to carry the final hour beginning at 10 p.m. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News will also offer live coverage starting hours before the event begins, each offering their own analysis. Comcast Xfinity X1 subscribers can watch all the programming by simply saying DNC into their remote. You can also stream it live on Inquirer.com, courtesy of the DNC: Who will be speaking Wednesday night? Former President Barack Obama headlines the speakers Wednesday. The full list includes: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren California Rep. Nancy Pelosi Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords California Sen. Kamala Harris Former President Barack Obama Highlights from Tuesday night include empathy from Jill Biden and passion from a silent activist The most powerful moment Tuesday night came from someone unable to speak. Ady Barkan, a health care activist robbed of the ability to speak by ALS, spoke passionately through his computer about the need for universal health care in the United States. Like so many of you, I have experienced the ways our health care system is fundamentally broken, Barkan said. Enormous costs, denied claims, dehumanizing treatment when we are most in need. Jill Biden, a Philadelphia native who CNNs Jake Tapper noted hasnt lost her Willow Grove accent, didnt mention Trump in a speech that focused more on her husbands empathy and their joint determination to overcome the loss of their son, Beau, who died in 2015 of brain cancer. Four days after Beaus funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit, Biden said from the Wilmington classroom where she used to teach. I saw him steel himself in the mirror take a breath put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. Thats just who he is. Whats the remaining schedule for the 2020 Democratic National Convention? The Democratic National Convention is taking place over four nights this week. It began Monday and will run through Thursday. Convention programming is scheduled to air live each night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern. Thursday night will be the final night of the convention, capped by a speech from former Vice President Joe Biden. Other notable speakers on the schedule into a pair of local lawmakers New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons. What are conventions like this actually for? While political conventions have largely grown into television events designed to promote political parties and their leaders, the business of the convention includes formalizing a party platform, which was updated at the end of July. It is based on a report issued by joint task forces organized by Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who garnered the second most delegates during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. To the dismay of some of the partys more progressive members, the platform doesnt include a plan for a single-payer health care system, like Medicare for all. Instead, it calls for the addition of a public option to the existing Affordable Care Act. There will also be a formal vote of delegates to officially nominate Biden as the partys presidential nominee. When will the Republican National Convention take place? The 2020 Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin Monday, Aug. 24. President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday he plans to deliver his acceptance speech from the lawn of the White House. He is also expected to be the central focus each night. Republicans havent yet released an official list of speakers, but in addition to the Trump family, other Republicans reportedly expected to deliver remarks include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Sean Parnell. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to deliver his speech on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Also expected to speak during the Republican National Convention are Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Protesters outside their home in June. He's one of the country's most recognisable TV presenters. But it turns out there is at least one other person in Australia who looks exactly like Sunrise host David 'Kochie' Koch. During Wednesday's show, the 64-year-old was taken aback by the remarkable similarities he shared with Victorian business owner Paul Capkin. Scroll down for video Spot the difference! Watch the shocking moment Sunrise host David Koch (left) meets his doppelganger, Victorian business owner Paul Capkin (right), live on air During weather presenter Sam Mac's travel segment in which visits senior citizens, he introduced Paul Capkin to Sunrise anchors Kochie and Natalie Barr. Paul said that he is often told he looks like Kochie's long-lost brother, joking: 'My business is called Posh Wash, so I get [called] Kochie Washy.' When Sam asked if the mobile car wash owner took the comparison as a compliment, he cheekily responded: 'Sometimes!' Separated at birth? Paul (pictured) said that he is often told he looks like Kochie's long-lost brother, joking: 'My business is called Posh Wash, so I get [called] Kochie Washy' 'A couple of times, people have said to me, "Kochie, how come you are wearing a St Kilda scarf?"' he added, referring to Kochie's famous allegiance to Port Adelaide. The Sunrise panel laughed as Sam agreed: 'That is a giveaway!' Paul was then asked to turn side-on for a profile view, as Kochie did the same in the Channel Seven studio. Uncanny: Paul (right) was asked to turn side-on for a profile view, as Kochie (left) did the same in the Channel Seven studio. Both men appeared to share near-identical features, including the same bald head and prominent nose 'I thought, who's that good looking dude?' Kochie took the comparison in good humour Both men appeared to share near-identical features, including the same bald head and prominent nose. Kochie poked fun at their comparison further by repeating one of his most common catchphrases. 'As soon as he came up on Zoom I thought, who's that good looking dude?' he said. Soldiers, who forced Keitas resignation, say they will hold new elections within a reasonable time. Malis President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned hours after soldiers seized him from his home as part of a coup following months of mass protests against alleged corruption and worsening security in the West African country. The news of Keitas departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators on Wednesday, while leaders of the military coup said they would enact a political transition and stage elections within a reasonable time. The soldiers behind the coup calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People appeared on state television in military uniform, pledging to stabilise the country. We are not holding on to power but we are holding on to the stability of the country, said Ismail Wague, Mali Air Forces deputy chief of staff. With you, standing as one, we can restore this country to its former greatness, said Wague, announcing borders were closed and a curfew was going into effect from 9pm to 5am. This will allow us to organise within an agreed reasonable timeframe, general elections to equip Mali with strong institutions, which are able to better manage our everyday lives and restore confidence between the government and the governed. Do I really have a choice? Keita announced he was stepping down in a brief address on national broadcaster ORTM at around midnight. Looking tired and wearing a surgical mask, the 75-year-old said his resignation three years before his final term was due to end was effective immediately. He also declared the dissolution of his government and the National Assembly. If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice? Keita said from a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako where he and his Prime Minister Boubou Cisse had been detained earlier in the day. I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power, he said. I have decided to step down from office. There was no immediate comment from Malis opposition leaders, but on Tuesday the M5-RFP coalition behind the mass protests signalled support for the mutineers action, with spokesman Nouhoum Togo telling the Reuters news agency it was not a military coup but a popular insurrection. Malian people are tired Regional bloc ECOWAS denounced the overthrow by putschist soldiers of the democratically elected government and ordered the closing of regional borders with Mali as well as the suspension of all financial flows between Mali and its 15 members states. In the capital, anti-government protesters who first took to the streets in June to demand the presidents resignation, cheered the soldiers actions. All the Malian people are tired we have had enough, one demonstrator said. Mohamed Ag Hamaleck, a Bamako-based journalist, told Al Jazeera there was excitement and apprehension in the capital following Keitas announcement. Some people were sad to see Keita leave in this manner, he told Al Jazeera. We dont know whos in charge We dont have a government, we dont have a national assembly. The political upheaval unfolded months after disputed legislative elections, and came as support for Keita tumbled amid criticism of his governments handling of a spiralling security situation in the northern and central regions that has entangled regional and international governments, as well as a United Nations mission. The downfall of Keita, who was first elected in 2013 and returned to office five years later, closely mirrors that of his predecessor. Amadou Toumani Toure was forced out of the presidency in a coup in 2012 after a series of punishing military defeats. That time, the attacks were carried out by ethnic Tuareg separatist rebels. The 2012 coup, which also erupted at the same Kati military camp, hastened the fall of Malis north to armed groups, some of them linked to al-Qaeda. Ultimately, a French-led military operation overthrew the fighters, but they merely regrouped and expanded their reach into central Mali during Keitas presidency. And at times, Malis military has seemed powerless to stop the fighters, some of them now also affiliated with the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. The violence, in which the armed groups have stoked ethnic tensions while jockeying for power, has spilled into the neighbouring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, destabilising the wider Sahel region and creating a massive humanitarian crisis. Also in March, unidentified gunmen abducted Malis main opposition leader, Soumaila Cisse, as he campaigned in the countrys volatile centre. He has not been heard from since. As the tensions mounted, anxiety has grown in Mali in recent weeks about another military-led change of power in Mali, particularly after regional mediators from ECOWAS failed to bridge the impasse between Keitas government and opposition leaders. Keita tried to meet protesters demands through a series of concessions, and even said he was open to redoing disputed legislative elections. But those overtures were swiftly rejected by opposition leaders who said they would not stop short of Keitas resignation. International condemnation Then on Tuesday, soldiers in Kati took weapons from the armoury at the barracks and detained senior military officers. Anti-government protesters immediately cheered the soldiers actions, and some set fire to a building that belongs to Malis justice minister in the capital. Prime Minister Cisse urged the soldiers to put down their arms. There is no problem whose solution cannot be found through dialogue, he said in a statement. But the wheels were already in motion armed men began detaining people in Bamako too, including Keita, Cisse and the countrys finance minister, Abdoulaye Daffe. William Lawrence, professor of political science at the American University in the United States, expressed concern over the potential for more chaos in Mali. Mali has three overlapping sets of problems, he told Al Jazeera. Theres a severe political crisis that grew out of the botched March 2020 elections. Theres a severe economic crisis, complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and theres a severe security crisis which has led to the arrest of one of the major opposition leaders, held by terrorists in the North. There is lots of grievances about the failure to contain terrorism, but also the actions of the military against civilians. And while the opposition was united in their demand for Keitas resignation, there is not very much consensus on what to do next or who should represent Malians, Lawrence said. In addition to ECOWAS, Tuesdays developments were condemned by the African Union, the US, the UN, and France. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law, according to his spokesman. The UN Security Council scheduled a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the unfolding situation in Mali, where the UN has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission. Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU, said he energetically condemned Keita and Cisses arrest and called for their immediate liberation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France condemns in the strongest terms this grave event. J Peter Pham, the US envoy to the Sahel, said on Twitter the US was opposed to all extra-constitutional changes of government. Chinas foreign ministry said Beijing opposes regime change by force. The Police CID has taken over the case involving the National Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) Sofo Azorka who has been accused by the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) of inciting violence in the Savannah Region. Mr Azorka is heard in a viral video inviting party supporters to finish any NPP member who is seen helping a data collection book. The NPP branch in the Savannah Region on Tuesday petitioned the police in the region arrest Sofo Azorka and investigate the matter. According to the NPP, the comments made by Chief Azorka should not be taken for a joke since he has over the years proven only to be a violent person. The Acting PRO of the Savannah Regional Police Command, Sgt. Agyekum Owusu in an interview with Joy News monitored by Kasapafmonline.com stated that the case has been referred to the CID Headquarters in Accra after Sofo Azorka turned down an invitation from the police. Mr Azorka has not reported to the police yet, but looking at the nature of the case Mr Azorkas matter has been referred to the National Headquarters CID. So it is the National Headquarters CID that will handle Mr Azorkas case. Source: kasapafmonline.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 Gold star father Khizr Khan, who clashed with Donald Trump in 2016, returned to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) stage to nominate Joe Biden for president on behalf of Virginia. The Charlottesville resident appeared as Virginia's representative for the delegation. "Three years ago, my beloved city, Charlottesville, Virginia, was attacked by white supremacists and a young woman was killed," Mr Khan said at the start of his delegation speech on Tuesday evening. "We were attacked again when Donald Trump praised those racists, turning his back on a community that just wanted peace," he added. "That was the day Joe Biden decided to join this battle for the soul of America. Over time, my wife, Ghazala, and I have come to know his soul. He's a decent, compassionate man. He will bring this nation together." Voters will remember that Mr Khan first stepped into the political limelight during the 2016 Democratic Convention with his impassioned speech about his Muslim son, all while slamming the then-Republican presidential candidate Mr Trump. Mr Khan's son, US Army Captain Humayun SM Khan, was killed in 2004 while serving in Iraq during an IED attack, and the father used his speech to challenge Mr Trump's fitness for office and his attacks on immigrants and Muslim Americans. "Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy," Mr Khan said in his 2016 speech while holding up the Constitution. "In my childhood, I have lived under dictatorship," Mr Khan added, who is originally from Pakistan and immigrated to the US at a young age. "I have lived under authoritarians. This is the first thing they do, media is [the] enemy of the people. Free press has no room in their rule of law, in their authoritarian regime, because they expose the corruption." Mr Khan's speech was powerful at the time and caused waves through the country. Then-Vice President Joe Biden invited Mr Khan and his family to his home because he related to the father's loss. Mr Biden has grieved the deaths of two sons and his first wife. "He placed his hand on my shoulder and my wife Ghazala's shoulder and said, 'Folks, you're my family,'" Mr Khan said about meeting Mr Biden in his home. So it comes as no surprise that Mr Khan made a return to the DNC stage to place his endorsement behind the former vice president in his bid to unseat Mr Trump come November. 1952: 'Ivy Mike' was the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion: CTBTO/CC BY 2.0 Arms control discussions between the US and Russia concluded Tuesday in Vienna, with both countries walking away from the table with concerns unaddressed. The most contentious element of the discussions involved China, and whether or not the country should be included in any future arms treaties. The US demands China be included in any future deals. The country was invited to participate in the Vienna talks, but declined. US negotiator Marshall Billingslea suggested Beijing had an "obligation" to participate in the talks. "It is incumbent on the Chinese upon themselves to recognise that they have an obligation to negotiate with us and the Russians in good faith," he said. "And we intend to hold them to that obligation." The Washington Post reported that the US wants any future deals involving nuclear arms limitation to cover all types of warheads, to include better methods for verifying compliance, and to include China. China has treated the US's demands as an attempt for the US to avoid entering into any new arms reduction treaties, but said it would gladly agree to participate in discussions if the US was willing to commit to nuclear parity among all nations; that is, no one gets nuclear weapons, or everyone does. Russia was less enthusiastic about forcing China to join in on future treaties, and demanded that if China were expected to join, then so too should Britain and France. The Trump administration claims China has been testing nuclear weapons and expanding its warhead arsenal in secret. Mr Billingslea characterised China's arsenal expansion as a "rapid buildup" and said the country sought to achieve "nuclear parity" with the US and Russia. In April, the US accused China of carrying out underground nuclear weapons tests. The US and China both entered into the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, but neither country actually ratified the agreement. China claims it's adhering to the measures, and the US has had a moratorium on nuclear testing since entering the treaty. Story continues Hawkish US lawmakers, like Senator Tom Cotton - who argued that US troops be deployed against protesters - have used the accusations of Chinese secret nuclear testing to lay the groundwork for the nation rejecting future arms reduction treaties. "Beijing is modernising its nuclear arsenal while the United States handcuffs itself with one-sided arms-control," Mr Cotton said on Twitter. "China has proven it can't work with us honestly." The Guardian reported that Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, doubted the veracity of the US's accusations. "It is worth noting how thin the evidence is for these claims," Mr Lewis wrote. "US, Russia and China all conduct subcritical tests ... From satellites and seismic stations, subcritical tests are indistinguishable from low yield nuclear tests." In May, the Trump administration responded to China's alleged low-yield tests by suggesting the US would renew nuclear testing in Nevada. The idea was criticised widely by arms control and nuclear disarmament watchdogs, likening it to a "starting gun" that would trigger every nation that possesses nuclear weapons to begin testing in order to maintain readiness. During the Vienna discussions, the US told Russia it had no plans to continue testing at this time, but Mr Billingslea was sure to add that the US could restart at any time if it so chooses. "We made very clear, as we have from the moment we adopted a testing moratorium in 1992, that we maintain and will maintain the ability to conduct nuclear tests if we see any reason to do so, whatever that reason may be," he said during a June press conference. "But that said, I am unaware of any particular reason to test at this stage," There is added pressure on the Trump administration to force China into a deal because the New START nuclear reduction treaty between Russia and the US is ending next year. If the US wants China involved, it will have to convince Beijing soon. On the other hand, if US officials don't want to enter into or renew arms control measures, China provides a convenient excuse for them to reject proposals without appearing overtly hawkish. Mr Billingslea said the US is only interested in extending the New START treaty - and then, only for less than the five-year maximum - if China participated. Read more Putin says Russia to get new hypersonic nuclear weapons The family of a Verizon employee, who died of COVID-19 after repeatedly being sent into nursing homes and other high-risk locations without any personal protections, is suing the telecommunications giant. Alfred Salvatore, a 47-year-old service technician who worked for Verizon in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area for over 20-years, died on April 24 from the coronavirus. Communications were considered essential work, but Im still confused why he wasnt given any kind of PPE, his wife Natalie Salvatore told the Guardian newspaper. They were sending him into nursing homes, where he would be the only one there with no protections. Its bizarre to me. In addition to Natalie, Alfred left behind two daughters, Samantha and Gabriella and brother Paul and sister Karen. Natalie is now suing Verizon. She has filed a fatal claim petition with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, saying the company failed to take measures to protect her husband while he worked throughout the pandemic. He was constantly telling me he put in several complaints to his immediate supervisor and even above them, that when he went to his hub there was no hand sanitizer, there was no disinfectant spray, there was nothing to take with him to do his job, Natalie told the Guardian. Communications were considered essential work, but Im still confused why he wasnt given any kind of PPE, added Natalie. They were sending him into nursing homes where he would be the only one there with no protections. Its bizarre to me. My husband was a healthy 47-year-old man with no prior health conditions, and it took his life, Natalie said. To say my daughters are devastated is an understatement. Its heartbreaking. Its a true loss for our family and for everybody who knew him. Headquartered in New York City, with major centers in New Jersey as well as Philadelphia and other East Coast cities, Verizon was fully aware of the dangers presented by the pandemic and the steps needed to protect its workers. In early April, New York was the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis and got most of the news coverage. Pennsylvania was one of the hardest hit states, with the pandemic centering in the Philadelphia area. Case numbers in Pennsylvania began to skyrocket in mid-March, and by April 10, two weeks before Albert died, Pennsylvania already had 20,000 cases and over 400 deaths. At the time only three other states had more. The dangers in nursing homes were also well known. In the first week of April, three patients at a Pittsburgh-area nursing home had died, and the pandemic was so out of control that the nursing home considered that all 800 of its staff and patients had become infected. Similarly, a Delaware County nursing home near Philadelphia had to call in National Guard nurses and medics to assist in caring for patients. On April 24, the number of cases in Pennsylvania had nearly doubled to 38,000, and the number of deaths had gone up almost five times to nearly 2,000. In a two-page filing, Verizon is challenging Natalies petition. Without giving any justification, the company is requesting that the fatal claim be dismissed or disallowed. Under Pennsylvania workers compensation law, the spouse and children of a worker killed on the job are entitled to their expected wages. While not providing workers with proper safety equipment and continuing to cut jobs, Verizon continued to make record profits during the pandemic. Its second quarter results show that Verizon took in $30.4 billion, down 5.5 percent from the same quarter in 2019, but through cost cutting cash flow increased, and the company paid out $1.13 per share to stockholders and paid down $4.9 billion in debt. The company is in the third year of a $10 billion cost reduction plan and is reporting a $7.2 billion cumulative savings. Verizon didnt do anything when he was in harms way, and they didnt do anything when he died. Now they are contesting the fact that his death was caused by being exposed to COVID-19, despite knowing the overwhelming evidence will indicate he was in nursing homes and in public spaces with no protection, Samuel Pond, the attorney representing the Salvatore family, told The Guardian. Theyve been consistent in their response through this whole tragedy, and its been inhumane and heartless, Pond added. It doesnt surprise me, said a technician in the Pittsburgh region who works for Verizon and asked to remain anonymous. I havent heard of his case, but weve been working throughout the pandemic. The company talks safety, but all they care about is FIOS, FIOS and FIOS (fiber optic telephone and television service). We go into peoples homes, businesses, out here on the streets. The company doesnt care about us; they just care about money. President Trump issued an executive order that workers at meatpacking plants had to return to work and that the companies could not be sued. Thousands of meat and other food processing workers have been infected and many have died. Trumps order is being challenged in the courts. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has made one of his priorities the passing of a law that would protect companies from being sued if workers contract COVID-19 while working. For their part, Democrats have said they are opposed to any such measure, but privately have indicated that they would be willing to negotiate the issue as part of a COVID relief bill. Congress adjourned in August for vacation without passing a relief bill. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has rejected claims the public is confused by new Covid-19 restrictions. Yesterday, the Government introduced a range of new restrictions that will apply until September 13. The restrictions include: People aged over 70 should limit their interactions to a small network for short periods. Visits to homes should be limited to six people and involve no more than three households. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 15 people. Restaurant closing times restricted to 11.30pm. Sports events will be held behind closed doors with no social gatherings before or after. Public transport should be avoided where possible and face masks worn on private transport when households are mixed. Gardai are to be given new powers to enforce public health measures. There has been criticism that the measures announced were contradictory. When asked if he accepted that people are confused, the Health Minister said he didnt. Mr Donnelly said: I think what the public health experts have done and what Government has done is find a way to allow us to live in a world with Covid. To work in a world of Covid, to get our kids back to school in a world of Covid. In a country, like most in Europe, where the virus is on the rise. Earlier today, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan acknowledged that there were contradictions in the advice given by the Government on Tuesday. about efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. Mr Ryan said he could see the contradiction in the advice that only six people can gather indoors, but that schools could have indoor classes of 20-30 pupils and 50 people could attend a wedding. All of this is about risk assessment, he said and the Governments view was that the reopening of schools was essential. We're all fed up, we're all fearful of it coming back at scale. It comes as two more people were confirmed to have died due to Covid-19. There has now been a total of 1,775 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. There has also been 54 new cases of coronavirus in Ireland. There is now a total of 27,547 confirmed cases here. To save lives and suppress this virus we need everyone to reduce the number of people they meet over the next three weeks, said Dr Ronan Glynn. A collective effort by households and by employers and organisations can make a huge impact on community transmission, and help to protect our families and communities from Covid-19. - additional reporting from Vivienne Clarke Gov. Jared Polis issued a 30-day ban on open fires such as campfires, fireworks and other open sources of ignition on Tuesday as the state battles four separate wildfires. The ban does not include home barbecues, public grills, camp stoves and approved fire pits. As of Tuesday, the four wildfires had burned across 208 square miles which is mostly federal lands and some state and private property. Sometimes something as small as a cigarette butt or a spark from a vehicle, a campfire or fireworks can destroy thousands of acres of property, including peoples homes and cause road closures that can cost our economy millions of dollars, Polis said. He said three out of the four fires were likely caused by human activity and the dry, hot weather was exacerbating their growth and making containment more difficult. As of Monday, the Pine Gulch Fire covering over 134 square miles was the fourth largest in state history, Polis said. However, firefighters were hoping the surrounding natural barriers would hold off the fires expansion. Dan Gibbs, executive director of the states Department of Natural Resources, said the Grizzly Creak fire has put homes and structures at risk. About 57 miles (90 kilometers) of Interstate highway has been closed for over a week. Stan Hilkey, executive director of the Department of Public Safety, said planning has been going on all year, including wildfire drills last spring. Hilkey also commended Polis for utilizing the states disaster funds for wildfire emergency response. Polis noted that poor air quality can cause COVID-like symptoms and urged people to get tested if they have concerns that theyve been exposed. We are all in this together whether its coronavirus or the wildfires. We will get through this, Polis said. On Tuesday, Dr. Alexis Burkoff, medical epidemiologist with the state Department of Public Health and Environment, gave guidance on the similar symptoms that smoke and COVID-19 pose, which includes watery eyes, cough and respiratory problems. Coronavirus symptoms that are not associated with fire smoke can include fever, chills and diarrhea, Burkoff said. State health officials have issued an air quality advisory for more than a dozen counties and warned vulnerable populations to stay indoors. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Colorado FILE PHOTO: TikTok logos are seen on smartphones in front of displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration By Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - A change in control of the Japanese unit of TikTok, the popular video-sharing app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, could be one way to address user data security concerns in Japan, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party said. Norihiro Nakayama, a senior member of a group of lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) looking into Chinese apps, said the group was unlikely to seek a ban on TikTok and other apps but would push for measures to ensure protection of user data. Nakayama's comments come after the United States ordered ByteDance to divest the U.S. operations of TikTok within 90 days, ramping up pressure from President Donald Trump over concerns about the safety of the personal data handled by ByteDance and other Chinese tech and media firms. "We want to create an environment in which users can continue using TikTok, in which they can use it safely," Nakayama, who is also Japan's parliamentary vice foreign minister, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. He said an ownership change for TikTok owner ByteDance's local operation could be one solution, without elaborating further. Nakayama stressed he was giving a personal view, and not the consensus of the group, which is led by Akira Amari, an LDP heavyweight and close ally of PM Abe. TikTok has said that it has never provided user data to China and that it would not do so if asked. ByteDance Japan officials contacted by email did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. officials have argued that, under China's national intelligence law, all citizens and companies are required to collaborate in espionage efforts. Beyond TikTok, President Trump has also issued an order that would prohibit transactions with Tencent Holdings Ltd's <0700.HK> WeChat messaging app. The Japanese lawmakers plan to compile a set of proposals on Sept. 10, Nakayama said, adding he aims to recommend examining whether concern over the security of user data is warranted in the case of TikTok and other apps. "I would like to propose a framework that enables scientific verification" of the concern, he said. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by David Dolan and Kenneth Maxwell) At least two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed late on Wednesday evening during an encounter with security forces in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. The Jammu and Kashmir Police identified one of the killed terrorists as LeT Commander Naseer-u-din Lone. As per police records he was involved in the killing of three CRPF jawans at Sopore on April 18 and three CRPF jawans at Handwara on May 4. IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said, "LeT commander Naseer-u-din Lone, who was involved in the killing of 3 CRPF jawans at Sopore on 18/4/20 and 3 CRPF jawans at Handwara on 4/5/20, got killed." Earlier, the Kashmir Zone Police had tweeted, "02 unidentified terrorists killed. Search going on. Encounter has started at Ganipora Kralgund area of Handwara. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow." Earlier, a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 32 Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a joint cordon-and-search operation in the area, as the searching party cordoned the suspected spot hiding terrorists fired upon which was retaliated and encounter started said a police officer. The operation was launched on specific input at Ganipora Handwara by district Police along with local Army unit, said the DGP. An exchange of fire is currently on. In another encounter in Shopian district, a terrorist was killed in Molu Chitragam area of the district. The terrorist has been identified as Talib Hussain Mir, the son of Nisar Ahmed Mir, a resident of Mohlpora in Kulgam. He belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen at Molu Chattergam. Sources in the Jammu and Kashmir Police had said that two to three terrorists are trapped in the area but they seemed to have escaped. According to an official a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 44 Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon and search operation in Molu after the tip-off of the presence of terrorists in the area. As the searching party cordoned the spot where terrorists were hiding, the terrorists fired upon them leading to the encounter. A police official said, "A joint team of Police, 44 RR and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Molu after the tip-off of the presence of terrorists in the area." He said, "As the searching party cordoned the spot where terrorists were hiding, the terrorists fired upon the searching party, who retaliated, leading to the encounter." Kashmir Zone Police confirming this tweeted, "Encounter has started at Chitragam area of Shopian. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow." The operation concluded at Shopian with the killing of the terrorist said DGP Jammu and Kashmir Dilbagh Singh. Apart from these two encounters, security forces launched two more anti-terror operations arresting four persons and recovering huge arms and ammunition. Nearly a hundred Ukrainian citizens remain at the camp all women and their underage children. Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov has appealed to President Volodymyr Zelensky to facilitate the return of Ukrainians, who he says had been for more than a year awaiting evacuation from the Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria. There are about a hundred Ukrainian nationals staying in the camp women and their underage children, Krym.Realii reports citing Chubarov. "I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we are talking exclusively about women and their children citizens of Ukraine. International organizations refer to conditions in the Al-Hol camp as humanitarian crisis: there's shortage of food, water, and medical assistance; children are dying of disease. Ten to twenty people die there every day," the appeal says. Read alsoRussian wars in Ukraine, Syria showed how to bully EU mediaChubarov pointed out that back in May 2019, a working group was created under the Cabinet of Ministers to coordinate the actions of the agencies dealing in the matter. "I must note that for several months of joint work, all necessary steps had been taken to prepare for the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens, but the evacuation never took place. Of all this and other circumstances that are not subject to public discussion, I twice sent you letters in December 2019 and in July 2020," the head of the Mejlis added. Chubarov claims that every week, the Mejlis receives appeals from Ukrainian citizens awaiting their return home. The Office of the President has so far not responded to Chubarov's appeal, Krym.Realii notes. Ukrainians at a refugee camp in Syria: background In March 2019, Refat Chubarov reported of 21 women and 54 children, all citizens of Ukraine, who had been forced to live "in difficult conditions in areas with destroyed infrastructure" in Syria. They had asked the Ukrainian government to bring them back to Ukraine. Civil war in Syria: latest developments A civil war has been raging in Syria since 2011. It has already killed nearly 400,000 people. Read alsoNew evidence published of Russian mercenaries torturing, killing Syrian man mediaIn April, dozens were killed in a tanker bomb blast in the city of Afrin, controlled by Turkish-backed rebels. In March, Russian troops, supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, bombed a chicken farm near Marrat Misrina, the location hosting refugees from other areas. As a result of the attack, 16 civilians were killed and at least 18 injured. In February, Turkish army launched a military operation and opened artillery fire on the forces controlled by Bashar al-Assad's government. As a nimble star performer in the Trudeau cabinet with an ability to work across partisan lines, Chrystia Freelands selection as new finance minister was an unsurprising choice, political observers said Tuesday. But the move also raised a question about whether her promotion to the powerful portfolio might have been a politically strategic one: Given that shes been touted as a potential candidate for party leader, could her selection reflect the prime ministers desire to keep friends close and political rivals even closer? I dont think theyre rivals per se, but when you know somebody is being identified as (a potential) party leader when youre already party leader, youre going to want to keep tabs on that, said Melanee Thomas, a University of Calgary political scientist. Another way of looking at this is, people want to keep their next contender close. This is exactly what Jean Chretien did with Paul Martin. Finance is one of the places where this happens. What is not in dispute is that Freeland has amassed a distinguished track record, having previously served as minister of intergovernmental affairs and minister of foreign affairs, said David Moscrop, a political theorist and University of Ottawa post-doctoral fellow. Shes been competent, capable, trusted and a go-to for this government since the beginning of their time in power, said Moscrop. If youre Justin Trudeau, what youre looking for right now is someone whos going to do a competent job and not make a hash of things. And Chrystia Freeland is probably that person. David Herle, a political consultant and Liberal insider, agreed. He called Freeland the intellectual inspiration for the governments middle-class agenda. Shes ideal to renew and advance that agenda. Even those pundits who sit outside Liberal circles are hard-pressed to find fault with Freelands record. Her negotiations with the provinces over the last few months and reaction from some of the premiers Doug Ford, in particular suggests shes done good job of dealing with premiers. Thats an impressive accomplishment, said Ken Boessenkool, a C.D. Howe Institute research fellow and former senior adviser to Stephen Harper. Some of the most difficult conflicts are federal-provincial and she seems to have found ways to work through that. Its also clear the prime minister trusts her, said Thomas. By becoming the minister of finance, she is now in the key position to create this power duo that weve seen in the past, she said, referring to past partnerships between Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, and Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty. Whether this ultimately creates a Trudeau-Freeland rivalry or power conflict remains to be seen. So far, theres no indication of tension or jockeying for power. That said, Freeland has now been put in another position where she will have the opportunity to shine, Thomas said. This would be the third powerful role shes taken in cabinet, she noted. This is basically putting her on display as potential leadership. I think its probably more likely she becomes, if anything, heir apparent rather than a rival, Moscrop suggested. A timeline of Chrystia Freeland's life But if Freeland does have designs on her partys leadership, she shouldnt assume the finance role will be her ticket, Boessenkool warned. If shes asking for my advice, Id say its a good thing youve spent time outside finance. Be careful assuming finance is the right stepping stone to future ambitions you may have, he said. Just look what happened to Paul Martin. The history of finance ministers becoming premiers in Canada in the last 20 years? You tell me whos made a successful transition. I cant think of one. Correction - Aug. 19, 2020: The graphic accompanying this article was edited from a previous version that included an incorrect image of former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Louis St-Laurent. Read more about: The two biggest Android phones of the moment couldnt be more different. Theyre so different, in fact, that theres nearly $1,000 between them: The Google Pixel 4a costs just $349, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will set you back a whopping $1,300. But while its crazy to compare things like performance, design, or battery life between phones so different in price, the camera is another story. The Pixel 4as photography chops are more high-end than its price tag would suggest. It has the same main camera as the $899 Pixel 4 XL, as well as the same camera app features, including Night Sight and Live HDR+. And because its a Google phone, we know the processing is off-the-charts awesome. But can it stand up to a phone that costs nearly four times as much? Lets find out. Pixel 4a vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Bright light In good lighting, both of these phones perform incredibly well. As you can see in the photos below, both cameras were able to capture impressive detail and color, with the Note 20 Ultra amping up the saturation just a bit more than the 4a. The Pixel 4a captures a bit more leaf detail even in places where the background is blurred, or the lighting is a touch on the dark side. Michael Simon/IDG The Samsung Note 20 Ultra, left, has incredibly fast and precise autofocus, which works well when your subject stands out. The clarity and detail on the stigma are very impressive in the Note 20s shots. Thats aided in part by the Note 20 Ultras new laser autofocus, which locks in on its subject very quickly and isnt fooled by subtle movements caused by the wind. For better or worse, youre going to get Samsungs usual oversaturation as you can see in most of the photos here, but thats mostly subjective. I prefer duller, more realistic shots but many people like the vibrancy Samsungs production adds to photos. Michael Simon/IDG The Note 20 Ultras laser autofocus, left, works against it in this very green photo, as it struggled to lock onto the pointy thorns. However, I found that it tends to focus so well, the surrounding scene was in a constant state of blur even when I wasnt using Live Focus. Its easiest to see in the pictures of the thorns above. Where the Pixel 4 zeroed in on the thorns and kept some of the detail on the surrounding leaves, the Note 20 Ultra had a tougher time distinguishing among all the green. And in the photo below, you can already see blurriness around the leaves of the flower, where the Pixel 4a keeps things in focus. Michael Simon/IDG The laser autofocus sometimes worked a little too well on the Galaxy Note 20, as you can see in the blurriness around the center of the flower, left. This is something of an extreme example, but the Note 20 Ultras laser autofocus is definitely aggressive. I expect its something Samsung can dial back in future software updates. Pixel 4a vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Low light Google kicked off the race to take the best low-light shots with Night Sight on the Pixel 3. Even without the dedicated Pixel Visual Core processor, youre getting excellent low-light photos on the 4a. Michael Simon/IDG Samsung has greatly improved low-light performance on the Note 20 Ultra, left, with excellent detail, shadows, and brightness as compared to the Pixel 4a. Samsung has made great strides with its own low-light mode on the Note 20 Ultra as well. With a decent amount of ambient light, otherwise dark photos were nicely brightened on Note while still preserving shadows, with even greater detail than the Pixel 4a as seen in the photos above. Michael Simon/IDG In extreme low light, the Note 20 Ultra, left, took the brighter picture, but the Pixel 4a had better clarity and color. When the light is nearly all gone, however, the Pixel 4a performs a little better thanks to Googles AI wizardry. The photos above were taken in near-total darkness. While neither camera took a flawless shot, the Pixel 4a grabbed more of the color and detail of the original, while the Note 20 merely brightened things. Pixel 4a vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Portraits The Note 20 Ultra has a second zoom lens to work with, so it should be the better portrait taker. For the most part, it is. However, the Pixel 4a more than holds its own against Samsungs superior hardware. As you can see below, both portrait modes do a fantastic job of pulling out the subject from a busy background and generating nice background blur with little effort. However, the Note 20s extra lenses make edges just a little bit sharper. Michael Simon/IDG The Pixel 4a, right, is able to handle portraits very well even with just a single lens, but you can see some slight blurriness around the edges. The Note 20 Ultra is consistently sharp. Pixel 4a vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Motion With a single 12MP lens, youd expect the Pixel 4a action shots to be extremely blurry. Once again, Googles tremendous processing picks up the slack. From near and far, both phones snapped motion shots as if the subject were standing still, as you can see in the photos of splashing water below. Michael Simon/IDG Both cameras are able to capture motion very well, though in this shot the Note 20 Ultras over-saturation, left, works in its favor. Pixel 4a vs Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Zoom Even though Samsung has dialed it back to 50X from the S20 Ultras insane 100X, the Note 20s premier feature remains its Space Zoom. Samsung claims youre getting super resolution at 50X, way further than the Pixel 4as 7X. f you want the most zoom, theres no contest between the two phones. Michael Simon/IDG Theres no comparison between the Note 20 Ultra, left, and the Pixel 4a when it comes to zooming. But even if youre sticking to less than 10X zoom, the Note 20 is the superior telephoto phone. At max zoom, the Pixel 4a is noticeable noisier than the Note 20 Ultra, and less accurate all around. From the blurry words to the blown-out colors, the Piel 4a struggles mightily without a dedicated telephoto lens, giving the Note 20 Ultra a big advantage. Update 8/19: This article has been updated with images and analysis. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 20) The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) sustained findings that the Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte as the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass, the first Catholic mass in the country. In a statement released on Wednesday, the NHCP Board of Commissioners signed Resolution No. 2 last July 15 adopting the report submitted by the investigating panel on the issue surrounding the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines. The panel was formed in November 2018 after several institutions, such as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, made requests in authenticating the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass. The requests were made in time for the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the country in 2021. "The panel recommended that Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte, be sustained as the site of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass," the commission concluded on their findings. Some proponents insisted Butuan City in Agusan del Norte as the real site of the first Catholic mass in the country, as evidenced by a monument erected in 1872 in Magallanes town commemorating the said religious event that happened there. After making trips in Butuan and Limasawa as part of their research, the NHCP panel found no sufficient evidence that the capital of Agusan del Norte hosted the first Catholic mass in the country. "The panel unanimously agreed that the evidences and arguments presented by the pro-Butuan advocates are not sufficient and convincing enough to warrant the repeal or reversal of the ruling on the case by the NHI (National Historical Institute)," the NHCP panel said, citing the previous rulings made by the commission's forerunner National Historical Institute in 1995 and 2008 affirming Limasawa as the true site of the first Catholic mass in the country. The NHCP panel examined the Italian and French version of Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafettas accounts in the Magellan-Elcano expedition, which showed the coordinates of the 1521 Easter Sunday Mass are closer to Limasawa. The national historical commission also studied the 1895 journal articles of historians Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Pablo Pastells, SJ, which revisited Pigafettas accounts and emphasized that Limasawa, not Butuan, as the site of the first Catholic mass in the country. The 1971 expedition of naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison and Colombian historian Mauricio Obregon and the accounts of Spanish naval engineer Ignacio Fernandez Vial and merchant marine captain Jose Luis Ugarte retraced the Magellan-Elcano voyage and concluded that Limasawa is the site of the first Catholic mass in the country, the NHCP found out in its study. The countrys first Catholic mass was officiated by Fr. Pedro Valderrama on March 31, 1521, upon orders of Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The Limasawa mass marked the birth of Roman Catholicism in the country, which remains as the nation's dominant religion in the country up to present. Financial support is now available for Northern Irish farmers and landowners converting to and managing organic land. The funding window is open until the 11 September 2020 for agreements starting on 1 January 2021 as part of the Environmental Farming Scheme. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is providing the financial support. It is aimed at farmers converting to and managing organic land, farming in a way that works with nature and delivering public goods such as protecting soil, water, air and ecosystems. It comes as figures show a rise in demand for organic food, driven by Covid-19, with the market set to surpass the 2.5bn sales mark by the end of the year. Organic sales increased 18.7% in the 12 weeks ending 30 May, compared to a 14.2% increase in non-organic food and drink. Beef and eggs have seen significant demand and have been growing at +15.3% and +14.8% respectively in the same time period. Clare McDermott, Business Development Director at Soil Association Certification, said it was a 'critical time' for farmers to go organic due to the pandemic and climate change. "We expect good long term opportunities for farmers who want to meet that rising demand post-Brexit," she said. "Covid-19 has shaken complacency about where our food comes from to the core, and accelerated changing shopper behaviours towards personal health, transparency and integrity. "With more people than ever understanding this connection and making planet-centric choices, I think the whole organic sector has a lot to feel confident about. As Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic nomination for vice president, her fellow Howard alumni and graduates of other historically Black colleges and universities are gearing up to support her historic run. The Biden-Harris campaign, however, has yet to reveal how they plan to tap this active segment of the Black community a core demographic they desperately need to turn out in high numbers in November. The campaign has acknowledged Harris nomination as a boon for Black colleges across the country. Yet, given the wide influence that Black college graduates boast, failure to fully galvanize them would be a missed opportunity, some advocates say especially as Black Democrats who were once on the fence about Harris begin to warm to her. Ahead of the 2020 primary season, the Biden campaign launched the HBCUs for Biden initiative, aimed at garnering support among young Black voters. Co-chaired by three current HBCU students, the plan also folds in more than $70 billion in additional funding for Black colleges and universities a monumental sum of money for the institutions, whose median endowment sits at $12 million. Biden has also proposed free tuition for public, four-year HBCUs as part of his Build Back Better plan. And his ticket has some built-in support: Howard alumni rallied behind Harris during her 2016 senatorial campaign and 2020 primary run. Bidens decision to add the California senator and former prosecutor to the Democratic ticket makes Harris not only the first Black woman to be a major partys vice presidential nominee, but also the first graduate of an historically Black college or university (HBCU). Its injected a new burst of energy into the HBCU communitys engagement with the presidential race. Howard really paved the way for a lot of the HBCUs and the significance of (Harris) being at the top of the ticket just really shows the value of HBCUs and ... how transformational this would be for us, said Charlie Lewis, a 1989 Howard graduate. We have over 86,000 alums and we're not all monolithic, Lewis continued. We come from all over the diaspora, the African diaspora. That's unique. And she takes a part of that. Story continues Kamala is loving this roll call. pic.twitter.com/sQtGnrKLAx Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) August 19, 2020 Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick described seeing a Howard alumna on the Democratic ticket as both humbling and exhilarating. Harris and her team, he said, have demonstrated they are aware of the unique challenges facing the African American community and want to help remedy them, but they cant do it alone. She clearly is going to be a champion and that's good, Frederick said. But we, as a population have to continue to push for more broader reforms, etc. and recognize that it's going to take all of our elected officials to participate at the federal, state and local levels. Members of the Howard network maintain that the unique political and cultural education the university offers set the standard for their success as Black leaders in America. Its most notable alumni include Thurgood Marshall, Elijah Cummings and Stokely Carmichael. Harris time at Howard coincided with a pivotal era of Black political activism, from Jesse Jacksons first presidential run to the international protests against apartheid in South Africa. However, even as Harris fellow Howard graduates recognized the historic importance of her selection, they emphasize that symbolism is not enough. In particular, they hope she and Biden are prepared to reckon with their past records hers as a local prosecutor, his as the architect of the 1994 Crime Bill and the way those policies helped pilot harmful systems that have been particularly detrimental to Black communities. Its perhaps the biggest obstacle to Biden and Harris efforts to rally the same voting bloc that has overwhelmingly supported Democrats for decades. Jade Agudosi, a 2018 Howard graduate, said that while she is excited about Harris nomination, she doesnt subscribe to the mantra that's it enough to black faces in high places. There has to be more that's involved in that, said Agudosi, who was the president of Howards student government association when students occupied the universitys administrative building in 2018. There's work that goes along with that. After developing a reputation in California as a pragmatist on crime, Harris has shifted her approach to criminal justice in recent years. As a senator, her legislative record has been markedly more progressive than in the past, including sponsoring a number of pieces of criminal justice reform legislation alongside her Democratic and Republican colleagues. In June, she co-authored the Justice in Policing Act, which aims to standardize police force tactics and independently investigate instances of misconduct. In my career, the conventional wisdom was that people were either soft on crime or tough on crime. But I knew we should be smart on crime, Harris said in her commencement address to Howards Class of 2017, explaining her work to reduce recidivism rates as a district attorney. Challenging the status quo while making substantive improvements to Black communities were not easy goals, but, she said, she learned the playbook through her Howard education. This November 1982 photo provided by the Kamala Harris campaign shows her, right, with Gwen Whitfield at an anti-apartheid protest during her freshman year at Howard University in Washington. (Kamala Harris campaign via AP) Her explanations of her prosecutor past were not enough to win over the coalition of Black, brown and young voters she had hoped to appeal to in the Democratic presidential primary in 2019. Her big bet on South Carolina, the early primary state thought of as a snapshot of Black voter preferences, paid off only marginally. Before suspending her campaign for president last December, Harris hardly broke through the top three choices among Black voters. Yet, in the face of Novembers high stakes, even those who did not support Harris or her past policies are now giving her the benefit of the doubt. Thats echoed in recent polls, which have found her addition to the Biden ticket has the support of a majority of voters across races and ideologies. A flash poll of voters from Morning Consult revealed that 84 percent of all Democrats and 79 percent of Black voters approve of her. I'm not trying to square it. She was a prosecutor. And hell, I can think of a bunch of things that I probably disagree with her about. And that's the same for probably any other elected official around here, said Ras Baraka, the current mayor of Newark who graduated from Howard in 1994. I do believe, however, that her idea of America includes us in it. And her idea of what should happen is different than what we're experiencing now ... and whatever issue I have with her, she deserves a pass. For right now. Harris supporters say she is more than prepared to tackle issues about her record on law enforcement. She has never chosen the path of least resistance, said Kirsten Allen, a Howard alumna who was Harris national press secretary during her presidential campaign. When she would do interviews, especially as we got in the swing of things [during the presidential campaign], she would start off a lot of questions about her prosecutorial record with the statement, I understand why black and brown people have a problem with prosecutors, I totally understand your concern.'" Since Bidens VP announcement last week, questions about Harris loyalty to the Black community have returned as GOP talking points. Harris supporters say her choice of college answers many of them. When you choose to go to Howard after living in Canada and coming from California, you're making an affirmative decision about Blackness, said Keneshia Grant, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University. When you choose to pledge and stay in the sorority, stay active with it after you leave school ... and all of these other things, like, she's making multiple affirmative decisions about Blackness. She's embracing it. Grant, who had been quietly hoping that Biden would choose a Black woman for his vice presidential ticket in recognition of the value that Black voters bring to the Democratic party, said she was surprised by how immediate and vehement the critiques of Harris were. People did not even take a moment to celebrate the historic nature of her being named to the ticket, Grant said. I understood why people had these feelings about critiquing her but I did not understand why they could not celebrate the progress. To some, the unwillingness to recognize the gravity of her accomplishment reveals a more insidious trend among her detractors, who have pointed to specific career decisions to make sweeping calculations about how deserving of the Black vote she might be. The reality is, we made this mistake in the Black community in 2016, said Ravi Perry, chair of the political science department at Howard. I think if we allow ourselves to forward these narratives, this time around again we're only shooting ourselves in the foot, whether it's Hillary Clinton and super predators or the crime bill or Anita Hill, or Kamala Harris' prosecutorial record. In the absence of in-person campaign events and as college courses largely take place online, any campaigns engagement with students will be limited in the lead up to November. HBCUs for Biden remains active and has hosted events for the campaign in the wake of the announcement of Harris vice presidential selection. However, HBCU grads, in particular, remain an untapped resource for campaigning and fundraising. Kamau Marshall, the Biden campaign's director of strategic communications, said in a statement that Biden and Harris recognize "the significant role that Black colleges and universities play in our society" and that, "America can expect that the Biden Harris administration is committed to ensuring a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future for these storied institutions." He said the campaign has plans to continue to expand the reach of HBCUs for Biden by leaning into Harris' connections to the HBCU community as an alumna. While Bidens polling with Black voters tops 90 percent, making sure their enthusiasm translates to electoral support in November is crucial. With a Black woman and HBCU grad on the ticket, Democrats have a chance to close enthusiasm gaps that cost Hillary Clinton the White House in 2016. HBCUs are a touch point in African American society. They mean a lot to all of us, said Lodriguez Murray, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the United Negro College Fund. The good education, the wraparound services, the economic empowerment that creates loyalty in that community and galvanizing that loyalty for any candidate would be a game changer. With the hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake on every episode of ABC's "Shark Tank," you might think that money is the Sharks' most valuable asset. But not for Shark Kevin O'Leary. Time is your most valuable asset, he says. First, "time is what is used to make money," O'Leary tells CNBC Make It. But more importantly, time allows you one crucial thing: personal freedom. O'Leary says he has worked very hard to get personal freedom. "It's a very simple concept. It lets me allocate my time in any way I wish. Phone rings, I don't have to answer it. Somebody tells me to be somewhere, I don't have to go. I don't work for anybody," he says. "The only person I report to is me." And the key to using time wisely, says O'Leary, "is how you allocate it. You have to set your goals, set your objectives to yourself," he says. O'Leary advises breaking up your day into various blocks of time to make sure you are focusing on things "that matter." "Happy people have balance in their life. They found a way to allocate time to all the things that means something to them," he says. (O'Leary likes to spend time on hobbies like photography and music and being with his family.) O'Leary's fellow Shark, Mark Cuban also thinks time is your most valuable asset. "You can't buy it. You can't find it. You can't store it. You can't trade it," Cuban told Thrive Global in in 2017. So O'Leary encourages young people to focus on creating a life that allows them the time and freedom to create happiness. According to O'Leary, "you've made it" in life when the phone rings and you're not in a rush to answer it. "You just look at it and smile," he says. Check out: Americans spend over $5,000 a year on groceriessave hundreds at supermarkets with these cards Don't miss: Kevin OLeary: Stop saying this in your emails, nobodys reading it Life lessons from a 102-year-old who survived Covid, the Spanish flu and two types of cancer Iran Lawmakers Propose Bill To Leave JCPOA If UN Reimposes Sanctions Radio Farda August 18, 2020 In a "double-urgency motion" dozens of Iranian lawmakers have called for the Islamic Republic to automatically withdraw from the JCPOA or the 2015 nuclear agreement, if the United States successfully activates the process to reimpose UN sanctions. The parliamentary motion is a reaction to President Donald Trump's call on August 15 to activate the "trigger mechanism" or "snapback" against the Islamic Republic. In conjunction with the nuclear agreement in 2015 world powers agreed to put in place a mechanism that could be triggered to bring back UN sanctions if Iran violated the accords. In a four-stage legal process that lasts 65 days, it would be possible to reinstate all UN's previous sanctions against the Islamic Republic. ISNA, the state-run Iran Student News Agency, reported on Monday, August 17, that the double-urgency motion, signed by 49 members of the parliament, has been submitted to the Majles Presidium. The motion emphasizes that should the United Nation's Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against Iran become effective again; the Islamic Republic would drop the JCPOA to "protect national interests." Last week, the Trump's administration unsuccessfully tried to pass a resolution at the UN Security Council to extend the international arms embargo against the clergy-dominated Iran beyond October when they are set to expire. Immediately after failing to pass the resolution, president Trump announced that Washington would activate the "trigger mechanism". Iran, Russia, China, and the European Union have rejected the U.S. decision to activate the trigger mechanism, arguing it can no longer use the mechanism because Washington has withdrawn from the JCPOA. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran- lawmakers-propose-bill-to-leave-jcpoa-if-un- reimposes-sanctions/30789484.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address BY THE NUMBERS IN THE NEWS TODAY STOCKS TO WATCH Supplier News 19 August 2020 Aptech Computer Systems announced that Granduca Hospitality Services, LLC installed the PVNG Enterprise Back Office Accounting System to upgrade its financial processes. "It was like going from a Model T to a Ferrari," said Ben Moore, area director of finance for Granduca Hotels. Granduca's hotel accounting software evaluation was triggered when its previous system proved not flexible or scalable enough for its needs. "We wanted a leading-edge enterprise back office that was scalable, easy to use with flexible financial reporting. We also wanted a GAAP compliant secure web-based system that would let our team work remotely," Moore said. "PVNG does it all. It is so easy to use that one of our accountants was able to learn it in five minutes. It has a secure-access front end that allows users access to specific system areas while keeping the primary system secure." PVNG is an enterprise hotel accounting system that supports one property or large multi-brand, multi-property portfolios. It uses the most current technology incorporating AP, GL, A/R, statistics, financials, and bank reconciliation with easy to use browser navigation. Aptech is an IBM Premier Solution Provider and Prophix Premier Business Partner offering web-enabled business intelligence, budgeting, and hotel accounting software. Click here for more on Aptech's products and services. Granduca Hotels runs a complex full-service multi-property operation that requires a standardized GL for all its properties with robust, drill-down reporting. PVNG delivers. "Our properties host large events and provide catering and related services," Moore said. "Our bankers and investors want to see overall profitability and the capture rate on food and beverage for all our departments. Property financials must report our production spot on. PVNG is truly banker- and investor-friendly. It tracks everything perfectly and lets us analyze why the numbers are what they are." Made in the USA - Aptech development and support originate in its Pittsburgh headquarters System strength and professional support were a large part of Granduca's Aptech decision. "PVNG is a great enterprise back office system and Aptech's team are hotel professionals that know how to simplify operations. This was important to our decision," Moore said. "The system's A/P module lets us upload transactions for management review prior to posting so we can verify the data before they hit production numbers. We enter invoices, review and post them without having to leave the process. Smaller staffs mean time is more important to hotel operations today. PVNG saves us time and makes our workload lighter." PVNG provides secure web access for flexible staff placement "I use a web browser to access PVNG remotely," Moore said. "PVNG's remote access flexibility lets us grow our operation without increasing staff. We can run a very efficient operation and I can easily understand our operation better now." Moore noted that Aptech engineered PVNG to communicate well with many third-party system partners including time and attendance, and multiple property management, and other systems. Sam Costa, Aptech director of customer service and support, said, "Ben Moore and his Granduca Hotels team are really putting PVNG to work to standardize company reporting and identify the most profitable areas of its operation. Implementing PVNG at hotel companies like Granduca is a pleasure because they know their business and what they want to deliver to investors and guests." About Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the only provider of a fully integrated enterprise accounting, business intelligence and planning ecosystem to the hospitality industry. All of its clients are companies like yours, which own or manage hotels. Its solutions help customers at both the corporate and property levels understand their financial and operational data for faster goal achievement. The company is renowned for introducing business intelligence into the hotel industry, and offers a solid resource of hospitality professionals. Aptech is an IBM Software Value Plus partner and Premier Solution Provider, as well as a Prophix Premier Business Partner. Incorporated in 1970, Aptech's state-of-the-art back office, true business intelligence and enterprise planning solutions are 100% hotel specific. Solutions include PVNG, Execuvue and Targetvue. Clients comprise over 3,500 properties - including large chains, multiple-property management companies and single-site hotels. Execuvue is registered to Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders. For more information please visit www.aptech-inc.com. Late actor Sushant Singh Rajputs brother-in-law, Vishal Kirti, has said that neither he nor his wife, Shweta Singh Kirti, endorse any commercialisation in Sushants name. This comes after producer Ekta Kapoor announced and subsequently distanced herself from a Pavitra Rishta fund, set up in Sushants name by Zee TV, for the cause of mental health awareness. Vishal wrote in his tweets, @shwetasinghkirt and I dont endorse any commercialization in Sushants name. If people are doing anything using Sushants name, it should not be motivated by profit.The family has not endorsed any for-profit activity using Sushants name. For any non-profit activity in Sushants name, please get a written clearance from Sushants father to prevent getting sued later. No to using Sushant as a poster boy for mental health awareness. If the family feels that they have been libeled by any organization or individual, they will pursue legal recourse. name, please get a written clearance from Sushants father to prevent getting sued later. No to using Sushant as a poster boy for mental health awareness. If the family feels that they have been libeled by any organization or individual, they will pursue legal recourse. vishal kirti (@vikirti) August 18, 2020 On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, a move that was welcomed by the actors family. Shortly after the judgement was announced, Ekta took to social media and said that she had disassociated herself from the Pavitra Rishta fund. She wrote, While I support the cause of mental health, I disassociate myself from the Pavitra Rishta fund till investigations are carried out and we have a clear picture on Sushants unfortunate death. I withdraw myself from this fun individually as of now, as it seems theres more to this tragic incident. Like the rest of the country, I would like the truth to come out. Also read: Kriti Sanon welcomes SC verdict of CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajputs death, calls it ray of hope after two restless months She captioned the post, Even though this is not a fund started by me, but started by Zee and is a needed one at that, I am always with Zee for any other mental awareness fund that they want to do, but on this one I would like to respectfully dissociate myself. #SSR Hope the truth prevails. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Quang Ninh traffic police force has strengthened the strict control on people and vehicles travelling from other provinces into to Quang Ninh. (Photo: NDO/Quang Tho) >>> COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang, Quang Nam to be under control by late August: Official >>> Raising responsibility towards society and country According to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Vietnam has so far confirmed 989 infections. Of which, 649 are locally-transmitted cases, including 509 linked to the pandemic hotspot in the central city of Da Nang since July 25. On Tuesday alone, 58 COVID-19 patients were declared as recovered, including five at the Central General Hospital in Quang Nam Province, six at the General Hospital of Quang Nams mountainous region, 19 at the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, 23 at the Hoa Vang Medical Centre in Da Nang City, and five at the Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien Hue Province. One of the five patients that recovered from the disease at the Hue Central Hospital was discharged for home isolation yesterday. The remaining four patients now free of the coronavirus still have serious medical backgrounds, including chronic kidney failure, heart failure and hypertension, so they will be transferred to Da Nang C Hospital for regular dialysis and further treatment. A medical worker disinfecting Da Nang Hospital. (Photo: NDO/Anh Dao) The latest discharged patients helped raise the total number of recoveries to 525. Among the 464 patients undergoing treatment at medical establishments, 35 have tested negative for the virus once, 35 others twice and 30 three times. The total related deaths is 26, with one former COVID-19 patient has been announced died due to serious chronic diseases. Known as Patient 418, a 61-year-old man from Da Nang who had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 four times on August 4th, 10th, 11th and 12th, died on August 12th due to complications from chronic renal failure at the Hue Central Hospital. Doctors attributed the death to septic shocks, multi-organ failure, hypertension, diabetes type 2 and chronical obstructive pulmonary disease. Against the complicated outbreak in a local restaurant in Hai Duong City, the capital of Hai Duong Province, which has 11 infections detected so far, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control called on relevant authorities, localities and the public to strengthen disease preventive measures. For Hai Duong, the locales should drastically implement measures to localise, stamp out epidemic, tracing close contacts of COVID-19 patients and carry out COVID-19 tests for locals at risk of infection. Health workers in Hai Duong City make efforts to trace and take samples to test people at risk of COVID-19 infection. (Photo: NDO/Quoc Vinh) Regarding the testing, Acting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long stated that from July 25 to August 17, Vietnam used the Realtime RT-PCR technique to test more than 342,000 samples. In particular, the number of tests in hospital facilities has increased from 10-40%. The Ministry of Health continues to direct central-level hospitals to establish laboratories with a large capacity for testing to support localities in case of widespread of the pandemic. In a record short time just a week, the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City has set up two laboratories for confirmation of SARS-COV-2 in Da Nang the current epicentre for the new wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam. In Hanoi, from July 23 to August 17, 10 new cases were reported, with most of them directly or indirectly related to the outbreaks in Da Nang and Hai Duong. Hanois authorities on August 18 issued an urgent dispatch, asking for stricter implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures following new cases of community transmission discovered in the capital city. It is reported that more than 100,000 people have returned from Da Nang to Hanoi, including some 77,150 returnees from July 15. The city has carried out quick testing for more than 75,100 people and PCR testing for 50,602 others. Hanoi is striving to quickly complete the implementation of RT-PCT testing for all people who visited Da Nang and returned to Hanoi from July 15-29 to August 20. The Quang Ninh traffic police force has strengthened the strict control on people and vehicles travelling from other provinces into to Quang Ninh. (Photo: NDO/Quang Tho) Facing the complicated development of the epidemic, Quang Ninh Province continues to accelerate the traceability, verification, early testing and screening all for arrivals coming from other locales hit by COVID-19 from July 1. As of 3 pm on August 18, Quang Ninh has established interdisciplinary quarantine posts to control people and vehicles from Hai Duong to Quang Ninh. The Vietnam business of Samsung has rejected media reports that it may partially move its smartphone manufacturing to India. Such reports are untrue, Samsung Vina Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Vietnam) told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday. Samsungs plants in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen Provinces, both located in northern Vietnam, are in normal operation and they are in no way related to any change to the production of the factory in India, the South Korean electronics giant said. Samsung Vietnam always plays an important role as a global manufacturing base of our group, a spokesperson said. Samsung Vietnam executives had told Tuoi Tre that Vietnam is not only an attractive investment destination but it is also the second home of the corporation. Samsung is now the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with an investment of US$17.3 billion. The company built its first plant in the Southeast Asian country at a cost of $670 million in 2008. Samsung is running six plants and one research and development center in Vietnam. The factories in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen are Samsungs largest phone manufacturing facilities in the world. Its electronic appliance plant in Ho Chi Minh City is Southeast Asias biggest while Samsung Vietnam Mobile R&D Center is the corporations largest R&D unit in the Southeast Asian region. Samsung Vietnam is providing jobs for 130,000 people, alongside its major part in the Vietnamese economy. Samsung leaders have said that they will focus on research and development in the next ten years, besides manufacturing. The company expects to finish building an R&D center in Tay Hoi, Hanoi in late 2022, with personnel to rise to 3,000 people from the current 2,200. Here well invest in a quality workforce in order to develop 5G, AI, and big data, while building infrastructure, Samsung Vietnam said. We look forward to helping develop Vietnams IT sector and economy. The Economic Times reported on Monday that Samsung may shift a major part of its smartphone production to India from Vietnam and other countries. Samsung is likely to diversify its production lines for making smartphones to India under the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme and this will have an impact in its existing capabilities across various countries like Vietnam, the ET quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying. Samsung has told the Indian government that it would produce smartphones worth over $40 billion in the next five years, with $25 billion worth of phones priced at $200 at the factory. Most of these phones will be exported, the newspaper cited a senior Indian government official as saying. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Chinese bank was among 357 institutional investors including domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and global institutions People's Bank of China picks up 0.006 pc stake in ICICI Bank. (PTI Photo) Mumbai: The People's Bank of China has picked up 0.006 per cent stake in ICICI Bank by investing Rs 15 crore in the private sector lender's Rs 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) exercise which concluded last week. Investment banking sources said the Chinese bank was among 357 institutional investors including domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and global institutions that subscribed to the issue. The prominent investors were Government of Singapore, Morgan Investment and Societe Generale, according to regulatory filings. In March, the Chinese bank increased its stake in home loan lender HDFC Ltd to over 1 per cent, creating a flutter in the Indian market. The move prompted the government to tightened foreign portfolio investment rules, especially on investments coming from neighbouring countries with a Chinese connection, citing 'opportunistic takeovers'. Relations between India and China have worsened since the Galwan valley border clash. India has already banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok and WeChat. Besides, the government is monitoring Chinese investment inflow closely. DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari discussed efforts taken to stabilise and rebalance global oil markets in a telephone call, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. The two leaders "stressed the importance of compliance, by all participants, to the OPEC+ agreement and the agreed upon compensation mechanism," SPA reported. A ministerial panel of key OPEC+ oil producers, headed by Saudi Arabia, is holding a virtual meeting later on Wednesday to review the oil market and the group's compliance with the current oil supply cut pact. (Writing by Rania El Gamal; editing by David Evans) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed the Opposition parties and said they did not want the Parliament to run as they were afraid to face the debate on corruption. Prime Minister Modi also attacked the Samajwadi Party government of Uttar Pradesh and said that people are tired of 'goondaism' of Akhilesh Yadav government in the state. "Over the past few days, I am experiencing, not just a wave but a storm of change in Uttar Pradesh," PM Modi said while addressing BJP's Parivartan rally in Kanpur on Monday. Highlights of PM Narendra' Modi's speech at Kanpur - # It is the responsibility of political parties to set an example on non-corrupt practices. Especially about donations to pol parties. # An atmosphere should be created to have national, state elections together. # Due to continuous election mode, much time is wasted which can b used in development activities. I appeal EC to start dialogue on this. # When there were Rs 1000 notes, nobody considered Rs 100 notes. Now is the time of people who have Rs 100 notes # UP gave many Prime Ministers to the nation, but still there are 1500-1600 villages where electricity had not reached. # Now only 20-22 villages are left, if the state govt does not hinder, we will achieve complete rural electrification soon. # Not being accountable, corruption and doing as they please - these have been ways the Congress has been functioning. # While slamming Congress in Kanpur Modi makes a reference of Sitaram Kesri days. ALSO READ | Parivartan Rally in Kanpur: People of UP are tired of Goondaism, says PM Modi | Top 5 quotes # Government wants to scrap black money, they (opposition) want to shut Parliament. # For the first time, we saw people shouting slogans in order to save those who are corrupt. Govt is keen to uproot corruption. # This is the first time people raised slogans against the corrupt in Parliament. # It is the responsibility of political parties to set an example on non-corrupt practices. Especially about donations to political parties. # Due to continues election mode, much time is wasted which can b used in development activities. I appeal to the Election Commission to start dialogue on this. # What is our agenda - end corruption and black money. What's Opposition's agenda - to disrupt Parliament & have no debate at all. # An atmosphere should be created to have national, state elections together. ALSO READ | Top Highlights: Storm of change in Uttar Pradesh, says PM Modi at Parivartan rally in Kanpur # BJP welcomes steps taken by the Election Commission to curb black money. # Our agenda is to stop corruption, Opposition's agenda is to stop Parliament. # Parliament was disrupted earlier too, but this time some people were raising slogans to save the corrupt. # Corruption and black money adversely affected the poor and the middle class. # Why were they running away from the issues we wanted to discuss, the issues of making India free from corruption and black money. # You have elected a government that is fully dedicated to the welfare of the poor, the marginalised, the Dalit communities. # The contribution of UP in giving a stable government is noteworthy. # Our government is dedicated to the poor and underprivileged. # People of Uttar Pradesh are tired of 'goondaism'. # Over the past few days, I am experiencing, not just a wave but a storm of change in Uttar Pradesh. # I have got an opportunity to travel across Uttar Pradesh and I am seeing the strong desire for 'Parivartan' in the state. # Wherever I have gone in UP in the last few days, I have observed a change. People of UP are ready for a change. # Many initiatives have been taken by the government to empower the youth especially in Uttar Pradesh. # Before coming here I witnessed an exhibition on skill development. Our youth can take India to new heights of progress. # Many initiatives have been taken by the government to empower the youth of UP. # Youths if given the right kind of exposure & facilities can contribute a lot in the growth of nation. # Our youngsters have the skill to ensure that poverty becomes history in India. Southern Veterinary Partners By welcoming our 150th hospital, weve reached an important landmark in what has truly been an amazing journey of growth. Its quite fitting that in spite of our regional presence, weve achieved this landmark back here in Birmingham where it all began. - Dr. Jay Price, Founder and CEO of SVP Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP) recently welcomed Britt Animal Hospital located in Birmingham, Alabama to its fast-growing family of veterinary-owned and managed animal hospitals, reaching an impressive milestone of 150 locations across 15 states. Founded just shy of six years ago, SVP grew from its humble origins into a powerhouse in the animal health space with a simple mission: to be a community of veterinary teams providing personalized care with exceptional hospitality. True to this mission, SVP provides centralized support to the veterinary practices within its fold, enabling them to leverage the organizations infrastructure to support marketing, HR, finance, inventory, purchasing management, and access to enhanced employee benefits while being able to retain what makes each practice unique their identities, culture, staff, and commitment to respective local communities. Asked about the recent milestone, Dr. Jay Price, Founder and CEO of SVP who started the organization with his own animal hospital in Birmingham, Oak View Animal Hospital, enthusiastically reflected, By welcoming our 150th hospital, weve reached an important landmark in what has truly been an amazing journey of growth. Its quite fitting that in spite of our regional presence, weve achieved this landmark back here in Birmingham where it all began. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to bring uncertainties to businesses everywhere, SVP is proving to be an indispensable ally for veterinary practices who are now having to navigate new challenges along with old compounded ones. SVP is one big working family which is why it is in our organizational DNA to help our partners and their practices succeed. Its an honor for us to be able to help groups such as Britt Animal Hospital who continue to go above and beyond for their communities even during these uncertain times. We simply could not be more driven in our mission and more proud of the groups we do it for, Dr. Price continued. With its remarkable growth, Southern Veterinary Practices employs around 3,000 employees regionally to date. The organizations success has not gone unnoticed, landing them well-deserved industry accolades early on, most notably Inc. 5000s List of "Fastest Growing Companies in America" (2018 - 2020) and the Birmingham Business Journal's "FastTrack 30" of the Fastest Growing Companies in Birmingham (2017 - 2018). About Southern Veterinary Partners Southern Veterinary Partners, LLC (SVP) is a veterinarian-owned and managed regional network of animal hospitals providing the highest quality veterinary care to companion animals. The company is based in Birmingham, Alabama and is known for its stellar record of providing exceptional client care. Visit http://www.svp.vet for more information. H undreds of thousands of UK students face a fresh wave of exam chaos after schools and colleges were told not to issue BTEC results on Thursday in a last-minute U-turn. Exam board Pearson has asked schools and colleges not to publish level 1 and 2 results in the vocational qualifications to give them more time to recalculate the grades. The move affects 450,000 pupils, 250,000 of whom received grades last week, the BBC reported. It follows the announcement that GCSE and A-level students would this year be able to receive grades based on their teachers estimates. BTEC students grades were not included in the original announcement, but now Pearson has said it will be regrading BTECs awarded last week, as well the grades that were due to be released tomorrow. Labour and education unions had demanded clarity for students, parents and universities after the U-turn as party leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the Government's handling of the situation "incompetent". A spokeswoman for Pearson, the provider of BTECs, said: Following Ofquals announcement that A-level and GCSE students are to receive centre-assessed grades, we will be applying the same principles for students receiving BTEC results this summer. We will be regrading BTECs to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTEC student is disadvantaged. Students protest the downgrading of A-level grades in Parliament Square / PA She added: We know this could cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this. Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students and we will work around the clock to provide revised grades as soon as we can. Kate Green, Labours shadow education secretary, said: This latest chaos is totally unacceptable. For some young people to find out less than a day in advance that they will not be receiving their grades tomorrow is utterly disgraceful. Its appalling that thousands of young people should face further confusion and uncertainty because of the Governments incompetence. Ofqual suspends criteria on A Level mock exam appeals hours after releasing policy This repeated chaos is simply no way to run a country. The Government must urgently set a clear deadline for every young person to receive their grades. On Tuesday, exams regulator Ofqual said its moderation algorithm used in A-levels and GCSEs was not used in the majority of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQ) including BTECs. But in a statement on Wednesday night, just hours before results were due to be published, Englands exams watchdog said some exam boards, including OCR and Pearson, will need more time to recalculate results. It said: OCR have said that their Cambridge National results will issue next week. Pearson, which initially did not think there would need to be significant changes made, has now decided to revise its arrangements to ensure that students qualification-level results better reflect the unit-level results that students have already secured through internally assessed units. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has apologised to students / PA Ofqual added: Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students. No learners result will go down as a consequence of regrading. David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: The timing is worrying, because thousands of students were due to get their results in the morning and others have already got results which we know will not go down, but which might improve. So it is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties. Loading.... He added: Those students wanting to move onto further or higher education will be most worried about losing out on places. We are in close communication with DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to particularly make sure that BTEC students applying for universities can still be treated fairly. Additional reporting by PA Media. Bengaluru, Aug 19 : Karnataka has conducted 20 lakh coronavirus tests in less than five months to emerge as one of the highest coronavirus-testing states in India, an official said on Wednesday. "Karnataka has conducted more than 20 lakh Covid tests from March 23 to August 16 (Sunday) and stands as one of the top states conducting maximum number of tests," the health official added. Initially, to complete the first one lakh tests, the southern state took nearly 99 days, however, now it takes just two days to test one lakh people, considering more than 50,000 tests were being done in 101 laboratories daily across the state. "From February to May 2020, Karnataka took nearly 99 days to conduct first one lakh tests, however, at the turnaround time, to conduct one lakh tests takes two days with the establishment of 101 labs across Karnataka," he said. Starting with just 2,309 tests in March, the state incrementally raised its testing capability to 55,021 tests in April, followed by 2.4 lakh in May, 3.2 lakh in June, 7.6 lakh in July and 6.8 lakh in the first 16 days of August. Kidwai Bangalore has emerged as the highest testing government laboratory with 1.05 lakh tests, followed by GIMS Gulbarga (88,323), NIMHANS Bengaluru (81,816), among others. Among private labs, Neuberg Anand has conducted the maximum number of tests which is 69,897, followed by Syngene (42,769), Xcyton (39,989), KMC Manipal (26,626), among others. "All private labs have conducted 4.5 lakh tests till August 16," added the official. By Tuesday, Karnataka had tested 21.3 lakh people for Covid, comprising 5.5 lakh rapid-antigen detection tests and 15.8 lakh RT-PCR and other methods of testing. Though the health official shared information from March 23 to August 16, the first Covid positive case in the state occurred on March 8, when an IT employee returning from overseas tested Covid positive. Covid cases are spiking in Karnataka, rising by 7,000 infections on an average daily to reach 2.4 lakh, of which 79,782 are active. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text PARMA, Ohio -- Considering that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reports that 30 percent of adolescents are diagnosed with mental illness, school districts more than ever are focusing on the social and emotional wellbeing of their students. Thats the case with the Parma City Schools, which this year is introducing the Hope Squad initiative to its high school buildings. Its a program thats designed to frankly open up the conversation about mental health with students, as well as de-stigmatize mental health concerns, issues and social-emotional hurdles that our young people are facing, said Robert Hoon, director of the districts Office of Exceptional Students. Its really engaging students in leadership roles where theyre having conversations about their mental health, insecurities, anxiety and vulnerabilities, he said. Grant Us Hope is the organization behind the Hope Squad, which has proven successful in other Ohio districts. The Cincinnati-based nonprofits mission is to create communities of leadership and advocacy that enhance mental wellness, safety and prevention in schools. The Hope Squad initiative is a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program for students, with a three-year curriculum that emphasizes suicide prevention fundamentals, self-care and anti-bullying. Previously an administrator in Southern Ohio, Hoon said he saw firsthand the kind of positive impact the Hope Squad provides when embedded into the school culture. Obviously, students in the 21st century are facing many demands, with mental health just sort of lurking in the shadows, Hoon said. What we know is that its there, its prevalent, but nobody likes to talk about it, which makes it even worse as it manifests itself and becomes even more problematic. Aside from students helping out their peers, Hoon said the Hope Squad opens the door for school experts -- counselors, liaisons and psychologists -- to meet the needs of all students. Hoon said the districts federal student wellness grant is covering the Hope Squad curriculums $18,000 cost. This fall, each high school will have Hope Squad faculty advisers, who after receiving training around topics such as anxiety around social media, tragedy, death and suicide will pass on their knowledge to individually selected student ambassadors. In the COVID-19 world, Id argue mental health and social and emotional support is more important now than its ever been, Hoon said. We have students whose worlds are turned upside down. This is just another option, another tool for us to continue to engage our students in dialogue around mental health awareness and supports. For the students who are truly at risk, we have the therapists, counselors and psychologists in house so we can address those needs to continue to respond to the changing needs of our students. Read more news from the Parma Sun Post. Gerard Butler and girlfriend Morgan Brown have reportedly split. The 50-year-old 300 star and the real estate developer and designer parted ways after dating for more than six years, according to PEOPLE on Wednesday. The former couple were last snapped publicly sharing a kiss on Venice Beach earlier this month. Over: Gerard Butler and girlfriend Morgan Brown have reportedly split. Seen here in 2018 Butler and Brown began seeing each other in 2014 but split the following year. They then reunited in 2016 when they were seen enjoying a beach vacation in Mexico together. Since then, the relationship seemed to have become more solid, until Wednesday's news. Brown was Butler's date at the premiere for his movie Angel Has Fallen in August 2019 and they walked the red carpet as a couple at the Academy Awards this past February. Happier times: Butler and Brown began seeing each other in 2014 but split the following year. Seen here in August last year Butler has previously admitted to having little time for romance with his busy work schedule. 'I have no personal life,' the Scottish actor told PEOPLE back in October 2017. He also admitted to looking for more from a relationship, telling the magazine, 'Id love to have one or two kids its about time.' The in-demand actor will next appear in the film Greenland, and has no less than six other films in various stages of production. DECATUR - John Sellers found it purely a coincidence that he was helping with Kite Fest on Saturday at Progress City USA, despite a rich family history of kite making. Sellers, now a Realtor with Lyle Campbell & Son, is the grandson of Harvey Sellers, who started Hi-Flier Mfg. Co. in 1921 in Decatur. The company began in Harvey Sellers' basement and quickly blossomed into one of the world's largest commercial kite manufacturers, producing more than 2 million yearly by 1927. It employed close to 200 people at its peak. However, in the 1970s, it was sold to the Damon Corp. of Boston and eventually ceased production in Decatur. John Sellers, who said he hadn't flown a kite in 15 to 20 years, has found himself helping at Kite Fest the past two years. The event, which is in its third year and continues from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, is organized by the Decatur Association of Realtors. "It's nice to make people aware of Decatur's history of kites," said Sellers, who was helping hand out free kites. "Several generations have passed, and a lot of people don't know about it." Sellers helped to provide information for a display that included facts about the company's history and other kite flying events in Decatur's past. @$: This year's Kite Fest brought out fliers from throughout the state. Team 180Go! from the Illinois Kite Enthusiasts club performed to music on a windy day ideal for kite flying. "The strong wind does limit what you can do, but we've done this in places with stronger winds," said Chris Babb, a club member from Aurora. "A lot of people aren't used to seeing stunt kiting. I love to see the look on the kids' faces." Despite a cool temperature, it was hard for Babb and the others to find anything to complain about as he watched kites fill the sky. "There's kites in the air," Babb said. "That's the best part." The group was making its second appearance at Kite Fest and would like to see more groups become involved. Organizers intend to get more fliers out in the future. "We're growing as much as we can," said Lynn Merritt of Century 21. John Fay, also of Century 21, traveled to other kite flying events around the country three years ago, researching what it would take to bring a similar event to Decatur. He would like to convince more clubs to come to the event so they can have competitions. "If we can prove we can have a kite fest and attract people," Fay said, "that will help us." Chris Lusvardi can be reached at clusvardi@herald-review.com or 421-7972. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A federal judge ruled Monday that a lawsuit intended to allow Alabama counties to offer curbside voting to make voting safer and easier for people who are disabled or at risk of serious illness from COVID-19 can proceed. U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon of the Northern District of Alabama dismissed some of the claims and defendants in the case but allowed others to go forward. Five voters and four organizations are plaintiffs and are represented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, and the ACLU of Alabama. The plaintiffs claim a state ban on curbside voting violates federal law as applied to voters with disabilities or those at risk of serious illness from COVID-19 because of age or medical condition. They claim curbside voting should be an option during the pandemic, noting that Gov. Kay Iveys Safer at Home orders have encouraged curbside service at restaurants and senior centers. Alabama does not have a law against curbside voting, but Secretary of State John Merrill opposes it and has moved to block two counties from allowing it in previous elections, according to the lawsuit. Jefferson County and Montgomery County officials have told the court they will undertake reasonable efforts to provide curbside voting if the court rules that the curbside ban cannot be enforced. The plaintiffs also challenged the Alabama law requiring absentee ballots to be signed by two witnesses or notarized and the requirement that absentee voters submit a photo ID, which has some exceptions. Defendants in the case are Merrill, who is the states top election official, and some county election officials. They are represented by the attorney generals office. Kallon dismissed claims against some of the defendants. Merrill is no longer a defendant on the challenges to the witness and photo ID requirement. I think the best way to explain this is that the court carefully looked at the claims, who was actually able to fix those areas if they were in fact illegal, and dismissed everybody else out, William Van Der Pol, an attorney for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, said. Merrill declined comment on the ruling Tuesday because his office has not yet formally received any new information from the court, Press Secretary Grace Newcombe said. The lawsuit was filed in May. In June, Kallon ruled the state could not enforce the ban on curbside voting for the July 14 runoff. Kallons ruling also blocked enforcement of the witness and photo ID requirements for absentee voters, although that only applied to Jefferson, Lee, and Mobile counties. On July 2, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the states request for a stay on Kallons ruling, so the ruling was not in effect for the runoff. But the issues remain pending for the Nov. 3 general election. A trial in the case is scheduled for September. Van Der Pol said curbside voting is an appropriate accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and hopes counties will follow through if the court rules in the plaintiffs favor on the issue. I would certainly hope that they would take advantage of that opportunity to protect voters and make sure that everybody, including vulnerable individuals, retain the right to vote and do not have to choose between exercising that incredibly important and fundamental right vs. their health and safety and ability to stay alive, Van Der Pol said. Thats the whole reason we brought this lawsuit. The Alabama attorney generals office maintains that any burden imposed on the plaintiffs by the restrictions challenged in the lawsuit are slight and that they are not excluded from voting. The depositions of the five individual Plaintiffs remaining in this case reveal that Plaintiffs main complaint is not that the challenged provisions force them to choose between exercising their right to vote and endangering their health, state attorneys wrote. Rather, their complaint is that the challenged provisions require them to exercise the slightest bit of creativity and initiative to satisfy these nondiscriminatory, reasonable requirements. Attorneys for the state also note that Merrill and election officials have already made some accommodations because of the pandemic. Merrill issued an emergency rule to allow any absentee voting for any voter who does not want to go to the polls because of COVID-19. That emergency rule was in place for the July 14 runoff and is in place for the general election. The emergency rule is an exception to Alabamas normal requirement that voters choose from a list of reasons on the absentee ballot application in order to vote absentee. Merrill said any voter concerned about COVID-19 can check a box that says, I have a physical illness or infirmity that prevents my attendance at the polls. The lawsuit challenged the normal requirement to provide a reason for voting absentee. In Kallons ruling on Monday, he dismissed that claim as moot because of the emergency rule. Organizations that are plaintiffs in the case are People First Alabama, the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries, and Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute. [Follow our daily updates on the latest presidential election polls.] Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York spoke for roughly 90 seconds on Tuesday night at the Democratic convention to nominate a fellow democratic socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, for the presidency and laud the progressive movement he had helped advance over the course of the race. In remarks that she had been asked to deliver on behalf of Mr. Sanders who received some delegates based on primary results Ms. Ocasio-Cortez hailed a mass peoples movement working to establish 21st-century social, economic and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages and labor rights for all people in the United States. The relatively small and procedural speaking role for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a huge young star in the Democratic Party, was disappointing to many of her admirers, especially given the swaths of time allotted on Tuesday night to lesser-known Democratic state officials and even Republicans like Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state. But those officials had backed Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the presidential race, while Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was a staunch champion of Mr. Sanders. Giving her a prominent role in the convention probably would have also provided grist for President Trump and Republican allies, who have sought to paint Mr. Biden as the puppet of left-wing Democrats like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Bullet holes still pockmark the walls of the house in Mexico where Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was brutally murdered 80 years ago, a reminder of an earlier failed assassination attempt. "I'm already familiar" with death, Trotsky said after he survived that attack in his home in a suburb of Mexico City where he spent his last years in exile. "I've been followed by the black hatred of Stalin across half the world," he told a Mexican newspaper. Months later, on August 20, 1940, that trail of persecution finally caught up with him when he was killed with an ice axe by an assassin acting on Joseph Stalin's orders. "It was an ideological, symbolic crime," Cuban writer Leonardo Padura, who spent years researching the murder for his novel "The Man who Loved Dogs", told AFP. Trotsky's house in the leafy neighborhood of Coyoacan has been preserved as a museum, where his grave is marked by a tombstone engraved with a hammer and sickle in the compound. The watchtowers, high walls and bullet holes left by Stalin's hit squad offer an insight into how the key figure in the Bolshevik revolution spent his final days. - Split with Stalin - Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, Trotsky was the founder of the Red Army and, along with Vladimir Lenin, one of the prime movers in the Bolshevik revolt that overthrew Tsar Nicholas II. After falling out with Stalin in the 1920s, Trotsky was forced into exile. The Marxist revolutionary drifted from Turkey to Norway to France before finally landing in Mexico in 1937, where the muralist Diego Rivera helped to persuade General Lazaro Cardenas's government to grant him asylum. Paradoxically, Trotsky and Cardenas never met, although they exchanged letters. "Probably it was due to the circumstances of the moment, because there was no need to meet," the general's son Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, himself a prominent politician, told AFP. Story continues Accompanied by his wife Natalia Sedova, Trotsky was welcomed at the port of Tampico by the painter Frida Kahlo, with whom it is rumored that he had an affair. "Upon his arrival, he mixed with a group of characters who coincided in those moments in an explosive Mexico, starting with Rivera and Kahlo," said Padura. - Inner circle infiltrated - But even on another continent the revolutionary was not safe from Stalin's regime. Trotsky and his wife survived the first attack on May 24, 1940 by throwing themselves under their bed. Their grandson, who slept in the next room, suffered a foot injury. The incident led Trotsky to increase security at the compound, but it was not enough to stop his assassin, Ramon Mercader. A Spanish communist and secret agent for the Soviet intelligence services, Mercader managed to infiltrate Trotsky's inner circle as the lover of a New York Trotskyite. After Trotsky installed a new metal gate at the entry to his compound controlled by guards, Mercader gave up on the idea of using a gun. Instead the experienced mountaineer chose an ice axe, to maximize his chances of escaping. Armed with a backup pistol and knife under his coat, he entered the compound and plunged the axe into Trotsky's skull. Trotsky, gravely wounded, shouted for help and Mercader was captured. The revolutionary died at a Mexico City hospital the next day. The murder weapon disappeared later that year but resurfaced decades later when the daughter of a policeman offered it for sale, saying she had kept it under her bed for years. The axe was bought by Keith Melton, an espionage historian for the CIA, and is now on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington. nc-dr/st Shringla's meeting with Sheikh Hasina was significant since the Bangladesh Prime Minister has not met anyone from abroad since COVID-19 New Delhi: In a major step towards further strengthening Indias ties with Bangladesh, sources confirmed late on Tuesday evening that Indias Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Tuesday, with both countries moving towards convening a Joint Consultative Commission at the Foreign Ministerial level to oversee the bilateral relationship, especially projects being carried out for the welfare of Bangladesh with Indian assistance. The Foreign Secretary had begun a two-day visit on Tuesday to discuss and take forward cooperation on matters of mutual interest. Sources said the fact that Shringla was granted a meeting with Sheikh Hasina was extremely significant since the Bangladesh Prime Minister amid the Covid Pandemic has reportedly not met anyone from abroad and very few in the country in the past few months. Sources added that Sheikh Hasina greatly appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modis gesture in sending someone to touch base, convey message and see how the two sides could take relationship forward. Interestingly, Shringla is also an expert on ties with Bangladesh and had earlier been posted there as Indias High Commissioner. The visit comes at a time when China has been trying to increase its economic influence in Bangladesh. This also comes at a time when Pakistan has been trying to fish in troubled waters by reaching out to Bangladesh and raking up the Kashmir issue with it. Security related issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting and also a proposal for travel bubble for business, official and medical travel, sources said. Sources also said the bilateral areas of interest identified during the meeting were development partnership, enhancing connectivity, revival of economy post Covid, cooperation on Covid assistance, including on therapeutics and vaccine, and the joint commemoration of the Mujib Barsho. The Mujib Barsho refers to the centenary birth anniversary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman-popularly known as Bangabandhu-who successfully led the Bangladesh freedom struggle in 1971. Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujib who was assassinated in 1975. Sources also said Sheikh Hasina raised the issue of the Rohingyas currently staying in Bangladesh and the issue of their possible safe repatriation back to Myanmar which they had fled earlier. Sources said Sheikh Hasina also expressed appreciation on India handing over 10 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives to Dhaka last month to boost rail connectivity between the two nations, seen by both countries as a vital element of bilateral cooperation in promoting trade and connectivity and in boosting the economic partnership. India had last month said it was confident that both nations would appreciate mutual sensitivity and mutual respect in building further on this relationship. Last month, in what was seen as an assurance to India, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had termed bilateral ties as rock solid, adding that in the past few years both countries have scripted a golden chapter (sonali adhyaya) under the leadership of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister had also said that bilateral ties with India were based on shared principles, values and history touching almost every sphere of life including politics, culture, trade, security, water, energy and much more. One of the major programs of the navy is to roll a program for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) that will make it a major part of the fleet. These will be improvements learned from misstarts applied to the vessels. Since the introduction of the LCS, the U.S. Navy has been disappointed with the series that have not been as useful as the Arleigh Burke-class. According to Chief of Naval Operations Adm., Michael Gilday said that the improvements will be overseen by him. He said in a press brief that the LCS will be tuned to get the vessel, up to better standards so it can be a major part of the U.S. Fleet. He mentioned that the platform has needed a major overhaul with many of the kinks that have made the series worrisome to operate. The focus will be on fixing everything to get it up to spec. The LCS has been operational since 2008, and the admiral said it should be finished, mentioning that five deployments have been done and more to come to get the LCS ship shape. According to the admiral, most of the problems include manning to keeping the hulls, and other vital parts of the ship that needs maintenance and the crucial systems that are used for the missions, noted Finance. Congress has marked the littoral ship as useless with the difficulties to add new technologies into the platform. Several of the systems that will be added are the mine-hunting mission module that will be taking the job of minesweeping, and the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission suite. These systems will be included in the LCS, which will give the ships a part in the fleet. Also read: US Navy Sends Two Carrier Strike Groups as Show of Force Against PLA Naval Exercises "I have to deliver ... both the mine and ASW modules," Gilday said, according to Defense News. "These ships are probably going to [start going] away in the mid-2030s if the [future frigate] FFG(X) build goes as planned. But I need to wring as much as I can out of those ships as quickly as I can." The LCS comes in two configurations, one is a single hull type made by Lockheed Martin and Fincantierin. Aother is trimaran or tri-hull built by Austal USA. A total of 35 ships were funded, with 20 of them already commissioned though many of them are plagued by problems in the mechanicals. It is supposed to go 40 knots but that was the core of the ship's problems, cited USNI. During 2016, the fleet started to implement changes like a single crew will be operating mission profile, by switching out from anti-surface, anti-sub, and mine sweeping modules. Instead, the personnel will be dedicated to one mission profile only. Some sources spoke on the condition of keeping anonymous regarding aspects of the mission profiles. The module dedicated to anti-mine operations will be ready for a final test and be evaluated if it does work, at the end of 2021. Further information indicates the component for systems has passed trials and starting production too. Some sources say it might be online by 2022. But for the anti-sub operations suite, it is unclear and is a victim of budget cuts, so far the system is installed in LCS Fort Worth with testing starting last fall. Plans to take off four LCS in the fleet will cause delays overall. According to Gilday, the littoral class combat ship needs to get fined tune and the systems installed. But the best thing about the LCS in the U.S. Navy is that it can work operations suited for it, and replace ships too. Related article: US Navy Replaces Littoral Combat Ship with More Powerful Combat System @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BUENOS AIRES Argentina confirmed 6,840 new cases of coronavirus and 172 new deaths on Tuesday, taking it simultaneously over the 300,000 case and 6,000 death threshold as the Latin nation battles a surge of contagions in recent weeks. The countrys health ministry reported a total of 305,966 cases and 6,048 deaths. Dr Luis Camera, a member of the Argentine governments health advisory group, said while cases, intensive care admissions and hospital bed occupancy rates were not still climbing, they had settled at an unsustainable level. The highest points for the City of Buenos Aires could have been the last days of July and the first days of August," he told Reuters TV. Now the infection curve has stabilized at a plateau, but a high plateau. In South America, you call it the altiplano, as opposed to the lowlands." The recent peaking of cases saw the government last week renew restrictions for Buenos Aires that had been relaxed in many parts of the nation. The announcement was greeted by thousands taking part in a street protest on Monday against the measures, which have cause further economic pain in a country already in deep recession. It seems to me that, as in other countries, we should be trusted to behave like adults and responsibly resume work and moving the country forward," said Patricia Velvisi, a 52-year-old worker. On Tuesday, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdown had provoked an unprecedented mental health crisis due to stress and drug and alcohol use. 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 (TNS) Members of the House Select Committee on voiced their frustrations Monday with the state Department of Healths response to the pandemic.The committee pushed the DOH to provide more information on new coronavirus cases, which would help residents know what activities should be avoided.In a letter dated Aug. 6 to Health Director Bruce Anderson, House Speaker Scott Saiki, who co-chairs the House COVID-19 committee, asked Anderson for more specific data on COVID-19 cases so the public knows what behavior is risky.As COVlD-19 cases increase, it is equally important that the general public be made aware of the circumstances behind the caseloads, Saiki wrote. We are not requesting that an individuals personal health information be disclosed. Rather, DOH must provide sufficient data that enables the general public to make sound decisions regarding personal and community health and safety. Saiki asked for information on the date and location of transmission; type of activity or event where the transmission occurred; whether the infected individual may have infected others; whether the infected individual was masked or unmasked; whether the infected individual was symptomatic or asymptomatic.In the letter, Saiki asked Anderson to respond by last Friday. Saiki received a response on Sunday from Danette Wong Tomiyasu, the Health Departments deputy director for Health Resources, that read in part: We also are in the process of determining how better to publicly provide additional details about transmission events, without violating privacy or health information protections, to give the public a deeper appreciation for the breadth and depth of risk currently posed to our residents and visitors, particularly on Oahu. Your suggestions are part of this process.Tomiyasu did not say when additional details about COVID-19 cases would be made public.Saiki said, The narrative could be very simple, e.g., the asymptomatic, unmasked individual attended a graduation party at Lanikai Beach on Memorial Day with approximately 25 other unmasked individuals, 12 of whom subsequently tested positive possibly as a result of attending the event. He said, The information is meant to assist members of the public in understanding that their behavior will dictate whether we can overcome COVlD-19.Committee member Dr. Mark Mugiishi, president and CEO of HMSA, said there is no useful data on whether clusters are a result of house parties, weddings or bars, for example.One of the challenges is as fundamental as what it is were supposed to be doing and the consequences of not doing it, said committee co-chairman Peter Ho, who is also chairman, president and CEO of Bank of Hawaii.From where we were early on in the pandemic to becoming one of the best stories in the country infection wise to where we are now is not a pretty story, Ho said. We have to learn from our mistakes to figure out how to get better.Saiki pointed to the information reported to the public by health officials in Springfield, Mo., as a model of how Hawaii could better inform residents.On Aug. 8, for example, Missouri health officials warned more than 300 people of potential COVID-19exposure by a single, unnamed individual who was exercising over five separate days while providing the times of each workout but not even the patients gender.The person potentially exposed more than 300 people at the Dan Kinney Family Center at 2701 S. Blackman Rd. over the course of several days, Missouri health officials posted on their web site. The individual wore a mask while entering and exiting the building but was not masked while working out. This exposure is considered high-risk due to the number of people that may have been exposed and the length of time the individual was at the facility.Officials with Hawaiis Health Department did not immediately respond to theon Monday about its correspondence with Saiki, how much more specific information it plans to provide and when.In her letter to Saiki, Tomiyasu said: Regarding transparency and information sharing with the public, the Department is preparing a new data dashboard, which will share metrics about disease prevention, detection, containment, and health care capacity.Members of the House COVID-19 committee on Monday repeatedly linked Hawaiis latest surge with frustrations and an inability to re-start the economy.The virus is the economy, said Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization and a member of the House committee. The public health side of this is what drives the economy.Bonham joined other committee members in saying that the public needs specific recommendations on how to curb COVID-19 cases.Saiki suggested that the House committee take on a more oversight role in responding to the pandemic.And some neighbor island members said they hoped there can be neighbor island exceptions to help their local economies, since the largest numbers are on Oahu.Wendy Laros, executive director of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, wondered why neighbor island residents cant bypass Oahu and travel between neighbor islands, to stimulate each others economies.Why cant we fly from here (Kona) to Maui or here to Kauai and from Kauai to here? Laros asked. I hope that gets considered. Whats going on on Oahu is really affecting all of us.Ho and others said there is much more to be done to get on top of the latest surge in cases and give clearer guidelines to stop the spread and to re-start Hawaiis economy.Otherwise the long-term effects could be disastrous, Ho suggested.If were one of the communities thats having a difficult time getting ourselves back under control, thats going to prevent us from getting our economy going again, Ho said. And capital and people are highly portable and so we will lose capital in the form of small businesses shuttering. Well lose people who simply despite the fact that they love the islands as much as we all do will not be able to afford living here and will end up in places that have gotten a better control of the virus than we have. MONTGOMERY, AL / ACCESSWIRE / August 14, 2020 / The founder of Tesix Wireless Network spent years researching and learning the ropes of launching her wireless carrier. With the telecom industry being at its competitive peak and seemingly impossible to break into, Chaymeriyia Moncrief, the 26-year-old founder and CEO, defined those odds. Launching her company in 2018, it has grown significantly from its early days. When first announced, the telecom startup started with only 200 people on its waitlist. After going viral on social media, Chaymeriyia generated $40,000 in pre-sales, turned down an early investment acquisition offer of $4.4 million, and received $5 million in investments. With these milestones, it took the company's value to $10 million by 2020. Within the first year, she generated $1.8M and grew to 8,000 mobile subscribers. With a grand start, Chaymeriyia didn't stop there; she steps into an even more gruesome market, electronics. In a founders letter posted on the company's website, she expressed her new company, NSPRE Electronics, as a "10-year long dream". In launching the startup, she becomes the first African American woman to launch a smartphone among other electronics in the United States; talk about breaking barriers. The Early Start Growing up in Montgomery, AL, Chaymeriyia saw some adversity in her childhood. She credits her work ethic and passion for entrepreneurship to seeing her mother encounter domestic violence throughout her childhood. "I felt that money was the reason my mother could not leave. I thought, maybe if I could get rich or make "a lot" of money, I could help her get out of the situation. I thought like this for much of my Jr. High School years and believe it's what put me in overdrive even after," she expressed. She remembers starting 16 different businesses as a teen and after high school. She even remembered what caused her to fall in love with technology. "My fascination with gadgets often got me into trouble. I use to take things around the house like remotes, small radios, and even our home computer and take them apart. I loved understanding how stuff works, how they operate, so putting things back together was always mesmerizing to me; and still is." Thriving during the Pandemic Even during a global pandemic, Chaymeriyia continues to innovate and push forward in her startups. Not only has she announced the launch of her smartphone and wearables, but she has also started building her startup's headquarters that will employ a team of over 32 people right in her hometown of Montgomery, AL. Chaymeriyia wants to build one of the largest startups to come out of Alabama since Shipt, a Birmingham, AL-based company acquired by Target in 2017. Pushing forward, she looks to expand into Africa and South America in the next two years. She says, "I want to build one of the most prominent startups, this city has ever seen. Starting here in my hometown and expanding globally. I want to make this bigger than me. It's all about right now, what I create, what I do, and the impact I make today that predicts the future of my ventures". NSPRE Electronics is a trademark of Tesix Wireless Network and Technologies, LLC Contact: www.nspreelectronics.com support@tesixwireless.com 334-431-3234 SOURCE: NSPRE Electronics View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/601667/Shes-Building-the-most-Prominent-Tech-Startup-in-Her-Hometown New Delhi, Aug 19 : The Union government has launched the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt for MSMEs, thereby operationalising the Rs 20,000 crore distressed assets fund. On Wednesday, the Ministry for MSMEs issued guidelines for the scheme which was announced under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package. In a tweet, the ministry said that all public sector banks along with some private banks are on board. "Govt has given yet another facility for financially stressed MSMEs. The sub-debt scheme has been launched. All preparation is done. All PSU Banks and some Pvt Banks are on board," it said. The scheme would be applicable to all credit facilities sanctioned under CGSSD for a maximum period of 10 years from the guarantee availment date or March 31, 2021 whichever is earlier, or till the amount of Rs 20,000 crore of guarantee amount is approved. As per the guidelines, the scheme is applicable for those MSMEs whose accounts have been standard as of March 31, 2018 and have been in regular operations, either as standard accounts, or as NPA accounts during financial year 2018-19 and financial year 2019-20. It will be valid for MSME units which are stressed, which are SMA-2 and NPA accounts as on April 30, 2020 who are eligible for restructuring as per the RBI guidelines. "Under this arrangement, promoter(s) of the MSME unit will be given credit equal to 15 per cent of his/her stake (equity plus debt) or Rs 75 lakh whichever is lower," said the guideline. Any guarantee approved under the scheme shall be over and above the existing loan/guarantee sanctioned by the trust. Post-restructuring, NPA classification of these accounts shall be as per the extant income recognition and asset classification (IRAC) norms for banks. Elhassani objects to increasing her sentencing based on two factors: for providing funds or other resources with the knowledge that they would be used to commit a violent act and attempting to use a person less than 18 years old to avoid detection of the offense, according to the sentencing memorandum. A recent study conducted in New South Wales, Australia, demonstrates that there is an inverse relationship between relative humidity and transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The study is published in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. Since the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) December 2019 in Wuhan, China, many studies have investigated whether climatic factors, such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc., can influence the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Since SARS-CoV-2 is predominantly spread via respiratory droplets and aerosols, atmospheric temperature and relative humidity will likely affect the viral spread by challenging the sustainability of these particles in the air. SARS-CoV-2 viruses binding to ACE-2 receptors on a human cell, the initial stage of COVID-19 infection. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock Current study design In the current study, the researchers aimed at investigating the effects of several climatic factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the ascending and descending phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the eastern state of New South Wales, Australia. The researchers included all reported cases of COVID-19 in New South Wales between January and May 2020 for the analysis. They used postcode data to associate case reports with the closest weather station. For comparison analysis, they gathered information on several climatic factors, including temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind speed, which were recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Relative humidity is negatively correlated with viral spread By comparing each climatic factor with COVID-19 incidences, the researchers observed that during the ascending phase of the pandemic, the mean temperature was higher, and the relative humidity was lower compared to that during the descending phase. Of all climatic factors, relative humidity was found to be negatively correlated with COVID-19 cases throughout the pandemic. Precisely, with a 1% reduction in relative humidity, there was a 7.7% and 6.8% increase in daily COVID-19 cases in the two phases of the pandemic, respectively. This effect was more prominent when the relative humidity was more than 79% and 75% in the ascending and descending phases of the pandemic, respectively. However, the researchers did not observe any correlation between COVID-19 cases and other climatic factors, such as temperature, rainfall, and wind speed. How relative humidity affects viral spread? According to the researchers, in a highly humid environment, aerosol particles containing the virus become larger like droplets, and thus, cannot remain suspended in the air. In contrast, when the air is less humid, these particles tend to shrink, and thus, can stay in the air for a prolonged period of time. However, this theory will be feasible only in the case of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Recently, the World Health Organization admits that aerosol-based airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 may be possible, particularly in closed settings. Take-home message As mentioned by the researchers, the current study findings raise an important question: is it possible to restrict the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by merely increasing the relative humidity? According to the researchers, the link between humidity and COVID-19 cases is not that straightforward. In the current study, the climatic data were obtained from meteorological stations, and an assumption was made that people were mostly infected in outdoor settings. However, in reality, most transmissions are believed to be happening in indoor settings. Since it is difficult to measure the indoor climatic condition and compare it with case reports, determining the actual impact of relative humidity on COVID-19 cases is challenging. Although the current study predominantly involved COVID-19 cases that occurred during the autumn in the southern hemisphere, the same negative correlation between relative humidity and COVID-19 cases was observed in the northern hemisphere countries like China during the winter season. This observation indicates that the correlation may exist worldwide and that SARS-CoV-2 is more sensitive to humidity than any other climatic factors. Although the study findings suggest that aerosol-based transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can increase in low humid conditions, it is always important to remember other modes of viral transmission (respiratory droplets) before directly jump into any conclusion. Overall, the observations made in this study can help authorities deploy effective public health interventions at the right time to stop the pandemic successfully. (1) Ausgesprochen interessante Studie aus Australien zeigt erneut, dass trockene Luft, nicht Temperatur, Risiko der SarsCoV-2 Ubertragung erhoht. 1% niedrigere Luftfeuchtigkeit, 7-8% mehr Infektionen. Konnte an langerer Luft-Verweildauer Aerosole liegen. https://t.co/IJlpTLUZi8 Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) August 18, 2020 In my great conversation with @afairweather this morning, he said that COVID-19 doesn't appear to be seasonal. Two recent studies seem to suggest otherwise: https://t.co/jJH59gx6Orhttps://t.co/mjLOqYjr9Whttps://t.co/SU9ebyxxrd pic.twitter.com/R9fYGUkpnS Jerm (@mynameisjerm) August 19, 2020 Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko has been in office for 26 years. After last weeks elections, he says hes won yet another term. But Belarusians are saying enough is enough, with thousands of them taking to the streets in protest and demanding new elections. Lukashenko has shot down this request thus far. The majority of Belarusians identify as Christian. Of the countrys roughly 10 million, 73 percent are Orthodox and 12 percent Catholic, according to Pew Research Center data. Though the Protestant community is tiny, it has not been silent. Last week, the Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists in Belarus, the United Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith in Belarus, and the Religious Association of Full Gospel Communities in Belarus released a joint statement asking for prayer. Protests in 2010 played a key role in changing Protestants minds on Lukashenko and the government, says Geraldine Fagan, the editor of the East-West Church Report and author of Believing in Russia Religious Policy after Communism. I think particularly since then, there's been an increasingly strong pro-democracy movement within the church, said Fagan. And that has interacted with the other pro-democracy movements and has just gradually built momentum over the years. I think this is just the dam bursting basically. People just are not prepared to tolerate the restrictions that are actually impinging upon their consciences essentially. Fagan joined global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss the arrival of Protestant Christianity in Belarus, what religious freedom looks like in the former Soviet country, and what the global church can learn from Belarusian Christians. Take Quick to Listens survey! What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Bunmi Ishola Highlights from Quick to Listen: Episode #226 Lets start with some basic information about the country of Belarus. Who are its neighbors and what has life been like there since the fall of the USSR? Geraldine Fagan: Belarus is a pretty small country in the east of Europe, with around 10 million inhabitants. It was a republic that was part of the Soviet Union until that country collapsed in the early 90s. It has actually retained a very strong Soviet-style government since Lukashenko took over in 1994, which is unlike its neighbors. So to the north, you have the Baltic States, which are all now members of the European Union, along with Poland to the west. And Ukraine, which was also part of the Soviet Unioncertainly since 2014, when its pro-Putin president was removed by popular demonstrationsthat country too has taken a very strongly pro-democratic line by and large. And then to the East, you still have Russia. But even though Putin's reputation is increasingly a dictator, his roleeven though it's also gone on for a couple of decades nowhas not been anything as draconian as that of Alexander Lukashenko. Whats the Belarusian cultural identity? Is the culture similar to any of its surrounding countries? And how is it religiously oriented. Geraldine Fagan: The thing about Belarus is it's only really since the collapse of the Soviet Union that it's had an independent status. It's a territory that's gone back and forth between Poland and the Russian empire, so it has influences from both sides. And in the present-day territory, about the western third of the country was actually in Poland between the two World Wars. And Poland at that point was democratic. So what that meant was a lot of democratic traditions, a lot of national feeling was able to be preserved in that part. And it's meant that Belarus was never really completely absorbed by the Soviet union culturally. Article continues below The further West you go, the more religious life you're likely to have. The Catholics are a minority. I think there are around 500 churches that are now, which is a similar number to before World War I. They are mostly concentrated in the West where you also have a few Polish speakers. The nominal majority are Orthodox. And then you have something like 6% Protestants, around 1,000 communities now, which is a huge increase since before the Soviet periods. But I would say that in terms of attendance and active participation in church life, that's about twice as high as in Russia, according to the few bits of polling that there are. And I would also say that the active Christians are more evenly spread between the different denominations. So it may be slightly fewer Catholics than Protestants, but theyre not insignificant. They're really playing a very active role and, and social life and public life. Can you give us a sense of where the Protestant church came from in Belarus? How long has it been in the country? Geraldine Fagan: Actually you can go back to 1553, which was when the man who was in charge of what is now Belarusian territory converted to Calvinism in 1553. And after his conversion, he sponsored the building of a lot of Protestant churches. That Belarusian territory was known in the west of Europe as a place of refuge for Protestants who were being persecuted in France and England. So the Protestants have this quite amazing period in the 1500s when religious tolerance was codified because, in the local legislation, there were very good relationships with the Catholic community. The King of Poland was really good friends of Nikolai the Black. But then in the modern period, its really from the early 1900s, late 19th century, that you get the first communities on Belarusian territory. But you have several generations of Protestants forming the main Protestant churches in that period. Lukashenko has been in power almost since the fall of the Soviet Union. Can you tell us a little bit about what his time in office has looked like? How did he transition from a politician in a country that was a democracy to something that felt more authoritarian? Geraldine Fagan: Belarus was very briefly a democracy, just for a few years. From 1991 to 1994, when he took over, basically people were concerned by the growth of corruption. And he won that first election fairly. He had a military background; he had been involved in the administration of the collective farms in the country. So he had a reputation of being orderly, somebody who could sort out any kind of corruption. But after that, it's basically acknowledged that he did not win fairly win any election since then. And he's now been in power for five terms. So many people just do not know anything else other than him being in power. He is also very much nostalgic for the Soviet period, as you might expect given the collective farm background. And in those few brief years when Belarus was a democracy, it was not long enough to jettison all the various oppressive organs of the Soviet government. So for instance, he's retained the KGB in Belarusits still called the KGB. They're totally proud of that history of oppression during the Soviet periods. They've retained a whole network of officials that are responsible for religious affairs, whose job is to kind of control the religious communities. Obviously, there is no political opposition. The whole style of his role has been incredibly Soviet. Article continues below It's in many ways like being in a time warp. If you were to go back a few years and visit, youll see the same stuff. Youll see Lenin, and even until recently the slogans above the building. And also the economy is being run very much in government-controlled fashion as well. There is private business, but it's pretty difficult to do anything at all independent of the Lukashenko regime, if not impossible. There have been rallies over the last couple of days protesting Lukashenkos regime. Are those happening across Belarus or only in particular areas? Are they cross-cultural? Is there a specific demographic? Geraldine Fagan: No, its absolutely everywhere. And that's actually one of the surprising things, especially given what I said about the western part being slightly less Soviet. But in fact, they've had just as large rallies in the east of the country as in the cities that are closer to Russia. So it does seem that it's pretty much across the country. And it appears to be from every walk of life except the political elite, Lukashenko's immediate circle and cronies, and the security agencies. And even that's not completely. There have been examples of police resigning and making public statements that they're not going to be involved in the oppression of the protest movement. But other than those two categories, there seems to be pretty much everyone involved in the protests. There have been previous protests against Lukashenkos rule before. Can you share a little bit about that? And do you think these new protests will have a larger effect or will he manage to hold on to power as he has done before? Geraldine Fagan: I have studied this through the prism of how the Christian communities have been involved in the protest movement, and after the elections in 2006, there were demonstrations in which Christian communities were involved and were marching using, for instance, The Beatitudes from the gospels as a slogan on their banners. Those demonstrations were relatively smalltens of thousands of people maybeand they were unsuccessful. And then again in 2010, after the presidential elections, the protests following those elections were brutally crushed. They were, again, much smaller scale, but I think the Christians then were really surprised by the brutality that was shown by the police. Plenty of people were detained for 10 days, simply for attending that demonstration or even for being nearby and just randomly being arrested and dragged off by the riot police. And that was a kind of a turning point, as far as the Christians were concerned, in terms of how they thought about the Lukashenko regime. Traditionally in Belarus and elsewhere, even in the former Soviet Union, the Christians predominant way of thinking particularly the Protestant communitieshas been to interpret Romans 13 about submissions of the authorities as meaning that they should just accept the Lukashenko regime, just try and follow the law, and basically not raise their voices and not go out to protest. During the 2010 elections, what I found then was there was a real shift. I interviewed quite a few Protestants who had been active in the democracy movement, and they said that after having to compromise with the restrictions on ordinary religious activity, they just simply couldn't do it anymore. And they began to look elsewhere in terms of what they should be doing from a Christian point of view. One Pentecostal I spoke to pointed to a verse in Isaiah 59 saying that the Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice, and He was appalled that there was no one to intervene. And he says that this is telling them that God was not going to just produce freedom for them out of a hat. That they had to get involved and they had to start trying to work for democracy themselves. Article continues below And so I think particularly since then, there's been an increasingly strong pro-democracy movement within the church. And that has interacted with the other pro-democracy movements and has just gradually built momentum over the years. I think this is just the dam bursting basically. People just are not prepared to tolerate the restrictions that are actually impinging upon their consciences essentially. And you see that in the slogans. One of the slogans I saw it on a placard in the recent demonstrations was just simply, I have a conscience. Can you explain more about how the various Christian denominations and traditions interact with one another? Are there issues that bring them together? And what are some of the issues that keep them apart? Geraldine Fagan: So the senior clergy of the various churches don't tend to interact very much. The Orthodox in Belarus are very close to the Russian Orthodox church, and they have even now been very cautious in coming out with any kind of statement that might be interpreted as criticism of Lukashenko. We're really only seeing that begin to change in the last few days, and even then, only by individual bishops. So they have been very much looking towards Russia and not looking to rock the boat. The Catholic church has been quite similar, largely because it's basically reliant upon the state to function, or has been because there have been so many restrictions on foreign citizens being involved in church life. And the Catholic church has a shortage of priests who are Belarusian citizens, so about a third of that clergy are mostly Polish. Over the years, they've had about 20 or 30 of those priests expelled from the country just for violating this web of regulations that Lukashenko has imposed on the churches. So they've been very cautious and really focused on trying to sort of function. With the Protestant churches, the leadership has tried very hard to comply with the laws for the most part. And it's been still mostly down to individual churches. In terms of collaboration or cooperation between the different churches, that all takes place at a lower level. The Christians who were involved in the pro-democracy movements are of all denominations and they all work together incredibly well. There's no concern about which church anybody belongs to. And that's also the basis of any kind of ecumenical movement that exists in Belarus. It's all one with the pro-democracy movement. Lets focus on the Protestant population. Are these people who were previously Catholic or Orthodox who are now moving into a different tradition? Is it mostly Gen Z and millennials, or does it represent people from all different generations? What's the demographic with regards to socioeconomic status or education level? Give us a sense of what that community looks like. Geraldine Fagan: So the largest groups are Baptists and Pentecostals, particularly charismatic ones. By and large, they all have some sort of historical origin. So there'll be families who converted in the early 1900s and form the basis of the community. But the numbers have grown, I would say probably ten-fold in the last hundred years. And theyre not normally converting from Catholic or Orthodox. It's normally people who've previously been pretty secular. In terms of age, it's pretty much all ages. There is a strong youth component, particularly in the charismatic churches. One thing that's quite popular in these churches is Christian rock. And that was actually one way of evading the restrictions on religious activity in that it could appear to be more like an ordinary rock band. Article continues below I think that's whats quite interesting, is that the restrictions have allowed the Protestant churches to be quite creative in terms of how they address the outside world. So they do manage to have things like youth camps, which might not appear so overtly Christian. And that has helped to draw in a lot of young people. And then a lot of the pro-democracy demonstrators are young, and they have also become involved in the churches, including the Orthodox and the Catholic churches, driven by that desire for and ideals of truth and justice. It has actually led them to church life as a space within Belarus where those ideals are held. When we think about Belarus and its neighbors, what are some of the big storylines that you see in the next 5-10 years in the region, specifically in how itll affect the Christian community? Geraldine Fagan: Well so much depends upon how long these various leaders can stay in power. One concern that the Russian government has, possibly its main concern is if the current pro-democracy movement in Belarus is successful, how will that inspire events in Russia itself? I would estimate like a similar level of discontent in many parts of Russia. There are many regions where life is still run along Soviet lines. For the Christian communities, in Russia, they're also coming under increasing pressure. Since around 2016, there have been many more restrictions on sharing religious beliefs in public, and in some cases, even in private. So. And the Protestants, in particular, are concerned by the increasing pressure on their ability to provide further advanced theological education because a number of their seminaries have had to stop in the last couple of years. The pro-democracy movement is directly going to impact how free Christians are in these areas. So a lot is riding on how long these men are able to stay in power. What do you think the global church can learn from Christians in Belarus? Geraldine Fagan: I think one quality that really stands out is their determination. I personally just cannot imagine week-in-week-out having to followat least outwardlyall these various rules and regulations year after year. Just fighting for the simple rights to have your own property, and to gather in it as a Christian community and to know that somewhere in that congregation, there's going to be people who were spying on you and watching what you're preaching in your sermon. I think that the fact that they managed to weather that for so long and come out with such an optimistic, campaigning spirit for a better democratic future is really quite impressive. When we think about praying for Christians who are in oppressive regimes, we often pray for perseverance and encouragement. What might be something people wouldn't think to pray for Belarusian Christians right now? Geraldine Fagan: So this week, among the thousands of people who were arrested and brutally beaten in detention centers, there was a Belarusian Baptist, and I've been in touch with him and I asked him this exact question. And he told me that his request for Christians in the West will pray that the brutal treatment of ordinary citizens will be ended, that there will be a peaceful transition of power away from Lukashenko, and most of all, he asks for prayers that there might be a spiritual awakening in Belarus and that more people will turn to God and ask for his help. People around the globe are desperately waiting for scientists to develop a vaccine and Russia is also eyeing at India for producing the COVID vaccine. Recently, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he has secured access to a potential Coronavirus vaccine and will also be manufacturing. He also promised that he will offer free doses to citizens of their country. Reuters He also said that he has closed a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to get the COVID-19 vaccine that is being made at Oxford University. He said in an interview, The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal, we have secured early access for every Australian. If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians." Reuters The Oxford University vaccine is at phase 3 trials and the scientists are expecting fruitful results by the end of the year 2020. Morrison also added that he was in touch with many other parties across the world who are aiming at developing vaccines and will be supporting them with their own scientists to curb the novel Coronavirus. Also, this is the very first time Australia has made any such deal. Reuters Reports suggest that the Australian government still hasnt signed a final agreement regarding the cost of the vaccine but has promised his country that he will definitely make the vaccine available for the population of his country. However, reports add that the Australian government still hasn't reached a final agreement with AstraZeneca regarding the cost of the vaccine. Also, a local manufacturer has not been decided upon. By Laman Ismayilov Azerbaijani Presidential Aide Anar Alakbarov has met with a group of culture and art figures at the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art. The meeting discussed the works to be done in the country in various fields. Head of Humanitarian Policy, Diaspora, Multiculturalism, and Religious Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Farah Aliyeva, Acting Minister of Culture, First Deputy Minister of Culture Anar Karimov discussed proposals on preservation and promotion of the countrys cultural heritage. In his remarks, Anar Alakbarov highlighted the reforms implemented in various fields aimed at promoting of culture and solving the issues of the country's citizens. The presidential assistant noted the strengthening of support for the implementation of projects in this area. He emphasized that although due to the widespread transmission of COVID-19, mass gatherings are banned in Azerbaijan like in the rest of the world, numerous cultural projects continued to be implemented in the country in accordance with the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev. The assistant to the president also provided insight into numerous projects implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation under the leadership of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to reconstruct cultural facilities as well as to promote country's rich cultural heritage and raise awareness over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The event participants emphasized the importance of such meetings, stressing the effectiveness of discussions aimed at successful implementation of the upcoming tasks. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Aizawl, Aug 19 : In a serious charge, the Assam Rifles said on Wednesday that by restricting the movement of the armed forces in the state, the Mizoram government is violating the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has serious implications for national security. An Assam Rifles press release said that the restrictions imposed by the Mizoram government on the operational movement of Assam Rifles are seriously hampering the smooth functioning of the force, impacting the primary task of guarding the border. "There has been a continuous violation and dilution of orders of the MHA by the state government by restricting the entry of the armed forces in the state and by not allowing entry to Assam Rifles, which is not happening in any part of the country except Mizoram," the release said. In view of the rising Covid-19 cases among the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) personnel in Mizoram and other northeastern states, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga recently made a plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the suspension of CPMF movement into the state till August 31, claiming that around 70 per cent of coronavirus positive cases in the state are coming from the military and paramilitary personnel. According to the health officials of the northeastern states, nearly 4,000 CPMF personnel have so far been infected by the disease in almost all the eight states in the region, including Sikkim. Besides Assam Rifles personnel and Border Security Force (BSF) jawans, many from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and National Disaster Response Force have tested positive for coronavirus in different northeastern states. Four BSF troopers in Tripura (2), Manipur (1) and Meghalaya (1) have died recently of to Covid-19. The Mizoram government has also issued separate directions restricting the movement of Assam Rifles personnel, who are guarding the 404 km India-Myanmar unfenced international border with Mizoram. Mizoram has shares an unfenced 318 km international border with Bangladesh and inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur and Tripura. "Assam Rifles has not caused any community spread of Covid-19 in the state and has been managing its Covid patients at its own quarantine centre in Zokhawsang. It has also not caused any burden and dependency on the state government," the release said. It said that Assam Rifles has always assured the state government that all its personnel entering the state would be put through mandatory quarantine protocols under the arrangements made by the force. "Also, Assam Rifles has never denied undergoing any medical test by the state medical authorities. The guidelines imposing nationwide lockdown by the MHA have clearly made exceptions in respect of defence and CPMF as the first item in the list of exceptions," it said. The release said that Assam Rifles has always been commended for its exemplary work in Covid management and border management where the CPMF had seized drugs and other contraband including heroin worth of around Rs 22 crore since July 1. Many drug peddlers, including Myanmarese and Indian nationals, were also arrested by the Assam Rifles. Krea University today announced the appointment of Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO of EYs India region and a member of EYs Global Executive Board, to the Governing Council of Krea University. Rajiv has over three decades of experience in the industry, advising fast-growing Indian entrepreneurial and global organizations establishing/expanding their presence in India and private equity funds. Under his stewardship, EY has grown to be over 50,000-strong company in India and consistently been recognized as the countrys leading professional services organization. On joining Krea University as a Governing Council member, Rajiv said, "The industry has a pivotal role in advancing higher education, through direct involvement in shaping the future generation of graduates. I am honored to be a part of Krea University's vision to re-imagine education for the 21st century and align with their efforts to make quality higher education equitable and accessible." Kapil Viswanathan, the President of Krea Universitys sponsoring body, and the Vice-Chairman of Krea Universitys Executive Committee, said, Krea University is delighted to have the support and guidance of Rajiv Memani as a member of the Governing Council. Rajivs wide business experience, coupled with his passion to contribute to society through building educational institutions, will stand the university in great stead. Other members of Krea Universitys governing council include N Vaghul, Anand Mahindra, Raghuram Rajan, Kiran Shaw and Sajjan Jindal. Rajiv is associated with prominent business and industry associations. He is a member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in addition to being the Chairman of its National Committee on Tax. He has been appointed in several high-powered Government of India committees, including the most recent, Ministry of Finance taskforce that drafted a new Direct Tax Code in 2019. Rajiv has been deeply committed to supporting the next generation and making a tangible impact on Indias education landscape. Besides being the driving force behind EY Foundation for the last 15 years, in his personal capacity, Rajiv has been a Board member of the IIM, Sirmaur, a premier institute of management education and research, since 2017. He also serves as a Trustee on the board of Him Jyoti School, Dehradun that provides free of cost, quality education to under-privileged girls from rural Uttarakhand. Patna, Aug 19 : Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision for a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that everything was done as per the law in Bihar. He also denied any kind of politics in the matter. After the apex court ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case, the Chief Minister on Wednesday said: "After the Supreme Court's decision, it is now clear that whatever was done in Bihar was constitutional, legitimate and as per the law." Expressing happiness over this decision, Nitish said, "This is a victory of justice, not of us. We have followed the Constitution and after this decision, it is believed that the family will now get complete justice." Asked if there was any politics in it, he said that it has nothing to do with politics, it has a relation with law and justice only. Meanwhile, Information and Public Relations Minister of Bihar Neeraj Kumar said that with the decision of the Supreme Court, the public's trust in the judicial system has been strengthened. He said that non-cooperation by the Mumbai police with the Bihar police team which went to Mumbai for investigation following the registration of a case by Sushant's father and quarantining Bihar IPS officer Vinay Tiwari, was to obstruct the probe. He said that on the request of family members, the Chief Minister recommended a CBI inquiry, which has also been approved by the Supreme Court. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Police are investigating after two downtown Toronto mosques were vandalized six times since June, with the most recent incident happening Sunday. Toronto police said they received several reports of damage since June 1 at two locations one at Adelaide Street East and Jarvis Street and the other at Bay and Dundas streets. Currently there are six investigations and two arrests have been made so far, police said in an email to the Star. Windows at the Masjid Toronto location on Adelaide Street East were broken Sunday, the third time that has happened in 21 days, the Muslim Association of Canada wrote in a statement this week. These attacks are meant to intimidate the Muslim community, the statement read, adding that the other attacks included racist graffiti on walls and windows and break-in attempts. Mayor John Tory condemned the vandalism. I stand with Torontos Muslim community and condemn any form of vandalism, hatred or bigotry against any resident, community, or place of worship in our city, Tory tweeted Tuesday. Premier Doug Ford tweeted that theres no place for these disgusting actions and behaviour. We will find whos responsible and get justice for all those affected, Ford said. We stand with your community. The Muslim Association of Canada said in its statement that it urges interim police Chief James Ramer to address these attacks. These incidents are now occurring at a frightening rate and we cannot accept to wait any longer for police action, the association said, noting that the suspect in the fifth attack was charged with mischief, rather than a hate crime. Police said their hate crime unit has been made aware of the incidents. Toronto Police Service members from 51 and 52 Division have met with members of the mosques and will continue to work with them and update them on the incidents. Police urge people with any information to contact them. David Venn is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @davidvenn_ Last Saturday marked the return of something of a family tradition for Frank and Roxanne Tomszyk, with their granddaughter Emery Keating. This is the first day coming into town since (the) COVID-19 (pandemic began), said Roxanne, sitting on a bench in Niagara-on-the-Lake as Emery, 4, finished off her strawberry ice cream. Before the pandemic, the Tomszyks would regularly bring Emery into the Old Town. For a bike ride and ice cream, explained Frank. They werent the only ones to head to Queen Street over the weekend, though the Saturday hustle and bustle along the sidewalks still wasnt the same as pre-coronavirus. As businesses try to bring visitors back to salvage what remains of the tourism season and enable them to survive, a new group is hoping to work with the town, businesses and residents to make tourism both viable for the businesses that rely on visitors and manageable for the residents who live here. How can we ensure were serving not only the businesses, but the residents, said Andrea Kaiser, director of marketing at Reif Estate Winery and chair of Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake. She likened the new tourism working group to the former TEMCO group that brought together businesses, residents and councillors to try to plot out a future for tourism beneficial for business but also respectful of the community. Kaiser pointed to the former groups work with buses and redirecting them to Fort George so theyre not going through downtown or through residential areas. Kaisers focus is on marketing, and at the beginning of August the group launched the Find Your Moment campaign. After receiving a federal grant, the group came up with this marketing campaign to get people thinking about travelling in the COVID-19 environment. To start, Find Your Moment is a campaign aimed at making people feel a little more comfortable with the idea of travel, and offers a reminder that in these ultra-stressful times its important to take a moment to relax and enjoy life. At the same time, the campaign is also targeting a more local tourist. With the Canada-U.S. border still closed, and international travel virtually at a standstill, the focus has been on locals. But with challenges come opportunities, and Kaiser believes the pandemic might convince NOTLs neighbours, as well as Canadians from coast to coast, to check out the Ontario wine scene. While they chose ice cream over wine on Saturday, the Tomszyks fit that hyperlocal mould, being Niagara-on-the-Lake residents themselves. Both Frank and Roxanne said they felt comfortable heading out to the Old Town, and thought most people and businesses were taking appropriate precautions. They also said its important, from a mental health perspective, to be able to enjoy the outdoors and spend some time out and about. People need to get out, said Roxanne. COVID-19 restrictions are providing new opportunities for those in the tourism industry. For instance, at Reif, Kaiser said longer conversations can be had with visitors and staff can explain more about what VQA means or what Reif is doing to make great wine. At the same time, though, locals may not always love long lines, busy roads and packed sidewalks that come with tourism. Thats why the working group involves a management component. We all know that there are stories out there of lovely little tourism towns, that change, said Janet Jones, a bed and breakfast owner and chair of the tourism working group. While she said many tourism operators are struggling to make ends meet, a solution must involve the entire community. If we dont bring all these voices together now and get unified, I dont think were going to move forward. She said the group is intended not only to represent all segments of tourism, including culture and heritage, but to represent all segments of the community affected by tourism. Kaiser said sustainable tourism is a popular phrase, but many often just think of it in relation to the environment. To her, sustainable tourism is a balance of the environment, community and economy. Eduardo Lafforgue, president of Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce, encouraged town council to move forward with a tourism strategy, something that perhaps surprisingly the municipality doesnt already have. We recommend to go ahead with a tourism strategy with a third party to navigate an unbiased and inclusive approach, he told town councils committee-of-the-whole on Aug. 10. According to Lafforgue, about five million visitors come to NOTL each year. While federal funding only allows for a three-month campaign for the working group, Kaiser believes Find Your Moment has some legs and could be extended well beyond the immediate term. Chicago politicians including Lightfoot have long struggled with the issue. Lead pipes have been linked to health issues and violence spikes, but a full-on replacement would cost billions the city cant afford. In the meantime, Lightfoot and other politicians have been careful to say the citys water is safe to drink. Veteran Yoruba actress Grace Oyin-Adejobi popularly known as Iya Osogbo has disclosed why she gave up on appearing on screen again as she clocks 90 on Sunday, August 23. Iya Osogbo is the widow of the late Yoruba actor Oyin Adejobi who died in 2000. During an appearance on a radio magazine programme on Space 90.1FM, Parrot Xtra Hour on Radio, anchored by Olayinka Agboola in Ibadan, Oyo State, Iya Osogbo said she started her acting career some 67 years ago. She noted that she had already made her name before she acted in the movie Eran Iya Osogbo contrary to beliefs. The actress spoke for the first time about the day an excited fan nearly run her car over her in Ibadan. She said the experience has remained indelible in her memory. The fan eventually came down from her car to let me know that she merely wanted to exchange greetings with me. She later enveloped ten thousand naira and dashed me, Iya Osogbo said. The veteran actress expressed displeasure over the near-nudity in Nollywood today, advising actresses not to be deceived by the pleasures of the world but to believe they can succeed through hard work and the grace of God. Iya Osogbo said she met her late husband Oyin Adejobi in her youthful days. They attended the same school and lived on the same street. She said that apart from the death of her husband, the lowest point in her life was when her fourth child a female died. It took me a long time to recover from that experience, she said. However, her happiest moment was when she gave birth to her first child a boy in 1954. Iya Osogbo who featured prominently in productions like Orogun Adedigba, Kuye, Kootu Ashipa and others said there would be no formal event to mark her 90th birthday. I got to attain this age because of Gods mercy. In addition, the almighty also gave me the wisdom of preserving my body and being moderate in all I have been doing. Our youths should emulate this too. They should learn to be God fearing too. All my admirers including colleagues and family members have agreed to postpone whatever plan they have to celebrate my 90th birthday because we must obey NCDCs COVID-19 prevention rules, she said. Related Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:04:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Over 55 percent of Lebanon's population is now trapped in poverty and struggling for bare necessities, almost double last year's rate which was 28 percent, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) reported on Wednesday. "Extreme poverty has registered a threefold increase from 8 percent in 2019 to 23 percent in 2020 in Lebanon," according to ESCWA. It added that Lebanon is crippled by the impact of multiple shocks which have exhausted its economy and caused an unprecedented increase in its poverty rate. The report indicates that the total number of the poor among the Lebanese population is currently about 2.7 million. "There is thus a significant erosion of the middle class, with middle-income earners now forming less than 40 percent of the population. The affluent group has also shrunk to a third of its size, from 15 percent to 5 percent of the population over the past year," it said. ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti affirmed that establishing a national solidarity fund is crucial to tackle the country's humanitarian crisis and close the poverty gap. She said that donor support is also urgently needed to bolster food and health security, and ensure wider social protection. Dashti considered that addressing the crises would require implementing the necessary economic governance reforms, limiting rent-seeking activities, and enhancing transparency and accountability. "There should also be a fair and progressive system of shared responsibility, supported by political will and strong institutional capacity to ensure societal solidarity," she concluded. Enditem KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The latest research from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of agricultural commodity production and distribution, leading to substantial price declines and reduced income for farmers. Price declines for corn, cotton and soybeans occurred in the first five months of 2020 and are projected to continue. Price reductions associated with the pandemic's market effects have in turn caused a negative impact on farm income and farm-associated expenditures throughout the state. In anticipation of declining farm income due to price losses, the federal government passed the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Without CFAP payments, Tennessee corn, soybean, cotton and wheat producers are estimated to have declines in income of $58.8 million, $21.4 million, $20.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively, for a total decline of $101.7 million in producer income for crops in storage. This decline in income is reduced to $43.7 million with CFAP payments. "However, the mitigating effects of CFAP payments do not account for priced inventory, entity payment restrictions or 2019 production caps," said Aaron Smith, associate professor and crop marketing specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE). "As such, the estimated $58 million loss in producer income--$101.7 million less $43.7 million--mitigated by the CFAP payments should be considered a maximum, with the actual loss in producer income likely falling somewhere between $43.7 and $101.7 million." With the temporary closures of restaurants and several beef slaughter and packing plants, the livestock sector has also experienced a large decline in cattle sales for the first four months of 2020, slowing the movement of cattle through the supply chain. Steer and heifer receipts in all weight classes through Tennessee-reported auctions declined by a total of 15,458 head or 24%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency is accepting CFAP applications through September 11, 2020. Tennessee's forest product exports have also taken a hit from the COVID-19 outbreak, due to supply and demand disruptions in both the finished wood products markets and the interrelated market for raw materials and inputs. When comparing January-April 2020 to the same period in 2019, Tennessee forest product exports were down by 23% from $62 million to $48 million. An analysis of the COVID-19 impact on smaller agricultural processing and marketing firms also indicated that most analyzed businesses have suffered marked reductions in sales; however, these reductions varied greatly across the different types of businesses analyzed. "Among those reporting a large negative impact include 71% of apparel manufacturers and 67.5% of beverage and tobacco product manufacturers," said David Hughes, ARE professor and Greever Chair in Agribusiness Development. ### These reports can be found on ARE's Agri-Industry Modeling and Analysis Group's COVID-19 impacts website. The site features a collection of reports assessing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tennessee's agriculture and economy. Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu. LOUISVILLE - Five months after Breonna Taylor's death, Kentucky's largest city has become the epicenter of the national movement for racial justice, weathering more than 80 days of protests as activists pour into the streets calling for charges against the police officers involved in her fatal shooting. Backed by professional athletes and A-list celebrities, the protests have put mounting pressure on investigators and prosecutors, who are urging patience even as officers in other high-profile deaths have been quickly suspended, fired and charged. "We're not going to wait forever," said attorney Lonita Baker, appearing with Taylor's mother Thursday after meeting with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican. "We do want this resolved quickly and accurately." But the prospect of police prosecution is complicated by state laws that give the benefit of the doubt to officers involved in carrying out their official duties. That legal reality has animated protests against police violence nationwide since the killing of George Floyd in May - and is raising concerns for local leaders about how to navigate the public emotion. As the weeks pass, demonstrators have resorted to hunger strikes and other extreme tactics, leaving Louisville - a city better known for horse racing than social justice movements - fearing that violence could erupt if charges never come. "If there's not any charges, I think there's going to be outrage and there's going to be some angry people, and I'm kind of scared," said Erick Earkman, a 45-year-old Black Louisville resident who recently attended a protest. "I think there's going to be - I don't want to say rioting - but there's going to be a lot of pissed-off people who are going to do some damage if that happens." Taylor's case has rapidly risen from relative obscurity to become one of the main flash points in what could be the largest social movement in U.S. history. Her face has been immortalized in a 7,000-square-foot mural in Annapolis. Her death has inspired demonstrations from Houston to Fargo, N.D. She is the first person to replace Oprah Winfrey on the cover of O Magazine, which commissioned 26 billboards throughout Louisville to "demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged." The 26-year-old Black woman, who was killed when police officers released a hail of gunfire into her Louisville apartment in the middle of the night, barely made a blip in national news after her death in March. Two months passed before her name showed up in the social media feed of Brittany Packnett Cunningham, one of the leading activists in the nation's racial-justice movement. "Breonna was killed on March the 13th, and none of us have heard about it because there is no video," Packnett Cunningham told her podcast audience through sobs in May, invoking the names of Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans whose deaths had received national attention. "I thought that I had finally had my release of feelings for Ahmaud, and they all came rushing back - for Breonna." Packnett Cunningham launched a website memorializing Taylor and started a petition demanding Louisville police be held accountable. Around the same time, prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump took on the Taylor family's case and said he called "every Black female of influence" he knows, including actress Tiffany Haddish and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. "I knew without someone speaking her name and telling her story, she would die in anonymity," Packnett Cunningham said. The Louisville Metro Police Department in late June fired Detective Brett Hankison in a public termination letter that said he "blindly fired" 10 shots into Taylor's apartment with "an extreme indifference to the value of human life." The two other officers involved in the shooting remain on the force. Activists point out that Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believed he was defending their home from intruders when he fired the opening shot at the plainclothes officers executing a no-knock warrant there after midnight. They accuse the officers of using excessive force, unleashing more than 20 bullets in response, eight of which hit Taylor, according to family attorneys. "You had a young Black woman who was doing everything she could do for her community, living the quote-unquote right way, and she was still murdered by police who were supposed to be keeping her safe," said Keturah Herron, a policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, who has helped devise a ban on no-knock warrants in Louisville. "If Breonna Taylor could be killed and murdered by police in her home, people are like, 'Holy sh--, that could have been me.' " Those self-defense arguments from Taylor's advocates have run into a complex web of legal hurdles that protect police officers who believe their lives are threatened. Those protections can clash with Kentucky's gun culture and residents' rights to protect their property, legal experts said. "The young man shot at them. Whether he knew who they were or not, he shot at them," said Aubrey Williams, a Louisville lawyer, a former judge and a former head of the Louisville chapter of the NAACP. "And at that point, the officers have every reason to shoot back. They are trained to defend themselves, and that is what they did." - - - For months, Taylor's family and a small circle of Louisville activists struggled to get city leaders and news media to focus on her killing, which occurred just as the coronavirus pandemic began consuming the nation's attention. They printed posters memorializing Taylor and made frequent trips to the courthouse seeking answers. They gained little traction until demonstrations broke out over Floyd's killing in Minneapolis in late May. While Floyd's name echoed around the world, protesters in Louisville shouted "Breonna Taylor." The details of her death are complicated and limited. Police and her family's attorneys say officers stormed her front door on suspicion that the address was tied to a narcotics investigation involving Taylor's ex-boyfriend. In a warrant, police said they had seen the suspected drug trafficker pick up a mailed package from the home in January. Taylor and Walker were rattled out of bed, prompting Walker to fire a single shot as the door was breached by a battering ram. The shot struck one officer in the leg. Walker, who was unscathed by law enforcement's gunfire, was charged with attempted murder of an officer, a charge that was later dropped. No drugs were found in Taylor's home, and her ex-boyfriend, the main target of the warrants, was arrested in a separate police raid the same night about 10 miles away. Weeks later, some of the ensuing protests would be marred by violence. On the first night of demonstrations in late May, at least seven people were wounded in Louisville by an unknown gunman. Then in June, a person opened fire at a protester encampment, killing a 27-year-old photographer who had been documenting the demonstrations. Police have been accused of using excessive force at the Louisville protests, firing chemical irritants, pepper balls and foam rounds on peaceful crowds. The owner of a barbecue stand, David McAtee, was shot and killed as police and National Guardsmen tried to disperse a crowd at his restaurant during a citywide curfew in early June. The police chief was fired within hours of the incident. The city and police now face a federal lawsuit from the ACLU that accuses officers of using tactics "that resemble those used by authoritarian regimes to stifle dissent." The demonstrations have continued for 11 weeks, with some protesters maintaining an around-the-clock presence in a small city park they have dubbed "Injustice Square." In daily marches, they chant, "How do you spell murderers? L-M-P-D" - the initials of the Louisville Metro Police Department. In recent weeks, fears of violence were exacerbated as militia groups on both sides of the debate marched through downtown carrying assault rifles and other guns. One day last month, an all-Black militia group marched within a block of armed far-right counterprotesters who had mobilized to challenge them. Many Louisville businesses near the protest square remain boarded up, fearing more violence. About three miles from the protest square, hunger strikers fasted for weeks, demanding that the officers involved in Taylor's shooting be fired and stripped of pensions. Social worker Vincent Gonzalez, 33, ended his strike earlier this month after losing more than 30 pounds while relying on electrolyte powder to subsist on 50 calories a day. Tabin Ibershoff, 29, ended hers last weekend after nearly a month, saying that she had become so weak she had to grab the railing to slowly ascend the staircase, "like I'm 80 years old." "None of us are hoping to die, but Breonna Taylor died, you know what I mean?" Ibershoff said earlier this month. "And people - other Black women - have died, so why shouldn't we be putting our bodies on the line?" All four officers involved in Floyd's case were arrested within 10 days of his death. The retired officer involved in the shooting death of Arbery was arrested 2 1/2 months later, along with his son, who is accused of firing the fatal bullet. But in Louisville, the state attorney general's investigation has stretched for nearly three months, fueling protesters' anger. In a statement earlier this month, Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, said his office is awaiting "additional testing and analysis from federal partners, including a ballistics test from the FBI crime lab." The FBI declined to discuss the investigation with The Washington Post. Louisville anti-violence activist Christopher 2X said that meetings with Cameron and FBI agents this month left him feeling that both were taking the case seriously and that the state will ultimately file charges. The FBI "said they don't want to be a show horse in front of anybody about this situation," he said. Instead, they want to be "a plow horse to show the community that they are serious about civil rights being violated." While activists await legal action, Taylor's death has already led to policy changes. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat, has signed a ban on no-knock warrants, called "Breonna's Law," and officers now must wear body cameras when executing search warrants. But the third-term mayor has faced calls to resign from activists and police officers. Fischer said his ability to address residents' questions about the case is hampered by a state law that acts as a "gag order," preventing him from speaking about investigations of the police officers' conduct. "Right now, under the police officers' bill of rights, once you go into a Public Integrity Unit investigation, it's locked down until the whole process plays out," he said. "And that's just not serving the balance of a citizen's right to know versus an officer's due-process rights." - - - Activists and attorneys for the Taylor family say they are confident that charges will be filed against the officers involved in her death. Family attorney Sam Aguiar said both the attorney general's office and the FBI appear to be conducting thorough investigations, including canvassing the area around Taylor's home in search of witnesses to the officers' behavior the night she was killed. Aguiar said the case hinges on Kentucky's "castle doctrine," which allows the use of lethal force if a person fears for their life. "The law also says that if you are the initial threat or initial aggressor, you do not get a pass for being confronted with deadly force or returning deadly force," he added. "And here, there's a very good argument that the initial aggressor was the police officers: They bust down the door. They don't announce who they are until afterward. They're basically posing a threat of deadly force at that point." Police have said that they knocked and identified themselves as police officers before entering Taylor's home. The distinction could be critical. Kentucky's castle doctrine has an explicit exception for situations in which "a peace officer . . . enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her official duties, and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law." The self-defense argument for police could also falter if prosecutors believe any of the officers acted recklessly, said Sam Marcosson, a professor of law at the University of Louisville. Williams, the local lawyer and former judge, noted that White residents would probably make up more than three-fourths of a jury - only 23 percent of Louisville's population is African American, a legacy of government measures that merged the denser core of the city with more-conservative suburban and rural areas nearby. "Even if they were to take this case to trial, the chances of them winning is slim to none," said Williams, who noted that he lost a high-profile civil rights case in 2003 after a Louisville grand jury cleared two White police detectives who had shot a handcuffed Black man. The detectives shot the man 11 times after he brandished a box cutter during his attempted arrest. But Crump, who is representing the Taylor family in a wrongful-death lawsuit against the involved officers, said Walker's right to protect his home supersedes the officers' right to self-defense. "When people come busting into their home, unannounced, in the dead of night, is it not foreseeable that an American would exercise his rights under the Second Amendment?" Crump asked, noting that Walker used a legally registered weapon. "Or is it that Black Americans don't have a right under the Second Amendment?" On the streets of Louisville, a city where the multigenerational legacy of segregation and discrimination can still be seen, many remain deeply skeptical that the state or federal investigations will result in charges. Charles Booker, a recent U.S. Senate candidate and a state legislator representing part of Louisville, is among the skeptics. "History shows us not to hold our breath," he said. - - - Craig reported from Washington. The Washington Post's Travis Andrews in Washington and Donna Owens in Baltimore contributed to this report. The Biden-Harris ticket marks a sharp left-shift on the subject of immigration -- both in terms of legal and illegal immigration. But what would those changes look like, and how would they affect the American worker? DACA The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was a 2012 executive order by President Barack Obama, which protected hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants brought to the country as minors. The legality of the program has been repeatedly challenged, and Trump has sought to end the program -- although he was denied this summer by the Supreme Court. Biden wants to give those he calls dreamers protected status by reinstating the program and a pathway to citizenship. He has also promised to protect their family members from deportation and that he will ensure they are eligible for federal student aid and access to free community college. TRUMP DECLARES 'WE WON' ON BORDER WALL, HITS 'DEADLY' BIDEN IMMIGRATION PLAN IN ARIZONA VISIT Illegal immigrants He also wants to offer a "roadmap to citizenship" to the more than 11 million people in the country illegally. He wants to change enforcement priorities to further narrow the focus on deporting criminals. He would also end workplace raids of the kind that were seen in Mississippi in 2019 of illegal immigrant workers. Separately, a task force set up by Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., calls for the end to the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, whereby migrants are kept south of the border while their hearings went ahead. It would end the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Northern Triangle countries that had allowed migrants to be either stopped there, or returned to those countries. It also reiterates Bidens call for a 100-day moratorium on deportations of illegal immigrants while conducting a full-scale study on current practices to develop recommendations for transforming enforcement policies and practices, at ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Story continues The task force also looks to extend coverage from the Affordable Care Act to those illegal immigrants brought to the country as children, and who were protected by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Additionally it would allow illegal immigrants to purchase unsubsidized coverage in the ACA marketplace. Public Charge Joe Biden has promised to reverse the "public charge" rule implemented by the Trump administration, which strengthens guidance to deny immigrants a green card if they are likely to be reliant on welfare going forward. Biden's campaign says that "runs counter to our values as Americans and the history of our nation." Legal immigration A Biden administration would work with Congress to reform the current temporary worker visas system, so as to allow foreign workers to change jobs, and give employers flexibility in return for strong safeguards making employers pay a fair calculation of the prevailing wage. For other visas the Biden-Harris ticket promises to reform the process to establish a wage-based allocation process and other mechanisms to make sure such visas are not used to undermine wages of existing American workers. But that call is also accompanied by an expansion of the number of high-skilled visas and ending the limits on employment-based visas by country, which currently leads to large backlogs in countries like India. Bidens campaign also calls for the preservation of the Diversity Visa Lottery, which Trump has sought to abolish. In addition to the increase of temporary visas, Biden has called for an increase in the number of permanent work-based visas too. Currently capped at 140,000 each year, Biden would work with Congress to increase that number, but also reduce it at times of high unemployment. A President Biden would also create a new visa category to allow cities and counties to petition for more immigration to support their growth. WHAT'S IN THE BIDEN-SANDERS UNITY PLATFORM? HALT ON DEPORTATIONS, $15 MINIMUM WAGE, REPARATIONS The expansion of visas, as well as the various grants of support and legalization to those in the country illegally have immigration hawks very concerned about the effects such moves could have on American workers. The Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization that calls for lower immigration overall and is analyzing what it believes will be the effects of the Biden plan on American workers and public safety, told Fox News that it would be a deadly cocktail for American workers already in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis. Despite what Biden, his party, and Republicans obsessed with nothing more than GDP growth say, increasing immigration does have negative effects, RJ Hauman, FAIRs head of government relation told Fox News. All you have to do is look at wage trends over the past half-century. When more workers come in, what companies have to pay to hire workers goes down. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE The Biden campaign has made a number of attempts to reassure those concerned about the effect a spike in immigration may have on the American workforce. Bidens campaign has pledged that he will work with Congress to ensure that immigrant workers are not being taken advantage of, and that workers are not being undercut by employers who dont play by the rules. He has also pledged to renew the Obama-era Task Force on New Americans and that he will focus on prioritizing integration, promoting immigrant entrepreneurship, increasing access to language instruction, and promoting civil engagement moves his campaign says will boost the economy. Its part of a broader argument by those who support higher levels of immigration, who argue that immigrants strengthen businesses and boost the economy, which, in turn, helps American workers. Biden says his plan for immigration reform will focus on growing our economy and expanding economic opportunity across the country by improving and increasing opportunities for legal immigration. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS Related Articles The only woman to serve as Canadas prime minister says the appointment of Chrystia Freeland as the countrys finance minister is an exciting first step for women and should stifle any questions about her abilities if she runs for her partys leadership. But Kim Campbell says the acceptance of women in high-profile positions in Ottawa has improved only marginally since she became prime minister after winning a Progressive Conservative Party leadership race in 1993. Theres no question that women are as good as men, and many women are better than some other men, Campbell told the Star. But the ability of people to see women in those roles is the problem. She said Freeland has the chops to master a brief and her presence as finance minister will help break down perceptions that women are unable to perform in such a role. Campbell served as prime minister for just under five months before the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in a federal election after nearly 10 years in power. The partys popularity suffered major blows in her predecessor Brian Mulroneys second term as prime minister, especially after his governments introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. Mulroney resigned and Campbell became prime minister months later after winning the partys leadership contest. Despite her previous positions as justice minister and defence minister, Campbell said she was still treated as though she didnt belong in the Prime Ministers Office by politicians, civil servants and members of the media. Campbell said that although she had held more cabinet positions than all but eight of Canadas previous 18 prime ministers, she was still often referred to as a rookie. She said part of the problem was no one who looked or sounded like her had ever been prime minister before. Everything you do is judged at the highest possible scrutiny so people can validate their own sense of discomfort that youre there, she said. Almost three decades later, Campbell expects Freeland to come up against the same challenges, pointing to the misogynistic attacks against Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna as an example of how sexism still hovers over the countrys political climate. McKenna was nicknamed climate Barbie by critics on the right after she was appointed environment minister in 2015, and last year her Ottawa office was defaced with gender-specific slurs. Freeland was appointed finance minister on Tuesday, a day after Bill Morneau resigned amid the WE Charity scandal that has plagued the Liberal government. Freeland, a former journalist, has also served as both minister of foreign affairs and minister of intergovernmental affairs. Her new job should help her overcome any sexist barriers should she ever choose to run for a leadership role, Campbell said, because her competency isnt likely to be questioned as much as it would be during a leadership race after shes held such a senior and important position. But Campbell says structural issues faced by women still exist in Canadian politics, such as not enough women getting to positions within their own parties that offer a good chance to win leadership contests. As well, the situation in the United States after Donald Trumps 2016 election shows the gains women have made are still vulnerable, she said. What Trump has shown us is how fragile those advances are because he has, in a sense, given permission for people to be quite misogynist and quite sexist and he has restored a very white male power structure in the United States with very few exceptions. Campbell said she would not presume to offer the new finance minister unsolicited advice on how to deal with sexism she may encounter. She believes Freelands experience will have already made her aware of the challenges and how to address them on her own. She may find there are jerks in the department who are old boys, you dont know, she said. But there may well be people who are thrilled to have a woman. Campbell said she hopes the appointment creates a rush of women finance ministers across the country. Co-chairman of the Ghana Extractive and Transparency Initiative, Dr Steve Manteaw, has urged the Registrar Generals Department to quicken the implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Register. He said the country was losing millions of cedis in taxes due to the absence of the register and its implementation would therefore plug some loopholes. The Beneficial Ownership Register is expected to keep accounts of politically exposed persons and others who are owners or beneficiaries of certain companies but keep their identities anonymous when bidding for government contracts. Mr Manteaw was speaking at an event organised by the Tax Justice Coalition-Ghana on the theme: The Beneficial Ownership and Right to Information Act: what role and opportunities are there for journalists in curbing illicit financial flows in Ghana? He said secret ownership structures had enabled some extractive companies to evade payment of tax and also hidden problems ownership posed for honest companies, as they did not know who they were doing business with. He said the risk of anonymity of ownership created wealth in the pockets of a few at the expense of advancing development to the benefit of the larger society. Narrating an incidence which led to the country losing almost GH16 million, he alleged, saying, I had a hint that there were some irregularities around procurements in respect of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant. So, I raised this concern with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The basis of my argument was that there was a company registered in Dubai and I discovered that the principal director of that company bore the same name as the general manager of Sinopec Ghana, which means that Sinopec was trading with itself. It is not really criminal to trade with your related party, but the rules are that the arms-length principle must be observed to ensure the right prices are quoted and are consistent with global prices in respect of similar goods and services. This we couldnt establish, because the transaction was on the blind side of the GRA. Subsequently, when GRA investigated the matter based on my allegations, it was confirmed that there had been some transfer pricing manipulations and prices had to be readjusted to the international levels. And in the process, GH16 million was raised in tax payments from the company. And so this is how we could have lost GH16million if we hadnt been vigilant in exposing the fact that people behind the company in Dubai were the same people behind it in Ghana. So, beneficial ownership allows you to block revenue leakages and also prevent conflict of interest situations, especially in contracts, he narrated. RTI law Dr Manteaw also noted that the Right to Information (RTI) Law in its current form would not fully support efforts at countering illicit financial flows. He said the law would have to be used together with other transparency legislations such as Beneficial Ownership, Open Contracting and the Petroleum Register to achieve its purpose. He said the RTI had some exemptions that were not healthy to the implementation of the law. Some of the exemptions include information that affects the security of the state, information relating to Cabinet, information relating to law enforcement and public safety, and information affecting international relations. I do not see the uniqueness of the RTI Law in the fight against corruption in the country, so we will continue to use the 1992 Constitution in addition to fight the menace. Financial bleeding register The Tax Justice Coalition also used the opportunity to launch the Financial Bleeding Register, which will be in the form of a website that will compile malfeasance and corruption occurring in the country for the attention of the public. The Chairman of the Tax Justice Coalition, Mr Vitus Azeem, commended journalists for their efforts in educating the public on issues of taxation and illicit financial flows in the country. Source: Graphiconline.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 A total of 25 people are facing charges over the August 4 blast that killed more than 200 people, but many are calling for more accountability. A judge in Lebanon has ordered several arrests over the devastating explosion in Beirut on August 4. The blast killed more than 200 people and left parts of the city in ruins. In total, 25 people are facing charges. But, many are calling for more accountability. Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr reports. Some of Americas best restaurants are dotted throughout the rocky hills of Californias Napa Valley. From the unrivaled culinary bastion The French Laundry to celebrated kitchens tucked away on sprawling vineyard estates, the regions eateries are known for marrying old world recipes and techniques with Californias broad array of ingredients to form one of the countrys most distinctive dining regions. Sounds delicious but its unlikely many of us will be traveling there during the COVID-19 outbreak. Fortunately, the virus cant keep us out of those wine country kitchens in spirit. The Napa Valley American Viticultural Area is famous for a Mediterranean climate and geology perfect for growing some of the worlds best grapes. That Mediterranean flair is extended to many restaurant menus across the region, with heavy influences from France, Italy, Spain and other countries. Our first taste of that comes from the famed restaurant The French Laundry, which has held three Michelin stars since 2006 under the leadership of chef Thomas Keller. While The French Laundry is known for elaborate and complicated dishes showcasing Californias wines and produce, the restaurants gazpacho soup can be mastered by any avid home cook. The recipe, which was included in the restaurants celebrated 1999 cookbook, makes a bright chilled soup perfect for Houstons sweaty summer days. That soup pairs perfectly with a scallop ceviche thats presented as a showy platter of hors doeuvres from the restaurant Solbar at the famed resort Solage Calistoga, known for providing guests with a complimentary Mercedes-Benz to explore wine country, among other perks. In their recipe tortilla chips are individually dressed with the ceviche and garnished with cilantro for a taste thats both elegant and familiar to many palates across Texas. Heavier fare comes in the form of wine-braised short ribs. Its a dish found on many menus at wineries with restaurants throughout Napa Valley. Our version comes from the well-known Joseph Phelps Vineyards, which bottles celebrated high-end wines. Wine is the star in an unusual pasta dish from celebrity chef Michael Chiarellos Napa restaurant Bottega. Chairello shared the technique for absorbing an entire bottle of red wine into thin spaghettini in a 2010 cookbook celebrating many of Bottegas recipes. The pasta comes out a striking purple color contrasted with bright green rapini sauteed with garlic and fiery Calabrian chile paste. Its a memorable balance of bitter greens and mildly acidic pasta. No trip to Napa would be complete without a stop at The Model Bakery, which has kept visitors and residents alike loaded with carbs for nine decades. The bakerys signature English muffins smeared with butter and jam have started the day for countless wine country tourists, and owner Karen Mitchell shared the recipe in a 2013 cookbook. While the beverage of choice throughout Napa Valley is obviously wine, the region has given rise to several celebrated cocktail bars as well. The Cucumber Collins at Goose & Gander has become one of the best known of the drinks shaken and stirred at those establishments, with a brilliant purple hue courtesy of cucumber slices pickled in a blueberry brine. Its a great reminder that theres far more to Napas food and beverage scene than grownup grape juice. Recipe: The French Laundrys Gazpacho Recipe: Solbar at Solage Calistogas Bay Scallop Ceviche Recipe: Joseph Phelps Vineyards Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe: Bottegas Zinfandel Spaghettini with Spicy Rapini Recipe: The Model Bakerys English Muffins Recipe: Goose & Ganders Cucumber Collins Cocktail pstephen@express-news.net Planned Parenthood Southeast CEO Staci Fox says the new clinic in Birmingham, which opened in July and will offer surgical abortions beginning this fall, was built to emphasize security and is ready to protect patients from potential threats. We take safety and security very seriously, both for our patients and staff, said Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast. We think about it every day. The new facility features security cameras around the outside of the building and a fenced-in parking area for patients and staff. Its to create a buffer for patients and our staff, she said. Weve seen quite a few patients in our new health center already, Fox said. Planned Parenthood last offered surgical abortion services in Birmingham in 2017 at its former Southside clinic just off Highland Avenue. That facility was outdated and needed to be replaced, Fox said. Planned Parenthoods new facility currently offers birth control, cervical cancer screenings, general womens healthcare services and plans to begin offering abortion services soon. Its imminent, Fox said. We will be doing that before early fall. By later in the fall, Planned Parenthood will have as many as three physicians available to perform abortions, Fox said. Finding physicians can be a challenge, she said. Its hard to get people to come to the South to do this work, providing access to safe and legal abortion, especially in a city like Birmingham, where people have lost their lives, Fox said. There was a bombing at the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham in 1998 that killed Officer Robert Sande Sanderson, who was working as a security guard. A nurse, Emily Lyons, was severely injured by the blast but survived. Dr. David Gunn, who performed abortions at Summit Medical Center in Birmingham as part of a circuit of several clinics in Alabama and Florida, was shot and killed by an anti-abortion activist outside a clinic in Pensacola in 1993. Planned Parenthood has fought repeated court battles to maintain access to abortion in Alabama, including a challenge to the state legislatures bill passed last year that would have banned nearly all abortions. Construction on the new Planned Parenthood facility began in January 2019. Soon after, the Alabama Legislature passed the Human Life Protection Act to make abortion illegal in Alabama except when the mothers life is in danger. Gov. Kay Ivey signed the nearly complete ban on abortion into law in May 2019. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU sued to stop the law from taking effect. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson blocked the ban with a preliminary injunction in October 2019, staying it was unconstitutional. The new Planned Parenthood facility in Birmingham is a step toward making womens healthcare more widely available including access to abortion, Fox said. This new facility is going to help us improve patient access and thats our focus, Fox said. Anti-abortion protesters have said they will have a steady presence outside the new Planned Parenthood clinic. Some were on the sidewalks near the clinic on Tuesday, holding signs and writing slogans such as Babies Lives Matter in chalk on the sidewalk, and plan to meet for prayer again this morning between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. It will be a time of public awareness and prayer, said activist Sarah Neely of Charismatic Episcopal Church for Life and Bound4Life Birmingham. We want Planned Parenthood to know there is going to be a presence; there are going to be people out there praying. A group called Life on Wheels, based in Montgomery, will have a mobile ultrasound truck parked in front of the new Planned Parenthood clinic, 1019 First Ave. North in Birmingham, on Thursday and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m., said Executive Director Robyn Blessing. Plans call for the truck to be outside the clinic five days a week, Blessing said. Life on Wheels was founded by Dr. Matthew E. Phillips, a Montgomery obstetrician, who is opposed to abortion. The organization raised enough money to buy two ultrasound trucks, which cost $175,000 each, one for Birmingham and one for Montgomery, with licensed sonography technicians who offer free ultrasounds for pregnant women, Blessing said. We are a licensed medical clinic, she said. Every ultrasound is reviewed by Dr. Phillips. The ultrasound trucks are accompanied by a security officer, Blessing said. We dont cause trouble, she said. We are not dead-baby-picture people. We do not condemn or yell. We show love and compassion and understanding and try to meet the woman where she is. By offering free ultrasounds to pregnant women, they hope to convince them to decide against abortion, she said. We want to be available for women and let them know there are other options, Blessing said. We are not here to fuss at women; were not here to fuss at Planned Parenthood. Blessing said that she once had an abortion and wishes someone had shown her an ultrasound picture of her fetus before she had the procedure. I wish someone would have told me what I now know, she said. If I had seen a picture, I wouldnt have done it. ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: RGRX) ("RegeneRx"), a clinical-stage drug development company focused on tissue protection, repair and regeneration has posted information on its website regarding the status of patient enrollment in its phase 3 dry eye clinical trial (ARISE-3). http://www.regenerx.com/2020-08-19-August-19-2020-Update-on-ARISE-3-Dry-Eye-Trial About RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.regenerx.com) RegeneRx is focused on the development of novel therapeutic peptides, including Thymosin beta 4 (T4) and its constituent fragments, for tissue and organ protection, repair, and regeneration. RegeneRx currently has three drug candidates in clinical development for ophthalmic, cardiac/TBI and dermal indications, four active strategic licensing agreements in the U.S., China, and Pan Asia (Korea, Japan, and Australia, among others), and the EU, and has patents and patent applications covering its products in many countries throughout the world. RGN-259, the Company's ophthalmic eye drop, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials for dry eye syndrome and neurotrophic keratitis in the U.S. Forward Looking Statements Any statements in this shareholder letter that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made under the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, competitive products, statements from us or our joint venture regarding strategic and research partnerships, status of clinical trials, reclassification of our drug candidates from drugs to biologics, regulatory applications and approvals, the development and value of our drug candidates, and the use of our drug candidates to treat various conditions. All forward-looking statements are expectations and estimates based upon information obtained and calculated by the Company at this time and are subject to change. Moreover, there is no guarantee any clinical trial will be successful or confirm previous clinical results. Please view these and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including those identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q, as well as other filings it makes with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements in this shareholder letter represent the Company's views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update this information, as a result of future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. For RegeneRx: Lori Herman 301.208.9191 [email protected] SOURCE RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Related Links http://www.regenerx.com TikTok has no plans to pull out of the United States even if it is not sold to a U.S. company, a top executive said Tuesday. Vanessa Pappas, the general manager for TikTok's operations in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, also pushed back on claims that the app is a security threat. "TikTok is here for the long run," she said in an interview that aired on NBC's "TODAY" show. "We are more than confident in our future." Pappas' statements come as TikTok's situation in the U.S. remains uncertain. Less than two weeks ago, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned the company from doing business in the U.S. as of Sept. 15. TikTok's owner, ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, has reportedly been in talks to sell some or all of the app to a variety of possible buyers including Microsoft. Oracle is also reportedly part of the bidding. Pappas said that TikTok will continue to exist and will provide the same experience for users well after that deadline. The app, which allows users to create and view short videos set to music, has captured the hearts and minds of Generation Z. It has more than 100 million users in the U.S., and a third of them are reportedly under the age of 13. Trump and many lawmakers have argued that TikTok poses a threat to national security, primarily because they believe the Chinese Communist Party might use the service to access Americans' data. Those fears come amid mounting tensions with China that could spark a new Cold War, in which technology will play a pivotal role. Pappas denied that TikTok poses a threat to the U.S. "We're not a national security threat," she said. "We have very strict data controls in place. We have an amazing team building a world-class infrastructure, and that's something that we put front and center in terms of protecting our users." Pappas also said TikTok had become a victim of the "geopolitical tension" between Washington and Beijing, and cited a recent CIA report that found no evidence that Chinese intelligence had accessed TikTok users' data. Story continues Nevertheless, those tensions have forced ByteDance into a position where it will likely be forced to sell TikTok's U.S. business to a non-Chinese owner. "We definitely are committed to providing the exact same experience to our users today, in whatever scenario unfolds in the future," Pappas said. American ownership or not, TikTok will face increased competition in the U.S. In recent weeks, Facebook has launched its own TikTok-like service, Instagram Reels; Snapchat has introduced new TikTok-like music features; and Google's YouTube is at work on a 15-second video tool. When asked if she was worried that TikTok users might decamp to a service like Instagram, Pappas dismissed the competition. "You can certainly copy a feature, but you can't copy a community," she said. "And I think what's really unique about TikTok is this amazing community that has found a home on the platform." 3 1 of 3 icholakov/Getty Images/iStockphoto Show More Show Less 2 of 3 San Antonio 19th amendment centennial committee Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A flyover featuring female pilots will take place in San Antonio at 11 a.m. Friday in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The flyover path will begin at Mission Espada and will travel over the missions, Brooks City Base, the Tower of the Americas, Hotel Emma at the Pearl, two college campuses, and two all-girl high schools, according to a news release from the San Antonio 19th amendment centennial committee. She's learned to embrace her curves after overcoming insecurities about her body. And plus size model Barbie Ferreira was the picture of confidence and style as she took part in a beach photo shoot in Malibu on Tuesday. The star, 23, who appears in the hit HBO series Euphoria, beamed with joy as she took the surf by storm in two chic dresses. Strike a pose! Barbie Ferreira was the picture of confidence and style as she took part in a beach photo shoot in Malibu on Tuesday Barbie looked fabulous in a light blue and brown patterned dress that cinched into her waist and showed off a bit of leg. The actress was a vision of glam with her brunette tresses styled into loose waves with a side part, and a pair of gold hoop earrings dangling upon her lobes. In her second outfit, Barbie worked a blue-green halter dress with dangling earrings adding a touch of glitter. Though she was spotted barefoot, she did appear to be bravely modeling in the sand wearing a pair of lime green heels. Glammed up: Ferreira looked magnificent in a light blue and brown dress with her hair perfectly styled Striking an array of poses ranging from glamour to happiness, Barbie nailed the shoot. HBO fans best recognize Barbie as Kat Hernandez in the hit high school drama series, Euphoria, which also stars Zendaya. In addition to roles in Divorce and the upcoming HBO Max film Unpregnant on Thursday, September 10th. The film is a heartwarming and poignant film produced by Greg Berlanti and directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg. Adapted from the YA novel of the same name, the film centers on seventeen-year-old Veronica, Haley Lu Richardson and her ex-best friend, Bailey portrayed by Barbie Ferreira, as they navigate an unplanned pregnancy and an unplanned road trip where they discover sometimes the most important choice youll make in life is who your friends are. Simply stylish: Barbie changed into a second blue-green halter dress Golden touches: Barbie jazzed up the look with dangling earrings Barbie is also a successful plus-size model who has appeared on the covers of Paper Magazine and Elle Mexico. As confident as Barbie appears on the exterior, it wasn't always that way for the star. In 2017, Barbie confessed she had suffered insecurities about her body while appearing on StyleLikeU's 'What's Underneath Series'. While Barbie may embrace her body type now, getting there was not easy. 'I hated myself more than anything else in the world at one point,' she confessed. Even now, one thing that Barbie struggles with in particular is her stretch marks - particularly because of the way the skin imperfections are handled in the fashion industry. Kicking off her heels: Though she was spotted barefoot, she did appear to be bravely modeling in the sand wearing a pair of lime green heels Smile! Striking an array of poses ranging from glamour to happiness, Barbie nailed the shoot 'I was shooting something and this lady was very concerned about my hip. She was like "Oh did you scratch yourself?'' she recalls of an experience with a stylist. 'I was like those are just my stretch marks. I know she didn't mean anything by it, but [fashion industry] people don't always work with curve models.' She also recalled being at photo shoots where people would make passive-aggressive comments about the catering, as though she would be interested in eating the food because of her size. 'But it's the same quinoa bulls*** every time,' she laments. 'Or,' she continues, 'they'll but a chocolate cake and like, pressure me into eating the cake.' Barbie has a more positive attitude about her body now. 'I owe everything to the fact that I look like this,' she says. 'I didn't think I was allowed to be happy in my body [but now] I've learned a lot from my body.' 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Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0485d58bc0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485ec2248)', '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(0x7f0485d58bc0)') 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(0x7f0485ec2248)') 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(0x7f0485e3cff0)') 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(0x7f0485ec2248)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0485ec2248)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04853cea58)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0485fa9e80)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0485fa9e80)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Voters in northern Brazoria County will find that in addition to national and state contests, the November ballot will feature contests for municipal and school positions. The reason for the crowded ballot is that local races that had been on the ballot for May elections that were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Pearland Pearland City Council could have a drastically different makeup after the November elections. It all starts at the top, where Tom Reid, who has helmed the city for a total of 25 years, is retiring. One of the first people to file for the mayoral race was Gary Moore, who holds the Position 3 seat on the council. But Moore withdrew his candidacy in early July, which leaves the fight for the mayors seat up to Quentin Wiltz and Kevin Cole. When Moore decided to run for mayor, that left his seat open and it attracted a lot of interest. All told, four people filed to run for the council seat Lewis Barnes, Alex Kamkar, Orlando Bruzual and Jai Daggett. Also on the ballot is the councils Position 7. Incumbent Woody Owens is running, along with Jeff Hunkele and Mashunda Ivery. Pearland ISD The Pearland school board also has a crowded race up for an open seat. With the Aug. 17 resignation of Position 2 incumbent Mikael Floyd, four people Carmine Petrillo III, Edgar Pacheco Jr., Kris Schoeffler and Jessica Garcia Shafer are vying for that position. Floyds term was originally supposed to expire in May, but when the election was pushed to Nov. 3 in an effort to slow the tide of the coronavirus, his term was extended into the fall. The other race that voters will decide is that for Position 1, held by board president Charles Gooden Jr., who will face Toni Carter. Manvel Manvel is an interesting study in that voters will get to vote on three council seats, but the choice has already been made for them on two. Incumbent Mayor Debra Davison and Position 5 seat holder Jason Albert are both running unopposed. But two people are vying for the Position 3 seat held by Brian Wilmer, who has decided not to seek re-election. Edward B Perry and Niccole Tyson will all have their names on the ballot for that seat. George Hernandez had also been a candidate for that seat but filed a certificate of withdrawal. Iowa Colony Iowa Colony gets the prize for the most candidates for the fewest positions. All in all, eight people running two City Council seats. When current Position 1 officeholder Susan Cottrell decided not to run this year, it drew five people to file for candidacy. The candidates are Sydney Hargroder, Douglas Marshall Chumley, Waylan Rhodes, David Edward Dean and a former mayor, Michael Buck Holton. Meanwhile at Position 2, incumbent Arnetta Murray has drawn challenges from Rebecca M. Hester and Gerane Padilla-Kerr. Alvin ISD Two members of the Alvin school board have filed for re-election. Board president Earl Humbird is running unopposed to hold onto his Position 6 seat, while vice president Vivian Scheibel is challenged by Floyd Hodges Jr. for Position 7. John DeLapp is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at texdelapp@gmail.com. WASHINGTON President Trump said late on Tuesday that he would support Oracles buying TikTok, the Chinese-owned viral video app that his administration says must be sold in the next few weeks. In comments to reporters at an event in Arizona, Mr. Trump called Oracle a great company and said the firm, which specializes in enterprise software, could successfully run TikTok. I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it, he said. Mr. Trump declined to say whether he believed Oracle was a better option to take over the app than Microsoft, the software giant that has also talked with ByteDance, TikToks Chinese owner, about buying the app. The Trump administration is trying to force the sale of TikTok over concerns that its ownership poses a national security threat. Officials have said Chinese apps could provide a way for Beijing to seize Americans data, which TikTok and other Chinese firms deny. T he Swiss city of Geneva is ready to welcome tourists back this summer, and will gift those who visit 84 to do so. Tourists staying for two nights or more in the lakeside city will be given a Geneva Gift Card to the value of 100 CHF (84), which can be used at participating restaurants, hotels, activities and bars across the city. The gift card will be valid until December 31 this year, meaning its the perfect excuse to head to the continent for a city break. The card can be used at more than 100 partnering businesses, including Michelin-starred restaurants like Le Chat-Botte and five-star hotels Mandarin Oriental Geneve and Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues. Switzerland has seen over 38,000 cases of coronavirus with 1,717 deaths. It is currently on the list of countries exempt from having to adhere to the mandatory 14-day quarantine upon return to the UK, but the Foreign Office warns that if you travel from the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport to get back to the UK, you may need to transit through France which will mean you will need to self-isolate for 14 days. You will need to wear a facemask on your flight to and from Switzerland and while transiting through the airports, but once there a face mask is not required, however social distancing is encouraged. Switzerland has also today released a list of nations that will need to quarantine for 10 days when arriving on its soil - but the UK is noticeably exempt from the list. Countries that are required to quarantine include the US, Belgium, Malta and Spain. North Wales retail workers verbally abused and coughed at by customers claiming to have covid-19 during pandemic This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 Shop workers have today called for the law to protect them after suffering violence, threats and being coughed at by individuals claiming to have Covid-19, during the pandemic. A survey undertaken by Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) found that of 4,928 responses from shop workers across the UK, found that that between 14 March and 17 April 2020: 62.28% were verbally abused, 29.07% were threatened, 4.01% assaulted It also found that while incidents of violence, threats and abuse were already rising they doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic Today retail trade union leader Paddy Lillis has today launched a parliamentary petition calling for legislation to protect shop workers from violence threats and abuse. In support of the petition Welsh shop workers have been speaking out about their own experiences. Comments from shop workers in north Wales include having customers claiming to have covid-19 and then coughing in their face after being asked to stand behind a marked line, being told to f**k off after asking for ID and being robbed at knife point. Other incidents across Wales include customers becoming rude and aggressive when asked to follow the social distancing guidelines and customers grabbing a shop workers arm arm to verbally abuse them. Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary said: It is heart-breaking to hear these testimonies of shop workers who deserve far more respect than they receive. Abuse should never be a part of the job and we are appalled that violence, threats and abuse have doubled during this national emergency. The safety of our members is absolutely paramount, but they tell us that some of the shopping public are resisting safety measures in stores and can become abusive when asked to queue, maintain social distancing or reminded to wear a face mask. Our message to the public is that there is no excuse for abusing shop workers, please treat our members with the respect they deserve. In light of the unacceptable increase in abuse of shop workers, there needs to be urgent action to help protect staff and we urge the Government not to dismiss our petition, but listen to the voices of shop workers and legislate for stiffer penalties for those who assault workers. Retail staff have a crucial role in our communities and that role must be valued and respected, they deserve the protection of the law. The petition is lodged on the parliamentary website and calls on the Government to legislate to protect shop workers. It can be signed here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-17 16:27:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TASHKENT, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's prison population has sharply decreased in the past ten years thanks to liberal reforms implemented in the country's judicial system, Uzbek Interior Minister Pulat Bobojonov said over the weekend. Currently, the central Asian nation has a prison population of 22,900, which is 67 inmates per 100,000 people, the minister said in his interview with the state news agency UZA. Uzbekistan announced inmate figures following the government's resolution to ensure transparency of its penitentiary system earlier this year. Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been promoting a range of reforms to liberalize the judicial system since he took office in 2016. Enditem Prime Minister Scott Morrison is on a collision course with Australia's biggest business lobby groups over tough international border restrictions they say hamper economic recovery and could see more jobs lost and global corporate deals languish. Mr Morrison asked state premiers this week for "urgent solutions" to the havoc caused by interstate restrictions, but on Wednesday he said his international border position was "uncontroversial". Business groups want international borders to be eased. Credit:Bloomberg However, Ai Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia are warning business activity and jobs growth are constrained by closed borders stopping the majority of arrivals and departures during the coronavirus pandemic. Coalition MPs are also supporting an increase in the cap on how many people can arrive from overseas, as well as a robust quarantine system for returning Australians. A stepping stone for measuring quantum gravity A group of theoretical physicists, including two physicists from the University of Groningen, have proposed a 'table-top' device that could measure gravity waves. However, their actual aim is to answer one of the biggest questions in physics: is gravity a quantum phenomenon? The key element for the device is the quantum superposition of large objects. Their design was published in New Journal of Physics on 6 August. Already in the preprint stage, the paper that was written by Ryan J. Marshman, Peter F. Barker and Sougato Bose (University College London, UK), Gavin W. Morley (University of Warwick, UK) and Anupam Mazumdar and Steven Hoekstra (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) was hailed as a new method to measure gravity waves. Instead of the current kilometres-sized LIGO and VIRGO detectors, the physicists working in the UK and in the Netherlands proposed a table-top detector. This device would be sensitive to lower frequencies than the current detectors and it would be easy to point them to specific parts of the sky - in contrast, the current detectors only see a fixed part. Diamond The key part of the device is a tiny diamond, just a few nanometres in size. 'In this diamond, one of the carbons is replaced by a nitrogen atom,' explains assistant professor Anupam Mazumdar. This atom introduces a free space in the valence band, which can be filled with an extra electron. Quantum theory says that when the electron is irradiated with laser light, it can either absorb or not absorb the photon energy. Absorbing the energy would alter the electron's spin, a magnetic moment that can be either up or down. 'Just like Schrodinger's cat, which is dead and alive at the same time, this electron spin does and does not absorb the photon energy, so that its spin is both up and down.' This phenomenon is called quantum superposition. Since the electron is part of the diamond, the entire object - with a mass of about 10-17 kilograms, which is huge for quantum phenomena - is in quantum superposition. 'We have a diamond that has up spin and down spin at the same time,' explains Mazumdar. By applying a magnetic field, it is possible to separate the two quantum states. When these quantum states are brought together again by turning off the magnetic field, they will create an interference pattern. 'The nature of this interference depends on the distance the two separate quantum states have travelled. And this can be used to measure gravity waves.' These waves are contractions of space, so that their passing affects the distance between the two separated states and thus the interference pattern. Missing link The paper shows that this set-up could indeed detect gravity waves. But that is not what Mazumdar and his colleagues are really interested in. 'A system in which we can obtain quantum superposition of a mesoscopic object such as the diamond, and for a reasonable length of time, would be a real breakthrough,' Mazumdar says. 'It would allow all kinds of measurements to be taken, and one of those could be used to determine whether gravity itself is a quantum phenomenon.' Quantum gravity has been the 'missing link' in physics for nearly a century. In a paper published in 2017 (1), Mazumdar and his long-time collaborator Sougato Bose, together with several colleagues, suggested that entanglement between two mesoscopic objects could be used to find out whether gravity itself is a quantum phenomenon. Simply put: entanglement is a quantum phenomenon, so when two objects that interact only through gravity show entanglement, this proves that gravity is a quantum phenomenon. Technology 'In our latest paper, we describe how to create mesoscopic quantum superposition. With two of these systems, we were able to show entanglement.' However, as they noticed during their work, the single system would be sensitive to gravitational waves and this became the focus of the New Journal of Physics paper. 'The technology to build these systems could take a few decades to develop,' Mazumdar acknowledges. A vacuum of 10-15 Pascal is required, while the operating temperature should be as low as possible, near absolute zero (-273 C). 'Technology to achieve either high vacuum or low temperature is available, but we need the technology to achieve both at the same time.' Furthermore, the magnetic field must be constant. 'Any fluctuation would collapse the quantum superposition.' Freefall The reward for creating this kind of system would be great. 'It could be used for all kinds of measurements in fields such as ultra-low energy physics or quantum computing, for example.' And it could, of course, be used to determine whether gravity is a quantum phenomenon. Mazumdar, Bose and colleagues have just uploaded another preprint (2) in which they describe how this experiment could be performed. 'To ensure that the only interaction between the two entangled objects is the gravity between them, the experiment should be done in free fall,' explains Mazumdar. With visible enthusiasm, he describes a one-kilometre long drop shaft in a deep mine, to reduce interference. Two entangled mesoscopic quantum systems should be dropped repeatedly to obtain a reliable measurement. 'I think this can be done in my lifetime. And the result would finally resolve one of the biggest questions in physics.' ### Reference: Ryan J Marshman, Anupam Mazumdar, Gavin W Morley, Peter F Barker, Steven Hoekstra and Sougato Bose: Mesoscopic interference for metric and curvature & gravitational wave detection. New Journal of Physics, 6 August 2020. Notes: (1) Spin Sougato Bose et al: Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity. Phys Rev Letters 2017, DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.240401 (2) M. Toros, T. W. van de Kamp, R. J. Marshman, M. S. Kim, A. Mazumdar, S. Bose: Relative Acceleration Noise Mitigation for Entangling Masses via Quantum Gravity. arXiv 29 July 2020. https:/ / arxiv. org/ abs/ 2007. 15029 This story has been published on: 2020-08-18. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Researchers then compare Earths biocapacity (the amount of resources the planets land and seas can generate in a year) to humanitys ecological footprint (that years demand for things like food and urban space, and forests to absorb our emissions of carbon dioxide), determine the gap and project the results onto the calendar. If the whole world consumed like the United States, by the way, we wouldve hit Overshoot Day on March 14 this year. While its an attention-grabbing approach, not all experts are on board. Robert B. Richardson, an ecological economist at Michigan State University, has raised several issues with Global Footprint Networks methodology, including the fact it doesnt distinguish between sustainable and unsustainable uses of crop and grazing land, and doesnt account for other means of carbon sequestration, like ocean and soil. Still, Dr. Richardson said, the initiative has value in its simplicity as a way of increasing awareness about the impacts of human activities on ecosystems and the planet. Responding to the critiques, Ms. Hanscom also focused on the initiatives simplicity, calling Earth Overshoot Day a snapshot similar to gross domestic product. You dont expect G.D.P. to show inequality within a country, she said. Its an indicator that gives you a high-level understanding of how things are going. An Egg Harbor Township man Wednesday admitted to engaging in large-scale fraud through his car dealership. Afzal Khan, 38, also known as Bobby Khan, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to an indictment charging him with wire fraud, according to a news release from District of New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. The release states that from at least December 2013 to September 2014, Khan, through his Ramsey-based dealership, Emporio Motor Group, engaged in acts to defraud customers and lenders. Khan obtained loans from the auto finance division of a large bank that he never delivered, but for which the purchaser was sill responsible. He also obtained loans from the bank for cars that were delivered, but for which neither he nor Emporio had the title. As a result, the purchasers of the cars were liable for the loans, but could not register the cars. Khan admitted that his actions cost the bank at least $550,000. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled to Dec. 17. Carpenito credited special agents of the FBIs Newark Division, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Denahan, with the investigation leading to Wednesdays guilty plea. He also thanked the Bergen County Prosecutors Office and the Ramsey Police Department for their assistance. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine stands ready to ensure that local elections are held to the highest standards. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said this during a meeting dedicated to the preparation for the local elections to be held in the autumn of 2020, the Interior Ministry's press service reported. The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Police, the Office of the President and the OPORA civil network. The Interior Ministry is ready to ensure law and order in terms of electoral legislation to the highest standards. We have the relevant experience of previous years, when the work of law enforcement officers during the electoral process was highly appreciated, and the election process itself received the highest ratings from the European community - in terms of compliance with all democratic standards, Avakov said. The meeting participants discussed the issues of improving the electoral legislation, eliminating attempts to illegally influence the electoral process. They also analyzed a number of cases of first violations and coordination of efforts to counter such attempts. According to the head of the OPORA civil network, Olha Aivazovska, one of the important points of amendments to the Electoral Code should be a reduction of the duration of the policing of voting premises, which now lasts eight days. This makes no sense, because in fact the police will guard the empty voting premises, she said. As reported, local elections in Ukraine will be held on October 25. Citizens will elect members to local councils, as well as the mayor of Kyiv and governors of almost all cities, villages and territorial communities. ish At the invitation of Mr. Kyaw Htin, Director General of Myanmar Customs Department and Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Directors-General of Customs meeting this year, WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, participated in the 9th ASEAN World Customs Organization (WCO) Consultation held virtually on 19 August 2020. This Consultation, which is held annually in the margins of the meeting of the ASEAN DGs of Customs, was Co-Chaired by Indonesia Customs, who is also the WCO Vice-Chair for the WCO Asia/Pacific region. In his opening remarks, Dr. Mikuriya expressed his highest gratitude to Customs administrations of the ASEAN countries for their continuous support to WCO activities and for their crucial role in the Asia Pacific region. Secretary General Mikuriya went on to invite the global Customs community to continue supporting the facilitation of not just relief supplies but all licit goods being traded in order to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also addressed the necessity for Customs community to adopt new norms to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, while highlighting the importance of maintaining global connectivity and enhancing collaboration. Dr. Mikuriya provided an insight of the current strategy of the WCO, as well as the ongoing and future developments, including the importance given to regional integration and the security of global supply chains. He underscored the importance of regional supply chains and its direct correlation with economic growth. While acknowledging that ASEAN is one of the role models of this integration, he advocated for Customs administrations to strengthen their role in the provision of soft infrastructures and by offering key expertise in designing integrations. He added that the WCO has made significant progress in the field of single window and E-Commerce, including the development of the Framework of Standard on cross-border E-Commerce, as well as the addition of new Accredited Experts. In the light of the current situation, Secretary General Mikuriya sought the cooperation of ASEAN members to organize online capacity building activities. The Head of ROCB A/P also attended this consultation and shared an overview of the Annual Work Plan 2020/2021 in the Asia Pacific Region. He also presented initiatives to coordinate online workshops and facilitate communication in the region for moving forward even under this challenging situation. The participants understood the initiatives and measures taken by the WCO, the ROCB A/P and the ASEAN countries to build resilience and strengthen the capacity of Customs administration through capacity building activities. They also agreed that it was important to expand and deepen cooperation between the ASEAN countries and the WCO as well as within the region, particularly during challenging times such as the one affecting the world at this moment. When the politically connected head of the U.S. Postal Service agreed Tuesday to delay any service cuts until after the Nov. 3 election, Democrats won a battle. But the political war with President Trump over mail ballots continues. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a GOP donor appointed to the job in May, bowed to a firestorm of criticism and backed off efforts to close mail processing facilities, cut overtime and pull many of the blue mailboxes from street corners across the country. To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded, he said in a statement. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasnt conciliatory when she was asked about DeJoys decision at a news conference on the noisy street outside the Bayview post office in San Francisco. I dont, frankly, trust the postmaster general, she said. If hes sincere about it, it means the bully has backed off. In a statement later in the day, Pelosi said the action may be a temporary pause in operational changes delaying the mail. The speaker called it a necessary but insufficient step in ending the presidents election sabotage campaign. It doesnt do enough to ensure voters will not be disenfranchised by the president this fall, she said. Pelosis news conference was one of more than 60 held Tuesday by Democrats focused on what the speaker charged were efforts by Trump and DeJoy to slow mail delivery in an effort to cut the use of mail ballots in November. Concerns about having DeJoy in charge of the Postal Service have existed since his appointment, especially after it was revealed that since 2016 the businessman has given $1.2 million to Trumps campaign and millions more to other GOP causes. Almost immediately, his calls for more efficiency and cutting costs in postal operations were fought by the mostly unionized work force, which complained that the results would be slower mail delivery, now and through the election. In a Fox News interview last week, Trump was unconcerned. He said he was opposed to providing the Postal Service with the $25 billion that Democrats and the services Board of Governors had requested in coronavirus stimulus aid because it would be used to help deal with the flood of mail ballots expected in November from people worried about voting in person. They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, Trump said. If they dont get (the money), that means you cant have universal mail-in voting because theyre not equipped to handle it. The president later tried to back away from his statement and suggest he might approve the money if House Democrats agreed to some of his other demands. But Trump has been adamant that a boost in the number of mail ballots means more vote fraud, although there is no evidence to show that. Speaking on Fox and Friends Monday, the president said that if universal mail voting is allowed, youre never going to have a fair election. Trumps words have changed what was largely a battle between his appointees and labor unions about how the post offices should be run, said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UC Irvine law school. It is unclear whether and the extent to which these changes are being made to make it harder for people to vote by mail during the pandemic, he said in an email. But President Trumps statements tying the two issues together are very troubling. Any delivery delays could cause problems to some states, especially those unused to large numbers of mail ballots. Some states have rules that allow voters to request absentee ballots very shortly before the election, Hasen said. These deadlines are unrealistic and may end up disenfranchising voters not because of suppression but because of unrealistic expectations about the post office. California voters are in a much better position than those in many other states. In the March primary, 72% of the ballots were cast by mail, and the percentage has risen with almost every election. While officials are expecting even more mail ballots in November, the state has experience in dealing with them. Post office delays also wont have a chilling effect in California. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in June that not only sends a mail ballot to every active voter in the state, but also allows ballots to be counted if they arrive within 17 days of the election, as long as they are postmarked by election day. Even so, Secretary of State Alex Padilla joined the call for an end to any mail delays. The health, safety and voting rights of more than 25 million citizens in California depend on the effective and efficient processing and the delivery of the mail, he said in a letter to DeJoy last week. Voters expect and deserve to receive their vote-by-mail ballots without delay, regardless of whether they live in rural, urban, suburban or tribal areas. On Tuesday, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he would join a nationwide lawsuit over the changes DeJoy now says he will suspend. Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, Becerra said in a statement. That means relying on our Postal Service more than ever during this pandemic. Pelosi has called the House back from its August recess for a vote Saturday on a bill that would bar the Postal Service from changing the operations or level of service it had in place on Jan.1, as well as provide $25 billion in funding. DeJoy also is scheduled to appear before a House committee on Monday. The bill is designed as a bipartisan measure, Pelosi said at her news conference, without any additions that dont pertain to the Postal Service. We wanted to make it easy for Republicans to vote for it, she said. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Alexei Koseff contributed to this report. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth A specialist Garda unit that was specifically deployed to police public order incidents in the capital during the pandemic has been disbanded. Around 120 officers were attached to the Dublin Regional Public Order Unit that was introduced in March to maintain law and order, as well as protect life and property during the Covid crisis. This week Garda management informed its members it would be axing the specialist group, citing "easing of restrictions" as a factor, despite new restrictions being introduced by the Government yesterday. There is now concern among front-line gardai they will not be afforded the same level of protection that was available when the Dublin unit was operational over the past five months. The dedicated squad, operating in 12-hour shifts to ensure a full-time presence, has responded to several high-profile mass brawls and incidents across the capital in recent weeks. However, on Monday it emerged the unit would cease operations, with gardai returning to their original stations. In an email, Garda management said that "due to the phased easing of restrictions and progression of society in returning to a form of normality", they were directing "the DMR Regional Public Order Unit cease on 18 August at 3am". The email thanked gardai "for their important role in aiding front-line policing" and said it was "invaluable to both the organisation and the public when our country was at the peak" of the pandemic. Officers were also told that any public order requirements past yesterday's date should be ignored. It is understood that several weeks ago the numbers within the unit were halved, before Monday's decision to disband it entirely. Sources have said there is concern among gardai that the cessation of the unit will impact on officers on the front line. One source said that gardai have been left "extremely disappointed and disgruntled at losing such a vital back-up", which was deemed to be a necessity for safety. Only last Sunday the Dublin regional Public Order Unit in west Dublin responded to a large-scale brawl among youths on the Naas Road. Public order units will still be deployed in the capital, although this will be done by allocating members on a daily basis, as opposed to having dedicated officers carrying out the specific policing function. A Garda spokeswoman said they do not comment on operational decisions or deployments. The committee will include former Rajya Sabha member Nagen Saikia, writer-journalist Arup Kumar Dutta, filmmaker Jahnu Barua, and former Meghalaya governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, among others Guwahati: The AASU and AJYCP on Wednesday set up a committee of eminent citizens to suggest the two organisation's future course of action, a step towards their much talked about political entry ahead of the state Assembly polls early next year. Addressing a joint press conference in Guwahati, the top leaders of the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) announced that the 18-member 'Assam Advisory Committee' will fix the academic, social, economical and political discourse in order to protect the future of the indigenous people of the state. The move comes a week after AASU, which was a part of the Centre's high-level committee on Clause 6 of Assam Accord, released the "confidential" report, saying that the public has the right to know the contents after more than five months of submitting it officially. "This committee will give us suggestions on what should be the future course of action of the two organisations. The only regional force AGP has joined hands with BJP and sacrificed Assam's interest," AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said. To serve the indigenous people of the state, AASU and AJYCP approached some prominent citizens of Assam and they agreed to become a part of the committee, he said. The committee will have eminent litterateur and former Rajya Sabha member Nagen Saikia, and Padma Shree awardee and writer-journalist Arup Kumar Dutta as the members, he said. The other prominent members are former Meghalaya governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, who was also the director-general of NSG, BSF and DGP of Kerala, and National Award-winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua, also a Padma Bhushan awardee, among others, he added. Environmentalist and former Gauhati University professor Krishnagopal Bhattacharya and former professor of Handique Girls' College Basanta Deka have been named as the convenors of the committee, Saikia said. Along with them, the general secretaries of AASU and AJYCP, Lurinjyoti Gogoi and Palash Changmai, will function as the coordinators for the initial activities of the committee, he said. When asked specifically if the students' body was entering the political arena, AASU chief advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said, "The non-political nature of AASU and AJYCP will remain. Now, what we can do being in AASU, that will be advised by this committee." The AASU and AJYCP leaders along with those from Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) have been separately making public statements about forming new political parties since the movement against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act began last year. Senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, who was backed by opposition Congress and AIUDF, recently floated an entity 'Anchalik Gana Morcha' (AGM) to fight the Assembly polls, slated for March-April next year. Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday announced that Congress is working to form a 'Grand Alliance' of non-BJP parties, including the AIUDF, Left and AGM, to oust the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government. However, he said the AASU-led new entity will not be a part of it. Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which was formed following the AASU-led Assam Agitation of the early '80s, betrayed the expectations of the people. "Since Independence, the Assamese people have been facing injustice. Our natural resources are being looted and the people are exploited. All national parties have worked against the interest of the state," the AASU leader alleged. Gogoi said that during the anti-CAA movement, people from across the state asked AASU and AJYCP to "do something" to protect the interest of the local people and work for Assamese culture, language and identity. AJYCP president Rana Pratap Baruah said that a joint state convention was planned for deciding the political roadmap of the two organisations, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Then the executive committees of AASU and AJYCP decided to form this committee. We will move ahead as per the suggestions of this committee," he said. On 11 August, AASU released the Centre's high-level committee's report on Clause 6 of Assam Accord, a move that was criticised by the ruling BJP as a ploy to further the student group's political ambition. The report, among other things, seeks "declared foreigners" to be settled outside the state. It also wants sealing of the entire India-Bangladesh border and reservation of almost all of the state's parliamentary seats for the local people, and the creation of a legislative council. As per Clause 6, Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. Syracuse, N.Y. Jamel Nellons had something important to tell Syracuse police. It had to do with a 2016 murder committed by his South Side neighbor and friend, who had chased down another man and shot him in the back over a debt. Nellons was in a federal prison in New Hampshire on a drug conviction. So his lawyer contacted prosecutors: Nellons would provide information in exchange for consideration for a shorter sentence. It was a deal. But hed later regret that decision. Jumping into the fray of a murder prosecution forced Nellons to do something that he later realized hed never do: snitch on a friend. It ran against everything hed learned on the streets. And it wasnt something he wanted his own sons to do, either. I have sons who look up to me, Nellons explained later in court. Especially, I have an older son, and I dont want him to go around ... so peoples, like, oh your dads telling on people, so I dont want him to grow up living like that. Nellons believed so strongly in not testifying that he was willing to go to jail instead of taking the witness stand. His case offers a rare look inside the no-snitching culture that makes prosecuting murders and other crimes so difficult. Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard reviewed hundreds of pages of court transcripts and interviewed prosecutors and others to tell this story. Nellons didnt want to sign a statement when police came to interview him in federal prison in 2018. But the detectives were convincing: He had to do it to live up to his end of the bargain. So he did. A year went by. Nellons hoped that he wouldnt actually have to testify in court. But he did. The shooter, Eduardo Vazquez, decided to take his case to trial in August 2019. I didnt think it was going to go that far, Nellons admitted later in court. When it was time, prosecutors called upon Nellons to testify. That was too much. Nellons balked at taking the stand against his friend. There was nothing good that could come out of it, he said. By then, his police statement and a photo lineup -- in which hed IDed the killer -- had leaked out to his old neighborhood. It was posted at the corner store and his mom had a copy hanging in her house. In the end, his reputation was at stake: Would Jamel Nellons be forever known as a snitch? Everything in his statement was true, he admitted in court. He hadnt seen the shooting himself, but had heard what others said happened. Hed correctly pointed Vazquez out of the police lineup, and signed his name to it. A judge ordered Nellons to testify. He refused. So the judge sentenced Nellons to 30 days in jail the maximum punishment allowed under law for failing to testify when called upon as a trial witness. Vazquez was convicted anyway of fatally shooting 26-year-old George Solomon on Coolidge Avenue in July 2016. But that didnt absolve Nellons of his refusal to testify. Earlier this month, Nellons surrendered before the judge. His month-long sentence had been delayed by a paperwork snafu and later by the pandemic. Hed since been released from federal prison and was trying to put his life back together. At his own sentencing, Nellons had no regrets about refusing to testify, even with the benefits of hindsight: He was concerned for the safety of his family, his lawyer said. Hes sure he would have made the same decision again, and Im sure hes prepared for the consequences of that decision, defense lawyer Ed Klein said in court. Prosecutor Melinda McGunnigle, who handled the original murder trial, simply asked the judge to enforce the punishment hed promised. Nellons made a last-ditch bid for mercy: His girlfriend had passed away and he was caring for her child, he said. Hed just gotten a business certificate to start his own company. But state Supreme Court Justice Gordon Cuffy held firm: Nellons knew what was coming when he refused to testify a year ago. He wished Nellons luck after serving his punishment. You knew what the penalty was, Cuffy told him. Its time to get this over with. Nellons left the courtroom in handcuffs, begging someone to contact family and make arrangements for the child in his care. His lawyer promised to handle it. An ingrained culture Prosecutors say the no-snitching culture is so ingrained in certain Syracuse gangs that nearly every murder trial requires arm-twisting to get witnesses to cooperate. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has called witness intimidation the enforcement arm of the no-snitching culture the biggest problem facing the criminal justice system. Under that code, helping police and prosecutors solve crime is not virtuous and a civic duty; its snitching, a traitorous and immoral act of betrayal. In nearly every murder trial involving gangs and drugs, at least one witness has to be held in jail beforehand to ensure their testimony in court, the DAs office has said. Thats called a material witness warrant. Other witnesses simply disappear from their jobs and homes in the weeks before trial, hoping they cant be found in time. One homicide prosecutor, Shaun Chase, said that in half of murder trials hes prosecuted, theres a witness like Nellons who refuses to testify at all. For witnesses in jail themselves, another 30 days is often very little deterrent, he suggested. In Nellons case, there were no threats and no intimidation. It just violated his own code. And the deal - 53 days off his drug sentence - wasnt nearly enough to break the code, he said later: It was like it was worth nothing. On the other hand, testifying would violate the unwritten rules hed grown up following. Conscience, cant sleep no more, you know, Nellons said of refusing to testify. I shouldnt have done it in the first place, and its like -- I know if I continue going on, I will not be able to sleep knowing that -- Im just not going to feel comfortable testifying. My mom knows I snitched In murder trials, there are strict rules to prevent witness intimidation. No ones supposed to know someone like Nellons is cooperating until that person takes the witness stand. Police statements and investigative paperwork are kept under seal as sensitive before trial, meaning only a very few key law enforcement have access. A computer system tracks whoever logs into the file. But Nellons police statement leaked out to the corner store and into his own moms house. How did his mom get a copy? The statement is just passing around, I guess, Nellons said. I dont know whos doing it, but its just out there. Nellons mom later told prosecutors that the leak changed how people looked at her. Oh, we know your sons snitching. We know your sons a rat, people told her. He also thought about his children: Was snitching a lesson he wanted to teach them? How would his eldest son -- who already had kind of an image, as his dad put it -- be treated by others if his dad snitched? People would look at him differently, Nellons said of his oldest son. They wont look at him as the same. They wont treat him the same. Court investigates leak Nellons explained his reasons for not testifying during a mid-trial hearing over how his confidential police statement got leaked to the public. Nellons did take the witness stand during that hearing, which was held in public court, but outside the presence of the jury. And he didnt describe what he knew about the murder, only why he wouldnt testify. Nellons testified during the hearing that he had no idea how his statement got into the public. He did not even have a copy himself, he said, though he discovered his mother had one. The only way Nellons statement could have been leaked is through Vazquez himself, Chief Assistant District Attorney Melinda McGunnigle argued at the hearing. Jail personnel intercepted Nellons statement being passed from an inmate at the downtown jail to another inmate at the Jamesville Correctional Facility, McGunnigle testified. The downtown inmate was one of Nellons cousins. He sent the paperwork to another inmate because others couldnt believe that Jamel Nellons, of all people, was snitching, he later told jail deputies. There was no legal reason to confiscate the documents, though, so the jail sent them along. What happened from there remains unknown. At the end of the hearing, Cuffy, the trial judge, agreed that Vazquez was likely the original distributor of the statement: the defendant and his lawyer were the only ones entitled to it besides law enforcement. But the judge concluded theres no proof that Vazquez spread it with intent to intimidate Nellons. After all, inmates share their case files with fellow inmates all the time to get opinions on trial strategy. In any case, McGunnigle said, the fact Nellons statement was posted at a corner store for all to see, and in his mothers house, was the main reason he wouldnt testify. From where he grew up, people dont snitch, McGunnigle said. And now people are finding out that he did snitch. Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070. The COVID-19 pandemic has come under control in many Asian countries where it flared up early in its course. Among these is Japan, where the first case was reported on January 15, 2020, leading to a rapid increase in the number of infections. A new study explores whether and how the practice of routine BCG vaccination of infants may have curbed the initial spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Japan. The research is published in the Journal of Infection. Image Credit: Yusnizam Yusof / Shutterstock The History of COVID-19 in Japan So Far The island country went into a state of emergency in seven of its prefectures on April 7, which was extended just over a week later, on April 16, to the whole country. This was lifted on May 25, 2020, by which time there were well over 16,600 cases. The current study retrieved data on the prevalence of the infection and BCG vaccine coverage in terms of the number of vaccinations per live births. The researchers found, from their analysis of the data, that the COVID-19 prevalence varied among the 47 prefectures, from zero in five prefectures on March 29 to as many as 298 per million in Tokyo, on May 1. The death rate was highest in three prefectures, at 9 per million in Fukui prefecture to above 5 per million in Ishikawa. High case fatality rates were observed in Gunma, Aichi, and Ehime prefectures, ranging from over 10% to over 6% of confirmed cases (by positive polymerase chain reaction testing). The Vaccine The BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) is the lynchpin of tuberculosis control programs in most of South Asia. This attenuated mycobacterial vaccine was introduced in 1924, and most data on the effect of BCG on tuberculosis incidence and vaccine-related adverse effects have come from younger people, mostly students, and nurses. From 1946 onwards, group BCG vaccination began to be given to teenagers and young adults. In 1949 the liquid formulation was replaced by a more reliable freeze-dried form. It was given to all individuals below the age of 30 and repeated annually until a positive skin test was obtained by tuberculin skin testing (TST). The method of administration was altered to multiple skin punctures in 1967 to avoid the adverse effects due to intradermal administration. In 1974, the policy was altered to ensure that infants below the age of 4 years received the vaccine on a routine basis, followed by two more doses in the first year of elementary school, and in the first or second year of junior high school following a TST. The government declared a state of emergency concerning tuberculosis in 1999 due to the failure of slower methods to prevent the flare-up of new cases. By 2003, revaccination was no longer in force, since it lacked proof of effectiveness. Two years later, the policy was to immunize infants below 6 months of age and then below the age of one year in 2013. This vaccine was given at low rates and with extremely variable coverage between 1999 and 2002. In eight prefectures, fewer than 50% of infants received the vaccine and less than a third in Tokyo and Kanagawa. However, with the national policy on better prevention of tuberculosis in 2004, as well as bringing about a change in the targeted age group, the national coverage increased to 1.18. In Iwate prefecture, it rose to 1.47. From 2006 onwards, vaccine coverage went up to over 50% in every prefecture except for Miyagi, with 42%, moving steadily upwards until it has crossed 90% in all prefectures since 2013. In turn, this led to a steep drop in the incidence of tuberculosis, from 698 in 1951 to below 18 per 100,000 in 2011. The Mechanism of BCG Vaccination The immunity induced by the BCG vaccine is trained immunity, where adaptive and innate immune responses come into play to improve host defenses against non-specific pathogens. Newborns who have received this vaccine within 10 days of birth show an elevated IL-6 level at baseline. Still, when stimulated by exposure to a pathogen, the production of interleukins and other chemokines actually drops. This could be the reason for the reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2 in this population with high BCG coverage, as well as for the decreased infection and mortality rates among the younger age groups in Japan. This efficacy possibly contributed to the protection against SARS-CoV-2 spread, infection, and mortality in communities with high BCG vaccine coverage among younger people. BCG Correlated with COVID-19 Prevalence and Mortality Going back to the figures in the period 1999-2002, in 2004, and in 2012, the researchers found that the prevalence of COVID-19 was inversely correlated to BCG vaccine coverage in ten prefectures. The higher the infection rate, the lower was the vaccine coverage in 2004 terms. The vaccine target age group was actually below the age of 4 before 2005. Therefore in the first year of coverage included in the study, the vaccine covered population was born between 1995 and 1999. The prevalence of confirmed and symptomatic patients was negatively correlated with the percentage of children vaccinated in 2004, the ratio of people above 65 years of age, and when people were employed in the tertiary sector of industry. COVID-19-related deaths were also inversely correlated with this parameter. However, the number of cases, PCR-positives, and deaths were positively associated with the number of days from the diagnosis of the first patient until March 29, 2020. A more detailed analysis of the age-stratified population showed that the prevalence of the infection was higher among the age groups 2034 and 4054 years. These generations may actually be among those who were poorly covered by vaccination, in the years leading up to 2005. Implications and Inferences The researchers say, This is the first study to demonstrate an impact of routine infant BCG vaccine coverage among younger people, especially those born between 1995 and 2004, on local COVID-19 spread in Japan. The explanation for this association is that BCG reduces the number of asymptomatic transmissions, where infections that result in no or only mild symptoms spread the infection substantially. These findings suggest that BCG vaccination does play an influential role in protecting against the spread of infection on a mass scale. The sparing of people above the age of 65 years may mean that in Japan, this age group is not more susceptible to the infection. However, they did observe a high case fatality rate in those above 70 years, possibly because this virus often causes a hyper-inflammatory systemic syndrome characterized by a cytokine storm. This can result in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Such unregulated cytokine secretion is more common in older people and especially in men. Older people may suffer a higher mortality rate because they did not receive quality BCG vaccination and may not have benefited from the liquid formulation they were administered before 1949. Moreover, a positive TST precluded vaccination at that point. Other studies have shown that universal BCG vaccination with a high coverage rate among young people under 25 years protects against COVID-19. Two studies have contradicted these findings, in Israel and Germany, respectively. However, in both these countries, universal immunization was stopped in 1982 and 1990, respectively, and asymptomatic spread has not been quantified, which makes it difficult to compare these studies directly with the current one. Several studies have compared the incidence and severity of COVID-19 among countries with different BCG vaccination policies and found a protective effect of universal BCG vaccination, especially during the past 15 years, and high vaccination coverage in young people under 25 years of age.20 The authors sum up: The current study demonstrated that routine infant BCG vaccine coverage in young people showed a protective effect against local COVID-19 spread in Japan. The possible relevance of infant BCG vaccination to high mortality among elderly patients with COVID-19 should be elucidated. Currently, an uptick in the number of infections of the novel coronavirus in Tokyo is causing confusion and concern among health officials charged with bringing the outbreak under control. OFFALY environmental campaigner Tom Roche has begun what could become a series of one-day fasts to protest against the use of tropical timbers in Ireland. On the day of his 71st birthday, UN World Humanitarian Day, Mr Roche has embarked on what he calls a "hunger strike" to highlight the ongoing destruction of forests worldwide. The founder of environmental lobbying and educational organisation Just Forests, Mr Roche has pinpointed Offaly County Council in particular as a local authority which is in breach of its own adopted policy. He played a central role in drafting a policy on responsible timber use which was adopted by the council 19 years ago but he says it has never been properly implemented. This year he has pointed to the use of non-native timber in the new seating in Tullamore town centre, including O'Connor Square. This morning at 8am he began his fast outside Aras an Chontae, the head office of the County Council in Tullamore. He says he is seeking a meeting with council management but will break his fast at 6pm and then return tomorrow if necessary. He has been in written communication with the council on a number of occasions this summer and has been told in a number of replies from senior executives that procedures were being followed on timber use. There is nothing there that would indicate to me they have any intention of doing the right thing and putting a policy back in place, said Mr Roche. In relation to a previous county manager's declaration that timber would be sourced from sustainable sources "as soon as practicable", Mr Roche said he never agreed with the insertion of such a clause in the policy. That has to be removed. That was put in afterwards to my total objection. The original policy was much stronger. He said there was "uproar" at the time on the strategic policy charged with drafting and proposing the policy. It caused a lot of hullabaloo and a lot of people lost faith in the strategic policy committee process at that stage and I did too. That's why I wouldn't join in this time. This policy needs to be updated and tropical timber needs to be totally excluded." He condemned the use of tropical timber in the cladding of Aras an Chontae, an award winning building acclaimed by architects. "It's the ugliest building in the country. It's a shame to think that it's tropical timber wood." Ireland is not a suitable country for the use of timber exteriors on buildings, he insisted, and there is enough native timber for properly treated street furniture. It's a north American and Australian custom. Our custom is stone and concrete for exterior. Wood is not for outdoor use. It's grand for beautifying interiors but not practical in that application." He said he had no regrets about spending his birthday outdoors without food on World Humanitarian Day and stated he also wished to remind the public that over 200 people had been killed worldwide last year protecting the environment. This is just my contribution to the overall picture," he said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic was linked with human encroachment on natural forests. "Covid-19 is a direct result of ecosystem destruction. This is why this use of tropical timber in this country has to stop. We can't be sucking the goodness out of tropical countries any more and expecting to have no more pandemics. We will if we continue the destruction. He said he will eat at 6pm. I don't want to jeopardise my health," he said. I'll be back tomorrow if I don't get any face to face meeting. See this week's Tullamore Tribune and Midland Tribune for more on Mr Roche's campaign. Almost three quarters of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital still suffer symptoms three months later, a study has claimed. Researchers found that 81 out of 110 patients had breathlessness, fatigue and muscle aches long after their battle with the disease. Many also struggled to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing or going back to work because of their 'long Covid', scientists claimed. Doctors at Southmead Hospital in Bristol found one in seven survivors had evidence of lung scarring in abnormal chest scans. Matt Hancock has already admitted that he is 'worried' about the long term impacts plaguing coronavirus 'long-haulers'. The Government has pumped 10million into studies into the long-lasting effects of the disease, which some experts have called 'this generation's polio'. This graph shows how many patients reported each symptom when they were admitted to hospital and 12 weeks later. It shows the initial symptoms of a fever, cough and loss of taste/smell have reduced. But breathlessness, excessive fatigue and muscle aches have persisted The graph shows how the health life quality scores of Covid-19 hospital patients (mild, moderate and severe) were lower than those of the population (black lines) The new findings are from the North Bristol NHS Trust's Discover project, which is studying the longer-term effects of coronavirus. Dr Rebecca Smith, study co-author, said: 'There's still so much we don't know about the long-term effects of coronavirus. 'But this study has given us vital new insight into what challenges patients may face in their recovery and will help us prepare for those needs. IS LONG TERM COVID A BIG PROBLEM? Long term symptoms that have been reported by Covid-19 survivors, both suspected and confirmed, include hearing problems, persistent loss of taste or smell, severe fatigue, breathlessness, muscle aches, joint pain, 'brain fog,' memory loss, a lack of concentration, mental health problems and even hair loss. Up to 500,000 Brits are suffering from psychosis, fatigue and loss of eyesight after recovering from coronavirus, MPs were told in August. Campaigners have even warned some doctors are dismissing many of the symptoms of 'long Covid' as being 'all in their heads'. The founder of the Long Covid Support Group, Claire Hastie, said the lasting effects of the illness had left her wheelchair-bound. Ms Hastie, who was diagnosed with Covid-19 in March, claimed data from the King's College London symptom tracking app shows that up to 500,000 people in the UK are currently suffering from the long-term effects of Covid-19. A survey recently found a third of British doctors have treated patients with long term Covid-19 symptoms, including chronic fatigue and anosmia. The impact on the NHS will be profound, said Richard Vautrey, of the British Medical Association (BMA), which conducted the research in August. Researchers from Italy have reportedly found that almost 90 per cent of patients discharged from a Rome hospital after recovering from coronavirus were still experiencing at least one symptom two months after coming down with the illness. British scientists have already launched an investigation into the long-term impacts of Covid-19 in search of answers to thousands of people's problems, which has been referred to as 'this generation's polio'. The Department of Health has announced that up to 10,000 people will be involved in the Leicester-led study to look at how people who catch the coronavirus fare long-term. The DISCOVER study will also be running a study, supported by the Southmead Hospital Charity. It will collect blood samples as well as medical information from patients. Advertisement 'We're pleased researchers at Southmead Hospital are leading the way and hope our findings can help patients and their GPs understand the course of post-Covid illness and the role of routine tests.' A total of 163 patients with coronavirus were recruited to the study. Nineteen of those died. The remainder were invited for a three-month check-up and 110 attended. The majority of patients (65) had needed oxygen when they were hospitalised. Some 27 did not need oxygen therapy, while 18 were treated in ICU. Most (74 per cent) had at least one persistent symptom notably breathlessness and excessive fatigue, which were both reported by 39 per cent of volunteers. Insomnia was reported by 24 per cent of patients. Fewer than five per cent of the volunteers said they were struggling to sleep when they were admitted to hospital. Patients who had suffered more severe Covid-19 reported more symptoms on their follow-up. Only patients who required oxygen therapy in hospital had abnormal radiology, clinical examination or lung function. Of the 110 patients, 15 patients had abnormal radiographs, which suggest lung scarring. Two patients' readings had worsened since they were allowed home from hospital. When looking at their quality of life, respondents with lasting symptoms scored lower. Again, those who had more severe Covid-19 were affected worse. Patients had been asked to fill out the SF-36 questionnaire to get a score between zero and 100, with higher scores indicating better health quality of life. It measured general perception of health, energy, body pain and feeling limited in daily tasks due to either physical or emotional problems. The researchers did not give a figure for how much worse Covid-19 survivors' scores were compared to the general population. But a bar chart of the findings show Covid-19 patients scored lower in every aspect. For example, those who had been hospitalised but not given oxygen therapy scored their energy at around 40, compared to 62 in the general population. The preliminary findings were published on August 14 as a pre-print paper, meaning they have not been looked at by other academics. The research is due to continue at Southmead Hospital, with researchers collaborating with the University of Bristol to look at blood test results, rehabilitation therapies and psychological support. Dr David Arnold, who is leading the Discover project, said: 'This research helps to describe what many coronavirus patients have been telling us: they are still breathless, tired, and not sleeping well months after admission. 'Reassuringly, however, abnormalities on X-rays and breathing tests are rare in this group. Further work in the Discover project will help us to understand why this is, and how we can help coronavirus sufferers.' Although this study found persistent symptoms were typically higher in those who were more severely ill, 'Long Covid' has been anecdotally reported by people who only had mild cases of the disease that they expected to be over within a week. Early this month, MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group on coronavirus heard from previously fit people whose lives have been turned upside down by a host of symptoms. Claire Hastie, who is a member of a Long Covid Support Group on Facebook, described how she used to cycle 13 miles to work but can no longer walk 13 metres and is now largely confined to a wheelchair with her children providing much of her care. Dr Jake Suett, a staff grade doctor in anaesthetics and intensive care medicine, said: 'I was doing 12-hour shifts in ICU. 'And now a flight of stairs or the food shop is about what I can manage before I have to stop... if I'm on my feet then shortness of breath comes back, chest pain comes back.' Today, Aug. 19 Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov got acquainted with activities of the dairy processing enterprise in Kochkor region, Trend reports via Kabar. According to the president's press service, this visit took place within the two - day working trip of Sooronbay Jeenbekov to Naryn Oblast. Head of the enterprise Bolot Tolonov informed that a new milk processing plant with total estimated cost of KGS 72 million that meets international standards, is currently being built under the project in order to expand the plant. Expansion of production will allow to produce 10-20 tons of milk per day, create 100-150 new jobs and opportunities for milk sales to farmers in Kochkor and Jumgal regions of the oblast. To date, an additional KGS 26 million is needed to fully implement the project. President Jeenbekov noted with satisfaction the success of the enterprise, which makes a significant contribution to the economic development of the regions and provides jobs for the local population. "The funds of the state and investors have been allocated to support small and medium businesses, which in the future will guarantee the integral development of the country's economy," he stressed. The Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, Aiyl Bank OJSC and Guarantee Fund OJSC have been recommended to allocate preferential funds for the completion of the dairy processing plant construction project by September this year. Former President Barack Obama speaks from Philadelphia on Wednesday during the third night of the Democratic National Convention. Read more Former President Barack Obama delivered a searing rebuke of President Donald Trump during a Democratic National Convention address in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, saying the countrys very democracy is at stake if Trump wins a second term. Trump, Obama said, has unleashed Americas worst impulses. Obama spoke from the Museum of the American Revolution, near the Liberty Bell, a site intended to evoke the countrys founding, and the values Democrats say are at risk under Trump. He appeared in the biggest city of one of the countrys most important swing states. Standing in front of a museum display about the writing of the Constitution, Obama said a president should be the custodian of this democracy, but that Trump had failed. READ MORE: Kamala Harris accepts Democratic nomination for vice president, urges voters to back Joe Biden For close to four years now, hes shown no interest in putting in the work, Obama said. No interest in finding common ground. No interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Obama, who has mostly followed presidential tradition and avoided taking direct aim at Trump, on Wednesday attacked him in unusually direct and harsh terms, assailing the man who many voters chose as a response to the Obama years. Obama and Trump have had a bitter relationship for years, dating back to Trumps false attacks on Obamas citizenship. Obama on Wednesday pointed starkly to the consequences of the coronavirus and the countrys fumbling response to the pandemic. Donald Trump hasnt grown into the job because he cant. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever, Obama said. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. Trump, tweeting in all-caps as Obama spoke, wrote WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? Obama stayed out of the Democratic primary, hoping to preserve a role for himself as a party unifier when the nominating contest was over. But on Wednesday he hailed Democratic nominee Joe Biden, praising his former vice presidents character, experience, empathy, and dignity. He made me a better president, and hes got the character and the experience to make us a better country, Obama said. He concluded with a lengthy appeal to voters to use this election to preserve the countrys principles saying they have been endangered not just by Trump, but by those who enable him. I am also asking you to believe in your own ability to embrace your own responsibility as citizens to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure, Obama said. Because thats whats at stake right now. Our democracy. Do not let them take away your power, he added. READ MORE: That girl from Philly Jill Biden says her husband Joe can heal America Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian, said on Twitter that no former President has ever attacked his incumbent successor at a convention like Obama did Wednesday. Obama, the countrys first Black president, spoke on a night that showcased Democrats diversity. His speech came shortly after an address from Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated for president by a major party, and shortly before a speech from Sen. Kamala Harris, the first woman of color nominated for vice president by a major party. The Republican National Committee said Obama and Biden led a weak recovery from the last recession and backed international trade deals that would have had devastating consequences for American workers. For eight years, Joe Biden and Barack Obamas administration had the opportunity to make lives better for the American people, yet they repeatedly dropped the ball, an RNC statement said. About 200 people gathered at 3rd and Chestnut Streets and cheered as Obamas motorcade arrived at the museum around 9:30 p.m. He waved to police officers as his vehicle whisked him into the museum. Scott McCarthy, 58, of Queen Village, called himself a progressive who had misgivings about Obamas presidency and Bidens candidacy. But he called Trumps tenure an abomination and said he plans to volunteer for get-out-the-vote efforts for Biden. Obamas visit, he said, was cool for Philadelphia, and you dont get to see a president every day of the week. Biden-Harris will be back to the status quo. ... Thats not a mandate, McCartney said. But well do the things that need to be done to defeat Trump. Obamas appearance was the latest example of how both parties are placing a premium on Pennsylvania, seen as one of the most important states in the presidential election. On Thursday, Trump is scheduled to visit Old Forge, near Scranton, for his own campaign event just outside Bidens childhood hometown. READ MORE: Trump is about to steal some of Bidens spotlight just outside Scranton, of course And at the Democratic convention on Tuesday, Jill Biden, Joe Bidens wife, stressed her Willow Grove background, while a joint-keynote address featuring young, rising figures in the party included three Pennsylvanians: U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia, and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, who represents a Trump-friendly district outside Pittsburgh. Biden has consistently led in Pennsylvania polls, but it is expected to remain one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds in the country. Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the last name of Scott McCarthy. a State Bank of India (SBI) share price rose almost 3% on Tuesday amid a report that the lender would raise Rs 10,000 crore through sale of bonds. State Bank of India share gained 2.61% to the intraday high of Rs 200.2 on BSE against the earlier close of Rs 195.10. The large cap stock stands higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day and 100 day moving averages but lower than 200 day moving averages. The share has lost 30.64% in one year and fallen 40% since the beginning of this year. Market capitalisation of the bank stood at Rs 1.77 lakh crore as of today's session. In a month, the share has gained 5.6%. Total 13.76 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 27.38 crore. This is first bond sale by the SBI in 2020 and large domestic institutional investors, such as Life Insurance Corporation of India and the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) are likely to infuse funds in the lender. Share Market News Live: Sensex rises 150 points, Nifty at 11,430; SBI, Indian Oil, GAIL top gainers The tier-II bonds are likely to offer 6.65-6.75 per cent, with a 15-year maturity, reported The Economic Times. The bonds will likely come up for bidding on the electronic platform of bourses on Wednesday. SBI plans to raise Rs 25,000 crore capital through additional tier-1 (AT1) and tier-II bonds from the market in FY21. This capital is expected to strengthen capacity to grow business and create buffers to withstand shocks. In Q1 of current fiscal, the lender reported a 81.2% growth in its standalone profit at Rs 4,189.34 crore in Q1FY21 against Rs 2,312.2 crore profit in the previous quarter an year ago. Company's Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, came 16.1% higher YoY at Rs 26,641.56 crore, compared to Rs 22,938.8 crore in the year-ago period. SBI also reported a one-time gain of Rs 1,539.7 crore this quarter. Lender registered a sharp decline in fresh slippages at Rs 3,637 crore in Q1FY21, compared to Rs 8,101 crore in Q4FY20. SBI's provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 12,501.3 crore, rising 36.1% YoY, including an additional provision of Rs 1,836 crore on account of COVID-19 related accounts. Provisions were down 7.4% QoQ. An Australian consulate in China warned Crown Resorts about significant levels of fraud in its visa program for VIP high rollers as far back as 2010 and said it was rejecting one in every 10 applications. The revelation is contained in emails between Crown employees and federal officials at the Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou, which were presented on Wednesday to a NSW government inquiry into Crown's casino operations. Crown's Australian resorts CEO Barry Felstead defended the company's vetting processes for protecting against the infiltration of its casinos by organised crime groups. The inquiry is examining whether Crown should keep its licence for its soon-to-be-completed $2.4 billion casino at Barangaroo. In one exchange from 2010, a senior migration officer at the consulate advised a Crown employee that "a significant number" of the visa applicants recommended by Crown had "no connection to Crown casino or anybody who intends to gamble there". Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 20) A former United States envoy said the Philippine government must address pressing issues in its backyard and have a strong backbone, rather than being too reliant on superpowers like the United States, China, and Russia. Curtis Chin, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, said the Philippines must find its inner strengths to resolve its domestic problems such as corruption, bureaucracy, and inequality that continue to persist. "We must recognize that the Philippines' destiny is in its own hands and a strong Philippines will require a stronger economy and will require the president of the Philippines to address what I call that little bric of bureaucracy, regulation, inequality and corruption, you know," Chin told CNN Philippines Rico Hizon on The Final Word on Wednesday. Chin said a strong economy is the best backbone for Manila to get rid of its societal issues--a big factor for other nations to forge stronger ties with the Philippines. I hope thats what lies ahead for the Philippines regardless of who is the U.S. president, said Chin, reacting on the possible implications of a Democratic Party victory in the U.S. presidential elections in November. "It's not just who is the U.S. president but what will the Philippine president do." "From my perspective as a long-time friend of the Philippines and a frequent visitor, I have faith in the Philippines, but it needs to free up the Filipino people by addressing those domestic issues," he added. In his State of the Nation Address last July 27, President Rodrigo Duterte stressed he cannot go to war against Beijing over the West Philippine Sea dispute, calling himself "inutile" in that aspect. Duterte also sought the help of Moscow in procuring COVID-19 vaccines for Filipinos, even offering himself to be the first to take it to prove its safety. However, Duterte has been critical of Washington and in February ordered the serving of notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which laid out protocols between American soldiers in Philippine soil and Filipino soldiers in American territory. However, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr. announced in June that the VFAs termination will be suspended "in light of the political and other developments in the region." Conservatives, the thinking ones at least, know why they came up badly short in last Novembers federal election. Simply put, under Andrew Scheer they failed to offer a forward-thinking vision that would expand the partys support beyond its western and rural base into vote-rich regions like the GTA and Greater Montreal. The world has changed in ways we could not have imagined in the eight months since Scheer announced he would step down as leader. The coronavirus hadnt even been identified. The biggest national issue we seemed to face was a resurgence of western alienation. How quaint. But the basic question for Conservatives, as they choose a new national leader this weekend, remains the same. Who is best-placed to appeal to the many urban and suburban voters who dont believe the party has fully embraced the realities of Canada in the 21st century? To which one must now add: who is likely to craft the most effective alternative to the expansive (and no doubt expensive) post-pandemic plan that the Liberals sketched out this week after the abrupt departure of Bill Morneau as finance minister? This isnt just a private matter for Conservative party card-holders. All Canadians have a stake in seeing a viable alternative to the governing party, and in seeing the Conservatives remain faithful to their heritage as a strong and progressive (in the traditional sense of the word) force for nation-building. Not, in other words, allowing themselves to become a vehicle for the type of regressive populism thats on the march in so many other countries. The best person to take the Conservatives forward now, in our view, is Peter MacKay. He has the most impressive track record in government as a former minister of justice, foreign affairs and defence. Most importantly, he has campaigned in a way that will position the party for the next election. Of the four candidates for the leadership, MacKay has spent the least time courting support from social conservatives, whose pet issues he once famously referred as a stinking albatross around Scheers neck. His campaign has focused on creating jobs and on a major investment in the military. And he says hes keenly aware of the need to create a more modern, forward-looking image for the party. His leading rival, MP Erin OToole, campaigned as a centrist when he sought the leadership in 2017, but this time he has consciously positioned himself as the right-wing alternative to MacKay. He calls himself a true blue Conservative and back in January warned that MacKay would turn the party into a Liberal-party lite. (In the same interview, OToole dismissed the Liberals as government led by the editorial board of the Toronto Star, so were well aware of the weight hell place on our opinion.) Theres not much evidence that OToole himself is a convinced social conservative. But hes chosen to court their support this time out and if he wins the leadership it will be seen as a victory for that wing of the party. That will make it tougher for Conservatives to win over the urban/suburban voters who rejected them last year. Of the two other leadership hopefuls, newcomer Leslyn Lewis has impressed many party members as a serious and substantive candidate. Shes campaigned on social-conservative issues but also attracted support from centrists. She may surprise with a strong showing on Sunday. Derek Sloan, on the other hand, has stuck resolutely to the extreme right with a focus on restricting abortion and immigration, demonizing the World Health Organization, railing against face masks as political control, and so on. The less support he ends up with, the better for the party and the country. The new leader, whoever it is, will face an enormous challenge. Trudeau and the Liberals damaged themselves with the WE Charity affair, but in the midst of a pandemic Canadians are demanding more government help, not less. The traditional Conservative message of restraint will be a harder sell than usual. All this argues for someone who appreciates the importance of sticking close to the political centre. For Conservatives now, thats Peter MacKay. County OKs 699-unit Tap Root development Henderson County commissioners on Wednesday approved a rezoning change to permit 699 townhomes and single-family homes on 297 acres on Butler Bridge Road at the French Broad River, ending a long and contentious effort by the Tap Root dairy farm owners to develop the land for residential use. The unanimous approval came with nearly 70 conditions that the developer is required to meet. Commissioner Bill Lapsley chaired the meeting in place of Grady Hawkins, who had recused himself from the case because his wife's sister is married to one of the owners. County Attorney Russ Burrell drafted an agreement that requires the developer to meet 67 different conditions, and during the meeting commissioners added two or three more. Lapsley, Rebecca McCall, Michael Edney and Daniel Andreotta all voted yes. Lapsley and other commissioners said that, although they still had some misgivings, the conditions protected the public, the interests of the Asheville Regional Airport and prospective homeowners. A longtime leader of industrial recruiting in the county over many years, he was intimately familiar with repeated efforts over many years to land an industry for the property. "For a variety of reasons, nothing clicked," he said. "If I had my druthers, that's what I would like to see on this property but I don't think it's fair to hold the landowner to continue to go down that road when clearly it has not worked." The rezoning "is a big deal," he said. "It is a very significant concentration of people in one area of our community and we take this decision very seriously and we've gone in great depths agonizing over whether this is the right thing to do." Among the conditions Lapsley considered most important were requirements for: Approval of a master plan for the building of 472 single-family homes and 227 townhomes. Minimal lot size of 7,100 square feet for at least 75 percent of the homes. At least 20 feet separation between all buildings. 5-foot sidewalks on one side of internal streets. The homeowners association to maintain streets, which will be private and not part of the NCDOT system. The roadways at 27 feet wide, including 2-foot valley curb. The parking lot for the townhomes includes 114 spaces. A permanent easement on the banks of the French Broad River for a future greenway. 121 acres of open space for use by the homeowners and the public. A disclosure statement, called an avigation agreement, that home buyers would sign. The agreement would say that buyers understand the proximity to the Asheville Regional Airport approach and that they accept the risk. Public water would be provided by the city of Hendersonville and sewer by MSD, which now serves northern Henderson County in place of the old Cane Creek sewer district. Fletcher Fire and Rescue be directly invovled in placement of fire hydrants in the subdivision and on adjacent property. McCall said: "We've had a year to try to find an industrial use and we've reached a time where it's time to move forward. This will be a cost of $250,000 if it's completely developed, for the county," which she said would offset new property taxes. "I was also concerned about this being a bedroom community for Buncombe County because it's so close to the county line," she said. But she came down on the side of people moving from surrounding counties to Henderson County. "We need to be able to provide housing for people that are wanting to live and be residents of Henderson County." Andreotta has a daughter who lives in River Stone across the road from the Tap Root land. She expressed concern about the development months before he was appointed to the Board of Commissioners. He said he told her there were numerous factors, including the potential for a use like "a Vienna sausage plant" that residents might find offensive. His biggest disappointment, he said, was that the developer, national homebuilder D.R. Horton, had resisted a condition that it hire local contractors for the construction work. He estimated the value of the work at around $200 million if the development is fully built out. "I just think that would be a positive thing to come into this county," he said. Bill Alexander, attorney for the sellers, the Johnston family, responded that most of the work will likely go to local contractors and trades people. "Norton is committed to using as many Henderson County residents as possible," he said. He has identified 16 local vendors that could work on the construction. "When they start the first phase there are sometimes trade specialties that are not available," Alexander said. "It's the intention to put all their specialty trades out for bid locally. Even if they hire for instance a statewide specialty trade contractor, usually 80 percent or more of the actual labor used for those statewide contracts is local labor." Hawkins thanked Lapsley, a civil engineer, for his work in negotiating an agreement on the conditions commissioners, the airport and neighboring homeowners had demanded. A couple who allegedly breached Queensland's tough border restrictions visited a restaurant, a cafe and a hospital in the days after entering the state, social media posts shows. Lawrence Gordon Petersen, 63, and Edith van Dommelen, 68, are accused of lying about travelling to a coronavirus hotspot on their border forms. The couple allegedly entered into Queensland at Goondiwindi on July 27, despite having been in coronavirus hot spot Victoria just two days before, coming into the state to house sit at multiple locations. The pair often house sit and pet sit for families across Australia, and share pictures of their adventures on social media for friends and family to see. According to what appears to be Ms van Dommelen's page, the couple had been in Woodend, about 72km from Melbourne, just days before they made their way into Queensland. Lawrence Gordon Petersen, 63, and Edith van Dommelen, 68, (pictured) are accused of lying about travelling to a coronavirus hotspot on their border forms The couple allegedly lied to border officials about where they had been, claiming they hadn't been in a coronavirus hot spot - despite apparently posting on social media from Victoria The couple from Perth (pictured) entered into Queensland from Victoria on July 27, they were there to house sit at multiple locations across the state Queensland strengthened its border restrictions on Victorians on July 9 after Melbourne's COVID-19 cases soared. Previously Victorians could enter the Sunshine State if they spent two weeks in quarantine - but now they have been banned completely and will be turned back if they try to enter Queensland. Queenslanders have been forced to pay for their own quarantine if they return from Victoria. 'We'll miss the beauty and rustic Victorian countryside with all its numerous historic sites and places to sightsee but it's time to move on,' Ms van Dommelen's Facebook page says. The Perth couple had made multiple attempts to leave Victoria, they shared on Facebook. 'I did say watch this space.......well confirmation that Plan C to exit Victoria, has been successfully executed and completed,' she wrote. The pair (pictured) often house sit and pet sit for families across Australia. They share pictures of their adventures on social media for friends and family to see They share pictures of their adventures on social media for friends and family to see (pictured, Ms van Dommelen) 'Now relaxing in our Toowoomba accommodation for 2 nights until the start of the first of two house/pet sits that replaced SA Crystal Brook house/pet sit that we should have started today.' 'Plan A' had been to exit Victoria with a permit to enter South Australia, but they would not have found out if they could get through until they got to the border. 'Plan B' was to exit Victoria with a NSW permit as seasonal workers, they would've had to self-isolate for 14 days, which they were going to do in Tuross Heads in NSW, the social media posts show. 'However, on (July 21) at midnight that option was removed our permits voided not valid, needed to reapply under new application and new exemptions', Ms van Dommelen wrote. 'Plan C' saw them enter NSW with a permit for being 'in transit by road rail or plane' as they made their way to Queensland. She detailed their journey after crossing the border, sharing how they had stayed at a hotel in the main street of Toowoomba and eaten at a nearby cafe. Queensland strengthened its border restrictions on Victorians on July 9 after Melbourne's COVID-19 cases soared Motorists are seen approaching a checkpoint at Coolangatta on the Queensland- New South Wales border (pictured on August 7) On July 30, Ms van Dommelen shared how they had been to Brisbane hospital. 'First day at our Nanango house/pet sit, trip to Royal Brisbane Hospital taking our host...for her pre op appointment and check in preparation for her submission into hospital next Monday for major shoulder surgery,' she wrote. The couple were caught after police received a tip-off about their travel plans. They were immediately placed in mandatory hotel quarantine outside the South Burnett area. The couple appeared in the Richlands Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning charged with fraud and failing to comply with border directions, the Courier Mail reported. Their case was adjourned to September 15 to allow them time to seek legal advice. Police will allege the couple crossed the border with false declarations, claiming they had not travelled from a COVID-19 hot spot. (Bloomberg) -- The future of Chinas largest artificial intelligence company was thrown into question last year when it was blacklisted by the Trump administration. Today, SenseTime is thriving with growing demand for its facial recognition software, especially as local governments in China adopt its technology to battle the coronavirus. The Hong Kong-based startups revenue surged 147% to 5 billion yuan ($720 million) in 2019 and its customer base increased by about 500 to 1,200 clients, according to co-founder Xu Bing. Sales are on track to climb 80% this year to about 9 billion yuan and gross profit could double, according to people familiar with the matter. We see business demand for ways to mitigate the virus outbreak on the rise, Xu said in a phone interview. He and SenseTime declined to comment on revenue projections in an emailed statement. That momentum has SenseTime contemplating an initial public offering. The company is close to completing a $1.5 billion funding round that values it at about $8.5 billion pre-money, paving the way for a stock sale, people familiar have said. The company -- whose backers include SoftBank Group Corp., Temasek Holdings Pte and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- is leaning toward a dual listing in Hong Kong and China, the people added. The Covid-19 pandemic has been extremely controversial ever since infections emerged in Wuhan eight months ago. Countries such as the U.S. blame Chinese authorities for censoring information about the outbreak that could have helped slow the spread. Now Chinas economy is recovering quickly from the crisis, while the U.S. and many others struggle to get back on track. Chinese authorities have succeeded by using laws and technologies that governments like the U.S. have resisted. When a cluster of Covid-19 patients flared up in northeastern China, the government installed sensors to guard the citys subway entrances. The cameras provided by SenseTime detect whether the passengers are wearing masks, their temperature, and even their identities with their faces covered. Story continues Its an example of how the ruling Communist Party, once wary of private entrepreneurs, is now supporting technology companies that have come under attack from the Trump administration, including SenseTime, Huawei Technologies Co., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., parent of TikTok. The country has pledged to spend $1.4 trillion to develop its own tech industry and overtake the U.S. in key sectors. Read more: AI Unicorn SenseTime Is Said to Mull Hong Kong, China IPO In the case of facial recognition, concerns about privacy are taking a back seat while the country militantly traces and tracks outbreaks. Hard-line measures adopted by Beijing allow provincial governments, companies and residential complexes to deploy facial recognition devices with little resistance. The temptation to use such technology more broadly against the virus has fueled privacy concerns. In April, more than 130 human rights groups published a letter cautioning against an expansion of surveillance powers. States cannot simply disregard rights such as privacy and freedom of expression in the name of tackling a public health crisis, it said in the letter. Still, business is booming for SenseTime. The company is working with 127 cities across China to use cameras to analyze everything from traffic to residential complex security. Its facial recognition program for subways, known as the Smart Commute System, is used in cities from central Zhengzhou and Xian to northeastern Harbin. Passengers can opt to register with the cities subway apps to pay their transportation fee using face scans. That can allow them to be identified even with their masks on. The company declined to disclose how many people have selected the program, because the data sits with the respective city governments. The technology is possible in part because SenseTime zooms in on data points on a persons face not covered by a mask to enable identification, said Xu. And its not the only one working on such technology. Wuhan University, for example, said its developed competing software with 90% accuracy, according to a local media report. Its data gravity that nobody can stop. China is pushing facial recognition across the nation during this pandemic, said Isaac Mao, an angel tech investor. In the U.S., there are roadblocks including civil society, privacy regulations and governance structure to push back on facial recognition and companies profiting from it are facing a backlash, but in China this is whats missing. (Updates with SenseTimes backers in the fourth paragraph) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Mumbai, Aug 19 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out searches at 20 locations including Mumbai and Delhi in connection with a money laundering case against Tablighi Jamaat Markaz chief Maulana Saad and others, sources said. According to top ED sources, the raids were conducted at 20 locations, including seven in Delhi, five in Mumbai, four in Hyderabad, and three in Kerala. Besides raiding the residence of Maulana Saad in Zakir Nagar area of Delhi, the searches were conducted at the residential premises in Mumbai's Andheri and SV Road area of a person who is an alleged associate of Saad. An ED source said that the agency also carried out searches at a money changer centre in front of the Tablighi Jamaat building in Nizamuddin Area of Delhi. The source said that the financial probe agency got the information that the foreign currencies were exchanged at the said money changer centre in Nizamuddin. The agency will now seek the details of the last six years, about who all associated with the Tablighi Jamaat exchanged money from the centre and if there was any role of any of the members of the Tablighi Jamaat. The ED will also seek details of how much amount was exchanged in the last six years. Officials refused to divulge any further information on the identity of the people whose houses were being searched.In April, the ED had lodged a case after Delhi Police filed an FIR against Maulana Saad on charges of culpable homicide and violation of the lockdown rules amid the pandemic outbreak.The ED registered the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Saad under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the FIR registered by Delhi Police on March 31. According to ED officials, Saad is among a group of around nine people named in the ECIR filed by the agency, which has initiated a probe to investigate the transactions in the Tablighi trust created by Saad. The Central probe agency will investigate the funds being received by Saad to organise Tablighi congregations and other activities. Saad's bank account details and other transactions in the country as well as foreign funding from overseas bank accounts will also be part of the ED probe. Certain donations received by the Islamic organisation from foreign and domestic sources are also under the scanner of the agency. In an audio message released after the Delhi Police case, Saad had said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz tested positive for Covid-19. Kenmare Resources plc (Kenmare or the Company) 19 August 2020 Board Update Kenmare Resources plc (LSE:KMR, ISE:KMR), one of the leading global producers of titanium minerals and zircon, which operates the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine in northern Mozambique, is pleased to announce the appointment of Deirdre Somers as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. In conjunction with her appointment to the Board, Ms Somers also becomes a member of Kenmares Audit & Risk Committee. Ms. Somers has over 20 years experience in senior management positions, having served as Chief Executive of the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) from 2007 to 2018 and, prior to that, as its Director of Listing. Ms. Somers led the ISEs transformation to a highly profitable entity with global specialisms culminating in its sale in March 2018 to Euronext NV. She also held the position of President and Board Chair of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges from 2015 to 2018. Ms. Somers, a qualified Chartered Accountant, also worked with KPMG for eight years and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Cork. Since April 2019, Ms. Somers has acted as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the following investment entities, all of which are listed on the London Stock Exchange: iShares plc, iShares II plc, iShares III plc, iShares IV plc, iShares V plc, iShares VI plc and iShares VII plc. She also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director for BlackRock Institutional Pooled Funds plc and Institutional Cash Series plc, both of which are listed on Euronext Dublin. There are no other matters in respect of Ms. Somers requiring disclosure under UK Listing Rules 9.6.13(1) to 9.6.13(6) inclusive. Statement from Steven McTiernan, Chairman of Kenmare: I am delighted to welcome Deirdre to Kenmares Board. Having served as the Chief Executive of the Irish Stock Exchange for 11 years, she brings a wealth of governance experience at the highest level. Deirdres skillset will complement the skills of our current Directors to provide a robust balance of knowledge, experience and diversity, benefitting the Company greatly in the years ahead. For further information, please contact: Kenmare Resources plc Jeremy Dibb / Katharine Sutton Investor Relations Tel: +353 1 671 0411 Mob: + 353 87 943 0367 / + 353 87 663 0875 Murray (PR advisor) Joe Heron Tel: +353 1 498 0300 Mob: +353 87 690 9735 About Kenmare Resources Kenmare Resources plc is one of the worlds largest producers of mineral sands products. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Euronext Dublin, Kenmare operates the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine in Mozambique. Momas production accounts for approximately 7% of global titanium feedstocks and the Company supplies to customers operating in more than 15 countries. Kenmare produces raw materials that are ultimately consumed in everyday quality-of life items such as paints, plastics and ceramic tiles. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday vowed continued resistance against the U.S. sanctions that will eventually "break and go away," Trend reports citing Xinhua. "Neither will the oppressors at the White House, nor the sanctions stay forever. The sanctions will break and go away," Rouhani was quoted by semi-official Fars news agency as saying at a cabinet meeting. Commenting on the U.S. failure to pass through at the UN Security Council a resolution that asks for extending the current arms embargo against Iran, Rouhani stated that Washington cannot use the snapback mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2213 to snap back UN sanctions against Iran. "All countries knowledgeable in political and legal matters have denounced and are denouncing the U.S.," the Iranian president said. Flash Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will travel to Singapore and the Republic of Korea (ROK) this week, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will visit Singapore from Wednesday to Thursday, at the invitation of Singapore government, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing. Yang will also have consultations with ROK officials in the city of Pusan from Friday to Saturday, at the invitation of Suh Hoon, top national security adviser of the ROK, Zhao said. Inc. magazine today revealed that Seventh Sense Consulting, LLC is No. 1878 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. The level of growth we have attained is a direct reflection of our leadership, our client facing Family members, and our focus on quality."- CEO, Herb Watson Seventh Sense Consulting is a Virginia based, Minority-Owned, SBA 8a Certified, VA CVE Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) providing full acquisition lifecycle support, program management, seta, logistics and management consulting. We support Federal and Defense agencies in enhancing integration, transparency of core acquisition, procurement and grants with agency program missions by optimizing core processes, knowledge, education, training and tools. We provide our clients with innovative solutions to enable acquisition and program management organizations to fundamentally improve their inherent capability to reduce acquisition cycle time and cost, while enhancing the quality and fidelity of its acquisitions and programs. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 18. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. CONTACT: Marissa Lindsay, Marketing Associate Lindsaym@seventhsenseconsulting.com 917-399-2227 More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire -- InsuraGuest Technologies, Inc. (TSX.V: ISGI) (the Company), under its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary InsuraGuest Insurance Agency, LLC (the Agency), has signed Swarts, Manning & Associates (SMA) for its agency/broker program, which focuses on agencies and brokers that write general liability polices specifically for hotels. InsuraGuest will utilize SMAs brokers and business network in Utah, Nevada and California to access SMAs hotel clients and integrate InsuraGuests insurtech software platform to deliver its hospitality liability coverages. Our focus has always been on risk management and improving the risk profile of our hospitality clients, states Mark Swarts, founder and president of Swarts, Manning & Associates. Adding InsuraGuests products to our partner list will help us reduce their hotel clients risk ratios and claim ratios while potentially lowering their GL premiums. InsuraGuest insurance coverage, which is purchased by a property, automatically delivers hospitality liability coverages through the propertys management system via the Companys proprietary insurtech (insurance + technology) platform. These coverages address claims from guests and their room occupants during their stay at a hotel; coverages insert a layer of protection on a primary basis should a guest experience an accident or theft. InsuraGuest hospitality liability coverages become the propertys first line of defense, which will help lower the propertys claim ratio and risk profile. By lowering the propertys claim ratio or risk profile, InsuraGuest may stabilize or lower the propertys current general liability premiums. InsuraGuests insurtech platform is currently capable of integrating with approximately 70 different hotel and property management systems, giving it access to millions of rooms worldwide. InsuraGuest Insurance Agency administers the InsuraGuest hospitality liability coverages for hotels and is licensed in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia. Story continues InsuraGuests hospitality liability coverages are underwritten through an insurance company that is rated A (Superior) by A.M. Best Insurance Company. About Swarts, Manning & Associates Founded in 1996, Swarts, Manning & Associates has quickly established itself as a leader in the insurance industry. As a full-service agency, Swarts, Manning & Associates is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive, customized and cost-effective insurance solutions available. With specialized departments dedicated to commercial insurance, personal insurance, health benefits and bonds, Swarts, Manning & Associates enables its clients to partner with an industry expert for assistance with risk management needs. The companys dedication to customer service and its knowledgeable, friendly staff are just a few of the reasons why Swarts, Manning & Associates stands as a leader and innovator within the insurance industry. For more information, visit the companys website at https://www.swartsmanning.com/ . About InsuraGuest Technologies Inc. Harnessing the Power of Technology to Reinvent Insurance InsuraGuest Technologies (TSX.V: ISGI) is an insurtech (insurance + technology) company that is disrupting the insurance landscape by utilizing its proprietary software platform to deliver digital insurance to multiple sectors. The Company is transforming the way insurance is delivered with the revolutionary idea that insurance should be bought, not sold. CA / LIC: 6001686 For more information, visit the Companys website at https://www.InsuraGuest.com . Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect managements current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. There is no assurance that this new business product offering or other planned products will be successful. The insurance industry is intensely competitive, and the Companys competitors have significantly more resources than the Company. Acceptance by potential customers is difficult to predict, particularly in the case of new products and disruptive technologies. If the Company fails to achieve market acceptance it will significantly impact its results and financial resources. Achieving market acceptance may require advertising budgets that exceed the Companys current resources and require the Company to seek additional debt or equity financing. There is no assurance that such financing will be available at reasonable prices or at all. 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. Company Contact: Investor Relations +1-212-466-6200 Ext. 1 Investor@InsuraGuest.com Corporate Communications: InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN) Los Angeles, California www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the kingdom supports peace in the Middle East on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for normalization with Israel to be paired with withdrawal from the occupied territories and the creation of a Palestinian state. Why it matters: This could be interpreted as a cool initial response to the U.S.-brokered normalization deal between Israel and the UAE. Between the lines: Israeli officials said they'd hoped for a warmer reaction to the deal from Saudi Arabia, which has refrained from either praising or criticizing it. The Israeli government hopes Saudi Arabia, a secret ally in Israel's efforts to counter Iran, might follow the UAE in recognizing Israel. During a press conference in Berlin with his German counterpart, the Saudi foreign minister also warned that unilateral Israeli steps, like annexing parts of the West Bank, will undermine the chances for peace and a two-state solution. The big picture: The Israeli government hoped the UAE move would break a diplomatic deadlock among Arab countries, none of which had recognized Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. A Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said yesterday that the North African country intended to follow the UAE's example, and it was already in talks with Israel. But the foreign minister himself then intervened, saying he was "astonished" by the spokesperson's comments, which were "not authorized." The spokesperson was later fired. Go deeper: SOLON, Ohio -- The history of the city and its fire department will be celebrated throughout September at the Western Reserve Fire Museum and Education Center in downtown Cleveland. The museum, at 310 Carnegie Ave., is featuring the fire departments of Solon and Westlake this year as part of an ongoing exhibit, Sound the Alarm! Suburbs Respond to the Need for Fire Protection. A special commemorative event focusing on Solon is slated for 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 12 at the museum. Ward 6 Councilman Bob Shimits, a longtime Solon firefighter who serves as president of the Solon Historical Society, will speak briefly about the citys history, and Fire Chief Mark Vedder will discuss the history of the fire department. Admission to both the Sept. 12 event and the museum throughout September will be half-price for Solon residents and employees. Its an honor to be featured, and its great for our city to showcase our fire department, said Shimits, who retired as a Solon firefighter in 2016 after serving the department for 25 years. We have one of the premier fire departments in the area, and it highlights our bicentennial year, so I think its good timing for the whole thing, he said. Jim Bell, president of the Western Reserve Fire Museum Board of Directors, said its a happy coincidence that the Solon Fire Department is being featured at the museum during the citys bicentennial year. Bob Shimits is very active with the fire museum and is a good friend of ours, and he mentioned the city was celebrating its bicentennial this year, Bell said. We wanted to highlight the Solon Fire Department as part of this exhibit, so it worked out for their bicentennial, as well. Shimits added, I do some volunteer work at the museum, and they knew we had a good selection of memorabilia that would make a nice exhibit. I worked for the fire department all those years and collected a lot of memorabilia from the department, he noted. Shimits said its been disappointing that the city has had to cancel most of the events it had scheduled this year for the bicentennial celebration, due to the coronavirus pandemic. We had to do what we did for the safety of our residents, he said. At least we get to offer something to the residents to show off a little bit of our history. Bell said the museums plan was to feature the Solon and Westlake fire departments this entire year. Both displays have been set up since the year started, but the museum had to close due to the pandemic from mid-March until July 1, when it reopened and the exhibit resumed. A highlight of the Solon part of the exhibit, Bell said, is a 1929 Ford Model AA fire truck that was one of the first pieces of equipment owned by the then-volunteer fire department. Its been completely professionally refurbished, and its a gorgeous piece, he said. Bell and Shimits said the exhibit also includes many artifacts from the Solon Fire Department, such as uniforms, badges, helmets, log books, photos and protective equipment firefighters have worn over the years. It shows the transition from the old days to modern equipment, Bell said. We also have storyboards about the history of the department and a video about the history of the city itself, he said. The Solon Fire Department was started in 1924 when the village purchased a Ford Model T truck, according to the citys website. A volunteer department was organized in 1928. It has grown from a one-man volunteer department to a modern career department with about 60 men and women operating from three fire stations. Bell said the museum also has a public education wing, including a kids corner, with puzzles, games and other activities for children. He added that light refreshments will be served at the Sept. 12 event, and visitors are welcome to view the exhibit that day, as well. The exhibit featuring Solon and Westlake will be on display until mid-December, when a transition will begin for a new exhibit next year, Bell said. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and $5 for children. Shimits said he encourages Solon residents to come to the museum, both to see the exhibit and to attend the special event Sept. 12. Its a family-friendly event (on Sept. 12), and the museum is fun for kids as well as adults to check out, he said. Come on down and see what our fire department is all about. For more information, visit the museums website at wrfmc.com or call 216-664-6312. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. An inmate at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario pleaded no contest to second-degree sex abuse and was sentenced to nearly four ye OUR PICK: The Salisbury Poisonings SBS, Mon-Thurs 8.30pm Anne-Marie Duff in The Salisbury Poisonings. Had this British dramatisation of the 2018 events that shook the British cathedral town of Salisbury screened last year, it might have felt, at times, like quite dreary television. The news story made global headlines: a former Russian military officer and double agent and his daughter were poisoned by Russian agents using a deadly nerve agent the stuff of classic Cold War-era fiction. It would have been easy to make an espionage thriller about what happened to 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, and the ensuing political fallout. Instead, writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, both journalists who have worked on the BBC current affairs program Panorama, have chosen to explore the impact on the ordinary citizens of Salisbury, who became collateral damage. Advertisement Talented dogs indulge in the 'woof waltz' and 'canine conga' after they were taught how to dance by a teacher who bribed them with treats in the Philippines. Jeric Sadullo has adopted more than 20 dogs, one of whom he rescued from the streets, and spends his spare time playing with them and teaching them how to dance. He bribes the dogs with treats for attempting dance moves - and posts images of his menagerie 'dancing' on social media to raise awareness about dog welfare and to call on others to treat canines with respect. 'We spend a lot of time playing with my dogs on my breaks from work,' he said. 'I work in the city and can come home only on weekends. My family takes care of my dogs with two hired helpers. Do the Canine Conga: Jeric Sadullo has adopted more than 20 dogs, one of whom he rescued after he found it hiding on a street corner, and spends his spare time playing with them and teaching them how to dance Doggy dancing! The dogs have learnt to stand on their hind legs and wave their arms to an imaginary beat for the photographs Thriller! Mr Sadullo said that after he started taking photos of them he noticed so much detail that the naked eye misses 'It is during this playtime where I explored taking pictures of the dogs for sharing. And while I'm away, I would just browse my captures and share them on social media. 'I'm not a trained photographer and just tried to learn my way with loads of playtime, treats, good timing and fast setting for my old camera. 'That's when I realised there are a lot of things we are missing from the actions and reactions of dogs. It's too fast for the naked eye. He added: 'My photos are well received, and I put characters on the dogs because I'm trying to influence a thought in someone's mind. For them to pay attention to their pets and do the things that a responsible pet owner must do.' Photographs reveal two black pugs along with several other breeds of dog posing for the photos. Practically Paw-fect: These four dogs are shown wobbling on their hind legs. The pictures are posted on social media Let's have a paw-ty! Two black pugs try their luck at some dancefloor moves at Mr Sadullo's family home The doggy dance: Two pooches are pictured above jigging to an imaginary beat in the Philippines. The photos are shared on social media to raise awareness about the animals and to encourage people to be kinder towards them We can take the heat usually Thanks to our meat-eating ancestors, who could run down prey in long midday chases on the African savanna, we humans are able to keep our body temperature in the range where we function best in a wide range of conditions, even those combining extreme heat with extreme exertion. So, whats the problem? Humidity. There wasnt very much of it in the African Rift Valley 2 million years ago to shape us. And evolution does not think ahead. The combination of high heat and high humidity is most common on islands, peninsulas, the eastern half of the U.S., and the eastern third of China. NOAA.gov Subject to the direction of the competent authority, only a limited category/number of matters for final hearing may be listed for physical hearing, the SC registrar said in a letter to the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association New Delhi: After nearly five months of restricted functioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court has decided to start physical hearing of cases within a week's time, though in a limited manner. The top court administration has informed bar body Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) that three among the bigger courtrooms will be readied within that time for physical hearing, while adhering to the prescribed distancing and other norms and as per medical advice. "Subject to the decision of the competent authority, it has been suggested that a limited number of cases will be listed for physical hearing on an experimental basis upon prior consent and willingness in writing of all parties to such matters/cases," the communication sent by an apex court registrar said. "On an experimental basis, and as a pilot scheme, three amongst the bigger court rooms may be got prepared, within a week's time through the concerned agencies, strictly adhering to the prescribed distancing and other norms and as per medical advice with regard to physical infrastructure required in these courtrooms," a communication dated August 18, sent to the president of the bar body said. "Subject to the direction of the competent authority, only a limited category/number of matters for final hearing may be listed for physical hearing inside such courtrooms, and the numbers may be gradually increased if the ground situation so warrants and permits," the communication said. It clarified that all other matters, including miscellaneous ones which are listed on Mondays and Fridays, shall continue to be heard through video/teleconferencing mode, as per existing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) till further orders. The top court administration said that considering the vulnerability of some stake-holders and their family members to the COVID-19 infection, it has been recommended that requests for exemption from physical hearing may be considered favourably. The top court administration has also clarified that these initiatives are being taken in view of demands and requests made by certain sections of the Bar with regard to the functioning of the Supreme Court and these steps would not apply nor be made to apply in respect of any other court, tribunal or adjudicatory authority in the country. On 17 August, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, during hearing of a matter through video conferencing, had told a lawyer that glass partitioning is being done in the courts, as the top court was readying itself for physical hearing. On 11 August, a committee of seven Supreme Court judges, which is looking into the suggestions and requests for resumption of physical hearing, recommended sitting of three out of the 15 benches in the apex court with some additional safety measures. The apex court has been holding hearings through video conferencing since 25 March due to the COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed, it has decided to continue with the practice. In the last week of July, the 7-judge panel headed by senior most judge Justice NV Ramana had apprised the bar leaders of its decision to not open the apex court for physical hearings "for the time being" and had assured to meet them again after two weeks to reconsider the issue. The judges' panel has met leaders such as Bar Council Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave and Shivaji Jadhav on the issue of resumption of physical hearings in the top court. Bar leaders have been demanding the start of the physical hearings as soon as possible, while continuing with virtual court hearings with an improved system for limited types of matters. Justices Ramana, Arun Mishra, Rohinton Nariman, UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and L Rao are part of the committee set up by the CJI to look into the issue of resumption of physical hearings in the top court. . Burma "AA Frees Five Members of Rival Arakan Liberation Party in Myanmar's West" Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy YANGONRakhine ethnic armed group Arakan Army (AA) has released two senior members of a group Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and three civilian medics it abducted in Rakhine States Ponnagyun Township last week. Among those abducted were ALP First Joint Secretary Khaing Aung Soe Than, liaison office staff member Khaing Htay and three other members who are medics, working for the Rakhine Community Health Workers Association (RCHWA). According to the ALP, they were detained by the AA while returning from a colleagues funeral on August 10. They were detained by the AA. They said they are fine and not injured. They told me when I got contact with them at 4 pm [on Tuesday], ALP Lieutenant Colonel Khaing Kyaw Hlaing told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. The ALPs leaders are currently attending the Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw and was unable to provide details, he said. Khaing Kyaw Hsan, a medic with the RCHWA, said: All the five abducted were released. They were taken for interrogation and released afterwards. I found no injuries on them. The ALP said the AA has so far detained party members on four occasions, twice in 2017 and twice this year. A total of 12 ALP members were detained in those incidents and two managed to escape. There are unconfirmed reports that the AA has killed other detainees. Lt-Col Khaing Kyaw Hlaing said he did not expect the ALP members detained in 2017 to be released, but asked for the release of those seized in May. The ALP has also accused the AA of killing its members, which the armed group denies. Based along the borders with Bangladesh and India, the ALP and its armed wing, the Arakan Liberation Army, are an ethnic Rakhine revolutionary group formed in 1967 to fight for equality. The ALP signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015 and is participating in the peace process. The AA is an ethnic Rakhine rebel force involved in fierce fighting with Myanmars military. As the government has declared the AA a terrorist organization, The Irrawaddy was not able to contact the armed group for a comment. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Think Tank Boss Wins Justice Award for Boosting Trust, Reconciliation in Rakhine Five Abducted as Feud Between Myanmars Ethnic Rakhine Groups Continues The Toronto Police budgeted to spend $5.5 million on their 40-person mounted unit in 2020 nearly as much as of all the new spending council approved for community-based initiatives to tackle gun violence this year. That police spending is just a fraction of their $1.076-billion operating budget (net after revenues) that was detailed publicly for the first time on Tuesday. The spreadsheets offer a detailed look at what is being specifically spent on uniforms, overtime, animals, legal services and more amid ongoing calls to defund the police. This enhanced budget disclosure is an effort to improve public trust, transparency and accountability of the service and to modernize the budget approach, a note from interim police chief Jim Ramer and chief administrative officer Tony Veneziano said. The service is committed to delivering public safety services in the most effective, efficient and economical manner. Police spokesperson Allison Sparkes said the finance department plan to collect questions and feedback from the public and will post a response in September. Most of the Stars specific questions Tuesday were not answered. Sick pay 2020 budget: $21.2 million; Spent to-date: $7.6 million (36 per cent of budget) Under the collective agreement signed between the Toronto Police Association representing officers and the Toronto Police Services Board, the police have budgeted to spend nearly $220 million in benefits for more than 7,600 members (current uniform and civilian strength is 7,340, according to the document). Apart from pensions and medical coverage, sick pay is the single largest line item, consisting of both a central sick bank ($4.2 million budgeted) and whats called sick bank credit grants ($17 million), which according to the service is sick pay gratuity paid out to employees with a minimum of 10 years service as specified in various collective agreements. A question about how the pay is specifically allocated to members was not answered. Mounted unit 2020 budget: $5.5 million; Spent to-date: $3.6 million (65 per cent of budget) The 40-person mounted unit, not including horses, is by no count the most expensive unit in the service, but became the ire for some members of the public who challenged why city officials were reluctant to make spending cuts, questioning its overall usefulness to the city. Despite some of those charges, the horses are not actually costing much money $131,000 is budgeted for both animals and supplies in 2020. As with all other aspects of policing, the most expensive part of the unit is the members pay and benefits, making up a vast majority of the budgeted expenses. The $5.5 million budgeted for the unit in 2020 is nearly as much as the $5.9 million spent in total on new community-based initiatives council approved to tackle gun and youth violence in 2020. Legal services 2020 budget: $5.7 million; Spent to-date: $2.2 million (39 per cent of budget) Both the service and the board itself have legal services on their separate budgets as well as budgeted and real costs for external lawyers and planners but the police responses did not explain why external lawyers would be needed or what was meant by planners. The service has budgeted $2.4 million for legal idemnification of officers under the Police Services Act, officers can be reimbursed for their reasonable legal costs if they are found not liable, not guilty or to be acting in good faith while on duty. The spending to-date totals $249,258. The 2019 spending totalled $2.9 million. Gas 2020 budget: $8.4 million (before $1.9 million in revenues); Spent to-date: $6.9 million (before $579,528 in revenues, 82 per cent of budget) Gasoline is the single most expensive line item in the polices materials and supplies budget and far more than the total expense for firearms and ammunition ($1.4 million). Some of the total gas spending is expected to be recovered, however, through reimbursements from the Toronto Paramedic Services who uses the polices gas, the services response said. Book and magazine subscriptions 2020 budget: $124,000; Spent to-date: $20,995 (17 per cent of budget) The police service did not answer what kind of subscriptions the service has. Computers: 2020 budget: $1 million; Spent to-date: $4.2 million (more than 400 per cent of budget) The spending to-date on computer hardware and software has ballooned well above the approved budget for 2020. The service responded saying many factors cause actual spending to fluctuate, including grants, departmental transfers, and in-year spending decisions in response to emerging priorities but did not specifically answer what led to the overages for computers. Uniforms and clothing: 2020 budget: $7.9 million; Spent to-date: $5.9 million (75 per cent of budget) There are several line items relating to what officers wear, not including their standard-issue batons, handguns and other equipment as well as cleaning expenses and reimbursing plainclothes officers for qualified clothing in the performance of their duties ($1.4 million was budgeted, but spending to-date was inexplicably in the negative). In their response, the service noted some costs are governed by legislation and collective agreements, like the clothing reimbursement expenses. Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @jpags The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies are convened for a joint extraordinary session on Thursday at noon to consider a motion of censure tabled by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) against the Orban Cabinet. The decision regarding the convention of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in an extraordinary session is signed by the chairs of the two legislative forums, Speaker Marcel Ciolacu and Chairman Robert Cazanciuc.At a joint meeting on Monday, the standing bureaus decided that the censure motion "PNL Government - from pandemic to generalised bribery," initiated by PSD and signed by 205 senators and MPs, should be read on Thursday at noon.The Social Democrats claim that government officials have violated all rules imposed on the public following the novel coronavirus pandemic.The document dedicates a chapter to "PNL parties in the time of the pandemic," in which it shows that "members of the government have irretrievably lost their credibility for the way they have managed the pandemic."It also has a chapter on "contradictory restrictions imposed on Romanian citizens." According to the Social Democrats, "another major cause of the Orban 2 government's loss of control over the pandemic was the endless series of contradictory decisions and measures."PSD also mentions what they call the "plundering of the national budget under the guise of the pandemic," drawing attention to a recent report of the Court of Auditors on public expenditure during the COVID-19 state of emergency.Last but not least, the Social Democrats claim that "the living standards of Romanians have collapsed" and "the people have lost everything they gained under the PSD government." According to the signatories of the motion, "The PNL government has brought back austerity, poverty and the vicious circle of low wages."***According to the Rules of Procedure of the joint sittings of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, a motion of censure is presented to the joint sitting of the two chambers five days of the date of submission, at the latest.A debate on the motion of censure shall take place no later than three days of being tabled, at a joint sitting of the two chambers. The date and place of the joint sitting in which the presentation, debate and vote on the motion take place shall be communicated to the government by the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, 24 hours before it takes place.If the motion of censure fails to gain the majority required for its adoption, the government shall remain in office. At the same time, if the motion is defeated, lawmakers who have signed it can no longer initiate, in the same session, a new motion of censure, unless the government undertakes to assume responsibility for a programme, a general policy statement or a bill.If the motion succeeds, by a majority vote of the lawmakers, the confidence vested by Parliament with the government is deemed withdrawn and the government is dismissed (Article 113 of the Constitution). DUBLIN, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Liquid Fertilizers Market by Type (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Micronutrients), Mode of Application (Soil, Foliar, and Fertigation), Major Compounds (CAN, UAN, MAP, DAP, and Potassium Nitrate), Crop Type, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global liquid fertilizer market is estimated to be valued at USD 2.4 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 3 billion by 2025, recording a CAGR of 4.4%. Factors such as the growing demand for high-efficiency fertilizers, the adoption of precision farming and protected agriculture, increasing environmental concerns, and rapid growth in greenhouse vegetable production are projected to drive the growth of this market. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic is expected to impact the global liquid fertilizer industry. The supply chain has been disrupted due to the government's imposition of lockdown across many regions. This has reduced many stakeholders involved in the supply chain from taking the products to consumers. However, many companies are managing to run the sales despite imposed restrictions and are focusing to cope up in the coming quarters. Nitrogen: The segment is projected to be the largest segment in the liquid fertilizers market during the forecast period Nitrogen is one of the most-widely consumed nutrients among all the macro and microelements required for plant growth. It is used to build amino acids, which produce proteins, and take part in almost every biochemical reaction performed in a plant. Inadequate nitrogen (N) availability in the soil is a common problem that farmers often witness. Therefore, additional liquid nitrogen fertilization is required to eradicate this problem. Urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and calcium nitrate are commonly available nutrient sources of liquid nitrogen. In addition, various combinations of nutrients are manufactured and used to provide nutrition to plants. Urea is one of the most commonly used sources of nitrogen. Cereals & grains: The segment projected to witness the largest growth during the forecast period By crop type, the liquid fertilizers market is segmented into cereals & grains, oilseeds & pulses, fruits & vegetables, and other segments. The dominance of the cereals & grains segment is attributed to the increasing consumption of liquid fertilizers for these crops, particularly in the Asian and North American countries. In addition, due to the increasing demand for crops, such as corn, wheat, rice, and sorghum, across various industries, the consumption of crop protection chemicals is projected to increase for improving the yield of these cereals. Due to these factors, the segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Asia Pacific held the largest share in the liquid fertilizer market for the cereals & grains segment, majorly due to the high production of crops, including corn, wheat, and rice, in countries such as the US, China, India, and Japan. Asia Pacific: The market estimated to account for the largest market share due to the rapid adoption of advanced technologies for improving the yield of crops in the region According to the FAOSTAT, the Asia Pacific region contributed to more than 60% of the global population in 2017, with China and India being two of the most populous countries in the world. Hence, the increase in food demand from this region has led to a surge in the use of liquid fertilizers. The growth rate of the Japanese market is also projected to be high as compared to that of the other regions, due to the adoption of precise and advanced systems for farming, as well as controlled-environment agriculture. There are more global players in the market that are focusing on entering the Asia Pacific region through the adoption of strategies such as mergers & acquisitions or partnerships. The Asia Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest rate due to the increase in demand from countries such as India and China. The high cost of these fertilizers is a key factor inhibiting the growth of the Asia Pacific market. Key Topics Covered 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Liquid Fertilizers Market 4.2 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Type 4.3 Asia-Pacific: Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Crop Type and Country 4.4 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Mode of Application and Region 4.5 Liquid Fertilizers Market Share: Key Countries 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Macro indicators 5.2.1 Increase in Production of Fruits & Vegetables 5.3 Market Dynamics 5.3.1 Drivers 5.3.1.1 Growth in Demand for Enhanced High-Efficiency Fertilizers 5.3.1.2 Ease of Use and Application of Liquid Fertilizers 5.3.1.3 Adoption of Precision Farming and Protected Agriculture 5.3.1.4 Increase in Environmental Concerns 5.3.1.5 Rapid Growth in Greenhouse Vegetable Production 5.3.2 Restraints 5.3.2.1 High Handling Costs 5.3.2.2 Lack of Awareness About Application Practices Among Farmers 5.3.3 Opportunities 5.3.3.1 New Emerging Economies 5.3.3.2 Increase in the Production and Yield of Crops 5.3.3.3 Need to Improve Pasture Production 5.3.4 Challenges 5.3.4.1 Growth in Demand for High-Efficiency Fertilizers 5.3.4.2 Unfavorable Regulatory Standards 5.4 COVID-19 Impact Analysis of Liquid Fertilizers Market 5.5 Ecosystem/Market Map 5.6 Value Chain Analysis 5.7 Supply Chain Analysis 5.7.1 Prominent Companies 5.7.2 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) 5.7.3 End-users 5.7.4 Key Influencers 5.8 Patent Analysis 5.9 Regulatory Framework 5.9.1 North America 5.9.1.1 US 5.9.1.2 Canada 5.9.2 Europe 5.9.3 Australia 5.9.4 China 6 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Nitrogen 6.3 Phosphorus 6.4 Potassium 6.5 Micronutrients 7 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Crop Type 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Macro Indicators 7.3 Connected Market: NPK (N + P2O5 + K2O) Fertilizers 7.4 Cereals & Grains 7.5 Oilseeds & Pulses 7.6 Fruits & Vegetables 7.7 Others 8 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Major Compound 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Urea-Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) 8.3 Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) 8.4 Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) 8.6 Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) 8.7 Others 8.8 Highly and Least Impacted Compounds During the COVID-19 Pandemic 9 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Mode of Application 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Soil 9.3 Foliar 9.4 Fertigation 9.5 Others 10 Liquid Fertilizers Market, by Region 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.3 Asia-Pacific 10.4 Europe 10.5 South America 10.6 Rest of the World (RoW) 10.7 Highest and Least Affected Regions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Liquid Fertilizers Market 11 Competitive Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.1.1 Market Evaluation Framework 11.2 Company Ranking 11.3 Competitive Leadership Mapping 11.3.1 Dynamic Differentiators 11.3.2 Innovators 11.3.3 Visionary Leaders 11.3.4 Emerging Companies 11.4 Competitive Scenario 11.4.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 11.4.2 Expansions 11.4.3 New Product Launches 11.4.4 Agreements, Collaborations, and Partnerships 12 Company Profiles 12.1 Nutrien Ltd. 12.2 Yara International ASA 12.3 Israel Chemical Ltd. 12.4 Nufarm 12.5 K+S Aktiengesellschaft 12.6 Sociedad Qumica Y Minera de Chile (SQM) 12.7 The Mosaic Company 12.8 Eurochem Group 12.9 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. 12.10 OCP Group 12.11 OCI Nitrogen 12.12 Wilbur-Ellis Company 12.13 Compass Minerals 12.14 Kugler 12.15 Valagro S.p.A. 12.16 Haifa Group 12.17 Compo Expert GmbH 12.18 Agroliquid 12.19 Plant Food Company, Inc. 12.20 Foxfarm Soil & Fertilizer Company 12.21 Agro Bio Chemicals 12.22 Agzon Agro 12.23 Brandt 12.24 Plant Fuel Nutrients, LLC 12.25 Nutri-Tech Solutions For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rp5mb3 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com After just one week of classes, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled all in-person undergraduate instruction. University administrators, faculty and students have already been fiercely debating what to do and this latest news brings added foreboding as we lurch towards the opening of fall semester while the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. It is a life-and-death question for colleges and universities worried about their financial health; it is a life-and-death question for staff, faculty and students worried about their physical health. It is, for these reasons, also a question that goes to the heart of the purpose of higher education. We cannot know what to do before we know why we want to do it. As a historian of modern France, I believe that a small group of Frenchmen and women in 1940 offer one valuable set of answers. Just as American universities are now trying to respond to the occupation of their campuses by invisible plague of the new coronavirus, French individuals struggled to reply to the occupation of their country by la peste brune, or brown plague of Nazi Germany. Consider the case of the groupe du Musee de lHomme. One of the earliest resistance movements, it was named after the anthropological museum in Paris, the Museum of Humanity, where many of its members studied and taught. As member Agnes Humbert later recalled, the group decided that the only remedy was to act together, to form a group of ten like-minded comrades, no more. They would meet every week in a safe place in order to exchange views and write pamphlets. I did not harbor many illusions about the practical effects, Humbert concluded, but simply keeping our sanity will be a victory. Like their war-time ancestors, academics today are absolute beginners at resistance. Unlike this earlier generation, however, we have their experience as a guide to what we might hope to achieve. It is a guide, moreover, that offers an alternative to our current teaching choices. These choicesrunning from asynchronous (taped) through synchronous (on-line but in real time) to HyFlex (a mix of in-person and on-line) classesboils down to a choice of pedagogical poisons. None of them, regardless of the bells and whistles they offer, approximate teaching in real time to real students in a real space. What, then, can we do? As Humbert reminds us, keep things face to face. While this does not require the wearing of trench coats for out-of-the-way rendezvous, it does mean the wearing of masks in open and outdoor spaces. In the city where I live and work, Rice University has done precisely this, presciently building several outdoor classrooms that will allow professors and students to meet face to face. Where such structures do not exist, as at my university, there are many shaded patches of grass that, once they are dotted with chairs, will more than suffice. Second, as Humbert insisted, the classes must be kept small. Given the need for social distancing, 10 students and no more seems both right and reasonable. Obviously, this poses immense material and logistical challenges for large lecture classes, but with the right amount of administrative will and faculty commitment, taped lectures could be supplemented by smaller sections that would meet in outdoor spaces. There is, thirdly, a critical corollary to the limit on class sizes. As the debacle at the University of North Carolina reveals, you can no more allow thousands of students return to dormitories and fraternities than, say, leaders of the resistance movements could have allowed the booking of a hotel in occupied Paris to hold a national meeting. For obvious health imperatives, this aspect to student life must be suspendeda decision which makes the holding of small classes all the more urgent. Fourth, it is only in such a setting that views can truly be exchanged and writing effectively be taught. This is why face-to-face meetings between representatives of resistance movements in France and Charles de Gaulles Free French movement in London were so crucial. The loom of conversation is flattened no less over screens than on paper. This, in turn, touches on the issue of solidarity. In the Resistance, men and women from a variety of social and political backgrounds found themselves thrown together in order to meet a common enemy. Though academics tend to be progressive in their politics, they tend to take for granted the staff who make sure the classes (and everything else) run on time. By coming to campus, faculty will make clear that the current crisis is everyones crisis. Finally, there is the matter of what such meetings and classes are meant to achieve. Over the years, the academy, challenged by critics on both the left and right, has been increasingly hard-pressed to define its purpose. Suddenly, our current crisis clarifies our task. Just as sanity was the initial goal for Humbert and Cassou, it should be the goal of universities still in the business of not just informing their students, but also forming their ability to exercise good judgment and understanding. Zaretsky teaches history at the Honors College, University of Houston and is the author of Catherine & Diderot: An Empress, A Philosopher and the Fate of the Enlightenment. Ryanair chief Michael OLeary says hundreds of pilots and cabin crew based in Ireland will lose their jobs if the Government doesnt drop the 14-day quarantine rule on visitors from Britain, Germany and most other EU nations. He said Ryanair's business was recovering in most European markets but was being "crushed" on Irish routes because the Government 'green list' for quarantine-free travel doesn't include countries with lower Covid-19 rates than Ireland. Im facing the prospect of significant pilot and cabin crew job losses in Ireland this winter if these ineffective and ridiculous restrictions which only apply in Ireland are not relaxed," he told the Irish Independent in a phone interview. Read More Were trying to prevent or avoid hundreds of pilot and cabin crew job losses in Ireland," he said. "Our bookings to and from Ireland are collapsing - that puts it too strong - are being very badly damaged in September and October. Bookings in Italy and Spain are strong. Bookings in all the other EU countries where business is going back to normal are fine. They are weaker than theyd normally be," he said. "We are a pan-European airline. We have this one country in Europe, following this bizarre and unique non-medical quarantine, where our business is being crushed. When asked whether Ryanair could support a shorter quarantine period on travellers arriving in Ireland from non-green list destinations, he responded: "No! I wont accept any quarantine at all. It has no effect. Earlier today, Ryanair published a statement decrying Ireland and the National Public Health Emergency Team as "the laughing stock of Europe". It argued that Ireland's measures weren't working because its current infection rate is higher than rates in Germany and Italy, where travel restrictions were lifted on July 1. "Why does a visitor from Germany have to quarantine here? It has a better performance than Ireland," Mr O'Leary said. In May, Ryanair said it could cut 15pc of its staff - representing about 3,000 employees - across Europe because of Covid-19 disruption. Mr O'Leary said about 80 aircraft in Ryanair's 400-strong fleet currently were grounded on a typical day due to its pruned-back schedule. But he said the cuts in services were most severe in Dublin, normally its second-busiest hub after Stansted Airport northeast of London. Dublin Airport is empty," he said. "I was up on Monday afternoon welcoming somebody back. The place is deserted. "Stansted is running probably 50pc of its normal capacity. Most of the Italian airports are running at about 70pc of their normal capacity. Dublin Airport is running at about 10pc of its normal capacity. Cork and Shannon are even worse. 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The measures apply to the pilots of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Aviation Training and some of the Germanwings pilots. The agreement includes cost reduction measures that will apply until the end of the year. Among other things, top-up payments for short-time working compensation benefits and employer contributions to the pension scheme will be reduced from September onwards. Collective wage increases negotiated for 2020 will be postponed until January 2021. The package of measures was approved by the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the Air Transport Employers' Association and the VC committees and is effective immediately. 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. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The head of Qatar's National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, stated Aug. 11 that there are ongoing challenges and obstacles to the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip that are designed to reduce the effects of the siege imposed on the Palestinians. He said in a statement that contacts with Israel are not new and are ongoing in order to facilitate the entry of aid to Gaza. Emadi added that Qatar will continue to support the Palestinian people in their steadfastness. Emadis remarks came in response to Israeli media reports that there has been contact between the Israeli Mossad and senior Qatari officials. Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported Aug. 11 that Mossad chief Yossi Cohen has been in contact with senior Qatari officials to discuss the recent escalation in the Gaza Strip and ensure that Qatar will continue to channel funds to Gaza, with the last payment ending next month. The Qatari grant, which was supposed to end in March, was extended for six months following Cohens visit to Qatar in February. In October 2018, Qatar decided to provide $150 million in emergency humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in monthly payments of $25 million. The first payment was transferred to Gaza on Nov. 8, 2018. Meanwhile, some Palestinians have resumed the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza toward Israel in recent days, to which Israel responded with airstrikes on Hamas positions inside the enclave, the latest of which was on Aug. 19. The renewed airstrikes came hours after militants in Gaza fired a rocket toward Israeli communities north of the enclave late on Aug. 18. Earlier on Aug. 18, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Israel would respond to airborne arson attacks in the same manner it does rocket attacks, and warned that there could be another major flareup." The Israeli Walla news site said in an Aug. 11 report that the launching of incendiary balloons aims to pressure Israel into implementing the truce understandings and allow infrastructure projects. The report continued that the action was linked to the delay of the Qatari aid into Gaza for the month of August. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem rejected the idea of linking the resumption of incendiary balloons to the Qatari grant payment delay for this month. He said that the balloons were a popular reaction to the fact that the siege has been ongoing for 14 years now. There is an ongoing siege that has overstrained the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and Israel tightens its siege every now and then, he noted. He added, Israel is delaying the implementation of stage two and three of the Egypt and United Nations-sponsored truce understandings reached in late March 2019. Qassem pointed out that there has been ongoing contact between Hamas and all of the mediators so as to keep them informed about the suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip, and that Hamas is grateful to all parties providing support to Gaza, most notably Qatar. Asked whether or not Qatar gave official consent to the grant renewal, Qassam refused to comment. Commenting on the options Hamas has in case the Qatari support was halted in light on the ongoing siege, he said, Our peoples choice is to continue to resist by all legitimate means until the siege is lifted. Mustafa al-Sawaf, a political analyst close to Hamas and former editor-in-chief of Felesteen newspaper, told Al-Monitor that the issue of the Qatari funds is strictly related to Qatar and has nothing to do with incendiary balloons. Rather, the popular anger in Gaza has led to the resumption of the firing of balloons, he said, noting that even if the funds are delivered to Gaza the incendiary balloons will continue to be fired as long as Israel has not implemented the terms of the truce agreement. He indicated that harsh combat tools will force Israel to do so. Israel will have to be engaged in a military confrontation with Gaza in case it did not get the message, he added. Sawaf believes that Qatar will not stop tranferring the grant payments in case it views them as serving the interests of the Palestinian people. Sawaf ruled out the possibility that Qatar ends the aid, particularly in light of the difficult conditions in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is deploying all efforts to ease the blockade and does not exclude any option. If a military confrontation with Israel will force the latter to lift the siege, Hamas will go for it. Ibrahim al-Madhoun, a freelance political analyst close to Hamas, told Al-Monitor that firing the incendiary balloons has nothing to do with the Qatari grant, but rather with Israel failing to implement the agreed-upon humanitarian and development projects, to raise the number of export and import truck loads, and lift restrictions on items allowed to enter Gaza. This has generated wide-scale anger in the Gaza Strip, according to him. Madhoun added, In case Israel does not understand the state of anger and work on easing the siege even to the minimum extent clashes with Gaza will either continue or escalate. He underlined that the Qatari pledge to provide aid to the Lebanese people following the Beirut explosion does not mean its assistance to the Gaza Strip will be reduced or cut. Qatar is ready to provide Gaza with support, and said support will not be halted unless Israel refused to or obstructed entry of the Qatari funds, he added. He noted that all Arab countries must be encouraged to follow suit and provide aid to the Palestinian people, and that all aid is accepted by Hamas as long as political concessions are not required. Tayseer Mohsen, political science professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that Gazans were forced to resort to harsh tools as Israel has failed to implement the truce understandings. This would pressure the sponsors of these understandings to have Israel meet its commitments, he said. Mohsen pointed out that Cohen's statement has embarrassed Qatar, as it made Doha look like a subordinate to Israel and is pushing for assistance so as to calm down the security situation on the borders. This has prompted Emadi to explain that the Qatari funds delivered to Gaza serve a humanitarian and services-related purpose in light of the blockade, and that they do not come in response to Israeli demands, he explained. Qatar and Hamas were in contact, and the latter obtained a genuine promise that the Qatari grant will be renewed, he added. Mohsen also said that Israel needs to assume its responsibility for failing to implement the understandings, and must realize that this is not going to be limited to the popular level. Rather, it may escalate into an armed clash, if it does not rush to ease the siege and meet the Gazan demands. He explained that Israel is keen to contain the situation and avoid a military confrontation with Gaza. This is true particularly since it delivered to Hamas an indirect message justifying the delay in the projects' implementation and attributing it to the international communitys preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic. Israel has put forward these projects before several parties in order to cover its costs, Mohsen said, adding, It is as if Israel is telling Gaza that it is not responsible for the delay. Hassan Abdo, a freelance writer and political analyst close to Islamic Jihad, told Al-Monitor that Hamas fears any shift in the financial support it obtains. According to him, a military confrontation with Israel would be an option in case said support was halted, because Hamas cannot stand a popular revolution in Gaza in protest against the poor humanitarian and economic conditions. He concluded that Hamas will be heading toward a war with Israel as an alternative to the implosion in the Gaza Strip. DAPHNE PRAIRIE, Texas -- B.F. Hicks is doing 70 mph down a two-lane road in Franklin County, Texas. He pulls up in his truck to a gated property that's closer to Arkansas than Dallas. Waist-high bluestem grass sways in the wind across 922 acres that stretch out before him. The air is filled with "dick-dick-see-see-see," the song that gives the dickcissel prairie bird its name. Welcome to Daphne Prairie, mostly flat grassland that has been in the Hicks family since 1839 and is one of the last unplowed prairies in northeast Texas. Laying at the edge of prairie as it transitions into eastern forests, the land looks today as it did when settlers arrived in Texas -- before cotton was king and concrete was poured across the region. And Hicks, a 75-year-old lawyer who visits his property weekly in a bucket hat and jeans, is trying to keep it that way, hopeful that untouched grasslands in Texas and across the country can help mitigate climate change. Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by mid-century to avert catastrophic effects from global warming. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas; the amount in the atmosphere has been rising as humans burn fossil fuels. Not only must the world stop releasing more carbon, some CO2 already in the air also must be removed, experts say. That's where the prairie comes in. As part of photosynthesis, plants pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their stems, leaves and roots. Unlike trees, grasslands store most of their carbon underground, in their roots and the soil. And that makes them more reliable "carbon sinks" than forests, according to a 2018 University of California at Davis study. Because carbon is stored in the soil, it is not released back into the atmosphere when grasslands burn, as it is when trees go up in flames. A pristine prairie can also be home to hundreds of types of plants. Poets and explorers wrote about the spectacular view above ground, but the real magic is what happens below the surface. "It's a good locker to put the carbon into," said Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and Rice University professor. "Carbon will stay in the soil for centuries." But there are few pieces of pristine land left like Daphne Prairie, untouched by plow or urban sprawl. Less than 0.1 percent, or about 5,000 acres, remain of the original 12 million acres of Blackland Prairie that once spanned from San Antonio to the Red River north of Dallas, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The trend is the same throughout the tallgrass prairie system that runs from the Texas coast north to Manitoba, making it one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. To create incentives for landowners to preserve natural land, Blackburn and the Baker Institute at Rice are leading a group of organizations as varied as the Nature Conservancy and Valero Energy to brainstorm ways to create a market for storing carbon in the soil of prairies, farms, ranches and grasslands in Texas and around the country. Funding is available to landowners for carbon stored in forests, such as California's cap-and-trade market, and the same should be done for soil, Blackburn said. The value of pristine grassland in the fight against climate change is not just its ability to store carbon, Blackburn said. Prairie grass helps the land recover from weather that is become more destructive as the planet warms, he said. Blackburn, the co-director of Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation From Disasters Center, learned this while studying Hurricane Ike, which hit the upper Texas coast in 2008. The Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston and other inhabited areas were "absolutely wiped out" by storm surge that pushed 20 miles inland, Blackburn said. But native prairies and grazing land on the coast recovered quickly. "If you are looking for a definition for the word 'resilience,' it is these native prairie and marsh systems," Blackburn said. "They evolved with storms. Storms are built into their DNA. Storms are not hard-wired into human DNA, except to run from them or the results they leave behind." Blackburn wondered how property owners could be persuaded to keep the land in its natural state to help bear the brunt of future storms. "That would be the best long-term insurance policy on the Texas coast," he said. It was hard to identify anyone who would pay landowners to mitigate flood damage, Blackburn said. But carbon storage is another matter, particularly for oil and gas companies looking for ways to offset the carbon dioxide that they emit. All native grasslands in the country together could sequester up to 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, Blackburn estimates. The nation's annual carbon dioxide output was nearly 7 billion metric tons in 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The group led by Blackburn and the Baker Institute is working on a blueprint for a nationwide program to pay for carbon storage in soil. Landowners who enter such a program would agree to a 10-year commitment. If the land is sold, the commitment restarts. The amount of carbon retained in soil can be measured in a variety of ways. The earliest method was to put a soil sample in an oven at 500 degrees. At that temperature, organic matter is burned off and carbon can be calculated using the weight of what is left. Another rudimentary way of measuring is to bring a book of color palettes into the field and match the shade of the soil to estimate the amount of carbon. Land that has been not been tilled or overgrazed has the potential to sequester the most carbon, said Hal Collins, a microbiologist with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One acre of pristine prairie can store about 5 tons of carbon, he said. Soil scientists like Collins bring samples into a lab and use an instrument designed to measure organic matter. "It basically does the same thing as the oven, but in a more controlled environment," he said. Carbon sequestration is also good for soil health, building up organic matter that has been depleted over the past 200 years because of plowing and the heavy use of fertilizer. A piece of land can recover, and store more carbon relatively quickly, with changes in cultivation, Collins said. Precision may be the key. With strip tillage, which means plowing only where a seed is placed, about 50% of the land is left undisturbed, Collins said. Targeting fertilizer to where it's needed, as opposed to spraying it across a field, can also increase the amount of carbon in the soil. A payment system for carbon storage would be welcomed even by landowners who recognize the value of undisturbed soil. Keeping land wild costs money, whether it's through actual upkeep or because of an opportunity lost. Hicks said he has spent $220,000 on gravel for three miles of roads around Daphne Prairie so he can get around easily to check for invasive species. The property has a maze of fencing with 16 gates to corral cattle that get loose from neighboring lands. He spent a few thousand on a barn and $2,500 for a thermal imaging scope for nighttime hunting of feral pigs, which tend to either eat or destroy Silveus Dropseed grass. It's all to protect the rare plants on the prairie. "It costs a lot of money. But I haven't had kids. I haven't had kids in college," said Hicks, whose family struck oil in Daphne Prairie in 1936. "This particular thing caught my attention. For the sake of nature, I feel real good about it." His godson first told Hicks about the land's potential for mitigating global warming. He decided shortly after to keep his land in a natural state for perpetuity and gave a conservation easement to the Native Prairie Association of Texas with plans to bequeath the land to the group. "I hope my life can be judged on the merits of my personal decisions -- on the prairie and in my lifestyle -- in advancing practices to limit the forces threatening our planet," Hicks said. Other landowners are less committed. Every year, 2 million acres of farmland are lost to development in the United States, according to the Texas Farm Bureau. In February, an 80-acre prairie southeast of Dallas was cleared to make way for an industrial park despite some community pushback. Less than 40 miles north of that parcel, Steve Bolgiano has a deed to 50 acres of pristine prairie in Farmersville. He bought it in 1999 and it has remained vacant since. Before 9/11, he drew up plans to build a subdivision on it. Then he thought about creating an eco-resort. These days, he is leaning toward having a wedding venue on the property. Something to keep the original landscape intact, but also capitalize on it. There's money in that view, he said. "I mow yards for a living," Bolgiano said. "I'm not Ross Perot. I can't give it away for conservancy. I can't afford it." That's why Blackburn is trying to get the ball rolling on a nationwide program. "The first priority is we've got to get a market," he said. "Landowners need to see that there's money to be made off of carbon in the soil." The amount of money sent from one mobile money account to another enjoyed tremendous growth in the first half of the year, during which the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic forced most people to reduce the usage of cash for financial transactions. The General Manager of Mobile Money Limited, a subsidiary of MTN Ghana, Mr Eli Hini, said last Monday that the amount of money sitting on all mobile money accounts (mobile money float) in the country rose from GH3 billion, as of June last year, to GH4.5 billion as of June this year. He said the June 2020 amount represented a growth rate of 62.5 per cent, year-on-year. He said the GH4.5 billion was hosted in 15.5 million active mobile money accounts as of June this year, compared to the same period last year when the number of active mobile money accounts was 12.9 million. COVID-19 Mr Hini said this when he took his turn on GraphicTalks360, a live Facebook interview session specially created by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to host prominent personalities to discuss issues of national concern. It was moderated by the Assistant Editor of the Graphic Business, Mr Charles Benoni Okine. Mr Hini added that the value and the volume of transactions, the number of accounts, as well as the number of agents offering mobile money services in the country, had all grown substantially within the period. He attributed the strong growth to the pandemic, which many experts say is an opportune catalyst for Ghana's march towards a cash-lite society an economy where electronic transactions outweigh cash-based ones. He added that the strong growth in the float meant that more money had moved from the unbanked segment of the market to the financial sector. Per Ghanas laws, the mobile money floats are hosted by the banks, as opposed to the situation in some jurisdictions, such as Kenya, where the mobile telecommunication companies host the float. Wallets Mr Hini said the growth in active mobile money wallets (accounts) was on the back of incentives introduced by the telecommunications companies to cushion the public against the impact of the COVID-19. "That represents about 20 per cent growth and I can tell you that we saw the bulk growth after we had put in place the COVID-19 incentives," he said. In March, when the pandemic first struck, the telecommunications companies waived the charges on mobile money transfers for amounts up to GH100. They also raised the limit on funds that could be sent around as part of measures to help reduce cash-based transactions in favour of electronic transactions. The waiver has since been extended to September. Agents Mr Hini said the number of agents offering mobile money services nationwide had also grown. It rose from 180,000 agents to 263,000 agents, thereby eclipsing the number of branches from which banks, savings and loans and microfinance companies operated. He said it represented a 46 per cent growth, something he described as significant. He said the transaction volumes also rose significantly, signifying that more people were relying on mobile money for transactions. Security He advised customers to jealously guard their transaction details in order not to expose them to scammers. Mr Hini said while the telecommunications companies, especially MTN Mobile Money, were doing their best to protect the system against fraudsters, customers owed it a duty to help protect themselves and their wallets against infiltration. He said the company was investing about $2.5 million in an artificial intelligence system that would secure its platform against fraudsters. Source: Graphiconline.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 Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will return to the UK to resume their charity work once lockdown travel restrictions ease, Omid Scobie has claimed. The co-author of bombshell biography Finding Freedom, currently the best-selling book in the UK, said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will undertake trips to Britain in both a private and professional capacity. Speaking to Royal Central, Scobie said the couple 'love to get out there and be active in the field'. 'Harry and Meghan have made it clear that their work in the UK, including their royal patronages, will continue,' he explained. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (pictured in December 2017) will return to the UK to resume their charity work once lockdown travel restrictions ease, Omid Scobie has claimed 'While their base will be in the US, I think once travel restrictions ease we will see them moving around again and undertaking trips to the UK, both privately and professionally.' He added: 'A lot of the work they already started, including all four of Meghans patronages, are right here on British soil.' But despite Scobie pointing out the Queen has told the couple, who stepped down as senior members of the Firm in March, that the door 'is open', he said he doesn't believe they'll return to the UK as full-time working royals. 'It's safe to say that this is a couple who are very much forward-focused and are clearly in a good place,' he told the publication. The co-author of bombshell biography Finding Freedom, currently the best-selling book in the UK, said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will undertake trips to Britain in both a private and professional capacity 'The Sussexes are more engaged in the issues that matter to them than ever, the work on Archewelltheir non-profit organisationcontinues, and, as we have recently seen, they have established a permanent family base in California. 'The UK will always be important to them, but I dont think well ever see that happen again as working royals.' Finding Freedom was selling 31,000 copies across the UK five days after its release on August 11, its publisher has claimed Last week it emerged that Meghan, 39, and Harry, 35, bought a sprawling nine-bedroom and 16-bathroom mansion in upscale Santa Barbara for $14.65million on June 18, making them neighbors with celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, according to DailyMail.com. Meghan offered a glimpse into their home during an interview with the 19th* co-founder and CEO Emily Ramshaw on Friday, while Harry gave fans a sneak peek during a video call with athletes participating in his Invictus Games competition. Finding Freedom offers a window into Meghan and Harry's lives during their time as senior royals, and is full of details on their shock exit from the royal family. It addresses the alleged rift between brothers Harry and William, 38, as well as the relationship between their wives. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex claim they were not interviewed for the book, which provides a high level of personal detail and a dramatic account of the events leading up to their departure. Scobie has given several high-profile interviews to publicise the book in the week since its release, including one with True Royalty TV which hit the headlines. Meghan offered a glimpse into the Sussexes' new Santa Barbara home during an interview with the 19th* co-founder and CEO Emily Ramshaw on Friday In the discussion with Kate Thornton he claimed Prince Harry had made an exasperated call to his grandmother, 94, following an alleged tussle with Her Majesty's long-time dresser Angela Kelly. 'Harry had to intervene,' Scobie explained. 'He called his grandmother and said, ''I don't know what the hell is going on. This woman needs to make this work for my future wife''. And of course, we can kind of see now where this 'what Meghan wants, Meghan gets' narrative came from. 'Harry felt that there were those within the institution that would stop at nothing at the very least to make Meghan's life difficult.' Scobie also alleges that Prince William has not spoken to his brother properly since he revealed his plan to quit the UK for North America. In the TV interview to promote the book, Scobie claimed: 'The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham summit. 'They hadn't seen each other. That's really going to take some time to heal. I think the distance between the brothers grew wider and wider. And that's partly because of things that take place - and we discuss them in the book.' Royal expert Katie Nicholl said the authors may be the 'only winners' from the publication of Finding Freedom. Writing in Vanity Fair, she asked if the book was 'worth it' for Harry and Meghan, before adding: 'The irony of Finding Freedom is that, locked down in their rented mansion in LA, the Sussexes have less freedom than they did when they lived in Windsor.' (Newser) An Iraqi-born man deliberately drove his car into motorcycles along a stretch of Berlin highway, leaving at least one person in life-threatening condition in what German officials said Wednesday was a terror attack. "According to the current state of our investigation we assume this was an Islamist-motivated attack, Berlin's senator for the interior, Andreas Geisel, said. The crashes at three different locations happened during rush hour on the BAB100 highway shortly before 7pm local time and led to a complete closure of one of the main traffic arteries of Berlin. The 30-year-old suspect first hit a car on the highway in the Wilmersdorf neighborhood, then drove into a motorcyclist, leaving him behind with life-threatening injuries. He hit a second person on a motor scooter, and eventually used his car to push a third motorcyclist into the front of another car, prosecutor Martin Steltner said. story continues below If a car intentionally targets motorcycles, they don't have a chance, Geisel said, per the AP. Dpa reported that the suspect, who is thought to have mental health issues, allegedly made reference to his plans on Facebook before the attack. He stopped on the highway after the third crash; several media outlets reported that the man shouted allahu akbar or God is great as he got out of his car. The Bild daily reported that he also shouted: Nobody gets closer, or you will all die. The suspect then rolled out a prayer carpet and started praying, daily paper Tagesspiegel reported. A police officer then approached the man, talked to him in Arabic, pulled him away from the car and detained him. Investigators did not reveal the man's identity, as is customary in Germany, but local media identified the suspect as Sarmad D. (Read more Berlin stories.) Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Customer service is more important today than ever before. A companys ability to answer customer questions and resolve problems has become as essential as product, quality, and price. When customers are ignored, or given the impression they are unimportant by slow response times, the consequences of lost business and a damaged reputation can be irreversible. A study of 973 leading retailers and consumer goods companies, conducted in April and May, found that most fall short of providing timely customer service. The study was conducted by Netomi, a platform provider for AI customer service. The study analyzed companies responsiveness, availability of email support, and attentiveness to special requests. Only 56 percent, that being 540 firms, have an easy-to-access and readily available email address, and 70 percent of those did not respond to customer emails when approached. As a result, only 162 of the 973 companies responded to customer emails. This is the most shocking finding of our study, Can Ozdoruk, VP of marketing at Netomi, told CRM Buyer. It not only presents a risk to customer satisfaction, but also the bottom line, as customer experience is what drives loyalty and spend today. Buried Email Addresses A few of the remaining 433 companies conceal an email address in privacy policies, terms and conditions, or other pages where a customer is not likely to look when seeking support. Hiding email addresses and not answering emails speaks more about the siloed ownership mentality of an organization that thinks of customer journey and engagement as something they create and manage, Liz Miller, a principal analyst at Constellation Research, told CRM Buyer. Experience is owned by the customer. Other findings in the July 2020 report show that: A D V E R T I S E M E N T 80 percent of the companies do not have autoresponders in place 64 percent offer a Web form 37 percent offer both an email address and a Web form 17 percent have neither an email address nor a Web form 18 percent redirected customers to other channels when they received a query The companies that simply redirect customers to another channel are adding friction to the support journey, Ozdoruk said. User frustration increases when a person needs to contact a company multiple times, through multiple channels, for a single resolution. SMBs Outdo Fortune 500 The study found home furnishings companies best at responding to customer service queries, with 55 percent responding to queries. Thats twice as often as the other retail and consumer goods companies investigated. Consumer electronics and tech companies were the worst, as only 18 percent responded to emailed customer queries. Netomi captured and analyzed responses in ten unique dimensions: Email availability Response rate Response time Customer happiness Personalization Company size analysis Industry analysis Email address analysis Customer delight Use of an agent desk platform The 162 companies that responded to customer emails tended to have slow response times. The study found: 46 percent responded in less than 6 hours 9 percent responded within 6-12 hours 12 percent responded within 12-24 hours 15 percent within 24-48 hours Nearly 17 percent took more than 48 hours Somewhat surprisingly to those who suspect that enterprises have more resources available than SMBs, Fortune 500 companies responded 1.4 times slower than smaller firms. The average response time for Fortune 500 companies was nearly 47 hours while smaller firms responded within 34 hours on average. According to Forrester Research, 66 percent of online adults in the U.S. said that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with a good online customer experience, Ozdoruk remarked. Businesses can grow their revenue by as much as eight percent above the competition when they improve the customer service experience. Eighty-two percent of more than 700 U.S. consumers responding to an earlier Netomi survey said they had stopped doing business with at least one company, or scrapped a planned purchase, because of poor customer service. Further, 32 percent of those respondents had done so several times; 61 percent want a fast resolution and 44 percent hate waiting for a response. Personalization Netomi found that 85 percent of the 162 companies that responded to customer emails utilized personalization by either using the customers first name in their response or having their agent sign off with their own name. We were expecting a higher percentage for the personalization rate, especially as our definition of personalization was the bare minimum in this case, Ozdoruk said. This could potentially signal that agent desk systems are not widely used. Companies that use an agent desk, like Zendesk or Salesforce, did outperform on key customer service metrics like response time and measuring customer satisfaction, he added. Keeping Tabs on Customer Satisfaction Only 14 percent of the companies that responded to customer queries sent out a satisfaction survey after a customer interaction, according to Netomi. This was another very shocking finding from the study, as measuring customer satisfaction is very easy, Ozdoruk said. Without hard data and interviewing support managers at these companies, it seems that closing or resolving a ticket is the core focus, with little regard to how satisfied a customer is. This is detrimental to the long-term output of a support team. The pandemic has sent online purchases soaring, so having better digital customer experiences is more important now than ever before, Nicole France, a principal analyst at Constellation Research, told CRM Buyer. Building a wider base of satisfied customers today not only builds a solid business in the short term, it also pays long-term dividends. Online retailers are vying for customers with their direct competitors and also with all the other digital and in-person experiences those customers have had, France said. That said, Customer service teams are being swamped by increases in traffic and demandand some businesses have cut back on customer service capabilities because of drops in revenue or demand, she pointed out. Both issues are exacerbated by the challenges of providing customer service teams with adequate work environments and/or the ability to work remotely, including from home, France noted. COVID-19 VACCINATION AND BOOSTERS For the Spring 2022 semester, students who plan to access campus must have received a single-dose vaccine OR the second dose of a two-dose vaccine by January 4, 2022. Student vaccination information must also be submitted to the College by January 4. You can submit your vaccination information here. Students who would like to request an exemption must do so before January 4 by emailing COVID-19 Administrator Kathleen Chaykosky at kchaykos@cayuga-cc.edu. Students who register for a class with in-person components after January 4 must submit their COVID-19 vaccination information immediately using the SUNY Vaccination Verification Application. COVID-19 boosters are also required for vaccinated students who plan to access campus during the semester. Students who are eligible for a booster must receive a booster by Monday, January 31, or within 30 days of becoming eligible. Students who fail to adhere to the vaccination and booster requirements will be restricted from campus, removed from their courses and will be liable for outstanding fees and tuition charges. Many people worked in our diplomatic missions and elsewhere tried to define the problems of this country through the ideologies imported from the schools of thought in West. No state policies introduced to redesign and reengineer those ideologies to address the local realities and get the best out of them. Editorial The administrative change made in the Ministry of Foreign Relations by the President is commendable. The appointment of Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage to the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Relations is very important as many changes need to be made in the Foreign Relations Ministry and its diplomatic missions abroad with no more delay. As a country, we cannot move forward without making all these fundamental changes immediately. The country ever than before needs true diplomats and intellectuals who can stand with the national interests to protect the national identity. Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage To make such changes, it is essential to have a basic knowledge of the subject as well as to empower someone who does not abuse his/her knowledge. Accordingly, the appointment of Admiral Colombage is important. We hope that the new secretary will find a path to hold accountable every person working in the ministry and diplomatic missions to ensure the efficiency and reliability of the foreign policy outlined by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. We hope that the Secretary will carefully select the men and women who can support him to spread the vision of the countrys foreign policy. We hope that the new secretary will find a constructive approach to curtail unnecessary expenditures on many missions. We hope that he will introduce a merit system to evaluate every person working in the institute, so then the based on an independent evaluation, each diplomat will have the clear path to go upward and serve the nation better. We hope that he will introduce a rotation system to have all skilful diplomats to serve as many countries as possible for an equal period. It will eventually eliminate the diplomatic kingdoms maintained by a group of people and their family members in the institute at the expenses of the public. However, some who are accustomed to looking at Sri Lanka with scepticism will interpret this new appointment as just another military appointment. False eulogies will be made about those who previously held the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Relations. But, the bitter truth is that some officers used their position and knowledge only to achieve personal desires. Due to their activities, the institutes to ensure and strengthen the foreign policy in this country have become a playground for womanizers and fraudulent officials. This is so interesting; sources confirm that the official who was the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Relations before Admiral Colombage is requesting to be re-appointed as the Ambassador to France. Do we need to substantiate the comfortable nature of diplomacy they followed? This is why the appointment of Admiral Colombage is important at this moment. He has a very heavy task to do. We are confident that he has a good understanding of the responsibility as he has actively proved that he is well versed in the development of friendship between nations for the betterment of this country. We have lost the essence of our foreign policy long ago due to petty political games played by various governments came to power in the last few decades. Many people working in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, unfortunately, do not know what the foreign policy of this country is. Most of them do not have a deep understanding of it. It is a very dire situation. Meanwhile, many people worked in our diplomatic missions and elsewhere tried to define the problems of this country through the ideologies imported from the schools of thought in West. No state policies introduced to redesign and reengineer those ideologies to address the local realities and get the best out of them. Therefore our intelligentsia turned into a toothless tiger. As a result, many important concepts and principles that originated in the west and east were ridiculed and nation-states were collapsed. That is, we believe, a root cause of the failure of Western-style democracy in most of Asian, African and Latin American countries. Only a few nation-states were able to overcome this. In particular, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew and modern China under Deng Xiaoping are good examples. These two leaders understood exactly what administrative system the country needed. So they were able to create the environment they needed to overcome the challenges. Let us recall serge words of the late leader of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, Youre talking about Rwanda or Bangladesh, or Cambodia, or the Philippines. Theyve got democracy ... But have you got a civilized life to lead? People want economic development first and foremost. The leaders may talk about something else. You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools. ( Lee Kuan Yew, The Man and His Ideas, 1997 ). By consenting the Lee Kuan Yews ideology, Henry A. Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, once noted that had Singapore chosen the road of its critics, it might well have collapsed among its ethnic groups, as the example of Syria teaches today. Today, for the first time after decades, Sri Lanka is enjoying political stability. This is a very valuable opportunity for this little beautiful island. Most importantly, the Ministry of Foreign Relations has a huge responsibility to make the most of this opportunity. Lets recall the old thoughts of diplomacy, this is quite a game, diplomacy. There are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent national interests. Wish you all the best, Admiral! Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar is reportedly at risk of being banned for the Champions League final by UEFA after swapping shirts following his side's semi-final success against RB Leipzig. After PSG prevailed with a 3-0 victory against RB Leipzig in Portugal, Neymar swapped shirts with Leipzig's Marcel Halstenberg. According to The Sun, Neymar is at risk of being banned for the Champions League final after breaking coronavirus rules. Neymar is at risk of missing the Champions League final after swapping shirts at full time Neymar swapped shirts with RB Leipzig's Marcel Halstenberg, breaching coronavirus rules Reports prior to the Champions League's resumption indicated that players swapping shirts after games would receive a one game suspension and would have to self isolate for twelve days. PSG will take on either Bayern Munich or Lyon in the final on Sunday. Neymar was jubilant after PSG secured their place in the final by getting the better of Leipzig Goals from Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat sent PSG through to the final. Although Neymar was unable to find the net, he was still heavily involved as he hit the post twice and frequently caused problems for the Leipzig defence. Neymar has played a prominent part in PSG's progression to the final - he has scored three goals and provided four assists in his six appearances in the competition this season. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE New Mexico now meets every standard it outlined as necessary for reopening more of the economy, even by its own calculation. The state Department of Health on Wednesday updated its seven-day rolling average of new cases, and its clear New Mexico is well within its target. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state health officials last week set a goal of reducing new cases to under 168 a day the final standard in their reopening criteria. The publicly reported number of cases each day fell below that level earlier this week. But state health officials warned Tuesday that they calculate the rate based on the day the specimen was collected for testing, not when a result is reported to the public. Either way, Wednesdays updated figures released by the state make clear that New Mexico meets the target. The Department of Health estimates the rolling average at 137 cases a day for testing conducted in the week that ended Aug. 13, the most recent period for which data is available. The state had, for the past week, already met the other criteria, including standards on testing capacity, the time it takes to isolate people who test positive and other factors. New Mexicos public health order banning indoor dining at restaurants, among other restrictions is scheduled to expire at the end of next week. The Lujan Grisham administration can, of course, revise or extend the order. State health officials have said they want to see New Mexico comply with reopening criteria for some time before phasing in less stringent rules. Theyve also said they want to build in a buffer by getting far enough under the standards to allow for an expected increase in cases if regulations are relaxed or schools start to hold in-person classes. The state on Wednesday reported six more deaths from coronavirus, pushing the statewide number of fatalities to 729 since March. Those who died were three adults in Bernalillo County and one each in McKinley, San Juan and Taos counties. All six had underlying medical conditions; they ranged in age from their 30s to their 80s. Health officials also said testing had detected 174 new cases, led by Bernalillo County, with 33 new infections. The state has now confirmed 23,749 cases of the virus out of 688,495 tests, for a positivity rate of 3.4%. But the rate has been lower recently at just 2.6% in the seven-day period that ended Sunday. New Mexico has cut its number of new cases reported each day this month from a seven-day rolling average of 288 on Aug. 1 to 134 on Wednesday. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. They were alive thousands of years ago, in a time of frequent war, where people were still sacrificed to the gods. But, incredibly, Mayan civilisations may still have used the same facial expressions we have today. A study by researchers from California has found that modern-day people can still recognise the emotions of those living up to 3,500 years ago. Shown only the face of a captured warrior from a Mayan sculpture, people can still figure out that he probably looked sad. Presented with nothing but the facial expression of a grandmother with a child from a Mayan ceramic, they can guess that she appeared joyful and amused by the infant. Even seeing the face of someone having to carry a heavy deer over his shoulders, it is possible for 21st century people to work out without context that he's pretty annoyed about it. A study by experts from California has found that modern-day people can still recognise the emotions of Mayans living up to 3,500 years ago as depicted by their sculptures, pictured Researchers asked 325 people to assign emotions to 63 sculptures of ancient American people. They wanted to see if facial expressions are natural and unchanging, or if they vary hugely across time and place, and are learned by different societies. The results appear to suggest that at least some of the feelings on our faces stay largely the same over the centuries. Dr Alan Cowen, co-author of the study from the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'Although an ancient Mayan could scarcely imagine the way we live today, they would still recognise the pain, love, determination, sadness, and anger in our faces. 'That's pretty remarkable when you think about it. 'It's crazy to think that I could make roughly the same face when my wifi freezes as an ancient Mayan warrior who was just taken prisoner by an enemy battalion.' The researchers, whose study is published in the journal Science Advances, trawled through tens of thousands of ancient sculptures to find a range of human emotions. The 63 they ended up with presented people in eight contexts - holding a baby, in fighting stance, playing sport, playing music, embracing someone, being held captive or tortured, and carrying a heavy object. Some participants were asked to look only at the faces in the sculptures, without knowing the situation they were in, and match them to a list of 30 emotions. Others identified the emotions from the context, such as someone being tortured. It emerged that five emotions seemed to echo across the centuries. On average, people could work out if someone was in pain, usually because they were being tortured, and if they were angry, often in the context of war. Dr Alan Cowen, co-author of the study from the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'Although an ancient Mayan could scarcely imagine the way we live today, they would still recognise the pain, love, determination, sadness, and anger in our faces. 'That's pretty remarkable when you think about it' It was possible to see sadness in the faces of warriors who had been captured and joy in the faces of family members or people touching each other in sculptures. Sculptures of people showing determination - or simply lifting something heavy like a large stone or a deer - were clearly identified by people as showing effort in their faces. Previous studies which have tried to determine if facial expressions are universal tended to ask people in remote communities, such as cut-off African villages, to identify the emotions of people from western countries. The problem with this approach is that these people may have had contact with western people or media, so have a clue to the answer. They may also have figured out what they were expected to say from the western scientists doing the experiment. Ancient Mayans and modern humans have never met, so if people can recognise their facial expressions today, that really suggests facial expressions are largely natural and stay the same through history. CAIRO (AP) A boat carrying dozens of migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya and at least 45 people drowned or were missing and presumed dead, the U.N. said Wednesday. The capsizing, which marked the largest number of fatalities in a single shipwreck off the coast of the North African country this year, happened Monday when the engine exploded, U.N. officials said. The boat, carrying at least 82 migrants, then capsized. Thirty-seven survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen and later detained by Libyan officials onshore, according to a joint statement by the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency. The survivors reported 45 people, including five children, had drowned off the coast of the western town of Zuwara, the statement said. Alarm Phone, an independent support group for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, said it received a call Saturday from someone on a migrant vessel panicking and screaming that passengers were about to die. The migrants, among them them five women, two of them pregnant, said the boat engine had stopped working and they did not have any food or water, the group said. Alarm Phone said it alerted Libyan, Maltese, Italian and Tunisian authorities and provided them with relevant details on the boat. It was not immediately clear that this was the same vessel that capsized off Zuwara. Alarm Phone said the last time it was in contact with the boat was late Saturday. We urge states to swiftly respond to these incidents, the U.N. agencies said. Delays recorded in recent months, and failure to assist, are unacceptable and put lives at avoidable risk. The shipwreck was the latest maritime disaster involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe. In June, a dozen people were missing and feared drowned off the coastal town of Zawiya, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli. Libya, which descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe. Story continues Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. The IOM said in March that its estimated death toll among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean passed the grim milestone of 20,000 deaths since 2014. More than 7,000 migrants were intercepted by Libyas coast guard and returned to Libya so far this year, and at least 302 migrants and refugees have perished since the beginning of 2020, according the two U.N. agencies. In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants. Rights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in squalid and overcrowded detention centers that lack adequate food and water. The EU agreed earlier this year to end an anti-migrant smuggler operation involving only surveillance aircraft and instead deploy military ships to concentrate on upholding a widely flouted U.N. arms embargo thats considered key to winding down Libyas relentless war. Victoria Beckham has hit back at claims of negligence at her fashion company after it was revealed a former pattern cutter was taking legal action against the businesswoman after developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Kristina Kubiliene, 54, is suing the former Spice Girl, 46, for at least 75,000 after claiming she developed the condition from working 15 hour days for seven days a week during fashion week. She also claimed she was left unable to work and needing surgery to have any kind of movement in her hands after spending long hors cutting out fabric samples at the brand's Hammersmith studio. However Beckham has now refuted allegations of negligence and said Ms Kubiliene failed to ask for help when lifting fabric rolls which weighed up to 15kg, according to legal documents seen by The Daily Telegraph. Victoria Beckham has hit back at claims of negligence at her fashion company after it was revealed that a former pattern cutter was taking legal action against her The mother-of-four, who founded her fashion label Victoria Beckham Ltd in 2008, also argued that the medical reports detailing Ms Kubiliene's condition showed that her hands began to swell two years before she stated working for her company. Earlier this year, Ms Kubiliene, who worked at the firm for eight years, claimed her time at the company had left her barely able to open a handbag. Slater and Gordon industrial disease lawyer Natasha Moyeed is representing Kristina Kubiliene. Speaking about her client's case in April Ms Moyeed said: 'She was a pattern cutter and very good at this job, but because she was good she was tasked with working for long periods and with heavy fabrics. 'It was these repetitive, awkward and sustained movements which cause carpel tunnel syndrome to advance rapidly in hands and wrists. 'When I last saw her she could barely open her handbag. She is unable to work and has had to undergo surgery to have any kind movement in her hands. 'Her job involved lifting rolls of fabric, weighing 20 to 35kg, then laying out and pinning the fabric to patterns. 'Once pinned she would shrink the fabric with an industrial iron, again very heavy. This procedure would take 30 to 60 minutes. Next she would cut the fabric, which required significant pressure and accuracy holding with her left hand and cutting with her right. This task took up to three hours depending on the garment. The mother-of-four (pictured with husband David), who founded her fashion label Victoria Beckham Ltd in 2008, said Ms Kubiliene's should have asked for help when lifting fabric rolls 'Normally she worked 10am to 6pm, but twice a year for two weeks she attended New York Fashion Week. For a month beforehand her workload increased to up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, without regular breaks or rest. During these times her hands and wrists were so sore she needed painkillers to work.' The lawyer added that Victoria Beckham Limited failed to implement measures to prevent the long-term injury. Earlier this year Victoria Beckham abandoned plans to seek a government bailout to furlough 30 members of staff at her fashion brand following a major backlash. The fashion designer, whose family is worth 335million, had planned to use the Government's Covid-19 scheme to pay 80 per cent of the wages of some of her staff before making the U-turn. Viral video app TikTok has published The Last Sunny Corner of the Internet a website where it defends itself against the accusations of the Trump administration. With rumours and misinformation about TikTok proliferating in Washington and in the media, let us set the record straight, TikTok said on the website. TikTok faces a potential ban in the United States due to national security concerns stemming from its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, and its relationship with the Chinese government. The Trump administration believes that TikTok, and other Chinese apps such as WeChat, could potentially pass on information about US citizens to Beijing. TikToks new website references its previous messages, emphasising that it believes the executive order could be illegal. TikTok is not available in China. Its US user data is stored in Virginia with a back-up in Singapore and strict controls on employee access. TikTok has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, nor would it do so if asked. Any insinuation to the contrary is unfounded and blatantly false, the new website reads. It also highlights reporting from other publications to emphasise its security, such as a recent article from The New York Times that says the CIA found no evidence that Chinese intelligence agencies are using TikTok to intercept data from US citizens. Tiktoks transparency report shows that the Chinese government has not asked TikTok to remove any content on its behalf; instead, the US and Indian governments have made the greatest number of legal requests for content to be removed. TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, is banned in India. The Indian government cites similar concerns to the US government, but has also been engaged in a border conflict with China. However, TikToks claim that it does not remove content at the behest of the Chinese government is mitigated by the fact that TikTok does not operate in China. Instead, Bytedance operates Douyin a TikTok clone in the country. When asked if Douyin removes content at the request of the Chinese government, or whether it published a transparency report, a Douyin spokesperson declined to comment. Moreover, analysis of TikToks terms and conditions by Protonmail suggests that because TikTok reserves the right to share user information with other members of its corporate group which includes Bytedance that user data could then be shared with the Chinese government from its parent company. China also has national intelligence laws which experts argue forces companies to give the Chinese government the information they request. The Independent has reached out to TikTok for clarification. Both Microsoft and Twitter are in the running to purchase TikToks US operations, as president Donald Trump believes that purchase by a very American company would make the app more secure. Recently the president signed up to TikTok-competitor Triller, while Facebook launched a feature for Instagram called Reels which TikTok has accused of being a clone of their app. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Wed, August 19, 2020 06:30 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066eec5e0 1 National drug-dealer,narcotics,crystal-methamphetamine,EcstasyPills,Medan,drug-syndicate,North-Sumatra-Police Free A suspected drug dealer was shot dead by the North Sumatra Polices narcotics unit after having physically assaulted an officer with a sharp weapon in Medan on Monday. North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Martuani Sormin Siregar said the suspect, identified as ST, was previously arrested in Kali Baru, North Jakarta on Saturday for his or her involvement in the distribution of illegal drugs in Jakarta and Medan under a syndicate. On the same day but at a different location in Jakarta, the police also apprehended another suspect, HW, he added. HW was also a member of the syndicate affiliated with ST. From the suspects, the police seized several bags of crystal methamphetamine weighing a total of 100 kilograms, as well as several bags of ecstasy containing a total of 50,000 pills as evidence, he said. Martuani went on to say ST had admitted that the illegal substances were due to be transported to a warehouse in Medan. Read also: Crystal meth now cheaper, 'stronger' in Indonesia as drug busts rise: UN report Attempting to trace the syndicate, the police agreed to tail ST as he or she delivered the drugs to the Medan Industrial Zone on Monday, he said. Our personnel were closely watching the drug transfer when ST decided to fight us back, assaulting and injuring one of the officers, Adj. First Insp. Partono, with a machete, Martuani said on Tuesday. In response to the attack, the rest of the officers shot ST, who died when he was taken to the hospital. Martuani said the arrest of the two suspects was based on a tip-off provided by another alleged drug dealer, DEJ, who was apprehended two months ago along with his stash of 23 kg of crystal meth. DEJ revealed the whereabouts of ST and HW in Jakarta. They are in the same syndicate, a Jakarta-Medan network, he added. (rfa) The lack of a convention is especially a blow to the political arms of House and Senate Democrats, along with the Democratic Governors Association, which lay out their plans to woo donors months in advance. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is still offering up to $35,500 packages to donors to attend three briefings with various senators and Senate candidates. Still, its not the same as the serendipity of being there. There is nothing like the excitement of being in the convention hall and the daily nonstop of events, meetings and ad hoc hotel lobby meetups, said Michael Kempner, a Democratic fund-raiser who has previously raised money for both Mr. Biden and Senator Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic nominee for vice president. I am surprised how much I already miss it. Brent Miller (left) and Adam Roberts (right). // Photo courtesy Roberts' social media Tapcade, Kansas City's first bar of its kind, will be closing in two weeks after six years in business. The Crossroads arts district's unique arcade-style bar will dissolve in favor of focusing on the in-house movie theater, Screenland Armour. President Trump just gave a big boost to a dangerous conspiracy theory that's already grown disturbingly popular in recent months. QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory that falsely claims Trump is leading a secret mission to root out a powerful network of pedophiles and cannibals among celebrities and the political elite. The conspiracy first spread on 4chan and then to mainstream social media, and is likely to land in Congress this fall as at least one Republican candidate who endorses the theory seems poised to win a House seat. In a Wednesday press conference at the White House, NBC News' Shannon Pettypiece asked Trump about the movement and he effectively gave it his approval. At first, Trump said he doesn't "know much about the movement," but then said QAnon supporters "like me very much, which I appreciate." "I heard that these are people who love our country," he continued. Trump then questioned whether it's "supposed to be a bad thing" that QAnon supporters believe he's destroying a cult of pedophiles, because "we are actually, we're saving the world." President Trump on QAnon movement: "I don't know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate." pic.twitter.com/qPMq3R0Xgs CSPAN (@cspan) August 19, 2020 Trump's embrace of the conspiracists immediately set off a wave of celebration in the QAnon community, The New York Times' tech columnist Kevin Roose reports. While QAnon believers had previously struggled to grapple with Trump wishing alleged Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell well, some took the press conference answer as Trump's acknowledgement that the conspiracy is real and not just a way to avoid rejecting some of his staunchest supporters. More stories from theweek.com 5 bitingly funny cartoons about the Democratic National Convention Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency Lyft is suspending service in California Libyan ports could reopen to release the fuel needed to end power shortages ports of the country, The National reports, citing the commander of a group affiliated with Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army. Eastern Libya has been hit hard by the blockade of oil ports that started in January as these facilities also contain storage tanks for crude and fuels, depriving the region of feedstock for its power plants. Power outages in the East are now frequent with some of them lasting for up to 12 hours. Releasing some fuel from the tanks at the oil ports could go towards solving another problem, too. The tanks overflowing with crude and fuels pose a disaster risk, the National Oil Corporations chairman Mustafa Sanalla said last week. "The militarization of oil facilities, the presence of mercenaries as well as the military escalation increase the risks that hydrocarbons and chemicals stored at oil ports pose to workers and local population," Sanalla said. "This may lead to a disaster that is more severe than Beirut's port and a massive destruction that will cause Libya to be out of the oil market for so many years." The oil port blockade began as Haftars LNA launched an offensive against the UN-recognized Government of National Accord with the intention of removing it from power. The military group also claimed oil revenues should be distributed more fairly among stakeholders rather than going into the GNAs and the NOCs coffers. In July, NOC lifted the force majeure on oil exports it had imposed following the start of the blockade, as the Haftar-affiliated forces agreed to reopen the facilities after an agreement for the fairer distribution of oil revenues was struck. Just two days later, however, the blockade was back and so was the force majeure. Libya used to pump more than 1.2 million barrels daily before the blockade. This has now fallen to less than 100,000 bpd. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Acting President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jurgen Rigterink have discussed by phone the preparation of a joint project between Ukraine and the EBRD and assessed the ongoing implementation of projects, the press service of the head of state has reported. According to the report, Zelensky noted the positive results of bilateral cooperation, including the signing of a EUR 52 million loan agreement between JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya, the Ministry of Finance and the EBRD. Speaking about the Big Construction program, Zelensky stressed the priority of the project "Development of the Trans-European Transport Network" totaling 900 million euros (450 million euros - funds from the European Investment Bank, 450 million euros - funds from the EBRD). Preparations for the implementation of the project are currently at the final stage. EBRD consultants are conducting a road safety audit, as well as an assessment of climatic, environmental and social factors of the implementation of the project. "As part of the 'Development of the Trans-European Transport Network,' the major overhaul of the M-05 Kyiv-Odesa highway with a total length of 300 km and the construction of the Northern Bypass (Lviv) are planned. The loan agreement with the EBRD is to be signed in late 2020 - early 2021," the President's Office said. According to the report, the parties also agreed to prepare a memorandum between Ukraine and the EBRD on the implementation of a number of anti-corruption measures in state-owned companies fulfilling joint projects with the bank. In particular, the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) will be the first authority to develop and implement a comprehensive program aimed at improving the quality and transparency of project management. Negotiations on the launch of this pilot project have been ongoing since April 2020, the report said. op 100% Website voyagesarabais.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 282031 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 12331 bytes (12.04 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-25, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. A crash early Monday involving two New Jersey Transit buses on a New Jersey Turnpike exit ramp left roughly 12 people injured, authorities said. The accident in Secaucus occurred around 7:15 a.m., state police said. One bus rear-ended the other as both were traveling from Exit 16E to Route 495 east, an NJ Transit spokeswoman said. Both buses were headed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. The drivers of both buses and about 10 passengers overall were being treated at hospitals for undisclosed injuries that were not considered life-threatening. One bus was carrying about seven passengers, while the other had about six. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The turnpike ramp was closed for several hours while the crash was investigated. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New Jersey Numbers New research looking at voters' perception of gender and aspiration suggests that voters do not penalise ambitious women candidates seeking political office, contrary to popular belief. The study, published in the US journal Political Behavior, challenges the long-held assumption that negative views about ambition are standing in the way of female candidates in politics. Following Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2016 a notion that 'unbridled ambition' had cost her votes gained traction. Then-President Obama suggested that ambition might be a political liability for women, but not men. To test this hypothesis the researchers from the universities of Bath and Harvard, developed a four-part framework to evaluate public perceptions towards different aspects of ambition among female candidates. This looked at ambition as multidimensional: 'progressive' (i.e. aiming for higher office); 'personalistic' (i.e. personality traits, including being determined to succeed and a tough negotiator); 'agenda-based' (i.e. the scope of their proposed policies); 'parental' (i.e. juggling family responsibilities with public life). The political scientists then tested voters' reactions to these 'ambitious' traits across a sample of nearly 4000 respondents both in the US and UK. In their experiments, people evaluated pairs of hypothetical candidates against information about both their ambition and gender. Results from their experiments which ran from 2017 to 2020 found that overall female candidates with these traits were not punished - in fact, they were slightly favoured. Yet, there were some differences in acceptance for ambitious women across parties. In the States, Democrats were more supportive of women with progressive ambition than Republicans (a gap of 7% points). This suggests that ambitious right-wing female candidates in the US might face bias, particularly in the context of non-partisan races (primaries and local elections) when voters are unable to rely on party labels to make decisions. In the UK, they found no differences in attitudes towards female candidates across party affiliation. They found some evidence that women were more likely to support female candidates with both progressive and agenda-based ambition, compared to men. But they say these differences are not significant across all survey samples. While ambitious political agendas are favoured by voters, they found no significant differences in voters' willingness to support female versus male candidates with ambitious agendas. Parent status was not found to be associated with candidate ambition. Researcher, Dr Ana Catalano Weeks from the Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies at the University of Bath explains: "For a long time a popular belief has persisted that ambitious women seeking political office get penalised by voters, but our results suggest no evidence to support this assumption. Ambition, including for women, is not a negative trait for voters - if anything it's attractive, especially for Democratic voters. "Women remain underrepresented in parties and parliaments and one of the reasons might be not the voters, but elites within parties who often play a gatekeeping role. Women might also perceive that they will face additional discrimination if they are perceived as ambitious. This research should act as a rallying cry to women seeking political office not to downplay their aspirations." Study co-author Dr Sparsha Saha of Harvard University's Department of Government adds: "Our research is part of a line of recent studies which suggest that voter discrimination is not the cause of women's underrepresentation in advanced democracies, and that norms about women with traditionally 'masculine' traits like ambition are changing." The team now plan to look at perceptions towards ambition in the context of race and ethnicity. They acknowledge that attitudes towards ambitiousness in ethnic minority women may be different in important ways from evaluations of white women. They also plan to extend their work to see if it holds across other advanced democracies including in Germany, Finland and New Zealand all with prominent female political leaders, and to further explore how history, context, and institutions matter. ### BERLIN - German authorities on Wednesday ordered a 30-year-old man accused of deliberately driving his car into other vehicles along a major Berlin highway and injuring six people moved to a psychiatric jail, as investigators continue to probe the mans motives. Officials said the Iraq-born man appeared to have carried out a deliberate attack late Tuesday motivated by Islamist ideology, but noted that he had been suffering from psychological problems. The suspect driving a black Opel Astra allegedly struck three motorcycles at different locations on the Bundesautobahn 100, Berlin prosecutors and police said in a joint statement. He then stopped on the highway and put an old ammunition box on the roof of his car, claiming it had explosives inside, the statement said. According to the current state of our investigation, we assume this was an Islamist-motivated attack, Berlins senator for the interior, Andreas Geisel, said. A religiously motivated background cannot be excluded. Three people were severely injured during the attack late Tuesday, including a motorcyclist left with life-threatening head and back injuries, prosecutor Martin Steltner said. The collisions happened shortly before 7 p.m. local time and led to a complete closure of one of the German capitals main traffic arteries. After the driver was detained, officers led hundreds of people stuck on the shut-down highway away from their cars. Police used a strong jet of water to open the box he had put on the cars roof, but found only tools inside. Investigators did not reveal the mans identity, as is customary in Germany, but local media identified the suspect as Sarmad D. He is under investigation for three cases of attempted murder. There were also indications the man had mental health issues, Geisel said. The fact that the suspect was possibly suffering from psychological problems does not make this issue any easier, Geisel said. If personal problems mix with religiously loaded ideas, this can lead to uncontrollable acts yesterdays events have shown in a very painful way how vulnerable our society is. Investigators were working to determine if the suspect was linked to an extremist group or if other people were involved in his actions but so far found no indications of that, according to Steltner. However, they were looking into tips that the man may have had possible contacts with other extremists, Steltner added. His office later issued a statement saying the suspect had been moved to the closed psychiatric unit of a jail. Tuesdays violence comes more than three years after a Tunisian man plowed a stolen truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people, an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group. Authorities said the detained suspect allegedly first hit a car then drove into the motorcyclist who received life-threatening injuries. He allegedly hit a second person on a motor scooter, then used his car to push another motorcyclist into the front of another car, prosecutor Steltner said. Several German news outlets reported that the man shouted Allahu akbar, or God is great in Arabic, as he got out of his car. The Bild daily newspaper reported that he also shouted, Nobody gets closer, or you will all die. The suspect then rolled out a prayer carpet and started praying, daily paper Tagesspiegel reported. A police officer then approached the man, spoke to him in Arabic, pulled him away from the car and detained him, the paper said. According to German media reports, the man already was known to Berlin police. The reports said he was born in Baghdad in 1990 and came to Germany as an asylum-seeker, most likely in 2016. His asylum request was rejected and his legal status only allowed him to remain in the country until the end of the year, German news agency dpa reported. In 2018, he was detained for injuring others and taken to a mental institution for a short time, Tagesspiegel reported. After first living in a refugee home in Berlins Altglienicke neighbourhood, he moved to the Reinickendorf district, where he supposedly lived with his brother, dpa said. Dpa reported that the suspect allegedly made references to his plans on Facebook before the crashes. He posted photos of the car that he allegedly drove into the motorcycles, as well as religious writings, the news agency said. Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller said later on Wednesday that he was shocked by the attack. I wish all the victims a speedy recovery and a lot of strength for this difficult time, Mueller said on Twitter. Read more about: Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Interior Ministry in Belarus acknowledged on Tuesday that a "small part" of the police force had quit in response to protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has faced ten days of anti-government demonstrations. A statement from the ministry's press office called on other police officers not to abandon their posts. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky Writing by Peter Graff; editing by John Stonestreet) After launching her first restaurant dedicated to Filipino cuisine, Zenaida Vannaying didnt wait long to make her next move. Only a few months after opening the doors to Lolas Kitchen on Sukhumvit Road, the 66-year-old Pinoy businesswoman said pandemic conditions made the time ripe for another serving the best of her motherlands cuisine, culture and lifestyle. So many Filipinos cannot go home during this tough time, said Vannaying, whos lived 40 years in Thailand and also owns hotels here and in Pattaya, among other businesses. Inside one of those properties, a five-star boutique hotel on Sri Ayutthaya Road, her latest Filipino restaurant has a mission to boost Filipino spirits thus its name, Viva Filipinas (Long Live the Philippines, in Spanish). Though the archipelagos cuisine hasnt electrified the world and is less well-known than others from Southeast Asia, the newly opened restaurant brings to the table not just the dishes that define the country but also a wealth of its history and culture. Filipino Food 101: A cheat sheet to understanding the cuisine of the Philippines Step out of the elevator onto the fourth floor of the Akara Hotel and one is greeted by a large, family-style dining hall filled with rattan chairs, colorful velvet sofas and muraled walls. The counter, where patrons sit and watch their dishes being prepared, is painted like a Jeepney, the infamously kitsch vehicles that get people around Philippine cities (Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy calls them Uber OG). The counter is decorated in the dizzying colors of a Jeepney, a popular form of public transportation in the Philippines. As for the authenticity of the food, diners will find typical Filipino dishes (like chicken adobo and kare kare) and other lesser-known comfort fare. Among the highlights are classic appetizer Lumpiang Sariwa (THB140) vegetarian-friendly spring rolls filled with coconut shoots and mixed vegetables topped with savory brown sauce and peanuts and Sisig (THB240), a sizzling plate of chopped T-bone beef seasoned with onions, chili peppers, gravy sauce and calamansi. Late celeb chef Anthony Bourdain praised sisig, a staple of the Philippines Kapampangan people, as perfectly positioned to win the hearts and minds of the world as a whole. Story continues Lumpiang Sariwa (THB140) and Sisig (THB240) Those who like spicy and sour Thai Tom Yum wont be disappointed by whats essentially a sour (without any of the heat) version, Sinigang na Salmon (THB290). A delectable bowl of fresh salmon fillet, its served in a sour broth of tangy tamarind combined with tomatoes, radishes and other vegetables. Sinigang na Salmon (THB290) For dessert, try the traditional rice cakes called Bibingka (THB140). A popular Christmas eat, its a delicate cake made with rice, salted eggs, cheese, coconut and milk, all served warm on pandan leaves. Bibingka (THB140) Next to the restaurant zone is a red-saturated bar called Club Escolta where bartenders shake and stir signature Filipino-style cocktails (many featuring calamansi!): the Viva Margarita (tequila, Cointreau, calamansi juice and sugar cane), Calamansi Spritzer (gin, sparkling wine, calamansi juice and sugar syrup) and Le Mango Stiletto (Mango juice, fresh mango, Cointreau and sparkling water). All signature cocktails are THB290. Viva Margarita (THB290) Apart from dining and drinking, the venue also hosts weekly events such as street food buffets, a Sunday Jeepney buffet and a Sabado (Saturday) party featuring drag performances and more. Viva Filipinas is located on the fourth floor of Akara Hotel Bangkok on Phayathai Road. Its open 11am until late every day. Club Escolta Viva Filipinas Viva Filipinas FIND IT: Viva Filipinas 4th floor, Akara Hotel, Sri Ayutthaya Road Opens 11am onwards, every day BTS: Phaya Thai Phone: 064 614 4075 Related Filipino Food 101: A cheat sheet to understanding the cuisine of the Philippines Filipino food is in a list of predicted food trends for 2017 This article, Taste the Pinoy life, culture, cuisine at Bangkoks Viva Filipinas, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Rouhani Praises Government's Monopoly On Broadcasting In Iran, Experts Disagree Radio Farda August 18, 2020 President Hassan Rouhani complained about excessive criticism of his administration by the state television and said that "too much criticism will disappoint the nation." He made the comment during a meeting with the chief and senior managers of Iran's state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), on Monday August 17. Although IRIB Chief Ali Askari takes part in a daily meeting with President Rouhani as a member of the COVID-19 Disease Control Task Force, this was Rouhani's first meeting with the broadcaster's senior executive managers. The IRIB Chief is directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his managers are usually endorsed by Khamenei's office. President Rouhani has lashed out at the state TV network for its "biased and unilateral" news coverage several times since 2013, and at times his administration has refused to allocate the budget requested by the state TV. In a bid to appease IRIB's managers, President Rouhani praised their monopoly on broadcasting in Iran, calling it an advantage for the organization. In reality, the monopoly effectively ended two decades ago, when Persian-speaking satellite televisions started to beam programs into Iran from Europe, the United States and the Persian Gulf region. During the meeting with the state TV's managers, President Rouhani, who did not seem happy about constant criticism of his administration on national TV, said the meeting was arranged for him to thank the managers for their cooperation with the disease control task force. President Rouhani claimed that whatever is broadcast on the IRIB reflects the official view of the Iranian government, and that those outside Iran accept the news on the state TV as "the voice and vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran," which reflects the goals and image of the Iranian political system. Numerous critics, including three of Iran's presidents since 1997, have criticized the IRIB's exclusive right over broadcasting, often describing it as an undesirable "monophony." At the same time, particularly with the rise in influence of social media channels that challenge Iran's official news dissemination systems, the IRIB lost its influence particularly among young Iranians. Some experts and analysts have even attributed Rouhani's own victory in the 2017 presidential election to the rise in social media influence around the country. As Tehran University sociology professor Younes Nourbakhsh wrote in an analysis of election results in the economic daily Donya-ye Eqtesad in 2017, "Social media managed to stand against the direction taken by the state TV" that supported Rouhani's hardline rival and "created supporters in cyberspace" for Rouhani. Nourbakhsh added that social media "formed an avalanche-like chain of events, and netizens supported their candidate and spread information." Meanwhile, in recent years, many critics have said that the IRIB is no longer the point of reference for the society as far as news and information on current events are concerned. One of the main takeaways of the most recent Iranian presidential election was that social media proved to be more powerful and effective than the state TV, although the latter is readily available to everyone at almost no cost. Media analyst Qader Bastani recently wrote in Sharq newspaper that "social media has left little room for the state TV reports and now only the bloopers on TV become viral. Unlike the past, when the audiences were passive and under the influence of the media, now social media are the forerunners of the media landscape and exercise great influence." Stressing that the IRIB needs serious change in its approach, Bastani wrote, "It is now hard for reporters to go among the people because the people no longer talk in the way that reporters want them to talk. Everybody talks in a controversial way and it is hard to find citizens who would say what television managers want them to say." In another article, Bastani wrote that people in Iran are concerned about the fact that their voice is not reflected on state TV. He further suggested that in the same way that the Islamic Republic has put an end on the state monopoly in banking, it should also end the IRIB's monopoly on broadcasting. In the meantime, Khabar Online revealed in a report that, while critics allege that the Iranian state broadcaster's viewership is declining, the IRIB maintains that over 80 percent of the Iranian population rely on the network for news and information. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/rouhani-praises -government-s-monopoly-on-broadcasting-in- iran-experts-disagree/30790319.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A further eight workers at a Co Kildare food processing plant have tested positive for Covid-19 - on top of 86 previous confirmed cases. O'Brien Fine Foods in Timahoe said of the 177 latest tests carried out, eight were positive and 169 were negative for the virus. Normal operations at the facility were originally suspended on 5 August after an initial 80 cases were identified. The company said it is aiming to resume full operations on Monday, pending the full approval from the HSE. The company said today: "Of 177 tests conducted on day seven, we can confirm that eight employees have received a positive result, 169 employees have tested negative. "As with previous cases, the level of asymptomatic infectivity appears to be very high." "All close contacts of those affected are being notified, advised to self-isolate and to contact their GP. "We firmly believe that to reduce risk and to best manage and control the spread of this virus, rigorous and regular testing procedures are required. "We will be testing all employees routinely and continue to work with and be guided by the HSE in this regard." Employees have been receiving full pay during the period of suspension of operations. Timeline Nearby properties were unscathed after the Bureau of Meteorology advised people along the Cooks River in Tempe and Marrickville to be on alert for flooding on Wednesday evening. "An abnormally high tide is likely to cause minor flooding along the Cooks River at Tempe Bridge (on) Wednesday evening," a warning on the bureau's website read. There was minor flooding but no property damage on Wednesday night. Credit:Wolter Peeters The river peaked near the minor flood level of 1.30 metres at around 8pm on Wednesday night on the high tide. The Inner West Council earlier warned nearby residents to "stay careful" throughout the evening. To prepare for its development plans, Nam Long Group has acquired a large land fund of more than 680ha. Photo: Le Toan In the first seven months, many real estate developers have been in shortage of capital resources due to the low liquidity caused by COVID-19 and tightened credit from bankers, while legal procedures have ground almost to a halt. As a result, partly selling shares is becoming the direction for such developers to mobilise finance. Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC has divested 99.9 per cent of its shares from the Song Da Riverside project and 49.9 per cent of Song Ma Real Estate Company. The transactions have brought about more than VND556 billion ($24 million) for Quoc Cuong Gia Lai and helped the company increase its revenues in 2020 so far, four times higher than in the same period of last year. The first seven months was also an active period for LDG Group, as it continues selling shares in a range of companies. LDG sold 7.2 million shares in Gia Loc Construction and Investment Company and 99.9 per cent in Binh Nguyen Real Estate JSC. The two transactions have gathered VND832 billion ($35.9 million) for LDG Group to implement other projects which are in need of capital. Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh Real Estate Association said that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were strong among real estate developers in recent times. Transactions are a good method for the market, which can help some developers get rid of distressed assets and restructure their portfolios, while others can have new investments, Chau said. Those transactions also help reduce stockpiles in the market and increase market liquidity as well, Chau added. Nguyen Quoc Bao, deputy general director of Danh Khoi Real Estate JSC, said that via M&A transactions, developers and companies have saved time and energy in completing procedures and legal documents to have clear land for project development. Successful deals are helping developers shorten down their time required for project development and is a win-win case for involved partners, said Bao. Expanding land funds While some developers are divesting from projects and companies to gather finance, others are actively collecting more land plots. Nam Long Group has prepared and collected a large land fund for its future development. According to the groups chairman Nguyen Xuan Quang, Nam Long now has a land fund of more than 680 hectares of clear land in major real estate destinations in Vietnam. Nam Long also recently acquired three large scale projects with total of 240 hectares involving The Waterfront in Long An province, Dai Phuoc in Dong Nai province, and Nam Long Haiphong. We strongly believe that COVID-19 cannot hinder Nam Long in its road to become a billion-dollar developer by 2022. We have also consulted with McKinsey & Company to set up a development vision for the next decade, Quang said. We are also ready to acquire a large-scale land fund which can be utilised for urban development areas to expand our portfolio. Meanwhile, Novaland continues to focus on developing three key product lines in the medium- and high-end segments based on its current land bank of nearly 5,000ha. These include residential projects in central Ho Chi Minh City, a satellite township project in Dong Nai, and second-home projects in some key tourism destinations. This land bank will secure the growth of Novaland for the next 10-15 years. An Gia Real Estate Investment and Development Corporation has also been expanding its current land fund with a reservation from VND3-5 trillion ($130-215 million) for acquiring land plots. Apart from the key market of Ho Chi Minh City, An Gia is expanding to neighbouring provinces such as Dong Nai, Long An, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Binh Duong. According to Ngo Duc Son, deputy general director of DRH Holdings, companies must prepare land plots in order to be active in implementing their investment plan for the coming time. Land is now the critical factor for real estate developers to do business. Therefore getting more land fund means that the future development plan can be ensured at higher efficiencies, Son said. Tricky asset valuations Asset valuation is the most important issue to decide the success of any M&A deal, experts say however, there is often a big gap among partners when it comes to such decisions. International valuation firms are always selected to comment on the market value of assets in transactions involving foreign elements. However, there may be differences between the market, the investment, and the liquidation value of the asset. In order to make the most appropriate judgment about the value of an asset, appraisers must have accurate and transparent information about the assets to base on for further consideration. According to Peter Sorensen, managing director of ABB Merchant Banking, when negotiating there are some factors for real estate valuation, such as a good track record. Buyers and sellers will normally have different perspectives on the commercial advantage of a certain project. The difference in opinion between the seller and the buyer in the valuation is partly leading to the failure of a transaction. This is important for companies which are operating real estate projects as non-core investment, according to Sorensen. While the buyer may consider the assets on offer as an inactive asset, the seller meanwhile sees it as a project with great potential. The key factors for real estate asset valuation are the profitability potential compared with investors cost and other equal values in the region. In addition, major factors such as location and the right for choosing are valid factors, added Sorensen. Meanwhile Nguyen Khanh, senior director for capital market of JLL Vietnam, said that after the first step of choosing the right buyer and seller, the next step is to narrow the price gap between the two sides. Buyers often expect that the transaction prices could able to fulfil their profitability requirements, while sellers often have high expectations on their assets. A good consultant will need to demonstrate extensive market knowledge and experience to match both sides at a mutually beneficial price, Khanh said. With a fluctuating real estate market, the definition of assets has become important. However, valuation now faces risks such as lack of databases and inefficient implementation of zoning plans. The government has been improving land and database storage through a project funded by the World Bank. However this database will not be completed this year. Ineffective planning management has led to market value disturbance, thereby making market information inconsistent. This is particularly important, as land use planning is often not publicly accessible. On August 11, Yesenia Aguilar was walking on an Anaheim, California, sidewalk with her husband, James Alvarez, when suddenly, an SUV hit her. Alvarez performed CPR on his wife before bringing her to UCI Medical Center. The 23-year-old pregnant woman died from injuries. Thankfully, the doctors were able to save the baby in her womb. Evening walk turned nightmare Alvarez told TODAY Parents that they were on an evening walk when a motorist hit his wife. Allegedly, the driver was driving under the influence of drugs, who suddenly lost control of her car. The husband revealed that it was too late by the time they saw the car coming towards them. He remembered looking at his wife laying on the ground, and all he could think was somebody would wake him up from that nightmare. He performed CPR on his 35-weeks pregnant wife then rushed her to the nearest hospital. See also: Bodies of 2 Parents Found in Sunken Car in Boston At around 7:37 in the evening, police received a call about a traffic collision that involved a vehicle and a pedestrian. Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Jon Yepes said that the accident happened east of Euclid Street, near Bayless Street and Katella Avenue. Authorities noted that a white Jeep struck a pregnant woman who was walking on the sidewalk with her husband. Daughter's birthday is mom's death day Doctors did an emergency cesarean section on Aguilar, so they were able to save the couple's daughter, Adalyn Rose. Even though their newborn daughter is currently in the NICU, Alvarez proudly said that the little one is breathing on her own. On Monday, he was able to hold his daughter for the first time. Tearing up, Alvarez said that his daughter's birthday is the same day that his wife died. See also: Truck Driver Dies After Safely Rescuing Children from School Bus Crash in Georgia [Heartbreaking Story] The Orange County District Attorney's Office has charged 40-year-old Courtney Fritz Pandolfi with murder for killing Aguilar. It noted that the suspect had prior DUI convictions. Todd Spitzer, Orange County District Attorney, told TODAY in a written statement that what happened is beyond shocking and reprehensible. He explained that there is no reason that a 23-year-old mom should die, and her daughter has to grow up without seeing her mom's smile nor hearing her voice. He also wrote that the tragic incident is 100 percent preventable. Spitzer explained that although the woman knew the consequences of driving under the influence, she still did. Anaheim Police Sgt. Shane Carringer said that Pandolfi was driving with a suspended license. See also: Alaska Mom Suddenly Gives Birth After Airplane Took off [Son Receives Unique Name] On Wednesday, Alvarez and his family members will celebrate his late wife's life at a small private funeral. Alvarez said that his "happiest and most loving woman" wife worked as a Disneyland cast member. He also noted that his wife is studying to become a cosmetologist. Alvarez told TODAY Parents that Aguilar is his world and that there are no words to describe how much he misses his wife. However, he knows he has to be strong and keep fighting for their miracle baby. Bill Murrays role in On the Rocks looks to be the quintessential Murray part, a philandering asshole who you cant help but be charmed by. And its fitting that hell get to play alongside Rashida Jones in a reunion with his Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola. On the Rocks is the first release in a partnership of films between A24 and Apple TV+ that will debut in October, and the film is the story of a playboy father who reconnects with his daughter, now a young mother in New York. But after the two begin to bond, Murray leads her to believe that Jones husband (Marlon Wayans) is fooling around, namely because thats exactly what Murray would be doing in his shoes. Hes not like you. Hes a good guy, a great dad, Jones says to her father. Sure, its nature, he replies. Males are forced to fight to dominate and to impregnate all females. Also Read: Anne Hathaway, Bill Murray to Star in Aaron Schneider's 'Bum's Rush' That exchange leads to another hilarious sequence in which Murray and Jones decide to tail Wayans in a less-than-inconspicuous red convertible and in which Murray says that one New York plaza is perfect for cheaters because of its numerous exits from the building. Murray was nominated for an Oscar for his work with Coppola in Lost in Translation, and this film, her first since The Beguiled in 2017, could be another awards-caliber turn for the legendary comedian. Watch the first trailer for On the Rocks above. Read original story Bill Murray and Rashida Jones Play Father and Daughter in Sofia Coppolas On the Rocks Trailer (Video) At TheWrap On Wednesday, the federal agency carried out an extensive search operation at four premises belonging to the RP and a former director of the debt-ridden steel company on allegations of certain irregularities. Confirming the development, an official said the three premises at Delhi and one at Gurugram have been covered so far in connection with the ongoing money ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor They have had plenty of nights in over the past months. But Amber Turner led the slew of reality stars hitting London town for the launch of Club L on Wednesday night. The TOWIE star, 27, commanded attention in a coral jumpsuit which highlighted her incredible figure thanks to its tight-fitting design. Here come the girls: Amber Turner led the slew of reality stars hitting London town for the launch of Club L on Wednesday night The asymmetric number, which had flared trousers, cinched in Amber's slender waist while showcasing her surgically-enhanced cleavage. She added a boost to her height with open-toe heels and complemented her glamorous outfit with a Louis Vuitton handbag. Joining Amber at the bash were Love Island twins Jess and Eve Gale, 21. Twinning: Joining Amber at the bash was Love Island twins Jess (left) and Eve Gale (right), 21 Gorgeous: The TOWIE star, 27, commanded attention in a coral jumpsuit which highlighted her incredible figure thanks to its tight-fitting design Eve also put on a busty display in a plunging white tuxedo style dress which she teamed with perspex heels and a Fendi handbag. Her sister Jess, meanwhile, upped the skin-flashing ante in a ruched orange minidress. Also on the girls' night out was fellow Love Islander Kendall Rae Knight. Kendall, 28, starred on the show back in 2018- a year before Jess and Eve found fame on Love Island. Kendall looked glamorous in a shiny blue suit and appeared in high spirits as she strutted into the venue. Cleavage: Eve also put on a busty display in a plunging white tuxedo style dress which she teamed with perspex heels and a Fendi handbag Dressed to impress: The reality star opted to shun the cardinal legs or cleavage rule in favour of full-on glamour Leggy: The twins strutted into the launch with DJ Sian Owen Amber let her hair down with the Love Island alumni after filming for the upcoming 10-year anniversary series of TOWIE. Last week, ITV released a trailer ahead of its special reunion episodes that air in September. The hit ITVBe show posted a video to Twitter on Friday full of key moments from the show's history including when Lauren Goodger pushed ex Mark Wright into a swimming pool. Other hilarious parts include Sam Faiers asking for a vajazzle and Gemma Collins telling people to 'Google her'. Strutting her stuff: Also on the girls' night out was fellow Love Islander Kendall Rae Knight. Kendall, 28, starred on the show back in 2018- a year before Jess and Eve found fame In August 2020, social media posts about U.S Sen. Kamala Harris made rounds. The posts showed the senator referring to her 18-to-24-year-old potential voters as "stupid". The posts are all over Facebook and Twitter. What the senator said On August 11, Harris was selected by former Vice President Joe Biden as his Vice President for the upcoming presidential election. Biden and Harris form the Democratic ticket. Harris is viewed favorably among various voter demographics including the young ones. However, it is true that Harris made a remark calling people in the 18-24 age range stupid during a speech in 2014 when she was still the attorney general of California, as what is seen in the post on Facebook. Harris was not directly talking about the voters. There is a missing context from the claim, and it is that Harris recounted various efforts to reduce incarceration and recidivism among young voters, she then commented on the decision-making tendencies of young adults. Also Read: Kamala Harris Plans to Provide Affordable Housing With Three Free Meals a Day and Dedicated Security The comment came as she was describing Back on Track, which is a program that she launched in 2005 when she was the district attorney of San Francisco. The program allowed young people facing first-time, low-level drug sale charges to have their case dismissed if they met the educational and career achievement goals. Harris did refer to the young voters as stupid back in 2014 as seen on Youtube. But she was not talking about voters in that age range, she was talking about the developmental stage of life for those who are in the age range. The line was as a tongue-in-cheek jab to show a broader need for empathy when it comes to how bad decisions can lead young people to be prosecuted as adults. Not the first black female vice president Right after Joe Biden announced that Sen. Kamala Harris will run alongside him for the presidential election this November 2020, news outlets and social media labeled her as the first black female vice president. However, she is not the first. Decades before Harris, there was Charlotta Bass. Reported by The Washington Post, Bass was an activist and journalists, she became the first black woman to run for vice president in the United States in 1952, she was under the Progressive Party ticket. Bass told a crowd in Chicago in her acceptance speech that her running is a historic moment in American political life. She noted that it is historic for herself, for her people, and for all women. Bass added that "for the first time in the history of this nation a political party has chosen a Negro woman for the second-highest office in the land." In the early 1900s, Bass moved from Rhode Island to California. She then got a job selling newspapers for The Eagle, which was one of the first Black newspapers in Los Angeles. According to a history professor at the University of Southern Indiana, Denise Lynn, over time Bass' responsibilities at the paper grew and Joseph Neimore, the editor, asked her to take over upon his death. For 40 years, Bass was the paper's editor and wrote about education, labor, police brutality, and women's suffrage at a time before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made voting possible for people of color. Bass was a devoted activist and the first Black woman to own a newspaper. She used the paper to protest the Ku Klux Klan and to support Black nurses' strike. Related Article: Fact Check: Did Sen. Kamala Harris Have An Extramarital Affair with Willie Brown That Boosted Her Career? @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Amid the anti-China push in the country, Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors is awaiting the approval of the government for its foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal. China's largest SUV maker had acquired General Motors' Talegaon factory in January for Rs 950 crore. It was part of Great Wall Motors' $1 billion investment in India's SUV market. The Chinese company has now approached the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to get a clearance ahead of its plan to launch its vehicles in India. Automobile sector has an automatic approval route, but FDI from China requires government clearance. The proposal would also be vetted by the Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times. Around 40 proposals involving Chinese investments are awaiting clearance, including Changan, Chery and Haima. Great Wall's progress would be significant for these companies that are close to finalising their plans for India. This development comes after the government introduced new rules that stated that any country that shares land border with India must get clearance for investments in the country -- even for the ones in the automatic route. This rule was introduced after the Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops that led to the death of 20 soldiers. However, as the border issue remains unresolved, these clearances are likely to take time. This would also push the timeline of launches. The launches have already been pushed by a quarter to June 2021. With further delays, it might get moved to 2022, stated the daily. Great Wall made an appearance at the Auto Expo this year. It is aiming to launch four vehicles in India. Also read: China's Great Wall Motors signs $1 billion MoU with Maharashtra; border tensions with India escalate Yes. I like to get it done early. Not yet, but I will soon. Ask me in April. Vote View Results Harshvardhan Shringla, the foreign secretary of India, concluded his two-day visit to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh on Wednesday. The key reason, behind the visit, was to carry forward the message of the Prime Minister Modi on reaffirming strong bi-lateral ties. Read | Latest News: From CBI's response to SC order on SSR to US COVID aid to India; top stories Read | Diet, nutrition play key role in preventing deaths due to diseases including COVID: Harsh Vardhan The discussions, which were held during the visit included cooperation on matters that were in the interest of both the countries, enhancing connectivity, the revival of the economy post-Covid, and cooperation on assistance for COVID. The Secretary also discussed therapeutics and vaccines in the fight against COVID-19. Read | Hair-raising anthem celebrates India's resilient spirit amid ongoing crisis | Watch Read | Jeweller set on fire by cousin dies in UP's Firozabad, accused arrested Along with discussions, the secretary also participated in a joint commemoration of the birth centenary year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. "Bangladesh shall be a priority in the COVID-19 vaccine which would be produced by India", said secretary Shringla. At present, the three vaccines that are being developed in India are in different stages. One of them will enter phase 3 trials either Tuesday or Wednesday. The other two are in phase 1 and 2 of trials. While the new dimension of the disease has come forward, the scientific and medical communities across the nation are monitoring it closely. . Earlier, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina appreciated her Indian counterpart's gesture in sending Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to further the bilateral ties, sources told ANI Read | Sushant Case: CBI officials won't be quarantined, if visit for less than 7 days says BMC (With Inputs From AIR Website) State NPF withdraws from Joint Legislators Forum DIMAPUR, AUG 18 (NPN) | Publish Date: 8/18/2020 12:12:34 PM IST Says, the present setup of JLF facing huge trust deficit In a significant political development, NPF legislature party at a meeting held in Dimapur Tuesday at the residence of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) T.R. Zeliang, resolved to withdraw membership from the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF) on Naga political issue on the ground of huge trust deficit, particularly since the ruling dispensation has no confidence with the NPF legislators. This was contained in a press communique issued by the opposition, which however said the NPF will continue to act as active facilitators on the Naga political issue. The party cited the refusal of its request to hold the recently concluded 6th NLA session for three days instead of one day. NPF had wanted to have a three-day session to discuss several issues confronting the Naga people including the Naga political issue. NPF maintained that as a responsible political party, it has played the role as an active facilitator for resolving the Naga political issue since the last 23 years. After formation of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA), the opposition said it volunteered to be part of the JLF so that the Naga political issue could be carried forward. However, it said after reconstitution of the JLF on September 18,2018 the JLF failed to make any progress due to the half-hearted approach of the present government. This, it said, rendered the JLF as a mere Forum without any tangible road-map to the Naga political issue. NPF pointed out that the signing of the Framework Agreement between the NSCN (I-M) and government of India on August 3,2015 and the signing of the Agreed Position between the government of India and the NNPGs on November 17,2017 had created a conducive atmosphere for the JLF to assist and accelerate the ongoing peace process. However, it said JLF was rendered an ineffective forum when meetings were convened but followed by inaction on the part of the present government. NPF said at almost every JLF meetings, it had proposed that members call upon the prime minister of India, the home minister and other central leaders to urge upon them to bring a logical conclusion to the long-pending Naga political issue but these had failed to see the light of day. NPF also said that as suggested by the present chief minister, JLF had constituted a core committee that comprised of five NPF legislators out of 20 other members. NPF said three meetings of the committee were held during which it suggested sending a delegation comprising of representatives of various political parties and tribe representatives to meet PM and HM to apprise them for an early solution. NPF said it renewed the proposal at the March 8,2020 JLF meeting at Niathu Resort but the chief minister came up with some excuses and so it was kept in abeyance. NPF said it had repeated its proposal as the JLF meeting held at the Old CMs Banquet Hall Kohima on May 2,2020 but the chief minister made another excuse that first consultations with civil societies should be held. NPF also accused the chief minister of not speaking out his mind nor divulging detailed of his meetings with central leaders in JLF meetings or Core Committee members so they could move forward as facilitators for the Naga political issue. NPF said before the deadline for conclusion of negotiations was set on October 31,2019 , the present government paid least attention in convening a meeting of the JLF despite its fervent appeals. When all its pleas fell on deaf ears, NPF said its legislators along with NPF party central office bearers went to New Delhi on October 28,2019 where they met with leaders of seven NNPGs and NSCN (I-M) on October 29 and October 30 respectively. It said the outcome was positive and subsequently on October 31,2019 it was informed that both political groups had arrived at a mutual understanding. Furthermore, NPF said on August 5,2020 the chief minister along with the finance minister of Assam were called to New Delhi by the union home minister. After his return, NPF said the chief minister maintained an eerie silence on what transpired in the meeting. However, NPF said Assam finance minister disclosed to media during interactions that the meeting was regard to bringing permanent peace in the north east region and that the government of India was keen to resolve the Naga issue. The silence of chief minister is best known to him along, added NPF. Rio does not have confidence in Oppn MLAs, says Zeliang Victoria has recorded 13 deaths and 240 new coronavirus cases but there are fears the true total could be much higher because testing rates are low in some areas. There are 180 testing sights across Victoria - but one centre in Melbourne's northern suburbs has been testing as few as 20 people per day. On Wednesday 20,279 tests were taken, down from a peak of 33,826 on 31 July. There were only 16,109 tests done on Wednesday and Premier Daniel Andrews blamed this on 'far less people moving around the community'. Victorian health bosses gave a coronavirus-infected meatworks the green light to send some staff back to the factory (pictured: COVID-19 testing in Melbourne on Tuesday) The people who died were a man in his 70s, six women in their 80s, five women and one man in their 90s. Eight were in aged care. Thousands of Victorians have recovered from the virus. There were only 4,864 active cases on Thursday, down from 7,155 on Wednesday, Some 622 people are in hospital, with 43 in ICU and 28 on ventilators. It comes as it emerges that Victorian health bosses gave a coronavirus-infected meatworks permission to send some staff back to the factory while awaiting results of their COVID-19 precautionary test. JBS Brooklyn, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is linked to at least 150 coronavirus infections and has shut all but one section of its plant. A worker, who did not wish to share his name due to fear of reprisal, said COVID-19 spread through the kill floor and boning room but the cold storage facility remained open because it was not yet infected, ABC reported. He received a letter from Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) last week, which advised all staff members in cold storage to go for a precautionary COVID-19 test 'as soon as possible'. JBS Brooklyn, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is linked to at least 150 coronavirus infections (pictured on August 12) 'If you have any symptoms associated with COVID-19 please seek testing immediately and isolate at home until you have received your results,' the letter read. The worker then received text messages from his JBS manager, who said he could come back to work before getting the all clear. 'You can come back before your test results come back, only if you or anyone in the family is showing no symptoms,' the manager wrote. The worker said he spoke with the HR department at JBS and was advised he was required to attend work if not symptomatic. He claims he was 'repeatedly' told he was required to work. 'There is a chance it is still in the facility but unfortunately, money is needed and I am getting to the point where I have no choice but to risk it,' he said. A DHHS spokeswoman confirmed to the ABC staff who are without symptoms and not considered close contacts of infected cases could go back to work. She said workers who were tested 'as precaution or as part of a targeted workplace testing program' do not need to self-isolate if they don't have symptoms. A JBS Australia spokesman told Daily Mail Australia it is following the DHHS advice and there had been 'random testing of asymptomatic workers' as a precaution. The spokesman said DHHS allowed the staff to return to work while awaiting the results of the precautionary tests. 'The company (JBS) has been very clear, if you have symptoms, don't come into work,' the spokesman said. Pictured: A sign for COVID-19 testing is seen in Melbourne on Tuesday JBS Brooklyn has also introduced measures to keep staff safe during the pandemic. Some of the safety measures include supervised and contactless entry and exit, separate toilets, change rooms and meal rooms, as well as social distancing and temperature testing protocols. Premier Daniel Andrews last month said large workplaces such as cold storages presented challenges and strict measures were needed to keep the virus at bay. Cedar Meats, an abattoir in Melbourne, is connected to 111 coronavirus infections after a worker tested positive at the beginning of April. Outbreaks have happened at abattoirs across the world, amid growing evidence the virus survives and thrives in refrigerated environments. Similar viruses can live for extended periods of time in cooler temperatures, and can even travel on frozen food. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2020) Moldova's intended amendments to its electoral law could be reworded in a way to prevent infringement on the freedom of expression and misuse of administrative resources, among other things, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission for Democracy Through Law said in a joint urgent opinion with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Wednesday. The amendments are planned to be introduced to Moldova's Electoral Code, the Contravention Code and the Code of Audiovisual Media Services via draft Law 263. "In order to further improve the compliance of the draft Law with international obligations, human rights standards and OSCE commitments, ODIHR and the Venice Commission made key recommendations concerning: restrictions on freedom of expression - regarding participation in campaigning, hate speech and incitement to discrimination - to be drafted and interpreted in conformity with constitutional and international human rights law," the commission said in a press release. The prohibitions were designed, in particular, to prevent indirect financing and other unlawful financial assistance to electoral candidates by NGOs, charities, trade unions and religious organizations. The opinion recommended that these measures not be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 32 of Moldova's constitution. "The provisions on (misuse of) administrative resources should be further refined, including introducing an effective enforcement mechanism to prevent these violations," the opinion read. Other key recommendations included expanding the range of sanctions that could be applied for violations of campaign rules, specifically the principles of proportionality and equality, setting "reasonably short deadlines" for complaints and appeals and specifying more clearly who can submit those, and reconsidering the draft amendments to continue allowing observers to monitor all stages of the electoral process. The government of Moldova has requested an assessment of its draft law on July 24. The opinion was prepared as part of the Partnership for Good Governance, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, through the Quick Response Mechanism. The West Bengal police on Wednesday afternoon searched the residence of Arjun Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, in connection with an old case of financial irregularity. A police officer who is part of the investigation and did not want to be named said, The search was held in connection with alleged financial irregularities to the tune of 11 crore involving the Bhatpara municipality and a local cooperative bank. Singh was chairman of the Bhatpara municipality from 2010 to 2019. He left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and joined the BJP in March 2019. He also headed a local cooperative banks board. Singh, who was present at home, said, This is not the first time the police came to raid my house. In the past they did not have any order from court and were not allowed to enter. Today they came with a court order. I am not surprised because it is well known that I am a target of the TMC. The Barrackpore police have so far named me in 93 cases. For Mamata Banerjee, I was clean and pure as long as I was in the TMC. Now, that I am in the BJP, I am involved in all sorts of crimes, said Singh. Recognised as a heavyweight leader, Singh was a four-time legislator of the TMC from Bhatpara before he joined the BJP and defeated TMCs sitting Barrackpore MP Dinesh Trivedi in 2019. The election was marked by violence which continues intermittently in the region. Singhs son and brother-in-law are also sitting legislators of the BJP. Also Read: Covid centre built by Congress, CPI (M) in Bengal; BJP has a question for TMC Singh alleged that the police team broke into the house of one of his relatives before coming to his home. That house is located around 500 metres away from mine. It is under a lock and a key for six months as the family is now in another state. I told the officers that we will move court for this as they did not have any written order to search the premises. Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma could not be contacted. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh condemned the incident and said Singh was being singled out. The TMC is being vindictive. The sole job of the Barrackpore police is to target and implicate Arjun Singh, said Ghosh. On July 17, a police team went to Singhs home at Bhatpara in search of one of his nephews but was denied entry by Central paramilitary force personnel in charge of Singhs security as the police officers did not have a search warrant. Luis Abinader, presidential candidate of the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party, greets the crowd while he is surrounded by journalists at a voting center during the presidential elections, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in July. Read more On Sunday, Dominicans around the globe celebrated Restoration Day with a new president officially taking office. Luis Abinader, a 53-year-old economist and businessman of Lebanese descent, won a four-year term on July 5, ending a 16-year administration by the Dominican Liberation Party. He had run for office in 2016, finishing second in the presidential race. This year, he became the first Latin American president elected during the coronavirus pandemic and the first sworn into office after recovering from COVID-19. The Dominican presidents weekend inauguration ceremony was attended by diplomats from around the world, including representatives from Haiti, Spain and the European Union, Turkey, Serbia, Honduras, Guinea-Bissau, and Guatemala. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also attended. In his speech, Abinader acknowledged the financial and emotional support that Dominican diasporas have provided to the islanders during the pandemic. He also spoke about the challenges the country faces with the new school year set to start Monday and the recovery of the nation and its economy, where the coronavirus has caused more than 1,450 deaths and prompted business shutdowns. A nighttime curfew remains in place. The new Dominican president, who paid Rudy Giuliani for consulting services during his campaign, promised the nation he wouldnt practice borron y cuenta nueva (a clean slate), and committed to pursue past government corruption cases and investigate any new claims of corruption. The Inquirer spoke with three Philadelphia Dominicans about Abinaders election and their views on what lies ahead for his presidency: Rafael Logrono, 26, is an adjunct professor at Temple University who teaches Latin American media studies. He thought watching Abinaders swearing-in Sunday was a great transition to watching the Democratic National Convention because of the sense of optimism that came with the new Dominican administration. As a Philly-born Dominican who hasnt claimed his rights to the Caribbean countrys citizenship, he said, he saw many Dominicans in Philadelphia voting in July with the last sense of faith that they had. That included his parents, who voted for the first time since moving to the United States 30 years ago. He honored the Dominican population in the United States and around the globe, and that was great because, in the end, the welfare of the country impacts us abroad as well, Logrono said, referring to the financial assistance Dominicans send back to family members and friends. According to the Dominican Central Bank, the Dominican Republic has received a total of $3.4 billion in remittances during the first six months of 2020 from Dominicans living overseas. Logrono did lament that Abinader didnt address gender and race equality. Brunilda Gonzalez, 56, has owned a grocery store at Seventh and Master Streets for 27 years. She said she is looking forward to watching Abinaders speech again, saying it brought peace to her soul. That man was so precise and so humble, that it felt like the perfect energy for the pandemic, she said. Gonzalez said the Dominican nation needed a person with fresh ideals, who would work for the collective interest and not one particular group. She hopes he delivers a presidency that unites Dominicans wherever they live. State Rep. Danilo Burgos helped facilitate the Dominican voting efforts last month in areas across Pennsylvania with large populations of Dominicans, such as Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, and Hazleton. He said Dominicans should wait and see what the new presidents administration accomplishes. Burgos said Giulianis record as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York suggests the type of anti-corruption programs that he might have shared with Abinader as his adviser. But he remains skeptical regarding future outcomes because of Giulianis influence and connection to the Trump administration, which has been marred by anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric and involvement in Latin Americas welfare and stability. Giuliani has also been an adviser to the administration that has had the most criminal indictments in U.S. history, so this doesnt sit right. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 17:37 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f2d6ba 1 Business bni,net-profit,assets,loan-disbursement,COVID-19 Free State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) booked a profit decline of more than 40 percent during the first half of this year as the COVID-19 pandemic caused its asset quality to deteriorate. The publicly listed bank booked Rp 4.46 trillion (US$301.34 million) in net profit in the first half of this year, down 41.6 percent compared to the same period in 2019. BNI director Sigit Prastowo attributed the sharp profit decline to rising provision. We had to set aside bigger provisioning because the pandemic is causing our asset quality to deteriorate, he said during a virtual press briefing on Tuesday. Provisioning grew 88.2 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 7.47 trillion, in line with its coverage ratio, which increased sharply to 214.1 percent from 133.5 percent in 2019. Sigit said the bank expected its provisioning to continue to affect its bottom line until the end of this year. However, he said the bank would try to maintain positive profit growth at the end of 2020 albeit with a lower figure than the previous year. On top of that, the bank's net interest income flatlined, growing only 1 percent to Rp 17.8 trillion due to delayed loan repayments. Its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio rose significantly to 3 percent from 1.8 percent recorded in June last year, according to BNIs presentation material obtained by The Jakarta Post. It is slightly lower than the NPL ratio of the industry at 3.1 percent in June, Financial Services Authority (OJK) data show. BNIs third-party funds grew 11.3 percent yoy to Rp 662.4 trillion in the first half, while its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 16.7 percent in June. Despite the flatlining net interest income and gloomy profit outlook, the bank is still upbeat that its non-interest income will continue to grow at the end of this year. Sigit said the bank recorded a 9.2 percent yoy increase in the first half on ATM and e-channel fees as the pandemic pushed customers to conduct transactions using its internet and mobile banking services. At the same time, foreign exchange trading grew 83.8 percent from last year due to the increase in derivative transactions. As a result, our non-interest income grew 3.2 percent in the first half of this year and we are confident that it will continue to grow positively until the end of this year, he said. The bank still managed to record positive loan growth during the first half of this year despite slowing loan demand. BNIs loan disbursement grew 5 percent to Rp 576.78 trillion during the period. The figure was well above the banking industrys growth of 1.49 percent in June, according to the OJK. We will maintain this positive growth while being more selective in disbursing loans this year, said Sigit, adding that the bank expected its loan disbursement to grow a little over 4 percent at the end of 2020. The state-owned bank will also continue to disburse more loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as labor-intensive and export-oriented corporations to contribute to the national economic recovery program (PEN). So far we have disbursed Rp 9.15 trillion in loans to 36,000 customers, director Tambok Simanjuntak said. She added that the disbursement was equal to 1.83 times the governments fund placement in BNI, amounting to Rp 5 trillion. The government has placed a total of Rp 30 trillion in four state-owned banks, as part of the countrys COVID-19 response worth Rp 695.2 trillion, which is aimed at bolstering the economy and strengthening the healthcare system. The placement is supposed to help bank liquidity and stimulate credit growth amid the economic impact of the pandemic. BNI director Adi Sulistyowati added that the bank had restructured Rp 119.3 trillion in loans, equal to 21.9 percent of its total disbursed loans. Jasa Utama Capital equity analyst Chris Apriliony said on Wednesday that the less-than-stellar first half performance was somewhat expected given the slowing economy during the start of the pandemic. However, there is still hope in the second half as economic activity has slowly returned to normal following easing restrictions, he said. BNIs share price, listed under the code BBNI on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), had lost 35.67 percent of its value since the beginning of the year. As of 1:06 p.m. on Wednesday, the share was unchanged at Rp 5,050 apiece. By David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for a boycott of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co , accusing the Ohio-based company of "playing politics" by forbidding workers from donning the "Make America Great Again" caps favored by his supporters. The Republican president, who is seeking a second term in office, told reporters he would swap out the Goodyear tires on his presidential limousine if there were an alternative. "Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS," he wrote on Twitter, referring to his slogan "Make America Great Again" often emblazoned on baseball caps. "I'm not happy with Goodyear because what they're doing is playing politics," Trump said at a White House briefing. He said it was "disgraceful" that the company would prevent employees from wearing attire supporting the 'Blue Lives Matter' movement that supports law enforcement, while allowing support for other causes which he described as "Marxist" in nature. His press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany told reporters earlier that support for police officers was just as much an equity issue as the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, citing the targeting of police officers in cities around the country. Trump's tweet followed a news report by WIBW, a CBS affiliate television station in Kansas, about a training session at Goodyear's headquarters that discussed political attire. Goodyear, which had nearly $15 billion in revenue last year, said a widely circulated image that triggered the controversy was not created or distributed by the company's corporate group. The image spelled out appropriate and inappropriate displays, with 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride' deemed acceptable, while 'Blue Lives Matter' and 'MAGA Attire' were not. Story continues "To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any form of harassment or discrimination," the company said in a statement. To enforce that policy, Goodyear said, it asks employees to avoid "workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equality issues." Shares in Goodyear fell as much as 6% on Wednesday after the president's tweet, but later pared some of the losses to close down trade down 2.4% at $9.50, with volume at four times the 10-day moving average. Goodyear is the largest tire company in North America. Its branded tires were on 24% of new vehicles in the United States in 2018, according to Tire Business, an industry publication. Democratic challenger Joe Biden said Trump's comments showed that he viewed thousands of jobs at Goodyear as "collateral damage" in another of his "petty political grievances." U.S. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who represents Goodyear's home state of Ohio, also criticized Trump's comment. "It's absolutely despicable that the President would call for a boycott of an American company, based in Akron, that employs thousands of U.S. workers," he wrote in a tweet. Trump, who is trailing Biden in opinion polls, will accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination at the White House next week after a flurry of campaign stops this week. Trump dismissed the chance of any political or business fallout from his comments. He said he was confident that he was polling "very well" among Goodyear workers, adding, "I think you'll be able to get another good job." The tweet caught at least three senior Trump advisers by surprise. Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Wednesday she had not seen the tweet, but did not view it as a political mistep. "I think he's done plenty for companies in Ohio and elsewhere, far more than Joe Biden ever did," she said. Boycotts, like tariffs, are a favorite in Trump's political and economic toolkit. In early 2016, before winning the last election, Trump called for a boycott of Apple products until the tech giant agreed to U.S. government demands that it unlock the cellphone of one of the killers in an attack in California. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting by Jan Wolfe in Washington and Trevor Hunnicutt in Wilmington, Delware; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien and Richard Pullin) Colombo, Aug 18 (IANS) Sri Lanka faced a nationwide power failure due to a technical breakdown at a power station in Kerawalapitiya on the outskirts of capital Colombo, bringing businesses and daily life to a standstill. Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma rushed to the Kerawalapitiya Power Station within an hour after the nationwide blackout on Monday afternoon and remained with technicians who were trying to restore power, reports Xinhua news agency. A rare type of new moon will rise over the skies of the northern hemisphere this week, offering stargazers a great opportunity to observe stars and constellations that are usually hidden by the moon's light. The so-called 'Black Moon' will appear invisible to the naked eye, as its position between the Earth and the Sun means no sunlight is reflected back to Earth. This is much like any other new moon - what is unusual about August's new moon is that it's the third of four new moons in a single season. Typically there are only three new moons during a three-month season on the astronomical calender, but the first new moon of the summer occurred shortly after the summer solstice and the fourth squeezes in just before the autumn equinox. The new moon peaks at 3.41am BST on 19 August, though will continue the phase into Wednesday night. A 5 per cent illuminated crescent will appear on Thursday evening. Recommended Mars and the Moon have lava tubes so big they could host bases Several planets will appear much brighter, as they will not be drowned out by the moon's light. Weather depending, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the southeastern sky, while Mars will rise in the east at around 10pm on Wednesday night. Neptune and Uranus will also appear in the skies above the UK, though even with the new moon they will require binoculars or a telescope to view. Places on earth that look like the moon Show all 10 1 /10 Places on earth that look like the moon Places on earth that look like the moon Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, US Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Fly Geyser, Nevada, US Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon The Pinnacles, Western Australia Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Hawaii Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Iceland Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Sarakiniko, Milos, Greece Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon The Bardenas Reales, Navarre, Spain Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Spotted Lake, Osoyoos, Canada Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon Rummu quarry, Rummu, Estonia Getty/iStock Places on earth that look like the moon El Valle de la Luna, Atacama Desert, Chile Getty/iStock The Milky Way galaxy should also appear in much clearer detail without the moon's light, as well as much closer objects like orbiting satellites. The next new moon will take place in 29 days but it will be another 32 months before a Black Moon occurs, which will arrive on 30 April 2022. By Associated Press BRUSSELS: European Union leaders are putting on a show of support Wednesday for people protesting in Belarus. Emergency talks will aim to highlight their concern about the contested presidential election and ratchet up pressure on officials linked to the security crackdown that followed. The EU believes that the results of the Aug. 9 polls, which handed President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term with 80% of the vote, "have been falsified," and the 27-nation bloc is preparing a list of Belarus officials who could be blacklisted from Europe over their roles. In a letter inviting leaders to the teleconference, EU Council President Charles Michel said that "what we have witnessed in Belarus is not acceptable." He said the "violence against peaceful protesters was shocking and has to be condemned. Those responsible must be held to account." ALSO READ | Belarus residents hit streets as EU chief calls for emergency summit after presidential election results Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs in the first four days of demonstrations. At least two protesters died. Workers at state-controlled companies have joined strikes this week, as the unprecedented mass protests enter their 11th day and erode the authority of the man once dubbed "Europe's last dictator." In this Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020 file photo Belarusian opposition supporters rally in the center of Minsk. (Photo | AP) It's not entirely clear what the Europeans can do right now, but they appear determined to help maintain the momentum that began in the streets of Minsk with a show of political support, and to revive a sanctions program on Belarus that was eased four years ago as relations with Lukashenko improved. In a video statement ahead of their virtual summit, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Europe to support "the awakening of Belarus." "I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world," Tsikhanouskaya said. ALSO READ | UK rejects 'fraudulent' Belarus election results, warns of sanctions On the eve of the meeting, Michel had a half-hour telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin to share the EU's concern about election irregularities and the scale of the security crackdown, and to impress upon the Russian leader the right of the Belarus people to determine their own future. They discussed ways to encourage talks between Lukashenko and the opposition, possibly by supporting a dialogue process fostered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Judy Dempsey, Nonresident Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and Editor in Chief of Strategic Europe, said the emphasis from the Europeans appears to be on getting Lukashenko to start talking to an opposition whose legitimacy he has tended to question. "Time is of the essence," she warned, if Belarusians are not to see their hopes for change hijacked. "The EU already said it does not recognize the outcome of the presidential election. The idea of new elections would rattle Putin, whose own record on free and fair elections has been challenged, so far unsuccessfully, by protesters in Russia," Dempsey said. The relatively small EU nation of Lithuania is playing a major role as the protests unfold by giving refuge to Tsikhanouskaya. Its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, are also deeply involved in diplomatic efforts, as is Poland. Some in Europe are concerned that hitting Lukashenko and his associates too hard might drive Belarus into the arms of Russia, even though relations between Minsk and Moscow have been troubled in recent years and even more tense in the run up to the polls. Others fear Russian intervention. But experts tend to play down those worries, and say the people of Belarus only want to secure independence, and are not interested in deeper relations with Russia, the European Union, or in joining Moscow's nemesis, the NATO military alliance. Belarus is not Georgia or Ukraine, where Putin fanned the flames of conflict by backing pro-Russian separatists. Ekaterina Pierson-Lyzhina, a Brussels-based researcher into Belarus' EU foreign policy, said that recent surveys suggest around 60 per cent of people want the country to remain independent and reject any kind of union. Smaller groups are divided up into those who support European or Russian integration. "There are no European flags, no Russian flags. This revolution is about domestic dissatisfaction of the majority of Belarusians with their president, who has held a grip on power for 26 years," she said, and urged the EU to set up a fund for victims of the crackdown and help build a database on police crimes. Mumbai, Aug 19 : In a telling reaction, Parth Pawar - the grand-nephew of Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar - tweeted: 'Satyameva Jayate'. Parth had demanded a CBI probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput a few days ago, kicking off a row within the powerful Pawar clan of Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar had publicly ticked off Parth terming him as "immature" in a rare outburst. "His statements are not worth even a nickel. He is immature. We do not give much importance to it," Pawar Sr. had declared. The 30-year-old's brief but potent tweet has set political tongues wagging on its possible ramifications for the NCP and the Pawar family, amid speculation that he has virtually thumbed his nose at the 79-year old patriarch. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Inc. magazine today revealed that eGuard Tech Services is No. 4659 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. eGuard Tech Services is one of an elite group of 32 companies in the DC Metro region to make this years Inc. 5000 list. We are thrilled to once again achieve a ranking on this years INC 5000 list. said Khaled Farhang, eGuard Techs Founder and CEO. While I am personally excited to receive this honor, it goes without saying that the credit is shared with my team of dedicated professionals, as well as our loyal client base, who each year contribute to the constantly expanding growth and success of eGuard Tech Services. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 12. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. eGuard Tech Services is Washington DCs leading technology consulting firm focusing on small and medium size businesses. Since 2007 our ultimate goal and focus has been to design, and implement innovative technology solutions that help our clients increase their operational efficiency, and enhance the overall success of their organization. Our philosophy is a simple one: we are a client relationship company first and only then, a technology solutions company. At eGuard Tech the relationship matters; we operate as a true partner with our clients and not just as another technology vendor. CONTACT: Khaled Farhang President/CEO 202-465-4670 kfarhang@eguardtech.com More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. Surf Air, the membership-based, all-you-can-fly private air operator that whisked Silicon Valley executives from meeting to meeting along the West Coast, is expanding its leisure flights in response to growing demand from well-heeled Californians who want fewer strangers sitting next to them on their next trip. The Southern California-based company last week began selling private charter flights designed for weekend getaways. The flights operate out of San Carlos (15 minutes south of SFO) and Hawthorne airports (which is near Los Angeles International Airport). For $6,900 round-trip, travelers can book an eight-seat Pilatus PC-12 single-engine propeller plane from either one of those two airports to any airport in California. That works out to roughly $862.50 per person, round-trip if you fill the plane. You do not need to be a Surf Air member to charter a flight. Flights depart Friday and return Sunday, although if youre paying that much to charter a plane, customers can likely request departure times that best suit their schedules. Surf Air is also offering scheduled weekend getaway flights between San Carlos, Truckee, Yosemite, and Southern California. Flights from Hawthorne to Truckee and Yosemite have been selling out every weekend, according to the company. For the scheduled services, fliers will be sharing flights with other Surf Air members. Surf Air says that it is screening fliers for high temperatures before boarding, mandating facial coverings, and is disinfecting its planes more regularly. Surf Air's standard membership offering involves a flat monthly fee of either $1,950, $2,450 or $2,950 depending on usage and the breadth of benefits desired. Membership includes access to unlimited flights on Surf Air's intra-California network. Like other travel companies, Surf Air has been hit hard financially because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Hudson Andrews the companys head of marketing. Yet the impact is not as severe as commercial airline competitors. He said many of Surf Airs subscribers were flying for business before many companies shifted to remote working and banned corporate travel during the onset of the pandemic. Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE weekly email alerts. With a drop in demand for business travel, the company has evolved to flying fewer weekday commute hour flights between the Bay Area and the Los Angeles basin. More weekend leisure flights have been added between the Bay Area, Los Angeles and the mountains, where many members have second homes or vacation rentals. The feedback we see is that people are getting antsy, Andrews said. People want to travel. To help satisfy some of that high-end demand, Surf Air has teamed up with "glamping" provider AutoCamp with an unusually private (and pricey) package deal for the Sept 11-13 weekend. Semi-private roundtrip flights from San Carlos to Mariposa-Yosemite Airport (60 minutes each way) are $1,000 per person. Then there's lodging for two nights in a luxuriously pimped out Vista Airstream Suite parked in the middle of a forest, plus a half-day guided hike (including lunch) around Yosemite National Park, and transfers between the airport and campsite. Package price: $1,999 for two. "Each Airstream Suite has entirely self-contained units with their own bathrooms, self-contained air conditioning, and private picnic table and fire pit, so they are well-equipped for self-isolation with your traveling companions," according to a spokesperson. AutoCamp Andrews said the make-up of Surf Airs membership is also evolving. The company is seeing an increasing number of people sign-up for its new "Surf Air Express" tier, aimed at more infrequent fliers. Customers pay a $2,500 flat-rate annual membership fee. Then they can purchase one-way fares for about $500. Those who can afford the indulgences of taking private or semi-private flights over commercial flights are doing so in droves. According to Air Charter Service, a worldwide aircraft charter provider, private air travel has increased 75 percent year-over-year during the spring and summer months with people indulging on private flights to avoid traveling with strangers. When you fly with Surf Air, you spend less time at the airport, and youre amongst fewer people, Andrews said. At LAX, youre seeing thousands of travelers. At Surf Airs airports, youre seeing probably a couple dozen. And that likely means a smaller chance of running into someone who is sick with COVID-19. That was part of the appeal for Richard Pare, a Maine resident who spends winters at his Los Angeles home. He and his wife will fly Surf Air for the first time this Thanksgiving to visit their grandchildren in San Francisco. The excitement and privacy was a big factor, especially now with the virus floating around, Pare said. Commercial airlines are probably full of those nasty little germs. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here. Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE weekly email updates! SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. One of the most unseemly spectacles during the Trump presidency has been the media's claim that Trump's daring to challenge their fake narratives puts them at risk of life and limb. Anyone who's witnessed what happens to journalists trying to function under actual despots, such as Putin or Erdogan, knows that being insulted by a president exercising his right to free speech is a different animal from being imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. It's an open question whether the rise of Black Lives Matter and Antifa, two truly totalitarian organizations, will change how the media view Trump. I say this because hundreds of protesters swarmed the house of police union chief Bob Kroll and his wife, journalist Liz Collin. That's frightening enough. What made it scarier was the fact that they brought with them pinatas of Collins and Kroll, which they then attacked and destroyed. A slight recap of the "fake news" narrative is in order. For years, the media have pushed the Russia collusion hoax and the Charlottesville "fine people" hoax. Indeed, regarding the Russia collusion hoax, here's a screenshot from Tuesday's online New York Times strongly insinuating that a Republican-run Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia: There's only one way to interpret those headlines: Trump colluded! Except that this insinuation is false. Here's how the Committee actually summarized Tuesday's release (emphasis in original): [T]he Committee found no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government in its efforts to meddle in the election. [snip] [A]fter more than three years of investigation by this Committee, we can now say with no doubt, there was no collusion. For the fake news at the Times, truth is irrelevant; what matters is the insinuation on the homepage. You can find endless examples of journalists claiming that Trump's calling them out is a totalitarian tactic intended to kill them and end American democracy. (See here, here, and here.) None of them can claim that Trump uses the power of his office to spy upon journalists (as Obama did), or to imprison, torture, or kill them. The journalists are acting out a narcissistic drama unrelated to facts. But in Minneapolis, the threat against at least one journalist is genuine and frightening: Protesters who held a demonstration outside the home of Minneapolis police union chief Bob Kroll and his wife, WCCO reporter Liz Collin, have been condemned by some Twin Cities media members and state lawmakers after video showed them destroying a pinata of Collin's likeness. The video from Saturday's protest came to wider attention of the Twin Cities media when it was shared by former Minnesota GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb on Monday, showing pinatas of both Collin and Kroll being destroyed outside their Hugo home. Kroll has been the subject of numerous protests since the death of George Floyd, with activists seeing his tenure as the head of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis as a barrier to addressing systemic problems within Minneapolis Police Department. But Collin has also been the subject of protest outside WCCO's office in downtown Minneapolis, with activists criticizing the station for both her marriage to Kroll and her involvement in stories concerning the police, claiming it's a conflict of interests [sic]. Any history student knows that mobs start with destroying people in effigy and end by destroying them for real. Moreover, the protest outside Collin's' and Kroll's house was a frightening one, with John Thompson, a candidate for the state assembly, hurling maddened threats: A video clip of his speech shows him saying "You think we give a [expletive] about burning Hugo [the suburb in which Collins and Kroll live] down?" In another, he says "[Expletive] Hugo." For America's so-called journalists, though, facts no longer matter. The only thing that matters is the narrative, and it will probably take many unpleasant interactions with the mob before the media wise up to the fact that Trump's not their problem. Image: White House photographers, early 1920s, in the Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. Jimmy Bartel's socialite girlfriend Lauren Mand is being targeted by a 'hate account' on Instagram. The profile, which is run anonymously, recently uploaded several cruel posts about Lauren and her relationship with the retired AFL player. A handful of posts reference Lauren's close bond with Jimmy's children, Aston, four, and Henley, one, whom he shares with ex-wife Nadia Bartel. Online bullying: Jimmy Bartel's girlfriend Lauren Mand (pictured) is being targeted by an anonymous 'hate account' on Instagram While the account follows Nadia's Instagram page, the fashion designer does not follow it back. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Nadia Bartel approves of the account or is even aware of its existence. Lauren has maintained a dignified silence despite the online vitriol. However, she did hint at rising above her critics on Sunday when she shared a classy Instagram post about 'smiling every day'. Hurtful: The profile, which is run anonymously, recently uploaded several cruel posts about Lauren and her relationship with retired AFL star Jimmy (right) Posing in a set of black pajamas, Lauren wrote: 'Cosy Sunday night! Another weekend at home, another week down. Grateful for the life I have, smiling every day.' She and Jimmy went public with their romance last year, after his split from Nadia. The former Geelong Cats star, 36, and his new girlfriend have been hunkering down together in Melbourne during the coronavirus pandemic. Case of the ex: While the account follows Jimmy's ex-wife Nadia Bartel (pictured), the fashion designer does not follow it back. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Nadia approves of the account or is even aware of its existence Classy: Lauren has maintained a dignified silence despite the vitriol - but she did hint at rising above her critics on Sunday when she shared an Instagram post about 'smiling every day' The Bartels announced their separation on August 15 last year, but it is believed they actually split two months prior. The former couple married in February 2014 in a lavish ceremony on the Bellarine Peninsula. In May, Lauren said on Instagram that coming home from work to her stepsons, Aston and Henley, was the 'highlight' of her day. 'My besties!' In May, Lauren said on Instagram that coming home from work to Jimmy and her stepsons, Aston and Henley, was the 'highlight' of her day (all pictured) In June, she declared that she 'loved' the boys, commenting below a photo of Jimmy and his kids playing in their backyard: 'My besties! Love them.' Meanwhile, Nadia has made no secret of her heartache following her marriage breakdown. Discussing the split for the first time in April, she told Stellar magazine: 'This is never what I thought would happen. Every day is tough.' History: Jimmy and Nadia (pictured) announced their separation on August 15, but it is believed they split two months prior The Henne founder added that her priority was making sure her sons were supported emotionally during the separation. 'I want my boys to be aware of their feelings. And if they are feeling a certain way, they can show that feeling,' she said. 'They are allowed to cry and allowed to come to me and say what's happening.' The Michael C. Carlos Museum will reopen its galleries and Ebrik Coffee Room to students, faculty and staff with an Emory ID on Aug. 19. The museum will be open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Were delighted to welcome the Emory community back to the museum, says director Bonnie Speed. The Carlos is a resource for teaching and research for the entire campus, but we also recognize the museum can serve as place of comfort and respite, especially during times of stress and turmoil. Weve spent the summer collaborating with faculty who plan to utilize the museums collections in their courses this semester, so we know well see students in the galleries again as part of their coursework, Speed added. We hope to see them, too, visiting the museum on their own to find refuge as well intellectual and creative stimulation. Campus opportunities to include art activities and gallery visits Emory students are invited to take a break from their studies and participate in Student Studio, a monthly drop-in art-making activity, which will be held on Emory Quadrangle this semester to accommodate physical distancing requirements. When we first proposed Student Studio, we spoke with Counseling and Psychological Services, who affirmed that Emory students were reluctant to take study breaks, but that doing so is an essential part of maintaining good mental health, says Elizabeth Hornor, Ingram Senior Director of Education. We will provide outside artmaking opportunities for students ranging from Rangoli to raku. With fields of study as diverse as geology, religion, medicine, dance and art history taking advantage of the museums diverse offerings, students may also find themselves visiting the museum with their class for a physically distanced tour. Faculty are asked to bring their classes in groups of five or fewer in order to accommodate physical distancing requirements and ensure an optimal viewing experience. To schedule a guided or self-guided tour, call Elizabeth Hornor at 404-727-6118. Museum visitors, program participants and staff will follow Emorys health and safety guidelines. Due to physical distancing recommendations, the Carlos Museum Bookshop will remain closed to multiple shoppers, but will offer in-person appointments to individual Emory students, faculty and staff wearing face coverings and able to present their ID. The bookshops popular mail order operation also will continue. To make an appointment to shop, email bookshop manager Mark Burell at mburell@emory.edu. Ebrik Coffee Room, located on level three of the museum, will serve to-go options. Virtual programming to offer familiar favorites plus two new series This fall, the Carlos Museums popular programs such as AntiquiTEA, lectures by distinguished scholars as well as childrens workshops and even cooking classes will move online. Programs may be enjoyed live, but recordings will also be made available on the museums YouTube channel. Joining old favorites on the calendar will be two new sets of programs: a series of talks on objects relating to current issues such as social justice, race equality and climate change and a series of programs in honor of the recent reinstallation of the museums gallery of Native North American art. While the gallery includes artwork from various regions, programming this fall will focus on Native American art and culture of the Southeast. Highlights will include: Jace Weaver, Franklin Professor of Native American Studies and Director of the Institute of Native American Studies at the University of Georgia, will examine the enduring legacy of Cherokee art, focusing especially on masks and basketry (Sept. 10). Claudio Saunt, also of the University of Georgia, will discuss his new book Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory (Oct. 8). In conjunction with the Decatur Book Festival, the museum will present a reading of Mary Kathryn Nagles Sovereignty, a play with parallel timelines that focus on land rights and the Cherokee Nation, including the Treaty of New Echota (date to be determined). New version of Carlos Collections Online improves accessibility to artwork Thanks to a completely redesigned version of Carlos Collections Online, the museums online catalogue, accessing artwork has never been easier. This improved database will help us share our collections with students, scholars and art lovers nationally as well as internationally. It will also make a significant impact on teaching and research here at Emory, says Speed. Substantially updated content includes nearly 9,000 images of more than 3,500 objects from the museum's collections, most of which appear for the first time; information about objects such as provenance and links to related podcasts and videos; photos of more than 50 exhibitions; biographical content for artists whose works appear in the Carlos collection; and easy sharing to Canvas and social media platforms. Notes on technical research and analysis conducted on objects by the Parsons Conservation Laboratory are currently being added to the catalogue. Were proud to be able to share research from our conservation lab, Speed says. This material includes contributions from Emory students who intern and volunteer in the lab as well as interdepartmental collaborations. Visit carlos.emory.edu/carlosforward for more information about the museums reopening. Who was Susan B. Anthony? What was she known for? And what crime is she being pardoned for? Anthony was a leader in the womens suffrage movement and fought for voting rights in Upstate New York. She was arrested in 1872 for voting in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y.; at the time, only men were allowed to vote. Anthony was convicted in a widely publicized trial and ordered to pay a $100 fine. She refused to pay, but faced no further legal action. President Donald Trump issued an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) posthumously to Anthony on Tuesday, Aug. 18, marking the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, that gave women the right to vote. According to the Washington Post, opponents to the amendment argued that women voting would destroy families, that women lack the intellectual and rational capacity to vote and only bad women would vote, while good women understood their proper place and would stay home. What is the 19th Amendment? The 19th Amendment states that The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress passed it in 1919, and the amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. Anthony wrote the amendment with fellow suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who held the first Womans Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1840. Both Anthony and Stanton died in the early 1900s, more than a decade before their dream come to fruition. Anthony and Stanton also founded the Womens Loyal National League and the National Woman Suffrage Association, published a womens rights newspaper called The Revolution, and worked with Fayettevilles Matilda Joslyn Gage on the History of Woman Suffrage. Susan B. Anthony is an American icon who has inspired millions of women across the Nation through her advocacy and accomplishments, and the generations of Americans who have devoted themselves to the work of perfecting our union are forever indebted to her example and legacy, the White House said in an official statement. The decision to posthumously pardon Susan B. Anthony removes a conviction for exercising a fundamental American right and one that we as citizens will lawfully employ this November. Was Susan B. Anthony racist? Anthony and Stanton were also anti-slavery advocates, forming the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) with Rochester civil rights icon Frederick Douglass and other activists in 1866. According to the History Channel, the group sought to secure voting rights for both women and Black Americans. Three years later, the AERA dissolved over debates surrounding the 15th Amendment, which gave Black men the right to vote though many states still restricted them while women were still left out. Suffragists were disappointed and some dropped support for racial equality, instead pandering to white Southerners by arguing that if white women could vote, they could drown out the Black male vote. Historians have denied claims that Anthony was racist, though she has been criticized for being willing to work with racist suffragists. What arroganceto put the question, what shall we do with a race of men and women who have fed, clothed and supported both themselves and their oppressors for centuriesthe only way to solve the race question; {was} to educate blacks to be equal to their opportunities, {and for} whites to be willing to share their privileges, Anthony wrote in 1866. More controversy Trump has been accused of pardoning Anthony as a publicity stunt and angling for votes from women, while New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the Susan B. Anthony House to demand the president rescind his pardon. I was deeply troubled to learn that Trump went ahead and treated her like a criminal, Hochul said Tuesday. Susan B. Anthony was guilty of nothing. She was proud of her arrest to draw attention to the cause for womens rights, and never paid her fine. Let her Rest in Peace. Anthony House President Deborah Hughes and Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren agreed with Hochul, according to WIVB. The pardon should be rescinded because she didnt want it. She did what she thought was the right thing to do to, Warren said. Susan B. Anthonys gravesite Anthony is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, and her grave site has become a popular spot for visitors on Election Day. Thousands turned out in 2016 to celebrate Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate endorsed by a major party, and voters returned in 2018 to put I Voted stickers on Anthonys headstone. Long before her "pardon" for voting because she was a woman, Susan B. Anthonyand her actionhave been recognized by visits who put "I Voted" stickers on her grave. https://t.co/6ed6DJwEz3 #suffrage pic.twitter.com/1ZFv4IuwTr David Beard (@dabeard) August 18, 2020 President @realDonaldTrump's posthumous pardon of Susan B. Anthony was a great surprise and wonderful way to celebrate. Yet another example of his continuous support to American women. #19thAmendment #womenvote100 pic.twitter.com/Ge5T8QR1yl Jovita Carranza, SBA (@SBAJovita) August 18, 2020 Crusade for the Vote: How Central NY launched the womens suffrage movement Crusade for the Vote: Video and podcasts to get smart on the womens suffrage movement Crusade for the Vote: Syracuse women rejoice after the Tennessee ratifies the 19th Amendment NOAA grant awards funding boost to nine fisheries, aquaculture start-ups by Chris Chase August 19,2020 | Source: SeafoodSource The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced its picks to receive part of USD 3.1 million (EUR 2.6 million) in grant funding as part of its Small Business Innovation Research Program. The program, which closed its application process in December 2019, grants funding to small businesses that are working on technological innovations targeting either aquaculture, recreational, or commercial fisheries, weather service improvement and evolution, next generation NOAA platforms, and next-generation observation and modelling systems. In the latest announcements, six aquaculture companies and three commercial fisheries related companies received a combined total of USD 1.34 million (EUR 1.12 million). Small businesses across our nation are catalysts for technology innovation, which can produce products and services that support NOAAs mission while directly benefiting the public and growing the American economy, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in the release announcing the grant recipients. The SBIR program has existed since 1982, when it was created through the Small Business Innovation Development Act which implemented the program, according to Deputy Director of NOAAs Technology Partnerships Officer Derek Parks, across multiple agencies, including NOAA. NOAA's SBIR Program is seeking highly innovative products with excellent commercial potential. All SBIR proposals must directly benefit the NOAA mission, but should also be responsive to the greater market demands in order to be successful, Parks told SeafoodSource. Also, SBIR is America's seed fund. The goal is truly to enable small- and medium-sized enterprises to successfully engage in the development of highly innovative technologies that will support the NOAA mission. As part of the NOAA competition, the technologies must have a high potential for commercial adoption in order to be funded. The SBIR Program awards grants in a three-phase process, with phase I including the initial selection of businesses. Those businesses selected receive a grant in this case totaling roughly USD 150,000 (EUR 126,000) for each company to "support exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. Following the first phase, Phase II will grant additional funding up to USD 500,000 (EUR 421,000) for a 24-month period of performance to expand Phase I results. During this time, the R&D work is performed and the developer evaluates commercialization potential, NOAAs SBIR Program overview states. Only Phase I award winners are considered for Phase II. The final phase, Phase III, is when the innovation moves into the marketplace. At that point, the SBIR Program provides no additional funding. Getting into the first phase is no small task. Small businesses applying to receive the grant have to meet a number of criteria, which are each weighted differently on a point basis. The technology that the business is proposing is evaluated, in addition to the businesss record of commercializing research and its qualifications and staff. "As NOAA continues to strengthen its commitment to protecting life and property, we are increasingly reliant on the expertise and agility of the private sector, acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said. Through collaboration with these small businesses, Americans will benefit with increased forecast accuracy and better management of our natural resources." The six aquaculture companies that gained funding were: -- AA Plasma LLC of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for its tech that uses a non-equilibrium short-pulsed discharge for removal of antibiotics and pathogens from water used in aquaculture facilities. -- CD3 General Benefit Corporation of St. Paul, Minnesota, for its continuous electronic DNA monitoring for early detection of aquaculture diseases. -- Ward Aquafarms, LLC, of North Falmouth, Massachusetts, for its shellfish grading system and integrated data management platform. -- Pacific Hybreed, Inc., of Bainbridge Island, Washington, for its technology for identifying genetic markers of resistance in oysters for Pacific oyster mortality syndrome. -- Lynntech, Inc., of College Station, Texas, for its rapid, simple diagnostic tool for pathogens in marine aquaculture. -- Shellfish Solutions of Castine, Maine, for its tide-to-table traceability and marketing system for shellfish aquaculture. The three recreational and commercial fisheries companies selected to receive grant funding were: Creare LLC. Of Hanover, New Hampshire, for its low cost ocean temperature profiling sensor. SafetyPect Inc., of Los Angeles, California, for its technology for rapid detection of fish species and quality in the marketplace. CVision AI, Inc., of Medford Massachusetts, for its technology that provides automated fish fillet identification. A full abstract of each business gives a larger picture of some of the technological advancements each one is aiming to bring to the marketplace. For example, CB3s project, Continuous eDNA Monitoring for Early Detection of Aquaculture Diseases, which intends to create a biomonitoring system that, according to the companys abstract, function as robustly and easily as a smoke-alarm, i.e. autonomous, reliable, infield monitoring technologies capable of disseminating data in a straightforward way and in real-time to a broad range of personnel and decision-makers. Each company selected in phase I will now compete to be included in phase II. According to Parks, at NOAA typically 65 percent of projects make it on to phase II. We are excited about this years awardees, many who are harnessing the power of unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, genomics, machine-learning and public engagement to develop products and services that support NOAAs mission and may also have great potential as commercial products, NOAA Technology Partnerships Offices Director Kelly Wright said. Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. The villages share of sales tax revenue from the state fell 12.5%, or $278,000, in the first two months of the new budget year compared with the same period a year earlier. Revenue from the 0.75% home-rule sales tax was off $106,000, or 12.2%, year-over-year, according to Brown. Union minister Sanjeev Balyan has gone into self-quarantine after he came in contact with Uttar Pradesh minister Atul Garg who tested positive for Covid-19, his aide said on Wednesday. According to the aide of Balyan, the Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries went into self-quarantine in Delhi after he came to know about Garg's infection on Tuesday. Sixty-three-year-old Garg, an MLA from Ghaziabad, was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday after he said he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. On his way to Delhi, Balyan had lunch with ... The Communications Director of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa says the NDCs flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama is gradually calling for mayhem in the upcoming December 7 polls. The former President has charged supporters of his party in the Volta region to ensure that they protect ballot boxes at their polling stations in the December polls to prevent rigging. He claims happenings at the just ended voter registration exercise is an indication of the ruling NPPs agenda to rig win the 2020 polls at all cost. He backed his claims with the shooting incident involving Special Development Minister Hawa Koomson and the Ayawaso West Wougon election. . . You have the opportunity to change that and you can only change that if youre able to vote, and so you must not allow anybody to disrupt that voting procedure in your polling station branch and make your vote not to count. And so, lets us all commit to peaceful elections and I know that if the elections are peaceful, free and fair, NDC would be victorious in the election, Mahama said while addressing residents of Mepe in the North Tongu constituency on a four-day campaign tour of the Volta region. Speaking on Citi FMs Eye Witness News, Mr. Buaben Asamoa cautioned Mahamas path of campaigning after insisting that the NPP has no intention of rigging the next election. He should be serious," he said. Mr. Buaben Asamoa also rubbished claims that the NPP is preparing its vigilante groups ahead of December 7. We dont have any groups in our party, he maintained. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jan Hennop, Danny Kemp and Hachem Osseiran (Agence France-Presse) Leidschendam, Netherlands/Beirut, Lebanon Wed, August 19, 2020 08:46 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066ef7802 2 World hezbollah,Lebanon,Rafic-Hariri,UN,tribunal,murder-plot,murder-case Free A UN-backed tribunal on Tuesday found a member of the Hezbollah Shiite movement guilty over the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri but cleared three other suspects after a years-long trial. The long-awaited decision prompted mixed reactions, with the late Hariri's son Saad telling journalists outside the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) he "accepted the tribunal's verdict." "Everybody's expectation was much higher than what came out today, but I believe that the tribunal came out with a result that is satisfying. We accept it," said Saad Hariri, also a former prime minister, after attending the hearing at the STL's heavily fortified courthouse. Salim Ayyash, 56, was convicted in absentia by the STL based in the Netherlands, over a huge suicide bombing in Beirut that killed the Sunni billionaire politician and 21 other people. "The trial chamber finds Mr Ayyash guilty beyond reasonable doubt as a co-perpetrator of the assassination of Rafic Hariri," said David Re, presiding judge of the tribunal. Addressing victims of the attack, he said: "We sincerely hope the verdict today will give you some sort of closure." But judges said there was not enough evidence to convict Assad Sabra, 43, Hussein Oneissi, 46, and Hassan Habib Merhi, 54, over the blast, which changed the face of the Middle East. The judges also said there was no evidence to directly link Syria -- the former military overlord in Lebanon -- or Hezbollah's leadership to the attack. Sentencing for Ayyash will be decided at a later date. He faces life imprisonment if he is ever brought before the court. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has refused to hand over the four defendants and rejected the court's legitimacy. Mobile phone plot Judges said there was sufficient evidence to show that Ayyash was at the center of a network of mobile phone users who scoped out Hariri's movements for months before his assassination. A still-unidentified suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden Mitsubishi truck blew himself up as Hariri's motorcade passed on the Beirut waterfront on Valentine's Day in 2005. Prosecutors had said Ayyash was a ringleader of the group, while Oneissi and Sabra allegedly sent a fake video to the Al-Jazeera news channel claiming responsibility on behalf of a made-up group. Merhi was accused of general involvement in the plot. The judges said evidence also linked phones used in the attack to Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine -- who was indicted by the court but is believed to have been killed in the Damascus area in May 2016. The Hariri bombing triggered mass protests that drove Syrian forces out of Lebanon after three decades. But the court said there was not enough evidence to tie Damascus to the crime. "Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr Hariri and his political allies, however there is no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement," Re said. Nevertheless, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, welcoming the verdict, said it "helps confirm what the world is increasingly recognizing -- that (Hezbollah) and its members are not defenders of Lebanon as they claim to be but constitute a terrorist organization dedicated to advancing Iran's malign sectarian agenda." An EU spokesperson said "the European Union reiterates the need to fight impunity and strengthen accountability and the rule of law at the international level". "We hope that the judgment today will be given appropriate follow-up," the EU statement added. A lawyer for Oneissi slammed the prosecution's case, saying "it was obvious from the start it would not hold," against his client. He was happy for Oneissi, but at the same time sad that hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) was spent on "such an empty dossier and on evidence that was obviously poor from the start," Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse told journalists. The hearing opened with a minute's silence for victims of the explosion that devastated Beirut two weeks ago, killing 177 people. The verdicts were initially scheduled for August 7 but postponed because of the blast. 'Heinous crime' The UN Security Council agreed in 2007 to establish the court billed as the world's first international tribunal set up to probe terrorist crimes. It opened its doors in 2009, although the Hariri trial itself did not formally start until 2014. The court has cost at least $600 million to operate and has so far heard only four cases, two of them for contempt of court about news reports with information about confidential witnesses. Hariri was Lebanon's Sunni premier until his resignation in 2004 over Syria's role as powerbroker in the country. Judge Re said Hariri's assassination was "political" and was prompted by his decision to move away from Syria and the sending of representatives to an opposition meeting where participants agreed to call for Damascus' immediate and total withdrawal from Lebanon. Observers have voiced fears that the verdict, whichever way it went, could spark violence on the streets in Lebanon. Tuesday's verdict came as thousands of Beirut residents have expressed anger at the authorities after the port blast triggered by a warehouse fire that set off large amounts of stored ammonium nitrate. The disaster led to the Lebanese government's resignation and compounded Lebanon's severe economic crisis. By PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to intervene and reconsider the handing over of the management and operation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport to the Adani group, saying it would be "difficult" for the state to cooperate in implementing the decision. The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through public-private partnership (PPP). Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati -- through the PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. "In view of the unilateral decision taken by the Government of India without giving credence to the cogent arguments put forward by the State government, it will be difficult for us to offer co-operation to the implementation of the decision, which is against the wishes of the people of the State," Vijayan said in a letter to Modi. "I request your good self to intervene at this stage so that the decision taken now is reconsidered,"Vijayan said. He pointed out that the decision was taken "ignoring the repeated requests" of the state government to entrust the management of the airport with the special purpose vehicle (SPV) "in which state government is the major stakeholder". The chief minister said the Civil Aviation Ministry had in 2003 gave an assurance that as and when the induction of a private player was considered, the Centre would factor in the state government's contribution to the development of the airport. The Kerala government had earlier transferred 23.57 acres to the Airports Authority of India free of cost for construction of the international terminal, "subject to the condition that the value of the land would be reflected as Government of Kerala's share capital in an SPV which would be set up", Vijayan said in the letter. He said in a meeting of the empowered group of secretaries, convened by the NITI Aayog in 2018, the state government had explained the details of public funds spent for acquiring the land. "The pertinent point raised by the state government is that it has proven experience in successful management and operation of airports in Kochi and Kannur, which the private bidder lacks. "We had requested delinking the Trivandrum Intrenational Airport from the proposal to operate in PPP mode or allow the SPV of the State government to have the right to first refusal in order to match the quote of the highest bidder. None of these has been considered," Vijayan said. Earlier in the day, the ruling Left and the opposition Congress had lashed out at the Centre over its decision to lease out three airports to the Adani group, accusing it of privatising all PSUs while the country was battling COVID-19. As some New Orleans schools prepare to open their virtual doors this week, one thing is abundantly clear: There's a lot of worry about how the schools will handle the start of a new academic year in the midst of a pandemic. A New Orleans City Council meeting Monday dedicated to school opening elicited a whopping 140 public comments. And two clear themes emerged: Council members and other stakeholders remain concerned that numerous students still don't have adequate internet access for virtual schooling and communities should prepare for "severe disruptions" when students do finally return to the classrooms, as a single case of coronavirus could send an entire classroom into quarantine. Orleans Parish public schools will have virtual class only until after Labor Day at the earliest. District and city officials will wait until late August to determine if it's safe enough for students to go back after the holiday. City Councilwoman Helena Moreno, who called Monday's special meeting, plugged an agenda item she's written for a regular council meeting set for Thursday: a motion ordering council to find the best way to create "public wifi for all," expanding internet access to everyone in New Orleans. Noting that the city estimates 37% of New Orleanians lack access to broadband internet, Moreno said the community isn't digital ready even on a "basic level," and that prohibitive cost threatens to "reinforce the existing racial and economic gaps in our communities." "We have to make sure families aren't having to drive to all kinds of spots in the night to get WiFi so their kids can finish their school work," Moreno said. NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis said schools had conducted a survey for families asking if they could connect or if they had a computer for distance learning last spring, and had been working for months to improve students' abilities to log onto computers and access work online. By the time school starts in all the charters, he said, he anticipates that all students who need one will have a district-issued Chromebook computer. But he acknowledged that the district is still trying to secure internet access for up to 20% of its students, which would equate to roughly 9,000 children. "Our schools have been working with families to solve this," Lewis said. "We'll know more about where gaps remains as we approach the beginning of the school year." How internet for all would work still isn't clear, but one thing is: As schools do start back up, they should all be prepared for ongoing and frequent class and school closures, and educators should beef up their longer-term distance learning plan for that reason. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up That's according to Dr. Joseph Kanter, Louisiana's assistant state health officer, who drove home that Louisiana is experiencing "an extreme outbreak" when he spoke along with a myriad of other health experts at Monday's meeting. He also said that when schools reopen, if they are able to adhere to the district's "challenging recommendations," virus transmission rates will be relatively low at school buildings. But that doesn't mean that classes won't shut down, as one confirmed COVID-19 case can mean a whole group of students quarantining for at least 14 days. "There's going to be a lot of exposure...and those exposures are going to prompt disruption," Kanter said. "I think schools need to be prepared for that." Lewis and his staff said that the district had extensively prepared for reopening, and will closely monitor health data such as the number of new cases and positivity rates in virus testing. They said that they had done extensive school staff trainings and secured ample personal protective equipment and doled them out to all schools last week. However, Kanter and others underscored that there's still so much they don't know about the virus, its spread and its ultimate effect on children and that despite precautions, schools will ultimately be left with more questions than answers. There's a lack of data about about how children can spread the virus and how at risk they are from getting sick from it. The data, he said, is scarce and "inconclusive." One study said kids under 10 are less likely to transmit the virus than adults, while another from a Georgia summer camp found that in one week, 44% of people there, including young kids, tested positive for the virus. Moreover, all of it is complicated by a lack of clear federal guidance and a testing program that's not robust enough yet to regularly test all school communities, he said. In the meantime, Councilman Jay Banks said he believes schools should not reopen amid the pandemic at all, joining others who called for school closures until a vaccine is found. He's concerned about schools lacking nurses and a district oversight process where enforcement over noncompliance can take months. Banks said the decentralized nature of the district, where it acts as an authorizer of charters, can be a problem if schools do reopen and aren't following state and district health guidance. "If there is a determination that someone has not been following the mandates, what's the time frame or structure to deal with it?" Banks said. "Do you sit them down immediately? Or do you have to go through a month of hearings? People's lives are at stake." Pro-democracy activists hold a rally at Portsmouth Square in San Franciscos Chinatown on Aug. 16, 2020, to urge pro-communist associations to remove the PRC flag. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times) Pro-Democracy Activists Call for Removal of Chinese Communist Flag in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCOAbout 100 pro-democracy activists gathered in Chinatowns Portsmouth Square on Aug. 16 to call for the flag of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to be removed from the city. Their white shirts read, Deport All CCP Agents! Their black signs read, Free Hong Kong. Several speakers explained the events significance. They expressed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not represent the Chinese people. Fang Zheng (L) sits next to a banner that reads, Urge pro-communist associations to remove the Five-Starred Red Flag. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times) Fang Zheng, a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, sat in his wheelchair next to the main banner, which read, Urge pro-communist associations to remove the Five-Starred Red Flag, and Give all Chinatowns a clean sky free of CCP pollution. They have two goals, he told The Epoch Times. One is to write letters to San Francisco city officials urging them not to raise the red flag anymore. Between now and Oct. 1, the National Day of the Peoples Republic of China, they will host events with mainstream media and advertise. The other goal is to urge pro-communist associations to remove the red flag. We just saw [an association] already lowering the flag. Perhaps they feel that it should not be flown anymore. Its a good thing, isnt it? Zheng said. If everyone tries a little and builds momentum, there will be change, they will feel pressured, and they will change. Hong Kong supporters show support for removing the PRC flag in San Francisco. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times) Hong Kong Supporters The banner lists 10 of the CCPs evil deeds as well as reasons why the flag should not fly in the United States. It criticized the CCPs national security law that has led to many arrests in Hong Kong and has received backlash from protesters. Rick Weyrich, from Vallejo, California, is a Hong Kong supporter and has been attending the annual Tiananmen Square Massacre candlelight vigil for the last 10 years. Over the years and through the last few events and the last few months, I think weve really seen the true character of the Chinese Communist Party, Weyrich told The Epoch Times. I think for years a number of Americans have been slightly naive about China and the Chinese Communist Party because of all the economic benefits that the United States has gotten. Weyrich believes the event is good because it means people have a voice to criticize the CCP. He attended the event to support the real people of China, not the CCP. The Chinese Communist Party does not really represent people that live in the United States that are of Chinese descent. And I think thats really important, he said. Protester Alex Leung carries the Taiwanese flag. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times) Alex Leung, originally from Hong Kong, drove up from Los Angeles to show his support. This event is very meaningful. We want to tell the world that even though there is a pandemic going on, we still need to stand out, Leung told The Epoch Times. Fuji apples were passed around in support of Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, and its owner Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy activist. Refugees from China In 2017, Tianshi Chen escaped from China to California. He was the head of a student propaganda department in 1989. After the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the government pursued him. He has been jailed three times. Those in my generation who were born and raised under the red flag know its true nature, Chen told The Epoch Times. The CCP is an evil spirit that came from Europe. It has harmed Chinese citizens for almost 100 years. It is an evil cult, a peoples religion. In the name of serving people, they torture us, persecute us, and deprive us. Fuji apples are passed out to show support for Apple Daily in Hong Kong. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times) Jiaqi Zhang came to the United States three years ago for freedom and democracy. She hopes that the CCP agents will leave the United States so the Chinese in America can relax. Back in China, Zhang was taken in for questioning and put in jail for voicing her opinion against the CCPs actions. I really cherish the opportunity to escape from China and come to the U.S., Zhang told The Epoch Times. I hope everyone can get together to support democracy and reject the CCP. Only this way will China have hope, and its citizens will not have to endure such long-term oppression and corruption. After the rally at Portsmouth Square, they walked around Chinatown and left flyers for associations, urging them to take down the red flags. They intend to keep doing so every week until the flags are removed. With reporting by Nancy Han. Senate Panel Releases 'Most Comprehensive' Report On Russia's 2016 Election Interference By RFE/RL August 18, 2020 The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's final report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has concluded the Trump campaign chairman's contacts with Kremlin-linked individuals posed a "grave counterintelligence threat." The report released on August 18, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led committee, also found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacking of the Democratic Party and the leak of information to damage Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The Senate panel called the 1,300-page report "the most comprehensive description to date of Russia's activities and the threat they posed," describing Russia as engaged in an "aggressive, multifaceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election." The bipartisan investigation lasted almost 3 1/2 years. "Moscow's intent was to harm the Clinton campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the U.S. democratic process," the report states. It also found that WikiLeaks played a key role in Russia's effort to influence the election to help Trump, and that the website "very likely knew" it was assisting a Russian influence effort, the committee's report says. While Russia's GRU military intelligence and Wikileaks released hacked Democratic Party documents, the report found the Trump campaign sought to use the Wikileaks hacks to aid the campaign. "Staff on the Trump campaign sought advance notice about WikiLeaks releases, created messaging strategies to promote and share the materials in anticipation of and following their release, and encouraged further leaks," the report says. "The Trump campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort," according to the report. The panel does not come to a final conclusion about whether there is enough evidence that Trump's campaign coordinated or colluded with Russia, leaving that open to interpretation by Republicans and Democrats. A group of Republicans on the panel submitted "additional views" to the report saying that it should state more explicitly that Trump's campaign did not coordinate with Russia. But Democrats on the panel submitted their own views, arguing that the report clearly shows such cooperation. Former special counsel Robert Mueller concluded in a report issued in 2019 that Russia interfered in the election, but that investigation did not charge any Trump associates with conspiring with the Russians. The Senate investigation also examined issues of interest to Trump that were not explored by Mueller. Those include the FBI's reliance on a dossier of opposition research compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele whose work was financed by Democrats. Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida), the committee's acting chairman, said in a statement that the committee was troubled that the FBI had been willing to use the dossier "without verifying its methodology or sourcing" as it applied for secret surveillance warrants. The Senate panel lays out close contacts between Trump associates and the Russians, describing in particular how Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had deep connections to Russia and Russian-aligned oligarchs in Ukraine. The report notes how for years Manafort worked closely with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian whom the FBI suspects has ties to Russian intelligence. The panel unequivocally states that Kilimnik was a Russian intelligence officer and that Deripaska coordinated with the Russian government to conduct influence operations abroad. Prior to joining the Trump campaign in March 2016 and continuing throughout his time on the campaign, the report said Manafort directly and indirectly communicated with Kilimnik, Deripaska, and the pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. In addition, the panel said Manafort "on numerous occasions" shared campaign information with Kilimnik and that he also discussed a peace plan for eastern Ukraine that benefited Russia. Even after the election, Manafort coordinated with Kilimnik and other individuals close to Deripaska, "in an effort to undertake activities on their behalf," the panel said. Among other things, Manafort worked with Kilimnik to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the election, the report says, including spreading the unproven idea of Ukrainian election interference. "Taken as a whole, Manafort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and associates of Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence threat," the panel said. With reporting by AP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/senate-panel-releases- most-comprehensive-report-on-russia-s-2016- election-interference/30790571.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Students at a County Derry secondary school have described last week's wait for results as being 'stressful'. Head Boy and Head Girl at St Patrick's College, Maghera, Seamus McKenna and Mairead Comer, said the uncertainty of this year's system had led to extra levels of stress. After seeing the fallout from the release of results in Scotland, Seamus admitted to a restless night last week. I didn't get one hour of sleep on Wednesday night. Because mine is so competitive, even if I had got A*AB, or two A*s and a B, I wouldn't have got in, he said. That was my biggest fear. After hearing what had happened last week over there, I was preparing myself for the possibility of a B. Our school doesn't have the greatest history in a lot of the STEM subjects, and when you're up against grammar schools, who do have that bit more experience with those, it puts the pressure on, he added. Even with the other subjects, it's a different class every year and there's not necessarily the same people who are going to get an A*, or a B, or whatever, said Mairead Comer, who will be going on to study Irish at Ulster University in September. It really puts people on the back foot, because you're thinking the history of the subject isn't great in getting more than one or two A*s and that's why a lot of ours were marked down. The students felt the original system was unfairly weighted against comprehensive schools. I think the reality is that schools like ourselves, St Colm's in Draperstown and St Conor's were hit with a postcode lottery, said Seamus. The worst part is, because we're a comprehensive school, we're immediately given the worst batch of the grades because of the area we come from. I've experienced grammar-comprehensive discrimination, especially trying to get into Medicine. You're immediately picked out from the bunch because you're from a comprehensive school. When they started doing this with the grades, it was beyond a joke. It's not really fair, especially for the people who were expecting to repeat some of their exams to further the chances of getting the grades they wanted, added Head Girl, Mairead Comer. I was marked down in one of mine, but I wasn't in such a bad position, and I was lucky in that sense, but it really did put on the back foot those people who needed those last few months to push on. Despite the added stress of battling an algorithim, both are looking ahead in excitement at what is to come. It's a relief to know that you're actually going on somewhere else. We were starting to sort things like Leavers' jerseys, while still stuck, but it's nice to know we're moving on now said Mairead. I'm definitely looking forward to the change of scenery. I'm going to miss this place quite a lo. We've been through so much, , particularly this year, added Seamus. Related: COMMENT: Belated U-turn on results should have come last week Alternative sites could be considered to save Rassawek, site of the Monacans former capital, thanks to a first-step decision by the James River Water Authoritys board. The JRWA last week approved a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking that the Corps suspend its process for approving Rassawek also known as Point of Fork as the location for a water pumping station. The idea of pulling water from the James River to serve economic development in growing Louisa and Fluvanna counties has been under consideration for more than a decade. The two jurisdictions came together in 2009 to pursue the project, but it had been debated and discussed well before that date. Investigations of potential sites settled on Point of Fork, at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers. But in a dispute that heated up last year, the Monacan Indian Nation objected, saying that the site is the tribes historic home even noted on Capt. John Smiths famous map of Virginia. The site had been overwhelmed and abandoned as white settlement pushed the Monacans out of their territory, but tribe members say it still contains artifacts from their ancestors including grave sites, which would be disturbed or destroyed by construction. The JRWA said it would collect any such artifacts, box them and present them to the tribe for preservation. Opponents objected, arguing that the results of similar promises in other cases had demonstrated a lack of respect for Native American artifacts; how could they trust that this instance would be different? In any case, they said, saving fragments of the site was far inferior to saving the site itself. Opponents raised a number of other objections as well, ranging from the quality of the permitting process to the qualifications of a consultant working for the JRWA. Meanwhile, their effort was attracting attention from heavy hitters in the preservation world, including the Southern Environmental Law Center and Preservation Virginia, which recently named Rassawek to its list of Virginias most endangered places. At the same time, the social justice movement has been calling greater attention to inequities in treatment of minorities. Although currently this movement is focused primarily on African Americans and their place in history, the social justice premise has implications as well for Native Americans and their place in history a point not to be missed in the Rassawek debate. As recently as March, the JRWA said it would continue to pursue the Point of Fork site. Then, at its meeting last week, it approved a letter to be sent to the Corps of Engineers with a request to suspend the federal permitting process. The ultimate goal: Give the authority time to consider, or reconsider, alternative sites that would spare Rassawek. Its a significant and welcome development. The authority deserves credit for this decision. Granted, the two counties need water not only to allow new growth but to support growth that already has occurred. Rassawek might have been the least expensive site for their initial purposes, but it has proved to be fraught with other types of problems. Indeed, if opposition generates delays to the project perhaps even embroiling the authority in costly lawsuits the initial economic advantage to the site could be lost. We had feared that the project already was too far advanced to be redirected but the JRWAs recent action suggests that is not the case: There is still time to choose another site for the pumping station. A solution that would preserve Rassawek and provide water for the counties would be ideal the classic win-win. The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Index Conferences & Exhibitions to bolster continuing medical education (CME) so as to upgrade the skill-sets of doctors and health workers. The MoU seeks to establish a partnership in the scientific, medical, and educational conferences, programmes, lectures, and seminars organised by Index physically or virtually. Under the agreement, MoHAP becomes a scientific partner to accredit the continuing education programmes in medical events, thus enabling health practitioners to get the best levels of CME, support their career advancement, and provide outstanding healthcare, as per highest standards adopted in this regard. Awad Saghir Al Ketbi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Support Services Sector, MoHAP, and Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, Chairman of Index Holding, signed the agreement in the presence of Saqr Al-Hemeiri, Director of the Training & Development Centre and a number of officials from both parties. Al Ketbi said: The agreement aims to enhance the mutual cooperation to develop doctors and health workers skills, get acquainted with the latest innovations in the medical field, support research, and knowledge exchange, keep pace with the recent medical practices in diagnostics and therapeutics. The improvement of the level of scientific, medical and educational conferences provides an opportunity for health practitioners to get in touch with international experts and keep abreast with the new medical innovations and best international practice in this area. Al Ketbi threw light on the importance of this sector at the national level, including reinforcing the UAEs status as a global hub for knowledge and medical education, fostering medical tourism, and attracting as many as delegations and investors from around the world. He added: Having competent and qualified health teams contributes to enhancing the health of individuals and achieves MoHAPs strategy to provide comprehensive and innovative health services, in line with the UAEs vision in boosting innovation in the health sector. Al Ketbi commended the role of Index Holding in the global exhibition industry, the development of the local medical sector in and the support of national efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and the onsolidation of the countrys position in health exhibitions and conferences sector at global levels. Dr Al Madani said: I thank all MoHAP staff for their unlimited support to the interests of the health sector, as well as their support to the medical conference sector and scientific seminars, workshops, courses and scientific programmes organised by Index Holding, whether physically or virtually. Over the past 30 years, Index Conferences & Exhibitions has been able to promote and develop the CME concept, thanks to the medical and scientific conferences we organise annually. Thanking MoHAP teams for their tremendous efforts in serving all segments of society, Al Madani expressed his confidence that the cooperation and partnership with MoHAP will lead to great benefits to everyone in the UAEs health sector in particular, the region and the world in general.-- Tradearabia News Service live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More One of four artillery guns developed by Bharat Forge is learnt to have reached the final stage of testing with the Indian Army. During a recent analyst call after the announcement of the Pune-based companys June quarter financial results, a top official said that all four gun platforms developed by it are in various stages of trials. We have gone through four sets of trials for the first gun and three sets of trials for the second gun. Once the last phase of trials is over we are ready for the sale process to begin, said Amit Kalyani, Deputy Managing Director, Bharat Forge. Reducing import dependence Bharat Forge is set to benefit hugely from the reform initiative kick-started by the Ministry of Defence wherein restrictions have been imposed on import of 101 weapons and military platforms. The initiative, announced on August 9, includes artillery guns. The towed artillery gun (155mm x 52 Calibre), which is part of the import embargo, has been developed by Bharat Forge. Called Bharat 52 and classified as an Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), it is the first gun built by the Kalyani Group. Weighing 15 tonnes, Bharat 52 has a firing range of more than 48 km and has a self-propelled ground speed of 20 km per hour. It can fire six rounds in 30 seconds. ATAGS is considered to be one of the most advanced field artillery systems in the world but India is yet to induct them. In 2016 India ordered 145 howitzers (also an artillery gun) from the US for $750 million. The 155mm x 39 calibre ultra-light howitzers have a range of 24-39 km, which is much lower than the Bharat 52 ATAGS. With the private sector being allowed to take part in defence production, Indian companies have been keen participants. In 2018, Mahindra Defence tied up with US-based BAE Systems to manufacture M777 howitzers. Ashok Leyland is engaged in making Field Artillery Tractors, which are also in the 101 restricted items. Fully local All the products that we are making are 100 percent local they are 100 percent designed, engineered and developed locally. Three artillery guns are in advanced stages of testing. One is in the final stage of testing it has gone through all the tests; it is the user test which is now going on this month, Kalyani added. The Indian Army is reportedly looking to procure about 150 ATAGS. Depending on the add-ons and the level of technology, each ATAGS can be priced up to Rs 15 crore, said Kalyani. The products that we have focussed on, all of them are meant for domestic manufacturing. And in certain products such as artillery guns, it is very clear that there is nobody as competitive as us either in technology or on an overall basis, so we are looking forward to the conclusion of our final trials, he added. Three-horizon strategy Bharat Forge is following what it calls a three-horizon strategy. Horizon One has products such as artillery guns, some armoured vehicles, and some speciality vehicles. Horizon Two also has specialty vehicles. Horizon Three has electronics and high-end technology. Now, based on the announcements, we will deepen our capability within these product segments and add strength in areas that we need. But I do not think we are going to go into newer areas like building ships said Kalyani. Bharat Forge is also looking for markets outside India for its military hardware. But, with riders. Selling defence items to a responsible nation like India is easy. Now, there are many countries that buy weapons where we do not know what they do with it. India has never been an aggressor anywhere, so I want to sell to places where it is safe to sell and where it is advisable to sell. said Kalyani. Universal paid sick days are a necessary, evidence-based protection to mitigate risks of a second COVID-19 wave and ensure safe school reopenings, a new report by a group of Canadian health professionals says. Some 70 per cent of low-wage workers do not have access to paid sick days placing Canada far behind many other countries and creating a public health hazard that disproportionately impacts women and racialized workers, according to the study released Wednesday by the Decent Work and Health Network. The report also calls an existing federal program offering income support for COVID-19 related sick leaves inadequate because of its temporary nature and limited scope. Like vaccines, paid sick days must be universal in order to protect the most vulnerable, says the report, which relies on a national survey of around 180 doctors as well as interviews with workers. With Ontario schools on the brink of reopening and the threat of a second wave of COVID sick leave protections are more crucial than ever, said Toronto high school teacher Sarah Vance at a press conference Wednesday. In many of the citys schools, parents who work multiple low-paid jobs with no sick leave are the norm, not the exception, she said. In many cases, Ive taught teenagers in my classroom who also do precarious work themselves ... many of these students cannot afford to quit their job. The bottom line is that without paid sick days for all workers, were guaranteed to have sick children in our public schools spreading COVID-19, added Vance, who is also a member of the grassroots advocacy group Ontario Education Workers United. Im very, very afraid that this will be a public health disaster. Overall, 58 per cent of Canadians do not have access to paid sick days, the report found; that figure is even more stark for workers earning less than $25,000 a year. Paid sick leave is only legislated in two provinces: Quebec offers two days and Prince Edward Island provides one day after 5 years of service. Federally regulated workers, like those in banking and rail services, are entitled to three paid sick days. In Ontario, previous legislation that entitled workers to two paid sick days a year was reversed under Premier Doug Ford. Wednesdays study says some 181 countries have some form of paid sick leave, and that Canada ranks in the bottom quarter for sick leave protections. In analyzing 22 developed countries, the study said Canada is one of only five where the vast majority of employers are not required to provide paid sick leave for short-term illnesses. Numerous countries, including Australia, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, legislate seven paid sick days for workers. Shockingly, in response to the worst global pandemic in a century, no Canadian jurisdiction has raised employment standards to expand access to paid sick days, the report notes. Carolina Jimenez, a nurse and the co-ordinator of the Decent Work and Health Network, said low-wage workers are left exposed as a result. Precarious work, including the lack of paid sick days, is putting workers lives at risk, she said. While a new federal program to provide temporary income support to those who test positive for COVID-19 is a positive step, the study says it is too limited in scope to prevent future infectious disease outbreaks. The report calls for seven paid sick days in all Canadian provinces, and an additional 14 paid days during public health emergencies. Existing research shows such policies are an evidence-based protection against the spread of disease, said Jimenez. In the United States, cities that implemented paid sick days saw a 40 per cent reduction in influenza rates during flu outbreaks compared to cities without, according to analysis published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Paid sick days also lowered the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal disease outbreaks in New York state nursing homes, a study for the American Journal of Epidemiology found. Across the US, some 13 states and 23 cities or counties have now mandated paid sick days. In July, Colorado passed what the study calls some of the most comprehensive legislation yet that entitles workers to six paid sick days and 10 during public health emergencies. Research on self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has suggested that when compensation is assured, compliance is almost 40 per cent higher, Wednesdays report notes. The report says while concerns have been raised about the cost of paid sick days, existing research shows workers carefully use paid sick days as intended and, as a consequence, are able to return to work faster and healthier with lower rates of chronic illness. Kyle Hoskin, a municipal sanitation worker from the Niagara region, said his experiences suggest paid sick leave makes economic sense. After he developed pneumonia in January that quickly spread through his workplace, some 35 of his colleagues were forced to miss work. If I had paid sick days, I would have been the only person in my workplace that wasnt at work, he said. Because I didnt, my employer lost 35 workers. Wednedays report says based on its survey of doctors and workers, sick days must be fully paid to be effective. They must also be permanent, and accessible to all including migrant workers, who have been impacted by massive COVID-19 outbreaks on farms across Canada. The study also calls doctors notes requirements an unnecessary barrier that clog up doctors offices and emergency rooms. Last year, a survey of 182 Canadian emergency physicians found that more than three quarters write at least one sick note a day. (Ontario scrapped its existing sick note requirement at the start of the pandemic). For former cleaner Veronica Zaragoza, the argument for paid sick days is simple. This is a human right, she said. Having guaranteed payment for sick days permanently give us an opportunity to save our lives as our workers, but also to save the lives of others around us. ALBANY, N.Y. and BOSTON and CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. and KEENE, N.H., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership associated with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (member FINRA/SIPC), today announced the addition of Jason Hevey in Boston, Ed Morenz in Keene, NH, and Kevin Dubner, CLTC, in Albany, NY. The firm also announced the opening of its newest office in Conshohocken, PA, expanding the firm's Philadelphia presence from its recent temporary location in nearby Plymouth Meeting. Also, joining the new office in Pennsylvania today is Dean Rosini and Jeffrey Lazarus. Collectively, the new advisors bring $491 million in assets under management. Jason Hevey has joined as a Director from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where he specialized in high net worth financial planning and oversaw more than $123 million in client assets. Within his practice, Jason helps clients reach lifestyle and legacy goals through strategic retirement and financial planning. With over 15 years of experience, his practice also focuses on asset management, alternative investments, and estate planning for clients. Ed Morenz joins Steward Partners in Keene, New Hampshire as a Vice President from Edward Jones, where he previously oversaw $150 million in client assets. Ed will be joining The Monadnock Capital Group at Steward Partners in Keene, NH. Kevin Dubner comes to the firm from Janney Montgomery Scott where he previously oversaw $75 million in client assets. He joins Steward as a Vice President and brings nearly 40 years of experience to the firm. Within his practice he focuses primarily on retirement and financial planning, portfolio management, and insurance planning for clients. Also moving to Steward Partners are Dean Rosini and Jeff Lazarus, who both join the firm as Vice Presidents from Wells Fargo where they collectively oversaw $143 million in client assets. While they currently operate independently, the pair plans to form a new team at Steward and together will focus on helping clients through all stages of their retirement, including managing retirement accounts and estate planning. Steward's newest office in Conshohocken, located just outside Philadelphia, will provide the partnership with the space needed to grow beyond their initial Plymouth Meeting location. "We've seen growing interest in the Philadelphia market since opening in Plymouth Meeting late last year," said Doug Kentfield, Head of Wealth Management at Steward Partners. "This new space is larger and has more offices, which allows us to combine our Plymouth Meeting office into this new location and still have room to expand as interest in this area grows. "Steward Partners' has been a quickly growing presence in the Boston area for good reason, and that's because they believe clients should come first," said Jason Hevey. "This transition opens new opportunities for my own clients in a variety of ways and I'm looking forward to leveraging the added tools and resources the firm provides." "We are excited about the opportunities this move will create for our clients over the long-term," said Dean Rosini. "The added flexibility Steward provides will allow us to better serve and interact with them in ways which were often previously out of reach." "Moving firms can be an intimidating task, but I couldn't be happier about what this means for my clients," added Kevin Dubner. "It's refreshing to be a part of an independent firm that empowers its advisors to provide their clients with the highest possible service, and I'm looking forward to get started on this exciting new chapter. For more information, visit www.stewardpartners.com. About Steward Partners Global Advisory With offices in Newtown, CT., Washington, D.C., Clearwater, FL., Andover and Boston, MA., Baltimore and Bethesda, MD., Portland, ME., St. Louis, MO., Hendersonville, NC., Keene, Manchester and Portsmouth, NH., Paramus and Morristown, NJ., Albany and New York City, NY., Conshohocken, PA., Austin, Dallas and Houston, TX., and Norfolk and Richmond, VA., Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC, is an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership catering to family, institutional and multigenerational wealth. For more information, visit us at www.stewardpartners.com. About Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. is a financial services firm supporting independent financial advisors nationwide. Since 1974, Raymond James Financial Services Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, has provided a wide range of investment and wealth planning related services through its affiliate, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. Both broker/dealers are wholly owned subsidiaries of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE-RJF) a leading diversified financial services company with approximately 8,100 financial advisors throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. Total client assets are approximately $896 billion as of 12/31/19. Steward Partners Holdings, Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC maintain a separate professional business relationship with, and our registered professionals offer securities through, Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Steward Partners Investment Advisory, LLC, 1776 I Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006. Toll Free: (844) 801-8268. Media Contact: Water & Wall [email protected] 212-343-2363 SOURCE Steward Partners Global Advisory, LLC Related Links http://www.stewardpartners.com Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told the Democratic National Convention and a national television audience Tuesday night that President Donald Trump has "degraded and debased the presidency and our country in the eyes of the world." Trump is guilty of "a dereliction of duty" for not confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin about U.S. intelligence reports that Russia has been offering bounties to Afghan forces to kill U.S. troops, Nebraska's former Republican senator said. "You're failing the troops," Hagel said. "You're failing this country." Hagel participated with other former senior national security officials in video presentations to the national convention, which is being conducted virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heading that list was former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired four-star general who is also a Republican opposing re-election of a Republican president. Hagel described Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as a man of "tremendous courage, character and judgment." "And he can be tough," Hagel said. "I witnessed it close up." Hagel was secretary of defense in the Obama administration while Biden was serving as vice president, and the two men earlier served together in the Senate and often traveled together on overseas trips. "There is no one more qualified than Joe Biden to be sitting at the head of the table in the Situation Room making decisions for this country," Hagel said. Hagel wasn't the only Nebraskan who attracted attention during the second night of the national convention; a Nebraska meatpacking worker cast the state delegation's votes for Biden during the roll call of states. Geraldine Waller, who has worked at the Smithfield Foods pork plant in Crete for 30 years, said meatpacking workers are among the Americans who "need a president who will have our backs." "I work at a meatpacking plant, making sure grocery shelves stay full," she said. "They call us essential workers, but we get treated like we're expendable. "Workers are dying from COVID, and a lot of us don't have paid sick leave or even quality protective equipment," she said. "We are human beings. Not robots. Not disposable. We want to keep helping you feed your family," she told the national TV audience. Waller spoke at a meatpacking worker rights rally on the steps of the state Capitol last month. Photos: Chuck Hagel through the years Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Mumbai, Aug 19 : The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court ruling in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case allowing the CBI to probe the matter; with several leaders targeting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government, while eminent criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam even terming it as "a historical ruling". Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said "justice could now be expected to be done to the late actor and his fans". "A decision that boosts faith in the judiciary system. Maharashtra government now needs to introspect on the way they handled this case. I am confident that the CBI will start its probe soon," said Fadnavis. Nikam said that the verdict will have several far-reaching ramifications and will set a precedent in such cases in the future. "This is the first time in history that a crime is committed in one place, the FIR is lodged in another place and investigation will be done by a third agency, CBI," Nikam pointed out. He said there were suspicions raised all over the country over Sushant's death whether it was a suicide or a murder, and on the capabilities of the Mumbai Police which did not act in a timely to dispel such doubts. He also said there were delays in the probe even after lodging the Accidental Death Report, not extending help to the Bihar Police team for the investigation, and related issues which raised avoidable questions on the Mumbai Police's modus operandi. In a stringent attack, state BJP Vice-President Kirit Somaiya said: "Ab to Thackeray Sarkar ki Dadagiri khatam hogi" (Now, the strong-arm tactics of the Thackeray government will end). He also demanded that state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh should resign after the apex court ruling. BJP leader Nitesh Rane targeted Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray in a tweet: "Ab Baby Penguin toh giyo!!! (Now, Baby Penguin is doomed!!!). Its Showtime!" The son of former Shiv Sena Chief Minister Narayan Rane -- now in the BJP -- Nitesh Rane had lampooned Aditya Thackeray as a "Baby Penguin" after the latter introduced a colony of Humboldt Penguins for the first time in India at the Mumbai Zoo in 2016. On the other hand, senior Shiv Sena leader and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde condemned the manner in which allegations were levelled against the Maharashtra government in the Sushant case, but said he would comment only after studying the Supreme Court ruling. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Gabriela Bhaskar and Michael Mathes (Agence France-Presse) Milwaukee/Washington, United States Wed, August 19, 2020 10:38 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f09d99 2 World Joe-Biden,Democratic-National-Convention,Democratic-party,US-presidential-election,US-presidential-race Free US Democrats on Tuesday nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential candidate, formally designating the Washington veteran as the party's challenger to incumbent President Donald Trump in the November election. In an unprecedented roll call vote that took place entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic, all 50 states and seven territories announced their vote tallies that cemented Biden's role as the party flagbearer. "Well thank you very, very much, from the bottom of my heart," a beaming Biden said in a live video link as he celebrated the nomination. "It means the world to me and my family," he added, reminding viewers he will deliver a formal acceptance speech on Thursday at the conclusion of the four-day jamboree. The nomination was a formality as he had already won the majority of the more than 3,900 delegates back in June. The roll call came on Day 2 of the mostly virtual Democratic National Convention aimed at celebrating the party's candidate and welcoming independents and frustrated Republicans into their political movement to oust Trump from the White House. The proceedings included a series of presentations by party leaders past and future who unleashed their own arguments against the White House incumbent and urged voters to rally around Biden. The lineup featured president Jimmy Carter, who served one term from 1977, and 1990s commander-in-chief Bill Clinton, who warned that the Trump White House is swirling with chaos instead of the competence necessary to address the nation's crises. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos," Clinton said. "Just one thing never changes -- his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame," Clinton said. "The buck never stops there." The president faced a barrage of criticism on opening night too, most notably from former first lady Michelle Obama who said Trump lacks the character and skills for the job. "I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive," Trump told reporters at the White House. In her pre-taped remarks to the convention, Obama urged Americans to rally behind Biden, her husband's former vice president, in the November 3 presidential election. Trump's White House is marred by "chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy," Barack Obama's wife said in unprecedented criticism of a sitting US president by a former first lady. "Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country," she added. "He is clearly in over his head." Later Tuesday on a visit to battleground state Arizona, Trump knocked Obama for delivering taped remarks. "Thursday night I'm doing it live," Trump said, referring to his speech next week when he formally accepts his party's nomination at the Republican convention, which has also shifted online. Trump said he has chosen the White House South Lawn as the location, after saying in recent weeks that he would pick between the presidential mansion and the historic battlefield at Gettysburg. Delivering such an obviously political speech from the White House will stir substantial controversy, as presidents are required to separate their campaigning from taxpayer-funded governing. Loyal top supporter In addition to Clinton and Carter, Tuesday's lineup featured Jill Biden, who has been married to the candidate since 1977. The educator from Pennsylvania, who served eight years as second lady, has campaigned at length for Biden, repeatedly speaking of his values and commitment to everyday Americans. The educator from Pennsylvania delivered a personal, high-stakes prime-time testimonial about her husband, including how the personal tragedy of the death of his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash has shaped him. "How do you make a broken family whole?" she said. "The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding -- and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith." The camp is promoting Joe Biden as a unifier. In their appeal to middle-of-the-road voters and frustrated Republicans the convention featured a video of the unlikely friendship between Biden and late Republican senator John McCain, narrated by his widow Cindy McCain. Republican former secretary of state Colin Powell also delivered videotaped remarks in which he endorsed Biden and said he shared the Democrat's values. Tuesday's keynote was notable in that it featured 16 mostly young current and former elected Democrats seen as upcoming leaders including Stacey Abrams, who spent time as a Georgia lawmaker. "Faced with a president of cowardice, Joe Biden is a man of proven courage," Abrams said. Former president Obama will speak on Wednesday along with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday challenged his Democratic competitor, Amy McGrath, to a "socially distanced, Lincoln-Douglas style debate" with "no notes at the table, no props and no audience." Why it matters: McConnell has held a steady lead over McGrath in most polling for the race, adding a layer of intrigue over his request. McConnell is a fundraising giant, and most prognosticators believe he'll hold onto his seat in November. Cook Political Report rates the race as "likely Republican," and the latest Quinnipiac poll showed McConnell ahead by 5 points. What he's saying: McConnell argued, "While the coronavirus campaign has changed how we campaign in 2020, it is my view that any plans to hold in-person debates between the two of us should not be impacted." "Before casting their ballots this November, Kentuckians deserve the opportunity to compare us side-by-side as we share our competing visions for Kentucky's long-term prosperity." The big picture: Debates without an audience look set to be the norm amid the coronavirus pandemic. Flowbook, the flagship product of Back to Basics Learning (India) Pvt. Ltd, has adapted an inclusive approach to teach students through television sets as E-learning has been an issue with a huge population for not having computers, laptops or smart phones. However, television with a wide penetration across urban and rural landscapes is available at majority of houses and Flowbook plans to reach to the remotest of the areas across the country. In order to address the huge gap between making students learn a few topics versus providing them education while shaping their personality, the company has launched "Flowbook Student Companion Program", which is a monthly subscription-based education application for Classes 6 to 10. With a USP of using television sets as a mode of studying, the company also offers the curriculum on smart phones and laptops. The educational-app currently has more than 10,000 registered students and more than 85 schools using the product. Commenting on the unique concept of e-learning, Arjun Reddy Founder & CEO said: "Flowbook has been designed keeping in mind that it is important to treat every student differently based on his or her capabilities by connecting them with a personal mentor. Our content library is the largest in India for students of Classes 6-10 and every chapter in the curriculum has been broken down into multiple sub-topics through which each and every little concept is addressed in detail. Unlike other products, all our videos are short in length with an average of 2 to 3 minutes keeping in mind the attention span of students." Students can use the videos to visualize all their topics and access expert-written answers for their questions that help them strengthen their understanding of a particular subject. Flowbook allows students to ask any doubts in community feature of the app which will be answered by experts. The app can be downloaded only on android OS gadgets. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will likely ask the United Nations to reimpose sanctions on Iran this week, according to Reuters. Pompeo is expected to travel to New York on Thursday to meet with the UN Security Council, where he will argue that Iran has not complied with the 2015 nuclear deal, thus meriting a return of sanctions, diplomats and a UN official told Reuters. The United States, Iran, Russia, China and the European Union signed the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. The agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), removed sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for its compliance on its nuclear program. US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran as part of a maximum pressure strategy. The United States believes Iran is building a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. Part of the agreement included adding an expiration date for a UN weapons embargo on Iran. That arms ban is set to expire in October, per the agreement. The United States has tried to get the embargo extended for months. Last week, the UN Security Council voted against an extension. European countries remain party to the agreement, as do permanent council members Russia and China. The United States has said it would initiate snapback sanctions against Iran if the arms embargo was not extended, but the feasibility of this is unclear given that Washington is no longer party to the JCPOA. Iran policy could change should US Democratic Party presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden defeat Trump in the November election. Biden was vice president when President Barack Obama negotiated the Iran deal and has indicated that he would support the United States rejoining the agreement under certain conditions. Bengaluru, Aug 19 : Karnataka medical college heads have been instructed to ramp up testing as early coronavirus infection detection is the key for better treatment, a minister said on Wednesday. "Increased testing will help to detect infection at a very early stage and helps in better treatment," said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar. On Wednesday, he held a video conference with the heads of both government and private medical colleges in Karnataka, underscoring the importance of early detection and treatment. "Therefore, it is necessary for all Covid test labs to achieve target tests. Obstacles to conducting the maximum number of tests are being looked at and the government will extend all help in this regard," he said. Health and Family Welfare department additional Chief Secretary Jawaid Akhtar and Covid testing incharge Shalini Rajneesh also deliberated in the virtual meeting. Currently, the state is testing more than 50,000 samples a day in 101 laboratories and just completed 20 lakh tests overall across the states from the start of the pandemic. On Wednesday, Covid-19 infections spiked by 8,642 cases in the southern state, raising the tally to 2.49 lakh. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cheshire Selectmen Planning for Post-Employment Costs CHESHIRE, Mass. Every year during budget season, municipalities across the commonwealth discuss ways to increase funding of their other post-employment benefits. OPEB refers to anything retirees are entitled to other than a pension. Mainly this account handles retiree health-care costs. The Board of Selectmen took a look at the town's situation Tuesday night with help from Treasurer/Tax Collector Rebecca Herzog and the news, like many other Massachusetts towns, was not encouraging. The selectmen are well aware of the situation but the solution is not an easy one. Cheshire has historically maintained a low property tax rate thus making it an attractive place to live for families as well as seniors looking to stay in their homes post retirement. The prospect of having to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into a fund that has been neglected for so long is a daunting one. When asked by Chairwoman Michelle Francesconi what the current balance was, Herzog was blunt. "We have a pathetic $4,000. We started it in 2019 and we put in $2,000 a year. The beginning of the calendar year 2020, it was $4,234 and it's now down to $4,094.It has bounced back in the last couple months but as of 6/30 it was just over $4,000," she told the board. "We have to do something, we have to start looking at this seriously. It's an unfunded liability, it has a negative impact on our balance sheet ... we're not going to get anywhere with $2,000 a year with this." Herzog said a big issue she sees is the town hasn't done a liability assessment as to what its future needs will be. Assessments are mostly done by outside firms that take several factors into account (current eligible employees, future eligible employees, actuarial tables, etc.) and provide towns with a figure to work toward. She said the cost for the assessment is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. Selectman Robert Ciskowski asked Herzog exactly what they may be looking at. "We have roughly $4,000 put away," he said. "And we're not going to hold you to this, are we talking that we need $40,000?" "You could put another zero to that at leastv...vplus. There are towns that have a million dollars. It has to be done," Herzog answered. Cheshire has taken steps to reduce the amount of employees who would qualify for post-employment benefits by eliminating some elected and part-time positions but Herzog would like to see more measurable action. "I'm concerned that your approach to cutting back on town employees ... I would rather see you take a different approach and just say, 'OK this is something that we have to do.' Let's figure out a way to fund it rather than figure out a way to cut people back. If we could come up with $20,000 [to fund it] and another $10,000 for the study that would be a good start." The town of Cheshire is not unique. On average cities and towns' OPEB plans in Massachusetts are funded at around 6.5 percent. Meaning they have set aside just over 6 cents for each dollar needed to pay potential post-employment benefits for its retired employees. Massachusetts has always treated OPEB on a pay-as-you-go basis. Benefits are only paid when retirees become eligible to receive them. What this means is that an employee who is set to retire in 2035 technically has no guarantee their benefits will be there. It will be up to the future taxpayer to fund that yearly expense. The taxpayer will therefore receive no services or benefits from the town for these taxes that go to pay these OPEB expenses. Herzog estimates that the town currently has 10-12 employees who would qualify for these benefits. She concluded by explaining why these expenses are growing in both dollars and importance. "You're looking at people thankfully living long, healthy lives now. People are retiring and living 20-30 years now. That's a long time. We really have to take that into consideration for future generations," she said. Town Administrator Edmund St. John IV said he did add $15,000 into the line item for OPEB funding from free cash bringing the total to $20,000. The budget will be finalized within the next two weeks and the decision will ultimately rest with town meeting. In other business, seniors and veterans may soon have a way to work off some of their property tax bills through a program being considered by the board. The idea was brought forward by residents Peter Traub and John Bianchi. Many Massachusetts towns give community members a way to lessen their tax burden by volunteering for the town while being compensated at the current minimum wage rate ($13.50). Eligible candidates would have to fall below certain income requirements and would see their wages subtracted from their tax bills. The board discussed limiting the program to 10 people while capping earnings at $1,080. At the $13.50 wage, that would be a total of 80 hours. Ultimately the program would have to be adopted at town meeting since it affects the budget but Selectman Jason Levesque liked what he heard in the early stages. "It would be an opportunity to help people who need it the most," he said. Town Clerk Christine Emerson told the board she is ready for early in-person voting for the state primary being held on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Hours will be: Saturday, Aug. 22, from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, from 1-3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, through Thursday, Aug. 27, from 9 to 5. Voting will take place in the town clerk's office and a mask is required for entry into the building. The Board of Selectmen will be holding a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to further discuss the fiscal 2021 budget. The next regular meeting of the Selectmen will be Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 6:30 p.m. and will be held virtually. Visit the town website for login details. SPRINGFIELD Statues of two slave-owning men with historical ties to Illinois will be moved from the Statehouse grounds in Springfield to a secure storage site, a panel of four officials voted Wednesday morning. The decision comes almost six weeks after House Speaker Michael Madigan asked the Office of the Architect to move expeditiously in evicting representations of Stephen A. Douglas and Pierre Menard from the Capitol. Madigans request was the long-time Chicago Democrats first public statement in the wake of civil unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed on May 25 by a white Minneapolis police officer. Douglas was a slave owner who served as Illinois secretary of state and in the U.S. Senate. He proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and replaced it with a system for states to decide whether to be pro- or anti-slavery. Menard, also a slave owner, was the first lieutenant governor of Illinois, and he supported political actions devised to ensure slavery was legal in the state. Memorializing people and a time that allowed slavery and fostered bigotry and oppression has no place in the Illinois House, where the work of all Illinoisans is conducted, Madigan wrote in the July 9 statement. We can only move forward in creating a more just world when these symbols of hate are removed from our everyday lives. Andrea Aggertt, capitol architect, said her office already contacted firms to remove the two statues. The work order, which also includes removing the figures bases and foundations, can be completed in two to three months. She added that the granite bases could be repurposed. Board members of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol on Wednesday also began the process to move a bronze, 300-pound likeness of Martin Luther King Jr. to an appropriate location at the Capitol. The statue is currently at the intersection of Second Street and Capitol Avenue colloquially referred to as Freedom Corner in front of the Illinois State Library. Scott Kaiser, assistant secretary of the Senate and a member of the board, said at some point in the future, the group should consider commissioning a new portrayal of King, leader of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. No offense to whoever did it, but I just think thats a poor rendering of Dr. King and I think we can do better, he said. The likeness is located across the street from the Statehouse because of an administrative rule dictating only historical figures related to Illinois are permitted to be installed on the Capitol grounds. The panel approved a motion to revise those guidelines. John Hollman, clerk of the House and co-chair of the board, proposed each of the items acted upon on Wednesday. He did not suggest specific language for the rule change, only the end goal ensuring that Kings statue is moved. Brad Bolin, assistant clerk of the House, pointed out the board will need to reconvene to formalize and approve the alteration. It would then go to the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, or JCAR, for final action before it could take effect. There was a discussion about why the focus of Hollmans proposals pertained to the controversial statues located outside the Statehouse and not on ones inside. Another statue of Douglas, for example, is located on the Capitols second level in the rotunda. The outdoor statue is certainly prominent, but as people come into the building, school groups do tours, in some ways the indoor statue is even more prominent than the outdoor one, Kaiser said. I just see inconsistency there a little bitIt just seems to me that were making a decision now on Douglas theres two of them. Why not take them both out? Bolin also inquired why there was no system in place to receive public comment about the artwork removal. Lawmakers could utilize committees already instituted to generate public discussion, he suggested. Hollman also proposed contracting a firm to update members on historical structures so we kind of know what we have on our hands currently on the complex and maybe how we want to treat those going forward. Our discussion today focused on the statues outside the Capitol Building, Aggertt said in an email. There will be future discussion on those located on the interior of the building. In early July, Madigan ordered the covering of a large portrait of Douglas displayed in the House chamber. He said in a statement that when representatives reconvene in November, he would propose a resolution replacing it with one of former President Barack Obama, a more fitting representation of the modern-day Democratic Party. Aggertts office does not have authority to dictate what artwork is displayed in the Illinois Supreme Court building across the street from the Statehouse, she said. There, in a room used by attorneys to prepare for oral arguments, is a portrait of Douglas. He was a justice. In a statement issued in response to questions by reporters from the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin earlier this month, the court said some of the justices portrayed in 109 paintings in that room held racist views. Removing the portraits will not change that fact, the justices said in the statement. This Court recently released a statement on racial justice and declared that racism exists, whether it be actualized as individual racism, institutional racism or structural racism, and it undermines our democracy, the fair and equitable administration of justice, and severely diminishes individual constitutional protections and safeguards of full citizenship with the attendant rights and benefits sacred to all. Americas biggest oil and gas lobby group is ramping up its advertising spending ahead of the November election to persuade voters that natural gas is a climate-friendly fuel, according to ad buying data. The campaign by the American Petroleum Institute (API), targeted at younger voters and some tight congressional races, is part of a global battle by the drilling industry to assuage growing fears over the role of natural gas in driving climate change. US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden last month unveiled a $2 trillion plan to transition the American economy away from fossil fuels, including natural gas, if he beats incumbent Donald Trump, who is a drilling advocate. Bidens plan would support climate litigation against polluters who conceal information about environmental and health risks. In the three weeks following Bidens climate announcement on 14 July, API increased its spending on Facebook ads to an estimated average of $24,000 a day. Thats about six times its average daily spending in the preceding six months, according to an analysis by InfluenceMap, a non-profit group whose data on lobbying is used by institutional investors. Those ads mainly target a younger audience including 25-to-34-year-olds, according to a separate analysis by Bully Pulpit Interactive Media conducted on behalf of Reuters. Meanwhile, API has spent an estimated $3.1 million on TV ads between 1 January and 16 August, according to data from analytics firm iSpot, an increase of 51 per cent over the same period in 2019. The TV ads are part of APIs Energy for Progress campaign, launched in January. For at least six months, the campaigns website cast natural gas as a clean fuel before that description was revised to cleaner on the site sometime in the last two months. Climate scientists say that natural gas is not clean and is emerging as a major threat to the climate due to the sheer scale of carbon dioxide (CO2) the industry emits. In addition, they say, a significant amount of methane, a far more potent short-term warming agent, leaks during production of natural gas. API points out on its website that when burned, natural gas produces about half as much planet-warming CO2 as coal and less air pollution, and has helped the United States reduce emissions by replacing coal in power plants. API President Mike Sommers told Reuters that his groups advertising ahead of the election seeks to inform people of all generations of the importance of American energy leadership, including on the environment. In this country, there is a lot of energy illiteracy, he said. DEFINE CLEAN Republican and Democratic politicians alike once saw natural gas as a bridge fuel to a low-carbon future, but some states, cities and towns have increasingly moved to phase out natural gas power generation or ban its use in new homes and buildings. API declined to say why it switched to calling natural gas cleaner on its Energy for Progress website. It continues to use the words clean or clean-burning in relation to natural gas on its main website, api.org, and in Facebook ads. Industry critics say the use of the word clean is not just a matter of semantics. Such claims about environmental friendliness are coming under greater scrutiny as the presidential campaign goes into its final stretch. Also, some institutional investors are pushing for more action on climate change, and the oil and gas industry faces lawsuits alleging it has deceived the public about the harm of its products. Its about using green imagery and language to convince the public that their products are part of the climate solution rather than the essence of the problem, said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit in Washington, DC, which supports climate litigation against oil and gas companies. API president Sommers said his groups Energy for Progress campaign is focused on 37 congressional districts across the country. He didnt detail which ones. Recommended Facebook algorithm found to be recommending Holocaust denial API doesnt endorse candidates; we endorse policies, Sommers said. We want to make sure that no matter who is in control that we have pro-majorities for energy in the House and the Senate. Founded more than a century ago, APIs mission in part is to influence public policy in support of a strong, viable U.S. oil and natural gas industry, according to its website. The groups nearly 600 members include the major U.S. and European oil companies. Their senior executives have sat on APIs board in recent years, according to the groups tax forms, although API declined to identify its current board members. API received a total of $116 million from membership dues in 2018, according to the most recent tax form. Among its members is Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell PLC, one of the largest oil companies in the world. In April, Shell said it paid API between $12.5 and $15 million in 2019. Whether any of this money was used for the Energy for Progress campaign was a question for API, Shell said. API declined to say how any of its members contributions were used. Shell told Reuters it has always been careful to note that natural gas is a cleaner alternative to other sources of energy most notably coal. Some API ads and social media posts say gas is clean, not just cleaner than coal. Natural gas is already clean, affordable and efficient - and its getting better every day, says one API ad on Facebook. Another ad, emblazoned across the doors of a train at a Washington, DC airport, depicts a man and a woman walking through a forest. Thanks to clean natural gas, says the slogan, US CO2 emission levels are the lowest in a generation. Dustin Meyer, APIs director of market development, told reporters in July that there may be no better example of a pragmatic solution to climate change than natural gas in driving out dirtier fuels from the power mix. Nevertheless, natural gas is a fossil fuel that emits CO2 when burned. Its surging use means the United States could have roughly the same CO2 emissions levels in 2050 as it does now, if no new policies to control emissions are implemented, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administrations Annual Energy Outlook 2020. STRONG OPPOSITION While reeling from an historic collapse in demand for oil and gas triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, API members also face dozens of climate-related lawsuits, most dating back several years. Most recently, the attorneys general from Massachusetts, Minnesota and the District of Columbia have sued members of the fossil fuel industry, accusing companies of deceiving consumers about harms caused by their products. API was named for the first time in the Minnesota suit, which alleges fraud, deceptive advertising and other violations. Referring to claims about natural gas in the Energy for Progress campaign, Kate Konopka, assistant attorney general in the District of Columbia, told Reuters: We think this campaign is very much akin to Big Tobacco claims decades ago in terms of harmfulness around the improved value of light cigarettes. Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts, who helped kick off the wave of litigation, told Reuters that APIs portrayal of gas as clean was just not true and consistent with a pattern of misinformation by the API. In a statement to Reuters about the Minnesota suit, API said the oil industry was working to substantially reduce emissions and that any suggestion to the contrary was false. In Europe, advertising watchdogs have ruled against oil companies in the past year for presenting natural gas and other fossil fuels as environmentally friendly. Several cases have been resolved informally, with companies agreeing not to repeat contested claims, although one company was fined. In the United States, now the worlds largest producer of oil and natural gas, API members increasingly are subject to protests over new pipelines and pressure from activist investors over their lobbying activity. In October 2018, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, a group of European pension funds and asset managers, urged companies to be more transparent over climate-related lobbying. The group collectively manages more than 30 trillion ($35.60 trillion) in assets - including in oil and gas. Clare Richards, senior engagement manager for the Church of England Pensions Board, said omitting the full truth about natural gas is tantamount to false advertising. API president Sommers said some investors and activists will never accept the benefits of natural gas. I think we just view the future differently, he said. Reuters. Additional reporting by Andrew RC Marshall and Matthew Green MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Udacity, the global online learning platform that trains the world's workforce for the careers of the future, today launched its Pledge to Equality Scholarship Program , which will award 1,000 Nanodegree program scholarships to members of the Black community in order to create a more diverse talent pipeline for in-demand skills like machine learning, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analysis, and more. As part of this program, the top five graduates will be eligible to participate in Udacity's 2021 Internship program that is currently under development. Additionally, top-performing recipients will receive Udacity's career services support, which includes career counseling and interview guidance, free for one year. Udacity is also happy to partner with corporations to provide scholarship opportunities to deserving individuals. "At Udacity, we strive to do more than pay lip service to the ideals of equality and justice. With this scholarship, and hopefully having the grads in internship positions, our goal is to make an impact and ensure that we are improving representation in tech starting with our own company," said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Udacity. "This scholarship program is only one part of our larger pledge to provide individuals the training and skills they need for secure futures, and we're ready to help in any way we can." Scholarship applications open today, August 19, at udacity.com/scholarships/pledge-to-equality , and will close on September 17, 2020. Recipients will learn of their acceptance and begin the program on October 6, 2020. The program will then end in spring 2021. Scholarship eligibility will be open to adults in the U.S. over the age of 18 with a passion for technology. Scholarship recipients must be U.S citizens, be able to commit 10-15 hours per week to the program, participate in the student community, and have access to a laptop or computer. As part of its larger goal to train one million workers by 2025, Udacity has launched several other scholarship programs this year in partnership with leading technology employers like Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, and Alteryx. Furthermore, Udacity has already awarded 7,000 challenge scholarships and 1,175 Nanodegree scholarships, with an ultimate goal of 20,000 this year, to those who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Udacity has also partnered with the Egyptian government to upskill the country's emerging workforce. To find out more about the scholarship programs the company offers, please visit Udacity's website here . About Udacity Udacity is a global, online training platform powering digital transformation and accelerated time-to-market initiatives for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises. Udacity programs provide industry-created practitioner skills through a series of "Nanodegree" programs consisting of online courses and real-world projects in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, autonomous systems, and cloud computing, among other disciplines. Udacity collaborates with expert instructors and over 200 global industry partners including AT&T, Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, and NVIDIA to power technical education. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., the private company has operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Germany, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Udacity has raised $163 million in funding to date from investors including Bertelsmann, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, and Drive Capital. For more information, please visit udacity.com/scholarships . Media Contact Andrea Heuer for Udacity [email protected] SOURCE Udacity Related Links https://www.udacity.com/ Hundreds of fish were found dead after oxygen levels dropped in Britain's waters The summer heatwave has killed thousands of fish, leaving them rotting in the sun as environment chiefs battle to stop more deaths. Countless species have been hit by the blistering heat and vicious rain with rivers, ponds, lakes and canals affected. The crisis comes as Brits rush to the bankside after lockdown - with officials saying rod licence numbers have jumped by a fifth compared to last year. But shocking pictures show anglers will find hundreds of dead perch, bream, pike and roach after oxygen levels dropped in Britain's waters. The large scale deaths occur when oxygen levels drop in water and is particularly bad when storms follow a heatwave. An Environment Agency worker pictured trying to rescue fish that haven't perished in Manningtreee, Essex. Countless species have been affected by the summer heatwave Tens of thousands of dead fish pictured floating in Fleet Pond in Hampshire. The Environment Agency has launched a desperate bid to save fish across the country In one stretch of the River Stour, in Essex, locals claim to have seen 'thousands' of dead creatures floating in the water. The Environment Agency has launched a desperate bid to save fish across the country with pumps being brought in to re-oxygenate the water. Its officers have also begun a grizzly clean up task and have removed countless carcasses from picturesque waterways in Surrey, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Portsmouth and Cambridgeshire. In Essex the quick thinking fisheries team at the Environment Agency managed to save 5,000 fish by raising oxygen levels in the water - but yesterday they were still removing large dead pike and bream. Dead fish seen floating in the river Stour in Manningtree, Essex, yesterday, after oxygen levels dropped in Britain's waters, with pumps being brought in to re-oxygenate the water Dead fish in the river Stour where, in one stretch, locals have claimed to see 'thousands' of dead creatures floating in the water, in Manningtree, Essex Dead fish pictured floating in Fleet Pond, Hampshire, as they succumb to the extended period of high hear and water deoxygenated by blue green algae A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: 'Our fisheries officers have worked tirelessly over the last two days to respond to reports of dying and distressed fish in the River Stour at Cattawade and their ongoing efforts have saved an estimated 5,000 fish by helping raise the level of oxygen in the water. 'We will continue this work and monitor the situation for the next few days, but we don't anticipate any further impact on fish in the area. 'Unfortunately, the incident occurred when levels of oxygen in the river dropped rapidly. An Environment Agency worker trying to rescue fish that haven't perished as chiefs face a race against time to save Britain's rivers after the summer heatwave and storms Dead fish floating in the river Stour in Manningtree, Essex. Officers are removing countless carcasses from picturesque waterways in Britain An Environment Agency worker pictured wearing a face mask tries to rescue fish that haven't already perished in Manningtree, Essex, yesterday 'This sometimes happens when a period of hot weather is followed by thunderstorms or a sudden cooling of temperatures, which can cause the algae and weeds in the river to produce less oxygen, which, in turn, can have an impact on the fish.' The Angling Trust has labelled the issue a 'real concern' and urges its members to report any problem areas. John Cheyne, national regions manager, said: 'Long periods of hot weather can have a devastating effect on fish, particularly those in small or shallow lakes, ponds and slow moving rivers. 'Just as humans need oxygen in the air around us to breath, fish need oxygen in water to survive and as water get warmer it generally contains less dissolved oxygen.' Bengaluru, Aug 20 : Karnataka has registered its highest single day number of coronavirus infections, at 8,642, taking the state's tally to 2.49 lakh, even as 7,201 more patients recovered, a state health official said on Wednesday. "Today, 8,642 new positive cases were reported and 7,201 people have been discharged," said Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey. Bengaluru Urban continued to account for the highest number of cases (2,804), resulting in the city tally rising to 96,910, out of which 33,280 cases are active. Shivamogga accounted for 915 infections, followed by Mysuru (562), Ballari (537), Belagavi (379), Udupi (375), Dharwad (253), Dakshina Kannada (234) and Davangere (228). Meanwhile, 126 more patients succumbed to the virus, taking the state's toll to 4,327. Of the state's 2.49 lakh cases, 81,097 are active including 704 in ICU, while with the new recoveries, the number of people cured has risen to 1.64 lakh. On Wednesday, Pandey inaugurated a state level orientation programme aimed at negating stigma and discrimination against coronavirus patients. He also unveiled some booklets in English and Kannada on Covid appropriate behaviour. File photo of a 3D printed Facebook logo and toy people figures in front of a keyboard in this illustration taken on April 12, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters) Facebook Removes Thousands of Antifa, Militia Organizations, and QAnon-Related Groups Facebook has removed thousands of groups, pages, and ads related to Antifa and other violent-inciting militia organizations from the social media platform. For militia organizations and those encouraging riots, including some who may identify as Antifa, weve initially removed over 980 groups, 520 pages and 160 ads from Facebook, the social media company said Wednesday in a statement. Weve also restricted over 1,400 hashtags related to these groups and organizations on Instagram. Facebook said those pages, groups, and Instagram accounts are tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests. The company didnt elaborate on whether theyre referring to the current wave of violent protests and riots after the death of George Floyd. The social media platform said that their scope of policy enforcement had expanded to include behaviors of celebrating violent acts. We have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior, read the statement. So today we are expanding our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy to address organizations and movements that have demonstrated significant risks to public safety but do not meet the rigorous criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and banned from having any presence on our platform. People hold up smartphones with QAnon-related messages on display, at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 21, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Beside those groups and pages related to Antifa and violence-inciting militia groups, Facebook also removed over 790 groups, 100 pages, and 1,500 ads tied to QAnon. While opinions vary as to its nature and intent, QAnon is a movement that started on 4chan and 8chan message boards with a trickle of clandestine-sounding posts, often centered on the theme of big government plots to curb individual liberties and advance so-called deep state and globalist agendas. It grew into a large underground movement with a number of splinter groups and sometimes claims that members of the worlds social, economic, and political elites have engaged in child sex trafficking, abuse, and cannibalism. Facebook is not the only social media platform that took systematic restrictive action against QAnon. Twitter has banned more than 7,000 QAnon-related accounts and limited the reach of around 150,000 others as part of a suppression of what the company says is behavior that could lead to offline harm in July 2020. Weve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, Twitter wrote in a July 21 tweet, characterizing its actions as work at scale to protect the public conversation in the face of evolving threats. Tom Ozimek contributed to the report. Qantas will not begin flying internationally again until at least July 2021 as it records a $2billion loss in the 2020 financial year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 6,000 staff lost their jobs and another 20,000 were stood down as the embattled airline's profits plunged by 91 percent after the crisis grounded almost all international travel in early 2020. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the second half of 2020 was the toughest few months in the Flying Kangaroo's illustrious 99-year history - it turns 100 on November 16th - and called on state premiers to reconsider tough border closures. 'The impact of COVID on all airlines is clear. It's devastating and it will be a question of survival for many,' he said. 'We don't understand why states with zero cases still have borders closed to other states with zero cases... If it's safe, we need to reopen them.' A near total collapse of travel demand and revenue contributed to the losses, which are similar to those recorded within other airlines throughout Australia. Qantas will not begin flying internationally again until at least July 2021 as it records a $2billion loss in the 2020 financial year due to the COVID-19 pandemic A couple are seen leaving one of the few Qantas domestic flights between Melbourne and Sydney on August 8 (pictured) as they prepare to enter a two-week hotel quarantine In addition to the international border closures, in place since March 20 several Australian states closed their domestic borders, further crippling an industry already on its knees. A statement released by Qantas on Thursday morning described 2020 as 'the most challenging period in its long history'. Bosses confirmed Qantas' international flights were unlikely to restart until at least July 2021, and domestic travel would be at 20 per cent of its usual levels. The year-on-year figures reflect a promising start to the financial year prior to the pandemic - which was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. But as the virus rapidly spread across the globe, the airline's projected profits collapsed. Travellers are temperature tested by health officials after arriving on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney on July 7 QANTAS RESULTS SUMMARY $4billion revenue blow from COVID-19 crisis Profit before tax: $124million (down 91%) Loss before tax: $2.7billion (majority of which is non-cash, including aircraft write downs) Operating cash flow: $1.1billion Advertisement The embattled airline estimated the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic is in excess of $4billion. The airline stated this drop was a direct reflection of 'the COVID-19 crisis and associated border restrictions'. 'Fast action to radically cut costs and place much of the flying business into a form of hibernation helped minimise the financial impact from this extraordinary sequence of events,' the statement continued. Total costs were reduced by 75 per cent, aided by the federal government's stimulus and support packages, including the JobKeeper program which kept millions of Australians employed and funded $267million toward Qantas employees' paychecks. 'We've had to make some very tough decisions in the past few months to guarantee our future. At least 6,000 of our people will leave the business through no fault of their own, and thousands more will be stood down for a long time,' Mr Joyce said. Mr Joyce acknowledged that recovery would be 'choppy', citing a handful of setbacks the airline had already faced. 'We've already had setbacks with borders opening and then closing again. But we know that travel is at the top of people's wish lists and that demand will return as soon as restrictions lift. That means we can get more of our people back to work.' A pilot is seen saluting the last Qantas 747 jet when it left Sydney airport for the last time on July 22 (pictured). The planes were retired early because of the coronavirus crisis Mr Joyce criticised state premiers who are refusing to give clear direction on the border closures. 'We don't have any determination for when the borders will reopen, we think and the federal government thinks they should reopen soon,' Mr Joyce said during a press conference on Thursday. 'It's a problem for all business, it's a problem for our business and eventually it's going to be a problem for our economy.' When asked whether he supported Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's decision to keep borders closed potentially until Christmas, Mr Joyce said he doesn't agree with 'blanket closures'. The year-on-year figures reflect a promising start to the financial year prior to the pandemic - which was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Pictured: Travellers chat with Qantas staff at Sydney airport on March 19 'What's the basis of blanket comments that say borders will not be opened even if Victoria and NSW gets back to no cases?' he asked. 'Surely these decisions should be based on the facts, the health decisions, otherwise it feels like there is no base decisions and is just there to inform the politics.' Mr Joyce said some parts of Queensland, as well as Tasmania and other areas in Australia are heavily reliant on tourism and are suffering unnecessarily through these domestic border closures. But Qantas leaders believe the company is still well placed to bounce back and take advantage of the market when it eventually returns, though there aren't any expectations that such a return will occur any time soon. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the second half of 2020 was the toughest few months in the airline's illustrious history 'What makes Qantas different is that we entered this crisis with a strong balance sheet and we moved fast to put ourselves in a good position to wait for the recovery,' Mr Joyce said. He also admitted the Americas might be one of the last destinations the airline will resume travel to due to the high concentration of COVID cases. 'We're taking the view that the earliest we're going to see international borders opening up is middle of next year... Potentially do bubbles country by country when we've had a similar level of exposure to the virus,' he suggested. 'The US, with the level of prevalence there, is going to take some time. We're probably going to need a vaccine first.' While international travel is likely unavailable until mid-2020, the Australian airline hopes Trans Tasman travel will resume sooner. In the interim, the company will do what it can to claw back domestic customers. Qantas made it easier for their 13 million members to use their accumulated points in a loyalty program to drive new bookings and sales. Healthcare workers are seen at a drive-through COVID-19 testing facility in Melbourne For the remainder of 2020, Qantas have increased the number of seats available on flights to popular destinations including Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Queenstown and Auckland by up to 50 per cent. Points Plus Pay Qantas Hotels have decreased their booking price by 20 per cent, with all flight cancellation fees waived until 31 October 2020 and more Points Planes to meet pent up travel demand. Mr Joyce said the changes will greatly benefit domestic tourism hotspots in Australia and support local jobs after the pandemic. 'Australia is home to world-class destinations and Qantas is making it easier for frequent flyers to visit them,' he said. 'We're adding more Points Planes and more reward seats to our most popular domestic destinations, because that's where people will be holidaying for the rest of the year. 'We're also helping our most loyal flyers maintain their travel benefits by giving them extra Status Credits in recognition of their long-term loyalty.' External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held a "productive" conversation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammed Haneef Atmar on the long-awaited peace process aimed at ending the nearly two decades of conflict in that country. The external affairs minister said on Twitter that he reaffirmed India's "development partnership" with Afghanistan besides discussing recent developments in the country. The telephonic conversation between Jaishankar and Atmar, the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan, came 10 days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed to release 400 Taliban prisoners paving the way for the beginning of the peace process. "A productive conversation with Acting FM @MHaneefAtmar of #Afghanistan. Greeted him on Afghan Independence Day. Discussed recent developments in Afghanistan and our bilateral cooperation. Reaffirmed our development partnership and connectivity linkages," Jaishankar tweeted. India has been a major stakeholder in the peace and stability of Afghanistan. It has already invested USD two billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the country. India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan controlled. It has been keenly following the evolving political situation after the US inked a peace deal with the Taliban in February. The deal provided for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, effectively drawing curtains to Washington's 18-year war in the country. The US has lost over 2,400 soldiers in Afghanistan since late 2001. India has also been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that such a process does not lead to any "ungoverned spaces" where terrorists and their proxies can relocate. India has been calling upon all sections of the political spectrum in Afghanistan to work together to meet the aspirations of all people in that country including those from the minority community for a prosperous and safe future. Jaishankar also held a telephonic conversation with the foreign minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi. "Called up FM @badralbusaidi of #Oman to congratulate him on his appointment. Discussed our excellent bilateral relations. Look forward to working closely with him," the external affairs minister tweeted. Working in the wee hours to earn extra cash, motorbike taxi drivers find themselves under persistent threat of attack. Nguyen Van Quyet, a Grab rider from northern Yen Bai Province, dropped a passenger in Hanois Gia Lam District at around 2 a.m. on July 19. Stabbed and robbed by two assailants, the trip proved to be his last for the company. "You can take whatever you want! Dont kill me. I have a wife, two kids and old parents," Quyet told his perpetrators, who knifed him six times. In tremendous pain, a shocked Quyet only regained consciousness after two days spent in a coma. The 36-year-old is not alone in his plight. In the last few years, dozens of motorbike taxi, or xe om drivers have been attacked or robbed late at night or in the early morning while plying their trade. Grab drivers in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem District. Photo by Shutterstock/Julie Mayfeng. Many have faced severe attack, or have been killed while transporting nocturnal passengers, who turned evil in the blink of an eye. One of the most formidable cases involved the death of 18-year-old driver Nguyen Cao Sang in Hanois Bac Tu Liem District in September 2019. The poor student, hoping to support his family, was stabbed several times by two passengers who refused to pay for their ride. In a Facebook group for Grab drivers in Hanoi, including 110,000 members, many have expressed their distress and anxiety over Sangs story. "Working at night means many customers could be either partygoers or drunks. Some are ill-behaved and refuse to pay," according to Nguyen Van Thanh, a Grab driver in Hanois Long Bien District. Last month, Thanh took a man from Gia Lam Bus Station to Cau Giay District. After the 16-kilometer ride, the customer revealed he had no money. "He even yelled at me, so I had no choice but to accept the situation. He could have beaten me since we were in a quiet area in the middle of the night. Life comes first," Thanh recalled. Remain on guard or quit Amid fear and anxiety, drivers remain on constant alert to avoid tragedy. An ideal coping mechanism is to refuse fares that are far-flung or in deserted areas. Le Hoang Thanh Nghia, residing in Saigons District 11, said he always says no to night trips to suburban areas since "they could be a trap." "I once took a drunk to Binh Tan District. He took my phone and fled down an alley. Lesson learnt," Nghia added. In several Facebook groups for motorbike taxi drivers in Saigon and Hanoi, members update each other on risky locations to stay clear of and tips to identify a criminal. "Based on my experience, in Hanoi, we should avoid areas under Vinh Tuy Bridge, the end of Lac Long Quan Street, Pham Hung Street, etc," Hanoian driver Nguyen Van Toan wrote, adding "the most dangerous hours are from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m." Normally, canceling a trip hurts their acceptance ratings, which could help drivers earn extra and be prioritized by passengers. "But a rating is nothing compared to my life," Toan said, adding he earns up to VND500,000 ($21.68) per night. A driver waits for passengers at night in Hanoi. Photo by Shutterstock/Miroslaw Gierczyk. Many drivers do not want to take the risk and hurt their ratings, saying no to small hour custom. "I used to work at night because it gave me an extra source of income, but after cases of violence were reported I no longer dare. I do not want to be robbed or murdered," said driver Nguyen Thanh Trung, 43, residing in Hanois Hoang Mai District and working for Be, a domestic ride-sharing firm. Trung, starting work at 3 p.m. and turning off the application at around 8 p.m., admitted he has earned less since he stopped taking night rides, "but safety comes first." Hobsons choice Many drivers have little time or choice to be picky when it comes to work. Nghia, a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, only has time for his part-time job in the evening, which earns him around VND400,000 ($17.34) per night. "I feel sorry for drivers who were robbed and attacked. But I cannot stop working at night because I have no time to do anything else," he said. With the Covid-19 pandemic having hit many local businesses, many unemployed workers have resorted to becoming motorbike taxi drivers. "In this time, earning more money is a blessing, so I am okay with night rides, as long as I dont venture to suspect areas," said Toan, a former employee at a paper-making firm fired in May due to Covid-19. When the scorching summer hit Hanoi, many drivers avoided daytime trips with heavy traffic and opted for night time equivalents. "It grew too hot during the day, so I stopped working from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Now I work from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. instead, which means no more baking sun," said Nguyen Van Dong, 49. "The death of night drivers make me nervous, but this is my livelihood," he added. Some ride-sharing firms have stepped up to protect employees by providing self-defense training classes. But these firms see their drivers as partners, which means the companies do not have to pay their social and medical insurance. Some provide an insurance package covering accidents during trips, which means if drivers are attacked after pressing the "finish" button on their phones, firms could refuse to pay out. Vietnams ride-hailing market was the fourth largest in Southeast Asia last year behind Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, according to a report by Google, Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek and U.S. management consultancy Bain. ABI Research estimated the market at $1.1 billion last year and said it could rise to $4 billion by 2025. But Quyet, after two weeks in the hospital, has decided to give up on his job. "My husband is still obsessed by the attack, he will return to our hometown and find another job, and stop being a motorbike taxi driver," his partner said after her husband got discharged. The University of Ibadan, Nigeria, says it is unable to submit its audit report to the Federal Government of Nigeria because its auditor has gone blind. DGN Online has gathered that since 2014, the University has been unable to submit its audit report. And during a meeting by Nigerias House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, the bursar of the University of Ibadan, Michael Alatise, announced that the school could not produce the audit reports from 2014 because there were some static numbers which were as a result of the external auditor going blind on the job. Interestingly, the committee later found that the university paid the blind external auditor full retaining fee in 2019, and has subsequently ordered a full investigation into the finances of the university. Chairman of the committee, Oluwole Oke, has indicated that it was highly suspicious that the school would stop recording money spent just because the person in charge went blind. That somebody went blind does not mean that the firm will go into extinction. It can't, according to Mr Oke. He has promised that the university would not be allocated funds in the next budgetary allocation. And, sincerely speaking, it is not palatable that from 2014 to date, the University of Ibadan does not have an account with the Auditor-General. No, you won't get money in the next budgetary allocation. In an instance of rebutting the argument, Mr Alatise said the tenure of the auditor in question expired in 2010. According to him, a new external auditor who the school employed had it rough because there were some static figures that needed to be cleared by the former auditor. Actually, they (UI) are on their last account, which is 2015. We are about to engage another audit firm next week, the 13th of this month. While ordering an investigation into the university's finances, Mr Oke said in matters of auditing, the University of Ibadan ought to be dealing with an auditing firm and not an individual. ---Daily Guide Turkey won't yield to 'pirates' in eastern Med: Erdogan Turkey's Oruc Reis research vessels and its accompanying fleet of five warships in a disputed part of the Mediterranean Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Wednesday not to yield to "pirates" and to keep searching for energy in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters despite EU pressure to stop. Long-seated suspicions between regional powers resurfaced when Turkey sent a research vessel accompanied by warships off the Greek island of Kastellorizo last week. The European Union urged Turkey to "immediately" halt on Sunday and NATO said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his "concern" in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday. But Erdogan sounded undeterred. "We're 100 percent right on this issue," the Turkish leader said on a visit to a new solar panel production plant. "If we give in to the pirates, we will not be able to look future generations in the face. We cannot leave to our children a country unable to defend its own rights, lacking self-confidence." Erdogan added that Turkey would not be lectured by "colonialist" powers and would defend "its rights until the end". The last barb appeared to be aimed at France -- a NATO ally with which Turkey is also at odds in Libya and other conflict-torn parts of the Middle East. France sent in its own military assets in support of Greek warships monitoring what Turkey was up to last week. Yet Erdogan has tempered his rhetoric with calls for dialogue throughout a crisis some analysts view as the most serious in the region since Greece and Turkey nearly went to war over some Aegean islets in 1996. "We are awaiting steps from our interlocutors that will decrease tensions, lead the way to dialogue," Erdogan said. - Collision at sea - Erdogan last week hinted that the Oruc Reis research vessels and its accompanying fleet of five warships had been involved in an incident with another country's ships. A military source in Athens confirmed to AFP a report in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini saying there was a collision involving a Turkish frigate and a Greek navy ship. Story continues Kathimerini said the incident occurred on August 12 and blamed it on a Turkish navigation "error". Ankara has issued no comment since Erdogan said last Friday that a Turkish ship accompanying the Oruc Reis had given a "necessary response" to another warship. The escalation comes with a growing number of countries jostling for control over how Europe accesses newly discovered natural gas deposits in waters around Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete. The European Union has fully backed Greece's maritime claims and sanctioned two Turkish energy executives. Greece called for those sanctions to be expanded at a video conference of EU foreign ministers on Friday. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is spearheading efforts to try and get Greece and Turkey to talk their problems out. Erdogan had previously bowed to Merkel's pressure and suspended the Oruc Reis mission to give diplomacy a chance last month. Greece then signed an exclusive economic zone agreement with Egypt to offset a deal Turkey struck with the UN-recognised government in Libya at the end of last year. An outraged Erdogan responded by pushing ahead with the Oruc Reis mission and conducting small military exercises in the area. Erdogan said last week he could discuss future mediation efforts with Merkel once the Oruc Reis missions ends on August 23. raz/zak/dl The Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU) targeted two Dublin-based suspected senior members of the so-called New IRA in a series of raids against the terror organisation. The major cross-Border operation targeting the New IRA began at dawn yesterday. Multiple searches were linked to leading dissident republicans in Northern Ireland, where there were 10 arrests, with six searches being carried out in the Republic, which resulted in no arrests. In Dublin, senior sources said one of those targeted by the SDU is a 53-year-old north inner-city criminal, who has a previous conviction for handling stolen property and has been a major target for specialist gardai for years. Another of those targeted in the capital is a 59-year-old Crumlin man, who was previously jailed at high security Portlaoise Prison for IRA membership. He also has a previous conviction for being involved in an armed robbery. "There were no plans to arrest anyone this morning by gardai, as the SDU were acting as an ancillary to a PSNI investigation, which led to a number of arrests North of the border," a senior source said. Expand Close Murdered: Journalist Lyra McKee was shot head in Derry. Photo: Chiho Tang/Oranga Creative/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Murdered: Journalist Lyra McKee was shot head in Derry. Photo: Chiho Tang/Oranga Creative/PA Wire "But devices and documentation that could be very crucial to this cross-Border investigation have been seized by gardai," he added. "You are talking here about a number of very serious individuals who have been under detailed surveillance by both police agencies for a number of months now and yesterday's raids were part of that investigation," the source explained. The six searches by gardai were carried out in counties Dublin, Cork, Laois and Kerry. The 10 arrested in the North are being held under the Terrorism Act. "An Garda Siochana carried out a number of searches in support of an operation led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland," a Garda spokesman confirmed. "The searches in this jurisdiction are being carried out at locations in Dublin, Laois, Cork and Kerry, and are part of ongoing operations to combat the activities of the New IRA. "The searches are being conducted by members of the Special Detective Unit assisted by local gardai and Regional Armed Support Units." The New IRA is considered the largest dissident republican group and has been behind numerous attempted attacks on police officers in the North. Journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead by a New IRA gunman while observing a riot in Derry in April of last year. In the North, properties were raided in Derry, East Tyrone and Belfast, as part of the PSNI investigation into the dissident mobsters. Yesterday's raids were among the most significant carried out by the Garda SDU since last March, when they targeted a quarry where suspected pipe bombs were being made by dissident Republicans. That search operation at a rural location on the Carlow/Kildare border followed the arrest of three men by heavily armed gardai, who were all later released without charge. Members of the terrorist network attempted to get involved in the Hutch/Kinahan feud which has claimed 18 lives, but they backed off after the feud-related gun murder of 36-year-old Michael Barr in the The Sunset House pub in Dublin's north inner city on April 25, 2016. There is a lot of institutional knowledge that passes from one generation to the next, and the office serves as a catalyst for that, Learner said. For most organizations, getting people together with some regularity is important. Without that hub, how do you do that? Health official: 'We want to ramp up access to testing' CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Notre Dame and Michigan State universities became the latest colleges to move classes online because of the coronavirus on Tuesday as colleges struggle to contain outbreaks and students continue to congregate in large groups without masks or social distancing. The decisions came the same day a third school in the 17-member University of North Carolina system reported a COVID-19 cluster in off-campus housing. Notre Dame president the Rev. John Jenkins announced the universitys decision to cancel in-person undergraduate classes for two weeks in an address to students and staff. It is very serious, and we must take serious actions, Jenkins said, referring to the news that nearly 150 students had tested positive. Jenkins said he decided against sending students home after consulting with health care experts. Instead, the university is imposing restrictions on student activity, including limiting access to dormitories to residents and barring students from major gathering places on campus. Michigan State, which had been scheduled to start in-person classes on Sept. 2, decided to switch to online instruction as a preventive measure amid the ongoing nationwide pandemic, President Samuel L. Stanley said in a statement posted on the schools website. It has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus, he said. Tuesdays actions followed the decision by officials of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to switch to remote learning starting Wednesday, as the virus makes its mark on colleges and college towns across the United States. Other universities are reconsidering plans to hold in-person classes or implementing new testing regimes. And some are threatening crackdowns on students who get too close with others, in violation of social distancing rules. UNC-Chapel Hill freshman Mackenzie Holland spent two weeks in her dorm before she found herself moving back out again on Tuesday, after the university cancelled in-person classes for undergraduates when clusters of coronavirus infection surfaced among students. Holland said she sobbed for an hour after learning the news. I kind of expected it, but Im just kind of disappointed in my classmates and the people that are out partying and stuff because now I cant finish my college experience, Holland said. I know that well be back one day, but its just sad right now. In the past few days alone, college students at schools in North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Vermont, Kansas, Colorado and at the Air Force Academy have tested positive, creating a ripple effect that has put hundreds of other students into quarantine or isolation. The U.S. leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases, with 5.4 million cases reported as of Tuesday, and more than 170,000 confirmed dead, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In Chapel Hill, the university on Monday reported a spike in the proportion of its COVID tests coming back positive, prompting the university to move all classes online starting Wednesday. We had anticipated and planned for COVID cases on our campus this fall, UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told faculty members in a Zoom call Monday. However, seeing the COVID-19 positivity rate rise from 2.8% to 13.6% at Campus Health over the past week is very concerning. On Tuesday, a smattering of UNC-Chapel Hill students packed up their belongings and headed back home with their families. Holland said she wants other colleges to learn from the Chapel Hill students who participated in large, maskless gatherings. A lot of kids our age dont understand the result of their actions, and this is kind of showing what can result of that, she said. Officials at UNCs North Carolina State University in Raleigh said Tuesday that health officials had identified a cluster of COVID-19 cases involving some students in off-campus housing where a gathering was held early this month. They did not say how many people were infected but health officials define a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity or in one location. The University of Oklahoma is requiring its sororities to recruit new members virtually after learning of students attending large social events without taking precautions against the virus. Students at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville could face punishments as stiff as expulsion if they host big parties, if they wont co-operate with COVID-19 contact tracing or if they dont complete forms documenting their self-isolation, Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a video conference Tuesday. I will not hesitate to do that if people, our students, are irresponsible, he said. Plowman also noted five cases linked to an off-campus party last week. Wednesday is the first day of classes at the flagship Knoxville campus. School officials have confirmed 75 active COVID-19 cases there, involving 66 students and nine employees. About 6,500 students have moved in on campus, while another 30,000-plus live off campus. The campus currently has 270 people in isolation due to contacts, symptoms or positive tests, including 51 students living on campus, Plowman said. In Ames, Iowa, a retired Iowa State professor wrote in an op-ed to the Des Moines Register that he was alarmed at what he witnessed while driving through the Iowa State campus last weekend. Hundreds of students, out on the sidewalks, out on the front lawns, out in the street; in some places, sitting in chairs or milling aimlessly or running around and hugging each other because they hadnt seen each other since last school year, Richard Haws said. He estimated that 1% of the students were wearing masks. Meanwhile, the University of South Carolina said it would use saliva tests for students, faculty and staff as part of its plan to reopen for in-person classes on Thursday. The tests, which require a single spit sample, are an alternative to nasal swab tests and typically deliver results within 24 hours. ___ Liu reported from Columbia, South Carolina. AP reporters Herbert McCann in Chicago; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; and Dave Kolpack in Fargo, North Dakota, contributed to this report. ___ Anderson and Liu are corps members 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. GRAND HAVEN, MI - Youve packed your beach chair, sunglasses and sunscreen ... but how about your wetsuit and maybe a hot towel to take the chill off after your summertime swim? Lake Michigan water temperatures have dropped suddenly at some popular beach spots and are downright cold, according to the National Weather Service. Some waterfront state park staff sent a message on social media today, cautioning beach-goers about possible hypothermia. In August. Grand Haven took the biggest plunge, with a 20-degree drop recorded between Monday and today. Wednesday mornings water temperature there registered just 43 degrees. The water is a little chilly again at the Lakeshore, and downright cold at Grand Haven! Whenever we see northerly winds for a stretch of time during the summer, we tend to see water temperatures drop along the West Michigan Shoreline, NWS meteorologists in Grand Rapids reported today. This can take days or more than a week to recover, and will depend a lot on wind direction coming up. The NWS graphic below shows the two-day temperature change at some popular Lake Michigan beaches. A two-day change in water temperatures as Lake Michigan beaches. Image courtesy of the NWS. Holland State Park is not included in the NWS temperature lineup, as meteorologists had not yet received todays data from state park staff there. Tuesdays water temperature at Holland was recorded at 64 degrees, and today that reading had dropped to 58 degrees, according to a Facebook post from park staff. Water temp 58 degrees. Waves less than a foot. Careful of the cold water temps, watch out for symptoms of hypothermia, park staff cautioned visitors today. READ MORE Impressive data set shows July likely warmest of any month since 1850 worldwide Perfect summer week on the way, but when is the next rain? USDA-NIFA grant supports research to control respiratory disease in young swine Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 MANHATTAN A new $500,000 grant will help a Kansas State University researcher look for ways to control one of the most important viral agents in pigs: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. Megan Niederwerder, assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is the project director on the three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, "Assessing the Microbiome as a Tool for the Mitigation of Viral Disease in Nursery Pigs." "Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, or PRRSV, causes the most costly disease to swine production in the United States," Niederwerder said. "The disease caused by this virus often involves secondary bacterial pathogens and results in polymicrobial lung infections, which exacerbate respiratory disease and increase antimicrobial administration in young growing pigs." Although commercial vaccines are used to reduce the effects of PRRSV on swine health, Niederwerder said that currently available vaccines are generally considered inadequate for disease control. She said alternative strategies for control of PRRSV are needed to maintain swine health and welfare while lessening the economic effects of this disease on pork producers. "The goal of our work is to investigate the gut microbiome as a novel tool for PRRSV control due to its impact on the immune system and nutritional outcomes after infection," Niederwerder said. "We plan to investigate the effects of microbiome modulation on the outcome of swine with respiratory disease and identify what beneficial microbes are associated with improved health. We anticipate the data generated in this project will allow us to characterize and determine the gut microbes that improve pig health in the presence of PRRSV." Niederwerder hopes to determine how beneficial gut microbes may be used as a preventative medicine tool to reduce the effects of respiratory disease and decrease the need for antimicrobials in swine. "As we continue to discover how gut microbes communicate with the lungs and influence the response to pathogens causing pneumonia, the gut microbiome provides an opportunity to improve swine health and welfare, lessen the economic losses to producers associated with PRRSV, and reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance in swine," Niederwerder said. "Ultimately, use of the gut microbiome to improve respiratory health and growth of livestock is an emerging and exciting area of study. With a need to increase production efficiency and provide food for a growing world, the gut microbiome represents tremendous potential in animal agriculture." Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. "Dear Mr President, I express my sincerest congratulations on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan to you and through you to your entire people on the occasion of your countrys national holiday the Independence Day," Azerbaijani president wrote. "I believe that the friendly and partnership relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, including our ties within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement will further expand for the welfare of our peoples," the head of state said. "On such remarkable day, I convey my best wishes to you, and wish you everlasting prosperity and peace to the brotherly people of Afghanistan," the message said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Nations that hoard possible Covid-19 vaccines while excluding others will deepen the pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch call for countries to join a global vaccine pact. The WHO has an Aug. 31 deadline for wealthier nations to join the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility for sharing vaccine hopefuls with developing countries. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHOs 194 member states, urging participation. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage The global health agency also raised concerns that the pandemics spread was being driven now by younger people, many of whom were unaware they were infected, posing a danger to vulnerable groups. Tedros push for nations to join COVAX comes as the European Union, Britain, Switzerland and the United States strike deals with companies testing prospective vaccines. Russia and China are also working on vaccines, and the WHO fears national interests could impede global efforts. We need to prevent vaccine nationalism, Tedros told a virtual briefing. Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each countrys national interest. The European Commission has urged EU states to skirt the WHO-led initiative, citing worries over its cost and speed. More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 772,647 have died, according to a Reuters tally. NOT TWISTING ARMS So far, the COVAX facility has attracted interest from 92 poorer countries hoping for voluntary donations and 80 wealthier countries, a number little changed from a month ago, that would finance the scheme, the WHO said. Still, some nations are waiting for the Aug. 31 deadline before making a commitment as the facilitys terms are still being finalised, Bruce Aylward, who leads the WHOs ACT Accelerator initiative to speed supplies of Covid-19 diagnostics, drugs and vaccines, said. Read more: India eyes global front runners in Covid-19 vaccine plan We are not twisting arms for people to join, Aylward said. Weve had more and more discussions with a broader and broader group of players ... to work through what might be the barriers to collaborating - issues around price, issues around timing, issues around national expectations. With more than 150 vaccines in development, about two dozen in human studies and a handful in late-stage trials, the WHO said even countries signing bilateral deals boost their odds by joining COVAX. Which one will be the candidate that will be successful, we dont know yet, said Mariangela Simao, a WHO assistant director for drug and vaccine access. By joining the facility at the same time that you do bilateral deals, youre actually betting on a larger number of vaccine candidates. COVAX now covers nine vaccine candidates. The WHO remains worried that infections among younger people are rising globally, putting at risk elderly and sick people in densely populated areas with weak health systems. The epidemic is changing, WHO Western Pacific regional director, Takeshi Kasai, said. People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread. Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock presents what he called good news to commissioners on Tuesday relating to the declining number of new COVID-19 cases among county residents. Still, residents and visitors should continue to exercise caution by wearing masks and social distancing, officials said during the meeting. Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has hailed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a ''promise-keeping President''. According to Kwamena Duncan, the President is true to his word to Ghanaians that he will develop the nation and improve their living conditions. Contributing to 'Kokrokoo' on Peace FM, the Regional Minister touted some achievements of the President saying he promised to tour all the Regions to interact with the Chiefs and residents every single year in order to address their concerns and he has not renged on his promise. He noted that even in the face of the current pandemic, the President is still embarking on tours to see for himself the living conditions of the citizenry and take the right decisions to imporve thier situations. ''Currently, he is on tour to see what is happening on the ground. That is what energizes him," he said. He also stressed that the President has overwhelmingly performed in his first term in office and hoped Ghanaians will give him another term. ''No doubt about it that this man is a promise-keeping man, a promise-keeping President...This is not a man that will go back on his promise...How do you then want to see Ghana develop? We're on the development journey and this is the man. This is the government," he stressed. 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 A Longford man and senior figure behind the ongoing rise of social networking giant TikTok has landed a plum role with one of the worlds most lucrative human resource based organisations. Newtownforbes native Thomas Dalton was accepted into Forbes Human Resources Council, a leading US invitation only organisation for senior human resource executives across all industries in recent days. The son of Marian and well known local auctioneer Sean Dalton secured the role courtesy of his own successes as a recruiting leader at TikTok. The popular video sharing platform announced earlier this month of its plans to open a $500m (422m) data centre in Ireland. We are honoured to welcome Thomas into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils. The emergence of the 34-year-old's rise through the ranks of America's social media industry has been met with open arms by his proud family back home. Thomas is a real go-getter and he's done it all by himself, working his way up the ladder, said his father, Sean. Having earned his multimedia stripes with US online retail giant Amazon, the NUI Maynooth graduate has spent much of the last decade talent recruiting for TikTok's Content, Operations, and Corporate Functions. All the hard work is finally paying off for him and he is just someone who leaves no stone unturned, added Sean. We're absolutely delighted for him. He then served in the Air Force before moving to Seattle in 1956, with the notion of breaking into Republican politics. Two years later, he was elected to the state legislature, where he served for 10 years. He later served three terms as state attorney general. In the 1970s, he was among the first Republican officeholders to call on President Richard M. Nixon to resign for his role in the Watergate scandal. By PTI ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically rejected any possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, according to a media report. "Our policy on Israel is clear: The Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) had said that Pakistan can never accept state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and an independent state," Khan said in an interview with private news channel 'Dunya TV' on Tuesday. Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and their aircraft are not allowed to use each other's airspace. "If we recognise Israel and ignore tyranny faced by the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do," he said. ALSO READ | Israel-UAE deal 'a killer' for two-state solution, will strengthen extremism: Palestine His remarks came in the backdrop of recent peace overtures between the UAE and Israel, with the former becoming only the third Arab nation to enter into a peace deal with the Jewish state. Questions were also asked in Pakistan why it was following an antagonistic policy toward Israel when the Arabs were embracing the Jewish state in the changing regional political alignment. When asked to comment on the UAE's ties with Israel, Khan said that every state had its own foreign policy. He also rejected the impression that Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia were under stress due to the Kashmir issue. "Saudi Arabia is one of our key friends and our relations are still fraternal and unchanged," he said. Khan praised Pakistan's ties with China and said that the country's future was linked to China which stood with it in all difficult times. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit Pakistan in the coming winter. Prime Minister Khan also talked about several domestic issues, including the government's successful handling of COVID-19 pandemic. "Initially even my party leaders were against my strategy and were asking why strict lockdown was not being imposed in the country," he said, adding that the "our smart lockdown strategy worked" and helped to curtail the virus. Khan's interview coincided with the completion of two years of his government. His policies were repeatedly attacked by the opposition parties. Americas two major political parties view the world in different ways. In fact, its not an exaggeration to describe the Democrats and Republicans as 180 degrees apart on many issues. In fact, the parties took different paths over whether to adopt new platforms describing what the believe in as they planned remote conventions due to the coronavirus. The Democrats drafted a new statement of principles while the Republicans decided to keep the 2016 platform for another four years. ANNOUNCEMENT OF UBS ETFs PLC (THE "COMPANY") an investment company with variable capital and an umbrella fund with segregated liability between sub-funds established under the laws of Ireland Dated 19 August 2020 Capitalised terms used in this document shall bear the meanings given to them in the Definitions section of this Circular or, if not defined therein, shall bear the same meaning as the capitalised and defined terms used in the prospectus of the Company (the "Prospectus") and the supplement of each sub-fund of the Company (the "Funds"). A copy of the Prospectus of the Company and of the supplements of the Funds is available upon request during normal business hours from the registered office of the Company. This Circular is not required to be, and has not been, reviewed by the Central Bank of Ireland (the "Central Bank"). The Directors of the Company are the persons responsible for the information contained in this document. The Directors are of the opinion that there is nothing contained in this document or in the proposals detailed herein that conflicts with the Central Bank UCITS Regulations 2019, the guidance issued by, and the regulations of, the Central Bank. CONTENTS PART 1 - ANNOUNCEMENTFROM THE BOARD 3 APPENDIX A PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE ARTICLES 5 PART 2- NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING 11 PART 1 - ANNOUNCEMENTFROM THE BOARD UBS ETFs PLC 19 August 2020 Re: Proposal for amendments to the constitution of the Company The purpose of this notice is to notify of certain actions that are proposed to be taken with respect to the Company. 1. Changes Requiring Shareholder Approval The directors of the Company (the "Directors") have proposed a change of name of the Company from UBS ETFs Plc to UBS (Irl) Fund Solutions plc. In addition, the Directors propose to make a number of changes to the current constitution of the Company (the "Constitution"). The principal amendments proposed to be made to the Constitution are set out in Appendix A, a copy of which is appended hereto. Please note that there may be further non-material amendments made to the Constitution following distribution of this notification. The proposed change of name and amendments to the Constitution require the approval of shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting of the Company (the "EGM") by way of a special resolution. Furthermore, the proposed changes described herein are subject to approval of the Central Bank of Ireland. The formal notice of the EGM, to be held at 10.30am (Irish Time) at the offices of MFD Secretaries Limited, 32 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 on 11 September 2020 is appended at part 2. The notice sets out the text of the special resolution to be proposed at the EGM in respect of the Company. As detailed above, the resolution will be proposed as a special resolution of the Company. A special resolution cannot be passed unless it receives the support of at least 75% of the total number of votes cast, in person or by proxy, at the EGM in order to be passed. If the resolution is passed by the requisite majority, it will be binding on all shareholders irrespective of how (or whether) they voted. -Effective Date of the Proposed Amendments It is expected that, subject to and in accordance with the requirements of the Central Bank and any other relevant competent authority, the changes will be effective from 29 September 2020 (the "Effective Date") or such earlier or later date as the Directors may determine. The changes will be reflected in the Constitution in due course and will be available to investors free of charge. -Publication of Results of the EGM Subject to Shareholder approval, the change of name of the Company and the changes to the Constitution will take effect on the Effective Date or on the date on which any documentation required by the Central Bank and/or Companies Registration Office and submitted by the Company has been approved. A publication of the results will be made on http://www.ubs.com/etf and on Borsa Italiana following the EGM. -Recommendation and Updated Documentation The Directors consider that the proposed amendments set out in this Section 1 are in the best interests of shareholders as a whole. 2. Notification Updates: HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index SF UCITS ETF Shareholders only In addition to the above changes set out in Section 1, the Directors have exercised their discretion pursuant to Clause 12 of the Constitution to terminate the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index SF UCITS ETF (the "Fund"), which is not currently listed on Borsa Italiana - ETFPlus. This decision of the Directors shall be final and binding on all the parties concerned. As such, the purposes of this update is for notification purposes only; i.e. it does not require shareholder approval. Accordingly, the Directors hereby give notice of the termination of the Fund and fix the date at which such termination is to take effect at 27 October 2020 (the "HFRX Effective Date"). With effect on and from the date as at which the Fund is to terminate (i.e. the HFRX Effective Date) no shares of the Fund may be issued or sold by the Company. This means that primary market trading must cease from the HFRX Effective Date. From that date, assets will be realised and monies distributed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Up to the HFRX Effective Date, the shareholders are informed that they may subscribe and/or redeem from the Fund in accordance in the provisions of the Prospectus. 3. General Information The updated Prospectus, Supplements, Key Investor Information Documents and draft Constitution of the Company will be available free of charge at the Company's registered office at 32 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, online at www.ubs.com/etf and/or free of charge from each of the local representatives in the countries where the Company is registered, including in Switzerland from UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG, Aeschenplatz 6, 4052 Basel which acts as Swiss Representative and UBS Switzerland AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, CH-8098 Zurich which acts as the Swiss Paying Agent as well as from the German Paying and Information agent, UBS Europe SE, Brockenheimer Landstrasse 2-4, 60306, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and for investors in Italy on www.ubs.com/etf. A copy of the revised draft Constitution is available from the Company Secretary and the respective local agents in the countries where the Company is registered. Yours faithfully _______________ Director for and on behalf of UBS ETFs plc APPENDIX A PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE ARTICLES (Unless otherwise defined herein or unless the context otherwise requires, all defined terms used in this Appendix A shall bear the same meaning as in the Constitution.) The table below sets out the principal amendments proposed to be made to the Constitution. Further non-material amendments may be made to the Constitution following distribution of this Circular. In addition to the below, certain tidy-up amendments have been made to correct cross-references and numbering and to more consistently use certain terms such as "redeem" and "redemption" rather than "repurchase" etc. Provision Proposed Amended Text in Bold (inserts underlined, removed text struck through) 1.2 Expressions in these Articles referring to writing shall be construed, unless the contrary intention appears, as including references to printing, lithography, photography and any other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form. Expressions in these Articles referring to execution of any document shall include any mode of execution whether under seal or under hand or any mode of electronic signature as shall be approved by the Directors . 43 A resolution in writing (in electronic form or otherwise) may be passed in the following manner: a) A resolution in writing If executed (whether by electronic signature, advanced electronic signature or otherwise approved by the Directors) by or on behalf of each Holder who would have been entitled to vote upon it if it had been proposed at a meeting at which he was present and shall be as effectual as if it had been passed at a general meeting duly convened and held and may consist of several instruments in the like form each executed by or on behalf of one or more Holders. In the case of a corporation a resolution in writing may be signed on its behalf by a director or the secretary thereof or by its duly appointed attorney or duly authorised representative; or b) If executed in accordance with Section 194 of the Companies Act. 49 Every Holder entitled to attend and vote at a general meeting may appoint a proxy to attend, speak and vote on his behalf. The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing in any usual form or in any other form which the Directors may approve and shall be executed by or on behalf of the Holder. The signature on such instrument need not be witnessed. The signature may be affixed electronically . A body corporate may execute a form of proxy under its common seal or under the hand of a duly authorised officer thereof. A proxy need not be a Holder 61.2 All agreements or contracts that the Company may enter into referring to execution of any such document shall include any mode of execution under seal or under hand or any mode of electronic signature as shall be approved by the Directors. 97 The signature to any notice to be given by the Company may be written or printed and may be affixed by electronic means. Appendix I -Definition - advanced electronic signature has the meaning given to it in the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000; Appendix I - Definition - electronic signature has the meaning given to it in the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000; Appendix I - Definition - Exempt Irish Investor means: a) a qualifying management company within the meaning of Section 739B(1) TCA; b) a specified company within the meaning of section 734(1) TCA; c) an investment undertaking within the meaning of Section 739B(1) TCA; d) an investment limited partnership within the meaning of Section 739J TCA; e) a pension scheme which is an exempt approved scheme within the meaning of Section 774 TCA, or a retirement annuity contract or a trust scheme to which Section 784 or 785 TCA applies; f) a company carrying on life business within the meaning of Section 706 TCA; g) a special investment scheme within the meaning of Section 737 TCA ; h) a unit trust to which Section 731(5)(a) TCA applies; i) a charity being a person referred to in Section 739D(6)(f)(i) TCA; j) a person who is entitled to exemption from income tax and capital gains tax by virtue of Section 784A(2) TCA or Section 848B TCA and the Shares held are assets of an approved retirement fund or an approved minimum retirement fund; k) a person who is entitled to exemption from income tax and capital gains tax by virtue of Section 787I TCA and the Shares held are assets of a personal retirement savings account as defined in Section 787A TCA; l) a qualifying fund manager within the meaning of section 784A TCA or a qualifying savings manager within the meaning of section 848B TCA, in respect of Shares which are assets of a special savings incentive account within the meaning of section 848C TCA; m) the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission; n) the National Asset Management Agency; o) the Courts Service; p) a credit union within the meaning of Section 2 of the Credit Union Act 1997; q) an Irish resident company, within the charge to corporation tax under maples andSection 739G(2) TCA, but only where the Fund is a money market fund; r) a company that which is within the charge to corporation tax in accordance with Section 110(2) TCA in respect of payments made to it by the Fund; s) any other person as may be approved by the Directors from time to time provided the holding of Shares by such person does not result in a potential liability to tax arising to the Company in respect of that shareholder under Part 27, Chapter 1A TCA; and t) the National Treasury Management Agency of Ireland, or a fund investment vehicle within the meaning of Section 739D(6)(kb) TCA; provided,and where necessary the Fund is in possession of a valid declaration in respect of that Investor. Appendix I - Definition - FATCA means: a) Sections 1471 to 1474 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any associated regulations or other official guidance; b) any intergovernmental agreement, treaty, regulation, guidance or other agreement between the Government of Ireland (or any Irish government body) and the US , UK or any other jurisdiction (including any government bodies in such jurisdiction), entered into in order to comply with, facilitate, supplement, implement or give effect to the legislation, regulations or guidance described in paragraph (a) above; and c) any legislation, regulations or guidance in Ireland that give effect to the matters outlined in the preceding paragraphs. Appendix I - Definition - Irish Stock Exchange The Irish Stock Exchange Limited trading as Euronext Dublin and any successor thereto Appendix I - Definitions - UCITS Regulations the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 2011 together with the European Union (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2016 and the European Union (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 as may be amended supplemented or replaced from time to time and any statutory instrument or administrative rules issued by the Central Bank pursuant to them; Appendix II - Clause 4 4. Preliminary/subscription charge fee The Directors may require any person to whom shares of any class are to be allotted to pay to the Company or any of its appointees or as any of them may direct, for its or their absolute use and benefit, a preliminary/subscription charge fee in respect of each share to be allotted of such amount as may be determined by the Directors but not exceeding in respect of each share an amount equal to 5 per cent of the Subscription Price per Share of the relevant class being allotted. The Directors may on any Dealing Day differentiate between applicants as to the amount of the preliminary/subscription charge fee required to be paid to the Company, or its appointees or as they may direct and as to the amount of preliminary/subscription charge fee to be levied on each class of share (subject to the maximum aforesaid). Appendix II - Clause 12.3 12.3 With effect on and from the date as at which any Fund is to terminate or in the case of 12.3.1 below such other date as the Directors may determine:- 12.3.1. No shares of the relevant Fund may be issued or sold by the Company; 12.3.2. The investment manager or sub-investment manager shall, on the instructions of the Directors, realise all the Assets then comprised in the relevant Fund (which realisation shall be carried out and completed in such manner and within such period after the termination of the relevant Fund as the Directors think advisable); 12.3.3. The Depositary shall, on the instructions of the Directors from time to time, distribute to the Holders of shares of the relevant Fund in proportion to their respective interests in the relevant Fund all net cash proceeds derived from the realisation of the relevant Fund and available for the purpose of such distribution, provided that the Depositary shall not be bound (except in the case of the final distribution) to distribute any of the monies for the time being in its hands the amount of which is insufficient to pay EUR 1 or its equivalent amount in the relevant currency in respect of each share of the relevant Fund and provided also that the Depositary shall be entitled to retain out of any monies in its hands as part of the relevant Fund full provision for all costs, charges, expenses, claims and demands incurred, made or apprehended by the Depositary or the Directors in connection with or arising out of the termination of the relevant Fund and out of the monies so retained to be indemnified and saved harmless against any such costs, charges, expenses, claims and demands; and 12.3.4. Every such distribution referred to above shall be made in such manner as the Directors shall, in their sole and absolute discretion, determine but shall be made only against production of the certificates or warrants relating to the shares of the relevant Fund if issued in respect of which the same is made and upon delivery to the Depositary of such form of request for payment as the Depositary shall in its absolute discretion require. All certificates shall in the case of an interim distribution be enfaced by the Depositary with a memorandum of payments made and in the case of the final distribution shall be surrendered to the Depositary. Any unclaimed proceeds or other cash held by the Depositary hereunder may at the expiration of twelve months from the date upon which the same were payable be paid into court subject to the right of the Depositary to deduct therefrom any expenses it may incur in making such payment. Notwithstanding anything contained in these Articles, and subject to the requirements of the Competent Authority, the Directors, in their discretion, may resolve at any time to terminate and close any class of shares which has been created and the provisions of this Clause 12 shall apply mutatis mutandis. Appendix II - 14.4 Upon a repurchase of shares by an authorised participant, such transaction will take place on a DVP basis at the relevant clearing system. The authorised participant will arrange for the delivery of shares to the Depositary's (or its delegate's) Depot Account who, in turn, will arrange for the simultaneous credit of the redeeming investor's Depot Account with the redemption proceeds. Appendix II - 15.2 15.2. The Directors or the Manager may on any Dealing Day require an Applicant to pay to the Company or any of its the Company's appointees or as any of them may direct, for its or their absolute use and benefit, a repurchase charge redemption fee in respect of each share to be repurchased redeemed of not more than 3 per cent of Repurchase Price of a the Net Asset Value per share of the relevant class prevailing on that Dealing Day. The maximum repurchase charge redemption fee disclosed in the Prospectus or relevant Supplement shall not be increased without prior approval of Holders given on the basis of a simple majority of votes cast in a general meeting. Holders must be provided with reasonable notice of any such increase in order to enable them to redeem their Shares prior to the implementation of same. The amount of any such charge may be deducted from the amount to be paid by the Company to the Applicant in respect of the shares to be repurchased redeemed . The Directors may on any Dealing Day differentiate between Applicants as to the amount of the repurchase charge redemption fee required to be paid to the Company, or its appointees or as they may direct and as to the amount of repurchase charge redemption fee to be levied on each class of share (subject to the maximum aforesaid). Appendix II - 23 Remuneration of Depositary 23.1. In consideration for its services as Depositary the Depositary shall be entitled to be paid by or on behalf of the Company out of the property of the Company: (a) a fee of such amount specified in the Depositary Agreement; and (b) reasonable expenses and disbursements incurred by the Depositary in the performance of its functions and all other charges or fees expressly authorised by the Depositary Agreement; and the Depositary shall not be obliged to account to the Holders or any of them for any payment received in accordance with the foregoing provisions. PART 2- NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING UBS ETFs PLC (the "Company") Incorporated in Ireland, Registered No.: 484724 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company will be held at 32 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, Ireland on 11 September 2020 at 10.30am (Irish time) for the purposes of transacting the following business of the Company: 1.Special Resolution: "To approve a change of name of the Company from UBS ETFs plc to UBS (Irl) Fund Solutions Plc as summarised in the letter to the Shareholders of the Company dated 19 August 2020"; 2.Special Resolution:"To approve and adopt the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Company as summarised in the letter to Shareholders of the Company dated 19 August 2020, subject to any further changes required by the Central Bank of Ireland and any non-material amendments following distribution"; and 3.Any other Business. Capitalised terms used, but not defined, in this Notice shall bear the meanings given to those terms in the circular of which this Notice forms part. Dated this 19 August 2020 By order of the Board ________________ Company Secretary Mastercard Inc. MA has inched closer to seal the acquisition of Nets payment unit by winning the European Unions (EU) antitrust approval. However, the EU put a condition that requires transferring the license of Nets Realtime 24/7 technology for account-to-account core infrastructure services as well as of the relevant personnel and other assets. Nets account-to-account payment business is a division that offers core infrastructure services for account-to-account payment schemes (A2A CIS). These services allow payments processing directly from one bank account to another without needing a card. Per the regulatory commission, the transaction was put on hold as it threatened to significantly affect competition in the Nordic or EEA/UK market for the provision of A2A CIS. Both Mastercard and Nets thus offered to transfer a global license to a suitable purchaser to use Nets' Realtime 24/7 technology with which the target business currently competes in A2A CIS tenders. The purchaser will have access to the licensed technology on an exclusive basis in the EEA (European Economic Area) and on a non-exclusive basis, outside the EEA. The sale of license satisfies EUs competition concerns as the new purchaser will be capable enough to compete in the A2A CIS space. The deal to buy the three divisions of Nets pertaining to instant payments, eBilling and corporate clearing of Denmark-based Nets was announced last year by Mastercard. However, the deal hit a snag after the EU regulators perceived that this buyout might stifle competition in the Nordic region, the U.K. and the EEA. The addition of Nets technology and teams to Mastercard's portfolio will complement the companys existing account-to-account capabilities. This $3.2-billion pact is the biggest deal for Matsercard and will expand its reach in the real-time payments solutions. Moreover, the contract will strengthen Mastercards unique position as the one-stop partner of any bank, merchant or government regarding payment needs. The combination of the existing Mastercard assets with the new ones, such as Vocalink, Transfast and Transactis adds to the companys real-time payment capabilities, innovation and expertise. Story continues Following in Mastercards footsteps is Visa Inc. V, which too provides real-time payments services via its platform Visa Direct. The global opportunity for real-time payments facility is accelerating. Real-time payment solutions are generally considered to be hassle-free systems in which one individual or a company can irrevocably transfer funds to another's account at another financial institution and receive confirmation for the same, all in a matter of seconds. Demand for faster payments across all market sectors will continue to fuel growth for real-time payment services. This is the next big thing in the payments industry. According to a Markets and Markets Research report, the global real-time payments market will rise from $6.8 billion in 2018 to $26.9 billion by 2023, seeing a CAGR of 30.9%. Real time payments in the United States also gained traction after The Federal Reserves Faster Payments Task Force established a goal in July 2017 that any consumer or business with a U.S. bank account will be able to securely receive real-time payments by 2020. Shares of Mastercard have gained 10.6% year to date compared with the industrys growth of 2.8%. Matsercard carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), currently. Two better-ranked stocks are Envestnet Inc. ENV and International Money Express Inc. IMXI, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. Envestnets earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 14.28%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. International Moneys bottom line surpassed estimates in three of the last four quarters, (and missed in one) the average beat being 10.82%. Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside? Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.. See the pot trades we're targeting>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Visa Inc. (V) : Free Stock Analysis Report Envestnet, Inc (ENV) : Free Stock Analysis Report INTERNATIONAL MONEY EXPRESS, INC. (IMXI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research New grill features Kenyons iconic electric technology, while adding more design options and functional workspace CLINTON, Conn., Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kenyon International, Inc. , a specialty electric grill and cooktop manufacturer, announces its newest product, Texan Stand . Designed with the full grilling experience in mind, the Texan Stand packs a generous workspace for prep, cooking and serving all into a freestanding electric grill. The sleek stainless-steel electric grill is flameless, virtually smokeless and can exceed temperatures of 550 degrees without any chance of flare ups. The grill also has dual heat control technology to provide precision cooking, perfect for accommodating large sized-meals for the whole family. The Texan Stand is also available with Kenyons IntelliKEN technology that has 16 different heat settings, a Touch Control system that integrates the latest swipe technology and Direct Temperature Feedback that gives users the ability to cook by temperature and time. For users that dont need the added technology of IntelliKEN, the Texan Stand can be purchased with standard touch control or knobs. The grill is also available with different lid choices such as a split lid and single piece lid so that users can customize the look and functionality of their Texan Stand. Additional features include: Powerful performance temperatures exceed 550 degrees and preheats in less than 7 minutes Patented concealed electric elements eliminate flare-ups Non-stick grates impart characteristic barbeque grill marks without the cleaning hassle as the grates are dishwasher friendly Drip tray allows users to infuse grilled food with liquids such as beer and wine for added flavor Marine-grade steel is weather resistant and rust proof At Kenyon, were always looking for innovative ways to improve our grilling products and overall customer experience, said Phil Williams, president at Kenyon International Inc. The Texan Stand is designed to accommodate meals for the entire family and is created with quality in mind so users can cook meals that are efficient yet still full of flavor. Story continues With the introduction of the Texan Stand, Kenyon continues its dedication to product ingenuity and its mission to provide top-of-the-line grilling and cooking options to its customers. The existing Kenyon product lines include premium electric grills and ceramic glass cooktops, designed with the latest cooking technology and available in an assortment of portable or built-in models to fit every individuals cooking needs. For more information on the Texan Stand or to purchase, visit: www.cookwithkenyon.com/shop/texan-stand . About Kenyon Kenyon, located on the Connecticut shoreline, manufactures a line of powerful and flame free electric grills. The company consistently surpasses challenging engineering concepts that lead their customers to a new and innovative cooking experience. Kenyons mission is to let everyone in on the fun of grilling as their electric grills are ideal for places that restrict the usage of gas and charcoal grills. For more information about Kenyon, please visit: www.cookwithkenyon.com Media Contact Brittany Zoet Uproar PR for Kenyon International Bzoet@uproarpr.com 310-598-8774 Panaji, Aug 19 : Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was on Wednesday administered the oath of office of Goa Governor here. Koshyari will hold additional charge as Governor of Goa after Satya Pal Malik was transferred out as Meghalaya Governor. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, Chief Secretary Parimal Rai, and Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta were present at the ceremony. Koshyari read out his oath in Konkani language. Malik, who served as Goa Governor for 10 months, was seen off earlier on Wednesday by Sawant and other top political leaders and officials. Malik's departure was preceded by a series of run-ins with the Goa Chief Minister over issues related to Covid-19 management and a proposal to construct a new Raj Bhavan amid the ongoing pandemic. The state Congress held a protest in the state capital, condemning what it called the "abrupt transfer" of Malik, claiming that the outgoing Governor was working for the state's interests. "Governor Malik stood for truth. He rightly took on the BJP-led coalition government for its poor administration and corruption," Goa Women's Congress President Pratima Coutinho said at the protest meet. Members of Congress Demand Answers About California DMV $50M Personal Data Sale When news broke about Facebook collaborating with data mining companies during the runup to the 2016 presidential election, it may have broken the damn. Now almost four years later, more citizens are raising concerns about their data and whos sharing it. Several members of Californias delegation to the United States Congress, including Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, are demanding information from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). They say the DMV has been selling California drivers personal data. According to Motherboard, a tech publication thats part of the Vice network, the DMV generates about $50 million a year from selling drivers data. ADVERTISEMENT Were troubled by press reports about the California DMVs disclosure of vast quantities of data which could enable invasive biometric policing and be a symptom of a deeper privacy malady. The California DMV receives more than $50 million annually from selling the personal information of Californians, according to press reports. The individuals whose data are being sold are reportedly not informed of this practice or given the opportunity to opt-out. What information is being sold, to whom it is sold, and what guardrails are associated with the sale remain unclear, said the letter addressed to Steve Gordon, Director, California Department of Motor Vehicles. Eleven U.S. Representatives from California signed the letter. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) and Hon. David S. Kim, Secretary, California State Transportation Agency. The letter also addressed concerns about data possibly being shared with federal agencies such as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI. Since California allows undocumented immigrants to gain drivers licenses, their personal data may be used by ICE to track and deport people in the country illegally. What types of organizations has the DMV disclosed drivers data to in the past three years? In particular, has the DMV sold or otherwise disclosed data to debt collection agencies, private investigators, data brokers, or law enforcement agencies? the letter inquired. According to a statement responding to the letter, the DMV says the money generated from the data sale helps offset some of the agencys operating costs. The practice is not only confined to California. Both Virginia and Wisconsin DMVs also sell driver personal data. The practice is sanctioned under the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), which was passed in the 1990s. In this day and age, unfortunately, government entities dont resist the lure of selling Americans personal information for private exploitation. This problem will only get worse as cities, trying to be smart, collect more information about what we do and where we go, said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in an e-mail to Motherboard. The WA government has rebuffed calls for an independent review of the coronavirus risks posed by the 7000 people who have entered the state with quarantine exemptions since the "hard border" restrictions were put in place in early April. A heated debate in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon erupted in the wake of a number of high-profile cases of quarantine breaches, including two women who allegedly escaped from a hotel after arriving in Perth without an exemption. Health Minister Roger Cook and opposition health spokesman Zak Kirkup. Credit:Lauren Pilat An inquiry into quarantine arrangements in Victoria on Tuesday revealed 99 per cent of cases of coronavirus in the state's recent outbreak were traced back to hotels. WA Liberal health spokesman Zak Kirkup said 52 people a day had come into the state and were given a pass from 14-day self-isolation restrictions. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 20) The National Bureau of Investigation says it will reopen its investigation into the Jolo shooting to determine the motive of the nine cops who were tagged in the incident that led to the killing of four Army personnel. Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who led a Senate probe on Wednesday, said that some questions surrounding the June 29 incident remained unanswered, particularly on what triggered the first shot. Policemen who were involved in the encounter said that they could not pinpoint who fired the first shot between their group and the military. "In compliance with the order of the chairman (Sen. Dela Rosa), we will reopen the investigation if only to determine the motive of the killing," said NBI Deputy Director Antonio Pagatpat. Pagatpat claimed that the agency previously did not see the need to find out the motive of the suspects, after identities and evidence related to the murder have been properly established. Armed Forces of the Philippines ground commander Colonel Antonio Bautista insisted that they have relayed to the police their intelligence operations related to a suicide attack by suspected terrorists at the time. Major General Corleto Vinluan said they were targeting two suspected individuals in the area, and had tasked Bautista to announce the potential threat among policemen and local officials. Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, said that had the military properly coordinated with the cops about their mission, the shooting would have been prevented. 'More than just miscoordination' But for Senator Risa Hontiveros, the incident may have been more than just a mere "miscoordination," as the findings of the NBI seemed to indicate "abuse of authority" among officials. "Kung talagang nagkaroon ng exchange of fire...how is it possible na yung mga tama ng apat na patay ay panay sa likod? It really beggars belief," she told the panel. [Translation: If there really was an exchange of fire....how is it possible that the gunshot wounds obtained by the four victims were all at the back? It really beggars belief.] Bautista had also claimed that the SUV which ferried the four Army men on June 29 has been in use since May in Jolo for their intelligence operations related to the suicide bombing. Hontiveros then noted that this should not have raised suspicion among the cops by then, if it has been roaming around the town for some time. AFP chief Gilbert Gapay also claimed that there definitely was "an intent to kill" on the part of the cops, and spot reports on the shooting incident were "inconsistent" and "misleading." The NBI earlier filed four counts of murder, one count of planting of evidence against the nine cops involved in the shooting. It also recommended the filing of neglect of duty complaints against three top police officials of Jolo. The four Army officials who were shot dead were Major Marvin Indammog, Sergeant Jaime Velasco, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Major Marvin Indammog, and Corporal Abdal Asula. Meanwhile, the nine cops tagged in the murder were Senior Master Sergeant Abdelzhima Padjiri, Patrolman Alkajal Mandangan, Master Sergeant Hanie Baddiri, Staff Sergeant Iskandar Susulan, Staff Sergeant Ernisar Sappal, Corporal Sulki Andaki, Patrolman Moh Nur Pasani, Staff Sergeant Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, and Patrolman Rajiv Putalan. Is the Congress missing the forest for the trees? Over the last three weeks, the party has focused only on two issues: noisy TV debates and Facebook. The party ran aggressive hashtags on both. The purpose was to double down on its allegation that the Narendra Modi government and the BJP are sold out, anti-people and divisive. Many leaders in both the Congress and BJP, however, feel that the biggest issues on which the Modi government can be cornered are unemployment and the state of the economy. A ruling party MP, in fact, conceded in private that the economy is in a bad shape and almost unrecoverable, and the pandemic has made things worse for the government. This state can make things really bad for us, but then the opposition helps us by not making this the real issue. Many in Congress agree. They say its fine to attack the government on issues like the alleged influence of the BJP in social media giant Facebook, but that cannot be the main focus. The aggression has to be on issues that affect the common man, like jobs and food. On this, we have not done enough, says a former Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh. A sitting MP and many like him are even talking about a future away from the Congress. I cannot join the BJP, but cant even think of a bright future here four years down the line, the MP said. This Sunday a campaign called roti do, rozgar do was run by the Youth Congress. It wasnt even tweeted, let alone pushed to trend, by the Congress national-level social media team. It clearly wasnt the top priority of the party. Another campaign that began well but ended with no bang was the Speak Up India campaign run by the party May 28 onwards. The lead was taken by Rahul Gandhi himself. The number of tweets on the hashtag #SpeakUpIndia after 24 hours was around 2.45 lakh, including both positive and negative tweets. Not even 50% of the tweets were found to have videos with them. The screenshots circulated claiming the number 1 spot on worldwide trends were from a third-party vendors site rather than Twitters own trends list. Some Congress leaders had filed an FIR against BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, holding him responsible for the death of Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi. The two were last seen together engaged in a noisy debate on a TV channel. The Congress blamed Patra and the BJP for unleashing hate that killed Tyagi. But within three days, Congress spokespersons were seen on a debate with Patra on another TV channel. This flip-flop exposes the glaring inconsistencies in Congress campaigns. Now how does this matter to us? How does this help us reach out to people, a Congress MP asked. Take the other campaign by the Congress on Facebook. The point the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are trying to make -- that the BJP manipulates and uses these social media platforms to push its electoral agenda and encourage vicious speech -- is one many consider valid. But should this be the sole focus of the party? In the last 48 hours, the Congress has held two press conferences and pushed out many tweets as part of the campaign, but not many in the party are enthused about it. Most of young India is on Facebook, even in rural India. They dont care who Ankhi Das (Facebooks director of public policy for India, South Asia and Central Asia) is. They are also the ones who want jobs and better opportunities. If this campaign was somehow linked to the economy, it would have helped, says a leader. But Congress social media head Rohan Gupta disagrees. Its not about it not being an aam Aadmi issue. Facebook is popular among youth and they are our vote bank. We dont want our youth to fall for fake news, he says. So if Facebook is the devil, what stops the Congress from getting off it to prove a point? That may not be so easy for the Congress. Despite the controversies, Facebook and social media platforms remain powerful and influential in terms of engagement. At the receiving end of bad press, the Congress, or for that matter, no party would want to lose out on this traction. But even as the latest campaign by the Congress, #FBsackankhidas tops Twitter trends, is it an indication of what people vote on? In the end roti, paani, kapda, makan remains the main issues for the country. The Congress focus on it has neither been consistent nor persistent. A medical worker with vials containing Covid-19 samples in Son Tra District, Da Nang, August 3, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong. A 61-year-old man in central Da Nang City died of kidney failure complications, after testing negative for the novel coronavirus four times. The Health Ministry said Tuesday that the 61-year-old man, Vietnam's 418th Covid-19 patient, had died on August 12. He had tested negative for the coronavirus the same day, as well as on August 4, 10 and 11, the ministry said. The man thus was not identified as a Covid-19 fatality. The man suffered several underlying conditions, including chronic kidney failure, hypertension, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Treated at Da Nang Hospital from July 21 to 29, he tested positive for the virus on July 27, becoming the second case of community transmission in Vietnam after more than three months. He was transferred to Hue General Central Hospital in the nearby Thua Thien-Hue Province and stayed there until he died. Vietnam has recorded 989 Covid-19 cases so far, 438 active. The country's pandemic death toll is 25, with all patients suffering various comorbidities. An alleged online puppy scam duping potential pet owners out of thousands of dollars has been busted by dogged detectives. NSW Police arrested a hairy-armed man, 27, in Sydney's west on Wednesday over a number of fake advertisements placed on online trading websites. He was later charged with 16 counts of fraud. An online puppy scam duping potential pet owners out of thousands of dollars has been busted by dogged detectives (pictured, the puppies which were advertised for sale) Police arrested a hairy-armed man, 27, (pictured sitting down) at an Oxley Park home in Sydney over an alleged scam which was purporting to be selling puppies online Police say hopeful dog owners sent money to the advertiser for pure bred dogs that never arrived (pictured, the man who has since been charged) Multiple families across Australia are believed to have been swindled out of thousands (pictured, the alleged offender) Investigators from the Nepean Police Area Command say several individuals across Australia sent money in exchange for purebred dogs that never arrived - leaving many families heartbroken and out-of-pocket. 'Following extensive inquiries, investigators, with the assistance from specialist tactical officers, arrested a 27-year-old man at a home at Oxley Park about 8am today,' NSW Police said. The adverts claimed to be selling a blue Staffordshire bull terrier puppy. Since July police have been investigating numerous reports from individuals in Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT and NSW, that had falling victim to the alleged scam. The above image was posted online to entice dog-lovers to purchase the blue Staffordshire bull terrier puppies (pictured) Some individuals spent transferred thousands of dollars for a puppy only to be heartbroken (pictured, the puppies advertised online) The sale price in fake ads is almost always far lower than the market price of the dog breed Vinnie Ward said he and his family were 'gutted' when they realised the cute puppy they paid for was actually a fake. How to protect yourself from being scammed: *If the advertised price of a pedigree puppy looks too good to be true, it probably is. *Make arrangements to meet the puppy in person if possible. *Avoid any arrangement with a stranger that asks for upfront payment via money order or wire transfer. *If you are in doubt, seek advice from someone in the industry such as a reputable breeders association, vet or local pet shop. Source: NSW Police Advertisement 'We fell in love with this incredibly cute puppy after finding him online and couldn't wait to add him to our family,' Mr Ward said. 'When we discovered this puppy was never real or for sale, it was very heartbreaking. I really encourage people to be safe when purchasing puppies online.' Detective Inspector Jason Pietruskza, warned people to be cautious before making any online purchases. 'These scams start by sourcing images of sought-after dog breeds and posting them online for sale; often at a lower price than other breeders,' Det Insp Pietruskza said. 'During the current pandemic, many scammers are also taking advantage of people not being able to travel to meet the puppy in person and charge higher fees to transport the dog interstate. 'If you think you have been scammed, we urge you to contact your bank or financial institution as soon as possible.' The arrest follows the news that a former AFL star was also caught up in the cruel Internet scam and conned out of $2,850. Melbourne Demons midfielder Andrew Leoncelli was searching on Gumtree for Staffordshire bull terrier puppies for his children when a Google ad popped up on the page for a breeder's website. Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli (pictured) lost $2,850 to an online puppy scam while trying to purchase a pet for his kids Police said these scams start by sourcing images of sought-after dog breeds and then posting them online (pictured, an example advert) He said the sellers website appeared to be reputable with guarantees and testimonials. But after sending the money and exchanging a series of emails, the breeder cut contact. Leoncelli now believes he was the target of a highly sophisticated overseas crime syndicate. 'My children were tugging at the heartstrings and my partner really wanted the puppy, but the next day after the money had cleared they were being elusive and refused to answer my calls,' he told the Herald Sun. NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia: 'The two scams are not connected despite allegedly selling the same breed of dog.' Detectives had been investigating the alleged nationwide fraud scheme since early July. (pictured the 27-old-man arrested steps out of a police vehicle) Police say that if the advertised price of a pedigree puppy looks too good to be true, it probably is (pictured, the alleged offender) President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One after a rally at Yuma International Airport, in Yuma, Arizona, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Trump Says He Postponed Trade Talks With China President Donald Trump said that hes postponed trade talks with China and that he doesnt want to talk to officials in Beijing right now. The president said, Well see what happens, when asked at an event in Yuma, Arizona, on Aug. 18 if he will pull out of the deal with China. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He were to meet to discuss the U.S.China phase one trade deal, signed in January, but the meeting via video conference, scheduled for Aug. 22, was canceled indefinitely as of Aug. 14, according to reports. The phase one agreement (pdf) requires Beijing to import $200 billion worth of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years. Trade data for just the first quarter shows that China is far behind the pace necessary to meet its purchase target. For example, China has to import at least $80 billion in U.S. agricultural products over the next two years. But in the first three months, China bought only $5.1 billion worth of farm products. Trump has repeatedly voiced disappointment over Chinas purchases and threatened to terminate the deal if Beijing fails to follow through on its promises. Tensions between the worlds two largest economies reescalated in recent months due to Chinas failure to fulfill its purchase targets in the trade agreement, which went into effect in mid-February, as well as the Beijing regimes mishandling of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak. The Trump administration has been extremely critical of the Chinese regimes efforts to contain the CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The administration has also expressed disapproval of Beijings new national security law for Hong Kong. The law criminalizes individuals for any acts of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. In July, Trump signed an executive order that ended the United States preferential treatment of Hong Kong, to hold China accountable for its oppressive actions against Hongkongers. He also signed into law a measure that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials and entities responsible for ending Hong Kongs freedoms, as well as banks that do business with them. Reuters and Emel Akan contributed to this report. DNC A security guard who once blurted out I love you to Joe Biden in an elevator was the first person to nominate him as the Democrats presidential candidate on Tuesday. Jacquelyn Brittany, who works at the New York Times, first met Mr Biden when the former VP was attending an editorial board meeting at the publications Manhattan office in December. Jacquelyn, who did not wish to give her surname (Brittany is her middle name), struck up a conversation with Mr Biden while escorting him to the meeting, in an exchange that was captured on video and later went viral. I love you. I do. Youre like my favourite, Jacquelyn told Mr Biden, in footage aired as part of the NYTs TV series The Weekly, and subsequently circulated on social media. Eight months later, Jacquelyn gave the first speech nominating Mr Biden as a presidential candidate on day two of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time, Jacquelyn said, in her pre-recorded speech. In the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me. That he actually cared, that my life meant something to him. Nominating someone like that to be in the White House is a good place to start, Jacquelyn added, referencing the challenges that lay ahead for the next president. That is why I nominate my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States. Jacquelyn previously told the Washington Post, which first broke the news she would be appearing at the event, that she was overwhelmed at being the first person to nominate Biden. I never thought I would be in a position to do this, she said. I never thought I was worthy enough to do this. Tuesdays convention also included speeches from the partys elder statesmen as well as its up-and-coming stars. New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said millions are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of healthcare, as she called on Americans to oust Donald Trump from the White House. Story continues Former president Bill Clinton launched a blistering attack on the president, calling out his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and record on the economy. Day three of the virtual DNC will feature speeches from former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Read more Joe Biden officially nominated as Democratic presidential candidate SPRINGFIELD When Joan Kagan took over as president and CEO of Square One in 2003, she came with a vision of not only serving children, but their families as well. Now, after 17 years with the agency and a 45-year career in human services, Kagan plans to retire at the end of the year. I have always been passionate about children and families, even when I was doing clinical work in those early years, she said. When I joined Square One, I came with the belief that in order to really achieve positive outcomes you needed to approach it with a holistic approach, which meant bringing in child welfare, mental health and family support services. My vision was to expand a single-service provider of early education and care to a holistic multiservice approach to really improve the lives and circumstances. Prior to assuming her position at Square One, she served as the Western Massachusetts director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and for 17 years she was with Brightside for Families and Children, leaving as vice president of community programs. I have a masters degree in social work from Columbia University, where I was trained to be a psychiatric social worker, so I was on a career path to what I thought was going to be a private practice in clinical social work, she said. Along the way I made some decisions that led me to Brightside, and during my time there people recognized I had some leadership and management skill and started me on that path. Although her retirement will take effect on Dec. 31, Kagan will continue to serve the agency as an adviser to support the leadership team during transition. Square One's president and CEO Joan Kagan will retire in December of 2020. When you think about the non-profit community in western Massachusetts, the name Joan Kagan immediately comes to mind, says Peter Testori, chair of Square Ones board of directors and dean of academic support services and Title IX assistant coordinator at Bay Path University. For decades, Joan has been a champion for the wellbeing and education of our regions children. Her passion and commitment have positively impacted the lives of thousands of children and families. Under Kagans leadership, Square One, formerly known as Springfield Day Nursery, expanded its offerings from child care, exclusively, to a myriad of family support services. We brought in social workers, case workers, home visitors and secured the funding to bring those services in, she said. We introduced fresh fruits and vegetables, and worked on improving their access to health care. Kagan said her objective was to ensure that the agency served the the needs of the child and their families. If children are hungry, they are not learning. If they have toothaches or difficulty seeing or suffering from chronic health issues, they are not going to be learning, she said. You have to address all of the different challenges that children and families face. If mom is depressed, that will impact the child. If they are struggling with housing and theyre homeless it will be more difficult for children to learn. Kagan said a childs success is dependent on many external factors. We measure success by how well a child is doing, but a child is not going to do well unless the family is doing well and are living in a healthy community, she said. Suzin Bartley, executive director of the Childrens Trust, said Kagan is a passionate and effective leader. She understands that children do not grow up in early childhood programs they grow up in families and families need support, Bartley said. Being a parent is the toughest job we ever embark on and yet it is the most important role in the life of a child; and Joan understands that all parents, myself included, have at times needed access to information, skills and support in order to grow as a parent. Bartley said Kagans leadership and expertise will be missed. Her leadership style, eagerness to collaborate, and her high standards have helped set Square One apart. She will be missed but we also know that she has built a solid organization that will continue to grow as it serves the children and families of Springfield, she said. Mary Walachy, former executive director of the Davis Foundation, said Kagan has been influential in initiatives that have improved the quality of life for children and their families. There are very few initiatives surrounding early education and family services in this community that dont somehow connect to Joan Kagan, Walachy said. Her collaborative approach to providing opportunities for children and families to be successful is truly unmatched. The impact of her work will be felt for many generations to come. A committee of Square One staff and board members, as well as other community leaders, will conduct a search for the organizations next leader. One of the things I think we are known for is our resilience. We have made it through the tornado, a gas explosion and a pandemic, Kagan said, referring to the 2011 tornado that swept across the region, the gas explosion that destroyed the agencys office and other downtown Springfield buildings the following year, and this years coronavirus. We have tested our mettle and have shown we are resilient. Kagan said it will be important for the incoming president to have a vision and to communicate it clearly to the staff and the families they will serve. I hope they will move the agency into the next chapter. We have been around since 1887. We have a long history behind us and many more good years head of us, she said. Related Content: Mekedatu padayatra: After Karnataka HC chides Cong, Siddaramaiah says permission not taken for protest Cong attacks govt over NSCN-IM's claims on 2015 agreement India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Aug 19: The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over Naga rebel group NSCN-IM's claim that the 2015 Framework Agreement was signed after a series of discussions based on the principle of "shared- sovereignty", and sought answers over the deal. The NSCN-IM, which has been engaged in peace negotiations with the government, had last week said that an honourable solution to the seven-decades-old violent movement is not possible without a Naga flag and a constitution. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in August 2015 that a peace accord has been signed and the Naga problem will be solved. He alleged that when the Congress asked for the details, the Centre did not provide any details and later it emerged that it was not a peace accord, but a framework agreement. NSCN-IM demands fast tracking of Naga peace process J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Gohil also cited the recent statement of NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah who had said that the Nagas have their own flag and constitution and the insurgent group was not asking for these from the government. Referring to the August, 2015 ''Framework Agreement'', signed by Muivah and government interlocutor for talks, R N Ravi, in presence of Modi, the NSCN-IM leader had said the deal was reached after a series of intensive discussions based on the principle of the proposed "co-existence and shared-sovereignty". Gohil sought answers from the government over the agreement, stating that this was not a secret deal and people and the country should know about it. He said all stakeholder states should have been involved in the talks. Gohil said the government needs to clarify and come clean on whether shared sovereignty was discussed as part of the framework agreement. The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India''s independence in 1947. Supreme Court has ordered CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to investigate Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. SC has asked Mumbai police to cooperate with CBI and said that the Bihar government was competent to request CBI for transfer of case. The Maharashtra government counsel said," We have only filed a transfer petition, not challenged the CBI investigation. Our right to challenge the investigation should be considered." However, SC rejected the request. Hence, there is no scope for Maharashtra government to challenge the order. SC said, "The jurisdiction of the Mumbai Police conducting an investigation under Section 174 CrPC is limited. Since Mumbai police had registered only an accidental death report for Rajput's death, it had limited investigation powers." SC has also directed CBI to look into any other cases registered in future in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The apex court has given 3 days' time to the Maharashtra government and Mumbai police to submit details about their investigation in Sushant's death probe. Earlier, the Supreme Court had taken up Rhea Chakraborty's petition for transfer of the case to Mumbai, saying "whether there is any criminality in the situation is the matter to be investigated". On Tuesday (August 18, 2020), Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde had said in his statement, that his client would like the truth of the matter to be revealed by virtue of a fair and impartial investigation. He had said that his client has admitted in her petition to the SC, that she sent a message to Amit Shah Union Home Minister to order a CBI investigation. He also said that Rhea had informed SC that she has no objection if the court transfers the case to CBI. Rhea's lawyer was quoted as saying, "What she has challenged is the illegal registration and investigation of Bihar Police without jurisdiction and transfer to CBI of an illegal investigation. Unless the Maharashtra government consents to a CBI investigation, the case cannot be transferred to CBI. Instead, the Bihar government ought to have transferred the investigation to Mumbai Police as per the Notification issued by the Union Government. The very foundation of the Federal Structure is at stake by the present actions of Bihar government." Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra flat in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. 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 ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput's Former Accountant Reveals He Was Fired By Rhea Chakraborty! ALSO READ: Rhea's Lawyer Reveals The Molestation Episode Strained Ties Between The Actress And Sushant's Family LOS ANGELES California firefighters battled destructive wildfires Monday as a lengthening heat wave roasted the state. Thousands of homes were at risk and air quality deteriorated in areas affected by smoke. The National Weather Service blanketed the state in warnings of excessive heat and high fire danger, including the threat from lightning strikes. Nearly 30 fires were burning, many of them in rural or forest lands. Many were small but uncontained. We are all experiencing rather extraordinary conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. Newsom expressed optimism that most of the smaller blazes would be suppressed relatively quickly. In Nevada County in the Sierra Nevada, a fire erupted Monday in a canyon northwest of Nevada City and quickly spread. Nearly 4,000 people were under evacuation orders, authorities said. Near Californias northern border with Nevada, a 62-square-mile (160.58-square-kilometer) fire ignited by lightning near the community of Loyalton was 10% contained after destroying five homes and a half-dozen other structures, the Tahoe National Forest said. It was burning through timber, sage and tall grass. Across the state line, school officials in Reno postponed Mondays scheduled reopening of classrooms. As a result of the Loyalton Fire and the deteriorating air quality, we have made the decision that we cannot safely reopen our school district for our students and staff, Washoe County School District Superintendent Kristen McNeill said in a message to families and staff. To the south, a fire sparked by lightning over the weekend in a remote desert region charred more than 65 square miles (168 square kilometers) of scrub brush and Joshua trees in the Mojave National Preserve. There was zero containment. Several lightning-sparked fires prompted evacuation orders and warnings across the San Francisco Bay Area, including a fast-growing blaze to the north in rural Napa County. In the East Bay, crews protected canyon homes from flames churning through dry brush near Milpitas. In the mountains and desert of northern Los Angeles County, the 6-day-old Lake Fire was 38% contained after scorching 29.7 square miles (76.92 square kilometers). The blaze, which consumed thousands of acres of brush in its first few hours, had more moderate behavior by Sunday but about 4,500 homes remained at risk, county Supervisor Kathryn said. A dozen structures, including homes, have been destroyed there. Smoke from the Lake Fire and smaller fires in mountains east and west of Los Angeles led regulators to declare unhealthy air quality for a wide area of suburbs. A blaze in mountains near Lake Piru in Ventura County sent up a towering plume visible for miles. Elsewhere, the 6-square-mile (15.54-square-kilometers) River Fire south of Salinas in Monterey County was 10% surrounded after burning five buildings, including at least one home. Authorities reported four people injured since it was ignited by lightning Sunday. About the photo: Flames from the River Fire crest a ridge as firefighters Ian Johnson, right, and Capt. Mike Campbell protects a home in Salinas, Calif., on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of blazes sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heatwave continues. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. With over 2,600 new Covid-19 cases registered in the last two weeks, Greece is one of nearly two dozen European countries experiencing an escalation in cases after a premature lifting of lockdown restrictions at the beginning of summer. New daily cases have been steadily climbing throughout the summer before hitting 65 on July 20, the highest tally since 156 new cases on April 20. Both numbers were surpassed with a new high of 262 new cases registered last Wednesday, in a week which saw over 200 new cases registered on most days. More patients are seriously ill, with 23 on ventilators in hospitala doubling since the beginning of August. Two patients died of Covid-19 Monday and two more on Tuesday. With a death toll of 232, Greece has not yet experienced the soaring fatality rate of other European countries such as Belgium, which has a similar population size and whose death toll stands at nearly 10,000. The relatively low death toll is largely due to lockdown restrictions being imposed early during the first coronavirus wave. This advantage is now being undone by the New Democracy (ND) government, with the death toll already nearly a fifth higher than at the beginning of July. A nurse wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, takes part in a rally outside the Health Ministry in Athens, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. They were demanding permanent hires, and funding for the country's health care system. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) The phased easing of measures began with the opening of retail stores in May, followed by shopping malls, bars and restaurants in June, and the opening of international air links at all airports across the country in July. Speaking to Skai TV on August 10, infectious disease specialist and member of the governments Covid-19 Committee of Experts, Charalambos Gogos, said that based on the data we have with the increase in cases, the [R number] is now possibly greater than 1-- perhaps 1.1 or 1.2. The R number, or basic reproductive rate, is an estimate of the number of people a carrier is likely to infect, with a value greater than 1 indicating that the disease is escalating. Following the spike in cases, the government is laying the blame at the door of the population. During a teleconference convened on August 5 to discuss the crisis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared, We ought to say that the increase in cases is primarily due to the slackening observed with regard to the compliance measures within our country during the month of July. And for this I believe that we all bear responsibility. Just 10 percent of cases have come from abroad, most of the cases at this point in time are domestic. If a false sense of security was prevalent among layers of the population, then it was the government that fostered this. At the beginning of June, the government vaguely recommended the avoidance of organising and attending events likely to experience overcrowding--while just a month later the limit of six people per table at restaurants was lifted. The use of masks in shopping centres was mandated for staff only. The claim that holidaymakers coming into Greece have little or no impact on the spike in cases is ridiculous. According to the governments own Covid-19 figures, 23.4 percent of all reported cases since the start of the pandemic are related to travel from overseas. Of a total of 2.1 million visitors into Greece during July and the first week of August, only around 12 percent were reportedly tested on arrival. In the previous week, over half of the new cases were clustered in Attica, which includes the capital Athens, and in Thessaloniki. In Athens and Thessaloniki, the countrys two main urban centres, public transport passengers are routinely crammed into overcrowded bus and rail services with the mandatory use of masks the only protection they have. The government routinely breaks its own already high 65 percent capacity rule for public transport. A similar situation is occurring on passenger ferries from the mainland to the islands. Bowing to pressure from shipowners, the government defied the advice of its panel of infectious disease specialists and increased the authorised passenger capacity from 60 to 80 percent in August. Two clusters of cases traced back to factories in northern Greece underscore the price the working class is paying after the government reopened the economy. Fifty out of 300 workers in a large olive processing plant in Chalkidiki and 24 workers in a meat processing plant tested positive for the virus in the first week of August. A week later, 36 residents tested positive in an elderly care home in the outskirts of Thessaloniki. The governments response has been a series of token measures targeting areas with a high number of cases, including Attica and Thessaloniki. Set to run until August 24, the measures subordinate public health to commercial interests. For instance, restaurants, theatres, and cinemas are exempt from the already high limit of 50 people now in force for public gatherings and events. Bars and nightclubs are permitted to remain open except for between midnight and 7am. Workplaces are to remain open, with only people deemed high risk permitted to work from home or in the back office until August 31. Mitsotakis ruled out a second national lockdown at the start of the month, stating, We are all aware that we can no longer go into a full lockdown, into a second lockdown of our economies. As in other European countries, the reopening of schools to act as holding pens for children while their parents go to work, is central to the governments plans. On Monday, government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, confirmed that schools are set to open as planned on September 7. This was even as he admitted that as we approach October and November there is the possibility of the virus resurgence. The Greek public health service is in no state to deal with a second coronavirus wave, after a decade of austerity enforced by the social democratic PASOK, ND, and from 2015-19, by the pseudo-left SYRIZA government. This devastated the health budget, which is 50 percent lower than in 2009. Public health services are chronically understaffed, threatening the ability of hospitals to operate, with health workers succumbing to the virus. Seven workers at the University Hospital in the city of Larissa have tested positive for the virus. Four of those are specialist doctors and one is a 27-year-old surgeon who recently came off a ventilator. Also on a ventilator was a 58-year-old paediatrician, who was transferred from the hospital in the city of Volos. A further nine health workers tested positive at the Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki. Under these conditions, the government has cancelled the requirement for health workers to go into pre-emptive quarantine after coming back from holiday. Commenting on the fact that health workers are nonetheless also now required to undergo testing after returning from holiday, Sofia Pappa, a doctor at Athens General Hospital, wrote on her Facebook profile that [the Health Ministry] cannot place doctors and nurses in quarantine even for just two days (until the test results come out) simply because it doesnt have any doctors and nurses. A catastrophic spread of the disease is poised to take place in Greeces island migrant camps. Outbreaks have already taken place at refugee holding areas on the mainland, such as the 150 infections reported at a hotel housing migrants in the Peloponnese in April. Greeces island camps are notoriously overcrowded and an outbreak in any of them could rapidly spread. The island camps were built to hold only 6,100 but over 25,000 people are being detained in them in inhumane conditions. Last week, a 35-year-old man from Yemen living at the Vial migrant camp in Chios tested positive, leading to 30 others requiring a test. Vial holds over 3,800 asylum seekers--over three times the facility's capacity. Heavy flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rains in northern Vietnam over the past days have left six people dead and over 300 houses damaged. As of Wednesday morning, northern Vinh Phuc Province had reported two fatalities while Lao Cai, Son La, Lai Chau and Thai Nguyen claimed one death each, according to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control. The committee said at least four others were injured. Since last Sunday, northern provinces have been battered by torrential downpours due to the influence of a tropical convergence zone and effects from tropical storm Higos, which made landfall on Chinas southern coast Wednesday morning. Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang and Tuyen Giang experienced heavy rainfall of up to 300 mm each downpour while Quang Ninh, home to world famous Ha Long Bay, and Hai Phong City received rainfall of between 200 and 350 mm each time. Levels of 180 mm a day are considered heavy. At least 334 houses in the localities were damaged. Over 550 ha of rice and other crops were inundated while landslides blocked many roads leading to northern mountainous provinces like Lai Chau and Lao Cai, home to popular Sa Pa Town. Weather forecasters warned northern provinces should expect heavy downpours with rainfall of between 100 and 250 mm from Thursday to Saturday due to the impacts of Higos. Tran Quang Hoai, vice head of the committee, asked northern authorities to deploy rescue teams and evacuate residents in flood-prone areas. Higos is the fourth storm formed in the East Sea this year. The waters, known internationally as the South China Sea, could see 11-13 storms and tropical depressions this year, half of them directly affecting the country, meteorologists said. Natural disasters, including drought, floods and landslides, killed 133 Vietnamese last year and caused losses worth around VND7 trillion ($302.6 million), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In the first half of this year, natural disasters killed 47 people and caused economic damages of VND3.3 trillion, according to official data. If Americans are to receive all of their electricity without coal and natural gas by 2035, they will need nuclear power. Even if Washingtonians, who already procure over 70 percent of their electricity from hydro, are to be completely devoid of fossil fuel generation by 2045, they must have nuclear. Washingtons Clean Energy Transformation Act passed earlier this year by the Legislature leans... Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami has announced ex-gratia of three lakh each to kin of the 62 deceased in the Rajmala landslide incident in Keralas Idukki earlier this month. He also announced a financial assistance of one Lakh each for the severely injured in the incident, reported news agency ANI. Bodies of 62 people have been found so far from the muddy rubble left by the landslide that took place in Keralas Idukki on Aug 7. All the victims were from families of Tamil settlers who had relocated from Tamil Nadu three to four generations ago and worked at Rajmala as tea plantation workers in the neighbouring state of Kerala. Also Read: HC rejects Vedanta plea to reopen Sterlite plant in Tamil Nadu Apart from the assistance announced by Palaniswami, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has announced an ex-gratia of 5 lakh to kin of the deceased and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of 2 lakh each to the victims. Four more bodies have been found in the last 24 hours from the landslide site in search operations that have continued since August 7 when torrential rains led to the disaster. Three bodies were found in the search operations carried out in Pettimudi, Rajamala landslide area. Nine more persons are to be traced after they were reported missing since the landslide. The Kerala government has promised to rehabilitate the families affected by the Pettimudi, Rajamala landslide. Watch:Keralas rescue boats converted into ambulances to help Covid patients Earlier, the district Information Office said that two NDRF teams, a full unit of Idukki fire and rescue team, a team each from Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram, and a team which received special training are leading the rescue operations in Idukkis Rajamala. Two Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR)s from Chennai along with a four-member team joined the search operations by Tuesday afternoon, Idukki collector H Dineshan told PTI. The radars have been brought from the Institute of Oceanography, he said. A view from Clwyd Souths Member of the Senedd This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here). Clwyd South MS Ken Skates writes We will all be able to see more of our family and friends if conditions remain stable over the next few days, the First Minister has announced. The intention is that from Saturday (August 22) up to four households will be able to join together to form a single extended household. Meals following a wedding, civil partnership or funeral will also be allowed for up to 30 people if social distancing can be maintained. However, the Welsh Government will not be making any changes at this stage to the rules on people meeting indoors with people who arent part of their household or extended household. The action taken by the Welsh Government and the sacrifices the people of Clwyd South, Wrexham and the whole of Wales have made so far have made a real difference. The number of cases of coronavirus continues to fall and this means we will be able to continue making cautious, step-by-step changes. We are learning from what is happening across the UK, and outbreaks are mainly linked to people meeting others inside the home. We continue to progress together, and we cannot jeopardise it now. As recently reported by Wrexham.com, businesses in the county borough have already received emergency coronavirus support totalling almost 30m from the Welsh Labour Government. This extraordinary period has seen an unprecedented amount of support provided to local businesses and Im pleased the funding has made a tangible difference to our communities. Welsh Government data shows 1,840 Wrexham businesses already in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief have already had grants of 10,000 and another 258 in the tourism and hospitality industry were awarded 25,000 each. Our Economic Resilience Fund (ERF) has so far awarded 4.69m to another 276 Wrexham firms. Around 11% of all awards through the ERF have been to businesses in North East Wales, and almost 28m has been awarded through the scheme across North Wales. Sadly, it is impossible to help every single business. But the vast majority of applications have been successful, and Im pleased there are many which we have helped stay afloat. The latest unemployment figures suggest the full force of lockdown has not hit jobs in Wales as badly as the rest of the UK. The rate of unemployment in Wales between April and June was down at 2.7% with 8,000 fewer people unemployed than between January and March, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show. The rate across the UK was 3.9%. However, we recognise that these figures dont tell the whole story of how coronavirus is impacting our economy and that the full picture will become clearer over the coming months and as UK Government support schemes wind down. As a Welsh Government we are doing all that we can to protect businesses and jobs from the severe effects of the pandemic. Our 1.7bn package of support which is the most generous anywhere in the UK and we also recently announced a 40m jobs and skills package which will provide help for anyone who needs it to find work, education or training or to start their own business at this challenging time. This support will be key in helping Wales recover from coronavirus and ensure no one is left behind. We continue to press the UK Government to maintain the vital furlough and Self-employment Income Support schemes until we are through the worst of the crisis. Local bus services continue to be a cause for concern for many people in Clwyd South. As the majority of bus companies are profit-driven, they decide what services they run and when. However, the Welsh public will soon have a bigger say. The bus industry has received significant financial support from the Welsh Government during the pandemic in return for greater public control over our buses in future. This is the first stage of a wider plan which will see the public sector funders of the industry begin to regain control of buses for the first time since the disaster of de-regulation in the 1980s. This plan will help to put the needs of passengers ahead of the needs of shareholders. You can read more about this here: https://www.transport-network.co.uk/Wales-uses-COVID-cash-to-take-back-control-of-buses/16687 I have been in regular contact with care homes in Clwyd South to keep them updated about the Welsh Governments 500 thank you payment. The delay in making the payments has been because of discussions between the Welsh Government and UK Treasury about tax, but sadly the UK Government has refused to budge and have confirmed the payments will be taxed by HMRC. The First Minister confirmed last week that the payments have started going out and will all be made over the next few weeks. If you need advice or support, please email ken.skates@senedd.wales and include your full home address and contact number. You can find useful information about coronavirus support on my website www.kenskates.co.uk and regular updates on my Facebook page @KenSkatesMS. To stay up to date with Welsh Government coronavirus news and my work in Clwyd South, you can also subscribe to my e-newsletters either through my website or by emailing me. Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to declare Ameren Missouri's largest coal-fired power plant as compliant to crucial air quality regulation was met with criticism from some St. Louis-area environmental watchdogs. The approval of the EPA proposal would allow Ameren Corporation to forego the installation of pollution control "scrubbers," which reduces the amount of sulfur dioxide emission from Labadie Energy Center Plant in Franklin County. READ: 5 Controversial Policies in the US Related to Climate Change Critics Decry: The Plant Has No Sulfur Dioxide Scrubber Critics say that the proposal's approval would conveniently declare that the Labadie plant has no sulfur dioxide emissions. Critics say that the EPA's move would mean Ameren can get away with not installing the scrubbers, thereby making Labadie Energy Center Plant the largest coal plant in the country without the equipment. The scrubber is supposed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. Without it, EPA would not possibly know how the plant may affect air pollution, critics say. Watchdogs also point that that Ameren Corporation, the owner of Labadie Energy Center Plant, has not installed air monitoring equipment in areas where winds primarily push emissions: the large arc southeast of the Franklin County Facility. Instead, air monitoring equipment is installed in places where terrain and weather reduce the concentration of sulfur dioxide. Ameren has consistently rejected such proposals. READ MORE: Controversial Dakota Access Pipeline Suspended by US Judge Due to Environmental Concerns The placement of air monitors around the Ameren plant has caused controversy over the past years. Andy Knott of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign said that the proposal is "deeply disturbing", and scrubbers to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions has not yet been installed. EPA's approval would make the coal plant the largest unscrubbed coal plant in the country. He further stressed that Ameren is getting scot-free from the endorsement with no retirement date in the next ten years. Ameren Defends EPA Ameren, on the other hand, is supporting the EPA's position. It has argued that the plant has a "very robust monitoring system". Steve Whitworth, Ameren's senior director of environmental policy and analysis, says that the monitoring system was not done arbitrarily, but says "it's a very exacting process." Since 2017, 52 areas all over the country that have previously failed safe pollution standards or were "unclassifiable" have been ruled as compliant with the air quality rule by the EPA. Ameren's comments, which were submitted to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, argued that monitors were placed considerable input and collaboration with DNR and the EPA, and were placed at the point of maximum impacts based on two separate modeling efforts. The EPA will receive public comments on the proposal 30 days after the motion is entered in the Federal Registry. Critics, on the other hand, vowed to fight the approval of the scheme. READ NEXT: American Petroleum Institute Accused of Reporting' Wildly Inflated' Numbers of Fracking Jobs Check out more news and information on Air Pollution and Chemical Engineering on Nature World News. China is willing to constantly deepen strategic cooperation with Morocco and continue to assist Morocco's fight against the coronavirus pandemic as well as efforts to resume production, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. In a telephone conversation with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, Wang said under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and King Mohammed VI of Morocco, the China-Morocco strategic partnership has withstood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic and further grown. China cherishes its friendship with Morocco and is willing to continuously deepen strategic cooperation with the country and strengthen mutual understanding and support, Wang said. China, he added, will continue to provide assistance for Morocco's effort to fight COVID-19 and resume the economy, and will continue to support Morocco's legitimate claims on international and regional arenas. Wang pointed out that once China's COVID-19 vaccine is developed and put into use, it will be an item of global public goods and African countries will be among the first to benefit. China supports close communication and cooperation between Morocco and relevant enterprises to reach consensus on the research and development as well as the use of the vaccine, he said. For his part, Bourita said King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government are deeply grateful for China's strong support and assistance to Morocco at the most critical moment of the coronavirus epidemic. China's experience in fighting COVID-19 is very valuable to Morocco, and Morocco has full confidence in China's vaccine technology, the diplomat said, adding that Morocco hopes that the two sides sign a cooperation agreement as soon as possible. Whether in the United Nations or on other occasions, Morocco firmly supports China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a clear-cut unequivocal stand, Bourita said. Morocco, he added, supports China in promoting health cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and hopes that the Morocco-China friendship will be further deepened to better benefit the two peoples. Donald Trump is a star of reality TV, but in a very specific genre the competition reality show, with winners and losers and backstabbing and vicious eliminations. His entertainment brand has been his political brand: He sees a zero-sum America where youre either crushing the losers or joining them, and hes cast himself as the president of the winners. The Democrats reel, on the other hand, recalled a different kind of reality show that also makes up a big chunk of the TV universe: the noncompetition show that surveys subcultures and explores a varied world. It made me think of Taste the Nation, the Padma Lakshmi Hulu series that combines mouthwatering American regional cuisines with dives into cultural history and issues like immigration. Even calamari, after all, is political: It is a product of cultural identities and regulatory systems and government responsibilities, like managing public health, that can keep you in business or put you out of it. The roll call, connecting panoramas and policy, was a reminder of this. It was counterprogramming to the Trump-TV aesthetic of eat-or-be-eaten. But it also made an intangible emotional statement. It acknowledged what the pandemic, a political theme of the convention, has cost us: not just lives and jobs, but one another. It was also, in a key way, an accident. Some of the better moments of this unusual convention have come out of necessity. Conventions, like other rituals TV awards shows, say are creatures of habit and obligation. You do things because youve always done them or because if you dont, someone will feel slighted. Haiti - UN : The PM discusses the renewal of the mandate of BINUH Earlier this week, Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe participated in an important meeting with representatives of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), whose mandate will expire on October 16, 2020. This meeting was structured around the continuity of this UN mission to give its expertise to the Haitian Government in terms of good governance, organization of elections, human rights, justice, the fight against corruption, and professionalization of work of the Haitian National Police. The increase in the percentage allocated to the police institution in the national budget was also discussed. The representatives of BINUH plan to submit in the coming days a report-assessment of the actions already taken in Haiti, taking into account the work that remains to be carried out, as part of the technical support necessary to support the Government and the Haitian people in general. The Head of Government demanded clear terms of reference for the renewal of the BINUH Mission as well as for the office that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights intends to install in Haiti. Jouthe also hoped that the PNH audit and verification process, already requested by the Government, could move forward. The site of the constitutional reform which will take into account the social, political and economic realities of the country was also addressed by Mrs. Helene la Lime, Representative of BINUH. Jouthe would have preferred that it be the organized civil society which steers this work of reflections around the Constitution, in order to get the country out of this difficult impasse... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29237-haiti-un-what-do-the-binuh-doing-in-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre Cuba Gooding Jr. is facing new sexual assault allegations. The Oscar winner is being accused of raping a woman twice in 2013, according to a civil lawsuit filed on Tuesday. The unidentified woman said the incident occurred in Goodings New York City hotel room after meeting the actor at a Greenwich Village lounge. He invited her and the accusers friend for drinks at The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, where he was staying, and asked her up to his room, when the two arrived there together, so he could change his clothes. More from Variety According to the suit, the woman insisted on leaving the room to meet her friend downstairs once he began to undress in front of her. Gooding allegedly blocked the door, pushed her onto the bed and touched her inappropriately without consent. Plaintiff was wearing a halter top dress that evening, the suit reads. Defendant finished taking off his clothes (he was now completely naked) and forcibly and without consent put one hand in her halter top to touch Plaintiffs breasts and one hand up her dress. The suit claims he then allegedly raped the woman vaginally and anally, despite repeated pleas for him to stop. Goodings attorney, Mark Jay Heller, denied the claims against his client. We never received the complaint, but the allegations are completely false and perjurious, he told Variety. The contentions that he acted inappropriately in the complaint are completely inappropriate and untruthful. The woman is suing Gooding for a crime of violence committed on the basis of gender, asserting a claim under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act. Shes seeking a jury trial, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Story continues Gooding, who won an Academy Award for his role in Jerry Maguire, is already facing six counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching. He pleaded not guilty in 2019 to charges of groping three different women in incidents at New York City nightclubs the prior year. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Bengaluru, Aug 19 : People in Karnataka who have undergone a coronavirus test can now get the result online by just entering their Specimen Referral Form (SRF) ID, an official said on Wednesday. "Now you can know your Covid test result by feeding SRF ID of your Covid test in the following portal," said a state Covid War Room official. The portal is https://www.covidwar.karnataka.gov.in/service1 The Karnataka Covid War Room headed by senior IAS officer Munish Moudgil has developed the portal for easier access of test results. With this development, people who gave their samples need not physically go to the laboratory or hospital to confirm their result as they can easily access it from their home. In the event of a positive result, the health department advised people not to panic and assured them that the government itself will get in touch with them. "If you are positive, don't panic. Stay calm and isolate yourself at your home. Government of Karnataka will automatically get in touch with you on your mobile number," he said. Likewise, for Covid Medical helpline, patients have been advised to contact 'Apthamitra' helpline at 14410 and for emergency 108. The southern state is testing more than 50,000 coronavirus samples a day at its 101 testing laboratories across the state. Recently, Karnataka has completed 20 lakh Covid tests in about five months' time to emerge as one of the highest testing states. Covid cases are spiking in Karnataka, rising by 7,000 infections on an average daily to reach 2.4 lakh, out of which 79,782 are active. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) The COVID-19 pandemic changed business practices worldwide. The traditional workplace transformed; for many, the new norm is now a home office and a virtual workplace with employees holding meetings via video teleconferencing tools and communicating through email and applications like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts. The cloud is busier than ever, making cloud security more important than ever. In the public cloud, theres a shared responsibility between the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and the user (you). Security for things like data classification, network controls, and physical security need clear owners. The division of these responsibilities is known as the shared responsibility model for cloud security. Check out this chart to see where the responsibilities lie within different cloud environments. Sources: Microsoft Azure https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/shared-responsibility Amazon Web Services https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/shared-responsibility-model/ Doing Your Part in the Shared Responsibility Model Holding up your end of the bargain with the shared responsibility model is easier said than done. That's because your responsibilities will vary depending on the cloud environment youre operating in. No matter which cloud service you use (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, or FaaS), protection of your organization's data is always up to you. Thats a big responsibility! According to Gartner, over the next three years, at least 95% of cloud security failures will be the customers fault. CIS is here to help your organization avoid becoming one of those statistics. Below are three ways you can help fulfill your security responsibilities using CIS resources. Prevent Common Cyber-Attacks Before diving into the granular details like verifying that your GPG keys are configured properly to avoid malware, your organization should assess your overall cyber hygiene. Measuring your organization against a security best practice, such as the CIS Controls, will help you take stock of your cybersecurity health. The CIS Controls are a free, internationally-recognized set of cybersecurity best practices. Prioritized and prescriptive in nature, they are the definition of "how" to achieve an effective cybersecurity program; they serve as a starting point for organizations seeking to improve their cyber defense. For organizations in the cloud to use CIS Controls, we have the CIS Controls Cloud Companion Guide. The guide outlines the four main types of cloud environments and maps them to the CIS Controls: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Function as a Service (FaaS). The guide also examines unique risks (vulnerabilities, threats, consequences, and security responsibilities) to cloud environments. These risks drive the priority of enterprise security requirements (e.g., availability, integrity, and confidentiality of data). The CIS Controls Cloud Companion Guide will help consumers tailor the CIS Controls to their cloud environment. Its an essential starting point for those who wish to conduct a security improvement assessment. In addition to the free pdf guide, CIS provides a downloadable spreadsheet to track conformance to these recommendations. Download the guide here Implement a Secure Standard Whether you're operating on-prem or in the cloud, one thing remains constant: your systems operate software and hardware under different assumed security responsibilities than whats actually expected of you. This is one of many reasons why you should review all of your system's configurations and implement secure recommendations, such as the CIS Benchmarks. The CIS Benchmarks are the only vendor-agnostic cybersecurity configuration guidelines both developed and accepted by academia, government, and business. Theyre designed to safeguard endpoint devices and systems against todays evolving cyber threats. CIS provides foundational security benchmarks for three of the major CSPs: These CIS Benchmarks provide prescriptive guidance to help with identity and access management, logging and monitoring, and networking for each of the major cloud platforms. Evolve with the Cloud Who's responsible for what can get more complicated as cloud services evolve. CSPs are constantly adding new services that come with new configuration and security tools to manage those services. While native security tools can be convenient, they may not cover all of your configuration management needs. Youll also need to ensure that you apply all OS- and container-level security updates. To avoid a gap in protection, consider implementing third-party tools to harden systems in addition to the CSPs native security tools. Its better to have overlaps between third-party security tools and the CSPs security services than to have gaps in your cloud security. CIS Hardened Images are pre-configured virtual machine images that take the base image from your CSP and apply the security configuration guidelines of the CIS Benchmarks. They are independently hardened virtual machine images, and help ensure your organization's workloads are more secure than if they were on a base OS. CIS Hardened Images are used by thousands of organizations worldwide to secure OS and applications in the cloud. Theyre regularly updated to ensure the latest security configurations are in place, giving you peace of mind while working on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, or Oracle Cloud. View all CIS Hardened Images CIS Shared Responsibility Model Resource The shared responsibility model for cloud security provides clarity on security expectations for public cloud users and cloud service providers. However, an understanding of the expectation is just the first step. Users and CSPs must take action on these responsibilities by creating policies and procedures for their portion of cloud security. In order to do this, both parties should use cloud security tools and resources that directly address the needs of their cloud environment. Used together or individually, CIS Controls, CIS Benchmarks, and CIS Hardened Images can help organizations moving to the cloud navigate the transition and the shared responsibility model more easily, transforming the virtual workplace into a secure new norm. In this white paper, we provide a deep dive into the shared responsibility model for cloud security, the division of user and CSP responsibilities, and how CIS resources help meet those responsibilities. Download the White Paper The rolling hills, sandy beaches and rugged coastlines of Cork proved irresistible to holidaymakers, with data suggesting the Rebel County topped the list of counties to spend a few days to relax. According to AIB spending data, Cork is the most popular so-called 'staycation destination nationally, followed by Kerry. Cementing what Cork people have believed to be true for generations, Dubliners secretly love the place, despite their regular public protestations to the contrary. Analysing the spending data, Dubliners' top choice of destination is Cork. That love, which dare not speak its name, is unrequited however, with most Cork people preferring to spend their money in neighbouring Kerry, with those in the Kingdom returning the favour by coming to Cork for their break. Perhaps years of rivalry on the hurling field runs a little deeper than previously thought, with Kilkenny people preferring Waterford over any other county. Generally, the data reveals that people are staying local for their holidays, with most consumers visiting their neighbouring counties. Domestic consumers spent 19m in the pub, 30m in restaurants and 28m in hotels during the month of July, AIB said, though spending is still down when compared with July 2019. The data - which the bank said has been anonymised and aggregated - was compiled from over one million AIB debit and credit card transactions up to August 3. Nationally, the average card transaction in pubs that have reopened and are serving food has increased 50% year-on-year, it said, adding that it could be as a result of the requirement for a 9 meal to be purchased. The average card transaction in restaurants is up 17% year-on-year, with the average transaction in hotels up 16% year-on-year, AIB said. Overall, the number of transactions is still down in comparison to 2019. People in Monaghan and Kilkenny are the most generous when it comes to spending in pubs since reopening of the country from lockdown, parting with 40.95 and 38.28 respectively per card transaction. Those in Clare and Donegal are the most prudent, parting with 28.46 and 30.19 respectively. Kildare folks like their restaurants the most, spending 27.17 per transactions, while Carlow folks spend the least in their favourite eateries at 19.24. Rachel Naughton, head of SME banking at AIB said: After coming to a complete standstill as a result of Covid-19, we saw encouraging signs within the tourism and hospitality sectors in their first month of re-opening as people were allowed travel and visit hotels, pubs and restaurants again. "Notably the average AIB card transaction amount in these key sectors is up compared with the same period last year. This can be attributed to pent-up demand and increased preference for card usage." A grand jury in the US has indicted two alleged Chinese hackers for a decade-long career of cyber espionage and intellectual property theft targeting organisations in 10 countries including an Australian defense contractor. Li Xiaoyu () and Dong Jiazhi () were indicted this month on 11 counts relating to computer hacking, theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, and identity theft. Of the 26 companies allegedly hit by the pair of hackers, two were based in Australia. One was a defense contractor which had 320GB of data stolen including product source code, engineering schematics, and technical manuals. The other was an Australian solar energy firm whose network was allegedly compromised by Li and Dong. In an announcement on Tuesday night, US assistant attorney general, John Demers said Ji and Dong worked with the Chinese Ministry of State Security on a sweeping global computer intrusion campaign as part of plans to rob, replicate, and replace non-Chinese companies in the global marketplace. As the indictment shows, the hackers targeted technology companies in countries with high technology industries, including in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Demers said. These intrusions are yet another example of Chinas brazen willingness to engage in theft through computer intrusions contrary to their international commitments. Chinas anti-competitive behavior and flagrant disregard for their promises not to engage in cyber-enabled intellectual property theft is not just a domestic issue; it is a global issue. Two Chinese Hackers Working with the Ministry of State Security Charged with Global Computer Intrusion Campaign Targeting Intellectual Property and Confidential Business Information, Including COVID-19 Research https://t.co/qFWk5BA8Zb pic.twitter.com/pUiaStKbqn Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 21, 2020 Australias official response was markedly less heated. Four government agencies the Australian Signals Directorate, Australian Cyber Security Centre, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Department of Home Affairs published a joint statement about the US allegations. There was no mention of China. Instead, the government [expressed] its concern over reports of global malicious cyber intrusions detailed in the US indictments. Australia reiterates our call to all countries to refrain from behaviour which violates their international commitments, the statement said. We welcome actions designed to hold malicious cyber actors to account. An industry panel advising Australias 2020 Cyber Security Strategy has recommended the government adopt a more forward leaning posture when it comes to attributing state-based cyber attacks. Political dissidents, COVID-19 research targeted Aside from trade and technological espionage, the pair of hackers allegedly assisted the Chinas Ministry of State Security with information on political dissidents. According to the indictment documents, Li and Dong provided online credentials belonging to a Hong Kong organiser, the pastor of a Christian church, and a former Tiananmen Square protestor. On one occasion, an officer from the Ministry allegedly helped Li by providing a malware targeting a zero-day browser vulnerability to compromise the mail server of a Burmese human rights group. The US indictments against Li and Dong also included allegations that the pair targeted organisations researching COVID-19. This is the second public accusation about cyber attacks on COVID-19 research facilities in the past week after the US, UK, and Canada publicly denounced Russia for attempting to steal information about vaccine development. Assistant attorney general Demers was scathing of the Chinese governments involvement with freelance hackers like Li and Dong. China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran, and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals in exchange for those criminals being on call to work for the benefit of the state, he said. This isnt the first time US authorities have indicted Chinese hackers. In February this year, four individuals were charged for breaching US credit agency Equifax. That followed the 2018 indictments of two members believed to be part of advanced persistent threat (APT) group APT10. Analyst with cybersecurity firm Mandiant Threat Intelligence, Ben Read, said it is common for the Chinese state to use contractors for offensive cyber activities. Using these freelancers allows the government to access a wider array of talent, while also providing some deniability in conducting these operations, The pattern described in the indictment where the contractors conducted some operations on behalf of their government sponsors, while others were for their own profit, is consistent with what we have seen from other China-nexus groups such as APT41. Dolly and Bieber among fest stars Dolly Parton, Cate Blanchett and Justin Bieber are part of the virtual edition of the Paley Centers annual festival celebrating TV programs and their makers. PaleyFest LA, responding to pandemic restrictions, taped socially distanced discussions with stars and producers that began streaming free this week on the Paley Centers YouTube channel. The showcased series includes Dolly Partons Heartstrings; Justin Bieber: Seasons; Late Night with Seth Meyers; The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Mrs. America; One Day at a Time; Outlander; Ozark; and Queer Eye. TV fans can enjoy seeing the conversations with the casts and creators of the shows that theyve come to love, all from the comfort of home, said Maureen J. Reidy, the Paley Centers president and CEO. Blanchett is part of the Mrs. America panel that includes Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba and Sarah Paulson, Virus upending convention plans The Democratic and Republican conventions will lack for crowds, but not television coverage. The standard political gatherings that were to unfold for the Democratic Party in Milwaukee and for the GOP in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be largely virtual, constrained by the coronavirus. That wont stop TV scrutiny of the speeches and other activities leading up to Joe Bidens Democratic Party nomination for president on Thursday and the GOPs renomination of President Donald Trump next week. But the coverage will look drastically different. Gone will be the images of packed convention hall floors with news anchors ensconced above them; most are likely to broadcast from their usual New York or Washington bases. The Democratic meeting will be virtual, with Biden planning to make his acceptance speech from Wilmington, Delaware. Sen. Kamala Harris, his vice presidential pick, is to speak today. The Republican National Convention takes place Aug. 24-27. The party plans to hold its first day in Charlotte for the delegate vote, with details for the full meeting yet to be released. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC plan an hour of nightly coverage of the conventions at 9 p.m. EDT. PBS will report on the Democratic meeting from 7 to 10 p.m. daily, with coverage details for the Republican convention awaiting the release of the partys schedule. Associated Press - John Regala issued an emotional apology to Raffy amidst the controversy involving the formers celebrity friends Chuckie Dreyfus, Nadia Montenegro, and Aster Amoyo - The veteran actors celebrity friends recently announced that they have decided to no longer provide assistance to John, who has liver cirrhosis, due to the latters uncooperative behavior regarding his medical treatment - He apologized to Raffy for being a burden to him and for being involved in the controversy with his celebrity friends - Raffy assured John that he will continue to assist him and that he understands if he is being uncooperative as a patient PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed John Regala (Photo from Aster Amoyo's Facebook) Source: Facebook John Regala was featured in a new episode of the famous and iconic program of Raffy Tulfo. KAMI learned that John issued an emotional apology to Raffy amidst the controversy involving the formers celebrity friends Chuckie Dreyfus, Nadia Montenegro, and Aster Amoyo. The veteran actor, who has liver cirrhosis, apologized to Raffy for being a burden to him and for being involved in the controversy with his celebrity friends His celebrity friends recently announced that they have decided to no longer provide assistance to John, who has liver cirrhosis, due to the latters uncooperative behavior regarding his medical treatment. He explained to Raffy that the reason he wanted to leave the hospital even if the doctors wanted him to stay was because the hospital bill kept on increasing every day. As for Raffy, he assured John that he will continue to assist him and that he understands if he is being uncooperative as a patient. Raffy explained that a few of his loved ones, including his father, were also uncooperative and stubborn when they were suffering from severe illnesses. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback Sir Tulfo, akoy nahihiya dahil kayo ang tumutulong kaysa kayo po ang tinutulungan, pasensya na po kayo. Ang inyo pong tulong ay nandito po sa aking puso PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! John Regala, or John Paul Guido Boucher Scherrer in real life, is a former actor in the Philippines. He is known for portraying antagonist roles in many movies. In March this year, he appealed for help from Coco Martin and television networks. The former action star also asked the public for any kind of assistance amid the difficult situation that he is in. John Regala also told Raffy Tulfo that his family allegedly left him behind due to his health and financial issues. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! Source: KAMI.com.gh New Delhi, Aug 19 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea challenging the Jharkhand government's decision to appoint IPS officer M.V. Rao as the state's acting Director General of Police. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said that the PIL, filed by a resident of Jharkhand, cannot be accepted in a service matter. The plea claimed that the decision violates the apex court's orders regarding fixed tenure and seniority of state police chiefs. Senior advocates Fali S. Nariman and Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the Jharkhand government, contended that the PIL is a proxy litigation and cannot be entertained under jurisdiction of Constitution's Article 32. Nariman contended that the court cannot intervene in a service matter. Senior advocate R. Venkataramani, appearing for petitioner Prahlad Narayan Singh, did not agree with this argument. As the Chief Justice noted that the petitioner cannot file a PIL in a matter where he is personally concerned, Venkataramani contended that the petitioner is a resident of Jharkhand and deserves to know how Rao was appointed as acting DGP despite the apex court's 2006 judgment in the Prakash Singh case (2006) on police reforms. Holding that it is not keen on entertaining this PIL, the bench said that the petitioner should have come to the top court with a public cause. "A public cause seeking reforms in the police force cannot be a service matter. So, please do not equate yourself with the Prakash Singh case," it observed. The bench noted that if it finds that the concerned authorities are not following norms, that is something else, but the point here remains that the petitioner is not anyone in service. Rao, an IPS officer of 1987 batch, was given the additional charge as DGP on March 16, after DGP Kamal Nayan Choubey was transferred as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Police Modernisation Division in New Delhi. The plea contended that Rao stood fourth in seniority of Jharkhand cadre IPS officers, and he was already holding charge as Director General, Fire Services and Home Guard. The petitioner also noted that Choubey was transferred within 10 months of his appointment. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text HERNDON, Va., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Peraton, a next generation national security company, has been ranked as one of Military Times' 2020 Best For Vets: Employers. It is the company's first appearance on the list, which is the most comprehensive annual ranking of the country's best employers and organizations with military-connected employment programs, benefits, and support efforts. Peraton's resources and efforts focused on veterans have steadily expanded since its founding in 2017. In its first year on the list, Peraton ranked #87, highlighting its early successes as well as future areas of focus and growth as an employer of more than 600 military veterans. Notable veteran initiatives at Peraton include the Together We Stand business resource group, which brings together veterans and supporters in the company to increase awareness and support of the military community and the sacrifices they made for the country. The group works to make Peraton the employer of choice for veterans, their families, and military supporters. Earlier this year, for example, group members helped the company recruit its first DoD SkillBridge intern, who Peraton later hired as a full-time employee after his transition from the Air Force. Peraton is a recipient of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve's (ESGR) Seven Seals Award in recognition of the company's support for employees still serving in the military, and is a certified Virginia Values Veterans (V3) employer. "As a company that provides mission-essential services and solutions to the U.S. and Canadian militaries, we appreciate and value the skills and experience that veterans bring to our company," said Laurie Foglesong, Peraton's chief human resources officer. "Fundamentally, we understand that employing veterans strengthens our workforce and makes us a better company, which is why we are committed to hiring, training and retaining them so that their experience at Peraton is personally and professionally rewarding." To be considered for the Best For Vets: Employers list, Peraton answered nearly 100 questions detailing its policies and practice on topics including recruitment and retention, support for employees serving in the Reserve and National Guard components, and efforts to foster a corporate culture that helps veterans to grow and succeed. About Peraton Peraton provides innovative, reliable solutions to the nation's most sensitive and mission-critical programs and systems. As a trusted provider of highly differentiated space, intelligence, cyber, defense, homeland security, and communications capabilities, Peraton is a critical partner to the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and select federal agencies and commercial entities. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company employs 3,500 people across the U.S. and Canada. Visit Peraton.com/News and follow @PeratonCorp on Twitter for news and updates. SOURCE Peraton Related Links https://www.peraton.com After 35,000 Brittany Ferries passengers cancelled or delayed travel plans at the weekend, due to the reimposition of quarantine from France, the firm has announced deep cuts to its network. The long-standing routes from Portsmouth to both St-Malo in France and Bilbao in Spain have been dropped, and on other links there will be fewer sailings. The French ferry firm says forward demand for autumn sailings is extremely weak. Brittany Ferries currently has eight ships, but two vessels Armorique and Bretagne will be laid up, while a third, Etretat, will not return to service as planned. While Bretagne is over 30 years old, Armorique did not enter service until 2009. The four remaining vessels will operate a much-reduced service: from Portsmouth to Cherbourg and Le Havre, and from Plymouth to Roscoff and Santander. Christophe Mathieu, director general of Brittany Ferries, said: We warned over the weekend that schedule changes were likely, as quarantine measures have led to a significant drop in demand for our services. This is not something we want to do. However, in the context of a terrible summer season we have no choice but to consolidate sailings that, by virtue of lack of passenger numbers, are uneconomic to run. These extraordinary decisions are regrettable and we apologise in advance to all those whose travel plans will be disrupted. Around 50,000 passengers with existing bookings will be affected by the schedule changes. Travellers arriving in the UK from France are now obliged to self-isolate at home for two weeks, because of concern about French rates of coronavirus infection. On a journey from Germany, the only way to avoid quarantine is to drive without stopping through France but the Kent-bound crossing must be made by Eurotunnel, not by ferry, to avoid the obligation. Quarantine now applies to all four Continental countries currently served by ferry from the UK: Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an FIR, lodged at Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, to the CBI. Read: 'Huge Victory': #CBITakesOver Trends on Social Media After SC Announces Verdict in Sushant's Death Case The apex court said that Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said that FIR registered by the Bihar Police on the complaint of Rajput's father Krishna Kishore Singh is correct and the reference to the CBI is lawful. Read: Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case: Supreme Court Orders CBI Probe, Asks Maha Govt to Assist The top court delivered its verdict on a plea by Chakraborty who had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Reacting to the news, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted, "We welcome the decision of Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar. Our stand vindicated. #SushantSingRajput (sic)." We welcome the decision of Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar.Our stand vindicated.#SushantSingRajput Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) August 19, 2020 The Centre had earlier informed the top court that it has accepted the recommendation of the Bihar government for a CBI probe into the FIR lodged at Patna by Rajput's father, who has accused Chakraborty and six others of various offences including abetment of suicide. While pronouncing the verdict, the bench said that if any other case is registered regarding Rajput's death, the same shall be probed by the CBI only. (With PTI inputs) Engages Alegre Resources to assist in Drill Hole Selection VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / VanGold Mining Corp (the "Company" or "VanGold") (TSXV:VGLD) is continuing its summer exploration program of the El Pinguico silver and gold project located 7km south of Guanajuato, Mexico by re-entering the El Pinguico shaft. The Company has also engaged the geological consulting services of Alegre Resources Corp. to assist in computer modeling of the El Pinguico vein systems, and to generate drill targets for its autumn drill program. El Pinguico Shaft: Company crews have now entered the El Pinguico shaft and have safely accessed the #6 adit level. We believe that this is the first time that the #6 level has been accessed in this location since the mine was closed in 1913. In the days ahead, crews intend to clean and refurbish the 5th and 6th adit levels before attempting to reach our goal of accessing the 7th (or Sangria) adit level. From the Sangria level, we anticipate being able to sample the bottom of the underground stockpile (which crews are also able to view from the 6th level), as well as in-situ vein material. It is anticipated that a large section of exposed vein material at the 6th level, unknown prior to this work, will be among the areas sampled by channel sampling. The shaft entrance and surrounding area have been cleaned and prepared ahead of the installation of a one tonne hoist onto our metal headframe, and the installation of a large winch which was accomplished last week. A diesel generator is scheduled to arrive today, which will power the winch, and crews can begin removing debris material from the bottom of the shaft. A protective cage has also been constructed, which will allow crews to operate safely while work is done on the hoist and headframe approximately 150m directly above. Geological work: Geological crews are expected to arrive on Monday, August 24th to begin a series of exploration initiatives which will support drill hole targeting. Both underground and surface structural mapping will be undertaken on a 1:1000 scale. This will allow interpretation of fault structures within the deposit and establish a greater understanding of how these fault structures may have displaced vein material. Crews will also begin systematically sampling exposures of vein material within the mine's old workings, and later begin a trenching campaign to target vein material immediately south of the main El Pinguico mine area. All of this work is in preparation for underground drilling anticipated to commence in mid-autumn. Alegre Resources Corp: VanGold has engaged the services of geological consulting firm Alegre Resources Corp. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Alegre has earned a reputation for innovative, practical and cost effect approaches to exploration. Alegre has developed programs in many countries, and with a focus on precious metals in Latin America. VanGold Mining Corp. director and geologist Bill Gehlen said, "We are delighted to have the team at Alegre involved in target recognition and target generation for this project. There is ample old data from El Pinguico to synthesize, and create drill targets, however there is no historic drill-hole data base to start from. We therefore want to take the time and do the work necessary to ensure a strong start to our drilling when it commences." Covid-19 Delays: It should be noted that the above-mentioned work is now advancing on time, and at planned pace and budget, after several short Covid-19 related delays. In May and June, when the Company undertook to send a 1,039 tonne bulk sample to Endeavour Silver's Bolanitos mill, we were able to accomplish that work with little or no disruption regarding Covid-19 protocols. Recently, during the commencement of underground work related to reopening the El Pinguico shaft, the Company has experienced occasional short delays due to the practicing of Covid-19 related procedures. We view these delays as acceptable under the circumstances. VanGold will not put any of its employees or contractors in unnecessary jeopardy; and all reasonable precautions related to the spread of the virus continue to be adhered to. The El Pinguico Project: El Pinguico is a high-grade gold and silver deposit that was mined from the early 1890s until 1913. Toward the end of that period it was mined exclusively by The Pinguico Mines Company of New York City, whose shares traded on the Boston and New York Stock Exchanges. The mining was done principally from the El Pinguico and El Carmen veins, which are thought to be splays off the Mother Vein, or 'Veta Madre'. The Veta Madre is associated with a mega fault that outcrops for 25 kilometres and is the most important source of precious metal mineralization in the region. The Veta Madre may cross VanGold's property at depth, underneath the high grade El Pinguico and El Carmen veins. Very limited drilling has been done on the property and no drilling has attempted to encounter the Veta Madre at depth. Hernan Dorado Smith, a director of VanGold and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. About VanGold Mining Corp. VanGold Mining is an exploration and development company engaged in reactivating high-grade past producing silver and gold mines near the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. The Company's El Pinguico project is a significant past producer of both silver and gold located just 7km south of the city. The Company remains focused on the near-term potential for development and monetization of its surface and underground stockpiles of mineralized material at El Pinguico, and in delineating silver and gold resources through underground and surface drilling on projects located in this historic mining camp. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "James Anderson" Chairman and CEO For further information regarding VanGold Mining Corp, please contact: James Anderson, Director, +1 (778) 989-5346 Email: james@vangoldmining.com Continue to watch our progress at: www.vangoldmining.com This new release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance (including, but not limited to, the actual size, timing and use of proceeds of the Financing, the proposed work program at the Company's El Pinquico project in Mexico, and the potential for near term monetization of existing stockpiles of mineralized material at El Pinguico) and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, currency rate fluctuations, actual results of exploration and development activities, environmental risks, future prices of gold, silver and other metals, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental or regulatory approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. In addition, there is uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19 and the impact it will have on the Company's operations, supply chains, ability to access El Pinguico or procure equipment, contractors and other personnel on a timely basis or at all and economic activity in general. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by law. VANGOLD MINING CORP. PH: +1(778) 989-5346 E: info@vangoldmining.com W: vangoldmining.com CA: Suite 2820 - 200 Granville Street, Vancouver B.C. V6C 1S4 MX: Carretera - Guanajuato - Silao km 5.5, Int 4, Col. Marfil CP36250, Guanajuato, Gto., Mexico SOURCE: Vangold Mining Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602344/VanGold-Mining-Continues-Exploration-of-El-Pinguico-Shaft UN agencies for refugees and migration urge states to review their approach in search and rescue operations at sea. At least 45 people including five children died earlier this week in the worst shipwreck reported so far this year off Libyas coast, according to the United Nations. In a joint statement released on Wednesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNs refugee agency (UNHCR) said 37 survivors from Mondays shipwreck reported that at least 45 others had died when the engine of the vessel they were aboard exploded off the coast of Zwara. The two agencies said the survivors, mostly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation. Following the tragic incident in the Mediterranean, the UNHCR and the IOM urgently called for a review of countries approach in their rescue efforts. There remains an absence of any dedicated, EU-led search and rescue programme, Federico Soda, head of the IOMs mission in Libya, said on Twitter. We fear that without an urgent increase in SaR capacity, there is a risk of more disasters, he added, referring to the search and rescue activities by the coastguards of countries in the Mediterranean. Some 45 people die in Largest recorded shipwreck off Libya this year. There remains an absence of any dedicated, EU-led search and rescue programme. We fear that without an urgent increase in SaR capacity, there is a risk of more disasters.https://t.co/KLSdqOILng Federico Soda (@fedsoda) August 19, 2020 Human rights groups and agencies have repeatedly denounced what they describe as an inadequate response by maritime authorities when alerted of people left adrift in damaged boats after embarking on dangerous sea journeys to reach Europe. While each state has the responsibility to conduct SAR operations within a defined zone, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue stipulates that they have the obligation to intervene in the zone of another state if that state fails to respond to a help request from that area. On Tuesday, Alarm Phone a hotline for migrant and refugee boats in distress said it had alerted both the Libyan and Italian coastguards about the presence of about 100 people in a deflating rubber boat off the Libyan shore. Both authorities failed to intervene, according to Alarm Phone. As of Tuesday, the NGO said it had lost contact with the vessel. ~100 people urgently asking for help off #Libya! They just reached out to #AlarmPhone saying their rubber boat is deflating & one tube is bursting. We alerted all authorities & hope rescue will arrive quickly. Dont let another shipwreck happen & rescue now! pic.twitter.com/tEoRy00NHt Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) August 18, 2020 At least 302 people have drowned in the Mediterranean so far this year, including the latest tragedy a number that soars to 20,000 when the overall deaths since 2014 are counted, according to the IOM. In their joint statement, the agencies urged countries to stop impeding the work of NGOs, which have stepped up their rescue efforts in the Mediterranean amid a scaling back of operations by European countries but are facing numerous legal and logistical restrictions. UNHCR and IOM are deeply concerned by recent delays in rescue and disembarkation, they said, stressing that delays recorded in recent months, and failure to assist, are unacceptable and put lives at avoidable risk. They also reiterated their position that war-ravaged Libya, which has become a key route for attempted migration to Europe is not a safe destination for refugees and migrants to return to. These people are at risk of the ongoing conflict, severe human rights violations, and arbitrary detention post-disembarkation, the agencies said. They also lamented that responsibility for rescues was increasingly being left to Libyan state vessels, pointing out that this had led to more than 7,000 people being returned to the unstable North African country so far this year alone. Any assistance and responsibilities assigned to Libyan search and rescue entities should be made conditional on no one being arbitrarily detained, ill-treated or subjected to human rights violations post-disembarkation, they said. Without such guarantees, support should be reconsidered, and search and rescue responsibilities redefined. About 17,000 people arrived in Italy and Malta this year by boat from Libya and Tunisia. While the number is a threefold increase compared with 2019, it is still drastically lower compared with the previous year. Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 19 : The Congress in Kerala has expressed its reservation over the state Election Commission mulling over the idea of using proxy or postal voting for the upcoming local body polls in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. According to the rules, the new set of local bodies should be in office latest by November and the Election Commission has expressed its intent to use new models to conduct the polls given that the number of Covid cases is rising in the state. The Commission has also sought appropriate amendments to the Panchayathi Raj Act and has approached the state government on the matter. The number of Covid cases in the state is nearing the 50,000-mark, while over 1.6 lakh people are under observation. Moreover, with few relaxations being made with regard to people's movement given that the harvest festival of Onam is just round the corner, things are likely to turn worse by September. Though the Election Commission is yet to announce the dates for the local body polls, they are likely to be held in early October. Congress legislator and former state minister K.C. Joseph said on Wednesday that it was most unfortunate that the Commission was mulling over new plans without even consulting the political parties. "It's unfortunate that the Commission never even made an attempt to consult the political parties. Everybody knows how manupulations happen during polls even with all the surveillance mechanisms in place. People know what will happen if proxy or postal voting is allowed. Can the Commission guarantee that it will be a fool-proof system," asked Joseph. An elusive protein that many consider the key of fully understanding the causes of genetic Parkinson's disease has come much more clearly into focus. Impacting millions around the world, Parkinson's is a neurological disorder that progressively attacks motor functions, leading to lasting damage in movement and coordination, among other areas. Researchers studying the primary causes of the disease have focused on mutations of the protein known as leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, or LRRK2. Understanding how LRRK2 disrupts normal functioning has been difficult due to a lack of information on the structure of the protein. Since LRRK2 is a major drug target, efforts to decipher LRRK2's architecture have even included launching samples into space as a way of using microgravity conditions to help crystalize protein samples, but with no success. Now, University of California San Diego scientists using leading-edge technologies have produced the first visualizations of LRRK2 inside its natural cellular environment and the first high-resolution blueprint of the protein. They leveraged these depictions to describe how LRRK2 binds to cellular tracks called microtubules and acts as a roadblock for motors that move along these tracks. The findings are described in two research papers published in the journals Cell and Nature. "These two papers take giant steps towards developing more effective therapeutics for Parkinson's Disease, which impacts so many lives," said Biological Sciences Dean Kit Pogliano, PhD, a professor in the Section of Molecular Biology. "Combining cryo-electron microscopy with live cell imaging allows researchers to see proteins working inside cells and to more rapidly determine how potential drugs affect their function. This will accelerate drug discovery and provide new hope to those suffering from this debilitating disease." LRRK2: a key therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease Known as a kinase, LRRK2 is a type of enzyme that adds phosphate chemical tags to other proteins, influencing their function. LRRK2 mutations are the main cause of inherited forms of Parkinson's disease, but researchers do not fully understand how this enzyme functions normally or in disease states. The answers to such questions have been vigorously pursued, especially because kinases are one of the most established pharmacological targets for therapeutics. Since the LRRK2 gene was first cloned in 2004, there has been a tremendous amount of effort devoted to targeting it for Parkinson's treatment. Susan Taylor, a world-renowned authority in kinases, recognized that the expertise at UC San Diego was ideally suited to tackle this problem. With support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation, an international team, including researchers across UC San Diego, set out to study LRRK2 using novel technologies. A cellular blueprint of LRRK2 on microtubules As described in the Cell paper, UC San Diego researchers led by Elizabeth Villa, PhD, and her colleagues leveraged new groundbreaking technology known as cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), a modality of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), to view LRRK2 in its natural environment within cells and describe its structure at a level previously unseen. In many cases, when researchers seek to determine a protein's structure, they begin by isolating the protein outside of cells. When using cryo-EM, scientists freeze the molecules in a thin layer of ice, preserving their structure, and determine their structure at high resolution. Instead, Villa's team images frozen cells that contain the molecules under study, taking pictures at different angles, somewhat like a CAT scan. "We lifted the hood to look inside the cell at frozen molecules caught in the act of interacting with each other in different places in the cell," said Villa, who noted the significance of co-developing the cutting-edge instruments used in the study with Thermo Fisher Scientific and UC San Diego's considerable efforts in establishing a new cryo-EM facility on campus. "We used electron and ion beams like a light saber to blast away parts of the cell. In the middle we left a window that contains the molecules that we are interested in looking at." The researchers also used light microscopy to find the molecules within cells, and advanced computational modeling tools to develop a high-resolution integrative model of a mutant LRRK2. Their data revealed LRRK2 bound to cellular highways, called microtubules, decorating them in a stunningly regular and unexpected geometry, and predicted that LRRK2's kinase resembled an "overdrive" state known to occur in Parkinson's disease. "This combination of powerful new techniques was applied for the first time in this research and made it possible to get the first glimpses into the structure of a mutant LRRK2, with the added benefit of its cellular context," said Villa. "To our knowledge it's the highest resolution structure of a human protein that was determined inside cells before using conventional biochemical tools. We are bringing structure to cell biology." A molecular blueprint of LRRK2 In order to understand how LRRK2 works at a chemical level and to design therapeutics, an even higher resolution structure is required to reveal the position of atoms and how they interact with potential drugs. In the Nature study, co-senior authors Samara Reck-Peterson, PhD, and Andres Leschziner, PhD, took a deeper look at LRRK2's structure and function and teamed up with Villa's group to determine how LRRK2 interacts with microtubules. Using cryo-EM, Leschziner's team captured the most detailed image-to-date of LRRK2's structure, down to the atomic level. Stefan Knapp, a professor at Goethe University in Frankfurt Germany, and his group were also instrumental as they determined how to make LRRK2 tractable for structural work. The structure comprised the business end of the protein--which includes the part that tags other proteins with phosphates. The locations of all major Parkinson's disease-causing mutations are found in their structure. Next, the Leschziner group combined their structure with Villa's and came up with a model that explains how LRRK2 binds to microtubules. "You can think of the kinase part of LRRK2 as a bit like Pacman, it can be either open or closed," said Leschziner, professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Division of Biological Sciences. "Our modeling suggested that, when bound to microtubules, the kinase needs to be in a closed state, indicating that the shape of the kinase may regulate the binding of LRRK2 to microtubules. Teaming up with the Reck-Peterson lab we decided to test this model directly." LRRK2 is a roadblock for molecular motors Microtubules are Reck-Peterson's specialty. She and her team are interested in the molecular motors that transport cargo along microtubules, and how defects in this transport cause human neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Reck-Peterson and her team wondered if LRRK2's interaction with microtubules might be detrimental for the molecular machines that move on them and carry essential cargos from place to place in cells. Her team discovered that LRRK2 creates roadblocks that stop these molecular machines. They also showed that some drugs that target LRRK2's kinase enhance this effect, while others diminish it. While Leschziner and Reck-Peterson are not sure yet if roadblocks play a role in Parkinson's disease, their findings already have implications for the design of therapeutic drugs that work by inhibiting LRRK2. Their work points to the possibility that kinase inhibitors that close LRRK2's kinase domain might lead to the unwanted effect of blocking the movement of molecular motors. "It's not yet clear what role LRRK2-microtubule binding plays in Parkinson's disease," said Reck-Peterson, professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Division of Biological Sciences and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "But what we have now are cellular and molecular blueprints, and that's what is needed to figure out what LRRK2 does and to fine-tune therapeutic drugs that target LRRK2." ### In the three months since Dashauna Ballard of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, recovered from the coronavirus, she has learned to not mention that she was ever sick. Some people give her suspicious looks when they find out she had COVID-19; some assume she got it because she did not take proper hygiene measures; and, recently, an acquaintance from church implied that Ballard, 29, caught the virus as punishment for sins she committed. People act like you did something to catch it, or you did something wrong, and thats why you got it, Ballard, an academic accommodations specialist for university students, said. I feel like I have a scarlet letter on my chest. In a time when they need it the most, many survivors of the coronavirus are finding that their support system wants nothing to do with them. Having recovered from the illness, they now face a new challenge: stigma from family, friends and co-workers. At the height of her illness, Ballard struggled with shortness of breath so severe, it briefly landed her in a hospital intensive care unit. Once her symptoms waned, she got retested for COVID-19 twice for her own peace of mind before she stopped self-isolating. Both follow-up tests were negative, but close friends initially hesitated to go anywhere near her. Related: I dont fault them for it, but it did make me feel like I was being punished a little bit, and I didnt really know how to process it, she said. You feel like no one really understands what youre going through. Ballard and others in her position said peoples fear made sense, given the unknowns about the virus and the ongoing edict from top public health officials to practice social distancing. But the hurt these survivors experienced went beyond standard health precautions: Some had friends who were socializing with others, yet refused to see them. Experts say such stigma is not surprising. Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative and a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine at Stanford University, called it an unfortunate and predictable response to a new disease. Story continues Stigma is terrible on many levels: Its harmful and awful for those people that experience it, but its also a public health crisis because it gets in the way of public health interventions and epidemic response, she said. Yasmin witnessed stigma in West Africa during the Ebola epidemic, but said it is a phenomenon that is not confined to any particular culture, adding that there are similarities between how COVID-19 survivors are treated now and the decadeslong stigma against HIV and AIDS patients in the United States. People are judged by this microscopic pathogen in their body as opposed to getting the care and support they need. The consequences can be broad, she said. With the coronavirus, stigma has hampered contact tracing efforts across the U.S. due to some COVID-19-positive individuals feeling too embarrassed to share their test results, contributing to the difficulties in containing outbreaks. We just have so many examples of this, Yasmin said. People are judged by this microscopic pathogen in their body as opposed to getting the care and support they need. Why are you treating me like Im a leper? For some, the stigma feels not only personal, but also illogical. Patti Kirk-Byrne, of Lake Carmel, New York, expected a warm greeting when she returned to her job as a hospital CT scan technologist after being out sick with the coronavirus for nearly six weeks. Instead, some of her longtime colleagues refused to be in the same room as her, despite the fact that she was wearing a mask. This confused her given their line of work. Theyre X-raying patients all day long. Theyre exposed to COVID patients on their shifts, Kirk-Byrne, 52, said. Why are you treating me like Im a leper? Similar scenarios are playing out outside of health care settings, too. Sadie Nagamootoo, 44, of Valley Stream, New York, was diagnosed with the coronavirus in April, and still struggles with symptoms, including shortness of breath and a sore throat, nearly 140 days later. She feels her status as a so-called COVID-19 long hauler has made her friends even more inclined to avoid her, even though she has tested negative multiple times since May 7. Last month, a friend who was going to stop by Nagamootoos sisters house to say hello abruptly changed her mind when she found out Nagamootoo would be there. The friend said she was concerned she could catch the coronavirus and bring it home to her relatives, despite Nagamootoos negative tests. I spent 10 minutes trying to reassure her, but at the end of the day, you cant blame anyone for wanting to be safe around their family, Nagamootoo, a personal trainer, said. Still, it made her feel like she had the plague, she said, and sent her into a depression that she could not shake for a couple of weeks. People will say things like, You never know, you may still have it in you, she said. It messes with you psychologically because you begin to think and wonder if you really can magically transmit some impossible thing to somebody, even though there is no active virus inside of you. Cases such as Nagamootoos, in which symptoms are present many weeks after the initial infection, do not necessarily mean the person is still infectious, Yasmin said, adding that researchers are still trying to nail down what is causing lengthy symptoms. They may be suffering symptoms because of damage the virus did before it was eliminated from their body, she said. And there is emerging evidence that those who have recently recovered from the coronavirus may be among the most immune: On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that recovered COVID-19 patients are protected from reinfection for at least three months, suggesting they do not need to quarantine if they are exposed to someone with a confirmed case within that time frame, as long as they do not develop symptoms. Why are you afraid of me? You should be afraid of the people who might be walking around with it and can spread it. Many survivors who have been ostracized feel they are among the safest people to be around. Why are you afraid of me? You should be afraid of the people who might be walking around with it and can spread it, Kirk-Byrne said. I just dont understand. Im not actively sick. Friendships lost Given the lingering questions around the coronavirus, Yasmin said no one should be blamed for erring on the side of caution, but she urged people to check in on friends and relatives who have had COVID-19 in ways that feel safe, such as with a phone call. Just the simple act of asking somebody what their needs are, what you might do to care for them during a really difficult time, thats a simple gesture of reaching out, she said. That type of support was a lifesaver for Scott Emmons, 58, of Suffield, Connecticut. When he, his wife and their son all got the coronavirus in March, his friends offered overwhelming support online. Some even dropped off weeks worth of food on the familys doorstep. Image: Scott Emmons. (Courtesy of Scott Emmons) Their kindness meant a lot to Emmons, the director of therapeutic recreation at a rehabilitation facility that was hit hard by the virus: More than 60 residents died from it, as well as two staff members, including Emmons assistant director. I think the hardest part was you couldnt give anybody a hug, he said. Its taken emotionally, physically, mentally a big toll on me. Others have not felt as supported. In Vacaville, California, Amy Delahoussaye-Demartini and her 7-year-old daughter, Giana, got into a rift with close friends when they got ill in July with the coronavirus. Their symptoms started out mild and seemed to just be a cold, but Delahoussaye-Demartini got tested for COVID-19 just to be safe. While they were awaiting the test result, Gianas best friend, with whom she had been having play dates since lockdown restrictions were loosened in California, asked to come over; Delahoussaye-Demartini explained to the friends mom that they were waiting on COVID-19 test results and left the decision up to her. Image: Amy and Giana Delahoussaye-Demartini. (Courtesy of Amy Delahoussaye-Demartini) The mother opted to send her child over to play with Giana, and then was furious when Delahoussaye-Demartini, a nurse, called a couple days later to tell her the bad news: The test had come back positive, and their family now needed to quarantine. Her friends family did not end up getting sick, and just over a week later, they proceeded to fly to Mexico for a vacation, according to Delahoussaye-Demartini. What baffles me is the hypocrisy of the behavior of people when it actually hits your circle, she said, adding that the other family did not check in on her and her daughter when they were sick. There was no compassion or empathy, not even a phone call to see how we were doing. Ballard, the Alabama accommodations specialist, hopes that by sharing her experience, it will help change the public perception of those who have the coronavirus. People dont understand that dealing with the symptoms is a lot, and then the recovery process is a lot, too, she said. Just because you test positive, it doesnt mean that you did anything wrong. It had to be simple to use in environments with little infrastructure, and so it was designed to filter its own air rather than relying on hospital wall outlets that might not be available. That means it can be used in the emergency expansion hospitals that the government has set up at convention centers, hospital parking lots and even at Mexico Citys Formula 1 track. Russia declared a protest to Norway in connection with the detention in this country of the Russian deputy trade representative, RIA Novosti reported referring to the Russian embassy in Oslo. "We have lodged a protest from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry in connection with the violation of diplomat status," the embassy said in a comment posted on Facebook by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The diplomatic mission noted that "Russia, of course, will make their own conclusions." Earlier Norway reported the arrest of a 50-year-old man suspected of transmitting state secrets who allegedly met with a Russian intelligence officer. According to this information, he was detained in Oslo on 15 August. He is charged with transferring information to a foreign state that could harm the fundamental interests of Norway. He could face up to 15 years in prison. Facebook has banned about 900 pages and groups and 1,500 ads tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, as part of a drive to limit the spread of the dangerous ideology online. On Wednesday, Facebook also restricted the reach of over 10,000 Instagram pages and almost 2,000 Facebook groups promoting QAnon, which has spawned real-world violence. The social media giant also took down thousands of accounts, pages and groups as part of what they called a 'policy expansion,' seeking to limit violent rhetoric tied to QAnon, political militias and protest groups like Antifa. Facebook has been under immense pressure to clamp down on hate speech and dangerous conspiracy theories, both of which are found in abundance on the site. QAnon believers think Donald Trump has been sent to wage war on Satanist pedophiles Facebook on Wednesday announced a series of steps to reduce QAnon's visibility on their site Last year the company announced new policies to reduce the visibility of vaccine misinformation on its platform, including rejecting advertising and excluding groups and pages from search results that spread 'vaccine hoaxes.' Facebook has since June been studying the QAnon movement - a wide-ranging, unfounded conspiracy theory that says that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media. On Wednesday they confirmed their new policy, which states: 'Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts associated with these movements and organizations will be removed when they discuss potential violence.' QAnon, militia movements and violent movements tied to protests will now no longer be allowed to purchase ads on Facebook. QAnon ads, which often pushed merchandise, were allowed on the platform before Wednesday's announcement. Supporters of the QAnon theory protest in Oregon in May. Facebook has conducted an internal investigation into the conspiracy theorists, and found that millions back the group Facebook will now deliberately push down in its rankings QAnon, militia and anarchist protest groups on users' News Feeds and in Facebook and Instagram's search engines. The groups and accounts will no longer be featured in the 'recommendations' sidebar on similar pages. The new ban will also prohibit fundraising based on hashtags related to these movements on Facebook and Instagram. Several Republican candidates for Congress have openly expressed support for QAnon, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, who recently declared that QAnon was 'a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this supposed global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.' On August 11 she triumphed in her House primary runoff election in Georgia, all but ensuring that she will represent a deep-red district in Congress. Over the last month, since supporters of the group were largely banned from Twitter, QAnon believers begun using the hashtag '#SaveTheChildren,' as a means to evade bans and recruit otherwise apolitical followers. A Facebook spokesperson said the enforcement actions will continue as the company works to evolve its strategy. 'This doesn't mean we've captured all of the ones we want to restrict yet,' the spokesperson told NBC. 'We 100 percent know that they're going to change their terminology. We don't think we're flipping a switch and this won't be a discussion in a week.' On August 10 the results an internal investigation by Facebook, reviewed by NBC News, showed that QAnon sites and groups had proliferated on the platform. The top 10 groups identified in the investigation collectively contain more than one million members, with totals from more top groups and pages pushing the number of members and followers past three million. It is not clear how much overlap there is among the groups. Cartoons promoting QAnon circulate widely on Facebook, and are being investigated QAnon supporters have been prevented by Google from selling their wares Believers in the conspiracy theory see Donald Trump as taking on a cabal of Satanists A small team working this summer across several of Facebook's departments found 185 advertisements that the company had accepted 'praising, supporting, or representing' QAnon, according to an internal post shared among more than 400 employees, and obtained by NBC. The ads generated about $12,000 for Facebook and four million impressions in the last 30 days. A Facebook spokesperson said the company has routinely enforced its rules on QAnon groups. Last week, Facebook removed a QAnon group with nearly 200,000 members 'for repeatedly posting content that violated our policies.' QAnon supporters rally in Portland, Oregon, in August 2019, showing their support for Trump Some of Trump's supporters believe in the QAnon theory, and show their faith at his rallies 'Enforcing against QAnon on Facebook is not new: we consistently take action against accounts, Groups, and Pages tied to QAnon that break our rules,' the spokesperson said. 'Just last week, we removed a large Group with QAnon affiliations for violating our content policies, and removed a network of accounts for violating our policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior. 'We have teams assessing our policies against QAnon and are currently exploring additional actions we can take.' On Sunday The Daily Telegraph reported that Google is blocking shopping searches related to QAnon. In July, Twitter announced it had banned 7,000 QAnon accounts for breaking its rules around platform manipulation, misinformation and harassment. Twitter also said it would no longer recommend QAnon accounts and content, would stop such content from appearing in trends and search, and would block QAnon's internet links. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 09:14:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Higos, the seventh this year, made landfall in the city of Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday morning, local meteorological authorities said. With a maximum wind force of 35 meters per second near its eye, Higos landed in the coastal area of Jinwan District at around 6 a.m., according to the provincial meteorological observatory. The city of Zhuhai has initiated a Level-I emergency response for Typhoon Higos. Enditem Hashem Abedi was described as 'dozy' but police said he could have been the senior organiser in the brothers' bomb plot. (GMP/PA) On 22 May, 2017, Salman Abedi walked into Manchester Arena and detonated a homemade bomb in his backpack. The huge blast at an Ariana Grande concert killed 22 people men, women and children aged between eight and 51 and injured others as hundreds of nails and screws packed into the device ripped through foyer. Salman was killed in the blast, but as police began to investigate what happened, they quickly realised he was not alone in plotting the attack. His younger brother Hashem was in Libya when the bomb went off, but authorities moved to extradite him as they looked into the level of his involvement. He was convicted of mass murder in March, and his expected two-day sentencing got under way this week. During Hashems Old Bailey trial where a jury found him guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life the dozy teenager didnt look like a terrorist mastermind. Salman Abedi in Manchester Arena on 22 May, 2017, moments before he detonated his bomb. (GMP/PA Wire) Salman Abedi at Victoria Station making his way to Manchester Arena on 22 May, 2017. (GMP/PA Wire) One witness described him as a normal dozy youngster with a reputation for making very big spliffs, while another agreed when Hashem was compared to the Disney cartoon character Goofy. However, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough, who led the investigation, said it is possible Hashem was actually the senior partner in the bomb plot. If he hadnt been brought to justice and tried for this offence, where would his career as a terrorist have led him? he said to reporters. Jurors heard that besides cannabis Hashem took tramadol and MDMA and consumed alcohol, which were disapproved of by Salman. Hashem worked a number of cash-in-hand jobs in restaurant and takeaways, such as a delivery driver. He was described as unreliable and with the wrong idea of Islam by his boss. In January 2017, with his parents having returned to Libya, he began ordering components for the attack. He used the details of a relative to procure a litre of sulphuric acid and hoarded empty tins at his home in Fallowfield, Manchester, which would be used to fashion prototype components. Story continues The scene near Manchester Arena after Salman Abedi detonated his homemade bomb. (PA) Shrapnel that was recovered after Salman Abedi set off his bomb at the Manchester Arena. (GMP/PA) The following month, Hashem and Salman rented a flat in Blackley, Manchester, to stockpile bomb ingredients, and in March they began using a terrace house in Rusholme to receive deliveries of chemicals. They set up an email, bedab7jeana@gmail.com, to order chemicals the email accounts name is based on the Arabic for to slaughter we have come. Their parents visited the UK in April, and the brothers used a cheap Nissan Micra to begin storing bomb-making items and vacate the two flats used to store parts and receive deliveries. The brothers and parents left the UK for Libya that month, but Salman returned to Manchester on 18 May, having rented a flat on a short-term let in the city centre less than a month after receiving a student grant of 2,000. He checked on the Micra, visited Manchester Arena and bought batteries, bulbs, tape, cable and a suitcase. Inside the shed at the Abedi family home in Fallowfield, Manchester. (GMP/PA) The Nissan Micra parked up in the Rusholme area of Manchester was found to contain traces of homemade explosive TATP. (PA/GMP) He spent the next few days buying more items, including a large money tin that would house the bomb, a rucksack and thousands of screws and metal nuts. Salman committed the atrocity at 10.31pm on 22 May. Hashem was detained by a militia in Libya the next day. When police discovered the Micra in south Manchester in June, they found acid, bags of boxes and nails, traces of explosives and Hashems fingerprints. Hashem was visited in custody by British government representatives and agents from MI5 and MI6. He was eventually extradited in July 2019, when he denied involvement in the bombing and becoming radicalised in a statement to police. He was put on trial in February 2020, and while the prosecution told the jury intricate details of the brothers plot, they never heard from Hashem. Hashem Abedi in the dock following his extradition from Libya. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP) Salman Abedi at Victoria Station heading to Manchester Arena. (PA/GMP) He did not give evidence from the witness box and he told his barrister, Stephen Kamlish QC, not to give a closing speech in his defence an almost unprecedented move at the Old Bailey. Two weeks into the trial, Hashems appearances at the trial began to tail off, around the time prosecutors read out the names of the brothers 22 victims, the injuries caused, and the fact Salmans body was recovered in four parts after the blast. The former Manchester College electrics student would avoid attending, claiming he was sick and suffering from flashbacks and alleging a prison guard attacked him. All notions were dismissed by healthcare professionals. He sacked his defence team and refused to leave Belmarsh prison, with the only insight to his defence case being a statement given to police when he was extradited to the UK denying his involvement in the plot. Tributes to the victims in St Ann's Square, Manchester, a week after the Manchester Arena terror attack. (PA) Had I had any idea of it, I would have reported it to my mother initially and then to other family members to prevent it from happening, he told police. However, despite also telling officers he wanted to help the investigation, he would offer no comment replies. The Old Bailey jury unanimously convicted him of mass murder in March. Speaking ahead of Hashems sentencing, Figen Murray, whose 29-year-old son Martyn Hett was among the victims, said it would not bring closure. We as families have a life sentence ours is until the end of days, she said. As a mum, losing a child is the ultimate life sentence. The sentencing continues. DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominent labor and employment attorney Christie Newkirk has joined Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP, as a partner in the firm's Dallas office. Ms. Newkirk has more than 20 years of counseling, litigation, investigative, and training experience representing employers on HR and compliance matters. She joins the firm from Diamond McCarthy, LLP, where she was Co-Chair of the Labor and Employment Law practice. "Employment law is more complex than ever, requiring lawyers who are able to serve as trusted advisors to businesses navigating critically important decisions. We are pleased that Christie is joining us, and excited about what this means for our clients," said Carrington Coleman Managing Partner Monica Latin. Ms. Newkirk's comprehensive employment practice includes providing advice regarding COVID-19 laws and workplace issues, planning and implementing reductions in the workforce, managing employee performance issues, managing high risk employment decisions, preparing confidentiality, noncompetition and executive employment agreements, as well as general preventative advice and counseling. Active in the legal and North Texas community, Ms. Newkirk is the Membership Chair of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association, a former chair of the Dallas Bar Association's Employment Law Section, and a former Co-Chair of Attorneys Serving the Community's Networking Committee. She also currently chairs the Las Colinas Country Club's Board of Governors and is a member of the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors. Her employment law expertise has earned her repeated recognition by Texas Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, US News & World Report, and D Magazine. Also joining the firm is labor and employment and commercial litigation associate Chelsea Glover. Ms. Glover joins the firm from Gibson Dunn's Dallas office, and her practice will focus on employment and litigation matters. Prior to joining the firm, she handled a wide range of matters involving human resources, immigration, class actions, antitrust, and women's rights. She is a member of the J.L. Turner Legal Association. She is conversational in Japanese and Spanish. Ms. Glover is a graduate of Harvard University and Duke University School of Law. About Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP Celebrating its 50th year, Carrington Coleman is a Dallas-based law firm focused on litigation and transactional services in the real estate, oil and gas, securities, construction, professional services, technology, and health care industries, among others. The firm provides counsel in corporate transactions, corporate governance, banking, bankruptcy/restructuring, intellectual property, litigation and appeals, employment, and family wealth/estate planning. Learn more about the firm at www.carringtoncoleman.com. Media Contact: Rhonda Reddick 800-559-4534 [email protected] SOURCE Carrington Coleman Related Links http://www.carringtoncoleman.com Joe Biden captured the prize Tuesday that he has chased for more than 30 years, as Democrats nominated him for president with ringing endorsements and a roll call vote that virtually touched down in every state and territory. The fast-paced balloting, forced online with the rest of the proceedings by the coronavirus, spiced up a normally prolonged floor vote as the former U.S. senator and vice president was digitally anointed to take on President Trump in November and lead his party into the future. Biden, his wife, Jill, and several of their grandchildren appeared on screen immediately after the vote, while supporters cheered remotely and the song "Celebration" boomed in the background. It means the world to me and my family, and Ill see you Thursday, said a beaming Biden, who will deliver his acceptance speech on the conventions fourth and final night. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Biden said. Tuesdays gathering brought together some of the partys elders including former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, among others but also gave a brief platform to firebrand progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. In keeping with the night's scripted theme of unity, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served in three Republican administrations, joined other GOP defectors and national security heavyweights in endorsing Biden. The Biden campaign hopes they will help persuade wavering Trump supporters to vote Democratic in an election that increasingly appears a referendum on the president's management of the coronavirus crisis. Speakers stressed a theme of leadership, showcasing Biden's nearly five decades in public service and arguing he is a steady hand who can restore competence to the White House and comity in national politics. "What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us," Powell said. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont enjoyed a last burst of attention on Tuesday night when his name was placed in nomination by Ocasio-Cortez. He garnered hundreds of delegates, but Biden's victory was never in doubt. Story continues Sanders, who only grudgingly surrendered to Hillary Clinton four years ago, delivered an unqualified endorsement of Biden long before the convention. His left-leaning supporters were so scattered across cyberspace they lacked the presence and critical mass to present meaningful dissent. Neither party has held a brokered convention, in which delegates pick a nominee only after multiple rounds of voting, in nearly 70 years. The digital roll call was even more suspense-free than usual. Normally, it is one of the most iconic convention moments, a chance for delegates to not just express their choice for president but good-naturedly brag on their home states before ending in a wild celebration. Like everything else, this year it was squeezed into a much narrower time frame and reimagined under social distancing that spread the virtual balloting across the country and into the Caribbean and the Pacific. Representatives of the 50 states and seven U.S. territories were tethered remotely in what Democrats billed putting the best gloss on as the "Roll Call Across America." Though brisk, the tally of states offered a panoramic tour of the country and its kaleidoscopic landscape, from the cactus-dotted desert of Arizona to the red rocks of Colorado, the sandy shores of Hawaii to the vast open plains of the Midwest. One tradition held. Delaware passed on its initial turn in the alphabetical order, leaving the vote to circle back and allow Bidens home state to cast the final votes that officially put him over the top. Later, Cindy McCain, the widow of former Arizona Sen. John McCain the GOPs 2008 presidential nominee appeared in a video that spoke of his long friendship with Biden despite their abiding political and ideological differences. Amid home movies of the two families picnicking and affectionate stories of the senators partisan combat, a voiceover said, It was a style of legislating and leadership that you dont find much anymore. Powell, a retired Army general who once weighed his own bid for the White House, said Biden would be a president we will all be proud to salute. With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around, Powell said in a thinly veiled swipe at Trump. He will trust our diplomats and intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. Other longtime national security experts also touted Biden's leadership, several of them warning that the international chaos and cozy relations with dictators Trump has invited are putting the nation at risk. Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who refused to carry out Trump's Muslim ban, said the president "treats our country like it's his family business, this time bankrupting our nation's moral authority at home and abroad." Jill Biden delivered the closing speech in a moving tribute to her husband of 43 years. She mixed the personal and political as she assumed the traditional role of vouching for her spouse, sharing family moments of joy and sorrow that, she said, have tempered her husband and groomed him for this countrys perilous moment. Speaking live from a Delaware classroom where she once taught English, she mentioned the horrors of a car crash that claimed her husband's first wife and infant daughter in 1972, and the brain cancer that claimed the Bidens oldest son, Beau, in 2015. Turning to the countrys economic and medical crises, she said, The burdens we carry are heavy. And we need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours, she continued. Bring us together and make us whole. Carry us forward in our time of need. Keep the promise of America for all of us. Democrats made the case that those searing losses instilled in Biden an empathy that makes him uniquely suited to guide the nation out of the pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans this year and put parts of the economy on life support. Carter extolled Biden's experience, character and decency, and Bill Clinton explained how the Oval Office would function if voters chose Biden over Trump. Our party is offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president, Clinton said from his home in a New York City suburb. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame. In another break with tradition this one of Biden's design no one person was given the honor of delivering the convention's keynote address. Rather, the assignment was tasked to a multi-ethnic, multi-generational round robin of 17 speakers. The taped montage kicked off the night, bouncing from one speaker to another for many rounds, and at times featuring several on the screen in unison. "We are facing the biggest economic and health crisis in a generation because our president didnt and still doesnt have a plan," said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, one of those featured, speaking from an architectural and design firm in his city's downtown. While showcasing the diversity of the party, the move also removed the risk of someone younger and more dynamic making the 77-year-old Biden seem stale and tired by comparison. For Biden, the nomination is the culmination of a difficult, decades-long quest. He first ran for president in 1987, quitting the race after he admitted plagiarizing other politicians speeches and exaggerating his academic record. He tried a second time in 2008 but exited after just a single contest the caucuses in Iowa where he received a scant 1% of the vote. It was looking like his current run would be another flame-out after voters roundly rejected him in early contests. But he would come roaring back, winning a string of victories that closed out the Democratic contest with stunning rapidity, finally winning the nomination on Tuesday night he had sought for so long. Halper reported from Washington and Barabak from Milwaukee. The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected actor Rhea Chakrabortys petition to transfer the investigation from Patna to Mumbai in Sushant Singh Rajputs death case. The court said that said Bihar government was competent to give consent to CBI for probing into the Patna FIR. A single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy pronounced the judgement. The bench held that the contents as disclosed by the FIR registered in Patna indicate that even Mumbai Police has jurisdiction. The apex court had reserved its judgement on Chakrabortys petition after a hearing on August 11. In her petition, Chakraborty said that the Bihar Police have no jurisdiction in the case and that the actors death was being used for political gains ahead of elections in the state. Heightened media attention and sensationalising of the case is another ground on which Chakraborty has sought the transfer of the case to Mumbai. Based on Rajputs father KK Singhs complaint that Rhea Chakraborty was responsible for abetment of his sons suicide, Patna Police registered an FIR on July 25. Singh also alleged that Chakraborty illegally transferred Rs 15 crore from Rajputs bank account. However, the actor has denied all allegations and maintained that she will cooperate with an investigation launched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Meanwhile, Singh was quizzed by the ED on his sons finances on Tuesday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also registered a case against Chakraborty and three members of her family members. Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. In 2017, former Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan made a statement in parliament, stating that there were several cases during the Four-Day Artsakh War when the military equipment wasnt functioning due to low quality fuel, but he made a mistake. This is what third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan told reporters today. I talked to Karen Karapetyan and he admitted that he had made a mistake. It was a mistake because when he was in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), some people had told him that perhaps there was such a problem with the military equipment, but later they verified the information and found out that there was no such problem, the third President said. Asked how many military posts the Armenian side lost during the war, Sargsyan said the following: My exact figures might be viewed as pressure on the committee leading a probe into the circumstances behind the Four-Day Artsakh War. The committee has promised to release its report in September. The remains of a missing mom was found in Mexico with the corpse that had signs of torture. The killer removed her teeth and desecrated her remains. According to the police, the defaced corpse of the woman was found a day after someone filed a missing person report, said the local news outlet. The deceased went on her own, without any companion, reported New York Post. The corpse was found at grass field next to a construction site at the Libramiento Emilio Portes Gil in Matamoros, and Tamaulipas in Mexico last Tuesday, cited WWLP. Lizbeth Flores, 23, was traveling from her hometown of Brownsville, straight to a border City of Mexico called Matamoros just last August 9. Information obtained by sources mention that she was supposed to meet up with her boyfriend and her mother Maria Rubio, who spoke to Telemundo, noted People. Her mother said that her daughter called to say that she would be home that night. But despite the victim's assurance of getting back sooner, she never did. This alarmed Rubio who was worried about her missing daughter. Later, a missing person's report was filed to give the local authorities a heads up on the disappearance, confirmed Reportdoor. After the missing person's report was announced, the authorities found the bruised and beat up body of Flores on August 11. After she was found, the body was examined where they found evidence that the victim was tortured nastily, with her teeth removed cruelly, according to KRGV-TV reported. Also read: Boxer Woman Kills Two Men: Rapes One With Shovel Handle , Kicks Another to Death In the crime scene where the woman died, police found rocks laying around. A larger rock was found that may have been used to kill her. The investigators were shocked at the cruelty. The victim suffered at the hands of her murderer or murderers. After a thorough investigation, Matamoros authorities captured the killer Molinos del Rey who works as a tattoo artist. His reason for killing Lizbeth is to steal money. What made it worse than the grief felt the deceased loved ones was the shock and trauma from what was done to Flores both when she was still alive and when she was already dead. Rubio is asking when the remains can be brought back to Brownsville where her child can have a decent burial and to finally have a look at her. In Spanish, she remarked to Telemundo that the desecration of her daughters was saddening, leaving her in such a state and subjecting anyone to such pain before dying. She then asked for the murder to be given justice, and let her daughter rest easy. The terror of the victim's ordeal weighed on her loved ones. Lizbeth Flores is survived by two kids. Rubio said those who killed and tortured her daughter before dying should pay. Related article: Man Stabs Brother to Death Due to Heated Argument Overly Freshly Laundered Pillowcase @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ulaanbaatar, Aug 19 : Mongolia reported three more COVID-19 recoveries on Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries in the country to 281, the National Centre for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) said. The recovered are servicemen of the Mongolian Armed Forces who returned home from Afghanistan on a chartered flight in July, the NCCD said in a statement. Meanwhile, the remote Asian country conducted 750 tests for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, all of which showed negative results, marking the fourth consecutive day without new cases, according to the centre. The national caseload remains at 298, and all the cases were imported. The country has reported no local transmissions or related deaths, Xinhua news agency reported. Introduction The success of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in forcing the withdrawal of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) from northwestern Libya has led to a temporary detente in the conflict. As GNA officials contemplate an assault on the strategic city of Sirte, divisions have resurfaced between Tripolis numerous militias. These divisions indicate the significant internal difficulties the GNA will likely face, regardless of further military success. Tripolis Militias Since its creation in 2015, the GNA has relied heavily on myriad militia groups. These groups not only provide security in GNA territory, they also make up the majority of its fighting force against the LNA. In return, militia groups have gained access to state institutions and increased funding, which has bolstered their influence and power. Despite apparent alignment with the GNA, ideological orientations and loyalties vary among the militias. The inter-militia differences within the GNA have been exacerbated by the increasing presence of foreign militiasnotably the Syrian militants flown in by Turkey to strengthen military support in the conflict against the LNA. Rivalries between domestic militia groups temporarily halted due to the existential threat posed by the LNAs 15-month assault on Tripoli. Since the LNAs withdrawal from Tripoli on June 4, however, signs of divisions have resurfaced. On July 8, GNA-funded militia groups clashed in the Janzur neighborhood of Tripoli. Ten militants were killed in these clashes, apparently over access to energy infrastructure. Further inter-militia clashes occurred on July 31 in the Ain Zara neighborhood of southern Tripoli following an argument over the purchase of fuel. The latter incident forced the GNA Ministry of the Interior to establish patrols in Ain Zara to maintain security. Related: Oil Prices Rebound As U.S. Inventories Dwindle The increased presence of foreign militants has also affected the inter-militia balance. The changing demographic caused by the influx of Syrian militants has provoked fears of a major divide in the GNA camp. Hundreds of Syrian militants were filmed holding up the Turkish flag and pictures of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Janzur in August. While no clashes have occurred between foreign and domestic militias, a Tripoli security source stated that tensions between the two groups have increased due to differences in ideology and allegiance. The Battle for Sirte With the frontline of the civil war solidified around Sirte in the center of Libya, GNA forces are now stretched over an expanse of 400 kilometers. Some of the more nominally GNA-aligned militias will be able to take advantage of the increased security vacuum to solidify control and power. Territorial encroachment and competition for assets are a major driver in inter-militia conflict, and clashes are likely to intensify over the coming months. The resultant instability could also be intensified if an escalation occurs in the battle for control of Sirte. Due to its key strategic location, major GNA stakeholders, such as Turkey, will bolster the GNAs military capabilities ahead of any future battle to ensure victory. Rather than relying on domestic militias, Turkey and the GNA are likely to increase reinforcements from abroad. Both Turkey and the GNA prefer to resort to foreign militias because it reduces their dependency on domestic militias looking to benefit from a future political settlement. However, the increased dependency on foreign militias will further destabilize security in GNA territory. Domestic militias are likely to become increasingly resentful as they are crowded out and replaced by their foreign counterparts. The more these militia groups fear they will not benefit from a country controlled by the GNA, the more they will be open to defection to the LNA or other actors. Even without defection, their decreased involvement in the conflict may lead some militias to focus their profit-making efforts elsewhere, whether through increasing control over state assets in GNA-controlled territory or through other criminal activities, such as movement taxes and kidnapping. Related: Is This The Next Major Market For Russian LNG? This potential instability makes it imperative for the GNA to establish control over or disarm its militias. While the United States has intensified calls for security sector reform and militia disarmament, the GNA has not shown a real willingness, let alone the capability, to carry out these reforms. GNA Security Sector Reform Security sector reform is also vital for the stability of the GNA in the long-term. Militia groups may have played a prominent role in the GNAs recent military successes, but their influence harms the GNAs political legitimacy. The GNA cannot showcase itself as a democratic, civilian-led, rule-of-law state while unaccountable militia groups wield significant and independent control. Until the GNA achieves a monopoly on the legal use of force by its various actors, it will struggle to establish itself as a legitimate political force. The GNA will face significant difficulties if and when they decide to carry out the reforms. Incorporating militia groups into a coherent and unified security force while coercing other militia groups to disarm remains a massive task. Such an undertaking is unlikely to be viewed as an attractive option while negotiating an imminent and potentially crucial battle over Sirte. Delaying reform until the GNA takes control of Sirte, however, would be equally problematic. Control over the city would give the GNA access to significant oil revenue, which could lead to a flurry of militia attempts to divert a percentage of the profits. Likewise, the increased delay in undertaking reform would allow militias further time to entrench control and extend power. By Jacob Lees Weiss via Jamestown More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Rioters smashed windows and started a fire at the Multnomah County Building in east Portland, Ore., on Aug. 18, 2020. (Portland Police Bureau) Portland Rioters Set Fire to County Building, 2 Arrested Rioters in Portland on Tuesday broke windows and set fire to a county building. The mob, which has gathered and committed violence nearly every night since May 28, targeted a new buildingthe Multnomah County Building, a government building just east of downtown. Video footage and photographs showed rioters launching rocks through windows that had been marked with graffiti saying aim here before setting fire to the building. In an incident summary, the Portland Police Bureau said members of the group started vandalizing the building with graffiti after 9 p.m. They began setting fires in multiple dumpsters near the building and around the building before spraying lighter fluid inside and throwing a burning object. The fire was large enough to set off fire alarms and the sprinkler system. As the fire burned, the crowd started to chant: What did you see? Didnt see [expletive]! PNW Youth Liberation Front, a group linked to the far-left Antifa that has helped organize some of the unrest in the city, called the fire a beautiful sight to see. Today, the Multnomah Building, tomorrow, the American plantation, it said on social media. As the fires were set, the crowd blocked traffic using support vehicles, a common tactic. (L) Damage to the Multnomah County Building after rioting on Aug. 18, 2020, and (R) a rock used to cause damage. (Portland Police Bureau) Police officers began dispersing the crowd at 10:32 p.m. following warnings to leave or face crowd control munitions or impact weapons. Clashes took place for about 2 hours. Two people were arrested. Jesse Hawk, 23, faces charges including assaulting a public safety officer and harassment, while Peter Curtis, 40, faces attempted criminal mischief and reckless endangering. In a statement early Wednesday, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said the building that was set on fire serves as the headquarters for the largest safety net provider in the state. This is the heart of our county, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity, she said. Kafoury did not condemn the rioters, instead stating: I acknowledge that there is grave injustice in our world and there is a violent and tragic history of oppression in our county. I am committed to transformational change. Sheriff Mike Reese said that the unprovoked actions by those who engaged in criminal behavior is reprehensible, adding: It is simply violence and serves no legitimate purpose. It does nothing to solve the issues our community faces. The second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention featured a 17-person keynote speech, past presidents, a roll call vote that doubled as a virtual tour of the United States and an emphasis on health care and national security issues. Ady Barkan, a health care activist paralyzed by ALS, appeared in a video speaking with a computer-generated voice in support of Joe Biden. Nearly 100 million Americans do not have sufficient health insurance, he said. Barkan emerged on the national scene as a backer of Medicare for All, an approach Biden does not support. Jill Biden, the wife of the now official Democratic presidential candidate, closed out the evening with a speech from a Delaware classroom, highlighting the schools silence and these difficult times. Our partners at PolitiFact checked a range of those statements. Here are highlights dealing with coronavirus case numbers and the Trump administration's position on the Affordable Care Act. Now, its unthinkable that Donald Trump is trying to take that health care away. In the middle of a pandemic, he is still trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. Narrator of a health care video segment We checked a similar statement by former President Barack Obama and found it to be True. The attack line refers to Texas v. Azar, a court case pending before the Supreme Court in which the Trump administration has joined with a group of Republican governors in an effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. The ACA is Obama's signature health care law that expanded access to health insurance to millions of Americans and took effect in 2010. It is estimated that 27 million Americans could become uninsured during the COVID-19 pandemic due to job losses and other factors. But the Trump administration has continued its legal challenge. On Tuesday night, Biden addressed several patients who relied on ACA coverage, including Laura Packard, with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma. She said, Ever since I was diagnosed, every night I would go to bed concerned about what news I would get in the morning. And even still, even today, theyre still trying to take away our health care, even during a pandemic. Another woman later said in a video segment focused on health care that I chose to become a Joe Biden delegate as I watched with our nation as President Donald Trump sought to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. For Trump's part, he ran for president in 2016 on the promise he would repeal and replace the ACA. He supported a 2017 congressional effort to repeal the legislation that narrowly failed to pass. Since then, Trump has continuously promised to produce a Republican health care bill, which would replace the ACA and protect people with preexisting conditions. He has so far failed to deliver. Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton took on the Trump administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling attention to case-count numbers to show how the U.S. is doing compared with other nations: We have just 4% of the world's population 25% of the world's cases. Former President Bill Clinton This statistic is correct. The Johns Hopkins database of COVID-19 cases shows about 22 million global cases as of Wednesday morning, including almost 5.5 million cases in the U.S. That works out to about 25% of the world's cases. The U.S. represents about 4% of the world's population. As we explained in a fact check of President Donald Trump's false statement that our numbers are better than almost all countries, there are other ways to compare cases globally. Those measures include case fatality rate, death rate per 100,000, per capita cases and the positivity rate. Measured against the size of the population, the United States has the 10th-highest death rate in the world. It's doing better than the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Chile, but worse than France, Canada and Germany, to pick a few examples. Factoring in population size, the United States has one of the highest rates globally of people who have tested positive 16,430 per million residents, which is lower than Chiles, but higher than that of any other large country. With a positivity rate of about 7%, the United States ranks in the middle of the pack, ranking better than countries such as Mexico and Argentina, but worse than just about every country in Europe, as well as Canada and Australia. Amy Sherman and Jon Greenberg "Being named a finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, New Jersey program is an exciting and humbling honor," states Ms. Perini. "This year's nominees represent the best and brightest entrepreneurs who have disrupted industries, driven innovation and pushed the boundaries of what we think of as business-as-usual. Being in their company is an award in and of itself." To be eligible for an Entrepreneur of the Year Award, nominees must be a manager or owner of a private or public company and be primarily responsible for the company's recent performance. In her role as the President and CEO of Somos, Inc., Ms. Perini has satisfied this requirement and beyond. Under her leadership, Somos has successfully positioned itself as a leading data solutions company, laid the foundation for the future of Toll-Free via a multi-year systems' upgrade program and expanded Somos' portfolio of product and services offerings to enable innovation in the industry. "Somos has always been, at its heart, a nimble yet ambitious organization," states Michelle Larsen, Somos' Vice President of Customer Engagement and Product Strategy. "Under Gina's leadership, we've grown from a singular registry administrator to an active leader and innovator that is driving the telecom industry into the future through trusted global connections. None of our successes would've been possible without Gina's vision, strategy and entrepreneurial spirit." Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award winners represent an esteemed group of leaders. Nominees go through a heavily vetted nomination evaluation process which includes a review of their achievements against the following criteria: overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Award winners will be announced through special virtual events between October 6-8, 2020 and will join a lifelong community of esteemed Entrepreneur of the Year alumni from around the world. This year, entrepreneurs who have provided extraordinary support for their communities, employees and others during the COVID-19 crisis will also be recognized for their courage, resilience and ingenuity. About Somos, Inc. Somos is a leading provider of trusted registry management and data solutions. Our mission is to empower more intimate and trusted interconnections between brands, consumers, and communities. A total customer focus is reflected in everything we do working collaboratively to build market value and creatively resolve industry problems. Somos serves as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator and the Pooling Administrator for over 800 million local and wireless telephone numbers and operates the SMS/800 TFN Registry for over 42 Million Toll-Free Numbers in North America. Other Somos solutions include the TSS Registry, the centralized registry for the use of Toll-Free Numbers in text messaging and multimedia services; and RouteLink, the alternative solution for accessing authoritative Toll-Free routing data. To learn more about Somos, please visit www.somos.com. SOURCE Somos, Inc. Former President John Dramani Mahama and Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress ( NDC) has promised the people of Akatsi South that youth employment will be cardinal in his second coming. He therefore urged the people to turn out in many droves to vote massively to make this possible. The former President said this on Tuesday, when he met the chiefs of Akatsi South, some religious groups and the leadership of the party in the constituency at Akatsi-Torve Kpota Catholic Diocese long hall. He stated that when Ghanaians gifted him with another mandate after the December 7 polls, he would complete all the projects that were initiated by the NDC, but halted. Mr Mahama enumerated some abandoned projects such as the Akatsi District hospital, which he said was 90 percent complete, some electrification projects in the area, including; the Avenorpeme to Xavi road, Ave-Dakpa road among others. He promised residents of Akatsi South of providing the requisite processing machinery that would help farmers in processing their farm produce to avoid post-harvest losses. Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI, Paramount Chief and President of Avenor Traditional Council on behalf of the chiefs and people of Akatsi South, appealed to Mr. Mahama to complete all uncompleted projects he mentioned if reelected. He expressed the excitement about the visit and advised the Flag-bearer not to endanger the peace now, during or after the elections. Other party stalwarts present included; Professor Joshua Alabi, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, former Speaker of Parliament, Mr Julius Deborah, former Chief of Staff and some Regional Executives and Constituency Executives of the party. Multitudes of party supporters milled to the venue to catch a glimpse of Mr Mahama with the security having a tough time wading off the people at Torve. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has notified the British government that it will not pursue the death penalty against two Islamic State militants suspected in the beheadings of Western hostages, removing a hurdle in the potential prosecution of the men in the United States. The decision could open the door to Britain to begin sharing evidence with federal prosecutors in the U.S. for any possible case against El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey. An earlier British court ruling had effectively blocked the sharing of evidence with American authorities because the U.S. had not offered assurances that the death penalty, which was abolished years ago in the United Kingdom, was off the table. I know that the United Kingdom shares our determination that there should be a full investigation and a criminal prosecution of Kotey and Elsheikh, Attorney General William Barr wrote to British Home Secretary Priti Patel in a letter released by the Justice Department on Wednesday. These men are alleged to be members of the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and to have been involved in kidnappings, murders, and other violent crimes against the citizens of our two countries, as well as the citizens of other countries, he added. Though the U.S. wants to prosecute the men, Barr told the British that the U.S. would move forward with plans to transfer them to the Iraqi criminal justice system for prosecution if American authorities do not soon receive the evidence that they seek. The British men, captured two years ago by a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed militia, are accused of participation in a brutal Islamic State group known for beheadings and barbaric treatment of American aid workers, journalists and other hostages in Syria. U.S. officials have not announced any charges against the men, but have spoken of their desire to see members of the cell, nicknamed the Beatles by surviving captives because of their British accents, face justice. If we receive the requested evidence and attendant co-operation from the United Kingdom, we intend to proceed with a United States prosecution, Barr wrote. Indeed, it is these unique circumstances that have led me to provide the assurance offered in this letter. The men were transferred to U.S. custody last October as Turkey invaded Syria to attack Kurds who were battling the Islamic State alongside American forces. They are being held by the military overseas. Barr said that was not a tenable long-term solution, so he set a deadline for action. He said the British government had until Oct. 15 to resolve any legal objections it may have and to provide U.S. authorities with the evidence they seek. Otherwise, the men will be transferred to Iraqi custody for prosecution by Iraqi authorities. He reassured the British that the U.S. would not provide to third countries that might impose the death penalty any evidence it has already received or may receive from the United Kingdom. The British government confirmed that it had received the letter, with the Home Office saying in a statement that its top priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for families of the victims. The decision is a significant development in years of wrangling over Kotey and Elsheikh. The U.S. and British governments have an agreement to share documents, records and other evidence in criminal investigations. In 2015, the Justice Department asked for evidence that Britain had gathered on the Beatles, saying it was doing its own investigation into Americans who were murdered in Syria. British authorities had been willing to provide the U.S. with evidence even without assurances that the men would not be executed if convicted. But in July 2018, after lawyers for Elsheikh demanded a review of the decision to allow the men to be put on trial in the U.S., Britains Home Office said it had temporarily suspended co-operation with U.S authorities on a potential handover. Then, in March, the British Supreme Court held that it was unlawful for the United Kingdom to provide evidence to a foreign country that could be used for a death penalty prosecution. The court has not yet issued its final order, Barr said, but even after that order there could be additional litigation to block transfer of the evidence. The IS militants known as the Beatles held Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them, beheading a group of journalists and aid workers in gruesome videos that were released to the world as propaganda. The British leader of the Beatles cell, Mohammed Emwazi, who was also known as Jihadi John, was killed in a 2015 drone strike. Emwazi was responsible for the beheading of James Foley, a 40-year-old freelance journalist who was killed in Syria six yeas ago after being kidnapped by militants. His mother, Diane Foley, said in an interview that she was gratified by the Justice Departments action, which Barr had said would be coming soon in a conversation with her and other victims families this month. I feel that both countries ideally should work together to hold these men accountable and give them a fair trial, Foley said. If they are guilty, they need to be put away for the rest of their lives. She said the only way to stop acts of terrorism was to hold perpetrators accountable. This would be a huge step, so I am just very, very hopeful and grateful to the attorney general and the Justice Department, she said. _____ Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP Teachers expressed trepidation about entering in-person classrooms and parents demanded answers to alleviate an atmosphere of return to school uncertainty during an Aug. 17 LAnse Creuse Public Schools Board of Education meeting. The school board approved a plan involving virtual and in-person school options Aug. 10. As of last week the idea was in LAnse Creuse, we were offering a choice to our families because in our family survey over 70% of our families had a desire to return to school, Superintendent Erik Edoff said Aug. 17. On Aug. 17, the board conducted a virtual committee of the whole meeting and heard teacher concerns about their safety in in-person classrooms. Local 1 LAnse Creuse Education Association President Kathy Parmentier advocated on behalf of the teachers health and safety during in-person instruction. I have shared with the board the results of a recent teacher survey which shows that the majority of teachers are uncomfortable with returning to the classroom at this time. The fact that a discussion about the teachers concerns or a possible remote start is not on the agenda today is more than just disappointing. Quite frankly, it is disrespectful to all of our teachers who have voiced concerns about their safety and starting schools with face-to-face, Parmentier said. Parmentier said she was also disappointed that she received responses from only two board members to an e-mail she sent, which included concerns and the results of teacher surveys. In addition the board also received a letter from MEA (Michigan Education Association) Local 1, stating that all safety guidelines must be followed to open schools safely. And we have yet to receive any response or acknowledgment to that letter. This seems to send a message that the board does not care how the teachers are feeling, Parmentier said. With the news that surrounding districts have decided to put the health and safety ahead of all else and start school remotely it is disturbing that the discussions of a possible remote start has yet not happened. How can we not even be discussing the possibility of starting the year remotely? I cant imagine how other districts were unable to follow the recommended guidelines but LAnse Creuse feels it is safe to return with face-to-face instruction. Parmentier said another point that has not yet been addressed is the number of teachers with medical conditions or that have family with medical conditions. Those teachers currently have no other option but to take a leave of absence to protect the health and safety of themselves and their families. In addition to the teachers who are medically at risk, there are others who are fearful who are also considering taking a leave because they feel their health is in jeopardy, Parmentier said. Parmentier said that in an initial survey, about 40 teachers were considering a leave of absence. A second survey showed that over 44 responded they did not plan to return in the fall, while some others were undecided, Parmentier said. Teachers are also concerned about the need to social distance and disinfect classrooms, according to Parmentier. It is the board of educations responsibility to ensure all staff and students are safe. And the current plan is insufficient and lacks the health and well-being of our staff and students. I urge the board to consider, reconsider the plan of returning with face-to-face instruction and have those difficult discussions, Parmentier said. Ken Grix, the treasurer of the Local 1, LAnse Creuse Education Association, expressed his concerns as a teacher and parent in the district. Grix has children at the elementary, middle and high school level in the district. Having seen the plans at all levels, having had a staff meeting this morning, every single question the teachers have asked, the answers were, I dont know. Were working on it. Were not sure. We will look into that. We have been given no details about virtually anything in terms of plans that need to be implemented three weeks from tomorrow. The fact that we are still having these discussions is absurd. Im curious what this board thinks, as a teacher and as a parent, what do they think they know that Chippewa Valley and Utica dont, Grix said. Grix said that as a parent, he has received no information about what the day will look like for children at any grade level, whether he chooses virtual or in-person learning. He was also concerned that some of the COVID-19 safety measures conflict with safety measures to prevent active shooter situations. The simple fact is, anybody in education knows there will not be appropriate social distancing in schools because it is just not possible, Grix said. Edoff referred parents to the district website at lc-ps.org for updated return to school FAQ. We have referred out specific questions that are building in nature to our buildings. And they have been responding to parents and families, answering specific questions as well, Edoff said. Last Friday our buildings put out specific plans in response to many of the questions that they have received. Edoff said many, although not all questions, have received responses. He also said that the week of Aug. 17 would be a sign-up period for the virtual program. This program is designed to create smaller classes, so teachers can create more social distancing in in-person classrooms. The district must determine the level of interest in the virtual program in order to determine what social distancing will look like in classrooms, Edoff said. I am fully aware, fully aware, that there will be situations where that could be challenging and we must address that. It is not OK to open schools if we cannot create social distancing in classrooms as we have stated is our goal. It is not. We must do something different then, Edoff said. The superintendent said he has worked with the teachers union on a near daily basis, has had almost daily conversations with other local superintendents and contacts the health department twice per week. Teachers have been involved on operationalizing procedures for classrooms, arrival and dismissal. Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Greg Dixon addressed concerns about the availability of teachers. The district has about 578 total teachers. He said Family and Medical Leave Act requests would be examined on a case-by-case basis. We would want to work rigorously with the teachers association to alleviate any and all concerns that we possibly can for members who did not feel comfortable coming back for reasons that were related to the plan, Dixon said. Dixon said the collective bargaining agreement allows teachers to request a leave of absence for personal reasons. The agreement also states that if a teacher cant be replaced due to the critical nature of the school program, the superintendent would meet with representatives of the association to try and determine what could be done to rectify the reason for the leave. If an agreement cant be reached, the board can deny the leave. The district has returning permanent subs for the buildings at the same ratio as in the past. Conversations have also been had with a third-party vendor. Dixon said that because of the number of districts that have decided to go all virtual, they have an abundance of subs. Nicole Tuttle is a freelance reporter for MediaNews Group. After several days of high-profile Republicans calling for state party chairman J.R. Romano to resign, the 72-member body that, at the end of the day, issues his paycheck, made no effort to remove him from his role. A person who attended the routine virtual meeting of the Republican State Central Committee Tuesday night said support for Romano and Vice Chairwoman Sue Hatfield was high among those in attendance, despite the public fallout over the arrest of 2nd Congressional District candidate Thomas Gilmer on the eve of the Aug. 11 primary. In fact, no one attacked Romano at all, said the person, who does not speak for the party and requested anonymity. Romano said previously, and again Wednesday, he has no intention of stepping down despite widespread calls for him to do so. He confirmed there was no effort Tuesday night to remove him from his position. He said the party did discuss at length ways to prevent similar incidents in the future, including developing a candidate questionnaire to better help the party vet candidates prior to making endorsements. Just hours before the meeting, Gilmer lost the primary to his opponent, Justin Anderson, in a recount resolving at least one outstanding issue for the embattled minority party as it attempts to build momentum toward November. Anderson apparently had a copy in May of a video that allegedly shows Gilmer committing a domestic assault. He told Romano about it and Romano suggested he take it to police, both men told Hearst Media. Many, notably House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, have called on Romano to resign over his handling of the incident, saying that if he knew about the video, he should have brought it to police and done something to remove Gilmer from the race. But while Klarides may be one of the two top Republicans in the state legislature and a likely candidate for governor in 2022, she has no say in the actions of the state central committee, which is largely made up of non-elected party activists. Romano acknowledged that a vetting questionnaire filled out by candidates likely would not have weeded out Gilmer, who had no criminal record prior to his arrest. The Republican party has struggled to attract candidates in blue Connecticut with President Donald J. Trump at the top of the ballot. Anderson, a lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut National Guard and retired prison officer, will be the partys nominee against the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Joe Courtney, who has represented the district since 2007. Romano has not publicly stated whether he will attend the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, next week. He now faces the daunting task of drawing up support for down-ballot Republicans vying for seats in the state legislature. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt Oil prices steadied on August 18 as high compliance with supply cuts from the OPEC+ producer group offset demand fears from the new coronavirus. Brent crude futures rose 9 cents to settle at $45.46 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled flat at $42.89 a barrel. Supporting prices on August 18, a technical panel found that compliance with OPEC+ oil output cuts in July was between 95 percent and 97 percent, according to a draft report seen on August 17 by Reuters. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, eased their cuts in August to 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from 9.7 million bpd previously. OPEC+ will hold a ministerial panel meeting on August 19. "Expect OPEC+ to communicate that they request strict compliance from all members and cheer for the success of the measures to date," said Rystad Energy's Bjornar Tonhaugen. Still, the coronavirus pandemic, which has raged for months, shows no signs of letting up. In the Americas alone, almost 11.5 million have contracted the disease, and over 400,000 people have died as a result of the pandemic, the World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne said on August 18. The United States and Brazil are the biggest drivers of the COVID-19 case count in the Americas, Etienne added. "There are still ongoing concerns about COVID and there are continuing concerns about the lack of a deal in Congress for stimulus," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. The US Congress has so far failed to agree on another fiscal relief package to stem economic fallout from the pandemic. Meanwhile, some European countries have renewed travel quarantines, which impact jet and motor fuel demand. Australian miner and oil producer BHP said in its earnings on Tuesday that it believes "the most significant risks to the physical (oil) market have now passed," adding that the pace of gains could be modest given potential headwinds from supply returning. Market participants awaited weekly industry data later on Tuesday on US crude inventories. Analysts expect the data to show that US crude oil stockpiles and refined product inventories fell last week. The United States Harness Writers Association has announced the details of a free handicapping contest that will cover the North America Cup eliminations and final. The contest is called 'USHWA Drive Me Some Cash,' and contestants must try and select the correct exacta finish (first and second place) in the sixth race this Saturday (August 22). The contest will be open to enter on Thursday, August 20. USHWA current members are not eligible to enter. There will be three grand prize winners chosen from the people that select the correct exacta finish. There will be a first, second and third-place finishers selected from a virtual drawing at noon on Sunday, August 23, 2020. Then the contest gets even better for the three winners, as the following week the first, second and third-place finishers select a driver competing on Pepsi North America Cup Night (Saturday, August 29), and USHWA will play $10 to win (first prize), $5 to win (second prize) or $2 to win (third prize) on every race that the driver they select is competing in. The three winning contestants must make their driver selections after scratch time that Thursday. Winning contestants cannot choose a driver that is already selected. First place names their driver first, second place names second, and third place names their driver third. The chance to win hundreds of dollars in cash is likely with this special contest as some of the top drivers in harness racing could be competing in ten or more races that evening. For the complete rules and regulations for USHWA Drive Me Some Cash is on the USHWA website (usharnesswriters.com). This Saturdays exacta selections must be entered on Scott Albergs Facebook Page (facebook.com/scott.alberg.3) by 6:00 p.m. Anyone who is not on Facebook and wants to enter the competition can do so by 6:00 p.m. Saturday by emailing their exacta selection to [email protected]. (With files from USHWA) The Naval Commanders Conference is the apex level forum for interaction between commanders. Indian Navy is already on high alert due to the India-China military stand-off in the Ladakh sector. New Delhi: Amid India-China border tensions, Indian Navy's top Commanders are all set to meet in the national capital on Wednesday for a three-day Naval Commanders Conference. Indian Navy is already on high alert due to the India-China military stand-off in the Ladakh sector and has deployed all its assets in the sea. Last month, Indian Navy had carried out an extensive exercise in Andaman and Nicobar islands which dominate major sea trade route for the Chinese ships. Indian Navy's P-8I surveillance aircraft are deployed in Ladakh to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance on the Chinese army. "The Conference assumes greater significance in the backdrop of recent events on our northern borders, coupled with the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 and would provide the higher naval leadership a forum to discuss conduct of operations, sustenance and maintenance of assets, and procurement issues," said a senior official. The Naval Commanders Conference is the apex level forum for interaction between commanders. The Chief of the Naval Staff, with the commanders, are likely to review major operational, material, logistics, training and administrative activities undertaken during the year and deliberate upon the course to be steered in the future. Commanders would also undertake deliberations upon the larger security imperatives in the Indo-Pacific. Defence minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address the Naval Commanders on the opening day and interact with them. The conference is also the forum for interaction of Naval Commanders with other senior government officials. This is the first Naval Commanders Conference since the institution of Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The conference would discuss upon the ways to optimise joint planning structures, Tri-Service Synergy, and operational readiness, as also functional reorganisation within the Indian Navy to improve efficiency. Last month, Indian Navy warships and US Navys carrier strike group led by nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz carried out passage exercise (PASSEX) in the Indian Ocean Region (ICR) to send out a signal to China. Indian Navy and Japanese Navy (Japan Maritime Self Defense Force) had also conducted a similar exercise in June. India is also looking at inviting Australia to join the annual Malabar naval exercise which includes Japan and the US. If the proposal is approved by the government, all members of Quad will be carrying out military exercises in the Bay of Bengal in a signal to China that its aggression in sea will not go unchallenged. On Tuesday morning, the controversy surrounding the United States Postal Service became local as Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), members of the Laredo Veterans Honor Guard and USPS employees and retirees gathered for a press conference on the steps of the Laredo Veterans Post Office in downtown Laredo. The press conference served as a protest to President Donald Trumps administrations handling of aid for the USPS as it has become a political issue in recent weeks due to the topic of mail-in voting. Cuellar said the postal service is also an essential service that needs hep to bring products and letters to the public, especially as people aim to limit their time outside the home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The postal service has been a pillar of our democracy. It is enshrined in our U.S. Constitution, Cuellar said. In fact, if you look at Article I, Section VIII, Congress shall have the power to establish post offices and post roads. In the old days, they would put a post house and then do a post road, so they could have the post rides deliver the mail, so this started form the very beginning of our Constitution. The congressman also laid out how the post office is not a constitutional duty set to Congress but is also critical for the everyday American as its services help them stay in communication with others, work with businesses and also get much needed products they order online including medications. Other benefits outlined include how people receive their Social Security checks, tax return refunds and absentee ballots through the mail. According to Cuellar, the USPS is also essential because it handles 48% of the worlds mail volume as it does not only operate domestically but also around the world. It services military personnel in 67 countries and diplomats in at least 113 countries. Due to the policies enacted recently by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the fact that the service had already been struggling, Cuellar pointed out the USPS has reported a loss of $2.2 billion in their second quarter. People involved with the USPS locally voiced their concerns for what is happening and called for action against the Trump Administrations inaction to save the agency. Our country struggles to withstand the public health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus as this pandemic threatens the very survival of the USPS as the postal employees are at the frontline providing essential services to the public every day, said Luis Palacios, District representative of the Texas State Association of Letter Carriers (TSALC). Yet, the current administration refuses to provide the necessary financial relief that threatens the agency during this pandemic. The post service cannot be allowed to fail, and we must do everything that we can to help the postal service thrive not only for the men and women of the postal service but also for the community and the businesses that we serve in this critical time. According to Palacios, not only is the lack of funds making it harder for the postal service to do their job and provide the services that people need such as the elderly getting their products and checks in a safe manner at home, but also the postal service does not have enough money to sanitize their areas as their funds are being lowered. Local veteran and USPS retiree Rodolfo Aguilar, who is the vice commander of the Laredo Veterans Honor Guard, attested to how service disruption could affect him if things get worse as the effects have not been felt in the Laredo areas yet. I get my Veterans Administration medicine through the mail, one of my checks and all the important mail that they send us from the VA and other government agencies, Aguilar said. One of the things that hurts me the most is that the current administration is using the agency as a weapon against the American public by taking away the machines out of several post offices around the country. Although these machines have not been taken away in the area, Aguilar said such machines are essential for postal workers as they do the work of hundreds of postal workers in sorting the packages and letters. Without them it would take workers much longer and would cause delays. Instead of going out and delivering the packages, postal workers will now have to stay back at the office sorting out the mail if these machines are taken away, according to Aguilar. He also pointed out how the future of the USPS could be affected as potential employees may not see any future in an agency whose future has become so uncertain. What they are doing with the USPS is not hurting anyone but just the public, Aguilar said. Also, if the situation continues like this, we might see many people get discouraged of getting a job or making a career out of the USPS. In a sense, however, this will inspire more people to come and join the fight in ensuring the USPS continues the way it is or even better. There is already a plan to hire temporary part-time workers in efforts to help satisfy the need. Ignacio Flores, the branch president of City Carrier Assistant in Laredo, announced the plan to tackle the problem. Right now, we are actually a little bit underemployed, Flores said. In a week right now we are going to contract part-time clerks, like five for each station, and 10 CCAs employees who will be part-time also where they will help in the delivery of packages as right now we are slow as we are getting 30 to 40 pallets of packages, and this will help facilitate the transport of the packages for postal employees locally in Laredo. Palacios said each postal office gets different amounts of packages but that each handles a large amount. The Del Mar station gets about 5,000 packages daily, and the main post office gets about 1,000-2,000 packages. Congressman Cuellar also announced in the press conference that on Saturday the House of Representatives will vote on a relief package called the Delivery for America Act for the USPS, which he cosponsored. He expects it to pass with bipartisan support then head to the Senate where its fate will be determined. Cuellar also said his main claim was against the postmaster general who put into policy the changes that would make services at the USPS take longer due to insufficient funding. The postmaster general, you know, Trumps donor, continues to push for policies that will accelerate the prices at the postal service which would delay mail and jeopardize the integrity of our election, Cuellar said. This is unacceptable. Again, we are supporters of the USPS. However, just a couple of hours after the press conference downtown, DeJoy announced he was suspending all of the policies he had laid out that would affect the USPS until after the election. Cuellar spoke to LMT about the policy reversal and cautioned that it is only temporary. It might be a temporary pause on those operational changes that have been delayed now, but we are still going to continue with our legislation on Saturday to make sure that we reverse the damage that has been done be the Trump Administration and the Postmaster General DeJoy, he said. Cuellar said the legislative act still needs to be done as the $25 billion in critical aid will help the USPS survive the uncertainties faced amid the pandemic. According to Cuellar, the suspension of the operational shifts means postal workers can now get more overtime for their work and maintain the resources they have in efforts to continue providing necessary services. jorge.vela@lmtonline.com The deadline for federal contractors to ditch Chinese gear and services in their contracts is here and vendors still have more questions than answers. Starting Aug. 13, federal contractors must to comply with Part B of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The provision bans government contractors from using technology and services tied to Chinese equipment manufacturers that have been deemed cybersecurity threats by the U.S. government. Those companies include telecommunications gear-makers Huawei and ZTE, as well as video surveillance manufacturer Hikvision, Hytera Communications Corporation, Dahua Technology Company, as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates. The provision goes beyond the simple use of the five companies' gear in contractors' networks for federal contracts, extending to its use in any day-to-day operations, including domestic commercial and overseas operations. Companies that have the equipment won't be able to sell to federal agencies after Aug. 13 without a waiver. In advance of the go-live date of the new policy, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center has been briefing acquisition personnel, CIOs and others on threats posed by the covered companies and their subsidiaries. "These unprecedented briefings underscore NCSCs commitment to elevate supply chain security in the federal acquisition process, in keeping with the National Counterintelligence Strategy," NCSC Director William R. Evanina said in a statement. "In partnership with the Office of Director of National Intelligence's National Intelligence Council, we are providing threat information on foreign efforts to subvert the U.S. supply chain and empowering federal procurement and contracting officers who share in the responsibility for protecting the federal supply chain." Contractors and their representatives are playing catchup when it comes to learning about how the provisions will be put into effect. An interim rule published July 14 for the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), provided initial guidance on how to implement the new rules. "August 14 will be a busy day," said David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council. The implementation of Section 889 Part B rules, he said, add a layer of additional challenges for agencies and contractors as they work to figure out how to use the guidance in the July interim rules. The rules appear tough. The guidance mandates "that contractors report (within one business day) any covered telecommunications equipment or services discovered during the course of contract performance." However, there are allowances made for risk levels, and contractors are allowed to self-certify and there's no requirement for a third-party audit. It isn't clear how federal contracting officers will uniformly implement that judgement when awarding contracts, according to Berteau. "We didn't know the implementation requirements until the FAR clause in July," he said. The clause itself also anticipates a ramp-up period for providers and contractors during the first year of the new rule's implementation. In the first year, "contractors and subcontractors will need to learn about the provision and its requirements as well as develop a compliance plan," said the rule. "We won't know on the first day which contracts have been delayed because of 889," said Berteau. The processes federal contracting officers will use to determine which products are subject to the ban are not clear, he said, since there is no list of those products, only company names. There also isn't a list of acceptable alternative products. Additionally, according to Berteau, there's no way of knowing what contracting officers look for when they're qualifying a contract. The impact on federal contractors will vary significantly, said procurement expert Larry Allen. "It depends on what each provider has and whether it is a substantial part of their systems." Cloud and other service providers, said Allen and Berteau, should have reviews of their systems well underway in any case. The interim rules, backed by the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense and NASA are not yet permanent. The federal government is taking comments on proposed changes to the rule until September 14 on regulations.gov. The Department of Defense, said Berteau, has put out the clearest implementation guidelines, but for the most part, civilian federal agency contracting officers haven't received any official training on implementing the rules in judging contract compliance. Contractors and federal contracting officers work their way through contracts awarded after the deadline, according to Berteau, as contracts in the pipeline before the deadline didn't have the requirements. GSA is working on a webinar to explain the rules for contractors. The agency had scheduled the event for Aug. 12, but postponed it until Sept. 10. "The event, featuring a panel of leaders from GSA's business lines to explain how they are implementing NDAA Section 889 Part B, was moved to allow more time to receive and address specific questions submitted by agency and industry partners," said a GSA spokesman in an Aug. 11 statement to FCW. This article first appeared on FCW, a Defense Systems partner site. Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has called for peace over the string of attacks that have been recorded in the southern flank of the state. The governor also said while we are saddened by the loss of lives, we remain committed to (end) the legacy of violence that has blighted the state for 40 years. The governor made these calls at a meeting with the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the Government House on Tuesday. Our duty is to uphold a common citizenship, united in respect for the rule of law, equality of opportunity and promotion of the rights and liberties of everyone, Mr El-Rufai said. We cannot allow our common humanity to be relegated and distorted by the obsession some of our compatriots have with identity politics which tend to divide rather than unite us. Nigeria, with over 200 ethnic identities, is a diverse country, but Kaduna is seen as one of the most diverse states in the country. This has oftentimes triggered a clash of differences among groups. In recent months, the southern region of the state, largely dominated by Christians, have seen a wave of killings, reprisal attacks and a series of unrest. But Mr El-Rufai said the clashes should not be seen under the lens of ethnicity, religion or other afflictions. Rather, it should be seen as a challenge to common humanity. Fidelity to the concept of a common humanity obliges us to see other human beings primarily as our own people too. Their other identities as Christians or Muslims or their ethnic ties are secondary to their core humanity. Let us uphold this banner of a common humanity and promote the right of all to life, liberty and livelihood, he said. We challenge anyone to characterise or differentiate the communal clashes, attacks and killings in parts of northern and central Kaduna State, as well as in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Niger States from those in southern Kaduna. Group photograph of Kaduna State Government and CAN officials after a meeting hosted by Governor Malam Nasir El- Rufai and Revd. Supo Ayokunle. KDSG Media Is it because in all the other cases, the victims are lesser humans or lacking in voice and media hype? What happened to our common humanity? We should avoid creating the impression that pain and suffering matter to us only according to the tribe or faith of the afflicted. And we should corroborate and verify, not rush to trumpet the claims made by those with whom we share ethnic or religious affiliations. He also faulted terming the conflict in the region as land-grabbing and genocide. This, he noted is being used in this current cycle of conflict, just as they were in the 2016/17 and the 2011/2015 cycles. We have requested and encouraged anybody to present evidence of any inch of land within Kaduna State that has been forcibly or illegally occupied. Efforts to end the crisis Mr El-Rufai said in the bid to end the crisis, apart from beefing up the security in the regions, the communities also need to show a willingness to live in harmony and their resolve to settle differences through lawful means. Some people do not want to hear this because it imposes responsibilities on individuals and community leaders to keep the peace and obey the law, but it is the civilised way to go, he remarked. He noted that upon his first inauguration in 2015, a White Paper was prepared on the report of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee established by the government of late former governor Patrick Yakowa. He said the government also initiated a White Paper process on the reports of the 1992 Justice Rahila Cudjoe Commission of Inquiry and the 1995 AVM Usman Muazu Peace and Reconciliation Committee, which is expected to be submitted soon. He added that in 2015, the government took action against the urban rascality of sara-suka gangs and began to address banditry around Kamuku-Kuyambana forest through joint military and police action with other northwestern and Niger States. The following year, he said, the outbreak of sustained peace that we expected was soon shattered by a spiral of violence a few days later. In answering the decades-old calls for situating a security base in southern Kaduna, Mr El-Rufai said by 2017, his government had facilitated the establishment of an army base in Kafanchan while also buying an estate to accommodate a mobile police squadron. We established the Kaduna State Peace Commission to help encourage communities in our state to adopt peaceful means of resolving their differences, he added. We will continue to support the security agencies to restore calm in the affected communities. Over the last five years, we have invested heavily in the security sector. We have consistently provided vehicles and other logistics support to the security agencies that are deployed in the state. Advertisements We are also addressing the technology side of security, through the procurement of drones, the award of contracts to install CCTVs in phases in Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria metropolitan areas, build a command and control centre and establish a forensic laboratory, Mr El-Rufai said. Analysts often draw a parallel between poverty in the northern region and insecurity in the area. Fifteen of the 17 states, where the majority of residents are poorer than the national average of 40 per cent, are in the northern part of the country. In Kaduna, about 43.5 per cent are poor. Unemployment in the state is still on the high as the state ranks among the top ten with the highest unemployment figure in Q2 2020. Yet, last year, save the FCT, Kaduna with about N45 billion generated the highest revenue in the entire north. Kano and Kwara are the only other northern states in the top fifteen. Governor El-Rufai said the administration is determined to continue to invest in human capital, and strengthen the health system and schools through infrastructural development, improved ease of doing business and economic stability. We have reformed governance, reducing waste and prioritising capital spending. Our budgets consistently have a 60:40 capital to recurrent ratio. We raised N44bn in IGR in 2019, a record in the history of the state and a far cry from the N13bn that was recorded in 2015. When we took office in 2015, we reduced ministries from 19 to 13 and started with only 13 commissioners whereas our predecessor had 24, Mr El-Rufai said. We took the tough decision to sack 21,780 primary school teachers for failing a competency test, but we replaced them with 25,000 new ones. Our recruitment process is transparent and is based on merit. People from other states consistently apply and are appointed if they meet the standards. We invest in youth through programmes like the Kashim Ibrahim Fellowship and KADSTEP, apart from appointing many youths into the government. We have implemented a robust public service reform programme. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Rating Action: Moody's assigns Aa2 UND / Aa1 ENH ratings to Spartanburg CSD 6, SC's GOs, assigns MIG 1 to BANs Global Credit Research - 18 Aug 2020 New York, August 18, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service has assigned Aa2 underlying and Aa1 enhanced ratings to Spartanburg County School District 6, South Carolina's $15.5 million General Obligation Bonds, Series 2020. We have also assigned a MIG 1 to the district's $18 million General Obligation Bond Anticipation Note, Series 2020. We maintain a Aa2 rating on the district's outstanding general obligation (GO) bonds. Following the above issuances, the district will have $25.3 million of GO bonds and $18 million of GO bond anticipation notes (BANs) outstanding, all of which is rated by Moody's. RATINGS RATIONALE The Aa2 general obligation unlimited tax rating incorporates the district's sizeable tax base that benefits from ongoing population growth and a regionally important economy. Over a decade long trend of balanced operations and stable reserves somewhat mitigate the fact that the district's fund balance and operating liquidity are narrow compared to similarly rated districts. Further supporting the Aa2 rating is the district's modest debt burden, rapid amortization, proactive capital planning and average fixed costs. The MIG 1 rating on the BANs is mapped to the district's long-term underlying rating of Aa2. The Aa1 enhanced rating is based on the additional security provided by the South Carolina School District Credit Enhancement Program (SCSDCEP). The SCSDCEP is a state-backed program, the enhanced rating is notched from the State of South Carolina's Aaa general obligation rating. 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. The district's near-term credit exposure to the pandemic stems from its reliance on state aid, which has not yet been cut but could be cut midyear if state revenues (which are highly reliant on economically sensitive income and sales taxes) materially weaken. Cuts to state aid would likely necessitate budget adjustments or a draw on reserves, and the district has a long track record of aligning revenues with expenditures. Still, the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic is evolving and the longer-term credit impact will depend on both the severity and duration of the crisis. If our view of the district's credit quality changes, we will update the rating and/or outlook at that time. Story continues RATING OUTLOOK Moody's does not usually assign outlooks to school districts with this amount of debt outstanding. FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS - Significant and sustained trend in fund balance and operating liquidity - Strengthening of resident wealth and income levels FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS - Reduction in reserves due to operational imbalance or one-time uses - Material increase in debt and/or fixed costs associated with long term liabilities - Significant deterioration in the district's long-term credit rating (short-term rating) LEGAL SECURITY The GO bonds and BANs are secured by the district's full faith and credit pledge. They also have a dedicated property tax that is unlimited by rate or amount. Additional security for the bonds and notes is provided by the South Carolina School District Credit Enhancement Program (SCSDCEP), which promotes timely debt service payment through county and state government coordination and is backed by sizeable annual state appropriation under the state's Education Finance Act. USE OF PROCEEDS Proceeds from the Series 2020 bonds will be used to fund various capital improvement projects and take out a portion of the district's Bond Anticipation Notes, Series 2019. Proceeds of the Series 2020 BANs will be used to roll the remaining portion of the Series 2019 BANs not taken out with the Series 2020 bonds. PROFILE Spartanburg CSD 6 serves the south-central portion of Spartanburg County (Aa1 stable) in upstate South Carolina. The district offers comprehensive educational programs for students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade. METHODOLOGY The principal methodology used in the long-term underlying rating was US Local Government General Obligation Debt published in July 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1230443. The principal methodology used in the long-term enhanced rating was State Aid Intercept Programs and Financings published in December 2017 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1067422. The principal methodology used in the short-term underlying rating was Short-term Debt of US States, Municipalities and Nonprofits Methodology published in July 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1210749. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies. 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. 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. 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. Francis Mamo Lead Analyst Regional PFG Northeast Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 7 World Trade Center 250 Greenwich Street New York 10007 US JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Nicholas Lehman Additional Contact Regional PFG Northeast 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. CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC. 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One wonders, sometimes, what the Republican leaders of Texas are thinking or, indeed, whether thinking is a verb that can be accurately applied to their activities. Tuesday was one of those days. Last week, the left-leaning Austin City Council voted to cut its police department budget by one-third over the next year and shift the funding to other services. The move was denounced by Republicans including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Jane Nelson, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. They think the Texas Legislature should take action to protect police funding, when the next regular session begins in January. On Tuesday, the trio along with Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and several Republican lawmakers held a press conference to propose that any city that defunds the police will have its property tax revenues frozen indefinitely. This will be an effective tool that effectively will prevent cities from being able to reduce funding support for law enforcement agencies, said Abbott. In a follow-up tweet, the governor took credit for the idea. Under my plan any city that defunds police will have their property tax revenue capped at current levels, Abbott said. Cities cant cut law enforcement & then turn around and increase taxes on the residents they just endangered. Theres a superficial political logic to this proposal. The nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyds death in police custody have drawn attention to the need for law-enforcement reform and polls have found that a majority of Americans back the idea. The same polls have found, however, that a majority of Americans are skeptical of calls to defund the police, even though advocates argue that reallocating some resources in a judicious way would improve public safety. In light of those results, the Austin City Council arguably handed the Texas GOP a gift when it voted to slash the police budget especially at a moment when state Republican leaders such as Abbott have been roundly criticized for their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed more than 10,000 lives across the state. Indeed, Texas Democrats were quick to blast the Big Threes press conference as an effort to change the subject. Greg Abbotts distraction doesnt take away from his mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, said Abhi Rahman, the Texas Democratic Partys communications director, in a statement. Because of [President Donald Trump] and Abbotts failures, 500,000 Texans have contracted the virus and more than 10,000 Texans are dead. It never had to be this way. But the proposal that Republican leaders put forward doesnt exactly hold up to scrutiny. Whaaat? asked Charles Blain, the director of Urban Reform, who has previously called on his fellow conservatives to take calls for police reform seriously. Is there a definition of defund? he continued. Are cities not able to reduce PD budgets at all, even if warranted? Those are good questions, and Texans were quick to raise others some of which are impossible to answer before the legislation that Abbott called for is actually drafted. The Austin City Councils action would delay three cadet classes and eliminate about 150 open jobs in what Police Chief Brian Manley described as the most dramatic changes he had seen in 30 years. This is not good for us as an agency, it is not good for those cadets and their families, and it is not good for the reputation of the Austin Police Department in the recruiting circles, Manley said. Funds would instead be used for the response to the coronavirus, mental health, violence prevention and victim services, among other needs. The city would earmark $49 million for a Reimagine Safety Fund, aimed at providing alternatives to traditional policing. As dramatic as these changes are, the Austin City Council had the right to make themand voters who disapprove are free to weigh in at the ballot box. And the state leaders who put forward their proposal Tuesday are ignoring the possibility that cuts to police department budgets may be warranted in some cities for reasons that have nothing to do with politics or ideology. If the leaders of a major city are looking to trim overall spending as Republicans routinely exhort them to do its unlikely that law enforcement would emerge unscathed, if only because it accounts for a large share of municipal spending. The $5.1 billion budget that the Houston City Council passed in June for fiscal year 2021 includes nearly $1 billion for the police department. (In fact, the council in June added $20 million to the police department's budget compared to the previous year, with Mayor Sylvester Turner explaining that he had heard calls from throughout the community to invest in law enforcement.) Beyond that, though, the Big Threes proposal amounts to an aggressive preemptive strike against the principle of local control, which Texas Republicans defended, often quite vigorously, when they wielded more power in the states major cities. I would want to see the actual legislation before I comment directly on Governor Abbott's proposal because 'defunding' means different things to different people, said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson in a statement. But generally, I believe it should be up to voters to hold their local elected officials accountable for their budgetary decisions, which should reflect the people's priorities. The plan put forward Tuesday may have been intended as nothing more than a distraction during the week of the Democratic National Convention, where police reform has been stressed. It nonetheless reveals that Texas state leaders, who undercut local leaders trying to control the spread of the new coronavirus, seem to back local control only when it aligns with their political ideology. erica.grieder@chron.com Ybarra, responding to demands for change published by an online collective called We See You, White American Theater, announced that her theater would make a series of changes, most of which were included among those demands: scheduling rehearsals only five days a week (rather than the standard six); eliminating 10 out of 12 rehearsal days, when artists are expected to work 10 hours; paying playwrights during rehearsal periods; and equalizing compensation for work on the theaters small and large stages. I am hopeful that change is afoot, but I am also waiting, along with my BIPOC colleagues, Ybarra said, using an acronym for Black, Indigenous and people of color. Part of me is in a position of power and accountable like everyone else, but Im also walking through our industry for over two decades as a Latinx woman with all of the institutional trauma that comes with it, and on that front Im waiting. Not all of the change taking place is voluntary. In Philadelphia, the nonprofit PlayPenn, which supports the development of new work, accepted the resignation of its artistic director and fired its associate artistic director after receiving allegations that it was not meeting community members expectations for racial and cultural competence. In Georgia, the Serenbe Playhouse laid off its entire staff following allegations of racism. And at the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, executive director Ginny Louloudes was placed on leave after a group of current and former employees wrote a letter saying her presence is toxic, abusive and an obstacle to progress. The organization, which provides a variety of forms of assistance, including performance, rehearsal and office space, for many small theaters, has appointed Risa Shoup as interim executive director. As at so many organizations and institutions, people are seeing that they can take control of whats happening in their workplace, said Susan Bernfield, a member of the alliances executive committee. In the commercial realm, change is less obvious, but there are some noteworthy data points. The musical Company has pledged to hire 10 paid apprentices, all of them Black, when Broadway resumes. The musical Wicked is sponsoring the Broadway Advocacy Coalitions artivism fellowship, which plans an inaugural class of Black women artist-activists focused on systemic racism and criminal justice reform. And the Broadway League, the trade association of theater owners and producers, this month doubled the number of Black members of its board of governors, from two to four, by adding Brian Moreland, a producer, and Kendra Whitlock Ingram, the president and chief executive of Milwaukees Marcus Performing Arts Center. Cole Sprouse is confirming his split from "Riverdale" co-star Lili Reinhart in the most heartfelt way. In a candid post he shared Wednesday on Instagram, Sprouse said that he was grateful the couple's three-year relationship gave him "the chance to fall in love." "Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March. What an incredible experience I had, Ill always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love," Sprouse, 28, wrote next to a pic of Reinhart walking in the woods. Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart (Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for The Met Museum) "I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward. All Ill say about it, anything else you hear doesnt matter," he added. The former Disney Channel star concluded his post by urging fans to see Reinhart's new romantic drama, "Chemical Hearts," which premieres Friday on Amazon Prime Video. "Also her movie comes out soon! Im sure shes just as incredible in it as everything else she does. Thanks guys," he wrote. Sprouse's post came one day after Refinery29 published an interview with Reinhart, 23, in which she described the past few months as "the most emotional few months of my entire life." The "Hustlers" star also revealed that her therapist recently told her, "Your body's going through withdrawal from love." I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup. Thats incredibly private. I was addressing my depression. Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) August 18, 2020 Reinhart quickly took to Twitter to clarify that her remarks were about suffering depression during recent months and not about Sprouse. "Quotes taken from my most recent interview are not about a 'breakup.' They are about the depression Ive felt over these last few months. Tired of people taking my words out of context and piecing together their own story for clickbait," she tweeted. She added, "I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup. Thats incredibly private. I was addressing my depression." We're a family of seven living in Georgia where Andrew's working as a professor at GSU. You can read more about us here Police in Gia Lam District, Hanoi managed to rescue an abandoned newborn boy from a narrow gap between two walls on Tuesday evening. Officers said local people found the baby left in a gap betwen two houses in Alley No. 174 on Trau Quy Street in Trau Quy Town, Gia Lam District at around 5:50 pm on the same day. Upon receiving the peoples report, rescuers quickly came to the scene. This supplied photo shows a narrow wall gap where an abandoned newborn boy was rescued in Gia Lam District, Hanoi, August 18, 2020. As the slit was too narrow for an adult to get in, the rescuers opened up a hole on one of the two walls and safely took out the litlle child at around 6:00 pm. The baby was taken to a local medical center for health care. Authorities are further clarifying the case. This supplied photo shows a hole opened up on a wall for rescuers to remove a child abandoned in a narrow gap between two houses in Gia Lam District, Hanoi, August 18, 2020. A medical worker takes care of an abandoned child after he was rescued from a narrow wall gap between two houses in Gia Lam District, Hanoi, August 18, 2020 in this supplied photo. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! LOS ANGELESIn early July, the Eliminating Abuse and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technology Act, better known as the EARN IT Act, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, enjoying a bipartisan, unanimous thumbs-up from the committee members. The bill now awaits a full debate and vote on the Senate floor. But according to a new analysis by technology CEO and broadband expert Anurag Lal, published by Security Magazine, the bill could undermine privacy, promote censorship and jeopardize the right to free speech. Lals analysis, though not specifically addressing concerns of sex workers, echoes criticism by sex worker advocates. They say that the bill which requires internet sites to abide by a vague set of so-called best practices to prevent online sex trafficking could open the door to increased surveillance, arrest and persecution of sex workers, for alleged crimes that have nothing to do with sex trafficking. According to the analysis by Lal, the bill requires device makers and internet platforms to scan all data before and after encryption, to monitor communications for abusive material. The American Civil Liberties Union has called that provision, and others in the bill, a disaster for online speech and privacy. The bill, in the amended form that passed through the Judiciary Committee, leaves it to individual states to create their own standards for how content posted by users on internet platforms should be scrutinized. But as AVN has reported, Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act prevents platforms from being held responsible for user-posted content. Section 230 has become known as the First Amendment of the internet, because its provisions allow for free communications online without platform owners being forced to monitor or censor every piece of content posted by third-party users. While Lal acknowledges that combatting actual online sexual abuse and trafficking is a serious problem, he says that Congress should go back to the drawing board on the EARN IT Act and develop measures that achieve this without limiting free speech or compromising security. Especially with the coronavirus pandemic causing an increased reliance on the internet for even basic forms of communication, security measures such as end-to-end encryption are now more important than ever, Lal wrote. But the EARN IT Act is not the only threat to online privacy now making its way through Congress. Also in July, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham the mead EARN IT Act sponsor Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn introduced the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, a bill that would stage a a nuclear assault on encryption in the United States, and, by extension, on security, privacy, and speech online, according to a Brookings Institute analysis. Photo by Pixabay Representative Image India's has recorded 27.67 cases of COVID-19 with 52,889 deaths, according to the Union Health Ministry's latest update. The country saw 64,531 new cases and 1,092 deaths in the last 24 hours. Of the total COVID-19 cases, over 6.76 lakh are active cases, while more than 20.37 lakh have recovered. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of infections, followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The health ministry updates its numbers a day after states release their data. 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 Globally, more than 2.2 crore infections and over 7.74 lakh deaths have been reported due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are all the latest updates: >> Serum Institute of India (SII) initiated phase two and three clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine to evaluate its safety and immune response on healthy Indian adults. >> Hong Kong barred Air India flights till August-end after passengers tested positive for COVID-19. >> Arunachal Pradesh reported its highest-single day spike in COVID-19 cases as 133 people, including 29 security personnel, tested positive for the infection. >> Although COVID-19 patients may lose their sense of smell, they can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes, a study has said. >> Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on August 19, the country's health ministry said - the highest death toll for any West Asian country so far in the pandemic. >> The UK government announced a significant expansion of its coronavirus testing programme with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) planning to test 1,50,000 people every fortnight by October from the current 28,000 tests in that period. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases at nursing homes in the United States increased by almost 80 percent this summer. A new report showed that the increase of COVID cases in nursing homes was driven by the rampant spread of the coronavirus across the South and West coast areas. There were 9,715 COVID-19 cases recorded in nursing homes at the week of July 26, a 78 percent increase from the June 21 cases, as per the American Health Care Association report. Tamara Konetzka, a research professor at the University of Chicago who specializes in long-term care, told the AP News that "the case numbers suggest the problem is far from solved." According to the COVID Tracking Project, nursing homes and long-term care facilities account for less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, but more than 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths. Monday's study from the American Health Care Association showed that the weekly deaths rose to nearly 25 percent or 1,706 the week of July 26 from a low point the week beginning July 5. Coronavirus cases increased mostly at nursing homes across Sun Belt states, where COVID-19 cases and fatalities surge in general. "As the virus surges in Sun Belt states, there's no reason to think it won't affect nursing homes in the same way it did in states that surged earlier," said Konetzka. She noted that they had learned some things on how to minimize the effect in nursing homes. However, she said providers need the tools to implement those best practices. Securing the supply chain for personal protective equipment and rapid testing are the critical role of federal policy that has not been fulfilled, according to Konetzka. Compared to the week of May 31, nursing homes in Sunbelt states have less than a third of the weekly coronavirus cases. But by the week starting July 26, it became 78 percent of all cases. Business Insider previously reported that the coronavirus cases in nursing homes represented about 8 percent of the national caseload and 41 percent of total US COVID-19 deaths. With the recent significant spikes of the coronavirus cases in many states across the country, Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, noted that the organization was concerned that this trend would lead to a further increase in cases in nursing homes. "This is especially troubling since many nursing homes and other long term care facilities are still unable to acquire the personal protective equipment and testing they need to fully combat this virus," Parkinson added. Another expert told the AP News that infection control practices are the number one reason for the growing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths within these facilities. But Parkinson said even perfect infection control would not have stopped the COVID-19 cases in nursing homes because asymptomatic carriers spread the virus. Parkinson, who released the study, added that one out of 10 facilities lacks adequate personal protective equipment also. Other struggles include a proper testing regime, which would be too expensive for any facility to afford on its own, according to Business Insider. The American Health Care Association gave an estimate for a single round of testing for every worker and resident in a nursing home. The assisted living facility would cost $675 million, as per Business Insider. Check these out: COVID-19 Latino Patient Recovery: A Miracle After Beating the Virus, Two Blood Clots, and a Stroke Stimulus Payments Could Be $50,000 for Eligible Families If Bill Backed by Harris, Sanders Passes Latin America to Choose COVID-19 Diplomacy Between Two Powerful Countries Videos: IDF Jets Launch Retaliatory Strikes on Hamas Posts in Gaza Sputnik News 20:39 GMT 18.08.2020(updated 21:22 GMT 18.08.2020) Multiple retaliatory strikes were launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) late Tuesday against Hamas position in Gaza, an act in response to a rocket that was launched from Gaza toward the Israeli territory earlier in the day. The IDF noted in a late Tuesday tweet that the service's jets "attacked a number of other Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. During the attack, a military compound of one of the special units of the Hamas terrorist organization was attacked." "The attack was carried out in response to the launch of a rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory earlier in the evening and the blowing up of explosive and incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory during the day," the statement added. "The IDF takes all terrorist activity against Israeli territory very seriously and is prepared and willing to act as much as necessary against attempts to harm Israeli citizens. The terrorist organization Hamas bears responsibility for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip, and will bear the consequences of terrorist acts against Israeli citizens," the statement continued. Videos on social media shows multiple explosions sounding off throughout the Gaza. Early reports of the strikes indicated that citizens' homes in Gaza were destroyed due to Israeli actions in the Al-Zeitoub neighborhood, south of Gaza City. Explosions have been reported across the Gaza Strip since last week in response to incendiary balloons being launched into Israel from Gaza. On Tuesday, an Egyptian envoy attempted to prevent the escalation between Hamas and Israel. Last Thursday, Israel also announced that it is limiting Gaza's fishing zone. It also agreed to temporarily halt its annexation of the parts of the West Bank to pursue full diplomatic recognition and relations with the United Arab Emirates. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Infection Disease Expert Tells Victorian Inquiry of Inappropriate COVID-19 Training Health experts have told Victorias hotel quarantine inquiry on Aug. 17 that misleading and confusing COVID-19 training and PPE advice was given to private security guards to use in Melbournes hotel. Head of Infectious Diseases at Austin Heath, Lindsay Grayson told the inquiry that the 30-minute training module provided by the Australian Department of Health for private security guards contained inadequate advice on personal protective equipment usage creating a considerable risk of COVID-19 transmission from returnees. It was reliable for the general community but completely inaccurate for anyone undertaking health care or potentially at risk with you know, quarantine staff, with an infectious patient. It was the complete opposite of what we teach regarding PPE, Grayson noted. I would describe this document as confused in its target audience, he said. Grayson was also asked to comment on the training manual assertion that not everyone should wear a mask. Grayson said, clearly this is misleading for health care workers or quarantine staff if they thought they didnt need to wear a mask when I would consider it crucial if they were in likely contact with a potentially infectious patient. Before July 19, the public health advice issued by the Victorian government was that masks only needed to be worn by symptomatic people. Since then, the Victorian government has made it mandatory to wear a mask everywhere in public. Inappropriate PPE Advice Grayson was also questioned by lawyer Arthur Moses who represented the Unified Security Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Moses explicitly asked Graysons opinion on advice provided by Victorias Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in the PPE Advice for Hotel Security Staff and AOs in Contact with Quarantined Individuals. Identifying four sections from the PPE Advice where the DHHS had stated that the security staff did not need to wear PPE, Moses established with Grayson that the advice was inappropriate for the situation. Previously, Grayson had stated that PPE used by staff in hotel quarantine settings should be similar to that used in hospitals as they are both infection control environments. Codenamed Operation Soteriaafter the Greek goddess of rescue and safetythe hotel quarantine program has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks for their choice to use private security guards instead of Australian Defence Forces or state police. Premier Daniel Andrews has also repeatedly refuted or deflected questions on why he refused to accept offers of ADF personnel. However, he has said that at a press conference on Aug. 17 if he is called to attend the inquiry, he will be there. Victorias State Control Centre created Victorias Hotel quarantine program on March 28, a day after a national cabinet meeting had decided to implement a compulsory quarantine program. Department of jobs minister Martin Pakula told the inquiry on Aug. 12 that his department was instructed to find suitable private security companies by midnight on March 28, the first set of returnees arrived the morning of March 29. Premier Daniel Andrews launched Victorias hotel quarantine inquiry on July 2 following an assessment from genome sequencing that at least a significant portion of the states CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases since June came from the returnees quarantine program. Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, at the University of Melbourne, Benjamin Peter Howden told the inquiry that three strains of COVID-19 had been detected since June, and each has been linked to returnees. What I could say, a high-level statement would be that over 99 percent of all current cases in Victoria for which we have genomic sequencing data are derived from those three strains. The coalition that has assembled around the candidacy of Joe Biden is so broad that it is ideologically incoherent. Consider what happened on the second night of the Democratic National Convention: two dead Republicans received more airtime than the most famous young person in the Democratic Party. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did speak, she never mentioned Joe Biden. Instead, she gave one of two nominating speeches for Bernie Sanders, the man whose campaign she volunteered for in 2016 when she was tending bar in the Bronx, and again in 2020, when she was the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress and the most famous progressive in America. The Democratic National Committee allowed AOC to speak for less than two minutes. AOC sprinkled her remarks with Spanish, but compared with the moderate Democrats and elder statesmen of the Republican Party featured over the past two nights, AOC was also speaking a different ideological language. She talked about a mass people's movement working to establish 21st century social, economic and human rights. She called for that movement to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia and reimagine systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past. These are all lines that are standard fare on the millennial left but would never get past a Biden speechwriter. AOCs blink-and-you-would-have-missed-them remarks were nothing like those of Bernie Sanders. On Monday night, Sanders made the case for why, in the face of the dangers represented by a second Trump term, leftists needed to rally around Biden despite any policy misgivings. Sanders is driven by a hair-on-fire concern about a second Trump term that has motivated him to put aside all intraparty differences in favor of boosting Bidens candidacy. My friends, I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake, Sanders said. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake. We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine. Story continues AOC never mentioned Trump, either. After she spoke on Tuesday, the convention took a turn toward the nostalgic, highlighting as a feature the main bug that progressives see in Biden: his decadeslong record as a member of the Washington deal-making establishment. Two of Bidens favorite maxims are his admonition to never question a fellow senators motives and to always try to understand what it was that voters valued about his political adversaries in the upper chamber. To Biden, this was exactly how the founders intended the Senate to work: find a way to compromise with even the most deplorable democratically elected members. (In the primaries, this strongly held Biden belief became his Achilles' heel when opponents attacked him for extending these principles even to segregationist colleagues in the '70s.) Tuesday night was a tribute to this strand of Bidenism and a tacit rebuke to the AOC wings impatience with it. Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska and a former Defense secretary, is 73. He accused Trump of dereliction of duty for failing to confront Moscow over its meddling in Afghanistan. Colin Powell is 83. Even if a deal seemed out of reach, it was always Joe who tried to cross the aisle, Powell said in praising Bidens ability to find the common ground. Cindy McCain narrated a tribute to Biden that included remarks from her husband, John McCain, who died in 2018 at the age of 81. A video montage featured shots of Dick Lugar, a senator from Indiana and Biden friend who died last year at the age of 87. Rounding out the night were remarks from Bill Clinton, 74, and John Kerry, 76, both of whom are actually younger than Biden, who will turn 78 on Nov. 20. It was a strange evening that emphasized voices from a bygone era of American politics and failed to capture the current youth and ideological churn within the Democratic Party. It also gave a false sense of who will matter if Biden is president. If he wins next year, we will be hearing a lot more from AOC than from Hagel. Lawsuit seeks to delay enforcing Noem's new abortion pill ban Planned Parenthood and ACLU of South Dakota are suing Noem and the Department of Health in enforcing a new abortion pill ban. TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Investors have been confronted with unprecedented uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how the pandemic is affecting retail investor experiences and behaviours is key to protecting investors. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today released a new study finding that nearly half of investors are experiencing increased levels of stress, most have had communication with their advisors, and few have sold more than 20% of their portfolios during the pandemic. "We are seeing increased retail investor participation in equity markets during the pandemic," said Tyler Fleming, Director of the Investor Office at the OSC. "The Ontario Securities Commission is closely monitoring retail investor experiences and behaviours during this time to support our investor protection mandate." The study has several findings, including: Investment stress: 47 per cent of investors are experiencing increased levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. 47 per cent of investors are experiencing increased levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holding investments: 85 per cent of investors have held all of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 85 per cent of investors have held all of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Selling investments: Investors with low financial knowledge were the most likely to sell 20% or more of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors with low financial knowledge were the most likely to sell 20% or more of their investments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with an advisor: 81 per cent rated the advice they received from their advisor about investing during the COVID-19 pandemic positively. 81 per cent rated the advice they received from their advisor about investing during the COVID-19 pandemic positively. Do-it-yourself investors: 60 per cent of self-directed investors do so in part because they enjoy managing their own investments. 60 per cent of self-directed investors do so in part because they enjoy managing their own investments. Difficulty in understanding investments: 68 per cent of investors experience at least one challenge to understanding their investment s. 68 per cent of investors experience at least one challenge to understanding their investment Financial knowledge: 61 per cent of Canadian investors have medium financial knowledge, with 23 per cent having high financial knowledge. 61 per cent of Canadian investors have medium financial knowledge, with 23 per cent having high financial knowledge. Frauds and scams: 10 per cent of investors believe that they are likely to lose money to an investment fraud or scam and only 2 per cent reported that they have already lost money to a fraud or scam. The full survey findings are available online at InvestorOffice.ca. The OSC conducted a survey of nearly 2,000 Canadians between March 30 and April 11, 2020 to further its understanding of the retail investor experience in Canada. Given the unique point in time, the OSC asked investors about their actions and attitudes related to investing during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings will be used to inform further work to understand the impact of the pandemic on retail investors. Visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca for helpful resources about your finances and investments during the pandemic or to learn more about working with an advisor, understanding your investments, avoiding investment fraud and other topics covered by the survey. The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook InvestorOffice.ca GetSmarterReInvesting.ca GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission For further information: For Media Inquiries: [email protected]; For Investor Inquiries: [email protected] Related Links http://www.osc.gov.on.ca Indian Embassy in Mali has advised Indian nationals to return home immediately and stay vigilant of the evolving situation in the West African Nation. Indian Ambassador to Mali Anjani Kumar Sahay said that Embassy colleagues are safe and Indian nationals have been advised not to step out their homes amidst deepening political crisis. "We asked colleagues to return to their homes at the first indication of disturbance. All embassy colleagues are safe. We have advised Indians to return home. We are in touch with the Indians, advised them to be vigilant and not step out from their homes," Sahay told ANI. Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced his resignation on August 19 to avoid bloodshed, hours after he was detained by the military troops in a dramatic escalation of the growing unrest in the country. In a brief statement broadcasted on Malis national television, Keita said that the military intervention has left him with no choice but to resign since he does not wish to see bloodshed. Read: Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Resigns To Avoid 'blood Shed' After Military Mutiny Read: EU Condemns 'attempted Coup' In Mali', Says Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell Military announced curfew According to media reports, military officers involved in the mutiny announced borders closure and imposition of a curfew, prompting Indian Embassy to issue alerts. Sahay said that the mutiny occurred without any major violence, adding there is nothing to suggest that Indians in general or any other community are under attack. The embassy requested Indian nationals to stay at home and also provided a Helpline number to reach out in case of an emergency situation. Members of Indian community in Mali are requested to stay at their homes in view of evolving situation in the country. In case of any need, they can contact Embassys Helpline number 00223-77253171. India in Mali & Mauritania (@IndianEmbassyML) August 18, 2020 Mali has been witnessing a simmering public discontent against Keita after countrys top court overturned the results of disputed parliamentary elections. Earlier today, people in Bamako took to streets and surrounded the capital city's independence monument to protest against the government. The attempted mutiny by the Malian troops took place in Kati, at the same camp where a successful military rebellion was launched back in 2012. Read: Mali Mutiny: UN Chief Demands 'immediate Release' Of President Keita, Prime Minister Cisse Read: Mali Mutiny: Soldiers 'arrest' President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, PM Boubou Cisse (With ANI inputs | Image: AP) A new study of Black residents of four distinct U.S. cities reveals variations in genetic ancestry and social status that underscore the inadequacy of using skin color as a proxy for race in research. Dede Teteh of City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 19, 2020. Social science and biomedical research often treat the U.S. Black population--people of recent African descent, including African American, African, and Caribbean persons--as a homogeneous group, using skin color as a proxy for race. However, this approach ignores geographic variations in ancestry and social attainment that could provide more nuanced information. In a first-of-its-kind study, Teteh and colleagues analyzed and compared skin color, genetic ancestry, and social attainment of 259 Black residents of Norman, Oklahoma; Cincinnati, Ohio; Harlem, New York; and Washington, DC. Each of these cities has a unique history that has shaped its racial structure today. Statistical analysis revealed between-city differences in ancestry, skin pigmentation, and social attainment. It also showed that men were more likely to be married if they had darker skin color, and women if they had lighter skin color. People with darker skin color and a greater degree of West African ancestry were more likely to have attained graduate degrees and professional jobs than people with lighter skin. These findings highlight and deepen understanding of the complexity and heterogeneity of race, ancestry, and social attainment in the U.S., especially variations between geographic regions. While the sample size is small, this study supports the importance of considering local social context and genetic ancestry when conducting social science or biomedical research. The authors add: "This study expands our knowledge of the complexity of race, ancestry, and social attainment across four cities in the United States. Our findings support the heterogeneity of the African American population in the U.S. due to regional differences and local history. Thus, the African American population should not be viewed as a singular entity, but as individual groups with their own local social histories and genetic backgrounds." ### Peer reviewed; Observational study; People Press-only preview: https://plos.io/31MuYBL Contact: Zen Vuong, zvuong@coh.org, Mobile: 626-409-9367 Citation: Teteh DK, Dawkins-Moultin L, Hooker S, Hernandez W, Bonilla C, Galloway D, et al. (2020) Genetic ancestry, skin color and social attainment: The four cities study. PLoS ONE 15(8): e0237041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237041 Funding: This work was funded in part by Grant Number P20HG03373 from the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: Dr. Rick Kittles has financial interests in an ancestry DNA testing company and/or products. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The other authors have no competing interests. In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237041 BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 19 By Elnur Baghishov Trend: As many as 2,444 people have been infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours in Iran, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Trend reports citing the ministry. According to Sadat Lari, 153 more people have died from the coronavirus over the past day. Sadat Lari added that the condition of 3,868 people is critical. The official said that Iran's Tehran, Mazandaran, Qom, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, Semnan, Markazi, Yazd, Gilan, Golestan, and Kerman provinces are considered 'red' zones. Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 350,200 people have been infected, and 20,125 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 302,500 have reportedly recovered from the disease. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. Charlie Mullins, founder and chairman of the UKs largest plumbing firm, Pimlico Plumbers, has been given an open door to the media in recent weeks to voice the ruling elites contempt for the working class. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior politicians have made transparent efforts to project a caring persona during the pandemic, concealing their class prejudices to avoid a social explosion. Mullins says what they all really think. He has become the go-to-guy for the right-wing media, a rent-a-gob, who declares that workers are lazy, selfish scroungers who should get back to work. As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, the governments back-to-work-at-any-cost campaign requires the ending of the jobs furlough scheme and all measures protecting workers livelihoods. Mullins, plumber to the stars, with a personal fortune of 70 million, has demanded the ending of furlough payments, insisting that times up and that workers have been taking advantage, sponging off the government, and that anything hindering getting the economy going i.e., profits for the likes of Mullins, should be scrapped. The 67-year-olds anger is heightened by the fact that plumbing is one of the few sectors to have experienced a spike in business during the COVID-19 crisis. In the first half of July, Pimlico Plumbers saw an increase of more than 10 percent on the same period last year. In one week in July, it booked in more jobs than any other week in the companys 40-year history. For Mullins, the sun is shining, and he needs workers to make his hay. But with some workers continuing to stay at home, including those with co-morbidities who face a heightened risk from the virus, he complains, Youve got less people in your company that can create revenue for you. For his openly right-wing views and crass style of expressing them, and for his ability to play the self-made man who knows about hard graft, Mullins has been afforded banner headlines, live interviews and even the opportunity to pen his own articles. He has made multiple appearances on Sky News, Channel 4 News, BBC Radio 4s Today Programme, BBC 5 Live, TalkRADIO, BBC Sunday Morning, ITVs This Morning, Good Morning Britain, and several BBC regional news stations. He has written personally in the Daily Mail and the i newspaper. Of the furlough scheme he says, We need to stop this stupid culture of people thinking that they can sit at home and just be paid for it. Those hesitant to go back to work while the pandemic still rages are milking the system. The problem is, he sneers, most peoples workplace is too far from the beach for them. For Mullins, the fear of catching or passing on a virus that has taken more than 46,000 lives in the UK and almost three-quarters of a million lives worldwide, causing as yet unknown long-term damage to 20 million more, is a sackable offence. In the Daily Mail, he wrote, Ive heard all the excusespeople are worried about catching Covid-19, or theyre afraid of infecting a vulnerable relative who is self-isolating. But to any employee who tells me that they dont want to come back, who wants to string out the furlough Ive got one thing to say: we dont want you back. So far Ive already told 30 former staff: Dont bother coming in, ever. Even those working from home dont escape Mullins wrath. He says, I dont think theyre going to be motivated enough to say that theyre doing a proper days work. They are very selfish, sitting about in their pyjamas and couldnt care less about nobody else or the economy. Youre gonna create a culture, he says. Its like the people on benefits. Theyre never gonna wanna come off it. Mullins most recent on-air outing was to slam the proposal to give sick pay to workers forced to quarantine when returning from holiday (returning from destinations the UK government had claimed were safe). No way. Theyre not sick, says Mullins. If we start paying people 100 a week to sit at home and do nothing were back to square one. The economy cant afford it. This is a man who spends 300,000 on holidays every year. For most people, losing two weeks pay during quarantine has serious financial implications. Not one of the media outlets has compared the meagre weekly statutory sick pay of 95.85, or even the 34 billion cost of the furlough scheme which has preserved almost 10 million jobs, to the astronomical 350 billion handed over to UK corporations in March. The funnelling of this unprecedented sum of public money straight into the pockets of the corporate elite was conducted without a parliamentary vote and has barely been mentioned since. Mullins did not help his case by conducting his media interviews from one of his several million-euro villas in the Spanish resort of Marbella, filmed against sun-drenched backdrops of swaying palm trees and his swimming pool. Workers suffering the worst global health crisis in a century, and facing economic devastation under a system incapable of prioritising lives over profits, hit back on social media, How come Charlie Mullins gets so much airtime?, Why is Charlie Mullins on BBC news several times in a week? and Its a Mullins monologue. Many pointed to the unbridgeable class divide. One worker tweeted, An alarm bell is ringing out loud and clear: One rule for us; another rule for everyone else. Another wrote that Mullins is, the worst type of capitalist, slagging off his employees, whilst he sits on his pile in Marbella. Hed run workhouses if allowed. Others wrote of the desperation the coronavirus crisis has brought into their own lives, Charlie Mullins is really getting my back up. My company has reopened and Ive not been brought back when I want to. Furlough/lockdown has ruined everything for me. My mental health has suffered and my marriage has fallen apart and Im still out of work. There are those who question how Mullins can be an authority on employment issues at all, given his seven-year legal battle, eventually lost in 2018, over the classification of his engineers as self-employed--an attempt to reduce costs and remove workers basic employment rights. Not sure I can agree with tax dodging Charlie Mullins who fought tooth and nail to avoid having to financially treat his employees as employees despite in every other way treating them as employees, tweeted one. Losing the high-profile case has not changed his business model and all Pimlico Plumbers engineers continue to be self-employed. Mullins cites Margaret Thatcher as his business inspiration and forced his entire staff (the self-employed included) to wear black armbands when she died. He has donated tens of thousands of pounds to the Tories and was particularly close to his admirers, former Prime Minister David Cameron, and former Chancellor George Osborne, who had him in every four or five months. In return for his generous donations to the Tory Partyand of course for his services to the plumbing industryMullins was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 2014. He intends to campaign to become Mayor of London in 2021. ...when a regulator or opposing counsel challenges the authenticity of the data alleging that it has been altered, an institution must be prepared to provide evidence... 17a-4, LLC, the number one independent Designated Third Party provider for US Broker-Dealers, works closely with regulated institutions to ensure corporate data is managed efficiently and retained in legally defensible formats in accordance with current rules and guidance. Microsofts 365 platform is being widely adopted across the financial industry as clients take advantage of new compliance and security features. Clients must be prepared to evidence chain of custody for all data residing in Microsofts 365. There are two sets of data in Microsofts 365: First, data which is generated directly on the 365 platform including email, Teams messaging and SharePoint; second, the data which is brought into the platform using M365s Third Party Data endpoint. This data may come from many different sources including Slack, Cisco WebEx, social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube and Facebook), Bloomberg, Symphony and many other messaging platforms. There is tremendous efficiency to bring all potentially e-discoverable content onto M365, however, when a regulator or opposing counsel challenges the authenticity of the data alleging that it has been altered, an institution must be prepared to provide evidence of its chain of custody. There are several ways in which in-house counsel may prove the integrity of the evidence. First, it may have a hash code calculated at the time of collection. This hash code may be re-calculated based on the evidence and if the hash codes match in value, then the courts will accept the evidence. Another option is to have the original files preserved in non-erasable format and, again, if the evidence is challenged, the evidence may be compared to the original content. This process applies to content such as Bloomberg and Symphony downloads, Cisco messaging and Slack. Defensible productions are a critical component to performing any type of regulatory or legal productions and best practices always includes verifying the software tools used to bring in third party content. Testing that will allow for the institution to respond to an evidence challenge in court. Chain of custody is a critical element of defensible productions. We have several features in our DataParser software that provide integrity assurance, including hash codes and preserving input files to Azure Blob immutable storage., offers Douglas Weeden, General Counsel, 17a-4. We also, Douglas continues, provide expert witness support to our DataParser clients should an evidentiary challenge arise as to the chain of custody of content processed by the DataParser. 17a-4, LLC offers D3P and Compliance Services to assist with M365 compliance. DataParser is available in on-premise and hosted plans. For more information visit 17a-4.com. About 17a-4 LLC: 17a-4 is a compliance services and software company with a focus on solutions to meet regulatory and eDiscovery needs of institutional clients. Clients leverage 17a-4s expertise to ensure information infrastructures comply with SEC (Rule 17a-4), FINRA and CFTC (Rule 1.31) regulations. 17a-4s DataParser is leading middleware to archive third party data. 17a-4 services include Designated Third Party, Books & Records audits, Archive Reviews and compliance assessments of technical architectures. 17a-4 is based in New York. NO By Kitty Dimbleby When lockdown was announced, I mourned the closure of my local gym in Bath almost as much as I did my children's school. I used to go up to five times a week, and even though it put on amazing online classes, sweating it out in my living room while the kids climbed over me just wasn't the same. So the minute socially distanced meet-ups were allowed, I was one of the first in the park, thrilled to be able to work out alongside my pals. It was a turning point for me, mentally and physically, and I'm shocked to hear that those using parks to keep fit are being bad-mouthed by curtain-twitching neighbours. In Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, residents have complained about fitness fanatics dominating public spaces, disturbing the peace and damaging trees and memorial benches with equipment. Not in my experience. Kitty Dimbleby, Daily Mail Femail writer, argues that we should encourage people, not shame them The park I use is small, but we are respectful and keep our distance. One resident complained about the beeps from my trainer's timer, so they stopped using it. And we've not worked with trees or benches in any of the high-intensity interval training or weightlifting classes I've been to. Since I started getting fit five years ago, I feel stronger and more energised which is essential when you're a mum to two small children. How can people criticise those trying to keep fit during a global health crisis, when the extra pounds you carry really can be the difference between life and death? Those using the great outdoors to run, cycle or train are the opposite of the Covidiots, who cram on to beaches and beauty spots, leaving litter and human waste. We only use the space for 45 minutes, unlike those settling in for a day of cider drinking and burger flipping on a disposable BBQ burning a hole in the grass. And who would you rather look at some fit men and women doing press-ups, or the beer belly of your typical Brit-abroad-but-now-staying-at-home sunbathing? I know what I'd rather see. Our trainers are easy on the eye, and more than once I've spotted a couple of grannies walk off with a spring in their step after a glimpse of well-honed bicep. Now more than ever we should be encouraging people to look after themselves, not shaming them for being active. While I applaud the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme's aim to get our economy going, I think there should be a similar initiative to get our nation moving. Government-subsidised fitness classes, with the motto Work Out to Help Out, would give the nation a chance to improve its mental and physical health, rather than stuff their faces on a budget. YES By Julie Burchill Most women will be aware that a sizeable minority of men believe not only that 'a man's home is his castle', but that the wider world is his eternal stag weekend. While anyone venturing into a city centre of an evening is prepared for what degenerate sights await them, the same isn't true of parks, where people expect a measure of solace from the cut and thrust of urban life. Since lockdown was announced, however, some thoughtless morons with more hench than sense have mistaken parks for a cross between an Outward Bound course and a giant spittoon. I call them the Physical Jerks. Of course, there have always been those half-witted cyclists riding bikes built for mountain terrain on the pavements. Goodness knows why they wear helmets there's obviously nothing up there to protect. Journalist Julie Burchill, she argues that 'these gym morons have more hench than sense While the allotted hour of exercise in lockdown led to many people buying dogs to walk, others preferred to let their raging narcissism off the leash. Some damaged trees by dangling from weight-training equipment, while others terrorised the aged by running up behind them and lobbing phlegm everywhere. I can't help but think it's mostly a sexual thing men who presumably aren't getting much action like to throw their weight about in public to impress or intimidate women. Once they might have been heavy-breathing telephone sex pests. Now, in the time of Covid, they're shaking their sweat all over some poor girl who is simply trying to enjoy some peace and quiet in the park. So I was pleased to see that Southend Council has banned 'bootcamps' from its public spaces after 'total idiots' ran riot and caused damage during workouts, jumping on and off memorial benches in Leigh-on-Sea. 'Bootcamps' my eye only serving soldiers need to be that fit, not men who spend most of their lives in front of computer screens. If you can't exercise outside without calling attention to yourself, maybe you should ask what's missing in your life that means you need to be the physical equivalent of graffiti? And before I'm accused of being a couch potato, envious of the fitness of others, I'll overshare the news that I am a gym-goer who has managed to lose half a stone since lockdown ended. The difference is that I'm civilised enough to keep my physical jerks indoors where they belong, rather than do them in the streets (and parks) and frighten the horses. The community is rallying around the family of a 43-year-old Hamilton Township man who was killed Saturday in an ATV collision on the south shore of Rice Lake. As of Wednesday afternoon, $45,477 had been raised by 356 donors through an online campaign to support the family of Kevin Higney, who worked as a registered nurse in the Cobourg and Oshawa areas. He is survived by his wife Lisa and three children, Emma, 17, Sarah, 14, and Owen, 11. A funeral is planned for Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church at 373 Simcoe St. S. in Oshawa. Visitation is Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Oshawa Funeral Home at 847 King St. W. His brother Chris Higney started the GoFundMe campaign at gofundme.com/f/support-for-family-for-kevin-higney to help the family with expenses. He died at the scene of the collision, which happened at about 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Old School House and Harwood roads. Two riders on an ATV were travelling north on Harwood Road, Northumberland OPP said. The ATV turned onto Old School House Road when it left the road and struck a hydro pole, ejecting both riders, police said. The other 40-year-old rider was taken to hospital by paramedics and was later transported to a trauma centre in Toronto with serious injuries. The intersection was closed for several hours while OPP members trained in collision reconstruction documented the scene. The investigation continues. Tess Holliday wears strawberry dress at 2020 Grammy Awards (Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic) Tess Holliday is calling out the double standards that plus-size women face in the fashion industry. To illustrate her point, Holliday, 35, shared Instagram photos of herself in the strawberry dress that took over social media this summer. I like how this dress had me on worst dressed lists when I wore it in January to the Grammys, but now bc a bunch of skinny ppl wore it on TikTok everyone cares, Holliday wrote. To sum it up: our society hates fat people, especially when we are winning. The body-positivity advocate then thanked designer Lirika Matoshi and stylist Meaghan OConnor for making her feel like a princess 7 months ago. Holliday didnt realize the flowing pink tulle number was a viral phenomenon until a friend sent her a Twitter thread. Video: Lizzo shuts down fat shamers in powerful body positive video This person was like, I find it really ironic that Tess wore this dress at the Grammys in January, and no one gave a s--- until slender people on TikTok were wearing it, Holliday revealed while speaking with Vulture. I looked, saw that it was in fact trending. I really started to examine, Well, why is this so popular now? Why are people acting like its new? Thats when I started to get a little frustrated. Hollidays more than 2 million Instagram followers flooded her comments with support. 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals (Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic) The fact that you didnt go absolutely viral in this fantastic dress is just an example of how things are only allowed to be trendy when the thin people do it, wrote one fan. Added another, You inspired me to buy this dress. I was scared because of all the skinny girls wearing it, I didt think a curvy girl like me could pull it off. Holliday thanked fans on Twitter for their kind messages ... and added a few words for her critics. "Thanks for the love yall & to everyone that was rude as hell, thanks," she wrote, adding a winking face emoji. "Hey everybody, I wasnt expecting the post about my strawberry dress to blow up the way it did," she added. "Thank you to everyone who has shared my post in solidarity. Like it or not, please understand that just because you have never been shamed for your size, doesnt make it less valid." The dress, which retails for $500, ranges in size from extra small to triple XL, which the designer's sizing chart estimates will fit a size 18 to 20 in the United States. The question of whether life exists beyond the Earth is one of humanity's most fundamental questions. Future NASA missions, for example, aim to examine the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn, which may potentially shelter life in the liquid oceans underneath the thick layer of ice, on the ground. Proving traces of life beyond the Earth is extremely challenging, however. Highly sensitive instruments which take measurements on the ground with the greatest possible degree of autonomy and with high precision - millions of kilometers from the Earth and thus without direct support from humankind - are required. An international group of researchers under the leadership of Andreas Riedo and Niels Ligterink at the University of Bern have now developed ORIGIN, a mass spectrometer which can detect and identify the smallest amounts of such traces of life. They describe the instrument in a recently published article in the specialist journal Nature Scientific Reports. Niels Ligterink from the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) is the lead author of the international study, and co-author Andreas Riedo from the Physics Institute at the University of Bern developed the instrument in the laboratories of the space research and planetary sciences divison of the Physics Institute. Various international space agencies, particularly NASA, have already expressed interest in testing ORIGIN for future missions. New instrument required Since the first Mars mission "Viking" in the 1970s, humanity has been searching for traces of life on Mars using highly specialized instruments which are installed on landing platforms and rovers. In its early years, Mars was Earth-like, had a dense atmosphere and even liquid water. However, as Niels Ligterink explains, Mars lost its protective atmosphere over the course of time: "As a result of this, the surface of Mars is subjected to high solar and cosmic radiation which makes life on the surface impossible." NASA's "Curiosity" rover is currently examining Mars in detail but with no concrete indications of traces of life to date. Since the discovery by the Cassini and Galileo missions of the global oceans beneath kilometers of ice layers on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, these two bodies have increasingly become the focus of the search for extraterrestrial life for researchers. According to current knowledge, the oceans have all of the properties which are not only needed for the occurrence of life, but also which provide environments in which life can exist in the long term. NASA therefore plans to land a mission on Jupiter's moon Europa around 2030 and take measurements on the ground. The goal: Identification of life. Co-author Prof. Dr. Peter Wurz from the Physics Institute at the University of Bern says: "Concepts which were specially developed for Mars cannot be simply applied to other bodies in our solar systembecause they are very different. New instruments with higher sensitivity and simpler and more robust analysis systems must be designed and used". Unprecedented measurement sensitivity for proof of life in space ORIGIN is one such new instrument which outperforms previous space instruments many terms over in terms of its measurement sensitivty. Various international space agencies have expressed great interest in the instrument for future missions. Andreas Riedo says: "NASA has invited us to particpaite and test our instrument in the Arctic. The Artic is the optimal test environment in the context of the EUROPA LANDER mission, which should start in 2025, which will allow us to demonstrate the performance of ORIGIN." Amino acids are key components of life as we know it on Earth. Contemporaneous proof of certain amino acids on extraterrestrial surfaces, such as those of Europa, allow conclusions to be drawn about possible life. The measurement principle developed by the Bern-based researchers is simple. Niels Ligterink explains: "Laser pulses are directed at the surface to be examined. In the process, small amounts of material are detached, the chemical composition of which is analyzed by ORIGIN in a second step". Andreas Riedo adds: "The compelling aspect of our technology is that no complicated sample preparation techniques, which could potentially affect the result, are required. This was one of the biggest problems on Mars until now," says Riedo. The amino acids which have been analyzed with ORIGIN to date have a specific chemical fingerprint which allows them to be directly identified. Niels Ligterink: "To be honest, we didn't expect that our first measurements would already be able to identify amino acids." The discovery of traces of past or present life on bodies in our solar system beyond the Earth is of great importance for a better understanding of the existence of life in the universe and its genesis. Andreas Riedo says: "Our new measurement technology is a real improvement on the instruments currently used on space missions. If we are taken along on a future mission, we may be able to answer one of humanity's most fundamental questions with ORIGIN: Is there life in space?". ### KENTWOOD, MI -- A man caught in Nebraska has admitted to strangling his girlfriend to death at her Kentwood residence, court documents show. Deolanda Gancino Galvez, 42, was found dead at her home in the 500 block of Jennifer Street SE on Aug. 10. Police went there to check on her well-being and found her dead. Nebraska state patrol officers late located and arrested a person of interest in the death and Kent County prosecutors issued a murder warrant. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with Kentwood District Court, police determined that Galvez died Aug. 9 from asphyxiation. Her boyfriend was interviewed and admitted to killing Deolanda by strangling her, according to the affidavit. Police did not offer other details about the relationship between Galvez and the man. Authorities were working to extradite the man from Nebraska, but it wasnt immediately clear when he would be arraigned in Kentwood District Court. More from MLive University of Michigan professors have no confidence in administrations plan to contain coronavirus Moving classes online was best decision for public health, Michigan State University president says Williamson, WV (25661) Today Rain...changing to snow overnight. Low 28F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 100%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Rain...changing to snow overnight. Low 28F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 100%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. The city promises not to prosecute protesters. The city executive committee of the Belarusian city of Grodno has fulfilled protesters' demands. The Grodno City Executive Committee announced this in a statement published on Grodno Plus TV website. Read alsoThousands of Minsk residents gather for evening rally (Photos, video) In particular, the city promises not to prosecute protesters, while the opposition will be provided with TV airtime. Also, the local authorities have allowed rallies in the central squares of Grodno: once organizers submit an application for holding protests in the city, they will be provided with medical, technical and informational; investigations are under way to check facts of citizens' complaints about causing harm to their health; citizens detained for participating in rallies have been released; measures have been taken to prevent the use of administrative resources against workers who have taken part in a strike; representatives of the democratic community of Grodno, trade unions, political parties and others will have Grodno Plus TV airtime; chiefs of the Internal Affairs Department of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee have made a public apology. Belarus protests in brief A woman has been injured and several cars have been damaged after scaffolding collapsed onto a busy suburban street. Emergency services were called to the scene in Gosford on the NSW Central Coast after 3pm on Wednesday. The scaffolding had fallen off a building on Mann Street and crushed a row of parked cars on the street, leaving a woman with serious head injuries. Scaffolding has fallen off a building on Mann Street onto parked cars (pictured) in Gosford At least eight cars were damaged in the collapse, with a woman taken to Gosford Hospital suffering head injuries A NSW Ambulance spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the woman is believed to be in her 40s and was taken to Gosford Hospital in a stable condition. A light pole was brought down with the scaffolding, with at least eight cars damaged by the falling debris. Hayden Davis was about to get into his car on Mann Street and made a lucky escape before disaster struck. 'I was standing near the car when it happened,' he told 7News. 'Some rocks fell on my head and then I came across the road and the scaffold fell over.' Workers help to move rubble and debris from vehicles after the scaffolding fell over on Wednesday afternoon Police, emergency services and SafeWork NSW personnel are at the scene investigating how the scaffolding fell down Several bystanders look over the debris, including a power pole that was brought down with the scaffolding Mann Street has been closed in both directions between Erina Street East and Donnison Street, with motorists urged to avoid the area this afternoon. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a strong wind warning for the central coast on Wednesday as powerful westerly winds battered the region. It is unknown if the wind gusts contributed to the scaffolding falling down. SafeWork NSW released a safety alert on Tuesday in anticipation of the windy conditions. A spokesperson from SafeWork NSW said representatives are at the scene 'investigating the collapse of scaffolding hoarding at a building site'. KILLEEN, Texas The Army has released the identity of a Fort Hood soldier killed while directing traffic at a vehicle accident scene. Spc. Cole Jakob Aton, 22, of Science Hill, Kentucky, had been a Patriot missile operator with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade since August 2018, according to a Fort Hood statement issued Tuesday. Aton had stopped the night of Aug. 12 at a minor traffic accident scene on Interstate 14 in Killeen, near Fort Hood, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The soldier was standing in the roadway trying to direct traffic around the scene when he was hit by a car that had just crested an overpass and whose driver didnt see him in time, DPS Sgt. Bryan Washko said in an email. No charges were filed. Col. Ethan Hall, commander of the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, offered Atons family his condolences and paid tribute to the soldier. His selfless service and care for others are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Lightning Brigade and our Army, he said in a statement. A 60-year-old man accused of murdering his wife in a samurai sword attack at their home in Dublin has been further remanded in custody pending the preparation of a book of evidence. Mother-of-two Jean Eagers (57) died after the incident at her house in Willow Wood Grove estate, Hartstown, on June 21. Her husband, William Eagers, was charged with murder, and production of a samurai sword while committing the offence. He was remanded in custody with an order that he is to receive medical attention and supervision. Injuries He faced his fourth hearing yesterday when he appeared via video link before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court. Expand Close William Eagers is accused of murdering his wife Jean / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp William Eagers is accused of murdering his wife Jean A book of evidence has yet to be completed by the prosecution. Formal directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions have to be obtained Judge Mitchell remanded the accused in continuing custody to appear on September 15. Mrs Eagers, who was originally from Ringsend and worked in Marks and Spencer in Blanchardstown, was found with serious injuries. A family member raised the alarm and the Garda Armed Support Unit forced entry to the house following a stand-off. Mrs Eagers was treated at the scene by emergency services personnel, but was pronounced dead a short time later. Taxi driver Mr Eagers was arrested at the house. He needed treatment for serious injuries and spent nine days in hospital before questioning resumed. He was charged on July 1, and at his first court hearing, Detective Garda Shane McCartan said he "made no reply to either charge after caution". The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two United Arab Emirates-based companies, the US Treasury Department said, accusing them of providing material support to Iranian airline Mahan Air. The Treasury in a statement said Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air, which is blacklisted under US measures. The department also slapped sanctions on Amin Mahdavi, a UAE-based Iranian national, for owning or controlling Parthia Cargo. Together, these companies have provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air, which is designated under counterterrorism authorities for support to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), as well as under a counter proliferation authority that targets weapons of mass destruction proliferators and their supporters, said a statement on the Treasury website. The administration of President Donald Trump plans this week to push for a reimposition of all United Nations sanctions on Iran, after the UN Security Council rejected Washingtons earlier bid to extend an arms embargo on the country. The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. The United States will continue to take action against those supporting this airline, he added. Wednesdays action freezes any US assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The Treasury said services provided by the two blacklisted companies help Mahan Air sustain its fleet and allow it to carry out activities in support of Tehran. These include transporting terrorists and lethal cargo to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad and recently transporting Iranian technicians and technical equipment to Venezuela, the department said. Separately, criminal charges were filed against Parthia Cargo and Mahdavi on Monday by the US Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. The charges relate to the alleged unlicensed re-export of US-export controlled aircraft parts to Iran, the Treasury said. An affidavit filed in court by an FBI agent to support the criminal charges alleges that Mahdavi, managing director of Parthia Cargo, in 2017 acknowledged to US officials that he knew a US government licence was needed to ship US aircraft parts to Iran. But Mahdavi went ahead and shipped an aircraft part to an Iranian air transport company without obtaining a license, the Justice Department said. It accused Mahdavi and Parthia Cargo of criminally conspiring with companies and individuals outside the US, and falsely telling a US parts supplier goods would not be shipped to Iran without US government permission. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have spiked since Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and began reimposing sanctions that had been eased under the accord. Gender-bending sex-ed curricula tells teachers to hide kids' gender confusion from parents Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Gender-bending sex-ed curricula used in some public schools, along with corresponding school district policies, don't meet established standards set forth in law, activists and scholars warned at recent Heritage Foundation panel. As part of the Protecting Children in Education Summit hosted virtually at Heritage on Aug. 12, advocates detailed several efforts parents are undertaking to combat the sexualization of children and teenagers in the public school system and how left-wing interest groups are sexualizing children for their own ends. Luke Berg, deputy counsel with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, explained that parents in Madison, Wisconsin, are suing their school district over policies they say violate their parental rights in the case Doe v. Madison Metropolitan School District. A few years ago, the school district announced its transgender policies, among them is allowing students who identify at transgender to use their preferred name and pronouns while at school without parental approval or notification. Among the groups behind these policies are the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Education Association. "As you can bet, Madison didn't exactly promote this aspect of its policy. And the policy itself wasn't even voted on by the school board, it was developed internally and posted to its website. As far as I can tell, the district didn't get broad input from parents but instead from groups like GLSEN," Berg said. While federal law requires parental consent to change students' names in the databases, students can be unofficially recognized and referred to by whatever name and identity nomenclature they choose and school staff must abide by that unofficial policy, the attorney explained. If staff members do not comply, they are subject to the school's nondiscrimination policy and could be subject to discipline. The school policies, he added, instruct teachers to deceive parents by swapping back to the student's birth name if or when the parents show up at school. The lawsuit's legal theory is that with the secretive institutionalizing of these policies, the school system has violated the parents' primary authority over their children. Berg believes this argument is supported by broad judicial precedent acknowledging the rights and decision-making power of parents regarding their children's welfare. Speaking at length on gender ideology, Mary Hasson of the Catholic Women's Forum at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, explained that gender fluidity is now widely taught in public school systems. Gender ideology, she said, puts forth a radical, fractured version of the human person and teaches that no unity exists between the mind and the body. In the vision of gender ideologues, a person's identity is defined by feelings that supersede the material reality of the body, she elaborated, noting that gender-confused children are fast-tracked to a lifetime of medicalization such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. When cross-sex hormones are added after chemical puberty suppression, the child is sterilized for life, she noted. "So this moving sidewalk, this fast-track to transition through gender-affirmation is a huge thing. It's so consequential in a child's life and yet it's being promoted in our schools," Hasson said. This ideology gets inserted in various courses in the school system, she noted. Even though only five states require LGBT history to be taught, most of this ideology is furthered through "anti-bullying" lessons and "inclusivity" assemblies. Teachers are trained through professional development how to infuse this into other subject areas, mainly health classes, and now some are teaching "gender-inclusive puberty education" where male and female sexual differentiation, including normal bodily processes, is erased. She emphasized to those watching: "You as parents and activists have to be the ones to bring this to light because the schools, unfortunately, are not doing this of their own accord." Hasson is the co-author of the book, Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Children Out of Public School Before It's Too Late. Monica Cline, founder and president of the nonprofit group It Takes a Family, used to teach comprehensive sex-ed and was mentored by Planned Parenthood's director of sex education. Planned Parenthood's philosophy that she learned and came to reject later has a distorted view of sex, she said. Cline's mentor who taught her how to teach comprehensive sex-ed reportedly told her: "Monica, when you walk into a room of school-age children, I want you to imagine that they've done anything and everything when it comes to sex and if they haven't, they will. And it's your job as a comprehensive sex educator to teach them about every sexual practice and to teach them how to use condoms and lubrication to reduce their risk and then teach them how to get to the clinic to get treatment and have to abortions." Upon hearing from her mentor about 10-year-olds who would come into the clinics to obtain abortions, she felt convinced that their approach was right and asked her mentor how she could teach these girls not to have sex, particularly since they were so young. Her mentor replied that it was "very judging" of her and others to tell a young person that they should not have sex. Instead, their job was to meet them where they are and respect their choice to be sexually active and give them "risk reduction" education and refer them to Planned Parenthood. Cline believed at the time that their teaching approach was legitimate because they had the federal government backing them with Title X funding. When Cline challenged Planned Parenthood's refusal to report instances of human trafficking and statutory rape, she said staffers tried to get her to believe that young girls wanted to have sex. They even went so far as to say the girls were "empowered" by having sex with an experienced person who could pleasure her. "Their goal is to have a customer for life," Cline said. "They are a business, so they very much need to sexualize a young generation, sexualize the children through comprehensive sex education. Teach them how to dehumanize themselves and others through the act of sex and make them dependent on needing to use their services." "Comprehensive sex education is like Planned Parenthood's marketing tool, their vehicle. They need comprehensive sex education so they can mold that child, sexualize them so that they can become sexually active in school-age years," she explained. Abortion and sexually transmitted diseases are but extensions to this dehumanization process. And those things are not a big deal because it has all been normalized, Cline said. The abortion giant intentionally works to remove parents from the equation, seeing them as obstacles because parents are powerful and are the key to protecting children. "The one thing that parents always emphasized to me is that parents, and this is a quote from them: 'Parents are a barrier to services.'" The latest summit is part of the Heritage Foundation's ongoing effort to protect children from sexualization. The conservative think tank hosted a similar summit in October 2019. My grandfather was almost killed in a sundown town. I never met him, but I distinctly remember my grandmother telling stories of how her husband, my grandfather, would sometimes take cross-country trips. And on many of these trips, because he was not familiar with the town he was in, he would have to find lodging before the sun went down because, well, this may be a sundown town. Sundown towns, like the town I live in now used to be, were towns where Black folks were relatively free to roam during the daylight hours, but once the sun went down, they were arrested and sometimes killedsimply because of the color of their skin. Sometimes the founders and leaders of these towns would rationalize their treatment of people by talking about the menace of crime that followed Black folks, but, really, it was just a way to keep people who looked like me in their place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the Slate Culture newsletter The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox three times a week. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Story has it that one night my grandfather found himself in one of these towns. He had to keep driving for hours until he found a place that would let him stay overnight. He never ran into a police officer, thankfully, because if he had, he may have been, at best, arrested and, at worst, killed. That is the kind of danger that Black people historically have found themselves contending with in this countryand it is something that HBOs new show, Lovecraft Country, captures perfectly. I was taken aback by how well Lovecraft Country portrays the horror that can be Black life in America. Yes, the show was intentional about showing the joy of Blackness by centering the music, dancing, and tenderness between George Freeman (Courtney B. Vance) and Hippolyta Freeman (Aunjanue Ellis) in the pilots first act, but once George, his nephew Atticus (Jonathan Majors), and Atticus childhood friend Letitia (the scene-stealing Jurnee Smollett) leave the confines of home, we are quickly made aware that being Black in this country is as fraught and full of danger as any horror movie. Advertisement Advertisement For me, this is brought home when our protagonists have a fateful encounter with police toward the end of the episode. They are informed that they are in a county with a sundown policy (hence the title of the episode, Sundown), and they make their way as soon as they can to the county line in an attempt to not run afoul of the law. Advertisement Misha Green, who previously co-created WGNs Underground, is the showrunner and wrote the pilot episode, but I can feel the influence of Jordan Peele, an executive producer, on this element of the show. Like Get Out, this series shows that the experience of being Black in this country is far more terrifying than any creature the creators could think up. And using horror and fantasy as a medium through which they examine this reality is what elevates a good show into something that has the potential to be great. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By the time the shoggoths show upthose many-eyed monsters imagined by H.P. Lovecraft, the notoriously racist horror authorwe are intrigued by their existence, but what remains on the forefront of our minds is the fact that our protagonists were almost killed not by the monsters that showed up, but by the monsters that actually existed. We are left to puzzle over the beings that appeared, but the true horror of the show was centered in a very real phenomenon. The thing that almost killed my grandfather. Sundown towns were not just in the Southern parts of the United States. Contrary to what many Northerners believe, these towns hostile to the presence of Black people were all over the country. In the first half of the 20th century, towns from Arkansas to Michigan proudly advertised that they were free of Black people. During the same period, deeds in Chevy Chase, Maryland, included restrictive covenants that forbade selling or leasing the land to any person of negro blood (in addition to any person of the Semetic [sic] race), and this too was not uncommon. Georgias Tubman African American Museum has a sign found in Connecticut that read Whites Only Within City Limits After Dark. And these signs werent empty threats: A story in the Pittsburgh Courier in 1940 reports that a group of Black people on a church trip through South Carolina was fired on by a group of white men who reportedly told them, We dont allow no dn nrs round here after sunset. According to the article, five people were wounded. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Sunday nights premiere, the town our protagonists encounter is in Massachusetts. I have to believe that this was intentional on the part of the writers and showrunner. They illustrate the pervasiveness of this evil, and how inescapable the plight of Black people in America was. Advertisement It is not lost on me that the villains of Lovecraft Countrys first episode are the police. Its the kind of thing that might tempt you to call this the show of the moment, or the show we need right now, but then, is this just a moment? Do we only need it now? The police, in any moment in history (including right now) have always been antagonists in the story of Americas relationship to Black people. Misha Green was not responding to George Floyd when she wrote this episodeshe was responding to the history of police violence visited upon people whose skin has been kissed by the sun. The only thing thats new is the mythical beings who save them. Tsikhanouskaya was speaking from exile in neighboring Lithuania before an emergency EU summit, due to be held by video conference, to discuss the crisis unfolding in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the country's veteran leader, has been struggling to contain a wave of mass protests and strikes that pose the biggest challenge to his 26-year hold on power. He denied rigging the August 9 election to secure a sixth term. Tsikhanouskaya said, speaking in English in a video address, "Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world." The opposition politician said she was the rightful winner of the election and wants new elections to be held under some kind of international supervision. The EU has signaled it will impose sanctions on Belarusian officials it deems responsible for election fraud and a crackdown on protests in which at least two protesters have been killed and thousands detained. By PTI SRINAGAR: The Army on Wednesday issued an advertisement in local newspapers asking people to share "credible" inputs for its probe into the killing of three alleged militants in an encounter last month, following allegations by families in the Rajouri area of Jammu region that as many of their kin were missing from the same place. "Any person having credible inputs or information on the encounter by security forces at village Amshipora, district Shopian, dated July 18, 2020 may please contact Deputy GOC (General Officer Command). On telephone number 01933-247026 within the next 10 days. The identity and details of the person will be kept secret," the advertisement issued by Lt Col Sonal Jain read. Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said on Tuesday that the Army was committed to ethical conduct of all counter-terrorist operations. "Cases where doubts are raised are investigated under due process as per the law of the land. Since the case is under investigation, further details will be shared periodically, as appropriate without affecting due legal process," he had said. The encounter took place on July 18 when the Army claimed to have killed three militants at Amshipora in the higher reaches of Shopian in south Kashmir. However, little over two weeks thereafter, missing complaints were lodged in Rajouri area of Jammu region by the families of three youths, working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards, who had disappeared from the same region and they had last talked to them on July 17. The Army has already instituted a high-level Court of Inquiry to probe the incident and statements of Army personnel were recorded on Tuesday. ALSO READ | Encounter of three 'militants' in J&K's Shopian: Army begins probe, records statements DNA samples have been collected from Rajouri families by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and sent for matching with those of the alleged terrorists killed on July 18. The relatives of three youths, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in Kotranka of Rajouri area in Poonch, had lodged a written missing persons report at the local police station after they lost contact with them on July 17. In their complaint, they informed the police that they had last spoken to the three, who were mainly involved in apple and walnut trading, on July 17 when the youths had informed their families that they had got a room at Ashimpora in Shopian. The same place was the site of the encounter the next day and since then there has been no report about the three, the families said in their complaint. Three boys, Mohammad Imtiyaz and Ibrar Ahmed, both residents of Kathuni mohalla of Dharsakri village of Rajouri, and Mohammad Ibrar, a resident of Tarkassi village of Rajouri, left their homes to work as labourers in Kashmir's Shopian and went out of contact with their families after July 17 late evening. The father of Imtiyaz, one of the missing persons, was seen on social media pleading for a visit to Kashmir and exhuming the bodies of his son and others for a proper burial in Rajouri. Kamala Harris is tapping into a new tranche of campaign cash for Joe Biden: money from both big and small donors who were reluctant to give to the white, male and over-70 nominee-in-waiting before she arrived. Biden has turned things around since struggling to raise money in 2019, but Harris addition is exciting contributors anew. She has a deep familiarity with Democratic mega-donors from Silicon Valley to New York, and her history-making candidacy is now drawing interest from more casual givers as well as big donors who got a shot of excitement from Harris elevation. The combination has jarred loose support among key constituency groups, according to interviews with more than a dozen Democratic donors, fundraisers and strategists, including women, Black and Indian American donors who still harbored feelings of concern about a Democratic primary that passed over the women and candidates of color. Among Black donors, Bidens new running mate has created a much deeper level of enthusiasm that comes from Harris, a Black woman on the ticket, said Steve Phillips, founder of Democracy In Color. Now, Phillips continued, this is a chance to get someone who is in the family elected. While the money troubles that once plagued Biden disappeared the moment he notched his first primary win in South Carolina, Harris has quickly become a key piece of Bidens finance operation. She is a more practiced manager of donor relationships than Biden, who has never counted that as a top priority, people familiar with his past fundraising struggles said. And enthusiasm for Harris elevation has pushed a new stream of donors toward the ticket. Stacey Mason, executive director of Electing Women Bay Area, said that female donors were disappointed after the Democratic presidential primary, which saw four female senators ultimately pull out of the race without success. But now, Mason likened Harris selection as Bidens running mate to an awakening among those contributors, adding there was clearly a community of donors who were waiting for someone they wanted to get behind in a bigger way. Story continues Ive had a dozen calls from large donors, at least half of whom were sitting on the sidelines now theyre saying, What can we do to help? How can we give? said Shekar Narasimhan, founder of the AAPI Victory Fund. This takes it all to another level [because] shes got a base shes built over years that she can now bring to the table. A half-dozen donors and fundraisers said they expect Harris to take a larger role in donor management. And donors with an eye on the future are rushing not only to invest in a potential November victory but in a top potential contender for a future Democratic presidential nomination. Obviously, theres a sense of this is a two-fer here, said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC. Not just for this moment and getting over the finish line in November, but setting up for the next Democratic presential race as well. For Wall Street executives and Big Tech megadonors worried Biden might select a foe, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Harris selection triggered a sigh of relief and a willingness to fork over even more cash. For those that identify as more politically moderate, they see Harris as someone they deem as acceptable, so her selection was a signal ok, its time to give, said Cooper Teboe, a donor adviser and Democratic strategist based in Silicon Valley. Harris flashed her fundraising muscle with jaw-dropping totals: The Biden campaign raised $25.5 million the day following her addition to the ticket. That number ballooned to $48 million in two days. The top four fundraising days for Bidens campaign have now all come within a week of Harris selection. For comparison, the campaigns previous single best fundraising day came in at $10 million on June 30, at the close of the second quarter fundraising period. These totals also benefit from higher rates for individual giving, after Bidens campaign merged forces with the Democratic National Committee to jointly fundraise earlier this year. Before Harris joined the ticket, Biden had already nearly closed the cash gap between Democrats and President Donald Trump, outraising him in back-to-back months this summer. A Women for Biden fundraiser, Harris first solo fundraising event as the vice presidential nominee, is already at capacity for $250,000-level tickets, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. Biden and Harris appeared together for their first fundraiser last week, drawing over 40,000 attendees and nearly $10 million in cash from more than 200,000 contributors. Its been Joe, Joe, Joe or his surrogates for weeks, and now theyve got a new person to roll out and theyre taking full advantage of it, said one Democratic donor. Shes the one who everyone wants right now, but its also the logical time for Joe to pull back to prepare for debates, too. During the coronavirus pandemic, as fundraising has converted to a virtual world, fundraisers are still figuring out how to recreate a sense of intimacy without in-person connection. But donors said Harris hasnt skipped a beat despite moving her fundraising to Zoom, where she greets people one-by-one, making it very intimate, recreating that sense of a personal connection, Narasimhan said. Some donors said they expect a steady crescendo in Harris fundraising events, as well as more direct donor engagement shifting to her. Those donors who expect Harris to take a leading role with contributors said it matches the pairs skill sets: Harris is well-practiced in donor management, while Biden, who struggled to raise money for his previous presidential bids, would be the first to tell you that fundraising was not at the top of his priority list because Joe went home every night to see his kids, said former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who served as the DNCs chairman from 2001 to 2005. But hes put together a perfect ticket thats going to maximize our ability to do the fundraising. Shes been much more geared toward modern campaigning and fundraising, which requires the cultivation of the donor class, said Ami Copeland, the former deputy national finance director during Obamas 2008 campaign. Biden, meanwhile, as a senator from Delaware, thats not something you really need to do. Harris is very good at cultivating those warm and fuzzy friendships with donors, Teboe said. She will be the more front-facing of the two with donors. Harris isnt the only new surrogate on the fundraising circuit. Doug Emhoff, Harris husband, is also taking on solo fundraising events, like he did during the Democratic primary. On Thursday, Emhoff, who is taking a leave of absence from his legal firm, is headlining a fundraiser with musician James Taylor, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. On Friday, the Democratic ticket-mates and their spouses will appear again together at a grassroots event, according to another invitation. But the stakes for Harris role in the fundraising operation differ greatly than even when Biden joined Obama on the ticket, several donors said. Back in 2008, Biden wasnt expected to run for higher office, while Harris backers see her as a rising leader in the party. Biden himself has regularly acknowledged that he sees himself as a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders. Donors werent investing in Obama thinking theyd also get Biden in 2016, Copeland said. Im betting that everyone in Harris-land is thinking about 2024. Even though its early, donors are taking note though theyll only acknowledge it privately. "Theres a dash among donors, who have ingratiated themselves to Biden, to now ingratiate themselves to Harris, which certainly wasnt the case with Kaine in 2016 or Biden in 2008, said one New York-based bundler. People are getting their ducks in a row for 2024. The turnaround in fundraising capacity is a marked shift from the presidential primary, when Biden struggled to keep up with his Democratic rivals and Harris, too, saw her fundraising dry up in the back half of 2019, particularly among small-dollar givers. Still, many of her high-dollar backers remained loyal, assembling a super PAC just hours before Harris ultimately withdrew from the presidential race. Now, those same backers are shelling out money anew. We have so much on the line in this election. There is so much on the line and it is certainly about, as Joe talks about, the soul of our nation, said Harris at a recent grassroots fundraiser. [And] I'm just thrilled to be with you Joe. I'm just thrilled. The 2020 China Space Conference will be held from Sept. 18 to 21 in Fuzhou, capital city of east China's Fujian Province, its organizers said. Jointly hosted by the Chinese Society of Astronautics and the China Space Foundation, this year's conference will bring together experts and scholars worldwide to exchange ideas on China's strategic plans for post-epidemic space development, key technology breakthroughs, spatial information industry development along the Maritime Silk Road and international space cooperation. At the conference, China will for the first time release 10 crucial scientific and engineering problems in the space field, the organizers said in a statement on Monday. Initiated in 2018, the annual conference is committed to building a platform for international academic exchanges, space industrialization cooperation and science popularization. The Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, Catherine Martin yesterday launched a new 26million COVID-19 Adaptation Fund to help tourism and hospitality businesses offset some of the costs incurred in adapting their premises or operations for re-opening. Costs including those for barriers and protective screens, the development of outdoor areas, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sanitiser will be covered. The Fund is being administered by Failte Ireland and applications are now open until October 8th. Minister Martin secured funding for the COVID-19 Adaptation Fund as part of the Governments July Jobs Stimulus Package. The National Tourism Development Authority estimates that there are approximately 12,000 businesses that will be eligible to apply for funding, making it the largest fund in terms of the number of businesses, ever administered by Failte Ireland. The COVID-19 Adaptation Fund is the third step in Failte Irelands approach to re-opening to provide a financial contribution towards the costs incurred by tourism businesses as they implement Failte Irelands Guidelines for Re-opening. Announcing the launch of the COVID-19 Adaptation Fund, Minister Martin said, "This investment of 26million is another key action the Government has taken to support and sustain the tourism sector at this critical time. The Fund will help eligible businesses to offset some of the costs required in adapting premises and operations in line with Failte Ireland re-opening guidelines and applications are now open." Source: www.businessworld.ie The 19th Amendment corrected a great wrong. It showed our nation and the world that our form of government has the capacity to adapt to correct our mistakes and to get it right, Lightfoot said. Today that constitution is again being put to the ultimate test as our current president bends and tears at every page to reshape the document to his own will. We know from our own history that we, our democracies are resilient. ... We never shrink from a fight. After the north Bihar rivers, the Ganga is in spate, crossing the danger level (DL) at Patna and Bhagalpur on Wednesday, inundating a vast stretch of diara areas and low-lying areas in the bordering Saran district. Officials of the water resources department (WRD) have been put on alert following the release of more than 1.25 lakh cusec of water from Bansagar dam in the Sone River. Currently, the Sone is being fed in the range of 47,000 to 53,000 cusec water from Indrapuri barrage in Dehri. Officials said that the water released from Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh may take a couple of days to reach Patna. The Sone is a tributary of the Ganga River. The Ganga has crossed the DL (48.60 metre) by 11 cm at the Gandhi Ghat in Patna, 21cm at Hathidan and by 18cm at Kahalgaon. The river may top the DL at Digha and Buxar soon, if the current rising trend is any indication, said a WRD engineer. Alarmed by the situation, WRD minister Sanjay Kumar Jha undertook an inspection of the Gandhi Ghat and other ghats in Patna and reviewed the departments preparations to meet any eventuality. The minister, however, ruled out any immediate threat of flooding to Patna from Ganga as the river was flowing about 1.85 metre below the highest flood level (HFL) of 50.52 metres at Gandhi Ghat, registered in 2016. Meanwhile, the rivers of north Bihar like Bagmati, Burhi Gandak, Khiroi and Ghaghra continued to flow above the DL at different stretches in Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Khagaria and Siwan districts. The rivers are exerting tremendous pressure on their respective embankments at several points. WRD engineers are maintaining round the clock vigil and carrying out flood fighting work to protect the embankments, said an executive engineer engaged in flood protection works. Heavy discharge from Valmikinagar barrage in Gandak has complicated the problems for people in East Champaran, Gopalganj and Saran districts, which are facing floods after the river breached embankments in the concerned districts. Countering the charges of lapses on part of the officials, WRD minister Jha said the breach in embankments on Gandak was due to the unprecedented discharge of water from Valmikinagar barrage from Nepal side. On July 20, around 4.34 lakh cusec water was released in the river. Heavy rains in Champaran, amounting to 200mm in a day, have added to around 1 lakh cusec water in the already swollen river, said the minister. The minister said that WRD officials tried to keep the flow of the river within the embankments by putting extra sacks of sands and other materials. But the water overtopped the reinforced embankment and demolished it at three places in East Champaran and Gopalganj despite the best of flood fighting efforts. WRD staff, however, managed to prevent the breach at more than 100 by resorting to mechanized and manual strengthening of embankments, said Jha. According to the disaster management department (DMD), flood waters have flushed into five more panchayats, taking the total count of panchayats hit by the floods to 1,317 in 130 blocks of 16 districts. More than 81.67 lakh people have so far been hit by the floods. The current spell of floods has claimed 25 lives across the state. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the Sushant Singh Rajput case from Mumbai Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy made it clear that it was court-ordered CBI probe and that there was no room for the Maharashtra government to challenge this. The bench also stated that Sushant Singh Rajput was "a talented actor" in the film world in Mumbai and "died well before his full potential could be realised." "His family, friends, and admirers are keenly awaiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest. A fair, competent, and impartial investigation is the need of the hour." Reading out the operative part of the 35-page judgment, Justice Roy also said that Maharashtra government must comply with the orders since it is a court-ordered probe. About the inquest proceedings conducted so far by the Mumbai Police, the court directed that all pertinent documents must be handed over the CBI henceforth. The top court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Rajput, 34, was found dead inside his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police had been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. Horrific footage has emerged of Australian cattle being illegally slaughtered alive at an Indonesian abattoir in an act of animal cruelty. A government department investigation has been launched into the footage filmed at an Australian-approved abattoir in the Aceh province during the recent Eid festival earlier this month. The graphic video released by Animals Australia shows cattle tied up by the mouth with rope, which is used to drag them along the concrete ground. Their final moments alive are spent in agonising pain as their throats are slit while still fully conscious before they bleed to death. An investigation into Australian cattle being illegally slaughtered alive in Indonesia earlier this month has been launched. Pictured is a dying bull being doused in water One bull spends its final moments alive withering in pain as it slaps its tail. Cattle are doused with water to remain cool and prevent it from rotting due to the lack of refrigeration, which caused further distress to the dying animals. The slaughter methods filmed are in breach of animal welfare standards under the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) rules implemented in 2011 to protect exported livestock from such cruelty. The cattle are housed in Mark I boxes, which are banned under Australian export rules. The ESCAS rules requires exporters to have arrangements with supply chain partners to provide humane treatment and handling of livestock from arrival in the importing country up to the point of slaughter. Australia is the only livestock exporting country that lists specific animal welfare conditions after the animals leave our shores. Around 11,000 supply chain participants have been trained in animal welfare since 2011, according to the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council. Its website claims 95 per cent of Australian cattle exported to Indonesia are now stunned pre-slaughter, compared to less than 10 per cent in 2011. Animals Australia has released confronting footage of the shocking act of animal cruelty Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton condemned the confronting footage. He added cattle were slaughtered in an inappropriate way and that they should have rendered immediately unconscious after their throats were cut. Mark 4 boxes should have been used. The company responsible has identified itself to the Department of Agriculture, which is investigating. 'There has been a loss of control of the cattle and that's what unfortunately led to the animal to being slaughtered in that manner,' Mr Harvey-Sutton told the Age. The distressing slaughter methods filmed are in breach of animal welfare standards under the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System introduced in 2011 'I know it doesn't excuse and it and in no way would I condone what occurred but there are 600,000 cattle sent to Indonesia each year and they all go through ESCAS systems.' Animals Australia director Lyn White believes nothing has changed with the rules were implemented almost a decade ago. 'That Australian cattle are being killed by brutal, banned methods in audited and approved abattoirs in Indonesia should sound alarm bells that the integrity of the ESCAS audit and compliance system has been compromised,' she said. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Animals Australia and the Department of Agriculture for further comment. The cattle were slaughtered in Mark 1 boxes, which are banned under Australian export rules The Australian Livestock Exporters' Council Australia was already aware of claims of non-compliant slaughter of Australian cattle in Indonesia before the footage was released publicly this week. 'The video footage of the non-compliant slaughter is distressing, unacceptable and not appropriate treatment of Australian livestock,' Mr Harvey-Sutton said in a statement last week. 'Exporters take any breach of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) extremely seriously and have been reviewing the footage and all the information provided by the regulator to address these allegations. 'The industry is regulated and there are systems in place to make any necessary decisions to stop future non-compliance. 'Under ESCAS exporters can identify breaches and if necessary, remove offending facilities from their supply chains.' The United States on August 20 formally began the process of activating a mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran citing Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal, which Washington exited in 2018. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo submitted a letter to the president of the UN Security Council notifying him of Iran's "significant" noncompliance with the terms of the landmark accord. The move marked the start of Washingtons bid to trigger the so-called "snapback" procedure, which is opposed by its European allies on the 15-member Council. "The United States intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran," President Donald Trump said late on August 19. "It's a snapback." As set out by the resolution enshrining the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, a so-called snapback would reimpose UN sanctions that were eased in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. But the U.S. move faces opposition at the Security Council, where other members have questioned the United States' right to do it since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal more than two years ago and reimposed unilateral sanctions. The United States claims it remains a "participant" in the accord because it was listed as such in the UN resolution that enshrined it. An announcement of Pompeo's trip to the UN headquarters had been anticipated since the failure of a U.S. resolution last week to extend an arms embargo. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on August 19 that 30 days after the notification "a range of UN sanctions will be restored." This includes an extension of the arms embargo, she said. Pompeo, in an interview with Fox News on August 19, expressed confidence about invoking the "snapback" mechanism, even as he appeared to lack support from Russia, China, and European signatories to the nuclear pact. "We are going to get these UN sanctions put back in place and the world will be safer," Pompeo said. He also said he would hold China and Russia accountable if they block the move. The United States "absolutely" will target Russia and China with sanctions if they refuse to reimpose the UN measures on Iran, he said, adding that the United States already has done that whenever it has seen any country violate current U.S. sanctions. In a letter to the United Nations, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the U.S. has no right to trigger the reimposition of all U.N. sanctions on his country while calling on Security Council members to reject Washington's move. "The U.S. push to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran will have dangerous consequences ... Iran has exercised restraint in good faith ... Now it is the international community's turn to counter the unlawful push by the United States," Javad Zarif said in the letter. Iranian state TV said the letter was sent to the head of the U.N. Security Council by Iran's U.N. envoy Majid Takhteravanchi. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on August 20 said that U.S. moves to reinstate UN sanctions will "lead to nothing," while "creating a very serious and profound crisis in the UN Security Council," according to Interfax. Pompeo also slammed European countries for not backing U.S. opposition to the nuclear deal. European leaders "refuse to do the courageous thing," Pompeo said. "We have the same objectives, they are just wedded to this crazy nuclear deal," he said, referring to the 2015 agreement with Iran and six world powers intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. resolution to extend the arms embargo, which is set to expire in October under the nuclear deal, failed last week, with only the Dominican Republic joining the United States, and Russia and China voting against, while 11 members, including European allies, abstained. That same resistance at the UN Security Council is expected to intensify as the United States acts to restore sanctions. Iran has threatened to completely exit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is formally known, and hinted it will pull out of another key nonproliferation treaty if the arms embargo is extended or there is a "snapback" of sanctions. But it also has said it will come fully back into compliance with the JCPOA if the United States abides by its commitments and lifts unilateral sanctions. Diplomats and analysts say a restoration of sanctions on Iran would lead to a messy diplomatic battle that could undermine the UN Security Council and potentially collapse what is left of the nuclear deal. Pompeo, in his interview with Fox News, acknowledged that restoring sanctions could spell the end of the deal. Bureaucratic, Procedural Moves? Analysts say UN Security Council members will likely use bureaucratic and procedural moves to stall or block the U.S. bid to bring back sanctions. Another option is for the UN Security Council members to respond to the U.S. claim that sanctions have been reimposed with a collective shrug, making plain that they dispute the moves legitimacy and that they will neither recognize new sanctions nor give them any effect, the International Crisis Group wrote in a briefing. Critics of the U.S. bid to extend the arms embargo say it was a cynical effort to try to snap back sanctions on Tehran, with the goal of killing the deal or making it difficult for any future U.S. administration to resuscitate it. Britain, France, and Germany -- all signatories to the JCPOA who have sought to keep it alive -- have expressed worries about the arms embargo ending, but oppose U.S. action at the UN because they fear it would end the nuclear deal and damage the UN Security Council. Experts say U.S. allies in Europe and Iran appear to be trying to wait out the Trump administration, calculating that former Vice President Joe Biden will win the November presidential election and de-escalate tensions with Iran. With reporting by Reuters, dpa, AFP, AP, Fox News, and Interfax An Accra circuit court has adjourned to August 31, the case of Mohammed Aminu Bonkanu, who allegedly collected over GH1.4 million from a retired civil engineer, under the pretext of facilitating his appointment as the Director-General of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA). When the case was called on Monday, prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare, and defence counsel Mr Kojogah Adawudu were absent, but accused was present. The trial judge, Mr Emmanuel Essandoh adjourned the case to August 31. Bonkanu, accused, 37, claimed he would give the GH1.4 million to Yaw Osafo Maafo, Senior Minister, to acquire a licence for the complainant, who is also former GPHA boss, to operate an oil marketing company. Accused is said to have demanded and received a total cash of $132,000 equivalent of GH726,000, 5,000 equivalent of GH31,150 and GH500,000. The police, however, said when the Senior Minister was contacted, he denied knowledge of the matter, and also of the alleged phone numbers used in committing the offence. Bokanu, who was facing two counts of defrauding by false pretences and two counts of money laundering, had denied the charges, and had been admitted GH1.4 million bail with four sureties, who are to be public servants earning not less than GH2,000 a month. The court ordered accused to deposit his passport with the courts registry and report every Wednesday to the police. Prosecution earlier said, the complainant was Alhaji Huseini Suleiman while the accused resides at Sapieman in Accra. He said in March this year, the complainant reported to the police that Bonkanu had demanded and received cash totalling over GH1.4 million under the pretext of giving the same to the Senior Minister to facilitate his appointment as the Director-General of GPHA. The prosecution said Bonkanu was arrested, interrogated and a caution statement taken from him. According to prosecution investigations revealed that somewhere in 2017, Bonkanu introduced himself as a National Security Operative to the complainant. He said accused claimed that due to the nature of his job as a National Security Operative, he could connect businessmen to high profile personalities in government, including Mr Osafo Maafo for appointments and promotion of businesses. The prosecution said in his quest to defraud complainant, accused person mentioned government officials, including Samira Bawumia, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, and Sarah Adwoa Safo, Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, as his associates. Prosecution said Bonkanu informed the complainant that he has already held discussions with the Senior Minister and that he should expect a message from the Senior Minister. He said the complainant received a WhatsApp message purportedly from the Senior Minister confirming allegedly that accused has discussed with him, the complainants appointment as Director-General of GPHA and the acquisition of the oil marketing licence. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The second night of the Democratic National Convention started out with a series of letdowns: Alleged serial abuser Bill Clinton got a slot that should have gone to revered climate activist (and election-stealing victim!) Al Gore. Then, the party wasted one of its most charismatic and morally centered talents, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, by limiting her to a 60-second slot meant for someone supporting the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a less-than-rousing speaker even in front of the warmest crowds, delivered a flat video address to a blurry Statue of Liberty. Advertisement But then, as if to prove that an at-home convention didnt have to be a dutiful slog, the roll call began! In a series of messagessome live, some prerecorded, but all charmingdelegates took viewers to their home states and territories, where they said nice things about Biden, shared struggles from their lives, and/or sold us on the places they live. There was no cheering crowd, no ecstatic Macarena. And yet, undoubtedly, these video messages were way, way better than the real thing would have been. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Are you aware of how majestic this country is? Have you ever fully comprehended the vast diversity of architecture, geology, and fashion choices this great nation holds? If not, I suggest you watch the roll call from beginning to end. Youve got the Pueblo of Sandia in New Mexico, with state Rep. Derrick Lente holding forth in a golden-hour windstorm. Youve got Rep. Barbara Lee positively kvelling over vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in front of the breathtaking California coastline. Youve got Maine state Rep. Craig Hickman, a Black gay man who owns a farm and bed-and-breakfast, bragging about his life. My American dream? Im living it! he exclaimed. You sure are, Rep. Hickman! And I am jealous. Advertisement Advertisement At a time when most of us have barely left our houses in months, a whirlwind trip around the ol amber waves of grain was a bit of escapism that feels increasingly hard to come by, especially because the main topic of this convention is an authoritarian racist whos recently killed tens of thousands of Americans. And as a break from a set of speeches still too often reserved for the establishment and the wealthy (tell me, again, why Mike Bloomberg was invited to speak?), the self-produced roll call clips were delightfully homespun. In Kansas, farmer Mike Pringle was filmed in a full-body shot from what looked like a wobbly camera placed in the grass. In D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was barely audible over the drone of cicadas. Whoever shot state Rep. Claire Cronin in Massachusetts filmed her too close, too bright, and out of focus, allowing us to focus our attention on her brilliant accent. Ohio, which featured also-ran Rep. Tim Ryan and IBEW organizer Josh Abernathy bro-ing out in front of a wind turbine, offered all the production value of a used-car dealership commercial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In normal years, the roll call segment of the convention would feature delegates giving their spiels from the floor of an arena, sometimes in region- or culture-specific garb, but otherwise subsumed into the homogenizing patriotic hum of the event. Not so in a pandemic! This year, we got to see more than just who these people are. We got to see where they live and what murals make the best backdrops there. The popular narrative of the Democratic Party is centered in cities and blue states; a different image was conjured by the young woman talking about rural broadband access in front of a group of unbothered cows in an idyllic Montana meadow. When state stereotypes were confirmed, they were confirmed with flair: Vermont, the home state of white guys with ponytails, was repped by Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a white guy with a suitably lustrous ponytail. State Rep. Joseph McNamara praised the calamari comeback state of Rhode Island alongside a vaguely threatening looking masked chef holding a plate of squid prepared in the states signature stylestudded, as it were, with cherry peppers. This land was made for him and me. Advertisement Advertisement There was also an equalizing force at work in the virtual format. People who normally wouldnt have been invited to the convention got to appear in these videos, some standing behind the delegates like members of a masked indie band. A kid jumped for joy in the background in Oregon; in New Jersey, some randos wandered through the frame. The U.S. island territories, which normally get the shit end of U.S. policyand, not coincidentally, have no voting representation in Congresscame out ahead for once, juxtaposing their turquoise waters with the broadcast from an Arkansas parking lot. Advertisement Advertisement But also, that Arkansas parking lot was full of great-looking food trucks and a very cool-seeming chef! I cant be the only one who came away from the roll call ready to book a flight to, at the very least, Boise (the park situation looks great!), the Northern Mariana Islands (such flora!), and West Virginia (cool mosaic!). Biden may have gotten the delegates votes, but the locales on view got something much more valuable: a free ad for the tourism bureau. If only we werent in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic that our current president has mismanaged such that no one can travel anywhere or have fun in a new place. Still, this roll call made me feel more patriotic than I have in years, and judging by the genuine applause from random observers Zooms that capped it off, we were all in it together. God bless these United States! For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. A link road to the new junction on the M49 has still yet to be built. (Highways England) A junction that was finished in December 2019 has still not been used because developers have not built a link road to it. The junction on the M49 at Avonmouth, Bristol, which Highways England says has cost between 40m and 50m, was built to connect the motorway to a nearby distribution park used by firms including Tesco, Amazon and Next. However, nearly nine months after it was due to launch, no traffic is using it and motorists that drive down the junction come to a dead-end. Councillor Adrian Rush, the Liberal Democrat member for Planning, Transport and Strategic Environment at the council, told Yahoo News UK that the structure was a junction to nowhere. He said: "South Gloucestershire is expected to take huge amounts of growth over the next decade but the Conservative council, metro mayor and government are incapable of doing something as basic as making sure a road to connect a motorway junction to a distribution centre gets built. They've left us with a junction to nowhere it's no wonder people locally are losing faith in the Conservatives." The junction was built on the M49 at Avonmouth, Bristol. (Geograph) James Long, a former worker at the distribution park who lives in the nearby village of Pilning, said "thousands" of lorries are forced to use an A-road to access the motorway network. A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council told the BBC it was "working to influence" developers Severnside Distribution Land and Delta Properties to build the link road. The new junction would be the only one on the short M49 which links the M5 at Avonmouth with a bridge that crosses the River Severn. Councillor Toby Savage, the leader of South Gloucestershire Council, told Yahoo News UK that the delay was absolutely ridiculous. He added: The deal between Highways England and the private sector landowner to build the new junction should be robust enough to ensure it is connected into the wider network asap to be of maximum benefit to all. A council spokesperson added to the BBC that "responsibility for building the link road... lies solely with the landowner" and the council was working to "influence and help facilitate construction" of the road in a "timely manner". Story continues Read more: Revealed: the UKs most dangerous roads Highways England, which built the junction, said: "South Gloucestershire Council is currently working towards [building the road] with developers. Colin Bird, Highways Englands South West Programme Leader, told the Bristol Post: We have completed the main construction of the new junction on schedule, and this will allow local developers to connect into the junction. The new junction will be open to traffic once the link roads are completed and connected to the local road network, and South Gloucestershire Council is currently working towards this with developers. Yahoo News UK has contacted Central Park Bristol, which is owned by Delta Properties, and representatives from South Gloucestershire council for comment, as well as the areas MP. Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News UK Watertown, NY (13601) Today Cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 4F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low 4F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. FILE PHOTO: Logo of the Wikileaks website is pictured on a smartphone in Tokyo By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia used Republican political operative Paul Manafort and the WikiLeaks website to try to help now-U.S. President Donald Trump win the 2016 election, a Republican-led Senate committee said in its final review of the matter on Tuesday. WikiLeaks played a key role in Russia's effort to assist Republican Trump's campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton and likely knew it was helping Russian intelligence, said the 966-page report, which is likely to be the most definitive public account of the 2016 election controversy. The report found President Vladimir Putin personally directed the Russian efforts to hack computer networks and accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party and leak information damaging to Clinton. Asked about the report at an event in Yuma, Arizona, Trump said: "I don't know anything about it. I didn't read it." "It's all a hoax," Trump told reporters. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence alleged Manafort collaborated with Russians, including oligarch Oleg Deripaska and "Russian intelligence officer" Konstantin Kilimnik, before, during, and after the election. The panel found Manafort's role and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence, saying his "high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services... represented a grave counterintelligence threat." A lawyer for Manafort did not respond to a request for comment. WikiLeaks did not immediately reply to a request for comment. It was not clear what effect, if any, the report might have on the current presidential campaign. Trump will face Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Nov. 3. Russia's alleged election interference, which Moscow denies, sparked a two-year-long U.S. investigation headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In a report released last year, Mueller found no conclusive evidence of coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. He cited 10 instances in which Trump may have tried to impede his probe but did not say if this constituted obstruction of justice. Story continues COLLUSION? Trump and his supporters have consistently bristled at suggestions foreign interference helped his upset 2016 victory. They have sought to discredit the intelligence agencies' findings as the politically charged work of a "deep state." Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh on Tuesday said the report vindicated his stance that there was no "collusion" between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia. Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said Trump had welcomed Russian assistance in 2016 "with open arms." "Donald Trump may believe that the Russian government should have a say in our elections, but it is for the American people to decide," Bates said. Founded by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks published thousands of emails hacked from Clinton's campaign and a top campaign aide in the weeks before the 2016 election, yielding a drumbeat of negative coverage about the Democrat. As Russian military intelligence and WikiLeaks released the hacked documents, the report said Trump's campaign sought advance notice, devised messaging strategies to amplify them "and encouraged further theft of information and ... leaks." "The Trump campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort," the report added. The report said Trump's campaign tried to get advance information about WikiLeaks' planned releases from his adviser Roger Stone, but the committee could not establish the extent to which Stone had inside access to WikiLeaks materials. The panel said it had referred "potential criminal activity" it uncovered to law enforcement. An annex on the matter was fully redacted. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Daphne Psaledakis and Andrea Shalal; Writing By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Scott Malone, Rosalba O'Brien, Alistair Bell and Sonya Hepinstall) Kaavan is a 35-year-old male elephant. For 30 years he has lived in chains in a Pakistani zoo. Now he is all set to get his freedom. According to a News18 report, a historic court order on May 22 by the Islamabad High Court stated that he be freed from a zoo which is not properly maintained. The elephant has spent all this time in the Zoo of Islamabad. Activists have argued for his release for years and also said he has been mistreated there. Twitter What made matters worse was that he was completely alone as his only companion died a few years ago. He is now being relocated to a sanctuary where he can roam free like the wild animal that he is. "Neither is there adequate facilities nor resources to provide living conditions that would meet the behavioral, social and physiological needs of the animals," said Chief Justice Athar Minallah. Twitter Authorities have picked a Cambodian sanctuary which will be Kavaan's new home. "We are delighted by the news from Pakistan regarding the relocation and retirement of Kaavan, Pakistan's last remaining Asian elephant... after 5 years of relentless effort by Free the Wild and Team Kaavan," said Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, co-founder of Free the Wild, according to Times Now. Twitter After so many years in captivity, Kaavan can finally be free. It was long overdue and it is time that this elephant had something good happen in its life. One hopes the remainder of Kaavan's life is spent in peace and no human interference. The Centre on Wednesday decided to withdraw 100 companies (around 10,000 personnel) of central paramilitary forces from Jammu and Kashmir after a security review, officials familiar with the development said. They said the decision was taken as a large number of troops were deployed in the valley for more than one and a half years now who needed to be rested. Significantly, the security situation in the valley has improved and terrorists are on the back foot, the officers said. On Wednesday, 40 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and 20 each of the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) were withdrawn by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and were asked to report back to their respective locations. Earlier, the MHA had withdrawn around 82 companies in December last year. The security grid in J-K was strengthened with an additional 600 odd companies (around 60,000 troops) rushed there just ahead of the governments decision to withdraw the special status of J-K and bifurcate it into two union territories on August 5, 2019. These troops were stationed at various locations from where terrorist incidents, stone pelting incidents were reported. According to the latest government data, stone pelting incidents have drastically reduced this year as compared to 2019 or 2018. In 2018, there were 532 incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir, 389 in 2019 but only 102 such incidents were reported this year so far. Senior officers deployed in the valley have claimed that the locals dont disrupt the counter-terror operations anymore and there is more support from the public in general. With the latest decision, around 400 additional companies of paramilitary forces are still deployed in J-K in additional to CRPFs regular 67 battalions (around 67,000 personnel) and army and the J-K police. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 03:24:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A woman walks with a baby stroller in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, the United States, July 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang) The Council members urge those mutineers to release safely and immediately all the officials detained and to return to their barracks without delay. UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday strongly condemned the mutiny, which happened in Kati, Mali on Tuesday and led to the arrest of Malian president, prime minister and several other members of government by some mutineers. In a press statement, the Council members urged those mutineers to release safely and immediately all the officials detained and to return to their barracks without delay. They also underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to the constitutional order. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita casts his ballot at a polling station in Bamako, Mali on April 19, 2020. (Photo by Habib Kouyate/Xinhua) They reiterated their strong support to the Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAS) initiatives and mediation efforts in Mali and expressed their support to the two ECOWAS communiques of Aug. 18 as well as to the one from the African Union chairperson. They called on all Malian stakeholders to show restraint and give priority to dialogue to resolve the crisis in their country. The Council members reiterated their support to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali in its efforts to stabilize the situation in Mali. They also expressed their determination to continue monitoring closely the situation. Advertisement The daily average for new coronavirus cases in the United States has dropped to below 50,000 for the first time in six weeks. COVID-19 cases across the country were averaging at 48,700 on Tuesday, which is the lowest daily toll since the first week of July when cases were surging in Sunbelt hotspot states. The current daily case average is down considerably from the record high of 77,000 cases reported on a single day in mid-July. Coronavirus infections in the US, which have now topped more than 5.48 million, have been declining for four straight weeks after spiking throughout June and July. Meanwhile, deaths appear to be plateauing nationally. The average number of deaths has remained steady at just over 1,000 per day for almost three weeks. More than 171,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. The daily average for new coronavirus cases in the United States has dropped to below 50,000 for the first time in six weeks. The current daily average is down considerably from the record high of 77,000 cases reported on a single day in mid-July. Infections have been declining for four straight weeks after spiking throughout June and July Deaths, which appear to be plateauing nationally, have remained steady at just over 1,000 per day on average for almost three weeks. More than 171,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 While still high, the daily death rate remains below the levels seen in April when an average of 2,000 people a day - mostly in the original epicenter of New York - were dying from the virus. Deaths are a lagging indicator and can potentially rise several weeks after new cases start to decline. The month-long national decline in cases is due mainly to a significant drop off in the hotspot states of California, Arizona, Florida and Texas after infections peaked there in mid-July. Cases and deaths have been on a downward trajectory in Arizona for several weeks. Arizona officials reported zero deaths on Monday, marking the first time in three weeks that the state hasn't reported a death from the virus. Totals released on Mondays typically have a lower number of deaths, when compared to other days, because of a lag in weekend reporting. COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Arizona peaked about a month ago following Gov. Doug Ducey's lifting of stay-home orders in May. With Arizona then becoming a national hotspot, Ducey in late June re-imposed some restrictions and allowed local governments to impose masking requirements. Florida's cases have been declining since mid-July but deaths are yet to follow after recording a single-day high of 277 deaths this time last week. Infections in California surged last week partly due to a backlog of tests caused by technical glitches that the state says it has now cleared. Deaths in the most populous state appear to be plateauing following a spike last month. In Texas, there has been a slight uptick in cases in the last week and deaths appear to be plateauing. In Texas, there has been a slight uptick in cases in the last week and deaths appear to be plateauing Florida's cases have been declining since mid-July but deaths are yet to follow after recording a single-day high of 277 deaths this time last week Infections in California surged last week partly due to a backlog of tests caused by technical glitches that the state says it has now cleared. Deaths in the most populous state appear to be plateauing following a spike last month Cases and deaths have been on a downward trajectory in Arizona for several weeks. Arizona officials reported zero deaths on Monday, marking the first time in three weeks that the state hasn't reported a death from the virus While cases are still declining nationally, there has been a recent uptick in infections in a handful of states including Hawaii, South Dakota, Kansas, Illinois, Maine, Vermont and Delaware. The increases seen in these states are minimal compared to the outbreaks that plagued the hotspot states at the beginning of summer and are not enough to reflect an uptick in the national infection toll. In South Dakota, new cases have been increasing for a month now. The state's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew more than 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event last week. Photos from the event showed a few people wearing masks and social distancing but many others packed close together at bars and rock shows throughout the event. The South Dakota Department of Health issued a warning on Tuesday that one person who spent several hours at a main street bar in Sturgis had since tested positive for COVID-19 and may have spread it to others. With people traveling to the rally from all over the country, the mass gathering has raised concerns it could become an epicenter of infections that are hard to track as rallygoers head home. Hawaii, which had kept the virus at bay for most of the summer, has seen new cases spike considerably this month. Governor David Ige said on Tuesday he was extending statewide travel restrictions that require vistors to quarantine for 14 days in a bid to curb the spread. While initially due to be listed on September 1, Gov Ige has extended the restrictions until at least October as infections in the state surge. Hawaii, which had kept the virus at bay for most of the summer, has seen new cases spike considerably this month. Governor David Ige said on Tuesday he was extending statewide travel restrictions that require vistors to quarantine for 14 days in a bid to curb the spread In South Dakota, new cases have been increasing for a month now. The state's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew more than 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event last week. South Dakota's health department issued a warning on Tuesday that one person who spent several hours at a main street bar in Sturgis had since tested positive for COVID-19 In South Dakota, new cases have been increasing for a month now. The state's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew more than 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event last week. Photos from the event showed some people packed close together at bars and rock shows The South Dakota Department of Health issued a warning on Tuesday that one person who spent several hours at a main street bar in Sturgis during the 10-day event had since tested positive for COVID-19 and may have spread it to others Health experts have attributed the current national decline in cases to policy and behavior changes in the hotspot states behind the summer surge, like Arizona, where governors and local officials rolled back reopenings to curb the infection rate. They say the widespread adoption of masks, social distancing and closing down bars all helped with bringing down the infection rates. It comes as White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr Deborah Birx said this week that she wished Americans had been forced into a total lockdown in the same way that Italy was early in the pandemic. Italy imposed a nationwide quarantine on March 9 and restrictions were not loosened until the middle of April. Phase two of reopening for the country only began in May. 'When Italy locked down, I mean, people weren't allowed out of their houses,' Birx said. 'They couldn't come out but once every two weeks to buy groceries for one hour and they had to have a certificate that said they were allowed. 'Americans don't react well to that kind of prohibition.' Infections in Illinois have been increasing since late June. Deaths have remained low but have been plateauing for the past month There has been an uptick of cases in Kansas for more than two straight weeks. The state reported a near record high of more than 1,200 new cases on Monday, bringing its total to over 35,000 There has been a spike in infections in Delaware in the last week with the state reporting a single-day high 373 new cases on August 14. Deaths across the state remain low There has been an uptick of infections in Maine this month but hospitalizations and deaths appear to be declining Cases have been rising in the Northeastern state of Vermont throughout August. The state's COVID-19 total is just over 1,500 While the CDC and White House issued nationwide guidance, individual states were responsible for putting lockdowns or restrictions in place. Birx said Americans now need to be met with restrictions that they can live with, while also instituting personal behavioral changes, to help curb the spread of the virus. She used Arizona as an example, saying the state had closed gyms and bars and banned groups of more than 10 people from gathering together after becoming a hotspot state. Arizona residents were still allowed to go to malls and restaurants provided capacities were limited, Birx noted. 'People were interacting, people were out, but people, by just not doing those careful things, were able to drop the cases significantly, probably by more than 80 percent,' she said. Birx said that Americans needed to continue to limit their interaction with others and also wear face masks. 'Tens of thousands of lives can be saved if we wear masks,' she said. 'Somehow we always believe our family is safe and our friends are safe. You cannot tell who's infected with the virus. You need to keep your mask on.' Coronavirus cases in the United States have now dropped steadily for the fourth straight week. Cases have been rising North and South Dakota, Hawaii, Kansas and Vermont for more than two straight weeks. In the last week, 14 states - including California, Maine and Vermont - saw an uptick in cases of more than 10 percent compared to the previous seven days. The majority of Sunbelt states that saw large spikes in June and July have seen a decrease in the last week While the redevelopment of the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club pays tribute to its past, there's one thing its members are happy to bring into the present: the size of the female change rooms. Despite allowing female lifesavers since 1980, and 40 per cent of its new members, a large number of patrol captains and half of its board being women, the club rooms where they prepare for duty along Australia's most famous beach can comfortably fit 10 people - or just five during COVID-19. Bondi Surf Life Saving Club members (from left) Claudia Frontini, Rose MacMahon, Geraldine Baldock with Ethan, and Rozanne Green. Credit:Wolter Peeters In comparison, the men's change sheds are nearly double the size. "I think that the surf club should represent the people who are patrolling on the beach, who are here every weekend, and thats definitely equally shared between men and women," Bondi local Rose MacMahon, who has been a club member for three years, told the Herald. In candid remarks, Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Saturday revealed that a huge influx of drugs was being smuggled from Laos into Cambodia as a result of loose border controls by Laos authorities. Sar Kheng was speaking at a ruling party event in Kratie province on Saturday when he spoke about the provinces geographic proximity to Stung Treng province, near the Laos border known as an infamous international drug trafficking route. When I held an annual meeting with them, I raised the number of drugs we confiscated which was carried from Laos, he said, not providing details of this meeting with the northern neighbor. They were surprised and appeared to express displeasure. In early March, Sar Kheng, who is also a deputy prime minister, visited Vientiane where he met his counterpart, Public Security Minister Vilay Lakhamfong. They, in turn, responded that it was because they confiscated so much [drugs] in Laos that there was this limited quantity of drugs being smuggled into Cambodia which, they said, should be regarded as fortunate by Cambodia, Sar Kheng said. In fact, we have received information that [Laos authorities] would take actions if those drugs would be to distributes domestically [in Laos]. But if those drugs were heading towards Cambodia, they would just let it go. Sar Khengs comments on drugs crossing the border with Laos comes after he said drug usage and trade had been spreading faster than the coronavirus diseases in communities and rural areas across the country. Meas Vyrith, secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, declined to comment on Sar Khengs remarks, but acknowledged that the promises made about curbing the cross-border drug transport were in contrast to reality. If you look at the real practice, we notice more crackdowns and confiscations on the Cambodian sides and not so much on the Laos side, and we need further studies and verifications on the reasons why, Meas Vyrith told VOA Khmer by phone. Multiple calls to Laos embassy in Phnom Penh and Foreign Affairs Ministry in Vientiane went unanswered. Laos has been a busy route for the really accelerated trafficking of synthetic drugs to northeast Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, said Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The drug trafficking and use problem in Cambodia is not good it's pretty bad. But more than the immediate situation, we are concerned it will get worse as organized crime groups appear to be looking to diversify and move some production and operations outside the Golden Triangle itself, and as trafficking continues to intensify to and through, possibly even from, Laos and Cambodia. Jeremy Douglas added that corruption was an enabling factor for the spike. We have no specific proof of collusion or pay-offs, but it is undeniable that corruption is very important for organized crime they use it to advance their interests as they need to, he said. NACD secretary-general General Meas Vyrith admitted that there were cases in the past where some Cambodian police and military officers were involved in the drug trade, but said the government would deal with these officials with zero tolerance for betraying their profession. Cambodia is in its fourth year of the so-called war on drugs launched in 2017, which has decried by human rights groups over corruption in law enforcement, the arrest of users, and overcrowding in the nations prisons. According to NACD, as of August 17, authorities had confiscated around 682 kilograms of drugs, resulting in 13,460 arrests. She recently found her missing cat, Miso, following a desperate search. And the relief was apparent on Chanel Jeffries, with the 27-year-old DJ wearing a look of contentment as she head to a workout in West Hollywood on Tuesday. The ex of Justin Bieber flashed her toned tummy in a black crop top and matching bike shorts for the sweat session. Sweat it out! Chantel Jeffries flashed her toned tummy in a black crop top and matching bike shorts for a Tuesday sweat session in West Hollywood The native Californian pulled her raven tresses back from her fine features and held it in place with a scrunchie. She shielded her eyes from the summer day's intense glare with a pair of slim shades and carried a takeout container in her left hand. The outing comes just days after the Los Angeles-based DJ and model took to her Instagram page and posted images of her beloved cat in hopes of finding her after she went missing. 'Miso escaped while I was away and I am so upset. lmk [Let me know] if anyone has any info,' she wrote with obvious emotion during her initial posts. Serving 90s vibes: The native Californian pulled her raven tresses back from her fine features and held it in place with a scrunchie Mystery solved: Chantel's beloved cat Miso returned early Sunday morning after going missing over the weekend Jeffries, 27, wasted little time following up with a photo of the female feline, in hopes that some of her 4.7 million Instagram followers living in the Los Angeles area might have seen her. 'My Miso baby please come home,' she wrote along with picture of Miso. 'This is what she looks like if anyone sees or hears!' She then pulled at the heartstrings of her fans by sharing a snap of Miso's longtime male companion sprawled out on a carpet inside their home. 'He keeps looking for her. I am so heartbroken right now,' she declared in the caption. Heartfelt: Jeffries, 27 shared a photo of herself looking panicked when she announced her cat had gone missing over the weekend Heads up: Jeffries following up with a photo of the female feline, in hopes that some of her 4.7 million Instagram followers living in the Los Angeles area might have seen her Companionship: She pulled at the heartstrings of her fans by sharing a snap of Miso's longtime male companion sprawled out on a carpet, seemingly depressed over his mate No doubt it was a tension-filled night in the hours after Miso went missing. But the new day brought welcome news for Jeffries on Sunday. 'Miso came back at 6am I am am so relieved and happy,' she announced in her update on her Insta-Story. 'Thank you for your sweet messages & thoughts,' she added along with a red heart and prayer emojis. Re;lief: Jeffries sent out the message that Miso returned home early Sunday Love bug: The Come Back to Me artist shared a video of herself snuggling with Miso Stray cat strut: There's also a short clip of Miso reuniting with her campanion Reunited: The kitties snugged up with each other near the back door leading to a patio Not long later, the social media influencer posted a video of herself cradling Miso with the headline: 'omg she's so happy to be home'.' She wrote 'reunited' over another short clip of the two kitties getting reacquainted by a glass door that leads to a back patio. On the career front, Jeffries released her new single , Come Back to Me (feat. Shaylen), in May. The Chase the Summer artist has reportedly been dating Drew Taggart, of The Chainsmokers, since February. Social media butterfly: After her kitty returned, Jeffries was back posting selfies On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released what may be the final word on Russias interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaigns efforts to benefit from it. We have long known that Russia attempted to manipulate our election by hacking and leaking Democratic operatives emails as well as fomenting division through a social media disinformation campaignand at the very least, the Trump team was aware of and welcomed this meddling. The production of the fifth and final volume of the committees bipartisan report follows similar reports from the House Intelligence Committee and the special counsels office, as well as years of reporting on Russias election meddling. At this point, there may be no more bombshells to pull out of 2016s debris. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is one notable thing about the Senate report: the bipartisan acceptance of most of the hotly contended findings of the Mueller report and the House Intelligence Committees Democratic minority report, which were both met by Republicans as partisan witch hunts. In a few places, the report seems to go slightly further than the previous investigations did. But for the most part, the Senate committee report is a rehash of the already devastating facts that the other reports surfaced, which were dismissed both by the public and in Congress as not big enough of a deal to merit President Donald Trumps impeachment. Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. At the very least, the sometimes slightly supplementary report provides a good reminder of how truly earth-shattering the Russia scandal would have been in any other administration and how much damage it did to Americas creaky democratic institutions. Here are the top five revelationsor revelationsfrom the Senate intelligence report, even though they were already mostly revealed in one form or other, and they stand to make no difference once again. Advertisement Advertisement 5. Trumps CrowdStrike theory was Russian disinformation What the report says: The Senate Intelligence Committee notes that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort claimed it was actually Ukraine and not Russia that hacked the accounts of Democratic officials during the 2016 campaign. This bizarre conspiracy theorycontradicted by all available evidencewas notably espoused by Trump, who asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into the CrowdStrike Ukraine server during the call that resulted in his impeachment. The Senate Intelligence Committee reached the bipartisan conclusion that this theory actually originated in part from a former Manafort associate and Russian intelligence asset named Konstantin Kilimnik. According to [Manafort deputy Rick] Gates, the report notes, Kilimnik also asserted that the hack could have been done by Russian operatives in Ukraine. The theory undergirded the defense mounted by House Republicans during last years impeachment inquiry. Senate Republicans reached a different conclusion. The Committee has determined that this theory espoused by Kilimnik and Manafort has no factual basis, the report noted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What we already knew: Everything except for the committees bipartisan conclusion about the theory being bogus. The information about Kilimnik and Manafort propagating the theory came from the Mueller investigation and was released last year in response to lawsuits by BuzzFeed and CNN. 4. Roger Stone and Jerome Corsis Russian collusion What the report says: The Senate Intelligence Committee notes that Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone called up author Jerome Corsi the day that the Trump Access Hollywood tape was released and may have encouraged him to put pressure on Julian Assange to release stolen emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in direct response. According to the report: Corsi and Stone spoke twice that day at length: once at 1:42 p.m. for 18 minutes, and once at 2:18 p.m. for 21 minutes. Corsi recalled learning from Stone that the Access Hollywood tape would be coming out, and that Stone [w]anted the Podesta stuff to balance the news cycle either right then or at least coincident. According to Corsi, Stone also told him to have WikiLeaks drop the Podesta emails immediately. Advertisement Advertisement What we already knew: While it would be a bombshell if the committee had evidence that Stone orchestrated the release of the Podesta emails, that is not what it concluded. And what it actually reported was made public with greater informationand caveatsin portions of the Mueller report that were unredacted in June. In that report, special counsel Robert Mueller noted that Corsi gave conflicting accounts of what happened after Stone purportedly informed him about the video and that the special counsel investigated Corsis allegations about the events of October 7, 2016 but found little corroboration for his allegations about the day. The Senate report declares as fact one of Corsis contradictory accounts, sources it to the Mueller report, but doesnt say why that particular version of Corsis story is the correct one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 3. Michael Cohen, Trump kompromat, and a friend in Georgia What the report says: Discounting the infamous pee tape allegation made in the Steele dossier, the committee said it investigated and was unable to corroborate three general sets of allegations around compromising information Russians were said to have been collecting about Donald Trump. The report goes into some fascinating details about claims surrounding Russian kompromat efforts and about Trumps previous trips to Russia without providing much in the way of hard evidence. It notes that Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen exchanged texts with a Georgian friend and associate days before the election about efforts to stop tapes from Russia after a person in Moscow was bragging had tapes from Russia trip. Advertisement What we already knew: Cohens text exchange with his Georgian friend was actually a footnote from the Mueller report, and it didnt lead anywhere. Also notably, the Senate Intelligence Committee reported that it was aware of a realistic and well-sourced, but fake, video of someone who looks like Trump portraying him in a situation consistent with the uncorroborated allegations of a pee tape from the Steele dossier. If you read Ashley Feinbergs reporting in Slate last year, though, you would have already been aware of this as well. Advertisement 2. Trumps campaign chairman colluded with a Russian agent What the report says: It says that Manafort gave inside informationincluding internal polling datato Kilimnik. It further reported definitively that Kilimnik is a Russian intelligence officer and less definitively that the committee obtained some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected to the GRUs hack and leak operation targeting the 2016 U.S. election. Further: The Committee assesses that Kilimnik likely served as a channel to Manafort for Russian intelligence services. Advertisement What we already knew: The evidence that Kilimnik may have played some role in the election hack is entirely new. As the Democrats on the committee noted in a complaint about excessive redactions, though, that information is almost entirely blacked out, so theres no way to assess how strong the evidence actually is. Maybe a future Democratic-led Senate Intelligence Committee or future Democratic administration might reveal some of this evidence in the years ahead, depending on the outcome of Novembers election. As I noted immediately after the Mueller reports release, the fact that the head of the Trump campaign directly conspired with a man assessed to be a possible Russian intelligence asset was the unmistakable conclusion of that investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 1. Trump gave false testimony to Mueller What the report says: Trump had at least one conversation with Stone in which the pair discussed the WikiLeaks hack and Stone claimed to offer advance notice of one hack, according to Gates. This contradicts Trumps sworn testimony to the special counsel: Trump, in written responses to the SCO, stated: I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with [Stone], nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign. Trump further claimed that he had no recollection of the specifics of any conversations I had with Mr. Stone between June 1, 2016 and November 8, 2016. Despite Trumps recollection, the Committee assesses that Trump did, in fact, speak with Stone about WikiLeaks and with members of his Campaign about Stones access to WikiLeaks on multiple occasions. Advertisement What we already knew: We already knew from Stones prosecution that the president likely committed felony perjury in his written responses to the Mueller inquiry. (Stone has since had his sentence in that case commuted by Trump after convictions for perjury and witness tampering.) To hear the Senate Intelligence Committeeincluding the Republicans on the committeeaffirm the facts of this finding, though, is surprising. Ultimately, any one of these scandals likely would have been enough to end any previous presidency. With Donald Trump, they are all old news. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. It looks increasingly unlikely that Stanford GSB will have any in-person element to their MBA classes this quarter. Andrew Brodhead Stanford News Less than three weeks before the start of MBA classes, Stanford Graduate School of Business is preparing for a remote Autumn Quarter as the number of national and local cases of coronavirus make the conditions of its planned hybrid approach more and more difficult to meet. Thats the clear conclusion from messages sent to students and faculty by Stanford leadership and a rough transcript of an August 18 town hall meeting obtained by Poets&Quants. The news comes as several other top business schools in the United States have backtracked on plans to have a mix of in-person and remote instruction in the fall, most recently UNC-Chapel Hills Kenan-Flagler Business School and the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. During the August 18 town hall for second-year MBA students, three members of the Stanford Autumn Quarter Task Force Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Brian Lowery, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Paul Oyer, and Associate Dean for the MBA and MSx Programs Margaret Hayes told attendees that local government restrictions that prohibited Stanford from having indoor classes were not likely to be lifted by the start of the quarter. Stanford GSBs leadership has set August 24 as the date for a final decision. Stanford MBA classes are scheduled to begin September 7 for first-year students and September 21 for second-year and Ph.D. students, and conclude November 20, before Thanksgiving, with final exams the week of November 30 to December 4. As of now, Santa Clara County continues to be on Californias Watch List, which prohibits indoor lectures, reads an August 17 message sent to second-year students that contained details on how to attend the Zoom meeting. While the countys status could change before classes begin, we recognize many members of the community are looking for more certainty about the plans for Autumn Quarter. We will make a decision next Monday, August 24, on whether our planned hybrid mode of instruction for the start of the quarter will be outdoor-online or indoor-online. Story continues As of today, Santa Clara County has 14,872 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 214 deaths attributed to the pandemic. In August alone, cases have risen by 25% from 11,877 on Aug. 1, though county officials warn that the numbers are likely underreported. In 13 of 17 days during this month, daily case counts have been above 100, peaking at 329 on Aug. 11th. WEVE BEEN ON THE WATCHLIST FOR A WHILE Stanfords Paul Oyer In the town hall meeting, held via Zoom, Oyer, Lowery, and Hayes define Indoor-online as some people in the classroom (reduced capacity); rotating cohorts of learning, with classes indoors and online, simultaneously. The other option cited, outdoor-online is either classes outdoor or online (not simultaneous). The town hall transcript, which does not make clear who is speaking, adds that Importantly, BOTH qualify GSB as a hybrid program (especially relevant for international students). Stanford, like most of the top business schools in the United States, had planned for a hybrid fall, with a minimum of instruction done face-to-face, partly to avoid visa issues for international students and partly because some consider in-person instruction essential. But local regulations may make even a small amount of in-person instruction impossible. If youre on the Santa Clara County watchlist for 3 consecutive days, then you cant offer indoor classes, the transcript reads. Weve been on that list for a while. If Stanford is forced to cancel plans for in-person instruction, there is still a chance during the quarter that the school could switch back. That would only happen once, according to the August 17 message, which was signed by the 11 members of Stanford GSBs Autumn Quarter Task Force. If conditions materially improve before August 24 and we are able to begin with the indoor-online format, we must be prepared to move to the outdoor-online format, in the event that the county returns (us) to the watchlist for three consecutive days, the message reads. If we begin the quarter in the outdoor-online format, we will re-evaluate moving to the indoor-online format after the county has been off the watch list for five consecutive days. To minimize confusion and uncertainty, we plan to only switch from the outdoor-online format to the indoor-online format once. As communicated earlier, the outdoor-online format doesnt allow for as much in-person instruction as the indoor-online format. With the outdoor- online format, we expect that almost all instruction will be online. We only expect to offer a few courses that meet in smaller groups outdoors. However, we expect there to be more opportunities than usual to interact with instructors in small groups. Note that some instructors will not be on campus in Autumn Quarter for outdoor instruction or small-group interactions, but many of them are committed to small or individual virtual meetings with students. We support all faculty and students to make decisions based on their individual circumstances regarding in-person activities. If all instruction moves online, Stanfords Startup Garage will be an exception, students have been told. BLATANT DISREGARD FOR THE RULES WILL BE PUNISHED Stanford has asked first-year MBA students to be on campus by September 4. All students living on campus or coming to campus for any reason are required to sign a new Graduate Student Compact that was unveiled August 15 by Susie Brubaker-Cole, vice provost for student affairs, and Stacey Bent, vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs. The compact, similar to those established at other U.S. B-schools this summer, lays out detailed guidelines for screening, testing, isolation, quarantine, hygiene, distancing, and face coverings, as well as rules regarding guests, access, and travel. In the August 18 Zoom town hall, dubbed MBA 2021 Community Conversation, attendees asked several questions about the compact and the consequences of violating it. They were told that for egregious offenses, they could lose housing or access to campus; the most extreme cases will be referred to the Office of Community Standards. Youre not going to face serious consequences if you use common sense, Lowery, Hayes, and Oyer told students. That said, you absolutely could if youre participating in something that could be a potential super spreader event. Large gatherings to spread the virus or viral videos going online of people blatantly disregarding the rules will be punished. Students were told that those who do not come to campus at all and only attend classes remotely do not have to sign the compact. Lowery, Hayes, and Oyer are also members of the Autumn Quarter Task Force, which is composed of four teachers (professors Kate Casey, Jonathan Levav, and Andy Skrzypacz, and lecturer Robert Siegel), four representatives from leadership (Lowery, Oyer, Hayes, and Grace Lyo, assistant dean and director of teaching & learning), one staff member (Bernadette deRaphael, director of facilities & hospitality & emerging projects), and two students: Emily Calkins and Kerry Omughelli, both in the Class of 2021. EFFECTS ON THE CURRICULUM Students in the August 18 town hall were told that regardless of the eventual makeup of classes, Stanford has lowered graduating requirements from 98 units to 94, with 82 needing to be completed at GSB, down from 86. Some aired concerns that this move, in concert with the move online, would dilute the value of their MBA. They were told that the decision was driven by two considerations: avoiding Zoom fatigue and trying to account for the changes to standardizing classes at 80 minutes (down from 120 in some cases). Independent study units will be 6 units (up from 4) for this academic year; lowering the graduation requirements also addresses the fact that some courses are decreasing the units granted for them, students were told. Global Experiences requirements, meanwhile, will stand, though actual travel is impossible. We have to do it a different way now, but that doesnt mean we arent going to do it at all given how important we continue to think global learning is, students were told. We will be releasing new options before the start of the quarter. One student asked about the effect on a particular class Interpersonal Dynamics, known as Touchy Feely. They were told that if the school moves to outdoor-online, Touchy Feelys T-groups 12-person groups that in normal conditions meet for three to five hours every week for 10 weeks will meet online, because outdoor meetings wont preserve confidentiality sufficiently. It was a difficult decision, students were told, but the difficulty or impossibility in finding sufficient and appropriate outdoor space made it a necessary one. Finally, a student asked whether the cost of their MBA will be lowered after all this. The university has no plans to change tuition, they were told. DONT MISS: ANOTHER TOP B-SCHOOL CHANGES COURSE, WILL GO REMOTE THIS FALL or INSIDE STANFORDS EFFORTS TO WELCOME MBA STUDENTS BACK TO CAMPUS The post Stanford GSB Inches Toward A Remote-Learning Autumn appeared first on Poets&Quants. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE:XMG)(FKT:1MG)(OTC PINK:MGXMF) is pleased to announce the completion of a site visit report in accordance with the N.I. 43-101. This report is an amendment to the previously filed Technical Report completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) Ltd. for the Heino Gold Deposit and Tillicum Claims dated June 2020. The majority of the report is provided below with complete report to be filed on SEDAR shortly: Introduction SRK undertook a site visit to the MGX's Heino Gold Project on 7-9 July 2020. The primary aim of the Phase 1 work was to verify and resample mineralized intercepts from available historical drill core. In addition, surface and underground outcrops were examined to gain an understanding of the geological controls on the mineralization and provide input to the Phase 2 lithological, structural and resource modelling. Work was undertaking with the guidance and assistance of the MGX team and geologist Andris Kikauka Geology overview Mineralization is hosted within the Milford Group, a sequence of Upper Paleozoic to Triassic pelitic schists, calc-silicates and metavolcanoclastics Three intrusive episodes are recognized: Porphyritic dioritic sills (Jurassic) Monzonitic Goat Canyon and Halifax Creek stocks (Late Cretaceous) Lamprophyre dykes (Eocene) The area is structurally complex with at least two stages of folding, multiple shear zones and faults recognised. Peak metamorphic grade throughout the region is typically of sillimanite facies. Geology overview Gold and Silver is reported from shear zone related skarns developed adjacent to, or in close proximity to quartz monzodiorite porphyry sills. Mineralization is strongly structurally controlled with two styles recognised: 1. Steeply dipping, Heino-Money Zone type mineralization 2. Shallower dipping East Ridge Zone type mineralization The age, interrelationship and timing between the two styles is still poorly understood with some interpretations considering the highgrade Heino-Money Zone a remobilization and enrichment of the East Ridge Zone mineralization style. Story continues Geology overview Finely disseminated sulphides occur within the foliation or as coarse-grained aggregates with quartz, plagioclase, sericite, tremolite-actinolite, clinozoisite, garnet, biotite and microcline assemblages Sulphides include pyrrhotite, pyrite-marcasite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and minor chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite. Native gold occurs within and along the margins of quartz calcsilicate segregations and associated with sulphides. Drill Core observations Further work From the site visit SRK can recommend the following to develop a more detailed understanding of the structure and controls on mineralization: High resolution LiDAR survey with detailed structural interpretation Further surface structural mapping Development of a 3D lithostructural model Integration of structural interpretation with high resolution geophysics Understanding timing and kinematics of shearing and mineralization Relationship of mineralization age to intrusive history Re-evaluation of mineralization models. For example, Skarn type versus shear zone hosted and intrusion related systems? 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 forwardlooking 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. Forwardlooking 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/602389/MGX-Minerals-Announces-Completion-of-Site-Visit-by-SRK-Consulting-at-Heino-Gold-Deposit Google is reportedly ready to roll out an update for its Maps application to make things much more detailed. The brand new aesthetic will be easier to read at a glance, particularly in terms of differentiating environments. And that all comes down to a better color-mapping algorithm being applied. Now, when Google Maps is pulled up, at less magnified zoom levels, the colors will be far more representative of the actual landscape. That includes a better distinction between mountains and ice caps, as well as deserts, beaches, and dense forests. Less dense woods also still appear to be colored in a lighter green. But the distinction is much easier to make regardless. And the colors chosen are fairly obvious. With deeper greens used for dense forests and beige tones used for deserts and beaches. White, of course, is reserved for high mountain peaks and ice caps. Advertisement This wont just be randomly assigned or only applicable to the back-country areas Now, all of this will still be based on satellite imagery, Google says. That should equate to a higher degree of accuracy. And with the new colors, thats going to be more accurate still. But this isnt just being applied to the outdoor area where people dont generally live. It also will apply to cities. A slower rolling feature will ensure that street maps are more detailed with a similar overlay of coloration changes for environmental features. But also with more detailed street features from crosswalks and sidewalks to pedestrian islands. Roads themselves will be shown in shape and size thats more accurate to scale. All of which should make the apps other features easier to use. Advertisement When will the new Google Maps update arrive? For cities, the new details are going to take a bit longer to be applied. And that shouldnt come as a surprise since cities are arguably changing more frequently. And a more detailed view is an absolute must for the best navigation experience. To begin with, over the coming months only New York, San Francisco, and London will see the feature. More cities will be added later on. For landscape features found out in the natural world, Thats starting a roll-out this week, globally. As candidates, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have repeatedly condemned Donald Trumps immigration policies, accusing the president of embracing a xenophobic approach to foreigners Yuma, Arizona: President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused former vice-president Joe Biden, his Democratic rival, of seeking to throw open United States borders to criminals and disease, using the backdrop of the border city to stoke fears of immigrants as Democrats prepared for the second day of the partys nominating convention. Speaking at an airport hangar, Trump boasted about his own efforts to sharply limit immigration during his time in office, claiming to have made the country safer by blocking asylum-seekers, refugees and other immigrants seeking to live and work in the United States. The president reprised the darkest language of his 2016 campaign, warning that should Biden win the presidency, the Trump-era restrictions on foreigners would be abandoned in favour of policies that he said would allow aliens with criminal records to roam free across the country, threatening violence and stealing jobs from Americans. Were talking about abolishing ICE. Were talking about abolishing prisons, Trump said to an enthusiastic but small crowd, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bidens campaign has turned into a cult for open border and other zealots. That message is already at the centre of the attacks that Trump has levelled at Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California. In remarks this week, Trump falsely claimed that Biden supported allowing anyone to enter the United States. On Tuesday, he called Bidens proposals a recipe for abolishing Americas borders. Trumps anti-immigrant stance helped him win the election in 2016 and has been at the core of his presidency. He has denied entry to foreigners seeking protection from persecution, tried to end a program shielding from deportation young people brought to the United States illegally as children and cut back on legal immigration programs. While courts have blocked some of his most extreme efforts and he has failed to persuade Congress to overhaul the nations immigration laws, the president and his top aides including Stephen Miller, the architect of his administrations assault on immigration have succeeded in enforcing many regulations and policies aimed at making it harder for immigrants to enter the United States. And Trump has built a small part of his promised border wall, although he has failed to get Mexico to pay for it. On Tuesday, he said that Mexico was paying for the wall, then told reporters that the United States might impose a small fee on anyone who crosses the border. Pressed on how that would work and whether it had already started, Trump said that it was under consideration but refused to give any details. We won, we got the wall, he said, claiming that his administration had built almost 300 miles of wall, although he did not disclose to the crowd that most of that was replacement of border barriers that had already existed before he was elected. Hours before the presidents speech in Yuma, a coalition of more than 100 pro-immigration organisations released an action plan of recommendations for how Biden could roll back Trumps policies and improve the nations immigration system. The report, obtained by The New York Times, lists 10 broad steps, including decriminalising immigration, protecting immigrant children and families, phasing out immigration jails and restoring the right to seek and receive protection from persecution at the border. We need a vision, said Tyler Moran, the executive director of the Immigration Hub and one of the leaders of the effort. It really is a road map that we think a new administration can take. Moran said the Biden campaign already had a strong platform on immigration, but she said the coalition planned to share its action plan with the campaign Tuesday in the hopes that they could work together during a transition if Biden won. The recommendations include enacting a moratorium on deportations pending a comprehensive review of immigration enforcement, reinstating and expanding the program for young immigrants known as DACA, repealing all Muslim, African, refugee and other travel bans, establishing a White House Office of New Americans, and suspending all criminal prosecutions for migration-related offences. The current administration has usurped and weaponized our ineffective and broken immigration system to advance a xenophobic governing agenda, the report says. It calls for a rollback of a long series of current administration policies. As candidates, Biden and Harris have repeatedly condemned the presidents immigration policies, accusing Trump of embracing a xenophobic approach to foreigners and vowing to reverse many of the administrations policies if they win the White House. But Biden has been careful not to endorse some of the most extreme ideas among some in the Democratic Party, who have called for abolishing ICE. The issue can be a tricky one for the Democratic ticket. Many liberals in the party are eager for someone to repudiate Trumps policies like the decision to separate migrant families at the border and refusing entry to asylum seekers fleeing from poverty, war and persecution. But some moderate Republicans especially in critical swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania are likely to be turned off by the impression that Democrats are the open borders party, as Trump claims. During the coronavirus pandemic, voters in those states could be looking for someone to blame for their economic instability. Despite scant evidence, Trump will be eager to suggest that immigrants are at fault for their failure to obtain good-paying jobs. In his remarks on Tuesday, the president focused on physical threats from immigrants, drawing cheers from the crowd by declaring that he was proudly defending the jobs, safety and security of the American people. Repeating almost word for word the contentious comments he made on the day he announced his campaign in the summer of 2015, Trump said that we have people coming into this country, some great people, some really bad people, too. I mean murderers. I mean rapists. I mean, really bad people. His appeal to the crowd was simple: Vote for me, or Biden will put you in danger with insane and lethal immigration policies. A flood all across our border and prosecution of illegal border crossings ensuring that illegal aliens will repeatedly re-enter the country over and over again, and terminate all protections we have enacted against asylum fraud, Trump predicted. They want to do things that nobody thought was even possible. Michael D Shear c.2020 The New York Times Company A federal grand jury has indicted a West Virginia couple on conspiracy charges after the husband allegedly pretended that his wife had fallen off a cliff and hid her in a closet so that she would not go to prison for a health care fraud scheme. Julie Wheeler, 44, conspired with her husband, Rodney Wheeler, 48, and others to obstruct justice by lying that she had fallen from Grandview Park overlook, part of the New River Gorge National River, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Rodney falsely reported her fall to the National Park Service on May 31, prompting an emergency 911 call and sparking a massive and costly search operation, according to court records. Rodney (left) and Julie Wheeler (right), from West Virginia, have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice in the wife's bogus disappearance. They pretended she fell off a cliff so she wouldn't go to prison for fraud Authorities launched a large-scale search on May 31 after Rodney claimed his wife had fallen from Grandview Park overlook A rappeller was seen scaling the side of the cliff from which Julie purportedly plummeted Rescue personnel found a shoe and cell phone that belonged to Julie at the base of the overlook. To further the conspiracy, the indictment alleges that Rodney also gave false statements to federal, state and local law enforcement officials concerning his wife's disappearance. Rodney reportedly told police Julie had plummeted from the cliff while trying to search for a missing earring. The search for the mom-of-two lasted the better part of two days and involved a National Guard helicopter that was deployed to scour the area and a diving crew that was dispatched to search waters in the gorge. Investigators also brought in sniffer dogs, while rappellers were seen scaling the side of the cliff from which Julie purportedly plummeted. Rodney told police Julie had toppled from the cliff while trying to search for a missing earring. He searched a post asking people to 'pray' that she would be found Two days later, State Police found Julie cowering in a closet at home in Beaver, West Virginia The following day, Rodney took to Facebook, writing of his wife: 'They havent found her yet but I am holding out hope that she will be found and she is ok. I am heartbroken and lost right now but I have to have faith... please give us time to work through this and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.' On June 2, the West Virginia State Police executed a state search warrant at the Wheelers home in Beaver and found Julie alive and cowering in a closet. United States Attorney Mike Stuart said Julie was already convicted of federal health care fraud for a 'most heinous crime' of swindling the VA's spina bifida fund out of nearly $300,000. 'Instead of accepting responsibility and being accountable for her horrendous conduct, she and her husband concocted a really bad scheme and, in the process, risked the lives of first responders and the critical resources of taxpayers,' Stuart stated. 'It is unconscionable conduct by any measure.' In February, the mom-of-two admitted to swindling VA's spina bifida fund out of nearly $300,000 After being found in the closet, Julie was sentenced on June 30 to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release for health care fraud. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $289,055.07. She pleaded guilty to the health care fraud charge on February 11 and admitted to submitting fraudulent applications to the VA Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program where she overbilled for providing spina bifida care for a family member. The Wheelers are also charged with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts in state court relating to the false reporting of an emergency. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to activate a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing UN sanctions on Iran during a visit to New York Thursday, diplomats say. The United States has not confirmed when it will trigger the so-called "snapback" but diplomats at the UN told AFP they have been informed it will happen on Thursday. Pompeo is scheduled to meet UN chief Antonio Guterres at Guterres's residence in New York around 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) that day, a spokesman for the secretary-general told reporters Wednesday. America's top diplomat earlier said he would "soon" issue the procedure, which European allies oppose, threatening a crisis at the UN Security Council. Pompeo declined to confirm a specific date. "Snapback," which President Donald Trump has said will be triggered this week, will have huge repercussions for the Iran nuclear deal. It aims to restore all international sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the 2015 accord with Tehran that sought to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018 and introduced American sanctions on Iran as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign against the Iranian regime. Despite pulling out of the deal, America claims that as a "participant" of the original agreement it has the power to unilaterally reimpose UN sanctions on Iran. A 2015 UN Security Council resolution ratifying the agreement negotiated by former president Barack Obama says participating states can unilaterally reinstall sanctions if Iran has failed to significantly comply with the accord. The "snapback" procedure, which has never been used before, is supposed to lead to the re-establishment of sanctions after 30 days, without the possibility of Russia or China wielding their vetoes. European countries on the Security Council contest the US's legal argument and fear that the return of sanctions will torpedo the nuclear deal, which they are battling to save. Story continues "This will be fully valid enforceable UN Security Council resolution. We have every expectation that it will be enforced just like every other UN Security Council resolution that is in place," Pompeo said. Last week, the UN Security Council overwhelmingly rejected a US resolution to extend a conventional arms embargo on Iran. pdh-fff/ft (CNN) The New York Police Department announced the creation of an Asian Hate Crime Task Force after an increase in racist attacks against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic, Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison told reporters Tuesday. Since March 21, there have been 21 reported anti-Asian hate crimes that have resulted in 17 arrests, according to Harrison, which he said is higher than normal. Victims have been reluctant to speak with police during investigations, he said, because of language barriers, cultural differences and fear of the police. In May, Deputy Inspector Stewart Loo proposed the creation of an anti-Asian hate crime task force, hoping that through a dedicated team they could build a better rapport with the community. The team includes 25 Asian American officers that speak a second language, Loo said. Not having to use translators will increase investigators' ability to develop relationships with victims and ultimately lead to more cooperation, he continued. Harrison noted that 4 of the 17 arrests were done with the help of the task force. "This task force has been built and will continue to build trust and understanding between the NYPD and with Asian New Yorkers," said Harrison. The task force will be permanent, Harrison said, and other culture-based task forces may be considered in the future. When asked about why there wasn't a dedicated task force for anti-Semitic crimes, Harrison said that this task force was put together because of Asian Americans' lack of reporting and cooperation with the police. Victims of anti-Semitic crimes work with the police in most cases, he said. "Since January, before COVID-19 became a national crisis, Asian Americans in New York City have been targeted in unprovoked racist attacks. They have been berated while riding the subway and harassed walking down the street," said Thomas Yu, co-executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, in a statement CNN. "We applaud the city's decision to create an Asian Hate Crimes Task Force, a move that is long overdue... At the same time, far more needs to be done. There is a critical need for resources at every level of government to fight hate crimes wherever they occur." JoAnn Yoo, executive director of the Asian American Federation, also welcomed the announcement in a statement to CNN, adding, "we also believe in restorative justice principles that intervene before hate crimes happen, which include building community within neighborhoods, getting neighbors to look out for each other, and investing in social safety net programs that deal with the stresses in the community that propel people to lash out at each other." This story was first published on CNN.com, "NYPD creates Asian Hate Crime Task Force after spike in anti-Asian attacks during Covid-19 pandemic." Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:54:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish resort city of Antalya, a popular tourist destination in the Mediterranean region, lured 180,717 foreign visitors during the last seven days, the Antalya airport management told Xinhua on Wednesday. The incoming passengers were mainly from Russia, Ukraine, Britain and Germany, an official from the press office said. The airport received more than 830 flights from these four countries during the last seven days, the official added, noting some airlines from Romania and Poland have also resumed their operations to the city. Bilgihan Yilmaz, general manager of the airport, told reporters that 110,808 passengers arrived from Russia, 36,248 from Ukraine, 18,797 from Britain and 14,864 from Germany. "We have been receiving an average of 25,000 tourists per day," Yilmaz added. After Turkish and Russian authorities decided to resume the air travel between the two countries, Russian tourists started to flock into Antalya from Aug. 10 after a four-month break over the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Turkey hosted 45 million tourists including more than 5 million Russian travellers, generating a total of 34.5 billion U.S. dollars of revenue. Enditem Michelle Obama, as first lady, embraces an admirer, as seen in the Netflix documentary "Becoming." (White House / Public Domain / Courtesy of Netflix) Nadia Hallgren's work as a cinematographer, camera operator and photographer has appeared in more than 70 documentaries, including "Trouble the Water," "RBG" and "Fahrenheit 9/11." The South Bronx native has shot in 35 countries, so you'd think there'd be little to rattle her on her first feature documentary as director. After all, she was just following an author on a book tour. A tour that included 17,000-seat arenas. And a Secret Service detail. And being up close and personal with the author, former First Lady Michelle Obama. "She has this incredible eye contact that never wavers," says the director of the Emmy-nominated "Becoming." "She makes you feel like youre the only person in the room, youre so special, and she believes it. And that continues every single day." Of being thrown in with the crowds and motorcades, she says, "It was wild. It still sometimes feels like a dream. I think back to ... getting over being intimidated by her. Shes Michelle Obama. She has this place in all of our minds as, you know, this extraordinary person. Shes [5-foot-11], shes beautiful; Im, like, 5-foot-4. She has this presence in a room that Ive never experienced. So I just kept thinking, 'Stay focused.' " For her first feature-length documentary, veteran cinematographer Nadia Hallgren has received Emmy nominations as director and cinematographer. The film, "Becoming," is also nominated in the documentary category and for its music. (Cortesia) Hallgren was called in after having directed "She's the Ticket," a series of shorts about female candidates in the years following the election of Donald Trump; she met with "Mrs. Obama" for about half an hour and they clicked. As thrilled as she was to document her subject's transition to a post-White House public existence, she was less excited to see, for instance, a signing at a bookstore on the schedule. "As a filmmaker, you wouldnt expect a book signing would be that interesting. One of the young women who works with her came in with a tissue box. I said, Why are you holding this? She said, 'Because when people meet her, they get really emotional.' " Hallgren scoffs. "Im like, Oh, come on! Thats ridiculous, who does that? Story continues So I go in and I start filming and 10 minutes later, I come out in tears, looking for the tissue box, she says, laughing heartily. Among admirers, there does seem to be a special fondness for Michelle Obama (currently ranked by the British site YouGov as the second-most-popular political figure in America, to Queen Elizabeth II four places above her husband, former President Barack Obama. ) "You felt this buzz [in the arenas]. You felt like you were in a room with people who wanted to share optimism for the future among one another. Ive never seen a group of happier strangers in my life." Hallgren's film doesn't attempt to directly translate Obama's autobiography to the screen. It's more of a companion piece to the book, almost an epilogue that finds its subject returning to public life a couple of years after leaving the White House (where the memoir ends). It contains some stories from the book, often captured as Obama relates them to those packed arenas. The success of the tour mirrors that of the book, which became the biggest seller of 2018 after just over two weeks of release and has sold more than 10 million copies. "There was this huge opportunity to be with Mrs. Obama in the present moment, to film her in her interactions with her family and people she meets on this journey," says Hallgren, nominated for her direction and cinematography of "Becoming." "I wanted to lean into the verite element of storytelling as much as possible. "I wanted to consider her internal life while she was in the White House while all these tumultuous things were happening specifically, the murder of many young Black people by law enforcement or vigilantes, if you will. Theres a specific part of the book where she talks about that and all the emotions that stirred up from her specific position. I knew I had to include that in the film. Michelle Obama in a scene from the new documentary "Becoming." (Netflix) "Theres also the story we have in the film where she talks about having these highs and lows. She talks about going to the funeral of the church members who were murdered [when a gunman fired on a South Carolina congregation in June 2015, killing nine], and then they fly home and the same day, gay marriage passes. I remember when I read that, I got emotional. I heard her tell that story on stage and I got emotional again. 'This has to be in the movie.' " There were unguarded moments which Hallgren found revealing, as when Obama acknowledged (as she does in her book) that the relentless, bad-faith criticism she received did hurt. Or when she discusses how understanding that she is the descendant of slaves has influenced her. "Her family members came to Chicago through the Great Migration. The photos we use in the film to represent that story are her actual ancestors that were on slave plantations. "Theres this one shot of this family on a porch. Those are her actual ancestors. When you look into the eyes of the individuals, and theres a little girl in the photo: If these folks could have even dreamed their great-great-great granddaughter would be the first lady of the United States that gives me chills." Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan on Wednesday said the district administration has zero tolerance towards illegal mining and the menace is being dealt with sternly. Dayalan held a meeting with senior officers of administration after HT highlighted the issue of illegal mining being rampant in the district. Giving details of action initiated against illegal miners between January 1 to August 15, he said that as many as 19 FIRs have been registered and over 30 crushers have been sealed in Majri and Mubarakpur areas. Scores of tippers, trolleys and excavators have been seized, besides environmental compensation levy to the tune of Rs 67 crore has been imposed on defaulters and recovery notices have been issued, he added. Dayalan said the administration extends full protection to whistle blowers, so people can come forward and report such activity to additional deputy commissioner, general, who is the nodal officer, and will be monitoring mining activity in the district continuously. Action on complaints received has been expedited and no major complaint is pending, he said, adding that directions have been given for strict action and prompt registration of cases against illegal miners. Two cases registered in Dera Bassi Police registered two cases for illegal mining and extortion in Mubarakpur area of Dera Bassi on Wednesday. Unidentified persons were booked for illegally mining from the Ghaggar in Kakrali village. As the mining department officers reached the spot, they fled from the scene and even took their machinery. A case has been registered under Section 21 of the Mine and Minerals (Regulations and Development) Act. The mining department had received several complaints of illegal mining from Kakrali earlier as well. An 85-year-old squadron leader, Gulzar Mathauda (retired), had lodged a complaint saying illegal mining activities were ongoing near his fields in for the last two years and some unidentified people had recently dug up a 35-feet deep pit there. He said that an FIR was lodged in January 2019 in the matter, but nothing had been done. In another case, a case has been registered against unknown persons at Mubarakpur police station for collecting extortion money in the area. Sub-inspector Arshdeep Sharma said, we they received a complaint that some people were collecting extortion money in Mubarakpur area and case has been registered against unknown persons. Post-Brexit trade talks with the EU are in danger of stalling again as the two sides clash over lorry drivers. Brussels is said to be resisting British demands for UK hauliers to be allowed to work extensively within the bloc after the transition period ends in December. It is arguing that the demands are close to those enjoyed by lorry drivers from member states and cannot be extended to a third party nation. It comes as talks between the UK and EU restarted last night, with the two sides hoping to hammer out a deal in the coming months. But as well as haulage, they are deadlocked over issues including fishing and trade rules and standards. The EU last night reiterated that a deal must be done by October at the latest - after UK officials suggested it could be done as early as next month. Brussels is said to be resisting British demands for UK hauliers to be allowed to work extensively within the bloc after the transition period ends in December It is arguing that the demands are close to those enjoyed by lorry drivers from member states and cannot be extended to a third party nation The UK is demanding British hauliers are allowed to travel across EU states to visit outside nations like Turkey, according to the Financial Times. It also wants them to be allowed to make up to two drop offs within an EU country and three in total across the EU27, pl;us unlimited access for empty lorries. But this is almost akin to the rules covering drivers from EU member states. A spokesman for the EU Commission said the EU wants an 'ambitious and fair partnership with the UK', but a deal must be achieved by the end of October for it to be ratified in time. On Monday, a No 10 spokesman said the Government was still confident a deal can be reached in September. The comments come ahead of the latest round of negotiations between the UK and the EU, which began on Tuesday evening and continue until Friday. Asked whether the EU is confident a deal can be achieved in September, the Commission spokesman said: 'The important thing to note - and I would point you first of all back to what Michel Barnier himself said in London at the end of the last round of negotiations - that, first of all, we want a deal, we want to have an ambitious and fair partnership with the UK, and that we must come to an agreement in October at the latest.' He added: 'This week and over the coming weeks we will remain constructive, we will remain engaged and respectful with the UK negotiating team in order to reach a deal.' Earlier this week, a No 10 spokesman said UK negotiators 'will continue to plug the gaps where any differences remain'. He added: 'There are many issues that will be discussed during this week's round, not least level playing field, fisheries, trading goods and services, amongst others.' The trade talks resume amid fears of a deadlock, with both sides admitting after the last round of negotiations in London last month that they remained some way off a trade agreement. After those talks, the EU's chief negotiator Mr Barnier said a deal looked 'at this point unlikely' given the UK position on fishing rights and competition rules. Mr Barnier said the UK had not shown a 'willingness to break the deadlock' on these issues. He added there was a risk of no deal being achieved unless the UK changed its course on these topics which are 'at the heart' of the EU's trade interests, and that an agreement would be needed by October 'at the latest' so it could be ratified before the post-Brexit transition period ends in December. His UK counterpart David Frost agreed that 'considerable gaps' remained in these areas, but argued that a deal was still possible. The UK has ruled out extending the December deadline to reach a deal. The Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council (GNCFC)has called on the government to stop the illegal transshipment otherwise known as "Saiko" to save Ghana's fisheries sector from imminent Collapse. The call has become necessary due to the state of Ghana's artisanal fisheries, which is near collapse, largely driven by the activities of industrial trawlers. "The small pelagic fishery found within the Inshore Exclusive Zone(IEZ), which is the sole preserve of artisanal fishers, is what these Industrial trawlers target, harvest, freeze them into pallets of fish, and sell to agents at high seas, who in turn sell to the fishing communities for huge profits, whilst artisanal fishers wallow in abject poverty and hopelessness due to the wanton destruction of their livelihoods". This was in a news release issued and jointly signed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GNCFC in the Central Region, Nana Kweigyah and Secretary to the Council in the Region, Mr.Kenneth Arthur at the end of a week-long peaceful protest of Saiko fishing in Ghana's waters at Cape Coast. According to the release,"Saiko is severely destructive, and a threat to food security and nutrition, a threat to job and income security, and practically a threat to national security". It recalled that in 2017, scientists warned that the small pelagic could collapse in the year 2020 if drastic measures were not taken. "Sadly we are in 2020, and in our bumper harvest season (July-September), but artisanal fishers make little or no catch from fishing expeditions, a confirmation of the warning by our revered scientists", the release stated. The GNCFC said though the one-week silent protest ended on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, the agitation would continue and that the council would not relent in her efforts at saving Ghana's artisanal fisheries. "We would continually mobilize fishers and other stakeholders to demand that the government purge the industry of the Saiko menace". The council declared that 'the time is now and now is the time" to salvage the ailing sea and the livelihoods of millions of Ghanaians. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video ST. IGNACE, MI The U.S. Coast Guard and Michigan State Police are seeking information about a pilot who flew a small plane underneath the Mackinac Bridge last month. Both agencies are investigating the incident, which occurred about 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, as many were traveling north ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Gary Demers said hundreds of cars were on the bridge when the incident took place. This was extremely reckless behavior on the part of the pilot, and it imperiled the safety of everyone on the bridge that day, Demers said. We hope that someone can come forward with information to help us make sure it doesnt happen again. Specifically, detectives from the State Police and Coast Guard are looking for clear photos, video, or other information that might help them identify the aircraft. A Coast Guard small boat crew captured video of the incident from a distance. RELATED: Michigan Air Force pilot flew bomber under Mackinac Bridge on this day in 1959 The Coast Guard is involved in the investigation because of its authority over bridges spanning navigable waterways, said CGIS Special Agent Josh Packer, Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie. - People with information about the case are urged to leave an anonymous tip using the Coast Guard Investigative Services CGIS TIPS app, available free on Apples app store for iPhones and iPads, as well as on Google Play for Android devices. Tips can also be sent directly online or by calling the Michigan State Police at 906-643-7582. Video of the incident can be seen below. Ukraine Summons Belarusian Ambassador, Saying Release Of Russian Mercenaries Undermined Trust August 18, 2020 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says Ukraine has summoned the Belarusian ambassador for consultations on deteriorating relations between the two countries. Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus Igor Kizim will be summoned to Kyiv "to assess the prospects of Belarusian-Ukrainian relations in the new reality," Kuleba said on August 17. Kuleba said Ukraine takes issue first and foremost with the release of 32 Russian citizens detained near Minsk last month who had been accused of being mercenaries plotting to "destabilize" the situation in Belarus around the August 9 presidential election. The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office said on August 14 that the men had been released and returned to Russia and would not face criminal charges. A 33rd man who was arrested with the others was not released because he also has Belarusian citizenship, in addition to his Russian passport. Ukraine had sought the extradition of 28 of the men, saying they had fought on the side of Russia-backed separatist formations in parts of eastern Ukraine. Kuleba said Minsk handed the men over to Russia despite the existence of "legal and moral grounds" to hand them over to Ukraine. "This step undermined trust between our countries and dealt a heavy blow to our bilateral relations," Kuleba said, according to Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. The men had been identified as employees of the Russia-based Vagner private security contractor. Minsk claimed the men were in Belarus to conduct a "color revolution" as Belarusian President Aleyaksandr Lukashenka sought a sixth term as president. Moscow claimed the men were traveling through Belarus on their way to Istanbul before flying to "a third country." After the men were released, Lukashenka accused Ukraine of unfriendly actions against Belarus, said Kuleba, who also cited Russia's statement on August 16 that it was ready to provide aid under the terms of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as a source of contention. This combination of facts and actions, as well as events in Belarus related to the August 9 presidential election, "radically changes the situation in Belarusian-Ukrainian relations," Kuleba said. It is the first time Ukraine has resorted to such a step in its relations with Belarus, "and we are doing it exclusively because of the unacceptable actions of Minsk," Kuleba said. Current Time and pravda.com.ua Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-belarus- ambassador-russian-mercenaries/30789302.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The body of alleged cult mom Lori Vallow's third ex-husband and father of her dead teen daughter was found on his bed in Arizona after a neighbor smelt it decomposing, a newly emerged police report says. Joseph Ryan, 59, was found dead in his Phoenix apartment back on April 3, 2018. The details of his death were included in a police report from the time that was only just obtained by Fox 10. Ryan, who shared his daughter Tylee Ryan with Vallow, had been fighting for custody of the child up until his death. The police report into his death showed that his neighbor alerted authorities after his dog started scratching at Ryan's apartment door on the evening of April 3. The neighbor reported smelling a strong odor and noticed flies inside Ryan's apartment. Police later found Ryan's decomposed body on his bed. The body of alleged cult mom Lori Vallow's third ex-husband Joseph Ryan, who is the father of her dead teen daughter Tylee, was found on his bed in Arizona in 2018 after a neighbor smelt it decomposing, a newly emerged police report says. They are pictured above on their wedding day Authorities contacted Vallow, who was listed on the report as his next of kin, 10 days later. The report states that Vallow told officers she hadn't seen Ryan in two years and that she shared a daughter, then aged 15, with him. Vallow has been in prison for the past five months on charges related to the disappearance of her 17-year-old daughter Tylee and her 7-year-old son from another marriage, Joshua 'JJ' Vallow Vallow asked what had happened to Ryan and told officers she would inform her daughter of his death, according to the report. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner official ruled that Ryan's cause of death was from arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which can cause heart attacks or strokes. Vallow and Ryan had been embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their daughter from 2006 until his death. Vallow had previously been sued by Ryan after he accused her of hiding their daughter for violating conditions of their court-approved custody agreement. Four months after filing that motion, Vallow's brother, Alex Cox, threatened Ryan and fired a stun gun at him. Cox pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was jailed for three months over that incident. Ryan's cousin Austine Murphy told Fox 10 that Vallow had been making her ex-husband suffer by not allowing him to see their daughter. Murphy initially thought Ryan may have committed suicide when he was found dead because of the custody battle. Joseph Ryan, 59, was found dead in his Phoenix apartment back on April 3, 2018. The grim details of his death were included in a police report from the time that was only just obtained by Fox 10 . Ryan, who shared his daughter Tylee Ryan (pictured left together) with Vallow, had been fighting for custody of the child up until his death Tylee vanished on September 8 last year just days before her 17th birthday. JJ was last seen two weeks later on September 23. They are pictured above together in Yellowstone National Park on the day Tylee was last seen alive 'My fear was that he committed suicide. Not that I ever thought he was suicidal but I knew Lori was making him suffer with not being able to see Tylee,' Murphy said. 'He spent so much money fighting for Tylee so I knew money was tight.' Phonenix Police have said the case concerning Ryan's death remains closed. The FBI would not confirm or deny if they were investigating his death. The emergence of the police report into Ryan's death comes as the bizarre case involving his ex-wife Vallow continues to play out with doomsday beliefs and the deaths of several people linked to her attracting national headlines. Vallow has been in prison for the past five months on charges related to the disappearance of her 17-year-old daughter Tylee and her 7-year-old son from another marriage, Joshua 'JJ' Vallow. The children's bodies were found buried on the Idaho property of Vallow's latest husband, Chad Daybell, in June - months after they were last seen in September last year. Daybell has since pleaded not guilty to charges related to hiding the remains and Vallow has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to help him keep the bodies of her children hidden. Authorities are yet to file charges related to the deaths of the two children. Tylee vanished on September 8 last year just days before her 17th birthday. Investigators said her body was burned and dismembered before being buried sometime the following day. Lori was arrested in February and is now facing felony charges for conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Chad was arrested after the children's bodies were found and is also facing felony charges Investigators are seen recovering the remains of Tylee and JJ from the backyard of Chad's home in Idaho on June 9 JJ was last seen two weeks later on September 23. His body was wrapped in duct tape and plastic and buried the same day, investigators said. Authorities believe Lori's now-deceased brother, Alex Cox, brought the children's bodies to Daybell's home to bury them. Prosecutors have said cellphone location records indicated that the day after JJ was last seen alive, Cox showed up at Daybell's property just as he had shown up at Tylee's grave site the day after she disappeared. The strange case also includes the shooting death of Vallow's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in suburban Phoenix by Cox. He claimed the shooting was in self-defense. Charles had been seeking a divorce, saying his wife believed she had become a god-like figure who was responsible for ushering in the biblical end times. A short time later, she and the children moved to Idaho. Cox died in December of an apparent blood clot in his lung at his Arizona home. Daybell ran a small publishing company in Idaho and had written many books about apocalyptic scenarios loosely based on the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Friends said he claimed to be able to receive visions from 'beyond the veil'. At the time, Daybell was married to Tammy Daybell. She died in October of what her obituary said were natural causes. Authorities grew suspicious when he married Vallow just two weeks later. Police had Tammy's body exhumed last December in Utah for further investigation but the results of that autopsy have not been released. Choo Yong Sheng (left) and Yap Junlian Eddie both participated in arranging a marriage of convenience between a Singaporean man and a Chinese national. (PHOTOS: ICA) SINGAPORE Two Singaporean men have been jailed and fined for arranging a marriage of convenience between a Singaporean man and a Chinese national. Choo Yong Sheng and Yap Junlian Eddie, both 38, were convicted and sentenced on 4 August and 12 August respectively for offences under the Immigration Act, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a news release on Wednesday (19 August). Choo was jailed 32 weeks and fined $3,000 while Yap was jailed 32 weeks and fined $2,000. For voluntarily causing hurt to police officers in an unrelated case, Choo was also jailed an additional 12 weeks and fined $3,000. Woman under Study Mama scheme According to ICA, Choo was introduced to 42-year-old Zhang Fengyu sometime in late 2015. At the time, Zhang was a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) holder under the Study Mama scheme, which allows for the mother or grandmother of a student studying in Singapore to apply for an LTVP to join them here. Choo told Zhang that he could help fulfil her wish of staying on in Singapore after her son completed his education by arranging a sham marriage for her to a Singaporean man. The arrangements would cost Zhang $18,000, for which Choo received a $3,000 deposit from Zhang. Meanwhile, Yap recruited a 44-year-old Singaporean man, Ng We Keong Jason, for the sham marriage. Ng was promised $8,000 as a reward for his participation in the scheme. The couples marriage was solemnised on 11 July 2016, after which Zhang paid Yap $10,000. She promised to pay the remaining $5,000 once she successfully obtained an LTVP under Ngs sponsorship. ICA officers arrested the couple on 16 March 2017 for entering into a marriage of convenience. Ng was jailed six months in August 2017, while Zhang was jailed three months in March 2018. Yap and Choo were arrested for their roles in the sham marriage on 26 July 2018 and 30 January 2018, respectively. The penalty for engaging in or assisting in arranging a marriage of convenience is up to 10 years jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Story continues Those who have knowledge of possible marriages of convenience or any other immigration-related offences can make a report with ICA via the authoritys Reporting of Immigration Offenders online form. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: Mother who threw newborn son down rubbish chute in Bedok jailed for 18 months COVID-19: Singapore confirms 100 new cases, one in the community SIA Group travellers can transit via Singapore from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia Over 5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes uncovered on lorry at Tuas Checkpoint The Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has kicked off. At the end of the three-day event Joe Biden will be formally announced as the Democratic Partys Presidential candidate for the elections in November. Joe Bidens decision to nominate California Senator and his one-time presidential rival, Kamala Harris, as his vice-presidential running mate has added a sense of excitement to an otherwise dull US Presidential campaign. It is a historic choice as we have been repeatedly told with Harris being the first Black woman and the first Asian American to be nominated for a major partys presidential ticket. In an election year shaped by nationwide protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, it was important for the Democrats to reach out the African American community and Harris nomination is expected to consolidate the community behind Biden. Black voters are likely to be critical not only in battleground states, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin but also in Republican-leaning southern states like Georgia and Florida which seems to have become competitive this year. Harris also allows Biden to connect to the young whose aspirations a 77-year-old Presidential candidate perhaps may not fully reflect and articulate. This age factor has also led to speculation that Biden may serve only one term, making Harris a potential top contender for the nomination in 2024. In so many ways, Biden may have energized his base with this decision and for America there is much to rejoice and celebrate irrespective of the final outcome of the Presidential elections. But what is disconcerting is the way Harris nomination has engendered a vacuous debate in India about the future of India-US relations and what she brings to the table, if at all anything. For a nation that proclaims to be a self-confident, rising power, this discussion around Kamala Harris has revealed our fundamental weakness a weakness that always views India as a nation that will be shaped by the actions of others as opposed to one which has the ability to shape the behavior of others. Tom-tomming Harris India lineage does justice neither to India own aspirations nor to Harris who has never been shy of identifying herself first and foremost as Black Im black, and Im proud of being black. I was born black. I will die black, she has said. There is little evidence of her underscoring her India connection in the way her politics has emerged over the years. And we should respect that and not impose our sensitivities on to her. At the end of the day, Kamala Harris has emerged a formidable American politician playing by the rules of the American politics and all she should be expected to do is to take care of American interests. What we should have been doing is to assess her on her foreign policy track record, not her Indian connection. Harris does not have much of a track record on foreign policy which makes it difficult to predict future positions from her past performance and national security is not her strong suit. She has been vague on foreign policy during her campaign and was not able to articulate a larger vision of American foreign policy. On most issues, she seemed to have standard Democratic positions such as according to her the greatest U.S. foreign policy accomplishment has been the post-war community of international institutions, laws, and democratic nations we helped to build. It can safely be assumed that Biden with his long record on foreign policy and national security will be in the drivers seat. And he has indicated that if elected, his administration will stand with New Delhi in confronting the threats it faces and has called for strengthening the bond between India and the US. In an attempt to woo the Indian American community, his campaign has already underlined that the Biden administration, if elected, will reform the H-1B visa system and work towards eliminating the country-quota for green cards. On the other hand, Trump has claimed that he has more support from Indian-origin voters than Kamala Harris, thereby signaling renewed jockeying for the influential community. But this is happening because the Indian American community has become adept at using their influence to further their agenda. And more importantly, irrespective of the parties, India has become a valuable partner for Washington to be courted on a sustained basis. Past record of Harris on India-related issues suggests that she has taken positions on some issues which went against official Indian policies. After the abrogation of Article 370, she is quoted as saying: We have to remind the Kashmiri people that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping track on the situation. There is a need to intervene if the situation demands. She was also critical of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankars decision not to attend a meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, because of the presence of Pramila Jayapal who had introduced a resolution on Kashmir in the House which Jaishankar had dismissed as not a fair characterisation of what the government of India is doing. But for a country like India these kind of episodes are par for the course. Neither Harris pronouncements above nor her Indian lineage should concern us. What should concern us is how we in India have not been able to come to terms with our nations rise. We want to shape global outcomes but dont allow for the possibility that India today has the ability to influence the behavior of others. American foreign policy agenda will be shaped by the fundamental realities shaping the US in the 21st century. And when it comes to India-US relations, personalities have tended to become peripheral long back. Barack Obama had come to office with a standard set of narrative about India, from non-proliferation to Kashmir. On all such issues he wanted to challenge New Delhi. By the time he left office, he had been converted and was one of Indias greatest friends. Donald Trump had also come to office after a campaign in which India, along with China, was a constant target and was willing to be transactional. And yet after four years, Indo-US relations have not only grown, they have been able to come off much better than Americas ties with some of its closest allies. If the Biden-Harris ticket wins in November, India-US ties will be shaped not by Harris being half Indian or by her previous statements on Kashmir but by the structural realties that confront Washington and New Delhi in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Everything else is just a momentary distraction. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., dubbed the Golden State Killer, has admitted committing more than a dozen murders and 50 rapes. (Santiago Mejia / San Francisco Chronicle) Through tears and anger, with trembling hands and fierce glares, victims again appeared in court Wednesday to confront the serial rapist the assailant known as the Golden State Killer who upended their lives four decades ago. Accompanying them was the woman whose name Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. cursed during at least one of his attacks, his college sweetheart. Bonnie Ueltzen was not allowed to speak in court since she wasn't among the victims of the murders, rapes and other crimes DeAngelo admitted committing. But the woman who had been briefly engaged to him in the early 1970s stood Wednesday in silent confrontation. At 19, Ueltzen broke off the engagement because of what she said was her increasing fear and unease. Days later, DeAngelo showed up at night at her bedroom window, seeking to abduct her at gunpoint for a Nevada wedding, until her father intervened and sent him away. A decade later, police reported that DeAngelo repeatedly said, "I hate you Bonnie," during a 1978 rape, the 37th attack. Ueltzen, 69, had been invited to the hearing by Jane Carson-Sandler, the fifth rape victim of the assailant who was then known as the East Area Rapist and later dubbed the Golden State Killer. Carson-Sandler had hoped having Ueltzen by her side would jolt DeAngelo into finally acknowledging the victims of his crimes. "DeAngelo, I want you to look at me ... and I want you to remember what I say," Carson-Sandler commanded as she began her impact statement. But as he has done for two years of court proceedings, he kept his eyes straight ahead, focused on a blank spot on a wall. "I may have been one of your victims, DeAngelo, but you know what? Now I am a survivor-thriver. ... Yes, evil one, I turned my pain into power and my mess into a message," Carson-Sandler continued. "One quarter of me, being a Christian, I want to say to you, 'May God have mercy on your soul,'" Carson-Sandler said. "Then there is another three-quarters of me that want to say to you, 'Buddy, just rot in hell.'" Story continues The impact statements are part of an extraordinary three days of hearings that began Tuesday, leading up to sentencing on Friday. DeAngelo, 74, has admitted to killing 13 people, starting with a Visalia college instructor seeking to thwart the abduction of his daughter in 1975, and ending with the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Orange County in 1986. His plea deal includes 53 attacks on 87 victims in 11 counties, including 50 rapes, but leaves out two sexual attacks and a shooting that also have been blamed on him. Family members of those who were murdered are to make their impact statements on Thursday. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, DeAngelo is to be sentenced Friday to 26 life sentences plus eight years, 11 of those life terms to run consecutively. To accommodate as many victims as wish to attend, the hearing will be held in a ballroom at Cal State Sacramento, the university where DeAngelo graduated with a criminal justice degree half a century before. At the start of the violence, DeAngelo served as a small-town police officer in Tulare and Placer counties. He became a father, married to a woman who became a prominent women's rights lawyer. He eventually was fired from policing after being caught shoplifting dog repellent, and he took up a quiet life as a truck mechanic in the Sacramento suburbs. DeAngelo's slack expression in court hearings and his current use of a wheelchair have also needled prosecutors, who on Monday asked a judge for permission to play in court jailhouse videos that showed that the 74-year-old inmate was both animated and agile. Judge Michael Bowman refused them. A growing number of victims complained Wednesday that the same lack of communication between counties that hindered police efforts to capture DeAngelo in the 1970s and 1980s persists. "I have never been informed ... never an email, text message or phone call," said Joanne Miyao, castigating the Santa Clara district attorney's office for leaving her largely unaware of the proceedings. "It is wrong that victims were left in the dark." And for the second straight day, victims of his serial rapes declared victory over their attacker. "I would like Mr. DeAngelo to meet the woman he violated... who he may have thought he broke but did not," said Miyao, the victim of his 42nd rape attack, describing herself as "a survivor." "As for forgiveness, I am not there yet. I am not sure I can get there," she said. Others told the judge they wished DeAngelo could be sentenced to death. Some, like Bob Hardwick, who was bound during the rape of his future wife, Gay, laid out a fantasy punishment that included near-nightly attacks by fellow prison inmates, doing to DeAngelo what he had done to his scores of victims. "It is imperative for justice to be achieved and these attacks to continue for the rest of his life," Hardwick said. "So I say this one thing, to future inmates of Joe DeAngelo, if you are listening, please remember what I have said." Srinagar, Aug 19 : Light rain lashed Kashmir on Wednesday morning breaking an unprecedented, nearly four-month-long dry spell as people got relief from the fortnight-long scorching heat. People woke up in the morning to witness light rain across Kashmir as farmers heaved a sigh of relief since the scarcity of water has adversely affected both rain-fed and irrigated maize and paddy crops in the valley. On Monday, the maximum temperature was 35.7 degrees Celsius in Srinagar which was the hottest recorded in August since 1980. North Kashmir's Kupwara town had recorded 36.7 degrees Celsius on Monday, again breaking the 39-year record for the month of August. Almost all the maize crop grown in the hills and 'Karewas' of Kashmir is dependent on rain water. The unprecedented dry spell has devastated the prospects of a good maize crop in the Valley this year. The perennial mountain water reservoirs that feed rivers, streams, springs, wells and lakes of Kashmir have already started depleting thereby adversely affecting the discharge in the local rivers and streams. Paddy fields have to be continuously irrigated since the plant is semi-aquatic in nature. Farmers across Kashmir are fearing very low yields this autumn because of the scarcity of irrigation during the summer months. Although the weather office has not forecast any major rainfall in Kashmir during the next fortnight, it has forecast occasional light showers accompanied by thunder in isolated places during this period. "The maximum temperature is definitely going to come down in the coming days", said an official of the Meteorological Office. WINSTED Families around Connecticut are preparing to return to school, and whether theyre using distance learning, returning to a building or a combination of the two, they likely have concerns. The Gilbert School, reopening Sept. 8 with block scheduling and longer class periods, while providing distance learning for those who choose to use it, held an online forum Tuesday giving the public a chance to ask whatever they wanted. Administrators led the discussion, starting with a complete review of Gilberts reopening plan. The audience on Zoom included parents, teachers and students, according to Superintendent Anthony Serio. I think the forum went very well, he said. I appreciated the fact that we had a sizable group. At the height of the forum, we had about 75 people. A chat allowed people to ask questions, which were answered by the administration including Principal Sue Sojka, Serio and Director of Health Services Kellie Gilbert. There were a lot of questions in the chat, and we answered all of them, Serio said. Some people asked about the hybrid schedule, where were using block scheduling (instead of a seven-period day). They wanted to know what kinds of activities the kids were going to participate in; were not having any clubs this year. There were questions about what would happen in the wintertime; about how many kids would be allowed on a bus. It was a variety, depending on the person who was asking. Serio said peoples comments indicated to him that parents were satisfied with Gilberts safety precautions and plans to reopen in person. During her presentation, Sojka spoke at length about face time between students and teachers and said the longer classroom times would allow for that. Gilberts plan is to have a four-period day with 85 minutes per class on each day. Block scheduling divides students into groups A and B, and courses of study will be presented on different days. This was developed to avoid having no more than 300 people in the school at the same time, Serio said. Some students will leave early, and others will arrive later in the day, Sojka said, adding that faculty members and staff will have office hours and screen time for remote learning and meetings with students. If a family has chosen to use the distance learning option, that time will also be provided. She also stressed that social distancing, health and safety were paramount. Social distancing is a commitment, and we are taking it very seriously, the principal said. Desks are 6 feet apart, all facing in the same direction. Masks must be worn at all times. There will be group work using project-based learning and collaborating, and were doing that in a safe way. Some students will be working at home, while others will be in the building, using Google Meets. Its creative and flexible. Sue made the point of teachers spending a much time as they can with students in person; thats why we chose the block scheduling, Serio said. Thats part of being a small school, and we want to make that happen. Students also wont have lockers this year - instead, they must use a backpack they can take with them from class to class. Even bathroom time will be monitored, she said. There will be no more than three students in a bathroom at one time, she said. Well have staggered dismissal time between classes, to allow students to get to class on time and prevent overcrowding in the hallways. Inevitably, Serio said, there is some trepidation among faculty members. Theyre concerned about coming back; they want to know that the building is going to be ready, have we kept up with sanitizing and disinfection. Weve spent the whole summer doing that, cleaning the buildings, he said. I think everyones a bit nervous and concerned. We see whats going on in places around the state and the country. So far, Connecticut has been able to keep it (COVID-19) under control, and it depends on how well we follow the science, Serio said. We have younger students, and older teenagers, and theyre used to being with their friends, being social. Its about changing human behavior. Its a big change for the kids. A team of 45 people served on Gilberts reopening committee, using guidance from the states Adapt, Achieve, Advance model. Using the advice of that document from the state, we began to plan our reopening, Serio said. The biggest challenge, the superintendent said, was reducing class sizes. We went from 20 to 24 kids down to 14 kids in a room. Obviously, if you have classes with 20 or more, its not going to work, he said. Our model (with the scheduling) gave us the opportunity to have 225 to 240 students in the building at any given time, plus teachers and administration staff. Serio has attended numerous meetings led by the state Department of Education, along with other school leaders around the state. The addendums to reopening are constant, he said. We are up to addendum number seven, which has to do with teaching music, choral or instrumental. The superintendent said the state also is addressing scenarios for schools to consider if COVID-19 cases were to increase. It really gives us an indication of when we can consider a different model of learning, Serio said. That includes distance learning; if cases go up, well use distance learning. There are a lot of considerations, and everyone is doing a brilliant job, in the most difficult of circumstances. Stability and returning to a normal school year is not clear yet, he said. Id like to have some sense of stability, but there is none, to be honest. Its like quicksand. The land is constantly shifting under us. Ive been in this business for 50 years, and quite frankly nothing would have prepared me for this particular exercise, Serio said. We need to be flexible and patient. Thats the reality. Residents can visit www.gilbertschool.org for details on the reopening, or call 860-379-8521. " " Deerlick Astronomy Village is located in rural Georgia, about two hours from Atlanta. Erik Benner Light pollution is getting worse by the year, and for anyone who loves the night sky, that means it's getting harder and harder to see the starry heavens in their full glory. By some estimates, 80 percent of the world's humans have never seen the Milky Way, one of nature's most spectacular wonders. Sure, city dwellers can travel to dark sky areasaround the U.S. Or, as one group of amateur astronomers from Atlanta did, you could simply create your own dark sky community. That's exactly how a 96-acre area called the Deerlick Astronomy Village (DAV) came to be. Advertisement Deerlick's location is what makes it so desirable for astronomy. Roughly two hours east of the glare of Atlanta, it's near Sharon, Georgia, a tiny town with a population of around 100. There are no businesses there, and no commercial lighting. Residents call it the darkest town in the entire southeast corner of the country. Deerlick is both a community and a staging area for astronomy events of all kinds. The lots for permanent housing roughly two dozen in all are already spoken for, so no one else can buy a plot. But the general public can pay a fee for star viewing parties and other activities. Additionally, there are also some leased lots, where people have built smaller permanent observatories that they operate remotely. A few of those are still available for sale. The genesis of Deerlick was borne out of frustration. Not necessarily regarding light pollution, but rather, out of the exasperation of packing and unpacking delicate telescopes over and over again. "The idea came from a group of us that were tired of hauling around 12-20 equipment cases for dark sky camping trips," emails Erik Benner, one of the site's original developers who is also a part-time resident. "Our thought was to build a community that was unique, and had offerings for folks that wanted a house, just an observatory, or a site with camping rules and facilities specifically for astronomers." The group decided that the proposed site should be less than three hours from Atlanta; in an area with negative population growth; and one with very dark skies, he says. After a few months of checking out properties nearby, they bought and developed DAV. Life at Deerlick Astronomy Village About six to eight residents are full-time or seasonal, and roughly a dozen are weekenders who flee brighter areas for their comforting dark sky homes. Members of the public can soak up the starlight on Grier's Field, named after Robert Grier, an amateur astronomer who published Grier's Almanac and correctly predicted a solar eclipse in 1905. (The field was built on the land where the observations were made for the almanac.) You can enjoy primitive camping or bring your RV and use the site's electrical hookups. There are restrooms, a warm-up building and even a picnic pavilion. Check the calendar for upcoming events.) " " Grier's Field in the middle of a star party (star-gazing event). Erik Benner/ Deerlick Astronomy Village "I really enjoy it when the owners stop by and invite us to tour their observatories," emails Amy Little, who isn't a resident but has been visiting DAV since 2017. "They have taught me so much over the years." She considers Deerlick to be her second home, albeit one that requires a tent. Both permanent residents and campers are subject to the same rules and regulations. Most of those rules, as you can imagine, involve light pollution. There are covenants in place that dictate the kind of lighting one can use on the premises, as well as the height of any structures no one can erect a building that obstructs anyone else's view of the sky. The site is wonderful for astronomy, says Benner and he loves it. "I started out with an RV and built a small cabin about six years ago. I am usually out there several weeks each month, depending on the weather." But there are drawbacks when you're working on projects that have nothing to do astronomy. "A simple drive to Lowes and back is over two hours," he says. Still, it's the social aspect that really draws many of its devotees. "Deerlick has members that live in all the surrounding states, plus several members that drive over 800 miles every few months," says Benner. He says one of his favorite sightings was the 2019 lunar eclipse, "mainly because I was able to watch and image it with a bunch of friends." " " A 2019 lunar eclipse, taken at Deerlick Astronomy Village. Erik Benner/ Deerlick Astronomy Village Amy Little agrees with that sentiment. "You can find me at DAV anytime the weather looks good and I never worry about who I will meet on the field," she says. "The membership fee [$35 for individuals and $50 for families annually] is very affordable. The bathrooms are always clean and stocked. There is plenty of power for everyone." And though there's usually no cellphone signal in the surrounding countryside, DAV is able to ensure that everyone has both cellphone and WiFi access there, she notes. "This is the astronomer's playground," says Little. "Big wide views, dark skies, and a whippoorwill singing during the night. I wish there were more locations like this protecting the night sky. Progress is inevitable, but we also should appreciate the beauty of an unpolluted night sky." NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Want to visit an astronomy village? These kinds of purposefully dark communities are extremely rare in the U.S., but a few exist. The Sierra la Rana village offers tracts of 10 to 20 acres near Alpine, Texas. There's a 450-acre development called the Arizona Sky Village, near the tiny town of Portal, Arizona. And in New Mexico, you can lease a remote observatory pad at New Mexico Skies, but you can't live there. Wearing face masks in classes will be mandatory for students in schools and universities that reopen across Armenia next month, Education Minister Arayik Harutiunian said on Tuesday, detailing basic health precautions that Armenian authorities plan to put in place at all educational establishments to avoid major coronavirus outbreaks. All schools, universities, and other general education institutions in Armenia have remained closed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March when they switched to distance learning to ensure the continuity of the educational process. Minister Harutiunian said earlier this month that classes in all secondary schools in Armenia as well as in vocational training colleges, music, and art schools will begin on September 15. He said that university classes for freshman students will open on September 1, while all others will start in mid-September. Presenting coronavirus safety measures in an interview with RFE/RLs Armenian Service (Azatutyun) on August 18 Harutiunian said that instead of five days a week, students will attend schools six days a week, which will make it possible to reduce the hours that they spend inside schools. Students spending less time at schools will make it possible not to open school canteens, added the minister. No more than 20 students will be allowed in one classroom and classes will be organized in two shifts, said Harutiunian. According to the minister, in physical training and signing classes students will learn only theory, without engaging in practical exercises, which will also reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus. These new rules are mandatory for both public and private schools, Harutiunian said. The minister also recommended that two weeks before the start of the classes children and their parents voluntarily self-isolate and limit their contacts in order not to bring the virus to schools and universities on the very first day of the new academic year and break a possible large chain [of the infection spread]. This will most likely allow us not to revert to restrictions at least during the first semester, Harutiunian added. The minister said that authorities will respond to coronavirus cases identified in schools by tracing the contacts of infected students and testing all their classmates. We will be acting in accordance with the situationIf as a result of testing no spread is revealed among an infected students classmates, lessons in this class will not be suspended. But if we do see the spread of the virus, classes for these students will be discontinued and they will continue their studies online, he said. The state of emergency introduced in Armenia in March to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus is due to end on September 11. The government has indicated that it will not seek an extension unless the coronavirus situation takes a turn for the worse. Armenia has recorded more than 42,000 coronavirus cases and 833 deaths since the start of the epidemic. In recent weeks, however, the countrys heath authorities have been reporting decreasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases and fatalities. (ANSAmed) - VALLETTA, AUGUST 19 - A tug-of-war continues between medical professionals' associations in Malta and the country's government, which is coming under fire for decisions that have led to a series of coronavirus outbreaks. On Monday the government announced it would close bars and nightclubs, but the actual text of the regulation, which allows the facilities to remain open if customers are served at a table, effectively allowed all bars to remain open. Therefore on Wednesday, while the superintendent for public health Charmaine Gauci announced an additional 47 positive coronavirus cases out of 2,261 tests - bringing the overall number of active cases to 677, in a population that is 120 times smaller than Italy's - the Maltese doctors' association MAM threatened legal action. In a statement, MAM said the Maltese tourism authority "is in self-destruct mode and is feeding the epidemic by still favouring profit more than public health". It said the text of the measure is "very different" than the one that was originally announced, and that it is "an insult to intelligence".(ANSAmed). (ANSA). BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. - A Tennessee teenager was indicted Wednesday on felony murder and other charges in the death of her 15-month-old daughter, whose disappearance prompted a search across three states, officials said. Megan Boswell, 19, of Blountville, was already being held in the Sullivan County jail on charges she had lied about her daughters whereabouts. The remains of Boswells daughter, 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell, were found five months ago inside a shed owned by her grandfather. A family member reported the child missing on Feb. 18 though the child had not been seen since December, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Boswell initially told state investigators that her daughter was with the childs father, who is stationed with the Army in Louisiana, but he did not have Evelyn, media reported. Boswell later said her mother took her daughter to a campground in Virginia, but authorities found no sign of the girl there. A Sullivan County grand jury charged Boswell with two counts of felony murder; one count each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances; and 12 counts of false reports. Her attorney, Brad Sproles, said he had not had a chance to see evidence used in the case and had no comment on the charges. The African Union (AU) on Wednesday suspended Mali a day after its leaders were detained by mutineering soldiers and the president forced out. The AU's 15-member security council "suspends Mali from the African Union until restoration of constitutional order and demands release of President Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other government officials forcibly detained by the army," the AU Peace and Security Council said on Twitter. Keita said Wednesday he had stepped down to avoid "bloodshed" after he was detained in a coup, whose leaders pledged new elections after taking the president and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody. The 55-member AU had already condemned the "unconstitutional change of government" in the West African nation. It joined a growing international chorus, including the US and European Union, that demanded the immediate release of the detained leaders. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/19/2020 -- VoiceAmerica, the leader in online media broadcasting and the largest producer and distributor of live internet talk radio, announced the newest podcast episode by Landmark Recovery, "Prescribing an Epidemic", with host, Zach Crouch, and guests Ted Chan and Tara Bevans. The episode played live on August 18th and can be heard on-demand at Landmark Recovery Radio. Host Zach Crouch is joined by Ted Chan and Tara Beans. Ted Chand is the CEO of Caredash, a patient review and transparency site for healthcare organizations. He shares his results from CareDash's recent study on the connection between Pharmaceutical companies and the rate at which doctors prescribe opioids. Tara Bevans serves as a registered nurse with vast clinical background. She explains some of the challenges that patients go through during their treatment from overdose or detoxing on drugs and how a hospital setting compares to an inpatient recovery center. About Landmark Recovery Landmark Recovery offers individualized treatment, including detox, inpatient drug and alcohol rehab, intensive outpatient, and alumni programming to address addiction. Landmark has drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Carmel, Louisville, Oklahoma City and Lexington, OK. Their sister company, Praxis by Landmark Recovery, is based in Louisville, Kentucky and serves the Medicaid population. If you or a loved one need help with drug or alcohol recovery, call 866-504-8545 or visit Landmark Recovery . About VoiceAmerica VoiceAmerica is the original digital broadcast company for the production and delivery of Live Internet Talk Radio programming and continues to be the industry leader in digital media, marketing, and distribution. We are the pioneers of digital radio programming and have been since 1999. We create and distribute over 500 unique and innovative radio programs for our millions of engaged listeners worldwide. Our network channels distribute live programs daily that reach a growing domestic and international audience who connect through all devices via our mobile, desktop, and tablet VoiceAmerica destinations. Learn more at http://www.voiceamerica.com. Download the VoiceAmerica App now to listen live on Apple and Android. follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Call us any time to find out how VoiceAmerica can help you reach your audience, 1-855-877-4666. Hours after the Supreme Court announced its decision that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday welcomed the observation extending full support of the state government. Earlier in its decision, the apex court also said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. The Supreme Court also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Deshmukh stated that the Mumbai Police has investigated the case in a worthy manner. He added that the Supreme Court found no pitfall in the investigation of the Mumbai Police. He also said that the Mumbai Police has done a proper investigation, adding that the investigation goes to the CBI after a NOC from the state government. A CBI investigation is the right of the state government, he added, asserting that the apex court has praised the Mumbai Police. Deshmukh claimed that the opposition has politicised the case as the Bihar election is coming up. According to Mumbai Police sources, it can continue its investigation under Section 174 CRPC. It added that the court has not said anything about the investigation of the Mumbai Police and found nothing wrong. Rhea Chakraborty, who was in a relationship with Sushant, had approached the top court to seek transfer of the Patna FIR to Mumbai. She had raised questions over the manner in which the Bihar Police registered the FIR and argued that the matter has no connection with the FIR registered in Patna. Sushant's father KK Singh had filed the FIR in Patna against her and six others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). Meanwhile, Shweta Singh Kirti, sister of Sushant Singh Rajput, expressed her happiness with a series of tweets posted soon after the apex court verdict. Shweta also expressed her faith in the CBI. Her tweets read: "There we go!! Finally!! CBI for SSR!! #CBITakesOver." "Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver." "Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI." Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his residence on June 14. The Mumbai Police has been probing the case since then. However, Sushant's family, friends and fans had been vocal on social media for quite some time demanding a CBI probe into his death. Nearly five months after it restricted all inter-district travel as part of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, the Maharashtra government announced resumption of inter-district bus services on August 19. After the lockdown was enforced in the state following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March, inter-district bus operations of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) were suspended. "The state government has allowed re-starting of inter-district bus operations, and we are planning resume services from tomorrow (August 20)," MSRTC's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Shekhar Channe told news agency PTI. Under the current lockdown rules, inter-district travel is not allowed barring a few exceptions. Inter-district travel without an e-pass is permitted within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) districts of Mumbai, Thane and Palghar. According to the state government's directive, passengers would not require an e-pass, permission or approval for inter-district travel in the MSRTC buses, but the transport undertaking will issue standard operating procedures for such travel. 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 With a fleet of over 18,000 buses and nearly one lakh workforce, MSRTC is one of the biggest state road transport corporations in the country. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, over 65 lakh passengers used to travel daily in MSRTC buses. In July end, the Maharashtra government announced an extended lockdown in the state till August 31 in view of rising coronavirus cases. With inputs from PTI The US on Wednesday donated the second shipment of 100 ventilators to India to help in the countrys fight against Covid-19, saying it had fulfilled President Donald Trumps commitment to provide critically needed supplies. The US-made ventilators are compact and easy to deploy, and will provide India flexibility in treating patients. In addition to the ventilators, US Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding a package of support that includes warranties and additional supplies and components needed to operate the machines. The first shipment of 100 ventilators was donated by the US government in June. These machines have been deployed to support the care of Covid-19 patients at the eight regional All India Institutes of Medical Sciences. US ambassador Ken Juster said, We are very pleased to hand over the final tranche of 100 ventilators to India, fulfilling President Trumps commitment to provide these critically needed supplies to support Indias pandemic response. USAID is also working with the Indian government to enhance the capacity of health facilities using the ventilators by facilitating setup, orientation, and clinical training for healthcare personnel responsible for operating the machines. USAIDs efforts have strengthened the Indias healthcare systems readiness and response capacity in several states with a high burden of Covid-19 cases. As of August, a total of three million people in India have directly benefited from USAID support, said a statement from the US embassy. USAID has also trained 40,700 health workers on best practices to integrate Covid-19 prevention and risk mitigation into essential health services, and 46,000 frontline workers on risk communication. It has provided 950 healthcare facilities with support to increase social distancing, infection prevention control, and patient management. One of the oldest misconceptions in politics is that vice presidential picks matter. Truth is, they rarely do. Dan Quayles treatment by the media was not fair, nor was Lloyd Bentsens retort during the V.P. debate that Sen. Quayle was no Jack Kennedy. Yet the damage had been done. The Quayle drag appeared so strong that many thought George H.W. Bush would dump his running mate. But Mr. Bush instinctively knew that his White House fortunes didnt rise or fall based on his Number Two. Ditto for Sarah Palin. The Alaskan governor was quite intelligent, yet was unable to shake her deer in the headlights label. (For the record, that situation was entirely the fault of John McCains campaign, which kept Ms. Palin out of the limelight while pumping her full of academic position papers. Forced to become someone she wasnt, Palin fell victim to Mr. McCains desire not to appear out charisma-ed.) George Bush won on his merits, and John McCain lost on his; their running mates didnt matter. The only thing vice presidential picks provide is drama for the inside-politics crowd. Pundit prognostications are often based on who will deliver his or her home state. Yet that argument is a fallacy, since most V.P. choices are either from safe states (Mike Pence, Tim Kaine, Joe Biden, Palin, Dick Cheney, Bush, Quayle, Walter Mondale), or cant deliver their state anyway (Paul Ryan, John Edwards). The last vice presidential nominee to win his home swing state was Lyndon Johnson and he couldnt even do that without the Democrats stealing Texas. Likewise, many herald the firsts (first woman, first Catholic), but they rarely pan out, as Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro demonstrated by losing 49 states. And no reminder necessary about how the first top-of-the-ticket woman fared. In the end, winners are determined by the American peoples degree of confidence in the presidential candidates. Sometimes the result is based on a positive (Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were down to earth), or a negative, such as widespread dislike (Hillary Clinton). But Biden choosing California Sen. Kamala Harris changed everything. It is not hyperbole to state that Ms. Harris is likely the most important vice presidential pick in modern history. The $64,000 question is what side will benefit from Ms. Harris selection. Consider: 1) Extra scrutiny is being given to Mr. Bidens pick, for two reasons. At 78 years old, Mr. Biden would be the oldest first-term president in history, which has created concerns. Some will criticize that as ageism, which is fine, because thats exactly what it is. Far from an insult, its simply stating the truth that, biologically, humans begin to fail as they age, and thus are more prone to health issues and death. Joe Biden is already two years past the average lifespan of the American male. Does that mean that he couldnt function as President, or that hell falter under the pressure? Not at all. Every individual is different, and Mr. Biden could perform with flying colors. But there is a distinct possibility (if not probability) that he could face health issues, and/or not seek reelection due to age, making a President Harris scenario quite plausible. The elephant in the room is the possibility that Mr. Biden is experiencing some cognitive decline. That has not been determined, but to dismiss it outright is disingenuous. Mr. Biden has a long history of questionable statements and outright gaffes. But unquestionably, his ramblings, stammering, and, at times, inability to articulate any words has raised concern among Democrats and Republicans alike. Maybe theres nothing to it that its just Joe being Joe under the worlds brightest spotlight. But enough questions have surfaced, including in the primary debates, to have made Mr. Bidens vice-presidential choice one of unprecedented importance. To be fair, age-related questions have also come Donald Trumps way due to some of his miscues and slurred words. But Joe Biden would assume office almost a decade older than Donald Trump was when he was inaugurated and Mr. Trump was the oldest president ever elected. Bottom line: Voters will be justifiably wary about the mental acuity of their commander in chief, given that it is the worlds most stressful job. 2) Is Kamala Harris qualified? Absolutely. She touts both executive experience (Attorney General of Americas largest state), and legislative acumen. If California were a country, its economy would rank eighth in the world, and its population 36th, so representing the Golden State provides unrivaled governing experience. 3) The rule for a vice presidential nominee is do no harm. And most dont, even those with baggage. But Ms. Harris may change that paradigm. First, instead of picking the best, Joe Biden pandered to the left by promising to select a woman. In prioritizing identity politics, he alienated both men and women with his DNQ approach, sending the unmistakable message that males did not qualify to be his vice-president, and, by extension, president. The result is numerous constituencies feeling stung by Mr. Bidens rebuke, because their champions were unceremoniously dumped solely because of their gender: The gay community (Pete Buttigieg); Asians (Andrew Yang); Hispanics (Joquin Castro), and even blacks (Corey Booker). The days of predictable voting blocs wrapped and neatly delivered for the party are over something the Democrats have yet to realize. It is a mistake that could prove costly. Second, Mr. Biden was bullied into picking a black woman by radicals in his party. And this is where Mr. Biden may find an intense backlash. For example, a statement by over 100 black leaders threatened Mr. Biden with defeat if he didnt choose a black woman: failing to select a Black woman in 2020 means you will lose the election, the group stated. The letter made demands not requests such as requiring a black woman vice president, and stated the urgency (of picking a black woman V.P.) went from something that should happen to something that has to happen. It also stated, Black women are defining the future of politics so its time you let one define the future of your campaign. And ultra-left Congresswoman Maxine Waters flat-out stated that Biden cant go home without a Black woman being V.P. Undoubtedly, Ms. Harris charisma will attract supporters. The question is whether her association with the far-Left will become a net negative. Its bad enough that being a liberal from California doesnt play well in most of America. But the specter of extremists influence in the White House may prove too much for the most crucial voting bloc: Suburban white women in swing states. Sure, many would be thrilled to see the glass ceiling broken, but that desire might be outweighed by the fear factor creeping into suburban America. This summers riots hit closer to home, literally, than ever before. From violence in the suburbs, to calls from black leaders to take the fight to white communities and take back what they consider theirs, many suburbanites are more fearful than ever. And the unprecedented looting and murder in virtually every American city including safe areas such as Chicagos Magnificent Mile and Philadelphias Center City is ratcheting up that anxiety. Some will call that analysis racist. Wrong. Its factual. And it shows what can happen when things get pushed too far. Demanding justice for black people remains a core principle to swing voters. But when equality devolves into a one-way street, where harmful double standards are employed in the name of justice, these voters begin to recoil. That reaction has nothing to with bigotry, and everything to do with ones economic and physical security. Many swing voters believe that the Biden-Harris ticket is beholden to those pushing the radical agenda of defunding police and passing sky-high tax increases (to pay for everything from reparations to the rebuilding of looted cities). It has gotten to the point where many suburbanites are no longer comfortable working in cities out of fear for their lives. And they worry that such a wave of violence could be coming their way. Since major cities are run by Democrats, and violence and chaos are increasing, many look at Biden and Harris as enablers of the current situation. If it is perceived that the ticket is more concerned about coddling voting constituencies than pursuing a law-and-order agenda that would provide stability and prosperity, it could be a long election night for Democrats. Time will tell whether choosing Kamala Harris will make Joe Biden look like a genius by trumping Trump, or if she becomes a vice that will relegate the former vice president to lifetime membership in the they also ran club. Buckle up. Chris Freind is an independent columnist and commentator whose column appears every Wednesday. He can be reached at CF@FFZMedia.com Follow him on Twitter @chrisfreind. Todays robot-mounted batteries provide electrical power but at the expense of added mass that in turn requires added power to move and use. But a team of researchers from the University of Michigan have devised a clever solution that will enable tomorrows batteries to provide power while negating their own weight it just needs a bit of Kevlar. Led by Nicholas Kotov, a professor of chemical engineering at U of Michigan, the team has developed a battery system that is strong enough to also serve as a structural support for the rest of the robot. Robot designs are restricted by the need for batteries that often occupy 20% or more of the available space inside a robot, or account for a similar proportion of the robots weight, Kotov told the University of Michigan News No other structural battery reported is comparable, in terms of energy density, to todays state-of-the-art advanced lithium batteries. We improved our prior version of structural zinc batteries on 10 different measures, some of which are 100 times better, to make it happen, he continued. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics Kotov points out that not only is the zinc-air battery chemistry his team employed around three times as energy dense as your standard Li-Ion brick but by incorporating the battery into the body of the robot itself, they were able to open up about 20 percent more space in the robots interior than if theyd used a conventional power system. This is not the limit, however. We estimate that robots could have 72 times more power capacity if their exteriors were replaced with zinc batteries, compared to having a single lithium ion battery, first author Mingqiang Wang, noted. Whats more, this battery design gets around an other difficult tradeoff seen in other efforts to incorporate batteries into a machines structure: that between the amount of energy the battery can produce and its ability to endure stress. Normally metal-air electrochemical batteries use an aqueous solution to separate the cathode and anode. The U of Michigan battery consists of a zinc electrode and an ambient air cathode separated by a layer of Kevlar fibers suspended in a water-based polymer gel that helps transfer hydroxide ions between the electrodes. Since the separator layers is effectively a solid, it wont rupture or burst under stress like a liquid separator would. And even if it does rupture, the solution is nontoxic. Story continues Whats more the separator layer so tough that it actually helps inhibit the formation of zinc dendrites, small outgrowths of metal between the electrodes created during the charge-discharge cycle that degrade battery performance and lifespan. Lithium-Ion batteries can go for around 500 cycles without noticeably degrading, however zinc batteries begin to decline after just 100. Kotov likens the battery system to human body fat. Our fat doesnt just store energy for us, it also provides cushions for our joints and helps conserve body heat. As such he expects the current single-battery design to eventually evolve into a distributed power storage system. We dont have a single sac of fat, which would be bulky and require a lot of costly energy transfer, Kotov noted. Distributed energy storage, which is the biological way, is the way to go for highly efficient biomorphic devices. Kotov hopes to have a commercial battery system ready within the next 3 to 5 years and expects the first buyers to be drone and robot manufacturers. And its not just about the big Amazon robots but also very small ones, Kotov told IEEE Spectrum. Energy storage is a very significant issue for small and flexible soft robots. By PTI WASHINGTON: Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris will deliver her acceptance speech on Wednesday as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate to become the first-ever American of Indian and African descent to be nominated by a major party for the top post. Harris (55) is the first Indian-American to be selected for the second-highest elected office of the United States after that of the president. She is also the first-ever Black and first-ever African American to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate by a major political party. If elected in the November 3 presidential elections, Harris, whose mother is from India and father from Jamaica, would be the first-ever women vice president of the United States. Incidentally, her acceptance speech comes a day after the United States commemorated the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment - known as the Susan B Anthony Amendment - of women securing the right to vote. "It was a monumental victory for equality, for justice, and a monumental victory for America," US President Donald Trump said at a White House event on this amendment, "Hundred years ago today the 19th Amendment was ratified, but many Black women and women of colour were unable to exercise their constitutional right for decades," Harris said in a tweet. "I would not be the Democratic candidate for Vice President without those who fought and paved the way before me. Vote," she said. In recent years, we've seen multiple attacks on the right to vote, particularly for people of color and low-income individuals. That is whydespite the progress made since ratification of the #19thAmendment100 years ago todayour work continues. Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) August 18, 2020 Joe Biden, who has scripted history by nominating Harris as his running mate, said that the US nation was founded on a simple idea: All men - and women - are created equal. "We've never fully lived up to it, but we won't stop trying. As we mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, let's make sure we don't wait another 100 years to fulfil that founding promise," he said. Earlier in the day, Trump said at the White House that today, a record-breaking 131 women are serving in Congress. Nearly 70 million women vote in elections. "Fifty-six per cent of our nation's college students are women. More than 11 million women own successful businesses. In other words, women dominate the United States," he said. However, unlike many developing countries like India and Sri Lanka, which gained their independence much later than the US, they elected a woman as a leader decades ago, a development that deprives the United States till date. In the previous 2016 presidential elections, the former second lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton came within a striking distance in breaking that glass ceiling. Harris, who has had a stellar career so far beginning as a public prosecutor in California, also from the same Democratic Party is making another shot at breaking the glass ceiling in American politics. And before she takes the centre-stage of American politics at the virtual convention of the Democratic Party, the stage would be set by speeches of Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and none other than Barack Obama, the former president of the United States. Four years into her first term as the US Senator from California, Harris who was born in Oakland, emerged as a strong critic of the Trump administration. Many often called her a Trump counterpuncher. The daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, she has known many firsts. She has been a county district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco - the first woman and first African-American elected to the position. She was also the first female African-American to become California's attorney general. In 2017, she became the second African-American woman to join the Senate, winning the California seat vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer. Harris announced her presidential bid in January 2019. However, she withdrew from the race by December that year as her poll numbers plummeted. Early this year, she endorsed Biden for president. A week ago, Biden surprised many by selecting Harris as his running mate. "It has been one week since Joe Biden asked me to be his running mate and I could not be more thankful for the outpouring of love and support (husband) Douglas Emhoff and I have seen," Harris tweeted on Tuesday. For years, Penny Muse Abernathythe Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the UNC Hussman School of Journalismhas been studying the disintegration of journalisms traditional business model, mapping losses of physical newsrooms across the United States. The current financial crisis, brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic, is an acceleration of the crisis Abernathy has been researching for years, and The Journalism Crisis Project depends on the work of collaborators like her. For this weeks newsletter, I talked with Abernathy about the context for the current crisishow the media landscape arrived at this low point, how journalism leaders have failed to mitigate the industrys vulnerabilities, and how newsrooms and policy-makers need to look beyond band-aid solutions to plan for the future. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. CJR: How did your work come to focus on the rapidly declining economic state of the journalism industry? And how did the industry get to this point? Penny Abernathy: A few years ago, One of the FCC commissioners was coming to UNC, and I was asked to take a look at media ownership and what had changed over the preceding ten years. When I did, I was stunned at how much turnover there had been in North Carolina, especially among newspapers. That kept me thinkingif this is happening in North Carolina, what is it like in the rest of the country? Two years later, we came out with our first report, focusing on the rise of a new media baronthe rise of private equity, hedge funds and, to a degree, pension funds. From 2004 to 2014, more than half of all American newspapers changed hands, and almost more than half of that number changed hands more than once. There was no financial incentive for those new owners to invest in the community. Each time, there was a new group of managers coming and a new round of cost-cutting that happenedwith increasing layoffs and the continuing trend of closures. Everybody thoughtback thenthat to save themselves, newspapers needed to go digital. But we have discovered, with our own tracking over the last fifteen years, that independent digital sites are struggling just like newspapers. Somewhere between 2014 and 2016, Google and Facebook began to siphon off the vast majority of digital revenue in any market. Whether youre a legacy newspaper, a TV station, or a digital startup, youre all fighting for a very small piece of the pie. Theres been a collapse of the for-profit advertising, print-based model, with no real viable digital alternative developed so far. Sign up for CJR 's daily email CJR: What alternatives have newsrooms tried? PA: Those papers that I had looked atprior to covid-19that were best positioned for success did so through a variety of ways. They held in-person events, they started lifestyle and business magazines. They looked at setting up in-house digital ad agencies, e-commerce. One even went so far as to buy a local bookstore. Youve got to think creatively, but in a disciplined fashion, because youve got such small margins. And youve got to know how to measure and account for success and when to pull the plug and say, we tried it, it didnt work, we need to move on. I am intrigued by the very thoughtful way that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette went about converting to digital. One of the hardest things for a legacy operation is to change peoples habits. But three years ago, the Democrat-Gazette spent a year and a half trying to convert their readers to digital subscriptions, keeping the price at the same level as a print subscription. The publisher knew that he had to convert about 75% of the print subscribers. He wanted to cut out six days of print and have Sunday-only. He started in the markets farthest from Little Rock, Arkansas, where he could no longer justify distribution and printing costs. He tried several things, and he tested them in every market. And it took him almost a year to settle on the formula, which was that he bought subscribers iPads if they agreed to continue to pay for the news. He was sayingthe value here is not the physical paper. The value is the news and information. Now hes relying almost exclusively on digital subscriptions, which is something most of the large newspapers whove gone digital have not done. Theyre charging for their print, and charging little for their digital subscription. It doesnt pay for the newsroom. CJR: Where else have you seen newsrooms fall short in the past? PA: One of the problems I see, both with large metros as well as smaller news organizations, is that the revenue that came from traditional sources has dried up so quicklytheyre in a reaction game. Theyre not in a strategic mode, asking What is my five year plan? Where do I want to be? What are the possible ways I could get there? Theres no contingency planning or scenario planning that says What if X happens? This year, we were already seeing an acceleration of closures before the pandemic, because the price for newspapersespecially in economically struggling communitieshas gotten so low, nobody even wants to buy them. I think theres a real need to hone in on where the problems are, what the potential solutions are. We tend to have a ton of case studies, but not a strategic look of what really workswhy it worked in one market and not in another. I love reading case studies about what worked for somebody somewhere. But what is universal about that model? And what are the unintended consequences? CJR: Your work focuses a lot on news deserts and ghost newspapers. What do you mean when you use those terms? PA: News deserts is a term that has evolved. In many circles, because the newspaper had been the prime, if not the sole source of local news and information from most small and mid-sized communities, the original definition that a lot of scholars used was a town without a newspaper, because a strong local newspaper has the ability to set the agenda for public policy issues at the local level. My own definition has evolved to say, a news desert is a place where there is limited access to the type of critical news and information that I need in order to make informed decisions about the quality of my life. I can have a lack of access because theres no local news being produced, or because there is but I do not have access to itbecause theres a lack of infrastructure or because I cant pay the $200 a month. A ghost newspaper is when you look at what a newspapers journalist headcount was in the early 2000s, andits hard to draw a linebut if its less than 25% of what it was. Then to me it is a newspaper in name only, a newspaper that still has a nameplate, but its reporting abilities are drastically diminished. CJR: What are your goals, looking forward? PA: Heres what gets me up every morning, and charging ahead: I think over the last two years, there has been a real awakening in the industry, among community activists, and among certain politicians as to what is at stake if we lose the local newspaper, in whatever form it is delivered. Im not arguing for a newspaper on newsprint. Im arguing for the function newspapersespecially local newspapershave played in informing and nurturing democracy at the grassroots level. It is encouraging to me that after years of indifference, there is suddenly a move at the state and the national level to try to think of policies that address the short term issuesprimarily because the peril is so great right now. What we really have to focus on in the coming year or two is getting people to focus on this, not just in the short term. The Journalism Crisis Project aims to train our focus on the present crisis, tallying lost jobs and outlets and fostering a conversation about what comes next. We hope youll join us (click to subscribe). CONTRIBUTE TO OUR DATABASE: If youre aware of a newsroom experiencing layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs, print reductions, or any fundamental change as a result of covid-19, let us know by submitting information here. (Personal information will be kept secure by the Tow Center and will not be shared.) PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY FOR LOCAL NEWSROOMS: Tow Center Fellow Damian Radcliffe has launched a new online survey exploring the impact of covid-19 on local newsrooms and examining other changes that are shaping what local newspapers do and how they do it. If you work in a newspaper with a print circulation of 50,000 or less, please take a few minutes to contribute, and encourage others to participate. We believe that the voice and the experiences of journalists working across the country deserve to be heard, Radcliffe wrote on Medium. In turn, your input can help better inform industry decision-making, show where support is most needed, as well as highlight examples of successes and innovations. Below, more on recent changes in newsrooms across the world: JOURNALISM JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES: MediaGazer has been maintaining a list of media companies that are currently hiring. You can find it here. The Deez Links newsletter, in partnership with Study Hall, offers media classifieds for both job seekers (at no cost) and job providers. The Ida B. Wells Society announced that its micro-loan program for journalists would no longer require recipients to repay their loansyou can apply here and donate here. And for CJR, Stephanie Russell-Kraft wrote about Successful Pitches, a resource for freelancers. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Lauren Harris is a freelance journalist. She writes CJR's weekly newsletter for the Journalism Crisis Project. Follow her on Twitter @LHarrisWrites. Keynotes by NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino and Tech Investor Frank Thelen LeanIX, a provider of Software-as-a-Service solutions in Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM), today confirmed 30 speakers for its upcoming EA Connect Days/Europe. EA Connect Days are globally acclaimed peer conferences for Enterprise Architects, CIOs, and IT executives which bring together over two thousand experts to share business challenges and IT best practices related to the growing field of enterprise architecture. Keynote speakers for the hybrid on-site and on-line conference will be tech investor Frank Thelen, and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino. Premium conference sponsors include Bechtle,Deloitte and ITM Consulting. This year's EA Connect Days/Europe will be hosted September 2-3, 2020 both physically at the World Conference Center (seat of the United Nations campus) in Bonn, Germany as well as virtually online. The conference theme is how to Future-Proof Enterprise Architecture in a World of Rapid Change, presented as a mix of case studies, peer panels, and tech demonstrations. The conference will offer practical advice on corporate EA practices and related topics such as IT risk management, application portfolio management, cloud governance, et cetera, giving attendees strategies to implement in their daily work. Attendees can register or learn more at: https://www.eaconnectdays.com/eu.A partial list of confirmed speakers includes: ASSA ABLOY: Niklas Sundberg, CIO Global Solutions Division Niklas Sundberg, CIO Global Solutions Division C&A: Martin Wieschollek, team lead, enterprise architecture Martin Wieschollek, team lead, enterprise architecture Center Mast: David Torre, engineering consultant David Torre, engineering consultant The Citadel Group: Craig Stanley, lead architect Craig Stanley, lead architect Coca-Cola: Andreas Nold, director, enterprise architecture Andreas Nold, director, enterprise architecture DHL: Frank Schuler, managing director global service center Frank Schuler, managing director global service center DKMS: Kai Hofler, enterprise architect Kai Hofler, enterprise architect Freigeist: Frank Thelen, TV personality, investor entrepreneur Frank Thelen, TV personality, investor entrepreneur Helvetia: Tobias Vogel, enterprise architect Tobias Vogel, enterprise architect Helvetia: Benjamin Lammel, enterprise architect Benjamin Lammel, enterprise architect Hermes Germany: Marcel Morisse, enterprise architect Marcel Morisse, enterprise architect Messe Munchen: Clemens Schwarz, CISO/IT security officer Clemens Schwarz, CISO/IT security officer NASA: Mike Massimino, former astronaut Mike Massimino, former astronaut Schwarz IT: Benjamin Haussler, data enterprise architecture management Benjamin Haussler, data enterprise architecture management Siemens: Ramesh Nagamalli, senior key expert Ramesh Nagamalli, senior key expert Signavio: Gero Decker, co-founder CEO Gero Decker, co-founder CEO UnitingCare: Ross Francis, architecture services manager "We are proud to host the global EA Connect Day peer conferences, which continue to attract the brightest minds in enterprise architecture as we solve the most pressing topics affecting IT planning and operations at large enterprises," said Andre Christ, Co-founder and CEO of LeanIX. "Our speakers are experts in fields as diverse as automotive manufacturing, global transportation logistics, healthcare, software development, and global consulting." 2020 Customer Awards: In addition to the impressive speaker lineup, EA Connect Day will also be the venue where LeanIX announces its 2020 Customer Awards winners. The awards winners were selected from four categories: "Best Collaborator," which is awarded to the customer with the most active users per month; "Fastest Global Roll-Out," which goes to the customer with the quickest worldwide deployment; "Fastest Time-to-Value," which goes to the customer with the broadest use case implementation with clear business outcomes; and "Strongest Innovator," which is awarded to the customer with the most impactful and visible innovation contribution to the LeanIX ecosystem. About LeanIX: LeanIX is the single source of truth for Corporate IT and Product IT to create transparency of the present and derive actions, to shape the future in an understandable business context. LeanIX provides its Software-as-a-Service to 300 international customers including well-known brands such as adidas, Atlassian, Dropbox, DHL, Merck, Volkswagen, Vodafone and Zalando. More than 40 certified partners such as Deloitte, Cognizant and PwC rely on the dynamically-growing IT company co-founded in 2012 by LeanIX CEO Andre Christ. With EA Connect Days, LeanIX has been regularly organizing one of the world's most important industry events in the field of Enterprise Architecture since 2014. The company is headquartered in Bonn, Germany with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Munich, Germany; Utrecht, Netherlands; and Hyderabad, India. It has more than 230 employees worldwide. To learn more about LeanIX, visit www.leanix.net, @leanix_net on Twitter, and https://www.linkedin.com/company/leanix-gmbh on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005297/en/ Contacts: Rich Mullikin, APR Rocket Science PR, for LeanIX rich@rocketscience.com Telephone: +1 415 464 8110 x216 Mobile: +1 925 354 7444 Regional Rebel nabbed with explosives in Mnp Arrested PREPAK (Pro) cadre with explosives. Correspondent IMPHAL, Aug 18 | Publish Date: 8/18/2020 1:05:58 PM IST An active cadre of rebel outfit PREPAK (Pro) was arrested with explosive materials by security forces in Manipur, an official source said on Tuesday. Ingudam Ingocha alias Boribi (43) of Saijang village in Imphal East district was nabbed by a joint team of state police commandos and troops of 15 Assam Rifles on Monday, the source said. A Chinese hand grenade, four detonators, two 9 volt batteries with connectors, three circuits, two PEK cakes weighing around 260gm each, 700gm of TNT (TriNitroToluene) explosive and a mobile handset were recovered from his possession. He was nabbed from his home where the combined team conducted a raid based on specific information. The source alleged that Ingudam Ingocha alias Boribi joined PREPAK (Pro) in February 2020 and worked under the command of one Lalngamba of finance section of the outfit. The seized explosive materials were handed to him by his commander to plant on the road to target security forces during his visit to Moreh, a town at the Indo-Myanmar border in March this year. The apprehended PREPAK (Pro) has been handed over to Yaingangpokpi police station , Imphal East along with the seized items, the police source added. The level of community transmission of coronavirus in Ireland has doubled in the last 10 days, a public health expert has said. The Government tightened its restrictions on Tuesday in a bid to curb a surge in Covid-19 cases. Members of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) have been sounding the alarm over the escalation in cases with the countrys rate of growth the fourth highest in Europe. The chairman of NPHETs Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, Professor Philip Nolan, defended advice provided to Government saying there has been a slow but very particular rise in the level of disease in the population. Weve seen the virus spread, essentially, from workplaces to households, and between households and into the community, Mr Nolan told RTEs Morning Ireland. The rate of growth is significantly slower than it was at our other critical juncture back in late February and early March, but its too fast. We need to move quickly now together to prevent further transmission between households and from households into the community, and thats the core message behind these interventions, to limit our social contacts and to limit those social contacts to small groups. Unless we move now collectively and firmly to prevent further transmission of the virus, we will see case numbers rising to a level that are unsustainable. Liz Canavan, of the Department of the Taoiseach, said the 14-day cumulative total of cases per 100,000 of the population is now at 26. The increase in cases has not been matched by any significant increase in our hospitals or an increase in the numbers dying from the disease, she added. However, if we allow it to continue and a rise in cases to go unchecked and to become widespread within our communities, we risk seeing increased danger to the most vulnerable in our community. We also risk seeing that increased demand on our hospitals and on those frontline health care workers who have done so much to protect us and your loved ones while all the time risking their own health. We risk undoing the progress we have made towards reopening schools and resuming health care. We therefore risk having to introduce even more restrictive measures. She added that clusters have emerged by congregation and social interaction among households and workplaces in every county. She said the new measures are not aimed at punishing any particular group, or to target any particular sector. Taoiseach Micheal Martin confirmed on Tuesday that all outdoor events have been limited to 15 people, and indoor gatherings to six people, down from 50. Weddings have been excluded from the updated restrictions. #COVID19 is as deadly today as it was before and we need to suppress the virus. The Govt is introducing new measures to protect each and every one of us pic.twitter.com/lacKqMq1LS Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) August 18, 2020 After a lengthy Cabinet meeting, the Government agreed that sporting events should be played behind closed doors with social gatherings before and after to be avoided. Gardai may also be given new powers to tackle breaches of social distancing rules in restaurants, bars and private homes. Restaurants and bars serving food can remain open but must close by 11.30pm. People have been told to avoid public transport where possible and to wear face masks on private transport when households are mixed. The over-70s have been advised to limit their interactions to a small network for short periods. Businesses are also being encouraged to advise staff to work from home where possible. Expand Close Professor Philip Nolan (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Professor Philip Nolan (Brian Lawless/PA) A further short to medium-term plan for the way forward will be published by the Government before September 13. Prof Nolan denied accusations that there had been a lot of uncertainty around types of transmission. He said: My sense is that we have been quite clear with the public about the types of transmission that are occurring and where they are occurring. We were telling the public about this increase in the reproduction number in the background. He said the level of community transmission appears to have doubled over the last 10 days. He also said the decision to limit indoor gatherings to six people from three different households is a simply a trade-off in risk. Meanwhile, a total of 69,500 employers are registered with Revenue for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, and an estimated 370,000 employees are receiving payments. A total of 2.5 billion euro has been paid out under the scheme since it was introduced in March. Approximately 232,400 people are receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) a reduction of approximately 30,100 compared with last week. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, from left, debate in June 2019 in Miami. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) The acceptance speech by a new nominee for vice president is rarely memorable and for a good reason. The ideal running mate steps to the podium with only three goals: to introduce herself to voters, lavishly praise the candidate who chose her, and eviscerate the opposition all without overshadowing her new boss with too much brilliance. Does anyone remember what Vice President Mike Pence or Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, the Democrats' 2016 vice presidential nominee, said in their convention speeches four years ago? Not really, which means they did fine. The only recent exception was Alaska Gov. Sarah Palins acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention in 2008, a momentary hit thanks to her zany charm a quality that did not wear well over the rest of the campaign. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the Democratic nominee for vice president, will aim for a more conventional performance tonight albeit online, not in a crowded convention hall because of the coronavirus as she tells voters why they ought to replace President Trump. She will tell her life story as the daughter of two immigrants, and as the first Black and South Asian woman on a major-party ticket. She will extol former Vice President Joe Biden, who heads the ticket, and pit her skills as a former prosecutor against the many failings of the Trump administration. But Harris speech will be more intriguing than most because it will almost certainly include a fourth, unspoken goal: an opportunity to reboot her national prospects after the failure of her own White House bid. When Harris launched her campaign in January 2019, she won immediate plaudits for her charisma, her compelling personal story and her laceration of Trump's aides and nominees in Senate hearings. A cautious, pragmatic liberal in terms of California politics, she sought to position herself in what appeared the sweet spot of the Democratic primary field: a little to the left of Biden, the leading moderate, but several steps to the right of thoroughgoing progressives Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Story continues Harris' debating skill gave her a boost when she attacked Biden at a Democratic primary debate in Miami in June 2019 for his opposition in the 1970s to school integration through mandatory busing. "There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day," she said. Then she closed in for the kill: "That little girl was me." But her attempts to triangulate policies between left and center flopped. She often seemed indecisive about her positions a fatal flaw in a campaign that focused on detailed policy debates. She said she supported Sanders health proposal, known as Medicare for All, including its near-total ban on private insurance plans but then backtracked on that provision. She said she backed the progressives proposed Green New Deal, too, but later said she didnt subscribe to every part of the climate change program. Worst of all, perhaps, she never settled on one or two signature priorities beyond arguing that shes a fighter who would be the partys best bet at knocking Trump out of office. Most would-be primary voters gravitated to other candidates with clearer positions. Polls showed her drawing less support from Black voters than Biden or Sanders. By December, Harris fundraising dried up and she withdrew from the race, the first major candidate to pull out. Her new role as Biden's running mate will probably suit her better than the challenges that stymied her in the primaries. Back then, she found it difficult to settle on clear positions; now she doesn't need to. Biden is the decider, and he arrived at his stances months ago. All Harris needs to do is defend them. As for attacking Trump, thats arguably been Harris main talent all along. When Biden introduced her as his running mate last week, she uncorked one of the best zingers of the campaign so far. Trump, she said, inherited the longest economic expansion in history and then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground." She has embraced the most traditional role possible for a vice presidential nominee: as an attack dog who can harass the other side and allow the presidential candidate to maintain a slightly higher altitude. There's not much danger that she'll overshadow Biden tonight. She's a reasonably good speechmaker, but she's no Obama by which I mean Michelle Obama, whose impassioned appeal dominated the first night's proceedings. Harris' greatest test is whether she can use her acceptance speech, and those to follow over the next 77 days, to bolster her own future. Watch for the unveiling of Kamala Harris 3.0: no longer a former California prosecutor with a hotly debated record, nor merely a reliably liberal senator, but now the loyal sidekick to the Democratic nominee. She'll be Joe Bidens Biden, if you like a president in waiting. Catholic and Orthodox Church leaders call for prayers for the people of Belarus, and urge the government to end a crackdown on opposition supporters. By Stefan J. Bos Justice and Peace Europe, a key alliance promoting justice, peace, and respect for human dignity, has expressed concern about reports of mistreatment of opposition supporters in Belarus. The Executive Committee of the Catholic organization, which also wants to raise awareness about the Catholic social doctrine, says it denounces "any form of violence and strongly condemns the use of torture by Belarusian authorities against protestors." Its letter comes amid reports that some 7,000 people have been detained since a fresh wave of protests erupted following the disputed August 9 presidential poll. Officials claim long-time President Alexander Lukashenko won the ballot with 80 percent of the vote. But demonstrators have their doubts. In the letter, Justice and Peace Europe also calls for the immediate release of all who "have been arrested without any justification." Human rights It urges the Belarusian authorities to "fully respect human rights, including the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the freedom of assembly, media and expression, and to adhere to democratic principles." The organization joins the European Union in showing solidarity, and writes that it expresses support for EU efforts to take sanctions against individuals responsible for what it calls "grave human rights abuses." It also supports the Catholic Bishops of Belarus in their appeal for seeking the truth based on a peaceful and inclusive dialogue between Belarusian political leadership and broader society to avoid further violence. That dialogue could include Belarusian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is currently in exile in Lithuania. She said in a video message that she was preparing to be interim president. "I'm ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader during this period. So that the country can calm down and begin a normal rhythm, and we will be able to release all political prisoners and prepare the legislative framework and necessary conditions to organize new presidential elections," Tikhanovskaya stressed. "Criminal orders" She also urged law enforcement agencies "not to execute criminal orders any longer" and said that if they "come over to the side of the people," they will be "forgiven and supported" by Belarusian people." Amid the turmoil, Justice and Peace Europe has invited all Christians to unite in saying the Lord's Prayer for the Belarusian people on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, at 18:00 Central European Summer Time so that "truth, justice and peace may prevail." Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has also prayed for peace in the troubled nation. And his Church has demanded an end to the ongoing clashes. Despite the crackdown, massive protests and strikes against the president and for prisoners' release have continued. On Monday, Lukashenko was challenged by workers in a tractor factory. He later suggested he was prepared to hold new elections after a constitutional referendum. Europe's security organization OECD has proposed mediation and EU foreign ministers were due to discuss the mounting tensions in Belarus on Wednesday. If shes just going to decide to be a firebrand and figuratively go out and punch people in the face, I dont think thats an approach that helps us or the president, Acosta said. If the approach is to try and sort of say, Hey, look, Im more moderate and Im trying to be a responsible representative, if thats the approach, then it might be okay. I really think this district requires . . . the willingness to talk to people and that includes people who dont think like you. avid_creative, Contributor / Getty Images The Orange County Sheriffs Office is investigation an allegation that a Little Cypress-Mauriceville employee had an improper relationship with a student, according to a news release from the school district. Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School received the information Monday, the district said. Business Concerned About BC Workers Comp Changes, Higher Costs Injured workers will see boosts to benefits, increased maximum insurable earnings Changes to workers compensation in British Columbia have been welcomed by labour and have upset employers. But injured workers who were denied payouts in the past remain unsatisfied by the reforms, while one analyst says they will place an extra burden on business owners amid the pandemic. Bill 23, enacted into law on Aug. 14, made big changes to the Workers Compensation Act following three recent reviews of the system. The desire of the NDP-Green coalition government was to have a more worker-friendly system. The business community in B.C. believes an undue burden has been placed on it and fears still more may be yet ahead. Muriel Protzer, senior policy analyst for B.C. and the North with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says the burden on business comes at a bad time. Were in the middle of a pandemic here and it looks like the Ministry of Labour in B.C. decided just to go ahead on a shopping spree with business owners money, Protzer told The Epoch Times. It is extremely unfortunate to see this happen. Not only are these changes, some of them, quite aggressive in nature, they will ultimately drive up the cost of the system and create a lot more uncertainty. Under the legislation, if a worker contracts a virus, including COVID-19, it will be presumed to have occurred in the workplace. Protzer said it is unfair that employers will have to pick up the tab as federal support programs wind down. You can get a bug anywhere really, she says. A lot of their workers are working from home in these scenarios, so that gets even trickierwhat are we considering a workplace? This policy, where it is presumed that the employee got it at the workplace, its definitely not the right tool. WorkSafeBC can now wait until an injured worker turns 63 before determining the workers retirement datewhich is when the loss-of-earnings benefits would endinstead of simply using age 65. This means some workers may work past age 65 and thus continue receiving benefits, increasing the cost of benefits and making that cost harder to manage and project. In addition, previously each disability claim considered whether a loss of earnings or loss of function would be more appropriate. Going forward, payouts will be determined by the higher of the two. Employers also have a loss of certainty. Previously, workers had one year to submit a mental health claim from the date of exposure to a traumatic event or stressor, but now there is no time limit. WorkSafeBC has also expanded its scope. It can now issue search and seizure for workplace investigations through judicial warrants under the Workers Compensation Act rather than the Offence Act. And now the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) can hear cases relating to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the B.C. Human Rights Code. Courts can also hear victim impact statements in cases against employers. Protzer says it was reasonable to increase maximum insurable earnings from $87,100 to $100,000, given that this amount had not been adjusted in years. Even so, she says a deeper regulatory burden is the last thing businesses need as they struggle through the pandemic. This is driving up your cost, its creating uncertainty, and its creating a lot of stress for a lot of these individuals who are just trying to keep their doors open and their employees safe with all these regulations. Just adding this on top of everything is just really, really tipping them over the edge right now, she says. Under WorkSafeBC policy, the compensation fund has a policy of retaining 30 percent more in assets than liabilities. In 2019, the fund had a 54 percent surplus, equal to $7.3 billion. Protzer wishes the B.C. government had refunded employers as Alberta and the Yukon have. BC Federation of Labour president Laird Cronk welcomed the changes, saying they will prevent injuries and save lives. Our top priorities are the health and safety of workers, and fair compensation for illness and injury. The goal hasnt changed: a worker-centred workers compensation system. And todays legislation takes us a big step towards that goal, Cronk said in an Aug. 14 press release. In 2019, B.C. Ombudsperson Jay Chalke said his office had received 701 complaints about WorkSafeBC and the WCAT during the previous three fiscal years. These included complaints about delays in implementing Review Division and WCAT decisions and concerns about case management and claims handling. Chalke recommended that changes be made to the Workers Compensation Act to allow WorkSafeBC to correct its own errors even after its 75-day reconsideration period has passed. And this is now reflected in the legislation, as WorkSafeBC media relations officer Ivy Yuen explains by email. Bill 23 gives WorkSafeBC the authority to reconsider a decision, even after 75 days have elapsed, if the decision contains an obvious error or omission, she writes. However, the provincial government stated that it is not the intent of the amendment to reopen previous decisions where a worker or employer disagreed with the decision. WorkSafeBC does not comment on personal cases, such as that of George Kavallis. He injured his back while working in B.C. as a trucker for a vending machine company, but WorkSafeBC denied his claim. Kavallis says he talked to his case worker about my MRIs, my CT scan, my doctors evidence, and my note from my employer that I was injured at work. And her exact words were, The facts dont matter. Kavallis told The Epoch Times that Bill 23 fails to bring due process. He says that even when the courts side with complainants over wrongful denials, they only have jurisdiction to send the case back to WorkSafeBC and WCAT, which may simply reinforce their former decision. They are a kangaroo court that does not follow the rule of law, and are controlled outcomes bought and paid for by WCB (Workers Compensation Board) at their leisure. Even when you win a WCAT, they can turn around a few months later only to review your claim again and plateau you and cut off your benefits, he said. Businesses are bracing themselves for even more changes. Retired labour lawyer Janet Patterson has also conducted a review in recent months, one that the Retail Council of Canada said business views as very biased towards the demands of organized labour. The Patterson report will be released in August and will result in pressure from labour to present yet another set of amendments, the council added. Correction: This article has been updated to accurately reflect WorkSafeBCs compensation policy. The Epoch Times regrets the error. MBition, MercedesBenz is bringing the automotive industry into the future. How? We are building a new generation of infotainment platform that is reusable and hardware agnostic, as well as its implementation into our actual car lines. We are building the very interface that future drivers will engage with when they sit in their car, plan their journey or choose what music to listen to. We would like to extend our current team with enthusiastic, friendly and driven individuals to help build this state of the art software that pushes our innovation further. We are doing this in Berlin, the Silicon Valley of Europe, as a 100% subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG that has been perfecting the art of moving people, products and services from point A to point B, for more than 120 years. With an international team of 200 Employees, we are looking to integrate people who value quality, creativity and teamwork as much as we do. Together we create passionate technology on exciting topics that include: navigation, infotainment systems, location-based services, user experience and user interaction. And we need YOU to help us, in shaping the future! About the role In the Audio Team we build the abstraction layer between the audio hardware and the applications. Our goal is to build modern C++ audio APIs that are easy for application developers to integrate, while hiding away complexity imposed by strong real-time requirements, complex audio routing, policy management and prioritization. As a Software Engineer (m/w/x) in an agile team you will be responsible for defining, extending and maintaining these audio APIs. You will develop new features as well as design, document, implement, integrate and test your code. Together with your team members you will contribute to the technical roadmap in order to continuously improve the APIs and provide guidance to engineers from other departments on how to integrate these. #nextbigthing Democrats opened the most extraordinary presidential nominating convention in recent history on Monday night with a program that spanned the gamut from socialists to Republicans, from the relatives of George Floyd to family members of those killed by the coronavirus, in a two-hour event that was a striking departure from the traditional summer pageant of American democracy. Truncated and conducted virtually because of the coronavirus crisis, the presentation at times resembled an online awards show, and it offered a vivid illustration of how both the pandemic and widespread opposition ... On the lines of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), which was the first to announce a revised and reduced curriculum for Class 9 to 12, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and several state school boards, the Bihar school examination board (BSEB) has also sent a proposal to the state government for reducing syllabi in view of the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic to education. However, the department of education is yet to take a call on it. It is mulling over the proposal and the matter has been referred to expert group from the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and other academicians to decide what could be done to take the load off the students without hurting their prospects for higher and technical education like JEE, NEET, CLAT etc., which would require adequate knowledge to compete in the all India competitions. A large number of students from Bihar take the engineering, medical and other entrance exams for technical courses every year. The CISCE, CBSE and state boards of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and a few other states had earlier announced reduction in syllabi by 30% to make up for academic loss amid extraordinary situation due to novel coronavirus pandemic. Additional secretary, department of education, Giriwar Dayal Singh said the boards proposal for 30% reduction in syllabi had been received and brainstorming by experts was on to work out the mechanism. The online classes are also on and the effort is aimed at covering 100% syllabi of class 10 and 12 boards. However, if the syllabi needs to be reduced, it has to be decided what should be removed without affecting the students preparedness for future exams. The experts will work on it, he added. In Bihar, the schools have been badly affected due to the twin impact of pandemic and floods, which have affected nearly 80-lakh population in 18 districts of the state. Though flood is a recurring feature in the state, its impact is felt long after the water recedes due to a trail of destruction, including damaged school buildings, it leaves behind. The internet connectivity is also very slow in rural areas. Due to poverty, there is also a question of affordability when it comes to possessing laptops, computers and smartphones. According to the latest figures of the union ministry of social justice and employment, Bihar has 41.4% people living below the poverty line, the highest in the country. With assembly election also due in October-November, this could further impact schools, as most of them are used for housing security forces. This would leave very little time for the students to do proper schooling, as sent up exams are held in December and after that schools hardly run leading to board exams in February. Bihar was in 2020 the first board to take board exams in February itself. The CBSE has reduced the syllabi but still asked the schools and teachers to explain even those topic, which have been reduced, as far as possible so that the students dont have problems in understanding the related topics. However, the reduced topics will not be part of the internal assessment and board exams. Singh said the reduction in the syllabi would require meticulous planning and hence the experts had been asked to decide how to go about it. The proposal is being reviewed, he added. According to a senior education department official, reducing syllabi was an uphill task, as there were nearly four dozen subjects spread across four streams of science, commerce, social science and humanities, besides several vocational courses. The forms for board exams are already being filled up, but it is a fact that education has been impacted and would continue to be impacted, he added. The date for filling up forms for intermediate is from August 17-27, while that for matriculation is from August 18-28. The class 9 and 11 admissions are also on. Even if the government plans to open schools at a later date, it will be difficult to engage classes and cover syllabi, said the official. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON JACKSON, MI - All of Jackson Countys traditional public school districts are offering a choice between in-person and remote classes as the school year prepares to begin on Aug. 26. Thats by design, as weeks of collaboration between Jackson County superintendents has resulted in each district offering the same basic choices for parents. An Alabama woman was caught on video last week driving through a Home Depot before allegedly stealing a leaf blower and dehumidifier and fleeing the scene. Trussville police identified the woman as 42-year-old Gwendolyn Braswell of Birmingham. In the video, a woman is seen driving a 2000 Pontiac into Trussville Home Depot as shocked employees and customers are heard screaming and crying in the background around 9am on Friday. The vehicle smashes into a few displays in the store before coming to a halt. In the video, a woman is seen driving a 2000 Pontiac into Trussville Home Depot as shocked employees and customers (left and right) are heard screaming and crying in the background around 9am on Friday The vehicle smashes into a few displays in the store before coming to a halt. The woman is then seen getting out the vehicle and then loading her car with the merchandise The woman then got back into the vehicle (pictured) and fled the scene Braswell (pictured) is facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief and theft of property in connection with the incident at the Trussville Home Depot Moments later, the woman is seen quickly exiting the vehicle and rushing over to an area nearby to grab merchandise. Authorities said Braswell stole a leaf blower and a dehumidifier. Police also said they believe Braswell went to the store prior to the incident, staged the items in a particular area and then returned to collect them. Investigators said Braswell backed into the Home Depot using the front sliding doors. She then drove down an aisle to get the items before fleeing the scene. According to police, Braswell the vehicle used in the incident belonged to someone else and the suspect had taken it without the owner's permission. Braswell is facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief and theft of property. According to the Smoking Gun, Braswell has prior arrests and convictions. She has a burglary conviction and she was arrested in May for allegedly possessing narcotics and drug paraphernalia. Braswell is not in custody yet and police are asking the public for help locating her. Anyone with information about the woman or incident is asked to please call the Trussville Police Department at 205-655-2101. By Express News Service For the Indian-American voters, it will be a tough choice in the US presidential elections. While Professor Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs, feels the Modi-Trump bonhomie gives the Republicans an edge as far as Indian- American voters are concerned, Indias former ambassador to the US Meera Shankar believes the impact of Kamala Harris factor cant be negated. They were in conversation with author and senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai in TNIE Expressions, a series of live webcasts with people who matter. The tightening of H1B visa rules, immigration policies and a laboured response to the Covid-19 pandemic would not have dented Donald Trumps prospects in the US presidential elections as far as the Indian-American community is concerned, opined Chaulia. Trump going after H1B visas did not affect naturalised Americans and some of them may vote for him because of the Modi-Trump bonhomie, because he is against radical Islam and is ready for a big dust-up against China. Perceptions matter for lay voters. So, a guy who is calling them (China) names and looks like he is going to punch them in the eye will appeal to them, he said. The Modi-Trump bonhomie and relationship is expected to play a large part in the way Indian diaspora votes in the upcoming polls, said Shankar, who was the ambassador from 2009-2011. She pointed out that though Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens numbers are currently ahead of Trumps, the margins are very slim, Trumps own approval rating has remained steady and he has neither been able to increase it nor has it decreased very significantly. Which means his constituencies are rock solid, she explained. Both Shankar and Chaulia believed that the addition of Kamala Harris to the Biden ticket is being keenly watched. Harris being on the Biden ticket is historic because she is a woman and she is a woman of colour and this has energised the campaign from an anything but Trump state, said Shankar. Traditionally, Indian-Americans have heavily leant Democratic, explained Chaulia. One hears that Trumps campaign is targeting Hindus and 1.3 million voters is no small number I dont expect many of them to vote Democratic, though Harris may be an added attraction. Having dealt with Biden when he served as Obamas Vice-President, Shankar pointed out that one thing that worked in his favour was his positive attitude towards India. Hes had long experience in foreign policy and a positive attitude towards India. Youll never get the unfiltered responses of President Trump. There will be more predictability and a more cautious and mainstream (approach), she said. Cardiff, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/19/2020 -- Anastasia Catris is a freelance illustrator and writer from Wales, United Kingdom, and she has proudly announced that she is publishing the second volume of her gothic anthology called 'Cirque Du Mort'. To introduce the volume 2 of this collection of highly illustrated horror stories themed around a haunted circus, Anastasia has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds and support. "Each tale in this collection of stories is unique and standalone, focusing on the haunting lives and horrible deaths of the cast of characters within." Said Anastasia Catris, while introducing this project to the Kickstarter community. She has attended The Kubert School of Comic Art and Design, in the United States and for the past ten years, she has been associated with the publishing industry. Furthermore, she illustrates and writes by herself, which means that her illustrations are the original representation of her thoughts and words. The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at www.kickstarter.com/projects/acatris/cirque-du-mort-volume-two and all funds raised through this Kickstarter campaign will play a major role in the publication of this book. Moreover, the goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise a sum of GBP 2,500, and the artist is offering a wide range of rewards for the backers with worldwide shipping. Furthermore, more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project. About Anastasia Catris Anastasia Catris is a UK based author, artist, and freelance illustrator, who attended The Kubert School of Comic Art and Design in 2008 in New Jersey, USA. She has been associated with the publishing industry for more than a decade now and has worked as a sketch card artist for international companies including DC, Marvel, Dynamite, IDW and Perna Studios. This project is to raise funds for the second volume of her gothic anthology book, and she is welcoming generous support and backing. Contact: Contact Person: Anastasia Catris Company: Anastasia Catris - Artist & Writer City: Cardiff State: Wales Country: United Kingdom Email: mail@anastasiacatris.com Website: www.anastasiacatris.com There was no way retail tycoon Solomon Lew was going to take a public smackdown lying down. Lew has wasted no time hitting back at critic Sam Tarascio jnr after the Salta Properties landlord complained Lew was pandemic profiteering by milking JobKeeper and playing hardball with rent. Tarascio, son of billionaire Salta founder Sam Tarascio snr, took aim at Lews Premier Group after its full-year results revealed a 10 per cent bump in earnings. Premiers result was boosted by the largesse of the taxpayer, Tarascio told everyone, and then threw even more shade at Premier. It is time that we all weigh up how our own brand ethics should be reflected in how we run our businesses I wonder what the court of public opinion will say. Premier, led by former David Jones boss Mark McInnes, attributed the bumper earnings to surging online sales. But its clear Lews team took Tarascios message to heart. Premier announced on Tuesday it would shutter the single, solitary store it rented from Salta a Smiggle stationery outlet inside Richmonds Victoria Gardens centre. Outside the Big Cities, Ordinary America Goes On With Life Commentary This morning, I woke to a dove moaning on my windowsill, a woodpecker pounding on a nearby cedar, and all the dogs in town barking at an unexpected hot-air balloon rising over the pine-capped hills to the south: frantic warnings that aliens were descending from the skies. Small-town life is many things, but quiet isnt one of them. So I poured myself some coffee and sat down to look at the news. Riots in the major cities. Protesters massing to tear down monuments. Arguments about the coronavirus. Anxiety about the election. The news hooks change from day to day, but the news itself has been the same all summer: Common culture has failed. The viral epidemic is killing us all. The police are murderers. The political system has collapsed. The nation is in crisis. I cant be alone in asking, What nation? Morning after morning, the news comes like news from Mars, and the media commentators seem not to realize that for many of us, the agitation is happening altogether elsewhere. Oh, it seems real enough, but real only in the way events in distant countries seem real. Its just not our lived experience. Its only a news report. For most of my life, the elite commentators of America have sneeredfrom the great moral heights of their urban condominiumsat the nations small towns and rural countryside as backward places rife with intolerance. But it turns out, if the news is to be trusted, that the real home of prejudice is Minneapolis. Portland. New York. Chicago. Those are where a police shooting produces riots and looting. Those are where the failures of Americas racial policies manifest themselves these days. At least its true that mobs arent rolling out, night after night, in Harding County, South Dakota. Or Beaverhead County, Montana. Or Nuckolls County, Nebraska. This spring, the coronavirus lockdowns made the cities a doubtful proposition. If you dont have hundreds of restaurants to go to, if you dont have Broadway plays and concerts, if you dont have the colleges and museums, what recompense is there for the stress, noise, and congestion of city life? Add in worry about riots, and every major city in the news these days is suffering from an overstocked rental market, fleeing businesses, and declining commuter tolls. The internet helped, of course. The coronavirus clearly has suggested to the big white-collar employers that if online workplaces actually function, then no reason remains for expensive offices in high-tax cities. And in exactly the same way, the virus lockdowns are teaching office workers that they can do their jobs just as easily from beyond the expensive commuting range of the big cities. But the problem is more than the sputtering financial engines of urban life. What has been revealed in the months of lockdowns and rioting is that the large American cities are essentially ungovernable. The infection rates and the violence both demonstrate a sad truth: The political positions that win elections for big-city mayors are exactly the political positions that leave those mayors unable to govern. Small towns have fewer problems with their police forces, in part because the members of the police force and the sheriffs departments cant be faceless. Theyre neighbors, with all that being a neighbor means. Their children go to the same school as the children of those they police. Their spouses belong to the local book clubs and charity drives. In the same way, small towns have fewer problems with their municipal governments. Oh, anywhere one lives, politicians are politicians. Theres always corruption and pettiness. But those things exist closer to the surface in small-town life, and they have an easier redress than riotingin good part thanks to the fact that the mayor, too, lives in the neighborhood. The mayor is part of that whole web of school and book club and church. The big cities pass laws to get people to follow the best public-health practices. Smaller places make do with manners. The coronavirus has mattered less in small-town America, in part simply because of the smaller number of peoplebut also in part because good practices are enforced by consensus rather than by the police. All Midwesterners will grumble about intrusive government, and some will openly refuse, if the state orders them to wear masks. But theyll cover their faces meekly if their neighbors give them the fisheye in the grocery store. Those people are neighbors. And they cant be escaped. With 328 million people in 3.8 million square miles, America could spread its citizens a little thinner on the ground than the 27,000 people in each square mile of New York City. And by spreading out, some of the distinctly urban problems would evaporate. Want to be rid of the nonstop rioting in Portland? Leave town. Settle in a smaller place. Get to know your neighbors. The more immediate political point, however, is that the problems of urban America are not the problems of all of America. Huge swaths of the country have been only lightly touched by the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the social unrest. The breathless news reports of endless agitation seem aliennot just to small-town experience in recent months, but to the entire small-town sense of the nation. After reading the news, I walked outside to wave to the neighbors who were watching the hot-air balloon drift over the town. I drove up to the lake for a swim. I came home to sit at the window and do a little bird-watching before I settled down to work. An ordinary day, in other words. An ordinary America. Joseph Bottum, Ph.D., is director of the Classics Institute at Dakota State University. His most recent book is The Decline of the Novel. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The latest controversy concerning Facebook has forced greater public scrutiny over the companys internal decision-making over political issues in India and may well be the first technology debate originating domestically that has escalated to become truly international in scope. This debate centres on a lengthy, chilling investigation published last week by The Wall Street Journal. The report revealed that Facebook staff had considered a complete take-down of T Raja Singhs profile on Facebook in 2018 on the basis that the Hyderabad-based Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state legislator spread hateful messages over the platform, targeting the Muslim community. At the time, however, Ankhi Das, who leads Facebooks policy efforts in New Delhi, intervened in her colleagues process, to block the proposed ban of Raja Singhs account. Raja Singh has since argued that his account was hacked, and has further implied that Facebook, in fact, facilitated the spread of hateful messaging coordinated by Muslim politicians. The situation is deeply concerning and should ring alarm bells. Here, you had an Indian employee of one of the most powerful American Internet firms that operates in India, quietly falling in line with Facebooks corporate interests, while putting at risk the lives, let alone the social concerns and political hopes, of Indian citizens. Let us be clear that no one no one should experience the vitriolic hate and online threats of violence to which Das has alleged she was subjected in the aftermath of the publication of the story. Separately, however, one would hope that no citizen of India whether a supporter of the BJP or Congress would be treated as an unknowing pawn by the American tech titan, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram. For Das as Facebooks leading Indian policy voice, as someone who is empowered to speak for the Indian people to her chief executive Mark Zuckerberg the social concerns of all Indian citizens should have come well before the commercial interests of Facebook. In this case, sadly, they did not. The core issue here is that there exists a delicate tension for the company. On the one hand, it faces tremendous pressure to do the right thing; all things considered, Facebooks greatest asset still may be its brand and, despite all the belly-blows the company has endured in recent years, the big blue app still stands tall in the eyes of most Indian consumers. That brand is a corporate asset to be protected. And yet, on the other hand, Facebook feels a constant pressure to cater to all political interests and all too often, Facebook has caved in under that pressure. And indeed, in this case, Facebook decided not to do the right thing which would have been taking down Raja Singhs blatant anti-Muslim posts because doing so would raise the ire of the political dispensation of the day. The danger of such unilateral decision-making power which, in 2018, apparently belonged entirely to one individual, for the Indian market is tangible. In practice, Facebook is indubitably a monopoly that stretches across the Indian digital media ecosystem. With its extraordinary economic power should come an earnest responsibility to keep its platforms clean of hate. This is a standard we already have in the contexts of traditional media formats, thanks to a combination of corporate commitments and regulatory stipulations. Facebook played a dangerous game of calculus in 2018: Lets not rankle the ruling party by taking action against violent political speech at a time when we are trying to expand our domination of the Indian social media market. Time and again, the company finds itself having to wade delicately through these issues after the harm has already been done. This is because Facebook is, in essence, a machine designed to maximise consumer engagement for forward monetistation. The reason that Raja Singhs posts go viral is not only because he has a political base that follows his brand of political leadership. It is also because it is psychologically engaging to a vast set of people. Hateful conduct is shocking, and often, we consume it because we cannot believe what we are seeing. We cannot believe that a public personality could say such things. And in many cases, we only want to see more and more of it, even if we are in the marginalised group that politician is offending. It is this sort of engagement that Facebook craves. Because so long as it has our attention, it can collect the data it needs to behaviourally profile us and capitalise on our personalities. This commercial incentive threatens the very nature of democracy and this is not a characteristic solely of Facebooks, but rather is a theme across the breadth of the consumer Internet sector today. National politicians in India must set the right example not endorse the wrong ones or, worse, sidestep the issue entirely. Indian citizens need to have the tools necessary to hold the technology industry accountable and that is an imperative that must start with policy action in New Delhi. Dipayan Ghosh, PhD, is co-director of the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, and author of Terms of Disservice. He has earlier worked at Facebook and in the Obama White House The views expressed are personal HELSINKI Finlands biggest utility Fortum reported an 11% fall in its underlying second-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, dented by low power prices and the impact of the new coronavirus on its Russian business. Fortum, in which the Finnish state owns a 50.8% stake, said its second-quarter operating profit fell from a year ago to 207 million euros ($247 million), missing the 301 million euros expected by analysts in a Refinitiv poll. Fortum said Nordic spot power prices dropped 84% from a year ago because of high reservoir water levels in Scandinavia, although hedging reduced the hit. Fortum said it has hedged 85% of its Nordic power generation at 34 euros per megawatt-hour for 2020 and approximately 65% at 33 euros/MWh for 2021. The impact of the coronavirus was limited in Nordics, but the situation was different in Russia, Fortum said. In Russia, power consumption declined notably as a result of COVID-19 and lower demand from the oil and gas industries, pushing down the electricity market price," Fortum Chief Executive Markus Rauramo said in a statement. The second-quarter results were the first to incorporate Fortums holdings in German utility Uniper, of which it now owns 75%. My number one short-term priority will be to have a joint strategy for the consolidated group by the end of the year," said Rauramo, who officially took over as Fortum CEO on July 1. Shares in Fortum fell 3.8% in morning trading. ($1 = 0.8379 euros) 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 In Ventura, California, A judge declined Tuesday to order the immediate closure of a Southern California church that held indoor worship services despite a temporary restraining order barring it from doing so. Ventura County had asked Judge Vincent O'Neill to hold Rob McCoy, pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel, in contempt of court and direct the Sheriff's Office to close the church. O'Neill denied the county's request to shut the church but scheduled a hearing on the contempt claim for Aug. 21. McCoy told the Ventura County Star that he considered the judge to be "measured and balanced." County Counsel Leroy Smith said he was pleased that the judge scheduled the contempt hearing. McCoy led three services last Sunday at Godspeak in defiance of health mandates and last week's restraining order by another judge that cited "an immediate threat to public health and safety due to the 2019 novel coronavirus." This hearing was before Judge Vincent O'Neill and not Judge Matthew Guasco, the magistrate who granted a temporary restraining order against the church Aug. 7. Before the hearing, attorneys for the Newbury Park church filed a challenge to request that a different judge hear the matter. Under California law, this can generally be done once without showing any cause. Multiple rockets hit Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, including near the diplomatic district, which houses several foreign embassies on August 18, as per reports. The blasts shook Afghanistan's capital a day before independence day. According to reports, the diplomatic district was immediately placed under lockdown, and staff and workers at the embassies took cover in safe rooms. The casualties are not yet clear and no group has taken responsibility for the basts so far. As per the Ministry of Interior spokesperson, the rockets were fired from two vehicles. Read: Five LeT Terrorists Killed In Encounter In Afghanistan's Dangam District Peace talks This comes as the two key stakeholders in the country, the Afghan government and Taliban are due to begin talks this week if media reports are to believed. The Afghanistan grand assembly, Loya Jirga, passed a resolution last week, where they agreed to release nearly 400 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in order to start the peace talks. Taliban at first welcomed the decision, calling it a positive step, but then on August 16, the group issued a statement saying it doesn't consider the Afghan government as a legitimate system. Read: Afghanistan's Ghani Says Releasing Taliban Prisoners Might Pose Threat But 'necessary' According to media reports, August 20 has been suggested as the possible start date of the peace talks between the two key stakeholders in Afghanistan. The peace talks are aimed at ending the 19-year-long war in the country, which according to the United Nations has claimed the lives of more than 34,000 civilians to date. The United States under President Donald Trump has already started withdrawing troops, which was one of the main poll promises of the Republican leader in 2016. Read: Afghanistan Government Releases 80 Out Of 400 Remaining Taliban Prisoners Read: Taliban Refuses To Accept Afghan Govt As Legitimate System Ahead Of Peace Talks (Image Credit: AP) Gov. Eric Holcomb announced $61 million will be awarded to numerous schools throughout the state to aid in connectivity, devices and resources. The Governors Emergency Education Relief fund, which are funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was announced during a press conference Aug. 19. Indianas students, parents and teachers have worked hard to adapt to the challenges COVID-19 has brought to education, Holcomb said. These emergency funds will enable Hoosier students to be more successful with remote learning. Some families will now worry less about internet connectivity, more students will have access to the technology needed at home, and more educators will have the necessary devices to teach remotely. Recipients which included 1,366 schools, 64 public charter schools, and 124 non-public schools submitted plans for how they would spend the money, including the purchase of new devices for students and teachers and mi-fi devices with subscription plans for families who dont have reliable internet connection at home. Money will also help fund specialized training to support families and students with special needs, English learners and to provide social and emotion learning resources during remote learning. The applications received were evaluated by the Indiana Department of Education, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana State Board of Education. You can find the full list of recipients here. News In Brief NEW DELHI - Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its abrupt, months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard. Several months into the pandemic, many women now have second-trimester pregnancies because they could not find care in time. Across 37 countries, nearly 2 million fewer women received services between January and June than in the same period last year, Marie Stopes International says in a new report 1.3 million in India alone. The organization expects 900,000 unintended pregnancies worldwide as a result, along with 1.5 million unsafe abortions and more than 3,000 maternal deaths. Those numbers will likely be greatly amplified if services falter elsewhere in Latin America, Africa and Asia, Marie Stopes director of global evidence, Kathryn Church, has said. The World Health Organization this month said two-thirds of 103 countries surveyed between mid-May and early July reported disruptions to family planning and contraception services. The U.N. Population Fund warns of up to 7 million unintended pregnancies worldwide. Lockdowns, travel restrictions, supply chain disruptions, the massive shift of health resources to combat COVID-19 and fear of infection continue to prevent many women and girls from care. A surge in teen pregnancies was reported in Kenya, while some young women in Nairobis Kibera slum resorted to using broken glass, sticks and pens to try to abort pregnancies, said Diana Kihima with the Women Promotion Center. Two died of their injuries, while some can no longer conceive. In parts of West Africa, the provision of some contraceptives fell by nearly 50% compared to the same period last year, said the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Ive never seen anything like this apart from countries in conflict, said Diana Moreka, a co-ordinator of the MAMA Network that connects women and girls to care across 16 African countries. Calls have increased to their hotlines, including those launched since the pandemic began in Congo, Zambia and Cameroon. More than 20,000 women have called since January. Like others, Moreka predicts a coming baby boom in some parts of the world. The pandemic ... has taken us many years backwards in family planning services, she said. Some countries didnt deem sexual and reproductive health services as essential under lockdown, meaning women and girls were turned away. Even after NGOs in Romania pressured the government to declare the services essential, many hospitals still werent providing abortions, said Daniela Draghici, a member of the IPPF European networks executive committee. The impact in some cases is like what used to happen to young women during Communism, to get an abortion from somebody who claims to be a medical provider ... and pray, she said. In Indias megacity of Mumbai, one woman was unable to find a pregnancy testing kit after the lockdown started in March, and then couldnt find transport to reach care in time, said Dr. Shewetangi Shinde, who attended to her in a public hospital. By then, medical abortion wasnt an option since the pregnancy was too advanced. India listed abortions as essential services under lockdown but many werent aware, said Shinde, who is part of the India Safe Abortion Youth Advocates organization. The pandemic has highlighted how difficult it already was for many women to safely access abortion services, said Dr. Suchitra Dalvie, a gynecologist in Mumbai and co-ordinator of the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership. All these people ... the marginalized groups, the vast invisible majority. This is how life is, she said. In January, India began amending laws to allow certain women to obtain abortions up to 24 weeks instead of 20. But the pandemic interrupted it. No one expected the lockdown to continue for months, Dalvie said. Now many women face second-trimester abortions, which are more expensive and complicated, especially because everyone who is involved needs to wear PPE. Abortion access has improved in India, but the pandemic resulted in abortion pill shortages in several states surveyed by Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India. Only 1% of pharmacies in northern states like Haryana and Punjab had them, 2% in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and 6.5% in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. In Delhi it was 34%. Some contraceptives are still delayed by supply chain disruptions, said Chris Purdy, CEO of the DKT International social marketing organization for family planning products. Production is back online, but shipping routes are crowded and ports clogged with back orders, he said. Meanwhile, womens health providers have scrambled to find solutions such as telemedicine, home deliveries of contraceptives and home-based medical abortions. But even now, were hearing everywhere that numbers are down as public health facilities struggle because thousands of staffers have been infected with the virus, said Marion Stevens, director of the South Africa-based Sexual & Reproductive Justice Coalition. Her group and others wrote to the health minister about women turned away from care. The real global measure of lockdowns effects will come when health ministries report annual data, experts say. But it will be incomplete. In Haiti, the health ministry reported a 74% drop in births at health facilities in May compared to the same period last year. Many women are delivering at home, but deaths there are not reported. Small examples can tell us a lot, said Nondo Ejano, co-ordinator for the Womens Global Network for Reproductive Rights Africa. In Tanzania, he said, a major maternity hospital in Dar es Salaam was converted into a COVID-19 response centre. You can ask yourself, he said of women seeking care, where would they go? At a school he visited last week in the town of Kigoma, five girls had become pregnant in the past few months. One school. Five girls. Definitely the rate of pregnancy is up, he said. I feel like right now we just have a tip of the situation, and when lockdowns are lifted we will see things clearly, said Phonsina Archane, a co-ordinator of the MAMA Network. We should prepare ourselves for that time. ___ Anna reported from Johannesburg. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Read more about: The grieving family of the daughter of a Holby City actor who died from an overdose said she has been 'denied justice' after her rapper boyfriend - who gave her the drug and filmed her dying - was freed on appeal. Dealer Ceon Broughton, 31, supplied John Michie's daughter Louella Fletcher-Michie with the hallucinogenic 2-CP at Bestival in Dorset but was released from prison yesterday after his eight year sentence was overturned. Today the ruling was a described as a 'kick in the teeth' for Louella's family which had added to their continued agony over her death. A family source told MailOnline: To say the family is devastated is an understatement. Its been difficult enough coming to terms with Louellas loss and now shes been denied justice. The justice system has let her and the family down. This decision is a kick in the teeth which has just added to our pain. Its wrong and doesnt make sense. Broughton walked free after a Court of Appeal judge ruled prosecutors failed to prove she could have lived if he had called for help. Ceon Broughton pictured with girlfriend Louella Fletcher-Michie, who died in September 2017 Louella had been a keen festival goer and had been at Bestival when she overdosed Timeline of the police probe into Louella Fletcher-Michie's death September 11, 2017: Louella Fletcher-Michie was found dead in a wooded area at Bestival at about 1am September 13, 2017: Ceon Broughton is arrested on suspicion of her murder and supplying a class A drug before being released under investigation February 23, 2018: Broughton is rearrested on suspicion of her manslaughter March 23, 2018: Broughton appears for the first time over the charge at Poole Magistrates' Court July 26, 2018: Broughton pleads not guilty to manslaughter at Winchester Crown Court February 4, 2019: Broughton's trial begins at Winchester Crown Court February 28, 2019: Trial jury begin their deliberations and find him guilty later that day March 1, 2019: Broughton is jailed for eight-and-a-half years August 18. 2019: Court of Appeal overturns Broughton's conviction and he walks free from prison Advertisement He had originally been convicted after he shot harrowing footage of his younger girlfriend overdosing on his mobile phone for six hours, as she screamed 'This ain't acid. I was not expecting this'. The videos had appalled former Taggart star Mr Michie and wife Carol, who had welcomed Broughton into their home and believed him innocent in the hours after Louella's death in September 2017. He was so trusted he had even spent Christmas at the Michies' 1.2 million house in North London, worked with Louella's brother Sam and had been a guest at Mr Michie's 60th birthday dinner. But in court the hostility between them was laid bare, with Mr Michie staring him down as he spoke from the witness box. In heartbreaking evidence, he had declared 'I think Louella loved Ceon. I'm not sure he loved her. I don't know how you could ever say you loved someone if you left them to die in front of you'. Later they unexpectedly met outside court proceedings and the father had told him 'you're evil, evil', sparking Broughton into a rage where he threw a coffee table across a room and attacked a water cooler. Jurors at the 2019 Winchester Crown Court trial had sobbed as they viewed footage of Louella's distress as the effects of the drug showed her at one point trying to eat thorns. Clips showed musician Broughton turn his iPhone on himself at one point to show him smiling and playing with a fidget spinner toy and also plugging his hoodie brand. During one 50-minute video Louella had yelled: 'Make sure you're filming this. Put a camera on me now. You better be f****** recording Ceon. Don't f****** put this on YouTube.' She had also repeatedly shouted for him to call her mum and when they were phoned the sound of their daughter overdosing was so harrowing they jumped in their car to carry out the 130-mile drive from London to the festival site in Lulworth Castle in Dorset. They tragically arrived too late to find her alive. By 10.41pm that night footage showed Broughton holding Louella's severely scratched hand, with a still image taken by him at 11.24pm appearing to show her lifeless at his feet. Broughton (left, pictured in February 2019) has had his conviction overturned for the manslaughter of Miss Fletcher-Michie (right), who died after taking the drug 2C-P at Bestival Broughton was so trusted by the Michie family he was invited to their family Christmas as well as John's 60th birthday Broughton in one of the videos he shot while Louella was overdosing in front of him But Broughton's conviction was overturned after his barrister said prosecutors had 'failed to prove' that she would have survived had she received treatment by a certain point - the key point of the original case against him. After the appeal hearing Broughton's lawyers said he remained 'devastated' by Louella's death. In a statement, they said: 'The Court of Appeal has today found that Louella's death occurred not as a result of criminal negligence but was instead a tragic accident. 'Ceon remains devastated by her death. 'He has always wished that he could have done more to save her. 'He loved Louella and she him, but he knows that no words will ever be sufficient to convey his sense of responsibility for what happened or to begin to remove the pain that others have been caused.' Miss Fletcher-Michie was found dead in woods at the edge of the festival site at Lulworth Castle on the morning of her 25th birthday on September 11, 2017. Broughton, who raps under the stage name CEONRPG, was convicted in March 2019 of manslaughter by gross negligence and jailed for eight years and six months. Jurors were told that instead of phoning 999, Broughton stayed in the secluded wooded area with Louella. Prosecutors claimed he avoided going for help because 'didn't want to be arrested' while on a suspended sentence. A medical centre was nearby to the area where they were sitting. But at the High Court in London today, Lord Burnett quashed the conviction, saying: 'In our view, this is one of those rare cases where the expert evidence was all that the jury had to assist them in answering the question on causation. 'That expert evidence was not capable of establishing causation to the criminal standard. Footage of Louella and Broughton at Bestival joking around the day before she took the drug that would kill her 2-CP: The drug said to have the hallucinogenic properties of LSD with the stimulant effects of ecstasy 2-CP is said to have the hallucinogenic properties of LSD combined with the stimulant effects of ecstasy. But users have reported that its effects can be intense and uncontrollable. Broughton's barrister Stephen Kamlish QC quoted a report on 2-CP in which one user described taking it as 'physically and psychologically draining'. But Mr Kamlish told the jury that 'no-one has ever been known to die from taking this drug (2-CP) or taking an overdose'. After taking the drug, Miss Fletcher-Michie became disturbed, agitated and seriously ill, groaning, scratching her flesh and attempting to eat thorns. Professor Charles Deakin, a consultant in cardiac anaesthesia and intensive care, said the footage showed she was 'not aware of her surroundings' and became 'seriously unwell and in need of urgent medical care'. Prof Deakin said sedative drugs, breathing support and monitoring of blood pressure could have been used to treat Miss Fletcher-Michie at the scene. But Broughton, who later admitted to her brother Sam that he had 'bumped up' the dose, did nothing to help her and she was found dead by a steward in woodland just 400 yards from the hospital tent. The trial heard that Broughton supplied the drug to her after her own 'pills' had been confiscated by Bestival stewards. The Talk To Frank drugs awareness website states that the 2C family of drugs can make you 'energised and alert, extra aware of colours, sounds and smells and very sensitive to touch and sexually aroused'. But it warns: 'The more you take, the more intense and uncontrollable the experience will be.' Advertisement 'Miss Darlow's final submission that at 9.10pm Louella was deprived of a 90 per cent chance of survival was an accurate reflection of Professor Deakin's evidence but, for the reasons we have explained, that is not enough. 'Put another way, if an operation carried a personal 10% risk of mortality, both patient and clinicians would be able confidently to say that the chances of survival were very high or very good but none could be sure. 'In respectful disagreement with the judge, we conclude that the appellant's main argument, that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury, is established. 'Applying the Galbraith test, taken at its highest, the evidence adduced by the prosecution was incapable of proving causation to the criminal standard of proof. The appeal against conviction for manslaughter must be allowed.' The trial at Winchester Crown Court heard Broughton did not get help because he had been handed a suspended jail term a month earlier and feared the consequences. At the appeal hearing, Broughton's barrister Stephen Kamlish QC argued the conviction was unsafe because prosecutors had 'failed to prove' that Miss Fletcher-Michie would have survived had she received treatment by a certain point. He also argued Broughton's sentence was 'excessive' in any event. Mr Kamlish QC told the Court of Appeal: 'The Crown cannot prove, now or at trial, that she would have lived had she been treated. 'What the Crown are arguing now is that by depriving the deceased of the chance of surviving via medical treatment she would have lived but that also means she might or might not have lived. 'That is hardly the correct text on which the Crown can prove causation. The appellant was trying to get help. So he cannot be described as criminally grossly negligent.' He said Broughton had felt unable to leave Miss Fletcher-Michie alone in the woods while she was suffering a 'bad trip', and he had not realised she was at risk of death. Mr Kamlish added: 'So in our submission when one looks at the learned judge's direction as to the ease or difficulty of obtaining help, if Louella could walk by herself it was difficult.' He said Professor Charles Deakin addressed whether medical intervention could have helped at trial while other experts focused on the cause of death. Mr Kamlish said the prosecution evidence did not prove causation against the defendant. In her final moments captured on camera, Miss Fletcher-Michie said: 'My mum and dad, my brother and sister, I love you lot.' Her mother, Carol Fletcher-Michie, said she 'dropped everything' and travelled with her husband to the festival site after making contact with Broughton and hearing her daughter in the background. Broughton, from Enfield, North London denied but was convicted by the jury of manslaughter and supplying class A drugs. His conviction for manslaughter was quashed. He did not appeal his conviction for supplying class A drugs. Broughton previously admitted supplying drugs to Miss Fletcher-Michie at Glastonbury festival, in June 2017, and was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for possessing a lock knife and a Stanley knife blade. Prosecutors told jurors during his trial that Broughton failed to take 'reasonable' steps to seek medical help for Miss Fletcher-Michie. Harrowing footage shown to the court showed videos he had shot of her as she was under the influence of the drug. The first was timed at 5.53pm, with the 50-minute clip showing Louella wildly hallucinating. 'This is the best trip I've ever f***ing had,' she repeatedly told the camera. 'I'm seeing colourful taxis Magical monkey riding the forest.' Actor John Michie and his wife Carol Fletcher-Michie at Winchester Crown Court on February 27, 2019 Later she was seen shouting 'This is the happiest I've ever been. This is mad. I'm so happy, the best day of my life. I've taken acid before. This ain't acid. I was not expecting this.' Broughton previously admitted supplying drugs to Miss Fletcher-Michie at Glastonbury festival, in June 2017, and was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for possessing a lock knife and a Stanley knife blade. Prosecutors told jurors during his trial that Broughton failed to take 'reasonable' steps to seek medical help for Miss Fletcher-Michie. They said he did not get help because he had been handed the suspended jail term a month earlier and feared the consequences. Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Mr Justice Sweeney and Mr Justice Murray gave their ruling this morning. A representative for Mr Michie declined to comment. Felder will be performing George Gershwin Alone, a show about the legendary songwriter that he has performed hundreds of times in Chicago over the last two decades, mostly at the Royal George Theatre. In an interview Tuesday, Felder said that the September event at the Teatro della Pergola, an historic opera house in the center of Florence, will be a movie-quality experience aimed at raising funds for several non-profit North American theaters, including Porchlight. The performance schedule of 7 p.m., Chicago time, will require Felder and his bespoke production team, many of whom are from Chicago, to work through much of the night. Former President Serzh Sarkisian believes that the outcome of four-day deadly clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh in April 2016 was an Armenian victory because Azerbaijan failed to achieve any of its political goals in that escalation. Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday, Sarkisian also described the 2016 escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh commonly known in Armenia as the April war as unavoidable. Amid lingering questions about the circumstances of the April war in Armenian society the current parliament set up an ad hoc committee in 2019 to look into relevant issues. Sarkisian, who served as president in 2008-2018 and was commander-in-chief of Armenias armed forces four years ago, was invited to testify before the committee on April 16. Back then he refused to talk to the media, promising that he would devote a press conference to answer all questions regarding the April war. At the beginning of the press conference the first since his resignation in 2018 Sarkisian read out his introductory remarks that he made before the committee in April. In them he argued that the outcome of the April war in which scores of soldiers were killed on both sides was an Armenian victory. Can anyone ground it in a specialized manner how it could be a victory for Azerbaijan that lost its elite units and a defeat for the Armenian side that showed numerous examples of unspeakable bravery to stop the large-scale aggression? Does anyone know from the entire history of mankind a single war in which only soldiers without commanders fought and won? Sarkisian asked the committee members rhetorically. The former leader said that like all other wars the 2016 escalation pursued its political goals. A war is a continuation of politics with other methods. For the defending side a victory is when it manages to stop the adversarys plans with minimum losses. No outcome can be satisfactory for the party committing the aggression if it does not achieve at least part of its political goals, Sarkisian said. Azerbaijans top objective was to change the course of the negotiations. It wanted to prove that the problem does have a military solution, said Sarkisian, adding that other goals of Azerbaijan included achieving a new ceasefire agreement that would eliminate Nagorno-Karabakh as a party and boosting morale in Azerbaijani society. The former Armenian president said that Azerbaijan failed to achieve any of those goals. Moreover, he said that in fact during subsequent negotiations Azerbaijan was forced to agree to an Armenian proposal for the establishment of an international mechanism of investigating ceasefire violations. By the way, this was one of the most important components of our governments legacy, said Sarkisian, who resigned in April 2018 amid widespread anti-government protests focused on domestic politics and corruption. Thus, as a result of launching aggression Azerbaijan suffered huge losses not only in the battlefield, but also in the diplomatic arena. It was proved that Azerbaijan is not able to solve the issue militarily, Sarkisian underscored. The former Armenian president expressed an opinion that it was not possible to prevent or avoid the war. Azerbaijan was not ready for a compromise solution acceptable to us, because Azerbaijan was not ready and I am sure is not ready now to accept the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to determine the status of their country through an expression of their free will, he said. In the wake of the 2016 clashes Sarkisian admitted that Azerbaijan managed to seize hundreds of hectares of territory in what currently is a buffer zone around Nagorno-Karabakh, but downplayed the military significance of the loss. The former leader said today that it was his decision not to seek to regain the lost ground and agree to a ceasefire in order to avoid further loss of life. Answering questions of journalists Sarkisian described assertions that the Armenian military was under-equipped and was poorly supplied with food, fuel and ammunition during the 2016 skirmishes as myths. He also defended his other statements, including the one he made shortly after the escalation about Armenians fighting with weapons from the 1980s. That statement sparked criticism in Armenia about the perceived lack of modern weaponry in the arsenal of the countrys armed forces. Sarkisian stressed that the context of the statement was different. To make the purpose of that statement fully clear Id like to remind you that it was made in Germany, immediately after the four-day war. Well-informed people know that Germany at that time chaired the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). That statement indeed gave rise to many speculations first of all among people who have no clear understanding of what weapons from the 1980s mean. If we translate what I said from the diplomatic language, well get as follows: Dear OSCE members, regardless of your turning a blind eye on Azerbaijans being armed to the teeth, our soldiers are capable of defending their homeland, he said. Sarkisian further stressed that all armies in the world, including the armies of the wealthiest and most prosperous nations, have weapons from the 1980s in their arsenals. I can cite numerous examples, but I dont want to go deep into that. I will only state that even today almost all armored vehicles, almost all firearms of the Armenian armed forces are from the 1980s. Let me also say that our army and many other armies even today have weapons from the 1940s and 1950s in their arsenals. This is the whole truth, the former Armenian president said. During the press conference Sarkisian refused to comment on other issues, including questions regarding the work of the parliamentary committee looking into the circumstances of the April war. He said he would do that after the committee publishes its report. Sarkisian also promised to hold separate press conferences on domestic political issues as well as the governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While waiting to deliver her remarks during the Democratic National Convention Monday night, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be seen mouthing an expletive while joking about the ongoing Shark Week TV series. Its not just Shark Week, its Shark Week (expletive mouthed) Whitmer can be seen saying. The line was met by laughter by the people in the room before she paused and hinted as to why she didnt say the actual word. I have learned about the hot mic, Whitmer added. Gov. Whitmer (D-MI) jokes before going live: "It's not just Shark Week ... it's Shark Week *mouths expletive*" pic.twitter.com/KSndbTvLZi The Recount (@therecount) August 18, 2020 Shark Week is part of annual programming from the Discovery network which focuses on shows revolving around sharks. The massively popular week-long event has become part of pop culture thanks to the unique and informative programs featured on the network. The mouthing of the expletive was caught by a live feed that was preparing to broadcast nationwide during the convention. Whitmers joke was not broadcast on television. During her actual five-minute speech, Whitmer praised presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, saying they are the leadership that is needed in Washington right now. Whitmer went on to criticize President Donald Trump for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We took this pandemic seriously in Michigan, Whitmer said. We listened to medical experts, we planned. With a lot of work from auto workers -- and too little help from the White House -- we executed our plan. We saved thousands of lives ... Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will lead by example. It will be science, not politics or ego, that will drive their decisions. LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) is pleased to welcome Maurizio Vecchione as its Chief Innovation Officer. Maurizio has spent the last 30 years at the forefront of global and public health, focusing on innovation to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people. From 2014 until 2020, he was the Executive Vice President for Global Good and Research at Intellectual Ventures (IV), where he oversaw collaboration with Bill Gates to invent and deploy technology to address some of humanity's most daunting challenges. He simultaneously led the research programs of the Intellectual Ventures Laboratory and Institute for Disease Modeling. Maurizio has built global alliances for breakthrough programs in women's health, infectious disease prevention and elimination, primary care, and chronic disease management. He currently also serves as CEO of the Washington Global Health Alliance, a coalition of some of the leading institutions in global health, the Leadership Board of the University of Washington Department of Global Health and the Advisory Board of the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, among others. Throughout his career, he has developed numerous patented and commercial products and has built nine start-up companies. "Maurizio will leverage the breakthrough science at TIBI and the power of collaboration across global research institutions to build a foundation of innovation and translation, designed to accelerate impact to patients everywhere," said Prof. Ali Khademhosseini, CEO at TIBI. "We are very excited to have him join our team as we work on bringing to fruition the next generation of medical innovations." "With his extensive background in technological translation, Maurizio will be invaluable in helping our institute to achieve its goals," said Stewart Han, President of TIBI. "It will be an honor to work at the leading edge of biomedicine and to combine it with effective translation to achieve impact," said Maurizio, "The generous support of the Terasaki family has created a unique platform at the Terasaki Institute that will undoubtedly accelerate breakthroughs in biomedical sciences for years to come." The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (terasaki.org) is a non-profit research organization that invents and fosters practical solutions that restore or enhance the health of individuals. The Institute is made possible through an endowment from the late Dr. Paul I. Terasaki, a pioneer in the field of organ transplant technology. SOURCE Terasaki Institute Related Links https://terasaki.org/institute/ Nene Ofoe Teye, a senior security officer at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is praising the management of the GPHA for a regime of accountability that has been instituted at the place. He said managements style of constantly being a scrutineer had cleansed the GPHA of corruption was rampant at the place. This is why the GPHA is no longer in the media over negative stories of corruption like it used to be the case in the past; the current Management has literally given salvation to GPHA, Nene Ofoe Teye said in a statement copied to the Ghana news agency in Accra. According to him, the Director-General of GPHA, Michael Luguje and the Director of Tema Port, Sandra Opoku, came up with an automation system that was at the heart of the riddance of corruption at the GPHA. The system, he said, worked such that every employee of the GPHA, from top Management level to the least staff, is in a chain of complex checks and balance. Also, information flow has improved much and nobody stays in the dark, immediately something happens, Management calls staff meetings and explain. For example, when the Meridian Port Services (MPS) take-over of the Tema Port happened, nobody was kept in the dark, we were all called and informed of what had happened and the implications for all of us. This is what informed the agitation of some staff against the MPS deal even though Management tried to calm everybody down. He added that, this same transparency, accountability and information flow is the reason why you do not hear that GPHA workers are at loggerheads with Management like it used to be in the past. Departmental transfers are occasionally carried out when it is observed that the competence of certain staff of the company are more fitting for certain responsibilities, it is only a staff with a questionable character that will complain of his or her transfer to the media as propaganda in order to create false impressions about management. The statement is coming at a time that the GPHA has had its revenue on an upward trajectory even after the controversial MPS deal which gave the whole of the Terminal 3 port management to MPS. According to Nene the statement, who is also the constituency chairman of Tema East NPP, the upward increase in revenue started in 2017, when we made over Ghc140 million profit and it has continued till now. He said that the Managements decision to equip the Port security with modern operation accoutrements had helped in curbing illegal port activities as well. The hardworking Colonel. William Kwabiah, the Port Security Manager and his men, including myself, are having all the equipment that are necessary for our work and Colonel. Kwabiah has not failed, after he took over from where his predecessor, Colonel JM Punamane had left off. Just this month, the GPHA commissioned three state of the art ASD tug-boats, which are the first of their kind in Central and West Africa and are of 80 tonnes bollard pull capacity and capable of performing fire-fighting and rescue functions. The statement urged President Akufo-Addo to be rest assured that your men and women are working hard to ensure that your vision is realized. We pledge to work hard until the dream of a Ghana Beyond Aid is realized. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video From classrooms to cafes, sidewalks to shopping malls, housing to hospitals, the three pillars of Ontarios human rights system have repeatedly decried how deeply rooted racism operates at every level and every sector of society. These three human rights pillars are: Policy, education and advocacy of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). Legal advice and services of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre (HRLSC). Mediation and adjudication at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). The research of the OHRC, and the complaints litigated by the HRLSC and adjudicated by HRTO, have exposed the excruciating realities of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in Ontario. But until this watershed time of reckoning, no one seemed to be listening or prepared to take meaningful action. Had power holders paid attention, they would have heard that racist stereotyping of Black and Indigenous people as criminal and deviant is reinforced daily by ordinary institutions. For decades, the OHRC highlighted that not all discrimination is explicit, and that structural and implicit biases are so pernicious and pervasive that we absorb and replicate negative images of marginalized groups in all aspects of our communities. Every year, HRTO decisions pronounce on the harm of systemic racism. This March, a 6-year-old Black girl was racially discriminated against when police restrained and handcuffed her at school. In 2018, Black youths had to prepay for their meals at a Toronto restaurant. These are just two of the systemic racism cases that the OHRC and the HRLSC took before the HRTO and won. Despite the occasional compensation award, racism persists in every corner of Ontario and the crisis has reached a crescendo in some cities. As COVID-19 magnifies systemic inequities, peoples human rights are now routinely being violated across all areas of their lives. Enshrined by law and funded by Ontarios Ministry of the Attorney General, the three pillars must remain committed to ensuring systemic transformation through robust inquiries, broad public education, accessible, culturally safe, free legal services and speedy mediation and hearings. Over the past decade, the pillars have supported thousands of Ontarians of different races, religions, ethnicities, ancestries, ages, genders and abilities. Today, Ontarians are unwavering in their demand for an immediate end to systemic discrimination in all its insidious forms. The needs of marginalized communities are acute. For example, just last week, the OHRC released A Disparate Impact, which confirmed that Black people are more likely than others to be arrested, charged, overcharged, struck, shot or killed by Toronto police. Ontarios human rights systems have long sounded the alarm of systemic racism, and it is time that public and private organizations join this fight against discrimination. Its time to disempower the forces of systemic inequality, dismantle the systemic structures of racism and promote human rights. NEW YORK Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are providing television viewers with a distinctly different vision of the Democratic National Convention each night from their perches on Fox News Channel. Hannity calls the virtual convention the worst infomercial ever made and provides brief, annotated highlights of some Democratic speakers. Carlson said that if the Democratic National Committee was in direct marketing, it would be bankrupt by now. Fox News is providing an hour of convention news coverage each night, the same as broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC. But as cable rivals CNN and MSNBC devote three hours in prime time to the convention including showing the Democrats feed virtually uninterrupted Fox will not dislodge its biggest opinion stars. Carlson and Hannity offer a viewpoint familiar to supporters of President Donald Trump. In the first two nights, their guests have included Donald Trump Jr., Kellyanne Conway, former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Trump campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine. No one minces words. Hannity called the convention a predictable dose of poorly produced, cult-like, psychotic rage (and) hysteria against all things Donald Trump. I thought they were the uniters. Carlson said it is the type of programming that appeals to people who enjoy mandatory corporate diversity seminars. The preaching, self-righteousness, the condescension, the shameless lying, the strange mixture of guilt and aggression it probably all felt refreshingly familiar to you, Carlson said. For everyone else, it was a massive turnoff. The Democrats two-hour feed begins at 9 p.m. Eastern, when Hannitys show airs, and for most of the time, convention proceedings are shown in a tiny box at the bottom of the screen with the sound turned off. Hannity occasionally dips into a speech, cutting the sound off midstream to offer his own commentary. There he goes, lying again, he said after silencing former President Bill Clinton. He stopped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to call him an idiot and dope who was offering probably the biggest amount of revisionist history ever. He aired in full the 90-second speech of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a favorite target of conservatives, saying at the end, Did she just second the nomination of Bolshevik Bernie (Sanders)? Through two nights, the only portion of the convention he aired without ridicule or rebuttal was the moment of silence for George Floyd. Carlson noted sarcastically that former first lady Michelle Obama was considered off-limits for criticism, then called her a liar. He played clips of television analysts praising Obamas speech Monday to suggest that it was over the top, while leaving out Foxs Chris Wallace and Dana Perino, who had also complimented Obamas address. He mocked her assertion that she doesnt like to get involved in politics. If she hates politics so much, why is she giving a political speech at a political convention? he said. Isnt there anything else to do on Marthas Vineyard in the summer? Both hosts questioned Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bidens health, with Hannity showing a Trump commercial pressing that point. He seems frail, he seems weak, he seems confused, Hannity said. A Carlson guest, Fox analyst Brit Hume, called Biden senile. His age has left him without a full set of faculties so he forgets where he is at times and cant remember basic things, Hume said. Carlsons response: Interesting. The two hosts even make their points to viewers with the sound muted. Onscreen headlines included Dems Browbeat You into Accepting Their Agenda, Shamelessness on Full Display at the DNC, 2020 Dems: They Dont Believe a Word They Say, DNC is a Bizarre Parade of Desperate Zoom Calls and From Hope + Change to Hate + Rage. From a business standpoint, Foxs scheduling makes perfect sense. Carlson had more than 4 million viewers Monday and Tuesday, higher than both CNN and MSNBC. Hannity had 3.88 million viewers Monday, and many Fox viewers clicked away when news coverage of the convention began. Fox had 2.1 million viewers at 10 p.m. Monday, less than half of both MSNBC and CNN at the same time, the Nielsen company said. Fox pointed out that its convention coverage schedule was the same as it was in 2016 and will be for next weeks Republican national convention. Then, Foxs audience is expected to swell significantly. 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 The security forces gunned down three terrorists in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, including LeT commander Sajjad alias Haider Srinagar: A third militant was killed on Tuesday in the operation by security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir which began after the ultras shot dead two CRPF jawans and a policeman on Monday, officials said. Two Army jawans, who were injured on Monday in the encounter at Kreeri area of the north Kashmir district, have also succumbed to injuries, they said. Security forces had chased the ultras after the attack and killed two of them including Sajad Haider - a top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit in north Kashmir. Another militant was killed on the second day of the operation, the officials said. Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter, they said. The operation began immediately after the LeT militants carried out the attack on a naka party of the forces which left two CRPF jawans and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of Jammu and Kashmir policeman dead. The officials said the search operation is going on. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says some of the 16 coronavirus cases detected in a single Brooklyn neighborhood have been linked to a large wedding - as the city's infection rate falls to its lowest since the COVID-19 outbreak started. De Blasio said on Wednesday that officials had detected an uptick of COVID-19 cases in Borough Park - a neighborhood that has a large Hasidic Jew population. Some of the 16 cases uncovered in Borough Park have been tied to a large wedding that had more than 50 guests, according to de Blasio. 'Some of these 16 cases are linked to a recent wedding, a large wedding in fact, in the community,' de Blasio said. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says some of the 16 coronavirus cases detected in a single Brooklyn neighborhood have been linked to a large wedding He said disease detectives were currently investigating if the wedding had resulted in substantial spread and were working to inform Borough Park residents to 'get tested, wear face coverings and avoid large gatherings'. 'We are working immediately to galvanize community leaders to work with the Test and Trace Corps,' de Blasio said. Even as Borough Park saw infections rise, de Blasio said the city had reached a record low positive test rate of 0.24 percent. 'Overall, New York City is doing so well... And you'll hear today's indicators, they're pretty extraordinary. But we've got to stay vigilant,' he said. 'The number I'm showing you here today is the lowest number we have had since this crisis began. 'This is the lowest infection rate in New York City since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. Today's number - 0.24 percent. This is extraordinary. Even as Borough Park saw infections rise, de Blasio said the city had reached a record low positive test rate of 0.24 percent 'Now we all know every day can vary. We all know there's no single perfect measure. But the fact that with expanded testing and more and more outreach all the time, you now see a number as low as 0.24 percent for the New York City infection rate. This is striking.' It comes after de Blasio said last week that officials were investigating an uptick in cases in the adjacent neighborhood of Sunset Park after 228 positive cases were discovered from 3,300 tests. The Mayor said this week that officials have determined there was no cluster in Sunset Park after the initial scare. 'What we know so far, thank God - limited community spread and not a cluster situation in Sunset Park,' de Blasio said. 'We do not have a cluster situation. We do see individual households with specific problems.' He had announced last week that officials would be door-knocking or phoning every single one of the 38,000 households in that neighborhood to determine if the uptick in COVID-19 cases was a cluster. De Blasio said officials had planed to 'saturate' the neighborhood from Wednesday to encourage as many residents as possible to get tested. CLINCHCO, Va. A 31-year-old Clinchco man who investigators believe attacked his father and brother died of gunshot wounds Monday during a domestic disturbance. Shots were fired inside a home in the Dog Branch Gap area of Dickenson County on Monday morning, according to a press release from Dickenson County Sheriffs Office Investigator Michael Stidham. Responding officers found Alton Rasnick, 77, with multiple head wounds. His son, James Rasnick, 55, had wounds to his head and facial area. Another son, Roy Ray Rasnick, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds, Stidham said in the release. According to witnesses, Roy Ray Rasnick had come over to his fathers home and attacked him on the front porch, Stidham said. James Rasnick managed to get his father back inside the residence and lock the door. Roy Rasnick then broke into the home, attacking both men, Stidham said. James Rasnick then retrieved a firearm and shot Roy Rasnick during the attack. Roy Rasnicks body has been sent to the Medical Examiners office in Roanoke for an autopsy. James Rasnick was treated and released from the Dickenson Community Hospital. Alton Rasnick is currently in the intensive care unit at the Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee. Stidham said he learned Tuesday the man is expected to recover from his injuries. Sheriff Jeremy Fleming said he believes the incident will be considered a justifiable homicide. The case remains active and ongoing, and no charges have been filed, Stidham said Tuesday. The case file will be given to the Commonwealths attorney, he added. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. His death has caused consternation among Nepali journalists, and press unions have called for an independent investigation into the cause of his death. These include the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Freedom Forum (FF) and the Nepal Press Union (NPU), all seeking a credible investigation into the circumstances leading to the journalist's death. On August 11, Tuesday, Baniya was found dead on the banks of Bagmati River near the Mando Hydropower Project in Makawanpur. He had reportedly gone missing a day earlier after which his family had lodged a complaint with the police. After his news on Chinese encroachment of the Rui village became public, both Baniya and the newspaper came under pressure. The newspaper had to issue an apology and Baniya was suspended for a brief while. His news had created a stir as other media organisations picked it up and conducted their own investigations. His report put China in an embarrassing position as it highlighted the communist country's policy of encroaching upon borderlands of other nations, including friendly ones. The Nepali media also questioned their Prime Minister over encroachments by China and some of the lawmakers raised the issue publicly. Baniya's news in June about Chinese encroachments created unease among the Chinese and Nepali leadership at a time when the two countries were tom-tomming about their relationship. It was published at a time when China was deeply embroiled in a territorial dispute with India. Baniya's death has created a flutter and led to much speculation. In a press release, FNJ said: "We demand that the government investigate and make public the truth about the mysterious death of the journalist." The NPU said Baniya's death remains shrouded in mystery as there is a deep cut in his head. "There are suspicions surrounding his death. His death could be linked with daring news stories that he filed," NPU general secretary Ajaya Babu Shiwakoti said. Baniya was known to be highly professional and an upright journalist. The Kathmandu Post has written a detailed account of his journalistic integrity and dedication to his work. He was also a former secretary of the FNJ. The journalist's death may or may not be related to the Chinese encroachment but suspicion lingers. It also throws up the uncomfortable relationship that comes bundled with a China friendship. The Nepali media, independent and spunky, had earlier in the year experienced a run-in with the Chinese embassy, forcing 17 editors to issue a public statement condemning the Chinese embassy for threatening Nepali journalists and interfering in the working of a free media. The Chinese embassy had released an intimidatory statement on an opinion piece carried by The Kathmandu Post on February 18, 2020, criticizing China's efforts on the coronavirus which spread worldwide from its epicentre in Wuhan. In a threatening message, the Chinese embassy said: "It is regrettable that Mr. Anup Kaphle, Chief Editor of The Kathmandu Post, has always been biased on China-related issues. This time he went as far as disregarding the facts and becoming a parrot of some anti-China forces and, therefore, his ulterior purpose is destined to failure. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal has made solemn representations to the newspaper and himself and reserves the right of further action." China manages to rake up controversies even in Nepal -- currently a strong ally. Despite the latter's best efforts to keep China-related disquieting news away from the limelight, the Chinese keep riling up Nepal by virtue of their expansionist and extravagant claims. It struck another discordant note recently when the China Global Television Network (CGTN) claimed on May 2 that 'Mount Chomolungma', also known as Mount Everest, is located in 'China's Tibet'. After an uproar on social media by Nepali citizens, the CGTN deleted the tweet and replaced it with a more palatable, "...Mt Qomolangma, the highest peak in the world, is located on the Nepal-China border," still not acknowledging the universal name Mount Everest, by which the tallest peak is known. An impartial investigation into Balaram Baniya's death may put to rest the speculation around his demise but his investigation into the Chinese encroachment in Nepal, a friendly country, may not fade away easily. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --IANS arm/ When Lord Acton visited Harvard in 1853, he found that the philosophy of the college was common sense. Acton wrote that by "the third year Reid becomes a text-book." The Reid whose philosophy became the focus of the junior year of study at Harvard was Thomas Reid, the author of An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (1764) and the founder of the philosophy of common sense realism. Harvard students who wanted to continue studying philosophy were offered the opportunity to study the works of Dugald Stewart and other thinkers in the tradition Reid had founded. Dugald Stewart (17531828) was the most influential philosopher of common sense realism after Reid. He was admired by Thomas Jefferson, and he had a considerable influence in America. Another common sense philosopher who exerted a significant intellectual influence on American thought in the nineteenth century was James McCosh. McCosh was the president of Princeton from 1868 to 1888. McCosh Hall is named in his honor. He published prolifically and was admired for his clear and readable style. Harvard and Princeton were not alone in their dedication to Reid and his followers. In fact, common sense realism was, in the words of Arthur Herman, "virtually the official creed of the American Republic." Allen Guelzo, in his magnificent lecture series "The American Mind" makes the point in this way: "Before the Civil War, every major [American] collegiate intellectual was a disciple of Scottish common sense realism." In the words of James Foster, it was the "philosophical orientation ... at Princeton, Harvard and Yale, as well as newly founded colleges stretching from Rhode Island to Texas." By the time of Acton's visit to Harvard, though it was then and is still today referred to as "Scottish" because Reid and Stewart were Scottish, America had become common sense realism's real home and the center of its continued development. The core idea of common sense realism is that there are self-evident truths and that self-evident truths are known to be true by means of common sense; common sense enables us to know what is self-evidently true. Read the Founders, and you will find them constantly referring to self-evident truths. They got their understanding of self-evidence from Reid. Because the Founders' thinking relied on Reid's conception of self-evident truth, what Harvard and Princeton and the others were aiming at in those days was teaching American college students how to think like an American. We have heard the words "We hold these Truths to be self-evident ..." all our lives. To approach the Founders' understanding of self-evident truth is to approach the heart of the American founding. Jefferson and the other Founders held that "all men are created equal" is self-evidently true. According to Lincoln, it is "an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times." For more than a hundred years, American colleges dedicated themselves to teaching the philosophy the Founders and Lincoln were relying on in making that declaration. Things have changed at Harvard, Princeton, and the other ones, too. As in the early days of the Republic, these days, they share a philosophical orientation. That orientation goes far beyond simply rejecting the Founders' idea of self-evident truth. Each and every variety of postmodernism rejects truth and common sense, which means that the possibility of self-evident truth is utterly excluded. You might say Hemingway spoke for the postmodernists when he wrote of the dying writer in his story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" that it "was not so much that he lied as that there was no truth to tell." Since they are not interested in the truth and have no truth to tell, America's tenured radicals offer instead various grievance "studies" feminist studies, black studies, latino studies, queer studies, and so on. The focus of those grievances is America. American higher education was once dedicated to teaching young Americans to think like an American. Today, students are taught anti-Americanism. That is the explanation for all those fabulously privileged Americans, many of whom are graduates of America's most prestigious universities, demonstrating their violent rejection of the American way of life by rioting in the streets and attacking statues of Jefferson and Washington. They could not possibly make their anti-Americanism any clearer and, for the most part, they were taught their anti-Americanism in American schools and universities. Robert Curry serves on the Board of Directors of the Claremont Institute. He is the author of Reclaiming Common Sense: Finding Truth in a Post-Truth World and Common Sense Nation: Unlocking the Forgotten Power of the American Idea. Both are published by Encounter Books. There are two weeks left to go before Spains schools fully reopen after the coronavirus crisis forced their closure back in March, and the only thing that people in the Madrid region know is that no one knows anything. The Popular-Party-run government, which is in charge of the regional education system, has admitted that even at this late stage it is considering the four scenarios it announced at the end of June. The political opposition and the unions, meanwhile, have grown tired of asking questions and getting no replies. Anger is also growing among the sector of society that will be most affected by how the new school year begins: teachers, school principals and parents, who still have no idea how they will have to organize their daily lives from September onward. We have the feeling that they are taking us for a ride, that this is not being dealt with seriously nor with rigor Maria Carmen Morillas, from the FAPA Francisco Giner de los Rios parents association The sensation of chaos is tremendous, says Maria Carmen Morillas, from the FAPA Francisco Giner de los Rios parents association. And thats no surprise. A total of 1.5 million school students in the region are preparing their school bags with no idea as to whether they will actually get back in the classroom. They are playing with our health and education, Morillas adds. We have the feeling that they are taking us for a ride, that this is not being dealt with seriously nor with rigor. The leftist opposition groups the Socialist Party (PSOE), Unidas Podemos and Mas Madrid all claim that the only strategy being employed by the regional administration is to blame the [central] government for everything, and that they are failing to come up with a plan. These parties all say they fear the worst for the upcoming year. The CCOO labor union has not ruled out calling a general strike for the teaching sector, or indeed resorting to the courts. We are not going to keep quiet, says Isabel Galvin, a CCOO representative. The situation is unacceptable. Sonia P. has a four-year-old daughter and still has no idea whether or not classes will restart at her public school in the Madrid municipality of Majadahonda. And, of course, she has no idea of the conditions: how many students, the safety measures, the number of hours the will be spent in class, and what will happen if a coronavirus case is detected at the school. She is also concerned about her parents, whose help and support she needs to organize her day-to-day life. Theyre healthy, but you know, theyre older and the last thing I want to do is contribute to them going over to the other side, she explains. I dont think that I will ask them to do pick-ups from the school this year, but, well, I dont know They say that they will, that theyre going to help me. But I dont want Sonias concerns are being echoed in WhatsApp groups all across the region. No one knows what is going to happen in the capital city, as well as satellite towns such as Parla, Coslada, Getafe The initial uncertainty has turned into anger. In general, parents want their children back in the classroom, but in the right conditions. The president of the FAPA Francisco Giner de los Rios parents association says the same thing. What you learn there you dont learn at home, and whats more, in the classroom you avoid inequality of opportunities. Sonia adds that her professional life depends on the regional governments plans. She works in a dental surgery, and while her boss is sympathetic to her situation, and that of her colleagues with school-age children, she needs to get organized. Hes going to ask us to have a number of options up our sleeves, but Im not sure what kind of options Im going to have, she explains. Either I stay at home or I go to work. Theres no other choice, because I cant pay someone to stay with my little girl. As the pandemic has progressed, neither parents nor teachers believe that the school year can begin in these circumstances At the beginning of July, Madrids education chief Enrique Ossorio was counting on the first of the four scenarios being possible. The idea was for the youngest students to stay in the bubble of their classes, with 25 students to a class (the same number prior to the pandemic). They would not have to wear masks given their young age (children as young as two will be starting school this September), and they would not come into contact with other classes. Older students would have to wear masks when social distancing is not possible and some classes would be given online. But as the pandemic has progressed, neither parents nor teachers believe that the school year can begin in these circumstances. Whats more, the education chief warned that under this plan there would be no new teachers hired, nor would the ratios of classes be reduced. They are waging a war of nerves, says Esteban Alvarez, the president of the Adimad association of public school principals in Madrid. He believes that the only way the new term can begin is with investment and good organization i.e. that the regional government starts to spend the extra 260 million it has already received from the state for education. The amount is, however, far from the 421 to 981 million that CCOO estimated at the start of the summer would be needed to deal with the pandemic. So far no teachers have been hired, explains Alvarez. And we need a contingency plan. Its an outrage that school principals are having to create a plan with the health measures. That should be done by medical experts. The opposition agrees with the complaints. Its intolerable and unacceptable for them not to have announced anything yet, says Maria Pastor from Mas Madrid, adding that the most sensible approach would be to opt for the second scenario, which involves classes of 20 for the youngest students, no canteen or recesses in the schoolyard, flexible timetables and the reduction by between a third and a half of the weekly class time for older students. I believe that in the end they will put this scenario into place but then they wont have the capacity to look for staff or new spaces, adds Tito Moreno, from Unidas Podemos. Time has run out for them, says Marta Bernardo from the PSOE. Teachers, parents and unions fear that due to a lack of foresight, a third scenario will materialize: a complete lockdown, as was the case in March When Ossorio announced this possible scenario a promise was made to hire 3,500 new members of staff, between teachers and administrative staff. But principals and unions estimate that around 11,000 hires would be necessary, as well as new spaces for classrooms, such as municipal buildings. Local councils in Parla, Coslada and Alcala de Henares have offered their assistance to the regional administration, but have received no response. The regional government has said that it is studying the experience of other countries, and that it wants to wait until the conclusions reached at the next meeting of regional premiers, which is due to take place at the end of August. The regional premier of Madrid, Isabel Diaz-Ayuso, has voiced her opinion that the central government should lead the process, rather than letting each region come up with its own approach. Meanwhile, teachers, parents and unions fear that due to a lack of foresight, a third scenario will materialize: a complete lockdown, as was the case in March. The fourth scenario, they point out, was like a bad joke. It involved everyone returning to class as they did a year ago, as if the pandemic had never happened. But that joke, at this late stage, is not remotely funny for anyone. Unions announce strike to coincide with the return to school in Madrid Given the lack of plans from the Madrid regional government, and as such, no guarantee of a safe return to school for teachers and students given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the CCOO, UGT, CGT and STEM unions on Wednesday called strikes for the first days of the upcoming term in Madrid, and are not ruling out an indefinite stoppage. They hope, however, that a deal can be reached before then. The demands of the unions include smaller classes, more teaching staff, the strengthening of cleaning services and new employees in the areas of administration and social integration. There needs to be a reversal of privatization policies in the Madrid education system and the diversion of public money into private hands needs to stop, the four unions explained in a press release. English version by Simon Hunter. A Converse firefighter has died after battling COVID-19, officials announced Wednesday. Fire Captain Bryant Anderson, a 16-year veteran of the Converse Fire Department, died Tuesday. "Our department is hurting from this news and this loss is devastating," said Chief Luis Valdez in a statement. ALSO READ: Nirenberg slams San Antonio bar after videos emerge of packed crowds of maskless patrons "Losing Bryant has left a hole in our hearts that will be felt for years to come. We are better for having known and served with him and ask for prayers for his wife, Rosie, and their family during this difficult time." Anderson was described as a "selfless leader" known for volunteering for additional tasks and encouraging his fellow firefighters to improve themselves through education and training. Converse Mayor Al Suarez said the city, located outside the Northeast Side of San Antonio, will lower all flags to half-staff until the burial. The fire department and Anderson's family are planning a memorial service to honor the fallen firefighter. MIT Press, SpringerNature, and Cambridge University Press join the C19 Rapid Review Initiative endorsed by RoRI, SSRN, and AfricArxiv and OASPA, making it one of the largest cross-publisher collaborations in the scholarly publishing industry In response to the current pandemic and in order to increase the efficiency of peer review and publication process of crucial COVID-19 research, Hindawi, the Royal Society, PLOS and PeerJ came together to create a reviewer pool and implement portable review. This collaboration quickly evolved into the C19 Rapid Review Initiative - a large-scale collaboration among publishers and organizations across the scholarly publishing industry. The initiative calls for volunteer reviewers to commit to rapid reviewing times and to pre-agree that their reviews and identity can be shared among publishers and journals, if submissions get rerouted to different publication venues. For more information please read the formal Letter of Intent. The initiative has received a positive response with nearly 2k reviewers signing up as rapid reviewers from more than 80 countries. In addition, the C19 Rapid Review is now endorsed by SSRN, AfricArxiv and Research on Research Institute (RoRI). RoRI will be driving forward the initiative's reporting and analytics working group and using the C19RR group as a case study for their wider research on research projects. Recently, UCL Press, Springer Nature, MIT Press, and Cambridge University Press joined the collaboration with a number of their titles, increasing the original group of nine publishers and organizations to 20 and establishing the C19 Rapid Review Initiative as one of the largest cross-publisher collaborations within the scholarly publishing industry. For more information on participating organizations and journal titles click here. Chief Publishing Officer at Hindawi Sarah Greaves who has been leading the initiative alongside Phil Hurst of the Royal Society, Joerg Heber of PLOS, and Peter Binfield of Peer J, commented: "We are amazed by the commitment to the group and welcome all our new members and endorsers. What started as a discussion among colleagues about how to deal with a challenging situation has evolved into one of the largest ever collaborations in the industry demonstrating in a profound way the power of community. We hope that this collaboration will become the norm post-pandemic providing us with the opportunity to focus on other areas of research that also deserve our attention. We also welcome more publishers and endorsers, particularly those in the social sciences space, to get in touch if they are interested in joining. As we enter the next phase of the initiative we will be announcing more from our reporting, preprint and data sharing working groups in the coming weeks." RoRI's contribution to the initiative is coordinated by Stephen Pinfield at University of Sheffield and Ludo Waltman at Leiden University. Waltman added: "It's great to see that so many scholarly publishers are joining forces to facilitate rapid peer review of COVID-19 research. This is a crucial initiative that is likely to set a standard for more intensive long-term collaboration between publishers. At RoRI we hope to contribute by carefully studying the benefits and challenges of cross-publisher collaborative initiatives." Arianne Heinrichs, Editorial Director at Springer Nature commented: "The need for fast and continued access to high quality research and learning has never been more important. We recognise our role in this goal both as a publisher and as a collaborator, ensuring that we are working with global organisations, to make all relevant research, and data, immediately available as quickly as possible. As such, we are very proud to be part of C19 Rapid Review with several journals of the BMC imprint, BMC Medicine and Genome Medicine. Without high quality peer review, and a pool of expert peer reviewers willing to undertake this, the publication of critical research cannot happen. We share the goals of the C19 Rapid Review initiative in making high quality research accessible as quickly as possible, and view these goals as an essential part in driving forward research that will continue to inform the global response to COVID-19." "Broadly coordinated, rapid and community driven peer review is essential for a thorough and timely quality assurance of the works submitted by scientists from around the world for us as a global community to learn with each other and to be able to identify effective and adequate and region-specific ways to mitigate the effects of the pandemic", says Joy Owango, director at TCC Africa and member of the AfricArXiv advisory board. ### Notes to Editors: About Hindawi Ltd Hindawi Limited is one of the world's largest open access publishers with an expansive portfolio of academic research journals across all areas of science and medicine. Each peer-reviewed journal has been developed in partnership with academic researchers, acting as editors, to fit the targeted communities they serve. Driven by a mission to advance openness in research and placing the researcher at the heart of everything we do, we work with publishers, institutions, and organizations to move towards a more open scholarly ecosystem by investing in the development of open source publishing infrastructure. For additional information about Hindawi Limited, see hindawi.com. To keep up to date with the latest developments, connect with us on Twitter. Media contact Fani Kelesidou, Brand Marketing Manager, Hindawi Limited +44 (0)20 3146 9300 fani.kelesidou@hindawi.com Lost Hearts (Pusong Ligaw) is a Filipino soap opera with an exciting plot that will make you fall in love with it, right from the beginning. It revolves around love, kindness, and wealth. The cast of the telenovela is also another aspect that makes it interesting to watch. Image: instagram.com, @ktnhome Source: Instagram Lost Hearts popularly known as Pusong Ligaw is a Filipino telenovela. It first premiered on ABS-CBN between April 2017 and January 2018. It has since aired on several television networks, especially in Africa. For instance, it is currently airing on KTN Home. Overall, it revolves around the story of two female friends who vow to pursue their childhood dreams. Their bond is tested when a man enters their lives, making them enemies. Later, their paths cross through their kids. Lost Hearts television series on KTN Home How many episodes does Lost Hearts have? How much can you tell about the cast of the TV series? What will eventually happen to your favourite characters in the finale? One may ask. There is more one should know before they start watching it. Lost Hearts full story Pusong Ligaw is an exciting story about two friends who grew up together. Their friendship is tested when a man enters their lives, making them the best of enemies. This Lost Hearts summary may come in handy if you wish to know what will eventually happen to them. The story begins with two young girls, Teri and Maga. They have troubled childhood experiences because they come from underprivileged families. Just like any other normal growing kid, Teri and Maga have ambitions they would love to achieve when they became of age. Terri/Tessa aspires to become a renowned fashioner designer while Marga dreams of becoming a fashion model. In their quest to achieve their ambitions, a man named Caloy enters their lives. Caloy happens to have a history with Marga. Marga decides to keep her past with Caloy a secret from her long-time friend Terri. Contrary to her expectations, he falls in love with Terri. The two become friends, and later they start dating. However, this does not go well with Marga, who is now determined to win him back. Caloy is aware of Tesas ambitions. She once told him about Jaime Laurel, who is mentoring him to achieve her dreams. Jaime is an influential and rich lad in town who runs the biggest fashion corporation, operating in Asia and America. Jealousy, heartbreaks, and triumphs Despite loving her, Caloy does not approve of Tessas decision to choose Jaime as her mentor. So, he starts becoming suspicious and jealous of her. Marga, on the other, hand takes advantage of Caloys jealousy to poison his mind. One day, Jaime invites Tesa to one of his fashion events. She honours his invitation and proceeds, leaving Caloy behind. Caloy gets drunk and proceeds home. Later, he is joined by Marga, who the end up spending the night together. Sadly, Tessa comes in the morning, finding them in a compromised position. Tessa is heartbroken, and so, she decides to head back to her parents house in the province. A few days later, she discovers she is pregnant of Caloys son. Instead of going back to him, she makes her journey to Manila. READ ALSO: Blood & Water Netflix cast real names and photos, episodes, full story While in Manila she finds a seamstress job in Divisoria. Once more, Tessas life becomes a living hell when her son is kidnapped. The incident affects her life adversely to the extent she forgets her ambition. It is at this point that Jaime comes to her rescue. Jaime accommodates her in his house. A few years later, they become couples. They agree to adopt a son whom they name Rafa. However, the search for her son does not stop. On the other hand, Caloy went back to school later graduating an engineering degree. He secured a job in a shipping company. After some years, he returned to the Philippines as a rich man. He used some of his money to build a lavish home and taking care of street kids. Reunion, obsession, and bitterness Image: twitter.com, @MyCHOSdotcom Source: Twitter Marga, who is now the CEO of the biggest talent agency in the country, comes across Caloy. At first, they become friends. Later, their friendship results in marriage. They give birth to a lovely girl whose name is Vida. When she becomes of age, Vida develop a taste in fashion. To the surprise of her mother, Vida intends to be precisely like Terri, who now owns the House of Tessa. Vida gets in trouble with her mother all the time because he hates Tessa. A few years later, destiny brings Tessa and Potpot together. It is revealed through a DNA test that Potpot is Tessas and Coloys son. Affected by the old friend's dark past, Jaime becomes a dangerous man; he begins by killing Rafa. Further, he blames Potpot for a crime he did not commit. Later, it is discovered that he is the mastermind behind other several schemes against Tessa and Marga. How does Lost Hearts end? In the finale, Marga dies while attempting to save Tessa from Jaime. Marga takes an extra bullet that is meant to kill Tessa, who is lying down helplessly. No doubt, she paid the higher price, especially for continuously messing with Tessas life. Jaime's gunshot wounds heal, and he is transferred into a mental facility. Also, Leon is imprisoned for life. On the other hand, Tessa honours Marga by showcasing her designer dress. She renames the fashion couture house to the House of Tessa. Lost Heart episodes Pusong Ligaw has 188 episodes only 128 episodes in season one and 60 episodes in season two. At least, each episode is more than 45 minutes long. Similar to many Filipino soap operas, the original version airs in the Filipino language. However, fans should not be worried because there is an alternative the English version, of course. For instance, all the episodes running on KTN Home are in the English language. It is also a good thing for people who cannot keep with subtitles. Besides, it is a daunting task for many viewers. This is so especially for those who cannot multitask; reading the subtitles and watching the pictures on the screen, at the same time. Lost Heart cast The creators of the telenovela, undoubtedly, did a fantastic job when selecting the cast. In turn, the success of the TV series can be attributed to the cast, to some extent. Also, most of them are not new in the scene because they have appeared in other several notable series. The main cast entails seven actors and actresses. All of them are extraordinarily talented, and they have substantial experience in the field of acting. They are as follows: Beauty Gonzalez Teri/Tessa Beauty Gonzalez is a 29-year-old actress from Dumaguete City in the Philippines. In the series, she features as the wife of Jaime and mother to Rafael. She is among the characters who significantly contribute to the development of the plot. The Spanish-Filipino actress has also starred in other notable telenovelas such as Deam Dad (2014 - 2015), Moon of Desire, Kadenang Ginto (2018) among many others. READ ALSO: Te Doy La Vida cast and characters, episodes, full story Bianca King Marga Image: instagram.com, @bianca_king Source: Instagram Bianca is a 35-year-old actress, who doubles up as a television host, model, and music video director. The series revolves around her life and that of Teri, her childhood friend. Marga is the mother of Vida and a wife to Caloy in Lost Heart. She has also made magical appearances in the following TV series Sinner or Saint (2012), Broken Vow (2012), Obsession (2014), and Halik, which is popularly known as Betrayal (2018 - 2019) among many others. Joseph Emmanuel Bascon Caloy Image: instagram.com, @j0emanics Source: Instagram He is a 33-year old actor popularly known by his stage name, Joem Bascon. In Lost Hearts, Caloy is the husband and father of Marga and Vida, respectively. His relationship with Teri results in the birth of Rafael (Potpot). His other famous TV appearances include The Legal Wife (2014), Noah (2010 - 2011), Walang Kapalit (2007), I Love Betty La Fea (2008 - 2010), and Starla (2019 - 2020) among many others. Raymond Bagatsing Jaime Image: instagram.com, @raymondbagatsing Source: Instagram His full name is Ramon "Raymond" San Diego Bagatsing III. Apart from acting, he is also into modelling. Jaime is the lucky man who finally wins the heart of Teri after he is heartbroken by Caloy. The 52-year-old has also starred in the following movies and telenovelas: One True Love (2012), Araw Gabi (2018), Amaya (2011 - 2012), Temptation of Wife (2012 - 2013), and The Good Daughter (2012). Diego Loyzaga Potpot/Rafael Diego Loyzaga is an actor who doubles up as a model and video jockey. In the telenovela, he is the son of Teri who is kidnapped when young. Together with Vida and Rafa, Potpot helps Marga and Teri to reunite. Diego was also a cast in the following TV series Los Bastardos (2018 -2019), Growing Up (2011 - 2012), Pangako Sa 'Yo (2015 - 2016), Mara Clara (2010 - 2011). Sofia Andres Vida Image: instagram.com, @amsofiaandres Source: Instagram Sofia Andres is a young commercial actress and model from Manila, Philippines. Who is Vida in Pusong Ligaw? She is the daughter of Marga. Contrary to her mothers expectations, she aspires to be like Teri, who is a fashion designer. Often she gets in trouble with her mother. She was also a cast member in Forevermore (2014 - 2015) and Princes and I (2012- 2013). Enzo Pineda Rafa Image: instagram.com, @its_enzopineda Source: Instagram His birth name is Enrico Lorenzo Macam Pineda. At the time of writing, he is 30 years old. Rafa is the son adopted by Teri and Jami. They name him Rafa, a short form of Teris son (Rafael) who is kidnapped when he is young. The talented actor has also appeared in several other Filipino TV series. Some of them include The Ghost Bride (2017), Time & Again, My Faithful Husband (2015), Diva (2010), and Because of You (2015 - 2016) among many others. Lost Heart supporting and guest cast Apart from the main cast, there are other several actors and actresses who made the show a success. They include: Nico Gomez as Nikko Albie Casino as Leon M. Laurel Carla Humphries as Lauren Carla Guevarra as Amparo Almira Muhlach as Didith Policarpio Atoy Co as Danilo "Danny" Magbanua Helga Krapf as Patrice Loren Burgos as Ximena Vergara Shalala Reyes as Asiong "Tita Asya" Salonga Smokey Manaloto as Melchor Policarpio Beverly Salviejo as Guadalupe "Guada" Epifania Vangie Labalan as Gabriella "Lolay" Policarpio Maureen Mauricio as Rowena Magbanua Teresa Loyzaga as Olivia Montero Zyren Leigh Luansing as young Leon Rhed Bustamante as Melanie "Melai" Policarpio Ysabel Ortega as Charlotte "Charlie" Quinones Maricar de Mesa as Amanda Yulo Alma Moreno as Alma Morena Troy Montero as Chris Ruiz Indeed, Lost Hearts is an exciting television series with a compelling storyline. It revolves around friendship, love, and ambitions. Also, its cast comprises of extraordinarily talented and experienced performers. READ ALSO: Best Telegram channels for movies and TV series 2020 Tuko.co.ke on Thursday highlighted the best Telegram channels for movies and TV series. The channels update their subscribers about the latest productions, ranging from comedy, documentaries, action, and sci-fi to horror. In the list are Netflix and Amazon Prime telegram channels. Also, the movies and series are available in High Definition quality. So, fans should not be worried anymore. READ ALSO: Nazar Switch TV: full story, episodes, cast real names and photos Source: TUKO.co.ke A little-known investigative unit inside search giant Google regularly forwarded detailed personal information on the companys users to members of a counter-terrorist fusion center in Californias Bay Area, according to leaked documents reviewed by the Guardian. But checking the documents against Googles platforms reveals that in some cases Google did not necessarily ban the users they reported to the authorities, and some still have accounts on YouTube, Gmail and other services. The users were often threatening violence or otherwise expressing extremist views, often associated with the far right. The documents come from the so-called Blueleaks trove, which hackers acquired from the servers of a hosting company in Texas which had been used by several law enforcement agencies. It contains hundreds of thousands of documents from more than 200 agencies, dated between 1996 and June 2020. The leak has been authenticated by cybersecurity experts. The Google documents containing subscriber information are signed by the companys CyberCrime Investigation Group (CIG). CIG has been mentioned in coverage of criminal proceedings based on their reports, but its raw output to law enforcement agencies has never been exposed to public view. In the Blueleaks trove, the documents are associated with the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, part of a nationwide network of fusion centers, which were created after 9/11 to facilitate information sharing between state, federal, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. Met Eireann could issue a rare Red Warning for Storm Ellen later. The south, south east and south midlands will get the brunt of the strong winds the Irish Weather Channel said winds may reach between 130-150 km/h after midnight across Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Dublin. Met Eireann has already issued an Orange Warning for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford - but this may be upgraded to Red later. Kildare and the rest of the country is under a Yellow Warning. A Red Warning is usually issued for severe weather events like Storm Emma and the Beast from the East which blanked the country in snow in February/March 2018 and Storm Ophelia in 2017 which was the worst Atlantic storm in 50 years. According to Met Eireann's website, a Status Red Severe Weather Warning is rarely issued but when it is, people in the areas expected to be affected should take action to protect themselves and/or their properties. Cathal Nolan of Irish Weather Channel said: "Violent winds are expected to make landfall on the south coast around midnight tonight before transferring countrywide for a time before easing during tomorrow morning. The strongest winds associated with Storm Ellen will affect Cork, Waterford and Wexford where winds near coastal areas could well gust up to 185 km/h. Cathal added: "Further inland across counties Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Dublin winds may reach between 130-150 km/h for a time. Across the rest of the country winds will generally reach between 100-110 km/h. Such violent winds are likely to have significant consequences." People camping or caravanning along the south or southwest coast must be vigilant. Met Eireann said Storm Ellen will track over Ireland on Wednesday night and during Thursday bringing a period of severe and potentially damaging winds. It added that associated heavy rain will also bring a risk of flooding. Due to the combination of storm surge, spring tides and onshore winds there is a potential risk of coastal flooding. A Status Yellow Wind Warning for Kildare and the rest of Ireland is in place from 9pm tonight for all day tomorrow. Met Eireann said: "Due to the combination of storm surge, spring tides and onshore winds there is a potential risk of coastal flooding." Prof Peter O'Donnell of Irish Weather Online said: "The most reliable guidance suggests a direct hit on the south coast with the centre moving north through the midlands into Ulster. "This means that all regions have some chance of seeing strong winds of 70 to 120 km/hr (with a slight risk of even higher gusts along some coasts). The eastern half of the country is more likely to get southeast to southwest winds, while the western half is more likely to see west to northwest winds..." Well you can feel the beat from the tambourine Abba's Dancing Queen has been voted the best ever song to dance to. The Swedish group heads a list of the 20 greatest dance floor-fillers of all time, with the 1976 track winning 36 per cent of the vote, beating Beyonce, Queen and Taylor Swift. The classic topped charts worldwide and provided Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad with their only US number one single. ABBA's Dancing Queen has been voted the best ever song to dance to (band pictured on tour in 1979) The Swedish group heads a list of the 20 greatest dance floor-fillers of all time, with the 1976 track winning 36 per cent of the vote, beating Beyonce, Queen and Taylor Swift Formed in 1972, Abba kicked off a chart-topping career after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo before selling 400million singles and albums worldwide. They broke up in 1982 but Ulvaeus has said they will release five new songs next year. Come On Eileen, the 1982 hit by Dexys Midnight Runners, came second on the list of favourite dance tunes, with 1983's It's Raining Men by the Weather Girls in third. Pharrell Williams's 2013 smash, Happy, was the only modern-day hit to make the top five. US superstar Beyonce made it into the top ten at No 8 with Grammy award-winning 2003 hit Crazy In Love, while Miss Swift's catchy Shake It Off from 2014 scraped into the top 20 at 19. US superstar Beyonce made it into the top ten at No 8 with Grammy award-winning 2003 hit Crazy In Love. Marvin Gaye also claimed a place in the top chart as he came in at number 13 with Ain't No Mountain High Enough Pharrell Williams's 2013 smash, Happy, was the only modern-day hit to make the top five (pictured last year) The study commissioned to mark the return of the Virgin Media V Festival on August 21 also found that a third of Britons say they have two left feet when dancing. Virgin Medias V Festival 2020 will air on ITV2 on August 21, featuring brand new sets from headliners Anne Marie, Olly Murs and Dizzee Rascal, at the festivals Chelmsford site. Coverage will also include highlights from previous years. The festival will be broadcast on ITV2 from its Chelmsford site. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:25:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TAIYUAN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 2,400 photographers from 18 countries and regions are expected to gather at Pingyao, one of China's most well-preserved ancient towns, in the northern province of Shanxi. The photographers will attend the 20th Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP) from Sept. 19 to 25, which will see over 14,000 artworks from around the world, the organizing committee said. Advocating diversity, internationalism and professionalism, the annual PIP festival, launched in 2001, is considered an important stage for international photographers to display their talent. Enditem JBRC celebrates the grand opening of its new Residential Treatment Facility in Mays Landing. This is a historic moment for John Brooks Recovery Center as we reflect on the progress that we have made over the last 50 years and focus on a hopeful future of helping even more individuals overcome substance use disorders, said Santillo. John Brooks Recovery Center hosted a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to formally unveil its new state-of-the-art Residential Treatment Facility located at 1455 Pinewood Boulevard in Mays Landing on August 13. The new $15M facility features 48 short-term beds, 48 long-term beds and 24 detox beds. The ceremony highlighted a host of guest speakers followed by a formal ribbon cutting and facility tours. Among those in attendance were Michael Santillo, CEO of JBRC; Harriet Weintrob, JBRC Board President; Alan Oberman, Retired JBRC CEO; Carole Johnson, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS); John Armato, Assemblyman; Mark Hopkins, Executive Director of New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority (NJHCFFA); Matthew J. Doherty, Executive Director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), and Eric Scheffler, Atlantic County Sheriff. This is a historic moment for John Brooks Recovery Center as we reflect on the progress that we have made over the last 50 years and focus on a hopeful future of helping even more individuals overcome substance use disorders, said Santillo. Our journey started in 1969 when John Brooks, an Atlantic City resident, former heroin addict and ex-con came to the realization that if he stopped using heroin, hed stop going to prison. Shortly thereafter, he was inspired to start a small storefront outpatient program dedicated to helping individuals with substance use disorders. Originally called Narco, Inc., which later became the Institute for Human Development and eventually John Brooks Recovery Center, the nonprofit has since grown exponentially. We now provide outpatient, intensive outpatient and opioid treatment with all three approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder, 120 long-term residential beds, a jail program providing medication-assisted treatment counseling and we have expanded that program to include recovery support services and care coordination both in the jail and when people leave the jail, Santillo said. We also have two recovery community centers providing a full array of recovery support services, a recovery housing program and a primary care clinic, in total serving as many as 1,200 individuals. JBRCs new residential treatment facility will expand its current continuum of care allowing the organization to serve even more people. This facility will allow us to further our mission to provide the highest quality, evidence-based treatment in state-of-the-art facilities through a recovery-oriented care model, integrating primary care, behavioral health and recovery support services, Santillo said. Harriet Weintrob, JBRC Board President, has been connected to the agency for the last 40 years. I can tell you treatment works, she said. I have met so many people who have gone through the program and it is just so rewarding. I know John [Brooks] is looking down in utter amazement and he would be so delighted to see just how far we have come. Alan Oberman, former JBRC CEO, remained project manager for this new residential facility following his retirement in February. When I came here in 2004, there were literally broken, boarded up windows in our buildings located in Atlantic City. I knew that the future of this agency was not in those buildings. Our principal idea was that people, regardless of their financial needs who were struggling to achieve recovery, should be in nice places. And I dont want to feel embarrassed if I had to send a family member there. And, by a miracle, we are here. Among the countless supporters mentioned, JBRC paid special tribute to its staff, as well as former Governor Chris Christie, current Governor Phil Murphy, former State Senator Jim Whelan, NJHFFA, CRDA, TD Bank, KDA Architects and McDonald Building Company. These were the people who were always behind me and never gave up, said Oberman said. Building this place was a team effort. This has been an unbelievable opportunity I have been given and I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish here. Commissioner Johnson, a longtime advocate of JBRC, expressed that the opening of this facility is a testament to what the leadership of John Brooks really sees as the dignity and respect for the individuals it serves. It is terrific to see the work we have done with John Brooks and the county in building models for medication-assisted treatment for the justice involved population, she said. The model built here [at John Brooks] in Atlantic County is something that we then went to the governor and worked with the legislature for additional funding for to mirror in towns across the state. Although it is unique to have a law enforcement officer at a treatment center, Sheriff Scheffler said it fills him with joy to partner with JBRC. This is a beautiful facility and we are going to fill it up because my goal is to put 1,000 people into treatment off the streets in Atlantic County and we are definitely going to be a strong partner. During the ceremony, Assemblyman Armato presented JBRC with a proclamation from the NJ General Assembly in tribute to the nonprofits notorious efforts of its leaders and staff and extends sincere best wishes for continued success in all the years to come. It started as a facility in 1969 and has grown into a model for the state and the country. It took a lot to get here, Santillo said. And we are grateful to all those who came forward to provide us with funding to make this facility possible. Mark Hopkins, Executive Director of the NJHCFFA, added, to create a residential addiction facility for people who have too long been marginalized for the disease all too common is really heartwarming. For over 50 years, JBRC has quietly and selflessly given hope to the hopeless and saved thousands upon thousands of New Jersey lives as well as improved the quality of life to those who have received their services. To learn more about John Brooks Recovery Center, call 609-345-2020. About John Brooks Recovery Center Founded in 1969, John Brooks Recovery Center provides quality, individualized treatment services to help individuals overcome substance use disorders. Programs include: Residential, Outpatient, Medication Assisted Recovery and Inmate Re-entry. To learn more, visit jbrcnj.org or call 609-345-2020. JBRC Unveils New state-of-the-art Residential Treatment Facility The exercise was also simultaneously held in the occupied Crimea. Russia has employed the An-26, Su-25 and Il-76 military aircraft in the latest drills, landing planes at an abandoned airfield just 30 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The planes were landing at the mothballed Pogorelovo aerodrome in Rostov region, according to the Ukrainian Military Portal. Read alsoRussia's FSB plane reportedly lands in Minsk mediaPreviously, the military carried out preparation works at the site, fixing taxiways, parking spots for planes and helicopters, depots for weapons and ammunition, as well as maintenance and repair workshops," the report says. Military drills in Russia According to the Russian website 1rnd.ru, the planes were deployed as part of military drills, simultaneously held at 25 training grounds, including in Russian-occupied Crimea. Another Russian website, vesti.ru, reports that 27,000 military personnel and 6,000 pieces of hardware are taking part in the exercises. Background Read alsoUkraine's FM urges to step up pressure on Kremlin over militarization, human rights violations in CrimeaIn July, Russian military held exercises in the occupied Crimea. In September 2019, Russia, together with Belarus, held the Union Shield 2019 military drills, which involved 230 tanks, 240 artillery systems, 190 multiple launch rocket systems, and up to 70 military aircraft and combat helicopters. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:54:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Preliminary reports confirmed that four persons including military personnel were injured in a bomb blast that struck a military vehicle in Pul-e-Khumri city, the capital of northern Baghlan province on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Jawed Basharat said. The blast took place around 11:00 a.m. local time in front of a school when a military van was crossing the road, leaving four persons including military personnel injured, Basharat added. In the meantime, Mohibullah Habib, the head of provincial hospital in Pul-e-Khumri city told Xinhua that two bodies and 11 injured persons including some in uniform had been taken to the hospital. However, some eyewitnesses on the condition of anonymity said that the blast targeted a vehicle of National Directorate of Security or the country's counter-intelligence agency, killing two on the spot and wounding six others. Earlier in the morning in rush hours, two blasts claimed the lives of two people including a police and wounding two others in Kabul city. Enditem The men involved in a callous attack on a helpless pensioner tried to spray paint into another victim's eyes during a violent crime spree on Sunday night. Emilio Lombardi, 84, is fighting for life in hospital after being beaten to a pulp by two young men outside his home in Cannington, in Perth's southern suburbs. The offenders didn't stop after laying into Mr Lombardi, attacking his neighbour only moments later at a nearby intersection. Acting Detective Sergeant Alexandra Hill said a weapon was used in the 'cowardly, disgusting and appalling act' The neighbour described the attack as 'terrifying'. 'They came out of nowhere. I was kicked and punched,' he told Nine News. 'One of them tried to spray paint into my eye.' CCTV footage from a nearby property shows two shadowy figures walking through a backyard on Sunday evening. Meanwhile police conducted forensic testing at a property about two kilometres away in an attempt to find DNA evidence which could help solve the case. Police believe two white men aged between 25 and 30 were responsible for the violent crime spree. Police believe two caucasian men aged between 25 and 30 were responsible for the violent crime spree CCTV footage from a nearby property shows two shadowing figures walking through a backyard on Sunday evening There were at least five other reports of damage and disturbance on the night of the man's assault. They were reported on Derisleigh Street, Henry Street, Burge Way, Railway Parade and Central Terrace between 6pm and 8pm. Meanwhile the vicious assault has garnered so much attention Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan flagged the issue in parliament. 'Attacking an 84-year-old man is a shocking and appalling thing for anyone to do, and the police are looking to deal with that matter as quickly as they possibly can,' Mr McGowan said. Disturbing pictures taken after the attack show the elderly man with a broken nose, black eye, numerous deep cuts and blood spattered all over his shirt, pants and hands. Meanwhile police conducted forensic testing at a property about two kilometres away in an attempt to find DNA evidence which could help solve the case Emilio Lombardi, 84, was assaulted outside his home in Cannington in Perth on Sunday suffering gruesome injuries (pictured) Mr Lombardi left his home on on Henry Street East at about 7pm to investigate a disturbance happening outside his property when he was assaulted Mr Lombardi's neighbour described the gruesome scenes he was faced with after hearing the commotion outside. 'I went to see what's going on and there was all blood along the front of the patio,' one neighbour told 7News. 'I looked inside and there's blood and guts inside the house. 'He's just a hell of a nice guy, grows veggies out the back, brings them over to us, just one hell of a guy.' Acting Detective Sergeant Alexandra Hill said a weapon was used in the 'cowardly, disgusting and appalling act'. 'This is an 84-year-old man who's lived in this suburb for 40 years ... and been brutally assaulted in his front yard,' she told a press conference. 'They are horrific, horrific injuries that this man has sustained to his face. People should be able to feel safe in their own homes.' Mr Lombardi's neighbour (pictured) described him as 'just a hell of a nice guy' Det-Sgt Hill said Mr Lombardi's family were 'shaken up' by the brutal assault. 'They are devastated ... It's been a very long week for them,' she said. Mr Lombardi was found by police before being taken to Royal Perth Hospital by ambulance ahead of surgery in intensive care. Det Sgt Hill said there appeared to be no motive behind the brutal bashing. The victim's ute, which was left with a smashed window and bloodstains, is being used in the police investigation. (CNN) September 11 might be associated with tragedy in US aviation history, but it's an auspicious day on Bali's Hindu calendar. That's why, come 9/11, authorities on this Indonesian island hope to see the return of some of the millions of international visitors who usually flock to its beaches, temples, rice fields and yoga studios. This would allow long-shuttered hotels to reopen while providing desperately needed income for tourism workers some of whom have earned nothing since February. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, Bali's vice-governor and former chair of the island's hotel and restaurant association, tells CNN Travel the date remains tentative, but reopening is critical to the island's economy. "The Covid-19 pandemic is the most devastating disaster for Bali tourism," he says. "It is much worse than the Bali bombings, both the first and the second, and worse than all the Mount Agung eruptions combined." Hotel arrivals in July were down over 99% year on year, Sukawati noted, while the island is missing out on around 9.7 trillion rupiah (over $650 million) of income every month. Tens of thousands of local workers have been officially furloughed, generally without pay. Thousands have lost formal jobs, and many workers in Bali's large informal tourist economy are desperate. While some Balinese are able to return to their family orchards, rice fields or fishing boats and contemplate rebalancing the economy towards the traditional way of life that sustained the island for centuries, other islanders have, quite literally, nowhere to go. Playing the numbers game September 11 might be just a few weeks away, but before international tourists can return in significant numbers, a tricky game of health diplomacy awaits. Few travelers are willing to brave two weeks of quarantine whether at the beginning or end of their trip for a short vacation. Meanwhile, most travel and medical insurers will not cover visitors to destinations their government recommends avoiding. And then there's the fact Australian resident nationals historically one of Bali's largest tourist markets can only leave the country with a permit indicating an urgent need to travel, and that excludes vacations. Internationally, skepticism surrounds Indonesia's management of Covid-19. Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto spent much of the early phase of the pandemic hymning the power of prayer; Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo drew mockery after touting a eucalyptus necklace as a miracle cure; while President Joko Widodo (universally known as Jokowi) has admitted to repressing information to avoid panic. National figures show cases rising at around 2,000 per day as of August 18, among a population of over 270 million. But both cases and deaths across Indonesia are likely significantly under-reported say experts. For example, suspected cases who die before receiving a positive test result do not make the official mortality lists. "I think we can be certain that the numbers are an underestimate," says Panji Hadisoemarto, an epidemiologist at Indonesia's Padjadjaran University. "We're not testing enough people and we know for sure that quite a lot of asymptomatic cases or cases with very mild symptoms may go undetected." He notes that, nationally, almost 13% of tests return a positive result, more than double the World Health Organization's recommended minimum of 5% and more than 30 times Australia's rate of 0.4%. Currently, Bali shows signs of successfully flattening its Covid curve, with under 50 new cases per day for its population of around four million. This is due in part to effective contact tracing at the village level, and isolation capacity in its Covid referral hospitals. Yet the impact of reopening to domestic tourists on July 31, including visitors from regions with much higher infection rates, has yet to appear. "We have seen from experience that reopening tourism destinations usually leads to an increase in the number of cases," says Hadisoemarto. "There's always a risk that tourists will bring in Covid-19 to Bali and be a source of transmission within Bali. I wouldn't be surprised if Bali saw an increase again." But Sukawati notes that many tourist destinations in Bali are in the open air, making social distancing easier, and that the private locations of villas and their generally open design also supports reduced transmission. Nonetheless attempts to establish travel corridors with nations such as Australia, South Korea, and China have yet to bear fruit, given their very different approaches to managing the pandemic. On a wing and a prayer The ultimate decision on when international visitors can return to Bali falls to the central government in Jakarta, which dictates when tourist visas (or the visa waiver on which many international visitors enter Bali) can be issued. The coordinating minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has suggested to local media that Indonesia will not open to tourists until at least the end of 2020. CNN Travel reached out to the Ministry of Tourism for comment before publishing. Whether Bali's reopening date is September 11, December 31, the summer of 2021 or some point in between formidable obstacles remain to be addressed. "Even if Bali is open for international tourism, then we're talking about international travel to Indonesia," says Hadisoemarto. "So it's a matter of international trust for reopening flight connections." Currently, Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport offers direct flights to just two international destinations: a patchy, often canceled service to Doha, in Qatar, and a handful of flights to Australia (which is closed for inbound and outbound tourism). Even purchasing a ticket provides absolutely no guarantee that a flight will depart as planned. Jakarta-based aviation expert Gerry Soejatman is skeptical about reported plans to open new, direct routes to France, India and the United States on national carrier Garuda, noting that Indonesia's flag carrier lacks the right type of aircraft for long-haul flights with low passenger numbers. "Ambitious aspirations are fine, but reality is a different thing altogether," he says. "In Asia, we've survived by being paranoid, so that's going to be a hurdle for tourism within the region." Soejatman estimates that it will take just one to three weeks to open up old pre-pandemic flight connections to Bali, but that negotiating and implementing a new international route could take up to three months in the current conditions. And until Indonesia demonstrates control over the pandemic, with case numbers in decline and testing levels that meet international standards, it seems few governments and airlines will be amenable. This story was first published on CNN.com "Bali plans to reopen to international tourists in September. A number of obstacles stand in its way" Harry Bernard Cross, or Ben Cross, was a popular English stage and film actor. He gained fame with his portrayal of the British athlete Harold Abrahams in the film, Chariots of Fire. The legendary actor passed away in Vienna on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. To honour the English actor's memory, here are some important facts about the actor that you must know: Also Read | Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston reunite for 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' virtual table Ben Cross' early life 1. Ben Cross was born in London: The actor was born in a working-class family. 2. Ben Cross' Parents: Ben Cross' mother was a cleaning lady and his father was a doorman and a nurse. 3. His ancestry: The actor was raised catholic and had an English and Irish ancestry. 4. Ben Cross' School: Ben Cross was an alumnus of Bishop Thomas Grant Comprehensive School, London, and later, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). 5. Ben Cross' childhood: The actor grew up in South London and also went to a school near his house. Also Read | Brad Pitts attorneys allege ex-wife Angelina Jolie is trying to delay custody case Ben Cross' career 1. His early jobs: Before Ben became an actor he took up many jobs -- as a window cleaner, and waiter. Most of his jobs were the ones that required manual labour. 2. Stage Performances: When Ben graduated from college he was seen in many stage dramas like Macbeth, The Importance of Being Earnest and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. 3. His first TV appearance: Ben Cross first appeared on TV when he was still in school. He was seen as a CI5 agent in an episode of The Professionals. 4. Awards: The actor won a total of 6 awards in his career. 2 of his awards were for his work in Star Trek and others were for his work in films. 5. Last Film: Ben Cross' last two films are yet to release and they are reportedly set to release in 2021. The films are The Devil's Light and Last Letter From Your Lover. Also Read | Forbes Celebrity 100: Meryl Streep to Brad Pitt; celebs who grew up in small cities Ben Cross' Personal Life 1. Cities the actor lived in: Reportedly Ben Cross lived in many cities in his life. A few of these cities are - London, Los Angeles, New York City, Vienna, and Sofia, Bulgaria. 2. Married Thrice: Ben Cross was married three times. His first wife was Penny, his second wife was Michelle and his third wife was Deyana. 3. Children: Ben Cross has two kids with his first wife. They are Theodore Cross and Lauren Cross. 4. Ben Cross became a Grandfather: The actor became a grandfather in 2014. 5. Death: Ben Cross died on 18 August 2020, at the age of 72 due to a short illness as reported. Also Read | Angelina Jolie demands private judge to be removed in her divorce case with Brad Pitt Fun Facts about Ben Cross Ben Cross's first acting job was playing Jesus in his school at the age of 12, reportedly. Many reports claim that the actor left his high-school at the age of 15. He also worked as a carpenter for a theatre company that he would later work for. His debut film was A Bridge Too Far (1977). He reportedly once turned down $100,000 to play Prince Charles for another role. Promo Pic Credit: Romeo Shkruti's Youtube 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. Massachusetts health officials this week said that a broken vial or contaminated tray holding coronavirus specimens may have been responsible for more than 100 false positives reported last week affecting Fall River and Tauntons case count. While the lab has initially reported to DPH that the error resulted from a broken vial or contaminated plate during processing, the final determination will be based upon the outcome of the ongoing investigation by DPH, Ann Scales, a DPH spokeswoman, said in a statement. The lab has ceased processing during this period. Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Tuesday the results came from one lab over a three-day period. There were just over 900 total tests processed at the lab, which yielded 169 false positives, Sudders said. A number of nursing facilities used that lab for their testing, which is what changed the numbers for Taunton and Fall River, she said. Sudders said epidemiologists with the Department of Public Health flagged the usually high test rate during the three days. Officials will be re-validating the tests across those days to make sure that the problem stemmed from the faulty equipment. Gov. Charlie Baker last week announced that the state will begin releasing enhanced town-level data to show specific case counts in every municipality across the state. Officials unveiled a color-coded map of the state indicating where the infection rates are highest. On the map, red represents places where there are more than eight cases per 100,000 people, meaning residents are at high risk; yellow represents between four and eight cases per 100,000 people, or a moderate level of risk; green represents less than four cases per 100,000 residents; and white represents less than five total cases reported over the past 14 days. Following the false positive results, the risk level was elevated in Fall River. Related Content: Photo: Matthew Rigby I love my mini-van. I mean, not really. Who loves a mini van? Its a stock silver-grey, has a cracked front bumper, and Im nursing a check-engine light that just appeared. Its similarly maintained inside. Dog hair covers every grey surface (you can have any interior colour you want, as long as its grey), and half-read books, USB cords, and rocks and sticks that my kids deemed too interesting to throw away are jammed into the back pouch of each seat. In the front door caddies are coupons, sunscreen, bug spray, and (because COVID) face masks and sanitizer. It does all the boring stuff well: commuting groceries and passengers alike, transporting to and from work. But thats not why I love it. I love it because it is the gateway to the new. The next adventure. That desire to experience the new is always within us. To place our feet on unfamiliar ground. For some, the gateway to the new is their backpack and flight tickets. In our family of five, it has long been the road trip. The van, as unassuming as it is, has been places. Our youngest, now six, has never been on an airplane, but he has spent endless hours looking out the rear passenger window. In the last two years, the van has driven the 15 hours to Prince Rupert, and the eight hours of open sea by ferry to Haida Gwaii. Its driven days on end along the Oregon Coast, through the interior of California, and even to the canyons or Arizona and Utah. You should not buy this van if we decide to sell it. It has not been used gently. But it has been used. And in the search of the (affordable) new and novel, it has taken us on many a far-flung adventure and magnificent trip. This year, there are no such magnificent trips planned. The United States is right out for the foreseeable future, as are escapades into neighbouring or nearby provinces and territories. Far-flung remote communities on the island or Northern B.C. beckon to our imaginations, but those invitations are tempered with the pleas of local residents asking tourists to stay away. That leaves a lot of day trips in the interior of B.C. On many a weekend, the van is loaded early, and driven for hours to the next adventure, only to return before dark. All these day trips re-inforce what we already know: that we live in a breathtaking landscape, an area where others come to vacation. But they also re-inforce another thing: that in our search for the new and novel, things have begun to feel awfully familiar. As amazing as our backyard is, it is still our backyard. The endless search for the new is exciting, but it can also feel insatiable. Even before COVID restrictions and considerations, our resources have always been limited. The new feels increasingly scarce. Maybe we need to think about new differently. A few years ago, I began walking along a section of Mission Creek. The section is accessible from only one side, running a number of kilometres before abruptly coming to a dead end at a riverbed. I have walked for hours along that trail, lost in podcasts, audiobooks, conversations with family and friends, and occasionally, even walking the path in silence. For the longest time, it was the same, familiar trail. But eventually, great and obvious seasonal changes could be seen and felt. Dead and disintegrating leaves crushed into the mud in late fall. The hoarfrost reflecting the sunlight in early winter. The endless swath of green as leaves emerge in spring. The fluff of poplar seeds and pollen drifting lazily through the air in early summer. Eventually, your awareness increases. You begin to notice the smaller and subtle changes. How erosion exposes a new root of a familiar tree. How a nest of ants is particularly busy in a dead stump. A gale of wind on a particular day, the strange stillness of another. You begin to notice what you bring to each walk, as well. The difference between a purposeful stride and a meandering one. The tone and context of the dialogue inside your head. This section of trail has become one of my favourite places on Earth. A place I have seen hundreds of times, and is never the same. Because really, nothing is. When we think of the new, we are most often referring to the novel: the place we have never been, the sight never beheld, the unfamiliar. But there is more than one type of new. It can also refer to the unveiling of things previously hidden, the dawning awareness of that which weve chronically overlooked. Its natural that we would long for the novel. Fantasize over flights we cannot board. Plot out future excursions to territories and countries who can not welcome us currently. Even yearn for van trips reaching new and unfamiliar communities in our home province. But with our eyes fixed on the distant horizon, we risk overlooking so much that is new in the here and now. Especially when it feels frustratingly familiar. In the poem Everything Is Waiting For You, David Whyte reminds us that alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity. Everything is new. Always. But it requires discipline to see it. We will regularly overlook it and miss it entirely, especially in the places and people we are most familiar with. These days, its hard to imagine a more timely piece of advice than to stay alert. So much feels paradoxically both unknown and overly familiar. Unprecedented threats coupled with the mundane. The days, weeks and months threaten to blur into each other. We wrestle with the restlessness of staying close to home with a smaller, constrained group of family and friends. As we long for the novel, we need to develop the alertness to see what is hidden in plain sight: That all things are new, and ever unfolding in front of us. May we have the alertness to see it. WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To commemorate the centennial of the 19th amendment, which prohibited states from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex, and recognize centuries of under recognized sacrifices and contributions to the U.S. made by women, including Black women, Indigenous women and all women of color, the National Park Foundation (NPF) today released the results of a new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults underscoring the need for investments in women's history and preservation efforts. A majority of respondents (64 percent) wish they knew more about women in U.S. history, and nearly two in three (60 percent) expect they would get a C or lower if they took a test on U.S. women's history. Another 74 percent indicated it is extremely or very important that national parks connect people to history. The National Park Foundation's Women in Parks initiative helps to unearth, preserve, and highlight women's stories through national parks across the country. To learn more, visit nationalparks.org/trailblazingwomen. Video credit: Rebecca Guldin/National Park Foundation To help bridge this gap, NPF announced 23 inaugural grants through its Women in Parks initiative which was launched in June 2019. With support from generous individuals, foundations and companies, these grants, totaling more than $460,000, will fund projects that unearth, preserve and highlight women's stories tied to national parks across the country. The grants will help connect people with these stories through physical and digital park exhibits, guided walks, talks and special events, online content like YouTube videos, podcasts, webinars and more. "The National Park Service offers unique opportunities to learn about women's important contributions and how even their silent and diverse everyday lives formed the foundations of America," said National Park Service Chief Historian Dr. Turkiya Lowe. "Parks are spaces to ask complex questions about the history of the United States, including, 'Did all women obtain full voting rights after the passage of the 19th amendment?' 'And, if not, which women and where?'" Whether it is documenting the life and legacy of prominent figures like Coretta Scott King, who had global significance through her civil rights work, or exploring women's political activity on the regional stage in copper mining communities in Michigan, the Women in Parks initiative supports a range of projects that will highlight the contributions women have made to our country and the role they continue to play in our ever-evolving narrative. "Every park has a connection to women that can inspire current and future generations," said NPF President and CEO Will Shafroth. "The National Park Foundation and our donors, who played a key role in inspiring the launch of our Women in Parks initiative last year, are thrilled to make stories about women's contributions to our country, past and present, accessible to all people through parks and online." NPF's Women in Parks initiative is inspired by the National Park Service's commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the bipartisan Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. The initiative, which will continue throughout 2020 and beyond, is part of the National Park Foundation's ongoing efforts to help expand the stories and perspectives shared through national parks. "The centennial of the 19th Amendment is an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen knowledge, research and outreach efforts related to the impact of women in all aspects of U.S. history," said Margaret Everson, Counselor to the Secretary, exercising the delegated authority of the National Park Service Director. "This partnership will enable national parks to tell a more complete and compelling story of the history of our nation." From local philanthropic organizations and friends groups, to community-based organizations, national park and program partners are key collaborators in preserving women's history and making it accessible to all people. In addition, just like the parks themselves, every partner group has a connection to women. "This grant will help ensure that the voices of women farm workers and union organizers are included in Cesar E. Chavez National Monument's exhibits and public programming," said Eleanor Mahoney, NPS Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Labor and Productivity, who is working with the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument team on their NPF-funded Women in Parks project. "It will also hopefully serve as model for other national parks that want to highlight working-class Latinx and Asian American histories." The inaugural NPF-funded projects include: Belmont- Paul Women's Equality National Monument ( Washington, D.C. ) Help preserve in perpetuity the National Woman's Party's collections of more than 2200 objects that share stories of advocating for women's equality. This historic 200-year-old house and museum commemorates the work of the National Woman's Party, and the women's suffrage and equal rights movements. The house has served as headquarters of the National Woman's Party, founded by Alice Paul , since 1929. Help preserve in perpetuity the National Woman's Party's collections of more than 2200 objects that share stories of advocating for women's equality. This historic 200-year-old house and museum commemorates the work of the National Woman's Party, and the women's suffrage and equal rights movements. The house has served as headquarters of the National Woman's Party, founded by , since 1929. Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area ( Colorado ) Record oral histories from Northern Arapaho women to create online content like short educational videos and future in-park programming like guided walks, talks and special events. This includes a recent webinar that acknowledges what citizenship means for Indigenous women who were not among the women granted the right to vote through the 19 th Amendment and how that still resonates today. Record oral histories from Northern Arapaho women to create online content like short educational videos and future in-park programming like guided walks, talks and special events. This includes a recent webinar that acknowledges what citizenship means for Indigenous women who were not among the women granted the right to vote through the 19 Amendment and how that still resonates today. Cesar E. Chavez National Monument ( California ) Research and document the experiences of Mexican, Filipina, and Chicana women farm workers in California to develop future in-park programs. These programs will highlight women's contributions to their families, communities, and a labor movement that established United Farm Workers, the nation's largest farm workers union today. Research and document the experiences of Mexican, Filipina, and Chicana women farm workers in to develop future in-park programs. These programs will highlight women's contributions to their families, communities, and a labor movement that established United Farm Workers, the nation's largest farm workers union today. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor ( New York ) Produce a video program that will air in early 2021 on PBS (WCNY) and across multiple channels including YouTube, radio and social media about how women traversed the Erie Canal to attend rallies in Seneca Falls to pass the 19th amendment. Their contributions helped create a culture of social reform movements still evident along the Erie Canal today. Produce a video program that will air in early 2021 on PBS (WCNY) and across multiple channels including YouTube, radio and social media about how women traversed the Erie Canal to attend rallies in to pass the 19th amendment. Their contributions helped create a culture of social reform movements still evident along the Erie Canal today. Harpers Ferry Center for Media Services ( West Virginia ) Create an online exhibit exploring themes of equality alongside the evolution of National Park Service uniforms for women. This exhibit will encourage viewers to look beyond the fashion statements to see the parallels between women's experiences in NPS and women's struggle for equality in the U.S. Create an online exhibit exploring themes of equality alongside the evolution of National Park Service uniforms for women. This exhibit will encourage viewers to look beyond the fashion statements to see the parallels between women's experiences in NPS and women's struggle for equality in the U.S. Keweenaw National Historical Park ( Michigan ) Research and create exhibits that provide new information about gender and women's political activity in Copper Country, a remote, primarily immigrant community that was once the epicenter of copper mining. This exhibit, which will also inform K-12 lesson plans and field trips, will expand the narrative that historically only focused on men to highlight women's contributions between the 1880s and 1920s including the area's largest labor strike. Research and create exhibits that provide new information about gender and women's political activity in Copper Country, a remote, primarily immigrant community that was once the epicenter of copper mining. This exhibit, which will also inform K-12 lesson plans and field trips, will expand the narrative that historically only focused on men to highlight women's contributions between the 1880s and 1920s including the area's largest labor strike. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park ( Georgia ) Create an exhibit interpreting and celebrating the life and legacy of Coretta Scott King , a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s and advocate for African-American equality as well as the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Create an exhibit interpreting and celebrating the life and legacy of , a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s and advocate for African-American equality as well as the wife of Dr. Tumacacori National Historical Park ( Arizona ) Hire a bilingual intern to research and interpret Mission records from the 1700s and 1800s, written exclusively by men, to expand storytelling at the park and online. Their efforts will uncover how the lives of women during the Spanish colonial era contributed to the culture of the Mexican, O'odham, and Yaqui communities that exist today. A full list of projects is available here. Individuals, foundations, and companies can support the National Park Foundation's efforts to ensure that women's history in the United States is shared, preserved, and leveraged to inspire current and future generations by visiting the NPF website. Thanks to generous anonymous donors, gifts to the Women in Parks fund will be matched up to $175,000. ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help protect more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts and connect all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org. SOURCE National Park Foundation Related Links www.nationalparks.org The 15-minute Vietnamese film was presented with the Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Prize of the festivals Pardi di doman category, which honours best international short films. The category saw the competition of 43 entries, including two other Vietnamese films, namely An Act of Affection by Viet Vu, and The Unseen River by Pham Ngoc Lan. A Trip to Heaven tells the story of 50-year-old woman named Tam, who bumps into her high school sweetheart on a tour bus to the Mekong Delta. Tam was hopeful for a chance of reconciliation, but maybe he was not. Sharing about the prize, Duong Dieu Linh said that this was a significant milestone in her career as the Locarno Film Festival has fuelled her ideas and initiatives in film making over the past five years. She also described the award as a source of prize and encouragement for her in the future journey. The Locarno Film Festival is an annual event held in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, it is one of the longest-running film festivals and is also known for being a prestigious platform for independent and young film makers around the world. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Studio Media Group has announced the acquisition of Darwin CX, a customer experience platform from ZoomerMedia, whose unique client offerings complement technologies and tools already available through Studio Media Group's Palm Coast Data (PCD) unit. In the past, publishers and membership organizations have had to wait weeks to understand how their customers behave before marketing campaigns could be refined. Now, Darwin CX and PCD will use big data to instantly suggest campaigns based on real-time information, allowing clients to move more quickly and maximize results. "We acquired Darwin CX because we are very impressed with the customer-centric software and business modelbuilt by Laas Turnbull, Michael Smith and their teamto serve the needs of subscription and membership organizations," said Liam Lynch, Co-Chairman of Studio Media Group. "This will give our clients modern tools to develop new revenue streams and find innovative ways to grow their businesses." Fellow Studio Media Group Co-Chairman and former Time Inc. executive Richard Jacobsen added, "This is a game changer in our industry. Darwin CX's technology eliminates direct marketers' frustrations with the current slow-moving process of campaign creation, feedback and iteration. Darwin CX makes real-time consumer responses and metrics visible via a user-friendly dashboard and provides machine- and algorithmic-driven continuous improvement." Darwin CX will add to Studio Media's portfolio of brands that work to build, maintain and connect communities through data, artificial intelligence and content. PCD provides a strategically engineered, multichannel mix of digital, online and traditional technologies that acquire, retain and grow customer relationshipsand increase revenuefor the nation's leading magazine publishers, membership organizations and nonprofit organizations. The leadership of PCD and Darwin will be connected starting immediately. Current Darwin CX President and Co-founder Laas Turnbull will serve as CEO of Darwin and PCD. Fellow Co-founder Michael Smith will serve as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Innovation at both companies. Neil Gordon, longtime PCD Controller, has been promoted to group Chief Financial Officer. Gary Blumenfeld, longtime PCD executive, has been promoted to Senior Vice-President and General Manager of PCD. Interim Palm Coast Data CEO and President John Meneough will transition to an advisory role. "Bringing these two companies together makes sense for so many reasons, chief among them that they both perform a number of critical functions extremely well," said Turnbull. "In the end, the whole will be far, far greater than the sum of the parts." ZoomerMedia was founded by Moses Znaimer, its CEO and President. Chief Digital Officer and Darwin CX Co-founder Omri Tintpulver will sit on Darwin's Advisory Board, and the company's operations will continue to be based at ZoomerMedia's headquarters in Toronto's Liberty Village for now. ZoomerMedia will assist with product and service development, while Darwin CX will continue to manage subscriptions for ZoomerMedia's flagship print publication Zoomer Magazine, and membership for the company's affiliate advocacy association CARP (formerly known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons). "We're thrilled to continue the great work Moses and the ZoomerMedia team began," said Lynch. Nixon Peabody's Lior Zorea supported Studio Media Group in this acquisition. For more information about Studio Media Group, visit https://studio.media/. For more information about Darwin CX, visit https://darwin.cx/ . For more information about Palm Coast Data, visit https://www.palmcoastdata.com/ . Studio Media Group Studio Media Group was created by lead investor and Co-Chairman Liam Lynch to acquire and grow premium media brands and service providers. Studio Media ( https://studio.media/ ) owns and operates Irish Studio, Irish Studio Travel, Palm Coast Data ( www.palmcoastdata.com ) and now Darwin CX ( https://darwin.cx/ ). Studio Media's mission is to combine digital, data, creativity and content. Core elements of its strategy is to combine all these to build great brands, within their portfolio and the partners they work with. The firm is run by an executive committee including Co-Chairmen Liam Lynch and Richard Jacobsen and co-CEOs Ciaran Casey and Katie Molony. Irish Studio The most trusted source for the Irish and Irish Diaspora communities around the world that informs, entertains and inspires audiences by providing premium storytelling and experiences through our video, events, print, social and digital platforms. Irish Studio is the parent company to IrishCentral, Ireland of the Welcomes, Irish Studio Travel and British Heritage Travel. It also owns an equity stake in Business Post Media Group. Palm Coast Data Palm Coast Data provides a strategically engineered, multichannel mix of digital, online and traditional technologies that acquire, retain and grow customer relationships and increase revenue for the nation's leading magazine publishers, membership organizations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and other direct marketers. Palm Coast Data performs fulfillment and contact center services, including subscriber list and database management, payment and order processing and accounting, subscriber mailing services, customer service and contact center management, data processing and business intelligence solutions, print and digital marketing solutions, and product fulfillment warehousing, processing and distribution. Darwin CX Darwin CX is a software-as-a-service platform that is designed to supercharge acquisition and retention through both customer intelligence management and the strategic use of artificial intelligence. SOURCE Studio Media Group Related Links https://studio.media/ Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden for president on Tuesday. But the message Biden wanted to convey on the second day of the Democratic National Convention is that he doesn't intend to govern -- or seek to defeat President Donald Trump -- on his own. The messaging was implicit in the selection of 17 "rising star" Democrats to replace a traditional keynote address. It was reinforced by Biden's wife, who struck a poignant note in closing out the evening. "The heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage," Jill Biden said from a classroom in Delaware. "That's the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now." PHOTO: Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, speaks from Brandywine High School where she taught English from 1991 to 1993, during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention) The message was made more visual with the unusual but striking roll-call vote that took viewers to 57 states and territories to make Biden's nomination official. From farms to beaches to small businesses to an already-Internet-famous plate of calamari, mundane convention business became an uplifting virtual road tour for a cooped-up nation. MORE: Biden discusses health care plan at Dem convention "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Biden said from a school library, surrounded by family members and some balloons and streamers, marking the most unusual moment. The convention turned more serious quickly. Biden's reliance on and appeal to the concept of team governance was explicit in the testimonials offered by a wide range of Democrats and Republicans -- former presidents and secretaries of state on down to local elected officials. They praised Biden -- mentioning friendships and partnerships along the way. "It's Trump's 'us vs. them' America against Joe Biden's America, where we all live and work together," former president Bill Clinton said. PHOTO: Former President Bill Clinton speaks via video feed during the second day of the Democratic National convention, Aug. 18, 2020, which is being held virtually, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Democratic National Convention via AFP/Getty Images) "In democracy, we do not elect saviors," said Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia lawmaker who rocketed into vice-presidential consideration this year. "We stand with Joe Biden." Story continues The late Sen. John McCain's widow, Cindy, spoke of the friendship between the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and the 2020 Democratic candidate: "They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show sometimes to watch the two of them," McCain said in a recorded segment. Colin Powell, who was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for one Republican president and secretary of state for another: "Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family." John Kerry, a former Senate colleague who served as secretary of state in the Obama-Biden administration: "Joe's moral compass has always pointed in the right direction." MORE: DNC 2020 Live: Jill Biden speaks to husband's humanity and character Biden has referred to himself as "transition candidate" and a "bridge" to a next generation of leaders. Trump, who famously declared "I alone can fix it" at his 2016 convention, has been attacking Biden as a vessel for the far left. It won't always be easy to run the unruly team that is the Democratic Party. One brief reminder came when one of the most prominent young Democrats in the nation -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. -- gave a nominating speech for Sen. Bernie Sanders praising his "historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy." She later clarified on Twitter that she is now supporting Biden. PHOTO: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks from Washington, D.C., during the second day of the Democratic National convention, Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AFP/Getty Images) Yet such moments have been brief at this convention. Controlling the microphones and speaking times is one upshot for a campaign running a convention in the age of COVID-19. Emerging out of a jammed program -- compressed into fewer hours, though spread among far more places -- is a Biden vision that draws on personal tragedy as well as professional partnerships. It's decency vs. division and a measure of optimism in a time of despair. "How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole -- with love and understanding, and with small acts of kindness," Jill Biden said. This report was featured in the Wednesday, Aug. 19, 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. Biden sells teamwork as Democrats make most of virtual setting on DNC Day 2: ANALYSIS originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Rebel troops seized Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse in a dramatic escalation Tuesday of a months-long crisis. Neighbouring states in West Africa, along with France, the European Union and the African Union, condemned the sudden mutiny and warned against any unconstitutional change of power in the fragile country. The UN Security Council will hold emergency talks on the crisis on Wednesday, diplomats in New York said. "We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control" after they were "arrested" at Keita's residence in the capital Bamako, a rebel leader, who requested anonymity, told AFP. Boubou Doucoure, who works as Cisse's director of communications, confirmed that the pair had been detained and had been driven in armoured vehicles to an army base in the town of Kati, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) away. Troops were cheered by crowds as they arrived at Independence Square in Bamako. By MALIK KONATE (AFP) Mutineering troops had seized the base hours earlier before taking control of the surrounding streets and driving in convoy to the capital Bamako, according to an AFP journalist. A 2012 putsch that opened the way to Keita's presidency began in the Kati base -- and fears quickly grew of another coup attempt in the notoriously unstable country. Jubilant crowds in the city centre, which had gathered to demand Keita's resignation, cheered the rebels as they made their way to the 75-year-old's official residence. As the day unfolded, the West Africa bloc ECOWAS, the United States and France released separate statements voicing deep concern about the turn of the events and urged against regime change. French President Emmanuel Macron had also discussed the crisis with his counterparts in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal and expressed his "full support for the ongoing mediation efforts of West African states". His office had added that he "condemned the attempted mutiny under way". The AU said in a statement that it "forcefully condemns" the arrest of Malian political leaders, while the EU denounced what it called an "attempted coup." The United States' envoy to the region, J. Peter Pham, joined the calls for restraint and echoed its opposition to any "extraconstitutional" change. 'Shifts in mood' Keita and Cisse's sudden detention came on the heels of an apparently conciliatory message from the government in Bamako -- which had urged the soldiers to engage in dialogue. "The observed shifts in mood reflect a certain frustration that may have legitimate causes," Cisse's office said in a statement, without offering further details. It added that the government was open to "fraternal dialogue in order to remove all misunderstandings". The drama coincided with opposition plans to resume protests against Keita. Mali has been in the grip of a deep political impasse since June, with the 75-year-old president facing increasingly strident demands for his resignation. Map of Mali locating Bamako and the Kati camp. By SAbastien CASTERAN (AFP) So called after the date of its first protest, the June 5 Movement has been channeling deep anger over a dire economy, perceived government corruption and a brutal jihadist conflict. But its anti-Keita campaign veered into crisis last month when at least 11 people were killed during clashes with security forces, over three days of unrest following a protest. Rising tensions Mali's allies and neighbours are anxious to avoid the country sliding into chaos. Swathes of its territory are already outside of the control of the government, which is struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency which first emerged in 2012 and has claimed thousands of lives. Under pressure: Keita faces mounting discontent at his handling of the economy and Mali's jihadist insurgency. By Ludovic MARIN (POOL/AFP) The failure to end that conflict contributed to frustrations with Keita's rule in Mali. Tensions were also revived in April, when the government held a long-delayed parliamentary election whose results are still disputed. ECOWAS on July 27 suggested the formation of a unity government while sticking by Keita, but the compromise was bluntly rejected by the June 5 Movement. The coalition on Monday vowed to press ahead with its campaign to force Keita to step down. It declared it would stage daily protests that would culminate in a mass rally in Bamako on Friday. JOURNALIST: - Sir, many people believe it will be very difficult to promote economic recovery and growth if we continue to shut down tourist attraction sites, but on the other hand it is also risky to remain open in this complicated scenario. What is your opinion on this situation? Dr. LE DANG DOANH: - A survey conducted by the General Statistics Office, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, shows that economic sectors that have companies most adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic are aviation companies with 100% impact, hotels with 97.1% impact, food and beverage companies with 95.5% impact and travel industry with 95.7%. Therefore, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to boost economic growth post Covid-19 pandemic, for both domestic and international tourism. Currently, we are not providing international tourist services, but domestic tourist services are available again. I suppose it is essential because there is still plenty of room for domestic tourism to grow. Additionally, Vietnam has lots of advantages for tourism recovery at the moment as after a long period of social distancing, a lot of people feel the need to go out on trips away from their homes for a much needed break. The sudden spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in some places erupted after some illegal foreign immigrants entered our borders and mixed with the locals. The novel coronavirus that has caused so many casualties in the central city of Da Nang was transmitted to the residents via these illegal immigrants. This clearly means we have to impose stricter regulations on immigration along our borders. Yet, irrespective of this resurgence we must not stop stimulating the growth of domestic tourism, and continue to support it even more. - Sir, what do you think we should do to stimulate domestic tourism? - The tourism sector is launching a campaign to encourage Vietnamese people to tour Vietnam. This can help drive the domestic tourism market but we must also push for international tourist visitors to resume tours as soon as the disease is brought under control, such as Japanese, Russian and South Korean visitors. These countries have large numbers of tourists we can reach out to and I have suggested that now we badly need relief packages from the Government to do so. However, the state budget has to cover lots of things and fails to provide relief aid for all the sectors that are in trouble. Therefore, each sector should make its own plans to help itself out of this current difficult and challenging situation. With regards to the tourism sector, if all the relevant sectors and companies strictly comply with safety rules, reduce prices and improve quality of services, I am sure we can see recovery sooner. The best measure to save a tourism company is to let it save itself. This means, it should operate its activities normally in order to make sales and earn an income. - Sir, you said that continuing to maintain tourism activities is a way to save companies in the tourism industry, but it is also important to ensure safety. Will this dual effort become too challenging for companies? - As a rule, safety for tourists should be top priority. Tourism will recover soon if stability can be maintained. However, if someone suddenly tests positive for coronavirus or an outbreak of the disease suddenly happens in an area, tourism will surely freeze in that area. As I said before, the key is to prevent foreigners from illegally entering the country. Also, it is essential to have a collaboration from other concerned sectors like aviation, hospitality, transportation, and even competent agencies that introduce supportive policies in a professional and timely manner. All the parties must lower prices to stimulate demand, and places of interest in cities and provinces should provide domestic visitors with free or lower entrance fees. Corporations and enterprises must play a leading role in promoting domestic tourism. Tour operators should digitize their operations, provide attractive lower prices with professional services, to stimulate demand. Vietnam now has several advantages because we were successful in keeping the disease under control in the previous pandemic phase and our efforts were highly appreciated across many countries. I believe we will be able to control the new outbreak also and pave the way for tourism activities to return back to normal. - Sir, what do you think will be the trend for tourism in the future? - As of now, we are still unable to say exactly when the tourism industry in Vietnam will recover, but the industry will certainly go through significant changes in the future. It is impossible to analyze the current trends and predict future possible ones. First, even if the disease is successfully contained, the fear will remain in the psyche of travelers for a long time to come. Therefore, factors like safety and information on medical care services will be important for people when they choose their next travel destination. Second, people tend to mostly choose short-term tours or short trips and like to travel in small groups with their relatives and friends. The fear of the disease and an unsafe environment can affect their eating and shopping habits. This is why people now tend to take short and cheaper trips, instead of longer and more expensive tours. This ensures safety, helps reduce expense and tourists are better prepared for unexpected worst case situations. Third, Vietnamese people now prefer to go online to choose and buy tours more often, instead of doing it offline like before. In the current pandemic scenario, with lots of people earning lower salary or have lost their jobs, it will be more difficult to boost tourism growth again soon. However, the tourism industry can make step-by-step recovery. It is now crucial that safety is maintained or else our greatest efforts will fail to bring about any positive results. Not just Vietnam, but all other countries are concentrating on a few prominent spots to attract visitors back. This will provide certain job opportunities and income for tourism in those areas, and partially revive the tourism industry. - Thank you very much. Hoang Son Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:41:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHONGQING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 2020 Smart China Expo, co-hosted by southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and Singapore, will be held online from Sept. 15 to 17, the organizers said Wednesday. The expo, which has been held twice in Chongqing since 2018, serves as a platform to promote global exchanges of smart technologies and international cooperation of the smart industry. More than 500 guests, including world-renowned scientists and industry insiders, have been invited to attend the expo, according to Chongqing's economic and information commission. Over 300 domestic and foreign industry giants are expected to participate in online exhibitions, the commission said. The three-day event will feature a livestreamed opening ceremony, 41 forums, 17 contests and more than 100 online and offline launch activities. Using technologies of augmented reality, mixed reality and extended reality, this year's expo is expected to offer visitors an interactive, immersive and scenario-based experience. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity and will see Singapore become one of the hosts of the expo. The opening ceremony will have a Singapore branch venue, which will realize a real-time connection with the main venue in Chongqing. About 600 projects were signed during last year's expo. Enditem Annals of the Joseon Dynasty from the Mount Odae Archive / Courtesy of National Palace Museum of Korea By Kwon Mee-yoo Amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic here, the National Palace Museum of Korea has uploaded a selection of 100 royal relics from its collection to the internet, providing a wider audience the chance to appreciate them from home. The museum, which inherited the collection of the Korean Imperial Museum established in 1908, celebrated its 15th anniversary, Aug. 15. The museum specializes in the Joseon Kingdom's royal court culture and has about 70,000 artifacts in its collection, including National Treasure No. 228 the Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido Gakseok. Located next to Gyeongbok Palace, the largest among the five remaining royal palaces of the Joseon Kingdom, the museum attracted 1.1 million visitors last year. "The 100 highlights are the ones that represent the royal court of the Joseon Kingdom and the Korean Empire. The collection showcases how the museum has been putting efforts into collecting new artifacts and became the one and only palace museum in Korea," said Kim Dong-young, director of the museum. "This is the part of the National Palace Museum of Korea's future vision project announced on the occasion of the 15th anniversary. We also plan to release 3D data on these relics so everyone can enjoy the high culture of the Joseon Kingdom's royal court." The 100 artifacts are divided into eight categories royal seals, uigwe and documents, science and weapons, palace and architecture, crafts, painting, costume and carriage and design. Uigwe refers to materials that document the kingdom's royal rituals and ceremonies. Ninety-five pieces were selected by researchers in and out of the museum and five were chosen in a survey. "Annals of the Joseon Kingdom from the Mount Odae Archive" is one of the remaining editions of the "Joseon Wangjo Sillok." The vast collection of records document state affairs as well as the activities of kings from the Joseon Kingdom's founder King Taejo to the 25th King Cheoljong. This particular version was stored on Mount Odae and taken to Japan during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, but 75 volumes were returned to Korea in 2006 and are currently housed in the museum. "Seal of the Emperor" / Courtesy of National Palace Museum of Korea "Seal of the Emperor" is one of the 10 national seals made upon the foundation of the Korean Empire in 1897. King Gojong used this seal for diverse state administrative affairs. "Royal Protocols for the State Funeral of Empress Myeongseong" documents the process of the funeral for Empress Myeongseong, the wife of King Gojong who was assassinated in 1895. The "Phoenix Mural Painting of Daejojeon Hall in Changdeok Palace," featuring 10 phoenixes with a waterfall, rocks, peonies, and paulownia trees, is a good example of the kingdom's royal decorative painting, faithful to the tradition of depicting birds and flowers. The five picked by the online survey include King Gojong's Jade Seal, a painting of the Gyeongugung Shrine and a woodblock for printing dragon chest patches on royal robes. According to the museum, over 1,000 took part in the online survey, reflecting the high interest in the museum and its collection. The 100 artifacts are available at . Currently, the service is only provided in Korean. The museum said it will expand it to other languages including English, Chinese and Japanese. Boris Johnson is defying calls for an autumn reshuffle despite Tory backbench pressure to sack Gavin Williamson over his exams debacle. The PM has been accused of having a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis has left the Government being 'laughed at'. He is expected to make 'minor' changes to his Cabinet after the summer recess before a full January 'reset' when the Brexit transition period has ended. Mr Johnson is refusing to sack his Education Secretary, who is desperately trying to cling onto his job after his humiliating A-levels climbdown. The Government has also faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic, including its botched NHS Test and Trace app and its excessive lockdown curbs. Mr Williamson's humiliating U-turn and effort to blame Ofqual for the exams fiasco is seen by a growing number of Tory MPs as one blunder too far. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, one Tory said the Government is 'being seen as hapless': 'We have had too many mishaps for a Government that is only a year old'. Boris Johnson is defying calls for an autumn reshuffle despite Tory backbench pressure to sack Gavin Williamson over his exams debacle. The PM has been accused of a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis have left the Government being 'laughed at' Youth protests in front of the Department for Education on August 16. Nearly 280,000 students saw their A-Level grades downgraded by a government algorithm Another Tory backbencher said: 'I've no doubt Boris is in touch with what is going on, but it really just feels as though there is a lack of grip.' Ofqual is accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' as probe into A-levels grading fiasco is launched Ofqual was accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' last night as the first official probe into the grading fiasco was launched. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) launched an inquiry yesterday into the beleaguered exam body's algorithm the first in a series of humiliating investigations. It came as the Information Commissioner's Office hinted it may also probe whether the algorithm met data protection laws. In a statement, the ICO told the Mail: 'We understand how important A-levels results and other qualifications are to students across the country. When so much is at stake, it's especially important that their personal data is used fairly and transparently.' GDPR law says everyone has 'the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her'. Ed Humpherson, of the OSR, said in a letter it would 'conduct a review of the statistical models put in place', to be published in September. Hinting that other probes were likely, he said it would 'seek to minimise overlap between our review and others'. Former schools minister David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, said: 'We urgently need a fully independent review of what happened this year so that errors made are clearly understood and so that the right lessons are learned for the future.' Ofqual declined to comment. Advertisement A third warned of 'huge pressure building up at the bottom of the volcano' and said the elections next May 'could be an enormous wake up call' to the Tories. 'Brexit and a Corbyn-led Labour party, which won us the election in 2019, will be rotting corpses by then,' they told the newspaper. 'It's not about what the Government does but whether it is competent. With fiascos like the grading scandal, we are giving our supporters good reason not to come out and support us. That's a potential for a political tsunami to take place.' Tories have made private submissions to party whips making it clear Mr Williamson should be sacked. Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle, said: 'It's not something that should be passed on to Ofqual - the buck stops with government.' In a round of interviews yesterday Mr Williamson said he was 'incredibly sorry' for the distress caused to students but refused to say whether he would resign, or whether he had offered to. He told LBC Radio: 'It is quite clear that there have been some real challenges in terms of what Ofqual have been able to deliver. 'We ended up in a situation where Ofqual didn't deliver the system that we had been reassured and believed would be in place.' Asked if he had confidence in Miss Collier he merely said: 'Our focus and what I expect from Ofqual is to ensure that they deliver the grades that youngsters need.' His allies said he had not been given access to the algorithm until the night before the grades were published. But Mr Merriman said: 'If there's any fault in this and there has been then the fault has to reside with the Government. The Government are responsible. I believe that it's the Government that runs the country.' Another Conservative MP described Mr Williamson as a 'walking corpse', adding: 'Can you actually see back to school working OK? It'll be a dog's breakfast. He has to go and he has to go now.' A third Tory MP said: 'He hasn't got a future or at least he shouldn't have one. He hasn't got an ounce of integrity. 'He should have offered to go, and now the PM won't sack him because it'll be a sign of weakness, as with Dominic Cummings. Gavin has no credibility whatsoever and he now has to sort out the mess with uni places, as well as get children back to school in September. And his track record on doing that has been p*** poor. 'He's got a brass neck blaming Ofqual they've obviously been pretty incompetent, but ultimately the DfE is responsible. Why didn't he see it coming? Another Tory backbencher said: 'I've no doubt Boris is in touch with what is going on, but it really just feels as though there is a lack of grip' 'When they scrapped exams, they needed to war game every scenario. Then after the dry run in Scotland, why then did they go and repeat the cock-up? 'I have spoken to the whips' office, along with most of my colleagues we've made our thoughts really, really clear. There is a huge amount of pressure from MPs.' Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement A former Cabinet minister said: 'The problem is that while officials may have been getting it completely wrong, all the way through Gavin Williamson has simply been accepting their reassurances.' Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons education committee, called the situation a 'mega-mess' that could have been avoided had ministers listened to a report he published last month. The Tory MP added: 'We pointed out some of the flaws in the system that it might hurt the disadvantaged and so on and we urged the publication of the model, but none of this happened. 'Instead, it was put on a dusty shelf in the Department for Education and at Ofqual and that just shouldn't have happened.' Johnny Mercer and Penny Mordaunt also voiced their concerns over the 'injustice' of the grading system, which downgraded 40 per cent of all A-level results and disproportionately affected the grades of poorer children. So far the Government has chosen to back Mr Williamson, with a source telling The Daily Telegraph: 'There are no plans for a reshuffle in September. The Government has full confidence in the Education Secretary.' The PM is expected to make 'minor' Cabinet tweaks with Anne-Marie Trevelyan tipped to replace Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary. Liz Truss' future as International Trade Secretary is uncertain. According to one Cabinet minister: 'I don't think we'll see a reshuffle of any great significance until the New Year, after Brexit has been fully delivered. 'I don't think the PM is minded to do a big next stage of Government reset while the country is still in the midst of the coronavirus crisis and a trade deal is still being negotiated with Brussels.' Another Cabinet minister added: 'Someone is going to have to go to make way for Anne-Marie, but the PM is facing two competing pressures. 'One, he is very loyal to the people who have supported him and doesn't like firing people, and two, he cannot change much until Brexit is done and the Government's attention switches from crisis management to economic recovery.' Trying to cling on to his job, the Education Secretary and his allies claimed responsibility for his humiliating A-levels climbdown lay with the regulator Ofqual. Mr Williamson suggested the watchdog 'didn't deliver' and said he had warned that its algorithm must not penalise disadvantaged children. He also declined repeated requests to express confidence in Ofqual chief Sally Collier. The Education Secretary's allies even claimed his officials had held crisis talks with the regulator last month about the flawed computer model that later caused chaos by downgrading the results of 57,000 students. But the arguments cut no ice with Mr Williamson's critics who pointed out that MPs published a damning report at the start of July warning that Ofqual's system might hurt poorer pupils. Their report demanded that the algorithm be opened up to scrutiny, yet the Education Secretary failed to ensure this or to order advance testing. A new federal advisory boards rejection of nearly all research proposals it reviewed involving fetal tissue has reignited the debate over such research, which opponents have tried several times to ban in Wisconsin. A UW-Madison proposal was among those submitted for review, but its not clear if its among those voted down or is the one supported because the government didnt disclose the identities of the proposals, university spokesman Eric Hamilton said Wednesday. Because it is impossible to predict how these cells may serve biomedical research in the future, blanket recommendations against federal funding for research solely because it incorporates fetal tissue will stymie the development of lifesaving treatments, Hamilton said. The Trump administration suspended federal funding for most fetal tissue research last year. It ordered scientists to stop using fetal tissue from elective abortions once grants expired or after using up material they still had. New proposals and renewals must go before the new ethics board, which met in late July. In its report recommending against funding nearly all of the 14 proposals, the board generally said the proposals were weak or researchers had not justified using fetal tissue. The names of the researchers and their institutions were not disclosed. The one proposal approved involves tissue already in storage. HHS Secretary Alex Azar has the final say on funding of the proposals. The committee was designed to do what it did, which is to stop even the most valuable research that cant be done any other way nearly as effectively, simply because it uses fetal tissue, said Alta Charo, a bioethicist at UW-Madison, where numerous scientists have used fetal tissue in studies. The International Society for Stem Cell Research said the evaluation of research should be insulated from ideology and special interests. It is disheartening to see an ethics review perverted by an administration seeking to achieve a policy goal, a near ban on research with human fetal tissue. Support for board Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said the group is pleased the advisory board is closely looking at proposals that include fetal tissue from induced abortions. The advisory board is doing exactly what we hoped, looking at the grants and expressing concerns about the use and how it is obtained, Weininger said. Our hope is that with this information researchers will move to using human fetal tissue that is obtained in ethical means. Wisconsin Right to Life joined Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Family Action and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference in 2017 in supporting bills to ban research using aborted fetal tissue in Wisconsin and encourage donation for research of tissue from stillbirths and miscarriages. UW signs on Research groups including UW-Madison, UW Health, Medical College of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and BioForward, which represents the states biotech industry said the measures would prohibit lifesaving research already regulated under federal law. A letter last month to the new ethics board, signed by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and many other research institutions, said fetal tissue has unique and valuable properties that often cannot be replaced by other cell types. Cells from fetal tissue are more flexible and less specialized than cells from adult tissue and can be more readily grown in culture. The tissue also remains an essential resource for studying complex interactions between cells, the letter said. Fighting disease In 2015, when similar bills were introduced in Wisconsin, UW-Madison said about 100 labs used kidney cells derived from an aborted fetus in the 1970s and another 15 labs directly or indirectly used other fetal tissue. Both kinds of labs, which brought in $76 million a year to the university, were working on cancer, heart disease, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, diabetes, epilepsy and other potentially deadly conditions, the university said. The latest attempt to ban aborted fetal tissue research in Wisconsin was in November, when a bill was introduced but not passed or given a hearing. The committee was designed to do what it did, which is to stop even the most valuable research that cant be done any other way nearly as effectively, simply because it uses fetal tissue. Alta Charo, UW-Madison bioethicist Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Representative image On August 17, the Delhi High Court instructed the Delhi University (DU) to conduct physical examinations by September 14. This decision was taken to ensure that students who have missed out on the online open-book examinations (OBE) are not at a disadvantage. In July 2020, a few students of DU had filed a petition against the universitys decision to conduct OBE amidst the Coronavirus pandemic and complained that technology was a hindrance in places like Jammu & Kashmir where internet connection is interrupted. Delhi HC, in its decision on August 7, allowed DU to conduct OBE but asked the university to set up a grievance redressal committee, and allow an extra hour for online tests and permit e-mailing of answer scripts. OBE started on August 10 and will continue till August 31. Date-sheets for the physical examinations will be released by DU in the next few days. However, there is confusion over OBE, physical exams and how the process will work. What is the OBE exam? The OBE or open-book examination was a one-time measure by the DU to ensure that final-year students could appear for exams and get their results on time. As per University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, students are not conferred a degree without taking final-year exams. In July 2020, UGC had asked all universities to conduct final-year exams by September 30, so that the results could be declared on time. One case is being heard in the Supreme Court against this UGC decision. The DUs OBE exam was originally scheduled to be held in July, but postponed to August. Are students monitored during the OBE? No. Students have to log in into a special OBE portal and check the subject/stream and download the paper. Once the paper is downloaded, students are required to write down the answers on an A4 size paper with their roll numbers marked on the sheet. Once the answers are written, students can upload each page as a separate file on the platform and submit. Once all answers are uploaded, the submit button has to be clicked. What if I am unable to upload the paper? Students who are unable to upload the answer sheets owing to poor internet connectivity have been allowed to email their answer sheets in a prescribed format. The student name, roll number, name of the college and subject have to be mentioned on it. Once the e-mail is sent, students would receive an acknowledgement. How many students are giving OBE? DU has given out data on the OBE status as of August 17. A total of 542,646 students have attempted the exam. Of this, 452,212 answer scripts were submitted on the OBE portal. Then, there are students who have emailed the answer scripts. But the university did not share the exact number of emailed answer scripts. What is the issue then? In the initial days of OBE, technical glitches were reported by students. Also, students in Jammu & Kashmir with no proper internet connection had complained about neither being able to download question papers nor being able to email answer scripts. On the first day of OBE on August 10, for instance, there were 38,058 students (general) who were to appear for the exam. Only 36,663 registered and 33,957 attempted the OBE. Yet, only 26,142 answer sheets were uploaded on the portal, according to the data presented by the DU in the Delhi HC. Similarly, 14,000 open-learning candidates attempted the paper, but only 10,803 submitted the answer scripts. DU again pointed out that these exclude emailed answer scripts. For persons with disability, out of 358 registered students, only 308 attempted the exam. Here, 258 uploaded answers on the OBE portal. DU officials say information is being collated from across colleges and candidate numbers are now starting to rise. If OBE is being held, why hold physical exams? As mentioned earlier, there were students from remote parts of the country, including North-East India and Jammu and Kashmir, who do not have good internet connectivity. Hence, it is not possible for them to take these online OBE. Such candidates, as well as persons-with-disabilities (PwD), who were unable to take these examinations on OBE mode or were unable to travel, will now get an opportunity to give the physical exams. What happens to admissions to higher education institutes abroad? DU has been asked to create an email address, where students who have received provisional admissions in other countries can send requests. This email address will be created by August 24 and will enable students to get a letter of request from the DU. This letter can be presented to the prospective institute. This letter will request the foreign university to postpone the requirement of submitting passing certificates till DU results are announced. Global universities seek academic credentials, including graduation certificates and degrees from students, as an entry criteria. Who all have to write physical exams? The Delhi HC has asked the DU to first contact PwD students, so that they get sufficient time to travel. The exams will be held in test centres. The next hearing on this matter will be on August 27, by when the DU has to verify the number of PwD candidates who will need to travel and assist them in matters related to travel and accommodation. However, a major confusion right now is whether candidates who have attempted the papers and unable to mail or upload the answer scripts will be allowed the physical exams. DU will declare results only on the basis of the answer scripts uploaded on the OBE portal or sent by email. Clarity is awaited on OBE candidates whose answer scripts were uploaded in an incomplete manner and the status of their degree. Another question is whether all students will have to travel to Delhi or whether he/she will be allowed to take the test at a centre nearest to them. Also, there is a concern about how will social distancing be maintained at an exam centre, and what if a centre has been converted into a COVID-19 centre. Many questions still remained unanswered. Once DU releases the final schedule and guidelines for the physical examinations from September 14, probably there could be some answers. ITS WORTH wondering what the impact might have been had the Senate Intelligence Committees final report on Russias interference in the 2016 election appeared six months ago, before the report of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and the twisted account of it provided by Attorney General William P. Barr. On their own terms, the Senates findings, released Tuesday after a bipartisan investigation, are explosive: that then-candidate Donald Trumps campaign chairman Paul Manafort formed a close and lasting relationship with a Russian intelligence officer, with whom he shared inside information from the presidents campaign and collaborated to concoct a false narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia, was behind the election interference. Coup makers who overthrew President Keita say they are more interested in the stability of the country than power. Military officers who overthrew Malis president in a coup detat that drew international condemnation pledged on Wednesday to restore stability and oversee a transition to elections within a reasonable period. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned and dissolved parliament late on Tuesday, hours after the coup leaders detained him at gunpoint, plunging a country already facing an armed movement against it as well as mass opposition protests deeper into crisis. Colonel-Major Ismael Wague a spokesman for the coup-makers calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People said they acted to prevent Mali from falling further into chaos. The social and political tension has undermined the proper functioning of the country for quite a while, said Wague, flanked by soldiers. Mali descends into chaos day by day [with] anarchy and insecurity because of the fault of the people in charge of its destiny. Real democracy doesnt go with complacency, nor weakness of the state authority, which must guarantee freedom and security of the people. There was no word on the future of Keita, 75. On Wednesday afternoon, army officer Colonel Assimi Goita announced himself as the leader of the military coup. Let me introduce myself, I am Colonel Assimi Goita, chairman of the National Committee for the salvation of the People, he said after meeting top civil servants. Goita had appeared among the group of officers seen in the overnight televised statement but did not speak. During that address, Wague said all international agreements will still be respected and international forces, including the UN mission in Mali and G5 Sahel, will remain in place for the restoration of stability. The coup leaders also remain committed to the Algiers process a 2015 peace agreement between the Malian government and armed groups in the north of the country, Wague said. Borders were closed and a curfew went into effect from 9pm to 5am. Condemnation The takeover was quickly condemned by Malis regional and international partners, who fear Keitas fall could further destabilise the former French colony and West Africas entire Sahel region. West Africas 15-nation regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, on Tuesday suspended Mali from its institutions and closed its member states borders with Mali. Having previously warned it would no longer tolerate military takeovers in the region, the bloc plans to send a high-level delegation to Mali to ensure a return to constitutional democracy. Meanwhile, chairman of the African Union and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday condemned the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and demanded its detained politicians be freed. The UN Security Council will be briefed on Mali behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of France and Niger, diplomats said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday had called for the immediate release of Keita and other detainees. The French military has been silent since the coup began, refusing to comment on what its troops in Mali are doing as the crisis plays out. The French government has not publicly commented since Keitas resignation. Earlier on Tuesday, it had condemned the attempted mutiny while President Emmanuel Macron discussed the unfolding situation with Keita and the leaders of Niger, Ivory Coast and Senegal. The coup is seen a blow to France and Macron, who has supported Keita and sought to improve relations with former colonies in Africa. On Wednesday, China said it opposed regime change by force while EU leaders called for the release of those held. We call for the immediate freeing of prisoners, and for a return to the state of law, said EU Council chief Charles Michel after a video summit of the blocs 27 leaders. The coup was condemned by Malis regional and international partners, who fear Keitas fall could further destabilise the country and West Africas entire Sahel region [John Kalapo/Getty Images] The coup coincided with opposition plans to resume protests against Keita. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets under the umbrella of the so-called June 5 Movement (M5-RFP) to demand the presidents regisnation, accusing him of allowing Malis economy to collapse and of mishandling a spiralling security situation that has rendered vast swaths of Mali ungovernable. At least 14 protesters and bystanders were killed during three days of unrest last month in Bamako, allegedly as a result of gunfire by security forces, according to rights groups. In his speech, Wague invited Malis civil society and political movements to join them to create conditions for a political transition. We are not keen on power, but we are keen on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organise general elections to allow Mali to equip itself with strong institutions within the reasonable time limit. Soya Djigue, member of the M5-RFPs strategic committee, said the opposition coalition was not aware of the actions of the soldiers. From the very beginning, we have been very clear; we wanted the president to resign peacefully and democratically, so we didnt take part in this. We learnt about it on TV like everybody else, he told Al Jazeera. Djigue said the committee was expected to convene soon to discuss the situation and the next steps. Its too early for us to say whether they [soldiers] will respect their words or not, but I can guarantee you that we will fight, just like before with the previous regime, to ensure that poverty and bad governance will be a thing of history, he added. Late on Tuesday, anti-government protesters had poured into a central square in Bamako to cheer on the coup-makers as they drove through in military vehicles. The capital was far quieter on Wednesday, with few civilians on the streets and most shops closed after overnight looting. Videos circulating on social media showed people running through luxury compounds in the city, including properties identified as belonging to Justice Minister Kassoum Tapo and Keitas son, Karim. Landlocked Mali has struggled to regain stability since the Tuareg uprising in 2012, which was hijacked by fighters linked to al-Qaeda, and a subsequent coup under the leadership of Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who was later forced to hand over power to a civilian transitional government. At a 2013 election, Keita won a landslide victory promising to bring peace and stability and to fight corruption. He got re-elected for a second five-year term in 2018. Party-switching Rep. Jeff Van Drew no longer is favored to keep his seat. Both the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, two Washington-based publications that track congressional races, now give Democratic challenger Amy Kennedy a 50-50 chance to wrest the seat from freshman Van Drew in New Jerseys hottest congressional race. And they say Van Drews embrace of Donald Trump is a big reason. Van Drew was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but switched to the Republicans after voting against impeaching Trump. The president flew to New Jersey in January and saluted Van Drew at a massive rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Trump is struggling to keep a hold on the district, and Van Drew has tied himself so explicitly to Trump, he has very little margin for error, said Jacob Rubashkin, a reporter and analyst with Inside Elections. Democratic polling has Trump and Joe Biden almost even in a district that supported Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012 before giving 51% of its votes to Trump four years ago. Trump embraced Van Drew after he voted against impeachment and switched parties, Cooks House editor, David Wasserman, wrote. But now Biden is running neck and neck here and Van Drew may be paying a price. Inside Elections gave every other New Jersey House member an edge in the general election, while Cook had them all leading except for Rep. Andy Kim, D-3rd Dist., rated as a tossup. Both publications initially rated Van Drew as a slight favorite to keep the seat, but that was before the Democrats nominated Kennedy, the wife of former Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and the latest member of the iconic family to seek public office, narrowed the gap. While Van Drew raised $2.7 million through June 30, Kennedy showed she could be financially competitive, bringing in $1 million and lending her campaign $500,000. In addition, two Democratic polls put her in the lead. Cook, citing the Democratic polling numbers, said Kennedy was building a head of steam after the July 7 primary, when she easily defeated Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Callahan Harrison, who was backed by powerful South Jersey political powerbroker George Norcross. Almost 80,000 Democrats voted in the 2nd District congressional primary last month, more than the 72,000 that voted in the previous two primaries combined, state election statistics show. Democrats in the district are now out for blood, Rubashkin said. Kennedy also was named by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as one of the challengers most likely to defeat a Republican incumbent, guaranteeing her fundraising help and other party resources. Amy was born and raised in South Jersey, and she will always put South Jerseys best interests first, DCCC spokeswoman Christine Bennett said. Kennedy is in a strong position to flip this seat come November. Republicans dismissed the forecasts. All you need to do is look at the 2016 election results to know that political handicappers are as good at predicting electoral outcomes as the local dog walker, said Michael McAdams, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Ms Topp said Frankston Hospital had admitted an increasing number of coronavirus patients in recent weeks and the cause of the outbreak was still under investigation. Health sources said a patient may have unknowingly brought the virus into a general ward, but Peninsula Health have not confirmed this. We are still investigating if these cases are the result of increased community transmission of the virus, or if it has been acquired through the hospital," Ms Topp said. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, our patients and our community is our utmost priority, and we are doing all we can to help stop any further spread of the virus. Loading Australian Medical Association Victorian president Julian Rait suspects the number of coronavirus cases linked to the Frankston Hospital cluster would swell beyond 50. He said there were also concerns medical staff who might have been infected at the hospital were working at other health services in the city's south-east, including the Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre and Monash Health services. The spate of outbreaks in hospitals comes as Victoria recorded another 216 new cases of coronavirus and 12 more deaths in the past day, bringing the state's total death toll to 363. The deaths have all been linked to aged care and include three men in their 70s, four women and a man in their 80s and three women and a man in their 90s. While active coronavirus cases are declining or stabilising in Melbournes north and west hotspot areas, infections in the city's south-east municipalities are rising. Loading There are 95 active cases in Frankston, an increase of 26 in the past week, while 70 have been reported in the Mornington Peninsula Shire, a rise of 39 infections in the past week. Professor Rait said the high number of infected staff pointed to a troubling systemic failure. He said he had been told at least 30 nurses were infected along with young doctors in training and a small number of senior doctors. "There must have been some sort of systematic breakdown in the use of personal protective equipment or protocols or something going on for this to suddenly have emerged," he said. Professor Rait is calling for an immediate and extensive investigation into how the virus spread. "How this has happened needs to be thoroughly investigated," he said. Professor Rait said he had written to Health Minister Jenny Mikakos calling for a breakdown of healthcare infections and details about the protective equipment used at Peninsula Health. Ms Topp said Peninsula Health continued to stress the importance of the correct use of personal protective equipment, such as face masks, gowns and gloves to staff. "PPE is readily available to our staff in all of our services and we are doing our utmost to help all staff members do all they can to stay safe," Ms Topp said. Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, confirmed on Wednesday he knew at least 50 patients and staff had been infected at Frankston Hospital. He stressed there had been an "immediate response" by the hospital to protect staff and patients. "I think that number will grow," Professor Sutton said. Loading Ramsay Health Care, which runs the nearby Peninsula Private Hospital, said no positive COVID-19 cases linked to Frankston Hospital had been detected among staff. A Peninsula Private Hospital spokesman said the health service had developed a management plan to protect healthcare workers moving between hospitals. The outbreak at Frankston Hospital has triggered alarm in other Victorian health services, with medical staff often travelling from Melbourne to the seaside suburb to treat patients. The cluster is the latest in a string of outbreaks to infiltrate Melbourne hospitals, infecting healthcare workers and patients who are at heightened risk of dying from the virus. An email from Monash Health chief executive Andrew Stripp sent to all staff on Tuesday warned any medical staff who had worked at Peninsula Health between August 3 and 17 were at risk of having contracted coronavirus. Affected staff were urged to stay away from work until they were tested and cleared of the virus. Peninsula Health said it was working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services and infection control experts to determine the cause of the outbreak and "immediately implement further mitigation strategies". The DHHS confirmed its disease detectives was investigating cases linked to the Frankston Hospital cluster, along with infections linked to Spotless Cleaning at Chadstone Shopping Centre and AB Oxford Cold Storage in Laverton. Details of the outbreak at Frankston Hospital have emerged a day after doctors, paramedics and other healthcare workers demanded the Andrews government guarantee that healthcare workers infected with coronavirus would automatically qualify for WorkCover compensation. Healthcare staff now represent more than 14 per cent of active Victorian cases, with 2497 coronavirus cases detected in this group since the pandemic began, up from 2414 on Tuesday. The U.S. Army opened an investigation Wednesday into why two reservists ignored rules prohibiting them from wearing their uniforms for political campaign and election events as they appeared on camera for American Samoa's roll call at the Democratic Convention Tuesday night. 'Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited,' Army officials said in a statement announcing the probe. 'The Army follows the Department of Defense's longstanding and well-defined policy regarding political campaigns and elections to avoid the perception of DoD sponsorship, approval or endorsement of any political candidate, campaign or cause.' 'Examples of prohibited political activities include campaigning for a candidate, soliciting contributions, marching in a partisan parade and wearing the uniform to a partisan event,' the statement detailed. The Democratic National Committee said during a convention press briefing on Wednesday morning that the soldiers appearing in the short video was an 'oversight.' The pair wore camouflage, coronavirus-era black face masks and stood silently behind delegates Aliitama Sotoa and Patti Matila as they voiced American Samoa's Democratic Party support for Joe Biden to become the nominee to take on President Donald Trump. 'The production of that was just an oversight,' DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa told reporters as Republicans confirmed to DailyMail.com that there should be an investigation into the matter. During Tuesday night's Democratic National Convention, American Samoa displayed two Army soldiers in uniform during their roll call nominating Joe Biden as president Active duty and reservist U.S. military personnel are prohibited from wearing their uniform during any political campaign or election events Some lawmakers and Pentagon officials, including Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry, say it would be 'appropriate' to investigate the matter DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa dismissed the move as an 'oversight' during a call with reporters Wednesday 'And each state was asked to highlight the issues and the values to their location and to their communities and that is one that American Samoa delegation wanted to highlight,' she said, referencing a military history in the seven islands that make up the U.S. territory. Department of Defense officials are raising eyebrows after a duo of uniformed junior enlisted Army soldiers flanked two Democratic delegates as they recited the territory's delegate count Tuesday night. The House Armed Services Committee Communications Director Monica Matoush said lawmakers are looking to the Pentagon for answers on the incident as the Army opened an investigation. 'While we have requested information related to the chain of events, we will look to the Department of Defense to ensure all servicemembers understand the law and make a decision about the next steps based on the findings from their internal inquiry,' she told DailyMail.com. The move brings into question the integrity of the Army as a non-partisan military institution. A spokesman for Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry told DailyMail.com, 'Congressman Thornberry believes it is appropriate for the Department of Defense to investigate this incident.' The Pentagon has not responded to a request for comment on the use of uniformed soldiers in the video and the White House has not commented on President Donald Trump's thoughts on the matter. The second night of the Democratic National Convention included a roll call where all 50 states, Washington D.C. and U.S. territories had around a minute each for delegates to make remarks as they nominated Biden as the candidate. While the soldiers' faces in the American Samoa clip were covered, their names were clearly visible on their uniforms. It is unclear, however, who approved their presence for the political campaign video. Speaking in front and in the center of the two soldiers were Democratic Party Leaders Sotoa and Matila. Ahead of their roll call, the DNC announced that the duo would 'celebrate American Samoa's legacy of military serviceand Joe Biden's work to improve the territory's infrastructure.' 'Joe Biden honors our service, and we trust him to support our community,' Matilda said in the short clip as she gestured to the military members behind her. The two Army reservists are part of the 9th Mission Support Command, which falls under U.S. Army Pacific. While the headquarters are in Honolulu, Hawaii, the command includes more than 3,500 reservists soldiers in places like American Samoa, Alaska, Japan, Korea, Guam and Saipan. While U.S. military personnel are allowed to support candidates and attend political rallies, they are barred from wearing their uniform to such events and can only attend them on their own time. All active duty and reservist American military members are instructed to remain apolitical during political campaigns. The EU today announced sanctions for high-ranking officials responsible for the brutal crackdown in Belarus and rejected Alexander Lukashenko's election victory. European Council President Charles Michel said that the August 9 election - which saw 80 percent support for the strongman leader - was 'neither free nor fair' and that the EU does not recognise the result. German Chancellor Angela Merkel - who was yesterday warned by Russia's Vladimir Putin not to interfere in the former Soviet domain - said: 'There is no doubt that there were massive rule violations in the election.' Following the emergency virtual summit in Brussels, Michel said: 'We stand firmly behind the right of Belorussian people to determine their own fate, and the EU will impose shortly sanctions on a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud.' Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko addresses his supporters gathered at Independent Square of Minsk, Belarus, on August 16 European Council President Charles Michel (pictured in Brussels today) said that the August 9 election - which saw 80 percent support for the strongman leader - was 'neither free nor fair' and that the EU does not recognise the result German Chancellor Angela Merkel (speaking after the virtual summit) - who was yesterday warned by Russia's Vladimir Putin not to interfere in the former Soviet domain - said: 'There is no doubt that there were massive rule violations in the election' People attend a rally in support of the Belorussian Opposition to demonstrate against police brutality and the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, last night Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen announced that 53million euros (48million) would be used to support the Belorussian people and divert funds away from those in authority. Russian government jet touches down in Minsk A Russian government jet used to carry senior government officials, including the head of the FSB security service, has made a quick flight to Belarus and back, landing in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday, flight tracking data shows. Tracking data showed the plane, a Tupolev Tu-214 which is also a command and control centre, flew to Minsk from Moscow on Tuesday before landing back in Moscow in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Attention is firmly focused on how Russia will respond to the biggest political crisis facing an ex-Soviet neighbour since 2014 in Ukraine, when Moscow intervened militarily after a friendly leader was toppled by public protests. Reporting by Reuters Advertisement Lukashenko earlier today ordered tightened border security to prevent 'fighters and arms' from entering the country. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later said: 'As part of normal, routine actions we are looking at what is happening behind our border and at the moment there are no reasons for concern.' The president also decreed that a group of state media workers who went on strike as part of the protests would not be allowed to return to their jobs. And in the face of Western criticism, the Belorussian central election committee said that Lukashenki would be inaugurated as president for a new term within the next two months, without setting a date. Last night, opposition leader Valery Tsepkalo predicted that Lukashenko had around two weeks left before he would be ousted. Mr Tsepkalo was barred from running against Lukashenko so his wife, Veronika, took up the mantle along with two other women - including leading figure Svetlana Tikhanouskaya. Speaking from Moscow last night, Mr Tsepkalo told Sky News that 'nobody believes [Lukashenko] anymore.' The EU has said that the polls were 'falsified' to furnish Lukashenko with 80 percent of the vote and a sixth term in office and the EU is meeting today to discuss sanctions. Mr Tsepkalo told Sky News: 'He would like to pacify the electorate, to pacify the demonstrators, the people that go out to streets. He is a liar.' Alexander Lukashenko holds a meeting today with members of the Security Council of Belarus. He announced that border security was to be tightened to prevent the inflow of 'fighters and arms' Belarus' Minister of Defence Viktor Khrenin (L) and Anatoly Lappo, Chairman of the State Belarusian Border Patrol Committee, attend a meeting of the Security Council of Belarus Asked how much longer the strongman could cling to power, Mr Tsepkalo said: 'Maybe a couple of weeks. Maximum a couple of months. 'That is the maximum that the Belarus public would offer him. That's my feeling. 'The situation is evolving so fast he cannot run the country because he absolutely lost his authority, he lost his popularity and the only thing that is rising now in Belarus is the hatred of him.' Mr Tsepkalo, an IT entrepreneur and former ambassador to the United States, went into self-imposed exile in Moscow last month with his two children. His wife remained to fight the election but has since joined him in Russia. The EU is hoping its emergency talks today will ratchet up pressure on those linked to the brutal crackdown on protesters after the election. In a letter inviting leaders to the teleconference, EU Council President Charles Michel said that 'what we have witnessed in Belarus is not acceptable.' He said the 'violence against peaceful protesters was shocking and has to be condemned. Those responsible must be held to account.' Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs in the first four days of demonstrations. At least two protesters died. Workers at state-controlled companies have joined strikes this week, as the unprecedented mass protests enter their 11th day and erode the authority of the man once dubbed 'Europe's last dictator.' Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and founder of a successful hi-tech park, hugs his wife Veronika, as he speaks to the media in Minsk, Belarus, in May. Mr Tsepkalo fled to Moscow when he was barred from the election while Veronika remained to campaign, joining forced with two other women Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, former candidate for the presidential elections addresses the Belarus nation from Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday It's not entirely clear what the Europeans can do right now, but they appear determined to help maintain the momentum that began in the streets of Minsk with a show of political support, and to revive a sanctions program on Belarus that was eased four years ago as relations with Lukashenko improved. In a video statement ahead of their virtual summit, Belarusian opposition leader Ms Tikhanouskaya called on Europe to support 'the awakening of Belarus.' 'I call on you not to recognise these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world,' Ms Tikhanouskaya said. On the eve of the meeting, Michel had a half-hour telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin to share the EU's concern about election irregularities and the scale of the security crackdown, and to impress upon the Russian leader the right of the Belarus people to determine their own future. They discussed ways to encourage talks between Lukashenko and the opposition, possibly by supporting a dialogue process fostered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. A law enforcement officer stands guard as people, including employees of Minsk Tractor Works, gather near the plant to protest on Wednesday in Minsk Law enforcement officers stand guard as people, including employees of Minsk Tractor Works, protest in Minsk today Demonstrators continue to protests the election result in Minsk on Wednesday People attend a rally in support of the Belarusian Opposition to demonstrate against police brutality and the presidential election results in Minsk last night Judy Dempsey, Nonresident Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and Editor in Chief of Strategic Europe, said the emphasis from the Europeans appears to be on getting Lukashenko to start talking to an opposition whose legitimacy he has tended to question. 'Time is of the essence,' she warned, if Belorussians are not to see their hopes for change hijacked. 'The EU already said it does not recognise the outcome of the presidential election. The idea of new elections would rattle Putin, whose own record on free and fair elections has been challenged - so far unsuccessfully - by protesters in Russia,' Dempsey said. The relatively small EU nation of Lithuania is playing a major role as the protests unfold by giving refuge to Tsikhanouskaya. Its Baltic neighbours, Estonia and Latvia, are also deeply involved in diplomatic efforts, as is Poland. Some in Europe are concerned that hitting Lukashenko and his associates too hard might drive Belarus into the arms of Russia, even though relations between Minsk and Moscow have been troubled in recent years and even more tense in the run up to the polls. Others fear Russian intervention. Belorussians living in Ukraine, their supporters, and Ukrainian activists burn flares during a rally in support of the Belorussian opposition, in Kiev, last week Belorussians living in Ukraine, their supporters, and Ukrainian activists burn flares during a rally in support of the Belorussian opposition and against the results of the Belorussian presidential election, near the Belarus embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, last week But experts tend to play down those worries, and say the people of Belarus only want to secure independence, and are not interested in deeper relations with Russia, the European Union, or in joining Moscow's nemesis, the NATO military alliance. Belarus is not Georgia or Ukraine, where Putin fanned the flames of conflict by backing pro-Russian separatists. Ekaterina Pierson-Lyzhina, a Brussels-based researcher into Belarus' EU foreign policy, said that recent surveys suggest around 60% of people want the country to remain independent and reject any kind of union. Smaller groups are divided up into those who support European or Russian integration. 'There are no European flags, no Russian flags. This revolution is about domestic dissatisfaction of the majority of Belarusians with their president, who has held a grip on power for 26 years,' she said, and urged the EU to set up a fund for victims of the crackdown and help build a database on police crimes. Sam Faiers has spoken out about her secret battle with cystic acne. The reality star, 29, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share photos of her skin during a particularly bad flare-up, triggered after breastfeeding her daughter Rosie, now two. Sam explained she has suffered from the condition, which occurs when cysts form deep underneath the skin, for the past few years and hid behind filters and make-up because she felt 'so embarrassed'. 'I've been so embarrassed': Sam Faiers has spoken out about her secret battle with cystic acne In a lengthy post, Sam wrote: 'I've been really nervous about posting this picture. The last few years I've been very quiet about the fact that I've been suffering with adult acne - in my case, it was hormonal. 'After breastfeeding Rosie, my skin just broke out and I couldn't get it under control. I tried absolutely everything. 'It felt like the more I was doing to stop it, the worse it became. Love the skin your in: The reality star, 29, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share photos of her skin during a particularly bad flare-up and after treatment (pictured) Sam explained she has suffered from the skin condition for the past few years and hid behind filters and make-up because she felt 'so embarrassed' 'I've been so embarrassed about it and have used filters on Instagram to try and hide it. I would always edit and smooth my skin in pictures and I definitely wouldn't leave the house without makeup.' Searching for treatment, Sam said she started to use collagen skincare products for their anti-ageing qualities but 'soon noticed a dramatic reduction in breakouts along with my skin becoming firmer, lines reducing and my skin feeling more hydrated'. The Mummy Diaries star revealed it prompted her to create her own skincare brand, Revive Collagen, which launches on Friday. Distressing: 'After breastfeeding Rosie, my skin just broke out and I couldn't get it under control. I tried absolutely everything', Sam said She continued: 'Over the past two years, I've been working with some of the UK's top laboratories to bring to the market a uniquely formulated skincare brand that delivers real results. 'Ladies, this a game changing product and I've never felt more passionate about something.' It comes after the former TOWIE revealed she will not be returning to The Only Way Is Essex for the ITVBe show's 10-year anniversary special in October. Sam, who has two children Rosie and Paul, four, told The Sun: 'I wont be getting involved because, to be honest, its like Im at a completely different stage in my life now. 'I dont even know what I would do on there any more.' The blonde beauty was just 19 years old when the show first aired on 10 October 2010, and she admitted that she had nothing to lose at the time. During her stint, Sam was an integral character, having a love triangle storyline with Lothario Mark Wright and his on-off girlfriend of nine years, Lauren Goodger. The reality star then went on to date Joey Essex after Mark announced his engagement to Lauren, and ended up becoming engaged herself to Joey, 30. However it wasn't meant to be and the pair split up on the show in 2013. Software solution targets production excellence Project includes Halliburtons DecisionSpace technology suite and Honeywell Forge enterprise performance management software PTTEP, a national petroleum exploration and production company in Thailand, awarded Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) a contract to design and implement a series of digital transformation projects as part of PTTEPs Advanced Production Excellence (APEX) Initiative. APEX will improve operational efficiency and production in four offshore fields: Arthit, Greater Bongkot South, Greater Bongkot North and the Myanmar Zawtika Field. Landmark, a Halliburton business line, will deploy its DecisionSpace Production Suite in the cloud to improve production operations from the subsurface to processing facilities. The DecisionSpace Enterprise Platform will integrate with Honeywell Forge, a powerful analytics software solution providing real-time data and visual intelligence, so PTTEP can implement more productive and efficient work processes. Using advanced physics-based and data science models, the solution includes modeling of surface and subsurface components to manage and optimize operations from the wells to the point of delivery. This includes short-term production planning and optimization, flow assurance monitoring and control, sand production monitoring and control, condensate stabilization optimization, CO 2 membrane optimization, fuel gas optimization and processing facilities performance monitoring and analysis. We look forward to collaborating with Honeywell to support PTTEP on its digital transformation journey, said Nagaraj Srinivasan, senior vice president of Landmark and Halliburton Digital Solutions. Effectively leveraging and implementing digital technologies improves efficiency to increase production, reduce operating expenses and maximize the value of the operators portfolio. ABOUT HALLIBURTON Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. With more than 40,000 employees, representing 140 nationalities in more than 80 countries, the company helps its customers maximize value throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production throughout the life of the asset. Visit the companys website at www.halliburton.com. Connect with Halliburton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200818005064/en/ A child rapist who is due for release after 27 years in jail has been labelled a 'high risk' to society by forensic experts in a Sydney court. In June Justice Stephen Campbell made an interim detention order for Roger David Cheney to be kept behind bars while experts assessed his risk of reoffending if released. The 62-year-old's recorded crimes include abducting two young girls from their NSW north coast beds in 1993, assaulting and raping a woman in a park, and the attempted sexual assault of a woman a week after his release from jail. A child rapist who is due for release after 27 years in jail has been labelled a 'high risk' to society by forensic experts in a Sydney court (file picture) After assessing the former Wagga Wagga resident, forensic psychiatrist Dr Richard Furst says he believes there is a high risk of Cheney reoffending having done so in the past. 'You have an offender who has offended fairly quickly on two occasions now,' he told the court on Wednesday. 'I don't think electronic monitoring will make any difference to that.' Cheney has denied responsibility for the offending to date, which Dr Furst said was another worrying factor. 'The elephant in the room is we're talking about him making better choices ... but he hasn't admitted to offending.' Forensic psychologist Chelsey Dewson also believes it is important for Cheney to take responsibility for his crimes. 'I think it's important to obtain a level of responsibility ... how they ended up in a situation other than just bad luck,' she said. 'From my understanding Mr Cheney feels like he is the victim of circumstances rather than attributing great personal responsibility.' If Cheney's outstanding treatment needs could not be met in the community, Ms Dewson said they would need to be observed in custody. But Corrective Services senior psychologist with the Serious Offenders Assessment Unit Richard Parker said it was 'extremely common' among sex offenders for shame to motivate denial. 'A significant portion of sex offenders I work with deny some or all offences,' he said. Defence lawyer Sharyn Hall agreed Cheney posed some risk to society, but the restrictive nature of his release meant it could be mitigated. 'Mr Cheney can be managed ... given the very substantial and intrusive nature of the conditions imposed,' she said. 'There needs to be intensive supervision of Mr Cheney... it has been a long period of time since he has had liberty... he's going to need a great level of assistance and oversight.' She questioned what authorities could learn from another two or three years of incarceration that they had not already gleaned in the 27 years served. On Wednesday Justice Peter Garling said it was impossible to say why Cheney committed such crimes without him admitting his wrongdoing. 'The nature of the offending has a feature which suggests a sexual deviancy,' Justice Garling told the court. 'If we knew what was operating on his mind at the time he could be treated, and his risk could be diminished, but we don't.' He said it was hard to determine if Cheney is an 'evil man' who will forever commit crimes, or if his earlier behaviour was based on his upbringing and attitudes of anger towards society. Justice Garling reserved his judgment. Last month, DH reported Apple supply partner Wistron Corp has commenced hiring employees for its new mobile assembling plant in Narasapura, Kolar 57 Km from Bengaluru. Wistron, which is said to be investing close to Rs 3,000 crore, has reportedly commenced trial production of iPhones with 1,000 odd employees and is expected to start full-fledged mass production as early as October. The recruitment process to hire 9,000 more is underway and mostly local Kannada speaking candidates will be preferred to meet the 75% quota fixed by the Karnataka state government. Now, it has come to light that the Wistron is planning to use the Narasapura plant to assemble iPhone 12 models, which is slated to make the global debut October 2020 launch. However, the iPhone 12 series mobiles' production will only start in mid-2021, reports Business Standard citing company insiders. This comes as a huge boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India initiative. It should be noted that the union government 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. Furthermore, the PLI scheme includes an extension of the incentive of current 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over the base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year as defined. Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the US-China trade war, several high profile hardware manufacturers are moving their production bases from mainland China to neighbouring countries such India, Indonesia, Vietnam, among others. Already, Samsung, Apple supply partners Pegatron, Foxconn, and Wistron along with other mobile manufacturers have applied for the PLI scheme in India. Last month, Apple iPhone 11 models assembled at the Foxconn's Tamil Nadu plant made their way to retail stores in India. Must read | Apple's 'Assembled in India' iPhone 11 hits stores As per the latest reports, Wistron will use its existing Peenya plant, in the western industrial hub in Bengaluru to assemble iPhone SE (2020) series. Currently, it is producing iPhone 7 models. Previously, it used to produce iPhone 6S, iPhone 6, and iPhone SE (1st gen) before that since 2017. Whereas, Foxconn is producing iPhone XR along with the iPhone 11 in Tamil Nadu. Must read | Apple iPhone SE (2020) review: Dainty but Powerful! With the local assembling of iPhones, Apple will be able to save import duties and pass on the benefits to the consumers. Currently, Indian buyers pay close to Rs 20,000 extra on select premium iPhones compared to other global markets due to high customs duty. Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech. The Supreme Court has directed Sushant Singh Rajput's death case to CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and also said that any other FIR filed related to the case will also be investigated by the CBI. As soon as the news hit the internet, fans began to rejoice and the hashtag #CBITakesOver began trending on social media. Sushant Singh Rajput's ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande also tweeted celebrating the victory on Wednesday morning. On August 19, Ankita tweeted a picture of Lady Justice and wrote in the caption, "Justice is the truth in action. Truth wins .... #1ststeptossrjustice."Over the past month, Ankita has been fighting with the late actor's family and fans for CBI to take over the case. Her support also made her the target of some conspiracy theories and allegations, despite which the actress continued to show her support to the late actor's family. Fans have also taken to Twitter to celebrate their victory. One user said, "Sushant is really child of God.God has helped alot and senders of God @Swamy39 @ishkarnBHANDARI @arnabofficial7 and all of his fans,well wishers.#CBITakesOver". A user added, "Yes we win definitely Congrats all we win Truth is win #1stStepToSSRJustice #CBITakesOver." Fans Also Celebrate The Victory In Sushant's Death Case Another netizen wrote, "Supreme Court orders a CBI probe into #SushantSinghRajput case & orders Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence. This nuisance case should never have gone to court, all it did was waste valuable time & likely result in more evidence being lost #CBITakesOver #1stStepToSSRJustice." Few Fans Remind Netizens Justice Is Yet To Be Delivered While many called the SC's ruling a big win, others also reminded that this is just the beginning. One user wrote, "Now is not the time to STOP This case must end with COMPLETE JUSTICE. Har har Mahadev..!! #CBITakesOver #1StepToSSRJustice." Another tweet read, "Now Our Shushant's All Warriors duty to look after CBI Investigation. Look Investigation like Hawak eyes. #CBITakesOver." All FIRs Filed In The Case Will Also Be Transferred To CBI Talking about Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. After filing an accidental death report, Mumbai police has recorded statements of over 50 people including the late actor's family, industry friends, co-stars and others. Mumbai police has now been asked to hand over all the evidence in the case to CBI. 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 Death Case: Supreme Court Orders CBI Inquiry Sushant Singh Rajput's Death: Supreme Court To Give Verdict On CBI Probe Into Actor's Death Today Anything that reduces tensions in the Middle East and contributes to Israels security should be applauded. The agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to establish diplomatic relations in exchange for Israels suspension of settlements and claims to sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (as Israel refers to the West Bank) is a tremendous policy achievement, although UAEs Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed was less enthusiastic in his description of the deal. Not since Israels peace agreement with Jordan in 1994 (and before that, the spectacular one between Israel and Egypt, brokered by President Jimmy Carter with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat) has there been such a positive development in the region. Credit goes to Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump, along with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman for their roles. Former Israeli diplomat Yoram Ettinger thinks a primary motivator for the UAE is fear of Iran. In his newsletter he writes: The UAE considers strategic cooperation with Israel, in general, and the peace accord, in particular, a critical added-value to its line of defense (second only to the U.S.) against lethal threats such as Irans conventional and terror offensive, persistent Muslim Brotherhood terrorism, ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorism, Turkeys operational and logistic support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkeys military base (5,000 soldiers) in the pro-Iran Qatar. The UAE, as well as all other pro-US Arab regimes, recognize Israel as the most effective and reliable life insurance agent in the region. Other Middle East countries, especially Saudi Arabia, also fear Iran and the growing possibility that Tehran will soon possess nuclear weapons. The ever-cautious Saudis appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude before deciding whether to follow the UAE, Jordan and Egypt and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, something that could then shift the pressure to Israel to solve the intractable Palestinian problem. As a Wall Street Journal editorial noted, The diplomatic breakthrough also scrambles a volatile rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both have competed for the mantle of Islamic leadership and used support for the Palestinians to burnish their credentials among fellow Muslims. Any Saudi-Israeli rapprochement, in the absence of a statehood deal with the Palestinians, leaves Riyadh vulnerable to the same criticism Tehran is now leveling against Abu Dhabi. There remains the question of religion. A primary motivator for Arab and Muslim nations still hostile to Israel is their belief in a religious mandate to eradicate the Jewish state. Can such agreements with people many radical Islamists have called infidels, apes, and pigs worthy of death have credibility when these same radical Islamists have been indoctrinated in Islamic schools, pulpits and their media with hatred for Israel and Jews? Will they receive a new revelation from Allah that he now believes its OK for Muslims and Jews to get along? That sounds like a stretch too far for me, but the region is a land of miracles. There is still the question of what to do about terrorist organizations. Will they, possibly in coordination with Iran, launch attacks inside the UAE and against Israel to undermine the accord? The key word in this diplomatic deal is suspend. If the deal leads to other nations in the region following suit and as noted all feel threatened by Iran this will be good for everybody and the Trump administration will have achieved something no one thought possible. If not, Israel would likely pursue annexation. If his name wasnt Trump, the president would likely get the Nobel Peace Prize, but that prize has lost all meaning since it once went to Yasser Arafat, who headed a terrorist organization, and to President Barack Obama, who some believe did nothing to earn it. I am willing to suspend my skepticism about the possibility of genuine peace in the region to see where this agreement leads; but the religious component is key, and until that is resolved I remain neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but cautiously skeptical. Cal Thomas is a columnist syndicated by the Tribune Content Agency. Email him at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Information links: Raven-Symone attempted to beat Southern California's sweltering heat wave by indulging in some retail therapy on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. After appearing to purchase some new Gucci shades, the 34-year-old former Cosby Show star waited outside to be picked up by her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday in their white Tesla SUV. Despite the weather hovering around 90 degrees on Monday, she wore a black long sleeve t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'All other trends suck!' Shopping trip: Raven-Symone attempted to beat Southern California's sweltering heat wave by indulging in some retail therapy on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills She paired the graphic top with a pair of black joggers and aviator sunglasses. In spite of the soaring summer temperatures, she kept her long braids in loose waves, which cascaded down to her waist. While she did her best to keep her mouth and nose covered under a black face mask, she ultimately slipped it off and looked eager to jump into her air conditioner car. Getting hot: After appearing to purchase some new Gucci shades, the 34-year-old former Cosby Show star waited outside to be picked up by her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday in their white Tesla SUV It's no surprise to see the newlyweds, who married in June, shopping at Gucci, as they both sported pieces from the brand on their wedding day. As they exchanged vows, Symone wore a pair of black Gucci ankle boots, while her other half looked incredible in an ivory jumpsuit from the luxury retailer. Upon announcing the news, the That's So Raven gushed she 'got married to a woman who understands' her on Instagram. Keeping it casual: Despite the weather hovering around 90 degrees on Monday, she wore a black long sleeve t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'All other trends suck!' 'I love you Mrs. Pearman-Maday! Let's tear this world a new a**hole!!' she captioned a photo of them hugging on their big day. Due to COVID-19 it appeared the couple opted for a small, homespun affair with the pair posing in a backyard, dressed in their wedding finery. Raven, full name Raven-Symone Christina Pearman, followed up her post saying: 'Thank you to all those who helped and for those who understand why it was small this time.' A hoarder who began collecting items when his partner died 18 years ago is shocked into action after a fellow sufferer admits she 'can't breathe' while visiting his home. Nigel, 64, has accumulated staggering piles of junk including seven sewing machines and yards of wool and fabric, and has a problem with flies in his rubbish-strewn kitchen. He appears on Channel 5's Hoarders on Thursday, where he meets Janice, 65, from Liverpool, who began hoarding to cope with loneliness, and the pair discuss the state of their homes. Janice admits she was 'frightened' by the sight of Nigel's apartment, with the visit motivating her to transform her own living space. 'There was too much stuff and it was smelly, and I couldn't breathe,' she says. Janice, 65, from Liverpool, appears on Channel 5's Hoarders, which airs at 9pm on Thursday, where she reveals she began collecting things to help her cope with loneliness During the programme, Janice is motivated to change after meeting with Nigel, 64, who started hoarding because he could not process the death of his partner Syd in 2002 Janice, who lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached house, explains her habit developed after she began visiting the shops more often out of boredom. She says: 'The hoarding started pure out of loneliness. When you go out, you always end up talking to someone; the problem is, you're always buying stuff, and then you bring it over.' Janice explains she only recently realised she had a problem, revealing: 'It was only when I applied for a boiler, that the lady said, "Oh no we can't do anything, you have to get rid of all this stuff". 'It wasn't until then that I realised there's quite a lot of stuff here.' Janice only realised that her hoarding had become a problem after she was rejected for a boiler Janice, who lives in a three bedroom semi-detached house, owns mountains of junk which fill the rooms of her home Meanwhile, Nigel's hoarding started after losing his partner Syd in 2002, leaving him living alone with his cat. In 2011, Nigel had his house professionally cleaned by the Declutter Divas - however it wasn't long before he fell back into old habits. And the hoarder now owns mountains of junk, which includes seven sewing machines and yards of wool. He says: 'I tried to explain to people who don't have the hoarding disorder how things are, how your emotions go, but they don't seem to understand it.' The 65-year-old says her hoarding habit helps her to cope with loneliness and confesses she hopes visiting Nigel's flat will help her to overcome her problems Nigel, who stores countless yards of fabric in his three-bedroom flat, laments the fact that people don't understand why hoarders live the way they do Nigel had tried to turn his life around and move on from hoarding, but had been unsuccessful. What is hoarding? A hoarding disorder is where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value. Hoarding is considered a significant problem if: the amount of clutter interferes with everyday living for example, the person is unable to use their kitchen or bathroom and cannot access rooms the clutter is causing significant distress or negatively affecting the quality of life of the person or their family for example, they become upset if someone tries to clear the clutter and their relationship suffers. Advertisement He admits being ashamed of the state of his flat and says nobody has visited him in years. Janice says she hopes seeing Nigel's flat will help her overcome her own problem, admitting: 'I am hoping to get some tips on how to maybe not do it again.' Meanwhile, Nigel says he feels 'apprehensive' at the thought of someone visiting his home. He confesses: 'I hope because she is a hoarder herself, she will understand more the situation. Unfortunately, Janice is completely taken aback by the sight of Nigel's flat, telling him: 'I don't know what to say honestly. Do you really need seven sewing machines?' She asks her fellow hoarder: 'Do you think people understand hoarders?' But Nigel is fairly sure that people lack an understanding of the condition, explaining: 'Most people think you're lazy, dirty, or can't be bothered. People just don't get it.' The pair then move into the kitchen, which is filled with flies and mounting piles of dust and garbage. Janice says the visit has scared her into realising how much the issue could spiral out of control, explaining: 'It's frightened me a bit, that if it hadn't have been for a broken boiler, I could have gone further, you know.' Meanwhile for Nigel, the visit is a wake-up call as he explains: 'It's quite good to talk to other hoarders because you never get the chance to talk to other people. Janice says she struggled to breathe during her visit to Nigel's flat, while he says her trip has been a 'wake up call' 'It's now got to stop and I need to get back to how I wanted it.' 'It will make an awful lot of difference to your life,' Janice encourages him, adding: 'You would be able to invite people.' The encounter leaves both hoarders with plenty of food for thought, with Nigel explaining: 'It was nice to chat with another hoarder and pick up their thoughts on my hoard and little suggestions about what might help.' Nigel says he hasn't had visitors in years because he was ashamed of how bad his hoarding had become Meanwhile, the shock visit encourages Janice to do something about her own hoarding habit. She says: 'I was quite shocked that you could put so much in one tiny space.' Shortly after returning from Nigel's, Janice hires a team of experts to help her de-clutter her flat. Hoarders airs on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5 HAIFA, Israel, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (IL0065100443, IL0065100856) (the "Company") hereby notifies, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.03 of an Indenture entered into between ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (the "Company") and Hermetic Trust (1975) Ltd. on July 16, 2014 (the "Indenture"), as follows: The Company's reviewed consolidated financial statements for the period ended on June 30, 2020 , the operating and financial review for such quarterly financial statements and a report on certain financial data as of June 30, 2020 (collectively, the "Second Quarter Reports") are available on both the Company's website (https://www.zim.com/about-zim/reports) and on the official website of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (http://maya.tase.co.il). The Company will host on September 2, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. Israel time ( 2:00 p.m. CET ), a conference call for the holders of its Series 1A, 2A, 1B and 2B Notes to discuss the Second Quarter Reports. In order to participate, please use the following numbers (at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time): Israel: 972-3-9180609 USA: 1-888-668-9141 UK: 0-800-917-5108 Germany: 0-800-182-6846 France: 0-800-903-025 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/827161/ZIM_Logo.jpg Contact: Avner Shats [email protected] SOURCE ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. Victoria Getting on Top of Virus, Australian PM Says Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it looks like Victoria is getting on top of a second wave COVID-19 outbreak, telling Melburnians they must stay the course. Obviously the number of deaths we have seen is very upsetting and disturbing, he told Nines Today show on Aug 19. But those (case) numbers look like we are getting on top of it now, which is welcome and weve got to stay the course. Victoria reported 222 new infection cases on Tuesday, its lowest daily total since July 18, but it was cold comfort to the families of the 17 mostly elderly people who died. Those deaths take the states COVID-19 fatalities to 351 and the national toll to 438. But Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has cautioned that lower testing rates might be linked to a recent run of lower case numbers. We dont want that to be an inhibitor in any way of moving to a new phase and a new set of rules, Andrews said. An inquiry into Victorias hotel quarantine program heard this week about 99 percent of current cases can be traced back to returned travellers who were berthed at two Melbourne hotels. Morrison on Wednesday continued to deflect federal responsibility for the crisis, despite the aged care royal commission last week castigating his government for not having a planan assertion he rejectsto protect the elderly from the virus. We regulate aged care, but when there is a public health pandemic, then public health, whether it gets into aged care, shopping centres, schools or anywhere else, then they are things that are for Victoria, he told ABC breakfast television. Melbourne The founder of a technology consultancy is bringing a legal case against Marriott Hotels at the High Court over claims that it failed to protect the data of hundreds of millions of customers. Martin Bryant is leading the lawsuit which seeks compensation on behalf of England and Wales residents whose data was exposed after they made reservations with the Marriott-owned Starwood Hotels group. Hackers gained access to the Starwood guest reservation database in 2014. Marriott eventually discovered the breach in September 2018, and later made customers aware of it two months later. Marriott, which purchased Starwood Hotels in 2016, was fined 99million by the ICO over the episode, whom US officials have accused China of masterminding An investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that the personal details of 339 million guests across the world were affected by the cyberattack. About seven million UK guest records were affected by the breach, which saw credit card records, dates of birth, and passport and telephone numbers among the information stolen by hackers. Marriott, which purchased Starwood Hotels in 2016, was fined 99million by the ICO over the episode, whom US officials have accused China of masterminding, claims that the Chinese state has denied. Bryant accuses the world's largest hotel chain of violating data protection legislation, claiming it did not 'take adequate steps to ensure the security of guests' personal data, and to prevent unauthorised and unlawful processing of that data.' The former editor-in-chief of technology website The Next Web currently runs the business and marketing consultancy Big Revolution. He hopes the case will make society put greater value on people's personal data. Law firm Hausfeld is representing him in the case, which is being funded by Harbour Litigation. Hotel guests affected by the action are not liable for any costs of the legal action. Bryant's action has been filed in the High Court after a legal decision last year that a collective action could be served against Google over alleged unlawful tracking of iPhone users In a statement on his website, Bryant said the ICO sanction does not go far enough in encouraging Marriott to change its behaviour. He writes: 'If a major corporation suffers a breach because it didn't do everything it could to protect your data, and the worst it suffers is a fine for breaking data protection rules, there's little incentive for anything to really change. 'But if the company becomes accountable to the customers whose data they lost, it's a different matter.' The suit covers any person domiciled in England and Wales who stayed at 11 hotel brands belonging to Marriott including Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Design Hotels, and The Luxury Collection in the relevant period before September 10 2018. Bryant accuses the Marriott of not taking 'adequate steps to ensure the security of guests' personal data, and to prevent unauthorised and unlawful processing of that data' The class action has been filed in the High Court after a Court of Appeal decision last year that a collective action could be served against Google over alleged unlawful tracking of iPhone users in 2011 and 2012 through third-party cookies. Google is appealing the case. Reuters said a London-based spokeswoman for Marriott was not immediately available for comment. Marriott fell victim to a hack again this year when it confessed in March that the information of up to five million guests had been accessed by someone using the log-in details of two staff members at a franchise property. It came just as the company was reeling from the fallout of the plummeting demand for hotel rooms caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It said it had notified the relevant authorities of the breach and had begun an investigation when it discovered the breach and did not think it would bear large costs from the incident. Ryan Reynolds has sold his Aviation Gin to Diageo but will continue to be the face of the brand for the next 10 years. Ryan Reynolds has sold his Aviation Gin to Diageo but will continue to be the face of the brand for the next 10 years. Ryan Reynolds has sold his Aviation Gin to Diageo but will continue to be the face of the brand for the next 10 years. 19 Aug Anyone who often scrolled through Ryan Reynolds' social media would notice that the actor was great at promoting Aviation Gin, a brand he'd co-owned for the past couple of years. Now, it's been revealed that Reynolds has sold the gin brand to Diageo, the British company behind renowned alcohol brands such as Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Tanqueray. In a press statement by Diageo, it was announced that it is acquiring Aviation American Gin through the acquisition of Aviation Gin LLC and Davos Brands LLC ('Davos Brands'), for a total consideration of up to USD610 million. This includes an initial payment of USD335 million and a further potential consideration of up to USD275 million based on the performance of Aviation American Gin over a ten- year period, it stated. Reynolds, who will maintain an ownership interest and continue to be the face of the brand for the next decade, said in the statement, "A little over two years ago, I became an owner of Aviation Gin because I love the taste of Aviation more than any other spirit. "What I didn't expect was the sheer creative joy learning a new industry would bring. Growing the brand with my company, Maximum Effort Marketing, has been among the most fulfilling projects I've ever been involved with. "I want to thank Diageo for their incredible team and passion. We're so excited for the next chapter of Aviation Gin, which, I promise, will require just as little reading." Blake Lively just can't escape Ryan Reynolds' trolling (Photo source: ELLE | VALERY HACHE | AFP via Getty Images). True to his hilarious nature, he even managed to troll wife his wife, actress Blake Lively, in the deal. It is reported by Insider that the actor has set a tongue-in-cheek "out of office" email message for anyone who tries to email him and it mentions Blake's name, among many others. "Thanks for your email. I am currently out of the office but will still be very hard at work selling Aviation Gin. For quite a long time, it seems." "I just learned what an 'earn out' is... And I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone I told to go f--- themselves in the last 24 hours. My lawyers just explained how long it takes to achieve an 'earn out'... so... turns out I'm not as George Clooney as I thought." "The point is, to those listed below, I'm sorry ... and I'll indeed be needing your help in the coming months and years. Thanks in advance!" Among the people and brand listed were his mom, wife, TGI Friday's, AMC Theatres, George Clooney and The Rock. Clooney previously also sold his tequila brand Casamigos to Diageo in 2017 for USD1 billion, while Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson founded and currently owns the ultra-premium tequila brand Teremana Tequila. (Photo source: Ryan Reynolds' Facebook) MISSISSAUGA, ON, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX: MFI) is continuing its rigorous safety efforts at its Brandon, Manitoba, plant to prevent workplace transmission amidst the recent COVID-19 cluster occurring in the community. The plant continues to operate safely, and Public Health experts have said on numerous occasions that there is no evidence of workplace transmission occurring at the plant. The Company is extending its efforts to reduce spread of COVID-19 within the community by reinforcing the importance of precautions such as social distancing and by making 500,000 free masks available to community members. Operationally, Maple Leaf Foods has temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis due to recent protocols adopted by the Chinese government for Canadian processors. The protocol requires any plant reporting a COVID-19 positive case suspend exports to China temporarily. The Company also has been impacted by short-term increases in absenteeism. Maple Leaf Foods believes this is a short-term situation and not a material financial event, given the diversity of the Company's markets. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have been unequivocal about the fact that COVID-19 cannot be transmitted through food products. "We are confident in our Maple Leaf Safety Promise providing consumers with safe, great tasting food made in a safe working environment but, we respect China's new import protocols for Canadian products and are working cooperatively with Canadian and Chinese authorities to resume exports quickly," said Michael McCain, President and CEO. For more Information about our COVID-19 Response please see our website: www.mapleleaffoods.com or click on this link to a video about our efforts. Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements based on Maple Leaf Foods' current expectations and assumptions relating to its business, including the impact of COVID-19, the impact of the suspension of pork exports to China, the conditions and timing for the resumption of pork exports to China, and operations and absenteeism at the Brandon plant. As these forward-looking statements depend upon future events, actual outcomes may differ materially depending on factors such as: government policies and protocols in China and Canada; developments related to COVID-19; plant operations; employee absenteeism; supply chain logistics; international trade dynamics; and other developments in the business, operational, legal and regulatory environments. There can be no assurance that the results or developments anticipated by Maple Leaf Foods will be realized or that they will have the expected outcomes. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Readers are cautioned that they should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements and that the information contained in the forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Further, readers are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date hereof. Maple Leaf Foods does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by securities law. About Maple Leaf Foods Inc. Maple Leaf Foods is a producer of food products under leading brands including Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf Prime, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Schneiders, Schneiders Country Naturals, Mina, Greenfield Natural Meat Co. , Lightlife, Field Roast Grain Meat Co. and Swift. Maple Leaf employs approximately 13,000 people and does business in Canada, the U.S. and Asia. The Company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI). SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc. Related Links http://www.mapleleaf.ca Advertisement The number of vacant apartments for rent in New York City is at its highest level on record, as residents continue to flee the city amid soaring crime and pandemic restrictions. In July, there were more than 67,300 unoccupied rental units available across the city, the most apartments available in any month since StreetEasy started tracking rental inventory in 2010. The surge in vacancies has driven rental prices down some 10 percent across the city, as desperate landlords try to entice new tenants with discounts and sweeteners such as one free month, according to the New York Times. Still, rents in New York remain among the highest in the nation, with the median rental price at $3,167 in July, a 10 percent drop from July 2019. In July, there were more than 67,300 unoccupied rental units available across the city, this StreetEasy data shows Signs of life have returned to Times Square, seen above on Tuesday, but residents of New York continue to flee the city People continue to move out of New York in droves, as the pain of lockdowns is replaced with the danger of soaring crime. Above, a Manhattan couple uses a U-Haul van to move out of the city in May Driving the mass exodus from the city has been the misery caused by the coronavirus pandemic which killed hundreds a day at its peak in early April. A StreetEasy map shows the areas with highest vacancy Though the virus has been wrestled well under control in the city, harsh lockdown rules still stifle many of the pleasures of city life, while unemployment has risen sharply, and violent crime has exploded in the months since late May. The wealthy were among the first to flee, decamping to second homes and snapping up real estate in Connecticut and Rhode Island in the early days of lockdown in March and April. They were followed by legions of young people: students, restaurant workers, Broadway theater hands and others who had no reason to continue paying sky-high rents in the city with universities and businesses shut down. Between March 1 and May 1, some 420,000 people left the city, cell phone location data shows, and by some estimates the number may have exceeded one million in the months since, or 10 percent of the city's population. Many of those who remained faced financial hardship. The citys latest unemployment rate, which was released in June, was over 20 percent -- double the highs during the Great Recession of 2008, and approaching levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In early June, just as lockdown restrictions began to ease, a dangerous new chapter in the crisis began, when protests over racial injustice exploded into nights of looting and attacks on police. In the last five years the number of shootings fell to a low of 754 in 2018, but is now rising Four men were wounded in a 'random' drive-by shooting outside the Ravenswood Houses in Astoria, Queens on Tuesday Seen above, the bloodshed that unfolded in just a few hours in broad daylight on Tuesday in New York City Months of soaring violent crime have followed. Heat waves, high unemployment, and the grinding misery of social distancing restrictions have all contributed to an atmosphere in which tempers spin out of control, and verbal disputes between strangers often turn violent. On Saturday morning, one such incident unfolded on a platform at Grand Central Station in the heart of Manhattan, when a man was shot and wounded in broad daylight. Police say the victim and the shooter had some kind of verbal dispute on the train, and the victim was attempting to flee when the gunman shot him in the arm at 10.30am. Last month, shooting incidents across the city were up 177 percent compared to last year. Murders were up 59 percent for the month, burglaries rose 31 percent, and auto thefts increased 53 percent. Facing pressure from activists, as well as a mounting budget crisis, Mayor Bill de Blasio cut $1 billion from the NYPD's $6 billion annual budget. The mayor has also boasted of the large number of inmates released from Rikers Island due to the pandemic, proudly declaring that city jails had the lowest inmate population since WWII. Meanwhile, de Blasio's plan to house homeless people in luxury hotels across the city at taxpayer expense has caused uproar, with residents complaining of brazen open drug use, lewd displays, and harassment from the homeless individuals. De Blasio said on Monday that he would start moving some of the 13,000 homeless people he put into hotels back into shelters after receiving widespread complaints from residents and officials, but he gave no details on when the process would begin or how he would make sure people go where they are meant to. A makeshift camp using discarded furniture is seen under a scaffold in the Bowery on Monday Homeless people congregate at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 3rd Street in the East Village on Thursday, August 13 A homeless encampment along Broadway and Franklin street in lower Manhattan sits abandoned on August 13 A homeless encampment can be seen along West 38th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue in Manhattan on August 13 Makeshift shanty towns -- constructed from the furniture abandoned by fleeing residents -- have sprung up in the East Village, Chelsea and Midtown. Some argue that the city has faced crisis before, such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, but has always bounced back stronger than ever. Fred Wilson, the co-founder of Union Square Ventures, argued in a blog post on Wednesday that the crisis would make the city a better place to live. 'It is certainly the case that many talented people are leaving NYC right now. It is also the case that the city is suffering from rising crime, filth, etc,' he wrote. 'NYC is not going out of business. It will need a turnaround. It will need new leadership, which it will get. The pandemic will end. Restaurants, museums, broadway, nightclubs, etc, etc, etc will re-open. 'It won't be the same NYC that existed pre-pandemic. But that is a good thing. NYC has sucked for the last decade or more,' he added. A mostly empty Eighth Ave in New York during a period of mandatory sheltering at home to fight the covid-19 pandemic Movers are seen packing belongings into a van for Manhattan residents who moved out of the city in May In one bright spot, Amazon announced plans to add 2,000 new employees and build a flagship office in New York, bucking the trend of companies and residents fleeing urban centers. The company said on Tuesday that it will open a new office in Manhattan's Lord & Taylor Fifth Avenue building. The office is expected to be complete in 2023, and the company told DailyMail.com that the new employees could take several years to hire. Others are convinced that the city's best days are behind it. They include James Altucher, who co-owns a comedy club in the city and also describes himself as an angel investor and author. He and his family fled to Miami after the June riots and looting made them fear for their lives and their children's safety, when people tried to break into his apartment building. He is convinced that the city will not 'bounce back', as many claim it will, and explains that unlike in previous crises, there is nothing bringing people back now because everyone can work remotely. Leaving New York: Olivia Boren leaves her apartment for the last time as she and her husband Chris Dooly flee the city 'Even in the 1970s, and through the 80s, when NYC was going bankrupt, even when it was the crime capital of the U.S. or close to it, it was still the capital of the business world (meaning, it was the primary place young people would go to build wealth and find opportunity,' he wrote in his blog. 'NYC has never been locked down for five months. Not in any pandemic, war, financial crisis, never. 'In the middle of the polio epidemic, when little kids (including my mother) were becoming paralyzed or dying (my mother ended up with a bad leg), NYC didnt go through this,' he wrote. 'Theres a before and after. BEFORE: No remote work. AFTER: Everyone can work remotely. The difference: bandwidth got faster. And thats basically it. People have left New York City and have moved completely into virtual worlds. 'The Time-Life Building doesnt need to fill up again. Wall Street can now stretch across every street instead of just being one building in Manhattan.' It took approximately 20 seconds for former secretary of state John Kerry to drop the first flagrant lie in his Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday, when he claimed that the Obama administrations so-called Iran deal had eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon. It didnt get any better from there. Kerry knows well that sunset provisions in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provided Irans government with a pathway to building nuclear weapons in a few years. He knows well that Israel uncovered a giant cache of documents with instructions on how to jumpstart a program to build a nuclear arsenal, which undermined both the spirit and the rationale of the nonproliferation agreement Iran signed. He knows that Iran was developing ballistic-missile programs meant to deliver nuclear weapons. Kerrys big accomplishment was to destroy a sanctions program that was working, thereby saving the Islamic Republic from economic ruin. This allowed the Islamist government to strengthen its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Yemen, and Iraq. Now Kerry says Trump doesnt know how to defend the troops? Well, Im not sure that the man who oversaw the billions in direct cash payments to a government that had a hand in murdering and maiming hundreds of American troops has the moral authority to level that criticism. Kerry himself acknowledged that sanctions relief would likely end up in the coffers of Irans Revolutionary Guard now a designated terror group. Surely, then, he knew that the pallets of euros and Swiss francs he was shipping to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane would also find their way to the groups triggering conflicts across the Middle East not to mention subjugating people at home. While many argued for a maximum-pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, Kerry preferred the no-pressure route. The Iran deal, in fact, often seemed to be the Obama administrations top obsession. Nothing would stand in the way. And while the media echo chamber was misleading the public at home, Kerry was placating Russia and allowing a humanitarian disaster to unfold in Syria in an effort to save the deal. Story continues Around the time the Obama administration was chasing an Iran deal, the Syrian government, backed by the Islamic Republic, was crossing the presidents Red Line and gassing civilians. Michael Doran, a former senior director of the National Security Council, noted that from the beginning of the crisis Obama showed deference to Iran on the nuclear front and the same deference to the Iranian interest in Syria. Even when the Unites States began funding rebel forces in Syria, the administration reportedly wouldnt allow Iranians ally to be touched. When pressed on the matter by some Syrian civil-society workers in London, then Secretary Kerry snapped, What do you want me to do, go to war with Russia? Obama officials led by Kerry long peddled this false choice: the Iran deal or war. Well, we are no longer a party to Iran deal, and there is no war. Meanwhile, there is a highly weakened Iran, and there are growing alliances among our Sunni allies and Israel. Kerry would continue to entertain Iranian officials even after he was out of government. When Trump ordered a drone strike of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani, a man who masterminded the killing of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians, Kerry said the world was in no way at all safer, and claimed that Trump was risking an outright war. All Iran did was launch a performative counterstrike. Kerry was wrong about Iran. Kerry was also wrong about Israel a nation he doesnt ever seem to consider an ally in his speeches about Obamas alleged foreign-policy successes. And when the U.S. embassy was about to be moved to Jerusalem, Kerry warned it would lead to an explosion in the Middle East more specifically, an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region. Moreover, Kerry declared, it would have a serious and negative repercussions on relations between Israel and the Arab world, making peace far less likely. Of course, outside of some typical Palestinian noise, the opposite has happened. Only recently, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to a historic deal that normalized relations between them. They were no doubt partly brought together by the Obama administrations unprecedented coddling of the mullahs. Other Arab Gulf states are expected join the UAE, though it is well-known that many of them already have clandestine working relationships with Israel. This week, Sudan, the third-largest Arab nation, announced it was close to reaching its own peace deal with the Jewish state. All of this seems pretty significant. It would surely have been massive news if the Obama administration had helped forge the pacts. Right now, though, Obama has one more Nobel prize than he does a peace agreement. And time keeps proving John Kerry wrong. More from National Review - Heart Evangelista used to be in a relationship with Jericho Rosales and Daniel Matsunaga - She shared some details on what was it like when she was still shooting a teleserye with Jericho - The actress also talked about what went wrong between her and Daniel when they were still together - Heart revealed some of her realizations after the two failed relationships with the actors PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Heart Evangelista talked about the relationships she had with actors Jericho Rosales and Daniel Matsunaga. KAMI learned that the actress shared details about her previous relationships before she met her husband, Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero. Photo from Flickr Source: UGC In an Instagram live with writer G3 San Diego, Heart recalled the time she was shooting the teleserye Ang Panday in 2005 with Jericho. I think that part of my life. Like that whole experience with me fighting for my independence and all of the rebellious acts that I did at that time was really one of the best times of my life, she said, as reported by PUSH. "That was me becoming a lady, into a woman and really discovering myself, my strengths and weaknesses. Although I still ended up being very weak at that time because I was just very confused because of my family, she added. According to Heart, she really enjoyed her life as an actress and doing shows with big production. It was such a big production. With Hiram, I was with other artistas. It was my first time being a real leading lady. I enjoyed it. I really did. I think I enjoyed it a little too much, she shared. Heart also talked about her past relationship with Daniel. She also revealed why it did not work out for them. I went to Brazil because I was with Daniel. You know, Daniel, when we were together of course, I loved him when we were together but I really loved him for the person he was, But in some way, I knew that we werent for each other. I felt na hes such a good guy, I knew somebody else could make him happy. I knew that parang we are just so different. I didnt want to force it. The one with Daniel, it wasnt that stressful. I felt bad for him because I really, really scared him. But it wasnt the others like in the past and in the present. Yung Panday days and then 'yung Chiz Escudero days, super stressful the stuff that went on behind all the interviews, its crazy, she said. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Heart Evangelista is a famous actress, endorser, and fashion icon in the Philippines. She is married to former Senator Chiz Escudero who is now the governor of Sorsogon. Recently, Heart sets the record straight after netizen asked her if she will be entering politics in Sorsogon just like her husband. She also surprised the netizens when she shared her ukay-ukay outfit on social media that only costs P270. Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts! Source: KAMI.com.gh SCHWENKSVILLE If you walked into The Duck Inn Taproom today, a thriving family-friendly restaurant and bar thats located right on the banks of the Perkiomen Creek on Route 29 in Perkiomen Township, youd have no idea what type of hell the owner and his loyal staff endured just a few short months ago. In [] Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has criticised the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over its alleged untouchable approach towards cooperative banks and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter. The outlook of RBI is that the share of the cooperative banking sector in the overall banking sector is merely 3%... It has been insisting on the conversion of cooperative banks into private banks. It is pertinent to mention here that RBI, since 1993, has been trying to convert urban cooperative banks (UCBs) into private banks by setting up various committees and issuing circulars from time to time to implement recommendations of these committees, but could not succeed, Pawar said in a letter written to PM Modi on August 15. In the wake of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Banks fallout due to a scam similar to that of Madhavpura Cooperative Bank, to end existence of the cooperative banking sector, the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 3 by making several amendments in the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as suggested by RBI. When the Parliament was suspended due to Covid-19 and no discussion it could be held, the bill was converted into an ordinance on June 24, the letter states. Pawar said that he agreed that there should be financial discipline in the banks, but it would be certainly incorrect to say that such a conversion of the cooperative sector into a private sector would completely or partially prevent misappropriation of funds, financial irregularities and frauds. To prove his point, he shared data published by RBI regarding financial fraud in the banking sector for the last financial year. In the financial year 2019-20, an alleged fraud of 4,355 crore was identified in the PMC Bank scam, while during the first half of the year, fraud of approximately 95,700 crore was reported in nationalised banks. Therefore, it is not correct to say that misappropriation of funds or financial irregularities are observed in cooperative banks only. Further, it seems absurd to claim that privatisation of cooperative banks would curb or reduce banking fraud, the letter mentioned. I therefore earnestly request you [Modi] to kindly look into the matter personally and give justice to the cooperative banking sector, which has a legacy of more than 100 years and is striving hard not only to exist but to grow despite all odds, Pawar wrote. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Crown Resorts chief executive Ken Barton says he is confident local punters will return to the group's Melbourne casino as soon as they can but has revised down expectations of foreign high-rollers pouring into its new gambling house in Sydney. Main floor gaming turnover at Crown Perth, which reopened in late June after being closed by COVID-19 restrictions, was up 18 per cent in the six weeks to August 16 compared to the same period last year even with measures in place to enforce social distancing. Crown's Melbourne casino remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit:Getty Images Mr Barton said that showed a level of "pent-up demand" when casinos re-open and provided hope of a similar rebound at Crown Melbourne, which accounts for 70 per cent of its earnings and has been closed since late March. Were confident that once the restrictions are eased, weve got enough data points to suggest people will want to come back," he said. Sushant Singh Rajput Death Anniversary: A Timeline of the of events that have transpired so far SC orders CBI probe into death of Sushant Singh Rajput India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: The Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Supreme Court orders CBI probe, rejects Rhea's plea | Oneindia News The court also asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case. The Supreme Court also said that the Bihar government had the right to refer the Patna FIR lodged by Sushant's father to the CBI. The court also said that the CBI will be competent to probe not only the Patna FIR, but also any other FIR related to the case. The Maharashtra Government has been asked to comply and assist in the case. The CBI is also free to register a fresh case, the Supreme Court also held. The court also said that since the Mumbai Police had registered only an accidental death report following Rajput's death, it had limited investigation powers. Since the Bihar police registered a full fledged FIR, which already stands referred to the CBI, the central agency must probe the case, the SC also held. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. The top court, which had reserved its judgement on the plea on August 11, was told by the Bihar government that "political clout" has not allowed Mumbai Police to even register an FIR in Rajput''s case. Maharashtra government had argued that Bihar completely lacks jurisdiction in the matter. Chakraborty''s counsel had told the bench that probe by Mumbai Police has "proceeded quite substantially" as it has recorded statements of 56 persons in the case. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Rajput's father, Krishna Kishore Singh, had countered submissions advanced by Chakraborty's counsel and said that they have "no faith" in Maharashtra Police. Chakraborty's lawyer had argued that FIR lodged by Rajput's father has "absolutely no connection with any offence in Patna" and there was considerable delay of around 38 days in its lodging. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had said that only FIR lodged in the case was in Bihar and the Enforcement Directorate has also started its separate probe in the matter. The FIR in Patna was registered by Singh against Chakraborty and others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). The Centre had earlier informed the top court that it has accepted the recommendation of Bihar government for CBI probe into the FIR lodged at Patna by Rajput's father who has accused Chakraborty and six others of various offences including abetment of suicide. The cities of Portland, Maine, Buffalo, New York and Omaha, Nebraska, share a common visiona future where parking is no longer a burden for city leaders or the communities they serve.Digital technology has changed how people live, move and do everyday tasks. These advancements have spiked a rapid growth in both the needs of parking operations and the demand from motorists who rely on them. However, the siloed, antiquated software historically used to manage parking has made it hard for cities to keep up with the pace of change.As a result, parking officials suffer with systems that are difficult to manage, inflexible and that fail to provide mission-critical data in an automated way. Davis Hough, Senior Special Assistant to the Parking Commissioner of the City of Buffalo, explained, We struggled to manage multiple analog systems that were not integrated, not in real time and not able to adapt to an accelerated evolution at the curb. We knew it was time to take action and ensure our city would be more innovative and efficient moving forward.Furthermore, when it comes to mobile payments for parking, motorists options are very limited, which is opposite of the modern experience they expect. People dont want to waste time searching for and downloading a different parking app every time they visit a new city. They also dont want to be forced to use a certain app. They expect the freedom to choose. In some cases, such as with people who require ADA accessibility, choice is even more crucial. Ken Smith, Parking and Mobility Manager for the City of Omaha said, Technology will continue to advance, and people expect that our city will keep up. If our residents or visitors prefer to use one app over another when paying for parking, we want to accommodate them. We dont want anything to deter or inconvenience them. Wed like to increase mobile pay parking usage in our city.Blazing a trail of modernization, the cities of Portland, Buffalo and Omaha have set their sights on a revolutionary, new parking management technology. The solution, created by transportation software company Passport , is an end-to-end digital operating system designed to unify parking management and modernize the customer parking experience.Passports Operating System unlocks a revolutionary, open ecosystem model - a first of its kind for the US industry. This model makes it possible for cities to offer a wide range of mobile applications and manage them all within the same backend system. Motorists gain the freedom to choose their preferred app to pay for parking and cities manage all the app vendors seamlessly - without additional effort, contracts or complexity.In support of the open ecosystem model, John Peverada, Parking Division Director for the City of Portland, shared, We believe customers will perceive additional choices - multiple mobile apps to pay - as an enhancement and our goal is that mobile payment usage will increase as a result. I think its important to keep up with improved products that make their parking experience easier and quicker.And Hough added, Like the City of Buffalo, Passport recognizes that paying for parking should be much more convenient for motorists and easier for cities to manage than it currently is. Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Buffalo, under the leadership of Mayor Byron W. Brown, began moving away from parking meters and toward more mobile pay only zones. We look forward to building on our positive progress and finding even more ways to provide safe, contactless payment options for our community through the Passport Operating System.Regarding the advantages of the unified system, Smith explained, The Passport Operating System will integrate different data sources operating within the City of Omahas parking ecosystem and provide us intelligent management insights in real time. Theres just one login to remember, where youll find historic, current and projected parking data in one convenient place.Portland, Buffalo and Omaha are among the first of a growing list of cities leveraging the Passport Operating System to redefine parking management and improve the parking experience. The shared vision is one with customer choice, increased revenue, better data, future adaptability and unified parking management.To find out more about how Passport is helping cities, please visit the website German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz is considering increasing prices of its vehicles in India to offset the impact of high currency volatility witnessed in the last six months, according to a top company official. Compatriot Audi is also evaluating such a step although it has not set any timeline for the same. "In view of the high currency volatility witnessed since the last six months, we may look at a price revision of our product range soon," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Martin Schewnk said. He, however, did not elaborate on the exact time, quantum and range of the planned price hike. With the average exchange rate of rupee for euro going up from Rs 79 in February to Rs 87 in August, the company's input costs have gone up. Currently, Mercedes-Benz India sells a range of luxury vehicles starting from the C-Class priced at Rs 41 lakh to AMG GT Coupe tagged at Rs 2.5 crore. When reached out if the company is also considering a similar move to increase vehicle prices, an Audi India official said, "We are evaluating this but there is no timeline at the moment." Tata Motors-owned JLR, however, said it has "no such plan or announcements on the anvil". She reportedly split with her Love Island beau last month. And Sophie Piper was certainly showing ex Connor Durman what he was missing on Wednesday, as she shared a sizzling lingerie snap on her Instagram page. The reality star, 21, showcased her curvaceous frame in pretty black lace lingerie set, as she flaunted her ample assets in the semi-sheer bra. Wow! Sophie Piper was certainly showing ex Connor Durman what he was missing on Wednesday, as she shared a sizzling lingerie snap on her Instagram page Sophie teamed her delicate bra with an equally skimpy matching thong, which highlighted her phenomenal physique. She styled her highlighted locks in a loose poker straight fashion, while enhancing her pretty features with a full face of make-up. She captioned the snap: Forever value your body @bouxavenue got me feeling as confident as ever in this new fabulous Keyla plunge lingerie set #MyBoux.' Sizzling: The reality star, 21, showcased her curvaceous frame in pretty black lace lingerie set, as she flaunted her ample assets in the semi-sheer bra Looking good: Sophie shared a further selection of snaps of herself in the underwear to her Instagram Stories Sophie shared a further selection of snaps of herself in the underwear to her Instagram Stories. It comes following reports she split with Connor just six months after leaving the villa. The admin assistant and the coffee bean salesman, 25, met and fell for each over during the winter version of the ITV2 series in January this year, with the duo said to have taken things slowly once they got home. However, amid the coronavirus pandemic, it's reported that the pair haven't seen each other since lockdown began and that they never even made their romance 'official'. All over: Sophie and Connor reportedly split just six months after leaving the villa (pictured in February) A source told The Sun: 'Things just fizzled out. They never even went official.' They continued: 'It just didnt have a chance to get started because of lockdown and they both agreed it was better to just stay friends.' When Connor was dumped from the South African villa, the pair vowed to continue their relationship once they got both got back to the UK. However, things were not meant to be as they never got around to officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. Split: The admin assistant and the coffee bean salesman, 25, met and fell for each over during the winter version of the ITV2 series in January this year, with the duo said to have taken things slowly once they got home MailOnline have contacted Sophie's representatives for comment. In February, Sophie insisted that she was not in a relationship with her reality co-star beau during a radio interview on Will Njobvus radio show on Capital XTRA alongside fellow evictee Leanne Amaning. 'No we are not together at all!' she declared. 'We are just seeing each other! It's a situation-ship. I will get to know him, go on dates with him.' Sophie, whose sister is Rochelle Humes, added: 'He's met both of my sisters at Aftersun the other day. I've met his sister. They think he's lovely. They approve.' Never got started: amid the coronavirus pandemic, it's reported that the pair haven't seen each other since lockdown began and that they never even made their romance 'official' Meanwhile, Connor was said to have denied the pair were on the rocks back in March, hinting that they were set to move in together. Elsewhere, it was recently announced that the TV series won't be airing another winter edition in 2021. The summer 2020 series was cancelled in May due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and bosses at the channel recently announced that the next series of the ITV2 dating show won't be for another year. 'Love Island UK will return bigger and better than ever with an extended run in summer 2021,' ITV announced in a statement to MailOnline. Still friends? A source told The Sun : 'Things just fizzled out. They never even went official' (pictured in February) The axing of both the summer 2020 series and a winter series in early 2021 is in large part down to the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on travel and filming causing huge issues for the show. Pre-production on the winter 2021 series was scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, but with so many quarantine and social distancing measures still in place, it's thought it wouldn't be possible to fly cast and crew to location and work safely. Instead producers are keen to focus on one bumper season of the show next summer, which will likely return to Mallorca, after the winter 2020 series took place in South Africa. More than 3,000 Students at FEU High School to Use ALEKS While Studying Remotely Due to COVID-19 SINGAPORE, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Far Eastern University (FEU) in Manilla, Philippines has chosen McGraw Hill's ALEKS adaptive learning software for more than 3,000 students in math and business courses at FEU High School in Academic Year 2020-2021. The prestigious university chose ALEKS to make virtual learning more effective and engaging with courses delivered all online this school year due to COVID-19. Students in General Mathematics and Fundamentals of Accounting, Business and Management 1 and 2 will use ALEKS, a digital platform that uses artificial intelligence to provide personalized learning pathways for learners. The decision to adopt ALEKS enhances the university's position as a steadfast provider of accessible, quality future-ready learning. "As FEU gears up for the opening of classes in August, we need a trusted partner that can support and level up our current learning management system," said Dr. Michael Alba, President of FEU. "With the help of McGraw Hill, one of the largest learning resource publishers and most awarded instructional solutions today, we strive to make virtual learning engaging and more student-oriented." For more than 20 years, McGraw Hill ALEKS has helped educators in math and chemistry to quickly and accurately zero in on exactly which topics students understand and which topics they need help with, empowering teachers to deliver the most effective instruction possible. Built on the theory of "knowledge spaces" from cognitive science, ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) uses artificial intelligence to create personalized and dynamic learning paths for K-20 students based on their unique needs. To date, ALEKS has served more than 20 million students at thousands of K-12 schools, colleges and universities throughout the world. "We're thrilled to continue our partnership with Far Eastern University this academic year and that they're choosing ALEKS as part of the university's efforts to unlock the potential of their students," said Joseph Chong, Managing Director of McGraw Hill Asia. "Facing the daunting challenge of providing quality learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the university has shown its commitment to putting students first through innovative approaches to online learning and digital instruction." In addition to using ALEKS for math and business courses, FEU schools will also leverage McGraw Hill's Connect and Redbird Math digital programs to increase student success. McGraw Hill's support for FEU is the latest example of the learning science company's many partnerships with leading institutions around the world who are undergoing digital transformations. McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is a learning science company that delivers personalized learning experiences that drive results for students, parents, educators and professionals. We focus on educational equity, affordability and learning success to help learners build better lives. Headquartered in New York City, McGraw Hill has offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 75 languages. Visit us at mheducation.com or find us on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn or Twitter . FEU Far Eastern University (FEU) has long been regarded as one of the top universities in the Philippines; it aims to be a university of choice in Asia. Founded in 1928 by Dr. Nicanor Reyes, FEU is envisioned as an institution that offers accessible, quality, and future-ready education. The university continually strives for academic excellence by sharpening the value proposition of an FEU education, updating the relevance of its curriculum, integrating technology in its delivery modes, and expanding its physical plant. FEU Group of Schools include FEU Manila, FEU Tech, FEU Diliman, FEU Cavite, FEU Makati, FEU Alabang, FEU Roosevelt, and FEU High School. Visit us at feu.edu.ph or on Facebook. Contact: Tyler Reed McGraw Hill (646) 766-2951 [email protected] Related Links http://mheducation.com SOURCE McGraw Hill Press Release August 19, 2020 Gatchalian warns 'academic freeze' will increase learning losses, inequalities While Senator Win Gatchalian was one of the first to propose a deferment of the supposed August 24 class opening to a later date due to uncertainties brought about by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, he strongly opposes an 'academic freeze', warning that it would end up increasing learning losses and inequalities among the country's learners. According to Gatchalian, education will continue among well-prepared schools and advantaged learners with the means to continue learning, leaving behind their disadvantaged counterparts. He added that providing all learners the opportunity to continue their education amid the pandemic gives them a fighting chance in terms of education and having a better future. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture also pointed out the examples of other countries, where time out of school led to learning losses that continue to accumulate even after schools reopen. A working paper from Georgetown University showed that four years after a 2005 earthquake in Pakistan that closed schools for three months, learners who lived closest to the fault line lost an equivalent of 1.5 to two years' worth of learning. A World Bank memo also projects that in Brazil, the number of 10-year-old children in learning poverty, or those who are unable to read and understand, is projected to increase by 84,000 because of school closures. Aside from learning loss, the World Bank estimates that five months of school closures would result in up to $10 trillion dollars in lost earnings overtime for affected learners worldwide. Vulnerable and struggling students stand to lose their schooling persistence if schools do not offer support, which would result to higher dropout rates and increased exposure to adverse effects such as child labor. In countries such as Brazil, Guatemala, India, Mexico, and Tanzania, parental unemployment due to economic shocks result in children stepping in to provide temporary support. With the country deep in recession for the first time in many years, Gatchalian warned that the patterns observed in those countries could happen among Filipino youth if they are denied of learning opportunities. To date, enrollment data show that more than 4 million learners are already at risk of becoming out of school children and youth. "Kung susuriin natin ang naging karanasan ng mga bansang dumaan sa matinding krisis, malaking pinsala ang dulot sa kabataan kung hahayaan nating hindi sila mabigyan ng tama at dekalidad na edukasyon. Kaya imbes na tuluyang ipagpaliban ang pagbubukas ng klase, kailangang gamitin ang dagdag na panahon upang masigurong ang darating na pasukan ay magiging ligtas at mabisa para sa ating mga mag-aaral, guro, at mga kawani," said Gatchalian. Gatchalian also urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure all learning materials are prepared before the official opening of classes on October 5. He also emphasized the need to give teachers and non-teaching personnel assurance on their health and safety concerns, citing their crucial role in the successful roll-out of the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). A surveillance photo of the masked suspects believed to have intentionally set a fire that killed a family of 5. (Denver Police) Photo Shows Masked Suspects Believed to Have Set Fire That Killed 5 in Denver Masked suspects are sought in the house fire that killed five family members, including two children, in Denver, said police. The Denver Police Department released a surveillance photo Tuesday that showed several individuals who are believed to have set the home on fire earlier this month. Djibril Diol, 29; Adja Diol, 23; 2-year-old daughter Khadija, Djibrils sister Hassan Diol, 25; and her daughter Hawa Baye were killed in the blaze, as reported by 9 News. Officials said that three suspects were spotted in a photo with full-face masks and hoodies. They fled the scene in a dark-colored sedan of some kind. Officials havent disclosed a motive in the crime. Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 720-913-7867. A $14,000 reward is being offered in the case. PLZ RT: Five people were killed in fire in the 5300 block of N Truckee Street. The fire appeared to be deliberately set by unknown persons who fled the area. Anyone w/info on this homicide is asked to call @CrimeStoppersCO at 720-913-7867 and you could earn a $14k reward! #Denver pic.twitter.com/7xbU2XQWDH Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) August 18, 2020 According to a GoFundMe, the Diol family still needs money for a funeral. The Senegalese-Mauritania community in Denver woke up to tragic news, the page says. Djibril Diol, aka Djiby had passed away in a tragic house fire. Djiby, his wife, his sister, his daughter, and his niece all passed away. Djiby cared for his family, his brothers, and parents. It adds: Djiby a young man with a promising future in Civil Engineering has left behind a community that he so deeply loved and cared for. We are saddened by the loss of a loving Dad, a nurturing husband, and a caring brother to all of us. Please help the family with the cost of sending the bodies back homes for a proper burial. I remember coming home from college one summer and talking politics with my father on our back porch; we must have been arguing about colonialism and the history of U.S. foreign intervention when I told him about a CIA-led coup in Iran in 1953 that overthrew Mohammad Mossadegh, the country's democratically elected prime minister, and installed the far more compliant (and, it turned out, corrupt and tyrannical) Shah. My father didn't believe me, a harbinger of cultural and political reality-bubbles that would only harden over the subsequent 40 years. But it did happen - on Aug. 19 of that year, as it happens - and in the absorbing, densely layered documentary "Coup 53," not only are the events of that episode revisited with painfully precise detail, but some of their enduring mysteries are plumbed to tantalizingly provocative effect. Traveling from Iran to Paris to London and Washington, filmmaker Taghi Amirani is on a mission simply to memorialize the coup, which turned out to be a joint effort of the United States and the United Kingdom to protect oil interests against Mossadegh's nationalization of that industry. (He was reflexively - and wrongly - perceived as a natural ally of the U.S.S.R., even though he was a fervent anti-communist.) Although the Americans eventually copped to their role in the coup - effectively taking credit for it - Britain has stayed mum about an event that launched a thousand tragic ripple effects, most notably the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, who plunged a sophisticated, cosmopolitan country into miserable religious repression. As one source observes in "Coup 53," Feb. 11, 1979 - the day the Ayatollah assumed power - was effectively Aug. 20, 1953. In erasing their own fingerprints from Mossadegh's removal, the U.K. also scrubbed from the record one of the event's most important players, a shadowy figure named Norman Darbyshire. Following a trail that includes visits with Mossadegh's family, poring over a trove of documents at Washington's National Security Archive and discovering a gold mine in the form of an old television documentary, Arimani and editor Walter Murch transform "Coup 53" before our eyes from a personal essay to an illuminating political history and finally to a brilliantly self-referential exercise in documentary filmmaking (the Post-it notes that festoon the team's office offer a candid glimpse of just how difficult seamlessness is to pull off). At a time when "gaslighting" has taken pride of place in the collective vernacular, "Coup 53" offers an invaluable tutorial in how it's been practiced, not just by awful individuals, but - perhaps even more dangerously - corporations and governments that hide greed, chauvinism and bareknuckled self-interest behind a scrim of moral righteousness and, in this case, Cold War paranoia. As enlightening as "Coup 53" is as a secret history, it's even more satisfying as an aesthetic exercise, treating viewers to one of cleverest workarounds in cinematic problem-solving in recent memory. It's a nonfiction film that functions precisely as all documentaries should: as a piece of doggedly investigative, personally transparent reporting, and as simply great storytelling, full stop. - - - Four stars. Unrated. Available at sunscinema.com. Contains nothing objectionable. In English, Farsi and French with subtitles. 118 minutes. Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time. The Tragedy of More Missed COVID-19 Opportunities According to a new report, US states are the most virus-affected relative to major economies. As COVID-19 has proceeded in two phases, containment failures in the West continue to fuel the pandemic and economic damage. In April, my first COVID-19 report focused on the progression of the pandemic from China to Western Europe and the United States, and the belated mobilization and containment failure in Washington and Brussels. My new report The Tragedy of More Missed Opportunities , which is also released by Shanghai Institutes for International Studies [with Chinese introduction] , focuses on the new missedCOVID-19 opportunities and the consequent human costs and economic damage in the largest world economies, particularly in emerging and developing countries. At the current rate, the confirmed cases could exceed 25 million by the end of August. In the absence of deceleration, these cases could soar to 50-60 million and deaths to 1.5 to 1.7 million by the year-end. And as projected by the April report, the devastation would prove most significant in the United States. Distressingly, the new report shows how even more opportunities have been missed in the past quarter, as a result of the old public-health debacles and premature exits, continued policy mistakes and the consequent collateral damage in all income groups of world economies (high-, middle-, and low-income). Following standards-setting measures to contain the outbreak in January-February, Chinese economy is rebounding. In contrast, economies, which began COVID-19 mobilization belatedly, struggle with disastrous 2nd quarter results, as projected by the first report. In the Americas, US failure of containment, poor crisis management and premature exits, coupled with poorer economies and weaker health systems, have resulted in the worst regional crisis worldwide. Yet, Canadas track record suggests proper precautions can work, despite elevated risks in the region. US states most virus-affected relative to world economies In January, President Trump congratulated President Xi Jinping for Chinas success in the containment of the COVID-19. But as the Trump administrations delayed responses and poor crisis management failed to contain the pandemic in the US, Trump reversed his stance. To win re-election, the White House has blamed China for the pandemic and escalated the trade war diplomacy, technology, and finance. Yet, contrary to the Trump White Houses narrative, the global pandemic actually evolved in two phases. The first involved mainly Chinese cases from Wuhan, Hubei, and it was contained rather quickly. The second phase involved especially Western Europe and the US, and it continues to fuel the global pandemic. To understand the full magnitude of the adverse spillovers, lets think of US states as independent economies. If these states were sovereign entities, then by August almost a fourth of the 25 most virus-affected economies were in the US, with California, Florida, Texas and New York in the top-10, right after the large economies of Brazil, India and Russia, even South Africa. Nevertheless, aggregate data reflect poorly the actual realities unless adjusted to the size of population. To gain a more valid picture of the pandemic intensity, lets focus on population-adjusted data (total cases/1 million population). In this view, US states accounted for a whopping 23 of the 25 most-virus affected large economies worldwide, as Louisiana, New York, Florida, New Jersey and Mississippi come before Chile. Even the populous and highly virus-affected Brazil fell behind many US states, including the tiny Iowa (3.2 million) and Connecticut (3.6 million) (Figure). Figure COVID-19, World Economies and US States* Accumulated confirmed cases by Aug 1, 2020 Sources: Worldometer; Difference Group COVID-19 progression in two phases In my new report, the progressive course of the COVID-19 was examined in all major economies in terms of the timing of the official first cases, accelerated spread, effective reproductive number (Rt), transmission classification, flattening of the curve, new accelerations, and potential susceptibility to new waves. While the virus was first officially recorded in China, the global pandemic has been fueled by delayed responses, failed containment and premature exits in Europe and the US. While the outbreaks began in Wuhan, Hubei, the sources of the pandemic are more complicated. In the high-income group (four major Western European economies, US and Canada, Japan and South Korea) the reported first cases in late January were associated with China. Yet, the confirmed spread has been linked with travelers from Western Europe and local transmissions, and to a lesser degree with travelers from US, Asia, the Middle East and China. In the upper middle-income economies (Argentina and Brazil, China and Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and Turkey) and lower middle-income economies (Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya and Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam) half of the first cases have been linked with China, another half with Western Europe, and to a lesser degree with Japan, the Middle East and the US. However, the confirmed spread has been associated with Western Europe and local transmissions, and to a lesser degree with the US, Midddle East and Japan. In the low-income economies (Afghanistan, Congo DR and Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen) most of the first cases have been linked with Western Europe, and to a lesser degree with the Middle East, Japan and local transmissions, whereas the confirmed spread has been associated with local transmissions. Chinas rebound, US lost years As measured by declines in expected gains of per capita incomes a rough shorthand for living standards - the impact has been devastating in most economies and relatively worst in those that have been coping with pre-pandemic challenges. Among high-income economies, most countries may face 5-7 years of lost progress, whereas in outliers prior challenges are contributing to far greater declines (e.g., Italy, Japan). Among upper middle-income economies, China and possibly Indonesia may navigate through the crisis without negative contraction. But most countries have already lost 5-7 years of progress and in some economies in Latin America, such as Brazil and Argentina, the lost years may prove twice as many as among their peers. Moreover, the economic devastation in poorer economies could be significantly higher than currently acknowledged. Due to minimal testing and underestimated COVID-19 case counts, everyday realities in Congo DR, Yemen and certain other countries differ dramatically from the official low number of cases.Instead of the pandemic, premature deaths could be attributed to pre-existing conditions. Worse, the two phases of the COVID-19 progression may have been amplified by an adverse mutation. In Wuhan, China and Asia, the virus was initially dominated by the original D variation. But in March, a new G variation seems to have evolved in Western Europe and the US predominating infections in late spring. If this transition has occurred, emerging and developing economies may soon face more virulent virus strains that the lockdowns and travel restrictions in the West have so far kept in check. With the Spanish flu, it was not the first wave that proved fatal, but the second. If such painful lessons have not been learned by now, they will be learned over a major crisis that could result in a protracted pandemic and global depression. Dr. Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served at the India, China and America Institute (US), Shanghai Institute for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see http://www.differencegroup.net/ 2020 Copyright Dan Steinbock - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Dan Steinbock Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Feds Converge On Kansas City AG William Barr, FBI Director and attorneys from 8 states to talk Operation LeGend in KC JEOPARDIZE THE CASE. OLIVIA'S FATHER HOWARD JANSEN AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, JACQULYN KIRKPATRICK ARE CHARGED WITH HER MURDER. THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER ARREST IN OPERATION LEGEND. THIS ONE INVOLVES THE DEADLY SHOOTING AT THE KANSAS CITY ZOO OVER THE WEEKEND. 27-YEAR-OLD ANTHONY MENESES FACES A FEDERAL CHARGE OF ILLEGALLY POSSESSING A FIREARM. Show-Me Double Crackdown Missouri AG doubles efforts in Kansas City through Safer Streets Initiative KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Attorney General's Office will double its efforts in Kansas City to assist with prosecuting violent crime at the federal level. Attorney General Eric Schmitt said Tuesday that his office will lend two additional assistant attorneys general to the U.S. Cops Claim Innocence 2 KCPD officers plead not guilty to felony charges of alleged excessive force in arrest of Breona Hill by: FOX 4 Newsroom Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two Kansas City police officers facing felony charges for an alleged excessive force arrest in 2019, have plead not guilty. An attorney representing 37-year-old Matthew Brummett and 47-year-old Charles Prichard tells FOX4 the two officers appeared in court Tuesday via Webex and entered a plea of not guilty to third-degree assault in the arrest of Breona Hill. Local Illegal Guns Trending ATF offers $20,000 reward in KC-area gun store burglaries The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $20,000 reward for information in a string of gun store burglaries in the Kansas City area.The ATF said it has identified a theft ring that has burglarized and stolen firearms from at least five gun stores from around the Kansas City area from July 4 to Aug. Police Desperately Seeking Conversation With This Dude Kansas City police release video of suspect wanted in multiple business robberies KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Kansas City police have released very clear video of a suspect wanted in multiple business robberies. Police say the man is wanted in a robbery of two Boost Mobile stores. In video released Tuesday, police say the armed man entered a mobile store in the 5900 block of Prospect Avenue about 11 a.m. Kansas City Double Take Down After Confrontation 2 KCMO men arrested, charged after armed stand off with police KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Two Kansas City, Missouri, men were arrested on Monday following a standoff with Kansas City, Missouri, police, according to the Western District of Missouri's attorney's office. Michael D. Moore, 30, and Jamahl D. Jones, 33, were both charged with possession of firearm as a felon. Domestic Drama Aftermath Kansas City man charged in Sunday shooting death of wife INDEPENDENCE, MO (AP) -- A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife in the Kansas City suburb of Independence. The shooting happened Sunday, when Larnell McDonald, 63, called 911 and said he needed police, the Kansas City Star reported. Feds Share Cash For Clues After Midtown Kansas City Hotspot Killing FBI offering reward for information on Alcazar Apartments homicide SOURCE: KMBC The FBI said in a release Tuesday that federal authorities are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for identifying the suspect responsible for the murder of a man found shot in an apartment building stairwell.Henry Hampton, 34, was found unresponsive inside the stairwell of the Alcazar Apartments off of West 39th Street on Aug. KCK Advocacy Contd Activists take their demand for an investigation of ex-KCK cop to Justice Department Community activists in Kansas City, Kansas, demanded in front of City Hall on Tuesday that federal authorities look into allegations of misconduct of a former police detective. Representatives from the Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in KCK and others held a press conference saying accusations have been raised publicly against retired Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department detective Roger Golubski. Rock Chalk Defund?!?! Some KU students calling for university to dismantle police department LAWRENCE, Kan. - From the current health crisis to the nationwide protests, it's been a year of change. Now some students at the University of Kansas are calling for a big shift in policing practices on campus. "A lot of people have asked us, why not reform instead of completely disband it, etc. Kansas City Urban Creatives Unite Against Police Brutality KC Art on the Block Poised To Unveil Six Unique BLM Murals In September - In Kansas City A diverse set of artists, civic leaders, and social justice organizations are banding together to create six street murals throughout various neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri. The KC Art on the Block: A Black Lives Matter Project will be held on September 5, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. In this roundup of escalating violence in Kansas City we also take a look at police and political moves that hope to curb deadly crime whilst assuring voters.Developing . . . Police footage shows the dramatic moment a crook on a moped was rammed off his bike by officers after he cut through a park and led them on a 70mph chase. Kyren Bryce, 23, sped off after police signalled for him to stop along Kings Road in Kensington and Chelsea in April this year. Bryce, from Hackney, ran red lights, overtook vehicles, cut through a busy park and drove on the pavement during the reckless high-speed chase. But his time on the run came to a crashing halt when officers in a cop car used 'tactical contact' to send him sprawling to the floor. Kyren Bryce admitted to dangerous driving after appearing at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. He will be sentenced at a later date Bryce admitted dangerous driving on Tuesday at Croydon Magistrates' Court and will be sentenced at a later date. Cops from the Met Police's Operation Venice moped crime unit were searching for a grey moped linked to a spate of robberies on April 23 when they spotted Bryce. He was riding a grey moped down Kings Road, Kensington and Chelsea, west London, and sped off when officers signalled for him to stop. Police chased Bryce through Lambeth and Brixton at breakneck speeds after trying to get him to stop in Kensington and Chelsea Bryce raced away into into Lambeth at breakneck speeds, at times exceeding 70 miles per hour in residential areas, He was zipping off down Brixton Roads when officers cut in and knocked him off his bike. Sgt Tony McGovern one of the Op Venice officers involved in the chase said: 'Bryce not only put his own life at risk, but also the lives of innocent members of the public for no reason other than to try and save his own skin.' Locals were delighted with the police take down, with one person joking: 'Tactical contact! Love that. Do it all the time to any door with my wheelchair.' Rob added: 'F***** ram him lads let's goooo.' - The student leaders called on the Ministry of Education to recall medical students so they can help in the fight against COVID-19 - They argued the medical students were a key resource in the management of the pandemic - The leaders also argued there was enough space to accommodate them since others were not on campus The Universities Presidents Council of Kenya on Tuesday, August 18, condemned the Ministry of Education's uncertainty concerning the re-opening dates for learning institutions. The council accused the ministry of conducting closed-door meetings to determine the fate of students stuck at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic without involving it. READ ALSO: Explainer: Ammonium nitrate, the dangerous chemical linked to Beirut explosions Members of the Universities Presidents Council of Kenya. Photo: Albert Maloba. Source: UGC READ ALSO: COVID-19 tests: Step by step process of how samples are tested for the virus Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, the council's chairperson Albert Maloba said they suggested the ministry calls back medical students. The chairperson argued the medical students were a key resource in the management of the pandemic noting there was space to accommodate them since others are not on campus. "They play a major role in campus managed hospitals like Moi Teaching and Referal, Kenyatta Hospital (Chiromo Med Students) and Mt. Kenya University among others," he said. READ ALSO: Faces of 4 brilliant, youthful Kenyan women doing greatness behind progressive politics arena "They stand a better chance as health service providers who can take care of themselves than students in other faculties,'" he added. The student leaders argued they should be consulted by the Ministry of Education while making decisions on the fate of learners because of their influence and direct contact with the students. They argued the CS was taking Kenyans on a wild goose chase on the re-opening dates of learning institutions with widespread publicity stunts in the name of checking compliance of institutions. READ ALSO: COVID-19 effects among causes of people collapsing, suddenly dying The student leaders asked the Ministry of Education to consult them when making decisions. Photo: Albert Maloba. Source: UGC Maloba who was in June 2020 acknowledged and appreciated by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe for his sensitisation of COVID-19 and mitigation measures across the country also asked for immediate disbursement of funds to students. The chairperson further urged both the national assembly and senate committee to devise ways on how learning will resume immediately instead of waiting for fo the pandemic to end. In the same spirit, we urge national assembly and senate committee to devise ways on how learning will start in all levels rather than waiting until the curve flattens, he said. READ ALSO: Russia approves possible world's first COVID-19 vaccine ahead of trials completion Albert Maloba was acknowledged and appreciated by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe for his sensitisation of COVID-19. Photo: Abert Maloba. Source: UGC The council further encouraged fellow students to make most of every opportunity to help them add value to their education while at home and to be innovative and with creative ideas. Aim to thrive and not just survive. It is more prudent to die on your feet than live on your knees, said the council chairperson. Magoha had on August 6, said learning institutions may not be reopened in January 2021 after all as most of them had not met the threshold to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 BEIJING, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LITB) ("LightInTheBox" or the "Company"), a cross-border e-commerce platform that delivers products directly to consumers around the world, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Second Quarter and First Half 2020 Financial Highlights Three Months Ended Year-over- Six Months Ended Year-over- June 30, June 30, Year % June 30, June 30, Year % In millions, except percentages 2019 2020 Change 2019 2020 Change Total revenues $ 58.1 $ 113.9 95.9% $ 109.0 $ 165.4 51.7% Gross margin 41.9% 43.5% 38.6% 44.4% Net income / (loss) $ (7.3) $ 8.5 $ (21.4) $ 9.2 Adjusted EBITDA $ 0.9 $ 9.1 920.8% $ (7.0) $ 10.6 As of March 31, As of June 30, In millions 2020 2020 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 35.6 $ 55.0 Mr. Jian He, Chief Executive Officer of LightInTheBox, commented, "Despite the continued macroeconomic uncertainty, we are proud of achieving a significant milestone in the second quarter operationally and financially. Total revenues were $113.9 million in the second quarter, nearly doubling that of the second quarter in 2019. At the same time, we achieved a net income of $8.5 million in comparison with $0.7 million net income in the preceding quarter and a net loss of $7.3 million in the same period of last year. These results reflected the success of our revamped strategy, which is to focus on optimizing product and category mix, enhancing supplier chain management and driving customer engagement. Looking ahead, we will continue to execute our established growth strategy, further enhance our partnership with key suppliers and improve the customer experience across regions we operate. We are confident that with our sound strategy and solid execution, we will be able to consistently achieve profitable growth and create long-term value for our shareholders." Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results Total revenues increased by 95.9% year-over-year to $113.9 million from $58.1 million in the same quarter of 2019. Revenues generated from product sales were $107.2 million, compared with $57.1 million in the same quarter of 2019. Revenues from service and others were $6.7 million, compared with $1.0 million in the same quarter of 2019. Total cost of revenues was $64.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with $33.8 million in the same quarter of 2019. Cost for product sales was $59.0 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with $33.6 million in the same quarter of 2019. Cost for service and others was $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with $0.2 million in the same quarter of 2019. Gross profit in the second quarter of 2020 was $49.6 million, compared with $24.4 million in the same quarter of 2019. Gross margin was 43.5% in the second quarter of 2020, compared with 41.9% in the same quarter of 2019. The increase in gross margin was a result of the Company's continuous efforts to drive revenues from product categories with higher margins. Total operating expenses in the second quarter of 2020 were $41.4 million, compared with $26.9 million in the same quarter of 2019. Fulfillment expenses in the second quarter of 2020 were $7.4 million , compared with $4.9 million in the same quarter of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, fulfillment expenses were 6.5% in the second quarter of 2020, compared with 8.4% in the same quarter of 2019 and 9.8% in the first quarter of 2020. in the second quarter of 2020 were , compared with in the same quarter of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, fulfillment expenses were 6.5% in the second quarter of 2020, compared with 8.4% in the same quarter of 2019 and 9.8% in the first quarter of 2020. Selling and marketing expenses in the second quarter of 2020 were $26.5 million , compared with $11.5 million in the same quarter of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, selling and marketing expenses were 23.3% for the second quarter of 2020, compared with 19.8% in the same quarter of 2019 and 28.7% in the first quarter of 2020. in the second quarter of 2020 were , compared with in the same quarter of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, selling and marketing expenses were 23.3% for the second quarter of 2020, compared with 19.8% in the same quarter of 2019 and 28.7% in the first quarter of 2020. G&A expenses in the second quarter of 2020 were $7.5 million , compared with $10.5 million in the same quarter of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, G&A expenses were 6.6% for the second quarter of 2020, compared with 18.1% in the same quarter of 2019 and 14.1% in the first quarter of 2020. Included in G&A expenses, R&D expenses in the second quarter of 2020 were $3.3 million , compared with $4.1 million in the same quarter of 2019. Income from operations was $8.2 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with loss from operations of $2.6 million in the same quarter of 2019. Net income was $8.5 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with a net loss of $7.3 million in the same quarter of 2019. Net income per American Depository Share ("ADS") was $0.08 in the second quarter of 2020, compared with net loss per ADS of $0.11 in the same quarter of 2019. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares. The diluted net income per ADS was $0.08 in the second quarter of 2020, compared with the diluted net loss per ADS of $0.11 in the same quarter of 2019. In the second quarter of 2020, the Company's basic weighted average number of ADSs used in computing the net income per ADS was 111,798,193 and the diluted weighted average number of ADSs was 111,822,459. Adjusted EBITDA, which represents gain / (loss) from operations before share-based compensation expense, change in fair value of convertible promissory notes, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization expenses, was earnings of $9.1 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared with earnings of $0.9 million in the same quarter of 2019. As of June 30, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of $55.0 million, compared with $35.6 million as of March 31, 2020. The increase of the Company's cash position in the second quarter was mainly contributed by the cash inflow generated from its operating activities. First Half 2020 Financial Results Total revenues increased by 51.7% year-over-year to $165.4 million from $109.0 million in the same half of 2019. Revenues generated from product sales were $157.2 million, compared with $106.9 million in the same half of 2019. Revenues from service and others were $8.2 million, compared with $2.1 million in the same half of 2019. Total cost of revenues was $91.9 million in the first half of 2020, compared with $66.9 million in the same half of 2019. Cost for product sales was $85.9 million in the first half of 2020, compared with $66.4 million in the same half of 2019. Cost for service and others was $6.0 million in the first half of 2020, compared with $0.5 million in the same half of 2019. Gross profit in the first half of 2020 was $73.5 million, compared with $42.1 million in the same half of 2019. Gross margin was 44.4% in the first half of 2020, compared with 38.6% in the same half of 2019. The increase in gross margin was a result of the Company's continuous efforts to drive revenues from product categories with higher margins. Total operating expenses in the first half of 2020 were $68.5 million, compared with $53.5 million in the same half of 2019. Fulfillment expenses in the first half of 2020 were $12.4 million , compared with $10.2 million in the same half of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, fulfillment expenses were 7.5% in the first half of 2020, compared with 9.3% in the same half of 2019. in the first half of 2020 were , compared with in the same half of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, fulfillment expenses were 7.5% in the first half of 2020, compared with 9.3% in the same half of 2019. Selling and marketing expenses in the first half of 2020 were $41.3 million , compared with $20.8 million in the same half of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, selling and marketing expenses were 25.0% for the first half of 2020, compared with 19.1% in the same half of 2019. in the first half of 2020 were , compared with in the same half of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, selling and marketing expenses were 25.0% for the first half of 2020, compared with 19.1% in the same half of 2019. G&A expenses in the first half of 2020 were $14.8 million , compared with $22.5 million in the same half of 2019. As a percentage of total revenues, G&A expenses were 8.9% for the first half of 2020, compared with 20.6% in the same half of 2019. Included in G&A expenses, R&D expenses in the first half of 2020 were $6.8 million , compared with $8.3 million in the same half of 2019. Income from operations was $5.0 million in the first half of 2020, compared with loss from operations of $11.4 million in the same half of 2019. Net income was $9.2 million in the first half of 2020, compared with a net loss of $21.4 million in the same half of 2019. Net income per American Depository Share ("ADS") was $0.09 in the first half of 2020, compared with net loss per ADS of $0.32 in the same half of 2019. Each ADS represents two ordinary shares. The diluted net income per ADS for the first half of 2020 was $0.08, compared with the diluted net loss per ADS of $0.32 in the same half of 2019. In the first half of 2020, the Company's basic weighted average number of ADSs used in computing the net income per ADS was 107,019,679, and 111,890,989 in diluted weighted average number. Adjusted EBITDA, which represents gain / (loss) from operations before share-based compensation expense, change in fair value of convertible promissory notes, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization expenses, was earnings of $10.6 million in the first half of 2020, compared with loss of $7.0 million in the same half of 2019. Business Outlook For the third quarter of 2020, based on current information available to the Company and business seasonality, the Company expects net revenues to be between $95 million and $110 million, representing an increase between 59% and 83% compared with the third quarter of 2019. Non-GAAP Financial Measures To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures to help evaluate our operating performance: "Adjusted EBITDA" represents gain /(loss) from operations before share-based compensation expense, change in fair value of convertible promissory notes, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization expenses. Although other companies may calculate adjusted EBITDA differently or not present it at all, we believe that the adjusted EBITDA helps to identify underlying trends in our operating results, enhancing their understanding of the past performance and future prospects. Conference Call The Company will hold a conference call to discuss the results at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on August 19, 2020 (8:00 p.m. Beijing Time on the same day). Preregistration Information Participants can register for the conference call by navigating to http://apac.directeventreg.com/registration/event/6718979. Once preregistration has been complete, participants will receive dial-in numbers, an event passcode, and a unique registrant ID. To join the conference, simply dial the number in the calendar invite you receive after preregistering, enter the event passcode followed by your unique registrant ID, and you will be joined to the conference instantly. A telephone replay will be available two hours after the conclusion of the conference call through August 26, 2020. The dial-in details are: US/Canada: +1-855-452-5696 Hong Kong: 800-963-117 International: +61-2-8199-0299 Passcode: 6718979 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website at http://ir.lightinthebox.com. About LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. LightInTheBox is a cross-border e-commerce platform that delivers products directly to consumers around the world. The Company offers customers a convenient way to shop for a wide selection of products at attractive prices through its www.lightinthebox.com, www.miniinthebox.com, www.ezbuy.com and other websites and mobile applications, which are available in 23 major languages and cover more than 140 countries. For more information, please visit www.lightinthebox.com. Investor Relations Contact Christensen Ms. Xiaoyan Su Tel: +86 (10) 5900 3429 Email: [email protected] OR Christensen Ms. Linda Bergkamp Tel: +1-480-614-3004 Email: [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "targets" and similar statements. Among other things, statements that are not historical facts, including statements about LightInTheBox's beliefs and expectations, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as LightInTheBox's strategic and operational plans, are or contain forward-looking statements. LightInTheBox may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to fourth parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward- looking statement, including but not limited to the following: LightInTheBox's goals and strategies; LightInTheBox's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; the expected growth of the global online retail market; LightInTheBox's ability to attract customers and further enhance customer experience and product offerings; LightInTheBox's ability to strengthen its supply chain efficiency and optimize its logistics network; LightInTheBox's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its products; competition; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in LightInTheBox's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and LightInTheBox does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (U.S. dollars in thousands, or otherwise noted) As of December 31, As of June 30, 2019 2020 ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents 37,736 52,117 Restricted cash 2,709 2,907 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 1,356 1,196 Amounts due from related parties 4,600 2,810 Inventories 7,357 8,496 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,619 3,469 Total current assets 57,377 70,995 Property and equipment, net 3,502 3,207 Intangible assets, net 8,516 8,403 Goodwill 27,922 27,524 Operating lease right-of-use assets 12,233 13,168 Long-term rental deposits 778 559 Long-term investments 2,873 6,648 TOTAL ASSETS 113,201 130,504 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Current Liabilities Accounts payable 17,643 16,680 Amounts due to related parties 186 167 Advance from customers 21,731 28,536 Operating lease liabilities 3,470 4,363 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 28,642 31,806 Total current liabilities 71,672 81,552 Operating lease liabilities 8,801 8,443 Long-term payable 847 662 TOTAL LIABILITIES 81,320 90,657 EQUITY Ordinary shares 14 17 Additional paid-in capital 262,888 278,884 Forward contracts 15,769 - Treasury shares, at cost (27,512) (28,464) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,444) (1,977) Accumulated deficit (217,888) (208,785) Non-controlling interests 54 172 TOTAL EQUITY 31,881 39,847 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 113,201 130,504 LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (U.S. dollars in thousands, except per share data, or otherwise noted) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, 2019 2020 2019 2020 Revenues Product sales 57,111 107,235 106,900 157,171 Services and others 1,031 6,643 2,115 8,225 Total revenues 58,142 113,878 109,015 165,396 Cost of revenues Product sales (33,618) (58,964) (66,403) (85,869) Services and others (162) (5,364) (519) (6,076) Total Cost of revenues (33,780) (64,328) (66,922) (91,945) Gross profit 24,362 49,550 42,093 73,451 Operating expenses Fulfillment (4,906) (7,414) (10,171) (12,463) Selling and marketing (11,523) (26,499) (20,792) (41,279) General and administrative (10,499) (7,517) (22,483) (14,785) Other operating income - 59 - 72 Total operating expenses (26,928) (41,371) (53,446) (68,455) (Loss) / Income from operations (2,566) 8,179 (11,353) 4,996 Interest income 74 6 197 53 Interest expense (18) (13) (38) (43) Change in fair value of convertible promissory notes (6,605) - (11,942) - Other Income,net - 301 - 4,214 Total other (loss) / income (6,549) 294 (11,783) 4,224 (Loss) / Income before income taxes and gain from an equity method investment (9,115) 8,473 (23,136) 9,220 Income tax (expense) / benefit (204) 4 (420) 1 Gain from an equity method investment 2,029 - 2,156 - Net (loss) / income (7,290) 8,477 (21,400) 9,221 Less: Net income / (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests 72 (5) 104 118 Net (loss) /income attributable to LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. (7,362) 8,482 (21,504) 9,103 Weighted average numbers of shares used in calculating (loss) / income per ordinary share -Basic 134,604,556 223,596,385 134,531,762 214,039,358 -Diluted 134,604,556 223,644,919 134,531,762 223,781,977 Net (loss) / income per ordinary share -Basic (0.05) 0.04 (0.16) 0.04 -Diluted (0.05) 0.04 (0.16) 0.04 Net (loss) / income per ADS (2 ordinary shares equal to 1 ADS) -Basic (0.11) 0.08 (0.32) 0.09 -Diluted (0.11) 0.08 (0.32) 0.08 LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results (U.S. dollars in thousands, or otherwise noted) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, 2019 2020 2019 2020 Net (loss) / income (7,290) 8,477 (21,400) 9,221 Less: Interest income 74 6 197 53 Interest expense (18) (13) (38) (43) Income tax (expense) / benefit (204) 4 (420) 1 Depreciation and amortization (634) (586) (1,262) (1,137) EBITDA (6,508) 9,066 (19,877) 10,347 Less: Share-based compensation (799) (80) (956) (229) Change in fair value of convertible promissory notes (6,605) - (11,942) - Adjusted EBITDA* 896 9,146 (6,979) 10,576 * Adjusted EBITDA represents gain /(loss) from operations before share-based compensation expense, change in fair value of convertible promissory notes, interest income, interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization expenses. SOURCE LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. Related Links http://ir.lightinthebox.com/ Warehouse Exchange is adding these locations through its "Partners Program" and historically fills space in 4-6 months, with a waiting list thereafter. The digital marketplace allows larger tenants to supplement dedicated space with an "on-demand" component and offers smaller users a simple warehousing solution without the need to make long-term commitments, provide personal guarantees, or negotiate lengthy contracts. "For over 150 years, The Salvation Army has met human need wherever, whenever, and however we can. Today, with this move towards the cutting edge, we are embracing some of the latest advances in technology and process improvement to run our expansive infrastructure," said Commissioner Douglas Riley, Territorial Commander USA Western Territory. "We are excited to be part of Warehouse Exchange's Partners Program and look forward to benefiting from their technology and logistics expertise. At a time of great humanitarian need, it's terrific to know our excess warehouse space will be used to help support local businesses while generating revenues that will advance our organization's missionto rebuild lives." "It is inspiring to see an organization with such a long history, steeped in tradition, willing to embrace the most innovative ideas. The Salvation Army seems committed to use the latest advances in technology and supply-chain science to improve their sprawling and complex network," said Grant Langston, CEO of Warehouse Exchange. "As the former CEO of eHarmony we created a new way of meeting people. We know how to use an online platform to meet needs on both sides of a marketplace and to create a new category in this case on demand warehouse space. Our partnership with The Salvation Army, one of the world's most respected organizations, is a great way to support their work, while building a burgeoning new category to meet the evolving space and logistics needs of direct to consumer commerce." With this announcement, Warehouse Exchange has facilities throughout California, Oregon, and Arizona, extending Warehouse Exchange's current operations in Southern California; Portland, Oregon; Tucson, AZ; and to include Modesto, CA; Anaheim, CA: Pasadena, CA: Santa Ana, CA; San Bernardino, CA; and Hesperia, CA. Warehouse Exchange will also be opening new facilities with other suppliers around the country, all of which will rely on the marketplace platform. About Warehouse Exchange Warehouse Exchange is an online marketplace for matching buyers and sellers of warehouse space across the United States. Based in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 2017, Warehouse Exchange provides an automated warehousing marketplace for outsourced storage and distribution needs, matching shippers and operators in real-time. It lets companies who need space the ability to compare options and find the ideal warehouse space while letting warehouse operators dynamically monetize their space and maximize utilization. To learn more about Warehouse Exchange visit us online at warehouseexchange.com . About The Salvation Army The Salvation Army annually helps nearly 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org . Follow us on Twitter: @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood SOURCE Warehouse Exchange The Beatles song Good Day Sunshine rang out at the Democratic National Convention last night, sparking speculation that its writer Paul McCartney gave the party his blessing to use the band's notoriously expensive music. The 1966 track played over a montage of Jill Biden going for a run, on the night her husband Joe was formally crowned as the Democratic nominee for president. Viewers remarked that the DNC would have had to spend 'half its budget' to license the song - unless McCartney gave it away for free. McCartney referred to Trump as a 'mad captain' in the 2018 song Despite Repeated Warnings and met privately with Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign. Nike once faced a $15million lawsuit for using the Beatles song Revolution in its ads while producers of the movie Yesterday reportedly paid $10million in licensing fees. Donald Trump too has previously fallen foul of artists who disapprove of his politics, including the Rolling Stones who threatened to sue him last month for using their songs at his rallies. Democratic National Convention viewers speculated that Paul McCartney (pictured) might have given the party his blessing to use the Beatles song Good Day Sunshine The Beatles song played on the second night of the DNC in a segment about Jill Biden, the possible future first lady. As footage plays of the couple sharing a kiss, the chorus of Good Day Sunshine breaks out and the shot switches to Jill Biden lacing up her sneakers to go running. There are several more bars of the song while Jill, 69, explains that 'I never think of anything negative when I'm running'. The music gradually fades away as Joe Biden describes his wife as 'so damn tough and loyal... when I met Jill, I knew.' The Democratic nominee goes on to recall how he and Jill got together in the wake of his first wife's death in a car crash in 1972. Viewers were amazed to hear the soundtrack, with one asking: 'How much money did the DNC spend to license a Beatles song?'. Another joked: 'The DNC just spent half its budget to play 20 seconds of a Beatles song.' One viewer suggested that 'Paul McCartney probably donated it' - while another asked whether 'Biden is going to be sued for playing their song'. 'I bet the Beatles approved of the use of Good Day Sunshine just now,' said another. MailOnline has approached McCartney's representatives for comment. McCartney has not made any public comment on the 2020 election, but said in 2018 that he regarded Trump as a 'mad captain'. His 2018 song about climate change, Despite Repeated Warnings, contains the lyric: 'The captain's crazy but he doesn't let them know it'. Speaking to the BBC, he said: 'Occasionally, we've got a mad captain sailing this boat we're all on and he is just going to take us to the iceberg [despite] being warned it's not a cool idea.' Asked if he meant Trump, he said: 'Well, I mean obviously it's Trump but there's plenty of them about. He's not the only one.' In 2016, McCartney met Hillary Clinton behind closed doors in Cleveland during the former Secretary of State's presidential campaign. He subsequently posted on Twitter that 'she's with me' - a joking reference to the Clinton slogan 'I'm With Her'. The Beatles song played in a segment about newly-crowned Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his wife Jill (pictured together last night) Rights to songs by the Beatles (pictured in 1963) are notoriously expensive to acquire, with the producers of 2019 film Yesterday reportedly paying up to $10million Much of the Beatles catalog is owned by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a merger between Sony and ATV Music which was purchased by Michael Jackson in 1985. Jackson's estate sold its stake in the venture to Sony for $750million in 2016. McCartney launched a lawsuit in 2017 in an effort to reclaim the copyright in more than 260 songs, but settled with Sony/ATV five months later. The Beatles' recording company, Apple Records, also owns some tracks as well as the band's music videos and movie clips. In 1987, Apple Records launched a $15million lawsuit against Nike after the shoe giant used the Beatles song Revolution in an advertising campaign. Apple claimed Nike was exploiting the band's 'persona and goodwill', launching the lawsuit even though the song was owned by ATV Music. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison backed the lawsuit and Nike finally agreed to stop using the song in 1988, according to reports at the time. A lawyer for the Beatles said at the time that the surviving rock stars wanted to send a 'warning to advertisers that if they use Beatles recordings in connection with endordsements, they're going to be sued'. Harrison reportedly said: 'Every Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women's underwear and sausages. 'We've got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it's going to be a free-for-all.' More recently, reports said that the 2019 movie Yesterday had spent up to $10million on rights for Beatles music. The musical comedy film imagines a timeline in which only one person can remember the Beatles' music and has to re-introduce it to the world. Director Danny Boyle said Ringo Starr and the widow of George Harrison had seen the film and sent notes of support. As for McCartney, Boyle said: 'I don't think Paul has seen the movie, but he's seen the trailer and he said 'Oh that seems to work!'. In 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that the show Mad Men had paid $250,000 to use the song Tomorrow Never Knows in a scene. McCartney, Starr and the widows of George Harrison and John Lennon reportedly agreed to the use of the song. Series creator Matthew Weiner said he had tried several times to get approval for using Beatles songs in the series. The Rolling Stones (pictured) have complained about the use of their music at Donald Trump's presidential campaign rallies Donald Trump's campaign has previously run into trouble over the licensing of music at its rallies. In June, the Rolling Stones said their lawyers were working to stop their music being used at Trump campaign events. If Trump continues to use Stones music 'he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed,' a statement said. The Stones had complained during Trump's 2016 campaign about the use of their music to fire up his base at rallies. The 1969 track You Can't Always Get What You Want was a popular song for Trump events during the 2016 campaign and was recently played again in Oklahoma. Other artists have also complained about having their music associated with Trump's events. The family of the late musician Tom Petty said that it had issued a cease-and-desist order after Trump used the song I Won't Back Down in Tulsa. 'Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,' a statement said. Neil Young lashed out at Trump in 2018 after hearing one of his songs played against his wishes during Trump's midterm campaign rallies. The Canadian-born musician rebuked Trump for using his 1990 single Rockin' in the Free World in spite of earlier warnings. Bill Clinton had better luck in his 1992 run with the Fleetwood Mac song Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow) which became an anthem of his campaign. Fleetwood Mac reunited in 1993 to perform at the inaugural ball after Clinton won the election and was sworn in. Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick have proven they're friendly exes as the entrepreneur left a flirty comment under the reality star's recent swimsuit image from their family glamping trip to Idaho. The KUWTK personality, 41, looked sensational as she slipped into a metallic swimsuit, which caught the attention of her former partner of nine years, 37. Cheeky Scott - who shares with Mason, 10, Penelope, eight, and Reign, five, with Kourtney - shared his appreciation for her post by writing: 'What a lake er', amid speculation he's rekindled his romance with model Sofia Richie. Friendly exes: Scott Disick left a flirty comment under Kourtney Kardashian's recent swimsuit image from their family glamping trip to Idaho The TV stars are currently holidaying in Coeur d'Alene with their children and their industry pal, E! News host Jason Kennedy. They dated from 2005 until 2010, with the media personalities splitting due to Scott's issues with alcohol misuse. The pair reconciled in mid-2010 after the birth of their first child Mason, before splitting for good in five years later following claims of cheating on his part. 'What a lake er': The entrepreneur, 37 - who shares with Mason, 10, Penelope, eight, and Reign, five, with the reality star, 41 - shared his appreciation for her post Family first: The TV stars are currently holidaying in Coeur d'Alene with their children and their industry pal, E! News host Jason Kennedy (Scott pictured with Reign) Close: The former couple have maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship ever since they split in 2015 following a nine-year relationship (pictured in July) The lifestyle blogger and the Talentless CEO have maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship ever since, with Kourtney going on to date male model Younes Bendjima, 27, from late 2016 until August 2018, while Scott embarked on an on-off romance with Lionel Richie's daughter, 21, in May 2017. Sofia split from her long-term beau in May after a three year relationship, but the couple were believed to have reunited on the Fourth of July. According to Us Weekly, their romance has since 'simmered down a little' as Scott 'has been making a big effort to refocus on himself and his family.' The ex files: The lifestyle blogger dated male model Younes Bendjima, 27, from late 2016 until August 2018, and were believed to have reconciled briefly last year (pictured in 2019) On-off: The Talentless CEO embarked on a romance with Lionel Richie's daughter Sofia, 21, in May 2017. They split three years later but reconciled in July (pictured in 2019) The insider added: 'Their relationship has taken a bit of a backseat and it's not either of their main priorities right now.' a source told Hollywood Life earlier this month: 'Scott and Kourtney are really close but there's nothing there besides them being co-parents and best friends. Speaking about Kourtney and Scott's close bond, 'Scott will always love her and she'll always have a place for him, but she's telling friends she's actually happy being single right now.' Mr. Kotey and Mr. Elsheikh were among them. The British government sought to strip their citizenship and made clear that it did not want to take them back. The Trump administration has been willing to prosecute them instead, but the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, opted not to make assurances that the United States would forgo the death penalty over the objections of four American families whose children were killed by the Islamic State. Because Britain has abolished the death penalty, such assurances are usually routine when the United States is working with the British criminal justice system. The British government pressed the Trump administration to provide them again. But it eventually relented and agreed to hand over the evidence in its possession and to send officials to testify about it at trial so it would be admissible if the United States agreed to give the detainees a trial in civilian court rather than sending them to the wartime prison at Guantanamo Bay. But Mr. Elsheikhs mother filed a lawsuit in British court arguing that such sharing of evidence would be illegal, which has indefinitely delayed the transfer, and the issue has been mired in that litigation. In March, the British Supreme Court preliminarily sided with her and blocked the government from sharing the evidence and providing assistance in the case, although the litigation continues. The court order means that the British government for now is prevented from transferring the evidence to the United States, notwithstanding its changed stance on the death penalty. But in a statement, a representative for the home secretary, Priti Patel, suggested a cautious embrace of the development. The British governments priority has always been to protect national security and to deliver justice for the victims and their families, the statement said. We continue to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh another name for the Islamic State are brought to justice. Mr. Barrs two-month deadline and threat to send the men to the Iraqi judicial system will now pose a test for not just the British government, but also its independent judiciary. The Iraqi option carries several risks that have previously made American officials see it as unacceptable. Iraqi courts frequently impose death sentences on Islamic State suspects after trials that last only a few minutes, raising objections about both human rights and failure to take advantage of an opportunity to develop and bring out evidence about what really happened in atrocities. In addition, an Iraqi judge could rule that he has no jurisdiction over the men since it is not clear they ever voluntarily set foot on Iraqi soil, in which case they could be released. - A young woman, Cayle Zulu has made South Africa proud after she managed to pass her university course with 21 distinctions - The picture of her posing proudly in a stunning gold dress complete with honor cord around her shoulders was shared by Twitter user, @Kgomo389 - Her post received thousands of reactions from other South Africans who were extremely proud of her honorable achievement Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana! Going to varsity is a dream for many. Unfortunately, it is still considered a luxury for many South Africans, particularly in black communities. This is the reason behind why, whenever a young black person is able to do so, there is cause for celebration. And a celebration was indeed had for a young black woman who not only went to university and completed her course, she did so while getting 21 distinctions. Talk about black excellence. Cayle Zulu was praised on Twitter left, right, and center after the picture of her wearing her graduation cords around her shoulders was shared by @Kgomo389. Tweeps were very proud of her achievement and made sure to let her know. See the tweet below. READ ALSO: Burna Boy stars Ghana's playwright legend Ama Ata Aidoo on Twice As Tall album (Videos) While most tweeps simply congratulated her, others shared career advice and encouraged her to keep up the great work. Read some of their comments below. @ndabzisto said: "Genius, black child, its possible." @rasiuba said: "Very intelligent, I am happy for her." While @FighterKamza said: "Then you have cowards who come rape and kill these for ever hard working women, guys lets us normalise treating our women nicely so because without them we are nothing as men." Cayle Zulu poses proudly with honor cords. Source: Twitter/ @Kgomo389 x Instagram/Cayle Nomazulu Source: UGC READ ALSO: Burna Boy stars Ghana's playwright legend Ama Ata Aidoo on Twice As Tall album (Videos) In another story, Ben Dotse Malor, a former presidential staffer in the John Mahama regime, has paid a visit to Sister Yaavi, a woman who provided assistance to him while he was a student at the University of Ghana. In a post on social media, Molor revealed that Sister Yaavi and her younger sister Ameyo, often gave him some free food, without him asking. At the time on Legon campus, Malor was without food on many occasions, simply because there was little or no money. ''I even started to convince myself that I studied best on an empty stomach,'' he said. Carruthers Tetteh: Overcoming blindness to be a lawyer in Ghana: 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 The TECT Community Awards are back for 2021 with nominations opening on Tuesday, September 1. The 2020 TECT Community Awards wrapped up earlier this month after a six-week online showcase of finalists and winners. The 2021 Awards will be hosted both online and with an awards night at Baycourt in March. TECT Chairperson Bill Holland says the awards will recognise the hard work of community groups and volunteers, celebrating their work with the wider public and with a memorable awards night. We were so pleased to continue the awards online this year despite the postponement of our original event in March due to the lockdown. "The online format was a great success. It allowed us to recognise some of the incredible community groups and volunteers who help make our region what it is with thousands of people, in a time where some positivity truly goes a long way. Congratulations again to all our finalists and winners. Were looking forward to seeing a host of new nominations for next years awards. Its going to be a fantastic event showcasing finalists online, with winners announced at the awards ceremony a special night to celebrate all those who are the backbone of our community. There are six categories open for nominations: Event Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainable Future, Rising Star, Youth Spirit and Volunteer of the Year Award. There will also be a Lifetime Service Award winner chosen from all six categories. A new addition to the 2021 award categories is the Peoples Choice Award, which will allow the general public to vote for their top pick from all finalists. Voting for the Peoples Choice Award will open in December. Tauranga Mayor Tenby Powell says the contributions community groups and volunteers make to the Western Bay of Plenty are simply immense. The wellbeing of our community is dependent on these selfless individuals and organisations, and this is our opportunity to thank them for their dedication, he says. Id encourage everyone to think about the people who are making a difference in our region and recognise their contribution via a nomination for the TECT Community Awards. Western Bay of Plenty District Mayor Garry Webber says community groups and volunteers play an essential role in keeping the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga thriving and they have certainly come to the fore during what has been a particularly tough year across all communities. Community spirit and the continued desire of volunteers to help has certainly been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is this spirit that enabled many individuals and groups to get through the past few months in better shape than they would have without that behind the scenes support and dedication from people who want to offer a helping hand no matter what. Garry says the variety of categories in the 2021 awards provides scope for nominations for those groups and individuals who have shown some great initiatives across all aspects of community life. Any not-for-profit organisation and volunteer in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty can be nominated for the TECT Community Awards. Nominations are quick and simple, and close on Friday 30 October. They can be submitted at www.tect.org.nz/community-awards. The Awards ceremony will take place on 18 March 2021 and will be a night when those who work behind the scenes in our community get a chance to take centre stage and be recognised for all their hard work. The task force set up by the Uddhav Thackeray government to revive the states economy during the Covid-19 pandemic has recommended starting the refinery proposed in Konkan to boost employment and encourage investment. The chief minister, however, said that the government will approve projects only if locals are in favour of it. Prominent economist and government-appointed task force member Vijay Kelkar asked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to reconsider the proposal regarding the starting of the refinery at Konkan, which according to him, will help generate employment for one lakh individuals. The chief minister in April had said that the government set up task force, including Kelkar and well-known scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar as its members, to help the state recover its economic condition. The proposal came up when members of the Pune International Centre (PIC), a think-tank, whose members are also a part of the task force, held a meeting with Thackeray over video conferencing on Tuesday. According to Mashelkar, proposal on starting the refinery is a part of the report submitted to the chief minister as the post-Covid economic recovery measure. Based on instructions from the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, we have recommended various measures which include short, medium and long term steps. The chief minister is likely to discuss our suggestions in the cabinet meeting, said Mashelkar, also president of PIC. During the interaction, members also discussed other proposals to boost investment and revive sectors like real estate during the Covid-19 crisis. The PIC, according to its director Prashant Girbane, has been entrusted by the state government to give inputs, which the think-tank has submitted to the Chief Ministers Office. Kelkar sought starting the Konkan refinery so that it will create employment for one lakh individuals and bring in an investment of Rs 3 lakh crore. He also asked about shifting the refinery at Chembur to free up the space, which can be redeveloped, said a release from the chief ministers public relation department. Following opposition from the Shiv Sena, the previous Devendra Fadnavis government in 2019 had to scrap a proposed refinery project at Nanar in Ratnagiri. Later, Fadnavis, as the then CM, had hinted that project will be moved to neighbouring Raigad district. The oil refinery, proposed to be built with 50 per cent investment from Saudi Aramco, the state-owned company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was being touted as the worlds largest refinery, with a capacity of 60-million tonnes an annum, by the state and central government. It was to help in generating direct and indirect employment for over one lakh people. Responding to Kelkars suggestion about the refinery, Thackeray said that for any project to be set up, an interaction with locals and taken them into confidence, is necessary. Our government will not disrespect sentiments of the local people while bringing any project, Thackeray was quoted in the release. Besides Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and PIC members, including Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, Deepak Parekh, Ajit Ranade and Vijay Gokhale, among others were also present during the online interaction. The PIC has submitted multiple reports to the state government in the last four months during Covid-19. These reports are about investment, industry and emergency management. The government has already accepted a few of our reports and have started implementing them, said Girbane, who was part of the interaction. Among the other proposals discussed during the interaction with Thackeray were decentralising industrialisation across the state, development along the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi expressway and offering sops such as exemption in tax duty to help the real estate sector. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Irish Defence Forces believe that Russian submarines are targeting sub-sea cables off the Kerry coast, according to media reportage released at the weekend. The report, written by John Mooney and published in last week's The Sunday Times Ireland Edition, stated that the Defence Forces' analysis points toward the presence of Irish navy-patrolled waters off the west coast, and is based on a combination of intelligence and recent incidents. It follows incidents last March which saw six Russian military planes - none of which were understood to be working with active transponders - were seen above Kerry. One of these incidents occurred on March 7, when NATO monitored a large military aircraft which flew along the Irish west coast before flying in circles off the coast of Kerry for approximately two hours. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) intercepted Russian jets in response to these incidents as Ireland is unable to protect its own airspace. The Russian Embassy said that the aircrafts did not cross into Irish airspace, and said that its military had been carrying out similar missions for decades. According to military sources, what they believe are Russian Kilo-class submarines are passing from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. The Irish Defence Forces do not have the ability to monitor passing vessels or detect their presence, and the report states that submarines would represent a particular threat to undersea cable carrying cross-continental internet traffic. Last year, Gardai monitored Russian military intelligence mapping landing points for the cables, and Irish security services assess that Russia intended to monitor data exchanges through the cables. "Ireland alone does not have the capability to protect critical infrastructure but we could interface with other countries who can," The Sunday Times quoted defence consultant Declan Power as saying. "The Irish economy now relies on our inter-connectivity to Europe and the US. "The government is going to have to do something to protect it," he added. A former US Navy submarine sonar man, Aaron Amick, also claimed that Russian tampering with undersea communication cables is nothing new. "I have personally witnessed their aggressive pursuit, tapping, and manipulation of submarine communication cables across the Norwegian Sea," he told The Sunday Times. "With the capabilities Russia has today, they are no longer limited to the nearby shore lines. "They roam the Norwegian Sea conducting offensive communications tampering. Ireland is within easy reach of this pair of spy subs." James Kofi Annan 19.08.2020 LISTEN Dr James Kofi Annan, the parliamentary candidate of the NDC for the Effutu constituency has rendered an unqualified apology to Chief Superintendent Samuel Okanta, the Winneba Police Commander. The unqualified apology has cemented the bad relationship that existed between the two following unsavory outburst of anger espoused by the candidate. It would be recalled that Dr James Kofi Annan was arrested on the orders of the commander, hauled to court and charged with offensive behaviour. This happened when the accused angrily stormed a municipal review committee sitting that was reviewing challenge cases regarding the just ended voter registration. According to sources, the PC was angry because his party did not have a representative present at the said meeting though the NPP was represented. Dr Annan, who joined the NDC from the NPP, became extremely angry and challenged the rationale behind the sitting of the committee without his party rep. In a heated argument, he was alleged to have exchanged words with Chief Superintendent Samuel Okanta, who was the chairman for the committee. I will not talk to you, you are the Chairman and so what, you are the problem, the reason why we are not enjoying peace in winneba. He said. Following this emotional outburst, Dr Annan was charged before a court in Winneba presided over by Mr Isaac Oheneba-Kufour and charged with the stated offense When he appealed for the second hearing of the case, another charge which read, interfering with the work of a committee was added. An opinion leader, Neenyi Bondzi who appealed in court, pleaded to be given the chance to help settle the case out of court which both parties agreed. His intervention led to Dr Annan showing absolute remorse for his You are the chairman and so what? mantra. He, therefore, apologised to Chief Superintendent Okanta, the review committee and pleaded for forgiveness. His plea and apology were, however, accepted by both the commander and the committee. The two finally smoked the peace pipe in the spirit of unity following Dr Annans remorseful attitude and subsequent apology. Due to this, the court, therefore, closed the case as settled. More Workers Join Strike to Oust Belarusian President Lukashenko By VOA News August 18, 2020 More workers joined a growing strike Tuesday to oust authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after he extended his 26-year term in an election that detractors contend was rigged. Thousands of workers began walking off the job Monday at state-controlled facilities, joining actors and broadcasters. Unrest began to escalate after Lukashenko dismissed demands to resign following a severe police crackdown on peaceful protesters days after the August 9 election. Lukashenko sought to secure the loyalty of law enforcement amid escalating protests and strikes by honoring more than 300 police officers for their service. Opponents condemned Lukashenko's awards to the police, who fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at peaceful protestors and used clubs against them, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and the detention of nearly 7,000 people. Hundreds of others were injured. The chance of a nationwide strike would pose an unprecedented challenge to Lukashenko, who has relied on blue-collar workers as his most loyal supporters. But during a visit Monday to a factory in Minsk, he was greeted by workers who shouted "Go away!" The first government official to challenge Lukashenko was the ambassador to Slovakia, who said in a video Saturday before he resigned that he supported the protests. The ambassador to Spain, Pavel Pustav, posted a statement Tuesday on Facebook urging a vote recount and the prosecution of those who beat peaceful protesters. Officials from Western countries have refused to recognize the election as free and fair, and they have denounced the police crackdown. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Belarus in a closed-door session Tuesday, one day before European Union leaders are to discuss the matter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Past Puerto Rico Section Manager Victor Madera, KP4PQ (SK) Victor Madera, KP4PQ, who served as Puerto Rico's Section Manager from 2000 until 2007, died on July 23. An ARRL Life Member, he was 90 years old. Madera was instrumental in translating amateur radio study guides and test materials into Spanish. Upon his retirement as Section Manager, Madera was awarded the Warren Knight Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service as a Section Manager. First licensed in 1951, Madera served in the US Army Signal Corps during the Korean War. He held a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, later serving as the director of manufacturing for Westinghouse in Puerto Rico and Haiti. He retired early due to health issues. Madera held several ARRL Field Organization appointments over the years, including Official Observer, Public Information Officer, State Government Liaison, and Assistant Director for the ARRL Southeastern Division. He served as team liaison/coordinator for the ARRL Volunteer Examiner team in Puerto Rico and was International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 auxiliary monitor. Madera was a member of the Radio Club of America (RCA), the Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA), and the Puerto Rico Amateur Radio Club - Federacion de Radio Aficionados de Puerto Rico. He was the founder and first president and secretary of the Puerto Rico Amateur Radio League (PRARL) - an ARRL Special Service Club. He edited the official PRARL journal, AEUREKA!, authored a book on the history of amateur radio in Puerto Rico, and developed the Spanish-language version of study and test materials for the EC-001 emergency communications course. Bilateral meeting was held between Governor of Kyrgyzstans Batken Oblast Alisher Abdrakhmanov and his counterpart Yazmuhammet Kurbanov, the Head of Ahal Region of Turkmenistan, Trend reports citing Kabar. During the meeting, the sides discussed the development of comprehensive cooperation between Batken and Ahal regions of the two countries. Abdrakhmanov and Kurbanov noted the sides have all opportunities for bilateral collaboration. The meeting via video debated various spheres of cooperation. File image: Rhea Chakraborty Hours after he made a sexist comment about actor Rhea Chakraborty, causing outrage on social media, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on August 19 apologised for the comment, News18 reported. Pandey was responding to journalists' questions about his reaction to Chakraborty's statement in court and particularly her comments about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when the senior police official said she doesn't have any 'aukat' (stature) to comment about Bihar's chief minister. The comment came days after Chakraborty approached the Supreme Court to file an affidavit seeking an end to her media trial. Pandey's comments had caused a furor on social media with many prominent netizens and journalists calling out his sexist remark. Earlier today, a single-judge bench of the Supreme Court exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do "complete justice" while approving a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Justice Hrishikesh Roy said in his 35-page verdict that to "ensure public confidence" in the investigation and to do complete justice, the top court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution. The apex court asked the Mumbai police to hand over all evidence so far to the CBI. The top court delivered the verdict on Chakraborty's plea. She had sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Padlocked chains wrap around the door handles to the entrances of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant & Market on San Antonios River Walk. Bubba Gump said it was unlawfully locked out of the establishment this month after it stopped paying rent due to state and local orders that initially shut down restaurants and later limited their capacity in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Billy Calzada, Staff / Billy Calzada These state and local orders which Bubba Gump has contractual, legal and moral obligation to comply with therefore ceased Bubba Gumps revenues overnight and wholly frustrated the restaurants ability to conduct any semblance of normal business for the entire period that they were in effect, it alleged in a lawsuit filed last week. The period included a week in March, all of April and most of May. Even thereafter, and despite the eventual partial reopening and then partial reclosing, fear of the coronaviruss contagion and a precipitous decline in tourism and vacations continued to render the River Walk effectively vacant, the complaint continued. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases Bubba Gump sued landlord NRB Capital Inc. of Irving for breach of contract, trespass and other claims on Aug. 12. Late Tuesday afternoon, however, a Bubba Gump official said the dispute had been resolved. We have worked things out with our landlord and look forward to continuing to serve our customers in San Antonio, Rodney Lerner, the chains vice president of real estate, said in an emailed statement. Billy Calzada, Staff / Billy Calzada The restaurant is expected to reopen in the next few days. Adrian Ramirez, a vice president for Houston-based Waterman Steele Real Estate Advisors, who has been attempting to lease the space, declined to comment. No one representing the landlord returned a message left with Ramirez on Tuesday. Bubba Gump is part of Houston-based Landrys Inc.s portfolio, which also includes Chart House, Saltgrass Steakhouse and Rainforest Cafe. The pandemic forced Landrys to shut down every dining room and kitchen in its portfolio, which numbers more than 600 restaurants, the Houston Chronicle reported last month. Bubba Gump has operated in the sub-level of the Nix Medical Center, which was acquired by an affiliate of Weslaco-based InnJoy Hospitality late last year. The Innjoy affiliate flipped the restaurant space, about 5,000 square feet, before it was sold again to NRB Capital in January, property records show. The restaurant spent about $2 million to build out the space after signing a 10-year lease in 2017. It paid an undisclosed base rent, but it also pays 6.75 percent of sales up to $6 million, and 8 percent of sales over $6 million. SA Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox In its lawsuit, Bubba Gump said its lease contained a clause that excused it and the landlord from performing any obligations for so long as such performance is prevented, delayed, retarded or hindered by an act of Act of God, and other events, including orders of government or civil or military authorities. Its known as a force majeure clause. Blacks Law Dictionary says its meant to protect the parties in the event that a contract cannot be performed due to causes which are outside the control of the parties and could not be avoided by exercise of due care. Lawyers have been scrutinizing leases since the start of the pandemic, though its not known how many lawsuits like Bubba Gumps have been filed in San Antonio. The force majeure clause in Bubba Gumps lease excludes rent payments, but it had an answer for that. Any language in the force majeure clause that exempts rental amounts as they become due is inapplicable here because the rental payments, due to the pandemic and shutdown orders, have not become due, the lawsuit stated. Bubba Gump was seeking a court judgment declaring that it was excused from performing under the lease for the duration of the pandemic. In the alternative, it wanted a reduction in rent payments if it was only partially excused. Patrick Danner Patrick Danner covers banking, insurance, business litigation and bankruptcies. To read more from Patrick, become a subscriber. pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD The federal government is moving to put up concertina wire through several stretches of Laredos riverfront: near the World Trade Bridge, Father McNaboe Park, through the downtown area to Zacate Creek, and through Santa Rita Park. In speaking with Customs and Border Protection officials, City Manager Robert Eads reported to City Council that this razor wire is not preliminary border wall construction, but is pruportedly necessary for operational reasons. CBP did not immediately respond to LMT when asked to expound on their rationale. Mayor Pete Saenz, who also spoke with CBP officials, said he asked if there was another type of wire they could use that wouldnt look so menacing. He also asked what would happen if council did not give them permission to put it up on city property; the officials said they had the authority one way or the other, Saenz said. Councilman Merc Martinez believes the government is putting this wire up where theyll first start construction for the wall. After holding the line for months, in June City Council voted to allow the government the right to enter their property for surveys and studies. But the federal government failed to include all applicable city property, and has had to file a second lawsuit for the right of entry, which council is still discussing. I think theyre going to put the C-wire there before they actually start digging the trenches to do the wall. Its going to look like a militarized zone, Martinez said. I dont think its conducive to being a good neighbor. Were not in a militarized zone. Were not in Afghanistan, were not in Benghazi, were not in Beirut, were not in any of those areas that might have this type of wiring. Councilwoman Nelly Vielma added that these areas where CBP wants to put up wire is mainly parkland, places where families take children. Melissa Cigarroa, president of the Rio Grande International Study Center and member of the #NoBorderWall Coalition, agreed that it sounds like CBP is preparing the grounds for the eventual taking of land for a border wall. But it also seems like this wire is for a photo opportunity or campaign stunt, she said. The last time CBP put up concertina wire in Laredo, Cigarroa noted, was around the time of the last election in 2018, when a caravan of migrants was heading for the border through Mexico. It seems as if now they havent provided the community a justification for coming in and creating this artificial barrier. We dont know what the threats are. If its a real threat, then they should be informing the community, and it doesnt seem like they are, Cigarroa said. She also worries about the wildlife that will be cut off from their water source when this wire is installed and the park-goers who will be exposed to it. For years CBP has fostered community engagement and communication, and to put up this wire without warning flies in the face of this trust, Cigarroa said. You know this is going to run into the timing of the right of entry and then the eventual taking of the land. So itll be convenient to have all this concertina wire in places where they dont want the public to go, she said. Perhaps because they have shown no justification, (they are) excusing these actions and already beginning to act as if they own the land. And that is the most repugnant of all. They do not own this land. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Two orphaned brown bear cubs have moved to a rich and stimulating home in Kent thanks to fundraising efforts. Mish and Lucy, who were found abandoned in Albania, have been taken in by the Wildwood Trust after arriving from a temporary home in Belgium on Tuesday. We are so excited to welcome Mish and Lucy to Wildwood Kent and to give them a bright future after their traumatic start, said Paul Whitfield, the trusts director general. This is the next part of the cubs story but it doesnt end here. Expand Close (Gareth Fuller/PA Images) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Gareth Fuller/PA Images) The bears were rescued by Albanian Wildlife Rescue after being found abandoned at a few weeks old. It is thought their mother had fled the disturbance of illegal loggers or poachers. The cubs were unable to survive on their own, and now cannot be returned to the wild. The cubs will move to the Wildwood Trusts sister park, Escot in Devon, in 2021 if its fundraising target is met. From our experience working with Fluff and Scruff, the bears we rescued in 2014, we know we can offer a rich and stimulating home for Mish and Lucy, with the help of our fantastic supporters, Mr Whitfield said. LANSING Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday that she will allocate nearly $65 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act dollars to Michigan school districts, higher education institutions and other education-related entities that have been most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes schools in Michigans economically disadvantaged districts, and will help address the digital divide that has served as a barrier to remote learning for students and educators across the state. The funding comes from the governors Education Emergency Relief Fund. As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and approach the start of the new school year, we must continue doing everything we can to protect our students, educators, and support staff. This funding will help us do just that, and ensure crucial support for our schools, whether its helping schools access PPE and cleaning supplies or helping students mitigate the impacts of learning loss in districts that need it most, Whitmer said. This is a good start, but we still need the federal government to work together on a bipartisan recovery package to support all Michigan students and educators, as well as state governments, families, and small businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on Michigans students, educators, and support staff, especially those in low-income communities. GEER funds are meant for districts that are determined to be most significantly impacted by COVID-19. To ensure these districts are targeted, the framework distributes $60 million to school districts based on the number of students in high-need student groups. \Districts will receive funding based on their numbers of economically disadvantaged students, special education students, and English language learners. To be eligible for funding, the school districts concentration of economically disadvantaged pupils, compared to total district enrollment, must exceed 50%. Locally, CASMAN Academy meets the criteria to receive the funding and director Shelly VanVoorst will help offset costs incurred as the school prepares to open in the new, challenging landscape. "This funding will help us offset some of the costs we, as a school district and building, have incurred because of the current pandemic situation. We are currently adding wireless microphones and speakers to classrooms to help students hear teachers better while the teachers are wearing a face mask," she said. "We want to make sure that students can clearly hear a teacher while they are talking, and we know that sometimes it's difficult to hear or understand what someone has said when they are wearing one. Another area that we could use the funding would be for purchasing hotspots for students without internet access at their homes if we have to move to online virtual instruction again later this school year." Every little bit helps, and VanVoorst will have a clearer picture of what the school can do once she sees how much funding CASMAN will receive. "How much we are able to do to help students will depend on the amount of the money we receive," she said. "I would love to be able to do more, and to maybe even add in some sort of student mental health services, but those programs can be costly and it's hard to find qualified personnel. We will wait and see what amount of money we actually receive, and spend it according to the measures prescribed to us." Its essential and appreciated that Gov. Whitmer is focusing these resources on districts with the highest need during this pandemic, said Michigan Education Association President Paula Herbart. Both from a public health and from an educational standpoint, economically disadvantaged communities need these additional funds to keep students safe and academically engaged. Equity in education funding is a critical issue and its encouraging to see Gov. Whitmer remain committed to addressing disparities so every student gets a great education no matter where they live. MASB appreciates any assistance the state can provide to districts in the time of heightened need, said Don Wotruba, Executive Director of Michigan Association of School Boards. The earlier budget deal helped to prevent cuts for all school districts and provided them with needed funding for COVID safety costs. This new funding targets school districts that provide education services to children most at need. Recipient districts will be required to use GEER funds for any of the following goals: Connectivity: Devices, internet access, access to remote services, or other similar purposes. Student Mental Health: Funding would enhance access to remote and in-person student mental health services. Addressing Learning Loss: Funding could be used by districts to offer supplementary content and intervention services to mitigate the impacts of learning loss. Out-of-School-Time Learning: Funds could be used to support out-of-school-time learning. These expenditures would ensure students have safe spaces to participate in remote education. Remote Learning Materials and Training (digital and non-digital): Funds could address both digital and non-digital content where remote learning continues as an instructional delivery model. Teacher Training and Curriculum: Funding could be used to provide additional professional development and curriculum modifications that allow districts to effectively facilitate distance learning while expanding their knowledge of the science of teaching. Other health, safety, and wellness needs identified, required, or recommended in the MI Return to School Roadmap. $5.4 million will be distributed to other education related entities, and will be distributed for statewide mental health services, public television learning resources, implementation of teacher professional learning practices and the Early On program to help reach more infants and toddlers through remote early intervention. Authorities in Ghana are planning to open a sex offenders register to keep names of people convicted of sex-related offences. The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service has said that the Sex Offenders Register will concentrate on convicted rapists. The move, they say, is to serve as a reference point for potential employers and deter people from committing sexual offences. Ghana currently has a universal record of all criminal activities but authorities believe establishing a register specifically for rapists will address the problem of sexual misconduct. The maximum sentence for rape offenders in the country is 25 years in prison but most victims often find it difficult to report because of stigma. In 2019, Ghana recorded 369 complaints of rape but convicted only three suspects. A BBC Africa Eye investigation, broadcast last year, exposed sexual misconduct involving two lecturers at the University of Ghana. The scandal triggered discussions about sexual assault in the country. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Morrisons customers will be able to purchase their weekly shopping from Amazons website for the first time as the two retail giants continue to grow their partnership. The supermarket chain said it has launched a platform for its products on Amazon.co.uk, allowing customers to purchase products which will be picked directly from Morrisons stores. Morrisons had previously launched a same-day online grocery delivery service on its Prime app for customers of the subscription service in major cities across the UK. Starting in Leeds, Amazon said all customers who use its website will now be able to buy their shopping using the Morrisons on Amazon shop on the platform, making the grocery delivery partnership more accessible to customers. Expand Close Customers will be able to buy Morrisons Market Street products through the Amazon platform (Morrisons/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Customers will be able to buy Morrisons Market Street products through the Amazon platform (Morrisons/PA) Through the partnership, Amazon Prime customers will still be able to receive free same-day deliveries on orders over 40. Doug Gurr, Amazon UK country manager, said: The launch of Morrisons on Amazon means increased visibility for Morrisons incredible service and selection, as well as an even greater choice for our customers. Morrisons also operates a larger grocery delivery business directly through its own website, which is fulfilled through a distribution deal with Ocado. It said the expansion with Amazon is also complementary to its on-demand delivery service it launched with Deliveroo in April. David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, said: Morrisons on Amazon will build on our partnership with Amazon, making our good quality, great value food even more accessible through Amazon.co.uk and the Amazon app. It will give more and more customers the option of receiving Morrisons groceries straight to their doorstep, including freshly prepared products from our brilliant Market Street colleagues. Boasberg, who is presiding over Clinesmiths case, has served on the secretive surveillance court since 2014. After Horwitzs report, the judge ordered the FBI and the Justice Department to provide an assessment of errors identified by the inspector general and whether those omissions or misstatements should invalidate certain surveillance applications granted by the court. At the outset of Wednesdays hearing, Boasberg acknowledged his role on the secretive court and noted while I did not sign any of the four applications that are at issue here, I could see that the [surveillance court] itself could be seen as a victim of the false statements. For that reason, he gave both parties an opportunity to request a different judge. Both sides declined. For the first time since she emigrated to the U.S. from India, Dr. Renu Joshi sees herself represented in a presidential ticket. She says there is much about Sen. Kamala Harris to which she can relate. Sean Simmers |ssimmers@pennlive.com The fires throughout the state have stressed the states mutual aid system, which has made it difficult for jurisdictions to obtain the firefighting resources they need, according to the emergency proclamation. The declaration enables Mr. Newsom to mobilize resources from out of state, a top aide to the governor said in an interview Tuesday night. The governor also mobilized the California National Guard to assist with relief efforts. Even as some residents prepared to evacuate or fled their homes as fires approached, Californians around the state braced for more rolling blackouts during a heat wave. On Monday, Mr. Newsom demanded an investigation into why state regulators had failed to prepare for high temperatures, which had been forecast for days. On Wednesday, the temperature was expected to reach near 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Napa and Sonoma, and to rise as high as 106 degrees in Sacramento. Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the states office of emergency services, said that the declaration would also ease regulations to help get assistance to those in need. Examples he cited included the waiving of fees to replace drivers licenses, birth certificates and marriage licenses for those affected by the fires. The declaration has no impact on health restrictions related to the coronavirus response, he said. Over the past week, portions of Monterey, Nevada and Napa Counties have declared mandatory emergency evacuations for thousands of residents as the counties battled several fires. And the state has been battling wildfires for weeks: The Apple fire, which spread across more than 30,000 acres in Southern California this month, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes, was 95 percent contained Tuesday. We are asking that everyone continue to respect the orders and warnings as this fire is still very active, Sheriff Shannan Moon of Nevada County said Tuesday as she addressed residents about the Jones fire. Alan Yuhas contributed reporting. A New York City man was arrested and a woman is expected to turn herself in to face charges in an alleged assault on a teenage employee at Sesame Place theme park near Philadelphia following a dispute over a mask requirement, police said. Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa. (Google Maps) Troy McCoy and Shakerra Bonds, both of the Bronx, each face charges including criminal conspiracy, disorderly conduct and harassment in the Aug. 9 attack on the 17-year-old worker, Middletown Township police said Wednesday. McCoy, 39, tried to barricade himself in the couple's home Wednesday morning but was arrested by federal marshals, police said. Other charges against him include aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. He will be taken to Middletown to face charges. Police said arrangements are being made for Bonds, 31, to surrender. She is also charged with simple assault. Court documents do not list attorneys representing them. Sesame Place, a children's theme and water park, requires guests ages 2 and older to wear face coverings while in the park except while eating and drinking or in designated relaxation areas to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Face coverings are not allowed in the park's water attractions. The employee reminded the couple about the mask requirement and was punched in the face before the two fled, police said. He was taken to a hospital and remained there for seven days. He required surgery for a fractured jaw and injuries to his teeth, police said. "It's a shame you have a 17-year-old working hard and he's doing the right thing and reminding people about the mask policy and the governor's orders, and they did not receive it well," police Detective Steve Forman previously told NBC News, referring to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's mandate to wear masks in public. A spokeswoman for Sesame Place, Dana Ryan, thanked police in a statement Wednesday "for their quick actions and support." "We have issued a lifetime ban to the individuals involved for all of our parks across the country," the statement said. "The safety of our team members and guests remains our top priority." Losing a vote to nix a $300,000 contract with a controversial special needs facility was the beginning of the end for Mike Floyds tenure as a Pearland ISD trustee. The 21-year-old first made headlines three-and-a-half years ago when he was elected to the Pearland ISD school board as a senior at the districts Dawson High School. His principal and staff cheered for him the day after the votes were tallied. Few, however, cheered after a tense board meeting on Aug. 10 led to the approval of a partnership with the Shiloh Treatment Center and a potential $2.5 million budget shortfall, which precipitated Floyds resignation on Friday. In a letter to Board President Charles Gooden Jr., Floyd said he wanted to cut his extended term short due to recent board decisions that I cannot support. His term was set to expire in May, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the election was pushed back to November. While he had already told his fellow trustees he would not seek reelection so he could attend law school, Floyd said the board voting 5-2 to approve the contract with the Shiloh Treatment Center was the straw that broke the camels back and led him to resign. In a way Im not just resigning because of this contract, which is abhorrent in and of itself, Floyd said. Its a warning sign to people who care about whats going on for this district. But other trustees paint a different picture. They said their approval of the Shiloh contract came with a demand for the districts special programs department to send a staff member to check on their students every day. And after that vote was cast, they said they were blindsided when Floyd was the sole vote against an additional $2.5 million in guaranteed state funding a vote that had to be unanimous. Trustee Jeff Barry said at the meeting that Floyd was holding the additional state funding hostage in order to get the board to go back and scrap their contract with the Shiloh Treatment Center. I take that back, Barry said Tuesday. He was holding our 22,000 students hostage, because each and every one of them will be impacted by the potentially lost $2.5 million. Treatment center troubles Past problems at the Manvel-based Shiloh Treatment Center are well documented. Four children who were part of the centers residential program died in their care over the past two decades three after being restrained by staff and one who ran away from the facility and was hit by a car. In 2014, the Houston Chronicle reported that migrant children placed there through a federal contract were injected with a powerful psychiatric drug without their consent. Court filings detail other accusations of abuse. Although the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services wrote in 2011 that they would stop placing foster children with the groups residential side, the site remains on the Texas Education Agencys approved vendors list for daytime programming for some children with disabilities. A handful of districts located near the facility, including Pearland ISD, still send students to Shiloh. Pearland ISD Director of Special Populations Lisa Nixon said its one of three facilities the district uses for students with profound behavioral issues who cannot be served safely in their schools. Their behaviors can be dangerous to themselves, other students and staff, Nixon said at the Aug. 10 meeting, and the district does not have the capacity to provide enough self-contained classrooms for those students. The placements in these facilities are a last resort, she said, and five students are slated to return to Shiloh this coming school year. The thought incensed Floyd, who asked that the board pull the contract off the consent agenda. Theres a history of death and drugging, he said at the meeting. I dont think we should be giving them any money at all. I think it would be irresponsible to send any kid there. Four trustees who spoke to the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday including the board president, Gooden, Vice President Lance Botkin and trustees Jeff Barry and Crystal Carbone said they also had reservations about sending kids to Shiloh. If there was another facility that provided these resources and didnt have the cloud over it that Shiloh does, I would have voted against the Shiloh contract in a heartbeat, Barry said. But we have to take guidance from (staff) because theyre the ones interacting with these facilities and the kids. And from all information we received in the meeting, Shiloh has made some progress as far as cleaning up their act, so to speak. After more than an hour of discussion, they and Trustee Rebecca Decker voted in favor of the contract, with the stipulation that someone from the Special Populations Department would go to Shiloh every day to check on the students. Floyd and Trustee Sean Murphy voted against. The board appeared to move on to other topics, until a budget vote at the end of the agenda. Budget surprise Legislators in 2018 made sweeping changes to school funding, including provisions for additional state funds and mechanisms for tax relief in places where property values have risen at breakneck speeds. While they limited the rate districts could collect property taxes in relation to those property value increases, they gave board members an option they could unanimously approve whats known as a golden penny and automatically receive money from the state. For Pearland ISD, that one golden penny amounted to $2.5 million. Superintendent John Kelly and four trustees said they had discussed that vote since budget talks began in January, and it seemed like a done deal. Trustee Crystal Carbone said it appeared so set in stone that district officials included it in the budget trustees approved more than a month ago. But when it came time to vote on Aug. 10, Floyd was the lone dissenting vote. Without his approval, the board will have to ask taxpayers to approve of it as part of a voter-approval tax rate election. Although the district could still get the money if voters approve of the measure, if it fails, the district could lose millions at a time when they are spending extra on laptops for students and supplies related to COVID-19. Floyd said his decision was simple: The district and board acted irresponsibly in sending $300,000 and five students to Shiloh, so he wanted taxpayers to decide whether they should be trusted with the money. Some in the community cheered the move, saying it shined a light on a problematic contract. Others, including some of the trustees who spoke to the Chronicle, worry that the measure including the $2.5 million could get lost among the pages of other races and issues before it appears on the ballot, and that Floyds vote was a poor reaction to the Shiloh vote. Regardless, the money issue will be decided on Nov. 3. And although Floyd has resigned and is taking a gap year before attending Georgetown Universitys Law Center next fall, he plans to stay engaged with the board and local politics. He hopes others will, too. People have to watch these meetings and get to know their school board member and their city council members, he said. If they dont get engaged, they wont have the quality representation I would hope for Pearland. shelby.webb@chron.com DES PLAINES, Ill., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the insurance industry's association dedicated to predicting, preventing, and prosecuting insurance crime, recommitted to a partnership with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) to further strengthen the long-standing relationship between the two organizations. NICB Special Agents regularly work with U.S. Postal Inspectors and insurance providers to fight insurance-related fraud and crime. The USPIS is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service which combats crimes that affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail or postal system. In a recent meeting held in Washington, D.C., NICB President and CEO David Glawe and USPIS Chief Gary Barksdale stressed the need for a strong, collaborative relationship between the two organizations, with the ultimate goal of identifying and combating a variety of insurance crime and fraud matters. As a former Postal Inspector himself Glawe also expressed his respect and admiration of the mission of USPIS and believes NICB has much to contribute. "I had the honor to serve as a Postal Inspector in Denver, Colorado, so I'm well-aware of the important role the U.S. Postal Inspection Service plays in preventing and prosecuting crimes that impact the mail system. We believe NICB's capabilities will further empower this critical organization to help protect the public and prevent an untold amount of loss." Glawe and Barksdale specifically discussed the importance of intelligence sharing, data analytics, and the collaborative engagement of field-level investigators as the keys to success for the organizations. "The NICB and the Postal Inspectors have a long history of working to bring down fraud rings," said Glawe. "Our meeting was an opportunity to meet with Chief Barksdale and Deputy Chief Craig Goldberg to reaffirm our commitment to working together while also solidifying the resources NICB brings to bear to assist Postal Inspectors with criminal investigations." "The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been safeguarding consumers and investigating fraud schemes for over 100 years," said Barksdale. "Partnerships like the one we have with NICB are vital for information sharing and collaboration. Together, we combat insurance fraud schemes and protect the American public." Glawe, who previously served as the Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis, took over the reigns as the NICB President and CEO in June 2020. During the meeting, Glawe and NICB Chief Operating Officer Tim Slater shared their vision for building NICB's capabilities to better serve the industry and partners like the USPIS. "NICB is focusing on 'predictive analysis' capabilities," said Glawe. "We're using cutting-edge data analysis along with a focus on varied intelligence sources to identify large scale insurance fraud and crime rings before they become fully operational. By improving the prediction of criminal behavior and identifying high-risk areas, we can make more of an impact on the prevention and prosecution of individuals involved in these crimes. And ultimately, we know our efforts are helping protect people who are more often targeted for fraud, such as the elderly and other at-risk individuals." REPORT FRAUD: Anyone with information concerning insurance fraud or vehicle theft can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 800.TEL.NICB (800.835.6422)or submitting a form on our website. ABOUT THE NATIONAL INSURANCE CRIME BUREAU: Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, learning and development, government affairs and public affairs. The NICB is supported by more than 1,400 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote more than $526 billion in insurance premiums in 2019, or more than 82% of the nation's property-casualty insurance. That includes more than 95% ($241 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org. SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau Related Links www.nicb.org The US and have agreed to allow air carriers to double the current flights to eight weekly round-trip flights. According to a statement released by the US Department of Transportation, "The Department of Transportation issued an Order that to allow the four Chinese currently performing scheduled passenger services to the United States to increase their services to eight weekly round-trip flights. This aggregate level of service is equivalent to the total number of flights now permitted by the Chinese aviation authorities for U.S. carriers." The US had halted their operations amid the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump had barred all non-US citizens from travelling from to the country. The Department's Order will modify the previous decisions made in June to enable those qualified Chinese carriers to increase services to the United States, as has permitted for U.S. carriers, the statement read. The United and Delta will be operating their flights four times each every week. "The Order also indicates our willingness to further revisit our action should the Chinese aviation authorities adjust their policies to bring about the necessary improved situation for U.S. carriers in which both they and the Chinese carriers could fully exercise their bilateral rights," the Department said. (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.) Rebecca Conneely can easily recount her first day of college in Missouri with her parents in tow, even though it was more than four decades ago. The first-generation student was expected to complete a round of tasks. One was to visit the bursar's office, which is similar to the business or finance office. "We didn't know what a bursar was, and we were reluctant to ask questions," she said. "It was a little embarrassing, because I didn't know where I was supposed to be." As a mentor with University of North Georgia's (UNG) GEN 1 program, Conneely hopes to alleviate any feelings of embarrassment or ignorance for first-generation freshmen this fall on UNG's Gainesville Campus. "I can get in touch with that lost freshman who didn't have a support system and help new first-generation students at UNG, which is at the heart of this new program," said Conneely, a Title III activity coordinator with University College at UNG. UNG GEN 1 is designed to connect first-generation students with successful first-generation faculty and staff members through formal mentoring opportunities, said Jennifer Herring, special assistant to the vice president of the Gainesville Campus and a first-generation college student. She explained remarks from Dr. Richard Oates, vice president of UNG's Gainesville Campus, during the First-Generation luncheon in November 2019 sparked the idea for GEN 1. "By proactively supporting first-generation college students, UNG helps them develop a sense of place or belonging, which is essential in building confidence," Oates said. "This 'I belong,' and 'I can do this' mindset is the foundation for a successful college experience." A committee was formed to construct the GEN 1 program. Its members were Conneely; Herring, who also serves as a mentor; Dr. Alyson Paul, associate vice president of Student Affairs and Dean of Students on the Gainesville Campus; Dr. Carol Adams, associate vice president and dean of University College; Glen Harris Jr., coordinator for Student Case Management; and Mark Mobley, director of CenterPoint in Gainesville. The program launched its inaugural cohort with 40 trained mentors and 40 mentees in August 2020. "Mentors can eliminate the myths and stigmas around asking questions and align them with people who can answer them," Paul, a first-generation graduate, said. "Our mentors will make these students feel welcome and feel like they belong." Helping the first-generation students succeed is the foundation of the GEN 1 program. "I know some of the pitfalls of the first semester that many first-generation students face," Conneely said. "I want to remove some of those hurdles and be the person who has the knowledge and advice they might not have." Adams said initiating the GEN 1 program is indicative of UNG's commitment to serve students of all backgrounds. "We are looking at students and trying to meet their needs where they are," she said. "The fact that we had so many faculty and staff raise their hand to serve these students reflects on who we are as an institution." A favorite among the foodie scene, one of Houston's best banh mi restaurants is opening a third location in the East End. Roostar Vietnamese Grill prides itself on providing not only the best custom made banh mi sandwiches, but they also offer up a variety of authentic dishes they feel will be perfect for their newest location opening in Spring 2021. RONNIE KILLEN OPENS NEW RESTAURANT: Ronnie Killen to open new restaurant in The Heights Capturing the spirit of the Vietnamese street vendor scene since opening in Spring Branch in 2015, Roostar owner Ronnie Nguyen shared with Chron.com why they chose the East End. "We choose the East End because when we hired our broker Clay Albers (Clay Albers Properties) we had entrusted and conveyed to him about the required specs we need for our third location," said Nguyen. "After studying all the data and demographics, everything pointed to the East End. Bustling with up and coming restaurants, new housing, and co-working spaces popping up, the East End is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures that offers plenty of variety, making Roostar a welcome addition to the new shopping center at 2929 Navigation Blvd. "The East End community will be our priority," said Nguyen. "We will give the space/restaurant our everything to make it a reality and to provide genuine hospitality that we have committed ourselves and our team to." Roostar has hired the local architecture firm Palmer Schooley to design the floor plan for this location. "I have encouraged Palmer and his team to take creative risks in this project and that I will stand behind him. Im excited to welcome the neighborhood into this space," said Nguyen. Guests can expect the same dedicated service and delicious food as their other locations, said Nguyen. "We make sure to do business with local companies and to pay it back by utilizing the services of local contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. And we intend to do the same with the East End," said Nguyen. While COVID-19 has disrupted the way many businesses operate, Roostar has also come up with other ways to do business. "We are fortunate to work with a local tech company called Hunger-Rush to develop our in-house app, so that has been helping us a lot in keeping our sales afloat while encouraging contactless payment," said Nguyen. Where there is life, there is growth, and I am a proponent of seeing any community flourish and any individual prosper," said Nguyen. STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Some New York City charter schools and private schools have already delayed their own plans for a part-time reopening, and have opted to start the year with only remote learning. The citys public school principals say they do not know how many of their students will actually report to buildings on the planned first day, Sept. 10, because there is no deadline for families to switch from hybrid learning to remote only. So far, about 30 percent of city families have said they will start the year remotely, but that number could change significantly before the start of school. That has made it all but impossible for principals to plan their class schedules, and to determine how many teachers they will need to staff remote instruction, in-person learning, or both. Principals say they need more than the two work days in September that the city has allotted for them to meet with teachers in order to make decisions about staffing. And though the city has begun to ship personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to schools, and has made strides in preparing many of its aging buildings for reopening, there are lingering questions about how many classrooms will have proper ventilation, and about how frequently staff and students will be tested after buildings open. The citys biggest obstacle appears to be time. Mr. de Blasios administration began preparing for school reopening in earnest late in the spring, according to several people with direct knowledge of the planning process, both to focus on preparing for summer school and to assess the viability of reopening at a moment when the virus was only beginning to loosen its grip on the city. But reopening would be a daunting logistical endeavor for even a small district, and three months was not nearly enough time to pull together plans for 1,800 schools, said Mr. Cannizzaro. Though the principals union is smaller and much less powerful than the citys teachers union, concerns from school leaders carry particular weight since they rarely wade into political fights and because principals have been tasked with actually making reopening work. Wrexham bakery creates 50 new jobs and builds new super bakery a year after devastating fire This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 A local family firm has created 50 new jobs and is forging ahead with the building of a new super bakery since being hit by a devastating fire exactly a year ago. The blaze on August 19 last year completely destroyed the Village Bakerys flagship bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate. Far from being floored the company is now stronger than ever with ambitious plans for future growth. The new 140,000 sq ft bakery in Ash Road is more than three times the size of the one its replacing and the shell of the building is now complete. The company will be kitting it out with the very latest equipment and say it will be the most modern bakery in Europe when its up and running next year. It will include a new Baking Academy to train the next generation of bakers and a cutting-edge new product development kitchen, twice the size of the original one, to ensure the Village Bakery stays ahead of the competition. The buoyant mood now is in stark contrast to when the fire broke out at 8.41am on a day which managing director Robin Jones described as the blackest in the companys history. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and Robin, his brother Christien, the projects director, and their father, Alan, the company chairman, immediately vowed the company would bounce back to become even bigger and better in future. The affected workers were redeployed to the Village Bakerys other three bakeries where production was stepped up to maintain supplies to their customers Another 30 of the staff displaced by the fire are now making a new range of American-style bagels, using a specialist production line imported from Canada. On the day of the disaster, with everybody safe but with the fire still raging, the Jones familys thoughts turned to the future with Robin defiantly saying at the time: This is a very difficult day in the history of the Village Bakery, but we will bounce back and be stronger than ever thanks to the fantastic team working here. Twelve months on and the company has made good on his determined pledge. Robin said: Thank God no one was hurt, that was the most important thing of all. Everybody followed our well-drilled evacuation procedures and got out safely. My daughter was working in the bakery, so it was a worrying time for all of us. The fire service responded quickly and were fantastic but after two hours we knew we had lost the bakery because the flames were so fierce. By lunchtime, our focus had switched to recovery mode and how we could rearrange production by using every square inch of our other bakeries to maintain supplies to our customers. By 3pm we had moved production of our bread rolls to the bakery in Minera and we delivered in full to our customers as usual the next day which was remarkable. Our bakery managers, Tom Breeze, Rob Glover and Ashley Dawson and their teams rose heroically to the challenge. They must have been running on empty but they delivered in spades. A few days after the fire I finally had the opportunity to see the torrent of touching good will messages on social media from the people who buy and consume our products. It was truly humbling to see how highly they regard us. Robin added: Its absolutely remarkable how weve got back on track, how weve rebuilt our production capabilities, how the staff have reacted and also how weve come through Covid as well. Since the fire we have created 50 new jobs and the new bakery is the embodiment of our faith in the future. It was clear our customers were impressed with the way we responded and thankfully they stayed with us. We were particularly grateful for the support of our independent customers and wed like to think during Covid we put them first and foremost rather than our bigger retailers. Thats only been possible because everybody at the Village Bakery has pulled together the production, engineering and commercial teams have all worked like trojans. Brother Christien, the Projects Director, has been masterminding the construction of the new bakery and sourcing the best, most modern equipment available. He said: The bakery that was destroyed was modern by industry standards but it was 10 years old so things have moved on a great deal in that time. In a situation like this, you have to look at the positives so we have learned lessons in terms of making the lay-out even better and the equipment were bringing in will be state-of-the-art. The new bakery is going to be amazing. It will be the most modern bakery in Europe. The main building, the production area, is being handed over to us at the end of September and the office block, Baking Academy and the development kitchen are being handed over to us mid-January next year. Well then start fitting out and installing the equipment and were planning to be in full production next summer. The new bakery will lay the foundations for our future growth and development as a company. At the same time, we will stay true to our core principles as craft bakers, using the best ingredients and the best equipment, so we can make fantastic products in volume. The Village People will be at the heart of everything we do they are the secret ingredient in our success. Martin Scorseses The Irishman is still very much available for streaming on Netflix, but youll soon be able to get a physical copy if you want one for your library. The Criterion Collection has started accepting pre-orders for its Blu-ray and DVD copies of the film, which will set you back $32 and $24, respectively. It was named one of Criterions November titles, alongside films like Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and Moonstruck, and will be available on the 24th that month. It is what it is, and what it is is huge news THE IRISHMAN will join the @Criterion Collection this November! https://t.co/zlVAaFxWUC pic.twitter.com/Yi2reUdDEM NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) August 18, 2020 Scorseses three-and-a-half-hour gangster film starring Robert de Niro received 10 Oscar nominations but ultimately struck out. Still, Netflix announced shortly after its release that 26.4 million accounts watched the movie in its first week the streaming giant was even confident that the viewership number would reach 40 million accounts in its first 28 days. The Criterion version of the film is a new 4K digital master that Scorsese approved. While it wasnt explicitly mentioned on its product page, it could mean that the film was mastered in 4K but is only on the Blu-ray disc in 1080p. You may not actually get a 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) resolution Blu-ray disc. Also, it doesnt look like youre getting new commentary with the physical releases, but youre still getting extra content typically bundled with Criterion releases. Those extras include a new documentary about the making of the film and a newly edited roundtable conversation between Scorsese and his stars from back in 2019. Youre also getting a 2019 program on the visual effects created for the film entitled The Evolution of Digital De-aging and archival interview excerpts with Frank the Irishman Sheeran, the mob hitman de Niro portrayed in the movie. Netflix originally revealed that The Irishman is getting a Criterion release back in January, along with Roma, Marriage Story, American Factory and Atlantics. Romas and Marriage Storys physical Criterion copies are already available for purchase. North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un on August 19 is convening a crucial party meeting for the first time in eight months. Last time, Kim held such a meeting was in late December, where for four days the political bureau met to discuss the economy and state security, following which the leader of DPRK and also warned US President Donald Trump that the country would no longer be bound by his pledge to stop missile testings. However, this time, the meeting is being dubbed 'secret' by the international community as there is little information on what's on the table for talks. Read: Kim Jong Un Sees Relationship With Trump As fantasy Film, Say Rage Publishers "The Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea decided to convene the Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Seventh Central Committee of the WPK on August 19 in order to discuss and decide on an issue of crucial significance in developing the Korean revolution and increasing the fighting efficiency of the Party," the little information that the state-run KCNA gave in regards to the meeting. Read: North Korea: Kim Jong Un Orders Distribution Of Aid In City Under Coronavirus Lockdown If media reports are to be believed, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the DPRK may talk about the recent flooding, rehabilitation of flood-stricken people, and also about the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Worker's Party of Korea. It is also being speculated that Kim may reshuffle his bureaucrats in order to ramp up the works related to restoration of flood damages ahead of the crucial revolution anniversary. Read: Kim Jong Un Boasts About 'reliable, Effective' Nuclear Program Amid Stalled Talks With US WPK meeting The sixth meeting of the political bureau of the seventh central committee of the Worker's Party will be reportedly held at the office building of the headquarters of the Party Central Committee and is expected to be attended by members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and members and alternate members of the Politburo. Read: 'Rocket Man' Kim Jong Un Boasts About His Nukes Amid Stalled North Korea-U.S Talks (Image Credit: AP) - Jowie Irungu's first gospel song impressed many who opined he delivered amazing vocals - In the song, he asks God to hold him as He is the only one who understands his misery - Many of his new fans urged him to continue creating music as he was on the right path The much-awaited song by Jowie Irungu is finally out and it's clear Kenyans have been impressed. Jowie announced on Monday, August 16, that he was planning on releasing a gospel hit which left many surprised as they never knew he possessed such talent. READ ALSO: HIV positive man who thought disease would kill him celebrates 30th birthday Jowie Irungu's new song is a call to God to hold him close Photo: Jowie Irungu/Youtube Source: Instagram READ ALSO: Mary Kilobi warms hearts with cute, loved up photo of herself and hubby Francis Atwoli Well, on Wednesday, August 19, the song dubbed Nishikilie debuted on his new Youtube channel and he received a lot of admiration from his new fans. Many who gave their feedback on the comment section congratulated him for his first song - applauding his vocals and delivery. The song is a call to God to hold him as He is the only one that knows the problems and misery he has been through. READ ALSO: Amazing pictures of man painting sculptures that look real go viral READ ALSO: Nairobi woman says she conceived 1st time she slept with makanga boyfriend It was recorded at a Savannah and Jowie, at the start of the song, appeared to have woken up and found himself deserted in the land - which clearly explained his situation. From the feedback, the 29-year-old will believe he has a great future in music. Netizens urged him to continue without turning back as some other gospel artistes have done. READ ALSO: Mateso gani?: Mike Sonko leaves netizens in limbo after sharing video of curvaceous lady dancing to gospel song READ ALSO: Bahati's baby mama Yvette praises Diana Marua for bonding with her daughter Mueni He was remanded after he was named as the prime suspect in the brutal killing of a businesswoman in Nairobi. Jowie was released from prison in February 2020 after he was granted KSh 2 million cash bail with the family using every means to raise the funds. A few days after his release, he made changes to his Instagram page, rebranded it with a new name and even made it private. READ ALSO: Wandani wapya wa DP Ruto wafanya mkutano kisiri It was not clear which career path he would take next but as it seems, music will be a place that he will find solace in. Jowie was arrested in connection to the murder of Monica Kimani in September 2018 and spent about one and a half years in prison. 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. Kenyan lady confesses to infecting men with HIV, begs for forgiveness | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke I was playing the Welsh Captain Fluellen (and Queen Isabel) in a production of Henry V starring Liev Schreiber and directed by Mark Wing-Davey. This was July of 2003. We were performing for a full house. The show had been up for several weeks, so we were in command, as it were. King Harry had made his comradely mingling with his men, moving from fire to fire, rousing their spirits before the battle at Agincourt, when all of a sudden the skies opened up with a downpour. The cast raced offstage we had to, if for no other reason than to protect the expensive mics we all were wearing. To our amazement we saw that most of the audience was still there. They had jackets pulled over their heads, and programs. The consensus was: Lets get back out there! We had to get rid of the microphones and then we trooped out, to great cheers. Im not sure exactly where we started from but I know that we were out there for the St. Crispins Day soliloquy. The glory was that for the last, dramatic quarter of Henry V, we were playing those scenes speaking those words with the rain POURING on us. In a career now over 60 years, in all media, this is a moment in time I will never forget. PETER GERETY Tecumseh! is an outdoor drama performed in a huge amphitheater in Chillicothe, Ohio. It has been running summers for as long as I can remember. My special memory includes the sound of the Shawnee horses hooves thundering on the ground, the voices in the night, and the wonderful costumed actors who brought it to life. All those years ago, it was magical. And a little sad, too. Might be time to see it again when we all creep back to these wonderful outdoor venues. D.L. PREECE, Zionsville, Ind. It was the summer of 78, and wed waited in line for several hours to grab the free tickets for the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew, with Raul Julia and Meryl Streep. What made this evening especially exciting was, after the show, wed waited by the stage door to meet Raul Julia (19-year-old theater majors do such things). When he came out, he was more than magnanimous talking to us about the play, his food for the world project and more. We were ready to let him go, when he said, Which way are you walking? Im heading this way. Of course, we said were going that way too, to which he replied Great! Walk with me and well talk some more. Just then, Meryl Streep came out, and Raul said, Meryl, come walk with me and my friends. And with that, on that hot sticky summer night, my three friends and I and Raul Julia and Meryl Streep walked through Central Park, talking about theater, Shakespeare, the injustice of world hunger and anything and everything else that came up. TIM DIERING, Amesbury, Mass. There are many strange ripple effects happening as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those strange ripples is a national coin shortage. If youre like me, youre struggling to get quarters to do your laundry. If you need to buy rolls of quarters, heres some information that can help. Theres a National Coin Shortage I would never have thought that one day I would walk into my bank, ask to buy rolls of quarters, and receive the news that there were none. And yet, thats exactly what happened one day about a month ago. The two banks closest to me each explained that theres a national coin shortage. Its economically complicated, but the gist of it is that the way that COVID-19 shut down the economy has led to a decrease in availability of quarters. For one thing, people simply arent out spending cash. The quarters that they do have are sitting at home, unused, not out there circulating in the economy. Moreover, the National Mint reduced the number of workers it had to the bare minimum in order to keep everyone safe during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, they werent producing as many coins as usual. This led to a shortage. While most people dont care about most coins for everyday use, quarters are still important. My building is one of many in this city, and of course in many cities across the nation, that offers laundry only if I pay the machine in quarters. I have very few options besides quarter-based laundry. There is no laundromat anywhere near me. And even if there was, they are also suffering from a quarter shortage, so I might not be able to get quarters for the machines there anyway. I could have a wash-and-dry service do my laundry and bypass the quarters problem but that gets very expensive very fast, especially if Ive got big loads of blankets and other heavy laundry. So, I need to buy rolls of quarters. And yet, my bank doesnt have them. So what is there to do? First, Do Check Your Local Bank Banks are doing their best to offer quarters when they can. For example, the Wells Fargo Bank where I have an account was able to give me $20 in quarters one week. The following week I was able to buy $10 worth of quarters. Then they didnt have any but Chase, where I dont even have an account, was able to sell me $10 worth of quarters. So, check your bank. You might be able to buy rolls of quarters from them. Typically, youll have to buy just one or if youre lucky, two rolls at a time. But its better than nothing. Its helpful if you have an account with the bank. Your credit union might be a good choice. And if you happen to have a business account then youll have a better chance at getting first pick to buy rolls of quarters from the bank when they become available each week. Convenience Stores and Grocery Stores You might also want to try to buy rolls of quarters at your local grocery store or convenience store. Whether or not they will sell them to you varies by location. Plus, of course, with the coin shortage, they might skimp on them more than they did in the past. Nevertheless, it doesnt hurt to ask. If you frequent a local store, rather than a big chain, and they already know you as a customer then they might be more amenable to helping you out. I was at a local convenience store chatting with the owner about the fact that a lot of places arent taking cash right now (even though legally they are supposed to) which led us into a conversation about the national coin shortage. He immediately offered, hey, if you need to buy rolls of quarters, I have some. Being friendly to your local small business owner can go a long way in times like these. Head to The Laundromat If you need to do quarter-based laundry, then you might have some luck at the laundromat near you. Unfortunately, with the coin shortage, most laundromats will not sell quarters to you unless you are going to do your laundry on site. Theyre struggling, too, and they need those quarters for their customers. If youre a customer, then theyll do their best to let you buy quarters. Fast Food Restaurants, Gas Stations, and Other Stores You can always ask to buy rolls of quarters at any store that you happen to already be shopping at. Even if they wont sell you full rolls, they might be able to give you $1 or $2 in quarters. It certainly doesnt hurt to ask, and you might end up getting the quarters that you need. Note that if youre going to a large store, such as a bog box store or a chain grocery store, then you might have better luck at the customer service counter than at the register. Is There a Local Arcade? There are several great local arcades in San Francisco. Normally, I can go into any one of them, put money into a machine and get quarters back. Of course, they arent rolled quarters, but theyre quarters all the same. Unfortunately, all of these places are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But thats not true in other places in the country. So, if you happen to live in a place where arcades are open, thats another place to add to your list of where you might try to get quarters. Ask Friends and Family Once I started running out of quarters for laundry, I started mentioning it to everyone that I know. It turns out that there are a lot of people with quarters in their homes that they arent using. Not everyone has to have quarters for laundry. Those that dont have been more than happy to let me buy rolls of quarters from them. Ive bought them from a neighbor, my partner, and my sister. (Okay, my partner and my sister actually just gave me theirs, but I would have given them the equal value in cash if they had asked.) Read More: If you enjoy reading our blog posts and would like to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started. If you want to be able to customize your blog on your own domain and need hosting service, we recommend trying BlueHost. They offer powerful hosting services for $3.95/month! I am writing to welcome all the new residents to the beautiful town of Warren, but to also inform them of a possible change that will change the face of Warren forever. There is a commercial tree-cutting company that wants to set up their business in a purely residential and wetlands area. They are seeking a special exception and hired a known spot zoning specialist, whose motto reads, My job is to accept projects that others deem impossible and make them possible while creating an enjoyable experience for our client. Easy projects need not apply. The owners of the commercial tree company knew there would be objections to their endeavor by the residents, so this is why they hired this particular engineer/surveyor. Instead of asking the residents before they set forth on their journey, they sent registered letters to the residents whose properties would be affected in February. In June, they tried to reach out to the residents, a little too late. There have been many mistakes made in this process, many last-minute changes of dates for hearings, some even the day before they were to take place. Also, Zoom meetings had to be held instead of public hearings because of COVID-19. Several members of the Planning & Zoning commission have resigned, which include the chairman and the vice chairman. What does this tell you? COVID-19 has worked in their favor, but we will not give up. To give up is not an option for the residents. Some of the residents are retired and hoped to spend their golden years here. Now with this cloud over their heads, how can they? Their houses will lose value, their privacy will be lost and the beautiful terrain that we all love will be gone. The reason we all chose to move here will be gone. The owners of the commercial tree company cry and fret about how much money they have spent to do all the plans, surveys and renderings that were needed for this project. Is this a wise thing to do before you even know that this project is a go? Maybe they knew something we did not. The owners also claimed they would be paying taxes. What do you think the residents have been doing all these years? Their plans include a 4,000 square-foot steel structure, not a barn, as the engineer describes it. A barn described on the Warren website for zoning rules and regulations states, A barn is an accessory to a Farm for sheltering harvest crops, commodities and other Farm products, livestock, Farm machinery and equipment. The owners of the commercial tree company will have tree-cutting equipment which could include a chipper, large trucks running on diesel fuel, a 30-yard dumpster that they need for storing a few logs and have it picked up when it is full. They will also store pesticides and fertilizers that are within the states guidelines. Is that for a commercial business or a residential home? Can you go into a Home Depot and purchase more than normal size of pesticide? It will also be within 500 feet of one residents property lines, certainly not a view anyone of us would want. This structure does not in any way resemble any of the homes it will be near. Who would think such an intrusive commercial business is a good idea in a purely residential area? The owners know there is great opposition to this, so why are they insisting on moving forward? They live in another town that would not allow such a business to disrupt the lives of its residents, so why not look in a commercially zoned area where you would fit in? Once one commercial business comes in, another will follow. Dont let that happen. Many of the residents of Warren are unaware of this situation. If you care about Warren please go to www.warrenct.org and register to get emails and alerts. You can also write to the selectman or Planning & Zoning Commission and ask to have your letters registered. Celia Ucciardo At least 20 people have been charged and dozens more are expected in what multiple law enforcement sources are calling a sprawling, interstate scam affecting Santander ATMs throughout New Jersey and New York. Police in Hamilton Township said Wednesday that 20 people ranging in age from 18 to 27 were arrested in that Mercer County town alone. Most of the suspects were from New York, though four suspects were from Maplewood, police said Hamilton police responded to the Santander Bank on South Broad Street at 9:54 a.m. Tuesday for a report of two suspicious cars in the banks parking lot, authorities said. After reports came in of bank ATMs that had been robbed in towns across New Jersey, Hamilton police pieced together a string of alleged thefts from Santander Bank ATMs at three other bank locations in town, the statement said. All 20 suspects were charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception, with some suspects also being charged with crimes that included possession of marijuana, possession of an unlawful weapon and hindering apprehension, according to the statement. The Hamilton roundup is the first publicly announced list of arrests in what law enforcement sources are calling a massive ATM scam. As many as 50 people were arrested in towns across New Jersey, sources said. Three sources told NJ Advance Media there was a multi-jurisdictional investigation in several New Jersey counties and in New York. The scam appeared to be exploiting a glitch in Santander ATMs where that allowed people to withdraw amounts using prepaid debit cards, two sources said. Tens of thousands of dollars had been fraudulently obtained, the sources said. Those involved, who are primarily from New York, appear to be loosely connected through social media, two sources said. The scam has affected at least eight towns in New Jersey in Mercer, Morris, Middlesex and Hudson counties, along with banks in South Windsor, Connecticut and Brooklyn, New York, according to sources. Theyre rounding guys up, one source previously said of arrests related to a Santander bank in Robbinsville that had been robbed. Its in the double digits. A spokeswoman for the FBIs Newark office did not offer any details, but said that the bureau was working with local and state law enforcement. We are aware of activity and looking into with our local and state partners, said Doreen Holder, the offices spokeswoman. In a previous statement, Santander Bank spokeswoman Nancy Orlando told NJ Advance Media that some branches may have additional security and some would be temporarily closed for security reasons. A list of specific locations affected by the scam or that would be closed was not released. On Wednesday, Orlando said that bank branches were reopened. Santander is pleased to report that following yesterdays events, branches are open and ATMs are back on-line, though ATMs are open to Santander customers only for the time being, said Nancy Orlando, spokeswoman for Santander Bank. The bank hopes to have ATMs available to non-customers in the near future and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. All Santander employees are safe, and we continue to follow our safety and security protocols at all our locations, she added. Customers should know that there has been no impact to their accounts, data or funds, and we continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate this situation. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday rallied against the US-brokered deal to normalise ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Protesters burned Israeli and American flags, trampled on posters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, and chanted normalisation is betrayal to Jerusalem and Palestine. Unlike Palestinian protesters last Friday near the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City who also burned posters of the Emirati crown prince, the Gaza demonstrators stopped short of burning symbols of the UAE apparently not to antagonise the Gulf Arab country, where tens of thousands of Palestinians work and live. Also read: Telephone service begins between UAE and Israel amid deal The demonstrators in Gaza City also voiced support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his rejection of President Donald Trumps Mideast plan, which the Palestinians say unfairly favours Israel. The protest was organised by the militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other factions. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, denounced the Israeli-Emirati deal. Normalisation with the occupation harms us and doesnt serve us, he said. Instead, it serves and promotes the occupation in its projects that target Palestine and the region. To hear the party tell it at this years convention, America is engaged in an existential war. A battle against creeping authoritarianism. A fight to save the most basic building blocks of public education, health care and the economy. A moral crusade for a basic level of decency. The heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage, Jill Biden said in her address on Tuesday night. Thats the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now. For much of 2019, Democrats debated the details of their policy differences. Should student debt be canceled for everyone or only for some? How quickly should the country transition away from fossil fuels? To what extent should America embrace a public health care system? Those fights have been washed away, or at least buried until after Inauguration Day. Instead, the focus of the second night of the convention was on the simple promise of returning a sense of normalcy to a nation grappling with a devastating pandemic and social unrest. A charming roll call that traveled the country painted a rosy picture of a multiracial democracy. Dr. Biden described her husband as a leader driven by a deep sense of empathy, once considered a basic quality of a president. National security officials talked about restoring the countrys place on the world stage. Testimonials to Mr. Bidens character dominated the evening. (CNN) Australia has secured a deal with the drugmaker AstraZeneca to supply a potential COVID-19 vaccine to its entire population free of charge, the government announced Tuesday, becoming the latest country to lock in supplies of the drug should trials succeed. British-based AstraZeneca is developing the vaccine in partnership with Oxford University, with advanced trials now underway with thousands of volunteers across multiple countries. Under the deal, the Australian government would manufacture the vaccine and offer free doses to all citizens. "The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a statement released late Tuesday local time. "If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians." "However there is no guarantee that this, or any other, vaccine will be successful, which is why we are continuing our discussions with many parties around the world while backing our own researchers at the same time to find a vaccine," he added. Speaking on Wednesday, Morrison acknowledged that there were "big hurdles" in producing a successful vaccine but said the AstraZeneca-Oxford University project is "one of the best prospects in the world today." The deal is still in early stages, with both parties having signed a Letter of Intent. A final formal agreement at a later stage will lay out more concrete details like pricing and distribution. However, the Australian government has previously indicated that it will spend billions of dollars on its vaccine strategy. The AstraZeneca vaccine AstraZeneca released early results of its closely watched Phase 1/2 trial in late July, which suggested that its vaccine candidate was safe and induces an immune response. The Phase 2/3 trials will now aim to prove whether the vaccine protects people against the novel coronavirus. Results are expected later this year, and will depend on the rate of infection within the trial communities, AstraZeneca said. The company has already reached agreements with several governments and organizations to produce at least 3 billion doses of the vaccine, with the first deliveries starting as early as September, it said on its website. The United States has made a deal with AstraZeneca for 300 million doses, delivering as early as October. Other countries that have also made deals for a potential supply include Russia, South Korea, Japan, China and Brazil, the company said. AstraZeneca has also struck a deal with the European Commission to provide up to 400 million doses for all member states of the European Union. "With production in our European supply chain soon to be started, we hope to make the vaccine available widely and rapidly, with the first doses to be delivered by the end of 2020," said company CEO Pascal Soriot in a statement last week on the EU deal. Cases surge in Victoria The AstraZeneca deal comes as Australia continues to grapple with its coronavirus outbreak, centered in the state of Victoria -- though other states, including neighboring New South Wales, are also reporting new surges. Victorian authorities declared a "state of disaster" on August 2, and placed the state capital, Melbourne, back under soft lockdown. These reimposed restrictions include a six-week curfew, a return to online schooling, and rules on how far residents can travel outside their homes (5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles). The state reported 222 new infections and 17 deaths on Tuesday, bringing its number of active cases to 7,274. An official inquiry found that almost all active cases in Victoria can be traced back to hotels used to quarantine international arrivals for a mandatory 14 days. The inquiry was launched after claims that some contracted workers were breaking protocol at these hotels -- including reportedly having sex with people under lockdown. Almost 99% of Victoria's second-wave cases can be traced back to just two quarantine hotels in Melbourne, said Department of Health and Human Services epidemiologist Charles Alpren at the inquiry on Tuesday. The vast majority, upwards of 90%, likely came from just one of those hotels, he said. It began with one family that arrived from overseas on May 9; each family member tested positive in the days after arrival. Weeks later, three members of hotel staff tested positive; a month later, 17 more people connected to the hotel tested positive. By July 29, health officials had identified 817 active cases linked to the hotel. All Australian states and territories are now closed off from each other, with hard border closures that leaders warn will stay in place for months to come. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Australia secures deal for potential COVID-19 vaccine, will provide it free to all citizens." (PHOTO: Getty Images) SINGAPORE A domestic helper who repeatedly kicked an intellectually disabled eight-year-old boy she was hired to care for was jailed for six months on Wednesday (19 August). Indonesian Yuni Suvi Yanti Sitepu had kicked her young charge out of frustration and was caught on camera by the childs mother, who was viewing the footage live. Yuni, 38, pleaded guilty to ill-treating the child, who has been diagnosed with intellectual disability of at least moderate severity, global development delay, epilepsy and hypothyroidism. The domestic helper had been employed to care for him among other duties and knew his condition. She had been working for the family for more than a month when her actions surfaced. The victim and his mother cannot be named to protect the childs identity. On 16 May last year, the childs 36-year-old mother was using her mobile phone to view live footage from the CCTV camera placed in her living room at about 10am when she noticed Yuni singing and posing in front of her mobile phone. The maid was not paying attention to her son. The mother grew suspicious after seeing the maid shove her boy aside and decided to record what happened. She then witnessed Yuni assaulting her son. She saw Yuni kicking her son at intervals, targeting his face and causing him to fall backwards. As the boy lay on his back, the maid pushed his legs in a rough manner towards his face, then continued to kick him. The mother ended her recording at 11.45am, after her husband returned home from work. That night, the woman lodged a police report and brought her child to the hospital the next day. The boy suffered from bruising on his cheek, thighs and abrasion on his upper back. However, these injuries were not attributed to the maids actions, according to the prosecution. Nevertheless, Yuni admitted to the offence and revealed that she had assaulted the boy in frustration. Representing herself, Yuni tearily said that she had lost the income she needed to support her family. She sought a lighter sentence. She had been staying in a shelter while awaiting her court case and has been in remand since 23 June this year. Story continues However, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Ong said her offence had been aggravating due to the vulnerability of the victim. The prosecution sought at least six months jail. District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong agreed with the DPP that the victim was particularly vulnerable and required the care of the helper and his parents. A person entrusted with such caretaking responsibilities will be firmly dealt with for betraying that trust, the judge added. For ill-treating a child, an offence under the Children and Young Persons Act, Yuni could have been jailed up to four years, and/or fined $4,000. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories Bukit Panjang Plaza, KTV joint added to list of places visited by COVID-19 cases No evidence that COVID-19 can pass to humans via food: SFA Death of security guard at 1-Altitude could have been prevented if safety standards were met: State Coroner Man charged for posting online threats on judge who nixed repeal of Section 377A Were beyond excited to partner with PowerReviews. We know how critical authentic reviews are to the consumer journey, and our network of vetted creators will facilitate the generation of reviews at scale. Its going to be hugely valuable for our clients," said Erik Graber, Co-Founder at Cohley. Content generation platform Cohley announced its partnership with PowerReviews, who powers brand advocacy by harnessing the authentic voice of the customer to improve products and the customer experience. The partnership will initially focus on helping their shared clients proactively generate product reviews to fill PowerReviews on-site reviews integration. The partnership will also enable Cohleys client base to generate and syndicate reviews to major retailers like Target (and many more). Were beyond excited to partner with PowerReviews. We know how critical authentic reviews are to the consumer journey, and our network of vetted creators will facilitate the generation of product reviews at scale. Its going to be hugely valuable for our shared clients," said Erik Graber, Co-Founder & Head of Product at Cohley. Clients will run sampling campaigns on Cohley to generate product reviews, and from there the API will enable users to syndicate those reviews out to the corresponding product pages on their most important retailers sites. PowerReviews is relentless in our focus to help brands collect and share the most impactful content, to ultimately enable consumers to make more confident purchasing decisions. This partnership brings enormous value to our mutual clients who are now able to distribute rich content collected through Cohley's Content Generation Platform to their desired retail destinations, said Casey Murray, Director of Business Development & Partnerships at PowerReviews. ABOUT COHLEY Cohley is a content generation platform that gives brands like Harry's, Adore Me, Rhone and OLLY a better way to generate marketing assets and elevate their performance across digital channels. On the Cohley platform, brands are able to run campaigns that focus on a specific content output. That output can range from User Generated Content (UGC), professional photography, video assets, influencer activations or on-site text reviews. ABOUT POWERREVIEWS PowerReviews (PowerReviews.com) is a software and data company that works with 1000+ leading brands and retailers to bring authenticity and transparency to commerce. The PowerReviews Customer Content Platform has three solutions that help our customers collect and manage customer-generated content to improve the product and customer experience across the customer journey. We help clients meet the evolving need for social proof, accelerating the path to purchase and brand advocacy. PowerReviews is known for innovation, consultative partnership, and actionable insights, supported by our open platform and approach. Our dedicated team of experts provides thoughtful analysis and turn-key service. PowerReviews is headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA. Following its sanctions on Mali for ousting its political leaders in a military coup, the Heads of State and Governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will, on Thursday, attend an extra-ordinary virtual meeting to take a position on the impasse. President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to join other leaders of the regional bloc to discuss the next line of action after several failed mediation efforts to put an end to the destabilisation of the nation, a statement by Nigerian presidency said on Wednesday. There will be a Virtual Extraordinary Session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government tomorrow, Thursday, August 20; on the situation in Mali. President @MBuhari will be participating, Bashir Ahmad, a media aide to Mr Buhari said in a Twitter post. A Tuesday coup by mutineering soldiers led to the arrest and eventual resignation of the Malian President, Ibrahim Keita, following weeks of civil protest against his perceived corrupt and inept rule. This has drawn the ire of the international community. Following condemnations of the mutiny, ECOWAS banned Mali from all its decision-making bodies with immediate effect and ordered its member-states to shut their borders and economic trade against Mali. Following its statement published on August 18, reporting on an on-going mutiny within the Malian Armed Forces, ECOWAS has noted with great concern the seizure of power by Malian military putschists. This seizure of power intervenes within a difficult socio-political context. Indeed, ECOWAS recalls that a mediation process has been on-going during the past two months, with a view to finding a solution to this crisis. Following this power grab by Malian military putschists, which is likely to have a negative impact on peace and stability in Mali and in sub- region, ECOWAS utterly condemns the overthrowing of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitas democratically elected government, ECOWAS said in a statement. Background Mali has been in the midst of months-long political impasse. The recent turmoil dates back to a 2012 coup by soldiers who were opposed to what they saw as a weak response to a growing violent extremism by a rebel group, the Tuareg. Mr Keitas promises after the 2013 election centred around halting the insurgency in the country, yet it persisted, causing doubts about his ability to contain it. His 2018 re-election further excerberated growing frustration from many citizens. However, the crisis reached a climax, following the April parliamentary elections, marred by allegations of fraud and malpractices. An opposition coalition immediately called for Mr Keitas resignation. This was followed by weeks of mass demonstrations in which the ousted president refused to resign. He, however, made weak attempts to pacify the opposition. Efforts made by ECOWAS mediator and Nigerias former president, Goodluck Jonathan, to bring together Mr Keita and leaders of the opposition movement for talks failed, despite recommendations for a unity government. Flames swallowed dozens of homes and other structures Wednesday as the fast-moving LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded into Vacaville, jumped Interstate 80 toward Fairfield, and prompted frantic evacuations and rescues from predawn hours into night. By days end Wednesday, the fire destroyed 105 homes and damaged 70 other buildings, nearly tripling in size to 124,000 acres across Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano counties. Four people were injured, 25,000 structures remained threatened and dozens of areas were evacuated, including non essential personnel from Travis Air Force Base. All attempts to contain the fire failed. It was the largest wildfire in California, one of several lightning-sparked fires that intensified overnight and threatened communities in and around the Bay Area. Another enormous wildfire ripped through Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, injuring two first responders and blackening the skies with smoke and ash. Dubbed the SCU Lightning Complex, it burned 102,000 acres by nightfall, threatened 3,800 structures and was 5% contained. Late Wednesday, evacuations were expanded to include an area just east of the San Jose city line. To the south and west, the CZU August fire in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties ignited late Tuesday, burned 25,000 acres and forced 22,000 people from their homes. Two people were injured and 20 homes were destroyed. It was 0% contained by nightfall and threatening 8,500 structures. It caused extensive damage to Californias oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, and officials ordered the park, along with others, closed due to the fires. The fire damaged the parks headquarters, historic core and campgrounds, park officials said in a statement late Wednesday night. All campers, day-use visitors and State Parks staff at Little Basin and Big Basin were evacuated. Now Playing: The LNU Lightning Complex Fire in Vacaville, CA has grown to nearly 50,000 acres, 0% containment. Chronicle photojournalist Scott Strazzante captures the fire burning along Pleasants Valley Road. Video: San Francisco Chronicle The devastation just on Wednesday ensured that Californias latest wildfire season will be another catastrophic one, as well as deadly. A pilot dropping water on a blaze in western Fresno County died after his helicopter crashed, sparking yet another fire. Officials across the region begged residents to get ready to leave their homes, that the danger would linger for days if not weeks. The historic California lightning siege depleted firefighting resources across the state, with officials weighing where to send precious air support or ground crews, even as new blazes sparked or spread to suburban or lakeside communities. There have been nearly 11,000 lighting strikes in California, igniting 367 new fires over the past three days, often unaccompanied by rain, and with temperatures reaching highs rarely seen in the region, according to Cal Fire officials. John Blanchard Across the state, the demand for engines, hand crews and air support far exceeded supply, said Cal Fire spokesman Jeremy Rahn. Firefighting resources are depleted as new fires continue to ignite, he said. The size and complexity at which these incidents are burning is challenging all aspects of emergency response. Fire and law enforcement officials anticipated more evacuations in the coming days. The roughly 20 fires making up the LNU complex had created a fast moving and rapidly changing situation, said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick. For many residents, wildfire evacuations were nothing new, but this year, tens of thousands of people faced an unprecedented challenge: Evacuating amid a pandemic. Typically during mass evacuations, emergency responders turn spaces like community centers and school gyms into overnight shelters, where evacuees can eat, sleep and wash up until they find somewhere else to go. But Jennifer Adrio, the CEO for Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region, said the agency is trying to avoid opening up shelters where groups of people are together for extended periods of time. Instead, she said, they are turning to hotels, dorm rooms or other sites where people can distance from each other inside or parking lots where people can sleep in their cars. She said that any congregate shelters will have strict protocols in place like mandatory personal protective equipment for staff, temperature checks at the door, tables 6 feet apart, masks and hand sanitizer. We are as prepared as we can be, she said. On Wednesday, the mandatory evacuation list for the LNU complex grew by the hour, including 60 separate zones across the region by nightfall. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle We realize this is a trigger point for many of the public, he said, noting many residents have evacuated before or lost homes in recent years. Be ready. That warning was repeated across the Bay Area and the state to all residents for the coming days, especially those in the potential path of the LNU fire complex. Were in this for the long haul, said Sean Cavanaugh, Cal Fire incident commander. Last thing we want is for people to be trapped in their homes and not be able to get out. Hours later, emergency crews scrambled to evacuate residents in Fairfields Pleasant Valley community, including a nursing home with hundreds of residents. The fire hopped I-80, shutting down the main artery in both directions just after 4 p.m. The highway was still closed several hours later, with no estimate on reopening. By late Wednesday evening, after thousands of people had been evacuated, the flames crept closer to the outskirts of Fairfield and jumped part of a firebreak that had held the blaze back for hours. Linda Cooper turned the sprinklers on and stood in her driveway around 7:45 p.m., as she watched the flames race down a hill toward her home on Couples Court. A crew of firefighters working nearby assured her they would save her home. Cooper told them she watched the same hill burn in Aug. 2017. This time, she said shes probably ready to sell her home. I went through this two years ago, Cooper said, her eyes welling with tears. (Its) the fear of the unknown, not knowing whether youll come back to a house. Hundreds of residents had no idea whether their homes still stood as darkness fell. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California In Vacaville, the overnight evacuations also came as a surprise, with residents at the edge of the city, including all those on Pleasants Valley Road, scrambling in the dark early Wednesday to evacuate as the fire neared neighborhoods. Many evacuees fled with only their nightclothes, forced to rush from their homes with only minutes to spare. Shawnee Whaley was just glad to be alive. She said a friend called, waking her at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. She then noticed her power was off and she heard a ruckus outside so she opened her front door and was nearly blinded by the brightness of a fire. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle I realized it was chaos, she said, adding her phone showed no alerts. The flames were maybe a quarter-mile away from her home on Shady Glen Road. She raced across the street and roused her mom, Sharon Whitaker, 79, and got her out of the house and to the car. They didnt have time to change out of their pajamas. We didnt have any time to prepare for an evacuation and no electricity so we could see anything we might want to take with us, she said. We couldnt see anything. They ended up at the Ulatis Community Center where they were given food, masks, sanitizer and a place to rest. They didnt know if their homes survived. Multiple homes on Pleasants Valley Road were totally destroyed by the fire barely two hours after evacuations were ordered. Torched gas lines exploded at one house totally engulfed in flames. The weather was expected to worsen fire conditions, with a forecast calling for highs in the 90s in the area, nearing 100, every day through at least next Tuesday. Across the region, skies turned gray, the smell and sight of smoke in virtually every corner of the Bay Area. Ash covered cars and roofs in San Francisco and Oakland. Smoke wafting south from the fires prompted air-quality officials to issue a Spare the Air alert through Sunday. The smell of smoke hovered over many areas including San Francisco, with a National Weather Service worker even reporting ash in the downtown area. The air quality will be very poor for the foreseeable future given rapid spread of fires and stagnant air mass, the Bay Area arm of the National Weather Service tweeted on Wednesday morning. Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the hundreds of fires across the state Tuesday afternoon by declaring a state of emergency, allowing California to receive mutual aid from other states and secure federal grants. Chronicle staff writers Dominic Fracassa, Catherine Ho and Demian Bulwa contributed to this report. Michael Cabanatuan, Matthias Gafni, Dustin Gardiner and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Amazon is huddling with the largest mall owner in the United States to turn anchor stores into fulfillment centers. The deal with Simons Property Group would give Amazon access to space formerly occupied by Sears and J.C. Penney, both of which have filed for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal has reported. If Amazon can close the deal, it would give the company access to some valuable geography that it ordinarily wouldnt have access to. Its difficult to get warehouses in suburban areas, observed Gene Munster, co-founder of Loup Ventures, a venture capital firm in Minneapolis. Theres also the potential for adding, eventually, a brick-and-mortar experience, he told the E-Commerce Times. In-Person Shopping Not Dead Yet Consumers want a brick-and-mortar experience when they cant wait to buy something or they need to touch it before they buy it. Theres still a use case for humans wanting something immediately, where a delivery person cant get it to them, Munster said. Amazons biggest opportunity in the next decade is to advance into brick and mortar, he maintained. It sounds counter intuitive, but it isnt because in the next 10 years, we believe that 40 to 50 percent of total commerce will be brick and mortar. Chelsea Gross, director for digital performance benchmarks at Gartner, explained that Amazon has continued to increase its physical presence over the years. It may surprise some to know that they have multiple stores in a number of cities, she told the E-Commerce Times, but I am surprised that they are considering to build out, especially when e-commerce revenue has increased substantially. Longest Last Mile Amazon could be eyeing former anchor stores in malls as a way to take advantage of contemporary brick-and-mortar trends. In recent times, big flagship stores and small experience stores have proven to be most successful. Amazon has made its way into some of the smaller experience stores with its convenience stores and books and media stores so it makes sense to move into a larger format that builds on what theyve done with Whole Foods, Gross said, but its also possible that theyll just use these space to better operate last mile fulfillment. The last mile of delivery has been the most difficult for Amazon, noted Patrick Gourley, an assistant professor at the Pompea College of Business at the University of New Haven. Amazon gets packages to the nearest fulfillment center and then FedEx, UPS or USPS delivers it in the last mile, he explained. If it wants more fulfillment centers to bring some of that delivery in-house, it could be useful to take up space in a mall, he continued. Theyre in residential areas and theyre the only buildings with large amounts of empty square footage in those areas. Theyve dipped their toe in retail, he added, but I dont know if theres going to be an Amazon store near you any time soon. Touch and Immediacy Amazon could use the mall space for multiple purposes, noted Charles King, the principal analyst at Pund-IT. The company could use a portion of those spaces for local pickup or, eventually, repurpose them into retail outlets, he told the E-Commerce Times. Im sure Amazon is considering other options, as well. Mark William Lewis, CEO of Netalico Commerce, an e-commerce development agency based in Raleigh, N.C., acknowledged that it might seem like an odd choice for Amazon to move more into the brick-and-mortar business in the age of COVID when e-commerce is booming. But its been plotting this for years in advance, since they purchased Whole Foods, he told the E-Commerce Times. COVID likely means they can get retail space for quite a discount. One of the advantages physical retail space has over e-commerce is discovery, he explained. You might go into a store for one thing, but then see something while youre there and come out with a shopping cart full of other things that you didnt even know existed. E-commerce stores try to do this through things like recommended products, he continued, but theres only so much cross-selling they can get in your face before you leave the website. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Another advantage is that many products, like clothing, benefit greatly from being able to touch, feel, and try on before you buy, he added. Then some people just need something immediately, he said. As fast as Amazon has gotten with delivery, sometimes you want to walk in a store and come out with your product. No Mall Savior If mall tenants are hoping Amazon will change their fortunes, that prospect isnt likely in the short-term. I believe the primary drivers for Amazons interest are the number of properties, their proximity to urban and suburban customers and the distressed owners looking for a way out, King said. Amazon is one of few companies I can think of that has both the interest and the means of making deals of this size, he added. Lewis, too, sees Amazon lured to a deal by cheap space. I can see them taking advantage of this for a combination of retail warehouses and fulfillment centers, he said. They may get some potential foot traffic from the mall, but theyre also getting prime fulfillment locations in the heart of many metropolitan areas. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has warned universities against retaining original documents of their faculty members after offering them service contracts, saying they often have a tough time getting them back and many have to forego better job prospects as a result. In a communique, UGC secretary Rajnish Jain said it has come to their notice that many universities, colleges collect original academic certificates, mark sheets, etc at the time of issuing contracts to teachers and then continue to retain these documents with them. The teachers face a tough time recovering their documents from their employer educational institutions when they leave their job. Many have to forego their better prospects as they are not able to recover their documents in time, said the higher education regulator. It added UGC has taken a serious view on these matters and emphasized that no employing higher education institutions should keep in their possession certificates of teachers or original documents, which is akin to depriving them of their rights. The regulator has asked all universities and colleges to mandatorily issue employment contracts clearly specifying all the terms and conditions in accordance with the stipulated norms of UGC and other statutory bodies. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the technical education regulator, also issued a similar warning last year, citing complaints that institutes were retaining certificates of teachers as well as students. It noted this was against norms and warned of strict action. AICTE asked faculty members to give at least one months notice while leaving jobs in mid-sessions keeping in view the academic interest of students. It may still be summer, but Connecticut is already gearing up for Halloween. Pop-up retailer, Spirit Halloween just announced its 2020 slate of costume and decoration stores and some other local stores already have October displays out. Will the holiday look different for you this year due to the pandemic? Hearst Connecticut Media Group asked a small number of Connecticut residents if they would be celebrating Halloween this year and how. The majority of respondents said they and their kids would be celebrating the holiday, but trick-or-treating would be dependent on a number of factors including how well social distancing could be achieved, if there is a new wave of COVID in the fall and how the start of the school year goes. Only one respondent out of 17 said she had already made plans to definitively not go out for Halloween this year. Here are what Connecticut residents had to say about Halloween 2020: MEXICO CITY, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Mexican carrier Aeromexico , which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States at the end of June, said it has reached an agreement with the holders of its short term stock certificates. Aeromexico said in a statement late on Tuesday that holders of its AEROMEX01119, AEROMEX01219, AEROMEX00120 and AEROMEX00220 stock certificates agreed to a "waiting period" of up to 12 months during which they will not require payments from Aeromexico. "As part of the agreement reached, Aeromexico agreed to recognize the outstanding debt under the instruments through the formal restructuring process under Chapter 11 (and) provide information on the progress of the restructuring process," said the firm. (Reporting by Noe Torres; Writing by Anthony Esposito Editing by Nick Zieminski) First, I must say that I cant speak on behalf of the victims since I only speak about the victims. This is what third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan told reporters during a press conference today, touching upon a journalists question if he, as the former Commander-in-Chief, feels guilty for the death of servicemen when he talks on behalf of the victims of the Four-Day Artsakh War, about his responsibility before the families of the victims. I dont think it would be right to speculate the victims for political considerations. None of us can say he or she has always been perfect. The people who make decisions every day make mistakes that are much more visible. We won the Four-Day Artsakh War, Sargsyan declared. As far as the unit of measurement of the victory in the war is concerned, according to Sargsyan, the unit of measurement is the fact that Azerbaijans plans failed. The unit of measurement is that the President of Azerbaijan publicly declares that he is being forced to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Success is measured by political statements and the statements of the intermediaries, who state that Azerbaijans behavior is inadmissible. You may think I am citing others, but I must say that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be settled in the case of coercion of the international community. No leader of Azerbaijan will ever agree to recognize Nagorno-Karabakhs independence. Frankly, I have never measured any victory with meters or kilometers, Sargsyan concluded. After the Supreme Court's verdict allowing the CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, Nitish Kumar claimed that the matter was not just related to the late actor's family but concerned the entire country and with the CBI investigating the case, people believe that justice will be done. The people can trust that Sushant Singh Rajput will get justice now that the Supreme Court has directed to hand over the investigation in the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Wednesday.Supreme Court verdict makes it clear that probe by Bihar Police and FIR registered here were correct. Not just Sushant Singh Rajputs family or people of Bihar, entire country is concerned over the matter. With CBI probe, people can trust therell be justice, Kumar told ANI in a telephone interview. He said that the team probing the death case in Mumbai did not get the cooperation of the local police, but added that political comments on the matter are not right. It was the duty of Bihar Police to probe after complaint, but they didnt get cooperation in Mumbai. Behaviour meted out to our IPS officer is known to all. With the Supreme Court verdict, its clear what happened wasnt right. Any political comment in this situation isnt right, Kumar said.These things are not about politics, they are about justice. We are focused on providing justice. What was said, was not right. Probe will speed up now. Today it was proved that we abided by law in the steps we took, he added. Notably, the IPS officer probing the case in Mumbai was home quarentined by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for what it claimed was in accordance with the COVID-19 lockdown guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ALSO READ : Sushant Singh Rajput case: SSRs Dil Bechara co-star Sanjana Sanghi reacts to SC order This comes after the Supreme Court, earlier today, held that the FIR registered in Bihars Patna in the matter was legitimate and directed the CBI to investigate the matter. The top court also held that the Bihar government was competent to recommend CBI probe in the matter.The apex court order came on a petition filed by actor Rhea Chakaborty seeking to transfer the FIR, registered against her in Patna for alleged abetment of suicide in connection with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, to the Mumbai Police. ALSO READ : Satyamev Jayate : Sharad Pawars grand-nephew after Supreme Courts order in SSR case Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:34:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, poses for a group photo with newly appointed counselors of the State Council and researchers of the China Central Institute for Culture and History after presenting certificates of appointment to them in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday urged counselors of the State Council and researchers of the China Central Institute for Culture and History to play an active role in promoting economic and social development. Li made the remarks in a speech after he presented certificates of appointment to newly appointed counselors and researchers. Noting the contributions made by successive counselors and researchers during the past 70 years, Li expressed the hope that the newly appointed counselors and researchers will make proposals for overall development, pay attention to the livelihood of the people and voice their expectations, and better carry forward China's fine traditional culture. Enditem BOZEMAN, Mont., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a few short weeks, Frontier Psychiatry connected Montanans across the state to psychiatry services. This was accomplished by the CrossTx Care Coordination Platform, recent recipient of the MT Innovation Grant in response to COVID-19. CrossTx "Montana has consistently posted among the worst suicide rates in the U.S. over the last 30 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has, unfortunately, amplified the mental health crisis among Montanans by worsening social isolation and making access to mental health services more difficult," said Eric Arzubi, MD, a founding partner of Frontier Psychiatry. "We need a different approach to care if we're going to bring our suicide rate down." According to "Suicide in Montana," the most recent report published by Karl Rosston, the State of Montana's Suicide Prevention Coordinator, the annual suicide rate was 25.9 per 100,000 people. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Montana's rate has risen by 38% since 1999 and is nearly double the national rate. Dr. Arzubi and his partners founded Frontier Psychiatry in 2019 with a mission to make psychiatric care accessible to all Montanans by 2025. "We are confident that the Frontier-CrossTx partnership will give our journey to that ambitious goal a big boost," he added. Before Dr. Arzubi and his partners launched an all-virtual, Montana-focused psychiatric practice, he served as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Billings Clinic for five years, during which time he led the creation of the state's first psychiatry residency training program and the opening of the state's first emergency psychiatry stabilization unit. Dr. Arzubi has also served as President of the Big Sky Regional Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. CrossTx, also a Montanan-owned company, envisions Montana as a place where health care professionals are able to communicate effectively about their patients without wasting one of our most precious resources time! Their mission is to improve the overall patient experience with seamless communication across the care continuum. Their cloud-based platform enables patient-relevant communication to be transferred safely from one provider to other providers and community resources. All correspondence is in compliance with HIPAA and the unique levels of consent appropriate for the situation, while aligning with the patients' wishes. "CrossTx is excited to bring our nationwide healthcare communication expertise home to our beloved Montana," said Chad Nybo, CEO of CrossTx. "The partnership with Frontier Psychiatry is presenting our experienced team with an innovative opportunity to address statewide behavioral health challenges with novel telehealth solutions." CrossTx was able to build a communication infrastructure to Frontier Psychiatry's network. Communities that have expanded access to telepsychiatry services as a result of this partnership include Big Timber, Culbertson, Ekalaka, Forsyth, Miles City, Glendive, Roberts, Billings, and Bozeman. Of note, Culbertson and Forsyth are located in counties that posted two of the highest suicide rates in Montana, according to "Suicide in Montana," at nearly 40 annual suicides for every 100,000 people. Outside of Gallatin and Yellowstone counties, the network is serving a population of about 36,000 Montanans who live in rural and frontier communities, however, both companies do not plan to stop there. The combined visions of CrossTx and Frontier Psychiatry will significantly impact behavioral and mental health across Montana. MEDIA CONTACT: Chandra Donnell ph:406.848.4882 email:[email protected] Related Images crosstx-and-frontier-psychiatry.png CrossTx and Frontier Psychiatry Confront The Mental Health Crisis in Montana Related Links Frontier Psychiatry CrossTx SOURCE CrossTx Related Links http://www.crosstx.com A security review last week on Jammu and Kashmir led the government to order the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from the union territory, a move that is seen as part of the Centres outreach to the Kashmir valley. The review was ordered by the Home Minister Amit Shah when he was still recuperating in a Gurugram hospital earlier this month. The review, and the withdrawal of about 100 companies of central security forces, comes around the time that the government has spotlighted development activities and appointed senior politician Manoj Sinha as Lieutenant Governor of the centrally-administered territory. An official underscored that the timing of the two developments, one after another, was not a coincidence, but designed to message people that the government was willing to address their concerns. One view has been that far too many security personnel are deployed in the union territory to prevent about 200 hardcore terrorists trained across the border from carrying out strikes. Also Read: New L-G Manoj Sinha fuels hope of political revival in J&K At last weeks security review, there was some acknowledgement within the security establishment that the forces could do with fewer numbers, particularly given its successes over the last one year in eliminating top terrorist commanders. Security officials have also claimed that there has been some improvement in how the public responds to counter-terror operations. A team of security officers next travelled to Jammu and Kashmir on 15 August to interact with field commanders and lay the groundwork for the troop withdrawal. A few hours before the team landed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi - addressing the nation from Red Fort in Delhi - described the past year as a very important milestone for the development journey of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions and spoke about assembly elections in J&K as soon as the election commission completes the delimitation exercise. It was felt that the kind of force deployed in J&K may be fairly construed to be disproportionate under the existing security situation, which could lead to inconvenience to the local population, a top police officer who was part of the process told Hindustan Times. Apart from top army commanders, top officers of the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force and other central and forces were part of the review. There was a view that instead of relying too much on check-posts in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley, the security establishment should step up reliance on technology to target terrorists. Simultaneously, the security forces in the Kashmir valley have also been told to carry out more night domination patrols to restrict movement of terrorists in districts that are counted as terror hotspots such as Kulgam and Anantnag districts in south Kashmir and Baramulla district in the north. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Ashok Lavasa as Election Commissioner, a notification by the Ministry of Law and Justice said on Wednesday. Lavasa had on Tuesday sent his resignation as Election Commissioner to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. ...the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner with effect from the 31st August, 2020, the notification said. Lavasa was next in line to head the poll panel. He would soon be joining the Asian Development Bank as vice president, sources said. He would be joining the Philippines-based ADB sometime in September, they added. The ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships, the multilateral lending agency had said in a statement last month. He will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31. Lavasas term in the EC would have ended in October 2022 had he become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He is the second election commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of his term. In 1973, CEC Nagendra Singh resigned after he was appointed a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Lavasas resignation comes at a time when the Election Commission is preparing to hold Bihar assembly polls amid the coronavirus pandemic. Lavasa, a career bureaucrat, joined as Election Commissioner on January 23, 2018, and being senior most on the poll panel would have become CEC in April next year after the term of incumbent Sunil Arora ends. Lavasa made headlines during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when he gave a dissenting note to the Election Commission of India (ECI) giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former BJP president Amit Shah on allegations of violating the Model Code of Conduct. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (AMKAF.PK, AMKBF.PK) reported that its second quarter profit from continuing operations increased year-on-year to $443 million from $154 million. EBITDA increased improved by 25% to $1.7 billion. Underlying profit from continuing operations was $359 million compared to $134 million. Second quarter revenue decreased by 6.5% to $9.0 billion, mainly driven by a volume decrease of 16% in Ocean and 14% in gateway terminals, partially offset by increased freight rates and increased revenue per move in Terminals. CEO of A.P. Mller - Mrsk A/S, Sren Skou, said: 'As expected, the second quarter was materially impacted by COVID-19. Our operating earnings improved by 25%, driven by strong cost performance across all our businesses, lower fuel prices and higher freight rates in Ocean and increased profitability in Logistics & Services.' For fiscal 2020, the company reinstated guidance with EBITDA expectations between $6.0 billion to $7.0 billion, compared to the initial full-year guidance of an EBITDA around $5.5 billion. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. By PTI NEW DELHI: Transfer of investigation to the CBI cannot be a routine exercise and should be done only in exceptional circumstances, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said one factor which is considered relevant for induction of the central agency like the CBI in an investigation is to retain "public confidence in the impartial working of the State agencies". The court referred to its recent decision in a case related to journalist Arnab Goswami and said it not for the accused to choose the investigating agency. The apex court made these observations while upholding the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the FIR lodged in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case in Patna to the CBI. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police had been probing the case but was yet to file an FIR in the case. The top court's verdict came on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her and six others at Patna by Rajput's father accusing them of abetting the actor's suicide, to Mumbai. The court noted that while Rajput's father and the Bihar government have alleged that Mumbai Police is attempting to shield the real culprits under political pressure, the Maharashtra government has strongly refuted it saying Patna Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime as the incident has taken place in Mumbai. It said political interference has been alleged against both the states and that has the potential of discrediting the investigation. "The legal process must therefore be focused upon revelation of the correct facts through credible and legally acceptable investigation." "It must be determined whether the unnatural death was the result of some criminal acts. In order to lend credibility to the investigation and its conclusion, it would be desirable in my view, to specify the authority, which should conduct the investigation in this matter," the court said. It said that while the CBI cannot conduct any investigation without the consent of the concerned state as mandated under section 6, the powers of the Constitutional Courts are not fettered by the statutory restriction of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act. It said the FIR at Patna against Chakraborty was subsequently transferred to the CBI with consent of the Bihar government during pendency of her Transfer Petition. "However, in future, if commission of cognizable offence under section 175(2) CrPC is determined, the possibility of parallel investigation by the Mumbai Police cannot be ruled out," the court said. The apex court said that Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946 read with Section 5 prescribe the requirement of consent from the State government, before entrustment of investigation to the CBI. "As the CBI has already registered a case and commenced investigation at the instance of the Bihar government, uncertainty and confusion must be avoided in the event of Mumbai Police also deciding to simultaneously investigate the cognizable offence, based on their finding in the inquiry proceeding," the top court said. The court said it would therefore be appropriate to decide at this stage itself as to who should conduct the investigation on all the attending circumstances relating to the Rajput's death. "This issue becomes relevant only if another FIR is registered on the same issue, at Mumbai. A decision by this Court on the point would confer legitimacy to the investigation," it said. The last time Mrs. Clinton addressed a Democratic convention was July 26, 2016, in Philadelphias hockey arena. She accepted the nomination in a white pantsuit, a nod to the informal uniform of the womens suffrage movement. It was a highlight of her campaign, say former aides, vindication for decades of grueling work, brutal attacks and controversy. I remember watching that roll call vote and being on bated breath knowing there would be something that would take this moment away from her and being so relieved when it wasnt, recalled Amanda Litman, a political strategist who worked on Mrs. Clintons campaign. It was the most celebratory it ever felt. She added, Its also proof positive that a very good convention has no relevance to the outcome of the election. But there were danger signs, even then. Mrs. Clintons speech was preceded by a queasy moment, when supporters of Bernie Sanders began booing as she took the stage, to be quickly drowned out by shouts of Hillary! The scars of 2016 have not entirely healed, especially when it comes to the F.B.I.s investigation into her email accounts, publicly reopened by the F.B.I. director James Comey just 11 days before the election. On Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton posted a brief video clip of herself blinking disdainfully in response to a tweet by Mr. Comey that read: #19thAmendment is an important anniversary but the vote is not enough. We need more women in office. VP and Virginia governor are good next steps. Mrs. Clintons return performance at the convention will be hailed by her many millions of supporters. But there will be hecklers too most likely led by Mr. Trump, who has tried, without much success, to find another foil who evokes comparable vitriol among conservatives as the former first lady. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a CBI investigation in late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. A judgement which was waited for long by actor's fans and family finally brought in a wave of major relief and social media was abuzz with reactions from all walks of life. Sushant Singh Rajput's family lawyer, Vikas Singh in a press conference soon after the SC judgement said, "We waited for long in this fight and today is a big day." He stated that the apex court has ruled on all points in our favour and ordered for a CBI probe in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The CBI can also probe investigate any other case related to Sushant's death. Therefore, the mysterious death of late actor's former manager Disha Salian, who died on June 8, 2020, allegedly falling off from a high-rise apartment in Mumbai. "It is a big day for Sushant's family. We feel they will get justice after CBI inquiry", Vikas Singh said. The apex court in its judgement said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. It has also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. The actor was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 23:03:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people aged 50 to 70 are more likely to be in the poorest 20 percent of the population in England, a new study revealed Wednesday. Carried out by the Center for Ageing Better, with the Institute for Public Policy Research and the University College London, the study said with the proportion of people from BAME groups in this age group doubling in a generation, action is needed now to prevent inequalities from deepening. The research also shows that black men and women in their 50s and 60s are more likely to be working, with white people in this age group three times more likely to have retired. It suggests people from those groups are more likely to be in low paid jobs and/or to have less access to other sources of income, such as pension savings and assets, compared with their white peers. People approaching later life from BAME backgrounds are also more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods, with nearly a third of black and a quarter of Asian people living in the most deprived areas, compared to just 16 percent of the white population in England, said the report. "Our new research shows that ethnic inequalities are deeply entrenched among the generation approaching later life, with those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds facing disadvantages across many areas of life," said Anna Dixon, the chief executive of the Center for Ageing Better. "As older generations become increasingly diverse, it's vital that these inequalities are tackled so that no-one misses out on a good later life. This means better paid work, more affordable and better housing, and targeted measures to reduce ill health for people approaching later life from BAME backgrounds," said Dixon. Enditem Comstock / Getty Images A U.S. Postal Service worker from Connecticut pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing numerous pieces of mail that contained gift cards and other items of value. John H. Durham, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, said Amy Makaros, 41, of New Britain, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill to theft of mail by a postal employee. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday discussed Iran and other issues in a phone conversation with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Pompeo underscored the need for a unified Transatlantic response to hold Iran accountable and ensure the Security Council lives up to its responsibility to maintain international peace and security," Xinhua sited the statement as saying. Pompeo and his German counterpart also discussed issues related to Belarus and Russia, according to the statement. The two allies have been at odds with each other on the issue of Iran, and Washington was largely isolated among its allies on this issue as the UN Security Council last Friday failed to adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution to extend the arms embargo against Iran. The draft resolution did not get the required nine votes in favor of adoption. Besides the United States, only the Dominican Republic voted in favor of the draft. China and Russia voted against the text, and the remaining 11 Security Council members, including Germany and other U.S. European allies, abstained. After its attempt to extend arms embargo against Iran failed, the United States threatened to invoke snapback sanction against Iran, referring to restoring all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. The National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has backed his flagbearers call for their party supporters to ensure that they vigilantly protect ballot boxes at all polling stations in the December polls to prevent the incumbent from rigging. Joshua Hamidu Akamba insisted on Citi FMs Eye Witness News Tuesday, August 18, 2020, that he will ensure that the mission is been carried out diligently as proposed Mr. John Dramani Mahama. I agree with our flagbearer. Our people will be citizen police on election day to protect ballot boxes, he noted. Joshua Akamba also vowed to make sure his party supporters are stationed at all polling stations at his constituency after voting to protect ballot boxes. We know what the NPP is planning to do on election day. So, we have decided to protect the ballot boxes ourselves, he said - but was quick to add, We still have faith in our security forces. His comment follows John Mahamas call on Voltarians to ensure that they protect ballot boxes at their polling stations in the December polls to prevent rigging. He claims happenings at the just ended voter registration exercise is an indication of the ruling NPPs agenda to rig and win the 2020 polls at all cost. He backed his claims with the shooting incident at Kasoa involving the Special Development Minister, Hawa Koomson and the Ayawaso West Wougon bye-election. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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 Mali : Le rapport du panel dexperts independants de lONU conteste - abamako.com Accueil MonKiosk.com Sports Business News Annonces Femmes Necrologie Publicite NEWS News Politique Article Politique Mali : Le rapport du panel dexperts independants de lONU conteste Publie le mercredi 19 aout 2020 | Le Pays Tweet Le ministre des affaires etrangeres a recu des diplomates de trois pays voisins sur la question de la securite au Mali. Une fuite sur le rapport du panel dexperts independants de lONU sur le Mali a ete constatee. Selon RFI, il fait deja beaucoup de bruits, le rapport du panel dexperts independants de lONU sur le Mali. Le document, precise la Radio France internationale, presente certains grades maliens comme des obstacles aux processus de paix. Meme chose en ce qui concerne des elements des groupes armes signataires ou non de laccord dAlger. Pour la premiere fois, les autorites maliennes reagissent. Le ministre des affaires etrangeres, Tiebile Drame a debute une serie dentretiens sur la question. Entretiens avec des diplomates dont les pays sont les membres permanant au sein du conseil de securite de lONU a Bamako. Il a ete rapporte par Serge Daniel de RFI que : le ballet diplomatique au ministere malien des affaires etrangeres a commence avec les ambassadeurs de France, de Russie et de chine. Ils ont ete individuellement recus ce lundi par le ministre Tiebile Drame. Selon un communique officiel, les entretiens ont portes sur le rapport du panel dexpert independant de lONU sur Mali. Ce document transmis au conseil de securite nest pas encore rendu publique mais il circule desormais beaucoup. Le ministre des affaires etrangeres du Mali a exprime aux diplomates son etonnement a confie a RFI une source officielle malienne. Dabord sur la fuite du document ensuite sur son contenu. Bamako parle : je cite sur plusieurs points dallegation, le representant du gouvernement malien a conteste notamment une partie du rapport qui cite les noms des officiers de larmees malienne presentes comme faisant obstacle au processus de paix. Dapres nos informations, selon un autre document des experts non encore rendu publique adresse au conseil de securite, figure une liste de six (6) personnes qui pourraient etre sanctionnes. Parmi ces personnes du cote du gouvernement mali un ancien chef detat major de larmee de terre et cote groupe armee et alliee compte cinq (5) noms dont celui dun chef militaire Source RFI /* custom css */ .tdi_75_30f.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_75_30f .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_75_30f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_75_30f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_75_30f.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Advertisement The Yorubas have the habit of greeting.Yoruba people are very good when it comes to greetings. It is a very significant part of their culture.The women sometimes kneel down to greet. You will hear them say ,E pele sir. Ekaro, Ekasan, Ekale, Ekabo. Ten times in one hour. I like my Yoruba friends. When one of them waved at me and said inudidun Corona Virus oh. Happy Coro. it threw me off balance. I stared at her with one eye. In my mind, I said, back to sender.COVID-19 as it is designated by the World Health Organization is worse than Ebola so dont play with me with happy Coro . When talking about the Corona Virus, I do remember the green cap man, Emeka Ihedioha, a man who was stamped into office as Governor of Imo State by a band of renegades and rough necks .Ihediohas seven months as governor of Imo State were devastating to the economy of the state like the deadly Corona Virus. It is only the less intelligent that would forget the havoc caused by the IIhedioha pandemic. Having been a former deputy speaker of the house of reps, observers believed that he would do very well as governor but he turned out a disaster.He turned out the most corrupt governor Imo had ever had. In terms of primitive accumulation and kleptocratic tendencies, Ihedioha may be comparable to some dictators like Eyadema of Togo, Mobutu Sese Sekou of Congo Democratic Republic, Sukarno and Soharto of Indonesia and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.The looting of Imo State by the Ihedioha led administration in just 7 months in office was like mad. No state, no matter how under-developed and ideologically leprous can tolerate a kleptocrat like the green cap man who more than any governor damaged the ship of the state. But thanks be the Lord, he was removed by the Supreme Court. /* custom css */ .tdi_74_f50.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_74_f50 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_74_f50.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_74_f50.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_74_f50.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } Advertisement Senator Hope Uzodinma won his landmark judgment actualizing his mandate to govern the State and was sworn-in, in obedience of the Supreme Court ruling. Today, Uzodinma is doing well. Since he was removed as governor, Ihedioha has been rolling on the floor. His political goons go about sponsoring street protest here and there. They plant fake news all over the media just to paint governor Uzodinma black to justify the flawed administration of Ihedioha. As I write, fake news planted by the political goons of Ihedioha are still running on social media, blogs, newspapers and Magazines. Thats how deceitful the man can be. Few weeks ago in a demonstration of lazy optimism, cheap publicity and an obvious recidivism of a known precipitous and premature thrill, Ihediohas political goons put up a roadshow of his return from a self imposed exile. They came out with drums to welcome him as he rides around Owerri.He is now the man they had all been waiting for. The man who will deliver Imo in 2024, the Messianic man. He is now the man to give food to the foodless and water to the waterless. He is suddenly the one with the Midas touch, the man whose name precedes him and who everything he touches turns to gold. Ihedioha is now the God sent who shall lead Imo to the promised land in 2024. And I laugh when I see the hate-mongers trying to repackage him as the new Man Friday. But the question however is: what is in his history to make history? You want to take over Imo in 2024 and you are projecting Ihedioha. Is it not hard to sell rotten tomatoes in the market? What did he do when he was governor for seven months but mindless looting of the treasury. When he was governor he introduced political gangsterism, over dose of intolerance, crass and unmitigated ambition. When he was governor he behaved as if he was a resurrected Sani Abacha . To achieve this untoward ambition, not a few had to pay the unnecessary ransom. The first set of people to taste his Abacha like style of intolerance were local journalists who were not used to deceitful style of governance which is-report what you did not see or be attacked by government goons.Some were even banished from their communities. Are we also going to forget how he became governor in an election better forgotten as it was so massively rigged? His party scored 98 percent of his total votes in Mbaise . Do we now forget that he left office with tales of corruption trailing him? Billions looted in our LGAs, billions looted in Isopadec. Indications that Imo people entered a one chance vehicle began emerging early in the life of his administration as in less than two months in office, the man started building private hotels in Owerri and in Abuja. The whooping finances left in the State by the past administration developed wings. Today, his goons are sponsoring protest against governor Uzodinma, sponsoring fake news. You want to rule Imo and you are this deceitful. They expect the style of fake news of the Ohakim flogged a Reverend Father to work in the present day Imo. And in their kingdom, they are the absolute Monarchs, dishing out untruth in robes labeled truth to their subjects too ignorant to know any better. Even when they are unapologetic in contravening a basic rule in humanitys quest for sanity. They expect us lesser mortals to automatically endorse it by joining them in chanting Ihedioha. Tufiakwa! Governor Hope Uzodinma is presently doing well and we will support him. Ihedioha and his political goons can continue in their Yanyanpu. Imo must move forward. -Kenneth Uwadi lives in Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State. /* custom css */ .tdi_76_df8.td-a-rec{ text-align: center; }.tdi_76_df8 .td-element-style{ z-index: -1; }.tdi_76_df8.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_76_df8.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }@media (max-width: 767px) { .tdi_76_df8.td-a-rec-img { text-align: center; } } "Financing riots means fomenting riots," Lukashenko said, asking that his statement be relayed to a number of foreign leaders, including the Ukrainian president. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, whose legitimacy following the latest election has not been recognized by the EU and a number of states, has publicly warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky against "fomenting riots". "You just need to tell them [Western leaders] what is going on in Belarus. You should reach out to Merkel, Macron, Duda, Nauseda, and others, as well as Zelensky, so that they know what is going on in Belarus, the official position. You should not hesitate to warn them of responsibility for fomenting riots," Lukashenko said, addressing the Security Council meeting held via video link, also attended by regional leaders, on August 19, BelTA reported. "Financing riots means fomenting riots," Lukashenko stressed. "We see today that this financing continues," he added. Read alsoLukashenko: Belarus government has someone to rely on"Secondly, saber-rattling and drills at the border with Belarus are counterproductive now. They should keep it in mind. They will be held responsible if anything happens," the Belarusian leader said. Russia's "support" for Lukashenko Russia became one of the first countries to congratulate Lukashenko on his alleged win in the presidential elections in Belarus, whereas Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia made no such calls. Ukraine did not congratulate Lukashenko either. Later, the EU recognized the elections in Belarus as rigged, and declared Lukashenko persona non grata. In parallel lines, the West is preparing a package of sanctions against those involved in the violence and murder of protesters in the early days of protests. At the same time, eyewitnesses spotted convoys of Russian Guard trucks moving toward the border of Belarus. Earlier, several aircraft of the Belarus air force flew to Russian military bases. Read alsoZelensky warns Minsk of "tragic consequences" of sending Wagner PMC troops back to RussiaEuropean diplomats and U.S. legislators have expressed concern about Russia's interference in Belarus' affairs. Some political experts believe the "Crimea scenario" is unfolding. Mumbai, Aug 19 : Yes Bank shares hit the 5 per cent upper circuit on Wednesday after its Chairman said the bank has repaid Rs 35,000 crore to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) of the special liquidity facility provided by the Central bank. At 11.27 a.m., shares of Yes Bank on the BSE were at Rs 15.78, higher by 4.99 per cent from its previous close. In the bank's annual report, the Chairman, Sunil Mehta, said, "I am pleased to report that the Bank has, as of date repaid Rs 35,000 crore of SLF and the balance will be repaid within the timelines set by RBI." The RBI had extended a Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) of Rs 50,000 crore to the restructured bank. Mehta added the bank has since then received strong customer liquidity inflows. In his message to the shareholders, the Chairman also said that following the recent capital increase of Rs 15,000 crore through Further Public Offering (FPO), the bank's Common Equity Tier-1 (CET) ratio has doubled to 13.4 per cent from 6.6 per cent at the end of June, 2020, bringing its capitalisation largely in line with the private sector peers. He also informed the shareholders that the bank is closely monitoring the stress on its credit portfolio due to legacy issues along with the current macroeconomic conditions and the Covid-19 situation. House Foreign Affairs Chair Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that multiple staff-level briefings were cancelled this week, and accused Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of trying to thwart oversight efforts. Why it matters: The House is investigating the dismissal of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, who, in June, testified that he was conducting two investigations involving Pompeo before being fired. The secretary of state has said that Linicks firing was not an act of retaliation because Pompeo wasn't aware he was being investigated over allegations of staff misuse. What he's saying: "...Mr. Pompeo is sending a clear message: stop investigating me or the State Department is going to stop engaging Congress on other matters of national security," Engel wrote on Tuesday. "This isnt just petty; its dangerous. Congress and the Administration need to work together on the challenges facing our country or our security will suffer." On top of that, Mr. Pompeo has apparently funneled State Department resources toward the Senate Republican-led smear campaign against former Vice President Biden, which itself is amplifying Russian disinformation targeting our election." Mr. Pompeo has apparently funneled State Department resources toward the Senate Republican-led smear campaign against former Vice President Biden, which itself is amplifying Russian disinformation targeting our election." "On that matter, Mr. Pompeo has defied a duly authorized subpoena, throwing up specious legal arguments in a futile attempt to hide his glaringly partisan behavior and possible illegal acts at the State Department he runs." Nevertheless, the Committees work goes on," Engel said. "We continue to hear from witnesses, including Pompeo senior advisor Toni Porter, who appeared for a voluntary interview today about the Inspector General firing, particularly that IGs office was looking into allegations that the Secretary misused Department resources for his own needs and whims." Of note: The now-cancelled briefings "had nothing to do with ongoing oversight requests," Engel's statement read. Instead, they related to a range of concerns including counterterrorism efforts in Sahel, the Islamic State's recent takeover of a port in Mozambique and the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, China. The two countries plan to double the number of flights between them as airlines slowly build back virus-hit schedules. China and the United States will each allow air carriers to double current flights to eight a week between the worlds two largest economies, the US Department of Transportation said on Tuesday. The department said it would allow four Chinese passenger airlines currently flying to the US to double flights to eight weekly round-trips, as China has agreed to allow US carriers to double flights to China. US carriers voluntary halted flights to China after the coronavirus outbreak. President Donald Trump, on January 31, barred nearly all non-US citizens from travelling to the US from China. United Airlines said Tuesday it would increase flights to China to four flights a week from San Francisco to Shanghai starting September 4, while the department said Delta Air Lines was also eligible to go from twice weekly to four times weekly. Delta is also going to four flights after it said in June that it would operate flights to Shanghai from Seattle and Detroit beginning in July, all via Seoul. On Tuesday, Delta it would add one weekly flight from Detroit and Seattle each to Shanghai, via Seoul, beginning August 24. The US government still hopes China will agree to restore full US flight rights under their bilateral aviation agreement, the Transportation Department has said, adding as China allows additional flights it will respond in kind. The US-China agreement allows both countries to operate more than 100 weekly flights between the two nations. The US had threatened to bar Chinese passenger flights in June after Beijing did not immediately agree to restore flights by US airlines. In May, the Trump administration said Air China, China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co, Hainan Airlines Holding Co and their subsidiaries had to file schedules. Chinese authorities previously agreed to some changes on requirements for US carriers, including allowing temperature checks to be done before flights take off for China, rather than mid-flight as previously discussed, Reuters reported in June. ALBANY An Albany man arrested in April in connection with the stabbing death of a Schenectady man is expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Albany County court, prosecutors said. Police charged Franciso Rosario, 26, with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Joseph A. Galindez, 27, on April 19. He's been in custody since and a grand jury recently indicted him on charges of murder and criminal contempt. The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. He is expected to be arraigned by Judge William Carter. Police found Galindez on Clinton Avenue near Henry Johnson Boulevard with a stab wound to his torso after originally responding to a call for shots fired. Galindez was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital where he died. At the time, his death was the fourth homicide in the city this year. On Monday, the city recorded its 12th and 13th homicide, a number that is pushing toward Albany's largest number of killings - 16 - in recent decades. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Galindez left behind two children. Rosario previously served 21 months in state prison for a felony assault conviction. Rosario stabbed a woman in the back on Nov. 29, 2013 at a home on Clinton Avenue. He also broke her arm by repeatedly kicking her. Doctors had to insert a permanent titanium plate and eight screws in her elbow to repair the damage. A suspect has been arrested after eight people, including six French aid workers, were murdered by armed men near the capital Niamey, Niger's interior minister Alkache Alhada has said. The aid workers, two men and four women from a French NGO called ACTED, were killed on August 9 with their Nigerien guide and driver while visiting the Koure National Park, a giraffe haven and tourist hotspot outside the capital where they were based. "At the moment, a suspect is in the hands of Niger's Central Counter-Terrorism Service and investigations are continuing," Alhada told AFP late Tuesday. "We are in the process of evaluating some of the material which he has and which he was able to use," the minister said. "We currently have serious leads, leads that can take us to the perpetrators of these acts... We have certain information that gives us indications on probable actors in these horrible crimes," he said, adding that he expected "positive results". No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by gunmen on motorcycles. Suspicion has fallen on the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS), active in the shared border region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where it is being pursued by France's Barkhane force fighting jihadists in the Sahel. A source close to an ongoing investigation by French anti-terror prosecutors told AFP that it appeared the attack had been planned and targeted at "mainly Westerners". France has classified all of Niger except the capital as red under its colour-coded security advice, a decision that has left many Nigeriens furious with the former colonial ruler. "The Nigerien public have found this measure unfair and they have expressed this at various levels," he said. "I say that this is a decision of a sovereign state that wants to protect its citizens and therefore it is legitimate," he said, though he hoped that "this measure will be lifted as soon as possible". bh/ck/erc/ri By Joseph Batory Times Guest Columnist A recent Pew Research Study has revealed that most Americans (61%) are concerned about the growing inequality in our nation. Yet there is little general concern or any significant initiatives coming from our elected officials in Washington, D.C., to address this issue. The richest 10% of Americans now control a staggering 70 percent of Americas wealth according to the Federal Reserve Board (2018, latest study available). And, the bottom half of all Americans holds just 1 percent of the nations wealth. Certainly, disparity of wealth is to be expected within a free economic system. But should the divide between rich and poor be so great? Despite the recent stock market boom, the gap between the richest and the poorest USA households is now the largest it has been in the past 50 years. The most troubling thing about this, says William M. Rodgers III, a professor of public policy and chief economist at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University, is that it clearly illustrates the inability of the current economic expansion, the longest on record, to lessen inequality. Among the worlds most industrially advanced nations (The G7), we are now unfortunately Number One! But this dubious distinction is hardly something to be proud of. It means that the USA now has the highest income inequality of all G7 nations as measured by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is a sad fact that thousands of American people live in shelters or on the streets, for example, about 79,000 in New York City, 86,000 in Chicago, 28,000 in Florida, 10,000 in Colorado and 15,000 in Hawaii, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Nationally, HUD counted 568,000 homeless in January 2019. In addition, Marian Wright Edelman from The Childrens Defense Fund has offered this summary re children in the USA: It is a national disgrace that 13 million American children (1 in every 5) live in poverty. The extent of this economic inequality is yielding costly, and preventable poverty, homelessness, hunger, health problems, poor education, and violence plaguing millions of children who deserve better. Ignoring Americas growing inequality is a recipe for disaster. Nations with pronounced economic inequality suffer from lower long-term GDP growth rates, higher crime rates, poorer public health, political power in the hands of the wealthy self-serving few, and lower average education levels which affects international competitiveness. Widening inequality runs counter to the USA ideals of equal opportunity by making upward mobility much more difficult. The USAs growing population of poor people has reduced the middle class, produced a less effective lower-income work force, created higher disease and mortality rates and rising health care costs, and progressively deepened desperation and crime and violence in poorer communities. That growing inequality today continues to build obvious resentment and sometimes violence between haves and have nots. Inequality also hurts those at the top. Retail and manufacturing companies want people to be able to afford the products they are manufacturing and selling. As many people are becoming poorer, their lack of buying power hurts the economy. And, USA inequality is significantly impacting the life potential for success for many by undermining education opportunities for children from poor socio-economic backgrounds. The lack of universal Pre-K education and inadequate funding of schools in poverty pockets has lowered educational quality and hampered skill development of children with the most needs. This educational deprivation thrust upon the poor eventually creates less productive employees, which means lower wages and much less overall participation in, and ultimately, reduced growth of the economy. In summary, despite having the most billionaires and the highest gross domestic product among the 35-member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the USA ranks a shameful 32nd lowest among these 35 countries for income equality. The bottom line is that to reassume world respect and restore true American principles, the USA needs to make closing the widening gap between rich and poor a national priority. Joseph Batory has been widely published on politics, education, and history. The US needs to become more competitive and abandon its "American first" approach if it wants to forge closer ties with allies to counter challenges from China, a foreign policy adviser to the campaign of US presidential hopeful Joe Biden said. In a Paulson Institute podcast this month, Ely Ratner, director of studies at the Centre for a New American Security and an adviser to the Biden camp, said Washington should focus less on forcing Beijing to change and more on being "a more confident United States". Ratner said the two countries were not headed for a Cold War, rather their rivalry would involve "a much more differentiated competition". "There is not a single bumper sticker you can use to describe the way that we can approach China on climate change, technology and defence issues, North Korea and every other issue under the sun," he said in the podcast Straight Talk with Hank Paulson. Ratner said that unlike in the Cold War era, China and the US had economic exchanges, China was integrated into the international system and other countries were reluctant to side with one bloc or another. At present, Biden is leading in polls in the US presidential race against incumbent Donald Trump. Ratner was a deputy national security adviser from 2015 to 2017 for then-vice-president Biden and could take up a senior position if Biden wins the election in November. Ratner said the US needed to think more about its own behaviour. "The China challenge right now is about us, it's not about them, it's about our own competitiveness, not just a narrow sense of investing at home, fixing ourselves at home, but also in terms of our international economics, diplomacy, our technology, our innovation, defence and security," he said. On 5G and other hi-tech policy, Ratner said the US should seek greater coordination with allies such as Japan, Europe, Australia and South Korea, ensuring a secure and reliable supply chain, setting norms and screening investment to cement the leverage against Beijing. Story continues He also singled out Taiwan, saying it was "the tip of top" of priorities and might become a major issue in relations with Beijing. He said Washington might need to "rethink from the US" about future relations with Taiwan, how to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait, preserving Taiwan's democracy and avoiding real confrontation with mainland China. Ely Ratner is an adviser to Joe Biden. Photo: Center for a New American Security alt=Ely Ratner is an adviser to Joe Biden. Photo: Center for a New American Security Also in the podcast, Evan Feigenbaum, vice-president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the US could cement its leverage against China by becoming "a standard setter" in the international system in areas such as innovation and investment. Senior Chinese senior diplomats have repeatedly delivered conciliatory remarks to the US in recent months, calling for dialogue to avoid miscalculation and work out solutions to defuse the tensions, while also sounding an alarm of further complication before the election in November. Observers said the speeches marked a subtle change in China's approach to the US, and could be a message to a potential new administration. But they also warned that no matter who was president, the White House would continue a tough line against China. "Trump will almost certainly pile on the provocations on all fronts between now and the presidential election in November. Chinese leaders can grit their teeth and bear it until then, in order to leave room for a potential President Biden to roll back some of Trump's actions," Gavekal Dragonomics research head Arthur Kroeber said in a research report last week. "This is reasonable, even though Joe Biden will probably not be much softer on China than Trump in general. But he might abandon Trump's tariffs and will likely reopen many of the communication channels that Trump has closed." 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. COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang, Quang Nam to be under control by late August: Official Deputy Prime Minister Vuc Duc Dam chairs the meeting. (Photo: VNA) The spread of COVID-19 in central Da Nang city and Quang Nam province has been gradually contained and the situation is expected to be under control by late August, according to Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long. At a meeting of the national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control in Hanoi on August 18, Long said the number of new infections in Da Nang and Quang Nam has fallen in recent days, from an average of 20 cases a day from August 3 to 9 to about 10 cases from August 10 to 17. New hotspots may still appear nationwide, he warned, and he demanded that all localities remain on high alert to detect new cases in a timely manner, as the sooner infections are found the more effective efforts to stamp out the disease will be. He pointed out that although experts have issued strong warnings, people are not sufficiently vigilant against transmission. He called for dramatic solutions to slow down and limit transmissions, calling on all people to install the Bluezone contact tracing app and the NCOVI health declaration app on their smartphones. Regarding the development of a vaccine, Tran Dac Phu, advisor to Vietnams public health emergency operations centre, said many countries have conducted COVID-19 vaccine tests on animals before conducting human trials. If vaccines used in other countries are imported, Vietnam will not test them on animals but will do so on humans to ensure their effectiveness and safety. This process often lasts between six months and a year or even several years before widespread vaccinations, he noted. Before effective vaccines or specialised medicine are available, people must remain on guard for a long period of time in a spirit of safely adapting to the pandemic, experts have urged. They also proposed warning levels for COVID-19 be raised, especially in major cities and populous regions, while protecting medical facilities, retirement homes, and social protection centres, as well as frontline forces, from transmission. Members of the steering committee asked the Ministry of Health to continue enhancing testing capacity and requested that localities strictly quarantine the more than 100,000 foreign experts and workers entering the country. Asking for more technical solutions to trace high-risk people, they said that aside from encouraging people to use Bluezone and NCOVI, it is also necessary to make it compulsory for foreigners entering Vietnam or those with second- or third-hand contact with confirmed cases to install these apps. One former COVID-19 patient dies due to serious chronic diseases Patient 418, who had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 four times on August 4, 10, 11 and 12, died on August 12 due to complications of chronic renal failure at the Hue Central Hospital, the Health Ministrys special task force for COVID-19 prevention and control reported on August 18. The 61-year-old man, residing in Thanh Binh ward, Hai Chau district, Da Nang city, had hypertension, chronic renal failure, diabetes type 2 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Doctors attributed the death to septic shocks, multi-organ failure, hypertension, diabetes type 2 and chronical obstructive pulmonary disease. The same day, the Hue Central Hospital announced the recovery of six COVID-19 cases, including one tested negative for the virus for six times and allowed to be quarantined at home. The other five have serious underlying chronical diseases and tested negative for the virus from three to eight times. They are scheduled to be moved to Da Nang Hospital C in the central city of Da Nang for further treatment. Disinfectant allocated from reserves to Quang Nam, Health Ministry Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to allocate disinfectant from the national reserves to help ministries, sectors and localities to contain the spread of COVID-19. Accordingly, one tonne of Chloramin B solution will be sent to the central province of Quang Nam, one of the countrys current COVID-19 hotspots, while one tonne of Chloramin B and 7 million of Aquatabs 67mg water purification tablets will be provided for the Ministry of Health (MoH) free-of-charge. The MoH is responsible for the collection of data as well as the management, distribution and usage of the aid in line with regulations. As of August 19 morning, Vietnam has so far confirmed 989 infections. Of which, 649 are locally-transmitted cases, including 509 linked to the pandemic hotspot in the central city of Da Nang since July 25. No new COVID-19 cases over 12 hours Vietnam has reported no new coronavirus cases during the past 12 hours, keeping its tally of infections unchanged at 989, while the death toll caused by the disease remains at 26. The Ministry of Health said the epidemic in Da Nang, the epicenter in the countrys largest outbreak, seemed to be under control as the number of confirmed infections has decreased over the past few days. As of 6.00hrs August 19, Vietnam has registered 649 community acquired cases, including 509 cases tied to the Da Nang outbreak. The remaining 340 cases were infected with the virus before they returned to Vietnam. The new outbreak has spread to 15 cities and provinces since the SARS-CoV-2 virus recurred in Da Nang three weeks ago. Da Nang is the hardest hit locality, recording more than 300 cases, followed by Quang Nam, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Duong and Ha Noi. Of the 989 cases Vietnam has confirmed since January this year, 525 cases have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery. The remaining 464 cases are receiving treatment at medical facilities across the country with 100 cases having tested negative at least once. The death toll caused by the disease has risen to 26 after two more fatalities were announced on August 18. Most of the fatalities were elderly people who suffered from serious illnesses such as end-stage kidney cancer, severe pneumonia, diabetes and multi-organ failure. Hai Duong conducts extensive COVID-19 testing as outbreak spreads The northern province of Hai Duong has decided to conduct an extensive COVID-19 testing campaign to early detect and quarantine coronavirus cases after a new outbreak spread in the locality with 11 cases confirmed. People who are required to have ELISA/RT-PCR tests include those who have contact with COVID-19 cases, quarantined people, patients with underlying illnesses under treatment at medical facilities, and those with virus symptoms such as a fever, a cough or shortness of breath. Mandatory tests also apply to those who illegally entered the province and those who returned from Da Nang, the countrys largest coronavirus outbreak, as from July 21. The Hai Duong Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control requested local authorities at all levels to urgently set up teams to monitor the health of people in the community and oversee the implementation of preventive measures so as to early detect suspected cases. The local governments were required to collaborate closely with the medical sector and the police to carry out the extensive COVID-19 testing campaign to ensure all people subject to testing must be sampled. Currently, Hai Duong has tested about 2,000 people, and it has been tracing thousands of cases for testing. It has imposed travel restrictions on Hai Duong city, its capital, to prevent the virus spread wider in the community. The Ministry of Health has sent its leading epidemiologists to assist Hai Duong in testing and treating patients. Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long warned the number of infections in Hai Duong may rise in the coming days as the results of genetic sequencing showed that the Hai Duong strain was similar to the one detected in Da Nang. Health ministry launches mini game on COVID-19 The Ministry of Health on August 18 launched a mini game through its Lotus fan page, to raise public awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic. Those wanting to play need only open https://challenge.lotus.vn/viet-nam-niem-tin-chien-thang and follow the instructions. Each player must complete ten multiple choice questions regarding the pandemic in ten minutes. The winner will receive a Kangaroo air filter and a voucher on online shopping platform Lazada worth 1 million VND (43 USD), while each of the three second-prize winners will receive hand sanitiser and a 1 million VND voucher at Lazada. There will be 10 extra prizes of hand sanitiser and a Lazada voucher worth 200,000 VND. Since it was officially launched on March 15, Lotus has over 11,000 followers and more than 2 million visitors. The fan page publishes directions relating to the pandemic from the Government, the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and the ministry, and provides updated information on the situation in Vietnam and around the world. Opening the fan page expresses the ministrys determination to intensify communications to raise public awareness about the pandemic. Subscribers to the official fan page must download the Lotus app from the Appstore or CH Play on mobile phones or tablets. Two more train services suspended for virus prevention Two trains on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route have just been suspended as part of Covid-19 prevention efforts. The Vietnam Railway Corporation has announced that SE5 and SE6 train services have been suspended since August 17-8 until further notice. "Passengers who had bought tickets on these trains can contact the Hanoi or Saigon stations to have their tickets returned or changed to other trains free of charge, the corporation said. Several trains running from Saigon to some central and coastal provinces including Danang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Nha Trang, and Phan were previously suspended for Covid-19 prevention. After these suspensions, there are now only four trains operating daily including SE1, SE2, SE7, and SE8. Train passengers are requested to follow virus prevention regulations including making health declarations, having body temperature checked at stations, wearing face masks, and avoiding going between carriages if unnecessary. Additional 20 COVID-19 patients receive discharge from hospital A total of 20 imported novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, including 18 workers who recently arrived from Equatorial Guinea, have made a full recovery from the virus, following an announcement made on the afternoon of August 18. According to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, a total of 219 Vietnamese workers returning from Equatorial Guinea were placed into quarantine at the hospital upon their arrival on July 29. In addition to the 18 recovered cases on August 18, 201 of the arrivals from Equatorial Guinea have completed their quarantine period and have tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus three consecutive times. This comes on the same day that one COVID-19 patient who had returned from Bangladesh was discharged from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. Furthermore, a man who recently came back from Russia was also announced to have made a full recovery from COVID-19 at the General Hospital in the northern province of Hoa Binh. All 20 recoveries have shown no symptoms of the virus, such as a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath. They must now undergo a mandatory 14-day isolation period in line with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations. As of 6:00 a.m., the nation has recorded 983 COVID-19 patients, 645 of whom are cases of community transmission, with 25 fatalities being recorded thus far. Most notably, a total of 31 cases on August 18 were recorded to have made a successful recovery from the virus. Additional 29 COVID-19 patients given all-clear Twenty-nine more COVID-19 patients who were treated in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue and central Da Nang city were declared to be clear of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on August 18. The Hue Central Hospital successfully treated six patients while 23 others were discharged from the Hoa Vang COVID-19 Treatment Hospital. Prof. Dr. Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of the Hue Central Hospital, said all those discharged have had serious health problems since admission. As of August 15, Thua Thien-Hue had recorded no cases of community transmission. Seventy-six COVID-19 patients in Da Nang have been declared as fully recovered. On the same day, the health sector in central Quang Nam province reported that 11 COVID-19 patients in the locality have fully recovered. The General Hospital of northern Hoa Binh province also successfully treated one patient, who returned to Vietnam from Russia with a transit in Belarus. Donations continue to strengthen COVID-19 fight More donations in cash and kind have been made to support the fight against COVID-19 in the central city of Da Nang and in HCM City. The Da Nang Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee on August 18 received almost 1.8 billion VND (78,000 USD) in cash and over 2.24 billion VND worth of equipment from the organisers of an online music show raising funds for the coronavirus fight. Programme organisers said they will present the remaining donations to neighbouring Quang Nam province in the next few days. On the same day, the Thanh nien (Young people) newspaper handed over blood filtering equipment worth 1.2 billion VND as well as a ventilator to the Da Nang Health Department. The citys Department of Construction also sent 100 million VND to local anti-COVID-19 forces. In HCM City, a local fund for COVID-19 prevention and control had received donations of over 230 billion VND in cash and kind as of August 17, about 116 billion VND of which was handed over to frontline forces and those facing pandemic-related difficulties. Money and goods, including rice, protective gear, hand sanitiser, and medical face masks from the fund have been delivered to Da Nang and Quang Nam, which are hotspots for the current COVID-19 outbreak, HCM Citys health workers engaged in fighting the virus Da Nang, and border guards tasked with pandemic prevention in the northern border provinces of Ha Giang and Son La, according to President of the HCM City VFF Committee To Thi Bich Chau. The committee is set to continue working with relevant parties to step up communications to raise more donations and distribute support to anti-COVID-19 forces and those affected in the time ahead. Philippines begins clinical trials for anti-flu drug The Philippine started its 90-day clinical trials for Avigan, Japans anti-flu drug, on August 17 to study the efficacy of the drug against COVID-19. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the clinical trials will include just four hospitals in Metro Manila initially but more will be included in the future. Avigan is the brand name of favipiravir, an antiviral drug manufactured by a subsidiary of Japanese firm Fujifilm Holdings Corp., which is seen as a potential treatment for COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The first set of patients will be given the existing supportive care provided at the hospitals. The second group will receive the same on top of being administered with the drug. Fujifilm Holdings said last week that it expects to complete clinical tests in Japan of Avigan in September and seek approval. In the Philippines, 164,474 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded as of August 17, including 2,681 deaths. Malaysia, Singapore resume cross-border travel Cross-border travel between Malaysia and Singapore resumed on August 17 after being shut since March to stem the coronavirus outbreak. However, the reopening of one of the world's busiest land crossing was tightly controlled with only a maximum of about 2,060 people allowed to cross daily on both sides. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, that led to Malaysia shutting the border on March 18, more than 300,000 people travelled between the two countries daily via the two bridges connecting Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Out of these were some 100,000 Malaysians who commute to and from Singapore for work or study, and now many are stranded. Malaysia and Singapore jointly formulated two sets of COVID-19 travel protocols: "Reciprocal Green Lane" and "Periodic Commuting Arrangement." Under RGL, only 400 people are allowed per week, while for PCA, quota is 2,000 a day. The two countries have declared the coronavirus outbreak in their respective countries as under control. Malaysia has to date recorded over 9,200 with 125 fatalities, and Singapore has reported more than 55,000 cases and 27 deaths. Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGT Representatives of Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua have taken charge of the police checkpoint at Te Hana, and have raised Maori and United Tribes flags. The iwi met with police at the Te Ao Marama cultural centre last week to establish the terms of a shared checkpoint at the Mangawhai Road intersection. Checkpoint coordinator Jesse Pene, of Oruawharo Marae, says there were calls from iwi further north to monitor the regional boundary and prevent the spread of Covid-19 into Northland. As the local mana whenua, his marae was called upon to take charge. As the gatekeepers of the regional boundary we have been asked to contain Covid at the source, and we are trying our best. During the previous Level 4 and 3 lockdowns there were controversial road blocks by iwi on arterial Northland roads, not supported by police. We wanted to form a working relationship between iwi and police at the checkpoint. The black lives matter issue really highlighted the importance of that, Jesse says. He says the flags raised at the checkpoint and the presence of iwi is reassuring to his people in an uncertain time. At the Te Hana checkpoint, Ngati Whatua has already established a system where residents of the Oruawharo Peninsula, between the Otamatea and Oruawharo rivers, have a yellow card to identify them. Jesse says the idea is to allow Kaipara District residents living on the boundary to be able to do their food shopping and visit the doctor in Wellsford and Warkworth more easily. We police the police and make sure they are talking to our people properly, Jesse says. Jesse says the iwi also initiated a system to streamline the checkpoint by allowing trucks to pass through a separate line to non-commercial drivers. Ngati Whatua has a team leader and three workers there each day, working two shifts between 8am and 5pm. Last week, Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua chief operating officer Antony Thompson took to YouTube to declare it the Ngati Whatua checkpoint. Whanau, dont be offended if Ngati Whatua turn you back to Tamaki or to Te Tai Tokerau. It is in our best interest to contain Covid-19 in Auckland, Mr Thompson said. We need to eliminate it together as one. Thai high school students held a rally in front of the Education Ministry in Bangkok on Wednesday, as the youth-led pro-democracy movement spread. It comes as pro-democracy hashtags linked to high school protests were trending on social media with photographs and videos showing young students at schools in a number of cities lined up on playgrounds and giving three-fingered salutes during the compulsory daily singing of the national anthem. The displays of solidarity began last week and are a remarkable show of defiance within an educational system that stresses obedience to elders. They appear to be growing after the largest anti-government rally in six years was held in Bangkok on Sunday and highlight how the student-led protest movement is capturing the imagination of many young people after six years of relative political quiet. The student-led protest movement has declared three core demands: holding new elections, amending the constitution and ending the intimidation of critics of the government. At Sundays large Bangkok rally they spelled out three more points: no more coups, no national unity government and upholding Thailand as a democracy with the king as head of state under the constitution. With only a few weeks before Hamiltons schools reopen, parents are struggling to use an online portal to register their children while the boards consider a staggered reopening process for elementary schools. The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has given elementary school parents until Friday to preregister their children through the school boards Parent Portal, but dozens of parents have spoken out about having difficulty using the application. In several groups on social media, parents have lamented glitches, errors and faulty technology that has prevented them from registering their children with the deadline looming. Jodi-Anne Ralston, whose daughter attends elementary school, said the portals registration page wouldnt allow her to indicate her relationship to her child a requirement for registration. I tried this on my phone, then on my desktop. Didnt work. I tried a few times on Monday as well as yesterday and had the same issues, Ralston said. Ralston said she emailed the HWDSBs tech support but didnt receive a reply. Natalia VanBeveren, another parent, said she had problems loading the registration page after signing in, but eventually managed to resolve the problem. A lot of parents have felt frustrated, as they cant call the schools, VanBeveren said. The technical issues have provoked a flurry of panic from parents online, fearing they wont register their children for school on time. On social media, the HWDSB has attempted to offer technical support, but acknowledged that there may be data entry errors or errors due to high volume on our site. On its website, the HWDSB says parents are supposed to go to their childs profile after entering the Parent Portal, and then the Forms tab listed on the left menu column to complete their registration. In a tweet, Alex Johnstone, HWDSB chair, said that board staff are pulling in additional resources to urgently resolve IT challenges. Meanwhile, Hamiltons school boards say they are considering staggering the reopening times for elementary schools over two weeks in September after Ontarios ministry of education announced it would allow school boards to delay reopenings if needed. In a memo circulated by the education ministry on Tuesday, Ontario schools can opt to stagger the restart of classes in elementary grades over a two-week period to accommodate class size and enrolment issues. The decision offers more time for elementary schools to prepare reopenings and limit the number of students and staff who initially enter schools. Both the HWDSB and the HWCDSB said theyre considering staggering elementary school reopenings, though they have not solidified any plans yet. We just saw the notice regarding staggered reopenings late yesterday afternoon and were strongly considering it, said Pat Daly, chair of the HWDSB. Daly said the school board may make recommendations for staggering reopening dates as early as Thursday. In an email to The Spectator, HWDSBs spokesperson Shawn McKillop said the board is considering the option but has not made a final decision. Its too early for us to share direction or to provide details, wrote McKillop. The school board will have a final decision on staggered dates no later than Aug. 24, by the time of the boards next meeting, McKillop said. While schools initially planned to open on Sept. 8, the new announcement means that elementary schools could open as late as Sept. 22. A joint investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office has resulted in the indictment of a Blountville woman accused of murdering her daughter and disposing of her body. Evelyn Boswell was reported missing by a family member on Feb. 18. She was reportedly in the custody of her mother, Megan Boswell, but had not been seen since December, 2019. At the request of the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office, the TBI issued an AMBER Alert on Feb. 19. With assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an extensive search was launched in an effort to find Evelyn. Over a 16-day period, authorities received and followed up on more than 1,000 tips. On March 6, acting on new information developed in the case, Sullivan County Detectives and TBI agents searched property belonging to a family member of Ms. Boswell in the 500 block of Muddy Creek Road. During the search, the childs body was located. At the request of 2nd District Attorney General Barry Staubus, TBI agents continued to work alongside the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office to investigate the circumstances leading to Evelyns death. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Ms. Boswell killed Evelyn and disposed of her body. The Sullivan County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Megan Boswell, 19, with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated child abuse, one count of aggravated child neglect, one count of tampering with evidence, one count of abuse of a corpse, one count of failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual, or unnatural circumstances, and 12 counts of false reports. Ms. Boswell was served in the Sullivan County Jail, where she was already being held on false report charges placed in connection to this case. Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/19/2020 -- A new business intelligence report released by HTF MI with title "COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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 Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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 PepsiCo, Fulfill Nutrition, Nestle, General Mills Inc., The Kellogg Company, Quest Nutrition & MARS food. What's keeping PepsiCo, Fulfill Nutrition, Nestle, General Mills Inc., The Kellogg Company, Quest Nutrition & MARS food Ahead in the Market? Benchmark yourself with the strategic moves and findings recently released by HTF MI Get Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ : https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/2782367-covid-19-outbreak-global-nutrition Market Overview of COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars If you are involved in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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 [Supermarket, Retail Store, Online Sales & Other], Product Types [, Candy Bars, Protein Bars, Energy Bars & Oat Bars] 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- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market: , Candy Bars, Protein Bars, Energy Bars & Oat Bars Key Applications/end-users of COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market: Supermarket, Retail Store, Online Sales & Other Top Players in the Market are: PepsiCo, Fulfill Nutrition, Nestle, General Mills Inc., The Kellogg Company, Quest Nutrition & MARS food 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/2782367-covid-19-outbreak-global-nutrition Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report: Detailed overview of COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars market Strategies of key players and product offerings Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growth A neutral perspective towards COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars market performance Market players information to sustain and enhance their footprint Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/2782367-covid-19-outbreak-global-nutrition Major Highlights of TOC: Chapter One: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Industry Overview 1.1 COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Industry 1.1.1 Overview 1.1.2 Products of Major Companies 1.2 COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Segment 1.2.1 Industry Chain 1.2.2 Consumer Distribution 1.3 Price & Cost Overview Chapter Two: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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 Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Size by Demand 2.3 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Forecast by Demand Chapter Three: COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market by Type 3.1 By Type 3.1.1 TYPE 1 3.1.2 TYPE 2 3.2 COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Size by Type 3.3 COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Forecast by Type Chapter Four: Major Region of COVID-19 Outbreak- Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market 4.1 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Sales 4.2 COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Revenue & market share Chapter Five: Major Companies List Chapter Six: Conclusion Complete Purchase of Latest Version COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Study with COVID-19 Impact Analysis @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=2782367 Key questions answered - What impact does COVID-19 have made on COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars Market Growth & Sizing? - Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars market? - What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars market? - What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the COVID-19 Outbreak-Global Nutrition (Energy or Protein) Bars 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. About HTF Market Report HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the "Accurate Forecast" in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their "Goals & Objectives". Contact US : Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager) HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ New Jersey USA 08837 Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218 sales@htfmarketreport.com Illinois church installs Plexiglas barriers between pews Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A congregation in Illinois has taken steps to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and allow for a safer in-person worship experience by temporarily installing Plexiglas barriers for some of their pews. Progressive Church of God in Christ of Springfield recently added the barriers, which can be removed from the pews when deemed necessary, and has used them during worship. Pastor Glenn Jackson of Progressive Church told The Christian Post in an interview on Tuesday that the idea and creation of the barriers occurred a couple of months ago. Jackson felt it was extremely important to have the church members be able to come together in a faith environment to have fellowship to counter the many who were experiencing some level of depression or sense of isolation. We wanted to create an atmosphere where people can come, young and old, explained Jackson. I thought it was important that for their emotional, physical, mental, and more importantly for their spiritual health to be able to come back into the house of worship. I thought this was something that we can do, to bring them. More importantly, bring them safely into the house so they can be fed spiritually. Jackson gave his concept and design for the barriers to a friend and former coworker who was a woodsman, creating the Plexiglas barriers at a price of about $200 - $300 per pew. He said that he has been pleasantly surprised by how well the barriers have worked since the church began to hold worship services, with the pastor liking how they are not a permanent addition to the pews. It works perfectly for our sanctuary and its done without having to use any screws or anything thats not a permanent fixture. We can lift it up and move it, so that was to me the key without really messing with the aesthetics or the interior of the church, he explained. We can now group families together in these Plexiglas areas which provide some coverage of safety and it has worked out quite well. Ive been pleasantly surprised with how its all come together. It's eased the tension of many of the members coming back in the house of worship and theyre excited about being able to come back in. There have only been a few complaints from some members of the congregation. Obviously, you have some members who say they did not realize that they were somewhat claustrophobic, but they have moved back to some of the other pews or they have moved up forward in the church, said Jackson. So it works out well. In response to the pandemic, the vast majority of churches in the United States canceled their in-person worship to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and switched to online services. As churches across the country reopen, they look to ways to meet that take into consideration public health concerns, such as spacing out attendees and requiring the wearing of face masks. Some congregations have also taken to holding services outdoors or drive thru worship, in which people attend while in their cars and listen to worship through a radio broadcast. Coronavirus LIVE Updates: As many as 26 volunteers who reached the Air-India Express plane crash site in Kozhikode evacuated the injured passengers on 7 August, have tested positive for COVID-19 Auto refresh feeds Of the fresh fatalities, two each were reported from Kamrup Metropolitan, Cachar and Karimganj districts while one each was registered in Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Nagaon and Hailakandi, Sarma said. The COVID-19 death toll in Assam mounted to 213 on Wednesday after 10 people succumbed to the disease, while the state's coronavirus caseload has gone up to 84,317 with 2,116 fresh infections, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The discharge rate in the state improved to 75.97 per cent after 2,973 patients recovered from the disease since Tuesday, it said in a bulletin. The total number of recoveries stood at 95,663. West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 1,25,922 on Wednesday following a single-day spike of 3,169 cases, while the death toll mounted to 2,581 with 53 more fatalities, the state health department said. "You don't want to mandate and try and force anyone to take a vaccine. We've never done that," said Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, during a video talk organized by George Washington University. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious diseases official, said Wednesday the government wouldn't make any future COVID-19 vaccine obligatory for the general public though local jurisdictions could make it mandatory for some groups, like children, reports AFP. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wants all 25 million Australians to get the jab after the country secured access to a vaccine currently under development by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Almost 30 potential vaccines are currently being tested on humans across the globe in hope of ending a pandemic that has now killed more than 775,000 people and infected nearly 22 million, according to an AFP tally. Australia's leader called Wednesday for coronavirus immunisations to be mandatory, wading into ethical and safety debates raging around the world as the race to develop a vaccine gathers pace. The top court administration has informed bar body Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) that three among the bigger courtrooms will be readied within that time for physical hearing, while adhering to the prescribed distancing and other norms and as per medical advice. After nearly five months of restricted functioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court has decided to start physical hearing of cases within a week's time, though in a limited manner. The move to open gyms, however, failed to get DDMA approval, said a Delhi government statement. The decision was taken in a meeting of the DDMA which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through video conference. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday gave approval for the opening of hotels and weekly markets, a move that is expected to help revive the city's economy pandemic and months of lockdown. This is a much higher percentage than we had expected. The presence of antibodies is uniform across all age groups, including children, Velumani told Reuters. Dr. A. Velumani said an analysis of 270,000 antibody tests conducted by his company Thyrocare across India showed the presence of antibodies in an average of 26% of the people, indicating they had already been exposed to the coronavirus. At least one in four people in India may have been infected with the coronavirus - a much higher number than official government figures suggest, the head of leading private laboratory told Reuters . According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, more than 9 lakh COVID19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate drops to 8 percent. The global coronavirus tally rose to 2,22,62,946 while the toll crossed 7.84 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins Universitys tracker. More than 1.42 crore people have recovered from the infection so far. The ventilators are manufactured in the US and are compact, easy to deploy and provide India with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus, the US embassy said in a statement. The US on Wednesday handed over to India 100 ventilators, as part of President Donald Trumps offer of assistance to New Delhi in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, reports PTI. India reports 69,652 cases in 24 hours, taking the tally to 28,36,925. The toll increases by 977 to 53,866. There are now 6,86,395 active cases, while as many as 20,96,664 people have been discharged after undergoing treatment so far. The Jharkhand government will start a Special rapid antigen testing Drive in all districts of the state to identify coronavirus patients, says the state Directorate of Information and Public Relations. Almost half of the total inmates of the Kadapa Central Prison in Andhra Pradesh have been tested positive for Covid-19, reports The Hindu. A report in 'ESPNcricinfo' stated that Hossain returned positive during the second batch of tests at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium's academy building on Monday. A Bangladeshi under-19 cricketer, Iftekhar Hossain, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be in isolation for a week, according to a report. The fresh infections have pushed the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state to 9,456, while 16,566 people have recovered from the disease so far, he said. A total of 12,282 samples have been tested for COVID- 19 in the last 24 hours, the official added Jharkhand's COVID-19 caseload rose to 26,300 as 967 more people tested positive for the infection, while 13 fresh fatalities pushed its coronavirus death toll to 278, a health official told PTI on Thursday. About 27 percent of students dont have smartphones and laptops to access online classes amid the COVID-19 school shutdown, reports The Indian Express. The survey, conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), covers 18,188 students studying in CBSE-affiliated schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs). The toll brings to 228,621 the number of infections in the country since the start of the pandemic, and reflects a trend of rising numbers of cases observed in other countries in recent weeks. Germany has recorded 1,707 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest daily toll since April, official figures showed Thursday, reports AFP. Rajasthan's COVID-19 case tally now stands at 65,979 with 690 new infections reported today till 10:30 hours. The total numbers of active and recovered cases in the state are 14,671 & 50,393 respectively. The toll is now at 915, according to the state Health Department. The total cases of coronavirus infections mounted to 28,36,925, while the death toll climbed to 53,866 with 977 new fatalities being reported in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed. Case fatality rate has declined to 1.90 per cent. India's COVID-19 caseload went past 28 lakh with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections, while the recoveries increased to 20,96,664 on Thursday pushing the recovery rate to 73.91 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data. This is an increase of around seven percentage points compared to the previous sero-survey for which samples were collected between 27 June and 10 July. After a second serological survey was conducted between 1-7 August, it showed nearly 29 percent of Delhi population has developed antibodies for COVID-19, said health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state was 70,020 after 2,898 more individuals tested positive for the highly contagious disease. "Of the total, there are 22,651 active cases and 46,935 recoveries," said the health department. After eight more deaths were reported in Odisha in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 toll in the state climbed to 380, said the health department on Thursday. He further said that the contraction of the world economy is expected to be the largest since Great Depression. Speaking at the 6th roundtable of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the impact of COVID-19 has put a "cumulative loss of approx 6.5 or 9.7 percent of the global GDP". "World faces an unprecedented challenge. None of us have seen a crisis of this proportion before. Even after several months, the true extent of its destruction remains unclear," said S Jaishankar at 6th Roundtable of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks on Thursday. The respiratory parameters of Former President Pranab Mukherjee have shown slight improvement though he continues to be on ventilatory support. His vital and clinical parameters remain stable and are being closely monitored by a team of specialists, said Army Hospital (R&R), Delhi Cantt. On Thursday, the first bus from Mumbai Central depot, where the MSRTC headquarters is located, left around 8.30 am for Chiplun in Ratnagiri district with six passengers boarding at the starting point, a transport corporation official said. The Maharashtra government on Wednesday permitted the state-owned undertaking to re-start inter-district bus operations, which were stopped in March after the enforcement of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. Inter-district bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) resumed on Thursday morning after a gap of almost five months, officials told PTI. I am getting admitted to hospital based on doctors advice. I appeal to everyone who came in contact with me over the past few days to isolate themselves and get tested. he said. Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announces on Twitter that he has tested COVID19 positive. He will be admitted to the hospital. He is the sixth Union Minister to test positive for the highly contagious disease. CSA had conducted 50 tests on players and support staff before the team's culture camp in Skukuza from August 18 to 22. The camp, focussing on the team's "identity, environment and performance goals", features 32 players. Cricket South Africa (CSA), though, did not disclose the names of the two players, according to 'ESPNCricinfo'. Two players of the South African men's cricket team have tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss a specially-arranged culture camp, the country's cricket board said on Thursday, reports PTI. The ministry said that 272,804 people have recovered so far while 725 were in critical condition. The Ministry of National Health Services also said the death toll in the country due to coronavirus reached 6,209 after eight patients died due to the infections in the last 24 hours. Pakistan has reported 513 new cases of coronavirus, taking the toll tally of infections in the country to 290,958, the health ministry said on Thursday. Five more people have been cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 730, he said, adding six patients have died so far. Fifty fresh infections were reported in East Khasi Hills district, seven in West Garo Hills, five in Ri-Bhoi and one in East Garo Hills, Health Services Director Aman War said. "Forty-one Armed Forces personnel and eight BSF jawans are among the new patients," he said. Sixty-three more people, including 49 security personnel, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, taking the northeastern state's tally to 1,598, a health official told PTI on Thursday. Dr Gupta told PTI that the patient's samples had been taken around midnight and the report came positive on Thursday. A 41-year-old man, who died in a Kangra hospital within minutes of being admitted there around Wednesday midnight, was found coronavirus positive on Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Gurdarshan Gupta said. The COVID-19 death toll in Himachal Pradesh reached 21 on Thursday with one more fatality while 29 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 4,441. Another ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA has tested positive for COVID-19, taking the number of lawmakers infected by the virus to eight in Odisha. Bhubaneswar (Central) MLA Ananta Narayan Jena on Thursday announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is on home quarantine. 117 more police personnel found COVID19 positive while 2 have died in the last 24 hours in Maharashtra. The total number of corona positive police personnel in Maharashtra Police has now reached 12,877, including 2,255 active cases, 10,491 recoveries & 131 deaths till date. "The uncertainties, surrounding the academic session and adoption of novel teaching practices, by educational institutions in India as well as in the US may have seemed in-surmountable. However, do remember, the age-old saying tough times don't last, tough people do," Sandhu said. Speaking to over 50 Indian students in a virtual interaction, Sandhu said such unprecedented situations should instead inspire them to work harder and contribute towards a self-reliant modern, prosperous and happy India. India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has given a pep talk to Indian students here and urged them not to panic over the "uncertainties" surrounding their academic sessions, saying the COVID-19 pandemic is temporary, reports PTI. "The special flights will be for Indian citizens in the UAE wishing to return home, and for residents of UAE currently in India to return to the UAE," the report said. The Emirates airlines will fly repatriation flights to Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram from 30 or 31 August, The Times of India reported. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday extended weekend lockdown and daily night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am across the state. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 6,43,289, which includes 4,59,124 recovered cases, 1,62,491 active cases & 21,359 deaths till date, the state health department said. "The uncertainties, surrounding the academic session and adoption of novel teaching practices, by educational institutions in India as well as in the US may have seemed in-surmountable. However, do remember, the age-old saying tough times don't last, tough people do," Sandhu said. Speaking to over 50 Indian students in a virtual interaction, Sandhu said such unprecedented situations should instead inspire them to work harder and contribute towards a self-reliant modern, prosperous and happy India. India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has given a pep talk to Indian students here and urged them not to panic over the "uncertainties" surrounding their academic sessions, saying the COVID-19 pandemic is temporary, reports PTI. The cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of coronavirus infection in the country has increased to 3,26,61,252. India for the first time conducted a record number of more than 9 lakh COVID tests in a span of 24-hours on Wednesday and it is poised to see an exponential increase towards its resolve of testing 10 lakh samples daily. "Although higher number of tests will push the positivity rate initially, but as the experience from several states and UTs has amply depicted, it will eventually lower when combined with other measures such as prompt isolation, effective tracking and timely clinical management," it stated. With constantly increasing testing numbers, there has been a commensurate fall in the positivity rate, the ministry said. With a record 9,18,470 tests been being done in a day, the cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in India have reached 3.26 crore even as the national positivity rate has fallen below 8 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. Recovery of 20,96,664 patients has been made possible because of effective implementation of the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently, the ministry said in a statement. Of the active cases of coronavirus infection, 1.92 percent are in ICU and 2.62 percent on oxygen support. The country's case fatality rate has further declined to 1.90 percent, it said. Recoveries among COVID-19 patients in the country surged to 20,96,664 on Thursday, pushing India's recovery rate to 73.91 percent, while only 0.28 percent people of 6,86,395 active cases are on ventilator support, the Union health ministry said. Bihar government puts a cap on charges of private hospitals treating #COVID19 patients. Different rates notified as per area - Category A applicable to Patna; Category B to Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Purnia and Darbhanga; Category C applies to other parts of the state. pic.twitter.com/YW05CrHioz Different rates notified as per area - Category A applicable to Patna; Category B to Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Purnia and Darbhanga; Category C applies to other parts of the state. The youngsters, who all stay around the airport area, had rushed to the accident site braving the heavy rains and COVID-19 fears and taken the injured to the various hospitals, drawing praise from various quarters, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. District Collector K Gopalakrishnan, Superintendent of Police U Abdul Kareem and 21 officials, including police and fire force personnel, also involved in the rescue operations, had also tested positive. "As far as my information from the airport sources goes, as many as 26 localpeople, involved in the rescue operations, have tested positive for the virus so far and are now under medical care," the Malappuram District Medical Officer Dr K Sakeena told PTI. As many as 26 volunteers who reached the Air-India Express plane crash site in Kozhikode evacuated the injured passengers on 7 August, have tested positive for COVID-19. "The special flights will be for Indian citizens in the UAE wishing to return home, and for residents of UAE currently in India to return to the UAE," the report said. The Emirates airlines will fly repatriation flights to Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram from 30 or 31 August, The Times of India reported. "Bangladesh has committed US$ 1.5 million to the fund. Foreign secretary informed Bangladesh PM Hasina about Indias efforts towards COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution. Both sides agreed to continue their discussions in area of vaccines and therapeutics," he added. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday said, "India has provided COVID-19 related assistance to Bangladesh and has been organising capacity building courses for Bangladesh medical personnel following video conference of leaders of SAARC countries and creation of SAARC Emergency Response Fund for COVID-19." Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday extended weekend lockdown and daily night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am across the state. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 6,43,289, which includes 4,59,124 recovered cases, 1,62,491 active cases & 21,359 deaths till date, the state health department said. Uttar Pradesh registered a record 95 deaths due to COV ID-19 on Thursday, taking the total fatalities in the state to 2,733. With 4,991 fresh Covid-19 cases, the state's tally climbed to 1,72,334, a government release issued said. Coronavirus LATEST Updates: As many as 26 volunteers who reached the Air-India Express plane crash site in Kozhikode evacuated the injured passengers on 7 August, have tested positive for COVID-19. "As far as my information from the airport sources goes, as many as 26 localpeople, involved in the rescue operations, have tested positive for the virus so far and are now under medical care," the Malappuram District Medical Officer Dr K Sakeena told PTI. District Collector K Gopalakrishnan, Superintendent of Police U Abdul Kareem and 21 officials, including police and fire force personnel, also involved in the rescue operations, had also tested positive. The youngsters, who all stay around the airport area, had rushed to the accident site braving the heavy rains and COVID-19 fears and taken the injured to the various hospitals, drawing praise from various quarters, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. With a record 9,18,470 tests been being done in a day, the cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in India have reached 3.26 crore even as the national positivity rate has fallen below 8 percent, the Union Health Ministry said. With constantly increasing testing numbers, there has been a commensurate fall in the positivity rate, the ministry said. "Although higher number of tests will push the positivity rate initially, but as the experience from several states and UTs has amply depicted, it will eventually lower when combined with other measures such as prompt isolation, effective tracking and timely clinical management," it stated. India for the first time conducted a record number of more than 9 lakh COVID tests in a span of 24-hours on Wednesday and it is poised to see an exponential increase towards its resolve of testing 10 lakh samples daily. The cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of coronavirus infection in the country has increased to 3,26,61,252. This is an increase of around seven percentage points compared to the previous sero-survey for which samples were collected between 27 June and 10 July. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the contraction of the world economy is expected to be the largest since Great Depression. Speaking at the 6th roundtable of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks, Jaishankar said that the impact of COVID-19 has put a "cumulative loss of approx 6.5 or 9.7 percent of the global GDP". India reports 69,652 cases in 24 hours, taking the tally to 28,36,925. The toll increases by 977 to 53,866. There are now 6,86,395 active cases, while as many as 20,96,664 people have been discharged so far. With a record 60,091 people recovering from the novel coronavirus in a day, the total recoveries on Wednesday crossed 20 lakh, pushing the recovery rate to 73.64 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate fell to 1.91 percent, the Union Health Ministry said. The number of active cases in the country stands at 6,76,514, accounting for 24.45 percent of the caseload as the total recoveries have surged to 20,37,870, it said. The total caseload increased to 27,67,273 as 64,531 people tested positive in 24 hours while the toll climbed to 52,889 with a spike of 1,092 deaths, the health ministry said in its morning update. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August. India tests over 8 lakh samples for second consecutive day According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 3,17,42,782 samples have been tested till 18 August with 8,01,518 samples being tested on Tuesday. "Focusing on the "test, track and treat" strategy, India has tested more than eight lakh samples for COVID-19 for the second consecutive day," said the health ministry in a statement. "The Tests Per Million too have seen a sharp rise to 23,002," the ministry said. "It is only by aggressive testing that positive cases can be identified, their contacts tracked and isolated as well as prompt treatment can be ensured through timely medical care. The sustained level of high testing has played a key role in India's increasing rate of recovery, widening gap between the recovered and active cases, and also progressively declining fatality rate," the ministry said. Dr Reddy's launches Avigan (Favipiravir) tablets In another development, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India. The launch is part of the global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. that grants the Indian drug maker the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and distribute the tablets in India, Chief Executive Officer of Branded Markets (India and Emerging Markets), Dr Reddy's Laboratories, MV Ramana told news agency PTI. Avigan(Favipiravir) has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19. Avigan comes in a complete therapy pack of 122 tablets with a two-year shelf life. Ramana said that as of now, the company is importing the drug from Japan but will start manufacturing it in India soon. Replying to query, he said they have already approached regulatory authorities of two or three countries including the US seeking approvals to sell the drug and seek fast track approvals from them once trials are completed. Dr Reddy's is set to launch another COVID-19 treatment drug, Remdesivir in the first week of September, he added. Vaccine's emergency authorisation could be considered if govt decides: ICMR Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava told members of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs that phase-two clinical trial of two indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine candidates have almost been completed and emergency authorisation of a vaccine could be considered if the Centre decides to do so. He informed the committee that the vaccine candidates developed by Bharat Biotech, Cadila and the Serum Institute of India are at different stages of trial, an MP present in the meeting told news agency PTI. The COVID-19 vaccine candidates coordinated by Bharat Biotech and Cadila are nearing completion of phase-two trails. The one being handled by the Serum Institute of India and developed by Oxford University will enter phase-2 (b) trials this weekend for which 1,700 patients have been identified at 17 centres across the country, the MP said. According to MPs who attended the meeting, when asked how long people will have to live with the pandemic, Bhargava replied that normally the final trial takes about six to nine months but if the governments decides, an emergency authorisation could be considered. Responding to queries by the panel about the saliva test cleared by the US FDA for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2, Bhargava said that taking samples from gargled water is already under consideration and further details will be available soon, said another MP who attended the meeting. DDMA gives nod to reopening hotels, weekly markets The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) gave its approval for the opening of hotels and weekly markets but refused to allow gyms to reopen, said a Delhi government statement. The decision was taken in a meeting of the DDMA which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through video conference. The proposal to open gyms was not approved in the meeting headed by Lt Governor Anil Baijal. The LG said gyms can be allowed to open in the coming days. The weekly markets will be first opened on trial basis to assess the situation on the ground. Hotels, weekly markets and gyms were closed in the city with the announcement of the lockdown in March in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. In the last week of July, the AAP government had decided to allow hotels and gyms to reopen in the city, and start weekly markets on a trial basis for seven days with social distancing and all other COVID 19 measures in place. However, on 31 July the Lt Governor Anil Baijal "rejected" the Delhi government's decision, citing the fragile situation due to coronavirus pandemic in the city. The state government then sent a fresh proposal to the LG, arguing that the condition of Delhi was improving and the number of COVID-19 cases were coming down. Delhi on Wednesday reported 1,398 fresh coronavirus infections, taking the case count in the city to over 1.56 lakh, while the toll mounted to 4,235 with nine fatalities. The positivity rate stood at 6.7 percent while the recovery rate was over 90 percent, said a bulletin issued by the state government. Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh report record new cases Maharashtra saw its highest single-day spike of 13,165 new COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 6,28,642, while 346 fresh deaths pushed the toll to 21,033 Also, 9,011 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the count of recovered coronavirus patients to 4,46,881. There are 1,60,413 active cases in the state at present. Arunachal Pradesh added a record 133 COVID-19 new cases to its tally, taking the total caseload to 2,875. Twenty-nine paramilitary personnel and a health worker were among those found positive on Wednesday, said State Surveillance Officer Dr L Jampa. Fifty-five more people have been cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,949, the official said. Arunachal Pradesh, which had reported its first COVID-19 case on 2 April, has 921 active cases at present. Five patients have died so far, he said. Sikkim reported its third fatality due to the novel coronavirus infection as a 57-year-old man succumbed to the disease while under treatment. Director General (DG)-cum-secretary in the department of health, Pempa T Bhutia said that the victim, a native of Pelling was admitted to STNM hospital on 14 August for cellulitis in his right leg with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. He tested positive in the RT-PCR test and died on Wednesday. In Uttar Pradesh, another state minister was among the 5,156 fresh COVID-19 cases. The cumulative case count in the state rose to 1,67,510. while the toll climbed to 2,638 with 53 fatalities. Minister of State for MSME, Khadi and Village Industry, Chaudhary Udaybhan Singh, tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, the institute's director Prof. RK Dhiman said. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Atul Garg, is presently undergoing treatment in a Ghaziabad hospital for coronavirus. Besides, two other state ministers Kamal Rani Varun and Chetan Chauhan had recently died of COVID-19 With inputs from PTI Blackpool Grand has warned that its future is very much in doubt as uncertainty over the pandemic reigns. CEO Ruth Eastwood, speaking to the BBC, warned that unless a 500,000 grant is given to the venue by the government (as part of its 1.57bn support package) then it may have to close down, making 57 staff members redundant. Most of the staff at the theatre have been furloughed, though the scheme will end on 31 October 2020, with hopes of sector-specific extensions quashed by the Chancellor. Eastwood added that socially distanced performances would not be viable for the 125-year old venue, built in 1894, with only 20 per cent of seats fillable. Actress Jodie Prenger has been fighting the fight for the theatre, saying that she saw her first stage show there as a little girl. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2020) - At the request of IIROC, Silver Sands Resources Corp. (CSE: SAND) ("Silver Sands" or the "Company") wishes to confirm that the Company's management is unaware of any material change in the Company's operations that would account for the recent increase in market activity. About Silver Sands Resources Corp. Silver Sands is a well-financed, Canadian-based company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets in mining-friendly jurisdictions. Its objective is to locate and develop economic precious and base metal properties of merit. The company has signed a definitive agreement with Mirasol Resources to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the 73,411-hectare Virginia silver project, its key asset. There is an indicated mineral resource of 11.9 million ounces of silver at 310 grams per tonne silver and an inferred resource of 3.1 million ounces of silver at 207 g/t Ag in 2016. Neither the CSE Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control that may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. For further information, please contact: Keith Anderson Chief Executive Officer, Director (604) 786-7774 SILVER SANDS RESOURCES CORP. Suite 830 - 1100 Melville Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 4A6 https://www.silversandscorp.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62077 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to the attempt made by the US and the UK to suffocate Iranians, saying the US has tries to resuscitate the past, Trend reports citing IRNA. "67 years ago today, US/UK tried to suffocate the Iranian peoples demand for dignity in a coup overthrowing their elected government," Zarif wrote in his Twitter account on Tuesday. "Since 1979, the US has desperately tried to resuscitate the past. Yet it keeps getting humiliated by the Iranian people," he added. Earlier, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad in a message referred to the 1953 coup in Iran, saying the UK should apologize for its infringement against Iranian national sovereignty. The coup staged by the US in Iran on August 19, 1953, is a prominent example of West's interference. Though the coup looked successful at first, its achievement was ruined with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when the Iranian people won their national sovereignty and became a totally independent country. Patients in need of essential diagnostic care at Mullingar's Midland Regional Hospital have been given a boost by the installation of a new CT scanner. The announcement was made this week by Fianna Fail Longford County Councillor PJ Reilly. The Abbeylara based public representative said he was given the news following a recent meeting of the HSE's Dublin-Mid Leinster Forum. The reply I received was that a CT scanner had recently been installed in Mullingar Hospital which is a very welcome addition, said Cllr Reilly. The long serving Granard Municipal District elected member has been a regular commentator on the need for service upgrades at both Mullingar and Tullam ore Midland Regional Hospital as well as St Joseph's Care Centre in Longford town. And,in a further boost, Cllr Reilly said moves to underpin Mullingar's service provision would continue apace over the coming months. I was also told plans to provide an MRI scanner is in progress and it is hoped to be up and running by the second half of 2021, he added. This is hugely positive news as it, together with the CT scanner, will be a huge asset to the people of Longford, Westmeath and the wider midland regional area. Washington, Aug 19 (UNI) US President Donald Trump has said that US software company Oracle is a good company and would be able to handle the acquisition of the Chinese video sharing platform TikTok in the country. Trump's remarks came after Oracle joined some of the investors of TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, in pursuing a bid for the short-video app's operations in North America, Australia and New Zealand. "Well, I think Oracle is a great company and I think its owner is a tremendous guy, tremendous person. I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday evening. Trump pointed out that other companies aside from Oracle and Microsoft are probably interested in purchasing TikTok. Microsoft has emerged as the main bidder for TikTok while Twitter has also held talks with TikToks parent company ByteDance. Trump has set a September 15 deadline for ByteDance to hand over US operations to an American-owned company due to national security concerns or else the social media application will be banned from the United States. According to media reports, TikTok has been downloaded more than 175 million times in the United States. UNI XC AVK 0705 Ireland Baldwin couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she enjoyed an evening in her friends' company at Nobu in Malibu on Tuesday evening. The model and actress, 24, appeared in great spirits as she left the swanky eatery after dinner with a gal pal and a group of their friends. Ireland put her sizzling figure on full display for the evening, as she wowed in a black lace bodysuit teamed with a pair of skintight black jeans. Beaming! Ireland Baldwin couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she enjoyed an evening in her friends' company at Nobu in Malibu on Tuesday evening Ireland's skimpy top showed off her array tattoo sleeve, which includes a Hello Kitty inking, a skeleton and a tribute to the late David Bowie. She swept her blonde locks back into a loose carefree bun, and accentuated her pretty featured with soft touches of make-up. Ireland later shared an insight into her evening, as she posed a snap of herself and her friend, which she captioned: 'and a real hero ' All smiles: The model and actress, 24, appeared in great spirits as she left the swanky eatery after dinner with a gal pal and a group of their friends Wow: Ireland put her sizzling figure on full display for the evening, as she wowed in a black lace bodysuit teamed with a pair of skintight black jeans The outing comes after Ireland revealed she is celebrating more than half a decade without eating disorders. Taking to Instagram with a short video on Saturday, she told followers: 'Hi guys. I also wanted to announce that today is the 15th of August, and today marks six years that I have been free of anorexia and bulimia and all of my other food compulsion and eating disorders that I have struggled through for many years.' 'And today marks six years. So, you can do it,' she concluded, before blowing a kiss into the camera. Inkings: Ireland's skimpy top showed off her array tattoo sleeve, which includes a Hello Kitty inking, a skeleton and a tribute to the late David Bowie Ireland previously revealed her past battles with eating disorders in a lengthy social media post shared with followers in 2018. She wrote: 'I battled with many eating disorders and body issues as a younger girl and it took me a long time to find self love and acceptance! 'Trust me, all of that pain and destruction I inflicted on myself wasnt worth it. Turning down so. Many. Sides. Of. Fries. Wasnt worth it!!' Details: She swept her blonde locks back into a loose carefree bun, and accentuated her pretty featured with soft touches of make-up The Grudge Match actress continued: 'I would eat a meal or more like a bite and have to run to the nearest bathroom or find digestive pills or run until I couldnt feel my legs right before bed. 'I used to read peoples comments when I first started modeling and anytime anyone told me I was too tall or too fat to have done a job, I would run on a treadmill for the entire duration of at least three episodes of Friday Night Lights that I had on box set.' She concluded: 'Love yourself!! You are beautiful!! Enjoy your food. Eat ice cream with your friends! Workout and eat healthy to take care of your mind and body but find your healthy balance! Life is too short.' FOXG1 symposium advances science, gives hope to families battling rare disease UB biological sciences faculty member Soo-Kyung Lee, left, and UB biological sciences researcher Younjung Park work in the lab. Lee is Empire Innovation Professor and Om P. Bahl Endowed Professor of Biological Sciences at UB. Credit: Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo. View and download additional photos. UB biologists Soo-Kyung Lee and Jae Lee whose daughter, Yuna, has FOXG1 syndrome are among scientists researching the disorder It is exciting to see how the FOXG1 community has grown worldwide and is coming together to support each other and FOXG1 research. BUFFALO, N.Y. University at Buffalo biologists Soo-Kyung Lee and Jae Lee have devoted their careers to studying FOXG1 syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects their daughter, Yuna. This August, as part of that work, the couple took part in the FOXG1 Science Symposium 2020, which brought researchers, industry executives and families together for two days of presentations and conversation about the latest scientific advancements tied to the disease. The disorder, caused by mutations in a gene called FOXG1, can lead to severe abnormalities in brain development. When Yuna was younger, she suffered from many seizures and had trouble swallowing milk. Now, at 10 years old, the seizures have subsided and she is a joyful child, but she still cannot eat, walk or get dressed on her own. It is exciting to see how the FOXG1 community has grown worldwide and is coming together to support each other and FOXG1 research, says Soo-Kyung, PhD, Empire Innovation Professor and Om P. Bahl Endowed Professor of Biological Sciences in the UB College of Arts and Sciences. This is our second FOXG1 science symposium. Our first symposium two years ago was really about basic science. This year, were really focused on answering the question of what we know about FOXG1 syndrome, and what the path forward is toward potential therapies, says Nicole Johnson, president and co-founder of the FOXG1 Research Foundation, which organized the event and has funded the research of the Lees and other scientists. Johnsons daughter, Josie, has FOXG1 syndrome. Bangalore International Airport on Tuesday said as many as 13 international airlines will be operating to 14 overseas destinations from its facility under various initiatives of the government to help people fly in times of the coronavirus pandemic. International repatriation flights, Vande Bharat Mission and air bubble pacts have enabled Kempegowda International Airport to reconnect Bengaluru to 14 international destinations, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said in a statement. Under these various arrangements, 13 airlines will operate on these sectors from Bengaluru airport. The destinations are Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Dubai, Doha, Frankfurt, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur, London, Muscat, Narita, Paris, Riyadh, Singapore and San Francisco, BIAL said. It added that the airlines that will operate the flights include Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, GoAir, Vistara, Etihad and Emirates, among others. Also Watch: Scheduled international passenger flights in and out of India are on halt since March 23 amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, special repatriation flights and international charter flights have been permitted by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Moreover, since July, India has entered into air bubble agreements with several countries including the US, the UAE, France and Germany, under which airlines of both the countries are allowed to operate international flights with certain restrictions. 4 Abuja-based mast vandals have been arrested in Gombe by the state police command. Confirming the arrest of the suspects, the commands spokeswoman Obed Mary Malum said they were arrested after an invasion of an MTN Mast in Yelwa village via Bambam town in Balanga Local Government Area (LGA) of Gombe State. The arrested suspects have been identified as Yunusa Osa, Salisu Akpara, Garba Onaribu, and Umar Owelo and they are said to be residents of Kubwa and Dutsen Alhaji in Abuja. Malum said; The suspects specialise in vandaliing and stealing of Mast Engine Batteries all over the Federation who were brought from FCT Abuja by their cohort, one Abraham, an indigene of Bambam town in Balanga LGA of Gombe State,SP Obed stated, disclosing that Abraham, who invited the gang to perpetuate the crime, is at large and that he is being hunted by the police. The Police from Bambam Division acting on credible information arrested the suspects in a case of Criminal Conspiracy, Trespass, Vandalisation and Attempt to Commit Culpable Homicide. The suspects invaded an MTN Mast located at Yelwa village via Bambam town, tied up the security man, and removed 30 pieces of 7.5volt batteries. However, they were sighted and pursued. Luck ran out on them as their vehicle developed mechanical fault and they were subsequently arrested. 1 Sharon Bus with Reg. No. BWR 622 SA, 30 pieces of 7.5Volt batteries, 1 Iron Bar, 1 Hand Saw, 1 Iron Cutter, 2 sets of Screw Drivers, 1 Iron Cable and, 1 Ankara Wrapper. Suspects confessed to the crime. Meanwhile, the investigation is ongoing and suspects will soon be charged to court for prosecution. She has been assaulted, arrested and detained in the course of her career, and now Beatrice Mtetwa, one of Zimbabwe's most famous human rights lawyers, faces the threat of being struck off the professional register. Remember that iconic photograph of a lawyer, dressed in green prison garb, climbing into the back of a police truck and turning to wave undaunted to supporters in Harare in 2013? That was Mtetwa. The system is afraid of her. She is steadfast, determined & resolute. Don't omit her when names of heroes of this generation are called, Zimbabwean activist Victor Chimhutu said in a tweet earlier this week. For more than two decades Mtetwa has taken on high-profile cases in the defence of human rights and press freedom in the southern African country. Mtetwa was born in Swaziland (now Eswatini) and moved to Zimbabwe to practice law in 1983. Her name has frequently appeared in international news copy, due to the cases and clients she's taken on. These include human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, who was abducted, held incommunicado and tortured by security agents in 2008, when the late Robert Mugabe was still president. Glare of cameras Mtetwa helped to successfully defend Mukoko when she was finally brought to court on terrorism charges, which were also levelled against a number of opposition activists. at the time. Long before Hopewell Chinono, who she has been defending in court this month, she had a history of defending journalists, including Andrew Meldrum, who worked for Britains Guardian newspaper. Mtetwa got Meldrum acquitted of publishing a falsehood in 2003. The state went on to deport him. Having contacts in the press has sometimes come in useful for Mtetwa. She told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a 2005 interview that getting as many reporters as possible to accompany her on potentially dangerous assignments helped. In the glare of cameras I find that people don't want to do what they would want to do," she said. "So in a lot of ways I think I've been lucky, and I haven't received as much harassment as one would have expected, or as much as other human rights defenders have had." Story continues It hasn't always worked. Mtetwa, who has won numerous awards, including the 2014 International Women of Courage Award and the 2005 International Press Freedom Award, was assaulted in police custody in 2003 and beaten by riot police armed with truncheons during a protest march in 2007. 'Another level of madness' She was also arrested while defending a client in 2013 ahead of presidential polls and held in police custody for more than a week. This week she was accused of undermining the justice system. Magistrate Ngoni Nduna on Tuesday barred her from representing detained journalist and anti-corruption activist Hopewell Chinono, and urged state prosecutors to get her practising certificate cancelled. In a tweet following the ruling, the EU delegation in Harare said: We urge the authorities to respect the right of accused persons to bail & representation by a lawyer of their choice. Evan Mawarire, the founder of the #ThisFlag movement, who was defended by Mtetwa after he was charged with treason over last year's anti-government protests, said the court's decision to bar Mtetwa from Chin'ono's case was "another level of madness." He tweeted: "Beatrice the one woman super power gave them hell and they lost their marbles." Vedanta announced that the Division Bench of Madras High Court at Chennai, has pronounced the judgement on 18 August 2020 through Video Conference in the batch of Writ Petitions that were filed by Vedanta challenging the refusal by the TN Pollution Control Board to renew Consent to Operate and against the Permanent Closure order passed by the State of TN. The Bench has dismissed all the Writ Petitions filed by Vedanta. Vedanta is taking advice from its legal counsels and taking urgent steps to approach Supreme Court and appeal against the order of the Division Bench of Madras High Court. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a first of its kind order, the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) has given a reprieve to a real estate company despite the company not passing on the benefits of input tax credit to homebuyers. The Director General of Anti-profiteering (DGAP), the investigation arm of the NAA, found Eldeco Infrastructure & Properties to have indulged in profiteering by not passing on the benefits of input tax credit (ITC) of Rs 41.82 crore pertaining to the period between July 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018 to homebuyers. However, once the DGAP submitted its findings, the builder accepted its fault and paid Rs 59.57 crore (Rs 41.82 crore plus 18 per cent interest) to 125 homebuyers by February 5, 2019. However, homebuyers had alleged that the builder had not only collected extra money for the flats/plot of land, but it also forced them to pay additional GST on the additional amount. It was also said that the builder agreed to pass on the ITC benefit only after DGAP investigation established its fault, and therefore, it should be liable to pay penalty prescribed under anti-profiteering laws of GST. The builder, however, argued against the levying of penalty by saying that since there is no prescribed method to calculate the benefit, it measured the benefit as per its best assessment. It also said that the benefit calculated by it was only 1 per cent less than what NAA's methodology specified. The builder further argues that it immediately agreed to the authority's calculation and agreed to pass on the amount so calculated. It also argued that the GST and anti-profiteering being new and complex laws, it made certain wrong assessments which led to this situation. While the authority accepted the fact that the builder passed on the ITC benefit to buyers but it also considered the fact that it did so only after initiation of proceedings against it, and hence there was clear case of violation. But the anti-profiteering authority also realised that at the time of violation (1 July 2017-31 August 2018), there was no penalty prescribed under the law for such violations, and hence it withdrew the penalty proceeding against the builder. "NAA in this case has accepted the contentions of the businesses that no penalty should be imposed on the businesses for any contravention of the profiteering provisions till December 31, 2019. This ruling ensures a fair interpretation of GST anti-profiteering laws and would offer a big relief to all the businesses whether held guilty of profiteering in the past or even those who are currently fighting profiteering cases," says Rajat Mohan, partner, AMRG & Associates. Under Section 171 (3A) of the CGST Act, a business found profiteering is liable to pay a 'penalty equivalent to 10 per cent of the amount so profiteered'. Also Read: How to reverse India's economic slowdown? World Bank draws up a revival plan Also Read: Flipkart revenue exceeds pre-Covid level: Walmart CEO Leading coma experts have created an ambitious plan to help doctors better care for comatose patients and answer that most awful question: Will my loved one wake up? UVA neuroscientist Dr. J. Javier Provencio was the lead author on a new plan that outlines key steps physicians should take to improve patient care and deepen our understanding of coma. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications) The three-part plan outlines key steps physicians and researchers should take in the coming years to improve patient care and deepen our understanding of coma and other conditions that reduce consciousness. The plan was developed by a blue-ribbon scientific advisory council as part of the Neurocritical Care Societys Curing Coma Campaign, a major effort launched in 2019. We now have the tools to understand comatose patients in a way we havent in the past. This opens the door to ask the question, Can we improve consciousness in patients in a coma?. This research endeavor aims to help patients and families dealing with the consequences of brain damage gain clarity about the current chances for improvement and maintain hope that, in the future, there will be treatments to help recover consciousness. J. Javier Provencio, MD, Advisory Council Member, Lead Author, Director of UVA Healths Nerancy Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit The coma plans three pillars The plans first recommendation is to better classify and understand different types of coma and their causes. Current treatments are limited in part because it is difficult for physicians to distinguish between different underlying mechanisms of impaired consciousness, the researchers say. This makes it challenging to predict whether patients will recover. To improve this, they suggest several different classifications. For example, coma without underlying physical damage, such as those caused by drug overdoses or seizures, are often reversible using available treatments. Those must be treated differently than coma with causes such as brain injuries. Another category is particularly tricky coma with hidden physical causes. Better categorization of common coma endotypes will help physicians with their diagnoses and treatment decisions, the council says. The council also urges the development of better indicators of patient prognosis. These indicators, known as biomarkers, already play important roles in guiding treatment. But more sophisticated ones are needed to understand the complex interactions occurring inside the brain. This will help doctors guide patients to better outcomes and advise families on how well their loved one will recover. Finally, the council urges clinical trials of new therapies to promote recovery of consciousness for intensive-care patients who are in comas or suffering from other forms of reduced consciousness. We envision that a principled, mechanistic approach to predicting and measuring responses to new therapies in the ICU could allow clinicians to provide targeted treatments that are personalized to each patient, ensuring that each patient is given the best possible chance to recover consciousness in the ICU and beyond, the council members write in a new paper outlining their recommendations. Kochi, August 19 : In what could be perceived as a volte-face, the CPI(M)-led LDF government on Wednesday told the Kerala high court that it was not collecting the call data records of covid-19 patients. Refuting the charge that call details of covid-19 patients were being collected, the govt. submitted before the court that only tower locations of people testing positive for covid-19 were being collected to make sure they were strictly adhering to quarantine protocol and to trace their primary and secondary contacts. Since no call details of the patients were being collected, there was no question of violation of constitutional protections pertaining to right to privacy, the state government said. The LDF governments submission before the court came in response to a public interest petition filed by opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala challenging a government circular authorizing the police to collect call data records of covid-19 patients. The court also asked the state government to clarify whether it was possible to collect tower locations without accessing call data records. The court will hear the petition again on Friday. The state governments submission denying the collection of call data records were interpreted as a U-turn by the mainstream media since chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself, in his daily press briefing, had stated that the police had been given the authority to collect call details to trace the primary and secondary contacts of people who tested positive for the sars-cov-2 virus. Chennithala, in his petition, had alleged that the governments decision to collect call data records impinged on the right to privacy of citizens as upheld by the supreme court in the Puttaswamy case. The LDF government had on August 11 issued a circular empowering the police to collect call data records of individuals who tested positive for covid-19 with the purported objective of tracing their primary and secondary contacts. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) At least 6.6 lakh people in Hyderabad could have been infected by Sars-Cov-2 with the majority of them being asymptomatic, according to a collaborative study conducted on the prevalence of Covid-19 infection in sewerage water in the city by Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). The CCMB revealed the study findings on Wednesday. Both CCMB and IICT are institutions working under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). According to the study, Covid-19 infected individuals release virus not only through nasal and oral routes but also through faeces. This provides an opportunity to use sewage/wastewater samples to estimate the spread of the infection in a given locality or area. The SARS-CoV-2 in sewage samples is non-infectious, thus making sewage samples suitable for epidemiological studies, a CCMB release said. The team of scientists from CCMB and IICT harvested and processed sewage samples from major sewerage treatment plants (STPs) for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA to estimate the number of potentially infected individuals in the city. The study covered about 80 percent of the STPs. Since only 40% of Hyderabads sewage reaches STPs, this data can be used to extrapolate the overall number of potentially infected people, which turned out to be approximately 6.6 lakhs, that is, around 6.6% of the citys population. A conservative estimate of active cases shedding the virus may be around 2.6 lakh, the CCMB release said. Also Read: Emergency authorisation of Covid vaccine could be considered if govt decides: ICMR The cases include symptomatic, asymptomatic, and also recently recovered individuals in a time window of about 35 days. The findings are posted on preprint server, MedRxiv, which is yet to be peer reviewed, the CCMB release added. Also Read: Mystery grows over Covid-19 spread via contaminated food packaging Our finding clearly indicates that a large segment of the affected individuals is asymptomatic and did not need hospitalisation. This is also in agreement with the observation that hospitalisation rush or mortality (rate) is way lower than otherwise expected with such a large infection rate at a given time. It explains why our healthcare system has been able to handle the situation reasonably well during the pandemic, CCMB director Dr Rakesh Mishra said. The UK Space Agency has today (Tuesday 18 August) announced new funding for Reading-based researchers to support farmers in Ghana to protect their crops and help relocate people displaced by natural disasters in Columbia. Scientists in Reading are working on the two new projects. The first, known as Crop Yield Decision Support, led by Assimila Ltd, will use information on maize yields in Ghana to provide information used by farmers, supply chain actors, governments and international organisations to inform markets and enhance long term food security and past yields to help farmers benchmark and improve productivity. The second project, called Re-settlement Information and Observing System (RIOS) led by Institute for Environmental Analytics, at the University of Reading, will use Earth Observation (EO) satellites to provide a monitoring service for managing informal settlements in Colombia. The project will help mitigate against the danger of loss of life arising from natural disasters in settlement areas and to support the re-housing of displaced people. Dr Jon Styles, Director of Assimila Ltd, based in Reading said: Assimila is delighted to be working with our partners Farmerline and CABI to deliver practical information on crop yields that will help farmers, buyers, processors and governments to manage food production more effectively. Variability on crop performance over time is being exacerbated by changes in climate that are making yields less predictable. By combining satellite and weather information with cutting edge models we will help reduce the uncertainty in what the next harvest will bring, improving farmers livelihoods and improving food security. Dr Maria Noguer, Climate Programme Manager at the Institute for Environmental Analytics, said: The IEA is delighted to win this contract from the UK Space Agency International Partnership Programme. Once again, we are able to use our innovative environmental data analytics skills to address a growing real-world challenge in the face of our changing climate, to the benefit of society. "We will be working with the Colombian Government, through Fondo Adaptacion, to protect the lives of people living in informal settlements along the Cauca River where the dam is deteriorating and their lives are at risk from severe flooding. Our successful track record in working in partnership with governments around the world, as well as our expertise in pioneering Earth observation data solutions, has been recognised by this funding. These 10 new projects have the potential to provide solutions to the worlds biggest development problems" - Amanda Solloway, UK Science Minister The schemes are among 10 new cutting-edge projects involving UK companies helping tackle global development problems from the spread of malaria to human trafficking. The UK Space Agencys International Partnership Programme (IPP) has provided 3.4 million funding in total, including nearly 550,000 for the two Reading-based projects. Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: "From flooding and climate change, around the world people continue to be affected by crises that are having a profound impact on their countries economies and their lives. These 10 new projects have the potential to provide solutions to the worlds biggest development problems by using the latest and most high-tech space technologies such as satellites, and help improve millions of peoples lives in developing countries." This announcement comes as a new report is published, evaluating the impact of existing IPP projects. The report reveals that since launching IPP in 2016, satellite training has been delivered to over 300 health workers across three states of Nigeria, saving an estimated 30 lives; and a marine pollution application has prevented two oil spills from reaching the coastline, saving an estimated 3 million in clean-up costs and significantly reducing the impact on the environment and its wildlife. The report also shows that space-based solutions continue to be 12 times more cost-effective at delivering sustainable forestry, seven times more economical in supporting agriculture, and twice as resourceful for ensuring disaster resilience, than ground-based alternatives. Liz Cox, IPPs Head of International Relations at the UK Space Agency, said: "The compelling results of the previous projects cement the case for investment in space for sustainable development. IPP is not only demonstrating the value of satellite solutions and improving the lives of people on the ground in developing countries but also facilitating effective alliances between the United Kingdom and international organisations. Its a win-win and an exciting moment in the Programme." IPP, a 30 million a year programme, has already grant-funded 33 projects in 44 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and built partnerships between 120 space-enabled data organisations and 147 international partners in developing countries. These projects are designed to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) such as support for precision agriculture, early warning systems for disaster prediction, maritime safety, and disease forecasting. The Programme has so far generated 279 million in Gross Value Added for the UK economy and supports 3,300 jobs globally. The UK economy gains more than 2.50 for every 1 invested in IPP projects. The UK space sector is an economic success story, growing by over 60% since 2010. The sector already supports 300 billion of UK economic activity through the use of satellite services, and the government has established a new National Space Council to consider how space policy can enhance the countrys prosperity and place in the world, as well as our security interests. Image caption: Aerial photographs of informal settlements on the Cauca River, on the outskirts of the Colombian city of Cali, show how they have encroached dangerously close to the flood-protection dam (red line) along the riverbank since the 1980s. Source: Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC) - Fondo Adaptacion, 2014. Hemant Kumar Rout By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Amid a protracted stand-off along the LAC, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has accomplished a secret mission by conducting several rounds of air-to-air missiles that have recently been acquired from France and Russia from a frontline fighter aircraft off Odisha coast. Defence sources said anti-air multi-target MICA missile fired from Sukhoi-30 MKI for the first time successfully destroyed expendable aerial targets (EATs), demonstrating its stealth capabilities. Ahead of the planned integration with multi-role combat aircraft Rafale, the IAF test fired two rounds of Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile MICA on Monday and Tuesday. The fighter aircraft took off from Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal and fired the missile, successfully neutralising the aerial target drone mimicking enemy aircraft at low altitude. All mission parameters have been met as the target was destroyed validating the missiles launch envelope. The missile will equip both Sukhoi and Rafale fighter jets, a defence official told The Express. Acquired from France, MICA is an all weather missile system available in both short and medium ranges. The fire-and-forget missile can be used both by air platforms as well as ground units and ships. The 3.1 metre long missile having a diameter of 0.16 m weighs around 112 kg. It can neutralise targets within a range of 500 metre to 60 km. Of its two variants guided by radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR), MICA-RF has an active radar homing seeker and MICA-IR has an imaging infra-red homing seeker. Both seekers are designed to filter out counter-measures. Last week, the IAF had conducted two rounds test of R-77 air-to-air missile acquired from Russia. The multi-purpose missile can be used against a range of aircraft, both tactical and strategic and from hovering helicopters to high-speed at different altitudes. The medium-range air-to-air guided missile R-77 is about 3.6 metre in length and 200 mm in diametre. It weighs around 175 kg. It has an operational range of 80 km to 100 km. Both the missions were conducted by the IAF while the DRDO provided the logistic support. After the successful trial of Dhruvastra last month, the twin missions during the Covid-19 pandemic proved the readiness of the test range. The IAF is in the process of upgrading its squadrons. It is also in process of procuring Meteor missile from the European weapon maker MBDA. Rafale will be equipped with MICA and Meteor, the official added. STAMFORD Having spent three years and seven months in prison after being accused of possessing child pornography and enticing a minor in 2017, a Westport resident has been released after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree child pornography and enticing a minor. Paul Letersky, 51, a real estate agent and actor whose screen credits include Boardwalk Empire, became the subject of an investigation after a law enforcement agency in Colorado alerted Westport detectives in late 2016 to an alleged series of texts beween Letersky and a 13-year-old boy in their jurisdiction, according to Leterskys arrest affidavit. A subsequent search of Leterskys Westport home uncovered over 50 digital images of child pornography, Westport Lt. David Farrell said upon Leterskys arrest in January of the following year. With charges against him of risk of injury to a child, enticing a minor and first-degree possession of child pornography, Letersky has been held in the high-security MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield in lieu of a $500,000 court appearance bond he has been unable to post. Westport police reviewed 110 texts exchanged between the Letersky and the boy, according to the affidavit. Letersky was earlier convicted of risk of injury to a child as a result of a 2002 arrest by the Weston Police Department. He was accused then of downloading child pornography, which resulted in him being placed on the states sex offender registry in 2004, the affidavit said. At his hearing with Stamford Judge Kevin Randolph, Letersky appeared on video from MacDougall- Walker while his criminal defense attorney Mark Sherman and prosecutor Dan Cummings were in Stamford. Randolph released him on a promise to appear at his sentencing scheduled for October 8. Sherman said the plea deal was fair under the circumstances, and allowed his client to be released from prison immediately. Paul is an extremely bright and talented artist who got caught up in the dangerous waters of the internet. He is relieved to put this case behind him and determined to get back to his work and his art, he said. Letersky will have to spend 10 years on the sex offender registry and remain on sex offender probation for 15 years, under which he will be subject to close monitoring. While out waiting for sentencing he will be electronically monitored and must receive permission from probation before he can live anywhere. According to the website IMDB, Letersky played a number of uncredited, recurring roles including an iron salesman, a postal supervisor and a state police officer from 2010 to 2013 on the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire." He also appeared in another uncredited role as a KGB agent in 2014 and 2015 episodes of the FX series, "The Americans. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com Toronto: Chrystia Freeland, who helped negotiate Canadas free trade deal with the United States and Mexico, has been named the countrys first female finance minister, a day after her predecessor resigned after reportedly butting heads with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Freeland, a former journalist who had been foreign minister, is a trusted ally of Trudeau and will keep her job as Deputy Prime Minister. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on as Chrystia Freeland speaks to the media after her new appointment. She is the first woman to hold the finance minister's role in Canada. Credit:Bloomberg Its about time that we broke that glass ceiling, Freeland said of being the first woman in the powerful post. The 52-year-old is a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar who speaks five languages. Trudeau named her to the job after Bill Morneau stepped down on Monday amid reported differences with Trudeau's administration, which has been spending heavily to shore up the pandemic-hammered economy. He said he was no longer the appropriate the person for the job. A comprehensive study of four salmon species across all regions of Alaska finds salmon are returning to rivers smaller and younger than in the past The size of salmon returning to rivers in Alaska has declined dramatically over the past 60 years because they are spending fewer years at sea, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Salmon are critically important to both people and ecosystems in Alaska, supporting commercial and subsistence fisheries and transporting nutrients from the ocean to inland areas, fertilizing the ecosystems in and around the rivers where they spawn. Smaller salmon provide less food for people who depend on them, less value for commercial fishers, and less fertilizer for terrestrial ecosystems. For years, people in Alaska have been noticing that wild salmon were getting smaller, but the reasons have been unclear. In the new study, published August 19 in Nature Communications, researchers compiled and analyzed data collected over six decades (1957 to 2018) from 12.5 million fish by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This unprecedented dataset enabled them to see patterns of body size changes for four species of salmon--Chinook, chum, coho, and sockeye--across all regions of Alaska. The results showed that the decreases in body size are primarily due to salmon returning to their spawning grounds at younger ages than they have in the past. Alaskan salmon can spend up to seven years at sea, although this varies by species. During this time they feed and grow to maturity, migrating great distances in the North Pacific Ocean before returning to fresh water to spawn. "There are two ways they could be getting smaller--they could be growing less and be the same age but smaller, or they could be younger--and we saw a strong and consistent pattern that the salmon are returning to the rivers younger than they did historically," said corresponding author Eric Palkovacs, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and associate director of the Fisheries Collaborative Program in the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. The researchers identified a range of factors that appear to be driving this shift, some acting across all regions and others affecting only certain species or populations. "There's not a single smoking gun," said first author Krista Oke, a postdoctoral scientist initially at UC Santa Cruz and now at University of Alaska Fairbanks. "Small contributions from a lot of factors are adding up to drive these changes." Two factors--climate change and competition with growing numbers of wild and hatchery salmon in the ocean--have clearly contributed to size declines across all species and regions, Palkovacs said. In contrast, the effect of commercial fishing appears to be important only for some salmon populations. Similarly, the results were mixed for another proposed driver of size declines, the recovering populations of marine mammals that prey on salmon. "We know that climate drives changes in ocean productivity, and we see a consistent signal of climate factors associated with decreasing salmon size," Palkovacs said. "Another consistent association is with the abundance of salmon in the ocean, especially pink salmon. Their abundance in the North Pacific is at historic highs due in part to hatchery production in Alaska and Asia, and they compete with other salmon for food." The observation that salmon are returning to freshwater streams at younger ages implies that the ocean is becoming a riskier place for them to be, he said. By staying in the ocean longer and growing larger, salmon can have greater success in spawning and lay more eggs, but each additional year increases the risk of not returning to reproduce at all. "Natural selection has always pushed in both directions, but the balance between the two is changing, pushing harder against the older, larger salmon," Palkovacs said. "It seems that the ocean is becoming a riskier place to be." According to Oke, understanding exactly what is going on in the ocean to drive this shift is a difficult challenge that will require further study. "That's the next hard step I hope we can get to soon," she said. "It could be that they're having to spend more time feeding, which is putting them in risky places. Lots of things could be happening to increase the overall risk of mortality in the ocean, but we weren't able to pin that down." The consequences for people and ecosystems, however, are more clear. Smaller salmon means fewer meals per fish for subsistence fishers, lower profits for commercial fishers, fewer eggs laid to sustain salmon populations, and fewer nutrients to support the productivity and biodiversity of freshwater and riparian ecosystems. "Smaller fish is a real problem for people who depend on salmon for their food and well being," Oke said. "For commercial fishers, smaller fish tend to fetch lower prices, and below a certain size they can't be made into high-value products and might have to be canned." On the ecosystem side, the nutrients delivered by salmon runs provide critical support for bears, insects, birds, trees, and juvenile salmon themselves. Palkovacs noted that an extensive body of research has tracked the movement of marine nitrogen from salmon into the terrestrial ecosystems around the streams where they spawn. "Salmon go up into these small streams, and whether they are caught by predators or die after spawning, their nutrients are transferred into the forests and freshwater ecosystems," he said. "It's a classic salmon ecosystem service, and the amount of nutrients they deliver depends on their body size." The study had its origins in a working group organized by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UC Santa Barbara through its State of Alaska's Salmon and People project. With funding from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, the researchers were able to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to compile data the agency had been collecting for decades, but which was dispersed among different field offices in various smaller databases. "At NCEAS, we had two data scientists who compiled all the data into one massive database on Alaskan salmon that is now publicly available," Palkovacs said. "It took a lot of time and energy, but that's what enabled us to do this comprehensive analysis." Oke added that getting the data in the first place was no small task either. "When you think about the fact that we used data from 12.5 million salmon, that's how many times someone from ADF&G measured a salmon. It's an exceptional amount of work to make a dataset like this possible," she said. ### In addition to Oke and Palkovacs, the coauthors of the paper include corresponding author Peter Westley at University of Alaska Fairbanks, as well as researchers at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, NCEAS, McGill University in Montreal, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Simon Fraser University, and Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks. A Certified Mortgage Banker with 28 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Mr. Seera has held senior leadership and executive positions in the mortgage line of business of super regional banks including First Horizon Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, and Bank of Oklahoma. Most recently he led the Capital Markets Operations at Academy Mortgage, an independent mortgage bank based in Salt Lake City Utah originating approximately $11 billion annually. First Community President and CEO, Mike Crapps, commented, "Narin joins our company during a period of record mortgage production. The depth and breadth of his experience in the mortgage industry have well equipped him to lead the growth of this important line of business." Mr. Seera holds an MA in Economics and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He has been frequently invited by the Mortgage Bankers Association and other conference companies to speak on a variety of mortgage topics. About First Community Bank First Community Bank based in the Midlands of South Carolina is a full-service commercial bank offering deposit and loan products and services, residential mortgage lending and financial planning/investment advisory services for businesses and consumers. First Community serves customers in the Midlands, Aiken, and Greenville, South Carolina markets as well as Augusta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.firstcommunitysc.com . SOURCE First Community Bank Related Links https://www.firstcommunitysc.com MONTREAL - Employers at the Port of Montreal say they are at an impasse with striking dockworkers as the port shutdown hits the 10-day mark. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Martin Tessier, president and CEO of the Maritime Employers Association, comments on the ongoing strike by the port of Montreal's Longshoremen Union in Montreal on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - Employers at the Port of Montreal say they are at an impasse with striking dockworkers as the port shutdown hits the 10-day mark. "The negotiations are not really progressing," said Martin Tessier, head of the Maritime Employers Association, at a press conference Wednesday. "We're making very slow progress." The remarks are a contrast to Labour Minister Filomena Tassi's depiction Monday of "encouraging progress made between the two parties." Ottawa has so far declined to intervene despite pleas from industry groups and the Ontario and Quebec governments. Tessier said he has asked the union to move 477 containers out of about 11,500 now on the waterfront in order to clear essential goods such as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, as well as perishable foods and hazardous materials. The union has agreed only to move COVID-19-related cargo, meaning managers or replacement workers will likely handle some of the others, Tessier said. "We told them if we need to do it, we're going to do ... We need to make sure we're not taking the public as hostages." Michel Murray, a spokesman with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said dockworkers feel the situation is unproductive because the employers association refuses to reveal the exact contents of the containers. "If there are four containers of Coco Chanel perfume that are due for Quebec, those four containers will remain at the terminal," Murray said. "It is not part of the essential services ... If he identifies (the containers) to us, we'll be able to say which ones we're ready to do," Murray said. The longshore workers have said from the outset of the strike on Aug. 10 that any pandemic-related freight can leave the port. For the rest, the union cites a June decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on what constitutes an essential service at the Port of Montreal. The strike by 1,125 dockworkers, who have been without a collective agreement since September 2018, revolves largely around wages and scheduling. Longshore workers are paid $36 an hour for a minimum of 32 hours per week, even if they don't work an hour which is rare Tessier said. The minimum threshold rises to 36 hours after five years and 40 hours after 10 years. 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. Annual earnings average out to about $120,000, plus a benefits package that amounts to $22,000 annually, including a defined-benefit pension plan paid for by the employer, he said. The obligation constantly to be on call remains an impediment in negotiations. "You never know what will happen with a ship. They can be stuck because of ice, they can be stuck because of a storm," Tessier explained. "These guys, they work outside. During the summer its really hot. During the winter it can be really cold," he acknowledged. "This is why they have very good compensation." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020. with files from Ugo Giguere The successful fourth edition of the Dwijing Festival with over 15 lakh tourists attending the 12-day event has emerged as the winner in five categories at the prestigious WOW Awards Asia, 2020. The awards were won in the below-mentioned categories: 1. Rural Activation of the year. 2. Special Event of the Year for Government/Federation/Association. 3. Rural Engagement Property of the Year. 4. Business/B-2-B/Knowledge-Exchange Property of the Year. 5. Special Event of the Decade. The fourth edition of the Dwijing Festival was graced by the Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, and the Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and other eminent dignitaries. The award-winning fourth edition of Dwijing Festival was organized by the Dwijing Festival Organising Committee under the guidance and leadership of the Minister of Tourism, Chandan Brahma, and in association with Assam Tourism and Bodoland Tourism. The event was executed & managed by Length Breadth Height Productions Pvt Ltd, Mumbai headed by Saurav Takyar & Gaurav Takyar. The Dwijing Festival is an annual river festival celebrated in the BTAD region with various colourful events viz. ethnic trade and food festivals, exhibitions, games & sports, river campaign & adventure activities, and various cultural programs that make it a center of attraction and the New Year Festival. The festival is organized with the vision to encourage tourism, boost the will of the promising indigenous talent, and promote local products. The festival was also meant to provide help to the flood victim families through charity generation and distribution. "The Assam Tourism had worked closely with the Dwijing Festival Organising Committee and Bodoland Tourism to make the fourth edition of the Dwijing Festival a great success. It is really humbling to know that WOW Awards Asia 2020 has acknowledged and recognized the dedication and hard work put in by everyone involved. We will continue our efforts to make Dwijing Festival a big success each year," said Chandan Brahma, Minister of Tourism on the recognition. With the vision to promote local tourism and river tourism in the State, the festival was started in the year 2016-17 under the name of "AIE RIVER WINTER FESTIVAL" as the event takes place on the bank of the river Aie in the Chirang district of BTC. Later in 2017-18, the name was changed to "DWIJING" meaning "RIVER BANK" transforming the event into an annual River Festival of the region. Since it's inaugural in 2016, Dwijing Festival was primarily aimed to showcase indigenous talent as well as employ, support, and give an opportunity to indigenous performers, artists, local businesses and boost the economy of the state through rural tourism. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. 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.) TROY Genesis Cooper, 14, carefully wrangled the pole, that's about as tall as she is into the Hudson River under the watchful eye of Dan Shapley. He had already advised her and her colleague Nique Pollack, 15 on how to take a water sample. His directions to them Make sure you mark the bottle with a Sharpie before it gets wet, quickly put the lid on and place it in a cold, lightless container so the suns rays dont degrade the sample. And watch your footing. Be careful not to fall. There are cameras around, Shapley said referring to the rocky shoreline near the Ingalls Avenue boat launch in North Central Troy. Cooper, Pollack and several other Lansingburgh High School students will once a month between May and October for the next few years be collecting water samples from this spot as an ongoing examination of how sewage runoff impacts the water quality, explained Shapley, director of water quality programs for the Riverkeeper organization. Theyll be looking for levels of enterococcus bacteria which should increase after heavy rains overwhelm the citys ancient plumbing and raw sewage mixes with the storm runoff into the river. Riverkeeper has long worked with residents of Albany, Troy, Cohoes, Rensselaer, Watervliet, and the village of Green Island to report sewage runoffs. Now they are expanding on that, teaming up with The Sanctuary for Independent Media to enlist youth from the neighborhood to help monitor the water quality. Its a matter of water justice, they say, alluding to the environmental justice movement that seeks to treat all people, rich, poor, Black, brown and white equally when it comes to laws and policies that affect their immediate environment. Both Cooper and Pollak live near the river but it doesnt play a big part in their lives at least not yet. Their families dont have boats and this stretch of the river, just below the Federal Dam is lined with a rocky shoreline making it difficult for people to access the water from land. Recently, the city built a boat launch here at Ingalls Avenue but on a recent Tuesday, these water monitors were the only ones here. Pollack said she and her dad occasionally come down here when her dad goes fishing, but they dont eat what they catch. Cooper lives just a few blocks away but says she usually doesnt come to the riverfront here either. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The project, known as the Water Justice Lab aims to get more urban youngsters interested in the environment and, in addition to the science, gain an understanding of how ecological issues affect them where they live, said Branda Miller, arts and education coordinator for the Sanctuary, as well as a professor of media arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At Tuesdays training session on how to properly take samples, both Cooper and Pollack sounded enthusiastic about the work ahead. For Pollack, it fits in with her interest in science and her plans to pursue studies and a career in a technical field. For Cooper, it meets her interest in social issues. Both have been in advanced science classes prior to starting this program. It makes me want to learn more, said Pollack. Cooper said she will use what she learns in her work with the Troy 4 Black Lives social justice group. I get to know more about the water in my community and where it goes, she said. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Belarus sacked director for backing protests. His actors promptly resigned FILE PHOTO: People protest against presidential election results in Minsk By Andrei Makhovsky MINSK (Reuters) - For theatre director Pavel Latushko, the sight of detainees emerging from prison with bruises and complaining of punishment beatings convinced him to join mass protests against the Belarus government he once represented. Soon after he was sacked for his defiance, his troupe of actors handed in their resignations in solidarity. The 47-year-old had served in President Alexander Lukashenko's government as ambassador to Poland, France and Spain and as the spokesman for the foreign ministry. Since 2019 he has been the head of Minsk's oldest theatre. But a crackdown following Lukashenko's disputed presidential election victory last week, in which at least two people were killed and thousands more detained by police during violent street clashes, was the point of no return. "In the life of every person there comes a line that cannot be crossed," he told Reuters on Tuesday. "That moment came for me when I saw people coming out of prisons, talking about the violence against them. I became ashamed. I considered it my moral duty to express my position." Latushko was fired from his post as director of the 19th century Janka Kupala National Theatre after speaking out against the government, and the theatre has become a flashpoint for the demonstrations. Red-and-white opposition flags hung from the building on Tuesday as hundreds gathered outside waving placards, chanting excerpts from popular plays and poems and yelling "shame" as Culture Minister Yury Bondar arrived to discuss the upcoming season. For the actors and their supporters, Latushko's sacking was a symbol of the clampdown on dissent following an election that the opposition says was rigged. RESIGNATION AFTER RESIGNATION Footage shared by local media outlet tut.by showed Bondar on stage inside the theatre being harangued by members of the troupe demanding that Latushko be reinstated. Bondar said the theatre should not be turned into a "political club". Story continues He added that the state had promoted the arts and increased funding since last year. Asked about Latushko, he replied that an employer had the right to sack an employee. One after another, the company of actors slammed down a resignation letter on the stage in front of him and shouted "go away". The protesters outside cheered as actors emerged after handing in their resignation. "We cannot work in a state where people are humiliated and beaten," one person was heard shouting from the audience. Actor Sergei Chub said the troupe knew there would be consequences once Latushko began speaking out against the authorities. "We agreed straight away that if they fire the director we'll leave straight after him," he told Reuters. Latushko is one of a number of public figures, from TV presenters in the tightly controlled state media to the Belarusian ambassador to Slovakia, to join protests that have become the biggest challenge to Lukashenko's 26-year rule. He denies rigging the election and has compared the protesters to criminals in cahoots with foreign backers. The government has also denied that any of the thousands of people who were detained in protests last week were abused. Latushko was further alarmed when he was told by the government to stamp out any rumblings of discontent. He fears he could receive further punishment from the authorities but is staying in Minsk. "How can I suppress the right of people to express their position?" he said. "If we are silent now we will come to a situation where any person can be subjected to violence by law enforcement agencies." (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Mike Collett-White) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Daxko announced today that it acquired Motionsoft, a thought leader in member management software that powers some of the largest brands in the club industry. With a full continuum of solutions and services for an ever-changing business environment, Daxko offers member-based business software, CRM, digital marketing, payment processing, full service billing, community engagement solutions, workout tracking, and a trusted integration platform, to the entire health, wellness, and fitness industry. "We are excited to welcome Motionsoft to the Daxko family," says Ron Lamb, Daxko's CEO. "Leveraging our shared experience, passion, and commitment to empowering the industry, we will be able to better serve health, fitness, and wellness centers to thrive in a constantly evolving landscape." The addition of Motionsoft forms an unrivaled set of end-to-end solutions for local start-ups to global franchises. "I am thrilled for Motionsoft to join the Daxko mission of powering health and wellness worldwide," says Al Noshirvani, Motionsoft's Co-Founder and Chairman. "Joining a like-minded organization led by experienced owners, operators, and fitness professionals, together we will drive the solutions that define our industry now and into the future." "I am so excited for what this acquisition means for our customers, as they will have easier access to an unprecedented selection of world-class solutions and services," added Rick Auletta, Motionsoft's CEO. Daxko will immediately begin preserving, elevating, and integrating the Motionsoft platforms to help club owners and operators reach their full potential in a rapidly evolving landscape. Daxko is a portfolio company of GI Partners. Maynard Cooper & Gale served as legal counsel. Financial Technology Partners ("FT Partners") served as exclusive financial and strategic advisor to Motionsoft and its Board of Directors in this transaction. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as legal counsel to Motionsoft. About Daxko Daxko delivers comprehensive technology solutions, integrated payment processing, experienced services and deep insights to all kinds of health and fitness centersenterprise health clubs, boutique fitness studios, affiliate gyms, campus recreation facilities, integrated wellness centers, YMCAs, and JCCs. Since 1998, the company has grown to serve customers spanning 140 countries, nearly 16,000 facilities, and over 17 million members. To learn more, visit daxko.com. About Motionsoft Founded in 2004, Motionsoft is a pioneer in Software-as-a-Service for member-based organizations, providing software and business management services to fitness clubs, corporate fitness facilities, hospital wellness centers, and university recreation centers. Now used by more than 1,200 innovative businesses and 8+ million members, Motionsoft's software suite includes MoSo, a robust enterprise software solution designed for fitness operators who require custom software and service solutions, MoSoClub, a cloud-based club management software solution for operators and owners in need of a leading packaged software solution. To learn more, visit motionsoft.net. About GI Partners Founded in 2001, GI Partners is a private investment firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm has raised over $21 billion in capital from leading institutional investors around the world to invest in private equity, real estate, and data infrastructure strategies. The private equity team invests primarily in companies in the Healthcare, IT Infrastructure, Services, and Software sectors. The real estate team invests across a broad range of platforms and strategies. The data infrastructure team invests primarily in hard asset infrastructure businesses underpinning the digital economy. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit www.gipartners.com. SOURCE Daxko Related Links http://www.daxko.com Morocco may reimpose full lockdown as Covid-19 cases surge - King Morocco could return to a complete coronavirus lockdown as cases continue to spike, Moroccan King Mohammed VI said on Thursday, warning of severe economic repercussions. The warning came as a jump in infections in the once bustling tourist hub of Marrakech strained health services and led to protests by medical staff in recent days. New cases nationally have surged to more than 1,000 a day since Morocco lifted a strict three-month long lockdown in late June and hit a record high of 1,766 on 15 August. "If figures continue to increase, the Covid-19 Scientific Committee may recommend another lockdown, perhaps with even tighter restrictions," the King said in a speech. The deterioration of the health situation "does not leave much room for optimism," he said. As of Thursday, Morocco had recorded a total 47,638 cases, including 775 deaths and 32,806 recoveries. Pictures posted on social media platforms showed COVID-19 patients in Marrakech lying on the floor of crowded hospitals. Medics have staged protests in recent days to highlight the congestion and lack of anti-coronavirus equipment and oxygen. The health ministry said on Wednesday it will boost capacity at the city's hospitals. Morocco has carried out 1.7 million tests and made the wearing of masks mandatory. An emergency decree giving authorities leeway in restoring restrictive measures has been extended until Sept. 10. The Moroccan economy is expected to contract by 5% this year, while the budget deficit is forecast to deepen by 7.5% of gross domestic product. (Text: Reuters; Photo: AFP) President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the 12th virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the State House, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Mines and Steel Development and the Federal Capital Territory are expected to make presentations during the meeting being coordinated from the State House. Those in attendance of the meeting included Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari as well as the National Security Adviser to the President, Babagana Mongonu. NAN observed that six cabinet members including Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, joined President Buhari at the Council Chamber for the meeting. Others at the chamber are the Ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and FCT, Muhammed Bello. NAN reports that the remaining cabinet members including the Head of Service of the Federation are participating online from their respective offices in Abuja. (NAN) Drive-through BBQ from Colonie Senior Services Colonie Senior Service Centers on Friday will host Local Bounty, a drive-through barbecue event, at The Beltrone Living Center, 6 Winners Circle, Colonie. Meals, priced at $13, include barbecued chicken, roasted street corn salad, macaroni and cheese from Allie Bs Cozy Kitchen in Albany and berry crumble, with local farms providing the main ingredients. Local Bounty is being over seen by chefs Kyle MacPherson and Joan Porambo, winner of last years CSSCs Chefs in Motion competition. Proceeds will benefit CSSCs adult day program, Bright Horizons. For more information or to make a meal reservation, call 518-459-2857 ext. 303. Food bank fundraising dinner going takeout this year The Chefs & Vintners Harvest Dinner, one of the most important annual fundraisers for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, will be takeout this year, with a silent auction and other components conducted online. The event, usually a gala-style dinner that attracts hundreds, is especially important this year, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused demand for the food banks services throughout its 23-county coverage area to soar by more than 50 percent since mid-March, according to the organizations executive director, Mark Quandt. Chefs contributing courses are Jose Arteche of Shogun in Delmar, Ken Kehn of 677 Prime in Albany, Ric Orlando of Flavor Maker Spices and Mark Delos of Clifton Park-based Mazzone Hospitality. Wines will be provided by Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars. The date is Thursday, Sept. 24. Tickets, at $175, include dinner for two with wine, to be picked up from 4 to 6 p.m. at the food banks Latham headquarters. The menu, other details and a ticket link are at regionalfoodbank.net/annualdinner. Survey: Financially ailing restaurants need a bailout Nine out of 10 restaurateurs in New York state believe that their businesses will not be profitable over the next six months without an industry-specific aid package from governments. Thats among the findings of a survey of more than 650 owners of Empire State restaurants, conducted in early August by the New York State Restaurant Association. Other results: Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. 93.6 percent saw lower sales volume from April through July of 2020 as compared to last year. Many reported a decrease in sales volume from the previous year of 70 percent or greater. 91.8 percent have been forced to furlough or lay off employees since the COVID-19 outbreak, and a majority (54.7 percent) had to lay off or furlough 90 to 100 percent of employees. 74.2 percent have no plans of hiring additional employees in the next 30 days. 18.6 percent of restaurants remain closed, either temporarily or permanently. For those still closed, the top reasons were a lack of business, lack of employees and limited or no indoor dining. Association members are seeking a relief package at federal and state levels to help them stay afloat. When asked what government could do to help their businesses to survive the pandemic, the top three answers were: Provide commercial rent relief. Insist that business interruption insurance claims are paid. Increase the capacity for indoor dining Our members are grateful for the leadership Gov. Andrew Cuomo has shown in these trying times, the restaurant associations CEO, Melissa Fleischiut, said in a statement. But were still struggling. We are now asking the governor, the state Legislature and those at the federal level to help us get back on our feet so we can keep our doors open and hire back the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers that we had to let go. Give us an opportunity to succeed and be a positive impact on our economy. Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be submitted for publication should be emailed to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Visit his blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping. If you want to know who really controls Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE:CARR), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership. Carrier Global is a pretty big company. It has a market capitalization of US$26b. Normally institutions would own a significant portion of a company this size. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Carrier Global. View our latest analysis for Carrier Global What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Carrier Global? 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 Carrier Global. 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. 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 Carrier Global, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Carrier Global. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 11%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 8.9% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 8.4% by the third-largest shareholder. Story continues After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of Carrier Global While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Carrier Global Corporation. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$3.4m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership The general public holds a 17% stake in Carrier Global. 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: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Carrier Global you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable. 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. Rating Action: Moody's affirms Beijing Capital Group's Baa3 ratings; outlook stable Global Credit Research - 19 Aug 2020 Hong Kong, August 19, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Beijing Capital Group Co., Ltd.'s (BCG) Baa3 issuer rating, as well as the Baa3 senior unsecured ratings on the USD notes issued by Beijing Capital Polaris Investment Co., Ltd. and guaranteed by BCG. At the same time, Moody's has affirmed the provisional (P)Baa3 senior unsecured rating on the medium-term note (MTN) program of Beijing Capital Polaris Investment Co., Ltd. The MTN program is unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by BCG. All the outlooks are stable. "The ratings affirmation reflects our expectation that Beijing Capital Group's high debt leverage will gradually improve over the next 12-18 months, which will support its Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA)," says Kaven Tsang, a Moody's Senior Vice President. "At the same time, we expect the company will continue to receive strong support from the Beijing city government, which in turn supports the three-notch rating uplift," adds Tsang. RATINGS RATIONALE BCG's Baa3 issuer rating reflects (1) its BCA of ba3; and (2) Moody's assessment of a strong likelihood of support from and the company's high level of dependence on the Beijing municipal government and, ultimately, the Government of China (A1 stable). This support assessment reflects BCG's (1) important role in providing essential water supply, social housing and subway services to China's capital city, and its policy function of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and the agricultural sector through its financial services operations; (2) 100% ownership by the Beijing government; and (3) track record of receiving government support. BCG's BCA of ba3 reflects the company's (1) diversified portfolio, with four major businesses that exhibit different industry dynamics, a feature that reduces the company's risk exposure to any individual business segment; (2) stable water services and infrastructure businesses, which provide a strong and stable source of income and a buffer against the volatility associated with the company's real estate business; and (3) diversified funding channels and good access to domestic funding. Story continues On the other hand, BCG's BCA is constrained by the company's high debt leverage. Moody's expects that the company's adjusted net debt/EBITDA will improve to 8.5x-9.0x in 2021 after rising to around 9.7x in 2020 from 9.3x in 2019 on the back of the coronavirus outbreak in Q1 2020. Moody's expects BCG's EBITDA will remain relatively flat in 2020 and grow around 15% in 2021, mainly supported by the growing sales of its property arm, Beijing Capital Land Limited (Ba3 stable), growing income from the expansion of its water services and environmental protection operations, and stable performance of its infrastructure and financial services businesses. BCG's stable water services and infrastructure businesses, contributing around 40% of the company's EBITDA, provide a strong and recurring source of earnings that will buffer against the volatility associated with the company's real estate business. Beijing Capital Co., Ltd., BCG's main platform for environmental protection business, is a leading player in China's water services sector. Moody's expects the EBITDA from this business segment will grow by around 20% in the next 1-2 years after the expansion carried out in the last 2-3 years. This growth in turn will lower the leverage position of this segment, while solid market demand for subway services in Beijing will support stable income. In addition, Moody's expects BCG will adopt a more measured approach towards business growth to fulfill its deleveraging plan. The company's net debt growth peaked at 29% in 2018, and slowed to 14% in 2019. Moody's expects BCG's net debt growth will further slow to 5%-10% in 2020 and 2021, as the company controls its debt leverage, against the backdrop of the Chinese government's policy to prioritize deleveraging for state-owned enterprises. BCG also plans lower its leverage over the next 12-18 months through the accelerated disposal of non-core assets, and equity issuance via listed subsidiaries to partially fund their business growth. BCG has inadequate liquidity at the consolidated level. The company's cash sources and estimated annual operating cash flow over the next 18 months are insufficient to cover scheduled debt repayments and capital spending over the same period. Nevertheless, BCG has strong access to the bank and capital markets, enabling it to raise funds to support its operating and refinancing needs, underpinned by its close linkage with the Beijing municipal government. In assessing BCG's governance risk, Moody's has taken into consideration its 100% ownership and the direct supervision and management oversight exercised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the Beijing Municipality. FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS The stable rating outlook reflects (1) the stable outlook on China's sovereign rating; and (2) Moody's expectation that the company will gradually lower its leverage to a level appropriate for its ba3 BCA over the next 12-18 months. The ratings could be upgraded if (1) the likelihood of government support for BCG increases; or (2) BCG's standalone credit profile improves significantly, or both. Moody's would raise BCG's BCA if it demonstrates prudence in pursuing growth and achieves further deleveraging, as seen by adjusted net debt/EBITDA below 6.5x and funds from operations/net debt above 10% on a sustained basis. The ratings would be downgraded if Moody's lowers BCG's BCA because of a material deterioration in its business profile or financial position, without any material changes in the support assessment. Moody's could lower BCG's BCA if adjusted net debt/EBITDA fails to trend towards 7.5x-8.0x or funds from operations/net debt fails to trend towards 5%-7.5%. A downgrade of BCG's ratings, without a lowering of its BCA, could also be triggered by a reduction in the company's importance to the Beijing municipal government, or a weakening of the municipal government's ability to support the company. The methodologies used in these ratings were Investment Holding Companies and Conglomerates published in July 2018 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1125855, and Government-Related Issuers Methodology published in February 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1186207. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies. Founded in 1994, Beijing Capital Group Co., Ltd. is 100% owned by the Beijing municipal government and is under the direct supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Beijing Municipality. The company's operations are divided into four major business segments: (1) environmental protection; (2) infrastructure; (3) real estate; and (4) financial services. 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. 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Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, candidate for the presidential election in Belarus, greets people waving old flags during a campaign rally on Aug. 2. Read more Pay attention to the protests by hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who are demonstrating against a presidential election rigged by strongman Alexander Lukashenko. They should inspire Americans for reasons that go beyond their bravery against violent secret police. The Belarus crisis is a cautionary tale as we watch a U.S. president lay the groundwork to reject election results should he lose in November. He clearly does not want to leave the White House in January 2021, no matter the publics will. True, Lukashenko, Europes last dictator, has far more coercive tools than Donald Trump. The regime has arrested 7,000 demonstrators, and beat and tortured many of them while jailing leading opposition figures and forcing others to flee abroad. Yet, by his actions, Trump indicates hed like to do a Lukashenko by other means. The president has been trying hard to undermine trust in the November ballot. He wants to repress the opposition vote by spreading lies about mail-in ballots and gutting the U.S. Postal Service. He has cast doubt on whether he would accept the results if he is the loser. And weve seen his open admiration for autocrats around the world. The struggle in Belarus is a reminder of the price to be paid in countries that lack our (surviving) checks and balances. And the need to thwart Trumps efforts to pull a Lukashenko here. Lukashenko has ruled for 26 years over a small (population 9.5 million) post-Soviet state at a geopolitical crossroads, bordered by Russia, the Baltic states, Poland, and Ukraine. Yet, despite the huge, obvious differences between Belarus and the U.S., there are some remarkably similar themes and some clear warning signals from Minsk. The popular revolt in the former emerged in part from Lukashenkos failure to deal with COVID-19 he ignored it. Public revulsion mounted over his blatant lies about election numbers. Leading opposition figure Valery Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States who has fled with his family to Poland, claims Lukashenko simply cooked the figures. The autocrat reacted when it became clear that opposition leader Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya was winning, claiming he had 80% of the vote and she had 10%. This 37-year-old former English teacher had stepped in after her candidate husband was jailed. Disdainful of women, Lukashenko claimed she would collapse in office. READ MORE: Putin, facing resistance, needs a Trump win more than ever | Trudy Rubin Juggling a cell phone as he made his way to Warsaw, Tsepkalo described the rigging process to a webinar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies: I collected 220,000 signatures to run, although only 100,000 were necessary, and another candidate collected 400,000, but they were thrown in the garbage. Lukashenko simply gave instructions to the chairman of the central election commission. Fortunately, White House lies have not reached that point yet. Lukashenko has also tried to paint peaceful protesters as violent, to justify his violent crackdown. But the graphic injuries to some released protesters were so awful, they brought more demonstrators to the streets. And he has tried to scare the Belarus public with racist claims that NATO is massing troops on their border and will send in black-skinned ... blond-headed invaders. His claims about a pending NATO invasion totally false are meant to gain support from Vladimir Putin, with whom he has a dicey relationship, but has called twice in the past week. In actual fact, demonstrators in Belarus have been careful to focus only on domestic issues. They have carried only the red and white Belarusian flag, not any U.S. or EU banners, so as not to disturb Putin or give him cause to accuse them of making a pro-West color revolution like that of Ukraine in 2014. Yet it looks as if the Belarus strongman is now hoping Putin will save him. Experts on Belarus doubt the Russian leader would send in troops. However, they think he might try to force Lukashenko to step down while ensuring a Putin-friendly alternative wins a new election. But Lukashenko says: Until you kill me, there will be no other elections. So we have a racist, misogynistic despot who rigs an election and refuses to step down, but may need Putin to save him from a public that rejects him. A public that now includes protesting factory workers. A public that includes state-owned television workers who are rebelling. That is Lukashenkos crisis. Back in the United States, Trump, despite an effort to create his own mini-militia out of Homeland Security forces, still has no secret police. Courts still function, and the press is still free, although undercut by online conspiracy theorists. Yet, the public should have no illusions about Trumps autocrat-envy. Or his willingness to create election chaos and wholly misrepresent the vote. Or his indifference to Russian meddling. So congressional and media pushback against Trumps efforts to cripple the Postal Service and undercut mail-in votes is essential. We are not Belarus, which is why Trump cannot do a full Lukashenko. But from now through January, those who care about democracy must guard against White House efforts to rig the 2020 election, Trump-style. Global foreign direct investment, FDI, in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is projected to plunge by 25 percent to 50 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts. "This will threaten the worlds ability to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," experts from United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), John Cabot University Rome, Kaspersky, The EuroScience Open Forum, University of Tokyo, and CloudMinds told the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (#GMIS2020) Virtual Edition, reported Emirates News Agency WAM. In spite of this, they argued, the pandemic provides an opportunity to accelerate progress towards collaborative solutions to development issues, most notably to advance manufacturing technologies and digitalisation. Dr. Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, Managing Director, Directorate of Digitalisation, Technology and Agribusiness, UNIDO, said that prior to the crisis there was an estimated investment gap of $2.5 trillion per year to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, and the current situation risks aggravating this trend, which could amplify existing challenges in global production. "The fourth industrial revolution has the potential to contribute to increased resource efficiency and help shift towards a more circular economy," Calzadilla-Sarmiento said. "And this is the big opportunity we have to take into account, that we need to recover from the pandemic in a different manner." Dr. Alina Sorgner, Assistant Professor of Applied Data Analytics, John Cabot University Rome, said advancing gender equality in the manufacturing sector would require organisations to first address the gender skills gap, which is very apparent in both developed and developing countries. Andrey Suvorov, Head of Business Development, IIoT Cyber Security, Kaspersky, acknowledged the existence of a skills gap and said that certain skills will become increasingly important and relevant for workers in the manufacturing sector to stay competitive in the coming years. Professor Stefano Fantoni, Champion of the EuroScience Open Forum - ESOF 2020 Trieste, and the President of the Trieste International Foundation of Freedom and Progress of Science, emphasised that it is essential for educational initiatives that are aimed at introducing advanced technologies to have practical as well as theoretical learning elements. Dr. Yusuke Kajihara, Associate Professor of the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo, said that to introduce new technologies, countries need to have the right balance between cyber and physical fields, which in developing countries is often absent. Bill Huang, Founder and CEO of CloudMinds, said the introduction of 5G networks would aid the rapid convergence of robot intelligence towards human intelligence for various uses. Weixi Gong, Chief of the Investment and Technology Promotion Division at UNIDO, concluded the session by saying that Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 will alter the way we live and work and it is the job of international organisations, such as UNIDO, to ensure that no one is left behind on this transformative journey, and that everyone will be enabled to reap the benefits of these developments in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Hosted by Yuko Yasunaga, the Head of UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, the virtual panel discussion on Exploring the future of manufacturing and industries: Industry 4.0s true potential in advancing the attainment of the SDGs and shaping Society 5.0 is the eighth session of the #GMIS2020 Digital Series that will lead up to the Virtual Summit on September 4-5, 2020. Through its Virtual Editions, the third edition of the #GMIS2020, a joint initiative by the UAE and the UNIDO, is bringing together high-profile thought-leaders and business pioneers from around the world to shape the future of manufacturing, discuss the impact of pandemics on global value chains, and highlight the role of fourth industrial revolution, 4IR, technologies in restoring economic and social activities. A 39-year-old Magnolia man received 45 years in prison for killing his friend who he said owed him less than $800. Melvin Yovani Ramirez-Russel pleaded guilty to murdering Gerardo Munoz De La Paz, 46, of Magnolia, on Monday in the 221st District Court. Presiding Judge Lisa Michalk handed out Ramirez-Russels sentence, which he is expected to serve half of before he is released, according to the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office. He had great remorse, said Robert Bartlett, Ramirez-Russels defense attorney. As part of the plea bargain, Bartlett said two felony charges for tampering with evidence one for moving a human corpse were dropped. He took a plea bargain, keeping in mind his 11-year-old daughter, Bartlett added. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Montgomery County Sheriffs Office: Man confesses to fatally shooting Magnolia resident over supposed debt He wants at some point to be able to see his daughter, Bartlett said. On Jan. 29, Montgomery County Sheriffs deputies found De La Pazs remains on the 20900 block of Roberts Cemetery Road, bearing a visible gunshot wound. Sheriffs detectives located video footage identifying Ramirez-Russel as the culprit. Ramirez-Russel admitted to investigators he killed De La Paz over a $700-$800 debt the victim owed him, according to the District Attorneys Office. Ramirez-Russel, according to Bartlett, initially said in his admission that De La Paz attacked him before he fired his gun at his friend. On the day the victims body and pickup truck were recovered, the DAs Office stated Ramirez-Russel shot De La Paz multiple times in his chest and left arm at close range with a .38 caliber pistol. This case serves as a testament to the results that come after the hard work of the deputies, crime scene technicians, and detectives from our sheriffs department, that we have the privilege of working with every day, said prosecuting Assistant DA Rob Freyer in a statement. Their dedication was also recognized by nearly twenty loving members of the victims family, who were present in court to watch Russels guilty plea and to receive justice for the life of a very beloved man. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your Inbox District Attorney Brett Ligon also singled out the investigative teams work. This case was yet another collaborative effort between our office and with law enforcement, and sends the repeated message to those in Montgomery County who commit acts of violence such as this, that there will be dire consequences to those who perpetrate them, Ligon said in a statement. A female family member of De La Paz gave a victim impact statement in court. I believe in divine justice, and I also believe in the justice of this great country, she said, according to Bartlett. The DAs Office also stated a man helped Ramirez-Russel dispose of the body. On Feb. 5, Juan Manuel Amaya-Pavon, 37, was arrested by sheriffs deputies, charged with tampering with evidence to conceal a human corpse, a second-degree felony, after being questioned by sheriffs detectives in the case, according to authorities. Amaya-Pavon is being held on a $75,000 bond at the Montgomery County Jail, according to jail records. jose.gonzalez@chron.com/ twitter.com/jrgzztx (CNN) Brazil is in the grips of a deadly virus, with the world's second highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the world and yet the health ministry continues to be run on an interim basis by an army general with no medical experience. Three months after Army General Eduardo Pazuello was named interim health minister on May 16, there is still no indication that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wants to confirm him in that role or swap him out. Both the Ministry of Health and the Office of the President have declined to comment about any plans to replace or officially appoint Pazuello as Health Minister. No other ministry has had an interim minister for such a length of time in the Bolsonaro administration. Prior to running the health ministry, Pazuello was best known for coordinating the Army troops in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, in 2016, and heading the "Venezuelan Migration Operation" in the State of Roraima, designed to handle migrants fleeing the economic collapse in Venezuela in 2018. "Not even during the military dictatorship [did] we have a military man in the Health Ministry," said Eduardo Svartman, a political scientist from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, referring to the period from the mid-60s to mid-80s when the country was run by a military regime. "However skilled Pazuello may be in military logistics, this is very different from managing a complex system like the Brazilian healthcare system, especially in the middle of a crisis like that," said Svartman. But Bolsonaro has not seemed concerned about Pazuello's lack of experience. In mid-July, the President described him as "born for the role," and "always in the right place to better serve his homeland." And his embrace of a military man isn't unusual -- Bolsonaro has tapped on a pro-military and populist movement in Brazil as his base of support. In the early days of coronavirus, Bolsonaro derided the warning of experts and described Covid-19 as a "little flu." He flouted social distancing guidelines and after contracting the virus himself, claimed his recovery was helped by taking hydroxychloroquine, which studies show is not effective and can be harmful. Pazuello published guidelines for the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the early stages of Covid-19 only 4 days after taking office, despite the lack of endorsement by medical and scientific institutions. Pazuello has now lasted longer than his predecessor, physician Nelson Teich, who resigned as Health Minister earlier this year after less than a month in the role. Teich was the replacement for Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also a physician and who openly advocated for social distance measures before he was fired by Bolsonaro. "Bolsonaro no longer has the apparatus of a political party, doesn't have staff with administrative experience, doesn't have allies to recommend his staff," said Svartman of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. "So where does he turn to? To the Armed Forces. The problem is that the Armed Forces accepted it," he said. The rising death toll When Pazuello took on the role of interim minister, Brazil had a little over 230,000 cases of Covid-19 and 15,633 registered deaths. Three months later, the number of cases has surpassed 3.3 million and the number of deaths has topped 107,000. Luiz Henrique Mandetta, the former health minister, said the number of deaths should not surprise the Bolsonaro government. He told CNN on July 30 that he showed the President data that predicted more than 100,000 people dying. "I think that he didn't want to believe it," Mandetta said. "He just wants people to say what he wants to hear. So he did what he just wanted, and he decided to take this very dangerous path, putting the whole country into it." Yet a poll conducted by Datafolha reported that 47% of Brazilians interviewed on August 11 and 12 don't think Bolsonaro is to blame over the number of deaths. Forty-one say he's partly to blame and only 11% believe he's the main culprit. The poll also revealed that 88% didn't know the name of the interim Health Minister. Addressing the World Health Organization on Friday, Pazuello ignored the death toll and focused instead on the number of recovering cases. "We are among the world-leading countries in recovered patients," he said, adding that 2 million Brazilians had survived Covid-19. Since in the office, Pazuello has been unable to solve shortages of medications such as anesthetics, neuromuscular blockers and sedatives for intubating Covid-19 patients, which have affected 23 of Brazil's 27 states, according to a report released last week by CONASS, a Brazilian state health secretariat council. At last week's National Congress for Covid-19, Pazuello said his ministry was not responsible for purchasing the drugs and that the shortage could be chalked up to "market instability" generated by scarcity in some states. According to Sergio Cimerman, Technical Director of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, an interim minister during a pandemic creates uncertainty. "So much that the federal government is transferring the problem to governors and mayors, so they will decide what to do in each place. It should be the other way round, the federal government should point the direction for the local authorities to follow." The only positive story for the government, he said, has been hosting three vaccine trials in Brazil. They involve Swiss pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca working with UK's Oxford University, Chinese biotech company Sinovac in collaboration with Brazil's Butantan Institute, and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer working with Germany's BioNTech. "I can attest to you that AstraZeneca-Oxford is still our best option, the most promising (vaccine), but we are still paying attention to all the others, and we [can] quickly enter in another purchase (agreement)," Pazuello said on Thursday. Cimerman believes Pazuello will remain in the office until the end of the outbreak. "There are so many political implications, mainly in regard to medical treatments that the President stands for. No doctor, whose conduct is based on scientific criteria, would accept this post." This story was first published on CNN.com Amid pandemic, Brazil's health ministry still has an interim boss with no medical experience According to police, the accused, Rahul alias Sanga alias Baba alias Sunni (27) is from Bhiwani and was arrested in Uttarakhand on August 15. He was accused of murdering a man named Praveen who ran a local ration store. Rajesh Duggal, DCP (Headquarters) spoke to a leading daily and shed further details regarding the case. He said, During questioning, it has emerged that Rahul had travelled to Mumbai in January to conduct a recce for the murder of Salman Khan. He went to the actors house in Bandra for the purpose and stayed in the area for two days. He conducted this recce at the behest of Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra, another member of the gang, who had also conducted a recce to plan for the same crime before he was arrested in June 2018. The PRO of Faridabad Police Sube Singh added, He has been produced in court and remanded in police custody for further questioning. Recently, a sharp shooter of the infamous Lawrence Bishnoi gang was arrested by the police after alleged involvement in the murder of a Faridabad resident. The investigation has now revealed that the accused was planning to murder Bollywood actor Salman Khan and had already conducted a recce in Mumbai for the same. The chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Emeka Umeagbalasi, describes the situation of unrest in the north of Nigeria. By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ Nigeria is Africas most populous country and the continents largest democracy. Home to approximately 200 million people, it is blessed with abundant human and natural resources, with a rich mix of over 250 ethnic groups and over 500 spoken languages. Recently, however, northern Nigeria has seen increased instances of violent attacks and escalating acts of terrorism. The southern part of Kaduna state, in particular, has been the epicenter of a rash of attacks, with at least three occurring in July alone. Nigerias northeastern region has also been plagued by terrorist attacks carried out by the extremist Boko haram organization, which has killed thousands and displaced approximately two million people. These various factors, coupled with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, make for a grim situation. In an interview with Vatican News, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, the board chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), spoke on the situation in northern Nigeria, stressing the need for a government for everyone irrespective of ethnicity or religion. Born in 1969, Emeka Umeagbalasi is a graduate of security studies and holds a Master's degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. He is also a human rights activist and the convener of the Coalition of Human Rights and Democracy Organizations (SBCHROs), a group of over twenty rights and democracy organizations in Southeast Nigeria. Mr. Umeagbalasi is also a Catholic. Pope Franciss closeness Pope Francis, at the Angelus address on Saturday, 15 August, prayed for Nigeria in the wake of the violence and killings in the north of the country. The Nigerian Bishops Conference (CBCN), in a statement dated 8 August, said that they are tired of this situation of increasing insecurity, especially in southern Kaduna. They called for a stop to the killings in the country, and urged all Christians to join in a 40-day prayer of one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be to the Father each day, ending on 1 October - Nigerias Independence Day. Interview with Emeka Umeagbalasi Disproportionate Christian casualties Nigeria is a country of roughly fifty percent Muslim and fifty percent Christians, Umeagbalasi pointed out, adding that the country also has a multiplicity of ethnicities. It is therefore expected to be governed secularly and pluralistically. However, said Umeagbalasi, the attacks from the Boko haram militants, Fulani herdsmen, and other terrorist groups in the region have destroyed over 17,000 churches since 2009. To remedy this, the current government administration has to examine its very foundations and corporate motives, as to whether it has come to govern everybody irrespective of the citizens religion and ethnicity, he said. The government can rewind, he stated. The government can go back to the drawing board and start from the foundation, reorganizing the entire establishment to give it a true picture of a pluralistic Nigeria. For this to happen, he explained, no faction should be given preferential treatment by the government. Umeagbalasi also lauded the Popes recent fatherly gesture of praying for Nigeria, saying that it means that the Pope is not oblivious of what is going on in Nigeria. Southern Kaduna attacks Kaduna state, the focal point of recent attacks, straddles Nigerias religious and ethnic divide. Northern Kaduna is predominantly Muslim and Hausa-Fulani, while the south is largely Christian and populated by several ethnic groups. Relations between the North and South have been strained, owing largely to competition over resources and tensions of a political nature. Unfortunately, these tensions have sometimes resulted in violence. The spate of recent attacks, according to Umeagbalasi, are part of a bigger picture. He pointed out that, while the focus of recent attacks is presently southern Kaduna, other states have also suffered violent attacks. He gave the example of Plateau and Benue states where he says 158 and 152 people have been killed respectively. Even Igboland where Christianity is concentrated is not spared, he added. Umeagbalasi pointed out that for the violence to end in northern Nigeria, the government has to evenly distribute the composition and concentration of all the public security and policing structures, and not put them in the hands of members of one ethnic group or religion. Kaduna is composed of roughly sixty percent Muslims and forty percent Christians, Umeagbalasi said. Therefore, it would be expected that "all these particular socio/cultural factors are reflected" in state government and security. Intersociety The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) was founded in 2008 with the vision of campaigning vigorously for the promotion and advancement of democracy, accountable governance, rule of law, civil liberties and public security and safety. Mr. Umeagbalasi said he hopes the organization he leads will become a formidable voice with the capacity to represent effectively what is going on in the country on the local, national and international level. Trump has moved to ban the popular social media app from the U.S., contending it presents a national security risk. He most recently signed an executive order Friday that said its owner, the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, must sell or spin off its U.S. TikTok business within 90 days. "I think he probably would like to deny China some of the proceeds of the TikTok sale. It's not something that's been done in the past, but that doesn't mean it can't be done now," the director of the National Economic Council said on "Closing Bell." White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Wednesday that President Donald Trump wants to prevent China from collecting some form of payment in a deal to sell TikTok. A few companies have reportedly looked into acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, including Microsoft and enterprise software giant Oracle, in response to Trump's actions in recent weeks. In addition to the U.S. business, a potential deal is said to likely include TikTok's operations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The president has suggested the U.S. government should receive some portion of any transaction involving the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations, a deal which could be worth as much as $30 billion. But it remains unclear how, exactly, the government would a collect portion of the sale or whether it is even allowable under the law. Asked for comment on Kudlow's remarks, a company spokesperson said in an email, "ByteDance is a private company, and 2/3 of the outside beneficial ownership are American investors." ByteDance also is a privately owned company. Roughly 70% of ByteDance's outside investors are from the U.S., Reuters has reported. TikTok has denied claims that it poses a national security risk to U.S.-based users. In an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC's "TODAY," the general manager of TikTok U.S. again pushed back on the allegations. "We have very strict data controls in place, we have an amazing team that's building world-class infrastructure," said Vanessa Pappas. Kudlow said he "did not know" whether the U.S. Treasury would ultimately receive some form of payment. But he acknowledged that it would be "unusual." "The president has his own mind on some of these things. .. Nothing is in cement here. We haven't even had all the bids, and stuff that goes with. That's not due until the middle of September," he said. "I don't know how that will play out. It may turn out to be there, or fees may turn out not to be there." Disclosure: Larry Kudlow is a former CNBC contributor. Web Toolbar by Wibiya Humans can be a very creative species, capable of many great things. However, in my view, there are two ideas that would have been left to fossilize in the human imagination if we were a more conscientious and responsible species. The first is weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and the second is Seeking.com. Out of all the websites I have seen on the internet to-date, I don't know of any other site that is more disturbing. And this includes my visits to a wide range of sexist, racist, extremist, and otherwise ideologically oppressive websites. Welcome to the world of "sugar daddy" and "sugar baby" dating. On Seeking.com, you have very attractive young ladies, often just over 18 years old, who are able to easily make more money than most professionally trained and educated doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and other professionals by pursuing "arrangements" with affluent married men who are often more than 50 or 60 years old. These married men generally don't seem to be in open marriages. Rather, these married men appear to be pursuing their "arrangements" behind the backs of their unsuspecting wives or partners. But let's not also forget the ladies on this site who may also have unsuspecting boyfriends who may wonder why their partner all of a sudden seems flush with cash. What this website seems to be tacitly teaching a new generation of women is why apply yourself to get an education and work hard toward a career when you can entertain a revolving door of men on any given day or night? It seems any woman on this site, no matter how "unattractive" she might be regarded based upon standards of beauty in our society, can easily make thousands of dollars in any given day. Just to meetup with one of these ladies at your local cafe for 15 minutes on what is described on the site as a "pay per meet" basis could cost you $500. Or, as a lady, you can alternatively demand a monthly allowance of thousands of dollars a month from a guy in exchange for him having the privilege of an evening with you three or four times per month. As you can see, Seeking.com is no ordinary online dating site. The seductive poses of the ladies on this site leave little to the imagination,and its made clear they want in return: immediate access to the lifestyle of the rich and famous. This includes expensive restaurants, international travel, rent or mortgage money, trips to the nail salon, or even a new car or house. You would be surprised to know what married men in their 50s and up are willing to pay for the attention of an attractive lady in their late teens or 20s. I have observed that the impressionable ladies on this site get so hooked on the easy money that they will literally contact you out of the blue for a "fun evening" at a place they have rented out in order to accommodate to their visitors. Thanks, but no thanks. Do the men on this site have any concept of the social damage they are creating? There is no doubt that the ladies on Seeking.com will not look at men in general the same way again, not to mention the potential medical risks involved. Equally culpable in social complicity are the occasional commentaries from "mainstream media," which has sought to characterize Seeking.com as a "site where some people go to help them with their tuition and other expenses." With that said, I support the legalization of prostitution in general that would ensure the safety of sex workers and people who seek to avail themselves of the services sex workers provide. However, it has been my observation that the average sex worker has far more respect for their body than most of the ladies I have come into contact with on Seeking.com. Seeking.com has been proactive about seeking to keep "prostitutes" out of their site. And in my view, society should not interfere with what consenting adults choose to do. Seeking.com is a well-designed site from a technical standpoint and has conducted itself well within legal propriety. Unlike many sites out there,Seeking.com has profiles that seem generally real; its not packed with lots of fake profiles where guys ought not to expect any replies other than spam or fake messages designed to hook you to a paid membership plan. So, if you're a guy and your idea of a "relationship" is a potentially "discreet connection" along with a clinical exercise to "get what you want" and you're also flush with cash, and if you're a lady and you seek to pursue a luxury lifestyle by exploiting your "good looks," void of any social or spiritual connections and morality, you now know where you can go. The ABC has confirmed the 2020 Boyer Lectures to be delivered by philanthropist and business leader Dr Andrew Twiggy Forrest will be delayed due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures. The four-part lecture series Rebooting Australia: How ethical entrepreneurs can help shape a better future was scheduled to be broadcast on ABC Radio National from 28 November, with one as a TV broadcast later. This will now take place in January, with dates to be confirmed. ABC Chair Ita Buttrose said, The ABC Boyer Lectures, now in their 62nd year, are a significant event on the ABC calendar and I am disappointed we will need to wait a little bit longer to hear Dr Forrests thoughts and views on an interesting range of issues. However, we want to ensure this significant event receives the support and audience it deserves, and we look forward to releasing a new broadcast and event schedule as soon as possible. The ABC Boyer Lectures are broadcast on ABC RN over four weeks and will be available on podcast via the ABC listen app. One of the lectures is also broadcast on ABC TV. The Boyer Lectures, which began in 1959, are given each year by a prominent Australian about major social, cultural, scientific or political issues. Prime Ministers, Governors-General, High Court judges, archbishops, artists, poets, scientists and business leaders are among those who have shared their ideas and concerns over the past six decades. Brazil indigenous protesters defy court, resume roadblock Members of the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group check their cell phones during a roadblock outside Novo Progresso, Para state Indigenous protesters in Brazil defied a court order Tuesday and resumed a roadblock of a key highway through the Amazon rainforest, demanding help against the new coronavirus and an end to illegal mining and deforestation. Brandishing bows and wearing traditional feather headdresses and body paint, dozens of protesters from the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group have been blocking highway BR-163 through the Amazon rainforest since Monday morning. They briefly lifted their roadblock Tuesday afternoon after a federal judge ordered them to allow traffic through. But they said they were only retreating temporarily for "humanitarian reasons," since some of the drivers caught in the long line of trucks that formed outside the northern town of Novo Progresso had medical conditions. Later Tuesday, they resumed their roadblock, vowing to stay put until the authorities agreed to discuss their demands. "We closed the BR again, and this time we don't have a date or time to reopen it," indigenous leader Mudjere Kayapo said in a statement released by the Kabo Institute, an indigenous rights organization. He said the protesters had no intention of leaving until the federal agency for indigenous affairs, the health minister or indigenous health secretary and a representative from environmental regulator IBAMA showed up. The highway is an important artery for farmers in Brazil's agricultural heartland to ship corn and soybeans, two of the country's main exports, to the river ports of the Amazon and beyond. On Monday night, federal judge Sandra Maria Correia da Silva ordered the protesters to end the roadblock, citing the damage to the region's economy. She imposed a fine of 10,000 reals ($1,800) a day if the protesters fail to comply, and ordered federal highway police to remove the blockade if necessary. A lawyer for the protesters is appealing the court injunction, the Kabo Institute said. The highway, which was built during Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985) to develop the Amazon region, was fully paved earlier this year. Story continues The protesters say the project damaged the surrounding environment, and are demanding compensation. They also want more help from far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit especially hard among native groups. In Brazil, 21,000 indigenous people have been infected and 618 have died of COVID-19, according to the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples' Association (APIB), which accuses Bolsonaro of turning a blind eye to the problem. Brazil has the second-highest number of infections and deaths in the pandemic, after the United States: nearly 3.5 million and 110,000, respectively. The protesters are also demanding the government act to stop encroachments on their land by illegal gold miners and deforestation in the Amazon, blamed mainly on farming and ranching. jm-jhb/ft Weather warning issued with strong winds set to hit Wrexham later this week This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 The weather is set to turn wet and windy at the end of the week with a yellow warning in place. Met Eireann (the Irish Met Office) named Storm Ellen on Tuesday evening, with unseasonably, deep Atlantic low-pressure system bringing the potential for impacts to the Republic of Ireland. A weather warning for strong winds is in place across the UK including north Wales over the next few days. Locally the warning will come into place between 4am and 6pm on Friday, with gusts expected to reach 40mph. Temperatures are also set to be a lot cooler than the recent heatwave, with highs of 19C on Friday. Winds are expected to ease throughout the afternoon. Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Steve Ramsdale said: Following the recent hot and thundery weather we are seeing a significant change to very unsettled conditions for August with an unseasonal spell of strong winds associated with low-pressure centres for the second half of the week. Uncertainty remains high in the intensity of these systems at this point, but we are confident in the change to a spell of much windier weather. Tropical air associated with a decayed tropical cyclone is being drawn towards the UK, and the marked contrast between this warm and moist air with normal North Atlantic airmasses can lead to a very vigorous system. Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Matthew Lehnert added: Along with the sometimes heavy rain, strong winds have the potential to cause impacts that are not common in August. With this spell of unsettled weather coinciding with trees in full leaf and a peak in the camping season, wind-related impacts are more likely at lower wind speeds compared to other times of the year, particularly across Northern Ireland where winds are forecast to be strongest. EDWARDSVILLE As a result of rising COVID-19 cases in Madison County, Edwardsville School District 7 issued a statement regarding its Return to Learn plan Tuesday afternoon. Superintendent Jason Henderson expressed that they may revise the plan if Madison County continues to rise in cases and will revise the plan if the county moves to a warning level. At this time, Madison County remains blue, however, over the last few weeks, the positivity rate and the number of cases per 100,000 of the countys population have continued to rise, Henderson said in the statement. If the rates rise to certain levels, Madison County would receive an orange warning designation. The Illinois Department of Public Health shows county-specific metrics and color codes each county based on those metrics. Madison County is currently blue and may shift to orange on Friday. Henderson explained that if Madison County moves to orange, some changes will be made. The first change would be for K-5 students. These students would be moved to option two of the plan (an A-B-A-B hybrid). Students with last names beginning from A-L will meet on A days and M-Z students will meet onB days. All six- through 12-grade students will continue to use option two if the county is moved to orange. If Madison County stays with an orange warning designation for two consecutive weeks, this would cause District 7 to transition to remote learning for all students, Henderson explained. This means that if the metrics continue to worsen and do not stay within targeted levels, District 7 will transition to full remote learning as early as Monday, Aug. 31, as a result of being in warning status for two consecutive weeks. He finished by saying, If District 7 shifts to all remote learning, it will stay there until Madison County moves out of warning (back to blue) for two consecutive weeks. During the earlier portion of the day the immense crowd of persons who surrounded the stables materially interfered with the preparations that were going forward, and it was not until the arrival of a body of police under the orders of Inspectors Branigan and Weldon that the men were enabled to press forward their arrangements with anything like comfort or dispatch. Generally speaking, the party appear to be excellently equipped for their arduous undertaking. The boots for the men and the greater part of the harness and saddlery for the horses and camels have been manufactured at Pentridge, under the strictest supervision. Shoes have also been provided for the camels, to protect their feet when travelling over rough and stony ground. Loading The whole of the stores, with the exception of some ten tonnes of grain, which will be forwarded via the Murray, and which will be delivered to the party at the junction of the Murray and the Darling, the expedition take with them, in six American wagons, three the property of the party, and three hired ones. These wagons will proceed as far as Swan Hill when the loading will be transferred to the backs of the camels. Preparations have been made for every emergency; cots for the conveyance of the sick, which can be slung on either side of a camel, have been provided, and a good supply of medicines for both man and beast; and included amongst the list of medical comforts may be mentioned seven hundredweight of Bencrafts colonial oatmeal. Mr Burke has also taken with him everything necessary for making signals in case any of the party should become separated in the bush, or if from any other cause such should be necessary. He has a large Chinese gong, two Union Jacks, and an ample supply of rockets and blue lights. The tents which the party take with them are in every way fitted for the purpose they are intended, being made out of the best American drill and lined with green baize. We are sorry we cannot speak so favourably regarding the wagons, the pole of one of them broke in attempting to start it, and we have since been informed that two of them broke down between the Park and Essendon, and will be unable to proceed until they are repaired. Loading Mr Landells states it will be absolutely necessary for the party to remain some considerable time at Coopers Creek, in order to refresh the camels, since by the time they arrive there their energies will be wholly exhausted. Eighty camels he says would not be too many for the purposes of the expedition. We have previously recorded our opinion of the horses that accompany the party, viz., that they are wholly unfit for their work; and a more minute inspection of the team only confirms that judgement, added to which, when they were yesterday called upon to start, they showed the greatest aversion to the collar, some of them indeed proving themselves rank jibs. One consolation, however, as regards to this matter is, that there is but little doubt that as Mr Burke proceeds up the country he will be able to exchange these worthless animals for a better description of cattle. Four camels have been left behind two females with young, one male, and Mr Landells Pet, a young thing, but very well-bred, and which promises to be a very valuable animal. The start was to have taken place at one oclock, but from the interruptions and delays caused by the immense crowds who were present, and from other causes, the preparations were not completed until about half-past three oclock. Loading At that time all the camels were out of the stables and saddled, the drays were loaded and all was ready. The Mayor then mounting one of the drays bid the party goodbye, and all success, and called cheers for Mr Burke, Mr Landells, and the members of the party. The call having been most enthusiastically responded to, Mr Burke replied in a brief sentence expressive of his determination to do all that lay in his power to conduct the expedition to a successful termination. The party then started amidst the loud and repeated cheers of those present. Mr Burke, on horseback, led the way, followed by a number of pack horses. Then came Mr Landells and his camels, he himself being mounted upon one of the largest, and the drays bringing up the rear. The State Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to construct 10,000 houses on a 56-acre parcel of land that was recently repossessed from grabbers in Nairobis Industrial Area. Until it was repossessed, the land initially belonged to the Kenya Meteorological Department but was transferred to five private firms in 2005. After the Environmental and Land Court revoked the title deeds issued to the five firms, the Ministry of Lands is now in the process of re-issuing the deeds to the Treasury, which will hold the land in trust for the State Department of Housing. The development of the housing units will be on the land that initially belonged to the Kenya Meteorological Department and is being transferred for this use and to be under the National Treasury as its trustee, said the State Department. There will also be change of use for this specific piece of land from a zoning perspective, from industrial to residential. The housing units are expected to benefit dwellers of informal settlements in Mukuru slum. A total of 10,000 affordable units are planned in the long-term. The number of units projected for construction is between 3,000 and 5,000 per year. The project will have 375 blocks, each with five levels. Each block has 40 units, translating to eight units per floor, Standard reports. The site falls within an industrial area as per zoning regulations, but change of use is being sought to allow the land be used for residential purposes, said the State Department in an impact assessment report. The Housing Department is also seeking stakeholder views on the planned development. The Maharashtra government has given 50 lakh each to the families of 50 Mumbai policemen who lost their lives while carrying out their responsibilities during the fight to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has released a total of 25 crore and the police department has ensured that the funds do not get stuck in the usual red-tape, said a senior IPS officer, requesting anonymity. Till August 19, 4,440 Mumbai policemen have been infected with the virus and 59 of them have succumbed. The Mumbai police conducted an internal survey which showed that most policemen who succumbed were either posted near containment zones or lived or worked in a containment zone or close to one. Of the 59 personnel, most were above the age of 50 and some of them were about to retire, added the senior police officer. Apart from the funds sanctioned by the state government, the Mumbai police have released 10 lakh from the Mumbai Police Foundation for each of the martyrs. We have reached out to the families of 58 of the 59 personnel who lost their lives till now. Rupees 5.8 crore has been provided as compensation by the Mumbai police, the officer added. Its our responsibility as a department to ensure the emotional and financial well-being of each of our staff members so that each one of us stands fearlessly in the battle against the pandemic, he said. Apart from the compensation to the deceased personnels families, the Mumbai police have rewarded 3,867 policemen who reported to work despite knowing the risk and got infected with 10,000 and an appreciation letter, added the officer. The Mumbai police have also given 1 lakh advance to 121 policemen who tested positive for the virus and needed financial support. The funds were made available through the Mumbai Police Welfare Fund, added the officer. Research into ancient Chinese chime stones receives highest honour from Chinese Government A MUSIC archaeological study of ancient Chinese chime stones dating back to 2400BC to 8AD, conducted by a PhD graduate from the University of Huddersfield, has been deemed a remarkable achievement by the Chinese Government and has been conferred a coveted award. Dr Xueyang Fang, from the city of Tianjin in north-eastern China, graduated this year with a PhD in music. Her extensive research, the first comprehensive study of its kind, has earned her the 'Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad' from the China Scholarship Council. The award was set up in 2003 to honour overseas Chinese students with outstanding academic accomplishments and is the highest award Chinese Government can give to graduate students studying outside China. An estimated half a million Chinese students leave China to study abroad each year, making this prestigious award highly competitive. "Only those with outstanding performance in their PhD studies are considered by the award selection panel and each year no more than 500 young talented researchers are granted this annual award," said the China Scholarship Council's Secretary-General, Sheng Jianxue. "Xueyang Fang stood out from the competition and I would like to express my sincere gratitude for Professor Rupert Till's support and conscientious supervision, which have contributed to her remarkable achievements," he added. A comprehensive and exhaustive analysis Dr Fang's thesis, supervised by Professor Rupert Till from the University's Department of Music and Drama, is the first significant study of Chinese chime stones to be published in English and has created a new taxonomy, as well as collecting previous research published largely in Chinese. On top of the comprehensive and exhaustive analysis of hundreds of specimens of chime stones, including their archaeological sites, periods and multiple categories of co-existent discoveries, Dr Fang's fieldwork has produced a large amount of data that can be used for future research. This includes materials from Chinese museums and original sound recordings for analysis. A journal article, written by Dr Fang in collaboration with Professor Till, explained how chime stones were often used in Royal court music performances, which were usually a combination of chime bells and other musical instruments and often represented high-ranking status in ancient Chinese society, especially in pre-imperial China. Their cultural and ritual significance In China, chime stones have important cultural and ritual significance and were significant enough to be buried with ruling people and so were a core symbol for social rank and authority. "Burying these stones with this individual was clearly a significant act," said Dr Fang, when referring to an excavation of nine chime stones found in an Eastern Zhou Tomb in Hebi, China between 2009 and 2010. "Returning these stones to the ground has perhaps extra poignancy, in the knowledge that they have remained intact and indeed in tune, while their owner's body has decomposed," she added. The European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) Dr Fang was initially prompted to pursue advanced study in the UK after reading numerous articles written by Professor Rupert Till, an affiliate of the European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) and the Associate Dean International for the University's School of Music, Humanities and Media. For the EMAP series, Professor Till recorded a wide range of ancient European instruments and investigated the acoustics of the places where they were once played. These included the Tombs of the Kings, a World Heritage Site in Cyprus and the Isturitz caves in France, where artefacts discovered included a pre-historic bone flute. As a result of his research, she began to explore the journey of music archaeology with profound interest and says deciding to carry out her PhD at the University of Huddersfield, under Professor Till's supervision, was the best decision she ever made. Throughout her doctoral research Professor Till encouraged Dr Fang to take part in several international conferences, such as the 10th Symposium of the International Study Group for Music Archaeology (ISGMA) held in Wuhan, China, the University of New York's 14th Music Iconography Conference and the 15th Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Study Group on Music Archaeology in Slovenia. "Through my participation of these conferences, not only did my experience and self-confidence increase, but I also gained greater interdisciplinary knowledge during my periods of study," she said. "To anyone who is wondering about why they should join the University of Huddersfield, I want to implore that my Alma Mater will provide the platform you need to succeed, whatever your plans for the future. I strongly recommend being a student here for anyone interested in furthering their studies." ### This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. In this July 14, 2010, file photo, gavels and law books are shown in the office of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George at his office in San Francisco. Read more The bar exam, an anxiety-inducing initiation into the legal profession, has been under new scrutiny as some experts have raised questions about whether the days-long testing process is really necessary to determine if new law school grads are qualified to become lawyers. This year, the exam, usually conducted by packing recent graduates into a room for several days, also raises public health questions given the coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing measures recommended. The Inquirer tapped a recent law school graduate and a former law student to debate: Should Pa. and other states cancel new law school grads bar exam? YES: Holding the bar amid pandemic exacerbates inequality. By Domenic Powell The Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners plans to hold an online bar exam in October. This plan is a bad idea, if they can even pull it off. The state Supreme Court should cancel the exam and let recent graduates practice law if we otherwise meet the requirements. An online exam may not be feasible. One of the three software companies that administer online bar exams withdrew themselves from any more tests this year, citing insurmountable logistical problems. Online exams and trial runs in other states have suffered data breaches and cyberattacks. The state board of examiners is inviting disaster without a plan to overcome these challenges. READ MORE: For Pa. and N.J. law school graduates, bar exams will be held despite virus and questions about the testing ordeal No class of applicants has ever studied or taken the test under circumstances like these. As a new dad, I will take the online test from home while my 5-month-old daughter cries from the next room. Since the bar examiners scheduled the test during the school week, other parents taking the test will be tending to their school-age children whose classes have moved online. Child-care options are slim to none unless we want to gamble with our childrens lives. Parents are not the only applicants who will be placed at a disadvantage by the bar examiners poorly considered plan. So are lawyers of color, who come from communities with dramatically higher rates of COVID-19 infection. Our profession is already 86% white, according to the American Bar Association. Holding the exam now will reinforce barriers keeping out underrepresented groups. There are also implications for access to legal services. Although large firms have provided stipends to incoming associates to help them weather the storm, offices that more routinely serve low-income clients like small firms, public defender offices, and nonprofits generally cannot. Holding a bar exam amid a public health and economic crisis is more a test of resources than our fitness to practice law. Who has financial support while they prepare for the exam? Who is not responsible for someone elses care? Who has a quiet place to study and take a three-day exam? Who is not worried about finding, or holding onto, a job? The equitable solution is to grant us a diploma privilege letting us practice law if we meet all the other requirements. Domenic Powell Even a postponed exam would be unfair. Holding a bar exam when the pandemic is over whenever that may be will also disadvantage lawyers who cannot leave their jobs or take extensive time off to study. The equitable solution is to grant us a diploma privilege letting us practice law if we meet all the other requirements. A growing number of states are taking this approach while imposing modest conditions to allay concerns about our fitness. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) considers a diploma privilege an extreme step that would unleash unqualified lawyers on the public. But the state of Wisconsin has offered its in-state graduates a diploma privilege for decades without controversy; its lawyers are known neither for being uniquely gifted nor uniquely incompetent. In fact, the president of the Wisconsin-based NCBE is herself a beneficiary of the states privilege, as was her predecessor. The Philadelphia Bar Association believes that firms could discriminate against lawyers who are licensed through privilege. This belief is entirely speculative. The consequences of holding an exam for lawyers from underrepresented groups, however, are not. Plenty of legal organizations claim to believe in promoting diversity and inclusion in the profession. Their response to the coronavirus will prove whose commitments are sincere. Domenic Powell is a 2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. In the fall, he will join the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through the agencys honors attorney program. NO: More selection measures are needed for lawyers. By Chandra Bozelko As the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners plans to hold an online bar exam in October, some are arguing that the bar exam be canceled all together this year. We cannot dispense with the bar exam. Bar admission isnt a reward system for people whove graduated from law school; its a protection for the public, who expect legal professional assistance when their property, rights, reputation, freedom or even their lives are in jeopardy. Quality legal representation can make all the difference in a clients life. It did in mine. I finished two years of law school and was arrested, and thats when my real legal education began. I had a defense attorney who admitted to not having even read my file. Another one lied on the stand when she was questioned about her admission to the judge that she wasnt prepared for my sentencing. My attorneys werent outliers. Take, for example, lawyers like Kimberly Kitchen, the Pennsylvania woman elected the president of her local bar association who never went to law school or took the bar exam, defrauding clients and colleagues alike. People supporting diploma privilege argue that the bar exam doesnt determine competence and cite that, in Wisconsin, a state that already employs diploma privilege, discipline rates are comparable or lower to other states, even California, which arguably has the hardest bar test with the countrys lowest rate of passing. This argument that disciplinary forces will admonish all bad attorneys if the bar doesnt catch them first depends on an honest and effective regulatory system. I dont think that exists in this country. Discipline of attorneys is often politically motivated. In 2015, an auditor found the State Bar of California did an insufficient job of extracting bad lawyers. In 2018, 2,872 attorneys were publicly disciplined out of 83,073 complaints filed; more than 6% of the legal profession faced a complaint that year. That would mean 96.5% of clients who complained about their attorneys were wrong. Remember, these disciplinary boards are manned by other lawyers, so they tend to protect each other. Even leaving the potential misconduct aside even the most qualified people can make mistakes in law, a diploma alone doesnt prepare someone for practice. Unlike medical students, who spend half of their education in practical, clinical settings, law students are only required to take six out of 72 to 90 credits in experiential learning. Thats less than 10% dedicated to the actual practice of law. While some students undoubtedly take more, its nowhere near the 50% that all medical students will have dedicated to field experience by the time they graduate. The bar exam may not provide that experience, but it does assure that those nonclinical lessons that dominate a law students schedule actually worked. I understand that 2020 may constitute an emergency exception in that the extended time spent inside, in close proximity to other test-takers, can spread SARS-CoV-2. I dont favor any set up that would put law school graduates at higher risk of catching a disease were only just beginning to understand. But ways to distance people or administer the exam online are there; 11 states have already established safety protocols and conducted the test. Ive heard the arguments that the bar exam weeds out people who are lousy test-takers but would be great lawyers and that the test is not a good barometer of future performance. The bar examinations fallibility is the same as any. No test culls the qualified perfectly. The stakes of lawyers mistakes are simply so high that I cant imagine stripping away one of the few barriers between unqualified people and the harm they can cause to unsuspecting clients. The bar exam may not determine competence, but getting rid of it doesnt assure it either. If anything, we need additional selection measures in place. Chandra Bozelko is a syndicated columnist with Gannett Media. Her experience with the criminal legal system and the lawyers within it is detailed on her award-winning blog, Prison Diaries. There were no sirens, no evacuation orders and no deputies banging on the doors Tuesday evening on Whitehouse Canyon Road in a remote part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Instead, raining embers and a wall of red flames chased residents and others from their homes in this wooded enclave in San Mateo County, as the lightning-sparked CZU August Lightning Complex fire ripped toward properties throughout the night and into Wednesday. We evacuated ourselves. Nobody came, said Janice McCargo, 56, as she watched the devastation from Highway 1 Wednesday at about noon. Theres no men on the ground. Weve had no water flyovers. Theyve done nothing. By late afternoon, McCargo watched from her car as close to six police vehicles and a fire truck drove up the road to her neighborhood. With fires raging throughout the state, the firefighters struggled to get a handle on the fire that burned through the Santa Cruz Mountains and sheriffs deputies scrambled to evacuate thousands of people as they received information from Cal Fire on where the blaze was heading. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, rugged terrain and insufficient resources, the fire burned 25,000 acres by the evening and destroyed at least 20 single family homes, according to Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire spokesman. Three firefighters were injured with minor injuries and 6,000 structures were under threat. Neighbors believe the homes of McCargo and others nearby were among the structures felled by the flames. The CZU, a collection of wildfires along the coast in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, is one of dozens of lightning-caused blazes that have erupted in the past few days across Northern California, overwhelming fire crews and catching some communities tragically off guard. The blaze burned in various directions in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. By Wednesday evening, the northern perimeter of the fire threatened Pescadero and La Honda. Firefighters think the southern end of the blaze is pushing toward Felton, a small community in Santa Cruz County. Due to the heavy smoke, aircraft carrying flame retardant and water are unable to operate, said Mark Brunton, a Cal Fire operations chief. Brunton said the top priority is to save lives. Because of the conditions we are facing, its really difficult for us to get a clear understanding of the exact push of the fire line, said Brunton. Due to the lack of our resources, to be able to actually physically get out there and recon those areas especially without that aircraft its a little bit of a guessing game. Now Playing: A house is engulfed in flames along Pleasant Valley Road in Vacaville, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fire passes through on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Video: Scott Strazzante The Chronicle Ian Larkin, Cal Fires unit chief for Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, said the firefight early Wednesday was complicated by a lack of resources, as crews were stretched thin across the state in the aftermath of the lightning storms from the weekend and Monday. Those complications continued throughout the day. The inability to call in more help hampered our efforts significantly, Larkin said Wednesday morning, adding that the teams on hand have struggled to deal with embers being blown by heavy winds ahead of the main conflagration, which then spark new spot fires. Residents expressed frustration at the limited response Wednesday morning. We havent seen a fire truck it hasnt even come up on this road there, said Jeff Northam, 65, who, along with his wife, parked his Toyota RAV4 and Kia vehicles Wednesday morning along Highway 1. Fewer than a dozen of his neighbors parked near him, all standing by the road in disbelief as they watched thick plumes of smoke spill out from the mountain across from them. The neighbors evacuated their homes between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday, residents told The Chronicle. McCargo said they received their first evacuation order at 10:45 p.m. after they had already left. Northam, who returned Wednesday morning to survey the damage, said he believed his and his neighbors houses were reduced to ash. The smoke was so thick, he said, he couldnt see past his house and it was so hot you could boil water. Northam later delivered the grim news to his neighbors. Evacuation centers were set up early Wednesday to help residents in both counties affected by the fires. On Wednesday morning at the San Mateo County side at Pescadero High School, the facility was primarily functioning as an information hub Wednesday morning, said Rita Mancera, executive director of the local nonprofit Puente de la Costa Sur. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California Mancera said that by mid-morning 66 families, totaling 108 people, had come through the centerstaffed by Puente and the Red Cross. Officials secured hotels for 37 families in Half Moon Bay, and other families have traveled elsewhere to avoid staying in a shelter. An evacuation center was also opened at Half Moon Bay High School at 1 Lewis Foster Drive. Santa Cruz Countys evacuation center was set up at the county fairgrounds at 2601 E. Lake Ave. in Watsonville. Higher elevation areas, including those in the Santa Cruz Mountains, have been are higher risk amid the ongoing heat wave and parched conditions this week, said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Gass said forecasters expect to see a cool-down on the coast Thursday and Friday, but its unlikely that reprieve will reach higher elevations. The real big concern is the dry conditions, along with the ongoing fires that are currently out there, he said. Gaby Lee, who lives near Pie Ranch not far from Ano Nuevo State Park, evacuated her small herb and flower farm Tuesday night. She returned about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday with the help of a California Highway Patrol officer, who escorted her so she could save some of her flowers, which are worth thousands of dollars. The 27-year-old placed most of her flowers in a shipping container and she put two boxes of blue larkspur in her trunk. She watched from the roadside as nearby farmers moved pipes to irrigate the perimeter and wet everything down. Directly behind the farm, where people tried to save their harvests, thick, dark plumes of smoke filled the air above the hills. Im just scared for whats happening to my home, and watching the mountains burn and thinking about the animals that are out there and all of our structures, Lee said. Im scared for landslides that are gonna come this winter. At the same time theres nothing I can do... its so out of my hands. Sarah Ravani and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani @meganrcassidy Ex-Kaduna Lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has reacted to the Semi-final clash between Paris Saint Germain of France and Leipzig of Germany, which ended 3 0 in favour of PSG. The former Senator, who represented Kaduna North in the 9th Assembly, congratulate PSG for their wonderful display against Leipzig. He, however, advised the French side to beware of German Champions, Bayern Munich. The deadly Bayern Munich side defeated Barcelona by 8 goals to 2 to advance to the Semi-final stage. They would face Lyon at 8pm today. If Bayern Munich defeats the French team, then they will face PSG in the final. Sani, who congratulated PSG for reaching the final, believes Bayern Munich could be a stumbling block to the French team dream of lifting the trophy. Congratulations to @PSG_English for the @ChampionsLeague; Beware of @FCBayernEN, he tweeted. Below are reactions to the Ex-Lawmakers tweet: @geniusvinze: ?????No body want to face them baba they are happy it been long they reached the final but at the same time sad because of the propability of who they might face but also praying that a miracle happens tomorrow and Lyon defeats Bayern then it will be all french final ?????No body want to face them baba they are happy it been long they reached the final but at the same time sad because of the propability of who they might face but also praying that a miracle happens tomorrow and Lyon defeats Bayern then it will be all french final Vincent John (?TYRE /FURNITURES/SAFES DEALER)) (@geniusvinze) August 18, 2020 @emkay_bashir: Sir, let them not be aware, i want them to feel what we felt from those Germans Sir, let them not be aware, i want them to feel what we felt from those Germans social ustaz (@emkay_bashir) August 18, 2020 @RealMiens: The fear of Bayern is the beginning of loosing the UEFA champions league finals. The fear of Bayern is the beginning of loosing the UEFA champions league finals Real Emperor (@RealMiens) August 18, 2020 @aa_elrufai: ???Bayern Munich are giving punishment to every club this session. ??? Bayern Munich are giving punishment to every club this session. Aminu Rufai Abdu (@aa_elrufai) August 18, 2020 Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, celebrates after being formally nominated as 2020 U.S. democratic presidential candidate in convention roll call during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links from the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 18, 2020. (2020 Democratic National Convention/Pool via Reuters) Democrats Nominate Joe Biden for President Delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted on Aug. 18 to nominate former vice president Joe Biden for president of the United States. Former President Bill Clinton, New York Sen. Charles Schumer (D) and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates were among the speakers endorsing Biden ahead of the convention vote. With President Biden, Vice President Harris, and a Democratic Senate Majority, we will make healthcare affordable for all; well undo the vicious inequality of income and wealth that has plagued America for far too long; and well take strong, decisive action to combat climate change and save the planet, Schumer said. The convention, though based in Milwaukee, is being conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, thank you very very much, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all. It means the world to me and my family, Biden said in his virtual acceptance speech alongside his wife and family. Thank you, thank you, thank you. In this image from video, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden smiles after the roll call vote during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) Biden is fighting unprecedented logistical challenges to deliver his message during an all-virtual convention this week amid the pandemic of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The roll call votes were cast in pre-recorded videos from all 50 states. The four day convention will culminate on Thursday when Biden accepts his nomination inside a mostly empty Delaware convention hall. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, will become the first woman of color to accept a major partys vice presidential nomination on Wednesday. There is no live audience for any of the speakers, who have so far delivered their remarks standing or seated alone in mostly prerecorded videos. In this image from video, former Georgia House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams, center, and others, speak during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) Bidens team did not give the nights coveted keynote address to a single fresh face, preferring instead to pack the slot with more than a dozen Democrats in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The younger leaders included Stacey Abrams, Rep. Conor Lamb., D-Pa., and the president of the Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez. Clinton, a fixture of Democratic conventions for nearly three decades, addressed voters for roughly five minutes in a speech recorded at his home in Chappaqua, New York. In this image from video, former President Bill Clinton speaks during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP) In addition to railing against Trumps leadership, Clinton calls Biden a go-to-work president. Biden, Clinton continued, is a man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide. It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum hes looking for. Preliminary estimates show that television viewership for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clintons onsite nominating party four years ago. An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers. Bidens campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night. We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching, Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo said on Twitter. Meanwhile, Trump continued to court battleground voters in an effort to distract from Bidens convention. Appearing in Arizona near the Mexican border earlier in the day, the Republican president said a Biden presidency would trigger a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen. The Associated Press contributed to this report. She's been enjoying some time away from her busy schedule during her Spanish getaway. And Arabella Chi continued to tap into full relaxation mode as she cooled off during a dip in the sea in Ibiza on Monday afternoon. The Love Island star, 29, showcased her incredible figure in a tropical print bikini by PrettyLittleThing as she soaked up the sun in the holiday hotspot. Lucky for some! Arabella Chi continued to tap into full relaxation mode as she cooled off during a dip in the sea in Ibiza on Monday afternoon Turning up the heat, the model flaunted her enviable figure in the vibrant two-piece, which featured a bralet-style top and matching patterned briefs. The blonde beauty complemented her tanned complexion with a selection of gold jewellery, which featured chunky necklaces, a classic watch and bangles. Proving less is more, the reality star opted for minimal make-up and let her tresses hang loose. What a babe: The Love Island star, 29, showcased her incredible figure in a tropical print bikini by PrettyLittleThing as she soaked up the sun in the holiday hotspot Wow-factor! Turning up the heat, the model flaunted her enviable figure in the vibrant two-piece, which featured a bralet-style top and matching patterned briefs All in the details: The blonde beauty complemented her tanned complexion with a selection of gold jewellery, which featured chunky necklaces, a classic watch and bangles Less is more: The reality star opted for minimal make-up and let her tresses hang loose Uh oh: The TV star will face 14 days of quarantine when she returns to the UK after the government pulled its air bridge with Spain following a spike in COVID-19 cases Downtime: Making the most of her trip, Arabella strolled along the sandy shores of the party island The TV star will face 14 days of quarantine when she returns to the UK after the government pulled its air bridge with Spain following a spike in COVID-19 cases. The media personality been on cloud nine ever since embarking on a new relationship with musician Josh Newsham last month. Arabella recently moved in with fellow Love Island star Harley Brash, 21, following her split from Wes Nelson. The pair had been dating for nine months but were said to have 'grown apart' and had become more aware of their six-year age gap ahead of their split. The hunk left the home he shared with Arabella so they didn't have to isolate together under lockdown rules. He is now living with his friend and former Love Island 2018 co-star, Josh Denzel. Vanity: The TV star ensured she documented her time on the beach by taking selfies In the zone: The online influencer continued to take images of herself, before reviewing the snaps of her mobile phone Lapping it up: The bombshell looked effortlessly stunning as she relaxed on the beach chair Solo: The Vanquish Fitness ambassador relished in some me time while she was locked into her mobile phone Scenic views: The social media sensation was spotted looking into the distance during her trip A source told The Sun at the time: 'It's all over. They started to grow apart. They want to remain civil with each other and hope to remain friends.' The news likely came as a shock to their fans, as just a week before they called it quits, they revealed that they were enjoying their time in lockdown together. Speaking to OK! Online, Wes said: 'It's been alright. It's hard to get out at the moment, isn't it? We're just trying to do our piece of exercise a day.' Smitten: Arabella has been on cloud nine ever since embarking on a new relationship with musician Josh Newsham last month (pictured) The recent resurgence of the pandemic inside Vietnam has caused headaches for the industry. Photo: Le Toan Last week, workers at four companies in Hoa Khanh, Van Don, Tho Quang, and Hoa Cam industrial zones (IZs) in Danang contracted coronavirus. As the report of these patients testing positive arrived, it raised an alarm of having clusters of infections at crowded IZs. The four companies with patients are garment producer Kane-M Company (400 workers), candle manufacturing firm Sinaran (500 workers), plastic toy producer Matrix (2,000 workers), and seafood producer Danang Sea-products Import-Export Corporation (800 labourers). Kane-M suspended operations from July 31, while the three other companies are still in operation. Nguyen Thanh Trung, director of a trade union of hi-tech and IZs in Danang, told VIR that the IZs are home to 77,000 workers so there are high risks of infection. However, most companies maintain their manufacturing so they have carefully implemented preventive measures to ensure health and safety for employees. All companies in the zones are also reducing on-site workers to lower the risks further. Trung added that each company has its own plan to support workers during the crisis. The trade union in the city has so far granted a financial package worth VND500,000 ($21.70) each to support 500 disadvantaged workers. We are trying to balance our budget to grant more financial support for workers in the coming time, he said. At that time, one patient had contracted coronavirus in the southern province of Dong Nai, which houses lots of factories and manufacturers as well. Fortunately, the patient does not work in any IZ. Pham Van Cuong, deputy director of Dong Nai Industrial Zones Management Authority, told VIR that there will be more cases in Dong Nai in the coming time as several factories are still operational with a large number of workers. The province will try to act fast to locate the infected workers in order to avoid any cluster of infections in the community. There are 196 manufacturers in Dong Nais 32 IZs, most of which are foreign-invested companies. To fight against the pandemic, Dong Nai leaders are following guidance from local health authorities like cleaning hands, a safe distance from others, and wearing a mask. Backing to Danang, as the central coast city reimposed social distancing from July 28, the lives of workers have become harder than ever before. Ly Ngoc, a 37-year-old worker at a dress manufacturer, said that her company was forced to close due to a lack of new orders. It is hard for her to find a new job while the city is under social distancing. At present, she receives a basic salary from the company which is barely sufficient for buying food. The total money in her bank account is only VND2 million ($86). She has to withdraw VND500,000 ($21) to buy some vegetables and packages of instant noodles for the second social distancing period. She and her only child dont dare to spend more than VND50,000 ($2) per day. Meanwhile, Tu Anh has been working at Pouyuen Vietnam Company Ltd., in Ho Chi Minh City for six years. She has suffered from aplastic anemia for four years and needs money to pay for blood transfusion, which costs around VND10 million ($434) for each round of treatment. However, as a single mother Tu Anh knows that it is difficult to follow doctors advice. She has spent her tiny income on renting and tuition fees for her two children, and the monthly expense drains her purse. The new wave of coronavirus is causing more struggles and challenges to more Vietnamese workers like Ngoc and Tu Anh. Hue Phong Leather Shoes Company Ltd. in Ho Chi Minh City is set to lay off over 1,500 workers on August 30. The decision is rubbing salt into the wound as the footwear producer has previously already let go of around 2,500 workers between May and June. According to the latest survey by recruitment and staffing agency Adecco, 93 per cent of companies financial performance has been affected by COVID-19. Among those, 43 per cent of severely-impacted businesses saw revenues declining from 21 per cent to as much as 40 per cent. The top three industries with revenues negatively struck by the pandemic were food and beverages (47 per cent), real estate (56 per cent), and manufacturing (44 per cent). Alongside declining revenue and business activities, many companies face tough decisions on their labour force, including employee layoffs or salary reduction. Some 30 per cent of businesses have reduced the number of employees from between 1-20 per cent, while 16 per cent of business have had to cut up to 40 per cent of employees. For further risk mitigation, 58 per cent of companies have chosen to freeze all new hires, especially at large corporate level (75 per cent) compared to small- and medium-sized enterprises (50-56 per cent), according to the report. Despite the negative prospects, Michael Kokalari, chief economist at VinaCapital, pointed out some bright sides. He said that Vietnams government learnt important lessons during the first COVID-19 wave. For that reason, we dont expect the economic impact of the current outbreak to be as negative as the first wave was, especially as Prime Minister Phuc repeatedly stressed the need to keep Vietnams economy functioning as much as possible while containing COVID-19, he said. Regarding slowing orders from the United States and Europe for the products manufactured in Vietnam, there are significant differences between individual factories order books, depending on the products they produce. For example, the demand for medical gloves has surged, so those factories cannot keep up with demand. Also, recent US retail sales figures show that the demand for stay at home goods such as tablet computers, furniture, and home office equipment (with many of these products being made in Vietnam) are above pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, US garment sales surged in July, which should benefit Vietnams garment factories in the coming weeks. More than two dozen people who used prepaid debit cards to steal from ATMs at a Massachusetts-based bank have been arrested, according to three law enforcement sources. The sources told NJ Advance Media this is a multi-jurisdictional investigation in several New Jersey counties and in New York. The scam appears to be exploiting a glitch in Santander ATMs where the people were able to continue to withdraw amounts using prepaid debit cards, two sources said. Tens of thousands of dollars had been fraudulently obtained, the sources said. Santander Bank, formerly Sovereign Bank, is based in Boston and has locations around the northeast. The people, who are from New York, appear to be loosely connected through social media, two sources said. In Morris County, a report to police came in around 3:30 a.m. of suspicious activity at a Santander Bank ATM in Boonton, a law enforcement source told NJ Advance Media. There were also reports of fraudulent activity at locations in Randolph and Montville, the source said. There have been at least 19 people arrested in Morris County, according to the source, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the investigation. A separate source said a Santander location at Main Street and Route 33 in Robbinsville had been robbed, with multiple arrests. Theyre rounding guys up, the source said of the arrests. Its in the double digits. A third source said there were at least 19 arrests in Mercer County along Interstate 195. A Woodbridge police spokesman said Tuesday morning the department was investigating a possible theft from a Santander ATM. And at least one location in Hoboken was targeted, a law enforcement source said. A separate law enforcement source said 11 people were arrested in Sayreville in connection with the scam at two different Santander branches. There have also been reports of other ATMs hit in locations around the tri-state area. Police in South Windsor, Connecticut also confirmed the existence of the scam. We have been made aware of an ATM scam in which suspects are using Santander Bank ATMs to fraudulently withdraw cash using fake debit cards, Sgt. Mark Cleverdo said. Since we have a branch in town, we are asking any citizen using their ATM to use caution when withdrawing money. On Monday night in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York two men driving out of state vehicles, withdrew money from a Santander Bank ATM using stolen credit cards, according to BoroPark24.com Santander Bank Spokeswoman Nancy Orlando told NJ Advance Media that it learned Tuesday about suspicious activity involving some of its branch-based ATMs and that the devices were temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution. She added that some branches may have additional security and some would be temporarily closed for security reasons, but did not give the locations of any specific sites. We are continuing to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate this situation and apologize for any customer inconvenience, she said. As we work to expeditiously resolve this situation, our customers should know that there is no impact to their accounts or funds, which can be accessed online, using our digital app, in our branches or at non-branch ATMs. State Police referred questions about the investigation to the FBIs Newark office. We are aware of incidents at ATMs across the state and we are looking into it, the offices spokeswoman, Doreen Holder told NJ Advance Media late Tuesday afternoon. Holder said she could not give out any other details. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Wednesday, August 19th, 2020 (2:31 pm) - Score 2,544 Cityfibre UK has today revealed the first solid details of their plan to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTH) based broadband ISP network across the towns of Slough (Berkshire) and Swindon (Wiltshire), which will involve a commercial investment of 24m and 40m respectively. As usual this project forms part of the operators wider 4bn investment plan (here), which currently aims to cover around 1 million premises by the end of 2021 and then 8 million across 100+ cities and towns (c.30% of the UK) the latter target is expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2025. All of this is usually supported by their residential ISP partners, such as Vodafone and TalkTalk. NOTE: Cityfibre tends to target nearly every home (85%+) of the areas they enter. The operator already has a Dark Fibre network in both towns, which is currently being used for bespoke business connectivity (leased lines, Ethernet etc.). No doubt this will provide a useful base for starting the construction of their new FTTP network to local homes and smaller businesses in both locations. Detailed engineering surveys have already begun in both towns and the first building work is due to commence in October 2020 (work should finish in 2023). Cityfibre has appointed Stacey King as their City Manager for Slough, while Neil Madle will take up the same role for Swindon. In both locations the operator has once again chosen VolkerSmart Technologies to conduct their civil engineering work. David Renard, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: Every modern, vibrant economy needs access to fast broadband and we have made it a priority to ensure residents and businesses in Swindon are able to benefit from the latest technology. We welcome CityFibres investment in our town as it furthers our aim of providing a future-proofed, Full Fibre digital infrastructure and a greater choice for the people of Swindon. Cllr James Swindlehurst, Leader of Slough Borough Council, added: We welcome this private investment by CityFibre into Slough to deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose digital infrastructure that will futureproof residents and businesses. Slough Borough Council continues to work closely with the private sector to facilitate economic growth in the digital age and CityFibres Full Fibre network will be vital in ensuring Slough has a resilient and dynamic economy for years to come. In terms of local rivals for gigabit-class home broadband connectivity, most premises in both locations already have access to Virgin Medias cable (DOCSIS) network. On top of that Openreach (BT) have also deployed some FTTP, as well as a fair amount of their inferior, but still ultrafast, hybrid fibre G.fast technology. Meanwhile Glide and OFLN also have some FTTP deployments in Swindon, while over in Slough we note that some locations have got a similar service from Hyperoptic. Suffice to say that these are reasonably competitive markets, albeit ones with enough opportunity for an additional entrant to still upset things. Assuming Vodafones related Gigafast Broadband packages do go live in these areas then local homes can expect to pay from just 28 per month for an unlimited 100Mbps (symmetric speed) service on a 24 month contract term, including free installation and a good wireless router, which rises to 55 for 900Mbps. - Chocolate powder fell from the sky like snow in a Swiss town following a ventilation defect at a Lindt and Sprungli factory - Strong winds in Olten picked up the cocoa powder, leaving a dusting of chocolate over the area surrounding the factory - Lindt and Sprungli said the chocolate was harmless to both people and the environment - Many people loved the news suggesting their dreams of having chocolate snow had come true The chocoholic dream came true for residents of Olten, between Zurich and Basel in Swiss on Saturday, August 15, when chocolate snow seemed to fall from the sky. Small chocolate shavings rained down after the ventilation system at a Lindt and Sprungli chocolate factory malfunctioned. READ ALSO: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita: Mali president arrested by rebel soldiers Small chocolate shavings rained down after the ventilation system. Photo: USA Today. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Yassin Juma: Ethiopian attorney-general orders immediate release of Kenyan journalist The People reported the company confirmed local reports that there was a minor defect in the cooling ventilation for a line for roasted cocoa nibs in its factory in the town. The nibs, fragments of crushed cocoa beans, are the basis of chocolate. Strong gusts of wind then picked up the chocolate powder, leaving a dusting of cocoa over the area surrounding the factory. READ ALSO: Honest woman returns KSh 4 million deposited in her bank account accidentally A picture shared on Twitter showed a fine layer of chocolate coating surfaces, needless to say, many people loved the idea. "It finally happened guys!! 2020 screwed up just enough that it finally did something right," tweeted Rori Picker Neiss. "Chocolate snowflakes falling from the sky, dreams do come true!" said Fya Fox. READ ALSO: Court orders man found burning charcoal to plant trees in Ngong Forest for 3 months The company said one car was lightly coated, and that it had offered to pay for any cleaning needed but nobody has yet taken up the offer. Factory production was able to continue as normal and the company also confirmed the particles were completely harmless to people or the environment. The ventilation system was also repaired. READ ALSO: Man who left home to undergo circumcision reunites with family 20 years later Switzerland seems to be under Willy Wonkas spell as this was not the first time that a chocolate malfunction shocked its residents. In 2018, due to a malfunction, a chocolate tank overflowed from the DreiMeister chocolate factory on to the street in Westoennen, Wirl during the Christmas season. The hot mix of sweet and gooey chocolate quickly froze on the cold surface, a sight to cherish for chocoholics. READ ALSO: Cleophas Malala says Irungu Kang'ata is Senate's deep state Spilt chocolate is seen on a road in Werl, Germany. Photo: The National Press. Source: UGC However, the dream was shortlived after firefighters were called on the scene to remove the chocolate from the surface. Almost 25 firefighters spent hours making an attempt to break the hardened chocolate layer with the help of shovels, hot water and torches. The companys CEO, Markus Luckey, said it would have been a great catastrophe had the accident happened when Christmas was not right around the corner. 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 The prosecution in the trial of a private security guard who was arrested for allegedly spreading false news and instigating an attack on President Akufo-Addo has provided the documents it intends to rely on for the trial to the defence team. The accused, Bless Amedegbe, was charged with two counts of circulating false communication and assault on a public officer contrary to sections 76 (1) of the Electronic Communication Act, 2008 (Act 775) and section 205 (A) of the Criminal and other Offences Act 1960, Act 29, respectively. The court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Essandoh, a High Court judge sitting as an additional Circuit Court judge, granted Amedegbe a bail of GH100,000 with two sureties, one of whom must be a public officer earning not less than GH1,000 a month. He adjourned the case to June 10. Appearing before the court yesterday, the prosecution led by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Sarpong stated that they had served the defence with all their documents and hence were ready for case management to set down ground rules for the trial. Yaw Dankwa, counsel for the accused, however, pleaded with the court to grant them a short adjournment to enable them to assess the prosecution documents. He said they were still going through the documents to determine whether they would object to the tendering of some of them. The matter was adjourned to August 24, 2020. Trial Bless Amedegbe, according to court documents, in April 2020, when President Akufo-Addo imposed the lockdown in the Greater Accra Region and Greater Kumasi area to curtail the spread of Covid-19, Amedegbe made a video of himself and circulated on social media platforms, YouTube and WhatsApp, encouraging the public to defy the President's Executive Orders. According to the brief facts, the accused claimed in the video that the lockdown and social distancing protocol for Covid-19 was a hoax and said it was deliberately made by the President to deceive the public and allow the telecommunications companies to install 5G network which causes deaths and Covid-19. The accused further incited the public to rise up against the President and to set his personal house ablaze. The accused in his self-made video again incited the public to kill any police officer executing the Covid-19 duties, the facts stated. Chief Inspector Sarpong, the prosecutor, added that on May 12, 2020, the accused person was tracked and arrested and he admitted the offence in his caution statement. ---Daily Guide There were 1,458 positive cases of COVID-19 in Pottawattamie County as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, an increase of 30 over a 24-hour period, according to the state COVID-19 website. Statewide, the death toll from the disease in Iowa has surpassed 1,000. Additionally, a spokesman for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that the state is correcting a major flaw in its coronavirus data that backdated thousands of positive and negative test results. The state COVID-19 website, managed by the Iowa Department of Public health, reported 16,529 tests in Pottawattamie County, with the positive rate remaining at 8.8%. The 14-day average positive rate for the county, used by the state in tracking school districts, was 7.7% as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, down from 9.1% Tuesday. Mills County was at 6.8%, up from 5.7%. The state has said the threshold for schools to request a shift to all virtual learning is 15%. The site listed 1,119 recoveries and 30 deaths at coronavirus.iowa.gov, which updates frequently throughout the day. Pottawattamie County Public Health Director Matt Wyant said the 30th death was a Council Bluffs man between 61 and 80 years old. The man was not a resident at a long-term care facility. In Iowa Regional Medical Coordination Center region four which includes Pottawattamie, Mills, Harrison, Cass, Crawford, Shelby, Fremont, Montgomery, Page, Adams, Audubon and Taylor Counties there were 15 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with six in intensive care, according to coronavirus.iowa.gov. The site listed 170 available inpatient beds, 17 available ICU beds and 49 available ventilators. There was one COVID-19 patient on a ventilator. The state site reported 1,006 COVID-19 deaths, including five on Monday and two on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon there were 53,288 positive cases out of 571,408 tests, for a 9.3% positive rate. The state listed 41,837 recoveries. COVID-19 testing is available in Pottawattamie County via two TestIowa locations: All Care Health Center, 902 S. Sixth St., and Western Historic Trails Center, 3434 Richard Downing Ave. To get tested, residents must complete the online assessment at testiowa.com to schedule an appointment. Iowa says it will fix error that backdated COVID-19 results Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said that the states data system had been erroneuosly recording the results of people who were tested on multiple occasions. He told the Associated Press that an individuals most recent result, whether positive or negative, was unintentionally attributed to the date of their first test. That means thousands of recent results were being recorded in the system as having occurred in March, April, May and June. Garrett said the state would update the coronavirus dashboard Wednesday to fix the errors. He said the data revisions will reduce the current 14-day positivity rate in 80 percent of Iowas 99 counties, while the others will see an increase of less than 1 percent on average. Those rates are important because every school district is using them to determine whether they must reopen or can seek a waiver to begin the year online. Ryan J. Foley with the Associated Press contributed to this report. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. New Delhi, Aug 19 : While the online food delivery space is somewhat returning to normal, the dining out industry in India has been hit hard and is operating at only 8-10 per cent of the pre-Covid levels, a new Zomato report revealed on Wednesday. Out of the 83 per cent restaurants that are not open for business, 10 per cent have already shut down permanently. "We anticipate an additional 30 per cent restaurants to not reopen at all. Remaining 43 per cent are closed right now but are likely to open as the situation becomes better," said the 'Indian Restaurant Industry - Mid COVID-19 Report' released by the online food delivery platform. The slump in the dining out industry is largely driven by markets being in lockdown, consumers not stepping out due to fear of transmission and restaurants not opening up, even if the city is not in lockdown. "Even in cities where restrictions have been lifted, only 17 per cent dining out restaurants are open for business at the moment which are also running at low capacity," Zomato said. Most of the customers plan to decrease spending on dining out in the near future and some of this spend will shift to online food delivery. "Nearly 60 per cent restaurateurs said they estimate to retain less than half of their original business volumes for a few months even post-Covid," the findings showed. In the meantime, the online food delivery industry has largely recovered, with the overall sector clocking around 75-80 per cent of pre-Covid GMV (gross merchandise value). Recovery trends are strong and Zomato estimated that the online food delivery industry would hit the pre-Covid levels of business in the next 2-3 months. "Predictably, residential areas are doing 50 per cent better than commercial areas. Restaurants in and around commercial districts are expected to take the longest to recover," Zomato said. The leading food delivery platform said it has delivered seven crore food orders since the lockdown started on March 25. "We estimate that between other food aggregators and direct restaurant channels, Indians have ordered 20 crore times since the lockdown," the report mentioned. The number of restaurants offering food delivery is at 70 per cent of the pre-COVID levels. Out of this, about five per cent restaurants did not offer food delivery services pre-Covid. With companies giving employees the option to work from home, there has been a mass exodus of people from metros to other cities across India. "One in every five Zomato customers in metros (pre-Covid) have opened their app from a smaller town recently. Out of these relocated folks, one third have already started ordering food again from their new location," the Zomato report noted. WesternU Senior Vice President and Provost David Baron, DO, MSEd, presents at the 1st Virtual Global Mens Health Summit Aug. 15, 2020. I am pleased that WesternU was able to continue our presence at this important summit calling attention to mens health, said WesternU President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD. Western University of Health Sciences Senior Vice President and Provost David Baron, DO, MSEd, presented Effect of emotional stress and mens health resulting from COVID-19 Aug. 15, 2020 at an international summit focusing on mens health. The 1st Virtual Global Mens Health Summit and Update Webinars was live streamed in Spanish on Facebook and Instagram and in Spanish and English on Zoom. The theme was Our Path to the Future of Mens Health in COVID Times. Baron also discussed the role of precision medicine in diagnosing and treating stress-related disorders. The extant data has documented a global increase in a number of key mens behavioral health measures, including drug and alcohol consumption, increased reports of anxiety and depression, increased suicide, and increase in domestic violence, Baron said. I also discussed the role of genetic biomarkers to assist in identifying at-risk cohorts. My talk highlighted the critical role of educating clinicians and students, using results from our recently completed study at WesternU (MAT Education), and ongoing online education programs being developed at WesternU. The summit, which featured speakers from 24 countries and was offered in social media and Zoom at no charge, was organized by Dr. Ingrid Perscky Arravanti, president and founder of the Global Mens Health Foundation. The keynote address was presented by Aaron Ciechanover, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004. He is the director of the Tumor and Vascular Biology Research Center at Technion Institute, Haifa, Israel. The first half of the summit took place Aug. 15, 2020. The second half will take place Oct. 17. In between, each Saturday will feature webinars on mens health. On Oct. 17, participating institutions will sign a digital agreement on mens health in COVID times. The Global Mens Health Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Panama focused on working for mens health and mens rights. The foundation held two previous summits. WesternU President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD, noted international scholar in the field of psychology and the impact of stress on development and behavior, presented at the last summit in 2018, which attracted 800 participants. I am pleased that WesternU was able to continue our presence at this important summit calling attention to mens health, Wilson said. The global discussion surrounding the precise health care issues men face is needed now more than ever as we strive to move toward a post-COVID-19 environment. We are the only foundation focusing on mens health and rights, said Perscky Arravanti, who has been a urologist for 35 years and was one of the first women urologists in the world. We have seen through the years the incidence of non-transmissible diseases are three times higher for men than for women. Men live 10 years less than women on average. They are more likely to not see doctors. They are more likely to not take care of their health. Men and women are different, from their brains to their hormones, and depression is handled differently, she said. This sometimes results in more negative health and behavioral consequences for men. What we do with this group of scientists and physicians is try to project the importance of gender medicine and precision medicine, Perscky Arravanti said. Find out what is good for you, and what is good for me. We need to move toward that direction so we can give people the best treatment they can have. Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) officers have seized files and documentation from a number of locations in Longford town as part of an ongoing operation into organised crime, the Leader understands. Those inquiries relate to a well documented operation led by CAB and local gardai six weeks ago when several hundred thousand euros worth of cash, vehicles and designer clothing were seized from a well known Longford crime family. It also prompted a local TD and solicitors firm to publicly rubbish malicious claims made online which alleged they, togther with a number of other businesses in Longford town, had been the subject of 'raids' by the state law enforcement agency. Longford-Westmeath Fianna Fail TD Joe Flaherty and John J. Quinn & Co both issued statements to refute the blatantly untrue allegations. Mr Flaherty, via his own Facebook page, condemned what he termed was a sustained campaign against him which was clearly designed to discredit him. That was followed hours later by an almost identical public rebuttal by John J. Quinn & Company. In a statement posted on its own Facebook page, the company roundly dismissed the allegations as being unfounded and without foundation. "It has come to our attention that there is presently a blatantly untrue allegation being promoted across social media that our office was recently 'raided by CAB'. "This allegation is without merit, entirely fabricated and untrue," read the statement. The Leader attempted to make contact with CAB over its ongoing investigation into organised crime in the county, but was met with a response through the Garda Press Office that it would not comment on third party material. The Leader understands, however, that CAB, over the past three weeks, have seized files from a series of undisclosed locations as part of investigative measures into the operations of up to 20 suspects from a prominent Longford crime gang. Amazon remains one of the few companies that has been profiting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with its latest earnings showing double-digit annual revenue growth as more Americans shop online. But recent testimony from CEO Jeff Bezos has reignited concerns about how the company uses data collected from its third-party sellers to unfairly compete with them. While these allegations about Amazon abusing its marketplace dominance have long been a concern, they have grown more dire with the thousands of Texas small businesses at risk of permanently shuttering due to the pandemic. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton needs to urgently investigate just how Amazon treats third-party sellers. He must find out if the e-commerce giant is unfairly using data from its sellers to make decisions on its own product creation, promotion and pricing. Texas is home to more than 6 percent of the estimated 1 million U.S.-based sellers who use Amazon, which together now account for over half of all sales on the e-commerce platform. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter brick-and-mortar small businesses, many may be looking to move even more of their operations online as a way to sustain business. Government officials such as Paxton must not allow leading platforms like Amazon abuse their market position and further hurt these struggling small businesses. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra recently launched an investigation into how Amazon treats third-party sellers, examining how Amazon promotes and sells its own products. While the investigation has just begun, but it is a step in the right direction toward greater accountability. It ensures that Amazon cannot further solidify an unfair advantage over its competitors and helps foster a more even playing field. Texas officials should stand up for businesses across the Lone Star State and join in the investigation. Third-party sellers have warned that Amazon engages in these unfair practices, as their brands are routinely pushed to the bottom of search results pages on the platform. For example, a recent investigation revealed that Amazons private-label products for common consumer goods often are placed in the most lucrative position on the platform even if these private-label brands fail to hit enough sales that would justify a center stage appearance. These monopolistic strategies have come to light as Amazon battles antitrust allegations in the U.S. and overseas. Bezos left plenty of questions unsettled during his hearing before the House Judiciary Committee last month, leading unimpressed lawmakers to seek additional answers. Meanwhile, European Union officials are also preparing antitrust charges against the e-commerce giant on the grounds that it is using third party data to boost its own product offerings. A formal inquiry in Texas would help ensure all third-party sellers from the Lone Star State have a seat at the table and are not stifled by anti-competitive behavior. Given that Amazons decisions directly impact many Texas businesses, action is desperately needed. Amazons dual role in maintaining an online store and selling its own goods means that it must not unfairly leverage data from small businesses to help them achieve a better position in its marketplace. Paxton should investigate these practices and guarantee that Amazon is following the law not merely playing by its own rules. Engel is the chief spokesperson for the Free & Fair Markets Initiative. Edmunds' top-rated awards go to the cars, trucks and SUVs that rank at the top of their class. Here's a look at five of 2022's top-rated vehicles. Indian Americans count themselves among those groups, though that aspect of Harris's background has been overlooked in the political sphere to the extent that many seemingly learned of it last week. Part of this could be because of how the senator presents herself, said Pawan Dhingra, a professor of American Studies at Amherst College. Harris tends not to delve into her Indian heritage extensively but has touched on it before, writing in her memoir about the influences of her mother and progressive grandfather, explaining the Sanskrit meaning of her first name ("lotus") and making dosas in a video with Mindy Kaling. The 84-year-old former president continues to be on ventilatory support Former president Pranab Mukherjee has been admitted to the Army's R&R hospital in New Delhi. New Delhi: The health condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee has declined as he has developed a lung infection, the Army's Research and Referral Hospital said on Wednesday. The 84-year-old former president, who was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10, continues to be on ventilatory support, doctors attending to him said. However, his son and former MP Abhijit Mukherjee said his father is showing "positive signs of improvement". Pranab Mukherjee was operated for removal of a clot in his brain and has been in a coma ever since. He also tested positive for COVID-19. "There has been a decline in the medical condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee as he has developed features of lung infection. He continues to be on ventilatory support and is currently being managed by a team of specialists," the hospital said in a statement. In a tweet, Abhijit Mukherjee said his father's vital parameters are under control. "With all your good wishes and sincere efforts of the doctors, my father is stable now! His vital parameters continue to remain under control and manageable! Positive signs of his improvement are noticed. I request you all to pray for his speedy recovery," he said. By Express News Service BENGALURU: We are implementing the Dharavi model where the target population is identified and aggressive testing is done to control the spread of Covid-19, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said on Tuesday. He said while there have been many new cases being reported in Mumbai, no case has been reported from Dharavi slums. This is because of the strict isolation, aggressive testing and early identification of the target population. It is being replicated in Bengaluru now. Though cases will rise initially, it will help in controlling the spread of the virus and gradually help flatten the curve, he said.He was addressing the councillors at the council meeting. Prasad said: The target population is primary and secondary contacts of positives, those in containment zones, inter-state and international travellers, ILI and SARI cases. Door-to-door survey is being done to identify people with comorbidities to track them early. This was done in Dharavi. In Mumbai soon after cases were reported, neighbours were immediately shifted to Covid Care Centres and tested. That was when the cases in Dharavi shot up, but now there were no cases. He explained that the containment zones guidelines were being redefined. Also with the rising instances of financial anomalies, it has been decided to form a set of revised guidelines and standards. Based on the new guidelines, the bills of creating containment zones and sealed down areas produced by engineers will be cleared. Until then, no bills will be cleared, he said. The Commissioner said that it was time citizens helped in controlling the spread of the virus. They should help the government in ensuring that the positive patients with mild symptoms and those asymptomatic strictly adhere to home isolation, he added. He said that only those with severe symptoms loss of smell, taste, breathing difficulty, dip in oxygen level and high fever and cold will be admitted to hospitals. Some patients, depending upon their health condition, will be admitted to Covid Care Centres. Mayor M Goutham Kumar, referring to instances where patients were discharged in two days and later not re-admitted, said patients then should not sign the discharge form if it states he/she is responsible for anything later. They should inform the BBMP and resolve the issue immediately, he said. BRUSSELS (AP) European Union leaders on Wednesday said they stand beside the people protesting for democratic rights in Belarus, rejecting election results that swept the country's leader of 26 years back into power and warned they are preparing a long list of Belarusians who face sanctions over vote fraud and a brutal crackdown on protesters. The message of support came as the leading opposition candidate urged the Europeans to support the awakening of Belarus, and as authorities there began again detaining protesters, who took to the streets of Minsk for an 11th day to demand that President Alexander Lukashenko resign. Lukashenko accused the EU of fomenting unrest. The European Union stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus, and we dont accept impunity," European Council President Charles Michel told reporters after chairing an emergency teleconference. We dont recognize the results presented by the Belarus authorities. Belarus isn't a member of the EU. Michel said the bloc will impose sanctions on a substantial number of people linked to election fraud and violence. He declined to name any of those who might be listed. He also said that the 27-nation bloc fully supports mediating efforts between the Belarusian government and opposition overseen by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will mobilize now an additional 53 million euros ($63 million) to support the Belarusian people in these challenging times. Two million euros will help victims of the crackdown, while 1 million euros will support civil society and independent media. Most of it is coronavirus emergency assistance. Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs in the first four days of demonstrations. At least three protesters died. Workers at state-controlled companies have joined strikes this week, as the unprecedented mass protests erode the authority of the man once dubbed Europes last dictator. The results of the Aug. 9 polls handed Lukashenko his sixth term with 80% of the vote, while the opposition candidate with the most support received 10%. The elections were neither fair nor free and therefore one cannot recognize the result of the elections, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin. She condemned the brutal violence against peaceful protesters and called on the regime to release all prisoners without conditions. Story continues In a joint statement, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia countries known as the Visegrad Four called on Belarus authorities to open the way for a political solution, and to abide by the fundamental human rights and freedoms while refraining from the use of violence against the peaceful demonstrators. They urged unnamed foreign actors to refrain from actions that would undermine Belarus independence and sovereignty. In a video statement ahead of the summit, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya urged the Europeans to support the awakening of Belarus. I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world, Tsikhanouskaya said. On the eve of the meeting, Michel had a half-hour telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin to share EU concern about election irregularities and the scale of the security crackdown, and to impress upon the Russian leader the right of the Belarus people to determine their own future. They discussed ways to encourage talks between Lukashenko and the opposition. The relatively small EU nation of Lithuania is playing a major role as the protests unfold by giving refuge to Tsikhanouskaya. Its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, are also deeply involved in diplomatic efforts, as is Poland. We spoke as one voice today and agreed that these elections can't be recognized. New ones must be held in Belarus to elect a new president, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told reporters. Some in Europe are concerned that hitting Lukashenko and his associates too hard might drive Belarus into the arms of Russia, even though relations between Minsk and Moscow have been troubled in recent years and even more tense in the run up to the polls. Others fear Russian intervention. But experts tend to play down those worries, and say the people of Belarus only want to secure independence, and aren't interested in deeper relations with Russia, the European Union, or in joining Moscows nemesis, the NATO military alliance. ___ Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Karel Janicek in Prague, contributed to this report. AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS APPLICATION As part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), students with extraordinary financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic may request funding by completing the American Rescue Plan Funds Application. Funds should be used for emergency costs arising from the pandemic, including tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental healthcare), and childcare. Funds are limited. Submission of this application does not guarantee any amount of financial assistance. Application Deadline: February 1, 2022 If you have already received a HEERF III American Rescue Emergency Grant for Fall 2021, you are confirming that the amount of assistance you are requesting in this application is above and beyond what has already been received. TDT | Manama The First High Criminal Court yesterday adjourned the trial of four teenagers accused of possessing explosives to August 24. The four defendants are aged 15 and are accused of possessing Molotov cocktails and hurling them at a public security patrol vehicle in the southwestern parts of the Northern Governorate. According to court files, the case was first reported to Hamad Town Northern Police Station. The complaint mentioned that at around 8pm on June 4 this year, four individuals approached a police patrol vehicle that was stationed near the entrance of Buri village. They hurled Molotov cocktails at the vehicle and quickly fled the scene, without causing any injuries to the on-duty policemen or damaging the vehicle, an eyewitness mentioned in the report of the case. Investigations led to the defendants, who were interrogated by the Public Prosecution, which accused them of manufacturing inflammable containers (Molotov cocktails) with the intent of using them in a way that risks peoples lives and poses public and private properties to damage. The prosecutional so charged the quartet with the possession of Molotov cocktails serving the same purpose. The four defendants stood before the judges yesterday, and the case has been adjourned to August 24 to review the defendants pleadings. CAPE BRETON, N.S.Nova Scotia RCMP are releasing new information in the hopes of finding a 14-year-old Cape Breton girl who has not been seen since last Thursday. Eskasoni RCMP said today that the teenager is believed to be travelling around Cape Breton with 47-year-old Darcy Doyle. The teen was last seen around 4 p.m. Aug. 13 in Eskasoni. She is described as Indigenous, five-feet-one inches tall and 100 pounds, with brown hair and eyes, a rose tattoo on her left forearm and could be wearing glasses. Doyle, who is from Mira Gut, is described as six feet tall, 190 pounds, with long black hair, a full beard and moustache, and brown eyes. RCMP say the pair may be travelling on red or green ATVs. Theyre continuing to search the Cape Breton area by land and helicopter, and are asking anyone who sees her to contact authorities. Editors note Aug. 22, 2020: This story was edited to remove the name and photo of the subject of the missing person alert, who has been found safe. Read more about: Scheduled international passenger flights remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the pandemic. New Delhi: Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Tuesday the government was negotiating with 13 more countries on air travel bubbles. These include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. We continue to further strengthen the reach and scope of Vande Bharat Mission. Air travel arrangements are already in place with the United States, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives. We are now taking these efforts forward and are negotiating with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements. The ongoing negotiations will benefit stranded Indians and the nationals of these countries, Puri said. Air bubbles have also been proposed with our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal & Bhutan. Going forward, we will consider such arrangements with other countries also. It is always our endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen. No Indian will be left behind, he added. Scheduled international passenger flights remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the pandemic. Officials said domestic aviation has started picking up slowly, though airlines are permitted to operate 45 per cent of their pre-Covid flights. Domestic flights are operating since May 25 at around 50-60 per cent capacity. Seventy-six summers ago, a tiny French boy sitting forlornly in a ditch beside a road not far from the D-Day beachhead caught the attention of a passing American soldier. The child was obviously sad and looked hungry. After a nightmarish four-plus years of Nazi occupation, followed by the massive and massively destructive Allied assault to drive the Germans out, Joel Bonnetes large family he was one of eight siblings had lost pretty much everything. By sharing a chocolate bar and a piece of chewing gum with 7-year-old Joel, that kind GI made a permanent friend for America. Because of him, Bonnete, at 83, still holds our country in the highest regard. And hes extremely proud that his son, Jean-Francois, followed his advice, first proffered when Bonnete fils was only a boy, and made a good life for himself in the U.S. in Houston, as it happened. Jean-Francois and his wife, Nathalie, who grew up in Rouen in Normandy, also close to those storied beaches, met here serendipitously in 2011. Then, in 2015, confronting what they saw as a now-or-never moment, they launched BCI, a wine-and-spirits importer. The brands they represent are all special to them, none more so than the Bordeaux Superieur from their very own Chateau Bonnete. But its a separate collaborative project that occupies their undivided attention for the moment. Why? Because their Liberation de Paris family of wines, six in all, are a celebration of that chance roadside encounter between a traumatized child and a kind infantryman near the Breton village of Dinant. (Jean-Francois would be born there many years later.) Another French couple, Laurent and Catherine Delaunay, enologists and philanthropists with a storied family wine history in Burgundy, are partners in the venture, with Catherine overseeing the winemaking. The grunt who shared the candy and gum was likely marching to Paris, which would be liberated on Aug. 25, 1944, by the combined firepower of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and French Gen. Philippe Leclercs 2nd Armored Division. Be assured that Bonnetes on two continents and the Delaunays will be roundly toasting the anniversary come Tuesday. But theyre also going a meaningful step further with their Toast for Vets Challenge. For every Liberation de Paris bottle sold between Aug. 19 and Aug. 25, they will donate $1 to Camp Hope (Houston.narpm.org/camp-hope), a local organization that provides assistance to military veterans, particularly those struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Bonnetes are also asking restaurants that carry the wines to contribute $1 per glass or $5 per bottle sold through September, donations they will personally match. From the time I was a child, my father was always telling me I should go to America, said Bonnete, whos 46 now. He really loves this country. But, the funny thing is, he would never tell me why. He didnt like talking about that time in his life. It was very hard. More Information DRINK PINK 2019 Liberation de Paris Rose Overall score: 19 (9 for quality, 10 for value) Taster's notes: "Tart and tangy with bright, expressive strawberry notes. Ideal for a socially distanced patio or poolside soiree." Winemaking: Winemaker Catherine Delaunay sources the grenache and cinsault from two sunny regions, one near the famous medieval fortress of Carcassonne and the other on the Languedoc coast. The grapes are direct-pressed and vinified as a white wine, fermenting at a low temperature without malolactic fermentation. Alcohol: 12.5 percent. Price: $10.99 at Spec's See More Collapse However, after his father suffered a near-fatal medical emergency a few years back while visiting Houston, Bonnete decided to dig deeper, recalling how, when we almost lost him, I decided I needed to find out more. I made him tell me all his stories. Bonnete first traveled to the U.S. as a 13-year-old both to please his father and improve my English, and he would eventually study at Harvard before earning a degree from New York University. A job with Cognac Ferrand USA initially brought him to Houston for a Specs floor tasting in 1997 and, the more he returned to the city, the more he felt at home here. Nathalie, in turn, earned degrees from Frances most esteemed engineering school as well as the Sorbonne Pierre et Marie Curie. A career in oil and gas, which first led her far afield to London and Bogota, Colombia, made Houston a seemingly inevitable destination, too. She is the true brain in our business, Bonnete conceded. Introduced at a mutual friends backyard barbecue, they were married within two years. Bonnete recalls thinking, when he watched Nathalie come through the door, Thats the most beautiful woman Ive ever seen. Their wedding created an instant family of six children (three apiece) and, in the manic month of May 2015, they would have a baby of their own just as BCI came on line, Nathalie having only recently left Conoco. They named the little girl Oceane because, he said, she was born in America to French parents and we wanted her to be the link, like the ocean, between two countries that we love. The Liberation de Paris wines a rose (my Drink Pink feature this week), a chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc, a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon that sell for $10.99 at Specs, plus a Cotes du Rhone that goes for $12.99 were created to serve as a bridge, too, hoping to make French wine more accessible to Americans who dont qualify as full-blown oenophiles. But dont think inexpensive equates to boring. Each of the wines, aside from offering excellent value, are modern yet Old World expressions of their respective varietals/blends. Count my buddy Ralph Castellano, who has worked the floor at Specs for more than 30 years, as a fan. And he confirms the wines have a loyal following. When we sell a bottle, Castellano said, its not unusual that the person comes back the next day to buy a whole case. Although the U.S. is going through a rough patch, hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and a political divide, the Bonnetes insist they havent lost faith in, or affection for, their adopted country. Theyre delighted, as is Grandpa Joel, that Oceane will have the opportunity to grow up a Houstonian and an American. Theres just something about the U.S., with its special energy, he said. Its still a place where, if you want to work hard, I believe you can achieve anything. sportywineguy@outlook.com Statement of Senate Intel Vice Chair Sen. Mark R. Warner Press Contact: Rachel Cohen (Warner) 202 306 3278 Tuesday, August 18, 2020 ~ On the release of Volume 5 of Senate Intelligence Committee's bipartisan Russia report ~ WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the below statement on the release of the fifth and final volume of the Committee's bipartisan Russia investigation titled, "Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities": "After more than three and a half years of work, millions of documents, and hundreds of witness interviews, I'm proud that the Committee's report speaks for itself. "At nearly 1,000 pages, Volume 5 stands as the most comprehensive examination of ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign to date a breathtaking level of contacts between Trump officials and Russian government operatives that is a very real counterintelligence threat to our elections. I encourage all Americans to carefully review the documented evidence of the unprecedented and massive intervention campaign waged on behalf of then-candidate Donald Trump by Russians and their operatives and to reach their own independent conclusions. "This cannot happen again. As we head into the heat of the 2020 campaign season, I strongly urge campaigns, the executive branch, Congress and the American people to heed the lessons of this report in order to protect our democracy." ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Incumbent Gregory Tony claimed victory Tuesday night in the race for the Democratic nomination for Broward County sheriff in a campaign centred on a high school massacre and a shooting decades earlier. Tony was named sheriff in 2019 after Gov. Ron DeSantis fired his predecessor Scott Israel over his handling of the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. Tony issued a statement Tuesday night saying he had defeated Israel in the Democratic primary in a county where Democrats hold a 2-1 edge over the GOP in registered voters. The Democratic voters of Broward County have spoken and I am deeply honoured that they have chosen me to lead the Broward Sheriffs Office into a brighter, safer future! I promise BSO will become the national model for how a public safety agency can be run, Tony said in a statement. There was no immediate response from the Israel campaign. The Broward County sheriff runs a 6,000-employee operation with a half-billion dollar budget, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the southeast. Tonys campaign was marked by criticism that he had failed to disclose that he fatally shot an 18-year-old in 1993 when he was 14 in Philadelphia. A judge concluded Tony acted in self-defence, but Tony never revealed the shooting to his previous police employer, the governor or the investigators who vetted him for the sheriffs job. Israel won election twice before he was removed by DeSantis after the Parkland school shooting. Tony, 41, the countys first Black sheriff, is a former sergeant in the suburban Coral Springs Police Department. Tony also ran a consulting company that trained officers to confront active shooters. Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said in a statement that Tony deserved to be elected. Sheriff Tony came into office under circumstances that many questioned, Holness said. The fact is he performed the job with excellence. He has transformed that department, putting measures in place that holds officers accountable for their actions and making investments in training programs that helps the officers. Nikolas Cruz, 21, faces the death penalty if convicted of the Stoneman Douglas killings. His lawyers say he would plead guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence, but prosecutors have rejected that. (PHOTO: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images) By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen (Bloomberg) -- Singapores financial regulator will step up efforts to urge banks to hire more citizens and develop a strong local leadership pipeline, according to its chief. Protecting and growing Singaporean jobs, especially in current economic conditions, is a top priority, the Monetary Authority of Singapores Managing Director Ravi Menon wrote in a letter published late Tuesday in the Straits Times. The MAS confers with senior management at financial firms on the makeup of their workforces and plans to grow the Singaporean core, Menon said. We will intensify these engagements, he said. His comments were in response to a call by former banker Raymond Koh for authorities to scrutinise the composition of senior management at banks to ensure there are more Singaporeans, rather than foreigners who hold permanent residence. The regulator closely monitors the workforce profiles of financial institutions by citizens, permanent residents and foreigners, Menon said. We want to see a strong Singaporean core complemented by high-quality and diverse foreign talent in every major FI, he said. Singapores government is trying to strike a balance between citizens and international talent in the financial hub, where home-grown banks including DBS Group Holdings Ltd. compete with global firms such as Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc. Read about the MASs outlook for Singapore financial jobs Singaporeans make up 70% of senior management roles in retail banks local functions, the MAS estimates. The proportion is about 43% across the entire sector, reflecting Singapores role as an international financial centre, Menon said. As our financial sector attracts more regional and global HQ functions, it creates more good jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans, said Menon. But it also means a higher proportion of foreigners in senior management in these functions as FIs understandably draw from a global talent pool to fill these positions. Story continues He added that the monetary authority has been working with financial firms to develop a strong local leadership pipeline, and the industry is making progress. Singaporeans make up 70% of overall workers in the financial industry, and permanent residents comprise 14%, according to MASs estimates. The regulator wants to see a higher local proportion in areas including technology and risk management, Menon said. (Updates with comment from Menon in the second-to-last paragraph. An earlier version corrected the date of the letters publication.) 2020 Bloomberg L.P. The traditional industry giants of Germany and Detroit, such as Volkswagen and General Motors Co., must be hugely frustrated by the markets favoring of Elon Musk and his upstart peers. Tesla has impressive software and battery technology, but others know how to build a decent electric vehicle now. Established carmakers are spending tens of billions of dollars on doing exactly this; they just arent very good at getting credit for it. Some environmentally focused investors refuse to ignore the fact that the incumbents still make lots of gas-guzzling SUVs. Animal rights activists in Cambodia have gained a small victory in their effort to end the trade in dog meat, convincing a canine slaughterhouse in one village to abandon the business. Buth Pith and his wife, Khath Hach, in the first week of August shut down the small abattoir they had operated for about seven years after animal protection groups agreed to provide them an alternate living by building a small convenience store for them. Dogs lie in a cage in a slaughterhouse as they wait for FOUR PAWS International to rescue them at Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Heng Sinith/AP) Animal activists are taking the 15 dogs that had been caged at the slaughterhouse to an animal shelter in the capital, Phnom Penh, for rehabilitation, after which they will be offered for adoption, either in Cambodia or abroad. The closure on Aug. 5 in Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province follows a bigger victory in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, a popular tourist destination, which in July outlawed the buying, selling, and butchering of dogs for food. However, animal lovers still have a long way to go. A dog is famously part of the cuisine in the neighboring country of Vietnam, while eating dog meat was traditionally shunned in Cambodia, considered by an older generation to bring bad luck. In recent years, however, it has become popular. Dogs placed in a cage are carried on the back seat of a motorbike as they are supposed to be sold to slaughterhouses in a Buddhist pagoda in Tang Krasang Village in Kampong Thom Province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Heng Sinith/AP) An estimated 2 million to 3 million dogs are killed annually in Cambodia for their meat, according to a recent report by the groups Four Paws International, which is based in Austria, and Animal Rescue Cambodia. They say that not only is killing dogs inhumane but eating them is a health risk that can spread rabies. The practice also happens to hurt the tourist industry, according to them. Katherine Polak, Four Pawss head of stray animal care for Southeast Asia, told The Associated Press that the Cambodian government at both the national and provincial level takes an interest in the dog meat issue because they do not view this as Khmer (Cambodian) culture. They view this as a Vietnamese import in terms of culinary preference and.. dogs play a really critical role in national peacekeeping, in mine detection. A staff member of FOUR PAWS International holds a dog before putting it into a cage at Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Heng Sinith/AP) Buth Pith, the 38-year-old dog butcher in Chi Meakh, went on to explain why he entered the trade. Before I was a seller of freshwater fish, but when I saw other villagers slaughtering dogs and earning a better income, I switched my job to start butchering dogs instead, he said. He has no idea how many dogs he has killed but said he usually butchered five to eight a day. His wife, Khath Hach, 37, said she never was comfortable with the business but it was necessary to support their family, including their two children. Dogs lie in a cage in a slaughterhouse as they wait for FOUR PAWS International to rescue them at Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Heng Sinith/AP) She also mentioned that many villagers complained that they heard the sounds of the dogs suffering before they died, and her own parents told her that they should stop the killing because it would bring bad luck which according to Buddhist theories of reincarnation, bode ill for their future lives. Another villager, Rouen Veasna, said he ate dog occasionally when he was younger, but it became a habit after the local slaughterhouse opened, and he would have it for lunch or dinner, and sometimes while drinking with friends. Dogs lying in cages are placed in a van in a slaughterhouse as they wait for FOUR PAWS International to transport them to the main city from Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Heng Sinith/AP) Meanwhile, Prum Nhenh, who operates a small restaurant that serves dog meat, said it would be difficult to afford medicine for her 80-year-old mother without the money the meat brings in. She said she opened her restaurant more than a year ago and initially just sold items such as soft drinks, beer, and eggs. But when she put dog on the menu, it proved to be popular, allowing her to sell meat from as many as four dogs a day. The price of pork, the price of beef is expensive and does not sell as well, reducing my income, while dog meat is cheaper, and people like to consume it, she added. A couple from a slaughterhouse, Buth Pith and Khath Hach, second from the left, stand as they watch staff members of FOUR PAWS International take out the dogs from a big cage at Chi Meakh Village in Kampong Thom Province north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (Heng Sinith/AP) Regardless, Khath believes there are benefits more important than money to be gained from giving up the dog meat trade. She said after she opens the familys new convenience store, other villagers will no longer look down on them, and they wont have the taint of sin from killing animals. Rasing several questions over the functioning and donations made to the Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that while the Supreme Court order on the matter is final, the judgement will be contested in academic circles for a long time. Also read: Supreme Court turns down PM Cares transfer to disaster fund Chidambaram, taking to Twitter, said that there are other aspects of PM-CARES fund including transparency, disclosure and management practices on which the Supreme Court had no occasion to pronounce judgement. Supreme Court has delivered a judgement on the legality and legal accountability of PM-CARES FUND. The judgement is final but will be contested for a long time in academic circles, Chidambaram tweeted. Supreme Court has delivered a judgement on the legality and legal accountability of PM-CARES FUND. The judgement is final but will be contested for a long time in academic circles. P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 19, 2020 He also asked who are the donors who gave Rs 3,076 crore in the first five days in March 2020 and questioned whether the donors include Chinese firms. He also raised the query about the amount received since April 1, 2020, and the donors. There are other aspects of PM-CARES FUND on which the Supreme Court had no occasion to pronounce judgement. These are transparency, disclosure and management practices concerning the Fund, Chidambaram tweeted. Also read: BJP, Congress lock horns over Supreme Court judgment on PM Cares What is the procedure to allocate money from the Fund to various Covid-19 mitigating activities? Who are the recipients of money from the Fund since its inception? he added. In another tweet, Chidambaram said, Are utilisation certificates (UC) demanded and received from the recipients? If the Fund is beyond the ambit of RTI, who will answer these vital questions? Chidambarams remarks come a day after the Supreme Court refused to order the transfer of funds from PM CARES to the National Disaster Response Fund observing that they are two different funds with different objectives and purposes. Hurricane Harveys toll on Houstons poorest residents was still coming into focus in September 2017, when a group of policy experts appointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner presented him with a roadmap to confront inequality in Houston. The 103-page report recommended repealing the citys property tax revenue cap, piloting an early childhood education program for low-income families and establishing an ambitious new jobs program. Nearly three years later, none of the key proposals have come to fruition. Members of the equity task force say they are among the dozens of advisory boards, committees and other temporary groups that have issued policy recommendations at the mayors request, only for him to reject or ignore the vast majority of their advice. Turners reluctance to act on proposals from his own appointees has fueled growing discontent among progressive policy activists and disaffected supporters of the Democratic mayor, according to interviews with advocates and former members of various mayoral task forces. The tension began brewing before Turner won re-election last December, as some progressive groups and community leaders urged the mayor to pursue a more expansive vision if he was granted a second term. Since then, Turners response to the police reform movement sparked by the killing of George Floyd and his refusal to support an eviction grace period ordinance recommended by a city-county task force has stirred further disappointment. After not seeing some basic recommendations move forward, I stepped away to focus my energy elsewhere. I was done, said Ginny Goldman, chair of the equity task force and a co-chair of Turners 2016 transition team. Ive got to say, if asked to join a task force or committee under this administration today, I would certainly turn it down. It's a terrible use of people's time right now writing reports that sit on his shelf, rather than bring people together for meaningful action. Turners critics say his approach to controversial or systemic issues follows a predictable pattern: Appoint a task force, often accompanied by a speech brimming with sweeping progressive language, before passing on most or all of the advisory groups policy recommendations. The reports generated by Turners task forces typically come months later, when the public has refocused its attention elsewhere. His task force on Confederate statues, appointed shortly after the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., took seven months to recommend the removal of Houstons statues. Nothing happened until June of this year, when Turner ordered them taken down 17 days after Floyds death, which set off widespread removal of Confederate symbols. In a statement, Turner said he gives careful consideration to all recommendations provided to me, some of which he said he is unable to enact because they would create legal or financial risks for the city, or require legislation from higher levels of government. The recommendations made by a mayoral task force or commission are generally provided after due consideration, culminating in a non-binding final report, Turner said. It is my responsibility as mayor to determine which recommendations are in the citys best interest and whether they should or should not be implemented. Houston does not need another study During his first term, Turner formed groups to advise him on topics ranging from gun violence prevention to immigration, helping garner broad support from Democrats and liberals in his re-election campaign despite a brewing sentiment that those groups had yielded few measurable results. Six months into his second term, the mayor confronted perhaps the most intense progressive backlash of his tenure. Around the same time he rejected calls to cut the police departments annual budget, Turner issued an executive order that was panned as largely a restatement of existing policy. Soon after, he formed a 45-member Task Force on Policing Reform that critics condemned as a delay tactic on an issue they said has already been studied. The mayor shouldnt pretend that the calls for police reform were suddenly sprung on him this week. His own transition team in 2016 made a litany of reform recommendations, Tarsha Jackson, a city council candidate who served on Turners criminal justice transition committee, wrote in a June Chronicle op-ed. Houston does not need another study. What we need is action on the existing recommendations for police reform. Not all of Turners appointees share the same critical view of the mayor. Jay Blazek Crossley, a member of Turners traffic and transportation transition committee, applauded the mayors move to adopt Vision Zero, which aims to reduce roadway deaths, and his letter to state officials earlier this year seeking changes that would displace fewer residents and businesses in low-income and minority communities during the massive I-45 rebuild project. I ended up thinking of the transition committees as the city trying to use peoples brainpower as a sort of worksheet, to try to think through a bunch of stuff and gather ideas, Crossley said. And I feel that a lot of the ideas we discussed, maybe they didnt up in the report, but the city has effectively used those ideas. Still, nothing has commanded local attention quite like the recent push for police reform. Since his 2015 campaign, Turner repeatedly has called for a major increase in Houstons police force, even teasing the idea of adjusting the property tax revenue cap for that reason alone. After the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas concluded in a June report that Turner had failed to act on any of the major recommendations from his criminal justice transition committee, the mayor said the committees proposals did not go far enough in light of the recent shift in public opinion. Turner did not, however, say why he declined to take up the recommendations in the four years before Floyds death. The mayors supporters have praised him for sticking to his view that the Houston Police Department is understaffed, arguing that activists who favor police funding cuts represent a minority of the population. What you saw right here in Houston was a mayor, Sylvester Turner, whos probably one of the best mayors in the country, listen to the community, Houston Police Officers Union president Joe Gamaldi said last month on Fox News. He listened to the hardworking, law-abiding members of our community and said, Were not going to defund the police. While the police task force deliberates, Turner is facing separate scrutiny from housing advocates who want him to help residents catch up on rent if they have come under economic hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the city and countys eviction prevention task force, which includes Turners appointed housing director, unanimously supported an eviction grace period ordinance that they drafted last month and presented to the mayor. Turner has declined to put the ordinance on the city council agenda, which he alone controls. The mayor argued that a grace period would only postpone tenants financial burdens, which would continue to grow during the moratorium. Instead, Turner has implemented a $35 million rent relief program, which requires participating landlords to halt all eviction proceedings through September. Acknowledging the measure will fall well short of addressing the need, Turner also has pleaded with federal and state lawmakers for additional aid. Advocates have questioned what, if anything, is preventing the city from implementing a grace period in the meantime. Jeff Reichman, a member of the housing task force, tweeted, Whats the point of the task force if our recommendations are ignored without consideration? Bryan LaVergne, co-chair of the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said every family evicted in Houston will be kicked out by Turner's own boot if he does not take up the ordinance. The mayor's actions are clear: when he doesn't want to take a bold stance for Houstonians, he hides behind powerless task forces, LaVergne said. Turner, asked whether he fears Houston would face a legal challenge if city council approved a grace period, cited a nonbinding opinion issued earlier this month by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that stated local governments cannot prohibit or delay evictions. This is not surprising, as a number of cities are currently engaged in lawsuits over imposing eviction moratoriums or grace periods, Turner said. The city of Houstons approach to addressing the issue of evictions was more comprehensive by providing $30 million in direct rental assistance (and $5 million from the private sector), $40 million for homelessness prevention and $500,000 in tenant legal aid. A weak public sector Turners task force approach in some ways highlights the clash between his vision for the office and the hopes of his disappointed supporters. In an interview last year during the mayoral race, Turner said he had more agency to push for progressive policy as a state representative, where he said he could take on a very partisan role. As a legislator, its one thing to be on the floor of the Texas House or in a committee or even out in the community, and youre championing certain policy initiatives, Turner said. In his current role, Turner said, Im the CEO, the city manager of the city of Houston in a nonpartisan position, and I represent 2.3 million Houstonians. I cant lose sight of that. Though he has resisted the profound changes proposed by groups such as his equity task force, Turner passed a landmark overhaul of Houstons troubled pension system during his first term. To get the package across the finish line, the mayor secured support from the Greater Houston Partnership, the citys main business alliance, and other members of the business community. Turner has often turned to the private sector to work around the citys budget constraints, pushing forward programs such as Complete Communities and a park sponsorship initiative that require buy-in from the business community. Stephen Klineberg, the founding director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, said the close relationship between the public and private sectors a longtime feature of Houston government that he said is driven by the citys low tax rate comes with pitfalls. We rely on the private sector enormously because we have such a weak public sector, Klineberg said. The result is that theres too many vested interests. Its hard to get a broad consensus to form, and even when you have it, its hard to sustain innovations and initiatives. Goldman, the equity task force chair who also co-founded the Texas Organizing Project, said Houstons financial constraints do not preclude Turner from pursuing lofty goals. Houston has one of the most powerful mayoral forms of government in the country, Goldman said. We were hoping that he was coming back home from the legislature to use the mayoral levers of power to aim high and push well beyond what some might consider possible. But frankly, that just hasnt happened. jasper.scherer@chron.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:17:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 4,093 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 188,802, while a health official warned that the lockdown of districts is still an option to curb the increase of infections. It also reported 85 fatalities during the day, raising the death toll to 6,121, while 2,529 more patients recovered in the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 134,369. The new cases were recorded after 20,356 testing kits were used across the country during the day, and a total of 1,345,459 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the statement. Meanwhile, Deputy Health Minister Hazim al-Jumaili said in a press release that lockdown "is still an option if we need it in some districts in the capital Baghdad." The number of deaths has been increasing due to the soaring infections with coronavirus, al-Jumaili said. He expressed his regret that many citizens do not abide by the restriction measures and the health instructions, which led to the increase of infections with the pandemic. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic. China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Iraq's capital Baghdad. Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem Senate Report Provides New Details of Russian Meddling in 2016 Presidential Election By Jeff Seldin August 18, 2020 A bipartisan investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election found that Moscow successfully used a complex web of operatives and active measures to ensnare members of President Donald Trump's campaign, in some cases, leaving the incoming administration open to manipulation. The report concluded, among other things, that Trump's 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort posed a "grave counterintelligence threat" because of his dealings with people close to the Kremlin. But it also found that the FBI's investigation of the Russian meddling in the election was "flawed." Released Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the report is the fifth on the subject by the committee and the culmination of more than three years of work. It includes hundreds of witness interviews and the review of more than 1 million pages of documents. The report focuses on key players from Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as efforts undertaken by Russian intelligence and organizations like the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, which according to the report, "likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort." Although the report does not find evidence that Trump campaign officials willingly and knowingly worked with Russia to win the election, committee investigators concluded that whether due to ambition or naivety, key officials were indifferent to the possibility help was coming from the Kremlin. With WikiLeaks and its release of documents obtained during Russia's hack of the Democratic National Committee's computer services, for example, the report found the Trump campaign, "sought to maximize the impact of those leaks to aid Trump's electoral prospects." "The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort," the report added. The Senate report raises especially deep concerns about the role of Manafort, a Republican political operative and international lobbyist who joined the Trump campaign in March 2016. "Manafort's presence on the Campaign and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information," the report said. Manafort was convicted of tax and bank fraud charges during a separate investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. He was released from prison to home confinement earlier this year. But the report raises concerns specifically about Manafort's long-running ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was known for running influence operations under the direction of the Kremlin, sometimes with Manafort's help, and Russian intelligence officer Konstantin Kilimnik. The report found especially worrisome Manafort's relationship with Kilimnik, which it described as "close and lasting." "On numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal Campaign information with Kilimnik," the report stated. "The Committee was unable to reliably determine why Manafort shared sensitive internal polling data or Campaign strategy with Kilimnik or with whom Kilimnik further shared that information," it added. Yet Senate Intelligence Committee investigators say Russia found other ways to get close to Trump's inner circle after the election. "Russia took advantage of members of the Transition Team's relative inexperience in government, opposition to Obama Administration policies, and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia to pursue unofficial channels through which Russia could conduct diplomacy," the report said. It noted the "existence of a cadre of informal advisors to the Transition Team with varying levels of access to the President-elect and varying awareness of foreign affairs presented attractive targets." But the report also reserves harsh criticism for efforts by the U.S. government, specifically the FBI, to counter and investigate Russia's actions. "The Committee found the FBI lacked a formal or considered process for escalating its warnings about the DNC hack within the organization of the DNC," the report said. It also hammered the FBI for giving "unjustified credence" to a dossier compiled by former British Intelligence agent Christopher Steele, which included salacious but unverified intelligence information Russia could have used to blackmail Trump. The FBI, the report said, "did not effectively adjust its approach to Steele's reporting once one of Steele's sub sources provided information that raised serious concerns about the source descriptions in the Steele Dossier." Despite the bipartisan nature of the Senate Intelligence Committee report, the committee's leaders Tuesday drew differing conclusions in their public statements. "We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election," said acting chairman, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. And while he called what he described as "irrefutable evidence" of Russian meddling in the 2016 election "troubling," Rubio said the FBI's use of the Steele Dossier was also "deeply troubling." In contrast, Democrat Sen. Mark Warner, vice chair of the committee, said the report shed light on what he described as "a breathtaking level of contacts between Trump officials and Russian government operatives that is a very real counterintelligence threat." "This cannot happen again," he added. In its previous report issued last April, the Senate committee reaffirmed the findings of the U.S. intelligence community in early 2017 as "sound" that Russia sought to help Trump win the 2016 election." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com. ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BC About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com. Contact: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 info@alt5sigma.com For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602490/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH We're deeply honored to be recognized by Inc. Magazine for a third year as one of the fastest growing companies in America. Our growth is driven by simplifying and maximizing the value of our clients information. Inc. Magazine has ranked Infoverity No. 1777 on the Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. Infoverity is a leading global provider of Master Data Management (MDM), Product Information Management (PIM) strategy and implementation, data governance and analytics, managed services and hosting solutions that help clients in the retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, financial and healthcare sectors to simplify and maximize the value of their information. Infoveritys profile page on the Inc. 5000 list can be found online at https://www.inc.com/profile/infoverity and complete results of the Inc. 5000 can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. Founded in 2011, Infoverity has grown rapidly in recent years, with three year sales growth of 240 percent. Infoverity is also listed as a Best Place to Work by Inc. Magazine, a Best Place to Work by Business First and a Best Place to Work in IT by Computerworld. We're deeply honored to be recognized by Inc. Magazine for a third year as one of the fastest growing companies in America, said Matt Wienke, President, Infoverity. Our growth is driven by simplifying and maximizing the value of our clients information. 2019 marked Infoverity's first full year of 100% employee ownership which, combined with our unique culture, helps us to attract and retain the exceptional talent needed to create and deliver solutions our customers value. The 2020 Inc. 5000 list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segment its independent small and mid-sized businesses. Started in 1982, this prestigious list has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. About Infoverity Founded in 2011, Infoverity is a leading systems integrator and global professional services firm driven to simplify and maximize the value of their clients information. Infoverity provides MDM and PIM Strategy and Implementation, Data Governance and Analytics, Content Management, Data Integration, Enterprise Hosting, and Managed Services that help large enterprises in the retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, financial and healthcare sectors. Infoverity is 100% employee-owned, with global headquarters in Dublin, Ohio. The EMEA headquarters and Global Development Center is in Valencia, Spain. Additional offices are located in France, Germany and Russia. For more information visit http://www.Infoverity.com or email info@infoverity.com today. Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. While addressing a recent virtual MSME conclave organised by the FICCI Karnataka State Council, Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said the government is working on the idea of a social microfinance institution to help people run small shops and businesses. It was an appreciative thought when he said that the handloom, handicrafts, khadi, and agro-based industries should be encouraged, especially across 115 aspirational districts. The government is working hard to resurrect the economy, however, it also needs to consider the existing microfinance sector and related institutions to expedite its initiatives. Also Read: Microfinance institutions in India should be allowed to accept public deposits, says Muhammad Yunus Microfinance has always been a social enterprise having a conspicuous and inconspicuous impact on the life of poor people. In May 2020, as reported by M2i and industry's association, almost all MFIs (microfinance institutions) have provided moratoriums to borrowers when their own portfolio was almost not covered by lenders; only 20 per cent of the MFIs received the funding after March 20. It shows the social commitment of the MFIs. Such organisations (MFIs) currently reach out to 34 states/UTs and 570 districts, including aspirational districts. Instead of creating a new establishment such as a social microfinance institution to help people to run small shops and businesses, it would be good if the government considers building on the already established microfinance sector to cater to its envisioned need. It's a two and half decade old sector with around 30 per cent year-on-year growth. The MFI sector started with a not-for-profit legal format but there was a discord between demand and supply, where demand for loans by the poor was humongous and investors were comfortable investing in regulated entities. To bring equilibrium, the not-for-profit entities turned into for-profit set-ups (NBFCs); later on, a special category of NBFC (non-banking financial company) was also created called, NBFC MFI. Markets have also observed the transition of, for-profit entities into small finance banks and Scheduled Commercial Banks. Also Read: Encourage small businesses, SHGs, farmers to take loans, PM Modi tells banks, NBFCs According to the report by IFC-Intellecap (2019), the financial demand of small businesses stands at Rs 16.66 lakh crore. This may be a potentially rewarding market, however, the major constraints faced by the MSMEs are unstandardised systems and processes, which hinder their access to formal finance in a significant way; MFIs may be in a position to access this market, given their systems are better geared to assess and take credit calls on these enterprises as compared to traditional financial institutions. Although, as per the RBI's guidelines, MFIs are entitled to extend up to 50 per cent of the portfolio for consumption purposes, most of which support livelihood generation where enterprise promotion is significant. As per Bharat Microfinance Report 2019, the proportion of income-generating loans to non-income generating loans was 89:11( FY 2018-19), and around 41 per cent of the income-generating portfolio has been extended to enterprise promotion. In FY 2017-18, the proportion of income-generating loans to non-income generating loans was 93:7, where 47 per cent of the income-generating portfolio was extended to enterprise promotion. Animal husbandry and a significant portion of the agriculture portfolio is also going for enterprise promotion. In December 2019, the portfolio of MFIs was Rs 2.07 lakh crore (86,411crore including banks and SFBs), catering to 483 lakh accounts (983 lakhs with banks and SFBs) with PAR (portfolio at risk) of 0.65 per cent. It denotes that the microfinance industry is ready with the processes and basic manpower to handle the newer challenges. Only structural changes will make them efficient channels to extend credits to the bigger entrepreneurs. Although the threshold for microenterprises has been escalated through a revised classification by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), whereby investment in plant and machinery or equipment is up to Rs 1 crore and annual turnover is no more than Rs 5 crore. Also Read: Centre planning to build micro-lending body for women, small businesses: Nitin Gadkari In this case, qualifying asset norms, which are at least 85 per cent of an NBFC-MFI's total net assets, is a restrictive factor for the sector (NBFC/NBFCMFIs). The directive is that if the borrower to be catered to is a rural household, then its annual income should not be more than Rs 1,25,000 or urban and that of a semi-urban household should not exceed Rs 2,00,000; the loan disbursed by an NBFC-MFI should not be more than Rs 75,000 in the first cycle and Rs 1,25,000 in subsequent cycles. As per experience, the financial requirement to run small shops and businesses is around the stipulated threshold only. But, if needed, additional funds can always be sourced from the banks as well. Nonetheless, the remaining 15 per cent of the portfolio are non-qualifying assets, which microfinance institutions use to lend outside the guidelines governing MFI lending. To bring this to cognizance, there are systematically important NBFCs, MFIs that can be roped in to take the initiative forward. These institutions have to have an asset size of Rs 500 crore or more in the last audited balance sheet. As per the Bharat Microfinance Report 2019, there are 31 systematically important NBFC-MFIs, and there is every possibility that the number of such institutions would have increased this year if the COVID-19 pandemic had not impacted the (microfinance) sector and economy alike. In order to cater to bigger portfolios, the capacity of these MFIs can be enhanced in the area of assessment and structuring of financing the small shops and businesses, which are above the stipulated loan limits by the RBI for NBFCs. In order to support this, the central bank can increase the percentage of non-qualifying assets with a caveat for special categories (the poorer segment of population, less fortunate than qualifying asset stipulation) under the qualifying asset segment. The government can also extend a special portfolio for the NBFC-MFIs, which will be out of the purview of qualifying/non-qualifying assets. These MFIs can be entrusted with the mobilisation of savings, which can be parked into banks; on the basis of such savings, the banks can lend the MFIs. Another way of doing this is through small finance banks, which are already mobilising savings and catering to the microenterprises. As the Indian financial markets are among the most regulated, entailing humongous work pressure on the RBI, a new category of institution/s will definitely increase the burden on the regulator. As per the MFI Directory of 2018, around 55 per cent of the MFIs are not-for-profit entities, comprising societies, trusts, u/s 8 companies, and cooperatives. RBI seems reluctant to regulate these entities directly, as it will put a burden on them. Post-COVID-19 insurgence, the government has tried to support the sector through different financial packages, e.g. TLTRO, special funds for DFIs, NABARD's recent guarantee product, etc. But the real boost emanates from the newer and escalated portfolios. The microfinance sector has experience of more than two decades and has proved its sustainability over time as well. MFIs, especially NBFC-MFIs, are regulated and have experience of working under compliance. The systematically important NBFC-MFIs have the experience of dealing with bigger portfolios and their human resources are also trained to a certain extent. Above all being unsecured in nature, the repayment is almost 100 per cent. The government needs to take serious cognizance of these facts and instead of promoting another channel to serve the microenterprise portfolio and bring additional workload for the RBI, it can work with the microfinance sector and augment the cause. (The author is Associate Director of Sa-Dhan. All views are personal) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) The Senate decided to end its probe on alleged anomalies in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Senate President Tito Sotto III said Wednesday. The Senate convened itself as a committee of the whole and held three inquiries on fresh allegations of corruption and inefficiencies against officials and employees of the government health insurer. Sotto, sitting as chairman, said in a statement that he is formulating a committee report and their findings will be turned over to the Department of Justice. More than enough evidence Senator Panfilo Lacson expressed confidence that the documents and testimonies from resource persons are more than enough to recommend the filing of complaints against a number of PhilHealth executives for malversation of public funds and property. Earlier, Lacson warned PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales and Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco Jr. that they may face malversation complaints for misappropriating funds from insurance coffers. This is in connection with the suspended interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) or cash advance payment for healthcare facilities for COVID-19 response. Related: No palakasan in cash advance payment releases, Duque claims In previous hearings, senators raised other issues in the IRM, including supposed favoritism, liquidation and inequitable cash advance distribution. They pointed out that some healthcare facilities quickly got funds even if they do not cater to COVID-19 patients while others have yet to be paid. A resigned officer from the corporation also said senior officials pocketed cash advances. PhilHealth officials denied the allegations, saying they followed rules and regulations on cash advances. During the first hearing, PhilHealth board member Alejandro Cabading, a certified public accountant, said there were items in the 2020 budget proposed by PhilHealths information and communication technology department that do not add up, and that some were overpriced. Morales backed and endorsed the allegedly bloated IT budget proposal, he said. Related: Duque reiterates zero tolerance for corruption, denies PhilHealth lost over 150B to fraud Sotto said Morales and other officials of the corporation should just appear before the Justice department as the Senate is done with denials and lies. Lacson also said they will collate individual recommendations on possible legislation to avoid systematic corruption and almost discretionary powers lodged on certain officials of PhilHealth. CNN Philippines Correspondent Joyce Ilas contributed to this report The objective of NCTA, Gossen said, is to get the students ready for whatever their future might be. We do everything we can do to get our students ready to enter the work force or ready to go back home and get to work on the farm or ranch, Gossen said, or even at that point, be more prepared if they transfer to another university. His goal and the goal of NCTA is to provide the students with a good, solid, hands-on learning experience. He likes the fact that its students come from Nebraska as well as other parts of the country. We think that we have a great selling point for anybody, any student in the state or outside the state, Gossen said. Weve got a student coming in from Alaska (this year), another from Texas, and our valedictorian last year came from New York. The college offers the same tuition of $139 a credit hour for in-state and out-of-state students. Gossen said his style of leadership is more of a collaborator than a dictator. A New York man pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose Tuesday in connection to a shooting of a man in Little Egg Harbor Township in April, according to Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan Jr. Ademola Bostick, 24, of Bay Shore, New York, was charged after officers responded to a victim, Charles Sortino, 23, of Little Egg Harbor Township, laying in the road on Center Street at 11:45 a.m. on April 3. Sortino was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. After an extensive investigation, detectives determined that Bostick and a co-conspirator, Rajah Mayo, 20, of Freeport, New York, drove from New York to Little Egg Harbor where Bostick shot Sortino several times with a handgun. Charges against Mayo remain pending. Bostick will be sentenced Oct. 16 where the state will seek eight years in state prison without early release, for the aggravated assault charge, and eight years with a 42-month period of parole ineligibility for the weapons charge, Nolan said. Both sentences are to run concurrently. Bostick remains in the Ocean County Jail pending sentencing. 2 New York men charged in Little Egg Harbor shooting LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Two men from New York have been charged with attempted murder i Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A piece of art created by a student in Massachusetts was named a finalist a the Doodle for Google contest that could lead to it appearing on the websites homepage. Earlier this week, Google released 54 finalists across five age groups in its Doodle for Google contest, which asked students to use the companys name to create a piece of art the reflects kindness. Google describes doodles fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists. Within the grade 8-9 category, a student from Massachusetts was selected as a finalist. The doodle entitled Our Shared World, features a split image. The Goo in Google sits in a park setting with a squirrel by a tree. The wheels of a bicycle form the two Os. The gle then splits into an oceanic environment with a whale, dolphin and seat turtle. I drew an image that is half and half, with an ocean featuring sea animals on the right, and a landscape on the left. I show kindness by caring for the earth and its creatures- whether by picking up trash I see on the ground or being mindful of the everyday things I do, the caption for the doodle said. Me and my community are trying our hardest. I believe that kindness shouldnt be limited to only people. The earth is our shared world, and it is our responsibility to care for it. The Doodle for Google occurs annually and began in 2008. Submissions were accepted through March. Finalists were selected from every state and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The 54 finalists will be narrowed down to winners among each age category that include kindergarten through third grade, fourth and fifth grade, sixth and seven grade, eight and ninth grade and 10th through 12th. National finalists are determined by a nationwide vote. People can vote for their favorite doodle here. A panel of Google executives will choose one of the five National Finalists and announce the national winner. The national winner will have their artwork appear on Googles homepage for a day. Theyll also receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 technology package for their school/non-profit organization, Google hardware, and fun Googley swag. The five national finalists receive a $5,000 scholarship. National finalists and state finalists also receive Google hardware and swag. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Missouri parents and the National Coalition for Public School Options (PSO) testified before the Missouri State Legislature Joint Education Committee on the attempts being made by local school districts to unlawfully block thousands of families from accessing the online school of their choice as guaranteed under the MOCAP law. Compelling evidence and specific cases of legal violations across the state were presented to the Committee, including: Districts refusing to even acknowledge or act upon parent applications; Districts setting up cumbersome processes for MOCAP enrollments in violation of the clear statutory requirement that they use their " typical process" for enrollment; typical process" for enrollment; Districts denying parents the right to legal counsel at hearings about their student; and Districts making decisions based on their own financial interests as opposed to the statutorily required basis of the best educational interest of each individual student. With the first day of school less than a week away, families are calling on Governor Mike Parson, the State Legislature and the State Board of Education to step in and protect parents' rights during the pandemic. Parents are demanding the following: Governor Mike Parson must use his waiver authority immediately to forgo the requirement for families to obtain pre-approval from their resident district before enrolling in a MOCAP course or school. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the State Board of Education must immediately audit districts for compliance with the existing law and require swift correction to the numerous violations. While the State Board has previously attempted to remedy one aspect of the illegal activity with a proposed new rule, the rule will not be in effect in time to assist any families with enrollment this semester and only addresses one of the many abuses. The Missouri State Legislature must rewrite the MOCAP statute to prevent future abuses of fairness or due process. "The health, safety and educational future of thousands of Missouri students hang in the balance as the Governor and DESE wait to act," said Colleen Cook, Parent Board President of PSO. "We hope today's testimony from parents and the presentation of compelling evidence of the blatant attempts by districts to block parent choice will drive lawmakers to address these issues immediately through an emergency waiver and long-term with a legislative fix." SOURCE National Coalition for Public School Options Related Links https://publicschooloptions.org Ghana needs to take advantage of the opportunities that a well-planned infrastructure investment offers to develop a buoyant economy and to compete in the global market. Mr Emmanuel Martey, the Chairman of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, who made the call, said the growth and development of any economy was directly or indirectly connected with the construction Industry. He was addressing a forum on the Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) Hub/Platform, which would serve as an institutional mechanism for collaborative development among the built environment professionals to help deal with economic reform management, but also serve as a troubleshooting mechanism. The PPD will serve the interest of the Public and Private Sector actors within the Construction Industry in the country and to contribute inputs to government policies to accelerate the growth of the industry. It will also serve as feedback framework to solicit impact of government policies on the Private Sector so as to enable the government better address the needs of the players within the construction industry. Mr Martey said no meaningful economic development could be achieved on the back of a fragile and ill-equipped construction industry, adding that even at its current un-regulated state, the construction industry in Ghana contributed between 5.7 per cent and 13.7 per cent to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2006 to 2016 respectively. Indeed, after the year, 2010 the Construction subsector has contributed the largest share of industry GDP, whilst for instance the share of the mining and quarrying subsector has been on the decline during the same period, he said. Mr Martey said government policies and interventions were key to making great impacts on the construction Industry activities, adding that the absence of right policies to promote the development of businesses could have significant negative impact on the livelihood of the players of the respective construction businesses and beneficiaries of the Sector. He said while in many instances, governments developed policy initiatives for the business community, this was done with little or no consultation with the construction industry players. This invariably leads to the development and/or implementation of skewed policies which many a time do not result in any tangible benefits to the Construction business community, he said. It is upon these backdrops that motivated us believe and perhaps rightly so, that the private sector players must lead the agenda to modernize and regularize the Construction Industry by providing the needed structures and frameworks that will propel development as well as ensure self-cleansing of the private sector players. It is expected that the platform should help clean the industry of all unapproved or unqualified Contractors, Surveyors, Engineers, Architects and other service providers in the Built Environment with the implementation of the right policies, Mr Martey added. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The UJCU's appeal followed a joint statement by the governments of Ukraine and Israel saying this year's pilgrimage is allowed. The United Jewish Community of Ukraine has sent an appeal to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Arsen Avakov, with a request to strengthen security in Uman in connection with the upcoming pilgrimage of the Bratslav Hasidim. The UJCU's appeal followed a joint statement by the governments of Ukraine and Israel that was published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which states that the pilgrimage is allowed. Read alsoUkraine's government decides to limit Hasidim trips to Uman amid Rosh HashanahOn behalf of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, the largest all-Ukrainian Jewish organization, which consists of 137 Jewish communities and organizations of Ukraine, CEO Michael Tkach has asked Arsen Avakov to take "all possible measures to ensure the safety of the pilgrims who will be at the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region." "First of all, I ask you to increase the number of personnel in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region to ensure proper security for the Bratslav Hasidim," the appeal says, adding: "Strengthen control over the observance of quarantine norms during the pilgrimage." Tkach has recalled "the situation with the riots on February 19 and 20, 2020 in the village of Novy Sanzhary, Poltava region, which arose in connection with the concern of the local community about the spread of coronavirus infection". Therefore, Michael Tkach points out, the issue resonates greatly with the Jewish community. "UJCU is concerned about the possible escalation of the conflict and violent actions against the Hasidim," the statement concludes. Despite the fact that the pilgrimage of the Bratslav Hasidim to Ukraine was allowed, the governments of Ukraine and Israel urged pilgrims to refrain from traveling this year because of the serious epidemiological situation. Media should not over-interpret J-20 sighting near China-India border: experts Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/18 19:28:40 For the first time since the China-India border conflict in May, two J-20 stealth fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force were spotted at an airport about 300 kilometers from the border region, foreign media reported. But Chinese military experts said on Tuesday that the deployments, if true, are likely part of the aircraft's regular long distance flight and environmental adaptation training, and foreign media should not over-interpret its significance in the border tensions, which have been deescalating. Citing a commercial satellite image, Forbes reported on Monday that two J-20 fighter jets temporarily appeared at Hotan Airport in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, about 320 kilometers from the border region. The report claimed that this is a sign of China's resolve to wrestle with India for influence over the region, adding that the PLA had deployed other warplanes, including H-6 bombers, to airports in Xinjiang, while India has deployed aircraft like Su-30 and Mig-29 fighter jets. The PLA has not announced any J-20 deployment at Hotan Airport. The J-20 is a long-range heavy fighter jet. So when deployed in Hotan, it can potentially cover many areas in Central and South Asia. But foreign media should not over-interpret its possible presence in a flashpoint region, as it is likely part of normal training on long distance flight and environment adaptation, Chinese military aviation expert Fu Qianshao told the Global Times on Tuesday. China is a large country with many airfields in various terrains and under different climate conditions, and the J-20 needs to fly in more regions to adapt, Fu said. The border tensions have already been deescalating, and foreign media's reports could have ulterior motives, analysts said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a routine press conference on Monday that mutual respect and support between China and India are the right direction, and in line with the long-term interests of the two countries. China is willing to work with India to enhance mutual political trust, properly manage differences, strengthen pragmatic cooperation, and safeguard the overall development of bilateral ties, he noted. China and India have held several rounds of senior military-level talks, and agreed to disengage the frontline troops, following the border clash in June. The J-20 is China's most advanced stealth fighter jet, comparable to the likes of the US' F-22 and F-35. In July, India received five Rafale fighter jets from France, and Indian media boasted their capabilities as superior to the J-20. However, Chinese military experts said that the Rafale is only a third-plus generation fighter jet, and does not stand much of a chance against a stealth, fourth generation one like the J-20. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address How Bangladesh forces pinned down man who tried to hijack plane Man held after threatening to hijack planes from MP and take them to Pakistan Pvt bus with passengers hijacked in Agra India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Agra, Aug 19: A privately-operated bus with passengers on board was hijacked by recovery agents of a finance company in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Wednesday morning, officials said. The incident took place in the Malpura police station area when the bus was en route to Panna in Madhya Pradesh from Gurgaon in Haryana, according to police. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. Death toll in Kerala landslide goes up to 61, nine still missing "Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance company had illegally seized the bus. The driver, staff and passengers are safe. The bus owner died yesterday (Tuesday) and his son is conducting the last rites," he said in a statement. However, the statement did not mention the whereabouts of the bus. Senior Superintendent of Police, Agra, Babloo Kumar said three people who got off the bus informed the police that representatives of the finance company had boarded the vehicle. "Preliminary information reveals the bus has been taken away by the people from a finance company which had financed the vehicle. A case has been registered and police teams formed to search for it," he said. Sushant Singh Rajput's death case: Bihar Govt says 'stand vindicated' | Oneindia News He said it was a finance-related incident and the action of the men "audacious". The registration number of the sleeper bus is UP75M 3516 (Etawah in UP) but it is owned by a private operator in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, according to the police. Kumar said the episode started around 10:30 PM on Tuesday when the bus was near Raibha toll plaza at Dakshin bypass and eight-nine young men in two SUVs intercepted it. These men claimed they were from the finance company and asked the bus driver to get down but he ignored them and continued the ride, he said. "The men in SUVs then chased the bus and overtook it at Malpura area. They got into the bus and forcibly brought down the driver and the conductor. They also told the passengers to not scream and assured them that no harm will be done to them," he added. Later, four of these men boarded the bus and sped away on the Delhi-Kanpur highway, Kumar said. He said the driver and the conductor of the bus were taken in one of the SUVs and dropped off in Kuberpur area on the highway around 4 am after which they approached the local police for help. Police personnel, including the district police chief, then reached the spot and a search operation was launched to track the bus, he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 13:59 [IST] Dhaka, Aug 19 : Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and held discussions on various bilateral issues, including a two-year road map vis-a-vis the relations between the two countries. During the meeting held on Tuesday, Hasina was told that her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi wanted to ensure that both countries should remain in "direct communication even during the Covid-19 situation", a highly placed source said. It is learnt that the discussions also focused on the possible cooperation in tackling Covid-19, including therapeutics and vaccines. The source said that the Indian Foreign Secretary and the Bangladesh leader discussed "security issues of mutual interest". Shringla called on the Bangladesh Prime Minister to deliver a message from Modi, as he began a previously unannounced two-day visit aimed at boosting bilateral ties. Shringla also discussed the proposal for a 'travel bubble' with Bangladesh regarding business, official and medical purposes. During the discussions, Hasina spoke about the Rohingya refugees and reiterated her desire to "see an early and safe repatriation" of the refugees to Myanmar. It was pointed out that in the recent past, both countries had updated their inland water protocol and started a cargo ferry service. India has even presented locomotives to Bangladesh. In addition, the two sides hope to finalise the Akhaura-Agartala rail link, the 1,320 MW Khulna thermal plant as well as other projects, which would be inaugurated next year in time for the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh. This is Shringla's first trip abroad since the Covid-19 outbreak. It is also the first visit to Bangladesh by a senior Indian official since travel restrictions were put in place due to the pandemic. According to the source, the visit was a 'special gesture' from Hasina, who has not met any other foreign dignitary over the last four months because of the pandemic. Shringla, a former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, was accompanied in the meeting by outgoing Indian High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das. Bangladesh will get priority for the Covid-19 vaccine produced by India, Shringla assured. "Our bilateral relations are far better now than before. India gives much importance in strengthening these relations in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak," the visiting Foreign Secretary told the media after the meeting at a city hotel in Dhaka. After the meeting, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said: "The highlight of the meeting was the warmth of relations shared by the two countries. When countries around the world have been stagnant in terms of diplomatic relations amid the ongoing pandemic, the Indian Foreign Secretary has come to our country to discuss and take forward cooperation on matters of mutual interest." Momen added: "One of the mutual issues discussed was the celebrations planned next year to mark 50 years of the Bangladesh-India ties, which also happens to be the golden jubilee year for our country." He said that Shringla has extended an invitation for an India visit. India is set to join the United Nation Security Council from the beginning of 2021 as a non-permanent member, for which Bangladesh had extended support. Therefore, Bangladesh has requested for its backing to clinch the Rohingya repatriation resolution in the UNSC. "Since India shares strong diplomatic ties with both the countries, we hope India will be able to persuade Myanmar on peaceful Rohingya repatriations," Momen said. He added: "Border killings was another issue that we drew attention to during the meeting. Next month, BGB and BSF officials will meet to discuss the border issues and unexpected border killings." Shringla's visit also comes against the backdrop of reports that China is set to provide a loan of nearly $1 billion to Bangladesh for a project to maintain water level in the Teesta river during dry season. Actor Swara Bhasker has agreed with Naseeruddin Shahs recent statements about Sushant Singh Rajputs death, and has wondered why it is so hard for the public to believe that Sushant could have been depressed. Multiple conspiracy theories have been floated after Sushants death on June 14. In a recent interview to India Today, Naseer had called the coverage of his death sickening, and said that the investigation into it should be left to the authorities. Swara agreed and said, also according to India Today, I absolutely agree with Naseer Sir. In fact I have been saying this from many days. You can see it on my social media, that its absolutely sickening to see how social media and many media houses have started their conspiracy theories and have been fanning lies to the public. In his interview, Naseer had said, It is absolutely sickening. I have not followed it. I felt deeply grieved when the young man died. I did not know him but he had a bright future and it was a waste of a life. Swara continued, Why is it so difficult for people to accept that he may have been depressed? I read an article where someone said that he didnt look depressed, what theory is that? How can someone look it? She added, Just because someone is famous, doesnt mean things cant be wrong. We as a society need to give more importance to mental health. Also read: Naseeruddin Shah dismisses insider-outsider debate, movie mafia narrative: No one interested in opinions of some half educated starlet According to the Mumbai Police, Sushant was being treated for bipolar disorder in the months leading up to his suicide. His family and several prominent members of the film industry and the media have expressed hesitation in believing this. Sushants father has accused the actors girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of abetment to suicide and for having siphoned off his funds. She has denied the allegations. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The makers of Death on the Nile have released the first trailer. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh and is based on Agatha Christies novel by the same name. The murder mysterys cast includes Wonder Woman Gal Gadot, Call Me By Your Name star Armie Hammer, Black Panthers Letitia Wright, Sex Educations popular actor Emma Mackey, Game of Thrones alum Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Brand , Dawn French,Tom Bateman with Oscar nominee Annette Bening. The film also stars Kenneth as the beloved, popular Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Bollywood actor Ali Fazal. Death on the Nile is among Agatha Christies most popular books. It features a murder of passion on board a cruise ship on the river Nile. A classic locked room drama, it has been adapted on the big screen multiple times before. Written by Michael Green, the film is slated for a very hopeful October 23 release. This will be one of the first major international pictures to see a global release amid the coronavirus pandemic. The trailer launched virtually amid fanfare on August 19. Also read: Abhay Deol slams his movie Raanjhanaa for its regressive message: History will not look kindly at this film This is Kennths second outing as Poirot after 2017s Murder on the Orient Express. The first film was also a star-studded affair starring Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer and others. Ali Fazal shot for the film for three months in the UK last year. Talking about working with Ali, Kenneth had told PTI, Ali was a joy to work with, an absolute joy. Hes a total pro. Hes a real details man. He was completely caught up in how the character looked sounded and was able to be very precise, but also very playful. He could improvise when I asked him to improvise. He has earlier starred in Victoria and Abdul with Judi Dench and in Furious 7 with Vin Diesel and others. On the home turf, the actor has the second season of Mirzapur coming that is expected to drop on Amazon Prime later this year. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Redmi 9 India Launch Teased; Here Are The Details News oi-Tanaya Dutta Xiaomi is planning to launch the Redmi 9 in India soon. Xiaomi India CEO Manu Kumar Jain teases the Redmi 9 India launch via Twitter, which suggests the imminent launch. He has also mentioned the names of the phones launched under the Redmi 9 series. As of now, the series comprises Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi Note 9 which was launched in March, Redmi Note 9 in July, and the Redmi 9 Prime which launched on August 4. The Redmi 9 is speculated to be the rebranded version of the Redmi 9A or Redmi 9C. The Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C were launched back in June in Malaysia. The upcoming Redmi 9 is likely to launch in India next month. However, there is no exact launch date, we can expect the company will also reveal the date in coming days. Previously, the Redmi 9A Indian variant appeared on Wi-Fi Alliance certification with model number M2006C3LI. As per Wi-Fi Alliance, the handset will be launched as the rebranded version of Redmi 9A. Now, it remains to be seen if the company launches the phone in the country as a rebranded version of Redmi 9A or Redmi 9C. Redmi 9A, 9C Specifications Both handsets come as the entry-level smartphone. There are some noticeable differences between the two phones' features. Both handsets sport a 6.53-inch HD+ display which offers a resolution of 1600 X 720 pixels. The Redmi 9A is powered by the MediaTek Helio G25 SoC, while the Redmi 9C packs the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset. Both handsets run on Android 10-based MIUI 11. For battery, both devices get fuel from a huge 5,000 mAh battery. Speaking of optics, the Redmi 9A has a single 13MP camera at the backside, whereas the Redmi 9C has a triple camera setup. For selfies, both handsets 5MP front shooter. The Redmi 9A features face unlocks and the Redmi 9C comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Binita Jaiswal By Express News Service CHENNAI: Sanitaryware and bathroom products maker, Roca aims to double its revenue in the next five years in India. To achieve the target, the Spanish company has chalked out a long-term plan and on a priority basis and it will also be focusing on increasing its exports from India, said KE Ranganathan, managing director, ROCA Bathroom Products. Presently, Roca Group worldwide procures only three per cent of production made in India for global markets. This is expected to touch 10 per cent level in 3-4 years, Ranganathan said. Our global customers are keenly looking at increasing their sourcing from India, given the Covid-19 fall-out. Also, with cost competitiveness and high quality products ,we are well poised to ramp up exports in the year ahead. Our 8 Indian factories make sanitaryware, plastics and faucets for bathrooms meeting global standards, he added. Roca exports to countries like USA, Australia, Europe, South Africa, South America, and Malaysia. The company aims to increase its market share with deeper penetration in rural markets, expansion of showrooms and increase brand visibility through TVC. We see the demand rising in the year 2021 onwards, post Covid rebound. We continue to invest heavily on expansion of our manufacturing units, acquisitions of facilities including greenfield and innovations of products, he said. Currently, Roca has over 30 per cent market share in the organised sanitaryware segment market in the country. The company claimed that the market is recovering at a faster rate and they expect to reach their pre-covid levels by September. Innovative product launches like e-taps or foot-operated taps and electronic flushing urinals for public places, designed specifically to cater to the needs of customers during the pandemic has helped the company in attracting customers. We are confident of returning back to growth in revenues by Oct-Nov period, Ranganathan said. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said people with poor immunity are more vulnerable to contracting coronavirus infections and stressed on the need to boost the immune system by eating right and safe food. Speaking at the virtual launch of the 'Eat Right India Challenge' initiative by food safety regulator FSSAI, the Minister said a strong immune system is not only important for fighting coronavirus but also diseases like tuberculosis. "It is rightly said that food plays an important role in building immunity. Today those people are getting more infected by COVID-19 whose immunity is not strong," he said. People who don't focus on their food have many deficiencies, that weaken their immune system, he said, and emphasised on the need to eat right and safe food. "As a doctor, I feel if a person focuses on his food and exercise, he can save himself from diseases," he added. Asserting that more awareness needs to be created among people about diet, the Minister said it is because about 52 per cent deaths in India are due to non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. Also, the country has 196 million people in chronic hunger, 500 million with micro-nutrient deficiency, 180 million with obesity besides 100 million cases of food borne diseases, he added. As per the Health Ministry data, there were 27.67 lakh COVID-19 cases as on Wednesday in the country. On the 'Eat Right India Challenge', the Minister said it is a good initiative to instill a sense of competition among cities and districts to strengthen regulatory compliance. "But in the name of this initiative, small outlets should not be harassed... Efforts should be made to involve them and encourage them to participate," he said. Under the year-long initiative, the first 150 cities and districts that register on a first-cum-first service basis will be eligible for seed funding for the challenge. Already 197 districts/cities from 23 states have registered. The selected districts and cities have to do mandatory activities like registration, licensing, surveillance and enforcement drive, promote the eat right food environment besides changing food choices and other innovative activities. Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Arun Singhal and Chairperson Rita Teaotia were present at the virtual event. Alabama is poised to become the first state to take up legislation banning public colleges and universities from hosting Confucius Institutes, the Chinese government-sponsored campus centers that propagandize for Beijing and serve as outposts of Communist Party espionage. State representative Tommy Hanes recently unveiled a draft proposal to ban the centers, which immediately drew public support from Alabama congressman Mo Brooks. The bill would prohibit public universities in Alabama from providing support for, funding for, or use of its campus facilities for cultural institutes that are affiliated with, funded by, or supported by the government of China. It would affect both of Alabamas existing Confucius Institutes, at Alabama A&M and Troy University. (A third Confucius Institute, at Auburn University at Montgomery, closed quietly a few years ago.) Hanes says he plans to pre-file the bill in January for the next legislative session and has promised a strong effort to stop Communism in America. Clint Reid, chairman of the College Republican Federation of Alabama, which supports the bill, says his group intends to work on this issue until both Confucius Institutes in Alabama are shuttered. Its a straightforward bill two pages long and should be a model for the other 49 states to follow. The Confucius Institutes funded by the Chinese government have no place on American college campuses. They teach the Chinese Communist Partys warped version of Chinese history, whitewash the CCP regimes abuses of human rights, and present a unilaterally positive view of modern-day China. Staffed by teachers selected, paid, and flown over by the CCP, they do this dirty business while trading on the reputations of American universities. Haness bill is noteworthy not just for being the first scheduled for introduction in a state legislature, but because it seeks to ban Confucius Institutes altogether, going a step further than two different bills currently before Congress: the CONFUCIUS Act, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent in June, and the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act. These bills seek to exact various commitments and transparency requirements of Confucius Institutes but stop short of calling for their outright closure. Both, if enacted, would represent progress; their improvements to our nations outdated and loophole-ridden laws regarding the disclosure of foreign gifts to colleges and universities would be especially welcome. Their sponsors and supporters deserve commendation for taking an important step toward protecting colleges and universities from Confucius Institutes. Story continues But shutting Confucius Institutes down should be the ultimate goal, and there is precedent, even at the national level, for using government pressure as a means to that end. Two years ago, in the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress voted to strip colleges and universities of certain Pentagon grants unless they closed their Confucius Institutes. And my organization, the National Association of Scholars, has long called for Confucius Institutes to be closed, most recently by urging Congress to condition higher-education institutions pandemic-relief funds on their closure. Haness bill deserves widespread support, and not just from Republicans. Fighting the pernicious influence of Confucius Institutes is a bipartisan cause, as illustrated most recently by the Athenai Institutes Washington Appeal, which called for the closure of all the Institutes and was signed by the chairs of both the College Democrats of America and the College Republicans National Committee. Heres hoping legislators in the rest of the United States take notice and follow Haness lead. More from National Review Source: International Air Transport Association Nearly a dozen routes of all domestic airports arriving in the central city of Danang, including 200 round-trips every day, have been halted since a new coronavirus outbreak on July 28, as well as leading to the remarkable decline of the number of flights to other locations. Budget carrier Vietjet has deployed a variety of solutions such as focusing on cargo transportation and ancillary services. Vietjet is the first such airline to be approved to carry cargo on cabin since April. The debt ratio is among the lowest range in the worlds aviation industry, so Vietjet continues to implement a long-term loan plan to overcome the crisis, a representative said. To stay afloat, Bamboo Airways has also carried out solutions to offset losses caused by the halt of all international routes and the sharp decrease of domestic flights. The airline is focusing on cargo transportation for both humane and trade goals, rental flights, and carrying foreigners and cargo to Europe as well as releasing some new services. This is in addition to reducing the flight network, cabin crews, and other employees. However, in opposition to the worry of other players, Bamboo Airways CEO Trinh Van Quyet still believed in the performance of the airline despite the pandemic. We are still going forward with the expansion of the aircraft fleet number to 50 aircraft as the goal set since last year, if the demand for transport recovers well and the market changes positively. Aviation is said to be the most financially damaged sector hit by the pandemic. By the end of the second quarter, Vietjet recorded a slump of 54 per cent on-year in air transport revenues, and losses of VND1.12 trillion ($48.8 million). For the first six months of 2020, the airlines loss in air transportation business stands at VND2.1 trillion ($91.8 million). Meanwhile, Airports Corporation of Vietnam recorded a post-tax losses of over VND365 billion ($16 million) from April to June as its revenues plunged 76.6 per cent from the same period last year to over VND1.046 trillion ($45.5 million). Meanwhile, Bamboo Airways reported over VND1.5 trillion ($65.2 million) in losses for the first quarter, and all its domestic flight routes are halted until late October at least. Following a proposal by airlines and authorities, the Vietnamese government is considering an aviation bailout, including providing exemptions from taxes, fees, and environmental taxes for flight fuel, along with providing financial packages and extending debt repayment terms. However, economist Pham Chi Lan emphasised the need to make this support equitable and transparent. She said all airlines have contributed to the state budget and socioeconomic development, so they should receive equal support based on factors like market share, contribution, and the amount of losses. We should carefully calculate the losses of each airline and compare it to their revenue and profit to propose a proportional support instead of simply offsetting the bad performance of airlines, said Lan. As Heathrow airport unveils its new testing centre for arriving passengers, the health secretary has said the government could shorten the current two-week quarantine by using tests. The aviation industry, which has seen a calamitous slump in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic, is desperate to find an alternative to 14 days of self-isolation for arrivals from France, Spain, the Netherlands and many other nations. Airport-based testing is used in more than 30 countries. But at present, the UK does not allow the quarantine to be reduced if the traveller tests negative. When asked on the BBC Today programme about the prospect of airport tests, Matt Hancock said: Were working on that. The challenge with the biology of the virus is that it incubates for up to two weeks in the body so just having a test doesnt mean that you dont have the virus in you. So you have to have repeat testing. The aviation industry has proposed a test on arrival followed by a second either five or eight days later. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises the government, has been considering a quarantine-and-test system that would cut the need to self-isolate to 10 days. The Sage group believes it would pick up 96 per cent of infected individuals. But business travellers and tourists may not be interested in shaving just a few days from quarantine, and could instead avoid travel to the UK. Heathrow airports new testing facility in Terminal 2 is aimed at passengers who are prepared to pay 150 for a PCR test in the hope of reducing the duration of self-isolation. It has been set up by the international medical and security firm Collinson and the ground-handling operator, Swissport, and can test 13,000 passengers each day. On Monday, the health secretary is expected to discuss options with the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove. Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Show all 20 1 /20 Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Edinburgh Festival Fringe Edinburgh Festival Fringe David Monteith Hodge Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Giant's Causeway Giant's Causeway Stuart Stevenson photography/Ge Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Stonehenge Stonehenge William Toti/500px Lonely Planet's UK Travelist British Museum British Museum Chaokai Shen/500px Lonely Planet's UK Travelist St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral Mark Chilvers/Lonely Planet Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Borough Market Borough Market Circle Creative Studio/Shutters Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall Dave Head/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Lake Windermere Lake Windermere Daniel_Kay/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Yorkshire Dales Yorkshire Dales ravellight/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Glencoe Glencoe Helen Hotson/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Punting in Cambridge Punting in Cambridge Premier Photo/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Bath Bath alice-photo/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Tate Modern Tate Modern chrisdorney/Shutterstock Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon Royal Shakespeare Theatre River Festival Lonely Planet's UK Travelist The Scilly Isles The Scilly Isles Julian Love/Lonely Planet Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Glastonbury Glastonbury Jason Bryant Lonely Planet's UK Travelist South Bank South Bank Tony C French/Getty Images Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Michael Roberts/Getty Images Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Pub roast Pub roast Diana Miller/Getty Images Lonely Planet's UK Travelist Arthur's Seat Arthur's Seat Martin McCarthy/Getty Images According to the Telegraph, they will consider allowing double testing or quarantine plus a single test as an alternative to the 14 days of self-isolation. The ministers are also expected to discuss the prospect of allowing quarantine-free travel to low-risk areas of popular countries such as the Balearics and Canary Islands of Spain, and Madeira and the Azores in Portugal. At present, the government has a strictly binary approach to destinations: either a country is regarded as high risk or low risk, with no differentiation between regions. The travel industry and MPs have been calling for a more nuanced approach to quarantine in a bid to limit the severe damage to airlines and holiday firms caused by the governments on-off quarantine requirements. New Delhi, Aug 19 : Soon after the Supreme Court paved the way for a court-monitored CBI probe into the mysterious death of Sushant Singh Rajput, his father on Wednesday clarified that only he is the "legal heir" of the deceased actor. In a statement to the media, Krishna Kumar Singh, father of the late Bollywood actor, said, "It is hereby declared that I am the legal heir of late Shri Sushant Singh Rajput and in that capacity any arrangement that Sushant had during his lifetime for the engagement of any lawyer, Chartered Accountant and other professionals came to an end upon the death of Sushant and thereafter no lawyer, Chartered Accountant or other person is entitled to represent the estate of Sushant without my express consent." The statement was issued after his father noted some lawyers have appeared in the media claiming themselves to be lawyers engaged by Sushant. "They have talked in the media about the alleged privileged communication between Sushant and them. Clearly such disclosure is barred by section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Bar Council of India Rules (Rule 17, Part VI, Chapter II), without my consent, as I am representing the estate of Sushant. I have not given any consent to anyone of them to either continue to represent Sushant or disclose any communication barred by section 126 of the Evidence Act, 1872." "It is also made clear that only I and my daughters comprise the family of Sushant and we have authorised Mr Varun Singh (Skv Law Offices, Commercial) as our Advocate and through him Mr Vikas Singh, Sr. Advocate, to represent the family," it said. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the death of Sushant and asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. Justice Hrishikesh Roy said the CBI will be competent to probe not only the Patna FIR but any other FIR in connection with the case. The top court noted that the Mumbai Police have registered only an accidental death report in connection with Sushant's death, and therefore have limited investigation powers, whereas the case registered by Bihar Police is a full-fledged FIR which has been already referred to the CBI. The top court ensured that there was no confusion about CBI being the sole authority to investigate the mystery behind Sushant's death and no other state police could interfere with it. The apex court's order came on a plea by Sushant's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of FIR registered in Patna to Mumbai. The apex court emphasised that the probe in the case has been ordered by it and the Maharashtra government must comply and assist. The CBI is also free to register a fresh case, if required, added the top court. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text These media members explain how they generate story ideas, how to be a great resource and how hospitality and travel experts can get on their radar by sharing their own newsworthy stories in a compelling way. "Hospitality Forward" is part of the agency's giving back to the community initiative. Journalist guests include: Robert Simonson (freelancer, New York Times / PUNCH / Imbibe ) (freelancer, ) Jeff Gordinier ( Esquire ) ( ) Jacqueline Gifford ( Travel + Leisure ) ( ) Rachel King ( Fortune ) ( ) Ray Isle ( Food & Wine ) ( ) Kate Krader ( Bloomberg ) ( ) Mark Ellwood (freelancer, Robb Report / Bloomberg Travel Genius ) (freelancer, Jason Feifer ( Entrepreneur ) ( ) Kara Newman (freelancer, Wine Enthusiast / Wall Street Journal ) (freelancer, / ) Bao Ong ( Time Out New York ) ( ) Charu Suri (freelancer, New York Times / Architectural Digest ) (freelancer, / ) Brad Japhe (freelancer, CNN / Wall Street Journal ) (freelancer, / ) Adam Teeter & Erica Duecy ( VinePair ) ( ) Paul Clarke & Karen Foley ( Imbibe ) ( ) Tony Sachs (freelancer, Robb Report / Whisky Advocate ) (freelancer, / ) Jonah Flicker (freelancer, Esquire / Departures ) (freelancer, / ) Richard Bradley ( Worth ) ( ) Wendy Gillette ( CBS Network Radio / CBS Newspath ) ( / ) Aaron Goldfarb (freelancer, PUNCH / Esquire ) (freelancer, / ) Amanda Schuster ( Alcohol Professor ) ( ) Betsy Andrews (freelancer, Food & Wine / SevenFifty Daily ) (freelancer, / ) and others Over the last 16 years, Hanna Lee Communications has helped build global brands that include Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, Major Food Group, The Dead Rabbit, Ian Schrager's Times Square EDITION, JF Restaurants, Giorgio Armani's Armani/Ristorante Fifth Avenue, Consortium Holdings (San Diego), Katana Kitten, Fever-Tree Mixers, Campari, Belvedere/Marie Brizard's Sobieski Vodka, Mionetto Prosecco and many more. The agency has earned more than 100 public relations, branding and marketing awards for its strategic campaigns that have supported its clients' business growth. "What can we do to help our beloved hospitality and travel industry that is facing incredible challenges?" asks Lee, Founder and President, Hanna Lee Communications. "This has been on our minds since the pandemic started in March. We knew we wanted to help our community rebuild and rebound. As a publicist myself and Michael as a freelance writer, we understand the power of media coverage and its positive impact on someone's career and business. Our podcast brings together two worlds that we adore: news media and newsmakers." "We are excited to participate in in-depth, long-form journalism through our new podcast and join the fellowship of a million podcasts around the world," says Anstendig, Editor in Chief, Hanna Lee Communications and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Nation's Restaurant News, Time Out New York and others. "On our show, we address every aspect of the hospitality industry: food, wine, spirits, beer, cocktails, bars, restaurants, hotels and travel destinations. To salute the entrepreneurs in our community, we also cover business in general." "Hanna and Michael love and work for this community tirelessly," says Caroline Nabors Rosen, President, Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. "Their voices are trusted, and I look forward to listening to them weekly. Bartenders around the world have so much expertise in all things cocktails, spirits and the bar business. 'Hospitality Forward' is a great platform for them to learn how to showcase their knowledge and talents and be recognized by the media. This could not have come at a better time." "As bars and restaurants struggle to survive, media visibility can serve as an important lifeline," says Andrew Rigie, Director, NYC Hospitality Alliance. "'Hospitality Forward' is providing a true public service. It represents a breakthrough that democratizes and demystifies the public relations process. It opens it up to individuals and businesses that perhaps do not have the resources to retain a public relations agency. The fact that Hanna and Michael are generously sharing their relationships and trusted contacts cultivated over decades shows their true commitment to our industry." "It's rare to find people so passionate about the industry they choose to work in, and thankfully, we have Hanna and Michael championing the hospitality/travel industry when it's needed most," says Ben Pundole, Editor in Chief, A Hotel Life and Founder, Stay Plastic Free. "Our industry is yearning for something positive that gives hotel and travel service folks something to look forward to. Beyond covering news, it's important to keep people dreaming about the future. 'Hospitality Forward' can play an important role in fostering a positive outlook." "The hospitality and travel industries, of which the distilled spirits sector is a critical component, are essential for the economic well-being of our country," says Frank Coleman, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS). "They have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, costing livelihoods, businesses and severely impacting communities. Both Hanna and Michael have just the right experience and perspective to draw out significant insights from the terrific list of guests. I look forward to listening to these enlightening episodes." Bringing the Community Together by Honoring Individuals Who Make an Impact In addition to weekly journalist interviews, "Hospitality Forward" will spotlight the top 10 most forward-thinking hospitality and travel stories of the month as selected by the public relations and digital teams at Hanna Lee Communications. These stories have had the greatest impact by bringing fresh perspectives and new ways of looking at the industry. It is the agency's way of supporting journalists who are important voices in the community. In addition, the agency will also select the top 10 most hospitality forward individuals who are making a positive impact on the industry through their initiatives and creativity. It will also showcase the top 10 podcast episodes that inspire the community to move hospitality forward. About Hanna Lee Communications, Inc. Hanna Lee Communications, Inc. is an award-winning PR and marketing agency specialized in hospitality, travel, bars, restaurants, spirits, craft beer and luxury lifestyle. The agency only represents products and companies that it believes in and have a vision of changing the world. This outlook drives its well-acknowledged excellence that has been recognized with more than 100 national and international awards and accolades, including "Best Branding," "Best Media Relations," "PR Innovator of the Year," "Best Social Media Campaign" and "Best Press Release Writing." To celebrate its 15th anniversary last year, the agency launched HLC Innovation 15. It consists of pioneering initiatives that redefine storytelling and brand building. To date, they include the "Hospitality Forward" podcast series, HLC Global Bartender Travel Scholarship, HLC Book Incubator Media, HLC Trailblazing Women Series and HLC Digital Studio Division for multimedia storytelling. For more information, follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @hannaleepr, "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HannaLeeCommunications and visit www.hannaleecommunications.com . Media Contacts: Hanna Lee and Marian Goldberg Hanna Lee Communications, Inc. [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Hanna Lee Communications, Inc. Related Links http://www.hannaleecommunications.com sshepard/iStockBy HALEY YAMADA, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- Back-to-school season is off to a challenging start. As new cases of the coronavirus are reported at K-12 schools that have reopened, many others are facing the difficult decision of whether or not to return to in-person classes. At some of the nations top universities, administrators are also struggling to formulate a cohesive plan to keep students on campus and safe from the virus. After reopening last week, the University of Notre Dame reported 89 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, saying they were linked to a campus party. The school announced new restrictions that would go into effect for the next two weeks, including remote instruction for undergrads, closed public spaces and requiring off campus students to remain off campus. If these steps are not successful, well have to send students home as we did last spring, announced Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the university. The university's decision comes as 1,800 high school students are currently quarantining in Cherokee County, Georgia following a return to in-person school on Aug. 3. At the University of Texas Austin, where students moved in on Monday, sophomore Sophia Gurin is already worried that she will be sent home because of the virus. I have an in-person class, so I do have to go to class. Im going to do my best and practice safety and wear my mask, wash my hands often, but I feel like ... its spreading pretty fast, said Gurin. School administrators at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill had to change their plans after just a week since students arrived back on campus. Most in-person instruction was cancelled Monday and the school is now encouraging students to leave campus. I think were going to wait it out and once they kick us out, well go home. I think thats our plan for now, said freshman Fiona Kincaid. Health officials are warning college students, many of whom are known to party, that large gatherings are not helpful. "We can't have these large parties because of the level of asymptomatic spread," said Dr. Deborah Birx on Aug. 18 at a briefing in Jefferson City, Missouri. At Ithaca College in New York, freshman Rita Aucker was notified in an email from her university president on Monday that school will be online this semester. And just for general public health and safety reasons, it makes sense for all of us to stay home, Aucker told ABC News. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. KYODO NEWS - Aug 17, 2020 - 20:06 | All, Japan The mercury soared to 41.1 C in a central Japan city on Monday, tying with the highest-ever temperature recorded in the country in 2018, as a heat wave continued to engulf wide areas, claiming lives and sending people to hospitals. Temperatures in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, rose to 41.1 C after recording 40.9 C on Sunday afternoon, as people nationwide sought to fight the summer heat amid the coronavirus pandemic despite wearing face masks. The weather agency also warned the heat is likely to stay. Temperatures have risen rapidly in recent days amid fears that mask-wearing to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus could cause heat-related incidents such as heat exhaustion. In Hamamatsu, a 50-year-old woman said, "It feels all the more hot when I am wearing a mask." Another woman in her 60s said, "I've lived in this city in a long while, but this is the first time it's been this hot." Yuko Ishigami, 38-year-old housewife visiting Hamamatsu from the city of Shizuoka, said, "It feels as if hot wind is blowing." The Japan Meteorological Agency warned the public to take preventive measures against heat-related illness, as scorching heat is expected to continue for some time, with wide areas of Japan likely to see the mercury reach 38 C on Tuesday. On Monday, temperatures rose above 39 C in cities located in Nagano, Gifu, Nara, Kochi and Miyazaki prefectures, according to the agency. Meanwhile the mercury in central Tokyo reached 36.5 C and 37.1 C in Osaka, with temperatures rising above 35 degrees for three and four straight days, respectively. Of the country's 921 observation spots, 655 locations saw the mercury rise over 30 C, of which 263 observed temperatures of over 35 degrees. Record high temperatures were also seen in 26 areas including Hamamatsu, Sumoto, Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan, and Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, in the country's southwest. Japan has been experiencing extraordinary heat in recent days, with temperatures in the cities of Isesaki and Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, logging 40.5 C last week. The mercury in other parts of Japan also eclipsed 39 C on Sunday. The mercury last hit 41.1 C in July 2018 in the city of Kumagaya in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, eclipsing the previous record of 41.0 C marked in August 2013 in Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture, in western Japan. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said last Wednesday that 10 people died and 6,664 were rushed to hospitals in the week through Aug. 9 due to heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Related coverage: Fears grow over heat exhaustion during summer classes amid virus Kabuki theater reopens after 5-month hiatus over coronavirus Schools restart after short summer vacation amid pandemic Carnegie Mellon Qatar Appoints Associate Dean for Diversity, Climate August 17, 2020 Michael Trick, the dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), has created a new leadership role to oversee and guide the campus' efforts to become a more diverse, inclusive and equitable learning and working community. Annette Vincent will be CMU-Q's first associate dean of diversity and climate. Vincent joined the CMU-Q faculty in 2012 and has served as program director for Biological Sciences since 2016. In her new role, Vincent will provide leadership in planning, implementing and evaluating goals related to diversity, inclusion, climate and equity. "This new role is integral to the Carnegie Mellon mission of cultivating a diverse, world class talent, encouraging collaboration and ensuring individuals can achieve their full potential," said Trick. "I am very pleased that Professor Vincent will be guiding our community as we continue to grow and thrive." Trick is expanding the responsibilities of the academic area heads, a key role that encompasses education, curriculum, budget, program development and faculty hiring. The areas heads are: Gordon Rule in Biological Sciences, Fuad Farooqi in Business Administration, Khaled Harras in Computer Science, Selma Limam Mansar in Information Systems, and Marion Oliver and Dudley Reynolds in Arts and Sciences. "While some of the area heads are new in their roles, all of them have been at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar for several years," said Trick. "I am proud to see that CMU-Q not only attracts superb educators from around the world, but many of our faculty members choose to stay in Qatar, to grow their careers and to give back to this academic community through university service." Farooqi replaces John O'Brien, who will continue as senior associate dean for faculty and outreach. Harras replaces Kemal Oflazer, who will remain associate dean of research. The new leadership team is already tackling their first challenge. As the pandemic continues to shift the way universities worldwide are delivering their curricula, CMU-Q has opted to begin the academic year in remote learning mode, with the possibility of shifting to hybrid mode when it is safe to do so. "CMU-Q's primary focus is to provide a quality education to our students, no matter what. This leadership team is seizing the challenge of pandemic restrictions and guiding our entire faculty to adapt the way we teach and engage with our students," said Trick. "Although this year will look a little different, I am excited to see how our community comes together." BATON ROUGE, La. The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana announces the cancellation of the 2020 Louisiana Book Festival due to the current pandemic. The 2020 Louisiana Book Festival was originally scheduled for Saturday, October 31. This decision was made after carefully evaluating the evolving circumstances as well as considering the needs and availability of all of our partners including our supporting foundation, vendors, authors, moderators, and volunteers. We know the Louisiana Book Festival is a big part of the fall season and not having it will be disappointing to many, said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. But my office is committed to doing our part to keep our community safe by putting the health and safety of the public and our employees at the forefront in making decisions. The internationally-recognized and award-winning Louisiana Book Festival brings together private industry, community stakeholders, and local, state, and federal partners each year to present a festival that highlights and celebrates Louisianas tremendous literary heritage and each year brings over 20,000 people from all over the world to downtown Baton Rouge. As we made this decision, I was reminded our literary community and those who support it are some of Louisianas greatest treasures, said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. Together we have created something incredibly meaningful that stands as a tribute to Louisiana and tells her story with voices that represent all of us; that story will continue to be told until the 2021 Louisiana Book Festival brings us together again. The Louisiana Book Festival is a free event that takes place in the heart of Baton Rouge in the Louisiana State Capitol, State Library of Louisiana, Capitol Park Museum, and tents on neighboring streets each fall. It features over 200 authors and panelists discussing their books and more than 100 programs, including the Young Readers Pavilion, where children and parents enjoy storytelling and performances; Teen Headquarters, featuring bestselling and award-winning young adult authors; and a wide variety of book-related activities, exhibitors, and performances. For more information about the festival and future dates, visit www.LouisianaBookFestival.org. Amazon announced in June that it was hiring 3,000 new customer service agents in South Africa. The company was looking for skills ranging from basic computer literacy to technical experts. These new employees are required to work from home and provide support to Amazon customers in North America and Europe. This means you needed access to a high-speed ADSL or entry-level fibre connection to your home, and to be willing to work shifts the coincide with North American business hours. Some job listings explicitly state a 10Mbps minimum line speed and that LTE connections are not suitable. According to Amazon, the addition of these 3,000 permanent and seasonal full-time positions will bring the companys total permanent workforce in South Africa to 7,000. MyBroadband recently had the opportunity to interview a successful applicant for one of Amazons customer service roles, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity. The interview was conducted in person and we were able to verify the authenticity of the claims made. Impressive, efficient systems The first thing our jobseeker noted was that every stage during his application and training process was like clockwork. Amazon communicated what was required at every step and everything was streamlined for efficiency. After the application through the Amazon jobs website, there was about a weeks wait before the applicant heard that he had made it through the initial screening stages. Amazon asked whether he was still interested in the position. If he was still interested, he was informed that he needed to complete an aptitude test. Aptitude testing This extensive aptitude test is conducted online and took about two hours to complete. Amazon tested for fluency in English, and reading and listening comprehension. It then placed the applicant under pressure by having them listen to a scenario where a customer was complaining about something. The recording may be paused at any moment and they were required to answer questions such as When was this item meant to arrive? As he was listening to the customer complaint, Amazon would also pop up perception questions like Is this customer happy? Gruelling training Another week after the aptitude test, Amazon responded with a job offer. It contained the conditions of employment, salary, and details on company perks like a medical aid, provident fund, and Internet allowance. Our customer service associate-in-training said that they were given an allowance of R1,200 which had to be put towards their Internet connection. His total pay package was around R12,000 per month. The corporate medical aid was provided through Discovery and the provident fund through Momentum. After accepting the offer, he received a call from an Amazon manager who congratulated him on his appointment. Two weeks later, he received an email on a Thursday stating that he would receive everything he needed the following day and that his training would begin that Monday. The email also contained instructions on how to set up his equipment. On Friday morning, a courier arrived with a Lenovo all-in-one computer, an uninterruptible power supply, and a set of hardware security keys. The computer was configured so it could only be used for Amazon. On Monday morning at 08:00, our trainee was online with a group of 30 other people, a training officer, and his assistant. They spent eight hours a day in a rigorous and strict training programme. Amazon expects a very high level of self-discipline, he said. During training, being absent is just not an option. If someone was not online at precisely 08:00 in the morning when training was scheduled to start, it was no small issue. The training officer was immediately on the phone to the absent trainee to find out what was going on. Long hours, strict self-discipline Trainees were told that after they completed the programme, their working schedules would be quite rigid. To serve the North American market, your shift in South Africa would begin between 16:00 and 19:00 in the evening and run for eleven hours until the following morning. This includes an unpaid lunch hour and two paid 15-minute tea breaks. When you step away from your workstation to take a break, you must set your status as being on a break. If you couldnt take your break at the scheduled time because you were finishing up a call, you must note that in the system. Once their training is completed and new customer support associates begin working, they are assigned four shifts per week. Shifts do not necessarily run for four continuous days. In other words, you might work Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then have Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday off. Trainees were also informed that they should prepare for the fact that during the first six months of work they will not be able to swap shifts with other customer service associates. Performance monitoring Once you graduate from training and you begin working, Amazon monitors your performance. However, this is not a fixed number applied to all customer support agents. Amazon makes provision for new recruits to go through a period of improving as they become more familiar with the job. Everything is measurable, the interviewee said. You set a baseline performance level in that first week. As long as you are always improving, Amazon is happy. The company also works hard to try and retain staff, he said. Exit procedure The person we interviewed did not end up becoming an Amazon staff member. They bowed out during training for personal reasons, and because they felt they would not be able to multitask at the pace needed to excel at the job. He explained that during training, he learned that they would be required to look up information related to a customers query in the Amazon knowledge base for support agents while on a call, and then proceed based on the guidelines provided. Its extreme multitasking, he said. When he informed Amazon that he did not wish to continue, there was genuine concern. They wanted to know if they had done something wrong and whether they could be clearer in explaining what the job entailed so applicants would know exactly what to expect. He was also caught off-guard when Amazon said they would pay him for the time he spent in training. It was truly impressive, he said. It would be great if South African companies could operate at this level of efficiency. Amazon jobs in South Africa While the English language work-from-home opportunities no longer appear to be available, Amazon has several other jobs for South Africans listed on its career portal. The table below contains the most recent work from home jobs posted by the company. USA.Life, a social media platform is hailing as a refuge for Christians who feel like they are being censored in other more well-known social media platforms. USA.Life was founded by Pastor and Silicon Valley technology expert Steven Andrew and claims to have found "the answer to Facebook and Twitter censoring Christians, Conservatives, and Liberty." Andrew's 2019 social media platform imitates Facebook in that users can send messages, join groups, and become friends with other users. The platform also features reactions to comments that include the Christan Cross icon to express 'Amen.' "Facebook blocked 5 million people per month from my account alone, so I started USA.Life to give conservatives a social network that didn't block their First Amendment right to free speech," the founder said. Facebook and Twitter have been facing multiple accusations of censorship. Twitter has been facing accusations for temporarily taking down Donald Trump Jr.'s account for sharing a video favoring hydroxychloroquine as a cure for coronavirus when it in fact was not proven to be true. "If someone is going to go out and say that hydroxychloroquine is proven to cure COVID when in fact it has not been proven to cure COVID, and that that statement could lead people to take a drug that, in some cases, some of the data suggests that it might be harmful to people, we think we should take that down," Zuckerberg defended Twitter's decision to take down Donald Trump Jr.'s account. A Christian ministry in Facebook that shared posts of Christian testimonies of people who converted back to cisgender from LGBT after accepting Christ were reported being censored by Facebook. Apart from the alternative social media platform, Andrew has also founded an alternative search engine to Google called 1776Free. 1776Free's is described as "the answer to Google and others censoring Christians, conservatives, patriotic speech, family values, and liberty." Web Toolbar by Wibiya For years, people have debated about the nature of intelligent, extraterrestrial life, including UFO activity, alien abductions and more. However, in spite of this, governments around the world have strongly denied the existence of such phenomena by hiding relevant information and labelling UFOs and alien encounters as natural events. However, in the last few months, some governments have changed their strategy. And one of them is the U.S. government. In recent days, a group of congressmen and members of the Pentagon have declared that UFOs are off-world vehicles not made on this earth. Along these lines, renowned Australian researcher Dr Michael Salla explained in an article posted on Exopolitics.org that this assertion is based on the testimony of Dr Eric Davis, a well-respected physicist who worked a few years ago for EarthTech, a company from Texas involved in advanced aerospace developments. Mr Salla affirms that Dr Davis gave briefings that classified corporate studies were being conducted on the off-world vehicles recovered and held in corporate facilities. Naturally, this means that the US government and military publicly acknowledge that they have conducted secret operations to reverse engineer extraterrestrial craft. The physicist also declared that Vice-Admiral Thomas Wilson, a high-profile military official, asked from him more information about his works on UFOs in EarthTech. Wilson, who was not allowed to participate in any activity related to this issue has recently expressed that a secret project aimed to reverse engineer a retrieved extraterrestrial vehicle had been carried out a few years ago. Nonetheless, the extraterrestrial origin of these vehicles does not mean that they necessarily come from outer space. In fact, some ufologists like Alex Collier have spoken for years about underground alien bases in certain locations on Earth, like the Iranian desert or Tibet. This could explain how some of these objects seem to emerge from the sea, the desert or from behind the mountains. Mr Collier, who has gotten information from direct sources (this means, from aliens themselves), explains that extraterrestrials and humans have worked together to build and operate these bases. Actually, he mentions the special case of two bases in Australia (one in the south, in a location called Pine Gap, and the other in the Great Victoria Desert) that, in his own words, have been built by the CIA. The government and the aliens are both operating in both places, he affirms. However, the UFO expert and contactee says that there are facilities in the Amazon, the Nevada desert (one of them is, naturally, the world-famous Area 51), the Antarctica, Sudan, Egypt, among others. It is really interesting to see that these secret bases are generally built in remote, almost unreachable areas like deserts or high mountains. Deserts and high mountains (like the Andes or Tibet) have special environmental conditions that make them more appealing to alien activity for two reasons: first, it is a well-known fact that some celestial bodies like Mars show a surface that is almost identical to Earth deserts; and secondly, these locations offer the proper secrecy aliens and government officials need to conduct their experiments. But, what kind of experiments? For example, some reports suggest that in the underground base located in Dulce, New Mexico, cloning, human and alien crossbreeding, and mind control are common activities. These reports are based on the testimonies of insiders like the late-Phillip Schneider, a researcher who had been hired by a private contractor to perform a classified operation in the area. However, what Mr Schneider found was terrifying. According to his story, when he and his group entered the underground base, the entities who were working there (in his opinion, Tall Greys) reacted with hostility, killing or severely injuring all the members of the group. He was one of the survivors, but the consequences of this encounter were terribly painful: he developed a carcinogenic reaction in the spot where he was hit by alien weapons. Nonetheless, from his visitation, the researcher learned that the base had 7 levels (one of them, the third one, included many state offices), each one dedicated to different sorts of experiments: genetic manipulation, mind control, cryogenic storage, among others. Unfortunately, Mr Schneider died in 1996. In spite of being ruled as a suicide, his close friends believed that his death was related to the incident. In fact, his girlfriend asserted that, when she entered his house, all his stuff about UFOs, books on conspiracy theories, and the data of his work was gone, while cash and valuables were still there. This account could perfectly explain why numberless abductees claim to suffer from health issues after their experiences. And, sadly, why some of them end up dying in extremely questionable circumstances. In any case, all these valuable evidences clearly suggest that powerful countries like the US, China or Russia, and major aerospace corporations not only know that UFOs are not man-made, but they are also working together with some outworldly visitors to develop new technologies and beyond: they are also carrying out experiments on humans. Nevertheless, these governments generally deny their participation in these activities because they know they are completely unethical. However, as Dr Salla affirms, all this information will astound many working professionals that have ignored decades of testimonial evidence that such programs were being secretly conducted at multiple military and corporate facilities. Draw your own conclusions The SWIFT project is moving full speed ahead in Niagara, its executive director says and its something that cant come quick enough for West Lincoln Coun. Albert Witteveen. SWIFT an acronym for Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. is non-profit regional broadband service that subsidizes construction of open-access, high-speed internet in underserved rural areas. This is vital in places like West Lincoln, Witteveen said. In agriculture, weve moved into the 21st century with things like robotic milking and technology to monitor the environment with smartphones where you are raising animals. If we want to stay on the cutting edge, we need the technology. The other thing thats come to light recently is the disadvantages rural students face when they are trying to learn online. Ive heard from students who say it just cant come fast enough. Barry Field, executive director of SWIFT, said the non-profit is in the procurement phase of its Niagara project. SWIFT has 14 RFPs (requests for proposals) for new projects in southwestern Ontario, including Niagaras, and he expects all to close before the end of the year. Niagara along with Caledon, Waterloo, London and Windsor is one of the contributing members of SWIFT. Lincoln Coun. Rob Foster is the local representative on the board. Field said the capital contribution from Niagara Region is $1 million. Its money that was set aside by the municipalitys last term of council. That local contribution will generate $13.3 million in investment when federal and provincial governments kick in about $8.9 million and the internet service providers supply about $4.1 million through the RFP process. Field said the investment will end up servicing an estimated 3,122 premises in rural Niagara using 172 kilometres of fibre-ized technology. Field said the budget could grow and serve more premises depending on how the RFP process shakes out. Internet service providers typically pay about one-third of the budget in a SWIFT project. The agency estimates there are about 41,000 km of underserved road in southwestern Ontario area it serves. It would cost $2.6 billion to service it all. We dont have $2.6 billion, Field said. We have $210 million. We are trying to solve that problem by stretching that money as far as it will go to solve as much of the problem as we possibly can. Field said SWIFT estimates there are about 6.8 of unserved premises in Niagara per kilometre of rural roadway. That not an attractive density for telecom companies. To be frank, the telecoms want to be building in areas where there are high population densities, Field said. They want economies of scale where they can make a lot of money. Typically, they wont go into these rural areas on their own without subsidies. Field said wireless companies are trying to to the job. They can be hit or miss, Field said. There are some excellent wireless companies, but there is also some spotty service. The CRTC has set a universal service objective of every Canadian having access to 50 megabits of download and 10 megabits of upload speed by 2023. Most urban centres have speeds of 1,000 megabytes for downloads and 1,000 megabytes for uploads available, he said. If everything works out, construction projects in Niagara will start in 2021, Field said. Gaza: after rocket, Israel hits Hamas targets Qatar and Egypt try to avert escalation (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV/GAZA, AUGUST 19 - The Israeli air force resumed hitting Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, for the seventh consecutive day, following the launch of rockets and dozens of incendiary balloons towards Israel. An Israeli military spokesperson said a training camp for a special unit of Hamas was targeted. There was no news of victims. Meanwhile, the ambassador of Qatar, Mohammad al-Amadi, who maintains constant contact with Israelis and Palestinians, said his country is making "intense efforts with both sides to prevent further escalation and to alleviate the condition of the people of Gaza". On Tuesday, an Egyptian intelligence delegation also shuttled between Israelis and Palestinians to avert a new outbreak of violence.(ANSAmed). (ANSA). Education union chiefs have today demanded an overhaul of next year's GCSE and A-Level exams over fears coronavirus could cut school contact time and called for an emphasis shift away from end-of-year exams - because students find them 'too stressful'. Bosses at the National Education Union (NEU), the UK's largest teaching union, have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, warning new spikes in Covid-19 could lead to 'further loss of schooling'. The union has warned the Government should already be making contingency plans and have called for changes to next year's exams, in the hope education chiefs can 'build confidence' in the grades awarded. These include reducing the amount of content assessed in 2021's GCSE and A-level exams, working with teachers to develop a 'robust' system for moderated centre-assessed grades. The NEU also wants an independent review into the assessment methods for GCSEs and A-levels, warning that the current system is 'over-reliant' on end of year exams, which 'increase student anxiety'. The calls comes after the government's dramatic U-turn over A-Level exam grades earlier this week, which saw a controversial algorithm system scrapped after thousands of students had their teacher-assessed grades lowered - mostly based upon their school's previous set of results. In their letter, NEU chiefs Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said the controversy around last week's A-level results 'must never happen again'. NEU chiefs Kevin Courtney (left) and Dr Mary Bousted (right) have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, warning new spikes in Covid-19 could lead to 'further loss of schooling'. The union has warned the Government (pictured: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson) should already be making contingency plans and have called for changes to next year's exams, in the hope education chiefs can 'build confidence' in the grades awarded Militant teaching union threatens to keep schools SHUT in September Militant teaching unions who openly bragged about a 'win' over the government's u-turn on bringing students back before summer have threatened to keep schools closed in September. Bosses at the National Education Union (NEU), the UK's largest teaching union, say it may be 'impossible' for 'many' schools to reopen at the start of the new academic year. It comes as ministers admitted they were powerless to force schools to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said ministers could not 'decree' that schools open, while Dr Mary Bousted, joint head of the NEU, agreed the government could not 'carry out its threats'. In a recorded Zoom meeting, seen by the Daily Telegraph, Dr Bousted also told members they could not 'trust' the government's current guidance and called for the decision on bringing all pupils back to be taken locally. Advertisement In the letter, they said: 'It is clear to the National Education Union that Government needs to make much bigger changes to next year's exams in order to build confidence that the grades awarded, upon which young people's life chances are determined, properly recognise and reward their achievements. 'You should be working, now, to examine different possible scenarios and to develop contingency plans in case of further school and college closures.' They added: 'The current over-reliance on end of course exams increases student anxiety and fails to give a fair reflection of what students can achieve. 'All options should be considered to ensure that young people are rewarded for their achievements, supported to fulfil their potential and not held back due to their background.' The calls by the NEU, who earlier this month threatened to keep schools closed in September if safety standards for coronavirus weren't met, comes after top universities called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students. Universities also called for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 3billion bailout. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after the Government's screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have the grades to get into their first choice places. But top schools are struggling with the sheer volume of demand as the 55,000 who accepted a place at another university or bagged a new course at clearing are now abandon those decisions to try and get into their top choice. Students from Codsall Community High School protest outside the constituency office of their local MP, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year. The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement Meanwhile there are fears that students leaving lower-ranked institutions to go to their first choice could leave them vulnerable financially, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggesting this could cost 140million. They previously warned the loss of the university sector in total could run to as high as anywhere between 3billion and 19billion. In a further briefing note today the think tank warned that while leading universities would now be 'awash' with students, many lower-ranked universities risked losing a substantial share of their intake, which could be 'financially crippling'. Report authors Jack Britton and Ben Waltmann said: 'Lower-ranked universities could dip into the pool of potential students who got no offers or have not yet applied. 'These students will have much better grades than usual this year, and many might be interested in going to university given the exceptionally tough labour market. 'Attracting these students could help the lowest-ranked universities avoid large losses. It would also pose a new challenge, as many of these students could be underprepared for their courses, especially having missed out on the experience of actually sitting their A Level exams.' It comes as the government has been urged to take on more students at medical school, where places are highly-competitive and much of the cost of training doctors is met by the taxpayer. Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and there are restrictions on NHS work placements. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning told Sky News he acknowledged calls to increase student places and promised that the Government is working on the issue. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. The government has removed the cap for other subjects so universities can take on more students, but kept it in place for medicine and dentistry. The u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' The Royal College of GPs and British Medical Association have also backed calls for more places for medics. A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year But Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, said additional places would require more funding and support from the government. She said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' The University and College Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) have also signed a joint letter to Mr Williamson, warning the lifting of the student cap - which had aimed to prevent institutions from over-recruiting to make up for lost revenue as a result of Covid-19 - would 'remove one of the only interventions that the government has made to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid crisis on universities'. The letter said: 'While it is still unclear exactly what the distribution of domestic students across higher education will be, it is widely anticipated that institutions will move as much as possible to honour their offers. 'This will likely lead to expanded recruitment at high-tariff institutions at the expense of lower-tariff universities, shifting the financial pain from the Covid crisis onto many of the institutions that play a vital role in widening participation and social mobility.' As Monsignor David Toups wound down his introductory speech earlier this summer at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica in Beaumont, the bilingual bishop-elect switched from speaking English to Spanish. It was a moment that Father Luis Urriza wont soon forget. When Toups speech concluded, Urriza, a 99-year-old priest at Christo Rey Catholic Church in Beaumont, stood up and applauded loudly from one of the first pews. For people to know he speaks Spanish, its very important, Urriza said, recalling the moment. It shows them that hes one of us. Toups ability to speak Spanish is about more than just functionality. It represents a previously untapped connection between the Diocese of Beaumont and its Latino community, according to Hispanic leaders within the church. Toups understands the importance of reaching the Hispanic population in Beaumont. He wants to place an emphasis on better establishing that relationship in the years to come. Everybody is represented in the church, Toups said. There are many diverse members and the leadership should come through that diversity as well. Roughly 40 percent of the population within the diocese is Latino, according Director of Hispanic Ministry Jesus Abrego. That number is only getting bigger in Beaumont, creating a need for more outreach in the community. Were growing every year, said Abrego, who has worked with the diocese since 1999. Many of those Latinos are first-generation, Spanish-only speakers who are in Beaumont on work visas, according to Abrego. He said former Bishop Curtis J. Guillory related well to these parishioners over the years, but there was still a divide because Guillory didnt speak Spanish. Guillory was the first African-American bishop to lead a diocese in Texas. Bishop Guillory has something where he understands the reality of being a minority, Abrego said. He relates to U.S.-born Latinos. His first language was French because of his parents. When he talks to first-generation Latinos, he has the same perspective. But that was one of Bishop Guillorys biggest things moving forward, Abrego added. We needed to have bishop who knew the Spanish language. Urriza, the oldest priest within the diocese, has seen the needs of the Latino population change over the years. After coming to Beaumont from Spain, Urriza founded Christo Rey Church in 1951 to help reach those Spanish speakers in the community with no place to worship. Located on Avenue A off College Street, the church sits in one of the citys most heavily Hispanic communities. Now decades after founding Christo Rey, Urriza still serves his Latino population to the best of his ability. However, only one member of his original church still remains. Instead, a younger generation of Hispanics have come into the community, and different programs are needed to reach them, Urriza said. These younger Hispanics often are bilingual, so language barriers are no longer an issue for them. Its more about finding ways to attract them to the church, then keep them coming back. That is done by creating outreach initiatives centered around the interests of young people, but thats hard to do without the proper funding. According to Urriza, Christo Rey is the least-funded church in the Beaumont diocese. Peoples needs keep changing and changing. Its not easy, Urriza said of making the numbers work. Abrego said hes talked with Toups about multiple ways to improve outreach programs for Hispanics, and specific plans will be put into place once the coronavirus pandemic slows. Toups ordination will take place on Friday, and Urriza was asked to take part in the ceremony after initially blessing the bishop-elect during his introduction back in June. Following Fridays ordination, Toups will then celebrate his first Sunday Mass at Christo Rey Church another representation of the growing connection between the Latino community and the Beaumont Diocese. Were expecting a lot of people, Abrego said. It will be a great celebration for the church. mfaye@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/mattGfaye US trying to contrive victory with tanker seizure: Iran Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 12:23 PM Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has reiterated that the cargo of oil tankers reportedly seized by the United States last week was not Iranian. "The United States is seeking to contrive a victory for itself. Neither did the ships nor the cargo belong to Iran," Zangeneh told reporters on Tuesday after attending a parliamentary session. US officials have said the Trump administration seized the cargo of four tankers transporting 1.1 million barrels of gasoline to Venezuela as part of Washington's campaign of maximum pressure on both countries. Tehran has pushed back on Washington's effort to portray the seizure as a victory after the US failed to stop five Iranian tankers from delivering badly needed fuel Venezuela in May. Iran's ambassador to Venezuela, Hojjat Soltani, has said the report was an "act of psychological warfare perpetrated by the US propaganda machine" trying to compensate for the Trump administration's "humiliation and defeat by Iran using false propaganda." Zangeneh on Tuesday said the cargo included Iranian gasoline sold to Venezuela. "These shipments included Iranian gasoline that was sold FOB (free on board) to Venezuela; so the United States has not confiscated the property of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the property of Venezuela," he said. On Monday, the Iranian minister sought to put the kibosh on the much-hyped report as he made it clear that the money for the cargoes had been settled. "Please don't talk about Venezuela at all. It was a merely commercial deal. Don't turn it to a political battle. The cargoes that the Americans have seized had gone from Iran. But neither the tankers nor the contents belonged to us," he said. Local companies snap up major deals Zangeneh made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony in Tehran to sign more than $1.5 billion euros of contracts to raise oil production by over 180,000 barrels per day (bpd). The signing included 13 projects awarded by the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) and the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company (NIOOC) to 14 domestic companies. Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Masoud Karbasian said the contracts were the second part of a bigger package for a total production rise over 280,000 bpd from 33 fields with direct investment of $6.2 billion. The first stage of the plan, he said, involved 10 contracts worth 740 million euros signed in 2019 with a 75,000 bpd oil production target. Zangeneh has said Iran's oil industry is on the frontline of the fight against "the enemy" which has slapped the sector with the most aggressive sanctions ever to dry up the country's revenues. On Tuesday, the minister said Iranian companies are undertaking development and rehabilitation projects to enable the country to regain lost market share once sanctions against its energy sector are lifted. "These projects bear a message right now that we work under the sanctions... some would ask me whether it's necessary to create production capacity while you have surplus capacity and you cannot use the capacity fully under the sanctions," Zangeneh said. Iran sits on the world's largest reserves of gas and the fourth largest oil deposits just behind Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada, but the development of its energy sector has been bedeviled by the sanctions. The coercive measures, however, have buoyed domestic entities which before the sanctions were always written off for lucrative contracts against major international companies. Iran's oil industry has been looking inward since the sanctions came into effect in November 2018, going out of its way to put unprecedented trust in local companies for implementation of some major projects. As an example, a multibillion-dollar deal to develop phase 11 of supergiant South Pars gas field has been awarded to Iran's Petropars after French oil major Total and the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) withdrew from the project. In February, Iranian companies installed a 2,500-tonne offshore platform at phase 13 of the world's largest gas field in the Persian Gulf, in a further testimony to their burgeoning ability to carry out tasks which until recently were an exclusive prerogative of international energy giants. The same month, Iran unveiled its first oil rig manufactured by domestic companies, fulfilling a dream which the country's petroleum industry cherished for long. Earlier this month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhnai opened what was billed as the world's largest methanol plant in Bushehr. And Iran awarded last month a $1.3 billion development plan to more than double oil production at the South Azadegan field. It was the second oil project signed in the month with local companies after a $300 million contract to develop the Yaran oil field was warded to Persia Oil and Gas Industry Development Co. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The number of pupils attending fee-paying secondary schools in Ireland has reached its highest level in a decade. New figures published by the Department of Education show a total of 25,881 students were enrolled in private post-primary schools in the 2019/20 school year an annual increase of 1% with an extra 275 pupils enrolled compared to the previous year. Despite the rise in numbers attending private schools, the popularity of private education in general appears to be on the decline as the increase has not kept pace with growth in the overall student population. The proportion of all second-level students attending a fee-charging school has declined steadily since a peak in 2007 when over 8% of pupils attended private college. The latest figures show approximately 7% of secondary school pupils in the recent school year attended a fee-pay college. There is a consistent pattern of more boys than girls attending fee-charging schools 8% of male secondary students attend private college compared to 6.9% of females. A total of 51 out of 723 secondary schools are fee-paying one less than the previous year following the closure of Notre Dame in Churchtown, Dublin in 2019. Two-thirds of private schools are located in Dublin. While enrolments in primary schools peaked in 2018 and are projected to fall over the coming 15 years, numbers attending secondary schools are expected to continue to rise for the next few years. The countrys largest private school is the all-male Blackrock College in south Dublin where annual day fees last year were 7,100. Blackrock College had a total of 1,024 students enrolled in 2019/20, just ahead of Belvedere College in Dublins north inner city, which had 1,000 pupils. The largest mixed private school is St Andrews College in Booterstown, Dublin with 991 students enrolled, while the largest all-girls private school is Mount Anville in Goatstown with 706 students. The smallest is the interdenominational John Scottus school, which recently moved from its principal location in Donnybrook to its facility in Rathmichael, Co Dublin, with 118 students. Outside Dublin, the largest private school is Christian Brothers College in Cork city, which had 911 students last year. The countrys most expensive private school is St Columbas College in Rathfarnham where annual fees for the coming school year for day pupils is 8,654, rising to 23,952 for a senior boarder. Private schools receive their income from a combination of fee revenue and teachers salaries paid by the Department of Education. However, they do not receive capitation funding which was 309 per student in 2019/20. The latest figures available show the Department of Education provided 95m for salaries of teachers and special needs assistants in private schools in 2018/19, with further funding of 0.95m for capital projects. Michigan native and Hollywood actor Kristen Bell remembers the late-night trips to Meijer stores. Before she was a star of TV/film/social media and everything Frozen, she was a 16-year-old kid from Huntington Woods, and a Meijer groupie. Meijer was my favorite late-night run as a teenager, Bell said in a recent interview with MLive. For what? Sanders Chocolate Fudge Bumpy Cake ice cream, of course. I would be with all of my buddies at home, and we were just like, You know what we need? Bumpy Cake and Cream ice cream! And Meijer was the only place that carried it. I cannot tell you how many times we made 11 oclock runs to Meijer. Now the 40-year-old mother of two, who is married to another Michigan native, actor/podcaster Dax Shepard, finds herself attracted to Meijer in a whole different way. Bell, Shepard and a few other partners signed a deal to sell their Hello Bello baby products in Meijer stores. In fact, they have created a whole line of plant-based and organic baby products, including diapers, wipes, body wash, lotions and even vitamins. All are available now at all of Meijers 242 stores in five states. Launched in February 2019, Hello Bello products include everything from plant-based shampoo and lotion to organic baby powder and bug spray. They are meant to give parents comfort about what theyre putting on their baby and bringing into their home, Bell said. The lines diapers, for example, are hypoallergenic, made without lotions, fragrance, phthalates or latex, and made with a plant-derived core liner, sustainably harvested fluff pulp and processed chlorine-free, according to HelloBello.com. And the prices are in the ballpark of name brands. The expansion onto Meijer shelves means parents have access to premium and affordable baby products, she added. When we had our first child, it wasnt lost on us that we were going to all these super clean boutiques in California, buying premium baby care products and never looking at the price tag, Bell said. It just occurred to us how unfair that felt. Never intending to open a company together, the celebrity couple met other partners whose vision of a high-quality baby care line matched their desire of more accessibility. No one in the world should have to choose between their baby and their budget, Bell said. In addition, the couple has been giving away diapers every week on their social media channels, and they offer online discounts for military and first responders. Expanding into Meijer is something we need, she said. We want this product to be on the shelves where people can access it. Meijer corporate officials were excited to partner with the couple because theyre very realistic in their approach to parenthood, said Matt Campbell, category manager of baby products for Meijer. They understand the joys and struggles of baby care and have their heart in the right place when it comes to offering premium products that are accessible for young parents, which is consistent with our goal for the baby brands we offer at Meijer, Campbell said. It was an easy decision to bring their product line into our stores based on the premium quality alone, but the fact they are both Michigan natives makes it even better. We asked Bell if she ever dreamed of a day when Meijer would be carrying her own product line? No way. Not a chance, Bell said. Thats why this expansion makes me the most excited. Its the most personal. I grew up in an area where we relied on the Meijer chain. And I love Meijer. It has such a nostalgic, beautiful place in my heart. And being able to announce that something I made is going on the shelves there? It feels extra special as far as accomplishments are concerned. What would have 16-year-old Kristen Bell envisioned as a product she could create and sell at Meijer? Oh, scrunchies for sure, she said, without hesitation. It would have been a line of scrunchies in pastel colors, and they would be right at the front because I am incredibly susceptible to impulse buys. Learn more about the full line of products at hellobello.com. As pandemic lockdowns at many facilities stretch into their sixth month, the concept of expanded visits for essential caregivers is drawing support from advocates for nursing home residents and from many caregivers and gaining traction among policy makers. Last week, New Jersey and South Dakota announced essential caregiver policies, joining Indiana and Minnesota, which launched their programs in June and July, respectively. Michigan's nursing home restrictions do not use the term "essential caregiver" but do allow visits that support residents' daily living activities. The state programs vary in detail but share a goal of mitigating what Minnesota's plan calls the unintended consequences of prolonged physical separation and isolation on a resident's overall health and well-being." "There are some residents that are really experiencing severe distress and decline, says Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Long-Term Care, a nonprofit advocacy group. We think that for those residents, there needs to be really targeted access." The push on visitation comes as long-term care facilities continue to struggle with shortages of staff, testing and personal protective equipment (PPE), and as COVID-19 case counts remain high in much of the country. Long-term care facilities account for more than 67,000 COVID deaths in the U.S. nearly 40 percent of the nation's death toll. The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), trade groups for long-term care providers, say federal data show that nursing home cases rose sharply in July after falling through most of June, with increases concentrated in the Sun Belt. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which works with states to regulate nursing homes, continues to recommend strict limits on visitation. "We would love nothing more than to see residents and families together again, says Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of long-term care and other aging services. "But without a coordinated federal response to address PPE shortages and a federally funded national testing plan, nursing homes must proceed with caution, carefully consider all the tradeoffs with each visitation strategy, then choose among extremely difficult options." 'It's not a casual visit' Essential caregivers are typically family members or friends who were a steady presence at a loved one's facility before the pandemic, providing companionship and help with daily activities such as eating, bathing and grooming, or who commit to fulfilling that role now. "It's not a casual visit, says Lindsey Krueger, health facilities section chief for the Minnesota Department of Health. We're trying to keep the residents at the center of all of this and ensure that we are trying to meet their well-being through this unprecedented time of COVID." These programs are distinct from guidelines for general visitation put in place by the 30-plus states and the District of Columbia that have begun reopening long-term care facilities for certain kinds of visits. Like other visitors, essential caregivers are required to wear masks, get screened for symptoms, and keep their distance from staff and other residents. But they are generally allowed to visit more often, for longer periods, and go to loved ones rooms. Their access is not necessarily subject to facilities being COVID-free for a set period, as are broader visitation rules. Individual facilities have final say on whether to allow essential caregivers in for such visits, and on who qualifies as an essential caregiver. States that have adopted such policies recommend or require that residents be consulted on and agree to the choice, which Elaine Ryan, AARP's vice president of state advocacy and strategy integration, says is essential. "While essential caregiver programs are a step forward, she says, we must insist that all residents are afforded the choice to designate the caregiver or caregivers they want to see, and each facility must design a plan to meet the individual needs of each resident." In an email statement to AARP, AHCA/NCAL called essential caregiver programs an encouraging approach to alleviating isolation. This is a complex issue and will require a multipronged approach to support residents and their families until we have an effective and widely available vaccine, the association said. States take notice States with essential caregiver policies are still the exception, but health officials in Indiana and Minnesota say they've fielded inquiries from other states about their programs. A Pennsylvania state senator has pledged to introduce legislation on such visits, and the issue is on the table for a task force appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to make recommendations on reopening long-term care facilities to visitors, according to Mary Daniel, a member of the panel. Airbnb has launched technology to prevent people from hosting wild parties at its short-term rental properties. The business ran a pilot test of its new reservation screening system in Melbourne over the past two years and plan to roll out the tech across the country. The system uses information including group size, listing size and duration of stay to calculate the risk level of a booking and stop house parties before they start. Bookings made on event weekends such as public holidays and renters who frequently book properties in the same location are also identified as a concern. Airbnb are set to roll out their reservation screening system around the country to prevent 'high risk' bookings and wild parties at rental properties. Pictured: CCTV footage from a wild gathering at an Airbnb in Bennett Springs in Perth The new Airbnb system uses data to identify and prevent suspicious bookings and avoid damaged properties More than 1,400 bookings considered 'high risk and suspicious' were prevented across Melbourne using the system, with the accounts of proposed party planners removed from Airbnb's system. 'The nationwide rollout of our industry-leading screening system will give communities additional peace of mind and arm our team with the additional tools they need to further crack down on parties and suspicious bookings,' Derek Nolan, Airbnb's head of public policy for Australia Derek Nolan said. Damage from illegal parties make up a minimal percentage of Airbnb's business, with their data revealing only 0.03% of trips using their service involved damages require a claim of US$500 (AU$690) or higher. 'While no system is perfect and able to prevent issues 100% of the time, our team has worked diligently to ensure our high-risk reservation screening technology can give communities and hosts a high degree of confidence that were looking out for them,' Mr Nolan said. The new technology comes after a string of rental homes were trashed by revellers across the country, leaving homeowners stranded with huge damage bills. Jenny Rylance rented out her home in Brisbane to someone she believed was a musician in town from Perth to play a series of concerts. Ms Rylance's had timber railings ripped off, paintings stolen and a bong was found at the property after a wild Airbnb party But over three wild nights her house was turned upside down after dozens of guests trashed the place, leaving smashed glass, stolen TVs, used condoms and $50,000 worth of damage. Police were eventually called to the home to find three underage girls asleep inside who claimed they arrived after hearing about a party on Instagram. 'You've spent so much time painstakingly putting together and decorating and co-ordinating and to have it treated like this it breaks your heart,' Ms Rylance told A Current Affair. 'It's beyond words - you read about it. It's your greatest fear as a landlord. You really think it's not going to happen to you.' Food and alcohol were thrown around the house staining the walls and paintings and electronics were stolen, with Ms Rylance told of the party by fed up neighbours. 'I'm really hurt. I'm taking this quite personally. We've had bums before but not at this level. 'I keep telling myself it's a rental house but I'm lying. It's not our permanent home but it's our home.' An Airbnb house in Cannington in Perth was left completely trashed after the tenants hosted an an out-of-control party in November last year Ms Rylance said Airbnb had given her $2,000 for the damage - the rest she would have to claim on insurance. No charges were laid for the damage to the home. Mr Nolan highlighted that Airbnb have a ban on hosting parties in rental properties and those involved in planning illegal events will be removed from their service. 'Its critically important that every single person using our platform behaves in a manner thats respectful of the neighbourhoods in which theyre staying. Thats non-negotiable for us,' he said. 'Our ongoing ban on party houses is being enforced to take action against both guests who misbehave and hosts who wilfully allow their homes to become chronic nuisances for neighbours. 'While negative incidents are extremely rare, we are confident our industry-leading high-risk reservation screening technology and processes will make them even rarer. 'This is about continually improving our systems to more efficiently find the needle in the haystack.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-18 23:11:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will firmly support the purpose and objective of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and faithfully fulfill its obligations, a senior Chinese diplomat said here on Monday. In a statement to the Sixth Conference of States Parties to ATT, scheduled between Aug. 17 to 21 and being conducted through written procedure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Li Song, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, said that China supports the international community to take all necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and to combat illicit transfer of conventional arms. Li told the conference that China's accession to the ATT is a significant step of its active participation in the global governance on arms trade and in safeguarding international and regional peace and stability. The ATT will enter into force for China on Oct. 4 of 2020. "China has always taken a prudent and responsible approach and exercised strict control on its arms export," Li said, adding that a full-fledged policy and legislative system of export control on conventional arms has been established in the country. He proposed to enhance the universality and effectiveness of the ATT, to enhance the interaction and coordination among relevant mechanisms on conventional arms control in the framework of the UN, and to enhance the sense of responsibility in arms trade. "China is ready to join hands with all parties, including the States Parties to the ATT, to consolidate consensus and make greater contributions to the effective implementation of the ATT, to the establishment of a fair and regulated international order of arms trade, and to safeguarding the international and regional peace and stability," said the ambassador. Enditem Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Expanding using of plasma to treat coronavirus patients is being put on hold by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a decision supported by at least one Michigan hospital using the treatment. The treatment involves taking blood plasma donated by people who have recovered by coronavirus and transfusing it into patients with active virus. The idea is that antibodies from the recovered patient will help fight the infection. The treatment has been available for patients enrolled in clinical trials. The FDA was considering whether to issue an emergency use authorization, which would allow the treatment to be made more available. Today, the New York Time reported that the authorization was put on hold after a group of federal health officials -- including Dr. H. Clifford Lane, deputy director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins and NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci -- argued there was not yet enough data yet to support whether the treatment is safe and effective. The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials, and that a pandemic does not change that, Lane told the New York Times. Henry Ford Health System in metro Detroit, which has been involved in the clinical trials, issued a statement backing the FDA decision, while noting that its own experience with plasma treatment appears to be positive. As an institution that has been engaged in the study of convalescent plasma since April, and to date has treated more than 150 patients across its hospitals, Henry Ford supports the FDAs decision, the statement said. Anecdotally, Henry Ford patients have done well with convalescent plasma treatment, the press release said. Nevertheless, there are many variables involved before determining whether the treatment is effective. The hospital system will continue to provide use the treatment in clinical studies and when they can obtain a compassionate use authorization from the FDA. The latter is for patients with life-threatening disease. Dr. Indira Brar, Henry Ford Health System Divisions of Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine, told reporters in a press briefing that she agrees with the FDA that more evidence is needed. As a health system, we believe that randomized clinical trials is currently the best way to get robust clinical data as it pertains to the use of convalescent plasma, not only for the effectiveness of the plasma, but also for safety, she said. While Henry Ford patients seem to have done well with plasma treatment, Brar said that other factors could be at work. We dont know all the variables that might have been involved, she said. Plasma has been among the coronavirus treatments touted by President Donald Trump, who at a Aug. 3 press conference called plasma a beautiful ingredient. You had something very special. You had something that knocked it out. So we want to be able to use it, Trump said. Henry Fords endorsement of the FDA decision comes in the wake of controversy over the health systems study on hydroxychloroquine, another treatment promoted by Trump. The Henry Ford study concluded that treatment with hydroxychloroquine significantly reduces the death rate of COVID-19 patients. That contradicted other studies that found the drug was effective. During a Congressional hearing last month, Fauci called the study a flawed trial, saying it wasnt a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The Henry Ford Hospital study that was published was a non-controlled, retrospective cohort study that was confounded by a number of issues including the fact that many people who received hydroxychloroquine were also receiving corticosteroids, which we know from another study gives a clear benefit in reducing deaths with advanced disease, he said. So that study is a flawed study. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS: In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/. Read more on MLive: Michigans unemployment agency turns to snail mail to cut down on fraud Wednesday, Aug. 19, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Menominee joins Ontonagon in the red zone Michigan State University switches fall semester to remote learning, tells students to stay home A growing number of oil and gas companies are looking to measure and reduce their carbon emissions under increased pressure from shareholders to join the fight against climate change - and the result is that the tech industry is starting to get into the oil and gas game. A growing number of technology companies from well-established names to start-ups are now launching carbon emissions tracking and accounting software, Reuters reports. In June, Germany's SAP launched a carbon emissions accounting system to help firms manage and reduce their carbon footprint and accelerate the move to sustainable business practices. "Our goal is to create transparency about carbon emissions all the way through the value chain, across industries, geographies, products, and services," Toby Croucher, head of Solution Management for Climate 21 and Sustainability at SAP, said in June. Salesforce also has a carbon accounting offering to help companies in many industries track, analyze, and reduce their carbon emissions. Venture-backed software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Persefoni, founded this year and based in Arizona, announced on Tuesday the launch of its carbon footprint management platform and the closing of US$3.5 million in seed round funding, led by Rice Investment Group, which invests in energy firms. Related: COVID-19 Positive Russian Oil Minister Will Join OPEC+ Meeting "Persefoni has already witnessed incredible demand for a platform to do just that from some of the world's largest companies and institutional investors across every sector and geography," Kentaro Kawamori, CEO and Co-Founder of Persefoni, said in a statement. Daniel Rice IV, Co-Founder and Partner at Rice Investment Group, said: "As energy-focused investors, we are acutely aware of the growing demand from all stakeholders for standardized, quality information about companies' carbon footprints." Some oil and gas companies in Europe have already committed to targets to significantly reduce their carbon emissions in the next decades. Some, including BP and Shell, aim to become net-zero energy businesses by 2050 or sooner. The largest U.S. oil firms, however, have not made any such pledges, but investor pressure on Exxon and Chevron to start accounting for climate risks is mounting. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Democratic Party has nominated Joe Biden as its presidential candidate to take on Republican Donald Trump in the November election. The decision was taken at the ongoing convention of the party. The coronavirus pandemic has posed serious problems ahead of the election, and many are pushing for expanded use of postal ballots as against in-person voting to ensure social distancing and stay safe from the disease which has wreaked havoc in the United States. Trump is opposed to the system claiming it will lead to voter fraud. His party has accused that the practice of postal ballots will lead to rigged election. The case for in-mail voting: With the Trump administration openly trying to undermine mail-in voting this fall, some election officials around the country are hoping to bypass the Postal Service by installing lots of ballot drop boxes in libraries, community centres and other public places. Such boxes have been used with success for several years in states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado that rely largely or entirely on ballots that must be sent in. But their use is being expanded because of the coronavirus outbreak. State or local authorities in places such as Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are pressing for more boxes or drop-off sites that would enable ballots to reach election officials without going through the mail. What is in-mail voting: The process is simply sending a vote by mail. In the US, when the election authorities receive such a request, they send ballot to the address of the voter who wants to exercise this option after vetting the application. The voter (or a group of them) can then sign the envelope, casts it and send the ballot boxes back to authorities. Voting by mail is not new in the United States - nearly 1 in 4 voters cast 2016 presidential ballots that way. Routine methods and the decentralised nature of US elections make it very hard to interfere with mailed ballots, experts say. While mail balloting has its drawbacks, it can help minimise the long lines, faulty voting machines and Covid-19-induced staffing shortages that have plagued some elections this year. What are the hurdles? There are 17 states in the US such as Texas, New York and Louisiana that would need to change their policies to guarantee that everyone who wants to vote by mail in November is able to do that. It will be expensive. The Brennan Centre for Justice estimated the cost of ensuring that vote by mail was available for all voters could be up to $1.4 billion, with postage alone costing up to $600 million. How secure is the process? Election experts say it would be nearly impossible for foreign actors to disrupt an election by mailing out fake ballots. Ballots arent counted if they arent printed on the proper type of paper and dont include specific technical markings. States also require voters to sign the outside of their envelope, which they match to a signature on file. Some 29 states and the District of Columbia allow voters to track their ballots to ensure they are received, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fourteen states and DC also allow voters to return their ballots by hand if they dont trust the mail. Those envelopes are typically opened by a different group of workers than those who scan the ballots. Outside observers are allowed to monitor the process to ensure voter privacy. What about incidents of fraud? As with other forms of voting, documented cases of mail-ballot fraud are extremely rare. The conservative Heritage Foundation, which has warned of the risks of mail voting, found 14 cases of attempted mail fraud out of roughly 15.5 million ballots cast in Oregon since that state started conducting elections by mail in 1998. How is President Trump dealing with it? Trump made clear last week that he was blocking $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service, acknowledging he wanted to curtail election mail operations, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states to help process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Trump criticised postal operations and claimed that universal mail-in ballots would be a disaster. The bills sponsor, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, said it was wrong to block the view of witnesses because they could not know if an execution was botched or not. Her bill would have allowed members of the execution team to wear a mask or a disguise to conceal their identity, which Ricketts said would make a mockery out of the event and be disrespectful to the condemned inmate. Protecting the identity of the staff who are required to perform this duty ... is done for their safety and the safety of their families, the governor said. He added that execution team members could be identified even if they wore a mask or disguise. Pansing Brooks called the veto disturbing, saying it betrayed the publics right to transparency and accountability. In the governments most powerful and solemn act, the taking of a human life, we have an obligation to make sure it is carried out within the highest of standards, the senator said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 19:44:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- With the jobless rate remaining high for the past there months, Hong Kong has stepped up relief measures to help struggling businesses keep afloat and cash-strapped residents make ends meet in its latest effort to mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic. The unemployment rate stood at 6.1 percent in the May-July period, retreating slightly from the over-15-year high of 6.2 percent from April to June, data from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government showed on Wednesday. Despite the decline, Secretary for Labor and Welfare of the HKSAR government Law Chi-kwong stressed that "the labor market remained austere...and will remain under significant pressure in the near term." The unemployment rate of the consumption- and tourism-related sectors combined edged up to 10.8 percent in the May-July period, the highest since the SARS outbreak in 2003. Of all, the rate for food and beverage sector stood at 14.6 percent, and that of the construction sector edged up to 11.3 percent. Ronald Wan, chief executive of Partners Capital International, said it is too early to say the labor market has truly improved as sectors from catering to retails are still suffering from the impact of the resurgence of local infections since July. "The anti-disease fight is still ongoing in Hong Kong...and we should observe how the jobless figure moves in the next month," Wan said. Hong Kong has adopted the strictest social distancing measures and restrictions on inbound visitors to cope with a severe epidemic situation. Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 4,586. Given the lackluster job market, the HKSAR government announced earlier this week that the second phase of an over-80-billion-HK-dollar pro-employment subsidy program will be open to applications at the end of August. The second phase will provide salary subsidies with employers as much as 9,000 Hong Kong dollars (1,160 U.S. dollars) per person each month from September to November. Elderly workers, property management companies and supermarkets will also be covered. Under the program, the HKSAR government will help businesses pay the salaries of their employees in hopes of keeping employers afloat and controlling job losses. Around 43.9 billion Hong Kong dollars have been distributed to employers, with 97 percent of which as small and medium-sized enterprises, in the first phase from June to August. Besides, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said that another round of economic stimulus is in the pipeline, without disclosing more details. Various sectors in Hong Kong have welcomed the new relief measures and urged stronger efforts and faster implementation. As the high unemployment rate has yet to be contained, the government should take more actions as soon as possible, such distributing cash handouts to the laid-offs, especially to those in hardest-hit sectors including tourism, catering, retail, and transport, Wong Kwok, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, said. Wong also advised the government to create short-term jobs, like what was done during the SARS outbreak in 2003, and subsidize private organizations willing to add more temporary positions. Hong Kong's gross domestic product slumped 9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year as the economy was dealt "triple blows" from tightened trade environment, prolonged social disturbances, and a severe epidemic situation. The HKSAR government has already implemented unprecedented relief measures worth nearly 290 billion Hong Kong dollars to help safeguard jobs, support enterprises and relieve people's financial burdens. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 Hong Kong dollars) Enditem QINGDAO, China, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SOS Limited, (NYSE: SOS) today announced that it has acquired its insurance brokerage qualifications in China through the acquisition of Inner Mongolia Post Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. In March 2020, SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("SOS"), the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, entered into an agreement with China Post Group Corporation ("China Post"), the state-owned enterprise operating the official postal service of China, to acquire 100% of the equity interests of Inner Mongolia Post Insurance Agency Co., Ltd., an indirect subsidiary of China Post. Thereafter, Inner Mongolia Post Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of SOS and was officially renamed as Inner Mongolia SOS Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. Inner Mongolia SOS Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. ("Inner Mongolia SOS") is licensed to conduct the sale of insurance products and to collect insurance premiums within the administrative jurisdiction of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region through its 12 branches in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The insurance industry is highly regulated by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, an agency authorized by the State Council of China to regulate the insurance products and services market and maintaining legal and stable operations of the insurance industry in China. The entry threshold for private enterprises in the insurance industry is extremely high due to governmental regulations, and therefore the acquisition of Inner Mongolia SOS has brought strong business opportunities to SOS through its insurance brokerage qualifications in Inner Mongolia. At present, the insurance business data for the first quarter of 2019 released by the official website of Inner Mongolia Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau is approximately RMB30 billion (approximately US$4.338 billion). Based on this data, it is estimated that the overall insurance premium market of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2019 was approximately RMB100 billion (approximately US$14.46 billion). Generally, around 30% of the insurance premiums are collectible as handling fees, which is estimated to be approximately RMB 30 billion for 2019 (approximately US$ 4.338 billion). Management believes that through the addition of the insurance agency business, the operations of SOS will be further developed, and will bring the Company closer to its goal of building an international and efficient rescue service system. About SOS Limited SOS Limited, through its operating subsidiary, SOS Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("SOS") is a high-technology company providing a wide range of services to its corporate and individual members, including marketing data, technology and solutions for emergency rescue services. SOS is focused on the research and development of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence. We have created a SOS cloud emergency rescue service software as a service (SaaS) platform with three major product categories, including basic cloud (medical rescue card, car rescue card, financial rescue card, mutual assistance rescue card), cooperative cloud (information rescue center, intelligent big data, intelligent software and hardware), and information cloud (News Today, E-Commerce Today). This system provide marketing-related data, technology solutions, and technology-driven big data to clients such as insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, auto manufacturers, security providers, senior living assistance providers and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. SOS has obtained a national high-tech enterprise certification, the title of "big data star enterprise" awarded by Gui'an New District Government, and has registered 11 software copyrights and 2 patents. For more information, please visit: http://www.sosyun.com/ Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made herein are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward-looking statements include timing of the proposed transaction; the business plans, objectives, expectations and intentions of the parties once the transaction is complete, and SOS's estimated and future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, industry environment and potential growth opportunities. These forward-looking statements reflect the current analysis of existing information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. As a result, caution must be exercised in relying on forward-looking statements. Due to known and unknown risks, our actual results may differ materially from our expectations or projections. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact our expectations and projections can be found in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. SOS's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. SOS disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE SOS Limited Related Links http://www.sosyun.com/ Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I certainly hope Im wrong. I certainly hope it doesnt come to this. And yet I am concerned. Will Christian conservatives in America take their foot off the gas if Trump is reelected? Will we somehow put our trust in the government to save our nation from moral and cultural decline? Will we rely on the White House to fight our battles for life and liberty? Or will it take an overtly hostile president to awaken us from our all-too-common complacency and compromise? For decades it has been clear that serious change needed to come to the Church of America. For decades it has been clear that we needed a revolution in the Church by which I mean dramatic reformation and renewal before we could see the tide turn in our land. Yet it seems that it has taken the COVID-19 crisis to shake us into action. Finally, on a large, national scale, we are rethinking how to do church and how to be the church. We are looking outside the four walls of our congregational buildings. We are moving beyond spectator Christianity. We are taking public stands against unfair government practices. We are waking up. In addition, the radical nature of the protest movement (in contrast with legitimate issues concerning reconciliation and justice) is waking us up. Im talking about the radical agendas of the BLM movement and Antifa and the growing army of cultural anarchists and political socialists. These extreme and destructive groups have also helped to awaken slumbering believers, enabling us to see with our physical eyes the very real spiritual war we are fighting. And all this underscores the importance of the November elections. But if Trump is re-elected, will we be lulled into a false sense of security? Will we somehow think that, because he is such a fighter, he will fight our battles for us? Although Joe Biden is the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, should he win, vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris could very likely become president within the next four years. The consequences would be daunting. As a Christian friend (and native Californian) recently expressed to me via email, She terrifies me. At least Biden has a purported Catholic faith and takes a pragmatic view re: his political stance on abortion... whereas Harris is vehemently anti-life in every conceivable way. As for Biden, he already shifted dramatically left during the campaign, abandoning his historic support for the Hyde Amendment, to cite one important example. And it was Biden, as vice president, who spoke out publicly in favor of same-sex marriage before President Obama made his real views known. And it was Biden who earlier this year tweeted, Lets be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time. So, a President Biden would be dangerous enough when it came to the culture wars. But a President Harris would be more dangerous still. Just ask David Daleiden, the courageous activist who exposed Planned Parenthoods trafficking in aborted baby parts. I have been on the receiving end of her abuse of power, he said. As Fox reported, Under Harris, California authorities raided Daleiden's home for evidence prompting questions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has donated to her and many other Democrats. In May, Daleiden filed a lawsuit alleging that Harris conspired to violate his civil rights through a bogus prosecution. With regard to her voting record as a senator, the Washington Times noted that, Ms. Harris, who has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, appears to support no restrictions on abortion, calling it a fundamental issue of justice. She voted last year with Senate Democrats to block a GOP bill requiring doctors to treat infants born alive after botched abortions. And who can forget how Harris led the vicious assault on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh? In the words of Townhall editor Guy Benson, Her performance during the Kavanaugh circus stood out as particularly demagogic, cynical & abysmal. Yet Harris, despite her poor performance in the Democratic primaries, could soon be President of the United States. Is this what it will take to wake up the Church? In my new book Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?, I picture two evangelicals debating about Trump, one an ardent supporter and the other an ardent opponent. The opponent concludes his remarks by saying, I would rather stand on principle than compromise my convictions for the sake of political expediency. And in the end, what have we gained if the laws are changed and the courts are changed but hearts are hardened to the gospel? Maybe we would do better if a radical liberal was elected. Maybe then we would wake up as a church and stop putting our trust in the government and the White House. To this the supporter replies, Oh, thats a great idea, kind of like not treating cancer so we can see God perform a miracle. Not on my watch! The national stakes really are that high. In recent days, speaking face-to-face at some Christian gatherings, I said this (as a Trump voter myself): Four more years of Donald Trump will not save America. At best, he is like a human wedge, lodged in the door to stop it from slamming. But if the Church does not wake up and do its job, the nation will go over the edge. I was pleased to see numerous believers, many of them Trump voters themselves, stand to their feet and applaud. They get it too. So, what will it be? Will we retain our spiritual urgency no matter who wins in November? Will we give ourselves to prayer, fasting, the Great Commission, and acts of mercy and righteousness? Will we stay involved (or, finally, get involved) in the culture? Or will we vote for Trump and take our foot off the gas? What will it be? The widower of a Philadelphia police officer who died while on duty has been charged with fraud after authorities say he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of workers compensation death benefits after he had remarried. The Philadelphia district attorneys office announced charges of theft by deception, insurance fraud and theft by unlawful taking against 67-year-old John Higgins. Court records did not list an attorney for Higgins, but showed that he had been released without bail. Higgins former wife, police officer Sharon Higgins, died of a heart attack while on duty in 1987. The district attorneys office said her husband began collecting survivor benefits shortly after, which he was entitled to as long as he did not remarry. The offices economic crimes unit found Higgins had remarried in 1990, and had allegedly falsely reported himself as not remarried on dependency benefit forms filed between 2002 and 2018. A spokeswoman for the district attorneys office did not say in a news release exactly how much money Higgins is accused of collecting illegally, saying it was hundreds of thousands of dollars. A preliminary hearing for Higgins has been scheduled for Aug. 17. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Fraud Abuse Molestation The Restaurant Association has launched a nationwide petition calling on the government to adopt a scheme similar to the UKs Eat Out to Help Out initiative, to assist the battling hospitality industry which has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. The petition calls on the House of Representatives to urge the Government to provide targeted support for the hospitality industry through a home-grown version of the initiative that the Association has dubbed Dine out to Help out. Despite contributing more than $11 billion to the economy and employing more than 133,000 people nationwide, there has not been any targeted support for the industry through the pandemic to date, says Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois. Hospitality operators continue to be impacted by alert level changes, border closures and consumer uncertainty: without focused, targeted assistance many hospitality businesses will not survive. A scheme similar to the UKs is needed in New Zealand. Under the UK scheme, the Government foots the bill for 50 per cent of a meal eaten at a cafe, restaurant or pub from Monday to Wednesday until the end of August. It sees a maximum saving of 10 per person applied to meals at more than 70,000 venues and was used more than 10.5 million times in its first week. The scheme has already been hailed as a success by many restaurateurs in the UK. Our Dine out to Help out initiative will put much needed cash back into the pockets of hospitality businesses that are really struggling whilst also helping Kiwis to get a freshly prepared meal at a discounted price. If adopted, the Dine out to Help out initiative will run in a similar fashion to its UK equivalent across in-house dining at appropriate alert levels. The discount will not apply to alcohol, only food. A survey conducted by the Restaurant Association this week found that of those businesses able to remain open at alert level 3, 87 per cent were reporting revenues significantly lower than the same period last year. For those at alert level 2, that figure was 49 per cent with a further 29 per cent reporting lower year on year revenues. About 12 per cent of Auckland businesses and 5 per cent of businesses outside of Auckland are anticipating closing their businesses for good in the next 30 days. Around 49 per cent of Auckland businesses and 40 per cent of those outside Auckland are looking to change their current business model to survive. Our industry has been battling for months now, with thousands of jobs lost and businesses looking to close their doors for good. This country has an incredible hospitality scene and if we want it to survive the pandemics ongoing impact, the Government needs to do something different. We have a membership of 2500 establishments alone to support this scheme and were ready and able to work with the government and its associated agencies to roll this out here, concluded Bidois. The petition for the Dine out to Help out initiative, can be signed online via the New Zealand Parliament website online here and the Dine Out Help Out website here https://www.dineouthelpout.co.nz/sign. There is also a link on the Restaurant Association homepage here www.restaurantnz.co.nz. It has been spearheaded by the Restaurant Association of New Zealand, and is supported by the Hospitality Recovery Taskforce, which includes hospitality leaders from across the country. More on the Taskforce can be found here. By Andrei Makhovsky MINSK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appealed to European Union leaders on Wednesday not to recognise what she said were fraudulent presidential elections, urging the bloc to respect the choice of the Belarusian people. Tsikhanouskaya was speaking from exile in neighbouring Lithuania before an emergency EU summit, due to be held by video conference, to discuss the crisis unfolding in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the country's veteran leader, is struggling to contain a wave of mass protests and strikes that pose the biggest challenge to his 26-year hold on power. He denies rigging the Aug. 9 election to secure a sixth term. "I call on you not to recognise these fraudulent elections," Tikhanouskaya said, speaking in English in a video address. "Mr. Lukashenko has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world." Tsikhanouskaya says she was the rightful winner of the election and wants new elections to be held under some kind of international supervision. The EU has signalled it will impose sanctions on Belarusian officials it deems responsible for election fraud and a crackdown on protests in which at least two protesters have been killed and thousands detained. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has offered to visit Minsk in her role as incoming chair of the OSCE, a security body that includes both Western countries and former Soviet states, and often mediates in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has offered Lukashenko military help if needed, spoke by phone to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday. He warned Merkel and Macron against foreign meddling in the affairs of Belarus, a close Russian ally. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow: Writing by Matthias Williams Editing by Andrew Osborn) Synairgen took just 16 days to go live with Phlexglobals advanced PhlexTMF SaaS software to support a COVID-19 trial. Given the speed and quality of the service, going with Phlexglobal was absolutely the right decision. Jody Brookes Head of Clinical Operations Synairgen Phlexglobal, a leading innovative technology and services provider for the life sciences industry, today announces that Synairgen a drug discovery and development company developing novel therapies for respiratory disease took just 16 days to go live with Phlexglobals advanced PhlexTMF SaaS software to support a COVID-19 trial. Thanks to Phlexglobals innovative technology and industry-leading Trial Master File expertise, Synairgen was able to quickly ensure compliance with regulatory mandates while maintaining an accelerated pace for its novel COVID-19 therapy SNG001 (inhaled interferon-beta). After being chosen by Synairgen as the preferred vendor for provision of an eTMF, Phlexglobal lost no time in implementing its widely adopted, best-of-breed SaaS eTMF software. As part of its ongoing contribution to helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Phlexglobals corporate commitment is to provide complimentary services. The companys global team of TMF experts and highly experienced project managers applied its proven Gold methodology to go from project kickoff on June 16 2020, to go-live on July 1 2020 a total of just 16 days. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Phlexglobal has provided extensive support for multiple biopharmaceutical companies developing effective treatments for those who have been impacted by the virus, as well as promising vaccines to prevent its spread, said John McNeill, Chief Executive Officer of Phlexglobal. Were honored to be able to provide critical software and services to help address the most important health crisis facing the world today. With 120 home-based patients to be recruited into the trial and 100 hospital-based patients already recruited into the trial, the ease of use of Phlexglobals eTMF technology and support services were key factors in Synairgens decision. Phlexglobals advanced eTMF includes built-in best practices to improve TMF health, including embedded quality review, event management, wizard-driven completeness, intelligent placeholders, and more. This singular focus on customer-driven innovation frees life sciences companies to put more resources behind their primary goal: bringing safe, life-improving new therapies to patients faster, and with less risk. In addition, PhlexTMF features the industrys only AI-assisted TMF indexing technology, which reduces document processing time significantly. Leveraging pre-trained neural networks of sophisticated algorithms to identify and extract attribute values from TMF documents, the feature allows study teams to focus on critical tasks rather than on repetitive and time-consuming manual effort. Discussions with multiple people at Phlexglobal gave us the confidence that they were the right match for our company, our study, and our very tight timeline, said Jody Brookes, Head of Clinical Operations at Synairgen. Like us, they have a tremendous culture of innovation, and a spirit of genuine collaboration that has made a real difference in the project. Given the speed and quality of the service, going with Phlexglobal was absolutely the right decision. COVID-19 Support: Phlexglobal Resources to Fast Track Trials and Ensure Business Continuity If you have any questions regarding the impact of COVID-19 from a clinical or regulatory standpoint, you can submit them to Phlexglobal and we will provide answers within one business day. If you need support for your research, Contact us today to receive COVID-19 study help tomorrow. About Synairgen Synairgen is a respiratory drug discovery and development company founded by University of Southampton Professors Stephen Holgate, Donna Davies and Ratko Djukanovic. The business, focused primarily on lung viral defence in asthma and COPD, uses its differentiating human biology BioBank platform and world-renowned international academic KOL network to discover and develop novel therapies for respiratory disease. For more information about Synairgen, please see http://www.synairgen.com. About the Synairgen COVID-19 Study Synairgens clinical trial in COVID-19 patients (SG016) is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The 220-patient trial comprises 100 patients initiated in hospital and 120 patients to be initiated in the home setting. The patients participating in the hospital setting, which completed recruitment in May, have been recruited across a number of NHS trusts and the trial has been adopted by the NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration. Synairgen announced positive preliminary results from the hospital setting on 20 July 2020 (https://www.synairgen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/200720-Synairgen-announces-positive-results-from-trial-of-SNG001-in-hospitalised-COVID-19-patients.pdf). About Phlexglobal Phlexglobal is the leading technology and services organization for clinical and regulatory matters with a focus on helping clients to master their digital agenda via proven AI solutions. Phlexglobal combines software and leading expert services to offer a unique solutions portfolio with easy to achieve automation via data generation that lifts organizations to a new level of effectiveness. PhlexTMF is the companys Trial Master File software. Regulatory solutions including PhlexSubmission for eCTD and CTD, PhlexIDMP, PhlexEVMPD, and PhlexRIM are considered highly innovative in the industry for out-of-the-box best practices capabilities, automation technology, and user-focused design. PhlexDistiller, a machine learning platform that reads documents and converts unstructured content into structured data, achieves automation of regulatory and clinical processes and completes the end-to-end solutions offering from Phlexglobal. (Newser) Trying to make ends meet while in coronavirus quarantine has been a struggle for millions around the world, including in Chile, which has had one of the most rigid lockdowns. Yohana Agurto, a Chilean single mom of four who hasn't been teaching during the pandemic, was desperate to bring in some money to pay the bills, and after brainstorming, she realized she could sell the organic honey she had stockpiled in her pantry. She even came up with a creative name for it in honor of a big celebrity: Miel Gibson ("miel" is the Spanish word for honey), sold in glass jars with glued-on labels with a scene from Mel Gibson's movie Braveheart. Per the New York Times, Agurto soon had a steady flow of income from the honey, which she promoted online and through word-of-mouth. "My motivation was not to profit by using the image of a famous person," she says. "I was selling honey to survive." story continues below Then, an email changed everything: A Los Angeles attorney representing the real Gibson told Agurto to "cease and desist" capitalizing off of Gibson's name and likeness. "I realized I was up against Goliath," Agurto tells the Times. But she knew she had to keep her household going, so she decided instead to take her story to the media. Now, after plenty of coverage about her plight, the honey orders are coming in so quickly she can't keep up. Her lawyer, who notes she's trying to contact Gibson's legal team to negotiate, says Agurto wants to keep the Miel Gibson name, though she'll drop the actor's image from the jars. Meanwhile, via a statement, a Gibson attorney insists no one's trying to deprive Agurto of making a living, "but there are proper channels to contact and clearances you need to go through." (Read more Mel Gibson stories.) Global broker Willis Towers Watson announced the appointment of Mark Russell-Vick as its new head of broking for its Financial, Executive and Professional (Finex) line of business in Great Britain within its Corporate Risk & Broking (CRB) segment. Russell-Vick will be responsible for developing and leading the Finex GB broking and segmentation strategy. Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Russell-Vick spent 30 years at Marsh. As managing director and head of Placement for Marsh FINPRO UK, since 2005 he was responsible for client solutions as well as business efficiency.At the same time, he has been a Financial Institutions broker for Marsh in London since 1989. At Willis Towers Watson, he will be reporting to both Olivia Cooper, head of Finex GB and Clyde Bernstein, GB CRB head of broking. Olivia Cooper, head of Finex GB at Willis Towers Watson, said financial and executive risks such as cyber, directors and officers and professional indemnity have come under the spotlight in this volatile and uncertain environment. Source: Willis Towers Watson Topics Willis Towers Watson VALHALLA, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Saisystems Health has partnered with Rectangle Health to provide its clients with software that helps to maximize patient payment collection via a contactless process, keeping patients and staff safe and secure. Rectangle Health's solutions will be one of many innovative solutions Saisystems Health plans to offer its customers to create efficiencies in patient access and revenue management. Matt McCammon, Executive Vice President of Rectangle Health said, "Patients expect convenient and flexible payment options. We are delighted to partner with Saisystems to enable their practices and patients with an enhanced payments experience." Saisystems Health provides services to post-acute and SNFist medical practices some of whom have no free-standing office building. These practices can now collect payments anytime, anywhere through one solution that posts patient payments into the practice's existing patient accounting system. David Lane, Vice President of Saisystems said, "We are excited to partner with Rectangle Health to bring solutions to our practices that bring workflow efficiencies and provide patients more ways to pay." About Rectangle Health Rectangle Health is a leading healthcare technology company that provides healthcare organizations with tailored technology solutions that optimize the patient engagement and payment experience. Founded in 1992, the company is headquartered in Valhalla, NY and was ranked among The Silicon Review's 50 Fastest Growing Companies of 2019. With best-in-class technology and customer service, Rectangle Health works with 60,000-plus healthcare providers in the U.S., reliably processing over $6 billion annually in payments. About Saisystems Health Saisystems Health is a division of Saisystems International, Inc. and a growing health services company specializing in medical billing and care management services. We focus on reducing costs, improving care outcomes, and increasing reimbursements so our clients' business systems operate smoothly. Saisystems International, Inc. was recently awarded with: 2020 Fast 100 Asian American Business from United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce 2020 2nd Best Place to Work in Connecticut Hartford Business Journal Rectangle Health Contact: Michelle Dowling, Marketing [email protected] Saisystems Contact: Mario Pittore, Marketing Specialist [email protected] SOURCE Rectangle Health Related Links rectanglehealth.com When it comes to brain cells, one size does not fit all. Neurons come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and contain different types of brain chemicals. But how did they get that way? A new study in Nature suggests that the identities of all the neurons in a worm are linked to unique members of a single gene family that control the process of converting DNA instructions into proteins, known as gene expression. The results of this study could provide a foundation for understanding how nervous systems have evolved in many other animals, including humans. The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. "The central nervous systems of all animals, from worms to humans, are incredibly intricate and highly ordered. The generation and diversity of a plethora of neuronal cell types is driven by gene expression," said Robert Riddle, Ph.D., program director at NINDS. "So, it is surprising and exciting to consider that the cell diversity we see in the entire nervous system could come from a just a single group of genes." Researchers led by Oliver Hobert, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University in New York City and graduate student Molly B. Reilly, wanted to know how brain cells in the C. elegans worm got their various shapes and functions. For these experiments, the researchers used a genetically engineered worm in which individual neurons were color coded. In addition, coding sequences for green fluorescence protein were inserted into homeobox genes, a highly conserved set of genes known to play fundamental roles in development. Homeobox gene expression patterns were determined by examining the patterns of the glowing fluorescent marker. Dr. Hobert's team discovered that across the entire worm nervous system, each type of neuron contained a unique set of homeobox proteins. In other words, the identity of every neuron could be traced to a specific combination of homeobox genes that were switched on or off. Homeobox genes were initially discovered for their role in ensuring that body parts end up in their proper places. These genes have since been found across all animal species, as well as in plants and fungi. Homeobox genes contain instructions for making transcription factors, which are proteins that can control the activity of other genes. The nervous system of an adult C. elegans contains 302 neurons, which can be divided into 118 types. Dr. Hobert's team determined that 70 homeobox genes are involved in characterizing the neuronal types. In addition, further analysis suggested that the homeobox codes could be used to subdivide classes of neurons. For example, the additional analysis identified not only that a cell was a motor neuron, but its location in the ventral nerve cord, the worm's version of a spinal cord. "The diversity in neurons may be driven by a gene family that distinguishes individual cell types in the brain," said Dr. Hobert, "There is a simplicity to this arrangement in the sense that just one gene family may explain all brain cell types. The complexity that arose from this simple 'barcode' gene family suggests a potential role for homeobox genes in the evolution of the nervous system." Future studies will investigate whether brain cells in other organisms can also be identified by specific protein codes. In addition, researchers will examine the effects of changing the codes on identity and function of neurons. ### This study was supported by NINDS (F31 NS105398, R21 NS106843). Reference: MB Reilly et al. Unique homeobox codes delineate all C. elegans neuron classes. Nature. August 19, 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2618-9 For more information, please visit: ninds.nih.gov The NINDS is the nation's leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov. (Reuters) - PizzaExpress has decided to close 73 of its 449 UK restaurants due to coronavirus lockdowns and higher costs, a move that one of the country's best known restaurant chains said would impact 1,100 jobs. The company said rental costs have become unsustainable and launched a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to improve its finances by cutting rental agreements and temporarily moving from quarterly to monthly rents. "Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues," Zoe Bowley, the company's UK and Ireland managing director, said in a statement. The company joins a long list of UK's High Street restaurants chains that have closed outlets and cut thousands of jobs, seeking to restructure their businesses in the face of the pandemic. PizzaExpress said it would seek approval for the CVA proposals from its creditors on Sept. 4. The group had said earlier this month that 166 of its restaurants are now open and further reopenings are under way. Earlier this month, Chinese buyout firm Hony Capital decided to cease control of PizzaExpress, which it bought for 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion) in 2014, to creditors in a debt-for-equity swap. (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Arun Koyyur) WHEN the government advises people to work from home, its not good news for us. The reaction of coffee shop owner Barry Flavin to news of the latest restrictions announced by government as Covid-19 surges again. Following a three hour government meeting yesterday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin announced a series of fresh restrictions, which include an advisory to work remotely. As well as these measures in place until September 13 at least all outdoor events will be limited to 15 people, down from 200, while indoor events will be limited to six people. Sporting events can proceed behind closed doors and without spectators present. Weddings and religious ceremonies will be allow to go ahead with a maximum of 50 people in attendance. Elderly and vulnerable people are being advised to exercise their judgment and to restrict the amount of time they spend outside of their homes and to limit their social contacts. Mr Flavin, who runs Habit Cafe in OConnell Street, said: We would have an awful lot of companies around us that we would cherish to the point that we would need their customers coming back in working in the city. Theyd be the people who come in and use our coffee shop. Its important to us we get footfall back into Limerick. People working from home does impact all of us, not just the coffee shops. Chamber chief executive Dee Ryan said: We have to respect why they are introducing these restrictions. Consumer-facing businesses are going to feel this the most. Its disappointing, but we have to support what they are doing in order to keep our loved ones safe. The latest restrictions appear to represent another setback to pubs not serving food. One of those, in Mulgrave Street, is run by councillor Jerry ODea, who is the local Vintners Federation of Ireland representative. He said: There have been no cases from a licensed premises in the last number of months. We are applying all of the regulations to the best of our ability. Thats been acknowledged. Weve had close on 25,000 unannounced visits to pub/restaurants and restaurants over the last period of time. But theres been only nine visits to meat factories which seems to be where the serious problem is. We can apply social distancing. We really want to press that case. We are able to do it, and can provide an alternative to house parties and unregulated environments like meat factories. Limerick Trades Council president Mike McNamara criticised the actions of those taking part in large unregulated social gatherings, like the party on Kilkees seafront. There are people and workers who are being exposed to Covid-19 by the actions of those people. If they meet collectively in such large crowds then they come back to their own community, now we are seeing why the figures are rising in Limerick. There is a need, he said, to balance both home and office working. But on pubs, he feels they can be left to wait a bit longer before re-opening. I feel people have become complacent. Id rather be alive in five years time to talk about this rather than have a drink next week, he concluded. Islamabad, Aug 19 : Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistan-based terror group, has merged with its splinter groups Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA) in Afghanistan to re-align and re-establish itself to carry out terror activities aimed at sabotaging the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan along with targeting neighbouring Pakistan. Reliable sources have informed that representatives from TTP, JUA and HuA had several meetings in the recent past in different parts of Afghanistan as part of their months long ongoing efforts to merge the splinter groups and discuss their reunification. As per sources, the talks have been going on for the past seven months and after many hiccups, halts and disagreements, all parties have come to a merger agreement. Sources in Pakistan, however, believe that the merger is being coordinated, arranged and facilitated by elements within the Afghanistan intelligence network, who they say are working hand in glove with India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). As per reliable sources, the ongoing talks ended in a merger that was registered through an oath of allegiance to bring the three militant factions together. The sources also confirmed that the meeting was held in Afghanistan's Paktia and Kunar provinces. As per the agreement, Mufti Noor Wali has been appointed the chief (amir) of the TTP with the responsibility of carrying out terror activities in Pakistan. On the other hand, JuA's Ikram Turabi, who was bailed out of Peshawar Central Jail earlier this year, is now the head of Amari Shura. Sources have further detailed that all decisions will be taken under the authority of the TTP's central Rahbari Shura, while a prime focus of the groups will be to carry out physical attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Analysts in Pakistan have expressed serious concern over the merger, stating that the hard work behind the success of the Afghan peace process and rooting out terror groups in Pakistan, would come under serious challenge. "The merger should be a major concern for Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US. Many former TTP members have already joined ISIL-Khorasani and Member States expect that the group and its various splinter groups will align themselves with ISIL-K," read a report presented to the United Nations Security Council. As per estimates, a total of at least 6,000 to 6,500 Pakistani foreign fighters in Afghanistan, mostly with the TTP, pose a serious threat to the security situation and installations in Pakistan. Among Indias leading independent advertising agencies, Network Advertising has won the above-the-line creative mandate for Essilor India, a world leader in prescription lenses, following a multi-agency pitch. The account will be serviced out of Network's Mumbai office; the mandate includes all consumer-facing and partner communication across India for Essilor India. Network Advertising is best known for its path-breaking campaigns for HDFC, Jet Airways, Henko, Mahindra Lifespaces, Goa Tourism, i-Pill, Vijay Sales, Charagh Din, Vinod Cookware, among others. Commenting on the win, Vinod Nair, Managing Director, Network Advertising, said, "Essilor India is a strategic addition to our growing clientele and this is a responsibility we feel proud to own. It was basis our ability to understand their business challenges and our sound strategic thinking that has helped us win this mandate. The win is sweeter because a global organization, with global alignments has chosen us, a 100% Indian agency, for their India business." Shayondeep Pal, Chief Creative Officer, Network Advertising, has an interesting take, "From an advertising standpoint, Essilor is unlike many other categories. Because you are communicating with the end consumer indirectly through her optician, knowing very well that the buyer is more interested in the frame, than in the lens. Having said that, both strategically and creatively, we are working on new-world insights as Indians embrace a new work culture where our exposure to screens is maximum. We hope to create excitement in a category which for some reason has believed in functional advertising." Speaking on the partnership, Neha Sharma, Head Marketing, Essilor South Asia, said We have decided to associate with Networks seasoned team due to their long standing exposure to the changing advertising landscape, their creative consumer mind-set, and a good strategic approach. This will help Essilor strengthen its brand presence further. We are delighted to have Network on board with us and look forward to an enriching association. Essilor is the world leader in the ophthalmic industry and prescription lenses. Globally, Essilor is committed to providing solutions to correct and protect the visual health of people. Essilor India, with its headquarters in Bangalore, was founded in 1998 and since then has been providing solutions to correct vision of Indians through their various brands like Crizal, Varilux, among others. They are the leaders in their category and have been maintaining this position in the post-Covid world with a lot of product innovations and trade programs. Some corrections are almost laughable. A Maureen Dowd column in the New York Times erroneously implied there had been no Democratic presidential ticket with a man and a woman on it for 36 years Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, some may recall, ran together in 2016. But then a Times tweet intended to point to the correction of that mistake (suggesting it had been that long since any man, regardless of party, picked a woman for his running mate) had to be corrected as well (remember Sarah Palin?). For the 9th Time, Certent, Inc. Appears on the Inc. 5000 List, With Three-Year Revenue Growth of 71% Percent NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today revealed that for the 9th year, Certent, Inc. is on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment - its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. "Credit for our continued strong growth and nearly a decade on the Inc. 5000 list goes especially to the Certent team around the world," said Jorge Martin, CEO at Certent, Inc. "They are the ones who ensure we deliver not only outstanding technology and product value but also an outstanding customer experience year after year. We are consistently ranked best-in-class for service by our customers and, during this year of unexpected changes and demands, all of our teams have shown incredible adaptability and commitment. They are the secret to our success." Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over one million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands Aug. 12. "The companies on this year's Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism." About Certent.com Certent, Inc., founded in 2002, helps customers elevate their business with smart, intuitive solutions for modern finance. Our advanced solutions for disclosure management, narrative reporting, and equity management help business and finance leaders improve accuracy, save time, and get more done. Deploy with confidence over the cloud, backed by our end-to-end support services, deep expertise, and global reach. Integrate easily with existing systems and data sources. Certent helps you redefine your approach to governance, risk, and compliance. The company operates in seven countries and serves over 2,400 public, private, and pre-IPO companies around the world. CONTACT: Judy Ash, CMO judy.ash@certent.com More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of Dec. 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multi-platform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. Related Images certent-inc-logo.png Certent, Inc. Logo Certent, Inc., founded in 2002, helps customers elevate their business with smart, intuitive solutions for modern finance. inc-5000-logo.jpg Inc. 5000 Logo Certent, Inc. Fin-Tech Firm Continues Rapid Growth, Earning Inc. 5000 List for the 9th Time Related Links Blog A palm-sized relative of elephants was recently sighted for the first time in 50 years by rocky outcrops and relatively sparse vegetation. Reportedly, there were tips received by scientists that the creatures could be hiding in Djibouti, East Africa. After that, a group of scientists from the US and Djibouti had set out in 2019 to look for the species even though the animals were previously found in Somalia. According to Livescience, the mouse-sized mammal came into sight when a whiff of peanut butter lured him out from the rocky, rugged lands of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The mammal is called a Somali sengi and is a species of elephant shrew. It was last seen in 1973 and till now, everything that was known about it was through 39 individual specimens collected decades and centuries ago, according to a statement from Global Wildlife conservation. Photo credits: Steven Heritage, Duke University Lemur Center Read Also | Birds Enjoy 'free Ride' On Elephant's Back, Video Wins Hearts | Watch Features of Somali sengi The species looks like a teensy animal and is a mammal. It has a long nose. Big spectacled eyes A fur tuft on its tail Photo credits: Steven Heritage, Duke University Lemur Center Photo credits: Steven Heritage, Duke University Lemur Center Read Also | Elephant Found Dead In Chhattisgarh Houssein Rayaleh who is a co-author, a research ecologist and conservationist with the nonprofit organization, Association Djibouti Nature, had seen this creature before. Reportedly, locals of that place had seen this creature too and they identified it in photos when the scientists interviewed them. Houssein Rayaleh said in the statement: For us living in Djibouti, and by extension the Horn of Africa, we never considered the sengis to be 'lost,' but this new research does bring the Somali sengi back into the scientific community, which we value. As reported by Livescience, the researchers had set up 1259 traps at 12 different locations across the rocky terrain. In total, they saw 12 Somali sengis and they could easily be distinguished from a similar species because of their tuft of fur on their tails. Robin Moore who was one of the GWCs Search for Lost Species program leads said in a statement that usually when they rediscover a lost species, they find only one or two individuals and need to act quiuckly to try to prevent their imminent extinction. This is a welcome and wonderful rediscovery during a time of turmoil for our planet, and one that fills us with renewed hope for the remaining small mammal species on our most wanted list. Read Also | Elephant Kills Range Officer In MP's Panna Tiger Reserve Read Also | Coimbatore Cow Hurt After Biting Man-made Bomb Meant For Wild Boars, Like Kerala Elephant Photo by Steven Heritage, Duke University Lemur Center BRUSSELS European Union leaders said on Wednesday that they would not recognize the results of the recent Belarus election and would shortly impose sanctions on those who were involved in electoral fraud and the repression of protests. While urging peaceful dialogue between the government and the opposition, the Europeans did not call explicitly for a rerun of the vote, as the opposition has demanded, but did offer to accompany a peaceful transition of power in Belarus. The E.U. will impose shortly sanctions on a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud, said Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, which represents the leaders of the European Union countries, at the end of an meeting called to discuss the Aug. 9 elections in Belarus, widely regarded as fraudulent. While stating that Europe stands by the people of Belarus, Mr. Michel said that any resolution of the crisis must be found in Belarus, not in Brussels or in Moscow, in a dialogue that might be initiated under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to which both Russia and Belarus belong. New details have emerged about both the Portland truck driver who was knocked unconscious over the weekend and about the Black Lives Matter protester who allegedly attacked him, including that just hours before the violent assault, the victim had shared a meme on Facebook that was critical of George Floyd. Portland Police are still searching for the suspect in the brutal beating, identified as 25-year-old Marquise 'Keese' Love. Love, a recently fired security guard, is suspected of kicking a man identified in a GoFundMe campaign as Adam Haner in the head as he was trying to defend a transgender woman from being robbed. Scroll down for video Adam Haner (left) on Wednesday shared a selfie showing bruises under both his eyes following an attack on Sunday. Portland police are still searching for Marquise Love (right), who is suspecting of knocking Haner unconscious Just hours before the assault, Haner shared this meme referencing the killing of George Floyd and the shooting death of five-year-old Cannon Hinnant Early Wednesday morning, Haner, who works in demolition, shared a photo of his face with dark-purple bruises under both his eyes. A further look into his recent social media activity revealed that on Sunday, a few hours before the altercation with Love during protests in Portland, Haner shared a meme that read: 'George Floyd was a 46-year old felon, high on Fentanyl, and he got 4 televised funerals and 70 days of riots. What does 5-year old Cannon Hinnant get?' Cannon was shot and killed as he rode his bike in the driveway of his familys home in South Carolina last week. A neighbor, 25-year-old Darius Nathaniel Sessoms, is charged with first-degree murder in the boy's death. Haner's Facebook photo gallery was found to contain at least two other memes poking fun at the Black Lives Matter movement and purportedly expressing animosity toward protesters, including one that reads: 'Would it be wrong to follow rioters home and burn down their properties? Asking for a friend.' Haner's girlfriend, Tammie Martin, spoke to Fox 12 about the attack, arguing that the people who pulled her boyfriend out of his truck on Sunday were not there to protest against police brutality. 'They were just looking for a fight,' Martin told the news outlet. 'They were trying to fight people driving by. They were just looking to fight somebody.' She said the couple were driving together in Haners truck when he saw a transgender woman being mugged and stopped to help. 'He was trying to help and they called him a white supremacist, and then some black lady smacked him and he got in his truck,' Martin said. She added that when she followed her boyfriend out of the vehicle, she was punched several times and pushed down, leaving her with a fractured rib and bruises all over the body. Martin said she did not witness the attack on her boyfriend because the couple had gone in different directions at one point. She later found him lying unconscious on the ground. According to the girlfriend, as Haner was being loaded into an ambulance, bystanders hurled insults at her and told her they hoped her boyfriend died. Meanwhile, additional information has emerged about Haner's suspect assailant, Love, who for three months worked for Star Protection, until his firing in March, as New York Post reported. In the video of the attack, a man believed to be Love is seen wearing a vest with the word 'Security' written across the front. In a press release dated August 18, Star Protection sought to distance itself from Love, stating that the firm has not 'engaged this individual in any capacity' since March. Haner, a laborer, previously shared memes that talked about the Black Lives Matter movement 'We decry violence in all forms, and our hearts go out to anyone that has been injured. We hope for their speedy recovery and will fully cooperate with any law enforcement investigation to ensure justice is done,' COO Bryan Kettler said. 'Any use of Star Protection imaging or logos in connection with this individual is unfortunate and unauthorized.' The Portland Police Bureau is on the hunt for Love for his apparent involvement in the vicious attack. Police say they have left Love a number of messages, urging him to hand himself in, but have so far received no response. They say they have a probable cause for his arrest. The incident took place shortly before 10:30pm Sunday, just blocks away from a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Oregon's capital outside of the federal courthouse. Police received a 911 call from a bystander who reported that a group of protesters were 'chasing a white Ford' four-by-four truck, which then crashed into a tree in the downtown area, a press release says. A rioter wearing a shirt with the word 'Security' on it, delivered a sickening kick to the man's head from behind as he sat facing the other way in Portland, Oregon on Sunday night. Police say that man is 'Keese' Love (shown right) The man was rushed to hospital after being kicked. He has since been released and is recovering, police said In the footage, demonstrators are seen hauling Adam Haner out from his truck and throwing him to the ground. The victim appeared dazed and was profusely bleeding from the head. He was ordered to sit on the ground and told to 'wait for police to arrive.' The man, who some activists claimed had driven towards them, was then knocked clean unconscious by a vicious kick to the side of his head from behind. As he lay unconscious on the ground, shouts of 'Black Lives Matter' were heard as other protesters attempted to provide first aid. Others began ransacking the man's truck and when questioned by bystanders, they explained that they were simply 'checking for weapons.' Police said they received another call estimating that around nine or 10 people were 'beating the guy' as he lay in the street. A post allegedly uploaded to Love's Snapchat account the same evening appeared to reference the attack, in which he wrote: 'Might go to jail for a racist tonight when all i did was fight him look it up on twitter put money on my books and come see me.' By the time police arrived on scene the suspect had disappeared and the victim was unconscious on the ground. He was taken to hospital but has since been released and is now recovering, police say. The victim has not been publicly named by police, but a GoFundMe page identified his as Adam Haner. Haner's girlfriend, Tammie Martin (right), said she, too, was attacked Sunday A post allegedly uploaded to Love's Snapchat account appeared to reference the attack on Haner, in which he wrote: 'Might go to jail for a racist tonight when all i did was fight him look it up on twitter put money on my books and come see me.' Martin has launched a fundraiser seeking help for herself and her boyfriend In the online fundraiser set up by his brother, Brian, Haner is said to have suffered a number of injuries, in addition to unspecified items being stolen from his truck. 'Hoping this money will help Adam get things together for his life after the attack he suffered. I know he will need repairs, or to replace the truck that was wrecked,' Brian Haner wrote. 'He is going to need time to recover from his injuries as well. Plus replace things that where stolen from his pick-up that night.' Brian Haner added that his brother would 'give the shirt of his back to help any of the people around him, and he really doesn't deserve what happened to him in Portland. 'Adam was trying to help someone and was then attacked,' he continued. The Portland Police Department has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request to confirm Haner's identity. Investigators now say the victim was believed to have been helping a 'transgender female who had some of her things stolen in the area of Southwest Taylor and 4th Ave,' before the assault occurred. In the fundraiser, set up by his brother Brian (left), Haner is said to have suffered a number of injuries, in addition to unspecified items being stolen from his truck The man's truck collided with a tree and he appeared dazed as he was ordered out of his vehicle The man, accused of driving at demonstrators, was commanded to sit on the ground and wait for police to arrive After the man was knocked out by the kick, other demonstrators came to glower over his motionless body and shout obscenities Protesters eventually came to the man's aide and he was rushed away by an ambulance David Hernandez, who shot the graphic footage, shared the same theory, claiming the victim was defending the transgender woman from being beaten and robbed by protesters, when the group turned their attention to the truck driver and his female companion. Haner then got into his truck and drove away as he and the woman became a target, but crashed in the pursuit, Hernandez said. Drew Hernandez, who filmed the incident on his cell phone, has spoken of his experience of being in Portland on Sunday night, saying 'sometimes it feels like you're walking in a Third World country' 'I think he just felt extremely threatened,' Hernandez said in an interview. 'They chased him... until he finally crashed. When they finally caught up to him, they went nuts. 'This was violent, extremely violent,' he said. 'Sometimes I forget I'm walking the streets of an American city in the Northwest. Sometimes it feels like you're walking in a Third World county.' Earlier footage shows the truck parked outside a 7-Eleven, with some rioters kicking it and attacking the man through the window, as others shout, 'He didn't do nothing.' Hernandez said that after violence erupted on Sunday - which has become a nightly occurrence in the city - groups of protesters have attacked random bystanders. 'It's literally like just one thing after another,' he said. 'Just these random people, they start physically assaulting.' Sgt. Kevin Allen, a police spokesman, said that the rioters 'were chasing the truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash.' Allen said that officers 'encountered a hostile crowd and a squad from the Rapid Response Team responded to help secure the scene while the investigation was underway.' Police said they have not yet been able to identify the transgender woman who may have been robbed. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Detective Brent Christensen at 503-823-2087 or at Brent.Christensen@portlandoregon.gov. The Mumbai crime branch arrested 29-year-old Nadim Naushad Shaikh, the assailant who killed 55-year-old real estate developer and chairman of Al Sofi Group, Abdul Munaf Shaikh, in Juhu, on Wednesday from a slum pocket in Govandi. Following the arrest of Nadim, the case was transferred to the Mumbai crime branch. The victim, Shaikh was walking towards a mosque at around 6am on Monday morning to offer prayers when Nadim attacked the builder from behind, slit his throat and stabbed him multiple times with a chopper. Akbar Pathan, deputy commissioner of police (detection) said, We found Nadims whereabouts through our informants and a team was formed. We arrested him from Govandi. Nadim during interrogation has confessed of being offered 5 lakh to kill Shaikh. Crime branch officers said that Nadim was hiding in a ground plus two structure in the Shivaji Nagar slum in Govandi. Nadim was playing carrom when a constable of ours walked into the second floor of the house. The moment he saw the constable, he jumped off from the window and ran on the rooftop of the houses in the slum, said a police officer, requesting anonymity. Mahesh Desai, a senior police inspector who was leading the investigation, had formed a team of police inspector Sanjeev Gavade and assistant police inspector Vijay Ambawde who were standing outside the house with their staff. The moment they saw the accused run, the team started chasing the accused. Nadim after running through the rooftop of at least 20 houses reached a dead end and was then arrested. Nadim during preliminary questioning has revealed that he was arrested in a murder case at Vikhroli in 2014, and had been released on bail in 2018. After his release, he had started his own scrap business in Govandi. Four months ago, he got in touch with Abdul Rehman Abdul Latif Shaikh alias Sonu, who was arrested by Juhu police yesterday in the murder case. Nadim was looking for a job and Sonu helped him get a job as an office boy. Three months ago, Sonu called him and offered him 5 lakh to kill Shaikh, said a police inspector, requesting anonymity. Nadim agreed to Sonus offer. Nadim and Sonu followed him on six to seven occasion in the morning. On Monday, Nadim took his employer bike to reach the spot alone and at around 6am he stabbed him to death, added the officer. Crime branch sources said the conspiracy to kill Abdul Munaf Shaikh could have a larger plot with other elements being involved in the murder apart from Sonu. We are investigating the possibility of the involvement of ganglords of a 6-acre slum pocket in Andheri which Abdul Munaf Shaikh was supposed to redevelop, said a senior police officer. Updated 5:40 p.m. RALEIGH Both North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and State Superintendent Mark Johnson called it "unacceptable" that a statewide computer system used by students for connecting to online classes crashed twice this week. The NCEdCloud system was down for several hours Wednesday morning after having been down for several hours on Monday as well, the first day of school for most students in Guilford County Schools. The system outages are hampering efforts by school districts that are opening the new school year with remote instruction due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "It really is unacceptable to have those kinds of technical glitches when we're trying to do remote learning," Cooper, a Democrat, said at a news conference Wednesday. "That has to be frustrating to teachers, students and parents." Guilford County Schools reported disruptions for its students and staff from the portal going down and Winston-Salem/Forsyth Schools also tweeted about it. Lindsay Stephenson, a social studies teacher with Guilford County Schools, said in a text she has had a hard time getting on NCEdCloud, as have some of her students. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi - Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines are offering huge discounts on ticket prices to mark the 75th anniversary of August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2). Accordingly, one-way tickets on flights between Hanoi and Da Nang/Chu Lai/Hue and Vinh or between Ho Chi Minh and Da Lat/Nha Trang/Phu Quoc and Quy Nhon, will be priced at only 98,000 VND (4.25 USD) (or 558,000 VND with taxes and fees). Meanwhile, tickets between HCM City and Hanoi/Hai Phong/Thanh Hoa and Vinh cost 198,000 VND (or roughly 668,000 VND including taxes and fees). The promotional programme is applicable for flights from September 7, 2020 till March 31, 2021. Budget carrier Vietjet Air is offering more than 2.6 million tickets with prices from 2,021 VND, excluding taxes and fees, for all flights departing from the northern and central regions to southern localities on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays. The tickets are being on sale from August 18 to 22 for flights from August 18, 2020 to February 28, 2021. The Vietnam Airlines Group, including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and VASCO, will also offer more than 2 million tickets on all domestic flights during the Tet holidays to meet increasing travel demand. Passengers can buy tickets from August 18 on Vietnam Airlines website, mobile phone app and ticket offices nationwide. The group will also prioritise increasing flights on routes with high travel demand such as Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City/Vinh/Can Tho/Phu Quoc, and Ho Chi Minh City Da Nang/Hai Phong/ Thanh Hoa/Vinh/ Dong Hoi/ Hue/Pleiku. To best meet the needs of passengers, the group will continue to offer fares within a wide price range. Tickets for flights during Tet are available for sale four months in advance to make it convenient for passengers to plan ahead when purchasing tickets for the holiday. To ensure public health, the carriers will also continue applying COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Amidst a global pandemic and economic catastrophe, we the people are coming to recognize our shared humanity, common values, and mutual interests. Rather than letting demagogues divide us, we are uniting, regardless of party affiliation and documentation status, in our fight for social and economic justice. We are heartened by the diverse coalition that is supporting the Black Lives Matter protests and encouraged by the understanding that we must address similar challenges faced by Latinos and Native Americans. As a former Rio Rancho High School principal, I am inspired by the warm friendships I have seen between my former students who have become police officers and those who have joined the protests. Such relationships give me confidence that we can come through these unsettled times stronger and more united. What do we mean by unity and common interests? To me, it means putting partisan differences aside and coming together for critical change. I find our present polarized politics distressing. I cannot overstate how important I feel it is to reach across the aisle in the many areas where our values are shared and compromise is possible. While my opponent, Jane Powdrell-Culbert, extolled the virtues of cooperation in these very pages on Aug. 5, her words following the 2020 legislative session conveyed the opposite message. As reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican, she asserted, Were declaring war. We have many ways to make New Mexico better for all. Here are some of my perspectives: We can and must address the climate crisis and environmental pollution, recognizing their disproportionate effects on communities of color, low-income families, and indigenous communities. We must drastically reduce our carbon footprint. Solar and wind energy can help us accomplish these goals while generating good, green, private-sector jobs. We must also preserve the natural resources of our beautiful state for the health of our people, our planet and New Mexicos economic well-being. Quality health care for all and affordable prescription drugs should be a right, not a privilege. We need healthy children who are ready to learn and an energetic workforce to advance our states economic development. It is almost unimaginable that efforts are being made to strip over 20 million people of their health care. This governmental malpractice is being pursued by the Trump administration and 18 Republican-led states, which are asking the Supreme Court to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We must have a fair and thriving economy. We must reverse the 40-year decline in union membership, and we must obtain a living wage for all workers. We must protect front-line workers even as they are threatened by COVID-19. Before the pandemic, one in four children in New Mexico faced hunger or food insecurity; COVID-19 has worsened this crisis. Children who experience poverty and hunger grow up with diminished health, economic opportunity and mobility. This is not acceptable for the children of New Mexico. Every child must have access to a first-rate public education. Our states high poverty rate has been a major impediment to school quality. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Democrats in the state Legislature are working hard to address this problem through increased spending on education and on services to mitigate obstacles to learning that result from poverty. One significant obstacle is that we rank behind all other states, with the exception of Arkansas and Mississippi, in the availability of broadband access. This puts too many of our most vulnerable students at a serious learning disadvantage, a problem again exacerbated by COVID-19 when on-line learning is essential to every childs educational progress. We truly are all in this together, and we must forge our path forward together. Putting our partisan differences aside, let us reaffirm our common values and work for competent and accountable government that seeks to create a strong and cohesive society and thriving economy for all people. STAMFORD, Connecticut -- The announcement in May that General Electric Co. was selling its GE Lighting business to Savant Systems Inc. was met with little fanfare. Sure, news stories noted that the East Cleveland-based business, which traces its roots to Thomas Edison, constituted an iconic brand. But its sale had little financial impact on GE, other than to provide much-needed cash. For me, however, the sale of GE Lighting was personal. As a child growing up in 1950s Cleveland, NELA Park, Lightings headquarters, was a magical Christmas place. Our parents would put my brother and me in the family station wagon on Christmas Eve to look at NELAs lights. Warmed by a blanket and hot chocolate (no seat belts then), we were mesmerized by the displays. Little did we know that NELA Park (named after the National Electric Lamp Association, which GE bought in the early 1900s) was the first industrial park in the United States and a major source of lighting innovation. Thirty years later, I had a chance to go inside NELA Park and learn what it took to make those Christmas lights. In 1988, Jack Welch recruited a team of professors and consultants to help him simplify the company, an initiative called Work-Out. As one of the consultants, I was assigned to GE Lighting and sent to meet with John Opie, Lightings president. I must admit that Opie didnt welcome me with open arms, being skeptical about Welchs initiative and whether some young consultant could help even if I was from Cleveland. At our first meeting, he gave me a presentation about GE Lighting, using acetates with an overhead projector (state of the art then), saying You better learn what we do. Soon, Opie was neck-deep in products, costs, customers, research, and more. My head was spinning, and the only thing I remembered was Opies injunction that we dont call them light bulbs, we refer to them as lamps. Eventually, we identified opportunities for simplification, such as speeding new product commercialization, reducing breakage, and improving customer delivery schedules. In the next year, we held sessions on these and other topics. Hundreds of GE Lighting employees and managers developed and implemented ideas for taking unnecessary work out of the business. As the results became apparent, Opie went from being a skeptic to a strong supporter throughout GE. Ron Ashkenas grew up in Cleveland loving the NELA Park holiday ilghting displays and later spent time there as a business consultant for GE Lighting. In 1990, however, the Lighting business changed. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastern Europe became an open market, and GE was proud to be the first Western company to wade in by purchasing Tungsram, Hungarys state-owned lighting company. Before long, I was spending more time in Budapest than Cleveland, replicating the Work-Out process and giving Hungarian employees a voice for the first time in decades. In the years that followed, I moved on to other assignments but maintained lifelong relationships with people from NELA Park. I also kept an emotional attachment to the business and rooted for it to succeed. GE Lightings standing, however, diminished over time. Despite pioneering work in LEDs, the profits associated with Edisons incandescent lamp which GE could produce for pennies and sell for dollars slowed innovation. In effect, GE Lighting was trapped by the innovators dilemma, avoiding disruptive approaches for fear of cannibalizing the existing business. So instead of becoming a leader in energy efficiency, GE Lighting became a cash cow with a for sale sign around its neck. Hopefully Savant will reinvigorate Edisons lighting business and return it to the forefront of innovation. But until then, Ill remember the Christmas lights at NELA Park and all the other ways that the people who worked there were able to light up the world. Ron Ashkenas is an emeritus partner of Schaffer Consulting (www.schafferconsulting.com) and the author or co-author of six management books, including The GE Work-Out and The Harvard Business Review Leaders Handbook. He holds a doctorate in organizational behavior from Case Western Reserve University. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions, comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Penn.) said on Wednesday that he will be voting for Joe Biden over President Trump in November, telling CNN: "At the end of the day, this really isn't about right or left. It's not about ideology. ... For me, it's about right or wrong." Why it matters: Dent, who represented the key swing state of Pennsylvania in Congress before retiring in 2018, is one of a number of former Republican officials who have come out against Trump during the week of the Democratic National Convention. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the late Sen. John McCain's wife Cindy are among those who have spoken at the DNC in support of Biden this week. Dent said that he doesn't know if these GOP endorsements will have an impact on voters, but that there are "many Republicans" who agree with him that "we have to talk about broader principles here rather than just an immediate policy victory." What he's saying: "For me, it's about right or wrong. Stability vs. instability, security vs. insecurity, normal vs. abnormal. That's why I'm doing this because I feel that we need to return some sense of normalcy to the function of government. We simply don't have that now. And that's why I'm going to be voting for Joe Biden for president." "There are greater principles involved like the rule of law. We have to defend democratic values. And I say democratic with a small "D." A free press, an independent judiciary. These are things that are very important." "And the president has been trying to undermine those things. And I think that, again, we have to talk about broader principles here rather than just an immediate policy victory." What to watch: Dent said he thinks it's "improbable" that Trump wins Pennsylvania again because the "suburban erosion for Republicans has been dramatic since the president was elected." Go deeper: The top Republicans who aren't voting for Trump in 2020 Oh dear, we're in August already! What a city. So charming and intriguing! It seems she's got it all. Tall buildings, fallen heroes, big balls allegedly being squished by a certain tall soldier. I thought it all happened at the Burma hall. But no., the account has it that it took place at one of GTFC s gate. And now there are fainted turkeys, boozed guinea fowls, convulsed chickens as dead goats being mauled by avarice vultures. How'd we get here, do you've any clue? Sounds like a fairytale. Isn't it? Wait, you haven't seen or heard anything yet. What? You heard me right. Mr. Boom will soon come out with his book. And oh, let me remind you: I'm not a political beast. I'm a satirist. I'm a messenger of hope but my message stings. No doubt, August is turning out to be a beguiling place. A place where everyone gets to tell his own story. Some of the stories have horns, some of them have talons and some of them have weird beards. I learned one particular storyteller defied conventional wisdom. His name is Ahwoi Why? How could he forget that the Umbrella is in Siberia and she'd need the strength of Hercules to take down the incumbent? How quickly did he forget that this is a campaign season, thus storytellers must take into account timing and decorum? Well, this is why I'm a satirist. I don't wish or seek the downfall of the players but I get thrilled when the clowns fail to figure out how to navigate their way through the rough political terrain. So far, things don't look good for the Umbrella and its flagbearer. It's been messy and so complicated. Terribly awful. Awfully insane. I've been monitoring events back home since Prof. Ahwoi released his book: "WorkingWithRawlings". Great read I've heard many say. But I think it's hurting the party-- causing it to bleed badly from that wound. I was chanced to listen to the likes of Sammy, Felix and Charles. How hard they tried to retrofit the damage already caused by Ahwoi. In fact, they did their best, i should point out, but the first cut is deeper than the remedy applied Where are we now? We just drove past Ahoy-- the city next to Papa no. Did that tickle you? Papa no, is a quintessential town tucked deep in a lush vegetation. The phrase started off at the domain of social media and ambled its way into the floor of Parliament. Call it--romance gone bad. The girls are talking. Political spinners are spinning and the strategists are relentlessly strategising. What more, Koo Pong's comment fell flat on the floor of the august house like broken wings of a jetliner. His reference to John Jinapor ( fmr. deputy energy minister) as Papa no, triggered hysterical laughter on the majority side. But the Minority side took offence. And i think his comment was unparliamentary. Kojo has since retracted the Papa no remark. It's understood pressure from the NDC Minority compelled him to do so. They'd warned that he'd lose his respect from them. I hope members would now allow the sleeping dogs to lie. Thus far, if I'm not mistaken, this has been one of the most adventurous odysseys I've ever undertaken. The fall-out On Monday Former President Jerry John Rawlings said the contents of Prof Ahwoi's book is a deliberate attempt to preempt explosive revelations in an upcoming book. He has suggested that his former appointee published his now-popular book "Working with Rawlings" to preempt the secrets that will be exposed in his (Rawlings') book, "The Triumph of Evil." "People like him [Prof Ahwoi] do not expect the NPP to let go of 2020, so they are hoping to utilise the opportunity of a loss, to damage Rawlings with some vicious, manufactured stuff," former President Rawlings wrote on his Twitter handle. Prof. Ahwoi held various ministerial portfolios in the Rawlings administrations. However, some of the surprising revelations in Prof Ahwois book, according to former President Rawlings, are false and aimed precisely damage his image. Some critics of "Working with Rawlings" have also said the publication of the book is badly timed and may hurt the chances of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming December presidential and parliamentary polls against the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). Does Mr Rawlings agree with these critics? No. The former president thinks otherwise. He says: There is nothing ill-timed about Kwamena Ahwoi serving dankwansere soup at this time. He needed to knock down Rawlings to preempt the exposure that Rawlings's book, "The Triumph Of Evil" promises to reveal about some of them. People like him do not expect the NPP to let go of 2020, so they are hoping to utilise the opportunity of a loss, to damage Rawlings with some vicious, manufactured stuff. Their cunning calculation is that Mahama and his running mate will step aside after 2020 while they consolidate their control over the party and provide their own flag-bearer and running mate for 2024," he wrote. By Gordon Offin-Amaniampong Google is prepping an update for the next-generation of Chrome that should, theoretically, stop insecure forms in their tracks. Thats according to a new report from The Next Web. Now, Google Chrome already warns users if the form they are looking at is not known to be secure. And it already stops even those forms that are mostly legitimate from using shady tactics such as hiding information in near-invisible fonts or colors. But its going to get a lot better on that front. As the features currently stand, Chrome only highlights insecure or suspicious forms by removing the lock icon from the URL bar. Most users, simply arent directing their attention in that general direction when theyre browsing online though. So that can be easy to miss. Advertisement With the latest change in place, thats all going to change following a long run of security-related Chrome changes from Google. So whats new in Chrome to stop potentially malicious forms? Summarily, Google is now going to throw a full-sized card UI on forms that are suspect. And itll do that in between the form being filled out and being sent. When a user submits a form that could be illegitimate, Chrome will toss up a card to inform them that the information theyre about to send through might not be secure. Thats a similar message seen when users visit suspect websites. In fact, it even has the same workaround for instances where the form might be legitimate anyway. For example, if the form is part of an internal UI. Advertisement A bright blue button in the UI has been placed at the lower-right-hand side for users to navigate safely away from the form. Far less prominently, Google also offers a Send anyway button. What is this meant to address and when will it arrive? The new form feature should do a good job of eliminating the risk presented by forms. Or at least forms with issues that are similar to those being addressed elsewhere in Chrome. So it may not stop every untrustworthy form, even if it does stop a significant number of them. Thats because its based on the same problem meant to be addressed by Googles recent decision to block some downloads. Advertisement If the form is not properly secured via HTTPS, especially where the rest of the page has been, then it will throw the error. Otherwise, the form should function as normal. Its not immediately clear when the form-checking feature will appear. But that should be soon as it will reportedly be in the next version of Chrome. Thats Chrome 85, planned for launch in just a weeks time as of this writing. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Researchers at Purdue University have developed a system for efficient, low-cost monitoring for machine health, including overall quality, condition and operation status. The Purdue teams innovation uses audio-based artificial intelligence technology to monitor the overall conditions of machines in factories, hospitals and other locations. The Purdue system uses a stethoscope-like system as a sensor and analyzes the data with a neural network-based framework. Our solution is to use the concept of doctors listening to a body to assess the initial condition or experts listening to the machine sounds to know what is going on, said Martin Jun, a Purdue innovator and associate professor of mechanical engineering. We are using artificial intelligence to train a wide range of sounds from the machine and determine many things about the machine or process autonomously. Jun said this system can detect anomalies without being fed a training set and is easier and more cost-effective than accelerometers or acoustic emission sensors. The Purdue technology is designed to use internal sounds from a machine to determine the machine status, assess process conditions, diagnose machine condition and predict machine failures. Since only sound is used, it can be used for a number of different applications, Jun said. Having one low-cost sensor for many different purposes can address the current challenges in the area where most of the solutions are quite customized to specific problems. Maijker Corp., a startup created to commercialize technologies involving sensors and artificial intelligence. Jun and the team have worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. They are looking to license it and are seeking collaborators for further development. For more information, contact D.H.R. Sarma of OTC at dhrsarma@prf.org and reference track code 2020-JUN-68816. About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, adjacent to the Purdue campus. In fiscal year 2020, the office reported 148 deals finalized with 225 technologies signed, 408 disclosures received and 180 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information. Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Source: Martin Jun, mbgjun@purdue.edu Why it matters: The US-China trade war took a new height when the Trump administration placed a ban on TikTok and WeChat. At the same time, American companies like Apple depend greatly on Chinese suppliers and consumer demand in the region, which is why they're trying to appease Chinese regulators like never before. Earlier this month, President Trump issued a pair of executive orders that will soon prohibit any US transactions with TikTok and WeChat, the latter of which is owned by Tencent, one of China's largest tech companies. The move is supposed to stop the spread of Chinese apps, which are believed to be parasitic in nature and prone to become spyware platforms for the Chinese government. At the same time, Chinese officials have reportedly been pondering about the idea of responding in kind ever since Huawei was deprived of the most important links in its global supply chain. One of the first targets could be Apple, whose Chinese operations include manufacturing, selling devices, and operating the App Store. Until now, the Cupertino company has been able to get away with more loose censorship of the App Store by virtue of the jobs it created in the region, the taxes it paid, and the technology transferred to Chinese suppliers. According to a report from The Information, that may be about to change. This month, Apple removed more than 47,000 games from the Chinese App Store to comply with new regulations that require paid games with in-app purchases to get approval from Chinese officials before their release. That said, this wouldn't be an unprecedented move -- back in 2016, Apple was forced to shut down the Chinese versions of iTunes Movies and the iBook Store. It's also something that Apple has happily done before with apps like Quartz and the Hong Kong protest app, both of which were removed to appease Chinese government officials, even if it wasn't the sole reason. A survey of more than 1.2 million Chinese iPhone owners has revealed that they would rather switch to Android than give up WeChat The App Store in China has been operating using a loophole, which seems to suggest that Apple negotiated a deal with the Chinese government to make it possible. Normally, it would have had to operate it under a joint venture with a local partner -- the same way it does with iCloud, whose Chinese operation was taken over by a state-owned company with privileged access to source code and user data. This means that Apple is likely to face a tough environment in China in the near future. The country is Apple's second biggest market after the US in terms of device sales, and the Chinese App Store generated revenues of $11.5 billion in 2019. The WeChat ban is expected to cause a significant drop in iPhone shipments in the region, and a survey of more than 1.2 million Chinese iPhone owners has revealed that they would rather switch to Android than give up WeChat, which is seen as a necessity for their daily lives. The White House budget office has quietly shifted policies to give more power to political appointees in how billions of dollars a year are doled out a move that's likely to further diminish the influence of career officials in the Trump administration. Under a recent change made by the Office of Management and Budget, senior political appointees must now give their signature on any actions to disburse, limit or halt the flow of congressionally appropriated funds. High-ranking career officials have traditionally held that authority, which is known as apportionment and which the administration has used to control everything from the release of foreign aid to the distribution of federal disaster relief. The move was confirmed Wednesday by a senior administration official, who said the change has been in the works for more than a year and that high-ranking career employees wont be cut out of the review process when it comes how OMB handles billions of dollars every year. The official also argued that the shift will ensure good government accountability, streamline operations and allow decisions about the flow of appropriated funds to be handled by the most senior person possible. The political appointee in charge can also delegate down to a senior career official, if needed, the official said. But adding a new layer of political approval to the apportionment process is sure to incense Democrats, whove already raised concerns about the Trump administration cutting career staff out of budget decisions in order to advance President Donald Trumps political agenda. This is a deliberate and disturbing step by the Trump Administration to consolidate power among political cronies, undermine Congress, and silence anyone who might stand in their way, said House Budget Chair John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who has already introduced a bill that would require OMB to make apportionments public, while publishing who is in charge of the decisions. Story continues The Trump administration came under intense scrutiny last year after placing Michael Duffey, a senior political appointee, in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. The administrations decision to freeze that aid last summer which a congressional watchdog later ruled was illegal prompted House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry into whether the president leveraged the money to try to damage 2020 rival Joe Biden. Mark Sandy, a senior career budget official, told impeachment investigators last year that Duffey said he was taking over the Ukraine accounts due to interest among the leadership in tracking the issues of moneys closely. At the time, House spending leaders said the decision to remove career staff from the apportionment process was unprecedented and a troubling deviation from long-standing procedures. OMB has previously asserted that there was nothing unusual or improper about shifting the responsibility into the hands of Duffey, and that the decision had nothing to do with the career staff concerns about the legality of the Ukraine aid freeze. OMB officials have long contended that political appointees should have final sign-off on apportionment activity, which can significantly affect the presidents policies. Democrats have accused the administration of abusing apportionment procedures to such an extent that it has run afoul of federal budget laws. In a letter to OMB Director Russ Vought earlier this month, Yarmuth, House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey and Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (both D-N.Y.) demanded a list of all potential funds that are subject to the apportionment process by Aug. 18. OMB has yet to produce that list, although the agency produced a similar list last year. In the letter, the lawmakers said theyre seeking assurances that the administration wont try to slow or pause the flow of federal funds for certain programs through the end of the fiscal year when the money expires. Doing so would effectively cancel it, and conservatives in the administration have frequently sought to slash federal spending using budget maneuvers. Retiring House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) speaks during a hearing. In addition to the Ukraine aid saga, OMB had previously come under fire for trying to pause, slow or scrap billions of dollars from other pots of foreign assistance near the end of the fiscal year, which is on Sept. 30. The Trump administration also hit pause on billions of dollars in hurricane recovery funding for Puerto Rico last year amid concerns about corruption and financial mismanagement, but later released the hold following intense blowback from lawmakers and after the administration secured certain guardrails that it had requested. House Democrats said in their letter that theyve at least received assurances from the White House that the administration wont try to rescind billions of dollars in federal funding as the current fiscal year comes to a close. But lawmakers remain deeply concerned about how budget officials might use their new authority. This alarming move by OMB Director Vought a seeming replay of the same moves that led to impeachment puts all congressionally appropriated funds at risk of abuse and mismanagement by a power-hungry and desperate president hell-bent on dismantling our democracy, Yarmuth added in a statement. TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2020 / Travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have canceled getaways and forced travelers to keep adding to their bucket lists. Avid traveler Justin Belill believes Peru should be a country at the top of your travel list when flights and safe travel around the globe resume. Justin Belill is a member of the U.S. military and a former employee for two airlines, AirTran and Delta Air Lines. He has always had a major interest in airlines, aviation, travel, and experience cultures around the globe. As an avid explorer, Justin Belill has visited several countries that have proven absolutely unforgettable -- one of them is Peru. "To me, Peru is one of the most interesting countries in the world," Justin Belill said. "It's overflowing with culture, natural beauty, unique cuisine, and all of the makings of an ideal bucket-list destination." Justin Belill explained that one of his top reasons to visit Peru is to meet the people who call it home. Heritage isn't something that has been put on the back burner in Peru. In fact, many Peruvians still have direct links to Inca ancestors, which mean visitors can still experience Inca traditions, ancient recipes, and more. Justin Belill explained that Peruvian people tend to be incredibly helpful, peaceful, and polite, making asking questions and sharing stories that much more enjoyable. "When many travelers think of Peru, they think Machu Picchu," Justin Belill said. "But Peru is amazingly home to more than 28 unique climates." Justin Belill stated that Machu Picchu is surely iconic and bucket-list-worthy in itself. However, Peru offers far more than just one iconic destination. The Ballestas Islands are loaded with penguins, Paracas is a charming desert town, and the Canon del Cotahuasi is one of the deepest canyons in the world. From the peaks of the Andes to the deep blue hues of the Pacific Ocean, Peru is packed with must-visit scenery, towns, and other destinations. Story continues "Food critics consistently name Peru as one of the top foodie destinations in the Americas," Justin Belill said. "You'll understand why within hours of arrival." Peruvian dishes are known for being spicy and filling, including the unique guinea pig meat, known as cuy, found in the Andes. Other, more traditional, Peruvian foods include mouthwatering empanadas, fresh ceviche near the sea, lomo saltado, butifarra, and more. Justin Belill explained that because the country is home to so many unique climates, the foods vary drastically based on the areas you visit. "It's impossible to pack all of the beauty, culture, and flavors of Peru into a single visit, but I encourage you to try," Justin Belill finished. "You won't be disappointed." CONTACT: Caroline Hunter Web Presence, LLC +1 7865519491 SOURCE: Justin Belill View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602270/Justin-Belill-Avid-Traveler-Discusses-Why-Peru-Should-Be-on-Everyones-Bucket-List The Good Guys has shut three stores after customers purchased fridges infested with beetles that are considered a serious biosecurity risk to Australia. The electrical appliance retailer said the stores in the Canberra suburbs of Fyshwick, Belconnen and Tuggeranong were closed after the Khapra beetles were imported in a shipment of fridges from Thailand. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment issued a warning saying it was 'managing and investigating' the recently imported containers and cargo. The electrical appliance retailer confirmed three stores in Canberra have been closed and Khapra beetles have been tracked to the Home Delivery Centre in Sydney Khapra beetles have been 'intercepted' at six locations across the Australian Capital Territory with the three stores closing indefinitely. 'Three stores have been closed and it is yet to be determined when they will reopen,' the department said. 'Three customers had purchased a fridge from a retail outlet. The infested refrigerators were all imported in the same container. 'Tracing, surveillance, and additional fumigation has been undertaken to ensure the interceptions do not pose an ongoing biosecurity risk.' The Good Guys said in a statement: 'The Good Guys are working with the Department of Agriculture regarding traces of a Khapra Beetle that were detected in a supplier shipment of Fridges on Tuesday at The Good Guys Fyshwick (ACT).' The statement said the stores would be closed temporarily as assessments are done, but there is no information on when they will reopen. Khapra beetles are considered a threat to Australia's agricultural industry and is number two on the country's list of National Priority Plant Pests. Stores at Fyshwick, Belconnen and Tuggeranong in Canberra have closed after the beetles were imported in a shipment of fridges from Thailand It poses a 'major threat' to the grains, rice and nut industries across Australia. 'Australia maintains a pest free status for Khapra beetle, a serious pest of stored grain and dried food products,' the department said in a statement. 'The recent interceptions occurred in imported non-food goods, such as refrigerators, car parts, nuts and bolts, as well as empty containers and high-risk food goods such as spices and flour.' The beetles can be found in stored products and around places where products are kept or transported, such as the cracks and wall linings of storage containers. Australia does not have the beetle in the country and the department is currently tracking the shipments in an effort to eradicate their traces. Tourists walk outside a casino complex in Darling Harbour in Sydney on July 2, 2014. (PETER PARKS/Getty Images) Money Laundering Alleged at Sydney Casino A 30-year-old man has been charged with dealing with proceeds of crime after an investigation into suspicious transactions at a Sydney casino. Last month, the Organised Crime Squads Casino and Racing Investigation Unit began an investigation under Strike Force Antree following reports a man had been making suspicious transactions at a Sydney casino. Strike force investigators say they spoke with a man at the casino on July 21 and, after searching him and his car, seized more than $10,000 cash, $50,000 in casino chips, two mobile phones and documents. Detectives then executed a search warrant to seize $50,000 cash from the casino, which is alleged to have been produced by the man for a transaction earlier that day. When detectives searched the mans Auburn home officers say they found a further $70,000 in cash, a CCTV system and more documents. The man has been charged with two counts of deal with property proceeds of crime. Police will allege in court that the man purchased chips at the casino with money believed to be the proceeds of crime on at least two occasions. The man was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday. Sydney Wall Street isnt out of the woods yet with Warren Elizabeth Warren is set to take the virtual stage at the Democratic National Convention tonight, a week after Wall Street sighed in relief when Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate instead of the longtime critic of the financial industry. But heres the thing Ms. Warrens ability to influence a Biden administration may be stronger now than if she were to become vice president, where she would be more directly limited by the wants of her boss. And while progressive Democrats have rallied behind Ms. Harris, theyll likely expect something in return. That may mean giving Ms. Warren a spot in the administration, making her speech tonight a showcase or a tryout, of sorts of the ideas and approach that she would promote during a Biden presidency. Could she be the next Treasury secretary? It would be a natural fit for the senator, who has made financial regulation a priority (although she is seen as a long shot). If named to the role, Ms. Warren would emphasize Main Street over Wall Street, push for higher taxes on the wealthy and promote spending over fiscal restraint, experts say. But even if she isnt nominated for the role, Mr. Biden would probably turn to her for advice, especially on priorities for the S.E.C. and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency she helped create. She understands financial regulation as a tool to bring about better outcomes, said Sarah Bloom Raskin, a law professor at Duke and a former deputy secretary at the Treasury Department. But even Ms. Warrens allies worry that her regulatory zeal could backfire. The financial institutions are very negative about her, the former representative Barney Frank told CNN last month. If you have someone who is that much opposed by the people being regulated, it doesnt work smoothly. (Mr. Frank, a co-author of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations, is now a director at Signature Bank.) He suggested that hed prefer Ms. Warren stay in the Senate, where she has been a prominent advocate of progressive causes. Indeed, Democrats may not want to give up Ms. Warrens seat in the Senate, depending on the balance of power in the chamber. There are other jobs a Biden administration could offer her, like attorney general, where she would oversee investigations into the market power of big technology companies, or a bespoke position like a regulatory czar. But first, of course, theres the small matter of whether Mr. Biden can win the election in November. SPACs are so hot right now Another day, another flurry of news about so-called special-purpose acquisition companies, the publicly traded M.&A. machines that are Wall Streets hot new craze. (How hot? These blank check firms have raised more than $30 billion so far this year, according to SPAC Research, compared with $13.6 billion in all of 2019.) The 2020 vintage was always going to be a challenging one for California wineries, thanks to the safety challenges and economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. But the states winemakers could never have imagined that excessive heat, lightning storms and raging wildfires which, in addition to threatening buildings and people, also bring the possibility of smoke that could damage flavors in the grapes would also accompany the outset of this years harvest. Its the perfect storm, said Tony Bugica, director of farming for Atlas Vineyard Management, which farms 3,500 acres in the North Coast. 2020 is like nothing weve ever been through. Wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Napa Valley and Sonoma County were all battling wildfires by Wednesday morning. In the Chiles Valley area of eastern Napa County, the Hennessey Fire part of the 46,000-acre LNU Lightning Complex that devastated Vacaville singed parts of Brown Estate, Somerston Estate and Nichelini Vineyards, though no damage to grapevines or winery buildings was reported. But at Nichelini, a barn, cabin and one family members home burned. Now Playing: The Hennessy Fire in Napa Valley has grown to 2,700 acres with zero containment. The fire burns along Highway 128 eastbound and westbound. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Erika Carlos The house is not minor, of course, but no one was hurt, said Aimee Sunseri, the winemaker at the 130-year-old, family-owned property. It moved so fast, and I know a lot of people were just trying to get out. Craig Becker, general manager and winemaker for Somerston Estate, was in Yountville on Tuesday afternoon when he saw these smoke plumes that looked like nuclear bombs erupting in the direction of his vineyard. The Hennessey Fire did reach the northern end of Somerstons 1,682-acre property, but it burned only through open pasture land before moving on. There just arent enough resources to fight all these fires right now, he said. Cal Fire came in, checked on us, then left. Its not a criticism its just a reality. Becker credits Somerstons 600 resident sheep, whose constant grazing leaves the ground with minimal flammable material, with saving the property. (All the sheep are accounted for and safe, he added.) Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle In the Santa Cruz Mountains, the CZU August Lightning Complex had burned 10,000 acres. Bradley Brown, owner-winemaker at Big Basin Vineyards in Boulder Creek, evacuated Tuesday around 7 p.m. when he saw helicopters overhead. Because he wasnt at the property, he couldnt know for sure, but on Wednesday midday he believed his winery and grapevines were still intact, though he could see on NASA maps that flames were engulfing the area on both sides. Its all made for an ominous start to the harvest season, which is normally the California wine industrys most exciting and hopeful time of the year, when the hard work of farmers from throughout the year comes to fruition. Now Playing: A house is engulfed in flames along Pleasant Valley Road in Vacaville, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fire passes through on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Video: Scott Strazzante The Chronicle Even without the wildfires, the heat wave and thunderstorms of the past week were already concerning for wine quality, said Bugica. Heat can desiccate berries, shriveling them into raisins, and can cause sugar levels to shoot up before the grapes achieve physiological ripeness effectively forcing growers to pick the grapes before they taste flavorful. Plus, the combination of high heat and humidity mean that grapes will almost certainly develop botrytis, a type of mold. Its very extreme, this weather, and the vines dont acclimate, said Bugica, who began harvesting grapes about 10 days ago. Some of the leaves are already turning yellow. Theyre in shock, theyre dehydrated. Its deja vu for winemakers, who endured a 2017 heat wave that preceded the catastrophic Wine Country fires. After those fires initial damage was done, some wineries also found their crop ruined by smoke taint a phenomenon that occurs when smoke lingers in the air and imbues wine grapes with an unpleasant, irreversible smoky flavor. Somerston Estate lost its entire vintage in 2017 due to smoke taint, Becker said. But while wineries in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties have been dealing with smoke taint concerns frequently in recent years, the Santa Cruz Mountains have been largely spared until now, depending on how the wind blows this week. On Wednesday, the smoke appeared to be moving, a promising sign. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Weve been lucky so far when it comes to smoke taint, said Dave Golnick, owner of Mindego Ridge Vineyard, where he expected to begin harvesting Pinot Noir next week. In Golnicks 11 years of farming, he hasnt lost any grapes to smoke, but whether he loses any this year depends on timing and wind, he said. If smoke passes through quickly, its unlikely to affect the fruit; once it lingers for days, thats bad news. Smoky air is a concern for vineyard workers, too, who have already had to adapt their work significantly to meet coronavirus safety protocols. To reduce the spread of the virus, many companies are reducing the number of workers, keeping them in pods so that they come in contact with a smaller set of people, and spacing them out throughout the vineyard in larger distances than usual. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Ken Swegles, a consultant with Rhizos Viticulture in the Santa Cruz Mountains, had planned to begin picking grapes on Wednesday but decided to call it off for safety reasons. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle I dont want to have my crews breathing in the smoke, he said. To add insult to injury for grape farmers, the California wine industry has been dealing with an oversupply of grapes and wine for the past two years, coupled with slowing growth in wine sales nationwide. Those two forces have significantly decreased the prices that farmers can command for grapes. Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was going for $4,000 a ton two years ago, said Bugica. It was $2,000 last year, and now were getting offers for under $1,000. Its not good. With the wildfires still raging and their full effects still unknown, it was difficult to get a clear forecast on the 2020 vintage. But Becker was hopeful. The growing season, until last week, had been marked by moderate, optimal weather. If the fires pass and smoke doesnt linger, the damage could be minimal. Im optimistic, Becker said. You have to be. Golnick, of Mindego Ridge, had to find some humor in the confluence of every worst-case scenario at once. Is that all you got, 2020? he laughed, adding: Im so ready for 2021. Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob Shani Newton and Willie Alston are photographed outside Ace Shoe Repair in Mount Airy. Newton, owner of Dolly's Boutique, recently posted a plea to customers to support Ace Shoe Repair, a business up the street, and customers responded. Read more So, remember the necessary goodness I wrote about last week? And how we would need extra doses just to get through these tough days? Heres a little more. Shani Newton has been a loyal customer of Ace Shoe Repair on Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy for years. Shes routinely brought Mr. Willie as customers call owner Willie Alston her shoes and bags and belts for cleaning and repair. Shes also sent plenty of her customers his way, too. Newton owns Dollys Boutique & Consignment just up the street, a longtime business on Germantown Avenue with a second location at the Fashion District Philadelphia mall, opened about six months before the coronavirus shut everything down. Like other entrepreneurs, shes trying to steer her business through the pandemic. Shes not sure when the Center City location will re-open. But her Mount Airy location is now open by appointment while shes building her online sales. In short, doing whatever she can to keep the dream going shes had since childhood. So, you wouldnt blame her, or any business owner, for being laser-focused on her own survival. Except last week, after visiting Alston and commiserating over the hardships of keeping business afloat with a lack of foot traffic and elusive small-business grants and loans, she took to Facebook: This is my buddy Willie, owner of Ace Shoe Repair @ 20 E. Mt Airy Ave (right near Germantown & Mt Airy Aves). The pandemic has really hurt his business in terms of customer traffic. Many business owners for various reasons have not been fortunate to receive support through grants and loans. Friends, Im asking you to go in your closets and take Willie all of your shoes, sneakers, belts and bags that need cleaning or repairs. Her message caught my attention because I happened to be writing about how someones small dose of kindness was making a big impact. But also because Ive been thinking a lot about what our neighborhoods will look like when we finally, fully emerge from the pandemic. A recent Instagram post I came across put it perfectly: Whom we buy from now will decide whos standing later. I mean, it should go without saying, but: Support your neighborhood-defining small businesses whenever and however you can. Newtons friends did not disappoint. The post was shared more than 800 times and the support didnt stay on social media. When I called a clearly appreciative Alston, the 68-year-old cobbler said customers have consistently been coming through. Someone paid him $150 for a shoeshine, someone else $50 for a $20 repair job. It makes me feel good, Alston said, and dont think Im bragging right now, because when they come in, I dont overcharge people, I try to keep everything fair. So all that goodness came back to help me. A little about Mr. Willie, who opened his current shop in 2008 with his partner Naeem Iddeen: Hes been at his craft for about 50 years, since he first shadowed a cobbler right out of the old Bok High School. He chuckled when he recalled some early mistakes. But he kept at it and went on to work at other neighborhood shops, including Carmans Shoe Repair, a few miles up the road in Chestnut Hill. Every morning, Alston, father to three and grandfather to 14, takes the subway from his South Philly home to his business and then back to the block where he and four other siblings live right next to one another. If my porch light isnt on, they know it means I dont want to be bothered, he joked. Repairing shoes can call for some long hours, especially when the one pair you might be tempted to put off for another day is inevitably the pair a customer picks up right on time. But Mr. Willie is proud of the steady clientele hes built with good work at a fair price. You cant ask for more from your neighborhood business. And, he said, he couldnt ask for more from his faithful clientele. The other day an older customer whos become a regular made Alston promise to call him if he found himself in financial trouble. Please, he recalled the customer saying, dont let this shop close. We want you here. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's wife, Jill, closed out Tuesday night's session of the Democratic National Convention by likening America to a home that's been shattered by loss, like the Bidens' has been. How do you make a broken family whole? Jill Biden said in a video appearance from a classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Del., where she once taught English. The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding, and with small acts of kindness, with bravery, with unwavering faith. The classroom where she spoke was empty, like many across the nation. Biden cited the schools closed by the coronavirus pandemic and parents laboring to help their children learn remotely at home, a great burden on many American families. As a mother and a grandmother, and an American, I am heartbroken by the magnitude of this loss, by the failure to protect our communities, she said. "Like so many of you, I am left asking, how can I keep my family safe?" In an appeal to win support for her husband, who was formally nominated Tuesday, Biden said: "Yes, so, many classrooms are quiet right now. The playgrounds are still. But if you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the air. Across this country, educators, parents, first responders, Americans of all walks of life are putting their shoulders back, fighting for each other. We havent given up, we just need leadership worthy of our nation, worthy of you." This is Jill Biden's biggest stage yet, but she is no stranger to life around the White House, having served as second lady when her husband was vice president during the Obama administration. Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden grew up in Willow Grove, Pa., the oldest of four sisters raised by a homemaker mother and a banker father, as The Times reported in a 2008 profile. Jill and Joe Biden met on a blind date arranged by Joe's brother in 1975, and the pair wed in 1977. (It reportedly took Joe five tries before Jill said yes.) The Bidens have been married 43 years. Joe Bidens first wife and infant daughter died in a car crash in 1972. Story continues In addition to the two surviving sons Joe Biden had from his previous marriage, Beau and Hunter, the pair had a daughter together, Ashley. Jill Biden is a career educator, having taught in high school and also at the Delaware Technical and Community College. As her husband's career soared, she drew a reputation for having a reluctant attitude toward the spotlight. She taught for all eight years of her husband's time as vice president. But she has become a prominent public supporter of her husband during his first successful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, appearing in virtual events in more than 17 cities since May, according to the Associated Press. She has also joined in her husband's familial tragedy, when Beau Biden, who had become the attorney general of Delaware, died of brain cancer in 2015. "I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again," Jill Biden said of Beau's death. "It was summer, but there was no warmth left for me. Four days after Beaus funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit, I saw him steel himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back, and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. Thats just who he is. There are times where I couldnt even imagine how he did it. He's guided by his faith, Jill Biden said. "I know if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: Bring us together and make us whole, carry us forward in our time of need." After she finished her speech, Joe Biden came on camera and said, You can see why she's the love of my life and the rock of my family." King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Parel will soon to start clinical trial on anti-tuberculosis vaccination (TB) Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine (BCG) to treat Covid-19 patients. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has selected the hospital for the trial which will be conducted on 200 people of the age group of 60-75 years. KEM Hospital, the biggest civic-run hospital in Mumbai, has been treating the highest number of severely-ill Covid-19 patients since the outbreak of the virus in March. Last week, ICMR informed the hospital about the trial and the proposal to conduct the trial has been sent to the ethics committee of the hospital for final approval. In India, BCG vaccination started in 1949 under the national immunisation programme. The vaccine, an annual vaccine administered to newborns, protects against disseminated tuberculosis and meningitis in childhood. In the clinical trial, the vaccine will be administered to citizens aged above 60 years to examine if it can stimulate the immune response among older people against Covid-19. ICMR has initiated a multi-centric study to see if BCG can reduce the severity of Covid-19 infection among individuals above 60 years of age. The vaccine is effective among children to control TB, but the study will see its implications on elder people and its correlation with Covid-19, said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Despite repeated calls, Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of the hospital, didnt respond to HT. The trial will be conducted on 1,000 healthy volunteers aged above 60 years of age in six states Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Volunteers will be tested for antigens to check if they are infected with Covid-19. They will have to undergo antibody test to see if they were infected with the virus in the past, said Kakani. Often Covid-19 patients develop inflammatory reactions which lead to severity of their infection and even death. In this backdrop, doctors have opined that BCG vaccination, by enhancing innate immune response, may have deleterious effects on coronavirus. Several researches have shown a correlation that people who received BCG vaccination did not get sick more often or become seriously ill. It has long-lasting effects to boost the immune system. It is believed that despite having such a huge population, Covid-19 fatality rate in India is low because of BCG vaccine which is given to all children since the early 90s, said Dr Lalit Anande, medical superintendent of Sewri TB Hospital. Impact of routine infant BCG vaccination in the young generation on prevention of local Covid-19 spread in Japan a study published on August 11 suggested that BCG vaccination does play an influential role in protecting against the spread of infection on a mass scale. In the conclusion, the authors wrote, Our findings suggest that routine infant BCG vaccination coverage in the young generation had a significant impact on prevention of local Covid-19 spread in Japan. Another study, Safety and COVID-19 Symptoms in Individuals Recently Vaccinated with BCG: a Retrospective Cohort Study, published on August 5 in Cell Reports Medicine showed the vaccine is safe and induces immune responses. The study was conducted on people who have received a BCG vaccine in the past five years in Netherlands. BCG vaccination might be associated with a decrease in the incidence of sickness during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as lower incidence of extreme fatigue(sic), reads the report. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) overruled the significance of BCG vaccine in April. In a statement on its official website, it stated, There is no evidence that BCG protects people against infection with Covid-19 virus. Two clinical trials addressing this question are underway, and WHO will evaluate the evidence when it is available. In the absence of evidence, WHO does not recommend BCG vaccination for the prevention of Covid-19. Meanwhile, KEM Hospital expects to receive approval from the ethics committee to run the clinical trial on Covishield within the next two days. Hyderabad: Raja Singh, the lone BJP MLA from Telangana and apparently in the centre of a row over social media giant Facebook's policy on hate speeches, has rejected allegations he makes communally loaded posts online, asserting he only works in the national interest. He said his official FB page had been "hacked and blocked" in 2018 but that there has been no response from the police on a complaint filed by him on the matter so far. In a report published last week, US newspaper Wall Street Journal had cited interviews with unnamed Facebook insiders to claim one of its senior India policy executives intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana after he allegedly made communally charged posts. Incidentally, Singh, known for his pro-Hindutva views, is the only saffron party legislator from the southern state. In a video released on Monday, Singh said, "I am being projected in such a way that I am the most dangerous in the entire world (like) he (Singh) says something on social media, then something or the other happens. I would like to tell the media that I am a person who works in national interest. Cite one example where I could be blamed for any social strife," he said. He claimed many social media accounts have been opened across the country in his name and said it was not possible for him stop all those people. He said he cannot be held responsible if somebody shared or posted something. "My official Facebook account was hacked and blocked in 2018," he said, adding he lodged a complaint with the police in this connection but that there has been no reply so far. He never posted any inflammatory speeches on his official social media accounts, Singh contended. Alleging there were many in the country who made inflammatory speeches, including AIMIM leaders in Telangana, he said nobody initiated action against them. He sought to know why he was being targeted and said it was 'wrong.' The legislator said he would continue to work in the national interest. A slugfest had erupted between the Congress and the BJP following a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Facebook ignored applying its hate speech rules to politicians of the BJP. Seizing on the report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accused the BJP and RSS of spreading "fake news" using Facebook and WhatsApp to influence the electorate, triggeringa sharp counter-attack from Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who reminded the opposition party of the Cambridge Analytica issue. Congress and the CPI (M) have demanded a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the issue. The Bellaire Police Department could soon be using new surveillance tools to monitor the license plates of cars that travel through the city. The city council approved a measure allowing BPD to submit a request for funding for a pilot program that investigates the utility of Automated License Plate Readers on Aug. 17. Monday nights request considers installing 10 ALPRs on select roadways within the City of Bellaire, capturing license plate information and comparing that information to a national database immediately. The technology will store the images on a private server maintained by the private vendor Flock Safety. According to BPDs request, the quoted price for a 10-camera system will be $27,500, including installation. Related: Houston police seek feedback on performance According to Bellaires Assistant Chief of Police Onesimo Lopez, the system has motion-activated cameras that will photograph every license plate that passes in front of them. The cameras will then compare the photos to a national database and will alert the department of any hotlist license plates, such as vehicles suspected of being stolen or cars connected to AMBER alerts. The camera also captures the make, model and color of vehicles while using artificial intelligence to create a searchable database for use in investigations. The data will be stored on the server for 30 days. In the meantime, authorized users within the BPD will be able to access the stored data if it is relevant to an ongoing investigation. Is there any way that you would use this to monitor Bellaire citizens and their driving habits? asked Councilmember Catherine Lewis. Will you use it for issuing tickets or for people who have otherwise not committed a crime? Not at all, said Lopez. The system is intended to just take static photos of vehicles. It doesnt monitor how fast someone is driving, it doesnt look at whether theyre using their blinker when theyre changing lanes or anything like that. It only takes a picture of the car. However, Lopez also noted that when the ALPR takes a photo, it is possible to get other things that are in the field of view of the camera. Because the cameras are motion-activated, they could also record images of pedestrians, cyclists, and larger animals, said Lopez. Thats not the focus of the camera system, its not what its intended to do. But that information would be collected. Breaking News: Get email alerts from Chron.com sent directly to your inbox Lopez said that the technology is not going to be used with the intention of preventing crime but instead aiding the police in solving crimes that have already happened. Officers will be required to verify the information gained from the system before making a stop or arrest, he said. It is possible the camera system will record people that are connected to criminal activities, people may be running on foot from a store and they happen to run in front of these cameras, Lopez continued. Theres a benefit to it, but theres also a concern with non-criminal activity, people getting recorded incidentally. ALPRs are not new to Houston area small cities, as Bellaire is seeking the same equipment already used by the Memorial Villages as well as Jersey Village. West University Place also started installing license plate reader technology, manufactured by a different company, at all entrances into the city and on a few police patrol cars. The technology could end up detouring crime if people are aware of the cameras, Lopez said. I think its a good idea to have this as a detract to crime, said Lewis. Theres been a lot of concern throughout the city Anything that we can get the police that would help them, Im all for it. ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com Edson Brandao, an online influencer, personal trainer and writer from Brazil, has been getting a lot of attention because of his age-defying appearance. Despite being in his early 50s, Brandao constantly gets mistaken for a 20 or 30-year-old. Looking at photos of Edson Brandao from when he was in his thirties and forties, and comparing them to his looks at age 53, you could say the Brazilian-born has only been getting younger. While he doesnt deny that his youthful appearance have something to do with good genes, the 53-year-old credits his positive attitude, healthy lifestyle and daily skin care as the main reasons for his impressive looks. Brandao also swears that he has never undergone any cosmetic procedures to retain his youthful appearance. Photo: Edson Brandao/Instagram I have never had plastic surgery in my life, Brandao told Media Drum World. I managed to achieve my goals in a natural way with biologic food, fruit, vegetables, and drinking a lot of water. I use daily anti-ageing creams for my skin as well to keep the young appearance. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Aug 17, 2020 at 3:26pm PDT I eat everything in a moderate way. I avoid eating sugar, industrialized food, snacks, and fried products. I never drink soft drinks because that is unhealthy. Last but not least, I have never smoked or used drugs in my life, the 53-year-old added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Aug 4, 2020 at 11:47am PDT After seeing how shocked people were to hear his real age, Edson Brandao decided to use his incredibly youthful physique and his knowledge of a balanced lifestyle to inspire others and help them improve their lives. He has his own website, shares tips on social media and even wrote a book called Young After 40. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Jul 22, 2020 at 8:55am PDT I like to inspire other people to give them a positive message that you can achieve everything in life if you really want to, Brandao said. I am the evidence that a human-being can stay and feel young even as you get older. The first step [to maintaining a youthful appearance] is to accept and love yourself. You are okay as you are. Then, create a daily routine of skin care, exercises, to eat and drink healthy, always look on the bright side of life and count your blessings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Jul 21, 2020 at 9:22am PDT Even if you dont care about maintaining a youthful appearance, thats some sound advice for a healthy life. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Jun 24, 2020 at 11:52am PDT Edson Brandao claims that he feels no different now than he did in his twenties, and often posts photos of himself from several decades ago to show that he doesnt look any different either. If anything, he actually looks a lot better now, in some of them. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edson Brandao (@edsonsecrets) on Jul 24, 2020 at 2:49pm PDT Interestingly, this isnt the only case of age-defying male looks weve ever featured on Oddity Central. A few years back, we wrote about Chuando Tan, a Singaporean model turned photographer in his 50s who also amazed the world with incredibly youthful looks. Reflecting on the trial of Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur, Prasanna Balasundaram is struck by the contrasting tone of the victim impact statements submitted by families and friends. While all were grappling with loss, those whose loved ones had legal status in Canada showed gratitude for the police involved and trust in their investigation, he said. But for the families of the victims who were refugee claimants, it was different. In their statements, friends and family expressed a fear of police, to the point where they said they were too afraid to even come forward to report a missing person, for fear of risking deportation. To the Toronto refugee lawyer, the difference in responses underlines how police treatment of people with precarious immigration status can deny justice to the most vulnerable, and even hinder investigations. This was the entry point to show that even before the investigation began, the dynamic of fear inhibited the possibility of justice as a result of (immigration) status, said Balasundaram, whose own family came to Canada as Tamil refugees fleeing ethnic persecution in Sri Lanka. If theres a clear message that status is not linked to the manner in which police will conduct an investigation, we will see more engagement by victims and witnesses of crime. Balasundaram is the author of a recent submission by the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) to the ongoing review into police missing person investigations, asking for the adoption of a meaningful Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy with respect to immigration status. The review, presided over by retired Ontario judge Gloria J. Epstein, was prompted by the deaths of eight members of Torontos LGBTQ community and concerns over the manner in which the Toronto Police Service investigated their disappearances. A final report is expected early next year. For years, the disappearance of gay men and fears of a possible serial killer haunted Torontos Gay Village until evidence led police investigators to McArthur in 2018. The self-employed landscaper was charged and later pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder before being sentenced to life imprisonment. Six of McArthurs eight victims were migrants to Canada and people of colour. Two of the men Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam and Skandaraj Navaratnam were refugee claimants living without status or with precarious status in Canada. In its submission, publicly released this week, the refugee lawyer association cited the victim impact statements of the two non-status men in its call for change. From Kanagaratnams friend: Krishnakumar (sic), who was a refugee like us living in fear and uncertainty of his status, disappeared in 2015, but it was only in 2018 that it was discovered that he was dead. This has reminded many like us of the uncertainty, insecurity and fear that we still live with here in Canada. Navaratnams brother wrote: Since his status in Canada may have been a challenge for him we lived in hope that he may have gone into hiding and may appear once his status was restored. As a family, we lived in desperate, perilous times for close to a decade with the pain of not knowing his whereabouts. Those comments are in stark contrast to the one from a friend of LGBTQ activist Andrew Kinsman, another victim: I am grateful to the police who investigated Andrews disappearance. I am grateful to the investigators who first heard me: Andrew is missing, I beg you, help me. I am grateful to whomever connected Andrews disappearance to those of the other men. The apprehension and fear of exposing the lack of immigration status of Kanagaratnam and Navaratnam weighed heavily in their families and friends reluctance to report their disappearances to police, according to CARL. This is an impossible situation and not one any family or friend ought to be forced to make in the context of a potential missing person. In addition, the fear surrounding status also effectively undermined the efficacy of the investigation, the submission reads. Since the families feared deportation if they reported the victims missing, it also prevented the police from conducting an in-depth investigation and ultimately delayed the identification of McArthur as the killer. In 2014, Toronto City Council implemented a formal sanctuary city policy called Access T.O., which stipulates that immigration and citizenship information be collected only when specifically required by provincial or federal legislation, policies or agreements. The policy is meant to ensure that undocumented Torontonians can access city services without the fear of being asked about their immigration status, or reported to border agents if their status becomes known. Toronto Police have adopted the dont ask policy, but would share information with border enforcement if they become aware of an immigration warrant against an individual. According to CARL, Toronto Police have continued to actively inquire into immigration status, something Balasundaram says they are obligated to do only when asked by the Canada Border Services Agency to enforce an immigration warrant. It makes Toronto a place where victims and witnesses to a crime may be reluctant to contact or co-operate with the police, because they fear information relating to their immigration status may become known, he said. The Toronto Police Service declined to comment on the submission and recommendation, saying that the review is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time. The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference has said it stands "in unconditional solidarity" with its Brother-Bishops of Zimbabwe in the face of attacks due to a Pastoral Letter that has provoked the wrath of the Zimbabwe Government. Vatican News English Africa Service Vatican City Southern African Church in unconditional solidarity Bishop Sithembele Sipuka says that the Catholic Church and its Bishops in Southern Africa stand in unconditional solidarity with the Bishops of Zimbabwe in the face of vilification by the Zimbabwean Government. We, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) continue to note with increasing concern the unabated situation of repression in Zimbabwe, resulting in increasing hardship and suffering to the citizens, reads a statement released Wednesday, by the Bishop of Mthatha and President of the SACBC, Sithembele Sipuka. We commend your prophetic voice Bishop Sipuka continues, We commend you for your prophetic voice in naming and condemning the brutalisation of ordinary people by security forces and the underlying corruption that has led to the total collapse of services to the people by the government (of Zimbabwe). People needed to hear voice of encouragement Your Pastoral letter of Friday 14 August 2020 clearly describes the hardships and problems faced by Zimbabwe, and analyses the causes, which those in authority do not want to hear. Your voice of encouragement to the people of Zimbabwe is what they needed to hear in this time of their greatest need. It is opportune and appropriate that this letter was issued on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. We take hope from and hold on to the assurance given by Our Mother that, God has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. (Lk. 1:52), says Bishop Sipuka. Support for the Archbishop of Harare The Bishops of Southern African, in particular, condemn the personal attacks targeted at the Archbishop of Harare, Robert Christopher Ndlovu, by Zimbabwes Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa. It is most regrettable that instead of addressing the issues, the Government through its Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, chose instead to target and insult Archbishop Robert Ndlovu as evil-minded, projecting its own tribalistic agenda to fuel divisions in the country. To you bishops and particularly to you Archbishop Ndlovu we remind you of what Jesus foretold about those who speak in his name that they will seize you and persecute you (Lk.21:12), assured he Bishops. For Shepherds, keeping quiet is not an option We pray that the Bishops and the Church will continue to speak prophetically, with the voice of God, and be the light that shines in the darkness, 'and the darkness has not overcome it,' (Jn.1:5). Keeping quiet is not an option, and as shepherds of the people, your voice of support gives hope to the people entrusted to you to carry on. As your brothers and sisters in Southern Africa, we assure you of our support and prayers that this time of suffering, in your country, may soon come to an end," Bishop Sipuka said. Justice Minister Naomi Long has welcomed the first jury trial to take place in Northern Ireland since lockdown. (DeptofJustice/PA) The first jury trial in Northern Ireland since the coronavirus lockdown has taken place in Belfast. The trial took place at Laganside Courts ahead of plans to open five more Crown Court venues across the region by the end of September. Covid precautions included the use of two courtrooms one for hearings and another for jury deliberation hand sanitiser stations at all entry points, mandatory face coverings in public areas and physical distancing. Justice Minister Naomi Long welcomed the move, describing jury trials as one of the cornerstones of our justice system. Minister Long today confirmed jury trials have recommenced in NI for the first time since lockdown. Much work has been carried out to ensure a safe environment for everyone. We visited Laganside Court in Belfast to see the preparations. Read more https://t.co/VCX8ukuwqp pic.twitter.com/Z5w0J4SyXU Justice NI (@Justice_NI) August 19, 2020 It is a hugely significant step that we are now in a position to accommodate them again, she said. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions, it was logistically impossible to hold jury trials. I recognise this will have been hugely frustrating and distressing for those who have been awaiting the outcome of cases. I want to reassure those impacted that everything possible has been done to get jury trials up and running in the safest and most efficient way possible. Ms Long emphasised that court business has continued remotely throughout lockdown, using video technology As lockdown measures have been eased, Ms Long said from August 24, courts will operate from 12 venues dealing with criminal, civil and family cases. There will be capacity for 18 magistrates courts, with other courtrooms being used for Crown Court, County Court, coroners and tribunal business, she said. Courts will continue to undertake as much business as possible remotely but the increased capacity will facilitate a move away from urgent and agreed business only to a focus on case progression and disposal. A huge amount of work has gone into getting this far and I want to thank everyone in our courts and tribunals, the judiciary and across the legal profession and the wider justice family who have worked hard throughout lockdown to ensure the process of justice did not grind to a halt and continued to be delivered throughout this health crisis. Sahaya Novinston Lobo By Express News Service CHENNAI: A TV journalist was assaulted on Tuesday while covering the story about a Dalit panchayat president, who was stopped from hoisting the Tricolour on the Independence Day by members of dominant castes in her village. Two persons have been arrested for the assault. The Discrimination The issue began at the Athupakkam Village in Gummidipoondi Taluk on Independence Day. V Amrutham, the panchayat president of the reserved constituency, was invited to hoist the flag at the local school, initially. However, later, the school headmistress was allegedly persuaded, by members of dominant castes, not to call Amrutham to hoist the flag. The discrimination began the day my mother took over as the president, says her son. Initially, she was not even allowed inside the office. Now, she goes occasionally, when they need her signature. She does not even know for what the cheques signed by her are used. When the report about this incident came out in the news, the State Human Rights Commission called for a report. Senior revenue officials have conducted inquiries with Amrutham who, according to sources, have explained the discrimination that she faces. The Assault On Tuesday, M Ezhilarasan, who works with a popular TV channel and Yacob, who works with a Tamil newspaper, went to the village to cover the issue. When they reached the panchayat office, they allegedly found it empty. As the office was empty, we decided to record some footage there. Suddenly, panchayat secretary Sasikumar and vice president Revathys husband Vijayakumar arrived there. They started yelling that we had no right to videotape an empty public office and started assaulting me, says Ezhil, who was beaten up and locked in a room. Yacob, who was also at the spot, contacted other reporters and police arrived. Things escalated with the arrival of the police, revenue department officials, and other journalists. While the journalists filed a complaint against Sasikumar and other, the latter filed a complaint against the reporter. Later, around 50 persons gathered in support of Sasikumar at the Tiruvallur Superintendent of Police office. Superintendent Aravindan said that an FIR was registered against Sasikumar and Vijayakumar and the duo was arrested on charges of rioting, using obscene words, causing hurt, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation. YPSILANTI, MI Danyale Neely knew her sister had been killed when police told her to contact Child Protective Services about her 4-month-old niece She would soon learn that her sister, Courtney Latrice Neely, was killed by ex-boyfriend Michael Duane Taylor -- the father of Courtneys only child -- at his Ypsilanti home on July 15. The accord brings the number of scheduled flights between the two countries to 16 a week. China and the United States agreed to double the number of scheduled passenger flights operated by each others airlines to eight a week in a move to ease a standoff between the worlds two largest economies on travel restrictions amid the pandemic. The U.S. will allow four Chinese airlines flying to American cities to operate a combined eight weekly round trips, up from the current four, the Transportation Department said Tuesday. Chinas civil aviation regulator issued a similar ruling concerning U.S. carriers. The accord brings the number of scheduled flights between the two countries to 16 a week. Before the pandemic, Chinese and U.S. airlines operated about 300 weekly round-trip scheduled passenger flights between the two countries. Chinese airlines currently flying to the U.S. include Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. The Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) ruling this week will permit expanded flights by Chicago-based United Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, according to the U.S. transportation authority. United and Delta will both increase flights from two to four a week, it said. The United routes will go between San Francisco and Shanghai, and Delta will fly from Seattle and Detroit to Shanghai. U.S. airlines voluntarily halted flights to China in early February when Chinas Covid-19 outbreak intensified to curb the spread of the pathogen. For the same reason, China shut its borders to foreigners and since March dramatically cut the number of international flights. Read more Cover Story: The Challenge of Uncorking the ChinaU.S. Travel Bottleneck While international airlines have sought to resume services to China, the CAAC said in May that the restrictive measures would be maintained because of concerns about the rampant spread of the virus abroad. This ignited a series of tit-for-tat policy exchanges between Beijing and Washington. The tensions eased in early June after the CAAC backed down by allowing more foreign airlines to resume limited services. It also set up an incentive mechanism that leaves the door open for airlines to add more flights if their virus control measures prove sufficient. Sources at Delta told Caixin that its China-bound flights from the U.S. are operating at full capacity. Most passengers are Chinese scholars and their families who had not been able to return to China. However, the U.S.-bound flights from China were quite empty. China is stepping up measures to reconnect with the world by air. The CAAC has allowed more flights linking Chinese cities with Germany and France. Air France will resume a weekly Paris-to-Beijing route Aug. 20, making it the first Beijing route restored by a European airline. Air Canada also said it will increase to two flights a week between Vancouver and Shanghai starting Aug. 30. Chinese airlines also planned to add international flights in September. Juneyao Airlines will have a total of five international routes each week, while Xiamen Airlines will increase to two flights a week on routes including to Amsterdam and Vancouver. Air China resumed services from the southwestern city of Chengdu to Frankfurt last week. As of Aug. 12, 93 Chinese and foreign airlines operated 210 round-trip flights a week on 187 international passenger routes, according to data from the CAAC. Flights from China more than doubled to 50 countries from 20 since the beginning of June. The Chinese authority required that all passengers from 36 countries including Russia, Thailand and Egypt take a Covid-19 swab test within five days before boarding. United Airlines shares rose 1.35% to close at $34.44 Wednesday in New York, while Delta finished 0.14% higher to $27.67. Contact editors Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com). Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that it is not right for him to make any political comment on Supreme Courts latest order in actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death case. Supreme Court has given its verdict, it is not right to make political comments. Our states justice system has always been one of the best in the country, no one is above law here and to provide justice to all has been the norm, Raut said while speaking to ANI. Those in the government who know the law, the Mumbai Police Commissioner or our Advocate General can talk about it, it is not fit for me to comment on the verdict of Supreme Court, he added. Notably, holding that the FIR registered in Bihars Patna over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput was legitimate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to investigate the case. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actors death after the Centre accepted Bihar Governments recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. An FIR was registered in Patna on a complaint filed by KK Singh, Rajputs father, under sections related to abetment to suicide. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday activated the highest level of flood control response for the first time on record, as rain-induced floods ravaged parts of the province. Continuous rainfall has caused 22 major rivers in Sichuan to exceed their flood warning levels. Swelling rivers have flooded some urban areas in the city of Ya'an and Leshan. Local authorities have evacuated more than 100,000 people affected by the disaster. The province's flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the response to Level I, the highest in the four-tier emergency response system, at 5 a.m. Tuesday. The Ya'an section of the Qingyi River was hit by a major flood rarely seen in a hundred years, while water levels in the entire Qingyi River basin, as well as the lower reaches of Dadu River and Minjiang River, are expected to exceed warning levels. "I have never seen such a big flood on the (Qingyi) river. All the furniture on the first floor of my house was soaked in water on Monday night," said Wu Zhongjin, a resident of Caoba Township, Ya'an. Liao Yuanbing, the town chief, said on Tuesday that nearly 20,000 people in the township had been evacuated to safety, as rescuers were still searching for people who might be trapped in low-lying places. Many local people were clearing water, mud and debris from their houses with shovels and brooms. In Leshan, fire fighters sent in by a helicopter and speed boats are helping 1,020 people stranded on Fengzhou Island. Food and drinking water have been sent to the trapped residents, who were suffering from shortages nearly a day after the flood cut off the road traffic. The Jiuzhaigou National Park, also known as the Jiuzhai Valley, a UNESCO world heritage site famed for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forests, serene plateau lakes and karst rock formations in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, announced temporary closure due to safety concerns. Incessant torrential rainfall has blocked roads to the scenic spot, with part of the area flooded by a river, according to the site's administration. Water levels in the main streams of Baishuijiang, Baihe and Tangzhu rivers in Jiuzhaigou County exceeded historic highs, with dykes breached in some sections and arterial traffic cut off, the county's flood control and drought relief headquarters said. Floods also affected the Leshan Giant Buddha, another UNESCO world heritage site situated outside the city of Leshan. Flood water reached the toes of the Buddha statue for the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. On Monday night, local police and scenic-spot staff placed sandbags at the platform under the Buddha's feet, building a dam-like structure to protect the statue. However, by around 10 a.m. Tuesday, with the water levels of local rivers rapidly rising, the flood water had already covered the toes of the statue. There is an old saying in Leshan: the city will be flooded entirely when the Giant Buddha's feet are flooded. Leshan has activated its highest-level flood control response. The Buddha statue, carved into a cliff in Leshan Mountain and overlooking three converging rivers, was built over a 90-year period starting in the year 713, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Chen Changming, vice mayor of Leshan, said that the top priorities of the city government are to protect the lives of those who have been resettled and carry out post-disaster epidemic prevention. The Sichuan provincial meteorological observatory said the main rain belt is leaving the province. However, rain-soaked areas are still prone to geological disasters such as landslides and mudslides. Upstream areas of major rivers in the province are still likely to see floods. People watch a performance as they cool off at a water park in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei Province, on August 15. (Photo by STR / AFP) Thousands of partygoers packed a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life. The popular Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park was filled with people frolicking in swimsuits and goggles for an electronic music festival, many perched on rubber dinghies or wading up to their chests in water. The water park reopened in June after Wuhan gradually opened up after a 76-day lockdown and strict restrictions to try to control the spread of the virus. Thousands flocked to this water park in Wuhan on August 15 to attend an electronic music festival. (Photo by STR / AFP) This Wuhan water park reopened in June after a 76-day lockdown and strict restrictions to try to control the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by STR / AFP) The park which local media say has capped attendance at 50 percent of normal capacity is offering half-price discounts for female visitors. A performer in a stage show at the front of the pool waved at the crowd, packed close and waving their arms back, some snapping photos on phones protected in plastic pouches around their necks. Another performer on a water-jet board entertained his audience by hovering above them, with sparks shooting from his back. Some of the crowd had donned life jackets, but none were seen to be wearing face masks as a DJ in bright yellow headphones played on stage. A performer on a water-jet board hovers above the crowd as sparks shoot from his back. (Photo by STR / AFP) The first known cases of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan late last year, a city of 11 million people, before the virus spread across the world, killing hundreds of thousands and crippling economies. The lockdown was lifted in April and there have been no new domestically transmitted cases officially reported in Hubei Province, where Wuhan is the capital, since mid-May. To boost the local economy, the Hubei government has been offering free entry to 400 tourist sites across the province. China has largely brought its domestic epidemic under control, but sporadic outbreaks and a summer of severe flooding have exacerbated the economic fallout. (AFP) People participate in a music festival in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei Province, on August 4. The city's convalescence since a 76-day quarantine was lifted in April has brought life back to streets and gridlocked traffic, even as residents struggle to find their feet again. Long lines of customers now stretch outside breakfast stands, a far cry from the terrified crowds who queued at city hospitals in the first weeks after a city-wide lockdown was imposed in late January to curb the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) HANOI -- Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said on Tuesday that COVID-19 would stay in the country for a long time, adding that it would take at least a year for the population to have access to a vaccine. We have to take measures to live safely alongside the disease, Dam said at a government meeting. Vietnam, which first detected the novel coronavirus locally in January, has reported 989 cases and 26 virus-related deaths, with more than half of its infections in the past month alone. The Southeast Asian country announced 53 recoveries the same day. A total of 525 patients have recovered from the disease, according to the health ministry. Five hundred and nine local infections have been reported since July 25, when the country documented its first community-based case after 99 days. Most of the cases have been traced back to Da Nang. [ My process ] Well, firstly, I used the same scale to rank each song that I did for folklore on every album (all 8 studio albums, but not her two EPs--including her Holiday EP) and that scale is: 1 = Bad | 2 = OK | 3 = Good | 4 = Great | 5 = Awesome | 6 = Masterpiece I've already listened to all of her songs dozens upon dozens upon dozens, et al. times over the years. However, for this, I re-listened to each album at least three times, reading the lyrics, and then rated them. I included any song that was part of the deluxe, special editions--but I only included acoustic, piano or pop versions of songs if they were noticeably differently from the originals. After that, I broke the ratings into half per album. Ratings 1-3 (i.e., Bad to Good) on one side, and 4-6 (i.e., Great to Masterpiece) on the other. Then, I ranked the albums by which side was higher. The album that had more on the 1-3 ranked lower, the album with more songs on the 4-6 side ranked higher, and the number determined the album's placement. Yes, I understand that she has a different number of songs on her albums, but all of the albums were between 15-18 songs (with the exception of "Fearless" Deluxe with 20 and "Red" Deluxe with 22). Frankly, it was the best way I could figure out how how to fairly do it. Should I review all Taylor Swift albums (like the folklore review) View Answers Yes 50 ( 64.1 % ) No 13 ( 16.7 % ) Don't Care 15 ( 19.2 % ) Should I do album rankings of other artists? View Answers Yes 65 ( 82.3 % ) No 4 ( 5.1 % ) Don't Care 10 ( 12.7 % ) Should I do album reviews of other artists? View Answers Yes 55 ( 71.4 % ) No 7 ( 9.1 % ) Don't Care 15 ( 19.5 % ) I have been a fan of Taylor Swift's music since "Love Story" finally hooked me driving home one day and the bridge got me good. Since then, I've continued to follow her career. I'm not a stan, but I do love many of her songs, and I have all of them. A few weeks ago, I did a review of her latest album "folklore," which I loved and have grown to love more after repeated listenings. In fact, I've even gone back and updated my reviews of a handful of the songs on there. It gave me the push to go ahead with an ONTD Original I had been planning which is, well, this.How did I come up with my ranking? If you're not interested, move along, but if you are...So, my ranking. Some of these may be controversial (haha!), but this is just my opinion.8 | 6"Mary's Song" -- This is just a lovely, bouncy song celebrating the life of a true love that began in childhood and lasted an entire lifetime. (And it's based on a true story.) It makes me smile every time I get to the end of it. I love it."Invisible," "Should've Said No," "Picture To Burn""A Perfectly Good Heart," "Place in the World"Taylor Swift's eponymous debut album is quite good. She's got the teenage yearning down-pat, and the highs, lows and heartbreak of young love covered. Despite this being at the bottom of the ranking, this is still a good album and that's because even with her early writing--and she wrote on all of these songs in her early to mid-teens--she's very good with turns of phrase, to either tell a story or paint a mood and finding a way to connect. (And to be fair the lowlights are low simply because they're forgettable and rather bland.)12 | 6"White Horse" -- I honestly think that this is Taylor Swift's most underrated song. She deconstructs the entire "fairytale" motif that she sings about so often--one that was famously created in her "Love Story" video. The small change in the last chorus where she shuts her ex down and realizes her own awesome is such a powerful statement. This is one of Taylor's top five songs."Forever and Always" (both versions), "Love Story," "Fifteen""Superstar," "Beautiful Eyes"has a lot of good songs. It's tied within my ranking with seven (andhas two more songs on its tracklist, but the latter is weighted much more heavily in the great to awesome range of songs, literally the double amount thathas). My point being thatis a good album. It has some great songs on it, a few standout pieces, but mostly, it's a good album that showcased Taylor Swift with the right tracks at the right time. (Those would be "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me.")8 | 7"Getaway Car" -- The lyrics in this song are absolute genius. I love the melody and certainly get swept up singing along every time it comes on, but just as much I marvel at the lyrics because they are so damn clever from the get-go: "It was the best of times, the worst of crimes / I struck a match, and blew your mind / But I didn't mean it, and you didn't see it / The ties were black, the lies were white" and we're off. And then by the time the ending hits, I'm lost in the melody because she's completely captured me there with the rising crescendo of "ridin,' cryin," dyin' in a getway car." It's such a rush."Ready For It?," "I Did Something Bad," "Delicate""Gorgeous," "King of My Heart"feels like Taylor is trying to find her voice after losing her footing. Many songs on this album have great verses, a great chorus, or bridge, but they don't work together. The transitions don't flow and so songs that would be great or even better if the verses, choruses and bridges felt like they were smoothly part of the same song are less than. So, yeah, instead they feel like they're at odds with one another... which is likely where Taylor herself was at when recording this album. Still,does have some fantastic songs on it; it just has more weaker than stronger ones.7 | 7"Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince" -- I know that Taylor has said this song has dual meanings (a love story/politics), but frankly, it works so brilliantly in terms of the political landscape circa 2016 that I can't see it any other way. There are so many lyrical touches that are metaphors for the state of the United States during the 2016 presidential election and the country since then ("Boys will be boys, then / Where are the wise men?" -- pointing to the whole #MeToo movement for example). And the overall vibe of the song is one of hopelessness in the verses ("my team is losing, the damsels are depressed, I don't wanna...") HOWEVER, and this is what elevates the song to brilliance, there are the cheers. That hopeless line "I don't wanna win" is changed to "I don't wanna (win!)" because the "win" is a determined, enthusiastic cheer. We are GOING to prevail. And that aspect changes everything. Those cheers punctuating the helplessness change the tone to one of hope. "GO!" "FIGHT!" "WIN!" It's a brilliant juxtaposition and illustrates not only the divisiveness that this country is filled with, but also the fighting spirit that the United States was built upon. Just awesome."Cruel Summer," "Paper Rings," "Cornelia Street," "Death By a Thousand Cuts, "Soon You'll Get Better""It's Nice To Have A Friend," "London Boy"I honestly feel thathas been unfairly maligned because its first single "ME!" was not well liked (to put it mildly) and its second--"You Need To Calm Down"--didn't do all that much for people either (pandering, too in your face, more of the same sound as "ME!"). However, there are so many heartbreaking songs, catchy songs, beautiful love songs and just damn great songs on. I truly believe that looking back this will be *the* underrated album of Taylor's career.10 | 12"All Too Well" -- This song is crammed with so many little details that make this relationship real, the scarf, dancing in the refrigerator light, the call where he was casually cruel in the name of being honest. Because she knew it all too well, now so do we and it is absolutely heartbreaking. This is the last song (and the only song on this album) that Taylor Swift wrote with Liz Rose. She went out on a high because this is arguably (inarguably?) Taylor Swift's best song ever. Not many will disagree with this assessment, I don't think."State of Grace," "The Last Time," 'The Lucky One'"Girl At Home,' "Sad Beautiful Tragic"feels like a turning point album for Taylor. That makes sense because it's the album between her country and pop eras, but more than that, this is also the album where Taylor first presented herself as a woman, and there is a greater depth, more reflection in the tracks than we'd seen before. There are still songs that are on the more juvenile side--albeit with a great lyric here or there--but Taylor's growth is on vivid display.6 | 10"Enchanted" -- This song captures the giddiness and yearning of falling in love and the imagined feel that one might have of love at first sight. It also, more than any other song by Taylor has that 'fairytale' hyper-sense of surrealism about it that it practically glows."Mine," "Dear John," "The Story of Us""Innocent," "Superman"This is the one album that Taylor wrote every song solo (but for one on the Deluxe edition), and it's one of her best albums. Taylor Swift is a good song writer. She knows how to take common phrases, thoughts and turn them into lyrical content. That's not as easy as some people think, and she also knows how to put them to melody with good hooks. Again, not that easy. This album is proof of how talented Taylor Swift is. There are songs of love--new, broken--inspiration, regret, forgiveness. No, they aren't all perfect, but more than a few are fantastic. As isoverall.7 | 10"my tears ricochet" -- This song is just amazing. The lyrics, the imagery, the build-up of the melody, the way Taylor sings the words, the delivery, the bite, the softness, the back and forth that reflect the love, the pain, the pettiness, all of it is reflected in every word, every note, all of it. This song is a masterpiece. I just... there is nothing about this that isn't just perfection."epiphany," "illicit affairs," "cardigan," "hoax," "mirrorball""peace"This is simply lovely.takes advantage of Taylor Swift's strong lyrical ability, her musical craftsmanship and how well she's able to tell a story through song. Overall, it's an impressive album and repeated listenings have only enhanced my enjoyment of the majority of the songs. With the exception of one song, her vocals are the strongest and most suited for the material as they've ever been.5 | 11"Clean" -- There is a soothing simplicity to this song that is almost aching in its perfection. Just as Taylor sings of feeling clean, the song itself gives the listener that very same feeling. It's absolutely resplendent. Every note, every lyric, every metaphor hits exactly right to land with such delicate precision that it's haunting, it's exquisite, it's... clean. This song is a masterpiece."Blank Space," "Style," "Out of the Woods," "This Love," "New Romantics""Bad Blood"With the exception of two of her biggest hits (ironically) and truth be told I enjoyed both (although, the "Bad Blood" remix is way better than the original which is the only one on any album version thus the only one rated), pretty much everything onis good to awesome or better ("Clean"). The production is fantastic, the lyrical flows, the melodic builds are beautifully done. The use of repetition is just right to create momentum in certain songs, while in others, so many details paint vivid pictures in your mind. Cheeky ("Blank Space") to romantic ("This Love/"You Are In Love") to anthemic ("New Romantics") to dreamy ("Style") to perfection ("Clean"), the list goes on of everything that is so great about, Taylor Swift's best album, in my opinion.I did enjoy doing this, like I had fun doing thereview and the responses I got, so I was thinking of doing more of these types of posts. Your thoughts?: My opinion, Google search for Taylor Swift album covers (and a goodouttake), my graphic skillz!And that's all she wrote. Again, my opinion, I know ya'll won't agree. So, A senior lecturer at Queen's University's children's nursing team has been awarded the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) highest honour. Dr Sonya Clarke (53) was nominated by her peers from the RCN committee for the Award of Merit, which recognises those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. After working as an orthopaedic nurse at Musgrave Park Hospital at the beginning of her career, Dr Clarke, originally from Ballymena, moved into her role at Queen's University in 2003. She joined the children's nursing team before taking charge of orthopaedic nursing in 2008. Since 2012 Dr Clarke has been the professional lead for children's nursing. During her time as a trainee nurse she went through a number of dark moments, including when her sister Julie Rock (17) died in a railway accident at Slaght level crossing in Ballymena in 1990. A year later she cared for victims' campaigner Alex Bunting, who lost a leg after an IRA bomb was left under his taxi. While those were hard times, Dr Clarke believes they helped her to become a better nurse. She struck up a friendship with Mr Bunting after a chance meeting four years ago. "Strangely, I looked after Alex years ago when he was in Musgrave Park and then I bumped into him through the Wave Injured Group when they were at Queen's," she explained. "I invited Alex and his wife to come to England to speak at an RCN conference about his story. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Over the years I have tried to get Northern Ireland more involved, and when I look back I am delighted because it has put us on the map and helped Queen's. "I think I was mostly nominated for my work in orthopaedics and trauma, but I would still be involved in children's nursing as part of that. I actually think meeting up with Alex Bunting was a very memorable day. I clicked who he was. I remember him vividly. I was just horrified as a new nurse and this was the height of the Troubles." Dr Clarke also highlighted her work as a nurse with Marie Curie in Belfast as a very memorable time, as well as how "special" children's nursing had been throughout her career. Her relationship with the RCN dates back to 1988, when she attended as a student nurse, and more recently in her roles in the professional forum the Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Nursing and children's nursing. "I was absolutely delighted and I was really humbled about the award. I know more than one person nominated me, so I was a wee bit taken aback," she said. "I love nursing and Queen's. I got involved with the RCN professionals eight years ago, but I've always been a member. "I have a real love or orthopaedic nursing. I trained originally in Musgrave Park and worked there for a long time. "I teach the orthopaedic nurses who are qualified for Northern Ireland. I joined the RCN committee and got very involved. "It gives Northern Ireland a voice because there has never been anyone on the committee who is from here. "I have a dual role, really. I am very passionate about orthopaedics, especially the children's part, and then I am very passionate about children's nursing and trying to develop it." Dr Clarke has been selected to lead an innovative pre-registration graduate entry master's programme at Queen's University for children and young people's nursing, which will commence in September. "I am very excited to lead this new MSc, which will equip high-calibre students with the knowledge and skills to play a key role in the future of children and young people's nursing," she said. "Entering the workforce with an MSc adds value to our profession. (It) will enable these registrants to make a positive difference to our society." New Delhi, Aug 19 : As the Supreme Court ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput on Wednesday, the CBI is set to write to the Mumbai Police to get hold of all the evidence and statements it recorded in the last two months. According to top CBI sources, the agency will write to the Mumbai Police to share all the evidence it collected in the probe. The sources said that the agency will demand the statements of all the persons whose statements were recorded in the last two months and the electronic devices of the late actor which are with the Mumbai Police. The developments come in the wake of the Supreme Court ordering a CBI probe into the mysterious death of Sushant. The 34-year-old actor was found dead at his flat in Mumbai's Bandra on June 14. The CBI has already recorded the statements of Sushant's father K.K. Singh and his elder sister Rani Singh last week. The agency has also registered a case against his girlfriend Rhea Chkraborty, her brother Showik, her father Indrajit, her mother Sandhya, Sushant's house manager Samuel Miranda and ex-manager Shruti Modi and unknown others on August 6 on the basis of the Bihar government's recommendation for a CBI probe. The central government gave its nod for a CBI probe on August 5. The ED has also registered a case of money laundering in the case on July 31 on the basis of the Bihar Police FIR on the complaint of his father. The ED has also recorded the statements of Rhea, Showik, Miranda, Indrajit, Shruti Modi, Sushant's sister Meetu Singh and others. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text While Western consumers remain reluctant to shop in stores this year, pop-up experiences are thriving in the biggest retail market in the world. Global luxury brands such as Gucci, Burberry, Fendi and Bottega Veneta are all using pop-up stores to launch new concepts and show off their omnichannel capabilities in the China market. We take a look at some examples and observe why such pop-up stores are crucial to reach increasingly affluent Chinese Millennials and why U.S. and foreign luxury brands need a China strategy to fuel growth during this decade. Fendi x Mr. Doodle for Chinese Valentines Day For Chinese Valentines Day this year (aka Qixi Festival, held on Aug. 25), Fendi launched pop-up stores in Beijing and Chengdu to celebrate its newest capsule collection, in partnership with Mr. Doodle. Also known as Sam Cox, Mr. Doodle is a British artist who is well-known for his doodles drawn with thick black markers. Along with these pop-up stores, Fendi also set up mini-cafes with tables and plates adorned with his graffiti. Lastly, customers could also purchase items from the capsule collection through Fendis official WeChat mini-program store. Chinas pervasive social media platform, WeChat, has become increasingly popular in recent years as a channel to launch limited-edition item collections, predominantly because of its wide reach and designation as a go-to platform for popular influencers in China. Diors Dioramour Stores + WeChat Social Sharing Program For the upcoming Chinese Valentines Day (Qixi Festival), Dior also launched pop-up stores in Chengdu, Beijing and Shenzhen to celebrate its new love-themed Dioramour capsule collection. Angelababy, a highly sought-after actress and Diors main brand spokesperson in China, attended the opening ceremony in early August. Other celebrities who attended were brand ambassadors Liying Zhao and Jing Tian, both of whom are actresses. Diors WeChat mini-program recommends different items to people, and each item comes with a video introduction from Angelababy herself. Whats more is that the mini-program incorporates a social element, inviting fans to share the items on WeChat with hashtags. The comprehensive collection includes everything from handbags to shoes, scarves, glasses and jewelry. Story continues Burberrys AR-Powered Animal Kingdom Pop-up Stores From June 16 to 29, Burberry set up Animal Kingdom-themed pop-up stores in Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing. The stores were designed to show off its newest spring 2020 collection, which included elements of wild animals imprinted onto its products. The stores hosted lime-green statues of giraffes, monkeys, gorillas and birds to reflect the occasion. But whats intriguing is that the pop-up stores were equipped with augmented reality technology; visitors could scan items in the store and moving images of birds flying around would show up on their smartphone screens. Such an innovative feature helps companies to stand out among the competition; more and more brands are turning to technology to provide a unique experience for their customers. Bottega Venetas Invisible Store On July 3, Bottega Veneta unveiled its Invisible Store in Shanghais ritzy Plaza 66 mall, which is known to house stores from all the major luxury brands. The pop-up store was designed to launch the brands pre-fall 2020 collection, which consisted of small leather goods, shoes and eyewear for both men and women. The exterior of the store was lined with mirrored panels so shoppers couldnt see whats inside until they entered. From a distance, the store even looked as if it couldnt be seen. At the launch party on July 3, celebrities in attendance included actors Yu Fei-hung, Jing Boran and Joey Song. Lastly, customers could reserve VIP appointments at the store on Bottega Venetas WeChat mini-program. VIP booking functions have become standard in the luxury industry as brands look to provide the best and most personalized service for their customers. Key Takeaways 1. Luxury brands in China are launching experiential, omnichannel pop-up stores to cater to tech-savvy Millennials. WeChat has been key, as its mini-programs enable brands to adopt features such as AR scanning technology, off-line appointment booking and social sharing incentives. 2. Fendi and Dior both launched pop-up stores in anticipation of Chinese Valentines Day, Qixi Festival, which takes place on Aug. 25. Fendis collection was a partnership with British artist Mr. Doodle, while Diors collection was love-themed and included recommendation features on its official WeChat mini-program. 3. While Burberry launched an Animal Kingdom-themed pop-up store with AR technology to wow visitors, Bottega Veneta launched a mysterious invisible store that looked barely visible to the naked eye. Franklin Chu is managing director of Azoya USA. Read more from WWD: Clienteling Takes Fashion Retailers Directly to Shoppers In China, Social Commerce Helps Spur Prestige Beauty Sales Shiseidos Elusive Luxury Brand, The Ginza, Eyes China Expansion WATCH: Is Meitu Chinas Answer to Instagram? Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:37:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China hopes and believes that Belarus can maintain political stability and social tranquility through its own efforts, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Wednesday. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query about mass demonstrations that have taken place in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and other parts of the country following the Aug. 9 presidential elections. Noting China and Belarus not only enjoy a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual trust and win-win cooperation but also are all-weather partners, Zhao said China has always respected the development path chosen by the Belarusian people in accordance with their national conditions and their efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, security and development. China is aware that the domestic situation in Belarus has recently seen some complicated factors, Zhao said, adding that "as good friends and partners, we do not hope that the situation in Belarus will escalate into chaos and oppose external forces triggering division and disturbances in Belarusian society." Enditem DUBLIN, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Canned Fruits Market: Growth, Trends and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global canned fruits market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.13% during the forecast period (2020-2025). Advancements in the techniques of refrigeration and transportation have made it easier to ship perishable and lower shelf life products from one place to another. A better channel of distribution with more efficient and controlled operating systems have made it convenient to handle and store canned fruits for a prolonged period of time. The demand for canned fruits is rising, especially in the bakery industry, as the fruits bits with absorbed syrup tend to provide an undoubtedly fresh and sweet taste, on contrary to fresh fruit pieces, which might turn out bitter in rare occasions. Canned fruits require a specific environment of storage and unwanted complications occur if the product is exposed to incompatible conditions. This mostly happens if the contents are not being consumed in a short time once the can is opened. Nevertheless, secondary plastic lids are being considered as a remedy to tackle enzymatic reactions that lead to spoilage. Key Market Trends Juice-dipped Fruits are Revolutionising the Market of Canned Fruits Due to the growing consumer awareness against health issues, consumers are avoiding food products that have excess of calories in order to protect themselves from health complications. Since a considerable portion of the global population is vulnerable to diabetes, it is a much- required thing to cut-off excess sugar from the fruits used in bakery products. With the introduction of natural juice-dipped fruits pieces, the sugar content in bakery products can be reduced to a great extent, without altering the sweetness of the fruits, unlike the ones loaded with syrup. Therefore, juice-dipped canned fruits have turned out to be healthier alternatives to be used in reduced-sugar bakery products. Asia-Pacific Canned Fruits Market is Progressing Rapidly With the transformation of the society in the Asia Pacific region, the demand for processed foods is rising. The fast-moving lifestyle and continuously increasing population is the primary reason for the inflated demand of ready-to-eat foods. Moreover, with the increasing demand for processed foods, there is a need to develop healthier solutions with sustained shelf-life. Canned fruits turn out to be the best remedy for all applications requiring fruit pieces due to their easy handling and ready-to-utilise facility. With the progressing food industry in China, the demand for canned fruits is rising for versatile applications. India is also witnessing a similar boom due to the growing inclination of people towards fruit cakes and fruit breads. Competitive Landscape Food safety has always been and remains a top priority for every company. Abiding with this, the leading players promise to provide customers with the freshest, safest, and highest quality fruit. The introduction of hi-technology machines including new optical colour and laser sorters, custom-designed pitting and processing lines, high-speed packaging lines, and on-site freezing and frozen storage have further made it convenient to process fruits in a better manner. With the adoption of various strategies for market expansion, Dole Food Company, Del Monte Food Inc., Rhodes Food Group, and Kraft Heinz Company are some of the major payers of the global canned fruits market. 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 3.1 Market Overview 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Drivers 4.2 Market Restraints 4.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 By Fruit Type 5.1.1 Peaches 5.1.2 Pineapple 5.1.3 Mandarin oranges 5.1.4 Pears 5.1.5 Others 5.2 By Form 5.2.1 Whole fruits 5.2.2 Cut fruits 5.3 By Distribution Channel 5.3.1 Supermarkets/Hypermarkets 5.3.2 Convenience Stores 5.3.3 Online Retail 5.3.4 Other Distribution Channels 5.4 Geography 5.4.1 North America 5.4.1.1 United States 5.4.1.2 Canada 5.4.1.3 Mexico 5.4.1.4 Rest of North America 5.4.2 Europe 5.4.2.1 Spain 5.4.2.2 United Kingdom 5.4.2.3 Germany 5.4.2.4 France 5.4.2.5 Italy 5.4.2.6 Russia 5.4.2.7 Rest of Europe 5.4.3 Asia Pacific 5.4.3.1 China 5.4.3.2 Japan 5.4.3.3 India 5.4.3.4 Australia 5.4.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific 5.4.4 South America 5.4.4.1 Brazil 5.4.4.2 Argentina 5.4.4.3 Rest of South America 5.4.5 Middle East and Africa 5.4.5.1 South Africa 5.4.5.2 Saudi Arabia 5.4.5.3 Rest of Middle East and Africa 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Most Active Companies 6.2 Most Adopted Strategies 6.3 Market Share Analysis 6.4 Company Profiles 6.4.1 Dole Food Company 6.4.2 The Kraft Heinz Company 6.4.3 Del Monte Food, Inc. 6.4.4 Rhodes Food Group 6.4.5 SunOpta 6.4.6 Seneca Foods 6.4.7 Gulong Food 6.4.8 Kangfa Foods 6.4.9 CHB Group 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/atqoqn Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Hamilton non-profit leaders say seniors who live alone continue to face challenges accessing government supports. One of the ways they are hoping to address that is with free tax filing programs, which will help them get the financial aid they are eligible for. We recognized that there were a number of people that werent accessing benefits that they were entitled to, said Kim Martin, the executive director for the Social Planning and Research Council (SPRC). In Hamilton, senior poverty has been consistently higher than the provincial average, according to a 2013 report by Hamiltons SPRC. Where the senior poverty rate in Ontario has declined over the decades, Hamiltons rate has stayed relatively the same, and possibly increased partly due to the increasing senior population in the city, according to the report. Although supports exist to help seniors access financial benefits such as Old Age Security, the pandemic has aggravated the challenges. In 2017, a Financial Empowerment project was started as a collaboration led by the SPRC to help local residents of all ages access government financial security programs. One of the ways the project helps is by offering free tax filing clinics. Seniors make up more than half of their clients, said Martin, who noted that many of the benefits rely on individuals to file their taxes. The pandemic has made access to help harder, with fewer tax centres open and fewer in-person services during the pandemic, she said. But Martin said the SPRC has been offering assistance over the phone and asking people to leave their documents in a drop box throughout the pandemic. Since January, she said 429 seniors have been helped. Seniors whod like assistance can call 365-366-1767. St. Matthews House and Catholic Family Services of Hamilton also help with filing taxes and completing paperwork to access benefits, among other things. One of the challenges they help their senior clients navigate is using technology. They dont know the system, theyve never had a bank account before, theyve never filed their taxes, said Renee Wetselaar, executive director of St. Matthews House, which provides a variety of other supports for seniors. Language can be another barrier, said Cindy Kinnon, executive director of Catholic Family Services of Hamilton. The group has staff who speak other languages, such as French and Mandarin. File image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that around two crore people lost their jobs in the last four months amid the coronavirus pandemic and asserted that the "truth about unemployment" cannot be hidden from the country. Citing a media report, he said in a tweet in Hindi, "In the last 4 months, around 2 crore people have lost their jobs. The future of 2 crore families is in the dark. The truth about unemployment and destruction of the economy cannot be hidden from the country by peddling fake news and hatred on Facebook." The news report cited by Gandhi claimed that around 1.89 crore jobs were lost due to the coronavirus pandemic from April onwards. A massive political row broke out after a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last week alleged that senior Facebook executives had opposed applying hate speech rules to posts by certain BJP leaders, with the BJP and the Congress engaged in a bitter war of words over the issue. "We cannot allow any manipulation of our hard-earned democracy through bias, fake news and hate speech. As exposed by WSJ, Facebook's involvement in peddling fake and hate news needs to be questioned by all Indians," Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Hitting back at the Congress, Union Information Technology Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said people whose political base has "shrunk like anything" seek to dominate discourse on these platforms, and asserted that everybody regardless of his ideology has the right to air views. He said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi believes that any organisation that does not work to his liking is acting under the pressure of the BJP and the RSS. The situation is striking for more than chronological unlikeliness. Timing is everything in politics, and as both the first and last of the three to be in the electoral game, Biden finds himself now perhaps the freest of them all, unloosed by demographics, ideological shifts in both parties and the spectacle of Donald Trump to make bolder choices than Clinton or Obama. It was in part because of voter exhaustion with the Clintons and a backlash against the Obamas that the metaphorical bridge eventually led to Biden, in many ways a safe and conventional everyman. But although Biden faces skepticism from the Democratic Partys left about whether he will be too accommodating, the conditions for an activist presidency are apparent. This is both despite and because of the dual crises of a pandemic and economic collapse he would face should he become president, and also because he is unlikely to be weighed down by reelection concerns, part of the calculation for Clinton and Obama. Elon Musks rocket company SpaceX has been valued at $46billion (35million) after a new round of fundraising. The firm, which this year became the first private enterprise to send humans into space, raised 1.4billion from investors, according to regulatory filings. It is the largest single fundraising round to date by SpaceX, which was founded by Musk in 2002. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken lifts off to from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, on May 30 The deal gives it a value of about $46billion (35billion), according to Bloomberg. The funding comes as it races to launch its Starlink satellites into a low orbit. They will offer wireless broadband internet by the end of 2020. The company launched its eleventh batch of satellites on Tuesday, and operates over 600 so far. Its Crew Dragon capsule has just completed its first two-month mission carrying astronauts for NASA to the International Space Station, and plans to start routine crewed missions to the station in October. SpaceX was also awarded lucrative contracts by the US military this month to launch rockets for the new Space Force agency. Musk is boss of the company. It is one of his two main business ventures, the other being electric car maker Tesla. Cabinet clears repeal of farm laws: Bill to be placed in Parliament Cabinet extends PMGKAY by four more months Major push to make semiconductor chips in India gets Cabinet nod Cabinet clears proposal to raise marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years Cabinet approves infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in IREDA: Here are the Highlights Union Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: In a bid to benefit the job seeking youth of the country, the Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of the National Recruitment Agency to conduct the National Recruitment Agency. The Cabinet also approved the Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21 at Rs 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10 per cent. The Cabinet has also approved the leasing of three airports-Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram of the Airports Authority of India through Public Private Partnership. These are being leased out development and maintenance, Union Minister, Prakash Javadekar informed. The Cabinet also approved the one time relaxation to Power Finance Corporations and Rural Electrification Corporation for extending loans to DISCOMs above limits of working capital cap of 25 per cent of the last year's revenues under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana. Highlights: Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency to conduct Common Eligibility Test. National Recruitment Agency will hold online exams for non-gazetted government posts. Sushant Singh Rajput's death case: Bihar Govt says 'stand vindicated' | Oneindia News Cabinet approves one-time relaxation to Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation for extending loans to DISCOMs above limits of working capital cap of 25% of last year's revenues under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana. Cabinet approves fair and remunerative price of sugarcane giving relief to 1 crore sugarcane farmers, price decided at Rs. 285 per quintal for basic recovery rate of 10% Cabinet approves proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, of Airports Authority of India, through Public-Private Partnership. All banks, NBFCs allowed to offer loans to MSMEs at discounted rates. HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Many Americans are unaware that their insurance provider can fully cover the cost of a wide variety of cosmetic enhancements and surgical procedures if it improves a person's health or are part of a reconstructive process. When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, for example, breast surgery to reconstruct the breast tissue is required by law after a patient has a mastectomy. In many cases, a cosmetic procedure can improve the health of a patient who has been in an accident or suffers with a physical issue that makes their day to day life more difficult. Surgeries for chronic pain, such as breast reductions for patients who experience moderate to severe pain due to their breast development, may be covered in full by insurance. Birth defects like cleft palates, warts that impede vision, and similar issues may also be covered. A severely hooded eyelid is another example of a cosmetic procedure that hinders someone's health by partially obscuring a person's vision and while a blepharoplasty isn't fully covered by insurance at least part of the procedure can be financially taken care of. Additionally, surgeries for people with sagging skin due to weight loss and gastric bypass (such as panniculectomy, brachioplasty and in some cases a butt lift) may also be covered by insurance providers. Excess loose skin can lead to a variety of issues including bacteria build up, yeast infection, ulcers, and back pain which deems this procedure to be more medically necessary and less as a cosmetic issue. Other procedures that may be covered by insurance but aren't necessarily cosmetic include one that addresses a deviated septum which can impede on a person's ability to breath and can contribute to a higher rate of infection. While insurance will cover the cost to fix a deviated septum (done typically at the same time of a rhinoplasty) the procedure to cosmetically alter the nose would not be covered. In general, if the surgery is merely meant to enhance a cosmetic feature or is an enhancement that may improve the confidence or mental health of someone - that procedure may not be covered by insurance. Surgeries that solely focus on bettering the health of a patient and address specific medical concerns are the ones often covered in part or full by insurance providers. As with each and every individual's circumstance varies so do healthcare providers, their accessibility, and the plans they offer. It's important for you to speak with both your surgeon and your insurance company to confirm the cost and planning of your next procedure. Your insurance company and the doctors you work with are the only ones who can provide you with direct information for your plans. Typically patients undergo a certification process and will need to have their reconstructive procedures pre-certified. You can learn more about procedures, insurance details, and reconstructive surgeries by visiting COAST Surgery Center at their website: www.CoastSurgicalCenter.com To speak with one of their representatives or for more information, call 855-A-NEW-YOU (855-263-9968). SOURCE Coast Surgery Center Related Links http://www.coastsurgicalcenter.com/ If you are a Windows or Linux user, brace yourself for a long siege of vulnerability nightmares. The fix will be long and treacherous and could brick your computers. Eclypsium researchers Wednesday released details of a set of newly discovered vulnerabilities dubbed BootHole that opens up billions of Windows and Linux devices to attacks. This is a serious vulnerability with a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) rating of 8.2. The highest assigned rating on this severity scale is 10. The BootHole vulnerability in the GRUB2 bootloader opens up Windows and Linux devices using Secure Boot to attack. To mitigate the attack surface, all operating systems using GRUB2 with Secure Boot must release new installers and bootloaders, the researchers warned. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could gain near-total control of the compromised device. The majority of laptops, desktops, servers, and workstations are affected, as well as network appliances and other special-purpose equipment used in industrial, healthcare, financial, and other industries, according to the report. Researchers warned that mitigating this vulnerability will require the specific vulnerable program to be signed and deployed. They also advised that vulnerable programs should be revoked to prevent adversaries from using older, vulnerable versions in an attack. Plugging this vulnerability hole will likely be a long process. It will take considerable time for IT departments within organizations to complete patching, the researchers said. Eclypsium has coordinated the responsible disclosure of this vulnerability with a wide variety of industry entities, including OS vendors, computer manufacturers, and the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). A number of these organizations are listed in the report and were part of Wednesdays coordinated disclosure. This is probably the most widespread and severe vulnerability that we have found at Eclypsium. Many of the issues we found in the past were specific to a given vendor or model, whereas this issue is pervasive. This vulnerability in Secure Boot affects the default configuration of most systems deployed in the past decade, Jesse Michael, principal researcher for Eclypsium, told TechNewsWorld. This vulnerability was assigned CVE-2020-10713 GRUB2. Finding and Patching Holes in the Boot The Eclypsium researchers stumbled on the trail of BootHole vulnerabilities somewhat by accident while doing some routinely proactive exploring, according to Michael. A D V E R T I S E M E N T We were exploring any weak links in the whole secure boot infrastructure. Since we had previously seen a similar issue with Secure Boot and the Kaspersky boot loader, we thought we should take a deeper look at that area. We did some fuzzing on GRUB2, which is widely used by most Linux distributions, and found a vulnerability that turned out to be much larger than we expected, he said. Fuzzing, or fuzz testing, is an automated software testing technique to find hackable software bugs. Testers randomly provide different permutations of data into a target program until one of those permutations reveals a vulnerability. Researchers have yet to see bad guys exploiting this specific vulnerability in the wild, he noted. But threat actors have been using malicious Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootloaders. This sort of attack has been used by malware, including wipers and ransomware, for a long time, and Secure Boot was designed to protect against this technique. The BootHole vulnerability makes most devices susceptible even when Secure Boot is enabled. Previous threat actors used malware tampering with legacy OS bootloaders including APT41 Rockboot, LockBit, FIN1 Nemesis, MBR-ONI, Petya/NotPetya, and Rovnix, Michael noted. What BootHole Does Attackers can leverage the GRUB2 bootloader that most Linux systems and Windows computers use to gain arbitrary code execution during the boot process. This can happen even when Secure Boot is enabled. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can install persistent and stealthy bootkits or malicious bootloaders that could give them near-total control over the victim device, according to Eclypsiums report. What makes this BootHole vulnerability even more threatening is its ability to affect systems using Secure Boot, even if they are not using GRUB2. Almost all signed versions of GRUB2 are vulnerable. This means that nearly every Linux distribution is affected. In addition, GRUB2 supports other operating systems, kernels, and hypervisors such as Xen. This problem also extends to any Windows device that uses Secure Boot with the standard Microsoft Third-Party UEFI Certificate Authority. Thus, BootHole affects the majority of laptops, desktops, servers, and workstations. The vulnerability also threatens network appliances and other special purpose equipment used in industrial, healthcare, financial, and other industries. This vulnerability makes these devices susceptible to attackers such as the threat actors recently discovered using malicious UEFI bootloaders, noted researchers at Eclypsium. If the Secure Boot process is compromised, attackers can control how the operating system is loaded and subvert all higher-layer security controls. Recent research identified ransomware in the wild using malicious EFI bootloaders as a way to take control of machines at the time of boot. Previously threat actors used malware tampering with legacy OS bootloaders including APT41 Rockboot, LockBit, FIN1 Nemesis, MBR-ONI, Petya/NotPetya, and Rovnix, noted the report. Circular Firing Squad Attackers can also use a vulnerable bootloader against the system, the report writers added. For example, if BootHole finds a valid bootloader with a vulnerability, it can replace a piece of malware in the devices existing bootloader with the vulnerable version. The bootloader would be allowed by Secure Boot and give the malware complete control over the system and the operating system itself. Mitigating this requires very active management of the dbx database used to identify malicious or vulnerable code. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The Secure Boot process has potential problems with many pieces of code. A vulnerability in any one of them presents a single point of failure that could allow an attacker to bypass Secure Boot, according to Eclypsiums BootHole report. Additionally, trying to fix the vulnerabilities that BootHole seeks can be potentially deadly to the hardware and software. Updates and fixes to the Secure Boot process can be particularly complex. The complexity poses the additional risk of inadvertently breaking machines. The boot process by nature involves a variety of players and components including device OEMs, operating system vendors, and administrators. The boot processs fundamental nature makes any sort of problems along the way poses a high risk of rendering a device unusable. As a result, updates to Secure Boot are typically slow and require extensive industry testing. Buffer Contributor The BootHole vulnerability is a buffer overflow that occurs in GRUB2 when parsing the grub configuration file, according to Eclypsiums researchers. The GRUB2 configuration file (grub.cfg) is merely a text file. It is typically not signed like other files and executable code. This vulnerability enables arbitrary code execution within GRUB2 and ultimately control over the booting of the operating system. As a result, an attacker could modify the contents of the GRUB2 configuration file to ensure that attack code is run before the operating system is loaded. In this way, attackers gain persistence on the device, according to the report. To pull off such an intrusion, the attacker would need elevated privileges. But it would provide the attacker with a powerful additional escalation of privilege and persistence on the device. This would occur with or without Secure Boot enabled and properly performing signature verification on all loaded executables. Challenging Mitigation Effort Eclypsium warned that plugging BootHole will require the release of new installers and bootloaders for all versions of Linux and potentially Windows. Vendors will have to release new versions of their bootloader shims signed by the Microsoft Third-Party UEFI CA. Until all affected versions are added to the dbx revocation list, an attacker would be able to use a vulnerable version of shim and GRUB2 to attack the system. This means that every device that trusts the Microsoft Third-Party UEFI CA will be vulnerable for that period of time. The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Forum originally developed Secure Boot as a way to protect the boot process from these types of attacks. This configuration file is an external file commonly located in the EFI System Partition and can therefore be modified by an attacker with administrator privileges without altering the integrity of the signed vendor shim and GRUB2 bootloader executables. The buffer overflow allows the attacker to gain arbitrary code execution within the UEFI execution environment, which could be used to run malware, alter the boot process, directly patch the OS kernel, or execute any number of other malicious actions. This vulnerability is not architecture specific. It is in a common code path and was also confirmed using a signed ARM64 version of GRUB2. Canonicals security team found additional vulnerabilities related to the GRUB2 code in response to the Eclypsium report, the Eclypsium report noted. That will further impact on the mitigation path. Those vulnerabilities discovered by the Canonical security team were all of medium severity. There were also dozens of further vulnerabilities identified by other organizations that do not yet have individual CVEs assigned, said Michael. Whats Needed to Fix Full mitigation will require coordinated efforts from affected open-source projects, Microsoft, and the owners of affected systems, among others. The list of tasks to fix BootHole, according to the report, will include: Updates to GRUB2 to address the vulnerability. Linux distributions and other vendors using GRUB2 will need to update their installers, bootloaders, and shims. New shims will need to be signed by the Microsoft 3rd Party UEFI CA. Administrators of affected devices will need to update installed versions of operating systems in the field as well as installer images, including disaster recovery media. Eventually the UEFI revocation list (dbx) needs to be updated in the firmware of each affected system to prevent running this vulnerable code during boot. More Bugaboos Possible Full deployment of this revocation process to enterprises will likely be very slow, researchers suggested. UEFI-related updates have a history of making devices unusable. So, vendors will need to be very cautious to prevent the fix from turning computers into bricks. For example, if the revocation list (dbx) is updated, the system will not load. So vendors will have to apply revocation list updates over time to prevent breaking systems that have yet to be updated. Also, cases exist where updating the dbx can be difficult. The edge conditions involve computers with dual-boot or deprovisioned setups. Other circumstances can further complicate matters. For instance, enterprise disaster recovery processes can run into issues where approved recovery media no longer boots on a system if dbx updates have been applied. Another situation is when a device swap is needed due to failing hardware. New systems of the same model may have already had dbx updates applied and will fail when attempting to boot previously-installed operating systems. So before dbx updates are pushed out to enterprise fleet systems, recovery and installation media must be updated and verified as well. Few Workarounds With the reports dire warnings about boot fixes bricking hardware, few potential workarounds exist to prevent the cure being worse than the attack results. Michael expects attacks will occur that take advantage of this, if they havent already. If left without action or mitigation, this will leave a gaping hole on all affected systems, he said. There could be unexpected consequences to the cure as well. Revocation updates are not common, and this is going to be the largest revocation ever done. Bugs in this rarely used part of firmware, could cause systems to behave unexpectedly after the update. In order to avoid such issues, the revocation will not happen automatically. This forces security teams to carefully manage this issue using manual intervention, cautioned Michael. Workarounds may need to be tweaked by various vendors to be effective for their products. Bootloader vulnerabilities have been found in the past that vendors successfully patched, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. For example, one was revealed in March that affected LG phones, and in June the company announced that it had issued a patch for phones going back seven years. Whats Worse: Meltdown and Spectre or BootHole? The Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities of 2019 impacted confidentiality. They allow an attacker to steal secrets. This vulnerability impacts integrity and availability, as well as confidentiality. Therefore, BootHole has the potential for much broader damage, according to Michael. Using the industry-standard CVSS severity score, Meltdown and Spectre were classified as Medium severity vulnerabilities, and BootHole is rated as a High severity vulnerability, he said. While the BootHole vulnerability occurs in software (system firmware), Meltdown and Spectre exploited hardware flaws that were baked into many CPUs. A major challenge with Meltdown and Spectre has been that fixes often significantly impact CPU performance, noted King. It seems unlikely that BootHole fixes will similarly impact system or device performance, he told TechNewsWorld. As to which vulnerability is more dangerous is relative. Just because a vulnerability exists does not mean that people will find a way to effectively exploit it. Though Meltdown and Spectre attracted a great deal of attention when they were revealed several years ago, he has not seen any reports of successful exploits, King said. What to Do Most users will want to deploy the updates that vendors are coming out with beginning on July 29, Michael suggested. In addition to the automatic updates released by OS vendors, manual action will be needed to revoke the old, vulnerable versions of grub. Until this is done, systems will remain vulnerable, he warned. Enterprise security teams should also consider threat hunting or monitoring activities that look at the bootloaders present on operational systems, suggested Michael. This should reveal which systems have suspicious-looking bootloaders and grub configuration files. Considering the complexity of deploying these updates to an enterprise, such monitoring may be an important workaround to buy time while updates are tested and deployed, Michael concluded. The Eclypsium report is available here. Peterborough Police plan to ask city council for a bit more than $27 million to patrol the city in 2021, an increase of 2.43 per cent compared to this years operating budget. At a meeting on Tuesday the Peterborough Police Services Board voted to ask council for $27,033.150 as its operating budget for 2021, which is $640,937 more than the 2020 budget (which was $26,392,213). The board will also ask council for $1.5 million in capital funding for 2021, which would be supplemented with a further $43,213 from police reserves. Every budget year is very difficult very challenging, said police board finance chair Bob Hall. In August each year the police services board approves a sum it will request of the city to fund the force the following year. Council doesnt decide right away; the request becomes part of budget deliberations in November. Capital costs next year are expected to be $1,543,213, up from just over $1 million this year. The top-priority item in the capital budget for 2021 is body and dashboard cameras, which are expected to cost $201,000. Its an accountability tool for our officers, as well as an accountability tool for the public, Hall said. Its a two-way street. Meanwhile the police board has received some letters asking for the defunding of police and others from citizens asking that budgets remain intact. One letter was reviewed by the police board at a meeting on Tuesday in favour of maintaining police budgets; it was released to The Examiner with the name removed. The letter states that while Coun. Dean Pappas, the citys finance chair, has told the Examiner hes received 50 emails asking for the defunding of police, those views hardly represent my community and smack of not-Canadian thinking. Please consider publicizing your informed thoughts, distanced from the influence of social media and a small newspaper (The Examiner) whose bias should not go unchallenged, states the letter. Coun. Gary Baldwin, the police board chair, noted that there are 80,000 people living in Peterborough and only 50 who are calling on council to defund police. Baldwin said he agrees with the silent majority that the police budget should remain intact. Fifty letters do not translate into 80,000 residents, agreed Police Chief Scott Gilbert, adding that a surge of form letters asking council to defund police were sent out by email recently in an organized effort from students at Trent University. I bet some of them (Trent students who sent letters) are not even from Canada, Baldwin said. Also part of the discussion on Tuesday: Closed-circuit cameras Money for closed-circuit cameras downtown isnt in the 2021 police budget. While the provincial government has a new grant program to pay for half the cost of installing cameras, Gilbert said police would have to come up with their half from its budget (though he didnt say how much that might be). The deadline to apply is Sept. 10, and Gilbert said that was a tight turnaround time for funding that Peterborough may not receive given that the program is designed to help cities deal with organized gangs and gun violence. The board received the information about the grant program without directing police on whether to apply. But board member Les Kariunas said it would be problematic to find the money to pay for half the cost of cameras, if a grant were offered. Revenue losses Peterborough Police will lose roughly $300,000 in revenues in 2021, said police finance manager Tia Nguyen, because the force wont be patrolling Cavan Monaghan Township after September 2021. Peterborough Police have patrolled Cavan Monaghan on contract since 2015, but that arrangement will come to an end Sept. 30, 2021 and city council has indicated it isnt interested in any further contracts with the township. Over three decades after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated shortly afterwards, Belarus embattled President Alexander Lukashenko, who ruled his country once part of the Soviet empire with an iron hand for over a quarter century, is being taught a lesson on the meaning of people power. After claiming victory in the August 9 election, he faced nine days of continuous protests demanding he leave for rigging the results, with even some police and intelligence personnel deserting him. Lukashenko, described by many as Europes last dictator, stood firm at the outset, but after open heckling by factory workers in Minsk on Monday, who demanded he step down, seemed to indicate he might be open to sharing power. He suggested a referendum be held to change constitutional provisions so that a fresh election could take place, but this concession seems to have come too late, with the demonstrators demanding that he just go. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Opposition leader who fled into exile in neighbouring Lithuania two days after the election, claims that she won by a 60-70 per cent margin, and said she is ready to take over and lead the country, but Lukashenko vowed he wont quit under pressure. He even said: Until you kill me, there will be no other elections. One hopes he hasnt forgotten the fate of Romanias Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. The embattled leader may have hoped Russia, Belarus powerful eastern neighbour, might come to his rescue and he spoke to President Vladimir Putin several times, but Moscows intervention seems unlikely. President Putin promised help in case Belarus faces an external threat, but the threats Lukashenko faces are internal. There is little anti-Russian sentiment in Belarus, and most people speak Russian, so rather than prop up the unpopular President, Putin might try to manage the transition. An invasion, like in Ukraine some years ago, would also trigger fresh Western sanctions, something Russia might wish to avoid. The European Union has called an emergency virtual summit on Wednesday, as it explores how to help Belarus in its hour of need. Kenyan teenager Bella Achieng Otieno wants nothing more than to return to her classroom, growing anxious about her future with every passing day her school is closed because of coronavirus. "I feel bad because 'corona' has destroyed everything, and we cannot go to school. I pray so that the corona thing should be finished," said the 15-year-old, who spends her time wandering the narrow laneways of Kibera, a slum in Nairobi. Schools across Kenya closed as a precaution in March as the pandemic swept the globe. But in July, as cases soared in Kenya, the government announced classes would not resume until January, declaring the 2020 school year "lost". The decision upended life for millions of keen students like Otieno, who will be forced to repeat a year when she eventually does return, and endure months of worry and boredom until then. "It's really frustrating for the girls," said Rachel Esther, the deputy director of the Kibera School for Girls, which teaches 330 girls between five and 15, including Otieno, during the January-October school year. "They rarely stay at home for so long. I'm sure most of them don't like it." The school, a large red brick building founded by local NGO Shofco, tried to set homework via WhatsApp but struggled with so many students lacking smartphones or unable to afford data. For live updates on the coronavirus outbreak, click here Even before abandoning the school year, the government admitted in its emergency response plan that many parents with low literacy levels or who may not have a television or radio may struggle with homeschooling, and that this may deepen inequalities. Esther fears idle students will fall so far behind they may not return. And her young girls are also vulnerable in other ways. Experts have reported a rise in teenage pregnancies since Kenya's lockdown began, with more girls pushed into transactional sex to survive while others have more sex as they stay home from school. Poorer families, already suffering under the hardship of a months-long economic shutdown, are suddenly needing to scrape together more to feed their children, something usually provided by schools. "It's not easy because I have to pay the rent (and) feed (my children)," says Otieno's mother Lilian Adhiembo, a widow who earns 200 shillings ($1.90) a day selling charcoal. The pinch is also felt outside Kenya's cities. Joseph Ochola Nzwa sold four bulls to pay for his children's education, a small fortune for the subsistence farmer in the western Kakamega region. Even though the government has asked schools to refund fees or defer payments, Nzwa fears his investment is lost. "I now fear my children may not finish their education," he said. The expectation that his older children would graduate, find work, and help pay for their siblings' tuition was also in tatters, he said. The shutdown has heaped enormous pressure on Kenya's private schools, which deprived of fees have struggled to keep staff and maintain their campuses. Some 2.3 million primary school students attend private institutions in Kenya -- some funded by donors -- taking the load off public schools which are underfunded and overcrowded, particularly in disadvantaged areas. Read: Coronavirus also impacts young people: WHO "The government alone cannot manage education for all its citizens," says Peter Ndoro, chairman of the Kenya Private Schools Association (KPSA). Some teachers in the private sector have not been paid for months and have sought out other work to survive. As of early August, more than 120 private schools had announced they would not reopen in January. "There's a great possibility that if we do not get support from elsewhere, from the government, then very many other private schools might not be able to reopen. And this would throw our education system into jeopardy," said Ndoro. Managing classroom size is already a huge challenge in Kenya, where sometimes 100 students cram into a single lesson. But maintaining social distance -- often futile at the best of times in Kenya's crowded urban settings -- would be next to impossible if public schools receive an influx of new students come January, he said. "Do these schools have space to create these extra classes? Do they have enough facilities for these classes? Will they employ more teachers?" said Esther, the school director. "There's some kind of confusion around that. Unless it is made clear, I'm also worried that we might not be ready to open schools in Kenya by January." A man has created a video showing how to hack Santander bank ATMs following reports numerous people have been arrested for exploiting the software glitch. In the video, obtained by the New York Post, the unidentified man shows how to access the glitch, which allowed customers to withdraw more money than was available on prepaid debit cards. This is the beginning, you put your pin in and everything, the man can be heard stating in the video, before instructing viewers to then click the withdraw and checking buttons on the ATM. You click $200. After you click $200, you go back. Click other, customise withdrawal. You click choose your own mix, the man continues to explain. Press the $20 option one time. Once you see that 11 you know you lit. According to the video, the hack allowed the man to keep doing transactions. While the video does not show the exact amount the man was able to withdraw from the account, it does show the machine preparing to release money. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the bank told NJ.com that it was aware of suspicious activity related to its ATMs and had temporarily closed the machines out of an abundance of caution. We are continuing to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate this situation and apologise for any customer inconvenience, she told the outlet. As we work to expeditiously resolve this situation, our customers should know that there is no impact to their accounts or funds, which can be accessed online, using our digital app, in our branches or at non-branch ATMs. A source told the outlet that the hack allowed tens of thousands of dollars to be fraudulently obtained. According to NBC, the hack was part of a widespread scheme spanning New York and New Jersey. In a statement to The Independent, a Santander spokesperson said: "Santander is pleased to report that following yesterdays events branches are open and ATMs are back online, though ATMs are open to Santander customers only for the time being. The bank hopes to have ATMs available to non-customers in the near future and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. All Santander employees are safe, and we continue to follow our safety and security protocols at all our locations. Customers should know that there has been no impact to their accounts, data or funds, and we continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate this situation." Night two of the 2020 Democratic national convention will include some very diverse voices and guests announced just hours before the event began. Starting at 9 p.m., top Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), former Secretary of State John Kerry, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) will appear. A selection of 17 "up-and-coming" Democrats from across the country will give a keynote address welcoming viewers to the first all-virtual convention in the party's history. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, along with former first lady Rosalynn Carter, will also speak. And in another day of DNC firsts, two Republicans, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Cindy McCain, the wife of late Sen. John McCain, will endorse former Vice President Joe Biden. The night will wrap with a speech from Jill Biden, who would become first lady should Biden be elected. The official livestream can be viewed on the 2020 Democratic National Convention website, as well as the DNC's social media channels, including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. On Amazon Prime video, search for "DNC," and on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, search "Democratic National Convention." The DNC has also set up a channel on Twitch to stream the event. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News will air the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, with CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, and MSNBC broadcasting the full program beginning at 9 p.m. ET. All of the major networks will also have livestreams on their websites. More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency The elephant in the room at the DNC 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office A federal judge in New Orleans refused on Aug. 17 to block a state order closing bars to stop the spread of COVID-19, handing a defeat to 10 southeast Louisiana bar owners who had sued to stop the closure. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman said the closure order was legal under the broad powers a governor has under public health emergencies such as the current pandemic. Feldman, a judge in the federal court systems Eastern District of Louisiana, ruled even as a hearing in a similar suit played out in the Western District. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who issued the order last month, was testifying in that lawsuit Monday afternoon, according to a Twitter post by an Edwards spokeswoman. The hearing was before U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays in Lafayette, where 11 bar owners were fighting the closure order. Feldman heard arguments on Aug. 14. The case turns on a classic who-decides question: As between democratically accountable state officials and a federal court, who decides what measures best protect Louisianans during a global pandemic? Feldman wrote. The answer is state officials. Edwards office issued a statement soon after the ruling. I am pleased that Judge Feldman upheld bar restrictions, which is one of the critical mitigation measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Louisiana to protect and save lives, the statement said. The evidence is clear that mask mandates and closing on-site consumption at bars work, and more than a month after implementing both measures in Louisiana the data shows they are working. The lawyer for bar owners in both cases is Jimmy Faircloth, who served as executive counsel in the administration of Republican former Gov. Bobby Jindal. In both cases the bar owners contend that the bars were closed without constitutional due process or equal protection under law. At the heart of the arguments has been whether statistics support the closures of on-site consumption at bars the order allows take-out and delivery while restaurants that contain bars are not closed. State officials have noted that under state guidelines, restaurants bar areas must serve food and take other steps to discourage the lack of social distancing that characterizes a stand-alone bar. It was unclear when Summerhays would rule. Feldman said federal court precedent makes clear that the bar owners cannot succeed on the merits of their claim that the Governors enforcement of the ban of on-site consumption of food or drinks at bars violates their constitutional rights. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Louisiana People of Syracuse, the Library of Congress needs your help! Especially Cary ODell, the hardworking Boards Assistant at the Librarys National Recording Preservation Board, Moving Image, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division. About six years ago, the Library acquired a treasure-trove of photos, more than 30,000 images, enough to fill 36 file cabinets, from a collector in New Jersey who operated a business called Unshredded Nostalgia. The collection mostly contained movie and television stills. Many of the photos had ties to the Syracuse-area and most of them came with some sort of identification. But not all. By the beginning of 2020, ODell and others had successfully managed to identify all but 56 of the images. During the Librarys quarantine during the coronavirus crisis, he has managed to whittle that number down to 48. Although his identification rate is an incredible 99.84%, he says it is the remaining unidentified photos that are keeping him up at night. I call the project a success, he said. But it is these last few images that dance in my head when Im watching TV or on Facebook. He reached out to syracuse.com for help and our readers to help ID eight of the remaining images that, he thinks, might be, not positive related to the Syracuse area. If you have any ideas on the who, what, where or when of the following eight photos please email Cary ODell or Johnathan Croyle. (Readers may recall that they have been asked to help with this project before. In 2018, readers were asked to ID the woman holding a camera in a Herald-Journal photograph.) - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 1 Of all the photos, this one has the most information with it. ODell has identified the mustached man on the left as actor Jerome Raphael. The photo was taken by Frederick Boyd of Camillus, but his family has no idea who the man on the right is. ODell says the clothes and suitcase appear to be late 60s era. Could it have been taken at Hancock Airport? - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 2 This photo of a young woman holding some sort of award shaped like New York State had zero information with it. ODell thought it might be a New York representative to the Miss America pageant and reached out to the organization. No luck. With a mini-skirt, hand band and go-go boots, this photo screams 1960s or early 1970s. Anybody recognize this young woman? - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 3 ODell believes this distinguished gentleman may have been a musician or might have performed with a local symphony or orchestra. There was no information with this image. - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 4 This image is a great example of ODells dedication to this project. The certificate on the wall says Sesostris, which brought ODell to a Shriners Temple in Roca, Nebraska. The man in the photo is wearing a Shriners pin on his lapel. Despite this, the photo was taken by a Tisdale Studio which operated at 333 South Warren Street in Syracuse. His guess is it that might have been a TV or radio host. Look familiar to anybody? - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 5 ODell thinks is photo is from the play Knickerbocker Holiday because of the 1647 date in the scene. But, noting the primitive set, does not think it was from the Hollywood film or a Broadway production. He thinks it must be a local theater. He has not been able to ID a single one of the actors. - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of the Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 6 Syracuse is known as a city with exciting plans that do not quite come through. Is this one of them? ODells best guess is that this might be some sort of futuristic cineplex. Moviegoers enter in the exciting door on the right for tickets and refreshments. Does anybody remember this plan? - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of he Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 7 ODell was sure this was a British musician, but his family said, Close, but no. Resemble anyone you remember? - The Library of Congress needs your help to identify these photographs that might have a Syracuse connection. Do you recognize anybody? Courtesy of he Library of CongressCourtesy of the Library of Congr PHOTO 8 This photo of a woman singing during a performance again had no information to go on. Any ideas? Crusade for the Vote Suffrage banner brings state GOP convention to a halt in 1918 A Suffrage Army states demands at the front door of a state senator in 1911 Syracuse Herald holds a test vote to gauge citys enthusiasm for womens suffrage Meet the Upstate suffragette who stood up to Charles Darwin Matilda Joslyn Gage directed the womens suffrage movement from her Fayetteville home. Then she was written out of history. Explore the Post-Standards special Womens Suffrage edition from 1915 Syracuse suffragette Harriet May Mills reflects on her time in suffrage movement Syracuse women rejoice after the Tennessee ratifies the 19th Amendment New labor of love National Womens Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls opens later this month Video and podcasts to get smart on the womens suffrage movement How Central NY launched the womens suffrage movement Visit key places in the suffrage movement across Central NY (map) Social justice movement channels spirit of CNY suffragist (Commentary) This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle at jcroyle@syracuse.com or call 315-427-3958. EU to hold special summit on Turkey in September (ANSA) - BRUSSELS, AUGUST 19 - European Union leaders will meet in Brussels in September to craft a shared strategy for relations with Turkey following the tensions of recent months, said European Council President Charles Michel. Michel said the summit will take place with the physical participation of heads of state and government. "All options will be on the table" at the summit, said Michel, who, like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, closely follows the situation in the region on a daily basis. The situation of relations with Turkey was brought up by some participants during the special meeting of the European Council on Belarus that took place via video conference on Wednesday.(ANSA). Washington, Aug 19 : Members of the public have helped in discovering 95 objects known as brown dwarfs, many within a few dozen light-years of the Sun, says a study. They are well outside the solar system, so do not experience heat from the Sun, but still inhabit a region astronomers consider our cosmic neighbourhood. This collection represents some of the coldest known examples of these objects, which are between the sizes of planets and stars. For this new group of brown dwarfs, 20 citizen scientists across 10 different countries are listed as coauthors of the study to be to be published in The Astrophysical Journal. Members of the public helped make these discoveries through Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, a NASA-funded citizen science project that is a collaboration between volunteers and professional scientists. Backyard Worlds incorporates data from NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite along with all-sky observations collected between 2010 and 2011 under its previous moniker, WISE. Data from NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the facilities of the US National Science Foundation's NOIRLab were also instrumental in the analysis. "Vast modern datasets can unlock landmark discoveries, and it's exciting that these could be spotted first by citizen scientists," said Aaron Meisner, Assistant Scientist at NOIRLab and the lead author of the study describing the brown dwarfs. "These Backyard Worlds discoveries show that members of the public can play an important role in reshaping our scientific understanding of our solar neighbourhood." Brown dwarfs are not massive enough to power themselves like stars but are still many times heavier than planets. Despite their name, brown dwarfs would actually appear magenta or orange-red to the human eye if seen close up. While brown dwarfs can be extremely hot, many of the newly discovered ones are colder than the boiling point of water, said the study. A new Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2020 support scheme to support Welsh farmers has today been launched. The 2020 scheme will again pay a loan of up to 90 percent of an individual business anticipated BPS claim value. The payment aims to lift the short term pressure on those farmers who do not receive their BPS on day one of the payment window, which opens on 1 December. The support scheme will open for applications via Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online on 1 September and will remain open until 27 November. Subject to applicants meeting the necessary terms and conditions, payment will be made to successful claimants, whose full BPS claim is not processed, during the week commencing 7 December. Welsh government's rural affairs minister, Lesley Griffiths said the pandemic had highlighted the vital role played by Wales' agriculture industry. "It has been my priority to ensure farmers are given the flexibility and support necessary to protect food supply chains and our long-term environmental resilience. I intend to build on the success of the Support Schemes introduced in previous years by once again implementing a BPS Support Scheme for 2020. "This will provide farm businesses that apply, much needed financial certainty during these unprecedented times, whilst the UKs future trading relationship with the EU remains unclear." She added: This is an opt-in scheme and I would urge all farm businesses to apply for the 2020 BPS Support Scheme using the simple RPW Online form. 'Saad Hariri, also an ex-prime minister, said it was time for the Iran-backed movement to take responsibility.' Photo: Reuters The sons of Rafik Hariri, the murdered former Lebanese prime minister, said yesterday Hizbollah must face further consequences after a member of the Shi'ite militant group was convicted, and three others acquitted, of involvement in the assassination. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon found Salim Ayyash guilty of involvement in the Beirut bombing in 2005, that killed the former prime minister and 21 others. In a 2,641-page verdict, the UN-backed court in the Netherlands described Ayyash, and the three men it acquitted for lack of evidence, as supporters of Hizbollah but said it found no evidence that the leadership of the group or the Syrian government were involved in the bombing. Speaking outside the court, Saad Hariri, also an ex-prime minister, said it was time for the Iran-backed movement to take responsibility. "Hizbollah should make sacrifices today," he said. "We will not rest until punishment is served." Bahaa Hariri, Rafik's eldest son, noted that the court did not have the mandate to examine the culpability of the "wider players involved". "It was crystal clear to the court that this was a political assassination, it did not happen in a political vacuum," he said. "My father was murdered because of his opposition to Syria's continued involvement in Lebanon's affairs." The tribunal was established to independently investigate and offer justice to victims of the attack, which wounded 226 people. But the trial was unable to present a clear picture of the bombing or who ordered it, even after hearing from 297 witnesses over 415 days of hearings since 2014. The whereabouts of the accused were unknown and they wern't in court to hear the verdicts. The judges said others were involved in the bombing conspiracy, but they had not been identified. "The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hizbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr Hariri and his political allies - however, there is no evidence that the Hizbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement," said Judge David Re. Mr Hariri and his close ties to the US and Sunni Gulf states had been seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He had resigned before the bombing but remained a powerful figure. (The Daily Telegraph) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday described his Bangladesh trip as "very satisfactory" as he wrapped up a two-day visit here during which he called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and held talks with his counterpart on bolstering bilateral ties as well as on the supply of COVID-19 vaccine to Dhaka once it is developed. Shringla, who arrived here on Tuesday on his second visit to Bangladesh after he took office as the foreign secretary, held talks with Masud Bin Momen, a day after meeting Prime Minister Hasina. "I have a very satisfactory visit, a very short visit," Shringla told reporters after the meeting with his counterpart. He said India would make the potential COVID-19 vaccine available for Bangladesh on a priority basis once it was produced in partnership with its developer UK's Oxford University, who appeared to be a frontrunner in the global race for developing the inoculation. "When (COVID) vaccine is developed, friends, partners and neighbours will get it without any saying, for us Bangladesh is always a priority," Shringla said. He said India, which produces 60 per cent of the global vaccines, has now reached the stage of trying the vaccine with an objective to produce it on a massive scale. Shringla on Tuesday called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina at her official residence during which they discussed security-related issues of mutual interest and co-operation in containing the coronavirus pandemic and revival of the economy in a post-COVID-19 world. Shringla, who was earlier India's High Commissioner here, said he briefed her about various measures India took to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent him to Dhaka to carry forward the excellent India-Bangladesh relations even during the pandemic situation. "Reason I came here is that our prime minister felt during COVID time there is not much contact, but the relationship (India-Bangladesh) must continue," Shringla said. "We must continue to move forward towards our strong bilateral relations and I came primarily to look at that point," he said. Bangladesh foreign secretary, meanwhile, said that India has assured Dhaka that it would be its first priority in providing the prospective vaccine it was developing. "We (Bangladesh) offered any cooperation that India may require regarding vaccine trialsBangladesh is ready to cooperate," Masud said, adding that Indian side took it "positively". He said Bangladesh also sought Indian cooperation to involve Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals in developing the COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Indian pharmaceuticals. He said the two sides also discussed measures and cooperation between Dhaka and New Delhi regarding economic recovery during and post pandemic period. The two top diplomats also discussed about a possible virtual meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) at the foreign ministers' level between Dhaka and New Delhi. "Maybe I will visit New Delhi before the JCC meeting to fix the agendas, Masud said, adding both sides wanted to hold the JCC meeting in the shortest possible time to advance further the Bangladesh-India relations. The Bangladesh foreign secretary said both sides agreed to introduce an air travel bubble during this pandemic situation for allowing treatment aspirants and businessmen to travel between the two neighboring countries. Under the air bubble mechanism air connectivity will be restored between only Bangladesh and India where no third country will be involved that means the airlines will not take any transit passengers. India has already introduced such air bubbles with France, Germany, the UAE and Maldives, an Indian diplomat stationed in Bangladesh said. The two foreign secretaries also discussed the latest situation of the Rohingya refugees. India reiterated its position on safe, secure and sustainable Rohingya repatriation. Nearly one million Rohingya Muslims fled a crackdown by the Myanmar's military in 2017 in Rakhine state and are living in camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Bangladesh had sought India's support in handling the Rohingya issue by mounting pressure on Myanmar to take back the refugees. "The visit showed the commitment of both sides (India-Bangladesh) to take the relationship more forward," Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Das Ganguly told a select media group on Tuesday night. Shringla visited Dhaka in March last after assuming office of the Indian Foreign Secretary in January this year. Its the night before closing, the seller has moved out and the buyer wants to do a last-minute inspection to ensure theres been no damage since the last visit. Is she or he entitled to a day-of-closing inspection if there is no clause in the purchase agreement allowing a final check? The court case most often cited as support for a right to a final inspection is Harkness v. Cooney, a decision of the Waterloo County Court in 1979. Before the closing of what the court called a simple and routine residential purchase and sale, the buyers lawyer asked the sellers lawyer for a final inspection on the morning of closing. A standard clause in the offer said that the property was at the sellers risk until closing, and if there was any substantial damage, the buyer could either terminate the deal or close and take the proceeds of any insurance. The lawyer for the buyer brought a successful court application which gave his client a right to the inspection. Judge Francis Costello held that It seems ridiculous that (the buyer) should have to complete the transaction and pay over his money before ascertaining whether or not he had been entitled to terminate the agreement prior to completing it. The court case was determined under the Vendors and Purchasers Act which allows the parties to ask a court to determine a question arising out of a real estate contract. As a result, although its reasoning is persuasive, the courts decision is not binding on any other judges. The decision in the Harkness case was endorsed in a 2014 case in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The dispute in the case of Chaston v. Este involved the purchase of a $5,150,000 condominium on the Vancouver waterfront, with a deposit of $500,000. The purchase agreement required the unit to be in substantially the same condition at the Possession Date as when viewed by the Buyer on April 12, 2012. Prior to closing, there was extensive work being done to the unit to remedy mould and fungal damage. The unit was a construction zone and not nearly finished. The buyer was denied an inspection by the seller and refused to close. The seller sued to keep the deposit and also for damages, but the court relying on the Harkness case decided that the buyer was justified in refusing to close. The court noted that the buyers were implicitly entitled to inspect the apartment before closing. The sellers were not allowed to keep the deposit. In his decision, Judge Reginald Harris wrote, I agree with the (buyers) that they should not be expected to hand over approximately $5 million without a closing inspection. This would be analogous to purchasing a dozen eggs without an opportunity to first open the carton to ensure none are broken. There are two takeaways from these cases. The first is that there is no such thing as a simple and routine residential purchase and sale. Each purchase requires a high degree of due diligence. And the second is that every purchase agreement should always contain a right of inspection immediately before closing. Correction - Aug. 20, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the year in which the Chaston v. Este case was heard. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 11:13:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Higos, the seventh this year, made landfall in the city of Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday morning, local meteorological authorities said. With a maximum wind force of 35 meters per second near its eye, Higos landed in the coastal area of Jinwan District at around 6 a.m., according to the provincial meteorological observatory. The city of Zhuhai has initiated a Level-I emergency response for Typhoon Higos. All administrative and public institutions, enterprises and public service venues in Zhuhai have suspended work. All shelters have opened for the public. Several ports linking Zhuhai, Macao and Hong Kong have suspended passenger entry and exit services. Nearby cities of Jiangmen and Zhongshan have also suspended classes, while more than 3,300 fishermen in the city of Yangjiang have gone ashore and nearly 1,400 people have been evacuated from dangerous areas. Enditem Charles Dance in Game of Thrones (Credit: HBO) Charles Dance Tywin Lannister himself has said that he'd sign a petition calling for the divisive final season of Game of Thrones to be remade. The veteran British thespian, who dazzled as the brutal patriarch of House Lannister, admitted that while he loved the show, the way season eight rounded out was a disappointment. Well if there was a petition, I would sign it, he said in an interview with Popculture. Some spoilers follow for those who are yet to watch the series... Read More: Emilia Clarke defended Nathalie Emmanuel after sexist comment on 'GoT' set I mean, I saw [the finale]. I continue to watch the whole series even after I'd been killed off in the lavatory, he went on. Because I just thought it's a fantastic television show, you know? I was very lucky to be part of it. Charles Dance (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) I loved it; there were storylines [where] I wanted to know what was going to happen to these people! I know that the finale satisfied a lot of people. It also disappointed a lot of people, and I'm afraid I am in the latter camp." That said, he did praise the show's creators, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. I think David and Dan raised the bar when it came to television screenplay writing. They are phenomenal. And for the whole thing to end up as a committee, I just thought, 'Hmm, no.' I would say I was somewhat underwhelmed by, he added. Read More: 'Game of Thrones' prequel series 'House of the Dragon' begins casting There is indeed still a petition, which was created soon after the finale of season eight aired, branding Benioff and Weiss 'woefully incompetent' and still gathering signatures as of now it has a massive 1.8 million of them. Dance joins Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, his on-screen son, in recent remarks on the whole petition furore. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Game of Thrones (Credit: HBO) Speaking in an interview with Variety, he said he was tempted to sign it himself too. I heard about it. I was aware of the petition for a new ending, which I thought was hilarious. I almost wanted to donate to that petition. HBO saying, 'You're right, so many people want it, we're going to do it.' I think everyone had their own opinion, he said. Story continues I find the world of fandom really interesting. Everyone wanted something specific and different from what they got. It's a combination of you imagine an ending; but also, I think if you're a hardcore fan, it was really upsetting that it ended. You lived with this for eight seasons. There is still a massive community dedicated to Game of Thrones. I think there was a real fear that was going to go away. It had to end. A prequel series, House of the Dragon, which is set 300 years before Game of Thrones, is currently in pre-production. Just who owns the old AM&A's department store on Main Street? That is the question at the heart of a legal battle among three downstate investors that has left the future of the landmark downtown complex in limbo and put its ambitious redevelopment on hold. Two different people claim ownership and leadership of Landco H&L, the building's longtime owner. One of those owners sold the AM&A's building, while the other says that was unauthorized. And the purported buyer says she's already invested millions of dollars since February, but is now stuck in flux. It is a critical issue for lenders and investors, who have provided cash or have been asked to loan money for the project but are no longer sure who is in charge. One investor from China has a separate lawsuit, claiming she was defrauded. The stakes are high for city officials and neighbor M&T Bank Corp. in their efforts to revive the long-vacant building and reopen a section of Washington Street that has been closed because of the building's deterioration. Some of the 60 families chased off a Guatemala coffee plantation where they lived by armed attackers continued picking through the burnt remains of their homes on Tuesday. Residents of the Cubilguitz community near the northern town of Coban temporarily returned to their isolated homes. On Saturday night, as the families slept, men emerged from the forest firing guns and pouring gasoline over their dirt floored houses. Edgar Choc Ico, 43, the leader of the community had his family's home burnt to the ground. "(The attackers) want us to join them and we said no because we're natives," Choc Ico said. The aggressors are the more recent invaders of the property. Choc Ico also suspected that they wanted to chase them off so they could take their upcoming cardamom harvest for themselves. He said his family, part of the qeqchi Indigenous group, had been there three generations, both he and his father being born there. He said he feared for his family's safety and it was unclear if all of the families would return. On Monday, Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei said that the attackers had been identified and authorities were seeking their arrest. Floricelda Cucul Cuc, 31, stood in her bare kitchen on Tuesday, the only part of her home still standing. She said the attackers stole their few belongings. She had to run with her k, unable to take anything else with her before they tossed gasoline on her house. "They burned my whole house," she said. "Where am I going to stay? I don't have any money. I don't have anything." The Minority in Parliament is asking the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to as a matter of urgency cancel leaked West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) papers. They are calling on WAEC to investigate the sources of the leakage of papers and the contact details of examiners, and hold to account the perpetrators of these crimes "WAEC, as a matter of urgency, must cancel the leaked and suspected leaked papers as it has done in the past. It is worrying that a body that swiftly acted to cancel papers in the past on suspicion of leakage, is reluctant in acting in a similar manner when overwhelming evidence of the leaked papers abound, the Minority noted in the statement. The Minority made the call in a press statement signed by the Deputy Ranking Member, Committee on Education of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak. Dr Apaak said the fairness and integrity required of the Council are lost in the ongoing WASSCE examinations. As a key function, WAEC is expected to ensure fairness in, and integrity of, the examinations it conducts. This does not appear to be the case in the ongoing WASSCE examinations. Both the leakages and publications of details of examiners defeats the purpose of a fair assessment system that WAEC is supposed to ensure. It undermines the integrity of the examinations, the integrity of WAEC, and dents the image of Ghana before the International community. The Minority further called for an investigation into the sources of the leaked papers and the hold to account the perpetrators of these crimes. WAEC must also investigate the sources of the leakage of papers and the contact details of examiners, and hold to account the perpetrators of these crimes. WAEC must also ensure the safety of the remaining papers to avert the embarrassing situations we have witnessed the past few days. NAGRAT calls for independent investigation into WASSCE leaks On the same issue, the National Association of Graduate Teachers has also called for an independent investigation into the leaks. According to NAGRAT, all persons found culpable should be made to face the law. The National President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, who spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, said this will bring an end to leaks during examinations. We think that an investigation should be instituted. An open investigation should be instituted and persons found culpable be dealt with. I think there should be an independent investigation body set up by the government. This investigation should go beyond the West African Examination Council because the Council has its integrity to protect. The Ghana Education Service will have its integrity to protect so they cannot set up any committee, he added. Background The Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare had earlier alleged that some questions in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) have leaked. According to him, a special page for sharing these leaked questions was created on social media for interested students. We have realised that prior to the Integrated Science paper, there were some leakages. It happened that whatever leaked appeared [in the exam] and students were elated. If you go to Facebook and you type Mr Right, you will see a page called WAEC exams leaked room run by Mr Right. He has about 6,400 followers and the business is usually done on WhatsApp. I am only mentioning Mr Right because the brand was embossed on some of the questions we saw, Mr Asare said. Mr Asare alleged a sheet containing the telephone numbers and email addresses of the examiners was also being shared alongside the leaked papers. What broke the camel's back was when I saw a sheet containing the telephone numbers and email addresses of the examiners. Below is the full press statement from Minority Press Statement 19th August 2020 CANCEL LEAKED WASSCE PAPERS AND HOLD THOSE RESPONSIBLE ACCOUNTABLE MINORITY TO WAEC We the Minority in Ghana's Parliament call on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), to act swiftly in cancelling leaked West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) papers. As a key function, WAEC is expected to ensure fairness in, and integrity of, the examinations it conducts. This does not appear to be the case in the ongoing WASSCE examinations. On Friday 7th August 2020, the Integrated Science Paper scheduled for Monday 10th August 2020 was leaked and was circulated widely on social media. Some well-meaning Ghanaians complained about this, resulting in the questions being changed, which many believe, brought about the chaos and misconduct witnessed in our schools, with students running amok, insulting and cursing President Akufo-Addo. On the evening of Sunday 16th August, the Core Mathematics paper scheduled for Monday 17th August was seen circulating on social media with worked out answers. Some thought they were fake but were later proven to be true as the questions circulated were contained in the very paper written on Monday. As though the leakage of the core Mathematics paper was not worrisome enough, evidence exist pointing to a leaked Chemistry paper along similar lines. Even as we speak, there are indications the Economics paper, being written today was leaked. In addition to this patterned leaks, we are witnesses to, another strange and very unfortunate development is that the names, email addresses, location and contact numbers of examiners are in circulation on social media and the public space. Very usual! This development, erodes the concealment of the identity of examiners, which are to insulate them from public influence by some in our society who would wait at nothing to see wards pass examinations at all costs. Both the leakages and publications of details of examiners defeats the purpose of a fair assessment system that WAEC is supposed to ensure. It undermines the integrity of the examinations, the integrity of WAEC, and dents the image of Ghana before the International community. WAEC, as a matter of urgency, must cancel the leaked and suspected leaked papers as it has done in the past. It is worrying that a body that swiftly acted to cancel papers in the past on suspicion of leakage, is reluctant in acting in a similar manner when overwhelming evidence of the leaked papers abound. WAEC must also investigate the sources of the leakage of papers and the contact details of examiners, and hold to account the perpetrators of these crims. WAEC must also ensure the safety of the remaining papers to avert the embarrassing situations we have witnessed the past few days. Signed. Dr. Clement Apaak, M.P. for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member, Committee on Education 0200117620 ---citinewsroom BEIJING, Aug. 19 -- The Blue Defensive Line, China's first overseas peacekeeping battlefield documentary film, is set to be released on September 18, with the fixed posters and trailers being publicized on Tuesday. This film makes a vivid record of the experience of all members assigned to the Chinese peacekeeping infantry battalion to South Sudan from 2015 to 2019. The camera follows them all the way from China to Africa, truly reappearing how the China's first completely-formed infantry battalion to South Sudan has protected the safety of the local refugee camp during the war. As the latest country in the world, South Sudan is deeply troubled by chaos caused by wars, and the constant ethnic conflicts have brought humanitarian disasters. The main task of the peacekeeping force is to stop conflicts, restore peace, and help civilians who have been harmed in the war under the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China has continuously sent six batches of peacekeeping infantry battalions to South Sudan until now. The year of 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the Chinese military's participation in UN peacekeeping operations. In the past 30 years, Chinese peacekeepers have fulfilled their mission to protect peace in the dangerous and turbulent UN peacekeeping mission areas. So far, the United Nations has organized 71 peacekeeping operations and China has participated in 25 of them, accumulatively dispatching more than 40,000 peacekeepers. By Ayya Lmahamad Ukraine is Azerbaijan's second largest trade partner in the post-Soviet space after Russia. The countries continued bilateral trade in the 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis. The volume of import and export operations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine in January-July 2020 amounted to $519 million, local media reported with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on August 19. According to the report, Azerbaijan exported goods to Ukraine worth $213 million during the first seven months of the year. Moreover, during the reporting period, the cost of goods imported by Azerbaijan from Ukraine amounted to $246 million. It should be noted that last year trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Ukraine reached $808 million dollars. Earlier, it was reported that the volume of Azerbaijans trade operations amounted to $15.3 billion in the period between January and July. Some $5.9 billion of trade operations fell on imports and $9.1 billion on exports. Among the CIS countries, Russia accounted for the largest volume of export worth $430.7 million, and Ukraine ranked second. During the reporting period, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs carried out trade operations with partners in 167 countries. Goods were exported to 100 countries and imported from 155 countries. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Workers rallied outside the Azot plant in Grodno, Belarus, on August 19, to express their desire to go on strike, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Azot is a state-owned manufacturer of nitrogen compounds and fertilizers. This clip from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty shows workers standing outside the Azot plant cheering and clapping. Reports said that Grodno residents came to support the workers, with approximately 1,000 people in attendance. The workers gathered to discuss the current situation and collect signatures in the collective for the start of the strike, Tut.by reported. However as management did not attend the meeting, the workers dispersed a short while after, reports said. The main demands of the Azot workers are the resignation of president Alexander Lukashenko and the holding of fair elections, according to Tut.by. For several days in a row, the workers of the plant, after their shift, have been marching in a column through the city and joining the participants in peaceful protests, reports said. Protests have been a daily occurrence in Belarus since the re-election of Lukashenko on August 9. He has been in power since 1994. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful The Marian Conflict Resolution Centre (MCRC) at the Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG) has since 2011 trained about 400 certified mediators and 60 arbitrators across Ghana. At its establishment in 2011, the professional mediation training idea was brought to bear because Centres mission was to passively affect the nations alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system. Dr Vida Korang, the Executive Director of the Centre said when she spoke at the opening of this years professional mediation training on Monday at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region. The five-day programme was attended by more than 65 participants of diverse backgrounds, including; traditional rulers, religious leaders, educationists, public and civil servants from different parts of the country. She said the MCRC therefore decided to train more professionals who would be competent, certified and licensed mediators and arbitrators to support the young ADR practice in Ghana to help resolve conflict situations around them. Due to that, there were series of training programmes that the Centre was undertaking annually to help strengthen the ADR practice in Ghana. She urged participants to be ambassadors of ADR practice by taking the training as a great opportunity to use the skills they acquired to help in resolving conflicts at wherever they found themselves. Where conflict thrives, you can coordinate with authorities to set up conflict resolution groups to deal with all situations that might arise at that level and in so doing the gospel of ADR will be heard by all, she implored. Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholic Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese in a remark said conflict and disputes were challenges that were confronting the human race since time immemorial. The important thing however, is not always focusing on the negative sides of conflict, but the positive aspects and how to harness something good out of that to be able to restore peace for the advancement of the societys progress, he emphasised. Among the topics for the training were Understanding Conflict, Introduction to ADR, Negotiation, Introduction to Mediation, Communication in Dispute Resolution, Mediation Ethics, Drafting of Mediation Agreement, Multi-party Negotiation and Mediation and Public Lecture on ADR. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo was supposed to be busy riding bikes and tangling with fearsome monsters from another dimension. Alas, production for the fourth season of the Netflix series, which was in progress in March, had to be suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matarazzo, 17, who lives in Little Egg Harbor Township, is now spending time working for a restaurant on New Jerseys Long Beach Island alongside some other members of his family, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The report, which does not name the business, says fans did manage to recognize him despite his hat and mask. The teen actor plays Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things. The third season of Stranger Things premiered in July 2019 and left questions about the fate of police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour). The cast of Stranger Things, including but not limited to Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, won a SAG Award for best ensemble in a drama in 2017. Matarazzo has also hosted and produced the Netflix hidden-camera show Prank Encounters. He will voice the young camel Rami in the upcoming animated film Hump, about the camel traveling across the Arabian desert with a fox and goat to find his human friend. Rutherfords Ramy Youssef, who his nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the New Jersey-set Hulu series Ramy, voices Omar, the friend in the movie. Simon Pegg plays a badger named Basil. Matarazzo has appeared in commercials for Verizon Fios and in Katy Perrys 2017 music video for Swish Swish. Hes also in a band, Work in Progress, with his sister Sabrina and other students and alumni of Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton. The actor has the genetic disorder cleidocranial dysplasia, which affects teeth and bones. His character, Dustin, also has the condition in Stranger Things. Matarazzo helped launch the nonprofit foundation CCD Smiles, which helps families pay dental bills for children with CCD. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivers her speech seconding Bernie Sanders's nomination at the Democratic convention: AP Progressive Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has dismissed criticisms that she turned her back on Joe Biden in her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. The congresswomans speech saw her second Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination part of the formal process even at a convention where the nomination is a foregone conclusion. She did so without mentioning the former vice president, instead hailing a mass peoples movement of progressives working to secure social, economic and human rights. Ms Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed Mr Biden already, and now serves on his campaigns climate policy panel. However, her pre-recorded remarks were taken by some as an attack on Mr Biden, prompting her to fire back at what she called misleading representations. She was particularly furious at NBC News over a tweet that read: In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden as many readers apparently interpreted this to mean she had rejected Mr Bidens candidacy. Ms Ocasio-Cortez told NBC in a tweet of her own that the headline sparked an enormous amount of hatred & vitriol. This is completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling, the congresswoman wrote. The DNC shared the procedural purpose of my remarks to media WELL in advance. @NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine. How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge? NBC has deleted the original tweet and issued a clarification explaining that Ms Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Mr Biden. However, the congresswoman responded with further criticism, pointing out that it took the network several hours to take the tweet down and demanding to know how the network will fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation for which she holds it responsible. If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden lets go win in November. https://t.co/uI92P3UfLn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020 To the voting public, Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote: "If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. Story continues "I extend my deepest congratulations to [Joe Biden] - let's go win in November." It was in this context that Ms Ocasio-Cortez backed Mr Sanders acknowledging that he won more than a thousand delegates and garnered the support of millions of voters without in fact attacking or jeopardising Mr Bidens nomination. Mr Sanders himself was nominated by Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard at the Democratic convention in 2016, where many of his supporters vocally protested Hillary Clintons candidacy. The same level of rancour is not on display this year, with Mr Sanders endorsing Mr Biden more forcefully than he did Ms Clinton and most progressives clearly united around the common goal of defeating Donald Trump. Child-care centres across Hamilton are bracing for thousands of students to return to their programs in September as advocates worry about physical-distancing measures in the facilities and an increased risk of transmitting COVID-19. Early in March, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds if not thousands of Hamilton parents were left without before- or after-school programs for their children when schools were closed due to the outbreak. In the months since, several of the 1,359 licensed spaces for child programs reopened in smaller capacities to care for young children while parents are working or unable to care for their child. Now, the programs are expecting a nearly full return to child-care attendance when schools reopen in September, following Education Minister Stephen Lecces announcement that the centres will be allowed to operate at full capacity. Were working hard to figure out what thats going to look like, said Marni Flaherty, CEO of Todays Family, whose organization hosts 27 sites and nearly 100 in-home licensees across Hamilton, Halton and Haldimand-Norfolk. My hope is that we can transition the children seamlessly into our programs by working closely with the school boards. In the weeks leading up to reopenings, child-care advocates across Ontario have raised concerns about the potential for spreading COVID-19 in child-care centres. The primary concern, according to advocates, is that children will be exposed to others who are not part of their classroom cohorts when attending child-care programs. The before- and after-school programs basically negate the whole cohorting idea, said Amy ONeil, director of Treetop Childrens Centre. It exposes those kids to other cohorts during the day, and then they come back to us at the end of the day. Its a huge risk. In an interview with the Star, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist with Toronto General Hospital and the University of Toronto, said the programs could increase the vulnerability of the entire system, meaning theyll need significant safety measures in place. The programs just increase the size of a potential outbreak, Bogoch told the Star. And its kind of a matter of time. Even though we have low rates of community transmission now, at some point in time someones going to go to a school, or an after-school program, with COVID-19. Flaherty said the Todays Family program is implementing measures for contact tracing that can keep track of childrens interactions. What were trying to do is, if a child is in a couple cohorts in a day, we will document all this to make sure ... we have the proper documentation to quickly contact anyone whos been in contact with whoever has tested positive, she said. Late last week, the education ministry released COVID-19 operational guidance for before- and after-school centres that include policies regarding masking, screening, cleaning of shared spaces and physical distancing. The guidelines recommend limiting the mixing of cohorts by making best efforts to group the before- and after-school program class with the same core day class and using large, well-ventilated spaces or outdoor spaces as much as possible. The province, in partnership with the federal government, has committed to providing $234.6 million to keep children and staff safe in child-care settings, including before- and after-school programs. Flaherty said Todays Family is working on enhanced cleaning protocols and mask-wearing requirements. Its too soon to say exactly how many children are returning to child care programs, Flaherty said, but noted that the programs have a lot of families coming back. With files from the Toronto Star In the days and weeks to come, longtime Wacoans strolling or motoring past the old, mostly empty Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center will remember personal ties within the hospital, possibly through a long-ago health-care job or as a patient or a visitor reassuring an ailing friend or family member maybe all of the above. And theyll lament that the right mix of political capital and luck failed to mesh in pursuing another vibrant use for the 600,000-square-foot, nine-floor, 14-acre campus, particularly given that Baylor Scott & White officials had dutifully maintained it at some expense. This newspaper in summer 2017 cheered to the heavens a brilliant proposal by Baylor Scott & White and community leaders thinking way outside the box: Turn the Hillcrest campus into a state-run, 339-bed mental-health hospital for patients whose treatments are nearly complete, to the point theyre almost ready for release back into society. A thousand jobs would be created. Taxing police interactions with mental-health patients would be reduced to the benefit of all. To us, this seemed a slam dunk, given that Texas politicians forever claim we face a statewide crisis in access to mental-health treatment. Usually this cry goes up in lieu of closing gun loopholes. So be it. LONDON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The 6th installment of the Coingeek Conference series (Sept 30th-Oct 2nd) has confirmed that it will be broadcast online from The Manhattan Centre in New York City - home to television productions from ABC, BBC, Sony and Warner. It is also where the film scores for the likes of Zoolander, Fargo and Batman Forever were created, and the venue has also seen live performances from the likes of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Shakira, Harry Connick Jr. and Justin Timberlake. This CoinGeek conference will be a virtual event, supported by speakers in NYC and London, connected via live stream from London's Kennington Studios (which, this year, also plays host to the Virtual Notting Hill Carnival 2020). The conference will highlight the stunning growth of the Bitcoin SV (BSV) ecosystem worldwide and as ever Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of the Bitcoin Association, will host. Jimmy commented: "It seems surreal to say today that back in February, we had almost 1,000 delegates join us in-person at CoinGeek London. But even for that event, we had 30,000 people enjoying the livestream online from all around the world, so our team is well-versed in producing high-quality, in-demand virtual events. For CoinGeek Live, we have secured two world-class broadcast studios, The Manhattan Centre and Kennington Studios, which mirror the caliber of speakers already confirmed, as well as further leading names still to be announced in the coming weeks." CoinGeek Live will highlight how Bitcoin SV is the one blockchain that can do it all: One World, One Chain. Already booked are two renowned keynote speakers: Thomas Lee is Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. A frequent television commentator, Tom is one of the most well-recognized Wall Street strategists. is Managing Partner and Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. A frequent television commentator, Tom is one of the most well-recognized Wall Street strategists. George Gilder is a famed economist, writer, investor and technology visionary. Gilder is the best-selling author of Wealth & Poverty, Knowledge & Power, The Israel Test, The Scandal of Money, and Life After Google Along with Gilder, other speakers at CoinGeek Live will discuss how Bitcoin technology can actually improve the Internet, or indeed, change it such as Jeff Chen, Founder & CEO of Maxthon LTD (one of the world's top browsers), who launched the latest version of the Maxthon browser to integrate with the Bitcoin SV blockchain and applications. As he has done at prior CoinGeek conferences, Bitcoin creator and nChain Chief Scientist Dr. Craig S. Wright continues revealing even bigger visions for Bitcoin. At CoinGeek Live, Dr. Wright will speak about how the Bitcoin blockchain can power a new future of outsourced computing and cloud systems. Given the on-going COVID-19 situation, CoinGeek are aware that many participants may not be able to come to New York for the conference, but you can sign up for the Virtual CoinGeek Live. For tickets and for event information, please visit www.coingeekconference.com. For media accreditation, please email: [email protected] To learn more about BSV, visit BitcoinSV.com SOURCE CoinGeek The political row between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition members of a parliamentary panel on information technology over the prospects of calling Facebook officials before it intensified on Tuesday. Ruling party member if Parliament (MP) Nishikant Dubey asserted that the Lok Sabha speakers decision should be final, while TMCs Mahua Moitra emphasised that the US company has a lot to be accountable for. Emphasising on the need to call the social media giant before the panel, Moitra said, Ex-employees of Facebook have reached out to us (the standing committee) informally and have informed that in fact these issues were raised in Q and A sessions within Facebook internally but nothing much was done about it. Also read: BJP lashes out at Congress over social media hate speech row In a video posted on Twitter, Moitra said Facebook has a lot to be accountable for, not just to the parliamentary standing committee but to the people of India as well. Dubey asserted that the parliamentary committee is an extension of Parliament, not of any party or not a platform to do politics. Citing Rule 270 of the Lok Sabhas procedure of business, Dubey said only the speaker can summon private persons. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro today warned Pennsylvanians applying for hunting, fishing and pet licenses to be watchful for fraudulent websites posing as official application portals. Pennsylvanians should stay vigilant for scammers who are fishing for their personal data with these fake application sites, said Shapiro. If you find a suspicious website that may be posing as an official Commonwealth agency, I encourage you to reach out and report it to my Offices Bureau of Consumer Protection. He recommends that Pennsylvanians who are applying for licenses should take some important steps to protect themselves from potential scams: Rather than using a search engine to reach a website to purchase a dog license, type www.licenseyourdogpa.pa.gov directly into your browsers address bar. When in doubt, call your county treasurers office. Each county treasurer has a different process. While most offer an online option for purchase of licenses, some do not and require a paper form to be dropped off or mailed. For fishing licenses, visit the only official Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission site at www.fishandboat.com to find the Buy a License button on the homepage. And, for hunting licenses, visit the official Pennsylvania Game Commission site at www.pgc.pa.gov to find the But a License button on the homepage. In addition, Shapiro noted that hunters seeking to buy doe tags may only submit their doe tag application to a county treasurers office through the U.S. Postal Service. If you have a concern about a third-party website, contact the Pennsylvania Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection at scams@attorneygeneral.gov or 1-800-441-2555. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Amid speculation over who would pick up the reins of the Congress party, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she fully supports her brother Rahul Gandhi's opinion that a non-Gandhi should be appointed the Congress president. Perhaps not in the (resignation) letter but elsewhere, he has said that none of us should be the president of the party and I am in full agreement with him, Priyanka has said. I think that the party should find its own path also, she said. She made this statement in an interview in the book India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders, which has been authored by Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah. Vadra also said that she would accept a non-Gandhi as her 'boss'. If he (party president) tells me tomorrow that he doesnt want me in Uttar Pradesh but wants me to be in Andaman and Nicobar, then I would jolly well go to Andaman and Nicobar, she was quoted as saying. Rahul Gandhi stepped down as Congress president after the party faced an electoral drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi had taken over as interim chief on August 10 last year. Recently, the Congress party said Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim president till such time a "proper procedure" is implemented in the "not too distant future" to elect a party chief. Many, including party leaders, have expressed concern over the slide in the Congress due to a purported lack of party leadership. Last month, after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to topple his government, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal had said he was worried for the party."Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables," he had written on Twitter. Meanwhile, senior party leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, in an interview with News18, said that if Rahul Gandhi is not ready to resume the leadership of the Congress, the party should hold elections for the post of president and also to the elected seats on the Congress Working Committee, to arrest the perception that it is rudderless and adrift. Vadra's statement also assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha's claim that about 100 leaders of the party, including MPs, had written to Sonia Gandhi seeking a change in the political leadership of the party. The party had, however, refuted Jhas claim and Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala described it as BJP's ploy to divert attention from the issue of the latter's links with Facebook. Photo: (Photo : Instagram/peoria_police_department) Two Illinois teen boys received help from police and the community after their lemonade got robbed. One of the teen's dad could not help but be thankful for all the support and generosity of the people in Peoria. Two men robbed the two boys Peoria Police Department Officer Amy Dotson told CNN that on August 7, Jude and Tristan, both 13, were selling lemonade in Peoria. Suddenly, two men, one holding a gun, approached the teenage boys and stole their cash box that contained $30. After robbing the teens, the suspects fled on foot and no arrests have been made yet. Jude's father, Nathan Peterson, told CNN that the boys were shocked and could not process what had happened after the robbery. Peterson almost blacked out when he got a call from the police. He heard that the kids are safe, but they "just got robbed." He tried to get there as fast as he could because he was so scared. See also: Truck Driver Dies After Safely Rescuing Children from School Bus Crash in Georgia [Heartbreaking Story] Dad saw police officers at the scene Peterson saw the police officers had surrounded the lemonade stand when he arrived at the scene. The officers were buying lemonade for about $20 each cup. Peterson was relieved because the police officers created a very protective environment for the teens. He said that the situation could have ended badly, but the officers helped to change the horrible experience into something beautiful. He told CNN that the robbery news quickly spread throughout Peoria. People helped to raise money The dad said that friends, neighbors, and strangers alike have all helped the boys raise $3,500 either via Facebook fundraisers or PayPal donations. He said that the boys received so much love many days in a row after the incident. He explained that the main experience the two boys got was all love and support. See also: Texas Mom Holds Newborn Baby First Time, 20 Days After Giving Birth [Heartwarming Story] Four days after the robbery, last Tuesday, Jude and Tristan opened their lemonade stand for business again. Dozens of customers came, including a police armadillo and 15 police cars. Peterson said that the police chief and officers talked to the boys after getting out of their cars and told them how much they support them. He said that the boys felt safe and encouraged because the officers gave the kids a donation and took turns buying lemonade. The Peoria Police Department posted on Facebook a video of police cars lining up the street and buying lemonade from the two boys. See also: Mayor Loses Stepdad and Mom Due to Coronavirus Weeks Apart Tristan told CNN that the subsequent response by the police and community stood out the most for him although the robbery was "surreal." He believes that there will be fewer robberies in Peoria because the officers were proactive about correcting the bad. He explained that he was determined to also give support and generosity to others because of what he has received. Rockies catcher Elias Diaz was sent home to Denver by the club after violating Covid-19 protocols around the team hotel in Houston, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. Diaz was placed on the restricted list for unspecified reasons Monday, with manager Bud Black only publicly divulging that Diaz violated some team protocols, some guidelines. Specifics surrounding Diazs violations arent known, but the Rox have been able to continue playing. Saunders adds that the club has continued its standard testing regiment and has not incurred an issue. Diaz, 29, inked a minor league contract with the Rockies over the winter and made the clubs Opening Day roster as a backup to Tony Wolters. Hes appeared in just three games thus far, going 3-for-12 with a double. Unlike the situation in Cleveland, where the players who violated Covid-19 protocols are key contributors (Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac), Diaz is a role player whom the team can more easily replace. Veteran Drew Butera is backing up Wolters, and 25-year-old Dom Nunez is at the teams alternate training site and on the 40-man roster, making him a readily available alternative as well. The Rockies havent given any sort of indication as to when or if Diaz will rejoin the team. Business Groups Call for Alternative to Trumps Payroll Tax Executive Action The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and more than 30 trade associations have appealed to the administration and Congress to work together to find an alternative to President Donald Trumps payroll tax deferral, arguing that unless it becomes a permanent cut, the executive action threatens to impose serious hardships on employees who will face a large tax bill down the road. The undersigned organizations urge the administration and Congress to come together on a path that provides much-needed tax relief for families without the uncertainty associated with the recent payroll tax executive order (EO), they wrote in the letter (pdf), which is addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. While well-intended to provide relief for Americans during the COVID-19 crisis, the move has instead raised serious concerns for both employers and employees, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote in a separate release. In a bid to bolster the economy and reduce tax burdens on American workers amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, Trump signed an executive order this month that defers employee payroll taxes, which employers withhold from paychecks and remit to tax authorities on workers behalf. Trump, in announcing the payroll tax deferral, said he would seek to make it permanent if he wins reelection. Turning a deferral into a cut would need a nod from Congress, however, which is uncertain if Democrats hold the House in Novembers election. Under current law, the EO creates a substantial tax liability for employees at the end of the deferral period. Without congressional action to forgive this liability, it threatens to impose serious hardships on employees who will face a large tax bill as a result of deferral, the coalition argued, suggesting that workers would feel the pain of a lump-sum tax liability next year more acutely than they would experience the benefit of receiving slightly fatter paychecks in the short-term. Someone earning $50,000 a year would see an increase of $119.23 per bi-weekly pay period, a simulation in the letter showed. But that individual would in 2021 have to pay $1,073.08 in payroll taxes, which for someone less mindful may come as an unpleasant surprise. But a top Trump administration official told The Epoch Times that the presidents action puts more money in the pockets of American workers at a time when the economy is reeling from the impact of the CCP virus and people need it most. The official argued that even if Congress refuses to make the payroll tax cut permanent, the deferral still effectively allows working Americans to get a sizable advance on their pay starting in a month, which is just when working Americans need it most, as we are fighting to end the COVID-19 pandemic. The business coalition also argued that implementing the deferral would be problematic. Many of our members consider it unfair to employees to make a decision that would force a big tax bill on them next year. It would also be unworkable to implement a system where employees make this decision, the coalition wrote, adding that many businesses would simply choose to ignore the order and continue collecting the payroll tax on employees behalf. Trump issued the executive order after talks on a fifth COVID-19 relief package ended in deadlock. Most Senate Republicans and Trump support a $1 trillion aid bill consisting solely of CCP virus relief aid, while Democrats want the relief aid plus an additional $2 trillion for nonrelief measures such as $1 trillion to bail out high-tax blue states that the president argues have been mismanaged for years. The tax deferral applies to annual incomes of $104,000 or less. Mark Tapscott contributed to this report. Emily Esfahani Smith had never felt the need to embark on a great quest for happiness, but when she began college, she soon saw that it was this very quest that was making so many people on campus unhappy. Id just never been as oriented toward happiness as I was toward meaning, said Esfahani Smith, who wrote the bestseller The Power of Meaning. Esfahani Smith has said her early experiences growing up in a Sufi meetinghouse in Toronto primed her search for meaning: it was a place of meditation, singing, and sugared tea; it was also a place of great connection and love and compassion. And though many who came through the meetinghouse had lived very difficult lives, she remembered they were forward-looking and lived a deep and meaningful existence. When Esfahani Smiths family left the meetinghouse and moved to the United States, daily life was instead filled with a sort of busyness. So Esfahani Smith turned to the great thinkers of the past in her search for meaning, and ended up studying philosophy and psychology. Crisis of Meaning What traditional wisdom offers, the social sciences are now just starting to catch up with, and her research and writing, Esfahani Smith melds the humanities and psychology in a fruitful way. Our modern way of life has brought unprecedented prosperity and more ways of life to choose from than ever, but it has also brought unique modern ills, which necessitate new and intentional remedies. As we eschew traditional ways of life, Esfahani Smith also explores the organizations created as cultures of meaning, such as the oral history project StoryCorps and Encore.org, which helps people reframe retired life as a time of using the skills and experiences theyve accumulated over a lifetime to improve society. We dont need to look far to see that there is a real crisis of meaning, as she puts it, and it has been one that has been growing for decades. The outcomes are things like the loneliness epidemic, plaguing both older and now younger generations, as well as something more sinister, such as radicalization, as some people turn to extremist groups as cultures of meaning. Esfahani Smith defines happiness as it is defined in psychology, as a state of positive emotion. Happiness is fleeting, but a life worth living must have meaningwhich may actually necessitate many moments of unhappiness (consider caregivers, for instance). In her research, as she details in her book, Esfahani Smith came to differentiate between four sources of meaning. She calls them pillars, and we can think of them as foundational support structures. You dont have to have all four of the pillars for your life to be meaningful, she said. I definitely think the more pillars you have, the more stable your sense of meaning is. Meaning is what inoculates us from crumbling under adversities, as researchers studying why some people move forward and others cant after traumatic events have also found. Think of adversity as an earthquake, she said. If the building is strong, if you have more, richer sources of meaning in your life, the building doesnt come down. Author and speaker Emily Esfahani Smith. (Courtesy of Emily Esfahani Smith) Four Pillars of Meaning The four pillars are belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence. Esfahani Smith found these universally present in philosophy, psychology, literature, film, religion, and popular culture. Belonging ranks as the most important driver of meaning according to research, whether it is with strong familial ties or a created community based on shared values. In her book, Esfahani Smith travels from the Tangier Islands to the Society for Creative Anachronism, a community of people who study and recreate medieval arts, and explores how belonging can happen by chance or by intentional effort. There are different levels of social bonds as well, from knowing you have a place in a community to instances of intimacy, high-quality connections, that can happen in the day-to-day even between passing strangers. Belonging ranks as the most important driver of meaning, according to research. (Tyler Nix/Unsplash) The dangers of not having this pillar of belonging are serious: Chronic loneliness compromises the immune system and leads to early death, as she writes, detailing a study of mid-century orphanages where babies were literally dying from despair. The second pillar is purpose, which includes both a long-term goal and a contribution to the world. When people have purpose, the mundane and day-to-day have meaning in moving them toward that purpose, even if to the outside world, cleaning out animal waste (zookeepers rank high in having a sense of purpose among professions) or being sleep-deprived with a newborn seems far from glamorous. When people dont have purpose, they drift through life unmoored, and statistically tend to engage in risky behavior thats detrimental to their healthmental or physicaland society. Zookeepers rank high in terms of having a sense of purpose. In this file photo, an Asian elephant is measured by zookeepers during a baby animals inventory at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. (Joern Pollex/Getty Images) The third pillar is storytelling, which is how we as humans make sense of our lives. If we view our lives as a collection of disparate facts, we live with the belief that our existence is incoherent and lacking meaning. Esfahani Smith explores the different stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, including how these stories change. When one mans story went from being about how an accident put an end to his life of high-flying success, to how an injury woke him up from how adrift he had been and showed him a path of light and service, his life changed accordingly. Likewise, when our stories change from positive to negative, we as a result start to live our lives that way. Stories are how we create our identities. The last pillar is transcendencea pillar Esfahani Smith is particularly drawn to. Transcendence is the feeling of being in awe and connected to something much greater; you simultaneously feel a sense of unity with something beyond, and feel very small and likely humbled. Some people attain this through intensive deep meditation, or hallucinogens, as Esfahani Smith writes, but also through more accessible experiences such as staring up at the starry night sky. People who have experienced transcendence talk about a high that doesnt last, but the experience almost inevitably changes the person in a deep way, and they carry that change with them for the rest of their lives. People may experience transcendencefeeling awed by something greater than themselvesin different ways, such as stargazing. (Mike Ver Sprill/Shutterstock) That being said, you can definitely live a meaningful life without all four pillars, Esfahani Smith said. The pillars we lean on also change throughout our lives as circumstances change, and different people naturally lean toward certain pillars for meaning more than others. Some people just have something in them that draws them toward transcendence and spirituality and awe and wonder. Someone else might not be at all turned on spiritually speaking by those instances, she said. Some people really need rich relationships as part of their daily lives, others are a little bit more introverted or just need less time with others in order to fulfill their need for belonging. Our Pursuit of Happiness Esfahani Smith, who is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology, is now researching the changing views of success in our culture. Before her research on meaning, Esfahani Smith had even wondered whether there was something wrong because she didnt experience that constant state of happiness that advertising would have her believe she should. Our quest for happiness goes back quite a ways, and though it is possibly by necessity that man naturally gravitates toward the positive, perhaps there are pertinent answers to meaning if we look at how our definition of happiness and success has evolved. Emily Esfahani Smiths book The Power of Meaning. Aristotle said that the ultimate end of man was eudaimonia; that gets translated as happiness today, but actually a better translation is flourishing, or meaning, she said. But the point is, [eudaimonia] is what the ultimate end of man iseverything that we do lies in the service of that one goal the implicit assumption is that pursuing these different forms of success is in the service of happiness. Even the founding document of our country includes a line that says human beings have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And interestingly, Jefferson was kind of echoing the philosopher John Locke who wrote that humans beings have the right to life, liberty, and property, she said. Theres ambiguity there, does the pursuit of happiness involve material prosperity? Thats just something that Ive always wondered about. At the same time, part of what the founding project was about was offering people an opportunity to come somewhere where the old distinctions of class and rank werent going to determine their future the way they did in the old world of Europe, she said. Here you could come and you could really be your own person, you could strive to make a life for yourself and the way that was becoming defined was through the pursuit of success. Her recent reading brought her attention to three strands of success, defined in different ways, each promising a different type of happiness. One was this kind of acquisitive strand, that success lies in these extrinsic goals like, wealth, status, she said. And I think thats been the dominant strand today, when we think of success. The other strand goes back to the Puritan Protestant roots of many of the colonies, she said. The idea of success was that you lived out a calling, where you serve mankind and God through the work that you did and fulfilling your duties and playing a certain role. On the one hand it was socially rigid because it suggested that your place on earth, your role in life was ordained by God, so you shouldnt be ambitious because that would be hubris and sinful. On the other hand, it was pretty democratic and hopeful because it gave everyone a chance to experience this form of success, of living out a calling because it affirmed the dignity of all work, all labor you put forth in the world, whether it was paid work or unpaid work, and it dignified those, she said. There are remnants still, in psychology today, meaningful work and the research on calling. Its been very secularized but its kind of this outgrowth of this Protestant conception of success. The third strand was one that Thomas Jefferson was a proponent of, as was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and writer and historian James Truslow Adams, Esfahani Smith said. He [Adams] was the one who actually coined the term the American dream, and the way he defined it was that it was a dream of reaching, becoming the person you were meant to be, reaching your potential. I think that each of these different strands promised a sort of happiness, Esfahani Smith said. The first strand was a kind of material happiness, the second strand was this sort of spiritual happiness, and the third was also this spiritual and psychological fulfillment. There was this promise that if you pursued these things you would become fulfilled. Sometimes happiness and meaning are conflated, but Esfahani Smith says research shows that though there is overlap, there are also important differences, and she points out many in her book. Psychologist Viktor Frankl famously wrote about surviving the Holocaust because he had something to live for, and no one would assume those were times of happiness. Esfahani Smith discusses the rise of positive psychology in recent decades, along with the happiness frenzy in recent years. Thousands of books are published promising happiness every year, and society isnt happier for it. As a result, many positive psychologists and writers stress the importance of meaning, but wrap their messages up in happiness. The word happiness is a word thats really alluring to people, she said. There is this real happiness zeitgeist in our culture. An Omaha couple, Chris Arnold and Paula Lavigne, pushed for the bill after losing their firstborn son to the condition at 5 months old. New treatments are now making a difference for children. Spinal muscular atrophy, while rare, is the leading genetic, or inherited, killer of children younger than 2. On average, two babies are born in Nebraska each year with SMA. Job discrimination Laws barring job discrimination based on race would specifically protect people who wear their hair in natural styles under a bill passed 27-12 on Tuesday. LB 1060, introduced by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, aims to help African Americans who leave their hair natural or adopt hairstyles that protect their hair. Such styles include braids, locs and twists. Supporters reported being forced by employers to straighten their hair, cut it short or cut off braids and dreadlocks. Treatments used to straighten African Americans hair are costly, potentially cancer-causing and can damage the hair. Dublin, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Fresh Durian Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market for fresh durian is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% during the forecast period 2020-2025. Asia-Pacific occupied the largest share in the market for fresh durian in 2019, with Thailand contributing to the major chunk in the market share. The rising global demand coupled with the zero-tariff Free Trade Agreements between Thailand and 16 countries such as China, Australia, Cambodia, India, and Singapore, among others, have helped augment the domestic production of durian in the country. Asia-Pacific was also the fastest growing region for fersh durian in 2019. The growing popularity of the Mon Thong variety in China with an expansion in the offering of Mustang variety from Malaysia in specialized stores and street markets are expected to drive the consumption of fresh durian in the region, during the forecast period. Key Market Trends Asia-Pacific Dominates the Market for Fresh Durian Asia-Pacific dominates the market for fresh durian with Thailand and Malaysia contributing to the major share in the total production in the region. Thailand exported a total volume of 496,915 metric ton of fresh durians in 2018, a significant increase when compared to 48,673.0 metric ton in 2017 and 402,660 metric ton in 2016. Thailand has a greater comparative advantage in terms of trasportation cost for exporting to China, the world's largest importer of fresh durians, which has helped boost the domestic production in order to meet the surplus requirement for thre export market. Moreover, a survey conducted by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) revealed that the area under durian cultivation has incerased considerably since 2016 with fresh durians accounting for 95.8% of the total share in exports. The Government of Thailand has been emphasizing on strengthening the distribution channel for stimulating consumption of durians among the Thai by recording a memorendum of cooperation with the giant retailers such as Tops Market, The Mall, Big C, Tesco Lotus, Makro, and Tai Market. In 2019, the Malaysian Department of Agriculture, along with the Malaysian Agricultiural College, donated 900 durian trees consisting of grades D99 (Small Coffee), D159 (Manthong), D200 (Ochee), D175 (Red Shrimp), and D197 (Musang King) to boost the clone production of durians in the country. The aforementioned factors are further expecetd to boost overall production in the region, during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific: The Fastest Growing Region A new-found demand for the creamy texture of the Malaysian Mustang King variety along with the ever-growing demand for Mon Thong in China has led Asia-Pacific to become the fastest-growing region for fresh durians. China accounted for 65.0% of the total share in import value in 2018, with a total imported quantity of 431,940 metric tons of fresh durians during the year, as compared to 224,382 metric tons in 2017. With an expanding base of health-conscious consumers and middle-income households, the market for durians is further expected to get a boost in the country as the fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as Iron, Vitamin C, and Potassium. The demand for the fruit has reportedly emerged as an essential topping on pizzas and hotpot broths along with an increased usage of durian pulps and pastes in the food service industry. Thus, the market for fresh durians is expected to register a rapid growth in the region, during the forecast period. 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 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints 4.3 Market Drivers 4.4 Market Restraints 4.5 Value Chain/Supply Chain Analysis 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 Geography 5.1.1 North America 5.1.1.1 United States 5.1.1.1.1 Production Analysis 5.1.1.1.2 Consumption Analysis 5.1.1.1.3 Import Market Analysis (Volume & Value) 5.1.1.1.4 Export Market Analysis (Volume & Value) 5.1.1.2 Canada 5.1.2 Europe 5.1.3 Asia-Pacific 5.1.4 Middle East & Africa 6 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wnkjy4 Story continues Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo (R) meets with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein during a press conference at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 19, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) US and Iraq Highlight Common Work in Their Second Round of Talks The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein highlighted common areas of work discussed in their second strategic dialogue, during a joint press conference in Washington on Aug. 19. We are committed to helping Iraq achieve economic prosperity, freedom from foreign meddling in its internal affairs, and improve relations with its neighbors as well, said Pompeo. Hussein arrived in the United States on Monday, heading a negotiating delegation to hold a strategic dialogue on Wednesday. We reaffirmed during our talks on the continuity of the talks and the dialogue in order to reach common work on other fields such as energy, and there has been a memorandum of understanding and cooperation signed in this field, especially in terms of the power, oil, health sector education, higher education, and these memoranda will be signed today, said Hussein during the joint press availability. In a message later on Twitter, Pompeo said the U.S. government supports the Iraqis governments effort to address its peoples demands for a more just nation. The Secretary of State said the United States will work with the government in Baghdad for a country that is corruption free, prosperous, and fully integrated into the global economy. He also talked about providing support for the early parliamentary elections in Iraq. Both the leaders reaffirmed the principles that the two allies have agreed upon in their Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA), according to a statement by U.S. Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. There has been a reaffirmation on the joint work in different fields between the United States of America and Iraq, said Hussein. Good meeting with Foreign Minister Hussein today to discuss the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue. I expressed my support for the governments efforts to address the Iraqi peoples demands for a more just nation and a budget deal for the Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/kSHJI9bgXI Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) August 19, 2020 We are both in the same trench and fighting the ISIS and we are still in the same trench and well work together to defeat the terrorist elements and the factions, he added. The Iraqi Foreign Minister said the dialogue between the two allies is continuous and the outcome is positively in the interest of both the countries and its people. He said the United States is a strong ally of Iraq and theres a need to protect, deepen and expand this relationship. Pompeo said he has also offered support to the Iraqi government for a budget deal for the Kurdistan region, which Ortagus also affirmed in his statement. The real focus is the joint efforts that we are making on every dimension whether that is economic efforts, to maritime assistance to security assistance, all of those things. We continue to understand that the Iraqi people need that, the Iraqi peoples sovereignty depends upon the continued American commitment to support them, Pompeo said in reply to a press query during the conference. He also announced additional humanitarian aid of $204 million for food and clean water for the Iraqis, for Iraqi refugees, and for generous communities hosting them. CARROLLTON, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FASTSIGNS International, Inc., franchisor of FASTSIGNS, the leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchise, today announced strong growth year-to-date in 2020 including the signing of 16 new franchise agreements, 12 of which the brand signed since March 1, to develop locations in new markets like Aurora, Illinois, Panama City, Florida and the Toronto area. FASTSIGNS also celebrated the opening of 20 new centers this year with 16 new centers opened since March 1. Much of FASTSIGNS' growth this year is due to its centers nationwide being deemed essential as COVID-19 forced thousands of businesses across the country to temporarily close earlier this year, allowing franchisees to pivot their services to best serve their customers and local communities. "At FASTSIGNS, our franchisees' success comes first. When the pandemic began to impact our industry, we fought to ensure FASTSIGNS centers across the U.S. could continue to operate, and we've continued to be by their side to help them every step of the way," said Mark Jameson, EVP of Franchise Support and Development, FASTSIGNS International, Inc. "We're incredibly proud of how our franchisees adapted to the changing climate by tapping into the diverse product range we offer so they could fulfill the unique needs of their customers. Throughout the pandemic, our franchisees have continued to manufacture critical signage, plexiglass shields, and more to help hospitals, local governments, and businesses communicate important health and safety information and to protect communities. Their role of being the go-to resource for visual communications in their communities continues to grow stronger every day. The growth and momentum we've experienced is a true testament to the strong FASTSIGNS network, our brand's ability to adapt systemwide, and the rising demand for signage." Kevin Leamon signed a franchise agreement with FASTSIGNS in March 2020, and in July celebrated the grand opening of his center in Springfield, Illinois. "Looking back, I feel incredibly lucky to have had my new business up and running in just four months during such a challenging period," said Leamon. "As a first-time franchisee, the support and guidance that FASTSIGNS offered as I navigated this new endeavor helped the entire process run smoothly. Along the way, I had the opportunity to tap into the impressive network of existing franchisees to discuss how they were adapting throughout the pandemic, and learned so many invaluable tools that I could incorporate into my center. It was motivating to hear how FASTSIGNS centers could quickly pivot to meet the needs of current events and further position themselves as the expert in the sign industry. I'm thrilled to be part of this dynamic brand." FASTSIGNS is known in the industry for equipping its franchisees with tools vital to securing the ongoing success of each individual location. In addition to the brand's online FASTSIGNS University, FASTSIGNS partners with 1HUDDLE, a workforce-training platform that converts unique training content into science-backed, quick-burst training games that are proven to accelerate workforce productivity. "As a first-time franchisee, it was important for me to invest in a brand that provided guidance to help me succeed, while allowing me to be in business for myself and FASTSIGNS provided just that," said Steve Brown, FASTSIGNS franchisee of Newport Beach, California, who opened his center in April 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. "I was just weeks away from opening my first location when the pandemic hit, and FASTSIGNS proved to be an invaluable partner during that time. I moved forward with opening my center amid the pandemic, having faith in one of the largest sign franchises. The support shown during these unprecedented times helped me get my FASTSIGNS center up and running." FASTSIGNS offers a special incentive for first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, sheriffs, and firefighters, which includes a 50-percent reduction on the franchise fee a savings of $24,875. FASTSIGNS is consistently ranked as a top franchise opportunity. In 2020, Entrepreneur magazine named FASTSIGNS the #1 franchise opportunity in its category and #55 overall on its annual Franchise 500 list, making it the only sign, graphics, and visual communications franchise to be recognized in the top 100. Additionally, Franchise Gator named FASTSIGNS to its Top 100 Franchises of 2020 list. In 2019, Entrepreneur named FASTSIGNS one of the Top Franchises for Veterans and the brand also was recognized in Franchise Business Review's Top Franchises for Veterans report, was named to the America's Best Franchises to Buy list by Forbes magazine, and made Franchise Direct's list of the Top 100 Franchises. Franchise Business Review also has recognized FASTSIGNS as one of the "Best of the Best" for franchisee satisfaction for the last 10 years and its Top 50 Franchises for Women and Top Service Franchises lists in 2019. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or 214-346-5679). About FASTSIGNS FASTSIGNS International, Inc. celebrates its 35th anniversary in business in 2020 as the leading sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, and is the worldwide franchisor of more than 735 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers in 9 countries including the United States and Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Grand Cayman, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, France and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). FASTSIGNS locations provide comprehensive signage and graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes and across all industries attract more attention, communicate their message, promote their products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touchpoints. FASTSIGNS has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 for the past four years, a 2019 Top Franchises for Veterans by Franchise Business Review and a 2019 America's Best Franchises to Buy list by Forbes magazine. Learn more about sign and graphic solutions or find a location at fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/fastsigns, Twitter @FASTSIGNS or Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS. CONTACT: Natalie Candela Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE FASTSIGNS International, Inc. Related Links http://www.fastsigns.com Zurich: Three people were injured as a gunman dressed in black stormed into the prayer hall of a mosque frequented by Somali immigrants and opened fire, a Zurich police spokesman said Monday. Police, who rushed to the scene in a central neighbourhood known for trendy cafes and the city's red-light district, were also investigating a possible connection to the discovery of a corpse at nearby Gessner bridge over the Sihl River, police spokesman Marco Bisa said. Authorities weren't considering the attack as terrorism, he said. Police also said it was too early to determine whether there might be any link to an incident in Berlin also on Monday, where a truck rammed into a Christmas market, killing at least nine people. "The unknown person fired several shots and fled from the building," Bisa told reporters near the mosque, which was cordoned off by police. "The shooting took place inside a prayer room with several people in it. Two victims were severely injured." Bisa said the injured were hospitalized and were aged 30, 35 and 56 years old, but did not specify their nationalities. He said witnesses described the attacker as clad head to foot in black, and was believed to be aged about 30 years old. At the scene, Abukav Abshirow, a 30-year-old Somali man who works at a Zurich car dealership, said his friend was among the injured. He recalled how they had been celebrating a religious occasion at the center the night before. "I am under shock," he said. "We've had great times here. The atmosphere was always friendly and happy at the center ... I am very, very sad this happened. We never had problems here before. We spend the weekend here with our children in peace." "I am waiting to find out what happened, and who is responsible," he said. Attacks by gunmen are rare in Switzerland. The country was shaken in 2013 by at least two multiple-fatality shootings. The country has a long-standing tradition for men to keep their military rifles after completing compulsory military service which partly explains a high rate of gun ownership in the country of about 8.2 million people. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served under Republican President George W. Bush and was once himself a strong presidential contender, is endorsing Democrat Joe Biden at his convention Tuesday. 'We need to restore those values to the White House,' Powell says in an advance tape of his remarks. 'I support Joe Biden for the presidency of the United States,' he says. Powell is just the latest high-profile Republican to come out for Biden, who is seeking to demonstrate a unified appeal to Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to defeat President Trump. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, is endorsing Joe Biden at the Democratic convention Speaking at the convention Tuesday night is Cindy McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party's 2008 for president although also an occasional outsider who sometimes clashed with his party. Powell a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised presidents of both parties, and developed national appeal as an independent voice, though he opted against seeking national office. He famously told the UN National Security Council about U.S. intelligence that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons in 2003 during the run up to the second Iraq War, helping advocate for the invasion with information that did not pan out when troops failed to uncover Weapons of Mass Destruction. .S. Secretary of State Colin Powell holds a vial representing the small amount of Anthrax that closed the U.S. Senate last year during his address to the UN Security Council February 5, 2003 in New York City. Powell is making a presentation attempting to convince the world that Iraq is deliberately hiding weapons of mass destruction President Bill Clinton listens to General Colin Powell speak at the White House General Colin Powell and Sen. Joe Biden, D-DE, share a light moment during a photo op before question and answer session with the press, in Russell Building in 2001 On Monday, Biden lined up former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a former presidential contender and longtime congressman, as well as former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.), a former member of the House Republican leadership to back him. The endorsements come as 'never-Trumpers' push to defeat Trump, with some backing Biden, a lifelong Democrat who beat back challengers on his left even as he defended his ability to work with Republicans. Trump has regularly derided his Republican opponents as 'RINOs' Republicans in Name Only. 'Our country needs a commander in chief who cares for our troops in the same way he cares for his own family,' Powell says in advance remarks, MSBNC reported. 'For Joe Biden, that doesn't need teaching,' Powell said. He described growing up in the south Bronx, where he said he learned values Biden shared. 'Those values still define him and we need to restore those values to the White House,' said Powell. Powell's former commander in chief, President George W. Bush, is not expected at Trump's convention. He and his father, President George H.W. Bush, skipped Trump's 2016 convention. In addition to his new Republican backers, Biden is being endorsed by Democratic former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter. Powell credited Biden for 'sending his beloved son off to war,' in reference to the late Beau Biden. UPDATED Wednesday, Aug. 19: Fire set inside Multnomah Building, riot declared in 83rd night of Portland protests *** Protesters gathered Tuesday for the 83rd consecutive night of demonstrations, marching for the first time to the Multnomah Building, the county seat of government. A group gathered at 8 p.m. in Colonel Summers Park at Southeast 20th Avenue and Belmont Street for what organizers describe as a direct action march. About 9 p.m., the group, which appeared to total about 200, left the park and marched through Southeast Portland streets, eventually arriving at the Multnomah Building at Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard and Grand Avenue. The demonstration was peaceful for more than an hour, but demonstrators lit fires in dumpsters and broke windows. About an hour after arriving, small fires were seen inside the building beyond the broken windows. About 10:30 p.m., police, who had not been seen previously, moved into the area and declared a riot, pushing protesters away. For the next hour and a half, demonstrators moved throughout the streets of inner Southeast Portland, being pushed north intermittently by groups of officers in riot gear. Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury released a statement at midnight regarding the damage to the county building, saying a small group of protesters had set fire to the Office of Community Involvement. This is the heart of our County, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity, she said, saying the space is dedicated to community members marginalized by the traditional political process. The lobby where the first same-sex marriage in Oregon took place, and where millions of pieces of personal protective equipment are being distributed to help our community battle COVID-19, was damaged, she said, asking the community to work together. I acknowledge that there is grave injustice in our world and there is a violent and tragic history of oppression in our County, she said. I am committed to transformational change. Demonstrators about midnight began marching back to Colonel Summers Park through neighborhood streets, chanting along the way for residents to wake up, come out of their homes and join the protest. Chants also included Black lives matter and No Justice, No Peace, among others. The previous nights protests remained comparatively quiet, with a group of about 200 marching from Kenton Park in North Portland to the Portland Police Association headquarters about half a mile away. Police briefly appeared after a window at the police association was broken, but they remained for only about 10 minutes. Letha Winston, the mother of a man, Patrick Kimmons, who was fatally shot by Portland police in 2018, spoke to the crowd shortly before midnight, urging them to march through residential neighborhoods instead of staying outside the police union building. The protest on Sunday, however, took a more violent turn, as a group restrained and beat a driver who sped away from a crowd only to crash his truck nearby. Video shows the man was sitting on the ground when someone kicked him in the head, leaving him unconscious and bleeding in the street. The victim, who police identified as Adam Haner, was hospitalized with serious injuries but is expected to live. Police have identified the suspect in the assault as Marquise Love, 25. It was not immediately clear what spurred the confrontation. Several social media posts allege someone had been driving erratically downtown and tried to run over protesters several times, though those accounts could not be independently verified. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Brooke Herbert, Jim Ryan and Fedor Zarkhin of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Virginia lawmakers kicked off a special session on COVID-19 and police reform on Tuesday, but the day was largely consumed with debating the logistics of the gathering as the pandemic unfolds. Both houses met outside of their traditional chambers to comply with public safety restrictions around COVID-19, with the House meeting at VCUs Siegel Center while the Senate met at the Science Museum of Virginia. In the House, Democratic leaders sought different procedural avenues to take the chambers business virtual as they faced opposition from the GOP minority, which cited skepticism of the online format to staunchly oppose Democrats plan. Democrats, who hold a 55-45 majority in the House, only needed GOP support to fast-track their plan to go online. Led by House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, the caucus ultimately decided to forgo five days of legislative work to allow for the online format. Were speaking with health professionals, the Virginia Department of Health, we know what is safest, Filler-Corn said in an interview. These are unprecedented times, uncharted territory. We see what [can happen] when youre not careful. We want to preserve everyones health and safety. Thats number one. Former US Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially won the Democratic Partys presidential nomination after a virtual roll call vote at the partys national convention, during which a lineup of speakers hammered President Donald Trump on leadership.Biden secured 3,558 delegates after the roll call vote on Tuesday that took place at a largely virtual convention, which was nominally held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Candidates needed 1,991 delegates to win the presidential nominee for their party, a threshold Biden reached earlier on after Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out. The second night of the four-day virtual Democratic National Convention was themed on leadership, especially on a global scale and Democrats took the opportunity to criticise Trumps foreign policy. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, in his remarks, said Trump is incapable of defending the country in contrast to Bidens steady hand.Joe understands that none of the issues of this world not nuclear weapons, not the challenge of building back better after COVID-19, not terrorism and certainly not the climate crisis none can be resolved without bringing nations together, Kerry said.Kerry said only Joe Biden can make America lead like America again.This moment is a fight for the security of America and the world, the Obama administrations top diplomat added.Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served under the George W Bush administration, also made a case for supporting Biden. He will restore Americas leadership and our moral authority and restore the alliances we need to address the dangers that threaten our nation from climate change to nuclear proliferation, Powell said. Powell also said that Biden will stand up to adversaries and trust US diplomats and the intelligence community. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the United States needs a steady president to pull the country out of its crisis.Many of the Democrats throughout the night described Trump as selfish. Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates opened the night with a speech about Trumps alleged abuse of power. ALSO READ : Mali President dissolves parliament, announces resignation after arrest reports From the moment President Trump took office, he has used his position to benefit himself rather than our country. He has trampled our rule of law, Yates said. He treats our country like it is his family business, this time bankrupting our nations moral authority at home and abroad.Former President Bill Clinton slammed Trump for his mishandling of the US response to the domestic outbreak of COVID-19 and his disagreement with advice from medical experts.COVID-19 hit us much harder than it had to, Clinton said.Former President Jimmy Carter said that Biden is the right person to lead the US under the current challenges it faces. The Democrats presumptive vice presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris, will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday, the night before Biden delivers his nomination acceptance speech from Delaware. The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place August 21-24 at Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump said he will deliver his acceptance speech from the White House lawn.Biden is ahead nationally in the most recent ten polls posted on realclearpolitics.com by an average of about 7 per cent. The same site also shows Biden leading in the largest battleground states including Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. ALSO READ : Wrong president for our country: Michelle Obama slams Donald Trump Robert Bashara, a former Rotary Club president in Grosse Pointe who was convicted of arranging his wifes murder, has died, more than five years after he was sentenced to life in prison, the Corrections Department said Tuesday. Bashara, 62, died Monday at a hospital, said spokesman Chris Gautz, who declined to offer additional details. He was last housed at Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Livingston County. Bashara, known as Master Bob, was accused of hiring a handyman to kill Jane Bashara so he could devote more time to cavorting with other women who shared his desire for sexual bondage and domination. Jane Basharas sister, Julie Rowe, released a statement. I am disappointed he only spent 8 years in prison. That is just not long enough for all that he ruined, she said. Jane Bashara, a Mount Clemens native, was strangled in their garage in Grosse Pointe Park in 2012. Her body was found in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley. Robert Bashara denied any role in his wifes death, although the highly publicized case revealed that he was living a double life a Rotary president and son of a late judge who dabbled in bondage and domination in a sex dungeon under a bar called the Hard Luck Lounge. I will never stop fighting for justice and truth until my hands are raw, blood comes from my eyes and I take my last breath, Bashara said in court in 2015. In other business, the CRDA board approved awarding a second contract of $100,000 to ABM Industry Groups, LLC, for cleaning and sanitation of the porta johns and comfort stations installed on the Boardwalk as a result of COVID-19. If anyone has been in those restrooms lately, they know that they are in very bad shape, both above-ground and underground, Doherty said. And whats important about this project is that it will not simply address what you see in the bathrooms meaning the stalls, sinks, toilets, things like that but also underground infrastructure, the water pipes and sewer pipes, that are failing on a regular basis. So, its a much needed project thats going to significantly enhance peoples experience coming to Atlantic City to enjoy the beach. Womens March protesters throng Washington streets the day after Trumps inauguration. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images You dont have to be a conspiracy theorist or a Trump-hater to recognize that the president of the United States has been hinting very broadly that he might contest an election defeat as rigged if, as is virtually certain, Joe Bidens vote will consist of a lot of ballots cast by mail. Indeed, many journalists and academicians have laid out a scenario whereby Trump, having convinced his own supporters to vote in person on election day, takes an early lead that evening, declares victory, and then attacks any reversal of his lead by subsequent mail ballots (generally counted later because they must be opened and authenticated) as fraudulent. What happens then could depend on how audacious Team Trump (and perhaps state legislatures aligned with it) becomes in seeking to overturn popular vote results, and how much assistance it gets from the courts. But are American citizens expected simply to stand by quietly and watch with equanimity the unfolding of what amounts to a coup detat? Maybe not, as New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg reports: Progressive organizers are preparing for this eventuality. Theyve seen Trump tweet about postponing the election, spread lies about voter fraud and try to sabotage the Postal Service. Many of them remember the 2000 presidential election, when rowdy Republican operatives physically stopped the vote count in Florida while hapless Democrats put their faith in the courts. (One of the instigators of the so-called Brooks Brothers Riot was none other than the criminal Trump adviser Roger Stone.) So a coalition of progressive groups, as well as some anti-authoritarian conservative ones, is organizing under the rubric Protect the Results to get people into the streets if Trump tries to cheat in November. Its a pretty massive effort thats underway, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, which is part of the coalition. Activists all over the country, he said, are really gearing up for this fight. The idea is that you might get a mass public reaction that combines the size and intensity of the 2017 Womens March protests the day after Trumps inauguration with the size, intensity and persistence of the racial justice protests weve seen this spring and summer. If Trump triggers a period of murky wrangling in the courts, state legislatures or Congress, a one-off set of demonstrations might not suffice: We have been building grass-roots power for the last three and a half years, said Ezra Levin, one of the co-founders of Indivisible, which helped put the Protect the Results coalition together. But, he said, this is something different. This is not just a one day showing up at congressional district offices or town halls or a march. This is a possibility of a dayslong or weekslong mobilization, so we knew we had to start preparing now. Its been a while since Americans were willing to take to the streets for a cause as abstract if essential as democracy itself. But that may be what it takes to avoid a travesty that makes 2000 look like a schoolyard prank: The group of people that are ready to take to the streets for process fights, and whether or not our Constitution is respected, is different than people that are going to the streets because people are dying, said Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, also part of the Protect the Results coalition. But I have faith that generally folks out there are connecting the dots between all of these causes right now. The point of connection is a lawless president seeking to keep a privileged minority in power in defiance of the popular will. Peaceful demonstrations on a scale this country has never seen before might be appropriate, and effective. MOSCOW, RUSSIA / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Mechel PAO (MOEX:MTLR, NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces 1H2020 operational results. Mechel PAO's Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov commented on 1H2020 operational results: "We do not see any significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our mining segment's operational results. Our facilities function in a stable mode and fulfill their obligations regarding product shipments. However, the pandemic's effect on the steel division's 2Q2020 sales is obvious, in both export and domestic markets. There was no traditional seasonal spike in demand. "The seven-percent improvement in overall coal mining volumes quarter-on-quarter is due to the restoration and increase of the mining equipment at our Yakut and Kuzbass facilities, which had a positive effect on this accounting period's sales to Asia Pacific where business has picked up after the coronavirus pandemic passed its peak stage. Nevertheless, the coal prices fell to a four-year minimum and are far from the previous quarter's comfortable levels. The coal prices are under pressure from the policy of Chinese authorities that now adhere to strict ecological requirements toward imported coal and its quality and buy coal according to quotas. In June, the majority of Australian producers - key players on the international coal market - announced that they intend a downward correction of their operational plans. This gives grounds to expect that global coal prices may begin to move back up. "Coking coal concentrate sales went up by 14 percent quarter-on-quarter due to increased mining and stable customer demand. Our sales structure underwent changes as the financial year ended in March (as well as several contracts with Japanese partners). We redirected thus released volumes toward China and South Korea. "The 17-percent increase in PCI sales and the six-percent increase in anthracite sales were due to Southern Kuzbass Coal Company boosting production of these types of coal. PCI coals were fully shipped to export, while in anthracite sales exports accounted for 77%, with sales on the more profitable Asian markets doubling. Also, in Posiet and Ust-Luga ports we formed two shiploads of anthracite that were de-facto sold in the next accounting period. "In the second quarter, we increased thermal coal sales by 11% thanks to our redirecting sales in favor of Vietnamese customers. We set a quarterly shipment record to this country in the second quarter, reaching 373,000 tonnes. This year we also supply a major volume of thermal coal to Far Eastern Generating Company that we have a long-term contract with. "Iron ore concentrate sales went down by 18% quarter-on-quarter due to a slump in ore mining and lower iron content in the ore. "Sales of metallurgical coke generally remained at the previous quarter's level. Weaker demand for this product in the European Union was partially compensated by a hike in sales to Asia. For example, we sent a test batch of coke to Malaysia. "In the steel division, pig iron and steel output went up by 5% and 6% accordingly as major overhauls of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant's blast furnace and converter were completed. Considering our country's difficult epidemiological situation, we adapted to market needs and our clients' requirements insofar as ready product output and sales policy were concerned. And even though the construction season started out late, the overall sales of long rolls remained at the first quarter's level, with a three-percent increase year-on-year, primarily due to rebar sales. Sales of the universal rolling mill's shapes and sections went down in the second quarter due to a noticeable slump in demand for high-margin products in this period. "In 1H2020 we increased output of rolled flats that are consistently in demand, as this product's high profit margin makes it a priority for the Group. In 2Q2020 we saw a decrease in sales due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Early this year our forgings sales demonstrated growth, as we managed to profit by the situation in European markets where Chinese producers' share fell due to that country's quarantine measures. However, in the second quarter the closure of European storages led to a 24-percent slump in sales of forged rolls quarter-on-quarter. Nevertheless, we increased domestic sales of stainless steel and construction alloyed forgings by 7%. The decrease in stampings sales was due to a weaker demand for railroad axles as Russia's wagonbuilding market hit stagnation. "As Bratsk Ferroalloy Plant launched its upgraded ore thermal furnace #3, the plant increased output and sales of ferrosilicon (+46% quarter-on-quarter). Transfer of a major shipload, already prepared for dispatch, from the first to the second quarter contributed to this result. "As engineering and furniture plants' demand for wire dramatically decreased due to an overall slump in acquisitions, this led to an eight-percent decrease in 1H2020 hardware sales. In 2Q2020 we managed to boost sales of other types of hardware and attain positive dynamics (+1% quarter-on-quarter). "The decrease in generation of electricity and heat by 18% and 52% accordingly in 2Q2020 quarter-on-quarter was due to the end of the cold season and the beginning of sweeping repairs of our heat-power equipment." Production and sales for 1H2020 Production: Product Name 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Run-of-Mine Coal* 8,857 6,098 +45 4,578 4,279 +7 Pig Iron 1,783 1,737 +3 912 872 +5 Steel 1,803 1,861 -3 926 876 +6 Electric power generation (thousand kWh) 1,608,023 1,755,693 -8 723,670 884,354 -18 Heat power generation (Gcal) 2,721,630 2,996,001 -9 885,068 1,836,563 -52 ? Excluding operational results of Elga Coal Complex. Sales: Product Name 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Coking coal concentrate* 3,052 2,957 +3 1,628 1,424 +14 Including coking coal concentrate supplied to third parties 2,200 2,141 +3 1,152 1,048 +10 PCI 967 545 +77 521 445 +17 Including PCI supplied to third parties 967 545 +77 521 445 +17 Anthracites 552 295 +87 284 268 +6 Including anthracites supplied to third parties 433 234 +85 221 212 +4 Thermal coal* 1,857 1,594 +17 975 882 +11 Including thermal coal supplied to third parties 1,274 1,370 -7 655 619 +6 Iron ore concentrate 1,041 1,199 -13 470 571 -18 Including iron ore concentrate supplied to third parties 16 167 -90 9 7 +40 Coke 1,230 1,265 -3 607 623 -3 Including coke supplied to third parties 370 416 -11 171 198 -14 Ferrosilicon 31 36 -14 18 13 +46 Including ferrosilicon supplied to third parties 21 24 -10 13 8 +58 Long rolls 1,295 1,262 +3 647 648 0 Flat rolls 233 229 +2 109 124 -12 Hardware 268 290 -8 134 133 +1 Forgings 22 21 +2 9 12 -24 Stampings 27 60 -55 4 23 -82 Universal rolling mill: 1H2020, thousand tonnes 1H2019, thousand tonnes % 2Q2020, thousand tonnes 1Q2020, thousand tonnes % Sales of rails 215 90 +139 99 116 -15 Sales of sections 143 142 +1 67 76 -11 ? Excluding operational results of Elga Coal Complex. *** Mechel PAO Ekaterina Videman Tel: + 7 495 221 88 88 ekaterina.videman@mechel.com *** Mechel is an international mining and steel company. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high value-added products. *** Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions. SOURCE: PJSC Mechel View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602376/PJSC-Mechel-Mechel-Reports-1H2020-Operational-Results Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) -EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMB) (OTC Pink: EURPF) ("EuroLife" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Definitive Agreement (the "Agreement") dated August 18th, 2020 pursuant to which it will acquire 100 percent of the issued and outstanding securities of privately-held Plant & Co Marche Inc. by way of a share exchange agreement (the "Transaction"). Plant & Co Marche Inc. is a privately held Canadian corporation which owns and operates "Plant & Co Marche" in Toronto, Ontario. Plant & Co Marche is a hybrid health and wellness brand with a retail location offering niche products catering to health and wellness conscious consumers with a focus on plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, hemp, and specialty immune boosting products. The transaction signifies the Company's first foray into the burgeoning health and wellness sector in North America. "The acquisition of the Plant & Co Marche brand and retail location is an excellent segue into the growing health and wellness sector in Canada. It secures our foothold into the Canadian retail space in a key demographical area that is heavily populated, giving us tremendous commerce opportunity in-store, as well as delivery and online e-com," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of EuroLife. "The flagship location in Toronto will be emulated in other key demographic markets and larger centres across the country. Utilizing our previous experience in consumer behaviour and consumer targeting and analytics, we will aim to take this unique brand in the health and wellness sector to greater heights. We have an aggressive plan for expansion and will continue to look for opportune acquisition targets in Canada and North America." The Plant & Co Marche flagship location is strategically located in Little Italy of Toronto, where approximately 100,000 households, apartments, and business are located within a 30min walk of Plant & Co Marche. Our flagship store will re-open following adjustments to the design, layout, and management training. The new design represents a refresh to the current sector within Canada, offering a modern European aesthetic, integrating niche inventories catering to "all things" health and wellness, within the new COVID-19 retail environment. Plant & Co Marche Location Details: - 2,200+ square feet of prime retail space - Currently possesses liquor license and seating for 116 customers with a fully licensed patio - Designated Curbside pickup station for delivery services and walk-ins - $250,000+ spent on design and renovation in 2018-2019 - Existing management (vegan enthusiasts) EuroLife and Plant & Co Marche have been collaborating with a variety of retail and consumer packaged goods experts to determine the final inventory product SKU's as well as identify potential additional retail locations throughout Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. In addition, the Company has completed a go-to-market retail plan for various products within the EuroLife family of brands, which will tie in private label "Plant & Co" capabilities within retail, e-commerce, and home-delivery options. Pursuant to the Agreement, EURO will acquire 100 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Plant & Co Marche Inc. in exchange for 2,336,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price per share equal to $0.25. The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary terms and conditions, and regulatory approval. Statistical sources: https://www.canadapost.ca/sam/. About EuroLife Brands Inc. EuroLife Brands (CSE: EURO) (FSE: 3CMB) (OTC Pink: EURPF) is a vertically integrated enterprise focused on the health and wellness sector. For additional information: Contact: ir@eurolifebrands.com or visit EuroLifeBrands.com. No stock exchange or securities regulatory authority has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for EuroLife Brands described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62143 The United States handed over the second shipment of 100 new and state-of-the-art ventilators to assist India in its fight against COVID-19. The ventilators are manufactured in the US and are compact, easy to deploy and provide India with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus. The United States handed over the second shipment of 100 new and state-of-the-art ventilators to assist India in its fight against COVID-19. Announcing the delivery of the ventilators to India, US Ambassador Kenneth I Juster said, We are very pleased to hand over the final tranche of 100 ventilators to India, fulfilling President (Donald) Trumps commitment to providing these critically needed supplies to support Indias pandemic response. Through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in coordination with the Government of India and the Indian Red Cross Society, the US government donated the final tranche of 100 ventilators to India, said a statement by the US Embassy in India on Wednesday. The ventilators are manufactured in the US and are compact, easy to deploy and provide India with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus. Also Read: India records highest single-day Covid-19 recoveries, case count surpasses 27 lakh mark In addition to the ventilators, USAID is funding a package of support that includes warranties and additional supplies required to operate these machines like tubes, filters and other necessary components. USAID is also working in close coordination with the Government of India to enhance the capacity of health facilities using these ventilators by facilitating setup, orientations and clinical training for healthcare providers responsible for operating the machines, the statement said. Fulfilling the US Governments commitment, @usaid_india delivered the remaining 100 brand-new, Made-in-USA ventilators to @IndianRedCross on behalf of the @MoHFW_INDIA, Juster said in a tweet. The first shipment of 100 ventilators arrived in India on June 14. Since then, the ventilators have been deployed to support the care of COVID-19 patients at the eight regional All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Also Read: Amit Shah admitted to AIIMS days after Covid recovery The total donation of 200 ventilators builds on the long history of US-India collaboration in the health sector and the assistance that USAID has committed to India in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. USAIDs efforts have strengthened Indias healthcare systems resilience, readiness and response capacity in several high-burden states, said the statement. As of August 7, a total of three million people in India have directly benefited from USAID support. USAID has trained 40,700 health workers on best practices to integrate COVID-19 prevention and risk mitigation into essential health services; 46,000 frontline workers on risk communication and provided 950 health care facilities with support to increase social distancing, infection prevention control and patient management. (ANI) Also Read: US issues revised Covid advisory on travel to India, China E*Trade Securities, one of the largest U.S. brokerages, was slapped with a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday for allegedly failing to disclose proper risks to clients that were burnt by the negative WTI Crude oil prices in April, Bloomberg reported, citing the lawsuit filed in California. As the WTI Crude futures collapsed into negative territory on April 20, many retail investors lost a lot of money as they were unable to sell the front-month futures contracts they had purchased. Some brokerages limited the ability of their smaller customers to place new trades in the June futures contracts of WTI and Brent Crude, after the May contract of WTI Crude plunged to as low as minus -US$37 a barrel on April 20. According to the class-action lawsuit filed with the Northern District Court of California on Tuesday, E*Trade failed to explain to investors that oil prices could go negative and failed to adequately test its trading system to see how it would handle negative prices. E*Trade clients who wanted out of the May WTI Crude contract on the day the prices went negative were unable to do so because the brokerages systems failed and locked users out, the lawsuit alleges. The collapse in WTI Crude futures in April triggered investigations by the SEC and by law firms on behalf of their risk-averse clients. Klayman & Toskes, for example, announced as early as on April 24 that they were undertaking an investigation on behalf of risk-averse investors with Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Merrill Lynch, who had sustained significant losses recently from investment in the turbulent energy sector. The United States Oil Fund LP (NYSEARCA: USO) - one of the most popular oil-tracking ETFs for retail investors and believed to be one of the reasons for the historic plunge in the May WTI futures was also hit by a class-action lawsuit in June. Investors in USO filed a class action complaint against the fund for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act between March 19, 2020, and April 28, 2020. The deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action against the fund expired on Tuesday. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinas record-breaking crude oil imports supported oil prices through the late spring and summer when oil demand recovery in the rest of the world had just started and then wobbled amid concerns of a second COVID-19 wave. But can the oil industry continue to rely on this support? China imported record volumes of crude oil in May and June, as the oil-hungry nation attempted to benefit from the low oil prices in April. The imports in July, however, were lower than in June. Still, they were 25 percent higher than in July last year. But Chinas feast on low oil prices may now be over. This month, China will import what could be the last of the bargain cargoes that refiners had snapped up in April. After August, however, it is anyones guess what will happen with Chinese crude oil imports. On the one hand, factors that would support relatively high Chinese crude oil imports through the rest of the year include evidence that Chinas fuel demand seems to have rebounded nicely and signs that China will increase its purchases of U.S. crude oil in an attempt to fulfill its promise laid out in the Phase 1 trade deal. On the other hand, factors that could slow Chinas crude oil imports over the next few months include higher oil prices compared to April lows, and weak fuel demand and refining margins in the rest of Asia, which could discourage Chinese refiners from exporting a lot of fuel to the region. Then there is always the big unknown with Chinas commercial and strategic reserves. Since China does not report inventories, analysts are only guessing how much crude oil China is stashing away in its strategic and commercial reserves. Related: According to estimates from Reuters columnist Clyde Russell, based on calculations of Chinese imports plus domestic production, less refinery throughput, China likely sent 1.92 million barrels per day (bpd) into its reserves in July. This was much lower than the estimated reserve fill in June of 2.77 million bpd, but close to the average for the January-July period reserve stockpiling of 1.95 million bpd, Russell estimates. Going forward, it is unclear how much oil China would importand consequently stashas many different factors could tip the scales either way. Among the factors that could continue to support relatively high Chinese crude oil imports, and thus support oil prices, is the recovering industrial activity, incentivized by government stimulus for infrastructure projects. Analysts believe that industrial activity and increased road freight and e-commerce deliveries are set to push up Chinas diesel demand to a record high this year. In another bullish factor for Chinese imports, and potentially oil prices, China is reportedly ramping up purchases of U.S. energy products, including crude, as part of the U.S.-China trade deal. Oil traders from the U.S. and importers from China told Reuters earlier this month that Chinas state oil giants had tentatively booked tankers for plans to buy at least 20 million barrels of American in August and September. Considering that China is estimated to have fulfilled just 5 percent of the targeted purchases of American energy products in the first half of 2020, increased purchases, including of U.S. crude, in the second half of the year could keep Chinese crude oil imports at relatively high levels. Yet, there are bearish factors at play that could dampen Chinese appetite for crude imports for the rest of the year, possibly weighing on oil prices, too. Those include weaker fuel demand recovery in the rest of Asia, which weighs on the refining margins in the region. This could discourage Chinas refiners from continuing to process record volumes of crude oil. In July, Chinas refinery production hit a record high of 14.03 million bpd, official data reported by Reuters showed after major refineries returned online from maintenance. Yet, with weak margins and fuel demand in the rest of Asia, refiners may not have much incentive to process record amounts of crude oil if there is no market in Asia to absorb all those refined products. Chinas record crude imports have been supporting oil prices in recent months. Now analysts and the market are wondering if Chinese purchases could continue to do so in the coming months. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Last week, Raut had said that he prefers consulting compounders as they are more knowledgeable than the doctors MUMBAI: After being condemned over remarks on doctors, Shiv Sena leader and party spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said that he did not intend to insult doctors, his statement was in reference to the WHO (World Health Organisation). Last week, Raut had said that he prefers consulting compounders as they are more knowledgeable than the doctors. Following this, the Indian Medical Association (Thane branch) has written a letter to state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding Rauts resignation. According to the letter, they are looking up to government and politicians to stand with them during the pandemic. The healthcare workers are working at great risk not only to themselves but also risking their dependents, spouses, children and aged senior citizen parents. At this critical time, we would look up to the government and senior politicians to stand with the frontline workers, the letter said. It further added, We are aghast that a senior politician like Sanjay Rautji would say that compounders know more than doctors. We condemn this behavior and ask for his resignation. In a clarification, Raut said his comments were misconstrued and that his remarks were in reference to the WHO. I have not insulted anybody and I especially cannot insult the doctors. The doctors, nurses, ward boys have contributed a lot during this Covid phase. My remark was in reference to WHO, wherein I meant that coronavirus pandemic had not taken place had WHO worked efficiently. Some people are trying to play politics over it, the Sena leader said. Speaking with The Asian Age, Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president of Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra) said, We have demanded an apology from the Sena leader in the letter sent to the CM and the Vice President of India. Such remarks from a politician are demoralizing the doctors during the fight against the pandemic and it is not acceptable South Africa: President Ramaphosa condemns developments in Mali This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. South Africas COVID-19 death toll has jumped to 12 264 after 282 fatalities were recorded on Wednesday. Of the new deaths, 89 were in Gauteng, 66 in the Eastern Cape, 57 in KwaZulu-Natal, 34 in the Western Cape, 20 in the North West, 13 in Free State and three in the Northern Cape. Also, the number of cumulative COVID-19 cases increas... See more New Delhi: The central government is planning to soon begin a toll free number 1955 in order to take feedback of telecom subscribers on call drops.Short code 1955 has been allotted for IVRS system on call drop, an official source said. Provisioning of this number will be mandatory for telecom operators and should be accessible for local and STD calling.As per a letter by the Department of Telecom to operators in last week of November the 1955 number is for the outbound calls to the subscribers, the IVRS system will have to present a pre-defined CLI (caller line identification) to the subscribers, through short code 1955.State-run telecom firm MTNL has been directed to configure this short code. Telecom operators have been directed not to charge any integration, maintenance, operational fee from MTNL. Official sources said that Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha will launch the service but did not disclose any further details. When contacted industry body, Cellular Operators Association of India said that the industry has sought further technical clarifications from DoT on routing, charges etc for the implementation of the short code 1955 for IVRS system. The response is awaited. The industry remains committed towards addressing the issue of call drops and is continuously working shoulder to shoulder with the government, enhancing both investment and infrastructure, COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Scranton, PA (18503) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies with snow developing overnight. Low around 25F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to cloudy skies with snow developing overnight. Low around 25F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya on Tuesday appealed to the vice-chancellors and academicians to take initiative in implementing the new National Education Policy in an effective and speedy manner. He also said the change in the education system in the country and the state will help the younger generation become self-reliant. Arya was addressing the vice-chancellors and academicians at a digital conclave organized by the Haryana State Higher Education Council, an official statement said here. He said the people associated with the education sector will be responsible to implement the new National Education Policy, whose basic objective is to prepare people with good skills, technical knowledge, and expertise. There is immense potential for rapid benefits of new Education Policy and promotion of education in the state of Haryana, because the entire infrastructure related to education is already strong in the state, he said. Arya said that the basis of progress and future of any country is a strong education system. With this objective, the National Education Policy 2020 has been prepared after 34 years. This education policy is the cornerstone of Indias innovation. The aspirations of 130 crore people have been reflected in this education policy, he said. He said that for the first time in the country, 6 per cent of GDP has been allocated for education in order to continuously intensify research, new innovations and employment-oriented programmes, under the National Education Policy. Naturally, there will be immense development of infrastructure related to education in the country in future, he added. The Governor said that earlier there was a herd mentality regarding education where everyone wanted to make their children doctors, lawyers, and engineers, but now with the new National Education Policy new avenues will open up that will lead to development of the nation. Chairman, Haryana State Higher Education Council, B K Kuthiala, who chaired the conclave, said that the new education policy was concurrent with the times and the nation. He also appealed to all the academicians to implement this policy with full responsibility. Apples supplier Wistron is said to locally produce the upcoming iPhone 12 at its new plant near Bengaluru. Apple is reportedly planning to locally produce the iPhone 12 series in India. The new Made in India iPhone 12 models will be ready by the middle of next year, according to a Business Standard report. Wistron, Apples Taiwanese contract manufacturer will start production of the new iPhones at the companys Narasapura plant near Bengaluru. Theres planned investment of over 2,900 crore, and Wistron has also plans to hire 10,000 employees for the new plant. The manufacturing plant is expected to be fully functional by October this year. Around 1,000 workers have already started working at the Wistron plan, according to the report. iPhone 12 will be the latest to join the increasing lineup of Made in India iPhones. Apple most recently started assembling the iPhone 11 at the Foxconn plant in Chennai. Apple is expected to start assembling the iPhone SE 2020 by the end of this year as well. The company has so far locally produced the iPhone 6s, iPhone and iPhone XR. Apples push for local manufacturing comes amid reports of the iPhone maker looking to shift reliance from China to other countries. Local production of iPhones hasnt necessarily decreased the prices of iPhones in India even though the company saves 22% of import duty. But with the iPhone 12, it would probably be the fastest flagship iPhone model to be locally assembled in India. Apple is yet to launch the new iPhone 12 series which will be delayed this year by a few weeks. The iPhone 12 launch event is said to take place on October 12 this year with the most expensive iPhone 12 Pro shipping in November. FILE PHOTO: The logo of German software group SAP is pictured at its headquarters in Walldorf By Alexander Winning JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African investigators are seeking to recover more than 400 million rand ($23 million) from German software firm SAP for two government contracts they allege were entered into unlawfully, court documents seen by Reuters show. Although the amount of money sought is small for a company with a market value of around 162 billion euros, the move by the authorities is another headache for SAP, which in 2018 admitted to misconduct over deals with South African state firms during former president Jacob Zuma's tenure. SAP, a major global business software company, had said it was reviewing all its public sector deals in South Africa dating back to 2010, but it has not publicly flagged wrongdoing over the agreements in 2015 and 2016 with the Department of Water and Sanitation. Investigators say those contracts should be declared invalid because government regulations were contravened, according to the court papers, reported here for the first time. SAP did not comment on the specific allegations. In a statement to Reuters the company said: "SAP continues to cooperate with South African authorities/law enforcement and remains committed to the highest standards of business ethics." "Our policy is, and always will be, to carry out all company activities in accordance with the letter and spirit of applicable laws." The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which is investigating the contracts, told Reuters that evidence pointing to contravention of regulations by water ministry officials had been referred to prosecutors. The SIU has been probing SAP's work for the water ministry for roughly two years, after President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised inquiries into possible procurement irregularities and corruption. RECOVERING PUBLIC FUNDS In court papers filed late last week, the SIU asked the Special Tribunal, a court Ramaphosa established to fast-track recovery of misspent or stolen public money, to order SAP to reimburse roughly 128 million rand for the 2015 agreement and 285 million rand for the 2016 agreement, plus interest. Story continues In its review, included in the court documents, the SIU found the water ministry's 2015 contract with SAP was concluded despite the ministry still having a year left to run on an existing agreement with the German company. For the 2016 contract, the SIU cited a senior technology official as saying neither the ministry nor its entities had received services from SAP despite the 285 million rand paid. A SIU principal forensic lawyer said in an affidavit that investigators were still probing possible corruption related to SAP's work for the water ministry. But he said they had decided to launch civil proceedings in the Special Tribunal now because taxpayer money was at stake. The acting director-general of the water ministry said in an affidavit that a high turnover of directors-general since 2016 meant "the obvious illegality related to the conclusion of the SAP contracts" was not addressed sooner. A ministry spokesman declined further comment. In March 2018, SAP admitted to paying more than $9 million to intermediary companies linked to the Guptas, a family at the centre of a political corruption scandal in South Africa, in relation to software deals with state power utility Eskom and state logistics firm Transnet. The SIU said it was also investigating SAP contracts at Eskom and Transnet. The companies did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Guptas, close friends of former president Jacob Zuma, have denied corruption allegations but their relationship to the former president is one of the main areas of focus of a state corruption inquiry that began after Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma in February 2018. Zuma also denies involvement in any corruption. Ramaphosa has staked his reputation on cleaning up public life in South Africa but a spate of tender scandals during the coronavirus crisis has made some analysts question whether much progress has been made. The COVID-19 pandemic has poleaxed an already weak economy and set the stage for a record budget deficit in the post-apartheid era. This week the SIU and Eskom took steps to try to recoup 3.8 billion rand they allege was diverted from the utility by former Eskom executives and the Guptas. The Guptas have denied unduly winning contracts with government entities, including Eskom, during Zuma's time in office. (Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in Berlin; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Carmel Crimmins) Living with a mental health challenges can be stressful even during the best of times. Then COVID-19 came along. Quarantine, distancing, not seeing family and loved ones, and economic worries have all added to the struggles of people dealing with mental wellness. On top of that, back-to-school stress is compounding the mental stressors were all dealing with right now. Recently, Amy Edgar, Founder of Childrens Integrated Center for Success and expert in pediatric mental health, teamed with YourUpdateTV to discuss steps we can take to take control of our mental wellness during this uncertain time. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/0WpBE2FWYC0 Parents, many of whom may be dealing with their own mental and emotional struggles, have taken on the burden of worrying about their childs mental health as well. With the back to school season in full swing, stress and anxiety are at an all-time high as families grapple with the reality of additional distance learning, or the potential dangers of returning to the classroom. Its natural for parents to wonder whether the last five months and whatever lies ahead will have a lasting effect on kids mental well-being. So how can parents take back control of mental wellness in the age of COVID-19? A first-ever consumer DNA test is helping unlock the connection between genetics and mental wellness. One cheek swab will produce results that will help people better understand how genes affect ones predisposition for stress, focus, substance abuse, sleep, and more. Organized around Genominds proprietary 7 Core Genetic Mental Health Capabilities, the test analyzes 38 genetic variants and their influence on 29 mental health traits. The result is an interactive report that details 59 possible behavioral predispositions specific to each users genetic profile, along with resources and actionable recommendations shown to improve wellness and quality of life. Genomind Mental Health Map is the only DNA test in the consumer market with a specific focus on mental health and wellness, and is available without prescription. The test should not be used as a diagnostic or risk assessment for mental health diseases and disorders. For more information, visit MentalHealthMap.com and use discount code MHMFALL5. About Amy Edgar, APRN, CRNP, FNP-C: Amy Edgar is transforming healthcare and embracing our next generation of humans. Ignited by the experience of raising her now 19-year old daughter, Amy founded the Children's Integrated Center for Success in 2014. Weaving together the threads of mom, entrepreneur, teacher, nurse, primary care provider, and science geek, Amy utilizes systems thinking and integrated care delivery models to run her primary care center focused on children with behavioral health needs. From cutting edge genetics research to nutrition consults, speech and equine therapy, school advocates, and marriage counselors CICS strives to reach every child, every time. In 2017, Amy led CICS in connecting career opportunities for children with autism looking for suitable work to capture their own piece of the American Dream, which was realized in the CICS Foundation. Amy continues to practice and provide patient care while championing CICS's virtual healthcare expansion to reach families across and outside of Pennsylvania. About Genomind: Genomind is a leading mental health company singularly focused on filling the innovation gap in mental health care through novel, genetics-based tools that bring mental health into the era of personalized medicine. Its flagship product, Genomind Professional PGx, is a pharmacogenetic testing service that helps medical professionals guide patients mental health treatment. The Company recently launched Genomind Mental Health Map a direct-to-consumer test that enables a better understanding of the biological basis of mental health, coupled with actionable guidance to help people improve health and wellness. Supported by a world-class genetics lab, a unique heritage of clinical mental health expertise, and a consultative approach, Genomind is advancing a new paradigm of precision medicine in mental health care. Learn more at http://www.genomind.com. About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It was Russian media resources that first started spinning the version of Ukraine's alleged involvement in the deployment of Russian mercenaries in Belarus. The SBU Security Service of Ukraine has refuted earlier reports about the agency's alleged participation in the so-called "Special Operation Wagner." "The Security Service does not comment on rumors, does not support media information operations of the enemy, and does not participate in public discussions of various fictional scenarios. Especially when such spins are aimed at harming Ukraine," the SBU press service said in a statement via Facebook. The SBU stressed the reports about the agency's alleged involvement in the latest Wagner PMC in Belarus story is fake news. It was a Russian news outlet that initially started spinning the false version of events over a week ago, the press service notes. "We also declare that none of the officers with the Security Service of Ukraine took part in conversations between the militants and a recruiter, which were allegedly recorded on audio. Therefore, dubbing one of the interlocutors as an 'SBU officer' is an unfounded allegation and deliberate manipulation," the SBU said. At the same, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZR) in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday pointed to the Russian origin of the special information operation titled "Wagner Group in Belarus". As per the SZR, the goals of such operation are as follows: Destabilizing Belarus on the eve of and during the presidential election; Accusing Ukrainian special services of involvement in plotting and conducting an operation on the Belarusian soil and, as a result, dragging Ukraine into an international row and undermining its international image; and Compromising Ukrainian leadership to undermine popular ratings of the incumbent authorities on the eve of local elections. Allegations of Ukraine's dealings with Russian mercenaries On August 18, editor-in-chief of the Censor.Net outlet, Yuriy Butusov, took to Facebook to allege, citing unnamed sources, that the situation with the emergence of Wagner PMC's mercenaries in Belarus was part of a secret operation conducted by the SBU Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, aimed to arrest and prosecute the men who committed crimes in the Donbas warzone. The plan allegedly was to first trick them into boasting of own crimes and then lure them into one group under the pretext of another contract job overseas where they would travel transiting Belarus before eventually make a plane carrying the group land in Ukraine to detain the men. Read alsoUkraine decries allegations of "special operation" to arrest Wagner PMC troops as "fake story"The mission, Butusov alleges, has failed after Belarusian law enforcers arrested the whole group as the men were allegedly waiting for a transit flight. The story of Ukraine's involvement fits Russia's line of defense in the Belarus meddling case claiming Moscow had no plans to destabilize Belarus in the heat of election campaign, using mercenaries with combat experience in acts of provocations and sowing chaos. Wagner PMC troops detained in Belarus On July 29, 2020, a group of militants with the Wagner PMC were detained in Belarus, 32 outside Minsk, another one in the south of the country. Among them were those who fought against Ukraine in the Donbas war. According to Belarusian law enforcement, they had been tipped about the deployment of over 200 militants to destabilize the country amid the election campaign. Belarus turned to the Ukrainian authorities to verify the involvement of the detainees in crimes committed in Ukraine. On July 30, Ukraine began consultations with Belarus on the extradition. On August 7, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus said Ukraine must prove the guilt of the detained mercenaries to seal extradition. On August 9, Lukashenko said he had received a five-page letter from Vladimir Putin with information on the situation around the detention of Wagner troops. On August 11, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine sent inquiries to their Belarus counterparts appealing for the extradition of 28 fighters with the Wagner PMC. All 28, including nine citizens of Ukraine, had been charged with participation in a terrorist organization. On August 14, Belarus handed 32 Wagner troops over to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Belarus' move a "strange, politically incorrect, and definitely unacceptable thing to do in friendly interstate relations." A new IDC InfoBrief draws an interesting analogy between water pipelines and data pipelines. Water comes from different sources and must pass through various stages of cleaning, processing, and analysis before it is delivered to home owners taps. Likewise, IDC notes, business data also comes from multiple sources and progresses through various stages before it delivers maximum business value. In the brief, IDC identifies four core stages in a Data-to-Insights pipeline: Identify Data, Gather Data, Transform Data, and Analyze Data. Collectively, these stages also constitute the core elements of an emerging discipline called DataOps. Much as DevOps has accelerated and systematized software development, DataOps aims to accelerate the collection, processing, and analysis of fresh data. Central to Qliks DataOps model is the concept of Active Intelligence. Rather than basing business decisions on data that has been preconfigured and placed in curated data sets, Active Intelligence continuously draws upon relevant and current data in real time. In order to provide the agility and flexibility that Active Intelligence requires, DataOps processes must leverage a collection of technologies and best practices. In essence, the fundamental challenge of DataOps is to create a unified, and massive, data supply chain that is supported by automation and, increasingly, by artificial intelligence (AI). AI comes into play by helping organizations identify which data is most relevant and actionable in relation to any given need. And, rather than locking business users into preset questions and searches, AI can help support a more free-form and interactive approach to data query and analysis. Accomplishing this goal requires tools that can perform on-the-fly calculation to identify and deliver the most meaningful data from a wide range of different data sources. The need for such sophisticated data sourcing, processing and management is clear, based on the results of a global survey including 1,200 organizations conducted by IDC. As reported in the IDC InfoBrief, during the past 12-18 months: 45% of the organizations began using new internal data 40% began using new external data 45% began using new data types 47% began using new data analytics In addition, 38% of the surveyed organizations said they have also begun tracking new key performance indicators (KPIs) during the past 12-18 months. As IDC notes, the introduction of new KPIs means the organizations are asking new questions, and may require new data sources to answer them. As part of its work in this area, IDC has developed an online survey that enables organizations to quickly determine their Data-to-Insights (D2I) score in relationship to their peers. A customized plan of action to increase that score is also provided. Having a well-integrated and capable data-to-insights pipeline isnt merely an abstract concept. As well discuss in an upcoming post, IDC finds that organizations with a strong pipeline perform better than their peers in both business decision-making and, consequently, in business outcomes. Click here to learn more about how Qlik can help your organization implement and benefit from a powerful DataOps, Data-to-Insights capability. First daughter Ivanka Trump told her father's 2016 presidential campaign to draft a stream of Donald Trump tweets linking to hacked Democratic emails dumped by WikiLeaks in the final weeks of the campaign, the Senate Intelligence Committee's final Russia report reveals. She made the directive in an October email sent to top Trump campaign staff, including former chief strategist Steve Bannon and then-speechwriter Stephen Miller urging campaign hands to promote the explosive email cache. U.S. Intelligence was warning at the time that Russia was behind the hack. The president's daughter was also involved in Moscow Trump tower projects and even worked on a potential meeting between her father and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, with her own Russia ties dating back to her 2006 trip to the country. The moves bely the image she has cultivated inside the White House as someone pushing her father to smooth some of the edges off his own hard-charging style and bombastic rhetoric. She is an unpaid White House advisor to the president and often joins the president at ceremonial occasions. Ivanka Trump told top Trump campaign officials in October 2016 they should prepare two Trump tweets each day linking WikiLeaks content after it posted hacked Democratic emails An email Ivanka wrote encouraged the Trump campaign to do more to spread the world about WikiLeaks releases of hacked emails containing damaging information about Hillary Clinton even after Donald Trump repeatedly touted WikiLeaks at his campaign rallies. 'Using Trump to promote WikiLeaks was a deliberate strategy employed by the Campaign, not only in his remarks, but also on social media,' according to the bipartisan report. 'In mid-October, Ivanka Trump tasked the Campaign's senior officials (including [Steve] Bannon, [Dan] Scavino, Stephen Miller and Jason Miller) with preparing two Trump tweets every day linking to WikiLeaks content, which, she said, would help "refocus the narrative,"' according to the report. The report cites an October 15 email by Ivanka Trump spelling out the task to the top aides. A week earlier, on October 7, the Director of National Intelligence released the findings of 16 intelligence agencies that Russia 'directed' the compromise of Democratic information. Ivanka Trump traveled with her brothers, and traded proposals for a Moscow tower as well as ideas for a Trump-Putin meeting Ivanka Trump wanted daily tweets linking to WikiLeaks emails, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was holed up in an embassy in Britain Ivanka Trump is an unpaid senior advisor to her father She was able to sit in Russian President Vladimir Putin's chair on a 2006 tour of the Kremlin 'Daddy, Tom says we should get Paul,' Ivanka Trump wrote her father in February 2016, passing on advice to hire Paul Manafort Trump repeatedly tweeted about WikiLeaks following a directive his daughter gave to top campaign aides Her father seemed to take the advice. He tweeted direct references to WikiLeaks on five occasions in October and on November 1, just days before the election. In one of the tweets, on October 16, Trump wrote: 'We've all wondered how Hillary avoided prosecution for her email scheme. Wikileaks may have found the answer. Obama!' WikiLeaks contacted the Trump campaign directly through Ivanka's brother, Donald Trump Jr. The report shows the multi-faceted role Ivanka took in the Trump campaign and the Trump Organization, where she was already a public commodity due to appearances with her father on 'The Apprentice.' Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told the Committee Ivanka touted a famous archietct, Zaha Hadid, for a proposed Moscow tower project in 2015. (Donald Trump said he had nothing to do with Russia during the campaign). 'I spoke with Don and Ivanka, and Ivanka did not want John Fotiadis Design on the property. Her feeling was with a project of this magnitude and importance, you want what's called a Starchitect. A star architect,' Cohen told the committee. 'And she wanted me to put out an RFP, request for proposal, but the one who she really wanted, thought could do the best job on it, would be Zaha Hadid. The very famous architect. Plus Ivanka was going to be involved in the project because there was going to be a spa inside the hotel that would be named after her,' he said. Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid Ivanka was tied to one of multiple Trump tower Moscow projects that the Trump Organization pursued over the years. This one involved Dmitry Klokov, who worked for a large Russian energy company although Cohen thought it was a Russian Olympic wrestler by the same name. Ivanka got an email from Klokov's wife, according to the report. She told Cohen to reach out to Klokov and to 'be nice.' 'When asked if lvanka Trump's instruction to Cohen was about the Trump Tower Moscow project or about a potential meeting between Putin and Trump, Cohen said that it was a "combination of the two,' according to the report. In a 2015 email to Cohen, Klokov 'stated that "our person of interest" is "ready to meet your candidate,' and Cohen understood the person to be Putin. Klokov emphasized that 'ultimately the meeting would yield even larger business opportunities which would have "the most important support."' Cohen copied Ivanka Trump in his response to the email. Ivanka Trump was included in Moscow tower talks with a Russian energy company figure, Dmitry Klokov She told top aides Donald Trump should fire off two tweets a day about WikiLeaks Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks 'repeatedly' in the last month of the campaign, the report notes She told Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to 'be nice' when contacting Klokov Ivanka Trump picked out a famous archetect for the tower project in Moscow She wrote a note to her father about hiring Paul Manafort, who is now a convicted felon Klokov wrote Cohen in a November 2015 email about the potential Trump-Putin meeting: 'Now, your client is a candidate and hardly any other political move could be compared to a tete-a-tete meeting between them. If publicized correctly the impact of it could be phenomenal, of course not only in political but in a business dimension as well. I don't have to tell you that there is no bigger warranty in any project than consent of the person of interest.' Neither Trump nor Cohen ended up going to Russia, and the meeting didn't happen. She traveled to Russia in 2006 along with brother Donald Trump Jr., with Trump associate Felix Sater keeping 'looking after them' at their father's request. She got a special VIP Kremlin tour where Sater says he talked a security guard into letting her sit in Putin's office chair. 'She sat in the chair, spun around two or three times, said "Wow," walked out, and that was it. Then later we went to dinner,' he told the committee. Ivanka Trump also weighed in on the effort to bring Paul Manafort onto the Trump campaing. He would later be sentenced to 7 1/2 years in jail for fraud. The report explored his contacts with Konstantin Kilimnik, identified as a Russian intelligence agent. After hearing from Trump fundraiser Tom Barrack, who made a pitch for Manafort, she passed the message on to her father with a note. 'Daddy, Tom says we should get Paul,' she wrote. TikTok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration taken November 27, 2019. TikTok doubled down on its message that it's not a national security threat, reassuring users that it will be available for the foreseeable future. "We're not a national security threat and we've said that time and again," Vanessa Pappas, general manager of TikTok U.S., said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC's Today show. "We have very strict data controls in place, we have an amazing team that's building world class infrastructure." The Chinese-owned social media app is under pressure from the White House, which has vowed to ban the app if its parent company, ByteDance, does not sell or spin off its U.S. operations by November 12. "There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance ... might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," President Donald Trump said in an executive order last week. Pappas has repeatedly denied the Trump administration's claims that it transfers user data to China. The company said its U.S. user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore. It's also stressed that its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of their data is subject to Chinese law. When asked what the president meant by a credible threat, Pappas pointed toward increasing geopolitical tension between Washington and Beijing. "We're in the middle of that," she said. Microsoft and Oracle have been in talks to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations. Pappas declined to comment on a potential deal, but assured she was confident in the app's future. "TikTok is here for the long run," Pappas said. "We are more than confident in our future and to the millions of Americans out there who use the app on a daily basis, we're committed to providing them with the exact same experience today and in the future." Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. The past, lamentable though it may have been, belongs to the past, its usefulness lies only in the lessons it may have evolved for our guidance, she wrote. The present, born of that past, is ours, and the future even more truly so, for ours is the awesome privilege of molding it as a memorial to those who gave their lives that their brave, new world might one day come into being. Search continues for missing pastors wife Marilane Carter; police call it 'strange' case Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Police in Overland Park, Kansas, released details in the case of missing 36-year-old Marilane Carter, the wife of Pastor Adam Carter of Leawood Baptist Church. She was last seen on Aug. 3 while en route to Alabama in her car to visit her sister and seek treatment for mental health issues. At a press conference, lead detective Blake Larsen called it a unique and strange case. He ruled out any criminal activity, especially in the Overland Park area or the Kansas City metro, according to KSHB. The police have been doing "everything possible" to find Carter. Along with other law enforcement agencies, many "good Samaritans" have stepped in to help with the search, Larsen noted. Carter left her home in Overland Park on Aug. 1, to drive to Birmingham, Alabama, to visit her sister, who is soon due to have a baby, and seek mental health treatment. Carter bought a Southwest Airlines ticket to Birmingham, but after a nap, she decided to drive all the way, Larsen said, according to AL.com. That helps give a view into her mindset, the detective said. According to her credit card and phone data, Carter traveled through Missouri and stopped at a McDonald's outlet. On Aug. 3, she checked in alone to the Quality Inn in West Plains, Missouri, early in the morning. She checked out of the hotel about three hours later, driving off alone. The mother of three was last seen in Memphis. A woman said she helped Carter get gas. Afterwards, she was seen going into the bathroom, wearing a white shirt, black yoga pants and a backpack. Her phone went dead somewhere in the area of the I-55 bridge coming into Memphis. The search operations have focused on the Mississippi River because its close to where her phone was last used. However, theres no evidence to suggest she went into the water, Larsen said. What makes this one really strange is how everything just stopped at a certain time, and we havent had any sightings or heard from her since. A lot of people who go missing, we can continue to track ... This one is just strange how it just stopped. He added, We are keeping our fingers crossed, and whatever God you pray to, Im praying to God that we can find her alive and well. Last weekend, Pastor Carter pleaded social media users to help us find my sweet wife. Please help us find my sweet wife. If you see anything please contact law enforcement. #findmarilane, Carter wrote on Twitter. The pastor said he had offered to take her to a hospital there in the Kansas City area, but she wanted to go somewhere to just get some help at a place that she felt that she could trust and was familiar with. A Facebook page has been created to help find Marilane Carter. Speaking to KWCH earlier, her brother-in-law said she is a gracious person. She loves people. She loves her family. She loves God, Brady McLaughlin said. Pastor Carter called her a "loving mother, loving wife" and said they had a "great relationship." "I miss her terribly. I want her home. I want her home with our kids, he said earlier. Associate Pastor Jason Franklin told Baptist Press last week that only a few in the church knew about her mental health struggles. Whenever things like this happen, theres always this, Could I have done something, did I miss some sign? Franklin said. And obviously her mental struggles were not something that was widely known among the entire congregation. It was kept very close to the chest." Security forces arrested four persons in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday (August 19) and have recovered four grenades and 100 rounds of AK-47 from their possession. Security forces arrested four persons identified as Imitiyaz Ahmad Dar, Parvaiz Ahmad Kumar, Sajad Ahmad Dhobi and Shahid Manzoor, all residents of district Shopian and recovered four grenades and 100 rounds of AK-47 from them. Case has been registered for further investigation," said a police officer. Arms and ammunitions were also recovered from Srinagar Padshabagh area where a cordon and search was launched after a tip-off of presence of terrorists. A police officer said, Hand grenade and pistol recovered during CASO in Budshah Nagar, Azad Basti Natipora in Srinagar. The operation was called off after the recovery of arms and ammunitions. On August 13, security forces busted a terrorist hideout during search operation at Awantipora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday (August 13). The terrorist hideout was busted by security forces during cordon and search operation in Barsoo village of Awantipora. Several incriminating materials, including 1918 AK 47 rounds, two hand grenades, one Ubgl thrower, four Ubgl grenades, half a bag of ammonium nitrate like substance, five gelatin sticks and crude pipe bomb were recovered from the hideout. Security forces had also recovered Rs 5400, food items, utensils, gas stoves, gas cylinder and other materials from the hideout. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 570 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, raising the statewide total to 126,149. Across Pennsylvania, 7,523 deaths have been tied to COVID-19, including 24 newly reported fatalities Wednesday, according to the health department. More than 5,000 of those deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes. Coronavirus cases have dipped in August after climbing steadily in late June and throughout July. The state hasnt reported 1,000 new cases in a single day since July 28. The state hit that mark several times in July and regularly topped 1,000 cases in the peak weeks in April. Over the last seven days, the state has reported, on average, 717 new cases per day. Thats comparable to the seven-day average seen in early July. About 79 percent of those who have contracted COVID-19 in Pennsylvania have recovered, the health department estimates. The department considers patients to have recovered when they are 30 days past the point of infection or the onset of symptoms. The health departments online dashboard reported 548 coronavirus patients are being treated in hospitals, well below the peak of about 2,800 during the spring. There were 21,835 COVID-19 test results reported to the department through 10 p.m. Tuesday. Between Aug. 12-18, the state administered 159,689 tests, the health department said. About 4 percent of those being tested in recent weeks in Pennsylvania have been positive, according to the Wolf administration. More than 1.3 million Pennsylvanians have tested negative for the virus. Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine have continued to stress the importance of social distancing and wearing masks to prevent spikes of COVID-19. They have said such steps are particularly important to ensure more schools can have the opportunity to offer in-person classes. This week, the health department has said students will need to wear masks throughout the school day, although students will be permitted short breaks. Schools are taking varied approaches to start the new year. Some city school systems, including Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will begin the year remotely. Other schools are trying to begin with face-to-face instruction or a hybrid approach with in-person classes on some days and remote learning on others. On Wednesday, the health department said it is involved in a pilot program for a mobile app that will notify users if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. The department said the app should be available for smartphone users by early September. Statewide, 5,104 coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes. There are 20,458 residents of long-term care facilities who have been infected, along with 4,298 employees. A total of 24,756 people have contracted the coronavirus in those facilities. Cases have been found in 901 long-term care facilities in 61 counties. Heres a look at the trend of new COVID-19 cases since early July. July 2-8: 4,906 new cases, an average of 700 per day July 9-15: 5,517 new cases, an average of 788 per day July 16-22: 5,731 new cases, an average of 818 per day July 23-29: 6,822 new cases, an average of 974 per day July 30-Aug. 5: 5,496 new cases, an average of 785 per day Aug. 6-12: 5,216 new cases, an average of 773 per day Aug. 13-19: 5,019 new cases, an average of 717 per day 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. More from PennLive Students will have to wear masks all day in school, with few exceptions: Pa. health department Social distancing no substitute for mask-wearing in schools, Pa. health secretary says; schools must adjust, again Shopping for back to school? Its all about masks, computers and hand sanitizer Pennsylvania opting in to Trumps $300-a-week jobless pay Women of color connect with Kamala Harris, see her VP nomination as turning point Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Amazon has cleared a major regulatory hurdle in its quest to deliver Internet service to unserved and underserved areas of the earth. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved, with some conditions, Amazons Kuiper Project, a US$10 billion low-orbit constellation made up of more than 3,000 satellites. We conclude that grant of Kuipers application would advance the public interest by authorizing a system designed to increase the availability of high-speed broadband service to consumers, government, and businesses, the FCC stated in an authorization order issued July 30. That approval came on the condition that Kuiper submit a final orbital debris mitigation plan with the commission. The FCC requires applicants for a space station authorization to submit a description of the design and operational strategies that they will use to mitigate orbital debris, including a statement detailing post-mission disposal plans for space stations at the end of their operating life. Kuiper has submitted a preliminary plan to the regulators that calls for deorbiting satellites in no more than 355 days following completion of their mission, a shorter time frame than the 25-year standard established by NASA. A final plan, however, wont be available until the final constellation design is completed. Because the design of Kuipers satellites is not completed, and because Kuiperconsequently did not present specific information concerning some required elements of a debris mitigation plan, we condition our grant of the Kuiper application on Kuiper presenting, and the Commission granting, a modification of this authorization to provide for review of the final orbital debris mitigation plan, the FCC wrote in its order. Uncertain Payoff In addition serving individual households, schools, hospitals, businesses and other organizations operating in places without reliable broadband, Amazon stated Kuiper will also provide backhaul solutions for wireless carriers extending LTE and 5G service to new regions. We have heard so many stories lately about people who are unable to do their job or complete schoolwork because they dont have reliable Internet at home, Amazon Senior Vice President Dave Limp said in a statement. There are still too many places where broadband access is unreliable or where it doesnt exist at all, he added. Kuiper will change that. Our $10 billion investment will create jobs and infrastructure around the United States that will help us close this gap. A D V E R T I S E M E N T That $10 billion was questioned by one retail industry expert. It seems like a lot of money to be investing in this, observed Mark William Lewis, CEO of Netalico Commerce, an e-commerce development agency based in Raleigh, N.C. Investing $10 billion in space is pretty significant and the payoff really isnt certain, he told TechNewsWorld. It could be that Jeff Bezos wants to build a space company like Elon Musk, he added. Maybe Bezos plans to launch the satellites himself with his company. Speculative Venture Amazon isnt alone in the low-orbit satellite Internet delivery business. Elon Musk, of Tesla fame, won approval for a SpaceX venture called Skylink, which already has more than 300 birds circling the earth and is nearing a critical mass to switch on the system and provide some minimal service to the United States. Space Xs plans call for offering North America broadband coverage in 2020 and worldwide coverage in 2021. Initially, Starlink received approval from the FCC for one million fixed-earth stations the hardware consumers and businesses will use to connect to the network but it has since asked for an increase to five million based on initial interest from consumers to the project. The earth stations called UFOs On A Stick by Musk are less than half a meter in diameter and contain motors that allow the units to track Skylinks satellites. According to Musk, instructions for setting up the hardware are simple: plug in socket, point to sky. Meanwhile, a third player, OneWeb, is set to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being bought by the government of the UK and Bharti Enterprises, who each have pledged to invest $500 million into the venture. Additional players in the mix adds risk to Amazons network. Its risky because no one knows how well this will work, or if there is a sufficient market to support one of these networks, let alone more than one, said Michael Calabrese, director of the wireless future program at the New Americas Technology Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Thats especially true of SpaceX because Amazon could offset the cost of its network by being an anchor tenant of its own network, he told TechNewsWorld. Business Benefits While shining the light of the Internet on dark areas of the world with little or no online service may be one factor behind Kuiper, there are some business benefits to Amazon, too. Amazon is an e-tailer. If you cant connect to the network, you cant buy anything from them, said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst with the Enderle Group. Think of it as a retailer opening up branch offices, he told TechNewsWorld. In this case, though, theyre creating connectivity so people can buy their products. Its a case of opening up new markets and allowing for expansion. Netalicos Lewis added that satellite networks can be an easy way for Amazon to spread the Internet. You dont have to work with the local governments to expand the Internet, he said. You just fly your satellites into space, and everyone has the Internet, and they can order from Amazon. Amazon could also benefit from providing business services through Kuiper. That could mean tracking the assets of both Amazons and others. It could also mean fleet management and providing connectivity to remote locations like mines, farms, campgrounds, pipelines and offshore wind facilities. Additionally, it could mean better Internet service for moving platforms, like planes, trains, automobiles and cruise ships. Amazon is increasingly starting to do its own delivery and moving away from UPS and the postal service, observed New Americas Calabrese. Itll want to manage its fleets, including fleets of drones, he continued. It makes sense to use a satellite network to control drones because they depend on line-of-sight. Amazon, like Google and Microsoft, benefits from having everybody connected because theyre selling cloud services, through AWS, and video, through Prime, he said. Companies that use Amazon Web Services will be happy with more people having access to the Internet, added Lewis, because it means more people will have access to those companies services, too. Universities are demanding more money in order to cope with taking in extra students following a Government U-turn - as thousands of A-level students face waiting until 2021 to go to university. The sudden change in policy over exam grades left 55,000 pupils scrambling for places, leaving elite universities facing the prospect of being overwhelmed. Amid the chaos of the scrapping of the controversial algorithm system used to award grades, students who initially did not meet their offer requirements now have the required marks - and a previous cap on student admissions was also lifted. Last night vice-chancellors met universities minister Michelle Donelan in order to reach an agreement to enable school leavers to go to their first choice institution. Universities have asked for extra financial help so they can 'scale up' places for the 2020 and 2021 intake, a source told The Telegraph. The source said: 'The elephant in the room is Covid. Universities can try to expand their places but they are limited by things like desk space and lab space.' Gavin Williamson said the Government would expect universities to try to 'build as much capacity' as possible so students could make their first-choice offers although detailed plans do not yet exist Gavin Williamson has urged universities to 'go above and beyond' to honour the commitments they have made to students who have been promised places. There are concerns that this year's exam chaos could have longer term consequences and spill over into next year, with some high performing students thought to be prepared to defer to get into their university of choice in 2021. Some 55,000 pupils who were rejected by their first choices had signed up for other institutions - and could now want to return to their desired university if their grades are bumped up by the U-turn. Last night vice-chancellors met universities minister Michelle Donelan in order to reach an agreement to enable school leavers to go to their first choice of university Roughly 30,000 students accepted a place at their second choice university, while an additional 80,000 are holding out for appeals. Russell Group universities have asked for more money to take in more students for high-cost subjects like engineering and chemistry. Universities UK, a body that represents vice-chancellors, warned the Education Secretary that some universities need 'significant' support. 'We want to work with you to urgently put in place alternative forms of support to mitigate against the damage to otherwise financially stable universities, which are going to take a severe financial hit over the next three years due to this sudden change in government policy,' it said in a letter. As of Tuesday morning, more than 11,000 students have had no decision made on their application and have an undefined status within the Clearing system by UCAS, while 20,000 students have already deferred, the highest number since 2011, reports The Telegraph. Now a number of top universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, and Liverpool, have already indicated some students, mostly on practical courses such as medicine, may have to defer, causing possible long term consequences for next year's cohort. Some top institutions have promised to honour their offers, with the head of admissions at one university saying that withdrawing successful applicants was 'unthinkable'. But he also admitted he had 'no idea' how to handle the thousands of applicants who would be able to claim a position. Meanwhile lower-tier institutions already reeling from financial pressures caused by the impact of Covid-19 face further problems due to pupils potentially ditching a course they obtained through clearing last week in favour of going with their first choice. Yesterday the head of universities admission body, UCAS, has warned students not to make a 'knee-jerk reaction' when deciding their future. Labour's shadow universities minister Emma Hardy told Radio 4's Today programme the government needs to offer support to the under-siege sector. Bristol universities to honour places despite U-turn 'chaos' Two universities based in Bristol say they will honour their offers if students now have the required grades following the government's U-turn. The University of Bristol, which ranked ninth in England in the QS World University Rankings, confirmed it will honour its offers - but it may asks students courses with a practical element - like dentistry or medicine - to defer if necessary. A spokesperson for the university told the Bristol Post: 'We will do everything we can to support applicants in these unprecedented circumstances. We are delighted to confirm that we will accept applicants who have met the terms of their offer.' The University of the West of England (UWE), based in Bristol, also said it will honour the offers of places made. However, it said students must have either selected UWE as their firm choice or insurance choice. UWE has given students until September 7 to confirm their grades. Advertisement She said: 'This is what I'm hearing from the sector at the moment that they are feeling very vulnerable in this situation. 'You have to remember this is not happening in isolation, the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) only recently said that there were thirteen institutions at risk of going bankrupt and we were calling on the government to say we need to stop any institution from going under. We need to offer them protection.' The IFS report released last month said that 13 universities were in dire financial straights and may require a bailout from the government. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: 'The university system is hierarchical and for the top institutions it will be a year of plenty, but for the institutions towards the bottom of the rankings it will be a famine. 'However the good news for universities is that applications from students here and overseas is higher than expected.' Meanwhile, Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council told the Financial Times that if thousands of students do defer, it could have a major impact upon pupils due to sit exams in 2021. He said: 'There could be a stack of students who have deferred, who have these gloriously high A-level grades and the poor 2021 (A-Level) students who've missed a significant amount of their course are going to have to compete.' It is thought that up to 1,500 potential Oxbridge students could miss out on going to one of the ancient universities. The Russell Group, who represent the top institutions in the UK, has warned that any increase in admissions risked 'stretching resources'. And that some universities would not be able to take on more students due to safety restrictions put in place to stem the Covid-19 pandemic. Oxford made around 3,900 offers for an expected 3,287 places. Not everyone is expected to be able to take up their place at first choices this year Despite the u-turn many students could still be disappointed and not able to get into their preferred university. Actor Phil Davis has hit out at the government on social media after his daughter's place at Durham has already been given away to another student. The Sherlock star said: 'A level sense at last but too late for my daughter. Durham uni have given her place to someone else. She was one A star away from required grades. Disgraceful.' Lucy is off to Cambridge after government's grades U-turn Lucy Lipfriend now has the grades for a place at Cambridge University. The 19-year-old had been given teacher-assessed grades of A*AA, before the Government's computer algorithm downgraded her to three Bs. But after yesterday's U-turn, the teenager has achieved the grades she needed to study theology, religion and philosophy at Clare College. The past few days have been a 'whirlwind' but Lucy now has a place at her 'dream' university. She said: 'I haven't heard anything yet from Ucas or Cambridge yet so it's not fully sunk in yet.' Lucy Lipfriend now has the grades for a place at Cambridge University Lucy had originally planned to appeal her grades, as she believes the algorithm downgraded her after a poor performance in last year's A-level exams when her mother was ill. Lucy planned to take them again this year. After exams were cancelled, her former teachers submitted centre assessed grades of A*AA. Three private tutors predicted three A*s. And Lexie Bell said she is 'relieved' the Government has 'finally seen sense'. The 18-year-old's centre-assessed grades of A*s in English and religious education and an A in psychology had been 'unfairly' downgraded to ABB. The pupil, from Shoeburyness High School in Southend-on-Sea, said she felt 'survivor's guilt' after Sussex University held its offer despite her dip in grades Advertisement Cambridge University extended offers to around 4,500 pupils but only has 3,450 places and Oxford made around 3,900 offers for an expected 3,287 places, reported the Daily Telegraph. Both elite institutions have already said some applicants will have to take deferred places as they do not have spaces for everyone to start in the autumn. Ministers last night lifted a temporary recruitment cap designed to prevent the most popular universities from hoovering up students at the expense of less popular institutions. Universities are now seeking legal advice to find out what obligations they have to the 55,000 pupils who did not get good enough grades under the algorithm, but after the u-turn now have the sufficient marks, as reported by The Times. There are also concerns that lower ranked institutions could face financial problems if higher ranked universities take on significantly larger number of pupils. Gavin Williamson said the Government would expect universities to try to 'build as much capacity' as possible so students could make their first-choice offers although detailed plans do not yet exist. The Education Secretary said: 'We expect universities to be flexible and to go above and beyond to be able to honour those commitments that's why today we've lifted student numbers caps in order for universities to be able to expand put extra capacity into the system.' This came as students in next year's cohort have already expressed concerns about the knock on effect of deferred places on their chances of getting into top institutions. A large number of this year's students deferring will limit the number of places available for the 2021 intake. Popular courses, including law, are already full, despite there being 135,000 potential students, with many qualified for their first choice institutions. Universities say that they were not consulted about the Government's decision to use teachers' predicted grades instead of the controversial algorithm to determine A-levels. Now, amid the U-turn, the number of pupils who meet the requirements for their first choices has risen by a considerable amount. One university, The University of Central Lancashire is re-starting its admission procedure again to try to accommodate those didn't make the original offer grade but now will. A head of admissions at one university told The Times withdrawing offers for successful applicants was 'unthinkable' - but he admitted he had 'no idea' how to handle the thousands of applicants who would be able to claim a position. One parent of a daughter who plans to apply to Cambridge told the Times: 'I'm pleased for the kids who have been through this but what happens now? 'I cannot see how she doesn't face an even bigger uphill battle to get a place if some of them have already been earmarked for this year's students.' In a statement, Ucas the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service did not offer a guarantee for youngsters to get a place at their first choice destination. It means the U-turn threatens to throw struggling admissions departments into disarray over the coming days as they try to resolve the crisis. Mary Curnock Cook, former head of Ucas, last night predicted 'chaos' due to the 'extra volume' of students, which she estimated at 55,000, now trying to switch to their first-choice destinations. Appearing on Good Morning Britain, chief executive of UCAS Clare Marchant said: 'My first bit of advice to students as of last night when we had this change is don't knee jerk into anything, talk to your parents or guardian and then look at your centre assessed grade and then say do I need to contact my first choice university and have a conversation with them, and that would be my immediate advice.' The key questions and answers in the government's exam grade saga What was the original plan? After exams were cancelled, Ofqual, the exam regulator, asked teachers to submit grades for students and list them in order of ability. However, it was apparent that many had been overly optimistic. It was decided that more reliance would need to be placed on statistical modelling or 'standardisation'. This led to the algorithm which was used to calculate grades. Why was this controversial? A huge proportion of teachers' predictions were deemed useless. A school's performance in previous years played a greater role reducing 40 per cent of A-levels, and an even higher proportion of GCSEs. The system penalised students at low-performing schools in poor areas. Its aim was only to preserve existing trends including educational inequality. What has now changed? Before yesterday's U-turn, Ofqual loosened its strict criteria on appeals, saying schools could challenge results. But the onus on schools to submit evidence that their grades were wrong meant the row deepened. The Scottish government was first to U-turn, promising to restore the original teacher predictions. Westminster came up with a 'triple lock' guarantee, meaning pupils could fall back on mock exam grades or take fresh papers in October. But after a weekend of confusion, it announced England would also allow teachers' grades. How will they get new grades? Guidance is yet to be issued by the Department for Education, but it is assumed that boards will send out new exam certificates in the coming days for A-level students. The Government has said GCSE results will not be delayed, so they should also reflect teachers' grades. Can students still appeal? The Government hopes the vast majority of appeals will now be dropped. Gavin Williamson indicated appeals would need to be based on 'bias and discrimination'. But full guidance is yet to be released. What about universities? Universities demanded 'urgent clarification' on how they could be expected to accommodate a wave of extra students with upgraded marks. Although the Education Secretary is lifting the student numbers cap, universities may find they are fully subscribed and the only option is to defer places. Mr Williamson said he expected universities to be 'flexible' and 'honour the commitments' to students who now have better grades. There is no detail yet on how the system will work, having already been under massive strain. Advertisement Those with offers for some of the most competitive universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, are expected to be the most likely to be told to defer for a year if they want to go to their original first choice. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said universities will 'only be able to fit a certain number of people before social distancing becomes impossible'. He also flagged concerns around 'physical capacity' and the number of teaching staff universities would need to accommodate all students. Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, warned that the sector needed 'urgent clarification' on a 'number of crucial issues' immediately. He said: 'The events and confusion of recent days have added further uncertainty and distress to students who have already faced many difficulties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Universities will do everything they can to work through these issues in the days ahead. The Government will need to step up and support universities through the challenges created by this late policy change.' The prestigious Russell Group of universities also demanded answers on how they should deal with the surfeit of new students. Dr Tim Bradshaw, the group's chief executive said: 'We know the changing situation is creating uncertainty for students and universities. 'However there are limits to what can be done by the university sector alone... We now need urgent clarification from Government on the additional support it will provide to help universities with the expected increases in student numbers, particularly for high cost subjects such as chemistry, medicine and engineering.' Ucas pointed out that at present, 69 per cent of 18-year-old applicants had been placed with their first-choice university a higher percentage than last year. It advised students who had been rejected from their first choice university because of the A-level downgrades not to rush into a decision about what to do next, and said it would issue further advice to students and schools. The Government introduced a one-year student numbers cap to limit the number of domestic undergraduates each university could take, preventing less popular universities from losing out in a smaller student market during the pandemic. This cap has since been ditched. Some universities, including Buckingham, had already pledged to take applicants who missed their grades before yesterday's U-turn, with a few Oxford colleges taking the same decision. Professor Alan Smithers of Buckingham University agreed the decision will 'create major difficulties'. He said: 'Many will have already filled their places, as they make more offers than they expect to admit.' And the University and College Union said admissions staff were already facing 'unbearable workloads', with general secretary Jo Grady saying the 'political incompetence is unforgivable'. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'The big question remains as to why this decision has taken so long to come, as it may already be too late for some... who have already missed out on their first choice of university and course.' Dr Simon Hyde, the incoming general secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistress' Conference said the U-turn is 'not perfect, but it will do', but called for 'urgent clarity' on university admissions. 'I'm relieved the government and Ofqual have finally seen sense,' says 18-year-old set for three A*s Lexie Bell said she is 'relieved' that the government and Ofqual have 'finally seen sense'. The 18-year-old's centre assessed grades of A*s in English and Religious Education and an A in psychology had been 'unfairly' downgraded. Lexie Bell said she is 'relieved' that the government and Ofqual have 'finally seen sense' Ofqual's standardisation process meant that her grades in English and RE were both reduced to B's. The pupil from Shoeburyness High School in Southend-on-Sea received an A for psychology. But she felt 'survivor's guilt' after Sussex University held its offer despite her unexpected dip in grades. Her father Michael Bell, 53, CEO of a charity, said: 'Lexie was lucky, she still got her offer given to her even though she didn't meet the offer grades. 'But there was an element of survivor's guilt there because she realised she was going to be okay but clearly lots of people weren't going to be. 'She is relived that the government and Ofqual have finally seen sense. 'There is definitely a sense of relief on behalf of the students who have been affected by this in a far more difficult way because they have lost their places at university.' Mr Bell, who is attempting to launch a judicial review of the A-level system, added that the U-Turn is 'too little too late'. 'It's about time but it should never have got this far,' he said. 'If you want my honest opinion we should be seeing resignations from Ofqual and from the government - they should be ashamed of themselves.' Advertisement Student who stood to miss out on 16,000 scholarship is 'thankful' over Government's grades U-turn A student who stood to miss out on a 16,000 scholarship has said she is 'thankful' and 'excited' about the Government's U-turn. Jess Johnson, 18, needed an A in English to earn a place at St Andrews studying her chosen subject Jess Johnson, 18, needed an A in English to earn a place at St Andrews studying her chosen subject, along with a 4,000-a-year scholarship, but she was downgraded from her predicted A to a B and was initially told she had been rejected. Now, after the Government announced A-level results will be based on teachers' assessments, that decision is set to be reversed. Jess, who studied at Ashton Sixth Form College in Greater Manchester, said: 'I am very thankful for that. 'I'm very excited about that, I'm glad they made the change. 'I think it would have been unfair if (Northern) Ireland, Scotland and Wales made the change and we didn't, so I'm very glad.' She questioned why the change had taken so long, coming four days after results were released on Thursday. 'It should have been changed a few days ago to be honest,' she said. 'It's caused a lot of stress and anxiety that it didn't need to by making us wait..' Jess won the Orwell Youth Prize in 2019 for her short story A Band Apart. The dystopian fiction was about an algorithm that sorted students into bands based on class. Advertisement Student who was 'devastated' when she was marked down by three grades says the government's U-turn is too late Abbie Park, 18, from Newcastle, believes the U-turn is too late, though she is now happy with her grades. Abbie Park, 18, was left devastated by a three-grade drop in her Spanish A-level result, and missed out on her BBB offer to study law at Newcastle University, as well as her insurance offer She was left devastated by a three-grade drop in her Spanish A-level result, and missed out on her BBB offer to study law at Newcastle University, as well as her insurance offer. She had centre-assessed grades of an A in psychology, B in law, and a B in Spanish but she was downgraded to BBE. That has now been reversed. She said: 'I don't know what's going to happen now. I'm still waiting to see if I'm going to get into university.' She phoned Newcastle University straight away but her place has still not been confirmed. 'They have said they're going to do everything they can to honour all original offers that have now been met with the centre-assessed grades so I've got my fingers crossed,' she said. 'It's just a stressful waiting game now.' Abbie added that he had been 'absolutely gutted' by the E grade for Spanish and added: 'I was meant to be going out celebrating but I just couldn't because I was so devastated.' Advertisement STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Space weather experts are warning that a solar storm could strike Earth this week -- could mean the disruption of electrical generation systems, the electric grid, satellite communications and radio signals. According to space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov, the sun holds our attention this week with multiple bright regions flaring and launching solar storms. Predictions from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that the solar storm is expected to impact Earth by midday Thursday. The storm is caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME). A coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed on Aug 16th in NASA SOHO/LASCO coronagraph imagery. Analysis of the CME... Posted by NOAA NWS Space Weather Prediction Center on Monday, August 17, 2020 According to NASA, solar storms are a variety of eruptions of mass and energy from the surface of the sun. Flares, prominences, sun spots and coronal mass ejections are the common harbingers of solar activity. They all involve sudden releases of stored magnetic energy, which accelerate the hot gases near the surface or in the corona of the sun. Sometimes, these particles make it all the way to Earth and beyond. When the material collides with the Earths magnetic field and trapped radiation belts, it can dump particles into our upper atmosphere to cause the Aurora, according to NASA. The Aurora, sometimes referred to as polar lights, northern lights, or southern lights, is a natural light display in the Earths sky. Skov said that the upcoming solar storm could bring the Aurora down to places like Maine, Minnesota and Washington. The same charged particles, NASA explained, can produce their own magnetic fields, which can modify the Earths magnetic field and affect compass readings, induce electricity in long pipelines, or produce electrical surges in power grids leading to brownouts and blackouts. Skov added that radio propagation and GPS reception will be affected once the solar storm hits on Thursday. Space weather forecasters at NOAA and NASA analyze space weather using near-real-time ground- and space-based observations to assess the current state of the solar-geophysical environment, which is from the sun to the Earth and the points in between. Forecasters also analyze the 27-day recurrent pattern of solar activity. Based on a thorough analysis of current conditions, comparing these conditions to past situations, and using numerical models similar to weather models, forecasters are able to predict space weather on time scales of hours to weeks. NOAA explained that its important to forecast space weather because its effects on Earth systems include interference with short wave radio propagation, problems with electric power grid, the decay of satellite orbits, and radiation hazard for satellites and for astronauts during some phases of space missions. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. Worm farm juggernaut Kawerau Ecocast is already New Zealands biggest worm farm and is about to get even bigger. The worm farm on the outskirts of Kawerau already takes biosolids from most Bay of Plenty councils sewerage schemes and, with a new contract from Tauranga City Council and a commercial loan from the Provincial Growth Fund, it's expected to grow to cover around 10 hectares of Maori-owned land. Co-owner Tom McDowall says Ecocast began as a small business on his lifestyle block designed to fund his sons tertiary education, but it had grown into a large, environmentally friendly operation in which bio-solids were transformed into rich compost. The new contract and a Provincial Growth Fund loan would allow the business to purchase equipment such as a new tractor and compost turner and employ double its current staff. We didnt expect that it would expand to be this big but as soon as we started, we could see the potential, McDowall says. We just constantly worked away at it. Biosolids from district councils and septic tank cleaning services are transported to the farm and fed to the worms along with pulp waste from the nearby Norske Skog paper mill. Historically both the pulp waste and biosolids were sent to landfill but the worm farm provides a cheaper, and greener, alternative. The incoming biosolids are dumped in a concrete pit then combined with wood fibre before being laid in windrows. The Ecocast worm farm covers several hectares of land just outside of Kawerau. TROY BAKER / WHAKATANE BEACON. We did do a lot of experimentation with the biosolid and pulp mix to ensure we got the best ratio for the worms. We are using simple tools to enhance natures own ability to deal with waste. This is an economical, environmentally friendly operation that has good value for councils and customers. The site processes between 30 and 50 tonnes of waste each day, with each tiger worm consuming its own weight in food every day. The tiger worms naturally migrate between windrows to those with more food and are prolific breeders, however, McDowall says they also seeded the windrows with worms. It takes 12 to 18 months depending on the weather for the waste to be transformed. It is then mixed with green waste into a rich compost that is sold through Plateau Compost. Commercial properties like kiwifruit growers are the main compost purchasers. McDowall is not sure if the operation can be replicated elsewhere in New Zealand as the Bay of Plenty, and Kawerau, have unique natural features. He says worm farms had to be able to source waste from tertiary wastewater treatment plants or oxidation ponds, be on highly permeable soil and in a place with low rainfall. Rotorua Lakes Council was the first council to sign a contract with the business and delivers biosolids every day, around 10,000 tonnes each year. McDowall expects Tauranga City Council would deliver 15,000 tonnes each year. While he is proud the business offers a cost-effective alternative to landfill, McDowall says the environmental factor was also incredibly important to him. Rotorua Lakes three waters services manager Eric Cawte says the potential for positive environmental impact was the main factor in the councils decision to send its biowaste to Ecocast, as, at the time, it cost the same as sending it to landfill. However, after the Government increased waste levies, the council now saved around $390,000 a year on disposal. It also means that the nutrients and carbon in the biowaste are returned to the land and are beneficially reused rather than having a negative impact on the environment, says Cawte. When Whakatane District Council is undertaking sludge removal from its oxidation ponds, the sludge is transported by contractors to the worm farm. Council three waters manager Tomasz Krawczyk says this was a commercial choice rather than a council decision due to the proximity of the worm farm. Having Ecocast operating in Kawerau is a considerable help as it cuts down costs of transportation to remote facilities." How Covid-19 smell loss differs from the common cold New research from a European group of smell disorder experts, including Prof Philpott at the University of East Anglia, shows how smell loss associated with Covid-19 infection differs from what you typically might experience with a bad cold or flu. The new study published today is the first to compare how people with Covid-19 smell and taste disorders differ from those with other causes of upper respiratory tract infections. The main differences found are that, although Covid-19 patients also lose their sense of smell, they can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and they cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes. These findings lend weight to the theory that Covid-19 infects the brain and central nervous system. The research team hope that their work could help develop smell and taste tests for fast Covid-19 screening - in primary care and emergency departments. Lead researcher Prof Carl Philpott, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "The loss of smell and taste is a prominent symptom of Covid-19, however it is also a common symptom of having a bad cold. We wanted to find out exactly what differentiates Covid-19 smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and blocked-up nose." The research team carried out smell and taste tests on 10 Covid-19 patients, 10 people with bad colds and a control group of 10 healthy people - all matched for age and sex. Prof Philpott said: "We wanted to see if their smell and taste test scores could help discriminate between Covid-19 patients and those with a heavy cold. "We know that Covid-19 behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the body's immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting the nervous system. "So we suspected that patterns of smell loss would differ between the two groups. "We found that smell loss was much more profound in the Covid-19 patents. They were less able to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes. In fact it was this loss of true taste which seemed to be present in the Covid-19 patients compared to those with a cold. "This is very exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to discriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with a regular cold or flu. "Although such tests could not replace formal diagnostic tools such as throat swabs, they could provide an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid screening is needed - particularly at the level of primary care, in emergency departments or at airports. "This research also shows that there are altogether different things going on when it comes to smell and taste loss for Covid-10 patients, compared to those with a bad cold. "It has previously been suggested that the Covid-19 virus affects the central nervous system, based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also similarities with SARS, which has also been reported to enter the brain, possibly via smell receptors in the nose. "Our results reflect, at least to some extent, a specific involvement at the level of central nervous system in some COVID-19 patients. "It is particularly interesting that Covid-19 seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste receptors, because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity. "More research is needed to see whether genetic variation in people's bitter and sweet taste receptors might predispose them to Covid-19, or conversely, whether Covid-19 infection changes how these receptors function, either directly or through a cytokine storm - the over-reaction of the body's immune system." ### This research was led by the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (Belgium), Universite catholique de Louvain (Belgium) in collaboration with researchers at University of East Anglia/The Norfolk Smell and Taste Clinic at the James Paget University Hospital (UK), Aristotle University (Greece), Acibadem Taksim Hospital in Istanbul (Turkey), Biruni University (Turkey) and University Hospital of Foggia (Italy). 'Comparison of COVID-19 and Common Cold Chemosensory Dysfunction' is published in the journal Rhinology on August 19, 2020. This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 16:11:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities seized over 360 tons of illegal timbers across the country in one week, according to a release from the Forest Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation on Wednesday. According to the release, the authorities confiscated 128.2 tons of illegal teak, 84.7 tons of hardwood and 151.1 tons of other types of timbers across the country from Aug. 10 to 16. During the period, 38 offenders were charged in connection with the cases, along with the seizure of 27 vehicles and machinery. According to the department's latest figures, a total of over 12,370 tons of illegal timbers, including over 3,098.2 tons of teak, over 2,602.7 tons of hardwood and over 6,669 tons of other types of timbers, were seized across the country in the first four months of present FY 2019-2020 which started in October. During the period, 1,332 offenders were charged in connection with the cases, along with the seizure of 1,049 vehicles and machinery. Meanwhile, the forest department has been making efforts to crack down on illegal logging and trading of forest products as well as to implement tree plantation projects in substitution. Enditem CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African authorities are investigating government departments for graft over irregularities in coronavirus-related tenders worth 5 billion rand ($290 million), the head of its Special Investigating Unit (SIU) told lawmakers on Wednesday. The figure is likely to add to pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress, who have struggled to deflect criticism from alliance partners and opposition parties as allegations of corruption implicated senior ANC politicians. Ramaphosa, who replaced his scandal-prone predecessor Jacob Zuma in 2017 with promises to eradicate corruption, has battled to root out criminality linked to the fight against COVID-19 in South Africa, which has the world's fifth highest number of coronavirus infections at 592,144. In a presentation to a parliamentary committee, Andy Mothibi, head of the SIU, which investigates allegations against public sector figures or institutions, said it was working on 658 cases nationwide involving just over 5 billion rand - the first time a number has been put on the alleged graft. The provincial health department of the central Gauteng province, an economic hub and home to Johannesburg, alone accounted for just under half of the total, at 2.2 billion rand, Mothibi added. "The allegations reported to the SIU involved the procurement of PPEs (personal protective equipment), hospital and quarantine sites, catering services (food parcels), ventilators, disinfecting equipment and motorised wheelchairs," he said. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Barbara Lewis) Missy has a deep understanding of the challenges in education and a passion for early learning and technology. With her leadership, we are on a path to double our impact, working with partners and investors who share a vision of reading for all. Learning Ally, a leading nonprofit with a mission to transform the lives of the 30 million U.S. students who struggle to read, has appointed Missy Sherburne as its Chief of Growth and Strategic Partnerships. Ms. Sherburne will report to Andrew Friedman, CEO and work closely with the Leadership Team at Learning Ally to advance the organizations growth goals. With an expanded emphasis on early literacy and professional learning, Sherburnes work will focus on national initiatives, cultivating new partnerships and developing strategies with a goal to expand Learning Allys impact in new markets, build investment in neuroscience research and support the development of needed new platforms. In doing so, Learning Ally will ensure that more educators have the support they need to help students of all ages and more students have the ability to read, learn and succeed. Sherburne, a former teacher and leader within Teach For America, and mother of a child with dyslexia, has extensive experience working with public schools and corporate partnerships to enhance the use of education technology to impact positive student outcomes. She is a founding executive of DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding platform spotlighted by Fast Company as one of the Worlds 50 Most Innovative Companies. Her efforts helped to raise more than fifty million dollars with investors to purchase much-needed resources for public school classrooms. Sherburne also held a pivotal leadership role at Tinkergarten, an early childhood outdoor nature play and social impact startup to spearhead growth and expansion of revenue and B2B licensing models across the country. We are fortunate to have Missy on board, said Andrew Friedman. She has a deep understanding of the challenges in education and a passion for early learning and technology. With her leadership, we are on a path to double our impact, working with partners and investors who share a vision of reading for all. Learning Allys flagship product is the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution which serves struggling readers through schools and directly to households. It partners with renowned researchers at institutions like the University of California at San Francisco and MIT who develop groundbreaking solutions that allow for early identification of literacy challenges, as well as cognitive strengths and weaknesses of students. The organization also works with neuroscientists and educators to map student profiles to teaching best practices, and is recognized for its Spotlight on Dyslexia virtual conference which brings together educators, parents and dyslexia experts who advocate on behalf of students with learning disabilities. In 2018, the organization was honored with a Library of Congress Literacy Award for its outstanding achievements and innovative, research-based best practices to improve literacy worldwide. Interested foundations, innovators and investors can contact Missy Sherburne at msherburne@learningally.org. About Learning Ally Learning Ally is a leading nonprofit education solutions organization dedicated to equipping educators with proven solutions that help new and struggling learners reach their potential. Our range of literacy-focused offerings for students in Pre-K to 12th grade and catalog of professional learning allows us to support more than 700,000 students and 135,000 educators across the US. The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is our cornerstone award-winning reading accommodation used in approximately 19,000 schools to help students with reading deficits succeed. Composed of high quality, human-read audiobooks, and a suite of teacher resources to monitor and support student progress, it is designed to turn struggling readers into engaged learners. For more information on Learning Ally, and the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution, visit http://www.learningally.org/educators or call 800-221-1098. Homicide squad detectives have charged five men over the death of an inmate in Port Phillip Prison which police allege was part of a jailhouse robbery. Prisoner Abdulkadir Ali, 34, has been charged with murder over the death of fellow inmate Mark Gregory Pollard, 48, who died in February this year. Port Phillip Prison, in Truganina. Credit:Craig Abraham Mr Ali did not appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday but his lawyer told the court he was aware proceedings were taking place. Police have also charged a 26-year-old Hoppers Crossing man, a 26-year-old Footscray man, a 26-year-old Braybrook man, and a 32-year-old Collingwood man who will appear in court on Friday. In her nominating speech for Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lauded the progressive movement, which she said strives "to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia." The big picture: AOC ticked through several of the crises facing the country right now and really laid bare what progressives are fighting for. "The mass people's movement," she said, will "propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past." Why it matters: Though she only had 60 seconds to address the convention, she packed a lot in her remarks that other speakers didn't say as explicitly. What they're doing: "A movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many," she said. As a punishing wildfire season has exploded this week across California, it has also tested plans devised months ago by state emergency authorities, who were predicting as far back as May that the coronavirus, climate change and the need to turn off the power in dangerous fire conditions would turn their job into MacGyver on steroids this year. In an interview earlier this spring, Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the states office of emergency services, said the pandemic was already bringing an almost oppressive level of complexity to fire planning, from evacuation plans to reductions in manpower as members of inmate fire crews have been released from prisons to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Things already are hotter and drier earlier in the season, Mr. Ghilarducci said. Looming in the background are the public safety power shutoffs that were infamous last year. And if thats not bad enough, now we have to deal with a worldwide pandemic. In a fire season. With the power off. What else do you want from us? Mr. Ghilarduccis remarks came as he was helping plan fire precautions that would be announced in July by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Among them: Protocols to beef up fire crews and to prevent the virus from spreading in evacuation centers. The new evacuation rules include health screenings upon entry to a shelter, extra cleaning, prepackaged meals, separating evacuees with Covid-19 symptoms, and the repurposing of college dorms, Airbnb houses, campgrounds and hotels into evacuation shelters. We have to think differently, he said. We know sticking everybody into a big room at a fairground isnt going to work this year. But, he added, theres no silver bullet. Were going to do our damnedest to keep people safe, Mr. Ghilarducci said in May. But this is like MacGyver on steroids. And failure is not an option. We have to find a pathway. Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs , Kellen Browning , Thomas Fuller , Shawn Hubler , Christina Morales , Azi Paybarah , Ivan Penn , Derrick Bryson Taylor , Lucy Tompkins , Will Wright and Alan Yuhas . Supermassive black holes, which likely reside at the centers of virtually all galaxies, are unimaginably dense, compact regions of space from which nothing -- not even light -- can escape. As such a black hole, weighing in at millions or billions of times the mass of the Sun, devours material, it is surrounded by a swirling disk of gas. When gas from this disk falls towards the black hole, it releases a tremendous amount of energy. This energy creates a brilliant and powerful galactic core called a quasar, whose light can greatly outshine its host galaxy. Astronomers widely believe that the energy from quasars is responsible for limiting the growth of massive galaxies. Shortly after the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scientists plan to study the effect of three carefully selected quasars on their host galaxies in a program called Q3D. A supermassive black hole is very small compared to its host galaxy -- it's the equivalent of a penny in relation to the size of the entire Moon. Still, supermassive black holes have an immense influence on the galaxies they inhabit. "Physically very small objects, supermassive black holes seem to have an enormous impact on the evolution of galaxies and eventually on the way our universe looks today," said Q3D principal investigator Dominika Wylezalek, a Research Group Leader at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Two decades ago, scientists hypothesized the critical role of quasars in limiting galaxy growth, but specific observational evidence has been surprisingly hard to come by. Scientists think a quasar's torrential winds push out the equivalent of hundreds of solar masses of material each year. As the quasar winds sweep across the galaxy's disk, material that otherwise would have formed new stars is violently carried away from the galaxy, causing star birth to cease. But observing the power and reach of quasars on their host galaxies remains a major unresolved issue in modern astrophysics. The Webb telescope could change that. Analyzing Data in 3D In addition to its exquisite sensitivity, resolution and infrared vision, Webb's capabilities include unique three-dimensional imaging spectroscopy. This special observing technique allows the team to get detailed measurements of light for every single pixel across the field of view. It stitches together many images at slightly different wavelengths. This allows scientists to spatially map gas motions inside the galaxy. The technique will revolutionize the understanding of the relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies by allowing scientists to probe the stars, gas and dust in nearby and distant galaxies. "Imaging spectroscopy is important for us because the winds in these distant quasars are not necessarily symmetric," explained co-principal investigator Sylvain Veilleux, a professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park. "So, one needs a spectrum at every position to determine what is their geometry and be able to draw the important information from these winds and the impact they have on their host galaxies." Studying Three Quasars and Their Hosts The Q3D team will study three bright quasars to measure the activity that comes from accreting material onto supermassive black holes, and how the host galaxies are affected by that activity. The team chose the three quasars for scientific reasons, but also to test and assess the capabilities of Webb. The objects intentionally span a very broad range of distance from Earth, from relatively nearby to very far away. They are also among the most luminous quasars at their respective distances and are known to have outflows of material. Powerful quasar outflows appear to prevent a galaxy's gas from forming new stars and growing the galaxy. Scientists think this quasar-galaxy connection is crucial in determining how galaxies evolve from the early universe to today. It's especially important for galaxies a few times larger than the Milky Way, because quasar hosts are generally more massive galaxies. Seeing Beyond the Bright Light Quasars are very bright compared with the material around them, so the team is developing special software tools that allow them to study the phenomena. When quasars were discovered in the 1950s, they were brilliant radio sources that looked like stars on photographic plates, so they were called "quasi-stellar radio sources." Eventually, astronomers learned that quasars were actually inside of galaxies, but they were so bright that they outshone their host galaxies. "We're interested in the quasar itself -- the bright, star-like thing in the middle -- but we're also interested in the fainter host galaxy. And not just the host galaxy, but the even fainter outflow from the host. This is the gas that's not circling around the quasar, or the center of the galaxy, but is instead flowing out. To see this really faint stuff behind the quasar, we have to remove the quasar's light. That's one unique thing the software will do." said co-investigator David Rupke, associate professor of physics at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Rupke is leading the effort to write the software to analyze the Q3D data. Paving the Way for Future Webb Studies The Q3D study is part of the Director's Discretionary-Early Release Science program, which provides public data to the entire scientific community early in the telescope's mission. This program allows the astronomical community to quickly learn how best to use Webb's capabilities, while also yielding robust science. "From a technical standpoint, with our observations, we are testing different modes, filters and combinations," explained Wylezalek. "It will be very useful for the scientific community to see the performance in these different modes. Scientifically, we are probing quasars at different luminosities and cosmic times to inform the community about Webb's performance when assessing different scientific questions." The Q3D software will not only be useful for users observing quasars but for anyone observing bright, point-like, central sources on top of fainter sources. Such observations could include super star clusters, supernovas, tidal disruption events, or gamma-ray bursts. The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information about Webb, visit http://www.nasa.gov/webb. ### Ton-mile demand, a proxy for demand for oil tankers, has slumped in the summer as OPECs oil production dropped to a three-decade low and exports were drastically cut as part of the OPEC+ deal, according to a Lloyds List Intelligence analysis. Ton-mile demand measuring the crude oil volumes carried by distance traveled dropped by 18.6 percent year over year in July. The plunge in crude tanker demand in July was the steepest fall since the coronavirus started to impact global oil markets, Michelle Wiese Bockmann writes in the analysis. The drop was mostly due to the plunge in demand for tankers in the Middle East, whose key producers and members of OPEC are cutting production and exports in response to the crash in global oil demand. Early data from Lloyds List Intelligence suggests that demand for tankers will be equally depressed in August. The ton-mile demand data also suggests that in June and July, non-OPEC exporters gained market share in terms of tanker demand at the expense of OPEC, according to Lloyds List. For August, demand for tankers in Saudi Arabia at least is not expected to jump, although OPEC+ began easing the record collective cut by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) on August 1. Saudi Arabia has said it would not be rushing into ramping up crude oil exports this month, as the increased production will go to domestic power generation, for which Saudi Arabia burns more oil during the summer months. In the brief Saudi-Russian price war in March and early April, supertanker owners were the winners, as the spat coincided with the start of the lockdowns in major economies and increased the global oil glut. Shipping companies had a field day with Saudi Aramco booking tankers en masse to flood the market with oil, while traders scrambled to charter tankers for floating storage to sell at higher prices later. According to Teekay Tankers, crude tanker spot rates are likely to be weaker in the second half of 2020, as more vessels will be returning to the trading fleet from floating storage. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Sister Jocelyn Edathil, a doctor of internal medicine and a nun, stands stands outside her workplace, Temple University Hospital. Edathil belongs to the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ. Read more When they glimpse her through the fog of approaching death, her cherubic face encased in a gleaming white habit, terminally ill patients at Temple University Hospital sometimes mistake Sister Jocelyn Edathil for an angel. They are not entirely wrong. The Philadelphia-born nun is a kind of Broad Street Mother Teresa, a habited health-care professional. Sister Jocelyn has worked with lepers in her parents native India and now seeks out the homeless and drug-addicted at Temple. In the process, shes discovered that the religious garb she once feared might be a distraction in her medical career instead flavors it with spirituality. I initially thought that if I wore a habit, some patients might judge me differently, Sister Jocelyn said recently. Some people have this idea that nuns are judgmental. But Im very free and open and just try to love my patients. Now the majority of them dont even comment on it. Sister Jocelyn, 41, educated at three Big 5 schools and elsewhere, is just one of the medical heroes to emerge during the COVID-19 outbreak, and one of the few who wears a habit and veil. While most patients can ignore her attire, some are happy to see it especially, she said, those without shelter or fighting narcotics. Some of them say, `Ive been struggling for a long time. Pray with me. Or just listen, she said. Part of my philosophy is to listen and give that patient the opportunity to share their suffering and their story. Sometimes that leads to spiritual discussions. The potentially volatile intersection of the sacred and secular emerged as a possibility for Sister Jocelyn in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, amid reports of the strain it placed on Italys health-care system. We were hearing about physicians in Northern Italy having to decide who gets a ventilator and who doesnt, she said. So we started preparing philosophically and theoretically. Fortunately, we didnt have to make those decisions here. Im grateful that for the most part, my ethics and what Im doing in a secular hospital mesh together. The pandemics demands tax an already overcrowded schedule for Sister Jocelyn, who lives in an Elkins Park residence that serves as a convent for her and another sister from her India-based order, the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ. A hospitalist an in-patient, internal-medicine-trained physician she not only cares for patients at Temple, but also teaches medical students there; sits on hospital committees that monitor ethics and diversity among other topics; lectures regularly by Zoom; shepherds youth and women activities at her parish church in Elizabeth, N.J.; sings in its choir; conducts online prayer meetings; attends Mass daily; pauses four times a day for prayers. And for all that, she pulls down a zero-figure salary. As a sister, I take a vow of poverty so all of my salary goes to the congregation, she said. A second-generation Indian American, Sister Jocelyn was born at Temple, where her mother worked as a nurse, and raised in the Northeast. Her father, a Philadelphia real estate broker, had a brother who was a priest at St. Jude Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, then in East Oak Lane, but recently relocated to Bensalem. Centuries ago, that Eastern Rite offshoot spread from the Middle East to India. While its base remains there, the church has expanded to Ethiopia, Australia, South Africa. There is one North America diocese, and St. Judes, with more than 400 members, is among its largest parishes. Religious as a child, Sister Jocelyn started to question her faith while a student at Central High. A church retreat eased her doubts and by the time her uncle/pastor died at 56, shed decided that a religious vocation would really be something beautiful. I was so profoundly inspired by his life that I wanted to completely dedicate mine to the Lord, she said. She won a full scholarship to Villanova, where she graduated with a degree in chemistry. In a dual program at Penn State, she got both her medical degree and a doctorate in chemistry. After her residency at Temple, she spent a year studying organic chemistry at Penn before departing to India for religious training. She took her vows in 2016. In India, I was kind of the medical consultant to the 100 sisters we had living there, she said. Whenever the older sisters had anything, I would run down and see what I could do. I worked in one of the leprosy clinics there. Most of the patients had already been cured but needed things like hand surgeries to regain function. Her days are long as she deals with patients, administrators, and med students at Temple, then returns at night to a nuns life. She looks forward to Sundays, when she drives to St. Thomas Church in Elizabeth for worship and more service. Its a smaller church, but I welcome the chance to work with the youth and women there, she said. She also counsels the parishioners there, mostly first-generation Indian Americans, on uch subjects as intercultural communication or how best to navigate social media. I find it really relevant working with different generations and different cultures, she said. It was great training to grow up in a diverse city like Philadelphia. When the pandemic arrived in late March, Sister Jocelyn volunteered to work in the hospitals COVID-19 units. We have a lot of physicians who are younger and have families, she said. I was free and available. It was very intense at the beginning. There was a little bit of anxiety among staff and physicians. But overall people were very cooperative and very understanding. Its been such an honor to be a physician during a pandemic. Amid the added pressures the outbreak placed on her, her patients, and the hospital, Sister Jocelyns alternate identity was barely a factor. Shes very open about who she is and patients are very comfortable to be open with her, said Rachel Rubin, chief of hospital medicine. Now that those pressures have eased, Sister Jocelyn is finding it less challenging to balance her vocations. The good thing is theyre both ministries, she said. So when Im seeing a patient in the hospital, that patient is my ministry for the day. And when Im seeing young people in the church, that becomes my ministry. I try to juggle both as best I can. The much-awaited monsoon session of Parliament may finally start around September 10, functionaries involved in the discussions told HT. The monsoon session, which usually starts in mid-July, had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic that saw a sweeping federal lockdown from March 25, which continues to affect select sectors such as international travel, schools and Metro trains. According to the functionaries, the session is expected to be short but supported by unprecedented logistics and infrastructure arrangements, including ultraviolet germicidal irradiation in air-conditioning systems to kill or inactivate microorganisms, 10 display screens for live proceedings, earmarked seats for top leaders and special communication cables linking both Houses. The length of the session has not been decided and will depend on the governments decision to hold the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on alternate days or a staggered daily schedule. While Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla are believed to favour a staggered daily schedule as it will help keep the session short and MPs from outside Delhi will spend as little time in the Capital as possible, some ministries prefer alternate days as it will be easier for them to cater to the demand of two Houses. Officials said the government will focus on clearing the ordinances that have been passed in the past four months. The Narendra Modi government has, in recent months, brought in three ordinances to redefine the legal framework of Indias agricultural markets as a part of its Covid-19 response. It amended the Essential Commodities Act, brought a new legislation on contract farming, and changed the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) laws to allow farmers sell their produce freely. At the same time, the Opposition will push for debate on economy, the India-China border conflict and Covid-19 management, to corner the government. The party decided to raise these three issues in different forums during Congress president Sonia Gandhis recent meeting with her Rajya Sabha MPs. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A group of undocumented immigrants were saved from a burning SUV when their smuggler abandoned the vehicle after leading Border Patrol agents on a highway chase. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement the incident took place Saturday in Freer, Texas, after agents spotted the driver in the stationary vehicle near a mandatory checkpoint. As the CBP agents closed in to inspect the vehicle, the motorist subsequently accelerated and took off east on U.S. Highway 59. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents saved several undocumented immigrants from a SUV that went up in flames in Texas on August 15. Eight migrants were taken into custody and processed before they were deported to Mexico CBP said the vehicle was abandoned near a ranch in Texas by a smuggler who led the Border Patrol agents on a highway chase near a checkpoint Saturday. The driver was traveling with eight undocumented immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico The driver then stopped on the side of the road near a ranch and fled the scene, leaving behind the eight Guatemalan and Mexican migrants. Some of the individuals attempted to run into the ranch but were immediately detained by the CBP officers. As the undocumented were being taken into custody, the border officers saw that the SUV was on fire and helped the remainder of the migrants out of the burning vehicle before it was engulfed it flames. CBP did not say what started the blaze. The adult individuals did not suffer any injuries and were taken into custody and processed before they were deported to Mexico. 'Despite the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing summer heat, smugglers continue to endanger the lives of individuals they exploit and the health and safety of our Nation,' CBP said in a statement. 'The Laredo Sector Border Patrol strives to develop its Workforce and places an emphasis on acquiring talented personnel who will dutifully dedicate themselves as Public Servants.' Bhubaneswar, Aug 19 : The Covid-19 positive cases in Odisha increased to 67,122 after 2589 fresh cases were detected in the last 24 hours, informed the health department on Wednesday. This is the second single-day highest positive cases reported in the state. The biggest single-day surge of 2,924 cases was reported on August 16. The death toll in Odisha rose to 372 as ten more people have succumbed to the deadly virus in the last 24 hours, said the department. Four deaths reported from Ganjam district, two each from Khordha and Sundargarh districts and one each from Bhadrak and Bargarh districts. Of the total new cases, 1,574 cases were reported from different quarantine centres while remaining 1,015 are local contacts. Khordha registered highest 466 cases followed by Ganjam (242) and Cuttack (222). Meanwhile, the Odisha government has formed multidisciplinary technical committees in seven medical colleges of the state for round the clock monitoring and provision of technical assistance to Covid health facilities in different districts. The committees comprise of senior professors and doctors will visit all the Covid health facilities to give guidance and technical input to the treating doctors to reduce fatalities further, said an official. Egypts flagship airline EgyptAir operated on Wednesday its first flight to the resort town of Taba in Sinai, a statement by the airline said. EgyptAir operated a new Airbus A320Neo from Cairo to Taba and back, with 200 passengers on board. The company said it has signed a contract with a tour operator to send two weekly flights to Taba to transport tourist groups during August and September, which is part of efforts to promote domestic tourism to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar described the step as a strong and promising start for the gradual return of tourist air travel to its rates before the virus outbreak. The announcement about flights to Taba came after the minister inspected Taba International Airport ahead of the start of air travel at the airport. Egypt began a gradual resumption of regular international flights starting 1 July, after it had shut its airspace in March due to the pandemic. Foreign tourists are currently allowed entry only into the three coastal Egyptian governorates with the lowest coronavirus infection rates South Sinai, the Red Sea, and Matrouh. The country said it will require all those arriving to the country to present negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) lab test result certificates starting 1 September. The government has so far allowed around 600 hotels that have met safety protocols to reopen at a reduced occupancy rate of 50 percent in a bid to revive the country's key tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. Search Keywords: Short link: Interview: 'You Can Criticize The CCP, But You Must Not Criticize Xi Jinping' 2020-08-18 -- Cai Xia, a retired professor of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, following recent public criticism of CCP chief Xi Jinping, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party with her pension stripped on August 17 for "serious violations of political discipline of the Party." Widely known as one of the "Hereditary [Second Generation] Red," descendants of founding members or important figures of the CCP, Cai Xia told RFA that she has no intention to remain on board with the current CCP leadership and is happy to be back with the ranks of the people. In an interview with Jane Tang of RFA's Mandarin Service late on Monday, the 68-year-old Cai discussed attitudes toward Xi Jinping within the CCP, under a system in which party members also face authoritarian surveillance, and shared updates of another elite critic of Xi, real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, who was detained by the CCP last month. RFA: The Central Party School claimed that you were expelled from the Chinese Communist Party because you have seriously violated CCP discipline. How did you learn of the decision? What is your response to the decision? Cai Xia: They had spoken (with me) at 10 on Monday morning. I was not aware of the decision prior to the conversation. During the communication they read two decisions to me: One, my expulsion from the Chinese Communist Party, and two, my pension has been stripped. The conversation lasted for less than nine minutes. They did not say anything more. I said I will appeal the decision. I may have held a different political point of view, but you cannot take away my pension. I have worked for my entire life, for more than 40 years. The pension is my right. What you have done is a violation of human rights. I have no objection to the expulsion from the party. To me, I am already prepared for that to happen; it is just a matter of sooner or later. RFA: As a former professor of the CCP Central Party School, you are now expelled from the party. Do you ever regret criticizing the CCP leader, calling him a "gang boss" who is continuing on this path down to the end, and for saying that China's only way out is to have a new leader? Cai Xia: No (regrets). When the country makes wrong decisions on critical issues, the party must be responsible. The top leader of the CCP must shoulder the responsibility--not to mention nowadays there is no democratic decision-making process within the Party. Xi Jinping is calling all the shots on major issues. I call him a gang boss because there is no transparency, and there is no decision-making mechanism. When different opinions surface, coming from people like me, they can expel you from the party and take your pension away. As for other individuals in the party, they can use measures like what they have done with Ren Zhiqiang: that is, to accuse him of corruption. They (the Communist Party) use this tactic to silence those who are critical of the party. How does this look like a modern political party? So, he (Xi) deserved it when I called him a gang boss. He only talks about "democracy" as lip service, but fundamentally he has no idea about what democracy is. RFA: What is the sentiment within the CCP that Xi Jinping faces these days? If someone like you, who was once so loyal to the Party and who has studied the CCP for decades, is now stepping forward to express your criticism, is there strong opposition to him within the Party? Are there channels for CCP members to express their opinions? Cai Xia: Between 2001 to around 2006, there were active discussions within the CCP, because everyone hoped, through theoretical studies, to promote intra-party democracy, to solve issues of political system reform in China, and to promote the perfection of the socialist economy system and of the market economy. However, after he (Xi Jinping) took office, the room for discussion has gradually shrunk. For instance, I was invited to be a special research advisor of the National Society for Party Building Studies (NSPBS). They would consult with us for yearly research topics, which are distributed across the CCP, for party members to conduct research. At the end of the year, we would review the research papers and identify the good works. In 2013, "Intra-Party Democracy" was not included in the list of research topics, and I raised the question of why it was not included. Ever since the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, fundamental democracy within the party has been an area of focus. The hope was that through progressive development of fundamental intra-party democracy, the CCP could promote democracy in the party and reform, and then the Party could further improve the country's political environment. In 2014, there was still no mention of the "Intra-Party Democracy" system. No one commented about this. Eventually, the explanation was, "It was a decision from the top." RFA: You may have observed a major shift in the CCP's direction since 2008 and that the momentum began picking up speed since Xi took office. What were the critical reasons that prompted you to speak up now? Cai Xia: The initial trigger was the passing of (Wuhan coronavirus whistle-blower) Dr. Li Wenliang. I signed the petition calling for freedom of speech after Li Wenliang died. The Central Party School called me for a conversation. Then there was the imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. I was of course furious about it, so I wrote an article to express my view on the National Security Law in Hong Kong. I did not expect the recording of the private conversation to be leaked, though. (Originally) I did not intend to make it public, so I was very blunt in that talk. I pointed out that what the CCP has done is against the human civilization and that Xi Jinping is the biggest fool of all who made a very foolish decision. Once the recording was leaked, the school made a point to call me and ask, "Did you make those comments?" And I said, "Yes." We all know there is an (unspoken) rule: You can criticize the Chinese Communist Party, but you must not criticize Xi Jinping. After my comments (went viral), I knew it would be difficult for me to go back (to China). I did not intentionally leave China to be in the United States. RFA: Within the Chinese Communist Party, what is the volume of calls for a new leadership? Cai Xia: First, I want to make it clear that it is not an organized movement but more of a commonly shared sentiment. And it is not a new idea that only started today. We already discussed it when we entered the second half of the phase I of the US-China trade war. Not only was the 2018 Constitution amendment a mistake, on some levels, it was also a crime. What (Xi) has done has brought the entire country backwards more than a century. RFA: In your opinion, do you think Xi is likely to be replaced in the next few years? Cai Xia: For the moment, it is hard to tell. I think it is unlikely to depend solely on the CCP, because he (Xi) has broken up the entire party. There is no room and atmosphere to allow normal exchanges of opinions among people, so it is not possible for it to happen. He has a tight grip on everyone. The advanced surveillance technology is not only utilized in monitoring Xinjiang and Tibet, but it is also applied to monitor CCP members as well as mid- and high-level officials. Around 2013, Xi Jinping also announced a policy that forbids the formation of any alumni associations or hometown associations; additionally, gathering after work is also not allowed. He was worried that such gatherings may provide room for cliques or political factions to grow within the Party. Not only is normal socialization forbidden, but he also requires everyone to be debriefed on what has happened under their own roofs. It is never stipulated in any laws, but you should know better. If you fail to report as required, then it proves that your "Party Spirit is weak." Some practices within the party are not laid out in black and white, but he claims that these are the "norms" of the party, and we shall see whether your actions demonstrate "strong Party Spirit," and whether you conform to the "norms." Can you imagine language like this coming from a modern political party? Rhetoric that is usually heard in gangs and in the underworld is now prevalent within the Party. RFA: In the short run, do you plan to return to China? Cai Xia: Of course not. Under the current circumstances, how can I go back? I would be thrown into jail as soon as I got back. RFA: Are there any updates on Ren Zhiqiang? Cai Xia: A while ago I heard that Ren wanted to defend himself in court, and it was entered into the procuratorate for review. However, up until now, the attorney retained by his family has not been able to meet Ren. In other words, no one from the outside has seen him since he was disappeared and arrested. As good friends of Ren Zhiqiang, we are very worried and concerned about his safety. RFA: Does the case of Ren's forced disappearance serve as a warning to silence outspoken critics like you? Cai Xia: Indeed. Therefore, all my friends are telling me, "Do not come back. If you come back to Beijing, then you will be put in jail like Ren Zhiqiang." Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address #17at17 #Normal4Now #UN75 #ShapingOurFuture I have always believed that, no matter the size, every organization should remember to first be a citizen of the world. This partnership with the United Nations is just one example of how we at Build n Blaze play that role.Radia Funna, founder, Build n Blaze Build n Blaze today announced its partnership with UN75. Marking its 75th anniversary this year as the world faces COVID-19, perhaps the greatest crisis in a generation, the United Nations has launched UN75 its most ambitious effort to date to crowdsource priorities and solutions for the future. The partnership with Build n Blaze entails direct support on its social media channels: @BuildnBlaze and @BuildnBlazeTV on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Through a one-minute survey at https://un75.online/partner/BuildnBlaze, UN75 gives people a chance to make their voices heard about what is most important to them; especially at this time of global anxiety and uncertainty. It asks them to share their views on what the UN should focus on to best serve those most in need and make progress on issues such as ending hunger, reducing inequality and addressing climate change. It invites people to share their ideas on the future they want and how to make it a reality. The results will be presented to world leaders in September 2020, when the international community will set out a vision for the future at the official commemoration of the UN's 75th anniversary. Build n Blaze will share an invite via its social media channels: @BuildnBlaze and @BuildnBlazeTV on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I am excited that after years of discussing ways to better engage its global stakeholdersus, the citizens of its Member Statesthe UN is marking this important anniversary with a conversation that anyone can join from anywhere, as long as they have access to the internet. Its an encouraging start.Radia Funna, founder, Build n Blaze About Build n Blaze Build n Blaze, LLC. is an organizational strategy firm dedicated to providing our clients with data-driven and evidence-based approaches to navigate disruptions (such as technologies of the fourth industrial revolution and socioeconomic shifts) and an ecosystem to achieve transformation. We have a long-term commitment to the future of work, education and parity as well as to the United Nations administered Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a better world. Based in the Greater New York City Area, our work leverages theories by our founder, the futurist Radia Funna, including her theory of the "Exponential Human or "xHuman". https://www.buildnblaze.com/ #17at17 #Normal4Now About UN75 Launched by the UN Secretary-General in January 2020, the UNs 75th anniversary initiative aims to listen to the global public, with particular focus on youth, marginalized communities and new audiences. Over 12 months, the UN75 team will gather public perspectives on global challenges and solutions on how to tackle them through a one-minute survey, online dialogues, formal opinion polling and media analysis. The results will be presented in September 2020, at the official commemoration of the UNs 75th anniversary, after which UN75 will focus on how best to take them forward, with a final report to be published in January 2021. For more information, see: http://www.un.org/UN75 Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious diseases official, said Wednesday the government wouldn't make any future COVID-19 vaccine obligatory for the general public -- though local jurisdictions could make it mandatory for some groups, like children. "You don't want to mandate and try and force anyone to take a vaccine. We've never done that," said Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, during a video talk organized by George Washington University. "You can mandate for certain groups of people like health workers, but for the general population you can't" he added, citing the example of the National Institutes of Health, where health workers can't treat patients without a flu shot. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison hours earlier announced that coronavirus vaccines, once approved, would be mandatory for everyone in his country, barring medical exemptions. But the United States' decentralized system of government, and anti-vaccine sentiments that have been building for decades, had in any case made a program of mandatory immunization unlikely. "It would be unenforceable and not appropriate," said Fauci. This however doesn't prevent states from making a vaccine mandatory for children to attend school, as is already the case for certain diseases such as measles, though some are exempt for medical or religious reasons. At any rate, the administration of President Donald Trump has pre-ordered hundreds of millions of vaccine doses from six companies, and these will be distributed for free. Search Keywords: Short link: Delhi Police Recruitment 2020 Online Applications are being filled at ssc.nic.in for recruitment to the post of Constable for males and females. Learn about it here. Delhi Police will be recruiting new officers to the post of Constable (Executive), both male and female, through their online applications. Those with 12th pass qualifications have a good shot at becoming officers. There are 5846 vacancies they are looking to fill. The applications are being filled out at ssc.nic.in Staff Selection Commision and Delhi Police announced the recruitment process on August 1st. Candidates must first register themselves on the SSC website. The process will continue until September 7th The selection of the candidates will be done on the basis of an open competitive examination for recruitment of Constable (Executive) Male and Female in Delhi Police as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Delhi Police and the Staff Selection Commission. ALSO READ : JEE Main 2020: Admit cards for entrance exam released @ jeemain.nta.nic.in, Download JEE Main hall tickets. ALSO READ : UPPSC Computer Assistant Admit Card 2019-20 Released, know how to download @uppsc.up.nic.in Important Dates: Dates for submission of online applications: 01 Aug 2020 to 07 September 2020 Last date and time for receipt of online application: 07 September 2020 Last date and time for making online fee payment: 09 September 2020 Last date and time for generation of offline Challan: 11 September 2020 Last date for payment through Challan (during working hours of Bank): 14 September 2020 Date of Computer Based Examination: 27 November 2020 to 14 December 2020 Delhi Police Recruitment 2020 Vacancy Details Total No. Of Vacancies 5846 Posts Constable EXE-Male 3433 Posts Constable EXE Male Ex-Servicemen (others) 226 Posts Constable (EXE) Male Ex-Servicemen Commando 243 Posts Constable EXE Female 1944 Posts Eligibility Educational Qualification:Candidates must be 12th pass, and males must have driving license for LMV, on the day of PE&MT. They will be able to check details after information notice is released. Age Limit 18 to 25 years as on 1 July 2020 (Candidates should not have been born earlier than 02-07-1995 and later than 01-07-2002.) (Note: There will be age relaxation for the candidates belonging to the reserved category as per government norms) Pay Scale Rs. 5,200 20,200/- + Grade Pay Rs. 2,000/- Selection Criteria for SSC Constable in Delhi Police Recruitment 2020 There will be a Computer based exam, Physical Examination and Measurement Test, after which the recommended candidates will have a medical examination. Computer-Based Exam:-The Computer based examination will consist of one objective type multiple choice paper containing 100 questions carrying 100 marks. There will be negative marking of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. Subject Number of questions Maximum marks Duration/Time allowed General Knowledge/ Current Affairs 50 50 90 min Reasoning 25 25 Candidates will have to complete all papers in 90 Minutes Computer Fundamentals, MS Excel, MS Word, Communication, Internet, WWW and Web Browsers etc 10 10 Important Links: Download Official Notification PDF Here Official Website Online Application Link Delhi Police Website Application Fee for Delhi Police Recruitment 2020 Others Rs. 100/- SC/ST/PWD/Women No Fee Also read: UGC guidelines: SC reserves order against mandating final exams by Sept end The Lincoln Project is using its latest ad to remind Spanish-speaking voters of how President Trump responded when Puerto Rico was devastated by two back-to-back hurricanes in September 2017. A U.S. territory, Puerto Rico is home to more than 3.5 million American citizens. In Spanish, the ad's narrator says the island is different now, due to the destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which left thousands dead and even more without electricity, food, or clean water. Trump's response to the humanitarian crisis was "lies and disrespect," the narrator says. "During his short trip to the island, all Trump thought to do was throw paper towels and hand out cans of fish to our people. Real help? No way. And when 10 killer earthquakes in six days rocked Puerto Rico and left 8,000 homeless, Trump stopped billions of dollars in emergency relief to our island." The ad includes several clips of Trump praising his response, saying he did a "fantastic job," as well as telling the people of Puerto Rico that the natural disasters have "thrown our budget a little out of whack." Some think Trump's actions were caused by "a lack of empathy," the narrator intones. "Others say it's racism. We know it's disrespect, and Puerto Rican voters are saying, 'Hasta la vista, Trump, you will not be back.'" Watch the ad below. More stories from theweek.com The elephant in the room at the DNC Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office UNC students are expressing their frustrations with campus parties and university policies on TikTok. TikTok/@marymilller01 College students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are using TikTok to vent their frustrations about the campus closing and switching to remote learning after just a week of classes. UNC-Chapel Hill reported four distinct COVID-19 clusters and a sharp rise in students testing positive within two weeks of students moving into dorms and off-campus housing. Showing off a newly decorated dorm room is a popular summer TikTok trend, but for this year's students, it's been repurposed as an ironic take on COVID-19 closures. Students are also using TikTok to complain about their classmates' parties and failure to social distance. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was one of the first colleges in the US to reopen with a hybrid plan that would allow students to live in dorms as usual. It quickly turned into a disaster, as the university reported 4 COVID-19 clusters within a week of classes starting, and had to move to remote learning. Having lived in their freshly decorated dorm rooms for less than two weeks, frustrated UNC-Chapel Hill students expressed their discontent on TikTok, the app that has quickly become a favorite of Gen Z social media users. Sharing a newly decorated dorm room has been an August and September trend on TikTok since the app exploded in popularity in 2018, transitioning away from a kid-driven lip-syncing platform and attracting a wider audience of teens and undergraduates. This year, the move-in trend has taken on an ironic tone, as students showcase putting up all of their decor just to take it back down and move out of their dorms. UNC students have racked up hundreds of thousands of likes on the platform in the last week. Some UNC students posted their dorm room transformations as usual, just to make a video follow-up about how their decor "aged poorly" given the short-lived dorm reopening. Story continues An elaborate UNC dorm room reveal was followed by a TikTok 12 days later that says "Hey, um, we're packing up our dorm room because we got sent home." A similar dorm room transformation posted by a UNC student got over 80,000 likes when it was published two weeks ago. But Tuesday, the poster wrote "my college is kicking us out after a week," using the "you think you can hurt me?" TikTok meme format, which has been adopted as a way to share difficult past experiences. UNC students have other complaints about the campus closure In addition to the dorm room transformations that are being packed up, some UNC students posted about their classmates' refusal to stop partying and adhere to social distance guidelines. One popular TikTok shows the creator's dorm-mates using a slip-n-slide in the rain. "We've been on campus for 2 weeks and they're sending us home," the video caption says, and the student overlayed circus music on top of the Snapchat footage. Another TikTok is a compilation of clips of the slip-n-slide, as well as footage from UNC parties, with the caption "great job guys, we made it to national news in less than two weeks." @bigheadsallyy great job guys, we made it to NATIONAL NEWS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS ##unc original sound - bigheadsallyy One UNC student used their TikTok to express frustration with the university's housing and meal plan cost, writing that "We have only been on campus for a week & they wait till the day that our bill was due to go home." It's also not just UNC students hopping on the campus closure trend. One TikTok creator at a different college campus wrote "me getting my dorm room all set up as if im not going to be sent home in 3-4 business days because theres literally a pandemic and this isnt safe." @brendanisugly how long til im sent home leys hear what everyone has to say Ushy Gushy My Puthy - theythemtiddies Another user wrote, "My whole fyp is college kids decorating their dorms during a pandemic [...] like pack it up,, oh wait you will in two weeks." Read more: Read the original article on Insider A small but growing number of Americans are choosing to homeschool their children. Most U.S. schools plan to stay closed, or open only part-time, this year and offer distance learning programs to students. Some parents worry their neighborhood school will not offer a strong online learning program. Others are concerned about the health of their families if schools do reopen, partly or fully. Still others are choosing homeschooling because local schools keep changing their plans for the new term. Mindy Kroesche of Lincoln, Nebraska is a writer. She had been thinking she would homeschool her 12-year-old son this year. He has autism and ADHD -- two conditions that already make middle school difficult for him. But Mindy Kroesche always felt her 10-year-old daughter was, in her words, built for school. Now, with the COVID-19 health crisis continuing, she is pulling both children out for the coming school year. We just saw that with her wearing a mask for the entire day, that would make learning more difficult for her, Kroesche said. It was going to be such a different environment. Homeschooling applications are on the rise in several states, including Nebraska, which has had a 21 percent increase. In Vermont, applications are up 75 percent. There were about 2.5 million homeschool students last year in levels 1 through 12 plus kindergarten. That represents 3 to 4 percent of all school-age children nationwide, reports the National Home Educators Research Institute. Brian Ray, its president, is expecting the number of homeschool students will increase by at least 10 percent. One day the school district says X and four days later they say Y, Ray said. And then the governor says another thing and then that changes what the school district can do. And parents? They are tired of it and saying we are out of here, he said. Interest in homeschooling materials also has been rising. Even parents who plan to keep their children in schools are looking for ways to improve the distance learning they will receive. The National Home School Association reports that before COVID-19 appeared, it received between five and 20 requests for information on homeschooling each day. In comparison, it received 3,400 such inquiries on a single day last month. Clearly the interest we have been getting has exploded, said J. Allen Weston, the executive director of the Colorado-based group. That is really the only way to describe it, he added. Some parents in rural Nebraska are turning to homeschooling because their school systems are unable to offer online learning, said Kathryn Dillow. She leads Nebraska Home Schools, a support group. Homeschooling applications continue arriving in Nebraska, where the number of homeschoolers already had risen to 3,400 as of July 14. That is up from 2,800 at the same time a year ago, said David Jespersen, a spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Education. Jespersen said there is a lot of confusion and that parents are delayed in making their decision because so much is changing. He expects homeschoolers will remain a small part of about 326,000 students across the states 244 school systems. Most states do not have homeschooling numbers, either because they do not collect them or they have yet to get a final count. But all signs point to increases across the country. In Missouri, calls and emails to the homeschool group Families For Home Education increase every time a district releases its reopening plan, said Charyti Jackson, the groups leader. She said families are in a panic about plans for the new school year. They are asking, What am I supposed to be doing with my children when I am working full time? she said. Some families only plan to homeschool for a term or two, some in small groups. Jackson's advice to them centers on how to make sure students can transition back to public schooling easily when the pandemic ends. There are also some signs the move to homeschooling could continue well into fall. Christina Rothermel-Branham is a psychology professor at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Her six-year old son is to start the new school term online through public school. But Rothermel-Branham said the districts program in the spring was very monotonous. She will change to homeschooling, she said, if the first month of public school goes poorly. Im Caty Weaver. The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Quiz - US Parents Increase Interest in Homeschooling during Pandemic Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story mask n. a protective covering for the face to designed prevent passage of infection from one person to another application n. a document that is used to make a formal request for something kindergarten n. a school or class for very young children district n. an area established by a government for official government business confusion n. a situation in which people are unsure about what to do or are unable to understand something clearly panic n. a state or feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally transition n. a change from one state or condition to another monotonous adj. used to describe something that is uninteresting because it is always the same We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:18:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Improved profitability across all businesses has enabled Danish container shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk to significantly increase profits in the second quarter (Q2) despite the COVID-19 impact. "Our operating earnings improved by 25 percent, marking the eighth consecutive quarter with year-on-year improvements," A.P. Moller-Maersk CEO Soren Skou said in a press release on Wednesday. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) improved to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars as the EBITDA margin increased from 14.1 percent in Q2 last year to 18.9 percent, said the press release. "As expected, the second quarter was materially impacted by COVID-19 and our focus remained on protecting our employees from the virus, serving our customers by keeping our global network of ships sailing and our ports, warehouses, and inland transportation networks operating, and helping the societies we are part of fight the virus," said the CEO. The strong profits result flies in the face of a dip in revenue during Q2 of 6.5 percent to 9 billion dollars during a period when Maersk had fewer containers to transport around the world during the COVID-19 crisis. Looking ahead, Maersk predicts a continuing fall in container shipping during the COVID-19 crisis but sees its logistical services being the key to maintain and improve the ability of the company to continue making money. Enditem CM Captain Amarinder Singh said that there is a need to look at the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue from a national security perspective, Punjab will burn if a decision is taken to go ahead with the link canal. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that there is a need to look at the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue from a national security perspective and that Punjab will burn if a decision is taken to go ahead with the link canal. Singh made these remarks during a meeting via video-conferencing with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on SYL canal issue. You have to look at the issue from the national security perspective. If you decide to go ahead with SYL, Punjab will burn and it will become a national problem, with Haryana and Rajasthan also suffering the impact, Singh said. A Punjab government release said Singh told the meeting that after the division of Punjab in 1966 all assets were shared on 60:40 basis except water. Punjab had a right to Yamuna water, in which it did not get a share at the time of 60:40 division of assets with Haryana during the states division in 1966, the Chief Minister said, even as he expressed his willingness to sit across the table with his Haryana counterpart ML Khattar to discuss the emotive issue. Also read: PM CARES Funds cannot be transferred to National Disaster Response: SC Also read: Amit Shah admitted to AIIMS days after Covid recovery He also suggested that Rajasthan be involved in discussions on the SYL and Ravi-Beas waters issue as it was also a stakeholder. He described the meeting as positive and cordial and said the Union Minister seemed to understand Punjabs viewpoint. The Chief Minister said there is a need for a tribunal to make a fresh time-bound assessment of the water availability and fair adjudication of the water availability, Singh said. He said water-sharing proposed by Eradi Commission was 40 years old while international norms require a review every 25 years to ascertain the status. He said trans-basin transfer of water can only be allowed from a surplus basis to a deficit basis, and, as of today Punjab is a deficit state and could not, therefore, be asked to transfer water to Haryana. He said Punjab remains at risk from all ends and Pakistan was continuing attempts to foment trouble and to try and revive the separatist movement through the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) organisation. The Chief Minister said the water issue could further destabilise the state. Amarinder Singh said he had taken a concerted decision to terminate all water agreements back in 2004 to save Punjab from burning amid reports that violence could erupt in the state. He said the situation has aggravated since then and 109 of the states 128 blocks had officially been declared as dark zones. He urged the central government to take climate change effects into account. The situation was likely to worsen with China constructing dams in their territory, he said, adding that this would lead to water shortage even in Sutlej. Shekhawat said after the meeting that there will be a second round of talks soon. We held a meeting on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in view of SCs order. CMs of Haryana and Punjab expressed their views, and well soon hold the second round of talks on the issue, he said. Also read: No connection to Aaditya Thackeray: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer on Sushant Singh Rajputs death probe The government proposes to incentivize operations of domestic equipment manufacturers such as BHEL, L&T, and Bharat Forge that results in manufacture of equipment that is currently being imported, particularly from countries such as China. Official sources said that a productivity-linked incentive (PLI) scheme involving phased manufacturing programme is being finalized for certain equipment used by the power sector. Once implemented, this would provide incentives to domestic companies on sales of equipment manufactured by them that is currently being imported. In the electronics sector, the government already has a PLI scheme that extends an incentive of 4 to 6 per cent on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments. Companies like BHEL have been identified for manufacture of equipment such silicon solar wafers required for making solar cells that is largely imported in the country from China. Also, the company would scale up production of Cold Rolled Grain Oriented silicon (CRGO) steel, which is also largely imported from countries such as China, Korea and Japan. CRGO steel is used to manufacture the core of generators and transformers - a key power component that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Similarly, new manufacturing lines of L&T based on import substitution would also be incentivized and so for other domestic equipment makers. On its part, ministry of power proposes EA to support import substitution plan by creating a dedicated wing that will solely look at areas where domestic manufacturing needs to be stepped up as part of localization of items currently being imported. In the power sector, imports constitute 604 items, 392 of which are also made locally. Of the balance, local alternatives are available for 102 items, leaving 101 items that need to be made locally. It is for manufacture of these items, that the government would incentivize operations of Indian companies, companies registered in India and having majority beneficial ownership of an Indian or run by an Indian CEO. In 2018-19, India's total imports in conventional power sector were to the tune of Rs 75,000 crore out of which imports from China stood at over Rs 21,000 crore. In renewable segment, imports stood at $2.9 billion in FY19 with close to 70 per cent from China. Along with import substitution for main power equipment, the PLI scheme for power sector is also expected to cover manufacture of solar cells and modules, 75 per cent of which are currently imported from China. The PLIs for several sectors would be ready before the end of the 2020. The existing PLI for mobile manufacturing offers incentives to the tune of 4-6 per cent for incremental investment and sales over a period of five years to companies. Similar schemes could be worked out for new sectors but the quantum of benefit would depend on capital intensity of an industry. External pressure on Belarus unacceptable, Putin tells Western leaders Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 6:35 PM Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Western leaders that exerting pressure on the Belarusian leadership would be unacceptable, as violent protests continue against Belarus' newly re-elected President Alexander Lukashenko. According to a press release issued by the Kremlin on Tuesday, Putin in a phone conversation warned his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus might lead to a further escalation of the political crisis in that country. The Russian president also made similar remarks when he discussed the ongoing protests in Belarus with German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day. President of the European Council Charles Michel also spoke to the Russian leader on the eve of an emergency summit of the bloc's leaders to discuss Belarus. Michel tweeted afterwards that, "Only peaceful and truly inclusive dialogue can resolve the crisis in Belarus." Earlier this month, Lukashenko won Belarus' presidential election by a landslide, securing a sixth term in office. His political opponents then organized protests, claiming voter fraud. Western countries made similar allegations. The European Union (EU) has threatened to re-impose sanctions against Minsk, although Belarus is not a member of the bloc. The United States has been leading the foreign calls on Lukashenko to hold a repeat election. The Belarusian president has expressed concern about the foreign meddling and the NATO military presence near his country and warned that foreign governments seek to destabilize Belarus. Lukashenko has also urged against continued violence, calling the preservation of nationwide security his top priority. Formerly accusing Moscow of attempting to meddle in the election, Lukashenko recently turned to President Putin for help in a major volte-face. During a phone call on Saturday, the Russian president told Lukashenko that his country was ready to offer "comprehensive help" to Belarus if necessary in accordance with a collective military alliance pact. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party Ishkhan Saghatelyan today posted the following on his Facebook page: In response to inquiries from several media outlets, I deem it necessary to publicly touch upon the statement by the President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) that was made public by the Presidents spokesperson. The spokesperson particularly declared the following: President Haroutyunyan does not accept official meetings with the political parties that question the policy led by the authorities of Armenia under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan. Artsakh has always been and remains the axis of pan-national unity, and the institution of the President of Artsakh is the symbol of that unity. The pernicious approach to dividing the society into blacks and whites needs to be rejected, especially in Artsakh. Its impossible to imagine or think that the President of Artsakh only meets with forces that are blessed by Pashinyan. Im truly sorry that this statement was made. Its unprecedented since its not in the interests of the President of Artsakh and Artsakh in general and cant be supported by the incumbent authorities of Armenia and Nikol Pashinyan personally. Thus, the statement needs to be proofread immediately. The Chatfield News has been keeping people in Chatfield, Minnesota, informed for the last 164 years, and it will continue doing so well into the future, thanks to Pam Bluhm. Bluhm first started working at the Chatfield News 40 years ago, and when the owners told her in March that they were closing, she knew she couldn't let this happen. "Chatfield needs a newspaper," Bluhm told the Star Tribune. She was the paper's office manager, but after using her $1,200 coronavirus stimulus check, Bluhm became its owner. Newspapers are vital for small towns like Chatfield, which has a population of 2,800. The Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina has found that over the last 15 years, more than one-fourth of all U.S. newspapers have shuttered, and current and former Chatfield residents are helping keep the Chatfield News afloat subscriptions are up 15 percent, Bluhm told the Star Tribune, and she regularly receives cards in the mail with donations of up to $400. Community members also volunteer their time writing articles and picking up the paper from a printer 60 miles away. "It's fun for them, and they want to see the newspaper make a go of it," Bluhm said. Everyone knows they are welcome to stop by the office with the latest news to share with Bluhm, and she will do her part to spread it. "Service to humanity is the best work of life," she said. "That's my motto." More stories from theweek.com Joe Biden is already planning a failed presidency 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's assault on the Post Office Cindy McCain makes the jump her husband flirted with in 2001 A North Korean signal corp soldier has been sent to political prison, along with her family, for tuning in to Radio Free Asia (RFA) while on duty. She was arrested in mid-June after she forgot to change the frequency from RFA after her shift was done. The soldier admitted to routinely listening to RFA broadcasts during her shifts. North Korean law implicates the soldier's family as guilty by association. Multiple sources of RFA confirmed her punishment as reported through internal military communications. RFA is funded by the United States and broadcasts 6 hours of Korean-language programming daily over North Korea from the Northern Mariana Islands. North Korea's strict restrictions on outside information encourages soldiers who have access to listen into RFA or other frequencies when they have long shifts without supervision. One former North Korean signal corp officer who defected to South Korea admitted that he had "decided to escape North Korea because I was influenced by RFA" in an interview with RFA. It appears likely that Sam Abed has lost his bid for a third term as Escondidos mayor. Although ballots are still being counted, Abeds small lead on election night over challenger Paul Mac McNamara has disappeared. McNamaras tally has increased every day. By Friday, he was ahead by 550 votes out of more than 34,000 cast. Most political observers say the election is over. If the results hold, the political makeup of what has been a very conservative City Council for the better part of two decades will have been turned on its head. Consuelo Martinezs decisive win over longtime conservative Councilman Ed Gallo means a far more liberal majority will now control the city. How did it happen? The numbers suggest one strong possible answer: the Latino vote. Advertisement Latinos are the majority in Escondido and have been for roughly 10 years, according to estimates. But they have never turned out in great numbers at the polls. In 2011, there were fewer than 11,000 registered Latino voters in Escondido. As of now, according the county Registrar of Voters, there are almost 19,000. In 2014, the first year that Escondido started electing council members by geographic district, Martinez and Gallo faced off for the first time in the race for the District 1 seat. That area in the center of the city was created to have a minority-majority demographic in response to a threatened lawsuit that would have contended that Latino voters were not given a fair chance to elect one of their own. A low-turnout midterm election, Gallo beat Martinez by just 69 votes. In that election, a total of just 3,259 people voted in the district. This year, with votes still being counted, already 4,488 District 1 voters cast ballots. Of the nearly 19,000 registered Latino voters in the city, 8,262 are registered as Democrats as opposed to just 2,923 as Republicans, with the rest declining to state a preference and a few aligning themselves with fringe political parties, according to Registrar of Voters statistics. As of Friday, Martinez was beating Gallo by 1,154 votes. It is fair, many believe, to assume that most of the people who voted for her also voted for McNamara. Or perhaps they voted against Abed, whose staunch criticism of illegal immigration and sanctuary cities and support of the rule of law rankled many. Abed was also a member of the council in 2006 when the city tried to pass an ordinance that would punish landlords who rented to undocumented workers, and he gathered headlines when he vocally opposed placement of a shelter for unauthorized immigrant children in the city in 2014. On Friday, Abed, 66, a real estate development consultant who immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1987 and became a U.S. citizen in 1990, was not conceding the race, but he sounded resigned to the fact that he likely will lose. I really appreciate the support from the residents of Escondido through my 14 years in public service, he said. It was an honor to serve them and maybe continue to serve them. I will respect the vote and the will of the people. Abed said the election results had everything to do with political partisanship and the number of people switching allegiance to the left, including Latinos, than it did with the policies of the current council he has championed. He also said he thought the closeness of the race was partly due to a national anti-incumbent wave that he got caught up in. However, that doesnt seem to be the case on a local level. In San Diego County, there were eight contested mayoral elections.Seven of the eight incumbent mayors easily won re-election in Carlsbad, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, Poway and Vista. Abed said he has no regrets and said he will always stand for his core principles. I will not change my philosophy and my love for this country and I will always believe in the rule of law and personal responsibility, Abed said. Im not going to change my philosophy to get re-elected to any position. He also said he doesnt think his well-publicized visit to the White House in May, at the presidents invite, to participate in a roundtable discussion about Californias sanctuary city position hurt him. Carl Luna, a political science professor at San Diego Mesa College, said Abeds apparent loss is part of the purpling of North County. The demographics of North County are changing, Luna said. The suburban vote and the Latino vote are breaking against the long-held Republican majorities. Escondido City Councilman John Masson, a conservative who was re-elected easily in his District 2 race, said he was flabbergasted by Abeds apparent loss. I just dont understand it, he said. Truly, I think our citys been doing well and that were heading in the right direction. For it to flip like that seems like an anomaly. I dont know. He said whats clear is that Democrats got out the vote. Councilman Mike Morasco, who usually aligns himself with the Abed majority on most issues, agreed. I believe the Democrats were very successful in registering people and getting them out to vote and I think the Republicans sat on their hands and stayed home, Morasco said. But we wont know that until all the numbers are in. But thats my take with what weve been able to see so far. He said many in the city have been surprised by how tightly the mayors race has been contested. I think the shift is going to be a significant one for the city as a whole in regards to the direction weve been going regarding growth and prosperity, improved safety, improved infrastructure and fiscal accountability, Morasco said. And its a giant question mark about whats now going to happen in the City of Escondido. Morasco said one big thing McNamara had going for his candidacy is that he is a retired Marine Corps colonel. I know a lot of people, such as myself, when you see a retired Marine officer running for office, there is a tendency to look and support that individual, he said. McNamara, still reluctant to claim victory as it could be a week or two before the final results are in, said hes pretty sure the Latino vote played a significant role in the election. Part of our strategy was to help get the Latino vote out, he said. Without looking at the numbers, I think we did. If official results favor McNamara, who describes himself as a moderate Democrat who leans to the left on social issues and to the right on fiscal matters, he would join Martinez and Councilwoman Olga Diaz, the lone Latina on the current council, who has often found herself on the losing side of 4-1 votes. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee just released their fifth and final report on Russian involvement in the 2016 US Presidential Election. The nearly-one-thousand-page tome is more damning than the Mueller Report was, on many fronts and even more notable due to the fact that sitting Senators from both parties signed off on the content. Details worth noting include explicit accusations of perjury against Donald Trump: Trump, in written responses to the SCO, stated: "I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with [Stone], nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign." Trump further claimed that he had "no recollection of the specifics of any conversations I had with Mr. Stone between June 1, 2016 and November 8, 2016." Despite Trump's recollection, the Committee assesses that Trump did, in fact, speak with Stone about WikiLeaks and with members of his Campaign about Stone's access to WikiLeaks on multiple occasions. That Republicans and Democrats together made multiple criminal referrals of Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, and Erik Prince. The committee's concerns were detailed in a formal letter sent to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., in June 2019, people familiar with the matter said. [] The Senate Intelligence Committee referred several individuals' testimony to the Justice Department over the course of its 3 -year probe, citing discrepancies in their accounts, three officials said. That Paul Manafort's business associate Konstantin Kilimnik was a "Russian intelligence officer" who very likely was involved in coordinating DNC hacks and information leaks, even after Manafort left the campaign. That the recently-commuted Roger Stone was in direct and active communication with Wikileaks and coordinated the drops of hacked John Podesta emails to distract from Trump bragging about sexual assault on the Access Hollywood tapes. That Natalia Veselnitskaya was indeed acting on behalf of the Russian government during the infamous Trump Tower meeting; and that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was also indulging in secret Russian meetings. That Michael Flynn's phone calls with Russia the ones he feloniously lied to the FBI about were indeed of material interest to the Russian hacking investigation. And yes, that the FBI was sloppy and "lacking in thoroughness and rigor" in regards to the infamous Steele dossier. (Weird how no one cares about FBI overzealousness except when it impacts people who are already in power, who were, apparently, actually involved in some shady stuff!) This report confirms much of what has been speculated, and goes even deeper than the Mueller Report. But, like the Mueller Report, it doesn't really matter, because GOP operatives already put themselves out in front of it to control the narrative. Even Marco Rubio, the friggin' Chairman of the committee, tweeted that there was nothing new or worthwhile learned in these documents, except that the FBI was spying on the blah blah blah blah. This is frustratingly in line with his half-assed acquittal excuse during Trump's impeachment trial. Republican Senators like Rubio have had this information all along. And they've still insisted on pushing Trump's narrative, covering for him at every step, because they don't think there will be any repercussions for that. As long as this Senate Report is kept for the history books, then hopefully, their legacies will remain pure and proud; who cares about all those blatant lies to the press and social media? Those will all be lost in the flurry of information anyway. The truth is out there. But so is the right-wing spin machine. Image via Wikimedia Commons Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today held a video call with President of the Asian Development Bank Masatsugu Asakawa. Pashinyan congratulated Asakawa on being appointed to the position of President of the ADB and invited him to visit Armenia after the pandemic is over. Pashinyan stated that the ADB is one of Armenias reliable partners and that the joint programs in various sectors and the support to the development of the private sector in Armenia attest to the effectiveness of the partnership. The Prime Minister also highly appreciated the financial and technical assistance that the ADB is providing to Armenia to overcome the economic consequences of the coronavirus. Asakawa cordially accepted Pashinyans invitation to visit Armenia and emphasized that the ADB attaches importance to the deepening of the mutually beneficial partnership with Armenia. He welcomed the Armenian governments anti-crisis programs and reaffirmed the willingness to continue to support Armenia through the partnership program and to overcome the economic hardships caused by the pandemic. The Prime Minister and the ADB President also discussed issues on the agenda of cooperation between the Government of Armenia and the ADB. They exchanged views on the current state of the pandemic in Armenia, the policy on overcoming the social and economic consequences of the pandemic and the prospects for partnership in this context. With triple-digit temperatures in the forecast this week, one San Antonio resort's water park pass could be coming just in time. Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa, located on the Far West Side, now offers day passes Monday through Thursday. Both the general day pass and cabana pass grant access to the resort's water park, which features a two-story water slide and a 950-foot lazy river modeled after the Guadalupe River. READ ALSO: Colorado columnist says Texans fleeing COVID-19 make him want to 'Forget the Alamo!' "We are excited to offer day pass options to our beautiful Hill Country resort," said Joe Herman, the resort's director of spa and recreation. "The day pass options allow local guests to enjoy all of the benefits of a resort getaway without having to stay overnight. "As day passes are limited each day based on the resorts occupancy, they provide a great way to escape the Texas heat while having plenty of space to keep a safe social distance from others." The general day pass costs $75 per person, while the cabana pass which includes water park access for up to six people costs $600. Each cabana has a television, refrigerator and lounge chairs. Food and cocktails are available poolside, according to a release. The pool and cabanas are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa resumed operations on May 21 after shutting down amid the coronavirus pandemic. The resort has limited capacity at its restaurants, pools and lazy river. (Natural News) It has been nearly three full months of daily violence in the streets of Portland, with Antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters continuing to ransack businesses, attack innocent bystanders, and even attempt to murder people whom they claim are white supremacists. Over the weekend, a mob of pasty white liberals and black thugs surrounded a white pickup truck before dragging its driver, a white man, into the street and beating him senseless. The mob proceeded to rummage through the mans car, and when he attempted to stand up, they proceeded to slam his head onto the pavement. At one point while the man was trying to recover, a younger black male rushed over and kicked him square in the head, knocking him unconscious. Disturbing and extremely graphic footage of the incident from start to finish, and from multiple angles, was uploaded to Twitter by independent journalist Andy Ngo. It is also available at Brighteon below: As you will notice, there was no law enforcement anywhere in sight, just hordes of violent terrorists roaming around obstructing traffic and causing chaos. And any vehicle that stopped for too long was surrounded and attacked, its drivers and passengers threatened with violence for being white supremacists. Is this poor man still alive? We are awaiting reports Just prior to the beating incident, the man who quickly became a victim was seen trying to explain to his attackers how and why his vehicle crashed. He was forced to sit on the pavement and wait while they searched his vehicle for some unknown reason, and was violently forced to remain until they decided they were finished. Because he apparently stood up too early, the man was repeatedly beaten, with obvious blood from his head and body pouring out all over the street. Plenty of bystanders were seen watching or filming the incident, while one black man was seen riding around on a scooter as if nothing was even happening. Meanwhile, other bystanders were heard shouting and screaming in support of the beating, with the usual cries of black lives matter! Only one woman was heard actually trying to care for the injured man, urging those around her with phones to call 911. Police later arrived on the scene long after the incident occurred, and proceeded to try to tow away the mans vehicle. As law enforcement was doing this, the angry mob started screaming that such actions were protecting white supremacists, even though it was the innocent white man who was beaten by a mob that included angry, violent blacks. It is not yet clear whether the man who was beaten is still alive, or what his condition might be. All we know is that he was last seen unconscious as some members of the mob were trying to remove his body from the middle of the intersection. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler now openly admits that Antifa and BLM terrorists are attempting to commit murder, and yet nothing is being done to stop it. In fact, many Democrats are still claiming that the rioting is mostly peaceful, even though it is clearly not. So, how much further will this all go before decent Americans finally step up and take matters into their own hands? What it is going to take is a few of these punks getting sent home in body bags by legally armed citizens, and when these punks realize that death awaits them the dynamic will change, wrote one Breitbart News commenter. The spineless politicians should take note that justice is coming. More related news about Black Lives Matter and Antifa terrorism is available at CivilWar.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com Brighteon.com NaturalNews.com Nokian Tyres has begun the second stage of hiring at its factory in Rhea County where it is preparing to launch a second shift of production. The global tire company plans to hire upwards of 50 team members starting in September. Potential applicants can visit NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory to apply. Those who previously applied for jobs at the factory do need to re-apply to indicate their willingness to work a night shift. The global tire company is pursuing candidates to work in its mixing, tire production, quality, maintenance and logistics areas, and those interested in performing tasks related to general factory overhead. Most production positions require the following qualifications: High school diploma and/or GED Associates degree from an accredited community, technical or vocational college preferred 1-to-2 years of direct experience in a manufacturing environment preferred Experience with lean/process improvement tools and/or interest in advancing knowledge in this area Were eager to welcome new employees to our team, said Nokian Tyres HR Operations Manager Blake Markham. In the second phase of hiring, our goal is to find hard-working team players who want to join our mission to build some of the safest, most sustainable products in the tire industry. All Nokian Tyres employees at the Dayton Factory are required to wear masks while inside, are screened daily for COVID-19 symptoms, and possible exposure to others. It is paramount that we all do our part to create a safe work environment and protect our community, said officials. The upcoming addition of a second shift is the latest milestone in a series of recent achievements at the factory. In April the factory earned ISO 9001 quality certification just six months after officially opening. In May, the team celebrated one year without a lost-time injury at the facility. Nokian Tyres ultimately plans to hire approximately 400 employees to produce tires and oversee operations at the Dayton factory, which is its first production facility in North America. The company seeks to build a positive culture for its employees. Workers will be exposed to some of the most advanced production machinery and processes in the tire industry, and Nokian Tyres aims to build an environment that helps them develop professionally, said officials. For more information about Nokian Tyres Dayton Factory or to apply for jobs there, interested parties can visit NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory. The Russians who registered the first coronavirus vaccine in the world are keen on producing their candidate Sputnik V in India. India is already a key player in the vaccine manufacturing space. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund that is funding the Russian coronavirus vaccine programme said, "Moscow is keen to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India." The Russian vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow. In an interview to India Today TV, Dmitriev said Russia is in touch with Indian regulators and manufacturers to produce the COVID-19 vaccine in India. "We have great cooperation with India, Indian scientists and Indian manufacturers. They understand our technology," said Dmitriev. Dmitriev pointed out that India's manufacturing capacity is an added factor and hence Russia is interested in bringing India on board as a production partner. "We saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi comment that India is open to manufacturing the vaccine in their country...India has already invested in the vaccine sector heavily with top companies and manufacturing capabilities already exist in India, hence Moscow is keen to manufacture Sputnik V in India," Dmitriev said. The CEO of RDIF said that Russia is also open to holding clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine in India. He said that Russia is working with 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and India in their attempt to make the vaccine affordable and accessible with global production partners. Dmitriev addressed concerns about the safety of the Russian coronavirus vaccine as well. As the process sped up, many experts raised concerns that the vaccine did not complete all the necessary clinical trials before the registration. Russian President Vladimir Putin had addressed the concerns and said that it is safe and that one of his daughters has also received the vaccine. Dmitriev said, "The vaccine is safe and reliable. I have been inoculated along with my entire family, including my 90-year old parents. Our target is to inoculate 40 million people in Russia. The vaccine platform has been developed over the last six years and hence has no side effects," he said. He added that countries do not need WHO clearance for procurement of the vaccine but of domestic regulators. "The WHO is changing its language on accepting Sputnik V. Countries do not need WHO clearance to procure the vaccine. It needs to be authorised by the domestic regulator," he added. Also read: Oxford coronavirus vaccine: Serum Institute to begin Phase 3 trials this week Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Russia produces first batch; CanSino receives patent approval in China Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned from his post and dissolved his government and parliament after he was detained by soldiers in a crisis that escalated following weeks of protests. If elements of the army felt compelled to intervene to bring an end to this, I have no choice but to comply, Keita, 75, said minutes after midnight Wednesday in an address broadcast on state television. I dont want a single drop of blood to be shed. Tensions have run high in the West African nation since tens of thousands of people started gathering weeks ago to demand that Keita, whos known as IBK, resign. While the protests started over discontent with his refusal to raise wages for teachers and doctors, they later widened to include criticism over alleged corruption and nepotism within the administration. On Tuesday, rebellious soldiers took Keita to military barracks in Malis biggest garrison town of Kati, on the outskirts of the capital, Bamako, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because theyre not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Prime Minister Boubou Cisse was also arrested, one of the people said. Efforts by the Economic Community of West African States to mediate between the government and protesters had so far failed. The opposition demonstrations have been led by Mahmoud Dicko, a conservative, Saudi-trained preacher whos been a vocal critic of the government for several years. Ecowas condemned the overthrow of the Keitas democratically elected government in a statement emailed hours before the leaders televised speech, and called for the organizations forces to be on standby. The bloc also announced sanctions that included closing borders and the suspension of trade. The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, urged Ecowas, the United Nations and other international organizations to join efforts and oppose the use of force to resolve the political crisis in Mali, according to a post on his Twitter account. The United Nations also condemned the soldiers actions Tuesday and called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali, a spokesman for the Secretary-General said in a statement on the organizations website. Power Vacuum The situation in Mali is reminiscent of the 2012 ouster of Keitas predecessor, Amadou Toumani Toure, by junior officers angry about the lack of resources needed to fight Tuareg rebels in the north. The subsequent power vacuum was exploited by al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups who seized control of the north. A French military intervention pushed back the insurgents, but some groups later returned and expanded to carry out attacks on civilians and about 15,000 UN peacekeepers in the country. The international community will be perturbed by the mutiny, Alexandre Raymakers, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, said in a research note. France will fear it will worsen the ongoing political crisis, creating a major political vacuum and derail efforts to contain the growing insurgency, he said before Keita was seized by the soldiers. The governments inability to quash the Islamist insurgencies, which have claimed thousands of lives, fueled many of the protests against Keita. The leader assumed office on a wave of optimism after 2013 elections, but critics said he didnt fulfill any of his campaign pledges after his 2018 re-election. (Updates with background, Ecowas threat to deploy force from fifth paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2020 Bloomberg L.P. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON JEFFERSON CITY Confirmed cases of the coronavirus within the Missouri Department of Corrections have increased more than 50% during August, according to department figures published this week. State figures show 333 new cases among offenders and staff since the beginning of the month; the department had reported 661 total cases until that point. The increase appears to be led by two eastern Missouri prisons: the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, where the number of cases among offenders and staff more than doubled this month, from 105 on Aug. 1 to 232 on Tuesday, and the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific, where cases rose from 108 to 163 during the same period. A department spokeswoman attributed much of the recent statewide increase to more testing at the two prisons, and said all prisons have undergone mass testing. All offenders and all staff in all prisons have been tested at least once, said Karen Pojmann, spokeswoman for the department. Most cases of COVID-19 in Missouri prisons have been found through mass testing testing all offenders and all staff in all facilities and the vast majority of cases are asymptomatic. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 22:05:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell to seven-year low in June from a month earlier as the coronavirus continued to hamper demand and expenditure, the government said in a report on Wednesday. According to the Cabinet Office, orders, excluding those for ships and from electricity utilities due to their volatility, dropped 7.6 percent to 706.6 billion yen (6.70 billion U.S. dollars), the lowest since February 2013. Based on the latest figures, the Cabinet Office again downwardly revised its assessment saying that machinery orders are "decreasing." Orders from manufacturers increased 5.6 percent to 298.2 billion yen (2.82 billion U.S. dollars), the office said, while those from non-manufacturers fell 10.4 percent to 428.4 billion yen (4.06 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period. The Japanese economy booked a record contraction in the April-June period of an annualized real 27.8 percent as a result of a near economic standstill amid pandemic-induced business closures in Japan and globally, which saw consumption, half of Japan's GDP, particularly hard hit. Waning consumption in twine with capital expenditure falling 1.5 percent during the April-June period, took its toll on machinery orders, economists said, with the outlook still looking murky amid businesses' uncertainty about increasing spending during the pandemic. In the three months to June from the previous quarter, machinery orders dropped 12.9 percent, the Cabinet Office said, while also projecting a 1.9-percent retreat in orders for the July-September quarter. Orders from overseas, an indicator of future exports, meanwhile, retreated 3.9 percent to 539.7 billion yen (5.11 billion U.S. dollars), the office also said. Total orders, meanwhile, fell 8.4 percent to total 1.71 trillion yen (16.21 billion U.S. dollars), the latest data showed. Machinery orders are a key advance indicator for corporate capital spending and the government uses this key data to predict the strength of business spending in six to nine months. A rise in capital expenditure here can boost the economy as Japanese companies are producing more machinery to meet rising demands from overseas markets. A drop in such expenditure, as was seen among key components comprising Japan's recent GDP figure, can have the reverse effect. Such business investment accounts for roughly 15 percent of Japan's economy. Types of machinery included in the monthly government survey comprise engines and turbines, heavy electrical machinery, electronic and communication equipment, industrial machinery, machine tools, railway rolling stock, road vehicles, aircraft, ships, water crafts, as well as sub types in those categories. Enditem Three coral bleaching events in the past five years have state and federal governments worried for the Great Barrier Reefs health as they ask for public submissions on the 2050 reef strategy, which will shortly go to UNESCO. The reef supports about 64,000 jobs and contributes about $6.4 billion to the Australian economy each year, mostly through tourism. Fish swim among bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef during the back-to-back summers of bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Credit:Ove Hoegh-Guldberg "As an asset, its value has been estimated at $56 billion," the joint federal and Queensland government study finds. The serious concerns are expressed in the draft Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan, which is now open for six weeks' public consultation. Mali awoke on Wednesday to a new chapter in its troubled history after rebel military leaders forced President Boubacar Keita from office, prompting its West African neighbours to threaten border closures and sanctions against the coup leaders. Keita, embattled by months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a brutal Islamist insurgency, said he had resigned to avoid bloodshed. There were few obvious traces of the previous day's drama in the capital Bamako -- there were no troops on the streets despite the coup leaders announcing a night-time curfew. The burnt-out home of the former justice minister after an attack by protesters was one of the few visible signs of the overthrow. Jubilant crowds had cheered the rebels on Tuesday as they arrived in Bamako, where they detained Keita along with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse. Map showing the West African country of Mali and the sequence of events leading to resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.. By Janis LATVELS (AFP) UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded the "immediate and unconditional release" of both men as diplomats in New York said the Security Council would hold emergency talks on Wednesday. It was unclear whether Keita was still in custody on Wednesday at the Kati military base -- a facility seized by the mutineers that was also the site of the 2012 coup that brought him to power. The coup leaders appeared on television overnight to pledge a political transition and new elections within a "reasonable time". Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff Ismael Wague said he and his fellow officers had "decided to take responsibility in front of the people and of history". There were no reports of casualties during the military takeover but the coup leaders announced a curfew and border closures, in effect sealing off the country. Jihadist insurgency French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first to condemn the mutiny, his office saying that he still supported mediation efforts by other West African states. The burnt-out home of the former justice minister after an attack by protesters was one of the few visible signs of the overthrow. By ANNIE RISEMBERG (AFP) Mali is the cornerstone of French-led efforts to roll back jihadists in the Sahel, and its neighbours are anxious to avoid the country sliding into chaos. Colonel Wague said "all past agreements" would be respected, including Mali's support for anti-jihadist missions in the region. "MINUSMA (the UN force in Mali), (France's) Barkhane force, the G5 Sahel, Takuba (a European special-forces initiative) remain our partners," he said. The coup leaders also remain "committed to the Algiers process," a 2015 peace agreement between the Malian government and armed groups in the north of the country, he said. Factfile on Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita who resigned with immediate effect late Tuesday after a military coup.. By John SAEKI (AFP) Swathes of Mali's territory are outside of the control of the central authorities. Years of fighting have failed to brake an Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since emerging in 2012. The failure fuelled frustrations with Keita's rule and tensions flared in April after the government held long-delayed parliamentary elections, the results of which are still disputed. Sanctions threat The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) last month suggested the formation of a unity government while offering continued support for Keita, but the compromise was slapped down by the opposition. Malians hold up a placard reading 'Long live CMAS (Coordination of movements and associations sympathetic to Imam Mahmoud Dicko) - long live Mali - Good Bye IBK (for Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita) as they demonstrate at Independence Square in Bamako on August 18, 2020, after rebel troops seized Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse in a dramatic escalation of a months-long crisis. Neighbouring states in West Africa, along with France, the European Union and the African Union, condemned the sudden mutiny and warned against any unconstitutional change of power in the fragile country.. By STRINGER (AFP) ECOWAS condemned the coup in a statement, pledging to close land and air borders to Mali and push for sanctions against "all the putschists and their partners and collaborators". The 15-nation bloc -- which includes Mali -- also said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies. Further afield, Morocco on Wednesday stressed the need for "stability" in Mali, calling for "responsible dialogue, respect for constitutional order and the preservation of democratic gains." The coup coincided with opposition plans to resume protests against Keita. The June 5 Movement, named after the date of its first protest, focussed public anger against the leader and made increasingly strident demands for his resignation. Its campaign veered into crisis last month when 11 people were killed during three days of unrest sparked by a demonstration. burs-jxb/ri Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Khartoum, Sudan Wed, August 19, 2020 13:00 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f16956 2 World Israel,Sudan,normalization,ties,Israel-Palestine-conflict,Israel-UAE,Israel-annexation,Middle-East-conflict Free Sudanese officials Tuesday issued contradictory comments on whether the country was in contact with Israel with a view to normalizing relations between the two nations. Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which for years supported hardline Islamist forces. When asked by AFP on Tuesday if there had been direct contact between Sudan and Israel, or whether Khartoum had taken steps to normalize ties with the Jewish state or sign a peace deal, foreign ministry spokesman Haider Badawi responded, "I cannot deny it." Badawi also told Sky News Arabia television on Tuesday that "there is no reason for the continuation of hostilities between Sudan and Israel". But foreign minister Omar Gamaledinne later said "the question of relations with the Israelis has never been discussed by the Sudanese government." "The declaration made by Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman Haider Badawi has astonished us because he is not mandated to comment on this subject," Gamaledinne added in a statement. Last week, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalize relations, a historic shift making the Gulf state only the third Arab country to agree to establish full diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. The Israeli press had said Bahrain or Oman but also Sudan could be next. Badawi told AFP the UAE's decision was "a courageous step on the right track towards peace in the Middle East and the world". "Peace between Israelis and Arabs will favor world peace," he added. In an apparent reaction to Badawi's comments, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Tuesday that his country and Sudan "will be able together to build a better future for all peoples of the region." "We will do whatever is necessary to turn vision into reality," the Israeli premier added. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who heads Sudan's transitional sovereign council, met with Netanyahu in February for talks that appeared to signal an end to Khartoum's long-standing boycott of the Jewish state. Soon after their meeting, held in Uganda, Netanyahu announced that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate towards normalizing ties. Sudan's cabinet later denied that Burhan had made promises of normalization. Proptech is fast becoming the buzzword for the real estate industry in China thanks to its enhanced human experience, operational excellence, safety and health, as well as digital drive, a new report said. Broadly, proptech refers to the application of technology in the property industry. Global real estate consultancy JLL said in a recent white paper that China is witnessing an early-stage development of the proptech ecosystem jointly created by real estate enterprises, technology companies and relevant professional organizations. The constant interaction between real estate and technology companies is going to generate ideas, promote integration, and create value for the sector as a whole. Proptech also refers to a wide spectrum of digital and technological trends in the real estate industry involving technologically innovative products like digital business models, smart buildings and smart cities. The white paperReimagine the Future of Real Estatecomes at a time when China's commercial real estate market is facing internal pressure due to intense competition and rising uncertainties from external factors and events this year. The report, based on responses from over 200 proptech companies and key stakeholders in China, summarizes the application scenarios, technical characteristics and enduser demands of 12 key property technologies including cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, building information management, virtual reality or augmented reality, indoor navigation, robotics, 5G, blockchain, unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous vehicles. KK Fung, CEO of JLL China, said: "Proptech is the key growth engine for the re-imagining of the real estate market. By enhancing the resilience of any commercial property, proptech can mitigate potential market risks and maximize long-term asset values." The report said proptech empowers a property from four perspectiveshuman experience, operational excellence, safety and health, and digital drive. The implementation of proptech in a commercial building enhances the capability to respond and mitigate risks for landlords, developers and investors. "In addition to cost reduction and productivity improvement, the enhancement of health and safety or human experience should also become an effective measure of valuing proptech in the post-COVID-19 era," said Fung. "Real estate consumption has created several opportunities for technologies to be part of the sector upgrade process," said Yan Yuejin, director of Shanghai-based Ehouse China Research and Development Institution. Proptech investment has grown rapidly during the past five years and hit a record in the first half of 2019. "China is one of the most dynamic markets for proptech in the world. One of the key changes in the commercial real estate sector is the quest for experience services ...The future is software plus services combining life, work and play," said Jack Woo, head of digital and technology with CBRE North Asia. Flexible spaces, experience services, smart building, online listing platforms and brokerages, and space visualization are some of the industry-specific trends that are reshaping the overall landscape of China's commercial real estate industry, said Woo. "From design and construction to maintenance, renovation, and further to the enhancement of conformability and living experience, there are enormous opportunities in embedding technology into the residential sector alone, especially with regard to the Chinese market," said Chen Jie, a professor specializing in property research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "The proptech ecosystem in China is still in its infancy. In the future, it will further accelerate the digital transformation of the country's real estate industry in terms of integration, efficiency and talent development... We believe that the digital transformation will not only lead to sustainable growth in the long term but reshape the future of the industry," said Fung. "In our view, the application of proptech in the next few years will bring new development opportunities for the real estate industry as a whole. Globally, it is still a new concept, but it will have an impact on the property sector and create enormous opportunities," said Zhang Ying, managing director for JLL North China. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Tara Books, with 25 years of publishing history in Chennai, is not one to let the Madras Week pass without marking it in its own way. This city has informed our practice and can be seen everywhere from our cultural space for the books and art (Book Building), to the books we publish. Book Building, like many other spaces, has sadly been closed. This year, since so much of our lives has become enclosed and indoors, the vivacity of Chennai urban life is sorely missed. Tara Books is celebrating by looking at Madras through Kitchens, Cinema and Seas, reads the release from the publication house. With this in mind, theyve listed three books below that retain the flavours of Chennai, while also positioning its culture within the currents of global contexts. THE 9 EMOTIONS OF INDIAN CINEMA HOARDINGS The Erotic. The Valorous. The Furious. The Terror-stricken. The Pathetic. The Comic. The Disgusting. The Marvellous. The Peaceful. There is a spectrum of nine emotions that the superior work of art should evoke, explains the Natyashastra, one of the oldest surviving texts on stagecraft in the world. This book deconstructs each of these emotions and explodes them into their modern context: Indian cinema billboards. Film hoardings artist MP Dhakshna uses his colourful palette and bold imagery to invoke the visual history of a public art form that has all but disappeared from our streets. TRAVELS THROUGH SOUTH INDIAN KITCHENS For a traveller, a household kitchen in a strange land is usually a remote destination, but it is one that tells the truth about food and everyday life, says Nao Saito, architect and designer from Japan. A kitchen is usually thought of as a particular arrangement of space. But a space is not just a fixed physical structure it is also fluid, shaped by the way in which people use it. Keeping this connection in mind, Nao Saito set out to explore a colourful variety of kitchens during her stay in Chennai. With her abiding interest in people and cookery, she finally came up with this richly perceptive travelogue, bringing together floor plans, sketches, photographs, impressions, recipes and conversation. AN INDIAN BEACH This beach, based on Besant Nagar beach is full of activity. By day, you can see fishermen bring in the catch, women selling fish, people and animals going about their businessbut then, when the sun starts to set, the beach becomes a different place now its time for everyone to play, talk, sit around, eat and have fununtil the fisherfolk go to sleep, and all the others go home. Back-to-school season is off to a challenging start. As new cases of the coronavirus are reported at K-12 schools that have reopened, many others are facing the difficult decision of whether or not to return to in-person classes. At some of the nations top universities, administrators are also struggling to formulate a cohesive plan to keep students on campus and safe from the virus. After reopening last week, the University of Notre Dame reported 89 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, saying they were linked to a campus party. The school announced new restrictions that would go into effect for the next two weeks, including remote instruction for undergrads, closed public spaces and requiring off campus students to remain off campus. MORE: Coronavirus updates: CDC to start surveying nation's wastewater If these steps are not successful, well have to send students home as we did last spring, announced Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the university. The university's decision comes as 1,800 high school students are currently quarantining in Cherokee County, Georgia following a return to in-person school on Aug. 3. At the University of Texas Austin, where students moved in on Monday, sophomore Sophia Gurin is already worried that she will be sent home because of the virus. I have an in-person class, so I do have to go to class. Im going to do my best and practice safety and wear my mask, wash my hands often, but I feel like ... its spreading pretty fast, said Gurin. School administrators at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill had to change their plans after just a week since students arrived back on campus. Most in-person instruction was cancelled Monday and the school is now encouraging students to leave campus. PHOTO: People remove belongings on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., amid the coronavirus pandemic, March 18, 2020. (Gerry Broome/AP, FILE) I think were going to wait it out and once they kick us out, well go home. I think thats our plan for now, said freshman Fiona Kincaid. Health officials are warning college students, many of whom are known to party, that large gatherings are not helpful. Story continues MORE: Faces of some of the more than 160,000 lives lost in US to coronavirus "We can't have these large parties because of the level of asymptomatic spread," said Dr. Deborah Birx on Aug. 18 at a briefing in Jefferson City, Mo. At Ithaca College in New York, freshman Rita Aucker was notified in an email from her university president on Monday that school will be online this semester. And just for general public health and safety reasons, it makes sense for all of us to stay home, Aucker told ABC News. ABC News' Steve Osunsami, Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report. This report was featured in the Wednesday, Aug. 19, 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. Colleges rethink reopening: 'If these steps are not successful, we'll have to send students home' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Omar Prescott, 33, of Lorton was driving south in the 7800 block of Loisdale Road in the Springfield area about 12:30 a.m. Aug. 10 when his car struck a southbound bus, county police said. Prescott was thrown from the car and taken to a hospital, police said. Rocket fired by militants in Gaza exploded in southern Israel on Tuesday night, Israel's army said amidst rising tensions in the region. "One projectile was launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory," a military spokesperson said in a short statement. The rocket triggered sirens in the city of Ashkelon and in the community of Kibbutz Zikim, both are in southern Israel, according to the statement. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said no injury has been reported. Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone with local council heads from the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip. He told them that over the past 10 days, the military has carried out daily airstrikes targeting infrastructures belonging to Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, Xinhua reported. The coming US elections now just 11 weeks away might show an America more divided than ever on issues like social justice and the countrys economic prospects. But when it comes to China, the Democratic Partys platform will not pave the way to a reduction in bilateral frictions. The 90-page Democratic Party platform, to be approved by delegates to the partys national convention this week, contains passages that echo some of the rhetoric that has defined the attacks on China made by US President Donald Trumps administration but also insists that the trade war Trump started with China more than two years ago has weakened America economically. The Democratic platform, crafted as a statement of the agenda of the party and its presidential nominee, Joe Biden, lambasts the Trump administration's handling of China in all issue arenas: trade, human rights, national security, public health and so on, said Allen Carlson, director of Cornell Universitys China and Asia-Pacific studies programme. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. More interestingly, it does not in any meaningful way diverge from the Republicans' critical assessment of China: that it is a country whose rise under [Chinese President Xi Jinping] poses a stark challenge to the United States. Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in 2012, when both were vice-presidents of their respective countries. Now, as the Democratic Party prepares to nominate Biden as its candidate against US President Donald Trump, its platform suggests maintaining a hard line against China on some issues but taking different steps on others. Photo: AP The platforms China plank calls for a united front with Washingtons allies as a more effective strategy against Beijing, suggesting a rejection of the confrontational style that Trump has used with all of Americas main trading partners while he escalated tensions with China. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the risks of relying too heavily on global supply chains, as shutdowns and shortages have created chaos for workers and consumers and made our public health response even more challenging, the platform says. The Trump administration has failed time after time to deliver for American workers on this crucial issue, siding with corporate interests over our workers and launching a trade war with China that they have no plan for winning creating incredible hardship for American farmers, manufacturers, workers, and consumers in the process, it adds. Story continues Top administration officials, including White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, have made accusations for years that unfair Chinese trade practices hollowed out Americas manufacturing base, and the coronavirus pandemic escalated the urgency with which they pushed to reshore production. The big takeaway of [the pandemic] for the American people, for Congress, and its something the president already knew, is that we have to onshore our production, particularly for medicines and medical supplies and equipment, Navarro said in a Fox News interview in April, as infections surged in New York and several other US cities. The reason why they don't have adequate [personal protective equipment] there and in New York City and Boston and Chicago and Detroit is because China basically is hoarding it and now they are also selling it back to the world at prices that are obscene, Navarro added without providing any evidence of the alleged hoarding or price-gouging. However, Trumps use of punitive tariffs as a tool to rebalance the US-China economic relationship has drawn fire since he began them in 2018 including from many in Trumps own Republican Party for the way it has replaced the free market with massive government subsidies. According to an analysis by Politico last month, federal subsidies to US farmers have climbed each year of Trumps presidency, to an all-time record of more than $32 billion so far this year from $11.5 billion in 2017. A banner on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware near the home of Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate celebrates the partys nominating convention, which is being held virtually because of the pandemic. Photo: AFP In April, a coalition of almost 100 former high-ranking US officials and scholars issued a joint statement calling on Washington and Beijing to freeze hostilities while working together to fight the pandemic, starting with a rollback in tariffs. We are not doing our own economies or the global economy any favours by having a trade war in place after this pandemic is over, Carlos Gutierrez, a signatory to the statement who served as US commerce secretary in the administration of George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009, said in an interview at the time. We're looking at a second quarter that, I've seen estimates ranging from 20 to 30 per cent down, so to have a trade war in the middle of that, the jobs that it would cost, the unemployment that it would create, it just doesn't make sense, Gutierrez said. However, Biden, vice-president during the Barack Obama administration, would be hard pressed to eliminate all the tariffs immediately if he assumes office in January, said Christopher Miller, an expert in US diplomatic history. When you listen to Biden's rhetoric about protecting the American worker, it's difficult to sort of translate that rhetoric into real existing trade agreements, said Miller, an associate professor of international history at Tufts Universitys Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Miller noted how toxic Americas plan four years ago to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had become. Indeed, Trumps presidency began with his withdrawal from the 12-nation TPP trade pact, which US officials under Obama had spent years hammering out with Japan, South Korea and other major economies in the region with the notable exception of China. Obama framed the TPP as the centrepiece of America's strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region, part of a bid, the White House said at the time, to promote a liberal political order that promotes peace and human dignity, based on human rights and the rule of law. US President Donald Trump has taken some steps, like withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that analysts regard as difficult to reverse. Photo: AFP The Democratic platform also suggests that Trumps tax and trade policies have caused job losses in the US, and vows to work with allies to undo this damage, another area where Bidens agenda diverges from Trumps. We will eliminate President Trumps tax and trade policies that encourage big corporations to ship jobs overseas and evade paying their fair share of taxes, the statement says. And we will take immediate action to repair the damage President Trumps reckless policies have done to American farmers, by working with our allies to stand up to China and negotiate from the strongest possible position. But any US attempt to negotiate back into trade agreements would not be as strong as when Washington led those talks, given how much importance both Democrats and Republicans now attach to jobs, Miller said. Congress, he added, would not necessarily be more amenable to trade agreements even if Democrats take control of both chambers after the election. It's actually not clear that we'll see reductions in the tariffs that are already imposed on China, but certainly I think we wouldn't expect to see new tariffs in a Biden administration on China, he said. That's different than saying we're going to work together with allies on an economic agenda that would be relevant for setting the rules of Asia-Pacific trade and investment in a way that would address some of the practices that China undertakes that Biden says he's worried about, Miller explained. If you're not going to rejoin TPP, which seems politically impossible, what are you going to do instead? The Democrats platform suggests few changes under a Biden presidency with respect to Hong Kong autonomy and other social justice issues. We will fully enforce the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, including by sanctioning officials, financial institutions, companies, and individuals responsible for undercutting Hong Kongs autonomy, it says, referring to legislation sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the Republican Partys most vocal China hawks. We will bring the world together to condemn the internment of more than one million Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in concentration camps in China, using the tools provided by the Uygur Human Rights Policy Act, the platform adds. The two laws have been used to sanction Hong Kong officials, including the citys Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, and mainland Chinese officials including Chen Quanguo, party secretary of Chinas Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Carlson, of Cornell, said that Biden will somewhat temper his approach to China should he be elected, but not by a lot. Politically he would not be able to, and, in terms of American interests he cannot. But, in contrast to Trump, his policy would, without question, be more coherent and comprehensive and a product of the usual policymaking process, Carlson said. And, actually, this may pose more of a problem for Xi than he now faces. More from South China Morning Post: This article Bidens Democrats talk tough on China, but see different measures than Trump first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. The daughter of a prominent imprisoned human rights advocate and internationally renowned lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested on Monday and taken for interrogation was released the same day, her father said. An "Islamic Revolutionary Court" based at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, had summoned the twenty-year-old Mehraveh Khandan in what was a possible pressure tactic against her mother. Speaking to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Mehraveh's father, Reza Khandan, confirmed his daughter's release, adding that five intelligence agents had arrested Mehraveh "without explanation" and taken her to Branch 1 of the Evin Court. Meanwhile, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) referred to Mehraveh's detention on Monday, emphasizing that by such actions, the Islamic Republic Judiciary aims to put "more pressure" on Nasrin Sotoudeh who has gone on hunger strike, demanding the release of political prisoners in the clergy-dominated Iran. In a letter on August 11, Sotoudeh announced that she had gone on an open-ended hunger strike. According to her lawyer she wrote in the letter that her decision was to protest the "unfair" and "illegal" condition of political prisoners in Iran, which has been "aggravated" since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. "Political [activists] have been accused of unbelievable acts: espionage, corruption on earth, undermining national security, prostitution, forming illegal channels on [messaging app] Telegram which can keep them behind bars for up to ten years or even lead to execution," Sotoudeh wrote. "From the very start of the judicial process all the way through to sentencing, many suspects are denied independent legal representation or prevented from unrestrained consultation with their lawyers." She added that since "all correspondences remain unanswered," she decided to start a hunger strike. International award-winning Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison and 148 lashes on several charges, including conspiracy against national security, spreading lies and disturbing public opinion. Mehraveh's arrest, many social media activists believe, was meant to exert more pressure on the acclaimed lawyer. On July 28, Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported that to further pressure her, Iran authorities had frozen Nasrin Sotoudehs bank accounts, while none of the charges against her were finance related. Sotoudeh represented many human rights activists, women's rights activists, victims of child abuse, and juvenile defenders on death row. She was previously jailed from August 2010 to September 2013 for her professional and human rights activities. Last February, French President Macron personally invited Nasrin Sotoudeh, to participate in a G7 council for promoting human rights. "I am pleased to invite you to this initiative to advance real equality between women and men around the world," Macron wrote to Sotoudeh. Sotoudeh's seat in the council in France was kept vacant and adorned with a bouquet while she was behind bars in Tehran's infamous Evin prison. Salman Khan is counted among the most eligible bachelors of India and is yet to share his plans about tying the knot. He was once asked by Kajol if there had been a girl whom he liked but didnt confess his feelings for her. The actor went on to talk about his childhood love whom he bumped into around 15 years ago. Kajol and husband Ajay Devgn had visited the sets of Bigg Boss 13 for the promotion of their film Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior and made Salman appear for a truth test. When Kajol asked him about a girl to whom he didnt confess his feelings, Salman said that there was indeed a girl who never came to know about his feelings for her. He said her dog bit him at that time. Despite Kajol bringing an end to the topic, Salman went on to reveal, I really liked her but didnt tell her out of fear of rejection. Three of my friends, individually, at some point of time, had an affair with her. And I got to know this later that she actually liked me. He went on to share that when he bumped into that girl around 15 years ago, he felt glad about not telling her about his feelings. Thank god I didnt tell her, she was a grandmother he said, adding, She said, My grandchildren are fans of yours. They love your movies. Salman burst into laughter and said that had he married her he would have been a grandfather by now. Also read: Abhay Deol slams his movie Raanjhanaa for its regressive message: History will not look kindly at this film Salman is all set to host the 14th season of the reality show, Bigg Boss. The actor has been busy farming at his farmhouse in Panvel throughout the coronavirus pandemic and has dropped hints about making the contestants do the same in the new season. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An Oneida County corrections officers leg was fractured during a fight with an inmate, the Oneida County Sheriffs Office said Tuesday. The officer, who deputies did not name, was searching the cell of Derrick Snell when Snell became unruly, deputies said. Snell, 25, of Rome, yelled obscenities and became aggressive, deputies said. A second officer helped the first to secure Snell, but Snell began fighting with the officers, according to deputies. Thats when one of the officers leg was fractured, deputies said. The officer was taken to Rome Memorial Hospital, was treated and was then released, deputies said. Snell was charged with second-degree assault and arraigned at Centralized Arraignment Court, according to deputies. His bail was set at $25,000 cash or $30,000 bond, deputies said. A great-great-grandmother who has lived through two world wars has celebrated her 102nd birthday after beating coronavirus. Jean Steele moved into the COVID-19-riddled Newmarch House aged care home in Sydney's west in mid-March, before contracting the virus the following month. 'I felt tired and weary. All I wanted to do was sleep and I think I told a few people to just go and leave me alone,' she told Nine News. 'Thank goodness it's gone and I hope it doesn't come back for a second issue.' Jean Steele moved into the COVID-19-riddled Newmarch House aged care home in Sydney's west in mid-March, before contracting the virus the following month Ms Steele was born in Cowra in 1918, and has lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, and now the COVID-19 pandemic Ms Steele was born in Cowra in 1918, and has lived through World War I and II, the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. 'There has been a bit [that has] happened,' she said. Her son Peter said he was only allowed to visit his mother through a window. 'I couldn't even wave goodbye I wanted to wave and I couldn't move my fingers,' Ms Steele said. The great-great-grandmother endured a 36-day battle with the virus before eventually shaking it. Her birthday comes comes a week after a royal commission heard there was a 'standoff' between federal and NSW officials early in the outbreak at Newmarch House about whether virus-positive residents should be hospitalised. A total of 37 residents contracted coronavirus - 19 of which died - after the first positive case on April 11. Of 37 positive residents, two were transferred to hospital where one died. The other 16 fatalities occurred at the nursing home. The great-great-grandmother endured a 36-day battle before eventually shaking the virus. Pictured at Newmarch House with her son (left) on her birthday A total of 37 Newmarch House (pictured) residents contracted coronavirus - 19 of which died - after the first positive case on April 11 Grant Millard, CEO of Anglicare Sydney which runs Newmarch House, told the commission that in hindsight he would have pushed harder for the transfer of infected residents to hospital. Mr Millard conceded the home was 'absolutely overwhelmed' with the challenges of dealing with the virus and regretted not properly communicating with residents' families. 'It has been traumatic for everyone involved in this situation,' he said. CHICAGO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Type (Unit Load, Mini Load, VLM, Carousel, Mid Load), Function (Storage, Order Picking, Assembly, Distribution, Kitting), Industry, and Region- Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the ASRS market is likely to reach USD 10.7 billion by 2025 from USD 7.3 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2020 to 2025. The growth of this market can be attributed to the growing demand for ASRSs in e-commerce due to onset of COVID-19, increasing demand for ASRS in automotive industry, optimum utilization of space and rise in labor costs, and improved accuracy, productivity, and efficiency in supply chain, along with better inventory control. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=195267987 "Unit load segment to lead the ASRS market from 2020 to 2025" Unit load is expected to hold the largest share of the overall market in 2020. Unit load ASRSs are used for storing large size articles. The market growth is supported by their wide range of applications in consumer goods, automotive, electronics, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals & medical supplies, and retail & apparel industries. "Storage function to lead the ASRS market during forecast period" Storage function is expected to hold the largest share of the ASRS market in 2020. Storage is a basic function of ASRS, and it enhances the storing capacity of distribution centers and manufacturing plants. Extensive use of ASRSs for storage function in industries such as automotive, food & beverages, chemicals, and healthcare is fueling the growth of the market. "Automotive industry to lead ASRS market from 2020 to 2025" The automotive industry is expected to hold the largest share of the ASRS market in 2020. The shift in demand toward electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles has prompted automakers to ramp up automotive manufacturing, which requires automotive spare parts. Automotive suppliers have to effectively manage large amounts of goods and variation and breadth of stock. Also, these suppliers need to improve the storage capacity within the available floor space. Thus, ASRSs are increasingly being used to fulfill the requirements related to material handling capacity. Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the automotive industry is incurring massive financial losses. The demand for automobiles is decreasing as people continue to be under lockdown restrictions. Skilled workers required for maintaining and optimizing ASRS in warehouses are unavailable. This has resulted in reduced demand for ASRS in automotive warehouses. Browse in-depth TOC on "Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) Market" 183 Tables 43 Figures 215 Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=195267987 "Europe to be largest market for ASRS during forecast period" Europe is expected to hold the largest market size for ASRS during the forecast period. The ASRS market in Europe is driven by countries such as Germany, the UK, and France. The significant investments in AMH equipment by automotive players and rising installations of automated equipment in European countries owing to diversified distribution channels in industries such as automotive, chemicals, healthcare, and food & beverages are contributing to the growth of the market in this region. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Europe, logistics and supply chain operations are affected severely. Supply chain disruptions will have both long-term and short-term effects on businesses. Major players operating in the ASRS market include Daifuku (Japan), Kardex (Switzerland), Murata Machinery (Japan), SSI Schaefer (Germany), TGW Logistics (Austria), KION (Germany), KUKA (Germany), Toyota Industries (Japan), BEUMER (Germany), KNAPP (Austria), Mecalux (Spain), and System Logistics (Italy)). Related Reports: Warehouse Management System Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Offering (Software, Services), Deployment (On-Premise, On-Cloud), Tier Type (Advanced, Intermediate, Basic), Industry (3PL, Automotive, E-Commerce), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis, by Type (Tow Vehicles, Unit Load Carriers, Forklift Trucks, Assembly Line Vehicles, Pallet Trucks), Navigation Technology, Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight : https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/automated-storage-retrieval-system-market.asp Content Source : https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/automated-storage-retrieval-system.asp SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Legendary classical vocalist and Padma Vibhushan recipient Pt Jasraj shared an old bond with Kashi which spanned over four decades. He visited Varanasi every year since 1973, the year he performed at the Sankatmochan Sangeet Samaroh at the Sankatmochan Temple. This year, he gave an online performance from New Jersey on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti and then during the Sankatmochan Sangeet Samaroh in April. Sankatmochan temples chief priest Vishwambhar Nath Mishra said, With the death of Pt Jasrajji, an era of music has ended. He was indeed the Sangeet Martand (shining as bright as the sun - referring to the Films Division documentary on the maestro titled Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj, in 2000). His demise is a personal loss for me. We shared over a 47-year-old bond with him. He was a legend and a very generous and great human being. He was blessed with a unique style of singing. His performance used to leave the audience enthralled. Also read: Kashi has railway stations after its three names Kashi, Varanasi, Banaras Pt Jasrajji used to stay at the guesthouse of the Sankatmochan Temple during his visit to Kashi. He never stayed in a hotel, he added. Mishra said that relations with Pt Jasrajs family will remain strong. He revealed that this year, Pt Jasraj called him up on the phone and insisted on giving an online performance on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. Seven days later he performed at the Sankatmochan Sangeet Samaroh online. In 1973, Dr Induja Awasthi, who was a professor at Delhi University, appealed to my father, Veerbhadra Mishra, to invite Pt Jasraj to the Sankatmochan Sangeet festival. Thereafter, Pt Jasraj was invited. My grandfather, Amarnath Mishra, a noted Pakhawaj artist, was very happy to meet Pt Jasraj. Soon, we were sharing family relations with him. Though his performance used to take place on the last day, he used to come on the first day of the Sankatmochan Sangeet Samaroh, Mishra added. We are left with innumerable memories of times spent with Pt Jasraj, Mishra said, adding that such a legend is born after ages. He said that Pt Jasraj spread the magic of classical singing across the world. He visited and performed in a large number of countries and also imparted training to a number of pupils, many of whom are doing well. But his demise has created a void which is impossible to fill. He will remain alive in our memories forever, Mishra said. Padma Vibhushan and noted vocalist Pt Chhannu Lal Mishra said that the man with the magical voice has left us. Pt Jasraj underwent training in classical singing at the age of 14. He also trained to play the tabla from his brother, Pt Pratap Narayan Mishra. As a radio artist, it was Pratap Narayan who shaped young Jasrajs musical abilities. (Newser) President Trump attacked mail-in voting once again on Tuesdayand suggested the election might have to be redone. "It will end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome," Trump said, referring to a shift to universal mail-in voting. "Theyll have to do it again, and nobody wants that." Reuters notes that there has never been a presidential election do-over in US history, and Trump does not have the authority to order one. The president was speaking at a White House event, where he announced that he will sign a "full and complete pardon" for suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony. story continues below "Win, lose, or draw, you have to get it right," Trump said of the November election, per the AP. "You cant have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere." Later Tuesday, Trump made a stop in Iowa, where he discussed storm damage with state officials, before traveling to Arizona, where he targeted Joe Biden on immigration, the Hill reports. The president, speaking in an airplane hangar in Yuma, said Biden had the "most radical, extreme, reckless, dangerous, and deadly immigration plan ever put forward by a major party candidate." He also repeated his claim that Mexico is paying for the border wall. "Were figuring how much we have to charge," he said. (Read more President Trump stories.) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks by video feed during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention 2020 on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention/Pool via Reuters) Ocasio-Cortez Nominates Sanders, Doesnt Mention Biden in DNC Speech Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) nominated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and did not mention Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as she delivered a 1-minute speech during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday evening. The first-term congresswoman spoke to nominate Sanders before Biden was confirmed as the partys official candidate. I want to thank everyone working towards a better, more just future for our country and our world, Ocasio-Cortez said, speaking after the Vermont senator was formally nominated by Bob King, a labor activist and lawyer. Her movement is striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia, Ocasio-Cortez asserted, adding that it realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long term stability for the many. Ocasio-Cortez faced criticism on social media about why her speech didnt make mention of Biden and instead focused on Sanders. She explained that it was part of the DNCs procedure. If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden lets go win in November, she wrote. Before that, the congresswomans supporters were upset that she was given a 60-second speaking time slot after some Republican critics of President Donald Trump such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich were allowed to speak. People on the extreme, whether theyre on the left or on the right, they get outsized publicity that tends to define their party, Kasich told BuzzFeed News about her comments. You know, I listen to people all the time make these statements, and because AOC gets outsized publicity doesnt mean she represents the Democratic Party. Shes just a part, just some member of it. Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden gives a thank you speech with supporters during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2020. (Handout/DNCC via Getty Images) Sanders was Bidens final opponent in the Democratic primary race. He suspended his bid for the nations highest office and backed Biden in April. The nomination of Sanders was seen mainly as symbolic because Biden already secured his place as the presumptive nominee several months ago after reaching 1,991 required delegates to lead the Democratic party. Sanders, meanwhile, has asked his supporters to support Biden despite their ideological differences. On Monday, Sanders spoke during the DNC and assailed President Trump. The future of our democracy is at stake, Sanders said. The price of failure is just too great to imagine. Xi Jinping on Tuesday inspected east China's Anhui Province. (Xinhua) BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected east China's Anhui Province Tuesday. Xi's tour came at a time when the country is forging ahead with its economic resumption amid dual challenges of flood relief and regular epidemic control. While uncertainties remain regarding the outlook of the global economic recovery, China's resilient economic performance has outshone the impact of the twin shocks. In July, China's value-added industrial output went up by 4.8 percent year on year as factories stepped up production amid effective epidemic control. Retail sales of commodities edged up by 0.2 percent year on year, registering positive growth for the first time this year. Other key economic indicators also showed signs of recovery. The latest data came out as local COVID-19 cases in Liaoning and Xinjiang were receding, thanks to the precise control measures. Meanwhile, China has been sparing no effort to fight huge floods this summer, with massive mobilization, evacuations, and a top-level emergency response in several hard-hit provinces. The Ministry of Water Resources on Sunday urged greater efforts in flood control as another flood in the Yangtze River is expected to occur in its upper reaches. Aerial photo taken on Aug.18, 2020 shows a view of the flood-hit Caoba Town in Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) How did China secure the safety and well-being of its people as the country fought on the two fronts of the floods and the virus? The answers range from the resilience of its economy to the edges of its governance system. As the second-largest economy in the world with the most complete supply chain, China has sufficient resources and space to weather short-term shocks, and is capable of recovering at a fast pace once the situation is under control. For instance, thanks to the growth of the economic volume and the upgrading of flood prevention and disaster relief facilities, China's direct economic losses caused by the floods as a percentage of GDP showed a downward trend during the five large-scale floods it experienced since 1997, with the latest one in 2016 causing a direct economic loss of less than 0.5 percent of GDP. Concerns over China's food shortages amid the ongoing global pandemic and the floods should also be dispelled. The stockpile of rice and wheat, two staple grains of the country, can feed the whole population for one year, with the per capita share of grain much higher than the international food security standard. The ability to pool resources for major projects is another key factor contributing to China's success in containing the epidemic and winning the battle against the floods. China's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises swiftly shifted production lines to essential materials like masks and disinfectants during the anti-virus war, contributing significantly to the total production capacity. The Three Gorges project, a multi-functional water-control system built with an enormous input of resources and technological prowess of the country, has been effective in controlling floods on the Yangtze River thanks to its precise scheduling of water discharges from the reservoir. Workers examine the melt-blown nonwoven fabric, a key material for masks, made on the newly built production line at a factory of Sinopec, in Yizheng, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 29, 2020. (Photo by Liu Yufu/Xinhua) Behind these efforts is the people-centered development philosophy of the Communist Party of China, which has won the firm support of the Chinese people. According to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, China has once again secured the top spot among 28 developed and emerging markets surveyed worldwide, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and India, with a record high public confidence in its government, business, media, and NGOs. China's economic recovery, however, still faces external pressure amid the global spread of COVID-19, while domestic demand needs further expansion. The pressure on the employment situation remains as the number of fresh graduates hit a record high of 8.74 million this year, and some small businesses are still facing difficulties in production and operation. In any case, there are reasons to feel optimistic. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackle the difficulties various countries are facing, China's experience of juggling the floods and the coronavirus and its firm commitment to the opening-up policy are inspiring. With boosted confidence and expectation, China's market of 1.4 billion consumers will maintain the recovering momentum in the second half of the year, and its recovery will bring huge benefits to the world. While the initial fear that the police might be sucked into the alleged APC gang-up against PDPs Gov. Godwin Obaseki in the lead-up to the September 19 election has yet to subside, a fresh one just came up. An allegation raked up against the governor earlier has refused to go. It has rather put him on the radar of Nigerias anti-corruption agencies as a person of interest thanks to its amplification by the Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa . Once again, on the heel of Obasekis successful campaign, the ICPC has been prompted to consider the books of Afriinvest and Primus Bank, companies Obaseki owns, which have allegedly received contracts from the state since 2016. It is even possible the commission has begun its sleaze-hounding because the federal agency was petitioned early Julyabout enough time for a witch-hunt if thats on the cards. According to the coalition, Obaseki has been stashing Edos funds in Afrinvest Ltd, and the monies formed the starting capital for Primus Bank, a regional bank awaiting CBN approval. On July 4, we were shocked, like all Edo State indigenes, to read the petition by members of Obasekis Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ICPC against the governor over his corrupt relationship with the firm (Afrinvest Limited) he founded and he was chairman of its Board of Directors, before he was elected governor, and Primus Bank, the group, through its Dep. National Chairman Jude Gadimoh, said at a press conference in Benin on Tuesday. The group fingered one of Obasekis commissioner arrested abroad for possessing an unexplained $2 million, and has remained in detention for money laundering. We demand immediate commencement of investigation into the allegations levelled by the petitioners against Obaseki, in order to serve justice to the people of Edo State, who have suffered double jeopardy of an incompetent and manically-corrupt governor. But, as expected, the governor has denied what he called senseless allegations. These are falsehood and campaigns of calumny. The allegations are not true. The governor did not divert any money. Instead, he is bringing money into the state to see how he can carry Edo forward, he said through Communication Commissioner Efe Stewart. You can see the dividends of what we call MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) that we have been talking about. We have results to show for the MoUs. The MoUs are result oriented. Obaseki said his enemies the APC, its candidate Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and backer Adams Oshiomholeknow they have failed in the September electionthat is why they are coming up with that blackmail. But the group claimed some PDP members unearthed the allegations on July 4, and petitioned the ICPC. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a CBI investigation in late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case - a judgement which was welcomed by people from all walks of life. Sushant Singh Rajput's father KK Singh has released a statement clarifying 'only lawyers' authorised to represent the family. The statement read: " It is also made clear that only I and my daughters comprise the family of Sushant and we have authorized Mr Varun Singh (SKV Law Offices. Commercial, as our Advocate and through him Mr Vikas Singh, Sr. Advocate, to represent the family. Any other person claiming himself to be the family member does not have my consent." The apex court in its judgement said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. It has also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Several celebrities thronged social media after the SC judgement on CBI for SSR came. Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. His fans and family had been batting for a CBI for last two months, suspecting a foul play into this death. Many colleges are welcoming students back for in-person learning and dormitory living this fall semester. Looming over everything: Campuses could shut back down at any time. With COVID-19 cases still high, many colleges are developing shutdown contingency plans alongside their reopening arrangements. At the same time, the pandemic ignited new debate about whether colleges should charge the same tuition for online and in-person classes. Tuition typically covers the cost of instruction salaries, software, labs and such and that cost at many schools may have increased. The University of North Carolina Wilmington, as an exception, has a different cost structure for online classes, hybrid and in-person classes. Still, it announced that students wont receive a tuition refund if in-person classes move online this fall. That leaves freshman Owen Palmer weighing the possibility that the education he is paying for may not be the one he gets. Im taking a risk because (the university) mentioned they cant do refunds, says Palmer. For him, the risk is worth it, but he does wonder what hell do if the campus has to close. Heres what he and other students can expect as the fall shapes up. DONT EXPECT A BREAK ON TUITION Some schools have cut tuition. Hampton University is offering students a 15% discount, bringing undergraduate tuition to $12,519. Other schools are offering additional scholarships and grants. But tuition decreases and additional aid arent the norm. If I had to make bets, I would say a lot of colleges will be (freezing tuition) until they get a better sense of the economy, says Arun Ponnusamy, chief academic officer at the college admissions and application counseling company Collegewise. But there will be other colleges that say, We need money to run this school. That may be happening already. George Mason University in Virginia approved a tuition increase of $450. The University of Michigan approved a 1.9% tuition increase. Both schools are planning a mix of online and in-person instruction. MEALS AND HOUSING REFUNDS LIKELY Many colleges arent publicizing their shutdown contingency plans or how refunds will work. But students can look to how their school handled refunds in the spring to gauge how fall might play out. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University gave refunds for on-campus housing and meal plans, says William Hudson Jr., the schools vice president for student affairs. If the campus has to shut down this fall, Hudson says the refund structure would probably be the same. Other colleges also offered direct refunds for students. For example, Temple University automatically deposited partial refunds for room and board in students bank accounts. The University of North Carolina Wilmington gave prorated refunds for room and board. But some colleges opted for account credit instead: The University of Arkansas refunded about 20% of room and board costs to student accounts. They havent announced an official plan in case of a fall shutdown, but staff members expect itll be the same. The University of Alabama offered a prorated refund for room and board, and parking. Students could take a cash refund immediately or apply that amount and an extra 10% as an account credit for the fall. HOW CAN YOU PREPARE? If youre planning to return to campus housing, contact your school and ask about its shutdown contingency plans. Youll want to know what factors would cause it to shut down again. This could be a campus COVID-19 outbreak of a certain size, an increase in local cases or other factors. You cant stop a campus shutdown, but if you know the metrics your school is looking at, you can anticipate it and react more confidently. Make backup plans for housing if your campus closes. Determine if youll go home, stay with a friend, get your own apartment or something else. Communicate your intentions with those you plan to stay with or scope out affordable apartments in advance. That way, if the campus shuts down suddenly, you know exactly where youll go. Ask your college about emergency funds and grants if a campus closure will cause you financial hardship. Many colleges have funds available for students. Plan how youd use a refund. If your school offers a direct refund, consider whether youll need that money for living expenses. If you dont need the money for living expenses, send the refund back to your student loan servicer. Doing so will keep your overall loan balance down and save you money in the long run. _________________________________ This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Cecilia Clark is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: cclark@nerdwallet.com. RELATED LINKS: NerdWallet: College during COVID-19. Your aid questions answered. https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-covid-19-loans The Chronicle of Higher Education: List of college reopening plans https://www.chronicle.com/article/heres-a-list-of-colleges-plans-for-reopening-in-the-fall/ 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 A New Jersey detention officer has been suspended from his job for posting on Facebook that a five-year-old boy, who was shot dead while riding his bicycle, 'should've ducked'. Cannon Hinnant, of North Carolina, was killed while riding his bike in his driveway on August 9. A neighbor, 25-year-old Darius Nathaniel Sessoms, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to his death. After Cannon's murder made national headlines, Rome Smith, who is Black and an officer at the Juvenile Detention Center in Cumberland County, allegedly wrote: 'He should've ducked. Y'all always trying to sneak diss and discredit a black person being killed innocently by police. 'Blame cannon's parents for not watching him!!! F Y'ALL,' a screenshot of Smith's alleged post reads. New Jersey detention officer, Rome Smith, has been suspended from his job for posting on social media that five-year-old Cannon Hinnant, who was shot dead by his neighbor while riding his bicycle, 'should've ducked' Cannon (left) was shot dead while riding his bicycle on August 9. A neighbor, 25-year-old Darius Nathaniel Sessoms (right), has been charged with first-degree murder in his death The posts have since been deleted and Smith's Facebook appears to be disabled. In a statement to NBC, Cumberland County officials called the post 'shockingly insensitive and racist in tone. 'We will not tolerate county employees using social media to broadcast hateful messages,' Cumberland County Freeholder Director Joseph Derella said. 'This is not who we are and we intend to pursue the strongest action available to us.' Smith's post stemmed from other social media posts that have suggested that race was a factor in Cannon's death. But the little boy's parents have shut down those claims. Austin Hinnant, Cannon's father, said: 'This is no racial issue.' Cannon's mother, Bonny Waddell, said: 'This is not a race issue. This was...I don't even know what it was. I know it wasn't race.' Waddell also shared a Facebook post over the weekend that urged people to stop comparing her son's death to that of George Floyd, a Black man who died under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. 'THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE AND DO NOT COMPARE THIS TO FLOYD!' Waddell wrote. 'MY SWEET CANNON NEVER SAW COLOR, HE LOVED EVERYBODY. HE WAS INNOCENT, LOVING ... AND THIS CRUEL MAN TOOK HIM AWAY FROM US FOR NO REASON. Cannon's grieving family laid him to rest on Thursday, just days after he was fatally shot in their driveway. Earlier this week, Cannon's mother, Bonny Waddell, told KCTV 5, that her 'baby didn't deserve this,' adding that she wants the death penalty for Sessoms. Smith's post stemmed from other social media posts that have suggested that race was a factor in Cannon's death. But the little boy's parents have shut down those claims. Cannon's mother, Bonny Waddell (left), said: 'This is not a race issue. I know it wasn't race' Austin Hinnant (pictured), Cannon's father, said: 'This is no racial issue' 'We lost a big piece of our family,' Waddell said through tears. Cannon's father, Austin Hinnant, said he also agrees with seeking the death penalty. The family had only asked for $5,000 in donations to help with Cannon's funeral, but they've received more than $798,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. The donations poured into a GoFundMe page organized by Gwen Hinnant, who identifies herself on the website as Cannon's grandmother. 'This family has faced unimaginable pain because of this senseless act of violence,' the page reads. Merrill Race joined others at his grandson's funeral on Thursday night to remember him as a 'kid that was always polite, kind of laid back, but he was a beautiful little kid'. The family had only asked for $5,000 in donations to help with Cannon's funeral, but they've received more than $798,000 as of Wednesday afternoon Cannon (pictured with his mother) has been remembered for his 'huge' smile and 'big' personality Cannon's youth pastor, Daryl High, said the boy was always a joy in Sunday school. 'His smile is huge. His personality is big. You could not help to be changed when you met Cannon. If a word wasn't said, you can't help to be changed,' High said. Austin Hinnant told The Wilson Times that the boy had been playing with his sisters outside when he heard a gunshot nearby. He said he rushed outside and found his son lying on the ground. When he scooped the boy into his arms, he realized his son had a gunshot wound to the head. 'That is why this is so horrific to me,' Hinnant said. 'He was doing something he loved.' First responders at the scene following the shooting on August 9 Cannon was playing in front of his father's house with his seven-year-old and eight-year-old sisters when he was shot in the head at point blank range on Sunday evening. The childrens' home is pictured, with the five-year-old's bike circled Hinnant told the newspaper that he and Sessoms were friendly and he always checked in with Sessoms' parents, who lived next door. The night before the shooting, Hinnant was grilling chicken, saw Sessoms 'sitting in his car, like he had a lot on his mind' and asked if he wanted to eat. The two shared a beer on the front porch, Hinnant said, adding that he saw no foreshadowing of what was ahead. 'I have no idea why he did what he did,' Hinnant said. 'It was literally out of nowhere. He puts a gun to my son's head and shoots him.' Sessoms' parents said they believe their son was on drugs and having hallucinations at the time of the shooting. As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities have not released a motive for the killing. The Chairman, Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, Parliament House. Accra. Dear Honourable Chairman, WIDESPREAD LEAKAGE OF WASSCE EXAMINATION PAPERS AND IDENTITY CONTACT DETAILS OF WASSCE EXAMINERS We have intercepted a copy of an excel spreadsheet purported to have emanated from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). The said document, which is circulating on certain social media platforms, contains a list of examiners of the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), including their schools, subject areas, telephone numbers, and email addresses. WAEC has since confirmed this leakage. We have also received countless complaints from some schools, and sighted several copies of answered examination papers on social media platforms, prior to the Social Studies, Core Mathematics and Chemistry Practical examinations among others. All these questions appeared in the exams. WAEC admits occasional leakages in their strong room, which eventually serves the exam-leakage value chain with raw materials. We are worried that publicly disclosing the identities and contacts of examiners can amount to compromising the integrity of assessments by opening up examiners to influences from the public. Per the standards of WAEC, and at the international level, there exists a non-disclosure responsibility on WAEC in respect of the identities of their examiners. By breaching this duty, WAEC has brought the integrity of this years WASSCE into question. Over the years, WAEC has operated under no regulator. They have always investigated and cleared themselves of any wrongdoing, and continue to be a judge in their own court, a practice, with your indulgence, we are determined to end. Presently, WAEC sets their own standards, appraise themselves and provide their own quality assurance within the monopoly they have been enjoying in the public basic and secondary assessments sector. This is against international best practices in assessments which require examining bodies to have regulators responsible for accreditation, setting standards, ensuring compliance, and quality assurance. Such a body should have an office of public complaints where allegations of examinations malpractices shall be lodged, investigated with the necessary sanctions applied, if necessary. On account of the foregoing, we respectfully request this Honourable Committee to: a. Probe the circumstances leading to the leakage of Mathematics, Social Studies, and Chemistry Practical papers. b. The circumstances leading to the leakage of confidential identity contacts of examiners scheduled to mark this years WASSCE papers. c. Cause WAEC to change the said examiners on account of the public disclosure of their identities and its likely impact on their independence and impartiality. d. Champion reforms in the Education Assessments Ecosystem by initiating moves, with the indulgence of the Ministry of Education, to set up an Independent Regulator of Assessments in Ghana, whose function shall include the regulation, licensing, setting and enforcement of standards for all assessment bodies in Ghana. We have attached copies (in soft) of pieces of evidence on the aforementioned issues for your perusal, as we reiterate our availability to collaborate with this honourable Committee to champion the much-needed reforms in the Ghanaian assessments sector and restore, if not improve, the integrity of examinations and assessments in the pre-tertiary education space. Respectfully submitted, Signature Kofi Asare Executive Director Cc: The Vice-Chair, Parliamentary Select Committee on Education The Ranking Member, Parliamentary Select Committee on Education The Honourable Minister of Education The Head, Ghana National Office, WAEC The United Nations paid tribute Wednesday to humanitarian workers now battling the Covid-19 pandemic after a year in which they found themselves under greater attack than ever before. The UN marked its World Humanitarian Day by remembering the 125 aid workers who were killed in 2019, and the hundreds of others who were wounded or kidnapped. "The UN condemns these attacks, and it calls for accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors. Relief workers cannot be a target," said OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The day was to see a wreath-laying at the United Nations in Geneva, in a ceremony attended by UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet. According to the Aid Worker Security Database compiled by the Humanitarian Outcomes research group, major attacks against humanitarians last year surpassed all previous years since records began in 1997. For live updates on the coronavirus outbreak, click here In 277 separate incidents around the world, a total of 483 relief workers were attacked, of which 125 were killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped. The figure represents an 18 percent increase in the number of victims compared to 2018. Most of the attacks occurred in Syria, followed by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. The UN said aid workers and healthcare responders were now going to extraordinary lengths to help people whose lives have been upended by crises -- and now by the global Covid-19 pandemic. "This year, humanitarian workers are stretched like never before," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "They are responding to the global crisis of Covid-19, and with it the massive increase in humanitarian needs from the fallout of the pandemic. "They are the unsung heroes of the pandemic response -- and they all too often risk their own lives to save the lives of others." OCHA added, "In recent weeks alone, despicable attacks have killed aid workers in Niger and Cameroon, and since the onset of the pandemic, scores of health workers have come under attack across the world." On August 9, six French aid workers were killed at a wildlife haven in Niger. And on Tuesday, the Red Cross said more than 600 attacks on health workers had been reported in connection with the Covid-19 crisis. World Humanitarian Day is held on the anniversary of the August 19, 2003 attack on the UN compound in Baghdad which killed 22 people. Mark Lowcock, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, said: "The best way to pay tribute to humanitarian workers is by funding their work and ensuring their safety." On Aug. 11, Harris County Commissioners Court moved forward with the creation of the office of elections administrator which, as Commissioner Rodney Ellis and Congressman Al Green shared in a July 21 op-ed, has the power to erase the legacy of a historically inequitable and discriminatory system. We strongly support this laudable goal and we support the creation of this office, but accountability to the public is critical. And we need that oversight now as the office is created. During public comments at an Aug. 3 Commissioners Court meeting, numerous groups called for more transparency, accountability and community involvement, but many of their concerns remain. Protect democracy By creating the office, the court removed responsibilities and functions from the county tax assessor/collection and county clerk, and shifted important decision-making from an elected official to an appointed administrator. Thats why the courts next step must be to give county residents official and meaningful influence over the role of the elections administrator. One way to do that is through the newly created Citizens Advisory Committee but that will only work if the committee has the power to hold the administrator accountable to performance measures on registration and turnout. Harris County must ensure that this office is accountable not only to the Court, but to community leaders committed to upholding the spirit of democracy; and that the objectives of the elections administrator remain intact regardless of who sits on Commissioners Court. Texas Civil Rights Project trains community volunteers to protect the integrity of elections through poll monitoring and other activities, and knows firsthand the role of community participation in maintaining democracy in Harris County. For the Citizens Advisory Committee to be effective, it has to be established with the goal of creating a durable structure for a meaningful and effective relationship between the public and the County. Houston voters deserve a legitimate, nonpartisan committee, established in good faith, with a clearly defined and substantive role for community involvement, adds TCRP Voting Rights Fellow, Louis Bedford, IV. This committee should proportionately include populations of Harris County voters who have historically been disenfranchised and should be functional before an election administrator is identified so that the committee may play a role in the selection and appointment of the administrator. Repair the damage In the spirit of upending a racist legacy, we call on the Commissioners Court to strengthen the role of the Elections Administrator Office beyond its attention to the security, transparency, and efficiency of county elections and voter registration. To do this, we recommend that office be rated annually on its ability to increase voter registration and participation to levels that are proportionate to the countys demographics by age and race. This performance data should be made available in real-time, online via a public dashboard, and discussed during a public meeting of the Commissioners Court. Mi Familia Vota works to make sure that eligible Latinx youth are registered and motivated to vote, and proportionately represented in Harris County elections. The measure of the office of the Elections Administrator should be how good it is at making sure the participants in our representative democracy actually look like its populace. That starts with creating measures that work to ensure that Harris County voters are registered and voting at the same rate across age and race, says Angelica Razo, Texas state director of Mi Familia Vota. Operate transparently Finally, we submit that the Election Administrator Office be required to publicly post its proposed election plan no less than two weeks before adoption, in order to solicit and respond to public feedback before it is finalized. The Election Administrator Office should also be required to publicly post all substantive changes to that plan and, prior to implementation, receive approval from Commissioners Court following a public hearing of these changes. These may include, but are not limited to changes to polling locations, their closure or consolidations. MOVE Texas works to protect the rights of Harris County voters. The Harris County Tax Assessor/Collectors Office has been responsible for voter registration because it used to collect poll taxes from people of color, so the struggles voters face here go way back. This office must create ways to hold the Office of Election Administrator accountable to not only the Commissioners Court, but also to those who are, and who have historically been, directly impacted by the prior system; one that carries the legacy of the Jim Crow era, adds Alan de Leon, Houston Advocacy Organizer at MOVE Texas. We support the creation of the Harris County Office of Election Administrator. Like the people and systems that governed elections that have come before it, this office has the potential to live on for decades, and for its impact to be felt for generations. That is why it is now, at its formation, the court must implement these standards and ensure that this new system remains accountable to the residents of Harris County for generations to come. Robinson is President and CEO of Houston Area Urban League, an organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of African-Americans and others in underserved communities. Valdez is Executive Director of Houston in Action, which includes more than 50 area community organizations, institutions and stakeholders. Nearly a month after Aja Rhone-Spears was killed in Northeast Portland, her family waits for answers about what happened that night. As they wait, theyre trying to keep her memory alive. She was really a person that people would notice in the blink of an eye, said her mother, ShaRee Rhone. She loved life, she loved people. She was proud of who she was. On July 28, Rhone-Spears was one of several people at a vigil for a man killed in a recent shooting. A fight broke out, and Rhone-Spears, 34, was stabbed and killed. Rhone-Spears, a Black trans woman, was one of 15 people killed in homicides in Portland in July. Its the most homicides in a one-month span the city has seen in more than 30 years. Her mother is concerned by what she described as a lack of follow-up from police. Nobody is paying any attention to what they should, she said. Its very odd to me that something this brutal isnt being publicized in a healthy way. Portland police have said little about Rhone-Spears death, other than the stabbing occurred at a vigil for Tyrell Penney, a 27-year-old who had been shot and killed a few days prior. Police said several people were at the scene and may have witnessed the stabbing, but most have refused to talk to police. No one is standing up for Aja, said Tina Pillias, a close friend of Rhone-Spears. No one is speaking out that was there and knows exactly what happened. Pillias and her sister Angela Pillias had been friends with Rhone-Spears since they were teens and moved in next door to her. She was a loving person, had a huge heart for people, and was a proud trans woman, Angela Pillias said. She was really close with our family she was like a sister. Her personality was unlike anyone elses, Angela Pillias said. She would crack jokes, and you would be looking at her like, Did you really say that? Angela Pillias said Rhone-Spears had a lingerie business called International Barbie, and she loved to travel. She wasnt a big fighter, but she would tell you when to stand off, her mother said. There wasnt anything mean about her. She also remembered her daughters love for her family, including her brother, Kwasi Saeed, and her friends children, whom she loved as her own. Theres nothing she wouldnt do for her family, Rhone said. She was just a special person. She really helped a lot of people out, Tina Pillias said. With becoming something they were afraid of, speaking out about something they were afraid to speak about. Rhone-Spears was close with Tina Pillias two children. Tina Pillias said her 8-year-old son has some developmental disabilities, and Rhone-Spears was able to connect and communicate with him in ways others often couldnt. She also showed Pillias son compassion and understanding when he needed it. She would play with him every single day, Tina Pillias said. He will still get the phone and try to call her. Pillias said Rhone-Spears was a fierce advocate for her and her children. She really, really looked out for me with raising my son, and helping him feel more comfortable, Tina Pillias said. Angela Pillias said her last memory of Rhone-Spears is one shell cherish forever. Pillias birthday was a few days before her death, and they decided to go to the river. After the barbecue, she asked my sister for a couple of beers, she said. And we cheers-ed in the river. Thats my last memory of her. ShaRee Rhone said she still hopes to see justice for her daughter. The people she touched, her family, Rhone said. Its really straining on my heart to see how my daughter was treated. I know she deserved better than that. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. But just how many people can fit inside the all-new Carnival? What types of amenities will be available on the minivan? And what engines will power the 2021 Kia Carnival? Wonder no more, as Kia officially revealed all of the details of the next-generation minivan (or SUV?) Even the interior of the 2021 Carnival gets a makeover as it now has a slimmer, more high-tech theme. It has a wraparound dashboard design, fewer physical buttons, massive displays, and new touch panels for both the infotainment system and automatic climate control. Clearly, Kia has breathed new life into its premier people carrier. When Kia first revealed the all-new Carnival two months ago, we were surprised by its SUV-like looks . Unlike its predecessor, the new-generation people carrier no longer looked like a minivan on the outside. Kia even went on to describe the 2021 Carnival as a Grand Utility Vehicle. Lets start with the most important feature of the minivan, its seating capacity. Just like its predecessor, the all-new Carnival will be available with various seating arrangements. Depending on the market, the fourth-generation Carnival can come with three or four rows of seats - with space for seven, eight, or 11 passengers. With the Carnival now measuring 5155mm long(+40), 1995mm wide (+10), and having a 3090mm wheelbase (+30), there is also more room for passengers and their gear. Opt for the seven-seat layout, and passengers are treated to reclining seats on the second row. Called the Premium Relaxation Seat, it has an adjustable back-, arm-, and leg-rests for more comfortable riding experience. On the flip side, the Carnival can carry up 2,905 liters worth of cargo should all of the seats are folded. With the third-row seats up, the Carnival can lug 627 liters worth of luggage. Two 12.3-inch screens will immediately greet occupants of the Carnival. The first screen serves as the instrument panel for the driver, while the other screen is for the touchscreen infotainment. It comes with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, intelligent voice control, touch-sensitive buttons, and a haptic control panel for climate control. Other available features inside the Carnival include Bluetooth, power-sliding rear doors, power tailgate, and rear passenger voice control. Under the hood, Kia says that 2021 Carnival will be available with new Smartstream powertrains. The most powerful engine available is the 3.5-liter direct-injection V6 which doles out 294 PS and 355 Nm of torque. It benefits from both gasoline direct injection (GDi) and multi-point injection (MPI) and has a new cooled exhaust gas recirculation system for better fuel efficiency. The second engine is a 3.5-liter MPI gasoline V6. It produces a bit less horsepower and torque compared to the GDi version as it only makes 272 PS and 332 Nm of torque. Last but not least is a new 2.2-liter turbo-diesel engine. If the size of the engine looks familiar, thats because its similar to the one found on the refreshed Santa Fe. It makes 202 PS along with 440 Nm of torque. While it may be similar in size, the new diesel engine actually has an all-aluminum construction whereas the previous 2.2-liter turbo-diesel came with an iron block. With it, the new engine weighs 20 kg lighter, has better cooling, reduced friction, and better emissions. All of the engines are paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission. To keep the driver and passengers safe while inside the 2021 Carnival, a wide array of intelligent systems are available on the minivan. These include forward-collision assist, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot collision avoidance, driver attention warning, blind-spot view monitor, high-beam assist, smart cruise control, highway driving assist, and even surround-view monitor. The Carnival can also come equipped with up to seven airbags, electronic stability control, and vehicle stability management. The 2021 Kia Carnival will be on sale starting in Q3 of 2020 in Korea. Sales in other markets will follow suit. With that in mind, maybe we can expect the all-new Carnival to arrive in the Philippines sometime next year. The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue with its probe into the case filed against actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family for allegedly abetting the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The case was filed on the complaint of Rajputs father, KK Singh, in Patna last month. On August 5, CBI took over the probe in the case after the Bihar government transferred it to the federal agency. Chakraborty moved the apex court questioning the lodging of the case against her in Patna and sought its transfer to Mumbai. A single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy refused to grant this relief to her and instead agreed that Bihar police will have jurisdiction in the case. Bihar police was competent to give the consent to CBI [for probe], it said. The court said contents of the complaint did indicate the Mumbai police does also have jurisdiction. If any other case or complaint is registered in connection with the unnatural death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the CBI can register a new case as well and carry out the probe, it added. Chakrabortys lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, said the court noted his client has called for a CBI report. The Honble Supreme Court, after examining the facts and circumstances of the case and the report of the Mumbai police, has observed that it will be the desired justice as Rhea herself called for a CBI investigation. The Honble Supreme Court also observed that due to the allegations made by the two states [Bihar and Maharashtra] of political interference against each other, it would be in the interest of justice to hand over the case to the CBI. He added Chakraborty will face the CBI investigation as she has done earlier in case of the Mumbai police and the Enforcement Directorate probe. Rhea maintains that the truth will remain the same which ever agency investigates the case. Singh, in his complaint, referred to about Rs 15 crore transaction from his sons bank account and suspected Chakraborty of blackmailing his son and seizing control of his bank documents and credit cards. CBI had informed the court that it will only probe the case registered in Patna. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for CBI, submitted the Maharashtra police had only registered an accidental death report under which they can only conduct an inquiry into the suicide of the actor. The court had reserved judgment in the case on August 11 after hearing the lawyers appearing for Chakraborty, Singh, the Bihar and Maharashtra governments, and CBI. Chakraborty challenged in her petition the Bihar polices move to register the case against her since Rajput died in Mumbai. The 34-year-old actors body was found at his Mumbai home on June 14. Singhs lawyer argued since his client lives in Patna, it gives the Bihar police the jurisdiction to lodge and investigate the case. Maharashtra linked politics to the lodging of the case in Patna and claimed a news report suggested Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar pressurized the police to register the case. It argued allowing the Bihar police to probe the case will be against the principle of federalism, which allows autonomy to states. Chinese hackers have hacked thousands of Taiwan Government email accounts belonging at least 10 Taiwan government agencies, officials said. Chinese hackers have gained access to around 6,000 email accounts belonging to at least 10 Taiwan government agencies, officials said. According to a top Taiwan cyber official, the attacks are part of a cyber espionage campaign. The government of Taipei is still investigating the campaign and assessing its impact, although the cyber official told AFP press agency that the damage done was not small. The Taiwanese Government accuses the Chinese government of continues cyber incursions since 2016 when President Tsai Ing-wen was elected. Taipei has accused Beijing of stepping up a cyber campaign since 2016 when Taiwan elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who refuses to acknowledge Beijings insistence that the self-ruled democratic island is part of one China. reads the AFP press. President Tsai always claimed the independence of its country and thanks to its position against Beijing it was voted by its population. According to the Taiwan Investigation Bureaus Cyber Security Investigation Office, the China-linked cyberespionage groups tracked as Blacktech and Taidoor have been targeting government agencies and information service providers since 2018. We know for sure that these 6,000 emails have been compromised. We are still assessing the extent of the damage, the offices deputy director, Liu Chia-zung, told AFP. As far as we know, the damage done by this infiltration is not small. We are making this public because we want to alert everyone of the threat and stop further damage. The Chinese government has increased diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan, it also showed the muscles increasing military drills near the country in recent weeks. Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs hacking, Taiwan) TERA Cloud "Combining solutions like spend management, AML and supply chain payments, TERA Cloud empowers businesses to cut costs and automate enterprise spend, compliance and payment processes under a single platform. Madhu Tera, CEO of Terainium Financial technology company Terainium, LLC. is partnering with Productfy, Inc. to enable enterprise spend management, AML and supply chain payment solutions on its FinTech SaaS Platform, TERA Cloud. With TERA Cloud, enterprises can digitize their supply chain transactions, automate Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivables and accelerate revenue recognition. Combining solutions like spend management, AML and supply chain payments, TERA Cloud empowers businesses to cut costs and automate enterprise spend, compliance and payment processes under a single platform. We are thrilled to partner with Productfy to enable the most advanced FinTech solutions on TERA Cloud SaaS platform. TERA Cloud helps businesses automate their entire supply chain transactions and offers one easy place to control, manage and track the organizations spending in the cloud, said Madhu Tera, Founder and CEO of Terainium. We are building several key strategic partnerships and our partnership with Productfy helps us extend our TERA Cloud offering to US and Canadian businesses. Businesses face an increasing number of supplier compliance and customer due diligence requirements across the globe. Penalties for non-compliance continue to rise and self-reported supplier data is no longer sufficient. Verification of supplier information must be audit-proof and automated to remain competitive in todays business environment. Partnership with Productfy enables us to offer businesses to implement KYC at the speed of businesses. Our KYC solution enables corporations and regulated institutions to meet their KYC/AML/EDD regulatory requirements instantly, Madhu Tera added. About Terainium TERA Cloud is a secure enterprise FinTech SaaS platform developed by Terainium, LLC. Using TERA Cloud, enterprises can digitize their supply chain transactions, automate Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivables and accelerate revenue recognition. TERA Cloud can eliminate manual intervention and reduce costs exponentially by giving greater control and automating organizational spending and compliance. For more info: http://www.tera.cloud/ About Productfy Productfy is the fastest, easiest, and most secure platform for any company to launch fintech applications, financial products, or services. With a single line of code in Productfys unified platform, companies unlock embedded fintech features such as KYC, data aggregation, money transfer/payments, card issuance, depository accounts, financial ledgering, and more. With Productfys plug and play platform, companies can focus time and resources on innovating and differentiating their financial business. For more info: http://www.productfy.io Media Contacts Terainium, LLC. Madhu Tera, Founder/CEO sales@terainium.com Ridesharing giants Uber and Lyft are threatening to shut down operations in California this week until November in response to the states sweeping labor bill that would turn drivers into employees and crush both companies under the weight of payroll taxes. The bill, AB 5, which was passed last September, makes it harder for gig economy companies to continue treating their workers as contractors instead of employees. As employees, drivers would be eligible for basic labor rights such as a minimum wage and benefits, including paid time off. Last week, a California judge granted the state a preliminary injunction to prohibit the companies from continuing to classify their drivers as independent contractors. The companies, which already fail to turn a profit, have a week to appeal and if they don't succeed, their drivers will have to be recategorized as employees. Following the ruling, Uber warned that it may need to hike prices by as much as 111% to cover the increased costs of providing benefits to drivers. In a statement, Uber wrote that higher prices would of course reduce demand for trips, thereby shrinking the amount of available work for drivers. "We estimate reduced demand leading to 2359% trip loss across our California markets, with the greatest impacts in sparse areas." Lyft said California represented 16% of its total revenue. The last resort for the companies, if they lose in court, would be a vote on their Proposition 22 set for early November, during which time they are hoping that Californias voters will help them fight the bill. The Prop22 defines app-based transportation and delivery drivers as independent contractors, essentially overriding the AB5 bill. It would also enact labor and wage policies, including an earnings floor equal to 120% of the minimum wage. Uber and Lyft claim that most drivers prefer their business model because of the flexibility and ability to set their own hours. On the other side of this divide, the authorities and labor unions claim that it deprives drivers of benefits such as health insurance and workers compensation. And the two ride-sharing companies arent the only ones impacted by the law. Other gig economy companies, including food delivery platforms such as DoorDash, Instacart and Uber-owned Postmate, will also be hit. According to Ballotpedia, the proposition is supported by DoorDash, Lyft, and Uber with $30 million each, while Instacart and Postmates chipped in with $10 million each. Nearly 17% of the American workforce is of the gig variety, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Gallup.org estimates it at a much higher 36% of the US population engaged in non-traditional work. Thats about 56 million people forming the gig economyalmost 30 of whom do this as a full-time job. The implications are vast. The California case could have far-reaching effects on gig economy legislation elsewhere and the bills like AB5 could spill over into the other states. Last week, Seattle authorities announced that as of next January, rideshare drivers operating in the city would be paid $16.39 per hour with the addition of compensation gas, car insurance and upkeep. In July, Massachusetts attorney general sued the ridesharing companies over worker misclassification. According to the lawsuit, Uber and Lyft have been improperly misclassifying their drivers as contractors rather than employees to save millions of dollars in compensation. Last November, the New Jersey Labor Commissioner fined Uber $649 million in unpaid unemployment insurance contributions as a result of driver misclassification. By Tom Kool for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Mali from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies with immediate effect. This follows a mutiny in the country on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, which has ousted a democratically elected President of the country, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, from office. The ECOWAS Commission in a statement dated Tuesday, August 18, 2020, said the decision to suspend Mali from its decision-making bodies was per the Additional Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. It said the decision will be in force until effective reinstatement of constitutional order in Mali. It also demanded the immediate implementation of sanctions against all putschists and their partners and collaborators. ECOWAS also demanded the safety and security of the ousted president and the immediate release of all high officials in Keitas government who have been arrested. Below is the statement Following its statement published during the day of August 18th, 2020, reporting on an on-going mutiny within the Malian Armed Forces,ECOWAS has noted with great concern the seizure of power by Malian military putschists. This seizure of power intervenes within a difficult socio-political context. Indeed, ECOWAS recalls that a mediation process has been on-going during the last two months, with a view to find a solution to this crisis. Following this power grab by Malian military putschists, which is likely to have a negative impact on peace and stability in Mali and in the Sub-Region, ECOWAS: a) Utterly condemns the overthrowing of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitas democratically elected Government; b) Categorically denies any kind of legitimacy to the putschists and demands the immediate reinstatement of the constitutional order; c) Reminds the military their accountability for the safety and security of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and officials arrested; d) Demands the immediate release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and of all official arrested; e) Suspends Mali from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies with immediate effect, as per the Additional Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and this, until effective reinstatement of the constitutional order; f) Decides to close all land and air borders, as well as to stop all economical, trade and financial flows and transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Mali, and encourages all partners to do the same; g) Requests the immediate activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force; h) Demands the immediate implementation of sanctions against all putschists and their partners and collaborators; i) Decides to dispatch a high-level delegation to ensure immediate return to constitutional order; j) Decides to remain seized of the situation in Mali. 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 By PTI NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Ashok Lavasa as Election Commissioner, a notification by the Ministry of Law and Justice said on Wednesday. Lavasa had on Tuesday sent his resignation as Election Commissioner to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. "...the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner with effect from the 31st August, 2020," the notification said. Lavasa was next in line to head the poll panel. He would soon be joining the Asian Development Bank as vice president, sources said. He would be joining the Philippines-based ADB sometime in September, they added. "The ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships," the multilateral lending agency had said in a statement last month. He will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31. Lavasa's term in the EC would have ended in October 2022 had he become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He is the second election commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of his term. In 1973, CEC Nagendra Singh resigned after he was appointed a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Lavasa's resignation comes at a time when the Election Commission is preparing to hold Bihar assembly polls amid the coronavirus pandemic. Lavasa, a career bureaucrat, joined as Election Commissioner on January 23, 2018, and being senior most on the poll panel would have become CEC in April next year after the term of incumbent Sunil Arora ends. Lavasa made headlines during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when he gave a dissenting note to the Election Commission of India (ECI) giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former BJP president Amit Shah on allegations of violating the Model Code of Conduct. ALBANY New Yorks largest nurses union has condemned a new state Department of Health report that appears to side with hospitals and nursing homes who say minimum staffing laws would devastate their finances and have unintended consequences for patients and staff. The New York State Nurses Association, which represents over 42,000 nurses statewide, issued a blistering statement Tuesday condemning the report, claiming it fails to take seriously the life or death consequences of short-staffing in New York hospitals and uses a flawed methodology that exaggerated cost projections. The highly anticipated report, which was quietly published Friday night nearly eight months past deadline, concluded that the staffing requirements outlined in proposed state legislation would cost New York facilities up to $4.7 billion to implement and generate need for nearly 70,000 more nurses and other staff. Even under current staffing levels, third-party research study projections of available nursing workforce differ as to whether there will be enough nurse staff to fill available positions in the future, the report states. The department recommended the state adopt a policy that provides flexibility to providers to align workforce capacity with patient and resident needs in a dynamic, continually evolving delivery system. The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted this need, the report concludes. Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of the Department of Healths failure to listen to frontline nurses and incorporate our expertise into the policy-making process, the state nurses association said in a statement. This report demonstrates a staggering lack of understanding of how nursing care is provided and its methodology is fatally flawed. Estimates of the economic impact of minimum staffing standards are wildly overstated, and the report fails to incorporate any key lessons from the first wave of COVID-19. Lawmakers were also critical of the report. Sen. James Skoufis tweeted a sarcastic message Tuesday, saying its a good thing we waited eight months for the study, which endorsed no solution to a nursing shortage we all already knew exists. Reason for the study The study was mandated by last years state budget as a compromise of sorts. State legislation that would mandate minimum staffing levels in hospitals and nursing homes had been debated for about 10 years, and the state budget ordered the Department of Health to study the issue specific to New Yorks needs. A report was due to the Legislature by December 2019. Lawmakers and patient advocates contend that had that deadline been met the report could have assisted New York in its response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 25,000 New Yorkers. Advocates have blamed nursing homes, in particular, for bare-bones staffing that they claim fueled poor infection control both before and during the pandemic. In the Capital Region, nurses at Albany Medical Center, Ellis Hospital, Bellevue Womans Center, Nathan Littauer Hospital and a handful of nursing homes have publicly aired grievances over short-staffing, claiming it forces them to deliver inadequate care to patients and jeopardizes their licenses. Its also a major driver of burnout and turnover among staff who are forced to work long shifts without breaks and frequent overtime, they say. Administrators routinely deny that their facilities are short-staffed, but have acknowledged that their ability to increase staffing is hampered by a statewide shortage of qualified nurses. They say minimum-staffing ratios are inflexible to facility needs and would drive up costs, risking cuts to services or even closure. Staffing projections vary by region To assess the impact of a minimum staffing law, the state looked to the 2019 Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act, which would impose ratios in New York based on unit and type of care delivered. Patient loads in operating rooms and emergency departments, for example, would be much smaller than those in nursery and rehabilitation units. The Department of Health commissioned Cornell Universitys schools of Human Ecology and Industrial and Labor Relations to analyze current nurse staffing levels, and formulate projections based on the ratios in the 2019 bill. Their analysis found that New York hospitals would need to hire an additional 24,779 nurses to meet the ratios proposed by the bill. Hospitals currently employ just below 73,000 full-time equivalent nurses. New York City hospitals would account for roughly half (12,011) of the new hires. Hospitals in the states mid-Hudson Valley region would need an additional 3,560 nurses, followed by Long Island (3,014), the Finger Lakes (2,052), western New York (1,341), Capital Region (1,238), central New York (644), Southern Tier (372), Mohawk Valley (320), North Country (114) and Tug Hill Seaway (112). Nursing homes would need to hire even more, according to the report. Statewide, another 45,158 nurses, nurse aides, orderlies and assistants would be needed at nursing homes to meet minimum direct care hours required under the proposed law. Thats on top of an existing workforce of about 70,000, the report says. Need would again vary by region: New York City would need another 20,669 nurses and assistive staff, followed by Long Island (5,763), the mid-Hudson region (4,981), western New York (3,532), Finger Lakes (2,883), central New York (2,538), Capital Region (1,766), Southern Tier (1,146), Mohawk Valley (747), North Country (663), and Tug Hill Seaway (471). Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Debating the cost The cost of the changes would be significant, the report concludes. New York hospitals would have to spend an additional $1.8 to $2.4 billion to comply with the law and nursing homes would have to spend an additional $1.9 to $2.3 billion, it says. These costs dont just include new hires. They also include wage increases for existing staff based on an assumption that the overnight demand for more nurses would force employers to raise wages as they compete for a limited labor pool. In California, where minimum staffing mandates have been in effect since 2004, nursing wages rose between 0 and 9 percent as a result of the requirement, the report says. This large shift in demand will lead to much larger pressure on wages as providers compete for nursing staff, the report states. This would make the environment of the proposed legislation so different from anything seen today that it is not useful to conduct the exercise using existing staffing levels and wages. Wage increases are likely to be higher in New York, the report states, though it doesnt explain why. As a result, the report bases cost estimates on a hypothetical low-end wage increase of 5 percent and hypothetical high-end increase of 15 percent. The nurses union claims the cost projections are off by up to $1.6 billion. At hospitals, 42 percent of the projected new hires would be for operating rooms, where a ratio of one nurse to one patient has been proposed. New York already passed a law in 2013 requiring one nurse in every operating room during a surgical procedure, the union contends. Correcting this error would reduce the cost estimate by 42 percent, or anywhere from $767 million and $1 billion, it contends. The union also claims the nursing home estimate doesnt take federal data into account that shows New York nursing homes provide an average of 41 minutes of nursing care per patient per day. Taking that into account would trim 9,416 staff from the new hires estimate and anywhere from $567 million to $610 million from the cost estimate. A Department of Health spokeswoman declined to respond to this claim, and instead issued a statement that restates information in the report. The staffing study concluded that maintaining a healthcare workforce that effectively meets the needs of patients requires a comprehensive approach to address todays multifaceted and complex healthcare delivery challenges, said Jill Montag, a spokeswoman for the department. The department continues to support measures to improve quality of care and patient outcomes, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the need to maintain workforce flexibility. NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane said the pandemic has proven that guaranteed staffing levels is literally a matter of life and death. The Department of Healths shoddy report is a slap in the face to frontline nurses who sacrificed so much during this crisis, she said. Safe staffing could have saved lives during the COVID pandemic. And if the Legislature is willing to act on real research, theres still time to improve New Yorks capacity to respond to a resurgence of the virus. Uniformly implemented statewide staffing standards will improve patient outcomes and save lives. New Yorkers are worth it, and its time for Albany to take action. By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijan accounted for 59.3 percent of neighbouring Georgias exports of bitumen in the period between January-July 2020, local media reported with reference to Union of Oil Importers of Georgia on August 19. The country exported 33,900 tons of bitumen to Georgia in the reporting period. During the reporting period, Georgia imported 57,200 toms of oil bitumen, which is by 31.1 percent or 25,700 tons less than in the same period of 2019. Iraq was the second largest oil bitumen exporter to Georgia with 11,200 tons, or 19.6 percent in the reporting period, followed by Iran with 7,600 tons, or 13.3 percent and Russia with 3,200 tons, or 5.6 percent. Azerbaijan also accounted for 18.7 percent, or 114,000 tons of total volume of fuel imported to neighbouring Georgia in January-July in 2020, becoming second largest fuel supplier to Georgia after Russia. It should be noted that Azerbaijan increased its gas production while decreasing oil production in the first seven months of 2020. The volume of Azerbaijans natural gas production increased by 10 percent, amounting to 22.3 billion cubic meters of gas. Azerbaijan produced 20.5 million tons of oil, including condensate, in January- July 2020, which is by 1.4 million less than in the same period in 2019. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz To be sure, Israel and the UAE have never fought each other in war and do not share borders. Still, the agreement was far more warmly welcomed in Israel than the UAE, where the public has long viewed Israel with suspicion. But criticism has been muted, in part because of government suppression of free speech. Irish airports handled more than 32,500 tonnes of air freight during the second quarter of 2020, down only 3.8pc from 2019, reflecting strong demand from exporters despite Covid-19 disruption. By contrast, today's CSO report found, passenger volumes fell by nearly 99pc during the same April-June period versus a year ago. The resilient cargo volumes reflect Ireland's export-driven economy. Most of the world's top pharmaceutical and medical devices firms produce products and ingredients here for global export, much of it delivered by air rather than slower sea cargo routes. The data also reflects a surge in imports of personal protective equipment (PPE), chiefly from China, during the second quarter. Read More Overall, the CSO figures show strong demand for air cargo services, given the sharp fall in the number of flights, particularly in long-haul services to North America, the main destination for many pharma goods. Aer Lingus says it has chiefly kept limited links running with New York, Boston and Chicago to enable cargo shipments on what otherwise are largely empty aircraft. The CSO said the number of flights to and from Irish airports in the second quarter fell below 6,400 - more than 67,500 fewer than in the same period of 2019. Its report combined data from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry airports. CSO statistician Olive Loughnane said almost 72,000 passengers travelled to Ireland and 90,000 passengers departed from Ireland during the quarter, down 98.6pc and 98.3pc respectively from April-June 2019. She said the volume of air freight handled by the main airports decreased by 3.8pc to 32,593 tonnes in the second quarter of 2020. Freight in the first half of the year is 5pc higher, totalling 69,726 tonnes, compared with the first half of 2019. A manhunt is underway after three children were pulled from a home during a dramatic early morning siege in Perth. More than ten police and Tactical Response Group officers surrounded the home on Vanda Place in Maddington at about 5am on Wednesday, Perth Now reported. The officers then reportedly negotiated with the occupants to remove the children and a woman from the house. A man, who is believed to be armed, fled the scene. More than 10 police officers and armed tactical responders surrounded the home on Vanda Place in Maddington at about 5am on Wednesday The woman is in police custody and is reportedly set to be charged, while the three children are in the care of a relative. The incident unfolded in the early hours of the morning when police were notified of an altercation involving a firearm at about 1am. A police statement said: 'Around 1.20am it was reported to police that a man entered a house on Wingrove Road and threatened the male occupant with a firearm. 'The offender then left the property in a Kia sedan.' Police tried to stop the alleged culprit, who was later found in Lyrebird Way, Langford, at about 3.15am. The driver allegedly failed to stop for officers and was then seen on Spencer Road near Fremantle Road, Gosnells. Officers later found the car at the home on Vanda Place. It's understood the residents are known to the alleged offender. 'Officers from the Tactical Response Group attended and a search warrant was executed at the property,' the police statement said. 'The occupants of the house are currently assisting detectives with their inquiries.' Armadale inspector Glen Willers said officers were careful when approaching the property. 'We called in our negotiators to try make contact with the people in the house,' he said. 'We knew there were children inside the house, so through that negotiation they came out of the house without any incidents ... we're very patient and methodical with these things. 'Unfortunately the offender is not here but we'll regroup now and come up with some strategies to locate him.' Insp Willers is confident the alleged offender, who is known to police, will be found today. The officers then negotiated with the occupants to remove the children and a woman from the house WA Police said the investigation is ongoing. 'Detectives are appealing for information from the public to locate a man that may have been involved in the incidents,' police said. 'Police believe these are isolated incidents and that the people involved are known to each other.' A WA Police spokesperson encouraged locals to avoid the area. 'Members of the public are advised to avoid Westfield Street, between Helm Street and Sheoak Road in Maddington due to an ongoing police incident,' the spokesperson said. A document containing the names, schools, subjects, telephone numbers, home and email addresses, and other details of West African Examination Council (WAEC) examiners have been leaked to the public. The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, raised the alarm on the leak in a social media post. He said there has also been leaks in the WASSCE Core Mathematics and Chemistry Practical Papers. Mr Asare, in the post criticised WAEC's attitude to leaks, which appears to be an annual occurrence. He noted that the Council's posturing does not help in resolving the problem. they are interested in protecting the sanctity and integrity of their institution rather than that of the WASSCE assessment, he said Reaction But reacting to how the classified document got leaked, WAEC said the incident, although disturbing, will not affect the credibility of the ongoing examination. Public Relations Officer for WAEC, Agnes Tei Cudjoe explained that the leak will not compromise the integrity of the marking process. When the examination board meets to approve lists of examiners for a number of years, we don't ever let anybody take that document out because it is a confidential document. She said management has therefore started investigations into the incident. We want to tell all stakeholders to be rest assured that this does not mean people or the marking process is going to be compromised or anything like that, she said. ---Daily Guide Abhay is back with a thrilling second season. Heres a little refresher to get you up-to-speed with where we left Abhay in the first season. ZEE5, Indias largest con-tech brand, has earned a name for its platform when it comes to dishing out some of the best crime-thrillers you can watch in the web-space. Be it Kaali, Lal Bazaar, or Mafia, their shows have always kept the viewers guessing and enthralled. And now this independence weekend, you are n for a treat as one of their most successful franchise, Abhay is back with a thrilling second season. Heres a little refresher to get you up-to-speed with where we left Abhay in the first season. In the second season, Kunal Kemmu as Abhay is back to what he does best. Hunting murderers and arresting criminals as he applies his novel deductive methods, Abhay has a knack for getting into the criminals mindset and solving the most difficult of cases. All of this is not without him fighting his own inner demons at the same time. But this time around, its not going to be an easy task as he is dealing with an array of villains, each one of which will top the other in how sinister they are. Heres a look at the trailer for Abhay 2: Every good hero has a foil. Batman has the Joker. Thakur has his Gabbar. Abhay is just about to meet his, in the form of the fantastically maniacal Ram Kapoor, whose name is not to be revealed, yet. The good poster boy, the ideal husband and the jovial side-kick, Ram Kapoor has played it all. But his role in Abhay 2 might just be his best yet. He oozes villainy, his cackles might give you nightmares, and being a mastermind he knows exactly how to play his cards, also playing Abhay as he pleases. If you dont believe just how much Ram Kapoor suits the moniker of a super villain, just take a look: Abhay, while dealing with Ram Kapoors tricks and riddles, also has a showdown with The Wicked Killer. In a surprising turn. We have Chunky Pandey playing a dreary and scary villain. On face, he looks like an everyday man. But at night, his killer instincts take over and he runs on a rampage. You will be surprised by how well Chunky, an actor known for his comic takes, melds himself into a role that requires him to be a frightful figure. And he does it with aplomb! All you need to be convinced by his acting chops is watch him: As if these two were not enough, Abhay is also going to have to figure out how to put a stop to another devious serial killer. Bidita Bag plays a devious sex-worker who kills her victims in a unique and gruesome manner, one which you need to see to believe it. Dont let us spoil that for you, but take a sneak peek: Apart from this gallery of villains, Abhay 2 is also laden with other brilliant actors who play their characters with the utmost sincerity. Be it Raghav Juyal as the damaged adult who resorts to villainy, Indraneil Sengupta, a cop who isnt without his shades of grey, & Asheema Vardhan who plays a schizophrenic villainous character with such grit you cant help but empathize with her; Abhay 2 is filled with superb twists, great story writing and interesting characters. Season 1 of Abhay was a great success, and Kunal was lauded for his realistic and gritty approach to the lead character. Season 2 takes it up by multiple notches. It is grittier, darker, much larger in scope, and full of villains that will haunt you, and actors who play them will surprise you with their never-before-seen avatars. We highly recommend a binge-watch of Abhay 2. You wont be disappointed. So log on to ZEE5 and get watching! This is partnered Content. New Delhi: French auto major Renault plans to export its hatchback Kwid to South Africa, Bhutan and Bangladesh from India in 2017 as it prepares to take the popular hatchback to international markets. The company, which launched the car in India with 98 per cent localisation in 2015, has already started exporting the hatchback to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius. "We started exports of Kwid with Sri Lanka, followed by Nepal and now we are going to Bhutan and Bangladesh," Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney told PTI. Shipments to Bhutan would begin during the second half of next year while exports to Bangladesh would also begin towards the middle of next year, he added. "We are also working on South Africa currently and shipments are expected to be sent in the first quarter of next year," Sawhney said. Terming the Kwid as one of the biggest 'Make in India' success story, Sawhney said that the model will be going to a host of markets outside India. Launched in September last year, Kwid has been a success for Renault in India. Initially, the car was available with an 800 cc engine at a price tag of Rs 2.64-3.73 lakh. Recently a 1,000 cc engine variant and one with automated manual transmission (AMT) have also been introduced. The company has so far retailed over 1.10 lakh units of the model in India since its launch last year. When asked if there would be sourcing of parts from India to the company's Brazil plant where manufacturing of the small car is expected to begin next year, Sawhney said: "When we say 98 per cent localisation, we got many suppliers in India so the markets especially, Mauritius and South Africa, the car is going to be built in India and exported. "But when the car is going to be manufactured in Brazil, we will see that wherever Indian suppliers are competitive, opportunities will come to those suppliers." To celebrate the first anniversary of Kwid, Renault embarked on a drive with the Kwid from India to France. The car passed through 13 countries covering 18,996 kms before reaching Paris. The French company has invested heavily towards getting the basics right and creating a strong foundation for Renault in India. The Franco-Japanese auto alliance of Renault-Nissan has a manufacturing plant in Chennai with an annual capacity of 4.8 lakh units. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Syracuse, N.Y. The price of most parking tickets in Syracuse would go up this fall under a new proposal from Mayor Ben Walshs administration. The most common types of tickets would increase by anywhere from $10 to $45. If approved, it would be the second time in seven years the city raised parking fines. A separate proposal from City Hall would create a parking ticket amnesty program next month. During a two-week period, people with outstanding parking tickets would be allowed to pay them at face value, without any fees or fines that have accrued. The Common Council will review and discuss both proposals Wednesday afternoon. Of the 43 types of tickets the city issues, fines on 14 will increase. That includes the most frequently given types of tickets: overtime parking and odd-even parking. Under the proposal, tickets for overtime parking would increase from $30 to $40. Those are the tickets you get at metered parking downtown and around the university. Parking enforcers issued more than 25,000 of those tickets last year, which is a little less than one-third of all tickets issued. Fines for odd-even parking violations during winter months would increase from $30 to $75. From April to October, those tickets would increase from $25 to $40. Odd-even tickets are the second most common violation. Tickets for cars blocking a driveway, sidewalk or crosswalk would increase from $40 to $75. Tickets for blocking a fire hydrant or fire lane would increase from $55 to $75. A handicap parking violation would increase from $105 to $130. All those costs include a New York State surcharge, which is added to the price of every ticket. The increases would raise about $1.1 million in new revenue, according to city estimates. That new revenue comes as the city is grappling with a devastating $30 million budget gap caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Administration officials say money isnt the only reason for the proposal, though. Were trying to prevent bad behavior, said Martha Maywalt, first deputy commissioner of finance, during a council meeting last week. Maywalt said higher ticket costs should help discourage hazards, like cars that block fire lanes or fire hydrants or pedestrian walkways. The big jump in odd-even ticket prices during winter months is part of a continued effort from Walshs administration to make it easier for snow plows to navigate narrow roads. In his first year as mayor, he directed city crews to start towing illegally parked cars prior to big snow storms. The last time the city raised parking violation fines was in 2014, when most tickets increased by $5. Before that, fines hadnt been raised since 1997. The city also wants to host a parking ticket amnesty program from Sept. 8 to Sept. 25. People with outstanding parking tickets would be allowed to pay them without any fees or fines that have accrued. There are about 246,000 outstanding parking tickets in the city eligible for amnesty. Along with fees and fines, those tickets account for $19.4 million owed to the city. More than $12.4 million of that consists of late fees. If 15% of people take advantage of the amnesty program, the city will make $733,000 in new revenue, per city estimates. The city last offered parking ticket amnesty in 2003. At the time, 10% of eligible people took advantage. Maywalt said the number should be higher now due to better methods of communication. The councils finance committee met last week to review the proposals and unanimously approved advancing each. The full council meets Wednesday afternoon and votes on Monday. Patna, Aug 19 : Sushant Singh Rajput's cousin Neeraj Kumar Bablu on Wednesday expressed his satisfaction over the Supreme Court's decision for CBI probe in the death case of the actor. He said that the SC ruling ignites a new hope for the family. BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar said that not only them but the fans of Sushant also wanted this. He said that this decision was "comforting". He said that now the CBI will investigate this case, which has "given ray of hope to justice for all of us". Sushant was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. After which, his father K.K. Singh had lodged an FIR in Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna on July 25. In it actress and Sushant's friend Rhea Chakraborty was made the main accused. The Bihar government later recommended a CBI probe into the matter. Rhea filed a petition in the apex court and requested to transfer the case registered in Patna to Mumbai, which has now been refused as the Mumbai Police has been asked to transfer the case to the CBI. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said that everyone who had worked to bring the Congress party to power in the state should be involved in the government on the basis of their seniority and merit. On his first visit to his assembly constituency Tonk, after the rebellion in mid-July, Pilot said people who struggled with him for six and a half years should be sufficiently rewarded even as he maintained that he had no attraction for top posts. When I came here as PCC president six-and-a-half years ago, we were only 21 MLAs. People used to say the Congress cannot rise again because theres Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan and Narendra Modi in Delhi People who faced lathis, demonstrated on streets, organised marches and sit-ins, did gheraos and went to districts should be sufficiently rewarded for their contribution and sacrifice according to their seniority and merit, Pilot said at the Circuit House in Tonk. I have not asked for any post for myself I am happy being among my people, he added. Pilot, along with 18 other Congress MLAs, had camped in Haryana, demanding a change of leadership in the government. Three Independent MLAs had also supported him. The Ashok Gehlot government herded the remaining Congress MLAs in a hotel and removed Pilot, Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the council of ministers for the rebellion that had put the government at the risk of being toppled. The stalemate was resolved after the Congress party decided to form a three-member committee to redress issues raised by the Pilot camp. Earlier, Pilot had said at his Jaipur residence that the committee will solve all issues. The Congress president has formed the committee very fast. It will discuss and decide how it wants us to work. Whatever we need to say, we will say on the party platform so that our issues reach the high command through the committee, Pilot said before leaving for Tonk. He said the road map that the party had decided for Rajasthan would be implemented soon. On the question of whether he would be back in the council of ministers, Pilot said members of the committee will decide who needs to be used where. The party will decide who should work in the government and who should work in the organization, said the former president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). All issues will be discussed with the committee and solutions will come from this committee only, he added. The Congress leader said he loved being among the people. People have supported me in every condition so I want to be with them to share their sorrows and pain and to ensure their participation in governance, he said. Pilot visited Tonk last in April when he had reviewed the management of Covid-19 in the district. He said on the Covid-19 front a lot of work has been done. We should not become complacent and work more to control the rise of this infection, he said. The Congress leader received a grand welcome on the way to Tonk, especially in Chaksu, the constituency of Ved Prakash Solanki, who was in the Pilot camp during the political turmoil in the state. Several people turned up to garland Pilot and welcome him. Pilot also received a grand welcome in Tonk. TDT | Manama Reinforcing traffic safety for all road users is a top priority, Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said yesterday. The Interior Minister asserted the importance of continuing efforts to ensure road safety as he chaired the Traffic Council meeting, held remotely. Education Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi and Transportation and Communication Minister Kamal bin Ahmed attended, along with the Interior Ministry undersecretary, the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Development undersecretary, and representatives of various ministries. The Education Minister expressed thanks for the role of the General Directorate of Traffic and Community Police in achieving security and safety, especially in getting ready for the new academic year. Several other topics were discussed, including the comprehensive model of transportation and the use of lands presented by the Urban Planning and Development Authority. A brief highlighted that the model is linked with the uses of lands, residential details, and roads networks to take strategic decisions. The model includes safe transportation policies that will be the base for traffic flow expectations until 2055. The model meets the economic visions and adopts balanced and flexible transportation policies that limit traffic congestion. The Interior Minister hailed the initiative, directing to consider the international standard in planning and implementation of the project through joint work and a team spirit. He highlighted the importance of the project to have an impact on society by limiting traffic congestion. He also urged to determine other projects that meet and assist in its success, mainly because the current traffic situation influences general safety and economic life. The council was then briefed on the development and expansion project of Al Fateh Highway to increase the daily capacity of the road to 138,000 vehicles. The project includes four lanes on each side. In this context, the Interior Minister asserted the essentiality to protect traffic safety in all projects. The council also discussed the installation of safety barriers on Zallaq road, in which the Interior Minister directed to increase traffic deployments and CCTV cameras. He also urged for the use of barriers for roads and bridges that meet international standards to protect lives and property and prevent accidents. At the end of the meeting, the Interior Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to the councils members for their ongoing follow-up and efforts to meet traffic safety requirements, while highlighting the importance of fieldwork and preparedness to ensure smooth traffic flow. Mumbai: Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, on Monday broke down outside the court in Mumbai after learning about her father Upendra Kumar Boras death on December 15. Indrani, her husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea and her former husband Sanjeev Khanna were produced in the court today for arguments on framing of charges. After the special prosecutors Bharat Badami and Kavita Patil finished the arguments, CBIs investigating officer informed Indrani about her fathers demise in Assam. Indrani, through her lawyer, told the special judge HS Mahajan that CBI had been insensitive. She was informed only today when her father had died on Thursday, she told the court. Its very insensitive, her lawyer said, adding that neither the CBI nor the jail officials informed her and action should be taken against them for this lapse. The judge said he would warn the CBI officer at the hearing on Tuesday. While coming out of the court, Indrani broke down. She was heard saying to the investigating officer, You didnt do the right thing. You should have told me earlier. You hadnt told me about my mothers death too (back in October 2015). Indrani, her driver Shyam Rai (who has now turned approver in the case) and Khanna are accused of killing her daughter Sheena inside a car here in April 2012. Peter Mukerjea is accused of being a party to the Conspiracy. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The power of a smile is not to be underestimated and scientists have now found that even faking one can make you happier. Experts found the physical task of smiling activates specific muscles in a person's cheeks and this triggers positive emotions in the brain. Scientists say this has important implications on mental health and could be exploited to help people cope with stress. Scroll down for video Experts found the physical task of smiling activates specific muscles in a person's cheeks and this triggers happy emotions in the brain. Scientists say this has important implications on mental health and could be exploited to help people cope with stress (Stock) 'When your muscles say you're happy, you're more likely to see the world around you in a positive way,' Dr Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, co-author of the study from the University of South Australia, says. 'In our research we found that when you forcefully practise smiling, it stimulates the amygdala the emotional centre of the brain which releases neurotransmitters to encourage an emotionally positive state. 'For mental health, this has interesting implications. 'If we can trick the brain into perceiving stimuli as 'happy', then we can potentially use this mechanism to help boost mental health.' Pictured, how participants held the pen between their teeth to mimic a smile Participants in a study were asked to hold a pen between their teeth without letting the item touch their lips in order to forcefully trigger the cheek muscles. They volunteers from Japan, Poland and Sweden were told to study the facial and features of 11 images. These were the same face but showing a variety of emotions, ranging from frowning to smiling. Participants then looked at the bodily functions of 11 video clips showing the outline of people walking. The study evaluated how people processed this information when forced to smile and when their face was relaxed. For both facial and body analysis, people who were forced to smile were flooded with more positive emotions. 'In a nutshell, perceptual and motor systems are intertwined when we emotionally process stimuli,' Dr Marmolejo-Ramos says. 'A "fake it 'til you make it! approach could have more credit than we expect.' The findings are published in the journal Experimental Psychology. Hong Kong leader: US sanctions no more than a personal inconvenience Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 6:19 AM Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam says she is not upset about the sanctions imposed by the United States against her, vowing to continue to do what is right for the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Earlier this month, the US Treasury Department announced that it was freezing the US-based assets of Lam and 10 other senior officials in Hong Kong, also criminalizing any financial transactions with them. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed in a statement on August 7 that Lam was sanctioned because she "is directly responsible for implementing Beijing's policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes." The US has been angered by the enactment of a uniform national security law in Hong Kong. Washington has ended the special commercial treatment of the semi-autonomous Chinese city over the issue. Lam said on Tuesday that the targeted sanctions against her didn't bother her. "Despite some inconvenience in my personal affairs, it is nothing I would take to heart," the leader of Hong Kong said. "We will continue to do what is right for the country and for Hong Kong." Hong Kong to file complaint against US with WTO Elsewhere in her remarks, Lam said Hong Kong would file a complaint against Washington with the World Trade Organization (WTO) about the United States' decision that goods made in the city and bound for export to the US must be labeled as made in China after September 25. She stressed that Hong Kong and China were separate WTO members. The uniform national security law was enacted in Hong Kong in late June. The law criminalizes sedition, secession, and subversion against the mainland and allows Chinese national security institutions to operate in the city for the first time since 1997, when Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule. Opponents complain that the new law would be a blow to the territory's autonomy and civil liberties, but Beijing has assured that the legislation would only target a minority of individuals who disregard law and order in Hong Kong. The Chinese city was rocked by violent riots last year over a now-shelved extradition bill. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We are extremely excited to be one of the first Bitcoin businesses to legally operate in the great state of Hawaii. Bitcoin financial institution River Financial will be one of the first companies in the industry to legally operate in the state of Hawaii. In partnership with the Hawaii Division of Financial Institutions (DFI), the Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) has organized a regulatory sandbox program, the Digital Currency Innovation Lab (DCIL), to position the state at the forefront of innovation around digital assets. River Co-Founder & COO Andrew Benson expressed, We are incredibly excited to bring the best of Bitcoin to the residents of Hawaii, many of whom have long awaited this day. This program was made possible by the forward-thinking leadership of Iris Ikeda, the Hawaii Commissioner of Financial Institutions, and her departments commitment to foster innovation within the state. I look forward to working with the Hawaii Division of Financial Institutions and believe that River Financials participation in the Digital Currency Innovation Lab regulatory sandbox program will play a crucial role in shaping the States long-term regulatory framework. The DCIL sandbox program will last slightly over 2 years and will provide the states regulators and legislators with a stronger understanding of digital asset regulation in order to craft a long-term regulatory framework for the state. Throughout the program, the DFI will have regulatory oversight of River Financial which will include quarterly reporting, among other requirements. As part of the program, River Financial does not hold a license from the State of Hawaii but rather the State issues a no-action letter to River Financial. The application process for this program involved a substantive review of Rivers operations including the business model, anti-money laundering controls, financial reporting practices, and other risk management controls. The State of Hawaii has an extensive history with Bitcoin, digital assets, and cryptocurrencies. Up until 2016, residents could buy Bitcoin in Hawaii. However, in September of 2016 Hawaii lawmakers passed legislation mandating that exchanges hold cash reserves to fully collateralize any digital assets under custody. For example, if a Hawaii resident owned $10,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC), the exchange would need to hold $10,000 of cash for the customer as well. Since the 2016 mandate, no regulated brokerage or exchange has served residents of Hawaii, making River Financial one of the first regulated financial institutions to legally operate in the state. River Co-Founder & CEO/CTO Alex Leishman said, We are extremely excited to be one of the first Bitcoin businesses to legally operate in the great state of Hawaii. This is a huge regulatory milestone, and we look forward to working with Hawaii going forward to bring Bitcoin financial services to its residents. We have had many Hawaii residents interested in joining River over the last year, and we are thrilled to finally have the opportunity to serve these clients. Hawaii residents can sign up and buy Bitcoin today at River.com. For media inquiries, please contact media[at]river[dot]com. About River Financial River Financial is a challenger financial institution specializing in Bitcoin financial services. River Financial's flagship product, a Bitcoin brokerage, provides sophisticated retail investors with a high-touch platform to buy and sell Bitcoin. Founded in early 2019 by cousins Alexander Leishman and Andrew Benson, River's brokerage product provides its clients with best-in-class security, a world-class client service experience, and investment performance tools such as cost basis tracking. To learn more, please visit River.com or follow us on Twitter @RiverFinancial. Sushant Singh Rajput Death Anniversary: A Timeline of the of events that have transpired so far 'Vindicated': Nitish Kumar after CBI handed Sushant Rajput case India oi-Deepika S Patna, Aug 19: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said the Supreme Court's order for a CBI probe in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case vindicated Bihar government's lawful action which had nothing to do with politics or elections. "With today apex court's order, it has become amply clear that whatever was done in Bihar was in accordance with the law and Constitutional norms. "The order makes it clear that whatever steps we took (in the pursuit of justice) were correct. And I am quite hopeful that justice will now be done in the case," Kumar said. Replying to a query that it has been alleged that FIR was lodged in Bihar because of the upcoming assembly elections, Kumar rubbished the charge saying, "I do not take notice of such things as it has nothing to do with politics or elections, rather it is purely related to law and nothing else." Polls in Bihar are expected in October-November this year. Shiv Sena's spokesman Sanjay Raut had alleged that Bihar government's action in the actor's death by suicide case was inspired by the polls in the state. When truth meets sunshine.Satyameva Jayate: SC order in Sushant Singh Rajput case Even actress Rhea Chakraborty in her plea in the supreme court had made similar charge. The apex court Wednesday upheld transfer of an FIR lodged in Rajput's death case at Patna to the CBI. When asked if it was a victory of the state government and Bihar police as their actions have been vindicated by the apex court, Kumar said, "it is victory for justice. It is not ours victory." "Nyay ki jeet hui hain (truth has triumphed)," Kumar said on the apex court's verdict. He expressed hope that justice will be ensured in the case and proper investigation will be carried out by the CBI at the earliest. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News The chief minister had on August 4 ordered that the FIR lodged with the Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna be handed over to the country's premier investigating agency on plea of Rajput's father. A day before that Kumar had termed as "inappropriate" the "forcible" quarantine of an IPS officer from Patna Vinay Tiwari, hours after he landed in Mumbai to lead a special team investigating the death of the 34-year-old Bollywood actor on June 14. WATERLOO REGION Waterloo Regional Police accessed a provincial database containing personal information about people who have tested positive for COVID-19 far fewer times than many other police forces. The provincial data, released by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association this week, shows local police accessed the COVID-related health information database 1,180 times between April 17 and July 20. The police force that accessed the database most frequently was Durham Regional Police, which accessed the information 24,623 times. Thunder Bay Police was second at 14,831, followed by York Regional Police, which went in 13,551 times. Both London and Hamilton police accessed the database more than 10,000 times. The database has names, addresses and the dates of birth of Ontarians who have tested positive for COVID-19. The Ministry of the Solicitor General made the database available to police through an emergency order during the pandemic. The temporary measure was approved by the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board on April 15. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association never supported the measure, saying the move was an extraordinary invasion of privacy. The association, in partnership with Aboriginal Legal Services, the Black Legal Action Centre and the HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic filed a legal challenge. The lawsuit was dropped after the provincial government closed access to the database. Police and other first responders should not have been able to access such personal information, the association said. The association said police across the province searched the database 95,000 times with 40 per cent of searches done by two police services Thunder Bay and Durham. Some police forces, such as Toronto, chose not to access the database at all. Cherri Greeno, spokesperson for Waterloo Regional Police, said access to the database was limited to users in communication and dispatch. No personal information was ever stored, she said. Queries were only made when needed to support frontline officers in making informed decisions about whether to take additional precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 when responding to calls for service while the emergency order was in effect, she said in a statement. Greeno said an update on the use of the COVID-19 database will be provided at a police board meeting in September. FARMINGTON, Conn., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: OTIS) President & CEO Judy Marks and Executive Vice President & CFO Rahul Ghai will participate in a conference call hosted by Barclays on September 3, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The presentation will be broadcast live at www.otis.com. About Otis Otis is the world's leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service company. We move 2 billion people a day and maintain more than 2 million customer units worldwide, the industry's largest maintenance portfolio. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 69,000 people strong, including 40,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. For more information, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram , Facebook and Twitter @OtisElevatorCo. SOURCE Otis Worldwide Corporation With the intellect to win a place at Oxford at the age of 13, Sufiah Yusof should, by now, be carving out a high-flying career for herself. But a decade after hitting the headlines thanks to her remarkable aptitude for mathematics - and days after her father was jailed for sexually assaulting two teenagers - Miss Yusof has been exposed as a 130-an-hour prostitute. The revelation completes a sad fall from grace for the family who were hailed the brightest in Britain after Miss Yusof and two of her siblings won university places by the time they were 16. 1997: Sufiah, aged 13, on her first day at Oxford with her father and sister Aisha Calling herself Shilpa Lee, 23-yearold Miss Yusof advertises her body on an internet sex site and operates out of a back street flat in Salford. Yesterday, a friend of the former child prodigy said of her downfall: "It is all desperately heartbreaking. "With her amazing brain she should be able to make money any way she wants. But instead her life spiralled completely out of control. "Sufiah has suffered so many knocks in her life. I just hope she can drag herself out of this life she has got herself into. "She is such a good person and deserves a much better life than this. Her gift really has been a curse." On the website, she describes herself as a "very pretty size 8, 32D bust and 5ft 5in tall - available for booking every day from 11am to 8pm". She adds that she is a "sexy, smart student" who prefers "older gentlemen". When an undercover reporter visited her at the flat, Miss Yusof stripped naked and gyrated on a bed as she reeled off her list of services. Miss Yusof was pictured as a child smiling innocently outside St Hilda's College, Oxford, after winning her place to study maths in 1997. But she ran away nearly three years later, aged 15, claiming her parents had placed her under intolerable pressure to succeed. She was found by police 12 days later working as a waitress at a Bournemouth internet cafe but refused to return to her parents, who had given up their jobs to educate their five children at home. Miss Yusof was taken in by a foster family and shortly afterwards sent a searing email to her parents, documenting the "living hell" she said her father - a private tutor - had created. She wrote: "I've finally had enough of 15 years of physical and emotional abuse." She accused her "controlling and bullying" father of forcing her to work in the cold to aid concentration and added that she never wanted to see him again. In January, the Daily Mail revealed that her father Farooq had been remanded in custody after admitting sexually assaulting two girls, both aged 15. Appearing under his real surname of Khan, he was jailed for 18 months at Coventry Crown Court last week after a judge heard how he had groped the two girls when he was home tutoring them at maths. He had previously been jailed for three years in 1992 for his part in a 1.5million mortgage swindle involving several family members. Yesterday the News of the World described how Miss Yusof was armed with three mobile phones as she welcomed an undercover reporter who was posing as a client at her flat. The once-strict Muslim stripped out of her tiny skirt, leather boots, tight T-shirt and red matching underwear as she detailed her 130-an-hour rate. She claimed to be studying for a masters degree in economics on a part-time two-year course in London and added: "I've got exams coming up and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God!'" Yesterday, her mother, Halimahton, 51, a scientist, said she had no idea her daughter was working as a prostitute. Speaking from her home in Coventry, Mrs Yusof said: "I didn't know anything about that. I am not in touch with Sufiah any more. I have got no comment." Miss Yusof's brother, Iskander, aged 12, and sister Aisha, 16, started at Warwick University in 1998, making them the youngest brother and sister to study together at university at the time. More than a decade ago, electronic medical records were all the rage, promising to transform health care and help guide clinical decisions and public health response. With the arrival of COVID-19, researchers quickly realized that electronic medical records (EMRs) had not lived up to their full potential--largely due to widespread decentralization of records and clinical systems that cannot "talk" to one another. Now, in an effort to circumvent these impediments, an international group of researchers has successfully created a centralized medical records repository that, in addition to rapid data collection, can perform data analysis and visualization. The platform, described Aug.19 in Nature Digital Medicine, contains data from 96 hospitals in five countries and has yielded intriguing, albeit preliminary, clinical clues about how the disease presents, evolves and affects different organ systems across different categories of patients COVID-19. For now, the platform represents more of a proof-of-concept than a fully evolved tool, the research team cautions, adding that the initial observations enabled by the data raise more questions than they answer. However, as data collection grows and more institutions begin to contribute such information, the utility of the platform will evolve accordingly, the team said. "COVID-19 caught the world off guard and has exposed important deficiencies in our ability to use electronic medical records to glean telltale insights that could inform response during a shapeshifting pandemic," said Isaac Kohane, senior author on the research and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School. "The new platform we have created shows that we can, in fact, overcome some of these challenges and rapidly collect critical data that can help us confront the disease at the bedside and beyond." In its report, the Harvard Medical School-led multi-institutional research team provides insights from early analysis of records from 27,584 patients and 187,802 lab tests collected in the early days of epidemic, from Jan. 1 to April 11. The data came from 96 hospitals in the United States, France, Italy, Germany and Singapore, as part of the 4CE Consortium, an international research repository of electronic medical records used to inform studies of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our work demonstrates that hospital systems can organize quickly to collaborate across borders, languages and different coding systems," said study first author Gabriel Brat, HMS assistant professor of surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a member of the Department of Biomedical Informatics. "I hope that our ongoing efforts to generate insights about COVID-19 and improve treatment will encourage others from around the world to join in and share data." The new platform underscores the value of such agile analytics in the rapid generation of knowledge, particularly during a pandemic that places extra urgency on answering key questions, but such tools must also be approached with caution and be subject to scientific rigor, according to an accompanying editorial penned by leading experts in biomedical data science. "The bar for this work needs to be set high, but we must also be able to move quickly. Examples such as the 4CE Collaborative show that both can be achieved," writes Harlan Krumholz, senior author on the accompanying editorial and professor of medicine and cardiology and director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale-New Haven Hospital. What kind of intel can EMRs provide? In a pandemic, particularly one involving a new pathogen, rapid assessment of clinical records can provide information not only about the rate of new infections and the prevalence of disease, but also about key clinical features that can portend good or bad outcomes, disease severity and the need for further testing or certain interventions. These data can also yield clues about differences in disease course across various demographic groups and indicative fluctuations in biomarkers associated with the function of the heart, kidney, liver, immune system and more. Such insights are especially critical in the early weeks and months after a novel disease emerges and public health experts, physicians and policymakers are flying blind. Such data could prove critical later: Indicative patterns can tell researchers how to design clinical trials to better understand the underlying drivers that influence observed outcomes. For example, if records are showing consistent changes in the footprints of a protein that heralds aberrant blood clotting, the researchers can choose to focus their monitoring, treatments on organ systems whose dysfunction is associated with these abnormalities or focus on organs that could be damaged by clots, notably the brain, heart and lungs. The analysis of the data collected in March demonstrates that it is possible to quickly create a clinical sketch of the disease that can later be filled in as more granular details emerge, the researchers said. In the current study, researchers tracked the following data: Total number of COVID-19 patients Number of intensive care unit admissions and discharges Seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 people by country Daily death toll Demographic breakdown of patients Laboratory tests to assess cardiac, immune and kidney and liver function, measure red and white blood cell counts, inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, as well as two proteins related to blood clotting (D-dimer) and cardiac muscle injury (troponin) Telltale patterns The report's observations included: Demographic analyses by country showed variations in the age of hospitalized patients, with Italy having the largest proportion of elderly patients (over 70 years) diagnosed with COVID-19. At initial presentation to the hospital, patients showed remarkable consistency in lab tests measuring cardiac, immune, blood-clotting and kidney and liver function. On day one of admission, most patients had relatively moderate disease as measured by lab tests, with initial tests showing moderate abnormalities but no indication of organ failure. Major abnormalities were evident on day one of diagnosis for C-reactive protein--a measure of inflammation--and D-dimer protein, a chemical that measures blood clotting with test results progressively worsening in patients who went on to develop more severe disease or died. Levels of the liver enzyme bilirubin, which indicate liver function, were initially normal across hospitals but worsened among persistently hospitalized patients, a finding suggesting that most patients did not have liver impairment on initial presentation. Creatinine levels--which measure how well the kidneys are filtering waste--showed wide variations across hospitals, a finding that may reflect cross-country variations in testing, in the use of fluids to manage kidney function or differences in timing of patient presentation at various stages of the disease. On average, white blood cell counts--a measure of immune response--were within normal ranges for most patients but showed elevations among those who had severe disease and remained hospitalized longer. Even though the findings of the report are observations and cannot be used to draw conclusions, the trends they point to could provide a foundation for more focused and in-depth studies that get to the root of these observations, the team said. "It's clear that amid an emerging pathogen, uncertainty far outstrips knowledge," Kohane said. "Our efforts establish a framework to monitor the trajectory of COVID-19 across different categories of patients and help us understand response to different clinical interventions." ### Co-investigators included Griffin Weber, Nils Gehlenborg, Paul Avillach, Nathan Palmer, Luca Chiovato, James Cimino, Lemuel Waitman, Gilbert Omenn, Alberto Malovini; Jason Moore, Brett Beaulieu-Jones; Valentina Tibollo; Shawn Murphy; Sehi L'Yi; Mark Keller; Riccardo Bellazzi; David Hanauer; Arnaud Serret-Larmande; Alba Gutierrez-Sacristan; John Holmes; Douglas Bell; Kenneth Mandl; Robert Follett; Jeffrey Klann; Douglas Murad; Luigia Scudeller; Mauro Bucalo; Katie Kirchoff; Jean Craig; Jihad Obeid; Vianney Jouhet; Romain Griffier; Sebastien Cossin; Bertrand Moal; Lav Patel; Antonio Bellasi; Hans Prokosch; Detlef Kraska; Piotr Sliz; Amelia Tan; Kee Yuan Ngiam; Alberto Zambelli; Danielle Mowery; Emily Schiver; Batsal Devkota; Robert Bradford; Mohamad Daniar; Christel Daniel; Vincent Benoit; Romain Bey; Nicolas Paris; Patricia Serre; Nina Orlova; Julien Dubiel; Martin Hilka; Anne Sophie Jannot; Stephane Breant; Judith Leblanc; Nicolas Griffon; Anita Burgun; Melodie Bernaux; Arnaud Sandrin; Elisa Salamanca; Sylvie Cormont; Thomas Ganslandt; Tobias Gradinger; Julien Champ; Martin Boeker; Patricia Martel; Loic Esteve; Alexandre Gramfort; Olivier Grisel; Damien Leprovost; Thomas Moreau; Gael Varoquaux; Jill-Jenn Vie; Demian Wassermann; Arthur Mensch; Charlotte Caucheteux; Christian Haverkamp; Guillaume Lemaitre; Silvano Bosari, Ian Krantz; Andrew South; Tianxi Cai. Relevant disclosures: Co-authors Riccardo Bellazzi of the University of Pavia and Arthur Mensch, of PSL University, are shareholders in Biomeris, a biomedical data analysis company. Osama bin Laden, a bad man who still understood the Arab and Muslim mind, said, "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse." In slightly more than three and a half years, Donald Trump has turned the United StatesIsrael alliance into a strong horse. That's why the UAE made official its relationship with Israel, and that's why other Arab and Muslim nations are signaling that they will follow. President Trump, with help from Jared Kushner, did something extraordinary. When Trump entered the White House, the Middle Eastern status quo since 1967 had revolved around the Jewish state of Israel and its relationship with the Muslim Palestinians, a relationship that was often a pawn in the Cold War. In 1974, a new wrinkle occurred with the oil shortage, which elevated the importance of Arab backwaters in Western eyes. Another wrinkle was the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which pitted Shia Iran against both Israel and various Sunni Muslim nations. Sunni nations were conflicted because Iran made them share a common enemy with Israel, yet they had a Muslim-based moral obligation to support the Palestinians with the added wrinkle that the Arab nations intensely dislike the Palestinians, whom they view as whiny troublemakers. More wrinkles came along when Iran-funded Hezb'allah aligned with the Palestinians against Israel. At this point, the Middle East situation was as wrinkled as one of those shar pei dogs. And indeed, if I were inclined to bore and confuse you, I could throw in innumerable other wrinkles, including Chinese, Soviet/Russian, and Turkish interference and the effect of the two Gulf Wars. The crowning wrinkle was Barack Obama's and Joe Biden's insistence on the Iran deal. Iran was sinking economically, but Obama and Biden threw it a hefty financial infusion while greenlighting its nuclear program. Suddenly, a radical, unstable, apocalyptically oriented theocracy was on its way to a nuclear bomb, courtesy of the United States of America. The Middle East had proven to be an intractable Gordian knot, one that every American president had tried to disentangle without success. And then President Donald Trump came along and, like Alexander the Great before him, he had a simple solution don't fuss with the knot; cut it! Trump's approach was to stop dealing with the Palestinians and Iran. Instead, he marginalized them. This meant focusing on Israel's security and status. He walked away from the Iran deal, announced that the settlements in the West Bank weren't illegal, and moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The Palestinians stood by helplessly, unable to stop this pro-Israel trend. Meanwhile, Sunni nations saw Iran grow economically weaker, watched the U.S. kill Qassem Soleimani without significant repercussions, and suspected that Israel was behind the systematic sabotage and bombings within Iran's military facilities. Trump's administration not only supported Israel as the strong horse, but it also revealed that Iran and the Palestinians are practically dead in their stalls. So it was that, on August 13, 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates entered into a peace agreement. That was a historic moment, and, again, all that the Palestinians and American leftists could do was sputter. Additionally, it was a sign to the Muslim world that it's okay to join with Israel a country that brings peace and prosperity, as well as being a shield against Iran and to abandon those whiny Palestinians. The rush is now on. Accordingly to Israeli intelligence, which is usually solid, Bahrain and Sudan intend to follow the UAE. Intelligence minister Eli Cohen is optimistic: Asked which countries might be next, he singled out "Gulf states that see Iran as a threat," Morocco which has long had informal ties with Israel and Sudan. Leading the roster will be "Bahrain among the Gulf states and Sudan in Africa because there is already movement there," with Oman and Saudi Arabia potentially following suit, Cohen said. Indeed, on Tuesday, Sudan made a move in the direction of peace with Israel, only to back off. The fact that it got nervous is less relevant than the fact that it already envisions peace with Israel as its future. Even Lebanon's president is contemplating peace. As with Sudan, his reservations are of less importance than the fact that Lebanon sees allying with Israel as a possibility. Saudi Arabia is also contemplating formalizing its already robust relationship with Israel. None of this will happen overnight. However, the genius of President Trump is that he's created a new paradigm in the Middle East, one that ignores the troublemakers. Instead, the Trumpian reality signals to the Muslim world that it's okay to join with Israel, a country that brings peace and prosperity to its friends and serves as a shield against Iran and that nothing bad flows from sidelining the whiny Palestinians. Image: Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot by Jean-Simon Berthelemy (1767), public domain. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically rejected any possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, according to a media report. "Our policy on Israel is clear: The Quaid-i-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) had said that Pakistan can never accept state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and an independent state," Khan said in an interview with private news channel 'Dunya TV' on Tuesday. Pakistan and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and their aircraft are not allowed to use each other's airspace. "If we recognise Israel and ignore tyranny faced by the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do," he said. His remarks came in the backdrop of recent peace overtures between the UAE and Israel, with the former becoming only the third Arab nation to enter into a peace deal with the Jewish state. Questions were also asked in Pakistan why it was following an antagonistic policy toward Israel when the Arabs were embracing the Jewish state in the changing regional political alignment. When asked to comment on the UAE's ties with Israel, Khan said that every state had its own foreign policy. He also rejected the impression that Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia were under stress due to the Kashmir issue. "Saudi Arabia is one of our key friends and our relations are still fraternal and unchanged," he said. Khan praised Pakistan's ties with China and said that the country's future was linked to China which stood with it in all difficult times. He also said Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit Pakistan in the coming winter. Prime Minister Khan also talked about several domestic issues, including the government's successful handling of COVID-19 pandemic. "Initially even my party leaders were against my strategy and were asking why strict lockdown was not being imposed in the country," he said, adding that the "our smart lockdown strategy worked" and helped to curtail the virus. Khan's interview coincided with the completion of two years of his government. His policies were repeatedly attacked by the opposition parties. When last Monday's derecho tore through Iowa, it unleashed winds gusting up to 140 mph, equivalent to a major hurricane. The vicious storms arrived with little warning, ravaging the state's corn crop and devastating communities across the state. The damage is expected to rise well above $1 billion. More than a week later, upward of 30,000 customers remain without power, down from 590,000, as residents continue the lengthy recovery process. The storm's ferocity caught many Iowans off-guard, but the Hawkeye state is surprisingly vulnerable to these violent tempests. While the storm's intensity was on the high-end of derechos, this wasn't some freak event. In fact, destructive derechos are as common in Iowa as hurricane strikes are in Florida. The derecho damaged or destroyed 10 million acres of crops while countless structures in communities such as Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown, Ankeny and Iowa City lay in shambles. The historical record indicates these violent, fast-moving storm complexes will continue to torment the state most years into the future. - - - On Tuesday, President Donald Trump traveled to Iowa to survey the damage, and met with Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. She described the storm as "basically a 40-mile-wide tornado that went through." Alex Gibbs, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities said that his office, which serves central and eastern Iowa and western Illinois, inspected and rated the storm's intensity using damage indicators traditionally reserved for tornado surveys. His office found evidence of 110 to 140 mph winds. In Atkins, Iowa, about 10 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids, a wind gust of 126 mph was measured. That's near where the WMT Cedar Rapids transmitter tower was toppled. A nearby tower's antenna was snapped 340 feet above the ground. The tower had originally been rated to withstand 125 mph winds. Rich Kinney, the warning coordination meteorologist for the Quad Cities office said damage observed at a particular apartment complex, where the winds caused complete removal of the roof, most exterior walls, and some interior wall, led them "to come up with the 140 mph estimate for the max wind gusts." Very few derechos produce catastrophic wind gusts to 140 mph but, by definition, they have significant wind gusts over 75 mph - rivaling the force of some hurricanes, which must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph. Gibbs said that, on average, his forecast areas see one derecho per year. - - - The scope of the devastation had many comparing the damage to that of an "inland hurricane," with wind gusts similar to those of a major, Category 3 or 4 storm. While last Monday's gusts of up to 140 mph were extreme, they are not unprecedented in a part of the country that some have labeled "Derecho Alley." A comparably strong derecho struck Iowa during the early morning hours of July 11, 2011. Vinton and Garrison about 20 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids, saw wind gusts of up to 130 mph. That's the same area that bore the brunt of last Monday's storms. Marshall County, Iowa gusted above 80 mph in 2011. Last week's storms buffeted them with 100 mph wind gusts. Weaker derecho events are even more common. Based on the distribution of observed wind gusts over time, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has found that, in central Iowa, winds greater than 74 mph are likely to occur within 25 miles of any given point an average of once or more per year. Some weather stations in Iowa recorded 10 or more instances of 60 mph thunderstorm winds in just six years' time. Considering these statistics, it becomes easy to see how the wind threat in Iowa from derechos may be just as great as in Florida to hurricanes. Since 1850, the Sunshine State has been hit by 112 hurricanes, 38 of which were major (Category 3 or greater) storms with winds exceeding 111 mph. That's an average of two hurricanes every three years, or one major hurricane every four or five years. It's important to remember that the severe winds from derechos and hurricanes are localized in nature, so any given place in Florida or Iowa will see them far less frequently than once per year. "[A]t least one piece of Iowa will end up in a derecho every year. But that is a different piece of info than the frequency at a point/city," wrote Bill Gallus, an atmospheric scientist at Iowa State University in an email. "It is probably more like once every 10 years or more at any particular spot." He said winds of the magnitude of the most recent derecho, however, are unusual. "Winds above 85 mph which were common in this event, [are] very rare. Probably a first in most people's lifetimes, and in the lifetimes of many cities and towns." Gallus wrote. - - - A key difference between hurricanes and derechos is the amount of advanced notice people receive. Typically, forecasters track hurricanes for days as they traverse the oceans, alerting vulnerable coastal residents of the danger one to three days before landfall. This lead time offers the opportunity to prepare. But derechos often flare up suddenly, and the warning time can be under an hour when they first develop. Areas farther downwind may receive up to several hours of warning. In the case of last week's Iowa derecho, severe thunderstorm warnings were issued about 30 to 45 minutes before the winds struck central Iowa, but the derecho was otherwise largely unexpected. Predictions from the National Weather Service that morning called for a "marginal risk" of thunderstorms producing 60 mph wind gusts, a forecast that was ramped up throughout the day as the magnitude of the forming derecho became apparent. But even with the warning provided for the derecho, many people were still unaware when it was first organizing. That's because the severe thunderstorm warning bulletins issued by the Weather Service did not activate wireless emergency alerts on mobile phones the same way that flash flood or tornado warnings do. Only those with a third-party weather application would have been notified on their phone unless they consulted the Weather Service website or local media. The Weather Service has proposed configuring severe thunderstorm warnings to trigger wireless emergency alerts when winds are forecast to hit 80 mph, but that proposal has yet to be enacted. Several high-end windstorms such as a 90 mph squall line in Alabama on May 19 or an 85 mph derecho east of Philadelphia in early June would have been met with shrieking alerts on the phones of those impacted. - - - Clearly, it's not only the coastline that needs to be ready for hurricane-force winds. Denise Lehenbauer lives in Davenport, Iowa, and encountered last week's derecho at full force. She knew something was very wrong when she received a phone call from her daughter in Cedar Rapids. "She said 'I'm just calling to warn you to say there's a bad storm coming your way,' " recounted Lehenbauer. "But then I heard her on the phone saying, 'there are trees going by my window.' " Lehenbauer, who had been out with her husband running errands at the time, told her daughter to stay put. Then the pair quickly drove home. By the time it was over, century-old trees in her neighbor's yard had been knocked down like dominoes. The winds were even more severe in Cedar Rapids, where Lisa Zwanziger was working at a hospital. "I work on the third floor of the building," said Zwanziger. "Finally when our floors start shaking, security came up and told us we had to evacuate the building." She and her colleagues relocated to an interior radiation laboratory on the lowest floor. When she finally exited the building to head home, she was met with what she described as a "war zone." "Usually I have a 15-minute commute, but it took me two hours to get home," said Zwanziger. "I never did make it home. I had to park my car in a nearby park and walk." She said that people were everywhere in the street trying to clear downed trees, but that fallen wires made it a dangerous task. "I am [without power still]," said Zwanziger. "It's day eight, and I'm without power. We've learned how to cook on a campfire." Megan Thee Stallion took to Instagram to share a photo of he gunshot injury on her foot, slamming naysayers who claimed she was lying about getting hurt after leaving a Hollywood Hills party on July 12th. Posting two photos of her in the hospital, the WAP femcee rebuked a 'majority of the people on social media,' who she said liked to hear 'bad news before good news.' The post has since been deleted. 'I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK,' the Houston native said. 'Why would I lie about getting shot? One picture showed the WAP rapper being attended to by a doctor Posting two photos of her in the hospital, Megan Thee Stallion slammed naysayers who claimed she didn't get shot 'Why are yall so upset that I dont wanna be in the bed sad ? Why yall upset that I can walk ? I got my stitches out my feet like 2 weeks ago and I was ready to go celebrate WAP going number 1.' Hot Girl Meg has been extremely vocal when speaking out against those who have promoted false rumors about what happened when she was shot after leaving the Hollywood Hills party. 'I usually dont address internet bulls**t but yall people are so sick! God was really watching over me and Im healing so well! Sorry Im not as sad and miserable as a lot of yall lol but ima keep being Megan Thee Mf STALLION.' 'I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK,' the Houston native said. 'Why would I lie about getting shot? The Houston native had recently out at strip clubs with a bandaged foot, celebrating WAP The Hot Girl Summer rapper was responding to critics who had been pointing out that she had been seen out at strip clubs as she celebrated the success of WAP, which has gone #1 on iTunes. Canadian rapper Tory Lanez allegedly shot Megan during an argument after a Hollywood Hills house party. According to TMZ, Megan was attempting to get out of the SUV she was in with Tory when he opened fire inside the vehicle. Footage shows the police ordering Megan and Tory to leave the vehicle and put their hands in the air as her feet leave bloody prints on the sidewalk. Megan denied claims she was arrested alongside Tory, who was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Silent on that: It was Megan's first public outing since she was shot in the feet last month, allegedly by fellow rapper Tory Lanez. He's seen in 2018 above Front and center: The star found herself back in the spotlight after she and Cardi B released the controversial music video for the song WAP The star found herself back in the spotlight after she and Cardi B released the viral music video for the song WAP, which just debuted at number one on Billboard's Hot 100. After releasing the video earlier this month, Megan and her rap cohort have received a slew of backlash for the sexual nature of the video and song's lyrics. But Megan fired back by taking to Twitter to bash hypocritical male critics who trashed her latest single only to sing along to much more misogynistic songs. Double standard? Megan fired back by taking to Twitter to bash hypocritical male critics who trashed her latest single only to sing along to much more misogynistic songs Funny: She joked about the 1999 Three 6 Mafia song Slob On My K*** in her tweet 'Lol dudes will scream "slob on my k***" word for word and crying abt WAP [laughing while crying emoji] bye lil boy,' she tweeted. Slob On My K*** is a 1999 song by Three 6 Mafia about receiving oral sex from a male perspective. Despite the criticism, Megan and Cardi B have had plenty to celebrate, being that the track rose to No. 1 on the US iTunes less than 24 hours after its release and the video has amassed over 103million views on YouTube. For many, true crime is more an addiction than a mere genre. "I had a murder habit and it was bad," podcaster and author Michelle McNamara wrote of her need to explore unsolved killings. "I would feed it for the rest of my life." McNamara's posthumous best-seller, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, an invocation of the Californian serial rapist and murderer she dubbed the Golden State Killer, spoke to that craving. McNamara was a journalist, an investigator and a seeker of justice. She was, in the best and sometimes worst of ways, obsessed. The late crime writer Michelle McNamara. Credit:HBO The six-part HBO adaptation of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, screening on Foxtel and streaming on Binge, closely traverses similar ground, following in McNamara's footsteps so that then and now start to feel interwoven. But in recreating the journey of McNamara, who died in her sleep in April 2016, before the book's completion and publication in February 2018, it offers a parallel commentary on why true crime grips its audience so tightly, and how our interest can become damaging. It is a fascinating trajectory, in part because McNamara is such spirited company. Citizen detectives and later law enforcement officials who became collaborators would note her enthusiasm and openness. "I love digging for clues I love the puzzling part of it," she would write (the actor Amy Ryan provides the narration), and in archival footage her obsession is touched with a giddy excitement, as if she's enthusing about a favourite pop star. TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Agility CMS is a Content Management System that allows marketing teams to create and manage content across their digital properties. Agility CMS is revolutionizing the Headless CMS industry by providing tools that close the gap between monolithic traditional CMS platforms and pure developer-centric CMS tools. This hybrid approach eliminates creative limitations and security concerns created by the previous generation of CMS software. It provides complete creative freedom for web developers while presenting familiar authoring tools to editors and content creators. In response to recent changes in the world economy, Agility CMS's CEO has restructured its pricing tiers to provide users with more room for growth at better price points. The new market environment has challenged brands and digital agencies to be more agile than ever. Recent changes to the world economy force teams to build digital experiences faster and more affordable. Agility CMS's new pricing structure aims at meeting these requirements by simplifying the selection process. As a move to part from the traditional, complicated pricing structure most CMSs have, Agility CMS has adopted a simpler pricing structure that eliminates unnecessary limits of users, languages, and content items. Often, the complicated nature of pricing tiers prompts users to select a package only to find that it doesn't support their growth, which results in frustration, slower time to market, and sluggish web development. Jon Voigt, Agility CMS' CEO, explained the reasoning behind the company's newly structured pricing. "We wanted to give more, yet simplify things. We kept hearing that people are upset with the complex pricing models out there; we wanted to provide a better free edition and an unlimited community-supported edition that was based on value." With each package, Agility CMS is aiming to bring more value to clients and reduce the friction for developers and businesses switching to a headless architecture. At the same time, the software company seeks to attract early adopters of JAMstack architecture. According to Voigt, the new pricing structure brings unlimited freedom at extremely reasonable price points. "By giving accounts unlimited users and content, we give them unlimited room to grow. In the headless CMS space, restrictions in these areas are common. But how do you know how many content items will you have on your website? We wanted to fix that," said Voigt. "It's now easier for users to jump on board, whether you are a freelance developer, or small agency, or a bigger organization. Users can now stop worrying about paying a small amount and then getting charged again and again when they want to add more users or content. By giving accounts unlimited users and content, we give them unlimited growth," Voigt continued. Agility CMS is now offering four packages: free package for developers, a package for small teams, premium business package and custom enterprise options, with more freedom, when it comes to users, content items, and bandwidth, for users across the board. Free Package: Now includes 5 users, 10GB bandwidth, 2,500 content items, and community support, making it a lucrative headless CMS option for any startup. Standard Package: For only $47 per month, this package unlocks unlimited users and content items, allowing for exponential growth. Community support and 500GB of bandwidth is also included. Pro Package: At $579 per month, companies on this package get direct support from the Agility CMS team, unlimited users, unlimited content items, and 1TB of bandwidth. Enterprise Options: Starting at $2,500 per month, companies gain even more direct and granular support, a dedicated account manager, and control over all the needs of your digital ecosystem. For more information on Agility CMS' new pricing changes, visit their blog post announcement, or go directly to their pricing page. Agility CMS is a headless CMS that allows users the unparalleled flexibility, speed, and responsiveness that comes with an API-first CMS. Agility CMS is a Content Management System that allows marketing teams to create and manage content across their digital properties. SOURCE Agility CMS Ecuadors Galapagos Islands are known for its giant tortoises, marine iguanas and other unusual fauna that evolved in part because of the locations extreme isolation. But in contrast to our collective imagination of todays Galapagos, five of the archipelagos 19 islands count a total population of about 30,000 people, and that number is growing due to the areas popularity with tourists. The population of the Galapagos Islands is now more than 30,000. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. Its no easy task to feed that many people living on islands 600 miles from shore, and the Galapagos status as a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site presents a unique challenge. To meet both demand for fresh food and the need to protect the ecosystem, Heifer Ecuador is partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture, Farming, Aquaculture and Fishing as a part of the Future of Food program. Galapagos imports 75% of its food, and some models project an increase to 95% by 2037. Food from continental Ecuador, generally arriving via sea, sometimes takes more than a week to arrive, which decreases shelf life. Due to this unreliable food system, produce comes at a premium and might cost twice what it would on the mainland, and the unavailability and expense of fresh food leads to high rates of obesity on the Galapagos. Since 97% of the archipelago is protected, farmland is scarce. And farmers are, too the tourism industry pays better than selling produce, so many farmers abandon agriculture on the Galapagos. Additionally, food that is grown on the islands often brings environmental consequences with it. Most farmers there use chemicals, said Rosa Rodriguez, director of Heifer Ecuador. To help Galapagos transition to natural agriculture while providing a stable food system on the island of San Cristobal, the Ministry of Agriculture approached Heifer Ecuador about a partnership. Right now, were working with 70 producers and supporting a farmers market there, Rodriguez said. Its the first one with organic food. We also started home delivery [service]. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ecuador, the government mandated a strict lockdown nationwide. But to prevent food shortages on the Galapagos, authorities kept open-air markets operational. Heifer Ecuador provided farmers with personal protection equipment like masks, gloves and coveralls to promote public health. Farmer Nelo Mora Alvarado sells his produce tomatoes, peppers, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, herbs, pineapples and yucca at the local market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. During the pandemic, he said sales have decreased, and many of the producers who sold their products to tourism companies now deliver only to the local community. Due to the reputation of his high-quality produce, though, Moras production hasnt been heavily affected. Nelo Mora Alvarado uses a Heifer-provided power trimmer to maintain his farm without pesticides. Photo via Heifer Ecuador. Another way the Heifer Ecuador team is supporting farmers on Galapagos is finding efficient ways to mitigate weeds and invasive species without using pesticides. To solve this problem, the team provided power trimmers to farmers, and in the spirit of Passing on the Gift, those farmers commit to carrying out mingas to share the burden of manual labor. Minga is a Quechua word that describes an Indigenous tradition of communal work. On San Cristobal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Heifer Ecuador coordinate a calendar for the mingas, where five to eight producers use their power trimmers to clean a members pasture or farmland. According to farmer Piedad Valdivieso, this saves days of work and a substantial amount of money. The mingas provide other benefits as well, like the exchange of best practices and seeds. Both Valdivieso and Mora mentioned that, despite the difficult times brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, working with Heifer Ecuador and the Ministry of Agriculture is generating hope that better days will come for farmers on Galapagos San Cristobal. The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the National Examinations Council (NECO) Prof. Godswill Obioma has commended the leadership of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for integrity in service delivery. Obioma lauded the efforts made by the Commandant General NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu to curtail the activities of criminal elements, especially those bordering on examination malpractice and corruption in the conduct of the NECO examination across Nigeria. He advised him to continue to be diligent in his professional duties, saying that only Almighty God can reward his service to the nation. You have been diligent in carrying out your duties and God rewards hard work. Continue to do your best, dont relent; your diligence will take you higher. And continue to stick to your God because God is the one who can reward any person adequately, not man; Obioma stated. He added in a statement by Ekunola Gbenga, Media Assistant to the Commandant General that:, the presence of officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in examination halls has drastically reduced incidences of malpractice. Their presence has really helped in drastically reducing the many incidences of examination malpractice, we commend them for this, he said. He said the bulk of examination malpractice came from the hall where students engaged in practices such as exchange of textbooks while the supervisor looked the other way. The Registrar particularly praised the high level of Professionalism displayed by the Corps operatives as well as the effective deployment of the personnel even to the remote area in the country. He added that the level of integrity displayed on the field by the Corps attested to the fact that the leadership of the Corps takes the warfare of the personal very important. On his part, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Mohammadu, pledged the continued support of his agency in ensuring the credibility of NECO examinations. Signed Ekunola Gbenga Media Assistant to the Commandant General By Park Jae-hyuk POSCO International said Wednesday it has joined with the nation's major steel e-commerce operators to boost the online transparent trading of steel. In July, the POSCO group subsidiary signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sinsteel, Chungnam Steel, Daeduck Steel and Steelman Networks as part of its efforts to foster online steel trading as a new growth engine. The partnership coincided with the growing popularity of contactless online transactions after the spread of COVID-19. POSCO International and its four partners began to advertise their websites on the Steel Trade e-commerce platform that POSCO International opened in November last year and registered information about products they deal with on each other's platforms. Although Steel Trade has focused on selling POSCO's steel plates and non-order products, the recent MOU is expected to see the platform sell a larger variety of products, including plates, pipes and secondary products. Its partners have also been able to sell products POSCO International has dealt with. Given that suppliers and consumers have been able to make transactions freely on the platform, the latest partnership seems to benefit both sides, as well as the platform operator. According to POSCO International, suppliers and consumers can check real-time information about products, while consumers can decide on product prices and volumes and nominate places for delivery. "We aim to grow together with the nation's small- and medium-sized steelmakers with our e-commerce platform that supplemented the weakness of the conventional steel trading structure," a POSCO International official said. "For the convenience of our customers, we will offer sophisticated services through analysis of each customer's trade conditions, patterns and credit ratings." "We are delighted to bring these contemporary, urban-inspired townhome designs to the popular masterplan of Millenia," said Bill Ostrem, San Diego Division President for Lennar. "Thoughtful floorplans, a highly-sought after location within the Millenia masterplan and an appealing price point create a winning combination for home shoppers." Vibe at Millenia offers six thoughtfully-designed floorplans with contemporary exterior styles that create a modern urban-inspired appeal. The townhomes range from 1,681 to 2,552 square feet, with three to four bedrooms and three to three-and-a-half bathrooms. The floorplans feature spacious living areas with spa-like owner's suites and first floor bedrooms that can serve as a dedicated office space for enhanced livability. The X floorplan has four stories and includes a bonus room and roof top deck for added entertaining space. Pricing begins in the high-$400,000s. Each floorplan will incorporate innovative design details and Lennar's signature Everything's Included program which provides customers with a high level of standard features already included in the base price of the homes. All homes are Wi-Fi Certified and engineered for whole-home connectivity with included features like the Ring Pro video doorbell, Ecobee Smart thermostat, Schlage Encode and Wi-Fi smart lock. Vibe at Millenia residents will enjoy access to community amenities including a recreation area with a pool, BBQ area, fire pit and children's play area. Plus, the Millenia masterplan is across the street from the popular Otay Ranch Town Center and all the shops it has to offer. The community is in close proximity to SR 125 Toll Road which offers connectivity to the greater San Diego area. Vibe at Millenia's Welcome Home Center is located at 1943 Strata Street, Chula Vista, CA 91915. For more on information or to schedule your visit, please call 619-684-2685 or visit the community website. About Lennar Corporation Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builder s of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LenX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. For more information about Lennar, please visit www.lennar.com. Contact: Danielle Tocco Vice President Communications Lennar Corporation [email protected] Direct Line: 949.789.1633 SOURCE Lennar Shia LaBeouf made quite the style statement when he stepped outside for a jog in his neighbourhood. The Hollywood actor, 34, wore a pair of kooky neon yellow sunglasses and tucked his Portland Water Hawks T-shirt into some form-fitting running leggings. Shia looked deep in thought and was sporting AirPods in his ears as he listened to music throughout his exercise session. Keeping fit: Shia LaBeouf wore neon sunglasses and tucked his T-shirt into very tight running leggings for jogging session in his neighbourhood on Monday His outing comes after The Tax Collector's director David Ayer had to defend the project following accusations that the star's character was an example of brownface in The Tax Collector. Ayer's latest film tells the story of a crime lord's 'tax collector' is Los Angeles and how his life is upended when a rival boss arrives to town. The cast is almost exclusively Latinx POC except for Shia, who donned a dark-trimmed goatee and hair, and a 'barrio accent.' Into it: Shia looked deep in thought and was sporting AirPods in his ears as he listened to music throughout his exercise session In two interviews with LA Times, Ayer doubled down on his stance and did not back down from his choice to cast Shia as 'Creeper.' 'Hes a white guy playing a white guy. Hes not taking anyones work away,' the director told the publication. Ayer initially hit back at allegations of brownface on Twitter on July 1, where he again insisted the Transformers star was playing a white man in the film. Responding to a fan he wrote: 'Really important answer - Shia is playing a white boy who grew up in the hood. This is a Jewish dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie.' Ayer, a white man who grew up in California, added in a series of follow up tweets that he grew around Chicano culture. Some cast members of the Tax Collector have since spoken out in defence of both Ayer's ability to cover Latino communities and LaBeouf. Controversy: Shia's outing comes after The Tax Collector's director David Ayer recently defended the project amid criticism Shia was in 'brownface' Defence: The filmmaker, 52, explained: 'Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood' following the criticism In this image from video, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden smiles after the roll call vote during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. Read more WILMINGTON, Del. Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, with party elders, a new generation of politicians and voters in every state joining in an extraordinary, pandemic-cramped virtual convention to send him into the general election campaign to oust President Donald Trump. For someone who has spent more than three decades eyeing the presidency, the moment Tuesday night was the realization of a long-sought goal. But it occurred in a way that the 77-year-old Biden couldnt have imagined just months ago as the coronavirus pandemic prompted profound change across the country and in his presidential campaign. Instead of a Milwaukee convention hall as initially planned, the roll call of convention delegates played out in a combination of live and recorded video feeds from American landmarks packed with meaning: Alabamas Edmund Pettus Bridge, the headwaters of the Mississippi River, a Puerto Rican community still recovering from a hurricane and Washingtons Black Lives Matter Plaza. Biden celebrated his new status as the Democratic nominee alongside his wife and grandchildren in a Delaware school library. His wife of more than 40 years, Jill Biden, later spoke of her husband in deeply personal terms, reintroducing the lifelong politician as a man of deep empathy, faith and resilience to American voters less than three months before votes are counted. There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going, she said. But Ive always understood why he did it. He does it for you. READ MORE: That girl from Philly Jill Biden says her husband Joe can heal America The conventions most highly anticipated moments will unfold on the next two nights. Kamala Harris will accept her nomination as Bidens running mate on Wednesday, the first Black woman to join a major party ticket. Former President Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor. Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home. Biden used the second night of the four-day convention to feature a mix of party elders, Republican as well as Democratic, to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry and former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell were among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasized a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, also made a brief appearance. Some of them delivered attacks against Trump that were unusually personal, all in an effort to establish Biden as the competent, moral counter to the Republican president. Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world, Kerry said. And like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it. When this president goes oversees it isnt a goodwill mission. Its a blooper reel. Clinton said Trumps Oval Office is a place of chaos, not a command center. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man, Clinton said. For his part, Trump spent Tuesday courting battleground voters in an effort to distract from Bidens convention. Appearing in Arizona near the Mexican border during the day, the Republican president claimed a Biden presidency would trigger a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen. Such divisive rhetoric, which is not supported by Bidens positions, has become a hallmark of Trumps presidency, which has inflamed tensions at home and alienated allies around the world. Biden has the support of a sprawling political coalition, as demonstrated again during Tuesday's convention, although neither history nor enthusiasm is on his side. READ MORE: DNC, Day 1: Left and Not-So-Left unite against Trump Just one incumbent president has been defeated since 1992, George H.W. Bush. And Bidens supporters consistently report that theyre motivated more by opposition to Trump than excitement about Biden. A collection of younger Democrats, including former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were given a few minutes to shine. But overall, there was little room on Tuesdays program for the younger stars of the partys far-left wing. In a democracy, we do not elect saviors. We cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve, said Abrams, 46, who emerged as a national player during her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018 and was among those considered to be Bidens running mate. For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans. Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in years past, endorsed the Democratic candidate. He joined the wife of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who stopped short of a formal endorsement but spoke in a video of the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared. While there have been individual members of the opposing party featured at presidential conventions before, a half-dozen Republicans, including a former two-term governor of Ohio, have now spoken for Democrat Biden. The Democrats party elders played a prominent role throughout the night. Clinton, who turns 74 on Tuesday, hasnt held office in two decades. Kerry, 76, was the Democratic presidential nominee back in 2004 when the youngest voters this fall were still in diapers. And Carter left office in 1981. Bidens team did not give the nights coveted keynote address to a single fresh face, preferring instead to pack the slot with more than a dozen Democrats in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The younger leaders included Abrams; Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa.; Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia; and the president of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez. READ MORE: Malcolm Kenyatta on his Democratic convention keynote: A poor, Black, gay kid from North Philly is about to be on this stage It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum hes looking for. Preliminary estimates show that television viewership for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clintons onsite nominating party four years ago. An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers. Bidens campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night. We are producing a digital convention, and people are watching, Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo tweeted. Price reported from Las Vegas and Peoples from New York. AP Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace contributed to this article. The West African Examination Council (WAEC has initiated investigations into a yet to be finalized version of an Examiners List for WASSCE School Candidates (SC) 2020 on social media. The Council has initiated investigations into the disturbing development and reported the matter to the Cyber Crime Development of the Ghana Police Service. This was after WAECs attention was drawn to the unfortunate circulation of a yet to be finalized version of an Examiners List for WASSCE (SC) 2020 on social media. In a statement issued and signed by Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, Head, Public Affairs, Head of National Office, WAEC also apologized unreservedly to all examiners, whose contact details were unintentionally circulated. While apologizing unreservedly to all Examiners whose contact details were inadvertedly circulated in the public domain, the Council wishes to reiterate its commitment to safeguarding the integrity and credibility of its examinations and certificates respectively. The council said its monitoring of the ongoing WASSCE (SC) had indicated that the activities of rogue websites were in full force with several fake versions of questions being circulated on social media platforms. Additionally, the council said it also came to light that fake version of the Integrated Science (2and 1), Social Studies (2 and 1) Chemistry three, Practical Alternative A, and Economics 2and 1 papers were also shared on social media platforms. Again snapshots of the Mathematics (Core) 2 paper were posted on social media platforms after the release of the paper from WAEC Strong Rooms. According to the Statement, Investigations into this issue are ongoing. The statement said WAEC will continue to roll out various measures to deal with the illegal activities in order to ensure fairness to all candidates and maintain the integrity of examination The council assured its stakeholders and the public that its marking process, which was tested over the years ensured fairness adding that these processes involve swapping of scripts across regions, vetting of scripts by Assistant Examiners by Team Leaders, vetting of Team leaders scripts by chief Examiners among others. Meanwhile the Minority in Ghanas Parliament has called on the WAEC, to act swiftly in canceling leaked West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) papers. It is extremely worrying and a disturbing trend for names, email addresses, location, and contact numbers of examiners to be put in circulation on social media and the public space. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Here we go Those are the words producer Jim Michaels used to signal the resumption of filming on Supernatural in Vancouver. Supernatural was among the more than 100 shows impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, with production halting on March 13. Though filming through to Episode 18 had been completed, post-production on the episodes yet to be aired hadnt been completed before the shutdown. This resulted in the series going on hiatus on March 23 at Episode 13. In the US, The CW has announced that the series would return with new Season 15 episodes from Thursday, Oct. 8. The series finale (Episode 20) is due there on Nov. 19 , preceded by an hour-long special, titled Supernatural: The Long Road Home. 10 Peach had planned to catch up to the US, more or less, for the finale so fingers crossed they can accommodate a fast-tracked finale for fans in Australia. Source: TV Guide China will firmly support the purpose and objective of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and faithfully fulfill its obligations, a senior Chinese diplomat said here on Monday. In a statement to the Sixth Conference of States Parties to ATT, scheduled between Aug. 17 to 21 and being conducted through written procedure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Li Song, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, said that China supports the international community to take all necessary measures to regulate international arms trade and to combat illicit transfer of conventional arms. Li told the conference that China's accession to the ATT is a significant step of its active participation in the global governance on arms trade and in safeguarding international and regional peace and stability. The ATT will enter into force for China on Oct. 4 of 2020. "China has always taken a prudent and responsible approach and exercised strict control on its arms export," Li said, adding that a full-fledged policy and legislative system of export control on conventional arms has been established in the country. He proposed to enhance the universality and effectiveness of the ATT, to enhance the interaction and coordination among relevant mechanisms on conventional arms control in the framework of the UN, and to enhance the sense of responsibility in arms trade. "China is ready to join hands with all parties, including the States Parties to the ATT, to consolidate consensus and make greater contributions to the effective implementation of the ATT, to the establishment of a fair and regulated international order of arms trade, and to safeguarding the international and regional peace and stability," said the ambassador. Former president of Ireland will hold virtual discussion on global challenges by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland who also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will share her thoughts on climate change, human rights, and other global issues during a virtual discussion next week hosted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. The free event is at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26, and is open to the public. Registration is required and closes when the virtual discussion starts. Elected the first woman president in Irelands history, Robinson served from 1990 to 1997. Viewed as a transformative leader committed to human rights, Robinson resigned shortly before her term ended to serve the U.N. as High Commissioner for Human Rights until 2002. She later served as U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2014 to 2015. Mary Robinson is one of the most respected, even revered, leaders in the world, John T. Shaw, Institute director, said. She was a trailblazing president of Ireland and continues to be a powerful and passionate voice in support of human rights. President Robinson is also one of the leading advocates on the international stage for tackling the increasingly urgent challenge of global warming. Distinguished career Robinson now chairs The Elders, a organization of independent world leaders created by Nelson Mandela, whose focus is on working for peace, justice and human rights through public and private diplomacy. The group includes former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former President Jimmy Carter. Robinson served in Irelands parliament for 20 years before her election as president. From 2008 to 2019, Robinson served as chancellor of Trinity College Dublin and she is the schools adjunct professor in climate justice. Her numerous awards and honors include Amnesty Internationals Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2004, and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She is the author of Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice, Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future, and A Voice for Human Rights. Ongoing Institute Series The discussion with Robinson is part of the Institutes series with historians, political analysts, and state and national leaders. The series began in late April and has featured speakers including author and historian David M. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Donald McHenry, Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor, U.S. Congressman and White House adviser, Leon Panetta, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and CIA director, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Carmen Rojas, president of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Registration is open for Robinsons conversation Registration for the free ZOOM meeting is available in advance. After completing registration, participants will receive an email confirmation with information about joining the meeting, along with the meeting ID and password. Participants have an opportunity when they register to submit a question to Robinson by email at paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu or by including it in the Questions and Comments section on the registration form. More information on the Institutes events is available at paulsimoninstitute.siu.edu/event-information/. A middle-aged woman who stalked a radio DJ she became obsessed with has been given a restraining order to keep away from him. Grace Baker, 54, inundated Niall Moloney with unwanted gifts like chocolates, biscuits and cards. As well as turning up at his home, the superfan also visited the Hot Radio DJ at work and interrupted a quiz night he was hosting at a pub. Grace Baker, 54, pictured left after turning up at DJ's home just before she threw water at him in Bournemouth, Dorset. Baker has been banned from contacting Mr Maloney for three years When he realised Baker had feelings for him, Mr Moloney, who also works for BBC Radio Solent, told her to leave him alone. Although she was later cautioned for harassing the radio star, she continued to try and contact him. Matters came to a head in April this year when she turned up on his doorstep. At the time Mr Moloney was on the phone to the police after a neighbour had identified her as leaving a box of chocolates on the doorstep of his home in Bournemouth, Dorset. Her visit prompted the DJ to tell her to 'f**k off', a court heard. With that Baker, a supermarket worker, threw a bottle of water over him. She was arrested and charged with harassment. Jane Nott, prosecuting, said: 'The victim first met the defendant when he was working as a DJ and had been a long-term follower of his on social media. 'Around four years ago he started selling Herbalife and she became one of his customers. She even ran a running class from his home. 'At this point the victim says he thought she wanted something more than friendship and told her he wanted no further contact. 'In 2017 she left several gifts and cards at his workplace. 'In 2018 he reported her after she left chocolates on his car. She was interviewed by police and cautioned.' Mr Moloney, pictured, told Baker to 'f**k off' after she turned up at his home while he was there Niall Moloney, who works for Hot Radio and BBC Radio Solent, filmed Baker outside his home She added: 'Then on April 13 he came home to find chocolates on the steps outside his home and suspected it was from the defendant. 'A neighbour said she had seen a female delivering them so he showed her a picture and she confirmed it was the woman she'd seen. 'Three days later he was on the phone to the police again, his buzzer sounded and it was her. 'He went downstairs and explained he had spoken to the police and was recording her. He also told her to f**k off. 'She got angry and threw a bottle of water at him. He closed the door and the water hit that instead of him.' Leah Dillon, mitigating, added: 'What felt innocuous obviously went on to cause distress to this gentleman. 'She just wanted a friend and is sorry for the distress she caused. 'She is of previous good character and has no desire to return to the courts. This will be her first and only time.' Baker was handed a 12-month conditional discharge and a restraining order banning contact with Mr Moloney for three years. She was also ordered to pay a total of 107 in court costs. Mr Molony is a nightclub DJ and volunteers as a breakfast presenter for Bournemouth-based Hot Radio. He also has a regular slot with DJ Neil Sackley on BBC Radio Solent. Trump Calls for Boycott of Goodyear After Apparent Ban on MAGA Hats President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for a boycott of Goodyear tires, pointing to an apparent ban the company has on employees wearing Make America Great Again hats. Dont buy GOODYEAR TIRES, the president told supporters via Twitter, his favored social media platform. They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!) A leaked photograph of a slide said to be part of diversity training given to Goodyear employees showed that workers are allowed to wear Black Lives Matter attire and clothing or accessories expressing pride in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender identities. But workers were told it was unacceptable to show support for Blue Lives Matter, a pro-police movement; All Lives Matter, a frequent rejoinder to people saying black lives matter; or attire including the phrase Make America Great Again, or MAGA. The latter was used by Trump as a campaign slogan during the 2016 presidential race. He still uses the term regularly. A man wears a Make America Great Again hat as he and others listen to President Donald Trump during a rally at Yuma International Airport in Yuma, Ariz., on Aug. 18, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) A Goodyear spokesman didnt return a voicemail on Wednesday. The company issued a statement following Trumps boycott call. The image in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class, the statement read. To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination, it continued. To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues. An employee who took the photo of the slide told WIBW that it was shown at a Topeka plant and came from the main office in Akron, Ohio. If were talking about equality, then it needs to be equality. If not, its discrimination, the employee said. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at the White House on Wednesday, I will stand at this podium and say Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue and Goodyear needs to come out and acknowledge that. Weve got to get a grip. Its time for the reckless and the irresponsible to be shut down. There should be no second chances for pubs and other venues that cant obey the rules. When theyre caught, they should simply be closed by the authorities and their licences to trade automatically suspended. And it should happen in a way that puts the onus of proof firmly on them to establish that they can ever again be trusted in the future. An awful lot of these places hire bouncers to keep people they regard as undesirable out. Theres enough evidence now to suggest that some undesirables are in charge of some venues. And its time for some of the experts to give us all a break from their whinging and moaning. There was an article in The Irish Times last week under the heading New Zealands decision to close down business in Auckland over four Covid-19 cases is madness. It was written by a business journalist. The Sunday Times had another, also written by an economics columnist, calling on us to follow the Swedish approach. Sweden twice our population, a much more highly developed health and social care system, and three times our number of deaths. More people will die, of course, but the economic effects wont be as bad. And the Sunday Independent ran an interview with another expert, Stanford Universitys professor of medicine, that the lockdown will prove the biggest public health mistake in history. Its not clear why did we save too many lives, or not enough? Of course, there are people in the media who are asking critical questions, as they should, who are reporting mistakes, who are building evidence to support an argument. But I really dont know what all this other nonsense is designed to achieve. Is it to make us feel stupid? Or are the writers just cleverer or more superior than the rest of us? Im not writing this as someone connected with the HSE, although I have a connection. Im certainly not pretending to be an expert in public health, though Ive tried hard to learn who to trust and who not to trust. Read More Garda powers limited in response to social distancing breaches Im writing this as a citizen, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. As a grandfather, for example, I know from the mouths of my grandkids how important it is for them to go back to school, and how devastated they will be if it doesnt happen. As a husband, my wife, one of the fittest and most active people I know, had to be tested for Covid-19 last week. She had some symptoms, and the whole process, from referral to result, took four days. It was a long four days. I knew if she tested positive she could have a very rough time ahead of her. I also know that if she got it, so almost certainly would I, as would our daughter Mandy. All three of us, for several reasons, are in the category described as vulnerable. All of us have taken as much care as possible, and have tried to follow the public health advice as well as we can. If Frieda had tested positive thankfully, she just had a bad cold it would have been one of those unlucky things that was no fault of hers. But almost certainly the statistics would have gone up by three. Thats one side of it. The other side is that I know, from direct experience and involvement, that the HSE, at every single level, pulled off a miracle when the pandemic arrived in Ireland. There is no country in Europe less well prepared than we are for a pandemic. Thats simply because public policy for years neglected health and social care. Beds removed from the system 40 years ago have never been appropriately replaced. Elderly care was systematically privatised and is now largely run on a for-profit basis. So is a great deal of acute care and diagnostics. Services for people with a disability, which were never top of mind in the first place, were farmed out to very large voluntary providers which have grown enormously top-heavy over the years. Those same services, almost without exception, shut down as completely as they could the minute the pandemic started, and left the people who need them high and dry. And, of course, the HSE itself has long been regarded by people the length and breadth of the country as a huge, unresponsive, inefficient, bureaucratic monster. Almost since the day it was founded the most commonly held view of the HSE was that you got great service and care in an Irish public hospital, but access to that care (getting into hospital in good time when you needed it) was a disaster. By any measure, then, Ireland was guaranteed to be overrun when the pandemic hit. But we werent, and there were two reasons for that. The first is that doctors, nurses, ward orderlies, cleaners, managers everyone in the system went to work. They went to work in fear of their health and their lives, but they didnt let that stop them. And the second reason is that we, the rest of us, took the business of looking after each other seriously. We helped to ensure that our health system wasnt overrun by washing our hands, by sacrificing some of the things we call good times, by learning different ways to do the things we needed to do. Those two great strengths are now our greatest weaknesses. In the first place, our health system cannot sustain a second surge. Thats just a fact. We have never had enough beds to cope with any winter epidemic, and if we have a bad flu season alongside a second surge, the trolley crisis of the last few years, that always dominated our news bulletins, will be like a picnic. Hundreds of people will die. Your loved ones and mine. And secondly, theres too much evidence now that too many of us are tired of it. You see it everywhere. Even though mask-wearing is improving, there are still too many people throwing caution to the winds too often. Theres too much talk about impositions on our rights and freedoms. Too many people are going to ignore the flu jab when it comes available which should be as mandatory as possible, by the way. WE HAVE to recognise that every time we go into a confined space without a mask, every time we stand too close with a pint in our hands, were playing with someones health. We have to recognise that this isnt just a temporary thing. Its a permanent change we have to make in all our lifestyles until this pandemic is beaten. Weve got to stop listening to nonsense from people whose expertise is really in the business of special pleading on behalf of vested interests. I know thats not the message everyone wants to hear. I know government ministers want to encourage rather than coerce. But the numbers are going the wrong way now. Its not too late to turn them around again. Weve got to get a grip. Health Minister Robin Swann gave his strongest hint yesterday that he is actively considering local lockdowns to combat the spike in coronavirus cases. He warned that Northern Ireland was in danger of "sliding down a very slippery and treacherous slope", with 41 new cases having been recorded, bringing the total to 6,471. He added, however: "It is not inevitable. We can still arrest that slide, but this requires decisive action from all of us. Covid-19 won't go away just because we are fed up with it. "The time is coming for the Executive to consider fresh and concrete actions to prevent a further spread. "This could include imposing localised restrictions, or general, or a combination of both." His message is clear enough for everyone to understand. The issue is expected to top the agenda at a meeting of the Executive tomorrow. Clearly, the reintroduction of a lockdown, general or local, would be hugely emotive and the necessity for restrictions on individual liberties must be argued for forensically. The greater the restriction, the greater is the need for it to be justified rigorously. Local lockdowns, or other restrictions, are less oppressive, but they still must be the tactic of last resort. We like to think that wearing masks, washing hands frequently and social distancing should be enough to defeat the virus, but this has not happened. One person's common sense is another's reckless abandonment. Nevertheless, if Mr Swann and his Executive colleagues are to consider further restrictions, of whatever scope, they will have to demonstrate the absolute necessity of the steps they propose. There is a perception abroad, rightly or wrongly, that the Executive is not being as transparent as it could about the spread of Covid-19, the location of hotspots, the efficacy of contact tracing and the reliability of the crucial R-number. No one expects the Executive to publish details identifying affected individuals, which would be illegal under human rights legislation. However, what we do expect is for ministers to be as open as they can and to share the maximum amount of information at their disposal, not the bare minimum. Only that way will the measures they are expected to impose tomorrow command the widespread public support that is needed for them to be effective. 19.08.2020 LISTEN Executive Summary The survey was conducted between Saturday, July 25, 2020 to Saturday, August 8, 2020 via online and distribution of printed copies of questionnaire within Ashanti, Western, Savanah, Greater Accra and Volta region. However, the online questionnaire link was generally opened for all. Approximately 69% of Ghanaians believe that the economy is not properly managed. About 71% of Ghanaians indicated that the collapse of banks in the country was politically motivated. Also, 74%, of Ghanaians indicated that the government has not pleased them in the fight against corruption. Background This survey become necessary because it has become important to understand the economic management issues in the country to strengthen stakeholder satisfaction. Results The following sections present the results from the survey. It is organized based on the questions as presented in the data collection instrument. Bio Characteristics of the Respondents This section assesses the bio data of the respondents with focus on gender and level of education. This will guide the stakeholders in which of the groups to concentrate on in developing policies in the future. Gender of Participants The results indicated that majority of the respondents of the participants in this survey were males. They represent 52% of the total participants of 2613. The remaining 48% were females. This result is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: Gender of Participants Level of Education of the Participants The survey also assessed the level of education of the participants. The results showed that majority (52%) of the participants have tertiary education, followed by high school education (45%) and basic school education being the least with three percent. This is represented in the Figure 2 below. This implies that majority of respondents are well informed. Figure 2: Level of Education of the Participants Covid-19 Fund Management and the Fight against Corruption This section assesses the opinion of the general public on the management of the Covid-19 fund in Ghana and how the government is rated in the fight against corruption in the country. In so doing, we asked the participants to rate their level of satisfaction of three basic issues relating to the Covid-19 fund and the management of the novel Covid-19 in Ghana. The participants were asked to use a three-point scale as poor (1), good (2) and excellent (3) in the rating. Participants level of satisfaction with the Management of Covid-19 fund in Ghana Results in Figure 3 indicated that a large section (1811 out of 2613, representing 69%) of Ghanaians are not satisfied with government`s management of the Covid-19 fund. Less than 30% of the total participants (750, representing 29%) indicated that they are okay with the management of the fund while an insignificant 52 out of 2613, representing two percent hinted that government is doing excellently. This result is not surprising at all, looking back at how the amount of money and its usage disclosed by the Minister of Finance generated mixed feelings among social media users after the mid-year budget presentation in parliament. Figure 3: level of satisfaction with the Management of Covid-19 fund in Ghana Participants` Level of satisfaction with the Amount of money spent on cooked food for some section of Ghanaians during the lockdown Majority of Ghanaians (2121, representing 81%) are not satisfied with the amount of money used on cooked food alone for some fraction of Ghanaians during the 3-week lockdown in Ghana. This is due to the fact that the distribution of the food was not well coordinated and Ghanaians complained about lack of transparency. Only less than 20% noted that the amount is okay and they are satisfied. Again, this shows that Ghanaians across all gender and literacy line have been monitoring the government`s activities, hence Governments must be as transparent as possible to enhance the satisfaction of the people that give them the power to rule. Figure 4: Participants` Level of satisfaction with the Amount of money spent on cooked food General Corruption in the Management of the Covid-19 in Ghana Participants were asked whether they have suspected any form of corruption in the management of the novel Covid-19 in Ghana. 71% indicated that indeed there is corruption in the management of the novel pandemic whilst 29% said there is no corruption. This is represented in Figure 5. Figure 5: Corruption in the Management of Covid-19 in Ghana Participants` Level of satisfaction with the Government`s fight against corruption in the country Results as displayed in Figure 5 indicated that, majority of Ghanaians are not satisfied with Government`s efforts in controlling corruption so far. About 1941 out of 2613, representing 74%, noted that the government has not pleased them as far as the fight against corruption is concerned. 569 out of 2613, representing 22%, indicated that the government`s efforts have been good so far while 103 out of the 2613, representing four percent noted the government has done an excellent job in the fight against corruption so far. Figure 5: Participants` Level of satisfaction with the Government`s fight against corruption in Ghana General Management of the Economy This section evaluates the views of the general public on some major economic management issues affecting lives and job security in the country. Participants` rating on the management of the economy in the past three and half years The first issue of concern under this section was to examine the views of the public on the management of the economy in the past three and half years. 1798 Ghanaians, representing approximately 69% indicated that the economy has been managed poorly while 29% (763) and two percent (52) respectively rated it good and excellent. Figure 6: Participants` ratings on the management of the economy in the past three and half years Participants` Level of Satisfaction with the collapse or closure of banks in the country The survey also assessed the views of the public on the banking sector clean up and the results are not any different from the results on the economic management. Out of 2613, 2070 (79%) participants indicated that they are not satisfied with the banking sector cleanup which saw many indigenous banks collapsed while 466 (18%) and 77 (3%) indicated that it is a good and excellent activity respectively. Figure 7: Participants` Level of Satisfaction with the collapse or closure of banks in the country Participants` level of satisfaction with the amount of money used on the collapse of banks in the country From Figure 8, it could be seen that Ghanaians are not satisfied with the quantum of money used on the banking sector cleanup exercise. 2199 Ghanaians indicated their disappointment and dissatisfaction with the amount used in the exercise while 414 Ghanaians feel it is fair. Figure 8: Participants` level of satisfaction with the amount of money used on the collapse of banks in the country Views of the Participants on the collapse of banks in the country as deliberate political activity The last part under this section assessed the views of Ghanaians on the collapse of banks in the country as to whether they suspect any foul play in the activity. They were asked to indicate whether they feel the act was influenced by politics or was politically motivated. This is depicted in Figure 9. Figure 9: Participants on the collapse of banks in the country was deliberate political activity Voter Registration and Election 2020 This part examined issues relating to the voter registration exercise and voting by Ghanaians in the upcoming election. Level of satisfaction with the use of military and other security personnel in parts of the country during the voter registration exercise to determine citizenship We examined the views of the public on the use of the security service in some parts of the country during the voter registration to determine who is a Ghanaian and who is not. Majority of Ghanaians (1475, representing 56%) were not happy with the use of the security personnel in some parts of the country to determine citizenship during the voter registration, while 724 (28%) and 414 (16%) noted that it was a fair and excellent activity respectively. These responses show marked division in the country that should interest political parties to address. Figure 10: Level of satisfaction with the use of military and other security personnel in parts of the country Voting in the upcoming December 7, 2020 General Elections We examined the willingness of the public to vote in the upcoming elections. Majority (82%) indicated their willingness to vote while 18% are not willing to vote in the upcoming elections. This is represented in Figure 11. This implies that the turn out in the 2020 elections may be high. Figure 11: Willingness to Vote in the upcoming December 7, 2020 General Election Voting Decision and the influence of issues in this survey To probe further into the issues surrounding the upcoming elections, we assessed the influence of the issues covered in this survey on the decision of the public on whether to vote or not and who to vote for in the upcoming general elections. Majority of 66% of Ghanaians indicated that the issues contained in this survey will influence their decisions in the upcoming elections while 34% indicated that they will vote based on some other factors or issues in addition to those mentioned in this survey. This result is presented in Figure 12. Figure 12: Voting Decision and influence of issues in this survey Ticket to Vote for in the upcoming Elections The survey further examined the choices of the respondents for the upcoming elections. The general public was asked to indicate the political ticket they are likely to vote for in the upcoming December 7 general elections. Majority of Ghanaians (43%) indicated that they will vote for John Dramani Mahama and Prof. Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang ticket while 24% indicated that they will vote for Nana Addo and Bawumia ticket. Surprisingly, over a quarter (33%) of the Ghanaian population indicated that they are not willing to indicate their choice of tickets. This is very interesting and may have some consequences in the election results. This mean political parties should strategize to engage the people to understand their message. The result is presented in Figure 13. Figure 13: Ticket to Vote for in the upcoming Elections Conclusion Ghanaians believed that the economy is not being managed well as expected and the banking sector clean-up was politically motivated and did not deliver value for money. The voter registration exercise shows deep tribal division in Ghana that should attract the attention of politicians. Also, Ghanaians were unhappy with the use of the military to determine citizenship and intimidate citizens in some parts of the country during the registration exercise. The 2020 elections will be influenced by the fight against corruption, management of Covid-19, and discrimination against citizens by the government. LEAD RESEARCHER: MERCY AFUMWAA M. BOATENG Mobile: 0209402820 WhatsApp: 0209402820 Email: [email protected] The City of Lebanon has hired Nancy Brewer to serve as its new interim city manager. The council voted unanimously on Wednesday, Aug. 12, to approve a one-year, $140,000 contract with Brewer to fill the position. Brewer is currently serving as the finance director for the City of Corvallis, a position which she has held for 27 years. Brewer is retiring from that post at the end of September and will officially join the Lebanon staff on October 5. Ron Whitlatch, the director of Lebanons Engineering Services department, has served as Lebanons interim city manager since shortly after the resignation of Gary Marks in August 2019. Whitlatch will continue to fill that dual role until Brewer takes her position. Brewer said the interim city manager position was the right fit for her at this time. Part of it is, though I am retiring from Corvallis Im not really ready to stop working. I didnt apply for the position full time because Im not sure I can commit to five or more years, either, Brewer said. On an interim basis, it works really well. Lebanon is a great community and there is a lot happening in that town that I think makes it very interesting as a job opportunity, to help Lebanon through the next phase of its growth and development. Brewer started working for the City of Corvallis on August 26, 1990. She worked as a budget analyst for one year and then spent two years working as a management assistant in the community development department. She was then appointed to serve as finance director and has held that position since that time. She believes this financial background can be helpful for the City of Lebanon. At the local level, everything comes down to money. Your ability to do capital projects, to do improvements to facilities, acquiring library books, police officers, all of those things come down to money. Certainly in Oregon, at the local government level, we are challenged in terms of the ability to raise money locally. That may be someplace I have some experience and may be able to be helpful, Brewer said. The contract is for one year, but Brewer said there is some flexibility built in if the City of Lebanon needs to lengthen or shorten that term. She felt a one-year contract was appropriate because it provides some stability for the city as it moves forward with its search for a permanent city manager. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the job search process and the City of Lebanon chose to restart its search after its initial effort did not yield a successful candidate. There was a consensus on the council that it was best to hire a full-time interim city manager in order to take the load off of Whitlatch, who will serve more than a year in a dual role. Council president Jason Bolen welcomed Brewer at the conclusion of the public session. Were glad to have you. Were looking forward to working with you, appreciate your willingness to work with us, Bolen said. Brewer said the City of Lebanons experienced staff and the make-up of the current council were a big part of the reason she was open to taking the position. The staff, they know what theyre doing. Theyre super responsible and smart and I think that makes working in any organization advantageous. The council meetings I watched, the council works well together, Brewer said. Theyre clearly thinking hard and trying to make the best decisions for the people of Lebanon. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Late Wednesday, though, it was unclear whether the meeting would take place or if all four aldermen would try and force the issue. Hairston said she might pull herself off the filing to set a meeting for Friday. She said shes concerned that a quorum wont be met so the issues wouldnt be discussed, and would like to be sure that the City Council will meet to address the issues. When LGBTQ+ activist Boban Stojanovic fled Serbia four years ago, he applied for refugee status in Canada. He now helps others in similar situations as the LGBTQ+ program manager at the Centre for Newcomers in Calgary "It was challenging," Stojanovic told CBC's The Homestretch about his life in Serbia. In January 2017, he and his partner received asylum to Canada after enduring hundreds of death threats and violence against them in their home country. Stojanovic said Calgary sees more than 1,000 refugee claimants each year and of those, about 200 to 300 are LGBTQ+ claimants. He added about 98 per cent of their clients are accepted. Next week, Stojanovic is set to share some of the history of LGBTQ+ newcomers to Calgary. He'll be speaking on a discussion panel called "Rainbow Connection: History of LGBTQ-plus Newcomers in Canada." It's part of an online series called "Our History Matters," launched by Calgary Pride and Calgary Gay History Project. The first of the 10 online programs started last week. The series also includes coverage of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Calgary and films on gay and lesbian life in '50s and '60s. In September, it will feature performances by top drag artists. Calgary Pride launched more than 100 online learning workshops including the pride history series over the summer. The workshops feature topics like how to boost self-confidence, how to manage finances, online beading circles and two-spirit teachings. The full calendar of events can be found on the organization's website. Ashok Lavasa on August 18 has resigned as Election Commissioner and would soon be joining Asian Development Bank (ADB) as vice president. Lavasa's resignation came a month after the multilateral funding agency named him its next vice president on July 15. The 62-year-old was appointed as the Election Commissioner on 23 January 2018 and has two years left in his tenure. Lavasa could have become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by the end of his tenure in October 2022, succeeding Sunil Arora who is the present CEC. Sushil Chandra, currently posted as Election Commissioner (EC), will be in the line of succession after Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora which otherwise would have been taken over by Lavasa had he not resigned. READ | CM Nitish inaugurates Bihar Agriculture University's new buildings READ | Bihar: Post official sets self on fire inside office sends resignation to Rashtrapati Bhavan According to reports, Lavasas ADB appointment was finalised with the Union government's nod and he was recommended for the role by the ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. He has sent his resignation to Rashtrapati Bhavan and requested to be relieved on August 31. He is likely to join the Philippines-based ADB sometime in September. The retired 1980 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, made headlines last year during the 2019 general election, by voicing out his dissent over clean chit being provided to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). He had informed reporters about the issue at that time. READ | Bihar registers 16 more COVID deaths, 3,257 fresh cases READ | Bihar govt announces bonanza for 3.5 lakh contractual teachers in election year (With agency inputs) Five prisoners have been charged with the murder of an inmate inside a Melbourne jail. Mark Pollard, 48, was allegedly assaulted during a robbery at Port Phillip Prison on February 26 and died from his injuries in hospital days later. Detectives on Wednesday charged 34-year-old Braybrook man Abdulkadir Ali with murder. Mark Pollard, 48, was allegedly assaulted during a robbery in prison on February 26 and died from his injuries in hospital days later. Ali did not appear before the online Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning, but his lawyer said he knew the proceeding was happening. Four other men - three 26-year-olds from Hoppers Crossing, Footscray and Braybrook, and a 32-year-old man from Collingwood - were charged later on Wednesday. They are still serving prison sentences for unrelated matters and are expected to front court on Friday. Ali will face a committal mention on November 13. Josh Altman proved to be a knight in shining armor for sellers offloading a 'castle' on Tuesday's episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles. Faced with the difficult task of finding a buyer for a Medieval mansion in Beverly Hills, Josh, 41, embraced the weirdness of it all and threw an open house 'fit for a king or a queen.' He hired professionally trained sword fighters, hung Medieval flags, and dressed himself, his wife and staff in period costume, also serving a roasted pig feast that cost $6,500. Getting medieval: Josh Altman proved to be a knight in shining armor for sellers offloading a 'castle' on Tuesday's episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles 'We're gonna bring this Medieval castle into the 21st century by blasting it everywhere on social media,' Josh added, as photos of him goofing around in costume were shown. The five-bedroom home certainly had curb appeal: It was located in the swanky enclave of Beverly Ridge, where only 11 homes had been built. But it was fully decorated to look like a castle, with a cathedral-style great room, high ceilings, over-sized fireplaces, wrought-iron indoor balconies, and arched doorways. The master bedroom was the size of a ballroom, with three chandeliers, while a full-sized bar contained a $300,000 hand-carved wooden ceiling. Medieval mansion: Faced with the difficult task of finding a buyer for a Medieval mansion in Beverly Hills, Josh, 41, embraced the weirdness of it all and threw an open house 'fit for a king or a queen' Owner David Gebbia, who was once married to Carlton Gebbiaa one-season star on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillswas unloading it because he was relocating to Florida. He and his twin brother Richie Gebbia needed to resell it for the family trust, as they had paid $1.8 million for the property in 2004, then spent $8 million redesigning it. 'At the time, my ex was involved in the design, and she's from England, so we brought in a lot of that,' David explained, as Carlton was shown discussing her 'castle' on season four of RHOBH. Moving away: Owner David Gebbia, who was once married to Carlton Gebbiaa one-season star on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillswas unloading it because he was relocating to Florida Reality star: Carlton was shown discussing her 'castle' on season four of RHOBH Castle features: The mansion featured a pool, cathedral-style great room, high ceilings, over-sized fireplaces, wrought-iron indoor balconies, and arched doorways She had even built a burlesque 'playroom' for herself and her ex-husband, with a stripper pole. 'Look at thisthis is insane!' Josh crowed as he toured the 74,000-square-foot grounds with his brother, Matt Altman, marveling at the cross-shaped pool. In a confessional, he sensed that the vast amount of space the house offered, coupled with its presence in 'an exclusive gated community,' would 'joust' it into escrow. Cross pool: 'Look at thisthis is insane!' Josh crowed as he toured the 74,000-square-foot grounds with his brother, Matt Altman, marveling at the cross-shaped pool Arched windows: The mansion had arched windows with wide views Josh priced it at $16.5 million, which would potentially earn him a commission of $412,500. He was so determined to make a sale, he even used the opening party for his new office, on L.A.'s Robertson Boulevard, to pitch the place to other brokers. 'It's got a little Medieval vibe,' he told them, underplaying the uniqueness of the site. Grand opening: Josh even used the opening party for his new office on Robertson Boulevard, to pitch the place to other brokers while hosting with his wife Heather At the open house, the sword fighters jousted across the home and grounds as brokers mingled. 'My lords, my ladies,' said Josh as he faced them. 'I am Sir Josh, from the house of the Altman Brothers. We welcome you to Beverly Ridge of Nine. Enjoy the festivities!' Most people who saw the place liked it, but everyone agreed that its look was 'very specific.' Open house: 'My lords, my ladies,' said Josh as he faced them. 'I am Sir Josh, from the house of the Altman Brothers. We welcome you to Beverly Ridge of Nine. Enjoy the festivities!' Gothic features: The mansion came with large gothic mosaics on the floor 'If I could get a buyer for this, it would be like my holy grail,' Josh confessed. To his amazement, Sam Collins, a broker from the Altman Group, came in with an offer from someone who loved the home's unusual design. Josh negotiated his lowball offer up a bit to $13.9 million, a number the sellers approved. Done deal: Josh negotiated his lowball offer up a bit to $13.9 million, a number the medieval mansion sellers approved 'Congratulations on closing the biggest deal of your career,' he told Sam. As Josh made a lucrative deal, his friends and fellow brokers James Harris, 33, and David Parnes, 37, tried to offload a Hollywood Hills property. The 10,000-square-foot home was owned by famous developer Zach Vella, who was usually a client of Million Dollar Listing New York realtor Fredrik Eklund. Major deal: As Josh made a lucrative deal, his friends and fellow brokers James Harris, 33, and David Parnes, 37, tried to offload a Hollywood Hills property His home had been on the market for more than a month, and the brokers needed to get the deal done fast before Fredrikwho'd recently started selling homes in Los Angelesgot any ideas. It was on the market for $15.495 million, but the first offer from a buyer came in low, at $13.750 million with the furniture. The next offer wasn't much better, at $13.9 million. 'I need to be at $14.5 million with the furniture,' Zach told James. 'Listen, we've been at this awhile, I want to give you a shot at this, but if we can't get this done, I'm gonna put Fredrik on the listing.' Tough call: The seller told James that he was going to put Fredrik Eklund on the listing if they couldn't find a buyer at the right price The buyer's agent, Justin, got his client to go up to $14.25 million, and insisted it was a 'great price for the house,' which made David cover his face with his hands. James told Justin they couldn't get the deal done for less than $14.9 million, and Justin returned with his client's absolute final offer, ready to walk away: $14.750 million. 'All cash, including furniture, what do you think, Jim?' David asked, trying to keep a straight face. 'I think you got yourself a deal, my friend,' James said, reveling in the fact that he'd just gotten Zach more than he expected. Deal completed: James and David reached a deal with the buyer's representative Justn 'Are you kidding?' Justin said, hugging them. 'Oh my God, come here. Come here.' 'It feels f***ing fantastic!' James crowed in private. 'Sorry, Fredrik, but we are still kings of L.A.!' Elsewhere on the episode, Josh Flagg, 34, tried to get a deal done on a beautiful house in the Bird Streets, another desirable Hollywood Hills neighborhood. Hollywood property: Elsewhere on the episode, Josh Flagg, 34, tried to get a deal done on a beautiful house in the Bird Streets, another desirable Hollywood Hills neighborhood It was reasonably priced at $3.995 million, but he'd had no takers since staging an open house, and decided to call in Fredrik, who had a bigger buyer pool. 'The house needs to smile more,' Fredrik observed, as he toured it. 'It's a little frowny.' Fredrik feigned disinterest, but Flagg knew he liked the place and it was just one of his tactics. Nice try: Fredrik feigned disinterest, but Flagg knew he liked the place and it was just one of his tactics. Over coffee that week, Fredrik told Flagg he had a buyer who would pay $3.3 million for the home, but Flagg wouldn't even entertain it. Fredrik again tried to dismiss the property's value, which Flagg saw through. 'The more negatively he speaks about this property, the better, because it just makes me realize how much his client wants this house,' Flagg recognized. 'This is exactly what I thought would happen with Fredrik. He's chomping at the bit, he's highly emotional, and he wants to close this deal as soon as possible.' The two realtors bargained back and forth, each getting new offers from their clients, until the property finally went for $3.65 million. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 16:13:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUNMING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- In recent years, conflicts between wild elephants and humans continue to worsen, with the giant animals breaking into residential areas, eating crops, damaging houses and threatening people's lives. In addition, The lives of wild elephants are often in danger. While continuously strengthening the protection of wild Asian elephants, the Chinese government has rolled out measures, such as constructing prevention projects, carrying out monitoring and building food bases for the endangered species, to solve the dilemma of human-elephant conflicts. HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICTS Asian elephants are under Class-A protection in China and are mainly scattered in Xishuangbanna and Pu'er, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Since 1958, Yunnan has established 11 national or regional-level nature reserves in the tropics, covering a total area of about 510,000 hectares, providing the Asian elephants shelter. The data released by the Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Administration (YFGA) showed that thanks to strengthening ecological conservation, the population of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan increased from 170 to about 300 over the past three decades. The increasing canopy density led to the succession of plants. Food for elephants such as wild bananas and steamed rice dumpling leaves were gradually replaced by woody plants, said Chen Mingyong, a professor with the Asian elephant research center of Yunnan University. "When they can't get enough food, elephants will seek nourishment outside the reserves, making conflicts with humans unavoidable," Chen said, adding that about two-thirds of wild elephants are living outside the reserves now. In the village where Aibian lives, 18 wild Asian elephants are uninvited guests. Aibian's village is located in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. "When crops such as corn and sugar cane are about to mature, wild elephants come to the fields and eat," the 58-year-old man said. Elephants also break into residential areas, sometimes destroying villagers' houses and steal food and salt. When elephants enter the village, the villagers can only hide in houses with more than two stories to avoid being trampled by the giant creatures. According to official data, from 2011 to 2019, there were more than 4,600 accidents involving wild Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna, resulting in more than 50 casualties, over 8,000 hectares of damaged crops and more than 100 million yuan in insurance compensation. LIVING IN HARMONY Human-elephant conflicts are common in Asian countries such as India and Thailand, said Chen, adding that China's efforts to protect Asian elephants are becoming more and more effective. In 2017, in order to prevent wild elephants from entering the village, the local nature reserve built a fence in Xiangyanqing Village. A steel pipe fence more than two meters high has been built around the whole village, setting small doors suitable for personnel to pass through. With the fence, elephants have never entered the village again. "Elephants often pass by from a distance, but they can't get in now, allowing us to sleep soundly now," villager Wang Yan said. In China, people's lives and safety are the top priorities for the government, and so do the elephants. Wild elephants used to frequent Wang's village. When Wang was a child, her family members often took turns guarding the crops, for at least two months a year. "When wild elephants come, we only tried to chase them away, but never hurt them," Wang said. Yunnan has purchased commercial wild animal insurance covering the entire province. When elephants cause trouble, villagers could get compensation from insurers. Meanwhile, Xishuangbanna has started to build food bases and plant bananas and bamboo across the prefecture to create a better habitat for the elephants. Until 2020, Xishuangbanna has a land area of about 553.3 hectares for planting these crops. Monitoring and early warning have also been of great help. Since 2016, Menghai County has used drones to comprehensively monitor elephants and released real-time early warning information through mobile apps, such as WeChat. The early warning system has helped locals successfully avoid 380 risks and prevented more than 400 people from encountering wild elephants head-on. Enditem Occasional teachers in Ottawa say they're still in the dark about how they'll be protected from COVID-19 during the upcoming school year. Dave Wildman, a teacher and local president for the union representing occasional teachers with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), said substitute teachers have specific concerns that most full-time educators don't face. Right now, most are very anxious because plans aren't solid yet. - Dave Wildman, Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Occasional Teachers' Association Occasional teachers often work at different schools, so they're exposed to a greater number of students and staff. In both Ontario and British Colombia, personal care workers who worked in multiple homes were found to be a significant risk factor for COVID-19 outbreaks in those settings. "They're worried about not just their own health and safety, they're worried about exposure to the virus, taking it home to their families, especially if they have people at home who are immunocompromised, and they're worried about the number of contacts they have," said Wildman. "Right now, most are very anxious because plans aren't solid yet." At a special board meeting last Friday, OCDSB administrators were asked what they're doing about the potential risks facing supply teachers. Janice McCoy, the board's superintendent of human resources, said the OCDSB is developing "different layers of precautions." All occasional teachers (OTs) will receive a full day of training, like regular staff, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) to use in schools, she said. They must also undergo regular health assessments and will be told not to work if they feel ill. The board is also considering expanding an existing program by assigning a dedicated supply teacher to each elementary school to limit their exposure, McCoy said. There are also discussions about expanding that program into high schools, she added. Story continues "In previous years, those OTs could be redeployed to other sites. Our plan is, initially, to have the person remain in the school so they are a part of the school," she said. Union leader skeptical Wildman said he's skeptical about the plan, and called for more comprehensive safety measures. "What we need are small cohorts, social distancing, we need personal hygiene, wash stations where people can wash their hands, we need PPE, we need deep cleaning done regularly, we need proper air circulation, and that means HVAC systems that work or windows that open," he said. "We need all of those things, and the provincial government has refused to fund them." Premier Doug Ford has promised to create the safest environment possible in the province's schools, and Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement on Monday asking school boards to limit exposure for occasional teachers. The announcement shows how Amazon, like other large tech companies, has been thriving in the economic chaos of the pandemic. As consumers hunkered down and shopped online, Amazon posted record sales and profits in the most recent quarter. It sold 57 percent more products than a year earlier, and profit doubled to $5.2 billion. In recent years, the rapid growth of technology firms, both those from the West Coast and local start-ups, has transformed a broad swath of Manhattan into a vibrant tech hub. The biggest firms Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google have all expanded their footprints in the city, cementing New York City as a global tech corridor. The companies have largely settled on the Far West Side, stretching along West 34th Street to the Hudson River and down to the Chelsea neighborhood. Collectively, they employ roughly 20,000 people in the city, and Googles campus there has become its largest outside its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Just this year, Facebook has hired more than a thousand people in New York City, bringing its total there to more than 4,000. It has plans to hire thousands more for new offices it has recently leased at the Farley Building near Penn Station and down the street at Hudson Yards, the mini city on the Hudson River that is the countrys largest private development. Amazon backed out of plans to build a second headquarters in New York last year, after fierce criticism from some lawmakers and residents. When the company made that sudden change, executives said they would take the 25,000 jobs it had planned in Queens and spread them around smaller tech hubs, including thousands of jobs in New York. It is proceeding with plans to build a second headquarters, known as HQ2, in the Washington area, where it expects to employ 25,000 people. TrovaCV will focus on the engineering, design and production of fully electric commercial vehicles with the goal of achieving mass production cost-effectively. TrovaCV will offer its industrial model and manufacturing capability to other commercial vehicle OEMs while developing its own fully electric vehicle. "This is an exciting time as the electric commercial vehicle market is being reshaped," says Collignon, founder and CEO. "While technology and innovation have made it possible to convert fuel-powered commercial vehicles into electric vehicles, we haven't seen a production model capable of producing the required volume of fully electric commercial vehicles to meet the demand. "We believe that our engineering approach will offer OEMs the opportunity to build a higher volume of electric vehicles at a lower cost. At the same time, we will utilize our chassis design experience to achieve a complete EV build design from the ground up." TrovaCV is located in a business incubation center in Fairlawn, Va., and has received support from the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors, the Economic Development Authority and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). "The technology and advanced manufacturing talents in the county and throughout the region continue to attract and support innovative companies like TrovaCV," says Jonathan D. Sweet, county administrator, Pulaski County, Virginia. "We are excited to have TrovaCV as the newest member of our business community and we are committed to helping them grow their operations and achieving their goals here in Pulaski County." Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball believes the presence of TrovaCV will help strengthen the Commonwealth's position as one of the nation's premier locations for innovative vehicle design. "We are excited that Trova Commercial Vehicles will launch its innovative start-up in Pulaski County," said Ball. "This new company will be a strong addition to the booming automotive cluster in the New River Valley, bringing automotive expertise to the niche market of electric commercial truck design and manufacturing. TrovaCV will benefit from the region's world-class manufacturing workforce and infrastructure that contribute to Virginia's position as a leader in the automotive industry, and we look forward to its future success." Collignon has more than 30 years international experience in the commercial vehicle industry with General Motors and the Volvo Group. Before launching TrovaCV, he served as senior vice president of operations for the Americas for Volvo Trucks, where he led a strategic initiative to develop and manufacture the new Mack medium duty truck platform. During his career, Collignon has incubated several companies and held board positions in economic and industry federations. In 2007, he was instrumental in making the Volvo plant in Ghent, Belgium, the first carbon dioxide neutral automotive plant in the world. He has extensive experience in end-to-end value chain management, customer relationship management, product development and operations. About Trova Commercial Vehicles Trova Commercial Vehicles provides customized engineering, design and manufacturing expertise for fully electric commercial vehicles. Located in southwestern Virginia, TrovaCV also offers cost-effective end-to-end electric vehicle manufacturing and supply chain management for OEMs seeking to achieve increased volume production. For more information, call 540-818-7661 or visit trovacv.com . SOURCE Trova Commercial Vehicles Related Links https://www.trovacv.com Hundreds of Thai students protested against the country's government with a rally outside the Ministry of Education in Bangkok, Thailand, today (Aug 19). The High School youngsters are joining a growing movement of young people showing their anger at the military government who seized power with a coup in 2014. They are angry at teachers in many schools banning them from political expressions. A series of protests have taken place in recent months in which demonstrators - mainly university students and progressive groups - have called for greater levels of democracy and accountability in the country. On Saturday, thousands of protesters converged on the Democracy Monument in the capital Bangkok in the largest rally since 2014. Anger has been growing since March 2019 when controversial elections returned career soldier General Prayut Chan-o-cha to power and saw the progressive Future Forward Party disbanded amid claims that opposition parties were being silenced. A number of opposition leaders have been arrested in recent months though police so far shown restraint and have avoided any violent crackdowns on the gatherings. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would assign deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to the governments finance portfolio, taking over from Bill Morneau, who resigned from Parliament Monday in the midst of the Liberal partys WE Charity scandal. Trudeau later announced hed prorogue parliament until September, which tables all bills, sessions and committee investigations such as the one looking into the Liberal governments handling of the WE charity scandal. Proroguing a stoppage of government is a practise that can be traced back to our British colonizers, whose monarchy once used the tool to upend parliamentary sessions when they felt their control over the country was slipping too far into the hands of the parliament a.k.a. the people. Not unlike Trudeaus call to prorogue government in the midst of a global pandemic, Queen Elizabeth I also stopped Parliament while the plague was sweeping through England. (The Virgin Queen, during her fourth Parliament, prorogued no fewer than 26 times over the course of its 11 years.) For those of you unfamiliar with the historic rules surrounding the convention, we break down what proroguing government in Canada is and how its been used in the past. What does it do? Proroguing ends a session of parliament and is a fairly routine function of the Constitution. But to clear up one common misconception: it isnt the prime minister who prorogues Parliament; its the Governor General. The Prime Minister, in this case Justin Trudeau, must seek out the Governor General, in this case, Julie Payette, to make the request and upon his advice, she can decide to end the session of Parliament. Its different from a recess and an adjournment, neither of which ends a parliamentary session. Those events can be as short as a few hours, overnight or a weekend and simply separate one sitting from the next. Prorogation is also unlike a complete dissolution, which ends a session of Parliament but also triggers an election, according to the House of Commons website. By ending a session of Parliament, the Government can reset its priorities and set out a new agenda with a throne speech and introduce new bills for consideration in the House. Its intended to recalibrate the governments agenda, and some experts argue that the governments priorities may have shifted since the governing party came to power, the Samara Centre for Democracy explains. Historically, however, proroguing has been a tool of political convenience that minority governments have used in the midst of scandal or to avoid defeat on a confidence vote (as opponents accused Stephen Harper of doing with his proroguing in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis, or as critics charged Jean Chretien of using the tool in 2003 to avoid tabling of the Auditor Generals report on the sponsorship scandal). Who can do it? The Governor General officially calls the proroguing of Parliament for the federal government. But it can happen in both federal and provincial parliaments. In the case of the latter, it would be the monarchs provincial representatives the lieutenant governors who would act on the advice of the relevant minister to end the provincial parliamentary session. It, too, wouldnt trigger an election, but rather a resetting of the governments agenda. How long does it last? There is no timeline that requires a prorogued Parliament to reconvene; and it can be anywhere from one day, as was the case in 1991, to several weeks. Since 1867, the average prorogation in Canada was 151 days, though since 1980, that has fallen to an average 22 days by 2010. There are, however, Constitutional rules that would prevent a prorogation from lasting more than a year, as Parliaments are obligated to meet at least once every 12 months. Can laws be passed? What happens if theres an emergency? New laws cannot be passed in this time period, as the cabinet is preparing to work out the plans for the next session of Parliament. If an emergency or crisis arises that would require new legislation, however, the Parliament could be recalled ahead of the date stated to be the start of the new session. This, too, would require the Governor Generals approval. Is there a cap on how many times you can prorogue Parliament? There has been calls to reform the unwritten conventions that surround prorogation, and a 2017 survey indicates that Canadian voters would like the laws made clearer, but currently, there are no limits to the number of times a government can ask the Governor General to end parliamentary sessions. That does not mean the practise is without controversy. Stephen Harper shut down the government on four different occasions over the course of seven years, Jean Chretien four times over ten years, and Brian Mulroney three times in almost nine years. What are the effects of proroguing? The most immediate result of proroguing Parliament is that all government bills that have not been given the green light meaning they havent received royal assent will be cleared from the table and cease to exist. Ministers would need to reintroduce these bills if theyd like to proceed with them in the new session. Alternatively, they could in some cases be reinstated, but only if the House was to adopt a motion to this effect. South Carolina reported another day of fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases Wednesday. Newly confirmed deaths were still in the double digits, though Wednesday saw fewer than 20 deaths, compared to the nearly 50 deaths recorded Tuesday. The 704 new cases were the most in four days, while the seven-day rolling average ticked up for the first time in a month, at 761 cases. Still, the number of cases is down 40 percent from two weeks ago. The number of test results reported daily continues to be low. According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 4,195 test results were reported Tuesday, with 704 positive results for Wednesday's update. That's the fourth day in a row with fewer than 5,000 tests being reported. Testing is down 27 percent over the past two weeks and the seven-day rolling average is 5,038 tests. More than 165 mobile testing events had been scheduled through mid-October. Go to scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics for information about those events and scdhec.gov/covid19testing for a roster of permanent testing facilities. Statewide numbers Number of new cases reported: 704 Total number of cases in S.C.: 107,274, plus 1,137 probable cases Number of new deaths reported: 17 Total number of deaths in S.C.: 2,248, plus 112 probable deaths Number of hospitalized patients: 1,168 Percent of tests that were positive: 16.8 percent Total number of tests in S.C.: 946,826 Which areas are hardest hit? Charleston County led the state with 102 new cases reported Wednesday, while Richland County reported 87 and Anderson County logged 66. What's happening in the tri-county region? In addition to the 102 new cases in Charleston County, Berkeley reported 26 and Dorchester logged 21. Deaths Of the 17 deaths confirmed Wednesday, one was of a person 18 to 34 years old, two were 35 to 64 years old and 14 were 65 or older. They lived in Aiken, Beaufort, Edgefield, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Spartanburg, Sumter, Union and Williamsburg counties. Hospitalizations The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that 1,168 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized as of Wednesday. Of these, 164 were on ventilators and 293 were in intensive care. What do experts say? Officials continue to urge basic precautions to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus: social distancing, wearing a mask in public, avoiding group gatherings, regularly washing hands and staying home when sick. Dr. Patrick Flume, a pulmonary physician at the Medical University of South Carolina leading research on COVID-19, said the point of wearing masks is to do so all the time. "It's not just if you have COVID, it's because you might," he said. "People don't understand this is like a forest fire." Even if South Carolina has reached a "burning embers" stage of the fire, Flume said, "you've got to put it out completely." Andy Shain and Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed to this report. A body believed to be a Kansas pastor's missing wife has been found in her car inside a shipping container in rural Arkansas, two weeks after she vanished. Mother-of-three Marilane Carter's uncle discovered the decomposing remains when he traveled to Crittenden County to look for her and saw the door of the container open. The body has not yet been positively identified as Carter, but authorities confirmed the car is hers. A credit card bearing her name was also recovered inside the vehicle. Cops have not released a cause of death but do not suspect foul play. Scroll down for video An uncle of missing Kansas mother Marilane Carter on Tuesday came upon this shipping container in an Arkansas field where he found a body believed to be his niece The decomposing body was inside Carter's 2011 GMC Acadia, which contained her purse and credit card (pictured) On Wednesday afternoon, the Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas, where Carter's husband is a pastor, posted a message on its Facebook page confirming Marilane's death. 'It is with very heavy hearts that we share that Marilane Carter has passed away,' the post read in part. 'Her vehicle and body were found Tuesday in the West Memphis area. Law enforcement says that foul play is not suspected.' Carter was last seen on August 2 when she checked into a Quality Inn hotel in Missouri for three hours on her way to Alabama to seek treatment for anxiety and visit relatives. She later called her parents from the road, sounding confused and telling them she kept getting lost. Carter was never heard from again. After a frantic two-week search, her gray GMC SUV was found inside a shipping container in a remote field off Interstate 55. Carter, 36, a mom-of-three pastor's wife, vanished without a trace on August 2 en route to Alabama Crittenden County Sheriff's Department Chief Todd Grooms told WREG that officers had searched that field before and seen several shipping containers, but did not think to look inside them. 'I just never would have dreamed that her vehicle would have been up inside one of them,' Grooms said. On Tuesday morning, Carter's uncle, who stayed behind after a weekend search involving other family members, was driving and walking around the area where his niece's phone was last pinged when he came upon three shipping containers in the field. He noticed that one of the containers was open and decided to take a look inside, discovering his niece's gray 2011 GMC Acadia with Kansas plates with a body inside. The sheriff's chief said no foul play is suspected at this time in connection to the woman's death. 'I believe that anything that happened, happened by her own doing,' Chief Todd Grooms said. The woman's decomposing body was taken to the state crime lab in Little Rock for an autopsy. Carter, 36, (pictured with her husband Adam) vanished while travelling from her home in Overland Park, Kansas, to Birmingham, Alabama, to seek treatment for anxiety and to visit family Authorities share that Carter, a mother-of-three and married to Rev. Adam Carter of the Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas, has made concerning statements to her family Officers had previously searched this field in rural Crittenden County, Arkansas, and seen three containers there, but had not opened them Officials believe that for an unknown reason Carter ended up driving inside the container of her own accord The last known movements of the missing mom-of-three and pastor's wife and the site where the body was found inside her SUV Carter, the wife of Rev. Adam Carter, of the Leawood Baptist Church, left her home in Overland Park on the night of August 1 to head to Birmingham where her parents live and where she hoped to seek mental health treatment at a hospital where she once worked. She was last seen alive on surveillance footage checking into the hotel in West Plains, Missouri, the following morning. In the footage, Carter is seen walking across the parking lot of the hotel with her luggage before entering the building and approaching the reception where she is greeted by hotel staff. She checked out of the hotel three hours later and left in her car. The 36-year-old, who has two young sons and a daughter, was last heard from later that night. Video showed Carter on August 2 as she checked into a Quality Inn in Missouri for three hours before vanishing on her way to seek mental health help in Alabama In the footage, Carter is seen walking across the parking lot of the hotel with her luggage She then entered the building and approached the reception where she was greeted by hotel staff Her husband Adam said he had spoken with her on the night of August 2 and his wife's cell phone went dead. A short time later, Carter spoke to her mom Marlene Mesler on the phone. 'We were in contact with her all the way, but then, partway through the trip, she started seeming confused and disoriented. She said she kept on getting lost,' Mesler told WREG. Carter's phone went dead somewhere on the I-55 bridge. This was the last time she was heard from and her credit cards have not been used since. Her family were asking the authorities to search the Mississippi River around the bridge close to where the missing mom's cell phone last pinged. 'We need volunteers to help us search right around the I-55 bridge at Memphis,' her concerned husband Adam previously told WMC Action News 5. 'We need people with boats and very good sonar and experience navigating the Mississippi River.' Authorities said Carter had made concerning statements to her family in the lead-up to her disappearance. 'Our three kids miss her,' her husband Adam told WMC Action News. 'I miss her. We want to have her home.' YEREVAN. The third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, does not agree that he is politically active. Sargsyan stated about this at his press conference Wednesday, answering a journalist's question as to whether his political activeness can influence the forthcoming report of the parliamentary inquiry committee which investigates the circumstances of the military actions in April 2016. "There was confirmation in your question that I am showing great political activeness; I do not agree with that. What activeness have I shown that you have noticed? I do not consider today's press conference political activeness either because although the April [2016] four-day [war] is very closely connected with politics, today we are talking about the actual military actions, their causes and consequences," said Sargsyan, declining to assess the activities of the aforesaid committee. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. The Rebecca Foundation, led by the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has presented a quantity of assorted medical items to the Saltpond Government Hospital for quality health care delivery in the area. They items were; thermometer guns, face masks, baby diapers, liquid soaps, detergents among others. Speaking at the ceremony, the First Lady said her Foundation was focusing attention and resources to complement government efforts in improving healthcare delivery in the country. She said since 2017, the Foundation had partnered the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to ensure that health care was more accessible and available to Ghanaians especially women and children. Additionally, she said the Foundation had donated hospital equipment and supplies to health facilities across the 16 regions of the country including a physiotherapy machine at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH). It also embarked on health outreaches and services across the Country. We have also distributed ambulances and equipped several health facilities and provided PPE to the contract tracing teams to help fight COVID-19. The First Lady advised Ghanaians to adopt and adhere to all safety protocols to stop the spread of the pandemic. Mr Ekow Quansah Hayford, Member of Parliament for Mfantseman hinted that the Saltpond government hospital would soon be upgraded into a modern municipal hospital status. He said his outfit together with the Municipal Chief Executive renovated the leaking roof of the OPD, the consultancy rooms and other departments of the hospital to give it a facelift. Mr Kwamena Duncan, Central Regional Minster praised the First Lady for her bold initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of women and children. The First Lady later interacted with queen mothers, market queens and other women groups and opinion leaders to solicit their challenges and how best she could assist them resolve them. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video BELEN A prominent family that has three medical practices here has closed its offices due to coronavirus exposure, and two members of the family are recovering from symptoms of the virus. Dr. Roland Sanchez, M.D., who has a family practice in Belen, and his wife, Elia, have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, but a statement from the family didnt provide details of their condition. Tom Garrity of The Garrity Group Public Relations in Albuquerque said the family reached out to him last week to speak on its behalf. The family appreciates prayers and positive thoughts for Dr. Sanchez and his wife, and can only share that they are relying on their faith and skilled physicians to treat their continuing recovery from coronavirus, the Sanchez family wrote. With two exceptions, the family members who have tested positive are asymptomatic. Along with Sanchezs medical practice, those of his sons, Dr. Roland Sanchez II, DDS, who owns Conquistador Dental, and Dr. Florian Sanchez, DVM, owner of Yucca Veterinary Medical Center, closed their respective offices on Aug. 10. According to voice recordings at each office, all three planned on reopening this week. A statement from the family said New Mexicos state epidemiologist has given approval for the offices to reopen Saturday. We will be in contact with our scheduled patients about the process and procedures related to their visits, the statement said. We are informed that patients who may have been exposed to COVID-19 have been notified by the New Mexico Department of Health and its contact tracing team. The Sanchez family, through their practices, have reached out to the state of New Mexico to provide the names of people who might have come into contact with some employees who tested positive for COVID-19, read a statement from the Sanchez family Garrity emailed to the News-Bulletin. According to the state Environment Departments Aug. 13 rapid response data, two employees were reported to NMED as positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 10 at Dr. Sanchezs family practice. Two employees at Yucca Veterinary Medical Center were reported positive on Aug. 10, and two employees at Conquistador Dental were also reported positive for the coronavirus, one on Aug. 10 and the other on Aug. 11. The familys farm, Red Doc Farm in Bosque, had one case of COVID-19, reported on Aug. 2. When the family learned about the potential of COVID-19 exposure, they took immediate action to have their employees tested and they reached out to the state of New Mexico Department of Health and Department of Workforce Solutions, the family wrote in a statement. There were exposures in the locations referenced, however, we cannot comment on any potential infections due to patients privacy concerns. Dr. Roland Sanchez is a family medicine specialist in Belen and has more than 45 years of experience in the medical field. Dr. Roland K. Sanchez II opened Conquistador Dental in Belen in November 2010. The office message at the dental office said that if a patient has a dental emergency to call Dr. Cecil Sandoval, another Belen dentist. Dr. Florian Sanchez opened Yucca Veterinary Medical Center in October 2013. He moved to his new location on Camino del Llano earlier this year. Ross Paul Emmick, 36, has been accused of plotting to kill his brother and turn his children into sex slaves because of a dispute over their grandparents' inheritance An Arizona man has been accused of plotting to kill his brother and turn his children into sex slaves because he was angry his grandparents gave him a share of his inheritance. Ross Paul Emmick, 36, was arrested by Mesa authorities on August 14 and charged with theft by extortion, stalking, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and computer tampering, according to court documents obtained by FOX10. Detectives began building their case in March, when the brother, whose name has not been released, informed police that Emmick had been threatening him. The brother had already secured a restraining order against Emmick, police learned at the time. The detectives then learned that there had been a dispute over inheritance money that both men received from their late grandparents. 'The argument has been that the defendant [Emmick] does not believe that the victim should have received any money,' a detective wrote in a probable cause statement. Emmick (pictured with his son and girlfriend) was arrested in Mesa, Arizona, on August 14 and charged with theft by extortion, stalking, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and computer tampering, according to court documents obtained by FOX10 The case took a turn in July when Emmick's longtime girlfriend, who was not named, contacted investigators and warned that her boyfriend was 'planning to do something', court documents state. The girlfriend wrote that she 'had never seen [Emmick] like this and was scared'. 'The defendant is a lot smarter than you think he is,' she wrote, according to investigators. 'He is 100 percent positive that he can do whatever he is going to do numerous times.' The girlfriend claimed that Emmick had promised to hire a private investigator to follow his brother if he moved, and that he would continue to 'wreak havoc' on his brother's life until he paid back the inheritance money and dropped the restraining order. Detectives made contact with Emmick and his girlfriend on July 20 and told him to abide by the court order and 'let it go', the documents state. Emmick's longtime girlfriend, who was not named, contacted investigators on July 2 and warned that her boyfriend was 'planning to do something' about his brother But Emmick apparently ignored the warning, as a few weeks later on August 14 his brother informed police that he had violated the order again. At that point the brother provided investigators with a vicious email he received from Emmick. 'You [expletive] think you can steal...and on top of that, you get some [expletive] restraining order on me,' the email states. 'You think you are a king, a dictator that gets to dictate my life. You think you have the right to endanger my family. Well [expletive] you and the judge that signed order. '[Expletive] just got real as [expletive].' Emmick threatened his brother and his family in a frightening email on August 14 'Read this part real carefully,' the email continued. 'Think about why I put myself in the position to go to prison for the rest of my life by sending you this. 'The nest part you better take seriously. Your life and your families [sic] well being will depend on you doing the right thing. 'I know the consequences if you bring this to the police. My consequences will be nothing compared to yours. You believe in an eye for an eye. So do I. 'Take me away from my family take your life and your son and daughter become the victims of rape and torture. This is what is going to happen. 'After you read this you going [sic] going to call me and let me know you are going to get me that money and you are going to judge [sic] and explain that you make a mistke [sic] and you want the order dropped. Emmick went on to describe what would happen if his brother 'went the other route', but that section was not shown in the documents obtained by FOX10. The outlet reported that Emmick told his brother to meet him in order to 'stop people from killing the victim's family'. Emmick is pictured at his arraignment, where a judge warned him that he will face severe consequences if he attempts to contact his brother should he post bail Emmick was arrested within hours of when his brother brought the email to the police. He allegedly admitted to hiring someone to kill his brother, but later claimed that he made that up. But investigators say he had taken out about 600 ounces of silver worth about $17,000 to pay a hitman. The brother said he was still shaken by the ordeal when he spoke to FOX10 on Tuesday. Emmick's bail has been set at $350,000, according to jail records. During his arraignment, a judge warned Emmick that he will face severe consequences if he attempts to contact his brother should he post bail. (Newser) Malis president announced his resignation late Tuesday, just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home in a dramatic power grab following months of protests demanding his ouster, the AP reports. The news of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitas departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators and alarm by former colonial ruler France, and other allies and foreign nations. The UN Security Council scheduled a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the unfolding situation in Mali, where the UN has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission. Speaking on national broadcaster ORTM just before midnight, a distressed Keita, wearing a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said his resignationthree years before his final term was due to endwas effective immediately. A banner across the bottom of the television screen referred to him as the outgoing president. story continues below I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power, Keita said. I have decided to step down from office. He also announced that his government and the National Assembly would be dissolved, certain to further the countrys turmoil amid an eight-year Islamic insurgency and the growing coronavirus pandemic. Keita, who was democratically elected in 2013 and reelected five years later, was left with few choices after the mutinous soldiers seized weapons from the armory in the garrison town of Kati and then advanced on the capital of Bamako. They took Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody along with the president. The political upheaval unfolded months after disputed legislative elections. And it also came as support for Keita tumbled amid criticism of his governments handling of the insurgency, which has engulfed a country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. Tuesdays developments were condemned by the African Union, the United States, and the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which had been trying to mediate Malis political crisis. (Read more Mali stories.) On Thursday, the fourth and last night of the Democratic National Convention, Joseph R. Biden Jr. will finally take the stage a stage, anyway, albeit hundreds of miles from the one in Milwaukee where he would have accepted the presidential nomination he has sought for more than 30 years. Also on the docket are four of Mr. Bidens former competitors in the Democratic primary: Michael R. Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang. Scroll down for a full list of speakers. How to watch The convention will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. There are several ways to watch: The official livestream will be here. It will also be available on YouTube , Facebook , Twitter and Twitch . ABC , CBS , NBC and Fox News will air the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night. C-SPAN , CNN , MSNBC and PBS will cover the full two hours each night. Streams will be available on Apple TV , Roku and Amazon Fire TV by searching Democratic National Convention or 2020 DNC, and on Amazon Prime Video by searching DNC. The convention will air on AT&T U-verse (channels 212 and 1212) and AT&T DirectTV (channel 201). It will also air on Comcast Xfinity Flex and Comcast X1 (say DNC into your voice remote). You can watch on a PlayStation 4 or PSVR through the Littlstar app. If you have an Alexa device, you can say Alexa, play the Democratic National Convention. Whos speaking The star of the night will, of course, be former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic presidential nominee. Members of his family will also speak. Julia Louis-Dreyfus will be the nights M.C. The other major speakers are: BERLIN (AP) German and Israeli Air Force jets flew over the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau on Tuesday in tribute to the Jews and others killed there in the Holocaust. Two Israeli F-16s and two German Eurofighters escorted an Israeli Air Force Gulfstream G-550 carrying the commanders of both air forces over the camp memorial outside Munich, while a third Eurofighter filmed the formation from the sky. They also flew over the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield to pay tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes killed during the Munich massacre attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics. Two athletes were killed and another nine taken hostage by the Palestinian group Black September from the Olympic Village on Sept. 5, 1972. During a botched rescue attempt at the airfield by German police, the other athletes, along with five of their captors and a West German police officer, were killed. The Israeli aircraft are part of a group of six F-16s, two Gulfstreams and two Boeing 707 tanker jets that arrived in Germany on Monday for two weeks of exercises. Operating out of a German air base in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, they will be conducting exercises with the German air force for the first week, and also planes from the Hungarian air force in the second week. It is the first time ever that the Israeli Air Force has participated in such exercises in Germany. A total of around 180 Israeli personnel are involved. Inside Hook All the news about the fourth Matrix installment has been promising up till now. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are reprising their roles as Neo and Trinity, respectively, and Lana Wachowski will be at the creative helm as the director and co-writer. But instead of being offered the red pill or the blue pill that is, the choice to return or not the other major star wasnt even given the choice. In a new interview with New York magazine, Laurence Fishburne said he has not been invited to appear in The Matrix 4 as Morpheus, the iconic mentor that rivals Reevess Neo in staying power. Syfy reported on the interview which first appeared in the New York print magazine. UPDATE: MET EIREANN HAS NOW ISSUED A RED WEATHER WARNING FOR PARTS OF IRELAND - TAP TO READ MORE A forecaster is warning that a Red Weather Warning is likely as Storm Ellen continues to deepen as it approaches Ireland. Met Eireann has already upgraded Weather Warning to Orange for Clare, Galway, Mayo, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford with a Yellow Alert in place for the rest of the country. According to Weather Alerts Ireland, those warnings could be upgraded to Red in some areas as violent winds are expected to make landfall on the south coast around midnight tonight before transferring countrywide for a time before easing during tomorrow morning. The forecaster is predicting that weather warnings will update during the day with Status Red Weather Warnings likely across the south, southeast and south midlands. The strongest winds associated with Storm Ellen will affect Cork, Waterford and Wexford where winds near coastal areas could well gust up to 185 km/h. Further inland across counties Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Dublin winds may reach between 130-150 km/h for a time. Across the rest of the country winds will generally reach between 100-110 km/h. Such violent winds are likely to have significant consequences. Read the full forecast below. Ellen DeGeneres had one of the most recognizable daytime talk shows of all time, with a persona that was built on pleasant celebrity guest appearances. For the most part, there was playful banter and witty jokes, but there wasnt a ton of tension between Ellen and her guests. At least not out in the open. However, after employees came out with allegations that DeGeneres show environment was less-than-pleasant, the walls around her facade have crumbled in the eyes of the public. And because of that, its easier to look back on different interviews shes done and see an awkward or tense encounter. So here are some times where Ellen pushed her guests a bit too far. Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, May 24, 2016 | Brooks Kraft/Getty Images RELATED: Ellen DeGeneres Old Tweet About Making an Employee Cry Like a Baby Is Receiving a Fresh Round of Criticism 1. Dakota Johnson Maybe the celebrity guest that started it all (according to the internet), Dakota Johnsons unwavering, blunt appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in November captured millions of views. It starts off with DeGeneres making a passing comment about not being invited to Johnsons birthday party in October. To which Johnson replied with her now-infamous line, Actually no thats not the truth, Ellen, you were invited. Johnson then says she didnt even know that DeGeneres liked her. This could be regular banter. But it just didnt seem like DeGeneres was ready for Johnsons answers. It wasnt long after this interview that many stories of Ellens unpleasantness behind the scenes arose. 2. Taylor Swift In a YouTube clip posted in 2013, Taylor Swift appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Right off the bat DeGeneres mentions Zac Efron as Swifts boyfriend. Swift insists that they never dated, to which DeGeneres blows it off and continues to call Efron her boyfriend. DeGeneres then really wants to get answers about who We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is about. So she starts putting celebrities faces on the screen, making Swift ring the bell when its about them. All the men have been linked to Swift, and its just so cringeworthy to watch. This makes me feel so bad about myself, Swift said, after she screamed. 3. NikkieTutorials YouTube beauty guru NikkieTutorials (Nikkie de Jager) went on DeGeneres show back in January after she came out as transgender on her YouTube channel under harsh circumstances. While her interview with DeGeneres was good on the surface, de Jager had some things to say about it afterward. She told Dutch television show, De Wereld Draait Door that DeGeneres was less-than-kind. She said she didnt get her own bathroom, and that she was greeted by an angry intern. Its really nice that you came over and said hello to me She didnt, de Jager told the host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk. 4. Hasan Minhaj The Patriot Acts Hasan Minhaj appeared on Ellens show in April of 2019 and was greeted really warmly. But despite saying she was a big fan, DeGeneres mispronounced his name. Even worse was after he responded with, No. Instead of asking for the proper pronunciation, she was kind of indignant and said, Yes. Minhaj was really gracious about it, but also really adamant about teaching her and national TV how to say his name correctly. He said it was important too because his parents are there. And he has a point: if you can say Ansel Elgort, why not get Hasan Minhaj correct too? They do have the same amount of syllables. 5. Katy Perry This one hurts to watch a bit. Katy Perry appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 17, 2017, and she was single at that point. DeGeneres wants to play a game of Would you rather and Perry pretended to be distressed by the idea of getting married again. DeGeneres then responded with, You werent married. And then the bit goes a bit too far. Perry has to even name her ex Russel Brand, and its kind of tense. Considering how public her relationship and break up with him was, awkward doesnt begin to cover. Perry then states that DeGeneres gave her gifts for her wedding on the show. And makes a gesture about cutting that out. Which they didnt. 6. Justin Bieber In 2015, pictures of Justin Bieber, naked on vacation, were released by paparazzi. DeGeneres asked him why he didnt notice the photographers and even puts the nudes on the screen behind them. Theyre censored, of course, but still. DeGeneres defuses any tension by putting a photoshopped picture of her in a bikini up there too. But makes it awkward again when she grills him about the friend who was staying with him. Stop, youre making me blush, dude, he said. 7. Celine Dion Lastly, this is the oldest clip on the list and probably the most awkward. Singer Celine Dion went on the show back in 2007, and DeGeneres brought out a magazine story about her and her family. You seem like youre busy with something, because youre forgetting to cut your sons hair, DeGeneres told Dion. Dion responded with, Do you have a problem with that? When DeGeneres didnt drop it, Dion said that people will complain if her son has a bald head or long hair, so shell parent how she wants. She goes on to say that Rene-Charles (her son) makes his own hair decisions. RELATED: Kevin T. Porter Was Furious With Ellen DeGeneres Months Before He Launched the Twitter Campaign That Destroyed Her Due to extreme fire activity, park districts and watershed managers shut down Mount Diablo State Park, the Los Vaqueros Watershed and 66 East Bay parks, bringing the total this week to roughly 100 recreation destinations in the region shut down by fire. For your health and safety, avoid visiting Regional Parks at this time, read an alert posted by East Bay Regional Park District. These destinations join Lake Berryessa, Big Basin Redwoods State Park and 20 other parks and preserves closed by fire activity, smoke or dangerous fire conditions. A matrix of connected parklands, 11 in all, along Skyline Ridge on the South Peninsula and adjoining Santa Cruz Mountains, was closed Wednesday. These include a series of open space preserves on Skyline, Long Ridge, Russian Ridge and Skyline, and south of La Honda, Pescadero Creek, Memorial and Sam MacDonald county parks, and nearby, Portola Redwoods State Park. Josh Edelson / TNS Deeper in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Basin Redwoods State Park was in the heart of the fire zone and shut down, and to the north, linked by China Grade, a Jeep road, Butano State Park was in the burn zone outside Pescadero and closed. The most extensive closures were in the East Bay Regional Park District, where all but seven of the 73 parks normally open to the public were shut down in the fire emergency, park staff reported. The seven left open are located along the shorelines of San Francisco and San Pablo Bay, such as Point Isabel and Hayward Regional Shoreline. According to park rangers at East Bay Parks, fires were burning at Del Valle, Mission Peak, Morgan Territory, Round Valley, Pleasanton Ridge and Sunol Regional Wilderness. Other parks were closed due to smoke or the threat of extreme fire danger, park staff said. At Mount Diablo State Park, the shutdown was 100%, rangers reported. That includes four access points, North Gate out of Walnut Creek, South Gate out of Blackhawk, and Mitchell Canyon and Marsh Creek in Clayton, in addition to campgrounds on the mountain and trails that lead into the park from adjoining regional parks. 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. Nearby, the Contra Costa Water District published a public safety alert and closed the entire Los Vaqueros Watershed, including North Gate and the visitor center out of Brentwood, and South Gate and the marina out of Livermore. Los Vaqueros Reservoir, at 1,900 acres, is the largest recreation lake by far in the Bay Area, and its surrounding watershed lands span 18,500 acres. Other major fire closures to recreation sites are in Napa County, where Lake Hennessey, also called Conn Dam, and adjoining Moore Creek Park, believed to be the starting point of one of the wildfires, are closed. Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @StienstraTom. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 17:51:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on all relevant parties in Mali to work for the fundamental interests of the country and its people and resolve differences peacefully through dialogue. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on the resignation of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who is currently being detained by mutinous soldiers. Zhao said China is paying close attention to the situation in Mali and opposes the change of power through abnormal means, such as the use of force. He added that China supports the efforts of relevant regional and international organizations, especially the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mali. "We call on all relevant parties in Mali to restore normal order as soon as possible, and safeguard national stability and unity," said the spokesperson. Enditem Denying or delaying payment of wages to workers is a violation of their right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, the Bombay High Court said on Wednesday. A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N R Borkar made the observation while ordering a company to pay the wages withheld during lockdown. The petitioners, around 150 workers of a steel factory in Raigad, had moved the HC through their union. They also sought a direction to the factory to implement the safety measures in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The company had paid the workers less than half the wages in March, April and May, said the petition filed through senior counsel Gayatri Singh. Moreover, prior to lockdown, the company had not paid them wages for December,Januaryand February, the plea claimed. While they had been asked to stay off work in March after the lockdown was implemented, the factory subsequently reopened. But the safety measures in view of the pandemic were not implemented, nor any arrangement was made to ferry the workers to and from the factory despite the absence of public transportation, the petition said. As a result, several workers were unable to rejoin work. This led to a dispute between workers and the factory owners which resulted in delay in payment of dues, the petition said. The petitioners also said that a previous HC order in May this year had directed the factory owners to pay the workers their dues for the months prior to the lockdown, but no payment was made. The factory owners, however, denied the allegations and said that the union had arrived at an informal settlement with them, under which workers had been paid their dues in installments. The court held that the petitioners could not be denied their wages on the basis of an informal settlement. "Denial of due wages either by way of non-payment or by way of deferred payment or by way of installments would certainly infringe upon the cherished human right of a workman under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the bench said. "Right to life guaranteed in any civilized society implies the right to food, water, a decent environment, education, medical care and shelter. "Pausing here for a moment, we may ask ourselves whether in the absence of due wages or delayed payment of due wages by several months not authorized under the Payment of Wages Act, can a person be said to live with human dignity?" the bench asked in its judgment. It went on to say that the answer to the question was "pretty obvious," as denial of wages, or delays by way of deferment, or payment through installments certainly breached the workers' right to life. The bench directed that the May order of the HC be implemented and the petitioners be paid their full wages due for the period before the lockdown. It also directed the local labour commission authorities to resolve the complaint filed by the union within three months. The high court also directed the government authorities to carry out inspection of the factory to check if all safety measures for prevention of virus infections had been implemented. No, AOCs Sanders Nomination Was Not A Jab At Biden, Thats Literally How National Conventions Work Last night, the second of the three-night Democratic National Convention, delegates from all 50 states and seven territories participated in the nomination roll call, officially nominating former Vice President Joe Biden for president. The roll call, which was done via pre-recorded video and zoom for the first time in the DNCs 172 year history, featured a number of moving speeches from diverse citizens and elected officials from across the nation. One of these short testimonials came from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, who was featured seconding a nomination for Senator Bernie Sanders from the Ltn. Governor of Vermont. In fidelity and gratitude to a mass peoples' movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, Ocasio Cortez stated, I second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America. ADVERTISEMENT "In fidelity and gratitude to a mass peoples' movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States." @AOC#DemConvention pic.twitter.com/KbFL5xl0Uw 2020 #DemConvention ?? (@DemConvention) August 19, 2020 Traditionally, the names of other Democratic candidates who meet the delegate threshold are put into nomination so that their delegates have an opportunity to vote for them even though the outcome of the convention is typically known at this point in the nominating process. This is why over the course of the primaries, even if your state voted after Biden became the presumptive nominee, you had the opportunity to vote for one of the other candidates on the ballot as a means to select delegates that promote the different candidates viewpoints. The nomination of Sen. Sanders on behalf of Vermont, and subsequent speech and nomination from AOC, while an example of the resilience of the progressive #NotMeUs movement, were at their core a formality of the DNC nomination process. However, it seems that a great deal of the Internet, including NBC News and a number of other media outlets, don't quite understand how national conventions work. Following the nomination roll call, NBC News posted a tweet with an extremely misleading headline that insinuated AOCs nomination of Sanders was a jab at Biden. In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, NBC News stated, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden. At a time when the Democratic Party is unifying and rallying together to defeat Donald Trump, this divisive tweet led to heated debates and attacks online and stayed live for hours despite a number of calls to take it down. At 1 a.m., NBC finally released an editor's note admitting that staff should have provided more context for AOCs speech. Editor's note and clarification (1/2): This tweet should have included more detail on the nominating process. We have deleted the tweet to prevent its further spread, but it can be seen here for the record. pic.twitter.com/txXo4CCMOt NBC News (@NBCNews) August 19, 2020 Editor's note and clarification (2/2): Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention. Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches. NBC News (@NBCNews) August 19, 2020 You waited several hours to correct your obvious and blatantly misleading tweet, Rep. Ocasio Cortez tweeted after NBCs editors note. It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, & now the misinfo you created is circulating on other networks. All to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion. AOC later cited that NBC and other news networks were briefed on her procedural remarks well in advance of the nomination roll call, meaning they should have known that it was going to happen before their problematic tweet was sent. AOC went on to tweet a follow-up, clearing up any confusion about her nomination of Sen. Sanders. If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden - lets go win in November, she stated. Congratulations, @JoeBiden - I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November. Thank you @DemConvention for having me deliver Sen. Sanders roll call nomination speech. Its been an absolute honor.#NotMeUs & #Biden2020 ?? https://t.co/dJN1FUQfix August 19, 2020 Twitter users are not at fault for not fully understanding the nomination process, as it is incredibly confusing and was not made any easier to understand by misleading articles from NBC and other media outlets. As political experts explained this morning in a trending Twitter moment, however, AOCs nomination was entirely routine, and similar instances have happened in the recent past at Democratic National Conventions. In 2008, Dolores Hureta, co-founder of the United Farmers Union, nominated Hillary Clinton for president at the DNC on behalf of California even though a majority of the delegates were for Obama going into the convention. Clinton later went on to suspend the official roll call on August 27, 2008 and move that Obama be selected as the Democratic Nominee by acclamation. Prominent Democrats Jerry Brown, Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart, and Ted Kennedy are all also former Democratic presidential candidates who had their names added to the roll call even after their opponents received the majority nomination. AOCs speech and nomination of Sen. Sanders was a showcase of why primaries are an important part of our democracy. This process allows a broader range of voices to be heard when political parties are selecting their candidates. In this case, delegates for Bernie Sanders helped influence the Democratic platform, making it more progressive than it otherwise would have been and giving Sanders supporters additional ways to impact American politics and policy. Top Photo: Screenshot via 2020 #DemConvention of Twitter MORE FROM BUST It Is What It Is: Michelle Obama Pulls No Punches At The Democratic National Convention Trump Is Back On His Birtherism Bullshit And Kamala Harris Is His Latest Target The 100th Anniversary Of (Some) Women's Suffrage: Did YOUR State Support Women's Right To Vote? Check This State-By-State History Of The Fight For Suffrage In America Aliza is a Creative Writing BFA student and former BUST Magazine intern! When she's not writing, reading or scrolling through TikTok for hours on end, you can find her consuming copious amounts of iced coffee or doing something witchy. Follow her on Twitter @alizapelto. Binggrae headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Binggrae By Kim Jae-heun Angered young customers are rising against Binggrae in online communities demanding the company break business ties with Namyang Dairy Products. Binggrae is currently outsourcing its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) for milk products in the nation's southeastern Gyeongsang provinces to Namyang Dairy Products. However, because the dairy manufacturer has been embroiled in unsavory incidents, young customers are demanding Binggrae join the boycott of its business partner. In 2013, Namyang Dairy was found to have abused its power against suppliers, forcing its dealership stores to purchase products that are unpopular or close to the expiration date. Last month, the Seoul Jongno Police Station summoned Namyang Dairy Chairman Hong Won-sik for questioning over the case, in which the dairy firm allegedly paid professional trolls to disparage a rival company online in 2019. Binggrae reacted instantly by revealing its plans to change its business partner for manufacturing dairy products in the region or building an additional factory to produce milk in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. Binggrae owns a production facility in Gimhae but currently it doesn't make milk products there. Therefore, the confectionery giant selected Namyang Dairy Products to outsource its milk production starting in March this year. It has three more factories in Namyangju and Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, and Nonsan in South Chungcheong Province. "We have no production line in the southern part of the Gyeongsang region, so we have temporarily outsourced OEM to Namyang. We will come up with a replacement as soon as possible. We are reviewing several options including building a new production facility in Gimhae or securing another dairy product manufacturer there," a Binggrae official said. Finding a new business partner is the more practical option. Binggrae is the No.4 player in the milk market here with a market share of 7 percent to 8 percent. Seoul Dairy Cooperative Milk, Namyang Dairy Products and Maeil Dairies are dominating the market and it is not economically feasible to build a new production line just for one province. Rapper Zico in Binggrae's ad / Courtesy of Binggrae There is widespread frustration at the lack of progress, he said, and civil society representatives often stress that a single meeting of the constitutional committee will not bring immediate changes on the ground, but substantial and serious engagement by all parties would give them hope that a meaningful process is on the horizon that could have a longstanding and positive impact on the lives of the Syrian people. TRAVERSE CITY, MI Businesses across Traverse City have been speaking up and taking a stand against their staff being verbally abused, spit on and threatened over the new rules that have come with the coronavirus pandemic. The Traverse City Tourism Bureau is the latest to speak out, appealing to the good nature and decency of most of their visitors. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, a Facebook post from Traverse City Tourism asked visitors to help keep the city a happy place. In the last few days, several of our local businesses have shared the experiences they've had during this uniquely... Posted by Traverse City Tourism on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 In the last few days, several of our local businesses have shared the experiences theyve had during this uniquely challenging summer. While not the norm, there are reports of rude and even aggressive customers in response to COVID-19 policies. We join our hospitality community in asking visitors and locals alike to show kindness and patience to the people who are working hard to bring back the things we love most, whether thats a delicious meal, a refreshing beer, or a great place to stay. Shorts Brewing Company posted a plea to visitors on Aug. 13. It has locations in nearby Bellaire and Elk Rapids. Its time to STOP. Enough is enough already. To all of the customers who have swore at us, yelled, laughed in our faces, threatened negative reviews, name-called, belittled and brought us to tears, we are done. It's time to STOP. Enough is enough already. To all of the customers who have swore at us, yelled, laughed in our... Posted by Short's Brewing Company on Thursday, August 13, 2020 The Little Fleet, an open-air downtown Traverse City food truck spot and bar, on Aug. 16 posted a plea to visitors asking for cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced businesses to change their rules to ensure customer and staff safety. Just like @shortsbrewing and other businesses, our staff has been taking a lot of abuse, the post reads. We are tired of it. They have been yelled at, threatened, told that they dont need to wear a mask because they are carrying a gun, lied to, bullied, and more. Our team has filed too many incident reports when things like these have happened. Please stop. Its not fair. Challenging does not do enough to describe our summer. Weve done everything we can to make The Little Fleet as safe as... Posted by The Little Fleet on Sunday, August 16, 2020 A day later, Rare Bird Brewpub in Traverse City posted a similar message. Our staff has had enough. Just like others, we are speaking out. Our staff has been SPIT ON, verbally abused, physically threatened and are physically and emotionally drained. Our staff has had enough. Just like others, we are speaking out. Our staff has been SPIT ON, verbally abused, physically... Posted by Rare Bird Brewpub on Monday, August 17, 2020 Traverse City Tourism asked that visitors who explore Northern Michigan show a little extra compassion and respect, especially with front-line staff. They are a big part of what makes our area a wonderful place to live and visit. RELATED: Matthew McConaughey stopped by Traverse City brewpub for a few beers Mackinac Island inn rolls out new food truck and beer garden spot for summer Shorts Brewing says Enough is enough, slams customers who bully staff Shorts Brewing Company expands distribution network by 5 states The row over Facebook continues to be a hotly debated issue between the BJP and the Congress, especially in the Department Related Standing Committee for Information and Technology chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. While Tharoor has moved a privilege motion notice against BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, the latter has moved a privilege motion notice against Tharoor as well as former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The war of words started on Twitter where Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra attacked a BJP lawmaker citing political agenda from the saffron party by being critical of Tharoor for summoning Facebook before the committee. Tharoor added to Moitra's tweet, saying the BJP was constantly undermining the powers of the committee and also talking about the rules and role of the chairman of the body. Dubey hit out at both, reminding them of the committee rules and how Tharoor had passed off his party's political agenda as committee priority. Sources said Tharoor on Tuesday filed a privilege motion notice against the BJP MP from Jharkhand. Following this, Nishikant took to Twitter to announce a breach of privilege motion notice against both Tharoor and Gandhi for casting aspersions on the BJP as a party. CNN-News18 has been able to access Dubey's letter of privilege breach. It reads: "I am also a Member of the Committee on Information Technology, wish to bring this fact on record that Dr Shashi Tharoor has never consulted the agenda of summoning Facebook and/or WhatsApp in any of the meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology. It is, therefore, a clear case, of breach of privilege by Shashi Tharoor in the capacity of Honourable Chairperson of the Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Information Technology." "2. I will certainly look into the issue and the Committee [making reference of the Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Information Technology] will seek the views of Facebook." It has also been widely reported that Tharoor has instructed the Secretariat of the Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Information Technology. Dubey's notice also refers to a breach of privilege by Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi who had tweeted that the "BJP and RSS control Facebook and WhatsApp in India, they spread fake news and hatred thorough it and use it to influence the electorate". "By leveling the said unsubstantiated allegations against all the Members of Parliament, Lok Sabha, who belong to BJP, he has also lowered the dignity of all such Members of Parliament and infringed upon their Parliamentary Privileges. It is also a contempt of the House in view of the fact that prior to spreading such types of canards through media/social media, Rahul Gandhi has no legally tenable documents/papers," said Dubey's notice. The petition of breach of privilege moved by Dubey has been put under Rule 227 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. In a preview of things to come, elementary and middle schools across Greenville County opened their doors to students this week for the first time in five months. It was just orientation, but it gave Principal Dawn Hooker at East North Street Academy in Greenville a trial run as she prepared for classes to begin in earnest next Monday. It was quiet. As she spoke, voices came crackling over a walkie talkie at her side. Her assistant principal, Cory Terry, popped in for instructions on how to alert teachers discretely that lunch would be served this week in classrooms. We are a very loving place in elementary school, Hooker said. It is very, very hard not to hug my students. Greenville County's school district in the midst of a pandemic will be among the first round of South Carolina public schools to launch fall classes. Hugs are forbidden, and recess will be supervised with organized games and the occasional yoga lesson. Mommies and daddies won't be able to have lunch with their kids or walk their Kindergartners to the classroom. Attendance will be less than a fifth what kids are accustomed to, so friends will be missing. Custodians will wipe down doors with disinfectant. Everyone older than first grade will wear a mask, and some will have on face shields, too. With one eye on Georgia where loose regulations on masks and social distancing to begin school preceded a wave of infections and another eye on consistently high but recently improving South Carolina infection figures this summer, Greenville County schools look far different from the day they shut down on March 15. Attendance plans Enrollment figures are fluid for the states largest school district as Greenville area families continue to make decisions about public versus private school, or home school. Greenville school district officials estimate 76,700 children will attend public school this fall. Of those students, 30 percent will take all of their classes on a computer at home. At some schools in the district, up to 40 percent of students opted for this all-online virtual academy. That leaves just under 54,000 children whose families have opted for in-person classes in Greenville schools this year. The school district is starting the year under a rolling schedule. A quarter of in-person students, sorted by their last names, are in school on any given day. This is called Plan 1, and refers to the number of days a child attends classes at school each week. They finish their work at home the rest of the week. Middle- and high-school classrooms normally packed with up to 30 students will have eight at most under Plan 1. Elementary kids are looking at five to seven students per class. If the district moves on to Plan 2, two days a week, class counts would roughly double. East North Street Academy, a school that typically has 770 students, expects just 100 to arrive on the first day of school, the schools principal said. Safety is the first lesson COVID-19 precautions will be everyones first lesson. We will be spending a good bit of time, those first several times we see them, talking about masks and social distancing and how to walk down hallways, East North Street Academy science teacher Kurt Blocher said. We will be reiterating how to be safe and respectful of each other in terms of safety. Masks can only come off if everyone in the room is standing more than six feet apart. Students breaking these rules face punishment, Greenville County Superintendent Burke Royster said. They also risk exposing their classmates and teachers to infection and quarantine. The school district is following state quarantine guidelines if anyone at a school reports they are sick. Quarantines will vary from 10 to 24 days depending on the level of exposure. Students will sit in assigned seats, likely all year. That is for contact tracing, Mauldin High band director Adam Scheuch said. "So in case somebody should test positive, everybody will have a very systematic way of knowing who is close by. Absences wont be counted against students, who will be expected to turn in work. Teachers might have to dip into sick days if they run out of emergency coronavirus leave, but failing to report exposure could cost them their jobs, Royster said. Single dad Bruce Wilson, who has three children at Thomas E. Kearns Elementary, said he worries about his children attending in-person classes one of them is asthmatic but he said he also feels like the school district is doing the best it can. Wilson has a daughter who works with a speech therapist and responds best with face-to-face sessions. The boys are a little nervous, Wilson said. They just talk about they talk about death. Its unfortunate to hear your children talking about death. Community spread declining Every Monday, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control issues a community spread rating for each county in South Carolina. This rating leans on the number of COVID-19 cases over the previous 14 days and the percentage of positive tests. Over 200 cases per 100,000 people is high, as is over 10 percent positive return on tests. An upward trend in cases is also counted as a high factor. Greenville County on Monday fell to a medium community spread because its cases fell below 200, a significant shift from its high rating all summer. Greenville is now among only seven counties in the state at medium. This shift could pressure school officials to increase days at school to two Plan 2. Under a strategy approved earlier this month by school trustees, Royster is allowed, but not required, to enact Plan 2 under medium spread conditions. Plan 1 prevents the kinds of crowds that made national headlines in Georgia, where some schools started then had to shut down because of coronavirus spread. More kids means more risk, but the schools can still physically keep everyone six feet apart under Plan 2, Royster said. He promised to give parents five days notice whenever he does change the attendance plan. Parent Andrea Martin Bowles said she understands the districts measured approach but said she could not manage the unknowns and lack of consistency for her three daughters, all of whom are in high school. All three enrolled in the virtual academy. Its easier to control your bubble when you know whos coming in and coming out, Bowles said. I will be home working, my husband and all three of my daughters will be home working. Royster has the power to shut down classrooms, hallways or whole schools should spot outbreaks occur. Only a low community spread rating from DHEC permits Royster to resume classes five days a week at schools. Parent Liana Beachman decided to pull her 6-year-old son out of Plain Elementary completely when she missed the deadline to get him into the virtual academy. Beachman and her 2-year-old daughter both have autoimmune disorders. Community spread might go down, but after students are in school two or five days a week, it will go back up, Beachman said. Bill de Blasio tried to defend his unelected wife's $1.1million staff on Wednesday after angry New Yorkers labeled it a 'disgrace' when the city is so short on cash and 22,000 jobs are expected to be cut. Despite not being officially employed by the city government Chirlane McCray, who heads up the city's mental health program ThriveNYC, enjoys a core team of eight full-time staff who cost the city a combined $1.1 million in annual salaries, according to her office. Sources at the Mayor's Office told The City the mayor's wife, who is mulling a run for Brooklyn borough president, also has at least another six staff who do not feature on the official roster, taking her total workforce to 14 with a hefty price tag of $2 million. She has worked with a $70,000 videographer who filmed her baking cookies at home, and has a $150,000-a-year senior adviser. While the mayor's wife has a considerable team, her husband has sounded repeated warnings that a staggering 22,000 workers could lose their jobs in the fall due to the toll the pandemic has taken on the city's budget. On Wednesday however, de Blasio defended their work, saying it was crucial to mental health and diversity. 'That article (referring to the initial The City story) didn't take into account the work that's being done. This work is about the needs of the people of this city. Bill de Blasio's unelected wife Chirlane McCray has been branded a 'disgrace' for having a staff of 14 costing New York City $2 million, including a $70,000 videographer who filmed her baking cookies (above) - while crime soars amid NYPD cuts, trash is left to pile up on the streets and 22,000 city workers face job losses 'The mental health crisis is much deeper because of the coronavirus, across the whole city, that's one of the things she's been working on intensely, but also as the co-chair of the internal task force this extraordinary task force on racial inclusion that has been moving big policy changes,' he said. He also said that neither his staff nor his wife's would be safe from job cuts later in the year. 'Unquestionably, there will be lay-offs at City Hall for my staff, her staff. Our job is to work together to try to avert it,' he said. Fears are mounting that the Big Apple is headed back to the dark days of the 70s and 80s when crime and poverty was rife. New York City's wealthiest neighborhoods have been rocked by a spate of violent crimes in recent months, which - sparked by an exodus when the city became the global virus epicenter in March - has sent its richest residents fleeing for good. Stark NYPD citywide data revealed murders are up 58 percent in the last month compared to the same time last year, shootings are up a staggering 176 percent and burglaries are up 25 percent. Her team also includes $150,000-a-year senior adviser Dabash Negash, 33, (pictured) who was recruited in April - at the height of the pandemic and just one week after de Blasio announced a hiring freeze to help close a $7.4 billion deficit caused by the pandemic Meanwhile, widespread business closures, a lack of employment opportunities and support services shuttered for months during the city's coronavirus lockdown has forced more New Yorkers onto the streets and homeless encampments have now been set up on all corners of Manhattan. But as the city is deteriorating and the crime rate soars, de Blasio, who himself has a personal net worth of $2.5 million, has cut police budgets, threatened 22,000 city workers with the chop and called for a spike in taxes for the wealthiest residents which could wave goodbye to this much-needed tax base for good. Drastic budget cuts have been made to essential services leaving the city's streets and parks - not long ago a hive of urban activity - dirty and overflowing with rubbish. But while cuts are adding further nails to the city's coffin, there is no sign of cuts to the mayor's wife's 14-strong team of staffers. McCray's $2 million team includes a videographer with a salary of $70,000 who was hired in February and was tasked with filming her enjoying some baking during lockdown, The City reported. The unnamed individual worked with McCray shooting a social media video called 'Baking with the First Lady' in early April where she made some ginger snaps. Her team also includes a $117,000-a-year speechwriter and a $150,000-a-year senior adviser. Chirlane completely ignored the controversy on Wednesday, tweeting this instead Senior adviser Dabash Negash was recruited in April - at the height of the pandemic and just one week after de Blasio announced a hiring freeze to help close a $7.4 billion deficit caused by the pandemic. Officials for McCrays office told The City her hiring was already in the pipeline before the pandemic. Some of the other staff members work for McCray on the city's mental health program ThriveNYC. The program has been slammed for failing to deliver results despite an investment of $1.25 billion. Other shadow staff - those who are not included in the eight confirmed by the city and whose roles are hidden within the wider office of the mayor, according to The City - include a $143,000-a-year public relations director and a special assistant from the mayor's office who makes $115,000. As shootings spiral, there is also a growing homeless problem with encampments popping up all over Manhattan. 13,000 homeless people have also been moved into hotels around the city Fears are mounting that the Big Apple is headed back to the dark days of the 70s and 80s when crime and poverty was rife. Homeless people setup encampments on Clarkson and Washington Street in lower Manhattan Widespread business closures, a lack of employment opportunities and support services shuttered for months during the city's coronavirus lockdown has forced more New Yorkers onto the streets and homeless encampments have now been set up on all corners of Manhattan Drastic budget cuts have been made to essential services leaving the city's streets and parks - not long ago a hive of urban activity - dirty and overflowing with rubbish New Yorkers took to social media to voice their outrage that while the city teeters on the brink of ruin, the mayor's spouse has a large team helping her filming her pastime of baking New Yorkers took to social media to voice their outrage that while the city teeters on the brink of ruin with no money to clean up the streets and keep essential services up and running, the mayor's spouse has a large team helping her with non-essential tasks such as filming her enjoying her pastime of baking. NYC VIOLENCE IN THE LAST MONTH COMPARED TO THE SAME TIME IN 2019: Shooting victims +153% Shooting incidents +176% Murders +59% Burglary +25% Grand larceny auto +50% Robbery +3% Rape -18% Felony assault -4.6% Advertisement 'Maddening. Hypocritical. NYC Mayor's wife, Chirlane McCray's, $2M staff of 14 amid NYC budget crisis,' one angry resident tweeted. Another tweeted: 'Lock her up! What a disgrace.' City Councilman Eric Ulrich also blasted McCray a 'disgrace' over the workforce. 'How much taxpayer money will the mayor's wife pilfer before leaving office?' he said to the New York Post. 'How can she sleep at night hiring these hacks knowing so many other city workers are facing layoffs this fall? This is a disgrace!' The Mayor's Office did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment However, City Hall spokeswoman Chanel Caraway on Tuesday told the Post New Yorkers should be thankful to McCray's team. 'The First Lady manages a robust portfolio and her team works tirelessly to carry out goals and priorities on issues like mental health and domestic violence that will improve the lives of New Yorkers,' she said. 'As the City navigates unprecedented challenges triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, these public servants continue to show up everyday to deliver solutions that reach into every neighborhood and family, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.' The answer I heard repeatedly was that systems are in place for a stable transition. With all the absentee ballots, it will take longer to count the votes, and the outcome may be in doubt for days or even weeks. But if Trump loses, it will be very difficult for him to cling to office. There are just too many career lawyers, cops, generals and other public servants in the way. WASHINGTON Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris used her highly anticipated speech Wednesday night to describe the vision of America that she was raised with, and to contrast it with the state of the country today under President Donald Trump. The California senator is the daughter of two immigrants, her mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. Wednesday is the third day of the virtual Democratic National Convention, one that is traditionally headlined by the vice presidential nominee. As the running mate of former Vice President Joe Biden, Harris also fulfilled the traditional role of Democratic vice presidential picks on the campaign trail, and attacked the Republicans on Wednesday. The Trump campaign released a statement Wednesday before Harris started speaking, calling her "a total phony." Below are Harris' full remarks. "Greetings America. It is truly an honor to be speaking with you. That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me. Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all. "This week marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. And we celebrate the women who fought for that right. Yet so many of the Black women who helped secure that victory were still prohibited from voting, long after its ratification. "But they were undeterred. Without fanfare or recognition, they organized, testified, rallied, marched, and foughtnot just for their vote, but for a seat at the table. These women and the generations that followed worked to make democracy and opportunity real in the lives of all of us who followed. "They paved the way for the trailblazing leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. And these women inspired us to pick up the torch, and fight on. Women like Mary Church Terrell and Mary McCleod Bethune. Fannie Lou Hamer and Diane Nash. Constance Baker Motley and Shirley Chisholm. We're not often taught their stories. But as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders. "There's another woman, whose name isn't known, whose story isn't shared. Another woman whose shoulders I stand on. And that's my motherShyamala Gopalan Harris. She came here from India at age 19 to pursue her dream of curing cancer. At the University of California Berkeley, she met my father, Donald Harriswho had come from Jamaica to study economics. They fell in love in that most American waywhile marching together for justice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. "In the streets of Oakland and Berkeley, I got a stroller's-eye view of people getting into what the great John Lewis called "good trouble." When I was 5, my parents split and my mother raised us mostly on her own. Like so many mothers, she worked around the clock to make it workpacking lunches before we woke upand paying bills after we went to bed. Helping us with homework at the kitchen tableand shuttling us to church for choir practice. "She made it look easy, though I know it never was. My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me the values that would chart the course of our lives. She raised us to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. She taught us to put family firstthe family you're born into and the family you choose. "Family, is my husband Doug, who I met on a blind date set up by my best friend. Family is our beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who as you just heard, call me Momala. Family is my sister. Family is my best friend, my nieces and my godchildren. Family is my uncles, my auntsmy chitthis. Family is Mrs. Sheltonmy second mother who lived two doors down and helped raise me. Family is my beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha...our Divine 9and my HBCU brothers and sisters. Family is the friends I turned to when my motherthe most important person in my lifepassed away from cancer. "And even as she taught us to keep our family at the center of our world, she also pushed us to see a world beyond ourselves. She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people. To believe public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility. "That led me to become a lawyer, a District Attorney, Attorney General, and a United States Senator. And at every step of the way, I've been guided by the words I spoke from the first time I stood in a courtroom: Kamala Harris, For the People. "I've fought for children, and survivors of sexual assault. I've fought against transnational gangs. I took on the biggest banks, and helped take down one of the biggest for-profit colleges. I know a predator when I see one. "My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she's looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian womanall of five feet tallwho gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California. On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words: I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America. "I do so, committed to the values she taught me. To the Word that teaches me to walk by faith, and not by sight. And to a vision passed on through generations of Americansone that Joe Biden shares. A vision of our nation as a Beloved Communitywhere all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love. "A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity and respect. A country where we look out for one another, where we rise and fall as one, where we face our challenges, and celebrate our triumphstogether. Today... that country feels distant. "Donald Trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods. If you're a parent struggling with your child's remote learning, or you're a teacher struggling on the other side of that screen, you know that what we're doing right now isn't working. "And we are a nation that's grieving. Grieving the loss of life, the loss of jobs, the loss of opportunities, the loss of normalcy. And yes, the loss of certainty. And while this virus touches us all, let's be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately. "This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism. Of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation. The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system. "This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each otherand how we treat each other. And let's be clearthere is no vaccine for racism. We've gotta do the work. For George Floyd. For Breonna Taylor. For the lives of too many others to name. For our children. For all of us. We've gotta do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because, none of us are free...until all of us are free... "We're at an inflection point. The constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone. It's a lot. And here's the thing: We can do better and deserve so much more. "We must elect a president who will bring something different, something better, and do the important work. A president who will bring all of us togetherBlack, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenousto achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden. "I knew Joe as Vice President. I knew Joe on the campaign trail. But I first got to know Joe as the father of my friend. Joe's son, Beau, and I served as Attorneys General of our states, Delaware and California. During the Great Recession, we spoke on the phone nearly every day, working together to win back billions of dollars for homeowners from the big banks that foreclosed on people's homes. "And Beau and I would talk about his family. How, as a single father, Joe would spend 4 hours every day riding the train back and forth from Wilmington to Washington. Beau and Hunter got to have breakfast every morning with their dad. They went to sleep every night with the sound of his voice reading bedtime stories. And while they endured an unspeakable loss, these two little boys Always knew that they were deeply, unconditionally loved. "And what also moved me about Joe is the work he did, as he went back and forth. This is the leader who wrote the Violence Against Women Actand enacted the Assault Weapons Ban. Who, as Vice President, implemented The Recovery Act, which brought our country back from The Great Recession. He championed The Affordable Care Act, protecting millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. Who spent decades promoting American values and interests around the world, standing up with our allies and standing up to our adversaries. "Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons. Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose. Joe will bring us together to build an economy that doesn't leave anyone behind. Where a good-paying job is the floor, not the ceiling. Joe will bring us together to end this pandemic and make sure that we are prepared for the next one. Joe will bring us together to squarely face and dismantle racial injustice, furthering the work of generations. Joe and I believe that we can build that Beloved Community, one that is strong and decent, just and kind. One in which we all can see ourselves. "That's the vision that our parents and grandparents fought for. The vision that made my own life possible. The vision that makes the American promisefor all its complexities and imperfectionsa promise worth fighting for. "Make no mistake, the road ahead will not be not easy. We will stumble. We may fall short. But I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly. We will speak truths. And we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place in us. "We believe that our countryall of us, will stand together for a better future. We already are. We see it in the doctors, the nurses, the home health care workers and the frontline workers who are risking their lives to save people they've never met. We see it in the teachers and truck drivers, the factory workers and farmers, the postal workers and the Poll workers, all putting their own safety on the line to help us get through this pandemic. And we see it in so many of you who are working, not just to get us through our current crises, but to somewhere better. "There's something happening, all across the country. It's not about Joe or me. It's about you. It's about us. People of all ages and colors and creeds who are, yes, taking to the streets, and also persuading our family members, rallying our friends, organizing our neighbors, and getting out the vote. And we've shown that, when we vote, we expand access to health care, expand access to the ballot box, and ensure that more working families can make a decent living. "I'm inspired by a new generation of leadership. You are pushing us to realize the ideals of our nation, pushing us to live the values we share: decency and fairness, justice and love. You are the patriots who remind us that to love our country is to fight for the ideals of our country. In this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. We're all in this fight. You, me, and Joetogether. What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome privilege. "So, let's fight with conviction. Let's fight with hope. Let's fight with confidence in ourselves, and a commitment to each other. To the America we know is possible. The America, we love. Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high? They will ask us, what was it like? "And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt. We will tell them what we did. "Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America." KC McGinnis/For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesBy Eric Noll and Haley Yamada, ABC News (CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa) -- A group of volunteers is banding together to help Iowa residents after last weeks derecho storm-ravaged communities. The rare storm caused nearly 13,300 Iowa residents to lose power and destroyed nearly a third of the states cropland. In the aftermath, residents across Cedar Rapids were left with spoiled food, no cellphone service and no air conditioning in the sweltering summer heat. Pamela Smith and her children sheltered at home for the duration of the storm, which lasted several hours with winds up to 100 miles per hour. A week later and still without power, volunteers have been helping to provide the family with meals. Im thankful for it because if it wasnt for them, I dont know how Id feed my kids, Smith told ABC News affiliate KCRG. Stacey Walker, the county supervisor for Linn County, where Cedar Rapid is located, said the community is filled with people trying to help those affected by the storm. Im here in our emergency operations center that is filled with women who are working around the clock to keep our community safe and to help put it back together after this devastating meteorological event that happened to us last week, Walker told ABC News. Emily Holly, a disaster responder with the American Red Cross, told ABC News that the organization is trying to spread hope in Iowa amid the destruction. We are providing smiles through our masks and hot meals, and just trying to lift peoples spirits as much as possible, said Holly. The team at the nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief has been on the ground in Iowa since the weekend and has so far served more than 25,000 meals to families in need. Were here on the ground of Cedar Rapids, Iowa doing the thing we do best and thats serving the one hot meal that matters, Dwane Daniel, director of disaster coordination, told ABC News And no helper is too young, either. Eleven-year-old Christopher has been helping to clean up his neighborhood after telling his mother, Starlet Smith, that he wanted to volunteer. I wanted to borrow a rake and a bucket so that he didnt have to carry the bags and people just started chiming in, said Starlet Smith. She said that people had heard of Christopher volunteering and some chipped in to buy him supplies, such as a new wheelbarrow. Brian Paris, a member of the community, bought Christopher a hot lunch, a hat for the sun and a broom, according to ABC News affiliate KCRG. I guess I would ask everybody to reach into your pantries and your basements and your storage tubs, said Paris. Pull out anything anybody can use. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Have not demanded any post, up to Cong leadership to decide on role: Sachin Pilot India oi-Deepika S Jaipur, Aug 19: Sachin Pilot, who was sacked as the deputy chief minister and the Rajasthan Congress head after he rebelled, on Wednesday said it was up to the party to assign him any responsibility. But in an apparent reference to the other Congress MLAs who were part of the recently ended rebellion, he said those who had worked for the party should be involved in the organisation and the state government on the basis of their merit and seniority. Pilot made the remarks in Jaipur and his assembly constituency, Tonk, which he visited for the first time after the patch-up with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. "The party makes the final decision on who works in the government and who works in the party organisation," he told reporters before heading for Tonk. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Pilot reiterated that he has not demanded any post for himself. Why Sachin Pilot called himself the strongest soldier sent to the border He reminded that a three-member panel has been formed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to address the issues which concern him. The committee was announced last week after a meeting between him and the party's top leadership in Delhi, ending a month-long crisis in the party. Eighteen other Congress MLAs had joined him in the revolt against Ashok Gehlot. On Monday, Pilot met Ajay Maken, the new AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan. In Tonk, Pilot said he is not longing for any post and had not demanded anything. "We took the stand for our principles," he said, adding that he is happy being among the people. But In a possible reference to his loyalists, Pilot said he wanted those who struggled with him and played a role in the formation of the government should be involved in the party and the government according to their seniority and merit. Pilot was given a warm welcome in his constituency. He met a "sarpanch" and other public representatives, and also held meetings with the district collector and local officials. He urged putting more effort into containing the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the situation may worsen if "overconfidence" leads to any complacency. Pilot assured people that development work will be speeded up in the constituency. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:35:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GAZA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinians on Wednesday rallied in Gaza in protest against the U.S.-sponsored peace deal between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. The demonstration, organized by Palestinian factions, took place in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in central Gaza city. The demonstrators marched toward the Ansar square in western Gaza, waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners. Different factions, including Fatah party, Islamic Hamas movement, Islamic Jihad movement and the leftist groups, joined the mass rally. Ahmed Helles, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, who joined the protests in eastern Gaza, said that "the Palestinians' stance is unified," adding that "we will confront all attempts aiming to end our just issue." "The UAE-Israeli normalization deal is denying all Palestinian rights, Palestinian land, as well as the issue of Jerusalem," Helles explained, stressing that "the Palestinians have several chances to act against the deal." Meanwhile, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told Xinhua that "our people have proven that they can challenge all attempts that aim to end our issue." He stressed that all Palestinian factions must be united to create a national strategy to confront the Israeli occupation, as well as the normalization deals with it. On Aug. 13, Israel and the UAE reached an agreement, brokered by the U.S., to work towards a "full normalization of relations." Enditem TDT | Manama Bahrain, represented by the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), hosted the First Ministerial Meeting on COVID-19 and the Environment in West Asia. The meeting, organised by the United Nations Environment Programmes (UNEP) Regional Office for West Asia, aimed to highlight the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the region and to recommend specific, sustainable, and environmentally friendly measures and policies. UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) vice-president and SCE executive chairman Dr Mohamed Mubarak bin Daina conveyed the greetings of His Majesty the Kings personal representative and SCE President His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa to the participating ministers and the environmental councils and authorities presidents, as well as to UNEP executive director Inger Andersen and UNEP regional director and West Asia representative Sami Dimassi. The officials discussed issues of common interest across the countries of the region related to measures taken to protect the environment amidst the COVID-19 crisis, and presented a roadmap for re-building after the pandemic. The ministers adopted a joint ministerial statement confirming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human safety and the environment, and its negative impact on local, regional and global economies. The ministers expressed their deep regret for the lives lost to COVID-19 all over the world. They noted that the pandemic has led to a remarkable increase in the production of waste, in general, and plastic, in particular, at all levels. The pandemic has also led to a decrease in investment in environmental and economic measures and activities that depend on environmental services. The meeting called for strengthening regional coordination and exchanging knowledge and experiences to work for a healthy environment for current and future generations. It also called on the UNEP Regional Office in West Asia to continue providing technical support and assistance to the countries of the region, especially those most affected by the crisis. (TNS) Ellicott City, Md., resident Isuru Herath had been home from Cornell University for two months when he began searching for a way to fill his time. Like many college students, the 18-year-old was adjusting to life away from campus. For Herath, that meant looking for ways to volunteer.In May, Cornell sent students a newsletter with volunteer opportunities available across the country. Thats how Herath, a rising sophomore at the Ivy League university, was introduced to TeleHealth Access for Seniors. Three months later, he now works as a co-leader for the organizations Maryland chapter.TeleHealth Access for Seniors is a nationwide, student-run organization that works to connect seniors with the necessary devices including smartphones, tablets, iPads and laptops to participate in health care services via technology. The organization partners with clinics, physicians practices and veterans hospitals in 26 states to get the needed devices to seniors, who are invited to keep them indefinitely.In Maryland, volunteers are working with the University of Maryland Medical System and Mobile Medical Care clinics in Montgomery County.Herath and Sasvi Kulasinghe, 18, are co-leaders for the Maryland chapter of the organization. The Ellicott City residents and 2019 graduates of Marriotts Ridge High School have spent their summer working alongside 20 student volunteers in the state collecting, organizing and delivering devices around the state in hopes of easing one of the many problems exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic: accessibility to health care.I thought [TeleHealth Access for Seniors] was interesting because I know a lot of seniors arent really comfortable using these newer devices, smart devices and things like that, Herath said. What has surprised me is how much clinics are relying on telehealth.The nonprofit accepts any functioning camera-enabled smart device; devices should be reset and cleared of personal data before being donated. Those who donate then have the option of shipping the device or arranging a socially distanced pickup. Thats when Kulasinghe, a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland, and Herath begin the distribution process.Peter Lowet, executive director of Mobile Medical Care, worked with Herath and Kulasinghe earlier this summer to connect patients at his six primary care locations three mobile and three fixed sites with the needed technology.[TeleHealth Access for Seniors was] looking for community health centers like us, so they reached out and asked if our target patient population could use their devices and we certainly could, Lowet said.Like many private practices, Mobile Medical Care quickly pivoted to telehealth when the coronavirus pandemic started in March, leaving many patients stranded. Lowet said the practice hadnt used telehealth before, but once the pandemic hit, 75% of Mobile Medical Cares care was being delivered remotely.Our patients face more technological barriers. The older demographic are those who might be least likely to have a smart device, Lowet said.Not only do many of his patients not have the necessary devices, he said, they also can lack the literacy in how to use the technology or lack internet connectivity altogether.The technology is one of, if not the, biggest barrier for effective telehealth, he said. During COVID-19, the practice is allowed to do telehealth over just the phone, but its far more effective for it to be a video conference.Since connecting with TeleHealth Access for Seniors, Lowet has distributed six of the 12 donated devices to patients.So far, the nonprofit has distributed at least 1,800 devices nationwide, according to its website.More than half of older adults have three or more chronic diseases, according to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Kulasinghe said thats one of the reasons she was prompted to do this work; people with chronic conditions are at much higher risk to contract COVID-19 and to have complications associated with the virus. Easing the technological needs eases that risk, she said.If elderly patients have the option to stay at home and visit their doctor, its much easier for them as well, Kulasinghe said.Along with devices, TeleHealth Access for Seniors also accepts monetary donations to purchase Amazon Fire tablets to donate to seniors.The organizations website also offers free tech support to seniors who have received a donated device.For now, Kulasinghe and Herath are collecting and fundraising for their next clinic at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Hematology and Oncology in Bel Air. So far, they have collected six of the 40 devices they need.What Ive really learned is through this pandemic its really exacerbated the existing inequalities in medicine today, Herath said. Without these devices, some patients cant afford to have regular doctors appointments.Thats why, Herath said, TeleHealth Access for Seniors will continue working into the fall.Telehealth is really an important option [for the] long term, not just in the early months of COVID but going forward, Lowet said. These are very challenging times from [a] health perspective and an economic perspective. The energy from the community that leads to these kinds of initiatives [is] really critical to nonprofit organizations ... continuing to serve people. That same year, she led about 8,000 women up Pennsylvania Avenue during the first major suffrage parade. Astride a white horse and garbed in an elegant cape and crown, she was compared by the press to a modern-day Joan of Arc and called the most beautiful suffragist. The moniker stuck. I do think it helped draw crowds to see her, Ms. Michna-Bales said. But she was also a very charismatic person and believed so deeply in her cause, that people just listened when she spoke. Well aware of her talents, the National Womans Party sent her West in the fall of 1916. By that time, most women could vote in 12 states, from Illinois to California, while those in the East were still fighting for the right. For the National Womans Party, the only way forward was a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women nationwide the right, but President Woodrow Wilson and his fellow Democrats showed no support. Pinning their hopes on defeating his bid for re-election that fall, suffragists concentrated their efforts out West, enlisting women like Milholland for the task. A week of blockades, marches, and gatherings in early August took place across Bolivia to insist on an election. The protests demanded that the election date of September 6 be reinstated. That is unlikely to happen. by Vijay Prashad and Manuel Bertoldi On November 10, 2019, President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia announced his resignation from the presidency. Morales had been elected in 2014 to a third presidential term, which should have lasted until January 2020. In November 2019, protests around his fourth electoral victory in October led to the police and the military asking Morales to step down; by every description of the term, this was a coup detat. Two days later, Morales went into exile in Mexico. On November 16, Morales told Mexican daily newspaper La Jornada that the coup that unseated him was prepared by the U.S. embassy in La Paz. The reason for the coup, he said, wasamong othersBolivias considerable lithium reserves and his governments failure to surrender to North American multinational mining corporations. Morales told La Jornadas Miguel Angel Velazquez it seemed his sin was that he implemented social programs for the humblest families. The coup was justified by the Bolivian oligarchy and the United States government as the restoration of democracy. By democracy, the oligarchs and the U.S. government mean rule by elites who politely hand over resources to mining firms at concessionary rates; they do not mean that the peoplewho should have sovereignty over their lives and their resourcesactually govern. This is why there is no anxiety in large sections of the Bolivian oligarchy and the U.S. government that Bolivia will not have an elected government in at least a year. A Coup Government Remains Morales was replaced by Jeanine Anez, a minor politician who was outside the constitutional chain of succession. Anez said that she would not seek election after her interim period was over, but quickly turned her back on that promise; this was the first of many promises she would break. The presidential election was set for May 3, 2020. Due to her governments inability to control the coronavirus, the election was postponed until September 6, 2020. Anez and her coalition are polling far behind the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Morales party whose ticket consists of Luis Arce Catacora for president and David Choquehuanca Cespedes for vice president, as well as behind the center-right Civic Community party of Carlos Mesa (a former president of Bolivia who also ran against Morales in the October 2019 election and lost). Afraid of a humiliating loss, Anez pressured the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to postpone the election to October 18, 2020. There is no guarantee that there will not be a further postponement. The TSE is now headed by Salvador Romero, whom Morales had decided not to reinstate when Romeros term ended in 2008 because of Romeros dangerously close relationship to the United States government. After he was not reinstated, Romero complained to Philip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia. Goldberg met Romero warmly but could not force Morales to put him back in his position. Nonetheless, the United States provided Romero with a nice post: he took a job in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, at the National Democratic Institute. (The National Democratic Institute, based in Washington, is loosely affiliated with the U.S. Democratic Party.) While in Honduras, Romero ensured that the violent conditions during the 2013 Honduran presidential elections did not provoke any kind of international condemnation as the far rights Juan Orlando Hernandez (favored by the U.S. government) defeated the lefts Xiomara Castro. Romero and others like him covered up the dirty tricks (such as minimizing the significance of a power outage as Hernandez pulled ahead of Castro during vote counting) that led to Hernandezs victory. Romero told the New York Times that despite the general perception of fraud, the election was fine. After she took power in November 2019, Anezwith the backing of the U.S. governmentbrought Romero back to Bolivia to head the TSE. Fractures in the Right All is not well in the camp of the far right in Bolivia. Anez does not command the field. Carlos Mesa, the candidate of the center-right, is eager to make this election between himself and the MAS, with Anez stepping aside to allow the votes of the right wing to consolidate behind him. But he has had no luck; she would prefer that he stand down and prolong the wait for an election while she leads. Anez came to power due to the shock troops of the far right, groups such as the Santa Cruz Civic Committee (a misnomer), the Resistencia Juvenil Cochala, and the Union Juvenil Crucenista. The main figure who had galvanized these groups was Luis Fernando Camacho, a businessman from Santa Cruz with the sensibility of a fascist thug. After the coup, Branko Marinkovic, who had absconded to Brazil after he was charged with sedition, returned to Bolivia and tried to regain control of these various far-right platforms. The rivalry between Camacho and Marinkovic, and the uncertainty about the possibility of a right-wing triumph at the polls, has stayed the hand of Anez and Romero; they would prefer to have no election (using the excuse of the pandemic) over an election that returned the MAS to power. Protests for the Election A week of blockades, marches, and gatherings in early August took place across Bolivia to insist on an election. The protests demanded that the election date of September 6 be reinstated. That is unlikely to happen. But the protests have put the TSE on notice that any further delay of electionsor blatant intervention in election results when they do take placeis likely to result in public outcry. All the polls suggest that the MAS will win the first round of the election; if the far right and center-right do not coalesce after the first round, and if the left is able to unite, then the MAS might win a two-way second-round election. If the left remains disunited, then this promises to hamper the election prospects of MAS. In power for 14 years, MAS moved an agenda that made impressive gains for the people. At the same time, over that long period, MAS was not able to please every social sector, every time. Fissures in the camp of the left opened up when Morales was in office, so much so it was the countrys largest trade union federation (Central Obrera Boliviana, or COB) that publicly asked for the resignation of Morales. Groups such as COB, the Ponchos Rojos, the National Confederation of Indigenous Peasant Women, and the Pact of Unity led the recent protest; they galvanized the people behind the demand for the immediate resignation of the Anez regime and for immediate elections. Unity between these groupswhich have excited the core of the left with their public actionsand the MAS is not yet established. These fissures weaken the left as these organizations proceed toward a continuation of struggles and the election. If the left were to stand together, the return of MAS to power is virtually guaranteed. The main task of the left is to consolidate the unity of the popular forces and to promote the young leadership that has come to the surface in these mobilizations. Unity, they say, is their focus. Still, though, many people in Bolivia fear that the full array of dirty tricksincluding blackouts during the counting of voteswill steal the election from them. It is not hard to imagine that this is what a coup regime has in mind; it did not annul democracy to allow democracy to remove it from office. This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma. Manuel Bertoldi is a leader at Frente Patria Grande (Argentina) and Alba Movimientos. He is a coordinator of the International Peoples Assembly. The half-year performance report of the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements System (GhIPSS), indicate that whereas COVID-19 took a toll on all the services on the GhIPSS platform, Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) and GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP) saw massive growth. Indeed, the numbers would show that even the resounding performance of GIP was overwhelmingly due to transfers from bank accounts to mobile wallets through the interoperability platform. Per the report, GhIPSS processed a total of 29 million transaction in the first half of the year, and the value of those transactions was GHC113 billion, which is nine percent higher than the GHC103 billion in 2019. Even though the total number of transactions 29 million is 81% higher than that of 2019, which stood at 16 million, most of the services witnessed decline in terms of volume of transaction, except for mobile money interoperability and GIP. Volumes Mobile money interoperability saw a whopping 444% growth in volume, from 2.5 million in half year 2019 to 13.6 million transactions in 2020, while volume of transaction on GIP also grew by 600% from just 300,000 in 2019 to 2.1 million in 2020. According to the report GIPs outstanding performance is largely driven by transfers from [bank] accounts to [mobile] wallets a total of 2.1 million transfers was done [in the direction], representing 86% of the GIP transfers. On the flipside, the GhIPSS Clearing House, e-zwich and gh-link suffered varying levels of decline in transaction volumes owing to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on users of those platforms. Of the three, gh-link was the worst affected over the period, with a 29% decline, followed by e-zwich with a four percent decline because many e-zwich customers were unable to access services from the banks; while Clearing House lost one per cent in volume of transaction owing to the low economic activities during the 3 weeks lockdown period. Values In spite of the COVID-19-induced declines in volume of transaction, all the services saw some growth in value of transactions, except gh-link. Per the report, mobile money interoperability recorded a whopping 436% growth in value of transaction from GHC200 million in 2019 to GHC1.1 billion half-year 2020; while, GIP recorded an equally impressive 358% growth in value of transaction, from GHC500 million in 2019 to GHC2.7 billion in half-year 2020. But contrary to the volume of transactions on the GIP platform, which was driven largely by bank account to mobile wallet transfers via the interoperability platform, the increase in the value of transaction on GIP, was largely due to transfers between bank accounts, as those transfers accounted for GHC1.8 billion, representing some 69% of the total. According to the report, the Clearing House remained the main channel for transfer of big amounts, recording some four percent growth from GHC100 billion in 2019 to GHC104 billion this year. The report attributed the growth in the Clearing House performance to the boost in the ACH Direct Debit transfers, which recorded most growth in the clearing house because, added to its original use by insurance companies to collect premiums, manufacturers have also adopted it for the collection of payments from retailors. Meanwhile, the e-zwich platform also recorded 62% growth in value, driven by PDS payments by government and money transfers across e-zwich cards. GhIPSS Chief Executive Officer, Archie Hesse, noted that Fintech and telcos accounted primarily for the impressive performance of the mobile money interoperability platforms, adding that over the period, GhIPSS signed on six new Fintech companies and they will be signing more this year. He therefore urged the banks to obtain the necessary licenses to acquire their own wallets and connect to interoperability platform and tap into the vast and thriving mobile money ecosystem. Opportunities According to him, even though COVID-19 caused a decline in the volume of transaction in some services, the pandemic has opened a new window of opportunities and industry players would be expected to take advantage of them to cement the digital payment culture brewing among customers. The GhIPSS CEO reminded them that the GhQR Code and Proxy Pay services have been launched, and what is left is for industry player to go to quickly market with them and give customers even more convenient electronic payment choices. Archie Hesse observed that some institutions are already at various stages of implement of the GhQR Code, saying I would like to extend my appreciation to those institutions and encourage the others to hasten with the testing and go-live process now that the opportunities exist. As a measure to boost the usage of the e-zwich and gh-link cards, Archie Hesse said GhIPSS has partnered with Famaco to introduce the Secure Android 6 POS devices, which can run both cards, adding that that the partnership between gh-link and Goil, which allows gh-link card users to buy fuel at GOIL with their cards, is also a measure to boost usage and give customers convenience. Plans are [also] far advanced with the implementation of the new addition to ACH Direct Credit family; the Near Real ACH service that allows users to send and receive money almost in real time, he added. Source: techgh24.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over Naga rebel group NSCN-IM's claim that the 2015 Framework Agreement was signed after a series of discussions based on the principle of "shared- sovereignty", and sought answers over the deal. The NSCN-IM, which has been engaged in peace negotiations with the government, had last week said that an honourable solution to the seven-decades-old violent movement is not possible without a Naga flag and a constitution. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in August 2015 that a peace accord has been signed and the Naga problem will be solved. He alleged that when the Congress asked for the details, the Centre did not provide any details and later it emerged that it was not a peace accord, but a framework agreement. Gohil also cited the recent statement of NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah who had said that the Nagas have their own flag and constitution and the insurgent group was not asking for these from the government. Referring to the August, 2015 'Framework Agreement', signed by Muivah and government interlocutor for talks, R N Ravi, in presence of Modi, the NSCN-IM leader had said the deal was reached after a series of intensive discussions based on the principle of the proposed "co-existence and shared-sovereignty". Gohil sought answers from the government over the agreement, stating that this was not a secret deal and people and the country should know about it. He said all stakeholder states should have been involved in the talks. Gohil said the government needs to clarify and come clean on whether shared sovereignty was discussed as part of the framework agreement. The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India's independence in 1947. New Delhi, Aug 19 : A group of 772 lawyers have written to Chief Justice of India, S.A. Bobde, raising concerns about an emerging trend to "browbeat and intimidate the judiciary". "India has witnessed a series of attacks by institutional disruptors against judges who are unwilling to agree with them and toe the line drawn by them. It is unfortunate that when political ends of lawyers are not served by a decision of the court, they vilify the court by making scandalising remarks. The Supreme Court of India, as well as the judges, are subject to both scurrilous language, malicious attacks and scandalising remarks," the lawyers said in the letter which comes against the backdrop of the Prashant Bhushan case. On August 14, the Supreme Court held senior advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court and fixed the date of hearing for his sentencing on August 20. A statement was issued by "Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms" (CJAR) on August 15, condemning the judgment and further calling upon the Supreme Court, and every judge, to reconsider their decision. CJAR includes a retired judge, Justice P.B. Sawant, former Union Law Minister and senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, among others as their patrons. In the letter to the Chief Justice, the 772 lawyers emphasised that legitimate criticism of both judgements and the functioning of the institution has always existed, however, when the criticism is calculated and actuated by malice, it is the authority of the court which is undermined. "We urge you to uphold the edifice of the judicial system and protect the third pillar of our democracy from those who peddle falsehood to destroy the institution. We sincerely hope that the Supreme Court of India ensures that such persons are dealt with in an exemplary manner, even if such actions are taken thirteen years later or else such trends will only accelerate and strike a blow to the guardian of the rule of law," read the statement. The group of lawyers said if the judiciary is to perform its duties and functions effectively, it is essential to protect the dignity and authority of the courts. "The foundation of the judiciary is the confidence of the people in its ability to deliver justice. The actions of these institutional disruptors through name calling and usage of certain phrases such as 'Supreme Court has destroyed democracy', 'the Supreme Court is killing the Constitution' have the tendency to destroy the faith of the public in the judiciary," added the statement. During a wide-ranging news conference on Tuesday, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said his department has made key arrests in an area experiencing high crime and identified the body found burning on a San Antonio highway last week. Salazar said fingerprints were used to identify 33-year-old Micheal Delgado as the man who was found burning next to the access road near the 10300 block of U.S. 90. Salazar initially called it a gruesome scene, saying Delgado had been dumped there before being set on fire. A passerby saw the fire soon after and called authorities. Deputies havent released any other details, saying they are still looking for assistance in identifying those responsible for the killing. A reward is being offered for anyone with information by calling Crime Stoppers at 207-324-7867. Over the last several months, deputies have increased directed patrols on the East Side in response to a growing number of shootings and violent crimes. Salazar said over the last few weeks, 29-year old Keith Vaughn was arrested by BCSO and San Antonio police one of the individuals Salazar said was responsible for a large number of crimes that have plagued the area recently. Vaughn was charged on Aug. 13 with aggravated robbery and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Also charged for separate incidents were Adriana Harrison, 25, for deadly conduct on July 14 and 25-year-old Tranicce Drizzy Durst for deadly conduct on July 16. We are excited to get some of people off the streets, Salazar said. Donald Trump told supporters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on Monday that he formally recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US Embassy there for the benefit of his evangelical Christian supporters. "And we moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem," he said. "That's for the evangelicals." Prior to his declaration in 2017, the US embassy was located in Tel Aviv. "You know, it's amazing with that the evangelicals are more excited by that than Jewish people," Mr Trump said. "That's right, it's incredible." From the outside, it may appear that evangelical Christian enthusiasm over Mr Trump's decision is rooted in support for the Israeli government and its longstanding battle with the people of Palestine over land rights, but in truth, Christian support of Israel is rooted in theology rather than politics. For Christians, Jerusalem is the linchpin of their eschatology; that is, their understanding of the end-times. Conservative Christians most of whom maintain a literal interpretation of the Bible believe that Christ will return to Jerusalem, and specifically a Jerusalem controlled by the Jewish people. In essence, the belief is that the Jewish adherents will experience a great spiritual rebirth and rebuild a temple in Jerusalem prior to the events foretold in the Book of Revelation. In the Jewish and Christian faiths, early Hebrews worshipped at Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed by Babylonians in the 500s BC. A second temple, Herod's Temple, was erected in Jerusalem, and Jews and Christians alike believe it held a number of important religious artefacts, including the Ark of the Covenant and the Urim and Thummim divination stones. Many Christians believe that the temples were the literal house of God that his presence on Earth resided inside the structures. Herod's Temple was destroyed by Romans in around AD70. Later, Muslims erected the Dome of the Rock one of the holiest sites in the Islamic faith on the site of Herod's Temple. The Wailing Wall is believed to have been a part of the second temple's expansion, and is one of the few remaining intact pieces of the original structure. Men at the Wailing Wall during the snow fall (EPA) Many evangelical Christians particularly those in America, but the beliefs have been exported hold what is called a pre-millennial dispensationalist theology. The "millennial" in pre-millennial refers to a prophesied 1,000 year reign of peace ruled over by Christ. The "pre" means that these Christians believe Christ will return to Earth prior to the 1,000-year reign. Though pre-millennial dispensationalism isn't common among other mainstream groups of Christians such as Catholics or adherents of the Eastern Orthodox church the view has come to dominate much of the American Protestant church. It was popularised in the 90's by the "Left Behind" series of books that give a narrative telling of the Rapture and the Tribulation period as viewed by pre-millennial dispensationalists. Because these Christians hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible, it is necessary in their world view for the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt by a renewed Jewish populace before Christ can return and bring about the end-times. According to a LifeWay poll conducted in 2017, 80 per cent of evangelical Christians view the creation of Israel in 1948 as a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. Speaking to Vox in 2017, Professor Elizabeth Oldmixon of the University of North Texas explained how the promise of the Holy Land is inextricable from evangelical belief. "The tenet of Christian Zionism is that God's promise of the Holy Land to the Jews is eternal. It's not just something in antiquity," Ms Oldmixon said. "When we talk about the Holy Land, God's promise of the Holy Land, we're talking about real estate on both sides of the Jordan River. So the sense of a greater Israel and expansionism is really important to this community. Jerusalem is just central to that. It's viewed as a historical and biblical capital." If the temple were to be rebuilt at its original site, it would require the destruction of the Dome of the Rock. That is unlikely to happen at least without violence while Muslims remain a prominent population in city. For these Christians, the end-times isn't just an end of the world scenario though it does include apocalyptic destruction in the form of God's Tribulations but rather the culmination and vindication of their faith. They believe that those who who have given themselves over to Christ will be taken away from the Earth and renewed in Heaven in an event called the Rapture. Beyond the rebuilding of the temple, Israel is also important to evangelical eschatology because they believe it will be home to the final battle of good against evil in which God obliterates his enemies and ushers in the millennial reign of Christ. They believe based on certain readings of the New Testament that the battle will be fought at the ancient site of Megiddo, an area in northern Israel. The battle at Megiddo Armageddon is a key element of their end-times prophecy. "What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israel's political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible," Pastor Nate Pyle told Newsweek in 2018. It is unlikely Mr Trump has a sophisticated understanding of this theology or of Biblical prophecy in general, as evidenced by a speech he gave at Liberty University in 2016 in which he quoted "Two Corinthians", a New Testament book that even the most lax evangelical Christian would know as "Second Corinthians". However, Mr Trump has plenty of advisers around him including Vice President Mike Pence, who prides himself on his conservative Christian faith who would know the importance of Israel to the American evangelical Christian community. Notre Dame on Tuesday suspended in-person classes, just hours after Michigan State told students to stay home and one day after UNC Chapel Hill reversed course on its own reopening plans. Axios Re:Cap digs into the challenges with Tony Allen, president of Delaware State University, a historically black college that believes it can, and must, bring its students back to campus. Editor's note: This post has been corrected to reflect that the president of Delaware State University is Tony Allen (not Tony West). Grappling for votes and the spotlight as Democrats hold their national convention, President targeted voters in key states and constituencies Tuesday and promised a pardon for Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women's suffrage movement. Trump flew to Arizona, one of the top 2020 battleground states, to press his case against his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, painting him as radically left in one of his harshest broadsides yet of the campaign. The Biden plan would unleash a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen before it would be a torrent of biblical proportions, Trump was to say, as he prepared to accept the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council. Biden's plan is the most radical, extreme, reckless, dangerous and deadly immigration plan ever put forward by a major party candidate." With his second trip in two days, Trump was hoping to mitigate a convention polling bump for his rival and to shore up support by contrasting his position with Biden's on immigration, one of the most important issues to his political base. He was also trying to stanch an erosion in support among female voters with a symbolic nod on the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. In recent weeks, Trump has been trying to build support within the pivotal female voter constituency and has stepped up his events aimed at women. His campaign has launched a women for Trump bus tour, and the president has embraced a law and order message with renewed vigor. The president worked in a last-minute stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a briefing about damage from the derecho last week that has left thousands without power and caused catastrophic damage across the battleground state. Many there have expressed outrage that their plight has not received more national attention. The storm, which packed 100 mph winds and similar power to an inland hurricane, swept across the Midwest last week, blowing down trees, flipping vehicles and causing widespread damage. We've come through for you, and we will always come through for Iowa, Trump said, as the city's mayor urged him to consider enhanced federal disaster funding for people there. Trump aimed to highlight his immigration agenda in Yuma, Arizona, and receive an update on construction of his southern border wall, making his second trip to the city in two months. It was an effort to highlight his work to deliver on a key 2016 campaign pledge. MS-13 is on the run, many of its leaders are behind bars, and we are deporting its members in record numbers," Trump was to say. But if Biden wins, it will be giant jailbreak for MS-13 and vicious criminal gangs. My administration is the only thing standing between the American people and these deadly criminals. Before leaving Washington, Trump held a White House event to announce the pardon of Anthony, convicted of voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote. But he quickly pivoted to the upcoming election and the issue of voting by mail. Win, lose or draw, we have to get it right, Trump said of the November vote count, leveling a fresh offensive against mail-in voting. You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere, Trump said. In fact, voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004 per cent to 0.0009 per cent, based on studies of past elections. Only nine states have plans for universal mail-in voting, in which ballots are sent automatically to registered voters. Five of those states relied on mail-in ballots even before the coronavirus pandemic raised concerns about voting in person. Trump's pardon announcement came on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ensured women the right to vote. The amendment states, The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress passed it in 1919, and the amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. Anthony was arrested for voting in Rochester, New York, and convicted in a widely publicized trial. Although she refused to pay the fine, the authorities declined to take further action. She felt the trial was the greatest miscarriage of justice because she had not had an opportunity to have a jury of her peers, and the jury didn't get to vote, according to Deborah L Hughes, president and CEO of The National Susan B Anthony Museum and House in Rochester, where Anthony died in 1906. So to pardon her is to validate the trial, and she would not buy that idea at all, Hughes said. (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.) DENVER, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BurstIQ, the leading provider of blockchain-enabled secure data exchange services, announced today the full release of the BurstChain User Interface Software Developer Kit, a set of key accelerator tools that allow application developers to rapidly deploy blockchain-enabled web applications and services on the BurstIQ Platform. BurstIQ Developer Toolset The BurstChain UI SDK includes several tools designed to simplify and accelerate the app development and deployment process. The npm module version of the SDK, released in June, included modules that enable rapid configuration and deployment of key application functionalities, including user administration and access controls, user preferences, analytics visualization, and a dashboard builder. The full version of the UI SDK adds two new npm modules: consent contract creator and dictionary editor. These new modules simplify the process of building consents and data dictionaries, allowing these critical components to be managed by business analysts, researchers and system administrators without the need for specialized software development skills. All of these modules are configured for seamless integration with BurstIQ's blockchain-based data exchange network, BurstChain. In addition, the UI SDK now includes application starter kits in both JavaScript and Python, as well as a JavaScript starter kit for BurstIQ's custom analytics application, AdaptiveIQ. All three application starter kits are available under the Apache v2 open source license. The BurstChain UI SDK joins a family of services that BurstIQ provides to help enterprises quickly deploy apps and services for secure and compliant data sharing across complex workflows and networks. These BurstIQ services include integrated rules engines to manage data consent and orchestration, digital front door and sandbox services, data governance, and flexible schemas all built on BurstIQ's blockchain-enabled HIPAA- and GDPR-compliant data exchange network. "Helping our partners accelerate their blockchain projects is an important aspect of what we do," says BurstIQ's CTO, Tyson Henry. "There are new regulations emerging all over the world that are mandating things like granular data ownership, dynamic consent, interoperability, and secure data sharing. Enterprises need to adapt quickly and integrate new data governance models into their systems and services. The BurstIQ toolbox is designed to help our partners do just that." The UI SDK is available to all organizations with an active account on the BurstIQ Platform, and comes with a growing archive of documentation, sample code, and how-to videos to get developers ramped up quickly. To get access to the BurstIQ Platform and the BurstChain SDK, please email [email protected]. About BurstIQ BurstIQ is the leading provider of blockchain-enabled data solutions for the healthcare industry. The company's private, permissioned data network allows organizations to connect with each other, securely share data, and unlock a deeper understanding of the diverse factors that influence health. The platform combines blockchain, Big Data, machine intelligence, and granular data ownership and consent to build multi-dimensional profiles of people, places, and things and empower the interactions between them. The result is a global, secure data network that allows health systems, payers, digital health companies, pharma & life science companies and governments to collaborate, share, discover, and build the impossible. For more information visit: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn CONTACT: BurstIQ, Inc. [email protected] www.burstiq.com 1.888.355.7345 SOURCE BurstIQ Related Links http://www.burstiq.com LINCOLN The University of Nebraska Lincoln awarded about 700 degrees during a virtual graduation celebration Aug. 15. The celebration featured the address The Air Between Us from Marilyn Moore, retired associate superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools and past president of the Bryan College of Health Sciences. The celebration also included appearances by special guests. At the end of the event, Chancellor Ronnie Green officially conferred degrees to students. Graduates received a complimentary mortarboard or tam in a box delivered before the event, allowing them to turn their tassels together as a class. Diplomas will be mailed to graduates after Aug. 15. All August 2020 graduate sare invited to participate in a future commencement ceremony. Graduates from the York area include: Korinne Wright of Clarks, College of Education and Human Sciences, Bachelor of Science in Education and Human Services; Kaitlyn Tenski of Geneva, Graduate Studies, Master of Arts for Teachers; Chance Wiarda of Hampton, College of Education and Human Services, Bachelor of Science in Education and Human Services; Jacquelyn Dam of Seward, College of Business, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with high distinction; Hannah Moody of Seward, Graduate Studies, Master of Arts; Cale Wagner of Seward, College of Business, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration; Kirby Hobbs of York, Graduate Studies, Master of Science; Erin Malleck, Graduate Studies, Master of Science. Recruiters and careers experts have revealed the top questions people are asked during job interviews, and how best to answer them to ensure you get the role. Leading Australian recruiters, Steve Shepard, CEO of TwoPointZero, and Suzie McInerney, CEO of Six Degrees Executive, said it's easy to be bombarded when asked questions about strengths and weaknesses and your skills set. But if you can answer with a clear head and well, you'll almost certainly get the job. Recruiters and careers experts have revealed the top questions people are asked during job interviews, and how best to answer them to ensure you get the role (stock image) 1. Based on your understanding of this role, which of your skills do you believe will be most valuable to our organisation? A question about your skills is all about how well you understand the role in question, and what the day-to-day requirements of your job will be. Steve said the best way to answer this question is to link your skills with what the company or business does and its objectives, along with practical examples. 'The more you understand about the role and have researched the organisation, considering its stakeholders, customers, business strategy, goals and objectives, the more you'll be able to talk about how you can contribute,' he told Seek. This is one of those questions where it's vital that you have done your homework before you get into the interview room. 2. What is your understanding of the role and why are you interested? Another question you're likely to get asked is what is the role and why are you interested in it. Suzie said in this instance, employers are looking to find out how well you have interpreted what you will be doing on a day-to-day basis - and which elements you'll perform well. Again, make sure you speak about how you will add value to the company and what they do, she said. When you speak, bring back all of your skills to how they will benefit the business you want to be a part of. You should be able to answer questions like the parts of your current role that you really love (stock image) 3. What parts of your current role do you really love? While this might feel like a trick question, Suzie said it's designed to show what is 'most important to you and how and why you gain satisfaction from different aspects of your career'. 'Good answers are less about tasks and more about showing your passion, what you are most proud of, and how you have made an impact in your current role,' she explained. 4. What parts of your current role frustrate you? On the flip side, it's always a good idea to be prepared to discuss elements about what you do that frustrate and annoy you. Steve recommends being honest here, but framing your response in a 'positive light' so you can talk about how you manage your frustration. 'Also, remember to think about the job description - for example, you don't want to say you find dealing with difficult customers frustrating if the role is customer-facing,' he said. Try not to make your frustrations too 'ranting' in their tone. 5. Give me an example of a time when you made a mistake or didn't deliver on expectations, what happened? What did you learn? This question can be scary to answer, because you don't want to admit you made a mistake, but also don't want to be caught out thinking you're perfect. 'The key here is to focus on the take outs from your mistakes,' Steve said. When you give an example of a mistake from the past, outline the circumstances, as well as your decision-making process and how you moved on from the error. He added that most companies just want to see that you've learned from a mistake, so acknowledge how you have moved forward. 6. What is the one professional and/or technical skill you'd most like to develop? Having a sense of self-improvement is vital for any role, and when they ask you this, employers want to know if you have an appetite for self-development. Steve recommends you answer by giving the skill you want to develop and the reason why, such as 'I want to improve my Photoshop skills to enhance my marketing ability'. 7. Talk us through your professional and technical skills set Finally, employers ask about your professional and technical skills set because they want to know both about what you can do and how your communication and leadership skills are. 'Authentic answers work best - this is not a laundry list of generic traits,' Suzie said. Similarly, you need to substantiate each trait with real examples of how your skills look when they're in action. Think about this question before you go into the interview, and also how you're going to answer it. Careers expert and LinkedIn specialist Sue Ellson (pictured) previously shared her tips to help you make yourself as employable as possible after COVID-19 Careers expert and LinkedIn specialist Sue Ellson previously shared her tips to help you make yourself as employable as possible after COVID-19. What are the best things to include in your CV? List all forms of education high school, tertiary study, online courses, diplomas, certificates, apprenticeships Display relevant training, the institution and completion year for each course completed Include all past job titles, duties involved and expertise Alter your resume for every job and relate your responsibilities and experiences to the position advertised Share your significant achievements well Write a succinct summary explaining career objectives and value to the organisation Clearly highlight core skills by using bullet points List the most recent and relevant position first to showcase skills and knowledge List your interests and hobbies Provide a good summary to showcase experience Advertisement 'If you are considering going back into your old role after COVID-19 or into a new role somewhere else, you need to think in terms of the best value you can provide your employer,' Sue told FEMAIL. She said employees must add value to the employer by having the necessary skills, a 'can do' attitude and a willingness to learn. One of the ways you can do this is by participating in online courses, such as those offered by TAFE. The courses, which can cost as much as $1,570 for 12 weeks of study, offer practical skills and experiences across a range of industries including administration, business and computing. You could also use this time during the pandemic to update your CV and make sure you're putting forward the best foot possible. Sue said you should be sure to include your previous jobs, experiences, skills, achievements, volunteer work (if any), interests and how the employer can contact you. 'The achievements need to describe your value in terms that the employer understands, so if you are switching careers, you need to focus on your transferable skills as well as document your other skills,' Sue said. You should also take the time to write the perfect cover letter for that particular job, and update your LinkedIn profile so that it's relevant with your experience. A good cover letter should predominantly outline and summarise your resume and why you are best suited for the job position available. Finally, you should also use online platforms including LinkedIn, which are a great way to develop connections and network with other people. 'Now is a good time to track down past colleagues and managers and request an online recommendation via LinkedIn,' Sue said. 'And don't be afraid to contact members of a professional association related to where you would like to work and see if you can volunteer in some way'. Sue said to 'be realistic' about how much time is spent each day on career development tasks, as adjusting to the new home isolation 'rhythm' will take time. 'I usually suggest two hours a day, five days a week is more than enough to keep you in the running for great opportunities,' she said. The human being needs protective rights to Live happily and pave his existence. From the beginning of human history, the man strived for his independence against nature and emancipation and freedom through these struggles for achieving the necessary freedom. This struggle paved the way for the concept of human rights. The worthy feature of human rights is that it is difficult to define but impossible to neglect. Human rights denote all those rights which are ingrained in our nature and without which humans cannot live. These rights are vital for human dignity and can enjoy from birth to death. Human rights also known in various terms as natural rights, fundamental rights, federal rights that have been in trend since olden times. The Human Rights [VIDEO] issue came to the spotlight only behind its drastic violation became frequent to the worst degree. As a significant salient feature, fundamental rights cannot be taken away by any legislature or any act of government. This period starts with the arrival of the British empire. The rule of Indian administration started by the Britishers with the enlightenment of the Regulating Act of 1773. Under it, Indians were subdued by the Britishers in context to social, cultural, political & religious rights in all the aspects of life. Earlier Indians depict any rights. Essential rights such as rights to life & livelihood, right to freedom, right to expression, right to equality, right to preach, everything was denied to them. The Indian leaders & public perceive that their rights had been devastated in the hands of the colonials, so they thought of veering back to fight for their rights. Perhaps the beginning demand for fundamentals rights appeared in the Constitution of India Bill 1895. The Bill guaranteed every Indian the right to expression, right to equality before the legislation, right to property, right to personal liberty, right to education. The Bill comprised a list of seven fundamental rights - Liberty of personage - Freedom of conscience & free profession & practice of religion - Free expression of opinion. - Free elementary education - Use of roads, common places, courts of justice & the like. - Equality before the legislation, irrespective of consideration of nationality. - No gender discrimination. The resolution was passed in 1927, came into effect in May 1928, Motilal Nehru as its Chairman. As the Nehru Report shows closure that declared its first concern to Indians was to secure the fundamental rights that had been denied to them. Another accomplishment that came in context to the fundamental right was the Karachi resolution adopted by the congress session held in March 1931. That decade the emergence of fundamental rights increased related to the UN Assembly. So, after Independence, various laws made, suggestions came from the various committees to extend the concept of fundamental rights by comprising the entire mortal race. Human Rights in the Indian Constitution can be found in the Preamble of the Constitution of India. In addition to it, Part III- related to fundamental Rights Part IV-Directive Principles core of the charter. PREAMBLE: - an opening statement that gives the guiding plan & principle of the record. Preamble stated: We, the people of India, have solemnly resolved to constitute sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic and to secure to all its citizens justice, social, economic & political liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith & worship. Equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual & the unity & integrity of the Nation. India is a parliamentary form of a government with a bicameral legislature The president, elected by the elective college composed of the state assemblies and parliament, is the head of state, and the Prime minister is the head of government. Under the constitution, the countrys 28 states and nine union territories have a high credit of sovereign and have prime responsibility for law and orders. By Jonathan Saul and Marianna Parraga LONDON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States is considering an October deadline for ending exemptions to Venezuelan sanctions that allow some companies and refiners to still receive the South American producer's oil, two sources said, as Washington seeks to raise the heat on President Nicolas Maduro. U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up sanctions on Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, its key foreign partners and customers since it first imposed measures against the company in early 2019, seeking to oust the left-leaning Maduro after a 2018 re-election considered a sham by most Western nations. Officials in Washington say the failure of sanctions to loosen Maduro's grip on power has frustrated Trump. With November's presidential election approaching, the U.S. government is preparing to toughen its stance on Venezuela, especially the sanctions on its oil and gold industries, the sources said. The sanctions have already deprived PDVSA of most of its long-term oil customers, reducing oil exports to below 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), their lowest level in almost 80 years. A handful of European and Asian customers have continued taking Venezuelan oil under specific authorizations granted since last year by the U.S. Treasury for transactions that do not involve cash payments to Maduro's administration. The list includes Italy's Eni , Spain's Repsol , India's Reliance Industries and Thailand Tipco Asphalt . About a dozen mostly unknown firms also have emerged as customers this year, according to PDVSA's exports documents. The U.S. administration is moving to set an October deadline for winding down all trade of Venezuelan oil, including swaps and payments of pending debt with crude, the sources said. "Whatever oil business is left has to be completed (by the deadline)," one of the sources said. Story continues A further tightening of the sanctions on Venezuela's main export industry would be likely to exacerbate not only chronic shortages of fuel in the South American country but also lack of everything from basic foodstuffs to medicines. PDVSA, Reliance, Tipco and the U.S. Treasury did not immediately reply to requests for comment. A U.S. State Department spokesman said they "continue to engage with companies in the energy sector on the possible risks they face by conducting business with PDVSA."Repsol, which at the end of 2019 registered 239 million euros in unpaid debt in Venezuela, said its operations were fully compliant with international laws. Eni said it was operating in full compliance with the U.S. sanctions framework and would continue to do so "in continuous dialogue with all U.S. relevant authorities." Traders and sources from those companies familiar with export operations from Venezuela said they have not yet been notified of the changes. Almost all PDVSAs remaining long-term customers have since 2019 requested authorization from the U.S. Treasury to take Venezuelan oil under non-cash contracts agreed with PDVSA as a way to receive payment for pending debts or outstanding dividends, or to exchange Venezuelan crude for fuel. In February, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned what was then PDVSA's main trade partner, Rosneft Trading. In March, OFAC followed with sanctions on another unit of Russia's Rosneft , TNK Trading, and in June it sanctioned two Mexico-based firms that exchanged Venezuelan oil for trucks. Most buyers of Venezuelan crude have since ceased business with PDVSA to avoid falling foul of sanctions while new -mostly unknown - clients have emerged in recent months, taking cargoes under complicated transactions often involving trans-shipments at sea and multiple re-sales. Venezuela has also recently deepened business with Iran, infuriating Washington, which this month seized 1.1 million barrels of Iranian fuel bound for Venezuela after getting a warrant from a U.S. court. The United States in April gave U.S. Chevron Corp and a handful of U.S.-based oil service firms until Dec. 1 to wind down all operations in Venezuela. Chevron had stopped trading Venezuelan crude in March, and in July it wrote down its entire investment in the country. Chevron did not immediately reply to a comment request. Even though the U.S. government cites Venezuela's plummeting oil exports as a success of its sanction policy, some officials privately acknowledge that application has been inconsistent. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Marianna Parraga in Mexico City and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington. Additional reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Clara-Laeila Laudette in Madrid, Stephen Jawkes in Milan, Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Jennifer Hiller in Houston, Daphnne Psaledakis in Washington and Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Marguerita Choy) Ex-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned after a day of tensions in Mali that had started with a mutiny in the military camp of Kati, just 9 miles from the capital city of Bamako. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced on national broadcaster ORTM that he had decided "to leave my functions, all my functions, as of this moment. And with all legal consequences: the dissolution of the National Assembly and that of the government. May Allah help and bless Mali. I dont feel any hatred," all while he was being detained by mutinous troops. The African Union strongly condemned the mutiny a few hours earlier with the Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat calling for the "immediate release" of the "Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian Government". The West African regional organization ECOWAS also condemned the action and took a series of immediate measures to isolate Mali, including the closing the borders and airways as well as shutting down all economic, commercial and financial transactions with Mali. PHOTO: Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita poses for a photo during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, June 30, 2020. (Ludovic Marin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) Colonel-Major Ismael Wague, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force who took part in the coup, announced the creation of a "National Committee for the Salvation of the People" to ensure the continuity of both state and public services, while calling for all sociopolitical movements to "join together to thwart the forces of evil that are scouring us and wanting to take our dear country hostage." The European Union slammed the coup attempt, saying "this can in no way be a response to the deep sociopolitical crisis that has hit Mali for several months". "No we did not expect this at all," a Bamako resident told Reuters. "It was a surprise for everyone. But since yesterday morning, in any case the population had abandoned the president". According to Sahel analyst Rida Lyammouri, the coup was unplanned. "The military wanted to show they were not happy how things were involving," Lyammouri, a senior fellow at Policy Center for the New South, told ABC News. "As soon as they saw the support of the population, and that there was no violence whatsoever towards the military that carried the actions, military forces proceeded on the arrest of the president as well as the prime minister." Story continues The U.S. State Department said it "strongly condemns the August 18 mutiny in Mali as we would condemn any forcible seizure of power" and called for a "restoration of constitutional government," according to a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The mutiny took place after major demonstrations were organized over several weeks by the June 5 Movement coalition -- which is made up of religious leaders, politicians and civil society members -- who challenged President Keita and his Prime Minister Boubou Cisse. The demands of the protesters included the full renewal of the members of the Constitutional Court who had been accused of having tampered with the results of the last legislative elections. In July, the protests escalated to the occupation of the national broadcaster ORTM by demonstrators as well as an intrusion into the National Assembly. PHOTO: Supporters of Mali's junta participate in a demonstration against regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) at the international airport of Bamako, March 29, 2012. (Luc Gnago/Reuters, FILE) On Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse said in a statement that "the government calls for reason and asks to silence the guns", a final attempt to calm the situation after the start of events in Bamako and Kati on Tuesday morning. This, however, did not prevent his forced detention a few hours later along with Keita and several government Ministers. Eight years earlier, the military base of Kati was also used as the starting point of the coup which brought down the then president Amadou Toumani Toure. When on March 21, 2012, soldiers revolted in the camp to protest against the government's inability to manage the rebellious groups in the north of the country. The coup ended up resulting in a major destabilization of the region with Northern Mali falling into the hands of Touareg separatists and armed jihadist groups who occupied it before being driven out by an international military intervention launched by France with the logistical support of the United States in 2013. Between the escalation of violence in January 2012 and the end of 2014, between 1,689 and 3,713 people had died in the conflict, according to Ploughshares. The situation in the region has deteriorated in the last year according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which reports that fighting in Mali and neighboring countries has killed more people so far in 2020 than in all of 2019. The overthrow of Boubou Cisse's government could further undermine the counter-terrorism efforts in the area and cause greater security risks for Malians and beyond. According to Lyammouri, the events of Tuesday "definitely will interrupt at the moment the ongoing coordination efforts between Mali, the regional task force of the Sahel G5 and also with the French and the United Nations" but they are "not totally the same" as the events of March 2012. "In 2012 there was no UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, no French presence," said Lyammouri, who thinks international and regional partners will not let their results in the field be put to naught. PHOTO: Security forces ride in a truck in the capital Bamako, Mali, Aug. 19, 2020. (Baba Ahmed/AP) The U.S. special envoy for the Sahel Dr. J. Peter Pham tweeted on Tuesday in French: "We are following with concern the development of the situation today in Mali. The US opposes any unconstitutional change of government, whether by those on the streets or by the defense and security forces". According to Monde Muyangwa, Director of the Africa Program at The Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., "security interests have overwhelmed the governance needs of the country". While many countries have expressed their concerns about the situation in Bamako, the soldiers who took power and pushed Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign held a press conference on Wednesday morning and affirmed their intention to put in place a civilian political transition leading to elections "in a reasonable delay." ABC News' Morgan Winsor and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report. Growing fears for regional security after military coup in Mali originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh Opposing the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal at a meeting with his Haryana counterpart, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned that it is an emotive issue in his state and Punjab will burn if asked to share water. Meeting Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat through a video link, the Punjab CM argued that the SYL canal issue could disturb national security. Both states stuck to their stands at the meeting convened on the directions of the Supreme Court, which asked the Centre on July 28 to mediate between them on the decades-old issue. But the two CMs described the interaction the first such meeting between them on the SYL project as cordial and agreed to talk again. Punjab is reluctant to share water with Haryana through the SYL canal project, saying it has nothing to spare. Amarinder Singh reiterated the need for a tribunal for a time-bound assessment of river water availability. You have to look at the issue from the national security perspective, he told Shekhawat, according to a Punjab government statement. If you decide to go ahead with SYL, Punjab will burn and it will become a national problem, with Haryana and Rajasthan also suffering the impact, he added. Shekhawat and Khattar joined the video conference from Delhi. Linking the SYL debate with national security, Singh said Punjab remained at risk from all quarters. He said Pakistan was continuing with attempts to foment trouble and was trying to revive the separatist movement through the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) organisation. The water issue could further destabilise the state, he warned, according to the statement. Singh described the meeting as amicable and cordial. Haryana CM Khattar hoped for an amicable solution to the dispute. We maintained our stand that the SYL should be constructed. The Supreme Court too has said that, he told reporters after the meeting. SYL has been a contentious issue between the two states with the Punjab portion of the canal still incomplete. The construction began in 1982. Punjab has been demanding reassessment of the Ravi-Beas river waters' volume while Haryana has been seeking completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water. Amarinder Singh claimed Punjab had a right to Yamuna water, in which it did not get a share at the time of 60:40 division of assets with Haryana during the state's division in 1966. He also expressed his willingness to sit across the table with his Haryana counterpart to discuss the emotive issue. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat suggested that the SYL could be completed while discussions on water sharing continue for arriving at a final formula. Punjab and Haryana CMs placed their viewpoints on the issue and we have decided to have another meeting soon, he told reporters. At the next meeting, talks will be held from the point where we ended them today and whatever the outcome, we will apprise the Supreme Court about it," he said. He called the meeting cordial and positive. Dixon Technologies (India) rose 2.13% to Rs 8,021.90 after the company said its board will consider fund raising on Friday, 21 August 2020. The board will meet on Friday, 21 August 2020, to consider raising funds by issuing equity shares, convertible debentures, foreign currency convertible bonds, warrants, or any combination thereof, in one or more tranches by way of a public issue, preferential allotment, private placement. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 August 2020. Dixon Technologies (India)'s consolidated net profit slumped 93.2% to Rs 1.60 crore on a 54.9% decline in net sales to Rs 516.94 crore in Q1 FY21 over Q1 FY20. Dixon Technologies is a design-focused products and solutions company. The firm engages in manufacturing products in the consumer durables, lighting and mobile phones markets in India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karan Acharya, who is well known for his creation of the popular Rudra Hanuman image is transforming the images of the common men. Acharya has been receiving requests from people to alter the images of children into deities. Recently a follower of the graphic artists sent him a photo of a family of three and requested him to turn the infant into Lord Krishna. Acharya transformed the family, complete with a grand palace in the background. Acharya's tweet that includes images of the conversation and his work has gone viral. It has received 127.5K likes and 19.8K retweets. Twitterati has lauded the artist for his creativity. His replies are flooded with users sending pictures of their children and asking for a similar transformation. Twitter users have flooded Acharya's social media requesting him to transform their children into avatars of Lord Krishna or Lord Ram. Karan Acharya is popularly known for the Rudra Hanuman graphic that became a popular image across the nation. Acharya was requested by his friends to design a unique flag for the annual temple festival at his village. The result was the saffron Rudra Hanuman with black outlines. Once posted on social media, the image went viral. It can be spotted across windscreens in cars, display pictures on social media, and more. He later copyrighted the image. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also applauded his work during a rally in Mangaluru. "I want to applaud artist Karan Acharya whose Hanuman portrait has captured the imagination of people across India. This is a laudable achievement and is the power of his achievement, talent and imagination. This is the pride of Mangaluru. All TV channels queued up for his interview," he said. Also read: Chingari receives funding from Tinder CPO and OLX founder It was Mothers Day weekend and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was at yet another noon news conference, patiently explaining once again what the government was doing to control the COVID-19 pandemic. And then she made a quick turn. Focusing on any children stuck listening as their parents worked, Freeland made a plea that went straight to every mothers heart: Please give your moms a hug, she said, and then go clean your rooms. I think that would be the biggest present for every mother in Canada, she said, and I am speaking from personal experience. Freeland gets it the unsustainable strain on households as parents try to work from home while also trying to care for and educate their children under pandemic restrictions. As finance minister, shell need all that intuition and then some. Fiscal policy is at a turning point, and there is an urgent need for decisive direction. The generous benefits of the past few months are winding down and recovery has begun, but unemployment especially in the service sector and other areas hit hardest by the pandemic shutdown is still sky-high. And businesses, especially those run by entrepreneurs, are still shutting down in alarming numbers. Women are having an especially hard time getting back into the workplace, having lost their jobs in larger numbers than men and now left wondering whether their kids will be well taken care of in September. Its hitting mothers particularly hard, Freeland acknowledged in her first remarks as finance minister on Tuesday. Government support for these groups unemployed workers, struggling entrepreneurs, working parents needs to be revamped, enriched and rushed out the door for a recovery to truly take hold. Freeland will be the one to drive those initiatives, and the effort undoubtedly will be expensive and long term to allow the recovery to gradually blossom. But thats probably just the easy part. Freeland will also have to quickly make some tough calls on the ambitions of her own colleagues, from the prime minister on down, who are talking louder and louder about building back better. The plans to turn the pandemic recovery into an opportunity to confront climate change, develop new competitive advantages, combat racism, eradicate homelessness, eliminate inequality and embrace a digital economy are multiplying and morphing in double time, in the hopes of claiming a spot in the budget or fiscal update this fall. They will all cost serious money, and they wont necessarily help the people hardest hit by the pandemic. But the new minister may soon find herself in the same kind of corner as her predecessor. While she may have a sympathetic ear for the coterie of dreamers, she is squarely assigned to the more practical side of government, where her main job is to maintain fiscal responsibility and promote growth. While insiders believe she will be less tight-fisted than Morneau, she wont be able to say yes to everything. For most of his tenure, Morneau had the benefit of a widely declared fiscal rule in place. A government-wide commitment to continually reduce the debt burden was obviously not nearly as stringent as the promise to balance the books that the Liberals once ran on, but it was enough of a tool to support Morneau in saying an occasional no. It was that naysaying, however, that led to a frustrating relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which eventually boiled over and contributed to his resignation this week. Freeland doesnt have any fiscal rules at the ready, and she already faces high expectations that she will enable and finance a broad policy agenda. Indeed, when Trudeau launched her new appointment with a visionary speech on Tuesday, he listed many aspirations but made not a single mention of the price tag. The time is now to be engaged in bold thinking, Trudeau said, claiming that since Canada is in solid fiscal shape, the government has an obligation to invest in a recovery that addresses inequality, environmental challenges, better health care, better child care and more jobs. She also faces a projected deficit of $347 billion, a ballooning debt that will soon top $1 trillion, and gloomy forecasts for a rough recovery that drags into 2022. The business community sent a warning shot on Tuesday. In a letter to Freeland, the Business Council of Canada urged the government to keep its fiscal powder dry, and to not spend frivolously. Canadians need to know that there is a plan to rein in federal spending and ensure the sustainability of government finances, the letter states. Freeland sent all the right signals Tuesday to her aspirational colleagues in government as well as parents, the unemployed, environmentalists and people worried about coronavirus. The juggling act will be in also gaining the confidence of the business community. But as a successful working mom, she knows all about juggling. Everyone knows 2020 has served up unique challenges. From the coronavirus pandemic to murder hornets to fire tornadoes, this year has been one for the history books. But leaders for Brazoria County and area cities warn that residents shouldnt forget that this is hurricane season. Officials are urging people to be prepared for storms and at the same factor in how the coronavirus pandemic fits into those plans.. In prepared remarks, Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta has asked county residents to be extra aware of details related to mandatory evacuations and considerations needed for at-risk people such as senior adults. You may need to rethink where youre going to evacuate to, he said. And (we should) think about our vulnerable population and how to protect them. If you have a family member or neighbor who is included in that population, help them to have a plan in place on where to go, who they can stay with and how theyll get to a safe location in an emergency. Know your zone Residents should refer to the Houston-Galveston Area Councils hurricane evacuation at h-gac.com and identify which zone they live in to determine in which order theyll evacuate should a mandatory evacuation be called. However, Sebesta said people dont have to delay if they feel they need more time to get out safely. Things to know in storm season List of items to keep:https://bit.ly/3g8Dwrz Houston-Galveston Area Council hurricane evacuation map: h-gac.com Links to storm-preparation sites:https://bit.ly/3hjEFhG Brazoria County Disaster & Hurricane Guide:https://bit.ly/3aGeW0n See More Collapse You dont have to wait until your ZIP code is called, he said. You can leave whenever youre ready. For anyone who might need a ride out of the county, he urged them to call 211 and register. The judge said he knows some people opt to ride out hurricanes, but he said that might not be a good idea, particularly if they live in a storm surge area and especially because Brazoria County is a coastal county lacking shelters should someone need one in a pinch. It only takes one storm to change your life, he said. Include face masks in emergency kit However, if you do end up in a shelter further inland, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has provided on its website a laundry list of ways to protect yourself from the coronavirus, including the following: wearing a mask if youre over the age of 2; remaining with your family and staying at least 6 feet away from other people; and washing your hands often and covering coughs and sneezes. Another recommendation is to not sharing your food or drinks with anyone in a shelter outside of your immediate family. The CDC also recommends people stock their emergency kits with extra face masks, hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol and disinfecting wipes to frequently clean high-touch surfaces. Sebesta and Peter Martin, emergency management coordinator for the city of Pearland, said residents should have an emergency kit packed and ready to go in case they have to leave their home suddenly or if they lose power for several days. The kit should include first aid materials, batteries, cash, food, water, prescription medications and important documents such as homeowner and/or renters insurance as well as your flood insurance policy if you have one. They also recommend making a record of the contents of your home in the event you have to file an insurance claim and that you carry proof of residency such as a utility bill in case you have to file with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance. We are well-prepared, and we are asking each of you to accept personal responsibility and to exercise leadership in your homes and your workplaces, Martin said. That means readying your home if you have to shelter in place or securing it if you live in a floodplain or near a flood-prone watershed drainage canal and have to leave. For a complete list of items to stock up on and items you need should a weather emergency occur, click here. Both the county and the city of Pearland have listed several informational links on their websites pearlandtx.gov and brazoriacountytx.gov related to hurricane preparedness. Resources include information about how to sign up for emergency alerts and how to check weather conditions as well as about FEMA flood insurance, the states emergency assistance registry, evacuation routes and traffic conditions. Find the complete list here. Residents can also download the Brazoria County Disaster & Hurricane Guide here. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19 2020 Two days ago, Indonesia celebrated its semi-sesquicentennial anniversary. Yup, thats a fancy name for 75, which like 40, 50, 60 is also considered a landmark birthday. Big celebration! Yaaay! Nah, not in these COVID days! However, I reckon my neighborhood unit (RW) did better than the celebration at the Presidential Palace, which only had 20 people present and was conducted virtually. Over 50 of us residents of my housing complex, all clad in red and white did a 45 (symbolic of 1945 of course!) minute morning walk around the complex, ending in a flag-saluting ceremony, singing the national anthem Indonesia Raya and sharing snacks and drinks afterward. Simple, heartfelt, and unthinkingly and symbolically standard. Anniversaries are actually an opportunity for reflection, and even more so in these pandemic times. As one of the memes I received via WhatsApp said, Bertanya setiap 17 Agustus, apa arti merdeka? (Lets ask ourselves every Aug. 17, what does independence/freedom mean?). to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login MANZINI - Five people, including two brothers, died in a horrific head-on collision, which involved a BMW and a Toyota Vitz. The horrific accident took place on Monday at around 6:30pm at Talukatini, an area around Croydon. Four of the victims are believed to have died on the spot, while the one passed away while undergoing treatment at a health facility. Passengers According to sources close to the matter, the black BMW was from Dvokolwako heading towards Mliba, while the bottle green Toyota Vitz was going the opposite direction. The sources claimed that the BMW had three occupants, being the driver and two passengers while the Toyota Vitz had two people inside. It is believed that the driver of the BMW was a brother to one of passengers in his vehicle while the third occupant was a friend. The sources alleged that the BMW overtook another car and attempted to quickly go back to its lane. However, they alleged that the driver of the BMW found that the Toyota Vitz was also overtaking another car, resulting in the head-on collision. Immediately, they said other road users called the police and personnel from the Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services as some of the victims were trapped inside the cars. They said the police and personnel from the fire department responded promptly to the call, but found that the occupants of both vehicles were badly injured. Driver The driver of the BMW and his friend, together with the other two occupants of the Toyota Vitz, are believed to have died on the spot, the sources claimed. They said the other passenger, who was in the back seat of the BMW, was trapped and the personnel from the fire department had to cut the car in order to retrieve him. They said he was critically injured and was rushed to Dvokolwako Health Centre. The four were certified dead upon arrival at the health centre, the sources said. Regarding the fifth victim, the sources said the medical practitioners attended to him, but because of the serious injuries he had sustained, they recommended that he had to be transferred to the Mbabane Government Hospital. Treated Unfortunately, he passed away while being treated at the health centre, the sources said. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the accident. She said four people were certified dead upon their arrival at the health facility, while the other victim died while undergoing treatment. It is worth noting that during the month of November 2018, a white VW Polo veered off the road and rammed into a waiting room along the same public road (Dvokolwako-Mliba) and four people were killed in the process. The victims included an employee of South Africa power utility, Eskom, one Sandile Zulu (31), his younger brother Phinda Zulu (28), who was a student at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and two friends, Sibusiso Ndwandwe (31) and Ntando Sangweni (21). Information gathered was that the four men had attended a relatives lobola ceremony in the area and stayed there until it was late, before the accident. A new study has identified a key gene in aggressive endometrial cancer, which could lead to a targeted therapeutic strategy to improve survival rates. UNSW Sydney medical researchers have identified the gene known as ROR1 as a future target for therapeutic treatment of aggressive endometrial cancer. ROR1, which has a role in cell specialization in the developing embryo before being turned off in adult cells, is abnormally switched back on again in not only endometrial cancer, but other cancers common to both women and men, including leukemia and pancreatic cancer. The researchers say that drugs targeting this gene are already being trialed in other cancer types and argue that their research puts the case for a clinical trial targeting this gene in women with endometrial cancers that contain these changes. The same team of researchers previously identified a role for ROR1 in ovarian cancer. One of the researchers on the study, Associate Professor Caroline Ford from UNSW Medicines School of Womens and Childrens Health, says up until now endometrial cancer has received very little attention and funding for research, despite it being the most common gynecological cancer, not to mention one of the fastest rising cancer types among women worldwide. But she is optimistic that drugs targeting ROR1 could be trialed soon in Australia to test their effectiveness at silencing the ROR1 genes in these aggressive endometrial cancers. Together with the Australia New Zealand Gynecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG), my clinical colleagues and I are very excited about the possibility of being able to effectively treat these tumors and have commenced discussions with pharma with a proposal for a clinical trial. Caroline Ford, Associate Professor, UNSW Medicines School of Womens and Childrens Health The study which was just published in journal Scientific Reports as part of Nature Research, was a retrospective examination of tumor samples from 499 women with endometrial cancer from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. It found that women whose samples had higher levels of the ROR1 gene activity had worse health prognoses than women with lower amounts. Patients who have the highest levels of ROR1 survived the shortest amount of time, or relapsed in the shortest time, A/Prof Ford says. Our study also shows that if we artificially turn off ROR1 in aggressive tumors, as we did in the laboratory, the cancer cells stop growing, and stop invading and moving around. Ultimately this shows that we can inhibit their ability to metastasize which means they are less able to spread to other parts of the body. So what weve shown is that ROR1 is indeed a viable target for treatment of endometrial cancer and that is associated with better chances of survival. One of the reasons that may have led to endometrial cancer receiving less attention than other cancers is the fact that women tend to have good survival rates with the less aggressive version of the cancer (endometrioid subtype), especially if it is detected early. But as A/Prof Ford says, the overall mortality rate hides the true impact of the aggressive version of the cancer including those known as serous endometrial cancers. The mortality is quite low, because it's completely skewed by this large proportion of women that have early stage disease and following surgery are essentially cancer free, she says. The five-year survival rate for endometrial cancer overall is around 83%, however, when you split it into the different subtypes, a different story emerges. The more common endometrioid subtype has a survival rate of over 90%, whereas serous tumors have a 5-year survival rate of only around 50%. This is similar to the five-year survival rate of ovarian cancer of 46%. If a clinical trial shows that targeting the ROR1 gene with selective drugs is effective, it will give women and practitioners more options when choosing the best course of treatment. The more things we have in our arsenal that we can actually treat with, the better for the patients to personalize the treatment and to give them options that are appropriate for their life stage and circumstances, A/Prof Ford says. Intriguingly, women with the less aggressive version may also benefit from this targeted approach. We found that by looking at a large cohort of endometrial cancers which included those with better prognoses, that they also have this aberrant overexpression of ROR1. So we think that they could also benefit from this therapy, which is one of the reasons why we are so eager to get our trial up and running. ANZGOG spokesperson, Dr Yoland Antill, Chair of the Uterine Tumor Working Group, said she was very hopeful about seeing a trial initiated in Australia. Through ANZGOG, we have been able to develop a collaboration of pre-clinical and clinical researchers to develop an innovative Phase II study which will look at the effectiveness of these drugs for women with advanced endometrial cancer whose tumors have ROR1 gene expression. Women in this subset often have very aggressive tumors with limited treatment options and therefore this innovative and targeted study will be of significant interest both locally and globally. Dr Yoland Antill, ANZGOG spokesperson, Chair of the Uterine Tumor Working Group The team is now seeking funding and support to enable a clinical trial of ROR1 targeting drugs in Australian women with endometrial and ovarian cancer. The UNSW study received philanthropic support from the Ross Trust. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) didn't provide further details on the meeting set for Wednesday. Seoul, Aug 18 (IANS) North Korea said on Tuesday that it will hold a plenary Central Committee meeting of the ruling Workers' Party (WKP) this week to "discuss and decide on an issue of crucial significance in developing the Korean revolution and increasing the fighting efficiency of the party". The announcement comes after leader Kim Jong-un presided over an executive policy council meeting of the Worker's Party on August 5 and decided to launch "a new department within the Central Committee of the Party", reports Yonhap News Agency Last week, the North also held a politburo meeting to decide on setting up a new department in the Central Committee and defined its function and role, saying that the newly established organization will "make tangible contribution to safeguarding the dignity and interests of the state and people". Wednesday's meeting will mark the first time in about eight months that the North has held a plenary meeting of the Central Committee since Kim presided over a rare multiple-day plenary session late last year. During last year's session, Kim threatened that the world will soon witness a "new strategic weapon" and warned of "shocking actual action", accusing the US of dragging its feet in talks for its own political interests. --IANS ksk/ The delegates did their darnedest to gin up the kind of overly caffeinated enthusiasm that defines the traditional roll call. But it was wholly unnecessary. The electricity was in the sweeping view of the American patchwork. Politicians love to give meandering speeches talking about how democracy is all about the people, but then they proceed to ignore the will of the people their needs and their fears. This roll call was intimate. Without the costumes and the posturing, the people were revealed. America was at work. PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- vybe urgent care, the leading independent operator of urgent care centers in the Philadelphia area, announces a rapid test for COVID-19 from Quidel that provides a result in 15 minutes. This antigen test is available by appointment at all vybe locations and is a perfect solution for asymptomatic patients who need clearance for work, school, or a medical procedure. At this time, the test is not covered by insurance, and is available in limited quantities on a self-pay basis. The rapid antigen test delivers results in as little as 15 minutes. With the addition of the rapid antigen test, vybe now offers 3 COVID testing options to patients: Lab-based PCR genetic tests to detect active infection. Quidel's rapid antigen test that detects active infection through virus proteins. Serological tests that detect antibodies from a prior infection. "In the fight against COVID-19, we're hoping a rapid test enables more people to get tested more frequently, and to make decisions that help limit the spread of the virus," said Peter Hotz, vybe urgent care's President & CEO. "The potential use for this in the employer and academic settings represents an important step in more safely returning to work and restoring our society as we await a vaccine." vybe is offering the Quidel rapid test to employers and academic institutions as a solution for return to work programs or for ongoing business continuity. The vybe program offers the choice of testing at any vybe urgent care centers or customized on-site COVID testing events in a safe environment, and includes: Needs assessment and program development with clinician-informed protocols Onsite licensed clinical team for testing and support Online scheduling and sharing of results All necessary releases, disclosures and consents Future solutions for vaccinations, such as seasonal flu "This test is designed to detect proteins from the virus, and delivers a highly accurate positive result," said Geoff Winkley, vybe's Medical Director. "A public health crisis demands a vigorous response from the healthcare community, including multiple options for testing. I'm pleased that recent studies are showing a high sensitivity rate for the Quidel rapid test, approaching that of lab-based PCR tests." In addition to a wide range of urgent care services, including COVID-19 testing, vybe has carefully designed safety precautions to meet or exceed CDC and state guidelines: All patients must wear masks, and our team wears PPE at all times Screening all patients for symptoms and possible COVID-19 exposure Patients taken directly to exam rooms for registration Waiting areas arranged for social distancing Enhanced cleaning of exam rooms and equipment after each patient Frequent deep cleaning throughout the center vybe is fully accredited by the Urgent Care Association (UCA), which is the highest level of distinction for urgent care centers and ensures high levels of patient safety and quality. About vybe vybe urgent care is Philadelphia's leading independent urgent care provider delivering care to adults and children in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Bucks Counties. Open 7 days a week, vybe delivers an affordable and convenient alternative to long emergency room wait times and the limited hours of family physicians. In addition to welcoming walk-ins, vybe offers a telemedicine service for those who wish to see a clinician online. vybe accepts major insurance plans and provides a comprehensive range of urgent care services such as illness and injury treatment, digital x-rays, EKGs, lab testing, physicals, immunizations, and occupational medicine. Find the medical care you need with the convenience you want at vybe urgent care locations throughout the Philadelphia area. For more information, visit www.vybe.care Media contact: Peter Hotz 484-753-3970 SOURCE vybe urgent care Related Links https://www.vybe.care/ A sprawling report released Tuesday by a Republican-controlled Senate panel that spent three years investigating Russias interference in the 2016 election laid out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Kremlin officials and other Russians, including at least one intelligence officer and others tied to the countrys spy services. The report by the Senate Intelligence Committee, totaling nearly 1,000 pages, drew to a close one of the highest-profile congressional investigations in recent memory and could be the last word from an official government inquiry about the expansive Russian campaign to sabotage the 2016 election. It provided a bipartisan Senate imprimatur for an extraordinary set of facts: The Russian government disrupted an American election to help Mr. Trump become president, Russian intelligence services viewed members of the Trump campaign as easily manipulated, and some of Mr. Trumps advisers were eager for the help from an American adversary. (New York Times) Featured stories Joe Biden officially becomes the Democratic Partys nominee on conventions second night (Washington Post) 3 key takeaways from the 2nd night of the DNC (ABC News) Virtual roll call at Democratic convention delights with digital tour of U.S. (NBC News) As D.N.C. unfolds, Trump reprises grimmest language of 2016 campaign (New York Times) National news Former DHS official now backing Biden warns Trump others will speak out (ABC News) Postmaster General DeJoy suspends changes to Postal Service to avoid any impact on election mail (NBC News) Notre Dame suspends in-person classes after COVID-19 cases surge following off-campus parties (CBS News) WHO warns young people are emerging as main spreaders of the coronavirus (Washington Post) Rep. Ross Spano loses Florida GOP primary amid campaign finance scrutiny (The Hill) Demonstrators gather for 83rd night of protests in Portland (oregonlive.com) We suffered for 44 years: Victims and families face Golden State Killer ahead of sentencing (CBS News) California governor declares state of emergency as dozens of wildfires rage (The Guardian) Lottery Lawyer, others accused of swindling winners out of millions (NBC News) World news Malis president quits after soldiers mutiny (BBC) China just issued its first COVID vaccine patent. What it means for the vaccine race (Fortune) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calls Trumps claim of coronavirus surge patently wrong (AFP) Wuhan hosts massive water park party as coronavirus concerns recede (CNN) China evacuates 100,000 as floods threaten heritage site (Reuters) Netanyahu slams reports of secret clause to sell UAE F-35s and drones as part of peace deal (CNN) Turkeys pursuit of contested oil and gas reserves has ramifications well beyond the region (CNBC) Five ex-Congress MLAs of Manipur, who recently resigned from the state assembly and the party, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday in the presence of chief minister N Biren Singh. IMAGE: BJP president JP Nadda poses for a photograph with five former Congress Manipur MLAs who joined BJP in New Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo Welcoming them in the party, BJP general secretary and the party's pointsman for the northeast Ram Madhav said there is no threat to the Biren Singh government in Manipur now. It will not only complete its tenure but will be reelected, he said. Henry Okram, nephew of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ibobi Singh, Panonam Broken, Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Ngamthang Haokip, Ginsuanhau Zou were inducted into the BJP by its vice president Baijayant Jay Panda. Madhav also said the state government has support of 34 MLAs in the assembly, which has effective strength of 47 as there are 13 vacancies. The chief minister had arrived in Delhi with the former Congress MLAs who resigned both from the party and the assembly after skipping the trust vote proceedings in defiance of a party whip. The BJP-led government had won the Monday trust vote 28-16. Crystal Dr., 2600 block, 4:24 p.m. Aug. 10. Police responding to a report of a stolen vehicle determined that a man left his Nissan Maxima idling unattended. A male exited a Chevrolet Cruze occupied by four others and entered the Maxima. The male drove off in the Maxima. Police located both vehicles in the Richmond Highway and South Eads Street area, and when the Maxima struck another vehicle, the driver fled on foot. Four juveniles in the Cruze were apprehended after a brief foot pursuit. Petitions were sought for the juveniles and the fifth juvenile remains outstanding. Police and intelligence agencies are probing the possibility that an alleged record-breaking 1.8 tonnes of cocaine seized on a fishing boat off Newcastle on the weekend was purchased by a consortium of organised crime syndicates working together. When Australian Border Force officials noticed a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel on an unusual route last week, investigators began to track the ship and "observed an Australian commercial fishing vessel, the Coralynne, approaching the foreign vessel and making an alleged at-sea transfer of illicit drugs bound for Australia," the ABF said on Wednesday. Police raided the Coralynne, arresting three men - Christopher Preca, 27, Jackson Ross Giles-Adams, 32, and 41-year-old Chinese national Man Wah Chan - and seizing more than 1.8 tonnes of cocaine in what ABF authorities are calling "the largest on-shore cocaine seizure in Australia to date". Police sources said that the cocaine was allegedly sitting inside the boat's engine room, with no attempt to conceal it. Sudhir Suryawanshi By Express News Service MUMBAI: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has given approval for the construction of 70 storey buildings in five megacities of the state. The move is said to put Gujarat on the global map on the line of Singapore and Dubai "We want to create world-class infrastructure and skyscrapers in five megacities that include Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. This decision will not only take Gujarats skyline to a record high. It will also show the states mettle in terms of its infrastructure capacity. Urban infrastructure will be able to accommodate the rising population and generate more employment for the dwellers," said Rupani. He said that the new rules will now permit the construction of more than 70 floors in a building compared to 22-23 floors previously. "We are making provision in the CGDCR-2017 that will permit to construct the highrises. The new rules shall be applicable to buildings taller than 100 meters and with an aspect ratio of 1:9," the CM said. He also stated that the amendment will be applicable in D1 category in Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), Surat (SUDA), Vadodara (VUDA), Rajkot (RUDA) and Gandhinagar (GUDA), where permissible Base FSI is equal to or more than 1.2. The state has also decided to form a special Technical Committee for the same. "After the clearance by the special technical committee for a proposed building, the same shall be forwarded to the Competent Authority with recommendations for further necessary action. The buildings can be constructed only if the adjoining road is more than 30 meters wide. The minimum plot size is 2500 sq mt for buildings that range from 100 to 150 meters. The minimum plot size is 3500 sq ft for buildings that are above 150 meters. The maximum Floor Space Index (FSI) will not be more than 5.4 in any case. The premium FSI will be available on chargeable basis. The Premium FSI charges will be 50 per cent of Jantri rate of Non-Agriculture land. The buildings can either be used for residential, commercial, or recreational purposes or a combination of the same," said a government press note. Two men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay (pictured in October 1986) in New York in 2002 in what prosecutors said was a brazen act of violence over a disputed drug deal Two men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay in New York in 2002 as it's revealed a witness gave police information in 2015 that helped bring charges against the suspects. Ronald Washington, 56, who is currently serving a prison sentence for robbery, was charged along with Karl Jordan Jr, 36, on Monday for the shooting death of the musician, whose real name was Jason Mizell, in his New York recording studio. Washington appeared for his arraignment via videoconference and entered his not guilty plea through his lawyer on Tuesday. Jordan pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday. Prosecutor Artie McConnell said that although Washington is not accused of pulling the trigger, he was equally responsible for Mizell's murder and had tried to silence and intimidate witnesses. 'To plan and carry out the execution of a music icon in his own studio, in his own neighborhood, is so brazen and shows such utter disregard for the law,' McConnell said at Tuesday's arraignment. 'This crime was not an aberration. The defendant has a long and violent criminal history, replete with crimes such as robbery, assault, narcotics trafficking, battery," McConnell added. Mizell was shot dead at his recording studio in Hollis, Queens, on October 30, 2002. Prosecutors now believe that Mizell, 37, was killed in a drug-deal-gone-wrong. 'Primarily this is a case about a murder which for nearly two decades had gone unanswered,' Seth DuCharme, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a press conference on Monday. Scroll down for video Mizell (left) was shot dead at his recording studio in Hollis, Queens, on October 30, 2002. Run DMC pose at the Grammy Awards, 1980s Ronald Washington, 56, who is currently serving a prison sentence for robbery, was charged along with Karl Jordan Jr on Monday for the shooting death of the musician, whose real name was Jason Mizell (pictured with the hip-hop group in 1985) 'Today we begin to answer the question of who killed Jason Mizell and why. 'What we've alleged in that indictment is that on October 30, 2002, Mr Jordan and Mr Washington walked into a music studio in Queens where Mr Mizell and others were working essentially, hanging out, and they walked in and murdered him in cold blood.' Jordan and Washington are both facing 10 felony counts. Two of those counts are for Mizell's murder, and the others are related to distribution of cocaine. Washington and Jordan were engaged in a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms of cocaine at the time of Mizell's killing, according to the indictment. In a separate memo, prosecutors alleged that Mizell had sought to exclude Washington from a 'multi-kilogram, multi-state, narcotics transaction' - and that Washington and Jordan conspired to kill the artist in retaliation. Washington, who had reportedly been living on a couch at Mizell's home in the days before his death, was publicly named as a possible suspect or witness as far back as 2007. He is currently serving a federal prison sentence in Kentucky, stemming from a string of robberies he committed while on the run from police after Mizell's death. In court papers filed at the time, prosecutors alleged that Washington waved a handgun around and ordered people in Mizell's Queens recording studio to lie on the ground while another man killed him on October 30, 2002. Mizell was shot once in the head with a .40-caliber bullet by a masked assailant at his studio (officers at the studio 2002) in Hollis, where he grew up, police said at the time Police (pictured at the scene in 2002) identified at least four people in the studio with Mizell, including the two armed gunmen. The city and Mizell's friends offered more than $60,000 in reward money, but witnesses refused to come forward and the case languished Pedestrians pass a mural of Jam Master Jay by artist Art1Airbrush on Tuesday in the Queens borough of New York Washington 'provided cover for his associate' - Jordan - 'to shoot and kill Jason Mizell', prosecutors wrote. On Monday prosecutors confirmed that Jordan had been arrested by ATF officers on Sunday. It has also been revealed this week that a witness gave authorities information about Mizell's murder in 2015. At the time, investigators found the information from the witness implicating at least one of the two men charged, but a source told the New York Daily News that the Queens DA didn't like the idea of charging a crime on the word of one witness. 'The DA didnt want to go forward with one witness. We approached Eastern; they liked it,' the source told the newspaper. The source was referring to the Eastern District of New York, which covers Queens. Investigators were eventually able to corroborate the information with other witnesses, but it took an additional five years before charges were brought against Washington and Jordan. Mizell was shot once in the head with a .40-caliber bullet by a masked assailant at his studio in Hollis, where he grew up, police said at the time. He left behind a wife and three children. Police identified at least four people in the studio with Mizell, including the two armed gunmen. The city and Mizell's friends offered more than $60,000 in reward money, but witnesses refused to come forward and the case languished. Seth DuCharme, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the charges against Jordan and Washington at a press conference on Monday (pictured) Police are seen at the recording studio where Mizell was shot dead on October 30 Before sleeping on Mizell's couch, Washington had been linked to the 1995 fatal shooting of Randy Walker, a close associate of the late Tupac Shakur. ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Daryl McCormick offered a message for Mizell's loved ones at Monday's press conference. 'To family and friends of Mr Mizell who endured a heavy burden of grief over these many years, we hope that today's arrests and indictments and this announcement will bring some measure of peace,' McCormick said. If convicted, Washington and Jordan each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, or the death penalty. Washington has been imprisoned for 17 years and is due to remain behind bars until June 2022. Prosecutors said in court papers that Attorney General William Barr had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. Police identified at least four people in the studio with Mizell, including the two armed gunmen. The city and Mizell's friends offered more than $60,000 in reward money, but witnesses refused to come forward and the case languished. Before sleeping on Mizell's couch, Washington had been linked to the 1995 fatal shooting of Randy Walker, a close associate of the late Tupac Shakur. ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Daryl McCormick offered a message for Mizell's loved ones at Monday's press conference. 'To family and friends of Mr Mizell who endured a heavy burden of grief over these many years, we hope that today's arrests and indictments and this announcement will bring some measure of peace,' McCormick said. If convicted, Washington and Jordan each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, or the death penalty. Mizell shot to stardom in the 80s as a member of 1980s hip-hop sensation Run-DMC (pictured in 1985) with Joseph 'Run' Simmons and Darryl 'DMC' McDaniel. Their hits included It's Tricky, Christmas in Hollis and Run's House Run-DMC (pictured in February 2002) became known as the pioneers of hip-hop in the early eighties, popularizing the then-underground music movement for the masses Prosecutors said in court papers that Attorney General William Barr had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. Mizell shot to stardom in the 80s as a member of 1980s hip-hop sensation Run-DMC with Joseph 'Run' Simmons and Darryl 'DMC' McDaniel. Their hits included It's Tricky, Christmas in Hollis and Run's House. Run-DMC became known as the pioneers of hip-hop in the early eighties, popularizing the then-underground music movement for the masses. The trio went on to become the first hip-hop act to have a gold album, a platinum record, Grammy nomination and, in 2009, they became only the second hip-hop group in history to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Run-DMC were the first rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, and they were the first to appear on American Bandstand and have their videos played on MTV. It was Mizell who is credited for creating the band's distinctive style of wearing heavy gold chains, black hats, and Adidas shell-toe sneakers minus the laces, once saying, 'How I dressed in high school is the way we dressed... My vibe is our vibe.' Their reign came to a tragic end in 2002 after Mizell was shot and killed. Fans visit a wall of tributes outside Mizell's studio in the wake of his death aged 37 on October 31, 2002 Mourners gather at the entrance of the Allen Cathedral in Queens for Mizell's funeral on November 5, 2002 A mourner wears a Jam Master Jay T-shirt outside the wake for Mizell at the Jay Foster-Phillips Funeral Home on November 4, 2002 Prosecutors provided more detail about the motive for Mizell's killing in a memo asking the presiding judge to hold Jordan and Washington without bond. It describes how an investigation by the NYPD, ATF and FBI 'revealed that, prior to his murder, Mizell sought to exclude Washington from a multi-kilogram, multi-state, narcotics transaction. 'In retaliation, Washington and Jordan conspired to murder, and ultimately executed, Mizell.' Prosecutors alleged that Mizell was involved in a cocaine trafficking scheme between 1996 and 2002. 'In or about July 2002, Mizell acquired approximately ten kilograms of cocaine on consignment from a supplier in the Midwest,' the memo states. 'The cocaine was intended to be distributed in Maryland by Washington, Jordan and other co-conspirators. 'A dispute between Washington and one of the co-conspirators resulted in Mizell telling Washington that he would be cut out of the Maryland transaction. 'Following Washington's dispute with Mizell, Washington and Jordan conspired to murder Mizell.' The world's biggest wealth fund said it's eager to get clarity on who will lead it, after a botched recruitment process to find a new chief executive triggered a political storm that's still playing out. Norges Bank Investment Management on Tuesday revealed a 188 billion kroner ($29.4 billion) loss for the first half of 2020. The result caps a turbulent period that's been overshadowed by a CEO succession drama. The giant investment vehicle has landed at the centre of a political uproar after a London-based hedge-fund manager, Nicolai Tangen, was picked as its new CEO. Credit:AP "It's now been almost a year since Yngve Slyngstad announced his resignation" as the fund's CEO, Trond Grande, his deputy, said by phone after a press conference in Oslo. "Everyone's looking forward to getting clarification and a new leader in place." "This situation has come on top of the challenging handling of a pandemic," he said. Li Wenjun, a volunteer teacher from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, poses for a class picture with her students at the Hanji Junior Middle School in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, Gansu. [For China Daily] Her classmates were surprised. Wang Xinxin was quiet, shy and, well, almost predictable, especially at school mealtime. The 15-year-old student at Hanji Junior Middle School in Linxia County of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Northwest China's Gansu Province, seemed to always buy two steamed buns every dinner. But one day she chose a plate of rice topped with meat and vegetables. The change, and small celebration, came after Xinxin had a pre-meal talk with teacher Li Wenjun, a volunteer from Lanzhou, provincial capital of Gansu. As one of four children from a poor family, she didn't get much attention from her parents who were busy making a living. Consequently, she withdrew into herself. On the day she treated herself to a bigger meal, she had actually failed an exam and got a call to visit Li's office. Li, instead of blaming her, asked her tenderly if she was too tired and about her family situation, then comforted and encouraged her. "I cried and unleashed my feelings," Xinxin recalls. "I was so happy that someone still believed in me, in my value and respected me such, that I thought I too, like others, deserve some better food and to be cared for." Xinxin was among many students Li paid extra attention to during her stay at the school. The 34-year-old volunteer from a middle school in Lanzhou served as a temporary Chinese teacher at the Hanji school from March 2019 to July 2020. She invested a great deal of effort into helping them, garnering widespread praise when she left, and was awarded as "an advanced individual of education and teaching quality of Linxia County in 2019". Li Wenjun, a volunteer teacher from Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, talks to her students at the Hanji Junior Middle School in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu. [For China Daily] Li went to the school after she applied to participate in an education aid project that sends volunteers to work as short-term teachers at schools in poverty-stricken regions. Li thought she was "lucky" since the place she went to was not that poor, at least "we are not short of water or electricity". As a large-scale junior middle school in Linxia, Hanji school boasts nearly 30 classes per grade, and the three grades combined have more than 5,600 students. Of these, 3,800 are boarders. Li tried to build good relations with the two classes of students assigned to her, but the majority failed to hand in their homework, or be attentive in her class. She knew she had a struggle on her hands but was determined to make it work. After talking with students, Li got to know that more than 60 percent of them were from the Hui ethnic group. Their families, traditionally, were in the low-income bracket and work and payment often took priority over education. "Students seemed to lack the motivation to study," Li says. Li found that the students didn't have the solid foundation that primary school should have given them and she became depressed during the first semester. On top of this, the students and the school were recipients of financial aid from the authorities and it seemed a shame, she says, to see opportunities not taken. "I have worked as a teacher for nearly 10 years, but never met such a situation. I just didn't know upon which aspect I should concentrate in order to help them," she recalls. Li was determined to make a difference. "I thought that since I came to the school, if I could make some changes, no matter how minor, my stay would be worthwhile," says Li. She prepared a small notebook, talked with the students one by one like friends and noted down information about their situations. Her frankness soon opened the door to students' hearts, and often both Li and her students became emotional during the hourlong talks. She found many of them were left-behind children whose parents migrated for work, while some had seen their parents get divorced. She tried to give them more care by talking with them frequently and helping them face their difficulties and solve their problems. Li and her students speak before she bids farewell to them after she completed her volunteer work last month. [For China Daily] Devotion Works Her encouragement seemed to work wonders. Even more students began to hand in their homework, and studied much harder than before, as they didn't want to "let their favorite teacher down".For instance, some pointed out that no teacher had ever cared about where they had dinner during the weekends. Li says she believes in the strength of "the devoted style of teaching and schooling". "Compared with knowledge, the students are more eager for an emotional connection and the feeling of being cared for," says Li. Guo Yanhong, a student of Li, came to her office almost every day and asked Li to check his homework or explain problems. Sometimes he even seemed to be quite happy if Li criticized him for making mistakes. By talking to Guo, Li got to know his mother had left home when he was young, and his father migrated to faraway places for work, leaving the boy at home to live on the money his father transferred to him regularly. One day, when Li was examining Guo's homework, she saw a wound on his hand, and reminded him to dress it to prevent infection. Her caring words hit Guo hard. He later wrote in an essay that he turned around and burst into a flood of tears upon hearing Li's words. "After reading his composition, I thought it was too exaggerated. How can someone be moved so much by such simple words? So I reminded my students not to fake emotions in their compositions and that they need to express their true feelings," says Li. But at her last class at Hanji school, when she asked if any student wanted to say something to her, Guo put up his hand first and said: "Ms Li, I didn't fake my emotions in the composition. All that I wrote was true. Maybe you thought what you said were simple words, but for me, who has never received much care, you were just like my mother in that moment." Li still feels regret for her misunderstanding of Guo. "Guo made me understand that I should pay more attention to my way of talking to students, since a teacher's words can be really influential," she says. "I have met too many children like Guo at the Hanji school. They are fragile enough to be moved by simple words, but they are also tough enough to bear all the bitterness." Li and other teachers at the school discuss work in their office. [For China Daily] Lining Up for Attention Li improved her teaching techniques to better suit the students' situations, like teaching them to use mind maps to help understanding and recommending books for them to read after class. She also marked students' homework and exam papers in front of them so they could see her corrections as she did them. Sometimes there were too many students coming to her office, and they just stood in a line to wait. Lu Xiefu, one of Li's colleagues, says: "We occasionally asked students to our office for a chat and to offer advice, but many students came to Li's office every day. She is extremely careful and patient in helping students analyze their mistakes. I have learned so much from her." At the beginning of Li's time in Linxia, she left her 2-year-old daughter, who had been brought up by Li and her husband since birth, at home in Lanzhou. The little girl, however, couldn't get accustomed to her mother's absence. As a result, Li decided to take her to Linxia as well. "I was afraid she would disturb my work, so my parents and husband took turns to come to Linxia and take care of her while I worked," recalls Li. "I often felt guilty seeing my parents exit the car with stiff legs after a three-hour ride from Lanzhou. When my husband was in hospital, I could not look after him, either. I owe them so much." Tao Yongheng, a vice-principal of the Hanji school, says: "Li never let her personal life influence her work. A teacher like her can help greatly improve our school's approach. "She consistently showed us the ideals and skills required in the pursuit of being a good teacher. She is our model." Li's efforts worked. Both classes she taught registered a huge improvement. "I want to open a window to help the students look outside, and to make them understand the world is a large place. I hope my way of thinking will influence them to some extent," Li says. Li checks students' works. [For China Daily] (Source: China Daily) Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. The Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Makafui Woanyah at the weekend assumed additional responsibility as chairman of the 29-member regional campaign committee of the party. The Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa and the Deputy Regional Minister, Pastor Johnson Avuletey; are also members of the committee which was inaugurated in Ho by Sammy Awuku, the NPP National Organiser. Mr Awuku said that the party attached great value to the Volta Region at all times and not only during elections. He entreated members of the committee to strive to increase the electoral fortunes of the party in the region and be vigilant during the elections to ensure a resounding victory for the NPP in December. Speaking after the inauguration, Mr Woanyah said that the committees members were up to the task and would work hard to renew the mandate of the NPP. He urged the partys members to go round the various centres during the exhibition of the voters register in the region to ensure that nothing untoward took place prior to the elections. Meanwhile, Pastor Avuletey described the members of the committee as diligent with the appropriate skills to secure victory for the NPP. We are ready to break into the strongholds of the NDC and convert the people into apostles of the NPP; we are ready to win power again, he affirmed. Pastor Avuletey urged NPP activists in region to win two souls every day for the party before the D-day. Source: The Ghanaian Times Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video More than twenty years ago, this political scientist had predicted the current conflict between the United States and China. Now, John Mearsheimer says that an escalation of the intensified conflict between the two superpowers is "inevitable". One of the leading theorists of offensive realism" and professor of political science at the University of Chicago, Mearsheimer talked about the 'cold war' between the nations, what the US elections could mean for the situation, and much more, in an interview to the Asahi Shimbun. Asked about whether since the Covid-19 outbreak, the countries had begun a 'real cold war', Mearsheimer says that the 'real cold war' had begun before the coronavirus, and that the pandemic did not "matter much". He says that even ideology does not play a big role in the nations' conflict. The real deal, Mearsheimer says, is the balance of power. "China has become so powerful over the past 20 years. There is a serious chance that (China) could become a regional hegemon in Asia," he says in the interview, adding that the US does not tolerate peer competitors and the idea that China is going to become a regional hegemon is unacceptable to the nation. He explains how it was this "clash of interests" generated by the fundamental change taking place in the balance of power, which was driving the competition. "And I would note that you'll hear a lot of talk about the fact that the United States is a liberal democracy, and that China is a communist state. And, therefore, this is an ideological clash," he said. The report mentions that analysts in US and Japan argued that since US-China bilateral economic ties, political relations had grown in 14 years. Asked whether this would make it unfeasible for either country to instigate an open war, the political scientist says that there were many experts who said the same thing before the World War I happened. According to him, the experts at the time had said that there was a tremendous amount of economic interdependence in Europe, which is why no one would dare start a war. "But nevertheless, we had World War I," he says, explaining that while nations can have economic cooperation, there was also "security competition." He says that the economic cooperation between US and China is slowly beginning to disappear, and there was now economic competition as well as security competition. He told Asahi Shimbun that US has its "gun sights on Huawei", and would like to destroy it, as they want to remain on the cutting edge of modern sophisticated technologies. Asked to comment on whether US would be able to restore its relationship with key allies if Joe Biden became US President, Mearsheimer says that the Democrats would treat Japan, South Korea, Germany in the same way as the country treated them before Trump took over. On the most effective way the Biden administration could contain China, the political scientist believes that the Democrats would be as committed to containment as Trump. He says while he was in China for 17 days in October 2019, he talked to many Chinese foreign policy leaders. He points out that almost everyone he talked to believed that it didn't matter whether Trump won or lost the presidential elections, in terms of US-China relations "The Chinese believe that the Americans have their gun sight on China, and nothing is going to change that. I think they are correct," he told Asahi Shimbun. Jill Biden offered a deeply personal and hopeful endorsement of her husband as a man who can lead the nation through adversity during the Democratic National Convention. On Tuesday night, she pledged to the nation that if her husband is elected president, Americas classrooms will ring out with laughter and possibility once again. Speaking from the Wilmington, Delaware, high school classroom where she taught English years ago, Jill Biden described the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways and the uncertainty thats come as schools grapple with whether to resume in-person teaching as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. The burdens we carry are heavy, and we need someone with strong shoulders, Mrs. Biden said. If we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: Bring us together and make us whole, carry us forward in our time of need, keep the promise of America, for all of us. Mrs. Biden drew parallels with her husbands experience leading his family through personal adversity and what she described as his ability to lead the nation through its current crises. ___ HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION: Democrats make it official, nominate Biden for president Some key takeaways from Day 2 at Democratic convention After years of big moments, Bill Clintons DNC role shrinks Cindy McCain details husbands friendship with Biden for DNC At DNC, Jill Biden gets personal about familys struggles ___ Follow APs election coverage at https://apnews.com/Election2020 ___ HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is endorsing Joe Biden, saying with him in the White House, We will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries never the other way around. In taped remarks during the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, Powell sought to draw an implicit contrast between Biden and President Donald Trump, without naming Trump. He said that Biden will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. Trump has expressed doubts about findings from the intelligence community on Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign, and has praised dictators. Powell also lamented that today we have a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make us that way, to keep us that way. Powell served as secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush from 2001 until 2005, and served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Bush and Democratic President Bill Clinton. ___ Former Secretary of State John Kerry is trashing President Donald Trumps foreign policy, which he characterized as one nonstop blooper reel. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, said Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention: This moment is a fight for the security of America and the world. He said the Obama administration left U.S. foreign policy in good order when he left office. They stopped the Ebola virus before it could become a pandemic, defeated the Islamic State group and entered into an accord to reduce emissions that cause global warming. Kerry accused Trump of failing to stand up to Russia and doing nothing to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin after some intelligence officials concluded the country placed bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. He also referenced Trump being escorted to a White House bunker during recent protests. Our troops cant get out of harms way by hiding in the White House bunker, Kerry said. ___ Prominent Republicans who oppose President Donald Trump have been awarded prominent speaking roles at the Democratic convention. But some progressives, who make up a large share of the partys base, say they are being unfairly overlooked. Sen. Bernie Sanders was given a prominent slot on Monday. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren will appear later in the week. But progressives have been angered that the DNC event has slighted others, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who spoke for roughly 90 seconds on Tuesday. Its a huge missed opportunity, Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, told CNN. Julian Castro, the only Latino in the historically diverse primary field, wasnt given a speaking slot at the convention after some tense moments with Biden during the campaign. Instead, a brief clip of his keynote at the 2012 convention appeared as part of a video presentation. The hashtag #LetJulianSpeak appeared on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Republicans lined up to speak at the convention include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. ___ The Democratic Party has formally made Joe Biden its presidential nominee, a position he has sought for more than 30 years and through three White House bids. Delegates from each state took a roll call vote during the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, awarding Biden the position. Usually, each state calls out the number of delegates that different candidates won there during the primary in a dramatic fashion in a sports arena or large hall -- but the count was all done online this time. Biden actually clinched the nomination in early June. His other challengers in the once-crowded Democratic presidential primary had left the race, and the votes of seven states and the District of Columbia gave him the 1,991 delegates to the convention needed to lock it up. A former senator from Delaware and vice-president, Biden first ran for president in 1988 and tried again in 2008 before launching his 2020 campaign last year. President Donald Trump faced only token opposition in his partys primary and will formally be renominated as his partys candidate during the virtual Republican National Convention next week. ___ A cornfield in Iowa, a cattle range in Montana, the California coastline. Those were the scenes behind Democratic delegates as they formally cast their votes in the presidential nominating process. Most delegates went to Joe Biden, but some went to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the runner-up. Typically the nominating process is held in a convention hall with all the delegates gathered together. But the videos submitted to the virtual convention provided more picturesque scenes from around the nation. In Michigan, the delegates stood in front of cars representing the states auto industry. In Louisiana, they spoke from an art studio with colorful murals on the wall. In Nebraska, the woman nominating Biden wore a face mask as she talked about essential workers battling the pandemic. Speakers included Bidens onetime rivals Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. ___ Two politicians from Joe Bidens home state of Delaware and a security guard who met Biden in an elevator have formally nominated him as the Democratic presidential nominee. Jacquelyn Brittany met Biden when he went to The New York Times for an interview last year, and a video of their interaction went viral. She says he was unlike many of the powerful people with whom she shares the elevator. She says, I could tell he really saw me, that he actually cared. Sen. Chris Coons, who holds Bidens former Senate seat, says Biden understands the struggles and hopes of everyday people. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, also of Delaware, says future schoolchildren will learn about the pain and grief of this time in America but also about how a President Biden restored decency and integrity to American democracy. ___ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has described the progressive movement started by Bernie Sanders as a mass peoples movement thats working to move the country toward guaranteed health care and higher education. The New York congresswoman gave brief remarks Tuesday night as she helped nominate the Vermont senator at the Democratic National Convention. Ocasio-Cortez is widely seen as the successor of Sanders progressive flank of the party. She says Sanders ran a historic grassroots campaign that realized that turns away from an American history checkered by violence, xenophobia, racial injustice and more and that realizes the unsustainable brutality that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many. ___ Bill Clinton has delivered a stinging attack on President Donald Trump, saying the nation knows what hed do with four more years in the White House: Blame, bully and belittle. The former president addressed the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention on Tuesday and said Trump defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media. Clinton said, Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if youre trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards. He also praised Democratic candidate Joe Biden but spent far more time on the offensive against Trump, who defeated his wife, Hillary, to clinch the presidency in 2016. Bill Clinton played a major role in conventions for four decades but was limited to five minutes on Tuesday. But even abbreviated, his appearance is tricky for Democrats. In the #MeToo era, as the party is focused on overt appeals to female voters, putting Clinton on stage is problematic for Democrats, given the numerous accusations of sexual misconduct against him. ___ Caroline Kennedy is portraying Joe Biden as a public servant in the spirit of her father, who once challenged Americans to look at what they can do for their country. The daughter of President John F. Kennedy spoke Tuesday at the all-virtual Democratic National Convention about helping Barack Obama choose Biden as a running mate while on his vetting team and then seeing him in action as vice-president. Kennedy served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan during the Obama administration and said she saw Biden as a leader who was tough but fair and commanded the trust and respect of other nations. She appeared in a video speaking alongside her son Jack Schlossberg as they attempted to bridge a generational span across the party. ___ Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made a pitch at the Democratic National Convention not just for Joe Biden, but for flipping control of the Senate to Democrats. Schumer said Tuesday: If we are going to win this battle for the soul of our nation, Joe cant do it alone. Democrats must take back the Senate. The New York Democrat outlined a potential 2021 agenda on making health care affordable for all and tackling income inequality, climate change and other issues, including the COVID-19 crisis. With the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, he said President Donald Trump has demeaned everything it stands for. America, Donald Trump has quit on you, he said. We need a president with dignity, integrity, and the experience to lead us out of this crisis, a man with a steady hand and a big heart who will never ever quit on America, he said. That man is my friend Joe Biden. He will be a great president. ___ Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates says President Donald Trump has trampled the rule of law and treats the country like a family business. Yates spoke Tuesday on the second night of the Democratic National Convention. She said she never expected to be speaking at a convention but the future of the country was at stake. She said Trumps Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, represented the best of the country and said America needed a president who respected its laws and would restore the soul of America. Yates served as deputy attorney general during the Obama administration and stayed on as acting attorney during the early days of the T acting attorney general in the first days of the Trump administration, when she was fired by the president for refusing to defend the travel ban. ___ A diverse group of Democratic leaders is delivering the keynote address on the second night of the partys convention, appearing in a montage of spliced together clips to deliver a stinging critique of President Donald Trumps leadership. We know Joe Biden. America, we need Joe Biden, said Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate. The keynote address is a moment that has often been seized by political up-and-comers to deliver a soaring message. That includes Barack Obama, who rocketed to stardom in 2004 when John Kerry was the nominee. But because the pandemic led to the cancellation of an in-person convention, Democrats opted to showcase a diverse group of local leaders in one video message on Tuesday. It didnt have to be this bad. In the early days of the virus, Donald Trump didnt listen to the experts, said Nikki Fried, Floridas agriculture commissioner. Long Beach, California, Mayor Robert Garcia added: We are facing the biggest economic and health crisis in generations because our president didnt -- and still doesnt -- have a plan. The speakers contrasted Trumps leadership with that of Biden and their own, presenting the Democratic ticket as a safe choice for those who are worried. Google is redesigning Google Maps by adding new visual improvements in order to provide more details and granularity for its users. In the redesigned Google Maps, users will be able to distinguish rivers, oceans, mountains, beaches, lakes, and ravines. The upgraded maps will be available in 220 countries and territories currently supported by Google Maps. Google, in a blog post said, "This update is visible no matter what area you're looking at--from the biggest metropolitan areas to small, rural towns". Google said it used satellite imagery and computer vision as the basis for its redesigned maps. Google applied a "new color-mapping algorithmic technique" to help users distinguish areas based on colours. For example, a densely covered forest can be classified as dark green and an area of patchy shrubs could appear as a lighter shade of green, Google explained. Moreover, Google said that the map will also include more detailed features like the accurate shape and width of a road. "You can also see exactly where sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands are located," the search-engine giant added. Google will be launching the detailed street maps in London, New York, and San Francisco in the coming months. Subsequently, the detailed map will be launched in other parts of the world too. Also read: CAIT writes to BCCI opposing Dream11 as IPL title sponsor Also read: Cars drown in Gurugram as Delhi-NCR receives heavy rainfall Memorial service held for former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu (Photo: VNA) General Secretary of the Mongolian Peoples Party Amarabay Asglalan also sent a letter of sympathy to the Communist Party of Vietnam. On August 17, Algerian Minister of Mujahideen (War Veterans) Tayeb Zitouni led a delegation to the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria to pay his tribute to the late Vietnamese Party chief. At a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Vinh, Zitouni said former Party General Secretary Phieus death is also a great loss to Algeria, as Vietnam and Algeria have a time-honoured traditional friendship. On August 16-17, more than 40 delegations representing authorities, diplomatic corps and international organisations as well as Vietnamese associations in Algeria came to the embassy to pay their homage to the former leader. The Vietnamese Embassy in Slovakia also held respect-paying services for the former Party chief from August 14-18./. (Natural News) Several of Stanford Universitys graduate programs, which rank among the best in the United States, removed or revised their admissions requirements in response to difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Article by Ben Zeisloft republished from CampusReform.org) Most notably, Stanfords School of Medicine will not require students to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), the standardized test for medical degree candidates. Stanford Medicine said that applications can be submitted without the MCAT through September 30, 2020 in fairness to all applicants. The school said that with the exception of the MCAT, all other admissions requirements will remain the same. U.S. News and World Reportranked Stanford Medicine as the fourth-best medical school for research in the United States, falling only behind Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Stanford tied with New York University for the No. 4 spot. Meanwhile, Stanfords physics department will not have to submit scores for the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or the GRE subject test in physics. In 2018, Stanford tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the best graduate school for physics in the country. Sean Hartnoll, director of graduate studies at the physics department, told the Stanford Daily that there were too many obstacles to take the GRE due to COVID-19. The faculty felt that, this year in particular, that the additional obstacles that the GRE presents due to COVIDcombined with the other reasons for being skeptical about the usefulness of the GRE warranted removing the GRE as a requirement for this years applicants, to be revisited later, Hartnoll said. Stanfords Graduate School of Business will accept scores for online versions of standardized exams. Kirsten Moss, assistant dean and Director of M.B.A. Admissions and Financial Aid at the Graduate School of Business, told applicants that there is much out of the applicants control. We understand that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so much is changing, and so fast, said Moss. There is much that may be out of an applicants control. Rest assured that we understand this, and will evaluate every applicants candidacy with this in mind. The Stanford College Republicans said in a statement to Campus Reform that it disagrees with the move. The move by Stanfords medical school to drop the MCAT is a mistake. America needs her future doctors to be the most knowledgeable and well trained in the world. Out of Stanford medical school come many of the doctors and researchers on the front lines of working to combat the China Virus, the group said. Itd be a shame if unqualified applicants come to Stanford as a result of this policy and we suffer the consequences in the coming decades. National Association of Scholars Communications Coordinator Chance Layton also expressed concern regarding Stanfords move. Layton explained that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, there still needs to be a baseline standard for admission. All college programs should have some baseline for a standardized assessment of applicants. The GRE and MCAT provide that, Layton told Campus Reform. They are expensive, and I am sure test dates have been moved and canceled repeatedly throughout the year due to COVID. Layton said he isnt necessarily concerned that the schools are being too generous to the extraordinary circumstances some students face, but rather that they are scratching to eliminate the use of standardized tests entirely in applications. This will, for one, make admissions even less transparent, Layton said. Layton pointed to a particular quote by Hartnoll from the Stanford Dailys article: Combined with the other reasons for being skeptical about the usefulness of the GRE warranted removing the GRE as a requirement for this years applicants, to be revisited later. Layton said that this mentality would erode the quality of higher education. Though other indicators of intellect and potential success exist, none are as easily quantifiable as standardized test scores. Many schools are likely using this opportunity as an easy workaround for developing what they call a more holistic approach to applicants, Layton continued. Dont believe it for a second. This gives schools free rein to discriminate without barriers between intellectually diverse and successful students, and those they really want on campus. Read more at: CampusReform.org Thousands of downtown workers wont be cramming into Torontos subways and office tower elevators any time soon as the city continues to grapple with COVID-19. A number of large firms and banks have asked employees to continue to work from home until at least the end of the year, leaving Torontos financial district a virtual ghost town heading into fall. Office towers are all those things that we dont want with respect to COVID-19: bringing lots of people together in small spaces breathing recycled air, said infection control epidemiologist Colin Furness. Its basically a high-density working environment, and from a public health standpoint and pandemic standpoint, really unsafe. Some of the countrys largest banks were among the first major companies with large downtown Toronto offices to announce that most of their employees wont be returning to their desks until at least 2021. RBCs office-based employees in the GTA were told in a memo from chief human resources officer Helena Gottschling in late July that most staff members would remain at home into 2021, though a very small number of employees may return to RBC offices starting in mid- to late September. Our overall approach remains gradual and conservative, she said. Plans may vary across businesses and functions depending on the nature of the work. As outlined in our principles, well be flexible whenever possible and our focus on employee health, safety and well-being remains consistent. She said managers would be providing employees with at least four weeks notice in the event they are asked to return to an RBC office. Other banks including TD, Scotiabank, CIBC and National Bank have also instructed most office-based employees to continue to work from home for now. For most colleagues currently working from home, we expect that this will remain the reality until the end of the calendar year, and possibly into 2021, said Kenn Lalonde, TDs executive vice-president of human resources, who said TD employees will also be given four weeks notice before any return to the office. With jurisdictions moving at different speeds to reopen local economies, we believe that this is the right approach at this time. A number of large downtown employers had committed to the city in May that their employees would continue to work from home until at least September, partly as a way of reducing pressure on the transit system. Finance and insurance employees account for approximately 12 per cent of all public transit commuters in Toronto more than 57,000 use transit as their main mode of commuting, the city said in a May news release. Many of those companies confirmed to the Star this week that working from home will continue to be the norm for most of their workers beyond the fall. Most said they do have a small number of employees who are already in the office or will be returning by September, with safety protocols in place. Major insurance company Sun Life said most staff in Canada, the U.S. and Ireland will work from home for the remainder of the year. The company said it had no time line for a full return to the office, but employees will likely be provided with an update later this year. KPMG said it began opening its GTA offices on July 6, with a policy allowing for no more than five per cent of employees in those offices at any time until at least the end of September. We expect that remote working will continue to be our primary way of working throughout the pandemic, said Kevin Dove, director of strategic communications. PwC Canada said offices in larger markets including Toronto and Montreal would be reopening on Sept. 9 at 15 per cent capacity, and that returning to the office will remain voluntary. Professional services firm Deloitte said its downtown Toronto headquarters will be reopening in mid-September at decreased capacity and following health and government protocols, but that employees will have the option to continue to work remotely. And insurance company Canada Life said it will consider gradually transitioning more employees back to the office over the coming months, while Rogers said it anticipates the vast majority of its employees will work from home for the rest of the year. Furness said keeping as many employees as possible at home is one of the best ways to lessen the risk of transmission of COVID-19 this fall, citing among other concerns crammed elevators, shared washrooms, cubicles and recycled air. The whole concept of the office building really forces all these behaviours that are exactly what we dont want during COVID-19, he said. The U.S. Army is launching an investigation to find out why two uniformed soldiers stood at attention behind Democratic delegates from American Samoa on Tuesday evening during the Democratic National Convention's virtual roll call. The two Army specialists, who were dressed in the Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform, are assigned to Army Reserve Command. "The Army is investigating two soldiers from the 9th Mission Support Command who appeared in uniform during the Democratic National Convention on Aug.18," Lt. Col. Emanuel Ortiz, an Army spokesman, said in a prepared statement. "Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited. The Army follows the Department of Defense's longstanding and well-defined policy regarding political campaigns and elections to avoid the perception of DoD sponsorship, approval or endorsement of any political candidate, campaign or cause." Read Next: Inspectors Said Her Toxic Leadership Was 'Worst Seen in 20 Years.' She Just Became a 1-Star The image of the two soldiers at the political event sent a small tremor across Twitter and other social media platforms. Jeremy Teigen, a professor in the Political Science department and an elections scholar at Ramapo College of New Jersey, told Military.com he saw a tweet about it Wednesday morning. "If you called me and I didn't see this tweet and you asked me to guess where this happened, I would put Samoa in the top five," he said. "They are among the highest recruiting in the U.S. for the U.S. armed forces. Because of the geography and the military presence there and their tiny population, they are very civically oriented and very pro to the military in general." Teigen said he considers the incident "fairly benign" but acknowledged that "it's against the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] to play politics. You are allowed to vote, you are allowed to have opinions, but you can't use the uniform in electioneering efforts." "Other than their presence, there wasn't an overt political act, just their visual was a poor legal decision," he said. "Military uniforms and military members being paraded in the civic space is quite common ... but this is a unique stage, and a line got crossed." Jim Golby, a retired Army officer and senior fellow at the Clements Center for National Security, tweeted, "It is just 2 soldiers in a picture. What's the big deal? "On its own, it's not. But the more we see images/endorsements/stories that intentionally blur these lines, the more they seep into our consciousness," he continued. "And the easier it gets for us to ignore the things that are a big deal." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Can Military Retirees Make Political Statements? In its continued support to boost the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the BUA Group has donated five ambulances, 100,000 reusable cotton made facemasks to the Akwa Ibom State government, and three ambulances to the Abia State government. Representatives of BUA, who presented the donations to the governors, Udom Emmanuel in Uyo and Okezie Ikpeazu in Umuahia, commended the governors for their efforts in tackling the pandemic and noted that the donations are in line with BUAs promise to support Nigerians in fighting the pandemic. The Director of Government Relations, BUA, Aliyu Hong, and the General Manager, BUA Ports and Terminals, Ibrahim Lile, who represented Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Executive Chairman/CEO of BUA in the states, respectively, commended the governors for their passion and creativity in the fight against COVID-19. In Uyo, Mr Emmanuel described the donation as critical to the COVID-19 campaign in the state and thanked BUA and Mr Rabiu for the gesture, which, according to him, will strengthen the states rapid response to the pandemic. Mr Emmanuel said the gesture was a clear demonstration of the readiness and interest of Mr Rabiu to join his administration in the development of the state. He restated his administrations total commitment to fighting coronavirus in the state, even as schools resume for exit exams. The governor promised to deploy the ambulances to the different local government areas of the state, in line with his administrations policy of ensuring that every part of the state is well equipped for eventual medical emergencies. According to him, I have to personally be here to receive these because there are a lot of corporate organisations in Nigeria and Africa who have not shown this kind of love to us. To us as a people, this is a clear demonstration of love and we dont take things like this for granted. And I want to thank BUA for their kind words and appreciation of what we have done so far. This goes a long way to demonstrate his interest in joining us to develop Akwa Ibom state. He has been showing this, I know a lot of things hes planning and I pray God grants him success. Your contribution is a clear demonstration of your corporate social responsibility to the entire people and above all it expresses the sentiment of love for the company and the citizens. We want to thank you and gladly receive this with all amount of happiness. I am sure I am expressing the feelings of the people of this state. We love him, we love the company and we appreciate this gesture. Representative of BUA, Ibrahim Lile, General Manager, BUA Ports and Terminals (Right) Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State (Middle) and other top government officials during the donation of 3 ambulances to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state at the Government House, Umuahia. We will move it to schools so that we can share to the SS3 and JSS3 students that have resumed. Also, in Umuahia, Mr Ikpeazu thanked BUA and Mr Rabiu for the show of empathy, love and care for the average Nigerian since the outbreak of the pandemic and described the donation as timely. Mr Ikpeazu assured that the vehicles would be put to good use in reaching the hinterlands disclosing that the state has started community testing in all of its local government areas with a view to covering at least 30 per cent of the population. I want to publicly declare that BUA has shown empathy, they have shown how much love and care they have for the average Nigerians. My promise is that these ambulances will be put to good use to reach the hinterland and local government. The ambulances will help us drive our agenda and goal. We are testing rapidly; we are testing quickly to make sure that at least 30 per cent of our population are tested, the governor added. House Armed Services Committee leaders say that President Donald Trump would be making a "serious mistake" by pardoning Edward Snowden, the former CIA contractor charged with espionage for stealing and leaking classified information on U.S. surveillance programs. In a joint statement Monday, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee chairman, and Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the ranking member, said a pardon for the 37-year-old Snowden would "completely undermine this administration's position and mock our national security workforce, who take immense caution in their work to keep us safe." Read next: Fired Air Force General Created Toxic Work Environment: Report Twice last week, Trump floated the idea of pardoning Snowden, who fled to Russia in 2013, after charges of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property were unsealed against him. Trump told The New York Post last Thursday that he is thinking about the possibility of a pardon for Snowden. "There are a lot of people that think that he is not being treated fairly. I mean I hear that," he said. In a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate on Saturday, Trump said of a possible pardon, "Many people think that he should somehow be treated differently, and other people think he did very bad things. I'm going to take a very good look at it." In their joint statement, Smith and Thornberry said Snowden "did enormous harm to our national security, and he must stand trial for his actions." Pardoning him would mean that he could not be held accountable for his crimes and also "send a dangerous message to others who are contemplating espionage and the adversaries who would support them." In a Twitter post Monday, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said, "Edward Snowden is a traitor. He is responsible for the largest and most damaging release of classified info in U.S. history. Pardoning him would be unconscionable." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Trump to 'Take a Look' at Pardoning Snowden Advertisement Firefighters raced through raging fires in Napa County Tuesday to save families as more than 30 wildfires scorched more than 120,000 acres across California, PG&E warned of blackouts, and 42 million people were put under heat warnings as temperatures topped 115 degrees. Terrifying footage showed firefighters driving along Berryessa Knoxville Road in Napa on a rescue mission as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire raged on around the vehicle and was zero percent contained. Heavy smoke billowed into the air and angry orange flames destroyed homes and burned down trees as the state continued to be ravaged by more than 30 wildfires, some caused by extreme lightning storms. In wine country north of San Francisco, blazes sent residents fleeing their homes in Sonoma County and Napa County. Evacuations were also in effect to the north and east of the San Francisco Bay Area, near Salinas in Monterey County, around Oroville Dam north of Sacramento, in remote Mendocino County and near the Nevada state line north of Lake Tahoe. Dozens of homes in Napa have been destroyed as wildfires spread across California and burn out of control as fire resources are spread thin. Pictured a home burns in the Spanish Flat area of Napa A home burns in the Spanish Flat area of Napa Tuesday as wildfires rage through California and firefighters race to save families Mobile homes burn at the Spanish Flat Mobile Villa as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burns through the area. More than 30 wildfires have scorched more than 120,000 acres across California An airplane drops fire retardant over homes in the Spanish Flat area of Napa as crews work to bring the blazes under control The LNU Lightning Complex Fire continued to rage on Tuesday and was zero percent contained with heavy smoke billowing into the air and angry orange flames burning down trees and homes The state continues to be ravaged by more than 30 wildfires, some caused by extreme lightning storms, and residents in wine country north of San Francisco have been forced to flee Hours later, dozens of homes in the Spanish Flat area of Napa were destroyed as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burned out of control and engulfed the properties in flames. The area's famous vineyards were also ablaze. Fire crews continued to battle the blaze into the night but with resources stretched thin, they are little match for the ever-erratic fire. Over in Los Angeles, 1.5 million people were without power at around 9 p.m. local time, caused by heat-related outages, The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Tuesday night. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted that crews were working to restore power to homes as soon as possible but it could take up to 12 hours. This came just hours after Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday as more than 120,000 acres of land has been destroyed and air quality plunges to dangerously low levels. 'California and its federal and local partners are working in lockstep to meet the challenge and remain vigilant in the face of continued dangerous weather conditions,' Newsom said as he warned residents the next 48 hours is critical. Blazes sent residents fleeing their homes in Sonoma County and Napa County (pictured) Tuesday and evacuations were also in effect to the north and east of the San Francisco Bay Area, near Salinas in Monterey County, around Oroville Dam north of Sacramento, in remote Mendocino County and near the Nevada state line north of Lake Tahoe PG&E has warned of more blackouts and 42 million people were put under heat warnings as temperatures topped 115 degrees Flames rage through the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California during the Hennessey fire on August 18 Fire and smoke surround a boat rental shop in the Spanish Flat area of Napa as dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday as more than 120,000 acres of land has been destroyed and air quality plunges to dangerously low levels California has been ravaged by 30 wildfires with the LNU Lightning Complex Fires destroying thousands of acres The governor applauded industries, business and residents for driving down energy usage Monday but warned that temperatures and energy demands will remain high into Wednesday as the state swelters under a heat dome. 'We're in a critical 48-hour period, critical period this evening and we're doing everything in our power to understand the root causes of this,' and to mitigate future rolling blackouts, he said. The state's power grid operator California ISO pleaded with residents and businesses to continue conserving energy to avoid rolling blackouts - after the first were issued in the state in almost 20 years Friday. The state's three biggest utilities - Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric - turned off power to more than 410,000 homes followed by a second outage impacting about 200,000 homes the next day. Scorching weather has hit other Western states, making it harder for California to import extra power. Firefighters desperately try to bring the fires under control as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burns Gov. Newsom warned California residents the next 48 hours is critical as the state swelters under a heat dome An unknown number of homes have been destroyed by the wildfires some of which were caused by lightning Flames approach a man and his vehicle in Napa before they tore through several homes in Lake Berryessa Fire retardant hangs in the air after being dropped from a firefighting plane ahead of the LNU Lightning Complex Fire A vehicle drives along Knoxville Road, with flames from the LNU Lightning Complex in the background Tuesday The state's power grid operator California ISO pleaded with residents and businesses to continue conserving energy to avoid rolling blackouts - after the first were issued in the state in almost 20 years Friday California's power grid operators were keeping an eye on the thermometer Tuesday after avoiding highly anticipated rolling blackouts a day earlier. One of the highest temperatures recorded on Tuesday stood at 115F in Paso Robles. The California ISO had warned Monday that as many as 3.3 million homes and businesses would be affected by an evening emergency order that would have required utilities to stage rotating, two-hour outages. But the order never was issued and the warning was canceled shortly before 8pm. California ISO has struggled to reduce the electrical demand since last Friday, when it issued the first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years. Ventusky Privacy Policy a Nearly 42 million people in California will be under a heat warning this week as record-breaking temperatures spark fears of more blackouts. A thermometer reads 132F at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center in Death Valley on Monday Beachgoers secure spots on the shore at Santa Barbara, California, in a bid to seek relief from a record heat wave that strained the electricity grid and threatened to trigger a third round of rolling power outages A cyclist rides through the pier plaza in Huntington Beach, California, on Monday amid the heatwave Pleas for people to leave their air conditioners at higher temperatures and avoid using washing machines and other major appliances seemed to have worked. 'Thank you for conserving,' California ISO said in a tweet. However, grid managers warned that the threat of outages remained as temperatures were expected to hit triple digits again in many areas of the state. The National Weather Service (NWS) said it may take until Friday or Saturday before excess heat watches and warnings ease. The strong ridge of high pressure responsible for the heat wave will gradually weaken over coming days, progressively moderating temperatures, forecasters said. Meanwhile, firefighters have been toiling in oppressive heat as fires burned throughout the state, with most of them in Northern California. Firefighters are battling the largest fire, dubbed the Loyalton Fire, in the Tahoe National Forest. So far, it has burned more than 39,000 acres and is 10 per cent contained. Officials said 11 structures, including five homes, have been destroyed in the fire. The second largest blaze is the Apple Fire. It has burned more than 33,000 acres since it started on July 31. It is 95 per cent contained. Firefighters are also battling the River Fire that has threatened at least 1,500 structures as it burned across 3,800 acres. However, grid managers warned that the threat of outages remained as temperatures were expected to hit triple digits again in many areas of the state Excessive heat warnings (depicted above) are in place for California residents until at least Friday The National Weather Service (NWS) said it may take until Friday or Saturday before excess heat watches and warnings ease Meanwhile, firefighters (pictured battling the River Fire in Salinas) have been toiling in oppressive heat as fires burned throughout California, posing threats to homes, forcing evacuations and fouling the air with smoke far beyond the largely rural or wilderness areas where flames fed on very dry vegetation An air tanker makes a drop on a spot fire from the Hennessey fire over lower Chiles Valley Road, on Monday Cal Fire personnel set a backfire during the Hennessey fire in Napa County on Monday Flames from the River Fire crest a ridge as firefighters Ian Johnson, right, and Capt. Mike Campbell protects a home in Salinas, California, on Monday. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of blazes sparked by lightning strikes Newsom signed an emergency proclamation Sunday allowing some energy users and utilities to tap backup energy sources. Newsom also sent a letter demanding that the state Energy Commission, state Public Utilities Commission and the California Independent System Operator investigate the blackouts. 'These blackouts, which occurred without prior warning or enough time for preparation, are unacceptable and unbefitting of the nation's largest and most innovative state,' Newsom wrote. 'This cannot stand.' On Monday, the Democratic governor said he was ready to 'move forward to simply make sure this never happens again'. During a grid operator board meeting Monday, Berberich said the weekend blackouts could have been avoided had regulators listened to its previous concerns about a power shortfall. In a call later with reporters, he softened his tone, saying he knows the Public Utilities Commission is working to find the right balance of energy sources. 'It's substantial, no question about it,' he said of the outage. The Public Utilities Commission said it would work with the other agencies to figure out what happened. The demand for electricity in the last few days has been consistent with expectations, spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said. 'The question we're tackling is why certain resources were not available,' she said. Crews work on the hotspots during a wildfire in Malibu Creek State Park that scorched about 75 acres of grass and forced the evacuation of all campsites A firefighter extinguishes a hot spot from a vegetation fire caused by a lightning strike on Marsh Creek Road in Brentwood International travel is set to expand with the government saying on August 18 that it's in talks with 13 more countries to have an air travel bubble. At present, the arrangement is with seven countries - the US, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar and Maldives. Now 13 more countries could be added to the list. These are: Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. But does it mean that now it's like the good old, pre-COVID-19 times, when anyone and everyone could travel? Not really. Before we get into details, here is what we had earlier written about travel bubbles: As Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri had pointed out, air bubbles are "at a stage short of normal civil aviation activities." In other words, these flights are a little more evolved than the repatriation flights, but have not yet reached the 'normal' stage. At present, we have these bubbles with seven countries, and 13 more could be added to the list. Neighbours such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan could also be added. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier this month released guidelines for the same. While the guidelines may look the same for travel to all the countries, there are some differences. For instance, the following categories of passengers are eligible to fly out to the US from India: - Any Indian national holding any type of valid US visa. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian nationals to enter the US with the particular visa category, before issuing ticket/boarding pass to Indian passenger. There have been uncertainties over US work visas. Read this to get some clarity: US election 2020 | Uncertainties remain despite visa relaxations, reopening of H-1B lottery - US citizens, legal permanent residents and foreign nationals holding valid US visas. - Seamen of foreign nationalities. Those holding Indian passports would be allowed subject to clearance from the Ministry of Shipping. Conditions are similar for travel to Canada, but there is a slight difference. While here too, Canadian nationals and residents are allowed to fly out, there is no word on foreign nationals holding Canadian visas. Please note, the August 18 announcement by the Civil Aviation Ministry doesn't mention Canada, but the government has previously talked about travel bubbles existing with the country. When it comes to flying to the UK, there is one more addition. The government guideline also allows 'foreign nationals transiting through UK or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise.' To travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the government has added that only those residents - apart from the nationals - who have been approved by the country's Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, or ICA, and only destined to the emirates, can travel. Apart from them, 'any Indian national holding any type of valid UAE visa and destined for UAE,' can also fly. Confused about travel permission to UAE? Passengers with Resident Permanent Visa travelling to UAE can now check their travel permission status before booking tickets. @HardeepSPuri @MoCA_GoI @cgidubai @IndembAbuDhabi (1/5) Air India Express (@FlyWithIX) August 16, 2020 Additionally, the government has informed that those with resident permanent visa for UAE, can now check their travel submissions status before booking ticket. Here is the tweet giving more details:As per the government guidelines, the following can:- Stranded Indian nationals.- All Overseas Citizens of India cardholders holding passports of the countries they are flying from. - Foreigners (including diplomats) holding a valid visa issued by an Indian mission in any category covered under Minister of Home Affairs' guidelines dated June 30. According to these, the following categories of foreign nationals can fly into India:- Foreign businessmen coming on a business visa, other than B-3 visa for sports.- Professionals working in the healthcare sector. - Specialists traveling on behalf of their companies located in India. Please note that everyone will have to obtain fresh visas. Those with a long term multiple entry visa will need to get it re-validated from the local Indian mission. Some bit of good news. Fares have come down from the initial days of Vande Bharat Mission. Here is a link to the fare chart from Air India , which continues to have the most extensive operations under the Vande Bharat Mission. Other domestic carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara have also joined the operations. International airlines include Lufthansa, Etihad, Emirates, United and Air France. Overall, as of August 17, 10,98,000 stranded Indians have been repatriated under the Mission, since it started in May. Hong Kong has banned Air India from operating flights till August 31 for carrying too many passengers infected with COVID-19.Ensure guidelines and standard operating procedures (SoP) are followed in terms of testing before taking a flight. Here are the details announced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He said Iraq currently does not need direct military support on the ground, and that the levels of help will depend on the changing nature of the threat. Al-Kadhimi, who is backed by the United States, assumed office in May when Baghdads relations with Washington were precarious following the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike at the Baghdad airport. M alis president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has announced his resignation on state television, hours after mutinous soldiers fired shots into the air outside his home and detained him. The dramatic development comes after more than two months of regular demonstrations calling for him to step down three years before his final term was due to end. Speaking on national broadcaster ORTM, a distressed Mr Keita said his resignation was effective immediately. "I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power," he said in a brief address. He also announced his government and the National Assembly would be dissolved, certain to further the countrys turmoil amid an eight-year Islamic insurgency and the growing coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Boubou Cisse (L) and President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita / Getty Images "If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice?" he added from a military base in Kati outside the West African country's capital city of Bamako where he had been detained earlier in the day. A banner across the bottom of the television screen referred to him as the exiting president. The mutinous troops said they had detained the president Keita and prime minister Boubou Cisse. One of the soldier's leaders told AFP: "We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control." Mr Keita, who was democratically elected and re-elected, was left with few choices after the mutinous soldiers seized weapons from the armoury in the garrison town of Kati and then advanced on the capital of Bamako. He has broad support from the country's former coloniser France and other Western powers. Tuesdays developments were immediately condemned by ECOWAS, the regional body that had been mediating the crisis. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France "condemns in the strongest terms this grave event". The US envoy to the Sahel, J Peter Pham, said on Twitter that "the U.S. is opposed to all extra-constitutional changes of government". The Economic Community of West African States also condemned "the overthrow by putschist soldiers of the democratically elected government". Mali has experienced years of unrest since a 2012 coup allowed an Islamic insurgency to take hold in the West African nation. Additional reporting by PA Media. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Around 180,000 out-of-school youth in the Philippines are expected to receive support through the 1.9 billion project launched by the United States government. The U.S. Embassy in Manila announced on Wednesday the rollout of the five-year Opportunity 2.0: Second-chance Opportunities for Out-of-school Youth project meant to assist out-of-school Filipino children in their education, employment, and livelihood needs. The initiative is in partnership with local government agencies, including the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). According to the U.S. Embassy, the project aims to augment the Philippines ongoing educational programs, such as DepEds enhanced Alternative Learning System and TESDAs skills training programs. Through this new partnership, we can leverage a range of resources to maximize the potential of the Filipino youth, particularly those who are out-of-school or unemployed, U.S. envoy Sung Kim said. "With the right knowledge, attitudes, and skills, they will play a pivotal role in this great countrys growth and success over the long-term." Twelve local government units nationwide, over 2,200 employers, and at least 50 educational or training institutions will likewise be involved in the project, the U.S. government said. ARE GYMS OPENING OR NOT? Blue line mess in Clove Lakes Park; hotels now part of de Blasios quarantine crackdown, and latest coronavirus updates. (Hot Zone) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside-down. We need information like we never have before. How many new cases were there on Staten Island today? How many deaths? How many people have been released from the hospital? What did President Donald Trump say about the pandemic? What about Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio? More importantly, when is this pandemic going to be over? When are we going to get back to normal, whatever normal is? Its almost too much to keep up with. So twice a day, Mark Stein and I take to Facebook Live to give you all the Island information you need. Look for us around 2 p.m. and again at around 5:30 p.m. Then look for this wrap-up on SILive.com at the end of the day. Well give you the numbers and all the latest news. Well answer your questions. Well follow up on your news tips. Well share the good news too, the way that the Staten Island community is coming together in this time of crisis. Or well just share this strange and unique pandemic moment with you, as fellow Staten Islanders. On Tuesday, we talked about how de Blasio said that gyms would not open before Sept. 2 because city Health Department inspectors had to focus on schools and day care facilities before doing mandated inspections of gyms. The mayor also indicated that indoor dining might not be approved in the city until there is a coronavirus vaccine, which is likely months away. We also talked about how the city painted over a Back The Blue display in Clove Lakes Park, with uneven results. See the video above for those conversations. In the video below, Mark and I talked about the NYPD responding to incidents at Santander bank branches on Staten Island, including reports of shots being fired during a possible ATM theft in Great Kills. We also talked about how police searched Great Kills Park and later arrested at least one suspect. Its not yet clear if the park search and arrest are connected to the Santander incident. NJ.com reported that Santander bank branches in New Jersey were targeted in an ATM theft scam involving pre-paid debit cards. Were all in this together. Well all get through this together. That representative, though he wore a red rose, voted for ratifying the amendment. He had reportedly received a note from his mother encouraging him to vote for womens suffrage. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, leaving only some bureaucracy left to certify it. It was bittersweet. Today is the day that is traditionally celebrated as the passage of the amendment, and yet there were ... many other women of color that did not get the right to vote because states put issues in front of them where they could not vote, Davis said. The womens suffrage movement, and a broader womens rights movement, began in the 1800s. It was a 72-year fight by suffragists to get the amendment passed. It was first introduced in 1878, and re-introduced, word-for-word, annually until passage, according to a news release. And it was another 45 years before people of color and other protected classes were guaranteed the right to vote in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 781,000 people worldwide. Over 22 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks. Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 5.4 million diagnosed cases and at least 171,823 deaths. Latest headlines: Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates. 11:28 a.m.: Florida's coronavirus death toll crosses 10,000 The Florida Department of Health recorded an additional 174 coronavirus-related fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 10,067. Florida had surpassed 9,000 total deaths just last Friday. PHOTO: Workers conduct COVID-19 tests at the Mexican Consulate's parking lot in Miami, Aug. 15, 2020. The consulate, in partnership with LAB24 Laboratories, is providing free coronavirus testing to Mexican citizens that reside in Miami. (Cristobal Herrera-ulashkevich/EPA via Shutterstock) The Sunshine State has become one of the worst-hit areas in the United States in recent weeks as COVID-19 infections there rise. Florida's Miami-Dade County has one of the highest tallies of confirmed cases in the nation, second only to California's Los Angeles County, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. What to know about coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map 10:37 a.m.: US will allow pharmacists to administer vaccines for kids The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will now allow state-licensed pharmacists to order and administer vaccines to children ages 3 to 18. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced the move Wednesday, an amendment to the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. Story continues "Todays action means easier access to lifesaving vaccines for our children, as we seek to ensure immunization rates remain high during the COVID-19 pandemic," Azar said in a statement. "The Trump administration has worked to allow pharmacists -- alongside all of Americas heroic healthcare workers -- to practice at the top of their license, empowering the public with more options to protect their health and well-being." There are several requirements in the small print. For example, the vaccine must be approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the licensed pharmacist must complete a special training program. PHOTO: A lab technician sorts blood samples for a COVID-19 vaccination study at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on Aug. 13, 2020. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) The Department of Health and Human Services said it decided to expand access to childhood vaccines to avoid preventable diseases in children, additional strains on the health care system and any further increase in avoidable adverse health consequences -- particularly if such complications coincide with an additional resurgence of COVID-19. "As a pediatric critical care physician who has treated critically ill children suffering from vaccine preventable diseases, I know first-hand the devastation to the child -- and to the family and community -- of a death or severe brain damage that could have been avoided by a safe and effective vaccine," Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health, said in a statement. "The cornerstone of public health, vaccines, makes these dreaded diseases preventable. As we expand options during the COVID-19 response, we are also reminding parents, grandparents and caretakers that there is no substitute for a critically important well-child visit with a pediatrician or other licensed primary care provider when available." 9:19 a.m.: Iran's coronavirus death toll tops 20,000 There were 168 additional coronavirus-related fatalities in Iran on Wednesday, bringing the country's death toll past 20,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. It's another grim milestone for the nation of 80 million people, which has the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the Middle East with more than 350,000 diagnosed cases. PHOTO: An Iranian woman wearing a face shield walks along a street in the capital of Tehran amid the coronavirus pandemic on Aug. 9, 2020. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images) Nevertheless, Iran still plans to hold university entrance exams for over 1 million students. The Islamic Republic is also preparing for mass commemorations at the end of the month for the ninth and tenth days of Muharram, which marks the start of the Islamic New Year. 7:15 a.m.: Pope warns against vaccine priority for the rich Pope Francis said Wednesday that a COVID-19 vaccine should be "for everyone" and not made a priority for the rich. "How sad it would be if for the COVID-19 vaccine priority is given to the richest," Francis said during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. "It would be sad," he added, "if the vaccine became property of such and such nation and not universal for everyone." PHOTO: Pope Francis speaks during his weekly general audience, held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, at the Vatican, on Aug. 19, 2020. (Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters) The pope noted how COVID-19 "has uncovered the plight of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world." "The pandemic is a crisis. You dont come out of it the same -- either better or worse," he said. "We must come out better. 6:34 a.m.: India records 1,092 more deaths India's health ministry recorded 1,092 additional coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide toll to 52,889. The latest single-day rise in fatalities is lower than India's record of 2,003 deaths reported on June 16. The country of 1.3 billion people has the world's fourth-highest death toll from COVID-19, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, according to a real-time tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. PHOTO: A health worker wearing personal protective equipment collects a swab sample from a child at a free COVID-19 testing center in Hyderabad, the capital of southern India's Telangana state, on Aug. 19, 2020. (Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images) More than 2.7 million people in India have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began -- the third-highest count in the world. Just four of the country's 28 states now account for 63% of total fatalities and 54.6% of cases, according to The Associated Press. The western state of Maharashtra and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the worst-hit regions, where the pandemic is devastating smaller cities and rural areas. 5:39 a.m.: 'We are not seeing a surge in community cases,' says New Zealand PM New Zealand reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, five of which were locally transmitted and are linked to a cluster of cases in the country's most populous city. The national total now stands at 1,299 cases, 96 of which are active, according to data published on the health ministry's website. PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces a new date for national elections, during a news conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 17, 2020. (Mark Mitchell/AP) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the latest figures were "encouraging." "At this stage, we are not seeing a surge in community cases," Ardern said at a press conference Wednesday. "We have not seen any new cases outside of that identified Auckland cluster." Health officials are still investigating how the outbreak in Auckland started after the country went 102 days without any local transmission. The new cluster of cases was discovered there last week, prompting authorities to impose a two-week lockdown in the region and to reschedule national elections. 4:45 a.m.: France will require face masks in offices starting next month France's labor ministry announced Tuesday that face masks will be required in enclosed shared office spaces starting Sept. 1, citing an "upsurge" in COVID-19 cases. Mask will not be mandatory in individual offices so long as only one person is present, the ministry said. PHOTO: French riot police officers watch residents wearing face masks in Marseille, southern France, on Aug.18, 2020. (Daniel Cole/AP) The wearing of face masks is already compulsory in public indoor spaces across France. Several cities, including Paris and Marseille, have imposed mask requirements in some outdoor areas, such as popular beaches. There were 2,238 new cases of COVID-19 identified in France on Tuesday, according to the health ministry, which is requiring on-the-spot tests for travelers coming from over a dozen nations with active virus circulation, including the United States. 3:50 a.m.: US reports more than 1,300 new deaths in a single day There were 44,813 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Tuesday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Tuesday's tally is well below the country's record set on July 16, when 77,255 new cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period. An additional 1,324 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded Tuesday -- a nearly threefold increase from the previous day but still under the record 2,666 new deaths that were reported on April 17. PHOTO: Steve Smith, a volunteer from the Medical Reserve Corps of Kansas City checks in people with appointments at a mobile testing site for the coronavirus, at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., on Aug. 17, 2020. (Christopher Smith/The New York Times via Redux) A total of 5,482,602 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 171,823 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July. While week-over-week comparisons show that the nationwide number of new cases has continued to decrease in recent weeks, the number of new deaths has increased, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, obtained by ABC News on Tuesday night. ABC News' Anne Flaherty, Ibtissem Guenfoud, Josh Margolin and Scott Withers contributed to this report. Coronavirus updates: Florida becomes 5th state with over 10,000 deaths originally appeared on abcnews.go.com New polling of likely Colorado voters released Thursday shows former Gov. John Hickenlooper opening up a lead over U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner on the strength of a wide advantage among unaffiliated voters just weeks before ballots are set to go out. A drug trafficking suspect who was detained in a prison in the northern province of Bac Kan has committed suicide by hanging himself just eight days before his trial, the provincial police confirmed on Tuesday. At 6:30 am on the same day, wardens at the provincial detention facility found out Gia Ba Mai, 28, who hailed from the north-central province of Nghe An, had hanged himself with a rope made from a blanket. After the discovery, the unconscious man was given first aid at the scene and rushed to Bac Kan General Hospital. However, Mai was pronounced dead at the hospital at around 7:35 am the same day. Mai allegedly tore apart his blanket and braided its pieces into a rope before tying it to the ventilation window of his cell door to make a noose, making it possible for him to commit suicide, according to police officers. In December 2019, he was caught carrying 55 bricks of heroin in Xuat Hoa Ward of Bac Kan Province. Six months later, Mai was indicted for illegal transport of narcotic substances, based on Article 250 of the Penal Code. The offense can be punishable by death. His trial was slated for August 26. Two other death-row inmates committed suicide inside their cell in the same prison early this month. Lang Van Van and Luong Van Bang used twines they had made from blankets and rush mats to hang themselves to death, four days after the duo was condemned to capital punishment for illegally transporting narcotics. Vietnam adopts a harsh stance against drug violators. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine can face the death penalty. Manufacturing or selling from 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were both at the heart of Paris Saint-Germain semi-final victory over RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday and there was no stopping them from celebrating. Neymar was signed by PSG in their major move to announce their Champions League intentions while Kylian Mbappe was brought in from Monaco to fulfill the same purpose. They are now just a match away from turning their dream into reality. PSG made their first-ever Champions League final in their 50-year history when they defeated RB Leipzig 3-0 in Lisbon. Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat got their names on the scoresheet as the team wrote a fresh chapter in the club's history. MATCH REPORT | HIGHLIGHTS Neymar and Mbappe, who are very close friends off the field, were seen celebrating the big victory in their dressing room. PSG posted a video on Twitter where Neymar can be heard singing that PSG have reached the final with Mbappe sitting beside him. The French superstar then joins the Brazilian in screaming "ole, ole". Mbappe also posted a couple of photographs on his Twitter account and did not sell short his intentions. He captioned the photographs as "ONE STEP TO MAKE HISTORY..." ONE STEP TO MAKE HISTORY... pic.twitter.com/Itq4Nupymi Kylian Mbappe (@KMbappe) August 18, 2020 Angel Di Maria was given the Man of the Match award for his scintillating show that involved one goal and two assists. During this match, Di Maria also became the second highest assist maker in the competition with 27 to his name. He has now also won all the 17 Champions League matches he has scored in. An immense contribution earns Angel Di Maria the #UCLMOTM award pic.twitter.com/jDWBRvtf4k UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 18, 2020 PSG are now hoping to become just the second French winner of the Champions League, 27 years after Marseille won the inaugural edition of the tournament. ALSO READ | PSG Reach First UEFA Champions League Final: All Statistics from the Match Bayern Munich and Lyon meet in the second semi-final on Thursday, the winner of which will take on PSG in Sunday's final. Rapper Kanye West's presidential campaign has run into trouble on his first day of attempting to get on the ballot in Wyoming after election officials said signature-gatherers were too close to polling stations. People who were gathering signatures for West and another presidential candidate for the upcoming election were stationed too close to polling stations, election officials said, the Associated Press reported. Police were called to polling locations in and around Cheyenne after election officials approached signature-gathers who were not staying 100 feet away from places. "Some of them became quite aggressive and refused to leave," Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee told the Associated Press. One concern about the signature-gathers at polling places in Wyoming was the signs that they carried. Ms Lee told the publication that one side had "registered voters sign here" on the front and then "Kanye West" on the back, with the concern voters would think they needed sign-up in order to vote. Similar violations were also reported in Casper. There were people also gathering signatures for candidate Brock Pierce, an entrepreneur from Minnesota who is running as an independent in the presidential election. West, a previous supporter of Donald Trump, announced he was running in the presidential election last month after years of teasing his interest in becoming president. His campaign filed paperwork on 15 July to the Federal Election Commission under what the rapper coined the "Birthday Party". He has since gained enough signatures to be on the ballot in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah. Minnesota and Wisconsin are two other states where West has submitted applications to appear on the ballot, but he experienced pushback from Wisconsin. Republicans in Wisconsin are reportedly hoping West could receive the same amount of votes as Gary Johnson did in 2016 107,000 votes as it could likely take away votes from Democratic candidate Joe Biden, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I CAN BEAT BIDEN OFF OF WRITE INS #2020VISION," West wrote in a tweet at the end of July. The impact West could have on the upcoming election will largely reside in swing states like Wisconsin. What that impact could be, depending on if he can get on the ballot for each state or garner write-in votes, won't be determined until after 3 November. West now has until next Monday to receive 4,025 valid signatures so he can be placed on Wyoming's ballot come November. The state might be a top priority for West, as he now owns and lives on a ranch in Cody. The launch of Apple Pay, Saudi Payments and the continued issuance of regulatory testing licenses and regulations by SAMA and CMA to support fintech activities are some of key developments in fintech over the last year in Saudi Arabia, a report said. The Fintech Saudi Annual Report 2019/20, which provides an overview of the development of the fintech industry in Saudi Arabia over the past year, highlights a number of key developments that have taken place to support the growth of the fintech industry. Director of Fintech Saudi, Nejoud Almulaik said 2019/20 had been a pivotal period for the fintech industry in the Kingdom. Despite the challenges of Covid-19 we have seen progression in regulations, infrastructure and an increasing number of investment rounds in fintech companies, which have built a solid foundation to support the emergence of a growing fintech industry in Saudi Arabia, that will contribute in a meaningful way to Vision 2030, he added. Within the community there have also been a number of major initiatives including the NCB / Monshaat fintech accelerator program and the launch of Riyad Banks fintech fund. Fintech Saudi has also continued to support the development of the fintech industry through initiatives including the Fintech Ecosystem Directory and the Fintech Jobs Portal to support fintech companies, the Fintech Regulatory Assessment Tool to provide greater regulation clarity and the Fintech Data & Research Initiative to support data driven innovation in fintech. The collective impact of these developments is contributing to the growth of an emerging fintech industry. The number of operating fintechs has increased 3-fold in a year, from 20 in 2019 to 60 this year, with over 100 fintech startups at the idea or pre-commercial stage. There has also been an increase in fundraising deals completed in Saudi fintechs for the year to date with the total investment amount already surpassing 2019 levels. This is building up to a fintech market in Saudi Arabia that, according to Statista, is expected to reach transaction values of over $33 billion by 2023. The Fintech Saudi Annual Report consists of a number of sections including an overview of the fintech industry by KPMG, the view from fintechs from MAGNiTT and interviews with the SAMA Regulatory Sandbox and the CMA FinTech Lab. Fintech Saudi is an initiative launched by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) in partnership with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to support the development of the Fintech Industry in Saudi Arabia. Fintech Saudis ambition is to transform Saudi Arabia into an innovative fintech hub with a thriving and responsible fintech ecosystem. TradeArabia News Service An Auburn University student was killed early Wednesday when he was hit by a train in Lee County. Coroner Bill Harris identified the student as 21-year-old Paul Warren Claborn of Guntersville. He is the second Alabama college student to die this week after being hit by a train. Auburn police about 1:10 a.m. Wednesday received a 911 call of someone being struck by a westbound CSX train, Harris said. Police, fire medics and East Alabama Medical Center EMS responded to the scene and found Claborn near the 300 block of Bragg Avenue near the tracks. Claborn was airlifted to Piedmont Regional Midtown Hospital in Columbus suffering from multiple blunt for injuries. He underwent surgery but was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m. Harris said the incident remains under investigation by the Auburn Police and the Lee County Coroner. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Auburn Police detectives at 334-501-3140, the tip line at 334-246-1391 or the Lee County Coroner Secret Witness line at 334-742-4339. On Saturday, a University of Alabama student died after he was struck by a train. Tuscaloosa police responded at 9:30 p.m. Saturday to the railroad track in the area of the 1200 block of East McFarland Boulevard, said Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy. The victim, whose name is not being released, was pronounced dead on the scene. Kennedy said the investigation showed the victim was alone at the time of the accident and no foul play is suspected. The University community is saddened by the unexpected death of a UA student, Director of Communications Deidre Stalnaker said in a statement released Monday. Out of respect for the student, the University is not releasing any details. Due to the coronavirus, many teens have been missing their proms, graduation ceremonies, daily routines and their friends. These missed events and social interactions are only adding to the additional stress many adolescents are facing amid the pandemic, health experts say. "A lot of my clients have been more depressed, more anxious, said Geovany Martinez, a bilingual social worker who treats at-risk clients in New York City and Yonkers, New York. Some feel isolated and lonely even as they might be stuck in crowded apartments, perhaps with difficult or abusive family members. Previous coping practices like seeing friends and playing sports are risky, Martinez said. And in a coronavirus hotspot that's also home to the nation's poorest congressional districtwhere many employed adults have to take public transit to essential jobs, while many who are no longer employed worry about paying for foodparents angst often filters down to their teenage children. Martinez works with the Westchester Jewish Community Services, a family mental health clinic that partners with Montefiore Health Systems in the Bronx. For teens in the New York City borough, mental health needs are both urgent and often unmet. MORE: Unemployment, isolation: COVID-19's mental health impact They're not alone: A 2019 analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly 40 percent of Americans live in areas with critical shortages of mental health professionals, with poor and rural areas the least well served. And in April of this year, the foundation predicted that negative mental health effects due to social isolation may be particularly pronounced among adolescents, who are already at risk for depression or suicidal ideation. Enter a potential game changer: the app. PHOTO: A young person is depicted using a cell phone in an undated stock photo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) I hate to say anythings great about the pandemic, Michelle Blackmore, a clinical psychologist and project director at Montefiores Behavioral Health Integration Program, said. But weve taken advantage of this time to really extend our use of telemedicine, video visits, and care-manager smartphone apps to help maintain connection with our patients beyond the walls of our offices. Story continues MORE: Tips for coping with mental health issues during pandemic During the pandemic, "there were so many barriers to getting patients in the door, said Blackmore. Youve got parents working multiple jobs, kids that have difficulty accessing transportation, parents being unable to find child care for the siblings, as well as the stigma of mental illness. FaceTiming with your therapist Montefiore uses a patient-engagement app from Valera Health that combines video therapy with standard screening and monitoring tools, educational materials and the ability to handle logistical tasks like setting up appointments into one encrypted, HIPPA-compliant platform. Patients are typically enrolled in Valera Health by their Montefiore behavioral specialists. Once enrolled, patients download the app and can use it to communicate directly with their therapist and case manager, bypassing both the automated phone trees and voicemail tag so common in health systems. In addition, therapists and psychiatrists are also able to use the platform to communicate with patients through chat or hold telehealth sessions. The first Montefiore pilot launched in late 2016 for a cohort of 1,000 patients at three primary care sites. Montefiore and its community partners like WJCS have since expanded to projects at over 25 sites, which include programs for outpatient behavioral health, to over 4,000 patients. Astoundingly, but not surprising, during the quarantine, teletherapy for mental health patients video sessions increased 2,000% over five months. MORE: 9 ways to boost your mental health as the coronavirus pandemic continues Cho Weng, a Valera program manager, recalls an instance when a case manager did an assessment by phone and the patient indicated nothing amiss. Later that day, though, the patient answered the same questions on the app, and that score indicated moderately severe depression. "The caseworker reached back out to the patient, and it turns out that he was uncomfortable actually answering this over the phone," Weng said. His multiple-choice answers on the app more accurately reflected his mental state. Adolescents are used to communicating through video calls, FaceTime, text messaging, Blackmore said. They're much more comfortable communicating with us through the way that they typically communicate with their friends, family members. When a therapist reaches out to them, she explains, it looks like a FaceTime call. They just hit accept. PHOTO: Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center medical staff stand outside of the emergency room bay, April 9, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images, FILE) Blackmore finds the apps screening tools particularly helpful. Patients receive daily, weekly and monthly multiple-choice questionnaires designed to flag problems. They fill out the questionnaires at a convenient time and place, and therapists review the responses and consider what intervention, if any, is called for. Angela Chen, a pediatric psychologist at Montefiore until mid-May, said the coronavirus quarantine had forced her to treat almost all of her mental health patients, many of them in their teens, by phone. 'Sign me up' Quite a few of my adolescent patients had been asking me when we can start moving onto video, she said, and when I mentioned that we were rolling this out, they were very enthusiastic and they said, Okay, sign me up. MORE: Poverty, pollution and neglect: How the Bronx became a coronavirus 'formula for disaster' The app also allows the therapist or caseworker to view the patients responses over time, detecting trends in mood or behavior. One byproduct of this feature, Blackmore has found, is that patients themselves are now much more mindful about how they're doing. It gives them a sense of agency and it makes the right thing to do the easy thing to do, she said. Dr. Brian Hurley, Director of Addiction Medicine for Los Angeles County, said that he's "glad to have" teletherapy as "an option for my own patients," while acknowledging that in-person examinations are preferable. But during the pandemic, "the genuine drawbacks in behavioral health care delivered via telehealth are more than compensated for by the increased access permitted through these platforms." Recent studies have documented that virtual mental health can be effective. Researchers from around the world, including UCLA, found that online cognitive behavioral therapy is "effective, acceptable and practical health care." The study found it was effective for major depression, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. But not everyone is a fan of this techno-therapy. Video-chat therapy, detractors say, obscures facial cues and body language, curtails empathy, inhibits trust, and generally interferes with human perception. Therapists and patients alike report that its confoundingly exhausting. And the experiences aren't created equal. MORE: Study finds high rates of positive COVID-19 tests in low-income NYC neighborhoods "There are a few populations in which it may be preferable to having in-person care (e.g., autism spectrum, severe anxiety disorders, geriatric patients with physical limitations, those with significant geographical obstacles)," Dr. Arpan Waghray, System Medical Director for telepsychiatry of Providence Health, told ABC News. In the real world, the number of mental health professionals doesnt begin to meet the need, would-be patients often wait months for treatment, and many others dont receive treatment at all. Unfortunately, access to mental health care, has always been a problem and is a privilege for some and not a right for many, said Dr. Henry Chung, Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. For Martinez, the relationship between his patients and him is like Batman and Robin. "For every superhero you have a sidekick that provides additional support, strength, and wisdom to any challenge. The ability to collaborate and listen to each other is unbreakable. I think teletherapy/digital solutions symbolizes that connection." Under these circumstances, even purists might concede that video therapy is not the enemy. Dr. Jay Bhatt is a practicing internist, an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow and an ABC News contributor. Teletherapy meets teens where they live: On-screen originally appeared on abcnews.go.com At a press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (R), his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud renewed criticism of Israeli policy on the Palestinians Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would not follow the United Arab Emirates and establish diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state had sealed a peace accord with the Palestinians. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters on a visit to Berlin that "peace must be achieved with the Palestinians" on the basis of international agreements as a condition for any normalisation of relations with Israel. "Once that is achieved all things are possible," he said. The surprise Israel-UAE deal last week is only the third such accord Israel has struck with an Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, and raises the prospect of similar accords with other pro-Western Gulf states. Until now, Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy, has maintained a conspicuous silence over the deal, but local officials have hinted that Riyadh is unlikely to immediately follow in the footsteps of its principle regional ally despite US pressure. At a news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Prince Faisal reiterated criticism of Israel's "unilateral policies" of annexation and building settlements in the West Bank as "illegitimate" and "detrimental" to a two-state solution. As part of the landmark deal, Israel agreed to suspend the annexation of occupied West Bank territories, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the plan was not off the table in the long run. Palestinians protested the deal as a betrayal by a major player in the Arab world, which has broadly held that normal ties with Israel are only possible once the dispute with the Palestinians is resolved. Prince Faisal noted that Saudi Arabia had sponsored 2002 Arab peace initiatives holding out the prospect of a normalisation of ties with Israel but said Riyadh now saw no road to diplomatic relations without a Palestinian peace deal. dlc/mfp/bp Amer Fakhoury, a Lebanese-born naturalized American citizen who was detained for months in Beirut on charges of torturing Lebanese prisoners decades ago during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, died on Monday in Boston. He was 57. Mr. Fakhoury, who owned a Lebanese restaurant in Dover, N.H., had been found to have late-stage lymphoma while held in Lebanon and died at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, his family said. Mr. Fakhoury, who became a United States citizen last year, was arrested and detained in Beirut in September, days after he had returned to Lebanon for the first time in 20 years to see family. He was charged with having overseen the torture of fellow Lebanese decades ago as a member of a Christian-dominated militia and collaborating with Israeli forces during their 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, charges he denied. In March, after U.S. government efforts to secure his release, Mr. Fakhoury was freed from jail when a judge ruled that the statute of limitations for prosecuting him had expired. This article is part of our continuing Fast Forward series, which examines technological, economic, social and cultural shifts that happen as businesses evolve. When Carrie Shaw was a freshman at the University of North Carolina, her mother, then 49, learned she had early-stage Alzheimers disease. I was really scared of my moms diagnosis, said Ms. Shaw, founder and chief executive of the Los Angeles-based Embodied Labs, an immersive educational technology company that uses virtual reality software to train health care professionals who work with older adults. I had that avoidance reaction to let the family figure it out without me, she said. So after I graduated, I joined the Peace Corps for a two-year stint in the Dominican Republic. I wanted to help and serve, but didnt know how to in my own family. In an apparent coup attempt, Mali soldiers have arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and holding the two leaders hostage at a military camp near the capital Bamako. According to international media reports, the apparent mutiny began on Tuesday, August 18 with the arrest of several ministers and high-ranking officers. It is believed that the mutiny is related to the financial grievances of the servicemen. Read: China Slams Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen For Opening Office In Self-declared Country Somaliland Mali leaders 'arrested' As the news broke, African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat tweeted in support of the arrested Mali leaders and condemned their arrest while calling for their immediate release. [Read] @_AfricanUnion Commission Chairperson @AUC_MoussaFaki strongly condemns the forced detention of the President of #Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian Government and calls for their immediate release. @ https://t.co/r7wRg02Ppm pic.twitter.com/3bPY6FWzAV African Union (@_AfricanUnion) August 18, 2020 Four disgruntled military officials are reportedly responsible for the mutiny and the Mali government has issued a statement wherein they have called for an open channel of communication with the rebels. According to reports, mass demonstrations are currently taking place on the streets of Malis capital. A spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has claimed that the UN chief is monitoring the developing conditions in Mali very closely. Read: Somalia: Security Forces End Deadly Siege At Mogadishu Hotel; At Least 15 Dead As per reports, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has stated that The Secretary-General calls on all Malians to preserve the integrity of the countrys democratic institutions, and we affirm that together with ECOWS, the African Union, the European Union and other partners, the United Nations will continue to accompany Malians in their efforts to consolidate peace and democracy. Civilians are reported to have surrounded Bamakos independent monument, and a building owned Malis Minister of Justice has been set on fire and looted. The news of unrest in Malis capital was preceded by reports of an attempted mutiny in a military camp 15 kilometres from the city. Mali President Keita has been facing growing public dissent in the country after the countrys top court overturned the results from a parliamentary election the results of which were disputed. (With agency inputs) Read: Israel And United Arab Emirates Sign Landmark Deal To Normalise Diplomatic Relations Read: Mali Opposition Dismiss Latest Gesture By W. African Leaders Floyd Welch, the Navy hero who saved dozens of fellow sailors during the attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 99. Welch died peacefully at his home in East Lyme, Connecticut on Monday, his family said. He was one of the last known survivors of the attack. Welch, who was born in February 1921 in Burlington, Connecticut, was serving aboard the USS Maryland on December 7, 1941, when the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor came under attack by Japan. He has said he was coming out of the shower on that Sunday morning when he heard muffled thumps and the ship's 'fire and rescue' alarm. Puzzled, Welch and his shipmates at first thought a drill might be underway -- but then the 'general quarters' alarm sounded, signalling everyone to battle stations, and the loud explosions of bombs and torpedoes rocked the battleship. It was not a drill. Scroll down for video Floyd Welch, one of the last survivors of the battle of Pearl Harbor, died at his home in East Lyme, Connecticut, on Monday. He was 99 Welch was serving aboard the USS Maryland (left) on December 7, 1941 when he helped rescue dozens of men from the overturned USS Oklahoma (right) by cutting through the hull Welch scrambled through the ship's maze of corridors, and when he came on deck, he saw the raging fire and the overturned dreadnought USS Oklahoma next to the Maryland. Hundreds of men were in the flaming, oil-slick water after abandoning ship -- and hundreds more had either been killed instantly or were trapped aboard the Oklahoma. Leaping into action, Welch helped pull survivors from the Oklahoma out of the water. Those survivors who were able immediately began manning the Maryland's anti-aircraft batteries to repel the incoming waves of Japanese bombers and Zeros. Welch and his shipmates then led a daring rescue mission, climbing onto the capsized Oklahoma, where they heard tapping coming from inside the ship. The USS Oklahoma floats capsized near the USS Maryland. Welch joined a daring rescue mission to cut through the hull of the Oklahoma to save trapped sailors inside View from Ford Island of the burning battleship USS California, at the back the USS Maryland and other battleships which were badly hit in the Attack on Pearl Harbor 'By using blueprints of the Oklahoma, so as not to burn into a fuel void, we began the long and extremely difficult process of cutting holes through the bottom steel plates of the Oklahoma,' he wrote in a remembrance of the battle. 'When we could see the planes coming, we would try to find cover. We would cut near where we heard the trapped crewmen tapping. In all, I believe 33 men from the Oklahoma were rescued through these holes.' The attack killed more than 2,400 people, including 17 from Connecticut, according to the Pearl Harbor visitors bureau. Floyd served on the Maryland for the entire war, earning numerous honors, including American Defense Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with three stars, the Good Conduct Medal and the United States Navy Constitution Medal. 'His was just a remarkable story of bravery, discipline and dedication,' U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said. Unidentified crew members of Welch's battleship, the USS Maryland, are seen eating a meal in mess hall on board in 1939 U.S. Navy veteran Floyd Welch attends the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park Dedication Ceremony on Dec. 6, 2018, in New Haven, Connecticut. He passed away on Monday U.S. Navy veteran Floyd Welch, left, speaks to Connecticut National Guard Maj. Gen, Fran Evon as they attend the Pearl Harbor Memorial Park Dedication Ceremony on December 6, 2018 'He lived the word `hero in his actions, not just words and gave it real meaning. He was a hero, not just in his dedication and bravery, but also in the result of his actions, which was to save lives,' Blumenthal said. After leaving the Navy in January 1946, Welch worked as an alarm installer, a farmer and a milkman, before opening a construction company, Welch & Son, which built road infrastructures, foundations, and drainage systems throughout the Northeast. Welch, who served for a time as an officer in the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, was a guest of honor in 2016 at the 75th Pearl Harbor Survivors Memorial Ceremony in Hawaii. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie, six children, 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. The family said a private graveside funeral service is planned. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency as firefighters across the state battle an outbreak of wildfires amid dangerous temperatures amid the historic West Coast heat wave and sustained high winds. 'We are deploying every resource available to keep communities safe as California battles fires across the state during these extreme conditions,' the Governor said in the emergency proclamation. 'California and its federal and local partners are working in lockstep to meet the challenge and remain vigilant in the face of continued dangerous weather conditions,' he added. The Governor earlier this week secured Fire Management Assistance Grants ?(FMAGs) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to bolster the state's response to fires burning in Napa, Nevada and Monterey counties. He also signed an emergency proclamation and executive order to address impacts of the heat wave - to free up energy capacity and reduce the need for temporary energy service disruptions. The proclamation temporarily allows some energy users and utilities to use backup energy sources to relieve pressure on the grid during peak times during the energy emergency. Earlier, Ransom convened a meeting with California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and senior administration officials as the state and the entire West Coast anticipates serious power shortages as the heat wave intensifies over the coming week. Following the meeting, he sent a letter to CAISO, the CPUC and CEC demanding an investigation into the service disruptions that occurred over the weekend and the energy agencies' failure to predict and mitigate them. Separately, the Office of the Governor advised people in the state to avoid using major appliances and set their thermostat to 78 or higher from 3 to 10 pm to prevent service interruptions. 'We're having a record-setting heatwave and it's putting pressure on California's energy grid,' the Office said on Twitter. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Promoting Digital RMB to Circumvent US Sanctions US President Trump called it terrible that the CCP is damaging freedom of the press in Hong Kong. It has also been reported that the US is looking to step up economic action against China. Media reports that the U.S. may kick the CCP out of the US dollar payment system SWIFT, accelerating the US-China financial decoupling. Trump said: I hate to see what happened in Hong Kong because freedom is a great thing. Current affairs critic Yang Feng said: (Because) the timing is not in Beijings hands. It is up to when the U.S. wants to do this, kicking China out of the U.S. dollar settlement system. The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Cuba, cutting off their foreign exchange deposits. Chinas four major state-owned banks, which account for 50% of Chinas foreign dollar transactions, may become targets of sanctions. This has made the CCP authorities extremely worried. On Aug. 14, the Ministry of Commerce of the CCP expanded the scale of digital RMB pilot projects to 28 urban areas in China, covering 400 million people. However, digital RMB is not Bitcoin decentralization, but currency centralization every transaction made can be traced by the authorities. 'This Is A Great Verdict; I Am So Thrilled,' Says Kangana Ranaut Hailing SSR warriors, Kangana Ranaut told Republic TV, "Congratulations to you. I want to congratulate the SSR warriors. This is a great verdict. I am so thrilled, We just wanted a fair probe in the matter and today we have witnessed history." Kangana Says No One Will Face The Same Fate Like Divya Bharti, Sridevi The actress continued, "I was following everything, every detail of the case and I want to say that we may have had many individuals who suffered the same like Sushant but now people of India has awaken, no one will face the same fate, like Divya Bharti, Sridevi, etc. Now they (movie mafias) are scared of the power of people." Kangana Says Powerful Mafia Will Be Threatened Now Kangana said that while powerful mafia functions in every field, they will be now threatened after this verdict as they have seen what a campaign can do. Supreme Court's Verdict On Sushant's Death Case For those who don't know, the Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court further said that any other FIR related to Sushant's death case will also be probed by the CBI. Sushant's family members, fans and many celebrities hailed Supreme Court's judgement. By Alan Novak and T.J. Rooney Our country is in the midst of turmoil and political unrest. Many Americans have never lived through a time in which our country has felt this divided and fractured. Not only has the political process broken down and become more partisan than ever before, we are physically separated from one another because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As the former leaders of the Pennsylvania Republican Party and Pennsylvania Democratic Party, we know that over the next few months, a simple right we are all guaranteed by the Constitution the right to vote will face scrutiny and come under attack. There are efforts, mainly from influences outside Pennsylvania, that are trying to claim voting by mail favors one political party over the other. There are some who claim that voting by mail is ripe for fraud and abuse, and others who have even gone so far as to suggest that the election should be delayed until the pandemic is over. Let us be clear: All of these allegations are simply not true. Mail-in ballots provide individuals with a safe and secure method to cast their vote, and voting this way does not provide an advantage to either Republicans or Democrats, a point made clearly by several independent studies. For example, Pennsylvanias primary election in June was the first time voters had the opportunity to utilize the new mail-in ballot option. More than 1.4 million voters took advantage of mail-in and absentee ballots, marking the first time that mailed in votes surpassed in-person voting in Pennsylvania. If June is any indication of what we should expect in November, the surge in mail-in ballots might mean that it could take days to tabulate votes, which is OK. Elections arent about speed but accuracy, and we need to ensure every vote counts. However, because of the high volume of mail-in ballots expected in November, state lawmakers are considering provisions to allow counties to pre-canvass the ballots they receive. Pre-canvassing isnt vote counting. Pre-canvassing simply allows counties to open envelopes, flatten and stack the ballots, and then lock them up securely, so results can be determined more quickly once tabulation begins on election day. We cannot ignore science and facts. More than 170,000 Americans have lost their lives since the pandemic began. This virus isnt just dangerous, its deadly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pennsylvania Department of Health officials have repeatedly told us that individuals with underlying medical conditions and those over the age of 60 are at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and developing complications. If standing in line to vote on Nov. 3 jeopardizes the health of fellow Pennsylvanians our grandparents, parents and neighbors why wouldnt we encourage them to vote by mail if it helps to safeguard them against this virus? Voting by mail also helps to limit long lines at polling places and crowded spaces on election day, which protects those who volunteer to serve as poll workers. Toward that end, we have full confidence and trust in our county election officials. So much so, that we both plan to vote by mail this November. We know they are working tirelessly to ensure that mail-ballots, as well as altered in-person polling locations, are safe and secure, should voters choose that option. Exercising your constitutional right to vote is always a good thing, regardless of the modality by which you vote. We are living in an unprecedented time, and voting by mail will allow the continuity of our government and democracy to continue uninterrupted. T.J. Rooney is a former state representative from Bethlehem and a former chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. Alan Novak is a former chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. They are members of VoteSafe Pa a diverse coalition comprised of former elected officials, community leaders, nonprofit organizations and election experts working to ensure that every Pennsylvanian feels safe to vote in the upcoming general election. Advertisers buying TV ads, print ads, radio ads have for many decades had control over which programs or which pieces their ads appear next to or within, Mr. Hovaness said. Now that social advertising is a major portion of a lot of our clients budgets, having control over adjacency is just something that we see as essential as the ecosystem matures. Omnicom Media Group, known as OMG, has demanded that Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies do more than make promises that ads will be kept away from inappropriate content. It wants the big digital platforms to put systems in place to make sure that online ads will appear where companies are comfortable, and it wants proof that the systems work. Mr. Hovaness also said that the reports on ad placement and ad performance provided by the tech companies were insufficient and should be supplemented by independent quarterly audits. Greater control of ad placement and the independent measurement of ad performance were included in a list of proposals submitted recently to tech companies by the Council on Accountable Social Advertising, a lobbying group formed by OMG, along with dozens of clients, including Clorox. Facebook, Reddit, Snap, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube have agreed to most of the proposals in principle, and OMG is monitoring the platforms to see if they update their practices. (Photo : Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Unveils Company's New Manned Spacecraft, The Dragon V2 HAWTHORNE-CA-MAY 29: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils the company's new manned spacecraft, The Dragon V2, designed to carry astronauts into space during a news conference on May 29, 2014, in Hawthorne, California. The private spaceflight company has been flying unmanned capsules to the Space Station delivering cargo for the past two years. The Dragon V2 manned spacecraft will ferry up to seven astronauts to low-Earth orbit. (Photo : REUTERS/Joe Skipper ) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken lifts off during NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., May 30, 2020. CEO Elon Musk has gathered fresh funding amounting to nearly $2 billion for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX. This raises the company valuation to $46 billion. As first reported by Bloomberg, SpaceX has expanded the size of the round due to strong demand, weeks after the successful launching astronauts who orbited to the International Space Station. According to PitchBook, the recent round was oversubscribed reaching $1.9 billion, the biggest yet for SpaceX. Musk only needs to confirm the regulatory filings submitted on Friday, August 14, which would increase SpaceX's valuation to $46 billion. Bloomberg Brokerage giant Fidelity Investments was one of the biggest players in the latest round, increasing its existing investments in the company. Morgan Stanley analysts recently projected that the space economy will be worth at least $1.1 trillion in 2040 after "a string of remarkable feats by SpaceX." The firm noted that the surge of interest from investors in space economy may exceed the "autonomous car frenzy" between 2016 and 2017. SpaceX has recently completed its most prominent mission yet after the two NASA astronauts returned to Earth earlier this month after their successful journey to the ISS. It was the first manned mission from American soil since 2011. The two astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, safely arrived back home on August 2 after SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. This momentous event was also the space agency's first water landing since 1975. "This day heralds a new age of space exploration," Musk said in front of a small group gathered after the successful mission. This event is now the highlight of Musk's 18-year track record for his space exploration company. SpaceX will launch a bigger group as soon as September as the company prepares for opening tourist flights to the ISS as early as 2021 if the next crewed missions work well. Read also: Elon Musk Admits He Prayed for the Success of the SpaceX ISS Mission in an Emotional Speech SpaceX Bags New Contract with US Government Meanwhile, the company received another $316 million contract with the U.S. government to launch military satellites into orbit that will begin in 2022. SpaceX has beaten Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin for this defense contract with the Air Force on August 7. Bezos' Amazon has recently launched its own satellite internet network. this may trigger a series of battles for government contracts between the two billionaires. However, Musk's SpaceX may have an advantage as it has been launching satellites in recent months, aside from the recent crewed mission success. With nearly 700,000 potential clients in the U.S., SpaceX seeks for FCC approval to increase its satellites from the current 1 million to 5 million. As of Tuesday, Musk's net worth is at nearly $85 billion, becoming the fourth richest person after the August 17 surge in Tesla's stock by 11%, adding $8 billion on the CEO's net worth. With $84.8 billion net worth, Musk is a few billion behind Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and world's richest man Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Read also: Tesla's Elon Musk: "I Really Couldn't Care Less" CEO's Rise to 4th Richest Man Is Focused on ONE Thing This is owned by Tech Times. Written by CJ Robles 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. LOS ANGELESLittle Caprice tells AVN she and her partner Marcello Bravo now produce 11 different exclusive series for her official website. Each week we present a different series, so the customers get always different styles of porn and never get tired of it, says Little Caprice, who is the 2020 AVN Female Foreign Performer of the Year from the Czech Republic. Caprice and Marcello, who launched LittleCaprice-Dreams.com four years ago, are also becoming prolific in production, too, shooting new scenes regularly in Europe with some of the regions top performers, not to mention a few from North America on occasion. Today they debuted a documentary-style scene with rising Canadian star Sky Pierce from their Porn Lifestyle and POV Dreams lines. We met the gorgeous Sky Pierce at the last AVN [in Las Vegas in January] and some weeks ago we asked her to produce some content for our Porn Lifestyle series, Little Caprice explains. With this series we show our members behind the scenes and backstage reports on events, photoshoots, holidays and the talents in a very private way. Because of COVID we cant book USA talents in EU as you know, so Sky shot for our series during a photoshoot she had in Canada. In the future we would love to bring her and also other USA stars over and shoot them for our exclusive series. Caprice and Marcello built some momentum this summer, cranking up their production value while releasing a variety of updates that showcase their expanding range of content as producer/performers. In a late July update, Little Caprice took on Vince Carter in a scene called Toy Boy for their Xpervo series that was produced, directed and edited by Bravo. This scene is really amazing with great editing and a great location, Caprice says, revealing they shot in Vienna, Austria. In the build-up to the sex, Caprice donned only a black jacket and lingerie before slipping behind the wheel of a red Mercedes AMG GTS Edition 1. Marcello created again a masterpiece, Caprice says. We shot photos for four hours and then to make the trailer with the car it was two extra hours in the night. Marcello edited the full video in six hours. He is really fast. For USA productions we shoot always one-and-a-half days for the same results. In another recent update from their Nassty series called Ice Ice Baby, Little Caprice and Lika Star get a special delivery from the ice cream man (Bravo) in more ways than one. Bravo not only directed and edited the scene, he also did the honors with Caprice and Lika. Its always difficult for us to direct and be in front of the camera, but it works and we do a really good job, we guess, Caprice says humbly. Caprice and Marcello now have shot more than 80 models in their productions that include the following series: WeCumtoYou - swingers Caprice Casting - performers from around the world Caprice Divas - solo and lesbians Nassty - couples, threesomes and anal POVDreams - point of view PornLifestyle - holiday reports, travelogues, behind the scenes Public Sex - sex in public places SuperPrivate - private clips from our models SexLesson - tips and tricks for sex Virtual Reality - VR videos Xpervo - sweet girls who want to get punished A former fashion and solo erotic model who was born and raised in Brno, Czech Republic, Caprice met Marcello in 2012 at the Venus Berlin Expo in Germany. She was already known for her work for websites such as Met-Art, X-Art, Sex-Art, WowGirls, Marc Dorcel, Femjoy, Joymii and Nubiles, among others. Marcello, meanwhile, traveled the world as a professional dancer and acrobat prior to starting his porn career. The couple's debut scene together was for X-Art.com, where they performed as an exclusive couple for more than four years. Now Caprice's site has more than 2000 members. This year we created a lot of amazing scenes and we are super happy with our production, Caprice says. We are still a low-cost production with big results. Its only me, Marcello, one camera guy and one retoucher ... and one tech guy for the website. So its crazy because we get so many hack attacks all day and its very difficult to keep them away but we are fighting. Caprice says she and Marcello are still full in love and happy with our lives. And we love our job. We love to create and produce and we are really happy to be a part in the adult industry! she adds. What can be better than a producer and porn actor? There is not one day when we wake up and dont like to work or go to shoot! Not many people have this in their normal life with the regular job!" P resident John F. Kennedy's only grandson found himself well and truly in the social media spotlight after he and his mother spoke out to back Joe Biden for US President. Jack Schlossberg, 27, appeared alongside Caroline Kennedy at the virtual Democratic National Convention to endorse Mr Biden as the party's nominee, saying the country "needed" the former Vice President. During his appearance, Mr Schlossberg recalled his grandfather's speech nomination for president in 1960, adding: "It was a call for the young at heart, regardless of age or party. The themes of my grandfathers speech courage, unity, and patriotism are as important today as they were in 1960. "Once again, we need a leader who believes Americas best days are yet to come." Jack Schlossberg speaking with his mother at the convention / DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION/ AFP But some people appeared to be more taken by Mr Schlossberg himself, with the young man soon becoming the unlikely star of the convention. Twitter users were quick to note not only the resemblance to his late uncle John F. Kennedy Jr, who died in 1999, but also to gush over his "attractive" looks. Other suggested that the 27-year-old, a Yale and Harvard graduate, could be a future Democratic political star, with some suggesting he could even be a future president. One person said: "Why has no one told me how insanely hot Jack Shlossberg is? Is he single? Asking for me." Another said: "my main takeaway from #DemConvention JACK. SCHLOSSBERG". One commented: "John Bouvier Kennedy "Jack" Schlossberg is hot. The Kennedys have good genes." Several people were amazed by the likeness between him and his uncle, with one commenting: "Wow Jack Schlossberg can you say JFK JR reincarnate". Another took to social media to say: "I was not prepared for the strong resemblance of Jack Schlossberg to JFK, Jr., so handsome", while another said his resemblance to his mother's brother had made them "gasp". In his speech, Mr Schlossberg also referred to his grandfather's "ask not what your country can do for you" quote. He also told the youth of America that the election will "define the rest of our lives". "We need to tackle climate change. We need to end systemic racial injustice. We need to make healthcare available for everybody," he added. "And we need to rebuild an economy that helps working families. "We can do this. We can reach new frontiers only with a president who asks what he can do with our country." The Democratic National Convention began on Monday after party members were forced to hold the event over video call due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of holding a four-day conference in Milwaukee, the virus forced them to deliver a two-hour-a-night virtual meet up which has been broadcast across the world. Father Tim Bartlett has been offering blessings on the street during lockdown (Liam McBurney/PA) The leaders of the main churches across the island of Ireland have united to recommend the wearing of face coverings during worship. In a joint statement, the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Presbyterians and Methodists said while governments on both sides of the border have not made face coverings compulsory at services, they recommend they are worn. As churches we are committed to maintaining two metre physical distancing between household groups and strict adherence to all government guidance on hand hygiene, cleaning, ventilation etc, the church leaders said in a statement. Expand Close The wearing of face masks is mandatory in shops (Liam McBurney/PA PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The wearing of face masks is mandatory in shops (Liam McBurney/PA It, however, remains our responsibility to ensure that our services of worship are safe places for all who join with us. It has become increasingly clear that the wearing of face coverings, in conjunction with hand washing etc, is likely to reduce the spread of coronavirus, thus helping to protect others. Their use is therefore one way in which we can evidence protection for the most vulnerable, support for our health workers, and practical love for our neighbours. Following further recent consultations with public health authorities, we join with Christian church leaders all over this island in formally recommending and encouraging the use of face coverings at all services of worship, along with the ongoing maintenance of two metre physical distancing, from Sunday August 30, 2020, and earlier if practicable. Expand Close Father Paddy McCafferty hears a socially distanced confession in West Belfast during lockdown (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Father Paddy McCafferty hears a socially distanced confession in West Belfast during lockdown (Niall Carson/PA) The statement added: We understand that some people are exempted from the wearing of face coverings, as outlined in the two jurisdictions. We also recognise that whilst it may not be appropriate for those who are leading from the front during worship, including preaching, to wear face coverings, they should at all times continue to maintain at least two metre physical distancing from one another, and four metre physical distancing from the front row of the congregation. The statement was endorsed by the Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin, Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell, Presbyterian Moderator David Bruce and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland Tom McKnight. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: Uzbekistan plans to vaccinate the population against flu and pneumonia, said Uzbek epidemiologist Rustam Ikramov who is working at the national headquarters for the fight against coronavirus, Trend reports referring to Coronavirus-Info Telegram Channel. According to Ikramov, annual growth of airborne diseases is observed in autumn and winter. He added that citizens should not worry, as epidemiological preparation for the autumn-winter season is underway at the state level. The epidemiologist noted that the government of Uzbekistan develops measures to import vaccines and establish vaccination points at the local level. As Uzbek media report, countrys government is studying the possibility of using COVID-19 vaccines created in Russia and China following Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instruction to study the possibility to purchase COVID-19 vaccines abroad. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has voiced Bakus firm support for Turkey over the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Azerbaijani side firmly supports all steps of brotherly Turkey, which has historically played a significant role in the development and progress of the Mediterranean region, to ensure peace and stability in the region based on international law and we hope that the current tensions will be resolved soon, Abdullayeva said in a presser on August 19. Commenting on the Armenian Foreign Ministrys statement on the Eastern Mediterranean, Abdullayeva said that attempts by third parties to use the situation as an opportunity for their hostile and biased approach to the countries of the region must be resolutely rejected. The position and statements of the Armenian side, which contain groundless accusations against Turkey, should be condemned and rejected as an attempt to abuse the sensitive situation in the Mediterranean for its own narrow political interests, Abdullayeva said. Earlier, on August 17, Azerbaijans presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev also said that Armenian Foreign Ministrys recent statement on the Eastern Mediterranean is ultimate hypocrisy and Yerevans attempt to interfere in matters unrelated to it. Hajiyev said that Turkey operates in the Eastern Mediterranean in accordance with the norms and principles of international law and its national interests. He noted that the mooring of the Oruc Rais seismic vessel at its destination is in full compliance with the law. We unequivocally support Turkey's position. Turkey is protecting its rights and interests in the region in accordance with international law, he stressed. The Eastern Mediterranean crisis is a diplomat dispute between the Mediterranean coastal countries, mainly Turkey and Greece, over the gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, which emerged on February 6 in 2018. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The Delhi Polices special cell team arrested a 19-year-old suspected criminal, the son of gangster Manoj Bakkarwala, after a brief chase and exchange of bullets in outer Delhis Prahladpur near Shahbad Dairy in the early hours of Wednesday. The arrested criminal, Ashish Bakkarwala, had been released from Delhis Tihar Jail in April as part of the Delhi governments move to decongest prisons to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). He was in jail for committing a murder, senior police officers associated with the early morning operation said. Five bullets were exchanged between the special cell sleuths and Ashish, who suffered a bullet injury in the right leg and has been admitted to a government hospital, where he is being treated. Of the three bullets Ashish fired, one hit the bulletproof vest of a sub-inspector, who escaped unhurt, senior special cell officers said. Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said that after being released as part of the prisons decongestion move, Ashish attempted to extort two persons for 1 crore each and shot at them in outer Delhis Bakkarwala near Mundka in May. The gangster father-son duo belongs to the Bakkarwala locality in outer Delhi. The city police had announced a reward of 1 lakh on Ashishs arrest. Ashish was wanted for both cases. On Tuesday, our team received information that he would be coming to Prahladpur area to kill someone. Accordingly, we laid a trap, and around 4am, spotted Ashish riding a scooter. Our team members asked him to surrender. But he opened fire in a bid to flee. Our officers fired in self-defence and one bullet hit Ashishs right leg. We overpowered him and admitted him to a hospital, said DCP Yadav. A special cell officer, who is not authorised to speak to the media, said on condition of anonymity that Ashish committed the two serious crimes within an hour on the night of May 17. Around 10pm, Ashish and his associate went to the house of a property dealer in Bakkarwala, fired two shots in the air and threw down a piece of paper asking the property dealer to pay 1 crore and threatening him of dire consequences, the officer said, quoting the contents of the first information report registered on the complaint of the property dealer, who is constructing a school in the neighbourhood. Within an hour, the officer said, Ashish went to an under-construction hospital site in the same locality, put a gun to a security guards head and asked him to inform the hospital owner to arrange 1 crore as protection money. Both the cases were registered at the Mundka police station. According to the officer, to avoid arrest, Ashish hid out in Punjab and Haryana and visited Delhi only to extort people for money or commit other crimes. Ashish entered the world of crime while he was a juvenile. He has been involved in at least six other crimes, including a murder. We are collecting details, the officer added. Between mid-2000 and 2012, Manoj Bakkarwala ruled Delhis crime world and was involved in more than 300 cases of carjacking and vehicle thefts. Manoj, who allegedly started his criminal career in 1998, was first arrested the same year. Manoj has escaped from police custody on at least three occasions and is reportedly on the run. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Putin, Trump to Meet If Arms Control Deal Reached, US Special Envoy for Arms Control Says Sputnik News 14:58 GMT 18.08.2020 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump would meet if the Russian and US negotiators reach an arms control deal, but no preparations for such a meeting are in works at present, US Special Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea told reporters on Tuesday. "The two presidents, I presume, would like to get together and if we do have a good deal here, that could be the focus of a meeting," Billingslea said. The Special Envoy noted citing earlier White House statements that no preparations for a Putin-Trump meeting are currently underway. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday that his meeting with Marshall Billingslea in Vienna had been productive, but serious differences remained. "The negotiations took place with a deep immersion in the matter, the Russian-US negotiations provided an opportunity for a business-like and substantive conversation, the parties managed to avoid mentoring and concentrate on a pragmatic exchange of views. Nevertheless, the priorities of the US and Russia at this stage are very different," Ryabkov said, as quoted by Russian Permanent Representative in Vienna to International Organizations Mikhail Ulyanov on Twitter. Moscow is not ready to extend the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) at any cost, Ryabkov said. "Russia favours extending the New START, but is not ready to pay any price for it," he said. Moscow urges the US to focus on bilateral negotiations on a future of the New START or a new agreement, as China, France and the UK are not yet ready to join the discussion, Ryabkov said. "The United States insists that China joins the agreement on the reduction of strategic offensive arms, Russia in response believes that France and the UK should also do this. But in conditions when these countries are not ready for this, Moscow and Washington should concentrate on bilateral negotiations on this topic," he said. During the talks, the US side showed that it did not close the possibility of extending the New START, but Washington was not ready to record this intention. "Our conclusion from these discussions is that the US does not close the option of extending the treaty, but it is still not ready to record an agreement. They leave options for their further actions, try to form a certain set of issues on which they expect us to move toward their demands, and, by and large, they avoid answering direct and logical question are they ready to extend the agreement without preconditions, as it has been proposed by President Vladimir Putin for quite some time," Ryabkov told journalists. According to him, there is still no answer to this question. "Unfortunately, the current consultations have not changed this situation," he added. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The U.S. has reportedly told the United Arab Emirates it will sanction the sale of cutting-edge F-35 jets as part of a confidential clause in the Persian Gulf states agreement to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, The Daily Beast writes in the article Is Trumps Israel-UAE Peace Agreement Really Part of a Secret U.S. Arms Deal? The sale of the advanced weapons systems to the UAE would jeopardize Israeli military superiority in the region, a status that has been unfailingly upheld by the U.S. and Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when Israel was caught unprepared for an attack by four Arab armies. In a surprise announcement last Thursday, President Trump revealed he had brokered an historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which, like most Arab countries, has never recognized the State of Israel. In an interview, Nahum Barnea, a veteran Israeli political reporter who uncovered the apparent clause, said the UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed demanded access to the advanced jets and drones before he agreed to consider opening an avenue to peace with Israel. President Trump may attempt to use the agreement to circumvent opposition in Congress, where a bipartisan alliance halted a $7 billion arms deal to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which Trump had touted as a major foreign policy coup. It is also possible that negotiators left the UAE under the impression that they would be allowed to purchase the F-35s, even though U.S. and Israeli officials knew the sales would ultimately be blocked. In May, the Trump administration invoked a seldom used emergency provision to allow Trump to seal a deal selling precision-guided munitions and the F-35 to the Gulf powers, but the deal with Israel, which has been widely hailed as a breakthrough for Middle East peace, could provide a smoother path. The House and Senate passed resolutions aimed at blocking the sales, which Trump vetoed. Last week, the State Departments inspector general concluded that the emergency declaration complied with the law, but failed to include adequate measures to minimize civilian casualties. Netanyahus tacit agreement would remove almost 50 years of Israeli opposition to the sale of strategic advanced weapons systems to other countries in the region. The U.S., Israels closest ally, has traditionally desisted from the sale of advanced weapons systems to Arab countries, citing Israels existential need to maintain qualitative edge, as Israels regional military superiority is referred to in American policy circles. In helping to clear a potential path for Trump to push through the sales, Netanyahu would also be attempting to circumvent the concerns of his own military leaders and his defense and foreign ministers, who are essential members of the fragile coalition government he leads. In a statement calling the revelation fake news, Netanyahu said the historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates did not include any Israeli agreement on any arms deal between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Thats true as far as it goes, Barnea told The Daily Beast. Netanyahu acquiesced to the sale of F-35 while reserving the right to oppose it, in a mitigated way, when the sales deal becomes public, he said. During the tripartite negotiations Netanyahu came to understand that the Israeli veto was over, but he retained the right to oppose the deal, while all three sides know the arms deal will now take place. Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a former military chief of staff, slammed Netanyahus failure to consult regarding the negotiations, and, at a press conference, said that Israel would not acquiesce to any such sale under his watch. We will continue to rigorously protect Israels regional military superiority so long as I am the minister of defense. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, a fellow member of Gantz Blue and White party, said we have no knowledge of any security assurances included in the agreement with the UAE, and if there are such, they were not made in conjunction with us. Anti-abortion protesters tried to storm the hospital while the girl was inside Credit: Facebook Violence erupted in Brazil after a 10-year-old rape victim was named online by a religious activist trying to stop her having a termination. After the outrageous post, anti-abortion protesters mobbed outside the hospital where the young girl was due to have the medical procedure. They branded hospital staff killers and tried to storm the building before sparking scuffles and being dispersed by military police. The girl was smuggled into the hospital in the boot of a car and entered by a side door, say reports. The BBC states the girl fell pregnant after a sex attack and a suspect was arrested by cops on Wednesday. Military police were called in to disperse those gathered outside the clinic Credit: youtube The child later told police she had been abused by a relative since she was six and had stayed quiet out of fear. Some reports say the man in custody is an uncle of the girl, who comes from a small town in the south-eastern state of Espirito Santo in Brazil. The high-profile case has sparked fury across the country and verbal clashes between pro-choice campaigners and anti-abortion activists. A judge has since ordered Google, Facebook and Twitter to remove the personal details of the 10-year-old from their sites. Samuel Miranda Goncalves Soares ruled they had 24 hours to take down the information or face a fine of 50,000 reais (6,900) a day. Even though the girl had been given legal permission to have the abortion, activists still tried to stop it being carried out. Pro-choice campaigners were quick to stand up for the young schoolgirl. Brazils laws are clearly inadequate and put millions of women at risk, said Gabriela Rondon, a pro-choice lawyer. According to our figures half a million women must subject themselves to illegal abortions each yearthats almost one woman per minute. In an online video seen by the Guardian, an extremist named the girl and falsely claimed authorities had kidnapped her and chartered a private jet to transport her to the termination. This is an extremely serious human rights violation! she claimed while brandishing a toy doll she alleged was the size of the foetus. It is not yet known if the activist will face charges for making the name of the girl public. *** Source: The Sun UK The Aam Aadmi Party held a protest against the decision of the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation to hike taxes on Wednesday. The protest was led by party's municipal corporation incharge Durgesh Pathak. The municipal corporation has proposed to hike four taxes due to financial crunch. The taxes include professional tax, tax on unauthorised colonies, property transfer tax and electricity tax. The claimed that the protest "forced" the BJP-led to withdraw the proposal of hiking the taxes. However, officials said the discussion on a proposal to hike the taxes had been postponed till the next meeting. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the days of the April 2016 war, Armenia did not have a shortage of weapons, Armenia ex-president Serzh Sargsyan told Wednesday's briefing. According to him, not only in April 2016, but all the Armed Forces are always in need of better, more modern weapons. "It is obvious. But in April 2016, for the first time, we used as many weapons as the commanders found necessary. There was no shortage. There were issues with some less modern ones, but this was not a hindrance to victorious actions," he said. "Yes, we did not have, and for a long time will not have all the most modern weapons. But we carried out the task with the always available weapons. And I am sure that it will be so," Sargsyan added. YEREVAN. During his press conference Thursday, Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated that the rumors about his intention to hand over territories to Azerbaijan were false. "These are false rumors. I have never entered into any agreementwith anyonethat harms or poses a threat to the people. It's a shame. One just has to have shame to spread such rumors. They do it out of political preference, or dislike for me. But I believe that is the opinion of a narrow circle; it does not receive a reaction among broad circles. Such a thing has not happened and cannot happen," Sargsyan added. Visit NJ.com/education for the latest list of schools that have announced plans to start the year with all-remote instruction. Editors note: Some school districts have been removed from this list on Aug. 19, pending verification. Worries over the lingering coronavirus outbreak have prompted more than 70 school districts across New Jersey to announce plans for students to start the upcoming year with all-remote learning instead of in-person classroom instruction. While most districts plan to resume in-person instruction following the first marking period, some such as the public school districts in New Brunswick and Camden dont plan to reopen their doors until early 2021. The plans are subject to approval by the state Department of Education. Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy said districts that are unable to meet the requirements to safely reopen for in-person instruction will be allowed to start the school year with virtual instruction as long as they have a plan to overcome those challenges and bring students and teachers back to classrooms at a future date. Keep up with the latest in N.J. schools coverage. Sign up with your email here: After the governors announcement, many school districts that had initially called for students and teachers to return to physical classrooms have been holding emergency meetings to approve revised their plans. At least 139 school districts had inquired with the Department of Education about making the switch as of Tuesday, officials said. For schools that do return to in-person classes, the state guidelines say if one or two students or teachers is diagnosed with the coronavirus in a New Jersey classroom, everyone he or she came close to at school could be asked to stay home for 14 days. But if two people in different classrooms get sick, the entire school could be shut down. Pleasantville school district officials announced Tuesday night that a student athlete tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in two weeks of on-campus practices. Those in contact with the student have been asked to self-quarantine. The district held a special meeting Tuesday night to seek a switch to all-remote learning. The following districts are now planning to start with all-remote classes for the 2020-2021 school year. NJ Advance Media will add to the list as more districts announce all-remote plans. ATLANTIC COUNTY Atlantic City Egg Harbor Township (virtual starting Sept. 8; plan to start hybrid schedule Oct. 26) Pleasantville BERGEN COUNTY Edgewater Fair Lawn (through Oct. 19) Garfield (vote planned for Tuesday) Hackensack (schools plan to reopen Nov. 2) New Milford Teaneck (through first marking period) BURLINGTON COUNTY Burlington Township Chesterfield (schools plan to reopen Oct. 19) Palmyra Westampton Willingboro (through Nov. 18) CAMDEN COUNTY Camden (through Jan. 31) Collingswood Eastern Regional (return to school Oct. 5 ) CUMBERLAND COUNTY Bridgeton (through Oct. 13) Downe Township Millville ESSEX COUNTY Bloomfield East Orange (through September) Irvington Montclair (through September) Newark (through first marking period) Nutley (through first marking period) Orange (staggered returns starting Sept. 21) South Orange-Maplewood (through first marking period) West Orange GLOUCESTER COUNTY Deptford Delsea Regional (board of education vote is Tuesday) HUDSON COUNTY Bayonne Guttenberg Harrison Hudson County Schools of Technology Jersey City Kearny North Bergen Union City West New York HUNTERDON COUNTY Flemington-Raritan (expected to vote Tuesday to go all-remote) MERCER COUNTY Hamilton (through first marking period) Lawrence Township (not including pre-K, kindergarten and special-needs students) Mercer County Special Services Princeton Township public schools Trenton MIDDLESEX COUNTY Dunellen Edison (at least until Oct. 16) Highland Park Middlesex Borough New Brunswick (first two marking periods) North Brunswick (first marking period) Old Bridge (until Oct. 12) Perth Amboy Piscataway South Brunswick South Plainfield South River (Plans for in-person on Oct. 1) MONMOUTH COUNTY Asbury Park (first 30 days; return to school Sept. 8) Freehold Borough Freehold Township (first 2 weeks; return to school Sept. 21) Long Branch Manalapan-Englishtown (at least the first two weeks of school for some schools) Neptune Township MORRIS COUNTY Boonton Dover (through first marking period) Montville (middle and high school students to start remote) OCEAN COUNTY Lacey Plumsted Toms River (through first marking period) PASSAIC COUNTY Passaic (through September) Paterson (through October) SOMERSET COUNTY Franklin Township Hillsborough (virtual until Sept. 28, with plans to start hybrid option later) UNION COUNTY Elizabeth Hillside Linden Plainfield (through at least Nov. 1) Rahway Roselle (through first marking period) Roselle Park Scotch Plains-Fanwood Springfield (through Nov. 2) Union Township Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Casey Roland may be reached at croland@njadvancemedia.com. Nestor Sebastian may be reached at nsebastian@njadvancemedia.com. Evan Slavit may be reached at eslavit@njadvancemedia.com. ANN ARBOR, MI Dedicated to the glory of God and for the good of humanity. Those words are inscribed on a memorial plaque atop a 1962 time capsule at 600 W. Huron St. that tells part of Lurie Terraces origin story. Panaji: A section of Goa government employees gathered at the foyer of the state secretariat to protest against the state authorities for the latters callousness about the safety and precautionary measures against the raging the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. They alleged that the state government has refused to put any safety mechanism and precautionary measures in place, despite several requests from the employees raising concerns about risks of the viral infection due to the contagion. Covid-19 cases are rising by the day. On Wednesday, it came to our notice that at least a dozen Covid-19 cases have been reported from the state secretariat. The state government appears callous about our safety and wellness. We have been requesting the state government to give us some relief such as either close down the secretariat or work with 50% of its strength. We sit in close proximity, which prevents us from maintaining social distancing norms, alleged Sukarna Pai, an employee of the state revenue department If the situation persists, many of us will contract SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, and gradually the state administration will collapse. The state government needs to introduce preemptive measures. We cannot work from home because many of us dont have the requisite amenities. At least we can work at 50% of our strength. However, we need clarity about the workflow, she said. Besides, many of us have children and senior citizens at home. While several employees have comorbidities such as diabetes, blood pressure, etc., she added. Another employee Amol Dangui stressed that the employees were not against the government, but wanted prompt action to ensure their safety. Around 150 state government employees took part in the protest at the state secretariat and a few also called on the chief secretary Parimal Rai to request him to allow either a 50% workforce or staggered work hours. State government employees have largely contributed to Goas viral caseload, as many police personnel and healthcare workers, who are at the frontline battling the pandemic, have tested Covid-19 positive, including some staff from the revenue department. SCORES of people suffering from chronic illnesses, especially diabetes, have been struggling to access medication due to worldwide Covid-19-induced lockdowns which have affected transportation of medicines. HIV, high blood pressure and kidney patients have also been affected by essential medicine shortages or astronomic costs where available. People suffering from diabetes are struggling to access blood glucose test strips which are used to check if ones sugar level is still within an acceptable range. Under normal circumstances, diabetics should use the strips at least twice per day to avoid the risk of developing complications. Diabetes is a prevalent chronic disease in Zimbabwe that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. People with diabetes are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease which is a major cause of death and disability in people with diabetes, and a barrier to sustainable development. According to the World Health Organisation, diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. Managing it, monitoring sugar levels and taking medication regularly are among the most trusted ways of managing the disease and avoiding complications. In a survey, Chronicle discovered that most local pharmacies were in short supply of test strips and insulin. The test strips cost about US$1 for two, Metformin and Glibenclamide insulin injections cost up to $12 000 for a months supply. One of the affected patients, Ms Fungai Nkomo, said she was in great need of the strips as her glucose levels fluctuate daily leading to her passing out. I cannot live without those strips as I need to keep controlling my glucose level. I must check the levels after every meal and when I do not, sometimes I feel my whole body shutting down, she said. I went to every possible pharmacy in Bulawayo and they all said then strips were in short supply adding that they were struggling to ensure insulin is available. I also failed to get some of my tablets as pharmacists said there was a nationwide shortage, she added. For Mr Muzi Mathema, the challenge is not only the shortages but the high prices which made it difficult for him to adhere to medication. I am forced to spend more than $15 000 on medication just for me and my wife and both of us are retired; we literally depend on our children for survival. We are in desperate need of the medication and the strips because developing complications will be pricier as we can no longer afford health care in hospitals, he said. We wish there was a way we could access these without struggling so much. We are surely in a dilemma. Pharmaceutical Society of Zimbabwe president Mr Portifa Mwendera confirmed the nationwide shortages adding that people with hypertension and kidney disease were also affected. He said the shortages were due to the Covid-19 outbreak which affected the importation of drugs and other materials used in the production of local drugs. Our pharmaceutical industry is more than 90 percent dependent on imports and we have been struggling ever since Covid-19 started. The situation is worse for those with chronic ailments as we rely 100 percent on imports and since there are limited flights coming in, the situation has been dire, said Mr Mwendera. He said part of their challenge was the availability of forex to order medication and other consumables from abroad. The situation is further worsened by forex transactions because we do not get as much forex as we need which means more time is needed to get the meds. However, over the past few weeks we have been seeing some countries like South Africa, China, South Korea and the United Kingdom relax their lockdown conditions which may ease the situation, he said. According to Mr Mwendera, orders were now taking at least four weeks to arrive in Zimbabwe which was better than when Covid-19 had just begun. Dr Anele Bhebhe from Mpilo Central Hospital said it was dangerous for diabetic patients to skip medication or fail to access the strips as that leads to long term complications. High glucose levels affect the central nervous system, the heart, kidneys and some people become blind and may develop infections which may lead to amputations. We have two groups of patients that survive on insulin and patients that survive by taking medication, said Dr Bhebhe. Those who use insulin are usually 30 years and below while the elderly do well with pills but with time, they may require insulin. It is strongly advisable that diabetic patients take their medication so that they avoid developing chronic kidney failure, heart diseases, loss of eye sight and even an impaired immune system. The Community Working Group on Health director Mr Itai Rusike said diabetes is very expensive to manage and called for improved domestic health financing in order to address new challenges such as the rising cases of non-communicable diseases. Meghan Markle has been announced as a surprise guest for a virtual summit to encourage voting participation, it has been announced. The Duchess of Sussex, 38, who is currently living in Santa Barbara, will join a 'When All Women Vote Couch Party' with the When We All Vote initiative tomorrow alongside Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Berry, actor Yvette Nicole Brown, businesswoman Valerie Jarrett and DJ Diamond Kuts. When We All Vote was launched in 2018 by several co-chairs, including Michelle Obama, and is described online as on 'a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.' It comes weeks after Meghan confirmed that she plans to vote in the upcoming US presidential election, while urging others to 'exercise their fundamental right' in a rare interview. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, will join a virtual summit tomorrow with the When We All Vote initiative which aims to encourage voter participation in the US Online, the virtual summit is described as aiming to 'honor the 19th Amendment, celebrate the women of color who have fought to make the promise of the 19th Amendment a reality for ALL women, and highlight the need to expand voting rights for marginalized communities.' Discussions are set to include 'talking about how we can reach out to as many people as possible to empower them to get registered and make a plan to vote this fall.' The 39-year-old mother-of-one, who was born in Los Angeles, spoke to Marie Claire earlier this month about the importance of voting. At the time the Duchess also shared a poignant quote from New Zealand's most famous suffragist leader Kate Sheppard, revealing that both she and husband Prince Harry 'have referred to [her words] often' for inspiration and guidance. Speaking out: Meghan Markle has confirmed that she will vote in the presidential election this year, while urging others to 'exercise their fundamental right' in an interview with Marie Claire 'I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless,' Meghan said. 'I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. 'And that opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard.' She then shared a quote from Sheppard - New Zealand's most outspoken suffragist leader whom Meghan has previously quoted - explaining that it is 'one of her favorites' and 'one that my husband and I have referred to often'. The Duchess will appear alongside several other special guests during the virtual summit tomorrow (pictured, the poster shared online by the When All Women Vote initiative 'Do not think your single vote does not matter much,' the quote begins. 'The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops.' Poignant: 'Do not think your single vote does not matter much,' the quote from Sheppard (pictured) begins. 'The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops' Meghan concluded: 'That is why I vote.' The former Suits star's decision to speak out about her political plans marks yet another major break from royal tradition for Meghan; traditionally members of the monarchy are expected to remain politically neutral, and therefore do not speak out about their opinions in public. However, Meghan confirming to the world that she will be voting in the presidential election will come as no surprise to those closest to her - particularly after it was revealed by a royal source in January that the Duchess of Sussex was aiming to become more 'politically engaged' after she and Prince Harry quit their roles as senior royals at the start of the year. At the time, an insider told the Daily Mail that Meghan had grown 'frustrated' by the fact that she was not able to be actively involved in politics while she was a senior member of the monarchy, and that she wanted to 'take advantage' of the freedom to share her opinions with the world. 'The Duchess is said to be frustrated that she was forced to stay out of politics after getting engaged to Harry,' the source said. 'She has strong political opinions and will now take advantage of the greater freedom she has to express them publicly.' Inspiration: The 39-year-old shared a quote from New Zealand's most famous suffragist Kate Sheppard, revealing that both she and her husband Prince Harry have 'referred to it often' Meghan did not reveal who she is planning to vote for the in the upcoming election - however, before marrying Prince Harry, she was incredibly outspoken about her dislike of President Donald Trump, branding him 'misogynistic' and 'divisive' during a talk appearance in 2016, shortly after he had won the election. When Trump made an official state visit to the UK in June 2019, Meghan did not join the other royals in meeting him - a move that some royal sources claimed was her way of showing her disapproval of the President, although officially, her absence was blamed on the fact that she was still on maternity leave. However, it was revealed in November 2019 that Meghan had invited Hillary Clinton to visit her and baby Archie at Frogmore Cottage - the family's home in the UK - where the two women were said to have enjoyed a 'very warm, sweet' meeting. Criticism: Before marrying Harry, Meghan was outspoken about her dislike for President Donald Trump, branding him 'misogynistic' and 'divisive' in a 2016 interview after he won the election Meghan's new interview with Marie Claire is not the first time that she has spoken out about the importance of voting however; during an official visit to New Zealand with Prince Harry in 2018, the Duchess of Sussex marked the 125th anniversary of women getting the right to vote by once again quoting Sheppard during a speech at Government House. 'The achievements of the women in New Zealand who campaigned for their right to vote, and were the first in the world to achieve it, are universally admired,' Meghan said at the time, before going on to praise the country's suffrage movement. 'Womens suffrage is not simply about the right to vote for women but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental right of all people, including those members of society who have been marginalized, whether through reasons of race, gender, ethnicity or orientation, to be able to participate in the choices for their future and their community.' Meghan then concluded her speech by sharing another quote from Sheppard: 'All that separates, whether race, class, creed, or sex, is inhumane, and must be overcome.' The Marie Claire interview is also not the first occasion that Meghan has shared her 'favorite' Sheppard quote. In November 2018, during their official visit to New Zealand, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared the suffragist leader's words on Kensington Palace's official Instagram account, while posting an image of Meghan cradling her baby bump while surrounded by giant redwood trees in Rotorua. Along with the quote from Sheppard, the couple thanked the people of New Zealand for a 'wonderful' visit. Field Follow-Up to 2019 Airborne Survey Now Underway VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Red Lake Gold Inc. (CSE:RGLD)(FWB:P11)("Red Lake Gold" or the "Corporation") is pleased to report that the Corporation has commenced field exploration at its Whirlwind Jack Gold Project near Red Lake, Ontario. The Whirlwind Jack Gold Project is on-trend and shares a common claim boundary with Great Bear Resources Ltd.'s Dixie Gold Project. "We are pleased to report that field exploration is underway at Red Lake Gold's flagship gold exploration project, Whirlwind Jack. The community of Red Lake, for which our Company is named, recently experienced an evacuation due to a now-contained forest fire located north of Whirlwind Jack and we are relieved that the residents of Red Lake have been able to safely return with no major structural loss in town. As to today's news, our large-scale phase one soil sampling program is an important exploration milestone for Red Lake Gold as we advance an exploration framework and methodology that has proven effective for the area. Our airborne program last year at Whirlwind Jack allowed us to demonstrate that Whirlwind Jack hosts at least 12km of the LP Fault structure, trending westward from the adjacent Great Bear Resources mineral claims. Although our field work this year was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to leverage that extra time to further refine numerous target areas within the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project which we are excited to begin exploring. This intensive 750 sample phase one program will focus on a target grid defined by our geophysical work that commences at the claim boundary with Great Bear Resources. The field program will generate data along the LP Fault at the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project measured within the first 1.4km of its strike-length - out of at least 12km of strike-length confirmed by our field work in 2019 - with the project having the potential to both extend the LP Fault structure further west as well as explore numerous other target areas that have already been defined," stated Ryan Kalt, Chief Executive Officer of Red Lake Gold. Whirlwind Jack Gold Project - MMI Geochemistry Program The Metal Mobile Ion (MMI) geochemistry program now underway at the Whirlwind Jack Gold Program is being conducted within a priority target area situated adjacent to the claim boundary with Great Bear Resources Ltd. This first target area measures approximately 1.4km on an east-to-west basis and approximately 1.25km on a north-to-south basis. . Figure 1 - Phase One Grid Area w/ Magnetic Survey Underlain The phase one soil geochemical program is expected to sample approximately 750 different locations, with the subsequent data set designed to contribute towards vectoring potential drill targets. The Company retained Haveman Brothers Forestry Services Ltd. of Kakabeka Falls, Ontario to assist with performing the sample collection in a safe and logistically-responsible manner. Red Lake Gold also wishes to disclose that multiple additional soil sampling target areas for future phases have also been identified within the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project. The Company remains attentive to building exploration targets across its project reflecting how, (a) the locale of potential mineralization may concentrate along the LP Fault with variation; and (b) recognizing that knowledge associated with various claim blocks in the region now believed to host the LP Fault were structured by person-defined claim boundaries that were set out without first having the 2019 discovery knowledge of the importance of the LP Fault structure and its notable gold endowment. Red Lake Gold believes its Whirlwind Jack Gold Project holds significant potential for exploration moving-forward. Of importance, much of the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project, including the portion where the field program is now underway, was staked in August of 2018, which is relevant as the assemblage of the present-day Whirlwind Jack property preceded and predated the material discovery of gold within a new exploration target horizon - the "LP Fault" - as later discovered and announced by Great Bear Resources Ltd. in May of 2019 (see Great Bear Resources news release, Great Bear Drills New High Grade Gold Discovery at Dixie, dated May 28, 2019). Further to the May 2019 discovery of gold along the LP Fault by Great Bear Resources Ltd., an inaugural airborne geophysical program was subsequently performed by Red Lake Gold in 2019, i.e. within the LP Fault "discovery year". The November 2019 airborne survey flown by Red Lake Gold confirmed that the LP Fault structure extended westward from the Great Bear Resources' Dixie project onto the Whirlwind Jack tenure, continuing onwards for at least 12km across Red Lake Gold's project (see Red Lake Gold news release, Red Lake Gold Inc. Outlines Airborne Survey Results, dated December 31, 2019). The Whirlwind Jack Gold Project, as now held by Red Lake Gold, has not before received a modern-day, large-scale and coordinated exploration focus informed by the exploration methodology and results since disclosed on claims at the adjacent project held by Great Bear Resources Ltd. The phase one MMI soil sampling program is a component of a significant future exploration work path that will test and explore the Whirlwind Jack Gold Project in a systematic, detailed and progressive manner while respecting the Company's desire to maintain a prudent share capital structure. Lab results from the phase one exploration program discussed in this news release are expected in late-September. Further information on the Whirlwind Jack Gold Program may be found at: https://www.redlakegold.ca/whirlwind The Corporation cautions that results or discoveries on adjacent properties (i.e. Dixie) may not necessarily be indicative as to the presence of mineralization on the Corporation's property (i.e. Whirlwind Jack). Qualified Person Mr. Garry Clark, P. Geo., of Clark Exploration Consulting, is the "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content in this press release. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Ryan Kalt Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Email: info@redlakegold.ca Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently expected or forecast in such statements. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Red Lake Gold Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602297/Red-Lake-Gold-Inc-Commences-Inaugural-Soil-Sampling-Along-the-LP-Fault-Structure-at-Whirlwind-Jack Nirupama Viswanathan By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Chennai corporation is set to issue directions to its zonal officers on Wednesday to initiate action against any Tasmac liquor outlet found to violate social distancing norms. The fine amounts have not yet been decided but will be finalised by the end of Wednesday, said corporation officials. A senior corporation official told The New Indian Express that officers in all 15 zones of the city will be asked to form special teams that visit liquor outlets twice every day. ALSO READ: Modest turnout on Tasmac reopening day in Chennai, docs say it's high-risk move in COVID times In case of any violations, we will impose fines and also close them in case of repeated violations, said the official. The outlets were allowed to operate from Tuesday after being shut down in the city for around five months. The city corporation already has 32 market management committees in place to inspect social distancing norms in market places across the city corporation limits. With the race towards finding a vaccine against Covid-19 intensifying by the day, the question remains when will the world get the much-awaited antidote to the deadly contagion. Last week, in an interview to an American broadcaster, top US expert Anthony Fauci said that he believes the vaccine should be out by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Fauci said that even half an effective vaccine would be enough to get the pandemic in control by the end of 2021. Here are the key developments in the quest to developing the Covid-19 vaccine: Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate could be the first to be available to the Indian population if it gets the required clearances by the end of this year. Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) has already received a nod from for Indias top drug regulatory body for conducting phase-II and III clinical trials on the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine. Australia has secured access to a promising coronavirus vaccine, prime minister Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday. This comes as Australia recently sealed a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to receive the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University. Morrison said that country would manufacture it and offer free doses to the entire population. State-owned Chinese pharmaceutical company SinoPharm said its Covid-19 vaccine will be commercially available by the end of the year. Liu Jingzhen, the chairman of the company, told a Chinese daily that the vaccine would cost less than 1,000 yuan ($140). Jingzhen also said that the vaccine would be administered in two shots in a gap of 28 days. Also read: Mild Covid-19 cases can produce strong T cell response - Study The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a global pact aimed at providing easy and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccine to countries across the globe. The COVAX global vaccines facility will drive funds from wealthier countries and nonprofits to develop the vaccine and distribute it equitably around the world. The programme is aimed at delivering 2 billion doses of effective, approved Covid-19 vaccines by the end of next year. American biotechnology company Moderna, which is the first company in the United States to conduct a Phase III clinical trial of the potential Covid-19 vaccine, is aiming to enrol 30,000 volunteers for its trial, a CNN report stated. (With inputs from agencies) A woman was handed a large fine on Monday morning after pleading guilty to a drinking and driving incident during an incident in which her car rolled into a ditch. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A woman was handed a large fine on Monday morning after pleading guilty to a drinking and driving incident during an incident in which her car rolled into a ditch. Ashleigh Mellom, 22, pleaded guilty in a Brandon provincial courtroom to operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit. Crown attorney Brett Rach told the court that on May 29, police were dispatched to a report of a vehicle rollover in the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis. Firefighters were already on scene when police arrived and no one was injured. When police arrived, they spoke to Mellom, Rach said, and one of the officers could smell alcohol on her breath. She told police she was drinking a Caesar while driving just before crashing. Rach said the white van was sitting upright, but had significant damage all around it, indicating a rollover. Parts of the vehicle were scattered around the area and police noticed a box of Budweiser beer cans had been thrown from the vehicle and was lying nearby. Mellom was taken back to the police detachment and given a breathalyzer test. She blew 0.180 milligrams per cent per 100 millilitres of blood, Rach said. The legal limit in Manitoba is 0.08. The accused told police she was driving home and had been going too fast. She said she was driving at 110 km/h in a 90 km/h zone. Rach recommended a sentence of a $2,000 fine, but asked the judge to increase either the fine or the driving prohibition because of the rollover. He asked the judge to ban Mellom from driving for 15 months. Defence lawyer Philip Sieklicki said his client had been dealing with some mental health and addiction issues before the crash. He said a "series of unfortunate events spiralled out of control" during the pandemic, and Mellom had been binge drinking. "She realizes that she is very fortunate no one was hurt as a result of her actions, with the sole exception of a few bruised ribs that she sustained," Sieklicki said. Mellom was also held in jail for a day after the accident to sober up, which Sieklicki said was a terrifying experience for her. She also works at a restaurant and now tells everyone who has more than a couple drinks that they absolutely need to phone for a taxi or have an alternate ride home. He recommended the minimum $2,000 fine for the incident and a year-long driving prohibition. Judge John Combs said the consequences of drinking and driving can be horrendous. "Its unfortunate that you got yourself into this situation because the consequences of drinking and driving are horrendous, not only in terms of the danger that obviously was caused, but also the consequences for your actions," Combs told Mellom. He sentenced her to a $2,000 fine and a 12-month driving prohibition. dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ Police bodycam shows the moment NYPD officers shot and paralyzed a former Wall Street trader after he had followed them into a deli with a knife. Peyman Bahadoran, 55, threatened the cops with the blade after demanding cigarettes from the store clerk, video taken at 6:30am on June 4 shows. Security footage shows the deli worker had already grabbed the 12 inch serrated hunting knife from Bahadoran, who previously worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, before he left Healthy Green Gourmet and ran at officers. Bahadoran's lawyer, Earl Ward, said the clip 'provides additional evidence that he did not pose a deadly threat to the officers and they shot and paralyzed this man for absolutely no reason.' Ward added: 'They shot an unarmed man who posed no deadly risk to them and as a result they paralyzed this poor man.' The NYPD said police 'later learned the knife was located inside of the store'. Bahadoran, who had been walking his dog, told The New York Daily News he was 'manic, paranoid, scared, anxious' as a result of the George Floyd protests. He added: 'You are watching everything. You are doing things that are not normal.' Scroll down for video Police bodycam shows the moment NYPD officers shot and paralyzed an unarmed former Wall Street trader after he had followed them into a deli with a knife Bahadoran, who had been walking his dog, told The New York Daily News he was 'manic, paranoid, scared, anxious' as a result of the George Floyd protests Security footage shows the worker had already grabbed the 12 inch serrated hunting knife from Bahadoran, who previously worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, before he left the Healthy Green Gourmet deli and ran at officers The NYPD said in a statement: 'When responding officers arrived, they saw the individual motion toward a large sheath on his waistband. Police later learned the knife was located inside of the store.' The footage, released by police, shows as Bahadoran follows officers, Jillian Suarez and Melissa Brown, into the deli. He waves the knife at the two cops before leaving the store without the blade after it was taken by the shop worker. The NYPD said police 'later learned the knife, pictured, was located inside of the store'. Bahadoran, who had been walking his dog, told The New York Daily News he was 'manic, paranoid, scared, anxious' as a result of the George Floyd protests. He added: 'You are watching everything. You are doing things that are not normal' Peyman Bahadoran, 55, threatened the cops with the blade after demanding cigarettes from the store clerk, video taken at 6:30 am on June 4 shows Before Bahadoran walks out from the deli he has his hands in the air. As he leave he pushed Suarez, whose NYPD dad died on 9/11, and lunges towards other officers arriving on the scene. Suarez, with her gun raised, repeatedly tells him to 'move back'. Bahardoran then pushes Lt. Luis Machado before Suarez and another officer, Bryan Rozanski fire a shot each, knocking him to the floor after he was hit in the arm and lower back. Suarez, with her gun raised, repeatedly tells him to 'move back'. Bahardoran then pushes Lt. Luis Machado before Suarez and another officer, Bryan Rozanski fire a shot each, knocking him to the floor after he was hit in the arm and lower back His attorney Ward added: 'I'm troubled that with an ongoing investigation, they have put out video with their interpretation of what happened and that interpretation is simply false. 'Not only didn't he have anything in his hands when they opened fire, he wasn't reaching for anything.' Bahadoran has been charged with robbery and multiple counts of menacing, The New York Post reports. He said: 'I wasnt pushing them. I think I was shooing them. It was like, Get out of my way. I wasnt attacking them. Ive always been a law-abiding citizen. I just wanted to get home.' The United Arab Emirates says its 'Amal' space probe functioning after launch as it heads toward Mars. Omran Sharaf, the project director of Emirates Mars Mission, told journalists just before 3.30 am in Dubai that the probe was sending signals. Sharaf said his team now would examine the data, but everything appeared good for now. People cheered and clapped, with one woman with offering a celebratory cry common for weddings. The United Arab Emirates spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a seven-month journey to Mars, kicking off the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. The liftoff of the Mars orbiter named Amal, or Hope, from Japan, marked the start of a rush to fly to Earth's neighbour that includes attempts by China and the United States. It was great to see everything going according to schedule today. It looks like things are all on track. It's a huge step in terms of space exploration to have a nation like the UAE taking that giant leap to send a spacecraft to Mars, Astronomer Fred Watson said. Being on route to a planet like Mars is an exceptional achievement. Hope is set to reach Mars in February 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the country's formation. It blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a small southern Japanese island aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' H-IIA rocket, on time at 6.58 am (2158 GMT Sunday) into the blue sky. The launch had been delayed for five days because of stormy weather. At Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, Emirati men in their traditional white kandora robes and women in their black abayas watched transfixed as the rocket lifted off. As its stages separated, a cheer went out from a group of Emirati men seated on the floor. They began clapping, one using his face mask due to the coronavirus pandemic to wipe away a tear. A newcomer in space development, the UAE has successfully put three Earth observation satellites into orbit. Two were developed by South Korea and launched by Russia, and a third its own was launched by Japan. A successful Hope mission to Mars would be a major step for the oil-dependent economy seeking a future in space, coming less than a year after the launch of the first UAE astronaut, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori. He spent over a week at the International Space Station last fall. The UAE has set a goal to build a human colony on Mars by 2117. It sends a very strong message to the Arab youth that if the UAE is able to reach Mars in less than 50 years, they could do much more, Omran Sharaf, the project director of Emirates Mars Mission, told The Associated Press on Sunday as his colleagues prepared for the launch. The Emiratis involved in the program also acknowledged it represented a step forward for the Arab world, the home of mathematicians and scientists for centuries before the wars and chaos that have gripped wide swathes of it in recent times. So the region has been going through tough times in the past decades, if not centuries, Sharaf said. Now we have the case of the UAE, a country that's moving forward with its plans, looking at the future and the future of region also. For its first Mars mission, the UAE chose partners instead of doing it all on its own. Developing a spacecraft is not easy even if there is ample funding, said Junya Terazono, an astronomer at Aizu University. Emirati scientists worked with researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley and Arizona State University. The spacecraft was assembled at Boulder and transported to Japan as the two countries looked to expand their ties with the rich and politically stable Middle Eastern nation. The Hope spacecraft, along with its launch, cost $200 million, according to Omran Sharaf, the UAE project manager. Operation costs at Mars have yet to be divulged. Hope, about the size of a small car, carries three instruments to study the upper atmosphere and monitor climate change while circling the red planet for at least two years. It is set to follow up on NASA's Maven orbiter sent to Mars in 2014 to study how it went from a warm, wet world that may have harboured microbial life during its first billion years, to the cold, barren place of today. Hope also plans to send back images of weather changes. Japan, a US ally, has already long collaborated in defence and space technology. Resource-poor Japan has traditionally kept friendly ties with Middle Eastern countries. In recent years, Japan has increasingly stepped up trade and defence ties with the UAE and now seeks to expand its space business. Two other Mars missions are planned in the coming days by the US and China. The US plans to send a rover named Perseverance to search for signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for return to Earth. Liftoff is targeted for July 30. China aims to explore Mars with an orbiter and rover to study the planet's surface and search for water and ice. This launch is set for around July 23. Japan has its own Mars mission planned in 2024. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to send a spacecraft to the Martian moon Phobos to collect samples to bring back to Earth in 2029. GOGEBIC COUNTY, MI The man who died falling off of a waterfall on Friday night has been identified as 39-year-old Ryan Kohnhorst of Merrill, Wisconsin. Kohnhorst fell from Presque Isle Falls at the campground. Michigan State Police say troopers from the Wakefield Post responded to the area of the Presque Isle Campground off Gogebic County Road 519 at 8:30 p.m., TV-6 FOX UP reports. Troopers arriving on the scene located Kohnhorst in the water. He was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at the scene. RELATED: Man drowns after falling from waterfall in Michigans Upper Peninsula On Aug. 12, the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project released an economic report showing how public lands and water sustain the economy of the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys and nearby communities. The report also highlights how the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) will protect the public lands and water on which that economy depends. Before COVID-19, Montanas public lands and waters fueled a $7 billion outdoor recreation economy that supported over 70,000 jobs in Montana and contributed $287 million in consumer spending. We are hopeful that economy will recover, but we cannot leave the health of our public lands and waters and by extension, our economy to fate. To sustain our outdoor recreation economy and the jobs that depend on it, we need the insurance, and assurance, the BCSA provides. Reintroduced by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester last year, the BCSA is the culmination of a decade-long collaborative effort of Montanans who represent a wide spectrum of interests conservation, timber, ranching, outfitting, local business and conservation. The bill would add almost 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountain wilderness areas, permanently protecting four tributaries that are crucial to the health of the Blackfoot River and its trout and wildlife populations. The BCSA also includes increased snowmobiling access in the Otatsy area, mountain bike access to Spread Mountain, and a recreational trails study to potentially add more ATV trails. The new economic report shows that the Blackfoot River fishery generated well over 9,000 guided outfitter days in 2018. It also shows that anglers spent almost $1 billion in Montana in 2017, while hunters spent almost $400 million, sustaining fly shops, outfitters, guides, outdoor gear and sporting good stores, outdoor manufacturers, and other business like ours throughout the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys, in Missoula and beyond. Businesses like ours depend on the Blackfoot River remaining cold, connected and clean. By permanently protecting the Blackfoots key tributaries, the BCSA will help ensure that not only trout, grizzly bears, elk and other wildlife in the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys thrive, but that our businesses do so as well. The bipartisan 2020 University of Montana Public Lands Survey revealed that 75% of Montanans support the BCSA, as do over 160 groups, organizations and businesses. But the bill has not yet received a hearing or markup in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (SENR). On Aug. 11, Tester sent a letter to SENR Chairman Lisa Murkowski and ranking member Joe Manchin requesting a hearing for the BCSA. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines sits on this committee, making him well-positioned to advance the BCSA. As we saw with the recent passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, great things happen for Montana when our delegation works together on behalf of our public lands. We are asking Daines to join Tester in support of the BCSA. With his help, this bill could get a hearing and markup in committee and move on for a Senate floor vote. With three out of four Montanans in support of the BCSA, the time is now for Daines to join Tester as a champion for the BCSA, the importance of which has only been augmented by COVID-19. The pandemic has been a wake-up call that Montanans and other Americans absolutely depend on public lands for our physical and mental well-being and our economy. People from in and out of state have flocked to Montanas public lands this summer, especially to the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys, underscoring just how vital it is we protect our public lands and waters by passing the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. Marne Hayes is executive director of Business for Montanas Outdoors. Amy Beck is president of Oboz Footwear. Todd Frank is owner of The Trail Head in Missoula. Tony Reinhardt is a fishing guide and owner of Montana Trout Outfitters in Missoula. Connie Long is co-owner of Bob Marshall Wilderness Outfitters. Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Cindy McCain has come out with a supportive message for Joe Biden, lending her voice to a video that aired during Tuesday night's Democratic National Convention programming focused on Mr Biden's close friendship with her late husband, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. She was just the latest Republican to join in the convention, after a number of notable GOP former elected officials - including former Ohio Governor John Kasich - endorsed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on Monday night. It's a continuation of a major theme that Democrats have pushed through the first night of the convention - an effort to broaden the party's appeal to occasional Republicans and disaffected Trump voters. In the video, Cindy McCain talks about how Mr Biden, then a Delaware senator, met her husband when John McCain was assigned to be a military aide for him on a trip overseas. The two became friends, and the families would gather for picnics in the Bidens' backyard. "They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show, sometimes, to watch the two of them," she says in the clip. Cindy McCain is not expected to offer an explicit endorsement, but her involvement in the video is her biggest public show of support yet for Mr Biden's candidacy. Mr McCain was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee against Democrat Barack Obama, who won the election with Mr Biden as his vice presidential running mate. Both Cindy McCain and her daughter Meghan have been outspoken critics of President Donald Trump, and the family is long-time friends with the Bidens. Mr Trump targeted John McCain personally in 2015, saying the former prisoner of war wasn't a hero "because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured". When Mr McCain died on a Saturday in 2018, the Trump administration lowered the American flag over the White House to half-staff but then raised it by Monday. After public outcry, the White House flags were again lowered. Mr Trump wasn't invite to McCain's funeral. Mr Biden consoled Meghan McCain on a TV appearance after her father was diagnosed with the cancer that eventually took his life. She has said Mr Biden often reaches out to her to offer support, after losing his own son Beau to the same cancer in 2015. Roll It Up For Justice retailer program will raise money to help commute egregious prison sentences for cannabis offenses DENVER, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GreenScreens , the leading in-store digital point-of-sale platform for cannabis retailers, has partnered with the Last Prisoner Project , a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing restorative justice to those who have suffered under cannabis criminalization as more U.S. states move to full legalization. As part of the partnership, GreenScreens will provide promotional support for Roll It Up For Justice, a nationwide campaign that offers cannabis consumers an opportunity to donate to the Last Prisoner Project at check out. GreenScreens will donate 10 percent of its ad network to provide advertising space for Roll It Up For Justice at participating dispensaries, as well as promote the program to its 200 retailer customers across the nation. Were proud to participate in this important effort to bring justice to and help rebuild the lives of those individuals who have struggled under cannabis criminalization, said Shawn Cutter, CEO of GreenScreens. While the team here at GreenScreens -- as well as our retail and brand partners in the industry -- are benefiting today from industry opportunities, so many individuals remain incarcerated for acts that are no longer considered illegal. We believe we have a responsibility as an industry to rectify this unfortunate reality. The Last Prisoner Project is working to educate both the industry and the general public on social injustice and the eventual release of more than 40,000 prison inmates currently incarcerated for cannabis offenses that are now legal in most states. The organization was formed by a network of cannabis industry leaders, criminal and social justice advocates, policy and education experts, and leaders in social justice and drug policy reform. Thus far, the organization has contributed to significant reform efforts in 13 states, including efforts that expanded Colorado Governor Jared Polis pardon power for cannabis possession offenses. Story continues Were thrilled to partner with GreenScreens to help cannabis consumers become involved in the important work were doing across the country, said Mary Bailey, managing director at the Last Prisoner Project. We know that retailers and customers understand the ongoing injustice of individuals serving jail time for essentially what is a routine visit to a dispensary today. The Roll It Up For Justice program provides consumers the opportunity to donate to the cause by rolling up their purchase to the next dollar at the time of check out, with the additional funds going to support the Last Prisoner Projects efforts. This is accomplished via cash round ups, as well as through credit or debit card processing depending on a dispensarys point-of-sale system. The Last Prisoner Project provides training materials for store staff, as well as consumer-facing informational materials for participating retailers. Well be working to get the word out about this important opportunity and convince as many of our 200 retailers as possible to participate in this effort, said Cutter. Its our belief that working together, cannabis industry leaders can alleviate the inequities created by cannabis legalization. About GreenScreens Founded in 2016, GreenScreens is a team of passionate, customer-focused professionals focused on transforming the retail experience with digital screens. The companys comprehensive software was developed to instantly elevate the atmosphere of dispensaries by engaging consumers, displaying compliant advertising for brand awareness and sales, educating customers and enabling more efficient order fulfillment. To learn more, visit https://greenscreens.tv . About The Last Prisoner Project The Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is a coalition of cannabis industry leaders, executives and artists dedicated to bringing restorative justice to the cannabis industry. LPP is dedicated to releasing cannabis prisoners and helping them rebuild their lives. As the United States moves away from the criminalization of cannabis, giving rise to a major new industry, there remains the fundamental injustice inflicted upon those who have suffered criminal convictions and the consequences of those convictions. Through intervention, advocacy and awareness campaigns, the forces behind the Last Prisoner Project will work to redress the past and continuing harms of these unjust laws and policies and are dedicated to making sure that every last victimless cannabis prisoner walks free. Visit www.LastPrisonerProject.org or text FREEDOM to 24365 to donate and learn more. LPP MEDIA CONTACTS Linda Carbone and Katie Leggett PRESS HERE linda@presshereproductions.com / katie@pressherepublicity.com Contact: Jim Dissett The 9th Block 303-532-7392 jim@the9thblock.com The future of China's largest artificial intelligence company was thrown into question last year when it was blacklisted by the Trump administration. Today, SenseTime is thriving with growing demand for its facial recognition software, especially as local governments in China adopt its technology to battle the coronavirus. The Hong Kong-based start-up's revenue surged 147% to $720 million (5 billion yuan) in 2019 and its customer base increased by 500 to 1,200 clients, according to co-founder Xu Bing. Sales are on track to climb 80% this year to about 9 billion yuan and gross profit could double, according to people familiar with the matter. "We see business demand for ways to mitigate the virus outbreak on the rise," Xu said in a phone interview. He and SenseTime declined to comment on revenue projections in an emailed statement. That momentum has SenseTime contemplating an initial public offering. The company is close to completing a $1.5 billion funding round that values it at about $8.5 billion pre-money, paving the way for a stock sale, people familiar have said. The company -- whose backers include SoftBank Group Corp., Temasek Holdings Pte and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- is leaning toward a dual listing in Hong Kong and China, the people added. The Covid-19 pandemic has been extremely controversial ever since infections emerged in Wuhan eight months ago. Countries such as the U.S. blame Chinese authorities for censoring information about the outbreak that could have helped slow the spread. Now China's economy is recovering quickly from the crisis, while the U.S. and many others struggle to get back on track. Chinese authorities have succeeded by using laws and technologies that governments like the U.S. have resisted. When a cluster of covid-19 patients flared up in northeastern China, the government installed sensors to guard the city's subway entrances. The cameras provided by SenseTime detect whether the passengers are wearing masks, their temperature, and even their identities with their faces covered. It's an example of how the ruling Communist Party, once wary of private entrepreneurs, is now supporting technology companies that have come under attack from the Trump administration, including SenseTime, Huawei Technologies Co., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., parent of TikTok. The country has pledged to spend $1.4 trillion to develop its own tech industry and overtake the U.S. in key sectors. In the case of facial recognition, concerns about privacy are taking a back seat while the country militantly traces and tracks outbreaks. Hard-line measures adopted by Beijing allow provincial governments, companies and residential complexes to deploy facial recognition devices with little resistance. The temptation to use such technology more broadly against the virus has fueled privacy concerns. In April, more than 130 human rights groups published a letter cautioning against an expansion of surveillance powers. "States cannot simply disregard rights such as privacy and freedom of expression in the name of tackling a public health crisis," it said in the letter. Still, business is booming for SenseTime. The company is working with 127 cities across China to use cameras to analyze everything from traffic to residential complex security. Its facial recognition program for subways, known as the Smart Commute System, is used in cities from central Zhengzhou and Xi'an to northeastern Harbin. Passengers can opt to register with the cities' subway apps to pay their transportation fee using face scans. That can allow them to be identified even with their masks on. The company declined to disclose how many people have selected the program, because the data sits with the respective city governments. The technology is possible in part because SenseTime zooms in on data points on a person's face not covered by a mask to enable identification, said Xu. And it's not the only one working on such technology. Wuhan University, for example, said it's developed competing software with 90% accuracy, according to a local media report. "It's data gravity that nobody can stop. China is pushing facial recognition across the nation during this pandemic," said Isaac Mao, an angel tech investor. "In the U.S., there are roadblocks including civil society, privacy regulations and governance structure to push back on facial recognition and companies profiting from it are facing a backlash, but in China this is what's missing." BLOOMINGTON Voters will be able to cast ballots at Grossinger Motors Arena on Nov. 3, according to an intergovernmental agreement approved by the McLean County Board on Tuesday night. The tentative agreement, which was approved by the county board finance committee on Aug. 5, also must be OK'd by the Bloomington City Council. The city owns the arena at 101 S. Madison St. The county board, which met remotely, approved the agreement unanimously. The city council is expected to take up the matter at its virtual meeting 6 p.m. Monday, said city Communications Manager Nora Dukowitz. "I was very happy to get the support from the County Board that we can join the Bloomington Election Commission (BEC) at the arena on Election Day," County Clerk Kathy Michael said after the meeting. "The arena provides a nice, large space where we can accommodate many voters." The proposed agreement is in response to a new state law mandating all election authorities to establish one location where all voters in the jurisdiction can cast ballots, if they wish to do so, on Election Day, Michael said. The clerk's office, which oversees elections in McLean County outside Bloomington, and BEC, which oversees elections in Bloomington, agreed to have one vote center for all McLean County to make it easier for voters. Michael said the arena would accommodate many voters while allowing for social distancing to keep voters and election judges safe amid COVID-19. The city wouldn't charge the county a fee to use the arena. Registered voters may still vote by mail, vote early in person or vote at their usual polling place on election day Nov. 3, Michael said. Michael told The Pantagraph that she's received more than 7,220 vote-by-mail applications, compared with the previous record high of 1,500 set for the March 2020 primary. Voting by mail isn't new to Illinois but the General Assembly passed legislation this year requiring election authorities to mail vote-by-mail applications to active registered voters because of concerns about waiting in line at polling places as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise. Also during the meeting, the board: Approved a resolution continuing the COVID-19 emergency declaration to Sept. 15. The resolution, first approved in March, allows the county to act quickly in case there is a spike in COVID cases, including working with hospitals if there is an overflow of patients, and allows the county to request state and federal reimbursement for COVID expenses. Extended the five-year contract of County Administrator Camille Rodriguez for another year and awarded her a 2.75% salary increase, bringing her yearly salary to $134,541.62. Heard a request from board member Carlo Robustelli that Rodriguez codify a masking policy for county employees. Rodriguez explained that masking is expected of county employees when they are walking around the Government Center but that has not yet been codified in the county personnel policy. Heard a letter from Dion McNeal asking that the county communications specialist position be maintained. McNeal said in June that his communications' responsibilities had been reduced after he sent out a health department press release that discussed "racism and police brutality." Asked after the meeting whether McNeal was still employed by the county, Rodriguez said, "I cannot comment on personnel matters." Can you identify these 12 Bloomington-Normal locations from above? Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 17:37:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China honored "the most beautiful doctors" on the country's third Doctors' Day, which fell on Wednesday. This came as part of China's efforts to honor medical and health workers for their contributions in the fight against COVID-19. A total of 10 individuals and a team, excelling at both medical skills and work ethics, received the title from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the National Health Commission. Enditem New Delhi: Amidst coup in the Western African country of Mali, the Indian mission in Mali has advised caution for Indian nationals. Indian envoy to Mali Anjani Kumar said, "All embassy members are at home and safe. We sent them back after the first indication of disturbance. Requested all Indians to stay home in view of developments." Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was removed after a mutiny by soldiers. The prime minister of the country has also been removed from office by the soldiers. Around 250-300 Indians are present in the country. Most of them are in the retail business, mining, power, and steel. Ousted Malian President Keita had visited India twice, one in 2018 to attend the Founding Conference of International Solar Alliance (ISA) and before that in 2015 to take part in India Africa Summit. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa. How This Pension Fund Is Approaching Investing In C19 Era Shoaib Khan of the State Board of Administration of Florida shared his intel into how large pension funds are viewing the world and adjusting their sails accordingly. Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly in "Mrs. America". (Pari Dukovic/FX) The FX limited series Mrs. America" tells the riveting story of the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment, but it is also a rich study of female power in its many complex permutations. On one side of the drama is conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), whose ferocious professional drive and political power are at odds with the traditional values she espouses. On the other are second-wave feminist leaders including presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), whose White House aspirations made her a target of vicious criticism and even death threats. What really excited me about doing this show was putting forth a whole spectrum of women who are unapologetically ambitious, says creator Dahvi Waller, women who are not saying, But I'm also a good mother! Theyre just unapologetically seeking agency and political power I wanted young women to see that. I really feel like that's what's missing from television: those kind of women. Waller was joined in a video call by three other women who contributed to Mrs. America in key ways: Blanchett, Aduba and Brenda Feigen, the pioneering feminist lawyer who was played in the series by Ari Graynor. Blanchett, who was also an executive producer, wasnt deterred by the thought of playing Schlafly, who remains an influential, deeply polarizing figure in American politics four years after her death and serves as the dramas antihero. It's not my job to like or dislike a character. Nor do I think that women need to be nice to be interesting or watchable, she says. Instead, the Oscar winner was excited to be part of a project that asked, as she puts it, What is so scary about the notion of equality? Even though this is set back in the 1970s, it was 'Groundhog Day' all throughout the making of the series, she continues, citing fetal heartbeat bills restricting abortion passed in several states last year. You hope in a way that it's a museum piece that you're making, but this conversation is happening right now. That's my takeaway from it: how little the discourse has changed. Story continues Indeed, the women gathered virtually the very afternoon that presidential candidate Joe Biden announced Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, following weeks of feverish and often sexist debates about who was right for the job. By joining the ticket, Harris achieved a historic milestone for Black and South Asian women that was arguably made possible by Chisholms 1972 campaign. Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm in "Mrs. America". (Pari Dukovic/FX) Mrs. America resonated the way it has because it came out amid multiple crises, Aduba says, when America is being forced to face itself and to clear its air. And, of course, in the midst of this we are having the announcement of a vice presidential candidate who is a woman. Theres going to be yet another moment where America is going to be asked to confront itself. The episode Shirley shows the painful lack of support Chisholm received from white feminists and Black male politicians during her primary run, in which she was beaten by the more electable George McGovern. Nearly 50 years later, what Chisholm believed was possible a woman president has yet to come to fruition. Characters such as Chisholm and Bella Abzug, played by Margo Martindale, were all women with aspirations, Aduba says. And it just begs the question, for me: Had they not had that limitation of being an ambitious woman, having that label slapped on them, who could these women have been? I have felt it as a Black woman that there is an amount of ambition that is carved out for you and theres a way in which you're meant to express it, and if you say it any other way, you are looked at as angry that angry Black woman trope is a real thing or expecting too much too soon. But to borrow from AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], do it anyway. Showrunner Dahvi Waller of " Mrs. America." (Dahvi Waller/Dahvi Waller) Waller channeled her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated industry into Mrs. America. Dialogue from the episode Jill, about Republican feminist Jill Ruckelshaus (Elizabeth Banks), was inspired by a vexing conversation she'd had with a male showrunner who seemed baffled by Wallers belief that women should make up half the writers in the room (she was the only woman on that particular staff). He said, What? You're not going to be happy until 50% of TV writers are women? And I said, Yeah!' And he thew his hands up in the air. Another scene in which Schlafly is asked to take notes during a meeting with men was also taken out of Wallers time in the writers room. You were always the one asked to be writing on the whiteboard. Because, of course, a girl would have the neatest handwriting, says Blanchett sarcastically. That's what you offer a writers room, isn't it, Dahvi? The writers room for Mrs. America consisted of seven women and two men. As they were breaking an episode about a congressman sexually harassing his secretaries, Senate hearings were underway for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, making for a very emotionally charged time in the writers room, Waller says, recalling how the women once spent three hours sharing their #MeToo experiences in the industry. We had some of the most uncomfortable and difficult conversations not only about gender, but about race and class and sexuality and the politics around that and how we were gonna represent that in the show. To have that space was really wonderful. Feminist Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, who is played by actress Ari Graynor in the FX series "Mrs. America". (Joanne Parrent) Feigen was one of the feminists of the time willing to debate Schlafly who was known for stoking unfounded fears about the ERA on television. Over fire and coals did I become a feminist and learn in those days you had to be confrontational. That was the only way to be, Feigen says. It was a very heady and important time, and I'm terribly glad I lived through it survived it." Feigen was initially wary of the series and even came down with a case of shingles days before the episode Phyllis & Fred & Brenda & Marc which delves into her personal life aired. I thought I was going to have a nervous collapse, she says. But Feigen was ultimately won over. I think it's an extraordinary show. It gives us all of the nuance of these characters very accurately, she says. Feigen also resists the notion that Mrs. America portrays the leaders of the womens movement as petty rivals, as some of her contemporaries have argued. I have to say the word catfight is not something that, in my opinion, was in the show. It was women disagreeing with each other. Ari Graynor, left, as Brenda Feigen, with Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem in "Mrs. America." (Sabrina Lantos/FX) Argument is part of a democracy, adds Blanchett. You have to have robust discussion. Certainly that's what I found playing Phyllis. She has a woeful distaste for nuance. You have to go through discord and debate and disagreement to get to nuance. While the actress resisted judging her character, Blanchett concedes she found it isolating to play someone who brooked little dissent within her ranks something she felt acutely when shed watch dailies of ERA proponent actresses engaged in spirited discussions. I would feel so lonely, she says. It really drove home for me that I much prefer being in conversation rather than monologue. Hong Kong's national security law gives authorities sweeping powers to quell criticism - AFP American universities will reportedly offer Chinese students code names and the opportunity to opt-out of political discussions to protect them from being targeted under Beijing's new draconian national security law for Hong Kong. Several of America's top institutions will offer warning labels when their classes resume in the autumn, according to the Wall Street Journal, amid fears the new law could lead to students and teachers facing prosecution from Chinese authorities. Chinese politics students at Princeton University will be given codes to use instead of their names when submitting their work, while Harvard Business school will allow students to sit out class discussions on politically sensitive issues, the newspaper reported. The new national security law, aimed at stamping out anti-government protests in Hong Kong, gives the authorities the ability to impose lengthy jail terms for vaguely defined national security crimes, like subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. Its reach has already been felt outside the city - with Beijing targeting Hong Kong activists based in the US earlier this month. The new rules also apply to those who are not Hong Kong residents, suggesting that foreigners who speak in support of the city's independence or criticise the administration could be prosecuted upon entering Hong Kong or mainland China. The coronavirus pandemic has increased concerns with many students completing classes online - AFP Almost 370,000 Chinese students and 7,000 students from Hong Kong enrolled at US universities in the previous academic year, many of whom opted to take courses covering Chinese law and politics. Safety concerns have become more pronounced in the age of coronavirus, with many universities switching to virtual learning, leaving video classes vulnerable to eavesdropping by the state authorities. It has become a complex issue for universities which are increasingly reliant on the high fees paid by Chinese students, particularly in the US where they make up the largest cohort of international students. We cannot self-censor, Rory Truex, an assistant Politics professor at Princeton, told the Wall Street Journal. If we, as a Chinese teaching community, out of fear stop teaching things like Tiananmen or Xinjiang or whatever sensitive topic the Chinese government doesnt want us talking about, if we cave, then weve lost. However, Dr Truex said he will attach a warning that his course covers material that might concern Chinas government and introduce blind grading to protect his students. The fraud at the elections in Belarus, the violent repression of the protesters, as well as the inhuman treatments the citizens detained were subjected to cannot be left without an answer on the part of the EU, emphasized, on Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis. "In the intervention that I had I emphasized that the fraud at the presidential elections [in Belarus], the violent repression of protests, the inhuman treatments the detained citizens were subjected to cannot be left without an answer on the part of the EU. I requested the immediate intervention in the violence against peaceful protesters, as well as the freeing of the persons held illegally. It's necessary to start some transparent investigation on all the abuses reported, following which those guilty be held accountable," said the President in a press conference held at the Cotroceni Palace. Sky gazers and space lovers woke up to a treat from National Aeronautics and Space Administration on World Photography Day as the US space agency shared a spectacular throwback picture of when aurora met airglow above the Earth before dawn. It was taken by a member of the Expedition 62 crew on March 16, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a 50 millimeter lens. The camera and lens for capturing the view was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. NASA shared the breathtaking view on their social media handle and elaborated in the caption, Aurora, meet airglow Two of Earths most colorful upper atmospheric phenomena, aurora and airglow, met just before dawn in this March 16 photo shot by an astronaut on the International Space Station (@iss) sic. The picture features a blanket of green, wine and yellow coloured lights enveloping the citylights on the Earth below. NASA added, Wavy green, red-topped wisps of aurora borealis appear to intersect the muted red-yellow band of airglow as the station passed just south of the Alaskan Peninsula. The rising Sun, behind Earths limb at the time of this photo, adds a deep blue to the horizon. Light from cities in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, joins starlight to dot the early morning skyscape. As per the space agency, the aurora and airglow are produced by different physical processes even though they appear at similar altitudes. Helping netizens distinguish between the two phenomena, NASA highlighted, Nighttime airglow (or nightglow) is a type of chemiluminescencethe emission of light from chemical interactions between oxygen, nitrogen, and other molecules in the upper atmosphere. Airglow occurs all around the Earth, all the time. However, nightglow is much easier to spot over a dark Earth than dayglow, as airglow is just one billionth as bright as the Sun. Auroras, on the other hand, stem from interactions between solar energy and Earths magnetic field. The magnetic field funnels the energy into the upper atmosphere, where it interacts with the same atoms as airglow (mainly oxygen and nitrogen). This is why both phenomena can produce similar colors. The dynamic nature of Earths magnetic field moves the solar energy in irregular ways, causing each aurora event to be visually unique. The theme of World Photography Day 2020 is pandemic lockdown through the lens. NASAs picture worked as a perfect breather to brush aside our mid-week blues Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The son of Lebanons slain former premier Rafik al-Hariri vowed he would not rest until the killers are punished after a U.N.-backed court on Tuesday convicted a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group of involvement in the 2005 assassination, Trend reports citing Reuters. In central Beirut, Hariri family members and loyalists stood at his grave waiting for his son, Saad, also a former premier, to speak from outside the tribunal in The Hague. (For) the first time in Lebanons history of many political assassinations, the Lebanese find out the truth, Hariri said. The importance of this historic moment is the message for those that committed this terrorist crime and those who planned it: that the age of using crimes for political aims with impunity and without paying any cost is over. Some Lebanese, including victims of the attack who waited 15 years for a verdict, voiced disbelief at the acquittal of three other Hezbollah members. The tribunal also said it found no evidence of involvement by Shiite Hezbollahs leadership or by Damascus. I am shocked. Instead of the network (of culprits) expanding, it is now one superman who has done all of that? said Sanaa al Sheikh, who was wounded in the Feb. 14, 2005 bomb blast on Beiruts waterfront that killed Hariri and 21 others. She added that she had never expected such an outcome. They should pay us back the money they got, said Mahmoud, speaking from a Sunni Muslim district of Beirut mostly loyal to the Hariris. The trial cost roughly $1 billion. Hezbollah made no immediate comment on the ruling, but it has denied any involvement in the killing. Fireworks were briefly heard in Beiruts Shiite southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway. It was a false accusation and thank God now you see that our viewpoint has been confirmed, said Hassan Chouman, a pro-Hezbollah official in a small Beirut neighbourhood. This has not been on our mind for a long time. SON DEMANDS PUNISHMENT The sentencing of Salim Jamil Ayyash, who was convicted while being tried in absentia for playing a central role in the execution of the attack, will be carried out later. He could face life imprisonment. Hezbollah, designated by Washington as a terrorist group, has more influence than ever on the Lebanese state governed by a sectarian power-sharing system. Christian President Michel Aoun and Shiite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, both political allies of Hezbollah, called for unity after the verdict. But Saad al-Hariri said he would not rest until justice had been served. We tell everybody: nobody (should) expect any more sacrifices from us. We have sacrificed what is dearest to us ... Hezbollah is the one that should make sacrifices today, he said. It has become clear that the executing network is from within (Hezbollahs) ranks. They think that justice will not reach them and that the punishment will not be served on them. I repeat: we will not rest until punishment is served. The head of the Christian Kataeb party, whose three lawmakers quit over the massive blast in Beirut port this month, said on Twitter: How long will the world continue to ignore an armed group empowered from abroad and not by Lebanon? People vote at a voting station during a special election in Santa Clarita, Calif., on May 12, 2020. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) California Man Charged With Voter Fraud After Allegedly Voting for Dead Mother A California man was charged with voter fraud after authorities said he voted for his dead mother in three elections. Ceasar Abutin, 55, of Norwalk, has been charged with allegedly casting votes in three elections on behalf of his mother who had passed away, the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office announced Tuesday. Between October 2012 and November 2014, Abutin voted for both himself and his mother, authorities said. Abutins mother died at age 67 in 2006. Abutin faces three counts of fraud in connection with votes cast and fraudulent voting, or violations of elections code 18578, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Epoch Times. The code says any person who applies for, or who votes or attempts to vote, a vote by mail ballot by fraudulently signing the name of a fictitious person, or of a regularly qualified voter, or of a person who is not qualified to vote is guilty of a felony. Abutin pleaded not guilty during an Aug. 19 court appearance. His preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 28 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. A picture of the accused, who faces up to three years in state prison if convicted, was not made available. The case was brought following an investigation by the district attorneys Bureau of Investigation, with help from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerks Office. Marian Thompson, deputy district attorney of the Public Integrity Division, is prosecuting the case. Election workers sort vote-by-mail ballots for the presidential primary at King County Elections in Renton, Wash., on March 10, 2020. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images) The charges come amid an unprecedented push to vote by mail due to health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many state officials say the process in November will run smoothly but some experts believe mail-in balloting may deliver fraudulent votes. Absentee or mail-in ballots are the ballots most vulnerable to everything from being stolen out of peoples mailboxes to being altered, forged, and they subject voters to being pressured, coerced and intimidated by campaign staffers, party activists, and political guns-for-hire, Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said during a panel this week. Primary elections mainly conducted by mail this year have run into severe issues, including a long period of time between the end of voting and the declaration of winners and the overwhelming of U.S. Postal Service workers. Michigan officials said they rejected thousands of ballots in the states primary while nearly 100,000 ballots werent counted in New York Citys Democratic primary. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed concerns with widespread mail-in voting. He took to Twitter Wednesday morning to say that if people can protest in person, they can vote in person. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top government infectious disease expert, said earlier in August that voting in person can be done safely. Matthew Vadum contributed to this report. Southwest Airlines on Wednesday reported "modest" improvements in passenger demand this month as vacationers booked last-minute trips despite the coronavirus pandemic. The company is also turning down a $2.8 billion government loan, saying it can get financing elsewhere. Southwest and other airlines last month reached agreements for portions of the $25 billion in loans for struggling U.S. airlines in the CARES Act in March. Southwest raised $15.4 billion $13.2 billion in debt and $2.2 billion in a stock sale and received $3.3 billion in government payroll support. The Dallas-based carrier expects its revenue to fall by 70% to 75% from August 2019, a slight improvement from its previous forecast of sales down as much as 80% from last year. It said planes were flying 40% to 45% full this month, better than the 30% to 40% it previously expected. Cash burn for the third quarter will likely improve slightly to $20 million a day, up from a forecast of $23 million Still, booking trends are "inconsistent," Southwest warned. After demand increases in May and June, booking improvements stalled along with the increase in coronavirus cases around the U.S., it said. Bookings were slightly up for September, a positive sign for the carrier, which like all airlines has been preparing for the traditional post-summer slowdown on top of the pandemic's devastating impact on demand. The airline, however, is preparing for deeper cuts to its schedule. It said its September capacity will be about 40% less than last year, down from a previous estimate for a drop of no more than 25% year on year. For the third quarter, it now expects capacity to fall by 30% to 35%, worse than the 20% to 30% Southwest previously forecast. Southwest said it estimates its October capacity will be at about 40% to 50% of last year's. Southwest shares added 0.3% on Wednesday to end at $34.27 and are down more than 36% this year. Credit: Getty President Donald Trump has repeatedly struggled to outline what his second-term policy agenda might look like. But last week he finally offered one specific policy he hopes to put in place if hes re-elected: a cut to the capital gains tax rate. It was the only specific second-term policy goal the president mentioned during an interview with Foxs Maria Bartiromo. And though cutting tax rates on wealthy investors is a longtime mainstay of Republican tax policy, for even some of Trumps own defenders the proposal was yet another illustration of a key shortcoming of his re-election bid. The billionaire who branded himself so effectively as a populist in 2016 has largely abandoned that approach. So much of what made Trump 2016 so populistimmigration, for instanceis absent from 2020 messaging now because of the virus, said a Republican close to the Trump campaign. It is different because the priorities are so radically different this time around, with the current crisis. Europes Posh Populists Have Taken a Page From Trump Those who were with Trump in 2016 say the differences between then and now are significant. During his 2016 run, Trump had decried the hedge fund people for paying so little in taxes. In 2020, that patina is gone, supplanted by a heavier focus on a capital gains tax cut. But the contrasts extend beyond tax policy. A candidate who railed against trade deals and foreign wars, while promising to protect entitlement programs and restore manufacturing, now seems preoccupied with the stock market, how beloved he is by Americans who can afford beautiful boats, and how hell protect wealthy suburbanites and their housewives from the unwashed masses trying to overrun their neighborhoods. Blame for that is cast, in part, on the team that the president has surrounded himself witha group of long-standing free market economic types and conservative ideologues. But sources working on and close to the campaign say that the problem is also contextual. A GOP campaign aide conceded that Trump has had difficulty hitting the same populist themes that animated his 2016 run, but not for a lack of effort. Story continues Weve been pushing the stuff, the aide said. If he was out giving campaign speeches multiple times every week there would be opportunities to do that. A lot of the remarks he is giving every week are COVID press briefings. Or hes visiting a place making PPE. Its all been related to the pandemic. Two people working on Trumps re-election effort told The Daily Beast that they have directly implored the president in recent weeks to pivot back to the kind of populism that won him the presidency the first time. The advice seems to be falling on deaf ears, with one of the sources saying the president responded by saying hes already doing a lot of it. But Trump has created his own problems too. Having run on a pledge to drain the swamp, hes turned around and hired prominent lobbyists for key administration positions. The Trump campaign website devoted to the promises the president has kept contains a page hyping his efforts at making government accountable. But its list of recent achievements ends in 2018, with the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. More recently, Trump has pursued policies like unilaterally delaying the collection of payroll taxes, which has opened him up to charges of endangering Social Security funding. And his messaging on this front has been confusing, at best. Sleepy Joe Biden and the rest of the radical democrats will DESTROY Social Security. America would turn into a Big Government Socialist Nation, read one of the hundreds of identical Facebook ads that the campaign has run on the entitlement program. Even the structure of the presidents re-election effort has taken away from the populist brand he has often sought. In 2016, the campaign relied in large measure on the tens of millions of dollars Trump gave his own campaignfinancial support that, Trump insisted, would insulate him from the special interests accustomed to buying favor with political candidates. Since he was elected, Trump has not written a single cheque to his re-election effort. His grassroots donors have made up much of the difference. But his partys top money men and women have also stepped up. Roughly 100 more people gave the legal maximum to the Trump campaign from 2019 through the end of June than did so throughout the entire 2016 presidential cycle, campaign finance records show. Trumps Phony Populism Rests on One Big Lie The presidents aides say the plan is to make a big push to hit populist notes in the closing months of the election. The forgotten men and women of America is the theme of Republicans presidential nominating convention next week. The campaign recently began airing television ads hammering pharmaceutical companies over high drug prices. And on Monday, the campaign released a web video accusing Biden of killing U.S. jobs through his support for the North American Free Trade Agreement. For over three years, President Trump has worked tirelessly for the forgotten men and women of America by creating jobs, cutting taxes, renegotiating trade deals, lifting millions out of povertyessentially undoing the damage his predecessors inflicted on our country for eight years, said Samantha Zager, the White Houses deputy national press secretary. With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris embracing socialism to appease their radical base and curry favor with Hollywood celebrities, its clear Democrats are once again leaving the American people behind. Biden and Harris want to help themselves, President Trump wants resultsfor everyone. Going forward, the campaign is gearing up to attack Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), for being too close to multinational corporations, including tech giants. And they are also planning a more aggressive assault on Biden for allegedly using his office to enrich his family. But those charges have been made already and have yet to truly stick. Indeed, earlier in the campaign, Team Trump aggressively tried to paint Biden and his family as hideously corrupt, as they had with Hillary Clinton four years ago. Trumps effort on this was so hard-charging and scandalous that it actually ended up getting him impeached. More recently, the messaging that Biden helped orchestrate an international ring of self-dealing has taken a backseat to accusations that he is too senile to know where he is. The Crooked Hillary moniker that worked well in 16 has become an ineffectual Slow Joe. There is not a 20-plus year history of an aura of corruption, one Democratic campaign source said of the inability of Trump to hammer Biden like he did Clinton. She had, unfairly, been a target and victim of this kind of thing for a very long time... People know Joe Biden. You cant paint him with a broad brush like that. GOP operatives working to re-elect Trump argue that hes still a conservative populistits just that the messaging priorities have shifted. Ed Rollins, a longtime Republican strategist who fronts the pro-Trump group Great America PAC, said that though theres a gigantic difference between the two campaigns, he contended that the president has been very populist in his law and order message and in asking voters to make the choice between policies that would benefit the thugs in the streets, as opposed to the cops in the precincts. Obviously, if the virus hadnt occurred, and the economy were still booming, this would be a fairly easy election for the president, Rollins continued. But clearly this has been a struggle." While some in the party have praised Trumps response to the pandemic, others have seen missed opportunities for him to adopt the populist approach that worked well for him four years ago. After the collapse of coronavirus-relief negotiations on Capitol Hill, Trump sided with his more traditionally conservative advisers, bucking his own big-spending impulses and eschewing an ambitious stimulus during a massive economic crisis. Over the weekend, he stated that the economic situation was fine enough currently to not necessitate any more help from the feds. Tim Miller, a NeverTrumper who worked for Jeb Bushs campaign as its communications director, said he was mystified as to why Trump had not gone full populist, in large part because he used it so effectively to dismantle Bush and others in the 16 primary. I think he had a big opportunity to say Mr. Trump is going to provide a goody bag for everybody until we get out of [the COVID pandemic], said Miller. He had no background in the ideological, free market, Larry Kudlow wing of the party. And yet he seems like hes tying himself to it at the worst time possible. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was previously published in the July 2018 edition of Murder Mysteries. Monday Mysteries will publish each Monday through October 2020. Around midnight on Feb. 8, 1917, Anna Parkos heard a thud coming from her daughters room upstairs. She sensed something was wrong and headed up the stairs, followed closely by her husband, Joe. When Anna opened the door to the girls bedroom, she first spotted a shadowy figure escaping through the window. She was then met with an unimaginable scene. The Parkos oldest daughter, Alice who was 10 days shy of her 13th birthday was unconscious on the bedroom floor, with a rope around her neck. Their youngest daughter, 10-year-old Lillie, lay sleeping in her bed, unaware of the horror that had unfolded around her. Joe raised the alarm and sent for a doctor from Ord. By the time the sheriff and doctor arrived at the Parkos farm in the pre-dawn hours the next day, there was nothing that could be done for the little girl. Swiftly the community took action, and guards were stationed at all roads and bridges leading to Ord. Every automobile was stopped at the checkpoints, until one driver refused to stop when commanded to do so. The guard threw a hammer at the windshield. The man drove off and was pursued to the Burlington Railroad train tracks, where he abandoned his car and fled by foot. Sheriff Bell discovered that the man had stolen the car from a garage in Ord and drove 10 miles northeast of town to the Parkos farm. He then stole a ladder from the barn and climbed up to the second-story bedroom window. A small piece of glass was cut from the window, just enough to allow him to reach his hand inside the room. He then unlocked the window, climbed through and pulled the sleeping child from her own bed. The sheriff called for assistance from Hall County Deputy Sheriff William Cords, the Pinkerton Agency in Omaha and the Albion bloodhounds. Cords arrived first and began securing fingerprints from the crime scene. By the time the bloodhounds arrived on the train that evening, Sheriff Bell had a strong feeling about who the suspect was. Louis Kamarad was a 21-year-old man who had done some work on the Parkos farm the previous summer. He had taken an interest in young Alice, which was strongly discouraged by her father. Kamarad was also suspected, but never convicted, of raping a young school girl a year earlier. The hounds were given Kamarads work boots and sent to work near the abandoned car. They soon picked up the scent and followed the path the suspect had taken until the trail ran cold. The dogs were taken back to the Parkos farm, where they again picked up Kamarads scent and followed his path from the tracks left by his automobile, to the barn, and to the ladder leaning against the house. Less than 24 hours after the crime was committed, Kamarad was in custody and the evidence was piling up against him. The boots taken from his home matched the footprints found at the crime scene. His coat had glass shards, and a knife in his pocket showed evidence of being used to cut the window glass. When Cords attempted to secure an imprint of his fingers to see if the prints matched those collected from the crime scene, it was discovered Kamarad had attempted to disfigure his fingers by burning or rubbing them. This reinforced the belief that he had committed the crime and tried to cover up his guilt. Kamarad was visited in his jail cell Friday morning by his priest, who received his confession but did not divulge the conversation to authorities. Later that day, the Pinkerton agent arrived. The agent, along with Cords and County Attorney Munn, began to question the suspect in the presence of his attorney, S.V. Shonka. After several hours of questioning, Kamarad calmly confessed to his crimes. He stated he had gone home that evening and laid down in bed for a few minutes until his brother went to sleep. He then got up and began searching for a car, which he found in an open garage, pushed out into the street and down the road, started it up, and headed out to the Parkos farm. Upon arriving at the farm, he looked in one window, where he saw a hired hand sleeping, before he headed to the barn to get a ladder. After he climbed up into the sleeping girls room, he wrapped a rope, which he had brought with him, around Alices neck and choked her until she was unconscious. He then raped her. After committing both crimes, he heard someone coming up the stairs and slipped back out the window to make his getaway. All day that Thursday and Friday, the crowd began to grow around the courthouse. As the evidence mounted against Kamarad, murmurs of lynching were heard. Sheriff Bell and the County Attorney Munn attempted to secure passage for the prisoner out of Valley County, but were thwarted by garage owners who refused to provide an auto and the crowd that refused to disperse. Finally, word was given around midnight on Friday that if the crowd would depart, the prisoner would remain until after the girls funeral, which was set for on Saturday. After the crowd departed, Judge Gudmundsen held a preliminary hearing in which Kamarad pled not guilty. He was bound over to district court without bail. At 4:30 a.m., Bell transferred custody of his prisoner over to Howard County Sheriff Atwood, who returned to St. Paul with the prisoner. It was hoped that tempers would cool if the suspect was out of town until his trial. Two days after her murder, the funeral of Alice Parkos was held. Her mother finished the dress that she and Alice were working on for her 13th birthday, which would have been on Feb. 18. The dress meant for a celebration would instead serve as the gown her daughter was buried in. A large crowd filled the little country church and the graveyard where she was laid to rest. After the funeral service, the mob returned to Ord, where they learned what had transpired during the night. The crowd stormed the courthouse and demanded to see the jail cell where Kamarad had been held. Finding it empty, they raged against the officials who misled them and set out for St. Paul. Sheriff Atwood received word at 3 p.m. Saturday that 40 cars were headed from Ord to take his prisoner from him. Kamarad was loaded in Atwoods car and the sheriff informed his driver that if he valued his own life, they needed outrun the cars that were heading toward them. Believing there was no other place to safely hold the prisoner until his trial. Kamarad was delivered to the State Penitentiary in Lincoln at 1 a.m. Sunday. The prisoner was transported back to Ord on April 2 by train. He was taken to the Valley County Jail to await trial that week, with two guards keeping watch. When Sheriff Bell arrived at the jail at 8 oclock the next morning with breakfast for the prisoner, he found the cell empty. The guards claimed they hadnt heard anything suspicious during the night. It was later discovered that Kamarad slipped through a hole in the wall where work had been done on some pipes. Judge Bayard H. Paine had traveled from Grand Island for the trial. He called for the sounding of a general alarm to get as many people as possible out looking for the escaped prisoner. Fire bells rang and calls went out, and soon there were hundreds of men scouring the countryside. The Albion bloodhounds were again called upon, and when they arrived at 4 oclock that afternoon the trail was soon picked up. The hounds followed the scent through town to Kamarads home, then to the Misko slaughterhouse, where it was discovered a gun and ammunition had been stolen. The dogs continued to trail the man to Mira Valley until the trail ran cold near the Petty school house. Buggy tracks nearby led the searchers to conclude that Kamarad had caught a ride. The scent was picked up again the next morning, and the hounds tracked Kamarad to another garage, where succeeded in stealing a car. The muddy ground made it easy for the searchers to follow his tracks to the abandoned car, stuck in the mud. Kamarad again attempted to steal a getaway vehicle. He first tried to steal a motorcycle but couldnt start it. Farther down the road, he found another car to steal. Again he ended up stuck in the mud. Around 7 p.m., a farmer pulled Kamarad out of the mud, not knowing he was being pursued. After talking to the farmer, the searchers knew they were on his trail. After cresting a hill, they were surprised to see their prey attempting to put chains on the stolen automobile so he could make it up the muddy hill. Shouted commands rang out, but the escaped prisoner grabbed his gun and ran to a nearby farm. Joe Parkos, father of his victim, shot twice, clipping Kamarad but not slowing him down. The pursuers followed him toward the barn. As Kamarad took shelter, word was sent to Ord and Arcadia that the man they were seeking had been cornered. By 10 oclock, hundreds of men surrounded the barn near Arcadia. They decided to get Kamarad out of hiding by burning the barn down. It was then that one of the members of the group spotted Kamarad hiding, not in the barn, but in a nearby shed. He ordered him to throw down his weapon and come out. Kamarad discharged a single shot from his gun, which drew the attention of the crowd. A volley of gunfire rang out and Kamarad fell from his perch. From the crowd, Joe Parkos rushed forth. The grieving father proceeded to discharge the remaining shots in his revolver into the lifeless body of the man who took his little girls life, cursing him with each shot fired. Voters face a choice in November between two American futures. Bernie Sanders has made it clear that Joe Biden is merely a means for Democrats first to regain power and then to radically shift the United States left toward a socialist vision that would have been unthinkable in America just a short time ago. Americans seem to understand that this election is unlike anything weve seen because Donald Trumps America and Joe Bidens America are so diametrically opposed. What is not discussed enough is what hangs in the balance for the rest of the world. The first-term foreign policy successes of President Trump have been entirely ignored by the press, but the geopolitical order is starkly different from when he first took office. Nobody trusts a country that leads from behind. President Trump is restructuring the world. It is deliberate. It is far-reaching. It is plain for anyone to see. And the commentariat is missing it completely. (1) The normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is one data point in a larger transformation of Middle East alliances shifting in favor of the United States and Israel. Playing on the folly of the Obama administrations efforts to find friendship with Irans terrorist regime by giving it both the wealth and political legitimacy to become a nuclear state with proxy armies from Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea and from Southeast Asia to South America, the Trump administration has turned Obamas Neville Chamberlainian submission to Iran into a strategic tool by advancing peaceful relations between Israel and most of her Arab and Gulf adversaries, who are more concerned about Irans military aggressions and imperial ambitions than Israels world class bio-medical engineering and water desalination and reclamation industries improving life beyond her borders. The Trump administration has refashioned the Domino Theory, used to explain and combat the spread of Soviet communism during the Cold War, into a mechanism for spreading greater peace, and the United Arab Emirates domino will continue its efforts, furthering market interactions (and stability) between Israel and her neighbors (and America and the broader region). (2) Secretary Pompeos recent announcement that American troops would be re-stationed from Germany to Poland is part of a broader strategy to move the front lines of any conflict between the United States and Russia away from a German state that seeks to dominate Europe to those countries that strongly back national self-determination and Western civilizations traditional embrace of personal liberties and free markets. Since WWII, Berlin has been the epicenter of the conflict between Soviet communism and Western freedom. The Trump administration recognizes that the next century will be a contest among European socialism, Chinese communism, and American freedom and is taking steps to strengthen our bonds with those nations in Europe that share our common understanding that only free peoples and free nations can counteract the inevitable abuses of power that international institutions and governments create. Germany and most of Europe have benefited for seventy-five years by living under the blanket of the United States military might while building vast welfare states unencumbered by the normal financial costs of defending national security. They have flooded their nations with immigrant populations that do not share their culture yet have taken the stability of their nation-states for granted. They have expanded a trans-national government run by unelected bureaucrats unresponsive to the wills of the various peoples they govern and built a corrosive form of European socialism that has consistently abandoned the continents own Enlightenment understanding of liberty in favor of Marxist supremacy of the State. In Central Europe, however, nations denied their freedom during the peace talks of WWII and left to survive Soviet domination behind the Iron Curtain for another fifty years have a clear understanding of the international battle between freedom and socialism at hand. For the first time since the First World War, it is the success of Central Europe that will decide the success of the continent, and President Trump is choosing sides. These pro-Atlantic alliances among freedom-minded peoples in America and countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia will be indispensable with an uncertain European Union, a future Russia without Putin, and expanding Chinese influence in the region leaving the continent up for grabs. (3) Finally, after three decades of appeasement by the United States, the Trump administration has taken China head-on. Washington, D.C., out of greed or misplaced faith that opening up China to international markets would ultimately water down Chinese communism and militarism into something less zero sum game and more peaceful, has instead created a dangerous superpower bent on world domination. In the 1930s, the new national socialists taking power in Germany spoke explicitly in terms of racial superiority, the importance of the State over individual rights, and the need for a future one-world government with Germans at the helm. They built concentration camps and conquered neighboring territories to further their goals. A hundred years later, China is repeating the words and deeds of a Germany that dragged the world into war, but global alarm bells are silent. President Trump has been anything but silent. He ran for office by denouncing trade deals with China that had sold out Americas workforce for Chinas and Wall Streets enrichment. Once in office, he has played nice with the Middle Kingdom while strengthening our economic and military ties with India, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Australia, as well as forging stronger alliances with Brazil and Panama to help freeze Chinas advances in South and Central America in its tracks. He has taken on Huawei; TikTok; and Chinas planned 5G telecommunication networks in the U.K., India, and elsewhere before they could be used as backdoors for international surveillance. He has allied himself with the freedom-fighters of Hong Kong and the independence movement in Taiwan, while placing aircraft carriers and reconnaissance aircraft within a hundred miles of Chinas coast. The president is speaking softly, sharpening his stick, and preparing the United States for war before its too late. Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden not only do not see the dangers of war on the horizon, but have explicitly promised that they will return America to a policy of appeasement toward Chinese territorial expansion, military aggression, and global government ambition. The Democrats, through a mixture of common socialist philosophy and ignorance, seem content to allow the Chinese communists to run the world, so long as they are left to rule in the United States. The Trump administration is broadcasting to the world before it is too late that if Chinas power continues to rise, there will eventually be no United States. There are two overarching principles governing everything the president has done. First, he refuses to respect international institutions out of some cult of internationalism. Institutions that no longer serve their purpose should be abandoned, and whether it is the World Health Organization or the United Nations Human Rights Council, President Trump has walked away from international governing bodies that do not further American interests. Second, President Trump sees the world as divided between free peoples and controlled peoples and believes that advancing individual freedom and free nations throughout the world strengthens America at the expense of the Chinese communism and international socialism meant to contain her. The seeds of a new American foreign policy are planted and taking hold, and if Bidens Iran and China sympathizers are prevented from plowing over the field, the Trump Doctrine will produce a harvest during his second term that will change the international order for decades to come. This November, two Americas are on the ballot. Two visions for the world are on the ballot, as well. Hat tip to Ruth King. Image: Ari Levinson via Wikimedia Commons. Netflix's show 'Indian Matchmaking' which recently hit the OTT platform, managed to get the social media talking. Aimed at showing a peak in desi "culture" and how arranged matches are "arranged" by matchmakers (Sima Aunty from Mumbai, in this case) using bio-data and interests of potential candidates, the show became a cringewatch for many. Binge-watchers came down hard on the showmakers, calling out the alleged casteism, sexism, colourism among many things involved in the show that irked them immensely. However, it did not stop at that. Pradhyuman, a jewellery designer by profession and one of the contestants on the show, recently featured on the Humans of Bombay page and revealed that the show had invited social media trolls to raise questions about his sexuality. The otherwise popular Netflix series documented the life of Pradhyuman, one of the many who appeared on the show. The Mumbai-hailing contestant belonged to an affluent family. His nitrogen fox nuts were a rage on and off the show. His room had a fingerprint-enabled wardrobe. On the show, it was also revealed that he had rejected many, many rishtas that came his way. Sounds fair, right? Not for the internet troll, it seems. "Last year, when I received a call from Netflix about a new matchmaking show that highlighted Indian culture, I took a leap of faith and agreed; I thought it would be a different experience," Pradhyuman was quoted as saying by HOB. "But 80 hours of filming had been condensed into a 60-minute, predetermined edited storyline, which ignited thousands of comments and debates across the internet." His life choices, as shown on the show and perhaps real life, were questioned online, his sexuality was questioned; the Indian Matchmaking contestant revealed. "Shortly after the show was released a close friend of mine alerted me that I was trending on Twitter, with hundreds of people debating my sexuality. Unsolicited comments assumed I was gay or bisexual, and urged me to come out of the closet. I felt anger and resentment, but gradually I gained my composure and began to question their reasoning." In the Facebook post Pradhyuman said that he is straight, but is being stereotyped 'due to a deep seeded mindset of Indian society.' "I even thought of the alternate scenario: What if the person in question really was gay? What if that person had been forced out of the closet with no consent of their own? That thought frightened me. Were these haters ready to take the blame for the consequences of their words? As a society we have belittled the LGBTQ community by using them as a tool of mockery," he said. The time since he started trending for his sexuality on social media, Pradhyuman has been introspecting as to how men are being viewed in the society. "People will judge you for not being manly enough, but I want other men to know that its okay to be who you are and do what you love. Stereotypical masculinity is not the rent we need to pay to exist in this world. I just have one question, Can men not be beautiful?" Portland, OR, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global flexible foam market generated $44.1 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $61.3 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 5.2% from 2020 to 2027. The report offers an extensive analysis of the changing market dynamics, key winning strategies, business performance, major segments, and competitive scenarios. Surge in demand for polyurethane foam from building & construction industry for building insulation to conserve the energy drives the growth of the global flexible foam market. However, stringent government environment regulations regarding usage of flexible polyurethane foam is anticipated to restrain the growth of the market. Furthermore, development of carbon dioxide and bio-based polyols is expected to provide new growth opportunities during the forecast period 2020-2027. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/7008 Covid-19 scenario: Major flexible foam manufacturers across the globe have halted their production activities due to disrupted supply of raw materials amidst lockdown. Flexible foam is primarily used in the building & construction, furniture, and automotive industries. During lockdown these industries had slowed down their operations due to which theres been a significant decline in the demand for flexible foam during the forecast period. The report offers a detailed segmentation of the global flexible foam market based on type, application, and region. Based on type, the polyurethane (PU) foam segment contributed to the largest share in 2019, accounting for more than three-fifths of the global market, and is estimated to maintain its dominant position during the forecast period. However, the polypropylene (PP) foam segment is estimated to portray the highest CAGR of 5.6% during the forecast period. Get Detailed COVID-19 Impact Analysis on the Flexible Foam Market @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/7008?reqfor=covid Based on application, the furniture & bedding segment accounted for the largest share in 2019, holding more than two-thirds of the total share, and is expected to maintain the its top status throughout the forecast period. However, the packaging segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 7.2% from 2020 to 2027. Based on region, Asia-Pacific contributed to the highest share, accounting for more than two-fifths of the total market share in 2019, and will maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. In addition, it is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 5.6% from 2020 to 2027. Leading market players analyzed in the research include Covestro AG, BASF SE, Huntsman Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company, Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd., INOAC Corporation, The Woodbridge Group, Recticel NV, and Rogers Corporation. Interested in Procuring this Report? Visit Here: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/7008 Avenue Basic Plan | Library Access | 1 Year Subscription | Sign up for Avenue subscription to access more than 12,000+ company profiles and 2,000+ niche industry market research reports at $699 per month, per seat. For a year, the client needs to purchase minimum 2 seat plan. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Get more information: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domains. AMR offers its services across 11 industry verticals including Life Sciences, Consumer Goods, Materials & Chemicals, Construction & Manufacturing, Food & Beverages, Energy & Power, Semiconductor & Electronics, Automotive & Transportation, ICT & Media, Aerospace & Defense, and BFSI. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Safety ambassadors Paul Ensslin (cq Ensslin), left, and Matthew Porter, right, assist a UNC-Chapel Hill student into class at Gardner Hall at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC on Monday, August 10, 2020. But Offit, who's director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, pointed to indications that social distancing and mask compliance aren't always being followed, especially at off-campus parties. "When you go back to school like that, of course, you're going to have problems," he said. "I can't stand these schools who say we can't enforce that." Universities that planned to have students on campus this fall took a number of measures to keep the coronavirus in check, including mandatory face masks and smaller class sizes to allow for social distancing. Testing for Covid-19 also is playing a key role at many schools. "The problem with school reopenings is that we're so f---ing stupid about doing it," said Dr. Paul Offit , a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases. The swift turnabout underscores the challenges of welcoming students back to campus during the pandemic that caused colleges in March to cancel in-person instruction and ride out the academic period remotely. The changes came just one day after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill halted in-person classes for the fall, only a week after they began, citing a spike in infections. Remote instruction begins Wednesday. "It has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus," wrote Stanley, an infectious disease expert . In a letter to students , Michigan State president, Dr. Samuel Stanley, pointed to the challenges at other schools as they welcomed students back and the general state of the U.S. Covid-19 outbreak. Less than an hour later, Michigan State University said it was pivoting to an online-only fall for undergrads before they arrive on campus, telling students who planned to live in dorms to stay home. Classes at Michigan State, which has almost 40,000 undergrads , are set to begin Sept. 2 . Similarly, Ithaca College in upstate New York told its 5,500 students Tuesday that it will not welcome them back to campus for the semester as planned. The University of Notre Dame on Tuesday announced it will pause in-person undergraduate classes for at least two weeks, following a steep rise in coronavirus cases that officials linked to off-campus parties just one week into the fall semester. The coronavirus is already scratching carefully laid plans to bring students back to campus at some U.S. universities less than two weeks after they arrived or even before they showed up. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of the infectious disease division at Massachusetts General Hospital, said she believes there is a way for some universities to continue with plans for in-person classes, mainly those in places with low infection rates like New York state. But it cannot be done without a robust testing plan that includes testing students multiple times per week, she said. She co-authored a July paper that used a statistical model to determine how often a school would need to test for Covid-19 to prevent a widespread transmission on campus. "For the most part, we said if you had a standard test, you could contain an outbreak with testing every two to three days," she said. It's unrealistic to think students aren't going to socialize when returning to school, she added, underscoring the need for regular testing. Some schools planned to do a round of entry testing in some instances, it occurred before a student got to campus. In others, it meant they were tested upon showing up to live on campus. At Notre Dame, students were required to get tested beforehand. In that round of nearly 12,000 tests, only 33 students, or 0.28%, tested positive. However, cases have spiked since its first positive case was reported Aug. 6, with nearly 16% of the 927 tests conducted returning positive. "Mostly, I'm just angry," junior Duncan Donahue said. "Just because the flaws in the university's testing system are so obvious, like not testing asymptomatic people, not hiring enough contact tracers. I'm 20, and I don't have a science degree, and to me it's clear that this is not going to work. But they still brought us back, and then shocker, we have massive exponential growth of Covid on campus." There is value in doing an initial round of screening because schools certainly do not want people showing up on campus already infected, Walensky said. But she said the situation at Notre Dame shows why universities' testing plans must also contain testing at regular intervals after that blanket testing was the only reason they found those initial cases. "You should either be really doing this or you should not be opening," she said. Her recommendations are "logistically, behaviorally, economically, really hard to pull off and we acknowledge that. The issue is, if you can pull it off, you should bring those kids back." Notre Dame is planning to enhance its testing regime to include screening asymptomatic people, university spokesman Paul Browne said. By now testing "cross sections" of the campus population, not just people who were symptomatic or people who were in close contact with someone who is infected, the school believes it will have a better sense of Covid-19 spread on campus, he added. Students living on campus at Iowa State University were tested upon their arrival in Ames, 30 miles north of Des Moines. Of the 8,094 students who were tested, 175, or 2.2%, were positive, according to a university release Tuesday. Zach Lewis, 19, has already been forced to isolate for two weeks. One of his roommates tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival Friday, but Lewis had already spent a few hours in close proximity with the roommate. The roommate went into quarantine. Lewis drove three hours back home to Dubuque, where he began his sophomore-year classes online in his parents' basement. Lewis, who is studying aerospace engineering, expressed concern about the fate of Iowa State's semester, judging by what transpired at UNC-Chapel Hill. "It looks like what happened there is just a week ahead of what we're looking at right now because they started a week before us," he said. "We just had move-in. We had the weekend before classes and a lot of people went out partying," he said. "I'm worried that there's going to be an outbreak now, and we're going to have to go completely online." Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University who helped formulate the university's return-to-campus plans, said he's watching developments at universities across the country even as his school welcomes students back to campus. Students are moving in "as we speak," he said, adding that the university is welcoming students in shifts to de-densify the process. He said all students will be tested on campus once they arrive, and the university will emphasize educating students about the risks of Covid-19 and how it spreads. He added that the university has trained some medical students to conduct contact tracing and that multiple panels of infectious disease specialists will continually monitor the situation on campus. Masks are required on campus and in the city, he said. "It's starting," he said of what he described as a "less collegial collegiate experience" for the semester. "Whether it finishes is another matter." - CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report. Editor's note: Kate Andersen Brower is a CNN contributor and the author of the book "Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump," "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies," "First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power," and "The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House." The opinions expressed here are hers. View more opinion articles on CNN. (CNN) What Michelle Obama did at the Democratic National Convention Monday night has forever changed the way that former first ladies will use their tremendous influence during campaigns. No other one, including Hillary Clinton, has spoken so passionately about unseating an incumbent. What Obama delivered was not just a speech, it was a desperate plea. "If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it," she said "He cannot meet this moment," she said, speaking of President Donald Trump. "He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us," adding, for rueful good measure: "It is what it is." When Obama, almost four years out of the White House, told the country that "enough of you know me by now," she was drawing on her eight years as first lady as proof that she can be trusted. "You know that I tell you exactly what I'm feeling," she said. "You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children. So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don't make a change in this election." Imagine Laura Bush talking with such searing intensity about President Barack Obama when he ran for re-election in 2012, or even Hillary Clinton, who ran for president twice herself, pleading with voters in such a way when John Kerry ran against George W. Bush in 2004. Instead, at the 2004 Democratic Convention, Clinton, who would become the only former first lady to ever run for office, talked about health care and better pay and benefits for veterans in what now seems like a tame attack on Bush. "Do you know what we need to meet these challenges? We need a new commander-in-chief named John Kerry," she said. "I've been saying for many months now John Kerry is a serious man for a serious job in a serious time in our country's history." It was no frantic plea and she certainly did not paint the picture of a dystopian America under Bush that Obama painted Monday night as she warned of a second Trump term. Clinton gave a very conventional political speech. Laura Bush (and her husband George) did not even attend the 2012 Republican National Convention where Mitt Romney was nominated. In an interview before the convention Laura Bush said that criticism of her husband's eight years in office "doesn't bother us." "We know what politics is like," she said. "We know that, you know, people love to blame somebody else. That's just a fact of life in politics...I think George makes an easy target." Indeed, the relationship between the Bushes and the Obamas offers a stark contrast to that of Trump and any of his predecessors. "This needs to be perfect," Michelle Obama told her East Wing aides ahead of George W. Bush and Laura Bush's 2012 visit to the White House for the official unveiling of their portraits, as I wrote in my book, "Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump." "It was the first time they had been back to the house they had lived in for eight years. The residence staff, at Michelle Obama's direction, had a long table set in the elegant Red Room, on the State Floor, for the Bushes' large extended family. Fourteen Bushes had a meal together and were served by the same butlers who had attended to them for years in the upstairs residence." After the event, staff who worked for the Bushes gathered in the East Room in a receiving line to see them again. Before Barbara Bush's April 2018 funeral at her beloved St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, George W. Bush hosted a brunch for VIPs. "He was effusive about greeting everyone, but it's possible that Michelle Obama got the biggest hug of all," said George H. W. Bush's chief of staff, Jean Becker, of the friendship between the Democratic former first lady from the South Side of Chicago and the former president from the country's most prominent Republican family. When I asked if Michelle Obama and George W. Bush have become friends, Becker said without hesitation, "They have become best friends." Obama has described Bush as a "beautiful, funny, kind, sweet man." She shares no such warmth with her husband's successor. During her convention speech Monday Michelle Obama all but begged voters to make sure their votes were counted. She said that the America that the Obamas' two daughters see every day is "not just disappointing; it's downright infuriating." In 2016 Michelle Obama famously stirred crowds when she responded to Trump's campaign with the rallying cry "When they go low, we go high." But more than three-and-a-half years of Trump's presidency has made her change her approach. "Going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top," Obama said Monday night. The focus of her remarks was not Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, the first Black woman ever on a major party ticket. It was all about getting Trump out, and as a former first lady her words matter. Clarification: This piece has been updated to clarify that Barbara Bush died in April of 2018. This story was first published on CNN.com 'Michelle Obama goes where no former first lady ever has' 3D printing remains to be one of the most impressive creations in modern times and continues to find new and unexpected uses with each passing day. Actor Dennis Quaid is well-known around the world for his performances in blockbuster hits like The Day After Tomorrow (2004). As of late, the Texas native is using his talents as host for televisions Viewpoint. The educational program highlights a wide array of subjects to bring attention to topics that uniquely impact people worldwide. An upcoming episode will interview aerospace professionals to discuss how 3D printing technology is aiding the industrys research efforts. Over the years, 3D printing has seen a lot of use since it made its first debut in the 1980s. From making jewelry and architectural models to tissues for human bodies, people consistently find new applications for 3D printers. Innovators in tech are continually finding new uses for 3D printing, including the aerospace industry. Much like how architects can print 3D architectural models for building houses, aerospace technicians can utilize 3D printing to make models of prototypes to save costs on what could otherwise be expensive research materials. Aerospace 3D printing applications also include creating castings for fuel tanks, transmission housings, and lightweight engine parts. 3D printing remains to be one of the most impressive creations in modern times and continues to find new and unexpected uses with each passing day. More details about how 3D printing is helping the aerospace industry will be in the latest episode. Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid is carefully reviewed before revealed to a larger viewing audience. The educational program is the recipient of multiple awards. CLEVELAND, Ohio - A Raymond Tinnerman Industrial Inc. is closing its manufacturing facility in Brunswick, Ohio, and eliminating 54 jobs in the process. The company, which makes fasteners and other assembly products used in consumer goods, industrial machinery, furniture and plumbing fixtures, said it was ending all operations at its plant at 1060 W. 130 St. primarily due to a decrease market demand outside the control of the company and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. A Raymond Tinnerman informed state officials in a WARN notice of the difficult decision to permanently close the plant, which will occur in various stages from Aug. 6 through February 2021. Read the full story on cleveland.coms sister site, Cleveland Business Journal. Get the best in local business news sent straight to your inbox with the Cleveland Business Journal. Free to sign up. Gerald Allen Kraft TCDA Photo View Photo Sonora, CA A local man who raped a sleeping woman he had supposedly given refuge to was found guilty after a jury trial. Tuolumne County District Attorneys officials report that on Friday, the jury convicted 34-year-old Gerald Allen Kraft for one count of rape of an unconscious person. Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter, who prosecuted the case, shares that the victim at the time of the crime back in the fall of 2017, was 18 years old and that Kraft had allowed her to sleep on the floor of his room after she had been physically assaulted at a Groveland park. The victim awoke to Kraft having sex with her but eventually stopped when she moved her body. After leaving the house later that morning, the victim, over a period of several days following the rape, communicated with Kraft via text message asking him why he raped her after she had repeatedly refused his advances. In response to several of the messages accusing him of the act, the defendant said he didnt know why, and that he had fd up. Assistant DA Hovatter says the messages, captured in photographs by a Tuolumne County Sheriffs deputy when the woman reported the incident a week later, were shown to the jury during the trial. Hovatter adds that, significantly, Krafts phone was later seized by deputies as part of the investigation and that the jury was able to view a printout of the messages present on his phone with several of his most incriminating responses shown to have been deleted by the defendant. It took the jury less than 90 minutes to confer and return to the courtroom with its guilty verdict. Hovatter says Krafts sentencing is set for later this month and that he faces up to eight years in state prison and will also have to register as a sex offender. Bill Clinton speaking at the Democratic convention's second night - Democratic National Convention via AP Bill Clinton has mocked Donald Trump for spending hours a day watching TV and creating chaos at the White House in a Democratic convention speech as Joe Biden formally became the partys 2020 presidential nominee. Mr Clinton, the former US president, was only given around five minutes on camera and had a speaking slot far less prominent than in past conventions but used his time to deliver a sharp summation of the case against Mr Trump. He focussed on the coronavirus crisis and how America has fared worse than other countries, noting that despite having just four per cent of the worlds population the US has 25 per cent of global Covid-19 cases. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, its a storm centre. Theres only chaos," Mr Clinton said. "Just one thing never changes - his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there." "You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better." @BillClinton#DemConvention pic.twitter.com/L8xeBd9pQE 2020 #DemConvention (@DemConvention) August 19, 2020 Mr Clinton said of Mr Trump: Now you have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man. Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if youre trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards. Story continues Mr Clinton highlighted Mr Bidens role, while Barack Obama's vice president, in turning a deep recession after the 2008 financial crash into a growing economy given to Mr Trump - a critical part of the Democratic economic message. He also compared Mr Trumps instincts to blame, bully, and belittle with Mr Bidens promise to build back better in office, one of the nominees campaign slogans which has been repeated throughout the convention so far. Biden formally crowned The second night of the Democratic convention saw another two hours of programming which featured the formal adoption of Mr Biden, 77, as the partys 2020 presidential nominee. Due to coronavirus the entire convention has been taken online, meaning the traditional in-person pledging of delegates from the 50 US states and seven US overseas territories took on a twist. Delegates from each of the areas gave a short video to camera, some with tongue-in-cheek messages and others giving more moving appeals, as they declared who was getting their support. Joe Biden with his wife Jill on screen during the Democratic convention's second night - AFP via Getty Images Rhodes Islands video featured a man with a plate of calamari, a signature dish in the state. Pennsylvanias message was shot outside Mr Bidens childhood home in Scranton. At the final tally Mr Biden got 3,558 delegates and Bernie Sanders, the left-wing senator from Vermont, was on 1,151 delegates - though in reality the race effectively ended back in April when Mr Sanders pulled out. Mr Biden appeared on screen alongside his wife Jill and grandchildren surrounded by balloons as he was confirmed as the nominee. Thank you, thank you, thank you, he said. The moment comes 32 years after he first ran for president and sets in stone his nomination to take on Mr Trump at the election on November 3. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the left-wing congressman for New York, gave a brief speech formally nominating Mr Sanders for the nomination, thought did not speak out Mr Biden. Jill Biden opens up Much of Tuesday's programming was spent expanding on Mrs Bidens personal story, through first a film about her life and then a speech to close the evenings proceedings. Mr Biden lost his first wife and one-year-old daughter in a car accident in 1972, leaving his two young sons who survived the crash, Beau and Hunter, without a mother. Mr Biden talked of the impact Jill, his second wife, had once they were married. She put us back together. She gave me back my life. She gave me back a family, he said. Mrs Biden, an English teacher who has already experienced the White House during her eight years as second lady, gave her own address singing the praises of her husband. Appearing at the school at which she taught, Brandywine High School, Mrs Biden linked her familys story to that of the nation in a speech filled with personal stories. "I know that if we entrust this nation to @JoeBiden, he will do for your family what he did for ours: Bring us together and make us whole. Carry us forward in our time of need. Keep the promise of America for all of us." @DrBiden#DemConvention pic.twitter.com/JhgCgP2KIN 2020 #DemConvention (@DemConvention) August 19, 2020 Speaking of the early years of their marriage, she said: We found that love holds a family together. Love makes us flexible and resilient. It allows us to become more than ourselves - together. And though it cant protect us from the sorrows of life, it gives us refuge a home. How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding - and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith. Mrs Biden, 69, also spoke of the passing of Mr Bidens eldest son Beau, to cancer in 2015. Mr Biden was vice president at the time. He has said the tragedy stopped his plans to run for the presidency in 2016. After our son, Beau, died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again. It was summer but there was no warmth left for me, Mrs Biden said. Four days after Beaus funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror - take a breath - put his shoulders back - and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. Thats just who he is. Grandees weigh in Grandees from both sides of the aisle also appeared to speak up in favour of Mr Biden, including two other Democrats beyond Mr Clinton who have sought the White House. Jimmy Carter, the former US president now aged 95, said: Joe has the experience, character, and decency to bring us together and restore Americas greatness. We deserve a person with integrity and judgment. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, said: Before Donald Trump, we used to talk about American exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about the incoherent Trump foreign policy is that it has made our nation more isolated than ever before. "We deserve a person with integrity and judgement, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people. @JoeBiden is that kind of leader." President Carter#DemConvention pic.twitter.com/ahxFn7Rxt0 2020 #DemConvention (@DemConvention) August 19, 2020 But there were also leading Republicans, including Colin Powell, the former secretary of state to George W Bush. His speech was not announced before Tuesday. Mr Powell had previously said he would be voting for Mr Biden and has become disillusioned with the Republican Party, endorsing both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the presidency, but remains a well-known GOP name. Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute. With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries - never the other way around, Mr Powell said. An unexpected appearance While much of the nights programme, themed around leadership, focussed on Mr Trumps foreign policy and national security expertise, there were also more human touches. One of the two people who formally put forward Mr Biden for the presidential nomination on Tuesday evening was an African-American security guard he encountered during the campaign trial. Jacquelyn: Your nomination means the world to me. Thank you and I hope you know: we love you back. #DemConvention pic.twitter.com/BDS1HQAxhM Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 19, 2020 Jacquelyn Brittany had been involved in a clip that went viral during the Demcratic primaries when she was caught saying I love you unprompted to Mr Biden as he travelled in a New York Times elevator ahead of an interview. She said on Tuesday night: I take powerful people up in my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby. But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me. That he actually cared. That my life meant something to him. And I knew, even when he went into his important meeting, hed take my story in there with him. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 01:48:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIYADH, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi foreign minister on Wednesday reaffirmed the country's commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, in the first official comment regarding the normalization deal the United Arab Emirates signed with Israel. Israel's unilateral moves with regards to settlements are hindering the chances for peace, said Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in an event in Berlin, Al Arabiya TV reported. "Saudi Arabia considers Israeli unilateral measures to annex Palestinian land and build settlements as detrimental to the two-state solution," Al Saud was quoted by his ministry's tweet as saying. The Arab Peace Initiative was proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, which stipulates that the Arabs can only normalize relations with Israel after the Palestinian issue is resolved. Enditem LONDON (dpa-AFX) - British house building company Persimmon plc (PSN.L) said Wednesday that its incoming chief executive officer Dean Finch is expected to take up his position earlier than expected. Previously, he was expected to take up the CEO post at the end of 2020. Persimmon anticipates confirming his start date shortly. In June, Persimmon announced the appointment of Dean Finch as Group Chief Executive. Finch, 53, has been the CEO of National Express Group plc (NEX.L) for more than ten years. Finch would succeed David Jenkinson, who announced in February 2020 that he wished to step down once a suitable successor had been identified. Earlier today, National Express Group said that it has agreed with Dean Finch that his last day as Group Chief Executive Officer will be 31 August 2020. In addition to his current responsibilities as Group Chief Financial Officer, Chris Davies will take over as Interim Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 September 2020, until a permanent appointment is made, National Express said in a statement. 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. Researchers in Germany will give a group of people just over 1,000 a month, no strings attached, as part of an experiment to assess the potential benefits of introducing a wider universal basic income (UBI). The radical idea has attracted a growing amount of interest around the world as a way of potentially supporting people during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. Advocates claim a small, regular income from the state to all citizens would help tackle poverty, encourage more flexible working practices, and allow some people to spend more time caring for older family members. The German pilot study will initially see 120 people handed the monthly sum of 1,200 Euros (1,085) to monitor how it changes their work patterns and leisure time. Researcher Jurgen Schupp who is leading the My Basic Income project at the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research said he wanted to discover how a reliable, unconditional flow of money affects peoples attitudes and behaviour. Crowds in Berlin, home of research institute paying pilot study recipients more than 1,000 a month (AFP via Getty Images) Mr Schupp told Der Spiegel newspaper: So far, the debate about the basic income has been like a philosophical salon at best and a war of faith at worst. It is, on both sides, shaped by cliches. Opponents claim that with a basic income people would stop working in order to lie on the couch with fast food and streaming services, he added. Proponents argue that people will continue to do fulfilling work, become more creative and charitable, and save democracy. We can improve this [debate] if we replace these stereotypes with empirically proven knowledge. The 120 beneficiaries of the stipend will be studied, initially, against a comparison group of 1,380 people who do not receive any cash payments. However, the academics behind the study want to find 1 million applicants for wider participation by this November. From that group, 1,500 people will then be selected for the three-year income experiment. Pollsters at YouGov found that a majority of the British public support giving people UBI during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure their financial security. Despite fears UBI would make people lazy, one major study discovered it has a small but positive effect on whether participants take up jobs as well as boosting mental well-being. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The two-year pilot, commissioned by the government of Finland, saw 2,000 people chosen at random from among the unemployed population paid a regular monthly income of 560 euros (490) by the state for two years. Survey respondents who received a basic income described their wellbeing more positively than respondents in the control group, the studys authors at the Social Insurance Institution of Finland said. Following the release of the pilot study in May, Scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested she was enthusiastic about the idea. The expcerience of the virus and the economic consequences of that have actually made me much, much more strongly of the view that it is an idea thats time has come. In June, Spain introduced a minimum living income to support citizens during the pandemic. It is a non-contributory cash benefit one not attached to previous employment history but only people below a certain income threshold are eligible. Locky Gilbert's ex-girlfriend Brooke Jowett has called for Channel 10 to start casting more culturally diverse talent. Speaking to HuffPost on Wednesday, the Australian Survivor star insisted that television has 'a long way to go' before it can reflect society's true diversity. 'I would love to see a culturally diverse Bachelorette for 2021,' she said in response to the network recently announcing Elly Mills and her sister Becky as this year's Bachelorettes. Hoping for change: Australian Survivor's Brooke Jowett has called for a culturally diverse Bachelorette in 2021 Brooke, who's mother is Sri Lankan and father is Australian, told the publication that she was bullied online for her skin colour while appearing on Survivor in 2016 and 2019. 'During my Survivor experience, I have had a few mean Tweets about my colour which astounds me, I cant believe some people are still so behind,' she said. It comes just weeks after former Married At First Sight star Zoe Hendrix also lashed out at new Bachelorettes and compared them to 'white bread'. 'I cant believe some people are still so behind': Brooke (pictured), who's mother is Sri Lankan and father is Australian, told the publication that she was bullied online for her skin colour while appearing on Survivor in 2016 and 2019 Case of the ex: Brooke dated fellow Survivor star Locky Gilbert (right) prior to him being named as The Bachelor 2020 in March Loud and proud: Brooke's comment was in response to Channel 10 recently casting blonde sisters Elly Mills and her sister Becky as the Bachelorettes in 2020 Zoe said the show should have chosen a more diverse set of contestants. The former reality star, who appeared on Channel Nine's MAFS in 2015, shared a meme to Instagram, showing packets of white bread over the sisters' faces and the caption: 'Australian TV in 2020'. Alongside it, she wrote at length: 'TWO blonde white thin straight women as the next Bachelorette was not what we had in mind when we said we wanted more DIVERSITY & REPRESENTATION! 'Yikes! Is this meant to be groundbreaking television?' Former Married At First Sight star Zoe Hendrix (pictured) has also criticised the decision to cast Elly and Becky as The Bachelorettes 'Yikes! Is this meant to be groundbreaking television? Are we living on different planets? Why is it so hard in 2020 to cast a beautiful indigenous, Asian or black woman?? How about a lesbian or bisexual woman?' Meanwhile, Bachelor in Paradise star Abbie Chatfield believes that Channel 10 should have picked someone racially diverse or gay. Speaking to WHO Magazine, 'I was hoping it would be Brooke Blurton [from Nick Cummins' season], she seemed like a good choice for racial diversity and also representing the LGBTQIA+ community, and she's great,' Abbie said. WILMINGTON, Del. The Democrats historic boundary breakers are joining forces at the partys national convention in an unprecedented effort to mobilize the diverse coalition Joe Biden will need to defeat President Donald Trump this fall. Barack Obama, the nations first Black president, and Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated for president by a major party, are speaking on Bidens behalf Tuesday night. And Kamala Harris, Bidens running mate and the first Black woman on a major party ticket, will deliver highly anticipated remarks that will serve as her first introduction to millions of voters. Just 76 days before the election, voters in both parties are as engaged in politics as they have ever been, even while battling a pandemic that has left more than 172,000 dead and millions more out of work. Having formally been nominated by their party, the Biden-Harris ticket is now the Democrats best and only hope to deny Trump another four years in office. The pandemic has forced Bidens team to abandon the traditional convention format in favor of an all-virtual affair that has eliminated much of the pomp and circumstance that typically defines political conventions. Its also produced opportunities to create new traditions. On Tuesday night, Biden celebrated his formal nomination in a school library with his family. Instead of a Milwaukee convention hall as initially planned, the roll call of convention delegates played out in a combination of live and recorded video feeds from American landmarks packed with meaning: Alabamas Edmund Pettus Bridge, the headwaters of the Mississippi River and Washingtons Black Lives Matter Plaza. The Democratic convention will build to a finale Thursday night when Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday in a mostly empty convention hall near his Delaware home. Next week its Trumps turn. The president, who abandoned plans to host his convention in North Carolina and Florida, is expected to break tradition and accept his nomination from the White House lawn. Trump has spent much of this week hosting campaign events in battleground states in an attempt to distract from the Democrats virtual festivities. While there is no travel expected on Wednesday, Trump on Tuesday claimed that a Biden presidency would trigger a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen during an Arizona appearance near the Mexican border. Such divisive rhetoric, which is not supported by Bidens positions, has become a hallmark of Trumps presidency, which has inflamed tensions at home and alienated allies around the world. Still, Bidens team acknowledged that the Biden-Harris ticket must do more than promise a return to normalcy should they defeat Trump. The speakers Wednesday are expected to outline Bidens path toward legitimate progress for all Americans. Joe knows its not enough to build back. Weve got to build back better than ever," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in previewing Wednesdays program. Whitmer noted, for example, that women have made significant progress in politics recent years. But theres so much more to be had, she said. Joe Bidens a champion, and all ally we can trust in the White House, and by his side well have the first female vice president in our history in Kamala Harris. As Joe often says, our nation was founded on a simple idea. Were all created equal. Weve never fully lived up to it but that is our north star. Obama, who remains perhaps the biggest star in the Democratic Party, will deliver a live address Wednesday night as well. He hopes to serve as a bridge between those reassured by Bidens lengthy resume and more moderate record, and a younger generation of Democrats agitating for more dramatic change. Obama confidants say that the former presidents support for Biden is unequivocal, but he does worry about enthusiasm among younger voters, particularly younger voters of color. Democrats concede that one of the reasons Trump won the presidency in 2016 is because those voters didnt show up in the same large numbers for Clinton as they did when Obama was on the ballot. The first two days of the convention have featured a diverse lineup, although Bidens team has largely showcased the more moderate wing of his party and even a half dozen Republicans such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel said on Fox News Channel on Wednesday she wasnt concerned, adding that Powell hasnt been a Republican since the early 2000s. This isnt surprising, McDaniel said. This group of Never Trumpers has left the Republican party. It remains to be seen whether the unconventional convention will give Biden the momentum hes looking for. Preliminary estimates show that television viewership for the first night of the virtual convention was down compared with the opening of Hillary Clintons onsite nominating party four years ago. An estimated 18.7 million people watched coverage between 10 and 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the Nielsen company said. Four years ago, the opening night drew just under 26 million viewers. Bidens campaign said an additional 10.2 million streamed the convention online Monday night. ___ Price reported from Las Vegas and Peoples from New York. AP Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace contributed to this report. 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 Currently responsible for the technical performance and deliverables quality of the AECOM Centurion Structures team, Kim Anne Timm has been working on a wide range of projects since graduating in engineering 17 years ago. She's enjoys mentoring new graduates and young engineers and discussing interesting technical challenges. Kim Anne Timm, executive - Structures, Buildings and Places, AECOM Tell us a bit about yourself - your background? Describe your role at AECOM - what does a typical work day look like for you? As a woman, have there been any significant challenges in the workplace that stand out for you? To what do you attribute the low percentage of women in STEM-related sectors? How can we drive greater gender parity in STEM-based industries? Where, to you, does the value lie in a diverse, inclusive work environment, particularly in terms of female representation? Based on your experience, what advice would you give to women pursuing a career in STEM today? How is AECOM supporting and empowering women in STEM/business in general? Do you have any pearls of wisdom to share this Women's Month or words of encouragement? Some of Timm's recent achievements include winning the SAPSA Award for Woman Professional of the Year and the CESA Mentor of the Year in 2019. She shares with Bizcommunity a bit about her beginnings in engineering, challenges she's faced in the workplace, her thoughts on how we can drive greater gender parity in STEM-based industries, and some advice for women pursuing a career in STEM today.I grew up in Durban, the daughter of two teachers. I was lucky to win a bursary to study engineering at UCT and later my Masters at Stellenbosch and thereafter went to work for BKS (later bought by AECOM). I have worked all over South Africa and still love travelling and exploring the country further.I look after the technical quality of the Centurion Structures department for AECOM. I spend a fair portion of my day conducting design reviews and mentoring and guiding the younger engineers.Initially, when I started work, there were very few women engineers. As such, the contractors would very seldom take my instructions seriously and would typically repeat questions to the male engineers to confirm that my responses were correct. The industry has evolved over the past 20 years but it can still be a challenge to be taken seriously as a woman in engineering.It is too late to tell girls in Grade 12 that they can do any career they choose. If we force our young girls to play with dolls and our young boys to play with bricks and ridicule them when they choose to play with the other, it is much harder to open their minds at a later stage. It is important for girls and boys to have access to learning through a wide range of play, even at very early stages.We need to encourage an environment in which men and women are free to choose to follow the careers that appeal to them without fear of bias or judgement from friends, families or colleagues. This starts from an early age in the way with which we interact with our and other children.All people bring different assets and approaches to their work. Often, when you consider something from only one perspective, the decisions you are reaching are biased and one-sided despite all efforts to the contrary. With contrasting viewpoints, you can ensure that the decisions you ultimately make are more comprehensive.This is an amazing industry with a lot to offer. Its not the easiest industry for women to start in but once you are there, it is immensely rewarding and one where you can be part of the change you want to see.AECOM is very supportive of women in STEM. Womens achievements are celebrated and actively encouraged across AECOM worldwide. There are mentoring environments in place for women to be able to contact and talk to other women in similar situations and obtain advice. Its a very inclusive place to work.If we support and encourage each other, we can change the world. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole can set a new American League record for consecutive wins Wednesday night by making it 21 in a row in his start against the Tampa Bay Rays. First pitch for the middle game of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium is 7:05 p.m. Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers Cole tied Roger Clemens record of winning 20 in a row in his last start, a one-run, seven-inning victory against the Boston Red Sox last Friday night in New York. Cole also has a streak of 27 starts without losing, which is three short of Clemens record 30. The Yanks need a win just to give them some breathing room from the Rays, who pulled to within 1 games of the lead in the AL East by winning Tuesday nights series opener 6-3. Here is the Yankees lineup: 1. Aaron Hicks, CF 2. Luke Voit, 1B 3. Gio Urshela, 3B 4. Mike Ford, DH 5. Gleyber Torres, SS 6. Gary Sanchez, C 7. Brett Gardner, LF 8. Clint Frazier, RF 9. Thairo Estrada, 2B Gerrit Cole, RHP And here is the Rays lineup: 1. Austin Meadows, LF 2. Yandy Diaz, 3B 3. Brandon Lowe, 2B 4. Jose Martinez, DH 5. Ji-Man Choi, 1B 6. Willy Adames, SS 7. Kevin Kiermaier, CF 8. Manuel Margot RF 9. Mike Zunino C Tyler Glasnow, RHP Here are Yankees game notes from the teams media relations department: AT A GLANCE: The Yankees are 6-1 on their season-high 10-day, nine-game homestand. ... The Yankees dropped the first game of their three-game set vs. Tampa Bay (through Thursday) after sweeping a two-game series vs. Atlanta and a four-game set vs. Boston. ... Following this homestand, The Yankees will go on a five- game road trip, featuring three at Citi Field to face the Mets (8/21-23) and two in Atlanta (8/25-26). ... The Yankees 16-7 (.696) record is the second-best record in the majors (best in the AL), trailing only Los Angeles-NL (18-7, .720). RELEASE THE KRAKEN: C Gary Sanchez hit a solo homer on Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay. ... This was the 110th home run of his career and came in his 392nd career game, the second highest through 392 games in major league history. NEXT MAN UP: INF Thairo Estrada, OF/DH Clint Frazier, 1B/DH Mike Ford and OF Mike Tauchman have combined to hit .313 (35-for-112) with 18 runs 10 doubles, 5 homers, 27 RBI, 8 BB, 4 SB, 3 HBP and 1 SF this season. WHAT A RELIEF: RHP Luis Cessa tossed two perfect innings of relief on Tuesday. He has made 14 scoreless relief appearances of at least two innings since 2019, the second-most in the majors over that span (Seth Lugo-18). Get Yankees text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Chandigarh, Aug 19 : Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday warned Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh against "compromising on the state's consistent and principled stand on the riparian principle with regard to the unsustainable demand for distribution of river waters". The Akali leader said the SYL canal issue stood closed forever after the Parkash Singh Badal-led government had returned the acquired land to its original owner farmers. The SAD President said the Chief Minister should have categorically told Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat that massive injustice had been done to Punjab by successive Congress governments, especially by Indira Gandhi, in looting Punjab's waters and giving these unjustly to Rajasthan and Haryana. "Congress Chief Minister Darbara Singh had signed on Punjab's death warrants. When told by Indira Gandhi to choose between his chair as CM and Punjab's rights on river waters, Darbara Singh chose his chair," an official statement quoting Sukhbir Badal said. "Punjabis are now paying with their lives the price for the greed of the Congress leaders like Darbara Singh." The Akali leader said building a canal without determining the quantum of water, if any, to flow through it is a 'patently absurd idea'. "Never in human history has a canal ever been built without first ascertaining the availability of the water. That is literally putting the cart before the horse and the people of Punjab are totally at a loss to understand why such an absolutely irrational and unprecedented demand was being made at all." Former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir reiterated that Punjabis and the Akali Dal would never accept the construction of the SYL nor allow it to be built. He said Amarinder Singh's arguments in Tuesday's meeting with the Haryana counterparts have surprised the Punjabis as these constitute a departure from the known and consistent position on riparian principle. "Punjab's claim on river waters is based on the nationally and internationally accepted riparian principle. The issue of Yamuna waters is only an argument against Haryana's stand. We just want that we must not be robbed of our own river waters and we don't demand Yamuna waters because we stick to the riparian principle," Sukhbir added. During July 2020 the Russian navy put the 5,400-ton frigate Admiral Kasatonov into service after the successful completion of sea trials. This comes eleven years after construction began and nearly six years after the Kasatonov was launched. It also comes two years after the first ship (the Gorshkov) of the class entered service. Two more of these Project 22350 Gorshkovs are supposed to enter service in 2022. These began construction in 2012 and 2013. As of late 2019 these four trouble-plagued Project 22350 ships were to be the only ones built. There had been plans to build four more upgraded Project 22350M frigates and construction on two of them had begun in early 2019. The 22350M frigates have a larger hull that the original Gorshkov, weigh 8,000 tons and have more weapons and more equipment that might not work. There were many in the Defense Ministry who wanted to cancel the 22350M frigates. Apparently, the success of the Kasatonov during trials changed minds because, the day before Kasatonov entered service, construction of the second two 22350M frigates began. The first 22350M frigate is scheduled to enter service in 2024 with the second one entering service in 2025. This revived confidence in the 22350 series frigates did not revive interest in the 19,000-ton Lider class (Project 23560) nuclear-powered cruisers. The Lider class ships were originally proposed as 12,000-ton cruisers without nuclear power. With nuclear power they replace the Cold War era 28,000 ton-Kirov class battlecruisers. Without nuclear power the Libers replace the similar, but older, Slava class cruisers. The shrinking Russian defense budget can afford the 8,000-ton 22350M frigates but not cruisers, nuclear or otherwise. The four Kirovs are not aging well and two have already been retired. The other two are being refurbished, a process that takes at least three years, and keeps both ships operational into the 2030s. The nuclear powered Lider were to cost $1.4 billion each. Thats more than three times what the original Gorshkovs cost and twice what the larger Gorshkov will go for. Many naval experts saw the Kirovs as an expensive type of ship Russia could not afford and really did not need. The same applied to the nuclear-powered Liders and, for a while, the larger Gorshkovs. What really killed the Liders and nearly eliminated the larger Gorshkovs was not just a shrinking naval budget but the many problems encountered with the Gorshkovs and the realization that these problems might not go away in a larger version. Numerous delays getting the first Gorshkov into service played a large role in the cancellation threats. The navy originally wanted twenty Gorshkovs to replace the Cold War era Sovremenny class destroyers and Burevestnik class frigates. Until 2019 the government only promised money for 12-15 Gorshkovs. These building plans were contingent on these new ships proving their worth. That apparently did happen, at least as far as the second Gorshkov was concerned. If the builder and the navy ship construction management officers can keep quality up and everything on schedule, there may end up being fifteen of these frigates. The first Gorshkov finally passed sea trials a year after it entered service in 2018. One of the delays involved the failure of the anti-aircraft missile system to function properly. There were also problems with the engines. The builder kept insisting it would be ready soon, but soon kept getting extended. In part these engine problems were a side-effect of the 2014 Ukraine invasion. That quickly led to Ukraine refusing to supply any more naval turbines. The navy had a Russian firm building these but that is often behind schedule as well and ships like the Gorshkovs had to use turbines. The original Gorshkov's are armed with a 130mm gun, two Kashtan autocannon systems for missile defense and 8 Yakhont 3M55 or PJ-10 BrahMos anti-ship missiles. Both are three ton supersonic missiles, with the BrahMos being an advanced version of Yakhont developed in cooperation with India. There are also a launcher for 24 Uragan 1 (SA-N-12) anti-aircraft missiles (30 kilometers range, 70 kg/154 pound warhead), four 533mm (21 inch) torpedo tubes, four RPK-9 (SS-N-29) anti-submarine rockets and a helicopter. Gorshkovs require a crew of 210 sailors and will have the latest electronics the Russians have available for anti-air and anti-submarine work. These ships cost about $400 million each and are capable of doing most of what the older, larger 7,900-ton Sovremenny class destroyers did. These older, larger, ships, were designed for high seas operations far from Russian shores. Given the shrinking naval budget and quality control problems with larger ships, the only new ships still being built are smaller ones. The new fleet will be a return to the traditional Russian navy job of defending coastal waters. Even accomplishing that mission is in doubt if Russian cannot get its shipyards up to speed. Russia has been able to build some new corvettes but these are smaller and much less capable ships than the Gorshkovs. Prolonged low oil prices are also doing major damage to the Russian Navy. Less oil income on top of the damage done by economic sanctions because of the Ukraine invasion, plus the additional production costs caused by loss of Ukrainian defense industry suppliers, has forced Russia to make a number of changes that have not been mentioned in navy press releases. Russia has been trying since the late 1990s to build replacements for Cold War era warships. Most of these have reached the end of their useful lives and many of them, while still listed as in service, rarely, if ever, seem to leave port. Russian admirals have been aware of the fact that they won't have much of a navy by the 2020s unless these older ships are replaced. The problem is that the older ships cannot be easily or cheaply refurbished or upgraded because that would cost more than buying new ones, These older ships are not just falling apart, but because there was not any money available right after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, there were few repairs and no upgrades during the 1990s. The twelve destroyers currently in service were all completed in the 1980s and 1990s. There is also one 1960s vintage destroyer in the Black Sea, which is more for show than active service. The destroyers are wearing out quickly and wont be fit for service much longer. The plans for two new classes of destroyers have been put off until the 2020s. The current destroyers suffered from lack of maintenance in the 1990s and there is no money for refurbishment. These dozen destroyers wont last much beyond 2030, at least not as ships that can stay at sea much. There has been some new construction for frigates (ocean-going ships displacing about 4,000 tons) but some of that construction has stopped or been canceled. Construction of smaller ships like corvettes (500-1,000 tons) and patrol boats is continuing but not at a rate to replace all those currently in service. These smaller vessels are mainly for coastal security and the Cold War era fleet had a lot more of these because Russia was a classic police state that enforced strict border controls. That has been loosened up since the Cold War ended and the loss of many older ships will not leave the coasts undefended. Submarines were one ship type that got priority for new construction even in the 1990s but that has now slowed down. This is critical when it comes to building replacements for the last Cold War class of SSBNs (nuclear ballistic missile subs) which were all completed in the 1980s. These have been quietly retired or semi-retired (only going to sea for training). Priority was put on building eight new Borei class SSBNs. These were delayed and the first one did not enter service until 2013. There are now four in service but construction on the other four has been stopped. Some of these are half-built but there is simply no money to finish them now. So the SSBN fleet is in danger of shrinking to four subs for a while, maybe a long while. The Russian economy revived in the late 1990s and parliament came up with more money after 2000 to build enough surface ships to maintain a respectable fleet. But that revealed another problem. Most of Russia's warship building capability, experience and skills disappeared after 1991. Before 2014 the government thought it had a solution and that was to make a deal with France to import modern warship building techniques, by purchasing two Mistral amphibious assault ship/helicopter carriers, and the right to build two more in Russian shipyards. During that process, Russian shipbuilders would learn how it's done in the West. Since the late 1990s, most of the Russian construction effort went into finishing a few subs and building some surface ships for export. Even these subs had serious construction problems. Mainly it was quality control and the Navy refused to accept ships, especially subs that could not pass sea trials. Apparently, the shipyards were ordered to put all their efforts into the subs and eventually some of these limped into service. But the deal to import French shipbuilding techniques disappeared when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. France refunded the billion dollars paid for the two Mistrals (and later sold them to Egypt) leaving the Russians on their own. The Gorshkovs are not an isolated example. The same problems have been encountered with the Su-57 stealth fighter, the radical new T-14 tank, the new Borei SSBN and the Bulava ballistic missile for Borei. In general, Russian defense industries continue to have problems developing new technology or even manufacturing older items reliably. The Russian space program is having similar problems with its rockets. The list goes on and on. Russia plays down all these problems but the net result is they have very little locally produced stuff to replace their Cold War designs. Worse, China is now producing improved and more reliable versions of those Cold War era weapons, along with new Western tech (like large, missile-armed UAVs) that Russia cannot master. In the late 1980s the Soviet (Russian) Navy was the second largest in the world and largely consisted of new ships, many of them nuclear-powered and equipped with a formidable array of weapons. All that is largely gone now. China has left its Cold War era ship designs behind and is copying Western ships. So are the Russians, but not as competently as the Chinese. Nor can the Russians build dozens of new warships a year and have them operate reliably. American intel collecting aircraft, ships and satellites monitor sea trials for new Russian and Chinese ships and note that the Chinese are doing much better. Now the second largest fleet in the world is Chinese and it is looking to be a far more dangerous adversary than the Soviet fleet ever was. 90 Day Fiance star Andrei Castravet has never seemed to get along with his wife Elizabeth Potthast Castravets family. But Andreis in-law issues reached a whole new level when the couple headed to his home country of Moldova with their young daughter, Eleanor, for their second wedding. Charlie Potthast and Chuck Potthast, Elizabeths brother and father, pushed Andreis buttons by peppering him with questions about his sudden move to Ireland from Moldova before he met Elizabeth. Andrei took offense to their questions and nearly ended up in a physical fight with Charlie one night at a local restaurant. In a new sneak peek of an upcoming 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After episode, Andrei and Elizabeth headed to the airport once againthis time to greet her sister, Jenn, as well as her mom, Pamela, and her stepdad, Walterafter Charlie and Andrei struck a tentative truce. Elizabeth hoped that Andrei would be on his best behavior this time around. Andrei Castravet and Elizabeth Potthast Castravet | Elizabeth Potthast Castravet via Instagram Andrei assured his wife that he would treat her family with respect In the 90 Day Fiance preview, Elizabeth and Andrei waited at the airport for Elizabeths sister, mom, and stepdad. Elizabeth explained that her parents, Pamela and Chuck, had been divorced since she was eight years old. But everyone in the family got along, so they were all staying together at the same AirBnB in Chisinau. Andrei told TLC producers that he had assured his wife hed be kind and welcoming to her family membersespecially after the drunken debacle with Charlie just a few nights earlier. While Andrei and Charlie had agreed to remain civil after they nearly got into a physical fight, things between them were obviously still tense. I promised Elizabeth I would be nice, Andrei said reluctantly, as Elizabeth acknowledged she was nervous about how the night would go. But if Elizabeths family is gonna give me a hard time, Im just gonna leave. Im not gonna get in a fight again. As for Elizabeth, she just hoped her dad and brother wouldnt broach the sensitive subject with her mom and sister. At this point, I havent spoken to my family about what went down at the restaurant the other night, the 90 Day Fiance star admitted. But because Andrei had already apologized to Charlie and Chuck, she hoped it would simply blow over. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Elizabeth Potthast Castravet Posts a Risque Video With Andrei Castravet After Fans Accuse Her of Photoshopping Their Pictures Elizabeths sister made disparaging comments about Moldova after she arrived Two of Elizabeths sisters hadnt been able to come to Moldova because of their new babies, but Jenn immediately jumped in with enough commentary about Eastern Europe for all three of them. I have to say, my first impression is pretty much what I thought it would be, Jenn told 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After producers with respect to Moldova, adding that she wished she was in France. Its very gloomy and sad-looking, Jenn complained. It definitely doesnt look like a European destination. As Andrei drove his in-laws back to their rental home, where his mother had prepared a large spread, Jenn continued in the same vein. She told her brother-in-law she didnt understand how he didnt get depressed in his home country, noting the grey skies and decaying architecture. God, no wonder you, like, wanted to move away from here, Jenn told Andrei. Andrei admitted that he was annoyed by his sister-in-laws negative comments, but he didnt want to let it affect him. Jenn is trying to push my buttons, as always, Andrei complained. Shes throwing cheap shots. Im not falling for this tonight. But she better not be rude to my family. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Fans Accuse Andrei Castravet of Not Translating Elizabeth Potthast Castravets Words Correctly to His Family Andreis family gave Elizabeths mom, sister, and stepfather a warm welcome Luckily, Andreis family gave Elizabeths relatives a warm welcome. The 90 Day Fiance stars mom had laid out a generous buffet, complete with ample red local wines and well-plated treats. She warmly embraced her sons in-laws and gushed about how excited she was to have them there. Elizabeths mom was grateful for the stellar hospitality. We have been really excited to come here and meet the woman that created you, Pamela gushed to Andrei. Pamela threw in a bit of a dig at her son-in-law, however, when she compared him negatively to his much friendlier, gentler parents. Theyre very sweet people, she said of Elizabeths mother- and father-in-law, so Im still not sure where Andrei gets his gruffness from. RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: Elizabeth and Andrei Answer Fan Questions about Botox, Going Shirtless, How They Fell in Love, and Andreis Command to Listen Double Elizabeth was relieved that the night didnt end in an argument As for Chuck and Charlie, they looked a bit uncomfortable about seeing Andrei for the first time since their argument and his apology, which Charlie dismissed as a half-apology. Still, Elizabeths brother said he hoped to move on from the fight. Hopefully, he doesnt try to be a punk, he said gruffly about Andrei. Well see. Fortunately, the night seemed to go off without a hitch. Andrei translated for his relatives, and everyone seemed relaxed as they toasted Andrei and Elizabeths upcoming second wedding. They even began to sing the Moldovan and American national anthems. Radu, Andreis brother, and Ina, Radus wife, told 90 Day Fiance producers that they were glad to see Andrei feeling more at ease. I was so glad that Andrei was different today from the last days, Radu said. Elizabeth, too, was relieved. Its actually really sexy that youre not being an a**hole, the 90 Day Fiance star quipped to her husband, who grinned in response. Still, it seemed like the families sense of peace might be short-lived after all. Later 90 Day Fiance preview clips from the same episode showed Elizabeths family plotting to unearth Andreis possible secret from his past. Holmes kept Wilson and some of the other Black Marines out of the worsening fray. Youre in Uncle Sams military you cant beat the system, Holmes told them. We didnt go the other way when an officer came up and we had to salute him, or when we had to salute the flag. We made an oath when we came into the service. Holmes knew the Marine captain and lieutenants on the Sumter thought they had ended all of the issues on the ship when they had Barnwell, Blackwell and Jenkins helicoptered away. He wanted to make a point that arresting three supposed ringleaders was not going to stop them from resisting the discrimination they were constantly experiencing, even though he was unaware of just how severely the justice system was pursuing his friends. Keep the tension up, he quietly advised Wilson and others. Keep the tension up. On the ships mess decks, Holmes passed out butter knives to other Black Marines when he knew one of the white sergeants was watching him. It got the white Marines attention. When the Sumter returned to Okinawa months later, Holmes was pulled into an office, shown nearly two dozen witness statements attesting to the knife incident, and told that he was going to be court-martialed. Holmes readily admitted what he had done, and why. He said a Marine lawyer tried to use the threat of a court-martial as leverage to get Holmes to testify against his friends Barnwell, Blackwell and Jenkins, whom Black and underground G.I. newspapers were already calling the Sumter Three. Even though Wilson was stationed on a different base on Okinawa, he got the same treatment. Wilson had orders to go back to the States and process out of the Marines on Nov. 7, 1972, but the day before he was to board a cargo flight back he learned he was on legal hold. All you have to say is Barnwell, Blackwell and Jenkins are the leaders, and Ill get you home the day after tomorrow, his lawyer told him. Wilson refused. Nearly 50 years later, the Marine lawyers head games still sting. I wound up coming home in May, Wilson recalled bitterly. Viewers were left confused when Channel Nine advised that Tuesday night's episode of Ninja Warrior Australia vs The World had been edited for legal reasons. The following disclaimer appeared on screen at the start of the broadcast: 'Due to current legal proceedings in the U.S. the following program has been edited.' The legal proceedings concern American Ninja Warrior winner Andrew 'Drew' Drechsel, who was arrested earlier this month on child sex crime charges, including luring an underage girl for sex and manufacturing child pornography. Edited: Viewers were left confused when Channel Nine advised that Tuesday night's episode of Ninja Warrior Australia vs The World had been edited for legal reasons. Pictured: Australian Ninja Warrior hosts Rebecca Maddern and Ben Fordham The U.S. broadcaster of Ninja Warrior, NBC, has also decided to remove scenes featuring Drechsel from an episode set to air on Monday, September 7. NBC expressed shock over the allegations, saying in a statement: 'We are shocked and disturbed to learn about the charges alleged against Drew Drechsel. 'American Ninja Warrior is a family show that has inspired countless people, and we will not let the actions of one contestant tarnish the hard work and amazing stories of so many. 'Moving forward, the American Ninja Warrior brand will sever all ties with Mr Drechsel, including his appearance on future seasons of the show.' Nine said in a statement on Wednesday: 'Due to legal proceedings currently involving one of the members of Team USA, Channel Nine has made the decision not to show his run in tonight's episode of Ninja Warrior Australia vs The World.' Disclaimer: The following disclaimer appeared on screen at the start of the broadcast: 'Due to current legal proceedings in the U.S. the following program has been edited' Allegations: The legal proceedings concern American Ninja Warrior winner Andrew 'Drew' Drechsel (pictured), who was arrested earlier this month on child sex crime charges, including luring an underage girl for sex and manufacturing child pornography Drechsel, 31, was arrested at his home in St. Cloud, Florida, on August 5, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of New Jersey announced. He apparently met the alleged victim in 2015, when he was 26, at an American Ninja Warrior contestant event, where they exchanged numbers. Drechsel is said to have arranged for the girl to visit his gym, the Real Life Ninja Academy, in Hamden, Connecticut, in July 2015 as a present for her 15th birthday. 'We are shocked': The U.S. broadcaster of Ninja Warrior, NBC, has also decided to remove scenes featuring Drechsel (pictured) from an episode set to air on Monday, September 7 The pair exchanged text messages about 'plans for sexual activity' in the lead-up to her visit, legal documents obtained by DailyMail.com detail. During her visit to the gym, Drechsel and the girl reportedly became intimate inside his office after his girlfriend, April Beckner, had left the premises. The girl claimed that they had sex several more times between the time she was 15 and 17 years old, according to the complaint. Legal proceedings: Drechsel, 31, was arrested at his home in St. Cloud, Florida, on August 5, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of New Jersey announced Drechsel's lawyer, Frank Riccio, has said that his client plans to plead not guilty to all charges. 'Mr. Drechsel is presumed innocent of the charges, and that presumption will remain throughout the pendency of his case,' Riccio tweeted. 'He intends on entering a "not guilty" plea. It is respectfully requested that you respect the privacy of Mr. Drechsel and his family.' Drechsel and his girlfriend, April Beckner, welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, in December last year. Almost 500,000 BTEC students will have to wait another week to get their grades after the exam board axed results hours before they were due to be released today. Pearson, the provider of BTECs, yesterday told schools and colleges not to publish results in the vocational qualifications to give them time to re-grade them in line with A-levels and GCSEs - which are now being graded via teacher assessments. This means that students face another week waiting for their BTEC grades - including 250,000 who received 'downgrades' marks last week for their A-level equivalent exams. The 11th hour move last night came despite Pearson being warned a week ago about a 'systemic issue' with grading, it was claimed today. The parent of one BTEC student said the decision to withhold final grades has left his son feeling like a 'second-class student'. Caleb Taylor, 19, is waiting for the results of his level three Btec in computing and business. His father, Richard, said he has been unable to enrol at his college in Gwent for next year without knowing his final grades. He said: 'I think it's a disgrace. He feels like he is a second-class student, and Btecs are seen as less important than A-levels because they have been sorted out last. 'Technical qualifications shouldn't be seen as less than. My son is really anxious because he doesn't know what he will be doing next year. 'He plans to go to university but it is a good thing he didn't want to go this year because he would have missed out on his space. 'There has just been no communication, we just don't know what is going on.' This morning, David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We'd been talking to Pearson ever since the results came out last Thursday and we knew there were lots and lots of problems, lots of students not getting the results they really should have got, lots of colleges saying to us that actually this just doesn't look right, and we were saying to Pearson 'is this just isolated cases or is it a more systemic issue'? 'I think what they've realised is that both the level three results last week, but perhaps more importantly for the results that were due today, that this was a system issue and they really needed to do a thorough review.' Exam board Pearson has pulled its BTEC results less than 24 hours before releasing them, sparking a fresh round of results chaos for nearly half a million pupils (stock) BBC Radio 4 was told by Bexleyheath Academy in South East London that some results papers give both grades on the same piece of paper - so the principal is giving out BTEC grades today because there are on the same piece of paper as the GCSEs. Schools minister Nick Gibb today told Sky News that BTEC results were being reviewed and they will be 'they'll be reissuing them hopefully next week'. The National Education Union's co-general secretary said the Government now 'must put an end' to the 'incompetence' around the issuing of the Btec results. Dr Mary Bousted said: 'Teachers know their students better than any model or algorithm and it will be a relief to many that the grades they receive are now a fairer reflection of their achievements. 'To add to the GCSE and A-level fiasco, the decision by (examiner) Pearson not to issue Btec results at the eleventh hour compounds the upsetting and chaotic experience for students. 'Government must put an end to this incompetence and work quickly to ensure every young person gets the grades they deserve to move on to the next stages of their lives.' The development will also cause even further disruption to students seeking places in higher education, with universities under pressure from thousands of pupils scrambling to get their first choices after the U-turn led to improved grades. Mr Hughes added: 'This is a decision that is kind of the result of lots and lots of poor decisions over many weeks. 'One thing we've got to do I think in the fullness of time is a full review, independent review, open and transparent into what went wrong, not to blame people, but really to understand what's happened, because confidence in the system has been completely blown. 'Ofqual wanted integrity in the system to be at the heart of all this, and I think that's the last thing that's been achieved. So the decision by Pearson last night, really late in the day, 11th hour, almost the 12th, hour was probably the right decision, just a shame it came so late. Pearson, the provider of BTECs, told schools and colleges not to publish level 1 and 2 results in the vocational qualifications to give them time to re-grade them in line with A-levels and GCSEs - which are being graded via teacher assessments (stock) 'But sometimes it is better to make the right decision rather than carry on and get very, very unfair outcomes for students.' Alex Dyer, CEO and Founder of Tutor House, told MailOnline: 'This delay means that they will not be able to go to Sixth Form, College or apprenticeships as they have to wait for their grades, which could be a few weeks, whilst those who studied GCSE's are moving on with their lives. 'The government are ignoring the poorer students as well as the less regarded qualifications.' Simon Reichwald, Strategic Lead for Talent at MyKindaFuture, commented: 'This year's results saga has caused an incredible amount of unnecessary distress and worry for a whole year group of students, particularly those who have studied for BTEC qualifications. 'The ongoing confusion around the marking system is likely to impact the young people affected for years to come, whether they choose to continue their studies or move into the world of work. 'Some employers and education providers may unfairly assume that a young person from the class of 2020 had their grade inflated, and therefore interrogate them on their qualifications much more than they would usually. 'Young people will have to pre-empt this in their interviews and demonstrate additional skills, such as extra-curricular achievements, in order to ensure they are competitive against previous year groups, putting them at an immediate disadvantage. 'Sadly, this is likely to have the biggest impact on those who already come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The shock 11th-hour move affects 450,000 pupils in the UK, all due to collect results tomorrow morning along with GCSE candidates (pictured: students from Codsall Community High School march to the constituency office of local MP Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, as a protest over the continuing issues of last week's A level results) 'We know that many talented individuals from underprivileged backgrounds already suffer from a lack of self-belief, and the results saga is likely to have dented their confidence even further. 'Due to their vocational nature, BTECs are still unfairly considered less credible than A-Levels by many employers and those who have completed their qualifications this year will now have the added worry that they will be judged more harshly than those from previous year groups.' Labour's Shadow Education Seccretary Kate Green told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think it's utterly outrageous, it's chaos after chaos now and at the end of this are young people psyching themselves up to receive their results, wanting to plan their futures for the next step in their studies and being let down again and again by the Government. 'And now to hear that not only the results that were due today are delayed until we don't know when but some of the results received last week might have to be reviewed and adjusted, and still don't know what they should do next. I think it's absolutely shameful, they are in the middle of a fiasco no way of their making.' The late decision follows the Government's botched handling of its A-level results fiasco and comes after Labour and education unions call for Downing Street to explain why BTEC students had been left out of Monday's grading U-turn. It is likely to spark fears that delays in the publication of BTEC results could risk pupils taking the vocational qualification being 'squeezed out' of higher education. In a letter to schools, Cindy Rampersaud, Pearson's senior VP, said: 'We appreciate this will cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this. 'Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students in relation to A levels and GCSEs and that no BTEC student is disadvantaged.' Pearson apologised for the 'additional uncertainty for students' the move will cause, with a spokeswoman saying: 'Following Ofqual's announcement that A-level and GCSE students are to receive centre-assessed grades, we will be applying the same principles for students receiving BTEC results this summer. 'We will be regrading BTECs to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTEC student is disadvantaged.' She added: 'We know this could cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this. Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students and we will work around the clock to provide revised grades as soon as we can.' Kate Green, Labour's shadow education secretary, said: 'This latest chaos is totally unacceptable. For some young people to find out less than a day in advance that they will not be receiving their grades tomorrow is utterly disgraceful. 'It's appalling that thousands of young people should face further confusion and uncertainty because of the Government's incompetence. 'This repeated chaos is simply no way to run a country. The Government must urgently set a clear deadline for every young person to receive their grades.' Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran said: 'This is yet another shambles from the Government. 'It seems the Conservatives, bumbling from one crisis to the next, simply forgot about a half a million students awaiting their BTEC grades, and had to pull the results at the last minute. Meanwhile, the Education Secretary is still in his job and the Prime Minister is still on holiday. Gavin Williamson is 'on his last life' after his exams fiasco and will be sacked if schools reopening is botched, Cabinet colleagues claim Education Secretary Gavin Williamson Gavin Williamson is 'on his last life' after his humiliating exams fiasco and will be sacked if Boris Johnson's schools reopening is botched, ministers claimed today. The under-fire Education Secretary has defied calls to resign from MPs across the board following his disastrously mishandled A-level grading debacle. Cabinet colleagues now believe that Mr Williamson, who is desperately trying to cling to his job, cannot survive another mishap if he also bungles the PM's promise to reopen schools in England in time for the new term in September. Advertisement 'This summer has been a disaster for the Government, it has left students panicking about their future and colleges in turmoil. Williamson must resign and Boris Johnson must return to deal with this crisis.' Yesterday exams regulator Ofqual said its algorithm used in A-levels and GCSEs was not used for the majority of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQ) - including BTECs. But in a statement tonight, England's exams watchdog said some exam boards, including OCR and Pearson, will 'need more time' to recalculate results. It said: 'OCR have said that their Cambridge National results will issue next week. 'Pearson, which initially did not think there would need to be significant changes made, has now decided to revise its arrangements to ensure that students' qualification-level results better reflect the unit-level results that students have already secured through internally assessed units.' Ofqual added: 'Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students. No learner's result will go down as a consequence of regrading.' Yesterday, Mr Hughes said: 'The timing is worrying, because thousands of students were due to get their results in the morning and others have already got results which we know will not go down, but which might improve. 'So it is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties.' He added: 'Those students wanting to move onto further or higher education will be most worried about losing out on places. 'We are in close communication with DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to particularly make sure that BTEC students applying for universities can still be treated fairly.' Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said: 'This late notification will cause very significant challenges for schools, trusts and colleges. 'It simply is unacceptable that some of the most disadvantaged students will not receive their grades tomorrow and that nothing has been done to correct this over the past few days.' Dr Greg Walker, chief executive at the MillionPlus group of universities said: 'We must ensure that other learners and applicants are not forgotten. 'These include BTEC and other applied generals students whose grades may now be delayed for a significant period to rightly ensure they will be on a par with A-level candidates. 'Both the Government and universities should ensure that these applicants don't get squeezed out in these unprecedented circumstances.' The National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU) have also voiced concerns. A spokesman for the Department for Education said: 'Our priority is to ensure all students are treated fairly, including those who received vocational and technical results last week, such as BTECs and Cambridge Technicals. 'These subjects are rightly assessed differently to A-levels, and the overwhelming majority of results are in line with centre assessment grades. 'A minority of vocational and technical qualifications used a statistical model similar to the one Ofqual used for A-levels and GCSEs, and Ofqual has asked these awarding organisations to review their approaches to make sure no student is disadvantaged.' Thanks, Miss! QUARTER of all GCSE pupils get A/A* equivalent grades that were recommended by their teachers after government U-turn ditched algorithm - an increase from a fifth last year The proportion of GCSE entries in England awarded the equivalent of A* or A grades today surged to a record high after a Government U-turn meant results could be based on teachers' estimated grades amid cancelled exams. Hundreds of thousands of youngsters received their results at 8am this morning following major changes - but around 200,000 Btec pupils will not get their final results following a last-minute review of grades. More than one in four (25.9 per cent) GCSE entries in England scored one of the three top grades of 7 to 9 this year, up from just over a fifth (20.7 per cent) last summer, figures from exams regulator Ofqual show. The proportion receiving the top grades - at least a 7 or an A grade - is a record high based on available data following the decision to award grades based on teachers' assessments, rather than an algorithm. More than three in four (76 per cent) entries were awarded at least a 4 or a C grade in England this summer, which is up 8.9 percentage points on last year when 67.1 per cent achieved the grades. It comes after GCSE and A-level students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were told they would now be awarded the higher of either their teachers' grade or the moderated grade following an outcry. Last week, nearly two in five (39.1 per cent) of the A-level grades submitted by schools and colleges in England - around 280,000 entries in total - were adjusted down after moderation. Exam boards had moderated the grades - using an algorithm from Ofqual - to ensure this year's results were not significantly higher than previously and the value of students' grades was not undermined. Traditional A*-G GCSE grades have been scrapped and replaced in England with a 9-1 system with 9 the highest result. A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 broadly equivalent to an A. Students receiving GCSE results this summer will get numerical grades for all their subjects as all courses have now moved over to the new grading system. Btec grades were not included in the original U-turn, but at 4.30pm yesterday - with just hours to go until results were released at 8am today - Pearson said it would regrade Btecs to 'address concerns about unfairness'. Students react as they check their GCSE results today at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire A student reacts after reading her GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning Ellie Barnes gets her GCSE results with her parents at The Bewdley School in Worcestershire this morning A student checks her GCSE results this morning at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire A student reacts as she checks her GCSE results at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire, this morning The exam board told schools and colleges not to publish level 1 and 2 results in the vocational qualifications on Thursday to give them more time to recalculate the grades. Schools minister Nick Gibb has apologised to students for the 'pain and the anxiety' they felt before this week's grading U-turn. He told BBC Breakfast: 'To those hundreds of thousands of young people receiving their GCSE grades and the A level students receiving recalculated grades, I will say this to them, congratulations on what you have achieved. 'But also how sorry I am for the pain, the anxiety and the uncertainty that they will have suffered as a consequence of the grading issues we encountered last week. And to reassure them that we are doing everything we can to put these matters right.' Mr Gibb also said he is hopeful that students will get their Btec results next week. Asked when they will receive their grades, Mr Gibb told the BBC: 'Well as soon as possible, but I hope next week. 'Pearson are working to correct and to review those grades and to reissue them. And we're working closely with Ucas and the independent regulator and exam boards to make sure that no young person will be disadvantaged as a consequence of that delay.' He added: 'Having spoken to Pearson and all the exam boards yesterday, I believe that they will be delivered next week.' It is still unclear what the appeals process will be for GCSE and A-level students who are unhappy with their results following the U-turn. But England's exams regulator previously said individual pupils would not be allowed to challenge teacher-assessed grades. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), is expecting staff to have 'challenging' conversations with GCSE students unhappy with results. He said one sixth form college was threatened with a solicitor and had to deal with 'abusive' parents' after 'all hell broke loose' over the colleges' estimated grades for A-levels last week. Speaking yesterday ahead of GCSE results day, Mr Barton said: 'That will be repeated tomorrow I guess. I think people are expecting difficult conversations. GCSE RESULTS FOR 2020 COMPARED TO 2019 SUBJECT 2020 number of candidates 2020 grade 7 to 9 (%) 2020 grade 4 to 9 (%) 2020 grade 1 to 9 (%) 2019: number of candidates 2019: grade 7 to 9 (%) 2019: grade 4 to 9 (%) 2019: grade 1 to 9 (%) Art and Design 190400 29.6 86.4 99.9 182204 22.7 75.1 99.6 Biology 165251 52.8 94.6 99.9 165318 42.3 89.6 99.3 Business Studies 91386 27.9 80 99.7 89067 17.9 65.5 98.7 Chemistry 158643 53.2 95.7 100 159082 43.9 90 99.4 Citizenship Studies 21902 22.6 75.3 99.2 19701 16.9 66 97.7 C l assical subjects 15727 74.6 97.1 99.9 15491 63.9 90.7 99.1 Computing 75730 33.5 80.1 99.3 77407 21.6 62.6 96.7 Design & Technology 88872 27.6 79 99.7 89903 19.4 63.2 98.4 Drama 57808 36.7 87.2 99.9 57704 23.4 74.2 99.4 Economics 6501 46.8 92.6 100 6106 31.8 81.6 99.3 Engineering 2818 26.4 76.8 99.6 2917 11.3 50.6 97.5 English 733551 18.7 71.2 99.6 707059 13.9 61.8 98.7 English Literature 558591 24.3 79.7 99.4 546677 20.2 73.4 98.3 Food Preparation and Nutrition 47131 24.6 78.6 99.9 44925 17.7 64.4 99.4 French 124043 29.9 82.1 99.9 122803 23.7 69.7 98.5 Geography 255344 30.1 75.5 99.5 251121 24.5 65.2 98.3 German 40688 34.1 86.8 99.9 41222 24.2 75.8 98.7 History 273778 29.4 74.5 99.1 261537 24.6 63.6 97 Mathematics 734301 19 66.6 99.3 720098 15.9 59.6 97.7 Media / Film / TV Studies 34657 24.4 80.5 99.8 36437 17 66.7 98.5 Music 34665 46 89.2 99.9 34725 31.8 75.6 99.1 Other Modern Languages 22276 68.6 94.9 99.5 30997 66 90.3 97.6 Other Sciences 2560 59.2 92.5 99.8 2543 42.2 81.3 98.7 Performing / Expressive Arts 8996 38.5 87.6 99.9 9273 23.4 71.7 99.3 Physical Education 73685 33.4 85.6 100 79388 21.1 71.8 99.8 Physics 157410 53 96.1 100 157819 43.8 90.8 99.4 Religious Studies 225719 34.9 80.5 99.5 227913 30.5 72.3 98.5 Science: Double Award (2) 814708 10.5 64.5 99.6 778626 7.5 55.4 97.9 Social Science subjects 38093 27.2 78.3 99.6 37743 18.1 62.9 98.2 Spanish 103992 32.5 81.8 99.8 96811 27.1 70.3 98.2 Statistics 23765 28 83.3 99.7 23044 19.7 72.5 98 ALL SUBJECTS 5182991 25.9 76 99.6 5075675 20.7 67.1 98.3 'It will be around a misunderstanding of 'This is an individual teacher. 'She didn't like me. She has therefore marked me down.'' Ofqual 'knew algorithm was doomed to failure' Watchdog Ofqual knew its algorithm was 'doomed' in June, a whistleblower claimed last night. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an adviser who helped to develop the software said it was evident 'there would be winners and losers' as soon as schools submitted teacher-assessed grades between June 1 and 12. 'There was a very specific point when it became doomed,' he said. 'There was clearly always a potential this could blow, because of the nature of it. There wasn't really even a need to discuss that point, because it was always lingering in the background.' In a further blow to Gavin Williamson, it was also claimed that the Education Secretary was personally warned about the algorithm's shortcomings last month. Sir Jon Coles, a former board member of the Department for Education who helped to found Ofqual, is said to have told Mr Williamson that the algorithm was only 75 per cent accurate. Mr Williamson and Sir Jon spoke about the issue in July but the minister decided to back the algorithm anyway, The Times reported. Labour peer Lord Falconer has reportedly said the algorithm was unlawful. Ofqual and the Department for Education did not respond to requests for comment. Advertisement Overall, this year more students are expected to receive higher GCSE grades than in previous years, Mr Barton said. He added: 'This is because schools may, understandably, have given some students the benefit of the doubt when they are on the borderline between two grades and they had the capability to achieve the higher grade.' Colleges are urgently calling for more funding from the Government to cope with a likely surge of pupils who will be able to meet entry requirements for sixth form colleges amid the U-turn. Some colleges are already at maximum capacity and there is a limit to the number of pupils they can admit amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) said. James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the SFCA, told PA: 'In many respects, the immediate challenges faced by sixth form colleges mirror those faced by universities, increased demand for places combined with pressure on space because of Covid restrictions.' Last year, one in five entries (20.7%) in England picked up at least a 7 or an A grade, and around two thirds (67.1%) of entries in England were awarded at least grade 4, or C. An analysis from the FFT Education Datalab research unit has suggested that disadvantaged pupils could benefit this year as the attainment gap could narrow amid the U-turn. Lower-attaining schools appear to have submitted the most generous grades in their teacher assessment, the researchers said. It added: 'It's possible that we'll see less of a discrepancy between the improvement in results recorded by independent schools, and by state schools.' Traditional A*-G grades have been scrapped and replaced with a 9-1 system amid reforms, with 9 the highest result. A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 broadly equivalent to an A. Students receiving GCSE results this summer will get numerical grades for all their subjects as all courses have now moved over to the new grading system. A student reacts as she checks her GCSE results today at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax in West Yorkshire Students react as they check their GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning A student checks his GCSE results at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire, this morning Mr Gibb said he was warned about concerns that the algorithm used to determine grades could impact poorer pupils. He was asked about reports in The Times which suggested Sir Jon Coles, a former director-general at the Department for Education, wrote to Mr Williamson early last month to express concerns about the algorithm used by Ofqual. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Gibb said: 'He (Sir John) spoke to me about it and he was concerned about the model and he was concerned that it would disadvantage particularly children from poorer backgrounds. 'And so I called a meeting therefore with the independent regulator, with Ofqual, to discuss in detail those very concerns.' Mr Gibb revealed it 'certainly was foreseen' that private school pupils could benefit from the use of the algorithm. The education minister said: 'That certainly was foreseen because we knew that small cohorts had to rely more on the teacher-assessed grade than on the standardisation process, but that applied to the state sector as much as to the independent sector.' A mother of a student reacts as she checks his GCSE results at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax this morning A student reacts after she received her GCSE results at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax this morning Mr Gibb also defended the model used to assess grades as 'fair' but said it was implemented incorrectly. He said: 'What was always at the forefront of my mind was that no young person from a disadvantaged background would see their grades standardised to a greater extent than other young people. 'There was about a 2 per cent difference, that's broadly what we saw in the national results last week, in contrast to what we saw in Scotland, where there was a big gap between disadvantaged pupils. 'And that's because in this country we had more data about the prior attainment of young people that was built into the model. 'So the model itself was fair, it was very popular, it was widely consulted upon - the problem arose in the way in which the three phases of the application of that model - the historic data of the school, the prior attainment of the cohort of pupils at the school, and then the national standard correction - it's that element of the application of the model that I think there is a concern.' Mr Gibb said: 'The model was a good model, and we continued to refine it. The application of the model is a regulatory approach and it's the development of that that emerged on the Thursday when the algorithm was published. 'And at that stage it became clear that there were some results that were being published on Thursday and Friday that were just not right and they were not what the model had intended. A student checks his GCSE results this morning at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire A student checks her GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning 'It was not intended that a young person who had worked diligently for two years on their A-levels and was expecting an A and two Bs or three As, and turned up at school to collect their grades and they were three Ds.' Queen's granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor will receive her results today The Queen's granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor is among the thousands of students receiving their GCSEs results. Lady Louise, the 16-year-old daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, attends school in Ascot, Berkshire. The teenager was preparing to take her exams before schools closed in March during lockdown. Lady Louise Windsor at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in Stamford, Lincolnshire, last September Like other pupils across the country, her results will be based on her teachers' estimates, if higher than the controversial moderated grades, following the Government's U-turn amid the debacle over this year's exams. Buckingham Palace said Lady Louise's results were a private matter. In an interview with The Sunday Times in June, Sophie revealed her hopes her daughter would go to university because she is 'quite clever'. Lady Louise, who will be staying on to take her A-levels, had been studying conscientiously for her GCSEs before they were cancelled. The countess revealed: 'She's working hard and will do A-levels. I hope she goes to university. I wouldn't force her, but if she wants to. She's quite clever.' The Countess of Wessex and her daughter Lady Louise Windsor leaving the Queen's Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in London last December Sophie has said Lady Louise and younger brother Viscount Severn will be expected to work for a living and are unlikely ever to use HRH styles as adults. 'We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living. Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it's highly unlikely,' she said. Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor was born prematurely in November 2003, weighing just 4lbs 9oz. At eight months pregnant, Sophie was rushed to hospital with severe internal pains, and doctors found she was dangerously ill from blood loss and performed an emergency Caesarean. Newborn Lady Louise was transferred to St George's Hospital in Tooting, London, for specialist care, while the countess remained at Frimley Park Hospital near their home in Bagshot Park. They were separated for six days. The Queen's second-youngest grandchild was a bridesmaid for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, and was a special attendant at Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018, helping to escort the young bridesmaids and pageboys into the church. She occasionally accompanies her mother at events, and attends royal celebrations such as Trooping The Colour. Lady Louise underwent successful surgery a few years ago to correct an eye condition. The teenager has also started competing at carriage driving, following in the footsteps of her grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh by taking up the sport. Throughout her childhood, she has seen a good deal of the Queen, to whom she bears a strong resemblance at the same age. As the daughter of the son of the sovereign, Lady Louise, who is 13th in line to the throne, is actually entitled to be known as Princess Louise. But the earl and countess decided against this, choosing the courtesy titles of a child of an earl for their daughter and son instead. Advertisement Sixth forms are calling for extra funding from the Government, with some heads planning to recruit more teachers or ask staff to teach beyond their subject expertise to allow them to honour all offers made. Others may increase class sizes or run catch-up lessons for pupils whose marks do not match their actual abilities. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said the new system rewards pupils and schools where teachers 'have over-estimated'. He added: 'It is hard on those who have done their very best to predict accurately. 'Young people will be getting the impression that they're good at something when they're actually not, so they may find they get on to do A-levels in tough subjects like physics or French or maths and then may not be able to cope with them.' In July, exams watchdog Ofqual revealed early analysis of predicted GCSE grades submitted by teachers. It found 31.6 per cent of papers sat by 16-year-olds in England would be awarded a 7 or higher (an old A or A*) if these centre assessment grades were used. This compared to 24.7 per cent for this age group last year a 28 per cent rise. Under this teacher assessment system, 7.7 per cent of papers would get a top grade of 9. And 82.4 per cent would get at least a 4, equivalent to a C, Ofqual said. At the time, the watchdog said the 'vast majority of centres' had 'submitted optimistic centre assessment grades'. John Abbott, chief executive of the Richard Huish College in Somerset, said it is likely to have 'more kids probably on the wrong course in September'. This is because they may have been given higher grades than they would have gained in exams or fallen behind during lockdown. Gill Burbridge, principal of Leyton Sixth Form College in east London, said honouring the offers it had made to almost 2,000 pupils would be a challenge. She added: 'It is going to maybe require staff to be more flexible in terms of being able to teach across more than one area.' James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said 'We have been pressing the Government to introduce a capital expansion fund for sixth form providers over the past couple of years, and action is now needed as a matter of urgency.' The Department for Education said: 'Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS level and A-level results this week.' Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 'I know how difficult this year has been for students due to the coronavirus outbreak, having to be out of the classroom and away from their friends.' He added: 'Students can now look forward to exciting opportunities, this year they have a choice of studying our pioneering T levels, or they can do A-levels, take up an apprenticeship, or choose from a range of other vocational qualifications.' Labour's shadow education secretary Kate Green has called for her opposite number to publish all his correspondence about the use of a controversial grading algorithm. In a statement, she said: 'Gavin Williamson was warned again and again about the problems with the grading algorithm, and each time, he did nothing. 'This endless pattern of incompetence is no way to run a country. His failure to listen to warnings and to act on them risked thousands of young people being robbed of their futures. 'It is time for full transparency. The Department for Education must now publish all correspondence to and from the Secretary of State in which concerns about this algorithm were discussed, as a matter of urgency. 'Young people deserve to know how they came to be let down so badly.' Meanwhile Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross refused to give his backing to Mr Williamson and said he should 'reflect on what happened'. Mr Ross, who had called for Scottish Education Secretary John Swinney to lose his job after the exams U-turn there, suggested the English minister should have taken action quicker once the problems in Scotland became apparent. 'I think Gavin Williamson and the Government and the Department for Education will be reflecting on why did they not see the problem that the SNP had to deal with as a result of their actions in Scotland,' he told BBC Radio Scotland. Asked whether Mr Williamson should quit, Mr Ross said: 'That is a decision for Gavin Williamson. It's a decision for the Prime Minister, if he continues to have the trust of the Prime Minister. 'I'm not here to say in your report that I think Gavin Williamson has done a great job and he should continue. 'I think he has to reflect on what happened to so many pupils in England, students who were concerned for four days, because we had the exact same up here in Scotland for a week.' Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of BTEC pupils expecting to receive their results today have been left disappointed after a last-minute decision to regrade them. An exam board responsible for the vocational qualification wants more time to get the marking right following the overall grading fisaco. A student holds her hand over her mouth after reading her GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning But there was fury that colleges were only told of the move at 4.30pm yesterday leaving them scrabbling to catch up. Sixth form college pupil's medical degree dream hangs by a thread Sosan Mirafgan's dream of studying medicine still hangs in the balance For Sosan Mirafgan, the dream of studying medicine still hangs in the balance. The high-flying sixth form college pupil, 18, lost her place at Newcastle University following the grading fiasco. Her teacher-predicted marks of Bs in biology and chemistry were downgraded to Cs, but she kept her A in maths. She contacted the university after the exams U-turn to ask if it will accept her now. But it said it was waiting for advice from the Medical Schools Council. The industry body has said students hoping to study medicine and dentistry are in a 'uniquely difficult situation' because these courses have 'tightly restricted entry numbers' and have largely been filled. Sosan, who wants to be a brain surgeon, said: 'The university said they may have to give us a place for next year. I'm still waiting and I'm nervous about what is going to happen.' Sosan spoke no English when she arrived in 2012 as an asylum seeker from Afghanistan. Despite this, she achieved eight GCSEs ranging from 5s to 8s at Thornaby Academy in Stockton-on-Tees. Advertisement Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said last night: 'It's simply unacceptable that some of the most disadvantaged students will not receive their grades tomorrow and that nothing has been done to correct this over the past few days.' The decision follows the announcement earlier this week that GCSE and A-level pupils would be able to receive grades based on their teachers' estimates, rather than a computer algorithm. Pupils taking the vocational BTEC qualification were not included in that announcement. Now exam body Pearson wants to 'apply the same principles' used in A-levels and GCSEs after becoming worried pupils taking those exams were getting an unfair advantage over BTEC pupils. It will be regrading BTECs awarded last week as well those that were due to be released today. This will involve stripping out the parts of its grades that had been calculated by the algorithm using historical performance data and using teachers' predictions instead.Colleges have been told not to hand out results for the vocational qualification in the meantime. After Monday's A-level grading U-turn, education unions and Labour had demanded to know why BTEC students had missed out. Pearson said it had 'generally' accepted teachers' predictions for coursework. But it had calculated exam grades using historical performance data with a 'view of maintaining overall outcomes over time'. The review will 'remove these calculated grades'. The regrading will apply to BTEC level 3 nationals, BTEC level 1/2 tech awards, level 2 technicals and level 1/2 firsts. About 450,000 pupils are affected, 250,000 of whom will have already received grades last week. In a letter to colleges, Pearson said it had 'become concerned about unfairness in relation to what are now significantly higher outcomes for GCSE and A-levels'. It added: 'We appreciate this will cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry'. Ofqual said: 'Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students.' Meanwhile Government sources have indicated that Boris Johnson will not sack the Education Secretary, or demote him in a major reshuffle. A student reacts after reading her GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning A student checks her GCSE results this morning at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax, West Yorkshire Students react as they check their GCSE results at Ark Academy in London this morning A student reacts as she checks her GCSE results at Crossley Heath Grammar School in Halifax this morning But senior backbenchers have told the whips' office in private that Mr Williamson should be sacked following the exams fiasco. GCSE and A-level exams next summer should be overhauled with some topics made 'optional', demands teaching union GCSE and A-level examinations next summer should be overhauled with some topics made 'optional', a teaching union demanded yesterday. The National Education Union called for 'reduced content' on test papers to help teachers deal with the impact of further virus outbreaks. And it demanded less reliance on end-of-year papers because they make pupils 'anxious'. Its joint general secretaries, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, made the demands in a letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. They called for a 'thorough, independent review into assessment methods used to award GCSE and A-level qualifications in England'. Their letter adds: 'The current over-reliance on end-of-course exams increases student anxiety.' Advertisement It came as Mr Johnson's lead fell to its lowest level since he became Prime Minister. A YouGov poll for The Times found that support for the Conservatives has dropped four points to 40 per cent, while Labour has gained three points to 38 per cent in a week. Tory MPs have warned that a failure to get all pupils back to school next month would represent 'the final straw' for Mr Williamson. One senior Tory said: 'Gavin's position is completely untenable and we need strong leadership in September, which he is singularly incapable of.' Mr Williamson was also forced to bow to pressure and back Ofqual for the first time after being accused of playing a blame game. He admitted that it was the regulator's decision to abandon the grades determined by an algorithm and move to teacher assessments. The Department for Education said: 'The decision [Ofqual] took to move from moderated grades to centre-assessed grades was one that we agreed with. Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS-level and A-level results this week so that they can move on to the next stage of their lives.' The admission will raise further questions over whether Mr Williamson was unaware of the scale of the problem or how the controversial algorithm would even work until the weekend. Tory MPs have made representations to the whips' office that Mr Williamson should leave his post now. Tobias Ellwood, the defence committee chairman, said the Government should 'reconfigure' its top team and harness the 'full talent' available. And a former minister said: 'There's genuine anger now about how somebody like Gavin got [the job] in the first place'There are questions of judgment about why Theresa May and then Boris Johnson promoted him. Somebody with more competence in the same job could've avoided all this.' Get schools open or go, Williamson told By Claire Ellicott, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail Gavin Williamson has been warned that schools must reopen smoothly in September or he must go. Now BTECs will be regraded More than 500,000 BTEC pupils expecting to receive their results today have been left disappointed after a last-minute decision to regrade them. The exam board wants more time to get the grading right following the overall exam fisaco. But colleges were only told of the move at 4.30pm yesterday leaving them scrabbling to catch up. BTEC colleges were not included in the Government's original U-turn to award grades based on teacher assessments, rather than calculated by the algorithm. Now exam body Pearson says it wants to 'apply the same principles' being used in A-levels and GCSEs. It is stripping out the parts of its grades that had been calculated by the algorithm using historical performance data and using teachers' predictions instead. Advertisement Government sources have indicated that Boris Johnson will not sack the Education Secretary, or demote him in a major reshuffle. But senior backbenchers have told the whips' office in private that Mr Williamson should be sacked following the exams fiasco. It came as Mr Johnson's lead fell to its lowest level since he became Prime Minister. A YouGov poll for The Times found that support for the Conservatives has dropped four points to 40 per cent, while Labour has gained three points to 38 per cent in a week. Tory MPs have warned that a failure to get all pupils back to school next month would represent 'the final straw' for Mr Williamson. One senior Tory said: 'Gavin's position is completely untenable and we need strong leadership in September, which he is singularly incapable of.' Mr Williamson was also forced to bow to pressure and back Ofqual for the first time after being accused of playing a blame game. He admitted that it was the regulator's decision to abandon the grades determined by an algorithm and move to teacher assessments. The Department for Education said: 'The decision [Ofqual] took to move from moderated grades to centre-assessed grades was one that we agreed with. Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS-level and A-level results this week so that they can move on to the next stage of their lives.' The admission will raise further questions over whether Mr Williamson was unaware of the scale of the problem or how the controversial algorithm would even work until the weekend. Tory MPs have made representations to the whips' office that Mr Williamson should leave his post now. Now unions want to overhaul next year's exams: NEU demands reduced content for A-levels and GCSEs in 2021 because students find end-of-year tests 'too stressful' By James Robinson for MailOnline Education union chiefs have today demanded an overhaul of next year's GCSE and A-Level exams over fears coronavirus could cut school contact time and called for an emphasis shift away from end-of-year exams - because students find them 'too stressful'. Bosses at the National Education Union (NEU), the UK's largest teaching union, have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, warning new spikes in Covid-19 could lead to 'further loss of schooling'. The union has warned the Government should already be making contingency plans and have called for changes to next year's exams, in the hope education chiefs can 'build confidence' in the grades awarded. These include reducing the amount of content assessed in 2021's GCSE and A-level exams, working with teachers to develop a 'robust' system for moderated centre-assessed grades. The NEU also wants an independent review into the assessment methods for GCSEs and A-levels, warning that the current system is 'over-reliant' on end of year exams, which 'increase student anxiety'. The calls comes after the government's dramatic U-turn over A-Level exam grades earlier this week, which saw a controversial algorithm system scrapped after thousands of students had their teacher-assessed grades lowered - mostly based upon their school's previous set of results. In their letter, NEU chiefs Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said the controversy around last week's A-level results 'must never happen again'. NEU chiefs Kevin Courtney (left) and Dr Mary Bousted (right) have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, warning new spikes in Covid-19 could lead to 'further loss of schooling'. The union has warned the Government (pictured: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson) should already be making contingency plans and have called for changes to next year's exams, in the hope education chiefs can 'build confidence' in the grades awarded Militant teaching union threatens to keep schools SHUT in September Militant teaching unions who openly bragged about a 'win' over the government's u-turn on bringing students back before summer have threatened to keep schools closed in September. Bosses at the National Education Union (NEU), the UK's largest teaching union, say it may be 'impossible' for 'many' schools to reopen at the start of the new academic year. It comes as ministers admitted they were powerless to force schools to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said ministers could not 'decree' that schools open, while Dr Mary Bousted, joint head of the NEU, agreed the government could not 'carry out its threats'. In a recorded Zoom meeting, seen by the Daily Telegraph, Dr Bousted also told members they could not 'trust' the government's current guidance and called for the decision on bringing all pupils back to be taken locally. Advertisement In the letter, they said: 'It is clear to the National Education Union that Government needs to make much bigger changes to next year's exams in order to build confidence that the grades awarded, upon which young people's life chances are determined, properly recognise and reward their achievements. 'You should be working, now, to examine different possible scenarios and to develop contingency plans in case of further school and college closures.' They added: 'The current over-reliance on end of course exams increases student anxiety and fails to give a fair reflection of what students can achieve. 'All options should be considered to ensure that young people are rewarded for their achievements, supported to fulfil their potential and not held back due to their background.' The calls by the NEU, who earlier this month threatened to keep schools closed in September if safety standards for coronavirus weren't met, comes after top universities called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students. Universities also called for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 3billion bailout. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after the Government's screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have the grades to get into their first choice places. But top schools are struggling with the sheer volume of demand as the 55,000 who accepted a place at another university or bagged a new course at clearing are now abandon those decisions to try and get into their top choice. Students from Codsall Community High School protest outside the constituency office of their local MP, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year. The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement Meanwhile there are fears that students leaving lower-ranked institutions to go to their first choice could leave them vulnerable financially, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggesting this could cost 140million. They previously warned the loss of the university sector in total could run to as high as anywhere between 3billion and 19billion. In a further briefing note today the think tank warned that while leading universities would now be 'awash' with students, many lower-ranked universities risked losing a substantial share of their intake, which could be 'financially crippling'. Report authors Jack Britton and Ben Waltmann said: 'Lower-ranked universities could dip into the pool of potential students who got no offers or have not yet applied. 'These students will have much better grades than usual this year, and many might be interested in going to university given the exceptionally tough labour market. 'Attracting these students could help the lowest-ranked universities avoid large losses. It would also pose a new challenge, as many of these students could be underprepared for their courses, especially having missed out on the experience of actually sitting their A Level exams.' It comes as the government has been urged to take on more students at medical school, where places are highly-competitive and much of the cost of training doctors is met by the taxpayer. Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and there are restrictions on NHS work placements. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning told Sky News he acknowledged calls to increase student places and promised that the Government is working on the issue. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. The government has removed the cap for other subjects so universities can take on more students, but kept it in place for medicine and dentistry. The u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' The Royal College of GPs and British Medical Association have also backed calls for more places for medics. A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year But Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, said additional places would require more funding and support from the government. She said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' The University and College Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) have also signed a joint letter to Mr Williamson, warning the lifting of the student cap - which had aimed to prevent institutions from over-recruiting to make up for lost revenue as a result of Covid-19 - would 'remove one of the only interventions that the government has made to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid crisis on universities'. The letter said: 'While it is still unclear exactly what the distribution of domestic students across higher education will be, it is widely anticipated that institutions will move as much as possible to honour their offers. 'This will likely lead to expanded recruitment at high-tariff institutions at the expense of lower-tariff universities, shifting the financial pain from the Covid crisis onto many of the institutions that play a vital role in widening participation and social mobility.' The Supreme Court is set to pronounce its verdict on whether CBI should investigate the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, on August 19. The Bollywood actor was found dead in his Mumbai residence two months ago on June 14. Since his passing, Mumbai police have been investigating in the case after filing an accidental death report, and have recorded statements of over 50 people in the case including the actor's staff, family and industry colleagues. After over a month of investigation by Mumbai police, on July 26, Sushant's father filed an FIR with Patna police against the late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family, accusing them of abetment to suicide, cheating and money laundering. While the ED is investigating the case from the money laundering angle and has questioned Rhea's family several times, she also filed a petition asking the FIR to be transferred to Mumbai police. According to reports, Justice Hrishikesh Roy on Wednesday (August 19) will be giving the verdict on a petition filed by Rhea, seeking transfer of the FIR lodged by Rajput's father in Patna. Meanwhile, the FIR has been transferred to the CBI based on a reference by the Bihar government, and a turf war broke out between Mumbai police and Patna police over jurisdiction. Maharashtra government had opposed the Centre's decision to hand over the case to CBI and that the Patna FIR should be transferred to Mumbai police where the actor passed away. Fans of the actor are protesting in hope that the case will be transferred to CBI today, as Mumbai police are yet to register an FIR since his death. Rhea during the hearing, in front of the Supreme Court on August 14, said that she did not oppose a CBI probe. Justice Roy said at the hearing, "You may be correct in saying that you have been a victim of media focus on the case but your stand is that if CBI probe is ordered into the incident, you have no objection." 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 Rhea Chakraborty's Lawyer Reveals Why The Actress Moved Out Of Sushant Singh Rajput's House Rhea's Lawyer Asks Media To Stop Speculating; Says 'Her Silence Shouldn't Be Mistaken For Weakness' Michigan health officials announced 616 new coronavirus cases and nine new deaths on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Both additions were fewer than the states current seven-day moving averages. Over the last week, Michigan is averaging 715 new cases per day and 11 new deaths. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services has tallied 94,278 confirmed cases and 6,349 deaths associated with the novel coronavirus. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. On Wednesday, the health department also updated the way it reports hospitalization data by separating confirmed and suspected cases, as well as separating data for adults and children. The move was made in an attempt to align with the new reporting requirements from the federal government, according to the health department. As of Tuesday, the states health systems reported 418 hospitalized adults with known cases of COVID-19, 239 hospitalized adults with suspected cases, nine hospitalized children with known cases, and three hospitalized children with suspected cases of COVID-19. Forty of Michigans 83 counties reported no new coronavirus cases Wednesday. Macomb County reported 133 new cases, surpassing the usual leader, Wayne County, which reported 123 new cases. Oakland County reported 110 new cases, followed by Kent (32), Washtenaw (24), Livingston (16), Genesee (15), Saginaw (15), Monroe (15), and Berrien (14). Ingham County reported two new deaths. Other counties to add another death include Wayne, Genesee, Saginaw, Ottaea, Bay, Roscommon, and Lapeer. Browser does not support frames. On Wednesday afternoon, the states Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun provided an update on the state of the pandemic in Michigan. As of last week, the Detroit region was averaging 61 new cases per day per 1 million people, though that was largely driven by communities outside the city of Detroit. The Saginaw region averaged 54 new cases per day per million people, followed by the Kalamazoo region with 50 new cases per million people, and the Upper Peninsula region with 47 new cases per million people. The Grand Rapids region averaged 34 new cases per million people, while the Lansing, Jackson and Traverse City regions reported between 20 and 30 new cases per day per million people. Regions seeing increases in cases from the prior week include Saginaw and Traverse City, while the Kalamazoo, U.P., Grand Rapids, Jackson and Lansing areas reported decreases. Last week, Khaldun said local health departments were investigating 85 new outbreaks, including some at long-term care facilities, social gatherings, office settings, agriculture and food processing facilities, and manufacturing facilities. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Of the almost 33,000 diagnostic tests processed Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2.97% came back positive for COVID-19. It was the second consecutive day below 3% -- the first streak of its kind since early July. Khaldun noted that the state is averaging 28,000 tests per day, or almost 2% of the population per week. Of the tests processed last week, about 3.3% came back positive. Khaldun said the goal is to bring that number below 3%, which would be a really good sign the spread of the disease is under control. To find a testing site near you, check out the states online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Below are online databases that allow readers to look up county-level data for each of the last 20 days. Cases by day it was reported to the state First is a chart showing new cases reported to the state each day for the past 20 days. This is based on when a confirmed coronavirus test is reported to the state, which means the patient first became sick days before. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. Browser does not support frames. (In a few instances, a county reported a negative number (decline) in daily new cases, following a retroactive reclassification by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In those instances, we subtracted cases from the prior date and put 0 in the reported date.) Cases by day of onset of symptoms Below this chart shows new cases for the past 20 days based on onset of symptoms. In this chart, numbers for the most recent days are incomplete because of the lag time between people getting sick and getting a confirmed coronavirus test result, which can take up to a week or more. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. (Cant see the chart? Click here) Browser does not support frames. For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS: In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/. Read more on MLive: Michigans unemployment agency turns to snail mail to cut down on fraud Wednesday, Aug. 19, coronavirus data by Michigan county: Menominee joins Ontonagon in the red zone Michigan State University switches fall semester to remote learning, tells students to stay home In an opening night convention speech stunning for the depth and breadth of its chutzpah and hypocrisy, New York governor Andrew Cuomo ignored his own criminal negligence in ushering patients infected with the Chinese Wuhan virus into New York nursing homes, sentencing tens of thousands of vulnerable seniors to death. It was perhaps fitting that the first night of the party of deaths national convention, a party that supports the killing of unborn life on demand up to and even after the moment of birth, featured New Yorks angel of nursing-home death. Cuomo spent the evening obfuscating the diseases origins, denying the immediate and effective response by the Trump administration, and not mentioning the federal help he received -- and ignored -- which could have saved untold lives. As Fox News reported: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic during his Monday night speech to the Democratic National Convention, accusing the White House of "negligence" even as his own administration drew flak for thousands of deaths in New York's nursing homes. "Our collective strength is exercised through government. It is, in effect, our immune system. And our current federal government is dysfunctional and incompetent. It couldn't fight off the virus. In fact, it didn't even see it coming. The European virus infected the northeast while the White House was still fixated on China," Cuomo said during his speech, an apparent counterpoint to Trump's labeling of COVID-19 as the "China virus." He added: "The virus had been attacking us for months before they even knew it was here. We saw the failure of a government that tried to deny the virus, then tried to ignore it, and then tried to politicize it To call these obscene lies would be charitable. There is no European virus unless Cuomo can tell us the country of origin and the identity of Patient Zero. But, hey, white Europeans brought racism to our shores, so why not blame them for deadly disease as well? In fact, the Wuhan virus came to Europe with the myriad Chinese nationals working in Italy and the rest of Europe, returning after celebrating the Chinese New Year in their home country. Does Cuomo forget how China shut down domestic flights from Wuhan but deliberately let foreign flights leave for Europe and New York? Trump shut down travel from the country of origin, China, even as the first U.S. case was confirmed, an action that saved perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives. Its hard to see anything coming when the World Health Organization is buying Chinas lies about its origin and the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci were telling us the U.S. had nothing to worry about and didnt even have to wear masks. Did Cuomo, one of the deranged chicken littles that see climate change in every melting snowflake, see it coming? Trump gave Cuomo, who invented a phony ventilator crisis, more ventilators than he could handle, turned convention centers into world-class treatment facilities, built field hospitals in Central Park, and placed massive hospital ships in New York Harbor. Cuomo used little of this massive help, preferring instead to force COVID patients into nursing homes, an action that killed thousands of seniors. Roughly half of COVID deaths occurred in nursing homes in New York and elsewhere, avoidable deaths caused by bloviating politicians. New York didnt get ambushed by federal negligence, but by Cuomos criminal orders. Fox News Meteorologist Janice Deans in-laws died as a result of Cuomos criminal negligence. On the day Cuomo spoke at the convention, she finally got to tell her story before New York lawmakers. As Fox News detailed: Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, who recently lost her elderly in-laws to COVID-19, finally got to testify before New York State lawmakers on nursing home deaths on Monday after she was denied the opportunity the week before. Dean told Fox & Friends on Tuesday that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is not providing the exact numbers of those who died from COVID-19 in adult care facilities because New York state does not count the numbers that we lost in hospitals from nursing homes... Last week, Dean found out that she was taken off the list to testify at a hearing geared toward understanding why and how the pandemic took root in New York nursing homes. She said New York State Sen. Thomas O'Mara, a Republican, had admitted to her "that they [the Senate Majority] were uncomfortable having [her] as a witness," so they took her off the list. Speaking on the Brian Kilmeade Show last week, Dean said she believed Cuomo or his administration were behind the decision Dean said her father-in-law, who was in a nursing home and rehabilitation center, died the same day she and her husband found out he was sick and that they didnt know he had contracted the novel coronavirus until they saw his death certificate. Dean also said that her husbands mother contracted COVID-19 in her assisted living facility. She was transported to the hospital and died in the hospital. Deans mother-in-law died on April 14, about two weeks after her father-in-law passed away from the novel coronavirus. We don't know the full numbers, Dean said on Tuesday. Cuomo and his health commissioner have been asked time and time again to give us the actual total deaths that happened, not only in nursing homes, but from seniors that were transported to hospitals and died in hospitals even though they got COVID-19 in their respective elder care facilities. The truth should make Andrew Cuomo uncomfortable and a full investigation should also make him accountable. His callous words are particularly bitter to the families of the nursing home residents victimized by his administration. Cuomo at one point said he didnt know, but it was the job of this know-it-all to know. Maybe, like New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said of the Bill of Rights, such knowledge is above his pay grade. Arguably, that fiasco makes Gov. Cuomo New Yorks latest and greatest serial killer: New Yorks health commissioner on Monday defended a directive that requires nursing homes to readmit residents whove tested positive for the coronavirus -- as Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed he didnt know the policy was in place. Cuomo was asked about the states policy on admitting or readmitting to nursing homes people whod tested positive for COVID-19. Thats a good question, I dont know, the governor said. Cuomos startling admission came days after the state revealed last week that at least 3,316 people in nursing homes and adult care facilities had died of coronavirus at their residences or in hospitals across the state. Few people know, and Cuomo doesnt tell them, that a quarter of New York deaths have occurred in nursing homes he wasnt paying attention to. If he had been, he would have been aware of the death sentence his administration gave many vulnerable seniors: look at the now-infamous March 25 directive from the New York State Department of Health that orders those homes and rehabilitation centers to admit and readmit patients sick with the coronavirus. The devil comes in the first sentence of the fifth paragraph: No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. The disease has claimed more than 3,500 souls in nursing and rehab centers, or nearly 25 percent of the total known deaths in the state. There is no way to know exactly how many died as a result of the state order, but the number is certainly not zero. The cause and effect relationship is obvious. Cuomo at one point claimed federal guidelines led to what amounts to his criminal negligence, forcing his hand, yet most states did not do what he did: Other states, recognizing the dangers of infecting the vulnerable, required or encouraged nursing homes to set up separate units or staffs to handle patients testing positive. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely criticized in the national media for avoiding a total lockdown, zeroed in on nursing homes, encouraging repeated testing and temperature-taking of residents and staff and isolating anyone testing positive. Florida, a state with 2 million more people than New York, had just 714 nursing home deaths, 13% of the number in New York. One estimate says nursing homes have accounted for upwards of 46% of virus deaths, yet states like New York made no effort to protect seniors. Perhaps it was campaign cash that persuaded Cuomo to look the other way as seniors were sent to their deaths. He accepted reelection cash from a hospital association and then gave immunity to those who operate nursing homes: As Governor Andrew Cuomo faced a spirited challenge in his bid to win New Yorks 2018 Democratic primary, his political apparatus got a last-minute boost: a powerful healthcare industry group suddenly poured more than $1m into a Democratic committee backing his campaign. Less than two years after that flood of cash from the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), Cuomo signed legislation last month quietly shielding hospital and nursing home executives from the threat of lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. The provision, inserted into an annual budget bill by Cuomos aides, created one of the nations most explicit immunity protections for healthcare industry officials, according to legal experts. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine recently noted that Cuomo was still sending COVID patients into nursing homes, not only failing to protect the most vulnerable but deliberately putting them at risk: In an interview on "Fox & Friends" with host Ainsley Earhardt, Devine said that COVID-19 patients were transferred back into nursing home facilities because of an order from Cuomo in late March. "And, it's obscene really that he's not admitting that now. He is still sending them back there and he's acting as if there was no choice. Of course, there was a choice" The nursing homes were begging for them not to be sent back.., They were short-staffed. How could they quarantine these elderly, frail people?" she asked "He is still doing it and this is what is so reprehensible. It's one thing to make a mistake in the heat of the moment. It's another to dig your heels in while people are still dying" Somehow this was never brought up when Chris Cuomo, who violated quarantine rules to visit a property he owned, interviewed brother Andrew. Instead of asking why Andrew herded COVID patients into nursing homes, Chris asked how he felt being single and eligible again. Trumps actions didnt lead to the deaths of Janice Deans parents-in-law. Convention speaker Andrew Cuomos did. Daniel John Sobieski is a former editorial writer for Investors Business Daily and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. Image: Zack Seward TikTok is taking center stage. The social media platform, a subsidiary of Chinese technology company ByteDance, is now the subject of a bidding war with the Trump administration's deadline to ban the app in the United States looming. Oracle shares climbed more than 2% on Tuesday on anonymously sourced reports that the technology company had begun talks to buy TikTok's U.S., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand assets. That pits Oracle against Microsoft, which has been racing to finish its negotiations with the most popular app in China ahead of the Sept. 15 deadline. Twitter was also rumored to have held preliminary deal talks. While all this is "fascinating" to witness, "the best play is to grab some popcorn and just sit on the sidelines and just observe," Quint Tatro, founder and chief investment officer at Joule Financial, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Tuesday. For one, Oracle may be slightly overeager, Tatro said. "I quite honestly have no idea what they're doing," he said. "I really liked this company. I thought they were turning a corner moving into the cloud computing, cloud service business, but then they've levered up their balance sheet and now they're expressing this desire to veer completely out of their lane. I don't like it. I'd stay away." To Tatro, the likeliest winner of any kind of bidding war would be Microsoft but that wasn't his favorite of the bunch either. Even though he didn't see Twitter as a viable candidate, he found the most to like about that stock out of TikTok's three potential suitors. "When you're looking for sort of this under-the-radar stock that could make you some money, Twitter's interesting," he said. "They've got $7.8 billion in cash on hand, and despite a terrible quarter, they were able to see free cash flow increase by [$]39 million in Q2. They've got a very strong balance sheet and ... they are seeing their international revenues accelerate, catching up to and probably going to outpace the U.S. So while they're getting a lot of these potentially negative United States headlines, they're killing it overseas. So, we like Twitter here." Todd Gordon, managing director at Ascent Wealth Partners, agreed that without a consumer business, Oracle doesn't seem like a top fit for TikTok. "We think Microsoft is a better suitor," Gordon said in the same "Trading Nation" interview. "They're very big in mobile. They're involved in LinkedIn. This would be a nice competitor to Snapchat, Facebook and so on. TikTok would provide Microsoft a lot of data in the young user base for sort of the next-gen trends and interest, and they already have street credit ... with the Xbox." Microsoft also has limited exposure to businesses such as advertising that were impacted by the pandemic, Gordon said. Better yet, the chart shows a strong monthly uptrend with few signs of momentum loss, he said. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MvVO ART presents AD ART SHOW 2020, September 1 to 30, at the Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center in NYC and online on MvVO ART's Artsy e-gallery. MvVO ART, creator of AD ART SHOW, with the ongoing support of presenting sponsor NBCUniversal and in partnership with Westfield World Trade Center, will open this all-digital, month-long, contemporary art show with a virtual opening hosted by Bravo's Project Runway Judge, Brandon Maxwell on September 1, at 5:00 PM EST: RSVP Here Ad Art Show returns to the New York Oculus During this virtual opening/show tour, the 2020 winning artist will be announced and awarded a creative immersion day at NBCUniversal, expert art curation consultations, and a specialty Clio Award. AD ART SHOW features contemporary artists following in the footsteps of Warhol, Haring, Rockwell, Magritte and the many famous artists who worked in advertising. Artworks by 135 artists of advertising are displayed on the screens of the Oculus and are for sale on the MvVO ART Artsy gallery beginning September 1, via MvVOART.com "Nothing, not even a pandemic, stops the creative spirit. The resilience of our artistsand of New Yorkersfuels our determination to go forward in challenging times," Maria van Vlodrop, MvVO ART- AD ART SHOW Founder & CEO, named top ten cultural shaper in Adweek's 100 creative list, commented. "At NBCUniversal, creativity is central to our DNA," said Josh Feldman, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing & Advertising Creative, NBCUniversal. "We're thrilled to once again be a part of the AD ART SHOW, which highlights both the artists of advertising and demonstrates the power of creativity in a whole new way." "The Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center is thrilled to welcome MvVO ART- AD ART SHOW back to our expansive digital screens," said Danielle Hascoe, General Manager at the Westfield World Trade Center. "The opportunity for our shoppers to view this collection throughout the center adds to the rich experience we strive to offer to our visitors." While most of New York's famous arts institutions are closed or slowly reopening, AD ART SHOW offers art lovers a spacious and FREE art destination, Monday-Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday, Noon-6pm, plus FREE Coffee & a sweet to go from Eataly (3rd floor in Oculus) with coupon on the MvVO ART website or at Eataly at the Oculus. Sponsors & Partners include: NBCUniversal (presenting sponsor), Westfield, The Clio Awards, 600 & Rising, Artnet, Artsy, Artful Circle, The One Club for Creativity, WPP, GroupM, Zenith, Morzy and MRY, SVA (School of Visual Arts) , The Downtown Alliance, NYCxDESIGN, Franklin Furnace, Lawlor Media Group, the Gradient, To Practice_Practice, Gameday Creative, Corea Creative, VRWAIBAIO and Eataly. Website: MvVOART.com Instagram: MvVO ART Instagram Maria van Vlodrop: Linkedin profile Contact: Norah Lawlor, Lawlor Media Group www.lawlormediagroup.com, @lawlormediagroup.com SOURCE MvVO ART As Ontarios eviction moratorium has lifted, new research shows that the Toronto neighbourhoods where tenants have faced the highest eviction filing rates in recent years mirror those where COVID-19 has hit hardest. The findings, shared exclusively with the Star, suggest that if a wave of evictions follows the pandemic as tenant advocates fear residents of the same neighbourhoods will bear the brunt of a secondary crisis. Its a parallel that Scott Leon, who co-authored Wednesdays study for the Wellesley Institute, called troubling. It really shows that evictions are hitting communities that already being hit by COVID, and so weve got these kind of compounding challenges, Leon said. Leon and co-author James Iveniuk examined eviction filing data from Ontarios Landlord and Tenant Board from 2010 to 2018. While they found that one in every 20 Toronto renter households in 2018 faced eviction applications, in some neighbourhoods that rate was as high as one in five. Most of the 140 neighbourhoods had eviction filing rates between two and six per cent. But 14 had rates higher than eight per cent, and eight neighbourhoods had rates that exceeded 10 per cent. Many of those neighbourhoods matched a recent Star analysis of sporadic COVID-19 cases, which showed that areas in the citys northwest corner have been hit hardest by the coronavirus in recent months. Some of those neighbourhoods have had infection rates more than 10 times that of the least affected spots, which tended to be wealthier and more central. Neighbourhoods like Weston, Black Creek, Downsview-Roding-CFB and Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown have been among the worst hit by sporadic infections of the virus and, in the new study, were also found to have among the worst eviction filing rates. The eviction research is just the latest dataset showing how inequality concentrated in Torontos northwest for years before its residents bore the brunt of the pandemic. The area had already been shown to face disadvantages when measuring things from the prevalence of diabetes and low-post secondary education levels to poverty and other social and economic obstacles. Im not surprised at all, Dania Majid, a lawyer for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO), said of the similarities between the virus and eviction data. Many of the factors that would make a person vulnerable to eviction would also make them vulnerable to catching COVID-19, she said from poverty rates to precarious work that might have left them without as many supports during the pandemic lockdown, or in an environment with heightened risk of exposure. While poverty was identified in the study as a significant factor in the areas found to have high eviction filing rates, those rates were also found to significantly decrease as the percentage of renters in subsidized housing within a neighbourhood increased. Areas with no subsidized housing were found to have twice the rates of areas with 36 per cent subsidized housing. Leon connected that phenomenon to the overall goals of the housing providers social and non-profit operators aimed to provide stable homes, a mandate that he said often included trying to avoid evictions or using them as a last resort. The finding suggested that increasing the stock of social and non-profit housing would decrease evictions overall, he added. Past reports have made the case that evictions disproportionately affect populations like single parents, those in poverty, racialized communities, individuals with mental health challenges and newcomers. The Wellesley Institute study found that areas with 36 per cent Black renter households in Toronto had twice the eviction filing rates of census areas with two per cent Black renter households, even after controlling for other factors,which Leon said was a signal that work on eviction prevention also had to include conversations about anti-Black racism. I think its no secret that people who are Black, who face anti-Black racism, are discriminated against even in looking for housing, said Yodit Edemariam, director of legal services at the Rexdale Community Legal Clinic. Three-quarters of the applications examined in the study from 2010 to 2018 were solely for nonpayment of rent a filing known as an L1. The eviction rates in the Wellesley Institute study were calculated based on both L1 and L2 filings. More than 6,000 L1s were filed in Ontario between March 17 and July 19 this year, despite Premier Doug Ford promising that no one would be kicked out of their rental for nonpayment during COVID-19. The economic turmoil of the COVID-19 shutdown, combined with a recent change in provincial law that allows landlords to seek eviction orders without a hearing if a tenant falls behind on an agreed-upon repayment plan, has led tenant advocates in the city to warn about an influx of evictions in the coming months. The study floats several policies to potentially improve Torontos eviction response, from expanding eligibility criteria and funding for existing prevention programs to building more social and non-profit housing and increasing tenants access to legal representation or advice. ACTOs Majid said while short-term resources should be directed to areas like Torontos northwest corner to address immediate concerns, a longer-term strategy is needed. Were left scrambling now that the pandemic has exposed these systemic inequities and exposed that the most marginalized in a community are once again the hardest impacted. Jailed WeChat User Says Chinese Police Monitor Overseas Accounts Too 2020-08-18 -- Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong detained a user of the social media platform WeChat after he sent content to a friend in the United States, providing fresh evidence that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is monitoring communications with WeChat users. Gao Zhigang was taken away on Sept. 26, 2019 and initially held under criminal detention by police in his home district of Yingze in Shandong's Taiyuan city, on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble." Following his release, Gao told RFA that he was detained on the basis of a single video clip he forwarded to his U.S.-based friend. "After I was detained, I was held under administrative detention for 10 days, and they interrogated me," he said. "Then, on the eighth day, I was transferred to the criminal detention center." "Then there was a 10-month wait before I was sentenced for 'picking quarrels and stirring up trouble'," he said. Gao's 10-month sentence for "slander" of the government and public order charges included time already served, and he was recently released after being sentenced last December. But the twist came when Gao viewed the evidence against him, and realized that it hadn't come from his phone. "The screenshots they provided weren't mine, because I had deleted everything after sending it," he said. "The recipient was also being monitored -- by a different police station." "They are able to get into WeChat through a back door and target you." Forwarded to activist overseas The video, which referenced a pro-democracy campaign called "Act Together," had been forwarded to Geng Guanjun, a pro-democracy, human rights activist now living in the U.S. The campaign followed public calls by overseas activist Li Yiping for Chinese people to take to the streets on May 1 to campaign for social justice. The evidence against him included documents from China's Cyberspace Administration and central propaganda department indicating that these departments directly monitor WeChat conversations. Geng told RFA that he had never even clicked on the video clip. Later, he learned that Gao was incommunicado, but didn't find out why until after Gao's release. "The content of the indictment confirms that the Cyberspace Administration and propaganda department in China are monitoring WeChat users," he said. Repeated calls to the Yingze district police department rang unanswered during office hours. Calls to the Yingze district state prosecutor's office also rang unanswered. Attempts to contact the WeChat customer service number and the media office at WeChat's parent company Tencent were also unsuccessful. Jin Chun, a former big data engineer at Huawei's Nanjing Research Institute, meanwhile recently told reporters that all Chinese communications companies and internet service providers companies are required to monitor users on behalf of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Faced with an official request for data, no company will resist, because they would cease to operate, he said. Growing concerns Concerns are growing over overseas censorship and surveillance via Tencent's WeChat social media app, with the U.S. banning business with its parent entity, and rights activists describing it as a "prison" that keeps users within reach of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s censors and law enforcement operations far beyond China's borders. Launched by Tencent in 2011, WeChat now has more than 1.1 billion users, second only to WhatsApp and Facebook, but the company keeps users behind China's complex system of blocks, filters, and human censorship known as the Great Firewall, even when they are physically in another country. The app is also used by China's state security police to carry out surveillance and harassment of dissidents and activists in exile who speak out about human rights abuses in the country, or campaign for democratic reform. In May 2020, researchers at CitizenLab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, warned that anyone using WeChat, even if they have lived their whole lives outside China, is "subject to pervasive content surveillance that was previously thought to be exclusively reserved for China-registered accounts." Documents and images transmitted entirely among non-China-registered accounts undergo content surveillance wherein these files are analyzed for content that is politically sensitive in China, the report, titled "We Chat, They Watch," said. U.S. President Donald Trump has already issued a ban on U.S. transactions with Tencent and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of video-sharing app TikTok, citing a security threat posed by the transfer of data belonging to U.S. citizens to China. The order also highlighted reports that the app censors content China deems politically sensitive, including protests over issues of autonomy in Hong Kong and Beijing's abuses of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and said it could be used to spread disinformation to benefit the CCP. Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address More than 2,000 years ago, a powerful leader built a fortress on Indias holiest river -- the Ganges. King Yayati set up the fort to help guard his territory. Today, ruins are all that remain of the old structure. The area along the Ganges River is now an industrial city called Kanpur. Workers there collect stones from the ruins to build simple homes. These shelters, called shanties, sit on top of what once was the kings fortress. The Ganges stretches over 2,700 kilometers across India. It begins high up in the Himalayan Mountains and eventually empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges has seen empires rise and fall. It has seen countless wars, kings, British colonial rulers, independence, and the rise of Hindu nationalism as a political movement. In India, the Ganges is far more than just a river. It is religion, industry, farming, and politics. To Hindus, the Ganges is known as Ganga Ma meaning Mother Ganges. It is the center of spiritual life for more than a billion people. Every year, millions of Hindu pilgrims visit temples and other holy places along the Ganges. The word pilgrimage means traveling to a special place for an important, often religious, reason. The river is a source of water for millions of people. To drink from the Ganges is to bring luck. For many Hindus, life is considered incomplete if they do not bathe in the river at least once in their lifetime. Its waters are believed to wash away sin. But all is not well with the Ganges. Pollution has left much of it dangerous to drink. Large amounts of untreated wastewater are being added to the river every day. Another source of pollution comes from water used by manufacturers of cloth and leather products. Criminal groups illegally remove sand from the riverside. They use it to feed Indias seemingly endless need for concrete, a common building material. Hydroelectric dams were built along waterways emptying into the Ganges. These dams are needed to supply power to Indias growing economy. But some Hindus are angry. They say the machinery has compromised the purity of the river. The Ganges starts at the Gangotri Glacier. Its ice provides almost half the rivers water. Over the past 40 years, the ice has been melting at a frightening rate. The glacier is now shrinking about 22 meters every year. For thousands of years, the glacial ice melt has guaranteed that Indias dry plains get enough water, even during the driest months. The rest comes from smaller waterways that flow down the mountains. As the Ganges flows across the plains, its once clean water becomes dirty. The mineral-rich water begins collecting waste and pollution from the millions of people who depend on it. Millions of liters of waste products -- along with heavy metals, agricultural chemicals, human bodies, and animal remains -- enter the Ganges every day. This has made it one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Indian officials have tried to limit the pollution in some places, but large parts remain dangerously unhealthy. Still, to Hindus, the river remains religiously pure. Every year, tens of thousands of Hindus bring the bodies of their loved ones to be cremated at the Ganges, in the city of Varanasi. A Hindu who dies there or whose remains are destroyed by fire alongside it, is also freed from that cycle of birth and death. After Varanasi, the Ganges continues eastward through endless farmland as it nears the coast. It eventually splits off into ever-smaller rivers. The biggest of these rivers, the Hooghly, flows south toward the sea. It passes through Kolkata, the largest city in eastern India. Once known as Calcutta, the city is now home to nearly 15 million people. Finally, the Ganges River empties into the Bay of Bengal. For the end of this story, however, we travel back up to the Gangotri Glacier. There a Hindu holy man named Mouni Baba makes his home. He spoke with The Associated Press. Human existence is like this ice, he said. It melts and becomes water and then merges into a stream. The stream goes into a tributary which flows into a river and then it all ends up in an ocean. Some (rivers) remain pure while others collect dirt along the way. Some (people) help mankind and some become the cause of its devastation. Im Jonathan Evans. And Im Anna Matteo. Altaf Qadri wrote this story for The Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story empire n. a group of territories or peoples under one ruler source n. the beginning of a stream of water : someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed sin n. an offense against religious or moral law leather n. animal skin dressed for use hydroelectric adj. of or relating to production of electricity by waterpower plain n. a large area of flat land without trees cremate v. to burn the body of a person who has died cycle n. a set of events or actions that happen again and again in the same order : a repeating series of events or actions tributary n. a stream feeding a larger stream or a lake devastation n. great damage or destruction Advertisement Four antique chairs made in 1778 for French Emperor Louis XVI's younger brother, Charles X have sold for more than 1 million - despite missing their seats, backs and upholstery. He ordered them to furnish his famous bedchamber at his opulent Chateau de Bagatelle in Paris. His bed is exhibited at the Louvre today. The frames sparked a bidding war when they went under the hammer with auctioneers Artcurial. They were expected to fetch 450,000 but achieved over double the estimate, selling for 1.06m including fees. The chairs were confiscated during the French Revolution in 1789 before being sold off four years later. The four chairs were made in 1778 for French Emperor Louis XVI's younger brother, Charles X, after he ordered them for his opulent Paris bedchamber The frames sparked a bidding war when they went under the hammer with auctioneer Artcurial. They were expected to fetch 450,000 but achieved over double the estimate Charles X ordered them to furnish his famous bedchamber at his opulent Chateau de Bagatelle in Paris They have changed hands several times in the two centuries that followed and were consigned by a private collector who had owned them for the past 20 years. The chairs were fashioned from gilded and patinated wood, with carvings of laurel branches and a fire mark B under a crown for the Comte d'Artois at Bagatelle. They were crafted by master furniture maker Georges Jacobs and the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Rode. The suite is said to illustrate the extravagant charter and taste of Charles, who had a close relationship with his step-sister, the Queen Marie Antionette. A spokesperson for Artcurial, of Paris, said: 'This exceptional suite was executed in 1778 by Georges Jacobs and Jean-Baptiste Rode for the celebrated bed chamber of the Comte d'Artois and future King, Charles X. 'It is a unique suite still preserved in its original condition and one of the most daring examples of the creativity and excellence of the craftsmen at the Royal court's service. 'This suite is leaving France to join another collection owned by great amateurs in love with the French decorative arts, who will take attentive care of them.' The suite is said to illustrate the extravagant charter and taste of Charles, who had a close relationship with his step-sister, the Queen Marie Antionette The two armchairs and two chairs were confiscated during the French Revolution in 1789 before being sold off four years later Charles X was the French King from 1824 to 1830, when he abdicated following urban riots which prompted that year's July Revolution After fleeing France in 1789, Charles X lived in Italy, Belgium and Russia before settling in Britain where George III gave him a generous allowance. He lived in Edinburgh and London with his mistress Louise de Polastron before returning to his homeland after the Bourbon restoration in 1814. Charles X was the French King from 1824 to 1830, when he abdicated following urban riots which prompted that year's July Revolution. Michelle Obama speaking during the opening night of the Democratic convention - AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump has lashed out at Michelle Obama after she criticised him in her Democratic convention speech, accusing the former first lady of pushing an extremely divisive message . The US president criticised the wife of his predecessor for pre-recording her address after she had said that he was clearly in over his head in the White House in an address that dominated TV news headlines. While Mr Trump continually criticises Barack Obama, the former US president, he has only rarely rebuked his wife Mrs Obama since taking office in January 2017. The trigger was Mrs Obama herself launching a fierce attack on Mr Trump, including singling him out as the the wrong president for our country. She has rarely issued public criticism of him in the last three and a half years. Asked to respond to the speech, Mr Trump said: She was over her head and frankly she should have made the speech live which she didnt do, she taped it. "And it was not only taped, it was taped a long time ago because she had the wrong deaths, she didnt even mention the vice presidential candidate in the speech. And you know, she gets these fawning reviews. If you gave a real review it wouldnt be so fawning. I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive. Mr Trumps death reference was to the number of people in America killed from Covid-19. Mrs Obama said it was "more than 150,000 people". Today that figure is above 170,000. She also did not mention Kamala Harris, Mr Biden's vice presidential pick, because, according to Democratic officials, she recorded the speech before the choice was made. The clash escalated a feud between Mr Trump and the Obamas which dates back more than half a decade, when the former pushed the birther conspiracy suggesting Mr Obama was born outside America and so should not have been president. Mrs Obamas intervention came on the opening night of the Democratic Partys convention which, due to coronavirus, has moved from an in-person gathering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to an almost entirely online only event. Story continues Across two hours of evening broadcasting there were political speeches without the usual cheering crowds intercut with segments to camera from everyday Americans and celebrity appearances. Eva Longoria, the Desperate Housewives, hosted the programme. The night, themed around we the people, saw calls from Bernie Sanders, the left-wing Vermont senator, for his supporters to back Mr Biden and an appearance from John Kasich, the former Republican presidential nominee, criticising Mr Trump. But it was Mrs Obama, given the highly prized closing speech slot, who broke with her usual stance of avoiding criticising her husbands successor in public by launching an excoriating critique of the Trump presidency, including singling him out by name. So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country, Mrs Obama said. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is. At another point she said: Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy. Mrs Obama said, in another clear reference to Mr Trump, that Americas children see our leaders labelling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. The former first lady, who was wearing a necklace with the word vote on it, urged viewers to register for mail-in ballots that evening - a sign of mounting fears that Mr Trumps Postal Service reforms could slow voting by mail for November's election. She also praised Mr Biden, who was US vice president under her husband for eight years, saying: If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it. On Tuesday night Bill Clinton, the former US president, and Jill Biden, the wife of Mr Biden, were due to speak. Mr Biden will give his address closing the convention on Thursday. On Monday, a doctor who worked in the region of Xinjiang told reporters that Chinese hospitals have been conducting abortions of late-stage pregnancies and have killed newborns as part of the country's efforts to cull the Uighur community. Hospital killings China has placed more than one million Uighur individuals in several hundreds of prison camps since 2016. The Chinese government has since labeled the camps as "re-education centers" where it says ethnic minorities are told to leave behind their tradition and cultures. According to Business Insider, a significant part of the repression involves reducing and limiting the population of the ethnic minority by attacking their reproductive rights. Beijing passed a law in 2017 that limited Uigurs and other ethnic minorities to have a maximum of three children if they lived in rural areas or a maximum of two children if they reside in urban areas. Under the one-child policy that China abolished in 2016, the majority ethnic group, Han Chinese citizens, were urged to take contraception and be subject to abortions to reduce birth rates. At that time, ethnic minorities were limited to have either two or three children depending on where they lived. An Uighur doctor who had been working in Xinjiang hospitals for 15 years, Hasiyet Abdulla, told reporters that when a mother who already has two or three children is expecting another child to be born has given birth in the last three years, authorities will move to terminate the pregnancy even if the child was eight or nine months old inside its mother. Also Read: US Sanctions China for Allegedly Abusing Muslim Uighurs, Placing Them in Detention Camps Abdulla revealed that hospital staff would sometimes resort to killing newborn babies to reduce their population. The doctor said that medical staff were ordered by higher management to conduct the horrifying activities, as reported by the Catholic News Agency. The act of forcing abortions on late-stage pregnancies come after Chinese authorities have been accused of sterilizing ethnic minorities against their will. A June 29 report explained how women were arrested and locked up for having too many children. Re-education camps Previous reports also state how Uighur women who were placed in internment camps were checked for pregnancy frequently. Some females were also implanted with intrauterine devices that prevent individuals from getting pregnant in the future. Currently, there are around one to 1.8 million Uighurs that have been kept in over 1,300 internment camps in the region of Xinjiang. Survivors who have managed to speak of their experiences detail their horrific time where Chinese authorities conducted indoctrination and beatings as well as forced labor and torture. Initially, Chinese officials denied the existence of the internment camps but were forced to admit otherwise in 2018. A senior lecturer in Chinese Studies, Dr Joanne Smith Finley of Newcastle University said that the campaign was a type of genocide that took its time to slowly and painfully kill of newborns in reducing their population. The Xinjiang province has recorded a sharp decline in the birth rate since the implementation of the horrific abortions and killings in what officials call family-planning practices. Related Article: US Customs Investigates Alleged Forced Labor Productions of Hair Weaves @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 3 Businesses with Soaring Profits Despite the Pandemic The pandemic has revealed something very surprising. Unlike the majority of businesses that have suffered plummeting revenue, a small group of companies are thriving despite the virus. This fact makes this crisis different from The Great Recession, where nearly all businesses suffered without any glaring exceptions. The key reason is that this crisis is not so much an economic one, but has to do more with health and well-being. What started as a major healthcare crisis has morphed into an economic one as governments around the world impose lockdowns, border closures and movement restrictions. Because of the nature of the response to the coronavirus, industries that thrive on tourism, travel and physical gatherings have been badly affected. On the other hand, industries that manufacture products used by healthcare professionals, such as nitrile gloves, have seen an unprecedented boom. Those providing essential services that have been allowed to operate uninterrupted have also witnessed a surge in sales and profits. Here are three companies that reported higher profits during this pandemic. Propnex Ltd (SGX: OYY) Propnex is an integrated real estate services group that offers a range of property-related services such as real estate brokerage, training and property management. As of 30 July 2020, the group has over 8,675 sales professionals. Propnex has an established presence in Singapore and is also present in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. For the first half of 2020, the group reported a 45.2% year on year jump in revenue to S$241.5 million. Net profit attributable to shareholders more than doubled from S$5.7 million to S$14.8 million. Despite the circuit breaker measures imposed by the Singapore government, a higher number of transactions was completed in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. The group believes that the current low-interest-rate environment and fiscal policy measures announced in five budgets will help to prop up demand for real estate. Story continues As such, Propnex expects sales momentum to pick up for the remainder of the year, as more developers roll out projects with competitive pricing to lure buyers back. The group also declared an interim dividend of S$0.015, up from S$0.0125 last year. Its share price has recovered strongly from the low of S$0.44 back in late-March and is up 13% year to date. UMS Holdings Limited (SGX: 558) UMS provides equipment manufacturing and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers of semiconductors and other electronic products. The group has production facilities in Singapore, Malaysia and California, USA. The groups semiconductor business recorded robust growth during the first half of 2020, with revenue up 28% year on year to S$75.2 million. Net profit attributable to shareholders jumped by 47% year on year to S$22.2 million. UMS generated healthy free cash flow of S$19 million during the period and declared an interim dividend of S$0.01 per share, double of what it declared last year. Its share price has also recovered most of the losses sustained in March to close almost flat for the year. Semiconductors Equipment and Materials International, or SEMI, has forecast sales growth of 6% for semiconductor equipment manufacturing for 2020. For 2021, SEMI is projecting even stronger growth of 17.4% and will be driven by memory spending and investment in cutting-edge technologies. These projections bode well for UMS business and investors should look forward to continued strong numbers. Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8) Sheng Siong operates one of the largest supermarket chains in Singapore. The group operates 61 outlets across the island and supplies a variety of both live foods as well as sundries, toiletries and household items. As supermarkets were allowed to stay open during the pandemic as they are deemed an essential service, Sheng Siong enjoyed a strong boost to both revenue and earnings. For the first half of 2020, the group reported a 52.7% year on year increase in revenue. Net profit doubled from S$37.8 million to S$75.2 million, and the group also doubled its interim dividend from S$0.0175 to S$0.035. The group will continue to implement its growth strategy of looking for suitable locations in the heartlands to open new stores. For the third quarter of 2020, Sheng Siong plans to open three new stores, at Potong Pasir Avenue 2, Blk 455 Sengkang West, and Block 872C Tampines Street 86. These three stores will take up close to 19,000 square feet of space. Sheng Siongs share price has soared 41% year to date and is breaking new all-time highs. With share prices battered to multi-year lows, many attractive investment opportunities have emerged. In a special FREE report, we show you 3 stocks that we think will be suitable for our portfolio. Simply click here to scoop up your FREE copy before the next stock market rally. Click here to like and follow us on Facebook and here for our Telegram group. Disclaimer: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. The post 3 Businesses with Soaring Profits Despite the Pandemic appeared first on The Smart Investor. Washington Facing mounting public pressure and a crush of state lawsuits, President Donald Trump's new postmaster general announced Tuesday he is halting some operational changes to mail delivery that critics blamed for widespread delays and warned could disrupt the November election. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he would "suspend" several of his initiatives including the removal of the distinctive blue mailboxes that prompted an outcry until after the election "to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail." "We will deliver the nation's election mail on time," DeJoy said in a statement. The abrupt reversal from DeJoy, who is set to testify Friday before the Senate, comes as more than 20 states, from New York to California, announced they would be suing to stop the changes. Several vowed they would press on, keeping a watchful eye on the Postal Service ahead of the election. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing ahead with Saturday's vote to prevent election-year mail changes and provide emergency postal funds. "I don't, frankly, trust the postmaster general," Pelosi said in San Francisco. The crisis at the Postal Service has erupted as a major election year issue as DeJoy, a Republican donor who took control of the agency in June, has swiftly engineered cuts and operational changes that are disrupting mail delivery operations and raising alarms that Trump is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election. At the White House, Trump has flatly denied he is seeking to slow down the mail, even has he leveled fresh assaults Tuesday on mail-in voting and universal ballots. More Americans than ever are expected to choose to vote absentee during the coronavirus outbreak. "You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere," Trump told reporters. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "This isn't games and you have to get it right," Trump said. Some of the initiatives DeJoy said he was shelving until after the election had already been announced. DeJoy said Tuesday he is halting the planned removal of mail-processing machines and blue collection boxes, as well as an initiative to change retail hours at post offices. He also said no mail processing facilities will be closed and said the agency has not eliminated overtime. One initiative that DeJoy didn't single out in his announcement was the newly imposed constraints on when mail can go out for delivery a change postal workers have said is fueling delays. The statement also did not specify whether the agency would restore mail-sorting machines that have recently been taken offline. Living Faith Church Worldwide President Bishop David Oyedepo has dismissed comments against his opposition to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). He spoke on Tuesday at a prayer meeting held at the Faith Terbanacle, headquarters of his church at Ota, Ogun State. He said: Anybody insulting me is wasting his mouth. One I did not hear, two, even if l hear, it will not pain me. Anyone praising me is just expressing his opinion, and even if l hear, it will not blow my head. If you praise anything in me it is Jesus, it is not me, the greater one in me is the one you are praising. You think I am the one, no I am not. If I preach a message and you dont laugh, please do listen because since the 70s when I started preaching, l laugh even when they insult me, l laugh. When they say, I am short, l laugh, when they say see his legs, nose, or see his mouth, l laugh. He urged ministers of the gospel to serve God cheerfully. On Monday, a personal Assistant to the President on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, cautioned the cleric on his criticism of the CAMA. The Federal Government seeks to regulate financial activities of local churches through CAMA. Ms. Onochie, in two tweets on her verified Twitter handle, faulted Oyedepos criticism since the same Winners Chapel International had been complying with a similar law in the United Kingdom (UK). Ms. Onochie said the laws of Nigeria are binding on all who choose to live in the country. Onochie said: I hope this is not true. If it is, Oyedepo will have to manufacture his own country and live by his own laws. As long as he lives and operates within the entity called Nigeria, he will live by Nigerian rules and laws. He will do as hes told by the law. Enough oflawlessness. She said Winners Chapel in the UK had been abiding with a similar law in the country. Ms. Onochie said: Oyedepos church is regulated in the UK by the govts charity commission. But he promotes lawlessness by bullying the Nigerian government. Oyedepos church is regulated in the UK by the govts (governments) Charity Commission. But he promotes lawlessness by bullying the Nigerian government. World mission agency Winners Chapel International, income 10.2m, spending 7.7m, Charity No.- 1134421, Company No. 06994834. Goldmine Toastmasters Club No. 241 held its online meeting Aug. 15. Samuel Mullis served as the Toastmaster. Gayle Pum opened the meeting with two Thoughts of the Day, with a quote from Coco Chanel: Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity. Her other quote was from Berne Brown: Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. Its about the choice to show up and be real; the choice to be honest; the choice to let our true selves be seen. Sam Mullis served as the Joke Master. The Ah counter was none other than Jay Morgado. He counted how many times filler words were used throughout the meeting. Sharon Semidey served as the Grammarian and counted how many times the word of the day was used. She also offered interesting uses of the English language. VACAVILLE, California Thousands of people are under evacuation orders in regions around the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday as wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Smoke blanketed San Francisco, and could be seen from space, per satellites at the National Weather Service. In all, Gov. Gavin Newsom said firefighters are battling 367 known wildfires across California, including 23 that are considered major fires. Of those 367 fires, "the prospect of that number going up is very real," he said at a press conference Wednesday. Newsom blamed "the extraordinary weather we're experiencing and all of these lightning strikes" for the fires. He said the state has recorded nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours. A helicopter fighting the blaze crashed in Coalinga, California Wednesday morning, killing the pilot and sparking a new wildfire, which then merged into the nearby Hills Fire. The blaze burning near Vacaville was dubbed the Hennessey Fire, but there are so many fires burning in the area that firefighters have put them all under one incident the LNU Lightning Complex for reporting purposes, Weather.com said. In all, those fires have burned around 72 square miles of land in Napa and Sonoma counties, and are 0% contained. Residents of Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento, awoke in the darkness Wednesday morning to frantic evacuation orders as an uncontrolled wildfire burned into the western edge of the city and destroyed at least 50 structures. In Solano County, a rural area southeast of Vacaville, some residents fled for the first time ever. Ive lived here for 30 years, never had to evacuate before, resident Tim Lukehart said. Theres been fires of course, but not like this one. The air had an orange, smoke-filled hue for miles, with ash covering vehicles. Homes were burned down on both sides of Pleasant Valley Road, the street where Lukehart lives with his wife Sarah. Wooden fences were still in flames, and one family was chasing their cattle through a field as they tried to bring the animals home to safety as the grass smoldered. Story continues A rescue effort to save about 125 horses failed as owners could not get trailers to the area or access by foot. In an alert issued just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Travis Air Force base commander ordered a partial evacuation of non-mission essential personnel. Wednesday afternoon, the fire jumped Interstate 80, forcing highway officials to close a five-mile freeway section. The LNU Lightning Complex is the second-largest fire burning in California on Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The largest fire burning in California, a blaze made up of 20 separate fires burning near San Jose, has been named the SCU Lightning Complex Fire. The fire ballooned from 54 square miles to burning at least 132 square miles over Tuesday night. It is 5% contained, and threatens more than 1,400 structures, according to the SCU branch of Cal Fire. Another group of 30 fires in Chico, called the Butte Lightning Complex fires, has consumed 2 square miles with 10% containment, with Cal Fire, and are not expected to impact residents, according to a Cal Fire-Butte County news release. Will Powers, a state fire spokesman, said throughout the state of California right now, we are stretched thin for crews because of the fires. Air resources have been stretched thin throughout the whole state. Much of California is enduring a sweltering late summer heat wave that has broken several record highs in recent days, including a 130-degree reading Sunday in Death Valley, Weather.com said. The hot, dry conditions are expected to continue at least into the weekend. California fire tracker: Map traces current fires burning across state in real-time The extreme heat was being generated by a strong ridge of high pressure over the western U.S., which also produced an onslaught of thunderstorms and lightning that ignited many of the wildfires burning in California. "We have a very large area of high pressure over the area," National Weather Service meteorologist David Sweet said. "It's sitting right over us, and it's not moving." Matt Nichols tries to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through Vacaville, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heat wave continues. There was "no relief" expected Wednesday from the sweltering heat, the Weather Service said, as temperatures were forecast to again soar above 100 degrees across much of the western U.S. In all, some 37 million people were under excessive heat warnings in the West, mainly in California, Arizona and Nevada. One of the major consequences of the heat wave over the past several days has been the threat of temporary power outages, also known as rolling blackouts, to conserve electricity usage along the state's power grid. Grid managers again called for voluntary energy conservation during afternoon and evening hours Wednesday to try to avoid having to order utilities to cut power to selected areas, which happened twice last week but has been narrowly avoided since then. In Northern California, police and firefighters went door-to-door before dawn Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as fire encroached on Vacaville. Fire officials said at least 50 structures were destroyed and 50 were damaged and that four people were injured. Television footage showed some homes in flames and thick ash dropping in a rural area near Interstate 80 as the fire appeared to head toward more densely populated areas. Diane Bustos told KPIX-TV that she and her husband tried to drive out but their vehicle caught on fire and they had to flee on foot. I got all these flames on me and I lost my shoe, but I made it. God saved me, she said. Due to the Hennessey fire, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has issued a health caution because of the hazy conditions caused by smoke from the wildfires burning throughout California. Officials are asking Valley residents to reduce their exposure to particulate matter by remaining indoors. Particulate matter can trigger asthma attacks, aggravate chronic bronchitis and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Those with existing respiratory conditions, including COVID-19, young children and the elderly, are especially susceptible. Common cloth and paper masks being worn because of COVID-19 concerns may not provide protection from wildfire smoke. More: California avoids rolling blackouts for another night amid scorching temperatures, raging wildfires More wildfires: Colorado is battling 4 major fires, including the fourth largest in state history In Napa County, Gail Bickett, 80, loaded up her three dogs in a truck to evacuate as the fire burned behind houses across the road, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Its scary, she said. Its overwhelming. State Sen. Bill Dodd, who represents the area in the state Legislature, said the fires burning in Napa and Sonoma counties were mostly affecting less populated areas. I think the people around here, even the people that have structures in harms way, understand that theyre in a more rural area and that the people in more densely populated areas have to get the resources first, he said. Several fires were also were burning in northern coastline areas and in Southern California. The cluster of wine country fires threaten an area that only last year grappled with another massive blaze that forced 200,000 to flee a task made more complicated this year because of the pandemic. Contributing: The Associated Press; Jeremy Childs, The Ventura County Star; The Redding Record Searchlight, James Ward, Visalia Times-Delta This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California fires: Smoke blankets San Francisco; Vacaville evacuated 19.08.2020 LISTEN A presidential aspirant of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) for the 2020 polls, William Dowokpor, believes he has what it takes to be a great President for a developing country like Ghana. He says the management of the country under his leadership is what is needed to make Ghana achieve its utmost economic progress since all previous governments have failed to ensure development needed to turn the fortunes of the citizenry around. According to him, the governance system is porous to the point that the best governance experts will fail to manage the country with this same 1992 constitution. He said the 28-year-old Ghana's constitution need reformation to meet current standards. The governance system is porous. If we even take the best governance experts to take over the country with this same 1992 constitution, they will fail. We must hit the road by reforming the constitution so that the foundation will be strong so that when you put any average president there, you can expect some minimum progress. When you have a great President like me, you can expect that we will leapfrog into advanced country status, he promised. William Dowokpor made this known shortly after he picked his presidential nomination forms for the PPP on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. He expressed worry over what he says has become deep-rooted corruption in the country. William Dowokpor who contested as the partys parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon in the past said if voted into power come December 7, 2020, his government will thrive on transparency and accountability. William Dowokpor is one of the three persons who have picked up nomination forms to contest to be the flagbearer for the PPP. The two others are Brigitte Dzogbenuku, the party's running mate in the 2016 election and Dr. Francis Obeng. For the first time, the party's founder, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom won't partake in the Presidential election. ---citinewsroom Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Local governments in Metro Manila will impose a unified curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m, Malacanang said Wednesday as the capital region eased COVID-19 restrictions. I understand the mayors voted. There was a majority, that the curfew hours should be 8 (p.m.) to 5 (a.m.), Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines The Source, citing a meeting with COVID-19 task force members the night before. Roque, however, clarified in a briefing later in the day that three cities Manila, Muntinlupa, and Pasig will not be covered by the curfew hours on Wednesday night as the LGUs would still need to amend their ordinances to reflect the change in schedule. Metro Manila where a bulk of coronavirus infections in the country have been reported as well as the neighboring regions of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal were placed back to the more relaxed general community quarantine until the end of the month. The said areas were put under a two-week modified lockdown earlier this month, following the medical communitys plea for a breather. Despite the development, Roque maintained that tight health protocols will still be followed, with the GCQ implementation seen to be stricter. The spokesperson stressed that quarantine passes will be required for residents in areas placed under granular lockdowns, or those covering a specific barangay or neighborhood. He reiterated that mass gatherings including religious services will be limited to 10 persons for areas under GCQ. Latest data from the Health Department showed that COVID-19 infections in the Philippines have spiked to nearly 170,000, the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia. One of four finalists will be Michigan Technological Universitys first vice president for diversity and inclusion. The finalists will interview on campus beginning the week of Aug. 24. They were selected after a nationwide search that began last fall. Search Committee Chair Kellie Raffaelli and the committee have done an admirable job in identifying the four finalists, said President Richard Koubek. These individuals have a significant amount of experience in diversity and inclusion issues and Im confident we will find the right fit for Michigan Tech. Discussing Complex Issues As part of their on-campus interview, each finalist will discuss the complexities and many intersections of campus climate issues experienced by students, faculty and staff, and how they impact the educational experiences of underrepresented groups. The campus community is invited to participate in each finalists public presentation via Zoom. Presentations will be approximately 45 minutes followed by a 15-minute Q&A session. All four sessions will be recorded so that they may be viewed at a later time. The first candidate to visit is Barbara Lundberg, who will be on campus from Monday, Aug. 24, through Wednesday, Aug. 26. Lundberg has more than 20 years of leadership experience in student and academic affairs. The former vice president for academic affairs and institutional effectiveness at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College in Hayward, Wisconsin, Lundberg served as interim college president while a search for the next president was conducted. Lundbergs Zoom webinar will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25. Next, Wayne Gersie will visit campus from Monday, Aug. 31, through Wednesday, Sept. 2. Gersie is currently chief diversity officer and director of diversity enhancement, student programs and outreach, at Pennsylvania State University's Applied Research Laboratory. Gersie previously served as director of the Multicultural Engineering Program at Penn State. Gersies Zoom webinar will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1. Roberto Sanabria will visit from Wednesday, Sept. 2, to Friday, Sept. 4. Sanabria is the senior director of human resources and equity at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago. Prior to that, he served as director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at Northwestern University. Sanabrias Zoom webinar will take place at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3. The last finalist to visit will be Sumita Furlong, who will be on campus Tuesday, Sept. 8, through Thursday, Sept. 10. At present, Furlong is the special assistant to the vice chancellor, student affairs, for diversity, equity, inclusion, strategic planning and initiatives, and external relations at the University of California-Irvine. Furlong previously served as the chief diversity officer at the Great Lakes Colleges Association in Ann Arbor. Furlongs Zoom webinar is at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9. Following the visits, the campus community will have an opportunity to provide feedback via a secure online form. Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure. The biggest nightmare coronavirus brought with itself, apart from the loss of innocent lives, is the loss of jobs and livelihood. According to a recent report, more than 41 lakh Indian youth have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is being said that the agriculture and construction sector has been the worst hit, we all know that the ground reality isnt much different in the private sector at large. Thousands of people, across various positions and years of experience, were laid off amid the coronavirus outbreak. With the number of unemployed people at an estimated all-time high, we decided to run a quick search to see the status of job opportunities in the employment market right now. A quick search on LinkedIn alone revealed that a lot of leading, popular companies are currently hiring in India and heres your (or someone you know) chance to make the most of it: 1. Reliance BCCL This company needs no introduction with all the waves it is creating globally. So, obviously, they also need people to deliver. A number of companies under Reliance, such as Reliance Communications, Reliance Retail, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance are looking to hire people. From Field Engineer, Sourcing Manager to Planning Coordinator and Contact Centre Executive, there are numerous job titles to look through. Check out all the job listings here 2. Apple Twitter/TechsquadAfrica One of the biggest names in the tech industry, people wouldnt want to pass up an opportunity to work with this company. Turns out, they also have a few job openings right now and the job titles include Site Reliability Engineer, Engineering Manager, Software Development Engineer, Data Analyst and others. Check out all the job listings here 3. HCL LinkedIN Landing a job here has been a dream for many IT graduates and turns out, HCL Technologies has a lot to offer right now. With job openings for Team Leads, Managers, Data Architects, Developers and much more, youve got to check out their listings. Check out all the job listings here 4. Google Reuters A brand many aspire to work with, Google too is currently hiring for a number of job titles such as Business Development Manager, Organisation Effectiveness Lead, Strategic Partner Manager, User Experience Researcher, Vendor Strategy Manager, UX Design Lead and others. Check out all the job listings here 5. Airtel Twitter/cnbctv18 A known name in the telecom industry, Bharti Airtel is also hiring for multiple positions such as Product Manager, Sales Manager, Product Designer and a bunch of other profiles. Check out all the job listings here 6. Amazon Twitter/Stone Another leading multinational company people love to boast on their CVs, Amazon too is hiring for multiple positions right now. With job titles such as Team Leads, Customer Experience Associate, Brand Development Associate, Program Manager, Marketing Specialist and the like up for grabs, there are a number of available positions. Check out all the job listings here 7. Infosys Twitter/News24 A leading name in the IT-Consulting sector, Infosys is also calling eligible candidates for the position of Consultants, Chartered Accountants, Analysts, Project Managers and many others with openings in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Karnataka. Check out all the job listings here 8. Kotak Mahindra Bank Twitter/cnbctv18 A leading name in the Indian banking sector, Kotak Mahindra Bank has multiple job openings for profiles such as Business Analyst, Developer to Branch as well as Relationship Manager. Check out all the job listings here. 9. Tata Twitter/Ravi.M A number of Tata subsidiaries such as Tata Communications, TCS, Tata AIG General Insurance, as well as Tata CLiQ, are offering jobs under various job profiles. From openings in Sales to HR and with positions ranging from Managers to Developers, Analysts and Consultants, there are options aplenty. Check out all the job listings here 10. Wipro Twitter/PreetamPatil Another frontrunner in the IT sector, Wipro too has multiple openings under a range of job profiles. From Analysts, Project Managers, to Tech Leads, Developers, Consultants, and Engineers, they are hiring people for multiple locations across the country. Check out all the job listings here Were sure there are many other job opportunities (besides these) up for grabs, so keep looking and dont lose heart. All the best! Initial evidence suggested that children did not easily spread the virus, but new studies are challenging that view. Multiple outbreaks of the coronavirus in US schools that have reopened with in-person learning have set off concerns about how quickly the virus can spread among young people calling into question whether it is possible to reopen schools safely anytime soon during the pandemic. A school in Georgia had more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases by the end of its second week of classes, forcing more than 1,600 students and staff to quarantine after being exposed. Schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Nebraska and other states also reported outbreaks, causing schools to revert to online teaching. What were seeing is in many of the states where the public schools are back in session with in-person school or a hybrid thats been a big driver of infections, said Dr Shawn Nasseri, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in Los Angeles. Initially, evidence suggested that COVID-19 had minimal effects on those under the age of 18, and that they did not spread it easily, but new studies are challenging that view. It was thought that kids would not be exposed or transmit the virus as efficiently as adults which is true, Nasseri told Al Jazeera, but now it is understood that the viral load in the nose of children even those under 5 years old is significantly higher in the first days of infection, and that teenagers can basically transmit the virus like adults. An instructional assistant helping a student at Wilson Primary School in Phoenix, Arizona, US [Cheney Orr/Reuters] The US Centers for Disease Control says the number and rate of cases in children have been steadily increasing since March, and that previous low rates of infections were due to mitigation measures such as stay at home orders and school closures. More than 75,000 children in the US tested positive for the coronavirus between July 30 August 13, a 24 percent increase from the two weeks prior, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Childrens Hospital Association. By Wednesday, a total of 406,109 cases were reported among children since the pandemic began more than 7 percent of total cases in the US, raising concerns that the number of infected children will continue to climb as more schools open their doors for the school year. Benefits of schooling Children often learn better in school, education experts say, where they have direct contact with their teachers and can have the social-emotional learning they need by being around their peers. Schools are key to the cognitive development of children, according to a recent report by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. But sending children back to school also risks spreading the disease to relatives, teachers and other families. Children can be like conveyor belts, taking the disease back and forth, said Dr Pranatharthi Chandrasekar, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Children get the virus then they shed it, and therefore they can be a risk to other people who they pass the virus on to, Chandrasekar adds, it is a problem, opening schools, particularly in areas where the infectivity rate continues to be high. But the issue of school reopenings has turned into a controversial political debate in the US, one President Donald Trump sees as key to his re-election bid in November. Last week, Trump reiterated the false claim that children are essentially immune to the virus, and that schools should reopen for in-person instruction. Students return to Greenbrae Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada for the first time since March with mandatory masks and social distancing. Schools in the district are using a combination of classroom instruction and distance learning [AP Photo/Scott Sonner] I think, for the most part, they dont get very sick, Trump said during a media briefing in the White House, Its also a case where theres a tiny fraction of death, tiny fraction, and they get better very quickly. He and his administration have been pushing for schools to reopen so that parents can return to work and the economy can get back on track. The issue has also ignited intense debates in school districts between some parents who want their children to go back to school so that they can go to work, and teachers who are concerned for their own health. Many teachers have threatened to strike, quit or call in sick if they are forced to return to the classroom. In some smaller towns and in rural areas, schools are offering in-person instruction this term, albeit with mandates for masks, hygiene, screening and social distancing. But most districts, especially in large and urban cities, will conduct virtual teaching. New York City is the only major urban area still intending to start some classes at schools, offering a hybrid of online and in-person instruction, a decision that has drawn fierce criticism from teachers unions. The USs top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, said while the nations goal should be getting children back to school even as a vaccine is still months away the decision to reopen schools must be based on the infection rate in that community. His team has designated zones as either red, yellow, or green to aid determinations in allowing students back into classrooms. Green zones have a test positivity rate lower than 5 percent, and should be able to open up safe and clear, Fauci said during a Facebook Live last week. Yellow zones with a 5-10 percent test positivity rate, could opt for virtual learning or a combination of in-person and virtual, while red zones with a 10 percent or more test positivity rate in the community would be unsafe to reopen. Bringing it home Although most children who contract COVID-19 recover, some have died, and others have developed severe complications after they appeared to have healed. Similar to adults, children face higher risks of developing severe symptoms if they have underlying medical conditions such as cancer, asthma or lung disease. But some children with none of those conditions can still end up in intensive care units because of COVID-19. In the US, at least 86 children have died from the coronavirus, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Childrens Hospital Association, including a nine-year-old girl in Florida who had no underlying medical conditions. Liberty Elementary School sign welcoming students back on the first day of class in Murray, Utah [AP Photo/Rick Bowmer] There is a quite small, but very concerning group of kids who are previously healthy who get very serious complications from COVID-19, Dr Michael Wilkes, professor of medicine and global health at UC Davis told Al Jazeera. Weve to date not been able to predict who those are, Wilkes adds, most of those kids are surviving, but they require hospitalisation and it looks like they have long-term sequelae. Even more worrying, Wilkes says, is the fact that the true numbers of infections among children is likely much higher, amid limited testing and the fact that most who contract the virus have only mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, cough and sore throat and some, displaying no symptoms at all. From a public health perspective what is most concerning is kids passing the infection back and forth in school, on the playground or playing sports, and bringing it home, Wilkes said. Sushant Singh Rajput (File image: PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on August 19 on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who has sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her at Patna for allegedly abetting the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, to Mumbai. As per the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy would deliver the judgement. The Centre had earlier informed the top court that it has accepted the recommendation of Bihar government for CBI probe into the FIR lodged at Patna by Rajput's father who has accused Chakraborty and six others of various offences including abetment of suicide. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. The top court, which had reserved its judgement on the plea on August 11, was told by the Bihar government that political clout has not allowed Mumbai Police to even register an FIR in Rajput's case. Maharashtra government had argued that Bihar completely lacks jurisdiction in the matter. Chakraborty's counsel had told the bench that probe by Mumbai Police has "proceeded quite substantially" as it has recorded statements of 56 persons in the case. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Rajput's father, Krishna Kishore Singh, had countered submissions advanced by Chakraborty's counsel and said that they have "no faith" in Maharashtra Police. Chakraborty's lawyer had argued that FIR lodged by Rajput's father has absolutely no connection with any offence in Patna and there was considerable delay of around 38 days in its lodging. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had said that only FIR lodged in the case was in Bihar and the Enforcement Directorate has also started its separate probe in the matter. The FIR in Patna was registered by Singh against Chakraborty and others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). A new blockchain-based mobile app ensures health and safety to Jeju Islands 15 million annual tourists while protecting personal identity and privacy ICONLOOP Mobile App South Koreas Jeju Island Selects ICONLOOP Blockchain Technology for Private, Secure COVID-19 Contact Tracing. A new blockchain-based mobile app ensures health and safety to Jeju Islands 15 million annual tourists while protecting personal identity and privacy South Koreas Jeju Island Selects ICONLOOP Blockchain Technology for Private, Secure COVID-19 Contact Tracing. A new blockchain-based mobile app ensures health and safety to Jeju Islands 15 million annual tourists while protecting personal identity and privacy SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) - ICONLOOP (www.iconloop.com), South Koreas leading blockchain technology company, today announced that Jeju Island, the countrys most popular domestic tourist destination, will use its Decentralized Identity (DID) blockchain technology to provide private, secure COVID-19 contact tracing to the islands 15 million annual visitors. ICONLOOP and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province have signed a cooperation agreement to introduce this innovative COVID-19 and infectious disease prevention system. Visitors will use a mobile app to check into tourist destinations and businesses on Jeju Island, with their data kept private unless a COVID-19 case is discovered. Jeju Island has taken strong measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, realizing early on the importance of strengthening its contact tracing capabilities while ensuring the privacy of its residents and visitors. Jeju Island collaborated with ICONLOOP to develop this first-of-its-kind system. Starting this week, Jeju Island will experience it firsthand. This cooperation with Jeju Island is opening new possibilities for real-life application of blockchain DID authentication in the post-COVID-19 era, said Jong-hyup, Kim, CEO of ICONLOOP. As more users directly experience safe and convenient DID service at scale, we will realize many more new ways that blockchain technology can be applied to their daily lives. Through this new infectious disease prevention system, Jeju Island will be able to be reborn as a safe and representative tourist destination in Korea, said Tae-bong Lim, Director of Health and Welfare of Jeju Self-Governing Province. We look forward to revitalizing the local economy, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Story continues The contact tracing system is serviced through ICONLOOP's DID authentication mobile app service called Zzeung, which protects the privacy of all users. Zzeung was designated as an innovative financial service (MyID) by Koreas Financial Services Commission in recognition of its high convenience and security. Heres how it works: When visitors arrive on Jeju Island, they are required to download the Zzeung mobile app and verify their identity using a Korean telecom service. In the background, a verifiable credential is issued via a public blockchain network to guarantee that there is no forgery or tampering of any information. Then, visitors are required to set up fingerprint authentication or a PIN code, issuing a separate verifiable credential via a private blockchain network. Both verifiable credentials are safely stored on the visitors mobile device. When visitors check into tourist attractions using QR codes, only the verifiable credential tied to fingerprint or PIN (which contains no personal information) is transmitted for record-keeping on a highly secure private blockchain network. Each visitors personal identifying information and records of where they visit are separated to ensure personal privacy. In an event a COVID-19 case is discovered, a rapid epidemiological investigation and tracing can be conducted by the Jejus crisis response team. A key feature of the app is user convenience. Scanning a QR code is a familiar, fast check-in process for many people, especially in South Korea, and is cost-effective for business owners. Business owners do not need to collect and handle any personal information, which also frees them from any legal risk. ICONLOOP and Jeju Island recently began a pilot program for provincial government offices. On August 24, the operation will expand to include more than 50 private businesses. Beginning in September, this new contact tracing system will be officially operated to private businesses in the 8 districts of Jeju Island. ABOUT ICONLOOP ICONLOOP (https://www.iconloop.com/) is a leading blockchain technology company in South Korea. The companys technology is used for real-world applications in banking, healthcare, government, and more. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has approved ICONLOOPs decentralized identity (DID) authentication service into the Innovative Financial Services and Regulations Sandbox. Headquartered in Seoul, the company has approximately 140 employees and raised over $15 million in funding from Korea Growth Investment Corporation (K-Growth), Kiwoom Investment, Danal Holdings, K-Clavis Investment, TS Investment, Korea Asset Investment Securities, and Pathfinder H. ABOUT JEJU SPECIAL SELF-GOVERNING PROVINCE Jeju (https://www.jeju.go.kr/), also known as Jeju Island, is the only self-governing province in South Korea, meaning that the province is run by local natives instead of politicians from the mainland. Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea with approximately 700,000 residents and 15 million visitors per year. Jeju is home to a small technology hub. In 2005, the Jeju Science Park was created, a complex for technology companies and organizations. Since its implementation, it has attracted 117 IT and biotech companies. COMPANY CONTACT: info@iconloop.com MEDIA CONTACT: Transform Group, icon@transformgroup.com Attachment CONTACT: COMPANY CONTACT: info@iconloop.com MEDIA CONTACT: Transform Group, icon@transformgroup.com Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at The Defense Contractor Complex on August 18, 2020 in Yuma, Arizona: Getty Images Donald Trump lashed out during the Democratic National Convention after Bill Clinton placed responsibility for the United States' coronavirus cases on the "chaos in the Oval Office". "Tell the Dems that we have more Cases because we do FAR more Testing than any other Country!" Mr Trump said in a tweet during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. Tell the Dems that we have more Cases because we do FAR more Testing than any other Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020 The tweet came right at the end of remarks from the two-term Democratic president, who said that while the virus was on a path to killing 200,000 Americans, Mr Trump was bragging what a great job he was doing. Mr Trump ignored expert advice and shrugged when asked about a surge in deaths, Mr Clinton said in his speech. "Covid hit us much harder than it had to. We have just 4 per cent of the world's population, but 25 per cent of the world's Covid cases," Mr Clinton said. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, it's a storm centre. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame," he continued. More than 6.2 million positive Covid-19 tests have been reported from more than 70 million conducted, a positive rate of nine per cent, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US only has the highest number of Covid-19 cases because of the number of tests it carries out, but has made misleading claims about the levels of US testing, saying it tests more than all other countries put together. At a rally the president said he had told officials to slow down the rate of testing. Although aides said he was joking he later insisted he was not. China censures US 'abuse of national power' in harassing Huawei Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 5:27 PM China has censured the new sanctions imposed by the United States against Chinese telecom giant Huawei and accused Washington of "abusing national power" to target Chinese companies. The US administration on Monday tightened restrictions on Huawei and barred nearly 40 Huawei affiliates from buying American computer chips and other software products. The US Commerce Department announced in a statement that the new sanctions would prohibit foreign semiconductor companies from selling chips developed or produced using US technology to Huawei without first obtaining a license. Washington has recently claimed without proof that the telecom giant's products threaten US national security and are used to spy on Americans for Beijing. The Chinese government and Huawei have repeatedly denied the allegation. Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Washington had engaged in "abuse of national power to apply all sorts of restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese enterprises." Zhao said the sanctions had "completely punctured the last pretense of market principles and fair competition that the US has always touted." Calling on the US to "correct its mistakes," the Chinese diplomat said Beijing would "continue to take necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies." Huawei has been under relentless pressure from the US President Donald Trump administration, which has lobbied Washington's allies across the world to avoid the company's telecom equipment over "security" concerns. The White House is reportedly working with US technology companies to create advanced software for 5G telecommunication networks to stymie the rise of China's Huawei. Trump has also issued an executive order extending an ultimatum forcing TikTok, a popular Chinese mobile application, to divest its business operations in the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Trump offers help, prayers to Iowa after storm devastates swing state Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Donald Trump offered additional aid and prayers to Iowa Tuesday just over a week after the swing state was battered by a derecho storm that left churches, homes and farms in shambles and three people dead. "All Americans are united in grief and prayer for the precious life that was lost, Trump said during a visit to the state where he held a roundtable discussion with Iowa officials on the recovery efforts. When you look at the severity of the damage and how widespread it is and especially in Linn County that youre in right now, its been a blessing that we havent had any more loss of life than weve had, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said, according to a transcript of the meeting released by the White House. On Monday, a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman confirmed with the Associated Press that Trump had approved the public assistance portion of the governors request totaling about $45 million covering 16 counties. That portion of the declaration provides debris removal and repair to government buildings and utilities. An individual assistance request for 27 counties that includes $82.7 million for homes destroyed or with major damage and $3.77 billion for agriculture damage to farm land, grain bins and buildings and $100 million for private utilities repair was not approved. During the meeting with the Iowa officials on Tuesday, however, Trump committed to providing the individual assistance. Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart explained that it was needed as tens of thousands of homes were impacted by the storm, and many Iowans could not afford the unexpected expenses that came with the damage that their insurance would not cover. Almost every one of our almost 60,000 homes and businesses had some kind of damage. Thats how widespread it was. Most of the city didnt have power for a week. I still dont have power at my home, and theres about maybe another 20-, or 30-, or 40,000 people that are still waiting for power to come back up in Cedar Rapids, Hart said. Marion resident Starr Moyer told KRCG that her family lost both of their vehicles as well as their home in the storm that hit on Aug. 10. We could see the wind was picking up, so we went down to the lower level, and we just gotten down there when we heard kind of a big crash, she said. Her husband, Fred Moyer, said when he came up to see what had happened to their home he couldn't believe what he saw. I went upstairs and didnt understand why there was a breeze in the house, he said. I looked up and there was nothing but sky and rain. It was hard to take in. River of Life Associate Pastor Marcus Bratsch told The Gazette that when the storm hit, he felt the church building tremble as the wind ripped off the roof. The pastor, who said he was taking a walk past the church when the storm hit, explained that he along with a church elder, a mail carrier and a couple of people had run to the Cedar Rapids church for refuge. I have never been through anything like that in my life. The church isnt about a building, its about Gods people. We can take comfort through that. There is pain there, too. My wife and I got married in that sanctuary, Bratsch said. Pastor Brian Pingel of the nearby First Assembly of God Church said his church suffered about $2.5 million in damage after the storm ripped off about two-thirds of their roof and rain soaked the sanctuary. About a third of Iowas 31 million acres of farmland was also destroyed in addition to the devastation of churches, homes and other buildings. If I were going to compare the 150 miles I traveled from Boone to Cedar Rapids Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, last week the damage to the crops Ive seen corn flat on the ground in my 50 years of farming, but I have never seen it mile after mile, and, you know, just flat on the ground. And very little of it recoverable, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley told the president after thanking him for personally traveling to Iowa to represent the federal government. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wants to prepare Michigan voters and municipalities for what she expects to be more than 3 million ballots cast by mail in the Nov. 3 general election. Toward that end, the first-term Democrat said 1,000 ballot boxes will be installed at locations around the state by Sept. 24, and she has urged the Michigan Legislature to allow local clerks to start processing mail-in ballots before election day. In an interview with the Daily News on Tuesday morning, Benson also discussed the effect that recent changes made by the U.S. Postal Service could have on mail-in voting in Michigan. While Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced Tuesday afternoon he would suspend the changes until after the election, Benson and Michael Mize, president of the Michigan Postal Workers Union and the Flint Michigan Area Local, told the Daily News that cutting back in overtime hours for postal employees already has resulted in delayed delivery. And Benson noted USPS has sent letters to 46 states indicating that some mail-in ballots for the November election might not be counted in time. "I can understand the need to improve the services at the Postal Service and make changes. I'm always a big believer in efficiency," Benson said. "But this is not the time to be making changes that slow down mail delivery, especially for seniors and veterans who depend on it, and also for the upcoming election." Benson said her office, part of whose duties are to administer election law and voter registration, is responding to the USPS changes with a "two-pronged strategy." "We are working to collaborate with the Postal Service, or otherwise to require changes that would ensure the reliable delivery of ballots," Benson said. "And the second strategy is to create reliable alternatives. We're educating voters about their ability to return ballots at clerks' office from Sept. 24 up until the day before election day. "We're close to installing 1,000 drop boxes across the state, and there are other ways to return ballots if the mail proves unreliable." Benson said the drop boxes will be monitored at all times to ensure that they are not tampered with. Moolenaar says Postal Service essential When asked what he was doing to protect reliable mail delivery, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, issued the following statement to the Daily News: The Postal Service is essential for seniors and so many residents in Mid and Northern Michigan. Thats why I supported legislation earlier this year to end a costly mandate that deprived USPS of vital funding. I also voted for the CARES Act, which provides USPS with $10 billion in funding to address challenges caused by the pandemic. "Overall, these two bills provide USPS with more financial resources to ensure the timely delivery of medications and other essential items for Michigan residents. In the long-term, USPS will need to take additional steps to ensure service while addressing systemic issues, including declining mail volumes, that have plagued postal operations for more than a decade," Moolenaar concluded. Lessons from August primary Benson said that Michigan's Aug. 4 primary turned out approximately 2.5 million voters, a record number for an August primary. "The fact that 1.6 million people voted by mail underscored the fact that people want not just to vote, but to vote from home," Benson said. At the same time, she saw great need for improvement, noting that 6,400 ballots that were sent through the mail could not be counted because they were not received by 8 p.m. on election day. Benson said many counties in Michigan didn't have all their ballots processed and counted until the night of Aug. 5, the night after election day. "In my mind, voters shouldn't be disenfranchised because the Postal Service takes too long to deliver the ballots," Benson said. Looking ahead to the November election, Benson is pushing for the Michigan Legislature to change the current law prohibits clerks from opening envelopes with ballots in them until 7 a.m. on election day. "In November, it's going to be twice that many (as the 1.6 million in August)," she said. "We need to give folks more time on the front end to begin preparing ballots for election day. This can easily be addressed by a legislative change. "We've asked (the legislature) to give the clerks one extra day on Monday (the day before election day). We hope the legislature will act because it will (provide) one more step to avoid human error and ensure efficient delivery of (voting) results." State Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said such a bill, Senate Bill 757, is currently in discussion in the Senate, but he and others have concerns about it. "There's a lot of concerns with opening (the envelopes) prior to election day," Stamas said. " ... Could a poll worker invalidate ballots they don't like? How do you protect the people's vote? That's part of the discussion (in the Senate)." Senate Bill 757 was introduced by Sen. Ruth Johnson, who was Benson's predecessor as Secretary of State. Stamas did note that House Bill 5141 recently became a law, which allows municipalities to combine resources to count ballots, and Senate Bill 756 passed the Senate, which allows poll workers to work in shifts in municipalities of over 10,000 people. Giving voters options and preventing mail-in fraud Benson suggests that voters visit michigan.gov/vote as soon as possible to identify their polling place for in-person voting or apply for a ballot for mail-in voting. "There are more options for voters now than ever before," she said. Benson wants citizens to feel confident in the accuracy and security of ballots. "This year, there's going to be a significant amount of attention on Michigan (during the campaign). With that will come efforts to spread misinformation about the accuracy and security of the election," Benson said. "Voters should have utmost confidence in our process. We're doing everything possible to make the election secure." For example, mail-in voters must sign the outside of the envelope in which the ballot is sent, a signature which is later checked against their voter registration signature. "That is a time-tested method that has worked for decades. We're catching fraud if it happens, but we're certainly deterring it to begin with," Benson said. "Fraud has been infinitesimal in our elections, but if if does happen, we're in a position to prosecute it." The Daily News also asked Benson's Director of Media Relations, Tracy Wimmer, if efforts are being made to eventually implement online voting. "There is legislation that the Secretary (Benson) voiced support for earlier this year to provide the means for active duty military members overseas to cast a secure ballot online," Wimmer replied. But beyond that, online voting is not on the immediate horizon, in Michigan, at least, she said. "We're wanting to make sure the security infrastructure is in place before (online voting) is rolled out to the masses," Wimmer said. "I think there are lots of people globally wanting to find those (online voting) opportunities." UPDATE: Jason Conklin, 43, of Easton, was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges tied to a shooting the night before in the 700 block of Wolf Avenue in the city. District Judge Nicholas Englesson set bail at $1 million. Conklin was housed in Northampton County Prison to await a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 28 in District Judge Daniel Corporas court on Eastons South Side. Court papers do not list an attorney for Conklin. INITIAL POST: A man was wounded by an apparent ricochet Tuesday evening as several shots were fired during an argument on a West Ward street less than two blocks from the Northampton County Courthouse, Easton police report. The man was grazed in the chest and declined medical treatment, police Lt. Matthew Gerould and court papers said. The alleged gunman, who fired several rounds at the man, was in custody within a matter of hours, Gerould told lehighvalleylive.com. A man was wounded by an apparent ricochet as shots were fired just before 8 p.m. Aug. 18, 2020, in the 700 block of Wolf Avenue in Easton.Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com The man who was wounded stood in the middle of the 700 block of Wolf Avenue, speaking loudly into a cellphone, raising his voice even further to say, He shot me! That man and the shooter were arguing in the moments that led up to the gunfire just before 8 p.m., Gerould said. Suspect Jason Conklin is taken into custody to face charges in a shooting incident that left a man injured the night of Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Easton's West Ward.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor Suspect Jason Conklin, no age immediately available, was located by patrol officers and detectives and taken into custody about 10 p.m. behind his home in the 100 block of Northampton Street, Gerould said. Conklin will face charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, attempted aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and persons not to possess a firearm, according to police. No one was hurt during the arrest, Gerould said. The car Conklin was driving was confiscated by police and will be searched later, Gerould said. A man was wounded by an apparent ricochet as shots were fired just before 8 p.m. Aug. 18, 2020, in the 700 block of Wolf Avenue in Easton.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor Its the second shooting in two days in the neighborhood resulting from a dispute. A woman was wounded Monday afternoon during a fight with another woman in the 900 block of Ferry Street, police said. The woman suffered a serious but survivable wound and was being treated at an area hospital, police said. A man was wounded by an apparent ricochet as shots were fired just before 8 p.m. Aug. 18, 2020, in the 700 block of Wolf Avenue in Easton.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor The street was quiet not long after dark outside of the area around where the man was wounded. Patrol officers using flashlights looked for evidence, the citys investigations truck pulled up and the victim kept up conversations with a few other people until he eventually left in a police vehicle. A man was wounded by an apparent ricochet as shots were fired just before 8 p.m. Aug. 18, 2020, in the 700 block of Wolf Avenue in Easton.Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. An Airbus A321XLR rendering. Airbus Airbus isn't slowing down development on its A321XLR despite the coronavirus' impact on the aviation industry, according to Bloomberg. The downturn has slowed production for three Airbus aircraft families but the A321XLR is pushing ahead because it's better-positioned to weather a pandemic. Airlines will use the jet to open new long, thin routes and ease back into 2019 levels of air service following a devastating 2020. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The coronavirus pandemic has pumped the brakes on aircraft manufacturing with Airbus and Boeing significantly reducing their output and delaying some new products as most airlines have no desire right now to take on additional planes. Boeing has delayed production of its new 777X flagship and is ending the 747 program while across the Atlantic, Airbus has lowered production rates for three aircraft families and is building its last A380 as the program comes to a close. The development of one plane, however, won't be slowed at all and will actually continue full steam ahead. The Airbus A321XLR, according to Bloomberg, will be prioritized to ensure an on-time launch in 2023 with the manufacturer predicting the plane will be pandemic-proof. The A321XLR is slated to be a game-changer for airlines and will give new meaning to the term "long, thin routes." In other words, routes that might be unprofitable with a 300-seat Boeing 777 may be highly lucrative with a 200-seat Airbus A321XLR, with the latter having the range capabilities to actually take over for wide-bodies on extended routes where it couldn't before. But for passengers, it likely means longer flights on smaller planes as mass retirements of four-engine behemoths like the 747 and A380 are revealing the predilection of airlines for the smaller and efficient planes coming from Seattle and Toulouse. Take a look at the Airbus A321XLR. The Airbus A321XLR is the latest in a line of next-generation aircraft that stem from the Airbus A321, the largest member of the A320 family of aircraft. Story continues The Airbus A320 family. AFP/Getty After seeing success with airlines around the world, Airbus began reinvigorating the A320 family in 2010 with new features and engine to make the planes more efficient. The Airbus A320 family. AFP/Getty Source: Airbus The new jets were given the suffix "neo," short for new engine option. An Airbus A320neo aircraft in house colors. Regis Duvignau/Reuters As the largest in the family, the A321neo had the most potential and would be a direct competitor to the Boeing 737 Max 9, 737 Max 10, and 757. An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Marina Lystseva/TASS/Getty On the outside, the A321neo and A321 are nearly identical. An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Dominique Boutin/TASS/Getty The only noticeable differences are wing add-ons known as sharklets that reduce drag and increase efficiency... An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty And the markedly larger and more efficient engines whether they be the CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM. An Airbus A320neo family aircraft. ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty A new cabin and exit door configuration called Airbus Cabin Flex also allows for more passenger seats on the A321neo, further maximizing revenue. An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty As basically an extension of the A320 family, pilots don't even need additional simulator training to fly it, minimizing additional training costs. An Airbus A321neo cockpit. Horacio Villalobos/Corbis:Corbis/Getty So existing Airbus A321 operators scooped it up including British Airways... A British Airways Airbus A321neo. Instander/Shutterstock.com Lufthansa... A Lufthansa Airbus A321neo. Henning Kaiser/picture alliance/Getty And Turkish Airlines, to name just a few. A Turkish Airlines Airbus A321neo. Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.com The jet was undoubtedly reliable and lowered operating costs on existing A321 routes but only a select few airlines used the A321neo to its full potential, on long-haul routes. A TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321neo. Lukas Wunderlich/Shutterstock.com With a range of around 4,000 nautical miles, the A321neo could easily tackle the transatlantic market. An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Yuriko Nakao/Getty Some airlines recognized this and began acquiring the aircraft with flights between North America and Europe in mind. They included WOW Air... A WOW Air Airbus A321neo. JL IMAGES/Shutterstock.com Primera Air... A Primera Air Airbus A321neo. Joe Giddens/PA Images/Getty Azores Airlines... An Azores Airlines Airbus A321neo. Lukas Wunderlich / Shutterstock.com And La Compagnie. A La Compagnie Airbus A321neo. ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Hawaii also became a popular destination for the aircraft with Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines connecting the islands with the mainland using the aircraft. A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321neo. Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.com Recognizing the value in a long-range A321neo that could be used for long routes with not enough demand to justify a wide-body Airbus doubled down with two new models, the A321neoLR... An Airbus A321neoLR. Airbus And the A321XLR, with XLR short for extra-long-range. An Airbus A321XLR rendering. Airbus The A321neoLR exploded on the transatlantic market with North American and European carriers using the jet to connect the two continents. They include Aer Lingus, flying between Ireland and the US... An Aer Lingus A321neoLR. Peter Krocka / Shutterstock.com Air Transat, between Canada and Europe... An Air Transat A321neoLR. Malcolm T Walls Photo/Shutterstock.com And TAP Air Portugal, between Portugal and the US and Brazil. A TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321 aircraft. Karol Ciesluk / Shutterstock.com The jet has a flying time of around nine hours, with some of its longest passenger routes flown including Paris-Newark and Reykjavik-Los Angeles, both over 3,000 nautical miles. An Airbus A321neo aircraft in house colors. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty And with the A321XLR offering 4,700 nautical miles in range, that's enough to fly passengers non-stop from New York to nearly any city in Europe and some in Asia. An Airbus A321 aircraft. ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Airbus is predicting to the Airbus A321XLR to be pandemic-proof because it offers better economics than wide-bodies with fewer numbers of seats to fill before making a profit. An Airbus A321XLR rendering. Airbus Source: Bloomberg As international travel gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, jets like the A321XLR will be vital to help ease airlines back into normal levels without losing money flying empty wide-bodies. An Airbus A321. Thierry Tronnel/Corbis/Getty Countless international airlines already have the jet on order including JetBlue Airways, with plans to use it for flights between the US and Europe... A JetBlue Airways Airbus A321neo. Lukas Wunderlich / Shutterstock.com Read More: JetBlue confirmed its much-anticipated London flights will be delayed here's what we know about the planned service so far United Airlines, which already flies narrow-body aircraft as far as Stockholm, Sweden from the East Coast... A United Airlines Airbus A321XLR rendering. Airbus And American Airlines, another airline that already uses narrow-body aircraft on transatlantic routes. An American Airlines Airbus A321XLR rendering. Airbus Airlines have shown their willingness to use these aircraft on extended routes but it's often passengers paying the price with longer flights on smaller planes. A Turkish Airlines Airbus A321neo cabin. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty Airbus is pumping tech into the plane like LED mood lighting and creating more open designs but the fact remains that the jets are still single-aisle planes in a 3-3 configuration. Passengers will ultimately be the judge of the aircraft when they step onboard for the first time. An Airbus aircraft cabin. Kaarthikeyan.SM / Shutterstock.com So as more four-engine aircraft are being sent off to the graveyard, your next trip to London may not be on this jet... A British Airways Boeing 747-400 at JFK Airport. Thomas Pallini/Business Insider But on a narrow-body Airbus A321neo. A British Airways Airbus A321neo. Lukas Wunderlich / Shutterstock.com Read the original article on Business Insider ANN ARBOR, MI Asymptomatic testing. Accountability, Listening. Respect. Those are some of the things University of Michigan professors want from university administrators regarding the Aug. 31 reopening of campus for the fall semester, but think theyve not gotten thus far. A few dozen UM professors and Ann Arbor community members gathered outside the Fleming Administration Building Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 19, to protest in-person classes this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protest organizer Kentaro Toyama, a professor at UMs School of Information, led the group through chants before marching to UM President Mark Schlissels house. Toyama said he and many other professors, staff members and students simply have no confidence in UMs plan to contain the novel coronavirus, and many are hoping for more transparency from administrators. We just dont understand the underlying, true motivation for the decision to reopen, Toyama said. I dont think anybody other than the university administration and even then, probably not most people fully understand the reasons. Schools across the country, including the University of North Carolina and the University of Notre Dame, have switched back to online classes after spikes in COVID-19 cases occurred when students returned to campus. Michigan State University also moved its fall semester back to remote learning after originally inviting students back to campus this fall. The letter from MSU President Samuel Stanley was refreshing compared to what the Ann Arbor community is getting from UMs administration, Toyama said, adding MSUs decision seemed largely based on medical science and concern for the health and safety of the community. Michigan State University switches fall semester to remote learning, tells students to stay home UMs plans for the fall semester have not changed, Spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said Wednesday. UM lecturer Nora Krinitsky said she thinks concern for the well being of people is not present with UM administrators and that shes astounded and dismayed at how cruel the university is being to its own community. I came to UM as a student in 2010 so I was seeing a lot of organizing, a lot of student movements, but never this depth of complete disregard for peoples well being, Krinitsky said. At UM, everyone on campus is required to wear face coverings, and students have been asked to practice 14 days of enhanced social distancing before they return for the fall semester. Toyama said a majority will likely follow public health guidelines, but one large party could reverse any efforts to keep people safe. University of Michigan students unsure if enhanced social distancing requirement will be effective Ann Arbor City Council members also have questioned UMs approach to containing the virus, saying they thought there would be a lack of enforcement and an outbreak of the virus would make both the student population and surrounding community unhappy and unsafe. Ann Arbor City Council members question University of Michigans effort to prevent spread of coronavirus UM officials presented the university plan and the Michigan Culture of Care, a commitment to keeping the UM campus community as healthy and safe as possible, to councilmembers on Monday night. A culture of care means having compassion and putting peoples well being at the top of the list, Krinitsky said. I hope that it comes to mean that on this campus in the coming weeks because, if not, Im really worried about our students and colleagues, Krinitsky said. READ MORE: Ann Arbor City Council members question University of Michigans effort to prevent spread of coronavirus 8 things to know about the University of Michigans plans for in-person classes in 2020-21 Michigan college students are returning to campus, and so are their parties amid coronavirus Nine months before Air Force Brig. Gen. Jennifer Grant pinned on her first star, members of the team tasked with investigating her behavior in the years leading up to her promotion said they'd never seen airmen so afraid to face their commander. The climate Grant created while leading the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado was described as "tyrannical" and "toxic," by rank-and-file members and leaders alike. That's according to a 122-page Air Force Inspector General report on Grant's time leading the command from June 2017 to June 2019. Investigators interviewed more than 60 witnesses, according to the report obtained by Military.com. The inspector general substantiated three complaints made about Grant: that she created an unhealthy work environment, failed to treat people with dignity and respect, and improperly accepted a gift from a subordinate. Read next: Fired Air Force General Created Toxic Work Environment: Report The findings were released in October 2019. Grant was promoted to brigadier general last month. The team tasked with investigating Grant's behavior while leading the 50th Space Wing described the conditions she set for her subordinates as "the worst seen in 20 years." She created a "culture of fear," according to the report. A unit with pride in its mission saw its morale tank, according to the report, and was turned into "hushed masses afraid to speak up, speak out, or suggest meaningful innovation." "Communications processes slowed to a standstill and were stifled both up and down the chain," the report states. Perhaps most troubling, though, were three incidents between Grant and one of her airmen that inspectors say require closer examination. The airman died by suicide in March 2019 -- the same year the Air Force saw a 33% spike in the number of personnel who took their own lives. As one witness put it, Grant and the airman "clashed a lot." Story continues "Do I think [her death] was a result of Colonel Grant? No. I don't," they told investigators. "... Do I think Colonel Grant caused additional stress in her life and challenges? Yes. I do." 'Worst Year of My Life' After the IG report substantiated the complaints made against Grant, she received a letter of admonishment from Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, deputy commander of Headquarters Space Force, said Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman. A letter of admonishment is a form of administrative punishment, so the details are not releasable to the public. The rebuke is less severe than a letter of reprimand. Grant is now assigned to Air Force Headquarters, serving as chief of the Space Superiority Division with Plans and Programs, Stefanek said. She is expected to continue that duty when her division transitions to Space Force headquarters in the next several months, but she will continue to serve as an Air Force officer. The Senate received Grant's nomination to become a brigadier general on Nov. 26, 2018. The nomination was confirmed that December, about 10 months before the IG's report on her leadership style was completed. The general declined an interview request for this story, but offered a statement through an Air Force spokeswoman. "I remain gratefully committed to serve, lead and grow," Grant said, "and I remain dedicated to our nation, our people, and our mission." One witness noted that Grant really wanted to be a general. When the move was cleared by the Senate, things changed and Grant "became very nice," the witness said. Before that, though, witnesses described a different environment. One called working for Grant "the worst year of my life." "I drank as a coping mechanism," he told investigators. "I was miserable. I didn't spend a lot of time with [my family]. And I would tell you I probably, I probably cried weekly." Ten 50th Space Wing members who retired, quit or deployed during Grant's tenure cited her leadership as at least part of the reason they wanted to leave Schriever, the report states. One airman told investigators he volunteered for a yearlong deployment because he didn't feel it was healthy for him to stay and work for Grant. "People were saying if they had to work for Col Grant again, 'I think I'm going to get out,'" one witness said. "In a time where [other leaders are] kind of messaging, 'Hey, I need folks to stay.' ... I feel like that's sort of another area where her style has a negative impact on the Air Force in terms of retention." The report also states there were "a number of suicides" during the same period. Photos of text messages from one airman who'd served for 16 years who later took her own life referenced problems she was having with Grant. "[She] can literally break me at this point," the airman texted. "I have too much time not to make it to 20 [years of service]. [In] my short time here, my career has taken a huge dive. I just can't seem to make the cut to be good enough. ... I'm sick of her coming after me for one thing or another." A witness told investigators they were comfortable saying that airman "felt like Colonel Grant just hated her." The airman was "super stressed out and very anxious." "It's just been the worst year of my life, personally and professionally," she had texted to a witness before her death. "I'm just feeling defeated." Investigators asked Grant about the case. She responded that the airman was someone she cared about a lot. "And it just really, really hurts my head and it bothers me," Grant said. "... But when you take somebody who is an Airman, who's not here anymore, and you put words in their mouth, that I know she didn't say, just to make a point, there's something very wrong about that. And I don't know what it's going to take for me to tell you that there's absolutely no truth to that to convince you." 'Stump the Dummy' Grant is at least the second Air Force general officer found to have belittled her staff in recent months. Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop was also found to have berated her subordinates before being removed from her position as the head of Special Access Programs Control Office at the Pentagon, Air Force Times reported Monday. The inspector general found Grant repeatedly undermined and criticized her immediate commanders and subordinates in a way that stifled mission-essential reporting, two-way communication and trust. Her method of questioning people during public briefings regularly devolved into accusatory language and perceived personal attacks as the questions turned from the topic at hand to the person presenting. One witness said that, during briefings, it was as though Grant was out to "stump the dummy" because of the personal attacks that often followed. "Her body language would change," the report states. "She would 'bristle up,' speak in a lower and more deliberate tone, heavily emphasize certain words, clench her teeth, point her finger, and generally display an angry posture." In one instance, Grant publicly humiliated a briefer by leaning over to people at a table and saying in a voice loud enough for others -- including investigating observers -- to hear, "He doesn't know what he's talking about." The investigators wrote they had "never seen anything like that." When the team asked Grant to provide a response for the report, she invoked her right to remain silent, per advice she received from counsel. During her interview, investigators noted, Grant "at times displayed the very demeanor witnesses described." "The Investigation Team noted she pointed her finger despite claiming she never points because it is not polite," the report states. "She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, and seemed agitated at times." Witnesses told the team they'd been criticized by Grant, insulted or undermined, embarrassed, made to feel stupid, verbally cut off, ignored and forced to move their offices. One recalled having a package thrown at them. Of the witnesses who recalled the events during the investigation, 85% reported negatively on Grant's approach to engaging with people, investigators wrote. "Col. Grant created an environment infused with fear and intimidation, which stifled communication and reporting, and undermined the welfare and morale of her subordinates," the report states. "In doing so, the [Air Force Space Command] IG determined the conditions Col. Grant created were the worst the IG team had seen in 20 years." Grant told investigators she felt people were "weaponizing the [inspector general complaint] system." The report notes that none of the 60-plus people interviewed by the inspector general's team filed complaints against Grant. Several noted her intelligence and high standards and said she was a "smart and hard worker," the report states. "I don't challenge her intelligence. I don't challenge her vision and her direction she wants to take the wing," one person testified. "... Col. Grant has definitely made this wing a better place in terms of its warfighting capability for the joint command downrange. However, [her] leadership style has limited her ability to take the wing to where it could have been." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: General, Colonel Rebuked After Marine Corps Finds Serious Flaws in Fatal Crash Investigation NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare company Scope Eyecare enters the Texas market this week with its OPTASE dry eye treatment products arriving on the shelves of the iconic Texas retailer H-E-B. OPTASE comes to Texas as a growing number of Americans are suffering from dry eye disease (DED) triggered by excessive screen time, seasonal allergies, medication side effects, contact lens use, aging, and other risk factors. The OPTASE products available at H-E-B are designed to alleviate the dry eye symptoms of redness, irritation, and inflammation through a comprehensive "Heat, Cleanse, Hydrate" regimen. The reusable, microwavable OPTASE Moist Heat Mask provides the "heat" to tackle both the symptoms and causes of dry eye. The "cleanse" comes from the preservative-free OPTASE Tea Tree Oil Lid Wipes. The new OPTASE Dry Eye INTENSE Drops provide preservative-free, long-lasting relief in a sterile multi-dose dispenser for moderate to severe dry eye. "Our goal is to raise awareness of eye health so that proper eyecare becomes second nature. With OPTASE products coming to H-E-B, we're a big step closer to that goal," Scope Eyecare marketing director Paul O'Reilly said. "We're proud that the OPTASE brand is now offered by H-E-B, known for its commitment to quality, innovation and the needs of its local communities." ABOUT SCOPE: Scope Eyecare is a healthcare and pharmaceuticals company dedicated to providing healthcare professionals and consumers with high quality, effective and innovative products. Founded in 2009, Scope offers a range of eyecare products for the treatment of Ocular Surface Diseases, including Dry Eye Disease, Blepharitis and MGD. For more information, visit www.optase.com. ABOUT H-E-B: With sales of $28 billion, H-E-B operates more than 400 stores in Texas and Mexico. Known for its innovation and community service, H-E-B celebrates its 115th anniversary this year. Recognized for its fresh food, quality products, convenient services, and a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, H-E-B strives to provide the best customer experience and lowest prices. Based in San Antonio, H-E-B employs over 120,000 Partners in Texas and Mexico and serves millions of customers in more than 300 communities. For more information, visit HEB.com and HEB.com/Newsroom. SOURCE Scope Eyecare Former journalist Chrystia Freeland became Canada's first female finance minister on Tuesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Freeland to the job after Bill Morneau resigned on Monday. Freeland also keeps her job as deputy prime minister. She is credited with helping to negotiate the new free trade agreement with United States and Mexico and is trusted ally of Trudeau. Morneau and Trudeau reportedly butted heads at a time when the government was spending heavily to help the pandemic-hammered economy. Morneau said he was not asked to resign but added that he is no longer the appropriate the person for the job. Canada's government is predicting a historic CDN$343 billion (US$260 billion) deficit for 2020-21 resulting from its economic and stimulus plans to battle the impact of COVID-19. Trudeau has called the spending a lifeline to Canadians battling to stay afloat. Freeland is a 52-year-old Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar who speaks five languages Trudeau personally recruited Freeland to join his Liberal Party while it was the third party in Parliament in 2013. Freeland had a senior position at the Reuters news agency but was ready to move on after setbacks in her journalism career, friends said. Freeland previously had risen rapidly at the Financial Times where she became Moscow bureau chief in her mid-20s during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Freeland also served as deputy editor of the Globe and Mail in Toronto and the Financial Times, but left the latter publication after a clash with the top editor. She was familiar to many TV viewers in the US because of her regular appearances on talk shows like Fareed Zakaria's on CNN. She has been a frequent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who banned her from travelling to the country in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions against Moscow. "The appointment of Freeland will be very popular, especially with women," said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. "She's risen quickly because she is smart and competent. She impressed Trudeau in the NAFTA negotiations. It is still too early to speculate about a successor to Trudeau, but there is little doubt that she is currently the favorite with Liberal voters and, probably, the Liberal backbench." Recent news that Mark Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, has been advising Trudeau during the pandemic fueled speculation that Morneau might be replaced. Carney was the first non-Briton to take the top job at the 325-year-old Bank of England. Opposition parties have been calling for Morneau's resignation over allegations that he had a conflict of interest in a controversy with WE Charity, a scandal that has also touched Trudeau. Trudeau has said he should have recused himself from a Cabinet decision to award a contract to We Charity to administer money to students having trouble finding work due to the pandemic. Trudeau's wife, brother and mother have been paid a combined $300,000 Canadian (US$228,000) for speaking at a number of WE events. In what is believed to be a retaliation for a recent attack against a Turkish patrol, the Russian Air Force launched an attack against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idleb reports Al-Masdar. The Russian Air Force launched their first strikes of the month over northwestern Syria, targeting a number of areas inside Idleb Governorate. According to reports from northwestern Idleb, the Russian Air Force targeted the positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and their allies in the western part of Idleb Governorate on Tuesday. The reports said the Russian Air Force concentrated their strikes on the positions of the jihadist groups behind Mondays attack against the Turkish military patrol in Idleb Governorate. During the Turkish militarys patrol along the M4 highway (Aleppo-Lattakia), their troops came under attack by a group of militants armed with RPGs. While no one was harmed, the militant attack forced the Turkish military to suspend their routine patrol along the M4 highway. 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. Gautham S By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With relaxation in lockdown restrictions and Onam rush beginning, the city roads have started witnessing crowd. Despite the Covid-19 scare, shops in East Fort, Chalai market and MG Road have witnessed brisk business in the last few days. However, the police department is planning to deploy more officials and strengthen patrolling in the city areas to manage the crowd and traffic for the next two weeks. According to DCP Divya Gopinath, though this years Onam rush wont be as much as the previous years, people will be keen to go out after being stuck at home for too long. With Chalai and Palayam markets being major trade centres, a Market Management Committee has been formed to manage the crowd there. The committee consists of shop owners, local SHO and ward councillor. Traders have been asked to conduct sales while adhering to Covid-19 protocols. Volunteers will be appointed by the committee that will monitor the crowd in the markets. They will check whether people are adhering to social distancing and enforcement will be done if a violation is detected, said Divya. Shops have been instructed to make markings to maintain social distancing. Plans for a token system are also in the pipeline. More police officials will be deployed in busy areas along with bike and foot patrolling units. The number of private vehicles on road is also spiking owing to absence of public transport. The shops are now open from 7am. Morning and evening hours will witness rush. The public can make use of the lean hours between 11am and 3pm for shopping. This will reduce crowding at shops and traffic during peak hours to a great extent, she said. According to Arun Raj, ACP, Traffic South, Thiruvananthapuram City, bike patrolling will be done in busy business areas to control the traffic during Onam. Usually, Thampanoor Railway station and bus station get heavily crowded. Also, we deploy more force at tourist destinations like Shankhumugham and Kovalam beaches. This year, we will focus on busy trade areas, he said. Act responsibly DCP Divya Gopinath urged the residents to maintain Covid-19 protocols while they are out shopping. Masks are mandatory. If a shopkeeper is not wearing a mask, avoid shopping from there. She also urged people not to lower their masks while talking. The rebellion came amid a growing protest movement in Mali over charges that the president had installed his own candidates in the recent parliamentary election Bamako: Mali's president said he was resigning to avoid "bloodshed" early Wednesday, hours after his arrest by troops in a sudden coup that followed a months-long political crisis in the fragile West African nation. Rebel soldiers detained Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Tuesday afternoon and drove the pair to a military base in the town of Kati, near the capital Bamako, which they had seized that morning. Jubilant crowds in the city centre, gathered to demand Keita's resignation, had cheered the rebels as they made their way to the 75-year-old's official residence. Keita appeared calm as he appeared in a state television broadcast after midnight to declare the dissolution of the government and national Assembly, and said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect. "If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice?" he said of the day's events. "(I must) submit to it, because I don't want any bloodshed." It was unclear whether Keita was still in custody at the Kati base, which in a twist of fate was also the site of the 2012 putsch that brought him to power. Neighbouring states, France and the European Union all warned against any unconstitutional transfer of power as the coup played out on Tuesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanded the "immediate and unconditional release" of Keita and Cisse as diplomats in New York said the Security Council would hold emergency talks on Wednesday. The Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) condemned the coup in a statement, pledging to close land and air borders to Mali and push for sanctions against "all the putschists and their partners and collaborators". The 15-nation bloc - which includes Mali - also said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies. As the day unfolded, the United States and France released separate statements voicing deep concern about the turn of events and urged against regime change. French President Emmanuel Macron had also discussed the crisis with his counterparts in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal and expressed his "full support for the ongoing mediation efforts of West African states". His office had added that he "condemned" the mutiny. The US envoy to the region J Peter Pham joined the calls for restraint and echoed its opposition to any "extraconstitutional" change. Shifts in mood Keita and Cisse's sudden detention came on the heels of an apparently conciliatory message from the government in Bamako - which had urged the soldiers to engage in dialogue. "The observed shifts in mood reflect a certain frustration that may have legitimate causes," Cisse's office said in a statement, without offering further details. It added that the government was open to "fraternal dialogue in order to remove all misunderstandings". The drama coincided with opposition plans to resume protests against Keita. Mali had been in the grip of a deep political impasse since June, and Keita had faced increasingly strident demands for his resignation. The 5 June Movement, named for the date of its first protest, has channelled deep anger over a dire economy, perceived government corruption and a brutal jihadist conflict. The opposition alliance's anti-Keita campaign veered into crisis in July when at least 11 people were killed over three days of unrest that followed a demonstration. Rising tensions Mali is the linchpin of French-led efforts to roll back jihadists in the Sahel, and its neighbours are anxious to avoid the country sliding into chaos. Swathes of its territory are already outside of the control of the government, which is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first emerged in 2012 and has claimed thousands of lives. The failure to end that conflict fuelled frustrations with Keita's rule, analysts say. Tensions flared in April when the government held a long-delayed parliamentary election, the results of which are still disputed. ECOWAS last month suggested the formation of a unity government while sticking by Keita, but the compromise was bluntly rejected by the opposition. South Africa: Patel briefs Parliament on Copyright bill Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has briefed Parliament on matters related to the Copyright and Performers Protection Amendment Bills. This as Parliament on Tuesday began the process of considering certain constitutional concerns relating to the two bills, which were previously passed by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces. The Bills seek to amend the Copyright Act of 1978 and the Performers Protection Act of 1967. Minister Patel set out the key objectives of the review of copyright, the provisions of the bills and the reservations raised by President Cyril Ramaphosa on specified areas of the bills, which may not pass constitutional muster. This includes retrospective application of the sharing of royalties for musicians and other originators of creative works such as visual artistic works. Other matters included whether the Bills went through the correct parliamentary process, the delegation of certain legislative powers to the Minister and whether the bills exceptions on the rights of copyright holders constituted arbitrary deprivation of property. In his remarks Patel recommended that the Trade and Industry Committee reconsiders the retrospectivity provisions and that it removes the powers assigned in the Bills to the Minister. The Presidents reservation regarding retrospective and arbitrary deprivation of property, relates to the introduction of a new section 6A in the Copyright Amendment Bill. This entitles the author of a musical or literary work, who has assigned the copyright in the work to someone else in the past, to continue sharing in the profits derived from the exploitation of the work in the form of payment of royalties. The bill also introduces new sections 7A and 8A, which confer comparable rights on the authors of visual artistic works and on the performers of audiovisual works. It applies to all past contracts and do not distinguish based on the fairness or otherwise of past contracts. Concerns raised Whilst the objectives of providing redress to artists who have been unfairly treated in contracts in the past is valid and legitimate, the bills have provisions that as currently worded, could be regarded as arbitrary by the courts. I have taken note that various legal opinions hold that the Ministerial powers in the bills are sufficiently qualified as to address concerns about impermissible delegation, but as they were an attempt to cure potential constitutional breaches on the formulation of retrospectivity, they would be redundant if those clauses are changed and should therefore be removed, Patel said. Amendments He said amendments could be made without losing the key thrust of the draft legislation. Alternative mechanisms to address the challenges of redress and to support those creators who are victims of past exploitation, may need to be considered. The bills seek to regulate the exercise of certain intellectual property rights. Copyright creates a monopoly for a given period and the intention of the law was to strike a balance between the various interests of the originators of certain types of works, the owners of the copyright and users of the works, said Patel. The Minister said all countries permit some exceptions to enable the public to use copyrighted material in specific circumstances where the public interest warrants it. Parliament is being asked to review the processes followed and whether the public had sufficient opportunity to consider the specific language used in the new fair-use regime that the draft legislation introduces, he said. Parliaments legal advisor and Minister Patel noted that in terms of parliamentary rules, the Committee is required to confine itself to the specific reservations that the President has raised. Deliberations The Committee will now deliberate on the matters raised by the President. This covers six areas including the classification of the Bills (which affects the processes of involvement by the NCOP) and provisions that introduce retrospective remedies, which may be regarded as arbitrary deprivations of property. It also covers the delegation of legislative power to the Minister; the extent of public participation in the process of formulating the fair-use clause; the list of copyright exceptions; and International Treaty implications. The original legislation was developed over a ten-year period, and parts of the bills submitted by the department were amended during the parliamentary process based on public comments made at the time. Patel said the bills provide for a number of significant measures relating to intellectual property rights and cover key products (which the Bills refer to as works) that are used in society and the economy, such as, books, music, movies, photographs, sculptures and architectural designs; and their digital equivalents. The bills seeks to clarify the commercial rights of parties and also address a challenge relating to the potential imbalance in power between parties in the contractual relationships that arise between originators of creative works and owners of the copyright to those works, and the negative developmental outcomes that arise from this, said Patel. The Ministers briefing to the Committee was followed by a briefing by parliaments legal advisor, Advocate Charmaine van der Merwe on the same matters. It is expected that the Committees deliberations will continue next week. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. LLCC offers scholarship, college aid help Lincoln Land Community College in Jacksonville is holding a scholarship and Free Application for... Authorities ID man, 82, found dead in swimming pool Authorities on Wednesday identified an 82-year-old man found dead Friday at a Jacksonville health... Milwaukee: Joe Biden has been officially declared the Democratic Party's presidential nominee during a convention broadcast in which a security guard he befriended in an elevator played a surprise starring role alongside two former presidents and Biden's wife Jill. The second night of the Democratic National Convention featured endorsements of Biden from former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as former Republican secretary of state Colin Powell. Joe Biden and wife Jill celebrate officially receiving the Democratic Party's nomination. Credit:DNC Clinton used his speech on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST) to blast Donald Trump's record as President, discarding the tradition that past presidents avoid strongly criticising their successors. "If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man," Clinton said of Trump. It was heartening to read Democratic governor candidate Mike Cooneys Keep Montana Working plan, which will create and expand career opportunities for Montanans. As a professional who works in Montana rural schools, I see many young people graduate from high school with few job prospects, despite the fact that employers are seeking skilled workers and resorting to hiring workers outside Montana. Mike Cooneys plan addresses the deterrents that prevent Montanans from gaining those skills, including incentives to start childcare businesses, create jobs in the renewable energy sector and enhance broadband connectivity throughout our state. Cooneys proposal to expand the Apprenticeship Tax Credit for businesses that train and hire apprentices who lost their job due to the economic impact of COVID-19 will be a vital part of Montanas future. Montanas Department of Labor & Industry reports that apprentices who complete their program earn an average of over $63,000 annually, $20,000 higher than the statewide average wage. I support Mike because he already knows the issues that young Montanans face in gaining skills for good jobs, and he has a detailed plan to address them. Michele Herrington Licensed Speech Language Pathologist, CCC-SLP WASHINGTON President Donald Trump wants to deny China some of the proceeds from the sale of ByteDances U.S. operations of its video-sharing app TikTok, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Wednesday, but it would be unusual for any company that acquires TikTok to provide funds to the U.S. Treasury. Well hes said that," Kudlow told CNBC when asked about Trumps demand that part of the proceeds from the TikTok sale he has ordered go to the U.S. Treasury. I acknowledge that its unusual. The president has his own mind on some of these things," Kudlow said. I dont know whether that will end up being the case when the Treasury gets its bids in from potential bidders. But the president has said that. I think he probably would like to deny China some of the proceeds of the TikTok sale," Kudlow added. Trump ordered ByteDance last week to divest TikToks U.S. operations within 90 days, the latest effort to ramp up pressure on the Chinese company over concerns about the safety of the personal data it handles. Trump has said he would support an effort by Microsoft Corp to buy TikToks American operations if the U.S. government gets a substantial portion" of the proceeds, but has also said there are other interested potential buyers. Oracle Corp has joined some of the investors of TikToks Chinese owner ByteDance in pursuing a bid for the apps operations in North America, Australia and New Zealand, according to people familiar with the matter. 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 As the Democratic National Convention opened on Monday, former First Lady Michelle Obama condemned President Donald Trump for having downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and scenes flashed throughout the night from Houston, an epicenter of the crisis. Too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent, Obama said. Too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely. In Texas, Democrats have seized on similar attacks, targeting Gov. Greg Abbott and his ties to the Trump Administration during the pandemic to undermine Republicans down ballot, especially in diverse suburban districts around Houston and Dallas. While the governor is not on the ballot this year, Democrats have long believed that their best path to retaking the state House this cycle goes through Abbott, a close ally of the Trump Administration and a fundraising juggernaut who has consistently wielded his name and campaign war chest to help struggling GOP candidates cross the finish line in crucial electoral contests. The pandemic has given them some of the most forceful attacks in years. Abbotts complete and utter mismanagement of this from day one has made this a completely different calculus for us than it was before, said Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party. He added, Everyone is seeing firsthand just how dismal Republicans are at managing a crisis. JULY 30 POLL: Abbotts public approval for COVID response hits 38% The governors office did not respond to a request for comment. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said the governor has prioritized public health without abandoning the economy in ways that other governors have. What Abbott is trying to do is keep the economy open at the level we have and hopefully ratchet it up as things continue to improve, Bettencourt said. Abbott is far from the only governor, Democrat or Republican, to come under attack for their pandemic response. In Texas, though, he has taken particular heat for a spate of infections and deaths that surged earlier this summer as he reopened the state at a pace that he has since acknowledged was overly aggressive. The state has now recorded more than 530,000 infections and 10,000 known deaths from COVID-19; only three other states including New Jersey, California and New York have crossed the same fatality threshold. More than 3 million Texans have filed for unemployment since March. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Whether the criticism against Abbott lands this fall will depend in part on how the health crisis evolves in the coming weeks. Despite his initial haste to reopen businesses, the governor heeded calls to halt further openings and issued a statewide mask mandate, which drew stiff condemnation from his partys far-right flank. Pandemic politics Abbott has still declined to issue temporary lockdowns or allow officials in the hardest hit regions, especially the Rio Grande Valley, to issue their own. Statewide, new daily infections and hospitalizations are falling, though more slowly than public health officials would hope, especially as schools begin reopening this month. The governor has allowed school districts to delay in-person instruction, meaning in some counties, students may not return until a week before the election. Public health experts have warned that returning to in-class learning before infections are largely contained could lead to new surges in hospitalizations and deaths. Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University who is tracking the most competitive Texas House races, said Abbotts response to the surge this summer was the most hes ever bucked the conservative wing of his party. And thats because he maybe knows that if he hadnt, Republicans may have lost more in November, Jones said, adding, I think for Abbott, a lot will depend on whether the pandemic becomes less severe in the next two months. The governors approval ratings are the lowest theyve been since he took office, though he remains well liked by Republicans, according to polls. And Abbott has worked to shore up support within his core constituency of white, older Texans by appearing almost nightly on local TV news outlets. On Tuesday, he and other top state Republicans announced legislation that would penalize cities that vote to reallocate police funding to other social services a move that follows months of national protests over police brutality and is likely to play well within Republican circles as the election enters the final weeks. I think youre going to see a lot of these races nationalized, said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist in Austin. Its going to be a question for Democrats to answer where are they on defunding the police? Where are they on shutting down the economy again, on Medicare for All, on shutting down fracking and oil and gas operations? Rahman dismissed the governors announcement Tuesday as a diversion from the turmoil of the pandemic. Mackowiak noted that Abbotts public standing matters less than the money and ground support he can provide candidates going into the final stretch of the campaign cycle. Is he as helpful as six or nine months ago? No. But where we are now is not where were going to be in four or five weeks, he said. I think the assumption is there is going to be an improvement. Asia will likely import record volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2020 as firms snap up the fuel to make petrochemicals used in protective gear against the coronavirus, while households under lockdown ramped up purchases for cooking. The region will buy some 67-69.5 million tonnes of the gas from abroad this year, surpassing last year's record, analysts from consultancy firms IHS Markit, FGE and Wood Mackenzie said. That would represent a 1-3% increase on 2019 import volumes. Strong Asian demand could weigh on supplies in coming months just as Europe is likely to step ... In a drastic step, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on Tuesday that it would reduce the perks and allowances for employees by 50 per cent with effect from August. Delhi Metro, which used to ferry more than 20 lakh people daily, had halted it's operations when the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. Since then, it has been facing severe financial crunch. "In view of the extreme adverse financial condition due to non-operation of Metro services, the following orders are issued: It has been decided that the perks and allowances shall be reduced by 50 per cent w.e.f. the month of August 2020," the DMRC said in a statement. Accordingly, starting with the salary for the month of August , perks and allowances shall now be payable a 15.75 per cent of the basic pay, it added. The DMRC also stated that all grants of fresh advances for house building advance, multipurpose advance, laptop advance and festival advance will be kept on hold till further order. "However, advances already sanctioned shall continue to be disbursed. The advances sought for medical treatment, TA, DA and composite transfer grant (CTG) will continue to be granted to facilitate the employees," the DMRC said. Living together before marriage is becoming increasingly common, even among Christian couples and for a number of reasons. Before making a lifelong commitment, many couples want a trial period to feel out how they both live, and know if taking the relationship to the next level makes sense. Many Christians are adopting the beliefs and practices of the world, and this can be problematic for a number of reasons. The Bible makes no clear claim that living together before or outside of marriage is living in sin. Given this, many Christians believe that living together before marriage is not living in sin. While there is truth concerning there being no clear claim against it, one of the reasons why an answer to this question isnt explicitly stated in the Bible is because two unmarried people living together before marriage who planned on being husband and wife was rare, particularly among Jews and Christians. It is also important that we put living together in context. Living together including being in the same space using a husband and wife model, including sexual relations without being married. This is not the same as a man and woman living together in the same space without sexual relations. There is nothing wrong with a man and a woman living together as long as there is nothing immoral taking place. However, this too can be problematic if and when desire and temptation arise. The Bible tells us But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints (Ephesians 5:3 ESV). As Christians, we are taught that it is important to break away from not immorality, and the temptation that comes with it. The Bible says Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV). When we participate in any sexual relations outside of marriage, which includes premarital sex, it is a form of fornication which the Bible defines as sexual sin. Another issue with Christians living together before marriage has to do with commitment. Marriage is an up-front commitment. In the book of Genesis we are told that a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). The Book of Mark also touches on this concept of a man and woman coming together as husband and wife as one flesh. And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh (Mark 10:8 ESV). When you are living together and unmarried, there is not the same up-front commitment that you would have with marriage. If a man and a woman arent able to share their life together as one flesh in a relationship that is honorable to God, there is not a foundation of trust, and while many will argue that you dont need a document to define your commitment to someone, thinking that you can be committed to someone without a public profession of marriage is unrealistic. Glenn Stanton, author of The Rings Makes All the Difference believes cohabitation, an arrangement where two people who are married are living together without being married, puts men in the drivers seat and women at risk, with little leverage in the relationship. In this situation, the man gets what they want in terms of sex and companionship without giving what they fear, and that is commitment. While this take may be a bit broad, it does touch on an important truth. Men long for companionship and a sexual partner and will commit to a marriage when they are ready or desire a particular woman. Women often find themselves with little leverage when they are just living with a man because they are giving themselves without the commitment they would have in marriage. A woman may lose the man shes living with if he has no interest in commitment. As Christians, we also have to think about what marriage represents. We can take a look at Ephesians 5: "Follow Gods example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for Gods holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy personsuch a person is an idolaterhas any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things Gods wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visibleand everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. In a living together before marriage scenario, both people have physical access to each other, without an emotional or spiritual commitment. Instead of just seeing how things work out in a living together situation, God wants us to be emotionally and spiritually committed to the man or the woman we are investing our time in, and many times, this level of commitment is absent from these situations. So many relationships dont work out because there is no firm foundation. Physical commitment turns into nothing more than selfish gratification of the flesh. Marriage is one of the biggest steps you will ever take in life. Move in with someone who you are ready to be fully committed, and in union with God with them in marriage. Don't listen to the pressures of the world. Nothing is wrong with waiting to live together until marriage. If there are any hesitations related to trust and commitment, it may be time to reevaluate where you are in the relationship. Dr Gideon Boako the Economic Advisor and Spokesperson to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as part of measures to secure a landslide victory for President Akufo-Addo has donated motorbikes to constituencies in the Ahafo region. Dr Gideon Boako who has been appointed as a campaign team member for the region donated 10 motorbikes to five constituencies in the region at the inaugural ceremony to unveil the campaign team members ahead of the impending general elections. The move is to assist them perform their duties diligently without hitches and reach out to the people in the hinterlands across the region. This comes as one of the many interventions, the presidential spokesperson and a native of Bomaa in the Tano North constituency is undertaking to strengthen the party and ensure it wins the 2020 elections massively in the region. The receiving constituencies were Asunafo North, Asunafo South, Asutifi North, Asutifi South and Tano South, Tano North being the home constituency of Dr Gideon Boako is pencilled to receive a special package in the coming days. Making the presentation on his behalf during a short ceremony at Goaso on Wednesday, Mr Frederick Fredua Antoh (F.F Anto), 2nd National Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party thanked him for his wonderful gesture in ensuring that the party wins more votes for President Akufo-Addo and secure the remaining parliamentary seats in the region as well. F. F Anto tasked the leadership to manage the logistics effectively to achieve its intended purposes adding that, they should move across the length and breadth of the constituencies to embark on vigorous campaigns in order to gain an overwhelming victory as well as to win the various parliamentary seats across the constituencies. Receiving the motorbikes, the Ahafo Regional Chairman, MR. Owusu Sekyere pledged that, the logistics will be put to good use and commended the presidential spokesperson and labeled it as timely intervention since it will help them achieve the target percentage set in the region for the upcoming general elections. Present at the donation ceremony were Lawyer Nana Obiri Boahen, Deputy General Secretary of NPP, Lawyer Henry Nana Boako (Nana B), National Youth Organizer of NPP, Mr. Owusu Sekyere, Regional Party executives and some constituency executives, as well as the Ahafo regional campaign team. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In connection with the commentary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which attempted to distort the remarks of the President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunian, taking them out of the general context, we consider it necessary to note the following. The President of the Republic of Artsakh stated very clearly about the inadmissibility of threats to shell Stepanakert and other settlements of Artsakh, which the Azerbaijani side regularly voices, including at the highest level. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness to strike at any targets in Artsakh. In particular, once Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan instructed the rocket and artillery forces to "prepare for delivering devastating strikes" on Stepanakert and other towns of Artsakh. It is noteworthy that the official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry justified such threats by the fact that alleged there is no civilian population in Artsakh, but only the military and the field" . Seeking to conceal its aggressive policy, based on intimidation and terror, Azerbaijan, through the falsification of facts and deliberate misinformation of the international community, tries to attribute its own steps and motives of actions to the Armenian sides. It is Baku and not Yerevan or Stepanakert that regularly threatens to destroy strategic civilian infrastructure and the settlements in Armenia and Artsakh. By the official statements on its readiness to launch missile strikes on the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia , on Yerevan and Stepanakert, to shoot down civilian planes flying to Artsakh, as well as by a whole range of crimes committed against humanity and war crimes, Azerbaijan demonstrates that it does not hesitate to use terrorist methods as its state policy. The Republic of Artsakh is ready to resolutely suppress any attempts by the Azerbaijani armed forces to attack the civilian population. The military airfield of the city of Gandzak (Ganja) or any other military location, which the Azerbaijani side tries to use for attacking the settlements of Artsakh, will become a legitimate target for the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh. The statement of the President of the Republic of Artsakh is a warning about the futility of the attempts to get political dividends through threats and terror. The Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict has no military solution. The attempts to unleash another war will have disastrous consequences for the entire region. It has been gratifying to help grocery retailers see how historically manual processes can be automated, with increased speed and accuracy, to ensure they continue to provide exceptional shopping experiences. Itasca Retail is proud to be recognized for its 74% growth qualifying it for a second inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list. In the list revealed last week, the company came in #4414 within this prestigious collection of innovative organizations. Itascas Magic software uses historical sales data and current shelf and selling conditions to calculate the exact right order amounts for tens of thousands of items at any time of the day. This ensures each store always has the right stock levels to fulfill shopper demand. The system combines sophisticated algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning along with deep understanding of the North American grocery replenishment process to generate impressive gains in sales and productivity, while concurrently reducing inventory, shrink, product-handling and vendor credits. Itascas return to the Inc. 5000 list is first and foremost the result of employee commitment to our valued customers, said Itasca President, Jeff Kennedy. We are especially grateful to our broadening family of grocery retailers, who are essential to our success. He added, It has been gratifying to help grocery retailers see how historically manual processes can be automated, with increased speed and accuracy, to ensure they continue to provide exceptional shopping experiences. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Microsoft, Dell, Dominos Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. # # # About Itasca Retail: Itasca Retail Information Systems invents and builds industry-leading solutions for Inventory Management, DSD, Computer Generated Ordering (CGO) and associated data management. The company provides reliable, high-performing and cost-effective solutions for Inventory Optimization, including merchandise forecasting, perpetual inventory, DSD receiving, and the hand-held devices that support store execution processes. Learn more at http://www.itasca-retail.com Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. Media Contacts: Itasca Retail Information Systems West Des Moines, IA Jason Wirl jwirl@itasca-retail.com 208-863-2603 James Tenser jtenser@vsnstrategies.com 520-390-3751 Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:15:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close XI'AN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Shaanxi province will stage a competition for powered hang gliders in September, organizers said at a press conference on Tuesday. The event will be called the 2020 Great Way Qin Zhidao Rally of Power Delta Wing. According to organizers, over 30 competitors will take part in the competition, driving ten powered hang gliders. Qin Zhidao was a name given to an ancient military road which was built during the Qin Dynasty of 221-206 BC. The road was regarded as the first "highway" in China. The competitors will fly along the abandoned ancient road, from the city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province, to Batou, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. "Besides the ordinary competition events, we will also feature hot-air balloon shows and a model plane performance," said Wang Hongwei, general secretary of the organizing committee. Enditem Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our nonprofit public service journalism: Donate now. Federal unemployment benefits have ended. Nearly a million Californians have applied for unemployment benefits and are likely eligible, but haven't received them. And according to the latest numbers, L.A. County still has an unemployment rate of close to 20%. The need for unemployment benefits has never been greater in our recent history. But for millions of out-of-work Californians, navigating the state's confusing and outdated unemployment system can feel like taking on a new full-time job. Since March, you've sent us hundreds of questions about unemployment. Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked ones. If you're still left scratching your head after reading this, we are still taking your questions. I've heard that federal unemployment benefits have expired. Are freelancers and self-employed workers still eligible for benefits? Yes. If you're a freelancer who has lost work due to the coronavirus pandemic, you can still collect unemployment. But if you thought you'd been left in the lurch, that's totally understandable. Early in this pandemic, Congress quilted together a confusing patchwork of new unemployment programs, and named them all with confusingly similar acronyms. Among this alphabet soup of new programs, some have expired while others are still active. One program was called Pandemic Additional Compensation, or PAC for short. That program gave anyone receiving unemployment benefits an extra $600 per week, courtesy of the federal government. But PAC was only scheduled to last a few months, and it ended in late July. It could be extended in some form, but Congress has so far not reached a deal on that. The program that provides benefits to freelancers -- and other types of workers who would normally be ineligible for unemployment -- is still up and running. That program is called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, and it runs through December 26. From the questions we've been getting, it seems like many freelancers think that PAC ending means that PUA has also run out. But that's not the case. If you're an out-of-work freelancer, go ahead and file an unemployment claim. In California, you could be awarded benefits from $167 to $450 per week, depending on your past income. For now, you just won't get that extra $600 per week tacked on to your claim. If lawmakers extend the federal unemployment benefits that expired in July, will those payments be retroactive? While we wish we had an unemployment-themed crystal ball, we can't tell you for sure that any newly approved benefits will stretch back to late July. We can say that when we put this question to unemployment experts, they all assumed that potential new programs would compensate people for the weeks they had to go without the additional federal benefits. The question is what will replace the expired $600-per-week benefit? A few options are on the table, but none are a sure thing yet. Congress is now in recess, but it could eventually come up with a new stimulus package that extends additional federal t benefits at the previous $600 level...or lower...or according to some other formula. The state of California could also step in to fill the gap. Some Sacramento lawmakers have proposed using state funds to make up for the loss of federal benefits. You can read more about that here. Then there's the plan rolled out by President Trump. He recently signed an executive order approving $300 per week in federal benefits for a short period of time, with the possibility of states chipping in another $100 per week. If implemented, those payments would go back to Aug. 1. But Governor Gavin Newsom has called Trump's plan "absurd," and said California may not be able to afford it. Trump's plan isn't necessarily dead in the water, though. California's Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers unemployment benefits in the state, said in an email to LAist: "The EDD is working closely with state and federal partners to assess the implementation of the Presidential Memoranda on lost wage assistance for eligible claimants. We will be providing details just as soon as they are available and we encourage our customers to watch our EDD website for updates." It's possible, but complicated. Make sure you fully understand the rules of both programs before going this route. Some L.A. freelancers who feel shortchanged by the unemployment system have ditched it in favor of a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Because these workers are technically small business owners, they can apply for a PPP loan and use it to pay themselves, as well as any business expenses they might have. But paying yourself through a PPP loan while also collecting unemployment benefits could be dicey. If you're collecting unemployment, you must report any income you earn to the EDD -- and that includes income from a PPP loan. If your income is too large, it could wipe out your unemployment benefits. If you're only partially compensating yourself with PPP money, state unemployment officials say you could still qualify for some unemployment benefits. "If the individual is working less than their usual hours, they could be eligible to receive some benefits," an EDD representative told us in an email. "For example, if an individual earns $100 in one week, the EDD would only deduct $75 from the weekly benefit amount. So if someone had a weekly benefit amount of $300, they would receive $225 in UI benefits." If I go back to work part-time, will I lose my benefits? That depends on how many hours you're getting, and how fat your paycheck will be when you go back. Partial benefits are available for those working reduced hours. You won't get your full unemployment benefit award, but you can still get some money to soften the blow. The formula for calculating weekly benefits for part-time salaried workers is the same as it is for the part-time self-employed. In an email, EDD representatives provided this example: "The first $25 or 25% of your wages, whichever is greater, is not counted as wages earned and will not be deducted from your weekly benefit amount. For example, if you earned $100 in a week, we would not count $25 as wages and would only deduct $75 from your weekly benefit amount. If you had a weekly benefit amount of $450, you would be paid $375." And remember, any amount of unemployment benefits, no matter how small, could entitle you to the additional benefits discussed above -- that is, if they're extended and if they still work according to the same rules as the expired $600-per-week program. However, it is possible to go back to work part-time and earn so much that you end up losing your unemployment benefits entirely. Attorney DeCarol Davis with Legal Aid At Work said there's one easy way to estimate whether going back to work will wipe out your benefits. Take your current weekly benefit award and multiply it by 1.33. "That's going to be the amount where your benefits stop," Davis said. "For example, if you make $200 in your weekly benefit amount, you multiply that by 1.33. They're always going to round up, so that's going to equal approximately $267. Once you make more than that $267 [per week] your unemployment insurance is going to stop." You'll need to do this calculation for your own weekly benefit award, which can be anywhere from $40 to $450 per week. I lost my job early in the pandemic, then came back to work, then got laid off again. How do I get back on unemployment? How do I restart my claim? We know that getting laid off twice during the pandemic sounds like a nightmare. But it's actually very common in California right now. Getting back on unemployment should be a fairly straightforward process, but it depends on what you've been doing during the weeks you were recalled to work. Some people keep certifying for weekly benefits, even after they've gone back to work full-time. By reporting your weekly income to EDD, you keep your claim active (even though you won't be eligible for benefits). That way, if you get laid off a second time or have your hours cut back, you can easily start certifying for benefits again. If you stopped certifying after returning to work, your claim may have become inactive. In that case, simply log back into your UI Online account and look for the option to "Reopen Your Claim" under the Notifications section. The EDD's website has a step-by-step guide and a Youtube video outlining this process. However, if your claim is more than 52 weeks old, you'll have to start all over by filing a new claim. How do I find my EDD Customer Account Number? It never came in the mail, and I can't find it online or in my emails. This is a frustrating problem, because you need a Customer Account Number to register for UI Online, the portal where you can certify for weekly benefits. EDD claims this number is mailed to all new filers within 10 days. But from the volume of questions we're getting on this, it seems like that's not always happening. The EDD's website says if you're having trouble with your Customer Account Number, you should call the department at 1-800-300-5616 between 8 a.m. and noon on weekdays. But fair warning: You're unlikely to reach a person through that line. "I have been advising hundreds of people for several months on trying to access unemployment benefits during the pandemic, said Matthew Clark, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. "And I have not heard from a single person who has ever gotten through to the ordinary EDD application line." Some users have reportedly discovered unconventional workarounds to hunt down their Customer Account Numbers on the EDD website. But we're not advising you to try any unapproved methods. We do have a possible solution, which leads us to probably the most common question we're getting: How can I talk to a person at EDD to get help with my claim? I've been calling for months and have never been able to reach a human. Instead of calling that main application number above, Clark suggests trying the EDD's general support line: 1-833-978-2511. It's staffed by more than 1,000 people, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Clark said most of his clients have successfully reached a person through that line. But be warned: it does require multiple attempts. For those of you trying to reach someone for help beyond tracking down your Customer Account Number, keep in mind that the people answering that phone line may not be fully trained caseworkers. So they may not be able to immediately fix your problem. The good news? You can ask them to place you on a callback list. You'll eventually be contacted by someone who can address your problem. The bad news? That callback list has an average wait time of anywhere from four to eight weeks, according to recent testimony at a Sacramento legislative hearing from EDD director Sharon Hilliard. WE ARE HERE TO HELP: HOW TO (NEW) LA SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rescale Inc., the leader in enterprise big compute, today announced the appointment of two new senior executives, underscoring the company's commitment to accelerate global science and engineering breakthroughs through high performance computing. Terry Denzer, a 25-year sales leadership veteran, joins Rescale as the company's first Chief Revenue Officer, where he will lead Rescale's field operations and oversee all sales, customer experience and strategic partnership initiatives. Gerhard Esterhuizen, a well-respected engineering trailblazer, joins the company as Vice President of Engineering, where he will be responsible for building out the company's breakthrough HPC platform technologies. Denzer has a strong background in sales and sales management with well-known technology giants like IBM and VMware. He joins Rescale from Talend, a data integration software vendor, where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager for Americas. Under Denzer's leadership at Talend, the Americas theater achieved record growth, revenue attainment, and customer renewals, with revenue growing from $40 million to nearly $250 million. Denzer has a history of growing disruptive companies, including time spent in sales leadership positions at PTC and Ascential Software, which was acquired by IBM. "Rescale's approach to meeting the high performance computing needs of the market via a flexible, cloud-based managed service is unique in the industry," said Denzer. "As companies look to differentiate themselves by improving their design through manufacturing efficiency, they can turn to Rescale to deliver HPC that is tailored for each specific workload. I look forward to helping Rescale further accelerate its global growth and the success of its customers." Esterhuizen comes with over 20 years of engineering leadership experience. In his most recent role, as Senior Director of Engineering at Segment, he led the product engineering effort responsible for delivering numerous innovative product launches and was instrumental in establishing a successful strategic accounts program serving enterprise customers. Prior to that, Esterhuizen worked at Cloudflare as their first Engineering Manager, where he built out engineering teams that delivered innovations on the core product and infrastructure, as well as launched new revenue-generating products from scratch. He started his career in South Africa, focusing on large-scale distributed systems in technology startups and the enterprise. Esterhuizen's deep engineering and management background, experience growing and scaling technical teams, and significant technical expertise will be valuable as Rescale rolls out platform AI that optimizes workloads on multi-cloud infrastructures. "I am thrilled to join Rescale during this pivotal growth period for HPC," Esterhuizen said. "These technologies are already adding enormous value for enterprises that are looking to increase innovation while maintaining the utmost security, transparency, and control. Rescale attracted me because they've removed traditional challenges in HPC, and it's exciting to be a part of writing that next chapter." Under Denzer and Esterhuizen's leadership, Rescale will build on current cloud momentum and continue to announce product breakthroughs that will further enable the world of applied science and engineering and usher in a forecasted substantial growth rate for HPC. "Terry and Gerhard are outstanding leaders and I'm thrilled to welcome them to Rescale," said Joris Poort, CEO, Rescale. "Their expertise, leadership, and drive make them strong additions to our leadership team and we are excited to have them on board." About Rescale Inc. Rescale is the leader in enterprise big compute in the cloud. Rescale empowers the world's transformative executives, IT leaders, engineers, and scientists to securely manage product innovation to be first to market. Rescale's hybrid and multi-cloud platform, built on the most powerful high-performance computing infrastructure, seamlessly matches software applications with the best cloud or on-premise architecture to run complex data processing and simulations. For more information on Rescale, visit www.rescale.com. Press inquiries and interview requests for Rescale can be sent to [email protected] Press Contact: Jolie Hales 8015104667 SOURCE Rescale Inc. Related Links http://www.rescale.com If were going to make America great again, we have to know what made it great in the first place. Thats why the Left went into a frenzy of vandalism in tearing down statues earlier this summer, not just of Confederates but of those notable slaveowners Lincoln, Grant, and Frederick Douglass. To repudiate American history is to repudiate America itself. In response, lovers of freedom have deplored the destruction and denounce the barbarians, but few are mounting a robust and informed response to their hatred of American history itself. Yet if there is anything that this orgy of destruction should have taught us, it is that we must know, know familiarly, and cherish the history of our republic. Doing this will go a long way toward saving our free society. It was with this in mind that I wrote Rating Americas Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster. The reason for this is clear: now is the time for all of us to study and become deeply familiar with American history, because if we do not know what made America great, we will not be able to make it great again. Yet it is safe to say that many, if not most, Americans who deplore what the leftist savages are doing to our monuments only have the most glancing knowledge of how the United States became a beacon of freedom for the world, such that people from all over try to get here despite the Lefts relentless defamation of our country as a bastion of racial hatred and injustice. Ahistorical myopia and ignorance of history is a significant cause of the current outpouring of hatred for America. To take just one of innumerable examples, leftist rioters and destroyers are enraged at Americans who were memorialized despite being slaveowners. Theyre heedless of the fact that slavery was not universally considered a moral evil at the time these men lived, and that there are very likely to be people in future ages who look at our times and scratch their heads and ask each other How could they not have known that was wrong?. Even more importantly, the leftists are heedless of the fact that the movement to abolish slavery arose in Britain and America because of Christian principles that they despise, while slavery persisted long into the twentieth century in several Muslim countries because of Islamic principles that they profess to respect. Saudi Arabia, a country based strictly upon Islamic law, only abolished slavery in 1962, and North African states including Mauritania and Niger only did so in the early twenty-first century, because of Islamic laws that the leftist rioters would no doubt say it was Islamophobic to denounce. Rating Americas Presidents is an attempt to correct this ignorance of our own history, and to arm Americans to defend the history and heritage of the United States, so as to incline people to defend our country itself. It introduces Americans to unknown heroes of our own history that everyone should know about, including Chester Arthur, who was president from September 1881 to March 1885. Arthur was a champion of civil rights in an age when very few were. When Arthur was twenty-five in 1854, he joined the law firm of Erastus D. Culver, at which he formed part of a legal team that argued successfully for the freedom of any slaves that their owners brought to New York. Arthur also led the defense team for a black woman, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, who was not allowed to ride a New York City streetcar. The future president won the case, and New York City streetcars were desegregated, one hundred years before Rosa Parks, courtesy of Chester Arthur. Then there is General Ulysses Grant, whose statue in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park has already been toppled. Grant not only fought against and destroyed the slave power and enacted civil rights laws. From the very beginning of his presidency, he demonstrated a consistent commitment to the equality of rights of all people. He declared: I have no prejudice against sect or race but want each individual to be judged by his own merit. Just weeks after taking office in 1869, he approved an act stipulating that the word white be struck from all requirements to hold office or serve as a juror in the District of Columbia. When Southern states resisted Reconstruction measures, denied blacks the right to vote, and allowed the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize black populations, Grant sent federal troops to restore order and enforce the law. Grants determination to protect the rights of the freed slaves made him extremely unpopular in the South, and increasingly in the North as well, particularly among Democrats, whose 1868 campaign slogan was Our Motto: This is a White Mans Country; Let White Men Rule. This was their guiding principle throughout Grants presidency, and when they won control of the House of Representatives in the 1874 midterm elections, the Democrats were able to stymie almost completely Grants efforts to protect the civil rights of black Americans. Democrats stymying efforts to protect Americans -- now, that sounds familiar. Now is the time to learn and cherish this history, and teach it to our children, before leftists manage to erase it entirely. Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 21 books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is Rating Americas Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here. Image: Bombadier Books The NPP government has defended its limited accountability on projects it inherited from the Mahama administration regarding the governments town hall meeting on infrastructural achievements on Tuesday evening. Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, suggested it was not a priority during the governments town hall meeting on infrastructural achievements. Responding to a question on the matter, he said: the priority of the Vice President was to account for what we have started and what we have completed. The Akufo-Addo administration said 17,334 infrastructural projects were initiated by the Akufo-Addo government in various parts of the country with 8,746 of them having been completed while the remaining are ongoing. It launched a website to enable Ghanaians track infrastructural projects undertaken by it. The decision to set up the website to track the projects was based on governments desire to have a proper database of the projects and the progress of work being done. But similar information on projects started before the Akufo-Addo administration was not provided. We were of the view that it is important first to account for what we have started and what we have done, Mr. Nkrumah said. But he noted that the government also provided highlights of NDC projects which we have proceeded to complete. It noted that it finished 16 out of 30 health projects it inherited from the Mahama government. But for the bigger picture, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said they could mine that data very easily to give accounts of the status of projects under the Mahama administration. This is a moving conversation. This is not the last of our town hall meetings. This is not the last time the government is going to interact with the Ghanaian population. The Information Minister further noted that some of the Mahama government projects were even reviewed. We have also raised significant projects which were inherited at the conceptualization stage which we have rescoped and have gotten better value for money. ---citinewsroom An investor (L) consults a staff in a securities company. In emergency cases, if the market falls too much in the trading day due to any unexpected negative news impacting on the overall sentiment, the ministry would have to halt the stock trading to calm the market down. In a written response to the Viet Nam Financial Advisory Association, the Ministry of Finance said amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and rising tensions between the worlds largest economies, global stock markets were becoming more vulnerable and sensitive to bad news. Using technical solutions to intervene in the stock market did not help prevent the market's decline and also affects the confidence of investors, therefore under normal circumstances, the Government should not intervene in stock trading to ensure the market's smooth operation and transparency, the ministry said. However, in emergencies, if the market falls too much in a trading day due to unexpected negative news impacting overall sentiment, the ministry would have to halt stock trading to calm the market down. According to the finance ministry, market turbulence caused by large-scale sell-offs is considered a threat to the security of the equity market. The reasons for such a sell-off may come from bad news from international markets, the dissolution or insolvency of a company, or changes of regulations. Aside from halting the market, the finance ministry would also ask stock exchanges to adjust the trading time and change the daily trading limit of stock prices to prevent the market from plunging. Stock price adjustments have been applied in volatile periods of the stock market, most recently in the financial crisis in 2008. This acted as an emergency solution, helping stop the downtrend of the market. But its effectiveness did not prolong so it was just a short-term solution, the ministry said. The ministry also said halting trading was an extreme solution, only applied in very special cases. For example, the ministry had to shut down the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) on January 23-24, 2018 due to a technical problem with its system. Extend fee cut regulation The finance ministry will also extend the validity for the fee exemption regulation until June next year, scheduled to be applied from March to August 31 this year. Under Circular 14/2020/TT-BTC issued on March 18, the ministry announced it would cut the fees of nine securities services and exempt fees for six others from March 19 as part of efforts to support the stock market amid the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cut and exemption will now be extended till June 30 next year. On Wednesday night, 100 years and one day after the ratification of the 19th Amendment that guaranteed white women the right to vote, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris will accept the Democratic Partys nomination for vice president of the United States. As a ticket, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will restore competence, compassion and character to the White House. There is no doubt Kamala Harris could take over as commander in chief at any time if needed. As a United States senator from California, she represents the most populous state in the union one with a complex and diverse economy. In the Senate, she serves on the intelligence and judiciary committees critical committees given the threats the United States is facing at home and abroad. Whether it is going toe-to-toe with Jeff Sessions or Brett Kavanaugh in Senate hearings, or holding the Trump administrations feet to the fire over racial justice, Sen. Harris has proven time and again that she is not afraid to ask the hard questions and get answers. As vice president, she will be a strong voice in the Oval Office as the Biden-Harris administration works to dismantle systemic racism and make the United States a more just and equitable country for all its residents. In the Senate, Harris has been a leader highlighting the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and introduced legislation to address these disparities. Harris legislation would establish a team of policy experts, regional leaders and federal officials to develop policy and funding prescriptions based on demographic data to combat issues facing minority and underserved communities. When Sen. Harris was attorney general of California, she ran one of the largest legal operations in the world. She beat the big banks and cracked down on mortgage fraud. As attorney general, she sued corporations like Chevron and BP for damaging the environment, and won. And, she held corporations accountable for their role in exposing Californians to excessive levels of pollutants. She fought the ban on gay marriage and helped change the law. She is a smart, dedicated and fearless public servant. She is a champion for the underdog, a fierce protector of womens rights and a tireless advocate for equality for all. Kamala is exactly the kind of vice president our country needs right now. We need a leader who will unite us, not divide us. We need a ticket who will stand up and fight for all Americans regardless of who they are, who they love or where they come from not just the top 1 percent. Make no mistake, change of historic proportions is never easy. It took 117 years from Seneca Falls to the Voting Rights Act. As only the third woman and first woman of color to be a part of a national Democratic ticket, it is an unfortunate and predictable likelihood that Sen. Harris candidacy will be met with an array of double standards like questioning her likability or her ambition. That is misogyny. Similarly, it took exactly one day for Sen. Harris to become the target of Republican operatives birtherism and for her eligibility to serve to be questioned. Democrats, Republicans and people of good will across this nation must call out these attacks for exactly what they are: thinly veiled racism. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are ready to lead our nation and begin the work of rebuilding the United States at home and around the world. On Wednesday night, my daughters and I cant wait to watch Kamala Harris make history again as she becomes the first Black woman and first Asian-American woman on a major partys presidential ticket. And when Sen. Harris delivers that speech Wednesday night, shell serve as a beacon of hope and show a new generation of young girls that no dream is ever out of reach. Susan Bysiewicz is lieutenant governor of Connecticut. A Fermanagh woman who went through years of IVF before finally conceiving has turned her experiences into a book. Emma Weaver's 'The Blue Line' is a candid account of the hell she endured while trying to become pregnant. The 41-year-old believes it's an outrage that the local health service provides just one cycle of IVF for free, with countless women forced to go private when it fails. In other parts of the UK, three cycles are available through the NHS. "Some couples only get one roll of the dice. One cycle is not enough and it's not fair. Fertility issues are something that are out of people's control," Emma said Read More The mum-of-three lives in Enniskillen with her husband Niall (40), a psychotherapist, her two children from a previous relationship, Chloe (24) and Rhys (13), and four-year-old Amelia, the daughter she has with Niall. Emma decided to turn her experiences into a book after her IVF baby was born - she declines to say which child it was - because she wanted to break the stigma around the treatment. "With one of my children, I had IVF. That's what really sparked the book," she revealed. "It was never in my head to write a book, but this is genuinely a book that I wish I could've read when I was going through IVF because it just helps make sense of everything." Emma went through two failed cycles of IVF at a private clinic before becoming pregnant after a cycle on the health service. "Like any other mum, I was elated with feelings of joy with my new baby," she said. "It was months after that I felt low and now, years later, I know I have felt trauma from the process after years of trying." While Emma knows a great deal about psychological issues through her job at the mental charity Inspire, the rounds of injections and dealing with the crushing disappointment of negative pregnancy tests month after month took their toll on her. "It's a really isolating journey. I felt very isolated and I felt that I couldn't tell anybody in my circle," she explained. "I just kept it to myself, the reason being I didn't want it to engulf my whole life. "I was able to keep work separate knowing that everyone wasn't constantly watching me and thinking, 'Is it going to work?'" While Emma's book is loosely based on her experiences, it is a work of fiction. She dedicated it to women in her position and wants them to know they are not alone. The novel also provided her with the opportunity to talk to others about IVF and about how the health service operates it. "Initially I had two rounds of IVF at a private clinic, but I ended up pregnant after the one health service-provided cycle, which tells you something about the dedication of our health service staff," she said. "Some couples only get one roll of the dice. Some get lucky and it does work, but a lot of people don't get lucky and then they're left with either remaining childless or going down a private route, which can cost up to 6,000 a cycle when you add travel costs." IVF is a long and tiring process. Couples hoping for a baby are referred by their doctor after a year of trying, with a wait of a further year before seeing a consultant. For Emma, however, the treatment itself was the biggest challenge. "I found the injections quite hard and my emotions were all over the place. I manage mental health services and was very well aware that this would be quite tough emotionally," she said. "People don't talk about that, but the book tackles this through the IVF journey of the central character, a female journalist. "It's about her emotions, how she felt, the sting of the injections and the heartbreak with the one blue line. "She takes into account her husband and his feelings of not being good enough and not being able to grow the family. People don't talk about that." Emma hopes the book will encourage people to talk about fertility problems. "It's just an easy read that lets you know this is a huge issue. When I was going through IVF, I felt anxious - and I'm not an anxious person. It was the injections which made me feel that way, but no one tells you that. I didn't know what was happening to me," she explained. "One cycle is not enough and it's not fair. Fertility issues are something out of people's control. That yearning to be a parent doesn't leave you, it doesn't go away. One chance is not enough because things don't always go to plan." Even as a mental healthcare professional, Emma found the process tough. "All the time, before even beginning IVF, every month hoping (you're pregnant) when you're trying to conceive... all those months before you actually get to see a consultant who tells you it will be another two years, so it's four years of monthly pain," she admitted. "IVF is still taboo. People don't want to talk about it. There's nowhere really safe to talk about it. "It just takes over. It's stressful on relationships. There's a really high rate of separation and divorce among couples going through IVF. They can't handle it and it's very sad." The launch of her book was timely in that it coincided with Health Minister Robin Swann's announcement that the eligibility criteria for IVF, which is making a phased return following lockdown, was to be extended. The return of services at the Regional Fertility Centre in Belfast, along with the extension of eligibility, was welcomed by Alliance health spokeswoman Paula Bradshaw. "I was contacted many times throughout the pandemic by women and families concerned they would exceed the age limit (currently 39) despite already being on the waiting list and thus miss out on a vital service," she said. The Ministry of European Funds (MFE) has invited over 1,100 people to transparent public consultations to allocate 31 billion euros for Romania's development in 2021-2027, the ministry announced on Wednesday. "As part of the preparation of the third programming period since Romania is a member of the European Union, the financial years 2021-2027, the Ministry of European Funds today has kicked off a wide range of transparent public consultations. Debates, with both online and in-person participation at the ministry's headquarters, rounds up seven rounds of informal negotiations previously held with the European Commission that covered the entire spectrum from the logic of the intervention, to the priority axes proposed in each operational programme."The next eight operational programmes and a partnership agreement that will shape Romania's development with the aid of European funds are unveiled and analysed together with over 1,100 representatives invited to represent civil society, employers, trade unions and public institutions. At the end of two weeks of debates, the form that reflects the real needs of the public and the economy will be outlined."In the next programming period, Romania has at its disposal 31 billion euros divided into 4 instruments: the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the Just Transition Fund, adding to which is the budget for the National Recovery and Resilience Programme," senior official with the Ministry of European Funds (MEF) Adrian Mariciuc is quoted as saying in the MEF press statement.These national development resources will be invested in 2021-2027 in the development of transport and water infrastructure, bridging inter-regional gaps, digitising the economy and encouraging the entrepreneurship of young people and those in rural areas.The allocation of the 31 billion euros for the next programming period is divided as follows: 19 billion euros (55% of the budget) come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), going mainly into digitalisation, sustainable development, social inclusion and healthcare.As much as 6.07 billion euros (26%) come from the European Social Fund (ESF +) in support of social inclusion, healthcare, education and employment; 4.49 billion euros (14% of the budget) come from the Cohesion Fund and are allocated to develop transport and support sustainable development; 1.76 billion euros (5%) will be allocated under the European Just Transition Fund to support the economic diversification of the most affected regions.At the same time, Romania will enjoy in 2021-2027 eight operational programmess: the Operational Program Smart Growth, Digitisation and Financial Instruments 2021-2027: 2.143 billion euros; Operational Programme Sustainable Development 2021-2027: 4.615 billion euros; Operational Programme Transport 2021-2027: 8.3 billion euros; Operational Programme Education and Employment 2021-2027: 7.722 billion euros; Operational Programme Inclusion and Social Dignity 2021-2027: 2.594 billion euros; Operational Programme Healthcare 2021-2027: 4.73 billion euros; Operational Programme Regional Development 2021-2027; Operational Programme Technical Assistance 2021-2027: 597 million euros; Operational Programme Just Transition 2021-2027: 1.76 billion euros."Unlike the first two periods of public consultations in 2006 and 2013 in Romania, the Ministry of European Funds will transparently present, at the end of each day of debates, the conclusions and main ideas suggested by the participants for the construction of operational programmes."The Ministry of European Funds has published a schedule for the debates. Thus, Operational Programme Smart Growth, Digitisation and Financial Instruments is discussed on September 18 at 11:00hrs, EEST; Transport Operational Programme on August 18, at 14:00hrs; Regional Development Operational Programme on August 19, at 11:00hrs; Education and Employment Operational Programme, on August 19 at 14:00hrs; Inclusion and Social Dignity Operational Programme on August 20, at 14:00hrs; Operational Programme Healthcare on August 21, at 10:00hrs; Partnership Agreement on August 26, at 10:00hrs; Operational Programme Sustainable Development on August 27, at 11:00, and Operational Programme Just Transition on August 27, at 14:00hrs. The trend led to some confusion among county prosecutors. On July 25, just two days after Trumps Operation Legend announcement, an email sent by a high-ranking prosecutor to attorneys in the Felony Review Unit said Chicago police would be taking all gun arrests to federal agents first, giving them the right of first refusal in deciding whether to bring charges. Experts will focus on cleaning up ecologically-sensitive mangroves damaged by oil from ship that ran aground on reef. A second team of Japanese experts left for Mauritius on Wednesday with special oil-absorbent materials to help clean up tonnes of oil that leaked from a Japanese-owned ship after it ran aground earlier this month. The oil leak from the stranded ship has caused severe damage to the people of Mauritius, the economy of which largely relies on tourism and the beautiful ocean, environment ministry official Yukihiro Haisa told reporters before the departure. I am terribly distressed. Six members of the team are travelling to Mauritius from Japan, with the leader of the group joining from New York. Haisa said the government of Mauritius has asked the team to assess the leaks effect on local coral reefs. The Japanese-owned MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on July 25 and began leaking oil more than a week later, spilling more than 1,000 tonnes and threatening a protected marine park boasting mangrove forests and endangered species. We would like to apply our technical skills to help clean the oil-covered mangrove forests, said Noriaki Sakaguchi, an environmental expert at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Once damaged, it will take a long time for an ecological system to recover, he said. The team is bringing 20 boxes of special oil-absorbent materials capable of soaking up 1,200 litres (265 gallons) of oil in total. Complex root structures The material has been donated by Tokyo-based company M-TechX and was used in an oil leak accident in Japan last year. I would like to see how we can use the absorbent material to clean the coastal area and the forests complex root structure tainted by oil, Haisa said. Tokyo has already dispatched one team of six experts, including a coastguard and diplomats, to aid in the response. Both the Mauritian and Japanese governments have come under fire for not doing more immediately to prevent a large-scale spill. Mauritian authorities on Tuesday arrested the Indian captain of the ship. Officials have yet to reveal why the ship, which was making its way from Singapore to Brazil, came so close to the island, which is now reeling from ecological disaster. The boat had been carrying 4,000 tonnes of oil, and salvage crews managed to pump some 3,000 tonnes out of the bulk carrier before it split in two on Sunday, preventing a much larger environmental catastrophe. Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2017 The Trump administrations move to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling Monday signaled a bitter-end commitment to climate change denial the day after Death Valley apparently hit 130 degrees, possibly the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth. But the day also brought a hopeful sign that President Trump represents a last gasp of abject resistance to this reality. Five automakers accounting for about a third of the U.S. market reached a legal agreement with California regulators to boost average fuel efficiency even though the Trump administration would give them license to pollute more. The California Air Resources Boards enforceable pact with Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Volvo stands as a rejection of one of the presidents most significant environmental retreats by its supposed corporate beneficiaries. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 10:32 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f09417 1 Art & Culture UOB-Indonesia,UOB-Southeast-Asian-Painting-of-the-Year,Painting-of-the-Year,painting,art-and-culture Free UOB Indonesia launched on Tuesday the 2020 UOB Painting of the Year competition. The annual event invites artists in Indonesia to submit their entries digitally given the current circumstances. With solidarity as the theme, artists are welcome to share their impressions on the importance of staying united in the face of adversity and the resilience of the human spirit in overcoming COVID-19-related challenges. In the current challenging situation, local artists have been finding new ways to create and to exhibit their work through the use of technology. As we continue to promote the appreciation of art among the community, we also hope to bring people together and to foster a sense of solidarity, president director of UOB Indonesia Kevin Lam said in a statement. The competition is now open for registration until Oct. 11. Professional as well as amateur artists are welcome to sign up. The judges in the competition are curators Agung Hujatnikajennong and Asikin Hasan, as well as artist Ay Tjoe Christine. Read also: Special edition ARTJOG:RESILIENCE to run from August to October Winners of this years competition in Indonesia will be announced at a virtual ceremony in November, while artworks by the top-eight finalists will be exhibited virtually on UOBs social media channels. They will be in competition with winners from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand for the title of UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year. For more information, head to this website. The first Painting of the Year competition was held in Singapore in 1982 and was extended to Indonesia in 2011. It is considered one of Southeast Asias most prestigious art awards and is now open to artists in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Past winners from Indonesia include Suvi Wahyudianto, Gatot Indrajati and Anggar Prasetyo. (wng) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Daniel Bosque (Agence France-Presse) Barcelona, Spain Wed, August 19, 2020 12:15 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f13ff8 2 World Spain,Juan-Carlos,corruption,graft-allegation,scandal Free Spain's former king Juan Carlos came under fire on Tuesday for moving to the Middle East, with critics calling it the "worst" destination because corruption allegations he faces have links to the region. The palace announced on Monday that he had moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Aug. 3, the 82-year-old saying he wanted to prevent his personal affairs from undermining his son King Felipe VI's reign. While the announcement ended two weeks of speculation over the ex-king's whereabouts, it appears to have done further damage to his image with political commentators, even those in favor of the monarchy. "It's a good choice for him, but it is a bad choice for the Royal Household and for the image of the crown," Alberto Lardies, a journalist who has written several books about the Spanish monarchy, told AFP. "Not only are we talking of countries where human rights are not respected... but also he ends up where he allegedly mediated to collect commissions, where he allegedly lined his pockets," he said referring to corruption allegations linked to Saudi Arabia. The main political parties, which have in the past rallied in defense of the royal household, have so far remained silent on the latest troubles. 'Far-reaching damage' While Juan Carlos is not under formal investigation, officials in Spain and Switzerland are looking into revelations about his financial affairs made by a former mistress, German businesswoman Corinna Larsen. She said Juan Carlos had collected a payoff relating to a 2011 high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia that was awarded to a consortium of Spanish firms, according to a leaked recording apparently made without her knowledge. A Swiss prosecutor is focusing on $100 million that late Saudi king Abdullah allegedly deposited in 2008 into an account to which Juan Carlos had access, the Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported. "Of all the possible places to exile himself, Juan Carlos has picked the worst one," wrote Agustin Pery in an opinion piece for pro-monarchy conservative paper ABC. While the ex-king will probably be well received in the UAE, he "risks losing all veneration here", Pery added. Another pro-monarchy columnist, Jose Antonio Zarzalejos, wrote that Juan Carlos had imitated police novels by "returning to the scene of the 'crime'". The former king had "entered into a spiral which destroys what is left of his reputation. And causes serious and far-reaching damage," he wrote on the website El Confidencial. 'Tainted himself' Juan Carlos took the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years. He abdicated in favor of his son Felipe VI in June 2014 -- just two years after he apologized to Spaniards for jetting off on an elephant-hunting trip in Africa with his mistress as Spain grappled with a financial crisis. He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship which ruled Spain from 1939-1975. But a steady flow of embarrassing media stories about his past lifestyle and personal wealth have since eroded his standing. His warm relations with the Gulf monarchies and frequent visits to the oil-rich region have fuelled speculation over the source of his wealth. In 2015, two Ferraris that were given to the former monarch by the UAE were auctioned by the Madrid government while the sultan of Oman in 2014 reportedly gave him a luxury flat in London. Juan Carlos's move to the Gulf has placed King Felipe "in a very difficult situation", said Lardies. "He took part in the decision, he tainted himself with an issue which he should not have tainted himself with." A Lincoln man facing murder and gun charges in connection to the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man downtown in March has pleaded not guilty. Marcus Winston, 35, had been set for arraignment Wednesday morning but instead entered the plea in writing and waived his court appearance. Winston hasn't yet been given a trial date on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony for Timothy Montgomerys killing during a disturbance at 13th and O streets shortly before bar break. Police said multiple officers working in the downtown area heard gunshots at 1:31 a.m. March 15 and found Montgomery, who had been shot once in the chest. He died about an hour later at a Lincoln hospital. Police contacted another man, Nathaniel Love, after being called to a medical emergency at an apartment near Eighth and G streets about 20 minutes after the shooting on O Street. He had been shot in the leg. Police suspected he had been shot by Winston. For the 4th year in a row, Real Restoration Group earns a spot on the highly-coveted Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Inc. magazine today revealed that Real Restoration Group earned the No. 4674 spot on its 2020 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in America. This list is thought by many to be the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The Inc. 5000 represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segment-its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. This recognition further validates our belief that being holistically connected to the community can be a sustainable driver of growth, says Real Restoration Founder Morris Gershengorin. He added, we're honored to be amongst such a talented and prestigious group of leaders and business owners. This growth for us can largely be attributed to our team, who are the fabric of our organization and our philosophy to provide transparency and inherent value to our clients. Wed like to offer them much gratitude and appreciation, our success wouldnt have been possible without them. View Real Restoration Groups Inc. 5000 profile at https://www.inc.com/profile/real-restoration-group/. Real Restoration is a group proven professional construction and restoration services company dedicated to surpassing clients' expectations. With many years of combined experience in every facet of full service construction and restoration, they have gone from a small family business to Windy City powerhouse. Real Restoration Group maintains a close-knit family feel while simultaneously embracing growth and opportunity, recognized industry wide for their ability to take on projects of any size and at the same time establish personal relationships with each of its clients. Largely known as one of the best construction companies in Chicago, Founder Morris Gershengorin fosters and maintains the company's vision by leading by example, we believe that building a best-of-breed team for each specific client is the best way to control costs, time, quality and outcome. Story continues Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. In addition to being acknowledged as an innovative company that is showing unprecedented growth in the professional construction and restoration sector, Real Restoration Groups services also come very highly recommended from those who have experienced them for themselves. An example of that is this Google Maps Listing 5-star review from Jessica Goldberg that states, We had a wonderful experience with Real Restoration Group after we had a massive flood that destroyed a significant part of our home. They responded immediately and were able to remediate and restore the quality of our home even better than we had it before. Very reliable company. The company has also stepped up to the plate in a big way in response to the uncertainty brought about by Covid-19 and the massive amount of property damage from recent incidents throughout Chicagoland. They have used their timely restoration services in Chicago in an effort to assist their community quickly restore, rebuild and reopen. This included responding to local businesses requests for help 24-hours a day enabling their clients to significantly minimize the impact of recent events on their ability to operate. Although the company acknowledged that such events have created a challenging and unprecedented operating environment for many, Real Restoration Group welcomes a challenge and one-by-one continues to help their clients regain control of their businesses, adapt rapidly to new changes, and reconfigure and optimize working spaces in adherence to new CDC Covid-19 guidelines. ### For more information about Real Restoration Group, contact the company here: Real Restoration Group Morris Gershengorin (312) 265-4668 info@realrestore.com 1322 W Walton St, Chicago, IL 60642 SOURCE: Real Restoration Group View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602333/Real-Restoration-Group-Named-by-Inc-5000-One-of-Americas-Fastest-Growing-Private-Companies-in-2020 Escondido police Detective Ryan Hicks was picked as Officer of the Year at the annual Scottish Rites award ceremony. Hicks, a narcotics detective in the Special Investigations Unit, was recognized for his outstanding work in conducting numerous investigations. The award cited one example last year when Hicks found out that occupants of a home were selling narcotics. Area residents were fed up with all of the drug-related activity associated with the house and called the police for help. Hicks gathered enough information to obtain a search warrant, which led to the the seizure of heroin and methamphetamine along with more than $7,600 in cash and a rifle. Five suspects were taken into custody. Code Enforcement declared the house uninhabitable. As a result of the investigation, the house was sold, brought up to code, and is now occupied by a family. Advertisement Hicks was also named a finalist for the San Diego County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. Each year, since 1992, a committee of Scottish Rite members with law enforcement backgrounds select an Officer of the Year from police departments throughout San Diego County based on outstanding accomplishments in the performance of duties during the past year. The annual award was first presented 25 years ago to each police department in the county, the Sheriffs Department, the Harbor Police, and the Highway Patrol and has since grown to include the police departments of the San Diego Unified School District along with several college district departments. After getting a nod from the Supreme Court to probe actor Sushant Singh Rajputs death, a CBI team will visit Mumbai to investigate the case further, the agency said on Wednesday. The CBI, which took over the probe into an FIR registered by the Bihar Police on the basis of a compaint by Rajputs father KK Singh, is yet to visit the megacity regarding the investigation. It has collected relevant material from the Bihar police and has also spoken to some stakeholders in the case, they said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed over the probe to the CBI which has already registered an FIR in the matter. Also read | Truth will remain same, whichever agency investigates: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer on SC order The investigation releated to death of Sushant Singh Rajput is continuing. A CBI team will visit Mumbai in due course for further investigation. Other details cannot be shared at this stage, CBI Spokesperson RK Gaur said. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police was probing the case but was yet to file an FIR in the case. The top courts verdict came on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her and six others at Patna by Rajputs father accusing them of abetting the actors suicide, to Mumbai. Also read | Nitish claims vindication in Sushant case, says it is about justice, not politics The court noted that while Rajputs father and the Bihar government have alleged that Mumbai Police is attempting to shield the real culprits under political pressure, the Maharashtra government has strongly refuted it saying Patna Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime as the incident has taken place in Mumbai. It said political interference has been alleged against both the states and that has the potential of discrediting the investigation. The legal process must therefore be focused upon revelation of the correct facts through credible and legally acceptable investigation. It must be determined whether the unnatural death was the result of some criminal acts. In order to lend credibility to the investigation and its conclusion, it would be desirable in my view, to specify the authority, which should conduct the investigation in this matter, the court said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 19:50:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GAZA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A senior Hamas leader on Wednesday said that the Israeli threats "do not scare us and we are ready to confront any military escalation against the Gaza Strip." Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told reporters that the Palestinian resistance "is vigilant and ready for any Israeli military escalation ... we are not afraid of the threat of assassination." "Shelling will be met by shelling, missiles will face missiles, and killing will be met by killing," al-Hayya said, stressing that "the real problem is the existence of the Israeli occupation in Palestine and its dangerous consequences." On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened that Israel might resort to a "policy of assassinations" if Hamas does not stop launching incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. Israel's army said its warplanes struck military targets in Gaza on Tuesday night as retaliation for the explosive balloons, and a rocket launched earlier from the Palestinian enclave. "During the strike, a military compound belonging to one of the special arrays" of Hamas was struck, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement. It said the attack was a response to a rocket fired from Gaza, which exploded on an empty field in southern Israel, and dozens of explosive balloons that sparked fires. The violence came amid weeks of rising tensions, which was triggered by Israel's refusal to allow the transfer of Qatari money to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Israel and Hamas have fought three rounds of war, with occasional bursts of violence in between. Over the past months, both sides kept an unofficial cease-fire. Enditem HAVANA Cuba kicks off clinical trials next week of a potential coronavirus vaccine called Soberana 01" (Sovereign 01") developed by its state-run Finlay Institute, with results due in February, state-run media said on Wednesday. The potential coronovirus vaccine will be delivered in two injections during the trials that will involve 676 people aged between 19 and 80 years and conclude on Jan. 11. The Communist-run island prides itself on its biopharmaceutical industry, begun by former revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, which is also an important hard currency earner and already produces several vaccines. Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russias sovereign wealth fund, told Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina that Cuba could even be one of the places it could choose to produce the vaccine from November onwards. Authorities say their treatments for the new coronavirus have already helped it reduce mortality in sufferers. They touted interferon long before other producers started hailing the merits of the decades-old antiviral agent that boosts immune system and say dozens of countries have expressed an interest in buying it. The country of 11 million inhabitants has registered just a handful of deaths in the last few months, bringing the total to 88 deaths for 3,482 confirmed cases since the start of its outbreak in March. Cuba has handled its outbreak in textbook fashion through contact tracing and isolation of potential asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, although cases have risen in recent weeks since it eased lockdown restrictions in the capital, prompting it to tighten them once more. 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 Christian lawmaker group blames satanists and atheists for Twitter poll results Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The National Association of Christian Lawmakers, which aims to bring lawmakers together in support of clear biblical principles, says they recently came under attack from Satanists and atheists after launching a poll on Twitter asking if America would be better off with more Christians serving in elected office. The poll, which was launched on Sunday, and has received more than 100,000 votes as of Thursday evening, showed nearly 94% of respondents voting no while just over 6% voted yes. Reacting to the poll results, the group said the poll attracted the fury of atheists and Satanists. We are aware the Satanists and Atheists have decided to pile on this poll. While you are here know this - God loves everyone and forgives all who ask Him. Salvation is available only through His Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16, the group, which boasts former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on its national board of advisers, revealed in a tweet Sunday. They later stated that the reactions to the poll are a clear example of anti-Christian bigotry in America. View the comments on this thread to see what religious persecution and anti-Christian bigotry looks like in America. Satanists and Atheists piled on this poll and have begun leaving vile messages as well, the group noted. A new study from the Pew Research Center noted in October that only 65 percent of Americans now identify as Christian while those who identify as religiously unaffiliated a group which includes atheists, agnostics and people who dont identify with any religion swelled to 26 percent of the population. The drop in the number of Americans identifying as Christian reflected a 12 percent decline when compared to the general population 10 years ago. The decline was visible across multiple demographics but particularly among young adults. Research by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2016 on why Americans are leaving religion also pointed to the increasing share of American adults who have been joining the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated, and said it is being fed by an exodus of those who grew up with a religious identity. Younger Americans today are also more likely than seniors to be raised without a religious identity. The National Association of Christian Lawmakers was started last year by Republican Arkansas State Sen. Jason Rapert, who warned about the rise of witches in a recruitment email. It has become crystal clear to me over the past eight years that we must begin rebuilding the foundation of our Judeo-Christian heritage in this nation. One of the greatest things we can do for our country in the long term is to organize fellow Christian lawmakers into a formidable force to steer this nation back towards God. I sure hope that you will help me, Rapert wrote. The goal is for lawmakers to come together in support of clear Biblical principles and do our best to ensure that our nation lives up to our national motto In God We Trust. There are two central issues burdening our nation at this time that must be addressed by lawmakers to restore the honor of God in our country - abortion and same-sex marriage clearly violate biblical principles. The time is now to take a stand before our Judeo-Christian foundation is forever lost in the nation. It is unclear how many members are in the group. United Nations: With Russias backing, the Security Council on Monday voted to quickly deploy UN observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the fate of civilians who remain in the besieged Syrian city. The council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution that marks the first show of unity in months among world powers grappling with the crisis in Syria. The measure tasks the United Nations with carrying out adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation on evacuations from eastern Aleppo and other districts of the city. It requests that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon take urgent steps to allow the observers to monitor the well-being of civilians and to consult with interested parties on the deployment. French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the international presence would prevent Aleppo from turning into another Srebrenica, where thousands of Bosnian men and boys were massacred in 1995 when the town fell to Bosnian Serb forces. It remained uncertain however on whether the Syrian government would give the observers access to the city and allow operations there to come under international scrutiny. This is a starting point, Delattre told reporters. We will be extremely attentive, extremely vigilant. Ban is to report to the council within five days on whether access has been granted by the Syrian government, which has repeatedly blocked UN aid. Thousands of traumatized Syrians left the rebel enclave of Aleppo on Monday under a complex evacuation agreement that will see regime forces exert full control over the battered city. The operations resumed on Monday, with around 5,000 people traveling in 75 buses out of Aleppo, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. These were the first departures since Friday when the government suspended evacuations, insisting on a tit-for-tat deal to allow civilians and fighters to leave two northwestern villages under rebel siege. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi, Aug 19 : The Congress on Wednesday officially commented on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's remark that she had no objection to a non-Gandhi becoming the party president. The party said it was a year old remark. "We at INC India appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by BJP) in a year old remark (dated July 1, 2019) of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," Randeep Singh Surjewala, chief spokesperson of Congress, said in a statement. He said the Nehru-Gandhi family has held together and served the Congress unmindful of the trappings of power. "In 2004, Soniaji set an example by sacrificing power to serve the party, and in 2019, Rahulji showed the courage of conviction and stepped down as the Congress president," added Surjewala. The party insisted that the context today is to take on the vicious attack on India's polity by the Modi-Shah dispensation and fight it fearlessly on the front foot. "Millions of Congress workers and leaders have seen that Rahul Gandhi has led the fight tirelessly, undaunted by the setbacks and vile attacks by the Modi government on a daily basis. "It is this fearlessness and uncompromising courage that the Congress requires, which the workers respect and the nation needs," said the statement. The Congress' comments came in the wake of a claim made in a book -- 'India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders' -- written by Pradeep Chibber and Harsh Shah. In the book, it has been claimed that Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was ready to work under a non-Gandhi president after Rahul Gandhi's resignation following the defeat in the general elections in 2019. Rahul Gandhi had also said that the party should elect a president from outside the family, but in August last year, Sonia Gandhi was appointed as the interim president of the Congress. Priyanka Gandhi, in the book, was quoted as saying: "If there were to be another party president, he would be my boss. If he tells me tomorrow that he doesn't want me in Uttar Pradesh but wants me to be in Andaman and Nicobar (Islands), then I would jolly well go to Andaman and Nicobar." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Photo credit: SAUL LOEB - Getty Images From Harper's BAZAAR After closing night one with Michelle Obama's fiery speech, the Democratic National Convention continues into its second day with a whole new roster of speakers, guests, and performers. While Jill Biden and former president Bill Clinton are slated to speak, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also delivered an address in which she presented presidential nominee and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. (Although Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic candidate, it's standard protocol for the DNC to introduce both nominees.) The New York congresswoman had only a 60-second slot in tonight's broadcast, during which she delivered a prerecorded speech for the virtual convention. Despite the meager screen time, she graciously confirmed the news with a Benjamin E. Mays poem on Twitter last week, ensuring that not one second of her time will be wasted. (The post even reconnected her with her second-grade teacher.) I only have a minute. Sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, I did not choose it, But I know that I must use it. Give account if I abuse it. Suffer, if I lose it. Only a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it. - Dr. Benjamin E. Mays (and recited by Elijah Cummings) https://t.co/ul9CE7NriV Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 12, 2020 "In fidelity and gratitude to a mass people's movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed healthcare, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States," she said. Read her full address below. Good evening. Bienvenidos. Thank you to everyone here today endeavoring towards a better, more just future for our country and our world. In fidelity and gratitude to a mass people's movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed healthcare, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia, and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of longterm stability for the many, and who organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy; in a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of healthcare; in espiritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hear by second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America. You Might Also Like Court artist sketch of Hashem Abedi, younger brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, in the dock at the Old Bailey (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Manchester Arena mass murderer Hashem Abedi has refused to enter court to be sentenced for his role in the bombing. The 23-year-old, the younger brother of homegrown suicide bomber Salman Abedi, was absent from the Old Baileys courtroom number two on Wednesday, having effectively withdrawn from the trial part-way through, although he was said to be in the building. Family members of some of the 22 people killed in the atrocity were present as Mr Justice Jeremy Baker was informed of Manchester-born Hashems refusal to attend. Expand Close The 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing were aged between eight and 51 (Greater Manchester Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing were aged between eight and 51 (Greater Manchester Police/PA) Other relatives of victims and survivors are following the hearing by live link from Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. Addressing the court at the start of a two-day hearing, the judge said: I have required in this case Hashem Abedi to be brought to Central Criminal Court. My understanding is that, having been brought to this building, Hashem Abedi has refused to come into the courtroom. That is a matter for HM Probation Service rather than myself. Force cannot be used. Hashem was found guilty by a jury in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. The Old Bailey heard that the Islamic State-inspired jihadi helped his brother Salman order, collect and store materials needed for the deadly plot, before the latter blew himself up as thousands of men, women and children left an Ariana Grande concert on the night of May 22 2017. The defendant, who travelled to Libya the month before the bombing, was arrested hours after the attack and was extradited back to Britain last summer. Hashem initially told police he wanted to co-operate with them in order to prove his innocence. But he absented himself from much of his trial and sacked his legal team. It meant grieving families and survivors have been left without hearing from the man police believe may have actually masterminded the plot. The judge confirmed that Hashem cannot be handed a whole life sentence because he was under the age of 21 at the time of the offences. However, he could be given multiple life sentences with a minimum term starting point of 30 years. During the trial, prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Hashem was just as guilty as the bomber who killed 22 men, women and children aged between eight and 51. Expand Close Hashem Abedi, younger brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi (Greater Manchester Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hashem Abedi, younger brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi (Greater Manchester Police/PA) From January 2017, the brothers set about buying nuts and screws for shrapnel and ordering chemicals from Amazon to make the homemade TATP explosives, with unwitting help from friends and relatives. They hid their activities by switching mobile phones and using a variety of runaround vehicles, despite neither having passed a driving test, to transport components around the city. They also secured two separate addresses away from their home in Elsmore Road, Fallowfield, Manchester one to take delivery of the components and the other for a bomb-making factory. Their plans were briefly scuppered when their parents insisted they join them in Libya in April 2017 amid possible concerns about their descent into radicalisation, police said, forcing the brothers to stockpile their stash in a second-hand Nissan Micra, bought for 250 the day before they left the UK. Returning alone, Salman bought a rucksack and more shrapnel, constructed his bomb in a rented flat in central Manchester, and carried out reconnaissance missions. Expand Close Salman Abedi caught on CCTV on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack (Greater Manchester Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Salman Abedi caught on CCTV on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack (Greater Manchester Police/PA) Jurors were shown chilling CCTV footage of Salman, 22, travelling to the foyer of the Arena, before detonating his bomb at 10.31pm, just as crowds were leaving the venue. Afterwards, Greater Manchester Police found Hashems fingerprints at key addresses and in the Micra, which still contained traces of explosives. A small scrap of a Consumers Pride vegetable oil tin from the bomb site was matched to discarded pieces containing Hashems prints which were found elsewhere. Hashem had hoarded the tins from a takeaway where he worked and fashioned prototype components, even though they were not used in the final device. Mr Penny said Hashem was at times chauffeur, at times quartermaster, at times electrical technician in the plot. Following his arrest, Hashem had tried to point the finger of responsibility at his dead brother but Mr Penny said it was merely an attempt to evade responsibility for his own culpability, for the cruel and cowardly carnage that took place at the Arena that night. Speaking ahead of the sentencing, Figen Murray, whose 29-year-old son, Martyn Hett, was among the victims, said: I trust the British legal system. Whatever the judge gives this person will be just punishment for a crime he committed. A public inquiry into the bombing is scheduled to start next month. Pubs whose licences are due to expire next month are set to get a one-year extension under plans being considered by the Government to help publicans who haven't traded since March. Vintners groups have asked that pub licences, which are due for renewal every September, be extended until September 2021 because of the coronavirus restrictions that have forced 3,500 so-called 'wet pubs', which don't serve food, to remain closed. Despite several new Covid-19 restrictions being announced last night, the Government will consider allowing these pubs to reopen from August 31. A senior Government source said the one-year licence extension was a "reasonable ask" that was being considered by the Department of Justice and would cost the Exchequer in the region of 6m. However, doubts have been cast over whether a weekly support payment could be rolled out to pubs, amid concerns that it would be too "open-ended". The Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland have proposed the weekly payment be between 270 and 1,650, depending on the rateable valuation of a premises and should apply from June 29. "It's open-ended and hasn't been done anywhere else," said the Government source. The vintners groups say the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme should also be maintained for all closed pubs until their reopening. Despite a raft of new restrictions announced yesterday evening, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said Cabinet would consider whether to allow wet pubs to reopen before the end of the month. Licensed Vintners Association chief executive Donal O'Keeffe said that that pubs have been "singled out by Government and cast aside when it comes to the reopening of the economy and society" and that a licence extension would be "throwing breadcrumbs" at the industry. "They need a meaningful package which goes far beyond token gestures. For example, should the support package be limited to the license renewals it would be seen as throwing breadcrumbs at the 3,500 pubs that are already on their knees," Mr O'Keeffe said. "They deserve more than that. They have gone beyond any other sector of the economy in the interests of public health. Its time the Government acknowledged that and gave them the support they need to survive." DNCC via Getty Since he first entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the soul of this nation. In Dr. Jill Bidens keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, delivered moments after her husband secured the partys nomination, the former second lady sought to give shape to the soul of America that her husband promises to save. Speaking from the empty halls of Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she once taught English, the former second lady likened her husbands taskmending a country beset with a deadly plague, weakened economically, and riven with racial divisionto the task he faced after the death of his first wife, Neilia, and his 1-year-old daughter Naomi only weeks after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate. I fell in love with a man and two little boys standing in the wreckage of unthinkable loss, Biden said. How do you make a broken family whole? Her answer: The same way you make a nation whole: with love and understanding, and with small acts of kindness. With bravery, with unwavering faith. Ady Barkan, A Man Without a Voice, Delivers Most Powerful DNC Speech on Night 2 Bidens remarks, the final address of the second night of the all-digital convention, were in contrast to much of the evenings programming, wherein a fleet of national security experts envisioned Biden as a potential commander-in-chief, and Republican allies like former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Cindy McCain emphasized the former vice presidents steady leadership in a time of political, economic, and social upheaval. Jill Bidens focus was instead on Joe Biden the man, describing backyard barbecues and family dinners in more generic terms of his constant love and his ineffable goodness. There are times when I couldnt imagine how he did ithow he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But Ive always understood why he did it he does it for you, Biden said. Joes purpose has always driven him forward. His strength of will is unstoppable, and his faith is unshakablebecause its not in politicians or political parties, or even himself His faith is in youin us. Story continues The convention address of a would-be first lady is normally part spousal cheerleading session, part soft-focus national introduction to a person who may soon be one of the most famous women in the world. The video package that played before Bidens speech was in keeping with that tradition: an anecdote of her standing up to a school bully, archival footage of a younger Dr. Biden redolent of a Teen Spirit commercial, and a recounting of the now-contested version of her first date with the future vice president. The video also highlighted her work on behalf of military families as second lady, and featured the conventions first and sole mention of Bidens troubled son Hunterin video from the late Beau Bidens funeral, in which Hunter told his stepmother: Its your strength that holds this family together, and I know that you will make us whole again. Jill Biden Promises Trevor Noah: Joes Creepy Behavior Wont Happen Again But while the montage and some of Bidens remarks verged on purple proseThe playgrounds are still, but if you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the airthe primary focus was on the newly minted nominee, and on how the person he has described as his closest adviser and best friend sees his potential administration. We just need leadership worthy of our nationworthy of you, Biden said, pledging that her husband and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, will work as hard as you do, every day, to make this nation better. He will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole. The address had one coda as Joe Biden joined his wife of more than four decades onscreen, visibly flushed with emotion. Im Jill Bidens husband, Biden joked, beet-red. You can see why shes the love of my life. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Former HMP Wormwood Scrubs officer Pamela Belonwu, 51, entered into the six month 'inappropriate' relationship with inmate Clifton Thomas, a court heard A prison diversity officer had an 'inappropriate' relationship with an inmate at a London prison and failed to report he had a phone with him, a court heard today. Former HMP Wormwood Scrubs officer Pamela Belonwu, 51, entered into the six month 'inappropriate' relationship with inmate Clifton Thomas while he was serving time at the Category 2 prison in White City, Isleworth Crown Court heard. She is alleged to have committed misconduct in public office between 1 January 2019 and 3 July 2019. Alongside the inappropriate relationship with Thomas, she is accused of failing to report a mobile telephone that was in his possession. Belonwu has had managerial roles within the NHS and charity sector. According to her Linkedin page, she is a Distance learning tutor Criminon UK equality advisor at Her Majestys Prison and Probation Service. Pamela Belonwu, 51, had the inappropriate' relationship with inmate Clifton Thomas while he was serving time at Wormwood Scrubs, a Category 2 prison in White City, London, Isleworth Crown Court heard The former prison officer wore a dark jacket and brown blouse and spoke only to confirm her identity and enter a not guilty plea. Belonwu, of Pump Lane, New Cross, denies misconduct in public office and will stand trial at Isleworth Crown Court on June 20, 2022. She also faces one count of transmitting an image or sound from a prison without authority. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) The House minority bloc has pushed for the immediate replacement of all Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) officials amid ongoing investigation into the alleged massive corruption in the agency. Ang ating pong pakiusap sa ating Pangulo ay kung maaari ay i-overhaul na ang PhilHealth. Palitan lahat. Ang board of directors pati ang management committee, House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante, Jr. stressed during a media briefing Wednesday. [Translation: We ask the President to overhaul PhilHealth. Replace everyone. The board of directors even the management committee.] Abante said the task force formed by President Rodrigo Duterte should not only look into the officials bank accounts but also their lifestyle that include their immediate family members to ensure thorough investigation. Both A Teacher Party-list Rep. Victoria Umali and APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc said they are hoping the ongoing inquiry will not be put to waste and that those responsible will be held accountable. On Aug. 7, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President ordered the creation of a multi-agency task force that will investigate top officials of the state-run health insurance agency. Duterte also warned PhilHealth officials that he will get rid of them if they will be found liable for fraudulent acts. Meanwhile, Rep. Stella Quimbo of Marikina's 2nd District filed a bill seeking to privatize the agency. Under House Bill no. 07429, or the Social Health Insurance Crisis Act of 2020, the controversies currently surrounding PhilHealth underscored the need for a massive overhaul of the current system, through the reorganization and privatization of PhilHealth. This will allow the President to privatize the whole or some sections of the agency, as well as abolish or create offices, transfer functions, and institute cost-cutting to ensure an effective and efficient service, the bill said. The measure also proposes the creation of an executive-legislative commission that will formulate policy framework and process the reorganization of the agency. While this is being completed, a transition management team will be temporarily designated to run PhilHealth until reorganization is completed within two years, it said. The Senate and the House of Representatives have been holding series of hearings to investigate the alleged acts of corruption done in the agency, which include an overpriced information technology project, the controversial Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) involving hospitals, and manipulation of financial statements. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 17:10 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f2c62d 1 Business Social-Bella,distribution,e-commerce,beauty-industry Free Beauty e-commerce firm Social Bella has expanded its distribution network to 55,000 retailers, through its partnership with PT Semesta Distribusi Indonesia (SDI), the company announced on Wednesday. The partnership is expected to open wider and more comprehensive distribution access for Social Bella retail partners and customers, providing a one-stop service for beauty and self-care brand owners. "We see a gap between brand owners and retailers. Brand owners have high-quality products but lack a distribution network. Meanwhile, retailers are looking for quality brands and struggle to gain consumer data," said PT SDI commercial vice president Helmi Prasetyo in a statement on Wednesday. SDI currently has offices in 24 cities, 16 sales points and 10 sub-distributors throughout the country, with retail partners both in modern trade and general trade. Social Bella provides a platform for customers to purchase goods, file complaints as well as view product updates and promotions in real-time. "With the SDI network and our experience in the beauty industry, brand owners can distribute their products to all retail store channels in big cities in Indonesia without having to make big investments and take big risks in choosing a suitable store without benchmarking," Helmi said. He added that PT SDI has helped the distribution of well-known brands on the Social Bella platform such as Mediheal, COSRX and Secret Key, among others in Indonesia. Helmi said he was optimistic that SDI could be a solution for the beauty industry in Indonesia to advance. Moreover, he said he saw the large potential of the beauty industry, as well as the resilience of the industry, which has been proven in times of crisis. According to Euromonitor International's 2020 report, the compound annual growth rate of Indonesia's beauty industry is the highest in Asia. The report also stated that the beauty and personal care market in Indonesia was predicted to grow to US$8.46 billion in 2022 from $6.03 billion last year. Social Bella recently announced in July that it has closed a $58 million funding round and launched Lilla by Sociolla, a marketplace for expecting women and mothers. (eyc) Despite intervention by regional heads led by Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, Malis history of a military takeovers has played again as all mediation failed to resolve the crisis-torn nation. In the early hours of Wednesday, President Ibrahim Keita bowed to pressure and announced his resignation from office after pressure from rebellious soldiers. Today, certain parts of the military have decided that intervention was necessary. Do I really have a choice? Because I do not wish blood to be shed, Mr Keita said in a brief statement as quoted by Al Jazeera. Mr Keita had led over 19 million Malians for seven years and battled insurgents mostly during the period.. The political unrest reached a climax on Tuesday when President Keita and the Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse, were seized by mutinous soldiers. READ ALSO: The two were taken to the military base in Kati, a community close to Bamako, the countrys capital city. Gunshots woke up early this morning the inhabitants of Kati, a garrison town located 15 km from Bamako. For the moment, no official statement on the situation. In the capital, the situation remains tense. The inhabitants are still waiting for a statement that would provide clarification, Lessor, a newspaper based in Mali reported. The U.S. Embassy in Mali, in a statement of Tuesday, said it was aware of gunfire and unrest in the area of Kati, as well as ongoing police/military operations in Bamako. As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official declaration of the person occupying Mr Keitas office whether civilian or military. But in the event that the military formally announces a takeover, Mali will be plunged into crisis the fourth time in its history by military hardliners. Coups On November 19, 1968, Malians experienced a coup detat (termed bloodless) against the government of President Modibo Keita. The coup was led by Moussa Traore, a major general, who then became the head of state. Also, on March 26, 1991, another Malian coup resulted in the overthrow of Mr Traore after over two decades of dictatorship. In 2012, the country experienced two coup detats, although the second, which also involved military intervention, was not widely considered as one. The first started as a civil war, resulting from the quest for autonomy in North Mali. This was reportedly masterminded by the Tuareg rebels in conjunction with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (NMLA). It was successful despite the historical challenge maintaining alliances between secular and Islamist factions in the country. The series of armed conflicts led to the break-away of the Tuareg rebels and NMLA who formed the state of Azawad. The secessionist state encompassed about 60 per cent of Malis land area. Meanwhile, in April 2012, via a statement posted on its website, the secessionist group declared irrevocably the independence of Azawad from Mali although not recognised by the international community. Earlier on March 22, 2012, President Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted in a coup detat over his handling of the crisis, a month before a presidential election was to have taken place, Al Jazeera reported. Consequently, some soldiers under the aegis of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR), took control of the affairs of the country, setting aside its constitution. As a result of the coup, the former President of the United States, Barack Obama, stopped the foreign aid to Mali. The African Union also suspended the country as a member state until restoration of democracy. In an effort to restore stability to Mali, which depends majorly on foreign aid, a new government of national unity was formed on August 20, 2012 and approved by interim President, Dioncounda Traore. In what is referred to as a second coup, on December 10, 2012, Modibo Diarra, the then prime minister, was arrested and taken to the military camp in Kati. He resigned afterwards. Advertisements According to an account published by The Telegraph, soldiers smashed in the door of the prime ministers residence and took him away a bit violently. In 2013, Mr Keita was elected the president, thus relative peace returned. Keitas reelection, many battles After spending five years in office, Mr Keita won his re-election bid under controversial circumstances. His victory, however, did not go down well with the opposition, who alleged that the election was marred by irregularities. The crisis was heightened after the parliamentary elections held in March 2020, amidst the coronavirus crisis and rebel incursion. Few days prior to the poll, Malian opposition leader, Soumaila Cisse, was abducted alongside six members of his team while campaigning. Although the president denied being behind the abduction and promised that security operatives were on the lookout for the abductors, the opposition did not believe him. The Constitutional Court of Mali later overturned the results for 31 seats, giving Mr Keitas party 10 more parliamentary seats. In reaction to the judgement, thousands of protesters stormed the streets demanding Mr Keitas ouster. To force his hand, opposition parties, civic groups formed an alliance called Movement of June 5 Rally of Patriotic Forces, also known as M5. For several weeks consecutively, members of the new alliance staged demonstrations in the streets of Bamako, mounting pressure on the president to step down. Regional Intervention The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) envoy led by former Nigerian President, Mr Jonathan, began a mediation mission to resolve the political crisis. ECOWASs intervention resulted in the dissolution and reconstitution of the constitutional court. In July, the former president, in company of five west African Heads of State visited Mali as a follow-up to Mr Jonathans previous mediation mission to Bamako. Goodluck Jonathan in Mali for peace talks [PHOTO: TW: @GEJonathan] The High-Level Mission included Nigerian President Muhamadu Buhari; Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger and Chair of ECOWAS Authority; Macky Sall, President of Senegal; Alassane Ouattara, President of Cote dIvoire and Nana Akuffo-addo, President of the Republic of Ghana. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the regional leaders met with key stakeholders in the Malian crisis with a view to finding a common ground for settlement. Mr Jonathan and his mediation team had recommended the formation of a government of national unity with members drawn from different interest groups in the country, including the ruling coalition, the opposition parties and the civil society. It also recommended the establishment of a technical committee to be set up by ECOWAS to monitor the implementation of the proposed measures which also include the resolution of the dispute over 31 legislative seats recently set aside by the defunct constitutional court. As part of a follow-up, Mr Jonathan returned to Mali last Monday to continue his mediation towards resolving the crisis. Goodluck Jonathan in Mali for peace talks [PHOTO: TW: @GEJonathan] He had urged Malians, especially members of the opposition, to stop further demonstrations to enable ongoing discussions to bear more fruits. Ripples Afraid that the country was about to be plunged into crisis, the United Nations and the African Union Commission have condemned the detention of Mr Keita and the prime minister on Tuesday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the detention of the government officials and demanded their immediate release. Mr Guterres called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali. In a similar vein, the chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, sued for peace in the country. The Chairperson strongly rejects any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and calls on the mutineers to cease all recourse to violence, and calls for the respect of the countrys institutions, Ebba Kalondo, his spokesperson stated on Tuesday. I strongly condemn the forced detention of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian government, and call for their immediate release. Mr Faki further called on the ECOWAS, the United Nations and the entire international community to combine collective efforts to oppose any use of force as a means to end the political crisis in Mali. As in previous conflicts that rocked the nation, many more reactions are expected in the coming days as Malians battle another constitutional crisis. Researchers are split over whether Covid-19 spreads more easily in dry or humid air after two conflicting studies were released on the same day. University of Sydney experts yesterday said low humidity helps the coronavirus to linger in the air for longer periods, leading to eight new cases with every one per cent drop in humidity. But University of Missouri academics claimed droplets of the virus expelled by coughs and sneezes can stay in the air for 23 times longer in humid conditions. The findings supported research from China, where the pandemic began. But most scientific findings uncovered since the pandemic began have suggested the coronavirus has a preference for cool, dry conditions and is less successful in hot, humid ones. The coronavirus has killed around three-quarters of a million people worldwide and has reached every corner of the planet, proving that no climate is immune to being ravaged by an outbreak. Here, MailOnline delves into the evidence between humidity and coronavirus. A study by the University of Maryland School of Medicine showed countries hardest hit by Covid-19 early in the pandemic (orange circles) had similar low humidities and cold temperatures In one study by Chinese researchers found every one percent increase in relative humidity lowered R rate by 0.0224 Scientists are split over whether Covid-19 thrives in humidity or struggles to spread after conflicting research (stock) Swathes of studies comparing temperature and cases in different countries suggest those with low humidity and colder weather have fared worse. The flu is known to spread easier when the air is drier, researchers also say. Cold, winter air holds less moisture. Experts have speculated that air without moisture dries out mucus in the nose and airways, making viral infection easier. People may also spend more time cooped up indoors with other people in colder weather, when the air carries less moisture. Other studies have suggested hot temperatures drive cases down, bolstering the theory that high levels of humidity may have a protective role. Virus-laden droplets can survive in the air for longer in hot and humid conditions WHAT IS HUMIDITY? Humidity levels can be expressed as either absolute humidity, specific humidity or relative humidity. Specific humidity is expressed as the ratio of water vapour mass to the total mass of moist air. It does not vary as the temperature or pressure of a body of air changes, as long as moisture is not added to or taken away from it. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air compared to what the air can 'hold' at that temperature. If there is 100 per cent relative humidity, it means that the air is completely saturated with water and isnt able to hold any more. This also means that theres a strong possibility of rain. During a period of high temperatures, air with very high RH is very uncomfortable as the saturated air affects our body's cooling mechanism, the Met Office explains. In low temperatures, air with very high RH can make us feel cooler. Absolute humidity is the water content of the air regardless of the temperature, and is measured in either grams per kilogram or grams per cubic metre. Advertisement SARS-CoV-2 can survive in the air for longer in hot and humid conditions, academics at the University of Missouri said yesterday. 'Transport and fate of human expiratory droplets play a key role in transmission of respiratory infectious diseases,' the team wrote in their study. 'Droplets are sensitive to environmental conditions, including temperature, humidity, and ambient ows.' Droplets exhaled in normal human breath come in a range of sizes, from about one-tenth of a micrometre to 1,000 micrometres. The most common exhaled droplets are about 50 to 100 micrometres in diameter a similar size as human hair. The study, published in Physics of Fluids, looked at how airflow and fluid flow affects exhaled droplets using simulations and mathematical models. In an environment with high humidity a high concentration of water vapour present in the air droplets can travel up to 16 feet away. High humidity can extend the airborne lifetime of medium-sized droplets by as much as 23 times, the study claimed. Dry air with a low humidity, on the other hand, can accelerate natural evaporation of the droplets and restricts the distance they can travel. The team developed a colour graph to show how relative humidity and temperature affects the time a 100-micrometre droplet spends in the air. When there is zero humidity, regardless of the temperature, the droplet will evaporate in the air within seconds. As the temperature increases, it spends less and less time in the air before dropping. When the temperature reaches more than 30C, the virus will not spend longer than five seconds in the air. On the other hand, when the relative humidity is around 50 per cent, the droplet will stay in the air for seven seconds or more even at very low temperatures. It starts to spend more and more time in the air as the temperature rises up to 12 seconds when it is 30C. Colour map showing the amount of time a droplet at an initial height of 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) is affected by temperature and humidity. RH is relative humidity and T is temperatures. Anything above the yellow arc, the droplet will evaporate in the air and never reach the ground. Below the yellow arc, the droplet will fall to the ground in the number of seconds indicated by the colour scale. This means when there is zero humidity, regardless of the temperature, the droplet will evaporate in the air within seconds. But when it is humid, the droplet spends more and more time in the air as the temperature rises High humidity of 75 per cent is optimum for Covid-19 spread SAGE SAYS COVID-19 IS LESS STABLE IN HIGH HUMIDITY Turning up the temperature inside buildings could reduce the spread of the coronavirus, scientists suggested in an advice paper to the Government. Minutes from a meeting of the scientific advisory group SAGE showed that experts discussed the idea in May. They said there was 'moderate' evidence that the virus would be less able to survive on solid surfaces in hotter environments. The discussion by SAGE was mentioned in the minutes of its 35th meeting, held on May 12, which have now been published. The minutes read: 'There is some evidence for it [the coronavirus] becoming less stable at higher temperature and humidity within typical indoor operating ranges (moderate confidence), and some evidence that it is very stable at low temperatures (low confidence). 'This could be reflected in operational guidance for relevant organisations, though the evidence for ventilation is stronger, so changes to temperature or humidity should only be considered where ventilation can still be maintained.' Advertisement Researchers in China found the virus seems to spread better in summery weather, with an optimum temperature of 19C (66.2F) humidity of 75 per cent and less than 30 millimetres of monthly rain. Their study was conducted very early in the pandemic when little information about the coronavirus was known. It was published as a pre-print paper on February 18, meaning its methodology was not scrutinised by fellow scientists. Because of the similarity of SARS-CoV-2 with SARS, another human coronavirus that caused an outbreak in 2003, the researchers analysed how both viruses behaved depending on the weather conditions. They collected meteorological data of Wuhan, where Covid-19 first emerged, from 2019 to February 2020. They also used data from Guangzhou from 1999-2003 to see how the weather changed before and around the first reported case in November 2002. Both sets of figures were compared with case numbers. The authors said from October to December 2019, the mean humidity in Wuhan was 75.26 per cent with significantly less precipitation. Although the humidity was lower than previous years, anything over 50 per cent humidity is considered high. These conditions may be favourable for the survival and reproduction of the virus, the team said. The meteorological conditions significantly overlapped with those of the start of the SARS epidemic in Guangzhou, when the temperature was between 13.85C to 15.85C, and humidity between 69 and 79 per cent. The researchers concluded that cold air and continuous low temperature are helpful for the elimination of the virus. 'We speculate that a meteorological condition with temperature between 13-19C and humidity between 50 and 80 per cent is suitable for the survival and transmission of the coronavirus,' they wrote. 'From a global perspective, cities with a mean temperature below 24C are all high-risk cities for 2019-nCoV transmission before June.' The researchers recommended that for countries heading towards warmer weather, containment measures should be ramped up. The researchers found the mean humidity of Wuhan was 75.26 per cent, which overlapped with the humidity levels in Guangzhou during 2002-2003, between 69 and 79 per cent GLOBAL DAILY DEATHS ARE REACHING LEVELS SEEN DURING PEAK OF CRISIS IN APRIL The number of people dying each day from coronavirus across the world is rapidly approaching levels seen at the peak of the first wave in April, data shows. Around 6,600 people succumbed to the life-threatening infection every day on April 18, during the height of the Covid-19 crisis in Europe. The rolling seven-day average then dropped thanks to strict lockdowns quelled the outbreak and drove down death rates across the continent over the summer. But outbreaks have accelerated in North and South America in recent weeks, where three-quarters of all Covid-19 deaths are now occurring. The seven-day average of global daily deaths stood at 6,348 on August 16, according to the most recent figures published by the World Health Organization. Three-quarters of a million patients have now died across the world since the virus was first spotted in China, although this is likely to be an underestimate due to the volume of patients still going undiagnosed. Scientists said the finding should serve as a 'wake-up call' that many nations are still in the grips of uncontrollable outbreaks, even if Europe's epidemic has largely been squashed. In Europe, more than a dozen countries reported an uptick in infections in the last week but the rise in cases has not corresponded with an increase in deaths. Experts believe the climbing cases on the continent represent a mixture of increased testing, as opposed to spiralling outbreaks. Some scientists say death rates have yet to rise because doctors have got better at treating Covid-19. Others have suggested the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have mutated to become weaker and give it a better chance of surviving. Advertisement Droplets travel further and last longer in humid, cold climates than in hot, dry ones Droplets carrying SARS-CoV-2 travel further and last longer in humid, but cold climates, a simulation study suggested. An international team of researchers, led by a team in Canada, developed a mathematical model about the aerodynamics and evaporation characteristics of respiratory droplets. Then, they compared droplets that are ejected by an infected person versus those from a healthy person. About 3,000 droplets are expelled from single cough, with many of them dispersing in different directions. From a sneeze, as many as 40,000 droplets might be expelled. The team, led by Dr Swetaprovo Chaudhuri, from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, used the model to calculate about how long droplets can last in the air, how far they can travel and if the size of droplets determines their ability to survive. They assumed that in a colder, humid climate, droplets from a sneeze or cough are going to last longer and spread further than in a hot dry climate, where they'll evaporate faster. This was incorporated into the model of infection spread, and the authors said, 'they aren't included in existing models as far as we can tell'. The model found that at 35C (95F) and 40 per cent relative humidity, a droplet can travel about eight feet (2.4m). However, at 5C (41F) and 80 per cent humidity, a droplet can travel up to 12 feet (3.6m) - much further than social distancing lengths. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture the air can normally 'hold' at that temperature. The paper, published in the journal Physics of Fluids in June, said: 'Relative humidity strongly affects the droplet lifetime compared to temperature. 'We find that the respiratory droplets... decrease with ambient temperature and increase with relative humidity.' Covid-19 thrives in low humidity Low humidity causes an increase in community transmission of Covid-19, Sydney University researchers claimed yesterday. Epidemiologist Professor Michael Ward said: 'When the humidity is lower, the air is drier and it makes the aerosols smaller. 'When you sneeze and cough those smaller infectious aerosols can stay suspended in the air for longer. That increases the exposure for other people.' He added: 'When the air is humid and the aerosols are larger and heavier, they fall and hit surfaces quicker.' DO OTHER STUDIES SHOW UV LIGHT CAN KILL THE VIRUS OUTSIDE THE BODY? It has long been known that UV light has a sterilizing effect on surfaces because the radiation damages the genetic material of viruses and their ability to replicate. Most viruses - such as SARS-CoV-2 - are covered with a thin membrane that is easily broken apart by UV rays. A Columbia University study published in Scientific Reports two years ago showed the light can kill more than 95 per cent of pathogens like the coronavirus. Other research, including one study by the US FDA, has shown it can work against similar coronaviruses, such as SARS. But it was UVC - a third type of ray that humans rarely encounter from the sun due to it being filtered out in the ozone layer - that worked. Germicidal UVC light is used in hospitals in the US as well as ones run by the NHS in the UK to clean rooms and equipment. China adopted UVC in its fight against coronavirus, deploying it on buses and using robots to clean floors in hospital with the rays. For the avoidance of doubt, using UV light on your hands is dangerous: it can lead to skin cancer. Advertisement The study assumed that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, meaning it can linger in the air for long periods of time and doesn't just fall to the ground. Although health officials haven't confirmed SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, mounting evidence suggests it is. But the scientific consensus is that respiratory droplets which are large and fall to the floor due to gravity are the main way Covid-19 spreads. Reduced humidity in several different regions of Sydney was consistently linked to an increase in cases, according to the study published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. The same link was not discovered for other weather factors rainfall, temperature or wind. With just a one per cent drop in relative humidity, there may be an increase of eight per cent of Covid-19 cases, the study found. With a ten per cent drop, cases are expected to rise two-fold. The study reaffirmed previous research by the same team conducted in July, which also focused on the Greater Sydney region. 'This second study adds to a growing body of evidence that humidity is a key factor in the spread of Covid-19,' Professor Ward said. Dry air may make it easier for Covid-19 to infect airways Researchers from King's College London said dry air, caused by low humidity, could make it easier for Covid-19 to infect the airways. Data from 6,914 patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in Croatia, Spain, Italy, Finland, Poland, Germany, the UK and China was analysed. It was mapped against local temperature and estimated indoor humidity. Researchers found that severe outcomes being taken to hospital, admittance to ICU or the need for ventilation dropped in most European countries over the course of the pandemic, covering the transition from winter to early summer. There was roughly a 15 per cent drop in mortality for every one degree Celsius rise in temperature, the researchers said. SPENDING TIME OUTDOORS LESSENS RISK OF CATCHING COVID-19 Scientists say people are better off spending more time outdoors than indoors to avoid catching Covid-19 because the sunlight and fresh air helps to destroy the virus. Professor Alan Penn, a member of SAGE, the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, reassured that those who flock to the parks that the risk of catching the virus outside is lower. He said in May: 'The science suggests that being outside in sunlight, with good ventilation, are both highly protective against transmission of the virus.' Other scientists say they 'totally agree' with Professor Penn and advocate spending more time outdoors, where the virus is less likely to survive. People are more likely to catch the infection in enclosed spaces with other people, where ventilation is poor and strangers touch the same surfaces regularly. Viruses may be less able to survive on surfaces outside in sunlight, as UV damages their genetic material, meaning people are less likely to pick them up, scientists say. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: 'The big thing about being outdoors is actually the droplets will be blown away quite quickly usually if there is a breeze. 'When you are talking to people outdoors, you should try to stand where the wind is moving across you and not towards someone else. 'The evidence [for Covid-19] is that aerosols are not that important anyway. But they tend to get inactivated quite quickly in sunlight so they wouldn't stay around for very long.' Keith Neal, an emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases, University of Nottingham, explained that sunlight damages DNA and RNA in the virus, which would kill it. 'How quickly in affects Covid-19 I have not seen any work, but viruses left on surfaces outside will dry out and be damaged by UV light in sunlight,' he told MailOnline. He added: 'I totally agree that outside is very much safer than inside - you can be further apart and conditions outside are less conducive to virus survival than inside. 'I would not have used the wording protective against transmission but more on the lines very significantly lower risk of infection its the same thing really.' Advertisement But by contrast, the severity of symptoms and mortality rate remained constant in China during the first wave of the pandemic, which occurred solely throughout the winter. Therefore, the coronavirus may be more severe in colder months than warmer ones, the team concluded. Humidity tends be higher when the temperature is hotter. However, the researchers did not look at outside humidity. But they said dry indoor air may encourage its spread by drying out the protective mucus barrier within the nose and airways, making viral infection easier. Experts warn that their findings paint a grim picture for the colder weather, which is generally lower in humidity. Dr Gordan Lauc, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Zagreb and honorary visiting professor at King's College London, is senior author of the study, published as a pre-print on July 17. He said: 'Our findings point to a role for seasonality in the transmission and severity of Covid-19, and also argue for increased humidity and hydration as a way to combat the virus. 'This paints a grim picture for the next winter in Europe when more severe "winter" Covid-19 is expected to return something we are currently observing in the southern hemisphere.' High humidity can 'significantly' slow the spread of Covid-19 Researchers at Beihang and Singhua universities in China suggested rising temperatures and humidity 'significantly' reduced the spread of Covid-19. Rising temperatures and humidity levels will likely slow the spread of coronavirus around the globe, the study, which looked at the weather of 100 Chinese cities, suggested. 'High temperature and high relative humidity significantly reduce the transmission of Covid-19, the study authors wrote. They tracked the estimated number of transmissions, temperatures and humidities in cities prior to January 24, when lockdowns went into place and Lunar New Year celebrations were cancelled. The R rate a number that measures the average number of people each person with coronavirus infects falls as temperatures and humidity rise, the authors of the study, which does not appear to have been published in a journal, said in March. 'One degree Celsius increase in temperature and one percent increase in relative humidity lower R by 0.0383 and 0.0224, respectively,' they wrote. Using their equation, if the temperature increased by 15C, or 27F, an infected person would spread coronavirus to about 0.6 fewer people. And if relative humidity increased by 10 per cent, an infected person would spread the virus to 0.2 fewer people, which, over a population, could make a difference. The scientists also pointed out that in the early dates of the outbreaks, countries with relatively lower air temperature and lower humidity, like Korea, Japan and Iran, saw severe outbreaks. But warmer and more humid countries, like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, did not. 'One degree Celsius increase in temperature and one percent increase in relative humidity lower R by 0.0383 and 0.0224, respectively,' researchers said Countries with outbreaks had low humidity, on average Areas with severe Covid-19 outbreaks early in the pandemic all had similar ranges of cold temperatures and relatively low humidity, a study found. Researchers at University of Maryland School of Medicine found that early affected areas were on a similar band of northern latitude, such as Wuhan and Daegu in Asia; Milan and Paris in Europe; and Seattle in the US. Also related among these cities were ranges of cold temperatures and relatively low humidity from January through March. The cities that had substantial spread (orange circles) also had low levels of specific humidity and cold temperatures This seems to imply that the virus behaves similarly to seasonal respiratory viruses such as the flu, peaking in cold weather and dying out in warmer ones. Eight cities with 'substantial' spread of the virus Daegu, South Korea; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; Paris, France; Qom, Iran; Seattle, USA; Tokyo, Japan; and Wuhan, China were compared to 42 cities that were affected little to none by the virus. 'Substantial' transmission was defined as a country reporting at least 10 deaths from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, by March 10. From November 2019 to March 2020, the eight cities that had substantial spread were all on a narrow band of latitudes between 30 N and 50 N. However, Covid-19 was unsuccessful in spreading as widely among cities north of this band such as in Moscow, Russia, and south such as in Bangkok, Thailand, where temperatures and humidity changed. The cities also had similar low amounts of specific humidity (Q), or how much water vapor is in a unit of moist air in grams per kilograms, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open on June 11. 'All the temperatures for the eight locations being in such a close range was a little surprising,' Dr Mohammad Sajadi, an associate professor at the Institute of Human Virology, told DailyMail.com. 'I was not expecting the temperatures to be so close and the humidity ranges to be so close.' The team says the findings show why the risk of community spread affected areas such as Central Asia, the Caucuses, Eastern and Central Europe, the UK, the northeastern and midwestern US, and British Columbia in the winter. Aside from prolonging the life of the virus, cold temperatures and low humidity could also affect how quickly it breeds in the nasal cavity and impaired immunity, allowing the virus to spread and move throughout the body. 'We think that the virus is behaving like a seasonal respiratory virus,' said Sajadi. 'What this means is that the virus has temperature and humidity requirements that aid in its transmission.' Low temperatures puts Central Asia, the Caucuses, Eastern and Central Europe, the UK, the northeastern and midwestern US, and British Columbia (all in green band) at the highest risk for spread in winter and early spring An outbreak of COVID-19 at Jacksonville Correctional Center has continued to grow since it first was reported Aug. 10, even as state agencies say they have activated plans to address the outbreak. Morgan County Health Department announced Monday that another 33 prisoners and two staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. Another staff member was confirmed positive on Tuesday. Those numbers bring the total at the prison to 93 prisoners and 12 staff members who have tested positive, according to the health department. When the outbreak first was reported, Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said they were working with the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide infection control guidance and offer technical assistance. Lindsey Hess, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections, said Jacksonville Correctional Center has activated its Incident Command Center to help deal with the outbreak. Using FEMAs National Incident Command System model, the facility is setting and achieving aggressive objectives to respond to COVID-19, Hess said. Those who have tested positive are being quarantined, either at home or within the facility. Prisoners who develop any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 are assumed to be at high risk for the disease and are isolated and tested, Hess said. To manage outbreaks, the department utilizes point prevalence testing in asymptomatic and potentially exposed offenders, Hess said. Additionally, exposed asymptomatic offenders are quarantined and monitored for symptoms. All correctional facilities were placed under administrative quarantine on March 20 to restrict movement. Facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are placed under medical quarantine, Hess said. When a facility is placed on medical quarantine, a meeting between facility leadership, the health services office, the mental health services office and operations is held to determine how services including medical care, mental health care, showers and phone access can safely be provided to prisoners. The Department of Corrections is taking extra precautions with staff members including screenings with temperature checks. Staffers also must wear personal protective equipment. Protective equipment is provided to all Department of Corrections staff statewide, with masks and gloves provided to staff as they enter the facility, Hess said. Staff members who are at higher risk of exposure are required to wear more personal protective equipment. All correctional facilities and transport vehicles are being routinely cleaned and disinfected, Hess said. Staff and prisoners also are encouraged to practice good health habits, such as washing their hands. COVID-19 outbreaks in jails and prisons have been cause for concern for public health experts. Officials say the virus can spread quickly within prisons and jails, and COVID-19 also could spread to communities near correctional facilities as a result. With the current power shortage in the state of California, Los Angeles is already considering cutting the supply of three or more house that has violated the regulations against social gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Los Angeles Times, one of the houses is a home in Hollywood that is linked to a social media personality. The said social media star allegedly has a birthday party and invited many guests. At least 13 homes have also received citations from the LAPD over the weekend for holding noisy gatherings. The hosts were warned that their power and water utilities could be cut if the parties continue. Moreover, the police added that one of the hosts who received the citation for holding a party at the city's Central Division refused to believe the initial warning and on the same night received a follow-up notice. The police also stated that are unable to provide the address of the violator but assured that it has been forwarded to the office of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti for a possible shutdown of utilities. Aside from this, the address of the home where TikTok star Bryce Hall allegedly threw a birthday bash was also forwarded to the Mayor's office. Bryce's party received scrutiny in social media after videos showing guests not abiding by social distancing protocols and not wearing masks surfaced. The police also added that the home has also been a venue for several other parties. Meanwhile, the hosts of the other 11 house parties have complied with the warning of the police and dispersed their guests immediately. The addresses of the 11 homes were not forwarded to the mayor but were added to the list of homes that have already received initial warning. The said homes will also be subject to utility shutdown if the gatherings continue. Read also: Experts Urge People to Get Flu Shot, Fear a Possible 'Twindemic' as Flu Season Approaches Social gatherings involving individuals who stay in different households have been banned in LA under its coronavirus health order. According to the New York Post, earlier this month, Garcetti has already announced that power and water supplies of homes hosting the parties could face possible cut-off. The announcement was made after a house party resulted in a fatal shooting on August 3. Moreover, the police stated that additional citations have been issued to party hosts since the announcement was made. However, they did not have the complete count of the total homes that have been cited. No homes in the city have been cut-off of their power and water supply as of Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, people have expressed their concerns about the role that the police have to play in the shutdown of parties. The said criticisms were answered by Los Angeles Police Chief Michel, stating that the police are working together with health officials regarding the issue of gatherings and parties amid the pandemic. It has not also been clear if the possible shut down of power supplies in the said houses can be linked to the current power shortage in California, which has resulted in a "flex alert" of possible blackouts in the state in the following days. Related article: California ISO Retracts Previous Statement: No More Threat of Rotating Blackouts in California - For Now @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A scene inside Benjamin Franklin High School, where a major construction project was the site of blunders that cost the Philadelphia School District $50 million, endangered students' and staff's health, and exposed deep problems within the district. An Inspector General's report released Wednesday detailed the problems with the project. Read more The Philadelphia School District ignored warning signs, rushed crucial work, wasted money, and endangered students and staff on a disastrous $50 million construction project aimed at co-locating Benjamin Franklin High School and Science Leadership Academy, the districts inspector general has found. There were critical missteps in the planning, design, and construction stages of the project that resulted in significant environmental and health concerns and ultimately the displacement of nearly 1,000 students, the inspector general said in a report issued Wednesday. The findings echo an Inquirer investigation of the project. READ MORE: Missed asbestos, dangerous dust: How Philadelphias Ben Franklin H.S. project went wrong The 124-page report lays out in blistering detail layers of missteps that doomed the project, swelled its cost to five times the original budget, and landed staff and students in the hospital. But the mistakes should have been no surprise to district higher-ups, it said. Teachers, principals, district staff, and contractors voiced concerns throughout the project. While officials insisted that the complicated and environmentally sensitive project be completed on an impossible timeline, special education students at Ben Franklin were unnerved by the unrelenting sound of sledgehammers and the rapid-fire sound of drilling. School staff said they had headaches and complained of a gnawing in your head. The noise persisted unabated, sometimes with construction workers blaring music over the din of their power tools as students took critical exams. Students and staff talked about clouds of concrete dust so thick they could taste it. One staffer described a meteor shower of debris coming from the classroom ceiling. Others likened conditions to being in a war area or a building fire. In one month alone March 2019 four Ben Franklin staffers became severely sick. And by fall of 2019, as the construction charged ahead, more students and staff at Ben Franklin and at Science Leadership Academy grew ill. Students suffered asthma flareups, burning eyes and throats, and in one case, a persistent cough that caused several hours of vomiting. Nevertheless, the warnings went largely unheard or unappreciated, the report found. Joyce Wilkerson, the school board president, on Wednesday called the issues exposed in the report deeply problematic. The board had called for the probe. On asbestos, the report mirrors findings detailed by The Inquirer in October 2019 highlighting how the districts environmental staff and outside firms failed to flag asbestos material inside the building prior to construction work. As a result, workers inadvertently disturbed asbestos and spread the carcinogen while students and staff were in the building. Reading through the report, Ben Franklin parent Gil Gonzalez felt his anger rising. Whats upsetting is that people knew, and they allowed our kids to get exposed to asbestos and these bad conditions they knew, said Gonzalez, whose son is about to start his sophomore year at the school. Do I believe that anything is going to change. No. Everything is mismanaged. Issues began when the School Reform Commission, the districts former governing body, ordered officials to terminate the Center City lease of SLA, one of the districts flagship magnet schools, in 2017. The rent on the schools Arch Street building was expensive, and officials wanted SLA into underused space inside a Philadelphia school as soon as possible. READ MORE: How race, class, and privilege shape the asbestos crisis at two Philly high schools As a result, the bulk of the project on Ben Franklins North Broad Street campus happened while students and staff were inside the building, exposing them to dust, asbestos, and generally deplorable conditions that persisted until public outcry forced the district to remove students from the building shortly after the 2019-20 school year began. But while SLA students were inside the building under construction for weeks, Benjamin Franklin students endured the conditions for more than a year. At one point, the districts construction manager sent an urgent reminder to her staff that contractors must prevent dust, debris, and odors while working in occupied areas of the school and work should halt during air sampling to check for asbestos contamination. I continually field questions daily in an attempt to defend the work we do, she wrote. I will not continue to tolerate actions from the construction unit that feeds into this negative pressure. She added: If you are unaware of the negative attention that we have been receiving, please search Toxic Schools on philly.com. Each of you should be very aware of this information. It became quickly apparent that the district had no backup plan in place, the report said, and that it moved forward despite deep concerns from the people on the ground and failed to hold contractors accountable despite an intolerable amount of dust and debris in the building. For instance, in March 2019, demolition work on the first floor created a big dust storm, and contractors faced no consequences, even after two Ben Franklin staff members were taken to the hospital in ambulances. Asked by an investigator why no violation notices were issued to any contractor, the districts construction manager acknowledged that it should have been, according to the report. The district has struggled to retain employees in its operations and environmental departments as it grapples with widespread infrastructure and environmental issues, which have echoed in projects around the district. If the district does not shift to better valuing and retaining employees in these departments, it will have catastrophic long-term consequences, the inspector general said, saying the districts consultant-based patchwork may be financially advantageous but not sustainable. Wilkerson who leads the school board, the successor to the SRC, said the board deeply regrets the fallout from this project, particularly the experience of the Ben Franklin students. Please know the board is committed to learning from this experience, Wilkerson said at a news conference. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. also expressed regret about the way the project was handled. He said he knows the public is wary given the school systems past performance. Were going to have to prove to individuals that we can do better with this work and build trust, Hite said. Hite said this was a teachable moment, adding that the district has already put in place protocols to prevent any future catastrophes beefing up the districts environmental staff and adding more asbestos abatement firms to its roster, hiring an outside construction manager, making sure standards for indoor quality are monitored and met, and having a backup plan for jobs that go awry, including having dedicated swing spaces to relocate children so learning is not interrupted. That the project was rife with errors did not surprise Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. He heard about issues on the project from his staff and his members, then saw a construction zone when he toured the school last summer. And though district leadership said the Ben Franklin/SLA mess will improve their practice going forward, Jordan and others are skeptical, a skepticism that is likely to spill over into the coming school year as the district prepares to bring students back to buildings at some point. This is a pattern, said Jordan. People dont believe the buildings are safe. This doesnt inspire confidence. Robin Roberts, a member of Parents United for Public Education, said she was seething after digesting the report, angry at both the financial and human cost of the districts missteps. Her group had been part of a coalition that raised issues about environmental issues at Ben Franklin and elsewhere, even meeting with district officials about the matter. We told them, Theres oversight needed, and its not there, said Roberts. What we got is, We have it under control. Keith Pretlow, Ben Franklins culinary teacher, said the report was hard to read at times, and laments the fact that his students will never get back the year-plus they spent in hazardous conditions. But he said he accepts leaders apologies and hopes they do better. They have to listen to students, teachers, people in the building, not just people at the districts headquarters. I hope they learned something very valuable. An urgent warning has been issued after a woman flew from Brisbane to Sydney before later testing positive to coronavirus after arriving in Japan. Japanese authorities contacted Queensland Health on Wednesday to confirm the woman returned a positive reading, despite being asymptomatic when she arrived. She travelled on Virgin flight VA962 and visited The Jam Pantry cafe in Greenslopes, Brisbane the day before her August 17 flight. Six people who she came into contact with have been instructed to self-isolate as authorities scramble to trace any other potential contacts. The woman first arrived in Sydney in mid-July and was quarantined for two weeks in mandatory hotel isolation as per federal rules for returned international travellers. The woman returned a positive test in Japan despite being asymptomatic (pictured, airline passengers in Sydney speak with police after a flight from coronavirus-stricken Melbourne) The woman travelled on Virgin flight VA962 and visited The Jam Pantry cafe in Greenslopes, Brisbane the day before her August 17 flight (pictured, a Virgin plane) During her stay in isolation, the woman tested negative to COVID-19 twice, sparking concerns the testing kits could be delivering false results. Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young told the public on Wednesday night contact tracing was underway. She said appropriate action and hygiene precautions had been undertaken at all necessary locations. 'The woman arrived in Australia in mid-July and was in hotel quarantine in Sydney for two weeks prior to coming to Brisbane. While in quarantine, she returned two negative test results,' Dr Young said. 'Because she quarantined in Sydney and travelled straight to Brisbane from hotel quarantine, she could go about her normal life in Brisbane. Queensland authorities are working alongside Japanese contact tracers (pictured, pedestrians walking the streets with face masks in Japan on Wednesday) During her stay in Sydney hotel isolation, the woman tested negative to COVID-19 twice (pictured, people walk in front of the Harbour Bridge on Wednesday) Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has closed the state's borders 'However, on her arrival to Japan on 18 August, she was asymptomatic but returned a positive COVID-19 result.' Queensland authorities are working alongside Japanese contact tracers to determine how the woman may have contracted the virus, and when. 'We have been in touch with six close contacts in Brisbane identified by the woman. These people have been tested and are now in quarantine,' Dr Young said. Any person who was on the same flight as the woman has been urged to monitor their health and keep alert for COVID-19 symptoms. People are urged to seek immediate testing if symptoms occur. 'Any individuals who dined in at The Jam Pantry cafe at Greenslopes on Sunday, 16 August, 2020 from 9.45am to 11am will be contacted by the local Public Health Unit,' Queensland Health said in a statement. 'Anyone else who dined at the cafe outside these hours on that day should come forward for testing if they develop any COVID-19 symptoms.' A spokesman for the Jam Pantry Cafe released a statement citing 'these crazy times' after the announcement the infected woman dined there. 'We are all in this together in these crazy times... The most important priority to us is the health and safety of our staff and patrons.' The cafe is closed on Thursday for a deep clean, and all staff will be tested for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure. 'We will also be ensuring that our staff are safe and healthy before returning back to work,' the statement read. The woman first arrived in Sydney in mid-July and was quarantined for two weeks in mandatory hotel isolation (pictured, people walk near the Opera House on Wednesday) Queensland has only recorded 1,092 cases since the pandemic began and there are only six active cases in the state. One new case was diagnosed on Wednesday - a man in his 40s currently in hotel quarantine after returning from Papua New Guinea. 'We have absolutely no concerns about that case,' Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. There has been 'no evidence' of community transmission in the Sunshine State for 30 days, she previously revealed. There was a health scare back in July after three girls lied on their border passes to enter Queensland after travelling to coronavirus-stricken Victoria. Upon returning to Queensland, two of the young women tested positive for coronavirus. Contact tracing linked them to at least 11 venues, sparking fears the women may have single-handedly started a second wave of COVID-19 in the state. On May 28, during a press conference after the National Peoples Congress, Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, stated that there are still some 600 million people whose monthly income is barely 1,000 RMB ($US145). Its not even enough to rent a room in mid-sized Chinese cities. This comment about the impoverished existence of more than a third of the countrys population provides a glimpse into the staggering level of social inequality and the harsh living conditions faced by workers. While almost half of its population earns less than $145 a month, China recorded 373 billionaires in 2020, the second highest figure in the world. There is also a significant upper middle class. China is the largest market for all Western luxury brands, accounting for 33 percent of the global market in 2018. Lis comments were in response to a question raised by a journalist from Peoples Daily, an official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. People near tibet province. (Image Credit: Flickr user 43423301N07) The journalist pointed out that 2020 was originally planned as the deadline to win the battle against povertya campaign to lift 70 million people out of poverty launched by the government in October 2015. The reporter then asked if that will still be fulfilled this year, given the huge declines in household incomes of many due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Li acknowledged that before Covid-19 struck, there were some five million people living below the poverty line, and because of the disease, some may have fallen back to poverty. But he then declared that the government [has] confidence that we are going to ensure the essential needs of our people and achieve our target. However, as his own figures made clear, the bright picture painted by Li of completely eradicating poverty by the end of this year has nothing to do with the social reality facing people in China. The very austere measure of absolute poverty excludes hundreds of millions who are struggling to survive on very low monthly incomes. According to the National Bureau of Statistics in China, as of 2018, the rural population was about 564 million, and their average annual disposable income was just 14,617 RMB ($US2,090), or about 1,218 RMB ($174) a month. In poverty-stricken areas in the countryside, the average drops to about $138 every month. So the rural population constitutes a large portion in the 600 million people referred to by Li whose monthly income is below $145. On top of low wages, job opportunities in the countryside are in short supply. Even though the official unemployment rate in rural China is not published, ethnographic studies have shown that there are few factories or companies around most villages. Those that exist are only able to employ a few handfuls of people. The low wages and scarce work opportunities in the countryside are one of the major factors contributing to the huge population of migrant workers in China who seek higher-paid jobs in the cities to support their families in the countryside. In 2019, there were 174.25 million rural migrant workers in China, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. However, while the average monthly income for migrant workers was about three times higher than in the countryside, living in the cities is still a struggle. Even the official average monthly income does not reflect the actual income of migrant workers. A study by the International Labour Office explained that economic inequality among migrant workers is a lot higher than among the general urban population, so a large portion of migrant workers earn significantly less than the reported average. Migrant workers experience great job insecurity, changing jobs every one or two years on average. Many work without a written contract, which makes it extremely hard for them to get compensation when facing wage arrears and work injuries. The majority work overtime on a daily basis and on weekends as well, with, at most, two or three days off every month. Without overtime, they do not earn enough to cover their living expenses in the cities, let alone to send money back home. Factory managements use the threat of taking away overtime to discipline militant workers who express discontent over wages and working conditions. Urban living costs are high, especially in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen where a large portion of migrant workers live. A 2010 ethnographic study calculated that the entire annual average income of a migrant worker would not be enough to buy even 1 square-metre of an apartment on the periphery of Beijing. During the past decade, the average housing price in Beijing has doubled. To reduce rental costs, most migrant workers live in shantytowns, or villages within cities, that are crowded and whose infrastructure is usually substandard. The average living space is only a few square metres per person. Most own little or no furniture, and have to share public bathrooms with residents of an entire floor or building. Some choose to live in factory dorms, where they usually share a room with many others, have virtually no private space, and have limited access to essentials like hot shower water. Migrant workers have very limited or no access to most social services in the cities like education and pensions. In 2017, according to the Ministry of Education, there are 15.5 million left-behind children in China, whose parents work in the cities throughout the year and leave them in the countryside because schools in the cities either have very limited admissions for non-local students, or require a large extra-tuition payment. For the workers themselves, a study by Wuhan University shows that less than 22 percent are covered by the basic old-age pension schemes in the cities where they live. The plight facing migrant workers is shared by working class youth and many urban workers: low wages, unemployment, high living costs, mortgage, and poor access to high quality education and health care. A survey conducted by the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) in 2019 shows that 56.5 percent of urban households are burdened by debt, and 75.9 percent of the debts are from house mortgages. According to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) study, between 2010 and 2016, the share of debt held by highly indebted householdswith a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio above 4increased from around a quarter to almost half. Among low-income households, the DTI ratio has increased to almost 6. The study concluded that these conditions will make low-income groups most vulnerable to adverse income shocks. The COVID-19 pandemic is exactly such a shock. It has not only intensified the debt crisis of many families but rendered the living conditions of the working class ever more precarious. The job market is contracting. This years college graduates, and rural migrant workers who have finally made their way back to the cities, are confronting unemployment. There are many reports of severe wage cuts and refusals to pay compensation to replace salaries lost during the months of lockdown. While the vast majority of people struggle to get a decent wage, housing, social services, and education, there is a distinctively different reality for the super-rich in China. China is now one of the most socially unequal countries, with a Gini co-efficient of 0.465 in 2019. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the annual average disposable income for the top 20 percent of the population is 70,639.5 RMB ($10,091), almost 11 times higher than that of the bottom 20 percent, and twice than that of the next 20 immediately below them. The PBOC survey referred to previously shows that among urban populations, the assets of the top 20 percent household constitute 47.5 percent of total assets, while the bottom 20 percent own only 2.6 percent. Prime Minister Lis concern for the hundreds of millions on low incomes is as meaningless as the governments battle against poverty campaign. The source of the enormous social inequality is the opening up of the country in the 1980s as a cheap labor platform for foreign investment by the Chinese Communist Party as it overturned the gains of the 1949 Revolution and restored capitalism. It is the unhindered exploitation of workers that has enriched the resultant layer of parasitic billionaires and super-rich in China, as well as capitalists around the world. The following excerpt is from Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing by Eric Butow, Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, Amanda Robinson and Mike Allton, available August 25 via Entrepreneur Press. Pre-order now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books. The most popular and talked-about social network in 2020 and perhaps the second-most controversial behind Facebook is TikTok. Beijing-based ByteDance Technology Co. bought lip-syncing app Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with its own lip-syncing app in 2018 to create TikTok. (TikTok is known as Douyin in China.) Both TikTok and Musical.ly did much the same thing: allow users to make 15-second lip-synced music videos, add filters to make them more amusing and colorful, and then send them to fellow users. But TikTok rules the shortform world. ByteDance has continually upgraded the TikTok service, and its efforts are paying offit now has 500 million monthly online users. The MediaKix website has some more interesting statistics about TikToks rapid rise: People downloaded the TikTok app more than 660,730 million times in 2019. Only 26.5 million of the 500 million monthly online users come from the United States. The country with the most TikTok users is in India, which has 24 percent of all TikTok users. Though ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, TikTok isnt available in China. The company still sells its original app there: Douyin. Sixty-six percent of TikToks users are under 30 years old. Related: 3 Kinds of Social Media Marketing You Shouldn't Ignore So when would you use TikTok to promote your business? If you want to attract young people, consider creating videos on TikTok in communities that dovetail with what your business offers. Whats more, if you market your business overseas, particularly in South Asia, TikTok should be on your list of social media networks to review as you create your companys social media strategy. Here are five ways you can harness the power of TikTok: 1. Creating Video TikTok allows users to select from a wide variety of background music. Once you choose your music, you can use your smartphone camera to record yourself dancing and/or lip-syncing to the music. Once you finish capturing the video, you can edit it with a variety of filters, such as one that allows them to change the speed of the video. 2. Sharing Video When youre done editing, you can share it with other TikTok users or post it on YouTube and Facebook. TikTok is similar to those other two social networks in that you can set your TikTok profile to private and share your videos only with your friends. 3. Find Your Community Whats more, TikTok has a variety of theme-based communities that you can search for. When you find some, view some videos in the community to learn what types of videos are popular before you record and post yours. 4. Pay Attention to Reactions After you post your video, the users you share it with can use TikToks react feature, which shows them reacting to your video in a small window in front of your video. That feature is an effective way to learn who likes your video within the community and/or within your group of TikTok friends. 5. Create Duets and Challenges Two of the most popular features in TikTok are creating duets and challenges. A duet is a video that is combined with another video so both videos can be watched at the same time. Someone can do this with your video and vice versa. If another user has the Duet feature turned off, then you cant add the video into your own duet. (You can also turn this feature off in your own profile or only allow friends to create Duet videos.) You can also participate in a challenge, where one user will post a video about a topic and challenge others to post videos about that same topic. The One37pm website published a list of the best TikTok challenges in 2019; one example included showing off videos of a users best artwork and a glimpse into their artistic process. This challenge created an atmosphere of creativity and community. Related: TikTok Bans Deepfakes, Expands Fact-Checking to Fight Election Misinformation Data-Storage Investigations All that said, TikTok has its apparent safety issues. In mid-2019, the UK began investigating how TikTok collected and used childrens account data. This investigation came on the heels of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission fine of $5.7 million against TikTok in February 2019 for illegally collecting childrens personal information. In 2019, U.S. lawmakers in Congress expressed concerns that TikTok was censoring information, especially videos of the Hong Kong democracy protests, and sending user data to the Chinese government. These concerns led to a formal national security review by U.S. federal government agencies. The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy have also banned their personnel from using TikTok on government-owned phones because they consider it a security risk. For its part, ByteDance has pledged to cooperate fully with the U.S. government to assuage its concerns, but that promise was met with deep skepticism by Congress when the company refused to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2019. (Since UG to SMM went to print, there have been siginficant updates to the legal concerns surrounding TikTok and U.S.-China relations. You can read more about that here.) Related: According to His Tweets, Bill Gates Is Way More Stressed Out Than Elon Musk (Infographic) 5 Ways to Step into TikTok What You Need to Know About the LinkedIn Stories Feature Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday adjourned hearing on the plea challenging the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan under the stringent National Security Act till August 24. The Gorakhpur doctor was arrested on January 29 for an alleged provocative speech against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Aligarh Muslim University in December last year. The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier extended his detention by three months till November 13. Under the NSA, people can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that they are a threat to the national security or law and order. The HC Bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Samit Gopal on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on the request of the counsel for the petitioner who sought time to file a reply to the affidavit submitted on behalf of the state government. Granting time to the petitioner's counsel, the court said it will dispose of the plea on August 24. The petition was filed by Khan's mother Nuzhat Parween. The court had earlier directed the Union and state governments to file a reply against the plea seeking the release of Khan. According to the plea, Khan was earlier granted bail by a court and he was supposed to be released. However, the NSA was imposed against him. Hence, his detention was illegal, the plea said. Khan is currently lodged in a Mathura jail. The doctor had earlier faced arrest following the deaths of over 60 children in a week at a government hospital in UP's Gorakhpur in 2017. About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Uttar Pradesh government. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Victims of California serial killer and rapist Joseph DeAngelo want him locked away in a distant maximum security prison with other inmates since he isnt going to spend the rest of his life on death row. But they may not hold much sway over where the 74-year-old former police officer known as the Golden State Killer is imprisoned after he is sentenced Friday. State corrections officials said they must make their own evaluation about where and how DeAngelo can be housed. Still, survivors and family members of victims have made recommendations during an ongoing sentencing hearing. You should be sent to the toughest prison in California. What a despicable piece of humanity you are, Dolly Kreis, the mother of rape victim Debbie Strauss, who died in 2016, told DeAngelo in court. Strauss sister, Sandy James, urged Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman to send DeAngelo to Californias notorious supermaximum Pelican Bay State Prison. He deserves the worst possible environment, where he can live in fear as his victims did, she said. Gay Hardwick, another rape victim, said in court Wednesday that she is certain DeAngelo is angling to be sent to some prison nursing home for old murdering psychopaths. In June, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges between 1975 and 1986. He also publicly admitted dozens more sexual assaults for which the statute of limitations had expired. After the hearing, where victims are describing how they were traumatized by DeAngelo, he will be sentenced to consecutive life sentences under a plea deal that will spare him the death penalty. Considerations involving his imprisonment include his medical and mental health needs, notoriety and safety concerns potentially key calculations given his age and headline-grabbing crimes. Prosecutors have been trying to counter DeAngelos courtroom appearance as a feeble man confined to a wheelchair, noting in a court filing that jail video shows him to be healthy and physically active. DeAngelo wont be going anywhere for a while because the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has indefinitely halted transfers from county jails to prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic. When he is finally transferred, he will automatically be held at maximum security level, as are all those convicted of first-degree murder. It will be up to prison officials to decide which prison and whether he must be housed in a protective custody unit. The court can make a recommendation, but ultimately, CDCR is the housing authority for the inmate population, department spokeswoman Terry Thornton said in an email. The department does consider these requests based on the nature of the case and out of respect for the victims as much as possible, but CDCR must follow its regulations to ensure safety and security within its institutions. The department has a special protective housing unit at Corcoran State Prison for high-profile inmates, though its not clear if DeAngelo would go there. Notable past residents have included Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. Pelican Bay has a maximum security unit, but most of what had been the supermax portion of the prison is now used for minimum security inmates under a court settlement. Many victims want the harshest possible punishment. I dont want to think of him breathing the same air and seeing the same sky as I do, Hardwick said in an interview. In court Wednesday, she described how he assaulted her in 1978. DeAngelo simply stared ahead with no response, as he has throughout the hearings. Except for his eyes, his face was hidden behind a mask designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Im certain that there is method in his madness and that his plan is to weaken himself in order to be assigned his life without parole sentence in some prison nursing home for old murdering psychopaths where he thinks he will be treated more like a patient than an inmate, Hardwick told the judge. When he spoke, her husband, who was bound by DeAngelo during the attack on his wife, spun what he acknowledged was an elaborate fantasy in which their assailant is repeatedly brutalized by other inmates in prison in a manner similar to his crimes. I would want Mr. DeAngelo to suffer for the rest of his life like the victims, the rape victims, have suffered the last 42 years, he said. Jane Carson-Sandler, who was raped in 1976 and also addressed the court on Wednesday, is among those asking for DeAngelo to be housed with other inmates and not in an isolation unit. lts going to cause him fear, because they dont like rapists that go after young girls, she said in an interview, so hed be looking over his shoulder. Carson-Sandler was accompanied by a woman she identified as DeAngelos one-time fiance, Bonnie, who broke off their engagement before his crime spree began. A woman named Bonnie Colwell appeared in the HBO documentary series Ill Be Gone in the Dark, based on Michelle McNamaras book of the same name. Investigators have said one rape victims recollection that her assailant shouted I hate you, Bonnie helped lead them to DeAngelo. When she saw who you really were, she was done with you,? Carson-Sandler told DeAngelo. I can see that I hate you, Bonnie was a result of your frustration, because you lost control over her. But she bears none, none of that responsibility for your violent choices, and we consider her one of us the sister-survivors of your malicious attacks. She decides to take it upon herself and come over to me and our group and ask, Where are your passes? Campbell said. Were like, What are you talking about? We dont even know who you are. Youre not a staff member. Impeached U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded a boycott of Goodyear, because the American tire and automotive gear company reportedly banned his red MAGA hats on factory floors. Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!). Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020 "Trump's tweet follows a report carried on the website of an NBC affiliate in Wisconsin about a Goodyear training session in Ohio about political attire," reports Reuters. Having a very normal one, isn't he. Ecuador says dozens of Chinese vessels have turned off tracking systems to prevent monitoring of their activities. Ecuadors armed forces said on Tuesday that dozens of vessels from a predominantly Chinese fishing fleet that is operating near the Galapagos Islands have turned off tracking systems to prevent monitoring of their activities. Of around 325 ships still fishing in the waters near the ecologically sensitive Galapagos, 149 have at some point in recent months cut off communications, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Darwin Jarrin told reporters. Some had also changed the vessels names to avoid supervision, he said. Galapagos park rangers make an August 2017 inspection of a Chinese flagship where 300 tonnes of marine species, several of them in danger of extinction, were found [File: Galapagos National Park via Associated Press] In this period, 149 ships have turned off their satellite systems we know the name of the ships, Jarrin said during a press conference. He declined to identify the vessels. The complaint comes as the South American nation is seeking to prevent unsustainable fishing off its coast while also avoiding a confrontation with China, its largest financier and a major market for its shrimp export business. A representative of the Chinese embassy declined to comment. Ecuador says the fleet has not entered its territorial waters. But environmentalists say this type of fishing allows vessels to take advantage of the abundant marine wildlife that travels in the waters between the Galapagos and the mainland. It is a breach [of protocol] on the high seas, because they do not want us to know what they are doing and the activities they carry out, said Defense Minister General Oswaldo Jarrin. He said turning off satellite equipment violated rules created by the local regional fisheries management organization (RFMO), a group of international agencies that promote sustainable fishing. The New Zealand-based South Pacific RFMO (or SPRFMO), which provides guidance on fishing practices in the area, said in an email that vessels are required to continuously communicate their position data. The fleet you are referring to is being monitored by the SPRFMO Secretariat, wrote Acting Executive Secretary Craig Loveridge. China has been forwarding the required information since midway through 2018. Ecuadorian Navy vessels surround a fishing boat after detecting a fishing fleet of mostly Chinese-flagged ships in an international corridor that borders the Galapagos Islands exclusive economic zone, in the Pacific Ocean, August 7, 2020 [File: Santiago Arcos [Reuters] Since 2017, the Chinese fishing fleet has arrived in the summer months on the outskirts of the Galapagos protected area, attracted by marine species such as the giant squid or the hammerhead shark, the latter of which is a threatened species. China has promised a zero tolerance policy toward illegal fishing, and it has authorised Ecuador to supervise the vessels. Tele/video-consults have been effective for patients requiring post-hospitalisation follow-up, especially if they are from outside the city; patients with chronic diseases that need periodic monitoring; and pregnant women who require routine checkup with minimum exposure. Vidyun Sahay, a Delhi-based techie, developed a severe eye infection during the lockdown. Not keen on visiting his ophthalmologist in the time of Covid-19, he called the doctor on phone. The consultation took place on a WhatsApp video call with the doctor later sending him a picture of the prescription. Sahay paid for the consult online. With people wary of going to hospital, and hospitals themselves stretched, online health consultation, or telemedicine, has gained currency in India in the last few months. Online portal Practo says its teleconsultation increased by 500 per cent between March 1 and May 31, 2020, and about 50 million Indians accessed healthcare online, with an average frequency of two online doctor consultations per month, per user. Apollo Hospitals, too, has registered a nearly threefold increase in telemedicine since March. The hospital chain expects that 40 per cent of its OPD consultations will move to the virtual platform within the next three years. And Manipal Group says already 12-15 per cent of its consultations happen through the telehealth route. Shobana Kamineni, executive vice-chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, says the group launched tele-consults two decades ago but both doctors and patients were hesitant because of lack of clear processes and laws against possible malpractices. But now, in the last two months alone, over 3,000 doctors have joined the Apollo 24'7 platform, and every day another 200-300 are coming on board, she adds. While the hospitals business dropped by around 10 per cent, the Apollo 24'7 business is growing at 14 per cent week by week, Kamineni says. Meanwhile, the Union health ministrys national telemedicine service too is providing around 5,000 consultations every day. The service operates via two platforms: eSanjeevani at the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres and eSanjeevaniOPD for patient-to-doctor consultations. The consultations are available across 40 departments, which include gynaecology, psychiatry, dermatology, ENT, ophthalmology, antiretroviral therapy for AIDS/HIV patients and for non-communicable disease. While there is an acute shortage of medical professionals - India has one doctor for every 1,445 people as against WHOs prescribed norm of one doctor for 1,000 people - the country faces a huge burden of patients suffering from non-communicable diseases who need to be treated without delay, says Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD and CEO, Fortis Healthcare. Tele/video-consults have been effective for patients requiring post-hospitalisation follow-up, especially if they are from outside the city; patients with chronic diseases that need periodic monitoring; and pregnant women who require routine checkup with minimum exposure. Online consults also reduce the risk of potential infection for doctors. "The growth of telemedicine will allow access to good and affordable care to Tier I and II cities and reduce the load on secondary and tertiary care hospitals," Raghuvanshi adds. While the technology for telemedicine and video consults has existed for many years now, the pandemic has necessitated the need for a suitable regulatory framework around it, says Ranjan Pai, chairman, Manipal Group. A lot of work remains to be done to familiarise people with this service and build confidence in its efficacy. Its potential to create access to quality clinical advice for underserved areas is immense. This is especially true in India, where much of the infrastructure and clinical talent is concentrated in a few cities. Data security will be of utmost importance and will need to be ensured. Chennai-based Cyber security Vittal Raj says during the Covid crisis, hospitals and health care entities have been amongst the preferred targets of hackers. Health data of a diverse country such as ours is always in hot demand for drug trials and related research and innovation, Raj says. So there is high potential for illegal trading of such data using covert digital channels. "India is yet to get its laws and standards that stipulate compliance for protecting patient health information. Photograph: Sunil Kataria/Reuters Nearly all of the major network news giants are launching new voter initiatives ahead of the 2020 election. Why it matters: Media companies have a long history of using their wide reach to promote voting efforts in the U.S. But ahead of this year's historic election, they are doubling down on those efforts to ensure that changes to voting procedures due to the pandemic don't dissuade voters from taking part. Driving the news: Rock the Vote has created an election center for WarnerMedia that allows employees and audiences to register to vote, check their voter registration status, and find out how to vote in their state, executives tell Axios. The center will also allow users to access registration and absentee ballot request deadlines, receive COVID-19 election updates and reminders, learn about volunteer opportunities, and get information about the documents needed before heading to the polls and casting a ballot. What they're saying: We recognize the vital importance of participating in the process of Democracy in the United States, so together with Rock the Vote, we want to empower and enable our employees and audiences to exercise their rights, said Dennis Williams, senior VP of corporate social responsibility at WarnerMedia. "WarnerMedia has a powerful platform to reach and provide millions of eligible voters with the information and tools they need to cast an informed ballot in 2020," said Rock the Vote President Carolyn DeWitt. The big picture: ViacomCBS's flagship youth brand MTV has long championed voter initiatives from the TV network side, including helping to launch Rock the Vote in 1990. This year, ViacomCBS has announced several voter initiatives, anchored mostly by MTV. It kicked off its biggest effort, "+1theVote," last November. Earlier this summer, ViacomCBS brands Comedy Central and MTV launched "Power the Polls," a national campaign to recruit younger, more diverse poll workers for the 2020 general election. MTV and Logo also announced a partnership with Trans Lifeline to support transgender voters in changing their government IDs ahead of the 2020 election. Other networks also announced new voter initiatives Monday. NBCUniversal announced the launch of "Plan Your Vote," an interactive tool that provides a state-by-state guide to voting this year. The tool was built and is powered by the NBC News Data Graphics team, with data and information supplied by the NBC News Decision Desk and politics team. NBC News is also launching a robust marketing campaign to encourage Americans to plan their vote. announced the launch of "Plan Your Vote," an interactive tool that provides a state-by-state guide to voting this year. The tool was built and is powered by the NBC News Data Graphics team, with data and information supplied by the NBC News Decision Desk and politics team. NBC News is also launching a robust marketing campaign to encourage Americans to plan their vote. ABC's flagship morning show "Good Morning America" published a state-by-state voter registration deadline guide on its website Monday. In July, ABC News launched an election map for ABCNews.com/ABC News app visitors to make their own state-by-state predictions. ABC News Digital will launch a new voter guide on how to vote this year, including a roundup of changes to voter rules and laws, next week. The Spanish-language TV networks have also been pushing new campaigns to help motivate and educate their audiences on voting. Telemundo, owned by NBCUniversal, announced in July a nationwide civic engagement campaign to inform and encourage the U.S. Hispanic community to participate in the upcoming elections. Telemundo and its TV stations will host national and local phone banks in partnership with national organizations to get out the vote, in addition to running PSAs and virtual community events about voting. owned by NBCUniversal, announced in July a nationwide civic engagement campaign to inform and encourage the U.S. Hispanic community to participate in the upcoming elections. Telemundo and its TV stations will host national and local phone banks in partnership with national organizations to get out the vote, in addition to running PSAs and virtual community events about voting. Univision in July launched "Vota Conmigo" ("Vote With Me"), a multi-platform campaign aimed at motivating eligible Hispanic citizens to register and vote. It will focus on digital voter registration tools and regional vote-by-mail options through a series of PSAs, virtual phone banks, town halls and special programming on Univisions TV and radio networks and digital properties. Be smart: Noticeably absent from the list of networks that have rolled out voter initiatives is Fox News. In October 2019, Fox rolled out a new election tagline, "Democracy 2020 Its in your Hands," which focuses on Americans and the choice they will be making in November, according to AdWeek. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 04:34:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Two Iraqi women were shot dead on Wednesday by unidentified gunmen in Iraq's southern city of Basra, a local security source said. The attack took place in the afternoon when gunmen opened fire from their assault rifles on a sport utility vehicle (SUV) carrying four women in a commercial street in Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attack resulted in the killing of Reham Yaqoub, a female doctor who works in Basra Hospital, and also a civil society activist who supports the anti-government protests in Iraq which demanded comprehensive reform, fight against corruption, better public services, and more job opportunities, the source said. The attack also resulted in the killing of another woman and the wounding of the two others in the vehicle, the source added. The attackers fled the scene before the arrival of the security forces, he said. Two days ago, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sacked the police chief of Basra province, as well as the head of the National Security Service, due to repeated security violations and assassinations in the province recently. On Friday, unknown gunmen assassinated a civil society activist Tahseen Ali with silenced weapons in Basra, according to the provincial police. Enditem ANN ARBOR, MI While the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted some of the publics attention away from concerns about PFAS, Ann Arbor is continuing to keep tabs on the fluorochemicals showing up in the citys drinking water. The city also is exploring new ways to remove the harmful chemicals at its water treatment plant. City Council voted unanimously this week to OK a new contract with Eurofins Eaton Analytical LLC to continue regular testing for PFAS in the water the city draws from the Huron River. The contract is expected to cost the city $34,700 annually and council has authorized the city administrator to renew it for up to four one-year periods. Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent and bioaccumulative, and there is mounting evidence for the human toxicity of many of these compounds. The city has been proactive in investigating and treating for PFAS since it was first detected in 2014, a city staff memo states. The city plans to mail about 10 to 20 water samples per month to the company for testing for the pollutants. The city has been regularly sending samples to contract labs for PFAS analysis since 2016, as it was discovered PFAS pollution in the Huron River is getting into the citys water. While the levels in Ann Arbors drinking water are under the states new limits, there are no standards in place at this time for three types of PFAS found in the citys treated water and officials acknowledge no testing is being done for many types of PFAS due to a lack of lab analytical ability. Michigan to adopt PFAS drinking water limits after new rules clear legislature PFAS chemicals are considered harmful at low levels and can increase the risk of kidney and testicular cancer, suppress the bodys immune system response and cause pregnancy complications and low birth weight. In the citys August water quality newsletter, Water Treatment Plant Manager Brian Steglitz discussed water research initiatives the city is undertaking. All of us are familiar with the rapid changes in the technology sector. It seems like the day after we purchase a new phone or a computer, they are out of date and new models are being advertised. Such advances in technology also are occurring in the water sector, he wrote. New analytical techniques are being developed that allow us to detect contaminants in drinking water at unprecedented low levels. It is not that long ago that a limit of one part per million (ppm) seemed unfathomable. One ppm would be equivalent to one second in 11.5 days. Today, technology allows us to detect at parts per billion (ppb), and some contaminants at parts per trillion (ppt). One ppt would be the equivalent of detecting the quantity of one drop of a substance in a volume equal to 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. These advances in analytical capabilities put pressure on water utilities, whose job it is to remove contaminants from water, Steglitz said, and now contaminants previously undetectable are showing up in water systems. However, the city of Ann Arbor has risen to the challenge. Rather than wait for others to develop technology to address these contaminants, we are partnering with several universities to explore opportunities to improve treatment processes and finished water quality, he wrote. In partnership with North Carolina State University, one of the citys research projects involves optimizing treatment processes to remove PFAS from source waters, Steglitz said. As city of Ann Arbor water customers are aware, PFAS waste from upstream industrial and municipal sources has contaminated the Huron River, which provides more than 80% of the citys source water, he wrote. Treatment modifications at the primary source, Tribar Industries, has reduced but not eliminated some of the PFAS, including some of those that are regulated in Michigan. However, there are thousands of PFAS chemicals in circulation, and only 24 are part of the state of Michigans testing protocol. Ann Arbor is interested in removing all PFAS from its source waters, not just those that are regulated or are part of the current testing protocol, Steglitz said. Current research at the citys water treatment plant involves evaluating different types of treatment that may be effective at removing a larger suite of PFAS chemicals, specifically those that are more difficult to remove, using conventional treatment processes, Steglitz said. The city currently uses granular activated carbon to remove PFAS, but there are many different types of carbon, some more effective than others, he wrote. Using a pilot filter system, the city has been able to evaluate six different types of carbon for their effectiveness and is also piloting four different ion exchange resins. Data from these studies will help to inform future decisions on how best to treat the citys water supply to achieve the best water quality possible for our customers. The city has been reporting PFAS test results via the city website. The latest results for July showed combined levels of five types of PFAS between 13.8 and 16.9 ppt in the citys treated drinking water thats delivered to customers: PFBA at 4.3-5.8 ppt (no state standard) PFPeA at 3.9-4.3 ppt (no state standard) PFBS at 1.5-1.8 ppt (under state limit) PFHxA at 2.5-3 ppt (under state limit) PFHpA at 1.6-2 ppt (no state standard) See month-by-month readings for Ann Arbors treated drinking water. The combined levels have fluctuated between a low of 10.3 ppt and a high of 21.3 ppt this year down from nearly 30 ppt last fall and a high of 88.1 ppt in October 2018. Local and state officials have focused attention on the issue in recent years and have tried to crack down on sources of PFAS pollution, such as a Wixom manufacturing plant that was sending concerns levels of PFAS to the Huron River. The amount of PFAS in the raw river water Ann Arbor draws to its water treatment plant from Barton Pond has fluctuated between a low of 15.6 ppt and a high of 39 ppt this year down from a high of nearly 120 ppt in 2018. Test results showed a combined level of 23 ppt for seven types of PFAS in the citys raw river water in July: PFBA at 5.8 ppt PFPeA at 3.9 ppt PFBS at 2.6 ppt PFHxA at 2.4 ppt PFHpA at 2.5 ppt PFOA at 1.9 ppt PFOS at 3.9 ppt See month-by-month readings for Ann Arbors raw river water. The city has installed carbon filters at the water plant that have been effective at removing PFOS and PFOA, but less effective at filtering out some other PFAS types. Michigan has set these regulatory limits for PFAS in drinking water: PFNA 6 ppt PFOA 8 ppt PFOS 16 ppt PFHxS 51 ppt GenX 370 ppt PFBS 420 ppt PFHxA 400,000 ppt MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Ann Arbor purchasing Lurie Terrace for $4M to preserve affordable senior housing Vintage photos offer look back at 1960s origins of Ann Arbors Lurie Terrace Ann Arbor keeping short leash on parking deal with University of Michigan Over 400 apply to get on Ann Arbors new affordable housing waitlist, but only 8 units available 2 hotels approved for former Michigan Inn site in Ann Arbor Five fires were believed to be set in Harrisburg early Wednesday morning, causing damage around the citys Allison Hill neighborhood. Dauphin County CrimeWatch says all of the fires took place in abandoned or vacant structures and are being investigated as arson. One person reportedly suffered minor injuries. Harrisburg Bureau of Fire posted on Facebook that five fires were burning as of 2 a.m. City crews were assisted by companies throughout Dauphin County. Several building fires were reported in Harrisburg early Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, including this one at Evergreen and Chestnut streets. Photo by Jenna Wise, PennLive.com Fires were reported at Christian and Mulberry streets; Evergreen Street; Chestnut Street; South 13th Street; and in the 1200 block of Market Street. The first call came in for a rubbish fire, but things exploded from there as reports of structure fires followed. These fires were all intentionally set make no mistake. All these fires were intentionally set, Harrisburg fire Chief Brian Enterline told CBS21. Harrisburg Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 717-558-6900. Tips can also be submitted via the CrimewWatch website. Several fires were reported in Harrisburg early Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, including this one at 14th and Zarker streets. Photo by Jenna Wise, PennLive.com More: Search for missing Dauphin County teen hits Appalachian Trail, police say Many attendees at Harrisburg town hall to discuss police advisory board say bill doesnt go far enough Womans body found in trash bag inside Pa. home as police continue looking for her husband Agra/Lucknow: A privately-operated bus with passengers on board was hijacked by recovery agents of a finance company in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Wednesday morning, officials said. The incident took place in the Malpura police station area when the bus was en route to Panna in Madhya Pradesh from Gurgaon in Haryana, according to police. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe. "Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance company had illegally seized the bus. The driver, staff and passengers are safe. The bus owner died yesterday (Tuesday) and his son is conducting the last rites," he said in a statement. However, the statement did not mention the whereabouts of the bus. Senior Superintendent of Police, Agra, Babloo Kumar said three people who got off the bus informed the police that representatives of the finance company had boarded the vehicle. "Preliminary information reveals the bus has been taken away by the people from a finance company which had financed the vehicle. A case has been registered and police teams formed to search for it," he said. He said it was a finance-related incident and the action of the men "audacious". The registration number of the sleeper bus is UP75M 3516 (Etawah in UP) but it is owned by a private operator in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, according to the police. Kumar said the episode started around 10:30 PM on Tuesday when the bus was near Raibha toll plaza at Dakshin bypass and eight-nine young men in two SUVs intercepted it. These men claimed they were from the finance company and asked the bus driver to get down but he ignored them and continued the ride, he said. "The men in SUVs then chased the bus and overtook it at Malpura area. They got into the bus and forcibly brought down the driver and the conductor. They also told the passengers to not scream and assured them that no harm will be done to them," he added. Later, four of these men boarded the bus and sped away on the Delhi-Kanpur highway, Kumar said. He said the driver and the conductor of the bus were taken in one of the SUVs and dropped off in Kuberpur area on the highway around 4 am after which they approached the local police for help. Police personnel, including the district police chief, then reached the spot and a search operation was launched to track the bus, he said. OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study by the Brookings Institution revealed 40.9 percent of mothers with children under 12 reported household food insecurity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also found that food insecurity in households with children under 18 has increased by about 130 percent from 2018 to today. That's why Tyson Foods has partnered with Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood hunger, to provide 10 million meals to families in 16 states across America. The recent 2.5-million-pound donation to the nonprofit is Tyson Food's single largest product gift in 2020, and one of its largest ever to date to a single organization. With Feed the Children's network of hundreds of community partners across the U.S., Tyson knew that their product would reach the families who had been most impacted. In fact, Feed the Children reports that much of the product is already on its way to food banks, churches and pantries to bring much-needed relief to struggling families with plans for the remaining product to be delivered by the end of August. Feed the Children and Tyson Foods have partnered for 18 years to provide protein items to families. However, during these extraordinary times where unemployment rates remain above 10 percent, the organizations are working even more closely together to ensure families who may have never had to worry about their livelihoods still have access to nutritious food. "As the largest food company in the U.S. we have a responsibility to provide the world with good food," said Debra Vernon, senior director, corporate social responsibility, Tyson Foods. "Partnering with Feed the Children on this large donation, and the many in the past and more to come in the future, is truly our pleasure. We know that with Feed the Children, protein is getting into the right hands to do the most good it can." As the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world and across the U.S., a second crisis followed food insecurity. Since March, Feed the Children has distributed nearly 35 million pounds of food and essentials to more than 600 community partners across America. Tyson Foods has also increased its hunger relief efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, donating more than 20 million pounds of protein to fight hunger since March 1. "We believe that no child should go to bed hungry, especially during this unsettling time around COVID-19," said Travis Arnold, president and CEO of Feed the Children. "We understand that many Americans are facing unexpected challenges and we are working diligently with our partners such as Tyson Foods to ensure that as needs rise, children and their families continue to receive the food and supplies they need." About Feed the Children At Feed the Children, we feed hungry kids. We envision a world where no child goes to bed hungry. In the U.S. and internationally, we are dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. We distribute product donations from corporate donors to local community partners, we provide support for teachers and students, and we mobilize resources quickly to aid recovery efforts when natural disasters strike. Internationally, we manage child-focused community development programs in 10 countries. We welcome partnerships because we know our work would not be possible without collaborative relationships. Visit feedthechildren.org for more information. About Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is one of the world's largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp, and State Fair. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it's available and raise the world's expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company has 141,000 team members. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. SOURCE Feed the Children (Natural News) Its burgers are everywhere, along with all the celebrity-driven hype. But the Impossible Foods corporation, which claims to be saving the planet by driving consumers towards plant-based meat alternatives, is just another money-making scam hatched by Bill Gates, the very same guy who is pushing toxic vaccines and depopulation as virtuous endeavors. Impossible Foods, as we have previously reported, is a classic case of monopoly capitalism. There is almost no risk involved because all of the moving pieces that would normally accompany a budding startup were pre-placed long before the company came into existence. The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic, it turns out, has been one of the biggest drivers for Impossible Foods rapid success. As meat-packing plants closed and farmers were forced to liquidate their livestock, consumers sought alternatives in the form of, you guessed it, fake, genetically engineered meat from Bill Gates. Suddenly, Impossible Foods burgers started showing up at Burger King and in the health food section at the grocery store. It was an instant success, not by chance, of course, but because Impossible Foods was built upon a monopoly model of capitalism. It seems like Impossible Foods can do the impossible, and has been built with the Monopoly model in mind, reports Zero Hedge. The Monopoly approach to Capitalism doesnt take risk as an entrepreneur does, they use predetermined outcomes to plan their business. If there is no demand for a product, they create it. Bill Gates is white privilege and crony capitalism on steroids Impossible Foods has also capitalized on the use of high-profile celebrities like Jay-Z and Mindy Kaling who sit at the cap table while promoting the product in which they own stock. They rake in the dough while you buy the goods, and hiding in the background is Bill Gates, whose portfolio has expanded to epic proportions ever since his plandemic really took off and started changing the world. For those who have not been following, Bill Gates has been killing it since COVID literally, Zero Hedge adds. His portfolio has ballooned to enormous sums. And while the mainstream media is covering how much his billionaire friends have made even Mother Jones failed to mention Gates name. By all appearances, it would seem as though the complicit mainstream media is trying its best to hide the many pots of gold in which Gates has his grubby, filthy hands. If the general public realized just how much cash Gates is siphoning from them at every angle, he would have been strung up from a light pole a long time ago. But because he is presented as a benevolent humanitarian who always somehow happens to be in just the right place at just the right time when it comes to making money, most people accept the narrative as is. And many of them, none the wiser as to what is really going on, continue to head on out to Burger King to save the planet, one fake GMO burger at a time. If we look deeper at how the Elite operate, their luck is actually intelligent planning, Zero Hedge further explains about the scam. Imagine, a business without risk. For example when Microsoft was a garage company, it was Bill Gates parents who helped him secure the lucrative contract with IBM, you know the one that made Microsoft the largest software company in the world. Predetermined outcomes drive Monopoly Capitalism. Its better than finance! Their business and political agenda is well thought out, well-funded, well researched by think tanks, corporate consultants, advisors, lawyers, and experts. For more related news about crony capitalists like Bill Gates, check out Rigged.news. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com Cheyenne, WY (82001) Today Snow showers this evening. Becoming clear later. Low 11F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.. Tonight Snow showers this evening. Becoming clear later. Low 11F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. The 15th National Assembly (NA) will consider a range of important issues that will be submitted to the legislature by the Government for consideration and decision at the next extraordinary meeting scheduled to take place in the coming time. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19 Trend: The White House has allocated $2 million from Womens Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative Fund to Azerbaijan, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the US told Trend. Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Bonnie Glick, the US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump announced $122 million in new activities and partnerships under the White House-led W-GDP Initiative, established by the US President Trump in February 2019. USAID in Azerbaijan will receive $2 million from the W-GDP Fund at USAID, which was established by the Initiative and is now in its second year, the embassy said. The support of $2 million by the W-GDP Fund will help USAID in Azerbaijan to increase the capacity of women-led and women-focused business and professional associations in Azerbaijan. These platforms play an important role for women in business to raise their voices, and provide collective access to training, resources, and markets. Funding by W-GDP will help women entrepreneurs and business owners access markets, financing, networks, mentorship and other resources that enable them to overcome the obstacles of starting and growing firms, noted the embassy. According to Ivanka Trump, the W-GDP Fund was created to source and scale the most innovative programs to advance womens economic empowerment allowing for leveraging the resources and expertise of the US government and the private sector so that activities have enduring, deep effects on the communities they reach. In 2020, Azerbaijan joined more than 60 other countries around the world advancing the W-GDP Initiative. W-GDP aims to enhance opportunities for women to participate meaningfully in the economy and advance both prosperity and national security. When women are economically empowered, they re-invest in their families and communities, producing a multiplier effect that spurs economic growth and contributes to global peace and stability, said the embassy. In February 2019, the White House established the Womens Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, the United States first whole-of-government approach to womens economic empowerment. W-GDP seeks to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025 by focusing on three pillars Women Prospering in the Workforce, Women Succeeding as Entrepreneurs and Women Enabled in the Economy. W-GDP leverages a new innovative fund, scaling private-public partnerships which address the three pillars. In its first year alone, W-GDP programs reached 12 million women across the globe. By Martin Quin Pollard BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) - At Ossie Bar and Restaurant in east Beijing, drinkers were philosophical about China's launch of an anti-dumping probe into Australian wine imports. There are worries that the investigation will result in tariffs being slugged on Australian wines, a measure that would increase the already relatively high price of the country's tipples in China. Some customers in Ossie's said they might think twice about purchasing Australian wine if the price goes up, but owner Steve Goodey, 64, said he's "not particularly" worried. "Australia's got a big tax on their wines already so it doesn't really matter," Goodey, who hails from Australia's Gold Coast, told Reuters. "People, if they want a bottle of wine and they like the wine, they dont mind paying a bit extra." Plus, wine has been falling out of favour recently, as more people opted for beers and spirits, he said. The coronaviruspandemic presented a bigger problem overall, hitting sales by around 70%, he said. China is the top market for Australian wine exports and is also Australia's largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth A$235 billion ($170 billion) last year. The announcement of the investigation by China's commerce ministry knocked a fifth off the market value of Australia's biggest winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates, and is likely to worsen tensions between the two nations. Beijing recently imposed dumping tariffs on Australian barley, suspended some beef imports and told Chinese students and tourists it was not safe to travel to Australia because of accusations of racism. China's foreign ministry has rejected suggestions the wine probe was politically motivated, but patrons in Ossie's weren't convinced. "It's a lot of tit-for-tat," said Richard, an Australian national who works in education in Beijing, who declined to give his surname. "It's like two kids in a playground fighting over their favourite toy." Story continues Goodey said consumers were simply the pawns. "It's senseless because the only people that get affected are the working class and the people that buy (these) things," he said. "The governments, the politicians, they dont care." (Reporting By Martin Pollard; editing by Jane Wardell) Williams and Jabar Taylor, 20, who was convicted of two homicides in Fredericksburg that occurred when he was 15, overpowered a guard on July 13 and escaped through a hole in a fence surrounding the facility, police said. A waiting car took them from the area. They were finally arrested July 26 at a hotel in Battle Creek, Mich. Court records showed that the pair are currently at the Chesterfield County Jail, an adult facility. According to evidence presented by prosecutor Crystal MontagueHolland, the robbers were riding with Blas in 2018 when the victim supposedly cut them off in traffic. Court records quote Blas as telling the teens to get that [expletive] and encouraging the teens to commit the robbery. The victim was sitting in her car in a parking area when one of the teens asked to use her phone. While he was pretending to make a call, the second robber opened the passengers side door and pointed a gun at the victim. Both teens denied being the gunman. A wallet, a wheeled backpack and five credit cards were taken. The robbers did return the victims medication after she pleaded for it, court records state. But the credit cards were later used at several stores. TDT | Manama The Ministry of Interior has won an award for Best Workers Welfare Programme for the year 2019. This came during the Presentation and Appreciation Ceremony, held remotely, of the third edition of the Happiness @ Work Award, which is managed by Dubai-based Sustainable Mindza pioneering strategic Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) expertise centre in the Gulf and Middle East and North Africa region. On this occasion, the ministrys Human Resources assistant undersecretary Brigadier Adel Abdullah Amin affirmed that the achievement of this international accolade comes thanks to the support of Interior Minister Lieutenant General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. It follows his directives aimed at continuing to develop the capabilities of the ministrys employees, in a way that contributes to raising their efficiency and productivity in their fields of work. He noted the continuous follow-up of Ministry of Interior undersecretary Shaikh Nasser bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa for the programmes and plans of human resources, and expressed his thanks and appreciation to all those who have contributed to achieving this international award. The Happiness @ Work Award honours regional institutions that achieve the highest levels of commitment to the morale and health of their employees. A total of 19 winners from 65 government institutions have been announced in previous years in six different categories. The award covers government sector institutions, small and medium-sized companies and large companies, in addition to non-profit organisations that work to spread positivity out of their belief that employee happiness creates high performance. World Humanitarian Day is held on the anniversary of a 2003 attack on the UN compound in Baghdad that killed 22 people. The United Nations paid tribute on Wednesday to humanitarian workers now battling the COVID-19 pandemic after a year in which they found themselves under greater attack than ever before. The UN marked its World Humanitarian Day by remembering the 125 aid workers who were killed in 2019, and the hundreds of others who were wounded or kidnapped. The UN condemns these attacks and it calls for accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors. Relief workers cannot be a target, said OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The day will see wreath-laying at the United Nations in Geneva in a ceremony attended by UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet. According to the Aid Worker Security Database compiled by the Humanitarian Outcomes research group, major attacks against humanitarians last year surpassed all previous years since records began in 1997. In 277 separate incidents around the world, a total of 483 relief workers were attacked, of which 125 were killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped. The figure represents an 18 percent increase in the number of victims compared with 2018. Most of the attacks occurred in Syria followed by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, and the Central African Republic. Unsung heroes The UN said aid workers and healthcare responders were now going to extraordinary lengths to help people whose lives have been upended by crises and now by the global COVID-19 pandemic. This year humanitarian workers are stretched like never before, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. They are responding to the global crisis of COVID-19, and with it the massive increase in humanitarian needs from the fallout of the pandemic. They are the unsung heroes of the pandemic response and they all too often risk their own lives to save the lives of others. OCHA added: In recent weeks alone despicable attacks have killed aid workers in Niger and Cameroon, and since the onset of the pandemic, scores of health workers have come under attack across the world. On August 9, six French aid workers were killed at a wildlife haven in Niger. On Tuesday, the Red Cross said more than 600 attacks on health workers had been reported in connection with the COVID-19 crisis. World Humanitarian Day is held on the anniversary of the August 19, 2003 attack on the UN compound in Baghdad that killed 22 people. The best way to pay tribute to humanitarian workers is by funding their work and ensuring their safety, said Mark Lowcock, the UNs emergency relief coordinator. Update: This story has been updated to report Nicks Nest has been allowed to open on Wednesday. HOLYOKE The iconic Nicks Nest has become the second business in the city to close down this week after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Kevin and Jennifer Chateauneuf, owners of the small restaurant on Route 5 that is known for its hot dogs, announced Tuesday that they closed immediately after learning an employee tested positive for COVID-19. We hoped we would never have to say this, they said on Facebook. We are closing immediately and will be closed for the next 24 hours for cleaning. We are allowed to reopen tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon. The announcement after Target in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside closed Monday for deep cleaning after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. The store reopened on Tuesday. The employee last worked at Nicks Nest on Aug. 10 and two days later she started suffering from a low-grade fever and other symptoms connected with the disease. She was tested but results that came back on Aug. 15 were negative. Concerned it may be a false negative she was retested and results returned on Tuesday showed she was positive, the post said. Three employees who had close contact with the worker who was infected were tested upon the recommendation of the Board of Health. One test has already been returned and shows the employee is not been infected with the virus, Jennifer Chatneauneuf said in an email. We apologize for any stress and fear this will cause anyone, the post said. Customers or anyone with questions should contact the Board of Health. They can also call Nicks Nest when it reopens on Wednesday, the post said. The owners at Nicks Nest and Target said they both contacted Board of Health Director Sean Gonsalves to report the infections and receive guidance on the next steps they take. State Department of Public Health guidelines call for businesses to close for at least 24-hours and sanitize their building if there is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19. Gonsalves said he asks all city businesses to operate with caution and close even if they do not have results from a test immediately. There are no repercussions to being extra safe, he said. Because Nicks Nest has little seating and most of the business is take-out, Gonsalves said the risk to customers is low. The risk to other employees who have closer contact with the person who is infected is likely to be higher. The coronavirus is mainly spread by respiratory droplets. The risk of spreading the virus is low for anyone who is wearing a mask, can keep six feet distance from anyone else and spends less than 10 minutes in contact with anyone. There is currently no evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted through food, he said. Employees and customers have been wearing masks. The owners also installed plexiglass at the counters to further separate employees from customers so that also helps to protect people from spreading the disease, Gonsalves said. Just a few days before the two closures occurred, state officials released a new system of ranking communities based on the number of cases they have over the past 14 days. Holyoke is one of 11 communities statewide considered high-risk with an average of nine cases a day per 100,000 population. Closures of businesses due to COVID-19 infections or suspected infections have occurred across the state and across the country. Gonsalves said he does not believe the two back-to-back infections are connected to Holyoke being a high-risk community. But Gonsalves said he believes the ranking system is beneficial for the community and the state. It helps in the awareness, he said. A lot of people are suffering from (COVID-19) fatigue and it is a useful reminder that they have to be careful. Related content: Cases of COVID-19 dropping in Springfield: Officials urge people to continue to be vigilant Westfield schools outline mask policy for reopening plan Baystate Health reporting nearly 50% decline in COVID-19 cases over the week Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 13:01 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f170f8 1 Business OYO-Hotels-and-Homes,OYO-Indonesia,budget-hotel,budget-hotel-operator,bpkn Free Customers and partners of budget hotel operator OYO Indonesia have taken to social media to voice their complaints of neglect by the India-based company, as many encountered refund and payment problems for months. Instagram account @oyobikinrugi_ (OYO causes losses) has gone viral for sharing stories from OYOs customers and partners that detail how the company has reportedly failed to address refund and payment issues, among other things. One customer who shared her story with the account is 26-year-old Putri (not her real name). In June, she found that the hotel she booked in South Tangerang had gone out of business. It was around 4 a.m. I was neither able to contact the hotel owner nor OYO. Thankfully, there were other hotels around, so I checked into one of them, she told The Jakarta Post on Aug. 14. Putri said she then asked for a Rp 475,000 (US$32) refund on June 8 and OYO replied on June 11 saying it had transferred the amount. However, she claims to have never received the refund in her bank account. After receiving no further explanation from OYO for three months, she thought of reporting OYO to the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN). I know it is only a few Rp 100,000 but this is predatory behavior toward their consumers and partners. I hope OYO Indonesia gets evaluated, she said. Bagus Panuntun, who does renovations and provides printing services in Lampung, said OYO only paid him Rp 150 million out of around Rp 300 million owed for jobs he took last year. OYO told me that I can either accept half of the payment in June or full payment when the Indonesian government declares that the COVID-19 pandemic is over, he told the Post in a phone call on Aug. 14. Bagus went on to say that he chose the first option as he needed the money to pay his employees Idul Fitri holiday bonus (THR) in May. My firm has done its job since February, but when I ask for payment, OYO always delays, he said. Bagus, who had worked with OYO for almost two years, said the first year of the partnership went smoothly. However, at the beginning of 2020, OYO Indonesias Lampung representatives were kept in the dark by the companys central office in Jakarta about payment issues. OYO uses the pandemic as an excuse to delay payment [..] They have been avoiding payment since February, before the COVID-19 outbreak in March, he said. Read also: Pandemic erases $5.9b of Indonesias tourism revenue The @oyobikinrugi_ administrators said people had been complaining about OYO since last year. The account operators, who consist of a group of people whose complaints were not responded to by OYO, said it had collected data on 45 OYO consumers, partners and vendors, who collectively claimed losses of up to Rp 4 billion. The first time OYO Indonesia reached out to us was through their legal representatives, they said through email on Aug. 13, adding that OYO had sent legal notices addressed to the account, once in June and twice in July. The group said it wished OYO Indonesia would immediately pay what they owed to their consumers, partners and vendors. If a global company such as OYO is struggling during this crisis, imagine the hardships for small partners and vendors, they said. We also wish for an official investigation into OYOs business in Indonesia. We want OYO to admit their wrongdoings and apologize. After that, we still want to pursue legal action, they added. However, some consumers, partners and vendors that have reported their cases to the BPKN, Finance Ministry, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) or the police have received repayment from OYO, the group said. OYO Indonesia said on Tuesday that it would release on official statement addressing the matter soon but did not respond to the Posts inquiry at the time of writing. However, OYO spokesperson told dailysocial.id in June that it denied the allegations of neglecting refund requests, stating that refunds could take a long time due to problems during the validation process. We apologize if our customers experienced any inconvenience. Our system is not perfect and we are constantly evaluating our services, the spokesperson said. Read also: OYO provides rooms for 'healthcare warriors' battling COVID-19 BPKN vice chairman Roslan Sitinjak said 109 reports had been made regarding refunds during the pandemic, 85 of which were hotel and travel tickets refunds. He further noted that there were 31 complaints addressed to OYO and 27 addressed to Traveloka. We asked businesses to immediately process consumer refunds, he told the Post on Tuesday. And we urge consumers to report to the BPKN website if you are having trouble getting your refund. In April, OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal said the company had seen its revenue and occupancy drop by more than 50 percent, which led to the company furloughing its 400 Indonesian workers, half of its entire staff in the country in June. OYO investor SoftBank Group had forecast a record 1.35 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) in operating losses for the fiscal year ended in March. Among factors was the slump during the pandemic and that Agarwal had borrowed around $2 billion to buy more shares in his own company, in which SoftBank's Masayoshi Son personally guaranteed the loans. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:18:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden attends a rally in Philadelphia May 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The Democratic nomination entitled Joe Biden, the 77-year-old former vice president, to take on incumbent President Donald Trump of the Republican Party in the upcoming election scheduled for Nov. 3. WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing U.S. Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday voted to officially nominate Joe Biden as the party's presidential candidate. Biden, already the presumptive nominee since April when all other contenders in the once crowded Democratic field dropped their bids, briefly addressed supporters from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, after a virtual presidential roll call. "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, from my family, and I'll see you on Thursday," he said, referring to his upcoming acceptance speech to wrap up the four-day convention. The Democratic nomination entitled the 77-year-old former vice president to take on incumbent President Donald Trump of the Republican Party in the upcoming election scheduled for Nov. 3. Unlike prior conventions where delegates would gather in an arena and the delegations from each state would be called upon to announce how many delegates pledge for each candidate, this year the presidential roll call happened virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo taken on Aug. 17, 2020 shows the control room of the virtual Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the United States. (2020 Democratic National Convention/POOL via Xinhua) While the delegates appearing in the video by and large enthusiastically made the case that Biden was the country's best choice for president in the next four years, first-term congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her slot to nominate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading figure of the progressive wing in the Democratic field and Biden's longest-lasting rival in the primary. Herself a progressive, Ocasio-Cortez used the occasion to pitch for the progressive movement's goals, including Medicare for All, tuition-free college education, and achieving fair wages and protecting labor rights for all. Similar to the previous night, Tuesday night's guest speakers spoke highly of Biden's competence for the U.S. presidency while making scathing criticism of Trump. Among the Democratic luminaries who delivered remarks was former President Jimmy Carter, who said Biden "understands that honesty and dignity are essential traits that determine not only our vision but our actions. More than ever, that's what we need." And former President Bill Clinton said Biden is "committed to building America back again." People vote at a polling site in Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, June 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the now Republican-controlled Senate, said Biden alone can't "win this battle for the soul of our nation," adding that "Democrats must take back the Senate." Heading into its third day on Wednesday, the DNC is expected to nominate California Senator Kamala Harris as the party's vice presidential candidate. Former President Barack Obama, in whose administration Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017, will deliver a speech on Wednesday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton also invited to speak. Lawyers have warned that students could take legal action against universities if they have to defer for a year after receiving an offer. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after a government U-turn means they can use their teacher assessed grades rather than the ones given to them by a standardised algorithm last Thursday. However a number of top universities, such as Cambridge, have already warned that they may not have capacity to take all the extra students, and some may have to defer their place until 2021. Suzanne Rab, a barrister at Serle Court Chambers, told The Times: 'I think there will be legal action by some to force universities to take them this year. You're looking ultimately at a judicial review.' A judicial review questions the decisions made by public bodies and normally claim that a government minister made a a mistake in law. It is a civil action made to the High Court and anybody applying for one will have to cover the costs privately. Since the government u-turn 55,000 students are trying to get into their first choice institution. But schools are struggling for capacity, despite the government lifting a cap on the amount of places they can offer. An A-level student holds a placard during a protest about the exam results at the constituency offices of Gavin Williamson There have also been calls today for ministers to lift restrictions on places for medicine and dentistry, which are currently set by the government. Tina Patel, a personal injury lawyer for Leigh Day, told the newspaper: 'We have been inundated with inquiries from students who despite yesterday's announcement have been left no better off. 'Whilst the government has lifted the cap on the number of students universities can accept, the ultimate decision lies with the individual universities. 'Some students may be offered places this year; some may be required to defer for a year and be forced to take a year out. This poses difficulties in the current economic climate.' It comes as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is under intense pressure after he was forced to abandon the algorithm-based system for awarding A-level and GCSE grades in England. Boris Johnson, who is currently on holiday, has so far resisted calls to come back and deal with the exams fiasco. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is under intense pressure after he was forced to abandon the algorithm-based system for awarding A-level and GCSE grades in England But this morning Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended his fellow Cabinet minister, saying that he is focused on trying to get all children back to school for the new term after their education was disrupted by coronavirus closures. 'These are unprecedented circumstances and I think everybody is working their hardest and trying to do their best in very difficult circumstances, and I know that is true of Gavin Williamson as it is of all members of the Government,' he told Sky News. 'The big focus is on getting schools back and open at the start of next month, an incredibly important task. 'I don't think we should be distracted from that task now. We need to absolutely focus on it.' Mr Hancock also said ministers are working on concerns raised by universities and the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) about medical education. RCGP chairman Martin Marshall warned that, despite Monday's U-turn, many would-be medics will have lost their places on courses after universities started handing out spots based on students' original results. The RCGP estimates the UK needs 20% more undergraduate medical places to serve the growing population, and wants caps on student numbers lifted as well as extra funding for universities to help meet demand. Universities UK also called for 'increasing flexibilities within the medical student numbers cap'. The Health Secretary said: 'We're doing everything that we can and we're working on this issue right now. 'I acknowledge the issue, I absolutely recognise it.' Meanwhile, universities have said they need extra cash from the Government as students change courses after being awarded higher grades. Lets Families and Students Plan for a Safe Return BUFFALO, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Mobile Primary Care (MPC) has launched a Back-to School Program to help ensure schools of all levels to reopen safely and remain protected throughout the school year. Back-to-School time, which is usually filled with excitement and anticipation, is marked by apprehension and hesitation for the upcoming school year. MPC's comprehensive Back-to-School Program aims to assist school administrators with developing a more comprehensive and inclusive reopening plan to alleviate concerns of students, parents/guardians, faculty and staff. In short, this program will provide on-site initial screening (MPC can provide thermo-scanners), medical assessments, if needed COVID 19 tests, collection of samples, fast laboratory turn around, continuous, daily follow-up and monitoring of symptoms and medical clearance prior to returning to school. Mobile Primary Care has established themselves as an industry leader in Mobile Telemedicine, focused on delivering affordable, accessible and patient-centered care. MPC utilizes a proprietary telemedicine platform to improve access and delivery of COVID19 screening, testing and monitoring to all counties of Upstate New York. This reach allows schools, colleges and universities all over the state to access the benefits of Mobile Primary Cares' Back to School Program. This program will relieve the burden on schools to handle potential exposure risk to others and monitor symptomatic individuals from the safety of their residences. In addition, this program is set up to address possibly contain potential clusters or outbreaks in the community. The Back-to-School program has been successfully implemented at the collegiate level. Mobile Primary Care provided medical oversight in screening, assessment and testing of over 460 incoming students over a two-day period at a College in Syracuse, NY while offering medical follow-up for those identified to have positive Covid19 screening or COVID19 exposure. Story continues Brian Egan, CEO of Mobile Primary Care said, "Our physician led medical team has put together a complete COVID19 Back-to-School Medical program that incorporates state-of-the-art technology to help schools and employers combat the frustrations of bringing students and staff back to school, and once in school keeping them there throughout the school year. Not only does Mobile Primary Care partner with schools to provide screening, assessments and testing, we provide daily follow up of anyone with symptoms, to avoid a worsening conditions and hospitalizations. If symptomatic, our medical teams follow each student through the COVID19 virus or quarantined period. You have to see this program in its entirety, it's really so unique and complete. To my knowledge, there is no other program like this across the country." About Mobile Primary Care Mobile Primary Care is headquartered in Buffalo, NY and founded in 2007 with a goal of providing affordable, convenient, and readily accessible medical care. Mobile Primary Care currently employs 35 providers and as of 2019, served over 9,000 patients, with 40,000 patient visits in all counties of Upstate New York. MPC strives to improve access to healthcare that might not otherwise be available, reduce delays in care and improve continuity of care and provide follow-up support to keep people at home. CONTACT INFORMATION: Mobile Primary Care Juli Chikaraishi [716-839-1010 ext. 234] BTSinfo@mobileprimary.com If you would like more information about the Back-to-School Program, please call (716) 893-1010 ext. 234 at Mobile Primary Care or email Juli Chikaraishi at BTSinfo@mobileprimary.com SOURCE: Mobile Primary Care View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602403/COVID19-Back-to-School-Program The Franco-Tunisian writer Albert Memmi, who died in Paris on 22 May at the age of 99, was possibly the last surviving member of the generation of French and North African writers who contributed to debates about the end of French colonialism in the countries of the Arab Maghreb in the 1950s and 1960s. French psychiatrist Frantz Fanon is probably the best-known member of this generation today, especially in the United States where his writings on the Algerian War of Independence are widely read in post-colonial studies. But Memmi in a sense preceded him because he published his most famous contribution to such debates, the Portrait du colonise, precede de Portrait du colonisateur, his portraits of the colonised and the coloniser, immediately after Tunisian independence and even before the War in Algeria had reached its most violent phase. Memmi was also of North African descent, unlike Fanon who was born in the Caribbean island of Martinique, then as now part of France. This meant that in his Portraits Memmi was able to write about what he called the colonial situation in North Africa from the inside, with the force of direct experience backing up his criticisms of French colonialism in the region and his support for independence. At the same time Memmi retained a certain distance from the independence movements, and he sometimes expressed misgivings about growing nationalism in the Maghreb. While he thought it was necessary in order to mobilise the majority population behind the struggle to throw off French colonial rule, the danger was, like with other nationalisms before and since, that it could turn out to be less tolerant of minorities, including the Tunisian Jewish community from which he came. Born in Tunis in 1920 and growing up among 12 brothers and sisters in a traditionally Jewish area of the city, Memmi attended a local Jewish school before attending the Lycee Carnot in Tunis, the most prestigious of the French colonial schools in Tunisia. It was his experience of growing up in Tunisias largely poor Jewish community, at the time numbering some 150,000, and then leaving it behind to study in French colonial schools that he recorded in his first novel, La Statue de sel (Pillar of Salt), which appeared in Paris in 1953 with a preface by French-Algerian novelist Albert Camus. According to academic Annie Goldman, quoted in an obituary of Memmi in the French newspaper Le Monde, while La Statue de sel was part of a group of novels by Maghreb writers appearing in Paris in these years, among them works in French by Algerian writers Mohamed Dib, Kateb Yacine, and Assia Djebar, Memmis novel was something of a clap of thunder for Tunisias Jewish community. People were both proud and shocked by the novel, she said. It was the first time that someone from Tunis, least of all a Jew, had had something published in Paris. But it was also the first time that someone had described the poverty of this community and written so frankly about it. A second novel, Agar, appeared in Paris in 1955, also drawing on Memmis memories of growing up in Tunisia, and the following year, with Tunisias independence negotiated between then French prime minister Pierre Mendes France and the countrys first post-colonial president Habib Bourguiba, Memmi settled permanently in Paris. After university studies in neighbouring Algeria he had lived in Tunisia in the years leading up to independence, and he had begun to publish pieces in Tunisian and French newspapers and magazines. However, according to Le Monde, it was also at this time that Memmi realised that the new Tunisian nation would necessarily and legitimately be Muslim and Arab and that his real country would be literature. LIBERATION The Portraits, published in Paris in 1957 with a preface by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, are divided, as their name suggests, into two parts. There is a portrait of the coloniser, in the case of the Maghreb of European origin and often, but by no means always, French, and a portrait of the colonised, often, but also by no means always, of Arab or Muslim descent. While the coloniser could be of Italian, Maltese, or other origin, particularly in Tunisia under French colonial rule, the colonised could also be of Berber or Jewish as well as of Arab or Muslim heritage. What was important, Memmi thought, was the colonial situation that ranged the coloniser against the colonised, producing the kind of polarisation that could not be assuaged by dialogue and could only be ended by the colonised seizing independence. Of the coloniser, Memmi writes that for him a colony was a place where one earns more and spends less Jobs are guaranteed, wages high, careers more rapid and business more profitable than it was at home. For this reason, while not all Europeans in the colonies are potentates or possess thousands of acres or run the government, least of all in Frances North African colonies, the small coloniser still defends the colonial system because he benefits from it to some extent. While he is the dupe and victim of a system that is almost as indifferent to his interests as it is to those of the colonised, he also gets his share. Of the colonised, Memmi says that he has been robbed as much of his dignity and his identity as of his land and the opportunity to participate in the government of his own country. The vast majority of colonised children are in the streets. And he who has the wonderful good luck to be accepted in a school will not be saved. The memory which is assigned him is certainly not that of his people. The history which is taught him is not his own. He knows who Colbert or Cromwell was, but he learns nothing about [pre-colonial Tunisian prime minister Mohamed] Khaznadar; he knows about Joan of Arc, but not about [7th-century Berber queen] El Kahena. Everything seems to have taken place outside his country. He and his land are nonentities or exist only with reference to the Gauls, the Franks, or the Marne. Both sides of the divide are necessarily damaged, the coloniser trapped on one side and the colonised on the other, with each representing half a common problem. Perhaps for this reason, while Memmi has harsh words to say for the coloniser who accepts the colonial situation, even investing in it by attending all the military parades and playing his part by dressing up ostentatiously, he is scarcely more forgiving of the coloniser who refuses. This chapter of the book, thought to be criticising French-Algerian liberals such as Camus who had been trying to find a peaceful solution to the escalating crisis in neighbouring Algeria, implies that there is little difference to be drawn between colonisers who accept and colonisers who refuse the colonial situation, and neither can have a place in an independent nation. Colonial relations do not stem from individual good will or actions; they exist before his birth, and whether he accepts or rejects them matters little Being oppressed as a group, the colonised must necessarily adopt a national and ethnic form of liberation from which he [the coloniser who refuses] cannot but be excluded, Memmi wrote. This seemed to auger ill for the possibility of the kind of diverse and liberal society that Camus and others wanted to see develop in North Africa after independence, and Memmis caricatures of those who wanted to find approaches to decolonisation other than nationalism and escalating violence were bitterly criticised by some commentators at the time. In later years, Memmi turned to other instances of oppression, including of his own community of North African Jews. In 1962, he published another portrait, this time the Portrait dun Juif, which employed similar sociological-psychological methods but was also more autobiographical. Memmi says that this portrait is in large measure my own, and that it was conceived as part of a long enterprise that had to do not only with his own self-discovery but also with the better understanding of others. Starting from my own condition as colonised, and then from my condition as a Jew, I have discovered the meaning of other kinds of oppression and of the relationships that generate oppression, unfortunately one of the most permanent features of the human condition, Memmi wrote, in an enquiry that he continued in later books including LHomme domine (1968) which extended the analysis to other oppressed classes including servants and women. Another book, La Liberation du Juif, published in 1966, continued Memmis autobiographical investigations and announced his loyalty to the state of Israel. Re-reading Memmis work from the 1950s and 1960s today plunges the reader back into the decolonisation movements of the period, especially the debates in France over North African independence and the Algerian War of Independence. It provides background to the writings of Fanon, especially the chapters on identity and national culture in Les Damnes de la terre and LAn V de la revolution algerienne, and it contrasts with writings by others similarly concerned with the independence movements of the time and North Africas future character and relationship with France, among them distinguished figures of French and French North African origin such as Camus, Jacques Berque, Jean Lacouture, Jacques Derrida, and others. Memmi played no further part in the affairs of his native country after leaving it in 1957, and his account of North African and other post-colonial countries some half century later (Portrait du decolonise arabo-musulman et de quelques autres) was generally not well received when it appeared in 2004. However, there is an intriguing story that appears in French academic Guy Degass magnificent critical edition of Memmis Portraits that may indicate that his contributions from the 1950s were not entirely forgotten. Invited to the Algiers International Book Fair in 2006, Memmi discovered what seemed to be a pirated Algerian edition of his Portrait du colonise with a preface by none other than then Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, this after Memmi had concluded that his work had been blackballed in the Maghreb. While undoubtedly tendentious from Memmis point of view, Bouteflikas preface did at least give the book an official imprimatur, putting it back in circulation in Algeria and within the reach of ordinary readers. *A version of this article appears in print in the 20 August, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: According to this report in Politico, Cindy McCain will be featured tonight at the Democratic National Convention, such as it is. She will outline the unlikely friendship between her husband and Joe Biden. I was honored to accept the invitation from the Biden campaign to participate in a video celebrating their relationship, she tweeted. Politico says its unclear whether Cindy McCains appearance will amount to an official endorsement of Biden. The suspense isnt killing me. I dont know why the friendship between John McCain and Biden is described as unlikely. McCain was friends with a number of Democrats, including Hillary Clinton. Actually, during the day I spent with McCain in New Hampshire back in November 2007, McCain spoke more respectfully of Hillary than he did about Biden. This, despite the fact that, at the time, Hillary seemed likely to be McCains opponent in the general election if McCain received the nomination. But McCain understood that Hillary is much more intelligent than Biden. He probably thought she was more fun to drink with, too. Bidens name came up during that day as a possible running mate with McCain. You may recall that there was talk of a McCain-Lieberman ticket Joe Lieberman being McCains best friend among the Democrats. McCain seemed open to possibility of running with Lieberman, but scoffed at the idea of running with Biden. He joked that he would never get a word in edgewise if the two were on the same ticket. To paraphrase Frankie Pentangeli in the Godfather, Part II, John McCain knew Joe Biden, he liked Joe Biden, but he never respected Joe Biden. At least, he didnt seem to on that November day in New Hampshire. The group, branded 'Boris' Babies' when they entered Parliament in 2019, are now being called 'f***ing nobodies' by Mr Johnson's allies. Senior party sources have pointed the finger at Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and fellow Tory Alicia Kearns as ringleaders. As many as 20 recently-elected MPs are believed to have gathered at 1pm in the office of one of their number, Alicia Kearns (right), which swiftly became known as the 'Pork Pie Putsch' because she represents Melton Mowbray. Whips suspect three other relatively new backbenchers - Ms Davison from Bishop Auckland, Gary Sambrook (inset left), a freemason and MP for Birmingham Northfield and Chris Loder, a former train guard (inset right) from West Dorset - of being among the ringleaders. They are now being called the 'grey wolves' by some allies of the Prime Minister because 'they were not socialised in Parliament during the pandemic', according to Sky News. One Cabinet source was furious at the lack of loyalty, telling The Times: 'They were only elected because of him. Most of them are a load of f****** nobodies. It's nuts.' Downing Street is understood to be particularly annoyed about Miss Davison. Carrie Johnson, along with Dilyn, the PM's dog, and Rishi Sunak had campaigned for her in 2019 (left). And in a sign that all is not well, Nimco Ali, Carrie's best friend tweeted today: 'Honestly can't believe the audacity of @DehennaDavison. Girl get a grip'. Christian Wakeford, the first Tory to represent Bury South in more than 20 years, became the seventh MP known to have written to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. Last year he admitted he approached Owen Paterson and called him a 'c***' after the government instructed MPs to vote to change parliamentary sleaze rules. Today he defected to Labour. Dalian Residents Are on the Verge of a Mental Breakdown Amid a new outbreak of the CCP virus, authorities in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, enacted extreme lockdown measures on all communities located in high-risk areas. Residents in these communities are not allowed to leave their homes. So far, they have been locked inside for 20 days, and no one knows when the lockdown will come to an end. It is extremely difficult to buy food, and many of them risk losing jobs if the lockdown continues. A Dalian resident shared a video with The Epoch Times shot at his residential compound on Aug. 1. A man planned to pick up food he ordered from a private service, but was caught by security guards who subdued him and called the police. He was then sent to a detention center for five days. Many are upset with the closing of the Beaverton Tavern once claimed to have the best wet burrito but city officials who recently purchased the sole Mexican restaurant in Beaverton say it has been lacking for a while. Wow, we used to go there a lot, said Amber Clayton, of Midland, of the downtown restaurant and bar. She said when she was there once, they had turtle races. Clayton said at first sight of the race, she thought she just had too much to drink. She is sad that it closed. During June and July, the business was sporadically open. Their Facebook page cited delays in getting items for a remodel. Then on July 10, someone posted a Facebook message on the businesses page, reading: We would like to apologize to everyone for not posting this sooner, but we will be closed until further notice. The owner was in the hospital with health issues and has decided to work on recovering before reopening the restaurant. We will try to keep Facebook a little more updated as we move forward. A short time later, the county foreclosed on the business due to back taxes, and the city unanimously voted to buy the tavern for $24,000, using the general fund. The former owner Kris Tarlo was not immediately available for comment. Beaverton City Manager Heath Kaplan said it obvious that for many years BT has needed some TLC. He said the city scooped it up because it was an opportunity for the city to step in and redevelop the property. Kaplan said the council doesnt care if it stays a Mexican restaurant, their only focus is that it remains a restaurant. The Downtown Development Authority was scheduled to meet Tuesday evening to discuss further plans for the building at 102 W. Brown. I hate to see any business close, said longtime Fruchey Foods owner Tom Fruchey, who is a member of the Beaverton Area Business Association. We need to have something in that spot. Fruchey said he doesnt have a preference on what goes in, he just doesnt want to see it empty. We have enough empty buildings, Fruchey said. Beaverton resident Kellie Curley is upset with the closure. Beaverton is known for the Beaverton Tavern, Curley said. It cant close forever. Ashton McCullough, of Gladwin County, hates the idea of losing the night atmosphere of the tavern. It was a place where you could meet new people and always see someone you know in there, McCullough said. It was our own little Cheers, he said, referring to the television show that ran from 1982 to 1993, about a place "where everybody knows your name." Beaverton Mayor Ray Nau said BT has been around for a long time and residents have come to rely on their service. He is thankful the city has the opportunity for redevelopment. Telecom sector today is a must-have in any investor's portfolio and the government focus on cybersecurity and fibre optics is very relevant for sustaining long-term growth, Chandraprakash Padiyar, Senior Fund Manager, Tata Mutual Fund, said in an interview with Moneycontrols Kshitij Anand. Edited excerpt: Q) Prime Minister Modi emphasized on Infra, fibre optics, cybersecurity in his speech on the occasion of Independence Day. What are your takeaways and how will it impact these sectors? A) Improvement of GDP growth-focused primarily on generating higher demand in the next 12 to 24 months. In order to achieve higher growth, a renewed push to infrastructure spend is a must and the government has made its intentions clear on the same. 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 Credit delivery by banks for the infrastructure sector needs to pick up the pace to achieve the government's objective. Generally, most companies focused on the infrastructure sector, and there is a need to strengthen their balance sheets further in order to participate in potential spending by the government. From our perspective, we at Tata Mutual Fund would prefer to own capital goods/engineering manufacturing companies rather than infrastructure construction companies. Telecom sector today is a must-have in any investor portfolio and the government focus on cybersecurity and fibre optics is very relevant for sustaining long-term growth Q) Equity mutual funds saw negative flows for the first time in over four years. What could be leading to the redemption pressure in MF? Does it look like investors are cashing out or is it the liquidity needs which investors have to deal with due to job losses etc.? What are your views? A) I think one needs to see the context in which mutual fund inflows have turned negative COVID-19 has the potential to impact job security, salary increases or consistency of salary increases and many small/large businesses were shut for a fairly long time. It actually is normal for investors to dip into their savings in uncertain times. It is heartening to note that SIP inflows continue at a strong pace. Q) What is your take on the markets? Do you think we could see some selling pressure when the Vaccine actually arrives? It will be a classic case of buy on rumors and sell on news? A) Equity markets, as of now, in my opinion, are hoping for a strong rebound in 2HFY21 and FY22. The expectation is that COVID-19 lockdown led disruption to life will end soon and we will all return to our normal life once again next year the vaccine is an important hope among investors. In a way, markets are priced to perfection in the near-term with all the hope built into stock prices. In case the COVID-19 situation continues for longer than expected then there is scope for disappointment and hence volatility for the markets going forward. Stock selection with growth at a reasonable price as an investment philosophy is the right approach to take in this market situation. Q) Which is the biggest risk for equity markets globally - is it the trade war between the US and China, or the outcome of the US Presidential elections? A) Covid-19 and monetary/fiscal policies of various central banks and governments are the key triggers and risks for the market going forward. We are seeing central banks continue to push for higher growth with loose monetary policy and alongside governments throughout the world are now making a push through larger fiscal spending. Any change in the direction on monetary or fiscal policies can create a risk to equity markets in the short term. Q) Market might not go back to levels seen in March, but what would be a good level to enter in case we see a selloff in equity markets? A) The question inherently is trying to time the entry into the markets perfectly. We are long term long-only investors focused on identifying businesses that can deliver healthy earnings growth consistently with free cash generation and available at a reasonable price. To us, every day is a good day to buy for the long term. Q) What is your take on MNC stocks? Do you think they are better placed in this pandemic? If yes, which one tops your list any why? A) Multinational corporations present in India tend to get a special status in the Indian Equity markets due to their access to high-end technology, global products, talent, scale, and an option to export to other geographies where the parent is present. I believe MNC stocks play an important role in any equity portfolio, however, stock selection is very important in this case too. Q) FIIs are net positive so far in the month of August in the cash segment of equity markets as compared to DIIs who are net sellers? If looks like investors back home are getting edge at higher levels? What are your views? A) On a general basis, FIIs have been net buyers in the Indian Equity markets consistently every calendar year barring a few years like 2008. FIIs currently owns close to 20 percent of the BSE500 market capitalization in India. Within a calendar year some months can be negative and some positive. Directionally I believe India presents a very strong investment opportunity for FIIs and would expect flows to remain on the positive side over the long term. : 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. Finland has removed most EU countries from its "green travel list", with only arrivals from a handful of states now able to enter the country without restrictions, the government announced on Wednesday. The tougher rules, aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, mean that only people coming from Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania will now be allowed into Finland without proving they have a valid reason for travel and self-isolating for two weeks. Arrivals from a number of non-EU countries including Georgia, Rwanda and South Korea continue to be freely permitted under the measures which will come into force next Monday. "Finland's border policy is the tightest in the European Union, because we have wanted to preserve the relatively good virus situation in Finland," Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo told a press conference. Since June, the government has said it will allow arrivals from countries with fewer than eight new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population in the last two weeks, although ministers have now made exceptions for countries with under 10 cases. Nonetheless Finland's cut-off point is considerably stricter than its Nordic neighbours, such as Norway which permits arrivals from countries with up to 20 new cases per 100,000 people. Finland currently has one of Europe's lowest incidences of COVID-19, registering only 5.3 new cases per 100,000 in the past two weeks, although the number is rising. Ohisalo also announced that restrictions on Finland's land borders with Sweden and Norway will be loosened to allow residents living on either side to cross more easily for everyday purposes. During cabinet talks ministers also discussed banning flights from the North Macedonian capital Skopje, which have brought "an extremely high number of infections" to Finland, Transport Minister Timo Harakka told the press conference. Harakka said legislative hurdles mean officials and not ministers will have to make the decision to suspend flights from a particular airline, but he said he expects connections from the Balkan city to end by 29 August. Search Keywords: Short link: Chinas top diplomat will visit Singapore and South Korea later this week as Beijing seeks to strengthen ties with its Asian neighbours amid an intensifying geopolitical rivalry with Washington. Yang Jiechi, a leading architect of Chinas foreign policy, will visit Busan starting on Friday and will hold talks on Saturday with Suh Hoon, the South Korean national security adviser, the Yonhap news agency reported, quoting presidential office spokesman Kang Min-seok. Before his trip to Busan, Yang a member of the 24-strong Politburo, the centre of power in the Chinese Communist Party is due to visit Singapore on Thursday, Chinas foreign ministry said on Wednesday, confirming a South China Morning Post report. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. Yang will meet senior minister Teo Chee Hean and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore, and will have a call with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. It will be Yangs first visit to South Korea since July 2018. The two sides plan to have talks on Saturday morning and luncheon consultations and to exchange opinions on issues of mutual concern such as South Korea-China coronavirus response cooperation, bilateral relations including high-level exchanges as well as the Korean peninsula and international security situations, Kang said at a press briefing. The pair are also expected to discuss Chinese President Xi Jinpings potential visit to South Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during a 2017 trip to Beijing, invited Xi to visit South Korea early in 2020, but the prospect was dampened by the coronavirus pandemic. Xi last visited Seoul in 2014. Yangs visits to two of Chinas neighbours come at a time of heightened tensions between his country and the United States, with a range of disagreements including over trade, technology, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the South China Sea. Story continues The US last month indicated its new position on the disputed South China Sea, referring to Beijings vast claims over the contested waters as unlawful. Lee, the prime minister of Singapore which has manoeuvred shrewdly between the two big powers has warned that US-China relations have sunk to a very dangerous level and that his nation and others in Asia were increasingly worried that this could lead to dangerous outcomes. Lee also said Singapore and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations members did not want to be forced to choose between China and the US. It will be Yangs first foreign trip since he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Hawaii in June. Those talks during which Yang was not forthcoming, according to a senior US official were seen as largely unsuccessful in preventing the US from stepping up pressure on China. As relations with Washington worsen, regional experts say Beijing is looking to its Asian neighbours for support. The primary focus for Yangs Asia trip will be Sino-US relations, particularly after the Hawaii meeting with Pompeo which Pompeo himself later described as unsuccessful, said Pang Zhongying, an expert on international relations at Ocean University of China. China needs to stabilise its ties with Asian countries before the US election. Pang said the two countries on Yangs itinerary, particularly Singapore, occupied the middle ground between the superpowers. There arent many countries in Asia that China can consider friends or that can support China in the current circumstances, he said, citing the increasingly complicated dynamics between China and countries like Japan and India. Singapore has long played a positive role in mediating between China and the US. Lee Hsien Loong has been speaking out a lot lately and his opinion on Sino-US relations received widespread attention in China, Pang said. His advice and observations on the implications of the upcoming US election will be valuable for China. Pang added that stronger ties with Seoul could also help create conditions for a more stable Korean peninsula, which would help stabilise Chinas relations with the US since resolving the North Korean nuclear issue has been a priority for the administration of President Donald Trump. Collin Koh, a research fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said Beijing needed to go on a charm offensive to secure support in the region. The context, and a key motivating factor, would of course be the current tensions between China and the US. Very naturally, being a critical southern periphery of China, Southeast Asia is a region where Beijing needs to ensure it [is seen as a good neighbour] under these circumstances, Koh said. In other words, while the US, and to a lesser extent, Japan, are reaching out more to Southeast Asia, Beijing sees it as an essential move to engage in a countervailing charm offensive to secure its broader political, economic and security interests in the region. Additional reporting by Dewey Sim More from South China Morning Post: This article Beijing sends its top diplomat to Singapore and South Korea amid US tensions first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. A pan-India fake invoice racket involving transactions of about Rs 434 crore by 23 firms has been busted by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Nagpur, an official release said on Wednesday. Rs 78.13 crore of fraudulent was availed by those involved in the racket, it said. Simultaneous searches were conducted by the officers of DGGI, Nagpur Zonal Unit at number of places in the city, which led to further searches at Jalandhar, Sonepat and New Delhi, it said. Probe revealed that 23 firms across India, from Tamil Nadu to New Delhi, were involved in issuance of fake invoices to get fraudulent 'Input Tax Credit' without supply of any goods, it said. These firms engaged only in paper transactions of goods, ranging from iron and steel products, insulated wires, plastic articles to copper/aluminum waste. No actual movement of goods took place, the release said. "The declared places of business of these entities were residences and the supporting documents uploaded by these entities had been forged. "The modus operandi...was to obtain GST registrations on the basis of documents of unrelated individuals and carry out bogus transactions," the release said. The value of fake transactions was found to be Rs 434 crore, while Rs 78.13 crore of fraudulent was availed, it said, adding that further probe was on. The Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd. (SNG), Ed Ubong, said on Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted its business in the country. COVID-19 has also impacted Shell businesses in Nigeria, Shell Nigeria Gas Limited included. We are not too big to also be negatively impacted. This pandemic is unprecedented, Mr Ubong said. He spoke on a live radio programme, Canvass-Niger Delta Roundtable, monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa. The managing director said that the negative impact of the virus cuts across business sectors. He said that the shutdown by its 118 customers during the peak of lockdown compelled the company to scale down operations. According to him, the decision of the federal government to grant waivers to the energy sector as essential service was a panacea to total collapse. Mr Ubong noted that the pandemic was something that most people alive were yet to experience. Except, maybe, the few who were alive in 1918 when there was the Spanish Flu. The world has gone into lockdown for some months, but all of us still require key products and services. The pandemic has cut across various industries, travels, manufacturing etc. We have seen significant fluctuations in the price of oil for instance. Several businesses have had to declare bankruptcy while some have had to cut down the scale of their operations. So, indeed, all of us have been affected. The real challenge for resilient organisations is how to find creative ways to come through this stage in time so that we are still able to operate and provide services, Mr Ubong said. On the impact of COVID-19 on SNG, Mr Ubong said that since March, staff of the company work from home. Majority of our staff work from home. A few staff in our field location bases (FLB) are those manning our facilities. These are critical staff required to be at the FLB just to ensure that the base and the facilities are safe. So, basically, for a lot of people in the company, it is the new way to work from home. On the customer front, we have more than 118 customers that we sell gas to directly. All based on signed agreements. What we have done with them at this period is to stay regularly in touch with them, Mr Ubong said. The SNG boss said that Shell group donated testing machines, medical consumables and supported the building of isolation centres in Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, Abia, Delta, Lagos and Ogun states. (NAN) University of Nebraska President Ted Carter struck all the right notes with the five-year plan during a Board of Regents meeting last week. He spoke broadly about how higher education must adapt to serve students and the community in not-quite post-COVID world and how growth for the university and the state hinges on drawing in even more students from outside Nebraska. Carter told regents that the university system would evolve and initiative would revolve around five key areas: Student success, workforce development, diversity and inclusion, strategic partnerships and efficiency. Itd be hard to argue that any of those categories is unimportant. But the devil will be in the details going from global to granular. When it comes to ensuring student success, the first step is getting them in the door, and Carter has already made good on that with the Nebraska Promise free tuition for students with family household income under $60,000 and a two-year tuition freeze. Flash China is ready to work with Ghana and other African countries to win the war against COVID-19, the Chinese embassy in Ghana said on Tuesday. "China and Ghana are bound to defeat the pandemic and embrace a more promising future," said Zhu Jing, charge d'affaires of the embassy, while handed over medical supplies to the Ghana-China Friendship Association. "China is ready to work closely with Ghanaian counterpart to implement the measures laid out at the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19 to help Africa win the battle against the virus," said Zhu. President of the association Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, who received the medical supplies on behalf of his association, said that "the Chinese have always had this kind gesture particularly to Africa. The relationship between China and Ghana has been improving from year to year and we intend to lift it higher." Amoo-Gottfried assured his association would work to deepen the ties between the two countries. Ghana recorded its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 12 and China was the first country to send medical supplies to the West African country to fight the pandemic. China's local authorities and companies are also providing various forms of assistance to Ghanaians in their quest to defeat the virus. DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The DFW Hispanic 100, a network of Dallas/Ft. Worth area Hispanic women leaders working to increase business and leadership opportunities for Latinas, will honor Viola Delgado with its 2020 Latina Living Legend (LLL) Award and Anette Landeros with its Emerging Latina Leader Award (ELLA). The LLL award recognizes the lifetime commitment of a DFW area Latina who has distinguished herself through her profession, active community and civic participation, volunteerism, and/or philanthropic endeavors. "Viola has dedicated a lifetime to expressing and sharing the vibrant legacy of the Hispanic community through her art," said Linda Valdez-Thompson, President of the DFW Hispanic 100. "Through her public art, her curatorial work and her own exhibits, Delgado has addressed the need in the community for more voices to tell the story of women of color." Viola Delgado is not only a gifted artist, she is also well known as a tireless community activist and philanthropist. Throughout her career, she has donated works for silent auctions, fundraisers and public facilities well over of $100,000. She has donated to such institutions and organizations as African American Museum, Latino Culture Center, Cara Mia, Junior Player, Big Thought, Truitt Elementary Mural, Dallas Public Library Central Branch, Guadalupe Catholic Church, Good Shepard Catholic Church, City of Dallas City Hall, Dallas Challenge, SAFIR, Old Settle Recreation Center (McKinney, Texas), Texas A&M in Kingsville, Texas, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (Dallas Hispanics for the Cure), La Pena El Corazon Exhibit Fundraisers (Austin, Texas), Dallas Children's Hospital, Erin Kelso Liver Transplant Foundation, North Texas Food Bank, Amnesty International. These donations have helped raise thousands of dollars for causes that promote multiculturalism and several important community initiatives for equity and access to services. She has served on the Public Art Committee, La Reunion Advisory Committee, ARTE, and several other art-related organizations. Delgado has also guided and mentored generations of young and emerging artists through her work in different organizations and local schools. Viola's research into the culture and history of a project have made her a sought-after artist for several public and commercial projects in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Her murals can be found at the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas; Stevens Park and Tolbert Elementary Schools, Dallas; the Dallas West Library Courtyard and Vickery Village/Buckner Baptist Children's Home, Dallas. Some of her extraordinary medallions are in the International Terminal D at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the Lake June and Rowlett Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Stations. The Dallas Observer named her DFW International Airport medallion as one of 10 points of interest. She has also curated exhibits at the Latino Cultural Center for six years. The ELLA award recognizes a Latina professional making an impact on women and girls through her engagement and leadership in her community and profession. "Anette deeply believes in mentorship and aims to pass onto the new generations the empowerment of knowing how to navigate opportunities for personal and professional growth," added Valdez-Thompson. "She aims to create the personal and professional networks to help others thrive both in her corporate role and in her community efforts. Her volunteer efforts are centered on her passion of leveling the professional playing field for women and communities of color." As the President and CEO of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FWHCC), Anette Landeros is dedicated to providing valuable programming to businesses, championing the importance of workforce development, and creating opportunities for the economic mobility for all chamber members. Since being recently named to this role in July of 2019, Anette has been working diligently to strengthen the chamber's partnerships and community outreach. Anette is currently leading the Chamber in their Fort Worth Forward 2020 Strategic Plan and the recently launched Business BounceBack B3 initiative to assist businesses that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. Previously, Anette led teams of federal auditors in evaluating program performance and regulatory compliance for the Office of Inspector General at the United States Department of Transportation. Anette has worked on award-winning reports that have broadly impacted the transportation industry. Additionally, Anette Soto Landeros is currently the Immediate Past State Chair of the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas, an organization committed to the advancement of women in public, corporate, and civic arenas. Anette remains the youngest person elected to lead the organization's state-wide mission and provided direction for chapters located in 8 different cities throughout Texas. Anette is a recognized change-agent and energetic leader that has spent nearly a decade committed to the growth and success of Latinas within the Latino community and the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas specifically. She has cultivated a valuable network of corporate and community relationships by modeling a strong sense of integrity and demonstrating a tremendous work ethic. Delgado's and Landeros' contributions to Dallas area Latinos will be recognized during a virtual event on October 1st, 2020. The proceeds benefit the H100 and its Latina Giving Circle. Past honorees of the Latina Living Legend award have included some of the most prominent Latina leaders in North Texas such as the honorable Anita N. Martinez, Gloria Campos, Adelfa B. Callejo, Dr. Gloria Contreras, Dolores Gomez Barzune, Dr. Catalina Garcia, Sheriff Lupe Valdez, Dr. Michele Bobadilla, Bea Salazar, Mercedes Olivera who was honored posthumously, and Lupita Colmenero. About The Hispanic 100 The Hispanic 100 is a network of Dallas-area Hispanic women leaders who are committed to increasing business development opportunities for Hispanic, women-owned businesses and to promoting Hispanic women's leadership roles in the private and public sectors. The organization's endowment fund supports Latina educational and social initiatives. For more information and sponsorship opportunities, visit www.dfwhispanic100.org . Contact: Maryanne Pina-Frodsham [email protected] 817.791.0755 SOURCE Hispanic 100 Related Links https://www.dfwhispanic100.org P eople have no reason not to go back to workplaces as there is scant evidence that this is where coronavirus is passed on, Matt Hancock has insisted. The Health Secretary said people mostly catch Covid-19 from meeting other households at home, citing NHS contact tracing data. But some commentators criticised his comments as "cavalier" and argued that they missed the point of how the virus is spread. Mr Hancock told the BBC: The reason is the evidence from NHS Test and Trace for where people catch the disease is that very largely they catch it from one household meeting another household, usually in one of their homes. There is little evidence that people are infected in workplaces, Matt Hancock has said / PA So it is that household transmission that is the core root of passing on this virus in this country. The amount of people who have caught it in workplaces is relatively low, from the evidence weve got. He also ruled out ordering people who work in offices and other indoor settings to wear masks. This is a policy that was adopted by France on Tuesday. Asked if he would consider a blanket rule, he replied: We constantly look at the scientific advice and the answer here is were not currently considering doing that." But scientists hit out at Mr Hancock's comments, explaining that people could easily spread the virus from households to workplaces. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the university of Reading, said: "It misses the point to state that workplace transmission is less significant than those that take place in the home. While that may well be true, any transmission spreads the virus and pushes up the R number. "The virus needs to be taken into homes by someone and they will have had to pick it up from somewhere else. Therefore, even a single workplace transmission could lead to multiple onward infections in a family, household or other setting. In the absence of appropriate data, it seems rather cavalier to dismiss workplaces as a source of potential infection, but label shops as higher risk and requiring masks, even though interactions with people are far more fleeting and less intimate. And Professor Keith Neal, Emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the university of Nottingham said that not much was yet understood about where transmission takes place. UK lockdown eases as more people return to work - In pictures 1 /54 UK lockdown eases as more people return to work - In pictures A woman wearing a face mask and gloves walks on a platform at Waterloo Station in London Reuters Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn General view of roadworks on London Bridge, London PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park. PA People are seen at Waterloo Station in London Reuters People wear a face masks at Leeds station PA A worker from LNER stands beside ticket barriers that have been blocked for social distancing measures at Newcastle train station, PA Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Police at Victoria Station as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Nigel Howard Burnt Oak tube station. PA A Victoria line train is deep cleaned at Northumberland Park depot PA Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA Nigel Howard Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Nigel Howard Passengers board and leave a train at a station in Bracknell, Berkshire PA Commuters and staff in and around at Clapham Junction Railway Station Daniel Hambury Police officers pictured at Colliers Wood Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Increased police and security personnel at New Street station in Birmingham PA Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Commuters at Clapham Junction sStation PA Nigel Howard Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park PA Nigel Howard Commuters and staff in and around at Clapham Junction Railway Station, Daniel Hambury Nigel Howard Increased police and security personnel at New Street station in Birmingham PA Increased security at New Street station in Birmingham, PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park PA Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA A sign advising passengers to wear a face mask at Clapham Junction station, PA Stickers being installed on a bus at Abellio Camberwell bus garage, as more people are set to return to offices, factories and building sites this week PA He said: "There has been little published work from the UK identifying where people have caught infections. We do know that transmission occurs in hospitals, in care homes, households and families mixing in households along with overcrowded pubs as in Aberdeen. "The risk in offices must exist but so far not been measured and can reasonably thought to be low... Working from home minimises your and your familys risk from COVID-19 and flu. Working from home will keep down the overall number of transmissions in the whole country. If you can work from home without any detriment then it is reasonable to carry on doing this, but if you have to go to the office the risk is minimal and can be managed to be even lower. Tony Blair admits the government is facing an 'enormous challenge' Mr Hancock's comments come after Tony Blair warned that people would not go back to normal activities without the safety net of mass coronavirus testing. The former Labour prime minister told Sky News: So you can say to people, go back into work, but if they dont feel safe, theyre going to be reluctant. And if you want to reopen schools, universities, workplaces, if you want international travel to function again, the only way I think you can do that is by doing testing at scale and thats why weve got to move to this. The Government dropped advice to work from home if possible from the start of August, amid concerns that city-centre businesses were suffering from a dearth of commuter trade. Loading.... France made masks compulsory on Tuesday for all shared, enclosed workplaces, in a bid to slow the spread of the virus as cases spike again. The new rule will come into force on September 1. Legendary Ferrari figure Mauro Forghieri has critiqued Mattia Binotto's management of the struggling Italian team's drivers. Speaking to Italian insider Leo Turrini's Quotidiano blog, Forghieri - a major player at Ferrari from the 60s to the 80s - claims Maranello has "a human resources problem". "There is no lack of money at Maranello," he said. "I am convinced that Ferrari must strengthen its technical structure. Quickly." Binotto has come under fire recently as some question whether the long-time engineer, who was promoted last year, is also an effective team boss. "Binotto is playing a very delicate role," Forghieri said. "I know from experience! "Being the head of the Gestione Sportiva is really difficult, the pressure is enormous, and Ferrari never forgives anything. Binotto must surround himself with the right people for the skills that are obviously lacking." Following the legality saga of 2019, Ferrari's engine is now conspicuously down on power but Forghieri insists the car is "wrong in other areas too". His most specific criticism, however, is of Binotto's handling of the drivers. Charles Leclerc, for instance, is "very talented", but also "so young". "Ferrari should not have charged him with so much responsibility so soon," said Forghieri. Forghieri also said his old boss, Enzo Ferrari, would probably not approve of the way Sebastian Vettel's looming departure was handled. "I don't like to upset Enzo Ferrari, because I really knew him and I know that things are attributed to him that he would never have done," he said. "But I am sure that he would have handled Seb's farewell differently. He deserved a more respectful treatment." (GMM) The exuberant design is even more startling when you realize that this is not a new building, but the renovation of an old one: a former Bank of America branch that, according to Skokie associate planner Mike Voitik, was a Maurice L. Rothschild & Co. store when it was built in 1956. Around 1971, when the building had been turned into a Vignola furniture store, it was a laughably bad example of the Colonial Revival style, complete with a cartoonish clock tower and weather vane. An improvised roadside bomb exploded 15 km from the city of Deir ez-Zor when a Russian military convoy was returning to its base after a humanitarian mission on August 18, the ministrys press office said. "Three Russian servicemen were wounded in the blast. During the evacuation and the provision of medical assistance, a Russian senior military adviser in the rank of a major-general died of heavy wounds," TASS cited the press office as saying. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recommended conferring a state decoration on the killed officer posthumously. Russias Defense Ministry will also provide all necessary assistance to the killed officers family, the statement says. Russias Defense Ministry reported on September 24, 2017 that the head of the group of Russian military advisers in Syria, Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov was killed near Deir ez-Zor. Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard face a nervous wait to discover if they will be forced to cut short a holiday in Greece to avoid a two-week quarantine that would cause them to miss the start of pre-season training. The Manchester United duo flew to Greece earlier this week after Uniteds Europa League quarter-final defeat by Sevilla despite the probability that returning holidaymakers will be subject to quarantine measures from this weekend. Rashford and Lingard undertook the trip with the blessing of United, but only after manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned his players that they had to be available for pre-season training on September 1. Marcus Rashford (right) and Jesse Lingard (left) may be forced to rush home from Greece The United pair are on holiday together (pictured here abroad on a previous occasion) That would be impossible for the England stars if they were subject to quarantine which would come into operation from Saturday if the Government adds Greece to the list of countries to which only essential travel is permitted when they release updated guidance on Thursday. Greece is expected to be added to the list after recording 250 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, its second highest figure of the pandemic. Finland added Greece to its list of countries to which only essential travel is allowed on Wednesday and if the government follow their lead Rashford and Lingard would face a dash to get home by the early hours of Saturday morning. Rashfords situation is also a concern for Gareth Southgate, as the England manager is planning to pick the 22-year-old in his squad next week for Septembers UEFA Nations League games against Denmark and Iceland, which would not be possible if he was in quarantine. They have been allowed to travel abroad with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer relaxed about the situation Ironically Greece has previously been viewed as a safe haven by Premier League stars this summer due to its low levels of infection, with the likes of Dele Alli, Jack Grealish and James Madisson all holidaying there before returning for pre-season training with Tottenham, Aston Villa and Leicester City respectively. Rashford and Lingard encountered problems on holiday last summer with the latter reprimanded by United after posting a crude video on Snapchat of the pairs Miami apartment in which he boasted about his sexual conquests. Uniteds seemingly relaxed approach to the risks posed by Covid-19 has previously raised eyebrows this summer after Solskjaer permitted several players to travel abroad in the brief down-time between the end of the Premier League and the resumption of their Europa League campaign. Solskjaer will be desperate to have all his players ready for pre-season on September 1 The potential dangers posed by players going abroad during the close-season were highlighted on Wednesday when it emerged that there have been 14 positive tests for Covid-19 across 12 clubs since the resumption of training this week. In contrast there were only 30 positive cases from around 35,000 tests carried out during Project Restart so the increase is significant, and is likely to be the result of players and staff travelling more widely during the summer. With more than three weeks remaining before the start of next season on 12 September the positive tests are not expected to disrupt the preparations for the new campaign, the fixtures for which will be released on Thursday, but they have provided a warning of the need for clubs to maintain a Covid-secure environment at their stadia and training grounds. The Premier League is expected to test players once a week next season rather than twice a week as they did during the resumption of the last campaign. Melburnians will be able to drive to their favourite exercise spots within five kilometres of their homes from Thursday after the Chief Health Officer stepped in to overturn the COVID-19 restriction amid widespread public outrage. People under stage four restrictions have only been allowed to walk or cycle to their local parks and beaches for one hour of daily exercise. This prompted police to take to social media earlier this week to issue a reminder that they had been directed to issue $1652 fines for any breach. Confusion over the rules on exercise has prompted Port Phillip police to warn residents that travelling in a vehicle to parks or beaches is not permitted. Credit:Jason South On Wednesday morning, Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, was quizzed over the restriction before promising to talk to Chief Commissioner Shane Patton about possible revisions. John F. Kennedy's grandson Jack Schlossberg and daughter Caroline Kennedy gave Joe Biden the blessing of America's most famous political dynasty by endorsing him at the Democratic National Convention last night. 'Once again, we need a leader who believes America's best days are yet to come... we need Joe Biden,' said Schlossberg, 27, as Biden was formally crowned as Democratic nominee for president on Tuesday night. Caroline, 62, said she had known Biden since serving as his Senate intern in 1974 and had helped to choose him as Barack Obama's running mate in 2008. Delegates watched footage of JFK accepting the nomination at the DNC in 1960, when he went on to defeat Richard Nixon in a hair's-breadth election which ushered in the 'Camelot' presidency that ended with his death in the first in a series of Kennedy family tragedies. Caroline Kennedy (left) and her son Jack Schlossberg (right) endorsed Joe Biden during Tuesday night's virtual Democratic National Convention Ted Kennedy (center left) and Caroline Kennedy (center right) endorsed then Sen. Barack Obama (right) during his 2008 primary against Hillary Clinton and later Carolina Kennedy had a hand at picking Joe Biden for Obama's vice president 'It was a call for the young at heart, regardless of age or party,' Schlossberg said of JFK's acceptance speech. 'Times have changed, but the themes of my grandfathers speechcourage, unity, and patriotismare as important today as they were in 1960. And once again, we need a leader who believes Americas best days are yet to come. We need Joe Biden.' He also invoked his grandfather's 'ask not what your country can do for yo'" quote. "In this election, our future is on the ballot,' Schlossberg added. 'For my generation, it will define the rest of our lives. We need to tackle climate change. We need to end systemic racial injustice. We need to make healthcare available for everybody. And we need to rebuild an economy that helps working families. We can do this. We can reach new frontiers only with a president who asks what he can do with our country.' Speaking to delegates via video-link, Caroline said Biden was 'a senator who cared, who led, who inspired. 'That's why I helped choose him to be Barack Obama's running mate in 2008,' she continued. JFK's brother Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts senator from 1962 to 2009, was an early backer of Obama during his hard-fought primary battle with Hillary Clinton in 2008. 'He is tough-minded but he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to the better angels of our nature,' Ted Kennedy said of Obama in 2008, invoking Abraham Lincoln and giving the young senator the Camelot glow. After Obama won the nomination, Caroline Kennedy served on Obama's vice-presidential selection committee which eventually settled on Biden. Ted Kennedy, who died the following year, had served alongside Biden for his entire career in the US Senate after Biden was first elected in 1973. Obama later appointed Caroline as US ambassador to Japan, where she again dealt with Biden as vice president. 'He stepped off Air Force Two wearing his aviator glasses and his big smile, radiating American optimism and generosity,' Caroline Kennedy recalled. Caroline, who served in her diplomatic post until Obama and Biden left office in 2017, added that Biden would 'always put America's interests first.' JFK's namesake grandson Schlossberg chimed in and said that in 2020 the 'future is on the ballot'. 'For my generation it will define the rest of our lives,' he said. Ted and Caroline Kennedy watch then-senator Barack Obama give a speech during the 2008 Democratic primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton John F. Kennedy speaks at the Democratic National Convention in 1960, when he was nominated for the November election which he narrowly won against Richard Nixon Schlossberg, 27, is the son of Caroline Kennedy and her designer husband Edwin Schlossberg, who married in 1986. Schlossberg followed in his uncle's foray into media, writing for publications including The Washington Post, TIME, and more, according to Esquire. He also spent time in the Capitol as a former Senate page and intern to John Kerry. And two years ago he made his acting debut in CBS hit show Blue Bloods. As a Harvard Law School student, Jack Schlossberg accompanied his mother on official visits as ambassador including a trip to the Fukushima nuclear plant at the center of the 2011 disaster in Japan. Tuesday was Schlossberg's first speaking role at a convention, though he has become more and more involved over the years in the family's philanthropic and humanitarian work. In May, he appeared with Caroline to announce that the 2020 Profile in Courage Award would be focused on local frontline workers facing the novel coronavirus pandemic. But last night some people appeared to be more taken by Mr Schlossberg himself, with the young man soon becoming the unlikely star of the convention. Twitter users were quick to note not only the resemblance to his late uncle John F. Kennedy Jr, who died in 1999, but also to gush over his "attractive" looks. Others suggested that the 27-year-old, a Yale and Harvard graduate, could be a future Democratic political star, with some suggesting he could even be a future president. One person said: "Why has no one told me how insanely hot Jack Shlossberg is? Is he single? Asking for me." Caroline and Edwin have two other children - Rose, 32, and Tatiana, 30 - and the three siblings are the only grandchildren of the former President. John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic nomination in Los Angeles 60 years ago last month, calling for renewal and a 'New Frontier' for the 1960s. Exploiting his glamour and youthful confidence, he outshone the prickly Nixon in America's first televised debates in the fall. However, he only won the election by a bare margin, relying partly on the creaking coalition of Southern Democrats who had backed the party since the Civil War. The Kennedy family also has a stake in this year's Senate elections, with congressman Joe Kennedy III challenging Massachusetts senator Ed Markey in the Democratic primary race. Kennedy, 39, and Markey, 74, crossed swords in their final televised debate last night before the primary on September 1. Caroline Kennedy (left) and Jack Schlossberg (right) with Barack and Michelle Obama in 2017, when former President Obama won the John F. Kennedy Profile In Courage Award JFK's widow Jackie Kennedy Onassis with her son John F. Kennedy Jr - who died in a 1999 plane crash - and Caroline Kennedy in 1991 A young Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr stand in front of Ted, Jackie and Robert Kennedy at JFK's funeral following his assassination in 1963 TOKYO Asian shares slipped Thursday after sobriety set in on Wall Street, and the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes laid out challenges for the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8% in early trading to 22,935.51. South Koreas Kospi plunged 2.2% to 2,309.17. Australias S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% to 6,109.70. Hong Kongs Hang Seng lost 1.9% to 24,705.64, while the Shanghai Composite fell nearly 0.9% at 3,378.94. The latest Fed minutes had been one to offer a reality check for markets, though with the elevated prices, it had likely been an excuse to take some profit off the table as well, said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist with IG. Most notably, Fed minutes from the July FOMC meeting had reflected officials views on the pandemic weighing heavily on the economy and posing risks to the medium-term outlook, she said. The central bank has been one of the main pillars propping up the market after it slashed short-term interest rates to their record low and essentially promised to buy as many bonds as it takes to keep markets running smoothly. The Feds minutes of its latest policy meeting, released late Wednesday, showed policy makers are finding it difficult to forecast the path of the economy, which will depend greatly on what happens with the virus. In no uncertain terms, the FOMC minutes deflated the markets Federal Reserve air balloon as the minutes unequivocally temper September. So without the Fed air balloon floating markets today, stocks are temporarily succumbing to forces of gravity, said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 3,374.85, a day after it wiped out the last of its losses created by the pandemic and surpassed its Feb. 19 peak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gave up an earlier gain, falling 0.3% to 27,692.88. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.6% to 11,146.46. The Asian region depends heavily on a healthy U.S. economy to keep its growth going. Export-dependent Japan has sunk into recession, slammed by the slowdowns in the U.S., as well as China, with production halted, tourism squelched and consumption crimped. Analysts say a recovery is likely coming for the worlds third largest economy, but also acknowledge great uncertainty, without a vaccine for COVID-19. Investors still seem to believe the U.S. Congress and the White House will reach a deal to deliver more aid to the economy after federal unemployment benefits and other stimulus expired. Investors around the world are also waiting for developments on the rising tensions between the United States and China. The worlds largest economies have longstanding trade issues, and President Donald Trump has recently been targeting Chinese tech companies. Also hanging over the market is the upcoming U.S. election, with the big changes in policies it can create. Earnings reporting season for big U.S companies has nearly wrapped up, with businesses in the S&P 500 on track to report a sharp decline in their profits for the spring, but not as bad as Wall Street expected. In the latest accolade for Big Tech, Apples total market value briefly topped $2 trillion, the first time a U.S. company has crossed that threshold. Technology companies, including video-game maker Nintendo Co. of Japan, are thriving as the pandemic accelerates work-from-home and other tech-friendly trends. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 40 cents to $42.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 4 cents to $42.93 per barrel Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 35 cents to $45.02 a barrel. The U.S. dollar fell to 106.06 Japanese yen from 106.13 yen on Wednesday. The euro cost $1.1839, up from $1.1934. ___ AP Business Writers Stan Choe, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed. Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama New Delhi, Aug 19 : Turning the table on the Congress in Manipur, the BJP on Wednesday welcomed five former Congress MLAs, who had resigned from the party amid the political instability in the northeastern state, into the saffron party here in the presence of BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav. Among those who joined the BJP was Congress leader and former Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh's nephew Okram Henry, who called the NDA government in the state a "people's government". "I love how they work. That is why I joined the BJP. I want the party to grow," said Henry, adding that people had lost "trust" in the Congress government, so they brought the NDA into power. Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh along with party leader Jay Panda were also present when the five former Cogress MLAs joined the BJP in the national capital. In fact it was Panda who handed over the party membership to each of the five former Congressmen. "With this, the political instability in Manipur is over for now," said Madhav. The Biren Singh-led government recently faced uncertainty after nine MLAs, including four from the NPP, three from the BJP, one of the Trinamool Congress and one Independent member, withdrew support in mid June. However, the situation was salvaged after the four NPP MLAS were flown into Delhi where they met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party President J.P. Nadda. Drawing a comparison between Rajasthan and Manipur, Ram Madhav alleged, "The Congress was doing exactly the same in Manipur what it has wrongfully alleged us of doing in Rajasthan." He claimed that unlike in Rajasthan, where the Congress MLAs did not want to resign, the five Manipur MLAs have resigned to join the BJP, which shows their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government's developmental work in the state. A convenience store chain is offering a free beverage or sandwich in exchange for them. A laundromat owner drove 4 hours across state lines to get $8,000 worth. A young girl in Illinois wrote the tooth fairy saying she'll gladly take dollars as a substitute if it helps. There is a shortage of coins across the U.S., yet another odd side effect of the coronavirus pandemic. Quarters, dimes and nickels aren't circulating as freely as they usually do because many businesses have been closed and consumers aren't out spending as much. The Federal Reserve announced in June that the supply system for coins had been severely disrupted. The U.S. Mint and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have urged Americans to use coins or turn them in to banks. As the economy recovers and businesses reopen, the coin supply is expected to normalize. Meanwhile, retailers large and small have urged shoppers to use cards or exact change whenever possible. Some won't provide change. Grocery giant Kroger Co. is still accepting cash, but offers customers the option to load their change onto loyalty cards to use on their next visit or to donate the balance to charity. Convenience store chain WaWa offered customers a free beverage at some of its stores if people brought in $5 worth of coins, or a sandwich for $50 or more. Community State Bank, a regional bank chain in Wisconsin, even offered a $5 bonus for every $100 worth of coins that people brought in. They had to suspend it after a week due to overwhelming response. As the shortage persists, it's become clear that there are still some conundrums that only coins can solve. "It's at the minimum an inconvenience ... at worst it's a business challenge," said Brian Wallace, CEO of the Coin Laundry Association, a trade group for laundromats. About 56 percent of laundromats that serve the public take quarters as the only form of payment. And 89 percent take quarters as some form of payment, with cards, loyalty programs or mobile payments as an alternative, according to the trade group. Laundromats rely heavily on coins, in part, because many of their customers are "unbanked" or "underbanked," meaning they mostly or entirely use cash instead of cards to pay for things. Daryl Johnson, who owns Giant Wash Laundry a chain of 11 laundromats in the Minneapolis area said his company normally buys anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000 in quarters a week for its change machines. But after the Fed began rationing distributions of coins, his bank said it might not be able to provide any. Johnson got creative: he offered to buy change from friends and family on Facebook. He put up signs in stores asking customers to bring in their own coins and adjusted his change machines to only accept smaller bills to limit outflow. He even drove more than 4 hours to Omaha to buy $8,000 on quarters from another laundry operator. "It's that or my businesses close," he said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Things have stabilized some, both for himself and his bank, in terms of supply. People who rely on coin-operated laundry machines in laundromats and apartment buildings are struggling as well. Stephanie Sabin of Portland, Ore., has a washing machine at her apartment complex that only takes quarters. In July, her neighborhood bank was closed for in-person business. The next five locations she tried were either closed or unable to give her quarters. She's been able to get her laundry done with quarters her family had on hand or that she bought from her boss. "Desperate times," she said. "You can no longer request rolls of quarters at grocery stores or even get change back if you pay with cash at a food drive-thru." Toll booths, parking meters, vending machines and other spots that were once coin-heavy have modernized to accept other forms of payment. But people are finding themselves in need of change for other situations. Jen Vicker, of Bollingbrook, Ill., has a 10-year old daughter who woke up with a loose tooth and worried the tooth fairy wouldn't be able to pay up. So she wrote a note: "Dear tooth fairy, you may already know this but there is a national coin shortage in America. You usually leave me dollar coins, but until this situation is resolved, I would like cash for my teeth. I apologize for the inconvenience." A diamond trader (63) from south Mumbai lost 129,428 lakh after a fraudster posing as a bank employee duped him. The incident, which had occurred in end-July, used the familiar modus operandi of conning the diamond trader in the guise of updating the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) details of his e-wallet account. Also read: Five men arrested for duping over 100 people of 1 crore on pretext of offering jobs The complainant, Amit Navindchandra Zaveri, a resident of Babulnath in south Mumbai, had received a message on his mobile phone on July 27, asking him to update the KYC details of his e-wallet account. The message also included a mobile phone number that he could contact for further details. Zaveri called on the mobile number, which was mentioned in the message, at around 10.30 am on July 27. A man, who claimed to be the representative of the e-wallet company, answered the phone. The man discouraged Zaveri from visiting the e-wallets office to update his KYC details and insisted that he could it online because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. Soon, the cyber fraudster sent a link to Zaveri and asked him to fill his credit card details. Later, he asked Zaveri to open the e-wallet account from his mobile phone and punch in any number between one and nine. Zaveri followed the process, while the fraudster made five transactions from his credit card and withdrew 34,131, 25,099, 40,099, 25,099, and 5,000 within a few seconds. An alert bank employee, who noticed the five suspicious transactions from Zaveris credit card, contacted the diamond trader and asked him about the transactions. Zaveri denied making any transaction. This led the bank employee to block Zaveris credit card, said an official from Gamdevi police station. Zaveri received the details of the bank transactions of 1,29,428 lakh a week later. He filed a complaint with Gamdevi police station after the bank authorities were unwilling to redress his grievances about the fraudulent transactions. A case under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and also under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has been filed at the police station. The police are probing into the commonplace fraud. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Migrants: new landing in Crotone, 115 arrivals Including 26 women, 21 minors. All placed in quarantine (ANSAmed) - CROTONE, AUGUST 19 - A total of 115 migrants, including 26 women and 21 minors, disembarked on Tuesday night in the port of Crotone after being intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard off the coast of Soverato in the region of Calabria. The migrants are citizens of Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and Somalia, and were travelling aboard a boat that departed from the port of Antalaya in Turkey. An initial screening of the migrants did not detect any health problems. The Red Cross transferred the migrants to the reception centre in Isola di Capo Rizzuto, where they were placed in quarantine according to anti-Covid measures.(ANSAmed). (ANSA). has removed at least 47,000 apps from its App Store in China to comply with the new policy from the state regulators. According to a report in The Information, China may be closing the loopholes exploited by in previous years, "starting with the recent removal of thousands of apps from the Chinese App Store". "The technology giant operates the App Store and many other services without government licenses and local partners in China. That has left it vulnerable to regulatory risk in China as Trump attacks TikTok and WeChat in the US," the report said on Tuesday. The US administration's action against the Chinese behemoths like ByteDance (TikTok) and Tencent (WeChat) has fueld a new war between the two nations. The Donald Trump administration has also tightened restrictions on Chinese conglomerate Huawei. Last month, removed at least 4,500 games from China's App Store under the pressure from the Chinese government to comply with its Internet policies. More than 3,000 games were removed from Apple's China App Store in just two days, which is one of the biggest game purges on Apple's App Store ever. New regulations require game developers to gain approval from the Chinese regulators before uploading their apps in China's Apple App store. China is Apple's biggest App Store market, with sales of $16.4 billion a year, according to data from Sensor Tower. In the US, the figures are $15.4 billion a year. Apple currently hosts roughly 60,000 games in China that are paid for or have in-app purchases. --IANS na/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ALTON The final count is still out of how many Metro East residents participated Tuesday in free community COVID-19 testing at Gordon F. Moore Community Park. Vehicles lined up at the College Avenue park all morning, from 9 a.m. to noon, to get drive-through tested for the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The Madison County Health Department typically offers testing twice per week Tuesdays and Thursdays. We started planning these community based testing sites in May, and started doing them in June, said Madison County Healths Director of Community Health Amy Yeager, public information officer. We first partnered with the Madison County Housing Authority and the Alton Housing Authority and we provided testing in all of the housing authorities in the county at that point in time, Yeager said Tuesday. On average, she said the county sees from 100 to 200 vehicles per site. The community based testing sites are the result of a partnership between Madison County Health and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (SIHF), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing and Southern Illinois University Medical School. Lewis and Clark Community College provides a van used for community service. Sometimes, weve maybe had three-hundred, or a little over, at a site, Yeager recalled. So, thats what we plan for and anticipate coming through. Through this partnership, we are happy to be able to provide continued COVID-19 testing opportunities to Madison County residents, she said. Were not asking to, just, go out and get a test for the sake of getting a test. What we do encourage, is for people who know that theyve been in close contact with people, been in large crowds where they were unable to social distance or wear a mask, or both, to get tested. Madison County Health will hold six more free coronavirus testing dates through September at sites in Edwardsville, Collinsville and Highland. No appointment is necessary to be tested, but masks are required to be worn. Participants must bring a photo ID and, if available, a health insurance card. County testing sites are open to anyone who is at least 6 months old. There will be no out-of-pocket expense for the test, which is conducted via a shallow nose swab. We try to rotate different locations in the county, Yeager said. More Information If you go: What: Madison County Health Department free-to-the-public coronavirus testing Where: Thursday, Aug. 20, Fairmount Park, Collinsville Tuesday, Aug. 25, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Ralph Korte Stadium, Edwardsville Thursday, Aug. 27, Korte Recreation Center, Highland Tuesday, Sept. 15, SIUE's Ralph Korte Stadium, Edwardsville Thursday, Sept. 17, Korte Recreation Center, Highland Sunday, Sept. 20, Fairmount Park, Collinsville Info: Free, bring photo ID and, if available, a health insurance card. No out-of-pocket expense. Masks must be worn as required. Test via shallow nose swab. More at www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php See More Collapse We did walk-up sites for a while, but with the heat in the summer, we switched to a drive-through model, she explained. In the fall, we may offer both, but I havent heard either way. Madison County Health also has five stationary locations offering COVID-19 testing. Times of operation and criteria for each site varies, visit the Madison County Health Department website at www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php and stationary testing takes place at SIHF Healthcare, in Wood River, Alton Memorial Convenient Care at Bethalto, MedExpress Urgent Care, in Collinsville, and Anderson Hospital, in Maryville. Detailed information for each of these testing sites can be found at www.co.madison.il.us under testing options section or the Madison County Health Department COVID-19 Dashboard at the testing sites tab. The Illinois Department of Public Health also operates a COVID-19 testing site seven days a week at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Center, Argonne Drive, in East St. Louis. This site also is open to anyone for testing, with or without symptoms and free of charge. No doctors note is required for testing and walk-up and drive-thru services are available. The No. 1 thing T.J. Shanoff wants from this week is to see Democrats get behind Biden without equivocation, said the musician from Evanston, Ill. I forgive a man in his 70s who has otherwise demonstrated a passion for politics, empathy and kindness and who has gone through repeated tragedies. Its okay if hes not like Bernie Sanders, policy-wise. Just because hes not screaming defund the police through a bullhorn doesnt mean everyone should not get behind him. Things have gotten so crazy, even a modicum of normalcy would be welcome. AKRON, Ohio President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday morning calling on his supporters to boycott the Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. after a report circulated that employees are prohibited from wearing attire with messages such as MAGA or Blue Lives Matter. Dont buy GOODYEAR TIRES They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!), Trump tweeted. The tweet comes after WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas reported Tuesday that an employee at a Goodyear plant sent the news station a photo of a slide from a company training presentation, which shows a zero-tolerance policy for certain kinds of attire. Under acceptable kinds of attire, the slide includes Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride (LGBT). Listed under unacceptable are Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA attire and Political Affiliated Slogans or Material. WIBW reported that the employee said the slide came from Goodyears corporate office in Akron. Cleveland.com reached out to Goodyear to confirm the authenticity of the report and to request a comment, but the company did not immediately respond. Goodyear spokeswoman Melissa Monaco provided the following statement to WIBW: Goodyear is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace where all of our associates can do their best in a spirit of teamwork. As part of this commitment, we do allow our associates to express their support on racial injustice and other equity issues but ask that they refrain from workplace expressions, verbal or otherwise, in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as other similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of equity issues. Democratic Ohio House Rep. Emilia Sykes of Akron responded to the presidents tweet, calling on him to stand down. The product will be priced at Rs 28 apiece Panasonic Life Solutions India (formerly known as Anchor Electricals) has launched its 'Ziva' brand of modular switches. The product will be priced at Rs 28 apiece. Vivek Sharma, managing director of Panasonic Life Solutions said during the virtual launch that the company is eyeing Rs 100 crore revenue from Ziva this year. "In two years, we are looking to reach Rs 500 crore revenue per year from Ziva," he added. The company has made approximately Rs 20 crore investment so far into launching this new product range. Ziva switches will be manufactured in the Daman and Haridwar manufacturing facilities of the company. Anchor was acquired by Panasonic in 2007. There's a Rs 1,330 crore market for economic modular switches in India. Of this, Anchor holds 35 percent market share. Ziva range will include switches, sockets, accessories (fan regulators), telephone sockets, receptors, TV sockets, and USB chargers. Unlike the conventional switches, modular switches are free from metallic parts and have lower risk of electric shocks. Sharma said the Ziva range is targeted to support the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana initiative. PMAY is an initiative to provide affordable housing to the urban poor and looks to provide 20 million houses by March 2022. "Our goal is to address the needs of all entry-level and economy modular segment consumers with a commitment to making quality products at affordable rates," he added. Dinesh Aggarwal, joint managing director, Panasonic Life Solutions, added that in the future, the various electrical and electronic devices will be Internet of Things and artificial intelligence enabled. A Tanta Criminal Court in Egypts Gharbia governorate has sentenced a train conductor to three years in prison for forcing two passengers to jump off a train while it was moving at high speed after they refused to purchase tickets or pay a fine. The incident in October last year caused one of the two passengers, both of whom were vendors, to be killed under the train wheels, while the other passenger survived with injuries. The train was heading from Tanta in the Nile Delta to the capital, Cairo, when the incident occurred. Last year, the Public Prosecution charged the conductor for carrying out actions that harmed two passengers on the train, causing the death of one of them and the injury of the other. A statement by Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawi shortly after the incident said that the two passengers had boarded the train without a ticket when it stopped in Tanta on its way to Cairo. The statement said that the conductor opened one of the train doors as he knew that they did not have enough money to pay for the tickets or the fine, and gave them the choice to pay, hand over their IDs for a police report, or to jump off the train, according to three eyewitnesses. The two victims decided to jump. The first passenger to jump, Ahmed Samir, survived the fall with bruises on different parts of his body, while Mohamed Eid, the second passenger, was beheaded by the train wheels, the prosecution said. The conductor, Magdi Ibrahim, denied the accusations, saying that he tried to prevent them from jumping off the train and that the train was moving at a low speed. Search Keywords: Short link: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. President Donald Trump urged universities to continue reopening their campuses on Wednesday, even as some institutions across the country report clusters of coronavirus outbreaks among their students. "We have learned one thing, there's nothing like campus there's nothing like being with a teacher as opposed to being on a computer board," Trump said during a White House press briefing. "The iPads are wonderful but you're not going to learn the same way as being there." The president's remarks come as some universities have reported hundreds of new Covid-19 cases as students return to campus for the fall semester. "For older people and individuals with underlying conditions, the China virus is very dangerous," Trump said, using a racist slur to describe Covid-19. "But for university students the likelihood of severe illness is less than or equal to the risk of a seasonal flu." A woman (C) holds a sign in support of assisted suicide while others demonstrate against it outside the B.C. Court of Appeal on Oct. 10, 2013. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck) BC Hospice Continues Legal Battle Over Euthanasia A B.C. hospice that found itself in hot water with the provincial government for refusing to make provisions for medically assisted suicide got a favourable court decision this week that allows it to continue its fight to keep euthanasia off its premises. Were waiting now for our hearing to be scheduled, and we know that in our hearing were going to be able to argue everything thats relevant to this case, Delta Hospice Society (DHS) president Angelina Ireland said in an interview. The B.C. government mandated that all hospices without a religious affiliation must provide medical assistance in dying (MAiD) on-site if more than half of their funding comes from taxpayers. The DHS, which governs the privately operated Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta, is not affiliated with any religion but is opposed to physician-assisted suicide on moral and philosophical grounds. It offered to forfeit $750,000 in annual public funding in order to continue operations without providing MAiD on-site. However, its offer was rejected by the provincial government and the Fraser Health Authority, which has jurisdiction over publicly funded health care in the region where the hospice is located. Instead, they said funding would continue until Feb. 25, 2021, after which the hospice would lose its licence and be unable to continue operations. Former board members and pro-euthanasia advocates went a step further by launching a website and an associated Facebook page to organize the public to pay $10 each to join DHS. The society refused to grant memberships to those it knew to favour euthanasia on-site. Then on June 12, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheila Fitzpatrick ordered DHS to allow membership to anyone who paid membership fees, including 310 people who had been refused. Lawyers for DHS argued before the B.C. Court of Appeal that the hospice was a private institution, not a public one, and that if B.C.s Societies Act permitted such an order, it would violate the Charter freedoms of association and conscience. On Aug. 17, the court announced it would allow the appeal, but no date has been set for hearings. Ireland explained in a press release that the DHS had resisted a public and coordinated campaign to infiltrate the Delta Hospice Society and overwhelm the existing membership with those who do not share our constitution. Their whole purpose was to reverse our policy on euthanasia. She added: The Fitzpatrick judgment gave carte blanche to organized groups to perform hostile takeovers of private societies that hold minority views. It would mean thousands of societies can now be taken over by any organized group of a few hundred people. That is not how a free society is supposed to work. The petitioners against DHS are former board members Jim Levin, Sharon Farrish, and Chris Pettypiece. Their petition stated: The board of the Society has manipulated the membership list to stack the deck, by holding back up to six months, and ultimately rejecting without basis, hundreds of membership applications by community members concerned by the direction of the Society, all the while selectively accepting members supportive of their philosophy and direction. They continued: The Society has now given minimum notice of an extraordinary meeting. It is intended to change what has always been an open, secular community organization into a closed, religious organization. The Epoch Times reached out to Farrish and Pettypiece for comment, but they declined. Alex Muir, co-chair of the Vancouver chapter of Dying With Dignity, told The Epoch Times that having euthanasia access onsite is important. Faith-based organizations are allowed to exempt themselves from providing medical assistance in dying if its against their beliefs. We dont believe that should be allowed when they are publicly funded, and we dont believe the government should be using taxpayer dollars to allow that to happen, Muir said. Dying With Dignity has launched a petition signed by over 1,500 people that calls on the province to end the MAiD exemption given to publicly funded faith-based facilities. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has launched its own petition against forcing hospices to perform euthanasia, which has been signed by over 27,000 people. Ireland says the DHS membership itself numbers 1,500 people. She says everyone who receives care at the hospice has access to MAiD, though they must be transferred to a nearby hospital. Muir says thats more than an inconvenience. Here [patients] are comfortable in this hospice, and theyre shipped off to some other place, where they dont know anybody, to receive medical assistance in dying. Its cruel to the patient and upsetting to the family as well. Ireland told The Epoch Times that hospice care differs from euthanasia and that DHS performs a service that is harder for Canadians to find. Youd think that these were 10 magical beds the way that everybody has been after us, and the government. Its 10 beds that were trying to protect for palliative care in this province, and that is all were trying to do, she says. We dont want to battle with anybody. And were being forced to battle not only with the provincial government but with a campaign of euthanasia activists trying every which way they can to get into our hospice and force us to kill our patients. And thats what we refuse to do. Dame Cicely Saunders founded the worlds first hospice in England in 1967. Emphasizing the importance of palliative care in modern medicine, she said, The care of the dying demands all that we can do to enable patients to live until they die. Attitudes which promote death rather than affirm life are the ultimate abandonment, she also noted. Chrome News Track is a yet another exclusive from Chrome Data Analytics and Media which conducts study on News Content aired across India by choosing the "Most Aired, Most Watched and Most Discussed News of the week". The automated data is picked from 30200 Chrome DM Panel Homes across India. It analyses the effectiveness of News aired on television every week and categorises it through three broad segments namely Most Aired, Most Watched and Most Discussed. Most Aired News in Week 32: According to the Chrome News Track data for the Week 32 - 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput Commits Suicide was the most Aired News this week, followed by News about Air India Flight Crash In Kerala. The News about Riots in Bangalore stood at the 3rd Independence Day Celebration 2020 was next in the list and News about Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) managed to take the fifth and the last spot. Most Watched News in Week 32: The data also unveils that Sushant Singh Rajput Commits Suicide was the most watched news for the week grabbing maximum eyeballs, followed by Riots in Bangalore. The news about Air India Flight Crash in Kerala, Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) & Independence Day Celebration 2020 also generated interests amongst viewers and are placed at 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively in the list. Most Discussed News in Week 32: On the other hand, taking a closer view of the Most Discussed News category, the news about Sushant Singh Rajput Commits Suicide has been the talk of the nation making it the most discussed news whereas the News Air India Flight Crash in Kerala happens to be the 2nd most discussed news as per the automated data picked from 30200 Chrome DM Panel Homes. Riots in Bangalore became the 3rd most discussed news among masses. Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) and Independence Day Celebration 2020 are placed at 4th & 5th respectively in the list. Saturday will mark the 500th straight day that there will be no Senate-confirmed secretary of Homeland Security the longest vacancy in the 231-year history of the executive branch cabinet. Whats more, unlike the rare, lengthy vacancies of previous administrations (usually a result of failed nominees), President Trump hasnt sent a single name to the Republican-controlled Senate since April 10, 2019. Instead, he has publicly insisted that he prefers the flexibility that comes from filling positions like secretary of Homeland Security with an acting officer. Last month, in a rare break from the White House, the Senate pushed back against the presidents nominee to the senior policy position at the Pentagon, Anthony Tata, a retired Army one-star general turned Fox News commentator. He provoked bipartisan opposition in light of a series of inflammatory tweets from 2018 (for example, he called Islam the most oppressive violent religion; he later apologized in a letter to senators). Mr. Trump responded by installing him anyway as the senior official performing the duties of the deputy under secretary of defense for policy. Its easy to blame Mr. Trump for abusing the labyrinthine process for filling vacancies in senior executive branch positions because he has. This administration has found every plausible loophole and some implausible (if not unlawful) ones to install its preferred choices in an impressively broad and important array of senior government jobs. But the real culprit for these abuses, and the principal obstacle to any meaningful reform, is the Senate which has simply rolled over in the name of Republican Party unity as the president has run roughshod over its constitutional role. By Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed court on Tuesday convicted a member of the Hezbollah group of conspiring to kill former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a 2005 bombing that set the stage for years of confrontation between Lebanon's political forces. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the West and Sunni Gulf Arab allies, and was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut following the 1975-1990 civil war. While the court found no evidence of direct involvement by the leadership of Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, or the Syrian government, the judges said the killing was clearly a politically motivated act of terrorism. Delivering their verdict over several hours, they found main defendant Salim Jamil Ayyash guilty on all counts and said prosecutors had established his affiliation with Hezbollah. "Mr. Ayyash had a central role in the execution of the attack and directly contributed to it," said Presiding Judge David Re, reading from a 2,600-page ruling. "Mr. Ayyash intended to kill Mr. Hariri and had the required knowledge about the circumstances of the assassination mission, including that explosives were the means to be used," he said. The judges said there was insufficient evidence against three other men charged as accomplices in the Feb. 14, 2005 bombing, also alleged members of the Shi'ite Muslim group, and they were acquitted. Hariri's son, Saad, like his slain father a former Lebanese prime minister, reacted to the verdict by vowing he would not rest until punishment was served. He said it was time for the Hezbollah movement to assume responsibility. "Hezbollah is the one that should make sacrifices today," he said. "I repeat: we will not rest until punishment is served." Hezbollah has denied any involvement in Hariri's killing. Its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday he was not concerned with the trial and that if any members of the group were convicted, it would stand by their innocence. Story continues PLUNGED INTO CRISIS Hariri's assassination plunged Lebanon into what was then its worst crisis since the war, setting the stage for years of confrontation between rival political forces. It removed a powerful Sunni leader and allowed the further political expansion of Shi'ite power led by Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon. Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia said the verdict marked a start in achieving justice and that "Hezbollah and its terrorist elements" must be punished. Israel's foreign ministry described the ruling as "unequivocal" and said Hezbollah had "taken hostage the future of the Lebanese in the service of foreign interests". All four defendants were tried in absentia. Ayyash was formally convicted of a terrorist attack and the homicide of Hariri and 21 others. He will be sentenced at later hearings and could face life in prison. The verdict comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon, still reeling from the aftermath of a huge explosion in Beirut that killed 178 people on Aug. 4. The explosion at the port, where authorities say unsafely stored ammonium nitrate detonated, fuelled public outrage and led to the government's resignation. "Im very disappointed, like many Lebanese," 36-year old Lebanese-born Ahmad Sayed said of the verdict. He drove from Bielefeld in neighbouring Germany to witness the decision. "Fifteen years we waited for this verdict and it was very weak. We dont like this decision," he said. POLITICAL MOTIVATION The judges noted that days before he was slain, Hariri endorsed a call for Syria to end its then-occupation of Lebanon. While the judges did not say who had planned the attack, they said it was "very likely" that the decision to kill him was only made after a Feb. 2, 2005, political meeting at which participants had agreed to call for the "immediate and total withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon." The investigation and trial of the four alleged Hezbollah members has taken 15 years and cost roughly $1 billion. Prosecutors used cell phone records to argue the men on trial -- Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi, Assad Hassan Sabra and Hussein Hassan Oneissi -- carefully monitored Hariri's movements in the months leading up to the attack to time it and to put forward a fake claim of responsibility as a diversion. DNA evidence showed that the blast that killed Hariri was carried out by a male suicide bomber who was never identified. (Reporting by Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch; Additional reporting by Beirut bureau, Dan Williams and Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem, Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Editing by Samia Nakhoul, William Maclean, Nick Tattersall) The flood situation in Bihar remained critical on Wednesday with an additional 8,358 people affected by the calamity in 16 districts while Water resources minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said, there was no immediate threat to the state capital from the rising water level of the Ganga. He said this after making a surprise inspection of various ghats along the river, which is flowing above the danger mark at Gandhi Ghat here. The Ganga is flowing 10 cm above the danger mark at Gandhi Ghat, over 26 cm above the mark at Hathidah in Patna and more than 13 cm above the mark at Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur. The minister carried out an on-the-spot review with officials and found that there was no immediate threat from the rising water level in the Ganga as it is 1.82 metres below its highest flood level of 50.52 metres at Gandhi Ghat, an official release said. The minister, who was accompanied by the departments secretary Sanjeev Hans, was apprised of Patna Town Protection Wall (PTP) in detail, it said. The PTP wall was constructed in 1976 to protect the city from any flood threat from the Ganga. During the inspection of the ghats, a surprise mock drill was carried out at gate number 55 of the PTP at LCT Ghat to ensure proper closure of the gates, Jha said. Meanwhile, the water level of the Ganga is witnessing a rising trend in Buxar, Munger, Bhagalpur, and Digha Ghat in Patna. A total of 81,67,671 people have been affected by flood waters in 1,317 panchayats of 130 blocks, official reports said. About 81.59 lakh people were affected on Tuesday. The Disaster Management Department said, the number of deaths in flood-related incidents remained 25 in the state. Of the total 12 relief centres, only six centres were functional on Wednesday. About 5.50 lakh people have been evacuated so far by 27 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). The number of people living in relief centres has reduced to 5,198 in six centres from 13,198 people in 12 relief camps on Tuesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shillong/Agartala, Aug 19 : Outgoing Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy, who hails from West Bengal, is keen to join active politics soon. Roy, state President of the Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit from 2002 to 2006 and a staunch Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supporter, told IANS, "I am going to Delhi on Wednesday to talk with the central leadership. I am keen to join active politics soon. After returning to Kolkata, I will talk to the BJP's state leadership and would then decide my political position." He added, "After returning to Shillong from Delhi, I have to complete the official formalities as Governor of Meghalaya then I would return to my home state Bengal. It is not yet decided whether I would contest the assembly elections in Bengal next year or I would take any other important organisational post in the poll-bound state." The 74-year-old engineer turned politician, however, evaded the question when asked whether he would like to be the face of the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections next year. Some media reports quoted Roy as saying "If my party decides that I am a fit candidate for the post of chief minister, obviously, I shall consider it. It is for the party leadership to decide." Roy joined the BJP in 1990. He replaced Ashim Ghosh as President of the West Bengal unit of the BJP in 2002 and was succeeded by Sukumar Banerjee in 2006. Roy, known for stoking controversy on social media, unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 from the North Kolkata parliamentary constituency and in 2014 from the South Kolkata constituency. Roy, who was appointed Governor of Tripura in May, 2015 and transferred to Meghalaya in August, 2018, said that no detailed discussion was held with the BJP's central and state leadership about his future political position yet. Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik was transferred to Meghalaya on Tuesday and he will replace Tathagata Roy, who completed his five-year tenure on the gubernatorial post in May. Roy seems poised for re-entry into Bengal politics ahead of the crucial Bengal assembly polls and is awaiting a nod from the BJP. The party is eyeing the upcoming polls in the eastern state after it won 18 of the 42 seats in last year's Lok Sabha elections. Roy who was a professor at Jadavpur University in Kolkata and founder head of the department of construction engineering, also played a key role in the construction of the metro rail in Kolkata as its chief engineer. (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in) The Senate Intelligence Committee, after its own three-year investigation that maintained a broader counterintelligence focus, built on those findings this week with a bipartisan report laying out an extensive web of contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian officials. Among them, it said Konstantin V. Kilimnik, with whom the onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort privately shared internal polling data and campaign strategy, was a Russian intelligence officer with links to the Kremlins election interference operation. Senators said the dynamic represented a grave counterintelligence threat. Mr. Trump has sought to portray such scrutiny as a hoax and a plot by the so-called deep state to sabotage him for political reasons. While the Page wiretap was a small piece of the investigation, the president and his allies have sought to conflate the overall effort with it, using the serious problems Mr. Horowitz uncovered with its applications to discredit the entire enterprise. Mr. Horowitzs findings that Mr. Clinesmith doctored the email looked especially bad because Mr. Clinesmith was also among several F.B.I. officials whom Mr. Mueller removed from the Trump-Russia investigation after Mr. Horowitz found text messages in which they expressed political animus against Mr. Trump. Shortly after Mr. Trump won the 2016 election, for example, Mr. Clinesmith texted another official that the crazies won finally, while disparaging Mr. Trumps health care and immigration agendas and calling Vice President Mike Pence stupid. Asked by a colleague whether he intended to stay in government, he wrote: viva la resistance. Neither Mr. Horowitzs report nor Mr. Durhams court filings explicitly ascribed a motive to Mr. Clinesmith for his actions, but both presented evidence that he had changed the email during a moment of bureaucratic peril for the Page wiretap effort when the F.B.I. came close to realizing as an institution that something was flawed about all its Page applications. The applications recounted Mr. Pages long history of interacting with Russian intelligence officials, even after he learned he had been the target of an apparent recruitment effort in 2013. But what they did not say was that he also had a history of talking to the C.I.A. about some of those interactions, including one of the ones the wiretap applications cited as a reason to be suspicious of him. In August 2016, two months before the first application, the C.I.A. sent a memo to the F.B.I. saying it had considered Mr. Page from 2008 to 2013 to be an operational contact, someone whom the spy agency can debrief but not assign to gather information. Such documents are subject to special restrictions for security reasons, and it is not clear who saw it; although Mr. Clinesmith was entitled to look at it, he said he did not. (CNN) Next time you pour back a sour beer, you might like to know that tart and tangy goodness is the result of an immensely complex set of microbial interactions that chemists are only just beginning to figure out. "We know the beers taste amazing and look beautiful," said Teresa Longin, a professor of chemistry at the University of Redlands in California, who is presenting the new research this week at the American Chemical Society. Her husband, David Soulsby, also a Redlands professor of chemistry, kept urging her to use her expertise to help explain the seemingly endless varieties and complexities of sour beer. The two researchers performed a chemical analysis to find out which molecules were springing up during sour beers' brewing and fermenting processes, and to get a sense of how densely or sparsely a given compound was dispersed in the mix. While scientists have previously studied the chemical makeup of a finished batch of sour beer, it's rare to get a look into the ways the microbes and chemicals are playing off each other as the beer actually is being made. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - Roscan Gold Corporation (TSXV: ROS) (FSE: 2OJ) (OTC Pink: RCGCF) ("Roscan" or the "Company") announces that the Company is closely monitoring the political situation in Mali as it unfolds. Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, their families and the local communities near where we work in West Mali. Additionally, the Company has added a fifth (5) drill rig to its exploration program. The Exploration Program has not been affected and the Company continues drilling as normal. The fifth rig will be allocated to test our exploration targets as we continue to unlock value from the entire property. No operational days have been lost due to the political situation in the country and we are comfortably on target to achieve our 45,000m drill program target for 2020. Roscan will continue to closely monitor the situation and ensure the safety of our employees and their families as this is our utmost priority at this time. Roscan has a positive relationship with the Government of Mali and our Country Manager is in consultation with the local Mayor to ensure we are updated regularly. It should be noted that the Mali Capital, Bamako, is over 600km from our exploration site. Nana B. Sangmuah, President and CEO of Roscan said, "We cannot stress that our top priority is the health and safety of our employees, their families and the local communities near where we work in West Mali. Our aggressive exploration campaign through the rainy season continues with no disruptions to date. We will continue to provide ongoing updates to all our stakeholders going forward." 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 Tel: (902) 832-5555 Email: aramcharan@Roscan.ca 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/62122 The row in the parliamentary panel on Information and Technology over seeking an explanation from Facebook intensified on Wednesday with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moving breach of privilege notices against each other. The chairperson of the panel, the Congress Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that thedisparaging remarks made by Dubey were a breach of his privilege as an MP. To claim that the Chairman has acted in excess of his authority to convene a meeting on a pre-approved agenda, and has proceeded without seeking the necessary approvals, is tantamount to contempt of the due procedure followed by the House, Tharoor wrote in his letter. Dubey, meanwhile, shot off his own letter, arguing that Tharoor is in a serious breach of privilege and was using the parliamentary committee platform to tarnish the BJPs image. He accused Tharoor of sensationalizing a small incident, referring to a Wall Street Journal report that said that Facebooks top lobbyist in India prevented the company from taking action for hate speech against a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The report has created a controversy, with the Congress and the BJP trading allegations -- each claiming that Facebook is a tool of the other. Interestingly, Dubey has also sought a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi. By levelling unsubstantiated allegations against all the Members of Parliament, Lok Sabha, who belong to BJP, he (Gandhi) has also lowered the dignity of all such Members of Parliament and infringed upon their Parliamentary Privileges ,: he wrote. The letters to the speaker, seen by Hindustan Times, come on the heels of a split in the IT Parliamentary panel over asking Facebook to explain reports of alleged bias . A member of the IT Panel, Dubey took to Twitter on August 17 to claim Tharoor, as chairperson of the Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members. He (Tharoor) can not think that the Parliament is an extension of the Congress party, Dubey told Hindustan Times. We cannot discuss a subject just because Rahul Gandhi has tweeted about it. According to Parliamentary rules, if any individual or authority violates or disregards any of the privileges, powers and immunities of the House or members or committees thereof, he may be punished for breach of privilege or contempt of the House. The House has the power to determine as to what constitutes breach of privilege and contempt. The penal jurisdiction of the House in this regard covers its members as well as strangers and every act of violation of privileges, whether committed in the immediate presence of the House or outside of it. Moreover, a person found guilty of breach of privilege or contempt of the House may be punished either by imprisonment, or by admonition (warning), or reprimand. Two other punishments may also be awarded to the members for contempt, namely, suspension and expulsion from the House. But according to former Lok Sabha secretary-general PDT Achary, neither Tharoor, nor Dubey have grounds for breach of privilege. Neither of the two MPs have a case, Achary told Hindustan Times. Achary added that the procedure is that after a case of breach of privilege comes to light, the Speaker decides whether or not to forward it to the Privileges Committee. If the Speaker forwards it, then there is a prima facie case but in this instance, I doubt the Speaker will send these forward. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Detectives believe an incident at a bank in Great Kills early Tuesday morning is connected to spree of thefts at Santander Bank branch ATMs in New York and New Jersey, an NYPD spokesman said. Hours after the attempted theft from the ATM at Santander at 4025 Amboy Road sparked a massive manhunt, the company closed some of its in-branch ATM machines amid reports of suspicious activity, a spokeswoman for the company told the Advance/SILive.com. Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed these ATMs and they will be back online as soon as possible, Laurie Kight said. Additionally, some branches may have an additional security presence and/or be temporarily closed for security reasons. Kight did not specify which ATMs on the Island were closed. Police responded to Santander at Amboy Road and Nelson Avenue at around 7 a.m. Tuesday. In that incident, perpetrators were attempting to access the ATM at the bank when there were reports of shots fired, according to a law enforcement source -- perhaps indicating a dispute between suspects. The NYPD recovered two bullet shells at the bank, an NYPD spokesman said. One of the two shots hit a window at a deli near the bank. The perpetrators fled that incident in several vehicles, some if which were recovered abandoned at Hylan Boulevard and Ebbitts Street in New Dorp, near another Santander Bank branch. The NYPD conducted an extensive search on Staten Island. Later Tuesday afternoon, heavily-armed police officers descended on Great Kills Park, with a helicopter hovering over the area for hours. At around 4:15 a man could be seen taken into custody. It is not yet clear as of Tuesday night if the man was taken into custody in connection to the Santander incident. Multiple Santander ATMs in New Jersey and Connecticut have been the target of fraudulent debit card use, according to multiple reports. About two dozen people were arrested in New Jersey after they allegedly used prepaid debit cards to steal money from Santander ATMs in New Jerseys Morris County, Mercer County and Hoboken, sources told the Advances sister website NJ.com. The South Windsor Police Department in Northern Connecticut also received reports of suspect who fraudulently withdraw cash using fake debit cards at a Santander Bank, the department said. The Reds have placed center fielder Nick Senzel on the injured list and reinstated infielder Mike Moustakas from the 10-day IL, per a club announcement. An injury designation for Senzel was not provided. Cincinnati will also have infielder Robel Garcia on hand as the 29th man for todays twin bill against the Royals. Theres no firm indication that Senzel has tested positive for the coronavirus, but his vague IL placement comes after the club had its past three games postponed due to a positive test within the organization. Players can also be placed on the Covid-19 IL for exhibiting symptoms or coming into contact with someone who has since confirmed positive for the virus. Moustakas has been out since Aug. 4 due to an injured left quadriceps and has played in just seven games this season, hitting .238/.333/.524 with a pair of homers in 24 plate appearances. Hes at designated hitter for the first game of todays doubleheader but should eventually resume his duties as the clubs everyday second baseman. Senzel is hitting .244/.327/.489 with a pair of homers, five doubles and two steals in 14 games this year. Both Moustakas and the 25-year-old Senzel missed time earlier this season after self-reporting symptoms of Covid-19 to the Reds. Each tested negative in the subsequent days, however. As MLB.coms Mark Sheldon wrote last Friday, Senzel was withheld from the teams victory line at the end of a win and exited the field with visible frustration. The Reds have not had a positive test since the decision to postpone Saturdays game. Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that appointment process of lower and upper primary teachers in the state will begin from August 27. He said that appointment letters to 300 candidates will be distributed at the event to be held at Shankar Dev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. Other candidates will be able to download appointment letters from specific websites. He also said that 7,000 candidates will be appointed as Lower Primary ME teachers. Lukashenko has lost legitimacy, his rival claims. Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the rival of the long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko, has urged the European Council not to recognize the results of the latest presidential election. "The August 9th elections were neither fair, nor transparent. The results were falsified," Tikhanovskaya said in English, in a video address published on YouTube. "People, who went out to defend their vote in the streets of their cities all across Belarus, were brutally beaten, imprisoned and tortured by the regime desperately clinging onto power. Hundreds were injured, at least two people lost their lives. This is taking place right now in the middle of Europe. I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections," she said in the address posted on the Strana dlya Zhizni [Country for Life] YouTube channel Lukashenko's rival had recently been using as a media platform. Read alsoStoltenberg: NATO poses no threat to BelarusLukashenko has lost legitimacy, Tikhanovskaya claims, "in the eyes of our nation and the world." "In order to facilitate a peaceful transition of power in my country, I have initiated the National Coordination Council of Belarus. It will lead the process of peaceful transition of power via dialogue. It will immediately call for a new fair and democratic presidential elections with international supervision," Tikhanovskaya said. Belarus protests: Developments On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The country's Central Election Commission announced the final election results. In particular, 80.1% of voters supported incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, 10.1% voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 1.67% for Anna Kanopatskaya, 1.2% for Andrey Dmitriev, and 1.14% for Sergei Cherechnya. Some 4.59% voted against all candidates. Thousands of residents of Belarus took to the streets to protest what they believe is a rigged vote count. Riot police violently cracked down on protesters. Belarus' Ministry of Internal Affairs said about 7,000 protesters had been detained in different cities since August 9. On the evening of August 13, the authorities started to release detainees. Read alsoLukashenko to protesters: "No new vote unless you kill me"According to human rights activists, at least five people were killed during clashes with riot police, seven more remain in critical condition in hospitals' intensive care units. Activists say about 200-300 people were detained as political prisoners. Lukashenko has repeatedly warned against meddling in Belarus' domestic affairs. He had phone calls with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. As a result, the Kremlin assured they were ready to provide "comprehensive assistance" to Belarus. On August 14, the European Union announced it did not recognize the outcome of the presidential election in Belarus, and that work had begun to introduce sanctions over electoral fraud and violence against protesters. Manduadih railway station, equipped with modern facilities for passengers as well as physically challenged travellers, will now be known as Banaras railway station. The Union home ministry on Monday approved the renaming of the several-decades-old railway station. North Eastern Railway (Varanasi division) public relations officer Ashok Kumar said, It is the best station in Varanasi division in terms of facilities. It is equipped with an air-conditioned lounge, world-class retiring room, digital chart facility, a cafeteria and food plaza. Its architecture is unique and looks like an airport. Kumar said that the station is also equipped with special facilities for differently-abled people. A plan was envisaged for developing it as a satellite station to decrease the pressure on Varanasi Cantt railway station. Also read: Covid-19 test must for UP legislators ahead of assembly session tomorrow Former union minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha took a keen interest in developing the railway station as one that is equipped with all possible facilities for passengers. Thereafter, the station was completely transformed two years ago. Earlier, it had three platforms but now boasts of eight, and a beautiful building. The transformation took place at an estimated cost of Rs 37 crore. Kumar said that 21 pairs of mail and express trains and five pairs of passenger trains pass through the railway station on normal days. Also, eight pairs of mail express trains and two pairs of passenger trains originate and terminate at the station. An official, who didnt wish to be quoted, said that before the 2019 general elections, then union minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha wrote a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath urging him to ponder over renaming of Manduadih station as Banaras. During a speech at a programme, in Varanasi in 2019, the chief minister mentioned Sinhas letter and assured him that he would consider it. But the process could not proceed further due to elections. After the election, the process moved forward. BHU social sciences dean Kaushal Kishore Mishra said, Kashi is also known as Varanasi and Banaras. In the ancient city, a railway station is named after Kashi. It is known as Kashi railway station. Another station is named after Varanasi - Varanasi Cantt. A railway station named after Banaras was needed for a long time. Now it has happened. It is a good step. Banaras is well known across the world but not as Manduadih. Therefore, the renaming of the station was the need of the hour, Mishra said and added that it will help attract tourists and promote tourism. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter A renowned Kenyan pan-Africanist, Professor of Law and anti-corruption crusader, Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba has admonished the youth to remain resolute in their contribution towards development and unification of the African continent. This he urged them to do without fear of vilification of critics for speaking the truth. Professor Lumumba who was addressing members of the PLO Lumumba Foundation Ghana Chapter at the foundations maiden general membership meeting charged participants to focus on the activities and programmes of the organization that was centered on Pan-Africanism, Anti-Corruption and Mentorship rather than concentrating on the negative comments by critics against the organization and its founder. There is nothing you would want to do in this world that you would have unanimity, you will be hated by some people simply because you say the truth, you will be hated because others want you to think like them. So dont be worried, youve got to be vilified for speaking the truth, the Director of the Kenyan School of Law stressed, speaking from his personal office in Nairobi (Kenya) to participants from different parts of Africa via the zoom video conferencing platform. Professor Lumumba who also doubles as the Founder and Chairman of the PLO Lumumba Foundation admonished members of the foundation to inculcate activities such as urban agriculture in their activities since everything we do is aimed at eating, this would help feed ourselves and neighbours. The meeting, which was held virtually was an avenue for the foundation to brainstorm on issues pertaining to the welfare of members, future projects and programmes towards achieving intended goals and brought together the entire membership of the foundation in Ghana and other chapters present in other parts of the world. The event was also addressed by some executive members of the foundation from Uganda, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Congo and Kenya. Mr. Amos Onyango, Project Manager for PLO Lumumba Foundation commended the Ghana Chapter for the successes chalked so far since inception in July 2018 and emphasized the need for the local chapter to stay focus on their projects in order to achieve their goals. Mad. Monica Kayesu, Country Director for the PLO Lumumba Foundation, Uganda chapter praised her Ghanaian counterparts for setting positive standards worthy of emulation and in continuing the works of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah towards the unification of Africa. Mr. Nyave Yahaya Salifu, Coordinator of PLO Lumumba Foundation UAE chapter called for the need of membership motivation by leaders of the various chapters as well as inspiration of members to engage in politics since it provided an opportunity to impact society. Country Director for the Ghana Chapter of the Foundation, Mr. Razak Awudu outlined the activities undertaken by the foundation which included; anti-corruption campaigns, leadership conferences and the hosting of the PLO Lumumba Mentorship Conference earlier this year and appealed to all members to legalize their membership by paying their dues promptly, effective September 1, 2020. Head of Media and Communication of PLO Lumumba Foundation Ghana chapter, Mr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor who moderated the meeting called on members not to hesitate to enroll to become members of the noble foundation. The PLO Lumumba Foundation is the brainchild of Professor Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba and was established 30 years ago with its headquarters in Nairobi (Kenya). The foundation seeks to nurture young Africans as servant leaders, among others, and is present in 38 countries across the world, including; UAE, Germany, Finland and the US operating as chapters of the Mother Foundation. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SAN ANTONIO Javier Paz of El Paso, Texas, has been volunteer organizing for Joe Biden from before Super Tuesday. The stakes are so high. This is about saving our country," Paz, a high school history teacher and a 2020 Democratic National Convention delegate, said. "We feel we are soldiers this time. We are fighting to save America. Democrats entered the third day of their virtual convention Wednesday. Usually the crowded, high-profile conventions help fire up the party activists and get them ready to double down on the work of calling up voters and turning them out at the polls. This year, there are a record 32 million Latinos who are eligible to vote more than 13 percent of the electorate, although only about 12.7 million voted in the 2016 election. Whether a virtual convention can deliver the same charge as the in-person events is still up for question, but coming after national protests following the death of George Floyd and tens of thousands of deaths from COVID-19, Paz and other Latino Democrats say they dont need to rely on the convention to be supercharged against President Donald Trump. This time, its like our democracy really is at stake and I just feel, as a history teacher, I see signs, the rise of authoritarianism, he said. Paz volunteered for Hillary Clintons campaigns in 2008 and 2016. In those years, he didnt fear that an election loss would mean the end of the world, he said. It's different now. A particularly poignant moment in the convention thus far for Paz was hearing from Kristin Urquiza, whose father, Mark Anthony Urquiza, died from COVID-19. She told the millions of Americans watching that her father had voted for Trump, and believed the president when he said coronavirus was going to disappear." In a recent poll of Latinos, 73 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that Trump ignored early warning signs of the coronavirus and downplayed its seriousness. Story continues The COVID situation is complicating everything," Paz said. "People are scared to vote, but also that issue is hurting the president." "Now he's attacking the post office ... What else can he do to us?" Paz said although he would have liked to have been in Milwaukee with other Democrats and seen the political celebrities, he and others know the urgency of ending Trumps time in the White House. People are signing up like crazy to help elect Biden, he said. Its not so much pro-Biden. They like Biden too and we are getting Bernie supporters but they really just dont like Trump, he said. Hes just such a danger. Biden has ground to make up with Latinos, according to recent polls that show him behind in their support compared to Hillary Clinton at the same time in the 2016 campaign. Clinton won 66 percent of Latino voters in 2016, matching Obama's 2008 share of Hispanic voters. But in 2012, 71 percent of Latinos supported Obama. In a recent Latino Decisions poll, 66 percent of Latinos said they support Biden, 24 percent support Trump and 10 percent are undecided. The convention usually provides some increase in support but there has been criticism that the party is featuring too few Latino leaders in prominent speaking roles, including no speaking role for Julian Castro, who gave the 2012 Democratic convention keynote speech and was the only Democratic Latino presidential candidate this election cycle. NM Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham echoes @JulianCastro on concerns re Latino outreach: "We didn't do enough at the convention. We haven't done enough before. We just need to keep at it." https://t.co/esW2m4NIYK Rick Klein (@rickklein) August 19, 2020 Actor, philanthropist and activist Eva Longoria hosted on the first day of the convention and other Latino office holders and general voters also got some air time. One of the party's most prominent Latinas, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spoke briefly to second the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in accordance with party rules. Rose Marie DeHoyos. 75, of San Antonio, had been selected to serve as a whip for the convention, a role she was looking forward to filling. Shes has been volunteering in political campaigns and with the party since 2008, starting just after retiring because she was looking for something to do. Related: Latinos view Trumps poor response to the pandemic as the cause of the crisis, pollster Gary Segura said. Now she said, working on campaigns and getting out voters is a passion so intense she pushed aside fears of the coronavirus to help work the polls for the July runoff in Texas, which has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases this summer. She too believes the country needs saving. Rose Marie DeHoyos, of San Antonio, has been inspired by the Democrats' virtual convention and says even before the national convention people were energized to vote because they want President Donald Trump out of office. (Courtesy Rose Marie de Hoyos) "We cant let this continue theres no way. I feel like our country is deteriorating so much and to keep him in there every day, now hes attacking the post office, what will he think of next?" she said. "What else can he do to us? It's like he doesnt really care about us." "Everything is very personal" On Aug. 3, El Paso marked one year since a gunman drove nearly 700 miles and opened fire in a Walmart. Twenty-three people were killed in the massacre that has been blamed in part on Trumps immigration policies and rhetoric. On Tuesday night, Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso in Congress, announced Texas' roll call votes for the convention. Before she did, she reminded convention watchers of the domestic terrorist who infiltrated her city: His motive was racism and xenophobia, she said. In the face of continuing gun violence, we demand change. The El Paso shooting has been sandwiched between immigration policies that have been tested and launched in the city, including separating children from their parents and forcing people to wait outside the United States while their asylum claims are adjudicated. Paz said he and others who formed the grassroots group had worked at Annunciation House, which sheltered hundreds of migrant families as they were released by Border Patrol agents. Everything is very personal and I think thats why its so much easier this time around to just ask somebody for help and everyone is saying 'yes, yes, sign me up,' he said, adding that many former Bernie Sanders supporters are joining in. Trump is doing "what dictators do" In Florida, Trumps campaign has hammered a message that paints Biden and other Democrats as socialists and sympathizers with Cuba as they work to shore up the presidents support in the state, particularly with Cuban American and other Latino voters. Millie Herrera, 62, a convention delegate from South Florida who fled Cuba when she was 10, said it is Trumps governing style that is more reminiscent of Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro, the countrys former President Hugo Chavez and Cubas Fidel Castro. Hes ignoring the Constitution. His attempts at breaking the law, threatening the free press, thats what dictators do, she said. In the critical swing state of Florida, Bidens lead with Latinos is smaller, 55 percent to 41 percent, compared to Arizona where he leads 63 percent to Trumps 29 percent. On Tuesday afternoon in a virtual convention-related event, Biden appealed directly to Latino voters in a conversation with "Hamilton" composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. He has failed Latinos to satisfy the right wing of his party, Biden said, adding the Trump administration had separated children at the border, neglected Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and through its repeated attacks on Dreamers, referring to young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Biden said that in this election theres an urgency of being engaged because Latinos are facing multiple crises at once, including the health and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as racial injustice. We need a leader who can take on all of these, he said. Despite a different kind of convention this year, DeHoyos said momentum is on their side. Right now, people are knocking at our doors at the Democratic office, asking for Biden signs, giving us money, How can we help? What do you want us to do?' she said. Its so much more now because they want him out. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas A massive daylong fire at a Dallas-area plastics factory Wednesday that sent a dense column of toxic black smoke over North Texas before fire crews could tame it has been contained, fire officials said. There were no reports of injuries from the midnight Tuesday blaze at the Poly-America complex in Grand Prairie, authorities said. No evacuations were ordered, but people with underlying health conditions were asked to avoid the area. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Grand Prairie officials are continually checking air quality conditions, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, urging area residents to heed local officials advisories and warnings. Fire officials had initially thought the fire would burn into Thursday. By 4 p.m. Wednesday, though, city officials posted a statement that the flames had been contained and that the fire was expected to be extinguished Wednesday night. These are rolls of plastic sheeting, huge rolls, and theyre stacked sometimes eight feet high. Plastic is hard to put out and its just gonna burn. Firefighters believe the blaze started when a power line fell about midnight Tuesday near an area where plastic rolls were being stored, causing them to catch fire, Assistant Fire Chief Bill Murphy said. These are rolls of plastic sheeting, huge rolls, and theyre stacked sometimes eight feet high. Plastic is hard to put out and its just gonna burn, he said. Poly-America is headquartered in Grand Prairie and specializes in products made from polyethylene, such as trash bags, drop cloths and plastic sheeting, according to the companys website. ___ This story has been updated to correct the last name of the assistant fire chief. His name is Bill Murphy, not Bill Murray. UIA transports 113,300 passengers, 390,200 tonnes of cargo since resumption of flights in June As of the middle of August, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) transported 113,345 passengers and 390,185 tonnes of cargo since the resumption of flights in the middle of June. "Starting from mid-June until mid-August, we carried out around 1,238 regular and charter flights, of which 86% departed on schedule," UIA President Yevhen Dykhne said on Facebook. He also recalled that in the first half of the year the UIA transported around 1 million passengers, while last year this index reached almost 4 million. "This means that aviation in fact has to start from zero, and the interest and persistence of employees alone are worthy of attention," Dykhne said. He also said that the airline has a range of plans for autumn, adding that he expects the company's results would only grow. As reported, earlier the UIA reduced its August flight schedule due to the extension of a ban on entering the Schengen zone for Ukrainian citizens by the EU. A little-known Stage 4 lockdown rule is baffling and enraging Victorians who have dubbed it a total load of rubbish. Victoria Police posted on Facebook explaining the common misunderstanding about whether or not you can drive to a park or beach for exercise, as long it is within the five kilometre radius. Police clarified that it is not permitted. It has come to our attention that there is some misunderstanding in relation to whether or not it is permitted under Stage Four restrictions to drive to a park within five kilometres of your home for exercise, Port Phillip Police Service Area wrote on its Facebook page. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, travelling in a vehicle to exercise is NOT permitted. Examples of exceptions to this rule apply if it is not reasonably practicable to exercise without driving somewhere, such as mobility. Victorians are allowed to exercise for one hour a day under the Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions. Source: Getty Police added they were patrolling to ensure everybody was complying with the restrictions. We understand that some people are unhappy with this restriction. This restriction has come from the Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of the Chief Health Officer. As police officers, it is our job to enforce these restrictions in order to keep our communities safe, as we all face coronavirus, the post said. This restriction has been highlighted and shared with you due to the fact that some people did not know it was in place. We believe it is important to educate our community. Please do the right thing and follow the restrictions. Those found breaching the rule could face a fine of up to $1652. Thousands of Victorians are outraged by the little-known rule, with one saying it was mind blowing. How is that about health? he questioned. Driving there would actually be safer for health. This is insanity. Another said it made no difference whether a person drove to a park or walked there. A third added it was a total load of rubbish. Its becoming a joke, she said. Story continues If we are within the five kilometres, wearing a mask, why does it matter if we took the car or not? As a mother trying to homeschool all day, a short drive to our local lake for a walk makes no difference. Stop this level of control, this uncertainty, these outrageous restrictions. You told us all to use our common sense, its about time you start using yours before you have a bigger problem to deal with in Victoria than a virus. Another mother agreed the rule was stupid. Going for a walk or bike ride with my three young children, I dont feel comfortable on the footpath. Its extremely busy and there are driveways every few metres ... and now I cant drive to our local walking track? she questioned. Absolutely disgusting, another said. Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters on Wednesday the rule could be revised. If we can make revisions around the directions, if that's required, happy to do that but it might just be a matter of clarifying interpretation with the chief [police] commissioner, he said. Fears rule could impact mental health Others claimed the lockdown would be even more detrimental for peoples already suffering mental health. Going to the beach is good for my mental health and is in my radius. Not a fan of this rule at all, one commented. Psychologist at the Black Dog Institute, Alexis Whitton, told Yahoo News Australia last week green space had a positive impact on peoples mental health. Health studies that look at the association between mental health and green space show it has positive benefits as we think about the things we do in parks, she said. Its likely you were physically active and had an opportunity to socialise if you went with friends and were likely unplugged from screens and devices all these things have a positive effect on wellbeing and stress levels. People are concerned not being able to drive to a park or beach for exercise could impact their mental health. Source: Getty One of the big things for people who dont have access [to parks or green space] might be a feeling of not having anywhere to destress, and particularly with the added stress, their desire to get out amongst the trees to cope could be even stronger. Earlier this month new statistics revealed the worrying impact the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown is having on young Victorians. On August 9, Victorias Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said there had been a 33 per cent increase in people aged under 18 presenting at emergency departments after self-harming. There has been a 9.5 per cent increase year-on-year in presentations for self-harm at Victorias emergency departments across all age groups. 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 Blue Grasshopper Brewery that began its business in Rio Rancho six years ago is closing two locations and has sold another location. In 2014, co-owners Greg Nielsen and Peter Apers opened the first Blue Grasshopper on Arrowhead Ridge Drive. Nielsen had money saved up for retirement and decided to invest what he had saved into the brewery. With Nielsen having a masters degree in business and Apers being a contractor, the two were able to keep costs low in its build-out and opening. We didnt want to go too big because we really had no idea what we were doing or what the response was going to be. And the Rio Rancho location was successful from day one, Nielsen said. The success of this location would continue, prompting Nielsen and Apers to add a patio. Eventually, they wanted to expand even more, and when the unit next to Blue Grasshopper became available, they wanted to expand into it. Had that happened, in retrospect, that probably would have been by far the best idea, Nielsen said. But just as we were getting ready to cross the Ts and dot the Is, we were notified by the property owner that they found another tenant, and they decided to just go with the new tenant rather than do some of the things that they would have had to do to make it work for us. This prompted Nielsen and Apers to open a second location at Riverside Plaza in Albuquerque. We took on a lot of debt to do that, Nielsen said. After paying off the debt taken on from opening a second location, Nielsen and Apers broke a golden rule in business. And then I violated what I knew with a business background, what was a primary directive if youre running a business, which is dont expand too fast, he said. Apers found a property on Second Street in downtown Albuquerque. I mean, it was an amazing offer; it was 10,000 square feet for $3,000 a month. And looking at that, there was no way that could fail. And in that area, we thought, This is immediately going to be a success,' Nielsen said. They decided to open up a third location of the Blue Grasshopper. Then the first clue that this was a bad idea: It took us almost a year to get the permit through the city. And paying rent during that time really ate into what we had for a build fund, Nielsen said. Once they finally received permits, they had enough funds to buy materials, Nielsen said. Apers had to do most of the work himself. It took two years to open the location, he said. The first night it opened was decent; it wasnt like the other two and that probably should have been a clue there, Nielsen said. With Riverside and the Rio Rancho location being successful, Nielsen thought the same would happen with the third location. But we totally misunderstood the demographics down there because that crowd wasnt looking for food and music and what we had to offer our demographic is much older than what we found in that area so it went downhill constantly, he said. The new location was under-performing by about $20,000 a month, Nielsen said. It was sucking the life out of the other two and so we ended up making the decision, We are just going to close it down and walk away,' he said. Because Nielsen and Apers took on so much debt, they were going to pay off their credit by selling the Blue Grasshopper. So we did find a buyer and we were all set, and again we were at that point of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is and coronavirus hit. And the buyer is a local restaurateur, he said. The buyer owned a few IHOPs and some other facilities. When he was forced to close all of them, everything was put on hold and creditors were just bombarding me with what they need and so on, Nielsen said. We finally just got pushed to the point where there was nothing else for us to do except close the business and file for bankruptcy. Nielsen said there is good news: They were able to sell the Riverside location to Jon Shermerhorn, an investor, friend and customer. He is going to keep it the same because that was always a profitable business, he said. Among the few things Shermerhorn is changing is the name Blue Grasshopper to The Hopper Brewery. The Hopper will open on the other side of the pandemic, Nielsen said. During all this, Nielsen lost his hearing and is slowly getting it back. The 73-year-old man plans to move on in the next chapter of his life with a few goals. Get my hearing back and go to work as Presbyterian Hospital security and help Jon get the new Hopper up and running, he said. Soldiers can now send a dozen warm cookies and a video message to loved ones back home for free. Tiff's Treats, an Austin-based cookie delivery company, partnered with the Soldiers' Angels charity organization to launch the program. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Wood Pellet Market: High Consumption of Wood Pellets for Residential Heating is Driving the Market to Expand at a CAGR of 8.7% Between 2017 and 2027: FMI Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global wood pellet market in its published report, titled 'Global Wood Pellet Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (20172027)'. In terms of value, the global wood pellet market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 8.7% over the forecast period, owing to numerous factors, about which, FMI offers thorough insights and forecasts in this report. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates on market opportunities in the global wood pellet market. Global Wood Pellet Market: Report Structure The report starts with an overview of the global wood pellet market. This section also includes FMIs wood pellet market analysis regarding key trends, drivers, and restraints from a supply and demand perspective. The impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model are included in the wood pellet market report to better equip and arm clients with crystal-clear, decision-making insights. Various factors impacting the demand for wood pellet market have been analysed in this report, such as increase in forest product consumption, increase in consumption of industrial wood products, the use of forests for commercial purposes, share of fuel wood in total wood production and harvesting, pellet capacity growth, increase in the demand for woody biomass, etc. Sample of Research Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-484 The pricing analysis section includes the variation in prices of wood pellet on a per ton basis. In Western Europe, the prices of wood pellet are high due to their high demand, along with low availability of feedstock in the region. So, the price of wood pellet per ton is higher as compared to other regions. In North America, the price is moderate due to high production in the region, and also feedstock prices being low due to high availability. In the APEJ region, the price is moderate due to the high availability of feedstock in countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The next section of the report includes analysis of the global wood pellet market on the basis of region. The global wood pellet market is segmented into seven key regions: North America Latin America Eastern Europe Western Europe Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Japan Middle East and Africa The section that follows analyses the wood pellet market on the basis of feedstock type, and presents the forecast in terms of volume and value for the next 10 years. Feedstock type of wood pellet covered in the report are: Forest and Wood Waste Resources Agricultural Residue and Waste Wood pellet based on other feedstock (energy crops, food waste, and virgin lumber) Another section included in the report is on the basis of application, which analyses the wood pellet market and presents the forecast in terms of volume and value for the next 10 years. The applications of wood pellet covered in the report are: Free-standing Pellet Stove Pellet Stove Inserts Pellet Boilers On the basis of end use, the global wood pellet market is categorized as: Industrial Wood Pellet for CHP/District Heating Industrial Wood Pellet for Co-firing Wood Pellet for Heating Residential/Commercial Others (horse bedding, absorbent) Global Wood Pellet Market: Research Methodology To calculate the wood pellet market size, the report considers the average selling price of various types of systems across geographies. Furthermore, data points such as regional split and market split, by feedstock type, application, and end use type, and qualitative inputs from primary respondents have been incorporated to arrive at the apt market estimates. The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue that is expected to be generated across the wood pellet market over 20172027. When developing the market forecast, the starting point involves sizing up the current market, which forms the basis on how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome on the basis of various analysis results based on both, the supply side and demand side. However, quantifying the market across the aforementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalizing them after the forecast has been completed. It is imperative to note that, in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse the market on the basis of key parameters, such as Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) growth, to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities in the wood pellet market. All these sub-segments or categories of wood pellet market have been analysed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand the individual segments relative contribution to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for the identification of many key trends in the wood pellet market. Sample of Research Methodology Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-484 Another key feature is the analysis of the wood pellet market by region, by feedstock type, application, and end use type, and its revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective in the global wood pellet market. In order to understand key growth segments in terms of growth and performance of the wood pellet market, Future Market Insights developed a market attractiveness index. The resulting index should help providers identify real market opportunities. ABOUT US: Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers. CONTACT US: Future Market Insights U.S. Office 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Web: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com Mrs Adwoa Amoako, Tema West Municipal Chief Executive, says the Assembly will make education central to its development agenda. She said the growth of any society was dependent on how educated its citizens were. The MCE had paid a visit to the Tema Senior High School (TEMASCO) to monitor the on-going West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The visit afforded her and officials of the Assembly and the Municipal Education Directorate, the opportunity to assess, at first hand, the challenges of the school and to address them. In all, 691 final year students comprising 343 boys and 348 girls were sitting the examination which commenced on July 20, 2020 amidst earlier concerns about health protocols in place to curtail the spread of Covid-19. According to the MCE, the importance of education could not be overemphasized as it was the bedrock for sustainable national development, and said the Assembly would continue to provide infrastructure and educational materials to enhance teaching and learning. She noted that the new assembly was unwavering in its efforts to provide quality education at all levels. She particularly mentioned the construction of a six unit classroom block and washroom facility at TEMASCO by the assembly as one of such many projects on-going in schools across the Municipality. Mr Kobina Baido, Headmaster, Tema Senior High School, said the state of insecurity and encroachment of school lands were alarming and had encouraged some miscreants to invade the school at will. For instance, he said a final year female science student was nearly ganged rapped in broad day light by some persons who had scaled the rather short walls of the school. She was injured in the failed attempt. He appealed to the Municipal Assembly to rebuild the broken fence walls and increase the number of security personnel to ward off such criminals. The situation has seemingly improved because the Police have extended their day and night patrols to the school after a series of reports were made, he said, adding that" a safe and healthy school environment was critical to education." Mr Francis Steel, Tema West Municipal Education Director, who accompanied the MCE, said in spite of the challenges facing the school, its academic performance had consistently improved over the years, adding that their security concerns were been addressed. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Lowe's said customers bought supplies for DIY projects, kicked off renovations and stepped up their landscaping as they skipped dining out and scaled back summer trips during the coronavirus pandemic. That translated to huge gains for the home improvement retailer, allowing it to blow past Wall Street forecasts with a 30% surge in revenue and 68.7% jump in profit during the fiscal second quarter. Shares of the company were up less than 1% Wednesday afternoon. They reached a 52-week high of $162.89 earlier in the day. Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison said the retailer benefited from "a wallet share shift away from vacations, away from dining out, away from apparel purchases." "People are taking those dollars and they're investing in their home," he said in an interview with CNBC. "We've got tons of anecdotal information where someone was planning to take a vacation and now they've decided to remodel the kitchen, where they were planning to take a vacation and they decided to remodel their entire backyard to make it a place where they could spend more time. He said that trend was prevalent in the company's customer data, "and it's a shift in where consumers are deciding to spend their discretionary dollars." Target CEO Brian Cornell attributed the company's strong second quarter to that too, saying the dollars people would have spent on plane tickets, hotels and other typical summer expenses "have been redirected into retail." He said people also discovered the convenience of its e-commerce services, such as curbside pickup, that the retailer invested in prior to the pandemic. Ellison said its prior investments benefited the company, too. Lowe's is in the midst of a turnaround effort aimed at driving sales, revamping its website and brand and attracting more home professionals as customers. "We just happened to walk right into this pandemic when those improvements were just starting to kick in," he said. "So this is a little bit about timing for us also." Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended July 31 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv: Adjusted EPS: $3.75 vs. $2.95 expected Revenue: $27.3 billion vs. $24.27 billion expected Same-store sales growth: 35.1% vs. 16.3% expected, according to StreetAccount survey Lowe's profits soared 68.7% to $2.83 billion, or $3.74 per share, up from $1.68 billion, or $2.14 per share, a year earlier even as it spent more money to keep employees at work and safe during the pandemic. The company said it spent $460 million during the quarter on higher pay for hourly workers, store safety and supporting communities. It also will pay out a record quarterly bonus of $107 million to employees at all of its locations for surpassing its targets. Excluding the impact of restructuring its Canadian business, the retailer earned $3.75 per share, beating the $2.95 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Net sales rose 30% to $27.3 billion, topping expectations of $24.27 billion. The company reported same-store sales growth of 35.1% for its U.S. home improvement business, and Lowe's website sales soared 135% as the pandemic pushed more customers to shop online. All of Lowe's merchandising divisions saw same-store sales growth of more than 20%, and all regions in the United States reported same-store sales growth exceeding 30%. Lowe's did not provide an update on its 2020 forecast, which was withdrawn in May, saying there are too many unpredictable factors as the pandemic continues. Yet the company's leaders said its sales momentum is continuing into August, even as its busy spring and summer seasons wind down. Ellison said it's remodeling stores to make them easier and more appealing for professional contractors who frequently visit. For example, he said, it's grouping like-minded supplies together so pros can get all of the items they need for the same project without running around to different parts of the big-box store. Lowe's was able to stay open as an essential retailer during the shelter-in-place orders that closed other stores across the U.S. As some competitors reopen, Ellison said he thinks Lowe's left a lasting impression. He said customers "tend to migrate back to the location where they had a good experience, they had great service but more importantly, in this environment, where they feel safe." Taipei: Taiwan said on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) that hacking groups linked to the Chinese government had attacked at least 10 government agencies and some 6,000 email accounts of government officials in an "infiltration" to steal important data. Democratic Taiwan has been urging its people to be alert for what officials call "omnipresent infiltration" from China, involving from Beijing-backed media campaigns to cyberattacks, against the island that China considers its territory. "Chinese hacking groups have been infiltrating government agencies and their information service providers for a long time," said the deputy director of the Taiwan Investigation Bureau`s Cyber Security Investigation Office, Liu Chia-zung. "They were aiming to acquire important government documents and data," Liu told reporters. "Some government data might have been leaked. This has posed a great threat." The attacks, which started as early as 2018, targeted at least 10 government agencies and the email accounts of some 6,000 officials, Liu`s office said, adding it had not been able to identify what data has been stolen as the hackers had concealed their tracks. Among those who were attacked and infiltrated by two Chinese hacking groups were at least four Taiwan tech companies that had been providing information services to the government, the office said. China`s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese government routinely denies involvement in hacking and says it punishes those who do it. Liu said Taiwan believed the two hacking groups involved, Blacktech and Taidoor, were backed by the Chinese Communist Party. They targeted loopholes in the systems provided by the Taiwan government`s information service providers, he said. Government agencies should increase scrutiny of their providers, Liu said. He said his office was investigating service supply chains to see if any Taiwan companies or individuals have worked with the Chinese hackers. News of the hacking comes during a period of heightened tension between the island and China. China has stepped up its military activity near Taiwan and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. The closures of startups is being reported frequently, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic. CB Insight, the company that builds software thatvpredicts new technology trends, reports that the failure rate of startups globally is between 75 percent and 90 percent. Startup bankruptcies in locations such as Silicon Valley in the US have occurred regularly. In Vietnam, the units that support startup activities reported that 80 percent of startups exist for no more than two years, and only 3 percent succeed. Analysts say that in emerging markets or startup nations, the regular establishment and bankruptcies of startups is common. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a big impact, affecting the cash flow of businesses, pushing them into crisis. Su Ngoc Khuong, investment director of Savills Vietnam, said that Vietnams economic growth over the last five years has impressed the region and the world. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for 75-80 percent of total enterprises, are considered the backbone of the economy. However, while many new businesses have been established, many others have gone bankrupt. The bankruptcy/establishment ratio is 45/55, which means that for every 45 businesses bankrupt, 55 new businesses are set up. Investors set up companies because of many reasons, including passion and desire to run a business, but not all entrepreneurs have sufficient financial resources and experience to succeed, Khuong said. While many new businesses have been established, many others have gone bankrupt. The bankruptcy/establishment ratio is 45/55, which means that for every 45 businesses bankrupt, 55 new businesses are set up. Sharing the same view, Do Hoai Nam, an investor, said its normal for a startup to fail and close down. The success of startups depends on whether entrepreneurs have enough conditions. And luck is also an important factor. Pham Ngoc Huy, an expert on startups, noted that local businesses tend to start companies in the fields of agriculture, handicrafts and traditional cultural products which use local materials. However, more than 90 percent of them operate under the traditional business model, with no renovations in products or use of high technology. Being too self-confident is cited as a mistake of many startups. Loic Gautier, a co-founder of Lefair, said he sometimes was too confident, which made people doubt the companys development capability and additional value. He tried to prove that people were wrong and that they should not doubt his business. Asked about his regrets, he said that he had set up a business when he lacked plentiful capital. Many people only start a business after gaining certain success and financial independence. Alain Goudsmet, president of Mentally Fit, said a startup will succeed when its founder has clear mission and lives with the core value of the products he or she creates. Thu Ky Vietnam startups share IPO dream Having an IPO (initial public offering) is an unfulfilled dream for startups because they are all incurring losses, experts said. DUBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The head of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad, Yossi Cohen, met the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates during a visit to the country, the UAE's state news agency WAM said on Tuesday. Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced last Thursday they would normalise diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship. "The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the security field, and shared perspectives on regional developments and issues of common interested, including both countries' efforts to contain COVID-19," WAM said. (Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir Editing by Gareth Jones) The rosy economic predictions that will need to come true in order for there to be any increase in the paltry first-year refund are a long shot at best. One in four Nebraska jobs are related to agriculture, and the ag economy looks bleak in upcoming years. Commodity prices are extremely low; a July 30 UNL article predicts that the price for this years corn crop will be $3 to $3.50 per bushel. The Trump administrations touted trade agreement with China is producing far less than promised; an Aug. 17 Bloomberg report indicates that China is on track to buy less than one-third of the American agricultural products it committed to purchase in 2020. And Nebraska and the rest of the globe continue to be subject to the economic uncertainties arising from the pandemic. Future increases in refunds based on unrealistic revenue projections are so much smoke in the wind. The property tax relief component of LB 1107 is a fig leaf, an illusion. Gov. Pete Ricketts and many state senators strained to pretend that this meager refund and bit of evaporating possibility represent a meaningful step toward property tax relief. To their credit, some west Nebraska senators, including Lincoln Countys own Mike Groene, refused to go along with the charade. Groene accurately called the tax relief peanuts and did not vote in favor of the bills passage. Defunding and abolishing police departments is an absurd idea that nevertheless has gained currency in some extremely liberal cities. One of those is Minneapolis, whose City Council has actually voted to put defunding its own police department on the ballot in November. This is because the Minneapolis City Charter includes a requirement that the city maintain a police department of a specified size. Happily, an obscure group called the Minneapolis Charter Commission has voted to study the issue further rather than putting it on the ballot. In the meantime, however, the City Council has been de facto shrinking the police department to the point where it is now smaller than the legally required minimum. A group of Minneapolis residents, all or mostly black, are now suing the Mayor and City Council to force them to comply with the City Charter. They are represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center, a public interest law firm on whose board I serve. This is the press release that the UMLC published yesterday: Eight residents and community leaders in Minneapolis, represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center, filed a lawsuit Monday to require the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey take action to secure the safety of citizens amid an exodus of MPD officers. The petition alleges Minneapoliss leaders have violated their duties to fund, employ and manage a police force as required by the City Charter. Rather than work to improve public safety, the City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey are making the city a more dangerous place through defunding, imposing a hiring freeze, cancelling training, and public disparagement of the MPD, causing police officers to retire, quit, take medical leave and make disability claims in unprecedented numbers without replacements. This has led to fewer officers employed than required by the City Charter accomplishing a stated goal of a self-described veto-proof majority of the City Council, but without receiving the required vote of Minneapolis residents. Cathy Spann, one of the plaintiffs who initiated this legal action, said: The safety of our families and community require an adequately staffed and deployed police force. The actions of the City Council and Mayor Frey in driving out unprecedented numbers of Minneapolis police officers, and then cancelling all hiring of replacements, endangers our community, our residents and our children. We demand the City Council and Mayor comply with the Charter and, rather than defund the police, take all necessary steps to increase the number of police in active service to the minimum of 743 officers required by the City Charter. The petition points out that at the beginning of 2020, Minneapolis employed and deployed a police force of approximately 825 licensed officers. However, through the end of July, at least 80 officers have retired or quit, up dramatically from the annual average of 45. This attrition is continuing, as Mayor Frey stated in his 2021 Budget Address on August 14 that he expects 100 police officers to retire from the force by year-end. No replacement officers are planned to be hired, since Mayor Frey also stated those eliminated positions would be included in our hiring freeze, and all Minneapolis police training academies have been canceled for the remainder of 2020. Furthermore, due to the hostile working conditions created by Mayor Frey and the City Council, by the end of July more than 200 officers had applied for disabilityabout 20% of the entire force. According to a city spokesperson, on July 17 a total of 111 employed officers were on some type of medical leave, including 40 PTSD claims filed just since May 26. According to the Star Tribune, the city could lose the services of as many as one-third of its employed officers by year-end due to disability and medical leave alone. As a result, the petition concludes, the current number employed in active duty on the MPD is 634 or fewer, and by year-end the number will sink to 500 or even lower, both numbers far below the required 743. Howard Root, Chair of the Upper Midwest Law Center, stated: While the City Council claims that the Charter-required minimum number of armed police is not required for public safety, when it comes to their own safety, their actions stink of hypocrisy. Our legal petition points out that the City has paid $152,400 for armed protective agents for three City Council membersa private armed security force so the Council members do not need to rely on the disintegrating Minneapolis police force for their own protection. So at the same time the City Council has determined that the citizens require less police protection, they have hired their own special private police force to provide added security for themselves at taxpayer expense. Doug Seaton, Esq., President of the Upper Midwest Law Center, added: The facts in our petition are unambiguous, and the City Charter requirement is clear. We expect the court will act to require the City to conform to the Charter and increase police hiring to meet the Charters legal requirements. Otherwise, the Charter provision is meaningless. We intend to request immediate judicial intervention to remedy this travesty. The legal action was filed in Hennepin County State District Court on Monday, August 17, 2020 as a mandamus action, which asks the court to order the Mayor and City Council to comply with the City Charter by taking all necessary steps to hire, train, fund and deploy a minimum of 743 licensed peace officers. Back in July, Chron reported on how the current economic and housing crisis is hitting Black Americans the hardest, and Sonja Lee, is one of the latest to fall victim. Related: How the housing crisis is hitting Black Houstonians the hardest, according to a Harvard study Lee, a Houston mother of two, lives at The Steeples apartment complex near Kirkwood and Westheimer, according to ABC13. At 2 p.m. on Monday, she received a notice on her door to vacate the premises. The note read, "Guess who's moving? You!!!" with a large smiling emoji that appeared to be waving," ABC reported. The letter continued, "Pay your outstanding balance, or release your apartment and turn in your keys to the leasing office by 6:00 p.m. today. Eviction will be filed promptly Tuesday morning, 8/18/2020." "I was shocked. Not shocked because I was behind on rent, but shocked at insensitivity of the letter," Lee told Chron.com. "It was very tacky and tasteless and very unprofessional. I felt like they were antagonizing tenants for not being able to pay their rent." According to ABC13, the Steeples Apartments are owned by Karya Property Management, and the founder, Swapnil Agarwal told the TV station Lee is not under eviction, and nothing has been filed against her. The manager responsible for the eviction notice has been disciplined. Statista reported that in July 2020, the national unemployment rate was at 10.2 percent. Here in Texas, the unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent in June, up from 3.4 percent in June of last year, as reported by the Texas Tribune. Lee has started a Go Fund Me account, to help support her and her children. Lee is one of the many in the Houston area who have struggled because of the current economic crisis. The CARES Act prevented landlords from taking new eviction actions against renters who havent paid their rent on certain federally backed properties through July 24, according to the Texas Tribune. Now that the eviction moratorium has expired, courts are no longer blocking landlords from evicting Texans struggling to pay rent. With the eviction moratorium lifted, it's only a matter of time before we see more of these stories come to light. WOONSOCKET, RI While Gov. Gina Raimondo said the Rhode Island coronavirus testing picture is a little brighter this week than it was when the state was placed on the travel-restriction list for a trio of surrounding states earlier this month, it is not bright enough to meet the guideline of the state's hard-line neighbor to the north. The state said it recorded 79 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday down from the numbers topping 100 it experienced for a stretch in recent weeks which has gotten RI off the hook when it comes to travel barriers to and from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. But testing requirements and quarantines for Massachusetts remain in place as state Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said on Wednesday the state is coming in at 14 positive tests per 100,000 residents and a 3.0 test-positive rate average over seven days. "We are barely too high for Massachusetts to lift their travel restriction," Raimondo said during her Wednesday news conference. "They are staying firm on that rule and I respect that. So we have to get better so we can travel more freely to and from Massachusetts." Raimondo said she has spoken to Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker about being just on the wrong side of the stringent limit adding that she is not sure Massachusetts meets its own guideline it sets for outsiders but said she does accept that the rule is the rule and it's up to Rhode Islanders to meet it. "I hear from a lot of business owners who say: 'You know, Gov, 20 percent of our business is from Massachusetts,'" she lamented. "It's really hurting their business. So if you are asking what you can do about that, you can follow the rules. "It is heartbreaking to hear from small businesses that they are barely getting by, and now it's even harder because of this Massachusetts travel ban," she added. Overall, she said both the numbers and the reports from monitors out at beaches, parks, stores, restaurants and bars have improved in the past week even if bars remain in the "needs improvement" category of compliance. Story continues RI has not had a day of more than 100 new positive cases in more than a week, with 82 patients hospitalized in the state as of Tuesday, and eight in intensive care. "We are doing a little better and I want to thank you," Raimondo said. "Our compliance has increased a bit, so I thank you. You should feel good about yourselves because this is the result. Seventy-nine (new cases) is certainly better than 100." More than 1,000 businesses received compliance checks over the weekend with 96 percent of staff and customers wearing masks, and 98 percent of businesses following capacity restrictions. "That is the best we've seen," Raimondo said. "So good job, Rhode Island. Keep it up. That's where we want to be. "That's what's going to keep us going, and our economy open, until there is a vaccine." She said compliance was also strong at parks and beaches where partially due to the cloudy and cool weather crowds were down and masks were up and covering the nose and mouth when it came to common areas. Where the state has continued to struggle, she said, is bars and bar-areas of restaurants where customers are too close to other parties, and too close to the bartender. Fifteen percent of bars checked did not have sufficient social distancing between tables and 17 percent did not have distance or barriers between customers and bartenders. "Bars are closed as of 11 o'clock," she said. "If we keep seeing 17, 18 percent, we will have to do more. So I will continue to say: 'Keep the customers away from the bartender.'" One other area where officials asked for compliance was when it comes to social gatherings. The state has linked many small outbreaks back to single boat trips, birthday parties and backyard cookouts where large groups of friends and relatives get together, do not wear masks and do not socially distance. Raimondo said her office receives many calls asking for exceptions to the "15" rule with the answer generally: "No." "It's just 15," she said. "Please, follow the law. There are penalties in place (where each person can be fined $500) even if it's just on your back porch. "Fifteen is fifteen." Read more This article originally appeared on the Woonsocket Patch Evening Standard The Covid self-isolation period has been cut to five days, following an announcement by Health Secretary Sajid Javid. The announcement, on January 13, means people can leave isolation at the start of day six, subject to two negative lateral flow tests taken a day apart, with the first of these tests being no sooner than day five. It comes after changes which means Britons who are asymptomatic who return a positive lateral flow test will no longer need to get a confirmatory PCR test. [The stream is slated to start at 5:45 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] President Donald Trump is set to hold a news conference at the White House on Wednesday ahead of the third night of the Democratic National Convention. The event in the White House briefing room marks Trump's first news conference since former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday night became the official Democratic nominee in the 2020 election. The news conference comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on the U.S. The U.S. has tallied more than 5.48 million Covid-19 cases and at least 171,800 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University. State leaders are working to balance efforts to mitigate the spread of the disease with plans to reopen schools for in-person learning. Trump has demanded schools reopen immediately. Trump is also likely to be asked about the U.S. Postal Service, which has become a major source of controversy on Capitol Hill. While lawmakers of both parties have raised concerns about reported mail delays stemming from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's overhaul of the agency, Democrats, in particular, have raised concerns that the changes could impact mail-in voting in the November presidential race. Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. Hailing the Supreme Court order on a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case as a "triumph of justice", the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies expressed confidence on Wednesday that the central agency will bring out the truth. The ruling Congress and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra defended the Mumbai Police and alleged that the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government is trying to take political advantage of the issue in view of the upcoming assembly polls. The Maharashtra government had opposed an FIR by the Bihar police and a CBI probe in the sensational case. However, Janaat Dal-United president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asserted that the Supreme Court order has vindicated his government, and asserted that its action had nothing to do with politics or elections. Soon after the apex court's verdict, senior BJP leader and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted, "Justice triumphs! The soul of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput will surely now rest in peace with the assurance of a fair investigation by CBI on the FIR filed in Patna by Bihar Police whose request for transfer of the case to CBI has been validated by the Supreme Court." He also praised the "exemplary courage" shown by the actor's family and the "overpowering desire of the people of India" to see justice in the case and called it a new milestone. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the CBI should now carry out a proper probe into the actor's death, and asserted that justice will not be delivered by the BJP-JDU, which are in power in Bihar, making statements for "political gains". The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the transfer of the FIR, lodged at Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, to the CBI. The apex court said that the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. The row over his death has acquired political dimensions in Bihar, his home state, ahead of the assembly polls there with almost all major parties, including the opposition RJD, backing the demand for a CBI probe. The BJP and its allies have been trying to put their rivals, including the Congress, on the defensive over the issue. "With today's apex court order, it has become amply clear that whatever was done in Bihar was in accordance with the law and constitutional norms. And I am quite hopeful that justice will now be done in the case," chief minister Nitish Kumar said. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain alleged that the Maharashtra government had been "stalling" the investigation and expressed confidence that the truth will now be brought out. Congress leader Gohil said the apex court in its ruling has stated that records of the case produced before it do not "prima facie suggest any wrongdoing by the Mumbai Police" and demanded that the BJP leaders apologise to the force. "I demand that the CBI should fulfill its duty and an investigation is completed at the earliest," he said at an online media briefing. Gohil said the Congress has repeatedly demanded that there should be a proper investigation in the case and the bereaved family should get justice. "Justice will not be delivered by the statements being made by BJP-JDU for political gains in view of the assembly polls. There should be a proper investigation in the case," he said. "The Mumbai police, considered among the good police forces in the world, was abused by the BJP people just because they were opposed to the Congress and Shiv Sena," the Rajya Sabha MP said. Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who had been pushing for a CBI probe, said the Maharashtra government needs to introspect on the way it handled the case. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that "doubting" the integrity of Mumbai Police was a "conspiracy" and alleged that politicians maligned the force. He, however, did not take any name. Raut said the Mumbai Police had probed the case "in all fairness". Asked if the verdict was a setback to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, Raut said, "Such things do happen in legal battles." On whether the state government will challenge the verdict, Raut said it will respond after getting a copy of the judgement. Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh also said he will comment only after studying the apex court order. Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who was an early votary of a CBI probe in the matter, said the SC verdict has "respected" the sentiments of crores of people. In a tweet, he expressed confidence that the CBI will not only bring out the truth but also "expose" those who tried to mislead the probe in the case of alleged suicide. BRISTOL, Va. A miniature Sasquatch named Darryl serves as the greeter for the new miniature convenience store now open in the heart of downtown Bristol. Mini Corner Mart, at 527 State St. on the Virginia side of town, opened about three weeks ago. John Griffith, who owns the store and Southwest Virginia-based gas and convenience store chain Corner Mart, said the store is still being put together, new items are being added and merchandise moved around. Currently, typical convenience store items like lottery tickets, tobacco products, drinks, beer, candy and snacks are offered. But Griffith said they also sell wine, CBD products and fresh-brewed coffee. Right now, coffee is free, Griffith said. Next week, Virginia skill game machines will be added to the back room of the store. As time goes on, items will be reevaluated, and new items and services may be added, such as a limited deli. Right now, every customer that comes in, we ask them, What do you want? Griffith said. The Mini Corner Mart is a new type of store for Griffith and his chain. Previously, he stuck to gas station convenience stores. The Bristol store is his first miniature convenience store. This is our first stab at the concept of an inner-city, almost bodega-style mini market, Griffith said. He said he was looking at other locations. But the one he ultimately settled on, which previously housed Shoozies and Hut No. 8, fell into his hands. With its rustic brick walls and wooden floor, he said the store looks better than he thought it would. He added that, when he first looked at downtown Bristol, he didnt realize how many people lived in the loft apartments there. He said they are an underserved customer base, and he hopes the store will be their one-stop shop. Business is currently slow, but given the COVID-19 pandemic and how new the business is, thats to be expected, Griffith said. He added that the store is starting to see some sales growth. Come out and see us, Griffith said. State Street is still alive. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnams permanent mission to the UN, affirmed support for the three-point peace plan submitted by the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen at a video meeting of the UN Security Council on August 18. Participants at the meeting (Photo: VNA) At the meeting, Quy expressed his concern over the worsening situation in Yemen, called for the facilitation of humanitarian aid for the country, and stressed the importance of protecting civilians, particularly women and children. Talking about main obstacles to the implementation of the Stockholm and Riyadh agreements as well as commitments of involved parties in Yemen, he urged the continuation of dialogue towards a comprehensive political solution with the UN acting as the intermediary. Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen; Major General Abhijit Guha, head of the UN mission in Hodeida, Yemen; and Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council on latest developments in the country. They noted the worsening situation, which saw many people dead and injured, the economy facing several difficulties, and UN humanitarian aid for Yemen likely to be cut due to funding shortage. Participants shared the concern, voicing their opposition to violence against women and children and their support toward Yemens independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Highlighting the importance of the full implementation of the Stockholm and Riyadh agreements, they called for increasing aid for the country to sustain humanitarian activities and combat COVID-19. They also raised the alarm about the growing risk that the SAFER oil tanker could rupture or explode and discussed an immediate approach of UN technical experts to assess the tankers condition./.VNA Pollution, corruption and inequality have been the bane of our society for a long time and things seem to be getting progressively worse. Image For Representation/Reuters According to reports, a 16-YO girl allegedly ended her life as she was worried about the rise in social evils. Also Read: And Just Like That, Toxic Foam Is Back In River Yamuna, Thanks To A Rise In Pollution The teenager shot herself in the head after penning down a suicide note addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Times of India, the girl took the drastic step on the eve of Independence Day in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. A 16-yr-old girl who committed suicide by shooting herself on I-Day eve, left family, friends & even police shocked when her 18-page suicide note was recovered. In her note,addressed to #PMModi,the girl has raised concern over issues like pollution,corruption & felling of trees. pic.twitter.com/DTbcd07nMm IANS Tweets (@ians_india) August 19, 2020 She used to study at a private school in Babrala and left behind an 18-page suicide note in which she expressed her desire to meet PM Modi. Image For Representation/PTI In the note, she urged the Prime Minister to curb population growth, implement a ban on firecrackers during Diwali and chemical-based colours on Holi. Also Read: Death Of Medical Student In Home Isolation Who Died By Suicide Shows How Traumatising It Can Be The girl raised concerns over the treatment meted out to elderly people in the country and wrote, "I don't want to live anymore in a place where children send their parents to old age homes." Image For Representation/Reuters Devendra Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Gunnaur said, "The girl had committed suicide on the night on August 14 by shooting herself. The revolver was recovered by police and her body was sent for post-mortem examination." The girl's father who works as a farmer said that his daughter's last wish was for the letter to reach the Prime Minister and he has requested the administration to look into the same. The girl's 18-page suicide note was found in her notebook and police officers recovered a revolver that she used to kill herself. The police officers conducting an investigation said that the girl had been consulting psychiatrist for a long time. Also Read: Sterlite Copper Where 13 People Were Shot Dead For Protesting Against Pollution To Stay Shut The growing volume of cyber attacks around the world, including increasing cyber criminal activity targeted at and within India, calls for nations to come together and frame cooperative policies to strengthen cyber security and resilience across the world, said Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Rajesh Pant, the first national cyber security coordinator of India. Speaking at private cyber security firm Kasperskys first ever online Asia-Pacific policy forum, Pant briefly touched upon the potential that international cooperation can bring to the realm of cyber security, before emphasising on the need for both individuals and companies to align to new strategies in order to strengthen the overall cyber security quotient of India. He also spoke about cyber resilience, stating that while India and other major nations have shown resilience against cyber threats in the recent past, the Covid-19-enforced new normal calls for adopting new policies, investments, resources and awareness to realise the full potential of our innate cyber resilience. Pant was joined at the policy panel by Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, David Koh, Singapores cyber security commissioner and CEO of Singapores Cyber Security Agency, and Mihoko Matsubara, chief cyber security strategy of Japans NTT Corp. Speaking at the panel, one of the key takeaways from Pants keynote was his highlighting of the need for international cooperation among major nations to establish a uniform cyber security policy, which can then be adopted and implemented by companies across various sectors. Such a policy will not just help companies establish uniform practices, which will be particularly important in our new normal of the post-pandemic world, but also help increase awareness in many areas, said Pant. In India, one of the key areas lie in the many thousands of new users that are coming online and using the internet for the first time. It is important to establish a ground level of awareness in these rural areas, so that cyber security awareness is spread far and wide particularly in the rural areas. Given the amount of data our country generates at the moment, protecting this data is key, and it is hence crucial for adopting strategies and policies to maximise the level of awareness of cyber crimes, both for individuals and companies alike. Increasing this awareness can be the first and foremost step towards improving our countrys cyber resilience, Pant further added. Story continues Not just rural areas Joining in on the discussion, Singapores cyber security chief Koh added that the issue of cyber resilience in a world with increasing cyber crimes does not simply lie in rural areas. Koh said, Singapore is a fairly cosmopolitan city, but even in an area like this, there is a lack of uniformity in the approach towards cyber security, which is one of the most important factors that need to be revised, looked into and established through formal policies and better awareness. Koh further added that the sudden strike of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world has been a significant step back in establishing cyber security practices, since most individuals were forced into working from home at a time when they did not have adequate cyber security knowhow or equipment. Koh stated that despite the work from home protocol establishing a new normal around the world, this can be considered as a moment for individuals and companies to become increasingly aware and increase their readiness in dealing with cyber threats, which in turn will benefit them more in a post-pandemic world. On this note, Koh also touched upon the increasing fragmentation of cyberspaces that have occurred as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has also contributed to cyber criminals increasing the volume of crimes being undertaken in recent times. Reacting to this, Indias Pant stated that while the fragmentation of cyberspaces has indeed occurred, he expects to see closer global coordination reverse this effect as the toil of the pandemic begins to wear off. Learning from the real world Speaking on cyber resilience as an essential aspect, Eugene Kaspersky said that the best way to learn is by looking at the real world model of how we approach personal security. When we think about how we want to keep ourselves, our belongings, wallets and all other possessions safe, it is important to note that we did not have to wait for the police or other authorities to come and teach us about it. For all of us, this is the ideal model from which we must learn and try to improve our ideas of cyber security, Kaspersky added. The panel concluded by stating that while cyber resilience is an existent entity in our present cyberspace, it will be crucial in the coming days, weeks and months to increase awareness among public. Furthermore, all major nations should agree on principle to set up common policies that helps govern the aspect of cyber securities, to wring out targeted cyber crimes and establish a stronger vigilance on protecting our digital assets all of which can eventually lead to a far stronger and reinforced sense of cyber resilience across the world. CEDAR RAPIDS As mayors and residents pleaded for aid to storm-ravaged individuals, President Donald Trump repeatedly reassured Iowans on Tuesday more help will be coming. Thousands of homes and millions of acres of crops were damaged when hurricane-force winds ripped across the state more than a week ago, carving a $4 billion path of destruction. Well take care of it, the president said multiple times during the half-hour discussion in response to entreaties from the mayors of Cedar Rapids and Marion, communities at the epicenter of the damage. Were getting it taken care of and done very quickly, said Trump. On Monday the president signed Gov. Kim Reynolds request for a major disaster declaration. However, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Trumps declaration covered only the public assistance portion of Reynolds request about $45 million for debris removal and repair to government buildings and utilities in 16 counties. Her request for $82.7 million to help those whose homes were destroyed or badly damaged was not included. FEMA says it still is under review. Also not yet approved is the $3.77 billion for estimated agriculture damage to farm land, grain bins and buildings and $100 million for private utilities repair. According to Iowa Homeland Security, the agriculture and private utility funding wouldnt come under the auspices of FEMA. Iowans need the individual assistance from FEMA, Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart told Trump during the presidents brief stop at The Eastern Iowa Airport. The individual assistance is really important because almost every one of the communitys 60,000 homes and businesses was damaged. Homeowners insurance for those who have it wont cover many of the expenses, including tree removal, Hart said. That could be tens of thousands of dollars, he said. So adding the individual assistance component to the disaster declaration would really help so many people get those trees out of their yard and not have such a financial burden. Well take care of that, Trump said. Reynolds assured the mayor the state is gathering the numbers needed to expand the declaration. Well be able to add that on, and we should be able to do that in a short amount of time, she said. Marion Mayor Nicholas AbouAssaly estimate 90% to 95% of all homes and businesses in his city have some damage. The scale of this disaster will be devastating, AbouAssaly warned. OK, were working on it, Trump said. Its a double whammy. The devastation of the derecho is taking a human toll, added Kim Reem, executive director of Mission of Hope in Cedar Rapids. The faith-based organization works with people in need, including those who are homeless. And this week, I became one of them, she said. Although confident her family will recover, Reem said others are not as fortunate and need federal assistance. Their physical needs are not being met, Reem said about the people Mission of Hope is feeding. Many of them have lost their shelter. They dont know where their clothes are. Were strong, Reem said, echoing other speakers. Were strong and were resilient Mr. President, but we are tired and we need your help. Trump also heard from U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who the president described as an incredible man, and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig about the impact on farms. About 113 million acres of crops have been damaged or destroyed, Grassley said. Naig told Trump central and east-central Iowa cooperatives are reporting early estimates of more than 57 million bushels of grain storage capacity seriously damaged or destroyed. The co-ops estimate it will cost more than $300 million to remove, replace or repair damaged bins. In light of the damage done to the ethanol industry, first as COVID-19 reduced Americans travel and now by wind damage to cornfields, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst told Trump he should not allow any waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard. Just dispense of those, she said. We just need help from the EPA to follow the intent of the law. Well speak to them, Trump said. Well speak to them. State Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Marion, stressed the importance of repairing schools that suffered damage, catastrophic damage, in many cases, similar to a hurricane. Well, well take care of it, and you will make a fast recovery, Trump said. Hinson is challenging Democratic 1st District Rep. Abby Finkenauer, who was not invited to the event. Finkenauer, who has been critical of Reynolds efforts, spoke Monday to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden and Finkenauer had a brief conversation during which she asked him to use his national platform to draw attention to the crisis in Iowa, her campaign said in a statement. She looks forward to engaging with anyone and everyone to bring much needed resources to our state. Trump noted he is familiar with many of the counties devastated by the derecho from campaigning here in 2016. This has been a very loving area, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, reviewed the working plans and objectives of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, which was recently established as part of the latest UAE Cabinet structure. The Ministry was announced on July 5, 2020, to develop the countrys industrial sector and enable it to fulfil its future development requirements. The new cabinet structure is also part of the leaderships vision for challenges and addressing them through innovative tools and solutions, as well as for investing in human and financial resources to achieve community prosperity and economic empowerment, and raising the capacities of human resources to be able to lead this vital sector, a statement said. The meeting was attended by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, and HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. "Our industrial sector has three national priorities, which are achieving industrial security, ensuring local added value and raising the competitiveness of our industries. The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology will play a pivotal role in our future national economy, and we are looking forward to rapid results in the coming period," His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said. "We have proven that our work and achievements are on the same level as our dreams and aspirations, and we want to dream more and achieve more," he added, stressing that the post-Covid-19 economy requires national industrial security, flexible ideas and new tools. The ministrys strategy is part of the new vision of the UAE Government system for the post-Covid-19 era, to develop comprehensive government action mechanisms to make the UAE Government more flexible and efficient. The ministrys functions and objectives Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, presented the ministrys short and long-term strategies, including its periodic assessments, projects and priorities. The presentation included an explanation of the ministrys functions, objectives, working mechanisms, and road map for achieving its desired objectives, in line with the countrys overall development plans and under the framework of the comprehensive development vision of the new government structure. Dr. Al Jaber pointed out that the ministry aims to achieve the vision of the leadership to strengthen the contributions of advanced technologies to the countrys sustainable economic growth, as well as to raise the efficiency and competitiveness of the industrial sector and support strategic industries that drive the national economy and increase GDP, stressing that the ministry will draft policies, laws and programmes to create a motivating legislative system that will support the growth of the sector, support small and medium-sized enterprises, SME, and companies that depend on advanced technologies, ensure local added value, encourage the establishment of industrial complexes, support the construction sector, generate industrial exports, raise local capacities in the field of advanced technology, and implement programmes that will ensure the competitiveness of national products in strategic sectors. "There is an interdependent and complementary relationship between science, advanced technology, research and development, and the role of human resources in future growth sectors and how to train them to do their required roles in this field, so the UAE can become a leading country of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that relies on advanced technology," Al Amiri said. The ministerial team stressed that the ministry will focus on achieving self-sufficiency in key areas, such as water, food, energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and will adopt three pillars to achieve its objectives, which are supporting industries that benefit from the countrys competitive advantages, supporting efforts related to advanced science and technology, and reinforcing local added value. In the coming period, the ministry will draft a general strategy and executive plans to achieve its objectives, aimed at increasing the flexibility of the industrial and advanced technology sector and achieving sustainable economic growth after the Covid-19 pandemic.TradeArabia News Service A French MP has accused the British government of causing the death of a teenage asylum seeker who drowned in the English Channel. The 16-year-old Sudanese boy was trying to reach the UK in a small boat when it capsized in the early hours of Wednesday morning. His friend, also thought to be a Sudanese teenager, made it to shore and alerted authorities but the boys body was later found on Sangatte beach. Pierre-Henri Dumont, who represents Calais in the French National Assembly, wrote on Twitter: What we all feared happened that night. How many more tragedies will it take for the British to regain an ounce of humanity? The inability to apply for asylum in Britain without being physically present is causing these tragedies. Mr Dumont said that migrants living in informal camps around Calais, despite a series of forced evictions in recent years, did not want asylum in France and had refused state support. He warned that the number of people living in camps and attempting crossings had been rising, adding: Britains carelessness does not exonerate the French government from its own responsibility. Priti Patel called the boys death an upsetting and tragic loss of a young life as talks continue with France aiming to stop small boats leaving its coastline. The home secretary added: This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people. The boy was washed up on Sangatte beach in France (pictured) (Getty Images) But local reports suggested that smugglers were not involved in the crossing attempted by the boy who drowned. An official from the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor's office, which is investigating the death, told the Nord Littoral newspaper the boy and his friend stole an inflatable boat from a chalet in Sangatte, along with shovels to use as oars. The vessel was a small dinghy that can be purchased in supermarkets, officials said, and inflated by mouth. Experts believe that the wake of a passing ferry or commercial ship would have been capable of overturning it. Recommended More children could risk Channel crossings to reunite with relatives The friend of the boy who died, who was suffering from hypothermia, alerted authorities shortly after 1am on Wednesday. [He said] that they capsized and his companion must still be in the water, said a statement from the maritime prefecture for the Channel. He also warned that his companion could not swim. A sea search was carried out using boats and a Belgian air force helicopter, but was called off at around 4.30am when nothing was found. Authorities were alerted to the discovery of the boys body at 8am. It came weeks after the Home Office announced a new joint action plan with France and put a former Royal Marine in the post of clandestine Channel threat commander. The RAF has sent surveillance aircraft to assist the Border Force, after the UK gave France millions of pounds to increase security along its coastline. Children were among more than 50 migrants who arrived in Dover on Wednesday morning, bringing the total number for this year to more than 4,700. Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Show all 12 1 /12 Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise French police officers and gendarmes stand by tents during the evacuation of the Grande Synthe migrant camp, northern France, on September 17, 2019. Francois Lo Presti/AFP/Getty Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise French gendarmes walk by tents during the evacuation of the Grande Synthe migrant camp, northern France, on September 17, 2019. Francois Lo Presti/AFP/Getty Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise French police officers move migrants on from a camp in Dunkirk, France, 17 September 2019. Care4Calais/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise French police officers move migrants on from a camp in Dunkirk, France, 17 September 2019. Care4Calais/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise A bulldozer at work as French police officers move migrants from a camp near Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, 17 September 2019. Help Refugees/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Police officers moving migrants from a camp near Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, France,17 September 2019. Help Refugees/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Migrants at the Espace Jeunes du Moulin gym in Dunkirk as people awaited eviction from the camp 12 September 2019. Steve Parsons/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Aran Quader, 6, and his sister Yaran, two, at the Espace Jeunes du Moulin gym in Dunkirk on 12 September 2019, days before refugees were evicted. Steve Parsons/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Hamdren Quader 32, with his wife Xalat, 26, and children Kajhan, 8, Aran, 6, and Yaran, two, at the Espace Jeunes du Moulin gym in Dunkirk, France, on 12 September before refugees were evicted from the camp days later. PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise A bulldozer at work as French police officers move migrants from a camp near Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, 17 September 2019. Help Refugees/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Police officers moving migrants from a camp near Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, France, 17 September 2019. Help Refugees/PA Hundreds evicted from French refugee camp amid Channel crossings rise Police officers moving migrants from a camp near Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, France, 17 September 2019. Help Refugees/PA Anne McLaughlin, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, said the boy took the risk because it was his only chance. We can only imagine what his final moments were like, she told The Independent. When it comes to these terrifying situations, the entire focus of the home secretary must be on creating safe routes for people to exercise what is, after all, their legal right to apply for refuge. The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, said the government's response to rising Channel crossings had been lacking in compassion and competence. Recommended Priti Patel was warned that policies were increasing Channel crossings Ministers urgently need to step up work with international partners to find a humanitarian solution to this crisis, which is costing lives, he added. Humanitarian group Detention Action called on the home secretary to resign. The boy is one of several migrants to have died while attempting to reach the UK in recent years. United Nations figures show that more than 19,500 migrants have lost their lives attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea since 2014, but the death toll for the English Channel is not formally recorded. Last week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called for the British and French governments to make saving lives the first priority. A parliamentary report released in November also called for the UK government to increase search and rescue operations and found its own policies were pushing migrants to take more dangerous routes. A Home Office spokesperson said: The UK has a long and proud history welcoming those in need and escaping persecution and resettles more refugees than any other country in Europe. There are safe routes to claiming asylum for those in need and since 2015, we have resettled more than 25,000 refugees, around half of whom were children. Construction of Teslas new Gigafactory electric car plant in Brandenburg is underway. Photo: Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images Construction of Teslas (TSLA) new Gigafactory electric car plant in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, has been powering ahead since February this year. The sheer speed and scale of the project sends a positive signal about Germany as a place to get large projects done, according to the governments small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) commissioner Thomas Barei. In an interview with the Handelsblatt business daily, Barei described the Tesla plant as a role model for other large-scale construction projects in Germany. Tesla is showing what is possible, when political will and efficient, fast administrative and court processes unite in implementation in business and industry, Barei told Handelsblatt. The electric car maker is still awaiting its final building permit and environmental approval due by November. It plans to roll the first vehicles, the Model Y, off the line by summer next year, targeting an eventual production volume of half a million units per year at full capacity, and employing around 10,000 staff. The company also plans to eventually to produce battery cells at the German site. The factory site has attracted protestors, mainly locals, who are worried about the amount of water the plant will use, as well as environmental damage to the rural area. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk attempted to allay these fears on Twitter at the beginning of the year, saying Tesla wont use this much net water on a daily basis. Its possibly a rare peak usage case, but not an everyday event. READ MORE: German investor morale rises on hopes of post-pandemic recovery Barei said that if Tesla gets its final permit in November, the project timing will be more than a record in Germany. Germany, with its powerful industrial and engineering sectors, is not known for the ease or efficiency of getting large-scale projects off the ground, especially in terms of the laborious bureaucratic hurdles involved. This is something the government is keen to change in order to make the country an attractive location for investors. Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, head of the CAR Centre for Automotive Research Institute, described the Tesla factory as a blessing for Germany, telling the newspaper that it will also benefit German suppliers. He said Elon Musk was no ordinary person, but a dynamic package. Mumbai, Aug 19 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out searches at several locations including Mumbai and Delhi in connection with a money laundering case against Tablighi Jamaat Markaz chief Maulana Saad and others, sources said. According to top ED sources, the raids were at 20 locations, including seven in Delhi, five in Mumbai, four in Hyderabad, and three in Kerala. Besides raiding the residence of Maulana Saad in Zakir Nagar area of Delhi, the searches were conducted at the residential premises in Mumbai's Andheri and SV Road area of a person, who is an alleged associate of Saad. Officials refused to divulge any further information on the identity of the people whose houses were being searched. In April, the ED had lodged a case after Delhi Police filed an FIR against Maulana Saad on charges of culpable homicide and violation of the lockdown rules amid the pandemic outbreak. With the coronavirus still rampant across the United States, millions of Americans are preparing to cast their vote by mail in the upcoming November Presidential elections, which sees incumbent Donald Trump face off against former Democratic vice-president, Joe Biden. At least three-quarters of all US voters will be eligible to receive a ballot in the mail for the election the most in U.S. history, according to a New York Times analysis. Mail-in ballots are favoured as a means to prevent further spreading of the coronavirus at polling stations, although President Trump is completely against the idea, claiming that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud. However, many media outlets have maintained that the presidents claims are completely baseless. The Unites States Postal Service (USPS) has said it requires billions in funding ahead of the November ballot to ensure it can deliver mail-in ballots on time. Trump had initially suggested last week that he was unwilling to put up the cash to fund the USPS, with many commentators highlighting that doing so would be a blatant attempt by the president to quash mail-in voting. A few days later, Trump tracked back on his earlier comments, saying that he would be willing to approving additional funding for USPS if Democrats approve his coronavirus relief proposals. As the two parties continue to debate USPS funding and the coronavirus bill, states are already preparing for the biggest mail-in vote in US history, with many relaxing restrictions on who is eligible to do cast mail-in ballots. And while Trump is fiercely against the mail-in system, the president may not be able to stop millions of voters casting their ballot through the postal service, many of whom will do so for the first time. Full screen Donald Trump protesters and supporters interact on August 17, 2020 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Trump brought his campaign to Wisconsin, on the same day as Democrats held their virtual National Convention in Milwaukee. Alex Wroblewski (AFP) How to cast your 2020 US presidential vote by mail The first step is registering to vote at Vote.org. The website also allows you to check your registration if youre unsure if you are registered, locate your polling station, fill-out the 2020 census and set election reminders. (In order to be eligible to vote, you must be a US citizen over the age of 18 and you must have resided in your current state of residence for more than six months). The next step is to request your ballot. This can be done by mail or by e-mail. Though the procedures can vary from state to state, so we recommend you visit the Vote.org site, where you will receive personalized information according to your location. You can also locate your states official election office website to find out more about procedures specific to your state. US presidential election ballots must be requested before mid-October In most states, the ballot must be requested no later than the second week of October. Once the ballot is filled out, you must place it in the special envelope that will arrive with the ballot, which must be signed and dated. Remember, if the envelope is not signed, your vote will NOT be counted. You should also consider the following to ensure your vote is counted: A truck driver accused of killing four police officers on a Melbourne freeway has been charged with another 33 offences, including drug trafficking. Mohinder Singh, 47, was initially charged with four counts of culpable driving causing death in the days after the April 22 crash. On Wednesday, police said the investigation into the crash was ongoing and Mr Singh had been charged with 33 more offences. Mohinder Singh. Credit:Nine News The additional charges include four counts of dangerous driving causing death, driving under the influence, trafficking ice and cannabis and a number of other drug-related offences. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:34:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi will pay an official visit to China from Aug. 19 to 21 at the invitation of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two foreign ministers will hold talks and exchange views on bilateral ties, anti-epidemic cooperation, Belt and Road cooperation, China-ASEAN ties, as well as international and regional issues of common concern, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing Wednesday. Enditem Tripura: Tripura Assembly witnessed uproar over personal allegations relating to Forest Minister Naresh Jamatiya, during which a Trinamool Congress MLA fled with the Speakeras mace, on Tuesday. During Zero Hour, TMC MLA Sudip Roy Burman, former leader of the opposition, raised the issue published in a local Bengali daily. Jamatiya then stood up and said that the charges published in the newspaper were baseless and it was a conspiracy to malign his image. #WATCH: TMC MLA snatches Speaker's mace in Tripura Assembly (Agartala) (19.12.16) pic.twitter.com/a4Am80GLD6 a ANI (@ANI_news) December 20, 2016 The minister said that he has filed a defamation suit in a court against the newspaper. The entire opposition - Congress and TMC - started shouting and demanded a statement from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who also holds the Home portfolio. Sarkar said the matter was subjudice and opposition members would have to wait for the courtas verdict. Opposition members trooped to the well and raised slogans demanding that Speaker Ramendra Debnath allow discussion on the matter. At one point of time, Roy Burman picked up the mace lying on the Speakeras table and fled from the House. He, however, handed it over to the watch and ward staff in the lobby. The Speaker adjourned the house till 2 PM. When the House reassembled, the Speaker condemned taking away of the mace. Afterwards the House functioned normally.A For all the Latest Viral News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. In a virtual convention this week that is heavy on personality and light on policy, Democrats have presented a unified front on issues of racial justice, declaring that the status quo is not acceptable. Not far beneath the surface, however, lies broad disagreement over policing, with the reform-oriented proposals of Joseph R. Biden Jr., the partys nominee, falling well short of the demands of progressive activists who believe that police departments need to be significantly downsized or abolished. The gap between Mr. Biden and his partys progressive flank was evident in a line he delivered during a discussion on the Democratic National Conventions opening night: Most cops are good, but the fact is, the bad ones need to be identified and prosecuted. It struck an array of activists as discordant at a moment when the police killing of George Floyd has spurred nationwide calls for transformational change. Progressives say they see an unprecedented will and momentum to transform policing that they cant let slip away in an election year. Having a standard-bearer who is not fully committed to the kind of fundamental change they believe is necessary could be problematic, they said. A Texas man accused of killing three of his neighbours was later found hiding in woods with a swastika drawn on his forehead, authorities said. Michael Wettstein, 60, has been charged with capital murder after allegedly carrying out a total of five shootings in Liberty County on Monday. Police said Mr Wettstein began his shooting spree on Monday by gunning down Richard Lamm, 56, and Misty Herndon, 38. It is understood Mr Wettstein also shot Herndons dog. The suspect then allegedly went to another home in the area and shot dead 59-year-old Bruce Mercer. Recommended Man charged with hate crime after burning cross to scare neighbour He then visited a third home, police said, and opened fire on Marvin Rumley and his adult daughter, Amanda, following an alleged argument about their dog. Both Rumleys were airlifted to hospital on Monday for treatment, Liberty County Sheriffs Office said. Detectives did not give a motive for the shootings but neighbours said Mr Wettstein was known in the neighbourhood for ranting about dogs roaming freely. The shooter has a reputation of going about the neighborhood ranting about dogs that are loose in the community. Weve responded to calls on him before out in that area. His behavior was somewhat erratic, said Capt. Ken DeFoor of the Liberty County Sheriffs Office. Following the shooting spree, Mr Wettstein was found hiding in a nearby wooded area armed with a rifle and a shotgun. He had the Nazi symbol emblazoned on his forehead, the sheriffs office added. Mr Wettstein was charged on Tuesday and is being held at Liberty Count Jail without bail. The sheriffs office said he could be charged with additional crimes and as the investigation continues. A federal judge has rejected 'Pharmabro' Martin Shkreli's bid to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit accusing him of trying to monopolize lifesaving drug Daraprim while hiking up the cost of a tablet by 4,000 per cent. US District Judge Denise Cote on Tuesday denied Shkreli and his former company, Vyera Pharmaceuticals' motion to toss out a civil suit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, New York Attorney General Letitia James and six other states earlier this year. Shkreli and the company were accused of scheming to block generic equivalents of Daraprim from entering the market, which then allowed them to boost the price of a pill to $750 from $17.50, overnight in 2015. The prescription drug is used to treat a potentially fatal infection known as toxoplasmosis, as well as health complications brought by AIDS. Shkreli and his pharmaceutical company Vyera were sued by the FTC and several states that claimed they tried to monopolize lifesaving drug Daraprim Daraprim is used to treat a potentially fatal infection known as toxoplasmosis, as well as health complications brought by AIDS In a 43-page opinion and order, Cote said the complaint not only alleged that the defendants had actively worked to block competition, but also claimed 'it succeeded in accomplishing that purpose.' She also noted the drug continues to be sold at the inflated price to this day. 'The amended complaint explains how multiple manufacturers of generic pharmaceuticals that wish to compete with Vyera have been delayed for years in obtaining FDA approval because of their inability to obtain Daraprim for bioequivalence testing and from an FDA-approved manufacturer,' Judge Cote said. 'And of course, Vyera continues to sell Daraprim at the inflated price of $750 per tablet.' The judge also pointed to allegations that Shkreli and associate Kevin Mulleady 'designed, implemented and negotiated the network of contracts' that blocked Daraprim generics, and may have 'benefited personally' from the illegality. In a 43-page opinion and order, Judge Cote said pointed to allegations that Shkreli and the defendants actively worked to block competition and may have 'benefited personally' from the alleged scheme .The 37-year-old, nicknamed 'Pharma Bro', is currently serving a seven-year prison term following his 2017 conviction for securities fraud in unrelated matters Shkreli, nicknamed 'Pharma Bro' for eccentricities including his use of social media, is now facing a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry. Attorney General Letitia James said the suit seeks to make the company pay for its 'illegal scheming and block Martin Shkreli from ever working in the pharmaceutical industry again.' '[W]e will never allow greedy pharmaceutical companies and CEOs to line their pockets at the expense of suffering patients,' she added. The ruling however, did grant the defendants one dismissal under the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Cote said the complaint did not 'adequately allege that the anticompetitive conduct it describes is "fraudulent," "deceptive," or likely to create "confusion" or "misunderstanding."' Lawyers for Shkreli, Vyera, its parent Phoenixus AG and the defendant Kevin Mulleady, who like Shkreli was once Vyera's chief executive, did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Reuters. Shkreli is currently serving a seven-year prison term following his 2017 conviction for cheating investors in two hedge funds and trying to prop up a biotechnology company's stock price. The 37-year-old remains best known for the Daraprim price hike, when Vyera was known as Turing Pharmaceuticals. A forest near Loch Lomond has been labelled a 'lynx paradise' by rewilding campaigners despite concerns from farmers the species could ruin their livelihoods. The Lynx UK Trust is launching a new public consultation on proposals to release the species in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park near Aberfoyle. The group said the area would be perfect for the animal, despite NFU Scotland calling the plans 'wholly unacceptable'. Forestry and Land Scotland said there were no plans to reintroduce lynx to Scotland, which has been extinct in the UK for more than 1,000 years. But Lynx UK Trust says reintroducing the predator would bring benefits such as helping to control and reduce the UKs over-populated deer numbers. It also says the Eurasian lynx would reduce damage to forests and improve habitat for smaller animals. Sheep farmers have frequently criticised the proposals, who say the UK's natural life would not be prepared for the lynx's reintroduction. NFU Scotland's environment and land use committee chairman Angus MacFadyen said: "The past three to four years have seen a long line of brazen and presumptuous claims from Lynx UK Trust about the imminent reintroduction of lynx. "Its only application to date, to reintroduce lynx to Kielder, was rejected." In 2018, the government refused Lynx UK Trust's application to reintroduce Euasian Lynx in Kielder, Northumberland as it did not meet 'the necessary standards'. Sheep farmers often use Norway as an example to highlight the threat posed by the reintroduction of predators. NFU Scotland Vice President Martin Kennedy added: "On a study trip to Norway in Autumn 2017, an NFUS delegation heard that Norwegian authorities paid out compensation on 20,000 sheep lost to predators. "Of the sheep killed in Norway, wolverine accounted for around 34% of losses with the lynx, bear and wolf accounting for 21%, 15% and 9% respectively." He added: "Predation in Norway has reduced over the past decade - not because of fewer predators, but the fact that hill farmers have simply stopped keeping sheep." File image Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot may undertake Cabinet expansion to fill vacancies and accommodate Sachin Pilot loyalists. While one of his ministers is in a coma in hospital, another was recently appointed chief of the Rajasthan unit of the Congress. The maximum number of ministers Gehlot can have is 30. At present, he has 22 ministers. Of these, Bhanwarlal Meghwal is critically ill in hospital, and Govind Singh Dotasra was appointed chief of the Congress in Rajasthan. Three other ministers Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh, and Ramesh Chand Meena were sacked. The Pilot group has reportedly asked that some of them be accommodated in the Cabinet. Pilot sought berth for his two most loyal supporters -- Vishvendra Singh and Meena -- along with two other senior Congress leaders who sided with him: Hemaram Choudhary and former Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat, the Business Standard reported. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan won the vote of confidence in the Legislative Assembly on August 14. It was not immediately clear how many votes cast by members did Gehlots government garner in the House. The ruling Congress has 107 MLAs in the 200-member Legislative Assembly. The BJP has 72. After the trust vote, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said that the vote of confidence was passed with a "very good majority". "Despite various attempts by the opposition, the result is in favour of the government," Pilot said. "This has put a full stop on all suspicions that were rising. A roadmap has been prepared for all the issues that were being raised. I have complete faith, that roadmap will be announced timely," Pilot added. The developments come days after an 'amicable resolution' of the nearly month-long political crisis in Rajasthan triggered by Pilot's revolt. Not only phone tapping, Govt hacking Instagram accounts of my children: Priyanka Gandhi UP Polls: Priyanka in Firozabad to continue women centric campaign Priyanka Gandhi's remark on Non-Gandhi party chief is a year-old one, clarifies Congress India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Aug 19: The Congress on Wednesday clarified that Priyanka Gandhi's remark that she had no objection to a non-Gandhi becoming the party president was a year-old remark. "We at (Congress) appreciate the sudden media interest (egged on by BJP) in a year-old remark (Dated 1st July 2019) of Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The context today is to take on the vicious attack on India's polity by Modi-Shah dispensation and fight it fearlessly on front foot," tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News "Nehru-Gandhi family has held together and served the Congress unmindful of the trappings of power. In 2004, Sonia Ji set an example by sacrificing power to serve the party. In 2019, Rahul Ji showed the courage of conviction and stepped down as INC President," he said Surjewala also defended Rahul Gandhi's leadership. "Millions of Congress workers and leaders have seen that Sh. Rahul Gandhi has led the fight tireleesly, undaunted by the setbacks and vile attacks by Modi Govt on a daily basis," it said. "It is this fearlessness and uncompromising courage that INC requires, Workers respect and Nation needs," it added. Seafood could account for 25% of animal protein needed to meet increases in demand CORVALLIS, Ore. - Policy reforms and technological improvements could drive seafood production upward by as much as 75% over the next three decades, research by Oregon State University and an international collaboration suggests. The findings, published today in Nature, are important because by 2050 the Earth will have an estimated 9.8 billion human mouths to feed, a 2 billion increase in population from 2020. Seafood has the potential to meet much of the increased need for protein and nutrients, researchers say. Marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco, university distinguished professor in the OSU College of Science, joined scientists from the United States, China, Chile, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Norway, Argentina and Malaysia in analyzing how much food the ocean could be expected to sustainably produce 30 years from now. Examining the sea's primary food-producing sectors - wild fisheries and the mariculture of finfish such as tuna and snapper as well as bivalves like clams and oysters - the researchers determined estimates of "sustainable supply curves" that take into consideration ecological, economic, regulatory and technological limitations. Mariculture means cultivating marine organisms for food and other products in coastal seawater environments or the open ocean. The scientists framed those supply curves against future demand scenarios to predict how much food the ocean, which presently accounts for just 17% of the animal production industry, could supply as the global population swells. "As mariculture technology improves and policies surrounding the ocean and its resources are reformed, food from the sea could increase by between 21 million and 44 million metric tons annually," said Lubchenco, a former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Those increases amount to between 12% and 25% of the estimated animal protein increases needed to feed the almost 10 billion people expected to live on the Earth in 2050. Rising incomes and shifts in food preferences will greatly increase demand for nutritious food in the coming decades, and the ocean can be a big part of meeting that demand." Producing more and more food from land-based crops is challenging because of declining yield rates and competition for land and water, Lubchenco notes, as well as various environmental and health concerns associated with large-scale agriculture. And while land-derived seafood - freshwater aquaculture and inland fisheries - plays an important role in the global food picture, its expansion faces some of the same hurdles and causes some of the same problems. "Land-based sources of fish and other foods are certainly part of the solution, but we show that sustainable food from the sea can play a major role in global food supply and food security as well," Lubchenco said. "Stories of overfishing, pollution and unsustainable mariculture give the impression that it is impossible to sustainably increase the supply of food from the sea. But unsustainable practices, regulatory barriers and other constraints may be limiting seafood production - meaning shifts in policies and practices could benefit both conservation and food production. We've seen, for example, how changes in policy in U.S. fisheries resulted in significantly reducing overfishing and rebuilding wild stocks, thus increasing the abundance of fish in U.S. waters as well as fishery yields." Lubchenco and colleagues including lead author Christopher Costello of the University of California, Santa Barbara, describe four primary routes to sustainably increasing ocean-based food production: Better management of wild fisheries, which account for 80% of the sea's meat production; reforms for policies governing mariculture; improvements in feeds used in mariculture; and shifts in demand to drive increased production from all ocean food sectors. Nutritionally diverse and less environmentally burdensome than land-based food production, seafood is uniquely positioned to help feed the Earth's growing population, Lubchenco said. And directing resources away from subsidies that enhance fishing capacity toward building institutional and technical capacity for fisheries research, management and enforcement will be a key step. "The potential for increased global production from wild fisheries hinges on maintaining fish populations near their most productive levels," Lubchenco said. "For overfished stocks, that means adopting or improving management practices that prevent overfishing and allow depleted stocks to rebuild." Seventy-five percent of mariculture production requires some feed inputs, like fishmeal and fish oil, derived from wild forage fisheries. But alternatives like terrestrial plant- or animal-based proteins, seafood processing waste, microbial ingredients, insects, algae and genetically modified plants are in the works - innovations that could decouple mariculture from wild fisheries. And the largest potential for expansion of food from the sea will come from the farming of bivalves. "We have shown that the sea can be a much larger contributor to sustainable food production than is currently the case, via a collection of plausible and actionable mechanisms," Lubchenco said. ### Supporting the research were SYSTEMIQ; the World Resources Institute; the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; the European Research Council; CONICYT-BASAL 0002; and GAIN-Xunta de Galicia. Collaborators included scientists from Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Pontificia Universidad Cato?lica de Chile; Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Pesca y Acuacultura; Harvard University; Iwate University, the National Research Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Fisheries Research and Education Agency of Japan; the University of Washington; the University of Cape Town; Stanford University; the Norwegian School of Economics; Spain's CIM-University of Vigo; the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina; and WorldFish of Malaysia. This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The Delhi government on Wednesday allowed hotels to resume operations and weekly markets to open on a trial basis, but continued the ban on gymnasiums and yoga centres in the national capital. The decision was taken in a meeting of the state disaster management authority (SDMA), helmed by lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal and attended by vice-chairperson chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others. Hotels and weekly markets will be opening in the city after a gap of nearly five months. Kejriwal said the decision will boost Delhis economy, which saw a steep slump during the three-month nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19. The Covid-19 situation in Delhi is much better now. The economy of Delhi has to be brought back on track. For that, we had proposed the opening of all hotels in Delhi, which was rejected by the Central government earlier. We requested Centre again and we are happy that the proposal was finally approved on Wednesday. Now, all hotels in Delhi will open, while weekly markets will be opened on a trial basis. However, everyone must exercise precautions and follow social distancing, Kejriwal said. Senior government officials said the opening of hotels and weekly markets shall be prohibited in containment zones and an order notifying the SDMA decisions will be issued soon. Hotel groups and associations were enthused by the lifting of restrictions and said coupled with the Delhi governments July 30 decision to do away with the night curfew (imposed between 10pm and 5am), it would help attract more customers. According to the Delhi government, the hotel industry in the capital contributes 8% of the states gross domestic product and employs nearly four lakh people. Weekly markets, the government said, provide employment to nearly five lakh poor families. Hotels, gyms and yoga centres were allowed to open across the country from June 8 under the Central governments unlock 3.0 guidelines issued on May 30. But in Delhi, these services remained prohibited as a preventive measure to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Delhi government had first sent a proposal to open hotels and weekly markets to L-G Baijal on July 30. The LG, however, struck it down saying that the Covid-19 situation continues to be fragile in Delhi and the threat is still far from over. On August 6, the government sent the proposal again, this time adding the demand to allow gyms and yoga centres to open as well, but the L-G did not respond. Instead, he scheduled the SDMA meeting on Wednesday. While hotels will now open in Delhi, senior government officials said a decision on opening gyms and yoga centres will be taken at a later stage by the SDMA. Weekly markets are likely to be allowed to operate on a trial basis for a week or 10 days. The L-G was of the view that the economic activities should be opened up in a phased manner. It was also pointed out that even though the Covid-19 situation has somewhat stabilised, Delhi is still witnessing around 1,033 fresh cases on average every day, an official who attended the SDMA meeting said, on condition of anonymity. Senior government officials said the health department is likely to issue a standard operating procedure for all hotels to follow, which will mostly be a reiteration of the guidelines issued by the Central government on June 4. Shwetank Singh, vice-president, development and asset management, InterGlobe Hotels, said the hotels in the state had been under immense stress for the longest time, while those in NCR cities such as Gurugram and Faridabad have reopened and returned to normal functioning. We are in the process of installing MERV 13 air filters in our hotels to avoid the spread through the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems. We have installed plexiglas shields at check-in desks and all our staff members will wear masks and gloves throughout the day. Sanitizer dispensers will be installed at all touchpoints. While making rounds of the premises and visiting quarantined guest floors as well as during guest interactions, our staff members will wear full PPE kits, he said. Sandeep Khandelwal, chairman, Delhi hotels and restaurants owners association (DHROA) said the decision to open hotels will give life to 3,000 budget hotels in the city. We now request the Delhi government to help our industry recover from the losses by giving relaxations and deferments in fixed charges of electricity bills, house tax, hotel licences and fire norms, he said. Rohit Arora, area general manager, The Park New Delhi, said the hotel has introduced a gold-certified program - S.H.I.E.L.D. Every team member has undergone mandatory hygiene, safety, sanitization and social distancing training. We have adopted a more stringent approach towards our sanitisation and hygiene standards. All government protocols will be followed, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The 17 faces that together created the Democratic Conventions atypical keynote address Tuesday night are what America really looks like. They are the White valedictorians and war veterans, yes, but the partys rising stars are also gay, Latino and Black legislators, single women, an immigrant and the president of the Navajo Nation as well as the children of single moms, poor parents and refugees. No monochromatic, male monopoly here. There have been protests across Belarus since the election (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Employees of state-controlled companies and factories have joined the strike in Belarus as pressure increased on president Alexander Lukashenko to step down. More employees joined the strike that began on Monday and encompassed several major tractor factories in Minsk, a huge potash factory in Soligorsk, state television and the countrys most prominent theatre. The strikes follow nine days of mass protests against election results that handed Mr Lukashenko his sixth term with 80% of the vote, while his top challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya apparently only received 10%. The authorities should understand that they are losing control. Only Lukashenkos resignation and punishment of those in charge of rigging and beatings (of protesters) can calm us down, head of an independent miners union Yuri Zakharov told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The people said their no to Lukashenko, and we will not back down. The strike will continue and grow until he steps down. Expand Close Protests continue in Belarus (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protests continue in Belarus (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Mr Lukashenko dismissed the strikes as insignificant on Monday and said he will not cave in to pressure but appeared nervous as dissent grew. The increase in strike action came as the Belarusian ambassador to Slovakia Igor Leshchenya handed in his resignation and politicians in neighbouring Lithuania voted to bring economic sanctions against Belarus. In a video released on Saturday, Mr Leshchenya expressed solidarity with those who came out on the streets of Belarusian cities with peaceful marches so that their voice could be heard. He said he was shocked by the reports of mass beatings and torture of protesters and accused Belarusian law enforcement of restoring the traditions of the Soviet secret police. Mr Leshchenya, the first top government official to support the protests against Mr Lukashenko, said in an interview on Tuesday that resigning after that was a logical move. Our goal is to unite society, all of Belarus, so that the Belarusian society has a legitimate institution to negotiate and make demands Maria Kolesnikova Meanwhile, Lithuanias parliament overwhelmingly voted for the sanctions and said the presidential election must not be internationally recognised. We are sending a strong message to the world today, foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said after the vote. The mass protests that drew hundreds of thousands of people have continued despite a response from the police, who in the first four days of demonstrations detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs. At least two protesters have died. On Tuesday, nearly 1,000 people gathered in front of a theatre to support a troupe that gave notice en masse after the theatres director, Pavel Latushko, was dismissed after siding with the protesters. Ms Tsikhanouskaya left the country for Lithuania in a move her campaign said was made under duress and on Monday she announced she was ready to act as a national leader to facilitate a new election. Her top ally Maria Kolesnikova said on Tuesday that a co-ordination council is being formed to represent the people and negotiate the transition of power. Mr Lukashenko, who has run the ex-Soviet nation since 1994, bristled at the idea of talks with the opposition but Ms Kolesnikova argued that the embattled president should hear his society, hear the people the majority calls him a former (president). Our goal is to unite society, all of Belarus, so that the Belarusian society has a legitimate institution to negotiate and make demands, Ms Kolesnikova told the AP on Tuesday. The council, which will convene for the first time on Tuesday evening, will figure out the best way for transition of power, be it new elections or some other option, Ms Kolesnikova said. Mr Lukashenko said on Monday the country could have a new presidential election but only after approving an amended version of its constitution in a nationwide referendum. Western officials refused to recognise the election as free or fair and criticised Belarusian authorities for their violent crackdown on protesters. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 12:35:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Leaders pose for a group photo at the fourth meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference of Myanmar in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on Aug. 19, 2020. The fourth meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference of Myanmar kicked off in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, with the aims to unite all ethnic nationalities and build a democratic federal union through dialogue. (Xinhua/Zhang Dongqiang) NAY PYI TAW, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The fourth meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference of Myanmar kicked off in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, with the aims to unite all ethnic nationalities and build a democratic federal union through dialogue. President U Win Myint and two Vice Presidents U Myint Swe and U Henry Van Thio, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, speakers of both Houses, Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, and representatives from 10 nationwide ceasefire accord (NCA) signatories ethnic armed organizations attended the opening ceremony. Some 230 representatives from the government, the parliament, the military, invited political parties, ethnic armed organizations and civil society participated in the meeting. The previous meetings of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference were held in August 2016, May 2017 and July 2018, respectively. So far, 10 ethnic armed groups have signed the NCA with the government since it was initiated in October 2015. Enditem MECOSTA COUNTY A new case of the coronavirus was confirmed for the sixth consecutive day in Mecosta County, health officials reported Tuesday. The District Health Department No. 10 reported one new case in Mecosta County, bringing its new total to 69 confirmed cases. As of Tuesday, Mecosta County has administered 7,413 diagnostic tests and 260 serology looking for antibodies tests, totaling 7,673 tests, according to michigan.gov. In Lake County, no new cases were reported Tuesday, keeping the county's total at 28 confirmed cases. Testing conducted in Lake County includes 2,452 diagnostic tests and 83 serology tests have been administered, totaling 2,535 tests. The Central Michigan District Health Department also reported no new cases in Osceola County on Tuesday, keeping its total confirmed cases at 64, with zero deaths and 44 recoveries. Health officials there have completed 5,523 diagnostic tests and 124 serology tests have been administered, totaling 5,647 tests. The DHD No. 10 serves residents in Mecosta, Crawford, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Newaygo, Oceana and Wexford counties. Here is Tuesdays breakdown of coronavirus numbers within the health departments jurisdiction: Cumulative total: 1,191 positive COVID-19 cases in the DHD No. 10s jurisdiction. 102 positive cases in Crawford County 43 positive cases in Kalkaska County 28 positive cases in Lake County 38 positive cases in Manistee County 96 positive cases in Mason County 28 positive cases in Missaukee County 258 positive cases in Newaygo County (Four cases were removed due to residing outside of DHD No. 10's jurisdiction) 466 positive cases in Oceana County 63 positive cases in Wexford County Deaths: 23 deaths from COVID-19 in the DHD No. 10s jurisdiction. Deaths are included in the positive cases listed above. 5 deaths in Crawford County 4 deaths in Kalkaska County 2 deaths in Mecosta County 1 death in Manistee County 1 death in Missaukee County 6 deaths in Oceana County 4 deaths in Wexford County Recoveries: 929 recoveries from from COVID-19 in the DHD No. 10s jurisdiction (based on whether individuals are still alive 30 days past the confirmed date). 74 recoveries in Crawford County 28 recoveries in Kalkaska County 12 recoveries in Lake County 27 recoveries in Manistee County 74 recoveries in Mason County 39 recoveries in Mecosta County 24 recoveries in Missaukee County 205 recoveries in Newaygo County 406 recoveries in Oceana County 40 recoveries in Wexford County The state lists the total recovered at 67,778 cases, as of Aug. 14, which represents COVID-19 confirmed individuals with an onset date on or prior to July 15, according to the state website, mich.gov. As of Tuesday, there are 93,662 confirmed cases and 6,340 confirmed deaths in Michigan. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT First responders rushed to Seaside Park Tuesday night for a person who nearly drowned but had regained consciousness after someone performed CPR, according to officials. Around 7:50 p.m., fire units were dispatched to 725 Barnum Blvd., the bathhouse and concession stand area at Seaside Park. Relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated further after the countrys army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was denied an audience with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman during his visit to the Kingdom on Monday. In h Pakistan, there is confusion over what the next step will be but so far foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has not been asked to step down. General Bajwa, accompanied by ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz, had gone to Saudi Arabia at the behest of Imran Khans government in a bid to clarify matters and restore good relations between the two countries. The Saudi leadership is believed to have taken offence over remarks made earlier this month, by Pakistans foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who accused the Saudi-backed Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) of dilly-dallying on Pakistans request for a meeting of its Council of Foreign Ministers on Kashmir. Instead, Bajwa held talks with Saudi Deputy Minister for Defence Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday. This is being seen as a deliberate snub by the Saudi leadership to Pakistans overtures, say officials in Islamabad. But the failed mission in Saudi Arabia is also creating a gap on foreign policy matters between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the military leadership. Officials say that major foreign policy initiatives are taken with the nod of the army high command and the statement by foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi against the OIC was no exception. It is in this context that one must read the statement of minister Dr Shireen Mazari, said an analyst. Dr Mazari has bitterly criticized the foreign ministry and praised the foreign policy initiatives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan finally broke his silence on the issue on Tuesday. In a wide ranging interview with a private television channel, when asked about relations with Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said that Pakistans role is not to divide the Muslim world. He commented that Saudi Arabia has its own foreign policy. News of breakdown in relations with Saudi Arabia is completely baseless, he told his interviewer, adding Saudi Arabia has helped Pakistan in every difficult time. At the same time, Khan called China a long-time friend of Pakistan. It should be clear that our future is connected with China, he stressed. He said China had stood by Pakistan through good and bad times. We are further strengthening our ties with China. China also needs Pakistan very much. Unfortunately, Western countries are using India against China, he added. Amidst the confusion, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who started the row, remains unfazed. Over the weekend, local channels reported that Qureshi had reportedly slapped the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Azam Khan, after a heated argument. According to a media report, the minister wanted to meet Imran when Azam Khan stopped him outside the office. That is when Qureshi lost his temper and slapped him. Qureshi has reportedly expressed his disappointment at not being allowed to enter the office premises. The Foreign Office has rejected the report saying that no such incident took place. Critics are of the opinion that it is also not without significance that Qureshi met Qatars new envoy Sheikh Saoud bin Abdul Rehman Al-Thani on the same day as the army chief went to Saudi Arabia. The new envoy is from Qatars royal family. A diplomat said his appointment reflected the interest Qatar is showing in expanding relations with Pakistan. Kylie Jenner is one of the highest earning celebs on Instagram, raking in a whopping $986,000 per post. And the pseudo billionaire is proving that she can earn clout from documenting even the most mundane of activities. She teased her taut tummy Tuesday in a black and white ensemble, as she walked to her now infamous $3million black and white Bugatti Chiron, in a series of photos on her Instagram Story. Sweet ride: Kylie Jenner teased her taut tummy Tuesday in a black and white ensemble, as she walked to her now infamous $3million black and white Bugatti Chiron The 23-year-old first posted a video of herself strutting across the street, set to the single Sad! by XXXTentacion. She donned a white spaghetti-strap halter top, tucked under her bra, putting her toned midriff on display. It was complemented with some loose-fit, high-waisted faded black denim pants and a pair of colorful Nike SB 'What the Dunk.' Kylie finished the ensemble with a black face mask, as she carried a tan snakeskin handbag over her shoulder. Out and about: The 23-year-old first posted a video of herself strutting across the street, set to the single Sad! by XXXTentacion Serving body: She donned a white spaghetti-strap halter top, tucked under her bra, putting her toned midriff on display Accessorizing: It was complemented with some loose-fit, high-waisted faded black denim pants and a pair of colorful Nike 'What the Dunk.' Kylie finished the ensemble with a black face mask, as she carried a tan snakeskin handbag over her shoulder Storyteller: She worked it for the camera, as she opened the door of the wild ride, before sitting in the orange leather interior, writing: 'A story' She worked it for the camera, as she opened the door of the wild ride, before sitting in the orange leather interior, writing: 'A story.' The Kylie cosmetics founder came under fire last October for callously flaunting her wealth in a video of the car, which she soon deleted. She recently enjoyed the little things (as well as the big things) during a family trip to Turks and Caicos for her birthday. Birthday girl: She recently enjoyed the little things (as well as the big things) during a family trip to Turks and Caicos for her birthday Proud mom: Kylie posted some sweet snaps Tuesday to Instagram of daughter Stormi, two, playing on the beach with cousin True Thompson, two Family quarantine: She and Stormi's dad Travis Scott have sparked rumors of reconciliation during their family isolation, after announcing their separation last September (pictured in August, 2019) Kylie posted some sweet snaps Tuesday to Instagram of daughter Stormi, two, playing on the beach with cousin True Thompson, two. She's been enjoying some quality family time in quarantine with her adorable daughter and ex Travis Scott, 28. Scott recently told GQ in his September issue cover interview: 'It's amazing just to watch my daughter grow. I'm keeping her aware of what's going on in the world. As a parent, I'm always instilling knowledge, even at this age.' Kylie and the Astroworld artist have sparked rumors of reconciliation during isolation, after announcing their separation last September. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When finance types talk about internal combustion engines, they often just use the abbreviation ICE. Its an appropriate name: Investors have a frosty view of car companies that depend on petrol or diesel to power their vehicles. Volkswagen AG, the worlds biggest auto maker by sales, has a market value of 73 billion euros ($87 billion), or about 6.5 times the earnings it generated last year. By contrast, Tesla Inc.s all-electric lineup has propelled it to an astonishing $352 billion valuation even though its profits are tiny. Budding Teslas such as Rivian Automotive Inc. and Nikola Corp. have achieved multi-billion dollar valuations before even delivering their first electric vehicles. The traditional industry giants of Germany and Detroit, such as Volkswagen and General Motors Co., must be hugely frustrated by the markets favoring of Elon Musk and his upstart peers. Tesla has impressive software and battery technology, but others know how to build a decent electric vehicle now. Established carmakers are spending tens of billions of dollars on doing exactly this; they just arent very good at getting credit for it. Some environmentally focused investors refuse to ignore the fact that the incumbents still make lots of gas-guzzling SUVs. So perhaps the answer is for automakers to spin off their electric-vehicle activities to try to get the market to ascribe them Tesla-like valuations. Its an approach thats worked for utilities, which are gradually freeing their renewable-energy assets from the shackles of their legacy hydrocarbon businesses. GM and Volkswagen have both made massive bets on electric cars. Their battery technology is increasingly competitive and theyve sought partners to build their own battery-cell plants, as Tesla has done with Panasonic. Their new vehicles are pretty eye-catching too. In the autumn, GM will launch an electric version of its hulking Hummer, which could give Teslas much-hyped Cybertruck some serious competition. Meanwhile, Volkswagen has just launched the ID.3 compact, the first vehicle built on its new MEB vehicle platform, which will be used as the base for its other mass-market electric models.(2) Story continues Volkswagen is licensing the platform to other carmakers, including Ford Motor Co., so it could become a money spinner. The German company will probably pass Tesla and become the worlds largest producer of electric vehicles in 2022, when it should sell more than a million battery-powered cars, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Tim Rokossa. You can see why Rokossa and his American colleagues are urging GM and Volkswagen to separate their electric vehicle activities. This would help unlock value and maybe let the companies raise capital more easily. GM has already separated its Cruise autonomous-driving unit, helping it to raise billions of dollars from investors including SoftBanks Vision Fund. Why not do similar with GMs Ultium battery system and the GM vehicles that use it? Other industries upended by the energy transition are thinking along similar lines. German utility RWE AGs shares have soared since it completed an asset swap with rival Eon SE that left it much more focused on generating clean electricity.(1) This week RWE took advantage of that high valuation by raising 2 billion euros of fresh capital. GM sounded somewhat open to the idea of a green spinoff on a recent investor call, although Volkswagen was more circumspect. In part, this reluctance is partly down to Europes environmental regulations. The legacy Volkswagen business needs to include electric vehicles to keep the average emissions of its fleet within European guidelines. Carmakers are also naturally wary of hiving off all of their most promising technology, such as electric batteries, for fear that investors might mark down the remaining ICE business as a bad bank albeit a profitable one. How wise is it to chase Teslas nosebleed valuation anyway? It cant be justified by any normal metric. Volkswagens complicated governance is another barrier to change. Minority shareholders take a backseat to the Porsche and Piech families, the State of Lower Saxony and the trade unions. Ive written before about how the companys luxury brands Porsche, Lamborghini and Bugatti might be worth as much as 100 billion euros if listed separately and valued like rival Ferrari NV. The people who call the shots at Volkswagen havent embraced the idea. A full separation of VWs MEB business is probably unrealistic but even separate financial disclosure might help the valuation, says Rokossa. Still, there is something enticing about an electric spinoff, which might be good for shareholders and workers. Tesla has been able to raise more than $15 billion from supportive investors over the past decade, and it could probably raise another $5 billion tomorrow if it wanted. Volkswagen, meanwhile, must fund its electric investments estimated at 30 billion euros over five years mostly from its own cash flows, meaning theres less money left over to pay employees. Perhaps if Tesla did weaponize its share price by raising another enormous chunk of cheap capital, that might convince rivals to think more creatively. (1) Audi and Porsche developed a separate electric platform for the luxury segment, called PPE. (2) Though RWE does still operate coal plants. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. The Philadelphia homeless encampments will remain at least until tomorrow after a lawsuit was filed by residents that seeks to block Philadelphia from closing down the sites. And another lawsuit, to be filed by Pennsylvania and other states, hopes to reverse U.S. Postal Service changes that have led to mail delays. Lastly, the Flyers have taken a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series against Montreal. Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) Philadelphias plans to clear out two encampments in the city where dozens of homeless people have lived for months have been postponed at least until tomorrow. Residents of the encampments have filed a lawsuit that seeks to block Philadelphia from closing down the sites on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and on Ridge Avenue outside the headquarters of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Here are photos of what yesterday was like at the encampments. And, you can watch this video that illustrates why tensions are so high. Pennsylvania and more than 20 states are planning to file lawsuits against the U.S. Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Theyre hoping to reverse policy changes that have led to widespread mail delays. Democrats say the delays are meant to damage voting by mail in Novembers election. The policy changes in question slashed office hours, eliminated overtime, and ordered carriers to leave mail behind. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro alleges they were made illegally because DeJoy didnt seek approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission before making the changes. DeJoy said Tuesday that the Postal Service will suspend the operational changes until after the November election. What you need to know today Through your eyes | #OurPhilly Still sporting a Jimmy Butler jersey? Regardless, thanks for sharing this cool park shot, @strangerphilly. Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out! Thats interesting Opinions Still, todays voting rights defenders should know the next generation will thank them for their sacrifices. As Sojourner Truth once said, We have all been thrown down so low that nobody thought wed ever get up again; but we have been long enough trodden now; we will come up again. writes Kim Kelly, a journalist and organizer based in South Philadelphia, about 10 lessons from the fight to pass the 19th Amendment. What were reading Your Daily Dose of | Takeout Restaurant critic Craig LaBans appetite for takeout hasnt wavered, although outdoor dining is now in full swing. Hes been exploring South Phillys Mexican gems, new BBQ spots, Cypriot kebabs, and chirashi bowls. Per a recent Airlines for America (A4A) study, the number of air travelers being screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plummeted nationally. On average, there has been a 50% reduction in flight departures with states like New York, Hawaii, Washington DC, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Jersey reporting more than 80% decline in the TSA checkpoint volumes. Low Traffic The latest total traveler throughput as of Aug 17 was 773,319. Prior to the ongoing global health crisis, U.S. airlines were transporting a record 2.5 million passengers and 58,000 tons of cargo each day. As travel constraints and stay-at-home orders were implemented, demand for air travel dropped sharply. In short, the estimated COVID-19-triggered loss outbreak is at least more than $98 billion in the first half of 2020. Majority of the airline stocks have depreciated over the past week, causing the NYSE ARCA Airline Index to decline 5.6% to $55.94, showing that the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on the airline industry. A4A further noted that the industry has a long road to recovery ahead. Air travel took three years to rebound from the 9/11 terror attacks and more than seven years to see a revival from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Market pundits believe that it may take at least two years or longer this time for the aviation industry to bounce back to its pre-COVID levels. Additionally, the spike in the cases of COVID-19 infection in some European countries will further foil passengers travel plans. Earlier during the week, Germany joined the U.K. in imposing a two-week quarantine on flyers returning from Spain. Revenue declines and losses forced some airliners to suspend their dividend payouts and seek a relief under bankruptcy protection code. Companies like Alaska Air and Ryanair will be trimming respective capacities due to lower forward bookings. Increase in US-China Flight Frequency However, the news by The U.S. Transportation Department that U.S. and China agreed to double the number of airline flights between the two countries to eight per week bodes well for the concerned industry. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, there were more than 300 flights a week between the two countries. But the flight frequency took a hit as demand for international air travel dried up. Story continues It was announced that United Airlines (UAL) will increase flight services to China to four flights per week from San Francisco to Shanghai beginning Sep 4 while Delta Air Lines (DAL) will expand to four weekly flights. T he deal marks a further easing of a standoff between the worlds two biggest economies over the pandemic-led travel bans. Government Aid Also, another financial stimulus from the Congress augurs well for the airline industry. Possibility of a second airline bailout package strengthened after President Donald Trump backed the proposed extension of the Payroll Support Program under the Cares Act. In fact, a group of 16 Republicans signed a recently, pleading for another financial relief. Moreover, travel stocks will get a boost as the State Department removed the warning on U.S. citizens against traveling abroad Airline Stocks in Focus Though travel will remain under pressure, the surge in flight operations to and from China, government grants and a gradual resurgence in travel demand put the airline industry on investors radar to set sights on. Hence we shortlist a few stocks, each of which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Allegiant Travel Company ALGT operates low-cost passenger carriers. It focuses on linking leisure travelers in small and medium-sized cities to world-class destinations. Though Allegiant Travel had an impressive record of dividend payments and share repurchases, it suspended the same following the coronavirus threat. The companys efforts to modernize its fleet look impressive, which drive its fuel efficiency in the process. Is earnings growth rate for the past five-year period is 12%. Its expected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 20.9%, higher than the industry average of 10.8%. Ryanair Holdings RYAAY is an ultra-low fare carrier, offering scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the UK, Continental Europe, Morocco and Israel. Following months of fleet groundings amid coronavirus concerns, Ryanair resumed operations across 90% of its routes in July. Flying schedules are expected to gradually rise to 60% in August and 70% in September. The companys cost-cutting measures to combat coronavirus-related adversities are also encouraging. Its earnings growth rate for the past five-year period is 3%. Its expected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 24%, higher than the industry average of 10.8%. Copa Holdings CPA cost-reduction efforts augur well. The airline anticipates to reduce its monthly cash burn to approximately $66 million in the second half of 2020 from $77 million in the second quarter of 2020. The company is undergoing a fleet upgrade, which will improve its operating efficiency. Its expected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 13.6%, higher than the industry average of 10.8%. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research For several creators of these posts, aesthetics are just one design consideration. Haleema Bharoocha, 21, a volunteer for @southasians4blacklives, an account that aims to educate South Asians about anti-Blackness and explore South Asian identity, said she often considers ways to include alternative text and image descriptions in her designs and posts. I always think about those kinds of things as Im developing graphics and content, just to make it as easy as possible for people to digest, she said. Such methods resemble the way that zine makers, like those in the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s, built networks through D.I.Y. publishing. The emergence of zine history and the way that we understand it now is really thanks to the riot grrrl movement who were writing down their words, their experiences, their images and sharing it with the community, said Catherine Feliz, 28, an interdisciplinary artist and a founder of Abuela Taught Me, a pop-up botanica. Feliz said that proto-zines, educational and activist-minded pamphlets that preceded the 90s heyday of zine making, could be seen as a precursor to todays digital mini-guides, and that such documents should be archived. He admitted providing the information even to individuals who told him they wanted to use the information to harm others, Mattivi wrote. He said that he did this in order to cause chaos, and that it didnt matter to him if his information led to the death of someone else. Attorney General William Barr announced Wednesday that there have been nearly 1,500 arrests across eight U.S. cities thus far under the "Operation Legend" law enforcement initiative launched roughly six weeks ago and highlighted by President Donald Trump in his reelection campaign. Of those arrests, according to the Justice Department, approximately 217 defendants have been charged with federal crimes, most of which are drug and gun-related. Barr said investigators have also assisted state and local authorities in bringing homicide charges against more than 90 defendants. "Thats more than 90 suspected killers who might still be on the streets without Operation Legend," Barr said at a news conference in Kansas City, Missouri. MORE: Citing crime, Trump expands sending federal agents to cities over mayors' opposition Officials at the news conference could not say how many of the 1,485 individuals arrested under Operation Legend still remain in custody. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also says it has seized nearly 400 firearms since the start of the operation. "Our work is just getting started, there is no more important mission for the Department of Justice than keeping our communities safe," Barr said. PHOTO: US Attorney General Bill Barr speaks during a roundtable meeting on seniors with US President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, June 15, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Barr launched Operation Legend early last month, telling ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas in an exclusive interview that the initiative was named in honor of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro -- who was shot and killed in his sleep on June 29 in Kansas City. Kansas City Police announced the arrest of a suspect in Taliferro's murder last week. MORE: Kansas City police arrest alleged killer of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, namesake of 'Operation LeGend' Taliferro's mother spoke briefly at the press conference where she thanked the investigators who helped track down her son's alleged killer. "We don't have our son, but we have a weight lifted off of us," Taliferro said. Story continues Trump began a White House news conference last week by holding up a photo of the boy. PHOTO: President Donald Trump holds a photo of LeGend Taliferro as he speaks at a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 13, 2020, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Local leaders have in several instances been initially resistant to the administration's announcements that it would be deploying federal investigators to cities seeing surges in violent crime, citing scenes from Seattle and Portland of troops in fatigues and Trump's election-year threats to crack down on cities run by Democrats. Barr has noted that Operation Legend, however, is separate from those deployments in response to unrest and that the dozens of investigators being dispatched to the cities are instead more focused on assisting federal and state authorities with probing violent crimes. MORE: AG Barr announces new initiative 'Operation Legend' to tackle violent crime "There has been a lot of confusion in the media, some of it not unintentional, conflating two different aspects of law enforcement," Barr said. "One is dealing with civil unrest, rioting, and the other is the classical traditional work that law enforcement does." During the news conference, Barr addressed the recent uptick of violent crime across several parts of the country, at one point saying, without providing evidence, that he believed it might be a result of a combination between "pent up aggression" to state and local quarantine orders, the "premature release of dangerous criminals by the courts" during the COVID-19 pandemic and the "Defund the Police" movement. Barr added that he expected there will be an increase in the national violent crime rate this year after it saw decreases for the last two years. Attorney General William Barr announces nearly 1,500 arrests so far under 'Operation Legend' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com French evangelical pastor, national leader, dies in climbing accident Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A French evangelical Christian pastor and evangelist who was the vice president of the National Council of Evangelicals of France has died as a result of a climbing accident. Eduoard Nelson, who was the pastor of Eglise Protestante Evangelique des Ternes (Evangelical Protestant Church of Ternes) in Paris, was vacationing with his family when he had a climbing accident and sustained a severe head injury, according to Premier News. The accident occurred at the cliffs of Gaillands, located near Chamonix in southern France, French evangelical outlet Evangeliques reported. The pastor was flown by helicopter to Annecy hospital and placed in intensive care. Doctors said his head injury was inoperable and he only had a few hours to live. The National Council of Evangelicals of France announced Friday that he had died. Nelson is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter. "We know that Edward is now with our God. His discernment, his love of the Gospel, his sympathy and his humor will be missed at the CNEF, as well as by all those who collaborated with him," the council said in a statement. The group's former president, Lhermenault Etienne, wrote in a tribute on social media that he worked closely with Nelson for three years. "The news of his death is a real shock. Evangelical Protestantism loses a man of conviction, vision and action. I lose one of those who gave me unwavering support," he said. Matthieu Sanders, who pastors Eglise baptiste de Paris-Centre, which is linked to the deceased pastor's church, said Friday: "We still lack words to express the pain we feel." "Edward was a man who had a tireless passion for the proclamation of the Gospel. He was a man of vision who was at the centre of a new impulse, for several years, for the implementation of new churches in Paris. He was boiling with energy, zeal, [he had] a 'holy obsession' of the need to multiply the places and communities where the Gospel is proclaimed," he said. "He was a mentor and a trainer, who allow me to express myself for a moment in personal terms had a major influence on my life and ministry. He was a faithful friend. Many others, including my colleagues Paul Harrison and Paul Bourdois, can give the same testimony." His church posted a statement on Saturday, expressing deep sadness. It noted that Nelson preached on Psalm 29 the previous Sunday, proclaiming God as all powerful. Nelson lived with the conviction that God is sovereign and that everyone should give glory to Him. "Few things gave him more joy than talking about his King Jesus," the church stated. Nelson had previously served with Grupos Biblicos Unidos, a ministry that is the European version of InterVarsity that ministers to students on university campuses. Cases are growing, especially in the capital. The total number of infected has reached 16,058. The new hotbed of infection is the pseudo-Christian sect Sarang Jeil, which on August 15 gathered tens of thousands of people to protest against the government. Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - To contain a possible new wave of infections from Covid-19, the authorities yesterday imposed the closure of places of worship, including churches, in the metropolitan area of the capital. South Korea is considered one of the countries that has best managed the pandemic, but in recent days the cases of infection have started to rise again. The National Infectious Disease Control Center registered 297 new coronavirus patients today, bringing the total to 16,058. With 568 infections, the largest center in the spread of the disease is the pseudo-Christian sect Sarang Jeil, based in northern Seoul. On August 15, against the government's instructions, the leader of the religious group, pastor Jun Kwang-hoon, organized a mass meeting to celebrate Liberation Day and to criticize the executive of President Moon Jae-in. The rally was attended by tens of thousands of people. Another sect, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was the first outbreak of the disease in the country, also generating the largest number of infected (5,200). US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that a posthumous presidential pardon will be issued by his administration for Susan B. Anthony, women's suffrage movement leader who has been charged guilty for illegally voting as a woman during the presidential election in the year 1872. The president said he will be affixing his signature to a full and complete presidential pardon for Susan B. Anthony, while repeatedly saying that Anthony has never been pardoned and calling his move fantastic. The declaration has been made by President Trump alongside America's first lady Melania Trump at an event in the White House celebrating the 100th anniversary of the approval of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The amendment was approved on August 18, 1920, 14 years after the death of Anthony, ABC News reported. As stated by Trump, Anthony was charged guilty for voting, but his administration will give her a full and complete pardon. Although the president did not specify on his announcement, his symbolic gestures appeared aimed, at least in part, at female voters, the president is trying to court in advance of the 2020 presidential election, as polls reveal the current demographic is in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden. It also came in the middle of the relentless claims of the president, even without evidence, about the widespread fraud if the presidential election in November will be done through universal mail-in voting. And also the escalating concern over United States Postal Service disruptions that have been argued by the Democrats that put at risk the voting rights of millions of Americans who decide to cast their votes by mail because of the health risks brought by the pandemic. Read also: Revealing Photos Show Bill Clinton Leaning Back, Grinning While Jeffrey Epstein Victim Massages Him While President Trump, who named himself as the law and order president, escalated fears of illegal voting leading into the 2020 presidential election, the contrary is not lost on some that Anthony was taken into custody for illegally voting According to BBC, in a publicized trial in 1873, Susan B. Anthony demonstrated what she called high handed outrage upon her citizen's rights and that she would never pay a single dollar of their prejudiced penalty. Anthony never did, and the authorities did not make a further move. At the same event in the White House, Trump said the Americans must have honest voting while continuing his criticisms on mail-in voting. And repeatedly uttered that the whole thing was about having honest voting. On Monday, President Trump first said that he will be pardoning a very important person, only adding that it would neither be Michael Flynn, former national security adviser of America, nor whistleblower Edward Snowden, who copied and leaked extremely classified information in 2013 from the National Security Agency. Susan B. Anthony is not the typical person to receive a pardon from the president that is usually given to those the president personally knows. Recently, Trump granted disputable clemency to Roger Stone, the president's longtime adviser who was pronounced guilty on a number of charges related to the Russian interference during the 2016 election that includes being untruthful to the federal officials. Related article : Trump Confident in Winning Elections, Says He Will Only Lose If Polls Were "Rigged" @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (United States) San Diego is now under fire for allegedly hiring a tech company that provides iPhone spyware devices. In an exclusive report by NBC San Diego, the state reportedly paid over $15,000 for a company named Grayshift to use their iPhone spyware in tracking people's phones in the city. Is it true? San Diego uses iPhone spyware? NBC San Diego claims in its exclusive report that the San Diego Police Department has been illegally tracking its citizens using their iPhones. As explained, it has been over two years since the department uses an illegal 'iPhone spyware.' This technology allows its users to unlock iPhones without the owners' know about. The spyware, called Graykey, is a software "that captures iPhone passcodes when their owners open their phones and then stores the passcode for officers to use to unlock the phones without the owner's knowledge." It was made by an Atlanta-based company Grayshift. According to the report, the city's police department allegedly entered into a one-year agreement with the said spyware tech. In fact, in 2018, the San Diego Police Foundation reportedly issued a check on behalf of the San Diego Police Department to Grayshift LLC to pay for a year's contract. The news site obtained the image of the check, and it shows it cost exactly $15,030. San Diego Police Department admits the iPhone spyware Though it is shocking, the San Diego police department admits the crime of using the said iPhone spyware. However, it was not meant to be a secret method, according to the agency. "I am not aware of any formal mandate by the city council, which requires the department to notify them of the acquisition of this technology," said Captain Jeff Jordon, who is with the department's Legislative Affairs Unit. "Since documents related to this technology have already been released publicly and posted on the city's web page, it's possible city council members may be aware of it." Despite San Diego Police Department's explanation, civil rights advocate and former Deputy Public Defender Genevieve Jones-Wright said that they were not informed about the said technology. "These are the types of discussions that we have to have. I can tell you that the city attorney herself doesn't know how many surveillance technology devices that our city is using, and that is problematic," said civil rights advocate and former Deputy Public Defender Genevieve Jones-Wright. As they explained, the technology is only used for 'criminal investigations.' It was also false that they hide the specific installment of the spyware on the iPhone owners. To use the tech, the police department is required to be authorized by court orders and inform the owners about the tech. ALSO READ: 10 Best Apps to Spy on iPhone (No Jailbreak & No App Installation) This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Jamie Pancho 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (ANSA) - MESSINA, 19 AGO - The husband of a 43-year-old female DJ found dead near Messina last week after disappearing with her four-year-old son after a car crash two weeks ago said Wednesday she would never have killed him. The man, Daniele Mondello, ruled out the hypothesis of a murder-suicide. He also said the likelihood of the pair being killed by wild dogs was scant. "Viviana would never have killed Gioele," said Daniele Mondello about his late wife, Viviana Parisi. "Furthermore, she was not afraid of dogs". The DJ, who had reportedly been treated for persecutory mania and mystic fits, disappeared with Gioele after driving into in the countryside near Caronia. Mondello is taking part in search efforts for Gioele along with relatives and about 100 volunteers, as well as police and army units. Murder-suicide is one of the possibilities police are looking at, along with an accident and an attack by wild animals. The army search effort was boosted Tuesday. "We have added another 10 teams to the 20 already operating in the bid to find Gioele (Parisi)," said Patti prosecutor Angelo Cavallo. Viviana Parisi's Her cousin by marriage, Claudio Mondello, said Tuesday "Viviana was a fragile woman but had been helped by her family," including husband Daniele Mondello. "She had had problems with persecution manias and mystical delirium, and had been in hospital for treatment." The father has issued a fresh appeal for help to anyone who might have seen Gioele. "We urge you to come forward," said Daniele Mondello. An eye witness said that Gioele had been alive and unhurt after the car crash he and his mother suffered on August 3, the day they went missing. "Gioele was alive, in his mother's arms, in a vertical position and without any injury," said the witness, according to prosecutor Cavallo. The boy's eyes were open, the witness added, according to Cavallo. Cavallo said he had spoken to witnesses after their return to northern Italy following a holiday in Sicily. He said they initially had doubts whether they had seen Parisi and her son. But then they saw the DJ's photo on TV and got in touch with police, he said. Police have posited various theories about the riddle of the DJ's death and Gioele's disappearance. These include the murder-suicide, another fatal accident, and an attack by wild animals. (ANSA). A man walks past a sign urging people to wear face masks in Melbourne as the city battles an outbreak of COVID-19 Australia should make any coronavirus vaccine compulsory for its 25 million citizens bar medical exemptions, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday, wading into a heated ethical debate. After reaching a deal for the country to manufacture a "promising" vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, Morrison said getting the jab should be "as mandatory as you can possibly make it". "There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis," he told radio station 3AW in Melbourne. Anticipating a backlash from vocal anti-vaccine activists, Morrison said the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue unchecked. "We're talking about a pandemic that has destroyed the global economy and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands all around the world," he said, while stressing the government has not yet made a decision. The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be irradicated. "We need the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get Australia back to normal," Morrison said, after announcing the vaccine would be free to all Australians. The country already has "no jab, no play" rules that mean kids have to receive vaccines for diseases including polio and tetanus to enrol in kindergarten or school. But debate still rages about whether those rules impinge on personal freedoms, and hardline anti-vaxers flood online forums with conspiracy theories and misinformation about the risks. The coronavirus pandemic -- which has killed more than 400 Australians -- has coincided with a sharp uptick in online misinformation, speculation and opposition to vaccines -- something experts have dubbed an "infodemic". No effective vaccine for coronavirus has yet been released, although Morrison said he was optimistic one could be developed by early next year, with manufacturing taking just a few months more. "As soon as we get the recipe we'll be making it," he said. arb/axn Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hugo Greenhalgh (Reuters) London, United Kingdom Wed, August 19, 2020 17:04 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f2bcd0 2 Art & Culture Poland,LGBTQ,margaret-atwood,Pedro-Almodovar,Ursula-von-der-Leyen,European-Commission Free Leading arts figures including director Pedro Almodovar and writer Margaret Atwood have called on Europe to intervene on behalf of LGBT+ people in Poland, saying their rights are being "blatantly violated". More than 70 top arts figures signed the open letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, organized by Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the 2018 Nobel literature prize. "LGBT+ rights are human rights and must be defended as such," said the signatories of the letter, sent after 100 Polish municipalities signed declarations saying they are free of "LGBT ideology", fueling concern in Brussels. Critics have accused Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) government of backtracking on LGBT+ rights and running a campaign laced with homophobic rhetoric in the run-up to last month's presidential election. The Polish government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read also: Gay couple fights prejudice and coronavirus in Poland by distributing rainbow face masks "It appears that Poland is targeting certain communities, including the LGBT community," Philippe Sands, professor of law at University College London and one of the signatories of the letter, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone on Tuesday. "The (Commission) at some point is going to have to... ask itself at what point has Poland crossed a line that requires the European Union to take advantage of what is available to it, namely the suspension of certain rights of Poland," Sands said. The European Union has said it will withhold funding to towns accused of setting up so-called LGBT-free zones. A Commission spokeswoman said von der Leyen had said at the end of July that the organization's treaties ensured "that every person is Europe is free to be who they are, live where they like and love who they want". "When I see such a letter, I think it is important, as it shows we are not alone in this battle and struggle in Poland," said Bartosz Staszewski, a board member of the Lublin Pride Association. I'm responding directly to an article of Walmart in Kelowna now requiring every patron to wear masks, despite Dr. Bonnie's recommendations. Common masks do not stop the transmission of viruses. Washing your hands and not touching your face is the best prevention and that is backed up with Health Canada. These businesses that are telling their patrons that they do not support them as customers to have their own choice of wearing a mask or not aims to control (for no relevant reason) and my family for not one will not support any business that does this. I realize that many people choose places like Walmart because of their huge variety and low cost, but that doesn't mean that people with low socioeconomic means should not have a choice in their own health. Many are families and elderly and can have comorbidities that may put them at higher risk and there is an option for online shopping from the safety of their own home for people that are immunocompromised. This virus is real and does effect some people but the ridiculous over reaction to the seriousness of this virus to the majority of the population is merely a great distraction for other political mandates (like changing the gun laws). I have worked in healthcare and had businesses in natural health for many years and the reality of it is that there are communicable diseases that are mutating everyday as well as viruses and infectious diseases. We can't escape it. Having proper hygiene and boosting our immune systems with good nutrition, sleep and exercise is a responsibility of each one of us as citizens and is the only way of warding off illness. From an awoke and health-conscious citizen, Kristy Dabels Even by the somewhat raucous standards of cable news, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper's interview with pillow company executive Mike Lindell on Tuesday afternoon was particularly tense. During the segment, which launched an avalanche of commentary on social media, Cooper challenged the MyPillow founder on his support of a plant extract, oleandrin, which he has been lobbying the Trump administration to approve as a possible therapeutic for coronavirus. Cooper likened Lindell to a "snake oil salesman" and asked, "How do you sleep at night?" At one point in the interview, Lindell told Cooper, "you're in my prayers," and accused the CNN anchor of "calling (him) names." Lindell met with President Donald Trump in July to discuss the potential use of oleandrin and arranged for a biopharmaceuticals executive whose company makes it to get a White House meeting, the Washington Post reported last week; Lindell later joined the company's board. When asked about the extract on Monday, Trump said, "We'll look at it." (Lindell serves as the Minnesota state chairman for the president's re-election campaign.) The interview started off contentiously. "You don't have a medical background," Cooper said. "You're not a scientist. Yet you're claiming this substance, which has not been studied in any meaningful way, can cure covid. And you have a financial stake in the company. You would profit from it if this is being sold widely. Morally, is that right?" Lindell said he was told to bring potential therapeutics to the White House's Coronavirus Task Force and recommended the drug after receiving a call from someone who said "he had an answer to the virus," which Lindell then passed along to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who is a member of the task force. "You are telling people that this cures covid," Cooper charged. "You have no studies to prove it." Lindell said he's been taking oleandrin since April, along with over 100 members of his family and friends. "This thing works," he said. "It's the miracle of all time. ... It saved my family and friends' lives." In response to Cooper's skepticism about the compound, Lindell charged that Cooper "misconstrued because the media is trying to take away this medical cure that works for everybody." Cooper also pressed Lindell on controversies that his company, MyPillow, has faced, including a 2016 class-action settlement over a false advertising claim. (A MyPillow spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the CNN interview.) "I guarantee I would not be taking medical advice from you, sir," Cooper said. "I can promise you that. ... I appreciate you being on. Honestly I just think it's shameful what you're doing." The interview quickly lit up Twitter, with ample criticism lobbed at Lindell for his comments, and, to a lesser degree, to CNN for hosting Lindell for an interview. "The question is why CNN is giving this guy airtime," one user wrote. Lindell's claims about oleandrin were quickly rebutted by Cooper's next guest, Dr. Jake Deutsch, an emergency room physician who called the MyPillow CEO's comments "extremely scary to me." "We're really talking about a highly toxic substance," Deutsch said. "A small amount of consumption of this plant can be fatal. ... It's more likely that somebody would die from taking oleander than from covid." REUTERS BlackBerry (BB) (BB.TO) is keeping a toe in the handset wars by partnering with a U.S. startup to launch a BlackBerry-branded 5G device with a physical keyboard in 2021, but a tech expert doesnt think there is a large enough audience for the phone. The Waterloo, Ont. tech company has partnered with Texas-based OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile (a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group) to release the 5G-enabled Android smartphone in North America and Europe. BlackBerrys 2016 licensing partnership with TCL ended this month. The three companies will work together on design and product planning, BlackBerry said in an email. In an interview, Sarah Tatsis, vice-president of advanced technology development labs at BlackBerry, specified one feature the handset will include; a physical keyboard. OnwardMobility [will] make sure that our keyboard experience meets expectations of customers, she said. Carmi Levy, director at Info-Tech Research Group, says there is always a demand, if limited, for phones with keyboards. While BlackBerry long ago lost its crown as the leading smartphone maker, some end-users still pine for the days when they could thumb-type on real keys instead of on glass, he said. This is a small niche that grows smaller almost by the day, and its clear there is no longer mainstream demand for devices featuring physical keyboards. Levy noted that if there was still a market for phones with keyboards then BlackBerry wouldnt have licenced its brand to TCL, and TCL would not have later on ended that partnership. Its difficult to see Onward succeeding where TCL could not, he said. There will always be something of a market for phones with physical keyboards, as well as for devices that incorporate better-than-mainstream levels of security in their standard form. The question remains whether that market is large enough to be worth pursuing and recent history suggests it isnt. Levy noted that BlackBerry moved on from designing and manufacturing its handsets and allowed third-party vendors like TCL to manufacture BlackBerry-branded devices under licence using some BlackBerry technology and in turn, the company rebuilt itself as a security software and services company. Story continues The announcement by OnwardMobility has little to do with BlackBerry beyond the fact that this previously unknown company will make its own devices and add the BlackBerry logo to them under licence, he said. I doubt this will have any material impact on BlackBerrys share price or overall market valuation, as there is little connection between the two entities beyond the contract that allows Onward to use the brand under licence. For its part, BlackBerry is positioning the smartphone as a play on its security-minded brand. Tatsis would not specify potential security features but said we see this as a smartphone that needs to live up to protecting customers from a security and privacy perspective. She added the phone is specifically aimed at governments, and organizations that base a high-value on security and privacy. Tatsis also said the phone will be meant for the many who have now adopted a work-from-home routine and require better security at home. 5G is not fully available in Canada. In January, Rogers announced it is rolling out its initial 5G wireless networks in various downtown markets across Canada. In June, Bell and Telus each launched similar initial 5G networks. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief. Mr Lord Commey, the Deputy National Campaign Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to party members especially contestants who lost at the primaries to unite and campaign to retain power. We have an election to win and power to retain. The task is challenging, especially, those of us in Greater Accra, so we need to put our house in order, campaign vigorously by convincing the electorates of our success story as well as our planned programmes when given the mandate, he said. Mr Commey, made the appeal when he inaugurated two bodies namely; the Regional Advisory Committee and Regional Election Campaign Committee on Wednesday in Accra. The theme for the campaign is, Four more for Nana, four more to do more. The five-member Advisory Committee include; Rev Professor Mike Oquaye, the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, a Former Member of Parliament (MP) of Ayawaso Central and Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, a Former Mayor of Greater Accra and Madam Gladys Ashiety, a Former MP for Ledzokuku. He said government had done so much work in the midst of challenges including; COVID-19 that needed to be propagated to electorate to win their votes. Lets get out of the primaries' mood, solve our differences and get to work. Chief Executives, Constituency Chairman, and Parliamentary Candidates must begin to work together because all of these people will form a campaign team at the constituency. NPP as a family of people who know how to set issues behind and rise to conquer, he said. Mr Commey urged the team to assign responsibilities and adopt a mixed approach including; door-door and social media to contain the spread of COVID-19 and commended the party supporters and officials for their hard work during the just-ended Registration Exercise. Mr Divine Agorhom, Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP said statistics from the Voters Registration had shown that it was the region with the highest voter population. As a swing region, it is a big responsibility for us to achieve our target of wining 24 parliamentary seats and also securing more than 53 per cent of the Presidential votes. We expect members to avail themselves for the task ahead and contribute to the victory the party is seeking, he said. He noted that NPP led government had a great vision and was implementing programmes such as One Village, One Dam 1V1D, One District One Factory 1D1F, One Constituency USD1 million One Year that would serve both present and future generation. Mr Agorhom who is also the Regional Election Campaign Committee stressed the need for the constituencies, campaign teams, to reach out to more grassroot people to secure more votes. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video New research from a European group of smell disorder experts, including Prof Philpott at the University of East Anglia, shows how smell loss associated with Covid-19 infection differs from what you typically might experience with a bad cold or flu. The new study published today is the first to compare how people with Covid-19 smell and taste disorders differ from those with other causes of upper respiratory tract infections. The main differences found are that, although Covid-19 patients also lose their sense of smell, they can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and they cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes. These findings lend weight to the theory that Covid-19 infects the brain and central nervous system. The research team hope that their work could help develop smell and taste tests for fast Covid-19 screening - in primary care and emergency departments. The loss of smell and taste is a prominent symptom of Covid-19, however it is also a common symptom of having a bad cold. We wanted to find out exactly what differentiates Covid-19 smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and blocked-up nose." Prof Carl Philpott, Lead Researcher from UEA's Norwich Medical School The research team carried out smell and taste tests on 10 Covid-19 patients, 10 people with bad colds and a control group of 10 healthy people - all matched for age and sex. We wanted to see if their smell and taste test scores could help discriminate between Covid-19 patients and those with a heavy cold. We know that Covid-19 behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the body's immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting the nervous system. So we suspected that patterns of smell loss would differ between the two groups. We found that smell loss was much more profound in the Covid-19 patents. They were less able to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes. In fact it was this loss of true taste which seemed to be present in the Covid-19 patients compared to those with a cold. This is very exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to discriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with a regular cold or flu. Although such tests could not replace formal diagnostic tools such as throat swabs, they could provide an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid screening is needed - particularly at the level of primary care, in emergency departments or at airports. This research also shows that there are altogether different things going on when it comes to smell and taste loss for Covid-10 patients, compared to those with a bad cold. It has previously been suggested that the Covid-19 virus affects the central nervous system, based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also similarities with SARS, which has also been reported to enter the brain, possibly via smell receptors in the nose. Our results reflect, at least to some extent, a specific involvement at the level of central nervous system in some COVID-19 patients. It is particularly interesting that Covid-19 seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste receptors, because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity. More research is needed to see whether genetic variation in people's bitter and sweet taste receptors might predispose them to Covid-19, or conversely, whether Covid-19 infection changes how these receptors function, either directly or through a cytokine storm - the over-reaction of the body's immune system." Prof Carl Philpott Marks & Spencer will cut a further 7,000 jobs, it said on Tuesday, as the COVID-19 crisis deals another blow to Britain's beleaguered retail sector. "It is clear that there has been a material shift in trade and whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-COVID sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change," M&S said. Clothing and home trading in its stores remained well below last year though online and home delivery were strong, said the retailer, which has a UK workforce of about 78,000. The 136-year old M&S is seeking to reinvent itself after decades of failed attempts. In May it said the crisis would indelibly change its business and that it would accelerate its turnaround plan. Also read: Coronavirus impact: 18.9 million salaried jobs took hit during lockdown M&S said the crisis had shown it could work more flexibly and productively with more employees multi-tasking and switching between the food and clothing and home divisions. Its use of technology has also increased. Last month M&S shed 950 store management jobs. Its latest cuts will impact its headquarters, regional management and UK stores over the next three months. The cuts add to thousands already announced by other major British retailers, including Boots, John Lewis , Dixons Carphone and WH Smith. M&S expects a significant proportion of its cuts to be through voluntary departures and early retirement. Shopworkers' trade union Usdaw called for urgent talks. Also read: COVID-19 effect: Starbucks South Korea cuts seating capacity, postpones promotional event "These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs," CEO Steve Rowe said. M&S shares were down 2.8% at 0818 GMT, extending 2020 losses to 48%. The firm said it was retaining a cautious approach to planning for the balance of the year. Group sales were down 19.2% year on year in the 19 weeks to Aug. 8, which included part of Britain's lockdown period, with clothing and home sales down 49.1% and food sales down 1.1%. Clothing and home sales were down 29.9% in the eight weeks since stores reopened. Store sales were down 47.9%, while online sales were up 39.2%. Food stores, which traded throughout the lockdown period, saw sales increase 2.5% in the latest eight weeks. M&S said it was on track to launch an online food service next month through its partnership with Ocado. Also read: Urban employment rate rises to 35.1% despite lockdowns in major cities: CMIE Rajasthan Chief Minister will on Thursday launch the 'Indira Rasoi Yojana' to provide quality nutritious food to the poor at just Rs 8. The scheme will be rolled in 213 urban local bodies of the state. which include 10 locations each in the state capital's Jaipur municipal corporation greater and heritage area. Jaipur District Collector Antar Singh Nehra said that the scheme will also start in 12 municipalities of Jaipur district from Thursday. The chief minister will launch the scheme through video conferencing from his residence with all ministers joining the conference from their residences or offices. Under the scheme, fresh and nutritious food will be provided at Rs 8 per plate. It will have 100 gms of pulses, 100 gms of vegetables, 250 gms chapatti and pickles. The menu can be altered as per the local requirement recommended by the district-level committees. The food will be made available from 8.30 am till 1 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm. The state government will give grant of Rs 12 per plate and for this Rs 100 crore annually has been proposed in the budget. District-level committees will check food quality from time to time and complaints can be lodged with district collectors. Individuals or institutions can provide financial aid to CM Relief Fund or at district collector offices for this scheme. (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.) You are here: World Flash U.S. private space company SpaceX successfully launched its 11th Starlink mission on Tuesday, carrying 58 Starlink satellites and three of Planet's SkySats to orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Following stage separation, SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Planet's SkySats were deployed sequentially beginning about 12 and a half minutes after liftoff, and the 58 Starlink satellites were deployed approximately 46 minutes after liftoff. It marks the first time a booster has completed six flights. Falcon 9's first stage previously supported the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in September 2018, the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019, and three separate Starlink missions in May 2019, January and June this year. Starlink will deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable, according to SpaceX. Starlink is targeting service in the Northern United States and Canada in 2020, rapidly expanding to near global coverage of the populated world by 2021. SpaceX planned to launch into space about 12,000 Starlink satellites by 2024, and has revealed a bigger plan to launch 30,000 additional ones, bringing the total to 42,000. Each satellite weighs about 260 kilograms and features a compact, flat-panel design that minimizes volume, allowing for a dense launch stack to take full advantage of the launch capabilities of the Falcon 9 rocket, according to SpaceX. Australias second-largest mall landlord Vicinity Centres is asking governments to wind back pandemic-inspired protections for tenants as it struggles to overcome a $1.8 billion loss from COVID-19. Vicinity, which owns 60 centres across Australia including half of the countrys largest shopping centre, Chadstone, wants rent relief to tenants pared back after taking a big hit to its bottom line from $169 million in rent waivers and deferrals provided to tenants during the pandemic. The mall owner-manager reported funds from operations - a key industry measure of profitability - across its extensive property portfolio has slumped to $520 million over the year to June 2020, down a quarter on the previous year. The empty Emporium Melbourne shopping centre. Credit:Getty At its peak, the pandemic gutted foot traffic in major shopping centres across the country, forcing multiple stores to close and putting significant pressure on rental income from tenants. The Social Democrats are having a meeting of the National Executive Committee (CExN) on Wednesday, on which occasion they are set to discuss the organisation of the extraordinary congress on Saturday, and the local elections in September. For now, the acting leader of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, and Senator Eugen Teodorovici, are the only candidates to the top job in the party.Marcel Ciolacu announced that he will have a team and a project for Romania to present.Eugen Teodorovici is the only Social Democrat MP who did not sign the motion of censure submitted by the Social Democrats on Monday."As far as I know, Mr Teodorovici also candidates for the congress, he is a member of PSD. (...) But he did not sign [the motion of censure - editor's note]. He is the only Social Democrat MP who did not sign the motion of censure," Ciolacu said on Monday.The Social Democrats could also discuss the political context created by the submission of the motion of censure against the Orban government.The PSD leader mentioned that PSD will go to the Cotroceni Presidential Palace with a proposal of Prime Minister if the motion passes Parliament: "We have a proposal of Prime Minister. He is not a member of the PSD at this point." The B-29 Doc Flight Experience Tour will land in Cincinnati, OH, for B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides Sept. 19 and 20, 2020. Doc will arrive at Lunken Airport Friday, Sept. 18, and will be available for warbird rides during the two-day event, Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20. The tour stop in Cincinnati will be hosted by Signature Flight Support assisted by individual members of the Cincinnati Warbirds. The flight schedule for the B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides will be 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., Sept. 19 and 20. Only persons who have purchased tickets will be admitted to the ramp. There will be no ground tours or other activities. For details about the B-29 Doc Flight Experience and to purchase ride tickets, visit www.b29doc.com/rides. Docs Friends, Inc., is taking all reasonable precautions to protect the B-29 Doc crew as well as passengers in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. All B-29 Doc Flight Experience passengers will be required to comply with the CDC and local guidelines, including wearing a mask (one will be provided to each passenger) during the flight. Additionally, the aircraft and all contact surfaces inside the aircraft will be sanitized/disinfected prior to each flight. Doc is a B-29 Superfortress and one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It is one of only two remaining B-29s that are still airworthy and flying today. BOOK YOUR FLIGHT EXPERIENCE TODAY! Each B-29 Doc Flight Experience will last approximately 90 minutes and include a 30-minute ride. Prior to takeoff, passengers will experience a crew briefing and learn more about the history of the B-29 and role it played in U.S. history. Passengers will also get to hear and see the sights and sounds of engine starts and run-ups prior to takeoff. Cincinnati, OH: Signature Flight Support South at Lunken Airport An alleged puppy scammer who used stolen images to sell pure bred puppies that never existed has been arrested at a home in Sydney's west. The 27-year-old Oxley Park man was charged with 16 fraud offences on Wednesday after he was targeted for the alleged online puppy scam, which had at least eight victims in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT. The 27-year-old man was arrested at his Oxley Park home. Credit:NSW Police Police allege the man used Gumtree and a rescue dog website to advertise pure bred blue Staffordshire bull terriers for around $2700. Legitimate breeders usually sell the dogs for around $3000. Photos used to advertise the seven-week-old puppies were allegedly copied off other websites and posted as "bait" to would-be buyers. JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the KSA emerging generic pharmaceuticals market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Saudi Arabia-headquartered Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals with the 2020 KSA Company of the Year Award for its operational excellence and expanded product portfolio and footprint. The company leads the KSA market by adopting sustainable business models and clear growth strategies. Implementing best practices, such as the corporate governance and setting up their own R&D center, recruiting qualified staff, strictly adhering to regulatory systems, and ensuring scalability, the company has established itself as the pharma partner of choice in the KSA. "Despite a particularly challenging 2019, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals recorded 4% year-on-year growth and maintained its position as one of the top-ranked pharma companies in the KSA," said Dr. Suhasini, Associate Director - Transformational Health. "Right from the start, it focused on building a world-class manufacturing facility. Its building design, layout, selection, and installation of equipment; plant validation; and other technical processes met the most stringent international industry standards. Owing to its strategic diversification of specialty product lines and accelerating growth in export markets, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals has been able to expand its manufacturing facilities and grow organically." Jamjoom Pharma is aiming to continue its journey of success, by continuously re-investing in cutting edge, state-of-the-art technologies, systems, people and facilities, to meet world-class quality standards and continue to produce products that meet and exceed the international standards. This is in line with its vision to become 'A top-3 regional, research-driven branded generic pharmaceutical company. In addition, it works in line with the KSA Government's Vision 2030 to achieve excellence in local manufacturing and provide the best in class, top of the range of of medicines. Jamjoom Pharma's product portfolio is broadly classified into Dermatologicals, Ophthalmics, Gastrointestinal tract (GIT), Cardiovascular drugs (CVD), General Medicine (GM), and OTC product lines. Among these, the Ophthalmic and Dermatological lines have the highest market share and have historically been its most successful product lines. Furthermore, to gain market share rapidly, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals entered new markets with a successful, scientifically-supported methodology. It adopted a rationalized strategy to create customer demand by constantly developing high quality, superior formulations for normal wellbeing, whether Pharmaceuticals or Nutraceutical supplements, and combining it with intensive medical promotion. Besides raising the efficiency of the field force, the company also focused on expanding its product range, to cope with changing market dynamics. One of the projects Jamjoom is particularly proud of is represented by the Jamjoom Pharma Academy, a state-of-the-art educational and training center with full access to Jamjoom Pharmaceutical's R&D and quality control labs equipped with the latest manufacturing equipment and analytical techniques. This project is expected to be functional by the end of 2020. "Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals has one of the largest qualified team of sales representatives in Saudi Arabia. This enables it to cover many doctors and hospitals," noted Dr. Suhasini. "Overall, the company's employee-friendly work culture, commitment to creating a strong brand image, participation and active involvement in KSA's Vision 2030, and emphasis on localization are expected to further accelerate its growth over the next two to three years." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Frost & Sullivan For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, mega trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Tarini Singh P: +91-20 6718 9725 E: [email protected] About Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Jamjoom is a GMP manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical products, over the counter medicines and health-related consumer products. It is considered one the fastest-growing company over the last decade; its core strategy is specialty line concept which enables Jamjoom Pharma to have a leading position in segments like Dermatology, Ophthalmology, GIT, and CVS. Contact: H.Vilcu P: + 966126140099 E: [email protected] SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links www.frost.com With the UK economy officially in recession, an economist has predicted a similar outcome for the Scottish agri-food sector. The Office for National Statistics recently published its estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the UK for the second quarter of 2020. While the latest statistics for Scotland only cover the first quarter of 2020, Dr Cesar Revoredo-Giha, of the Scotlands Rural College (SRUC), compared the trends in two different sectors in the UK and Scotland to make his forecast. In the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, there has been an increasing trend in both the UK and Scotland since 1998. However, the estimates indicate a decrease of 2.5% in the Scottish figure for the first quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter of 2019. The UK figure decreased marginally by 0.9% over the same period. In comparison, the second quarter of 2020 shows the full Covid-19 effect for the UK, with a decrease of 4.8 percent. In the food, beverages and tobacco sector, Scottish production has been growing at a faster rate than the UK since 1998 but decreased by 12.5% in the first quarter of 2020, compared to last quarter of 2019. In contrast, the UK sector saw the biggest decrease 9.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020. Apart from the manufacture of dairy products and grain mill products, which have continued to show similar production levels to the period before Covid-19, all sectors were affected. Dr Revoredo-Giha said he expected the Scottish agri-food sector to follow a similar pattern to the one shown by the UK figure. He said: "The big hit on production due to the pandemic happened during the second quarter of 2020, and the lockdown in Scotland was perceived as stricter than in England. In most cases, the lowest point of production was in April, followed by some recovery but without reaching the levels of the first two months of 2020. Using the average monthly recovery growth, Dr Revoredo-Giha predicted the food sector as a whole would need about four months to recover, while the services sector would need six months or until the end of October. However, he added: There are important differences by sector. While the manufacturing of vegetables and animal oil and fats would require only 0.8 of a month to reach pre-Covid levels, other sectors such as the manufacture of other food products or prepared animal feed, at their observed growth rates, would require far more time. In the service sector, accommodation and food services were the most affected, with the accommodation sector still showing a low rate of recovery due to a lack of confidence among both domestic and foreign consumers. In conclusion, the figures highlight that several sectors will require additional help if the furlough scheme is going to end in October. Ranchi, Aug 19 : A man allegedly hacked his wife to death in Jharkhand's Palamau district, before committing suicide on Wednesday morning, police said. Police said Virodhi Singh, 40, of Vinayaka village under Tarhasi police station jurisdiction, had jumped into the village well this morning. He was a Panchayat Sewak. Late on Tuesday night, he had reportedly killed his wife Leelwati Devi with an axe. According to police, Singh was jailed for taking a bribe but was released a few days ago. He was said to be in a depressed mood and used to quarrel with his wife. The couple is survived by two sons. His youngest son Dharamjeet Singh however alleged that his parents were killed. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. If the aerial border of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) was transparent, nothing would stop the Azerbaijani air forces from bombarding Artsakh, including Stepanakert. This is what third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan declared during a press conference today, touching upon President of Artsakh Arayik Haroutyunyans statement that the air in Stepanakert was not protected in 2016. If, for a moment, we assume that our aerial space was not protected, we need to add that the Azerbaijanis simply felt sorry for us and didnt want to harm us. Thats impossible. When we talk about anti-air defense, we need to state that military planes are one thing, and unmanned intelligence aerial vehicles and unmanned strike aerial vehicles are another thing, Sargsyan said, adding that the Defense Army of Artsakh crushed 9 unmanned aerial vehicles during the Four-Day Artsakh War and later 8 more unmanned aerial vehicles. There was no unmanned aerial vehicle in the sky in Stepanakert. The crushed UAVs were maximally 10-11 km away from the border, Sargsyan said, adding that air defense is not a gate that can protect the country from unmanned aerial vehicles. When told that in 2016, former commander of the Defense Army Levon Mnatsakanyan had declared that there were problems with serious intelligence equipment, Sargsyan stressed that this was a military secret and that he doesnt have all the information and cant provide details. Canada and Ukraine are committed to modernize the free trade agreement. Canadas Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng wrote about this on her Twitter page following a conversation with Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Thanks very much to Andriy Shevchenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, for our virtual meeting earlier today! We spoke about our commitment to modernize the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, and agreed that inclusive and rules-based trade will be key to our peoples economic recovery, the Canadian minister wrote. At the same time, Shevchenko said that he wants Canada and the world to see Ukraine as an emerging important trade partner in the region. "Minister Mary Ng, thank you for taking your time to reflect, dream and plan together," he wrote on his Twitter page. The Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) entered into force on August 1, 2017. ish INDIANAPOLIS -- Three Regenstrief and Indiana University School of Medicine leaders have received the prestigious designation of Fellow in the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI), located in Geneva, Switzerland. Regenstrief President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Embi, M.D., M.S.; Regenstrief Vice President for Research Development Eneida Mendonca, M.D., PhD; and Chief Information Officer Umberto Tachinardi, M.D., MSc, were all elected to the 2020 class. Fourteen of the 34 worldwide inductees are from North America. IAHSI is made up of international health science informatics leaders who share the goal of disseminating knowledge, fostering new ideas and encouraging worldwide collaboration. They work to stimulate and guide future directions in informatics, advise government and private organizations about the importance of data-based knowledge and provide problem solving strategies using that knowledge. Academy membership is one of the highest honors in the international field of biomedical and health informatics. The academy was formed by the International Medical Informatics Association. Regenstrief Institute is well represented within IAHSI. Former research scientists Clem McDonald, M.D.; William M. Tierney, M.D.; and former Center Director J. Marc Overhage, M.D., PhD, are also members of this prestigious academy. Drs. McDonald, Tierney and Overhage were all inducted after leaving the institute. Peter Embi, M.D., M.S. Dr. Embi is an internationally recognized researcher, educator and leader in the field of clinical and translational research informatics. His areas of interest include biomedical informatics, health information technology, patient-centered outcomes and learning health systems. He recently helped lead the development of a visual dashboard that informs the State of Indiana's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the creation of a statewide pandemic collaboratory. In addition to serving as the president and chief executive officer of Regenstrief Institute, Dr. Embi is the Leonard Betley Professor of Medicine and associate dean for informatics and health services research at Indiana University School of Medicine, associate director of informatics with Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and vice president for Learning Health Systems with Indiana University Health. He previously served in various leadership positions at The Ohio State University, including interim chair of biomedical informatics, informatics director of the OSU Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and chief research information officer at the OSU Wexner Medical Center. Prior to that, he was on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he was the founding director of the UC Center for Health Informatics. Dr. Embi earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and his medical degree from the University of South Florida. He completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at the Oregon Health & Science University, where he also completed a fellowship and earned a master of science degree in medical informatics and clinical epidemiology. He completed his medical training with a fellowship in rheumatology and immunology at The Cleveland Clinic. Among his numerous awards and recognitions, Dr. Embi is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, and he is past chair of the Board of Directors of the American Medical Informatics Association. Eneida Mendonca, M.D., PhD Dr. Mendonca is a pioneer in natural language processing to improve health and healthcare delivery. Her research is focused on health information technology and informatics methodologies to support clinical practice, health prevention and translational research. More specifically, she develops novel language-driven approaches and automated learning methods to support decision making; leveraging automated semantic and statistical methods to extract biomedical data from patients' records; creating new ways to automatically integrate evidence into clinical practice; and developing infrastructure for clinical and translational research. Recently, she was a co-author on a groundbreaking publication on artificial intelligence in healthcare from the National Academy of Medicine. The document is viewed as a reference for all stakeholders involved in AI and healthcare. In addition to serving as Regenstrief vice president for research development, Dr. Mendonca also is the interim director of the Clem McDonald Center for Biomedical Informatics at Regenstrief. She is also a professor of pediatrics and professor of biostatistics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Mendonca received her medical degree from the Universidade Federal - Pelotas, and her M.S. in Medicine (Cardiology) from the Fundacao Universitaria de Cardiologia, Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric critical care. Dr. Mendonca earned her doctoral degree in biomedical informatics from Columbia University in New York, USA. Dr. Mendonca is a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) and a longtime member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and has served in several leadership roles for the organization. She is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, with significant contributions to the AAP Partnership for Policy Implementation. She has also served in leadership positions for in the Brazilian Society for Healthcare Informatics (SBIS). Umberto Tachinardi, M.D., MSc Dr. Tachinardi has more than 30 years of success in developing and implementing health informatics technologies. His research interests include clinical and translational research informatics and precision health. In addition to being the chief information officer at Regenstrief, he is also the director of clinical research informatics for Regenstrief and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and the chief informatics officer for the Indiana University Grand Challenge Precision Health Initiative. He is the assistant dean for clinical informatics and a professor of biostatistics at Indiana University School of Medicine. At IU and Regenstrief, his focus is to lead the informatics components of complex and large projects. He served as the CIO at the State of Sao Paulo Secretary of Health, and before that the Heart Institute of University of Sao Paulo, both in Brazil. Dr. Tachinardi was the associate dean for biomedical informatics at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison and as the chief research information officer at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin. He was responsible for building and operating UW Health's translational research resources such as data warehouses and new functions in the electronic health record systems. He idealized and directed the Clinical and Health Informatics Institute of the University of Wisconsin (UW) Institute for Clinical and Translation Research, where he served as the executive scientific director. While at UW he was a principal investigator for a PCORI/PCORnet Clinical Data Research Network, the Greater Plains Collaborative (GPC). Dr. Tachinardi is a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) and a longtime member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and has served in several leadership roles for the organization. Dr. Tachinardi is one of the founding members and a former president of the Brazilian Society for Healthcare Informatics (SBIS). ### About Regenstrief Institute Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its research scientists are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe. Regenstrief Institute is celebrating 50 years of healthcare innovation. Sam Regenstrief, a successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute's research mission. About International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) IMIA is the world body for health and biomedical informatics and an 'association of associations'. IMIA provides informatics leadership and expertise to the multidisciplinary health-focused community and to policy makers, to enable the transformation of healthcare in accord with the world-wide vision of improving the health of the world population. By Express News Service BENGALURU: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police grilled former mayor and corporator R Sampath Raj and another corporator, Abdul Rakeeb Zakir, on Tuesday in connection with the DJ Halli riots. It is learnt that both the corporators told the police that they had no links to the riots. Sampath Raj is the corporator of Devara Jeevana Halli (DJ Halli) ward while Zakir represents Pulakeshinagar ward.Both arrived at the CCB office around 11 am and came out of the office around 5 pm. Sources said that both were grilled for more than four hours. It is said that both the corporators were summoned by the police as investigations had revealed that they had allegedly exchanged phone calls with some of the rioters, who were already arrested, before and during the riots. After the inquiry, both the corporators told the media that they had answered all the questions asked by the police and they cannot speak much about it as the matter was still under investigation. Meanwhile, P Naveen, who was arrested by the police for allegedly posting a sacrilegious post on social media that led to the riots, has been remanded in judicial custody. Naveen in central prison As his police custody ended on Tuesday, the police produced Naveen before a court and did not seek for extension of his police custody. Later, Naveen was escorted to the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara. East Division police have continued arrests in connection with the riots.Police said that close to 400 people have been arrested so far in the case. RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RetailData LLC, the nation's leading provider of competitive intelligence, has promoted Jacob Blondin, the company's Chief Operations Officer and five-year veteran of the firm, as its new president and chief executive officer. He replaces Christopher F. Ferguson, who is retiring after more than 20 years of service in senior management positions with the company, including the past five as President/CEO. Blondin joined RetailData in 2015 as Vice President of strategic initiatives and quickly was promoted to the COO post. He oversaw the doubling of RetailData's field operations in the U.S. and Canada and led the company's strategy to a dynamic, technology-driven focus on retail competitive intelligence. "This is one of the most exciting times to be in the retail intelligence space, as retailers define their omni-channel strategies to address conventional, new and ever-evolving competitive disruptions," Blondin said. "In the very recent past, retailers were clearly defined as brick and mortar or e-commerce, such static definitions we no longer find relevant. We are now seeing these business models converge and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this transition by years." RetailData was founded to be a trusted provider of competitive intelligence, and as the marketplace has evolved, so have the company's services. While web-sourced data has grown at exponential rates, RetailData is unique in providing clients with analysis-based insights on the pricing, promotion and assortment differences between in-store and online channels. "I'm grateful to our leadership teams that have put us in this strong position and look forward to continuing the evolution of our technology and insights-driven approach to competitive intelligence that gives our customers quantifiable market advantages," Blondin said. Blondin has spent the majority of his career in technology-related industries with a focus on optimization and innovation. He began his career as an industrial process engineer in the semiconductor industry with Intel and held various leadership positions within the bioenergy industry inclusive of operations, acquisitions and engineering responsibilities before joining RetailData. About RetailData Founded in 1988, RetailData pioneered the practice of retail competitive intelligence, enabling retailers to attract consumers and grow their business. The Richmond, Va.-based firm fuels retailer strategy and systems with timely and accurate omni-channel data, offering unparalleled expertise that includes private-label matching, product linking and promotional intelligence. For more information, visit www.retaildatallc.com. SOURCE RetailData LLC Related Links http://www.retaildatallc.com Several social organisations have come together to discuss key policy issues from education to environment through Peoples Parliament in the absence of regular sessions of legislative bodies in the country. Jan Sarokar, a conglomeration of social organisations, has started a virtual consultation this week on 10 themes with over 200 speakers. Launching the initiative, former National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy said that since there has been no Parliament session for the last five months, there has been no parliamentary oversight of the executive either. The monsoon session of Parliament has been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the secretariats of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha intend to hold the session in September while enforcing social distancing norms. As per Constitutional norms, there cannot be a gap of over six months between two Parliament sessions. Officials said they have until September 23 to hold the session. The budget session ended on March 23, two days before the 68-day national lockdown kicked in. This (not holding the Parliament session) shocks us as Parliament is a platform to discuss the pandemic at multiple levels, Roy said. She said that in the absence of the Parliament session, important policy decisions such as an amendment in labour and agriculture laws and the introduction of changes to education and environment policy were being taken without Parliamentary oversight. There is no accountability of those in power, she said. In his inaugural speech, former Delhi High Court judge AP Shah, said several countries across the world such as Brazil, Italy and France had held Parliament sessions during the pandemic, providing a voice to the people, but India had failed to do so. During the 1962 and 1971 wars, Parliament sessions were held. Even a day after the Mumbai attack, Parliament met. If parliamentary standing committees can meet virtually, why cant Parliament sessions be held, he said. Shah said Parliament was intended to keep a check on the executive. If Parliament stops working, it compounds the problem of leadership as it allows the executive free hand, he said. He also claimed that constitutional institutions have been weakened and the civil society stifled in the recent past. Our aim should be to revive liberal democratic values of our democracy, he said. Jignesh Mewani, a Dalit rights activist and an independent MLA in Gujarat assembly, said that as an MLA he was unable to raise important issues that affect the people as the Gujarat assembly session has not been held in the past five months. I could have raised questions regarding the non-availability of life-saving injections in government-run hospitals in Gujarat and the government could have been made accountable. In the absence of the assembly session, I cant raise my voice, he said. Mewani also said that the way changes in labour and agriculture laws have been introduced during the pandemic shows that the government has tried to push an executive agenda without legislative checks and balances. Nikhil Dey of National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information said the Janata Parliament was being held to raise people-centric issues during the pandemic and to ensure that the voice of poor and needy reaches the government. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON News recently broke Antarctica Flights will soon again offer Australians day trips to see Antarctica from the sky. The privately chartered flights will run from November, with flights departing Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. Labelled the worlds most unique scenic flight, Antarctica Flights take place on Qantas 787 Dreamliners, and last between 12 and 13 hours. As the traditional way of experiencing Antarctica involves flying to the southern tip of South America (and then getting on an emissions heavy cruise ship), on first glance Antarctica Flights is an emissions easy way to see the icy continent. To some degree it is (not to mention, its no different than any other flight of the same distance 99% of us will happily and regularly make to visit other countries to go on holiday). But Dr Matthew Stocks, an ANU research fellow with more than 20 years of research and development experience in renewable energy, has told DMARGE that just because Antarctica Flights may pollute less than a cruise, if youre taking the Greta Thunberg approach, theyre still not perfect. Neither are a great way to travel! Dr Stocks points out that cruise company Carnival reports 251g of CO2 per average lower berth passenger per km. Assuming every cabin has two occupants, Dr Stocks says travelling by boat to Antarctica from Dunedin in NZ [with Carnival] would be around 5400km, so a couple would produce 2.7 tonnes of CO2. This is about the emissions of the average new car (180gCO2/km) driving 15000km (slightly above the average distance per car). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Antarctica Flights (@antarcticaflights) on Aug 13, 2020 at 12:53am PDT The Qantas Dreamliner (787), on the other hand uses at least 5.11 kg/km Dr Stocks tells us, with an emissions intensity of 3.1 kgCO2/kg fuel. This should result in 0.8 tonnes of direct CO2 emissions for 2 passengers (I am only counting the plane is flying from Dunedin as you would have to get to the start of the cruise somehow). The challenge with planes is that they have other impacts than the direct carbon emissions due to the use of jets in the upper atmosphere. A weighting factor of about 2.7 is usual. You then end up with more that 2.0 tonnes of CO2, Dr Stocks adds. My suggestion jump on a train and tour Australia instead!!! Make sense but youre still hanging to see Antarctica? Antarctica Flights have an emissions offset program (every flight is carbon neutral), which may help give you peace of mind. Through certified carbon credits purchased under the Gold Standard, Antarctica Flights contribute to projects that not only provide positive benefits to the climate, but also achieve social and economic co-benefits. Antarctica Flights claim to be committed to protecting our planet, and their mission is to leave Antarcticas pristine landscape the way they found it. Read Next Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has urged Ghanaians to subject Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's public engagement on the infrastructure record of the Akufo-Addo administration to scrutiny. According to him, the Vice President's assertions should not be accepted at face value but rather there should be a deep dive into the figures and account he gave about the performance of the government, particularly with regard to road networks. Akufo-Addo's Infrastructure Record Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, during a ''Town Hall and Results Fair'' held by ruling New Patriotic Party on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, described the President's record as second to none, with verifiable data to back up my claim, comparing his first term to any government under the Fourth Republic. The investment in infrastructure by the NPP government over the last three years has been massive. I dare say our investment in infrastructure, our infrastructure record, is second to none for any government in its first term under the Fourth Republic, Dr Bawumia said. He highlighted some infrastructure developments by the current administration but what has really become a bone of contention is his account about the construction of interchanges under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Four state of the art interchanges are also under construction: The Tema Interchange, where the loan, sod cutting and completion were executed by this government; Tamale interchange under the Sinohydro Programme, the first ever interchange in the Northern Sector of the country (44% complete and expected to be completed by the middle of 2021); Pokuase interchange (the first four tier interchange in West Africa 75% complete. The loan agreement for this (Pokuase interchange) project was signed in November 2016 for a three-tier interchange. We subsequently renegotiated for a four-tier interchange without any increase in cost. The Obetsebi-Lamptey interchange is 55% complete. As well, the Sod has just been cut for the Nungua Interchange This is the highest number of interchanges (5) being constructed in the first term of any government since independence. A sixth interchange, the PTC interchange in Takoradi (the first interchange in the Western Region) will start in early September. It is important to note that the cost of the Tema, Pokuase, Tamale, and Obetsebi Lamptey interchanges total $289 million while the Kwame Nkrumah interchange was constructed at a cost of $270 million, he disclosed. Dr. Bawumia thanked the President for not reneging on his promises to Ghanaians. Notwithstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the completion times of some projects, the data indicates that in the fourth republic, no government has achieved as much in its first term of office in terms of infrastructure projects it initiated its first term as the NPP government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Clarification and Validation of Record Kweku Baako, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, has raised questions about Dr. Bawumia's figures saying something doesn't add up. According to him, he doesn't understand how the government came to a conclusion about how much money was used by former President John Dramani Mahama and his government in constructing the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, popularly called Circle Dubai. Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' on Wednesday, Mr. Baako gave the actual figure of the Nkrumah interchange to be 74, 880, 000 Euros. This therefore means the interchange was constructed with less money than the cost declared by the Vice President. "That is the value, at least the loan agreement that Parliament approved and that is what it is. I have realized some people say the figure is about Nkrumah interchange Part 2. But per my checks, I suspect those people are referring to the flyover, the Obetsebi-Lamptey interchange. That's about 130 or 135 million dollars; so are they combining the two because I've read records that some people refer to the Kwame Nkrumah interchange, the one they call Dubai, as phase 1 and the Obetsebi-Lamptey thing as phase 2," he asserted, adding that in the parliamentary records that is Obetsebi-Lamptey flyover. He further set the record straight on the Kwame Nkrumah and Kasoa interchanges saying they predate the Akufo-Addo administration, which is also to mean the projects commenced under the Mahama administration. Kweku Baako asked the Vice President and the government to be factual and further ensure that if they're accusing former President John Mahama of bloating figures, they should be prepared to give substantial evidence to support their claims."About this debate, I like it. It's fantastic debate; at least it takes out the insults and all those things but we should be very focused. We should also be very fair. We should be direct . . . we should be focused, we should be factual . . . I want clarification. I don't think there's much clarity there . . . I'm not comfortable with the way it's being done. When you make a case of inflated projects, you don't stop there. You must prove it . . ." he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SACRAMENTO, Calif. Covered California announced on Tuesday a record-low insurance premium rate change for the second consecutive year. The preliminary average rate change for Californias individual market is 0.6 percent for the upcoming 2021 plan year, which is the lowest mark since the launch of the Affordable Care Act and follows a rate change of only 0.8 percent in 2020. California continues to show the nation what can be done when you build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California. Californias bold policies to provide additional state financial help, to reinstate the penalty to encourage consumers to enroll in health care, and to make significant marketing investments in Covered California are providing stability and lower costs in the face of national uncertainty. ADVERTISEMENT The historically low rate change was driven by Californias efforts to build on the Affordable Care Act through affordability initiatives the state subsidies and the individual mandate enforcement provision that went into effect in 2020 as well as ongoing investments in marketing and outreach that have led to increased enrollment and one of the healthiest consumer pools in the nation. The most recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that California has the second lowest State Average Plan Liability Risk Score in the nation, which marked the sixth straight year that California has been among the top five healthiest states. Access to affordable health care coverage is more critical than ever as our nation and state navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, said Gov. Gavin Newsom. Covered California is leading the nation by eliminating barriers to access and providing Californians real opportunities to get the care and coverage they need. Californias Individual Market Rate Change for 2021 Californias individual market consists of approximately 2.3 million people, including 1.5 million enrolled through Covered California. Nearly nine out of 10 (88 percent) of those enrolled through the marketplace are getting federal or state subsidies, or both, to lower their costs; the rest are buying coverage directly from carriers in the individual market. The preliminary average rate change of 0.6 percent varies by region and by an individuals personal situation (see Table 2: Covered California Rate Changes by Rating Region). Health care costs are never a one-year story, and California has shown again and again that it can provide stability and lower costs in the face of federal policy changes that could have resulted in dramatic rate increases, Lee said. The past three years can serve as a roadmap for the rest of the nation when it comes to successfully responding to federal challenges, reducing prices and encouraging enrollment. Table 1: Californias Individual Market Rate Changes (Percentages)[i] 2015 2016 2017 2018[ii] 2019 2020 2021 Overall Average 3 Year Average (2019-2021) Weighted Average 4.2 4.0 13.2 12.5 8.7 0.8 0.6 6.3 3.3 Shop & Switch 4.5 1.2 3.3 0.7 9.0 7.3 3.2 5.7 ADVERTISEMENT The main factors that contributed to the low rate change include the following: Increases in Health Care Costs: The underlying trend for health care costs absent the impact of COVID-19 for 2021 was generally projected to be in the 4 to 8 percent range across Covered Californias 11 contracted health insurance companies. The underlying trend for health care costs absent the impact of COVID-19 for 2021 was generally projected to be in the 4 to 8 percent range across Covered Californias 11 contracted health insurance companies. COVID-19 Impact: Covered California reviewed the experiences of health plans through 2020 and their projections for 2021 related to COVID-19 health care costs. While carriers did incur increased costs for COVID-19 treatments, increased telehealth provider services and extended grace periods for consumers enrolled during the current year, the costs were offset by a decrease in the volume of medical care and elective procedures as many people decided to stay home during the pandemic. While there continues to be considerable uncertainty about the pandemic and resulting health care costs, the latest information shows that health care costs will likely end up being close to what was originally priced for in California. For 2021, most plans project that caring for enrolled members with COVID-19 and the impacts of the pandemic on other care will have no to little net impact on premiums. Strong and Healthy Enrollment: Covered California saw a surge of new sign-ups during both the 2020 open-enrollment period (a 41 percent increase over the previous year) and the current special-enrollment period, during which more than 230,000 people have signed up for coverage since March 20, which is more than double the rate seen during the same period last year. The risk and demographic analysis of the new consumers indicates that both cohorts of incoming consumers are healthier on average than the equivalent cohorts from 2019. Covered California saw a surge of new sign-ups during both the 2020 open-enrollment period (a 41 percent increase over the previous year) and the current special-enrollment period, during which more than 230,000 people have signed up for coverage since March 20, which is more than double the rate seen during the same period last year. The risk and demographic analysis of the new consumers indicates that both cohorts of incoming consumers are healthier on average than the equivalent cohorts from 2019. Removal of Federal Health Plan Tax: The repeal of the Health Insurer Tax lowered premiums by 0 percent to 3.3 percent across carriers, with the weighted average decrease to premiums at 1.7 percent. The repeal of the Health Insurer Tax lowered premiums by 0 percent to 3.3 percent across carriers, with the weighted average decrease to premiums at 1.7 percent. Exchange Fee: The participation fee Covered California charges qualified health plan issuers was reduced for 2021 from 3.5 percent to 3.25 percent, leading to a further reduction in premium. After a large increase in 2019 caused by the federal action that zeroed out the penalty on individuals failing to have insurance coverage, California has seen two years of less than 1 percent premium increases, Lee said. Covered Californias ability to provide stability and lower costs to consumers is the product of strong state policies, a competitive market and major investments in marketing. State policies make a difference, and California is showing how you can keep health care costs under control and bring coverage within reach of more people, said California Health and Human Services Secretary and Covered California Board Chair, Dr. Mark Ghaly. Making more financial help available and encouraging consumers to get covered means fewer people without insurance and lower health care costs for everybody. Consumers both on and off the exchange will benefit from Covered Californias competitive marketplace, which allows them to shop for the best value and save money if they switch plans. The average rate change for unsubsidized consumers who shop and switch to the lowest-cost plan in the same metal tier is -7.3 percent, which means many Californians may be able to get a lower gross premium than they have now if they shop and switch (see Table 1: Californias Individual Market Rate Changes). Shopping for the best deal will once again be important for consumers because as our carriers become more competitive on pricing and the cost of the second-lowest Silver plan decreases, consumers may find that the amount of their financial help is lowered, Lee said. The preliminary rates will be filed with Californias regulators, the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance, and are subject to their final reviews. Financial Help Lowers Costs for Consumers Roughly nine out of every 10 consumers who enroll through Covered California receive financial help in the form of federal tax credits, state subsidies, or both which help make health care more affordable. Californias state-specific enhanced subsidies are benefiting about 590,000 consumers out of the current 1.5 million enrollees in Covered California. In 2020, with the combination of federal tax credits and state subsidies, the average consumer receiving financial help were paying only $130 per month of their total premium of $587 (with federal and state assistance reducing their costs by $457 or nearly 80 percent). In addition, nearly 38,000 middle-income consumers have qualified for new state subsidies, with an average state subsidy to eligible households of $475 per month, lowering their monthly premium by nearly 44 percent. The state subsidies are only available to eligible consumers through Covered California.The amount of financial help consumers receive will vary depending on their age, their annual household income and the cost of health care in their region. Increased Competition and Consumer Choice In the coming year, all 11 carriers will continue offering products across the state, and two carriers will expand their coverage areas, providing increased competition and consumer choice. In 2021, 99.8 percent of Californians will have two or more choices, 88 percent will be able to choose from three carriers or more, and over three-fourths of Californians (77 percent) will have four or more choices. Anthem Blue Cross will expand into Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Mono and Orange counties, and Oscar Health Insurance will expand into San Mateo County. A competitive market means virtually everyone across California will have a choice in coverage and is further proof that the Affordable Care Act is working in California for both consumers and health plans, Lee said. Consumers can find out what they will pay for their 2021 coverage starting during the renewal period in October, when they can visit Covered Californias website at www.CoveredCA.com and begin using the Shop and Compare Tool. Staying Safe While Getting Help Enrolling Covered California is currently in a special-enrollment period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which allows the uninsured to sign up for coverage if they are eligible to enroll in the exchange. The most recent data shows that 231,040 people have signed up through Covered California for health care coverage between March 20 and July 25, which is more than twice the number who signed up during the same time last year. The special-enrollment period is available through the end of August. Consumers can easily find out if they are eligible for Covered California or Medi-Cal and see whether they qualify for financial help and which plans are available in their area by using the CoveredCA.Com Shop and Compare Tool and entering their ZIP code, household income and the ages of those who need coverage. Those interested in learning more about their coverage options can also: Visit www.CoveredCA.com. Get free and confidential assistance over the phone, in a variety of languages, from a certified enroller. Have a certified enroller call them and help them for free. Call Covered California at (800) 300-1506. Interested consumers should go to www.CoveredCA.com to find out if they qualify for financial help and find free local help to enroll. They can contact the Covered California service center for enrollment assistance by calling (800) 300-1506. Table 2. California Individual Market Rate Changes by Rating Region Rating Region Total enrollment1 Avg. rate change Shop and Switch2 Statewide Total 1,480,020 0.6% 7.3% Region 1 Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yuba counties 56,150 2.6% 0.4% Region 2 Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties 53,340 2.3% 1.8% Region 3 Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties 86,920 1.8% 2.4% Region 4 San Francisco County 34,690 1.4% 3.7% Region 5 Contra Costa County 50,050 1.9% 2.6% Region 6 Alameda County 70,090 2.4% 0.7% Region 7 Santa Clara County 61,200 5.6% 5.5% Region 8 San Mateo County 26,150 2.0% 2.8% Region 9 Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties 27,860 0.1% 3.0% Region 10 San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Mariposa and Tulare counties 75,000 4.2% 1.4% Region 11 Fresno, Kings and Madera counties 36,200 -0.1% 3.0% Region 12 San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties 67,580 2.3% 2.2% Region 13 Mono, Inyo and Imperial counties 14,300 2.6% 4.7% Region 14 Kern County 19,410 0.2% 2.8% Region 15 Los Angeles County (northeast) 190,330 0.9% 10.7% Region 16 Los Angeles County (southwest) 229,190 2.1% 13.4% Region 17 San Bernardino and Riverside counties 131,290 0.8% 9.2% Region 18 Orange County 139,820 0.7% 11.5% Region 19 San Diego County 110,450 1.5% 13.3% 1 Effectuated enrollment for coverage in the month of March 2020: See https://hbex.coveredca.com/data-research/library/active-member-profiles/CC_Membership_Profile_2020_03.xlsx for full data profile. 2 Shop and Switch refers to the average rate change a consumer could see if they shop around and switch to the lowest-cost plan in their current metal tier. Table 3: California Individual Market Rate Changes by Carrier[iii] Carrier Weighted Average Rate Change Anthem Blue Cross 6.0 Blue Shield of California 2.4 Chinese Community Health Plan 1.3 Health Net 3.4 Kaiser Permanente 1.0 LA Care Health Plan 4.6 Molina Healthcare 3.8 Oscar Health Plan of California 7.6 Sharp Health Plan 0.5 Valley Health Plan 9.0 Western Health Advantage 2.6 Overall 0.6 About Covered California Covered California is the states health insurance marketplace, where Californians can find affordable, high-quality insurance from top insurance companies. Covered California is the only place where individuals who qualify can get financial assistance on a sliding scale to reduce premium costs. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that works best for their health needs and budget. Depending on their income, some consumers may qualify for the low-cost or no-cost Medi-Cal program. Covered California is an independent part of the state government whose job is to make the health insurance marketplace work for Californias consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the governor and the legislature. For more information about Covered California, please visit www.CoveredCA.com. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the supporters of QAnon, a convoluted, pro-Trump conspiracy theory, and suggested he appreciates their support of his candidacy. Speaking during a press conference at the White House, Trump courted the support of those who put stock in the conspiracy theory, saying, I heard that these are people that love our country. It was Trumps first public comment on the subject and continued a pattern of president appearing unwilling to resoundingly condemn extremists who support his candidacy. QAnon has ricocheted around the darker corners of the internet since late 2017, but has been creeping into mainstream politics more and more. The baseless theory centres on an alleged anonymous, high-ranking government official known as Q who shares information about an anti-Trump deep state often tied to satanism and child sex trafficking. Trump insisted he hadnt heard much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much and it is gaining in popularity. Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts, and shirts and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans are not uncommon at his rallies. An FBI bulletin last May warned that conspiracy theory-driven extremists have become a domestic terrorism threat. The bulletin specifically mentioned QAnon. Earlier last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center warned that the movement is becoming increasingly popular with anti-government extremists. Trumps comments were condemned by the campaign of his Democratic rival, former Vice-President Joe Biden. After calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville fine people and tear gassing peaceful protesters following the murder of George Floyd, Donald Trump just sought to legitimize a conspiracy theory that the FBI has identified as a domestic terrorism threat, said Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. Our country needs leadership that will bring us together more than ever to form a more perfect union. We have to win this battle for the soul of our nation. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016, also criticized the president, tweeting: Why in the world would the President not kick Qanon supporters butts? Nut jobs, rascists, haters have no place in either Party. Pressed on QAnon theories that Trump is allegedly saving the nation from a satanic cult of child sex traffickers, Trump claimed ignorance, but asked, Is that supposed to be a bad thing? If I can help save the world from problems, Im willing to do it, Trump said. Qanon supporters were quick to celebrate Trumps comments on social media, with many calling them a validation of their views. Many have long contended he sends them coded messages of support, and on Twitter, one user claimed Trumps choice of a pink tie on Wednesday was another signal of support. Within minutes, dozens of Instagram users began celebrating Trumps acknowledgement of the conspiracy theory at the White House podium, uploading videos of him. Well weve been waiting for this moment for a while, to put it mildly thank you @realDonaldTrump, one Instagram user wrote to her 19,000 followers in a post of Trumps exchange. The video was viewed more than 1,000 times in just 30 minutes. Holy Smokin Q, another tweeted. Our President was asked 2 questions about the Qanon movement TODAY!! We LOVE you President Trump. On Parler, a right-wing platform popular with some Trump supporters, one Qanon supporter posted a photo of Trump and a bald eagle. Trumps comments came a week after he endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won her GOP House primary runoff in Georgia last week. Greene called the QAnon conspiracy theory something worth listening to and paying attention to and called Q a patriot. Trump praised her as a future Republican Star. Trump has a long history of advancing false and sometimes racist conspiracies, including last week, when he gave credence to a highly criticized op-ed that questioned Democrat Kamala Harris eligibility to serve as vice-president even though she was born in Oakland, California. Asked about the matter, Trump told reporters he had heard rumours that Harris, a Black woman and U.S.-born citizen whose parents were immigrants, does not meet the requirement to serve in the White House. The president said he considered the rumours very serious, but later he and his campaign indicated they were not making an issue of the claim. constitutional lawyers have dismissed it as nonsense. Facebook announced just hours before Trumps statements that it was banning some QAnon Facebook groups and accounts. But social media had already been used for years to fuel the conspiracy theorys rise, with private and super-secret Facebook groups where members sometimes post hundreds of times a day. QAnon believers often peddle a number of conspiracy theories, from claims that John F. Kennedy Jr. isnt really dead and is staging a public comeback to baseless speculation around celebrities who have secretly been arrested for trafficking children for sex. Mentions of hashtags social media users to promote the QAnon conspiracy theory have spiked in public Facebook pages and groups since July, generating millions of interactions, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Facebook-owned CrowdTangle. The conspiracy theory gained a larger online following in recent weeks, when prominent QAnon social media accounts pushed a bizarre and baseless conspiracy theory that online retail giant Wayfair was trafficking children through pricey storage cabinets that are for sale on its site. Some of the social media users shared the names and photos of missing children from around the country as proof of the scheme, even though many of the children have since been recovered. Last month, researchers at online misinformation firm NewsGuard found that the QAnon conspiracy theory is gaining traction in Europe, with Facebook users pushing it on Facebook and Twitter, too. - Seitz reported from Chicago. AP writer David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island contributed. President Muhammadu Buhari has mourned the passing of former President of the Nigerian Guild Editors, NGE, Malam Wada Maida, a close ally and friend to him. In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu he described the Wada as a person who was modest, loyal and committed to the goals of national unity and development. He said, Wada Maida was a very dedicated, hardworking and loyal professional for whom I have the deepest respect and admiration. The passion with which Maida did his job accounted for his professional success in life, making it possible for him to attain the pinnacle of excellence in his career. Undoubtedly believes Malam Wada left a legacy of modesty, loyalty and commitment to the goals of national unity and development that will continue to resonate with everyone who crossed his path. I join the Governor of Kastina State Aminu Masari, members of his cabinet and the family of late Malam Wada Maida in mourning the sad loss, and call for prayers for the State and country as they accept the will of the Almighty God, who determines the fate of everyone. As an accomplished journalist Wada served as the Chief Press Secretary to the Head of State Muhammadu Buhari during his tenure that lasted between December 31, 1983 and August 26, 1985. Maida was also the Chairman of Peoples Media Limited, publishers of Peoples Daily newspaper. Maida who died at 70 until his death, served as Chairman of the Board of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN. The remains of the last of three workers who died when the Hard Rock Hotel collapsed last fall in New Orleans were recovered on Monday Aug. 17, according to a city spokesperson. Jose Ponce Arreola, 63, was one of three construction workers who died when the building collapsed almost a year ago and one of two whose bodies remained trapped in the rubble, reports The American South, which is a part of the USA TODAY Network. The body of Quinnyon Wimberly, 36, was recovered on Aug. 8. The third worker, Anthony Magrette, was recovered within days of the collapse. "I am feeling a little better now that they have taken my brother from there. We are all feeling a little better," said Sergio Ponce Arreola, who flew from Illinois on Monday to identify his brothers remains. Arturo Jauregui, the Ponce family's attorney, said that personal effects including a wallet were found on Ponce's body Monday afternoon. The Hard Rock hotel construction in downtown New Orleans collapsed on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. "The irony of all of that is that it will be almost a year since the collapse and Jose was planning a trip two weeks later to celebrate the anniversary of his mothers death," said Jauregui. "A year later he will be going back to Mexico to be returned to his family in Jalisco." Ponce's brother Mario Ponce Arreola, who lives in Jalisco, Mexico, said that the family was "in shock" on Monday afternoon following the news of the recovery. "It has been 10 months of anguish, wondering if they would find him. We had very little information about what was happening," he said speaking in Spanish. Ponce, who was originally from Mexico, had worked in construction in New Orleans since 2005. He divided his time between his family home in Jalisco, Mexico and New Orleans, according to Jauregui. He was one of nine siblings and will be laid to rest next to his parents, according to the statement. Jose Ponce Arreola, 63, died on Oct. 12, 2019 during the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans. He was one of three people who died in the construction site. The family meanwhile intends to pursue their case against the companies responsible for the building collapse, according to their attorney. Story continues "All companies who are responsible for the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel, must held accountable for the negligent and shoddy construction of this project," Jauregui said. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a written statement that a private service was held Monday honoring Ponce's remains in the presence of his family. "It is a terrible relief to begin finally bringing this process to an end, said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. "Moving forward, we will continue to hold ownership accountable, at every level. No one wanted it to be this way, but we are grateful to the recovery team for finally getting us to this point." Adding to the frustration, an investigation of the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits found that city employees had falsified inspection reports and approved construction without visiting the site as required. One of the missed inspections occurred just 11 days before the collapse. In April, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report accused Heaslip Engineering, the Hard Rock Hotel's lead engineer, of "serious" and "willful" violations. OSHA's findings included that floor beams on the 16th floor were under-designed in load capacity and structural steel connections were inadequately designed, reviewed or approved." The OSHA report did not address whether any of these violations caused the buildings partial collapse. After months of discussion, New Orleans officials approved a piece-by-piece demolition of the structure in April. But there is still no timeline for when the demolition will begin. Jauregui said that forensic experts at Louisiana State University will be conducting DNA tests to identify Ponce's remains and it could take several weeks before he is returned to his family in Mexico. "We just want this nightmare to be over and for him to be buried here in his country and to be in peace," said Mario Ponce Arreola. Maria Clark is a general assignment reporter with The American South. Story ideas, tips, questions? Email her at mclark@theadvertiser.com or follow her on Twitter @MariaPClark1. Sign up for The American South newsletter. In case you missed: Remains recovered months after Hard Rock Hotel collapse in New Orleans And before that: Hard Rock Hotel collapse: Months later, victims' remains could soon be retrieved This article originally appeared on The American South: Hard Rock Hotel collapse: Final victim's remains recovered Two Chinese nationals (R) who stayed in Da Nang illegally are questioned by the police in July 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Dong Chi. A Chinese man and two Vietnamese women are awaiting trial for illegally bringing three Chinese into central Da Nang City. Chinese Chen Xian Fa, 27, and two Vietnamese, Ho Thu Trinh, 24, and Huynh Ngoc Diem, 41, were charged Tuesday with "organizing illegal entry to Vietnam" in accordance with the Penal Code. According to the indictment, police in Da Nang inspected a house in Ngu Hanh Son District on July 11. There they found Chen and three other Chinese nationals. None carried passports or visas. No information regarding their entry was found on the Ministry of Public Securitys Immigration Department system either. Investigators discovered that on June 23, when Chen was still in China, he had contacted Trinh on Chinas messaging and social media app WeChat, asking her to find him a house with three rooms for rent in Da Nang so he could bring three Chinese along to Vietnam. Chen knew Trinh after she advertised houses for rents on social media in 2018. Trinh and Diem, fully aware the Chinese group had no legal papers to enter Vietnam, proceeded with the plan. Diem found the rented house at 39 Duong Tu Giang Street, striking a deal to pay VND19 million ($820) per month. The two women then raised the rent to VND23 million a month and shared the extra money. A three month agreement was then struck with the Da Nang landlord on the phone. He was out of the city for vacation and told the group where to find the key, investigation found, suggesting that he was not aware the deal involved illegal Chinese entrants. Chen arranged to meet with the other three Chinese before traveling by bus to northern Lang Son Province on the night of June 28. The four then crossed over the border using an unmarked path. A seven-seat car organized by Diem and Trinh subsequently took them to Da Nang. Chen charged the three Chinese 4,000 yuan ($580) each. On the night of June 29, the entire Chinese group was taken by Trinh to the rented house. During the time the four Chinese nationals remained in Da Nang, Trinh and Diem helped them buy food and essential products until the ring got busted by police. When the investigation was launched on July 21, the Chinese said they had entered Vietnam to trade in seafood. But police found they had brought along 14 laptops, 31 cellphones, and related components to the rented house. In recent years, Da Nang police had solved several cases in which Chinese have broken into Vietnam for online gambling purposes. Culprits were reported to have hired a house, using scores of laptops and cellphones along with their own wireless router to ensure a private internet feed. Wyandotte police cringe to think what would have happened to an infant boy had two patrol officers not noticed something suspicious and decided to investigate. Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton believes their decision prevented an outcome that might not have ended well. The officers were on patrol in the downtown area at about 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 11 when they spotted a man, 32, sitting on the steps at First Methodist Church of Wyandotte. After walking to the northeast corner of the church they spotted a woman, 31, sitting on the ground with her newborn. Once police saw the newborn, they requested emergency rescue services to the location. Police said the woman appeared to be stressed. An officer went to a nearby 7-Eleven and purchased a beverage and some cigarettes for her. An ambulance arrived and the baby was transported to a hospital for an evaluation. The mother also was transported for evaluation. According to police, the man, who saw them prior to them stopping, never attempted to flag them down for assistance. He was in possession of a cellphone, but police noted that he never called 911. We can only make assumptions to what would have happened if the officers were not out there investigating what appeared to be suspicious activity, Hamilton said. However, I can credit these officers with saving this babys life and potentially the mothers life as well. 335 Shares Share As the world becomes more interconnected, one of the upsides is the ability to share our journey as medical students with other medical students across the world. The International Medical School Conference on COVID-19 held by the International Medical Association of Keio University School of Medicine was attended by medical students from the United States, Japan, Brazil, China, Italy, Korea, and Thailand. Through presentations by representatives from each country and discussions about how we felt about our countrys response and the overall state of healthcare, we discovered both shared experiences during the pandemic as well as differences driven by the unique cultures, policies, and situations of each country. Here are some of the key take-aways: Medical education across countries In most countries, students begin medical school directly after high school, embarking on a six-year journey that begins completely didactic, leading into a combination of theoretical knowledge and time spent in the clinic, and finally is completely clinical. Following these six years, medical students in some countries, such as Brazil, can practice emergency medicine or internal medicine, although most choose to pursue a residency to further specialize. Medical students from the United States are unique in that we typically have four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school, and then a variable number of residency years before we can practice independently. However, most medical schools in the United States maintain the general structure of pre-clinical years focusing on theoretical knowledge followed by clinical years. The roles of medical students in the COVID-19 pandemic For the most part, as classes were transitioned to online and clinic was postponed, medical students helped with the COVID-19 pandemic through volunteering, public health, and research initiatives. At the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, medical students founded the Instagram account @covidup2date, a social media initiative that provides daily updates on the pandemic from reputable sources to help combat online misinformation. Groups of medical students in South Korea took a similar approach, creating YouTube videos and Instagram feeds emphasizing the prevention of COVID-19 through hand sanitization, wearing face masks, and additional testing. In Thailand, medical students organized fundraisers and donations for PPE, provided education on how to make masks, and encouraged people not to hoard surgical masks so that healthcare personnel would have access. In Italy (as in the United States), medical students volunteered at call centers or helped deliver groceries to the elderly. Although medical students may not have had previously defined roles for a pandemic, medical students across the world stepped up to help in whatever way possible. A minority of medical students at the represented countries helped with clinical care during this pandemic. Sixth-grade medical students at the University of Sao Paulo found themselves front and center in the care of COVID-19 patients, as their main hospital building was designated only for COVID-19 patients, and other patients were transferred to other buildings. In the United States, some medical students were given the option to graduate early to help take care of COVID-19 patients. Views on the role that medical students should take in the COVID-19 pandemic varied among countries represented. A medical student from Italy reasoned that the situation was chaotic, and the huge wave of patients overwhelmed even fully trained health professionals, and medical students, unfortunately, do not have the competence to handle such a situation. On the other hand, a medical student from Brazil who took care of COVID-19 patients described it as an honor to be able to serve her country and a wonderful learning experience. In addition, it felt like a secure environment in looking after patients because all actions were supervised and endorsed by their faculty. How culture, politics, and situation played into the response to COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the many cultural, social, and political differences between countries. For example, South Koreas value of public health over personal privacy during this time of crisis enabled highly effective contact tracing. Indeed, a record of all the places that a South Korean COVID-19 patient has been is publicly available. South Koreas value for transparency and the amendments made to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act after the 2015 MERS outbreak about notifying the public also meant that people received text messages about new patients in their areas. In contrast, the United States has a more individualistic culture, which has, at times, fostered rebellion against public health messagingsome people have ignored or protested restrictions. The culture and policies of a country have also helped to shape the role of the medical student. In Japan, the Medical Practitioners Act Article 17 states that No person except a medical practitioner shall engage in medical practice, and Japanese medical students are not yet considered medical practitioners, so they have stayed at home during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Article 7 of the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Course in Medicine in Brazil states, The physician training will include a mandatory practical training under the supervision of the professors at the School/Faculty. The greater clinical autonomy that medical students in Brazil already had as compared to medical students in Japan may have accounted for the differences in the roles of medical students for caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion The role and experience of medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic has varied widely in the context of individual countries. However, despite differences, we found similarities in the structure of our training and our desire to help respond to the pandemic. Overall, students at the conference found that we had more experiences shared than diverging, and we were united by our desire to positively contribute and give back to our communities during this pandemic. Clarissa C. Ren, Sara K. Hurley, Matthew A. Crane, Ayumi S. Tomishige, and Masato Fumoto are medical students from the United States, Brazil, or Japan. Image credit: Shutterstock.com The Opposition party added that the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF) has become a mere forum without any tangible roadmap to resolve the Naga political issue The Opposition NPF has withdrawn from the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF) on the Naga political issue, stating that it has failed to make any progress to resolve the imbroglio. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) legislature party held at the residence of Opposition leader TR Zeliang at Dimapur on Tuesday. The NPF, however, asserted that it would continue to be "active facilitators" towards an early resolution of the issue. The NPF played an active role in resolving the Naga political issue at various stages for the last 23 years, stated a resolution adopted at the meeting. It also volunteered to be part of the JLF with the ardent hope that the efforts rendered towards the cause would be carried forward in letter and spirit, it said. However, since it was reconstituted on 18 September, 2018, JLF has failed to make any progress due to the half-hearted approach of the present day government, it added. The NPF lamented that the JLF has become a mere forum without any tangible road-map for resolving the Naga political issue. All members of the 60-seat Assembly are part of the JLF. The forum also has a 20-member core committee, comprising of five NPF MLAs. Maintaining that the signing of the Framework Agreement between the NSCN (IM) and Centre in August 2015, and the Agreed Position between the NNPGs and the Centre in November 2017 created a conducive atmosphere for the JLF to assist the peace process, the NPF claimed that the grouping's meetings were convened only to be followed by inaction on the part of the current state government, rendering it to be an ineffective forum. With utmost sincerity, legislators of the Naga Peoples Front had put forth its proposition in almost all the JLF meetings that members in the forum should call upon the Prime Minister of India, the Home Minister of India and other Central leaders in order to urge them in bringing the long pending Naga political issue to a logical conclusion. However, the proposal has failed to see the light of the day till date, it claimed. The NPF claimed that on 5 August, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio along with Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was called to Delhi by Home Minister Amit Shah and they left for the National Capital the next day on a chartered flight. They met Shah on the same day, it claimed. While the Nagaland chief minister maintained "an eerie silence" on his return, about on what transpired in the meeting, it was learnt from the Sarma through his interactions with the media that the meeting was in regard to bringing about permanent peace in the Northeast region and that the Government of India was keen on resolving the Naga issue. "The silence of the Chief Minister is best known to him alone," the NPF said. Further, the NPF stated that even as 31 October, 2019 was made the deadline for a conclusion on the Naga political issue, the state government paid the least attention in convening a JLF meeting before that despite appeals. "The supplication fell on deaf ears and therefore, the NPF legislature party delegation, along with some party central office bearers proceeded to Delhi on October 28, 2019 and met leaders of the 7 NNPGs and the NSCN (IM) on 29 and 30 October, 2019 respectively," it said. There was a positive response from both the groups and subsequently, on the evening of 31 October, 2019, it was informed that both the parties had arrived at a mutual understanding, it added. The party said that when the ruling dispensation does not have confidence in the legislators of the NPF, there is no valid reason why it should continue to remain a part of the JLF. The NPF's decision to pull out of the JLF comes amid attacks by the NSCN-IM on Nagaland Governor and interlocutor for peace talks RN Ravi. The fugitive, who is the prime suspect in the multiple murder of innocent citizens at Akinyele Local Government Area, Moniya, Ibadan Oyo State , had escaped from police custody. File photo Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police, has dispatched additional investigative aids to Oyo State, including crack detectives to track down the fleeing serial killer, Sunday Shodipe. The fugitive, who is the prime suspect in the multiple murder of innocent citizens at Akinyele Local Government Area, Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State, had escaped from police custody in suspicious circumstances. But the force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, in a statement on Wednesday, disclosed that detectives from the Intelligence Response Team and the Special Tactical Squad of the Force Intelligence Bureau, Abuja, had been deployed in Oyo State to assist the state command in apprehending the suspect. In the statement titled, Escape of Oyo serial killer: IGP deploys detectives in Oyo State, Mba said the team was expected to bring their vast operational, technical and investigative experience to bear in supporting ongoing efforts aimed at re-arresting and bringing the fugitive to book. It read in part, The IGP, who condemned the unfortunate escape from the lawful custody of the suspect, has directed the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, to intensify efforts and ensure the prompt re-arrest of the fleeing suspect. The CP has also been directed to speed up investigations into the circumstances that led to the escape of the suspect. All persons indicted in the escape are to be identified and made to face the wrath of the law. The CP was equally directed to immediately assess and rejig the security architecture in the state so as to prevent any future occurrence of the untoward incident. The police solicited the cooperation of Oyo citizens and urged them to provide information that could lead to Shodipes arrest. Aligarh : , Aug 19 (IANS) Two Muslim women and their families have been allegedly issued life threats after they offered prayers at their home during the 'Bhumi Pujan' ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5. The women are members of BJP's Mahila Morcha and have been supporting the Ram temple construction. In their complaint to the police, Ruby Asif Khan and Nargis Mehboob have said that posters in which they are seen praying to Lord Ram have been pasted on walls. The posters allegedly demand that the women should be expelled from Islam. They have also been threatened that they would be burnt alive. Ruby Asif Khan said, "I sent a 'rakhi' to Ram Lalla on July 30 and performed 'aarti' with family members at my home when the 'bhumi pujan' of the temple took place on August 5. I also sent a cheque of Rs 5,100 for the temple construction." She said on August 17, she saw posters in which she could be seen performing 'aarti' along with Nargis and others pasted in the city. Ruby Asif Khan accompanied by BJP workers has now submitted a complaint to the Delhi Gate police station in Aligarh. The police have initiated a probe into the matter. Delhi Gate police station in-charge Ashish Kumar said an investigation has been initiated on the complaint by Ruby Asif Khan and others. MILWAUKEEYou can often tell whats getting under President Donald Trumps skin. Well, shes in over her head, and frankly, she shouldve made the speech live, which she didnt do, the president said Tuesday of former first lady Michelle Obama. It was taped a long time ago, because she had the wrong deaths. It isnt clear that Obama understating the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus while characterizing Trump as unable to meet the challenge of the virus is a point in the presidents favour. But that he was attacking her (he started the morning tweeting about her, too) cemented the impression that her appearance during Mondays first night of Democratic National Convention proceedings was a standout moment. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country, Obama said. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is. That moment stood out for Milwaukee resident Kathryn Farrington, too. I was particularly pleased with Michelle Obamas speech, she said Tuesday afternoon during a walk near the Wisconsin Center. And I was pleased by some of the people that you wouldnt ordinarily hear from, she added, making particular mention of Kristin Urquiza, whose father died from COVID-19 in Arizona. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, Urquiza said, and for that he paid with his life. The comments by Obama and Urquiza were examples of how the party has made a convention hosted almost entirely virtually absent screaming, dancing, sign-waving crowds into sometimes compelling viewing, despite a frequent infomercial feel. Some of the speeches delivered from traditional podiums lacked the kinetic energy a live audience provides, but some of those speaking directly into a camera from home captured the intimacy of a personal FaceTime call from a friend. Former Obama adviser Spencer Critchley noted that tactic in an evaluation of the night by email Tuesday morning. Different media work different ways, and instead of trying for a an inevitably diminished version of live spectacle, they went for person-to-person connection, which TV and online are better suited for, he said. Though she liked the first nights broadcast, Farrington was disappointed that the convention in her hometown had been scaled back. She said shed come for a walk around downtown just to see what she could. Some of the trappings of a typical convention have been evident in Milwaukee, but they are scaled back, just like much of everyday life has been in the U.S. due to the virus. A few metres from where Farrington spoke to me, an empty microphone stood in a gazebo in the park a free speech demonstration zone where anyone could sign up to speak and, if they wanted, protest along an approved parade route. If youve got something to say, its all yours, a volunteer staffing the booth said, holding up a blank schedule sheet and gesturing to the podium. A large Black Lives Matter protest blocked traffic during a demonstration around the convention site for hours on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, demonstrators hung a banner in the park next to city hall, calling for the protections of marginalized groups. Near the convention hall, a union local was displaying large inflatable rats and pigs, protesting one of the conventions equipment vendors. And for two days, a plane has circled downtown Milwaukee, hauling a sign with a message protesting abortion. But Farrington, for one, didnt need a giant convention fuss to win her vote. Trump had already convinced her. I think democracy as we know it is at stake here. I am not used to someone being so negative, dishonest, domineering, surrounding himself with dishonest people, she said. I am so very disappointed with him. Tuesdays convention agenda was to be leadership and sought to contrast Bidens character with that of Trump. Leadership matters more today than almost any time in my memory after many, many years in public life. Were facing multiple crises on a global basis, former secretary of state and presidential candidate John Kerry told a media briefing before his own speech Tuesday night. The American people are at greater risk because of the presidency of Donald Trump. Party officials said the night would also feature a remote version of the traditional roll call vote, with delegates appearing by video from every state and territory in the U.S.; a keynote address delivered co-operatively by 17 rising party stars in different locations; and speeches from former second lady Jill Biden, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Donald Trump says were leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple, an advance excerpt of Clintons speech said. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, its a storm centre. Theres only chaos. Clinton would contrast that with his portrait of the Democratic nominee. Our party is united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide. Our choice is Joe Biden. Read more about: By ANI NEW DELHI: Actor Ayushmann Khurrana who has recently shot three back-to-back endorsement campaigns on Wednesday said he feels refreshed after getting back to shooting after months. "I have shot multiple things while being in my hometown and it has been super smooth for me shooting with the crew who are also based out of Chandigarh. It's really refreshing to be on the sets and working after so many months," the 'Article 15' actor said. Talking about getting back to work after the coronavirus lockdown, the 35-year-old actor said, "It took some time to get used to and control the paranoia of the virus but I think I'm fully focussed to work now, of course with all safety measures." While working amid the pandemic, Khurrana is confident that the industry will take all the right steps to restart film productions and he is content that he has taken the important step towards bringing the business back. "If the entire production takes all the necessary and possible precautions, it minimises the risk to a really great extent. We have to all work towards restarting our industry and I'm glad that I have taken a step in that direction to contribute towards this," he said. The 'Vicky Donor' actor further shared that he is all set to start shooting for his upcoming romantic film with director Abhishek Kapoor. "I'm starting to shoot for my progressive love story with Abhishek Kapoor in October and I'm looking forward to being on a film's set again. It feels like we were all making movies in another lifetime," he said. Khurrana was one of the very first actors who had returned to shooting soon after the government announced the unlock parameters in the country. DENVER, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Awards continue to accrue for the Motto Mortgage brand. Recently, Franchise Business Review honored Motto Mortgage with four major accolades, naming the brand as a Top 200 Franchise for 20201, ranking #2 in the Tax and Finance Category; a Top Low-Cost Franchise2, ranking #60; a Top Franchise for Women3, ranking #44; and a Top Franchise for 2nd Careers4, ranking #29. "We are thrilled to be included on these numerous Franchise Business Review lists," said Ward Morrison, president, Motto Franchising, LLC. "These awards showcase the strength of our brand and business model and are a testament to the power of the nationwide Motto Mortgage network." Earlier this year, Entrepreneur recognized Motto Mortgage on numerous 2020 franchise lists, including: the 41st annual Franchise 5005, as a Top New franchise brand6, a Fastest-Growing Franchise7, as well as one of the Best Franchise Brands5. Motto Mortgage, a "mortgage brokerage in a box," continues to disrupt the mortgage industry by providing exceptional service, more options, transparency and convenience for consumers. This model not only offers an ancillary business for current real estate brokerage firms, but also opportunities for mortgage professionals seeking to open their own businesses and independent investors interested in financial services. Each Motto Mortgage franchise is independently owned, operated and licensed. About Motto Mortgage The Motto Mortgage network is breaking the mold by giving the power of choice back to consumers with less jargon, more transparency, and even more options to choose from as they shop for the right home loan. With over 100 offices open in more than 30 states, Motto Franchising, LLC's unique national franchise mortgage brokerage model is the first of its kind in the United States. Created to disrupt the mortgage industry, the Motto Mortgage network connects loan originators and real estate agents to provide a seamless, personalized experience and one-stop shop for consumers. Motto Mortgage is the second member of the RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. family of brands. Each Motto Mortgage office is independently owned, operated and licensed. To learn more about Motto Mortgage, or for license information for a Motto Mortgage office, email [email protected], or visit www.mottomortgage.com/offices. 1Ranking based on survey results collected by Franchise Business Review between June 2018 and November 2019 from nearly 28,000 franchise owners for 307 US and Canadian participating franchise brands with a minimum of 10 franchisees. Motto franchise owner participation rate in the survey was 50.4%, and all Motto franchise owners open for at least 30 days and in good standing were included in the survey. 2Ranking based on survey results collected by Franchise Business Review between June 2018 and November 2019 from over 16,500 franchise owners across 156 US and Canadian participating franchise brands with an initial investment starting under $100K as reflected in their 2019 Franchise Disclosure Documents. 3Ranking based on survey results collected by Franchise Business Review between June 2018 and November 2019 from over 9,500 women franchise owners surveyed across 282 US and Canadian participating franchise brands. Over 36% of Motto franchise owners who participated in the survey self-identified as female in the survey. 4Ranking based on survey results collected by Franchise Business Review between June 2018 and November 2019 from over 2,500 "Second Career" franchisees surveyed across 168 US and Canadian participating franchise brands. "Second Career" franchisee was defined as franchise owners age 55+ that started their business within the last 5 years. Over 25% of Motto franchise owners who participated in the survey self-identified as "Second Career" franchisees. 5Franchise 500 ranking based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs and fees, support, size and growth, brand strength, and financial strength and stability, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2018 to July 2019 of 1,105 participating franchise systems. Entrepreneur also recognized Motto Mortgage as one the Best Franchise Brands of 2020 and named Motto Mortgage as one of the 9 youngest franchise brands on its 2020 Franchise 500 (Entrepreneur articles April 14 and May 4, 2020). 6Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Top New Franchise based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs, fees, size, growth and brand and financial strength, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2018 to July 2019 of 255 participating franchise systems open for 5 years or less as of July 31, 2019. 7Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Fastest-Growing Franchise based on the net number of franchise units added in the U.S, and Canada between August 2018 to July 2019 according to Entrepreneur magazine's review of units lists and Franchise Disclosure Documents of 1,105 participating franchises across all industries. This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a Motto Mortgage franchise. It is for informational purposes only. We will not offer you a franchise in states or other jurisdictions where registration is required unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration requirements in your state (or have been exempted therefrom) and a Franchise Disclosure Document has been delivered to you before the sale in compliance with applicable law. New York residents: This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can be made by prospectus only. Minnesota Reg. No. F-8089; Motto Franchising, LLC, 5075 South Syracuse St #1200, Denver, CO 80237, 1.866.668.8649. SOURCE Motto Mortgage Related Links http://www.mottomortgage.com Before COVID-19, Dame Nature Restaurant surrounded by a train station, hotel and offices in downtown Montreal was boosted by its location. In a typical September, the restaurant relies on office workers and other commuters for traffic once the tourism season slows down, says manager Cezar Narea. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A moose in an RCMP uniform wearing a mask and a cartoon cardboard cutout of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greet customers at a store selling souvenirs in the Byward Market in Ottawa, on Sunday, July 12, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business suggests that businesses in Canadas city centres are struggling more than their rural counterparts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Before COVID-19, Dame Nature Restaurant surrounded by a train station, hotel and offices in downtown Montreal was boosted by its location. In a typical September, the restaurant relies on office workers and other commuters for traffic once the tourism season slows down, says manager Cezar Narea. Now he envies the restaurants an hour outside the city, where locals hoping to avoid parking, construction and crowded sidewalks are flocking instead. Dame Nature isn't the only business seeing the tables turn, according to a new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which suggests that businesses in Canada's city centres are struggling more than their suburban and rural counterparts. CFIB data released on Wednesday indicates that 22 per cent of businesses polled in urban cores are at normal levels of sales compared to 37 per cent in rural areas. Overall, 66 per cent of survey respondents say their business is fully open, with 40 per cent are fully staffed and 28 per cent are making normal sales. CFIB represents about 110,000 small- and medium-sized businesses, and 5,119 members responded to the online survey, which ran from Aug. 13 to Aug. 18. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. Like Narea, CFIB executive vice-president Laura Jones says that empty downtown offices and non-existent international tourism are likely to blame. Narea estimates that sales are still down about 80 per cent, with the restaurant relying on a trickle interest from maitanence staff at nearby buildings. Once in a while, his regular patrons will drop by to say hello only to announce they are picking up something from the office, where they wont return until January 2021 or beyond. With government support programs coming to an end, and trains remaining on reduced schedules, Narea says he is worried about whether they will lose their 12 former staffers for good. "Everybody is trying to avoid downtown Montreal," he says. "Its going to be a very bad situation for us." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020. New Delhi: After the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a CBI investigation in late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, actress Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde has stated that the actress will cooperate with the probe agency as she did previously. "The Honble Supreme Court after examining the facts and circumstances of the case and the report of the Mumbai police has observed that it will be the desired justice as Rhea herself called for a CBI investigation. The Honble Supreme Court also observed that due to the allegations made by the two states of political interference against each other, it would be in the interest of justice to hand over the case to the CBI. Since the Court has Transferred the investigation to CBI invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, she will appear and face the investigation by the CBI as she has done earlier with the Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate. Rhea maintains that the Truth will remain the same whichever agency investigates the case", said Satish Maneshinde, Rhea's Advocate. The apex court on Wednesday said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court in its judgement said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. It has also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Several celebrities thronged social media after the SC judgement on CBI for SSR came. Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. His fans and family had been batting for a CBI for last two months, suspecting a foul play into this death. As he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden pledged that, if elected, his education department would be a sharp departure from that of President Donald Trump. Rather than promoting private school choice, as the Republican incumbent has, Biden pledged to dramatically increase federal aid to schools , including ambitious calls to triple the Title I funding targeted at students from low-income households and to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But there also are signs that a future Biden administration wouldnt return lock step to the education policies of President Barack Obama. And some of a Biden administrations education policy goals could take a back seat to the pressing matter of helping schools navigate the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which may alter their operations and threaten their budgets for years to come. Well make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective, Biden said as he accepted the Democratic Partys nomination Thursday night. In the same speech, Biden also said he would address the daily fear of being gunned down in school. Though hes campaigned heavily on his experience as Obamas vice president, Biden has departed on some key issues from that self-described supporter of education reform . Obamas education department championed rigorous state education standards, encouraged states to lift their caps on public charter schools to apply for big federal Race to the Top grants, and offered charter school conversions as an improvement strategy for struggling schools. By contrast, Biden called for a scale-back of standardized testing at a 2019 MSNBC education forum, and he criticized their use in teacher evaluations , a key policy goal of the Obama administration. Under the leadership of Bidens campaign, Democrats formally introduced a party platform this week that criticizes high-stakes testing and calls for new restrictions on charter schools. How much Bidens policy would depart from the last Democratic presidents is up for debate. But the Every Student Succeeds Act , the federal education law Obama signed at the end of his last term, may offer levers to make some policy changes. Your job as a vice president is to toe the line of your boss, said Julian Vasquez Heilig, the dean of the college of education at the University of Kentucky and a board member of the Network for Public Education, a progressive advocacy group. If Biden chooses, he can be his own person on education. Praise and Concern That suggestion of a new direction has won praise from groups like national teachers unions, which called for the resignation of Obamas long-serving education secretary, Arne Duncan, when Duncan advanced a push for teacher evaluations and other reforms. National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia called Biden and his running mate and one-time rival for the nomination, California Sen. Kamala Harris, a dream team that respects educators and will listen to those who know the names of the kids in the classrooms. But Bidens priorities, and the absence of discussions of school improvement during the Democratic primary, have also been met with concern from some education groups. If we only talk about the money side of the equation, thats not enough by itself, said Shavar Jeffries, president of Democrats for Education Reform. Thats where we need our president to be a leader and hold those institutions accountable. The organization, which supports charter schools and data-driven school accountability efforts, has praised Bidens push for more resources, but it has sounded the alarm about other changes recommended in the party platform. That platform language reflects some of Bidens comments during the primaries. In recorded interviews with the NEA, for example, he said a lot of charter schools are significantly underperforming and that charter schools cannot come at the expense of the public school. Neither Biden nor Harris included language on charters in their plans as candidates. But the platform languagecreated with input from a unity task force assembled by the campaigns of Biden and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanderscalls for a ban on federal funding for for-profit charter businesses. The language also calls for conditioning federal funding for new, expanded charter schools or for charter school renewals on a districts review of whether the charter will systematically underserve the neediest students, which has alarmed charter advocates who say the publicly funded, independently managed schools already face sufficient accountability. Charter schools are largely governed through state and local policy. But a presidential administration can help shape public debate on the issue. And a Biden administration could scale back support for charter schools in its discretionary grant priorities and regulations or in its proposed budgets. A Complete 180? A Biden administration wouldnt necessarily be a complete 180 from Obamas in terms of education, said Scott Sargrad, the vice president for K-12 education at the Democratically leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund, who served in the Obama Education Department. I think its important to know that we are [nearly] 12 years after the start of the first Obama administration, he said. Thats a long time in education reform. Theres been more clarity about some challenges in the charter sector in recent years, he said, flagging concerns about funding and governance of some for-profit charter management organizations as an example. In another key area, lawmakers rejected calls to do away with annual state testing when they drafted and passed the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. But the federal education law could give Biden tools to encourage changes to assessments. The evidence from nearly two decades of education reforms that hinge on standardized test scores shows clearly that high-stakes testing has not led to enough improvement in outcomes for students the new platform language says. Democrats will work to end the use of such high-stakes tests and encourage states to develop reliable, continuous, evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement. Bidens Education Department could seek to expand and support ESSAs innovative assessment pilot which allows up to seven states to experiment with new forms of student testing in a small number of districts, and eventually take them statewide if they are found to be effective. And he could work to provide additional support and funding for research on new forms of student assessment, Sargrad said. Others have pushed to scale back the frequency of testing or of the use of test scores to evaluate teachers. While Sargrad threw cold water on the idea of a possible massive shift in education priorities under a Biden administration, the University of Kentuckys Vasquez Heilig praised the possibility. I think everyone believes in accountability, he said. But I think the kind of accountability that we need is community engaged and multiple measures. Jeffries, of DFER, said he would want a potential Biden administration to ensure that Black and Latino students, children from low-income neighborhoods, and families without access to high-performing traditional public schools are protected through presidential policies. That means continuing to collect test data that is reliable and allows parents to monitor how schools are serving historically disadvantaged groups, he said. Civil Rights Enforcement Perhaps the biggest return to Obama-era policiesand a big departure from the education priorities of President Donald Trumps administrationwould be Biden and Harriss stated approach to student civil rights. Biden has committed to reinstating Obama-era civil rights guidance that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has rescinded in recent years. That includes a controversial directive on school discipline that warned that schools may be found in violation of federal civil rights laws if they discipline disproportionately high numbers of students of color, even if their policies were written without clear discriminatory intent. Biden also wants to reinstate guidance on the rights of transgender students and to undo DeVos new rule on responding to sexual assault and harassment at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. In a 2019 debate, Harris, as a presidential candidate, notably challenged Biden over his outspoken support of anti-busing bills as a senator in the 1970s, raising the prominence of school integration concerns in the primaries. Biden and Harris have both called for grants to encourage voluntary local desegregation efforts and the reinstatement of Obama-era civil rights guidance on voluntary integration. If elected, the pair could also focus on responding to civil rights complaints by examining data in search of systemic patterns of discrimination, rather than focusing merely on the incident in question. DeVos shifted case processing strategies early in the Trump administration, and she has touted her departments record for investigating and resolving complaints more quickly as a result. In response to school shootings, Biden has pushed for new gun laws, another priority that aligns with Obamas. He was Obamas point person after the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The administration pushed for millions of dollars in funding for student mental health, school resource officers, and research. But proposed new gun laws, including changes to mandated background checks, failed to win congressional approval. Speakers at the Democratic convention included Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie was killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in 2018. Guttenberg has said Biden called and comforted him in the immediate aftermath. Navigating a Crisis The newly minted Democratic tickets most prominent plans center on funding . Biden wants to expand federal support for wraparound student services, to allow schools to increase teacher pay, and to boost the availability of prekindergarten programs. And Harris campaigned on a plan to increase teacher salaries through a state-federal partnership. But it may be difficult to turn those plans into a reality, especially if Congress remains split along partisan lines. Proposals to triple Title I would add more than $30 billion to the federal education budget, dwarfing proposals by Democrats in recent years to raise total funding by about $4 billion. And whether Biden wins the election or Trump nets four more years, the next presidential term will draw a big parallel with Obamas early years in office: a crisis that threatens public education. Obama oversaw the countrys recovery from an economic recession, asking Biden to help oversee disbursement of $787 billion in stimulus funds, including $115 billion for education . Some education groups have said that even that infusion of federal cash wasnt enough to cancel out the recessions effects, and that some schools still havent returned to their previous staffing levels. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has created a dual economic and public health crisis that will continue to shape the work of the nations schools for years to come. The CARES Act, signed into law by Trump in March, directed $13.5 billion to public schools. Negotiations have stalled in Congress over the next relief bill, even as governors warn of dramatic cuts to public programs and schools if they cant shore up their suffering revenue. And, depending on how the crisis unfolds in the coming months, some have suggested the need for an additional relief package next year. Despite all the wonky attention to the details of Bidens education positions, his biggest mark on public schools may be helping them weather the crisis if hes elected, education groups have said. Thats a reality the Biden campaign touched on when the candidates wife, Jill Biden, spoke Tuesday night from the Delaware classroom where she once taught high school English. The rooms are dark as the bright young faces that should fill them are now confined to boxes on a computer screen, Jill Biden said, echoing the campaigns lament that many schools cant reopen to in-person classes because Trumps response to the pandemic was inadequate. Biden has released a plan on school reopenings that calls for more specific federal guidance on issues like health, safety, and social distancing. A Biden administration could also shape its response to the virus through the regulations his Education Department places on how new relief aid is spenta change in tone from Trumps emphasis on physically reopening school buildings amid continued public health precautionsor using the presidential soapbox to support more funding to rural broadband and school infrastructure. There ought to be a broad political consensus that the education implications of the pandemic are dramatically stark, Jeffries said. Fort Bend ISD students returned to virtual school Monday during a back-to-school season that is unlike any other as district officials navigate uncharted waters under the less-than-watchful eye of the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Despite the challenges, Superintendent Charles Dupre appeared upbeat and optimistic during a first-day update to trustees Monday as he detailed enrollment data, adjustments to address staffing shortages and development of a new Pandemic Management Plan to begin as is often the case for Fort Bend ISD projects, with the formation of a new advisory committee. Each week, committee members will review the various COVID-19 statistics and recommend one of three risk levels for each campus and the district as a whole: green, yellow or red. Code red indicates campus conditions are considered high risk. Code yellow means moderate risk and code green represents the lowest risk level. Weve invited a number of community members to join with some health care professionals to serve on a subcommittee of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), Dupre told trustees. District administrators will review the committees weekly recommendations; but remain free to approve or disregard the committees guidance, Dupre said. They are not the decision-making body; they are an advisory body that will be guiding me and staff in bringing recommendations forward, he said. MORE FROM KRISTI NIX: Fort Bend ISD issues statement disputing claims district ignored advice from medical advisory committee Assistant Superintendent for Early Childhood and School Carmella Levy David provided an overview via a PowerPoint presentation during the virtual school board meeting held via teleconference Monday. The goal of the Pandemic Management Plan is to ensure uninterrupted learning including safeguarding the health and safety of students and staff and guiding departments with transitional activities that must occur in each level, David said. Trustees will review the finalized Pandemic Development Plan at a special meeting scheduled for Aug. 31. For the first four weeks of school, students will attend online classes with the option for trustees to later extend virtual learning for an additional four weeks. In the meantime, a group of roughly 1,672 students will participate in online classes from one of the districts new Elementary or Secondary Learning Centers. Designed to offer support and classroom space to children of district employees, homeless students, students in foster care and families of active military personnel, a current staffing shortage caused delays and limited enrollment availability that left over 4,500 students on the waiting list. Additionally, a group of roughly 800 special needs students district administrators recommend should return for face-to-face learning are set to the return to the classroom along with special education teachers and district employees will start in-person classes Thursday, Aug. 25. Dupre said a decline in the number of special education teachers and support staff asking for medical waivers or uncomfortable returning to the classroom on short notice created a staffing shortage for the program and as a result, approximately 27 percent of the special education classrooms are without a teacher. On HoustonChronicle.com: Community leaders call for museum to honor Sugar Land 95 Overall district enrollment as of Monday totaled approximately 67.061, slightly more than 90 percent of the districts total enrollment of 76,371 students. Enrollment is expected to increase over the coming weeks. However, the numbers could shift due to the number of families that left Fort Bend ISD for private schools, charter schools and homeschooling programs which some parents say they prefer due to increased scheduling flexibility and control over the curriculum. Prior to the start of classes, Fort Bend ISD distributed more than 20,000 district laptops, over 3,300 iPads and roughly 3,870 Wi-Fi hotspots to students who needed a device or lacked Internet access for online classes, Dupre told trustees. On August 31, students and parents will register to continue online classes or enroll as returning students for face-to-face learning to begin at the end of the first four to eight week online session. Although the Pandemic Management Plan remains under-development, the districts new COVID-19 Safety Manual is now posted on the district website, as required by the TEA. The districts health and safety protocols are designed to meet guidelines put forward by the Centers for Disease Control, the TEA and county health and safety protocols, officials say. The 52-page document outlines what infection control measures and safety procedures will be implemented at the campus level such as social distancing, face masks, bus service with temperature checks before boarding and daily wellness checks among other measures. To offer support and help manage the process, district officials say a group of newly-hired wellness monitors will be assigned to each campus to assist with temperature and wellness checks as students and staff enter and leave the building, distribute facial coverings as needed and assist with contact tracing procedures among other duties. Contact tracing involves the process of interviewing infected employees or families of infected students to determine if other students or staff were exposed to the virus and alerting those individuals in order to block the chains of transmission. THE BIG DEBATE: Should you send your kid back to school? New study shows the risk on a county-wide basis District officials say contact tracing will be managed by campus-based COVID-19 Teams with members to include the school nurse, campus administrator, counseling staff and attendance related staff. Team members will be required to complete a COVID-19 Contact Tracing training offered by Johns Hopkins University. In the event of a student or employee tests positive or is sick and suspected of having the virus, team members will gather information and notify parents and employees that have been exposed by mail, email and by phone. Depending on the situation, district officials will determine whether exposed individuals should be asked to self-quarantine and for what length of time based on the data obtained during the contact tracing process. If it is found an employee or a student was exposed to a COVID-19 positive case, a 14-day quarantine period will be implemented as deemed necessary, according to the districts safety manual. Social Distancing The districts COVID-19 safety manual requires that social distancing protocols will be implemented in all district buildings and facilities as much as possible. Every effort will be made to ensure that everyone will be able to keep a minimum of six feet distance from one another in all situations, policy guidelines state, with a goal to keep students and employees separated by 45 square feet per person with desks to be spaced six feet apart. On HoustonChronicle.com: Cy-Fair teachers to return to classrooms after Texas Supreme Court suspends restraining order Social distancing protocols will also be in place as students and staff enter and leave buildings through the implementation of designated entrances designed to control the traffic flow and limiting the potential crowding and hallways may be configured to allow social distancing as students and staff make their way to and from classrooms. Facial coverings will be required for all staff and students above the third-grade with certain exceptions. Each staff member and student can expect to receive a reusable cloth facial covering provided by the District with students also be encouraged to bring their own facial coverings from home. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fort Bend ISD warehouse staff will be tasked with the distribution of an initial supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to each campus and district departments based on enrollment numbers provided by the Budget Office, according to the safety manual. If a student or an employee tests positive or develops symptoms or is exposed to someone with a confirmed or suspected case, safety guidelines require campus officials be notified and instructs students and employees instructed to stay home until they are fever-free (without the use of fever-reducing medication) for 3 days (72 hours) or with written clearance by a physician. If a student or employee gets sick while at school, district safety protocols mandate that employees leave the campus. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox Students will be isolated from other students and staff to wait until a parent or guardian can come to the school and pick them up. The districts COVID-19 safety manual makes no mention of testing sick students or staff at the campus before sending them home or to a healthcare facility. But district guidelines stipulate that students and staff who show symptoms and are sent home are not allowed to return to school until they are fever-free (without the use of fever-reducing medication) for 3 days (72 hours) or with written clearance by a physician. The districts safety manual includes a number of cleaning protocols including requirements that classrooms and other areas accessed by a COVID-19 positive person are to be closed for cleaning and disinfecting. The districts safety manual notes that guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommend waiting at least 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting if possible. Transportation guidelines included in the safety manual encourage parents to drop off and pick up students each day if possible. For those that ride the bus, drivers will be required to conduct contactless temperature checks as students board the bus. A parent or guardian must be available at the bus stop to take the student home in the event a student is found to have a fever. Students, teachers, and staff will be instructed to use hand sanitizer upon boarding the bus and will be required to maintain six feet of social distancing, which in most cases will be organized with one student per row on opposite sides of the bus. District guidelines require that buses be thoroughly cleaned after each bus trip including all high-touch surfaces such as bus seats, steering wheels, knobs, and door handles. knix@hcnonline.com 19.08.2020 LISTEN The Institute of Leadership and Development (INSLA), a non-government organisation has called on the government to stop accepting all kinds of assistance from the tobacco industry and its affiliates, worldwide. The Institute further urged the government to continue to protect the public health of Ghana's population against the profit motive of the tobacco industry and its allies. In a letter to the Chief of Staff, the Institute's Director, Mr. Benjamin Anabila further called on the Ghanaian government to continue to invest in the implementation of Tobacco Control Measures of ACT 851 as well as prioritising the Tobacco Control National Health Agenda in the fight against COVID - 19. INSLA bemoans that the tobacco industry even though fully aware of the consequences of its products, yet still invests heavily to create favourable environment for its business to thrive. Mr. Analiba further explains that the tobacco industry is engaged in all these humanitarian activities just to sway public attention from the negative impact of its products. "They only engage in humanitarian gestures such as the offering of financial donations and life-saving equipment including ventilators, hand sanitizers and face masks to government, in order to create good images for themselves. The tobacco industry uses its financial muscles to clean its negative image by putting governments and opinion leaders in a tight corner with regards to the implementation of future tobacco control policies. The tobacco industry, the INSLA Director further pointed out, only engages in humanitarian activities just to portray itself as a responsible entity that cares for the wellbeing of COVID 19 patients when in effect its products only aggravate their situation. He expressed the sorrow that tobacco and its related products are responsible for the death of about eight million people globally annually. According to him, Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to which Ghana is a party, requires that governments reject any form of collaboration with the tobacco industry. INSLA is a Ghanaian based non for profit Civil Society Organisation that strengthens leadership capacity and promotes development in Ghana and beyond. The goal of the Institute is to stimulate discussions and actions and humanity and the environment productive, safe, and healthier. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The last time a military junta seized power in Mali, in the spring of 2012, it lasted barely three weeks: International pressure, first from West African neighbors and then from the wider world, persuaded the coups leaders to return power to a civilian administration. But even in that short time, Tuareg rebels in the north capitalized on the political chaos in Bamako by grabbing large swaths of territory, effectively splitting the country in two. The north became a haven for terrorist groups, including Al Qaedas North African franchise. It would take a French military intervention, followed by a larger United Nations force, to push back the Tuareg rebels and their Islamist fellow travelers. Eight years on, that task is far from complete. Despite the presence of 15,000 UN peacekeepers, jihadist violence continues, not only in northern Mali, but also in its eastern neighbor, Burkina Faso. And a new menace now stalks the Sahel region: the Islamic State. With a new coup in Mali, the world can only hope events move even more quickly in Bamako than they did in 2012, but much more slowly in the north. As before, it will fall to Malis neighbors specifically, the Economic Community of West African States, known as Ecowas to broker a political resolution of the crisis. African forces, which make up the largest component of the UN presence, will also bear much of the burden of stanching the Islamist resurgence. The new junta has promised a transition to democracy, without offering a timeline. Ecowas is unimpressed: It has denounced the coup, called for sanctions against its leaders and demanded the restoration of the constitutional order. Member states have closed their borders to Mali and suspended trade. This brand of diplomatic hardball brought the 2012 coup leaders to the table. Much will depend on whether Ecowas presses for the reinstatement of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was forced to resign by the junta. Eight years ago, the group pressured his predecessor, Amadou Toumani Toure, to resign, which then allowed the coup leaders to back down and hand power to a transitional administration under the president of the National Assembly, Dioncounda Traore. Story continues But that solution may not work this time. A powerful alliance of opposition groups, led by the conservative cleric Mahmoud Dicko, will demand a say in the succession. The group, known collectively as the M5-RFP, the French acronym for June 5 Movement Rally of Patriotic Forces, has been leading protests in Bamako all summer long. M5-RFP is unlikely to go along with a transitional government led by the current president of the National Assembly, Moussa Timbine, a Keita acolyte whose election to the assembly was among those denounced by opposition groups as fraudulent. They have already rejected a previous Ecowas proposal for a unified government. Nor will they tolerate a repeat of the 15-month interregnum between the end of the 2012 coup and elections in 2013. But the unity of the opposition groups gives Ecowas something to work with. For now, the regional bloc will likely not have to reprise its 2017 intervention in Gambia, when member states mustered troops to persuade President Yahya Jammeh to cede power. Nor is France keen to play a major role in resolving the crisis in Bamako: President Emmanuel Macron, after a quick round of calls to the leaders of neighboring states, said he would support Ecowass efforts. Macron has tended to view Mali primarily as a counterterrorism challenge, but the coup should serve as a lesson one all too familiar to American presidents that the failure to address political problems undermines all other agendas. The French leader can only hope that the Ecowas leadership can find a solution before matters get any worse in Bamako and the jihadists feel emboldened elsewhere. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He writes on foreign affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East and Africa. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Wyomings Legislature is on track to welcome a new face from Natrona County when the body convenes for a general session in January. Kevin OHearn scored a win in the contentious race for House District 59 on Tuesday, securing 45% of Republican votes, with a majority of precincts reporting as of press time. Many voters had considered HD-59 a battleground district among Wyomings Statehouse races, given its unusual split between three competitive candidates. The district encompasses west Casper, Mills and sections of rural Natrona County. Voters in this district havent had the opportunity to select a new candidate in years, with former Rep. Bunky Loucks having held the seat since 2011. The race pitted a trio of candidates with ample business experience and a self-proclaimed knack for problem-solving against one another. The race included David Carpenter, Leah Juarez and OHearn. Mills Town Planner OHearn had to fight to keep his new seat as HD-59s brand new representative. The Natrona County Commissioners selected OHearn, a former businessman, on July 28 to replace Loucks until January. Loucks resigned to focus on his business during the COVID-19 pandemic. OHearn, a long-time business owner and U.S. army veteran, has lived in the district for 55 years. He ran on a campaign emphasizing his conservative approach to public service, including support for residents Second Amendment rights, prudent municipality improvements and legislation supporting small businesses. Tuesdays election arrives at a time when the largely tax-adverse state faces an unprecedented budget shortfall and dimming energy industry. A preliminary report presented to Wyoming lawmakers this spring revealed the state could face a $1.5 billion revenue decline between March 2020 and June 2022 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and collapse in oil, significantly darkening projections made back in January. David Carpenter, who arrived in the race with a robust background in energy and business, has said the role of state government should be limited. Free markets should largely run on their own. He has acknowledged the need to institute steep budget cuts and confront the current economic downturn. Leah Juarez, a local businesswoman, built a campaign platform centered on conservative budgeting, no tax increases and across the board cuts to all state-funded services to address the states fiscal crisis. Many of her positions mirrored those held by OHearn, a fact both candidates have admitted to. Juarez has also come out against Medicaid expansion, but remains a staunch proponent of the Second Amendment. House District 59 Senate District 28, Republican: Jim Anderson defeats Ryan Jackson Senate District 30, Republican: Charles Scott defeats Charles Schoenwolf House District 37, Republican: Steve Harshman defeats Gregory Paul Flesvig House District 38, Republican: Tom Walters defeats Michael Pedry House District 58, Republican: Patrick Pat Sweeney defeats Burton Schoenwolf House District 59, Republican: Kevin O'Hearn defeats David Carpenter and Leah Juarez No Democratic candidate made a run for HD-59 this year. Incumbent Republican Sens. Jim Anderson and Charles Scott of Natrona County both held their seats against contenders in Tuesdays election. Casper Republican Reps. Pat Sweeney, Steve Harshman and Tom Walters also scored victories to retain their positions in the Legislature. Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 2 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A resident is taken from the Epping Hardens Aged Care Home on July 29, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Aged Care Hotspots Stable but Fragile: Australian PM The prime minister is confident most aged care homes devastated by coronavirus outbreaks are becoming increasingly stable. But Scott Morrison concedes a handful of Melbourne centres on an acute watch list remain in a fragile position. Victoria recorded 12 more deaths on Aug. 19all of them linked to aged caretaking the national toll to 450. Morrison said staffing issues and the disposal of personal protective equipment were a daily struggle. Its a challenging environment and theres a mixture of issues in each and every facility and they have to be treated on a case-by-case basis, he told reporters on Aug. 19. More than 750 aged care residents have been transferred to private hospitals. But the prime minister said this was not an enduring solution. The answer is not just to line up a team of ambulances outside of an aged care facility, he said. Doctors are calling for an urgent risk assessment of all nursing homes to prevent outbreaks seen in Victorian happening across the country. The Australian Medical Association said aged care was in crisis long before the pandemic began and failures of governance and care had only been amplified by COVID-19. Hundreds of elderly Australians have died needlessly and without family by their side, AMA president Omar Khorshid said. Had our calls and recommendations over the past decade been heeded and implemented, we would not be facing the crisis to the extent we are currently seeing in aged care in Victoria. Victoria recorded 216 new coronavirus cases on Aug. 19, its lowest daily increase in five weeks. NSW had seven new cases including two returned travellers. WA recorded four casesa family in hotel quarantine who had returned from overseas. The prime minister has been challenged to take the blame for a litany of failures in Victorian nursing homes, which are regulated by the federal government. But Morrison insists the responsibility is shared with the state government. We regulate aged care but when there is a public health pandemic then they are things that are matters for Victoria, he said. The aged care royal commission has castigated the federal government for failing to have a plan to protect the elderly. Meanwhile, Australia is a step closer to securing a potential coronavirus vaccine after the government struck an early agreement with developers in the UK. If the trial proves successful, the prime minister would like to make the vaccine free but has ruled out making it mandatory for all Australians. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth says officials will work to reassure Australians the vaccine is safe and effective. Coatsworth expects most Australians to get the vaccination, but says programs to incentivise the jab will be considered. The number of confirmed cases around the world has pushed past 22 million. By Daniel McCulloch in Canberra Sitting for long periods, undoubtedly, isnt healthy for our bodies, posture or wellbeing. In recent times, when many individuals are working from home and not being in the office as much, staying in shape and exercising as many would wish, may prove a daunting task. Here are 5 simple and effective exercises from Herbalife Nutrition, a leading health & wellness brand. These can be done in between meetings, calls or tasks from the comfort of your home. Mini Triceps Dips: Strengthen your upper arms with this simple but very effective exercise! Place your hands at the edge of as chair, so that theyre shoulder-width apart. Slide your bottom off the chair and hold yourself up with straight arms. Slowly bend your arms from the elbows and go as low as you can, while keeping your back close to the chair. Push yourself back up and return to the starting position. Repeat 20 times. Y-Press: Tone your way to stronger shoulders and a better posture with this desk-friendly exercise. Start off by sitting at the edge of a chair with a dumbbell in each hand, up near your shoulders, palms facing forward and elbows down at your sides. Straighten your arms by moving them upwards and outwards, so that they form a Y shape with your body. Return to the start position and repeat 15 - 20 times. Chair Plank: Sculpt and tighten your core muscles with this variation on a classic exercise. Start by placing your forearms on a chair with your hands touching each other. Extend your legs with your toes on the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button towards your spine. Make sure that you maintain a straight line from your head-to-toe without lifting or sinking your hips. Hold for 45 seconds and remember to keep breathing! Bulgarian Split Squat: Bulgarian Split Squats are recommended for stronger legs and tauter tummy muscles. Stand in front of a chair. Put your left foot on the chair behind you. Bend your right leg at the knee until the left knee almost touches the floor. Keep your back straight with your hands on your hips. Straighten your right leg and go back to the starting position. Repeat 20 times. Change legs. Put your right foot on the chair behind you and do the same exercise 20 times. Chair Sit-Up: Sit-ups are a great way to strengthen your core, hip flexors and lower back! Start by lying on your back and place your lower legs onto a chair. Put your palms on the back of your head, so that your elbows are bent and pointing outward. Take a deep breath in, pull your belly button in towards your spine and lift yourself up towards your to your thighs. Do this in one smooth and steady motion, while keeping your calves and feet on the chair. Lower yourself down to the floor so youre back in the starting position. Repeat 10 times. Herbalife Nutrition is a global nutrition company whose purpose is to make the world healthier and happier. The Company has been on a mission for nutrition - changing people's lives with great nutrition products and programs - since 1980. Herbalife Nutritions targeted nutrition, weight-management, energy and fitness and personal care products are available exclusively to and through its independent members in more than 90 countries. Through its corporate social responsibility efforts, Herbalife Nutrition supports the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation (HNF) and its Casa Herbalife programmes to help bring good nutrition to children in need. Herbalife Nutrition is also proud to sponsor more than 190 world-class athletes, teams and events around the globe. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Paris, TX (75460) Today Windy. Cloudy skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 24F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Windy. Cloudy skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 24F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Arrayit seemed to have turned things around. Five years ago, an auditor for the Sunnyvale medical technology company told investors it needed cash and might not be able to get it. But by late 2018, the company had completed a pilot program for allergy testing with a retail chain and signed contracts with 178 medical clinics. The coronavirus pandemic seemed like a fresh opportunity for Arrayits blood-test technology. President Mark Schena reportedly compared adding tests for the virus to a pastry chef switching from making strawberry pies to rhubarb and strawberry pies. Instead, Schena has found himself and his company a test subject for law enforcement, as the Department of Justice pursued its first securities-fraud prosecution in relation to the health crisis. Schena was taken into federal custody in June. The government charges, as well as other court documents and company communications reviewed by The Chronicle, show a company seeking many sources of revenue and willing to pursue payment for tests even after they had figured into fraud accusations. In the governments version of events, Schena misled investors and inflated the companys stock price with false claims about the companys coronavirus and allergy testing capabilities. He allegedly bribed doctors and others to unnecessarily bundle the tests and generate fraudulent payments from the federal Medicare program and insurance companies. Prosecutors say Schena and others submitted $69 million in fraudulent charges for allergy and coronavirus testing, including $5.9 million in claims submitted to Medicare. The company has not responded to emailed requests for comment, and company executives including Schena could not be reached for comment. The charges are not the companys first brush with the courts. In February, the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico sued Arrayit in federal court, accusing it of playing a shell game with research equipment the university said it paid tens of thousands of dollars for but never received, alleging the company ultimately resold it elsewhere and kept the money. The company has denied the allegations in court papers filed on behalf of Mark Schena and his wife, Rene Schena, who is Arrayits CEO. The Schenas said the university repeatedly canceled the order for more than $126,000 in equipment. That case is ongoing. So apparently is the companys effort to receive payments for coronavirus and allergy tests similar to those described in the federal criminal complaint. After the criminal charges were brought in June, Rene Schena asked Wendy Woodward of Snowflake, Ariz. to pay up for an unpaid balance for a coronavirus and allergy test administered by another company but processed by Arrayit. Woodward went to a local site in Arizona in May to get a coronavirus antibody test that was supposed to be free through her husbands employer, a local school district. She said she specifically asked not to have an allergy test done on a blood sample she provided, after getting the impression the two tests had to be done together. Special to The Chronicle She received a call notifying her that she had tested negative for coronavirus antibodies and separately received a report on her allergies. On July 20 she received a settlement offer from Rene Schena requesting $869.09 to settle the balance not covered by her insurance, which had been billed thousands of dollars. Woodward eventually emailed Rene Schena informing her she would not pay for the testing. Schena sought to distance her company from the process. Arrayit Corporation did not advertise anything. Arrayit Corporation did not charge for SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing, Rene Schena wrote, referring to the virus by its scientific name. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Schena continued, We do not see patients. We process tests and provide the information to doctors. Doctors determine medical necessity. Your tests were ordered by a doctor, we reported the results to the doctor, and we billed your insurance for services rendered. Schena did not address the allegations against her husband. She said it was standard for patients to pay deductibles and co-pays for laboratory services, adding, We (do) not intend to pursue hard collections on the amount due. The company that administered the test, Advanced Health & Wellness AZ, told Woodward in an email that only insurance was supposed to be billed for the testing and that balance billing of patients was not supposed to happen. The company declined to make anyone available for comment. Advanced Health & Wellness AZ told Woodward that allergy tests are sometimes done in tandem with coronavirus tests to rule out allergies as a cause of virus symptoms. From a medical standpoint, the reason we believe allergy testing is good along with a COVID test, is there can be similar symptoms (that) occur with allergies that make people think they have COVID-19, the company wrote to Woodward. (Its) beneficial from a medical standpoint to rule that out, it added. Again we are not condoning what (Arrayit) has done. The U.S. Attorneys Office in San Francisco declined to comment on a pending case. Federal authorities spoke with Woodward as part of their investigation. A preliminary hearing in the case has been set for next month. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice State-owned Hospital E in Hanoi has decided to suspend receiving patients and visitors from 8pm August 19 after a suspected case of coronavirus was detected. Hanoi's Hospital E. This decision was made after Hanoi announced a Covid-19 case who is a patient undergoing treatment at Hospital E. The case has not been counted yet by the Ministry of Health. From 8pm of August 19, Hospital E will temporarily apply lockdown measures, stop receiving patients, medical examination and treatment. Ngo Van Quy, Vice Chair of the Hanoi People's Committee announced this evening that a 87-year-old man returning to Hanoi from Phu Tho province has tested positive for the virus after visiting the hospital for treatment recently . The man had a high temperature and a belly ache on August 10. He visited Hospital E for check-ups on August 12 and then stayed at his relatives house near the hospital. The following day, he was admitted to the hospital for a chest CT scan which showed his lung had been damaged. The patient was tested for COVID-19 by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on August 18 and the positive result was confirmed one day later. The patient has been transmitted to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment. This is the 12th locally acquired coronavirus case Hanoi has registered since the virus recurred in Vietnam on July 25. Most of the cases were closely linked to the Da Nang outbreak that occurred in late July. Hanoi has tracked down more than 100,000 people recently returning from Da Nang, including 74,000 coming back between July 15-29. The city has conducted PCR tests for nearly 70,000 people and the sampling is expected to be completed on August 20. Thuy Hanh Hanoi imposes social distancing at restaurants, cafes All restaurants and cafes must strictly follow regulations on COVID-19 prevention or face closure, said vice-chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Ngo Van Quy. This time, however, Uber and Lyft are fighting with diminished leverage as the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place orders have made ride-share volume nosedive. At one point in the fight against the California law, Ubers chief attorney unleashed a corker, arguing that drivers work is outside the usual course of Ubers business. Central to the ride-hailing companies argument against the state law is that drivers would lose the flexibility they cherish the ability to log into the app when they choose to see if there is a desirable fare. But labor experts say Uber and Lyft could classify drivers as employees while still providing them flexible work schedules. There are countless companies that offer part-time work and a range of benefits based on how much you work, said William B. Gould IV, a Stanford University law professor and former National Labor Relations Board chairman. What these companies have created isnt innovation, its exploitation. Uber and Lyft note that in surveys, the majority of drivers say they prefer the contractor model. But this elides the fact that most drivers log just a few hours per week or per month, while a smaller group of full-time drivers account for the vast majority of rides and hours logged on the app. Those full-time workers are effectively employees without any of the benefits of being employees. The more compelling argument against the California law may be that the higher costs of paying for guaranteed wages and benefits will have to be passed along to passengers. But the truth is that these companies have trained customers to expect artificially low fares, and its time riders dug deeper into their wallets to reflect the real cost of taking an Uber or a Lyft. This could be beneficial for the companies as well: By subsidizing the rides, Uber and Lyft have racked up billions in losses. They appear to be biding their time until ubiquitous self-driving cars mean they can eliminate drivers once and for all. And even under contract worker model, there is little evidence that Uber and Lyft have a sustainable business model. Together, they lost a staggering $11.1 billion last year and another $3.3 billion in this years first quarter before the full force of the pandemic took hold. Its likely they would have to raise fares soon anyway. Mass. town paints over Noah's Ark display on playground after complaint Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The town of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, has painted over a biblical display on a library playground following a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist group. Stevens Memorial Library had featured at its playground a turning picture game of Noah's Ark, which FFRF said violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Madeline Ziegler, a staff attorney at FFRF, sent a letter to Terri Antsiss, director of the library, on July 22 on behalf of a concerned community member. Each section of the turning game contains a passage from the tale [of Noah's Ark], which is paraphrased from the book of Genesis in order to be more easily understood, Ziegler explained in the letter. After citing legal precedent holding that permanent displays on public land are government speech and that the display of this biblical tale on public property confers government endorsement of religion, Ziegler complained that the biblical display has the effect of privileging one religion over others and alienates the nearly 26% of American adults who identify as nonreligious. Ziegler urged the library to remove this turning picture game from the playground and refrain from approving any such displays in the future and requesting a written response detailing the steps taken to resolve this matter. Ultimately, the town of Ashburnham responded to the FFRFs request. Thank you for bringing this matter to the towns attention, Ashburnham Town Administrator Brian Doheny wrote in an e-mail to the nonprofit organization. In response to your letter, the town has painted over both sides of the display with white paint so no symbolism is shown. In response to the decision to paint over the biblical display, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor claimed victory. Were pleased the town realized that allowing biblical preaching to children at a public institution isnt in keeping with our nations secular ideals, she said. This is not the first time that a biblical playground display has been targeted by a secularist organization. In 2014, a similar playground display in Newark, Delaware, that also told the story of Noahs Ark, became the subject of a complaint against the city spearheaded by the D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its local chapter, Delaware Valley Americans United. DVAU received citizen complaints from some atheist grandparents who did not want their grandchildren to see the Bible verses or the cartoon rendition of the Noahs Ark story, Janice Rael, vice president of DVAU, told The Christian Post at the time. Like the complaint filed against the biblical display in Ashburnham, the complaint in Newark alleged that the playground equipment was in violation of the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution, according to a city official who spoke with CP. Not long after DVAU issued the complaint, the city of Newark decided to remove the display, which was located at a childrens playground at Norma B. Handloff Park. While secular groups continue to call for the removal of biblical displays in public places, not all of their efforts have been met with success. Three years after a federal judge sided with FFRF and another secular group by ruling that a cross at a public park in Pensacola, Florida, must come down, a panel of judges on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 34-foot tall cross could remain in place. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that a 40-foot tall cross erected to honor the memory of World War I soldiers in Bladensburg, Maryland, did not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Three adults and two minors are in custody after a car chase in stolen vehicles led to both vehicles being crashed on Sunday morning. A burglary was reported on Saturday, where unknown suspects entered a house at night, stole a purse with keys to two vehicles (a 4runner and a Toyota Tacoma), and then took the vehicles themselves. The next day, police said they spotted both vehicles and attempted to pull them over. However, both cars tried to flee, causing a pursuit. This pursuit ended with both vehicles being wrecked. Police said they saw multiple occupants flee one of the vehicles. The driver was a 16-year-old, who was detained. The crashed Tacoma had four occupants, who were also detained. Terrence Byrd, Colby Daniel, Jeffery Thomas and one other juvenile were those taken into custody. Police said the 16-year-old signed his Miranda Rights form, and said he was not driving the 4runner. Police said body camera footage showed him coming out of the drivers seat after the wreck. Byrd said he was just picked up and did not know who was driving the vehicle. The other minor was another 16-year-old, and police said he admitted to stealing and driving the vehicle. The stolen gun found inside was his. He told police he found the vehicle unlocked with the keys inside but police said that did not match the facts. Daniel said he, like Byrd, was just picked up and in a passenger seat. Byrd, 23, of 1020 W. 37th St.; Daniel, 18, of 7711 Wimberly Dr., and Thomas, 22, of 35 Frawley Road, East Ridge, are all facing aggravated burglary and theft over $10,000. According to US Intelligence agencies, Iran had offered bounties to Taliban fighters so they can target US troops and coalition troops in Afghanistan. The payments that are linked to six attacks were carried out by the Taliban in 2019, including a suicide bombing at a US airbase back in December. Bounties on US troops CNN reported that bounties were paid by Iran to the Haggani network, a terrorist group that is led by the second-highest-ranking leader of the Taliban, for their attack on the Bagram Air Base back in December 2019. The attack killed two civilians and injured 70 others, including 4 American personnel. According to a Pentagon briefing document, the name of the foreign government that made the payments are classified but two sources that are familiar with the intelligence confirmed to CNN that it was Iran who paid the terrorist group. The United States killed an Iranian general in Iraq a month after the Bagram attack, but after a long process involving numerous agencies to create options aimed at countering Iran's support for militant groups in Afghanistan. The decision was made in March 2020 not to take any action as officials did not want to jeopardize the peace process with the Taliban. Also Read: Air Force Approves B-21 Avionics, Says the Stealth Bomber is On Track The revelation about the bounties on US troops follows the recent controversy over Russian bounties for attacks on American troops, an issue that has not been thoroughly discussed by the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Russia has denied the allegation. Trump administration's desire to protect the peace talks with the Taliban came after their lack of condemnation of Iran or the Taliban and the decision to not pursue a military or diplomatic response, as reported by The Guardian. The agreement was signed in February 2020 and it is helping President Trump fulfill his campaign promise of removing American troops in Afghanistan. Worried officials The attack at Bagram, which is known as the most prominent US military installation in Afghanistan, rattled officials who are working on Afghanistan issues because it showed the vulnerabilities of some of the American compounds. Pentagon briefing documents showed that a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices or SVBIED were also used in the attack. Around 10 Taliban fighters engaged in a firefight with local security forces after the incident and were killed by US airstrikes. Days after the attack, the sentiments factored the assessments done by US intelligence officials from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Counterterrorism Center. US intelligence officials acknowledge that the Haggani Network would not really require payment in exchange for targeting the US troops, the Pentagon document showed that the funding linked to the Bagram attack last year was incentivized, as reported by Business Insider. Iran has been known to use proxies for conducting attacks throughout the country but in the months after the bombing at Bagram, US officials across different agencies were also tasked with investigating Tehran's relationship with the Haggani Network in Afghanistan and developing specific response options. However, despite all of these, it still poses a great threat to US interests. The National Security Council officials recommended in March that the Trump administration should not take any specific steps toward addressing the Iran-Haggani Network issue as it may have a negative impact on the peace efforts. Related Article: Trumps Wants to Meet Putin Before November Elections @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has congratulated Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on her appointment as Finance Minister. "I congratulate Chrystia Freeland with being appointed Canada's first female Minister of Finance," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. Also, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed conviction that further developing trade and economic ties between Ukraine and Canada will help mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. As reported, on Tuesday, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland as Minister of Finance of Canada. According to media reports, she will also retain the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the country. Freeland is of Ukrainian origin and she served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country in 2017-2019. post - Getty The US postmaster general on Tuesday night said he was suspending controversial cuts until after the presidential election following allegations from Democrats that the vote was being manipulated in favour of Donald Trump. Louis DeJoy, who has donated more than $2 million to Mr Trump and the Republican party since 2016, had been introducing reductions in service and overtime, and removing mail sorting machines and collection boxes, as he sought to overhaul the loss-making Postal Service . It had caused a political firestorm with postal unions across the country warning they would be unable to cope with an expected surge in mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats claimed the White House was attempting to sabotage the postal service to undermine the legitimacy of the election and suppress the vote. Mr Trump has denied trying to slow down postal voting. Mr DeJoy's reversal came after Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the House of Representatives, called it back into session to address the issues at the post office. He has been called to testify before committees in the House and the Senate within days, and there have been protests outside his house in Washington. Mrs Pelosi said: "We have to save the post office from the president now." More than 20 US states had also announced they would be suing to stop the cuts. In a statement Mr DeJoy said: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. "The Postal Service is ready to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives." Planned cuts had included taking offline 671 mail-sorting machines, about 10 per cent of the national total. Mail-in ballots could account for as many as half of all votes cast in November's election. Mr Trump has opposed a request from Democrats for $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service. The president has also said widespread mail-in voting will be a "disaster". Story continues He said: "You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere." Mr Trump said delayed results could mean that the Nov. 3 election would need to be held a second time. He said: "They'll have to do it again, and nobody wants that." It came as the senate intelligence committee released a 996-page report concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and meddling was ordered by Vladimir Putin. The report also said the FBI gave "unjustified credence" to allegations in a dossier compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele when investigating Mr Trump's campaign. "Within the FBI, the dossier was given a veneer of credibility by lax procedures and layered misunderstandings," the report said. The update will be available worldwide and will cover a variety of natural and manmade features. "Whether you are exploring a new place or gearing up to head around town, you can use Google Maps to see a more colourful, easy-to-understand representation of the world starting this week. To see natural features, zoom out on Google Maps," Sujoy Banerjee, Product Manager, Google Maps said in a statement on ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. 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Digital Editor Velodyne Lidar, Inc. today announced it was selected as Hardware Supplier of the Year by a panel of industry expert judges for the TU-Automotive awards. The award recognizes Velodyne as the top hardware supplier globally which had a stellar year, specifically relating to its development, adoption and integration of automotive technology into vehicles. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005134/en/ Anand Gopalan, Velodyne Lidar CEO. (Photo: Velodyne Lidar, Inc.) Velodyne focuses on delivering high-quality lidar sensor products and helping deliver the promise of safer mobility. The company once again proved this by introducing new perception solutions to advance the autonomous and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) markets. Velodyne introduced the Puck 32MR sensor, a compact sensor with state-of-the-art capabilities. Following that, Velodyne introduced the Alpha Prime, which provides a world-class combination of field-of-view, range and image quality. The company also launched Velabit, Velodynes smallest sensor which brings new levels of versatility and affordability to 3D lidar perception. Velodyne has a diverse product portfolio with sensors that provide surround view, directional, long- and close-range capabilities. In 2019, Velodyne scaled production by licensing core lidar technology to Tier 1 supplier Veoneer for a long-term, high-volume manufacturing agreement with a global automaker. Velodyne also announced an agreement with Hyundai Mobis to launch a new ADAS-based lidar that integrates Velodyne lidar technology and Hyundai Mobis cognitive software. The Velodyne VELARRAY-based system is designed specifically to advance ADAS features in consumer vehicles. Winning this prestigious award further demonstrates how Velodyne innovations are a widespread catalyst for the acceleration of autonomous vehicle development and enhancing advanced driver assistance systems, said Anand Gopalan, Velodyne Lidar CEO. We take great pride in how our products help our customers. Velodyne Lidar is working to deliver on the promise of safer mobility by advancing our technology to save cost, save lives and reduce injuries. The 2020 TU-Automotive Awards recognize company performance in automotive technology, achieved from January 1, 2019 to February 19, 2020. The winners were honored in a virtual ceremony during the Informa Tech Automotive Groups Festival of Automotive held August 18 to 20. For more information about the awards and virtual conference, visit https://automotive.knect365.com/tu-auto-detroit/. About Velodyne Lidar Velodyne provides smart, powerful lidar solutions for autonomy and driver assistance. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Velodyne is known worldwide for its portfolio of breakthrough lidar sensor technologies. Velodynes founder, David Hall, invented real-time surround view lidar systems in 2005 as part of Velodyne Acoustics. Mr. Halls invention revolutionized perception and autonomy for automotive, new mobility, mapping, robotics, and security. Velodynes high-performance product line includes a broad range of sensing solutions, including the cost-effective Puck, the versatile Ultra Puck, the autonomy-advancing Alpha Prime, the ADAS-optimized VELARRAY, and the groundbreaking software for driver assistance, Vella. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005134/en/ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has approved arrangements for the evacuation of stranded Ghanaians in Dubai to Accra. According to a communique from Ghanas mission, the stranded Ghanaians will be airlifted to Accra on Thursday, August 27, 2020, from Dubai at 07:30 hours and will arrive in Ghana on the same day at 11:30 hours. It should be noted that persons who wish to take advantage of the flight are to make reservations on the Emirates website to enable them to arrive in Dubai to board the flight to Accra at the scheduled date and time, the communique sighted by GhanaWeb said. The communique stated further that interested persons must have paid for the cost of hotel reservations directly to some three selected hotels before departure. The least the persons arriving in Ghana will pay is GH6,300 (a little over$1,100) for the mandated fourteen days stay at the designated hotels. When Ghana closed its borders in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many Ghanaians resident abroad became stranded. There were calls for government to assist willing Ghanaians stranded in countries across the globe to return home. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Secretary of State Colin Powell led a group of former top national security officials at the Democratic convention Tuesday in denouncing President Trump's flirtations with despots and casting his challenger, Joe Biden, as a steady leader to protect America from dangers around the world. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries never the other way around," Powell, a top advisor to three Republican presidents, said in a videotaped speech with the Washington Monument as his nighttime backdrop. "He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots." In a separate video featuring more than half a dozen other former senior national security officials, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Trump had "degraded and debased the presidency and our country in the eyes of the world." He said it was a "dereliction of duty" for Trump not to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence reports that his nation was offering bounties to Afghan forces for killing American troops. "You're failing the troops," said Hagel, who was a Republican senator from Nebraska before President Obama put him in charge of the Pentagon. "You're failing this country." Brett McGurk, a former special presidential envoy for the international coalition to defeat Islamic State under both Obama and Trump, said he was shocked that Trump declined to challenge Putin over the reported bounties. In 36 years in the Air Force, he said, "I've led space squadrons, nuclear missile squadrons, and I never thought I would have a president who is a danger to national security. Also appearing in the video was Marie Yovanovitch, the career foreign service officer who testified in Trump's impeachment proceedings about her ouster as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in a plot to smear Biden. She said world leaders trust Biden's judgment and "know that his word is good." Story continues "He will do the right thing no matter the political cost," she said. More than 200 national security experts who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations have endorsed Biden in a letter that asserts Trump poses an existential danger to the United States. The letter, signed by former intelligence officers, diplomats and counterterrorism directors, warns of catastrophic results should Trump win a second term, saying, Democracy itself is at stake. Powell, a retired four-star general, was national security advisor to President Reagan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush and secretary of State under President George W. Bush. Powell crossed party lines to endorse Obama for president in 2008 and 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. In his video endorsing Biden on Tuesday, Powell said American adversaries "will know he means business." "He will restore America's leadership in the world," Powell said, "and restore the alliances we need to address the dangers that threaten our nation from climate change to nuclear proliferation." Former Secretary of State John F. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, appeared in a separate video making scathing attacks on Trumps foreign policy. Under Obama, Kerry said, we stopped Ebola before it became a pandemic. Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world, and like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it. She recently returned back to Los Angeles with daughter True and on/off ex Tristan Thompson after a getaway to Turks and Caicos for Kylie Jenner's 23rd birthday. And on Wednesday, Khloe Kardashian shared an adorable snap as she posed alongside True, two. The gushing mom, 36, sweetly captioned the image with: 'Mommy's baby FOREVA!!!' So sweet: Khloe Kardashian shared an adorable snap as she posed alongside True, two on Wednesday morning 'Be nice or get grounded': Khloe had a sassy response to a commenter Khloe looked gorgeous in a silky black and white number, adding red lipstick and smokey eye makeup. She styled her brunette tresses sleek and center parted to round out her look. True grinned next to her mom in the image while Khloe blew a kiss to the camera. Khloe also shared two snaps of Khloe holding her in her arms while in their backyard; the mom of one also showcased her sleek hair in a video. Too cute for words: Khloe also shared two snaps of Khloe holding her in her arms while in their backyard Another one: The adorable mom and daughter duo posed for another snap She had revealed her entire ensemble the day before while posing in her closet; the silky number featured a bird detail and grazed the floor. The item was actually sleepwear, as she tagged the brand she got it from. Khloe's posts comes just days after returning back to Los Angeles following a fun filled trip to Turks and Caicos to celebrate sister Kylie Jenner's birthday. She went via Kylie's private jet Kylie Air with True and on/off beau Tristan Thompson, 29. Looking great: The mom of one also showcased her sleek hair in a video It's a vibe: She had revealed her entire ensemble the day before while posing in her closet; the silky number featured a bird detail and grazed the floor Fun in the sun: Khloe's posts comes just days after returning back to Los Angeles following a fun filled trip to Turks and Caicos to celebrate sister Kylie Jenner's birthday Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can: Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. As children prepare to return to school, the parents of children with underlying health conditions such as cancer, blood disorders and asthma are worried if in-person classroom instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic can be safe for their already at-risk children. | Photo: Rob Spahr | Video: Reed Wolfley QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Are kids really less likely to contract COVID-19 or merely less likely to show symptoms and negative effects? What else is known about COVID-19 and children? What do we know about COVID-19 and children with a weak immune system? How should I decide if my child should attend school this fall? In North Carolina, Phase 2 was recently extended another five weeks. Should I change my decision about how my child should attend school this fall? Is the community spread of the virus high in Pitt County? What activities should my child avoid or limit if they attend school? Based on my child's treatment and recovery, is it safe for my child to go to school? What are my child's chances of getting COVID-19 if someone in their class tests positive? What should I do if I think my child may have COVID-19? Is it safe to send my younger child back to daycare with school starting back? Is it practical for my child to keep his/her mask on all day while at school? I have elderly family members or others with compromised immune systems living in my household. Should I send my child to school? As children across North Carolina and nation prepare to return to school, the parents of children with underlying health conditions such as cancer, blood disorders and asthma are worried if in-person classroom instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic can be safe for their already at-risk children.Dr. Beng Fuh, director of pediatric hematology and oncology at ECU's Brody School of Medicine, recently addressed some frequently asked questions from parents of immunocompromised children in order to help allay their concerns and provide expert insight into the risks schoolchildren could face this school year.said Fuh, who is also the director of ECU's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center.Fuh added.Below are excerpts from Fuh's sit-down interview with Marcus Perry, a social worker in Brody's pediatric Division of Hematology and Oncology.View the full conversation in the video on this page.Visit YouTube for the closed-captioned version of this video.Let me first make it clear that children can contract COVID-19. Children can develop symptoms of COVID-19. And children can develop serious complications and some of them will die from COVID-19. With that being said, we know that children are less likely to develop severe complications from COVID-19 when compared to adults. And if you look at the number of cases both in the United States and around the world we know that the number of COVID-19 cases in children is lower than it is in adults when you compare to their share of the population. However, there is some concern that these lower numbers that we are seeing is because children frequently do not have symptoms. So, since most of the time only people with symptoms are being tested, we may only be picking up children with COVID-19 because they have symptoms. We will know in the months, and perhaps years, to come what the real question is when it comes to children and their risk of contracting COVID-19.We know that some symptoms are more common in children than in adults, for example, the complications of belly pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite and vomiting. In the last few months we have noticed a very unusual symptom in children that is known as a Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). This involves an inflammation of the brain, bowels, heart, kidneys and lungs. These symptoms can last for months and we are not quite sure yet what the long-term implications of these symptoms will be.Most of the children we serve in the Division of Hematology and Oncology are considered higher risk. This is based on their immune system being compromised. If you have child who has received any form of chemotherapy or they are born with a problem with their white blood counts or problems with their spleen that compromises the immune system and that puts them at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and if they do, they are at higher risk of having severe complications. Children with chronic diseases in the areas of the body that we mentioned are impacted by COVID-19 such as children with Crohn's disease, asthma, heart disease, kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis they are considered at higher risks of having complications from COVID-19.As you look at that very difficult decision, the first consideration is to talk directly with your school to see what they are putting in place to diffuse the risk of disease spread. If the school has procedures in place to limit contact between children as they get into school and as they are in class, that is a good sign that your child's risks will be low.The next consideration is your child. Is your child mature enough to be able to do the physical distancing? Will your child be able to wear a mask throughout the school day? Is your child able to follow instructions when they are given by the teachers? The third component is who else is in the household? Do you have vulnerable people in your household?Lastly, what is your degree of comfort with the risk? Everybody has a different appetite for risk. What risks are you willing to take for your child? We know there is an increased risk with reopening schools. But we also know that education is important enough that everybody has to weigh this.We have unfortunately had significant increases in COVID-19 cases in North Carolina in the past two months. I don't think the extension of the Phase 2 was unexpected given the trajectory of cases. The key is what we discussed earlier What has your school put in place? What is your home situation? What is your level of comfort with the risks?I wish I could tell you we were in a good place. Unfortunately, Pitt County like the rest of North Carolina has seen a rapid rise in the number if COVID-19 cases in the last two months.Since the beginning of August, we have ranged between seven new cases a day to 42 cases a day in Pitt County. So, we have to assume that we are a hot spot and take the precautions, as needed. We are talking about school today, but a lot of spread does not happen in school. The children that we are seeing today with COVID-19 mostly do get it (outside of school).When we look at school, the key aspect of school for the fall semester is education. Unfortunately, we are going to see some of the extra-curricular activities are not as key. So, what are some of the things that should be avoided? Contact sports, sharing objects with other students (school supplies, computers and other electronics), crowded school buses, congregating in the hallways and activities that mix students from different classes.If your child has diagnosed with cancer and they completed their chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment and their blood counts have recovered or if your child has sickle cell disease and are not currently in the hospital then the precautions we discussed earlier are good and you should make your decision based on that. If the school has put the precautions in place and you feel comfortable, your child should be able to return to school if that is your choice.It depends on the circumstance of what the school does. We can certainly assume that as schools reopen there are going to be some children who are going to contract COVID-19 in the classroom just as they can contract it in any other circumstance, including at home. So yes, there is a risk that they may get it. But if there is physical distancing, they are wearing masks and they are avoiding the high-risk activities, I think they can go to school with a relatively low risk. But we can't keep children 100-percent free of risk.You should contact your primary care provider, and we will evaluate your symptoms and make a decision if your child needs to be tested. The most important thing is to inform the school and keep your child from school, because if you don't you will put other children at risk. If your child is getting treatment or is at risk of complications from COVID-19, and have tested positive for COVID-19, we will likely watch them very closely at home. But if they get to a point where there is concerns of complications, we may have to bring your child into the hospital for further management. (The phone number for ECU's Division of Hematology and Oncology is 252-744-4676.)That is a question that many parents have to grapple with, especially with going to work you need daycare for your child. I will say for daycare, take some of the precautions we discussed regarding school. What has the daycare put in place to reduce the risk of contact between children and the risk of transmission of COVID-19? What are the mitigations in place if staff or one of the children catches COVID-19? After weighing all of that, if you are comfortable with the procedures they have in place, I think you can manage the risk of your child going to daycare.It is difficult, but it is possible. As someone who has been treating cancer for many years now, it is amazing what children are able to learn when both parents and teachers make it clear to them the importance of that measure. What we need to do as parents is start working with our children on what is important and why it is important. We know that masks, physical distancing and hand washing is the best way to reduce exposure to COVID-19.You are right to be concerned about the risk. We know that older people are at a higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19 and that is something you should take into consideration as you decide if your child is going to return to in-person classes. The key is if your child follows the rules at school. If they're able to do this and, as a household, you are able to keep up with the hand washing, continuing to practice physical distancing (when possible) and removing some of our habits such as getting into each other's food or hugging and kissing one another then I think you can control the risk. But if you feel your child can't follow the rules at school or you are not confident in the precautions that were put in place at the school, then you may want to consider keeping your child in virtual education for the sake of your family members. Rigid foam insulation is one kind of foam insulation, which has closed cell foam structure. It reduces the weight of the structure and provides cost benefits to the overall construction. It has major usage in the building and construction sector. Thermal insulation followed by hybrid insulation are key application areas, which utilize the benefits of better properties offered by rigid foam panels. Rigid foam insulation is used as part of advanced infrastructure solutions in buildings owing to their superior properties to insulate from noise and heat. Deep energy efficient renovation of buildings is also facilitating the insulation market. Request For Report Sample@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/11004 Research Methodology The rigid foam insulation market has been analyzed by utilizing the optimum combination of secondary sources and in-house methodology along with an irreplaceable blend of primary insights. The real-time assessment of the market is an integral part of our market sizing and forecasting methodology, wherein our industry experts and panel of primary participants helped in compiling the best quality with realistic parametric estimations. Further, the participation share of different categories of primary participants is given below Key Market Insights Currently, Asia Pacific is the global leader in the rigid foam insulation market. China and India have an advantage of having the big manufacturing and consumption market, thus providing maximum contribution toward the global rigid foam insulation market. North America and Europe are the second and third major contributors in the global rigid foam insulation market, owing to the large infrastructure and high consumer spending. Middle East & African countries show a high growth rate during the forecast period due to the increasing adoption of industrialization. Globally, the demand for rigid foam insulation is growing consistently, especially in Asia Pacific and in North America. This growth is supported by the increasing building & construction along with transportation solutions in these regions. Get Complete TOC with Tables and Figures@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/11004 Within the various application areas, thermal insulation is highly dominating the market in rigid foam insulation, at both global and regional level, owing to the high adoption rate. Other than thermal, rigid foam has also acquired a major market in hybrid and acoustic insulation segments with modern technologies. The study of the global rigid foam insulation market provides market size information and market trends along with the factors and parameters impacting the market in both short and long-term. The study ensures a 360 view, bringing out the complete key insights of the industry. These insights help the business decision-makers to make better business plans and informed decisions for future business. In addition, the study helps venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and take informed decisions. According to Infoholic Research, the global rigid foam insulation market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period to reach $18.91 billion by 2022. The thermal insulation segment is expected to maintain global dominance in the application segments, which is driven by China and India. Asia Pacific is expected to contribute the highest toward the global rigid foam insulation market. Some of the key players in rigid foam insulation is PolyOne Corporation, DoW Chemicals, K-Flex etc. <<>> https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/11004 Report Scope: Materials Polyurethane Polystyrene Polyethylene Polypropylene Polyvinyl Chloride Applications Thermal insulation Hybrid insulation Acoustic insulation End-user Building & Construction Transportation Consumer Appliances Industrial Insulation Others Regions Asia Pacific North America Europe Rest of the World Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington made an embarrassing gaffe during an economic announcement on Wednesday. Spruiking the LNP's election pledge to appoint a new coordinator-general role "to kickstart major stimulus projects across the state and create jobs", Ms Frecklington could not name Queensland's present Coordinator-General. Queensland's first female coordinator-general, Toni Power, was appointed in February this year. "The current Coordinator-General? ... I would have to get back to you," she said. "It is a male and his name escapes me. I should know it." Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 02:39:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations special envoy has called for urgent action to address the education emergency caused by COVID-19, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday. "In a letter sent on behalf of 280 leaders from all walks of life, Gordon Brown, the special envoy on global education, called for urgent action to address the emergency triggered by COVID-19," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a regular noon briefing. The letter, addressed to the members of the Group of 20 (G20), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others, said "there is a real danger that the health crisis will create a COVID generation who lose out on schooling and whose opportunities are permanently damaged," Dujarric said. An immediate concern is the fate of an estimated 30 million children who, according to UNESCO, may never return to school, said the spokesman, citing the letter. Gordon Brown and the leaders who signed the letter are calling on the G20, the IMF, the World Bank and regional development banks and all countries to recognize the scale of the crisis and to support the initiative to enable to catch-up to happen, and progress toward the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals related to education to be resumed. The proposed initiatives include a pledge signed by every country to protect front line education spending, an increase in international aid for education, and funding from the IMF, Dujarric noted. Enditem Acharya Balkrishna has resigned as the Managing Director of Ruchi Soya Industries "due to his preoccupation". He has been designated as the non-executive non-independent director effect from August 19, 2020. "Acharya Balkrishna has resigned from the office of Managing Director of the company with effect from August 18, 2020, due to his pre-occupation. The Board of Directors has accepted his resignation and relieved him from his duties as Managing Director of the company," Ruchi Soya told the exchanges on Wednesday. He will be succeeded by Bharat Ram, a whole-time director of the company, "not liable to retire by rotation, other terms and conditions remaining same subject to approval of members of the company," Ruchi Soya said. Ruchi Soya also appointed Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Asthana as the key managerial personnel of the company with effect from August 19, 2020. Asthana has done his Masters in Business Management from Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) and International Trade from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi. He has served with several large organisations, including State Trading Corporation of India, Britannia, ITC, Cargill, Reliance Retail and Ruchi Soya. He is a recognised expert in food and agriculture business and has served on several committees and boards. ALSO READ: Patanjali injuncted from using trademark 'Coronil', Madras High Court imposes Rs 10 lakh fine ALSO READ: Ayurvedic cure for coronavirus? India, US to conduct joint clinical trials Washington: National security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has met President-elect Donald Trump's NSA-designate Gen (rtd) Michael Flynn in Washington during which the two leaders are believed to have discussed a wide range of regional and global strategic issues while exploring ways to further Indo-US ties. During the conversation, Flynn is believed to have expressed his "high respect" for India's growth in modern times and for its leadership, Indian embassy sources said. Doval arrived in the US on Sunday. It is understood that Flynn spoke to Doval over phone a few days ago, during which he invited Doval to come to the US for a meeting. The first meeting between the two, which is believed to have lasted for over an hour, was an opportunity for them to exchange notes and views on global issues, and how to further strengthen India-US "co-operation and engagement in the months and years to come," embassy sources said. Flynn also expressed his "optimism" about India-US engagement as the two leaders reviewed the entire relationship including strategic and economic aspects. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Imphal: Violence in Manipur spread to Senapati district with two vehicles being torched even as indefinite curfew remained in force in Imphal East district and mobile data services suspended after protests over economic blockade by the United Naga Council on Monday. However, curfew was lifted from Imphal West district early on Monday morning. Amid heightened tension, unidentified persons torched two vehicles including a passenger bus at Naga Taphou area in Senapati district this morning, a police officer said. On Sunday night, four vehicles of former minister Marung Makunga were vandalised at Saombung in Imphal East district, the police said. Also read: Mobile Internet service shut down in Manipur district The police are on high alert to contain spread of violence in the wake of Sundays incident at Imphal-Ukhrul Road during which 22 vehicles were vandalised by a mob. Mobile internet services were snapped till December 25 and Imphal East district was brought under indefinite curfew till further orders yesterday after locals resorted to violence and vandalised vehicles on Imphal-Ukhrul road while protesting against the ongoing economic blockade by the United Naga Council (UNC) on the National Highways since November 1. The landlocked state has been experiencing severe hardship in supply of essential items since November 1 after UNC imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the two national highways that serve as lifeline for the state. The blockade was imposed following the state governments announcement of formation of seven new districts, four of which have been formally inaugurated. Tension in the state escalated after militants ambushed Manipur Police and other state forces in the last few days that left three policemen dead and 14 others injured last Thursday. Also read: Manipur: Curfew imposed in parts of Imphal East district The attack was followed by triple bomb blasts at Nagaram area in Imphal West district allegedly by Manipur Naga Peoples Front the very next day. In another incident, suspected militants overpowered a small outpost of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Nungkao area yesterday in Tamenglong district and fled with nine service weapons. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The "Spain Cards and Payments Opportunities and Risks to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Spanish cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cash, cards, credit transfers, direct debits, and cheques during the review-period (2015-19e). The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2019e-23f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes. The report identifies segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure. The report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Spanish cards and payments industry, including: Current and forecast values for each market in the Spanish cards and payments industry, including debit, credit, and charge cards. Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash, cards, credit transfers, direct debits, and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments. E-commerce market analysis. Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Spanish cards and payments industry. Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit, and charge cards. Market Highlights The European Payments Council launched a pan-European instant credit transfer scheme in selected Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) markets in November 2017. SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) enables individuals to transfer a maximum of 15,000 ($17,183.22) within 10 seconds. Funds can be transferred instantly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The launch of SCT Inst followed on from the introduction of Bizum in October 2016. Bizum is a common mobile payment platform jointly launched by 27 Spanish banks. It is integrated within the banks' apps and lets users conduct P2P, in-store, and online transactions instantly through their mobile phones. The emergence of digital-only banks is likely to accelerate the shift towards electronic payments in Spain. In January 2016, CaixaBank launched its mobile-only imaginBank. Banco Pichincha introduced its digital bank Pibank in June 2018. The bank offers a fee-free payroll account that comes with a Visa debit card. In October 2019, Netherlands based digital-only bunq expanded its operations to all EU countries, including Spain. And in November 2019, France-based telecommunications company Orange launched digital-only Orange Bank in Spain. The bank offers current and savings accounts as well as a Mastercard debit card. Mobile wallet adoption and use is high in Spain. This was due to the availability of popular mobile wallet solutions including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay as well as the increasing number of banks and financial institutions offering these mobile wallet services to their customers. In February 2019, Banco Pichincha, Pibank, and boon started offering Google Pay to their customers. In April 2019, ING joined Apple Pay in Spain, while digital-only banks and fintechs such as Revolut and Monese started to support Apple Pay in many European countries (including Spain) throughout the year. And in December 2019 Bankinter joined Samsung Pay, allowing its customers to add their payment cards to Samsung Pay and make payments using their mobile phone. Key Topics Covered Card-based Payments Merchant Acquiring e-Commerce Payments Mobile Proximity Payments P2P Payments Bill Payments Alternative Payments Payment Innovations Payments Infrastructure Regulation Companies Mentioned CaixaBank BBVA Santander Bankia Banco Sabadell Bankinter Banco Popular BNP Paribas Barclays Visa Mastercard American Express ServiRed Sistema 4B EURO 6000 PayPal Google Pay Smasung Pay Apple Pay Bizum For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bnhrys View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005266/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 An online exhibit, How High School Students See the Holocaust, features artwork by young people both in the United States and Europe and is sponsored by the The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights that has conducted summer education seminars on the Holocaust for teachers from throughout New England. Also known as TOLI, the institute is based in New York and was established to provide professional development seminars for middle school, high school, and college teachers to enable teaching the Holocaust and applying its lessons to today. To date, TOLI has provided such education to 2,800 teachers in the United States and Europe. It is named after a survivor of Auschwitz, the Nazi complex of concentration and labor camps in German-occupied Poland that included gas chambers for the mass murder of European Jews. The online student art exhibit is dedicated to the late Kathy Carlisle, a California high school art teacher and seminar alumna who used art to teacher students about the Holocaust. Teachers who have attended a TOLI seminar were invited to submit photographs of their student artwork for the exhibit based on what they had learned about the Holocaust. According to TOLI, nearly 140 students from the United States and Europe submitted paintings, sculpture, videos and drawings. Some of the submission came from countries like Greece, where Germans deported over 40,000 Salonika Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenhau during World War II where nearly all were killed upon arrival. Submissions also came from Romania, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Genocide, one of the U.S. submissions in the exhibit, is by Madeline Dittman, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, the school in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and faculty members killed in a mass shooting in 2018. Dittmans piece, said inspired by what she learned from a virtual education program on the Holocaust based at the University of Southern California, was submitted by teacher Ivy Schamis. Making sense of the Holocaust is a daunting task, and even more so for young adults, said Oana-Nestian Sandu, TOLIs director of international programs, in a statement. Expressing emotions using various media ensures a better understanding of what is taught and a closer connection to historical events. By Kim Se-jeong Young environmental activists in Korea gathered outside Samsung's headquarters in Seoul Wednesday, adding pressure on the electronic giant's construction arm not to participate in a coal plant construction project in Vietnam. Samsung C&T is currently considering participation in the Vung Ang 2, a 1,200-megawatt coal power plant construction project in Vietnam's Ha Tinh province. "Coal is the biggest contributor to the world's greenhouse gas emissions. If humanity is wiped out from the Earth because of climate change what good would Samsung's quality goods and services be?" Nam Dae-hee, 18, a member of Youth 4 Climate Action in Korea, said during a press conference. In a letter to Samsung C&T, the young activists argued: "With the help of the Green New Deal, the Korean government pledged to reduce 12.29 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2025. But the coal plant in Vietnam is projected to emit 6.6 million tons every year more than 200 million tons in total for the next 30 years. If Samsung C&T decides to participate, it would mean the company has no awareness about climate change and its consequences." Earlier this week, international environmental groups ran an ad in the Financial Times, a London-based economic daily, pressing the Korean company to stop its pursuit of the coal power project. Specialized in power plant construction, Samsung C&T has many projects in and outside Korea. According to its website, it is undertaking power plant projects in the UAE, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. A representative from Samsung C&T refused to comment specifically on the environmentalists' actions but said of the company's intentions, "We are only considering participation. We've not decided to participate. This is all we can say now." Globally, Samsung has been under growing pressure over its business decisions' potential to pollute and emit greenhouse gases. Last month, Samsung Securities, a financial arm of the group, canceled a coal shipping port construction financing project in Queensland, Australia, in the face of a boycott campaign by local consumers. According to eco-business.com, Standard Chartered Bank, OCBD Bank and DBS had been interested in the same project but withdrew from it because of "conflicts with tightened climate policies." International environmental activists have come together recently in their campaigns to stop Samsung C&T from participating in the Vietnamese project. The website is dedicated to this cause, urging visitors to act against Samsung. Youth 4 Climate Action has been especially active recently. In May, it successfully influenced the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to keep its money out of banks involved in coal financing projects. Coal is blamed as a major contributing factor to greenhouse gas emissions and aggressive global campaigns are underway to reduce the world's reliance on it. The global trend isn't followed in Korea where coal is still the primary source of energy. Korea is one of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. Former Keystone Biofuels co-owner Ben Wooten is an honorable businessman who made a really stupid decision to defraud the government out of millions of dollars in an earnest effort to save his struggling company, his lawyer contends. Wooten has suffered severely for that, according to the memorandum defense attorney Joshua Lock filed tis week with U.S. Middle District Chief Judge John E. Jones III, who is preparing to sentence the former West Shore man on his convictions by a federal jury. Wooten, who once earned $400,000 as the head of the West Shore firm has lost his home and all of his savings and is now performing manual labor as a landscaper in Georgia, Lock wrote. He is urging Jones to sentence Wooten on the lower end of a sentencing scale that calls for him to serve 63 to 78 months in prison. Locks sentencing memorandum paints Wooten as a man who did some bad in an attempt to do a lot more good. He said Wooten and his former business partner, Race Miner, were committed to producing quality, eco-friendly biodiesel fuel at the companys first plant in Shiremanstown, which was later moved to Camp Hill. However, in 2008, the company was teetering on the edge of financial collapse and the two committed their fraud to stave off disaster, Lock contends. Investigators said Wooten and Miner falsified production status documents they submitted to the federal government to secure unjustified tax credits. The amounts and sometimes the contents of fuel Keystone claimed to have produced didnt actually qualify for those credits, investigators said. They said Keystone officials also gave federal agencies documentation for fuel that wasnt actually produced. Regrettably, when confronted with the demise of their business, otherwise honorable men with exemplary reputations for integrity made what can only be characterized as a really stupid decision to generate additional revenue, Lock wrote. All the ill-gotten gains were pumped into the company to keep it alive, Lock said. For a while, Keystone rebounded and expanded and did indeed produce a quality product, but that revival didnt last, he said. In 2013, three years after Miner sold his share of the company to Wooten, and after suffering about $2 million in losses for 2012, the firm filed for bankruptcy. Wooten, Miner and Keystone were indicted by the feds in 2017 and convicted following a trial last year. In addition to a prison term, Wooten is facing a requirement to pay more than $9 million in restitution on his convictions for conspiracy and making false statements. A stipulation filed with the court in June calls for him to pay $4,149,983 in restitution to the IRS and $5,076,376 to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Miner has no sentencing stipulation. Jones also is weighing his fate. One former Keystone executive already has been sentence. David Tielle, its former business development director, was sentenced to 3 years of probation last year. He testified as a prosecution witness during the 2019 trial. BANGALORE, India, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Increasing the use of frozen food products by major QSRs (quick-service restaurants), including KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Frozen Potatoes, is the primary driver of the global frozen food market size. Furthermore, the use of these products by numerous end-users such as full-service restaurants, hotels & resorts, and quick-service restaurants is expected to propel the growth of the frozen food market size. The frozen food market size was valued at USD 291.8 Billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach USD 404.8 Billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 4.2% from 2020 to 2027. The frozen food market report provides a quantitative analysis of current trends, estimates, and market size dynamics in the frozen food market from 2019 to 2027 to identify the opportunities that prevail. Get Detailed Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Frozen Food Market: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Auto-2Y37/Frozen_Food_Market TRENDS INFLUENCING THE FROZEN FOOD MARKET SIZE Over the last few years, due to their busy schedule, people are finding less time to cook at home. This, in turn, drives demand for frozen food, as it can be cooked in less time. With this in mind, the manufacturers are launching all kinds of frozen items such as frozen potatoes, ready meals, meat, fish products, which are expected to increase the frozen food market size during the forecast period. The sudden outbreak of coronavirus around the globe has dramatically increased demand for frozen food due to its property of maintaining long-term nutrition and longer shelf-life compared to fresh veggies, fruits, and meat. Nearly every country in the world has proposed a lockdown, thereby increasing the demand for frozen food items as it helps consumers prevent daily trips to the store. Many consumers increasingly seek a convenient frozen dessert-based snack that delivers health benefits, tastes good, and offers a healthy snacking experience. In this sector, the dairy industry can offer products with minimal processing and low sugar content for easy eating experiences beyond the traditional three-square meal experience. These advantages offered by the frozen dairy products are expected to increase the growth of the frozen food market size. Another factor that has a major impact on the growth of the frozen food market is that disposable income, as it increases consumer buying power. Besides this, the lifestyle changes and an increasing number of the working population have contributed to the growth of the frozen food market size. Especially across the developing economies, the foodservice channels have undergone major changes, fuelling the growth of the frozen food market size during the forecast period. Companies delivering products across the foodservice segment have also made changes with respect to consumer preferences and geography. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-2Y37/frozen-food FROZEN FOOD MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS Based on the product, the convenience food & ready meals segment held the largest frozen food market share in 2018. This is due to the growing consumer preference for convenience foods, which indirectly favors the increasing demand for frozen produce. Based on type, the ready-to-eat segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment based on size during the forecast era. Ready-to-eat frozen foods are often used in dessert applications, as they are simple to consume. This market's ice cream segment has been extremely dominant and has been growing steadily as low-calorie ice creams are increasingly being adopted. Based on consumption, the foodservice sector is expected to account for the largest frozen food market share in 2018. Restaurants, QSRs (quick-service restaurants), pubs, hotels, and healthcare are part of the foodservice industry. Based on the region, Europe has held the largest frozen food market share during 2018. This dominance is attributed to rising disposable incomes, changing consumers' busy lifestyles, and increasing awareness of health. Furthermore, the stringent regulatory rules for ensuring the product's consistency and certifications/tags have made it more convenient for customers to buy frozen food. has held the largest frozen food market share during 2018. This dominance is attributed to rising disposable incomes, changing consumers' busy lifestyles, and increasing awareness of health. Furthermore, the stringent regulatory rules for ensuring the product's consistency and certifications/tags have made it more convenient for customers to buy frozen food. MEA ( Middle East and Africa ) is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. The region is experiencing high growth due to an increase in disposable income and a strong distribution channel for frozen food products. Inquire for Regional Report: https://reports.valuates.com/request/regional/ALLI-Auto-2Y37/Frozen_Food_Market FROZEN FOOD MARKET SEGMENTATION Frozen Food Market by Product Type Frozen Ready Meals Frozen Meat & Poultry Frozen SeaFood Frozen Potatoes Frozen Vegetables & Fruits Frozen Soups. Frozen Food Market by User Food Service Industry Retail Customers. Frozen Food Market by Geography North America Europe Asia-Pacific LAMEA. Frozen Food Market Companies Aryzta AG General Mills Inc . . Kraft Foods Group Inc. Ajinomoto Co. Inc. Cargill Incorporated Europastry S.A. JBS S.A. Kellogg Company Nestle S.A. Flower Foods Others. Buy Now for Single User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Auto-2Y37&lic=single-user Buy Now for Enterprise User: https://reports.valuates.com/api/directpaytoken?rcode=ALLI-Auto-2Y37&lic=enterprise-user SIMILAR REPORTS : United States Frozen Food Market View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-0B289/united-states-frozen-food Frozen Ready Meals Market One of the major factors driving the growth of Frozen Ready Meals Market size is the increase in the per capita income. However, growing health issues associated with frozen ready meals might hinder the market growth. In addition, heightened cases of obesity and other lifestyle diseases are expected to hamper the market growth. Manufacturers in the Frozen Ready Meals Market are thus focused on producing safer and healthy goods to maintain their market share. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2G333/frozen-ready-meals Frozen Seafood Market Major factors driving the growth of Frozen Seafood Market size are increasing demand for frozen seafood products, especially from the parts of the world where fresh seafood is inaccessible. The Frozen Seafood Market report includes a country-wise and region-wise market size for the period 2015-2026. It also includes market size and forecast by type and application segment in terms of production capacity, price, and revenue for 2015-2026. This report also analyzes the impact of Coronavirus COVID-19 on the Frozen Seafood industry. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-39M2928/global-frozen-seafood Frozen Potatoes Market In 2019, the global Frozen Potatoes market size was USD 10700 Million, and it is expected to reach USD 17090 Million by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 6.9% during 2021-2026. The industry's major producers are McCain Foods, Lamb Weston, and Simplot Foods, with revenue ratios of 21.61%, 18.96%, and 16.10%, respectively, in 2019. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-10B3135/global-frozen-potatoes Frozen Vegetables Market The frozen vegetable market size was valued at USD 26,479.0 Million in 2017 and is expected to garner USD 38,845.7 Million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 5.0% from 2018 to 2025. Increasing demand and consumption in emerging Asia-Pacific markets such as India and China has fuelled the growth of Frozen Vegetables Market size. Furthermore, the rising disposable income and change in lifestyle & eating preferences are increasing the Frozen Vegetables Market size. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1W217/frozen-vegetables Frozen Fruits Market The United States is anticipated to account for a significant portion of the Frozen Fruits Market share during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific, frozen fruits market, is expected to flourish at a significant rate over the forecast period. Factors such as the increased online purchase of staple food are anticipated to drive the growth of the frozen fruits market over the forecast period. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-18N296/global-frozen-fruit Frozen Pizza Market The Global Frozen Pizza Market size was valued at USD 11,113 Million in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 17,296 Million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 6.4% from 2017 to 2023. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1X250/frozen-pizza Frozen Bakery Products Market The global frozen bakery products market size was valued at USD 33,870 Million in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 49,118 Million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.2% from 2018 to 2025. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-4V322/frozen-bakery-products APMEA Frozen Bakery Products Market The APMEA frozen bakery products market size was valued at USD 7,537.1 Million in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% to reach USD 11,560.9 Million in 2026. The bread segment in the APMEA frozen bakery products market was the highest contributor, with USD 2,499.0 Million in 2018, and is estimated to reach USD 3,531.6 Million by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-1O19/apmea-frozen-bakery-products Quick-Frozen Food Market View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-24O832/global-metal-detector-for-frozen-food Metal Detector for Frozen Food Market The report presents the worldwide Metal Detector for Frozen Food market size (value, production, and consumption), splits the breakdown (data status 2014-2019 and forecast to 2025) by manufacturers, region, type, and application. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Auto-24O832/global-metal-detector-for-frozen-food Frozen Food Packaging Market The Global frozen food packaging market size is expected to garner USD 47,376 Million by 2023, from USD 33,231 Million in 2016, registering a CAGR of 5.3% from 2017 to 2023. View Full Report: https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Auto-1K202/frozen-food-packaging ABOUT US: Valuates offers in-depth market insights into various industries. Our extensive report repository is constantly updated to meet your changing industry analysis needs. Our team of market analysts can help you select the best report covering your industry. We understand your niche region-specific requirements and that's why we offer customization of reports. With our customization in place, you can request for any particular information from a report that meets your market analysis needs. To achieve a consistent view of the market, data is gathered from various primary and secondary sources, at each step, data triangulation methodologies are applied to reduce deviance and find a consistent view of the market. Each sample we share contains detail research methodology employed to generate the report, Please also reach to our sales team to get the complete list of our data sources CONTACT US: Valuates Reports sales@valuates.com For U.S. Toll-Free Call 1-(315)-215-3225 For IST Call +91-8040957137 WhatsApp: +91-9945648335 Website: https://reports.valuates.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/valuatesreports Linkedin - https://in.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/valuatesreports Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082232/Valuates_Reports_Logo.jpg Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 23:28:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ACCRA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) has urged the government of Ghana to make proper use of the country's resilience system amid the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus to avert any humanitarian crisis. It said in a release on Wednesday the government should remain vigilant and stay ahead of situations that would require humanitarian interventions. The UN said on the World Humanitarian Day on Wednesday that humanitarian relief work is essential in aiding the vulnerable people in a timely and efficient manner, and ultimately ensuring that no one lags behind in the COVID-19 response and recovery plans. "Other tragedies triggered by the pandemic such as poverty, loss of a job, gender-based violence, malnutrition, and unwanted pregnancies, are imminent. We must act now to mitigate tragedies that are beyond the health implications of the COVID-19 virus." said the UN Resident Coordinator Charles Abani. The statement lauded the frontline workers for making sure that "Ghanaians, and especially the most vulnerable, including the aged, women, young people, children, migrants, refugees and people with disability receive needed services." As of Wednesday morning, Ghana has seen a total of 42,993 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 248 deaths. Enditem BOSTON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) will host the Gastroesophageal Cancer Educational Virtual Symposium in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The event is designed for patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals and will take place on Saturday, December 5, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. All presentations will be available to registered attendees via a state of the art virtual conference simulation platform. Flyer for the Gastroesophageal Cancer Educational Virtual Symposium led by Dr. Samuel Klempner, medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and member of DDF's Scientific Medical Advisory Board. Registered attendees can expect to learn about the latest in research, treatments, surgical options, genomic testing, and more from some of the top oncologist from across the country via virtual conference lecture halls. The information presented will be specific to stomach cancer patients, but many topics are relevant to cancer patients of all types. Topics will include topics early detection, radiation oncology, surgical methods, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, genomic testing, nutrition, and more. DDF Scientific and Medical Advisory Board member Dr. Samuel Klempner will lead the event as Symposium Chair. Dr. Klempner is a medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He looks forward to leading an informative virtual symposium for patients, caregivers, and families. "Working with Debbie's Dream Foundation on educational content for stomach cancer patients has been extremely rewarding for me," said Dr. Klempner. "It gives me great hope to think of all the patients and caregivers who'll greatly benefit from learning about the latest developments in gastric cancer research, and in turn, become empowered active participants in shared decision making during their journey." Andrea Eidelman, Chief Executive Officer of DDF, is excited to continue the foundation's tradition of bringing important education to patients and families through a virtual platform as a direct result of support from industry partners. "DDF is known for providing the latest information and education about gastric cancer-related topics to the stomach cancer community," said Andrea Eidelman. "Thanks to our collaborative partners at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, as well as our generous sponsors, we can continue to evolve the channels in which we bring critical information to those who need it most." Sponsorship for this symposium is provided by National Platinum Sponsor Daiichi Sankyo; National Gold Sponsor Merck; National Silver Sponsors Bristol Myers Squibb and Taiho Oncology; National Bronze Sponsor Lilly Oncology, and National Copper Sponsor Genentech. To register for this event, visit www.DebbiesDream.org/events/mghsymposium. About Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer DDF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about gastric cancer, advancing funding for research, and providing education and support internationally to patients, families, and caregivers. DDF seeks as its ultimate goal to make the cure for stomach cancer a reality. DDF was founded in 2009 by Debbie Zelman after she was diagnosed with stage IV incurable gastric cancer in 2008 and given only weeks to live. Debbie is considered a pioneer by many for bringing awareness to the plight of stomach cancer patients worldwide, as well as to the lack of federal funding for stomach cancer research. She did all of this while receiving hundreds of rounds of chemo, in addition to daily oral treatments. Debbie passed away on December 23, 2017, at the age of 50, almost a decade later. As a result of her leadership, DDF now has a Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of world-renowned doctors and chapters throughout the United States and in Canada and Germany. DDF strives to continue Debbie's mission and to make her dream a reality. To learn more about DDF, please visit us at www.DebbiesDream.org . Media Contact: Brittnay Starks Communications Coordinator Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (954) 475-1200 [email protected] www.DebbiesDream.org SOURCE Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer Related Links http://www.DebbiesDream.org Franklin Graham condemns attack on man near Portland BLM protest: 'No hope outside of God' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Notable conservative evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham on Wednesday morning denounced a brutal attack on a man that occurred near a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Portland, Oregon on Sunday evening. Disturbing viral video footage of a protest in Portland showed a man being beaten and dragged from his crashed pickup truck. Video shows the man taking punches and even receiving a swift kick to the face that seemingly knocked him out cold. In a post to his official Facebook page, Graham expressed outrage over the incident, asking his followers if they had ever seen anything like it. Every morning on the news for weeks, we hear about more destruction and violence related to protests and riots, wrote Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The video of a man trying to escape from a mob of protesters in Portland is still making the headlines, as it should. He was pulled from his vehicle and brutally beaten and kicked to unconsciousness. It is surprising that the man didnt lose his life, as some have. Graham added that he believed the United States was in trouble like we havent seen before in our lifetime, as seen with the violence at numerous protests across the nation since the death of African American George Floyd on Memorial Day. We have no hope, outside of God, Graham declared. We will not make it unless Gods people call on His Name for help. Videos posted online show multiple people attacking the driver after his truck crashed into a light pole. Some in the crowd attempted to pull away the attackers. However, one man wearing a security vest kicked the driver in the head while he sat on the ground, knocking him unconscious. The victim was eventually hospitalized and later released with non-life-threatening injuries. Although he has not been identified by police, a GoFundMe online fundraiser that has raised over $110,000 as of Wednesday afternoon identifies the injured motorist as Portland area resident Adam Haner. Hoping this money will help Adam get things together for his life after the attack he suffered, Brian Haner, the organizer of the campaign and Adams brother, wrote. I know he will need repairs, or to replace the truck that was wrecked. He is going to need time to recover from his injuries as well. Plus replace things that [were] stolen from his pick-up that night, on Aug 16th. Police have identified a suspect in the beating as 25-year-old Marquise Love. The Portland Police Bureau said in a statement that it has probable cause to arrest Love. Investigators have left several messages for Love to turn himself in. Our Detectives continue to investigate this assault as well as other acts of violence directed toward protestors, but we need more than just videos from social media, said Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell. In order to hold individuals responsible for criminal acts, we need the public to provide information and refrain from tampering with evidence. For his part, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams, the chief federal law enforcement official in Oregon, conveyed his disgust on Tuesday with the attack. Like many Oregonians, I was sickened by the video circulating online showing a man being pulled from his truck in Downtown Portland and beaten and kicked until he lies on the pavement unconscious, stated Williams. While the circumstances leading up to this brutal assault are still under state and federal review, I must condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this depraved violence. Williams called for people to work together to achieve peace in the streets of Portland and expressed his concern that one day soon we will wake up to news that a Portlander has been killed. Web Werks, a national data center provider, today announced the launch of its 4th data center in the country and the 2nd in Hinjewadi-Pune. This new standalone 35,000 sq.ft. structure is a well-equipped, next-generation Tier 3, Uptime designed data center with 5MW of power and rich interconnectivity. The newly constructed first phase of the Pune data center establishes Web Werks position among the top 3 data center providers in Pune. With a total capacity of 10MW, the facility will benefit from Web Werks being SAP Certified and also Carbon Neutral contributing to Global Go-Green concepts. The Pune data center, built and designed to Tier 3 standards, offers interconnection platforms for cloud adoption with multi-homing cloud solutions, and are thus geared to meet the growing demand of Cloud Infrastructure needs of customers from Pune and outside. It also features state of the art Honeywell and Spectra Security Systems making it highly secured along with a 24x7 NOC. It will also act as a disaster recovery zone for the existing Web Werks data centers based in Mumbai and Delhi NCR and vice versa. Speaking about the launch, Mr. Nikhil Rathi, CEO, Web Werks data centers said, We are pleased to announce the Phase 1 launch of our new data center facility. This puts us in the Top 3 DC Players in Pune. Despite all the odds that surfaced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent lockdown, and limited manpower to deploy, the construction work has been completed. Web Werks is geared to meet the growing demand for data centers in Pune to serve the needs of both customers in and outside Pune. We thank our current customers, vendors, and partners who have supported us throughout. We look forward to welcoming our first set of customers in the coming months. Since the inception of its first large data center in Mumbai in 2015, Web Werks has established itself as the leading, high availability, network dense, carrier-neutral colocation provider. Web Werks data centers are strategically located in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Pune- cities home to critical IT infrastructure of numerous Indian and global organizations. Sharing the details about where weve traveled has always been a way to transmit our values, tastes and means look no further than the postcards of the 19th century or the Kodak carousels of the 1960s and 70s. Then came Instagram, a decade ago, to turbocharge the practice. And while technology has made it easy to keep up with loved ones during this period of physical distance, there is one topic being withheld from conversations and hidden from social media: vacations. For a variety of reasons related to the pandemic, some travelers are content to let the tree fall in the forest, so to speak, without a single soul around to hear it. When faced with a high-profile or sensitive case, it is most common for police to pursue charges through the Commonwealths Attorneys Office. But in this case, Stephanie Morales, the Portsmouth commonwealths attorney, said the police department had not shared the results of its investigation with her office and instead chose to secure warrants through the Office of the Magistrate. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/18/2020 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Woody Randall says he was shocked his mother used the term "devil" to describe his temper when getting to know his wife Amani at a post-wedding brunch.experts Pastor Calvin Roberson, Dr. Pepper Schwartz, and Dr. Viviana Coles matched Woody and Amani to marry on Season 11 of .During Wednesday night's episode of : Unfiltered, Woody watched back a Season 11 clip in which Amani was shown enjoying brunch with his family and friends the day after their wedding."How is it living with Woody?" Amani asked Woody's mother. "How is he when he's upset?""I'm his mom, and what I know, is I've seen the devil come out of him," Woody's mother said, before she added that her son "explodes like fire" when he's angry.Unfiltered host Jamie Otis , who appeared on Season 1 of , asked Woody what it was like to hear his mother suggest that he has a serious temper."Honestly, hearing her say that in this moment, right now, I'm looking at my mom like, 'What made you choose those choice of words?' My mom is a really religious woman and I just don't know what made her use those words exactly," Woody admitted with a dumbfounded expression on his face.Jamie asked Woody if he agreed with his mother's perspective on how he behaves or reacts when he's mad."Honestly, I used to be that way. I'm going to be honest, right. I used to be hot-headed, honestly, and it just comes from a lot of, like, past things in life -- a lot of different frustrations," Woody explained."And I didn't know how to use it or how to use it as an outlet or how to express it and how to say it. And once I figured it out, it's not that way anymore."Woody acknowledged it was "definitely a transition" he "had to work on.""But I've definitely worked on it up until now," he noted.When Amani found out about Woody's alleged temper, she told the cameras in a recent episode, "Hell no, I'm not interested in being men with that kind of anger. That's not something I'm going to deal with or allow to happen in our marriage. Not okay."Amani added she remains calm in arguments and would demand her husband talk to her in a peaceful and respectful manner.Amani also wrote in a recent Us Weekly blog post that she was "taken aback" by the devil comment coming from Woody's mother."I think it's important that she alerted me of his temper. I'm hoping that his anger isn't an issue down the line," Amani wrote in the blog.When Amani confronted Woody about his anger on , he explained that he needed to grow up and mature, and after going through some counseling, he's no longer that person and now responds better in frustrating or stressful situations.On Unfiltered, Jamie asked Woody's co-star Bennett Kirschner if he was worried some of his "not-so-positive traits" might negatively impact his marriage to Amelia Fatsi or turn his wife off."I know I certainly have certain shortcomings, you know, my hygiene isn't perfect, my sense of fashion could be a lot better, I'm kind of tone deaf -- which has posed problems at times -- I'm a passable cook, I'm not a great cook," Bennett playfully rattled off."These are a few of many shortcomings I have that I'm sure Amelia will become familiar with soon."Jamie expressed surprise, saying, "What? Wearing a nightgown to bed isn't fashionable?!""Oh no, no, no, that's fashion! My PJ's are top notch," Bennett replied with a laugh. "I'm talking about everything else."Despite the red flag about Woody's anger, Woody and Amani have been getting along great on their honeymoon in Mexico and have yet to stumble across any problems or disagreements on the currently-airing season of ."In eight weeks, my wife and I will still be married. Probably won't be any other way, just because right now we are really and truly compatible and sexually attracted to each other," Woody told the cameras."And I think our communication automatically upfront is what it needs to be, so I am happy with my decision to be married... Honestly, I think it was the smartest decision I've made yet."Amani told Woody that she wanted to build an emotional and mental connection before exploring the physical and intimate side of their relationship, but Woody seemed patient and understanding about his wife wanting to wait to have sex, especially since they snuggled, kissed and even showered together.The latest episode featured Amani opening up to Woody about how the last man she had dated turned out to be married to another woman.Amani apparently questioned why she wasn't enough for men who had cheated on her in the past, but she told Woody that she didn't want him to pay for other men's mistakes and she would continue trying to be vulnerable.Woody told Amani that he was bonding with her quickly and could tell he was already "falling for" her.'s eleventh season also stars Christina and Henry Rodriguez Miles Williams and Karen Landry , and Olivia and Brett.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group Tory MPs today urged Boris Johnson to pause his holiday in Scotland to take personal control of the Government's education omnishambles. The Prime Minister is not expected to return to Number 10 until next week but the debacle surrounding A-level and GCSE exam results means he is under pressure from his own MPs to cut short his break. Meanwhile, Mr Johnson's political opponents have called for him to return early as they claimed the PM 'cannot be bothered to get back to work during the biggest exams crisis in a generation'. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has made clear he wants to stay in his role despite growing demands for him to be sacked just weeks before schools in England are due to return full-time. Tory MPs are increasingly worried about the Government's handling of the results row and see it as being the latest in a long line of unforced errors during the coronavirus crisis. One senior Tory MP told MailOnline 'there is no question' that Mr Johnson should be 'showing his face' during the crisis. 'I can see why he would not want to be around so that Gavin Williamson takes all of the flack but it would steady the ship a bit if he did pop up,' they said. Acting leader of the Lib Dems, Sir Ed Davey, said: 'On the steps of Downing Street the PM said it was his job to close the opportunity gap and that when it came to delivering on his plans that the buck stops with him. 'The Prime Minister cannot expect us to take his words seriously if he cannot be bothered to get back to work during the biggest exams crisis in a generation. 'Universities are struggling and thousands of students still have no idea where they will be in the Autumn, the PM needs to take accountability for this awful mess.' Labour's shadow health minister Justin Madders had earlier likened the PM to the famous 'Where's Wally' character, telling the Daily Star: 'Where's Wally? More like where is THE wally?' Demands for the PM to cancel his holiday have also swept social media as Twitter users used 'Where's Boris' and 'Boris Has Failed Britain' hashtags to criticise him for his absence. Mr Johnson is said to have been spotted wearing a bobble hat and sunglasses in Scotland, in an apparent effort to avoid being recognised as he holidays with partner Carrie Symonds amid the ongoing exams crisis. Mr Williamson's hopes of clinging on received a boost this morning after he was defended by Matt Hancock who insisted the Education Secretary had 'done his best'. Despite the growing Tory unease about the performance of some Cabinet ministers, Mr Johnson is said to be resisting calls for an autumn reshuffle with a major shake-up of his top team likely to be delayed until the new year. Boris Johnson is currently on holiday in Scotland but he is under pressure to return to Number 10 early to take charge of the A-level results fiasco The PM is under pressure to sack Education Secretary Gavin Williamson over his handling of the exam results row Youth protests in front of the Department for Education on August 16. Nearly 280,000 students saw their A-Level grades downgraded by a government algorithm Calls to lift cap on number of medical students in UK after thousands of A-level pupils who missed the grades to become doctors reapply with teacher-assessed marks Ministers are under pressure to lift the cap on the number of students studying medicine in the UK after thousands of pupils missed the grades to become doctors due to the algorithm and are now reapplying. Universities have been inundated with calls from students who now have the sufficient grades and are desperate to start their new course at their first choice in September. Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and restrictions on NHS work placements. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. But the screeching u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' Advertisement The A-level results situation comes after the Government has also faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic in numerous other areas, including its botched NHS Test and Trace app, difficulties surrounding the supply of PPE and the delayed decision to make wearing face masks mandatory in certain settings. Mr Williamson's humiliating U-turn earlier this week and his subsequent effort to try to blame the regulator Ofqual for the exams fiasco is seen by a growing number of Tory MPs as one blunder too far. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, one Tory said: 'We have had too many mishaps for a Government that is only a year old. 'The Government is now being laughed at. It's being seen as hapless.' Another Tory MP echoed a similar sentiment as they suggested the PM needed to return to take charge of his Government. 'I've no doubt Boris is in touch with what is going on but it really just feels as though there is a lack of grip,' they said. A third warned of 'huge pressure building up at the bottom of the volcano' and said local elections next May 'could be an enormous wake up call' to the Tories. 'Brexit and a Corbyn-led Labour party, which won us the election in 2019, will be rotting corpses by then,' they told the newspaper. 'It's not about what the Government does but whether it is competent. With fiascos like the grading scandal, we are giving our supporters good reason not to come out and support us. That's a potential for a political tsunami to take place.' Tories have made private submissions to party whips making it clear Mr Williamson should be sacked. Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle, said: 'It's not something that should be passed on to Ofqual - the buck stops with government.' In a round of interviews yesterday Mr Williamson said he was 'incredibly sorry' for the distress caused to students but refused to say whether he had offered to resign as he signalled he wanted to remain in the post long into the future. He told LBC Radio: 'It is quite clear that there have been some real challenges in terms of what Ofqual have been able to deliver. 'We ended up in a situation where Ofqual didn't deliver the system that we had been reassured and believed would be in place.' Ofqual is accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' as probe into A-levels grading fiasco is launched Ofqual was accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' last night as the first official probe into the grading fiasco was launched. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) launched an inquiry yesterday into the beleaguered exam body's algorithm the first in a series of humiliating investigations. It came as the Information Commissioner's Office hinted it may also probe whether the algorithm met data protection laws. In a statement, the ICO told the Mail: 'We understand how important A-levels results and other qualifications are to students across the country. When so much is at stake, it's especially important that their personal data is used fairly and transparently.' GDPR law says everyone has 'the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her'. Ed Humpherson, of the OSR, said in a letter it would 'conduct a review of the statistical models put in place', to be published in September. Hinting that other probes were likely, he said it would 'seek to minimise overlap between our review and others'. Former schools minister David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, said: 'We urgently need a fully independent review of what happened this year so that errors made are clearly understood and so that the right lessons are learned for the future.' Ofqual declined to comment. Advertisement Asked if he had confidence in Ofqual chief Sally Collier he merely said: 'Our focus and what I expect from Ofqual is to ensure that they deliver the grades that youngsters need.' Mr Williamson appeared to back down in his row with Ofqual this afternoon as the Department for Education issued a statement which said 'we have full confidence in Ofqual and its leadership in their role as independent regulator and we continue to work closely with Ofqual to deliver fair results for our young people at this unprecedented time'. The statement also suggested it had been Ofqual and not Mr Williamson who had decided on the U-turn. 'The decision they took to move from moderated grades to centre assessed grades was one that we agreed with,' it said. Mr Hancock defended his Cabinet colleague this morning, insisting he was facing 'very difficult challenges'. Asked if he would have considered resigning if he was in Mr Williamson's shoes, Mr Hancock told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'Well, I think that Gavin has faced these very difficult challenges and done his best in very difficult circumstances. 'We have reached the decision that allows the students, the pupils, who have got those grades that were predicted by their teachers to be able to get to university and the huge focus now is both making sure they can get to university in only a few weeks' time and also that the schools reopen in a fortnight. 'So we have got these massive unprecedented operational challenges that we face in government every single day. 'We do our very best to rise to them. Sometimes it means making decisions that aren't always popular but we make the decisions according to what we think is in the best interests of the country.' The results row unfolded after A-level grades were calculated using an algorithm developed by Ofqual. But the algorithm meant 40 per cent of grades were downgraded from what teachers had predicted, prompting widespread student and parent fury. Mr Williamson had originally backed the algorithm but then this week performed a U-turn as he said grades would be based on teacher estimates instead. The Education Secretary's allies said he had not been given access to the algorithm until the night before the grades were published. But Mr Merriman said: 'If there's any fault in this and there has been then the fault has to reside with the Government. The Government are responsible. I believe that it's the Government that runs the country.' Mr Merriman also suggested A-level students should be compensated with reduced tuition fees following their exam results difficulties, telling the BBC: 'I'd like to see more of an offer now to some of these younger people who have been impacted with A-level grades.' Another Conservative MP described Mr Williamson as a 'walking corpse', adding: 'Can you actually see back to school working OK? It'll be a dog's breakfast. He has to go and he has to go now.' One Tory MP said: 'He hasn't got a future or at least he shouldn't have one. He hasn't got an ounce of integrity. 'He should have offered to go, and now the PM won't sack him because it'll be a sign of weakness, as with Dominic Cummings. Gavin has no credibility whatsoever and he now has to sort out the mess with uni places, as well as get children back to school in September. And his track record on doing that has been p*** poor. 'He's got a brass neck blaming Ofqual they've obviously been pretty incompetent, but ultimately the DfE is responsible. Why didn't he see it coming? 'When they scrapped exams, they needed to war game every scenario. Then after the dry run in Scotland, why then did they go and repeat the cock-up? 'I have spoken to the whips' office, along with most of my colleagues we've made our thoughts really, really clear. There is a huge amount of pressure from MPs.' A former Cabinet minister said: 'The problem is that while officials may have been getting it completely wrong, all the way through Gavin Williamson has simply been accepting their reassurances.' Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons education committee, called the situation a 'mega-mess' that could have been avoided had ministers listened to a report he published last month. The committee warned at the start of July that the algorithm could result in 'significant problems'. The Tory MP added: 'We pointed out some of the flaws in the system that it might hurt the disadvantaged and so on and we urged the publication of the model, but none of this happened. 'Instead, it was put on a dusty shelf in the Department for Education and at Ofqual and that just shouldn't have happened.' Government ministers Johnny Mercer and Penny Mordaunt also voiced their concerns over the 'injustice' of the grading system but so far the Government has chosen to back Mr Williamson despite calls for a reshuffle. A Government source told the Telegraph there are 'no plans for a reshuffle in September' and the PM has 'full confidence in the Education Secretary'. Some Cabinet ministers believe a major reshuffle will not take place until the start of next year, after the Brexit transition period has come to an end. One said: 'I don't think we'll see a reshuffle of any great significance until the New Year, after Brexit has been fully delivered. 'I don't think the PM is minded to do a big next stage of Government reset while the country is still in the midst of the coronavirus crisis and a trade deal is still being negotiated with Brussels.' The PM is only expected to make 'minor' Cabinet tweaks in the coming months with Anne-Marie Trevelyan tipped to replace Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary when her Department for International Development is merged with the Foreign Office next month. Liz Truss' future as International Trade Secretary is also said to be uncertain. Another Cabinet minister added: 'Someone is going to have to go to make way for Anne-Marie, but the PM is facing two competing pressures. 'One, he is very loyal to the people who have supported him and doesn't like firing people, and two, he cannot change much until Brexit is done and the Government's attention switches from crisis management to economic recovery.' The U-turn on A-level results has left thousands of students scrambling to try to secure places at their first choice universities after downgraded grades saw them miss out last week. But many are likely to face the prospect of having to defer for a year because some courses will already be full despite the Government lifting a cap on student numbers. Lawyers have warned that students could launch legal action against universities if they are forced to delay their entry into higher education. Universities have said they will likely need a bailout as students who now have higher grades look to gain entry to higher-ranked institutions or opt to wait a year, potentially leaving lower-ranked universities with gaps on courses. The Universities UK body said in a letter sent to Mr Williamson that institutions will need 'significant financial support from Government' to stabilise the situation. The body warned: 'The move to using centre-assessed grades will rightly address the inequalities suffered by many students from disadvantaged backgrounds by use of the original algorithm. 'However, it will also result in significant overall grade inflation leading to significant decreases in planned enrolments at a number of institutions as students opt for higher tariff courses. 'Such institutions whose financial plans were based on the agreed temporary student number controls will now require additional government financial support.' The Government has set up a task force to examine the issues facing universities after the U-turn. In a statement, Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said: 'We are working closely with the higher education sector to understand the challenges facing universities and provide as much support as we can.' Wellington: The New Zealand government exceeded its powers telling residents to stay at home in the first nine days of the coronavirus lockdown, the High Court has found. Public announcements Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and others made between March 26 and April 3 were justified, but went beyond the actual lockdown order made by Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield forbidding congregating, except with social distancing and shutting non-essential businesses. Public announcements made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and others between March 26 and April 3 were justified, but went beyond the actual lockdown order, the High Court has found. Credit:Getty Images Staying at home and in bubbles was not the legal position until April 3, so New Zealanders rights and freedoms were unlawfully limited for those first nine days, the court ruled on Wednesday. The powers existed to impose those restrictions but it was not enforced until April 3 when the error was corrected. After months of delays, San Franciscos Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected transit advocate Jane Natolis nomination for the citys transportation board a move that enraged activists and Mayor London Breed. Had she clinched majority approval from the supervisors, Natoli would have been the first transgender woman to serve on the prominent board that makes decisions on everything from Munis budget to parking to safe bike lanes. At the same meeting., the supervisors unanimously approved Breeds other nominee, Sharon Lai, a former city planner who now serves as vice president of the Treasure Island Development Authority Board of Directors. Her confirmation brings the total number of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board members to five slightly closer to its full complement of seven. Breed called the 6-4 vote against Natolis appointment a deeply cynical move that represents what is wrong with San Francisco politics. And lets be clear, the mayor added in a statement released even as the supervisors continued their meeting, this is simply about politics. Natoli, who in the past has advocated for dense development near transit stations, increased bicycle infrastructure and street rental bikes or e-scooters, said she wasnt quite sure which positions had dissuaded the progressive supervisors who voted against her. She also favors housing at all income levels market-rate as well as affordable a policy goal that doesnt sit well with everyone on the progressive wing of the board. Many progressives criticize market-rate housing in all forms. Supervisors Gordon Mar, Sandra Lee Fewer, Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, Shamann Walton and Norman Yee all opposed her appointment. Preston later tweeted that Natoli lacks public transit expertise, supported (Clipper) fare increases and was opposed by community groups representing San Franciscos most vulnerable transit riders. They include the Rose Pak Democratic Club, Chinatown TRIP, Latino Young Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America Eco-Socialist Working Group, among others. Im disappointed, she said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. I think I could have contributed a lot. But the work continues regardless, she added, promising to redouble her efforts as an activist. The Board of Directors for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has been grinding along for months with four members enough to maintain a quorum if nobody leaves to get water or use the restroom. Such constraints meant that a single dissenting vote could derail any proposal. Despite those challenges, the supervisors waited for more than 100 days to even hold a Rules Committee hearing on Natolis appointment, Breed noted in her statement. The mayor nominated Natoli on April 14, and Lai on June 12. Yee, the board president, said the postponements were just a coincidence, since the board also had to debate a number of ballot initiatives, which also went to the Rules Committee. I asked if this nomination was time-sensitive, and the SFMTA didnt have that restriction, he said. Yee said he voted against Natoli because she is a bike person, and he wants the new board members to focus on improving transit service in low-income neighborhoods, and areas with many people of color. Natolis hearing finally took place last week, at which point she received a unanimous recommendation from committee members Hillary Ronen, Catherine Stefani and Mar, who flipped his vote on Tuesday. But at Tuesdays meeting, supervisors cited feedback they had received from the organizations that opposed to Natolis nomination. Among them was the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, which posted a long tweet threat Tuesday to explain its opposition. 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. It pointed to Natolis robust online presence expressing support for for-profit projects and mobility devices over the objections of sensitive communities who see them as instruments of gentrification. Though supervisors said they were swayed by these arguments, Natoli may have also been a casualty of an ongoing power struggle between the supervisors and the mayor. Breed has significant authority over transportation policy in San Francisco, since she appoints all seven members of the SFMTA board. Peskin, who clashes with the mayor on many issues, said he has heard the mayor may be making new nominations that are more palatable to the board and transit-dependent communities. Yet Gwyneth Borden, chair of the SFMTA board, said the very things the supervisors criticized Natolis willingness to adopt fare increases, her love of new mobility devices and her pro-housing stances were in fact strengths that would have made her a solid addition to the board. ...Sadly, what should have been an asset worked against her, Borden said, noting that the resistance to Natoli stemmed partly from a tech against the world mentality the idea that bikes and e-scooters gentrify but mostly from supervisors dislike of the Yes in My Backyard movement, which Natoli represents. Unfortunately, Borden said, that had little bearing on the decisions she might make as an SFMTA board member. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan Former President Barack Obama will use his Democratic National Committee address to contend Donald Trump has treated the office like a reality show to bathe in the attention he craves. The 44th president will echo Democratic officials past and present who spoke on the virtual events first two nights by describing the 45th chief executive as uninterested and unfit to occupy the Oval Office, according to excerpts of his speech released by the Democratic National Committee. To be sure, there is plenty at stake for Mr Obama, whose policy achievements have been shredded by Mr Trump and whose legacy was tarnished when he was replaced by the hardline populist conservative. Mr Obama must achieve two things with his Wednesday night address. He must convince voters that how he conducted himself as president was superior to Mr Trumps approach, convince voters across the country that California Senator Kamala Harris is qualified to become president should something happen to 77-year-old Joe Biden, and explain to the country why the designated Democratic presidential nominee deserves a shot at being the commander in chief. I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies, he will say, referring to his many meetings and huddles with Mr Biden and a lengthy meeting with Mr Trump following his election. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously, that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care, Mr Obama will tell voters. But he never did. Hes shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves, the former president will say. About 48 hours after his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, told the country again to go high when Mr Trump goes low, Mr Obama also will contend the Oval Offices current occupant hasnt grown into the job because he cant. Dinging the president for his Covid-19 response, Mr Obama will say the consequences of that failure are severe because 170,000 Americans [are] dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, he will say, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before. That part of his message will be similar to other current and former Democratic officials, including both former president Bill Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer contending Mr Trumps coronavirus response shows he has quit on the country. Mr Obama also is expected to give a rousing endorsement of his former No 2, who is leading Mr Trump by 7.7 percentage points nationally and by statistically significant margins in a handful of crucial swing states and is competitive in typically red ones that political strategists suggest mean the president has an uphill fight to secure a second term. We are exploring ways to provide the additional $100 in funding to Virginians, but we face many unanswered questions, administrative hurdles, and severely limited resources, spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said in a statement. Governor Northam is continuing to call on Congress to work together on a robust package with more funding, and not make states, yet again, implement a whole new unemployment program that could take weeks to start. Jaipur, Aug 20 : Rajasthan's former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot visited Tonk, his assembly constituency, on Wednesday to a spirited welcome by people at various places, and said this had left him "humbled". Addressing a public hearing in Tonk, Pilot said: "I am not a part of the (Ashok Gehlot) government any more. Neither am I a Deputy Chief Minister nor am I the state (Congress) President. Despite this, I am humbled to see the enthusiasm of people. We shall work to resolve all issues soon as our government has three more years to work. I am grateful to people for a rousing welcome." After the programme, Pilot went to the district Collectorate where he attended a meeting with district officials and people's representatives. He gave a patient hearing to people's problems and also collected officials' feedback on different issues, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to the media in Jaipur before leaving for Tonk by road, he thanked interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi for taking quick action after hearing his grievances, and said that everything now will be resolved by the three-member committee. "Now, a three-member committee has been formed which will discuss and decide on ways to work in coordination for government and organisation. I also met Ajay Maken, the new state in charge, recently in Delhi and discussed the state's present situation. Now, the committee shall perform its duties. "Whatever we want to communicate further shall be forwarded via the committee," he added. The committee comprises party General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal and party Treasurer Ahmed Patel. Pilot stressed that there needs to be a proper coordination between the government and the organisation. The Congress high command and the team shall discuss who should look into the government issues and who should head the organisation, he said, adding that all challenges will be discussed at length with the committee and the final decisions will be taken by the party. "Extreme is taking the next steps in our corporate social responsibility efforts with the appointment of Katy Motiey and Kimberley Basnight to their newly expanded roles. As a diverse and increasingly socially responsible employer, our Board of Directors and our leadership team are committed to creating and adopting meaningful policies and practices that improve our environmental footprint and expand diversity, equity, and inclusion among our employees, partners, customers, suppliers, and business communities," said Ed Meyercord, President and CEO of Extreme Networks "Throughout their careers, and in their time at Extreme, both Katy and Kimberley have been passionate advocates for progress on environmental and social justice. Katy was instrumental in driving the creation of Extreme's highly successful Women's Council and other philanthropic efforts. She spearheaded our deployment of Bloom Energy, which has created significant cost savings and reduced our carbon emissions in California, and was at the forefront of adding Social Responsibility to our Corporate Governance charter in fiscal 2020. Kimberley has also played an important role in advancing our corporate social responsibility efforts. She has been a force on our Women's Council and rallied company leadership to start an employee resource group for African-American and Black employees at Extreme," concluded Meyercord. Katy has over 25 years of global legal and employment law experience. Since joining the company in 2015, she has overseen corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, commercial contract negotiation and licensing, corporate sustainability, real estate, facilities, and employment matters, among other initiatives. She has been a driving force in building Extreme's Women's Leadership Council, started in 2018. She is also the corporate sponsor for Extreme's partnership with the American India Foundation, a non-profit organization that is devoted to accelerating social and economic change in India. As Chief Sustainability Officer, she will lead the strategy and governance of Extreme's 2025 sustainability plan. Kimberley has more than 20 years of experience in executive program management, strategic planning, organizational change management, and operations. As Head of Diversity and Inclusion, she will serve as a change agent that influences the organization on matters of diversity and inclusion. This is a complement to her role as Chief of Staff/Office of the CEO. Kimberley started Black at Extreme ("BEX"), an employee resource group that champions and facilitates workplace diversity by embracing cultural, ethnic, and racial differences. The group provides programming that promotes inclusion in recruitment activities, offers professional development, and enables a more collaborative and diverse work environment. Kimberley joined Extreme in 2016. In fiscal 2020, Extreme's Board of Directors amended the charter of its Nominating, Governance, and Social Responsibility Committee to include Social Responsibility within the responsibilities of the committee and to officially re-name it the Nominating, Governance, and Social Responsibility Committee. This committee is charged with providing oversight of Extreme's initiatives in the arena of corporate social responsibility, including diversity and inclusion goals, environmental matters, and philanthropic initiatives. Executive leadership reports on these matters to the Nominating, Governance, and Social Responsibility Committee on a quarterly basis. Additional Resources Extreme Corporate Social Responsibility Page Extreme Leadership Page Extreme Investor Page Connect with Extreme via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram About Extreme Networks Extreme Networks, Inc. (EXTR) creates effortless networking experiences that enable all of us to advance. We push the boundaries of technology leveraging the powers of machine learning, artificial intelligence, analytics, and automation. Over 50,000 customers globally trust our end-to-end, cloud-driven networking solutions and rely on our top-rated services and support to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and deliver progress like never before. For more information, visit Extreme's website or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Extreme Networks and the Extreme Networks logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other trademarks shown herein are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Extreme Networks, Inc. Related Links http://www.extremenetworks.com Worn down by economic crisis and traumatised by Beirut's monster blast, the Rafic Hariri murder verdict after a 15-year wait for "the truth" came as an anti-climax for despondent Lebanese. The Netherlands-based special court set up to investigate and try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Hariri issued a ruling Tuesday that fell short of many expectations. With all four suspects presumed members of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, fears had been high that pro-Hariri and Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon could erupt, whichever way the verdict went. The UN-mandated Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) ended up finding one suspect guilty and acquitting three others, recognising that Hariri's death was politically motivated but stopping short of working far up the chain of responsibility. All four suspects were tried in absentia. The judges said they could not establish a direct link with the Hezbollah leadership or Syria, against whose military occupation of Lebanon the ex-premier had been campaigning just before his death. "It was all useless... For 15 years they have taken money for nothing," Saad al-Ferikh, a young resident of Tariq al-Jdideh, the main Hariri bastion in Beirut, said moments after the verdict was broadcast on live television. With Lebanon sinking ever deeper into economic crisis and poverty, many argued that the STL's huge budget, which exceeded that of the Lebanese justice ministry, was not money well spent. Estimates of the tribunal's total cost range from $600 million to one billion. - 'A joke' - "While few actually expected anyone to be apprehended, some argue that the trial itself sets a precedent in international law, said Faysal Itani, a deputy director at the Center for Global Policy. "I'm not sure this precedent was worth all the time, money and political instability," he said. Also in Tariq al-Jdideh, another resident, Rayan, argued that people had expected more of a foreign-based court, especially at a time when calls are growing for an international investigation into the August 4 blast at Beirut port that devastated the capital and cost more than 180 lives. Story continues "After 15 years, they chose one person they want us to believe is responsible for this entire issue. It's a joke," said the young woman, surrounded by dozens of Rafic Hariri posters. Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, also said the verdict was a letdown after widespread public demands over the years for the truth behind Hariri's murder. "There's a feeling that the mountain has brought forth a mouse," he said. Newspaper commentaries Wednesday diverged according to their stance on Hezbollah, but most agreed the protracted and costly experiment in international justice was inconclusive. The pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar daily ran a picture of the STL courtroom covering its entire front page with a red stamp across it that read: "Past sell-by date." "The different parties in Lebanon will interpret the STL ruling to their liking," said Nadim Houry, executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative. Some felt vindicated by the guilty verdict against one Hezbollah suspect, Salim Ayyash, who has gone underground, while others chose to highlight the acquittals, he said. "Ultimately, it is a deeply unsatisfactory outcome because the basic questions are left unanswered and will continue to divide the Lebanese," Houry added. None of the feared political tension spilled onto the street, however, and Bitar argued that may have been the only silver lining of an otherwise disappointing verdict. "It was a very paradoxical verdict... but perhaps it was good for social peace in Lebanon, which can really do without more social tension at the moment," he said. Lebanon is still licking its wounds from this month's blast, its worst peacetime tragedy, which came as it was already grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. "So many catastrophes have happened since" Rafic Hariri's assassination, he said. "It isn't quite a non-event, but this verdict did not have the impact it could have had." bur-jmm/sw/hc Kansas City Hopes To Pratice Pandemic Principles KC-based Center for Practical Bioethics helps guide families, doctors during pandemic KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When a family, doctor or government leader faces an ethical dilemma during COVID-19, they often reach out to the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Missouri. The nonprofit organization has been guiding decisions to ethical healthcare-related dilemmas since 1984 but has ramped up its involvement during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Kansas City Grapples With Coronavirus Tourism As COVID-19 spreads, 2,500 wrestlers from 40 states expected to descend on Kansas City A wrestling event is touting to bring 2,500 school-aged athletes from 40 states to the Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City this weekend. RMN Events of Broomfield, Colorado, will hold the Rocky Mountain Nationals Friday through Sunday. The tournament will have competition for grades K-12 and open divisions, according to the tournament's website. Show-Me Top Doc Mask Double Down In Missouri Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump's top virus adviser, says yes to masks, no to parties during Missouri stop COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - President Donald Trump's top coronavirus adviser on Tuesday called on everyone in Missouri to wear masks and refrain from attending parties. Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx met with Republican Gov. Mike Parson in his Capitol office. Afterward, she said political affiliations are irrelevant in the ongoing fight to slow the spread of COVID-19. Activists Demand Eviction Overhaul After Recent Victory Tenants groups push for housing overhaul on top of Kansas eviction ban KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued another ban on evictions and foreclosures due to the COVID-19 pandemic Monday, and while it is progress, tenant rights groups are pushing for more permanent overhauls in the housing system. One group said people are still in the same situation they were in back when the pandemic began. Fashion Locked Down Hilde Osland Looks Smoking Hot In Tight Jeans & A Revealing Green Crop Top Blond bombshell Hilde Osland tantalized her 3.6 million Instagram followers with her latest share, a massive update in which she modeled a sexy ensemble from all angles. The pictures were taken outdoors, and Hilde posed on a stretch of grass with a car-lined street and palm trees visible in the background. Prez Trump Comeback Trump returns to campaign trail to counter Democratic convention WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail Monday as part of his effort to offer a counter message to the Democratic National Convention this week, touching down in Minnesota and Wisconsin for three scaled-down outdoor campaign rallies. Can Biden Convince Country??? Biden tries to elbow aside Trump with rural voters During this week's Democratic National Convention, the Biden camp hosted a "virtual symposium" to discuss issues that have affected rural people, including trade, climate change and inequality in the food system. On Tuesday, members of the DNC's Rural Council were given the floor during daytime programming. Slap Fight Betwixt Spokesmen Anderson Cooper to MyPillow CEO: 'You really are like a snake oil salesman' CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday slammed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ardent President Trump Donald John Trump The Memo - Michelle Obama shines, scorching Trump Trump lashes out at Cuomo after his Democratic convention speech Biden seeks to win over progressives and Republicans on night one MORE supporter, for pushing an unproven therapeutic treatment for coronavirus, sales of which could benefit him. Rocketman Powers Up North Korea reportedly has up to 60 nuclear bombs in massive weapons stockpile North Korea is believed to have between 20 and 60 nuclear bombs - as well as a 2,500- to 5,000-ton stockpile of 20 types of chemical weapons, the world's third-largest, according to reports. Kansas City Doggies Help Us Keep It Together KC Pet Partners continues important therapy work amid pandemic KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With the pandemic slowing down in-person interactions, KC Pet Partners said it remains committed to the mission of improving human health through the power of the human-animal bond. "What we can do is encourage people through animal-related engagement. Kansas City Chiefs Still Favored To Repeat Arrowheadlines: Kansas City still remains the team to beat going into the season NFL Power Rankings 2020: Examining the Best Teams Before Start of Regular Season | Bleacher Report Additionally, the Chiefs added former LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the first round of April's draft, which should add even more punch to an offense that already ranked fifth in scoring last season. Wonderful Weather Cont'd Great summer weather continues with slightly cooler temperatures It will be a bit cooler today with temperatures in the low 80s KANSAS CITY'S MOST ACCURATE FORECAST Low temperatures will be dropping into the 50s over the next 2 mornings Sunshine and no rain chance in sight Tuesday: It will be a nearly perfect August summer day! Right nowhelps us take a peek a pop culture, community news and top headlines for tonight . . .And this is thefor right now . . . An airplane of Mahan Air sits at the tarmac after landing at Sanaa International Airport in the Yemeni capital on March 1, 2015. WASHINGTON The Trump administration slapped fresh sanctions on two United Arab Emirates-based companies for providing material support to Iran's largest airline, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC provided parts and logistics services for Iran's Mahan Air, which is currently blacklisted by the U.S., the Treasury said in a statement announcing the designations. The department also imposed sanctions on Amin Mahdavi, an Iranian national based in the UAE, for owning or controlling Parthia Cargo. The Treasury said the services provided by Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC, both Dubai-based firms, helped Mahan Air to carry out activities in support of Tehran's maligned agenda, including transporting "terrorists and lethal cargo to Syria" in support of President Bashar Assad's regime. "Today, the United States continued its maximum pressure campaign against Iran by designating two companies and one individual for procuring parts for Mahan Air," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on the heels of the announcement. "Mahan Air has a long record of ferrying weapons and terrorists around the world for Iran," the nation's top diplomat added. Wednesday's action bars Americans from dealing with those blacklisted groups and also freezes U.S. assets associated with the sanctioned entities. "The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "The United States will continue to take action against those supporting this airline," he added. The latest revelation comes at a critical time for U.S. diplomatic relations with Iran, which the Trump administration considers a rogue state. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have soared after Trump's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration. Pompeo plans to lobby on behalf of the Trump administration for a return of all United Nations sanctions on Iran after the U.N. Security Council rejected Washington's bid to extend an arms embargo on Tehran. Last week, the U.N. Security Council voted to not extend an international arms embargo on Iran. The arms embargo on Iran is currently set to end on Oct. 18 under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The 2015 nuclear agreement lifted sanctions on Iran that crippled its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran accepted limits on its nuclear program and allowed international inspectors into its facilities. Tehran has said it will not negotiate with Washington while sanctions are in place. A 'fit and healthy' teenage boy whose body was pulled from the River Tees 'died a hero' after diving into the water in a desperate bid to save his struggling brother. Anas El-Rafai's body was found following a major search operation on Monday evening after the 15-year-old got into the water at Broken Scar in Darlington. The 'popular' schoolboy saw his younger sibling getting into difficulty and jumped in to try and rescue him, but tragically vanished beneath the surface, The Sun reports. Friends and family took to social media to pay tribute to the teenager, with one saying he 'died a hero', with floral tributes left at the scene of the tragedy. Anas El-Rafai, whose body was pulled from the River Tees on Monday, 'died a hero' after diving into the water in a desperate bid to save his struggling brother In a statement issued through Durham Police, his parents said: 'Anas was a fit and healthy young man. He was very popular at school. 'We are devastated and miss him so much.' Anas and his family arrived in the UK as refugees three years ago, reports claim, after fleeing the Syrian civil war. His school, Wyvern Academy, where he was a Year 10 student, now plans to open a virtual book of condolences in his honour. In a letter to parents and pupils, headteacher Julian Leader said: 'We are sure many of you will already be aware of the incredibly sad news coming from Durham Police overnight following an incident in the River Tees at Broken Scar. 'We are sad to announce the incident involved our Year 10 student, Anas El Rifai, who has tragically passed away. 'Anas was a dedicated student with lots of friends, this news comes as a complete shock to us all. 'The whole community at Wyvern will be affected by this devastating loss. 'We have passed on our condolences to the El Rifai family and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.' Divers recovered the teenage boy's body from the river near Darlington after an overnight search Mr Leader also said the school would be providing extra support to all members of the school community 'who will inevitably be impacted by Anas' passing'. Anyone needing support was urged to contact school staff. Scores of tributes have been paid to Anas on social media sites and flowers have been left near the River Tees in remembrance of the popular teenager. A note on one bouquet read: 'RIP. God Bless You. Fly high with the angels.' Mohammad El Mgharbel, 17, watched helplessly as his best friend became submerged in the water, but spoke of how he pushed his younger brother, Jamal, and another boy to safety after they were hit by a current. 'After he had done that he went down, I couldn't see him any more and we knew we had to get help and called the police,' he told The Sun. 'What he did was very brave, he saved the other two boys and in doing that his own life was lost. He was my best friend and it's hard to believe what happened. 'Only an hour earlier we had been in town together and took a photograph of him, it's hard to accept.' Durham Police said the alarm was raised shortly after 5pm on Monday after the 15-year-old entered the water A major operation involving police, fire crews, divers and the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team was launched after Anas went missing at around 5pm on Monday. His body was found at around midnight. Anas, from Darlington, was formally identified on Tuesday afternoon. Durham Police said his death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner. At Broken Scar Weir, which has a picnic site, the river is fast-flowing and there are warning signs telling people not to swim due to the strong currents. A few minutes' walk downstream, the river is more tranquil as the Tees bends round a farmer's field and there is a pebble beach which is thought to be a popular place for young people to gather. Anas is one of several Britons to have died in accidents amid sweltering temperatures this month, including a mother who drowned in Norfolk after leaping into the sea to save her son and his friend. Flowers and tributes were left at Broken Scar in memory of the brave teenager who 'died a hero' Danielle Chilvers, 37, was pulled lifeless from the water after being caught out by the strong current at Waxham on August 9. Horrified onlookers tried in vain to resuscitate her before paramedics took over, but she was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The tragedy came after Ava Gray, 12, died after getting into difficulty in a river in Scotland on the same day. Her body was pulled from the River Leven in the West Dunbartonshire village of Balloch following a three-hour search. Police Scotland officers were called to the scene at the foot of Loch Lomond at about 6.45pm, but the search ended with Ava's body being recovered from the water at 9.45pm. Elsewhere, a man in his 60s was killed amid soaring temperatures on August 10. His body was pulled from the water at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex at around 10.30am and he was pronounced dead at the scene. In a fourth tragedy, mother Jane Walker died in a crash between a jet ski and a boat on the Menai Strait in North Wales on August 8. Actor Priyanka Chopra on Tuesday shared a gorgeous picture of herself from her visit to a cluster of lakes in California called Mammoth Lakes. She looked as stunning as ever. Sharing the picture, she wrote: Mother natures medicine. The shot shows her seated, possibly on a rock. Her sun hat and glasses dominate the frame. A bit of her cream-coloured blouse is visible and she has a chain around her neck. Her fans were delighted to see her in a candid moment after a long time. One Instagram user wrote, so beautiful dear, while another wrote, miss world, in admiration. A third person called her a queen while another wrote, looking beautiful. Through much of the coronavirus pandemic, Priyanka has stayed put in her California home. Some time back, she had shared a picture of herself in a vehicle, and fans were quick to speculate that she might be on her way for the shoot of Matrix 4. Some time before that, she had shared a picture of her seated on husband Nick Jonas back as he did push-ups. Priyanka has been connecting with her fans giving updates on her life or expressing her thoughts. On Tuesday, she shared a glimpse of her memoir and wrote: Finished. What an amazing feeling seeing these pages printed on paper for the first time! #Unfinished... coming soon! @penguinrandomhouse. Also read: Sanjay Dutts wife Maanayata shares update after his cancer diagnosis: Sanju will complete preliminary treatment in Mumbai At the selection of US Senator Kamala Harris as the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, she had written: This is a historical, transformational, and proud moment for all women. All women of colour, all Black women, and all South Asian women. Congratulations @kamalaharris on becoming the first Black woman and FIRST PERSON of Indian descent to compete on a major U.S. partys presidential ticket. #representationmatters PS: To my younger self - look how far we have come! Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Burma Three Rearrested Over New Years Murder of Myanmar Comedian The three suspects at Yangon Eastern District Court in 2019. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy Yangon Myanmars police have rearrested three suspects facing charges for the death of a Yangon-based comedian in January 2018. As bail is not granted for murder charges, bail was withdrawn and they were rearrested. We will counter the charge, said U Chit Ko Ko, a lawyer for one of the defendants, Kyaw Zaw Han. Aung Yell Htwe was beaten to death by a group of men at a New Years Eve party on Dec. 31, 2017, and died two days later. He underwent surgery at Yangon General Hospital but died from the injuries. A forensic pathologist from the hospital testified that the comedian died from severe head trauma, including skull fracturing and hemorrhaging of the membrane surrounding the brain, resulting from blows with a hard, blunt object. After one year of court hearings, the Yangon Eastern District Court charged Than Htut Aung and Pyae Phyo Aung under Article 302(2) of the Penal Code for allegedly fatally beating Aung Yell Htwe, and Kyaw Zaw Han for aiding and abetting the crime. The defendants then submitted an appeal to the regional high court, which overruled the verdict after 10 months of hearings and granted bail at 10 million kyats (US$7,400) each. The Yangon Region High Court also changed the charges against the three suspects from murder to voluntarily causing grievous hurt. The court ruled that Than Htut Aung and Pyae Phyo Aung would be charged under Article 325 of the Penal Code for causing grievous harm. Kyaw Zaw Han was still charged with aiding and abetting the crime. The Union Attorney-Generals Office was unhappy with the High Courts decision and filed a complaint with the Union Supreme Court. The Supreme Court overruled the High Courts decision and reconfirmed the Eastern District Courts charges against the three suspects. My son has to face a trial under Article 302 again. The bail has been withdrawn. They were taken back to Insein Prison today. We will face the trial, U Khin Maung Lay, father of Than Htut Aung, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. The hearings will resume on August 25 at the Eastern District Court. The court previously dropped the case after questioning only 14 witnesses and before hearing from either the pathologist or police investigators or reviewing CCTV records. Yangons attorney general at the time, U Han Htoo, who approved the dismissal, said there was no solid evidence against the suspects. President U Win Myint ordered the case to be reinvestigated following a public outcry. The Eastern District Court then resumed the trial in Oct. 2018. U Han Htoo was dismissed from his position and is on trial with five other court officials for allegedly taking bribes from a relative of one of the three suspects to drop the case. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Three Get Bail in Trial for Myanmar Comedians Death Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Derivatives of cocoa beans, cocoa ingredients are widely used for various purposes. A new report on the global cocoa ingredients market, published by Market Research Future (MRFR), predicts that this market could witness growth between 2017 and 2023. The biggest market driving factor raising the global cocoa ingredients market growth high is increasing worldwide demand for sweetened bakery products. Escalating demand for chocolate and its derivatives boosts the market has most chocolates have cocoa ingredients. Stable environmental conditions, along with improved cocoa production in Africa, is also fueling market growth. Other market driving factors include advancements in processing & procurement technologies, increasing awareness about health advantages through cocoa consumption, innovation in flavors, and high research & development (R&D) investments. The growing retail sector is developed economies as well as emerging economies is also increasing the reach and availability of cocoa in hypermarkets and supermarkets. Get a FREE Sample Now@ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1380 Market Segmentation The global cocoa ingredients market segmentation encompasses application and type. MRFR s take on the market explores various facets of the market in-depth. The application-based segmentation of the market covers bakery & confectionery, beverages, dairy products, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and others. The bakery & confectionery segment dominates the market due to the high demand for chocolate from industries related to the production of food items and beverages. Increasing health consciousness among consumers has increased the demand for organic chocolates, which can also boost market growth for all cocoa ingredients. By type, the market has been segmented into criollo, forastero, and trinitario. The forastero segment dominates the market due to its high production volume. It grows easily and is available in two varieties. The less bitterness and strong flavor of forastero cocoa also have a positive impact on its market growth. Regional Segmentation A geographical outlining of the global cocoa ingredients market covers Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). Latin America is dominating the global cocoa ingredients market, followed by the Africa segment of the MEA region. Brazil and Ecuador are the biggest producers of forastero cocoa. Many countries in Latin America produce and export different types of Cocoa. Columbia is the third biggest revenue generator of the Latin American market. An analysis of the remaining countries in Latin America featured in this report estimate the huge contribution to market revenue from some other countries. The MEA region is the second-largest regional market as Africa is the second-largest producer of cocoa. Many chocolate brands in the Middle East keep the demand for cocoa high. The Middle East segment of the MEA region, Saudi Arabia is the biggest country-specific market for cocoa. Other noteworthy country-specific markets in this region are Cameroon, CATe D'Ivoire (commonly known as Ivory Coast), and Ghana. An analysis of the remaining countries in the MEA region featured in this report estimates the huge contribution to market revenue from some other countries. In North America, the USA is the biggest market for chocolates and many beverages, both in the aspect of production and consumption. Therefore, the cocoa ingredients market in the USA earns huge revenue. Canada is a strong economy. Although not as big market as the USA, Canada contributes significant revenue to the market. Europe is another significant regional market as the increased demand for cocoa ingredients from France, Germany, and Switzerland is boosting the cocoa ingredients exports of countries all over the world that produce and export cocoa. The high density of population and a strong market for chocolates also strengthens the demand for cocoa ingredients. Other important country-specific markets in this region are Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. An analysis of the remaining countries in Europe featured in this report estimate the huge contribution to market revenue from some other countries. The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing regional market for cocoa ingredients due to the developing economy, rise of many local chocolate brands & beverage brands, and improving farming practices in the emerging country-specific markets like India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. One of the strongest economies in this region, China is another major country-specific market. An analysis of the remaining countries in the Asia Pacific region featured in this report estimates the huge contribution to market revenue from some other countries. Key Players Prominent players in the global cocoa ingredients market include Agostoni Chocolate Inc. (USA), Archer Daniels Midland Company (USA), Barry Callebaut (Switzerland), Blommer Chocolate (USA), Cocoa Processing Company Ltd. (Ghana), The Hershey Company ( USA), Mars Inc. (USA), Olam International Limited (Singapore), and United Cocoa Processors Inc. (USA). Latest Industry News Nestle has created new chocolate that uses only the cacao plant fruit pulp for sweetness. The cacao extract is also found in cocoa beans. Hence, to manufacture this chocolate, Nestle does not need to add refined sugar. 17 JUL 2019 Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cocoa-ingredients-market-1380 NOTE: Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required we will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details. COVID-19 Study in Detail: Impact of COVID-19 on Iso-Propyl Alcohol Market Impact of COVID-19 on Steel Extruded Products Market Coronavirus Outbreak and Plastic Films Market Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon has accused Scott Morrison of hurting Australian wine producers by offending Beijing, labelling the Prime Minister's attitude "outrageous" in an attack that threatens to split Australia's largely bipartisan foreign policy on China. China's Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine producers on Tuesday, putting $1.2 billion worth of exports to Australia's largest market at risk. The hit was the fourth trade strike in as many months on a key Australian export after multiple disputes over the origins of the coronavirus, Hong Kong and the South China Sea. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham held crisis talks with the wine industry on Wednesday morning including peak body Australian Grape and Wine and Australian wine giants; Treasury Wine Estates, Pernod Ricard, Yalumba and Accolade. Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Fitzgibbon, Labor's agriculture spokesman, on Wednesday escalated his criticism of the government. "I think there is someone to blame. I think it's Scott Morrison. I think his language and attitude towards China has been outrageous," he said. "It's a big gorilla. It's our major trading partner, our largest export market, and it's angry and it's going to punish us." On August 15, Nebraska's Gov. Pete Ricketts signed into law to ban abortions which he claimed to be a "horrific procedure and an important step to strengthen our culture of life." It is stated that any individuals who don't follow up with the law will be charged with a felony that comes with a punishment of up to two years in prison or a fine of $10,000. Making a clear statement with banning abortions, many are aware of their actions due to such a high demand for punishment. Expressing his sorrow for the unborn babies, he calls abortion a 'brutal and an unthinkable method.' According to the report, The Legislative Bill 814 passed by a vote of 33-8 after weeks of what pro-life leaders called political maneuvering by its opponents that almost saw the measure languish in committee. "This legislation protects unborn children from the brutality of being torn apart limb by limb," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. Now that Ricketts has signed the bill, Nebraska joins 12 other states with the same ban on the procedure: Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, North Dakota and Indiana. The light-armoured vehicle recently acquired by city police was donated by Ontario Power Generation, The Examiner has learned. An OPG spokesperson confirmed the donation in a statement Wednesday. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) donated the light armoured vehicle (LAV) to the Peterborough Police Service, Neal Kelly stated in an email. Wherever possible, OPG provides surplus vehicles and training equipment to communities adjacent to our facilities, or partners in our local emergency preparedness programs, for their use. In 2019, OPG began speaking with the Peterborough Police Service about this potential donation, in support of their safety and emergency response program. We offered the LAV to Peterborough Police Service because it is surplus to our needs. Peterborough Police and the Peterborough Police Services Board had refused to identify the donor of the LAV since it was first announced in June, saying that it came from a donor who wished to remain anonymous. The vehicle, valued at $250,000 new, is used and now worth about $30,000, the board was told. The 2012 Oshkosh SandCat vehicle, a modified SUV, has been undergoing repainting and maintenance before it can be used by city police. It has not yet appeared in public or been photographed. Police say it will be used to keep officers safe in high-risk situations. The police board voted Tuesday night to reject a request from city council to identify the donor of the vehicle, although board members Bob Hall and Mayor Diane Therrien voted in favour of releasing the information. The other members of the board Mark Graham, Les Kariunas and board chair Coun. Gary Baldwin had voted to keep the donors identity confidential. On Wednesday after OPG confirmed it was the donor, the board issued a statement that it had accepted the gift in a closed-session meeting and that the donor had requested anonymity at the time. But since the donor had come forward, Police Chief Scott Gilbert provided a statement of thanks Wednesday As a small service and smaller community with a limited budget, we were very thankful for the donation from one of our partners in emergency preparedness, Gilbert stated. We are also grateful that they have decided to come forward and relieve the Peterborough Police Service and the police services board of the requirement they remain anonymous. The gift will help to keep our community safer. OPG is the largest electricity generator in the province: it runs solar and hydroelectric facilities across Ontario (including the Auburn and Lakefield hydroelectric generating stations). It also operates the Darlington and Pickering nuclear power plants in Durham Region, which have specialized security measures in place. At the meeting on Tuesday, the police services board also voted not to tell city council how much the LAV would cost to maintain or to eventually replace. Therrien and Hall had both been in favour of releasing that information to the city, with Hall arguing that the citys entitled to know maintenance and replacement costs since its the police services funder. But the other board members didnt think council was entitled to any of the information is requested: the donors name, the maintenance costs or the replacement costs. Board member Mark Graham said council members didnt need to know the donors identity. It was discussed in camera and all matters discussed in camera remain confidential, he said. Kariunas said at Tuesdays meeting that there would be safety concerns for the donor if the identity was revealed and the police board had a responsibility to protect them. The donor requested public anonymity, Hall said, but he recalled the donor also saying that if the board needed flexibility in that regard it could be granted. Therrien said on Tuesday that its valid for people to ask the donors identity. Im not opposed to releasing that, she said. Chinese hackers infiltrated at least 10 Taiwan government agencies and gained access to around 6,000 email accounts in an attempt to steal data, officials said Wednesday. The damage done was "not small", according to a top Taiwan cyber official, who said the full impact was still being assessed. Taipei has accused Beijing of stepping up a cyber campaign since 2016 when Taiwan elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who refuses to acknowledge Beijing's insistence that the self-ruled democratic island is part of "one China". Tsai, who views Taiwan as de facto independent, won re-election by a landslide in January in what was seen as a strong rebuke to Beijing's campaign to influence the island. According to the Taiwan Investigation Bureau's Cyber Security Investigation Office, two well-known Chinese hacking groups -- Blacktech and Taidoor -- have been targeting government departments and information service providers since 2018. "We know for sure that these 6,000 emails have been compromised. We are still assessing the extent of the damage," the office's deputy director, Liu Chia-zung, told AFP. "As far as we know, the damage done by this infiltration is not small," Liu added. "We are making this public because we want to alert everyone of the threat and stop further damage." The announcement comes a week after US health secretary Alex Azar wrapped up a historic trip to the self-ruled island as China warned Washington not to "play with fire". Beijing has ramped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan as well as increasing military drills near the island, including its jets breaching Taiwan's air defence zone with unprecedented frequency in recent weeks. sc/je/fox Two University of Texas at Arlington faculty members--Stephanie Rasmussen, associate professor of accounting in the College of Business, and Ericka Robinson-Freeman, associate professor in practice in the School of Social Work--have earned the UT System Board of Regents Outstanding Teaching Award. The annual award recognizes educators who best exemplify excellence, innovation and a commitment to student success. The two Mavericks are among 27 faculty recipients in the UT System. Each will receive a certificate, a medallion and $25,000 in appreciation of their impact on students and their institutions. "Ericka and Stephanie are exemplary members of the UT Arlington faculty because they always put our students first and are dedicated to the University's true mission: the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of excellence," said Teik C. Lim, interim president of UTA. "Their commitment to student success makes UTA a better place and makes me proud to work with them." The awards are among the largest in the nation given for outstanding faculty performance. Winners are chosen based on rigorous evaluations by students, peer faculty and external reviewers, who focus on the candidates' classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes. "These awards demonstrate the Board's appreciation for exceptional educators at each of the 14 UT institutions," Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said. "Their dedication to teaching excellence and student success is instrumental to achieving our education, research and health care missions." Overall, the Board of Regents has presented more than $20 million to more than 700 UT System educators. Established in 2008, the Outstanding Teaching Award honors extraordinary classroom performance and innovation. "Great teachers inspire, motivate and challenge their students," UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said. "We honor these outstanding educators for their service to Texas and Texans." A sense of community Rasmussen said she has two goals as an educator: to show students they are each individuals and to help them succeed. "Teaching at a university with more than 40,000 students, I strongly believe that students need to be recognized as individuals," said Rasmussen, who has been at UT Arlington since 2009. "Individual recognition engages students in the classroom and gives them a sense of community." She insists on learning the names of all 140 students she teaches each semester, so she can address them personally in class. She also engages students by asking questions and urging them to participate in classroom discussions. After exams, she emails them to offer encouragement or congratulations for their high marks. "These practices help me identify which students are actively involved in the learning process and which students lack engagement," Rasmussen said. "Several students have told me I was the first professor to contact them after a poor performance." Rasmussen is passionate about finding creative ways to help students learn better and be actively involved in their learning. With colleagues at UTA and elsewhere, she has created course Pinterest boards, for example, and conducted a series of podcast interviews with business professionals so students can hear how people use accounting information in their work. After the semester ends, she remains in touch with promising students to see if they have questions about accounting careers, future aspirations or graduate school. "I send each of them congratulatory notes of encouragement and visit with many of them after the semester ends," Rasmussen said. "I believe I can play a critical role in student success even after students finish my course." Rasmussen held a two-year IDEAS Center Faculty Fellowship starting in summer 2017 and currently serves as the faculty adviser for the UTA chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, the scholastic honor society for business students. Cultivating critical thinkers A love for storytelling and a deep desire to help others led Robinson-Freeman to UTA, first as a student and then a faculty member. After obtaining her bachelor's degree in communication at UTA, Robinson-Freeman worked in the nonprofit sector. "While working in public relations, I discovered that, at its core, social work was a great way to meet people, learn their stories and hopefully make a difference in their lives," she said. After returning to UTA and earning a master's degree in social work, Robinson-Freeman worked for Child Protective Services and other agencies. She discovered empathy and compassion were her most useful and effective tools. "I had an epiphany," she said. "I realized the best way to help children was to help their caregivers, advocate for their families and give them the tools and support to rewrite their stories." Robinson-Freeman wanted to share her knowledge and experiences with the next generation of social workers and began teaching at UTA as an adjunct professor. Within a year, she became an assistant professor in practice and was later promoted to associate professor in practice. "By using the qualities and skills I developed while working in the social work field, I set out to accomplish two goals as a teacher," she said. "I want to instruct students in the field of social work practice so they can become compassionate and competent practitioners to serve clients with integrity. And I want to cultivate critical thinkers who will fare better and be successful in their communities, in their families and in their journeys in life." Scott Ryan, dean of the School of Social Work, said Robinson-Freeman is "passionate about assisting students in developing social work skills." "She is adept at applying techniques in the classroom to draw students into the learning process," he said. Robinson-Freeman said she credits the education she received at UTA for preparing her for her different careers. "I approach working with my students and being in the classroom like I do my work as a social worker," she said. "I seek to build rapport, establish a relationship and empower my students. Fostering trust and eliciting encouragement works wonders in both conveying content and retaining knowledge." ### - Written by Herb Booth and Elizabeth Couch Soon after the Supreme Court confirmed a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Sushant Singh Rajputs death case, the BJP took an aim at the Maharashtra government on Wednesday, saying that the hidden hands interfering in the Mumbai polices investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput will be exposed. The immature Parth Pawar, grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, too tweeted soon after the court order. Parth tweeted Satyamev Jayate (Truth prevails), however, he made no mention of the case. A few weeks ago, Parth had written a letter to state home minister Anil Deshmukh demanding a CBI inquiry into the young actors death. Parths position was at odds with that of the partys which had expressed confidence in the Mumbai police. The BJP too had demanded a CBI probe. He is immature. There is no value to what he says. I have 100% trust in the Maharashtra and Mumbai Police. But if anyone wants to make a demand, then nobody can object, Sharad Pawar had said last week, dismissing the young leaders demand for a CBI investigation. The BJP blamed the Maharashtra government for the alleged mishandling of the case. The hidden hands that have been interfering in the police investigation will now be exposed. Who were the people who did not allow Mumbai police to investigate the case. Will the state government take the responsibility of forcible goof ups by the Mumbai police? Thank you to the Supreme Court. Pub and Party gang which enjoyed illegally, while 15000 plus Mumbaikars died in lockdown! Note- Justice will be done, Bharatiya Janata Partys former Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar said in a series of tweets. Noted IPS-officer-turned lawyer YP Singh termed the verdict as a setback for Mumbai police and even the state government. Doubts were raised over the investigation and conduct of the Mumbai police. To clear all doubts and ensure justice, the SC has rightly handed over the case to the CBI, he said. The Mumbai police failed to come out clearly and maintain transparency in the investigation by briefing on a regular basis on the findings, he added. The act of quarantining the Bihar SP Vinay Tiwari, said Singh, was immature and could have gone against the state. Shiv Sena leader and transport minister Anil Parab said, We are yet to receive the copy of the court order. Once we read it thoroughly, we will respond to it in detail, including responding to the allegations of the BJP. Maharashtra Congress general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that the apex court verdict will have far reaching consequences as it has given a new viewpoint to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure code. Honourable SC judgement has given a new viewpoint to the provisions in CrPC. Now cases will be registered at any place leading to the complications. This will have a larger and far reaching impact on the future inter-state as well as intra-state working as far as the jurisdiction of the police investigation is concerned, said Sawant. The top court has asked the Mumbai police to hand over the case records and evidence to the CBI. It also asked the Maharashtra government to cooperate and assist in the CBI investigation. The verdict was was based on a plea filed by actor Rhea Chakraborty to transfer an FIR of abetment to suicide registered against her in connection with the death of Suhant Singh Rajput from Patna to Mumbai. If you don't do what we want we will make you miserable. The "peaceful" protesters, in cities such as Portland and Seattle, don't advocate violence, for the sake of argument, nor do they condone violence, so they say. But, of course, they facilitate violence. Who would sign on to such malfeasance? Answer: people who enjoy other people's businesses and lives sacrificed for some higher good. Yes, enjoy, or why else indulge in the mayhem their protests create? What is this higher good? I gather it is the elimination of systemic racism, colonialism, misogyny, racial injustice, xenophobia, homophobia, violence, brutality, and inequality of income. The rub is this. The whole shtick is getting pretty boring. Who even knows what misogyny is? Colonialism? But, for the sake of argument, assume that all those things exist. What is proposed? Well, first and foremost, wear a mask. Second, burn down businesses; beat up cops. At least that seems to be what the protesters in Portland are striving for. I think what is proposed is a prison. Where goodies are parceled out to reward and punish behavior. That's right, a behavior prison. And who would be in such prisons? Easy: We would let the media decide. What the heck, we don't need courts anymore. We have the fake media. And, natch, the lamestream protesters. And who would be in charge of such prisons? Why, that would be the many legislators who come to office with nothing and retire with millions, with large mansions, in Hawaii, San Francisco, and elsewhere. After all, if you don't do what they want, they will make everyone miserable. And that is not boring. Image credit: Joe Frazier Photo via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0. The total number of confirmed cases grew to 96,403. Ukraine said 1,967 new active COVID-19 cases had been confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours as of August 19, 2020, the highest daily rise ever reported. The total number of confirmed cases grew to 96,403. As many as 49,737 patients, including 812 in the past day, have recovered, as seen on the interactive map compiled by the National Security and Defense Council. The pandemic has taken 2,144 lives with 28 fatalities recorded over the past day. In total, 1,335,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have been run since the outbreak. The overall incidence per region is as follows: 3,323 cases in Vinnytsia region; 4,878 in Volyn region; 1,816 in Dnipropetrovsk region; 1,122 in Donetsk region (Ukrainian-controlled districts); 2,536 in Zhytomyr region; 6,552 in Zakarpattia region; 1,179 in Zaporizhia region; 7,122 in Ivano-Frankivsk region; 748 in Kirovohrad region; 10,945 in the city of Kyiv; 4,685 in Kyiv region; 12,448 in Lviv region; 194 in Luhansk region (Ukrainian-controlled districts); 857 in Mykolaiv region; 5,281 in Odesa region; 582 in Poltava region; 7,953 in Rivne region; 1,023 in Sumy region; 4,001 in Ternopil region; 6,607 in Kharkiv region; 312 in Kherson region; 1,678 in Khmelnytsky region; 8,108 in Chernivtsi region; 1,175 in Cherkasy region; 1,278 in Chernihiv region. Read alsoTown in Ukraine's Lviv region refuses to toughen coronavirus quarantineData from Russia-occupied areas the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is not available. COVID-19 tests were run by the Public Health Center's virological reference laboratory and regional laboratories. As of the morning of August 19, 2020, the Center had received 2,361 reports of suspected cases. In total, there have been 154,246 reports on suspected COVID-19 since the beginning of 2020. Quarantine in Ukraine The adaptive quarantine was introduced on August 1. Ukrainian regions were split into the red, green, orange zones depending on hospital load, the average number of PCR and ELISA tests, the ascertainment rate of COVID-19, and daily spread dynamics. Quarantine-related curbs differ in each zone. The mildest ones are in the green zone, the regions included in the red zone have to introduce the toughest restrictive measures. Updated quarantine zoning became effective in Ukraine on August 17. Kyiv was included in the yellow zone. In Ukrainian schools within the "orange quarantine zone", teachers will be wearing protective face shields in class. Columbia City Council on Aug. 18 elected not to reinstate a curfew in the city as college students return to campus, but it will look to increase enforcement on crowded house parties and push other measures to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. There had been talk in city circles of returning to a curfew of some type as the University of South Carolina is set to go back in session. In the spring, when COVID-19 began to take off across the Palmetto State, the city had an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m curfew. That eventually expired in June. But, as detailed by Mayor Steve Benjamin during the Aug. 18 Council meeting, city leaders have decided not to go back to a curfew, at least for the time being. In particular, Benjamin indicated the city would not likely return to a curfew as long as Republican Gov. Henry McMaster's "last call" executive order is in place. That order, among other things, prohibits bars and restaurants from selling alcohol after 11 p.m. The mayor said Aug. 18 that the city will make a formal request to McMaster that he keep the "last call" executive order going until there is a sustained deceleration of COVID-19 in the Columbia area. "If he decides [to end the statewide 11 p.m. alcohol order], we reserve the authority as a Council to reimpose a curfew under state law and city ordinance," Benjamin said. While Council shied away from a new curfew on Aug. 18, it did pass first reading on an ordinance that would allow for penalties for landlords who own properties where large house parties take place. In Columbia, owners who rent out property to renters must have a permit from the city. Landlords must abide by a host of rules, and there is a point system. If too many violations occur at a given property, the ability to rent out that property can be revoked. Under the measure that got first approval Aug. 18, if a large house party happens at a given property, it could be deemed a "serious offense" under city law and cause a 10-point penalty for the property owner. An accumulation of 15 points can lead to the revocation of the rental permit. "We want to see large house gatherings and other high-risk events come to an end," Benjamin said. "Following the data and the news reports, it appears that the vast majority of the challenges that colleges are facing as students return back for the fall are usually because of events that happen off-campus, not on-campus." Colleges across the nation, and in the South, are grappling with the return to school. On Aug. 17, the University of North Carolina announced it was going to online classes after four clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks cropped up in student living spaces. Council's move to curb house parties in Columbia didn't sit well with everyone. Citizen Scott Linaberry spoke out against the measure on Aug. 18. Linaberry owns more than a dozen duplexes in Columbia, mostly rented to college students. He says Council is "trying to ding landlords for the actions of their tenants." "The one thing that concerns me about this particular ordinance is that it is only directed at these types of houses, rental houses or properties that tenants don't own," Linaberry said. "Not only will it affect college kids, but it will affect any house that the tenants do not own, basically because this is the only way you can enforce anything, is to ding a landlord who you are already expecting to act like a parent to their tenants." The city also is asking private student housing complexes in the city to "seriously consider" shutting down their community swimming pools, in hopes of avoiding massive pool parties where young people could spread the virus while in close proximity to one another. Benjamin noted that Columbia's collegiate landscape which includes USC, Benedict College, Columbia International University, Allen University, Columbia College, and Midlands Technical College puts it "in a unique position" in needing to ensure measures are being taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 as the young adults who attend those schools stream back to the city. Among those steps will be an effort to increase the use of face masks in Columbia. Council recently extended its ordinance that requires citizens to wear masks in businesses in the city for another two months. While there had been talk among some city leaders heading into the Aug. 18 meeting about increasing penalties for not wearing masks, for now the city is planning to step up outreach and promotion of the effort, in the hopes for better compliance. National broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) has apologized for an incident where its anchorman compared hawkers to parasites on Ho Chi Minh City streets during a news broadcast. The official apology was delivered by anchorwoman Thu Huong during the Finance-Business broadcast at 7:00 am Wednesday on VTV1 Channel, after the controversial comparison had been made by her colleague Anh Quang in the same program two days ago. During the Finance-Business broadcast on the morning of August 17 on VTV1 Channel, we covered a story to show sympathy for street vendors in Ho Chi Minh City who are facing economic difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, Huong said at the opening of the apology. Due to carelessness during the editing stage and live broadcast process, our news presenter used inappropriate and unintentional wording that caused the audience to misinterpret the news content, while the whole report was meant to offer a perspective of sharing and showing sympathy for the street vendors who were struggling to make a living during the COVID-19 pandemic." The inappropriate and unintentional wording refers to a line said during Mondays Finance-Business broadcast by VTV anchorman Anh Quang. When the [Ho Chi Minh City] streets are lifeless, how will the peddlers, who are living [as] parasites on these streets, survive? Quang asked during an introduction to a news report. The way Quang compared the citys street hawkers to the parasitic organisms stirred a furore from viewers. Huong, on behalf of the editorial board of the news program, said the VTV team sincerely apologizes to the street vendors and viewers for this serious professional error. Anchorman Anh Quang on Tuesday also posted an apology on his personal Facebook account, saying he is sorry for his reading mistake. Quang added he had also written a report on the issue and is waiting to receive a disciplinary measure from his agency. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! New Delhi, Aug 19 : Hotels in the national capital were on Wednesday allowed to reopen while gyms will continue to remain closed amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The decision was taken in the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. In the meeting, it was also decided that the weekly markets will reopen on a trial basis. As per Delhi government, hotels contribute to eight per cent of the city's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment while the weekly markets provide employment to five lakh poor families. "After having successfully brought COVID situation under control, it is a challenge to bring the economy back on track. Opening up these two sectors will help in that direction," the Delhi Government said in a statement. Following the decision, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the corona situation in Delhi was much better and that the economy of Delhi has to be brought on track now. For this, the Delhi Chief Minister said "we had already proposed opening all the hotels in Delhi, which was rejected by the Central government". "We again requested the central government, and we are happy that now the proposal of the Delhi government has been approved. Now all hotels in Delhi will be opened. At the same time, the weekly market will be opened on a trial basis. In the meantime, everyone must exercise precautions and follow social distancing." In the last week of July, Kejriwal government decided to allow hotels and gyms to reopen in the city, besides allowing weekly markets to open on a trial basis for seven days with social distancing and all other COVID-19 measures. The Delhi government had decided to end night curfew and allow more economic activities, including normal functioning of hospitality services, in the national capital under 'Unlock-3' guidelines. However, on July 31 the Delhi L-G rejected the Delhi government's decision to allow hotels and weekly markets under Unlock 3, citing the situation as being fragile amid coronavirus pandemic. On August 6, Kejriwal-led Delhi government sent a fresh proposal to the L-G seeking his permission to allow hotels, gymnasium, and weekly markets to reopen in the national capital. The fresh proposal sent by Revenue Minister Kailash Gehlot said that the condition of Delhi is improving and the number of cases are coming down. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in its proposal to the L-G said that in accordance with the Centre's 'Unlock' guidelines, it has the right to decide on allowing such establishments in Delhi to reopen. The AAP government had said that COVID-19 cases have been increasing in several states and the situation is "frequently deteriorating", but hotels, gyms and weekly markets have been allowed there. It had sought to know from the L-G why Delhiites were being stopped from earning their livelihood despite the fact that the number of coronavirus cases has been decreasing in the national capital. Following the decision, many hotel and restaurant associations thanked Kejriwal. "We thank Arvind Kejriwal, the beloved Chief Minister of Delhi. The decision to open hotels is a new ray of life given to us. It is a step to provide livelihood and employment opportunities. The move will also make migrant workers happy," wrote President Loveleen Anand and Chairman Sandeep Khandelwal of Delhi Hotels and Restaurant's Owner's Association (DHROA). Jagpreet Arora, President of Karol Bagh Hotel Association thanked the Delhi CM and wrote, "We would first like to thank you on behalf of the entire Karol Bagh hotel industry for granting us permission to reopen our Hotels. We appreciate the pains taken by you in helping us in this regard. We are always there for your support." Lodging House Owners Association President Daljeet Chadha and General Secretary Ram Arya said, "We thank you sir (Delhi CM) for unlocking our budget hotels in central district. Your continuous effort in pushing the proposal on rational reasoning has finally brought cheers to the depressed owners and importantly lakhs of workers sitting in their villages without jobs. We will follow all SOPs for COVID prevention." Tighter restrictions reimposed in Seoul and surrounding regions after nearly 300 new infections reported. South Korea has reported its highest daily rise in coronavirus cases since early March as clusters of cases from churches around the capital Seoul have prompted new restrictions amid concerns of a nationwide wave of infections. The 297 new infections reported on Wednesday mark the sixth straight day of triple-digit increase in a country that has managed to blunt several previous outbreaks. The national tally rose to 16,058 infections with 306 deaths, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Were in a desperately dangerous crisis where infections are spreading in the Seoul metropolitan area and threatening to lead to a massive nationwide transmission, Vice Minister of Health Kim Gang-lip told a briefing. The government cannot contain the current spread only with tracing and isolation please stay home unless you need to go out. Officials have also enforced stronger physical distancing restrictions for Seoul, Incheon and nearby Gyeonggi province that prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Nightclubs, karaoke rooms, buffet restaurants, computer gaming cafes and other high-risk facilities will be shut, while churches will be required to conduct all their worship services online. Al Jazeeras Rob McBride, reporting from Seoul, said the capital and surrounding areas were back at phase-two restrictions on a three-scale level. At least 140 of the new infections are linked to the Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul, taking the total number of cases from there to nearly 600. It is run by a controversial conservative preacher, Reverand Jun Kwang-hun, who also tested positive for COVID-19. Authorities are trying to trace another 600 members of the churchs congregation who should be in isolation and would like to test all 4,000 of its members. More than 8,500 police officers have been mobilised to track down church members. There has been a real concern over the lack of cooperation from this particular church, Al Jazeeras McBride said. 200815092801571 There have been allegations that some of the lists the church has been providing of members have been partially bogus, that people arent presenting themselves to be tested and that some people who even do go to the hospitals to get tested are absconding, he added. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government would take legal action against the church for any attempt to disrupt tracing and testing efforts by failing to provide accurate membership lists. At least three other smaller clusters have been linked to churches in Seoul and one to a church in the city of Yongin. Dozens of cases were linked to a coffee outlet in the city of Paju. More than 22 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world, some 14 million people have recovered, and more than 779,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. BRUSSELS European Union leaders are putting on a show of support Wednesday for people protesting in Belarus. Emergency talks will aim to highlight their concern about the contested presidential election and ratchet up pressure on officials linked to the security crackdown that followed. The EU believes that the results of the Aug. 9 polls, which handed President Alexander Lukashenko his sixth term with 80% of the vote, have been falsified, and the 27-nation bloc is preparing a list of Belarus officials who could be blacklisted from Europe over their roles. In a letter inviting leaders to the teleconference, EU Council President Charles Michel said that what we have witnessed in Belarus is not acceptable. He said the violence against peaceful protesters was shocking and has to be condemned. Those responsible must be held to account. Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades and clubs in the first four days of demonstrations. At least two protesters died. Workers at state-controlled companies have joined strikes this week, as the unprecedented mass protests enter their 11th day and erode the authority of the man once dubbed Europes last dictator. Its not entirely clear what the Europeans can do right now, but they appear determined to help maintain the momentum that began in the streets of Minsk with a show of political support, and to revive a sanctions program on Belarus that was eased four years ago as relations with Lukashenko improved. In a video statement ahead of their virtual summit, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Europe to support the awakening of Belarus. I call on you not to recognize these fraudulent elections. Mr. Lukashenko has lost all the legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world, Tsikhanouskaya said. On the eve of the meeting, Michel had a half-hour telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin to share the EUs concern about election irregularities and the scale of the security crackdown, and to impress upon the Russian leader the right of the Belarus people to determine their own future. They discussed ways to encourage talks between Lukashenko and the opposition, possibly by supporting a dialogue process fostered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Judy Dempsey, Nonresident Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and Editor in Chief of Strategic Europe, said the emphasis from the Europeans appears to be on getting Lukashenko to start talking to an opposition whose legitimacy he has tended to question. Time is of the essence, she warned, if Belarusians are not to see their hopes for change hijacked. The EU already said it does not recognize the outcome of the presidential election. The idea of new elections would rattle Putin, whose own record on free and fair elections has been challenged so far unsuccessfully by protesters in Russia, Dempsey said. The relatively small EU nation of Lithuania is playing a major role as the protests unfold by giving refuge to Tsikhanouskaya. Its Baltic neighbors, Estonia and Latvia, are also deeply involved in diplomatic efforts, as is Poland. Some in Europe are concerned that hitting Lukashenko and his associates too hard might drive Belarus into the arms of Russia, even though relations between Minsk and Moscow have been troubled in recent years and even more tense in the run up to the polls. Others fear Russian intervention. But experts tend to play down those worries, and say the people of Belarus only want to secure independence, and are not interested in deeper relations with Russia, the European Union, or in joining Moscows nemesis, the NATO military alliance. Belarus is not Georgia or Ukraine, where Putin fanned the flames of conflict by backing pro-Russian separatists. Ekaterina Pierson-Lyzhina, a Brussels-based researcher into Belarus EU foreign policy, said that recent surveys suggest around 60% of people want the country to remain independent and reject any kind of union. Smaller groups are divided up into those who support European or Russian integration. There are no European flags, no Russian flags. This revolution is about domestic dissatisfaction of the majority of Belarusians with their president, who has held a grip on power for 26 years, she said, and urged the EU to set up a fund for victims of the crackdown and help build a database on police crimes. 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 August 19 Frankly Toastmasters meets at Dennys The Frankly Speaking Toastmasters Club meets most Wednesday mornings including Aug. 19 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the private room at the back of the Dennys Restaurant in Spring. Sometimes the group meets online via Zoom. All visitors are welcome and the group meets to encourage members to conquer their fear of public speaking and develop communication skills. Dennys at I-45 North at Cypresswood is located at 20015 I45N in Spring. Learn more at www.https://www.facebook.com/ToastmastersFranklySpeaking August 20 BBQ fundraiser to benefit food pantry A barbecue dinner fundraiser event is set for 5 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 20 benefitting Stone Bridge Church Food Pantry at True Texas BBQ in Magnolia. A 10 percent portion of all dine-in or take-out orders will be donated to the food pantry at the church. True Texas BBQ is located at 7988 FM 1488 in Magnolia. Learn more at www.facebook.com/TrueTexasBBQMagnolia. August 21 Chamber meets monthly at local Dennys Bill Clark Pest Control, Inc. will be the speaker during the Our Town Community Update Breakfast held every third Friday of the month including Aug. 21 at 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Dennys on FM 2920 in Spring. Admission for chamber partners is $10 and $15 for non-partners. The networking breakfast event for the Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce is one way to meet your neighbors and local business representatives and each attendee will have an opportunity to share and educate the group about their business with a 30-second commercial. Dennys is located at 6504 FM 2920 in Spring. Learn more at www.springkleinchamber.org. August 22 Church food pantry seeks new volunteers Gateway Church, a Baptist church in Spring, offers a weekend food pantry volunteering opportunity from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on August 22. Volunteers can help the church organize and distribute food to local families in the back parking lot of the church. Park outside the iron gate. Gateway Church is located at 2930 Rayford Road in Spring. Learn more at www.facebook.com/DiscoverGateway. Market returns to Towne Lake boardwalk The Boardwalk at Towne Lake Farmers and Artisans Market returns from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 22 at the boardwalk. Open to the public and surrounding communities, the event will feature more than 35 local vendors offering organic produce, artisan bread, locally sourced cuisine, famr fresh eggs, grass-fed fresh meats and handcrafted items. The Boardwalk Towne Lake is located at 9945 Barker Cypress Road in Cypress. Learn more at www.facebook.com/yourneighborhoodfarmersmarket. August 22 McDermott Band performs at Lone Pint Brewery The Brandon McDermott Band will perform from 5 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 22 at Lone Pint Brewery in Magnolia. Hailing from Galveston Island, The Brandon McDermott Band usually performs at the likes of Yaga Cafe or Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. The quartet plays country-tinged hard rock in a familiar Texas music vein and sounds a little similar to the Old 97s. Lone Pint Brewery is located at 507 Commerce Street in Magnolia. Learn more at www.facebook.com/brandonmcdermottband/. Texas Trade Days offers many deals Texas Trade Days presents a virtual market every second and fourth Saturday online including from 12 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 22, featuring small business vendors from around the state. Registration is $5. The live shopping event is hosted using Zoom and there are vendor rooms, scheduled vendor demos and a main room where commerce can commence from a physical distance. Learn more at www.texastradedays.com. August 25 Republican women group to meet at smokehouse The Yellow Rose of Texas Republican Women will meet for a general meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 at Harris County Smokehouse in Tomball. Dinner is available before the meeting starts. Harris County Smokehouse - Tomball is located at 14243 FM 2920 in Tomball. Learn more at www.facebook.com/yellowroserw. August 27 County provides canoes at park Harris County Pct. 4 Commissioners Office presents an afternoon canoe event from 5 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 27 at Burroughs Park in Tomball. All equipment is provided including canoes, paddles and flotation devices. But you are encouraged to bring your own personal flotation life-jacket device. Burroughs Park is located at 9738 Hufsmith Road in Tomball. Registration is required at www.hcp4.net. County DA speaks at Magnolia meeting Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon will speak during the monthly business luncheon of the Greater Magnolia Parkway Chamber of Commerce from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 27. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for guests and the luncheon is at the Magnolia Event Center. Ligon has served Montgomery County as its District Attorney since his first election in 2008, and has won re-election twice since. According to his political campaign website, Ligon focuses on driving while intoxicated and internet crimes against children offenses. He also established a Public Integrity Division. The Magnolia Event Center is located at 11659 FM 1488 in Magnolia. Learn more at www.facebook.com/GreaterMagnoliaParkwayCC. August 29 Fleetwood Mac tribute band to perform Nightbird - a locally-based Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac tribute band is scheduled to perform at 8 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Main Street Crossing in Tomball. Tickets start at $20. The band has played all over the greater region and have been nominated for various local music awards. Brooke Alyson leads the band as a convincing Stevie Nicks. Main Street Crossing is located at 111 W. Main Street in Tomball. Learn more at www.mainstreetcrossing.com or call 281-290-0431. August 30 Hayes Carll performs dinner at Dosey Doe The Woodlands-native Hayes Carll will perform a dinner show at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 30 at Dosey Doe The Big Barn. Tickets start at $58 and includes dinner. Access to a meet and greet VIP session is an extra $50. Its a rare in-person performance for Carll, who has been entertaining fans online during weekly performances he calls Alone Together. Dosey Doe The Big Barn is located at 25911 I-45 North in The Woodlands. Learn more at www.doseydoe.com or call 281-367-3774. Entertainment roundup is a weekly feature compiled by freelance writer Brandon Moeller. Send entertainment submissions to Brandon at moellerbrandon@gmail.com . (Photo : (Photo by SpaceX via Getty Images)) CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: In this SpaceX handout image, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft launches on the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard at Launch Complex 39A May 30, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The Demo-2 mission is the first launch of a manned SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. It was the first launch of an American crew from U.S. soil since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. (Photo : (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)) CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - JUNE 03: In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, launches from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on June 3, 2017 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Dragon is carrying almost 6,000 pounds of science research, crew supplies and hardware to the International Space Station in support of the Expedition 52 and 53 crew members. The unpressurized trunk of the spacecraft also will transport solar panels, tools for Earth-observation and equipment to study neutron stars. This will be the 100th launch, and sixth SpaceX launch, from this pad. Previous launches include 11 Apollo flights, the launch of the unmanned Skylab in 1973, 82 shuttle flights and five SpaceX launches. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shares a video looking like a "trick shot" as half of a rocket fairing from his launch slowly falls to open waters and is caught by a netted-ship. Eccentric CEO Elon Musk shows off one of his rocket fairings that recently came back to Earth. The return of this particular rocket is portrayed as a welcome tribute which he posted online. Elon Musk's Twitter account (@elonmusk) showed the marvelous return of SpaceX's rocket fairing that reads, "Aloha, welcome back from space." The video shows a rocket accompanied by a parachute slowly descending to open waters when a boat cast with a wide net catching it. The video makes use of calming tropical background music that emulates the feeling of being on vacation and enjoying the view. The clip is posted by Musk last night at 6 pm. David Gokhshtein, Inc. CEO David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) replied on Musk's video on Twitter, asking whether the clip is real. Yes Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2020 To which the SpaceX CEO answered, "Yes." At first glance, the clip is seen to be a digital rendering or animated video edited specifically for Elon Musk's tweet. This led to personalities and Twitter users to question the legitimacy of the video. However, the clip is said to be a high-definition capture of the return of Falcon 9 that Musk filmed himself. ALSO READ: SpaceX Raised $1.9B in Biggest Funding Round Yet as Space Economy Expected to Be Worth $1 Trillion in 20 Years SpaceX's 100th launch Digital Trends reported that this is no ordinary launch by the Space Explorations Technologies Corp., more commonly known as SpaceX. August 18's six-time record of consecutive SpaceX first-booster launch and land, also marked a massive milestone for the company. The company's 58 new Starlink satellites up in the sky are historical because this marks SpaceX's 100th launch. Falcon 9 booster rockets were launched yesterday, August 18, 2020, at 10:30 am, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. These rockets are known to contain 58 of Starlink's internet-capable satellites and three of Planet Lab's spacecraft. Planet Labs is an Earth-imaging company that joins the SpaceX satellites. Starlink's internet satellites are set to a low-Earth orbit and can be seen around the world, looking like a trail of stars. Starlink's satellites can be seen from everyone's homes by proper scheduling and anticipation using the "Starlink Satellite Tracker" website. However, according to the website, SpaceX's Starlink satellites were put in a different orbit. Moreover, the company also reduced the satellites' brightness to not disturb astronomers and astronauts with their job in monitoring the heavenly bodies. Falcon 9 Technology Elon Musk's SpaceX came a long way since its initial launch in 2006 that launched numerous rockets and different advanced technologies with innovations. Fourteen years after their initial lift-off, SpaceX now celebrates its 100th launch with its revolutionary Falcon 9 that can be reused once it comes back to the planet's surface. The two-stage rocket design of SpaceX boasts of a reliable and safe transport of different cargos, including humans. Currently, Falcon 9 rockets were launched 98 times, landed 51 times, and reflown by the company for 36 times. Watch SpaceX and Starlink's launch of Falcon 9 below: ALSO READ: Redditors Leaked SpaceX Starlink Internet Speeds That Are Way Below Target This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Unification Minister Lee In-young on Tuesday complained that a South Korea-U.S. working group ensuring compliance with sanctions against North Korea has "hindered progress" in inter-Korean relations and needs reorganizing. Lee lodged the complaint with U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris when they met in Seoul on Tuesday but was given short shrift. Harris said the working group "is an efficient mechanism." "The working group has received positive feedback on one hand for its effective discussions in terms of sanctions," Lee said, but added, "I would like to mention that there was criticism that it has served as a hindrance to inter-Korean relations." He called for changes to the working group so it "facilitates the development of inter-Korean relations and Korean Peninsula peace policy." "I believe we must restart inter-Korean dialogue and push ahead with cooperation in the humanitarian field and small-scale trade as the recent statement has been protracted," Lee said. In a symbolic show of support for the Vermont senator, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seconded the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic partys presidential candidate in her remarks at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday evening. In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of health care, espiritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America, Ocasio-Cortez said. Sanders, who suspended his presidential campaign in April, obviously couldnt become the nominee, but said at the time he would keep his name on the ballot and continue gathering delegates as a way to exert significant influence over the party platform. A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to win the party nomination; as of Thursday, Sanders has 1,097 delegates while Biden who accepted the party nomination later on Tuesday night has 2,695. And, as Ocasio-Cortez explained on Twitter after her video rolled, Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. Ocasio-Cortez said she was asked to second Sanders nomination for the roll call, but that I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden lets go win in November. The congresswoman has previously endorsed Biden. Also Read: Sally Yates: Trump 'Treats Our Country Like It's His Family Business' (Video) Read Ocasio-Cortezs full remarks below and watch her remarks here. Good evening, bienvenidos, and thank you to everyone here today endeavoring towards a better, more just future for our country and our world. In fidelity and gratitude to a mass peoples movement working to establish 21st century social, economic and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages and labor rights for all people in the United States. Story continues A movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia, and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many, and who organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy. In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of health care, espiritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America. Read original story Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Nominates Bernie Sanders in DNC Remarks: Watch Here (Video) At TheWrap The easing of lockdown restrictions has seen her travel to both Spain and St Tropez in recent weeks. And Francesca Allen enjoyed a relaxing swimming session as the five-star Kube Hotel in the South of France earlier this month. The Love Island star, 24, turned up the heat as she slipped into a white bikini, which featured jewelled gems across the bralet and matching briefs. Unwind: Francesca Allen enjoyed a relaxing swimming session as the five-star Kube Hotel in the South of France earlier this month Showcasing her toned figure, the clothing boutique manager looked sensational in the barely-there two-piece, which she styled with a sheer green sarong. The reality star opted for comfort when it came to her choice of footwear as she strolled beside the pool in grey sandals. Circular-framed shades served as Francesca's only accessory during her sunny day out at the resort, while slightly wavy tresses framed her face. Radiant: Showcasing her toned figure, the clothing boutique manager looked sensational in the barely-there two-piece Less is more: The reality star opted for comfort when it came to her choice of footwear as she strolled beside the pool in grey sandals, before removing the shoes to go barefoot Protection: Circular-framed shades served as Francesca's only accessory during her sunny day out at the resort, while slightly wavy tresses framed her face Chilling out: The Essex native looked every inch the bikini babe as she tapped into full relaxation mode Cooling off: The TV personality treated herself to a dip in the large body of water The TV star, who has since returned to the UK, appeared to pine for her recent holidays as she shared sizzling snaps from her Ibiza trip to Instagram on Wednesday. Brunette beauty Francesca commanded attention as she slipped into a striped bikini while letting loose at famous club O Beach Ibiza. Suffering from holiday blues, the Bonnie and Clyde co-owner captioned her post: 'damn I miss ibizaaaaa! Please can we lift the restrictions to the islands already... pretty pleaseeee'. (sic) Travellers from Spain face 14 days of quarantine when they return to the UK after the government pulled its air bridge with the country following a spike in COVID-19 cases. In good company: The online influencer let loose as she larked around with a pal Letting loose: The ladies appeared to enjoy a boogie session during their idyllic trip Splash of colour: Her ensemble was dressed up with a sheer green sarong Ready to relax: The social media sensation unravelled a white towel before laying on the beach chair Aside from her frequent getaways, Francesca was spotted cosying up to a new man during a boozy night out in London last month. 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. The TV personality, who is family friends with Edward, put on a very affectionate display with the hunk who was previously been linked to TOWIE's Amber Turner. 'I miss Ibiza!' The TV star, who has since returned to the UK, appeared to pine for her recent holidays as she shared sizzling snaps from her Ibiza trip to Instagram on Wednesday Working it: The brunette beauty commanded attention as she slipped into a striped bikini while letting loose at famous club O Beach Ibiza In May last year, Edward was seen enjoying a jaunt on a yacht in Ibiza with TOWIE star Amber, 27, who is currently dating Dan Edgar. 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 contacted Francesca's representatives for further comment at the time of publication. Late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajputs family welcomed the Supreme Courts decision to have the CBI continue to probe the death case. Bihar BJP MLA and Rajputs relative Niraj Singh Babloo said that the family is certain that the late actor will get justice. Our family thanks the Supreme Court and all those who were a part of this movement for justice. Now, we are certain that Sushant will get justice, Babloo said. Rajputs father KK Singhs lawyer described it as the victory for the entire family. Also read: Supreme Court orders CBI investigation in Sushant Singh Rajputs death case Our family thanks the Supreme Court, and all those who were a part of this movement for justice. Now, we are certain that Sushant will get justice: Niraj Singh Babloo, Bihar BJP MLA & relative of #SushantSinghRajput pic.twitter.com/rfJiWhoZfJ ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 The SC ruled on all points in our favour. The Court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct, Vikas Singh, KK Singhs lawyer said. He hoped that the justice will be pronounced very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict, the lawyer added. The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that Bihar government was competent to give consent to CBI for probing into the Patna FIR in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case and the CBI will, therefore, continue with the probe. The top court refused to accept actor Rhea Chakrabortys plea for transfering the FIR from Patna to Mumbai. SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict: Vikas Singh, Lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father https://t.co/93a6w4HoqA ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy on Wednesday held that the contents as disclosed by Patna FIR do indicate that even Mumbai Police has jurisdiction. The Court has further directed that if any new case is filed in the ongoing case, the CBI will be competent to probe the matter. The FIR registered at Patna was correct. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, the Court announced. In July, Rajputs father had registered an FIR with Patna Police against Chakraborty and others, calling them responsible for abetment of his sons death. The thirty-four-year-old actor was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Mumbai Police said Rajput died by suicide. As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic ripples across the globe, more information emerges about neutralizing antibodies developed after being exposed to the virus. With now more than 22 million reported infections worldwide, it is essential to know if those who have recovered will develop immunity against the deadly disease. The coronavirus disease is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is a virus akin to those that caused the earlier severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-2004 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2012. Knowing whether the virus induces an immune response and neutralizing antibodies in the human body is vital for the development of vaccines. Now, a team of researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine has found evidence that SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies can prevent infection in people, as they conducted a study before and after a COVID-19 outbreak on a fishing vessel. Fishing vessel outbreak In the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed and appeared on medRxiv*, the researchers investigated an outbreak aboard a fishing vessel that sailed from Seattle in May. Before the departure of the ship, 122 men and women were tested to determine if they are infected with SARS-CoV-2. Apart from this, blood samples were obtained to determine if they had antibodies against the virus, hinting at previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2. All the crew members tested negative, but three of them had antibodies indicating they had previously been infected. A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak emerged on the fishing vessel, and the crew members who had significant levels of antibodies against the virus were protected against re-infection. Further, these crew members were later found to have antibodies that neutralized the virus and prevented infection in animals, targeting proteins the virus uses to bind and invade human cells, called the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Meanwhile, three other crew members initially tested positive for antibodies against one protein, the nucleocapsid protein, of SARS-CoV-2, but subsequent analysis of their blood samples found low anti-spike antibody activity. All three became infected during the shipboard outbreak. Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (red), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID Anti-spike antibody and neutralization assays To further understand the outbreak in the fishing vessel, the researchers performed anti-spike antibody and neutralization assays on the blood extracted from the vessel when the crew members returned to the port. The tests conducted showed that 104 of the 122 crew members had been exposed and infected with COVID-19 while they were in the fishing vessel. The outbreak had a high attack rate of more than 85 percent, but none of the three crew members who had antibodies were infected. Nonetheless, with an overall attack rate of >85%, the lack of infection in the three individuals with neutralizing antibodies was statistically significant compared to the rest of the boats crew. Overall, our results provide the first direct evidence anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies are protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans, the researchers concluded. A characterizing feature of SARS-CoV-2 is the protein spikes that cover its surface, which is used by the virus to attach and enter human cells. The spike of the virus contains the infectivity machinery, allowing it to enter and infect human cells. The anti-spike antibodies developed when exposed to the virus in the past, interfere with the spike protein virus protein mechanism. The study findings highlight the importance of designing vaccines to generate similar antibodies, known as neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent infection in people. More than a hundred candidate vaccines are now underway, with six of the vaccines are in their last phases of clinical trials. Currently, the only proof that such vaccines can protect against the coronavirus comes from animal studies. Were honing in on the immunological responses we need to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. We cant wait to get this virus behind us, Dr. Alex Greninger, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the UW School of Medicine, said. The global case number of COVID-19 has topped 22.1 million, and more than 780,000 have succumbed to the infection. The United States is the country with the highest number of cases, with more than 5.48 million infected. Brazil and India follow with a staggering 3.40 million and 2.76 million cases, respectively. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. (RNS) Its a rough time to be a pastor. An election year, national racial unrest and a global pandemic each challenged the usual methods of ministry. Taken together, many church leaders are facing the traditional post-vacation ingathering season with a serious case of burnout. But theres another challenge that pastors I spoke with say is on the rise in their flocks. It is taking on the power of a new religion thats dividing churches and hurting Christian witness. Mark Fugitt, senior pastor of Round Grove Baptist Church in Miller, Missouri, recently sat down to count the conspiracy theories that people in his church are sharing on Facebook. The list was long. It included claims that 5G radio waves are used for mind control; that George Floyds murder is a hoax; that Bill Gates is related to the devil; that masks can kill you; that the germ theory isnt real; and that there might be something to Pizzagate after all. You dont just see it once, said Fugitt. If theres ever anything posted, youll see it five to 10 times. Its escalating for sure. Conspiracy theories grand narratives that seek to prove that powerful actors are secretly controlling events and institutions for evil purposes are nothing new in the U.S. But since 2017, a sort of ur-conspiracy theory, QAnon, has coalesced in online forums and created millions of believers. To look at QAnon is to see not just a conspiracy theory but the birth of a new religion, wrote Adrienne LaFrance in The Atlantic in June. Named after Q, who posts anonymously on the online bulletin board 4chan, QAnon alleges that President Donald Trump and military officials are working to expose a deep state pedophile ring with links to Hollywood, the media and the Democratic Party. Since its first mention some three years ago, the theory has drawn adherents looking for a clear way to explain recent disorienting global events. Once the fascination of far-right commentators and their followers, QAnon is no longer fringe. With support from Trump and other elected officials, it has gained credibility both on the web and in the offline world: In Georgia, a candidate for Congress has praised Q as a mythical hero, and at least five other congressional hopefuls from Illinois to Oregon have voiced support. One scholar found a 71% increase in QAnon content on Twitter and a 651% increase on Facebook since March. Jon Thorngate is the pastor at LifeBridge, a nondenominational church of about 300 in a Milwaukee suburb. In recent months, he said, his members have shared Plandemic, a half-hour film that presents COVID-19 as a moneymaking scheme by government officials and others, on Facebook. Members have also passed around a now-banned Breitbart video that promotes hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus. Thorngate, one of the few pastors who would go on the record among those who called QAnon a real problem in their churches, said that only five to 10 members are actually posting the videos online. But in conversations with other members, hes realized many more are open to conspiracy theories than those who post. Thorngate attributes the phenomenon in part to the death of expertise a distrust of authority figures that leads some Americans to undervalue long-established measures of competency and wisdom. Among some church members, he said, the attitude is, Im going to use church for the things I like, ignore it for the things I dont and find my own truth. That part for us is concerning, that nothing feels authoritative right now. For years in the 1980s and 90s, U.S. evangelicals, above nearly any other group, warned what will happen when people abandon absolute truth (which they located in the Bible), saying the idea of relative truth would lead to people believing whatever confirms their own inward hunches. But suspicion of big government, questioning of scientific consensus (on evolution, for example) and a rejection of the morals of Hollywood and liberal elites took hold among millennial Christians, many of whom feel politically alienated and beat up by mainstream media. They are natural targets for QAnon. Theres no hard data on how many Christians espouse QAnon. But Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, noted that distrust of mainstream news sources can feed a penchant for conspiracy theories. A 2018 poll from BGC found that 46% of self-identified evangelicals and 52% of those whose beliefs tagged them as evangelical strongly agreed that the mainstream media produced fake news. It also found that regular church attendance (at least once a month) correlated to believing that mainstream media promulgates fake news (77% compared with 68% of those who attend less regularly). Jared Stacy said the spread of conspiracy theories in his church is particularly affecting young members. The college and young adult pastor of Spotswood Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Stacy said some older members are sharing Facebook content that links the coronavirus to Jeffrey Epstein and secret pedophile rings. He says his and other pastors job is to teach that conspiracy theories are not where Christians should find a basis for reality. My fear is that Jesus would not be co-opted by conspiracy theories in a way that leads the next generation to throw Jesus out with the bathwater, Stacy said, that were not able to separate the narrative of taking back our country from Jesus kingdom narrative. Others are concerned the theories will become grounds for more mistrust. Young people are exiting the church because they see their parents and mentors and pastors and Sunday school teachers spreading things that even at a young age they can see through, said Jeb Barr, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Elm Mott outside Waco, Texas. He said conspiracy theories are extremely widespread and getting worse among his online church networks. Why would we listen to my friend Joe whos telling me about Jesus who also thinks that Communists are taking over America and operating a pedophile ring out of a pizza restaurant? Why would we be believed? But Barr and other pastors I spoke with are reticent to police church members social media conduct. Instead, they try to teach broader principles. Christians are meant to be agents of hope, to be peacemakers; the Bible says were not to be quarrelsome, said Barr. Were not to be the ones spreading fear and division and anger. Barr also teaches critical thinking skills and encourages his members to read boring news. He will recommend news sources that are credible. But teaching media literacy isnt enough, precisely because QAnon thrives on a narrative of media cover-up. Fugitt said its not effective to tell conspiracy spreaders that what they are sharing online is false. Nobody joins a cult. I dont think anybody shares a conspiracy theory either because they believe its truth. Rather, he tries to address the dehumanizing language of QAnon theories that equate certain people with evil. History is replete with examples of where such language can lead. I cant hate another person, but boy if I can make them less than human, thats the Crusades, thats Jewish persecution throughout history, thats racial issues hand over fist there. In a fraught political moment, the pastors I spoke with worried that taking on QAnon, by addressing politics directly, would divide the church. But QAnon is more than a political ideology. Its a spiritual worldview that co-opts many Christian-sounding ideas to promote verifiably false claims about actual human beings. QAnon has features akin to syncretism the practice of blending traditional Christian beliefs with other spiritual systems, such as Santeria. Q explicitly uses Bible verses to urge adherents to stand firm against evil elites. One charismatic church based in Indiana hosts two-hour Sunday services showing how Bible prophecies confirm Qs messages. Its leaders tell the congregation to stop watching mainstream media (even conservative media) in favor of QAnon YouTube channels and the Qmap website. And its having life-and-death effects: Its hampering the work of anti-sex trafficking organizations. The FBI has linked it to violence and threats of violence. And its adherents are downplaying the threat of COVID and thus putting others lives at risk. The earliest Christians contended with syncretism in the form of Gnosticism, which blended elements of Greek philosophy and Zoroastrianism with Christianity, emphasizing the good-evil spirit-flesh divide as well as secret divine knowledge (Greek: gnosis is knowledge). Early church fathers such as Irenaeus and Tertullian battled Gnostic ideas, rejecting them as heresy. At a time when church leaders are having to host digital church and try to meet members needs virtually, the idea of adding fight heresy to their to-do list might sound exhausting. But a core calling of church leaders is to speak the truth in love. Its not loving to allow impressionable people to be taken in by falsehood. Nor is it loving to allow them to spread falsehood and slander to others. Conspiracy theories thrive on a sort of cynicism that says, We see a different reality that no one else sees, said Stacy. Paul says to take every thought captive addressing conspiracy theories is part of that work. READ THIS STORY AT RELIGIONNEWS.COM Article originally published by Religion News Service. Used with permission. Photo courtesy: RNS/AP Photo/Matt Rourke/File Katelyn Beaty is a former managing editor of Christianity Today and the author of A Womans Place. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of Religion News Service or Christian Headlines. THE decisions which the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) will make regarding attacks by violent Islamist extremists in Mozambique, will form the basis upon which Zimbabwe will intervene in the neighbouring country, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo has said. Minister Moyo also noted that the negative reflection of Zimbabwe on social media was internally generated and intended to reach foreign destinations and capitals, particularly ahead of international and regional summits. He made the remarks while responding to questions from journalists during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday. There have been disturbances in some parts of Mozambique, particularly in the Cabo Delgado province where several gruesome acts are being committed by the Islamist terrorists. The conflict, which started as a religious sect, has since mutated into full-blown banditry with armed groups terrorising and tormenting civilians. The armed groups are said to have links with the Islamic State. The Mozambican Cabo Delgado insurgencies have so far claimed thousands of lives and left tens of thousands displaced with a potential of creating regional instability. Minister Moyo said Zimbabwes military intervention hinged on Sadc collective decisions. About the situation and what role Zimbabwe is going play in Mozambique, this is going to be within the context of Sadc. The decisions, which are going to be taken by Sadc organ will be the basis upon which Zimbabwe will get involved, he said. In May, President Mnangagwa, who was then the chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, visited Mozambique and met his Mozambican counterpart President Filipe Nyusi during which they discussed the security situation in Cabo Delgado and parts of Mozambiques Manica and Sofala provinces. The situation in Mozambique was also discussed by regional leaders during the just ended 40th Ordinary Summit of Sadc Heads of State and Government. A communique released after the virtual summit, which was attended by 13 countries, expressed Sadc solidarity and commitment to support Mozambique in addressing the terrorism and violent attacks, and condemned all acts of terrorism and armed attacks. Turning to events in Zimbabwe, Minister Moyo said the political situation in the country had been stage managed. The whole gamut of issues has been associated with activities that have been stage managed to a point that they are seen as real. As Zimbabweans, we must be Zimbabweans first and that must be our priority. It is pointless to destroy your home as if you have a second country. If there are issues that are not better understood, there must be dialogue, he said. Negativity, which has recently mushroomed against Zimbabwe, let us look at what is the source. The source is internal, generated locally by our own people for the purpose of social media consumption so that it can reach certain personalities, destinations and capitals, which should respond negatively to Zimbabwe. That is the scenario and the consumer is social media and mostly those people who are outside. Minister Moyo also briefed Cabinet on the 40th Ordinary Summit of Sadc Heads of State and Government, which was held under the theme: 40 Years Building Peace and Security, and Promoting Development and Resilience in the Face of Global Challenges. During the meeting, President Mnangagwa handed over the chairmanship of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation to his Botswana counterpart, President Mokgweetsi Masisi. The Sadc chairpersonship went to President Nyusi. A face-to-face Summit will be held in March 2021 in Maputo, Mozambique to consider the full Sadc agenda. Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Cabinet noted with satisfaction that during President Mnangagwas tenure, Zimbabwe successfully brokered a common Sadc position on troop deployment to the troubled Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The country led a mission that amicably resolved the border dispute between neighbours Zambia and the DRC Zimbabwe led four successful Sadc Election Observation Missions to elections in Mozambique, Botswana, Mauritius and Namibia. Through its Ambassador to Malawi, Zimbabwe also proffered advice that contributed to the successful re-run of the Presidential election in Malawi, she said. Accordingly, Cabinet congratulated His Excellency the President, Cde ED Mnangagwa, the Government and the country for a successful chairmanship of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation for the period August 2019 to August 2020. Defence and War Veterans Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said although Zimbabwe has relinquished the chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation, it remains in the Troika for another one year working together with Botswana, Zambia and South Africa. We have played a major role as chair of Troika and Botswana will count on us due to the fact that we steered the ship for the past 12 months. We will play an advisory role within Troika and they will obviously want to continue with the programmes that we started, she said. By Trend Uzbekistan plans to vaccinate the population against flu and pneumonia, said Uzbek epidemiologist Rustam Ikramov who is working at the national headquarters for the fight against coronavirus, Trend reports referring to Coronavirus-Info Telegram Channel. According to Ikramov, annual growth of airborne diseases is observed in autumn and winter. He added that citizens should not worry, as epidemiological preparation for the autumn-winter season is underway at the state level. The epidemiologist noted that the government of Uzbekistan develops measures to import vaccines and establish vaccination points at the local level. As Uzbek media report, countrys government is studying the possibility of using COVID-19 vaccines created in Russia and China following Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instruction to study the possibility to purchase COVID-19 vaccines abroad -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Shortly after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday (August 19) backed Mumbai Police and said that it carried out a fair investigation in the case. Raut, however, preferred not to comment on the SC verdict and said that those in the government who know the law will comment on the SC's ruling. "Those in the government who know the law, the Mumbai Police Commissioner or our Advocate General can talk about it, it is not fit for me to comment on the verdict of Supreme Court," said Raut. "Supreme Court has given its verdict, it is not right to make political comments. Our state's justice system has always been one of the best in the country, no one is above law here and to provide justice to all has been the norm," added the Shiv Sena leader. Earlier on Wednesday, the SC FIR filed in Patna in connection with Sushant's death was lawful and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. The apex court also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Actress Rhea Chakraborty, who was in a relationship with Sushant, had approached the top court to seek transfer of the Patna FIR to Mumbai. She had raised questions over the manner in which the Bihar Police registered the FIR and argued that the matter has no connection with the FIR registered in Patna. Sushant's father KK Singh had filed the FIR in Patna against Rhea and six others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property). Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence on June 14. The Mumbai Police has been probing the case since then. However, Sushant's family, friends and fans had been vocal on social media for quite some time demanding a CBI probe into his death. Mali President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned and dissolved his parliament, hours after mutinying soldiers detained him along with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other top officials from his government. Keita announced his resignation in a brief address broadcast on state television hours after after soldiers carried out a mutiny on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. Looking tired and wearing a surgical mask at a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako where he had been detained, Keita said: If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice? I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power. Keita said that he has decided to give up my duty from now on. It is unclear if the military is now in charge of the country. The dramatic development comes after several months of regular demonstrations calling for Keita to step down from power three years before his final term was due to end. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Bamako since June calling for Keita to resign over what they say are his failures to address worsening security and corruption. On Tuesday morning, soldiers took over a huge army base outside the capital, Bamako. By afternoon, local news reported the soldiers had arrested Keita, Cisse, top government officials and all senior soldiers. France and other international powers as well as the African Union denounced the mutiny, fearful that the fall of Keita could further destabilise the former French colony and West Africas entire Sahel region. There was no immediate comment from the troops early Wednesday, who hailed from the same military barracks in Kati where an earlier coup originated more than eight years ago. KanyiDaily gathered that the coup was led by Colonel Malick Diaw deputy head of the Kati camp and another commander, Gen Sadio Camara. With dozens of wildfires burning around the greater Bay Area, smoke continued to pour into the region Wednesday and air quality levels deteriorated. Many reported smelling smoke and falling ash, including San Francisco residents, and the sooty conditions combining with hot temperatures and the COVID-19 pandemic made the world outside seem especially eerie. Outdoor decks and car windshields were covered in ash, and in some locations, the air outside was thick and hazy. The smoky conditions are expected to continue through the week. "Unfortunately it doesnt look like theres going to be much relief from the smoke at all this week," said Roger Gass, a forecaster with the Bay Area National Weather Service office. "Some coastal areas might get some relief with coastal winds picking up" The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAQMD) reported "moderate" to "unhealthy for sensitive groups" air quality across the region Wednesday, and parts of the Peninsula and East Bay saw levels dropped to "unhealthy" levels. When the air quality reaches "unhealthy" levels, "Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion," according to the district. In a Wednesday press conference, S.F. Mayor London Breed advised residents to stay indoors amid smoky conditions. "Please continue to stay home as much as possible," Breed said. "Its important for the slowing of COVID-19 and limiting exposure to wildfire smoke." The city said there are no plans at this point to close testing centers due to air quality but officials are exploring opening clean-air centers with social distancing measures in place. BAQMD issued a Spare the Air alert through Sunday, warning of the high amount of particulate matter pollution in the air. "It is illegal for Bay Area residents and businesses to burn wood or manufactured fire logs in fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits, or any other wood burning devices," the district said. "In addition to not burning wood, you can help improve air quality by working remotely and driving less every day." Multiple fires are burning in Napa and Sonoma counties, and National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said Tuesday a massive plume of smoke could be seen rising above the North Bay. Major fires are also burning around Mount Diablo, and near Salinas, and blazes in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties have prompted evacuations. "Youre getting smoke from pretty much every direction," said Anderson. "There's so much smoke out there, you really cant put your finger on where it's coming from." Inland areas have seen insufferable temperatures all week and the mercury is expected to soar into the 100s again Wednesday with coastal locations in the 70s. An ocean breeze is forecast to pick up Thursday and inland valleys will drop into the 90s. "A little cooler, but not cool," Anderson said. Thursday may also see a return of the marine layer and Gass said sometimes fog can worsen smoky conditions as the sooty air gets trapped under the cloud cover. "The reality is I wouldnt anticipate any significant improvement in smoke conditions as the fires continues to burn," Gass said. "Most of the fires have little containment and they're going to continue to put smoke out there." Many of the blazes were sparked by lightning strikes on Monday and Sunday amid a rash of unusual summer thunderstorms in Northern California. The storm activity combined with a prolonged heat wave created ideal conditions for wildfires. Cal Fire spokesperson Robert Foxworthy said Monday morning that in a 24-hour period there were nearly 1,600 lighting strikes and 76 wildfires (Read more about the extreme fire conditions on SFGATE). Foxworthy said the region hasn't seen a situation like this since 2008 when rare thunderstorms led to similar extreme fire conditions. For updates on air quality, check the Bay Area Air Quality Management District website. MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE: 6 buildings destroyed, 1,527 threatened by River Fire near Salinas Napa County wildfires trigger more evacuations, winery threatened San Mateo County brush fire triggers evacuations 'Evacuate immediately': More Sonoma residents told to leave homes Deer Complex fires at 1,450 acres, 0 percent contained Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. Chinese soldiers work at computers. Cyberattacks from China have continued despite agreements from the CCP to stop. (mil.huanqiu.com) Taiwan Says China Behind Cyberattacks on Government Agencies, Emails TAIPEITaiwan said on Wednesday hacking groups linked to the Chinese government had attacked at least 10 government agencies and some 6,000 email accounts of government officials in an infiltration to steal important data. Democratic Taiwan has been urging its people to be alert for what officials call omnipresent infiltration from China, involving from Beijing-backed media campaigns to cyberattacks, against the island that China considers its territory. Chinese hacking groups have been infiltrating government agencies and their information service providers for a long time, said the deputy director of the Taiwan Investigation Bureaus Cyber Security Investigation Office, Liu Chia-zung. They were aiming to acquire important government documents and data, Liu told reporters. Some government data might have been leaked. This has posed a great threat. The attacks, which started as early as 2018, targeted at least 10 government agencies and the email accounts of some 6,000 officials, Lius office said, adding it had not been able to identify what data has been stolen as the hackers had concealed their tracks. Liu Chia-zung, deputy director of the Taiwan Investigation Bureaus Cyber Security Office, speaks during a news conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Aug. 19, 2020. (Yimou Lee/Reuters) Among those who were attacked and infiltrated by two Chinese hacking groups were at least four Taiwan tech companies that had been providing information services to the government, the office said. Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese government routinely denies involvement in hacking. Liu said Taiwan believed the two hacking groups involved, Blacktech and Taidoor, were backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They targeted loopholes in the systems provided by the Taiwan governments information service providers, he said. Government agencies should increase scrutiny of their providers, Liu said. He said his office was investigating service supply chains to see if any Taiwan companies or individuals have worked with the Chinese hackers. News of the hacking comes during a period of heightened tension between Taiwan and China. China has stepped up its military activity near Taiwan and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. By Yimou Lee The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has announced the appointment of Judy Larson (pictured) as a benefits producer in its San Jose, California, office. Larson has more than 30 years of benefits experience. Prior to joining The Liberty Company, she held positions at Leavitt, Risk Strategies and Willis, focusing on the food manufacturing, transportation and high-tech industries. She also has expertise in alternate funding, including medical captives. Study uses rubbish from the sea to show that chemicals in plastic eaten by northern fulmars, a common seabird, could affect them over extended periods Plastic waste in the ocean is an increasing problem for wildlife, including seabirds who frequently mistake it for food. However, ingested plastic does not just pose physical risks for such birds. A new study in open-access journal Frontiers in Environmental Science is the first to show that plastic waste can release chemicals into the stomach oil of seabirds over time, potentially posing a threat to their health. The findings highlight the importance of reducing plastic pollution in our oceans and dealing with our waste responsibly. With ever increasing levels of plastic polluting the ocean and beaches, this waste is a growing threat to marine wildlife. Many seabirds confuse plastic with food, and it can pose physical risks such as intestinal blockages. However, ingested plastic can stay in birds' intestines for long periods, and scientists are concerned that such plastic could release harmful chemicals. "I've been working on northern fulmars for almost 10 years," said Susanne Kuhn of Wageningen Marine Research in the Netherlands. "As these seabirds ingest plastics regularly, and 93% of the fulmars from the North Sea have some plastic in their stomachs, it is important to understand the potential harm this could cause." Kuhn and colleagues set out to investigate whether plastic waste could release chemicals after being eaten by fulmars. They aimed to replicate the conditions found in the fulmar stomach, and the plastic debris that fulmars ingest. The researchers obtained a nutrient-rich liquid found in the fulmar stomach, known as stomach oil, from hunters in the Faroe Islands who traditionally catch and eat these birds. "Previous studies have typically used uniform plastic pellets, sometimes artificially contaminated, which is not representative of plastic found in the sea," explained Kuhn. "Instead, we went beach combing and found a variety of plastic types and shapes to create a marine plastic sample that a fulmar might realistically ingest." The researchers incubated the plastic samples in stomach oil and mimicked the conditions found in the fulmar stomach in terms of temperature and agitation. They performed chemical analysis on the oil at different time points to see whether chemicals had leached out of the plastic over time. Concerningly, the study revealed that the plastic released a variety of chemicals in the stomach oil over time, in some cases for over three months. These were chemicals added by plastic manufacturers during the production process, including plasticizers, flame retardants and stabilizers. Strikingly, the stomach oil, which came from fulmar chicks, already had some plastic-derived chemicals in it before the experiments, as the chicks' parents may have been feeding them plastic. The long-term health implications for the birds are unclear, but previous studies have reported that several of the leached chemicals can disrupt hormone release and reproduction and may have genetic effects in birds. You may be familiar with distressing images of birds caught in plastic packaging or fishing line, but this study reveals that discarded plastic could also have long-term toxic effects on seabirds. "I hope that these results will increase awareness of the various negative effects of plastic debris in the oceans," said Kuhn. "We urgently need to reduce the amount of plastic in the marine environment." ### Nigerias Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the country is making significant progress in its fight against malnutrition. Mr Osinbajo, while speaking at the 2020 Virtual Conference on Nutrition in Nigeria on Tuesday said, the progress was achieved through the implementation of various intervention programmes and increased funding. According to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Laolu Akande, the conference was organised by the Aisha Buhari Foundation in collaboration with development partners. Malnutrition is a condition that occurs when people consistently do not consume or absorb the right amounts and types of food and essential nutrients. Globally, it contributes to nearly half of all child deaths that is more than three million children each year. Progress Mr Osinbajo said tremendous progress has been recorded as a result of the Buhari-led administrations efforts in collaboration with other stakeholders. He noted that the Social Investment Programmes (SIP) has also contributed to the progress made. Noticeably, there has been a decline in stunting and wasting; stunting, from about 44% in 2017 to about 37% in 2019 and wasting from 10.8% in 2017 to 7% in 2019, and an increase in exclusive breastfeeding amongst children under 6 months from about 24% in 2017 to 29% in 2019, he said. Increased budgeting Mr Osinbajo said the federal government has, in the past few years, demonstrated commitment towards addressing the problem through increase budgeting for nutrition activities and targeting its Social Investment Programmes towards tackling malnutrition. He said an increased investment of N3.8 billion was made for the procurement of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF). The administration ensured progressive increases in budgetary allocations to nutrition activities in the country. There has been an increased investment of about N3.8 billion by Federal and State governments especially for the procurement of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF). He also listed the revitalization of the Primary Health Care System with nutrition as the primary focus, the promotion of optimum breastfeeding and improved quality of complementary food. Way forward The vice president said improved collaboration and innovative thinking would be required to scale interventions and effectively address the problem. Clearly, we need to increase domestic financing. And the only way to do so is to look more at what we can do at both the Federal and State levels. But more importantly, to direct funding to communities with the greatest needs. I think civil society advocacy before the National Assembly is crucial to drawing attention to what you consider as priority. There are always several competing needs for resources and sometimes your strong voices especially directed as the debates that are going on can make a real difference in what ends up in the budgets, not just in the federal but even in the state budgets, he said. READ ALSO: He, however, said budget funds from both states and federal governments cannot meet all of the needs. He said the pool of funds from the mandatory health insurance programme will be an important contributor to financing nutrition. In her address, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, said the conversation about ending malnutrition in Nigeria should be embraced by all and sundry given the effect of the problem on society. Represented by the Wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo, she said the conversation will only stop when there are systems that can guarantee the survival of children in the country. Other participants at the conference include Mohammad Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State; Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba; the representative of the Minister of Finance, amongst others. Americas aggressions around the globe have now come full circle and boomeranged into its domestic affairs. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear. And since you know you cannot see yourself So well as by reflection, I, your glass, Will modestly discover to yourself That of yourself which you yet know not of. Cassius, in Shakespeares Julius Cesare (Act 1 Scene 2) Has the American experiment failed and ended? Are we on the cusp of a post-American world? In the late 1980s, Francis Fukuyama, a bureaucratic functionary at the US Department of State, had declared, with much pomp and ceremony, that history had ended and America was the triumphant trophy of liberal democracy. Had he inadvertently played a satirical spoof to the end of American history itself? A mere quarter of a century later, with Donald Trump leading the United States in one calamity after another, people have begun speculating the very end of America. While North American and Western European observers are deeply concerned about the end of the American empire, the rest of the world oscillates between a sigh of relief at the prospect and a sense of wonder and amusement as to what exactly this ending means. Will it be with a big bang or just a pathetic whimper? And while we are at it, when, prithee do tell, did this leadership of the free world begin, for it now to end, except with brute military might and a constellation of military bases around the globe to exercise it? In a thoughtful recent essay, End of Empire, the eminent American historian Andrew Bacevich has put forward his argument as to why he believes the sun has set on the American empire. As a cogent critic of American imperialism, Bacevichs surgically precise and honest conclusion is now corroborated by the massive uprising against structural poverty and endemic racism setting the streets of major urban areas on fire from coast to coast. The era of US dominion has now passed, Bacevich observes, So Americans can no longer afford to indulge in the fiction of their indispensability, cherished in elite circles [] Subordinating the wellbeing of the American people to ostensible imperatives of global leadership thereby allowing racism, inequality and other problems to fester at home has become intolerable. What Bacevich outlines in this crucial essay is a constellation of facts of racism and poverty at home and pathetic and dysfunctional attempts at world domination that much of the world and in fact, most Americans themselves have known, but which today, during the presidency of Donald Trump and this criminally negligent handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been thrown into stark relief. Was this America ever a leader or just a bully? Did it ever have the moral authority to shepherd a terrorised Earth? Between Fukuyamas pompous and absurd prognostication and Bacevichs bold and brilliant insights, we may now wonder when did America begin and where is it wending. What happened to the American Century? America as an experiment is failing. Perhaps it was destined to fail from its very beginning. An idea that began with the genocide of Native Americans, thrived on the sustained course of African slavery, extended its genocidal and racist foregrounding to generations of immigrants who came to its shores to toil and suffer so that the white supremacist settler colonists prosper and enrich generations after generations, had to pay for its continued sins at some point. That America is failing is not a new idea or a recent discovery. It is just that over the last three years, in the course of Trumps presidency, this fact has become glaringly clear for the whole world to see. This particular president has exposed not merely his own personal vulgarity and criminal charlatanism, but also, far more importantly, the self-destructive forces that have shaped and defined this country long before he assumed office. The viral racism to which Trump caters, and to which millions of Americans respond favourably, and which is the undoing of America, arrived in America from Europe like all other diseases the settler-colonialists brought with them. Every country and every clime has its own peculiar political disease. Egypt has given birth to el-Sisi, Russia to Putin, China to Xi, India to Modi, Brazil to Bolsonaro, Myanmar to Aung San Suu Kyi, Iran to Khamenei, Syria to Assad, ad nauseam. But the point here is the mighty and powerful US and its particular brand of imperial corruption and hubris marking its final dissolution into nullity. The open discussions about the end of the American experiment, of course, predate Trump. David S Masons The End of the American Century (2009) is a typical example of such analysis in which we read about the various interrelated phases of social, economic and global unravelling of the US that had begun with World War II. In his essay, The End of the American Century (2019) George Packer considers the span of the American diplomat Richard Holbrookes life (1941-2010) as the period of the height of American empire, after which things began to fall apart. Meanwhile, the delusional imperialists at the political core of the US were busy thinking otherwise. The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative scheme based in Washington, DC in the late 1990s triumphantly declaring the victory of US-led neoconservative and neoliberal projects, promoting, as they put it, American global leadership. Led by William Kristol and Robert Kagan, all those PNAC characters today look positively ridiculous in their delusions. Most of them staunch Zionists, they had translated the pathological colonial interests of Israel into US foreign policy and called it a new American century!. Before they were all exposed for their pitiful banality, they had convinced George W Bush and Dick Cheney of their prophetic missions. They destroyed an entire country, Iraq, with criminal intent, propagating their delusional myth of American leadership. Today, there are sober Americans like Martin Kaplan who in his 2017 essay Trump and the End of the American Century mourns the decline of US leadership, denounces Trump, and then concludes: We all must respond to the unexpected and depressing challenge of the United States forsaking its historical democratic and human rights leadership, both internationally and within the United States. But what leadership, the rest of the world may wonder, when, how? The ruling caste of the US from its slave owner founding fathers to its current president have been the unqualified source of misery inside and outside of the country. The ending of the calamitous delusion of that history is not something to be mourned. The world after the American empire A mere 20 years ago the cleanshaven neoconservative gangsters thought they were about to rule the world. Three years into the Trump presidency, amid disastrous public health failures that have exposed millions of Americans to a deadly pandemic, the very economic and human foundation of their republic is going to pieces. Massive social protest aims at an irrevocable dismantling of American racism. Streets of Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, Chicago and New York look like scenes from a military coup in Guatemala or Chile. Meanwhile, like a tinpot dictator American racism made us believe could only emerge in Asia, Africa or Latin America, the US president is dismantling the US postal system to be able to cheat and get himself re-elected. Americas aggressions, brutal militarism, and disregard for peoples democratic will around the globe have now come full circle and boomeranged into its domestic affairs. With Trump and his Republican followers kneecapping the post office, as former President Obama put it, to suppress votes and guarantee the presidents re-election, the US is now en route to an election as ridiculous as the ones we have witnessed in Syria, Egypt or even Iran in the past. The post-American world will paradoxically liberate America from its own dangerous delusions and bring American people back to the bosom of humanity at large. America will only be liberated when it comes to terms with its irredeemable racist history and dismantles all its racist institutions. And the coast to coast uprising we are witnessing today is aiming to do just that: to retrieve the repressed republican aspirations of the best of Americans and use them to dismantle the imperial arrogance of the worst. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Angela Merkel sees no role for herself as a mediator in Belarus after the election two weeks ago, since President Alexander Lukashenko had refused all requests for a phone call, the German Chancellor said, Reuters reports. Speaking after a meeting of European Union leaders, she said the European Union would support Belarusian civil society, but that it was important that the opposition itself decide what it wanted. She said she had warned President Vladimir Putin that a Russian military intervention would complicate things. I dont see a role for myself as a mediator at the moment since Lukashenko refused to talk to me, which I regret, she said. From our side, we will do everything to push for a national dialogue. Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 13F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80%.. Tonight Snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 13F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Washington, D.C., Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- How do you stay safe during a pandemic, raise money for a great cause and get some exercise in on the side? Through the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Virtual Walk for Education, of course! The new digital fundraiser replaces the annual in-person walk events that many of the UNCF local offices conduct each spring, summer and fall, taking whats typically been a market-by-market approach on to a fully nationwide event. The revamped, highly anticipated UNCF National Virtual Walk for Education aims to raise funds to support historically Black colleges and universities and the students they serve through the help of individuals, corporations and other group donors. While the country is practicing social distancing, the event will engage participants in activities to walk, run, cycle and dance safelyall the while having fun and still raising money for UNCF. The Walk is set for 2 p.m. EDT/11 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 19. For more than 76 years, UNCF has fueled HBCUs with vital resources to educate generations of African American and other minority students, said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF. During an unprecedented time in our history compounded by COVID-19 and racial disparities, our students and institutions are faced with enormous challenges now more than ever. We are at risk of washing away a generation of talented and deserving African American and minority students. We need as many donations as possible right now because the students we help now will be our next generation of doctors, nurses, biologists, virologists, epidemiologiststhe pandemic frontliners of the future. We invite everyone to join our new National Virtual Walk for Education to help ensure better futures for us all. A UNCF survey of more than 5,000 students across 17 HBCUs found that many are dealing with difficulties such as sick family members, trouble paying bills and general stress from the ongoing pandemic and recent protests against police brutality. Support is needed now more than ever as students and institutions are faced with challenges including COVID-19 and racial disparities. Current national sponsors of the UNCF National Virtual Walk for Education are National Doctorate Sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive Company and the National Masters Sponsors, Essentia Water and Arch Capital Group, LTD. The digital fundraiser will also honor local supporters, highlight UNCF HBCU presidents and include a celebrity DJ spinning live. Participants will be able to engage in a celebrity fitness warm-up including up-beat music to dance to all in honor of supporting HBCUs and their students. To register for the event and find the local office that supports your area, please go to: UNCF.org/NationalWalk ### About UNCF UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) is the nations largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 21 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF. New York congressional candidate Antoine Tucker in a video retweeted by Donald Trump: Antoine Tucker/Twitter As a former FBI lawyer prepared to plead guilty in a case related to the Trump campaigns connections with Russia, the president retweeted a video from a fringe candidate celebrating the case as the demise of the deep state. Wednesday will see Kevin Clinesmith enter his plea in a federal court, where he is charged with falsifying a key document in the early stages of the FBI investigation into contacts between Russian agents and Donald Trump's 206 campaign. Specifically, Mr Clinesmiths actions relate to the investigation into former campaign adviser Carter Page, in which he doctored a 2017 email from the CIA to obscure the fact that Mr Page had previously been cleared as a CIA source, thereby helping obtain clearance for a secret wiretap. Mr Clinesmiths case has become a cause celebre for conservatives who view the original Russia investigation as a politically motivated witch-hunt based on a false premise. Many of Mr Trumps allies and supporters view the falsified email as proof that a conspiracy of biased law enforcement bureaucrats fabricated or exaggerated allegations of Russian collusion in order to bring down the president. Mr Trump himself has repeatedly made this same assertion. And in the hours before Mr Clinesmiths court appearance, he retweeted a video from Antoine Tucker, a write-in Republican candidate in the safely Democratic New York seat held by progressive leader and Republican bete noire Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In the video, Mr Tucker shows a clip from Fox News describing Mr Clinesmiths alleged crimes, then lights a cigarette to address the camera. You see? he says. This is about the deep state, new world order, trying to take over America. Right then and there, you just saw it. The FBIs lawyer is pleading guilty to falsifying documents which allowed these people to illegally investigate not only Carter Page, not only General Flynn, but Donald Trump. His children, his family, his assets, and it was the Democrats that did this s**t. Story continues And they knew they were lying, and the whole entire time, everything they f***ing did, the millions of dollars they used with Mueller and the investigation and all this bulls**t, was bulls**t. Thats what that means. These motherf***ers are going to jail. Make sure you write my name in. Lets have a victory party together. Mr Tucker has previously described himself as a supporter of QAnon, a sprawling conspiracy theory movement united around the idea that Donald Trump is secretly waging a war against an elite satanic cabal of child abusers and traffickers. Mr Trump has retweeted Mr Tucker before, along with various supporters of QAnon and other conspiracies or far-right movements. Meanwhile, separately from Mr Clinesmiths charges, the US Senate Intelligence Committee this week released an extensive report detailing myriad contacts between Mr Trumps 2016 campaign and Russian agents. Because it does not contain specific allegations of collusion, many Republicans have presented the report as exonerating Mr Trump and his colleagues. Democrats, on the other hand, have pointed to the reports findings that various Trump associates presented grave counterintelligence threats and that the Kremlins agents were capable of exploiting the transition teams shortcomings and probably did. This spring the Saudi government introduced a new instant work visa plan designed to help local enterprises recruit international staff, including technology professionals, with the skills they need to grow. Locally registered businesses that have been established within the last six months and meet certain industry-related criteria are now able to request the visas on behalf of the employees they wish to recruit. The government announced the plan for what it termed instant visas late last year, after it had been in the pipeline for many months. It comes out of the governments Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which is designed to boost the growth of non-oil industries and revenues, as well as create new jobs for Saudi citizens. [ Keep up on the latest thought leadership, insights, how-to, and analysis on IT through CIOs newsletters. ] At the launch of the plan in March, Ahmed Al-Rajhi, minister of Human Resources and Social Development, took to Twitter to say: This will have an important role in supporting entrepreneurs and stimulating and accelerating business growth providing investment opportunities which contribute to creating sustainable career opportunities for the sons and daughters of the country. One of the initiatives key aims is to improve the contribution of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) toward the countrys GDP, says Jawad Khalil, IDC Saudi Arabias program manager for telecom and IoT. He notes that a few years ago the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Monshaat, was established to develop and sponsor the SME sector in line with global best practices, and to increase its contribution to the total GDP from 20 percent to 35 percent by 2030. Visa plan aims to attract skilled workers The instant visa initiative is the result of several studies conducted by a number of government bodies including the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development and Monshaat, with the goal of providing skilled human capital to organisations to boost their commercial activities and support their expansion plans, says Khalil. As part of its Vision 2030 digital transformation goal, in its bid to move away from a dependency on oil and gas and diversify its economy, the country is investing billions of dollars in ICT projects. This means there are huge opportunities for tech entrepreneurs to take part in this national transformation. The Badir Program [for tech incubators and accelerators], for example, has been at the epicentre for startup and entrepreneurship support, and has delivered more than SAR 2bn to the economy, says Khalil. There are similar initiatives like the launch of Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) with a US$1.3bn fund to support investments in the Kingdom. The instant visa initiative is one of the many steps the government is taking to support tech entrepreneurs in the country. Saudi Arabia aims for tech leadership in Gulf Vision 2030 and its numerous tech initiatives are clearly paving the way for KSA to become a leader in terms of innovation and use of emerging technologies in the GCC. Saudi Arabias National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) have already announced their mandate to enhance productivity, boost decision-making and open new horizons to stimulate entrepreneurship around AI and cybersecurity in the Kingdom, says Khalil. The instant visa initiative is just one of these expected to contribute towards strengthening the ICT ecosystem and increasing its contribution to the digital economy. The visa scheme will also help bring an end to the shortage of skills thats currently preventing local tech startups from expanding easily. There are obvious skill shortages in Saudi Arabia, such as AI and machine learning specialists, data scientists, software developers and cybersecurity experts, and in the absence of a sufficiently large local ICT workforce, theres an increased pressure to bring in expat workers to fulfill this demand. But theres little concern about overseas workers taking jobs from locals. The initiative has been designed to support businesses activities and train locals through the introduction of skilled foreign workers; enabling Saudization, or Nitaqat the national plan to have the workforce composed of a certain minimal level of Saudi citizensthrough knowledge transfer. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:22:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Famous or infamous, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is definitely one of the most known American politicians in China. With more publicity, yet comes less credibility. Having taken office for over two years, Secretary Pompeo has not only "emptied" the State Department, but plunged Americas foreign policy and international fame into the dust. "Mike Pompeo is the worst Secretary of State ever," commented Thomas Friedman, New York Times opinion columnist, recently. Friedman just wrote, "I dont know much about Pompeos time as head of the C.I.A., except that he was notorious for spending long hours at the White House sucking up to Trump. But I do know he has been the worst secretary of state in American history, without a single diplomatic achievement." Though he has held senior posts for years, Mr. Pompeo never thinks twice about deeds or words. In a public speech, the then CIA Director Pompeo simply recognized, "We lied, we cheated, and we stole. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment." The public, in this regard, believe that Pompeo finally told the truth. In the past two years, Pompeo has, without hesitation, promoted the diplomacy of smear, pressure and sanction, and even waved the big stick of ideology at China. Obsessed with anti-China mindset, Mr. Pompeos clumsy attempt is unthinkable. However, is America's diplomacy still far from going bankrupt, when its chief diplomat keeps acting shamelessly and disgracefully? Cartoons designed by Cankaoxiaoxi new media (Source: Cankaoxiaoxi new media) California celebrated a milestone last year with the completion of its 1 millionth small solar system, primarily rooftop installations. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) Even before California's rolling power outages threatened to become a full-on crisis in the last few days, long-standing critics of the state's aggressive push into renewable energy were sharpening their knives. Solar power, they said, had failed California, never mind that state officials never expected the sun to keep shining into the night. The Wall Street Journal's famously conservative editorial board was particularly gleeful Sunday, calling brief blackouts the previous two evenings "a warning to the rest of America about the risks of Green New Deal policies." President Trump echoed the theme Tuesday, tweeting that the "Bernie/Biden/AOC Green New Deal plan would take Californias failed policies to every American!" The president of California's power grid operator, Stephen Berberich, dismissed those types of criticisms, saying renewable energy wasn't to blame for the outages. The real problem, he said, was a statewide failure to assemble the right mix of energy sources for the completely predictable situation of electricity demand staying high after the sun goes down. Although the exact causes of the blackouts are still up for debate some critics have blamed the California Independent System Operator for poor management of energy markets there's no question that lining up enough power on hot summer evenings is one of the main challenges California must confront as it continues to phase out fossil fuels. Fortunately, experts say, there are many possible clean energy solutions. Nearly every approach has its drawbacks and detractors. But they all have their strengths too. Here are eight ideas for how the Golden State can keep the lights on while continuing to reduce planet-warming emissions. Build lots of batteries generates more electricity than it can use Last year, the California Public Utilities Commission ordered utilities to add 3,300 megawatts of new power capacity, most of which is expected to be big batteries connected to the power grid. But that's a small fraction of what the state may ultimately need. Story continues An 2019 analysis from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found California could get 90% of its electricity from climate-friendly resources by 2030 while reducing energy prices, even if the costs of solar power, wind power and batteries don't decline as quickly as they have in recent years. Doing so would require about 25,000 megawatts of batteries, the analysis estimated. "Storage is a total game-changer," said Sonia Aggarwal, vice president of the research firm Energy Innovation. Gregory Wetstone, left, Randy Hoyle and Kevin Martin visit Terra-Gen Power's wind energy project in the Tehachapi Mountains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Build lots of solar and wind too "Batteries wont fix this alone," Berberich, president of the Independent System Operator, said Monday. "In fact, solar and other renewables will have to be overbuilt to both charge the batteries and serve the load at the same time." This strategy could also help keep the lights on during cloudy or overcast days because an abundance of solar farms and rooftop panels can squeeze more juice out of the limited sunlight. It helps that solar has gotten so cheap. In fact, a 2019 study found that intentionally "overbuilding" the solar fleet and accepting it'll sometimes need to be dialed down in the absence of sufficient demand may be the best way to keep electricity prices low on a power grid dominated by renewable energy. Go big on rooftop solar (and batteries) completion of its 1 millionth small solar system The end goal is for networks of far-flung solar panels and storage systems to operate as "virtual power plants" that can help electric utilities meet demand, including during heat waves. Homes and businesses would sign up for programs in which they'd agree to occasionally discharge their batteries in unison when called upon, in exchange for financial compensation. It takes the Flex Alert and puts it on speed," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Assn., a trade group. "Its not just, 'Turn off your lights and set your thermostat to 78.' Its do those things and give us 5 kilowatt-hours from your battery in your garage. And well pay you for it." Several government-run energy providers in the San Francisco Bay Area have plans for one of the largest virtual power plants yet. But Del Chiaro said big utility companies and state regulators, including the Public Utilities Commission and the Independent System Operator, are biased toward traditional power plants and have mostly failed to embrace the concept. Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Assn., speaks at an event in Clovis to celebrate the state's 1 millionth small solar installation. (Tomas Ovalle / For The Times) People power It helped that temperatures dropped more than expected. But households also appear to have offered a robust response to statewide Flex Alerts. David Olsen, who chairs the Independent System Operator's board of governors, pointed to a chart showing that electricity demand on the state's main power grid Monday afternoon and evening was significantly lower than officials had forecast it would be. "On low-carbon grids, demand will be as important as supply. Were going to have to be able to manage demand, flexibly, to match the constantly changing output of wind and solar," Olsen said in an email. A chart showing that electricity demand on California's main power grid was significantly lower than expected on Aug. 17, 2020. (California Independent System Operator) Going forward, experts say, it will be crucial to expand "demand response" programs that automate energy-saving measures and pay people to conserve, rather than depending on frantic pleas to the public. With the right technology, grid managers could cut huge amounts of demand during peak periods by directing pool pumps, electric vehicles, cooling systems and other devices to draw power from the grid and potentially contribute power to the grid at different times of day. Expand the power grid reportedly threatened to veto Critics, including the Sierra Club and labor unions, have argued the "big grid" concept would give red-state politicians too much sway over California's energy supply and could lead to jobs building solar and wind farms getting shipped out of state. Supporters counter that a coordinated regional grid would reduce the costs of phasing out fossil fuels, partly by giving California easier access to powerful winds that blow across the plains of New Mexico and Wyoming. A single western grid might also make it easier for power managers across the region to coordinate supplies during a heat wave like the one this week, without having to scramble to find available resources. "We shouldn't need to scramble," said Ralph Cavanagh, co-director of the energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The scramble is itself evidence that we continue to suffer from an excessively fragmented system of grid management." Keep Diablo Canyon approved that planhigh-profile meltdown But Diablo Canyon's supporters point out the facility still generates nearly 10% of the state's electricity and that power is carbon-free, meaning it doesn't contribute to climate change. Although it may be possible to replace that power with other climate-friendly resources, as of yet there's no plan for doing so. Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo Canyon plant in Avila Beach has California's last operating nuclear reactors. (Michael Mariant / AP) Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton), whose district includes San Luis Obispo, has a bill pending in the Legislature that would require state officials to count nuclear toward California's target of 60% renewable electricity by 2030. Right now, nuclear is excluded from the mandate. Cunningham is hopeful the legislation would be an incentive for PG&E to change course. Were experiencing [these blackouts] with Diablo Canyon still operational, producing 10% of our states electricity," Cunningham said. "I cant imagine what kind of situation were going to be in if theres a heat wave in 2025 when Diablo is offline." Geothermal and offshore wind One is geothermal power energy generated by tapping subterranean heat. The state already gets about 5% of its electricity from geothermal plants, but there hasn't been a new facility built in nearly a decade, because of high upfront costs compared with solar and wind. But unlike solar and wind farms, geothermal plants can generate carbon-free electricity around the clock. Some energy providers have been giving the technology another look. The other is offshore wind power. There are now two wind farms off the Atlantic Coast of the United States, but none out west, in part because of concerns raised by the military that offshore turbines could interfere with training exercises. If those concerns can be resolved, offshore wind facilities could help California keep the lights on because the wind blows more consistently over the ocean than it does over land including in the evening, and after the sun goes down. "Resource diversity is good," said Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Assn., an industry trade group. "Solar and wind together are much more reliable than a solar-heavy portfolio." Long-duration storage "compressed air" storage systems How compressed air could be stored in salt deposit and retrieved to generate electricity Pumped storage projects can be controversial, especially near national parks and other protected areas, because they use large amounts of land and water. And compressed air systems typically require unique geology that is only found in certain places. But both technologies offer large amounts of storage that could help sustain the grid through sweltering evenings, said Julia Prochnik, executive director of the Long Duration Energy Storage Assn. of California, a trade group. And there are other, more nascent long-duration storage technologies with minimal environmental footprints, such as flow batteries. "We could have definitely delayed or shortened these blackouts," Prochnik said. What comes next It's a bitter irony of the climate crisis that rising temperatures are already raising demand for air conditioning, meaning even more clean energy resources will be needed to meet electricity demand. An analysis released last week by the nonprofit research group Climate Central projected that air conditioning use by U.S. homes will increase by 59% over the next 30 years. And it's not just California dealing with this challenge. Across the country, policymakers and activists working on climate change are focused on achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, which scientists say is needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Joe Biden says if he's elected president, he would support a national goal of 100% climate-friendly electricity by 2035. Whether Biden's ambition is achievable may depend in great part on whether California, long a leader in the clean energy arena, takes the lead. But Gov. Gavin Newsom has been mostly focused on the immediate fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months, and critics say he's allowed the state's response to the climate crisis to take a backseat. "We are continuing to focus on energy conservation during peak hours through this unprecedented heat wave, while at the same time looking into the causes that led to unacceptable rolling blackouts," Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email. "The administration is already working on longer-term solutions to make Californias energy system more resilient and reliable as the state shifts away from fossil fuel reliance to become carbon neutral in the next 25 years." Canada's robotic arm is poised to remove Japan's ninth and final H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-9) from the International Space Station on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Russia are preparing for the launch of their respective crew ships to the orbiting lab in October. Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA will be at the robotics workstation on Tuesday and direct the 57.7-foot-long Canadarm2 to release the HTV-9 from its grip at 1:35 p.m. EDT. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner will back up Cassidy and monitor the release of the HTV-9 as it completes its 85-day cargo mission. NASA TV will cover the activities live starting at 1:15 p.m. The HTV-9 will spend two more days orbiting Earth before a fiery, atmospheric demise over the South Pacific. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) is developing an upgraded fleet of HTV-X space station suppliers, replacing the HTV series of spaceships, targeted for their first launch in 2022. The Expedition 63 and 64 crews are due to trade places at the orbiting lab beginning in mid-October. The Soyuz MS-17 crew ship is slated to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 14 and dock to the station's Rassvet module. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov will then begin a six-month space research mission. One week later on Oct. 21, Cassidy will wrap up his mission with crewmates Vagner and Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin. The trio will enter the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship, undock from the Poisk module and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan ending a 195-day expedition in space. NASA and SpaceX have announced the launch of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the station for no earlier than Oct. 23. Mike Hopkins of NASA will command the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft piloted by first-time NASA astronaut Victor Glover. They will be joined by Mission Specialists Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of JAXA, both previous station residents. On-Orbit Status Report Systems H-II Transfer Vehicle 9 (HTV9) Departure Operations: The crew closed the HTV hatch and configured the vestibule for unberthing by removing the Intramodular Ventilation (IMV) supply jumper and power/data jumpers. They installed the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) Controller Panel Assemblies (CPAs) and partially installed a hatch thermal blanket. The crew also worked ahead of today's timeline and mounted the Pressure Management Device (PMD) and connected associated power and data cables. The PMD setup was originally scheduled on the timeline tomorrow. HTV9 is scheduled for unberth and release tomorrow. Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis & Data Record: Crew performed an analysis of the water processing assembly (WPA) using the TOCA. The TOCA unit oxidizes organic carbon species present in the water to carbon dioxide gas and measures the concentration using nondispersive infrared spectroscopy. Analysis of the potable water using the TOCA occurs on a weekly basis. The crew also replaced the TOCA Waste Water Bag (WWB) to preclude overfill. Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain/Fill: Today the crew set up the recycle tank to drain to a -. Following the setup the ground performed the tank drain using the Urine Transfer System (UTS). Once the ground specialists completed the transfer, the crew verified the recycle tank was empty, terminated the drain, and repositioned the fill/drain valve to fill. Completed Task List Activities: Photo/TV D5 Camera Configuration for isolation Hatch Contingency Audit JEM Network Storage (NeST) Mesh Cleaning Node 3 Overhead Aft Alcove Assessment Today's Ground Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. SSRMS Grapple of HTV9 Ground Ops for HTV9 Egress Look Ahead Plan Tuesday, 8/18 (GMT 231) Payloads: LSG S/W Update (NASA) Astrobee On & JEM Cargo Temp Stow (NASA) Systems: ECLSS PEPS Inspect HTV Unberth/Release Wednesday, 8/19 (GMT 232) Payloads: JPM Handheld Exp Adapter Plate & MPEP Removal (JAXA) Systems: Recycle Tank R&R TOCA PFU3 Cycle Thursday, 8/20 (GMT 233) Payloads: Myotones Ops (ESA) Astrobee Off and JEM Cargo Replacement (NASA) Systems: ISS EMER Sim OBT Isolation Prep/Gather Today's Planned Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. TBU (Universal Bioengineering Thermostat) () Replacement of urine receptacle, filter insert, [-], [] and pipe 5182-03 in [] toilet. ACY activation post R&R Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain/Fill Filling EDV from Progress 444 [1] Rodnik V1 JEM Temporary Stowage Relocate Robotic Workstation (RWS) Setup Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor MCA Plug Installation Countermeasures System (CMS) Treadmill 2 System (T2) Monthly Inspection Treadmill 2 (T2) Series Bungee System Assemblies (SBS) Swap Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis & Data Record Urine Transfer System Offload EDV Swap On-board Training (OBT) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBot) Release Auxiliary Computer System [] Laptops Antivirus Scan Prep and Update Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout PROBOY. RS1 ops Node 2 Nadir Vestibule Outfitting Kit (VOK) Gather Node2 HD Camera Activation H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Smoke Detector Scavenge H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Egress H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Vestibule Configure for Demate - Part 1 Node 2 Nadir CBM Control Panel Assembly (CPA) Installation Pressure Management Device (PMD) Equipment Setup Part 1 Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. By AFP WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has voiced approval of Oracle Corp's reported bid for TikTok, the Chinese video-sharing sensation that could also be bought by Microsoft. Reports said Oracle -- whose chairman Larry Ellison has raised millions in campaign funds for Trump -- was weighing a bid for TikTok's operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Trump administration has given TikTok's parent company ByteDance a 90-day deadline to divest the app before it is banned in the United States, citing national security concerns. Taking questions after a speech on Tuesday in Yuma, Arizona, Trump said: "I think Oracle is a great company, and I think its owner is a tremendous guy. Hes a tremendous person. "I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it." The president said the eventual buyer would have to "make sure the United States is well compensated." According to the Wall Street Journal, Ellison held a Trump fundraiser at his California home in February, raising $7 million. Trump's action against TikTok came after he claimed China could use it to track the locations of federal employees, build dossiers on people for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage. In an online post this week, the company said: "TikTok has never provided any US user data to the Chinese government, nor would it do so if asked." China on Monday slammed Washington for using "digital gunboat diplomacy" in the TikTok case. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said TikTok had done everything required by the US, including hiring Americans as its top executives, hosting its servers in the US and making public its source code. Haiti - Covid-19 : Situation in the country, update of the 11:00 am report NOTE: As the Ministry of Public Health did not make daily data on the Covid-19 situation in Haiti available this morning, the 11:00 am bulletin could not be updated. The Ministry having returned with several hours of delay this information, we proceed in this special bulletin to this update ... According to the Ministry of Public Health, 28 new cases of Covid-19 would have been confirmed in Haiti within 24 hours the day before (+24), for a total of 7,949 cases throughout the national territory (41.6% of women and 58.4% ) since the first case (March 19, 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/article-30319-haiti-sante- origin-des-2-premiers-cas-de-covid-19-en-haiti.html). Deaths: unchanged in 48 hours, national total of 196 Healings: : 5,337 people (+102 in 72h), previous (+112 in 72h) Healing rate: 67.14% (+) Active cases: (less deaths and recoveries) 2,388 (-102 in 24 hours), the day before: (+18) Imported cases: 152 cases since the reopening of airports and +43 since the last report dated July 9 (109) https://www.haitilibre.com/article-31348-haiti-flash-152 -cas-imported-from-the-reopening-of-aeroports.html (update not available) Suspected cases investigated since March 19: 21,805 cases (+119 in 24 hours), previous (+125) Cases tested since the start of the pandemic: 21,460 (+253 in 4 days as of August 17) People currently hospitalized: (information not available) People in intensive care currently: (information not available) People currently treated at home: (information not available) Cases confirmed by department: West 5.556 +12 Artibonite 463 North 401 Center 398 South East 235 South 214 (unchanged) Northeast 199 (unchanged) Northwest 186 (unchanged) Grand'Anse 160 (unchanged) Nippes 137 (unchanged) Location of cases: Ouest : 5,556 cases (+13) Delmas : 1,348 cases (+3), the day before : (+1) Port-au-Prince : 1,123 (+1 ) Petion-ville : 826 cases (+2), the day before : (+3) Tabarre : 673 cases (unchanged), the day before : (+2) Croix-des-Bouquets : 539 (+5), the day before : (+2) Carrefour : 426 cases (+1), the day before : (+3) Petit-Goave : 148 cases (unchanged) Cite Soleil : 92 cases (unchanged) Cabaret : 72 cases (unchanged) Leogane : 69 cases (unchanged) Kenskoff : 58 cases (unchanged) Archaie : 45 cases (+1), the day before : (+1) Gressier 40 cases (unchanged) Anse a Galet : 35 cases (unchanged) Grand Goave : 14 cases (unchanged) Cornillon : 13 cases (unchanged) Ganthier : 12 cases (unchanged) Thomazeau : 9 cases (unchanged) Fonds-Verettes : 6 (unchanged) Pointe a Raquette : 3 cases (unchanged) Artibonite : 463 cases (unchanged) Saint Marc : 157 cases (unchanged) Verettes : 111 case (unchanged) Gonaives : 104 cases (unchanged), the day before : (+1) Gros Morne : 18 cases (unchanged) Marchand Dessalines : 16 cases (unchanged) Petite Riviere de lArtibonite : 14 cases (unchanged) LEstere : 10 cases (unchanged), the day before : (+1) Saint Michel : 9 cases (unchanged) Desdunes : 6 cases (unchanged) Marmelade : 6 cases (unchanged) Ennery : 5 cases (unchanged) Grande Saline : 3 cases (unchanged) La Chappelle : 2 cases (unchanged) Anse Rouge : 2 cases (unchanged) Nord : 401 (+5) Cap Haitien : 244 cases (+2), the day before : (+3) Limbe : 32 cases (unchanged), the day before : (+1) Pignon : 20 cases (+2) Grande Riviere du Nord : 14 cases (unchanged) Milot : 14 cases (unchanged) Plaine du Nord : 12 cases (unchanged) Borgne : 11 case (unchanged) Limonade : 11 case (+1) Plaisance du Nord : 10 cases (unchanged), the day before : (+1) Quartier Morin : 8 cases (unchanged) Pilate : 8 cases (unchanged) Acul du Nord : 5 cases (unchanged) Port Margot : 5 cases (unchanged) Dondon : 3 cases (unchanged) Bahon : 1 case (unchanged) Saint Raphael : 1 case (unchanged) Centre : 398 cases (+9) Mirebalais : 150 cases (+2) Hinche : 139 cases (+4) Boucan Carre : 30 cases (unchanged) Lascaobas : 25 cases (unchanged) Belladere : 18 cases (unchanged) Thomonde : 14 cases (+2) Savanette : 6 cases (unchanged) Saut-dEau 5 cases (unchanged) Cerca la Source : 4 cases (unchanged) Maissade : 3 cases (unchanged) Cerca Cavajal : 3 cases (+1) Thomassique : 1 case (unchanged) Sud-Est : 235 cases (+1) Jacmel : 179 cases (+1), the day before : (+5) Cote-de-Fer : 14 cases (unchanged) Bainet : 13 cases (unchanged) Vallee de Jacmel : 8 cases (+1) Thiotte : 7 cases (unchanged) Marigot : 5 cases (unchanged) Belle Anse : 4 cases (unchanged) Cayes Jacmel : 3 cases ((unchanged) Anse-a-Pitre : 2 cases (unchanged) Sud : 214 cases (unchanged) Cayes : 122 cases (unchanged) Aquin : 22 cases (unchanged) Saint-Louis du Sud : 11 case (unchanged) Les Anglais : 10 cases (unchanged) Port-Salut : 8 cases (unchanged) Torbeck : 7 cases (unchanged) Chardonnieres : 6 cases (unchanged) Camp-Perrin : 6 cases (unchanged) Port a Piment : 5 cases (unchanged) Tiburon : 4 cases (unchanged) Coteaux : 3 cases (unchanged) Chantal : 2 cases (unchanged) Ile-a Vache : 2 cases (unchanged) St Jean du Sud : 2 cases (unchanged) Cavaillon 2 cases (unchanged) Roche a Bateau : 1 case (unchanged) Maniche : 1 case (unchanged) Nord-Est : 199 cases (unchanged) Ouanaminthe : 62 cases (unchanged Caracol 37 cases (unchanged) Trou du Nord : 28 cases (unchanged) Fort Liberte : 25 cases (unchanged) Mombin Crochu 18 cases (unchanged) Terrier Rouge : 8 cases (unchanged) Perches : 5 cases (unchanged) Mont Organise : 5 cases (unchanged) Ferrier : 2 cases (unchanged) Carice : 2 cases (unchanged) Capotille : 2 cases (unchanged) Ste-Suzanne : 1 case (unchanged) Nord-Ouest : 186 cases (unchanged) Port de Paix : 110 cases (unchanged) Saint-louis du Nord : 21 case (unchanged) Bombardopolis : 13 cases (unchanged) Mole Saint-Nicolas : 12 cases (unchanged) Jean Rabel : 12 cases (unchanged) Bassin Bleu : 5 cases (unchanged) La Tortue : 5 cases (unchanged) Chansolme : 4 cases (unchanged) Baie de Henne 2 cases (unchanged) Anse-a-Foleur : 2 cases (unchanged) Grand'Anse : 160 cases (unchanged) Jeremie : 127 cases (unchanged), the day before (+1) Anse dHainault : 16 (unchanged) Chambellan : 7 cases (unchanged) Dame Marie : 3 cases (unchanged) Pestel : 2 cases (unchanged) Irois : 2 cases (unchanged) Bonbon : 1 case (unchanged) Moron : 1 case (unchanged) Roseaux : 1 case (unchanged) Nippes : 137 cases (unchanged) Miragoane : 64 cases (unchanged, the day before (+1) Fond des Negres : 20 cases (unchanged) Baraderes : 12 cases (unchanged) Plaisance du Sud : 10 cases (unchanged) Anse a Veau 7 cases (unchanged) Petite Riviere de Nippes : 6 cases (unchanged) Petit Trou de Nippes : 6 cases (unchanged) LAsile : 5 cases (unchanged) Paillant : 4 cases (unchanged) Arnaud : 2 cases (unchanged) Grand Boucan : 1 case (unchanged) NOTE: "unchanged" means that there is no new data available: it may be no new cases, unreported or incomplete cases or delay in transmission data at the Ministry ... Distribution of confirmed cases by age group: 0-9 years: 225 (+2) 10-19 years: 273 (+3) 20-29 years: 1,560 (+7) 30-39 years: 2,324 (+9) 40-49 years: 1.442 (+3) 50-59 years: 945 (+1) 60-69 years: 709 (+2) 70 years and over: 471 (+1) Distribution of deaths by age group: 0-9 years: 8 deaths (unchanged) 10-19 years: 3 deaths (unchanged) 20-29 years: 10 deaths (unchanged) 30-39 years: 13 deaths (unchanged) 40-49 years: 23 deaths (unchanged) 50-59 years: 37 deaths (unchanged) 60-69 years: 37 deaths (unchanged) 70 years and over: 65 deaths (unchanged) Death: 196 deaths (unchanged in 48 hours) Death rate: 2.47% (=) See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31576-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-august-19-2020.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html Covid-19, new definitions in Haiti : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31110-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-june-24-2020.html S/ HaitiLibre FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. G's CBD has seen continued success since their launch, and now they are taking their high-quality CBD to the larger retail market. Dr. Jeffrey Gamble has been in the chiropractic business for over forty years and says his venture into CBD sales began as a passion project while looking for new and natural ways to help his patients. Dr. Gamble first started tinkering with CBD in 2016, and soon became fully absorbed in developing some of the highest-grade CBD products on the market today. Dr. G's CBD is grown, processed, tested, and packaged all in California, with the help of their state-of-the-art laboratory. As a company, Dr. G's sets themselves apart because of the potency of their products, their glowing customer feedback, and their innovation in flavor. While one of Dr. G's best-selling products is undoubtedly their Dr. G's Spicy/Cool Soothing Body Balm, their oral tinctures have also received a wealth of positive reviews because of their unique strawberry flavor. The natural taste of strawberry helps distinguish Dr. G's tinctures because they are easy to take and fast absorbing into the body. In fact, Gamble says that absorption time is part of what makes his products so special. By using the best quality CBD available, Dr. G's ensures that their product is able to get to where it is most needed in the body faster and more efficiently. Educating customers on the use of CBD has become an important aspect of Gamble's work since there are currently still a lot of misconceptions about CBD, what it is, and how it works. CBD is a chemical known as a cannabinoid. There are over 100 different types of cannabinoids, but CBD is known for its therapeutic effects. By contrast, THC is a cannabinoid known for producing intoxicating effects that are most commonly associated with cannabis. Hemp plants naturally contain a maximum of 0.3% THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that produces a "high" feeling, so they are safe to consume for a variety of customers with no fear of any sort of intoxication. Dr. G's even goes a step further in ensuring that their CBD contains 0% THC. When the hemp arrives for processing it contains the industry-standard 0.3% THC, Dr. G's then removes this negligible amount of THC using hydrogen gas, so that the final product contains no traceable amounts of THC. Dr. G's has become a rising star in this fast-growing industry, and they plan to keep their momentum going as they expand their business to include a larger array of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers. Currently, Dr. G's is available online through their website, but with the major shift to online buying over the past few months, they are eager to move into the broader scope of online retail. Look for Dr. G's online and in stores throughout 2020 as they continue their trend of upward mobility. Please direct inquiries to: Everett Jespersen (954) 679-2267 [email protected] SOURCE Dr. G's CBD Randall Park and Daniel Dae Kim have teamed up for an upcoming Asian American-led heist film acquired by Amazon Studios. The untitled film was acquired by Amazon Studios after a bidding war and will be written by screenwriter Young Il Kim, according to an article Tuesday by Deadline. The movie will be loosely centered on a reunion of high school friends who embark on a heist. Heist film: Randall Park, shown in August 2019 in Anaheim, California, has partnered with Daniel Dae Kim for an upcoming heist film 'I think it has nods to Ocean's 11, The Full Monty as well as Better Luck Tomorrow,' Kim, 52, told the outlet. The film will star Kim and Park, 46, who assemble a team comprised mostly of Asian American actors. 'It's a story that kind of highlights community, friendship, unity in a very familiar genre that people I think will enjoy,' Kim added to Deadline. Kim and Park have been longtime friends and released a joint statement on the project. Teaming up: Kim, shown in January in Utah, will star with Park in the film acquired by Amazon Studios and they both will also serve as producers 'We can't wait to join with Young to tell this special story of friendship, pride and community. We're also very grateful to Amazon for their exceptional enthusiasm and support,' the statement said. Park and Kim will serve as producers along with 3AD head of development John Cheng after the trio sparked the original story. Kim founded his production company 3AD in 2013 to broaden storytelling featuring traditionally underrepresented cultures. Popular genre: The heist film Ocean's Eleven in 2001 starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliot Gould and Don Cheadle earned $450.7 million worldwide and spawned a franchise Park portrayed North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in the 2014 film The Interview and also starred on the ABC sitcom Fresh Off The Boat. Kim played Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost and also is known for portraying Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0, Gavin Park in Angel, and Johnny Gat in the Saints Row series of video games. His 3AD production company currently produces the television series The Good Doctor. Young Il Kim's writing credits include the Showtime series Billions and the Black List script Rodham. Political satire: James Franco and Park are shown in a still from the 2014 film The Interview Paramilitary police officers march next to the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing on May 22, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Crime of Organ Harvesting in China Not Receiving Attention It Should, Expert Says The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) record of gross human rights violations against its own citizens needs to be continually exposed, particularly its practice of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, says Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center. In an in-depth interview with Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, Browde describes the imprisonment, torture, and organ harvesting that practitioners of the spiritual discipline face inside China. He said there needs to be more awareness of these atrocities. Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a practice of five meditation exercises and spiritual teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice has been severely persecuted by the Chinese regime for the past two decades. Chinas organ transplant system has been scrutinized in recent years, with a London-based independent peoples tribunal concluding in June 2019 that, beyond reasonable doubt, the CCP was targeting prisoners of conscience for their organs. The main source of organs was practitioners of Falun Gong. With a crime of the level of forced organ harvesting, that should be front page news again, and again, and again, until it stopsand it hasnt been, Browde said in the Aug. 18 podcast. In a 160-page report released in March, the tribunal found no evidence of the practice having been stopped and said that the lack of international oversight has allowed many people to die horribly and unnecessarily. Large numbers of practitioners are held in detention centers and prescreened for tissue type. When someone pays for an organ, the detainee is killed, said Browde. They extract the organ, they do the transplant, he said, adding that the illegal, state-run organ industry involves billions of dollars. As the CCP virus (commonly known as the novel coronavirus) ravaged China in the first half of the year, it was business as usual for Chinas organ transplant industry, with no obvious organ waiting time delays, according to an investigation by U.S.-based nonprofit World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong. One nurse in the Guangxi region told the investigators that, despite fears of infection amid the pandemic, they will do the surgery whenever there is one. Browde said the CCPs persecution campaign against the practice was launched due to fears held by some Party leaders about the fact that there were more Falun Gong practitioners than there were Party members. In 1999, the year the persecution began in China, there were 100 million adherents of the practice40 million more than CCP members at the time, said Browde. What unfolded over the next two decades was basically a systematic persecution characterized by widespread detention, imprisonment, torture, and many dying, he said. Conservative estimates say that several million people have been detained at some point during this campaign, let alone thrown into a labor camp or any kind of facility like that. News of this forced organ harvesting practice inside China is not known widely by Chinese citizens, due to the effectiveness of state-run media inside China, said Browde. The CCP also controls what information its citizens can access through its internet blockade, dubbed the Great Firewall. Editors Note: To listen to the full interview with Browde, click here. New Delhi: Singapore and Bali have emerged as the leading travel destinations for Indian travelers to visit in 2017, as per trend report by leading travel search engine Skyscanner. Singapore is followed by countries like Australia, Malaysia, Maldives and South Africa as the most favoured destinations, says the report. It analyses three years' data from Indian travelers, dating back to 2013, Skyscanner said. Singapore records the highest growth with a whopping 202 per cent average increase in searches since 2013, it added. Among the cities tipped to be the favourite destinations in the coming year, Bali is at the top, followed by Budapest, Madrid, Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam. Skyscanner's data places Bali as a favoured destination in 2017 with 35 per cent recorded average growth in searches in the past three years. "In 2016, we saw the list heavily-dominated with South Asian destinations and in 2017, there has been a seismic shift to incorporate the near and far from Australia to Europe, Skyscanner Growth Manager India, Reshmi Roy said. This is an indication on changing travel mindset as it becomes simpler and easier, she added. "Each year the Skyscanner Travel Trend Report discovers more attributes of Indian travellers," Roy said. Founded in 2003, global travel search company Skyscanner helps meet the travel planning needs of over 50 million people each month. It provides free search of flights, hotels and car hire. For all the Latest Business News, Economy News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. RIMOUSKI, Quebec, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc., PUMA-TSXV, (Puma) is pleased to announce that it will transfer all of its copper assets to its wholly-owned subsidiary Murray Brook Minerals Inc. The objective is to generate maximum value to its shareholders from its base metal projects while Puma Exploration continues to concentrate on its new Flagship Triple Fault Gold Project in New Brunswick, Canada. The current business arrangement represents an important opportunity for Pumas shareholders to continue to explore and develop the current copper projects within its new subsidiary on which the company has already invested $3,211,057 in exploration (book value as of May 31, 2020) in the last 15 years in Northern New Brunswick, notes Marcel Robillard, President and CEO of Puma Exploration. We are expecting renewed interest in the base metals sector, particularly for copper, as green energy metal and EV demands are expected to increase in the coming years. Pumas subsidiary will be well positioned and ready for any opportunity added Marcel Robillard. The newly created strategic advisory board and current management and consultants will evaluate different scenarios to generate maximum value for Pumas shareholders in light of the current reorganization of Pumas base metals assets. The reorganization of the copper assets will be effective on August 31,2020. The main copper assets held by the wholly-owned Murray Brook Minerals are as follows: CHESTER PROJECT OPTION The Chester Deposit property is known to contain copper deposits containing three (3) zones; the Central Zone, the East Zone, and the West Zone (Copper Stringer) all located near the surface. Only the West Zone was included in the NI 43-101 resources calculation dated 2008 and updated in 2014. The copper deposit has measured and indicated resources of 1,400,000 tonnes grading 1.38% Cu and 3.5 g/t Ag and inferred resources of 2,089,000 tonnes grading 1.26% Cu (assayed for Cu only) as reported in the NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled Technical Report - Chester Copper Property New Brunswick Canada (effective March 07, 2014) prepared by Robert C. Sim, P. Geo., for Explor Resources and filed on www.sedar.com. Previous operators at Chester Deposit reported historical resources totalling 16.8 Mt at 0.76 % Cu divided in three zones* : East Zone*: 0.5 Mt of massive and disseminated sulphide grading 0.78%Cu, 0.36% Pb and 1.14% Zn. Central Zone*: 1.1 Mt of massive sulphide grading 0.47%Cu, 0.90% Pb and 2.22% Zn. West Zone*: 15.2 Mt of copper stringers grading 0.78% Cu. *Puma is not treating the historical resources estimate as a current resources estimate or mineral reserves, as it has not taken steps to identify what work needs to be done to verify, upgrade or re-classify the historical resources estimate using a qualified person from Puma or independent third party. Significant previous drill results at Chester property West Zone (Surface to 50m) Central Zone (Surface to 50m) 4.8% Cu over 20.3 meters 10.8% Zn + 4.5% Pb over 5.6 meters 3.4% Cu over 25.0 meters 7.4% Zn + 2.3% Pb over 6.1 meters 6.0% Cu over 13.1 meters 8.0% Zn + 3.9% Pb over 7.0 meters 8.0% Cu over 5.2 meters 8.5% Zn + 4.0% Pb over 7.9 meters 4.9% Cu over 14.2 meters 7.0% Zn + 2.6% Pb over 15.6 meters TURGEON PROJECT The Company holds a 100% interest in the Turgeon property consisting of 31 claims over a total surface area of 6.7 km2. The property is located 5 km south of the Belledune deep water port and is accessible by road all year long and is crossed by an electrical transport line. The drilling done in 1983 by Esso Minerals led to the identification of an historical resource of 1.5 to 2.0 million tons with a grade of 1.5% Cu and 4% Zn. The historical resource was estimated only for the Powerline and Zinc Zone deposit. Since the beginning of work in 1958, about 100 holes have been drilled on the deposit resulting in more than 25,000 meters of core. Puma is not treating the historical resources estimate as a current resources estimate or mineral reserves, as it has not taken steps to identify what work needs to be done to verify, upgrade or re-classify the historical resources estimate using a qualified person from Puma or independent third party. In late-2013, The Dragon Zone was discovered by Puma Exploration, The zone is located approximately 200 meters south of the main Powerline and Zinc Zones who represent typical VMS mineralised lenses. Drillhole FT13-13 intersected 4 meters of massive sulphides grading 1.01% Cu and 0.78% Zn. The autumn 2014 drill program included a massive sulphide intercept grading 5.66% Zn, 0.38% Cu and 2.3 g/t Ag over 6.8 metres starting downhole at 219.1 meters and including 10.05% Zn and 0.23% Cu over 2.7 metres. (Drillhole FT14-05). Significant previous drill results at Turgeon property Power Line (Cu Stockwerk) Zinc Zone (Massive Sulphide) 3.5% Cu over 11.5 m 1.1% Cu + 9.2% Zn over 7.9 m 7.9% Cu over 7.5 m 0.8% Cu + 12.4% Zn over 8.7 m 2.2% Cu over 27.3m 2.1% Cu + 1.9% Zn over 8.3m 2.3% Cu over 32.6 m 1.0% Cu + 2.7% Zn over 72.2 m 4.4% Cu over 17.2m 1.9% Cu + 5.0% Zn over 12.3m 10.0% Cu over 7.0m 1.1% Cu + 4.7% Zn over 25.1m LEGACY PROJECT The Legacy copper project consists of two (2) block of claims which cover an area of about 499.4 ha and are situated in the County of Restigouche, Province of New Brunswick, Canada. The project occurs approximately 100 km west of Bathurst and approximately 40 km from Saint Quentin. The Legacy Project includes the Legacy deposit, two main prospects (Hornfels Zone and the J.J. Gold Zone) and numerous geophysical targets. The drilling and resource model suggest that the mineralisation continues with depth and that additional tonnage could be delineated with additional drilling. Mineralisation is primarily hosted by silicified calcareous argillite and, to a lesser extent, in skarnified beds and irregular zones within the argillite. The skarns are erratically distributed, but usually occur in proximity to felsic dykes which are generally only weakly mineralised. Historical Resource of 1,040,000 tonnes of 0.74% Cu and 5.15 g/t Ag was estimated in 2015 by SKR Consulting and released as Independent Technical Report for the Legacy Project, Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Canada with the effective date of June 22, 2015. Puma is not treating the historical resources estimate as a current resources estimate or mineral reserves, as it has not taken steps to identify what work needs to be done to verify, upgrade or re-classify the historical resources estimate using a qualified person from Puma or independent third party. This copper mineralization is contained in three, steeply dipping mineralized zones varying from 1.5 m to 12.20 m in width.The steeply dipping zones are confined along strike with a plunge to the NNE of about 50. Therefore, they have a pipe-like shape. BRUNSWICK CARDS PROJECT To complete its impressive landholdings of advanced projects to be held by Murray Brook Minerals, Puma executed 2 distincts option agreements with a prospector and a private company to secure first priority grassroots targets generated using CARDS system developed by Windfall Geotek (WIN-TSXV). The new properties totalling 101 claims units are located north of the Chester Project and South-East of the East Steel past operating mine. Also, Puma added by staking 63 new claims units in the area to cover favourable geology. These properties will be also transferred into Murray Brook Minerals. Terms of the option agreements Puma may acquire a 100-per-cent undivided ownership interest in the two (2) distincts properties; Miramichi CARDS and Sevolgle CARDS according to the following terms to each vendor: Issuing a cumulative amount of 500,000 shares of Puma and $75,000 cash payments to the owners, according to the following schedule: 500,000 shares and $25,000 cash subsequent to signing of the agreement, $25,000 cash on or before the first anniversary date of the agreement, and $25,000 cash on or before the second anniversary date of the agreement. The owners will retain a two percent net smelter return royalty on any saleable production from the property. Fifty percent of the NSR royalty (that is, one percent) may be purchased by Puma for $1-million. Puma retains a right of first refusal on the remaining one percent NSR royalty that is held by the owners. The transaction is subject to the TSX Venture Exchange approval. WARRANTS REPRICING Following Pumas announcement made on August 4, 2020, about the repricing of certain warrants, and the initial review by the TSX Venture Exchange. The company intends to reprice 6,185,478 warrants to $0.20 according the certain modifications requested by the exchange as set out below. Under the terms of the December 2018 financing , 638,000 warrants were issued at $1.00 (post-consolidation) with an expiry date of December 31, 2020. The company intends to reprice these warrants to $0.20. In accordance with the TSX Venture Exchange Policy 4.1 (section 3.3a) ii) and e)), the warrants will be subject to an acceleration clause: should the closing price of the common shares of the Company on the TSX Venture Exchange be $0.25 or higher for ten (10) consecutive trading days, the Company must accelerate the expiry of the Warrants to the date that is 30 days from the date of the issuance of a news release by the Company announcing the exercise of the acceleration right. The Company has received the consent of the warrants holders to proceed with the proposed modification. Under the terms of the September 2019 financing , 4,366,450 warrants were issued at $0.50 (post-consolidation) with an expiry date of September 27, 2023. The Company intends to reprice these warrants to $0.20. In accordance with the TSX Venture Exchange Policy 4.1 (section 3.3d) and N1, the Warrants held by insiders (13.69%) cant exceeded 10% and thus; 4,204,978 warrants will be repriced to $0.20 and 161,472 warrants held by the insider will keep the initial price of $0.50 (post-consolidation). The expiry date remains the same as September 27, 2023. Under the terms of the December 2019 financing , 1,342,500 warrants were issued at $0.35 expiring in December 2021. The Company will now proceed to reprice these warrants to $0.20 as no comment was received for these warrants. QUALIFIED PERSONS Marcel Robillard, PGeo, qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 standards, has reviewed and approved the geological information reported in this news release. 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. ABOUT PUMA EXPLORATION Puma Exploration is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company with precious and base metals projects in early to advanced stages located in the Famous Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC) in New Brunswick, Canada. Puma is currently focusing his field work on its flagship TRIPLE FAULT GOLD PROJECT in New Brunswick. Great efforts will be made by the Company in the coming years to deploy its DEAR strategy (Development, Exploration, Acquisition and Royalties) in order to generate maximum value for shareholders with low shares dilution. You can visit us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn Learn more by consulting www.pumaexploration.com for further information on Puma. Marcel Robillard, President (418) 724-0901 president@explorationpuma.com Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Puma to be materially different from actual future results and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the quarterly and annual reports and in the documents submitted to the securities administration. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e86c9724-f27e-4ea9-8342-1cfa3ee39124 K-12 parents brace for chaos A vast majority of parents have resigned themselves to going it alone in the pandemic school year, according to a new survey for The New York Times. Just one in seven parents said their children would be returning to school full time this fall. Four in five parents said they would have no in-person help educating and caring for them, whether from relatives, neighbors, nannies or tutors, according to the survey. Eighty percent of parents who are both working remotely during the pandemic will also be handling child care and education. All the choices stink, Kate Averett, a sociologist at the University at Albany who has been interviewing parents nationwide since the spring, told The Times. In families where both parents need to work outside the home, there are obvious logistical challenges. Three-fourths of these parents say they will also be overseeing their childrens education. As parents, were all feeling it individually, and because of the nature of this pandemic, it can start to feel like were in it alone, our colleague Claire Cain Miller, who wrote about the survey, told us. But everyones feeling it, across all demographic lines. The survey found very few differences based on demographic characteristics like race, location, or the age of children. Mothers, though, are doing most of the planning, and spending the most time caring for and educating the children. And parents with more resources had more options, like taking an unpaid leave or hiring a private teacher or nanny. There was outrage in some parts of Brazil after personal details of a 10-year-old rape victim were published online by a religious activis... There was outrage in some parts of Brazil after personal details of a 10-year-old rape victim were published online by a religious activist who attempted to prevent her from having an abortion. It was gathered that the little girl, from Sao Mateus, a small town in the south-eastern state of Espirito Santo, was admitted to hospital last week after she complained about abdominal pains. The doctors were said to have discovered that she was pregnant. News of her planned abortion was, however, posted online by an anti-abortion activist, prompting protest outside the hospital where the young girl was due to have the medical procedure. According to Guardian UK, the girl told the police that her uncle had been raping her since the age of six and that she had remained quiet out of fear. BBC also reported that the police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of raping her. The development has however provoked outrage as a huge number of Brazilian women took to the streets to protect the girl who was being attacked by religious extremists over abortion. Its unbelievable this is happening in Brazil, that part of the population really believes abortion is worse than rape, Paula Viana, a womens rights activist, who escorted her, told Guardian UK. But we werent surprised. We know we have a president whos supportive of this show of hatred. The Pernambuco Department of Health later stated that the procedure was successfully carried out on the girl with judicial authorisation and that all legal parameters are being strictly followed. Shes very strong. But she is just a child. She will need long-term psychological support. She understands everything that she is going through, said Viana, while speaking of her wellbeing. Brazil has strict laws on abortion. The medical procedure is legal in the South American country only if it is the only means to save the womans life or if the pregnancy is the result of rape. He went to war to fight for his country but wont wear a mask during a pandemic? Former Navy SEAL Robert ONeill, who claims to have fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden, tweeted a selfie Wednesday bragging about not wearing a mask aboard an apparently packed flight. Im not a p---y, he wrote alongside the now-deleted photo, which also showed a face-covered passenger in the background. That passenger was wearing a Marine Corps hat, but it was unclear if ONeills tweet was an intentional jab at the man. Tuesday was the day that the Democrats made it official: 77-year-old Joe Biden is the designated Democrat party candidate for president. Tuesday was also the day that the Trump campaign released a hard-hitting video highlighting the difference between the Biden of five years ago and the Biden of today. And Tuesday was the day on which a former White House physician announced that something is very wrong with Biden's mental competency. The old saying is "third time lucky," and Tuesday was Biden's lucky day: Former Vice President Joe Biden officially became the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night after an unconventional roll call vote of party delegates conducted virtually from landmarks across the country. Once he amassed the votes, a camera appeared on Biden in Delaware, where after a brief pause, he celebrated the moment with wife, Jill, and bundles of red, white and blue balloons as the family popped streamers. Clapping broke out from Democrats appearing on camera from their living rooms, as the song "Celebration" played. "Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart," Biden said. "Thank you. Thank you." Hinting at the real balance of power in the Biden household, Biden accepted the nomination while he was in the library at the high school at which his wife, Jill, a Ph.D. who narcissistically insists on being called "doctor," taught English for two years: :: @JoeBiden accepts the nomination from the library at Brandywine High School, where @DrBiden taught English from 1991 to 1993. Jill Biden will deliver her speech tonight from her old classroom. https://t.co/JfADWxN0f7 Steve Chamraz (@TMJ4Steve) August 19, 2020 At 1:29:27 in the video below, you can see a confused-looking Biden take a cue from his wife and start applauding his own nomination. Then, after the official statement that he's the nominee, he gives an unusually short acceptance speech before replacing his mask. He is a husk: On the same day that Biden accepted his nomination, the Trump team dropped a new campaign video. It asks a simple question: "What happened to Joe Biden?" The video isn't arrogant enough to offer an answer to that question. It simply reinforces the change in Biden over the years by comparing footage of Biden in 2015 with footage of Biden in 2020: What's really sad is that, when one looks at the 2020 footage, one realizes that the Trump campaign was kind. The team that assembled the video didn't even use the cruelest footage available. Also on Tuesday, Dr. Ronny Jackson, who served as White House physician in both the Obama and Trump administration, spoke out about his current impression of Joe Biden: "The best way I can describe every time I see him is that he's just lost," Jackson said. "I won't make any particular diagnosis about dementia ... but what I will say is that something is not right," continued the doctor, who just won a GOP congressional primary in Texas. Asked whether he's comfortable with the idea of Biden assuming the top executive position in the country, Jackson said, "I'm not." Jackson stresses that he hasn't personally reviewed Biden's medical records, but has witnessed the changes to the former vice president up-close, over time. "I saw him frequently around the West Wing and other places like that. I know he's always been prone to gaffes, but these aren't gaffes anymore. He can't form sentences. Sometimes, he can't complete a thought," said Jackson, whose full comments are available in Donald Trump Jr.'s upcoming book, "Liberal Privilege: Joe Biden and the Democrats' Defense of the Indefensible." For the first time in American history, we will see a campaign that has, on the Republican side, an incredibly vital man who is dedicated to bringing American back to normal. Meanwhile, on the Democrat side, we will see a man manifestly losing himself to some form of dementia, with the real candidate being his vice presidential sidekick, a vicious, unprincipled, opportunistic woman who pulled out of the primaries with barely any support from the party faithful and who has a 100% hard-left rating in the Senate putting her to the left of Bernie Sanders. The next few months should be interesting and could be scary. Image: Joe Biden, altered VOA American video screenshot (altered) (govt work; public domain). Entrepreneur opening third store: Don't let 'buy local' be a fad; we're investing it all in our businesses Conversations and social media advocacy pivot quickly, acknowledged Isaac Collins, but "shop local" should be more than just the flavor of the week as COVID-19 serves a full menu of challenges for small business owners. "The Amazons, the Walmarts, the Targets of the world, they are going to be OK," said Collins, a serial entrepreneur and owner of three Yogurtini franchises across Kansas City. Pricey takeout is quickly going out of fashion as the pandemic rages on . . . Here's a hopeful note that encourages locals to keep cowtown vendors in mind as more people turn to fast food and Amazon.Read more: Rubio Statement on Senate Intel Release of Volume 5 of Bipartisan Russia Report Press Contact: Dan Holler (Rubio), Nick Iacovella (Rubio) 202-224-3041 Tuesday, August 18, 2020 Miami, FL U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Acting Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) released the fifth and final volume of the Committee's bipartisan Russia investigation titled, "Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities," which examines Russia's attempts to gain influence in the American political system during the 2016 elections. Rubio released the following statement and a video message, which is available for download here: "Over the last three years, the Senate Intelligence Committee conducted a bipartisan and thorough investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and undermine our democracy. We interviewed over 200 witnesses and reviewed over one million pages of documents. No probe into this matter has been more exhaustive. "We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election. "What the Committee did find however is very troubling. We found irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling. And we discovered deeply troubling actions taken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, particularly their acceptance and willingness to rely on the 'Steele Dossier' without verifying its methodology or sourcing. "Now, as we head towards the 2020 elections, China and Iran have joined Russia in attempts to disrupt our democracy, exacerbate societal divisions, and sow doubts about the legitimacy and integrity of our institutions, our electoral process and our republic. "We must do better in 2020. The Committee's five reports detail the signs and symptoms of that interference and show us how to protect campaigns, state and local entities, our public discourse, and our democratic institutions. I join with Vice Chairman Warner in urging everyone our colleagues, those in the Administration, state and local elections officials, the media, and the American public to read them and take the recommendations seriously." You can read "Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities" here. Key Findings: The Committee found that the Russian government engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in the Russian influence campaign and very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort. The FBI gave the Steele Dossier unjustified credence, based on an incomplete understanding of Steele's past reporting record. The FBI used the dossier in a FISA application and renewals, and advocated for it to be included in the Intelligence Community Assessment before taking the necessary steps to validate assumptions about Steele's credibility. The FBI lacked a formal or considered process for escalating their warnings about the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack within the organization of the DNC. The Committee assesses that at least two participants in a June 9, 2016, meeting with Trump Campaign officials, Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin, have significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services. The Committee, however, found no reliable evidence that information of benefit to the Campaign was transmitted at the meeting, or that then-candidate Trump had foreknowledge of the meeting. The Committee found no evidence that anyone associated with the Trump Campaign had any substantive private conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the April 27, 2016, Trump speech held at the Mayflower Hotel. Paul Manafort's presence on the Trump Campaign and proximity to then-Candidate Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump Campaign. George Papadopoulos was not a witting cooptee of the Russian intelligence services, but nonetheless presented a prime intelligence target and potential vector for malign Russian influence. Russia took advantage of members of the Transition Team's relative inexperience in government, opposition to Obama Administration policies, and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia to pursue unofficial channels through which Russia could conduct diplomacy. Read the Senate Intelligence Committee's previous reports: ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The move represents a second diplomatic shot after the Security Council roundly rejected a U.S. proposal last week to extend an arms embargo, another part of the nuclear agreement. Only the Dominican Republic voted with the United States, while 11 of the 15 members abstained. Among them were France, Britain and Germany, all of which co-negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran and oppose escalating sanctions. Staff in nursing homes should be prevented from working across multiple sites, an expert report has recommended. The wide-ranging report into nursing homes also stated that adequate single-site employment contracts should be put in place to support this. The Covid-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel also recommended that all new residents are tested for Covid-19 before their admission, and that all nursing homes should prove a sufficient standard of infection control measures. As part of the plan to improve nursing homes, it has also been recommended that infection control training should be mandatory for all grades of nursing home staff. The four-person expert panel, formed in May this year, published a total of 86 recommendations across 15 different themes in the report. Each nursing home is responsible for and should have an emergency supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other Covid-19 related equipment in the event of a cluster, the report added. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly described the report as 200 pages of wisdom. He said the impact of Covid-19 has been utterly devastating for those living and working in nursing homes. 200 pages of wisdom Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly More than half of Covid-19 deaths in Ireland have been nursing home residents. Many residents didnt have visitors for months, families had to watch and try and communicate with their loved ones through windows, Mr Donnelly added. The panels recommendations recognise that systemic reform in the delivery of care for older persons is needed. The panel visited three nursing homes and spoke to a number of residents and their families for the report. Professor Cecily Kelleher, chair of the panel, said there are key questions around representation and advocacy of older people. A large part of this report is planning for future care for older people, she added. It was clear that healthcare staff worked tirelessly for the residents and all parties require supports and this includes terms and conditions in work, issues around occupational health and other supports, and psychological support and issues around bereavement. The recommendations reflect systemic reform is needed into how care is delivered. We have found there is no firm definition of the skill mix required in the nursing and therefore the framework for safe staffing and skill mix needs to be prioritised and urgently developed to apply across all nursing homes. We know older people have suffered the most. We talk about centenary and the fact that we have 100 years of the State of the Republic of Ireland, many of the people affected by this were the citizens and taxpayers who helped to create this State. GPs, along with their colleagues in public health, community geriatricians and nursing home staff, have provided an exceptional service to vulnerable patients despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis Dr Denis McCauley, IMO We owe it to them now to have a healthcare system that is fit for the 21st century. Professor Cillian Twomey said: I dont think we can overstate and exaggerate the extent to which relatives, residents and staff have been through the mill. The nursing home sector is familiar with people dying, its a fact of life, but they were completely unprepared for the volume of death that occurred. The nursing home I visited, what really hit home was in the space of a 12-hour period, three people died. In the next 12 hours another two died. This does not happen and for the professional staff, it was utterly shocking. If there is anything that we learn from the last number of months that we should take seriously, it is that we must never allow the system to go back to where it was in those days. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) welcomed the publication, saying that a new framework is required for the medical care of patients in nursing homes. Dr Denis McCauley, chairman of the GP committee of the IMO, said: We welcome the expert panels acknowledgement of the vital need to recruit more GPs, address longstanding capacity issues, and empower GPs to work more effectively in the community and in nursing homes. GPs, along with their colleagues in public health, community geriatricians and nursing home staff, have provided an exceptional service to vulnerable patients despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis. However, it must be noted that the system for the provision of medical care for nursing home patients was not adequate prior to Covid-19 and was made all the more challenging by the impact of the pandemic. Alone, the organisation which supports older people, said it welcomed the report but added that it would like to see immediate action to safeguard thousands of vulnerable older people. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex made a startling announcement in January when they shared their plans to step back from their royal duties. Though many royal watchers thought it was a shocking announcement, they had the support of senior royals, including Prince Charles. Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Prince Charles | RICHARD POHLE/AFP via Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hoped to split their time The Sussexes January announcement illuminated their plan to divide their time between the UK and North America, continuing their royal duties while living a more peaceful life out of the spotlight. Ultimately, after Queen Elizabeth met with Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles, it was determined that the Sussexes would officially exit the royal family at the end of March. They might not have gotten the arrangement they hoped for, but the queen shared her support in a statement released at the time. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life, the statement noted, in part. RELATED: How Queen Elizabeth Took Back Control of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Exit Situation, Expert Explains Prince Charles supported Prince Harry and Meghan Markle The queens statement shared her support of the Sussexes wishes, even if she couldnt grant them the arrangement they hoped for. Royal expert Nigel Cawthorne told The Sun that Charles also made an attempt to support their desires, but there wasnt a lot he could do. I think he [Prince Charles] likes strong women, but in The Firm there is only room for one queen, Cawthorne explained. I think he foresaw considerable problems ahead for The Firm. Harry and Meghan amplified the popularity of the royal family in the way that Prince Andrew and Fergie did at the time. Charles, the author claims, genuinely made an attempt to support what Harry and Meghan were looking for as long as it wouldnt upset other HRHs. In truth, however, there wasnt a lot he could do apart from offering moral support, Cawthorne continued. He no doubt personally regrets the fact that he wont see his son and family as much as he otherwise would have. He likes tradition and order. Prince Charles reportedly offered financial support after Megxit Though the queen and Prince Charles refused to bend the rules for Prince Harry and Meghans exit, Charles was reportedly a source of stability, offering to help them financially, royal author Tom Bower explained in an article for the Mail on Sunday. Bower referenced claims made in the new book Finding Freedom, noting, According to the authors, Charles had made it clear to Harry that he was very much part of the future for the royal family, despite calls for a slimmed down monarchy with fewer senior working Royals. For Meghan, however, I fear there is no return, he added. Prince Charles was supporting and loving Meghan reportedly thought of Prince Charles as a second father to her, according to Finding Freedoms authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand (via The Sun). His supportive and loving regard for Meghan left her feeling emotionally bruised after Megxit, however. Meghan had her own reasons for admiring her father-in-law, who had poignantly walked her down the aisle when her own father let her down, the authors explained. Prince Charles had been won over by Meghan and taken a real shine to her, his friend explained to the books authors, adding, Shes a sassy, confident, beautiful American. He likes very strong, confident women, the insider added. Shes bright, and shes self-aware, and I can see why theyve struck up a very quick friendship. A crowd of religious protesters attempted to storm a hospital in Brazil to stop a ten-year-old girl from undergoing an abortion after she was 'raped by her uncle.' The young girl, from Sao Mateus in Espirito Santo, had reportedly been rushed to hospital after complaining of abdominal pains. She was told she was pregnant, and confessed to medical staff that her uncle had allegedly been raping her since the age of six. The child added she had never reported him to authorities as he had threatened her, Brazilian news website G1 reported. Pictured: Crowds of religious protesters gather outside a referral hospital Pernambuco as a ten-year-old girl underwent an abortion Her uncle, 33, has reportedly been indicted for rape and is on the run. The ten-year-old underwent a procedure to terminate the pregnancy at a referral hospital in Pernambuco, where angry protesters gathered outside and tried to break into the clinic to stop it going ahead. Military Police were called in to protect the young patient after right-wing extremist Sara Giromini reportedly divulged the name of the girl and the hospital in a video she posted to social media. In a statement, Facebook said: 'The video in question has been removed for violating our policies by promoting potential harm to people in the offline world in a coordinated manner.' The young girl, from Sao Mateus in Espirito Santo, had reportedly been rushed to hospital after complaining of abdominal pains She was told she was pregnant, and confessed to medical staff that her uncle had allegedly been raping her since the age of six. Pictured: Women shielding the girl from protesters The protesters, linked to religious groups, were said to have tried to prevent the hospital director from entering the building. A group of mostly women had also stood outside the clinic to shield the young girl from protesters. According to hospital management, the young girl is doing well. The Pernambuco Department of Health said the procedure was done with judicial authorisation and that 'all legal parameters are being strictly followed'. The Sao Mateus Children's and Youth Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether religious groups tried to pressure the girl's family to not go through with the abortion after analysing audio clips sent to them. Ex-chief of Tyumen penal colony ordered to 8-year jail for bribetaking flickr.com/Jobs For Felons Hub 13:26 19/08/2020 MOSCOW, August 19 (RAPSI) A court in Russias Tyumen has sentenced a fomer chief of a local penal colony to 8 years behind bars for receiving bribes worth over 11.8 million rubles ($161,000) from inmates and their acquaintances, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports. Additionally, he has been fined 150,000 rubles. Moreover, a flat and a parking slot received as bribes and several other property items, jewelry and money in the amount of 201,500 rubles have been forfeited to the state. The defendant has been found guilty of taking bribes, abuse of office, money laundering and illegal ammunition storage. From January 2016 to June 2019, the penal colony chief received the bribes from three prisoners and their friends for provision of privileged condition in the penitentiary facility. Amid dense smoke, a firefighter battles the Carmel fire near Carmel Valley on Tuesday. (Nic Coury / Associated Press) As fires burn throughout eight of the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, the region is being blanketed by smoke and ash, creating dangerous breathing conditions in a time of pandemic, when healthy lungs matter more than ever. The smoke comes as the typically cool and dry Bay Area roasts under a prolonged, record-breaking heat wave, forcing residents without air conditioning either to swelter in their homes or venture to public cooling centers. More than 22,000 people have been ordered to evacuate in and around the Santa Cruz Mountains. Erin DeMerritt, spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said people should seek public cooling centers if their homes became too hot, even if it means being exposed to the wildfire smoke. "Heat takes precedence," she said. She said the poor air quality resulting from the smoke would probably continue until the fires were mostly contained. A Cal Fire status report on the LNU Lightning Complex fire on Wednesday suggests conditions may not improve until Sept. 1. She also noted that although most cloth masks, including bandannas, help protect against the spread of COVID-19, they do not protect against particulate matter from the smoke. The American Lung Assn. urged Northern Californians to be careful Wednesday, warning that the combination of excessive heat, wildfire smoke and COVID-19 poses risks to those most vulnerable to respiratory problems. The combination of uncontained wildfires and extreme heat has created conditions that put even healthy individuals at risk, said Afif El-Hasan, an association spokesman. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic only makes these potential effects more serious. Intense smoke and heat trigger coughing and wheezing, worsen lung function and lead to bronchitis or even death, he said. The best thing you can do is to avoid outdoor air, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said. Ash could be seen falling across the region. Everyone should avoid outdoor exercise when smoke is in the air. Wildfire smoke is especially harmful, said Mat Ehrhardt, air pollution control officer for the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, adding that particulate matter about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair can penetrate deep into the lungs. Story continues Northern California's coastal areas generally have some of the state's cleanest air, thanks to offshore breezes. But on Tuesday evening, fires burned throughout the Bay Area from Point Reyes in the north, to Monterey and Big Sur in the south and towns such as Bonny Doon were experiencing severely polluted air. Smoke drifted down into the Bay Area, settling thickest atop the cities of the San Francisco peninsula, including Mountain View, Palo Alto and Burlingame. DeMerritt said southward winds were blowing the Marin fire smoke into south San Francisco all the way down to San Jose, while winds along the coast were bringing in smoke from the Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as well as the River and Carmel fires in Monterey County. On Wednesday morning, cars that had been parked outside along the peninsula were covered in ash and dust, as were windows and outdoor furniture. The air was visibly hazy, and the smell of campfire was sharp. Air Quality Index readings ranged from the mid-100 levels along the San Francisco Bay to 413 in Redwood City's hills, according to the website PurpleAir. The Air Quality Index is the yardstick the Environmental Protection Agency uses for reporting air quality. Levels ranging from 151 to 200 are considered unhealthy; from 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 301 and above, hazardous. In and around Los Angeles, the South Coast Air Quality Management District continued an advisory for ozone pollution, stating that "extremely high temperatures are expected to persist over the next several days ... increasing the likelihood of Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy air quality in many areas." But problems with wildfire smoke in the region have diminished markedly in recent days, partly because of the near-containment of the massive Apple fire in the San Bernardino National Forest. By contrast, the city of Hillsborough, just south of San Francisco, had the nation's worst air quality Wednesday morning, according to IQAir. Northern and Central California began experiencing an unusually active sequence of largely dry lightning strikes Sunday morning, the most widespread and violent in recent memory in the Bay Area on one of the hottest nights in years, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Solano County was facing serious threat Wednesday morning after fire caused residents to flee overnight and burned homes and other structures. Officials have ordered the evacuation of the western edge of Vacaville a city of 100,000 residents about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento in the area of Alamo Drive north of Interstate 5 and west of North Orchard Avenue, according to a Facebook post by Vacaville police. The Vacaville Fire District also ordered evacuations of Pleasants Valley Road , which lies west of the city, and the English Hills area north of the city. Smoke and ash were also a problem far to the east of the Bay Area, especially downwind of a fire near Nevada City, northeast of Sacramento, and in areas downwind of the Solano fires. On Wednesday morning, ash swirled in the air in Sacramento. Thick smoke cast a haze and left many wearing their pandemic masks outside to fend off the pollution. Staff writers Joseph Serna, Anita Chabria, Rong-Gong Lin II , Luke Money, Leila Miller and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report. (Newser) With 75 days to go until the election, President Trump is urging Americans to boycott a major manufacturer based in a swing state. The president called for a boycott of Goodyear following a report that workers at a Kansas plant had been told not to wear Make America Great Again hats, Politico reports. A worker at the Topeka plant provided WIBW with a picture from a diversity training slide show that said Black Lives Matter and LGBT attire are acceptable, but not MAGA attire, "All Lives Matter" attire, or anything else with a political slogan. "Dont buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!" Trump tweeted. He added: "This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!" story continues below Goodyear, which is headquartered in Ohio, employs around 64,000 people. The employee who took the photo said the slide was provided by the head office in Akron. The company hasn't commented on the call for a boycott, though apparently Biden hats would also be banned. "Goodyear is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace where all of our associates can do their best in a spirit of teamwork," a company spokeswoman told WIBW. "As part of this commitment, we do allow our associates to express their support on racial injustice and other equity issues, but ask that they refrain from workplace expressions, verbal and otherwise, in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as other similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of equity issues." (Read more President Trump stories.) India and China will hold another round of talks on Thursday under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs in an effort to break the impasse along the Line of Control (LAC), people familiar with developments said. The meeting between diplomats of the two sides, to be held via video conference, comes at a time when military talks on reducing tensions along the disputed border have hit a roadblock, and the Indian Army has adopted a tougher line in its efforts to restore status quo ante in eastern Ladakh. This will be the fifth engagement at the diplomatic level since the border standoff emerged into the open in early May and the Indian side is expected to reiterate its call for China to work sincerely towards complete disengagement and de-escalation along the LAC, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. Amid a growing realisation in New Delhi that there is unlikely to be a breakthrough through the talks between the corps commanders, the Indian envoy in Beijing, Vikram Misri, has been tasked to reach out to top Chinese leaders to discuss ways to end the standoff, the people said. Misri met Maj Gen Ci Guowei of the Central Military Commissions (CMC) office of international military cooperation, and Liu Jianchao, deputy director of the Communist Party of Chinas (CPC) central committees foreign affairs commission, in Beijing last week. The people said more such meetings were on the cards. There was no official word from either India or China on the WMCC meeting, though the people said it would meet on Thursday afternoon. We have already said China needs to work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation on the LAC as the future of the bilateral relationship is dependent on the situation along the border. That continues to be our position, said one of the people cited above. The Indian side has also made it clear that the sanctity of the LAC is non-negotiable, the people added. Five rounds of talks between the corps commanders have failed to break the deadlock due to serious differences in the Finger Area near Pangong Lake and the PLAs reluctance to vacate positions held by it in what New Delhi claims as Indian territory. Former ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, distinguished fellow for foreign policy studies at Gateway House, said India had shown ample commitment and efforts to end the standoff and much would now depend on Chinas response. It seems to me the WMCC meeting should show some of the results of the efforts by our envoy in Beijing, who has met officials of CPC and CMC. These meetings were also put in the public domain by the Indian side to reflect the sincerity of its efforts through all possible channels, he said. There is also a feeling among military experts that the talks at the military level should now stop, as this matter should really be the responsibility of diplomats and the standoff should be addressed through the existing political and diplomatic channels, he added. The Chinese are playing things down and saying that they attach importance to our relations and that they want good ties. We should keep an open mind and hope they will start responding meaningfully to Indias efforts, Bhatia said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An Uxbridge man faces charges for allegedly scheming to extort money from a West Virginia judge through mail and email. A federal grand jury recently indicted Keith Lessard, 40, over a series of communications in which he allegedly threatened a Kanawha County Circuit Judge, Southern District of West Virginia U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said in a news release Wednesday. Authorities say Lessard sought money after threatening to harm the judges reputation, claiming she engaged in illegal misconduct when she served as an assistant Kanawha County prosecutor during a 2010 case against Lessard. Threats of any kind are taken seriously and investigated, especially when those threats target a member of the judiciary, Stuart said in a statement. Lessard now faces two years if convicted of this scheme that targeted a judge. Michael Christman, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge, said the threats are taken very seriously and serve as an example of the FBIs dedication to keeping our community safe. These charges should send the message that we will not tolerate sending threatening words to victims in our communities. The U.S. Postal Service partnered with the FBI in the investigation. Vietnam recorded 989 cases of Covid-19, of which 520 cases were cured and 25 died. The remaining 469 patients are currently being treated in more than 20 medical facilities, said Dr. Cao Hung Thai, Deputy Director of the Administration of Medical Examination and Treatment under the Ministry of Health during a 2-hour consultation between health experts and hospitals where treat coronavirus patients in Vietnam. Covid-19 patients at the Hue Central Hospital. There are 20 very serious cases as the patients carry several underlying diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, marrow failure, kidney failure. Seven of them are in critical conditions and can die at any time. Severe patients are being treated at 5 medical facilities, including: Hue Central Hospital (facility 2), Da Nang Lung Hospital, Hoa Vang Medical Center, Quang Nam Central General Hospital and Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases. At the Hoa Vang Medical Center, Ass. Prof, Dr. Do Ngoc Son, Deputy Head of the Emergency Department of the Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital, who are here for assisting Covid-19 treatment, said that 10 patients are undergoing resuscitation treatment, including 5 who must use ventilators. The Center has asked Bach Mai Hospital to send good nutritionists to support the treatment of patients suffering from exhaustion due to long-term hospital stay. Local doctors also consult with experts on the treatment for patient number 761, who is 83 years old. The Da Nang Lung Hospital is treating 3 serious cases, with two patients 416 and 742 under ECMO intervention. The other case, patient 416 has a very high risk of fungal lung infections. Experts found that this patient's condition was quite similar to patient 91- the British pilot. At Hue Central Hospital, facility 2, there are 2 patients 427 and 438 who have to use ventilators. Patient 438, 56 years old, has been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease based on oral cancer for more than 10 years. The Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, facility 2, is treating 3 critical cases. The worst is patient 812, a pizza delivery staff in Hanoi. During more than 2 hours of consultation, experts scrutinized each case of serious illness and recommend hospitals to clear the rooms and working rooms of medical staff, to focus on controlling hospital infections, pay attention to drug combination for patients with comorbidities. Experts also emphasized that the nutritional issue for severe Covid-19 patients to helps patients improve their health and quickly recover. Since July 25, the country has recorded 30 medical staff infected with Covid-19, so experts recommended that all hospitals across the country need to pay special attention to infection control and sterilizing hospital surfaces, stairs, hospital beds ... Thuy Hanh Foreigners join COVID-19 fight Many foreigners in Vietnam have joined hands with local people in the fight against COVID-19 since the recent second outbreak began in late July. Qatar Petroleum has entered into a farm-in agreement with Sonangol, the national oil company of Angola, and Total to acquire a 30% participating interest in Block 48, located in the ultra-deep waters offshore Angola. The block, with a drill ready opportunity covers an area of approximately 3,600 sq km, and is expected to be drilled as part of a 2020/2021 drilling program. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: Continuing on our journey to build a world-class exploration portfolio, by securing interests in promising exploration blocks in diverse geographies, we are pleased to be part of this exciting ultra-deep water opportunity in Angola, a leading oil and gas producing country. This is our first opportunity in Angola with both Sonangol, and our long-term partner, Total, an experienced operator with significant in-country presence. We would like to thank the Angolan authorities, and our partners in this block for their support. We look forward to a longstanding and fruitful partnership, he added. The farm-in agreement is subject to customary approvals by the Angolan Government. Upon receipt of such approvals, the parties respective interests in Block 48 will be as follows: Total (40% - Operator), Sonangol (30%), and Qatar Petroleum (30%). Block 48 is located in the ultra-deep waters offshore Lower Congo Basin, approximately 400 km northwest of Luanda and 200 km West of Soyo onshore facilities. The average water depth in the block is around 2,500 meters. TradeArabia News Service Taiwan said on Wednesday (August 19) that hacking groups linked to the Chinese government had attacked at least 10 government agencies, and thousands of email accounts of government officials, to steal important data. Taiwan has been urging its people to be alert for what officials call "omnipresent infiltration" from China. That includes Beijing-backed media campaigns and cyberattacks against the island that China considers its territory. Liu Chai-zung from Taiwan's Investigation Bureau said some of the IP addresses used are those connected to mainland hacking groups. And that they were aiming to acquire important government documents and data. Liu's office said it had not been able to identify what data was stolen as the hackers concealed their tracks. The pain of losing a beautiful young daughter to a vicious crime is a torment known to a select few of unfortunate fathers across Australia. It's a club defined only by the depth of misery shared by its members. And John Herron is one of them. In May last year, his daughter, Courtney, was bashed to death in a Melbourne park in the most horrific of ways. Scroll down for video John Herron clings to photograph of his daughter Courtney, who was beaten to death by Henry Hammond last year John Herron and his daughter Courtney in happier times. She was savagely killed by Henry Hammond, who was found not guilty of murder through mental impairment Courtney Herron was brutally killed by a man doctors say is not guilty of murder because he was mentally ill On Monday, the man responsible for her savage and cowardly demise was found not guilty by a judge who accepted he was mentally impaired at the time. It was a cruel blow to Courtney's already devastated family and particularly grinding for her dad, a criminal lawyer himself. Mr Herron has now embarked on a journey for justice in a field he knows all too well. He is adamant his daughter has been denied justice by Crown prosecutors he claims 'produced a white flag' at the earliest opportunity. He now plans to take her case as far as it can possibly go. 'Are you going to kill me?' his daughter had asked before Hammond hit her over the head with a tree branch. A witness later told police he believed Hammond continued to go 'hell for leather' for at least 50 minutes. Hours earlier, his victim had kindly offered him a cigarette and enjoyed a meal with a man who was a total stranger. Yet, at the wave of two pens, Hammond could be spared spending the rest of his life in prison. These pens were used by two doctors to make reports that a judge deemed were enough to find Hammond not guilty of Courtney's murder due to mental illness. Instead of a prison cell, Hammond will be medicated, potentially 'cured' of his schizophrenia, and released back onto the streets where he was living rough when he became a killer. In May last year, as Hammond remained at large, the pain felt by Courtney's mum was on full display as she collapsed at the spot where her daughter was killed. It was a harrowing scene of despair those who were there will never forget. North of the city, among the leafy trees of Gisborne, Courtney's father grieved away from the eyes of the world. The pain felt by Courtney's mum was on full display as she collapsed at the spot where her daughter was killed Courtney Herron's body is removed by police at Royal Park in May last year Henry Hammond was found not guilty of the murder of Courtney Herron In the following days he would release a photo of his daughter in happier times. Much has been written about the troubled path Courtney herself had travelled in her final years of life. She had smoked ice with her killer in the hours before he pulverised her. Now happy snaps are all Mr Herron has to remind him of his precious daughter. That, and the image of his little girl screaming in the dark as a man who may never face the full hammer of justice snuffed the life from her. 'I was just sick. I vomited listening to what happened to her,' Mr Herron told Daily Mail Australia. 'Because I can hear her. If you're a parent, you can hear your daughter's voice. You know your daughter, you know how she laughs and whatnot, or she cries when she's in trouble, I can hear that.' Over the past year, Mr Herron has tried to convince the director of the Office of Public Prosecutions, Kerry Judd, QC, to push ahead with a murder trial against Hammond. 'For a year, all the (OPP) has done to me is sell me the thing about mental impairment. And when I objected to it, well, you know I try to reason with it, and I said I'm just objectively looking at this, my daughter was the subject of one of the most brutal killings in Victoria,' Mr Herron said. But the OPP would not budge, telling Mr Herron Hammond 'did not know the nature and quality of the conduct' or 'did not know that the conduct was wrong'. Ms Judd came to the conclusion after receiving a report on behalf of Hammond's defence by Dr Prashant Pandurangi - a consultant psychiatrist with the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health. John Herron has been denied justice after prosecutors accepted medical opinions that his daughter's killer was mentally unwell rather than a cold-blooded, drug fuelled maniac Henry Hammond, 27, bashed Courtney Herron, 25, to death in a Melbourne park. He was found not guilty due to mental impairment A young Courtney Herron. She was brutally killed by Henry Hammond, who will not face justice over the shocking crime Police examine the area where Henry Hammond left the battered body of Courtney Herron THE STEPS THAT PUT A KILLER BACK ON THE STREETS December 17, 2018: Henry Hammond is sentenced to 10 months and 14 days over a savage attack on a woman Hammond had bashed and strangled the woman and threatened to kill her She only escaped by gouging his eyes Hammond had previous offences from NSW related to domestic violence April 1, 2019: Hammond had been behind bars for 231 days when he won an appeal in the County Court of Victoria Judge John Carmody re-sentenced Hammond to time already served and added a community corrections order May 25, 2019: Courtney Herron meets Hammond in Melbourne and treats him to dinner. Security footage from the Fitzroy restaurant shows the pair happily engaged in conversation. The pair join a group of Ms Herron's friends and smoke ice together. Friends video their conversation because they were 'acting strangely'. May 26, 2019: Hammond and Ms Herron go for an early morning walk in Royal Park, before he beats her to death with a branch and buries her in piles of leaves and branches. Dog walkers find Courtney Herron's mangled body at 9.25am May 28, 2019: Henry Hammond is charged for Ms Herron's murder following a series of tip offs sparking a manhunt in Melbourne's CBD Hammond tells police he recognised the 25-year-old from a past life. He says he killed her in an act of revenge for killing his wife May 31, 2019: Thousands attended a silent vigil organised for Ms Herron September 16, 2019: Hammond is due to be assessed by a forensic psychiatrist December 18, 2019: Hammond pleads not guilty to murder at Melbourne Magistrates Court January 7, 2020: Ms Herron's father John speaks up about his daughter's death: 'She died unnecessarily. 'She had the world at her feet.' July 21, 2020: Hammond is transferred to a mental health facility after a court agreed he was unfit to stand trial August 17, 2020: A judge finds Hammond is not guilty of murdering Ms Herron because he has schizophrenia Advertisement The doctor concluded Hammond - who had been on an ice bender - suffered from a schizophrenic illness, which while worsened by the use of illicit drugs, was not caused by them. The finding was backed up by his colleague Dr Rajan Darjee - for the prosecution - who is also a consultant forensic psychiatrist with the same institution. In what has since been branded a controversial move by the OPP, which typically uses experts from a different institution to that of the defence, the doctor agreed Hammond was not suffering a drug induced psychosis at the time of the cowardly attack. Mr Herron believes the reports tied the hands of Justice Phillip Priest as he could only rule on what he had before him. On Monday, Justice Priest accepted Hammond was not guilty of murder by way of mental impairment. A defence lawyer himself, Mr Herron is exploring ways to have the decision overturned and send Hammond back to trial. It poses a near impossible situation that if successful would ignite double jeopardy issues for Hammond. Mr Herron told Daily Mail Australia his correspondence with Victoria's attorney general Jill Hennessy had been ignored. As it stands, Mr Herron can not even gain access to the doctors' reports relied upon to convince the judge of Hammond's mental state. Justice Priest further denied releasing the reports to Daily Mail Australia. Mr Herron has lashed out at the OPP for abandoning the case against his daughter's killer and accused it of surrendering without a fight. 'I don't think the decision can be overturned, which is why the OPP rushed it through before public outrage,' Mr Herron said. 'The director (Ms Judd) wouldn't answer my questions and the attorney general won't even respond to me.' Mr Herron said he would not rest until he obtained justice for his daughter. 'This will be a long war,' he said. At the very least, Mr Herron hopes the Victorian State Coroner will hold its own inquiry into the case. 'Under section 52 of the Coroner's Act it would be mandated because there is an element of family violence with the previous victim so they would have to do it,' Mr Herron said. Hammond had been released early from jail by the County Court for a violent attack on his then girlfriend. Similar inquests by the coroner were held for murdered Melbourne woman Jill Meagher and Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas, whose horrific rampage left six dead in January 2017. 'But now, a woman is killed like this, they don't want one. The coroner has not been in contact with me. And there is a petition going around as well,' Mr Herron said. Courtney Herron in a treasured photograph shared by her father John Director of the Office of Public Prosecutions, Kerry Judd, QC has been slammed for failing to pursue a murder conviction against Henry Hammond 'The spin doctors know that the oxygen has been burned up by COVID at the moment.' Mr Herron said the system failures related to his daughter were worse than those that led to Adrian Bayley murdering Ms Meagher in 2012. Bayley had been on parole after serving a sentence for a series of violent rapes when he assaulted a man. He had been on appeal bail when he raped and murdered Ms Meagher. Jill Meagher (pictured) was murdered in 2012 by Adrian Bayley, who had been free on appeal bail and parole. Big changes to Victoria's justice system were promised, but never eventuated Adrian Bayley had been free on appeal bail when he murdered Jill Meagher in 2012 'Bayley had served his time. This guy was released early. So it's actually worse. It's worse than Jill Meagher and they've learned nothing since then,' Mr Herron said. As it stands, Hammond will spend an undetermined amount of time within the walls of Victoria's Thomas Embling Hospital for the criminally insane. 'He could get out on day release. He could get out in 10 years. He could get out in five. He could be out in far less and is this guy going to kill another person?' Mr Herron said. 'He is unbackable odds to commit crime against another woman.' The OPP had not responded to Daily Mail Australia at time of going to publication. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Painganadu, India Wed, August 19, 2020 10:00 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f02b68 2 World India,Tamil,Kamala-Harris,US-presidential-election,US-presidential-race Free Indians in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which US vice president hopeful Kamala Harris visited as a kid, erected banners, held special prayers and wished her success. Villagers in Painganadu, Harris' ancestral village, put up banners of Harris. Harris' mother, who migrated to the United States to study, traces her roots to this non-descript hamlet in eastern Tamil Nadu. "They (Kamala Harris) have gone to the level of contesting for a vice-presidential candidate in America. Naturally, the villagers are very happy," Ramanan, a trustee at a local temple, told Reuters Television. Harris, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who both immigrated to the United States to study, made history last week when US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked her as his vice president. Ramanan, who goes by only one name, said Harris' maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan, a former high-ranking Indian government official, donated funds to the temple when he visited. On annual trips to India as a child, Kamala Harris would go for strolls with her maternal grandfather and his friends. In a speech in 2018, Senator Harris recalled those early visits to her grandparents in India. Further south, in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram town, priests held special rituals and prayed for Harris' victory. "Kamala Harris - she is of Indian descent, she should win the election and also should be in favour of India," said Ananthapadmanaba Sharma, a priest at the Ramanathaswamy temple. "We will do all kinds of worship and the Lord will answer our prayers for her victory," Sharma said. US Urges Universities to Move Quickly to Tackle Chinese Influence on Campuses The U.S. State Department has drafted a letter urging colleges to review their relationships with Chinese-backed Confucius Institutes and to move quickly to guard against the Chinese regimes theft of U.S. research. The call was made days after the department designated the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS) a Chinese diplomatic mission, a move that restricts its operations in the United States. CIUS is a Washington-based organization that promotes and supports Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in universities and schools across the country. The programs, funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have attracted growing scrutiny over concerns that they spread Chinese propaganda and restrict freedom of expression in U.S. classrooms. There are currently 75 Confucius Institutes within U.S. universities, according to education advocacy group National Association of Scholars. While ostensibly intended to teach Americans about Chinese language and culture, they also exert malign influence on U.S. campuses and disseminate CCP propaganda, Keith Krach, undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, wrote in an Aug. 18 letter to the board of directors of U.S. universities and colleges. Krach said there is mounting evidence that the institutes advance the regimes influence on college campuses by providing institutions with financial incentives to abstain from criticizing PRC [Peoples Republic of China] policies; putting pressure on faculty to self-censor; monitoring overseas students for loyalty to the party; and undermining freedom of expression by disrupting campus events deemed controversial to the CCP. He asked the university boards to examine carefully the activities of Confucius Institutes on their campuses to ensure academic freedom isnt being undermined. The official also called on colleges to protect themselves from the CCPs efforts to steal U.S. intellectual property through its state-backed recruitment plans. The regime has more than 200 such programs, Krach said, which aim to lure foreign experts to work in China, facilitating the transfer of U.S. research and know-how to the country. For the CCP, international scientific collaboration is not about advancing science, it is about advancing the PRC national security interests, he wrote. Krach said universities should take more action to vet academics for financial conflicts of interests and whether they receive funding from China. This comes as the Justice Department has launched a spate of prosecutions over the past year targeting Chinese and U.S. researchers who allegedly hid their ties to China, with the most high-profile case being that of former Harvard chemistry chair Charles Lieber. Prosecutors say he lied about his participation in the Chinese regimes Thousand Talents Plan and receiving $2.25 million in Chinese funding over three years. In July, longtime Arkansas professor Simon Saw-Teong Ang was indicted on 42 counts of wire fraud connected to failing to disclose his ties to the Thousand Talents Plan, while receiving funding from NASA. The Trump administration in May also banned granting visas to Chinese graduate-level or above students affiliated with institutions that support the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), in a bid to prevent U.S. research from being used to advance the regimes military. A recent report by Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution found that the U.S. academic community has extensively collaborated with Chinese researchers affiliated with the PLA, which has potentially fed into the regimes defense research and weapons development program. Affordable Care Act supporters hold up signs outside the Supreme Court as they wait for the court's decision on Obamacare on Thursday, June 25, 2015. The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it will hear arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the landmark health care legislation known as Obamacare on Nov. 10, one week after Election Day. A decision in the case, which could disrupt the health care coverage of tens of millions of Americans, is expected by June of 2021. The announcement comes in the middle of the Democratic National Convention, which has featured criticism of the president's muddled health care promises, and could provide a boost to liberal efforts to target Trump on the issue. But the move to hear the case after Election Day also pulls the notoriously opaque Supreme Court out of the electoral spotlight somewhat, ensuring that the arguments themselves will not influence November's contest. Joe Biden, who played a role in the Affordable Care Act's passage as vice president, was officially named the Democratic nominee for president on Tuesday. The case was brought by Republican attorneys general led by Texas who allege that the legislation's individual mandate provision was made unconstitutional when its penalty was set to $0 under President Donald Trump's 2017 tax overhaul. The argument relies on the Supreme Court's reasoning in the 2012 case that upheld the Affordable Care Act, which found at the time that the law was an appropriate use of Congress's power to tax. The Republicans argue that if the court strikes down the individual mandate provision, the entirety of the sprawling legislation must also be scrapped. Trump, via his Department of Justice, has sided with the GOP states in urging the justices to wipe out the law. Democratic states led by California are asking the top court to uphold it. A federal appeals court ruled late last year that the individual mandate provision was unconstitutional, but did not issue a decision on whether the whole law would be required to fall as a result. Conservatives have long sought to repeal the legislation, which is formally known as Obamacare, but have not been successful. Trump has frequently promised to present a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act but has never produced such a bill. Earlier this month, he said he was working on an executive order related to preexisting conditions. Obamacare prevented insurance companies from denying coverage to those with such conditions. The top court released its schedule for November arguments on Wednesday. It had previously released its schedule for October, but it was not then known whether it would hear the Obamacare case before Election Day, which is Nov. 3. The court is hearing arguments in separate cases on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. The Supreme Court currently has a 5-4 conservative majority. Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee who has served as the swing vote in recent pivotal cases, authored the court's 2012 opinion upholding Obamacare. The case is Texas v. California, No. 19-1019. Grief-stricken family members of the Manchester Arena bomb victims have described the devastating void caused by the atrocity, repeating their demand for answers. Parents of those killed in the blast took to the witness box at the Old Bailey during the start of a two-day sentencing hearing, but Hashem Abedi, younger brother of homegrown suicide bomber Salman Abedi, refused to attend. The judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, said the 23-year-old had been brought to the court building from prison, but added that he was powerless to drag him into the courtroom. It was left to tearful family members of the 22 killed and dozens injured in the blast, on May 22 2017, to describe how the Abedi brothers actions affected their lives. Hashem Abedi in a previous court appearance (Elizabeth Cook/PA Lisa Rutherford, mother of 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford, who died in the blast, said: As a family we need answers we are destroyed. Ms Rutherford, who was supporting herself on crutches as she read her statement in court, said her heart snapped when she received a telephone call with the news. Wiping away tears, she said: We are lost, we are devastated and we feel an overwhelming loss. Caroline Curry held up a photo of her son Liam, 19 who died with his girlfriend Chloe when she appeared to address some of her comments to the absent Hashem Abedi. My dad has not been able to walk his daughter down the aisle, my mum cant take her shopping for a wedding dress. We will never see her grow old. As a family, we have been thrown into a world of chaos Claire Booth She said: You took from me something more precious than gold, a beautiful boy, inside and out. I want you to look at Liam and remember the beautiful boy that was snatched away. Your actions have caused this heartbreak. I just feel cheated. You took his future, my future, my familys future. All we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if. Survivor Claire Booth broke down in tears as she read her victim personal statement. Her sister, Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, died in the blast Ms Booth said: My dad has not been able to walk his daughter down the aisle, my mum cant take her shopping for a wedding dress. We will never see her grow old. As a family, we have been thrown into a world of chaos. Figen Murray, mother of 29-year-old Martyn Hett, described how she is now unable to go to bed until after 10.31pm, the time the bomb went off. Figen Murray (Family Handout/PA) She said: I still cannot reconcile that I was fast asleep while my son lay dead on the floor, and I am ashamed about that. Mrs Murray said Mr Hett had a farewell party with family the weekend before he died, ahead of a planned two-week trip around America. She said: Little did we know it was to be our final goodbye. Hashem Abedi was found guilty by a jury in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. The Old Bailey heard that the Islamic State-inspired jihadi helped his brother order, collect and store materials needed for the plot, before the latter blew himself up as thousands of men, women and children left an Ariana Grande concert on the night of May 22 2017. Salman Abedi (GMP/PA) The defendant, who travelled to Libya the month before the bombing, was arrested hours after the attack and was extradited back to Britain last summer. He initially told police he wanted to co-operate to prove his innocence, but he absented himself from much of his trial and sacked his legal team. It meant grieving families and survivors have not heard from the man police believe may have masterminded the plot. The judge confirmed that Hashem Abedi cannot be handed a whole life sentence because he was under the age of 21 at the time of the offences. However, he could be given multiple life sentences with a minimum starting point of 30 years. During the trial, prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Hashem Abedi was just as guilty as the bomber who killed 22 men, women and children aged between eight and 51. From January 2017, the brothers set about buying nuts and screws for shrapnel and ordering chemicals from Amazon for the homemade TATP explosive, with unwitting help from friends and relatives. They hid their activities by switching mobile phones and using a variety of vehicles and homes to store the materials. Their plans were briefly scuppered when their parents insisted they join them in Libya in April 2017 amid possible concerns about their descent into radicalisation, police said. CCTV of Salman Abedi making his way to Manchester Arena (GMP/PA) Salman Abedi returned alone the next month, and bought a rucksack and more shrapnel, constructed his bomb in a rented flat in central Manchester, and carried out reconnaissance missions. Jurors were shown chilling CCTV footage of the 22-year-old travelling to the foyer of the Arena, before detonating his bomb at 10.31pm, just as crowds were leaving the venue. Mr Penny said Hashem Abedi was at times chauffeur, at times quartermaster, at times electrical technician in the plot. Following his arrest, he tried to point the finger of responsibility at his dead brother, but Mr Penny said it was merely an attempt to evade responsibility for his own culpability, for the cruel and cowardly carnage that took place at the Arena that night. A public inquiry into the bombing is scheduled to start next month. 19.08.2020 LISTEN Mass mobilizations and marches happening across the globe makes these times very interesting. From the United States, to Europe, Asia and Africa people are saying enough is enough and demanding an end to global systemic injustice. Ironically, these marches are happening at that time of the year when ideally, hundreds of government delegates and climate justice activists from all over the world usually converge on Bonn in Germany to assess the strategies and progress of the Paris Agreement in dealing with the climate change crisis. This years meeting will not hold; no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that has engulfed the whole world. Rather than bemoan the situation and do nothing, activists who were initially billed to attend the Bonn Intersessional, decided to strategize on how to reinforce the call to Make Big Polluters Pay which was first launched at the UN Secretary Generals Climate Summit held in New York in September 2019. At the summit, more than 220 organisations and 199,000 people from nearly 70 countriesincluding from the African regioncalled on world leaders to hold liable the industries and corporations that have knowingly fueled and continue to aggravate the climate crisis. And this call is already having an impactrecently, two jurisdictions in the United StatesMinnesota and Washington D.C.filed lawsuits against fossil fuel industry actors including Chevron, Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil. While impacts of climate change differ from region to region, Africa, which contributes the least to the crisis, carries the biggest burden in form of inundations from rising sea levels and the resultant loss of livelihoods. From Nigerias Niger Delta where fossil fuel extraction has led to dead fish littering the coastlines, to South Africa where tribal lands have been poisoned by coal mining, local community people are becoming more vulnerable to climate impacts including illnesses and social conflicts. A classic example is the Cyclone Idai the worst tropical storm to visit Africa. When the storm hit the continent in 2018 the epicenter was Beira in central Mozambique. But it left a trail of destruction in Madagascar, Malawi and Zimbabwe killing at least 1,303 people and affected more than 3 million others. The magnitude of that disaster bewildered people of the continent and was seen as foreshadow of what is to come. After that, theres been the worst drought in South Africas history brought on by diminished rainfall, the apocalyptic locust attacks in Kenya and Uganda that now threatens food security in East Africa, and many more happenings hitherto strange to the African continent. Because of these, climate justice activists are mobilizing signatures to press home their demands that governments in the region take them seriously to hold Big Polluters liable and make them pay. The sign-on letter details the fact that transnational corporations have for decades misled the world about the consequences of their products and business practices, exploited local communities, seized our lands and resources, and taken control of our food systemsall for their own benefit. It narrated further that the Big Polluters have left Africa exposed and ill-equipped for any crisis hence the need to hold them responsible, criminally, financially, and civilly. This is now the time for decision-makers in Africa to play critical roles in making big polluters pay, and for protection of the lives and livelihoods of Africas people, especially those at the grassroots and frontline communities, from those that see and treat them as disposable. We join our brothers and sisters across entire Africa and the world to say enough is enough. It is time to Make Big Polluters Pay! Contacts: [email protected] & [email protected] South Africa: World Maritime Day Parallel Event postponed The Department of Transport has confirmed the postponement of this years IMO World Maritime Day Parallel Event (WMDPE), which was scheduled to take place in October. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the department said the postponement was due to travel restrictions as well as other health and safety regulations aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa will not be able to host the WMDPE in 2020 but will instead defer its hosting of the prestigious event to the year 2021, said the department. In 2015, the Cabinet of South Africa approved the Department of Transport to host the WMDPE and plans were at an advanced stage to host the event in the City of Durban from 27-29 October 2020. With the country being in Lockdown and now on Level 2 of the Risk Adjusted Strategy, international travel and mass gatherings remain prohibited. The aforementioned are key elements to hosting a successful WMDPE, as the country would require the support and attendance of various national and international stakeholders, (i.e. IMO Secretariat, Member States and other Maritime Industry stakeholders), said the department. In the statement, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said: We acknowledge the tireless efforts of all the Agencies thus far and are mindful of the general industry anticipation for the IMO World Maritime Day Parallel Event 2020. However, health and safety is paramount and must be prioritized above mutually beneficial engagements and bilateral discussions regardless of their urgency and importance. The South African government remains eager to welcome delegates to our shores, under much safer global conditions in 2021. The IMO in its Extraordinary 32nd Council Session approved the postponement of the yearly celebration of the World Maritime Day Parallel Event by host countries with South Africa now scheduled to host in 2021, subsequently the Islamic Republic of Iran will host in 2022, the Russian Federation in 2023 and the United Arab Emirates in 2024 due to the current restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new dates to host the WMDPE during the October Transport Month of 2021 will be announced in due course. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. I do know that we had 12 people test positive each day at our drive-thru site last Thursday and Friday, and even if all of them were from Lee County, thats still a far cry from 82," he said. You also cannot rule out that there was either a computer glitch for that day or that these are test results that had been held back a few days and then entered all at once," he said. There were 105,815 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,867 virus-related deaths in Alabama as of Tuesday, according to ADPH. Other counties Russell County also saw a large increase of new COVID-19 cases on Monday. ADPH confirmed 42 new cases in the county, the highest total in the past week by 37 cases. There were 1,453 confirmed cases in Russell County as of Tuesday. The county is averaging about 13 new COVID-19 cases per day during the past two weeks, according to ADPH data. ADPH also confirmed three new cases in Chambers County, five in Macon County and 13 in Tallapoosa County on Monday. There were 859 confirmed virus cases in Chambers County, 355 in Macon County and 902 in Tallapoosa County as of Tuesday, according to ADPH. California applied for federal money to provide $300 a week in extra benefits to unemployed residents Wednesday evening, hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state was still going back and forth on the details of its application. Newsom did not say when the benefits could begin flowing if the application is approved. They could last only a matter of weeks, although they could be retroactive to Aug. 1. The program is called Lost Wages Assistance because its outside the usual federal-state unemployment system. President Trump authorized the program in a memo Aug. 8 after Congress could not agree on a way to replace the $600 per week that everyone on regular state unemployment and federal unemployment was getting from April through July. It will use up to $44 billion in funds set aside for federal disaster relief to provide an extra $300 per week to people receiving at least $100 a week in regular state unemployment insurance, federal pandemic unemployment assistance or federal extended benefits. To get the money, people must certify that they have lost work because of the coronavirus. Thats already a requirement for federal pandemic assistance, but not regular state unemployment. The expired $600-a-week federal supplement was not limited to people getting at least $100 in base benefits, but the new program is. States must apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is running the program, by Sept. 10 to receive funds. In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Newsom said, We are still waiting for a little bit more clarity and guidance on the states application. He said he hopes and expects California to be among the first cohort of states to draw down that federal money. FEMA said it has already approved 11 states for the program: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. South Dakota is the only state so far that said it wont seek the assistance. We from day one asserted an interest in the program, Newsom said Wednesday. When the plan was first announced, however, Newsom said it would be unworkable because California could not provide the matching funds required. Trump originally said the program would provide $400 a week in benefits, but states would have to put up 25% of the cost, or $100 a week, to participate. Newsom said providing $100 per week would cost the state $700 million per week, money it didnt have. Last week, the Department of Labor issued guidance that said states could count money they are already providing in unemployment benefits as their share, but in those states, unemployed people would only get $300 a week, not $400. To provide $400 a week, states would have to put in $100 a week from their own funds, which could include federal money they received under the federal Cares Act. It does not appear that California will be providing the extra $100. If the states application for Lost Wages Assistance is approved, it would provide a supplemental payment of $300 per week for a limited period of time for claimants who are currently eligible to receive at least $100 per week in benefits, and who have provided a self-certification that they are unemployed or partially unemployed due to disruptions caused by COVID-19, the Employment Development Department said in a news release Thursday. Updates will be provided when they become available. Now Playing: We spoke with workers from San Franciscos Mission District who continue to work and potentially risk their health amid the coronavirus shelter in place orders. These are their stories. Video: Erika Betty Carlos Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes The application was submitted Wednesday evening, said Crystal Page, a spokeswoman for the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Rather than awarding funds to states on a first-come-first served basis, FEMA said it will use state and federal data to project the overall funding distributions. Approved grant applicants will receive an initial obligation of three weeks of needed funding. Additional disbursements will be made on a weekly basis to make sure money remains available for all states that apply. FEMA said that states must adjust their unemployment insurance system to access these funds and accommodate program requirements, such as claimant eligibility, and that implementation times will vary. The program will end when the $44 billion is exhausted, the disaster fund balance drops below $25 billion, Congress approves a different plan for federal supplemental benefits, or Dec. 27 whichever comes first. Some experts say the $44 billion could run out within six weeks and have questioned whether the program is legal under the law that allegedly allows disaster-relief fund to be spent this way. Half of the states have applied for the FEMA grants or plan to, according to the Associated Press. Montana is the only state so far that said it will add the extra $100, bringing the payment to $400, it said. Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:16:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COLOMBO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed his new cabinet to take measures to help increase the production of batik, handlooms, and local garments, in order to boost the country's exports, a statement from the President's Office said here Wednesday. Speaking to industry experts and government officials from the garment sector, President Rajapaksa said his intention was to build a people-centric national economy and explained the reasons for the formation of a State Ministry assigned with the task of overseeing batik, handlooms and local garments. President Rajapaksa added that it was necessary to develop the local economy in order to move forward until the rest of the world recovers from the COVID-19 outbreak. "Exports of the garment industry represent 43 percent out of the total exports while it earns an annual income of nearly 5 billion U. S. dollars to the country. Garment industry pioneers in employment generation and regional development," the president said. "It is one of the top priorities of the government to strengthen the garment industry and increase the production of batik, handlooms, and the local garments," the president added. The president further added that with its success, the garment industrialists will be able to reach stability in the next five years. Enditem BERLIN, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Angela Merkel refused to be drawn on whether Armin Laschet, premier of Germany's most populous state, should succeed her as chancellor, saying only that he was a candidate with many qualities. Laschet, premier of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is one of the leading candidates to run as the chancellor candidate of the conservative bloc. His main rival is Markus Soeder, premier of Bavaria. "I have always said I will not get involved in the debate about a successor for the position I have or had," she said. "Armin Laschet is running and, as the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, he brings a lot of qualifications with him. But other than that I won't get involved." Merkel was speaking at a news conference with Laschet after attending a meeting of the state's cabinet on Tuesday. Last month, she gave a similar non-committal response after attending a session of the Bavarian cabinet, declining to indicate support for any candidate. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt Editing by Michelle Martin) Police have clashed with PSG fans on the streets of Paris following their win over RB Leipzig, which booked their spot in the Champions League final. Videos on social media showed that tear gas was used to disperse the partying supporters, and officers have reportedly also beat back some fans with batons. Paris has strict measures in place regarding Covid-19 after a recent spate of cases, but thousands took to the streets in celebration after PSG's 3-0 win. Thousands of PSG fans took to the streets of Paris to celebration their Champions League win Helmeted riot police try and stop PSG supporters from gathering in public areas Paris police tried to disperse crowds gathering on the Champs Elysee with tear gas PARIS - Gaz lacrymogene utilise contre les supporters qui envahissent les Champs-Elysees. Mouvement de foule mais pas de tensions. pic.twitter.com/ziGUFvjYav Clement Lanot (@ClementLanot) August 18, 2020 People in Paris must now wear a mask in a lot of public spaces, and anyone coming to Britain from France must self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival. The famous Champs-Elysees was a hotspot of action, and fireworks were reportedly fired off around the Arc de Triomphe. Traffic was blocked on a number of streets as supporters set off flares and waved flags. PSG fans celebrate while watching their team beat RB Leipzig in the Champions League Flares and fireworks were set off, and there are concerns regarding coronavirus transmission Cars honked their horns in the gridlock, but the fans would not be swayed from celebrating their team's win. PSG fans also gathered around the club's empty stadium Parc des Princes, where more fireworks were let off as they looked to party into the night. Helmeted riot police were called out to certain areas of the city in an attempt to enforce lockdown rules and break up any violent activity. PSG fans congregate in the streets to celebrate their team's Champions League progression After lockdown, the remainder of the Champions League has been held in Lisbon, with the final set to take place on Sunday. Goals from Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat Velasco secured PSG's first ever spot in the prestigious tournament's final. On est en finale ! chantent les supporters du #PSG apres #PSGRBL . Les forces de lordre tentent deviter lenvahissement des Champs-Elysees pic.twitter.com/yjpVyA7WPO Yahoo Actualites (@YahooActuFR) August 18, 2020 Fans set off flares and fireworks in the streets, but were met by police trying to disperse them They will play either Lyon or Bayern Munich, whose semi-final match takes place tomorrow evening. Officials in Paris will be hoping they don't see a repeat of Tuesday evening's events on the streets, regardless of the result. Backroads launches new Dolce Tempo E-bike trips "Our new Dolce Tempo journeys are for anyone who simply wants to get outside, away from the crowds, and experience the best of it all at their own easygoing pace" Tom Hale, Backroads Founder and President. Backroads, the leader in active travel, today announced the launch of its new Dolce Tempo segment, offering 29 easygoing itineraries, easier than Backroads other trips, but still wonderfully active perfect for first-timers. These active adventures were created to provide options for guests who may be new to active travel and looking for an alternative to large resort hotels, all-inclusive resorts and even cruises. Dolce Tempo journeys are for travelers who want to escape the crowds and have an authentic one-of-a-kind vacation, immersed in a place and culture, and fully supported by experienced leaders. Additionally, Backroads is also further expanding its popular Active Weekend Getaways for guests looking for a shorter getaway. The expanded offering includes trips in Saguaro National Park & Tucson, Arizona; Californias Sonoma Wine Country; Bend, Oregon; Charleston, South Carolina; Northern Vermont; and Zion National Park, plus new destinations in Whistler, British Columbia, and Texas Hill Country. Dolce Tempo and Active Weekend Getaways, along with all new 2021 trips, are available for booking now. We know that the way one chooses to travel is a very personal thing. Because of this, we believe in offering something for travelers who want to experience the unique way Backroads travels, said Tom Hale, Backroads Founder and President. For some, its exploring small towns and scenic country roads by e-bike. For others, its a perfect morning hike followed by down time at the pool and spa. Our new Dolce Tempo journeys are for anyone who simply wants to get outside, away from the crowds, and experience the best of it all at their own easygoing pace. We expect these trips to be, for many people, a door to a whole new style of travel, full of rich experiences and priceless memories. Backroads also just announced its new 2021 trips, including new adventures in Europe, North America and the Southern Hemisphere. The company has also greatly expanded its 20s & Beyond segment trips for families with young adults in their 20s and early 30s with more tours to accommodate guest demand. This fast-growing segment is expected to take more than 1,000 guests on departures next year. A Sampling of Backroads New 2021 Itineraries Include: Berlin to Prague Bike Tour Chile Patagonia & Fjords Cruise Walking & Hiking Tour Italys Gran Paradiso to Matterhorn Walking & Hiking Tour Israel & Jordan Walking & Hiking Tour Netherlands & Belgium Walking & Hiking Tour New Zealand South Island Multi-Adventure Tour Northern Portugal & Douro Valley Bike Tour Scotland Bike Tour Sicily Multi-Adventure Tour Quebec Walking & Hiking Tour Umbria to the Adriatic Bike Tour Vancouver & Gulf Islands Bike Tour New Backroads Family Adventures for 20s & Beyond see all 79 new itineraries: New Dolce Tempo see all 29 itineraries Active Weekend Getaways see all 8 itineraries The trend of families and small groups of friends taking Private Trips together is continuing to exponentially grow in popularity. Backroads has recently expanded Private Trip offerings with even more flexibility, reduced pricing for 2020 trips and additional departure dates for 2021 Private and Custom group travel. Find more information on Backroads Private Trips here. More information on Backroads Dolce Tempo, Active Weekend Getaways and other new tours is available at http://www.backroads.com. About Backroads Backroads was founded in 1979 by Tom Hale and has been a leading innovator in active and adventure travel for over 40 years. The company hosts thousands of guests each year, 75% of whom are repeat guests or referrals from past guests, in hundreds of locations across the globe. Backroads is a founding member of the Adventure Collection. For more information, please visit backroads.com. Or call 800-462-2848 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific time. A Northwest Side bar is facing backlash after videos surfaced of a crowded dance floor with patrons not wearing masks Saturday night. The Well, located at 5539 UTSA Blvd., was cited for "gross negligence" after videos showed patrons not following the city and state's COVID-19 orders for social distancing. On Monday, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg slammed the bar in his daily coronavirus updates, saying he is glad the establishment was cited and promised additional enforcement will be taken if necessary. "It's horrible, absolutely horrible. I was angered by what I saw at the tape, not just the blatant disregard of those inside the bar but also on behalf of all the other small business owners who are trying to do it the right way," Nirenberg said. He threatened to shut down the bar if necessary. The popular UTSA-area bar was allowed to reopen under a new order by the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission, which allowed bars to be reclassified as a restaurant if their alcohol sales were less than 51 percent of their overall sales from April to the end of July. Lauren Stanley, the owner of The Well, said they had strict social distancing guidelines in place, but the security team the establishment hired for Saturday night walked out after a contract dispute, leaving the bar unable the manage the large crowd. "We take full responsibility, have hired a new security company and put new procedures in place to ensure we are in compliance with local and state regulations at all times," Stanley wrote in a news release. "We want people to feel confident in knowing that The Well is a responsible member of this community, offering a place where people can feel safe while enjoying a good meal and having fun." TABC has visited the establishment several times since reopening in July. Stanely said the bar was in compliance each time. On Saturday night, officials received three calls on the city's COVID-19 hotline to complain that social distancing guidelines were not in place at The Well. On Monday, enforcement officers gave the bar and the event promoter two citations apiece that said "staff did not prevent customers gathering too close & not social distancing. Also, allowed customers without masks." Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, left, is escorted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office on Capitol Hill in Washington for a meeting earlier this month. (Associated Press) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy attempted to quell the expanding uproar over indications that his management decisions at the U.S. Postal Service could negatively affect voting this fall by announcing Tuesday that he is putting those changes on hold. Don't breathe easy yet. President Trump and his appointees still have the ability to hamstring the USPS as the election draws near. Nothing that DeJoy said changes that. In fact, in recent weeks, the Trump administration has tightened its grip on postal operations by saddling the USPS with onerous terms for a $10-billion lifeline passed by Congress. The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after talking with Postmaster General DeJoy Wednesday DeJoy said that he would suspend changes in retail hours at post offices and closures of mail processing facilities until after the election. He said mail processing equipment and mailboxes will "remain where they are." Overtime, which Dejoy had suspended, henceforth will be "approved as needed," he said. All those changes feed into public fears that DeJoy, a major Republican campaign donor and fundraiser who was appointed to his job in May, has taken steps that would reduce USPS efficiency in ways that would interfere with an expected surge in mail-in ballots this year. DeJoy is scheduled to testify before a House committee next week. Several states have also moved to sue DeJoy and Trump over the alleged mismanagement of the USPS and the possibility that it's aimed at making voting by mail less effective. Washington and 13 other states filed the first of these lawsuits in federal court Tuesday, asserting that DeJoy's initiatives were illegal because he didn't consult first with the Postal Rate Commission or offer the public an opportunity to comment. Story continues DeJoy's statement didn't satisfy everybody. "It raises more questions than it provides answers," former Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman, who announced his retirement only weeks before Dejoy's arrival, said in a news conference sponsored by the Democracy Fund, where he is now a fellow. Stroman observed that DeJoy didn't promise that steps he had already taken would be rescinded. "The question becomes, if you've already changed hours, will those hours be reversed? ... If you've already dismantled or removed some of that equipment, the fact that it's remaining as it is doesn't mean that you're going to reassemble that equipment or return it .... We just don't know." We know now. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed after speaking with DeJoy Wednesday that "the Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works." Stroman also took issue with Dejoy's description of his original decisions as reflecting "longstanding operational initiatives ... that predate my arrival at the Postal Service." Stroman said that some of those initiatives were under consideration previously, but were taken off the table by the postal service board of directors once the coronavirus pandemic took hold and in anticipation of "a national election where you will have an exponential increase in absentee ballots." He said that "unless these were implemented in the two weeks between the time I left and the time that the new PMG [postmaster general] arrived, these were not implemented." Nor did DeJoy mention a policy change reported by several state election officials barring postal carriers from acting as witnesses for people preparing mail-in or absentee ballots. A USPS spokesman told Alaska elections officials that the rule was imposed "due to the potential operational impacts." He said the postal service doesn't bar employees from serving as witnesses on their own time. Yet as the USPS itself acknowledges, according to the Anchorage Daily News, some states "specifically authorize USPS employees to provide a witness signature on ballot envelopes." The biggest problem with DeJoy's approach is that it undermines the USPS' longstanding approach to election-related mail, which is proactive. In the past, according to a 2019 report by the USPS inspector general, post office officials have met with state elections officials to anticipate and work out any potential glitches well in advance of election day. That hasn't happened this time around, postal experts say. Instead, the USPS notified officials in 46 states that it might not be able to meet the deadlines for receiving and validating mail ballots. In the past, the postal service has aimed to deliver all election mail by first-class standards delivery within one to three days regardless of the paid class of service. This time, according to the Washington lawsuit, state officials have been warned that they must pay first-class mail rates if they want first-class service. That could nearly treble the cost of mailing out ballots, to 55 cents per piece from the 20-cent marketing mail rate states are accustomed to. As we've reported before, the losses sustained by the USPS in recent years have something to do with the decline of first-class mail volumes, but more to do with a 2006 congressional mandate requiring it to prepay retiree healthcare costs expected to occur well into the future a mandate that has been applied to no other federal agency. Without this burden, according to the Institute for Policy Studies, the Post Office would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years. Instead, This extraordinary mandate created a financial crisis that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. Privatizing the USPS has been in the wind from the outset of the Trump administration, part of a long-term conservative goal to turn crucial government services over to private enterprise. Congress responded to the unique demands on the service's operations by providing it with a $10-billion line of credit as part of a coronavirus relief bill in March. But as ably explicated by David Dayen of the American Prospect, Congress unwisely capitulated to the demand by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin for a say in how the funds are disbursed. The result is a term sheet that renders the credit all but unusable, except under conditions that allow Treasury to interfere in the USPS. The terms state that the USPS can't draw down the funds unless its cash on hand totals less than $8 billion. That figure is currently $12.9 billion. What's important is that it's well under the control of DeJoy, who can keep it over $8 billion by cutting expenses, regardless of whether those cuts will result in service delays. Even if the post office can access the funds, it can't draw down more than would be needed for 30 days of its cash needs. That means the money probably can't be used for longer-term investments, such as for new technology. Most troubling, as a condition to agreeing to the line of credit, Treasury demanded and received a report identifying the 10 largest negotiated service agreements with major shippers. This gives the Trump administration window into contracts likely to involve shippers such as the United Parcel Service, FedEx and especially Amazon.com. Trump has been on the warpath over these deals particularly the one with Amazon, which is controlled by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, a source of troublesome Trump criticism. Trump has claimed, inaccurately, that Amazon benefits from a sweetheart deal with the USPS, and he has advocated raising the contractor prices. There is no reason for Treasury to play any role at all in the USPS, which is under the jurisdiction of a board of governors and the Postal Rate Commission. Trump has claimed that he has had no authority over the postal service, because its run by independent boards appointed by other administrations. This is a lie. The truth is that every one of the six sitting members of the USPS board of governors is a Trump appointee. Three seats are vacant. The board selected DeJoy, the first postmaster general in decades to have had no postal experience. DeJoy's financial holdings bristle with potential conflicts of interest. As the Washington state lawsuit observes, Dejoy's initiatives might not have created as much of a furor had not Trump explicitly tied the hamstringing of postal operations to a desire to undermine voting by mail. "Since the spring of 2020," the lawsuit observes, Trump "has attacked mail voting more than 70 times in interviews, remarks, and tweets. He has railed about supposed massive fraud in voting by mail without supporting evidence." He also has expressed the intention to block emergency funding for the USPS so "you can't have universal mail-in voting because they [USPS] are not equipped to have it." DeJoy's statement, therefore, is merely a first, modest step in making sure that the USPS performs its proper role in making sure that every American can vote. There's still a lot of work to be done to protect it. Prehistoric hunter-gatherers in what is now Jersey created Britain's oldest artwork during the last Ice Age - about 15,000 years ago - by engraving symbols on stones. Archaeologists from Newcastle University and the Natural History Museum examined the artistic designs on rocks found at Les Varines in Jersey between 2014 and 2018. Ten fragments of stone plaquettes were found, and researchers have now confirmed they are the 'earliest known evidence of artistic expression' in the British Isles. A team of archaeologists have been analysing the markings since 2014 and believe they were made by the Magdalenians - an early hunter-gatherer culture. Ten fragments of stone plaquettes were found, and researchers have confirmed they are the 'earliest known evidence of artistic expression' in the British Isles. The tiny lines are just visible Archaeologists from Newcastle University and the Natural History Museum examined the artistic designs on rocks found at Les Varines in Jersey between 2014 and 2018 The Magdalenian era ranged from 23,000 to 14,000 years ago and saw a flourishing of early art - from cave drawing and the decoration of tools to the engraving of stones. Examples of etched Magdalenian plaquettes have been discovered at sites in France, Spain and Portugal but nothing so early has ever been uncovered in the UK. Dr Chantal Conneller, from Newcastle University and one of the authors of the study, said the fragments provide rare evidence of ancient artistic expression. 'The people at Les Varines are likely to have been pioneer colonisers of the region and creating engraved objects at new settlements may have been a way of creating symbolic relationships with new places,' Dr Conneller explained. Slide me A team of archaeologists have been analysing the markings since 2014 and believe they were made by the Magdalenians - an early hunter-gatherer culture. Left is the stone and right a graphic to outline where the markings are Ten stones were found in total and they were 'very difficult to uncover' as they were found within an ancient Ice Age hearth Magdalenian settlements have been found in north-west Britain, but no examples of artistic expression have been discovered from periods as early as this. The fragments represent the first evidence of engraved stone plaquettes found in the British Isles and Ireland, according to the researchers. ENGRAVERS HAD JUST A 'BRIEF GLIMPSE' OF THEIR WORK Lines found on stones dating back 15,000 years are the 'earliest example of artistic expression' in the Britain. The stones were found in Jersey, Channel Islands and have thin lines made using stone tools. The geometric designs are made up of straight and longer, curved markings. They appear to have been made through layered or repeated incisions. This suggests that it is unlikely that they resulted from the stones being used for a functional purpose. Some markings are abstract but others could represent animals or people. The designs were only briefly viewed by their makers, the team discovered. Engraving soft stone creates a powder within the incisions making them visible - but it quickly disperses. This means the markings are only clear when they are being made. Advertisement The fragments predate other forms of ancient expression such as cave art and engraved bone found at Creswell Crags, Derbyshire. The research and excavation team analysed the stones for traces of how the markings were made and found they were engraved with groups of fine lines. These lines are thought to have been purposefully made using stone tools. The geometric designs are made up of a combination of straight lines more or less parallel to each other and longer, curved incisions. The research team say that the two types of marks are likely to have been produced using the same tools, possibly by the same engraver and in short succession, giving new insight into the processes used to create the ancient designs. The designs were only briefly viewed by their makers, the team discovered, as engraving soft stone creates a powder within the incisions making them visible - but it disperses meaning the markings are only clear when they are being made. 'In this context, the act or moment of engraving, was more meaningful than the object itself,' explained Dr Conneller. Dr Silvia Bello, Researcher at the Natural History Museum, London, added that some of the lines were repeatedly marked and layered on top of each other. 'Microscopic analysis indicates that many of the lines, including the curved, concentric designs, appear to have been made through layered or repeated incisions,' Dr Bello explained. This suggests that it is unlikely that they resulted from the stones being used for a functional purpose - meaning they were a form of pure artistic expression. 'The majority of the designs are purely abstract, but others could depict basic forms such as animals, landscapes or people,' Dr Bello said. The stones discovered at Les Varines, in the south-east of Jersey, were found in an area thought to have been used as a hearth by the local community Each stone had different designs - some with straight parallel markings and others with curves 'This strongly suggests that the plaquettes at Les Varines were engraved for purposeful artistic decoration.' The stones discovered at Les Varines, in the south-east of Jersey, were found in an area thought to have been used as a hearth by the local community. Three of the fragments had been recovered from an area of granite slabs which may have served as paving, the team discovered. They said this highlights that the plaquettes were engraved in a domestic context. Ed Blinkhorn, Senior Geoarchaeologist at University College London and director of excavations at the site, said they were 'tricky to pick apart from the natural geology'. Some markings are abstract but others could represent animals or people, researchers said The stones were uncovered as part of a series of digs under the 'Ice Age Island' umbrella that helped reveal details of the island's ancient past The discovery of the artistic stones amongst hearths, pits, paving, specialist tools, and thousands of flints shows that 'creating art was an important part of the Magdalenian pioneer toolkit, as much at camp as within caves,' Blinkhorn said. These engraved stones were 'firmly domestic art', explained Dr Conneller. 'This may have been important as people moved back into northern Europe towards the end of the last Ice Age,' the researcher added. Director of Curation and Experience, for Jersey Heritage, which part-funded the Ice Age Island project, Louise Downie, said it adds centuries to the islands art history. 'Previously Jerseys known art dated back to Celtic carvings and 14th century church wall paintings,' Downie explained. 'The islands most famous artist was Sir John Everett Millais, but most recently Surrealist Claude Cahun has been attracting international acclaim.' The Director of ArtHouse Jersey Tom Dingle said the island would have been firmly attached to the Norman peninsula at the time the stone markings were made. 'It's somewhat difficult to imagine exactly what inspired these early creators in contemporary terms,' he said. 'What I think we can say is that the Island, in common with many geographically strategic locations, has long been known for its artistic endeavours. 'Coming into contact with the coastline continues to be a creative inspiration for people all over the world and perhaps the marine expanse that we continue to enjoy in Jersey was something that inspired these early artists too. 'This is a highly exciting development for Jersey culturally, both in artistic and archaeological terms,' Dingle said. The findings have been published in the journal PLOS ONE. Our team has worked diligently on lowering the hospital readmission rates of our partners and creating a smoother transition of care to home. Inc. magazine revealed that Georgetown Home Care is No. 3441 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. We are so happy to once again be included in the list of the fastest growing companies in the US, said John bradshaw, CEO of Georgetown Home Care. It is a real testament to our team internally and all of their hard work, as well as the partnerships we have created with hospitals and skilled nursing facilities all over our region. Our team has worked diligently on lowering the hospital readmission rates of our partners and creating a smoother transition of care to home. Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available on newsstands August 18. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. Georgetown Home Care is the premier non-medical agency with offices in DC, Maryland and Virginia. Its mission is to ensure a better quality of life for elderly clients and their families by providing dependable and affordable care. Georgetown Home Care is a locally owned and operated company and is passionate about serving seniors and those in need with hourly and live-in care services. CONTACT: For additional information about Georgetown Home Care, please contact Jessica Salgado, 202.333.3400, jessicasalgado@georgetownhomecare.com. More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. At Monroe, where the majority of students are Latino, its common for parents to speak a language other than English. Torres said it would help if the district facilitated a Google boot camp for parents in their native language so they could best support their students through remote learning. Remembering what her students experienced in the spring, Torres said its hard to see how they will all make the plan work. She even wonders about her own three school-age children. Lucknow, Aug 19 : With one-and-a half years left for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, legislators of the ruling BJP seem to be running out of patience. More and more MLAs from the ruling party are taking to social media and public platforms to air their grievances, causing embarrassment to the Yogi Adityanath government. Sultanpur MLA Devmani Dwiwedi, posted a question two days ago demanding to know how many Brahmins had been killed in encounters and what steps were taken to ensure the security of the community. A copy of the handwritten question went viral on social media. Party leaders and government spokespersons were too embarrassed to even react. Another BJP legislator Umesh Dwiwedi queered the pitch for the government when he announced the BJP would introduce a medical insurance scheme for all Brahmins. A day later, Umesh Dwiwedi, who is an MLC from the teachers' quota and had joined the BJP in November 2019, said he is also the National Chief of the Rashtriya Brahmothan Manch, an organisation that he claims is working for the welfare of the Brahmins. "I will ensure insurance of Rs 10 lakh for 10 years for the poor members of my community," he said. The BJP completely distanced itself from the legislator's statement. Last week, BJP MLA from Aligarh, Rajkumar Sahyogi, created a ruckus after a brawl with a local police official. The entire incident went viral on the social media with the legislator and the police officer exchanging unpleasantries and accusing each other of physical assault. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath managed to redeem the situation by suspending the officer concerned. Senior BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal is also known to speak his mind even if it embarrasses the party and the government. In his latest Facebook post, he has opposed the Madhya Pradesh government's decision to reserve jobs for residents of the state. "This is a divisive move for the unity of the country and should be opposed," he wrote. BJP MLA from Sitapur Rakesh Rathore hit the headlines during the pandemic when his audio clip in which he is heard ridiculing the campaign to clap or beat 'thalis' for honouring corona warriors went viral. He was later served a show cause notice to which he reportedly did not reply. Another legislator who was served a show cause notice by the party is Shyam Prakash of Hardoi. Shyam Prakash in his Facebook post said he had never seen so much corruption in his political career. He also alleged misappropriation of MLA funds. BJP MP Jai Prakash echoed similar sentiments recently when he questioned the purchase of ventilators in his constituency. Talking to IANS on Wednesday, a senior party MLA admitted resentment was brewing in the party because the bureaucracy had gone out of control. "The bureaucrats and police officers do not respect us and do not listen to us. If the officials do not listen to us, how can we get work done in our constituencies. The Chief Minister remains inaccessible and his officers make sure that complaints do not reach him," he said. However, the BJP is aware of the discontent and senior leaders have been contacting the disgruntled legislators on the phone, asking them not to raise any such issues during the assembly session which begins on Thursday. "We will definitely meet the legislators and address their grievances very soon. There has been a lack of communication due to the pandemic but we will hold meetings now," said a senior BJP functionary. Retail: M&S CEO Steve Rowe said the firm needs to become leaner Marks & Spencer says no jobs in the Republic will be among 7,000 planned cuts that the company announced yesterday, although jobs in Northern Ireland could be on the block as part of the UK losses. The British retailer employs 2,800 people in 20 stores in the North, and if jobs there are lost pro-rata across the company, that could put 300 posts in Northern Ireland on the line. A spokesperson for the company said that it was too early to put a number on any potential regional breakdown for job losses. The company confirmed that there would be no jobs lost at its stores in the Republic. "It is clear that there has been a material shift in trade and whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-Covid sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change," M&S said in a statement. Clothing and home trading in its stores remained well below last year though online and home delivery were strong, said the retailer, which has a UK workforce of about 78,000. The 136-year old M&S is seeking to reinvent itself after decades of failed attempts. In May it said the crisis would indelibly change its business and that it would accelerate its turnaround plan. It said that the crisis had shown it could work more flexibly and productively with more employees multi-tasking and switching between the food and clothing and home divisions. Its use of technology has also increased. Last month M&S shed 950 store management jobs. Its latest cuts will impact its headquarters, regional management and UK stores over the next three months. The cuts add to thousands already announced by other major British retailers, including Debenhams, Boots, John Lewis, Dixons Carphone and WH Smith. M&S expects a significant proportion of its cuts to be through voluntary departures and early retirement. Shopworkers' trade union Usdaw called for urgent talks. "These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set-up to serve changing customer needs," CEO Steve Rowe said. The retailer's shares were down 2.8pc, extending 2020 losses to 48pc. The firm said it was retaining a cautious approach to planning for the balance of the year. Group sales were down 19.2pc year on year in the 19 weeks to August 8, which included part of Britain's lockdown period, with clothing and home sales down 49.1pc and food sales down 1.1pc. Clothing and home sales were down 29.9pc in the eight weeks since stores reopened. Store sales were down 47.9pc, while online sales were up 39.2pc. M&S food stores traded throughout the lockdown period and saw their sales increase 2.5pc in the latest eight-week period. Additional reporting: Reuters President Donald Trump's Postal Service chief tried to neutralize complaints by suspending his operational changes, but he failed to silence accusations that he is hampering the agency's ability to handle voting by mail. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's retreat followed mounting pressure from Democrats, including an Aug. 5 exchange with top lawmakers that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described as "heated." Congress scheduled two hearings with DeJoy -- a Senate panel on Friday and a House panel on Monday -- and the House plans to vote on a postal funding measure on Saturday. Trump criticized the timing of the hearings, asking on Twitter why Republicans are "allowing the Democrats to have ridiculous Post Office hearings" before and during the Republican convention, which begins Monday. He tagged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has no authority over decisions by House committees. At heart are concerns that Trump, running behind Democrat Joe Biden in polls, is mounting a politically driven campaign to hobble the Postal Service. The president has repeatedly claimed -- without evidence -- that widespread mail-in voting leads to fraud; diminished capacity to deliver ballots could complicate vote-counting. Trump has also said the agency in effect subsidizes deliveries for Amazon.com Inc., a longtime target of the president's ire. DeJoy said Tuesday that he was suspending removals of mail-sorting machines and blue collection boxes in various cities, moves that had been billed as overdue cost-cutting. He pledged that retail hours wouldn't change, mail-processing facilities wouldn't be shut and equipment would remain where it was. "Overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed," he said. But it remains unclear if any of his recent moves would be reversed. "There are unanswered questions that certainly need to be clarified," said former Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman, who was appointed in 2011 and resigned earlier this year. "You don't want to reduce your flexibility ahead of a national election where you will have an exponential increase in the amount of absentee ballots," he said on a call with reporters hosted by the Democracy Fund, where he is a senior fellow. Besides clearing up the issue about what "as needed" overtime might mean and whether changes already made will be reversed, Stroman urged a commitment to processing and delivering all the ballots it receives each day. Democratic lawmakers were even more vocal, setting the stage for what might be a rocky pair of hearings in coming days. DeJoy appears at the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Friday and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Monday. "We want to roll it back," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the proposed changes during an interview with Politico's Playbook Tuesday. She said the House will proceed with a vote Saturday on a $25 billion special funding package for the Postal Service and prohibits any overhaul of operations or the level of service compared with what was in place on Jan. 1, 2020. "DeJoy cannot put the genie back in the bottle," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who has helped lead the House's oversight of the post office as a subcommittee chief. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel hosting DeJoy Friday, asked whether DeJoy will ensure the return of sorting machines already removed, and pressed for details of changes already made. DeJoy was selected by governors appointed by Trump, including Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee. DeJoy's links to Trump -- he contributed to the 2016 campaign and gave $100,000 to the inaugural committee -- have highlighted the concerns. Republicans frame DeJoy's motives as consistent with efforts back in the Obama administration to put the Postal Service on a more sustainable financial footing. "This is totally a perception issue that the postmaster general is addressing" by suspending his reforms, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday. "President Trump at no time has instructed or directed the post office to cut back on overtime, or any other operational decision that would slow things down." DeJoy in a statement Tuesday assured: "We will deliver the nation's election mail on time and within our well-established service standards." This will be "our number one priority between now and Election Day," he said. "It's shameful that Democrats continue to manufacture baseless and wildly irresponsible conspiracy theories," said James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. Michael Plunkett, president of the Association for Postal Commerce, a trade group for businesses that deal with the Postal Service including FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc., said, "I don't see why" DeJoy's reforms would affect mail-in voting. "The post office should have capacity to handle events," said Plunkett, a former Postal Service executive. A number of Democratic attorneys general spanning the country aren't taking that for granted. Those for Washington and Pennsylvania outlined plans for separate, multistate lawsuits that would seek to halt operational changes. More than a dozen other states had signed onto the effort, including California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Nevada. No Republican attorney general has participated. "By interfering with the Postal Service, President Trump is putting both our democracy and people's health at risk," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement Tuesday. "We are suing to ensure the integrity of our electoral process and to make sure each and every vote is counted during this election." Beyond the election, there are deeper concerns that the Postal Service, the authorization of which was enshrined in the Constitution, could pare back its presence in rural areas -- where private companies can be less likely to reach. "The service commitment to rural America was already diminished," said former Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. "The post office is a high-ranking infrastructure concern of rural voters." Lee Moak, a member of the postal service's board of governors, in a blog post said he had received almost 40,000 emails since Friday. Moak said he appreciates "how devastating it can be when vital governmental infrastructure struggles to support its citizens." The National Grange, an organization that represents rural interests, thanked DeJoy for suspending the changes. "Postmaster DeJoy heard the outcry of people from all across the country and political spectrum," Grange President Betsy Huber said in an emailed statement. "The nation needs to move forward through the pandemic and this election cycle with certainty." No casualties have been reported. Ukraine has reported no ceasefire violations in the Joint Forces Operation zone (JFO) in eastern Ukraine's Donbas on Tuesday, August 18. There have been no casualties, the JFO Command said in a morning update on Facebook on Wednesday, August 19. The Ukrainian military continue adhering to the ceasefire, while remaining ready to respond to any enemy attack, the report said. Read alsoRussia continues to supply weapons, military hardware to occupied Donbas intelligenceSince Wednesday midnight, the parties have so far also been observing full and comprehensive ceasefire. Latest Donbas truce Since midnight on July 27, a full and comprehensive ceasefire has been in force along the contact line in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. Since the start of the latest truce, there have been no combat losses or injuries among the Ukrainian military, according to official reports. You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa at this link, or on your favorite app including Alexa, Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Subscribe/follow and rate the podcast via your favorite app. Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | Aug. 19, 2020 Pennsylvania is seeking federal help to provide the unemployed with an additional $300 a week to help during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections is offering leniency for state parolees who have arrest warrants -- provided they turn themselves in. Amazon is bringing 1,500 new jobs to the Pittsburgh area. Pickle beer now exists thanks to a Pittsburgh brewery. Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa, a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Julia Hatmaker. Today in Pa is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories in the state. Todays episode refers to the following articles: If you enjoy Today in Pa, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, we like to know what you think of the program. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. The US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies for a fifth consecutive trading day on Tuesday, reaching its lowest level in over two years. This comes after it was under pressure from lower yields and bleak economic data in the United States. Read here to know why The Indian Premier League has a new sponsor now. Dream11, a fantasy gaming startup has secured the deal for Rs 222 crore, outbidding the likes of Unacademy and the TATAs. Read here to know more about what they do and the industry they are in. In March, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced a loan moratorium for three months. For several who opted out of the loan moratorium, they are now seeing a surplus in the cash they have on hand. Here's what you could if this the case. Scott Morrisson, the Prime Minister of Australia, said that the country has secured the promising vaccine for COVID-19 and would manufacture it and offer it to citizens for free. Read here to know about the deal Australia secured with Swedish-British company AstraZeneca. Online games have attracted a scrum of first-timers during the ongoing pandemic. As a result, many companies seeing an uptick in the number of downloads, the amount of time spent as well as engagement. However, despite this, India has not been able to produce games worthy of competition with foreign companies like those of the US, China origin. Read here to know why. Startup Tales SBI and BOI have agreed to pay banking agents a COVID-19 allowance till September The State Bank of India and Bank of India have agreed to pay banking agents until September, especially those who have continued to help by ensuring that the bank's financial assistance reaches the country's rural pockets. Read here to know why they reached this decision. Fugitive godman takes to banking Nithyananda, the notorious fugitive godman has decided has reportedly set up his own banking venture named 'Reserve of Kailaasa' in an island country reported founded by him. Read here to know more about it. Just a few months ago, most people in the United States had never heard of the Boogaloo Bois. But now, as we move into the latter half of 2020, this nascent and decentralized movement, which mythologizes firearms as the solution to perceived tyranny, has become an attractive proposition for a surprising number of Americans. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased implementation and use of so-called red flag laws, and recent protests and calls to defund the police following George Floyds killing, Boogaloo narratives and imagery have proliferated widely. Its eclectic aesthetic has become highly recognizable at recent protests and political events, even as the movement itself remains largely misunderstood. Advertisement The national media briefly fixated on the presence of Boogaloo Bois at George Floyd demonstrations and protests over the past several months, often remarking on the movements elective symbology, including Hawaiian shirts and igloos, a riff on the name Boogaloo. Other adornments sported by adherents of the movement, such as the skull masks popularized by accelerationists, colonial tricorn hats and coats, and operator-style headgear, illustrate the movements roots in memetics and its ability to draw from varied backgrounds. (The name Boogaloo itself refers to a popular meme involving a formerly obscure 1980s dance movie.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. But the Bogaloo Bois are more than just a meme, and several acts of political violence on American soil are connected to the movement, including homicides committed by active-duty members of the U.S. military. We should not dismiss the Boogaloo as disaffected far-right youth enamored with firearms, nor derisively mock them as LARPers playing dress-up. What may seem like an edgy fascination with meme culture should not obscure the fact that this is a fast-growing movement with broad appeal, particularly over the increasing use of red flag laws, no-knock raids, and police use of force against unarmed citizens. The movements shared narratives amplify existing anti-government animus and provide an offline justification for the use of violencea justification that its most militant members, fueled by the doctrine of accelerationism, are happy to exploit. Accelerationism is best described as an emerging doctrine that rejects political solutions and seeks to hasten societal collapse through incitement and terrorism. Advertisement Advertisement What accounts for the popularity of the Boogaloo movement? Several factors are worth exploring. First, barriers to entry into the movement are low. The movement is decentralized, largely organic, and there are no loyalty pledges to a leader. Instead, the beginners kit for the Boogaloo consists simply of a rudimentary grasp of meme culture, sympathies with Americas anti-tyrannical legacy, and the ability to legally purchase a firearm. Though even for those who are lawfully restricted from owning a gun, hardcore firearm enthusiasts have made printing 3D guns and assembling so-called ghost guns easily attainable. Advertisement Second, the Boogaloo movement skillfully uses memetics as a principal narrative builder to gain adherents aggrieved with ongoing law enforcement violations. Many have lionized and memeified an individual named Duncan Socrates Lemp, a 21 year-old Maryland resident killed by police during a raid of his home to recover an illegal weapon. Alarmingly, Lemps death and subsequent meme-based martyrlike status has merged with digital marketing campaigns for ammunition and firearms sales. Companies have brazenly used both Lemps death and Boogaloo branding to push sales during the initial surge of anti-lockdown protests. In addition, commercialization of the Boogaloo through various products like patches, stickers, and apparel intended to be worn at demonstrations can be found on Amazon and other online retailers, further extending entry-level Boogaloo content to non-taboo digital spaces. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Third, the Boogaloo movement has successfully built its brand on distorted myths about the revolutionary founding of America, the role played by militias, and the anti-tyranny narratives associated with symbols like the Gadsden flag, along with its familiar motto Dont Tread on Me. Boogaloo adherents have sought to harness and channel diminishing faith in key democratic institutions, with the unifying message of individual sovereignty and a lack of trust in any form of authority, particularly the federal government and all levels of law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Fourth, the widespread appeal cannot be divorced from the movements heavy reliance on social media. The iconography associated with Boogaloo is steeped in a meme culture designed to be edgy and rebellious. In recent years, Boogaloo narratives and memetics drawing on the Revolutionary War and patriot themes have found fertile ground in Facebooks Groups and Pages and encrypted communications platforms like Discord and Telegram. Advertisement Advertisement As Discord and Facebook moved to clamp down on the Boogaloo, followers of the movement altered their group names to avoid detection, while hardcore adherents fell back on Telegram, where they overlap with accelerationists, preppers, and survivalists. This is a tailor-fit situation for accelerationist narratives, which exploit memetic edginess to encourage widespread societal strife and instigate system-level collapse. These four factors illustrate why the Boogaloo is so adaptive and particularly adroit at attracting attention within audiences not typically associated with traditional anti-government militia movements. And though it may draw on similar narratives, the Boogaloo is not your fathers anti-government militia. Arrest records and social media activity show the Boogaloo movement holds widespread appeal, recruiting from a broad demographic that spans geography, age, occupation, and level of education. Ultimately, what one brings to the Boogaloo is more important than what the Boogaloo gives back to the individual. Advertisement Boogaloo resonance coincides with exceptional levels of uncertainty and existential fears related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a hyperpartisan political environment susceptible to Russian disinformation efforts ahead of the 2020 election, and a generational shift in understandings of democratic norms in American culture. Advertisement While the Boogaloo is predominantly a right-wing phenomenon, it is not exclusively so, and is ideologically diverse even within the broader far-right umbrella. Some Boogaloo Bois have aligned with Black Lives Matter protesters in solidarity and to varying degrees of success. At one Ohio BLM demonstration, Boogaloo adherents engaged earnestly with protesters, repeatedly echoing calls that Breonna Taylors killers be brought to justice. Some BLM protesters embraced the Boogaloo presence and claimed they were fighting the same fight. Yet elsewhere Boogaloo adherents have been chased away or evaporated into the night when clashes with police reach fever pitch. Whether the Boogaloo movement continues to grow may depend on a catalyzing event along the lines of Ruby Ridge, the Waco siege, or the Philadelphia MOVE bombing by police. The movements adaptive capabilities as a meme-based culture will mean its adherents can quickly adapt to and capitalize on emerging issues. More than likely, the Boogaloo are here to stay. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Esports is a potential market for the global gaming industry and it is experiencing a steady growth that is mainly driven by cloud gaming and mobile gaming. With the proliferation of smartphones with more and more processing power coupled with 5G network gaining popularity, Esports is expected to grow with a CAGR of ~20% in the years between 20192025. In the same period, the gaming industry is expected to be more interactive and streaming based. The countries that generate a major portion of the revenue in gaming industry include China, Japan, US, Germany, South Korea, France, Canada, and UK. Request For Report Sample@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/11034 Global Esports market is expected to cross $3 billion by the end of 2025 due to growing popularity of Esports worldwide and the growing support of game publishers for Esports. Esports is a form of videogame competition event which is organized online or offline. Esports is gaining huge attention with many gaming events being telecasted on social media and streaming sites including YouTube and Twitch. Esports market is expected to cross $3 billion by the end of 2025 with major competitions occurring in games like Dota 2, Fortnite, and League of Legend. Real Time Strategy (RTS), Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA), and First-Person Shooter (FPS) are the most common type of game genres witnessed in most of the Esports events. The popularity of Esports have increased since 2010 with a greater number of revenue streams arriving in the form of merchandising and corporate sponsorships apart from traditional revenue streams like broadcasting rights of the event and tickets to the event. As of 2019, game streaming platform -Twitch is one of the major broadcasting mediums for Esports. Esports events including E LEAGUE Major, Genesis, Evo Japan, and WESG which generates more viewers for video game streaming platforms. Also, Esports events are providing more prize money for winners due to growing revenue streams. Based on the geography, the Esports market is split into North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW. RoW includes Middle East, South America, and Africa. North America is the leading revenue generator in the global Esports market with a major share of the market contributed by the US. North American market for Esports is mainly driven by growing number of audiences for Esports and APAC is one of the fastest growing market in the global Esports market with major growth being witnessed in China, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Based on revenue model, the global Esports market is segmented into advertisement, sponsorship, media rights, and others. Others include game publisher fees and revenue generated from the sales of ticket and merchandise. Advertisement and sponsorship accounted for the major part of the revenue generated by the Esports market in 2018. Get Complete TOC with Tables and Figures@ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/11034 Based on audience, the global Esports market is segmented into regular viewers and occasional viewers. Regular viewers include fans and hardcore game enthusiasts who watch Esports regularly. As of 2019, regular viewers accounted for a major share in the market. Based on gender, the global Esports market is segmented into male viewers and female viewers. As of 2019, male viewers especially those within the age group of 2035 accounted for a major part of the market share. Esports market is primarily dominated by major companies which organize Esports events and game publishers. Some of the major vendors in the market are Cloud9, Team SoloMid, Team Liquid, Epic Games, Valve Corporation, Activision Blizzard, and Echo Fox. Other prominent vendors in the market include Fnatic, Gen.G Esports (formerly KSV Esports), 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, Immortals, Envy Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Nintendo, Tencent, Hi-Rez Studios, and EA Sports. The market is expected to witness an increase in the number of audience and tournaments in the forecast period which may lead to a greater number of vendors (including game publishers and gaming organizations) entering in the market. According to Infoholic Research, global Esports market will grow at a CAGR of nearly 20% during the forecast period 20192025. The aim of this report is to define, analyze, and forecast the Esports market based on segments, which includes revenue model, gender, audience, and region. In addition, live game streaming market report helps venture capitalists in understanding the companies better and make well-informed decisions and is primarily designed to provide the companys executives with strategically substantial competitor information, data analysis, and insights about the market, development, and implementation of an effective marketing plan. The report comprises an analysis of vendor profile, which includes financial status, business units, key business priorities, SWOT, business strategies, and views. The report covers the competitive landscape, which includes M&A, joint ventures & collaborations, and competitor comparison analysis. In the vendor profile section, for companies that are privately held, the financial information and revenue of segments will be limited. <<>> https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/11034 Although hundreds of seriously ill COVID-19 patients still fill the citys hospital beds, the coronavirus is slowly releasing its grip on San Antonio. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Tuesday there were 143 new cases of the virus, pushing the total number of people who have tested positive in Bexar County to 44,265 since the pandemic arrived in March. Of those, 569 are in the hospital, down from 603 on Monday. That leaves 14 percent of staffed hospital beds available in Bexar County, which means the hospital system is still heavily strained, Nirenberg said at the daily briefing he conducts with County Judge Nelson Wolff. Those numbers are continuing to move in the right direction, but not very quickly, Nirenberg said. Keep up the good work. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases The Metropolitan Health District reported 20 more deaths Tuesday, dating from June 23 to Aug. 13, bringing its total to 637. There continues to be a wide difference between Metro Healths accounting of people who have died as a result of COVID-19 and the figures listed by the Texas Department of State Health Services. On Tuesday reported 913 deaths for Bexar County. The state takes death certificates at face value if the certificate states coronavirus caused the death and gives a Bexar County address for the deceased, its added to the total. Metro Health verifies that the deceased was a resident of Bexar County sometimes the address is of a rehabilitation facility and not the persons residence, for example and that the person was tested for the virus. Metro Health officials said its staff is verifying those 275 other deaths listed by the state, and Anita Kurian, the agencys assistant director, said many of those will be added to the local count eventually. But not all. Wolff noted that sometimes death certificates are signed by justices of the peace hardly the right person to determine whether somebody has passed from COVID or not, he said and there are times when a physician who signed a certificate listed coronavirus as the cause but no test was conducted. I think its important that we do what were doing and verify those deaths rather than over-reporting some numbers that may not be true, Wolff said. Watching the case counts from across Texas 254 counties has become a somewhat somber but enlightening task for those following COVID-19s progress. According to state data, among the seven counties adjoining Bexar, as of Monday, the number of confirmed cases per 1,000 residents ranges from Kendall County at the lowest - 3.89 cases per 1,000, with 4,616 people tested - to Medina County, the highest, with 19.51 cases per 1,000, with 6,796 tested. Bandera, with about half the population of Kendall, is also quite low, at 4.71 per 1,000, but the county has only tested 1,011 people. How has Kendall and its county seat of Boerne done so well? We cant give away our secrets, joked Kendall County Judge Darrel Lux. Im not a scientist, but it may just be that our people have more closely followed the advice of the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control). I truly believe our citizens have taken on the challenge of wearing masks and social distancing even if they dont always agree with it. Lux added that Kendall might have tested more people earlier than some nearby counties and consequently reported more confirmed cases at an earlier stage, perhaps increasing the countys awareness of the virus and vigilance in compliance. Around the state, of the five largest counties, Dallas leads in confirmed cases, 23.20 per 1,000, with just over a half-million people tested, while Travis (18.69 per 1,000), Tarrant (16.79), Bexar (17.24) and Harris (18.53) have remained several percentage points lower. Some of the states most highly-infected counties are along the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley. Cameron County, as of Monday, reported just over 42 confirmed cases per 1,000 residents. Starr and Webb were at 37.74 and 34.59, respectively, while Hidalgo came in at 25.29. Wolff said some 250,000 Bexa County residents over 65 will soon receive information in the mail explaining how they can vote by mail in the November election. He encouraged older voters especially, but anyone with accessibility issues or pre-existing health conditions, to take advantage of the vote-by-mail process because Gov. Greg Abbott has not made it a requirement to wear a mask at polling places. We are prohibited from requiring people to wear a mask, said Wolff, so some people wont have them. You need to be careful out there. And the mayor reminded folks that the San Antonio Police Department and the citys code compliance officers will be out patrolling bars, looking for those not in compliance with social distancing and facial coverings in public. Theyll try to be pro-active, said Nirenberg, but there may be some citations. There wont be a lot of warnings because weve been down that road before. He said the phone number for reporting such violations is 210-207-SAPD. Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Bruce, become a subscriber. BSelcraig@express-news.net Net profit of DKK 862m in Q2 2020, corresponding to a return of 10.4% p.a. on average equity (Q1 2020: DKK -780m and -10.3% p.a., respectively) Net profit DKK of 82m in H1 2020, corresponding to a return of 0.0% p.a. on average equity (H1 2019: DKK 1,109m and 6.6% p.a., respectively). Impairment charges of DKK 8m in Q2 2020 (Q1 2020: DKK 1,003m) Managements estimate related to COVID-19 of DKK 1bn in Q1 2020 remains intact. Share of non-performing loans continued to decline in Q2 2020. Value adjustments and investment portfolio earnings of DKK 554m in Q2 2020 (Q1 2020: DKK -563m) Contrary to Q1, narrowing of credit spreads and FX positions contributed positively in Q2. Core income of DKK 2,050m in Q2 2020 (Q1 2020: DKK 1,803m) Core expenses of DKK 1,164m in Q2 2020 (Q1 2020: DKK 1,346m) The decrease in Q2 was driven by reduced costs following the outbreak of COVID-19 as well as the sale of Jyske Bank (Gibraltar). Capital ratio of 22.2% in Q2 2020 (Q1 2020: 21.5%), hereof CET1 ratio of 17.3% (Q1 2020: 16.7%) The extraordinary general meeting in July adopted a reduction of the share capital of 4,992,980 shares Since 2015, Jyske Bank has bought back 24% of the share capital and paid out DKK 2.5bn in dividends. When the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak have been clarified to a greater extent, the capital distribution policy is to be activated. Summary The results for the first half of 2020 are affected by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on impairment charges and investment portfolio earnings by about DKK -1.3 bn before tax in comparison with the first half of 2019. The credit quality remains strong with insignificant individual impairment charges in the first half of the year as well as a low proportion of non-performing loans. In the first half of the year, during difficult circumstances and during the entire lockdown period, the Jyske Bank organisation's operational performance was satisfactory. Also, due to its solid capital and liquidity position, Jyske Bank is in a good position to handle the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, states Anders Dam, CEO and Managing Director. Story continues In Denmark, the reopening of the economy as well as the extraordinary economic support from the Danish government has reduced the risk of the worst crisis scenarios materialising after the outbreak of COVID-19, even though there is still limited visibility. So far, after the reopening, the Danish economy has developed in a stable manner with a low level of bankruptcies as well as stabilisation of the housing market and consumer spending. The clients capital and liquidity position is strong and supported by compensation schemes relating to COVID-19 as well as deferment of tax and VAT payments. This, in combination with a lower activity and investment level in the economy, resulted in a lower demand for credit. As the extraordinary economic support will be partially phased out in the second half of the year, it is expected that the economic consequences of the outbreak of COVID-19 will be increasingly pronounced. Therefore, Jyske Bank recognised as an expense DKK 1 bn in the first quarter in the form of a management's estimate for impairment charges. In addition to the economic challenges, the outbreak of COVID-19 also resulted in adjustments in society, among other things of work habits and client behaviour. This caused, for instance a stronger trend towards digital client interactions and an increasingly cashless society. Net profit of DKK 82m in first half of 2020 The net profit for the period corresponded to a return on equity of 0.0% p.a. against 6.6% p.a. for the corresponding period of 2019. The lower profit can chiefly be attributed to an increased management's estimate for impairment charges in the amount of DKK 1 bn after the outbreak of COVID-19, to the turbulent financial markets and to expenses relating to the sale of Jyske Bank (Gibraltar). Moreover, activity levels were adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. Hence, core income fell by 4% relative to the first half of 2019, among other things due to lower bank loans and advances. The lower bank loans and advances contributed to an increase in the deposit surplus by DKK 8 bn to DKK 33 bn in the first half of the year despite the introduction of negative deposit rates for parts of personal clients deposits as of 1 December 2019. However, the second quarter saw signs of improvement as net interest income rose by 5% due to a lower limit of DKK 250,000 for zero interest on personal clients deposit as of 1 May. Hence, this initiative countered the lower demand for credit as well as a higher deposit rate on clients deposits in e.g. NemKonto, to -0.60% from -0.75%. Adjusted for costs relating to the sale of Jyske Bank (Gibraltar), core expenses fell by 4%, as the number of full-time employees was reduced by 7%, and the changed work routines after the outbreak of COVID-19 reduced expenses for e.g. travelling. In the first half of the year, credit quality remained strong, and the proportion of non-performing loans and advances continued to fall. In the first quarter, an amount of DKK 1 bn was recognised as an expense for potential impairment charges in consequence of the outbreak of COVID-19, and this management's estimate was still intact at the end of the first half of the year. Jyske Banks direct exposure to especially affected industries, such as the airline, shipping and retail industries, hotels and restaurants as well as the leisure industry is estimated to be smaller than would be implied by the banks normal market share. At the end of the first half of 2020, Jyske Bank had a historically high capital ratio of 22.2% with a capital buffer of DKK 13 bn and a liquidity coverage (LCR) of DKK 92 bn. The capital and liquidity buffer continues to be able to withstand severe stress scenarios. Outlook Jyske Bank anticipates that the economic activity level in Denmark will deteriorate significantly in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It is expected that a lower level of core income will be generated compared to 2019 due to more moderate fee income, while it is still expected that net interest income over the coming quarters will be higher than in the first quarter of 2020. Jyske Bank aims to keep core expenses, inclusive of expenses of a one-off nature of DKK 75m, at an unchanged level in 2020, through continuing focus on costs. Due to the expected economic and technological development the number of employees is expected to decrease by 150-200 by mid-2021. The natural employee turnover is normally 200-300 annually, and the reduction is thus expected to be realised primarily by natural attrition. Additionally, a decrease in the number of branches of approximately 20% is expected by mid-2021 due to changed customer behaviour. It is expected that loan impairment charges will be at a higher level than in 2019 due to a management's estimate relating to COVID-19. For 2020, a net profit of DKK 1.0 bn - 1.5 bn is expected. The expectations are based on the assumption that the financial markets will show a stable development, and the expectations are exclusive of expenses of a one-off nature, which amounted to DKK 75m in the first half of the year. Yours faithfully, Jyske Bank Contact: Anders Dam, Managing Director and CEO, tel. +45 89 89 20 01 Birger Krgh Nielsen, CFO, tel. +45 89 89 64 44. Attachments New Delhi/Srinagar, Aug 19 : A year after additional security personnel were deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, the Central government on Wednesday withdrew around 12,000 troopers of various paramilitary forces, indicating a significant improvement in the law and order situation of the Union Territory. Ahead of the nullification of the Constitution's Articles 370 and 35A on August 5 last year, the government had made additional deployments of paramilitary forces to Jammu and Kashmir, anticipating Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks and separatist violence. The intelligence inputs about possible terror attacks had followed after the Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bombing in February in Pulwama, in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in its order on Wednesday, said that the government had reviewed the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) which includes the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in Jammu & Kashmir. After the review, the government decided to withdraw 100 companies - 40 companies of the CRPF and 20 companies each of the BSF, the SSB and the CISF with immediate effect. All the companies have been asked to revert to their respective locations. A copy of the order was sent to the Union Territory government, headed by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and all the CAPFs based in J&K. The law and order related incidents in Kashmir Valley have dropped dramatically in the last one year. As per the data, civilian casualties due to stone-pelting incidents and the subsequent clashes with security forces, came down by 87.5 per cent in 2019 (January to July) when compared to the corresponding period in 2018. The killings in stone-pelting incidents in the non-winter nine month period last year came down by 62 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2018. As per the data, civilian casualties due to stone-pelting incidents and the subsequent clashes with security forces in 2019, were 94 per cent less than the number in 2016. Similarly, the injured due to stone-pelting incidents were down by 70 per cent in 2019 compared to 2016. The Kashmir Valley, in 2016, had witnessed massive Pakistan-sponsored separatist violence after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter by security forces. The Story of Rubin Hurricane Carter: Wrongly Convicted Boxer, Dylans Muse In this piece, Daniel Reifsnyder explores how Bob Dylans protest song The Hurricane helped draw national attention to the plight of wrongly convicted Black activist and former boxer Rubin Carter. Guest post by Daniel Reifsnyder of Soundflys Flypaper America has been grappling with racism and inequality for hundreds of years a struggle that has even continued through today to dominate our present reality in numerous ways. Sadly, racism and inequality are likely to continue to plague our communities into the future, but that doesnt mean we cant voice our opinions, express our desires for change, and use creativity to build support for movements. In the 1960s and 70s, protest songs became an important way to bring attention to injustice and shine a light on the marginalized and oppressed. Today were going to talk about one such occurrence and the story behind it. This article reflects on Bob Dylans epic protest song The Hurricane which helped bring about national attention to a wrongly convicted Black activist named Rubin Carter, a former boxer who was serving life in prison for a crime to which no evidence ties him and what we can learn from this tragedy. Here comes the story of the Hurricane Rubin Hurricane Carter was a promising athlete born in New Jersey in 1937. He got his nickname as a result of his fast and furious punches, and an uncanny ability to achieve knockouts very quickly. In the 1960s, he went pro as a boxer, which kickstarted an impressive career that led him to become a top contender for the World Middleweight Crown. That was, at least, until he was falsely accused of murder and convicted by a nearly all-white jury. Here are some highlights from his early career showing his incredible potential. Being Black in the 50s was ultimately a crushing existence of poverty, oppression, and daily persecution. Carters hometown of Paterson, New Jersey was divided and segregated by color; certain restaurants and establishments simply would not serve the Black community. Schools, busses, and most other institutions were segregated and separated, and the threat of violence was almost always present. During a hunting trip, Carter and his family were nearly run off the road by a white man in a truck. Local police were no allies to the Black community of northern New Jersey either. People of Color were routinely harassed by law enforcement on the flimsiest of excuses (does this sound familiar?), and were often the first to be targeted as well as the last to be believed. Unfortunately Carter got himself onto the police radar at an early age for attacking a man with a Boy Scout knife. According to Carter, the man was a pedophile who was preying on his friends and sexually assaulting him. But rather than investigate the alleged pedophile, Carter was quickly sentenced to seven years in juvenile prison at the age of eleven. Perhaps if he had kept his head down, the young Carter could have eked out a life in this landscape of staggering inequality but a fighter he was, and so he instead decided to take a stand by getting into activism. Initially, he marched and protested with Martin Luther King. He became an outspoken Muslim and increasingly used his rising star status and media spotlight to bring attention to the cause of racial injustice and equality. His increasing success as a boxer allowed him to live loud. Carter wore expensive tailored suits and drove a new custom Cadillac with his name emblazoned on it; this level of swagger mustve been highly unusual for white people to take in at the time, and Carter mustve had a target painted on his chest. Here was a successful Black man, but someone already branded locally as a troublemaker from his years in juvenile detention. Its no surprise they were looking for an opportunity to take him down. Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night And then, on June 17th, 1966, at 2 AM, two Black men entered a bar in Paterson and killed two white men and a woman, and wounding a third man. Carter, having spent the night club hopping, met his acquaintance John Artis, and was giving him a ride home when they were stopped by police on route. Carter and Artis did not match the description of the shooters other than that they were both Black. After being hauled in for questioning and passing lie detector tests with flying colors, police trotted both of them in front of the victim who had been wounded. The witness, Willie Marins, insisted these were not the men that attacked the bar. The woman who was shot, Hazel Tanis, miraculously survived and clung to life for a month before succumbing to her injuries. During that time, she was able to describe to police in detail, the look of the men who stood over her at point blank range and shot her multiple times. When she was presented with photos of Carter and Artis in a lineup, Tanis did not recognize either of them them. In fact, she pointed out two different individuals entirely. But despite the lie detector tests and eyewitness statements from the victims, police singularly continued to pursue Carter and Artis as primary suspects in the Paterson killings. Youll be doin society a favor that sonofabitch is brave and gettin braver Two career criminals, Alfred Bello and Arthur D. Bradley who were committing a burglary in the neighborhood at the time of the murders, and one of whom was robbing the register of the bar right after the shooting claimed to have witnessed two Black men exit the bar after the shooting started. In return for dropping certain charges against them, the duo agreed to implicate Carter and Artis during trial. The states case was, unsurprisingly, very weak. Not only did they never find a murder weapon, but police also never bothered to conduct gunpowder tests on either man, which wouldve determined that they had recently fired a handgun. Normally in a brutal triple homicide, the suspects might have bloodstains and splatter on their clothes; neither Artis nor Carter had any whatsoever. The prosecution claimed they found bullet shell casings in Rubins car a fact that Carters attorney challenged. Those shells were not even of the same type used in the murders. The DA said he was the one who did the deed and the all white jury agreed Being a notable figure locally, and having been at multiple clubs that night, Carter was able to provide extensive witness testimony placing him elsewhere at the time of the murders. When he took the stand, he wore the same cream-colored suit he was arrested in the night he was accused. He did this to highlight the fact that witnesses claimed the men who shot up the bar (and did not match either mans description) wore dark clothes. Nonetheless, the jury (all white but for one West Indian) convicted both Rubin Carter and John Artis on all counts. The sentence: Life in prison. It is important to remember that this was 1967, a time of racial upheaval. The 1965 Watts riots were fresh in peoples memory, and the Long, Hot Summer of 1967 which included 159 race riots across the country was happening at that very moment in time. The fact that here in small city New Jersey, two Black men allegedly killed three white people only underscored the racial tone. The white community of Paterson got its way this time; a troublesome, uppity Black man was put in his place. While in prison, thanks in part to his celebrity status, Carter was offered a book deal, the result of which was a 1974 autobiography called The Sixteenth Round. After this book was published, many reporters, celebrities, and dignitaries were interested in his case, including Coretta Scott King, Muhammad Ali, Burt Reynolds, and Stevie Wonder; and contributed to Carter becoming a national conversation topic. Press shot for The Mike Douglas Show (1975). Image courtesy of the Detroit Public Library. Yet despite the public outcry, celebrity attention, and the states obviously weak case against him, Carter and Artiss appeals were routinely denied. That was until 1974, when the prosecutions star witnesses Bello and Bradley recanted their statements naming Carter and his friend as the murderers. Rubins defense team successfully used this as the basis to overturn his conviction and the prosecution decided to try Carter yet again. Unfortunately, it was all for nought. Bradley refused to cooperate further, and Bello recanted his recantation, reverting back to his original story (with some key variations). And once again, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Carter and Artis were again convicted; their original life sentences reimposed. East Jersey State Prison, formerly known as Rahway, where Carter was imprisoned. In the midst of all this, Bob Dylan met with Carter after reading his biography, and penned his newest modern day protest song, The Hurricane. In 1976, between being sung on tour, spun on the radio, and talked about in the media, the song helped raise even more awareness as well as funds to help Carters situation get a closer examination. Its an incredible song that went all the way to #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dylan stepped into the ring for Carter. But in doing so, he became a lightning rod for controversy himself. Dylan was immediately accused of factual inaccuracies, including directly misquoting key figures in his song and exaggerating certain details of Carters career. Dylans label, Columbia, wrung their hands about this as well. Worried theyd be sued for libel, they pleaded with Dylan to change some of the lyrics and re-record the song; and, although he did, he was eventually sued by at least one witness. Dylan won. Despite any inaccuracies it may have, the song was never intended to be one hundred percent factual. One more note on Dylans song. I would be remiss here if I did not add a note about the fact that Dylan uses an offensive racial epithet in his lyrics. While offensive, and not something I personally would use in my own songwriting, it gets to the actual issue being discussed: Race in America; how we talk about race; how we engage with it; and how race affected the outcome of Carters wrongful imprisonment. While I certainly dont believe Dylan is racist, looking at this from a purely songwriting angle, it puts listeners in a difficult spot because the word he uses isnt his to use. Its a word that immediately triggers trauma in many individuals. And yet he does use it, and he makes us sit with it, shocked and uncomfortable. The goal, as with the rest of the song, is to shock the country to this injustice, both Carters and Americas. One last complicating aspect of Carters story that gets little attention amidst the rest of the drama, but I feel is important to mention, is activist Carolyn Kelleys 1976 accusation that Carter violently assaulted her to the point of blacking out in a hotel room. Though he was never charged for the assault, evidence and accounts do seem to truthfully corroborate Kelleys retelling of the incident, and it did have a negative effect on Carters public appearance at the 1976 retrial when he was again sentenced to life in prison. But in 1985, nearly twenty years after his original conviction, Carters life sentence was finally overturned and he was released from prison (Artis had been paroled just a couple years prior) due to the newly appointed Federal Judge H. Lee Sarokin granting a writ of habeas corpus. Sarokin found the trial to be rife with racial prejudice, grave constitutional violations, and found the state had withheld exculpatory evidence. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the judges decision to overturn, and with the Supreme Court declining to hear the case, the prosecution had little choice but to drop it. Sarokin never heard the Dylan song, and in fact declined to listen to it when someone presented it to him. Thats the story of the Hurricane This is a mysterious story, with strange twists and a lot of uncertainty. The reason we tell the story of Rubin Hurricane Carter is not to glorify an imperfect man put up on a pedestal by a cultural icon. We tell this story because of what it reveals in our own justice system, and the imbalances in sentencing and evidence-consideration when it comes to racial bias. For Carters part, he used his newfound freedom in a way you might expect; he became a public speaker and advocate for the wrongly accused. He moved to Canada and became a naturalized citizen perhaps understandably, no longer feeling comfortable in the U.S. He died of cancer in 2014, a free man. Daniel Reifsnyder is a Nashville-based, Grammy-nominated songwriter, having started his musical journey at the age of 3. In addition to being an accomplished commercial actor, his voice can be heard on The Magic School Bus theme song and in Home Alone 2. Throughout his career, he has had the honor of working with the likes of Michael Jackson and Little Richard among many others. He is a regular contributor to several music related blogs, including his own, Songsmithing.net. Share on: Las Vegas police and the Rio Hotel & Casino are being sued by a group of black partygoers who claim officers stormed into their hotel room, arrested multiple people and then publicized it as a 'gang party'. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed the lawsuit on Monday on behalf of 11 of the 34 people who were at the hotel room party at the Rio Hotel & Casino back in August 2018. The ACLU said that all 34 people who attended the party were black and has claimed that the conduct of police and hotel staff that night violated their constitutional rights. According to the complaint, two people had booked a room at the hotel to host a birthday party for the 34 guests. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed the lawsuit on Monday on behalf of 11 of the 34 people who were at the hotel room party at the Rio Hotel & Casino back in August 2018 Hotel staff, who knew about the party plans, had spoken to guests prior about the hotel's noise policies, the court documents say. The lawsuit says that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, accompanied by hotel staff, 'stormed into the suite' at about 2am. All 34 guests were allegedly searched, handcuffed and forced to sit in the hotel hallway for up to six hours with no access to water, food or a restroom. At least nine people were eventually taken into custody. Despite none of the guests being arrested for criminal gang activity, the ACLU says police posted on social media at the time that they had broken up a 'large gang party' where 'over a dozen documented gang members were arrested'. In Twitter post from the time, officers said five firearms had been recovered at the scene. The mugshots of those nine partygoers were also released by police at the time. Despite none of the guests being arrested for criminal gang activity, the ACLU pointed to this social media post from the time in which they said they had broken up a 'large gang party' where 'over a dozen documented gang members were arrested' The mugshots of those nine partygoers were also released by police at the time. Pictured (left to right): Antonio Williams, Antron Sims, Lexus Sherman, Phillip Semper, Steven Neal, Corey Johnson, Michael Green, Jerome Francis and Ashley Medlock The ACLU said the despite the police department claiming the birthday party was a 'gang party', none of the guests who were arrested were taken into custody for criminal gang activity. Ashley Medlock, one of the women who was arrested that night and is a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement put out by ACLU: 'The Rio knew we were having a birthday party when the room was booked. But instead of having a good time we were treated like criminals and harassed by the police and the hotel. 'Since when is it a crime to be black and go to a birthday?' The ACLU said officers carried out pat-downs and record checks 'indiscriminately' without any suspicious that any of the 34 guests had engaged, or would have engaged, in criminal activity. ACLU of Nevada staff attorney Nikki Levy said Las Vegas police and the Rio hotel violated her clients rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. 'We filed this case to confront police policies that allow officers to conduct these kinds of indiscriminate and pretextual searches, and we want to make it clear that it is unacceptable to label an entire gathering as a 'gang party' just because the party guests are black.' Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, awarded medals "for impeccable service" yesterday to law enforcement officials who have helped him crack down on protesters demanding he step down in the 10 days since a 'rigged' election. In an effort to clamp down on strikes that have hit important factories, the government also issued a message to managers of state-run plants telling them to ensure workers turn up or be disciplined. Mr Lukashenko is under the biggest pressure of his 26-year rule, with no sign of an end to the protests and strikes over the election, which the president claims he won with 80pc of the vote but protesters say was blatantly rigged. At least two protesters have been killed and thousands detained in the post-election crackdown. Many of those detained have complained of punishment beatings, cramped conditions and starvation rations. Opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, who spent summers as a teenager in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, says she was the rightful winner. Ms Tikhanouskaya has fled abroad, urging her followers to rise up. Hundreds of protesters chanting "shame" gathered at a theatre in Minsk yesterday in solidarity with its director, who was fired for speaking out in support of the opposition. "All of this outrageous, unfair lawlessness shows us how this rotten system works, where one person controls everything," Ms Tikhanouskaya said in a video. "One man has kept the country in fear for 26 years. One man stole the choice of Belarusians." Attention is firmly focused on how Russia will respond to the biggest political crisis facing an ex-Soviet neighbour since 2014 in Ukraine when Moscow intervened militarily after an allied leader was toppled by public protests. Of all former Soviet republics, Belarus is the closest to Russia culturally, politically and economically, with a treaty that proclaims the two countries part of a "union state" with a Soviet-style red flag. But Russian president Vladimir Putin and Mr Lukashenko have had a difficult personal relationship. European officials privately say the situation in Belarus is different from that in Ukraine six years ago, in part because the Belarus opposition is not necessarily seeking to loosen ties with Russia, merely to get rid of Mr Lukashenko. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Mr Putin by telephone yesterday. The Kremlin claimed Mr Putin warned both against foreign meddling in Belarus. In an emotional video during a prime slot on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, progressive activist and father Ady Barkan explained his support for Joe Biden and his vision for single-payer health care. Barkan was dianosed with the degenerative neurological disease ALS, which is fatal, in 2016 shortly after the birth of his son and just before Donald Trump was elected, and has become a prominent voice for Medicare for All, initially backing Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders before endorsing Biden in July. Barkan delivered a message addressed to his children at the start of his convention video: "I don't know how much longer I'll be around for you." That footage was from when he was still able to speak. He gave the rest of his convention speech with the assistive technology of a computer voice. He disagrees with Biden on health care; Biden has said he wants a Medicare-like option and to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and opposes Medicare for All. But Barkan said when he endorsed Biden that "winning this election is essential." Took me 36 years to get a spot at the DNC. Took Willow only 9 months. My #DemConvention speech. pic.twitter.com/E36b3VYo4c Ady Barkan (@AdyBarkan) August 19, 2020 We live in the richest country in history and yet we do not guarantee this most basic human right. Everyone living in America should get the health care they need regardless of their employment status or ability to pay, Barkan said in his convention speech Tuesday. Barkan called out Biden in a video last September for being the only Democratic candidate not to respond to his request to sit down for a conversation on health care. The two have since had that conversation. Story continues Read USA TODAY's live coverage: Barack Obama to rip into Trump by name during Democratic convention speech DNC makes its case for Biden: Decent. Empathetic. Not Trump. 'Playing right into their hands': Trump knocks Mitch McConnell, Republicans for USPS hearings during RNC Barkan has urged progressives and democratic socialists not to sit out of the November election despite their ideological differences with Biden. In their discussion, Barkan said he would take Biden up on an offer to help figure out whats enough on health care should Biden be elected. "Despite the literal and figurative distances between us, I know that the vice president heard what I was saying. He listened, he understood, and he promised to continue doing both after he is elected," Barkan said in his endorsement. Biden told Barkan he would seek to expand home- and community-based health services, a priority for many Americans with disabilities. Barkan made waves in 2017 when he was filmed confronting former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake over a tax-cut bill he worried would gut health care and disability funding. "What should I tell my son, or what would you tell my son if you pass this bill and he cuts funding for disability and I can't get a ventilator?" he asked Flake. Barkan has said that it's important for Democrats to win in November so that rather than defending against Trump administration actions, activists like him can fight for their causes with a president who will listen. On Tuesday, Barkan said that once Biden is in the White House, progressives can continue advocating for further action on health care. We must elect Joe Biden. Each of us must be a hero for our communities, for our country, and then, with a compassionate and intelligent president, we must act together and put on his desk a bill that guarantees us all the health care we deserve, Barkan said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DNC: Ady Barkan urges progressives to vote Biden, advocates for health care US must swiftly end catastrophic presence in Afghanistan: Iran Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 4:38 PM Iran has dismissed as "utterly bogus" the claims in some US media reports that other states are offering bounties to Taliban militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan, saying Washington must end its "catastrophic presence" in the war-torn country instead of blaming others for the crisis there. "The US government which has no answer to give to the families of its soldiers killed in Afghanistan is seeking to cover up its miscalculation in Afghanistan through media hype," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday. He added that the US is bogged down in a self-created quagmire in Afghanistan, while the blood of American soldiers is shed thousands of miles away from their own country due to the White House's wrong policies, which have brought nothing but "years of war and bloodshed for the innocent Afghan people." The Iranian officials called on the US to act responsibly and end its destructive presence in Afghanistan as soon as possible instead of pointing the finger of blame at others. Khatibzadeh also on Monday rejected "baseless" claims by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Tehran arms the Taliban, saying the allegation seeks to deflect attention from the American assistance to Daesh in Afghanistan. "The accusations leveled by the US secretary of state amount to a type of blame game and an attempt at diverting the public opinion from Washington's instances of assistance to Daesh," he said. Pompeo claimed last week, "We know that the Russians have armed the Taliban in the past, right. We know that the Iranians continue to arm them today." In June, the New York Times, citing an unnamed source, claimed that a top-secret unit within the Russian military intelligence, or the GRU, had allegedly offered monetary rewards to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troopers in the country last year. Russia dismissed the claims as a bunch of "lies." The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the banner of following the September 11 attacks in order to wage a "war on terror" thousands of miles away from America's own borders. The invasion toppled the Taliban militant group, but the group now controls more territory than at any point since being ousted from power and is engaged in peace talks with the United States. Daesh has also gone from strength to strength, especially in eastern Afghanistan, after suffering crushing defeats in Syria and Iraq. At the time of Syrian and Iraqi advances, various sources reported and regional officials confirmed that the US military was airlifting Daesh militants from battlefields and transferring them to Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nebraska bans dismemberment abortions; procedure not welcomed in civilized society, says governor Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts has signed a bill into law that largely bans dismemberment abortions, declaring that the procedure should not exist in a humane, civilized society. The states unicameral legislature voted 33-8 on Thursday to pass LB814, which bans dilation and evacuation abortions save in the event of a life-threatening medical emergency. It shall be unlawful for any person to purposely perform or attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion and thereby kill an unborn child unless a dismemberment abortion is necessary due to a medical emergency, reads the bill. No woman upon whom an abortion is performed or attempted to be performed shall be liable for performing or attempting to perform a dismemberment abortion. No nurse, secretary, receptionist, or other employee or agent who is not a physician, but who acts at the direction of a physician, shall be liable for performing or attempting to perform a dismemberment abortion. Ricketts signed the bill into law on Saturday, saying in a statement that Nebraska is a pro-life state, and this week the Legislature took an important step to strengthen our culture of life. [Senator Suzanne Geists] bill bans the horrific procedure of dismemberment abortion, which tears apart a living babys body limb by limb, stated the governor. This brutal procedure has no place in a humane, civilized society. I commend Sen. Geist, and the bills supporters in the Unicameral, for outlawing this barbaric practice in Nebraska. The Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the bill in a series of posts to Twitter, promising to overturn the new law. LB 814 disregards Nebraskans health and undermines their freedom to make personal decisions in consultation with their physicians, tweeted the ACLU of Nebraska. It puts a narrow ideological agenda over patient health. It makes it a crime for doctors to use their best medical judgment. Ricketts voiced support for a dismemberment abortion ban in a column published in March, labeling it a barbaric procedure that literally rips apart a preborn child. Imagine watching a sleeping baby girl peacefully suck her thumb inside of her mothers womb. Then consider the horror of seeing that same baby girl flail her tiny arms and legs as an abortionist uses forceps to clutch at her body, wrote Ricketts. Senators have the opportunity this session to act quickly and decisively to end this horrendous form of abortion. Dismemberment abortion bans have previously been passed in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia. Although courts have typically blocked or struck down such legislation, a decision earlier this month by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit allowed for Arkansas ban to take effect on Aug. 28. COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca could be India's first antidote to the virus. While locally developed COVID-19 vaccines are also in the race, the Oxford vaccine might get the necessary approval by the end of 2020. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also ahead of its Indian counterparts when it comes to clinical trials. "If the vaccine gets the nod, and given that it is being produced in India, it makes sense to use it," said a source in the know to Times of India. Serum Institute of India (SII) is aiming to start Phase 3 trials of the coronavirus vaccine this week. The tests would initially take place across 10 centres in the country. Eventually, 1,600 volunteers would be part of the vaccine trials. Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN and Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D are in initial stages of trials. The Oxford coronavirus vaccine has already completed early Phase 1 and 2 trials in the UK. The trials have shown positive results. The preliminary results show that the COVID-19 vaccine induces antibody response within 28 days similar to people who have recovered from COVID-19. A second booster shot enhanced the response to higher levels. All the blood samples of people who received the booster shots showed neutralising activity. Coronavirus vaccine: Oxford vaccine to be India's first shot; Australia will offer doses for free. Also read: Oxford coronavirus vaccine: Serum Institute to begin Phase 3 trials this week CORONAVIRUS VACCINE GLOBALLY Australia: Australia has said that it will make coronavirus vaccine mandatory. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the COVID-19 vaccine would be procured and given to its citizens for free. "The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian. If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians," he said. He said that they want to make the COVID-19 mandatory to ensure that the country returns to normal life. Russia: Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund candidate has said that Russia is keen to get India onboard for their vaccine candidate. "We have great cooperation with India, Indian scientists and Indian manufacturers. They understand our technology," said Dmitriev. "We saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi comment that India is open to manufacturing the vaccine in their country...India has already invested in the vaccine sector heavily with top companies and manufacturing capabilities already exist in India, hence Moscow is keen to manufacture Sputnik V in India," Dmitriev said. Also read: Sputnik V production in India? Russia keen to produce coronavirus vaccine in country China: China has approved the patent for the first coronavirus vaccine. Chinese vaccine specialist CanSino has won a patent approval from Beijing for its coronavirus candidate, Ad5-nCOV. Meanwhile, Sinopharm has said that the COVID-19 vaccine would cost no more than 1,000 yuan ($144.27) for two shots. State media quoted chairman Liu Jingzhen as saying that Sinopharm's experimental vaccine could be ready for public use by the end of this year. It has entered a late-stage human test in the United Arab Emirates to gather proof of efficacy for final regulatory approvals. "It will not be priced very high. It is expected to cost a few hundred yuan for a shot, and for two shots it should be less than 1,000 yuan," Liu told the Guangming Daily newspaper. Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Russia produces first batch; CanSino receives patent approval in China By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 40 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. --- Candidates will be required to carry their admit card along with two photographs and an original and copy of their ID proof The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has released the Computer Assistant 2020 exam admit card on its website uppsc.up.nic.in. The commission will conduct the exam on 23 August at various centres across the state. It will be held for a total duration of one-and-a-half hour, from 12 pm till 1.30 pm. Candidates will be required to carry their admit card along with two photographs and an original and copy of their ID proof. Candidates can get their admit card by logging in using their registration number and date of birth. Those appearing for the examination will have to wear a face mask and carry a sanitiser while appearing for the exam in view of the coronavirus outbreak. They will also have to bring their own water bottles. Candidates have been advised to reach the exam centre at least an hour before the scheduled time. Steps to download the UPPSC Computer Assistant exam 2020 admit card: Step 1: Visit the official website of UPPSC - uppsc.up.nic.in. Step 2: Choose "CLICK HERE DO DOWNLOAD ADMIT CARD FOR ADVT. NO. A-3/E-1/2019 COMPUTER ASSISTANT EXAM.-2019. Step 3: Candidates will be directed to a new page where they will have to enter their registration number, date of birth in DD/MM/YYYY format, gender and verification code. Step 4: Click the Download Admit Card button. Step 5: Download and take a print out. Candidates can download the admit card by 23 August. The St. Paul Jewish Federation has chosen Arrevas ExceedFurther as their All-in-One, Fundraising and Donor Relationship Management Software We are incredibly grateful that we have ExceedFurther, as it is an essential success factor for us, especially in these difficult times. - Jeffrey Prottas, CFRE, Chief Development Officer at the St. Paul Jewish Federation Arreva, the trusted advisor and industry leader of fundraising, donor relationship management, and virtual auction software, is thrilled to announce that the St. Paul Jewish Federation has chosen Arrevas ExceedFurther as their All-in-One, Fundraising and Donor Relationship Management Software because of its unique ability to meet the needs of Jewish Federations. We never could have imagined how critical having a virtual, cloud-based, all-in-one platform with powerful virtual online fundraising, donor relationship management capabilities would soon become, given the COVID-19 Pandemic, but we are incredibly grateful that we have ExceedFurther as it is an essential success factor for us, especially in these difficult times, said Jeffrey Prottas, CFRE, Chief Development Officer at the St. Paul Jewish Federation. Prottas adds, We are especially pleased with the flexibility of the cloud-based solution, allowing our team to access the entire platform and data anywhere. We are also grateful. in this changed environment. to have robust virtual applications for online donations, online pledges, peer-to-peer fundraising, and more to help us continue to raise funds and serve our community. Born from three decades of genuine understanding and passion for nonprofit organizations, Arrevas ExceedFurther uniquely delivers a truly evolutionary, holistic approach to fundraising and donor relationship management that helps nonprofits easily streamline their operations to more easily build awareness, transform fundraising, and cultivate and engage donors while they further their missions. Guided through experience and partnership with the Jewish Federations, ExceedFurther specifically meets the needs of the Federations as a one-stop unified solution for online giving with payment processing, donor relationship management, pledge management, recurring giving, peer-to-peer fundraising, event management, campaign management, grant management, memberships, reporting and analytics, and powerful third-party partner integrations including QuickBooks, DonorSearch, Double the Donation, Constant Contact, Wealth Engine and more. As many growing Jewish Federations are seeking ways to truly transform and elevate their fundraising and donor relationship efforts. Im very grateful and honored to count the St. Paul Jewish Federation among the Federations who have chosen to make the move to ExceedFurther, said David Blyer, Arreva CEO. Were enjoying great success in delivering on the specific needs and requirements of the Jewish Federations through our all-in-one, cloud-based fundraising and donor relationship management software and are extremely pleased that our robust virtual event and online fundraising capabilities are helping Jewish Federations further their cause, especially given the changed fundraising landscape given these turbulent times. Weve had a great history of partnering with Federations which we value immensely. It is rewarding to see that the functionality and capabilities in ExceedFurther align so well with the needs of the St. Paul Jewish Federation and other Federations. Learn more about Arreva at http://www.arreva.com or schedule a personal consultation and demo of Arrevas ExceedFurther, the All-in-One, Cloud-based Fundraising and Donor Relationship Management Software at http://www.arreva.com/demo. About Arreva Arreva is a trusted advisor and market leader of fundraising, donor relationship management, and auction software that has been serving the nonprofit industry for more than three decades. Arrevas, ExceedFurther All-in-One, Fundraising and Donor Relationship Management software is helping nonprofits worldwide further their mission, transform fundraising, and cultivate relationships with donors and constituents. Our MaestroAuction Online TM and MaestroAuctionTM virtual, live, and silent auction software, Text2Bid virtual and mobile bidding software, and Text2Fund text-based donation software are helping nonprofits raise billions of dollars and further their cause through thousands of virtual fundraising events, charity auctions and galas. Many Christians may wonder, when a pastor commits adultery, how long they must be away from preaching or if they should withdraw from the public ministry for some time. As some pastors believe, every individual commits a crime because no one on earth is perfect as the bible states. "Scripture doesn't mince words about adultery," said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. "From the Ten Commandments to the Apostle Paul's lists of wicked things, to the qualifications for elders listed in 1 Timothy, adultery is not appropriate for a follower of Christ nor a leader of a local church." However, few believe though everyone sins, there are standards and it all depends on the pastor's mindset and commitment to Jesus but has failed to do so. "Around 1 in 6 pastors (16%) believe an offending pastor should stay gone for at least a year." "Other pastors want them to be away from public ministry for a longer period of time: 10% say at least two years, 7% say at least five years, and 1% say at least 10 years." Before 2016, the withdrawal percentage was lower from 31% (current) to 27%. Debating and calculating the percentage, many seem to believe a pastor who commits adultery should withdraw from public ministry permanently. On the other hand, "three in 10 pastors (31%) say they aren't sure what the appropriate time frame would be. "While the Bible is clear that this behavior does not fit a pastor or elder of a church. There is much debate over how long this act would disqualify someone from pastoral ministry." Compared to 2016, pastors now are less likely to say less than a year (6% to 10%) or at least a year (16% to 21%) is the right amount of time away. McConnell stated, "it is not surprising that fewer pastors believe public ministry should be restored in a year." Overall, there is more uncertainty among pastors now. Current pastors are more likely to say they are not sure of the appropriate time away from the public ministry today (31%) than in 2016 (25%)." Kenyas economic growth prospects remain excellent, notwithstanding the steady slowdown in growth from 6.3% in 2018, to 5.4% in 2019 and to 4.9% in the first quarter, which was the slowest pace of expansion since the second quarter of 2017. The Covid pandemic has increasingly wreaked havoc on most global economies since April 2020. National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Mr Ukur Yatani, has said that the economy is expected to grow at a much slower pace of between 1.8% and 2.5% this year, from an earlier forecast of 6%, given the impact of the virus. As the largest and most developed economy in East Africa, Kenya is set to continue as one of the fastest growing economies on the Continent, but with nearly half of the 50 million population living below the poverty line and two thirds not having access to basic financial services such as bank accounts, there will need to an intensified focus on Trade, development finance and the energy sector, program areas identified by USAID. Another aspect critical to the future growth in Kenya and the East African region as a whole, will be the appointment of competent business leaders, with the requisite credentials to lead their companies effectively and steer them successfully, without blemish, on a continent ravaged by corruption. Private sector business leaders must strive to lead honorably and lawfully, exposing suspected corruption at every turn, says Thuli Nkosi, Director at BossJansen Africa Executive Search, in South Africa. She says, more than ever, as we look towards a post Covid world, it is time for Kenyan companies to headhunt the right people for their businesses. Headhunting is sometimes the most efficient option for companies in contrast to traditional recruitment processes, or making use of internal HR staff. BossJansen is focused on assisting leading companies across Pan Africa, with their key strategic senior talent requirements and has been focusing more on more on the Kenyan market, as companies increasingly look to ensure that their senior recruitment processes leave no stone unturned and are handled by a professional search firm. Thuli highlights that headhunting, otherwise known as retained search/executive search, involves finding the most suitable and skilled professional to take up a specific senior role in a company even if the individual is not actively looking for a new job. This is often the case with top performing and highly valued competent people. They are typically passive in the job market and it requires a skilled and professional approach to attract them to a new career move. Using a professional search firm enables the process to be as robust and unbiased as possible. These search firms are adept at closing in on individuals who come highly respected and regarded in the market, who possess the capability to deliver on the requirements of the role and on the company mandate. It is a highly focused and very targeted approach. This very thorough process involves identifying target industries and companies, before handpicking the best candidates to approach. Candidates are vetted thoroughly and high level references obtained. Respected Headhunters are specialists who recruit for specific industries and have significant networks and connections, says Thuli Nkosi. At BossJansen, they are armed with a plethora of tools at their disposal and years of experience in the art of senior level career negotiation, which means that they can make incredibly accurate and specific assessments to help companies find the right people. Visit https://www.bossjansen.com/ now for more information. Paris Hilton is never one to be vulnerable, at least on television and her public appearances. Even though she embodies the carefree blonde girl for years, everyone knows she is not someone to mess with -- what she wants, she gets. By her own admission though, she said her childhood was traumatic and not as magical as people think. In the trailer of her upcoming YouTube Originals documentary entitled "This is Paris," the enigmatic socialite said that something happened to her when she was just a child, which was so traumatic that it changed her life. According to her, she never talked about this trauma with anyone, but she was forced her to create a public persona because of it. This is the persona that the world comes to know Paris Hilton as -- someone wealthy, spoiled and certainly untouchable. As people assume she has a perfect life, the documentary will be showing that her public life is very different from how she feels inside. It remains to be seen what this trauma was though, which is quite a mystery considering she also revealed that she would be "punished by them" if she reveals what she had gone through. What punishment and why? Who are they? And why is she risking a revelation now? "Something happened in my childhood that I've never talked about with anyone," Paris said. "But I couldn't tell you guys, because every time I tried, I would get punished by them," Paris added. The trauma must have cut her deep because she also said she still has nightmares about it. According to her, she only managed to survive as she kept on thinking who she would be after all the ordeal is over. After surviving the said trauma, it is now apparent that what she has shown to the world for years is actually a brand she just created. It is not her completely, and what is painful for her is that she's now stuck with her public persona ever since. It is clear from the very short trailer that fans would be in for a show. It is not going to be just entertaining to get to know the real Paris Hilton. It would be eye-opening too, especially with the fact that no one truly becomes happy by being who they are not. It can be remembered how Paris graced people's television a little over a decade ago. She was the annoying socialite that was actually hard to hate. She is funny as much as she is a diva. Who is likely to forget all the antics that she and Nicole Richie got into for their reality series "Simple Life?" Who could forget the fact that she is the one who "made" Kim Kardashian, which the latter confirmed? Who could forget how they wondered if Paris was for real when she built her dog a mansion? Given what Paris Hilton promised to show people in this new documentary, these fun memories might be permanently forgotten in exchange for a real understanding of who the socialite truly is and the heartbreaking story behind her persona. READ MORE: George Clooney, Paris Hilton Dragged into Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein Scandal For a better experience on our website and avoid any trouble, we strongly recommand to activate Javascript ( click here ). Hello and welcome to Journal des Palaces You are a communication or the PR manager? Click here You are an applicant? Check out our questions and answers here ! Maruti Suzuki India is aggressively buying land parcels across the country for setting-up sales outlets and service workshops. In the last four years, the country's largest car maker has acquired a total of 118 land parcels worth over Rs 1,500 crore in India for better dealer viability and faster expansion. This happens to be the highest investment in dealership expansion by any automaker in the country. "The company has acquired 118 land parcels for setting-up sales outlets and service workshops on the CODO (Company Owned & Dealer Operated) principle. Six pilot projects are being taken up across zones. During the year, the focus was to complete pre-construction activities and roll out the pilot projects in FY21," Maruti Suzuki said in its annual report for FY20. Based on the learning from these pilot projects, the sales and service facilities will be built on rest of the acquired land parcels, it said. The company said that it will continue to work on this initiative in future with higher focus on setting up small service workshops to increase its service touchpoints. Maruti is buying and providing land parcels to its network partners at reasonable rental rates, thereby preventing stress on their profitability due to rising lease rentals, the auto major said in its annual report. The company believes that network is one of the critical success factors and the land is the most important resource for its fast-paced expansion. As of FY20, Maruti had 3,086 centres in its sales network, which consists of 2,390 Arena outlets, 375 Nexa outlets and 321 Commercial Vehicle outlets. The company markets models including Dzire, Baleno, Swift, and Alto in India. Its parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation is rapidly ramping up capacity at its new plant in Gujarat and plans to add 30 models by 2030, including electric vehicles. To support its sales, the company intends to take dealerships count up to 10,000. For the full fiscal 2020, the company sold a total of 1,563,297 vehicles, 16.1 per cent lower than in 2018-19. In the domestic market, sales were down 16.7 percent at 1,461,126 units while exports were lower by 6 per cent at 102,171 units. Despite the decline, Maruti continues to control more than half of India's passenger vehicle market. Also Read: How to reverse India's economic slowdown? World Bank draws up a revival plan Also Read: Flipkart revenue exceeds pre-Covid level: Walmart CEO Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPPC) president Kuldeep Singh Rathore on Wednesday accused the state government of mismanagement in fruit markets during the apple season. He said there is a threat of spread of Covid-19 in the fruit markets due to poor management by the state government. While addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan here, Rathore said he along with president of district Congress committee Shimla (rural) Yashwant Chhajta went on a two-day visit to apple growing areas of the district during which they interacted with orchardists, truck drivers and others involved in the trade. He said they came to know that there are no proper safety and security arrangements in the fruit markets and commission agents have made some arrangements at their level that are not enough. No screening for the virus is being conducted, people are not practicing social distancing, no cleanliness is maintained and there are no safety and security arrangements in the fruit markets. No one is checking any person coming and going out of these fruit markets which shows that the government is least bothered, Rathore said. He said despite making huge promises, the state government has not been able to provide enough labourers to the orchardists till now. The orchardists had no choice but to bring labourers on their own expense for which they had to pay excessive amounts to private taxis and buses. No arrangements were made by the state government to quarantine labourers, Rathore alleged. He said diseases like scab are also spreading in apple growing areas due to unavailability of required pesticides and fungicides. Commission agents have made it clear that they will not purchase scab affected apples but the chief minister and horticulture minister are not worried about it and their attitudes shows that they are anti-orchardists, he added. Rathore also lashed out at the state government for adopting double standards in dealing with the pandemic. He demanded that cases should be filed against BJP leaders for spreading the virus and violating Covid-19 rules and guidelines. Six whales have died and another is 'likely' to perish in what is being described as the largest live stranding of the animals in Ireland's history. The seven northern bottlenose dolphins were spotted stranded on a beach in Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, on the north west coast of Ireland, on Wednesday. Conservationists rushed to the beach in a desperate bid to help the stranded animals, which usually hunt in deeper waters. But the group could do little more than provide palliative care for six of the whales, which grow to around 32ft in length and can weigh up to 16,530lb (7,500kg). Six of the whales died on the beach, while a seventh whale managed to refloat and was seen swimming away. Experts say the hope of survival is low, but Sibeal Regan, from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), told Sky News that she was 'cautiously optimistic'. Ms Regan said though investigations were underway to find the reason for the stranding, it is often caused by 'acoustic trauma', usually from human activity. The seven northern bottlenose dolphins were spotted stranded on a beach in Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, on the north west coast of Ireland, earlier today Conservationists rushed to the beach (pictured) in a desperate bid to help the stranded animals, which usually hunt in deeper waters But the group could do little more than provide palliative care for the six of the whales, which grow to around 32ft in length and can weigh up to 16,530lb (7,500kg) The northern bottlenose whale: One of the world's deepest-diving mammals The northern bottlenose whale is a type of beaked dolphin which is endemic to the North Atlantic Ocean. It is known for having a has a very distinctive bulbous forehead and a dolphin-like beak. They can grow to around 32ft in length and can weigh up to 16,530lb. Northern bottlenose dolphins normally feed on squid. They can dive to at least 1,500 metres and can reach depths of 2,339 metres, and can stay under water for up to two hours to catch their prey. The current population status for the northern bottlenose whale is unknown. Populations were depleted by commercial whaling, particularly during the 20th Century in Britain and Norway. Advertisement She told Sky News: 'It's very sad, but it is some consolation to know that they are no longer suffering.' On the one remaining whale, she said: 'It's very bleak. Because northern bottlenose whales are deep-diving, the fact that they are in shallow coastal waters means that its chances of survival without the rest of its family are very low.' The group later said they would remain at the beach in order to check if the whale restrands. The latest incident comes after IWDG warned of a spike in animal strandings in the last year. There were 245 reported strandings involving 263 animals in the last year in Ireland say the group. Many had injuries that suggest they have been entangled in fishing nets, the group said. The group say the deaths coincide with the arrival of giant fishing vessels, known as supertrawlers, which target fish close to the surface but far out to sea in Irish waters in Autumn. Earlier this year the group reported that a male Sowerby's beaked whale was spotted in distress in Wicklow Harbor. The whales, which are rarely sighted, are normally found in the North Atlantic. The group believe the whale, which later died, was suffering from acoustic trauma - which is often caused by human activity, including boat noise, noise from ports and the use of naval radar systems. Scientists believe certain types of sounds can cause some sea creatures to panic dive, while it puts others on alert, meaning they spend more time on look-out for predators, rather than carrying out essential activities. Six of the whales died on the beach, while a seventh whale managed to refloat and was seen swimming away There were 245 reported strandings involving 263 animals in the last year in Ireland, according to IWDG What is acoustic trauma and why is it problematic for sea-based mammals? Acoustic trauma is often caused by human activity, including boat noise, noise from ports and the use of naval radar systems. Scientists believe certain types of sounds can cause some sea creatures to panic dive, while it puts others on alert, meaning they spend more time on look-out for predators, rather than carrying out essential activities. Studies also show that dolphins will change their tune, lowering their frequency and reducing the variety in their song, in response to loud background noise. Some whales stop singing at all, according to scientists, causing major communication issues for their pods. Research also shows active sonar, used on some ships for navigation, can cause whales and dolphins to flee the area - thought to be one of the key reasons for strandings. As dolphins and whales also use echolocation for their own navigation, it is believed sonar could also confuse the animals. Advertisement Studies also show that dolphins will change their tune, lowering their frequency and reducing the variety in their song, in response to loud background noise. Some whales stop singing at all, according to scientists, causing major communication issues for their pods. Research also shows active sonar, used on some ships for navigation, can cause whales and dolphins to flee the area - thought to be one of the key reasons for strandings. As dolphins and whales also use echolocation for their own navigation, it is believed sonar could also confuse the animals. In February this year a 60-foot fin whale died after it became stranded on a Cornish beach. The whale washed up at Nare Point, Lizard Peninsula, with wounds across its body. Experts said it was likely the whale had not eaten for some time before it was beached. It had become beached following storm Ciara, which battered the UK coastline in February. A 15ft basking shark died after it became stranded on a beach in Filey, North Yorkshire, in July In December last year, a sperm whale died after being washed up in Scotland. It was found to have a 220lb ball of litter in its stomach, made up of human waste including fishing nets, plastic cups and plastic bags. The enormous whale was alive when it was found beached on Seilebost Beach on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on Thursday. Experts from the Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Scheme (SMASS) say the 45ft long marine mammal died a short time after becoming stranded. A police officer who wrongly arrested a photojournalist is on a leave from work and failed to show up for his disciplinary hearing. Const. Jeff Todoruck was absent from his Police Services Act (PSA) hearing Tuesday. The tribunal learned he is on a leave from Hamilton Police Service and has not communicated with the hearing officer for several months. Todorucks absence ended the days proceedings. In a month, the hearing officer will try to convene a conference call to set another date. This latest delay for a case that is well over three years old raises the possibility Todoruck a veteran officer is dragging the process out until he is eligible for retirement. It is a tactic used sometimes by officers facing PSA charges. Disgraced Hamilton inspector David Doel collected $600,000 in salary during more than four years of suspension. He retired just as his PSA hearing was to begin. Todoruck is not suspended from duty and the prosecutor has not indicated he wants him fired. A hearing can go on without the officer. The Statutory Powers Procedure Act says, If any party notified does not attend at the hearing, the tribunal may proceed in the absence of the party. For now though, everyone agreed to try to have Todoruck participate. Prosecutor Brian Duxbury is not comfortable going ahead without him, particularly because he is representing himself. Global News director Mackay Taggart, the complainant, agrees, but said: I am very disappointed officer Todoruck does not feel it is important to be here today or on previous calls. In June, Todoruck was found guilty of four disciplinary charges: one count of unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority for arresting Jeremy Cohn, who was with Global at the time; two counts of neglect of duty for failing to read Cohn and freelancer Dave Ritchie their rights to counsel; and one count of discreditable conduct for leaving Ritchie handcuffed in his cruiser unattended. Todoruck became aggressive with the photojournalists as they covered a fatal crash in May 2017. When media arrived at the Waterdown scene, the body of Jasmin Hanif, 10, had been removed. Hearing officer Peter Lennox ruled Todoruck overstepped his authority by shouting at the photojournalists, confiscating cameras, handcuffing and even grounding one of them. His actions were recorded by journalists and posted on social media. Ritchie was charged with obstructing police and resisting arrest. He entered into a peace bond and the charges were withdrawn. Cohn was released without charges. Todoruck claimed Cohn and Ritchie interfered with the scene. The hearing officer ruled they did not. Media coverage of Jasmins death led to roads in her neighbourhood being made safer. Tuesdays hearing date was for Todoruck, the prosecutor and Taggart to make submissions regarding penalty. Taggart said he is very disappointed in the way the PSA process has unfolded. He wanted this to be an opportunity for police to improve media training for officers. This is about accountability, but also wanting to create a dialogue, he said. Despite repeated efforts, Taggart has never spoken with Chief Eric Girt or anyone in a position of power at Hamilton police. Girt denied a Spectator interview request. The chief will not be making any comment as the matter is still before the hearing officer, said a spokesperson. This is the second time Hamilton police has been told recently that it needs media training. An independent review of its mishandling of a hate attack at the 2019 Pride event recommended media training for Girt and senior officers. Girt took media training in the fall before the recommendation came out. He will join senior officers for more media training that is being scheduled, according to a spokesperson. Ritchie and Cohn regularly cross paths with Hamilton police. Both say they have respectful even friendly relations with most officers they meet. Girt has offered no apology to Ritchie or Cohn. Militant Pakistan Taliban Brings Splinters Back Into Its Fold By Ayaz Gul August 18, 2020 An alliance of militant groups waging attacks in Pakistan has said several breakaway and new factions have rejoined its ranks in an effort to consolidate their violent campaign, a move critics warned could threaten the country's counterterrorism gains. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, announced on Monday that its leadership has been working to bring all militant groups into their fold to wage their campaign from a united front instead of fighting individually to dislodge what it condemned as an "un-Islamic system" in the country. The alliance said in a statement that negotiations with leaders of two splinter groups, Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA), persuaded them this week to pledge allegiance to the TTP chief, Mufti Abu Mansour Asim , also known as Noor Wali Mehsud. It released pictures of the purported ceremony but did not disclose the location. Pakistani military officials have long maintained militants linked to TTP have established bases in border areas of Afghanistan after fleeing years of sustained security operations in Pakistan. The United States has designated both the TTP and the JuA as global terrorist organizations for carrying out attacks against American interests and for their ties to the al-Qaida network. The JuA, which broke from TTP in 2014 and is also believed to be operating out of Afghanistan, has taken responsibility for major attacks in Pakistan. They include the 2016 suicide bombing of a crowd of Christians celebrating Easter in a park in the eastern city of Lahore. The blast killed more than 70 people. The Pakistani government has, so far, not commented on Monday's militant merger, which comes amid a resurgence of TTP-claimed attacks in parts of the country. An intelligence official told VOA anti-militancy actions and ensuing border security measures have significantly reduced illegal crossings, making it difficult for TTP militants to freely undertake their violent activities in Pakistan barring isolated attacks. The official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said "terrorists can no more arrange mass gatherings" in Pakistan because intelligence-based security operations are still ongoing. "We should be only worried once we have insider threat, meaning militant facilitators, abettors and their sleeper cells in Pakistan. But they don't exist anymore," the official asserted. Critics such as Mohammad Amir Rana, the head of Islamabad-based independent Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, saw the militant reunion as a cause of concern for national security. "Indeed, the merger is threatening for the internal security and while combining their strengths, TTP can intensify its terror campaign, specifically in some districts of Punjab and Balochistan (provinces) where JuA and HuA already have active networks," Rana said. Last week, Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Babar told a news conference his institution was determined to build on the country's "hard-earned success" in the war against terrorism. "It has cleared 46,000 square kilometer area of terrorists, killing more than 18,000 terrorists and seizing more than 400 tons of explosive material," Iftikhar told a news conference on Thursday. Pakistani officials maintain a large number of TTP-linked militants fled security operations and have taken shelter in Afghanistan. U.S. drone strikes have killed dozens of fugitive Pakistani militants, including their top leaders, hiding on the Afghan side of the border. Officials in Islamabad, however, maintain the Pakistani Taliban and other fugitive extremists continue to operate out of their Afghan sanctuaries. The United Nations reported last month that a large number of anti-Pakistani government militants, mostly linked to the TTP, are hiding in Afghanistan. "The total number of Pakistani foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan posing a threat to both countries, is estimated at between 6,000 and 6,500, most of them with TTP," according to the report prepared by the U.N. analytical and sanctions monitoring team. It noted that some of them have joined the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, known as IS Khorasan Province (ISKP). The Afghan government maintains its forces are determined to fight terrorism in their country and prevent anyone from using Afghan soil against neighboring countries. Afghan officials also deny as baseless allegations their security institutions are covertly supporting the Pakistani militants. Instead, Kabul accuses Islamabad of sheltering and supporting the Afghan Taliban waging a deadly insurgency in Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Californians for Real Privacy No on Proposition 24. Consumer Action has endorsed a "Vote No" position on Proposition 24 on the November 2020 ballot. Founded in 1971, Consumer Action is a leading California-based nonprofit consumer protection advocacy group. "We urge voters to reject Proposition 24. Besides sowing confusion among voters, the initiative could reduce privacy rights that Californians gained under a recently enacted law. It appears that Prop 24 would allow businesses to create new 'pay for privacy' schemes. Tech companies could downgrade service to those who cannot or will not pay an extra fee. This is unfair to low-income consumers, seniors and people of color who are already struggling to afford essential high-speed internet connections while enduring a pandemic and massive unemployment," said Linda Sherry of Consumer Action. "We fear Prop 24 would undermine existing California privacy regulations by making it more burdensome for consumers to prohibit Big Tech companies from selling their confidential data." In the past week, the San Jose Mercury News and the Bay Area Reporter urged readers to vote no on Prop 24. The Mercury News editorial raises legitimate questions: "One provision of Prop 24 demonstrates why it doesn't deserve support. It would allow the Legislature to approve an amendment with a simple majority votewith this caveat: 'The law should be amended, if necessary, to improve its operation, provided that the amendments do not compromise or weaken consumer privacy, while giving attention to the impact on business and innovation.' Wow. How much 'attention' needs to be given to the impact on business and innovation? Does it mean that a law strengthening consumer privacy is illegal if it negatively impacts business? To what degree?..." The Bay Area Reporter also argues for a "No" vote on Prop 24, stating that "in 2018, the Legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act, giving consumers the right to find out what personal data companies are collecting, to opt out of having data collected, and to have that data scrubbed. We think there should be time to see how the new law works, and the Legislature can make fixes later if needed." Opposition to Prop 24 includes many respected organizations and individuals, including ACLU of California, Consumer Federation of California, Color of Change, Public Citizen, TURN (The Utility Reform Network), California Alliance for Retired Americans, Media Alliance, labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, the Council on American-Islamic Relations of California, and Oakland Privacy. Consumer Action stated, "We join them in recommending a 'No' vote on Prop 24 because it reduces the privacy rights of Californians under current law, and it gives tech giants more latitude to misuse Californians' personal data." SOURCE Californians for Real Privacy - No on Proposition 24 COVID-19 - New Measures and Enforcement Powers Enhanced by Legislation In light of developments, and in order to continue to contain the situation in Gibraltar, public safety measures will be enhanced. Following the gradual increase in positive cases of COVID-19, the COVID-19 Strategic Co- ordinating Group, chaired by the Minister with responsibility for Civil Contingencies Samantha Sacramento MP, has been meeting on a daily basis since Sunday. Platinum, chaired by the Chief Minister, has been meeting informally daily since Monday. With effect from 00:00 on Friday 21st August, the following changes will come into force: Compulsory wearing of masks in retail areas. This extends the already compulsory wearing of masks by staff in shops to all members of the public that enter retail premises. Breaches will be enforced by a fixed penalty notice. Exceptions will apply to people with disabilities or mental illness or in emergency situations. The law will not apply to children under the age of 11, although they are encouraged to do so. Contact tracing shows that the principal risk at the moment is presented because of the way that people socialise and because they are not keeping to gatherings of less than 20 nor maintaining social distancing. Because of this, conditions in relation to bars and restaurants will be tightened further. Curfew at bars and restaurants will be brought forward by an hour. At present, restaurants and bars must shut at 2:00am with last orders at 1:30am. As from this Friday, last orders will be at 12:30am and bars must be shut by 1:00am. Bars and restaurants operate on the basis of a permit issued by the Director of Public Health. These permits are subject to conditions, which are designed to keep risk to a minimum. Any premises found not to be complying with the conditions risks the permit being suspended. As from Friday, any bar or restaurant found to be breaching the conditions will also be subject to a fixed penalty notice, that is, an on the spot fine. Additionally, any restaurant that is found to be in breach three times within a period of fourteen days will have their permit revoked and will be required to reapply. Any drinking of alcohol in public places that are not licensed areas will be prohibited after 11:00pm and will also be subject to fixed penalty notices. Legislation will be published by the Minister for Civil Contingencies to this effect and will be published in the Gazette on Thursday. Govt says Gibraltar must also be mindful that celebrations for our National Day this year must be different. 'Doing our best for Gibraltar means that we must act in the best interests of our community as a whole. Details of measures in this respect will be announced during the course of this week.' The Government reminds everyone that it is our individual and collective responsibility to play our part in ensuring that the situation does not escalate. Minister with responsibility for Civil Contingencies, Samantha Sacramento, said: These measures are intended to send a signal not only that we must not let down our guard but that our guard must be up and we must take extra precautions if we do not want the number of positive cases to escalate. It is particularly imperative during this time that we continue to protect our elderly population. It is important that the elderly members of our community are not exposed to any unnecessary risk. The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "We have been very successful in dealing with COVID-19 until now. Numbers are rising in Gibraltar and around us. We need to ensure we stay on top of the spread. These measures are designed to be as un-intrusive as possible. I urge everyone to adhere to these new rules and help us to avoid any unnecessary and inadvertent spread of the virus in our community." CLEVELAND, Ohio - Temperatures are headed back into the 80s for Northeast Ohio. If we dont reach that point Thursday, with a forecast high of 79, we definitely will be back in the 80s by Friday. The National Weather Services forecast calls for clear skies both days and winds that will be light and variable. Thursday night still looks to be cool with lows around 60, while Friday nights lows will be in the middle 60s. Cleveland sunrise - 6:41 a.m. Cleveland sunset - 8:18 p.m. Extended forecast for Northeast Ohio Expect some clouds to follow the warmer weather. Saturday and Sunday both look to be hot with a chances of storms returning by Sunday afternoon. Ohio regional radar Flowr will release second quarter earnings after the close on Wednesday August 26th, 2020 and will host a conference call to review results on Wednesday, August 26th, 2020 at 5:30pm ET. TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Flowr Corporation (TSX.V: FLWR; OTC: FLWPF) (Flowr or the Company) announces that the Company will release its second quarter 2020 results after the close of the financial markets on Wednesday August 26th, 2020, which will be followed by a conference call and webcast to review these results on Wednesday August 26th, at 5:30pm Eastern Time. Conference call and webcast details are as follows: Toll Free: (888) 869-1189 Toll/International: 1-(706) 643-5902 Passcode: 8867395 Webcast: flowrcorp.com/investors Online registration: http://www.directeventreg.com/registration/event/8867395 Conference call replay details are as follows: Toll Free: 1-800-585-8367 Toll/International: 1-416-621-4642 Passcode: 8867395 Webcast: flowrcorp.com/investors The replay of the conference call will be available through midnight on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020. About The Flowr Corporation The Flowr Corporation is a Toronto-headquartered cannabis company with operations in Canada, Europe, and Australia. Its Canadian operating campus, located in Kelowna, BC, includes a purpose-built, GMP-designed indoor cultivation facility; an outdoor and greenhouse cultivation site; and a state-of-the-art R&D facility. From this campus, Flowr produces recreational and medicinal products. Internationally, Flowr intends to service the global medical cannabis market through its subsidiary Holigen, which has a license for cannabis cultivation in Portugal and operates GMP licensed facilities in both Portugal and Australia. Flowr aims to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and, as an established expert in cannabis cultivation, strives to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking the highest-quality craftsmanship and product consistency across a portfolio of differentiated cannabis products. Story continues For more information, please visit flowrcorp.com or follow Flowr on Twitter: @FlowrCanada and LinkedIn: The Flowr Corporation. On behalf of The Flowr Corporation: Vinay Tolia CEO and Director CONTACT INFORMATION: INVESTORS & MEDIA: Thierry Elmaleh Head of Capital Markets (877) 356-9726 ext. 1528 thierry@flowr.ca Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, which may include but is not limited to: the release date for the Companys second quarter 2020 results, and related conference call and webcast; Flowr servicing the global medical cannabis market and operating GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr supporting improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftmanship and product consistency; and Flowrs business, production and products. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as plans, is expected, expects, scheduled, intends, contemplates, anticipates, believes, proposes or variations (including negative and grammatical variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such information and statements are based on the current expectations of Flowrs management and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although Flowrs management believes that the assumptions underlying such information and statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Flowr, including risks relating to: Flowr being unable to release its second quarter 2020 results on the anticipated date, or at all; Flowr being unable to host the related conference call and webcast on the anticipated date, or at all; Flowr being unable to service the global medical cannabis market and/or operate GMP-designed manufacturing facilities in Portugal and Australia; Flowr being unable to support improving outcomes through responsible cannabis use and/or striving to be the brand of choice for consumers and patients seeking highest-quality craftmanship and product consistency; the construction and development of the Companys cultivation and production facilities; general economic and stock market conditions; adverse industry events; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments in Canada and elsewhere; the cannabis industry in Canada generally; the ability of Flowr to implement its business strategies; Flowrs inability to produce or sell premium quality cannabis, risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Flowrs filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators; the Companys inability to raise capital or have the liquidity to operate or advance its strategic initiatives and many other factors beyond the control of Flowr. Although Flowr has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information or statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking information or statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking information and statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Flowr undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. When considering such forward-looking information and statements, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in Flowrs Annual Information Form dated April 29, 2020 (the AIF) and filed with the applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada. The risk factors and other factors noted in the AIF could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information or statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 11:31:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Aug. 13, 2020 shows the construction site of the China-aided Mahosot General Hospital project in downtown Vientiane, capital of Laos. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua) by Zhang Jianhua, Chanthaphaphone Mixayboua VIENTIANE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Having video calls with his pregnant wife in Beijing everyday after lunch or before bed at night, Wei Mengmeng, a 30-year-old Chinese engineer working in Lao capital Vientiane, felt deeply sorry that he could not take care of his wife in her hour of need. "I hope I could stay by my wife's side and try to share some of her difficulties during pregnancy, even if I can just take a glass of water for her." At the beginning of 2020, Wei, a project manager of Beijing Uni-Construction Group Co., Ltd. (BUCC), came to Laos to undertake the preparation work for the construction of the China-aided Mahosot General Hospital project in the Lao capital. Like many other Chinese engineers working overseas, Wei was not able to go home and celebrate the Chinese new year with his family in January. And then the subsequent COVID-19 outbreak caught him completely off guard. The epidemic blocked Wei's colleagues from travelling to Laos, so he had to stay and confront various challenges in a foreign country by himself. Wei's colleagues did not come to Laos until the end of June. Upon the arrival of his colleagues, Wei had many reasons to ask for a leave to go back to Beijing but he chose to stay with his colleagues. "I made the project drawings and I am the one most familiar with the construction site," he said. Stay in the construction site means he will have to miss the special moment of the birth of his first child. "Next year's Spring Festival (Chinese new year) will be the earliest time when I can go back to Beijing. By then my child will be more than four months old," the Chinese engineer told Xinhua recently. According to the project chief Han Xu, the China-aided Mahosot General Hospital will become the largest and most advanced hospital in Laos upon completion. The project includes the expansion of the existing Mahosot Hospital and the building of new medical facilities, providing a new 600-bed large-scale general hospital with a construction area of approximately 54,000 square meters. As a landmark project in China-Laos cooperation in the sector of public health, the new hospital is expected to be put into operation in 2021. The construction of the hospital began in December 2018. At present, the main buildings are taking shape, becoming eye-catching in the downtown of Vientiane. "Our BUCC builders, having the trust of the motherland and cherishing the expectation of the Lao people, have been working hard so as to ensure the progress and the quality of the construction," Xin Qixing, a BUCC project manager told Xinhua. According to Xin, spending 36 months in the narrow and small construction area to build a modern hospital of over 50,000 square meters is not an easy job. The BUCC engineers work long hours so as to complete the construction on time. The weather remained hot and humid in Vientiane through the year. The temperature on the construction site could reach 45 Celsius. Braving the extreme weather, the Chinese management staff stayed at work at the front line. Fifty-two-year-old production manager Wang Haijun, suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, has experienced syncope symptoms several times due to low blood sugar, but he still performs his duty of patrolling the work site every day. Inspired by their Chinese counterparts, the Lao staff have also spared no efforts in doing their part. Thitxai Tamong, the youngest staff in the project who is from central Laos' hilly Vientiane Province, is responsible for administrative and logistical support. When the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Laos, it was near the country's New Year holidays. His family and friends all hoped that he could go back to spend the holidays with them. However, knowing that social distancing is key to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and considering the progress of the construction, Thitxai decided to stay in the construction site. "This hospital is constructed with high and modern standards and will be equipped with high-quality medical equipment. We Lao people pin hopes on it," Thitxai told Xinhua. "Our Chinese friends come to build the hospital for us, and I am very proud to be able to participate in it. The Chinese engineers' efforts touched my heart and I just want to say that we are grateful to China and the Chinese builders." While advancing the construction work in an orderly manner, the BUCC has always attached great importance to the prevention of COVID-19 by strictly implementing the precautious measures at the construction site and ensuring the safety and health of all staff. "This hospital is designed with the highest standards. Our goal is to build it into a high-quality project to create welfare for the Lao people," said Wang Zhigang, the project technical team leader. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 19:42:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Police officers and municipal workers inspect a shopping mall in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 19, 2020. The substantial increase in the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Turkey for the last couple of weeks has prompted authorities to consider adopting new measures and restrictions to curb the further spread of the pandemic. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua) ISTANBUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The substantial increase in the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Turkey for the last couple of weeks has prompted authorities to consider adopting new measures and restrictions to curb the further spread of the pandemic. Conducting more tests, scanning risk groups, such as drivers of public vehicles, waiters, cashiers, and isolating people who are tested positive with a strong enforcement mechanism, are among the items on the upcoming agenda, according to the Health Ministry's Scientific Committee. "Loosening coronavirus measures cause cases to rise," Afsin Emre Kayipmaz, a member of the Scientific Committee, was quoted as saying by CNN Turk on Wednesday. The daily number of new cases in the country was reported as 1,263 on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections to 251,805. The death toll reached 6,016, with the daily addition of 20. "If there would be a more notable increase in the number of cases in the upcoming period, a situation may arise that may affect many activities, including the decision to open schools on September 21," Kayipmaz said. National Education Minister Ziya Selcuk later in the day announced that the ministry started to grant certificates that define a series of standards to prevent the further spread of the pandemic in schools. Education institutions have to make necessary arrangements in line with the rules stated in the certificate to be able to be operational, Selcuk said in the capital Ankara at a televised speech. Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged citizens on his Twitter account to strictly follow the rules, saying that "believing in the power of science and measures, let's fight in solidarity with our health army." The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, launched its seventh comprehensive inspections since May to monitor compliance with the COVID-19 rules across the country on Wednesday. Inspections have been carried out in markets, workplaces, grocers, bazaars, public transport vehicles, restaurants, cafeterias, commercial taxis, and all other living spaces. Despite the increase in coronavirus cases in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, inspection teams observed that most people on the streets did not wear mask and keep social distancing rules, local media said. Following the recommendations of the health officials, local authorities across the country have recently adopted a series of new restraints for those who are 65 and over, the most significant risk group against the coronavirus. Elderly in over 20 provinces out of a total of 81, including the capital Ankara, are now prevented from using public transportation in rush hours, entering into crowded locations in certain hours of the day, and attending several social activities, such as wedding ceremonies. The Scientific Committee is expected to meet in Ankara later on Wednesday to discuss the new rules and restraints as well as new strategies in fighting against the pandemic. Enditem Misusing religion in India and Turkey What people consider sacred space should be, but often isn't, protected. As people fight over it, as they're doing now in both India and Turkey (and no doubt in many other places), it's important to remember that such spaces are... Actually, this note hits home inasmuch as politics sanctions what we can honor in public and that is always in flux . . . Accordingly, this local newsman blogger shares his insight on this debate across the globe.Checkit: The commerce and industry ministry and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is expected to ask top online retailers such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to focus on listing and promoting geographical indication (GI) products to provide visibility to locally produced items. The government is expected to meet this week executives from these e-commerce firms to discuss and identify GI products that have maximum demand in the market for a pilot project, said four people aware of the discussions. GI tag is used on products that correspond to a specific geographical location or origin, including a certain town or region in India. These include Darjeeling tea, Coorg Arabica coffee and Kashmiri saffron, to name a few. India has registered 361 GI products, as of March 2020. GI products were earlier sold largely through offline retail. The meeting, which is expected to be presided over by the DPIIT joint secretary, will also discuss ways to promote and market the selected GI products to increase their visibility and awareness. The government will also discuss with e-commerce platforms the training and orientation of sellers of GI products for their listing, shipping as well as exports. The meeting will be on figuring out a standardized practice of listing these products on e-commerce platforms, and digital literacy, which is needed to be provided to manufacturers, sellers and cooperative societies manufacturing and selling these geographical indication products, said one of the people cited above, who didnt want to be named. The person said the government wants to help these manufacturers and sellers move to a self-serve model, where they can leverage online commerce independently to boost sales. A second person said the government will also ask the online retailers to add respective logos on online listings of these products for greater visibility. RunThatBack is co-created by Malka Media and Executive Producer Louis Krubich, the team behind hit shows: All The Smoke, Morning Kombat, Get Some with Gary Owen, 4th and Forever and the upcoming Fox documentary Tua. "Wyclef is a cross generational talent that connects music and culture and we're humbled by the opportunity to help amplify the stories he wants to tell," says Krubich. Creative Director and Showrunner Kerry Laster was instrumental in the cutting edge and of-the-moment milieu surrounding the show. Regarding collaborator Laster, Krubich states, "Having Kerry Laster showrun and direct this series is wildly exciting for us. He is a true creative genius and someone we highly respect." In an exciting collaboration with BACARDI rum, Wyclef will serve up untold stories over signature rum cocktails from his rockstar life as a founding member of the icon group "The Fugees" in segments like "Rum Talk" and "Toast Up." As Wyclef says, "A lot of the things you're gonna hear, you ain't really gonna believe. So you've got no choice but to Run That Back!" RunThatBack premieres its 12 episode first season on August 20th at 7 PM/EST on Wyclef's YouTube channel, with new episodes airing weekly. RunThatBack will also be available in audio form the following day on all major podcasting platforms. About Wyclef Jean: Three-time Grammy award-winning artist and producer, with sales of 100 million albums worldwide and 20 million singles globally, Wyclef Jean is one of the most influential figures in popular culture. Having made his indelible mark on the music landscape as a founding member of The Fugees, he has continued his soaring success through his solo career, and produced some of the most successful songs in history. Wyclef is one of the few artists whose work transcends space and time by understanding and absorbing the influences around him and translating them into a sound that is always relevant and fully his own. As a solo artist, Wyclef has released seven albums, selling nearly nine million copies worldwide. His 2017 studio album, Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee, was named one of the "25 Most Anticipated Albums" of the fall by Billboard Magazine. In November 2018, Netflix announced the production of an untitled animated project based on the real-life story of his childhood in Haiti. Wyclef recently released his newest project, Wyclef Goes Back to School, a collaboration with students he met while touring the US. About Malka Media: MALKA is a creative studio leveraging the instincts of a creative agency but built on the backbone of an agile production company. We are the makers. We don't just dream it, we create it; because we know how. From original productions like Netflix documentaries and branded episodic series on Verizon, to VR/AR, animated videos, social content and full on content strategy and marketing campaigns, our 90+ full-time creative staff work in every creative medium. We took what was typically done by multiple vendors and built it under a single roof, letting our creatives expand their creative knowledge sets while elevating every piece of content that comes out of the studio. This is content at the speed of culture. With facilities in Santa Monica, CA and Jersey City, NJ and some of the most talented creatives in the industry, we plug in anywhere, anytime, on projects large and small, for clients across every industry. SOURCE MALKA YEREVAN. The mediators have noted the importance of the St. Petersburg and Vienna agreements in 15 of the 25 statements. Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated this at his press conference Wednesday, and regarding the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) peace process. To the remark that the statement adopted in Geneva in October 2017 does not mention these agreements and asked why, the former president responded that this matter was out of the topic of his press conference, but added: "Isn't it clear that Azerbaijan could not fulfill that agreement? But on the other hand, it is obvious that after the agreements in St. Petersburg and Vienna, the co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group] made 25 statements, 15 of which mentioned the agreements. The last [such] statement was made in February 2018. However, I will not go into details, as this topic is very important, and I will address this issue in detail in the future." Early December was a joyous time for Victoria Stuart, then a senior at Madison High School. The holidays and a reprieve from school were about to start, and she received an acceptance letter to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. I felt like everything was coming together, she said. Going into that break, I had a lot less stuff to stress about. Stuart started making lists of dates the deadline to reserve her dorm, the week of orientation when shed get her first tour of the campus. Then the coronavirus pandemic came to Texas, upending every well-laid plan by students as well as university administrators. Summer orientation sessions for incoming freshmen were moved online. Time slots to select dorm rooms were delayed again and again while administrators tried to figure out how many students could safely live on campus. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Some schools decided to go entirely virtual. Most will welcome students to campuses in some physical form, however truncated. But as thousands descend upon universities this month including first-year arrivals who had anticipated a life-changing, immersive experience things wont have the same feel. On ExpressNews.com: Heres what college will look like at UTSA and A&M-S.A. as coronavirus cases keep growing UT announced it will host a virtual Gone to Texas welcome party for new students in lieu of the big gathering normally attended by thousands who learn campus traditions, including the popular welcome event Midnight Light that usually draws about 7,000 students. The University of Texas at San Antonio moved 95 percent of its course offerings online and President Taylor Eighmy has said only about 2,000 people will be on the two campuses on any given day. Thats about 5 percent of the university community of students and faculty. But LT Robinson, dean of students, is optimistic the changed lighting event will actually reach more students. Commuter students, for example, who tend to go to campus only for classes and leave for off-campus jobs will have the flexibility to log onto the events. We acknowledge that these are challenging times for us and students may feel that it may not be possible to have connections in the way that they wish, but we realized that challenge when we did our planning, and we think we will surprise them with some really innovative and fun ways for them to connect, Robinson said. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer The challenge is unique for Texas A&M University San Antonio, only 10 years old and self-conciously creating student traditions. Mari Fuentes-Martin, the universitys vice president for student success and engagement, said officials waited as long as possible to move welcome week activities online. They were planning a socially distant version of the Jaguar March, where new freshmen walk the Miracle Mile from the Torre de Esperanza at the universitys entrance to a fountain at the front of campus buildings, to be greeted by cheering upperclassmen, faculty and staff. Fuentes-Martin said she could hear the excitement of a past president of student government describing the rituals the march, the 9/11 tree, putting a penny on the statue of state Sen. Frank Madla while speaking at a virtual orientation. Billy Calzada /Staff photographer Its all about safety and success and so were just trying to do both of those things as best we can under this pandemic, but we cant wait to get back to what used to be normal, Fuentes-Martin said. Whatever our new normal will be moving forward. Madeline Lomas, 18, a San Antonian who graduated from a small private school in Bulverde, is headed to UT not knowing anyone except her new roommate, whom she befriended over Instagram this summer. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox Lomas had looked forward to new student orientation events to make friends before the academic year began. But while she mourns the loss of a traditional American college experience her first year, she said the pandemic would have made a large gathering uncomfortable in any case. She would rather the school and her young peers play it safe, to stomp out the virus for the next generation that is, people like her best friend, who is a year younger and will be going to college next fall. Lomas doesnt want next years freshman experience to be a repeat of her own. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer While its kind of like, this really sucks, Im also trying to make sure that Im doing my part to make sure that the people after me dont have to experience this, too. If we were to be the class to just do what we can, it could really help the people next in line, Lomas said. Lomas decided in July to live on campus, even while knowing that most, if not all, of her courses would be online. Sure enough, she learned this month that she wouldnt have any in-person classes. But she hopes staying in a dorm with a roommate, and the nearby availability of university libraries, will give her some kind of sense of college life. Its going to be a bit toned down, a little more dull, but Im still hoping to try to get the best of what I can, Lomas said. She and her parents had numerous conversations before making the choice. They weighed the pros and cons one of which is that her father, who has a heart condition that would make him more vulnerable to the virus, probably wont visit her on campus. Lomas will have to self-quarantine before she visits him in their Stone Oak home. Her mother was an advocate for moving into the dorm, Lomas said. She figured her daughter stood to gain more from college than she would by taking courses in her bedroom at home. Lomas agreed. When schools rushed to remote formats in the spring in response to the virus, Lomas found it hard to motivate herself from home. In college, she plans to study biology and aspires to eventually become a doctor. On ExpressNews.com: Profs say adjunct instructors are hostages in A&M-San Antonio reopening plan Just the nature of the college campus will be refreshing, said Stuart, 18, who also plans to live in a dormitory and who also learned this month that all her classes would be online. Stuart, who will study accounting, said she briefly considered staying in San Antonio, but grew tired of being stuck in her room for half the spring semester. I just felt like a change of scenery, even if its going from one small room to another small room, would be better than staying here, Stuart said. The decision is more of a gamble for Dallas Whitright, 18, who is coming from Orlando, Fla., to attend UTSA. Planning over the summer was so stressful that calling it a roller coaster experience was an understatement, she said. Im definitely a planner, and when I cant make a plan for things, it starts to really make me nervous, Whitright said. She received her acceptance letter in early spring and quickly started searching for apartments. She found a complex close to campus that offers lease terms that coincide with the universitys academic calendar and signed a contract before the pandemic hit. While the virus ravaged Florida, testing centers remained closed and Whitright still needed to take a placement test before she could sign up for courses at UTSA. She worried shed get to San Antonio and not even be able to enroll for the fall. Meanwhile, the university mulled how many courses would be available in a physical classroom or lab it has since decided 95 percent of courses would be moved to online. Whitright was starting to wonder if the cost of tuition and living expenses would be worth it. Ultimately, the aspiring biomedical engineering major decided to make the move. Classes will eventually resume as normal, she figured. And she wants to connect with her classmates and professors as soon as possible, knowing her area of study will be labor intensive. I want to start school, she said. I want to get in there as fast as I can. Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Krista, become a subscriber. Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralva Poster for A Trip to Heaven by director Duong Dieu Linh The 15-minute Vietnamese film was presented with the Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Prize of the festivals Pardi di doman category, which honours best international short films. The category saw the competition of 43 entries, including two other Vietnamese films, namely An Act of Affection by Viet Vu, and The Unseen River by Pham Ngoc Lan. A Trip to Heaven tells the story of 50-year-old woman named Tam, who bumps into her high school sweetheart on a tour bus to the Mekong Delta. Tam was hopeful for a chance of reconciliation, but maybe he was not. Sharing about the prize, Duong Dieu Linh said that this was a significant milestone in her career as the Locarno Film Festival has fuelled her ideas and initiatives in film making over the past five years. She also described the award as a source of prize and encouragement for her in the future journey. The Locarno Film Festival is an annual event held in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, it is one of the longest-running film festivals and is also known for being a prestigious platform for independent and young film makers around the world. Quang Nam: 11 additional COVID-19 patients recover COVID-19 patients receive discharge in Quang Nam on August 18 morning A further 11 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in Quang Nam province were released from various hospitals throughout the locality on August 18, the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) quoted information from the provincial Health Department saying that. The release of the patients comes after each case tested negative for COVID-19, whilst none of the group have shown any signs of the virus in recent days, including symptoms such as a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath. All the recoveries must continue to be subject to a mandatory 14-day isolation period in line with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations. At present, 95 additional COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment at hospitals in Quang Nam province, with the majority of the cases reportedly responding well to treatment, including elderly people and those suffering multiple comorbidities. This comes after Quang Nam Central General Hospital also discharged two COVID-19 patients on August 13 after they had successfully made a full recovery from the virus. Dragon fruit exports through Lao Cai border gate accelerated Trucks carrying dragon fruit travel through Kim Thanh Border Gate on the morning of August 17 to export the fruit to China. The management board of the Lao Cai Economic Zone has instructed the local authorised agencies to give priority to the export of dragon fruit through Kim Thanh Border Gate to minimise wasted time and ensure the quality and value of the fruit, Nhan Dan newspaper has reported. The main harvest season of dragon fruit has begun in central and southern provinces in Vietnam with increasing volume of the fruit transported to Kim Thanh Border Gate in the northern province of Lao Cai to ship to China. Ha Duc Thuan, vice chairman of the management board of the Lao Cai Economic Zone, said that an average of 150 container trucks carrying dragon fruits with an estimated volume of 3,000 tonnes travel through Kim Thanh Border Gate each day to transport the fruit to China. Relevant forces including the customs agency, border guard, and plant quarantine and medical quarantine forces are working together to conduct both customs clearance, security checks and quarantine procedures at the border gate to ensure both the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic and the acceleration of customs clearance for fresh dragon fruit. Because the Chinese side has implemented strict anti-COVID-19 measures and strict border trade procedures for Vietnamese dragon fruit, the clearance time has been extended, resulting in a reduction in the amount of cleared goods. Thus, the management board of the Lao Cai Economic Zone proactively arranged two parking areas to gather trucks carrying fresh fruit and have upgraded the warehouses of local logistics companies to facilitate the gathering of trucks carrying dragon fruit. Tran Anh Tu, Deputy Director of the Customs Division at the Lao Cai border gate, said that the import-export revenue through the border gate since early this year has reached 73% of the figure from the same period last year, of which, the export revenue measured 62% of that from the same period last year. Approximately 355,000 tonnes of dragon fruit have been exported through the border gate, equivalent to 72% of the volume from the same period in 2019, Tu noted./. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Karachi, Pakistan Wed, August 19, 2020 11:45 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f119f1 2 World Pakistan,human-trial,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-vaccine,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free Pakistan regulators have approved final-phase testing of a Chinese-made vaccine against the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, in the country's first ever clinical trial of its kind. According to Pakistan's National Institute of Health (NIH), regulators have approved the testing of a vaccine under development by CanSinoBio and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology China. The medication is already undergoing Phase 3 trials -- or large-scale testing on humans -- in China, Russia, Chile and Argentina. Saudi Arabia will also take part, NIH said. "This will be the first ever Phase 3 clinical trial for any vaccine in Pakistan," the NIH said in a statement. Pakistan's inclusion in the trials would help it secure "preferential vaccine supply and pricing", it added. The trials will be conducted at several medical facilities across Pakistan, including the large Indus Hospital in Karachi. "Hopefully we will come out with the vaccine within three to four months," Abdul Bari, who heads the Indus Hospital, told AFP. The coronavirus has claimed more than 6,000 lives in Pakistan but cases have been dropping for several weeks. (Natural News) By now, you have probably heard the disturbing news about how President Donald Trump is trying to steal the election by having tractor-trailers remove all U.S. Postal Service mailboxes from every town and city across America. Well, the truth is that this is not actually happening, and is just another Democrat-manufactured conspiracy theory intended to sow confusion and unrest in the leadup to election day. The mailbox conspiracy, as it is being called, alleges that Trump is ripping out all of those arched blue USPS mailboxes to prevent people from casting their mail-in ballots this fall. Photos of piled-up mailboxes have been circulating online, and this is apparently enough proof that Trump is literally Hitler and in desperate need of removal from office. As it turns out, these damning photos were taken in 2009 while Barack Obama was president. Hilariously, it was Obama who removed some 14,000 mailboxes as part of a nationwide effort to cut costs for the USPS. Many mailboxes were removed while others were installed, all depending on where they were most needed or not needed. There was really no conspiracy involved, and even Obama was not, as far as we can tell, attempting anything nefarious by supporting this process. The goal was simply to help our countrys flailing mail service better optimize its finances, seeing as how it remains in a serious financial hole. In 2009, the postmaster general proposed moving to five-day-per-week mail delivery to cut costs, explains Joel B. Pollak writing for Breitbart News about the process. President Barack Obama criticized the service that year for failing to keep up with private sector competitors. The Obama-Biden administration considered closing nearly 3,700 post office locations, and proposed cutting 12,000 postal jobs, Pollak adds. President Trump tried a different tack, demanding in 2018 that Amazon lower the prices it charged the U.S. Postal Service for delivering its packages to consumers. Twitter allowed Joe Biden to inflame base with false mailbox conspiracy theory claims In other words, problems with the USPS go way back and have absolutely nothing to do with Trump or the upcoming election. But try telling that to the Democrats who are being falsely led to believe that Trump is some kind of tyrant who is attempting to dismantle the USPS to steal votes. Joe Biden is complicit in this as well, having tweeted, with Twitters permission, bald-faced lies about how Trump is going around literally with tractor trailers picking up mailboxes. You oughta go online and check out what theyre doing in Oregon, the senile child-sniffer further wrote, with no fact-checking whatsoever from the Twitter gods. I mean, its bizarre! I wonder if youre outside trying to hold down your mailboxes. This type of inflammatory and patently false information is the type of thing that should be getting censored from Twitter because it is needlessly riling up the Left, just like what happened with the Russiagate conspiracy theory, and contributing to even more death and destruction in Americas already chaotic streets. To be clear, the Trump administration has now gone above and beyond the call of duty to placate peoples fears by announcing that all removal of mailboxes will be halted until after the election. This will prevent any further confusion, at least until the next manufactured conspiracy theory by Democrats starts to go viral. The silent majority had better show up to the polls, wrote one Breitbart News commenter, getting right to the point about what really matters with all of this. For more related news about the fake news being spread by Democrats in the leadup to the 2020 presidential election, be sure to check out Faked.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com Even with the awkward limitations of a virtual convention, the programming of the last three nights has built steadily and more or less smoothly toward the unveiling of Mr. Biden as a president-in-waiting. It now falls to Mr. Biden to fill the political silhouette his party has gradually sketched one that frames him as a steady hand for difficult times, capable of bringing concrete relief to people suffering through a crisis. In the 2020 campaign, Mr. Biden has seldom been the most eloquent advocate for his own cause. In the most important moments of his campaign, he has leaned heavily on other, more magnetic and fluid speakers: Representative Jim Clyburn in the days before the South Carolina primary, and Senator Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., before the Super Tuesday contests in March. And he will have help again tonight, from allies who will address the audience before him, including Mr. Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate, and Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. More than 500million was wiped off the value of Britains top builders as figures showed house prices had started to fall before the virus lockdown. Shares sank after data was released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Land Registry, revealing that house prices went into reverse in April. In an ominous warning, the ONS said the figures reflected agreements that were struck before the Government announced lockdown. This is because it typically takes six to eight weeks to complete a purchase, it explained. Property slump: Shares in Britains top builders sank after data was released by the Office for National Statistics and the Land Registry, revealing that house prices went into reverse in April The UK house price index showed prices dipped by 0.2 per cent from March to April, compared with a rise of 0.7 per cent the same time last year. Prices still increased annually by 2.6 per cent to an average of 234,612, however this was also a slower rate of growth than Marchs yearly rise of 3.5 per cent. Experts are now keenly awaiting figures from May to see the scale of the damage caused by a government freeze on the housing market, put in place at the end of March. The market was reopened in mid-May and Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a cut to stamp duty in July, to revitalise sales. Stock Watch - Water Intelligence Water Intelligence surged after the firm sold its leak-detection services to a major American insurer. The technology pinpoints water leaks quickly, helping to reduce the damage they cause and the size of insurance claims made. Tackling the problem can cut the 9.8bn annual cost of water damage claims. Water Intelligences deal is the fourth that subsidiary American Leak Detection has done with a major US insurer. It rose 7.9 per cent, or 25p, to 341p. Since then, many housing firms have reported surging demand and say prices remain robust for the time being. But Laura Suter, personal finance expert at AJ Bell, warned that the stamp duty holiday could spark a rush of people trying to move house and if there is a spike in job losses she said it would paint a fairly bleak picture for house prices in 2021. Shares in many of Britains biggest housing firms fell. Barratt was down 2.2 per cent, or 11.8p, to 522.6p, and Persimmon dropped 2.5 per cent, or 70p, to 2752p. Bellway fell by 1.6 per cent, or 40p, to 2455p. Bovis Homes owner Vistry Group dipped 2 per cent, or 13p, to 628p, Redrow fell 3.1 per cent, or 14.2p, to 450p and Countryside slid 2.8 per cent, or 9p, to 315.6p. The downward pressure was of little help to the FTSE 100 as it climbed only 0.6 per cent, or 35.36 points, to 6111.98 despite news of US stocks reaching record highs in early trading. And the rallying pound was also seen as bad for many of the indexs multinational members, making it more expensive for them to repatriate foreign earnings. Sterling has effectively erased its losses against the US dollar for the year hitting a high of $1.3267 as uncertainty over Novembers US presidential election grows. There was some upwards momentum though, with grocer Morrisons rising 1.2 per cent, or 2.3p, to 198.5p after it struck a deal to make its goods more easily available on Amazons website. Primark owner Associated British Foods was up 1.9 per cent, or 37p, to 2009p after an upgrade to outperform from broker RBC. And packaging company DS Smith rose 2.9 per cent, or 8.1p, to 284.3p. But the FTSE 250 slipped into the red, dipping 0.2 per cent, or 39.63 points, to 17,583.39. It was led by top fallers including lab equipment maker Oxford Instruments, which was down 2.8 per cent, or 42p, to 1458p, and transport provider National Express, which fell 4.3 per cent, or 6.1p, to 135.5p after news that boss Dean Finch would depart on August 31 for Persimmon, where he will take over as chief executive. However, in good news for savers, IT equipment provider Softcat was up 0.2 per cent, or 3p, to 1332p after it announced it was planning to resume paying a dividend because profits were slightly ahead of its expectations. Engineer Avon Rubber rose 7.1 per cent, to 245p, to 3675p after being awarded a ten-year contract by western defence alliance Nato to supply masks, air systems, filters, spare parts and accessories. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:37:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Police in China have busted 3,291 groups involved in gang-related crimes since the launch of a targeted campaign in 2018, the national office against organized crime said Wednesday. This included 453 groups with assets exceeding 100 million yuan (about 14.5 million U.S. dollars) each, said Wang Hongxiang, deputy director of the office. During the campaign, police across the country have cracked over 364,000 criminal cases and arrested more than 410,000 suspects, said Wang, also deputy secretary general of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. By the end of July, courts across China had concluded 26,496 cases of gang-related crimes after the first trial, accounting for nearly 90 percent of all such cases, Wang said. Enditem A malfunction in the ventilation system of a Swiss chocolate maker caused a light snow of cocoa to drift in the air outside the plant on Friday. Some chocolate lovers were rejoicing: One person said on Twitter, It finally happened guys!! 2020 screwed up just enough that it finally did something right. Another said, Willy Wonka is panicking. According to the Associated Press, the Lindt & Spruengli company confirmed yesterday that there was a minor defect in the cooling ventilation for a line for roasted cocoa nibs in its factory in Olten, between Zurich and Basel. The nibs, fragments of crushed cocoa beans, are the basis of chocolate. The fine coating of cocoa dust spread in the area around the factory. The Associated Press said the company has offered to pay for any cleaning needed but so far no one has taken them up on the offer. The ventilation system has been repaired. READ MORE Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. South Africa: Business urged to help rebuild economies post COVID-19 South Africas High Commissioner to Ghana, Ambassador Lulu Xingwana, has called on business to help in developing economic strategies for a post-COVID-19 world. This therefore requires all of us to focus our energies on developing economic recovery strategies post-Covid-19. We have noticed that our countries have commenced a trajectory of gradually easing down some restrictive measures to achieve a balance between saving lives and the economy. I strongly urge all business to heed the clarion call by our leaders to collaborate in developing a wider economic recovery and reconstruction plan, said Xingwana. Speaking during a South Africa-Ghana Trade and Investment webinar on Tuesday, Xingwana encouraged business to invest in infrastructure. This should embrace inclusion of investment in infrastructure-driven growth, through building of bridges, roads, clinics, and renewable energy plants, and bring more young people into jobs; as well as greater use of locally made inputs of steel, cement and machinery, she said. The two-day webinar, which got underway on Tuesday, is hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC). She said the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global economic activity. Todays seminar takes place in very different circumstances as the one we held earlier this year in February just before the virus was declared a pandemic. The pandemic has disrupted global economic activity, created uncertainty, and weakened global growth conditions. The Ambassador said both the Ghanaian and South African economies have not been spared with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projected to fall. The scale of this COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the need for strategic partnership between state and non-state actors, especially the private sector, said Xingwana. The Ambassador said the revival of the South African and Ghanaian economies is in the hands of the private sectors and governments of the two countries as they prepare for the stimulation of the inter-continental trade through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), scheduled to start early 2021. I wish to encourage the business community to seize the unimaginable opportunities to be facilitated by the AfCFTA implementation. I strongly urge all business to heed the clarion call by our leaders to collaborate in developing a wider economic recovery and reconstruction, she said. To date there are over 100 South African companies that are operating in Ghana. There are over 132 South African Companies registered in Ghana employing more than 19 000 Ghanaians and 510 expatriates. Over the past ten years, South African companies have undertaken over 167 projects in Ghana valued in excess of $1 billion in capital investments. The shared growth between the two countries should focus on industrialisation driven by value-addition of the productive sectors of the economy as well as skills development for the economies, said Xingwana. The webinar which will conclude on Wednesday, is being held under the theme Developing Afrocentric Solutions and Forging Partnership in Response to COVID-19.-SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Speaker Nancy Pelosi confronted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after the Trump administration announced it would suspend the operational changes to the US Postal Service that voting rights advocates said was threatening to undermine mail-in voting this fall. The Trump administration announced its decision on Tuesday ostensibly to appease Democrats, and even some Republicans, who were concerned the recent diminution of postal services would suppress voter turnout and erode Americans' faith in the integrity of the ballot count. This morning, I spoke with Postmaster General DeJoy and conveyed to him that his announcement is not a solution and is misleading," Ms Pelosi said in a statement on Wednesday. The Postmaster Generals alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked. The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works. All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color," Ms Pelosi said. More follows Editor's note: This article originally reported that Sen. Kamala Harris will speaking at the Lake Tahoe Summit. Harris will not be speaking, according to Brenda Gonzalez, press secretary for Harris. ----- Next week, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Gavin Newsom will be speaking at an annual event for Lake Tahoe alongside Nevadas governor, other senators, and congresspeople. The 24th annual Lake Tahoe Summit, hosted by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on Tuesday, Aug. 25, is an opportunity for leaders in both states to discuss the biggest issues facing the region. This years event will be entirely virtual because of the pandemic. In addition to Feinstein and Newsom, the schedule includes remarks from Sens. Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, as well as Congressmen Tom McClintock, John Garamendi and Mark Amodei. The Washoe Tribe will open the event with a prayer and a blessing. The keynote speaker is two-time Olympic Gold Medalist David Wise, who lives in Reno. The event starts at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Registration is open to the public and available online. The theme for this years Summit is Resilient Tahoe reflecting the legacy of 50 years of bi-state cooperation through the interstate compact and 24 years of bipartisan collaboration at the Summit while looking ahead to future environmental, infrastructure and economic challenges, said Cortez Masto in a statement. The theme of resilience is timely considering the stream of tourists into the Lake Tahoe Basin this summer during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Tahoe continues to navigate complicated challenges that have been mounting for years wildfire prevention and forest health, lake clarity and overtourism. As population centers grow in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Reno, Lake Tahoe's environment is being squeezed by the impacts of increased visitation. Every year, the Lake Tahoe Summit is a moment when federal, state, and local leaders spotlight the region and promote environmental restoration. The Summit began in 1997 when President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore came to the Basin to sign an executive order that reaffirmed federal support and millions of dollars in funding to restore Lake Tahoes clarity. It was the first time a president and vice president had made a joint visit to the lake and the Tahoe Daily Tribune called it unprecedented. Clinton told thousands of people who attended the event: I want you to do your part to save Lake Tahoe. That same message is still being echoed today as locals take to the streets to protest the tourists flooding into the Basin this summer. Julie Brown is Tahoe Contributing Editor at SFGATE The World Bank is looking at ways to reduce the amount of debt owed by poor countries -- rather than simply delaying repayments -- to attract more investors in the wake of the global pandemic and recession, President David Malpass said. The coming months, including the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in October, present a good time for action, Malpass said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Tom Keene. Malpass said he also sees an opportunity to extend repayment relief under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative that started in May into 2021, an option that he believes has support from the Group of Seven and Group of 20 nations. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics The number of people dying each day from coronavirus across the world is rapidly approaching levels seen at the peak of the first wave in April, data shows. Around 6,600 people succumbed to the life-threatening infection every day on April 18, during the height of the Covid-19 crisis in Europe. The rolling seven-day average then dropped thanks to strict lockdowns quelled the outbreak and drove down death rates across the continent over the summer. But outbreaks have accelerated in North and South America in recent weeks, where three-quarters of all Covid-19 deaths are now occurring. The seven-day average of global daily deaths stood at 6,348 on August 16, according to the most recent figures published by the World Health Organization. Three-quarters of a million patients have now died across the world since the virus was first spotted in China, although this is likely to be an underestimate due to the volume of patients still going undiagnosed. Scientists said the finding should serve as a 'wake-up call' that many nations are still in the grips of uncontrollable outbreaks, even if Europe's epidemic has largely been squashed. In Europe, more than a dozen countries reported an uptick in infections in the last week but the rise in cases has not corresponded with an increase in deaths. Experts believe the climbing cases on the continent represent a mixture of increased testing, as opposed to spiralling outbreaks. Some scientists say death rates have yet to rise because doctors have got better at treating Covid-19. Others have suggested the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have mutated to become weaker and give it a better chance of surviving. The seven-day global death average now stands at 6,152 (left) as the crisis continues to accelerate in the Americas. Infections are back on the rise (right) in Europe, but so far deaths on the continent have not followed the same trajectory The Americas are the new epicentre of the pandemic. This is largely being driven by the US and Brazil the two worst-hit countries in the world, where there are still more than a thousand deaths each day. But Peru is quietly suffering a major outbreak that has seen fatalities increase by 220 per cent in the last week India is bearing the brunt of the crisis in Asia, with nine in 10 fatalities occurring in the country over the seven-day period and 85 per cent of infections The most recent World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus report confirmed that the Americas had become the new epicentre of the virus. The region suffered 53 per cent of all global cases and 75 per cent of all deaths in the last seven days, according to the WHO. The grim statistics are largely being driven by the US and Brazil the two worst-hit countries in the world, where there are still more than a thousand deaths each day. But Peru is quietly suffering a major outbreak that has seen fatalities increase by 220 per cent in the last week, with more than 400 people succumbing to Covid-19 every day. It now gives the country the worst death toll per capita in the Americas, with 784 fatalities per million people compared to the US' 518 and Brazil's 523. By contrast, the rate in the UK is around 600. HAS COVID GOT WEAKER IN EUROPE? There were fears that a second wave of Covid was developing on the continent last month when cases began to rise in more than a dozen countries. But climbing infections have not corresponded with a rise in deaths, leading some to believe the virus is getting weaker. A strain of the virus circulating in high numbers in Europe at the moment is called D614G. Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, said evidence suggests the proliferation of the D614G mutation has coincided with a drop in death rates, suggesting it is less lethal. 'Maybe that's a good thing to have a virus that is more infectious but less deadly,' Dr Tambyah told Reuters. Tambyah said most viruses tend to become less virulent as they mutate. 'It is in the virus' interest to infect more people but not to kill them because a virus depends on the host for food and for shelter,' he said. Scientists discovered the mutation as early as February and it has circulated in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said. The WHO has also said there is no evidence the mutation has led to more severe disease. On Sunday, Malaysia's director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah urged greater public vigilance after authorities detected the D614G mutation in two clusters. Sebastian Maurer-Stroh of Singapore's agency for science, technology and research said the variant has also been found in the city-state but that containment measures have prevented large-scale spread. Malaysia's Noor Hisham said the D614G strain detected there was 10 times more infectious and that vaccines currently in development may not be effective against this mutation. But Tambyah and Maurer-Stroh said such mutations would not likely change the virus enough to make potential vaccines less effective. '(The) variants are almost identical and did not change areas that our immune system typically recognise, so there shouldn't be any difference for vaccines being developed,' said Maurer-Stroh. In June, doctors in Italy claimed the coronavirus has weakened and become a shadow of the disease that rapidly spread around the world at the tart of 2020. The medics claimed the infection - which has now killed almost 750,000 people - is much less lethal than it was and 'no longer clinically exists'. These claims were based on findings that patients had much smaller amounts of the virus in their system, compared to samples taken during the peak of the crisis in March and April. However, these claims were contentious and savaged by other academics, with one calling the statements 'bulls***'. Professor Brendan Wren, Professor of medical microbiology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the drop in death rates due to COVID-19 infection could be attributed to many factors such as improved awareness and treatment of the disease. 'Without undertaking comparative analyses in appropriate infection models between the mutant D614G and the parent strain, it is not possible to correlate the emergence of this mutant with less disease severity,' Professor Brendan Wren said in response to Tambyah's comments. Advertisement Experts can't quite pin down exactly why Peru is being battered so hard, but some have speculated it could be due to its high level of vulnerable communities, including impoverished Venezuelan immigrants and indigenous groups. Professor Trudie Lang, director of the global health network at Oxford University, told The Telegraph the crisis in the Americas should serve as a 'wake-up call'. She added: 'We cannot be complacent, there are still a lot of nations that are yet to experience the worst of it and deaths are going to continue to go up.' The pandemic is also accelerating in swathes of South East Asia, which made up a quarter of all cases and a fifth of all Covid-19 deaths last week, according to the WHO. India is bearing the brunt of the crisis in the region, with nine in 10 fatalities occurring in the country over the seven-day period and 85 per cent of infections. Professor Lang added: 'We need to keep a careful eye on India's close neighbours, as we've seen throughout the pandemic that the virus follows economic factors - like transport and trade routes.' The Oxford professor said wealthy countries were hit by Covid first because international travel is more common in rich nations. The epidemic in India should serve as a warning that developing countries may only now start suffering major crises and drive deaths up further, she said. In Europe, there are fears that a second wave could be developing following a gradual rise in infections after lockdowns were eased. Fourteen countries reported a rise in cases over the last week, in: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK. But just five nations, all of which are in Eastern Europe, have seen climbing cases translate to more hospitalisations Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Only three Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Romania have seen a corresponding increase in fatalities. Experts are split as to why deaths and hospitalisations are not following the upward trend in cases. It was initially thought that deaths would follow suit weeks later, due to the lag in time between catching the virus and falling seriously unwell. But cases have steadily been on the rise since July, so these deaths would've already started trickling through into the data. Many scientists believe the rise in cases is merely reflective of increased testing. Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, said more young people who usually don't fall ill with Covid were being picked up by swabs. These people were being missed during the thick of the first wave in Europe because countries struggling to ramp up testing reserved swabs only for the most sick or vulnerable. Professor Hunter said doctors had also become much better at treating hospitalised patients thanks to a better understanding of the disease and new drugs including the steroid dexamethasone, which has slashed death rates. The warm summer months may also have played a role in reducing severity of illness. Strong UV light given off by the sun has been shown to kill off viral particles coughed into the air or onto surfaces. It's thought that humidity also plays a role in weakening Covid-19 but the evidence is still mixed. Cells lining the airways are less resilient in the cold, experts say, and people spend more time indoors which increases the risk of the virus spreading because they are closer together and touch more of the same surfaces. Some scientists also believe vitamin D, made in the body when exposed to sunlight, boosts the immune system and helps fight off viruses making them less likely to fall critically ill with Covid. Others have speculated that Covid-19 may have actually mutated and become weaker as it has raced around Europe and the world. One scientist claimed yesterday the D614G variation of the virus has coincided with a drop in death rates, suggesting it is less lethal. Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at the National University of Singapore, who led the research, said the strain appeared to be 'more infectious but less deadly'. He said most viruses tend to become less virulent as they mutate. 'It is in the virus' interest to infect more people but not to kill them because a virus depends on the host for food and for shelter,' he said. Scientists discovered the mutation as early as February and it has circulated in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said. But the WHO claims there is no evidence to suggest any of the mutations have changed the behaviour of the virus. Donald Trump's supporters have dug out a 2013 video of Michelle Obama praising Harvey Weinstein in a bid to discredit her endorsement of Joe Biden. Oscar-nominated actor James Woods, a strident Trump supporter, tweeted to his 2.5 million followers: 'Beautiful endorsement tonight. She's a great judge of character, so please be kind. No trolling. Oh, wait...' The 73-year-old attached a video from a White House film symposium, in which Obama thanked Weinstein for mentoring film students. 'He is a wonderful human being, a good friend and just a powerhouse,' she said. Michelle Obama's Monday night endorsement of Joe Biden was mocked by clips of Weinstein Actor James Woods mockingly tweeted: 'Beautiful endorsement tonight' Weinstein and his team organized a Careers in Film symposium at the White House, with Whoopi Goldberg, Naomie Harris, Ryan Coogler, David Frankel and Blake Lively also attending the event. The disgraced film producer, sentenced in January to 23 years in prison for rape, had long been a Democrat donor. Since the 1990s he had given over $75,000 - $3,000 to former Bill Clinton's reelection campaign in 2000; more than $26,000 to campaigns or political action committees backing Hillary Clinton since 2000; and more than $45,000 to campaigns or PACs backing Barack Obama in his two bids for the presidency. The Obamas used their Weinstein connection to help their daughter Malia secure an internship at the film company in 2017. In October 2017 The New York Times published their bombshell revelations about Weinstein. The Obamas issued a statement, proclaiming their disgust. Weinstein, pictured with Obama and Blake Lively, donated more than $75,000 to Democrats Barack Obama is pictured with Weinstein, Senator Lautenberg and Senator Schumer 'Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,' Obama said in the statement, which was released two days after Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded. 'Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status.' 'We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. 'And we all need to build a culture - including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect - so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future.' Michelle Obama's 2013 remarks, however, have frequently come back to haunt her - as they did after her speech. One man said her endorsement was 'nearly as beautiful as her endorsement of Weinstein' Another pointed out that the Obamas had allowed Malia to intern with the disgraced mogul One Twitter user said: 'Her morals need help' One Twitter user said: 'Her morals need help', while another said her endorsement of Biden was 'nearly as beautiful as her endorsement of Weinstein'. Another pointed out that the Obamas allowed Malia to intern with the disgraced film mogul, in the summer of 2017. Obama's supporters, however, hit back. They pointed out that Trump had plenty of controversy of his own, with one describing the president as a 'predator', and pointing out that he too socialized with Weinstein. Washington, Aug 19 : A dent in Earth's magnetic field over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean is expanding westward and continuing to weaken in intensity, according to recent observations by NASA scientists. Currently, the dent has not created any visible impacts on daily life on Earth, but it could pose risk to satellites and spacecraft that pass through it, the US space agency said. Earth's magnetic field acts like a protective shield around the planet, repelling and trapping charged particles from the Sun. But over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unusually weak spot in the field -- called the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAA -- allows these particles to dip closer to the surface than normal. Particle radiation in this region can knock out onboard computers and interfere with the data collection of satellites that pass through it. Recent data shows the South Atlantic Anomaly's valley, or region of minimum field strength, has split into two lobes, creating additional challenges for satellite missions. NASA scientists have also studied the particle radiation in the region with the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer, or SAMPEX -- the first of NASA's Small Explorer missions, launched in 1992 and providing observations until 2012. One study, led by NASA heliophysicist Ashley Greeley as part of her doctoral thesis, used two decades of data from SAMPEX to show that the anomaly is slowly but steadily drifting in a northwesterly direction. "These particles are intimately associated with the magnetic field, which guides their motions," said Shri Kanekal, a researcher in the Heliospheric Physics Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Therefore, any knowledge of particles gives you information on the geomagnetic field as well." Greeley's results, published in the journal Space Weather, were also able to provide a clear picture of the type and amount of particle radiation satellites receive when passing through the South Atlantic Anomaly, which emphasised the need for continuing monitoring in the region. The South Atlantic Anomaly arises from two features of Earth's core: The tilt of its magnetic axis, and the flow of molten metals within its outer core. The International Space Station, which is in low-Earth orbit, also passes through the South Atlantic Anomaly. It is well protected, and astronauts are safe from harm while inside, NASA said. However, the ISS has other passengers affected by the higher radiation levels: Instruments like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation mission, or GEDI, collect data from various positions on the outside of the ISS. The SAA causes "blips" on GEDI's detectors and resets the instrument's power boards about once a month, said Bryan Blair, the mission's deputy principal investigator and instrument scientist, and a lidar instrument scientist at Goddard. "These events cause no harm to GEDI," Blair said. "The detector blips are rare compared to the number of laser shots - about one blip in a million shots - and the reset line event causes a couple of hours of lost data, but it only happens every month or so." The South Atlantic Anomaly is also of interest to NASA's Earth scientists who monitor the changes in magnetic field strength there, both for how such changes affect Earth's atmosphere and as an indicator of what is happening to Earth's magnetic fields, deep inside the globe. The Asili business model is a transformative way to build and sustain world-class services in local communities, reinventing humanitarian aid as startup capital for lasting businesses, operated by and for the people who need them. After an initial one-time philanthropic investment, every Asili business is built to operate independently and reinvest its profits in the community. Asili water points and health clinics are serving 120,000 customers in eastern Congo every day, at prices they can afford, and at world-class standards of quality. Most importantly, Asili services are not low-quality humanitarian aid for emergencies. They are vital infrastructure, built for and by the communities they servefor life. This year, Eastern Congo Initiative is celebrating 10 years of revolutionary humanitarian leadership and advocacy for the limitless potential of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Founded by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams, ECI supports visionary Congolese community leaders who are solving the country's most urgent problems. Through collaborative grantmaking, international advocacy, and policy leadership, ECI works shoulder to shoulder with Congolese communities as they build health, freedom and prosperity for life. ECI's acquisition of the Asili platform points the way to a new model for ethical commerce. One of the first Asili programs as part of the merger is a collaboration with Nespresso and the farmers of eastern Congo to release a special single-origin coffee called Kahawa ya Congo, created exclusively from USDA-certified organic beans grown by the farming families of the Minova region. On the shores of Lake Kivu, the region was once a leading supplier of gourmet coffee beans, but a generation of constant armed conflict almost destroyed Congo's coffee sector. Nevertheless, the farmers in Minova persevered, and Nespresso is funding the initial capital cost of Asili water and healthcare infrastructure in Minova for farming families. Customers in the United States can buy Kahawa ya Congo starting today at nespresso.com "With Asili, ECI will take our transformative vision for health, freedom and prosperity farther than ever before," says ECI executive director Abraham Leno. "Asili represents a revolutionary new model for providing world-class services in the world's most challenging places not just during emergencies, but for life. The Asili business model provides a new vision for commerce, which is why some of the world's most visionary companies have begun to invest in Asili services to build a long-term relationship with the people and communities who supply the products they need. Nespresso joins other partners including USAID, charitable foundations, and a growing list of private companies in recognizing the power and promise of this new model of global stewardship. For people accustomed to minimum-standard foreign aid, Asili services bring far more than water and healthcare: they bring respect, dignity, and an enduring commitment to the wellbeing of the community." About Eastern Congo Initiative Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), a subsidiary of Alight, is the first U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization works shoulder to shoulder with Congolese communities as they build health, freedom and prosperity for life. Founded by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010, ECI has invested more than $10 million to support visionary Congolese community leaders who are solving the country's most urgent problems. With ECI's support, those organizations have made life better for tens of thousands of people60 percent of them girls and women. With partners like Starbucks, Theo Chocolate and Nespresso, ECI has introduced the excellence of Congolese coffee and cocoa to customers worldwide. ECI's transformative business model Asili provides clean water and world-class primary healthcare to 120,000 customers in Congo every single day. Thanks to the brilliance of the Congolese people, ECI is transforming the whole idea of humanitarian aid. Learn more at easterncongo.org . SOURCE Eastern Congo Initiative Related Links https://www.easterncongo.org Military members and veterans can get up to four free months of Apple Music through the Apple Music military discount -- but... Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18) Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday denied the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation lost billions of pesos to various forms of fraud, as he reiterated the current administrations zero tolerance policy for corruption. Duque, who attended the Senate Committee of the Wholes third inquiry on the embattled agency, refuted claims about PhilHealths supposed 154-billion loss, saying there is no such finding in the latest annual report published by the Commission on Audit. I have clarified this before with the Blue Ribbon committee last year But I will repeat it to set the record straight. There is no such thing as a 154-billion loss, Duque told the chamber in response to allegations of systemic corruption in the agency. In fact, I am presenting it to you this June 10, 2020 letter from the COA chairman confirming that there is no such finding in the published COA annual audit reports, he added while presenting a copy of the report. Duque stressed that he also has zero tolerance for fraud and corruption, adding that he had coordinated with the National Bureau of Investigation in the past to look into possible cases of irregularities in PhilHealth. Earlier this month, the Senate, along with the House of Representatives and other bodies from the executive and judiciary branches, launched a separate investigation into fresh allegations against the state health insurer, including the supposed corruption involving some of its officials. Duque assured that the government has yet to release funds for PhilHealths controversial 2.1-billion information and communication technology project, noting that it was still in the proposal stage. We need to assure that any release of government money will be scrutinized in detail, said Duque, who has held various posts in the agency since 2001. Duque godfather of PhilHealth mafia? Despite these pronouncements, a former PhilHealth official argued it should have been easy for Duque to discover the alleged anomalies, given he has years-long connection and institutional knowledge on the agency. Former anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Keith even tagged Duque as the godfather of the PhilHealth mafia, claiming the Health Secretary himself approved the appointments of its members. Duque, however, refuted the claim, calling the allegation baseless and "malicious. More corruption? In the same hearing, two officials from the agency confessed that they made a mistake in informing the Senate about the model of IT systems they planned to procure. Senior Vice President Chief Information Officer Jovita Aragona and IT Department Acting Senior Manager Calixto Gabuya initially insisted at last week's Senate hearing that they proposed to purchase a model worth P348,000 per unit. But as Senator Ping Lacson pointed out, that was debunked by the winning bidder and official documents that revealed PhilHealth sought a model that was cheaper at P62,000 per unit. Lacson warned the two officials that he would cite them for contempt for lying to the Senate panel if they do not admit they did not tell "the whole truth." Aragona and Gabuya conceded. The budget for the proposed IT project underwent scrutiny in past Congressional probes, with officials and lawmakers slamming the overpriced proposal and the bloated allocation for PhilHealths IT equipment and software. The agency had denied irregularities in the budget proposal. COA also said it has been facing difficulty getting required documents from PhilHealth on its contracts despite extending the deadlines. Plan 5 million Senator Grace Poe raised a different corruption allegation, tracing back to Duque's supposed involvement in the 2004 presidential elections. Poe asked regional vice president Dennis Adre to explain the agencys '"Plan 5 million." Adre said the agency, led by Duque as president and chief executive officer that time, distributed five million free PhilHealth cards to help then presidential candidacy of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Adre told Poe that Arroyos rival, the late Fernando Poe Jr., also her father, was then leading by five million votes in the surveys so they decided to issue five million free PhilHealth cards. Duque was temporarily unavailable online during this exchange. Senator Risa Hontiveros later brought up the issue again asking Duque to confirm the event, which the secretary "strongly" denied. He added that cases filed against him on the matter were already dismissed by the Ombudsman. As lockdown ban on the sale of tobacco lifts, firms launch lawsuits over bizarre and irregular prohibition. Johannesburg, South Africa Tobacco companies are determined to move forward with litigation against the South African government for its banning of tobacco products during the nearly five-month coronavirus lockdown. The tobacco ban the only one of its kind worldwide was imposed under the 2002 Disaster Management Act, the government justifying it on health grounds based on advice from its medical experts as well as from the World Health Organization (WHO). South Africas ban on the sale of tobacco products and alcohol was lifted on Monday, as part of the easing of measures imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa. The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA), an organisation representing 80 percent of cigarette manufacturers in South Africa, brought forward a court application on May 4 against the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. FITA said there is no rational connection between the cigarette ban and the aim of the state of disaster declaration which is to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But organisations such as the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa have supported the ban. Litigation going forward The Pretoria High Court dismissed FITAs challenge on June 26, ruling that Dlamini-Zuma acted reasonably with a view to save lives when she banned tobacco products. On Friday, the Supreme Court granted FITA the right to appeal. FITAs president, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, said the association would proceed with its lawsuit. FITA initially wanted to compel the government to reintroduce the sale of tobacco products but, since the ban was removed on Monday, it now seeks an order prohibiting the government from banning tobacco sales again, should South Africa move to a stricter lockdown in the future. According to FITA, Dlamini-Zuma was not empowered to ban tobacco products under the Disaster Management Act, which they said only empowers the minister to make regulations rationally connected to preventing or controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. The Disaster Management Act was previously used to halt xenophobic attacks against foreigners in South Africa in June 2008. It was also invoked during the 2010-2011 floods in different parts of the country. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mnguni said: Medical evidence does not support the ministers decision to ban tobacco products, and the move was made in a non-consultative and undemocratic way. By banning tobacco, Mnguni argued, the government went against the main objective of lockdown, which was to prevent people from moving around, pushing them to go out and seek cigarettes on the black market, a trade that increased sharply over recent months. BATSA a unit of British American Tobacco described the ban as bizarre and irregular. According to BATSA, South Africa lost $36m in taxes during every day of the tobacco ban. In April, BATSA initiated a legal challenge against the tobacco ban but the case was withdrawn in May. BATSA said in a statement it would pursue further discussions with the government. Evidence According to Safs Abdool Karim, senior researcher at the Wits University Centre for Health Economics, those opposing the ban may have the constitution on their side. Although it has been suggested smokers are more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, no evidence has been brought to the court proving that smoking during the lockdown specifically increases peoples susceptibility to COVID-19, Abdool Karim said. We do not know conclusively what the link between COVID and smoking is, said Abdool Karim. Legal experts said the tobacco ban could be unconstitutional and FITAs court challenge has a good chance of success. Pierre de Vos, professor of constitutional law at the University of Cape Town, told Al Jazeera: The legal problem for the government is that to be legally valid, the ban must be shown to be rational, and that means there must be at least some evidence that the ban would reduce the spread of COVID-19, or reduce the fatalities of those succumbing to the disease. Noting there is ample evidence that smoking is bad for peoples health and there is also some proof that smokers are more likely to succumb to coronavirus than non-smokers, he said: But I am not sure there is evidence that a short-term ban on the sale of cigarettes is in any way linked to achieving one or more of the [anti-coronavirus] goals set out above. For this reason, I would not be surprised if the government loses one or both of the cases currently before the courts, he said. A fresh outbreak of infections in Australias coronavirus hot zone of Victoria eased further on Wednesday. The country agreed a deal to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine, while it plans to roll out cost-free to citizens. Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L) to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday. Should we be in a position for the trials to be successful, we would hope that this would be made available early next year. If it can be done sooner than that, great, Mr Morrison said. All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients. Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll-out, Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News. Health authorities would also have to take into account where the highest risk of transmission is and how the vaccine works in different age groups when deciding who should get it first, Victorias chief health officer Brett Sutton said. If it does work and its 80 to 90 per cent effective, then absolutely it will be a game-changer, Sutton said, although he cautioned that broad testing was still at a preliminary stage. So, we shouldnt hang our hats on a single vaccine. AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for COVID-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britains University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. Mr Morrison said Australia was also looking for other vaccine deals, including with the University of Queensland and its partner, Australian firm CSL Ltd (CSL.AX). CSL estimates the first doses of the University of Queensland vaccine will be available for emergency use by the middle of 2021, Chief Executive Paul Perrault told reporters. CSL said its first priority would be manufacturing the UQ vaccine, but it was also in talks to help AstraZeneca manufacture its vaccine. Mr Morrison said Australia is also talking to its Pacific neighbours, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, about supplying vaccines. A flare-up in infections in Australias second-most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew and shut large parts of the states economy. The state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave. There were 12 deaths and 216 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from more than 700 infections two weeks ago. There were just 12 new cases in three other states. Despite the surge in the past month, Australia has avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus. (Reuters/NAN) They'd be in remote classes for only about two weeks. Soon, they'd be back to cheer on friends playing spring sports, plan graduation parties and shop for prom dresses. Or so they thought. Those milestones, of course, never came for high school seniors. But for many who had college plans, the fall offered a second chance - an opportunity to make things right after a botched senior year. Kailyn Penn, an 18-year-old from Upper Marlboro, Md., saw her freshman year at the University of Maryland's flagship campus in College Park as a chance to break out of her shell. A'dreana Williams, 18, had been wanting to enroll at "the illustrious Howard University" since she was a freshman in high school. But as the spring melted into summer, those plans were - once again - thrown into chaos. Penn wanted the quintessential freshman experience, but now all she could think about were the billions of germs that live in the showers and sinks of communal bathrooms. Williams, from Jersey City, N.J., was trying to figure out how she would afford her dream school, where she'd go to Homecoming - the annual celebration for Howard's founding - and join the modeling club. At the historically Black university, Williams wouldn't need to overexplain herself. "I always have to preface my experience with, 'as a Black woman, as a Black girl, as a queer Black person.' It's always a preface instead of just being able to say what I feel," she said. But taking out loans to move to Washington D.C. and attend most of her classes online seemed impractical. After spending the past several months steeped in uncertainty and waiting to learn how their universities would reopen in the fall, students had hoped the last few weeks of the summer would usher some stability. Instead, college students at all levels are facing potentially life-altering decisions - weighing their desire for a normal college experience against their health and safety, against the financial burden of going to school during an economic crisis. The choices they make now as a result of the pandemic that has taken lives, jobs and any sense of security will affect them for the rest of their lives. Many young people feel unprepared. They want to go to campus but are unsure what they'll be walking into. "They're putting it in the hands of the students," said Williams, who plans to study international business. "If the system and the country worked the way it was supposed to work, this wouldn't even have to be a decision I would have to make." A Howard education costs more than $26,000 a year, and though the university announced it would waive some student fees and offer grants to students who need them, officials haven't budged on tuition. Williams could pay less than $5,000 to attend nearby Hudson County Community College, though deferring her acceptance to Howard would also mean forgoing the scholarships she secured. "It just really makes me sad that I even have to make this decision," Williams said. "I have to choose between halting my education or staying safe or saving money." Penn, an incoming kinesiology major on the pre-nursing track, considered living in an apartment off campus, where she'd have her own bathroom. And if campus shuttered again, she wouldn't have to pack up and leave like students did in the spring. Staying home with her parents and 16-year-old brother could work, too, Penn thought in early July. It would mean spending more time in her childhood bedroom, but having a car allows for a relatively easy commute to the campus about 25 minutes away. "I've spent days crying," she said. "It's been a lot of inner turmoil." These decisions are causing a great deal of stress for students, who will start this school year with higher-than-usual rates of anxiety, said Joy Himmel, a member of a coronavirus task force for the American College Health Association, an organization of college health professionals. Penn's and Williams's situations are not unique. "One of the biggest anxiety pushers is just the uncertainty," Himmel said. "It's really important that colleges are really transparent about what the plans are." U-Md. has delayed the first day of classes by two weeks as the number of coronavirus cases in Prince George's County, where U-Md. is located, continues to grow. Students and employees returning to the campus will need to be tested within two weeks before their arrival and again after getting to campus, Darryll J. Pines, the school's president said. With roughly 80 percent of fall courses being offered online, the decision to live on or off campus is largely up to the students, although on-campus housing has been pared back to create more singles. The flexibility allows students who are worried about living with other people or who have health issues to determine what's best for them. The choice can also be overwhelming, particularly because the university has already told students it will not issue refunds if the pandemic forces the campus to close again. "Most of us don't know what's going to happen to us when we step on that campus," Penn said. As a restaurant hostess, she has seen firsthand just how careless people could be. "People come in the restaurant and refuse to wear a mask," she said. "They come to the hostess stand and put their hands on everything." A-Sun Truth, an 18-year-old from Washington D.C., didn't plan to stay local when he applied to colleges in December. And when the offer came from North Carolina State University, Truth decided he'd move to Raleigh. "They have a really good engineering program, and I've been down there as well," Truth said. But as the pandemic dragged on and the nation's death toll continued to climb, moving started to make less sense. His mother's recent battle with breast cancer left her disease-free but particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. "I really didn't want to take the chance, at all, to bring the disease back to her," Truth said. Penn, determined to move out of her parents' house, found a potential roommate. They talked for hours before Penn pitched the idea of becoming roommates. "I was so happy," Penn said. She consulted her parents, who promised to support whatever choice she made. They're healthy but aging, Penn said, and the thought of traveling between campus, her apartment and - sometimes - home, made her anxious. "I know that I won't be going out to bars, but it's not about me," Penn said. "I'd rather myself be sick than to bring it home to my brother and parents." Meanwhile, Williams was thinking about her parents, too. They both had gone to college but were distrustful of a system that buried them each in heaps of student loan debt. The decision to take out loans is a lofty one; student debt follows graduates until they can pay it off. For Black students, who are more likely to graduate with debt and default on those loans later in life, borrowing money poses even heavier consequences. Now, with widespread unemployment and job insecurity caused by the pandemic, students are considering other options: community college, taking a gap year or staying close to home. "I think the virus has made [families] more open to considering institutions locally, just because of the facts and the fear of what this virus can do," said William U. Latham, chief student development and success officer at the University of the District of Columbia. Enrollment at the university and its community college has risen 22 percent this year, officials said. "It's really tough. I feel as though it would be smarter for me to go to a community college and stay here in Jersey," Williams said. "If money wasn't an issue, if covid wasn't an issue, I would want to go to college." Then Howard joined universities throughout the country and reversed its reopening plans. The semester would be conducted online and residence halls would be open only to students who needed housing. "Nationally, we continue to see covid-19 cases rise, with an increasing infection rate among young people," Wayne A.I. Frederick, the university's president, said in a message to the campus. "We have also grown more painfully aware of the disparate impact of covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths among people of color, with particular devastation on the Black community." The university shared plans this summer to keep students safe - enforcing mask usage, reducing on-campus housing, offering classes online - but ultimately ran into issues around testing. Officials had required students to test negative for the virus within seven days before arriving on campus, but many families reported being unable to get tested in their area. The pressure mounted in early August when tuition bills were due and housing assignments were finalized. There was no more time to mull the options. To protect his mom, Truth decided to stay close to his family in Northeast Washington and attend U-D.C., which offered him a scholarship. His family was so happy, they threw him a barbecue. "At first I was really bummed I wouldn't be there in person," Truth said about his first choice, N.C. State. "I really wanted to have a college experience and meet people from all over the place." But he's excited about U-D.C., where he'll major in mechanical engineering and take his classes online. He'll save money, too, which was important to him and his parents. Penn would be staying home, too. Her eyes filled with tears as she talked to her roommate. "I just felt really bad because we were so excited," Penn said. "It just kind of sucked." They agreed it would be safer to stay away from campus - Penn in Upper Marlboro and her almost-roommate in New York. They promised to try again in the spring if the virus is under control by then. "School isn't really going to be an experience, anyway, " Penn said. No clubs, no sports; her friends are staying home, too. "It's not really going to make a difference, it feels like," she said. For Williams, the choice to stay home or live on campus was made for her after Howard rescinded on-campus housing. She'll still take out a student loan but save about $7,000 in housing and dining costs this semester by staying at home. "I'm actually really happy," Williams said. Some of her peers were crying about it, Williams said. "I, for one, can say I've cried way more tears about how I'm going to get [to Howard]," she said. "I'm just fine." Etihad Airways will operate a series of special passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to the Indian cities of Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, effective August 21. The flights can be booked 24/7 through Hala Travel Management, Etihads travel management arm, by calling +971 2 511 7777, or via email at [email protected] Flights must be booked at least 24 hours in advance. The mandatory documentation required will be collected and processed by Hala travel consultants, an Etihad Airways statement said. Travellers leaving Abu Dhabi to India are required to show a negative Covid-19 PCR test result from a government accredited medical facility, received within 96 hours prior to departure. This negative result certificate will exempt the traveller from mandatory quarantine on arrival in India. More information, including a list of approved clinics is available on www.etihad.com/destinationguide. Children under the age of 12 and people with mild to severe disabilities are currently exempt from this PCR test requirement, however rules may differ from state to state and travellers are advised to check before flying, it said. To help facilitate this process, Etihad Airways is collaborating with Mediclinic Middle East to offer departing travellers the option of convenient PCR testing, for a fee, at their home, or at Mediclinic facilities in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Dubai prior to their travel, the statement said. Travellers need to follow the Air Suvidha guidelines and fill in the arrival self-declaration form which is available online, or from the Hala travel consultants. The flights to Mumbai will be on August 21, 23 and 24 (departure 21:25); Delhi flight on August 23 (departure 22:15) and Bengaluru on August 21 (departure 19:55). Only permanent residents of the following Indian states are permitted to travel to the following cities: Bengaluru: Karnataka; Delhi: Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan; and Mumbai: Maharashtra. Flying to, from, and via Abu Dhabi is being greatly supported by the Etihad Wellness sanitisation and safety programme, which ensures the highest standards of hygiene are maintained at every stage of the customer journey. This includes specially trained Wellness Ambassadors, a first in the industry, who have been introduced by the airline to provide essential travel health information and care on the ground and on every flight, so guests can fly with greater ease and peace of mind. More information on the stringent measures being taken by Etihad Airways to provide a healthy and hygienic travel experience is available at www.etihad.com/wellness. Those travelling on special services to India are required to wear a face shield, which will be provided upon boarding. - TradeArabia News Service Opposition supporters protest against disputed presidential elections results at Independence Square in Minsk Opposition supporters protest against disputed presidential elections results at Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 18, 2020. Credit - Sergei GaponAFP/Getty Images For over a week, tens of thousands of people have protested across Belarus over disputed elections on Aug. 9 after which Alexander Lukashenko, Europes longest serving leader, claimed a sixth term as president. Thousands of people, including factory workers, police officers and TV presenters, have gone on strike to join the protests and call for the Presidentwho has ruled the ex-Soviet country of 9.5 millionsince 1994 to step down. Belarus has not seen protests like this since the collapse of the Soviet Union, says Matthew Frear, a Belarus expert at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Clashes with riot police have left at least two dead, hundreds injured and at least 6,700 arrested. Authorities have launched a severe crackdown in the capital city, Minsk, where police have deployed stun grenades and rounds of rubber bullets and drove a van into crowds. According to Amnesty International, detained protesters have been subjected to widespread torture. Fighting for his political future like never before, Lukashenko has tried to show he hasnt lost the support of the nationbut hasnt had much success. When Lukashenko toured the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant on Monday and told the crowd, you workers have always supported the president, the workers chanted Go away! Later the same day, during a visit to another factory, Lukashenko offered to change the constitution. Well put the changes to a referendum, and Ill hand over my constitutional powers. But not under pressure or because of the street, he said. The opposition says hes made empty promises like this before. What happened with Belarus election? On Aug. 10, official results handed Lukashenko 80.1% of the vote. His main rival, Svetlana Tikhonovskaya, a political newcomer and former teacher, only won 10.1%. She rejected the outcome, insisting that she would have won support ranging from 60% to 70% had votes been properly counted. Its difficult to say what the result would have been because the entire process was rigged some of the votes cast for Lukashenko were faked, says Frear. But in some polling stations, where it was done more fairly, she did receive up to 80% of the votes. The only way to know is to hold new free and fair elections he adds. Story continues Dubbed Europes Last Dictatorship by George W Bush in 2005, Lukashenkos regime has banned opinion polls, jailed opposition figures and conducted elections that were called severely flawed by the European Commission. The last free and fair elections were in 1994, says Frear. Three months ahead of the Aug. 9 elections, authorities jailed opposition rivals and barred them from running, including Tikhanovskayas husband, a popular YouTuber and opposition figure, Sergei Tikhanovsky at the end of May. Hours after denouncing the elections, Tikhanosvkaya fled to neighboring Lithuania, where she had previously evacuated her children ahead of the elections. In a YouTube video, she said she made the very difficult decision independently, adding that children are the main thing in life and that the political unrest is not worth anyone losing their life. She has since told protesters not to stay on the sidelines and to rally peacefully. We have always said that we need to defend our choice only by lawful, non violent means, she said in another video on Aug. 14. A striking worker of Belaruskaly, Belarus' major producer of potash fertilizers. Vikor DrachevTASS/Getty Images Why are workers protesting? Protests have emerged across Belarus since June amid anger over the jailing of opposition figures, economic stagnation and Lukashenkos mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, which he dubbed a psychosis that could be cured by a vodka and a sauna visit despite recently contracting the illness himself. Since the election results, more than a dozen protests have emerged in towns and cities over the disputed election results. Unofficial estimates for a protest in the capital on Sunday ranged between 100,00 and 220,000 people. Thousands of people rallied last night in Minsk for a ninth consecutive night since Lukashenko declared victory. Workers have taken to the streets with a variety of demands, including stopping the police violence and holding new elections. Videos and photos shared on social media in recent days showed workers at several state-run enterprises walking off the job and telling their bosses they would not go back to work until police stop beating up demonstrators and authorities release the thousands of protestors detained since the election. Police officers and members of the special forces (Omon) have announced they were quitting on social media. In one video, a security officer burns his uniform in a show of defiance. Several journalists and TV presenters have also gone on strike, demanding that state media cover the protests objectively, says Katia Glod, a London-based independent expert on Belarus and former consultant at European Endowment for Democracy, a think tank in Brussels. The state media is complete propaganda, Glod says. It has portrayed the protests as riots.' At least six presenters have left the state-run broadcasting company, Belarus-1 (BT) channel, in the past week, including Andrei Makayonak, a host on the Good Morning Belarus program, who resigned on Aug. 12. In an interview with daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus, he said: Before I always remained neutral, because I was sure that when the situation is not very good, there must be a positive person who supports everyone with his smile. He said that in the countrys current climate, his smile feels rather blasphemous and no longer inspires the audience. Alexander Lukashenko, Belaruss president, gestures while giving a speech during a rally of his supporters in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, on, Aug. 16, 2020. Evgeny MaloletkaBloomberg/Getty Images How has Lukashenko responded to the protests? On Aug. 14the sixth consecutive day of protestsLukashenko called the demonstrators foreign-backed revolutionaries who are trying to destabilize the country. Dont throw yourselves onto the streets. You must understand that you are being used, and our children are being used, like cannon fodder, he said in a televised address. Since the elections, people in Belarus report intermittently losing access to the Internet, social networks and messaging apps, triggering suspicions among protesters that the government is using technology as a means of stifling dissent. Lukashenko, however, has denied that the government is involved and claimed the Internet was being disconnected from abroad. In the past, the authorities have blocked the sites of opposition candidates. But a full Internet shutdown has never happened before, Frear says. In the context of a deep recession and the coronavirus crisis, Lukashenko will need to borrow a lot of money from foreign governments, says Glod. His loss of legitimacy threatens his ability to get money from Western institutions and thats what bothers him, she adds. Belarus has long relied on Russian energy subsidies worth billions of dollars each year shore up its largely state-controlled economy. But over the past year, the Kremlin has ramped up pressure on Belarus to accept closer political and economic ties by increasing energy prices and cutting subsidies. But Lukashenko has rejected several of Moscows proposals over the years for deeper integration, including a single currency. Under siege from the West, Lukashenko appears to be turning to his Russian neighbor for support. After a phone conversation with Vladmir Putin, Lukashenko declared on Aug. 15 that Putin had agreed to provide comprehensive security assistance against the protests. Lukashenko didnt specify details but he said that when it comes to the military component, we have an agreement with [Russia], referring to a treaty the countries signed back in 1999 that was supposed to create a unified state. The treaty was never fully implemented and in recent years, the countries relations have worsened as Lukashenko has pushed against Moscows calls for deeper economic and political ties. Lukashenko wants Putin to bolster his number of riot police, Glod says. He is particularly worried about a lack of police, she says. But theres no guarantee will Russia provide such support, Frear says. Lukashenko might be trying to scare the opposition or to corner Russia into providing support, he says. A Kremlin statement on 15 Aug. made no mention of providing security assistance but expressed confidence that all the problems will be resolved soon. How have other world leaders responded? The elections and police brutality have drawn widespread condemnation abroad. President Trump said on Aug. 18: it doesnt seem like its too much democracy there in Belarus and that he would like to talk to Russia at an appropriate time in the wake of the unrest. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Aug. 10 the vote was not free and fair and denounced ongoing violence against protesters and the detention of opposition supporters, while the U.K. announced on Aug. 17, that it did not accept the fraudulent Belarus presidential vote. After Aug.14 emergency talks, the European Union announced it would impose sanctions targeting Belarusian officials responsible for the brutal crackdown and election fraud. What happened in Belarus in the last few days is completely unacceptable and calls for a clear reaction of the E.U., Germanys Haiko Maas said during a press conference the same day. The E.U. first placed sanctions on Belarus in 2004, and tightened them in 2011 over human rights abuses and election fraud. Many sanctions, including those targeting arms companies and travel bans were lifted in 2016 after the E.U. cited progress in improving the rule of law. The latest sanctions are unlikely to bother Lukashenko, analysts say. Theyre limited and targeted. They wont bring the country down, says Frear. The E.U. is in a difficult position. It has to stand by its values so it cannot just ignore the fraud and post election violence Glod says. But they dont want to push Lukashenko towards Russia. Protesters unfurl a banner in the colors of the former Belarus national flag as they call for the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus, on, Aug. 16, 2020. Evgeny MaloletkaBloomberg/Getty Images What could happen next? It looks like neither Lukashenko nor the protesters intend on backing down, analysts say. He is a person who never compromises. He sees it as a weakness, Glod says. At the same time, experts doubt he can rely on Russian intervention to repress the protests. The Kremlins priority is to keep Belarusians on its side says Frear, but if it openly intervenes on behalf of Lukashenko and embroils itself in a violent crackdown, it could lose the support of Belarusians. It would also be very costly for Putin. He would need enormous financial resources to sustain Belaruss collapsing economy. Its also unclear how that could play out domestically, says Glod. Putins popularity has suffered a historic blow in recent months following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis, with ratings dropping to 60% in July. The future will either see an even more bloody crackdown or long war of attrition where neither sidethe authorities or protestersstands down, says Frear, drawing parallels with the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Protesters are hoping for another election. And if a crackdown continues to fail and mass protests continue to rage, theres more chance Lukashenko will cede to those calls, Frear says. DAngelo Sandidge was lying in bed and scrolling through Instagram on June 1, thinking about the ground sausage he was about to fry for breakfast, when he stumbled upon a video that hed heard about but not yet seen. His anger intensified as he watched the footage of George Floyd begging for his life while a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. By the time the video ended, after hed watched Floyd, who was Black, call out for his mother and eventually fall silent, Sandidge had lost his appetite. I felt sick to my stomach, he says. Until that moment, Sandidge, who is also Black, had not been one to hit the streets in protests, but this was different. At 6 ft. 4 in. tall and 280 lb., he is about the same height as Floyd and substantially heavier, and that video was a reminder of how quick people are to judge those who look like him. So the next day, Sandidge bought a poster board and some markers and made a sign wider and taller than his torso that read, no justice, no peace, no calmness in the street. Sparked by a sense of urgency to take a stand as a Black man in America and by a desire to find camaraderie among people who can relate to his pain, the 24-year-old set out to join a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Indianapolis. Courtesy D'Angelo Sandidge By the end of the night, he was in jail, accused of violating curfew and resisting arrest by fleeing. Police say that as he fled, Sandidge was trying to reach into his backpack, where they found a taser and a can of bear sprayitems Sandidge says he normally carries for self-protection. He was not charged with the curfew violation, but Sandidge faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if convicted of resisting arrest. Worse for Sandidge, even though its a misdemeanor, the charge will show up on background checks even if hes acquitted or the case is dismissed. Ive never dealt with anything like this, says Sandidge, who didnt have a smudge on his driving record, much less a criminal history, when he was arrested. I dont know what Im going to do now. Story continues *** Demonstrations against racism and police violence led to more than 7,600 arrests in the U.S. in May and June, according to the Crowd Counting Consortium, which collects data from news reports. An Associated Press tally found more than 10,000 protesters were arrested in just the first 10 days after Floyds death on May 25. Amid the ongoing protests, many of those jailed, however briefly, are coming to terms with the repercussions of their decisions to take part in a major moment in history. Young protesters, particularly those of color, face chilling consequences on top of prosecution, including costly fines, loss of employment and a stigma that legal experts say could affect their ability to obtain housing, jobs, education and occupational licenses. My confidence and my faith that Ill get everything back on track is shattered, Sandidge says. In what experts call the largest sustained mobilization in modern history, some 23 million people across the U.S. have attended demonstrations since Floyds death, a Civis poll from mid-June suggests. According to a national Pew Research survey of more than 600 people who say they attended a recent protest focused on race, about 41% were younger than 30. Of those 600, 17% were Black, 22% were Hispanic, and 46% were white. A smaller survey looking at protest demographics in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles found that the median age of protesters was 29, according to Dana Fisher, a University of Maryland sociology professor whose team conducted surveys in the three cities in June. About 25% of those polled were 24 or younger, Fisher says, and white protesters made up about 54% of the crowds. But when it came to arrests, the faces were less diverse. While there is no racial breakdown of protest arrests nationwide, some analyses of city and county arrest records the first weekend after Floyds death show that many who were jailed were Black. Of the 2,172 people the Chicago police department arrested from May 29 to May 31, more than 70% were Black and 10% were white, according to an analysis of police department records by the Chicago Reader. In Atlanta, 48 of the 82 people processed through the Fulton County jail that same weekend were Black, Georgia Public Broadcasting found. A group of people being placed under arrest stand by a Harris County Jail bus in Houston on June 2, 2020. | Sergio FloresGetty Images When Sandidge was sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs, he says, white bystanders walked past him without being stopped by police, even though they were also out after the 9 p.m. curfew. At one point in the night, he says, all 25 inmates in his jail cell were Black. He often wonders why authorities stopped him in the first place. Each time, he comes to the same conclusion. One hundred percent it was because I was Black, he says. The Indianapolis Metropolitan police declined to comment. Coricia Campbell, a Marine veteran who is Black, also believes race played a role in her arrest. On May 30, during a demonstration in Jacksonville, Fla., Campbell was sitting on the ground beside a white friend who was also protesting. Video shows police officers shoving Campbells friend aside while pulling Campbell into their midst and handcuffing her. In that entire line of people, I was the only one who was arrested, she says. In her holding cell, one woman out of eight was white, Campbell adds. Its really hard not to think it was racial profiling, she says. Orlando criminal-defense lawyer James Smith says the racial disparity in protest arrests is not surprising. Black Americans in general are more likely than white Americans to be arrested, convicted and given lengthy prison sentences, according to a 2018 report by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit focused on reforming the U.S. criminal-justice system. There are many reasons for the disparity, the report found, including racial biases at every level of the justice system, including among police officers, prosecutors, judges, jurors and parole boards. Black and Hispanic defendants are more likely than white defendants to be denied bail, according to the report, and theyre more likely to accept plea dealseven if they protest their innocencebecause theyre less likely to be able to afford costly legal battles. Courtesy Coricia Campbell The recent round of arrests highlights the racial double standard here in this nation, says Smith, who represents seven arrested protesters, all of them Black or Hispanic. The disparities go beyond arrests. When it comes to employment, an arrest or conviction can decrease the likelihood of getting a callback for jobs, especially if an applicant is a person of color, says Beth Avery, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project (NELP). That means Black and Hispanic protesters will be most affected in the long term if theyre arrested at demonstrations. These protests going on all around the country are all about racial inequities and bias in our criminal legal system, and it doesnt stop with the police, Avery says. It permeates throughout all these other aspects of life. If a young protester who was recently arrested applies for a job now or for student loans, their pending criminal case will likely pop up. Criminal-history questions also appear in the majority of undergraduate college applications. National surveys have shown that 60% to 80% of private institutions and 55% of public institutions require prospective students to answer questions about their criminal past during the admission process, according to a Brookings Institution report. One thing I dont think the average American realizes is just how devastating even an initial contact with the criminal-justice system can be, Smith says. The perfect storm is for that college-aged student who is trying to get their lives started. Even for someone like Campbell, who is 31 and has a job, the results of her arrest have been devastating. Prosecutors dropped Campbells unlawful-assembly charge, but while she was in jail, Campbell missed a surgery scheduled to remove her gallbladder. Its a really stressful situation, says Campbell, who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Because of COVID-19, she doesnt know when she can reschedule the operation. But Campbell says she felt a duty to protest and doesnt regret her decision. In fact, shes participated in three more demonstrations since her arrest. Regret implies that if you had a choice to do it over again, youd make a different decision, says Campbell. I would still be there. Police arrest Coricia Campbell during a Black Lives Matter protest in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 30. | Ashley N Whitmer Lawyers representing protesters fear many are marching under the mistaken impression that minor cases disappear rom criminal records once charges are cleared. Sandidge and Campbell walked into protests with that mindset. But in reality, arrests remain on criminal records in most states court systems, threatening a persons ability to find work and housing for years. At least 28 states, including where Sandidge and Campbell were arrested, require an individual to take often onerous court actions to seal or expunge an arrest record, even if theyve been acquitted or a charge has been dismissed, according to the nonprofit Collateral Consequences Resource Center. Even then, many states allow only one expungement in a lifetime, says John Phillips, a Florida civil rights lawyer who helped get Campbells unlawful-assembly charge dismissed. Right now, you think youre invincible, Phillips says. But this may stick, and it can add up. Its a snowball going down the mountain. Records of arrests and even mug shots also live on in public and private databases, which employers, college-admissions boards and some loan issuers can access. All someone has to do is Google your name, and information will come up showing what youre arrested for, Smith says. The arrest record could frankly be around for most of your productive life. This has long been a problem in a nation where nearly one in three adults, or 70 million, have an arrest or conviction record and where, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, as many Americans have criminal records as college diplomas. Employers are not supposed to rely on arrest records alone, says Avery, the NELP attorney. But the truth is that if it shows up on a background check, its going to affect an employers view of the applicant. A movement to prevent this has made progress. Thirty-five states since 1998 have adopted so-called Ban the Box laws or policies that require public-sector employers to consider job candidates qualifications before asking them to disclose arrest or conviction records. Fourteen of those states have gone further, prohibiting private employers from including questions about criminal convictions on job applications. Were coming around to everyone recognizing that perhaps people with an arrest or conviction record shouldnt be perpetually punished, Avery says. But the change may not be happening quickly enough to save todays protesters from years of setbacks. *** On the afternoon of June 2, Sandidge took his homemade sign and joined dozens of demonstrators at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis. He left for a while, then decided to return with a friend at about 10 p.m. As he got near the rally after parking his car, Sandidge says, he heard shouts and saw figures charging toward him in the dark. He says he ran, not knowing the figures were police. According to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by TIME, police said they spotted Sandidge and another man trying to duck behind flower beds. The men began running as one officer shouted Stop. Police, sparking a foot chase that ended with the two being captured and handcuffed. The county prosecutor cleared more than 100 people arrested that first weekend in June for nonviolent offenses. But because police allege Sandidge had been trying to reach into his bag before he was apprehended, possibly for a weapon, a spokesman for the prosecutors office told TIME his charge was warranted. He declined to comment further on the case. Sandidge denies trying to get into his bag and says he had no intention of using anything inside it as a weapon. The spray was sealed, and the taser was in a secured pouch, says Sandidge. Indiana law permits the carrying of both without a permit. For me to be another statistic, it terrifies me, Sandidge says of his arrest record. Ive never, never, never had to worry about having anxiety or fear because Ive always had a clean track record. After a little over 24 hours in jail, Sandidge was released a few hours before he was due to attend an orientation for a job at a security company. Because he was concerned about being exposed in jail to COVID-19 and because his wallet, which had his drivers license, had been confiscated and not yet returned, Sandidge missed the orientation. The company offered him the option of completing his orientation online, but Sandidge says he was too preoccupied and felt his life was too much in shambles to continue pursuing the job. I wouldnt have been any good to anyone in a work environment, he says. Sandidges first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 16. Until then, all he can do is wait. If he applies for a job now, his pending criminal case may hinder his chances. Hes filled with fear thinking about the outcome of his case, about his next possible encounter with police and about whether he has sabotaged his future, derailing his plan of saving enough money for college. It did something different to me, he says of his arrest. It changed me. DAngelo Sandidge sits in front of the U.S. District Courthouse in Indianapolis, near the site of his arrest on June 2. DAngelo Sandidge sits in front of the U.S. District Courthouse in Indianapolis, near the site of his arrest on June 2. Credit - Asa Featherstone, IV for TIME DAngelo Sandidge was lying in bed and scrolling through Instagram on June 1, thinking about the ground sausage he was about to fry for breakfast, when he stumbled upon a video that hed heard about but not yet seen. His anger intensified as he watched the footage of George Floyd begging for his life while a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. By the time the video ended, after hed watched Floyd, who was Black, call out for his mother and eventually fall silent, Sandidge had lost his appetite. I felt sick to my stomach, he says. Until that moment, Sandidge, who is also Black, had not been one to hit the streets in protests, but this was different. At 6 ft. 4 in. tall and 280 lb., he is about the same height as Floyd and substantially heavier, and that video was a reminder of how quick people are to judge those who look like him. So the next day, Sandidge bought a poster board and some markers and made a sign wider and taller than his torso that read, no justice, no peace, no calmness in the street. Sparked by a sense of urgency to take a stand as a Black man in America and by a desire to find camaraderie among people who can relate to his pain, the 24-year-old set out to join a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Indianapolis. Courtesy D'Angelo Sandidge By the end of the night, he was in jail, accused of violating curfew and resisting arrest by fleeing. Police say that as he fled, Sandidge was trying to reach into his backpack, where they found a taser and a can of bear sprayitems Sandidge says he normally carries for self-protection. He was not charged with the curfew violation, but Sandidge faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if convicted of resisting arrest. Worse for Sandidge, even though its a misdemeanor, the charge will show up on background checks even if hes acquitted or the case is dismissed. Story continues Ive never dealt with anything like this, says Sandidge, who didnt have a smudge on his driving record, much less a criminal history, when he was arrested. I dont know what Im going to do now. *** Demonstrations against racism and police violence led to more than 7,600 arrests in the U.S. in May and June, according to the Crowd Counting Consortium, which collects data from news reports. An Associated Press tally found more than 10,000 protesters were arrested in just the first 10 days after Floyds death on May 25. Amid the ongoing protests, many of those jailed, however briefly, are coming to terms with the repercussions of their decisions to take part in a major moment in history. Young protesters, particularly those of color, face chilling consequences on top of prosecution, including costly fines, loss of employment and a stigma that legal experts say could affect their ability to obtain housing, jobs, education and occupational licenses. My confidence and my faith that Ill get everything back on track is shattered, Sandidge says. In what experts call the largest sustained mobilization in modern history, some 23 million people across the U.S. have attended demonstrations since Floyds death, a Civis poll from mid-June suggests. According to a national Pew Research survey of more than 600 people who say they attended a recent protest focused on race, about 41% were younger than 30. Of those 600, 17% were Black, 22% were Hispanic, and 46% were white. A smaller survey looking at protest demographics in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles found that the median age of protesters was 29, according to Dana Fisher, a University of Maryland sociology professor whose team conducted surveys in the three cities in June. About 25% of those polled were 24 or younger, Fisher says, and white protesters made up about 54% of the crowds. But when it came to arrests, the faces were less diverse. While there is no racial breakdown of protest arrests nationwide, some analyses of city and county arrest records the first weekend after Floyds death show that many who were jailed were Black. Of the 2,172 people the Chicago police department arrested from May 29 to May 31, more than 70% were Black and 10% were white, according to an analysis of police department records by the Chicago Reader. In Atlanta, 48 of the 82 people processed through the Fulton County jail that same weekend were Black, Georgia Public Broadcasting found. A group of people being placed under arrest stand by a Harris County Jail bus in Houston on June 2, 2020. Sergio FloresGetty Images When Sandidge was sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs, he says, white bystanders walked past him without being stopped by police, even though they were also out after the 9 p.m. curfew. At one point in the night, he says, all 25 inmates in his jail cell were Black. He often wonders why authorities stopped him in the first place. Each time, he comes to the same conclusion. One hundred percent it was because I was Black, he says. The Indianapolis Metropolitan police declined to comment. Coricia Campbell, a Marine veteran who is Black, also believes race played a role in her arrest. On May 30, during a demonstration in Jacksonville, Fla., Campbell was sitting on the ground beside a white friend who was also protesting. Video shows police officers shoving Campbells friend aside while pulling Campbell into their midst and handcuffing her. In that entire line of people, I was the only one who was arrested, she says. In her holding cell, one woman out of eight was white, Campbell adds. Its really hard not to think it was racial profiling, she says. Orlando criminal-defense lawyer James Smith says the racial disparity in protest arrests is not surprising. Black Americans in general are more likely than white Americans to be arrested, convicted and given lengthy prison sentences, according to a 2018 report by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit focused on reforming the U.S. criminal-justice system. There are many reasons for the disparity, the report found, including racial biases at every level of the justice system, including among police officers, prosecutors, judges, jurors and parole boards. Black and Hispanic defendants are more likely than white defendants to be denied bail, according to the report, and theyre more likely to accept plea dealseven if they protest their innocencebecause theyre less likely to be able to afford costly legal battles. Courtesy Coricia Campbell The recent round of arrests highlights the racial double standard here in this nation, says Smith, who represents seven arrested protesters, all of them Black or Hispanic. The disparities go beyond arrests. When it comes to employment, an arrest or conviction can decrease the likelihood of getting a callback for jobs, especially if an applicant is a person of color, says Beth Avery, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project (NELP). That means Black and Hispanic protesters will be most affected in the long term if theyre arrested at demonstrations. These protests going on all around the country are all about racial inequities and bias in our criminal legal system, and it doesnt stop with the police, Avery says. It permeates throughout all these other aspects of life. If a young protester who was recently arrested applies for a job now or for student loans, their pending criminal case will likely pop up. Criminal-history questions also appear in the majority of undergraduate college applications. National surveys have shown that 60% to 80% of private institutions and 55% of public institutions require prospective students to answer questions about their criminal past during the admission process, according to a Brookings Institution report. One thing I dont think the average American realizes is just how devastating even an initial contact with the criminal-justice system can be, Smith says. The perfect storm is for that college-aged student who is trying to get their lives started. Even for someone like Campbell, who is 31 and has a job, the results of her arrest have been devastating. Prosecutors dropped Campbells unlawful-assembly charge, but while she was in jail, Campbell missed a surgery scheduled to remove her gallbladder. Its a really stressful situation, says Campbell, who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Because of COVID-19, she doesnt know when she can reschedule the operation. But Campbell says she felt a duty to protest and doesnt regret her decision. In fact, shes participated in three more demonstrations since her arrest. Regret implies that if you had a choice to do it over again, youd make a different decision, says Campbell. I would still be there. Police arrest Coricia Campbell during a Black Lives Matter protest in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 30. Ashley N Whitmer Lawyers representing protesters fear many are marching under the mistaken impression that minor cases disappear rom criminal records once charges are cleared. Sandidge and Campbell walked into protests with that mindset. But in reality, arrests remain on criminal records in most states court systems, threatening a persons ability to find work and housing for years. At least 28 states, including where Sandidge and Campbell were arrested, require an individual to take often onerous court actions to seal or expunge an arrest record, even if theyve been acquitted or a charge has been dismissed, according to the nonprofit Collateral Consequences Resource Center. Even then, many states allow only one expungement in a lifetime, says John Phillips, a Florida civil rights lawyer who helped get Campbells unlawful-assembly charge dismissed. Right now, you think youre invincible, Phillips says. But this may stick, and it can add up. Its a snowball going down the mountain. Records of arrests and even mug shots also live on in public and private databases, which employers, college-admissions boards and some loan issuers can access. All someone has to do is Google your name, and information will come up showing what youre arrested for, Smith says. The arrest record could frankly be around for most of your productive life. This has long been a problem in a nation where nearly one in three adults, or 70 million, have an arrest or conviction record and where, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, as many Americans have criminal records as college diplomas. Employers are not supposed to rely on arrest records alone, says Avery, the NELP attorney. But the truth is that if it shows up on a background check, its going to affect an employers view of the applicant. A movement to prevent this has made progress. Thirty-five states since 1998 have adopted so-called Ban the Box laws or policies that require public-sector employers to consider job candidates qualifications before asking them to disclose arrest or conviction records. Fourteen of those states have gone further, prohibiting private employers from including questions about criminal convictions on job applications. Were coming around to everyone recognizing that perhaps people with an arrest or conviction record shouldnt be perpetually punished, Avery says. But the change may not be happening quickly enough to save todays protesters from years of setbacks. *** On the afternoon of June 2, Sandidge took his homemade sign and joined dozens of demonstrators at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis. He left for a while, then decided to return with a friend at about 10 p.m. As he got near the rally after parking his car, Sandidge says, he heard shouts and saw figures charging toward him in the dark. He says he ran, not knowing the figures were police. According to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by TIME, police said they spotted Sandidge and another man trying to duck behind flower beds. The men began running as one officer shouted Stop. Police, sparking a foot chase that ended with the two being captured and handcuffed. The county prosecutor cleared more than 100 people arrested that first weekend in June for nonviolent offenses. But because police allege Sandidge had been trying to reach into his bag before he was apprehended, possibly for a weapon, a spokesman for the prosecutors office told TIME his charge was warranted. He declined to comment further on the case. Sandidge denies trying to get into his bag and says he had no intention of using anything inside it as a weapon. The spray was sealed, and the taser was in a secured pouch, says Sandidge. Indiana law permits the carrying of both without a permit. For me to be another statistic, it terrifies me, Sandidge says of his arrest record. Ive never, never, never had to worry about having anxiety or fear because Ive always had a clean track record. After a little over 24 hours in jail, Sandidge was released a few hours before he was due to attend an orientation for a job at a security company. Because he was concerned about being exposed in jail to COVID-19 and because his wallet, which had his drivers license, had been confiscated and not yet returned, Sandidge missed the orientation. The company offered him the option of completing his orientation online, but Sandidge says he was too preoccupied and felt his life was too much in shambles to continue pursuing the job. I wouldnt have been any good to anyone in a work environment, he says. Sandidges first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 16. Until then, all he can do is wait. If he applies for a job now, his pending criminal case may hinder his chances. Hes filled with fear thinking about the outcome of his case, about his next possible encounter with police and about whether he has sabotaged his future, derailing his plan of saving enough money for college. It did something different to me, he says of his arrest. It changed me. As professionals, Maulik Patel and Vidhi Patel, the team behind Inclined Studio in Ahmedabad, is keen to balance concepts with technicality. This balance between idea and execution has won them quite a few awards, like the IIID Magazine 2017 cover page and more than 150 satisfied project owners. Inclined Studio is famous for exemplary photography work in architecture, interior and landscape sectors. For Maulik and Vidhi, client is the soul of the project. However, they do not hesitate to use their own sensibilities and understanding to project the clients values and individuality through the lens. Basically, the Inclined Studio team takes an idea from the client and takes it through development to realization, using a traditional approach along with the innovation. The studio was established in 2015 and in the past 5 years, it has photographed more than 700 projects in the three disciplines as mentioned already. Their work keeps getting published in reputed publications, including design magazines and books. While Maulik is an Interior Designer by education, Vidhi has studied architecture. Speaking about their life so far, Maulik says on behalf of both, Life, as they say, is full of surprises. I actually took a degree in interior design but had no plans of working commercially. However, one thing led to another and here I am, shooting interiors for architects, hotels and design companies in Gujarat and outside. Vidhi pitches in with her take on what architectural photography is all about. She says, Architectural photography is the documentation of buildings and similar structures from an artistic or realistic perspective. Interior photography is almost entirely about solving problems light, colour, reflections, space and time all of these will look like conspiring against you. Taking the discussion about architectural photography further, the Inclined Studio team enumerates the advantages of it. These are 1. Helping people obtain a visual understanding of buildings/structures without having to visit them physically. 2. Building a valuable database resource to allow students of architecture expand their vocabulary. Maulik and Vidhi go on to describe the significance of good equipment, basics about composition of a photograph and lighting, etc. For the photography enthusiasts in this field, here are the pointers - Camera The team uses Sony a7r 3 with remote release, which is the most suitable for their professional work and reliable too. It produces beautiful photographs with a dynamic range. Lenses The lens used is Sony 16-35mm f4. Speaking about this Maulik says, For some spaces 16mm is useful but this is really as wide as I would go. Any wider just starts to look unnatural for my taste and objects close to the lens will become elongated or fall away. Use with caution and keep it straight at all times! Composition Interior photography is all about composition. It is not just about space, but also about letting the photographer enter that space and touch it through his lens. Vidhi believes that there are three basic categories of photographs to be taken in an interior set up - the hero shot, the detail and what I call the navigator. Lets take each one in turn. The Hero Maulik explains, A hero shot is usually wide-angle and will include as much of the room as possible without going to extreme (focal) lengths. The first thing I do when I enter a room is find the best angle, or angles for the hero shot: this is the main, single photo that will present the room on a website or in a brochure. It is always my starting point and its the shot Ill devote most time to in terms of getting the composition, lighting and styling right. In fact, when Maulik and Vidhi meet the client or visit the location before the job, they take some quick snaps to allow them to go back to their office and start thinking or preparing ahead. The Detail After the Hero shot comes the Detail shot, which reveals a lot about the atmosphere of the place along with its history and styling. Maulik explains his process of getting detail shots, I work quite spontaneously for these shots and its a great chance to play with the natural light or with architectural features like doorways, staircases and windows. The Navigator This shot helps the viewer create a kind of mental map of the location being photographed. Shoot At Different Times The first and the foremost point to remember is you should shoot in a range of weather conditions as well as times of the day. We may not realize it but shooting in different weathers and timings of the day will give you a range of photographs, with minimal effort. Vidhi explains, People often tend to seek the most dramatic lighting to shoot architectural wonders, such as sunset hours when shadows are long and colors bright. Shooting a series of images during different times of the day, or even in various weather conditions, can help to paint a fuller story of the buildings relationship with its environment. Good Lighting is Key Whether you are shooting during day or night, morning or evening, good lighting is the key to get a great photograph. Perfect lighting helps the photographer create the right impact in the image, vis a vis space, structure and atmosphere. In fact, lighting is important in shaping up the viewers understanding of a specific architectural project. According to Maulik, All the images have been made with a mixture of natural light, HDR blending and multiple exposures. Lighting and post-production are a big part of interior photography. (This is a featured content) A European research alliance tracks the onset of ataxias "Spinocerebellar ataxias" are diseases of the nervous system associated with a loss of motor coordination. A European research alliance headed by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Bonn has now registered whether and how symptoms of ataxia developed over the years in around 250 persons at risk, who initially did not show symptoms. This is the first study worldwide to investigate the onset of spinocerebellar ataxia directly and in a large group of individuals. The results published in the journal "The Lancet Neurology" provide valuable data for prevention studies. The term "ataxia" - which is derived from the Greek expression for "lack of order" - describes a series of nervous diseases in which the interplay between different muscle groups and, as a result, movement coordination is impaired. "Ataxia manifests as motor disorders such as gait insecurity and a tendency to fall. Handwriting becomes blurred and gripping and holding, for example cutlery, gets difficult. Also, speech can become unclear and blurred," explained Prof. Thomas Klockgether, Director of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Bonn and Director of Clinical Research at the DZNE. Slow development Ataxias are among the "rare diseases" and are estimated to affect around 16,000 people in Germany. Various causes are known for the associated damage to the cerebellum and spinal cord. So far, however, it is only possible to alleviate disease symptoms. "Many ataxias are caused by genetic defects. Other forms of ataxia are acquired and may be triggered, for example, by immune processes or vitamin deficiencies," said Klockgether. In general, ataxias develop slowly, over years. In the subgroup of "spinocerebellar ataxias", which belong to the hereditary ataxias, marked symptoms usually do not appear until adult age. "During the presymptomatic phase, nerve damage is still slight. It is assumed that during this period the chances of influencing the later course of the disease and possibly slowing it down, that is acting preventively, are best," Klockgether continued. "In addition to better early diagnosis, the development of therapies also requires a more precise understanding of the progression of the disease. This allows identifying time windows in which a treatment has a chance of success." Largest study so far Significant findings in this regard are now provided by the largest study to date on the onset of spinocerebellar ataxias. The data were collected by a research network coordinated by Thomas Klockgether, which includes 14 scientific institutions from seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain). In total, the researchers studied 252 adults - all of them children or siblings of people with spinocerebellar ataxia and therefore persons at risk - to determine how their movement coordination developed over a period of several years. The study, which started enrolling volunteers in 2008, covers the four most common types of spinocerebellar ataxia: These are designated SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6 according to international nomenclature. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants showed ataxia. However, about half of them were "mutation carriers", i.e. they had ataxia triggering gene variants. These genetic findings were anonymised in order not to influence data analysis. About half of the mutation carriers actually developed symptoms of the disease during the study period. "For the remaining mutation carriers, this is also expected. We will continue to monitor the health development of all study participants," said Klockgether. Better biomarkers needed The now available results provide precise data on the progression from the presymptomatic phase to the emergence of disease symptoms. "Our study now shows that with the established tests of movement coordination, ataxia can actually not be detected until the disease is relatively advanced. This would be too late for early intervention. Thus, there is an urgent need for additional biomarkers that are indicative even before the onset of clinical symptoms," said Dr. Heike Jacobi, a physician at the University Hospital of Heidelberg, who shares the first authorship of the current publication with a French colleague. Ideally, readings derived from a simple blood sample would be the best option. Brain scans could also possibly provide valuable clues, according to Jacobi. "Some of our study participants were examined by magnetic resonance imaging. We tend to see that in some forms of ataxia certain regions of the brain shrink even before symptoms of ataxia manifest. However, since our sample of MRI scans was relatively small, this effect should be checked in larger study groups." Bases for the development of therapies For prevention studies, the current results provide valuable information. Such studies are planned in detail. For this, it is important to estimate how large a study group needs to be in order to be able to establish within a certain period of time whether a new drug is effective. Our findings now provide for the first time data that allow such a calculation." Thomas Klockgether, Professor and Director, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bonn About 170 to 270 mutation carriers should be included in such studies in order to be able to expect a statistically significant delay in the onset of the disease over a trial period of two years. The exact size of the study group depends on the type of ataxia. "For the treatment of spinocerebellar ataxia experimental approaches exist that aim to reduce the effect of the disease-causing gene mutations. The pharmaceutical industry is planning clinical studies on this. Our results provide important bases for the design of such trials," said Klockgether. I dont like talking about Laura Loomer. Im a Muslim American, and Loomer has built her career as a public figure around her express hatred of Muslims. She has already demonstrated she will say or do anything for attention, and it pains me to give her exactly what shes craving by focusing on her. But Tuesday night, she won the Republican primary in Floridas 21st Congressional District, a victory cheered on by the districts most famous constituent, President Donald Trump. So I guess we have to talk about her now. Advertisement Loomer was born on the far-right internet, where shock jock personalities reign supreme. Her ascent from marginal alt-right provocateur to political candidate relied on exploiting the attention economy, and particularly on the trick of making her ability to repel people into a reason for others to tune in. Her success, though, is less about how cleverly she manipulates media than about how far someone can go as an unrepentant bigot right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. This is, after all, a person who was crude enough to get herself kicked off Twitter in 2018, when the company made one of its gradual efforts to enforce its terms of use. The headline NBC went with said Laura Loomer banned from Twitter after criticizing Ilhan Omar, which neatly demonstrated the space in which Loomer had previously found room to operatecriticizing here meant Loomer had accused Omar of being a supporter of genital cutting, a homophobe, and an anti-Semite, solely based on vicious anti-Muslim stereotypes. Advertisement Advertisement And Loomers feed had been a cesspool of violent racism and xenophobia long before she lost her account privileges. After the Halloween 2017 truck attack in New York City, she posted a picture of two women wearing hijabs, commenting, Muslims are out in full force at the scene of NYC ISIS attack today rubbing it in everyones face. Aimlessly walking around in hijabs. I bet theyre loving this, she added. In response to a report that 2,000 refugees had drowned while crossing the Mediterranean Sea, she tweeted, Good. Heres to 2,000 more. After calling a Lyft and canceling it after seeing a Muslim name, she tweeted, Someone needs to create a non Islamic form of uber or lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver. That tweet got her banned from using both ride-hailing apps as well. Advertisement Advertisement What has marked Loomer among the various other bigots, trolls, and self-promoters of the age is her particular combination of shoddiness, viciousness, and delusional-seeming ambition. She got her start in unconscionable racism with attacks on Muslims when she was still in college at Barry University in Florida. In 2015, she recorded herself discussing with university officials her idea for starting a club called Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, then released the video with Project Veritas. Loomers video succeeded in inspiring nefarious headlines like Barry University faculty accused of supporting Islamic State Terrorists. It also resulted in Loomer getting suspended from the school and being named in a lawsuit for illegally recording the staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That was only the beginning of her career with Project Veritas, during the period in which the sabotage organization found it more and more difficult to successfully push far-right conspiracy theories into the mainstream news cycle. Chasing after the sort of media response shed gotten in college, she went on to be involved in a series of miserably failed sting operations. In 2015, she was caught and exposed by the Clinton campaign for trying to entrap them with illegal donations and campaign violations. In 2016, she dressed in a burqa to a polling place and tried and failed to illegally request a ballot in the name of Huma Abedin, a Muslim American political staffer who does not wear the burqa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The right wing has championed Loomers clownish activism. These failures to embarrass her political opponents wouldnt dissuade her. Seemingly giving up on trying to catch other people in the act, she instead opted to turn herself into the story. In 2017, she got her first big story since framing her university as a supporter of ISIS by storming the stage at a Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar in Central Park. She was arrested and escorted away from the stage as she shouted, New York Public Theater is ISIS! It was a widely reported incident, which evidently was what Loomer wanted. Where Project Veritas had originally sought to humiliate its designated liberal enemies, Loomer pursued a program of what looked from the outside like self-humiliation, as her following kept growing. She tried to copy her success in the park by disrupting court trials, book signings, government hearings, and left-wing marches. She cheesily attempted to brand the disruptions as getting Loomered, which seemed tautological: She was doing these things to herself. Advertisement Yet shed got her reward. The right wing championed her clownish activism, giving her primetime slots on broadcast television to boast about her trolling, and vocal support from Republican politicians. The absurd unreality of it allin 2019, she traveled to Minnesota with the bungling hoax artist Jacob Wohl to film a fake documentary about how Minneapolis was under the rule of an Islamic lawbecame the whole point. Her chosen audience was deplatforming itself from shared political reality, into a paranoid and bigoted fantasy realm. Advertisement Advertisement As an electoral matter, her current political aspirations are as unserious as everything else shes done. Shes attached herself to the ballot in November the same way she handcuffed herself, wearing a gold star like a Holocaust victim, to the front door of a random Twitter office. Unlike Georgias 14th Congressional District, where the fanatical anti-Muslim QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene seems likely to win a seat in the House, Floridas 21st is a secure Democratic stronghold.* The incumbent, Lois Frankel, raked in an impressive 75,202 votes, which makes Loomers 14,478 votes not very impressive at all. Advertisement But what we should take seriously is the fact that Loomer is receiving praise on her largely symbolic primary win from the highest office in the land. Its unlikely that Trumps decision to tweet support for a hatemonger masquerading as a victim of censorship will hurt his chances in the general election this year, considering that he himself has miraculously evaded consequences for his racist statements by simply stating that he is the least racist person that he knows. And it tells us a lot about what were likely to be left to deal with after Trump is gone. Advertisement Advertisement In having to routinely shrug off the unconscionable racism and sexism coming from Trump, the Republican Party has been forced to choose between holding rank or risking being cast out entirely. Before now, it had been hard for me to imagine Loomers brand of edgelord provocation being acceptable within any fold of institutional politics. Even while anti-Muslim sentiment may have been more openly expressed than most other forms of bigotry, national politicians tried to at least maintain a facade of decency. Trump has turned his supporters against former Republican darlings like Mitt Romney and the late John McCain for tempering their support of his presidency with common decency. The Overton window for how extreme and racist ones views must be before being rejected by the party has shifted considerablyso much so that at this point, it doesnt seem that anyone can be too toxic to be a standard-bearer for the Republican Party. Correction, Aug. 19, 2020: This piece originally misspelled Marjorie Taylor Greenes last name. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. BERLIN German authorities on Wednesday ordered a 30-year-old man accused of deliberately driving his car into other vehicles along a major Berlin highway and injuring six people moved to a psychiatric jail, as investigators continue to probe the mans motives. Officials said the Iraq-born man appeared to have carried out a deliberate attack late Tuesday motivated by Islamist ideology, but noted that he had been suffering from psychological problems. The suspect driving a black Opel Astra allegedly struck three motorcycles at different locations on the Bundesautobahn 100, Berlin prosecutors and police said in a joint statement. He then stopped on the highway and put an old ammunition box on the roof of his car, claiming it had explosives inside, the statement said. According to the current state of our investigation, we assume this was an Islamist-motivated attack, Berlins senator for the interior, Andreas Geisel, said. A religiously motivated background cannot be excluded. Three people were severely injured during the attack late Tuesday, including a motorcyclist left with life-threatening head and back injuries, prosecutor Martin Steltner said. The collisions happened shortly before 7 p.m. local time and led to a complete closure of one of the German capitals main traffic arteries. After the driver was detained, officers led hundreds of people stuck on the shut-down highway away from their cars. Police used a strong jet of water to open the box he had put on the cars roof, but found only tools inside. Investigators did not reveal the mans identity, as is customary in Germany, but local media identified the suspect as Sarmad D. He is under investigation for three cases of attempted murder. There were also indications the man had mental health issues, Geisel said. The fact that the suspect was possibly suffering from psychological problems does not make this issue any easier, Geisel said. If personal problems mix with religiously loaded ideas, this can lead to uncontrollable acts yesterdays events have shown in a very painful way how vulnerable our society is. Investigators were working to determine if the suspect was linked to an extremist group or if other people were involved in his actions but so far found no indications of that, according to Steltner. However, they were looking into tips that the man may have had possible contacts with other extremists, Steltner added. His office later issued a statement saying the suspect had been moved to the closed psychiatric unit of a jail. Tuesdays violence comes more than three years after a Tunisian man plowed a stolen truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people, an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group. Authorities said the detained suspect allegedly first hit a car then drove into the motorcyclist who received life-threatening injuries. He allegedly hit a second person on a motor scooter, then used his car to push another motorcyclist into the front of another car, prosecutor Steltner said. Several German news outlets reported that the man shouted Allahu akbar, or God is great in Arabic, as he got out of his car. The Bild daily newspaper reported that he also shouted, Nobody gets closer, or you will all die. The suspect then rolled out a prayer carpet and started praying, daily paper Tagesspiegel reported. A police officer then approached the man, spoke to him in Arabic, pulled him away from the car and detained him, the paper said. According to German media reports, the man already was known to Berlin police. The reports said he was born in Baghdad in 1990 and came to Germany as an asylum-seeker, most likely in 2016. His asylum request was rejected and his legal status only allowed him to remain in the country until the end of the year, German news agency dpa reported. In 2018, he was detained for injuring others and taken to a mental institution for a short time, Tagesspiegel reported. After first living in a refugee home in Berlins Altglienicke neighborhood, he moved to the Reinickendorf district, where he supposedly lived with his brother, dpa said. Dpa reported that the suspect allegedly made references to his plans on Facebook before the crashes. He posted photos of the car that he allegedly drove into the motorcycles, as well as religious writings, the news agency said. Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller said later on Wednesday that he was shocked by the attack. I wish all the victims a speedy recovery and a lot of strength for this difficult time, Mueller said on Twitter. "If we get to the White House, I'm gonna continue to teach," she told CBS News correspondent Rita Braver . "It's important, and I want people to value teachers and know their contributions, and lift up the profession." This year, for the first time since 1981, according to The Washington Post , Biden took a break from her teaching career to devote more time to her husband's campaign. But, even during her temporary break, Jim McClellan, NOVA's liberal arts dean, said that Biden has attended voluntary training sessions in online teaching, and the former second lady stated in August that she planned to return to her day job even if her husband was elected. This move, according to Anita McBride, who runs the First Ladies Initiative at American University, will make Biden the first first lady to hold a day job outside the White House. Jill Biden, a longtime educator and wife of President-elect Joe Biden, has played a huge role in supporting and uplifting her husband's presidential campaign. And, according to those closest to her, she's done so all while maintaining close ties to her day job as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). Biden, who first joined NOVA in 2009, comes from a long-standing career in education. Prior to NOVA, she spent several years teaching at various public schools in Delaware, including Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she delivered her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech. The 69-year-old, who has a doctorate degree in education, also spent time teaching at Delaware Technical Community College before stepping into her most recent role at NOVA. While her husband served as vice president under the Obama administration, Biden became the first second lady to hold a full-time job outside the White House. In a 2016 interview, former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about what it was like to watch Biden juggle the duties of her day job and the duties of her role as second lady. "Jill is always grading papers," Obama said. "Which is funny because I'd forget, 'Oh yeah, you have a day job!' And then she pulls out her papers and she's so diligent and I'm like, 'Look at you! You have a job! Tell me! Tell me what it's like!'" In an interview with Vogue, Biden detailed how as a professor she would have Secret Service dress like college students and sit in the hallway on laptops to disguise themselves. Mary Doody, a former assistant dean at Delaware Technical Community College, recalls how even when Joe Biden served as Delaware's senator, Biden would keep her identity low key. "At Delaware Tech, they simply did not know that she was Senator Biden's wife," Doody said. "She kept it under wraps. And when she got her doctorate she got it under 'Jacobs'; she didn't use Biden, because she has just always wanted to be her own person and for the students to know her as a teacher and not as the wife of a senator. She doesn't need that affirmation. It's just who she is." In addition to working her day job, there are a number of things Biden says she would love to work on as first lady, many of them the same initiatives she focused on as second lady. "Education would be right up thereand military families. I'd travel all over this country trying to get free community college," she says, while adding that she would also prioritize preschool and kindergarten education. "We need good reading programs, and we need equity in schools. We're competing in this global market, and the U.S.'s standing has got to get better." Check out: Americans spend over $5,000 a year on groceriessave hundreds at supermarkets with these cards Don't miss: Sen. Kamala Harris secures historic vice presidential candidacy, sparking #WinWithBlackWomen hashtag Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 10:02:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Tuesday welcomed the "determination" of the citizens of the city of Ghat, located some 1,400 km southwest of the capital Tripoli, to participate in the city's municipal elections. "I commend the tremendous efforts exerted by the Central Committee for Municipal Council Elections (CCMCE) to conduct these first elections, especially their implementation of all necessary precautionary measures for the protection of voters, polling staff, and electoral stakeholders," Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya and UNSMIL head Stephanie Williams said. UNSMIL reiterated its support in a statement for the Libyan people in conducting municipal elections and strengthening local governance, as well as for the CCMCE "for its vital role in ensuring municipal elections are conducted democratically and through an inclusive and credible process." According to the CCMCE, voter turnout in the municipal elections of Ghat and its suburbs was 54 percent. The polling stations were closed at 7:30 pm (0530 GMT) on Tuesday. Enditem In the reporting period, 139,134 children were born against 149,549 reported last year. The population of Ukraine in January-June 2020 (H1) shrank by 140,300, amounting to 41.762 million as of July 1, 2020, the State Statistics Service reported. In the reporting period, 139,134 children were born against 149,549 reported last year, the stats agency says. A natural population decline was recorded by 147,876 in the first six months of the year, while in January-June 2019, the natural decline was a bit higher, amounting to 154,781. Read alsoNational census in Ukraine postponed over coronavirus pandemic mediaThe number of people who moved to Ukraine during the reporting period exceeded by 7,598 the number of those who left the country. In January-June 2019, this indicator amounted to more than 11,643 people. The stats agency also notes a significant excess of the number of deaths over the number of newborns: it's 48 newborns per 100 deaths. Data covers all regions of Ukraine but the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Data on the natural population and migration movement is generated without taking into account the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine population: background The population of Ukraine in January-May 2020 shrank by 116,700, amounting to 41.785 million as of June 1, 2020, the State Statistics Service reported. In 2019, Ukrainian population decreased by 251,000, to 41.9 million. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJPZ) says it fully supports Catholic bishops, who recently penned a hard-hitting pastoral letter that cited human rights abuses, corruption and other issues as the main causes of the southern African nations social, economic and political problems. In an interview, Getrude Chimange, CCJPZ regional director for Manicaland, said the bishops assessment of the situation in the country is an above fair account of some of the problems facing Zimbabweans. The bishops have not in any way spoken a voice that is not speaking of the issues that are being raised by anybody else who knows what is happening in Zimbabwe and the attack by the government to the bishops really its a disrespect of the citizens of Zimbabwe as a whole, not only the bishops. The issues that are being talked about in that letter are issues of poverty, issues of disrespect of the rule of law in the country, issues of corruption which are in no way a secret pertaining to Zimbabwe. Chimange said its unfortunate that the government attacked the leader of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Zimbabwe, Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu, using language that incited tribal hatred. Its unfortunate that the minister responded whilst not understanding the structures and how the Catholic Church operates. The attack on the personhood of the archbishop is in itself not really a good signal because when he speaks or when the bishops generate the pastoral statements its a representation of the whole Catholic institution and a representation of all the ordinary Zimbabweans. So, if any attack should come, it should come to the whole church body of the Catholic Church itself and not one person because he does not own it, he is just an archbishop and is chairing a Bishops Conference and a Bishops Conference is raising issues that are coming from all the Catholics in Zimbabwe. Its unfortunate that they echoed statements around issues of tribalism. Thats very unfortunate. The issues that are affecting Zimbabweans are not affecting only one tribe. They are affecting everyone across board and we feel that the generation of tribalistic language is not proper, it's not well-placed. In any case, it's actually fueling a lot of divisions and the speech by the minister is what is dividing the country and not what the bishops said because the bishops represent all that is Zimbabwean and not any tribe. Chimange said there is hope that the matter will be resolved between the Catholic Church, government and other stakeholders. Minister Mutsvanga lashed out at Ndlovu saying he represent a minority Ndebele group in Zimbabwe and therefore he is not in a position to say anything about what is happening in the country. In her response to the pastoral letter, Mutsvangwa said, With nefarious cynicism to history, Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu is inching to lead the Zimbabwe Catholic congregation into the darkest dungeons of Rwanda-type genocide. The letter seeks the revival and continuation of the perennial vices of division. It has a selective and warp-sided reading of history. The errant and evil Bishop has a nauseating mental amnesia of the blight of minority settler rule and its baggage of exploitative racism against the totality of the black majority popular of Zimbabwe. The levity of his mental amnesia is worsened by the fact that he tears off pages of the progressive crusade for justice and democracy that has hitherto been the shining virtue of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. She also said, He wants to posit as the leader of righteous Ndebele minority by fanning the psychosis of tribal victimization. Concurrently he sows sins of collective guilty on the Shona majority. That way he seeks to numb the spirit of collective national vigilance against the known and proven enemies of the populace of Zimbabwe. His transgressions acquire a geopolitical dimensions as the chief priest of the agenda of Regime Change that is the hallmark of the post-imperial major Western powers for the last two decades. Archbishop Ndlovu has not responded to Mutsvangwas remarks. The pastoral letter has been supported by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Law Society of Zimbabwe and several other non-profit organizations, individuals, opposition parties and ministers of religion. Some Zimbabweans say the minister should step down, saying she is fanning tribal conflicts in the country. A newborn baby has been found dead at a home in Perth. Emergency services rushed to the property on Cassidy Road at Thornlie in the city's south-east at about 1pm on Wednesday. The sex of the child is not yet known but it was believed to have been a newborn baby born in the early hours of the morning. Emergency services rushed to the property on Cassidy Road at Thornlie in the city's south-east at about 1pm on Wednesday A baby has been found dead at a home in Perth and the sex of the child is unknown Friends called emergency services but the baby died shortly after it was delivered and before paramedics arrived. Several police cars remained at the scene and the parents of the baby were assisting police into the afternoon. The 26-year-old mother was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital in the back of an ambulance that was escorted by police. The street was blocked off on Wednesday night as police remain on the scene. The baby's body is believed to still be on the property. Officers from the coronial unit and local detectives are investigating. The baby was found at a home in Thornlie, located 18 kilometres south-east of the city's CBD Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Jumping into Pool Testing---One Solution Right now, in the United States and elsewhere in the world, there is a significant shortage of COVID-19 PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests for the presence of the infection. The concept of "Pool Testing" can conceivably allow us to test more people using much less of the reagent, one of the key materials required that happens to be in short supply. Pool testing conserves those scarce commodities by using a fraction of the chemicals than it would have taken to test those numbers of people the conventional way. How Pool Testing Works Pool Testing combines samples from multiple people, then uses only one test on the whole group. If the combined sample is negative, the authorities can rule out the presence of infection in that entire group. However, if the result is positive, the pool is divided into smaller samples to identify the infected person or people. The Advantages of Pooling Since testing materials are in short supply, pool testing can be more cost-effective, and it can reduce the processing burden on laboratories. Moreover, it can eliminate large numbers of people who are not infected, and who would otherwise have taken an individual test. For large groups, like students or employees, it can act as a surveillance system for asymptomatic people. Finally, pool testing can also speed up the testing process because it requires significantly less processing time than would have been required for all of the individual tests together. Tremendous Testing Capacity Immediately According to Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, "Pooling would give us the capacity to go from a half a million tests a day to potentially five million individuals tested per day." By widely implementing pooling, the US could scale up its testing capacity very quickly. But this method is not without its challenges. Not Suggested for Everywhere If states have high rates of positive infections, like over 15 or 20 percent, as we have in states like Texas or Arizona, pool testing will probably not be useful; all of the batches will be positive. Additionally, if the pool is too large, sometimes positive cases will show up as negative. However, in states like New Jersey or New Hampshire, pooling makes a lot of sense. Number of People in the Pool will Vary Depending on which machine is used for the test, and who the researchers are, the number of people's samples grouped together will vary. Some scientists believe that up to 10 samples could be pooled, while others recommend single digits up to 50, One study from Israel (not yet peer-reviewed) found that the virus was detectable in a pool as large as 64. Most researchers believe pool testing is the right approach in locations with low rates of COVID-19, where the large majority of tests will be negative; in states with a high prevalence of cases, too many of the pools will come back positive for this method to make sense. Testing is Just One Element Without knowing who is infected through widespread testing, it will be impossible to contain the disease. Researchers agree that containment is our best defense in controlling the spread of COVID-19. And we need to be testing everyone, including those without any symptoms. Furthermore, containing the spread of the virus requires not only testing for infection, but also contact tracing for those likely to have been exposed, and of course, isolation for everyone who is infected. The Future of Testing Testing is a major element in controlling the disease, perhaps the most important. I see the future as a combination of the paper testing covered in the previous Herman Trend Alert and in states where it makes sense, pool testing. Once we have contained the virus, we can move to a regimen of pool testing for everyone, until we have a vaccine. Next Week: COVID-19 Vaccine Update Besides the vaccines moving into Phase III trials, there is a revolutionary vaccine that has the potential for being thousands of times more effective with fewer side effects. Tune in next week, when I will tell you all about it. Special thanks to Health.com and MSNBC for their coverage of this valuable tool in our battle against COVID-19. ********* A Congress delegation on Wednesday urged the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) to strictly enforce a code of conduct to curb the sensationalist, slanderous and toxic nature of televised debates and ensure that they do not become a platform to spread acrimony. The delegation, comprising spokespersons Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Jaiveer Shergill, and party secretary Pranav Jha, held a virtual meeting with NBSA chairperson Justice (retd) AK Sikri and other members, and urged them to issue an advisory to all the mOn behalf of the Congress delegation, Singhvi argued that media houses, journalists, anchors and spokespersons must be held accountable for their actions and conduct. edia houses in this regard. The meeting followed a representation filed by Shergill on August 14 in the wake of the death of his party colleague Rajiv Tyagi, who suffered a heart attack hours after participating in a TV debate on August 12. On behalf of the Congress delegation, Singhvi argued that media houses, journalists, anchors and spokespersons must be held accountable for their actions and conduct. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) holds the authority to ensure compliance with its guidelines and instructions, he said. The TRP paradigm drives the sensational, slanderous and sardonic debate panels. There is an eminent need for adherence to the code of conduct and need for institutional reform in India with respect to holding of TV debates, Singhvi said. Georgia sheriffs deputy Justyn Weaver has been welcomed back into the fold after an armed ambush landed him in the hospital. Weavers colleagues have hailed the deputy as a hero for his conduct and for surviving a shotgun blast. Lamar County Sheriffs Office announced Weavers return on their official Facebook page. Thank you for all of the prayers and support, they shared, adding that Weaver still has to endure physical therapy. We are glad to have our hero Justyn Weaver back and in one piece. Sheriff Brad White told Fox 5 Atlanta that Weaver was responding to a tip-off about a suspicious person on Aug. 8 when the suspect fired a shotgun into Weavers police cruiser. The blast hit the deputy, causing diffuse injuries to both his face and left arm. The authorities later identified the shooter as Donald Chandler Gordy of Barnesville, Georgia. Gordy, 38, fled the scene but was arrested in Alabama after a search operation located his pickup truck. He faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm, and criminal damage to property, according to AJC.com. On Aug. 12, the sheriffs office shared an update on their deputys status on Facebook. Deputy Weaver remains hospitalized, they wrote. He is progressing well but does have a long road of recovery ahead. All of your thoughts and prayers are appreciated more than we can say, the sheriffs office continued. [W]e will happily deliver any cards or letters you may feel led to send. Please continue to pray for a speedy, complete recovery for Deputy Weaver. In addition, the office set up a fund to receive donations from well-wishers to aid in Weavers recovery. Lamar County Sheriffs Office on Roberta Drive in Barnesville, Georgia (Screenshot/Google Maps) The deputy received a heros welcome from his law enforcement family on Aug. 13. Hundreds of netizens shared supportive comments to the Lamar County Sheriffs Office Facebook page in recognition of Weavers ordeal. Thank you for your selfless service to us all, wrote one supporter. Continued prayers for your recovery! May God bless and keep you safe. A walking miracle, another contributed. Welcome home, Deputy Weaver. Gods got a mighty soldier and has more great work for you to do here. What awesome news, in this crazy world right now. Since the first police death in the United States was recorded in 1786, over 22,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The FBIs most recent Uniform Crime Report, released in 2018, recorded 58,866 assaults against law enforcement officers that year, resulting in 18,005 injuries. While well on the way to a full recovery, Weaver presented visible scarring to his face from the shotgun blast and his left arm in a sling. It is not yet known when he will return to active full-time duty. The deputy has served the Lamar County Sheriffs Office for three years, reports WSB-TV, and surviving a shotgun blast in an unexpected ambush is not the first time he has achieved hero status; Weaver also received a Community Ambulance award for his role in saving a mans life earlier in 2020. We would love to hear your stories! You can share them with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.nyc Tech firms offer carbon tracking software to meet oil-investor demands FILE PHOTO: A flare burns off excess gas from a gas plant in the Permian Basin in Loving County By Liz Hampton and Jennifer Hiller DENVER (Reuters) - More tech companies are launching software that oil and gas producers can use to measure their carbon emissions due to mounting investor pressure to curb greenhouse gases. Top investors, including BlackRock, have put climate change on their agendas, encouraging energy producers to evaluate programs to help track emissions and report on results. Software giants SAP and Salesforce.com and start-ups, including Tempe, Arizona-based Persefoni, have launched products to help firms document their emissions. Tracking can show investors they are serious about controlling emissions, said developers. Persefoni, which is led by the former chief digital officer at Chesapeake Energy, on Tuesday announced funding from energy investor Rice Investment Group, Carnrite Ventures and others. It is in discussions with two major oil producers regarding potential investments, an official said. The company uses artificial intelligence built around the Greenhouse Gas Protocol accounting method. Co-founder Kentaro Kawamori built the company with a global team of 20 people. "It was clear that calculating carbon footprints and reporting wouldn't be optional," said Kawamori, who declined to name customers until Persefoni's expanded product launch in November. Its software will go up against Germanys SAP, which recently launched a carbon emissions accounting system and Salesforce.com. Salesforce said it has customers from 10 industries. A couple of years ago people just asked, can you just check the box? I literally had one investor say, Just get an intern and put a report out there. Thats not how it goes. We have to make sure these numbers are real," said Matt Gallagher, chief executive of shale producer Parsley Energy. To track and reduce a key source of industry methane emissions, Parsley uses in-house technology and third-party remote monitoring equipment. It applies AI to analyze combustion and predict malfunctions. Reporting standards and adoption rates vary among countries, said Kat Lampen, who leads Deloitte's UK sustainability and climate change team. Persefoni says its system standardizes data to calculate a carbon footprint, regardless of what system is being used, and will eventually meet all reporting frameworks and standards. Companies "are realizing, like financial data, this needs to be collected in the system with the right validation and checks on it," said Lampen. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:09:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing universities are welcoming students back to campus or preparing to reopen for the fall semester with a staggered timetable, local newspaper Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday. A Beijing municipal leading group office for epidemic prevention and control said earlier this month that colleges in Beijing can decide their respective dates to reopen, starting from Aug. 15, while putting epidemic prevention measures in place. Undergraduate students at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology already started returning to the campus from Aug. 15 to 17, the Beijing Daily said. As of Tuesday, the capital city had reported no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases for 12 consecutive days since late July when four confirmed cases, related to new infections in northeast China's city of Dalian, were reported. Enditem Green Thumb has had a great relationship with the city of Naperville since 2015 and weve been honored to provide relief via medical cannabis to many of its residents who are patients at 3C Naperville, Marsicano said in a statement issued after the city council vote. We look forward to welcoming and serving new customers in the community. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Joe Enwonwu, to find Sunday Shodipe, the alleged serial killer who escaped from police custody in the state. The 19-year-old was arrested in connection with the killing and rape of one Barakat Bello and paraded in July along with two others. The police also named him as a prime suspect in the multiple murder of innocent citizens at Akinyele Local Government Area, Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State. However, the police later said Mr Shodipe had escaped from their custody. On Monday, PREMIUM TIMES reported the arrest of two officers, including an inspector, in connection with the escape. Mr Enwonwu said the command would not relent until Mr Shodipe is taken back into custody. However, on Wednesday, Mr Adamu condemned the escape of the suspect and directed the commissioner to intensify efforts and ensure the prompt re-arrest of the fleeing suspect. The force spokesperson, Frank Mba, also said Mr Adamu has deployed additional investigative aids to the state to complement the efforts of the police there in the manhunt for Mr Shodipe. The additional deployment comprises crack detectives from the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS) of the Force Intelligence Bureau, Abuja. The team is expected to bring their vast operational, technical and investigative experience to bear in supporting ongoing efforts aimed at re-arresting and bringing the fugitive to book. Mr Mba said the police commissioner was further directed to hasten investigations into the circumstances that led to the escape of the suspect. All persons indicted in the escape are to be identified and made to face the wrath of the law. The CP has equally been mandated to immediately assess and rejig the security architecture in the State so as to prevent any future occurrence of untoward incidents. Meanwhile, the police boss called for calm and urged citizens to cooperate with the police by providing useful information that can lead to the unearthing of the whereabouts of the suspected serial killer. People with disabilities struggle with the US Social Security Administration, which many say keeps them impoverished. Boston, United States In 2015, I fell 25 feet (7.6 metres) from a Redwood tree and was in a coma for 10 days. I spent the rest of that year using an arm crutch and went through four months of outpatient rehabilitation. Nine months later, I had eye muscle surgery to correct double vision that resulted from damage to my occipital lobe. Five years later, I still suffer from fine motor deficits, balance issues, and have trouble with my memory and speech. My first application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) a government grant which provides health insurance and a monthly allotment of money for people with disabilities to live on was filled out on my behalf by my parents. I have no recollection of it and my short-term memory is still impaired. I do recall the Social Security Administration (SSA) scheduling an initial assessment with a neuropsychologist a full-time real estate agent who saw patients on the side in 2015. He met with me in his tiny real estate office located in a business park with no medical facilities nearby. This was my first warning sign that the SSAs disability operation was not what it should be. Navigating the SSAs disability process has never been easy, but if President Donald Trump is re-elected, many believe it is only going to get harder. His budget has already proposed cutting about $505bn from Medicare over the next decade and $35bn from SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. (Democratic nominee Joe Biden has said he will not cut Social Security funding, although his voting record shows he has voted both for and against protecting Social Security over the course of his Senate career.) This could leave an already poor and under-served population even more destitute than they already are. His proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare, food-assistance programmes and more will only hurt those who are already struggling, Congressman John Larson told CNBC in February. The president should live up to his promise [not to touch Social Security], instead of breaking it. About 75 percent of US workers live pay cheque to pay cheque, according to the CareerBuilder website. For people who are hurt or ill, the SSDI is imperative for them to support themselves and their families. Most people assume applying for SSDI is a process they will never have to go through. But according to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), the reality is that one in four US citizens live with a disability cognitive disabilities being most common in younger people and physical disabilities in older people. And as I personally discovered five years ago, everyone is one accident one fluke away from becoming disabled or chronically ill and unable to support themselves. Rushed decisions, inaccurate data In late 2018, after I moved from San Diego to Boston, the SSA sent a thick stack of documents to my parents address in San Diego to check up on my deficits and make sure I had not magically become able-bodied. When the packet arrived it was already 10 days past the submission deadline. My parents forwarded it to Boston by mail, and it was three weeks late by the time I finally saw it in February 2019. I wondered if the SSA had even bothered to read my file. Not only did they send my mail to the wrong address, it was a printed packet to be filled out by hand. Because of fine motor impairment caused by my traumatic brain injury, I cannot write by hand. This was noted in my file which they either failed to consult or ignored. Had I received the packet in time, I still would have had to take a day off work and wait in the office for an SSA employee to help me. Instead, the SSA decided to deny me benefits based on the only medical records of mine they obtained: those of my psychiatrist not my primary care physician nor my neurologist. But making rushed decisions based on insufficient or inaccurate data is not an anomaly for the SSA. A woman in a wheelchair on the grounds of the US Capitol in Washington [File: Reuters] Rebecca Blanton, a former executive director of a state agency, who says she had done everything right, found herself at the mercy of the SSAs whims from 2015 until the end of 2019. Even though she had been diagnosed with lupus, fibromyalgia and severe arthritis, and worked with a disability lawyer, Blantons application was denied multiple times by Social Security but she continued to appeal. You should be ready for them to call you at any point to go into evaluations from a state physician, Blanton says, describing the appeal process. She was told she would only be given one to two days notice to appear in-office, an impossibility for Blanton who cannot drive and needed to arrange for transportation. But before she was able to see a Social Security physician, her application was denied based on a different physicians notes notes from a visit that had never happened. I had never seen that doctor, Blanton explains. I hadnt released paperwork to that doctor. They were just in the network of doctors that my [insurance] plan took. I had never been evaluated by them. Like Blanton, I filed an appeal immediately after receiving a denial letter in early 2019 and desperately sent requests to Tufts Hospital in Boston to release my records to Social Security. When Tufts finally released my medical records, the SSA determined I still needed an in-office neuropsychology evaluation performed by one of their psychologists. Not only does the SSA expect disabled applicants to cater to its scheduling, it expects applicants to have transportation readily available. Facing rejection Don Roberts, a certified SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery (SOAR) navigator, helps individuals negotiate the process of applying for disability insurance. The process for getting approved for Social Security Disability involves several interactions with Social Security and/or their doctors after the initial application is filed, he says. People who are disabled, in general, have difficulty following the procedure. A notable example is Lorraine Traylors, whose appeal hearing was scheduled in an entirely different state. In February 2016, Traylor, then 50, applied for disability following a traumatic brain injury she sustained while working as a paramedic the year before. The ambulance she was treating a cardiac patient in was hit by another vehicle on the freeway. Traylor and her lawyer appealed multiple times before securing a court hearing in Cincinnati, Ohio a decision the SSA made even though she was a resident of Kentucky. After her court hearing, Traylor was approved for disability in 2019 three years after her initial application. Its an incredible relief when it comes through, Blanton says. But I know so many people whove gone through similar fights, to be rejected at the end. That is exactly what happened to Kody, who only wanted his first name disclosed, when he was denied disability insurance in 2012, 2013 and again in 2015 after being diagnosed HIV-positive. The second and third appeal included psychiatric evaluations with SSA doctors but no physical examinations. His final appeal culminated in a court hearing with a judge in Dallas, Texas who has a more than 50 percent denial rate. A man who is blind feels his way down a hallway in Little Rock, Arkansas [File: Reuters] Similarly, in 2014, Angie Ebba, 39, found herself attending three different court hearings as her judge requested more and more medical witnesses. She was also going through a divorce at the time and says: One of the questions that the judge asked me during my first court appearance was if my spouse had left me because I was disabled. I was kind of shocked but answered the best I could that while it wasnt everything, it did contribute to the issues we had. Not all of the available support systems are as reliable as SOAR or even state approved. After Blantons lawyer misfiled some of her documents, she filed a complaint with the state bar, and subsequently discovered her lawyer was not licensed in California the state he was practising in on her behalf. Hes licensed in Washington State, Blanton says. He has multiple complaints against him [there], which is why he came to California California allows lawyers, as long as they havent been disbarred, to practise without any specialty or knowledge of disability and theres no way to really prosecute them if they fail on the job. For those who do make it through the appeal process, the onslaught of paperwork and consistent monitoring does not end. The SSA is hypervigilant for any type of fraud often to the detriment of the people they are purportedly helping. When told by an SSA employee that they had to be wary of scams, Blanton replied, I was making $100,000 a year at a government career. I literally was meeting with the Obama administration on policy work. And youre thinking Im gonna scam this for less than $2,000 a month? Really? A woman is pushed in a wheelchair past a US flag inflatable raft in Brooklyn, New York [File: Reuters] The last thing I wanted to do was lose my job, Traylor says of her career as a paramedic. Traylor continued to work for the year following her injury despite her inability to remember where [she] was going or what [she] was doing. Her coworkers noticed the change but did not want to hurt her feelings by mentioning it. I made good money I made very good money. I loved my job, she explains. And there was no way I was going to give up a $75,000 a year job [when I was a paramedic] for $2,000 a month from disability. Why would I do that? Below poverty level Many of the people receiving SSDI would like to return to work but do not want to lose the health insurance they receive along with the monetary benefits. In the US, health insurance is secured via employment but many jobs do not offer health insurance until after a 90-day probationary period has passed. The SSA claims to aid disability recipients in this return to work via its Ticket to Work initiative, but the programme proves better in theory than practice. After complications arose from the Harrington rods implanted to help in the treatment of her spinal deformity, Lenisha Brown applied for disability in 2008 with the help of a disability lawyer. But to qualify financially, Brown needed to essentially ruin [my] credit. You cant have savings. You cant have assets. When Brown realised she was only allowed to have $2,000 worth of income, including her SSDI benefits, per month below the poverty level she wanted to find a way to re-enter the workforce. By signing up for the Ticket to Work programme, Brown thought she would be able to earn above her cap until she had some money saved. Unfortunately, Ticket to Work does not account for those too disabled to work steady jobs. Brown began freelance writing, but a freelancers income changes from month to month and securing health insurance through an employer is impossible. A trained service dog sleeps at the feet of a US soldier who was injured while on duty [File: Reuters] The issue is that they have no way to track freelance work, Brown explains. If they see that I made $3,000 one month, then they count it as I make $3,000 per month [even if] I didnt make anything the next month because I was sick. After only eight months in Ticket to Work, Browns disability benefits were terminated, as well as her Medicare, leaving her with no health insurance. The Ticket to Work programme ignores people like Brown or myself, incapable of re-entering the traditional 9 to 5 work environment. But even those who would benefit from such a programme are not given the necessary information or guidance to take advantage of it. Agencies have to talk to each other Ryan, 34, who asked to only be known by his first name due to his ongoing situation with the SSA, was such an individual. With his parents help, Ryan, a wheelchair user, originally applied and was approved for SSDI when he first enrolled in college in 2004 at the age of 18. Every so often, he had phone calls with the SSA to check in on his disabled status, which were inconvenient but standard protocol. The real issues began after he finished graduate school. After securing his first job post-school, Ryan updated his income with his local SSA office, but the cheques kept coming. I didnt understand the whole means-tested portion at all none of that was explained to me so I just kind of thought there was some reason I still qualified, Ryan says. After digging into it further, of his own volition, Ryan informed the SSA that they had been overpaying him. In response, the SSA terminated his benefits and requested repayment of an unconscionable amount of money for Ryan roughly $10,000. I had filed taxes here before, Ryan says. My young brain was like, All these agencies have to talk to each other. A man sits in his wheelchair in his home in Chicago, Illinois [File: Reuters] At first, Ryan and a friend attempted to appeal as the error was not Ryans fault. Since the SSA failed to perform its function and ignored pertinent information, surely the responsibility for the mistake was theirs. But that is not how the SSA operates. I ended up having a friend of mine who wasnt actually a lawyer [go] down with me to their office, Ryan explains. [He] got me on a payment plan after all of the appeals. Despite notifying them of his employment and filing the associated taxes for being employed, the SSA failed to acknowledge what Ryan had reported. Although Ryan still is repaying Social Security, the error worked in his favour when it came to health insurance. Because Medicare (SSDI) is inextricable from the monetary component of SSAs healthcare insurance, Ryan would have been without insurance while he waited to secure health insurance from his employer. If everything had been handled correctly by the SSA, he would have been a disabled person without health insurance during his probationary period. The power of privilege With all of these horror stories, many wonder whether the process to secure Social Security Disability Insurance can ever be easy? The answer is a tentative yes if you have the right amount of privilege or connections. Becky Meyers worked as a lawyer before she had a series of strokes and open-heart surgery. Her employer had a generous disability plan in place following another employees stroke a few years earlier. The policy allowed the insurer to subcontract to a company whose sole occupation was filling out and filing SSDI applications. There is no human way, left to my own devices, I would have been able to pull the documents together, Meyers says. My story is a story of how privilege makes everything different in this world. Because Meyers condition was thought to be stress-induced, had she been forced to undergo the standard Social Security process without any help, she feels the effort and strain would have been life-threatening. I know it sounds incredibly histrionic, but I honestly think the stress of having to do that myself probably would have killed me, Meyers confides. And I doubt Im the only person who is in that situation [when applying]. But Meyers still feels the repercussions of SSDI even if her initial application process was relatively painless. After all, the SSA still checks in to make sure she has not recovered. Its just constant, she says. And thats not fair. Nobody else has to keep running around proving they have a right to exist with documentary evidence. A wounded soldier with prosthetic legs uses a treadmill in Bethesda, Maryland [File: Reuters] As for me, my appeal was approved following my neuropsychology evaluation (during which the neuropsychologist referred to me as damaged goods). Now, I am walking the delicate line between making enough to feed myself but not enough to lose my health insurance. I would like to pull myself out of this hole. I would like to save. But I need health insurance and none of my employers provide benefits nor enough money for me to pay for it myself much like Lenisha Browns predicament. It does not help when the people who are supposed to help you do not believe or trust you. It was a really frustrating process, Brown says. Its really bad. In the offices, people have this vibe like Youre faking it. Even with all my paperwork and my doctors diagnosis and everything. And with Trumps proposed changes, it may become even more difficult for disabled people to prove they are disabled and need help. The Social Security Administration has already released a missive stating they intend to revise our regulations regarding when and how often we conduct continuing disability reviews (CDR), which are periodic reviews of eligibility required for benefit continuation. Whatever the future holds for us, Meyers concludes, as far as the Trump administrations plans its terrible just every day [we are] waiting for another shoe to drop. Al Jazeera contacted the Social Security Administration for a response to this article but received no reply. New Update: 14:11 pm IST Google Pay issue is finally resolved and is now finally available on the Play store in India. "The issue has been fixed. All users should be able to discover the Google Pay app on the Play Store again," Google Pay India tweeted. Original story: Last night, Android phone owners, couldn't find the Google Pay on Play store to install the app. Several people took to Twitter and tagged the Google Pay India handle for a response. Taking note of the complaints, the company acknowledged the issue. It is affecting only a limited number of users and added that Google is working on the matter to get it fixed soon. "Some users might not have been able to discover the Google Pay app on the Google Play Store today (August 17). We are aware of this temporary issue and are working on fixing it." Google Pay India tweeted in the late night. It can be noted that a few days ago, Google Pay along with PhonePe and other payment platforms had temporarily stopped working due to the State Bank of India (SBI)'s server issue. But, we are not sure if the disappearance of Google Pay on the Play store is related to the aforementioned issue. Here are some of the tweets by users complaining on Google Pay missing on Play store: @GooglePayIndia @GooglePay dear sir / mam, Google pay for personal use not found in play store (India).if there is already installed in mobile (android) are not work properly (like payment to person with the help of mobile contact) Advocate Madhur Jain (@MadhurJ77308904) August 17, 2020 @GooglePayIndia why google pay removed from Google play store?? AWDHESH MAURYA (@MauryaAwdhesh) August 17, 2020 Google Pay (formerly known as Tez ) is one of the most used digital wallets in India, and the userbase has grown fast since its debut in 2017. Currently, it is a joint-leader with PhonePe and commands close to 40-percent market share in India. Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech. Buyers looking to snap up a home while keeping their finances in check should head to County Durham in the North East of England, fresh findings have revealed. Three of the five most affordable towns to buy a home in the country are in County Durham, with property prices in top-ranked Shildon coming in at around the 60,000 mark. In the year to April, the average cost of a home in the UK rose by 2.6 per cent, down from a 3.5 per cent increase in the year to March, new figures from the Land Registry and Office for National Statistics showed today. Affordable: Top five most affordable towns to buy a property now, according to Zoopla The average UK house price was 235,000 in April 2020, which is 6,000 higher than a year ago. As the property market ground to a halt, the Office for National Statistics stopped publishing its house price index, only reviving it today with out-of-date statistics up until April which do not reveal the true toll of the lockdown on the housing sector. According to figures from Halifax, however, house prices recovered to hit their highest levels on record in July as months of pent-up buyer demand was released and the stamp duty holiday put a shot in the arm of the property market. Last month, property prices saw an uptick for the first time since the lockdown began, growing by an average of 1.6 per cent after months of decline and stagnation, Halifax said. Where can you buy an affordable property? With further large-scale job cuts on the horizon and uncertainty over future income streams mounting, any prospective buyer looking to get on or move up the property ladder will need to ensure they only look at homes they can truly afford. While searching for a home you can genuinely afford has always been a necessity, with the country now officially in recession, lenders are tightening up their criteria for mortgages and buyers need to choose their purchase locations carefully. Using house price data spanning over 1,000 towns and average pay packet figures for these locations, it is clear that buyers putting affordability at the forefront of their minds should head north rather than south, Zoopla's latest findings suggest. Where can you buy? Heading to County Durham for a home could be a safe bet for many With properties coming in at around the 60,000 mark, Shildon in County Durham has been crowned as the most affordable town in the UK. 'When looking at the average annual income in Shildon, the figure of 28,000 sits at just under half of the 60,000 average property price, giving a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.11, the lowest across the UK', Zoopla said. Taking into account average property prices and local earnings, Cumnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland, swept into second place on the affordability front, with average house prices at 74,000 and average annual salaries around the 31,000 mark, giving an affordability ratio of 2.39. In Wales, the most affordable town in which to purchase a home is Ferndale in Rhondda Cynon Taff, with the average property price costing 2.67 times the average salary in the area. Many of the most affordable towns are situated in the north east and north west regions, making the north of England far more affordable than the south. Tom Parker, a consumer expert at Zoopla, said: 'With the UK housing market opening up again, we know, now more than ever, that it's important for buyers or potential buyers to know where they can get the most for their money when purchasing a property. With budgets tighter than usual, we want to ensure that buying a property is still attainable - even during these unprecedented times. 'Lockdown has resulted in a shift in the way we work, as more employers are allowing their employees to work from home for the foreseeable - and as a result, our property priorities are changing. 'The desire for greater indoor and outdoor space and fewer people having to commute into the office means that the property field is larger and more achievable than ever before - so make use of the analysis and find out a suitable, but most importantly affordable, location to find your dream home.' What's been happening to house prices in the last few months? In May, the Office for National Statistics stopped publishing its monthly house price index, as property transactions came to a standstill amid the Government-enforced lockdown announced in March. Covering the period only the end of April, the figures, which are based on completed transactions, published for the market by the ONS and Land Registry today are largely obsolete. Average house prices increased by 2.5 per cent to 251,000 in the year to April in England, by 5 per cent to 169,000 in Wales, 1.6 per cent to 153,000 in Scotland and 3.8 per cent to 141,000 in Northern Ireland, the ONS and Land Registry said. Old data: House price figures from April 2006 to April 2020 published today How much? Average property prices by region across the UK according to the ONS London's average house prices increased by 2.3 per cent to 480,000 in the year to April, meaning it retained its top spot as the most expensive place in the country to buy a home. More recent figures published by Nationwide and Halifax suggest a firming of house prices in July, driven by a release in pent-up demand and a temporary stamp duty threshold shift. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in July that all housing transactions below half a million pounds would not pay any stamp duty until next spring. Poll Do you think the mini-boom in house prices will continue later this year? Yes No Do you think the mini-boom in house prices will continue later this year? Yes 179 votes No 359 votes Now share your opinion In recent weeks, Halifax reported house prices rose 1.6 per cent month-on-month in July, which was the first increase since February and the largest since December 2019, while Nationwide reported that house prices grew by 1.7 per cent month-on-month in July. But, some experts remain cautious about the longer-term prospects of a marked recovery in house prices and transactions. Howard Archer, chief economist at the EY Item Club, said: 'Housing market activity may see a further pick-up in the near term providing some support to prices, as a result of the raising of the Stamp Duty threshold, along with the release of some pent-up activity following the easing of lockdown restrictions.' He added: 'Nevertheless, the EY ITEM Club suspects the upside for the housing market will be limited due to challenging fundamentals for consumers. 'Many people have already lost their jobs, despite the supportive Government measures, while others will be concerned that they may still end up losing their job once the furlough scheme ends. 'Additionally, many incomes have been affected. Consumer confidence is currently still low compared to long-term norms and many people are likely to remain cautious for some time to come when making major spending decisions such as buying or moving house.' The EY Item Club thinks average property prices could end up being 3 per cent lower at the turn of the year than they are now. This story was originally published by HuffPost and has been republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The Energy Department proposed rolling back three-decade-old efficiency standards for showerheads Wednesday following President Donald Trumps repeated gripes about subpar water pressure while bathing. The plan essentially seeks to change the federal definition of a showerhead to allow manufacturers to dramatically increase water use. Under rules Congress passed in 1992 in response to severe droughts, water flow from an entire showerhead is limited to 2.5 gallons per minute. The proposed change would allow manufacturers to apply that restriction to each nozzle on a showerhead. Advertisement The proposal would reverse 2011 guidance from the Department of Energy that determined that when Congress used the term showerhead, it actually meant any showerheadand that a showerhead with multiple nozzles constitutes a single showerhead for purposes of [the] water conservation standard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Conservation advocates called the proposal a gimmick in search of a problem and likened the complaint to a 1996 Seinfeld episode about low-flow showerheads. The new multi-nozzle showerheads would not only needlessly waste water, exacerbating shortages caused by drought, but also boost the carbon pollution that has made long-term droughts worse, Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said in a blog post on Wednesday. No one benefits from this gimmick. Advertisement Bloomberg first reported the proposed rule. The plan came the same day Energy Department regulators proposed to let new clothes washers and dryers use virtually unlimited amounts of energy and water. Trump has long complained that efficiency standards on showers, toilets, and washers make using the devices less satisfying, and last month he vowed to bring back consumer choice in home appliances. Showerheadsyou take a shower, the water doesnt come out. You want to wash your hands, the water doesnt come out. So what do you do? he said during a July 16 speech at the White House. You just stand there longer or you take a shower longer? Because my hairI dont know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect. Advertisement Both rollbacks are likely to face legal challenges. Roughly three-quarters of showerhead models for sale use at least 20 percent less water than the legal limit, according to deLaskis analysis of federal data. The top-rated showerheads on the product-review site Wirecutter used 1.75 gallons of water per minute. Increasing water use would add new stress to the environment and ratepayers at a moment when both are under severe and mounting pressure. Three entire U.S. statesColorado, Nevada, and New Mexicoare in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In Puerto Rico, the largest U.S. overseas territory, the government implemented water rationing throughout 26 percent of the island as drought yet again caused severe reservoir shortages. Americans water bills, meanwhile, increased by an average of 80 percent over the past decade. There are certain foods that Queen Elizabeth refuses to touch. For example, Her Majesty avoids garlic because of the stinky breath problem and doesnt like starchy sides like pasta with her meals. She also insists on sandwiches with the sharp corners cut off during teatime. Despite the queens very specific demands, she is adventurous when it comes to sampling new foods in foreign countries. As the representative for the United Kingdom shes often required to sample local cuisine as a sign of respect for that culture. Fresh fruits and gourmet entrees are delightful. However, at times Queen Elizabeth must try some truly exotic selections like the time she ate rat stew or when she sampled a sea slug. The queen sticks to a mealtime routine Queen Elizabeth | Anwar Hussein/Getty Images At home, Her Majesty expects all her meals served a certain way with a very specific lineup of ingredients. For breakfast, shell often choose a simple spread of white toast, marmalade, and tea around 8 a.m., Daily Meal reports. Lunch is a similarly humble affair with a small piece of fish or chicken and a salad full of fresh veggies. At tea time, the queen enjoys a cup of brewed tea prepared in a precise way. Her hot beverage is served alongside cucumber sandwiches with rounded edges. Finally, her dinner consists of fish or meat and roasted vegetables. She avoids starches on the side. Queen Elizabeth bends food rules while traveling Queen Elizabeth | John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images RELATED: Queen Elizabeths Former Butler Reveals Her Majestys Rules for the Perfect Cup of Tea Her Majesty sticks to classic cuisine options at home and rarely deviates into more exotic fare. However, when embarking on royal tours of foreign lands, those rules go out the window. The queen once sampled rat stew in Belize while visiting Central America as the dish is a local delicacy there. Daily Mail reported that Her Majesty declared it tasted like rabbit and was perfectly happy to eat it alongside her hosts. And even now the country benefits from the queens adventurous palate. Belize restaurants still advertise the dish as Royal Rat and Rat eaten by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to help drum up business. She ate a sea slug while visiting China Queen Elizabeth in China | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images The rat entree was not the only unique dish Queen Elizabeth consumed for an audience. While visiting China in 1986, the queen was served a three inch long slimy sea slug on a plate and expected to eat it with chopsticks. The finicky royal would have been well within her rights to politely decline. Instead, she gracefully grasped the ivory chopsticks and took a bite of sea slug, which she called delicious. She later described the taste as similar to shrimp but also mild, declaring it tasted of not much. Queen Elizabeth has impeccable manners Queen Elizabeth | Samir Hussein/WireImage Knowing how picky she is at home, it may seem surprising that the queen is so willing to eat such bizarre foods in other countries. But knowing Her Majestys driving motivation helps. As a person who is exceedingly polite, the queen is more likely to accept any food offering for fear of offending her hosts. The queen doesnt travel much anymore. But if she did, theres no doubt shed still be slurping sea slugs and rat stew if her hosts made it especially for her. The ruling New Patriotic Party says the price of every infrastructure project undertaken by the erstwhile Mahama administration was over-bloated. A member of the NPP communication team Ing. Peter Antwi Boasiako says government was focusing on projects in the country and are making sure that Ghanaians get value for money on each project. His comments come after the NDC rebutted claims by Vice-president Dr Bawumia that the NPP has spent far less than the NDC government. Speaking on the Morning Starr Ing Boasiako said every project under John Mahama was ballooned. Exactly 6 years today, John Mahama went to the US to sign a bailout with the IMF. Our economy was in tatters. Former roads and highways minister Inusah Fuseini has also claimed the Vice President has graduated with first-class honours in propaganda from University of telling lies. But Ing Boasiako believes when the NDC tells lies, they want everybody to believe it. He said most of the projects the NDC talks about today started under Mills. They [NDC] havent been able to tell us which project started under Mills and which one started under Mahama. We are showing to the world that our projects cut across each district. When you ask NDC what they did, they point to Ridge hospital, Circle interchange but what the NPP is doing cuts across every district, he added. ---starrfmonline Dr. Larry Smarr I am looking forward to partnering with Kazuhm to help the IT community across sectors more fully utilize the hardware assets they have paid for... Kazuhm, a leader in technology and tools for maximizing IT efficiency, today announced that Dr. Larry Smarr will provide support to the Kazuhm leadership team as Technology Evangelist. With over 40 years of experience driving information technology innovation in academia, government agencies, and private industry, Dr. Smarr brings a practical vision for the ever-broadening use of distributed computing. We are thrilled to have Dr. Smarr with his unmatched knowledge and experience contributing to the Kazuhm teams foundational expertise and outreach, said Andreas Roell, Kazuhm CEO. Containerization, when applied to distributed computing, represents a paradigm shift in the way organizations process their workloads and store data, and there is no one better for Kazuhm to partner with than Dr. Smarr to deliver this message to the IT community. Dr. Smarr is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. From 2000-2020, he served as the founding Director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), a UC San Diego/UC Irvine partnership, and held the Harry E. Gruber professorship in UCSDs Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Before that (1985-2000) he was the founding director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at UIUC. He received his Physics Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Texas at Austin and did postdoctoral research at Princeton, Harvard, and Yale, before becoming a Professor of Physics and of Astronomy at UIUC in 1979. Additionally, Dr. Smarr has supported government agencies at the state and federal levels including 8 years as a member of the NIH Advisory Committee to the NIH Director, serving three directors. Dr. Smarr served on the NASA Advisory Council to four NASA Administrators, was chair of the NASA Information Technology Infrastructure Committee, and the NSF Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure. He also served on Governor Schwarzenegger's California Broadband Taskforce in 2007. He currently serves on the Advisory Board to the Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He continues to provide national leadership in advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI), currently serving as Principal Investigator on three NSF CI research grants: Pacific Research Platform, Cognitive Hardware, and Software Ecosystem Community Infrastructure, and Toward a National Research Platform. Among numerous honors and awards, Dr. Smarr is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the IEEE Computer Society Tsutomu Kanai Award for his lifetime achievements in distributed computing systems in 2006 and in 2014 the Golden Goose Award. Capital investments in on-premise computers are often underutilized in many organizations because of the lack of a secure and flexible software infrastructure that can make full use of the capability of todays distributed systems, said Dr. Smarr. I am looking forward to partnering with Kazuhm to help the IT community across sectors more fully utilize the hardware assets they have paid for, as well as to extend to external cloud resources, to meet the growing demand for compute capacity. Dr. Smarr gives frequent keynote addresses at professional conferences and to popular audiences. His views have been quoted in Science, Nature, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, Atlantic, New Yorker, Wired, MIT Technology Review, Fortune, Business Week, CBS, and the BBC. COVID-19 pandemic has affected our lives in more ways than one. While some people are struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance, others have lost their jobs altogether. It's clearly a tough time for a lot of people, especially the youth, who are struggling to make ends meet this pandemic. Well, looks like Google wants to make things a little easier and has hence decided to launch a new app called Kormo in India. It's essentially an app that'll offer a helping hand to millions of people who're looking for a job in the country. Kormo It's, obviously, not as sophisticated as, say, LinkedIn which is now vastly used to find jobs. Kormo is more of a platform to find entry-level listings. In addition to helping users identify open calls for entry-level roles, the app is also designed to help them learn new skills and even create a CV. We think this is going to come in handy especially at a time when there's a shift in focus across various businesses with a requirement of new skills. Bickey Russell, Regional Manager, and Operations Lead at Kormo Jobs said the company will continue to invest in bringing new features and jobs to the app in the future Reuters We think Google has done the right thing here by launching an app that's more catered towards helping people find entry-level jobs now. Over 4 million youth have lost their jobs in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The job landscape stands altered and we hope this will help ease things a bit. Will Google keep updating the app to make it as good as LinkedIn for professional connections? Well, we don't know, but Google currently doesn't have a platform for that and this certainly seems like a good place to start. For now, this app couldn't have come at a better time. Source: Techcrunch Hundreds of calls have deluged the office of U.S. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore due to a multitude of problems with the mail as Pennsylvanias Attorney General joins others in filing suit to have service restored. At issue is the handling of the U.S. Postal Serivce, overseen by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has made various changes in the last few weeks as Americans have experienced delays in receiving their mail as a result. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a $25 billion aid package Saturday to help the service and the House Oversight and Reform Committee has scheduled a hearing for Monday to hear from the Postal Service. Its completely irresponsible to be messing with the Postal Service in the middle of a pandemic, Scanlon said. Theyre impeding the delivery of the mail. She described what the situation has been like here in the 5th Congressional District. Weve gotten hundreds of calls in the last four to six weeks, calls from constituents who are not seeing mail deliveries on certain days or mail not coming through, Scanlon said. In Lansdowne alone, she added, theres up to a three-week backlog. Were hearing the stories from lots of people, particularly veterans and seniors who get their medications by mail, Scanlon said, adding that their health is at risk, particularly in one facility where a bin full of medications sat, awaiting processing. She also expressed concern for people not receiving IRS or Social Security checks and wondered how credit ratings will be impacted by the inconsistent service. People arent getting their money on time and, on the other end, theyre not getting their bills on time, she said. In one message to Scanlon, a constituent said, I have not seen a postal carrier in my neighborhood for a week or more, not received mail for 10 days, the last couple pieces of mail were 30 days late. Also, as I have no other alternative than to get my medications by mail. The last time it was delivered it went to the wrong address. I am very, very nervous as I have medication that should be delivered to me today and worried I will not receive it after a couple days, this will be a serious problem for my health. I have no other transportation to go and pick my meds up. Another business owner who has been using the postal service to ship packages to customers for the past seven years talked about their experience. In the last six weeks, three packages have just disappeared from their tracking system and I have had to refund the full cost, they said. I used to rely on the tracking system and problems were rare The trend is an increase in lost items and more and more missing tracking data. Scanlons office is keeping a log of complaints about this issue and asks that constituents direct their concerns to the district office at 610-626-2020. Scanlon spoke about the Postal Services large sorting facility on Lindbergh Boulevard in the district. Regarding it, Nick Casselli, president of the Philadelphia American Postal Workers Union Local 89, told her that five of the sorting machines have gone down. As a machine goes down, the mail doesnt get sorted, Scanlon said. Theyre saying theyre taking them down and using them for parts. The congresswoman also said changes are being made to the employees overtime pay and schedules. In the past, carriers would come in early and stay late in order to make certain the mail got delivered but their hours are now being cut, Scanlon said. Then, theres other maneuvers like all of the delivery trucks being forced to leave the postal facilities at the exact same time, regardless of whether they are full of their appointed mail or not, Scanlon said. Its a lot of shenanigans actually, she said. On Thursday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro also announced he was joining Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson in creating a multi-state coalition that will file federal lawsuits to prevent unilateral changes with the postal service, with concerns for maintaining the safety of vote-by-mail. We will be taking action to reinstate Postal Service standards that all Americans depend on, whether its for delivering their prescription drugs or for carrying their very right to vote, Shapiro said. Recent post office changes have been implemented recklessly, before checking the law, and we will use our authority to stop them and help ensure that every eligible ballot is counted. He spoke of the delays being experienced across the state, including veterans medications that are delivered by mail from the Veterans Administration. After almost 1.5 million Pennsylvania residents voted by mail in the primary election, concern arose after the Postal Service notified Pennsylvania and other states that it would be unable to guarantee delivery of ballots in accordance with state laws and deadlines. So, Shapiro and the multi-state coalition filed against the Postal Service asking the courts to reverse changes made and to guarantee the safety of election mail. With this imminent filing, we are putting the administration on notice: immediately roll back these operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service and allow postal workers carry out their vital mission without interference or lose to us in court, Shapiro said. And for the public, know that postal workers have long provided secure and reliable delivery of ballots. The important thing for you to do is vote. Vote early in person. Vote by mail. However you choose to vote, were here to make sure it counts. HONG KONG, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", SEHK: 00883,NYSE: CEO, TSX: CNU) today announced its 2020 interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Facing the unprecedented challenges in the first half of 2020, CNOOC Limited held fast to the bottom line of safe and healthy development, made timely adjustment to its business strategies, and took effective measures to minimize the impact imposed by low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company's operation and production maintained stable with no project delayed in offshore China and zero infection on its offshore platforms and vessels. Remaining committed to increase its oil and gas reserves and production, as well as continuing to promote quality and efficiency enhancement and cost controls, the Company saw great achievements in its performance results. In the first half of the year, a total of 5 discoveries were made, and 20 oil and gas bearing structures were successfully appraised. In Bohai, Kenli 6-1, an oilfield with proved in-place volume of crude oil over 100 million tons, was efficiently appraised, achieving another major breakthrough in exploration after Bozhong 19-6. In the Eastern South China Sea, a significant discovery of Huizhou 26-6 was made, which was the biggest oil and gas field discovered by independent exploration in the Pearl River Mouth Basin. In the Stabroek block of Guyana, the sixteenth discovery of Uaru was made, and the aggregate recoverable resources in the block exceeded 8.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE"). These discoveries have further laid the foundation for sustainable development of the Company. Oil and gas production of the Company amounted to 257.9 million BOE, representing an increase of 6.1% year-over-year. Among the ten new projects scheduled to commence production this year, Liza oilfield phase I, Penglai 19-3 oilfield block 4 adjustment/ Penglai 19-9 oilfield phase II, Qinhuangdao 33-1 South oilfield phase I and Luda 21-2 / Luda 16-3 oilfield regional development project have successfully commenced production in the first half of the year. Other projects are proceeding actively. In response to volatile oil prices, CNOOC Limited has taken various measures to control cost and enhance efficiency. Our all-in cost and operating cost per BOE have been further reduced to US$25.72 and US$6.50 respectively, the record low in the recent decade. Oil and gas sales revenue reached RMB66.34 billion, as well as net profit amounted to RMB10.38 billion, despite the sharp decrease of Brent oil prices. The Company's capital expenditure in the first half of the year was RMB35.6 billion. To reward the long-standing support from its shareholders, the Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.20 per share (tax inclusive) for the first half of 2020 by taking into account the Company's strong balance sheet and cash flow. Mr. Wang Dongjin, Chairman of CNOOC Limited, said "Due to the stringent management and control measures, as well as the extraordinary efforts of all employees, the Company has delivered a better-than-expected operating results in the first half of the year. Forging ahead, we will stay confident and determined, overcome the difficulties to strive to meet our annual targets and create greater value for our shareholders." Notes to Editors: More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com . This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expected future events, business prospectus or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors the Company believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the expectations and predictions of the Company depends on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance and financial condition to differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, macro-political and economic factors, changes in the tax and fiscal regimes of the host countries in which we operate, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industry, the exploration and development activities, mergers, acquisitions and divestments activities, environmental responsibility and compliance requirements, foreign operations and cyber system attacks. For a description of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see the documents the Company files from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F filed in April of the latest fiscal year. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations. For further enquiries, please contact: Ms. Jing Liu Manager, Media & Public Relations CNOOC Limited Tel: +86-10-8452-3404 Fax: +86-10-8452-1441 E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Ada Leung Hill+Knowlton Strategies Asia Tel: +852-2894-6225 Fax: +852-2576-1990 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE CNOOC Limited Related Links http://www.cnoocltd.com March15, 2020 is a date that many will remember for the rest of their lives. That isthe day Governor Sununu issued Emergency Order #1, Temporary remoteinstruction and support for public K-12 school districts. Districtsquickly put in place plans to create continuity of learning for students whowould now find themselves learning from home. This was a pivot that we shouldall be proud of. It was not perfect, but it was the appropriate response to theambiguous circumstances that we found ourselves in at the time. For manystudents with Individual Education Programs (IEP), this ambiguity wasparticularly unsettling. Those programs laid out detailed supports and servicesthat would allow these children to access their education. Without thosesupports and services, even accessing education becomes impossible for some. Schoolsworked with these students and families to find creative ways to provide thoseservices. Of course, some districts were more creative and effective thanothers, but because most of these services were provided remotely via phone orcomputer, parents found themselves playing many roles. FromMarch 16 until the end of the school year, many parents filled the role ofteacher to their children now at home. For parents of students with IEPs, inaddition to teacher, they may also have played the role of physical, speech,and occupational therapist, behavioral counselor, and reading interventionist,among others. Asthe new school year approaches, many school districts are adopting plans thatinclude in-person, hybrid and remote instructional models. These plans reflectthe varying circumstances relative to COVID-19 across the state and howindividual communities want to respond to those circumstances. We appreciatethe challenges associated with efforts to develop school reopening plans thatmeet each communitys individual concerns, but want to ensure that districts donot fail to individualize those plans for students with IEPs. Many of thesestudents some of our most vulnerable in the state made little or noprogress and, in some cases regressed, during the initial remote instructionand support period this spring. That cannot continue. Story continues Schoolsmust comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)and state R.S.A. 186-C the civil rights laws which require them to offer afree appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to everychild with a disability. School districts meet this obligation by developingand implementing a students IEP, with measurable goals, objectives, servicesand supports that the child needs to learn. In accordance with federal andstate law, while school districts are responsible for offering each student anappropriate education, all decisions about a childs educational plan must bemade by the IEP team, which includes the students parents. Whilesome schools may have adopted a hybrid or remote instructional model for thefall start, many of our students with IEPs require in-person supports andservices that simply cannot be provided remotely. There are no prohibitions onour districts to providing these in-person services. Strong and effectivemitigation strategies have been developed so that in-person supports andservices can be safely provided. We can and we must support our vulnerablestudents. Someschool districts are trying to meet the needs of students with disabilities asoutlined in their IEPs but many others are delaying the provision of necessaryservices or offering only one-size-fits-all education programs. A coalition ofeducational associations went so far as to suggest, the best time to considercompensatory education [e.g., supports and services] is after the pandemicsubsides. We could not disagree more. Theseresponses are neither appropriate nor legal when planning for the educationalprogramming of students with disabilities. Even if school districts have opted to provide only remote instructionfor the lions share of their students, they must take all necessary steps,including providing in-person instruction or services, for children withdisabilities who are not able to access the services required in their IEPsremotely or benefit from remote schooling. Failureto provide special education services will have long term implications for NewHampshire and on the lives of students. In the United States in 2018, thepoverty rate was 26.9% for individuals with disabilities and 12.2% for peoplewithout disabilities. Only 43.8% of people with disabilities were employed inNew Hampshire, compared to approximately 82.6% of their peers withoutdisabilities. While robust educational services may not fully address theseinequalities, they provide a foundation of success for people withdisabilities. NewHampshires children, including children with disabilities, are a preciousresource. The adults in their lives,including school district administrators, teachers and service providers have aresponsibility to plan for and to provide the education programs and servicesthese children need to become fully participating and contributing members ofour communities. Wemust act now. It is legally required and it is the right thing to do. Stephanie Patrick is Executive Director of the Disability Rights Center -New Hampshire. Frank Edelblut is Commissioner of the New Hampshire Departmentof Education. This article originally appeared on the Concord Patch Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed officials to adopt a location- specific strategy to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in Khurda, Cuttack, Sundargarh and Rayagada, as these districts are emerging as COVID-19 hotspots in the state. About 32 per cent of 20,388 active cases in the state are in these four districts, an official said. During a review meeting, the chief minister also asked officials to increase the number of tests for the infection across the state. He congratulated the district collectors and health officials for their services to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak and conducting over 50,000 tests a day. The health department has already tested over one million samples for COVID-19. As the number of asymptomatic patients is rising in the state, Patnaik asked officials to encourage treatment at home with the help of the elected representatives of panchayats and members of COVID Care Committees. Though the fatality rate in the state remains at around 0.60 per cent, Patnaik said there is no reason to be complacent and urged district administrations to bring it down further. The chief minister also said the plasma therapy application should be improved as it has proved to be effective for the critical patients. Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said a multi-disciplinary technical team, comprising professors of seven state-run medical colleges, has been formed by the Medical Education and Training Directorate with the objective to bring down the fatality rate. Odisha has so far reported 64,533 COVID-19 cases, while 45,315 patients have recovered and 362 died due to the disease. Also read: Oxford coronavirus vaccine: Serum Institute to begin Phase 3 trials this week Also read: Large screens, UV rays to kill virus; Rajya Sabha gears up for Monsoon session in COVID times Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) - Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signed on Wednesday an executive order allowing food take-out and delivery services in the city to operate 24 hours daily despite a pandemic lockdown. Moreno said this is a little way to protect the jobs and businesses in the city. The City of Manila sees the need to slowly open the economy in the city, particularly in the food and restaurant industry and to balance this with the demand from the general public, which may serve as stimulus of economic growth, according to Executive Order No. 35. The executive order said that all restaurants are allowed to operate beyond the curfew hours of the city, provided that it shall cater only to those authorized persons outside of residence. Meanwhile, as the National Capital Region reverted to general community quarantine, restaurants in the city are again allowed to operate at 30 percent capacity for dine-in while complying to minimum public health protocols. Shepard Fairey, who got his start as a street artist in Charleston, is the designer for a new campaign organized by the Americans for the Arts Actions Fund. The "Make Your Vote Count" pledge by the nonprofit organization seeks to spread information about how to vote in the upcoming presidential election, in which rules have changed due to COVID-19. This includes details and deadlines about vote-by-mail, early voting and in-person voting. Fairey designed artwork exclusively for the campaign, which features customized voter fact sheets for every state and U.S. territory. His iconic red, tan and varied shades of blue artwork can be found on the website, pamphlets, event fliers and other handouts and fact sheets. Fairey, a longtime member of Americans for the Arts and creative mind behind the OBEY brand, is no stranger to creating voting and political-themed artwork. He designed election campaign prints in support of former President Barack Obama, including his take on the widely recognized "Hope" poster, in 2008. He's also created anti-President Trump artwork, including posters that read, "Enough noise and lies, give me some truth" and "Enough monarchy, give me democracy." "Creative freedom, creative community, creative jobs and creative economy are key themes in our ArtsVote 2020 platform and are very present throughout Shepard Faireys artwork," shared Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch. The organization is pushing artists and arts advocates to complete the voting process as early as possible to ensure their voices are heard in the upcoming election. Fairey's digital artwork is being made available for free to download, in English and in Spanish, for those who take the pledge to Make Your Vote Count." These resources can be found at ArtsActionFund.org/ArtsVote. Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would pardon Susan B. Anthony, the women's suffragist who was arrested after voting illegally in 1872 and fined $US100, as he tried to appeal to female voters on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving them the right to vote. Susan B Anthony. Delivered during a heavily political event at the White House at which Trump again disparaged mail-in voting ahead of the November election, the president's announcement also appeared to be an effort to distract from the Democratic National Convention and narrow the historically large gender gap that has him trailing Joe Biden in the White House race. "She was never pardoned. Did you know that? She was never pardoned," Trump said. "What took so long?" Anthony was tried for illegally voting and protested the fine she was charged. That release could not be found. With a record 60,091 people recuperating from coronavirus infection in a day, the total recoveries on Wednesday crossed 2 million pushing the recovery rate to 73.64 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate hit a new low of 1.91 per cent, the Union health ministry said. IMAGE: A migrant worker shows his COVID-19 test report as they arrive at Anand Vihar in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo The recoveries have surged to 20,37,870 in the country, while there are 6,76,514 active cases of COVID-19, according to the data updated at 8 am. The record high recoveries have ensured that active cases of coronavirus infection, the "actual caseload" of the country, currently comprises less than 1/4th (only 24.45 per cent) of the total cases. Higher number of recoveries and declining fatality has shown that India's graded strategy has worked. India has posted 13,61,356 more recoveries than the active cases, it said. 'With high number of COVID-19 patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation, the recovery rate has scaled the peak of reaching 73.64 per cent. This has also led to the declining case fatality rate, which stands at a new low of 1.91 per cent today,' the ministry said. From the beginning of January 2020, Government of India assiduously followed a graded, pre-emptive and proactive response and management strategy for COVID-19 in the country, it said. 'The focussed, collaborative and 'whole of government' approach has yielded success,' it underlined. Building on the continuum of care approach, the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently is led by the Centre and implemented in conjunction with the state and UT governments. 'Focussed attention on effective surveillance and house-to-house contact tracing has led to early detection and identification of COVID-19 cases. The mild and moderate cases are treated under supervised home isolation. 'As per the standardized clinical management protocol based on the holistic standard of care approach, the critical and severe patients are hospitalised and provided the best medical care,' the ministry said. Government of India along with efforts of the state and UT governments has ramped up the hospital care infrastructure across the country to ensure that medical care for different categories of positive cases is provided through the Dedicated COVID Care Centre (DCCC), Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) and Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH). Their numbers has substantially increased too. As on date there are 1667 DCHs, 3455 DCHCs and 11,597 DCCCs. Cumulatively they provide 15,45,206 isolation beds, 2,03,959 oxygen supported beds, and 53,040 ICU beds, the ministry said. The seamless and point to-point medical management of COVID-19 patients has been made possible through effective ambulance services with zero tolerance on refusal of care and service, and measures such as use of non-invasive oxygen combined with use of investigational therapies. AIIMS, New Delhi through its tele-consultation sessions has helped to build clinical capacities of doctors in the states and UTs. Through this unique initiative, specialist doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi provide expert guidance and knowledge support to doctors manning ICUs in state hospitals. Integral to these efforts has been the remarkable contribution of ASHAs in states and UTs. Being part of the Active Case Search teams, they have strengthened the surveillance and contact tracing, and supervised patients in home isolation. "They have played a key role in ensuring critical patients reach hospitals for timely treatment. They have also supported communities through awareness regarding measures for prevention and control of COVID-19, and helped the needy to access healthcare services," it said. With 64,531 people testing positive in a day, India's COVID-19 tally increased to 27,67,273 on Wednesday, while the death toll climbed to 52,889 with 1,092 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. Skeptical Science New Research for Week #33, 2020 Posted on 19 August 2020 by Doug Bostrom Two epic review reports AMS have released State of the Climate 2019 (50MB pdf), a comprehensive review of Earth's climate as it stood in 2019. With much less fanfare Walsh et al have produced Extreme weather and climate events in northern areas: A review, 55 pages of scrupulous literature synopsis, synthesis and cautious projection supported by 20 pages of citation references. A true "don't miss" publication. The reference section is a goldmine for further exploration. Both items are open access. RCP8.5 is normal In this week's "nudges" Schwalm et al remind us of the stubbornly droopy nature of the Keeling Curve: Climate simulation-based scenarios are routinely used to characterize a range of plausible climate futures. Despite some recent progress on bending the emissions curve, RCP8.5, the most aggressive scenario in assumed fossil fuel use for global climate models, will continue to serve as a useful tool for quantifying physical climate risk, especially over near- to midterm policy-relevant time horizons. Not only are the emissions consistent with RCP8.5 in close agreement with historical total cumulative CO2 emissions (within 1%), but RCP8.5 is also the best match out to midcentury under current and stated policies with still highly plausible levels of CO2 emissions in 2100. 95 Articles Observations of global warming & effects AMS State of the Climate 2019 (open access) Extreme weather and climate events in northern areas: A review (open access) A Raman lidar tropospheric water vapour climatology and height-resolved trend analysis over Payerne, Switzerland (open access) Attribution of historical near-surface permafrost degradation to anthropogenic greenhouse gas warming Increasing trend in rapid intensification magnitude of tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific Snow cover variations across China from 19512018 (open access) Long-term variation of sea ice and its response to thermodynamic factors in the Northwest Passage of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (open access) Climate change dominated long?term soil carbon losses of Inner Mongolian grasslands The climatological context of trends in the onset of Northern Hemisphere seasonal snow?cover, 1972 2017 The Long-Term Trend of Upper-Air Temperature in China Derived from Microwave Sounding Data and Its Comparison with Radiosonde Observations Increasing occurrence of extreme cold surges in North China during the recent global warming slowdown and the possible linkage to the extreme pressure rises over Siberia Temporal variability of seasonal warming rates in China Nonstationary relationship between sea ice over Kara?Laptev Seas during August?September and Ural blocking in the following winter Asymmetric trends of extreme temperature over the Loess Plateau during 1998?2018 Instrumentation & observational methods of climate & global warming A linear model to derive melt pond depth on Arctic sea ice from hyperspectral data (open access) Present-day radiative effect from radiation-absorbing aerosols in snow (open access) Modeling & simulation of global warming & global warming effects Scenarios of Twenty-First Century Mean Sea Level Rise at Tide-Gauge Stations Across Canada (open access) Human-induced changes to the global ocean water masses and their time of emergence Increasing threat of coastal groundwater hazards from sea-level rise in California Effective radiative forcing and adjustments in CMIP6 models (open access) Diverging responses of high-latitude CO2 and CH4 emissions in idealized climate change scenarios (open access) Projected changes in the annual range of precipitation under stabilized 1.5C and 2.0C warming futures (open access) The Upper Tail of Precipitation in Convection?Permitting Regional Climate Models and Their Utility in Nonstationary Rainfall and Flood Frequency Analysis (open access) Analysis of Compound Climate Extremes and Exposed Population in Africa under two different Emission Scenarios (open access) Irreversibility of Marine Climate Change Impacts under Carbon Dioxide Removal Robust longitudinally?variable responses of the ITCZ to a myriad of climate forcings Isolating the Evolving Contributions of Anthropogenic Aerosols and Greenhouse Gases: A New CESM1 Large Ensemble Community Resource (open access) Projected End-of-Century Changes in the South American Monsoon in the CESM Large Ensemble Seasonal Dependency of Tropical Precipitation Change under Global Warming Are the Transient and Equilibrium Climate Change Patterns Similar in Response to Increased CO 2 ? Long term trends of mesopheric ice layers: A model study Future Projections of Winter Cold Surge Paths over East Asia from CMIP6 Models Climate model advancement Robust observational constraint of uncertain aerosol processes and emissions in a climate model and the effect on aerosol radiative forcing (open access) Past long-term summer warming over western Europe in new generation climate models: role of large-scale atmospheric circulation Statistical emulation of a perturbed basal melt ensemble of an ice sheet model to better quantify Antarctic sea level rise uncertainties (open access) Optimal Estimation of Stochastic Energy Balance Model Parameters Dynamical downscaling simulation of the East Asian summer monsoon in a regional Climate?Weather Research and Forecasting model An idealized protocol to assess the nesting procedure in regional climate modelling Cryosphere & climate change Review Article: Earth's ice imbalance (open access) Distributed summer air temperatures across mountain glaciers: climatic sensitivity and glacier size (open access) Applying artificial snowfall to reduce the melting of the Muz Taw Glacier, Sawir Mountains (open access) Long-term variation of sea ice and its response to thermodynamic factors in the Northwest Passage of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (open access) Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt (open access) Less climatic resilience in the arctic Biology & global warming Inflection point in climatic suitability of insect pest species in Europe suggests non?linear responses to climate change Climatic changes and the fate of mountain herbivores (open access) Correction to: Regional variability in the response of alpine treelines to climate change (open access) Ocean acidification reduces growth and grazing impact of Antarctic heterotrophic nanoflagellates (open access) Climate-driven changes in the composition of New World plant communities Dendroclimatology of sugar maple (Acer saccharum): Climate-growth response in a late-successional species Continental?scale tree?ring?based projection of Douglas?fir growth: Testing the limits of space?for?time substitution The combined effects of climate change and river fragmentation on the distribution of Andean Amazon fishes Research challenges and opportunities for using big data in global change biology Climatic breadth of calling behaviour in two widespread Neotropical frogs: Insights from humidity extremes Modeling eelgrass spatial response to nutrient abatement measures in a changing climate (open access) The role of gastropod shell composition and microstructure in resisting dissolution caused by ocean acidification Survived but not safe: Marine heatwave hinders metabolism in two gastropod survivors Focus on recent, present and future Arctic and boreal productivity and biomass changes Climate manipulations differentially affect plant population dynamics within versus beyond northern range limits Cool as a moose: How can browsing counteract climate warming effects across boreal forest ecosystems? A changing climate is snuffing out post?fire recovery in montane forests Tree growth sensitivity to climate is temporally variable GHG sources & sinks, flux Historical CO2 emissions from land use and land cover change and their uncertainty (open access) Diel variability of methane emissions from lakes (open access) Labile carbon limits late winter microbial activity near Arctic treeline (open access) Decadal?scale Recovery of Carbon Stocks After Wildfires Throughout the Boreal Forests Using a natural experiment to foresee the fate of boreal carbon stores Total ecosystem carbon stocks at the marine?terrestrial interface: Blue carbon of the Pacific Northwest Coast, United States Net landscape carbon balance of a tropical savanna: Relative importance of fire and aquatic export in offsetting terrestrial production Asymmetric response of soil methane uptake rate to land degradation and restoration: Data synthesis CO2 removal science & engineering Small?scale capillary heterogeneity linked to rapid plume migration during CO2 storage Irreversibility of Marine Climate Change Impacts under Carbon Dioxide Removal Geoengineering climate Anticipatory governance of solar geoengineering: conflicting visions of the future and their links to governance proposals Climate change communications & cognition Global Warming Risk Perceptions in India Agronomy & climate change Adaptation in U.S. Corn Belt increases resistance to soil carbon loss with climate change (open access) Climate change and environmental impacts on and adaptation strategies for production in wheat-rice rotations in southern China A case study of climate-smart management in foxtail millet (Setaria italica) production under future climate change in Lishu county of Jilin, China The climate-induced alteration of future geographic distribution of aflatoxin in peanut crops and its adaptation options Economics & finance of climate change & mitigation Making sense of the politics in the climate change loss & damage debate A near-term to net zero alternative to the social cost of carbon for setting carbon prices (open access) A sectoral approach allows an artful merger of climate and trade policy (open access) Economic and social constraints on reforestation for climate mitigation in Southeast Asia The financial impact of fossil fuel divestment (open access) Climate change mitigation & adaptation public policy research Research priorities for supporting subnational climate policies Exploring requirements for sustainable energy supply planning with regard to climate resilience of Southeast Asian islands Climate change adaptation An agent-based model for community flood adaptation under uncertain sea-level rise Searching for Grouped Patterns of Heterogeneity in the ClimateMigration Link Humans dealing with our global warming A demographic approach to understanding the effects of climate on population growth Contributions of scale: what we stand to gain from Indigenous and local inclusion in climate and health monitoring and surveillance systems A decision support tool for climate-informed and socioeconomic urban design Other Between a bog and a hard place: a global review of climate change effects on coastal freshwater wetlands (open access) Book Review: Beyond Global Warming: How Numerical Models Revealed the Secrets of Climate Change Determining the most accurate program for the Mann-Kendall method in detecting climate mutation At scale, renewable natural gas systems could be climate intensive: the influence of methane feedstock and leakage rates Informed opinion & nudges Review Article: Earth's ice imbalance (open access) Less climatic resilience in the arctic RCP8.5 tracks cumulative CO2 emissions (open access) Obtaining articles wihout journal subscriptions We know it's frustrating that many articles we cite here are not free to read. One-off paid access fees are generally astronomically priced, suitable for such as "On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" but not as a gamble on unknowns. With a median world income of $US 9,3733, for most of us $US 42 is significant money to wager against a small marginal cost. Economists of a scientific bent may someday help scientific publishers bring science to their business activities as reflected in rational a la carte article disclosure fees. Meanwhile there are several possible paths to equality of information access short of paying an objectively and crushingly large fee for the unveiling of a single article: Here's an excellent collection of tips and techniques for obtaining articles, legally. Unpaywall offers a browser extension for Chrome that automatically indicates when an article is freely accessible and provides immediate access without further trouble. Unpaywall is also unscammy, works well, is itself offered free to use. The organizers (a legitimate nonprofit) report about a 50% success rate If you're interested in an article and it is not listed here as "open access," be sure to check the link anyway. Due to time constraints open access articles are identified by us via imperfect machine analysis. Compared with Unpaywall statistics we successfully identify roughly 2/3rds of open access articles. There's definitely gold left in the ground. How is New Research assembled? Most articles appearing here are found via RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance. The objective of New Research isn't to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers' impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only: Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a "yes" to this automatically. Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut. Suggestions Please let us know if you're aware of an article you think may be of interest for Skeptical Science research news, or if we've missed something that may be important. Send your input to Skeptical Science via our contact form. Journals covered A list of journals we cover may be found here. We welcome pointers to omissions, new journals etc. Previous edition The previous edition of Skeptical Science New Research may be found here. Democratic attorneys general from at least 21 states, including New Mexico, announced plans Tuesday to file lawsuits against the U.S. Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over complaints about service changes, delays and suspicions of an intentional effort to discourage voters from mailing ballots this fall. The lawsuits allege the Postal Service violated the law by failing to seek approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission before instituting changes. Officials from multiple state AGs offices told The Washington Post that the suits also argue the changes could hinder their ability to conduct free and fair elections. President Donald Trump is named as a defendant, along with the Postal Service and DeJoy, accusing the president of infringing on state power to administer elections through his attacks on mail balloting. But also on Tuesday, DeJoy announced he is halting most of the specific operational changes cited in the lawsuits to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail. Some initiatives DeJoy said he was shelving until after the election had already been announced, including halting the planned removal of mail-processing machines and blue collection boxes, as well as an initiative to change retail hours at post offices. He also said that no mail processing facilities will be closed and that the agency has not eliminated overtime. We will deliver the nations election mail on time, DeJoy said. In New Mexico, state Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a news release that he is joining a multistate coalition challenging operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service. I am asking the courts to step in and supervise this process to ensure that the federal government is working with states, including our Secretary of State, to ensure these services are delivered in the way our Constitution mandates, Balderas said in a statement. U.S. Reps. Deb Haaland and Ben Ray Lujan, both Democrats, didnt mince words in characterizing recent policy changes. Were here to tell the postmaster general and President Trump that theyre putting lives and livelihoods of New Mexicans at risk, all in the effort to steal an election and disenfranchise voters in this country, Haaland said in a news conference in front of the main Downtown Albuquerque branch of the U.S. Postal Service. Lujan said the president is trying to undermine the trust and disrupt the USPS constitutionally mandated role. Lujan and Haaland plan to return to Washington, D.C., to vote on the proposed Delivering for America Act, HR 8015, to stop the changes, maintain the previous level of service and keep it in place until the pandemic has ended. U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, a Democrat, said she was pleased to hear the postmaster general announce plans to halt operational changes. But she said the Postal Service should hold off on any changes through the end of the pandemic, not just through the election. I know how important this issue is how important the Postal Service is for New Mexicans in the district I serve, Torres Small said in an interview. The delays that weve seen are impacting people across the board. A constituent from Lordsburg, she said, waited 10 days for the delivery of a utility bill. There also have been concerns about the delivery of medicine. In addition to New Mexico, the other states in the coalition include Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, according to a draft of the suit obtained by The Washington Post. Separately, Pennsylvania is filing another suit, joined by California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts and North Carolina. New York planned separate legal action. All the states are represented by Democratic attorneys general. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:24:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- For every country, COVID-19 has come at some cost to the economic and social fabric. However, for those nations already under pressure, the impact threatens to be particularly devastating and long lasting. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is among the most underdeveloped nations and now also leads the region in COVID-19 infections in the Pacific island countries, this week surpassing 300 positive cases, primarily in the capital of Port Moresby. While PNG's leadership was swift in reacting to the outbreak, and effectively avoided a sudden outbreak, this month Prime Minister James Marape moved not to renew a two-week lockdown, instead implementing softer social distancing restrictions allowing markets, schools and restaurants to reopen. The country now faces dual health and economic repercussions with limited options to combat either. Lecturer in economics at the University of PNG, Maholopa Laveil, told Xinhua on Wednesday some had described the situation as a "crisis on top of a crisis." "I think the government did respond well in the beginning, keeping case numbers down until a month ago, but just because the options to the government fiscally are limited they just couldn't deal with a lockdown," Laveil said. Job losses, estimated by the World Bank to be as high as 25 percent of the existing workforce, have added to the pressure for everyday Papua New Guineans, particularly those in urban areas who are less able to fall back on subsistence farming, which has been the case in other parts of the country. "The average worker has about six dependents. So when you lose the income earner in your household, it's very hard, especially for the urban poor," Laveil said. "The urban poor are more reliant on cash, so when travel restrictions were imposed and aggregate demand was suppressed, people weren't making as much money in the informal economy, selling agricultural produce and other items." Government supported relief measures such as tax deferrals and loan repayment holidays had only a limited effect and leaders' capacity to offer more assistance was severely limited by fiscal deficit and government loan limits. Professor Stephen Howes, director of the Development Policy Centre (DPC) at the Australian National University told an online seminar on Wednesday that Papua New Guinea went into the pandemic with the largest fiscal deficit of Pacific Island nations. "In the case of PNG, our own projection is that they're not going to be able to borrow any more than was originally budgeted for in their very large deficit," Howes said. "So there's a limit to their capacity to fund additional COVID-19 spending." In April the government announced an economic stimulus worth 5.7 billion Kina (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) to combat the economic effects of COVID-19, targeted at supporting agricultural operations and other business ventures. However, Laveil said that the money appears to have been slow to reach the hands of the public and small businesses. Compounding existing issues has been a hit to PNG's vital exports, notably Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), the global price of which plunged as a result of COVID-19. While the price of PNG's other major export, gold has reached an all time high, recently virus outbreaks in the country's Western province forced the closure of major mining operations of the precious metal. According to Laveil, resulting job losses have been widespread across PNG's resource sector. Energy producer, Oil Search drastically scaled back its operations in PNG in response to a steep fall in the oil and gas prices, cutting 550 full-time workers from the company's books. Earlier, following a dispute with the government, the operators of Porgera (JV) mine laid off 2,650 locals -- and after recently detecting cases of COVID-19 suspended mining operations. "Obviously these companies are contracting, how much we don't know yet, but the tangible result is that workers have been laid off," Laveil said. "Until commodity prices pick up, they're not going to be employed, so if on average, if you have six dependents then your whole family needs to look for an alternative means of income." The World Bank estimates that roughly 37.5 percent of PNG's population lives below the poverty line, and with COVID-19 that number is expected to rise. Chief Economist at Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr Jenny Gordon explained that countries which had high rates of poverty and underdeveloped social safety nets going into the pandemic were of particular concern. "If you have a social protection system it's quite easy to expand that fairly rapidly, but if you don't have one in place it's quite challenging to actually get the funding out," Gordon said. With a relatively high poverty rate, PNG may lack both the means and the method to support its most needy citizens through this difficult time, raising concerns over long term educational, health and social impacts. The path forward for PNG is uncertain and remains heavily dependent on the rate of COVID-19 infections. For now though, Laveil said that life in capital Port Moresby has returned to relatively normal, or what the government refers to as the "new normal" under COVID-19, or "niupela pasin." Enditem Primer ministro: La prioridad de mi gestion es, sin lugar a dudas, la lucha contra la pandemia. Ganar esta guerra requiere del trabajo conjunto y organizado en todos los niveles de gobierno, las municipalidades, los gobiernos regionales, el empresariado y la sociedad civil. pic.twitter.com/ujTaxqWPHH PARIS (Reuters) - A 16-year-old Sudanese boy has been found dead on a beach in the city of Sangatte in northern France, French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said on Wednesday. Schiappa said on Twitter that the young boy had disappeared at sea last night. Local police were not immediately available to give further details on the circumstances of his death. "This unbearable tragedy mobilizes us still more with (Interior Minister) Gerald Darmanin against smugglers," Schiappa said. British interior minister Priti Patel also said on Twitter: "This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people." Britain and France said last week that the two countries would work "at pace" to finalise a new plan for shutting down a migrant route across the Channel. Hundreds of people, including some children, have been caught crossing to southern England from makeshift camps in northern France, many of them navigating one of the world's busiest shipping routes in overloaded rubber dinghies. (Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Jan Harvey) The two most prominent wine companies in Lake County, the region just north of Napa County known for affordable wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, are merging. Clay and Angie Shannon, owners of the Shannon Ridge Family of Wines, an ambitious, fast-growing wine company, have purchased Steele Wines, Lake Countys most recognizable wine brand, from its founder, Jed Steele. The deal closed last week, and the terms were not disclosed. Jed is one of the patriarchs of this business, Clay Shannon said. Hes done a great job to promote our county, and we want to continue to push his legacy. He added that it was a very friendly deal, and that hes been trying to purchase Steeles business for the past three years. But it was only in the past few months, when Steele decided he was ready to retire, that negotiations picked up. The deal includes the Steele, Shooting Star, Stymie and Writers Block wine brands, all wine inventory, and a large winery and tasting room in Kelseyville. The latter is one big reason Steele Wines appealed to Shannon. He plans to transform it into a mixed-use mercantile, he said, and hopes it will become the go-to destination in Lake County, about a three-hour drive from San Francisco. By springtime, youll see picnic areas, live music, movies on the side of the building, a petting zoo, a farmers market, he said. Like V. Sattui or Long Meadow Ranch in Napa Valley, it will be just a fun place to hang out, taste wine and bring the family. Shannon raises grass-fed lamb and beef, and chickens for organic eggs, all of which would be sold at the new farmstead. Erik Castro / Special to The Chronicle 2011 Were going to be able to make some of our other dreams come true now, Shannon said, adding that he has enjoyed selling lamb at the local farmers market with his granddaughters over the past several months. Another reason for the purchase, Shannon said, is that his wine production is growing fast, and Steeles facilities can help accommodate that growth. The Shannon Ridge Family of Wines includes several brands such as Vigilance, Urgency, Ovis and Buck Shack, a total of about 310,000 cases. Steele Wines adds 44,000 cases to that output and also brings a 2,500-ton-capacity winemaking facility and a warehouse that can hold 6,000 barrels. Shannon Ridge will preserve Steeles four wine brands, though it may retool them, Shannon said. Steele Wines was founded in 1991 and gradually became the most famous Lake County wine brand. By then, Jed Steele was already an established winemaker, having begun his career at Stony Hill Vineyard in Napa Valley in 1968 and later becoming the head winemaker at Kendall-Jackson, whose now-famous Chardonnay was originally made with Lake County grapes. (Jackson Family Wines, Kendall-Jacksons parent company, still owns a significant amount of acreage in the county.) While Steele was getting his eponymous winery off the ground in the early 1990s, he was embroiled in a public battle with Kendall-Jacksons owner, the late Jess Jackson. Steele sued Jackson, saying he was due a $225,000 bonus. Jackson countersued, saying Steele had stolen trade secrets in the form of the secret formula for Kendall-Jacksons Vintners Reserve Chardonnay. Erik Castro / Special to The Chronicle 2011 Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Over time, however, Steele Wines became a force in its own right, specializing in a range of wines beyond Chardonnay. Its flagship brand, Steele, focuses on higher-end bottlings, while Shooting Star represents the value-priced end of the spectrum. Shannon Ridges acquisition of Steele does not include any land, though Shannon Ridge already owns about 900 vineyard acres, all certified sustainable or organic. In February, the company announced it had purchased the 27-acre Giannecchini Vineyard in Mendocino County. The mercantile concept will come at an advantageous time for Lake County, Shannon said. During the COVID-19 shutdown, more people have begun spending time at vacation residences near Clear Lake and enjoying the quiet, off-the-beaten-path feel of Lake County. Its been good for our county, he said. Now we just need a fun place to host people. Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob Northern bottlenose whales stranded at Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal. (Photo by Thomas and Louise Coleman and the Irisih Whale and Dolphin Group) A huge operation is underway off the coast of Donegal after a group of northern bottlenose whales became stranded on a beach today. The group of northern bottlenose whales came ashore at Rossnowlagh this morning. A spokesperson for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group said there is very little can be done to help the dying animals and the group confirmed that seven of the eight stranded whales have now died. Expand Close Northern bottlenose whales stranded at Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal. (Photo by Thomas and Louise Coleman and the Irisih Whale and Dolphin Group) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern bottlenose whales stranded at Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal. (Photo by Thomas and Louise Coleman and the Irisih Whale and Dolphin Group) Trained staff from the IWDG and the National Parks and Wildlife Service are on site. "Please give them space and respect to die without too much stress," said a spokesperson for the IWDG. The deep-diving offshore species of whales are the largest member of the beaked whale family. The tide is now coming in on the live stranded animals with some stranded and some are still in the water. A spokesperson for the IWDG said the euthanasia of whales of this size very difficult without Immobolin, which is not available in the Republic. "Shooting requires highly trained personnel," the spokesperson added. The group has also appealed to members of the public not to travel to the beach in Rossnowlagh to take pictures of the whales. It is understood that large numbers of people have gathered at the shoreline. A spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, IWDG are receiving upsetting news from our members on site from Donegal were crowds of people are going out to see and take selfies with the only surviving Northern Bottlenose Whale. "Although we understand people want to see this large whale, we strongly urge members of the public to keep a safe distance from this whale and to be respectful allowing our trained members on site to do their job. "Donegal County Council and the gardai are en route to set up a barrier. We ask you to please respect it." Dr Simon Berrow of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group said that up to eight whales are involved in the mass stranding. "We know very little about them but they are prone to mass strandings. "This is the largest mass stranding of this species ever in Ireland. To be honest, there is very little we can do about it because the average whale weighs about three tonnes so they are not really good candidates for refloating," he said. Pachyderm, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise-grade, open source platform that enables scalable data science, raised $16m in Series B financing. The round was led by M12, Microsofts venture fund, with participation from Jon Sakoda of Decibel Ventures, Benchmark and YCombinator, among others. M12s investment was led by Microsoft Corporate Vice President and the funds Global Head Nagraj Kashyap, who will join Pachyderms board of directors. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate hiring, continue building Pachyderm Hub and expand on its vision to provide enterprises with explainable and repeatable data processing at scale. Launched in 2014 by Joey Zwicker, Pachyderm provides a machine learning powered platform for AI development teams at enterprise customers including Shell, LogMeIn, Battelle Ecology and AgBiome, as well as multiple government agencies, pharmaceutical and bioinformatics companies, two major North American banks, and others within the Fortune 500 to recreate data science experiments and comply with emerging AI legal standards. The platform brings together version control for data with the tools to build scalable end-to-end machine learning and artificial intelligence pipelines while enabling users to use any language, framework, or tool they want. The funding follows the launch and the general availability of Pachyderm Hub, the companys fully-managed service solution that has been operating in public beta since November, and is available today. With Pachyderm Hub, individuals and enterprise teams can get a Pachyderm cluster on-demand without having to take on the operational burden of managing their own infrastructure. FinSMEs 19/08/2020 The Wounded America Ride has been happening for the past five summers traveling through westside communities from the Detroit River to North Dearborn Heights raising money to help area veterans. This year, the ride, which is co-sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dearborn Heights, wont actually pass through Dearborn or Dearborn Heights, but will still have the fingerprints of charities from both cities in it. The event has been scaled down to ride along the river on West Jefferson in downtown Trenton. The ride is set for Aug. 22. Motorcyclists will gather at Fritz Enterprises at 9 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., they will begin a police escort traveling along West Jefferson through downtown Trenton, looping through Elizabeth Park. The event raises money for area veterans through longtime backers Victory Gym in Brownstown Township and Foundation 14 in Milan. The gym was founded by disabled veterans to assist with physical and mental health. Foundation 14s mission is to help combat veterans to enjoy the freedom of riding. Both are 501(c)(3) organizations. Spectators are encouraged to line the route to offer support and wave American flags at the passing parade of two-wheeled muscle. Trust me, this is an exciting thing to see, Dearborn Heights Rotarian Lynne Killion said. Last year, we were standing on Warren east of Telegraph in Dearborn Heights when a lady pulled over, parked, and waved along with us in honor of her father, a 92-year-old WWII veteran. The event, now in its sixth year, is personal for Killion because her son is a disabled Iraq War veteran suffering from PTSD. Sponsors are being sought for the annual Wounded America Motorcycle Ride. Larry Wright, a Taylor Rotarian, and chairperson of this event is currently seeking bike sponsors at $250 each. According to Wright, 100% of the money raised goes directly to the two charities Downriver For Veterans and Foundation 14. This year more than ever they need your help, he said. The ride is sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Dearborn Heights, Taylor, Grosse Ile, Trenton, Woodhaven/Brownstown and Wyandotte, in partnership with Motown HOG Chapter No. 4375. This years goal is $30,000, according to Killion. Since its inception, Wounded America Ride events have raised $80,000 for veterans charities. For sponsorship and participation information, contact Larry Wright at 734-604-2995 or email lswright1@mac.com. Imran Khan denies Pakistan-Saudi ties soured over Kashmir, saying ties between the two countries are very good. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has played down differences with longtime ally Saudi Arabia after his army chief visited Riyadh in a bid to ease a dispute over policy towards the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. The dispute, brought on by Pakistani demands for Saudi Arabia to take a firmer line against India for what Pakistan says is its human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir, has threatened Riyadhs financial support for Islamabad. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had no differences, Khan said in a late Tuesday interview, backing away from criticism by his foreign minister this month who suggested Saudi Arabia was indifferent on Kashmir. The rumours that our relations with Saudi Arabia have soured are totally false, Khan said in the interview with the Dunya News television channel. Our relations are very good. We are constantly in touch. Army chief visits Riyadh Pakistans army chief travelled to Saudi Arabia on Monday for a one-day visit that was primarily military-affairs oriented, the army said. Pakistans army chief travelled to Saudi Arabia amid a disagreement between the two countries that has threatened Riyadhs financial lifeline to Islamabad [File: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters] But top military and government officials said the visit was aimed at calming the simmering standoff that could badly hurt cash-strapped Pakistans foreign reserves. Our relations are very good. We are constantly in touch. Imran Khan, Pakistan prime minister Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a $3bn loan and $3.2bn oil credit facility to help its balance of payments crisis in late 2018. Pakistans demands for Saudi Arabia to support it against India over Kashmir led to Saudi Arabia forcing Pakistan to pay back $1bn early, military and finance ministry officials have told the Reuters news agency. Saudi Arabia is also demanding repayment of another $1bn of the loan and has not responded to Pakistani requests to extend the oil facility, they said. Saudi anger The Saudi government has not commented on the matter. The Saudi-led Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) has only held low-level meetings on Kashmir, to the frustration of some who want to see a more robust position. On the Kashmir issue, there is a view that OIC should have stepped forward, Khan said. Saudi has its own foreign policy. We shouldnt think that because we want something Saudi will do just that, he added. Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sought a meeting of the OIC. If you cannot convene it, then Ill be compelled to ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris. Qureshis remarks revived Riyadhs anger, one of the Pakistani military officials and a government adviser earlier told Reuters. Analysts say Saudi Arabia does not want to risk its business interests in India by supporting Pakistan over Kashmir. Pakistan and India both claim the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir in full but rule it in part. A fire outbreak at Town Council Line, a suburb at Laterbiokoshie in Accra has destroyed homes of squatters. No casualties have been recorded so far. According to an eyewitness, the fire which started on Wednesday around midnight is said to have been caused by the burning solid waste which later spread to and engulfed a nearby car. The Ghana National Fire Service eventually intervened to control the fire. A unit committee member of the area, Felix Djuba spoke to Citi News and recounted that: This fire started around midnight. I was in the house when I heard my neighbours shouting fire. He also confirmed that residents who started a small fire lost control of the blaze. They said they were burning something small. As the started the fire, it started spreading around. According to him, it took the fire service about an hour to get to the scene after calls were made. Nonetheless, he said, they [the firemen] did a good job. This is the third major fire incident in Accra in the last week. Parts of the Electoral Commission's (EC) Accra Regional office at Sapeiman near Amasaman caught fire. A room that contains electoral materials was affected. More devastating, however, was the blaze that swept through a slum in Shiashie. Over 100 kiosks which serve as shelter for some squatters were burnt to ashes. ---citinewsroom Lukashenko has once again accused other countries of interfering in Belarus' affairs. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says his government has someone to rely on if protests aggravate. "We are absolutely not alone," he said at a session of the Security Council on August 19, BelTA reported. "I am very well aware of these rallies. People stated their views. I would like to once again underline that if you think the government is leaning and is shaking, you are wrong. I would like to say that the government has people to rely on. This is why we will not flinch. We will go our own way just like we should," he said. Lukashenko once again accused other countries of interfering in the situation in Belarus. Read alsoLukashenko says Belarusian army on full alert on western border"Those, who are sharpening their swords, particularly abroad (it is clearly obvious now), will be repelled. These are not just words. They hang up Polish flags in Grodno already. It is inadmissible. Such things will be stopped in a radical manner," he added. Russia "support" for Lukashenko Russia became one of the first countries to congratulate Lukashenko on his alleged victory in the presidential elections in Belarus, whereas Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia made no such calls. Ukraine did not congratulate Lukashenko either. Later, the EU recognized the elections in Belarus as rigged, and the ex-president himself persona non grata. In parallel lines, the West is preparing a package of sanctions against those involved in the violence and murder of protesters in the early days of protests. At the same time, eyewitnesses reported the movement of convoys of Russian Guard trucks toward the border of Belarus. Earlier, several aircraft of the Belarus air force flew to Russian military bases. European diplomats and U.S. legislators have expressed concern about Russia's interference in Belarus' affairs. Some political experts believe the "Crimea scenario" is unfolding. AKRON, Ohio Letter carriers and postal workers in Northeast Ohio say recent cuts to the United States Postal Service have resulted in shortages in staffing, the removal of letter boxes and mail sorting equipment and policies that call for mail to not be delivered to every recipient each day. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan held a news conference Tuesday outside the Akron union hall of the National Association of Letter Carriers, to call attention to recent cost-saving measures and reforms of the Postal Service implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a megadonor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party who took over the role on June 15. Since then, there have been concerns that the Postal Service wont be able to handle the influx of ballots expected in the November election a notion that Ryan and three union representatives refuted. If the letter carriers and workers at the post offices and the sorting areas are allowed to do their job and the machines are in place, then we can have an election with mail-in ballots that can be handled by the Postal Service, if the president and the postmaster general dont inject any more chaos or doubt into the process, the Niles Democrat said. While Ryan was speaking, DeJoy released a statement, saying he would suspend potential reforms to the Postal Service, to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail. Ryan said he had not reviewed the statement, and declined to comment, adding that members of the Trump administration have a history of making statements and not following through. David Sturm, president of the Akron branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said postal workers are well-equipped to manage absentee ballots, and that any considerations for reforms should wait until after the election and the holiday season. If were just left to do our job, well be fine for the election, Sturm said. The changes that might come down the road, we can do those after the election and after the holidays. We just want to be left to do our job. Gloria Miller, president of the Canton-area branch of the letter carriers union, said a lot of new obstacles have been thrown at postal service workers since DeJoy took over in June. One of the things I know a lot of the letter carriers experience is a lot of frustration at not being able to do their jobs. There is a lot of pride that comes with serving the same customers on a regular basis, and facing those same customers and telling them that their mail has been delayed or they werent allowed to take that mail out is a big blow to the job that they are supposed to be doing, Miller said. Miller said cost-saving measures in Stark County have resulted in letters and packages being delayed, sometimes for weeks at a time, and often at multiple levels of the delivery process. There have been days when a whole route never even went out, which would mean that every single customer on that letter carriers route did not get their mail, Miller said. There are also times when theyve been told that they had to be back by a certain time whether they were done or not, so there were parts of routes that did not get their mail. There were sections that went a few days without getting delivered. Obviously, we can have shortages, but there are options that the Postal Service has for getting that mail out, that include the paid overtime, but there have been times they chose not to do that, and they just brought back the mail and let it sit. In Akron, the post offices have been able to keep up with most of the mail, but the real problem for letter carriers and postal workers has come from changes to staffing and overtime, Sturm said. Since this has taken on, theyve stopped bringing in letter carriers on their day off, and that creates forced overtime, Sturm said. Theyre allowed to force other carriers to do that work that are not on the overtime, but what happens is, they end up short-staffed and then they have to force people that dont want the overtime to do the overtime. Weve been working a lot later because of this, because they need us to stay out later to make up for the ones that havent been brought in. Strum said this has been the craziest year he has experienced in 34 years of delivering mail. John Dyce, president of the Ohio State Association of Letter Carriers, represents about 14,000 active and retired letter carriers in Ohio. Ive been receiving calls for several months now about delayed first-class mail, about the dismantling and removal of processing equipment, which is all leading to a back-up of the mail, Dyce said. We had not had any problems that I described until our new Postmaster General DeJoy was appointed by the president. Nancy Pelosi has encouraged Democrats in congress to hold similar news conferences in their districts. Rep. Joyce Beatty spoke Tuesday in support of the Postal Service at a post office in Columbus. Ryan said he would be open to discussing reforms to the Postal Service after the election, but that the current changes and cuts could undermine the electoral process. If you want to have a discussion about what we need to do to modernize and move forward and deal with the financial issues and deal with the trucks and the dated fleet thats 30 years old, lets have that discussion after the election. Theres no reason to have this discussion right now, Ryan said. We are trying to preserve a democracy in the midst of a global pandemic. Ryan said he supports Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRoses efforts to provide drop-off boxes, where voters can request an absentee ballot, receive it by mail and drop it off at their countys board of elections. The congressman added that voters should cast their ballots early to alleviate strain on the Postal Service in the lead-up to the election. Ohio voters can send in their absentee ballot requests now, and absentee voting by mail begins Oct. 6. Early in-person voting also begins Oct. 6. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 12 p.m. on Oct. 31, and absentee voting ends Nov. 2. Its important for us to let the American people know, and the people of Northeast Ohio know, that weve got to get the ballots in early, Ryan said. If theyre getting thousands and thousands of ballots on the Friday or Saturday before the election, yes, then there may be some risk that the ballots wont get counted. (Natural News) As the pandemic grinds on, the Big Three broadcast evening newscasts are among the highest rated programs on television today and that means millions of viewers are witnessing the most biased presidential campaign coverage in modern media history. (Article by Rich Noyes republished from NewsBusters.org) Ive been studying the news media and elections for more than 35 years. Trust me theres never been anything like it. A new MRC analysis of all evening news coverage of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in June and July found these networks chose to aim most of their attention and nearly all of their negative coverage on Trump, so Biden escaped any scrutiny of his left-wing policy positions, past job performance or character. From June 1 through July 31, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts focused 512 minutes of airtime on the President, or nine times more than the 58 minutes allotted to Biden. (This excludes coverage of the Trump administration in general when not associated with the President himself.) This is an even wider gap than the spring, when Trump received seven times more coverage than Biden (523 minutes vs. 75 minutes). The extra airtime devoted to Trump consisted almost entirely of anchors and reporters criticizing the President. During these two months, our analysts documented 668 evaluative statements about the President, 95 percent of which (634) were negative, vs. a mere five percent (34) that were positive. Using the same methodology (fully described at the end of this article), we found very few evaluative statements about Joe Biden just a dozen, two-thirds of which (67%) were positive. Do the math, and viewers heard 150 TIMES more negative comments about Trump than Biden. Thats not news reporting thats a negative advertising campaign in action. If you consider the evening newscasts a reliable gauge of the liberal media at large (cable news, big newspapers, etc.), it means Biden has enjoyed an army of so-called journalists conducting a massive negative information campaign against his opponent, while he is sheltered from any scrutiny. Controversies from the spring, such as allegations from former staffer Tara Reade that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, completely disappeared from his evening news coverage in June and July. Bidens various policy proposals which by his own admission would take his administration farther to the Left than the very liberal Obama administration received a meager 5 minutes, 22 seconds of airtime, not one second of which included any critical analysis from any journalist. There were no labels of Biden as progressive, left-wing, or even liberal on any of these newscasts, either; reporters also neglected to tell viewers how much the Democrat would raise taxes if he were elected (spoiler: more than $4 trillion). Bidens plan for $700 billion more federal spending (what he called investments), announced July 9, received a scant 40 seconds of evening news airtime (25 seconds on ABC, 15 seconds on CBS, nothing on NBC). When he outlined his massively expensive ($2 trillion) plan to combat climate change on July 14, it received six seconds, all of it on CBS. If the networks werent scrutinizing Bidens policies or his character, what accounted for his 58 minutes of airtime? Conveniently for the candidate, a plurality of it (23.5 minutes, or 40%) consisted of showcasing his near-daily criticisms of Trump. Conversely, only 88 seconds of Trumps 512 minutes of airtime consisted of relaying his criticisms of Biden (a minuscule 0.25%). Another 14 percent of Bidens coverage (roughly eight minutes) consisted of reporters assessing where Biden stood in the race vs. Trump. These so-called horse race judgments assessments of each candidates standing or prospects in the campaign are not included in our good press/bad press score, but those comments showed a wide tilt as well: We tallied 51 such statements about the Biden campaign, 96% of which (49) were positive; for Trump, 75 of 80 horse race judgments were negative (94%). No presidential candidate not even Barack Obama in 2008 has ever been on the receiving end of such a wide array of media favors. (While Obama received highly positive coverage, there was no massive media effort to destroy his GOP opponent, Senator John McCain.) While the former Vice President sits snugly in his basement before his nomination later this week, the entire liberal news media complex have spent the summer on the attack against his opponent, even as they refuse to report anything negative about Biden himself. ++++++ OTTAWA - The federal government will join an environmental assessment of a major expansion to a proposed southern British Columbia coal mine. The potential for adverse effects ... may not be mitigated through project design, the application of standard mitigation measures, or through existing legislative mechanisms, says an analysis from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson used the analysis to make his decision, released Wednesday, on the Teck Resources project. He had already reversed an earlier ruling and announced that Ottawa would take part in a review of the proposed Vista coal project in Alberta. Several other companies have made known their plans to mine coal in that province. Teck is planning an expansion to its network of coal mines in the Elk Valley area of southeastern B.C. The Castle project would increase the area being mined by about one-third and allow the company to maintain production of steel-making coal at 27,400 tonnes a day. The review involves fisheries, First Nations and international relations all areas of federal jurisdiction. The mine expansion would also produce significantly more coal than the threshold required for a federal review. Teck spokesman Chad Pederson called Wednesdays announcement an unfortunate decision. The Castle project has already been proceeding through a rigorous provincial environmental review process, he said in a statement. We will work with the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to ensure a co-ordinated review and seek to avoid duplication. Wilkinson was not available for an interview. B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said the province will co-ordinate federal involvement. I appreciate that they understand and have committed to working within provincial timelines while they review matters of federal jurisdiction, such as trans-border issues, he said in an email. Lars Sander-Green of Wildsight, one of the groups that asked for a federal assessment, thanked Wilkinson for the decision. If Teck cant show how they can reduce selenium pollution downstream of their mines in the long term ... then no reasonable environmental assessment should approve this mine, he wrote. The decision also has implications for Alberta, where the government has said it hopes to increase the provinces production of steel-making coal. Ian Urquhart, conservation director for the Alberta Wilderness Association, welcomed the Teck decision. The federal process is a more open, accessible process especially compared with Albertas, he said. Urquhart said Ottawa had little choice but to step in. Tecks Pederson said the Castle project is part of the existing Fording River operations and is necessary to maintain the associated jobs and economic activity. The companys existing mines in the area are responsible for significant problems with selenium, an element toxic in large amounts. Reports on concentrations in area waterways show levels up to four times B.C.s maximum for drinking water. Monitoring stations near the mines have reported levels 50 times whats recommended for aquatic health. Tecks own research has reported the near-disappearance of rare cutthroat trout from a 60-kilometre stretch of the Fording River downstream from the companys four mines. That water flows into the cross-border Koocanusa Reservoir. The reservoir drains into the Kootenai River, which flows about 200 kilometres across Montana and Idaho. That contamination was a main concern of eight interveners who asked Ottawa to assist British Columbia in reviewing the expansion. Those interveners included five First Nations on both sides of the border, 34 environmental organizations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Direct and cumulative impacts from coal mining in the Elk Valley have resulted documented impacts to Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River water quality, fish and fish habitat in the U.S, says the protection agencys submission. Urquhart suggests Wilkinsons Teck and Vista decisions are a warning to the Alberta government, which recently revoked a decades-old policy restricting coal development in the provinces foothills and mountains. The issue this creates for Alberta is just how difficult it is, even with changes to the coal policy, to have as much control over coal development as (cabinet ministers) would like the province to have. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020 By Bob Weber in Edmonton. Follow @row1960 on Twitter Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous various said the expansion would increase the mines size by about 50 per cent. Read more about: Advertisement These photographs show just how stirring the best travel photography can be. They have all been shortlisted in National Geographic Traveller (UK)'s prestigious Photography Competition 2020. Launched in 2011, the annual contest seeks to find the UK's best new travel photography talent across four categories: cities, landscape, nature and people. This year judges sifted through more than 4,500 entries and whittled them down to a 12-strong shortlist - presented here. Among those making the cut is a stunning dusk shot of Prague, a dramatic image of a lion hunting in a sandstorm in Kenya and a mesmerising photo of Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. The category winners and the overall grand prize winner will be announced on Tuesday, August 25. Pat Riddell, editor of National Geographic Traveller (UK), said: 'While the coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected our ability to travel, our desire to see the world is nevertheless undiminished. This year's competition is a window on the world we hope to explore again as soon as it's safe to do so, and is a reminder of the power and emotion that travel photography can capture. From spectacular wildlife to moving landscapes, the shortlist again demonstrates some of the UK's best talent behind the lens.' Scroll down to see the top picks from this year's contest... This stunning picture, taken at dusk, shows a rooftop view of The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn in Prague. It was snapped by Holly Barber and is shortlisted in the cities category Photographer Mick Ryan captured this charming scene of two ladies carrying groceries in the southern Italian city of Bari. The image is a finalist in the cities category This colourful image, by Jordan Banks, is a finalist in the cities category. It shows the striking doors of the Soho building - a private block of flats in Odaiba, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay Annapurna Mellor is behind this incredible photo of the dramatic mountains and Buddhist Thiksey Monastery in the Ladakh region of India. It is a finalist in the landscape category Photographer George Turnbull snapped this mesmerising image of Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. It has been shortlisted in the landscape category This serene shot of the Yuanyang rice terraces, in China's southern Ailao Mountains, is a finalist in the landscape category. It was snapped by Eric Ho Diana Knight is shortlisted in the nature category for this incredible shot of a lioness braving a sandstorm on the banks of the Mara River in Kenya This jaw-dropping shot shows a spotted eagle ray. It was taken by Francesca Page near Cocos Island in Costa Rica and is a finalist in the nature category Tony Zhang is shortlisted in the nature category thanks to his fascinating shot of flamingos and their chicks on Tanzania's Lake Natron. The mud mounds on the water are the birds' nests On the left is a portrait taken by Kay Lockett of Dugerjav, a mother-of-eight and a grandmother of 22 from Mongolia proudly displaying her Order of Glorious Motherhood medal. In Mongolia, a sparsely populated country, motherhood is seen as a patriotic duty and the government honours women for having large families. The image is a finalist in the people category. On the right is a jolly image snapped by Lynn Fraser, which shows Danchu, a Roma coppersmith in Transylvania. It is also a finalist in the people category This joyful image, taken by Hariel Torres, shows dancers performing a haka on Ua Pou island in French Polynesia's Marquesas Islands archipelago. It was taken during the Matavaa festival, which has been held every four years since 1986 on the island chain. It is a finalist in the people category National Geographic Traveller (UK) has a cover price of 4.95, is available via subscription and on newsstands, and is published 10 times a year. Visit nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel for more information. 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). New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) Five Manipur MLAs, who recently resigned from the Congress, joined the BJP in presence of party's National General Secretary Ram Madhav here on Wednesday. Nephew of Manipur ex-CM Ibobi Singh, Okram Henry Singh; Oinam Lukhoi Singh; Paonam Brojen; Ngamthang Haokip and Ginsuanhau joined the saffron party at party headquarters here where National Vice President & BJP Spokesperson Baijayant Jay Panda and and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh were present. Mr Madhav, party in-charge for the Northeast, said since 2017, when the NDA government took over in Manipur, the state has seen great progress, adding that there was 16 per cent GDP growth. He said the people of Manipur saw the misgovernance of Congress in the state for 17 years, and now the government is making great progress. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Har Ghar Jal scheme and roads are being constructed, he said, adding that the state has also come out of the overdraft problem so many years. He alleged that the Congress unsuccessfully tried to bring down the popular government of N Biren Singh in undemocratic manner many times. Mr Madhav said the Congress tried to bring no-trust vote, but instead the government brought and won the trust vote. He expressed confidence that not only the NDA government in Manipur run for next one-and-half years but also the next term. He said legislators have trust in Mr Narendra Modi at the Centre, and Mr Biren Singh at the state, adding that there is dissatisfaction in the Congress MLAs. Mr Henry said that they could not see any development in the state during Congress rule but were impressed by the new policies introduced by the NDA government. 'We felt like encouraging and supporting them. The government touched our hearts,' he said. He said he wanted to be with the BJP government for the sake of hissociety, growth and securety, so decided to join the saffron party. He appreciated the vision of the chief minister and the Prime Minister to go to grassroots people. Mr Madhav said the present strength of 60-member Assembly was 47 and 13 places were vacant. UNI RSA JW1813 ALBANY State legislators are urging Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to authorize a mailing and printing contract that's been in the works for five years and is critical to employing about 50 disabled people in the Capital Region. A bipartisan group of Capital Region lawmakers sent a letter to Cuomo this week calling for the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to be allowed to move forward with a $55 million, five-year contract with the Center for Disability Services in Albany for print and mail services. Last month, the Division of the Budget nixed the contract proposal through the Preferred Source Program, which provides employment for people with disabilities through state contracts with nonprofits. Budget officials say New York can save $20 million by eliminating the contract, and has the capability to do the work in-house. Budget office spokesman Freeman Klopott said the New York State Industries for the Disabled (NYSID) has $462 million worth of contracts with the state, but he said that the printing and mailing contract was never approved, never executed, and these functions have been performed in-house by the state for more than 20 years. NYSID is typically the contractor of record, but the work is completed by non-profit agencies, including the Center for Disability Services, which also receives the public funds, legislators explained in the letter. Generally, the contractor receives an average 3 percent fee for each contract to cover costs like auditing work and ensuring regulatory compliance, they wrote. Legislators argued that budget officials arguments are short-sighted and fail to take into account the larger economic benefit keeping people with disabilities employed has, such as reducing reliance on state and federal public assistance programs and contributing $8.8 million in federal and state tax revenue, according to a September 2019 study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government on the Preferred Source Program. Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, said keeping people with disabilities employed also is beneficial for the individual. While I understand the cost-savings intent of budgets decision, this is one of those issues that has to be viewed more broadly, she said. We have to be considerate of supporting those who may have greater difficulty than others managing in this stressful time and, due to their unique challenges, stand to lose so much of the personal gains theyve made through the years by being employed. Klopott recognized the benefits the Preferred Source Program brings, and noted the decision to cancel the contract was for fiscal purposes. The decision not to enter this contract was no reflection of the Preferred Source Program, which remains an important component of the states efforts to support our most vulnerable neighbors, or on this organizations work or product, he said. We are continuing to review options to partner with them on other endeavors that would both generate savings and improve the effectiveness of the printing operations. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Without the contract being reinstated, the Center for Disability Services Mail Fulfillment Center says 20 current employees will have to be laid off while another 30 new jobs will be left unfilled. The center also already spent $4 million to upgrade printers, software and other technology in preparation for the contract, which legislators say multiple state agencies were aware of. The Office of General Services previously signed off on the contract, legislators said. Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, a Rotterdam Democrat and chair of the Assemblys sub-committee on Autism spectrum disorders, called on the contract to be reinstated, noting its life-changing impact. With all thats happening in the world right now, to see another significant resource lost for New Yorkers with disabilities is heartbreaking. Its a move that will undo years of progress the state has made through this long-standing partnership that provides opportunity and independence for so many, he said. These important partnerships allow people with disabilities to be an active part of our community, earn a living wage and save taxpayers money, making it a win-win for everybody. Legislators also blasted the state canceling the contract with a local provider while continuing more than $76 million in state printing and fulfillment contracts for out-of-state, private companies. It is unacceptable that (the Division of the Budget) has cancelled a contract with the Center for Disability Services, a contract which would bring jobs back to the state for people with disabilities, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, said. Ensuring the restoration of jobs and the creation of new ones must be done, rather than giving these orders to private, out-of-state companies. On Wednesday (August 19, 2020), the Supreme Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the mysterious death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The apex court asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected so far in the case to CBI. The court said that the FIR registered at Patna on the complaint filed by Sushant's father KKSingh was correct and added that the Bihar government had the right to refer the Patna FIR lodged by Singh to CBI. Further, the SC said that CBI will be competent to investigate not only the Patna FIR, but any other FIR related to Sushant's death case. Reacting to SC's judgement, Sushant's family Vikas Singh said, "This is a victory for Sushant Singh Rajput's family. SC ruled on all points in our favour. The Court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct. He further said, "SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict." Meanwhile, the late actor's family has hailed the Supreme Court's decision of ordering a CBI probe in his death. Sushant's sister Shweta Singh Kirti tweeted, "Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation." "Whatever the outcome of the CBI Enquiry is, at the very least, we will get a fair and unbiased enquiry now. Very thankful to the Indian Jurisprudence for keeping the dreams and aspirations of millions of Indians alive. Thanks to #Warriors4SSR who have fought hard for this victory," tweeted Sushant's brother-in-law Vishal Kirti. Sushant's sister Meetu Singh thanked fans for their support and wrote on her Twitter page, "There we go!! Finally!! #CBIForSSR!! #CBITakesOver .. thanks all SSRians And Supporter." Sushant's cousin Niraj Singh Babloo told ANI, "Our family thanks the Supreme Court, and all those who were a part of this movement for justice. Now, we are certain that Sushant will get justice." 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 ALSO READ: CBI Takes Over Trends On Twitter; Ankita Lokhande Says 'Truth Wins' ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut & Others React As SC Orders CBI Probe Into Sushant Singh Rajput's Death VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Stillcanna Inc. (OTC PINK:SCNNF) (CSE:STIL) (FRANKFURT:A2PEWA) ("STIL" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the shareholders of Sativa Group PLC, one of the United Kingdom's (UK) first medical Cannabis Companies, have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the acquisition. On August 27, 2020 Stillcanna is holding a special meeting of its shareholder to vote on the Sativa Group acquisition. It is anticipated that Stillcanna shares will resume trading the first week of September. The details of the acquisition where previously announced on June 3, 2020. Stillcanna will continue to trade, or otherwise be quoted on the CSE, OTC and FSE following completion of the acquisition. Stillcanna intends to list the Stillcanna shares on the AQSE on or shortly after the effective date in order to maintain access to the AQSE for shareholders of the combined group. This is subject to Stillcanna completing the relevant admission process with the AQSE. "I am delighted the Sativa shareholders have so fully embraced our proposed acquisition of the Sativa Group of Companies," stated Jason Dussault CEO of Stillcanna. We are fast approaching the final stages of this acquisition and the entire Stillcanna team looks forward to monetizing on the combined strengths of the new entity." As previously announced on April 21, 2020 all required licenses and permits to commence the manufacturing of CBD at the ORIGIN extraction facility have been secured. The facility was constructed through a joint venture partnership with Dragonfly Biosciences Limited of the UK. Borganic Consulting had initiated legal action in the UK against Dragonfly Biosciences for contractual breaches under the partnership agreement. Further to the announcement on April 21, 2020 Stillcanna Inc.'s subsidiary Borganic Consulting Inc. ("Borganic") has, with immediate effect today, terminated its Joint Venture agreement dated December 4, 2018 with Dragonfly Biosciences Limited ("Dragonfly"). The termination includes a claim for Dragonfly's share of the Joint Venture extraction facility. Proceedings issued in the English High Court have also been served by Borganic today on Dragonfly and also on Ms Radostina Draganova-Nikolova, a director of Dragonfly and general manager of the Joint Venture company. In the proceedings served by Borganic it seeks declarations from the English High Court that: Dragonfly has materially and persistently breached the Joint Venture agreement which constitutes a compulsory transfer event in favour of Borganic; The notice of termination and compulsory transfer event served by Dragonfly on August 3, 2020 is null and void; and Borganic retains ownership in the equipment it has financed at the Joint Venture extraction facility. Borganic also claims damages against Dragonfly for the losses it has suffered as a result of Dragonfly's alleged breaches of the Joint Venture agreement. About Sativa Group PLC The Sativa Group PLC joined the UK's NEX market in March 2018 as the UK's first medicinal cannabis investment vehicle. The business evolved to focus on the development of an operational business capitalizing on its first-mover advantage. This change transitioned the Company from an investment Company to an operating Company at the forefront of both the CBD wellness and medicinal cannabis sectors in the UK. About Stillcanna Inc. Stillcanna Inc. (CSE: STIL) www.stillcanna.com is a Canadian early-stage life sciences Company focused on the large scale manufacturing of CBD in Europe. The Company believes its proprietary intellectual property allows it to extract CBD at a lower cost. The Company has signed an initial extraction contract in Europe to be the exclusive extractor for Dragonfly Biosciences LLC, a United Kingdom-based supplier of CBD. The Company also recently completed the of Olimax NT SP. Z .O.O, a multi-generational hemp agricultural firm that is expected to increase the Company's market share in the European CBD industry. On Behalf of the Board Jason Dussault, CEO CONTACT: inquiries@stillcanna.com 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. 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 Stillcanna's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to information concerning the Proposed Transaction or the approval of the Proposed Transaction by the Stillcanna shareholders and certain shareholder and regulatory requirements. Although Stillcanna believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. In particular, there is no guarantee that that the parties will successfully complete the Proposed Transaction on the terms contemplated herein or that all required shareholder or regulatory approvals will be obtained. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this press release, and Stillcanna 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. SOURCE: Stillcanna Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602391/Stillcannas-Acquisition-of-Sativa-Group-PLC-of-the-United-Kingdom-Receives-99-Shareholder-Approval-from-Sativa CARMEL, Ind., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IDI Distributors, an insulation distributor based out of Chanhassen, Minnesota, has selected GyanSys to implement SAP applications across their 57 North American distribution centers. This project will enhance IDI's finance, sales, logistics, and procurement business processes with SAP's application suite underpinning their digital transformation. Steve Kosel, CFO of IDI Distributors "We selected SAP to fully leverage a flexible, extensible platform that will help us accelerate digital transformation in alignment with our corporate growth strategies. GyanSys helped us through the software product selection stage with an in-depth understanding of our business requirements. The GyanSys team demonstrated their expertise in industry best practices across business functions leading to minimal customizations. I am confident in their team's ability to lead us through this implementation." Rajkishore Una, President & CEO of GyanSys "GyanSys is honored to be the primary implementation partner for IDI Distributors as part of their SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba, SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (SAP BPC), and SAP Analytics Cloud implementation. We are committed to strengthening IDI's digital transformation journey by using wholesale distribution best practices, accelerators, and quicker ROI realization with our cost-effective global delivery model." About IDI Distributors: IDI is a family owned and operated insulation distribution company that was founded in 1979. For over 40 years, IDI has supported its mission of supplying the market with a wide selection of quality insulation while acting as a true, professional resource for independent contractors. With 57 locations nationwide, IDI is America's wholesale insulation source. For more information, visit https://www.idi-insulation.com/. About GyanSys: GyanSys is a mid-tier global systems integrator specializing in SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft, and ServiceNow Platforms to improve the Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Operations, and HR business processes to support digital transformation. Headquartered in Indiana, GyanSys was founded in 2005 and has approximately 1,000+ professionals globally serving 125+ customers across various industries, including the manufacturing, automotive, high-tech, CPG, and life sciences industries. For more information about GyanSys, visit www.gyansys.com. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. For press inquiries and more information, contact: Cliff Saito Digital Marketing Manager E-mail: [email protected] Related Images idi-distributors-and-gyansys-logos.png IDI Distributors and GyanSys Logos Related Links IDI Distributors Website GyanSys Website SOURCE GyanSys The Iraqi government will sign an agreement with American oil company Chevron, Iraqs Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said during his visit to Washington on Wednesday. Regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding or an agreement with Chevron, I believe that it will be signed today, yes, Hussein told reporters at a joint briefing with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Citing Iraqi officials familiar with the deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Chevron would carry out exploration work in southern Iraqs Nassiriya field, which is believed to hold roughly 4.4 billion barrels of crude. Why it matters: Talks between OPECs second-biggest producer and foreign oil companies reportedly stalled last year as a wave of violent anti-government protests swept through the countrys oil-rich south and tensions in the region escalated with the US drone strike that killed Irans powerful commander in Baghdad. The Journal reports that discussions picked up after former head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, Mustafa al-Khadimi, an independent and reformer, took the reins as prime minister in May, putting an end to months of political instability in Iraq. According to the paper, US and Iraqi officials in Washington are expected to preview other natural gas and power-technology deals with General Electric, Honeywell and Stellar Electric this week. Pompeo said on Wednesday that energy deals between American companies and the Iraqi government would be announced "shortly." Bloomberg reports that Chevron, which currently operates in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region, is interested in expanding projects in the Middle East. The California-based company picked up an Israeli gas field in connection with its $5 billion acquisition of Noble Energy in July, and it is also ramping up production in the neutral zone shared by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Whats next: The Chevron announcement comes as Kadhimi makes his first trip to Washington as prime minister this week. He and President Donald Trump are expected to discuss Iraqs energy sector in addition to the coronavirus pandemic and the fate of the American troops in Iraq. The Trump administration has pressured Iraq to wean itself off US-sanctioned Iranian energy, but Washingtons appeal comes as Iraq's power supply remains unable to meet demand. The US has granted Iraq a series waivers to avoid penalites on US sanctions. Anti-government protesters returned to the streets this summer calling for an end to electricity cuts amid the sweltering summer heat. The US has also supported a major electiricty project among Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to diversify its sources of electricity. Know more: Adam Lucente has more on why continued power cuts in Iraq have fueled massive protests across the country. Sushant Singh Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti, Ankita Lokhande, and Akshay Kumar have welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict to direct a CBI probe into the death of the actor. Sushant passed away on June 14. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a CBI investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, and directed the Maharashtra government to render all assistance. Reacting to the news, Sushant's sister Shweta tweeted, "Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver." Also Read | Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case Updates: SC Orders CBI Probe, Asks Maharashtra to Assist In another tweet, she congratulated her extended family by writing, "the first step towards victory and unbiased investigation." Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Akshay Kumar wrote, "SC directs CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajputs death. May the truth always prevail." SC directs CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajputs death. May the truth always prevail #Prayers Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 19, 2020 Ankita tweeted, "Justice is the truth in action. Truth wins .... #1ststeptossrjustice." Justice is the truth in action Truth wins .... #1ststeptossrjustice pic.twitter.com/2CKgoWCYIL Ankita lokhande (@anky1912) August 19, 2020 Actor Anupam Kher wrote, "Jai Ho. Jai Ho. Jai Ho. #CBIForSSR#justiceforSushanthSinghRajput." A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy made it clear that it was court-ordered CBI probe and that there is no room for the Maharashtra government to challenge this. It also clarified that registration of the FIR at Patna was legally valid and adhered to the principles of the Criminal Procedure Code. Therefore, the court added, the recommendation made by the Bihar government for a CBI investigation was also proper and valid. Reading out the operative part of the 35-page judgment, Justice Roy also said that Maharashtra government must comply with the orders since it is a court-ordered probe. About the inquest proceedings conducted so far by the Mumbai Police, the court directed that all pertinent documents must be handed over the CBI henceforth. SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For its comprehensive efforts to keep employees safe and informed through the coronavirus pandemic, California Water Service Group (Group) (NYSE: CWT) has been named the winner of a Silver Stevie Award in the fifth annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers Most Valuable Employer for COVID-19 Response category. The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize the worlds best employers. More than 700 nominations were submitted in 2020 for consideration in Human Resources-related categories, and this year, the organization added categories specific to coronavirus response efforts. The utility earned this distinction for going above and beyond steps such as providing personal protective equipment, increasing cleanings, and offering additional time off that were expected of employers. Through its Emergency Operations Center and in collaboration with its unions, Group provided centralized support to the essential workers in its 22 California districts and regions in Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington, with measures such as: Closing Customer Center lobbies to the public even before quarantine measures began Hosting daily Zoom check-ins for EOC team members and leaders of each department, district, and region; along with weekly calls with President and CEO Marty Kropelnicki and outside experts for all employees Supporting employees mental and emotional wellness through customized employee Context and Calm presentations; Upside, a weekly newsletter of things team members experienced to lift each others spirits; its confidential, peer-to-peer Critical Incident Response Management team; and its professional phone counseling service Cross-training employees to learn different job functions and enhance their expertise, while supporting business continuity Securing industrial-sized toilet paper for each employee, as store shelves were empty Telling employees stories publicly to support all of their work to keep customers water safe and uninterrupted and to assist their communities Story continues The coronavirus pandemic reminded us of our shared humanity. We arent a pipe company; we are a people company," Kropelnicki said. "We appreciate the Stevie Awards for recognizing the efforts we took to keep our essential workers safe and informed, so we could keep tap water flowing to our customers and continue providing quality, service, and value to our communities during this unprecedented time." About California Water Service Group California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service, Washington Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services. Together, these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to more than 2 million people in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii. California Water Service Groups common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CWT. Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com. Media Contact Yvonne Kingman ykingman@calwater.com 310-257-1434 Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Warning against vaccine nationalism in the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has again underlined the importance of global solidarity in addressing the crisis Shawn Khong, head at Citi Vietnam Commercial Bank What were the main highlights coming out of the survey? Over 35 per cent of respondents indicated a significant negative impact to their business due to the pandemic, including more than a 25 per cent decline in sales turnover or to their bottom line when compared to the prior year. Many of these companies are from the retail, digital/e-commerce, travel, logistics, and professional service industries that were impacted by a slowdown in consumption. Manufacturers, especially in the electronics, garments, and footwear supply chains saw delays or cancellation of orders especially from the US and Europe. The survey results are broadly consistent with what has been widely reported in recent news coverage on the adverse impact that the pandemic had on businesses in Vietnam. On the upside we were happy to know that 85 per cent of survey respondents have their staff fully back in the office. Of the remainder, many planned to have at least 70 per cent of their staff returning to site by the end of last month. Nearly 40 per cent of survey respondents expressed a preference to minimise face-to-face meetings with external parties at this moment, while nearly 60 per cent are comfortable using virtual meetings as an effective communication channel an indication of what the new normal mode of engagement may look like going forward. What have corporates done to overcome this challenging situation? The top three immediate priorities for impacted corporates indicated in the survey were recovery of lost business, cash flow and liquidity preservation, and tightening expenses management. Some clients, such as healthcare companies and personal protective equipment manufacturers, are emerging from this pandemic more positively, as they were able to expeditiously modify their product lines or production capacity. Some were able to leverage on online marketing and distribution channels for example, companies in e-education, domestic tourism, and food delivery. Around 55 per cent expect to change business models going forward in varying degrees to adapt to a new normal. The top three focused areas of change were customer diversification/buyers contract terms, internal organisational change, and supplier diversification/sellers contract terms. We also noted that companies are more receptive to have strategic dialogues, including capital markets and fund raising, consolidation, and potential acquisition of suppliers to mitigate future unforeseen dislocations in supply chains. Many Citi clients play key roles in the Vietnamese economy. What do they feel about the current economic outlook? Some 30 per cent feel more positive about Vietnams economic outlook emerging from the pandemic an encouraging signal. Nonetheless, 50 per cent are either neutral or opined that it is too soon to tell given the macroeconomic uncertainty. When asked about their outlook of Vietnam when compared to our ASEAN neighbours, we see a significant jump. A total of 65 per cent of respondents viewed Vietnams prospects as more positive a strong endorsement of the government as well as the countrys strong ability to continue to attract foreign direct investment despite an understandable slowdown in capital inflows during the pandemic period. What is your overall assessment of the survey results? The strong and broad-based survey participation and quality of feedback are signs that companies are willing to share their unique experiences, and open to discuss their business priorities and models under a new normal. Our clients can continue to count on Citi as their banking partner for our unparalleled global network, tailored products, digital solutions, and balance sheet support. A huge 90 per cent of respondents indicated that they were able to continue operating their bank accounts and perform transactions effectively under continuity of business environment, with a similarly overwhelming majority of respondents rating Citis e-banking platform as being effective and that they were satisfied with our ability to meet their banking needs during the challenging times. Citi will continue to proactively engage and solicit feedback from our clients to help them ride through this period of uncertainty. A man was stabbed three times in a case of mistaken identity in a "planned and organised" attack outside a south Dublin petrol station, it has been alleged. Two men appeared in court accused of taking part in the violent assault in Sandyford, after which the victim was taken to hospital with stab wounds to his neck, arm and back, for which he needed surgery. Sean Turner (30), of Rathsallagh Avenue, and Michael O'Connell (40), of Rathsallagh Grove, both in Shankill, Co Dublin, are charged with assault causing harm and violent disorder. Judge Carol Anne Coolican refused them bail and remanded them in custody for the directions of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Seriousness Dublin District Court heard the incident is alleged to have happened outside the Maxol Service Station on Sandyford Road last Wednesday. Detective Garda Desmond Molloy told Dublin District Court neither accused made any reply to the charges after caution. They were handed copies of the charge sheets. Objecting to bail, Det Gda Molloy cited the seriousness of the allegations and outlined the prosecution's case. He told Judge Coolican a man was allegedly attacked by three others who approached him at Moreen Road, Sandyford. He was grabbed by the throat and punched a number of times before being hit with a weapon. He suffered three stab wounds and cuts, the court heard. Mr Turner and Mr O'Connell were allegedly among the three who engaged in the assault, which lasted around 30 seconds, Det Gda Molloy said. The victim fled to the safety of the nearby crowded service station, while the attackers escaped in a car driven by a fourth man. This car, an Opel Astra, was later found burnt-out in a Moreen estate. Det Gda Molloy said both accused were identifiable on recovered CCTV footage. The victim was taken to hospital and underwent surgery. Gardai believed it was a case of mistaken identity, and the intended target was also present in Sandyford at the time. There was planning and organisation involved and a deliberate attempt was made to destroy evidence by burning out the vehicle, the court was told. Gardai believed that if the accused were granted bail, "further attacks" might take place. Mr Turner's solicitor Rory Staines, and Jonathan Dunphy for Mr O'Connell, both made bail applications and said their clients were presumed innocent. Mr Staines said the incident took place only last week, it appeared the charges could ultimately be dealt with on indictment in the circuit court and it may be some time before the case goes to trial. Mr Turner was living with his parents in Shankill and had two young children. Carer Mr Dunphy said his client had gone to gardai by appointment and would be "fully contesting this matter before a judge and jury". He said it could take three years before there is a trial. Mr O'Connell was a carer for his mother, the court heard. The accused were prepared to abide by bail conditions. Det Gda Molloy told the judge there were no conditions that would satisfy his concerns around the granting of bail. Judge Coolican said both accused were entitled to a presumption of innocence. She said the charges were serious and she was satisfied it was appropriate to refuse bail in both cases after hearing the garda's objections. She remanded the accused in custody, to appear before Cloverhill District Court tomorrow. WTEN anchor John Gray had never written anything more than 1,000 words but decided to write a novel anyway. Ive written two childrens books with a third on the way, Sweet Polly Petals due out in October, but like anyone who writes, I always wanted to attempt a novel. He began working on the novel Jan. 6 and finished it on Memorial Day. I dedicated at least two mornings a week, a couple of hours, and I had a general framework for the story but once I got into it things came to me that I never thought of. It was fun creating these characters. They continually surprised me, and when I got to the end I hated leaving them. I wanted to drive to Manchester, Vt., where the story takes place, and find these people I had created and give all of them a hug. It was so much fun spending time with them. His book Manchester Christmas, which will be published by Paraclete Press on Dec. 18, is the story of a female writer who decides to take her dog Scooter and leave Seattle to begin a new life in Manchester, a town she had often admired through photographs. I loved the idea of her driving across the country to begin a new life in a place she had never been and where she meets an interesting array of characters. She rents an old church with stained glass windows, and although shes not a very religious person she begins to see subtle changes in the windows that werent there before. She begins to wonder if someone from beyond is attempting a call of help. Gray said the book is hard to characterize. Theres some romance in it, but its not a romance book. There are some paranormal themes, but its not that either. Christmas is in there, but its not really a Christmas book. As a reader I want to care about the characters and thats what I wanted the readers of this book to enjoy as they get to know this town and the people in it. Back in March when he was well along in the writing of this book, someone gave him the name of Brian Herzlinger, a Hollywood film director. I reached out to him, not sure if he would write back, but he did and asked me to send him a proposal. He liked the idea of the story and said it was right in his wheelhouse and after reading the completed book he called me up and we talked for an hour about the characters and the story. Herzlinger, who has directed "My Date with Drew" featuring Drew Barrymore, acquired the rights to make a film of the book, and is now out in Hollywood pitching this book at various studios. Who knows if it will ever be made, but its kind of crazy to think dialogue I wrote could one day come off the screen and be said by an actor. It would be so emotional if that ever happens, and I dont want to let myself believe it. Read more: 20 things you don't know about me: John Gray Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Gray has had a successful career as an Emmy Award-winning television journalist, but its writing that gives him joy. I write a column on the back page of Capital Region Living Magazine that are observations about my life and whats going on. Theyre fun to write, but what I really enjoy is writing fiction, creating something out of nothing and then to hear how much people enjoyed reading it. I dont care about being paid to do it. It feels like something I have to do. He credits his seventh-grade English teacher at LaSalle Institute, Mr. Dave Kissick, for encouraging him to work on his writing. He pulled me aside when I was 13 years old and told me that he read a lot of student work, but what I wrote was much different and that I should start saving it. He gave me a folder and we began putting my writing in there. I still have that folder over 40 years later. What meant so much was having someone I respect believe in me and tell me I was a good writer. I was never going to be a star athlete so that was huge and left an enormous impact upon me. His career in journalism has helped and hurt him. Its helped because writing for TV has shown me how to move a story along and how to turn a phrase, but its hurt me as a fiction writer because I have a tendency as a journalist to tell, and fiction needs more show. As a journalist I need to be concise, but with fiction I need to let the reader see everything. Like he did for his other books, Gray often creates some way to give back some of the proceeds from his writing. Two weeks after I began writing this book one of my co-workers at Channel 10 died. It affected me so much and I spoke with her parents and asked if I could name a character in the book after her. The parents said theyd be honored if I did that. Im also going to contact the womans local high school and do a scholarship in her name which will go to a deserving student whos planning to go into journalism, writing or theater. Jack Rightmyer, an adjunct English professor at Siena College, is a regular contributor to the Times Union. City and public health officials are warning young people to keep wearing masks and practise social distancing amid an increase in COVID-19 infections among teenagers and millennials. In the most recent two weeks, the average age of COVID-19 cases was 39 years old, compared to 52 years overall for the entire pandemic outbreak, said Mayor John Tory, speaking at a COVID-19 update at city hall. The proportion of cases among those who are less than 19 years of age and those 20-29 years of age has increased significantly in the last few weeks. Tory said that while young people dont typically suffer from the virus as much as older people do, they may live in inter-generational households with people who are more at risk. He said younger people are also more likely to work in the service industry, where they could potentially spread the disease to others. I know young people feel immortal and invincible I can remember those days but I urge them to be cautious and to keep following the public health advice because it applies to them, just as it applies to everyone else, said Tory. Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health, said the cases among younger people in the city seem to be arising from community spread. Its probably because theyve been in situations where they havent been able to maintain that physical distance, but its not necessarily that its pinned to any one gathering, said Dubey. She added that Health Canadas COVID Alert app may help young people determine where they were infected and help prevent further spread of the virus. The self-assessment app is available for free and encourages users to report whether or not they have symptoms, and to record their temperature if they can. It is available at Apples App Store and Google Play. Tory said the city will be reaching out to young people through social media, including Tik Tok, a popular video-sharing service, but one that has raised serious privacy concerns. Dubey said some of the proportionate increase in infections among young people is due to the fact that the number of older adults getting sick in particular the elderly is in decline. The fact that fewer older people are being diagnosed is likely because there are fewer outbreaks in long-term care homes and retirement homes compared with earlier in the pandemic, Dubey said. She said keeping the rate of infection low is crucial as children head back to school in September. We know if the cases are low in the community then there is less likely to be spread in schools. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) President Rodrigo Duterte is fit to finish the remaining two years of his term, his spokesman said Wednesday to dismiss fresh rumors about his failing health. In fact, the President is simply amused to hear the many rumors alleging that he's in bad shape, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines' The Source. "Seasoned public servant na itong si Presidente. He is amused that so many people are wishing him ill, but he is confident that he still has the support of an overwhelming majority of our people," Roque said when asked if repetitive claims about his poor health have started to irk Duterte. A new rumor circulated on social media that Duterte was supposedly airlifted to Singapore for a medical emergency over the weekend, a claim which Malacanang denied in an earlier statement. His former aide turned Senator Bong Go shared a photo of Duterte sharing a meal with his partner Honeylet Avancena and daughter Kitty Duterte in their Davao City home to prove that he is well and is in the country. Another video was uploaded to show he was up and about while wearing protective gear amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, during his public address late Monday night, some netizens pointed out that the President's left eye seems to be drooping, alongside earlier observations about how his face seems to have aged or changed skin color. "The public should no longer speculate because they have seen him... Object evidence here is the President himself, so I think his appearance, his conduct, his actuations (are) proof that he is well and healthy," his spokesperson said. "I understand that many of our detractors are sad that the President is fine, but they would just have to wait until 2022 because the President is healthy and is in control," he added. Even the President spoke up to set things straight, saying on Monday night that he would never make his trips a secret. Roque went on to say that it would be "difficult" for Duterte to go abroad in secret, as making such a trip requires paperwork to be done more importantly, the appointment of a caretaker who will run the show while he is away. He earlier said that Duterte is in "perpetual isolationperpetual isolation" as the Presidential Security Guard keeps him at a safe distance from other people including Roque and Cabinet officials to make sure he does not get infected with COVID-19. Local food banks around Franklin County are reaching out for volunteers to help keep their operations afloat. Heavenly Manna, the second largest food bank in the county, has seen a decline in volunteerism recently due to the coronavirus pandemic. A lot of the regular volunteers are retired and in the age bracket most affected by COVID-19, said United Way of Roanoke Valleys Pamela Chitwood, who is the associate director of community impact for Franklin County. So, that is a big piece of the problem in that those volunteers are taking more precautions. They are staying home and trying to stay safe and healthy. We value them, but we also want them to be healthy and to look out for their safety. Heavenly Manna, located in Rocky Mount, is one of four food banks in the county. Though Lake Christian Ministries in Moneta and the Agape Center in Smith Mountain Lake have managed to stay afloat, His Cupboard food bank in Boones Mill was recently contemplating closing its doors due to lack of volunteers. The food banks are needing help with unloading trucks, sorting food and preparing boxes to go back out into the community, Chitwood said. Food banks have encountered an increase in need due to the rise in unemployment, Chitwood added. The unemployment rate has risen, and there has been an increase in jobs being shut down and companies having to close for 14 days due to COVID, she said. Weve also encountered people that are finding themselves sick. Even so, she said that the increase in donations has been steady. There has also been a blessing in that we are seeing an increase in donations, which is good, Chitwood said. That increase in donations is another reason we are in need of more volunteers to help prepare all those items to be distributed. Heavenly Manna hands out food on Mondays only, but spends two to three days a week preparing for Mondays. We are serving monthly boxes, explained Chitwood. They are not meant to feed a family for an entire month, but rather to supplement their food supply for a month. Heavenly Manna normally serves 75 to 80 families a week, but now sees up to 140 families per week. While under Gov. Ralph Northams state of emergency, Virginia has temporarily waived income restrictions where they apply to food bank assistance. Anyone who goes to a food bank can be served, Chitwood said, but we are not sure how long that waiver will last. Food banks are still required to enter income and family household size into the states database. We still have to ask all the pertinent questions and we still have to report this data to the state but, as of now, there is no restriction on who can be served, Chitwood said. Anyone wishing to volunteer with a local food bank must wear a mask. Gloves are being provided and temperatures are being taken. COVID has changed all the rules, Chitwood said. We have to make sure were keeping everyone safe, from the volunteers to everyone that is visiting. Potential volunteers are asked to call the food banks the week before they wish to volunteer so that plans can be made. We do need to coordinate the volunteers, Chitwood said. Calling in advance helps us to determine where each volunteer would be best suited for each particular day. We get a lot more done when were able to stagger the volunteers to cover each need. Earlier today, the Supreme Court handed over actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and said that the agency will also investigate any other FIR related to the case. The apex court's verdict was hailed by Sushant's family, fans and celebrities who had been pressing for a CBI inquiry in Sushant's death case. Sushant's family have now released an official statement in which they welcomed the ruling of the apex court, and thanked everyone who stood by them in their demand for CBI inquiry in the case. Sushant's family thanked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "setting the wheel of justice in motion." With the CBI now officially investigating Sushant's death case, the late actor's family believes that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice. The statement read- "We Sushant's family, thank our friends, well-wishers, media and millions of fans worldwide for their love for Sushant and support for us. We are particularly thankful to Shri Nitish Kumar, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Bihar for setting the wheel of justice in motion. Now that the country's premier investigating agency has taken over, we believe that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice. We believe that public trust in institutions is important. Today's development has reaffirmed our faith in India as a robust democracy. We love our country more than ever." The apex court's order came after a petition filed by Sushant Singh Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakaborty seeking to transfer the FIR to Mumbai, registered against her in Patna for alleged 'abetment to suicide' in connection with Sushant's death case. The SC has given 3 days' time to Maharashtra government and Mumbai police to submit details about their investigation in Sushant's death case. Reacting to SC's verdict, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told ANI, ''The Supreme Court verdict has come, once we get a copy of the order we will comment on it." 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 ALSO READ: Sooraj Pancholi Reacts To CBI Probe In Sushant's Death Case; Says 'Rumour Mongers Will Shut Up Now' ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut On SC Ordering CBI Probe In Sushant's Death: We Have Witnessed History Today We, the undersigned, are troubled by the decline in press freedom and democratic rights in Hong Kong and express our deep concern about the ramifications of the imposition of national security legislation by the Beijing authorities. People hold up copies of the Apple Daily as they protest for press freedom inside a mall in Hong Kong on August 11, 2020. Credit: Isaac Lawrence/AFP Hong Kong has long been respected as a powerful global economic hub and lively political and democratic space, supported by a proud and strong independent media. Yet the imposition of the new national security law, passed by the Standing Committee of the Chinas National Peoples Congress on June 30, 2020, has undermined fundamental rights and freedom of expression notwithstanding by bypassing Hong Kongs legislature and severely damages Hong Kongs autonomy. Since that time, the Government of Hong Kong has wasted little time in curbing its citizens liberties by using the new law to curtail peaceful speech and protests and arrest critics. This was evidenced last week by the arrest of prominent Hong Kong media owner Jimmy Lai, along with other journalists and activists, while the Beijing authorities announced sanctions against at least 11 Americans, including leaders of human rights and pro-democracy organisations two of whom are signatories on this letter. The events of the past week clearly show the laws potential for abuse in establishing a climate of fear and self-censorship and the threat it poses to rule of law and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Jimmy Lai is a powerful voice for democracy in Hong Kong and a well-known critic of Beijing. Apple Daily, which he founded in 1995, is one of Hong Kongs most popular newspapers precisely because of its critical stance on political and human rights issues. After his arrest on August 10, about 200 police officers raided the headquarters of the Next Digital group, Apple Dailysparent company, in an excessive show of force. They also arrested Lais two sons and a number of executives of Next Media. The same day, police arrested pro-democracy activist and politician Agnes Chow, together with activists Wilson Li and Andy Li. The national security law provides for criminal penalties of up to life imprisonment for the broadly-defined crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. To date, Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam has remained silent on how the law might be applied against journalists and the media. Not only does this law provide sweeping new powers to arrest journalists and activists, it also has the ability to weaken judicial oversight by Hong Kongs judiciary. Governments globally have outlined that Chinas imposition of this law lies in direct conflict with its international obligations under the principles of the legally-binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. As a coalition of press freedom and human rights organisations, we strongly condemn the arrest, harassment and intimidation of journalists and activists in Hong Kong. We stand with the people of Hong Kong in demanding the protection of democratic and media freedoms. We urge the governments of China and Hong Kong to uphold democratic principles and to respect human rights. To do otherwise, would see the demise of the stability, economic success and prosperity of Hong Kong. Signed: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Alliance for Journalists Freedom (AJF) Article 19 Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Freedom House IFEX Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Lithuania has prepared a list of sanctions against 32 Belarusian officials, including President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, Lithuanias Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius said today, Sputnik-Belarus reports, citing LRT. The Lithuanian foreign minister clarified that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already submitted the list to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for approval. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched the process and applied sanctions against those who have used violence and extremely great force, as well as against the leaders of institutions responsible for the violence and those who have falsified the elections, Linkevicius said. As reported earlier, the EU has decided not to acknowledge the results of the presidential elections in Belarus, and the leaders of several European countries have called on imposing sanctions against the Belarusian authorities. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 16:43 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f2a0ba 1 Business Trade-Ministry,TFO-Canada,export,Trade,COVID-19 Free The Indonesian Trade Ministry and Canadas Trade Facilitation Office (TFO), a nonprofit organization, signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in export promotion amid the subdued global trade caused by COVID-19. Kasan Muhri, the director general of national export development at the ministry, said on Tuesday the partnership was aimed at promoting exports of processed food products and information and technology services. The two parties plan to team up for promotional activities with a special focus on women-led small businesses, capacity building and technical assistance for exporters, while exchanging information on export development and trade-related opportunities. In this case, the [directorate general] will encourage Indonesian exports, which in recent years have faced many obstacles, including COVID-19, which has made businesses more careful in conducting trade partnership relations, Kasan said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday. The cooperation follows Indonesias attempt to boost trade, which has been depressed by the ongoing global health crisis. Although the country recorded the biggest trade surplus in nine years in July, exports still declined by 9.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$13.73 billion, while imports nosedived 32.55 percent yoy to $10.47 billion, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has forecast global trade will contract by between 13 and 32 percent at worst this year. Indonesias envoy to Canada Abdul Kadir Jailani said that the new cooperation laid further groundwork to step up trade between the two countries, either in the form of regional or bilateral free trade agreements. A bilateral free trade agreement will not only boost bilateral trade. But more than that, it will also help to enhance competitiveness, attract more Canadian investment to the country and pave pathways to wider areas of cooperation and untapped potential, said Jailani, who also represents Indonesia at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Indonesias merchandise exports to Canada amounted to $844.65 million in 2019, marking an 8.2 percent decline from a year earlier, according to data from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade). Rubber topped Indonesias exports last year reaching $104.20 million, followed by footwear, iron or steel and uncoated paper. Indonesia is Canadas largest export market in Southeast Asia. Canadas top export to Indonesia last year was wheat, which amounted to $701 million. It was followed by fertilizers and wood pulp. So, we have worked in areas such as apparel, coffee, footwear, processed food and services, said Steven Tipman, the executive director of TFO Canada. Todays MOU signing will really serve as the umbrella agreement for the cooperation of both our organizations in the areas of trade promotion and capacity building of Indonesian trade support institutions, as well as [small and medium enterprises]. Sushant Singh Rajput case: When Supreme Court created history under Article 142 India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: It was a first in the Supreme Court, when a single judge Bench of the Supreme Court exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution. Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Supreme Court orders CBI probe, rejects Rhea's plea | Oneindia News Justice Hrishikesh Roy ordered a CBI probe while presiding over a single judge Bench in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Justice Roy said that to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, this Court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution. SC orders CBI probe into death of Sushant Singh Rajput The judge also turned down the objection raised by senior counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Maharashtra in the case. He had said that a single judge Bench cannot exercise power under Article 142. However Justice Roy said that as a Court exercising lawful jurisdiction for the assigned rooster, no impediment is seen for exercise of plenary power in the present matter. Article 142 uses the word Supreme Court in exercise of its jurisdiction may pass all suitable orders necessary for doing complete justice. Hence there is no prohibition under the Constitution for a single judge Bench hearing a case assigned as per roster to invoke its authority under Article 142. The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or orders so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribed, Article 142 says. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 17:18 [IST] A fit and healthy paramedic who caught COVID-19 at a nursing home has revealed how the virus took a horrific toll on his health after starting as a minor headache. Steven Gelagotis worked at St Basil's Homes for the Aged in Melbourne and tested positive for coronavirus three weeks ago after he woke up with body aches. The nursing home is one of more than 100 Victorian facilities affected by coronavirus outbreaks. As his condition intensified over the following days, the 27-year-old said he began experiencing 'every different symptom under the sun', leaving him shocked at the debilitating impact the virus had on his body. 'It has been quite the rollercoaster. I have been quite unwell... I had a fever and then it started progressing even worse,' Steven told The Project. Scroll down for video Steven Gelagotis, from Melbourne, tested positive for coronavirus three weeks ago after working at a nursing home The COVID-19 symptoms Steven experienced Headache Body aches and pains Fever Vomiting Sweating Runny nose Loss of taste and smell Diarrhoea Advertisement 'After that, I started to become short of breath. Thankfully I didn't have a cough and I don't think it made it into my chest completely. 'I had a runny nose, I've lost the sense of my taste and smell and unfortunately I had diarrhoea so I've had every different symptom under the sun.' Steven said he started off with just a minor headache after going for a run in four-degree weather but dismissed the symptom as 'just a cold'. Like any young millennial, Steven said he assumed he would bounce back quickly as the coronavirus only affected older people or those with underlying health conditions - but he was wrong. 'I did not prepare myself mentally to contract the illness this bad. I thought I was going to be okay, I look after myself, I exercise every day, I eat right and I'm a healthy young guy,' he explained. 'But I did not think that I would end up this unwell. Being alone and isolated in your bedroom, vomiting and having to clean up your own vomit and look after yourself, it was a bit distressing at times I must admit.' The fit and healthy 27-year-old said he assumed he would bounce back quickly as the coronavirus only affected older people or those with underlying health conditions The paramedic said he caught the virus at the St Basil's nursing home when he helped a doctor translate from English to Greek for patients who don't speak English The paramedic said he caught the virus at the St Basil's nursing home when he helped a doctor translate English to Greek for patients. 'My job was to translate in Greek with a doctor who was doing the rounds just to provide reassurance to the patients,' Steven said. 'It was nice to speak to those patients because they hadn't seen their families for some time. It helped them and made them feel like their voices were being heard.' Steven who has been isolating at home said his symptoms have since improved - as he urged Australians to follow social distancing measures to minimise the spread of COVID-19, especially in light of the recent surge in cases in Victoria. The virus is real, it is happening, it is not a conspiracy and it can happen to anyone regardless of age 'I am on the mend and recovering well. However, I just wanted to say this... The virus is real, it is happening, it is not a conspiracy and it can happen to anyone regardless of age,' he wrote on his Facebook. 'Please follow the advice of the government - get tested if you are unwell, stay home, wash your hands and most of all please wear a mask. 'Thankfully I was wearing a mask most of the time and my close contacts did not contract the virus. Remember all the virus wants to do is find another host to infect and make more virus. 'We have a brain, the virus does not. Do the right thing, if not for you, do it for your family. Take care everyone and stay safe.' HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly has caused major confusion for the public and businesses after incorrectly claiming that only six people can attend indoor concerts and events despite the Government officially advising that up to 50 people can attending such organised gatherings provided there is social distancing. The Department of Health last night spent hours insisting Mr Donnellys claim that no more than six people can attend an organised indoor event such as a concert was correct - only to then be contradicted by a Government spokesperson who said the public health advice was that 50 people could attend such organised events provided social distancing was observed. For outdoor concerts and events, a maximum of 15 people can attend, the spokesperson clarified. Cinemas, galleries, theatres are deemed to be controlled environments, with appropriate protective measures in place such as physical distancing between people. These venues can continue to operate under existing guidelines (which permit 50 people ), the Government spokesperson said. Read More They added that all outdoor events are subject to new limits of 15 people as these are mass gatherings where there is a concentration of people at a specific location for a specific for a specific purpose over a set period of time and provide opportunities to spread the virus. This contradicted earlier guidance from the Government that outdoor arts events such as concerts which take place in outdoor venues that allow for social distancing can have up to 200 attendees. The Government said that individual groupings attending these venues must be limited to six people from no more than three households. The confusion arose after comments Mr Donnelly at a press briefing in the Department of Health yesterday afternoon, where he said: If its an indoor concert the answer is no more than six people. He added: What I can tell you is that the guidance for the next 25 days is no more than six meeting indoors. If its to your house, its your family plus six visitors. If its any of us outside or rather out of our houses - but indoors - its six, so in a cafe or a gallery or whatever you want. And if its outdoors its no more than 15 except for sporting events which have been given an exception. Mr Donnelly further added that in the cases of gyms if people are obeying the rules, then you can have more than six people but for any gym classes, there can be no more than six. Asked for a clarification on Wednesday night, Mr Donnellys spokesperson referred queries to the Taoiseachs department and the Government issued a statement attempting to clarify the issue saying that the guidelines for organised indoor events were a max of 50 people and 15 for outdoor events. The confusion came as Mr Donnelly earlier defended the new restrictions announced on Tuesday, while admitting there is a complexity to them. Mr Donnelly said it was not unreasonable to ask whether schools reopening should be delayed by two weeks, but he said the Government wanted to protect lives, reopen the schools, get health services up and running and protect jobs. He said people should continue to go about their lives but keep gatherings small, work from home if they can and be really careful if they are more vulnerable. The Government attempted to clarify matters, saying that while museums, theatres, cinemas, and art galleries are deemed to be controlled environments all other indoor cultural events are subject to the 6 person maximum rule. A spokesperson said: A very small number of exemptions may be made on a case by case basis following discussion with the Dept of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Meanwhile, Mr Donnelly said he stood over comments he made when in Opposition that the three-day target for testing, isolating and tracing contact of confirmed cases was not ambitious enough. He said the target should be shorter than three days. He said rapid testing rolled out in the UK was being examined for Ireland. My hope is that while the HSE is constantly looking to reduce the time and increase the percentage of tests that actually well have new technology coming online to make it quicker and quicker, he said. Asked whether the target should be 24 or 48 hours he said it was not a question for him as minister with responsibility for the health service. Its question for an epidemiologist, Mr Donnelly said. The Minister said he had no issue with the Dail being recalled early as demanded by Labour leader Alan Kelly. Lets not kid ourselves. The politicization of the U.S. Postal Service didnt begin this year. In fact, for much of its history, the USPS has been known as the most political of all federal agencies. Basically, American presidents used our postal system as a way to reward campaign favors. You could appoint someone postmaster general, conferring upon them an impressive-sounding title that required no subject-matter expertise. For example, Lawrence OBrien was the national director of Lyndon Johnsons 1964 presidential campaign. A year later, Johnson picked him to be postmaster general. Winton Blount served as the southeastern campaign chairman for Richard Nixons unsuccessful 1960 presidential bid. When Nixon finally reached the White House in 1969, he selected Blount to run the postal system. In 1972, Blounts successor, Ted Klassen, got into hot water for staffing cuts which resulted in Christmas deliveries stacking up for days. READ ALSO: Postal Service cuts harming peoples lives Klassen had made budget cuts to avoid raising postage rates in an election year, because he didnt want voters to turn against Nixon over higher-priced stamps. All those old political machinations, however, seem kinda quaint compared to whats happening right now. This year, slowing down the postal system isnt the unintended consequence of an effort to hold down postage rates. For President Donald Trump, and his handpicked postmaster general, Republican megadonor Louis DeJoy, its a campaign strategy. Its a technique designed to make the entire election process look like a fraudulent mess, to suppress turnout, to give Trump a handy excuse (and a basis for litigation) if he loses to former Vice President Joe Biden. We were warned back in April, by then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan, that the COVID-19 pandemic was driving the USPS to the edge of a fiscal cliff. Brennan said the agency stood to lose $23 billion over the next 18 months and could run out of money by September without federal stimulus help. In March, Congressional Democrats pushed to get Postal Service funding in the $2 trillion CARES Act. Trump threatened to veto the bill if it included relief for the postal system. OnExpressNews.com: San Antonio Postal Service sorting machines thrown in the trash The Postal Service Board of Governors requested $25 billion in aid for the USPS, a request honored by House Democrats in legislation which has been stalled for three months in the U.S. Senate. Trump, who despises universal mail-in voting, and has no desire to make the postal system better equipped to handle the pandemic-fueled surge in mail balloting, gloated last week about his obstructionist stance. They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, he told Fox News. He added that a denial of that money means you cant have universal mail-in voting because theyre not equipped to have it. So, at a time when a well-funded postal system is critical to the functioning of our democracy, Trump is playing hardball with mail delivery. DeJoy has eliminated overtime for mail carriers and more than 670 mail-sorting machines (including four in San Antonio) have been removed from postal centers. The Postal Service is an old chair that you take for granted until someone tries to take it away. For millions of Americans, its the means by which we receive our medications, pay our bills, send gifts to loved ones and, much to Trumps chagrin, vote. For 630,000 Americans, its their place of employment. A Pew Research Center poll earlier this year found that 91 percent of Americans hold a favorable opinion of the U.S. Postal Service. Those supporters of the USPS mobilized over the past week, with an organized grassroots campaign to put some heat on members of Congress. On Tuesday, DeJoy released a statement, assuring voters that all his planned reform measures will be suspended until after the election. The Postal Service is ready to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall, DeJoy said. Its important to consider Trumps starve-the-post-office tactics in the context of his unprecedented presidency. On Monday, Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff for Trumps Department of Homeland Security, released a video alleging that Trump instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut off funding for people who lost their homes to the 2018 California wildfires, because California is an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Last month, Vanity Fair reported that Trumps coronavirus response team failed to craft a national plan to fight the pandemic because some members of the team concluded that COVID-19 outbreaks would be confined to blue states and it would serve Trump well to put the blame on Democratic governors. This is the world were living in. Essential government services are now meant to serve the political interests of the president not the 330 million people the president was elected to represent. 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 Published on 2020/08/18 | Source Actor Jo Han-chul is starring in the tvN drama "Vincenzo". Advertisement The new tvN drama "Vincenzo" is about a Mafia consigliere who comes to Korea from Italy due to conflicts within the organization, gets linked with a veteran evil lawyer and embodies justice in a villain's way, advocating a social comedy genre. It is expected to give catharsis in the way dark heroes deal with mutated villains who can't be punishable by law. Previously, while Song Joong-ki, Jeon Yeo-bin and Ok Taecyeon have confirmed leading roles in the drama, "Vincenzo" is helmed by Kim Hee-won-II and written by Park Jae-beom-I, heightening anticipation for the drama. Jo Han-chul who has made outstanding performances in films and dramas together, takes on the role of Han Seung-hyuk, the CEO of the greatest law firm in Korea in "Vincenzo". He will show his unique presence once again with his unique and thick acting. Jo Han-chul claimed, "I am very honored to be in this unique drama that deals with the subject of 'mafia'. I will work hard to meet everyone's expectations". The actor made special appearances and starred in 5 different dramas this year including "Nobody Knows", "Memorist", "Kingdom - Season 2", "Kkondae Intern" and "Once Again". In particular, in "Memorist", he fully embodied the unstable psychology and desperate end of the wicked and showed outstanding performance. It was an imperative time to bring someone in considering the massive growth VTEX is undergoing, and no one fits the bill better, said Amit Shah, Chief Strategy Officer and U.S. General Manager at VTEX. VTEX, the worlds first and only fully-integrated marketplace-commerce-OMS solution, today announced Robert Werkema as its new Vice President, Strategic Customers to help enterprise businesses rapidly achieve success in their digital commerce strategies. As former Global Vice President of Customer Management at SAP, Werkema brings his extensive experience in digital transformation and systems development to the VTEX customer base. His substantial background in working with enterprise ecommerce customers allows him to help customers execute new business models while streamlining existing processes. VTEX has revolutionized the way marketplace commerce is being done, says Werkema. With a strong commerce platform that eliminates underlying technology issues, brands and businesses now have the opportunity to rapidly transform their digital commerce presence into a marketplace. By joining the VTEX team, I can build long-standing relationships with customers while providing them with a revolutionary commerce platform that is more agile, modular and scalable than any other commerce platform on the market today. Werkema was an early member of Hybris who helped grow its customer base. Following the acquisition of Hybris by SAP, he expanded the companys success as Global Vice President of Customer Management. Before Hybris, Werkema was General Manager of Ecommerce for Endeca a position he held until Endecas acquisition by Oracle. He also spent over five years at IBM leading the growth of its WebSphere Commerce business. Werkema joins a substantial roster of experienced executives in commerce, order management and marketplaces who were brought on this year, including Amit Shah, Joseph Lee and George Chang, among others. Having Robert join the VTEX North American executive team comes at an opportune time, says Amit Shah, Chief Strategy Officer and U.S. General Manager at VTEX. Were excited to have him here to better support our customers and cultivate strong relationships. It was an imperative time to bring someone in considering the massive growth VTEX is undergoing, and no one fits the bill better. To learn more about VTEX, visit https://vtex.com/ About VTEX VTEX is the first and only global, fully integrated, end-to-end commerce solution with native marketplace and OMS capabilities. We help companies in retail, manufacturing, wholesale, grocery, consumer packaged goods and other verticals to sell more, operate more efficiently, scale seamlessly and deliver remarkable customer experience. Our modern microservices-based architecture and our powerful business and developer tools allow VTEX to future-proof our customers businesses and free them from software updates. Major brands including Sony, Walmart, Whirlpool, Coca-Cola, Stanley Black & Decker, Pizza Hut and Nestle, plus 2,000+ active customers in 30 countries, trust VTEX to accelerate and transform their commerce. Visit https://vtex.com/ to learn more. Raymond Blanc has said that so many of his diners say they have food intolerances 'like a fashion item' that his restaurant is now 'more like a hospital'. But the Michelin-starred chef - who runs Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, one of Britain's best restaurants - does not necessarily believe his customers are faking allergies. Instead, he says this is a result of eating food that has been intensively farmed and containing chemicals. Raymond Blanc, 70, pictured above, said that food intolerance has become 'almost like a fashion item'. He is also calling for Britain to produce much more of its own food For too long, he says, British consumers have not cared about the methods used to produce their food. Only now are we starting to appreciate the 'ill health and misery' that can cause, he claims. He told Country life magazine: 'We have been self-destructing, but we're starting to appreciate the cost. We're thinking about those chemicals and putting them together with our ill health. 'You should see the board in my kitchen when we take orders - no milk, no flour, no lemon - it's more like a hospital. 'A food intolerance has become almost like a fashion item, but these are true allergies, provoked by what we eat and the environment in which we live. 'Our environment and health are becoming a priority again, as the consumer becomes more and more aware. Ignorance is slowly being replaced by knowledge and knowledge is empowering.' The 70-year-old is also calling for Britain to produce much more of its own food, questioning why we import 70 per cent of what we eat from other countries. 'By growing and creating what we need here, you prevent all that pollution and its effects,' he said. The Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, one of Britain's best restaurants and owned by Michelin-starred chef Blanc, just outside Oxford, which reopened on July 14 Blanc, who came to England in 1972 and founded his two starred restaurant in an Oxfordshire manor house in 1983, also warns that Britain's foodie revival is threatened by the popularity of online delivery firms. 'There are still threats to our gastronomic renaissance,' he said. 'Take the rise off delivery services such as Deliveroo - it's food without any effort whatsoever. 'We're alien to cooking now, because we live busy lives and even a simple omelette requires an element of effort.' However, he believes lockdown may have opened people's eyes to home cooking. 'I think coronavirus will help a lot long term because people have reconnected with growing and cooking for themselves,' he said. 'I hope it will last..' Its a milestone, but is it a gift or a burden? Chrystia Freelands appointment as the first woman to serve as federal finance minister in Canada, and the second woman to serve in that job in any G7 country, has some experts worried about what some call the glass cliff. Political scientists have long observed a pattern in politics and organizations: women are often appointed to leadership roles during times of turmoil, when success is less likely and the job less appealing. Two famous examples in Canadian politics are Kim Campbell, who became the first female leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives just as public sentiment was swinging against that party; and Kathleen Wynne, who took over Ontarios Liberals as they were slipping in the polls and grappling with a politically devastating gas plant scandal. In Freelands case, she comes into the finance department amid a pandemic and the economic destruction it has wrought, as her government racks up record-breaking debt and reels from the WE Charity scandal, which many believe contributed to the departure of her predecessor, Bill Morneau. But Melanee Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, takes issue with the glass cliff metaphor; among other things, she says, it wrongly implies that women are placed on the cliff without understanding or agency. Women who are in politics are strategic, careful actors. They understand the context that theyre in and they understand the opportunity structure and what they have to go through to get power, Thomas said in an interview with the Star. The barriers to women doing that are considerable compared to men. As for why its taken so long for a woman to helm Canadas finance portfolio not surprisingly, experts say, it probably has to do with sexism. For the most part these attitudes are ubiquitous, across the ideological spectrum, across political parties, across levels of education, Thomas said. People think that women cant be involved in issues related to economics and foreign affairs, so thats why we dont see them in high numbers across the globe, said Janni Aragon, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, adding that Freeland previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. So will a woman approach the job differently, especially as women have been disproportionately affected economically during the pandemic? Brittany Andrew-Amofah, a senior policy analyst at the Broadbent Institute, cautions against assuming that a woman serving as finance minister will directly lead to women being prioritized in budgetary decisions. While a woman becoming finance minister is definitely a cause for celebration, Andrew-Amofah said, we need to recognize that representation isnt everything. Its important, she added, that the symbol be matched with substance; a minister that views policy through a gender-based lens that includes race could be something quite significant. Freeland is bound to face harsh criticism in the role, said Sylvia Bashevkin, a political science professor at the University of Toronto who has studied women and politics since the 1970s. Women are far more likely to face questions of competence than men who do the same work. But Bashevkin is less worried about Freeland, who has shown the ability in demanding portfolios to win over or at least silence her critics, she said. A timeline of Chrystia Freeland's life The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates. Whats happening Vice presidents typically have extraordinary job security. Historically, theyre more likely to graduate to the top job than to be fired. Only once in modern American history has a sitting president ditched his running mate ahead of a reelection bid. Though it hasnt happened since Franklin Roosevelt replaced Henry A. Wallace with Harry Truman in 1944, recent presidents have reportedly considered a vice presidential swap when seeking another term. George H.W. Bush is believed to have weighed dumping Dan Quayle in 1992. His son said he thought about dropping Dick Cheney in 2004. Barack Obamas aides reportedly looked into the implications of replacing Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton in 2012. Its no surprise, then, that a president famous for the catchphrase Youre fired would consider the move. President Trump has publicly stated that he has no plans to abandon Mike Pence, but he raised the idea in private several times over the past few years, according to a number of media reports. Last summer, speculation that Pence might be replaced by former South Carolina Gov. and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley was so rampant that Haley felt compelled to push back publicly. More recently, rumors swirled that Trump might be eyeing South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for the job, according to the New York Times. With fewer than 80 days until the election, the odds that Trump would replace Pence are likely slim. But that hasnt halted discussion about whether a running-mate switcheroo might benefit the presidents reelection chances. Why theres debate Biden has held a steady lead over Trump in national and swing-state polls for months, leading pundits to argue that the president needs a major shake-up to make up ground before November. Replacing Pence could reset the campaigns flagging momentum and expand the tickets appeal to voters who have shifted away from the president, they say. Story continues In 2016, the famously devout former Indiana governor was critical in reassuring evangelical voters who may have been skeptical of Trump. After three-plus years in office and two appointments of conservative Supreme Court justices Trumps support among the Christian right appears solid, which may mean Pence is expendable this time around. A recent poll showed only 27 percent of Republicans would disapprove of Pence being replaced. There are also reportedly concerns that Pence may not be able to hold his own in a debate against Bidens running mate, Kamala Harris. Swapping out Pence for a woman or person of color or in the case of Haley, both could help bring back suburban voters who have trended away from the GOP in recent elections, some say. Jettisoning Pence, who has led the administrations coronavirus task force, would also give Trump the chance to place blame on someone else for his biggest political liability. Opponents of the idea say that adding a new face to the Republican ticket would project a message of panic and solidify the perception of a flailing campaign. Others say Pence has proven himself to be a loyal No. 2 throughout the many controversies of Trumps first term. It might also be difficult to convince one of the Republican Partys rising stars to sign on to a ticket that appears likely to lose in November. Most historians say vice presidents rarely have much of an impact on the outcome of presidential elections. That may be even truer this year, some argue. The 2020 election is setting up to be a referendum on Trump. His running mate is more or less irrelevant, they say. Whats next If Trump is considering a change in running mate, the move would have to happen soon. Barring any surprises, Pence will be formally nominated to the Republican ticket at the partys convention next week. Perspectives Supporters Trump needs a major shake-up to secure reelection Trump is in very serious danger of not being reelected. He needs a game changer to reset the race, and a fresh veep is a time-honored way to do that. Ed Kilgore, New York Pence could take the blame for the administrations botched coronavirus response While Mike Pence has been a dutiful Vice President for Trump over the last three and a half years, it wouldnt be surprising to see Trump, who is notorious for his catch-phrase Youre Fired, to blame his administrations woeful pandemic response on Pence. Seth Cohen, Forbes Pence may want out Pence, too, may be calculating his personal odds. Over the past four years, he has served Trump with canine fealty. But if he reckons that Trump is doomed to lose badly in 2020, he might prefer not to be on the ticket. He could portray himself as a martyr who had been casually given the heave-ho by Trump and remains the only true representative of the conservative faith. Jacob Heilbrunn, National Interest Ditching Pence would remind voters of Trumps unconventional appeal America remembers a celebrity who got famous for saying that kind of thing. In a presidential term thats already seen some of the most cyclonic personnel changes in American political history, it would be a fitting coup de grace. Itd be vintage Trump: a ticket switch. Curt Mills, American Conservative Pence makes the GOP and Trump look behind the times Mike Pence projects the tired image of what the GOP once was but can no longer be if it hopes to win national elections. America is changing fast, just not in Pences direction. James Driscoll, Washington Blade Detractors A change this late in the race would make Trump look desperate Trump cares deeply about perception. And projecting an image of utter certainty and strength. A last-minute swap-out of your vice president because you think you cant win without someone new is the exact opposite of that message. It suggests weakness and, even worse, panic. Chris Cillizza, CNN Pence has been extremely loyal to the president No vice president has been more loyal than Pence. Carl P. Leubsdorf, Boston Herald Swapping running mates wouldnt affect the outcome of the election Even if President Trump does replace Pence, I dont think theres anyone Trump could pick who would notably alter his chances of winning in November. Geoffrey Skelley, FiveThirtyEight Trump may still need evangelical voters to win It would smack of desperation and endanger the support of religious conservatives who have a marriage of convenience with Trump but genuine devotion to Pence. John F. Harris and Daniel Lippman, Politico Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com. Read more 360s Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images Kontrol BioCloud TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Kontrol Energy Corp. (CSE:KNR)(OTCQB:KNRLF)(FSE:1K8) ("Kontrol" or "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the timing of the next stage of testing for the Kontrol BioCloud analyzer ("BioCloud"). For more than a decade, through its operating subsidiaries, Kontrol has been providing air quality testing and continuous emission monitoring across hundreds of industrial facilities in Canada and the USA. BioCloud represents an extension and further innovation of an existing air quality technology and solution platform which Kontrol currently provides to its customers. "We are drawing on our extensive experience in air quality and emission monitoring for specific particulate analysis and measurement and using similar technology to detect for COVID-19 in the air," says Paul Ghezzi, CEO of Kontrol. "Over the past 6 months, we have secured government funding, established partnerships with virology experts, and developed a proprietary COVID-19 detection chamber. Our initial lab results and interest from potential customers and prospects give us the confidence that we are developing a solution which the market demands. We look forward to providing more details as we continue BioCloud's development." Next Stage of Testing Live COVID-19 virus testing will commence on August 19th, 2020 and is expected to continue until the end of the month. The testing will focus on the capability of the working BioCloud prototype to sample the COVID-19 virus in aerosol form and seek to establish the lower detection limits that can be achieved. Kontrol will publish the results following the testing. Detection Mechanism Kontrol has designed BioCloud with a replaceable detection mechanism. Kontrol will seek to patent the detection mechanism following the next stage of testing. Kontrol will also analyze the best method of replacing and disposing of the detection mechanism after it comes into contact with COVID-19. The detection mechanism has been built to be an ongoing replaceable component of the BioCloud technology. "BioCloud will seek to sample the air over-time on a continuous basis, which is similar to how we currently test for air quality in industrial facilities. Applications for BioCloud will be focused initially on classrooms, hospitals, long-term care homes, and mass transportation." said Gary Saunders, Kontrol's Vice President. Pre-Commercialization Prototypes Kontrol has built one operating prototype and is in the process of completing four additional pre-commercialization prototypes. These prototypes will be made available for lab testing and also provide Kontrol with greater certainty for developing its supply chain for parts and materials for potential future commercialization. The additional four prototypes will be completed prior to August 31st, 2020. The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the Covid-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus) at this time. About Kontrol Energy Kontrol Energy Corp. (CSE:KNR)(OTCQB:KNRLF)(FSE:1K8) is a leader in the energy efficiency sector through IoT, Cloud and SaaS technology. With a disciplined mergers and acquisition strategy, combined with organic growth, Kontrol Energy Corp. provides market-based energy solutions to our customers designed to reduce their overall cost of energy while providing a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Additional information about Kontrol Energy Corp. can be found on its website at www.kontrolenergy.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For further information, contact: Paul Ghezzi, Chief Executive Officer paul@kontrolenergy.com or admin@kontrolenergy.com Kontrol Energy Corp., 180 Jardin Drive, Unit 9, Vaughan, ON L4K 1X8 Tel: 905.766.0400, Toll free: 1.844.566.8123 Neither IIROC nor any stock exchange or other securities regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Such assumptions include, without limitation, that sufficient capital will be available to the Company and that technology will be as effective as anticipated. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected, or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, that sufficient capital and financing cannot be obtained on reasonable terms, or at all, that technologies will not prove as effective as expected, that customers and potential customers will not be as accepting of the Company's product and service offering as expected, and government and regulatory factors impacting the energy conservation industry. In particular, successful development and commercialization of the Kontrol BioCloud Analyzer are subject to the risk that the Kontrol BioCloud Analyzer may not prove to be successful in detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 effectively or at all, uncertainty of timing or availability of any regulatory approvals and Kontrol's lack of track record in developing products for medical applications. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as at the date hereof and are based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations, and opinions of management on such date. Kontrol does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such forward-looking statements or any forward-looking statements contained in any other documents whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required under applicable securities law. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties, and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. SOURCE: Kontrol Energy Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602360/Kontrol-Provides-COVID-19-Technology-Update Partnering with Pulsate on this project has been amazing. Were extremely excited for the way our teams and technologies have come together to produce such an impressive result for our client. CuneXus, a leader in consumer lending automation and pioneer of Perpetual Loan Approval technology, and Pulsate, a mobile banking personalization software company, have released the results of a successful pilot program, demonstrating a 55% lift in mobile loan redemption for a $1.8B U.S. financial institution. Partnering with Pulsate on this project has been amazing. Were extremely excited for the way our teams and technologies have come together to produce such an impressive result for our client, said Dave Buerger, president & CEO of CuneXus. The collaboration involved a three-way integration of the companies respective softwares and the lenders mobile banking platform, with the goal of demonstrating a lift in mobile and overall loan offer redemption. CuneXus software generated perpetually pre-approved loan offers for the institution's entire customer base, providing them with the ability to activate a variety of different consumer loan products in less than 10 seconds. Pulsates mobile banking personalization platform delivered contextual offer communications to customers via in-app and push notifications based on a series of smart rules and triggers, including: Geo-Fenced Push Notifications - upon entering a big box home improvement store or car dealership, for example. Behavioral Notifications - in-app and push notifications based on the user's behavior in the mobile banking app. Targeted / Timed Notifications - in-app and push notifications based on the user's profile and available product offers. Trigger / Rule Based Notifications - notifications based on various rule sets and if / then scenarios. Together, CuneXus and Pulsate delivered a 55% lift in mobile redemptions and a 49% lift in total redemptions over the course of two 90-day campaigns, accounting for nearly 1,400 loans and $35 million in total volume. A full case study with additional details is expected in the coming weeks. CuneXus has developed a truly innovative product with their Perpetual Loan Approval software, said Sarah Martin, CEO of Pulsate. What a fantastic compliment to our technology and a big win for our mutual client and their customers. About CuneXus CuneXus is focused on data-driven application-free lending that helps financial institutions optimize operational efficiency and customer experience. Its pioneering technologies are at the forefront of the transition to a new era of customer empowerment through on-demand lending and borrowing. With more than 140 of the nations largest credit unions and community banks as clients, CuneXus has generated tens of billions of dollars in consumer loan volume by bringing transparent borrowing experiences to over 18 million consumers in every major U.S. market. Among its numerous accolades the company has been recognized as one of just ten startups to watch on KPMGs global report of The 50 Best Fintech Innovators; named the winner of the Best Consumer Lending Company in the 2020 Fintech Breakthrough Awards; named the winner of the Callahan & Associates 2019 Innovation in Lending award, and named Top Emerging Technology Company at the 2019 LendIt Fintech Industry Awards. Visit https://www.cunexus.com for more information. Contact: Dave Buerger Co-founder, CuneXus Email: dbuerger@cunexus.com Phone: 877-509-2089 x101 About Pulsate Pulsate is a marketing platform that enables financial institutions to proactively communicate with customers in real-time. Its technology enables financial institutions to maintain and strengthen the relationship with their banking customers across the US. By leveraging behavioral and location data, they deliver personalized offers and time-sensitive information. Throughout the COVID crisis, Pulsate has helped community banks and credit unions to engage their most at-risk members and ensure they have access to financial support and digital services when they need it. Founded in 2014, Pulsate is driving the transformation of marketing in retail banking to support the continued growth of community banking institutions in an increasingly digital world. Visit https://www.pulsatehq.com for more information. A young Pennsylvania black bear engaged in his own game of duck, duck, bear when he came across a contraption that the Pennsylvania Game Commission had installed at a lake for a very different species. Just as bears roaming through residential neighborhoods or suburban backyards find almost unlimited ways to get into mischief, so do bruins roaming the wilds of Pennsylvania, particularly when they encounter food that humans have left there for one reason or another. Such a situation presented itself last week to a Monroe County bear. Monroe County State Game Warden Bryan Mowrer had set up a large live-trap for ducks on a lake on State Game Lands 38 near Long Pond. Pennsylvania Game Commission officers and biologists trap ducks to band them as part of population monitoring to establish hunting seasons and bag limits on waterfowl. To get ducks entering the trap, Mowrer baited it with corn, set up a trail camera to monitor any activity at the trap and then left the area to allow ducks to become familiar with the trap. When Northeast Region Waterfowl Biologist Molly Giles checked the trap on a subsequent morning, she found that it had dragged onto the shore and damaged. She repaired and reset the trap and told Mowrer of what she had found. Mowrer then checked his trail camera and discovered the story behind the crime scene. Pennsylvania today is home to historic numbers of bears. The population has been estimated at about 20,000 for the past 3 years. Bears across Pennsylvania are just off their mating season, which normally runs from early June through mid-July, and continue to travel extensively. Males in Pennsylvania have average home ranges of 20 square miles. Females have much smaller home ranges of 6-8 square miles and generally stay closer to home than the males In addition, young bears, about a year-and-a-half of age, have recently left their mothers and are roaming in search of their own new home ranges. That journey can be much tougher on the young males, who get bounced out of one territory after another by older and larger males already established there. And, mother bears are leading their cubs, which were born in January and first left their dens in March or April, on long foraging trips. Although bears will tear into any food they come across at any time of the year, including bird feeders, pet food left outdoors and trash cans, they are far from critical need in the summer. Berries, wildflowers, greens and insects are abundant just now nearly everywhere in Pennsylvania. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Sure, Christine Johns has had it with President Donald Trump, just as much as any good Democrat has. But between the coronavirus and this spring's protests against police brutality, she's also more adamant than ever that just electing a Democratic president isn't going to bring about the fundamental change she believes the country needs. Johns, a retired criminologist in Brunswick, Ga., found the first two nights of the Democratic National Convention "very disappointing, a kind of People magazine personal interest story," she said Wednesday. "I'm not voting for a roommate. It's very easy to show a lot of people's faces, but that doesn't tell anybody what you're going to do for working-class people." Come Nov. 3, "maybe I'll just stay home," Johns said. "Last time, I gritted my teeth and voted for Hillary Clinton, and I really don't know if I can do that again for another corporate Democrat." Eight hundred miles north of where Johns is watching the convention, in Chesterbrook, Pa., Jessica Weingarten is savoring every zinger aimed at Trump. She loved Michelle Obama's barbs and only wishes the Democrats would be more pointed about "how illegal and incompetent Trump's behavior has been." Weingarten said Jill Biden's earnest authenticity will help her win over some of the non-voters she intends to persuade to support Joe Biden this fall. "This is a fight between fascism and democracy," said Weingarten, 63, a business owner and lifelong Democratic activist. "These privileged left-wing progressives aren't the ones living in their cars because they lost their home because of coronavirus. This election is about them, about the roads, the schools - it's health care, it's everything. Good government can save the world." In this strangest of campaigns, Democrats watching the nation's first virtual convention are at once united in their passion to end the Trump presidency and divided in their visions of how to do that - and what should come next. In opinion surveys and dozens of interviews, Democrats see a nation adrift, a people in pain. Together, they yearn for hope and inspiration. They want to be able to trust again - trust their leaders, institutions and their fellow Americans. Yet like the country as a whole, they fall into sharply divided factions with decidedly different perspectives on what needs to be done and who ought to do it. Whomever they supported in this year's primaries, the overwhelming majority of Democrats tell pollsters they'll vote for Biden, who has a half-century-long record as a traditional liberal, but is running on the most left-wing platform Democrats have adopted since 1972. But beneath that unity, an undercurrent of division is palpable, exacerbated by the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, the street protests unleashed by the killing of George Floyd and the party's failure to prevent the Trump presidency four years ago. "The pandemic, Black Lives Matter and the protests have made it obvious to everyone that we're in such a tough situation because everyone in the country is not equally protected," said David Sinaiko, who teaches theater and English at a high school in Marin County north of San Francisco. Sinaiko has three children in their 20s, and "they're all dying to see what the future of the Democratic Party will look like," he said. "So it's really disappointing that they have their convention and it's Hillary and Bill Clinton speaking again. The Clintons represent something young people are eager to move on from - economic policies that created this vast inequality in the country." Yet as much as Sinaiko and his children want fundamental change that would narrow the gulf that separates most Americans from the affluent, he can't understand why some left-wing protesters reject Biden and traditional Democratic politicians. "I'm confounded by the Never Biden stuff," Sinaiko said. "Change doesn't happen with an all-or-nothing attitude. Do they really not see the difference between the parties after all this time under the Trump administration?" Since March, when Biden's nomination first seemed likely, the party's factions have sought to solidify the Democratic base against Trump. Biden and his left-wing rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., formed a Unity Task Force, and its discussions led Biden to shift left on matters such as climate policy and to adopt more energetic rhetoric about how the coronavirus has revealed structural weaknesses in American society. But for the many Americans who don't follow politics closely, this week is the first major opportunity to see what the Democrats stand for. In Portland, Ore., Andrea Haack hopes the convention will clarify whether the Democratic message is primarily one of relief from Trump or is an assertion that issues such as health care, homelessness, immigration and police reform must be addressed. Haack, a 45-year-old staffer at Portland State University, grew up believing politics was a tool for change. "I'm a typical Portland person," she said. "I wear lots of black. I'm tattooed everywhere. And of course I protest." She's been to dozens of marches since high school - for gay rights, against President George W. Bush, for labor unions. Haack believes it will be necessary to keep protesting under a Democratic president, to assure that the issues she cares about stay front and center, but she worries that putting too much emphasis on difficult issues during the campaign might backfire. "The anti-Trump message might work better to pull in right-of-center people, but the policy positions are what are important to people already left-leaning," Haack said. "How do you thread that needle? I honestly don't know. Because, to be honest, I don't know very many Republicans, so I don't know what would appeal to them." Democrats don't agree on what policies will get the country back on track, but many are united in their craving for a sense of belonging and for a rekindling of the trust they once had in the system and in each other. Many cited the divide over how to address the coronavirus crisis - the wildly different attitudes toward wearing masks, opening stores or holding school in-person - as evidence that too many Americans no longer trust their neighbors, medical and scientific experts or government authorities. Fifty-seven percent of Americans said in a Pew Research Center poll earlier this year that people mostly look out only for themselves, a number that didn't vary much according by party affiliation. Celia Sgroi, a retired city judge in Oswego, N.Y., near the Canadian border, wants the convention to restore her faith in America. The party's previous two White House occupants won with messages of hope - Clinton's "man from Hope" campaign and Barack Obama's "hope and change" theme - and Sgroi now seeks a similar approach from the man who would be the country's oldest president ever. "I'm not proud of being American anymore," she lamented. "I never had the feeling like I do now that people in the world are absolutely disgusted with us. I want a vision for the country, for what I used to think of as America - a leader in education, science and technology, a country that helps others." The country needs an emotional boost, Sgroi said, and so does she. "I watch MSNBC a couple hours every night, and lately the tone has been 'We're all going to die,' " she said. "I can't take much more of that. I don't want to be hanging black crepe all the time. What I need from the convention is the tiniest sense of hope." For three years, Sgroi, 71, has felt as if she were in a waking nightmare. "I'd like to be able to sleep again," she said. "I can't tell you how many times I've woken up in the middle of night with my mind racing about Trump policies." Children in cages, bullying, lying, denigrating nicknames for everyone - "he's come to be too much of a negative influence in my life, and he's everywhere. I want him out of my life." Since March, Sgroi has barely left a house where she lives alone but for her Maltese dog, Cassie. Going out, she worries, would be the death of her. She wavers between wanting the Democrats to hit Trump hard, like those Lincoln Project TV ads from anti-Trump Republicans, and wanting Democrats to go high when the other side goes low, in former first lady Michelle Obama's famous formulation. "I want to come away from the convention believing again that yes, we're better than that, and people have had enough of him so that no matter what he does, we can still beat him," Sgroi said. That passion to feel hopeful again is one of the few themes that seems to bind moderates and left-leaning Democrats. At 15, Dhruvak Mirani is already a veteran of several political campaigns; the junior at Glenelg High School in Howard County, Md., sent tens of thousands of texts on behalf of Sanders before he dropped out of the race. Mirani shifted his support to Biden, if reluctantly. "Look, Joe Biden is a far better alternative than Trump, but it's not what a lot of people like me were looking for," he said. The teen is casting his eye beyond this fall, hoping that the convention will signal what might come after Biden. "I'm curious how long the progressive wing will be okay supporting mainstream centrist candidates that keep undermining progressive movement," Mirani said. "The primary goal right now is to get Trump out. But what happens after that?" Levi Bradford, a third-year student at the University of Florida law school, doesn't want to wait for his party to change. "I'm kind of conflicted," said the 25-year-old from Sarasota. "I want them to send a message that we're all on the same team, and we're going to get this guy out of office. But at the same time, I want them to recognize that this is not the ideal ticket for a lot of us. I feel like, once we get Trump out of office, that's great, we're taking down a demagogue. But how are they actually planning to really revamp the party so it's more representative of minority voters?" Barbara Cary says she cannot afford to look beyond this election cycle - the damage that she says Trump has caused to the nation's economy and health-care system need repairs now. Cary, who works in human resources for a company that makes window shades, said that where she lives near Knoxville, Tenn., Trump voters remain loyal to the president. "My neighborhood is just littered with Trump and 'no liberal zone' and Blue Lives Matter" signs, she said. "It's just Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump." Cary, 62, sees no sign that Democrats can peel off Trump supporters, just as she says that "There's nothing Republicans could say to win me over." So Cary, who is Black, wants Democrats to avoid controversy and "Just let the knucklehead keep talking - like what he's doing to the post office." She was intrigued to see that some of her White neighbors have been frustrated by the recent removal of some mailboxes in their neighborhood. "Give him the rope to hang himself, which is what he's doing a fine job of already," she said. But Andre Dickens, a Democratic city council member in Atlanta, said it's not enough just to bash Trump or let him damage his own chances. Dickens, 46, wants to hear "a message that is unifying to the Democrats, but also unifying to the nation in general. The message needs to communicate that we are a strong nation, but that we can be weakened by selfishness at the top." "Even if you previously voted with Republicans or consider yourself an independent, we've got to have a message that says, 'together we will figure out a path forward that includes everyone and doesn't pick fights to separate us,' " Dickens said. "I don't want to see anyone trying to out-Trump Trump in nastiness, in selfishness, in that whole race to the bottom." But governing is about policy, and many voters have a menu of changes they want from the next president. Patricia Sperti, who describes herself as a "65-year-old lesbian" and lifelong Democrat, has stood with her party since her Italian immigrant grandfather took her to see John F. Kennedy speak in Battle Creek, Mich., when she was 5. Retired from work in adult foster care for the state government, Sperti has been stuck in her small condo in East Lansing since March because she has an autoimmune deficiency that makes her particularly vulnerable to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. An avid Sanders supporter - "I'm not a capitalist, kiddo" - she's now all in for Biden. Still, she says it's vital to keep criticizing Biden and the party even while supporting them. "I want them to address immigration - I want them to connect a path for DACA immediately," she said. "I want them to make Medicare-for-all available for anyone who is uninsured." She wants audits of White House spending, an accounting of research money going toward a coronavirus vaccine, and stipends - not just unemployment benefits - for those who've lost work because of the virus. "People are hungry; they're struggling for food," she said. Democrats have different agendas, political strategies and tastes in leadership. But they seem to agree that the country sorely needs inspiration. "Honestly, I want something refreshing, something that is reassuring," said Jude Derisme, a Haitian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 1997 and works in South Florida for the SEIU, a union representing public employees and health-care workers. "I'm not looking for anything radical, or anything extreme. I just want something normal, because it's been so chaotic. We want to build and create something, not just vote against something." The No. 1 thing T.J. Shanoff wants from this week is to see Democrats "get behind Biden without equivocation," said the musician from Evanston, Ill. "I forgive a man in his 70s who has otherwise demonstrated a passion for politics, empathy and kindness and who has gone through repeated tragedies. It's okay if he's not like Bernie Sanders, policy-wise. Just because he's not screaming 'defund the police' through a bullhorn doesn't mean everyone should not get behind him. Things have gotten so crazy, even a modicum of normalcy would be welcome." - - - The Washington Post's Lori Rozsa in Miami, Haisten Willis in Atlanta and Mark Guarino in Chicago contributed to this report. More than 80 per cent of Canadas COVID-19-related deaths are associated with nursing homes, with the majority of them being older persons living with dementia. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion More than 80 per cent of Canadas COVID-19-related deaths are associated with nursing homes, with the majority of them being older persons living with dementia. Moreover, recent international research suggests that COVID-19 public health restrictions have contributed to tens of thousands of additional deaths among people living with dementia in nursing-home settings, as a result of barriers in access to care and social isolation. This is a national atrocity, and worse, one largely of our own making. The role of stigma From the beginning of the pandemic, what has been striking for us is how little mention there has been in the media regarding the role of stigma in shaping care practices and public-health response strategies to COVID-19. We are critical social scientists with expertise in dementia, ethics and long-term care. Collectively, our work is motivated by a shared concern about how stigma associated with dementia consistently enables and legitimizes restrictions on the freedom of individuals living with dementia, and denies them the opportunities to pursue life-enhancing relationships and activities. We have traced this stigma to two cultural narratives about dementia: with memory loss there is a total erasure of the self; and the medicalization of memory loss, which reduces nursing home care to supporting basic physical safety and comfort. Together these narratives perpetuate a collective representation of persons living with dementia as "non-persons." This highlights the inherent ableism and ageism that dehumanizes and demarcates the lives of people living with dementia as disposable. Critique of this representation of people living with dementia as disposable must be a central part of public discussion and debate. Without that critical assessment, reform strategies are doomed to fall short of achieving the radical change that is needed. Conditions well-suited to COVID-19 The toll of COVID-19 in Canadas long-term care homes is the result of structural conditions that have long been identified by researchers in the field of aging studies. COVID-19 has efficiently exploited these conditions, most notably the heavy reliance of nursing homes on a temporary and casual workforce, low staffing levels and inadequate care supplies. Analyses of these structural conditions have featured prominently in media coverage and related reform strategies, including: non-profit public provision; permanent employment and benefits for providers; minimum provider-resident ratios and integrating long-term care into the federal health portfolio. While such analyses and reform strategies are critically important and are not to be disputed indeed, we too have argued the need to address these structural conditions our analysis pushes further. A new ethic of dementia care To achieve real transformation, we need system-level efforts to improve structural conditions in nursing homes, but we also need a new ethic of dementia care. Specifically, we need an ethic that challenges stigma by broadening the duty of care to include fully supporting the capacity of individuals living with dementia for creativity, imagination and other positive potentialities. This would require the provision of life-enriching opportunities for persons living with dementia, and the support of their engagement with social life to the fullest extent possible. This is consistent with Canadas National Dementia Strategy to eliminate stigma and create dementia-inclusive communities. It is a call for creative, visionary and transformative reform at a time of moral urgency. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. It is our argument that a new ethic of care is urgently needed to ensure that the goals and standards of dementia care focus on supporting the life enrichment of persons living with dementia. This requires a model that draws on the fields and sub-fields of human rights, citizenship, political economy, feminist care ethics and "embodiment," a field that aims to understand bodily experiences as ways of knowing. This model is well suited to address the stigma associated with dementia and the structural inadequacies of nursing homes that are responsible for the neglect and harms that we have seen in this pandemic, as well as before COVID-19. The model also recognizes that our bodies our capacities, senses and socio-cultural dispositions are central to self-expression and to our engagement with the world. With cognitive impairment, embodied self-expression becomes the primary means of communication and, as such, it is a matter of social justice. Consequently, this model holds states responsible for supporting these rights in practice, through regulation and redistribution of social and economic resources. We hope that social and health scientists, gerontologists, ethicists, policy-makers and care providers who are equally committed to revisioning nursing-home care will agree, and devote resources to this collective effort. Its time for a new ethic of care to replace the stigma of dementia. Alisa Grigorovich is an academic fellow at the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research and Pia Kontos is an associate professor and senior scientist at the University of Toronto. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. PHILIPSBURG:--- The police were also called to an accident that had taken place on the Nisbeth road on Tuesday, August 18th, 2020, about 08.00 am. According to the information gathered at the scene, the driver of a white Toyota Corolla was driving from the Prins Bernard Bridge towards Salt Pickers roundabout. The driver of a Grey Nissan, who was coming from the opposite direction, made a left turn to go into the parking lot of Carls & Sons without giving right of way to the driver of the white Toyota. As a result of the collision, the white Toyota corolla slammed into a concrete divider in front of Carl's & Sons. The driver of the white Toyota Corolla suffered minor injuries to his face. He was treated at the scene by the paramedics. The driver of the gray Nissan did not suffer any injuries. Both cars were badly damaged. The traffic department is still investigating this accident. KPSM Press Release. But as the spring melted into summer, those plans were once again thrown into chaos. Penn wanted the quintessential freshman experience, but now all she could think about were the billions of germs that live in the showers and sinks of communal bathrooms. Williams, from Jersey City, was trying to figure out how she would afford her dream school, where shed go to Homecoming Howards annual week-long celebration and join the modeling club. T he families of Manchester Arena bombing victims today tearfully described their lasting feelings of loss, anger and devastation, as one of the masterminds of the attack faces his sentencing hearing. Twenty two people died when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a homemade explosive device filled with shrapnel in the foyer of the arena, just as crowds streamed to the exits after an Ariana Grande concert. Abedi, 22, died in the blast but his brother Hashem was left behind to face justice, and is now facing a life prison sentence for the 22 murders and the attempted murder of hundreds of concertgoers. At his Old Bailey sentencing hearing today, relatives of those who died in the bombing delivered emotional tributes to their loved ones and described the impact on their lives. Lisa Rutherford, whose 17-year-old daughter Chloe died in the bombing, said her heart snapped when she heard news of the attack and she sobbed while telling the court today: We are destroyed. She said Chloe, who attended the concert with her boyfriend Liam Curry, had got the tickets as a Christmas gift and idolised Ariana Grande. Mrs Rutherford said Chloes family have been robbed of the chance to plan her wedding and share her major life events, saying it is just unbearable. This has all been taken away from us, and somehow we are expected to get though life without her, without our baby girl, she said. But it just feels impossible. She added that Chloes grandparents saw her as an absolute ray of sunshine and now their lives dont have any meaning without her. Caroline Curry held up a photo of her son Liam, 19, and directed some of her words towards Abedi, despite him being absent from the dock. You took from me something more precious than gold, a beautiful boy, inside and out, she said. I want you to look at Liam and remember the beautiful boy that was snatched away. Your actions have caused this heartbreak. I just feel cheated. You took his future, my future, my familys future. All we have now is heartbreak and dreams of what if. Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett died in the bombing, said the 29-year-old Coronation Street superfan and social media stars death has left a massive hole Everything has changed for everyone who had the pleasure of being a part of Martyns short but wonderful journey, she said, revealing she now cannot sleep each night before 10.31pm, the time the bomb went off. Figen Murray said the death of her son Martyn Hett in the bombing had "left a massive hole" / PA I cant reconcile as a mother that I was fast asleep as my son lay dead on the floor. Im still a bit ashamed of that and I will always live with that shame. Claire Booth, whose sister Kelly Brewster died in the bombing, broke down in tears as she described being separated from her sibling when the bomb went off. I simply felt helpless that I couldnt be with her and she was alone on the cold floor. This haunts me even now, she told the court. She said their family had been robbed of welcoming Kellys children into the world, adding: We will never see her grow old. She said their family has been thrown into a world of chaos, involving terrorism and criminality, which is a million miles away from everything which we knew. We would not wish that on our worst enemy. I cant go anywhere in public on my own, even if its to the shop. Sometimes I feel like a prisoner in my own home, she added. Hashem Abedi / PA The Manchester-born Abedi brothers plotted the ISIS-inspired terror attack together, collecting chemicals and other materials for the bomb and using a series of properties and vehicles to make the preparations. Hashem Abedi had travelled to Libya at the time of the attack, on May 22, 2017, but was linked to the bombing by detectives and was in March convicted by a jury of murder, attempted murder, and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. At the start of todays proceedings, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker revealed that Abedi is in the cells at the Old Bailey today, having been brought from HMP Belmarsh, but he has refused to come into court for the sentencing hearing. My understanding is that, having been brought to this building, Hashem Abedi has refused to come into the courtroom, he said. The court has not legal right to direct a prison officer or indeed a governor to use force to compel a prisoner to attend court. Loading.... The judge also said he has no power to pass a whole life prison term on Abedi, as he was under the age of 21 at the time of the bombing and Parliament has set an age limit for these kind of sentences. Abedis brother, who was 22, would have faced a whole life term if he had not died in the attack. The final sentence is due to be passed by the judge tomorrow. After the release of the controversial biography "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Family," the royal family were left devastated, most especially Queen Elizabeth II. Written by longtime royal journalists Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie, the tell-all book delved into the life of Prince Harry and Meghan and their relationship with Prince William and Kate Middleton. According to reports, Buckingham Palace was "blindsided" with their shocking announcement to step down as the members of the Firm, especially since not a single member of the royal family knew about their decision. The departure of the Sussexes forced the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to step up and fill the void left by the runaway royals. During the onset of the global pandemic, William and Kate were at the forefront of the monarchy as they successfully showed support for their patronages and reached out to key workers amid the health crisis. As a result, the 94-year-old monarch praised the couple's dedication and hard work and "couldn't be prouder" of the two, per Us Weekly. However, the recent events and revelations raised the question on whether the Queen was playing favorite to the Cambridges while being harsh at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Prince William and Kate Middleton Has Less Drama "Megxit" is said to be one of the biggest scandals in modern royal history that brought chaos to the monarchy. Unfortunately, the longest-reigning monarch wants to keep things low-key. With that said, according to Us Weekly, the Queen has shown her admiration to William and Kate for their "lack of drama." "Queen Elizabeth finds it refreshing that there's never any drama or scandal surrounding Kate and William. In her eyes, they're the perfect suitors for the position. She adores Kate," a source told the news outlet. The Cambridges Are 'Perfect Fit' to Rule the Monarchy Aside from the fact that the Cambridges have a less controversial life than the Sussexes, the Queen is also said to be confident that the royal couple would be a "perfect fit" to take the throne and the reins of the monarchy. Furthermore, in the same Us Weekly report, the source noted that Queen Elizabeth II is "already relegating royal duties" to Prince William and Kate Middleton -- which includes "visiting hospitals and organizations and meetings with influential power players." The Sussexes Would "Eclipse" Prince William and Kate Middleton's Popularity In the Channel 5 documentary "Meghan: The New Revelations" by Russell Myers and Afua Adom, extracts from "Finding Freedom" and how it affects the Sussexes' popularity were discussed The royal experts claimed that Buckingham Palace was worried that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would "eclipse" the popularity of the "golden couple." "I think they were particularly worried about William and Kate, that they might become more popular than them. I think they just couldn't stand the idea of that. They couldn't stand the idea of this young modern couple, half of which is African American potentially being more popular than William and Kate who were their golden couple," Adom explained. READ MORE: Britney Spears NOT in Danger: Sam Asghari Reveals Truth About GF Amid Health Concerns NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine has decided to accelerate the growth of hydrocarbon production at the Alam El Shawish East area in Egypt's Western Desert, as well as the implementation of major infrastructure projects, the company's press service has reported. An annual meeting of shareholders of Petrosannan Company - a joint operating company of Naftogaz of Ukraine and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) was held in Cairo. "The board and the supervisory board of Naftogaz have set us a clear task - the development of assets in Egypt. We have to fulfill this task well. This area and, in particular, improving the financial and economic performance of the project, are our priorities," First Deputy CEO at Naftogaz Sergiy Pereloma said. Representatives of Naftogaz also had a separate meeting with Alaa Abd El Fattah Kassem El Batal, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope). The company is a partner under concession agreements on oil and gas exploration and development at the Wadi El Mahareeth and South Wadi El Mahareeth areas in Egypt's Eastern Desert. The parties discussed the current state of joint projects and the possibility of developing new concession areas in Egypt. To organize coordinated cooperation of all stakeholders on current and future Naftogaz projects in Egypt, Pereloma also met with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt Tarek El Molla. "I would like to note the constructive position of all parties during this meeting. The minister assured us that Naftogaz is a very important investor for Egypt. He also noted that both the ministry and Egyptian concession partners support all Naftogaz initiatives aimed at improving investment efficiency. He also gave respective instructions," Pereloma said. op Hundreds of residents of Vacaville tried to make sense of tragedy Wednesday after being routed from their homes by a lightning-caused fire that raged over hilltops, crackled through dry grasslands and engulfed homes as firefighters struggled to keep up with the flames. The refugees huddled together at evacuation centers and other safe places and recounted their middle-of-the-night fear as the LNU Lightning Complex fire raged toward their neighborhoods. It was scary, said Danyel Conolley, who gathered the essentials dogs, photos, laptop by flashlight as a wall of orange flames moved toward her house. It was surreal. The horizon was completely orange. The flames were about a quarter-mile away. The cluster of 20 blazes making up the fire raced out of control Wednesday through Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties, but it was Vacaville that took the brunt Wednesday morning, with numerous evacuations as dozens of homes and other structures were swallowed by flames. The fire exploded from 46,225 acres in the afternoon to 124,000 by evening, with zero containment. It swept into Vacaville from the northwest, forcing Conolley and her husband, Kenny, out of their home on Oak Hill Court, in north Vacaville. Smoke and ash were everywhere and the power was out, so they scrambled in the dark, cramming stuff into suitcases and loading their two small dogs, Buddy and Sugar, into the car. Their 16-year-old daughter, Ella, rushed back from a friends house to help. Now Playing: A house is engulfed in flames along Pleasant Valley Road in Vacaville, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fire passes through on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Video: Scott Strazzante The Chronicle I was running around in circles, Danyel Conolley, 47, said. I couldnt piece together a rational thought. I forgot to pack a lot of things. I forgot my deodorant. I wish I remembered my deodorant. Jimmy and Gina Santos also had to crawl around in the dark inside their smoke-filled house after their adult son, Jimmy, woke them and told them the hillside they lived on was on fire. The Santos family packed the kids, dogs and cat and important documents and headed down the hill in their truck, leaving the home they bought only a few months ago to its fate. Man, the flames looked scary, said Jimmy Santos, 46, from the Lighthouse Baptist Church parking lot on Gibson Valley Road, where he parked his truck with his wife, 11-year-old daughter, Ava, and cat, Lily. It was a big wall of flames coming down the mountain. As he spoke, his wife wept in the drivers seat. Thats like my dream home, Gina Santos said between sobs. We worked very hard to get it, and I just hope we can save it. The LNU Lightning Complex fire was one of dozens of lightning-caused blazes raging through the Bay Area and Northern California after a rare tropical heat wave brought powerful thunderstorms at the tail end of a dry summer. So far the fire has destroyed 105 structures and damaged 70 others. As the flames approached Vacaville, police and firefighters sounded bullhorns and sirens, going door to door and ordering people to evacuate. Now Playing: The Hennessy Fire in Napa Valley has grown to 2,700 acres with zero containment. The fire burns along Highway 128 eastbound and westbound. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Erika Carlos Many evacuees retreated to a small patch of land near an orchard on Pena Adobe Road, east of Interstate 80, as an orange blaze engulfed Mount Vaca. By late morning, multiple homes on Pleasants Valley Road had been destroyed. Joe Inocencio said he and his wife, Debra, considered staying put, given that he had cut all the vegetation and built a fire break around their home on Gibson Canyon Road. They changed their mind and groggily packed up their three parrots and three dogs after a policeman woke them up at 4 a.m., shouting, Get out! The couple learned from a neighbor who texted them a photograph that the fire came within 100 yards of their front door, but their home was spared. I was thinking, Man, we should just stay here. Weve got water hoses all over, said Joe, 59, as a parrot perched on his shoulder outside the Vacaville Senior Center. Really, what can you do? You cant change whats going on. Emily Bennett, 22, stood with her mother, Cindy, and her grandparents outside the McBride Senior Center in Vacaville on Wednesday morning after the family evacuated from their home at 2:30 a.m. The whole sky was orange and red, said Bennett, who was alerted to the danger after an unknown person pounded on the door and yelled for them to leave immediately. It was very apocalyptic scary. The family had no time to grab anything. They dont know if their home survived. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California The harried and pajama-clad residents of Pleasants Valley Road, which was evacuated along with all connecting streets, said they could see hilltop homes burning off English Hills Road, which was transformed into an ashy wasteland of charred brush and gray ash. Residents rushed to one anothers aid as the wall of flames approached. Tim Plowman rushed back from a camping trip in Yosemite after hearing about the fire, only to be evacuated from his home in the Orchard area of Vacaville. I already know five people whose houses burned down, Plowman said as he stood on the roof hosing down the home of an elderly resident of Serenity Hills Road, a quarter-mile from his home. His son and friends hitched up a trailer and packed up valuables for the man, whose grandson is Plowmans neighbor. Not everybody was lucky enough to hear the sirens and alerts. Sharon Spratt and her husband, Robert, didnt know they were in danger until their daughter called from Oklahoma at 5:01 a.m. and said she had heard about a fire on social media. They were among hundreds of evacuees gathered inside and outside the Ulatis Community Center, virtually all of them waiting to hear whether their homes had survived. Were ... hoping for the best, said Sharon Spratt, sitting in a lawn chair outside the evacuation center with her husband. You cant predict what will happen. The looming catastrophe comes as California struggles to control the coronavirus pandemic. In a year filled with tragedy, it wasnt surprising to many people that the gods would kick people when they are down by sending an inferno through their neighborhoods. These days, said Plowman, the man who went to the aid of his neighbors grandfather, anythings possible. Chronicle staff writers Matthias Gafni and Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this story. Dustin Gardiner, Steve Rubenstein and Peter Fimrite are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner, @steverubeSF, @pfimrite Superintendents leading 10 Houston-area school districts penned a letter this week opposing Harris Countys recommendations for reopening campuses, arguing that face-to-face instruction should resume earlier than county health officials suggest. In their two-page letter, the superintendents say guidance released last week by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Public Health Executive Director Umair Shah would keep campuses closed too long, denying valuable in-person class time to students. In response, county officials said it remains too early to reopen school buildings and the superintendents misinterpreted the guidance. Superintendents are not required to follow the countys recommendations, though the guidance serves as a key document in the debate over when to restart in-person classes. It is clear that we all have the same goal, which is to return students to in-person instruction as safely as possible, the superintendents wrote to Shah on Monday. We thank you for the continued efforts of your departments on behalf of Harris County. With that said, we believe that the metrics outlined in the plan you have provided are not attainable to resume in-person instruction in the foreseeable future. The superintendents represent Clear Creek, Cy-Fair, Deer Park, Huffman, Humble, Katy, Klein, Pasadena, Spring Branch and Tomball ISDs. Combined, the districts serve about 457,000 students. As the new school year approached and superintendents debated when to resume in-person classes, some education leaders called on county health officials to offer guidance on reopening campuses. Hidalgo and Shah followed through by producing several public health benchmarks that they said should be met before any in-person classes resumed. The benchmarks included cutting the 14-day rolling average of new daily cases to under 400, bringing the test positivity rate under 5 percent and ensuring less than 15 percent of patients in ICU and general hospital beds are positive for COVID-19. Brett Coomer, Staff photographer / Houston Chronicle Harris County likely remains at least several weeks away from meeting those metrics. For example, the county recently reported a rolling daily average of about 1,060 new cases and a test positivity rate of 13 percent. Harris County Public Health has made it abundantly clear that current indicators are not safe to resume in-person school activities in Harris County due to COVID-19, agency officials said in a statement. HCPH has taken into consideration a variety of factors in making this decision, including the importance of in-person activities for students. Once the county reaches all initial benchmarks, schools could begin to reopen with up to 500 students or at 25 percent of capacity, whichever is lower. As conditions improve, schools could open up to 1,000 students or 50 percent capacity, whichever is lower. The county only recommends resuming regular classes for all students once a vaccine or other widely available COVID-19 medical countermeasure exists. In their letter, the superintendents only mentioned two specific health benchmarks with which they disagreed. The school leaders wrote that the recommendations would essentially require indefinite closure of schools to in-person instruction while awaiting a widely available COVID-19 medical countermeasure or greater staffing capacity at Harris County Public Health for contact tracing. However, the guidance specifies that districts could partially reopen even without a widely available medical countermeasure. In their statement, county officials said their recommendations do not mean that in-person activities for schools will be closed indefinitely until a vaccine is available and the pandemic is over. In addition, Harris Countys recommendations do not outline requirements for contact tracing staff levels as a condition of reopening schools, though county officials said it was one of the factors taken into account when developing metrics. Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Several superintendents did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday. None of the countys largest school districts have committed to keeping their campuses closed until Harris County meets all of the benchmarks outlined by Hidalgo and Shah. The judge and health director said school buildings should remain shuttered until each metric is met. I think the biggest challenge is just folks that want to reopen now, Hidalgo said last week. Thats not what this document is. The sense wasnt to go and try to find what kind of data point we can pick to lend credence to an early reopening. Only one of the 10 school districts, Humble ISD, has started to resume face-to-face classes. Humble ISD on Monday welcomed back students receiving special education services. However, the other nine districts tentatively plan to begin offering in-person classes at various times between Aug. 31 and Sept. 16. Some districts will start their school year in online-only classes before bringing students into buildings. Superintendents leading several of the countys largest school districts did not sign the letter, including those from Houston, Aldine, Alief and Spring ISDs. School districts have sporadically reopened across the country, with some quickly shuttering campuses temporarily after a student or staff member tested positive for COVID-19. In one case garnering national attention, about 2,200 out of 31,000 students attending in-person class in Georgias Cherokee County School District were quarantining after confirmed cases, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta. jacob.carpenter@chron.com Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Target (TGT) Target earned $3.38 per share for the second quarter, substantially above the consensus estimate of $1.62 a share. The retailer's revenue also beat forecasts, with comparable-store sales up 24.3% compared with a consensus FactSet estimate of a 7.6% increase. Target's digital sales nearly tripled compared to a year earlier. Lowe's (LOW) The home improvement retailer reported quarterly earnings of $3.75 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $2.95 a share. Revenue also came in above forecasts. Comparable-store sales were up 34.2%, more than double the 16.3% increase forecast by analysts polled by FactSet. Lowe's saw digital sales surge by 135%. Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced a deal to buy Momenta Pharmaceuticals for $6.5 billion in cash, or $52.50 per share. J&J said the deal would boost its presence in treatments for autoimmune diseases. Gilead Sciences (GILD) Gilead's experimental treatment for moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis will not be approved in its current form, according to a complete response letter from the Food and Drug Administration to Gilead. The letter asks for more data and expresses certain concerns about the treatment, but Gilead said it would address the FDA's issues and it still believes in the benefit/risk profile of the treatment. Southwest Airlines (LUV) Southwest said its cash burn rate during July was about $17 million per day, smaller than its previous $18 million forecast. The airline now estimates its third-quarter burn rate at $20 million per day compared with a prior $23 million estimate. The airline attributes the smaller cash burn to recent modest improvements in revenue trends. Oracle (ORCL) Oracle received verbal support from President Donald Trump in its efforts to buy the U.S. operations of Chinese video-sharing app TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) is also in negotiations with TikTok parent ByteDance, and The Wall Street Journal previously reported Twitter (TWTR) was also exploring a bid. Sony (SNE) Hedge fund Third Point sold its entire holdings of Sony American depositary receipts, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Third Point still owns a large amount of Sony's Japanese shares, however, a person familiar with the fund told Reuters. Blackstone (BX) The private-equity firm is set to buy the over-the-counter drug business of Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical for $2.37 billion, according to multiple published reports in Japan. Takeda is seeking to reduce debt following its $59 billion acquisition of Irish drugmaker Shire, which was completed in early 2019. Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE) Sorrento fired Chief Financial Officer Jiong Sharo, effective immediately. The California-based biotech company did not give a reason for Sharo's departure. Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT) Uber and Lyft are considering moving to a licensing model in California, according to The New York Times. By licensing their brands to vehicle fleet operators in that state, the ride-hailing companies would avoid having to reclassify their drivers as employees. La-Z-Boy (LZB) La-Z-Boy reported a profit of 18 cents per share, compared to forecasts of an 18 cents per share loss. The furniture maker's revenue did come in below analysts' estimates, however, amid a pandemic-induced 31% drop in sales. La-Z-Boy said sales have picked up as the summer has progressed. Agilent Technologies (A) Agilent reported quarterly earnings of 78 cents per share, 12 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts. The life sciences company's sales in its diagnostics and genomics units came in short of Wall Street projections. Jack Henry (JKHY) Jack Henry reported quarterly profit of 80 cents per share, 2 cents a share above estimates. The provider of payment processing technology saw revenue fall short of forecasts. The company is also projecting a full-year earnings outlook that is shy of consensus. TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- African Gold Group, Inc. (TSX-V: AGG) (AGG or the Company) would like to announce that the Company continues to monitor the evolving political situation in Mali. Operations at Kobada Gold Project in Southern Mali remain unaffected and the Company is continuing its preparations for the upcoming exploration program, with 2 drill rigs already on site. The health and safety of AGG's employees is our utmost priority. Regular updates will be provided as situation develops. About African Gold Group African Gold Group is a Canadian listed exploration and development company on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: AGG) with its focus on developing a gold platform in West Africa. Its principal asset is the Kobada Project in southern Mali. For more information regarding African Gold Group visit our website at www.africangoldgroup.com. For more information: Danny Callow President and Chief Executive Officer +(27) 76 411 3803 Danny.Callow@africangoldgroup.com Scott Eldridge Non-Executive Chairman of the Board (604) 722-5381 Scott.Eldridge@africangoldgroup.com Daniyal Baizak VP Corporate Development (416) 861-2267 Daniyal.Baizak@africangoldgroup.com Cautionary statements This press release contains forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forwardlooking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding, the partnership with SAFE. Generally, forwardlooking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forwardlooking 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 AGG to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forwardlooking information, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages and other risks of the mining industry. Although AGG 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. There can be no assurance that such information 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 forwardlooking information. AGG does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. NEITHER 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. Today is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. However, Black women continued to face many barriers before they could vote. President Donald Trump has announced that he'll grant a posthumous pardon to Susan B. Anthony, who was convicted of voting illegally as a woman. This gesture will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment being added to the Constitution. But, in its inception, the 19th amendment didn't cover all women. "For many African Americans, the movements reputation for discriminating against or dismissing Black suffragists and the long history of discord between white and Black feminists do not inspire enthusiasm for the anniversary celebration," as reported by The Undefeated. The history of suffrage looked much different in Texas, and across the South. The 19th amendment was ratified on August 18 1920, but African American women continued working for years after that to exercise their right to the vote. According to Houston Public Media, "in 1923, Texas created the white primary, an additional institutional barrier that turned away black voters until 1944. The state determined the Democratic party was a private organization, which cleared the way for Democrats to allow only white people to vote in the primary. Thurgood Marshall, then a civil rights attorney at the NAACP, took a Houston lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Smith v. Allwright. When he won the case, the Texas white primary was declared unconstitutional. African American women did critical work to support that effort." But the fight for the right to vote for African Americans didn't stop there. It wasn't until 1964 that the 24th amendment that the U.S. Constitution prohibited a poll tax in federal elections, and in 1965 the voting rights act passed, which prohibited racial discrimination against voters. While this may seem as a large victory, it still wasn't until a year later that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that poll taxing was unconstitutional in all elections. Texas, a Southern state at the epicenter of slavery and segregation, still remained one of the last five states to require a poll tax. Hindering Black women, or poor white women the opportunity to exercise their right. "Black women like Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell and all of the founding members of the then recently organized Delta Sigma Theta Sorority fought two battles -- one for their gender and another for their race within that gender. During this time period of the ratification of the 19th amendment, Black women remained disenfranchised," as reported by The Skanner. But what's missing from history's main story line, is that while Susan B. Anthony may have been the figurehead of a movement, there were significant other women who played a role in all women having the right to vote. In a video created by The New Georgia Project, the creators depicted the history of the entire women's suffrage movement. In the video, Nse Ufot, executive director of The New Georgia Project narrates, "Black women were intersectional, way before y'all made it cool." Let's not whitewash the history of women's suffrage. WHITMORE LAKE, MI Robert Master Bob Bashara who was convicted to life in prison for arranging his wifes murder died this week - more than five years after he was sentenced, the Associated Press reports. Bashara was a former Rotary Club president in suburban Detroit. He died Monday at a hospital, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz, who declined to offer additional details. The 62-year-old was last housed at Woodland Center Correctional Facility in Livingston County, the report said. Bashara was accused of hiring a handyman to kill his wife, Jane Bashara, so he could devote more time to cavorting with other women who shared his desire for sexual bondage and domination, the report said. Jane Bashara was strangled to death in the couples garage in Grosse Pointe Park in 2012. Her body was found in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley, the report said. Robert Bashara denied involvement in his wifes death and pleaded not guilty to charges in the case. However, the highly publicized case revealed he was living a double life a Rotary president and son of a late judge and using a sex dungeon under the Hard Luck Lounge bar to dabble in bondage and domination, the report said. He vowed in court in 2015 to fight for justice and truth until his last breath. READ MORE: Police release name of man who died in U.P. waterfall accident Womans body found in trunk of burning car Gov. Whitmer mouths expletive on hot mic while waiting to deliver DNC speech Joe Bidens choice of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate is rightly heralded as a historic moment for Black women. For the first time, a Black woman is the presumptive nominee of a major party ticket. This moment comes 100 years after women gained the right to vote with the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 and 55 years after the Voting Rights Act guaranteed the ability of Black people to exercise their franchise. Harris rise reflects her own long list of qualificationsdistrict attorney of San Francisco; first African American and first woman attorney general of California; second African American woman and first South Asian American in the U.S. Senate. But her risehastened in part by this summers national protests that likely factored into Bidens decisionalso has deep historical roots in the extensive record of Black womens political activism in the U.S. For example, Harris nomination comes over six decades after Charlotta Bass made history as the first Black woman to run as a vice presidential candidate in 1952. Joining the Progressive Partys ticket, Bass championed social and economic justice. Black women have always functioned at the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality and ability. Likewise, Black women have historically fought on multiple fronts from abolitionism and suffrage to equal rights and civil rights. Even before enslavement was abolished, Black women played vital roles in social justice movements. Enslaved women led labor strikes that shut down plantation operations for weeks, went to court and petitioned for their freedom and won, and dressed as men and went to war in the name of liberty. Abolitionists like Sojourner Truth, Henrietta Purvis, Harriet Forten Purvis and Sarah Parker Remond were avowed suffragists who passionately advocated womens right to vote. After the Civil War, masses of Black women organized suffrage campaigns throughout the country in cities as wide-ranging as Tuskegee, Alabama; St. Louis; Los Angeles; Boston; New York and Charleston, South Carolina. Story continues On Wednesday, Harris will address her partys virtual convention from Wilmington, Delaware, (Bidens hometown) and formally accept a nomination that enshrines her place in history. But in ascending to this point, Harris is also heir to a deep and underappreciated legacy in American political life: the Black women who, over the past century, fought to claim their rightful share of American political power, and the Black women voters who have been key to holding those gains. Their history also offers a glimpse of the kind of pushback Harris will face (and has already faced) from people who still are not comfortable seeing Black women in positions of power. This was something former first lady Michelle Obama addressed in her remarks on opening night of the Democratic National Convention: Now, I understand that my message wont be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention. She recognized that her presence as a woman of color shapes how some people view her. But Black women persist. As early as 1918, Alice Sampson Presto, who had worked as a secretary for the Seattle branch of the NAACP, was the first Black woman to run for a seat in a state legislature. Even then, Presto had a progressive and arguably feminist platform. She campaigned on equal pay regardless of gender; she advocated a cost-of-living increase in widows pensions; and she believed that taxpayers children should not have to pay tuition at state institutions. Though Presto lost, she broke new ground in terms of Black womens engagement with the electoral process. And those efforts were met with fierce resistance. After 1920, Black women redoubled their efforts with renewed vigor. Just as white supremacists worked tirelessly to suppress the Black vote, Black women worked equally as hard to make sure that their votes counted. Black women organized voter registration drives wherever they could, including states such as California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Kansas and Colorado. Still, in large parts of the South, white supremacists used violence, racial tyranny and things like poll taxes to disenfranchise masses of Black voters. In response to the conditions, Black women, through the National Association of Colored Women and the NAACP, provided information and testimony in 1920, to support legislation proposed by Massachusetts Representative George Holden Tinkham. The Tinkham bill aimed to expose the systematic repression of Black voters in the South by forcing states to use the actual number of votes cast rather than population as the basis of congressional reapportionment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bill was defeated, but this did not stop Black women from continuing to organize against voter suppression. Soon after, Black women formed the National League of Republican Colored Women (NLRCW), with the energized motto, We are in politics to stay and we shall be a stay in politics. Renowned Black educator Nannie Helen Burroughs served as president, and prominent Black activist Mary Church Terrell was treasurer. Together, they informed voters about candidates and also made the rounds to reassure the more devout within their ranks that casting a ballot did not interfere with Christian values. Burroughs in particular toured with candidates, visited Black churches and played a vital role in fundraising for upcoming elections. The NLRCW tried to use Black womens concentration in the Republican Party (then still regarded as the party of Lincoln) as a voting bloc, but they would eventually grow frustrated with the general lack of acknowledgment for their party loyalty. Increasingly, Black women moved away from the Republican Party, which remained inactive on civil rights. By the 1930s, the NLRCW had disbanded and more and more Black voters gravitated toward the Democratic Party. It also helped that first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was sympathetic toward civil rights and had a rapport with Mary McLeod Bethune, who, among her many accomplishments established the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. Bethune later became director of the Negro Division of the National Youth Administration, effectively becoming the first Black woman to lead a federal agency. Moreover, where Alice Presto failed, Shirley Chisholm succeeded in not only becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress in the late '60s, but also, she was the first Black woman to run for president in 1972. Left: Shirley Chisholm. Right: Barbara Jordan. Black women political activists have made significant policy interventions to address the needs of the poor and working class, and otherwise disadvantaged. For example, in 1966, Barbara Jordan became the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives from the Deep South where she called the nation back to its principles at every opportunity. Like the women before her, she was always concerned about the poor, thus it is no surprise that she used her role as a Texas state legislator to help pass the states minimum wage law and played a vital role in erecting the Texas Fair Employment Commission. She also spoke powerfully at the opening of President Richard Nixons impeachment hearing when she declared: I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution. Like Jordans commanding remarks nearly 50 years ago, Kamala Harris also participated in an impeachment hearing of a sitting president. A week before that hearing, Harris made the following remarks: I speak to you today, fully aware that I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me in our nations ongoing fight for equality. I speak because I was raised by people who spent most of their lives demanding justice in the face of racism, misogyny, bigotry and inequality. I speak because I have dedicated my entire career to upholding the rule of law and bringing integrity to our system of justice. Harris began by recognizing the activists before her. But as we learned in earlier movements, everyday Black women also facilitate important changes. Women like Sandra Bundy, a corrections worker who in 1977 laid the legal framework for combating workplace sexual harassment when she successfully sued the Washington, D.C., Department of Corrections. Although she initially lost the case, Bundy appealed and remained in court for five years, taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court where she was victorious. A single working mother, Bundy had been routinely harassed and propositioned as an employee. Her federal suit helped establish sexual harassment as an unacceptable form of sex discrimination and paved the way for Anita Hill decades later, and women in the #MeToo movement today. Yet even as Black women have been at the forefront of political and social activism, many found themselves on the receiving end of harsh criticism from inside and outside of the Black community. Chisholm was marginalized by the media, her campaign materials were routinely vandalized, she faced criticism for supposedly taking power from Black men and she was nearly attacked by a knife-wielding maniac. Navigating racism and restrictive gender codes could be perilous terrain indeed, a difficulty that has clearly endured. Today, as we celebrate the centennial of womens suffrage, we witness the ways female elected officials such as Harris, and Reps. Karen Bass, Val Demings, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee exist on a historical continuum with their Black women forerunners. They too have received harsh criticism, evidence of just how little has changed. Black women elected officials continue to be denigrated, not for their political positions or legislative actions, but rather for supposedly being too ambitious and formidable or angry. They are also regularly subject to racist insults about their physical appearance. Moreover, in spite of Black womens historic and ongoing robust voter turnoutlargely in support of the Democratic PartyBlack women as a group remain among the least served by the electoral process. The record numbers of Black women in political office is heartening, but clearly, like their predecessors, Black women politicians, activists and everyday citizens must remain vigilant in their efforts to beat back voter suppression, to stop police brutality and to seek justice is cases like that of Breonna Taylor, as well as to continue to fight for quality health care, housing and education for all Black women. Morneau said that he resigned because he did not intend to run in the next election and that it was time for a new finance minister to chart the countrys long-term economic recovery. Opposition lawmakers charged that he was Trudeaus sacrificial lamb and that his resignation was tied to the ethics controversy. Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama made a daring educational decision in June: She would fund a statewide student testing and technology program to help public universities and colleges reopen for in-person classes. Now, as Alabama college students start those classes this week and next even as local virus rates remain high, that program one of the nations largest campus reopening efforts is facing the ultimate test. The sweeping endeavor, led by the states public health department, along with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a leading academic medical center, focuses on testing more than 160,000 students for the virus before they arrive at 59 local colleges and universities. The students must also wear masks and follow social-distancing guidelines, and many will be required to use a daily symptom-checking app developed by U.A.B. On Monday, the university released a second app, which can alert students to possible virus exposures. But even university leaders acknowledge the effort is a high stakes experiment that could set off new outbreaks in a state with one of the nations highest per capita infection rates. Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist known for headline-grabbing stunts after getting kicked off social media platforms, won a Florida GOP primary on Tuesday - and then was quickly congratulated by her district's most famous official resident. President Donald Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Loomer's district, retweeted at least four posts about her win and tweeted himself, "Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!" Trump's public support for a candidate who once called herself a #ProudIslamophobe, has called Muslims "savages," and has contributed to conspiracy site Infowars drew quick backlash from some critics. "Trump supporting anti-Muslim bigot and fringe extremist Laura Loomer. Congrats, Republicans. This is what you've become," tweeted Wajahat Ali, a New York Times opinion contributor. As The Washington Post's Rachael Bade and Isaac Stanley-Becker reported, the GOP is struggling to navigate Trump's embrace of fringe candidates who have made statements denigrating Americans' religions and ethnicities. That tendency was also on display last week when the president backed Marjorie Taylor Green, a Georgia GOP candidate who openly backs the QAnon conspiracy theory. Among the tweets Trump shared on Tuesday night was a post from Greene with a photo of her posing alongside Loomer and a demand that Twitter reinstate Loomer's account. Loomer, who has denied any association with QAnon, has been banned from numerous social media platforms, including Twitter, which kicked her off in 2018 over posts about Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Muslim faith that Twitter said violated their policies against hateful conduct. She has since styled herself a free-speech activist, and once handcuffed herself to Twitter's New York headquarters to demand the return of her account. Her bid for Congress, which has been supported by recently pardoned Trump ally Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, raised a startling $1.1 million - far more than the five other candidates bidding for the Republican ticket in a district that includes parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties. In the general election, she'll face a far more difficult battle against four-term Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel, who will be heavily favored in the traditionally blue district. Republicans in the area have largely embraced her candidacy, which she tied to Trump's campaign promises of law and order. Both the president and first lady Melania Trump cast absentee ballots in the race, though neither have said whom they voted for. "I've been saying for a while that she was the front-runner and tonight is no surprise," Michael Barnett, chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, told The Washington Post on Tuesday. "Look forward to working with her to help her get elected to Congress and defeating Lois Frankel." But some Republicans also pushed back on her primary victory, including JT Lewis, a Trump supporter and recent GOP candidate for Connecticut state Senate whose brother was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. Lewis said he objected to Loomer's work with Infowars, which spread false claims that the murder of 20 children and six staff members at the school was a hoax and aired similar claims about the Parkland mass shooting. "Laura Loomer is a Parkland and Sandy Hook hoaxer. She has no place in the Republican Party I know!" Lewis tweeted on Tuesday night. CSOL Holding Ltd. will announce the results for the second quarter 2020 on Tuesday, Aug 25, 2020. In connection with the release, a telephone conference will be held at 9:00 a.m. (Lima) as described below. The presentation will be published at 8:00 a.m. (Lima) and will be available on the Company's website. In connection with the earnings release Jorge Ramirez Rubio, CEO, and Andres Colichon Sas, CFO, will host a conference call presentation and a Q&A session at 9:00 a.m. (Lima). To participate in the conference call, please use the following numbers: London, UK Local +0800 028 8438 US/Canada International +1 409 981 0728 Zurich, Switzerland, Local +044 580 1733 Oslo, Norway, Local +47 2396 4173 Colombia, National Free Phone +01 800 518 5094 Chile, National Free Phone +56 800 914 686 Peru, National Free Phone +51 0800 71470 Participants will be asked for their name and conference ID. The Camposol conference ID is: 4575897 Audio access for the meeting is available by dialing the above-mentioned numbers. To access the presentation webcast in connection with the conference call, please use: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/wmidijep Participants are advised to log on to the service and check their configuration well ahead of the telephone conference commencement. For further information, please contact: Andres Colichon Sas, CFO acolichon@camposol.com.pe Milagritos Olivero, Controller molivero@camposol.com.pe Phone: +511 621 0800 Ext.: 7171 About CAMPOSOL CAMPOSOL is a vertically integrated producer of branded fresh and healthy food that offers high quality, healthy and fresh food to consumers around the world, based on a sustainable management model. CAMPOSOLs portfolio includes superfoods like blueberries, avocados, mandarins, among others. Additionally, our international commercial platform is responsible for the commercialization of the products of these two units, with offices in the US, The Netherlands, and China. CAMPOSOL guarantees the full traceability of its products and is committed to supporting sustainable development through social and environmental responsibility policies and projects intended to increase the shared-value for all its stakeholders. On the strength of this value proposition, CAMPOSOL's commercial offices have established long-term relationships with the top worldwide supermarket chains and service them directly. Story continues CAMPOSOL is also an active member of the Global Compact since 2008. It presents annual Sustainability Reports aligned to the GRI Methodology and has achieved the following international certifications: BSCI, Global Gap, IFS, HACCP, and BRC among others. To learn more about CAMPOSOL please visit: www.camposol.com.pe COP/Mr. Kofi Boakye 19.08.2020 LISTEN The Police Administration yesterday organized a day's workshop on the management of electoral offences vis-a-vis the prosecution of culprits for selected senior law enforcement officers. The capacity building activity, while appropriate, comes on the heels of the call by the National Peace Council's on the IGP to have criminal occurrences which took place during the just-ended voter registration exercise investigated and culprits processed. The coincidence is as instructive as it is auspicious, and we wish to commend both the Peace Council and the Police Administration for their moves. One of the factors which provides an impetus for the repetition of criminal activities and enhances impunity is the tendency by law enforcement not to prosecute 'political cases'. If such a trend is not a symptom of political backwardness, we do not know how else to describe it. Every election has had a baggage of instances of electoral offences, none of which, especially those related to top-notched politicians, have been exhaustively processed because they were dubbed 'political cases.' In the case of the recent voter registration exercise, the infractions were relatively minimal because of the measures put in place by the Electoral Commission (EC) and above all the burning desire by Ghanaians to have a Ghanaian-only voter register. The few infractions recorded, though, made headlines because of their peculiarity as in Banda and elsewhere. That is why investigating and prosecuting where necessary would be a step in the right direction the future deterrence factor valueless. The EC, it would be recalled, had repeatedly stretched its hands to the security agencies with a view to joining them to deal with electoral infractions. Our democratic gains would be compromised if we allow such offences to fester during our polls. With a strong resolution on the part of relevant state institutions and Ghanaians in general alongside the propensity to investigate and prosecute offenders, breaches would soon be a thing of the past. It is unfortunate that law enforcement has come to live with the erroneous thinking that politicians regardless of which part of the divide they belong must be let off the hook when they breach the law. COP/Mr. Kofi Boakye's assurance during the one-day workshop that electoral law breaches would be investigated and culprits processed according to the law established is heartwarming even as we take it with a pinch of salt. If his word comes to fruition, that would be first timer and we shall clap for law enforcement. Perhaps another opportunity has reared its head through the Banda and other debacles for law enforcement to make good its 'commitment' to apply the law regardless of whose ox is gored. Until we begin to see such actions or law enforcement walking its talk, we would be hard pushed to say 'bingo we are there.' Politicians would be contributing towards the enforcement of the law when they stop interfering in the work of the police. Interferences ranging from calls on investigators through their superiors to stay action or jumping to the media to claim there is political witch-hunting when the police start dealing with infractions constitute obstruction to law enforcement. We hope that the just-ended enhancement of knowledge about electoral offences workshop would be supplemented by a commitment by politicians to allow the law to rule. New Delhi: NASA is soon going to conduct a study on a big asteroid called 16 Psyche the cosmic riches of which could make fortunes of all the people living on Earth. Experts have claimed that the precious metals in the asteroid could be worth $10,000 quadrillion an amount that can technically make every person on the earth a billionaire (in dollar terms). Rich in gold and other precious metals, the 16 Psyche is situated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and measures some 200 km (130 miles). NASA had in February this year released a video on the Psyche Mission. A Wall Street research firm Bernstein had previously noted that the asteroid 16 Psyche may contain 17 million billion tones of nickel-iron - enough to satisfy mankinds current demand for millions of years, as reported by Reuters. NASA spacecraft to study asteroid 16 Psyche is reported to have recently passed its "critical design" phase. The mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for mission management, operations and navigation. The spacecraft's solar-electric propulsion chassis will be built by Maxar (formerly SSL) with a payload that includes an imager, magnetometer, and a gamma-ray spectrometer, a NASA statement said. NASA has given following timeline for its mission and events Mission Timeline: Launch: 2022 Solar electric cruise: 3.5 years Arrival at (16) Psyche: 2026 Observation Period: 21 months in orbit, mapping and studying Psyche's properties Mission Events 2022 - Launch of Psyche spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center, Florida 2023 - Mars Flyby of Psyche spacecraft 2026 - Psyche spacecraft arrives in asteroid's orbit 2026-2027 - Psyche spacecraft orbits the Psyche asteroid The scientific goal of the study, NASA said, is to understand a previously unexplored building block of planet formation: iron cores and explore a new type of world. For the first time, NASA said, it aims to examine a world made not of rock and ice, but metal. The health care activist Ady Barkan, who gained national prominence by advocating for Sen. Bernie Sanders Medicare for All plan, spoke in support of Joe Biden who opposes it during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. Barkan, who was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2016, is paralyzed and spoke on video using a computer-generated voice. "We live in the richest country in history, and yet we do not guarantee this most basic human right, said Barkan. Everyone living in America should get the health care they need, regardless of their employment status or ability to pay." Barkan mentioned a White House-backed lawsuit that could result in the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Without the protections for preexisting conditions provided by the ACA, a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated in 2016 that up to 52 million people could be denied coverage. Others would lose insurance if the Medicaid expansion that was adopted by dozens of states and by the District of Columbia is killed. Even during this terrible crisis, Donald Trump and Republican politicians are trying to take away millions of peoples health insurance, Barkan continued. With the existential threat of another four years of this president, we all have a profound obligation to act: Not only to vote, but to make sure our friends, family and neighbors vote as well. We must elect Joe Biden, he concluded. Each of us must be a hero for our communities, for our country, and then, with a compassionate and intelligent president, we must act together and put a bill on his desk: a bill that guarantees us all the health care we deserve. Before Barkans appearance, Democrats aired a video of Biden speaking with Americans dealing with health issues across the country. Ady Barkan speaks during the virtual Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2020. (via Reuters TV) While Barkan interviewed many of the major Democratic candidates during the primary and eventually endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and then Sanders, Biden declined to meet with him. They finally spoke in July of this year, after Biden had secured the nomination. Story continues You made clear your opposition to single-payer Medicare for All, Barkan said during the interview. But in recent months, 20 million Americans have lost their jobs, and many have lost their health insurance with it. Do you see a future where health insurance is no longer tied to employment? Will America ever have a single-payer system, where health care is guaranteed as a human right? Health care guaranteed as a human right, but taking away the right to have a private plan if you want a private plan, I disagree with, replied Biden. Biden opposes Medicare for All, which is supported by a majority of Democratic primary voters, and has said he would veto the bill if it made it to his desk as president. Biden has proposed fixes to the ACA, commonly known as Obamacare, and a public option, which would allow Americans to buy into a Medicare or Medicaid-style plan. However, last week, The Hill reported that Democrats are likely to attempt only moderate fixes to begin with. Obviously, we cant accomplish anything good with Republicans in control, said Barkan, when asked by the New York Times if he had concerns about Bidens opposition to broader health care reform. So I see my role, and the role of the progressive movement, as trying to get more and better Democrats elected to office, and then pushing hard to get them to promote justice and equity when they get there. While Sanders spoke at length Monday, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had brief remarks Tuesday, seconding Sanders nomination, the progressive wing of the party has so far been sidelined for much of the first two days of the convention, with more speaking time going to Republicans, such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Cindy McCain, widow of Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Peter Carozza is not entirely sure how he was selected for the job, but on Tuesday night the union president and retired firefighter declared on national television the Connecticut delegates votes for former Vice President Joe Biden. Its certainly a great honor, Carozza, a Wolcott resident and former 33-year veteran of the Waterbury Fire Department. I think its a great ticket. Joe Biden has always throughout his entire career supported firefighters and thats very important to us. In a short video, Carozza stood with Gov. Ned Lamont and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in front of a fire station to give all 75 of the states votes for Biden during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. Firefighters put our lives on the line every day to protect our neighbor, Carozza said. Its a badge of courage. But while we are protecting your family, we need a president who is committed to protecting ours and thats Joe Biden. He has the courage we respect and the commitment to working Americans we need now. On behalf of our Governor Ned Lamont, I am honored to cast Connecticuts 75 votes for our next president Joe Biden. Biden overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination for president Tuesday evening. The roll call is a staple of the Democratic National Convention, in which each state announces delegates for any and all presidential nominees. At in-person conventions, the roll call is a boisterous affair where a representative of each state brags his or her states best features. RELATED: Lamont urges delegates not to leave anything on the battlefield In 2016, in Philadelphia, Connecticut gave 44 delegates to presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and summoned attention with this boast: Madam Secretary, Connecticut the Constitution State, with a Democratic governor, and as the country has seen through the last few weeks, a walkout, a sit-in, and a filibuster, we have the most aggressive and progressive delegation in the Congress, Connecticut's roll call announcer said. We are the college home of the former and next President of the United States, but most importantly, the home of the pizza and the hamburger. On Tuesday night, the roll call was a 30-minute mix of live and pre-recorded video clips in which representatives spoke about their support for Biden or issues facing their state. Delegates announced the votes from scenic locations in 50 states and the U.S. territories. Carozza is president of the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters of Connecticut, representing 4,000 firefighters in the state. This year marks the fourth time hes been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. RELATED: How to watch the 2020 Democratic National Convention Other roll call announcers included an Alaska fisherman, an Arkansas chef, a Florida gun safety activist, a Kansas farmer and a Maryland college student, along with U.S. representatives, mayors and local officials. All across the nation Americans are answering that call to action, and tonight we hope viewers are inspired to see their neighbors overcoming Donald Trumps chaos and joining Joe Biden in his battle for the soul of our nation, said Joe Solmonese, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson Last Friday, it was widely reported by the media that farms in the Upper East region are under water following heavy rainfall and spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso. The spillage of the dam which began on August 10 is said to have destroyed food crops of mainly smallholder farmers who have been facing perennial flooding around this time annually through rainfall and spillage of the dam. Typically, crops such as rice, corn, soya bean, groundnuts and watermelon are all submerged in the affected area, according to our correspondent, Samuel Akapule, who toured some of the affected farms around the White Volta in the Upper East Region. We find it extremely sad that we have come a full circle to lament again over flooding of farms in that part of the country, something we have done consistently over several years with no solution in sight. Ever since the Bagre Dam was constructed several years ago, we recall that successive government have been unable to find solution to the problem that has been a major challenge for the farmers in the area. The latest attempt last year to solve the age old problem was the governments effort at constructing the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region. When completed, the multipurpose dam is expected to address three main issues, namely irrigation, hydropower generation and flood control. Ironically, the $993 million project which is being financed solely by the government has been on the drawing board since the early 1960s, and the sod-cutting ceremony performed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to get the project underwaywas thus considered historic. But until the project is completed, the smallholder farmers would continue to face the perennial flooding in the country especially in the northern part of the country. That is why, we at the Ghanaian Times, consider the situation in that area as a poor commentary considering the fact that the area whose predominant activity is agriculture also constitutes the food basket of the nation. Additionally, the smallholder farmers in the three northern regions are said to contribute not less than 80 per cent of the countrys domestic production. It is, therefore, unfortunate that annually, thousands of hectares of farmlands and variety of crops and livestock are destroyed through flooding. No doubt the impact of these floods is huge, diverse and well-known. What is worse is that these floods are man-made, self-made and, therefore, preventable. The question is why are we not doing what we have to do to stop and prevent the floods from destroying the farmlands and displacing farmers and thus affecting food production? The devastation caused by the spillage is having a negative impact on the livelihood of the people in the downstream and it is difficult to understand why the country has not been able to contain the excess water from the perennial heavy downfall of rains and the spillage of Bagre Dam over the years to augment agricultural productivity. What we need to do, therefore, is that the annual combined ritual of the Bagre dam spillage and massive downpours can be turned into a blessing through the construction of dams to collect and store the excess water that can be put to use all year round in sustainable agriculture production for the benefit of the people and the country at large. Source: Ghanaian Times Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Media Executive Marcel Heuer Joins New EMX Office in Hamburg HAMBURG, Germany, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ENGINE Media Exchange (EMX), ENGINE's fully owned, end-to-end technology and programmatic solution, purpose-built to evolve today's digital marketplace, announced today the appointment of Marcel Heuer as Director of Demand for DACH, in addition to the opening of a new branch office in Hamburg, Germany. With the opening of a branch office in Hamburg, one of the leading media locations in Germany, EMX is further strengthening the proximity to some of its core customers and partners in Austria, Switzerland, and the UK. EMX is headquartered in New York and has an office in London. "The decision to open the Hamburg office was strategically very important for our corporate development in the programmatic market within Germany. The expansion accelerates the growth not only of EMX, but for ENGINE as a company," said Jon Walsh, SVP Strategy Europe, EMX. In his new role as Director of Demand for DACH, Heuer, who is based in Hamburg, will manage and drive the expansion in the DACH market. He will be joining Harald Stueck who heads up supply in DACH. He will focus on strengthening international as well as national cooperation with leading media agencies, independent agencies and direct customers. He will also be responsible for business development and sales at ENGINE for the online SSP division. Marcel Heuer joins EMX from Quantcast Deutschland GmbH, where he worked for over five years in Hamburg and managed the sales office of Quantcast, the technology company specialising in audience measurement and real-time advertising, for national and international customers, agencies and publishers. Prior to that, Heuer was responsible for the marketing of rich media formats and native advertising at Teads. Before joining Teads, Heuer led the online unit of FOX Networks within FOX International Germany GmbH in Hamburg. "I am excited to join EMX's office in Hamburg in order to bring full transparency for the DACH programmatic market. Every day when I have spoken to clients, transparency alongside a short supply chain, has been the constant conversation. The smart DACH advertisers are beginning to demand this from their agencies, and EMX with its unique technology, fully transparent marketplace offering, low take rates, and cutting-edge tech stack delivers this," said Marcel Heuer. ABOUT ENGINE MEDIA EXCHANGE (EMX) ENGINE Media Exchange (EMX) is a leading, end-to-end technology and programmatic solution, purpose built to evolve today's digital marketplace. EMX brings truth, transparency and integrity to the programmatic ecosystem, solving key issues that have challenged the industry. It creates both open and closed-loop solutions designed to unify advertisers, platforms and publishers across digital media channels - including Advanced TV, Video, Display, Search and Social. While recognized as a leading global independent solutions provider for the digital marketplace - EMX is ENGINE's fully owned technology and programmatic solution and powers its media business. ENGINE is a global, full-service media and marketing services company that unites culture and commerce to move brands forward faster. Contact: Laura Czaja, laura.czaja@enginegroup.com The number and type of people using food banks has shifted over the last five months, revealing clues about how the pandemic is affecting Hamiltonians. Before the pandemic, we were feeding about 200 a day, said Antoinette Laffrenier, the operations manager at Kings Way Outreach Centre, a King Street East non-profit that supports people without stable housing. And now its going up to close to 300. Demand slowed in the early days of the pandemic, but began to increase dramatically in May, and hasnt stopped growing. One of the most significant trends has been the increase in households accessing the food bank for the first time. Laffrenier said the centre has seen a 15 per cent increase in new clients in the last few months. Young families, particularly recent newcomers to Canada, account for about 10 per cent, while seniors make up the rest. Laffrenier said first-time food bank users are often nervous because they dont know what to expect. Kings Way works to reduce stigma by not asking clients for personal information, such as pay stubs and bills. Everybody that comes to our door gets served because we feel at any given time in your life, you may need that food bank, she said. So regardless of whether they own a home or they own a car, were still going to service you because they could have lost their jobs and theyre still trying to make the payments on everything else. Welcome Inn Community Centre in Hamiltons north end served 1,037 unique households in just six months about 250 households more than expected. Executive director Jamie VanderBerg suspects the bulk of the increase is first-time food bank users people who were laid off or whose hours were cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of food bank visits and the overall amount of food distributed remains comparable to previous years. Theres more households who are accessing the food bank, but they are coming less often, he said. VanderBerg speculates that many regular clients are not coming in as frequently because they are receiving government benefits that didnt exist before, like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Because there was an influx of government money through various programs, they still needed to access the food bank and more different families accessed the food bank, but they had to do it less often, he said. Welcome Inn has been able to keep up with demand, but VanderBerg says their work is far from done. Traditionally, the curve of food bank use is delayed after an economic crisis, he said. So I would fully expect that our busiest times that are a result of the pandemic are going to be over the next year to year and a half as the economy settles back down and those jobs are recreated. Staff at Good Shepherds Venture Centre food bank are also preparing for a wave of post-pandemic demand. Good Shepherd saw a 33 per cent dip in food bank use almost immediately after the pandemic hit. In 2019, the centre was serving between 160 and 170 households a day. Now, they are serving between 100 and 120 households a day. I dont understand the numbers; why theyve dropped, program supervisor Mark Tennant said. I thought our numbers would continue to climb, but who would have known that wed be living through a pandemic. Tennant said hes worried that former clients have been forced out of the city due to rising housing costs or are receiving benefits that could push them into debt. Where are those people now? he said. Its really hard to put your finger on poverty sometimes. Few geopolitical contests are as mismatched as China and Taiwan. One is an authoritarian regional superpower of 1.4 billion people that boasts the world's largest standing army and spends more on its military than any other country except the United States. The other is a self-ruled democracy of 23 million, a comparative economic and military minnow that lives under the threat of constant invasion. The Taiwan Strait remains one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints. Tensions are on the rise again with the US sending its highest-level delegation to Taipei since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979. - Why are they enemies? - Taiwan and China split in 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island to set up a separate authoritarian government after losing a civil war on the mainland to Mao Zedong's communists. Both sides claimed to represent China and for the first three decades, the conflict remained hot with China regularly shelling Taiwanese islands close to the mainland. In the worst attack in 1958, the People's Liberation Army fired 470,000 shells for 44 days, killing 618 servicemen and civilians. As late as the 1970s, China was still bombarding the islands, although by then the shells were stuffed with propaganda leaflets. A detente set in, followed by a tacit agreement in the early 1990s where both sides settled on there being "one China" but agreed to disagree on what that meant. Since then, a more distinct Taiwanese identity has emerged that sees the island as a de facto independent state with a separate destiny from the Chinese mainland. - Where is Taiwan weak? - In sheer numbers and money, it is dwarfed by China's military. Taiwan has around 215,000 soldiers and a defence budget of $12 billion compared with China's estimated two million armed forces backed by a budget of $178 billion. China is a nuclear-armed state with a growing arsenal of state-of-the-art weaponry including advanced fighter jets, two aircraft carriers, and more on the way. Story continues It also has a growing number of missiles, some of them hypersonic, positioned just across the Taiwan Strait and more than 60 submarines, including nuclear-powered vessels. Taiwan's 300 or so fighter jets have all been in services since the 1990s. Its navy is massively outgunned by China's -- two of its four ageing submarines were built in the 1940s. - Where is Taiwan strong? - Military might is no guarantee of victory -- insurgents have managed to bog down US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan for two decades. Taiwan assesses that it does not need to match China dollar for dollar. It has long planned for asymmetric warfare, safe in the knowledge that defending an island is far easier than taking it. With many Western nations -- until recently -- reluctant to sell big-ticket military items lest they incur Beijing's wrath, Taiwan developed a vibrant and innovative domestic weapons industry. Comparatively cheap missiles, including some hypersonic variants, have become a big priority to make any Chinese invasion hugely costly. - What does China say? - Beijing continues to claim Taiwan and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. Under President Xi Jinping, it has become more aggressive, especially after the 2016 election as president of Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects the idea of a "one China" and sees Taiwan as a de facto sovereign state. Last year, Xi gave his most bellicose speech yet, warning that Taiwan's reunification with the mainland is "inevitable". Military drills have been ramped up with Chinese fighter jets routinely flying into Taiwan's defence zone. Xi faces pressure from hardline nationalists who see Taiwan's independence from the mainland as a slap in the face to the Chinese Communist Party. Despite the pressure campaign, Taiwanese voters re-elected Tsai for a second term earlier this year in a landslide. - What is America's role? - Washington is bound by Congress to provide Taiwan with arms to defend itself. It recognises Beijing as China's government but maintains a deliberately more opaque stance on Taiwan's future status, saying any change must be achieved peacefully. Since the mid-1990s, to placate China, US presidents were wary of selling major weaponry to the island, which frustrated Taipei. That has changed under President Donald Trump, who has greenlit a number of major deals, including 66 next-generation F-16 fighters and an upgrade to the island's Patriot missiles. Taiwan is also one of the few issues that generate bipartisan support in the Trump era, with two recent bills upgrading diplomatic ties and exchanges. aw/jta/qan/am/mtp The Namibian government is warning its citizens not to trust claims on social media that elephant dung can cure COVID-19, as coronavirus infections rise more rapidly. Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesman, Romeo Muyunda, told Reuters the government had observed that elephant dung was increasingly being touted as a COVID-19 cure. We have seen on social media people selling elephant dung at exorbitant prices. There is a whole hype around it, he said. Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said COVID-19 currently has no known cure. If anybody claims as such, it must be treated as a false claim, he told The Namibian newspaper. Some traditional healers say elephant dung has healing properties including for treating headaches, toothaches and blocked sinuses, but claiming it can cure COVID-19 is a new trend. The southwest African nation, which initially won praise for containing the spread of the Coronavirus, is now seeing a much faster increase in new infections. Its capital Windhoek recently overtook harbour town Walvis Bay as the viruss epicentre, and it now has 4,344 confirmed cases and 36 deaths, according to the latest official tally. 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 It is no exaggeration to say that there is now no guaranteed safe place in Trinidad and Tobago. We have moved from the stage of being prisoners in our homes behind metal bars to being afraid to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and even to sleep, for fear that if crime comes knocking we may have no recourse but to cower and beg for our lives. The society is being overpowered by the force of the criminal will with insufficient resources to resist and break that power. Former Moltin and Demandware executive brings track record of driving growth and innovation to industry leader in headless commerce BOSTON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Elastic Path, the leading headless commerce provider for digitally-driven brands, today announced that Jamus Driscoll has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Driscoll brings more than 20 years of senior leadership in digital commerce technology to Elastic Path. With a proven track record of driving rapid growth and product innovation, Driscoll will lead Elastic Path into its next phase, widespread market adoption of its microservices-based headless commerce solutions. Elastic Path's Founder and former CEO, Harry Chemko, will assume the role of Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, reporting to Driscoll. "The eCommerce market has reached a once-in-a-generation inflection point, as business and technology leaders demand full control over their digital growth strategies. The days of cookie-cutter webshops are over; it's time to realize a future where unique and ubiquitous digital commerce experiences power the next phase of growth," said Driscoll. "I'm thrilled to take the helm at Elastic Path, and together with my colleagues, empower businesses to fully realize their digital ambitions." The rigid nature of legacy eCommerce platforms is preventing brands from adapting to current market requirements. As a result, Gartner is advocating a new approach called Composable Commerce. Elastic Path is the only digital commerce technology provider capable of delivering the breadth of headless commerce capabilities needed to unlock the benefits of a Composable Commerce approach, with the trust and confidence earned by powering over $15 billion a year in mission-critical commerce revenue for the world's most innovative brands, like Intuit, Johnstone Supply, T-Mobile, Pella Windows and Doors, and over 250 other leading enterprise brands. Driscoll has a track record of leading growth at disruptive digital companies. Prior to Elastic Path, Driscoll was CEO of Moltin, the industry's first and only commerce solution born natively as headless microservices, which was acquired by Elastic Path in January 2020. Prior, Driscoll held a variety of marketing, product, and sales leadership roles at Demandware, a pioneer in enterprise-class SaaS commerce platforms, from startup, through IPO, and ultimately acquisition by Salesforce for $2.8b. "Jamus's experience driving rapid growth in the digital commerce technology sector will enable him to have an immediate impact on scaling the company's global market adoption," said Jeff Klemens, Partner at Sageview Capital and Chairman of the Board at Elastic Path. "Speaking for Elastic Path's Board of Directors, I know that Jamus's leadership and track record of building industry-leading software companies will accelerate Elastic Path well into the future." About Elastic Path Elastic Path is the company powering mission-critical digital commerce for the world's leading brands, such as Tesla, Intuit, Pella, Deckers Brands, T-Mobile, and over 250 other leading enterprises. As relentless innovators, Elastic Path pioneered the Headless Commerce space in 2011 and spearheaded Composable Commerce in 2020. Elastic Path provides industry-leading headless commerce solutions for digitally-driven brands to rapidly build, deploy, and continuously optimize highly differentiated commerce experiences. Elastic Path is a global company with offices in Boston, Newcastle, Reading, Toronto, and Vancouver. Learn more at www.elasticpath.com. SOURCE Elastic Path Related Links www.elasticpath.com VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel said on Wednesday it was unacceptable for Lufthansa unit Austrian Airlines to pay bonuses to its executives while taking bailout money, urging management to pay the bonuses back. Austria's conservative-led government agreed in June to pay the airline 450 million euros (406.5 million pounds) in grants and loans as it reeled from a collapse in air travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. In exchange, the airline pledged to protect Vienna as a Lufthansa Group hub. As details emerged this week of 2.9 million euros in bonuses being paid to roughly 200 managers this summer for their performance in 2019, opposition parties rounded on conservative Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel for failing to prevent the bonuses as part of the bailout deal. "To claim state aid for the company while having staff on shorter working hours and at the same time paying out bonuses as management is completely unacceptable," Bluemel said in a statement. "I expect management to pay back the bonus immediately." Austrian Airlines had no immediate comment. Pressure on Bluemel has been mounting over the bonuses. "I have never seen a Finance Minister as incompetent as Gernot Bluemel," the Social Democrats' infrastructure spokesman Alois Stoeger said in a statement on Tuesday, calling for a ban on bonuses in such situations. The far-right Freedom Party called on the airline's managers to renounce their bonuses. It and the liberal Neos party accused the government of negotiating poorly. "If in one of the biggest crises a company that can only continue to exist with hundreds of millions in state aid ... can pay out fat bonuses, then Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel have worked very poorly at the negotiating table," Neos economy spokesman Sepp Schellhorn said. (Reporting by Francois Murphy;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) Human Rights Watch has condemned Azerbaijans latest crackdown on opposition leaders and activists that followed a July 14 unsanctioned rally in the capital, Baku. Numerous people were detained on "spurious" charges that range from violating lockdown rules to an attempted coup, the rights group said in a statement on August 19. The latest wave of arrests in Azerbaijan follows the well-documented pattern of politically motivated arrests and prosecutions and threatens to decimate one of the countrys oldest opposition parties, said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The authorities should immediately end the crackdown, release those unjustly imprisoned, and investigate law enforcements conduct. Thousands of people attended the rally to support the countrys armed forces amid an escalation of tensions with neighboring Armenia. During a rally on the evening of July 14, a small number of people emerged from the crowd and briefly broke into the parliament building and damaged property before being removed by police. Authorities claimed it was an attempt masterminded by the opposition to violently overthrow the government. Dozens of activists were rounded up by police in the following days. Local activists said the number of those detained was at least 80 people, including 17 members of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), one the countrys oldest opposition groups. None of the detained APFP members was in the group that broke into the parliament, their lawyers said. Many were not even at the rally. The arrests followed a speech by the countrys longtime president, Ilham Aliyev, who accused the APFP of instigating the violence. He called the opposition traitors, enemies, and the fifth column and vowed to resolve the issue. Following minor clashes between a small group of protesters and police outside the parliament, security forces dispersed the crowd, using tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. Officials say at least seven officers were injured and 16 vehicles damaged. Citing defense lawyers and official documents, HRW said that 16 of the detained APFP members face criminal charges of using violence against an official, violating public order, and destruction of property. One is accused of spreading an infectious disease. Five detainees Asif Yusifli, Mammad Ibrahim, Fuad Gahramanli, Bakhtiyar Imanov, and Ayaz Maharramli are members of the partys presidium, a decision-making body. Gahramanli and Ibrahim face an additional charge of attempting to overthrow the government, punishable by up to 20 years or life in prison. Authorities in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation have long been criticized for frequently seeking to silence dissent by jailing opposition activists, reporters, and civil society advocates on trumped-up charges. On July 31, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's rapporteurs on Azerbaijan expressed grave concern about what they described as the troubling pattern of arbitrary arrest and detention of government critics. In his July 15 speech, Aliyev emphasized that he would not pay attention to criticism from the Council of Europe and other international organizations about the crackdown. HRW said that Azerbaijans international partners should not be intimidated by Aliyevs belligerent speech and should speak up against the crackdown. They should urge the authorities in Azerbaijan to do the right thing: End the crackdown and release all those unjustly imprisoned, Gogia said. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin will lead an ambitious new project with 10 other U.S. institutions and global partners that has significant implications for understanding human brain health. With support from the Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the team will examine newly discovered complexities related to synapses -- the tiny structures that form trillions of connections between nerve cells in the brain and allow us to think, sense, learn, act and remember. The partnership, which includes scientists in Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, hopes to explore new ways to define what determines the strength of synapses and what alters their strength. "Traditionally, synapses have been treated as on or off switches -- essentially, 1-bit machines -- but this assumption is wrong," said Kristen Harris, a professor in the UT Department of Neuroscience and the Center for Learning and Memory, who will lead the project. "Our team discovered that the information content stored in the size of a synapse can be much higher, already found to be greater than 4 bits in some brain regions. What this outcome means is that synapses are less like light switches and more like dimmer switches that can dial in the desired strength depending on need or mood." Because new research has found synapses to be far more varied and nuanced than neuroscientists believed five years ago, the new project will examine many aspects of what's known as synaptic weight (or strength). The international scientific team will explore variation among synapses, from the level of molecules to the level of circuits, to determine what differences among them mean for our basic understanding of the brain. Using multidisciplinary approaches, cutting-edge imaging technologies and cyber resources, the research team will generate data to predict how specific neural circuits form and function. Because recent research has uncovered the important role of differences in synaptic strength, the new project will explore how factors such as size, connectivity, volume, cellular resources and protein composition help shape these nanometer-sized structures and the effects that these differences have in the brain. "There's still so much we don't know about how the brain works, and one of the keys to unlocking those mysteries is finding out more about specific neural circuits," said NSF NeuroNex Program Director Floh Thiels. "This requires bringing together researchers from fields including chemistry, biology and computer science and engineering, and applying the latest analysis techniques to the data they produce. This has been a goal for neuroscientists for years, and what we will see from this network of researchers is a new chapter of international collaboration and coordination." To compare and map synaptic weights the team is developing a new form of electron microscopy called tomoSEM (tomographic scanning electron microscopy), which will be able to capture information in high resolution and across large field sizes as necessary for the research. Once completed in the Harris lab, tomoSEM will be implemented and tested across labs in this NeuroNex network, and ultimately it will be standardized for general use. The images and tools will be shared with the scientific community on a public website in collaboration with UT's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). NSF has awarded more than $50 million over five years to four interdisciplinary teams, including $17.5 million for the U.S. component of the team Harris is leading. Collaborators are Alice Ting at Stanford University; Mark Ellisman at the University of California, San Diego; Erik Jorgenson and Bryan Jones the University of Utah; Clay Reid at the Allen Institute for Brain Science; Davi Bock at the University of Vermont; Narayanan Kasthuri at the University of Chicago; Linnaea Ostroff at the University of Connecticut at Storrs; Terrence Sejnowski and Uri Manor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Joshua Vogelstein at Johns Hopkins University; and James Carson at TACC. In addition, Viren Jain at Google (US) will participate in this project. ### President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Wednesday broke the ground for the construction of a 32 million 100-bed District Hospital at Shama. The two-storey facility is to be fitted with a theatre with a 6-bed intensive care unit, a recovery ward, pharmacy, and laboratory. It would also have diagnostic services to include a CT scan, a public health department, hospital administration block, kitchen, laundry, maintenance and a logistics building, and a mortuary. The hospital would also have facilities such as meeting rooms, a library, stores, public health spaces, and offices for the district director and the health management team and sixteen-units of accommodation for hospital workers. Other components of the Hospital include an accident and emergency unit, an out-patient department with consulting rooms, physiotherapy unit, and adjunct facilities for dental, ophthalmology and ear, nose and throat treatments, in-patient wards for males, females and paediatrics, a maternity ward with a well-designed neo-natal intensive care unit, and three theatres for general cases, obstetrics and emergencies. At a short ceremony in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan district, President Akufo-Addo noted that the event "is yet another important milestone of Governments commitment to guarantee access to healthcare facilities for all Ghanaians, no matter where they live, and to improve their health and wellbeing. He said the facility, incompletion, would contribute to addressing the persistent challenges of high maternal and child health morbidity and mortality in the country. "It will also accelerate our progress towards the achievement of the SDGs through enhanced access to quality maternal and child health services, he said. The President disclosed that Government had secured an amount of 32 million from Standard Chartered Bank, with a credit guarantee from Sinosure China, and an insurance cover 1.96 million for the project. He assured the Chiefs and people of the area that the project "is a sign of greater things to come for Shama, and, indeed, for the whole nation. Governments commitment to the total development of Ghana is absolute." Hopefully, with four more for Nana, I expect that all of us, gathered here, will be present again, God-willing, for the commissioning of this project, once it is completed." He urged all partners, with a stake in the construction of the project, to work assiduously, and ensure that the project is delivered on time and budget. The facility is to be constructed by Poly Changda, which has extensive experience in China and other parts of Africa in the construction of healthcare facilities. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video (Natural News) An SUV-sized asteroid made the closest known flyby by such an object to Earth on Saturday, August 15. It flew over the southern Indian Ocean during its nearest dip into the atmosphere. Astronomers, however, only detected it six hours after its closest approach to Earth. Scientists at the Palomar Observatory in California were the first to spot the asteroid, called 2020 QG, at around 9:00 p.m. They said that the asteroid was already on its way further into space when they detected it. The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the sun, said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to Business Insider. We didnt see it coming. Closest asteroid flyby to Earth According to Chodas, the asteroid now holds the record for the closest flyby to Earth that did not result in an impact. The nearest it got to Earth was about 1,830 miles, which is less than one-fourth of Earths diameter. It was also a fast one, zooming into space at 27,600 miles per hour. NASA said that it was unlikely that the asteroid would have inflicted any substantial damage if it did impact the Earth. Asteroid 2020 QG is about 10 to 20 feet in diameter, which is about the size of an SUV. It would have disintegrated upon entering the atmosphere and only tiny fragments of it would have reached the ground. The last time a car-sized asteroid hit Earth was in 2018 in Botswana. Asteroid 2018 LA was hurtling at speeds averaging 38,000 miles per hour, eventually burning up in the atmosphere before it reached the ground. No damage was reported and only small fragments of the meteorite were found around the impact site. However, unlike 2020 QG, 2018 LA was detected well before it reached Earth. According to NASA, it was almost as far away as the Moon when it was discovered by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona. The early detection marked the third time scientists predicted that an asteroid is on a collision course to Earth. The other two were in 2008 in Sudan and in 2014 in the Atlantic Ocean, which were also detected by the Catalina Sky Survey. Every year, Earth is hit by an average of 6,100 meteors that are big enough to reach the ground. Notable catastrophic asteroid impacts Asteroids 2020 QG and 2018 LA are blips compared to previous asteroids that wreaked significant damage. One recent example is the 2013 meteorite impact in Russia that injured 1,600 people. The asteroid was estimated to be the size of an average house 10 times larger than asteroid 2020 QG. It traveled at nearly 40,000 miles per hour and released the energy equivalent of 440,000 tons of TNT, generating a shock wave that shattered nearby windows in the city of Chelyabinsk in southwestern Russia. The Chelyabinsk event drew widespread attention to what more needs to be done to detect even larger asteroids before they strike our planet, shared NASA Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson. A deadly instance of an asteroid impact is the Chicxulub impact event 65 million years ago. Scientists believe that it wiped out 50 percent of all species, including the dinosaurs, that were living at the time. The impact produced about a 100-million megaton blast in the Gulf of Mexico, sending an intense shock wave across the seas and deep into the continental interior. In comparison, the energy equivalent of the worlds nuclear arsenal is about 60,000 megatons. (Related: Astronomers conduct planetary defense exercise to prepare for extinction-level events.) It is estimated that the area significantly affected by the blast had a radius ranging from 560 to 1120 miles. And because the impact occurred at the sea, the blast caused a tsunami that crashed over the coastlines and reached farther across the proto-Caribbean and Atlantic basins. Scientists said that the likelihood of a devastating meteorite impact occurring in the next 100 years is slim. However, current forecasting technologies are limited; if last Saturdays close shave is any indication, then NASA and other space agencies seem unprepared to detect some upcoming asteroid collisions. Disaster.news has more on what could happen if a massive asteroid hits the Earth. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk BusinessInsider.com Space.com EarthSky.org CosmosMagazine.com NASA.gov Tulane.edu LPI.USRA.edu Debbie Bailey is buried next to her parents at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. Visiting the graves, from left, are Debbie's brother-in-law Dave Goldsworthy, sister Kathy Goldsworthy, niece Patricia Goldsworthy-Bishop and brother Jeff Bailey. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) As he scrolled through news stories online last month, Dave Goldsworthy came across an article about Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to commute the prison sentences of 21 violent felons. The last name on the governor's list stopped him cold: Thomas Waterbury. How can that be? Goldsworthy asked himself. Waterbury was supposed to live and die in prison. Forty years earlier, he had killed his wife as she slept. The judge left no doubt about his fate: Life in prison without the possibility of parole. But now, without warning, Waterbury had a chance at freedom. :: Before dawn on Christmas Eve in 1980, police were called to a modest stucco home on North Lancewood Avenue in Rialto. They found Waterbury crouched on the floor, clutching a green cloth to a chest wound. Saying something about a Mexican intruder, he pointed toward a bedroom, where his wife, Debbie, lay dying, blood streaming down her face from two gunshot wounds. Thomas Waterbury, in a 1986 prison photo, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his wife, Debbie. Gov. Gavin Newsom has commuted his sentence. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) "It was horrific. There was blood splatter on all four walls and the ceiling, recalled Terry Waterbury, Thomas' brother, who arrived in the aftermath of the attack and peered through a window. With no evidence to support his far-fetched claim of an intruder, suspicion quickly fell on Waterbury, then 22. Ten months later, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, finding he had killed his wife, in part to collect her $100,000 life insurance policy, then intentionally wounded himself with a gunshot to hide his guilt. An appeals court upheld the conviction and the judge's sentence. "You don't often see a crime that is calculated over such a long period of time and so cold-bloodedly executed," San Bernardino Deputy Dist. Atty. Raymond Haight III said at the trial. Debbie's family figured Waterbury's punishment was etched in stone. No parole, they assumed, meant just that. And in the vast majority of cases, it would have. But in California, as in many other states, governors have the power to erase or amend prison sentences in the name of mercy. Each year, inmates flood the governor's office with requests for clemency. A fortunate few see their wishes filled. Story continues But there are rules to how the governor must wield this immense power rules meant to protect victims and their families. Before a decision on Waterbury was to be made, state law required that the San Bernardino district attorney's office make an effort to notify Debbies relatives and give them an opportunity to be heard. That didn't happen. Though San Bernardino Dist. Atty. Jason Anderson received an email from state officials in October 2019, notifying him the governor was considering Waterbury's case, a series of bureaucratic fumbles followed. No one contacted the family. I dropped the ball on this, Anderson said in an interview. Dave Goldsworthy, left, Kathy Goldsworthy and Patricia Goldsworthy-Bishop. They were not given the opportunity to weigh in on Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to commute Thomas Waterbury's prison sentence. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Debbie's parents have passed away. But a sister, brother, niece and various other relatives still live with the memory of her murder. If any of them had had the chance to weigh in, they likely would have told the governor how Waterbury's plea for clemency was another ploy by an untrustworthy man. "Very deceitful," Goldsworthy, who is married to Debbie's sister, said of Waterbury. They may have mentioned how, for all the time he was married to Debbie, Waterbury was living a double life with another woman; how, court records show, he had introduced this mistress to neighbors as his wife and promised her that the house he shared with Debbie would belong to her by Christmas. They would have mentioned the engagement ring he bought her. Someone in the family also might have told the governor about a long-held suspicion that, months before he succeeded, Waterbury had made another attempt on her life. One day in February 1980, as Debbie returned from lunch to a dark, warehouse-like office where she worked in downtown Los Angeles, a man wearing a ski mask stabbed her near the heart. The assailant was never caught. Goldsworthy recalled that Debbie never accused Waterbury of the attack, but still opted to stay at her parents' house for several months after she was released from the hospital. And if they had been given the chance to speak up, the family would have had an unexpected ally: Waterburys own brother. No way in hell should he be let out, Terry Waterbury said. Hes a complete liar, manipulator, sociopath. Terry Waterbury's low opinion of his older brother stretches back to their childhood. A particular eye-opener came when the boys were about 12 and 13. At a backyard barbecue, Thomas intentionally ignited a can of camp stove fuel and hurled it at Terry, who suffered serious burns. Terry vividly remembers his brother watching him as he burned. "Get the hot dogs," Thomas said. "Terrys going good." But the governor heard none of this. Instead, Newsom and parole board officials knew only what they saw in Waterbury's clean prison record and in his application. Newsom's office declined to provide copies of those documents or to make anyone available for an interview, but Newsom spelled out his reasoning for commuting Waterbury's sentence in a statement released at the time of his clemency decisions. Debbie Bailey's grave in Glendale. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The governor believed he had found a man who had met Jesus Christ and energetically practiced his faith behind bars. Although serving a sentence that offered no hope for release, Waterbury had "dedicated himself to his rehabilitation," Newsom wrote. Newsom pointed to the Bible classes Waterbury taught and other volunteer work he performed with ministry groups. There was the masters degree he earned in ministry, and, in 2013, his appointment as provost at the School of Ministry at Mule Creek State Prison. Perhaps most important, Newsom concluded Waterbury had "expressed sincere remorse" for the murder. "This act of clemency for Mr. Waterbury does not minimize or forgive his conduct or the harm it caused," Newsom wrote. "It does recognize the work he has done since to transform himself." In 2013, Thomas Waterbury was appointed provost at the School of Ministry at Mule Creek State Prison. Gov. Gavin Newsom concluded that Waterbury had "expressed sincere remorse." (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) Debbie's family members see it differently. To them, Waterbury is the same manipulative, self-serving man he was at 22. They still have a chance to be heard. Waterbury must appear before the state's parole board, which will make the final decision on whether he should go free. In response to an interview request, Waterbury tried unsuccessfully to call a Times reporter. Subsequent attempts to reach Waterbury were unsuccessful. He asked two friends who know him from his time in prison to speak on his behalf. They said they believed Waterbury's transformation is real. The state prison system does not keep statistics on how frequently inmates who receive clemency from the governor are denied parole. "It has happened, said Kate Chatfield, a senior advisor at the Justice Collaborative, a nonprofit group. Waterbury's parole hearing, set for Jan. 7, will be conducted over video conference. Debbie's family plans to recount what they never were able to tell the governor about Waterbury how there were signs of trouble from the beginning. :: The wedding of Debbie Bailey and Thomas Waterbury was held on the lawn outside the Huntington Library in San Marino in August 1979. Bridesmaids wore lavender dresses and twirled parasols, remembered Debbies sister, Kathy Goldsworthy. And although Debbie looked the part she wore a lace dress and a veil her sister detected something more than wedding day jitters. It was a sense of trepidation. "It was like she wasnt real sure," she recalled. Kathy asked her husband, Dave, to check on her sister. As he looked for her, Dave caught a glimpse of Waterbury smoking pot with some of his groomsmen. "I was like, You gotta be kidding me, man. This is your wedding, Dave said. He found Debbie and pulled her aside. I told her, You know, my truck is right here. If you want to leave right now, you dont have to stay here, Dave said. Debbie demurred, assuring Dave her marriage would succeed. Still, Dave sensed hesitation. The groom's brother tried to dissuade Debbie as well. Before the young couple drove off for their honeymoon, Terry approached her. I told Debbie that shes the best thing that ever happened to him, and hes the worst thing that will ever happen to you, Terry recalled. Sixteen months later, he proved me right. :: In January 1981, as he awaited his murder trial, Waterbury wrote a letter dotted with spelling errors to his dead wife's parents. His words curved around a skeletal-looking plant design on the left margin of the page. I honestly dont know how or why you could believe I could have hurt Debbie in anyway, as you both know how much I loved her," he wrote. Yes, we had our problem's like most couples, but we loved each other too much to let anything come between us. I almost lost her last February, and that devestated me, he wrote, referring to the stabbing. I have been wanting to call you both but, every time I try to tell what realy happen that night I just end up crying & go to pieces. A letter that Thomas Waterbury wrote in 1981 to the parents of his slain wife, Debbie. He was convicted of her murder. (Los Angeles Times) The letter included a bombshell: After trying for months, Waterbury wrote, Debbie had finally gotten pregnant. He said they had planned to reveal the secret on Christmas Day. But like everything in my life it was taken away from me." Dave Goldsworthy kept the letter after Debbie's parents died. She wasnt pregnant, he said, pointing to the autopsy by the coroner as proof. "It was all just smoke and mirrors." In January, it will be up to the parole board to decide whether Waterbury is a changed man. If he is set free, he plans to move first to LIFEHouse, a reentry group home in Placerville, near Sacramento, run by Jesus Our Boss, said Alicia Sinsley Reuscher, the nonprofit group's executive director. To Debbie's family, his return to the outside world would restart a story they thought had already been written. Over the decades, the fury and sorrow they felt about Debbie's death dimmed into a dull ache. Photos of Waterbury were burned long ago. Somewhere along the way, he faded into being just a terrible memory and an inmate number: C38792. They took comfort in knowing he was locked away. His story, which became Debbie's story, had been too outrageous. Too painful. But now, come January, there will be another chapter. By ANI PATNA: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court's decision to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Sushant Singh Rajput case and said that today's verdict has proved that Bihar Police was "correct" and Mumbai Police behaved in an "illegal way". "I am very happy. The Supreme Court's order has strengthened the trust people have in the Court and has assured the nation that justice will be delivered in the Sushant Singh Rajput's death case," the DGP said while speaking to media in Patna. "Today's verdict has proved that Bihar Police was correct. The way Mumbai Police behaved was illegal," he added. Holding that the FIR registered in Bihar's Patna over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput was legitimate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to investigate the case. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actor's death after the Centre accepted Bihar Government's recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. An FIR was registered in Patna on a complaint filed by KK Singh, Rajput's father, under sections related to abetment to suicide. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. U.S. mall owner CBL & Associates announced Wednesday it has reached a restructuring support agreement with debt holders a bid to boost its balance sheet with its malls getting hammered by the Covid-19 crisis. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based real estate investment trust, which owns more than 100 retail centers, said in a securities filing that the terms of the agreement provide for a "comprehensive restructuring" of its capital through an in-court process expected to begin by Oct. 1. It would slash about $900 million of debt and at least $600 million of other obligations, the company said. CBL said it ultimately plans to eliminate roughly $1.4 billion of its unsecured notes in exchange for $500 million of new senior secured notes due in June 2028, about $50 million of cash and roughly 90% of the new common equity in the REIT to holders of the unsecured notes. All day-to-day operations and business will continue as normal during the restructuring process, the company added. "Reaching this agreement with our noteholders is a major milestone for CBL," Chief Executive Stephen Lebovitz said in a statement. "The agreement will significantly improve our balance sheet by reducing leverage and increasing net cash flow and will simplify our capital structure, providing enhanced financial flexibility going forward." CBL said it has about $220 million in cash on hand, which should be enough to meet its operational and restructuring needs. Many had expected CBL would be the first publicly traded mall owner to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic, highlighting the stresses the industry is facing. CBL had entered into a forbearance period with its lenders on July 1 after skipping millions of dollars in interest payments. It did not make an $11.8 million payment on June 1 on its 2023 notes. Then, on June 16, CBL said it would not make an $18.6 million interest payment due that week on unsecured notes due 2026. On Aug. 5, however, the company elected to make the $30.4 million in interest payments, keeping it current on all of its unsecured debt. CBL, like its peers, has been crippled by the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic temporarily forced many of its retail properties to shut. Many of CBL's tenants, including apparel brands and department stores, have not been paying rent in full due to shrinking sales. Some CBL tenants have also filed for bankruptcy, with permanent retail store closures quickly mounting by the thousands. CBL shares, which trade under $1, have tumbled more than 81% this year. ANZ Bank chief executive Shayne Elliott says the needs of retiree shareholders influenced the decision to pay a "prudent and modest" dividend amid such economic uncertainty, as it resumed shareholder distributions after an emergency pause. Mr Elliott on Wednesday underlined the revenue challenges facing the bank, but said it was still generating excess capital and there was enough clarity about the outlook to return some of this to shareholders. ANZ Bank chief Shayne Elliott said the lender had gained market share in mortgages during the quarter and seen a strong performance in its markets division, but he warned the virus crisis would not be resolved soon. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen While Westpac and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank both opted not to pay dividends this week, the better-capitalised ANZ unveiled a payment that was almost 70 per cent lower than last year, at 25 a share. Some analysts including Jonathan Mott of UBS said before the result it would make sense to wait until later this year to decide on dividends after ANZ's board had already deferred the decision in April. But Mr Elliott said it was paying out only 15 basis points of capital, adding "on any description thats prudent and modest". Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of The Go-Ahead Group plc (LON:GOG). ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits. View our latest analysis for Go-Ahead Group How Is ROE Calculated? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Go-Ahead Group is: 27% = UK77m UK289m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019). The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every 1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of 0.27. Does Go-Ahead Group Have A Good ROE? Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Go-Ahead Group has a better ROE than the average (22%) in the Transportation industry. roe That's what we like to see. However, bear in mind that a high ROE doesnt necessarily indicate efficient profit generation. Aside from changes in net income, a high ROE can also be the outcome of high debt relative to equity, which indicates risk. Our risks dashboardshould have the 2 risks we have identified for Go-Ahead Group. Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking. Story continues Combining Go-Ahead Group's Debt And Its 27% Return On Equity It's worth noting the high use of debt by Go-Ahead Group, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 1.41. While no doubt that its ROE is impressive, we would have been even more impressed had the company achieved this with lower debt. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it. Conclusion Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt. But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. Of course Go-Ahead Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. ALBANY The state Department of Environmental Conservation is launching disciplinary proceedings against a forest ranger who is accused of having sex and moonlighting as a municipal police officer while on duty for the DEC, as well as purloining state exercise equipment for a fitness center he co-owns. Charles Richardson is also said to have wrongfully commuted 170 miles each way to and from work when he was reassigned but didnt move from Boonville, Onieda County in DECs Region 6 to Region 8 in Bath, Steuben County, according to Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro, who released a report on Tuesday. Richardson has been suspended without pay, awaiting a hearing at DEC upon completion of their reviewing the IGs report. The report also found big lapses in the way forest rangers are supervised, especially when they are left largely on their own to patrol vast swaths of forest land with no oversight. DEC says it has since tightened up oversight of rangers in Forest Protection division where Richardson works. My office found systemic failures including unsupervised and undisciplined rangers conducting personal business on the taxpayers dime. The Division has since enacted significant reforms to ensure that those tasked with protecting our forests are continually held accountable for performing that role with integrity, Tagliafierro said in releasing her findings. The DECs Division of Forest Protection is charged with protecting New Yorks five million acres of public land and natural resources. Forest rangers are police officers who enforce both state Penal and Environmental Conservation Law. They are responsible for suppressing forest fires, managing state lands and resources, issuing tickets for offenses, and conducting search and rescue operations for lost or injured individuals on forest lands. DEC Richardson by rkarlin on Scribd Stemming from a July 2019 investigation, the IG found that Richardson had sexual encounters while on duty on at least two occasions and worked as a part-time police officer in Boonville during his DEC working hours. Other transgressions the IG found included a misuse of state property. While working as the head physical training instructor of DECs training academy in Pulaski, he allegedly ordered the construction of 15 wooden jump boxes and purchased various gym equipment for use at the academy. But several of the boxes ended up at Black River Training Co., a private gym he co-owns in Boonville, according to the IG. Additionally, the IG said, when Richardson was provisionally promoted to lieutenant and assigned from Region 6 to Region 8 in Steuben County, he claimed his new address was in the region, but he was actually using that of a friend. Instead, Richardson purportedly commuted from Boonville to his Region 8 office in Bath an approximately 170-mile, three-hour commute each way for each shift. Richardson said he performed his new supervisory duties over the phone and was rarely physically in Region 8, according to the IG. Rangers are supposed to live in the region to which they are assigned. Richardson also failed to submit required biweekly reports for 23 weeks in 2017 and 2018 on time, as well as annual arrest and ticketing reports. Richardsons union, the Police Benevolent Association of NYS, is backing him, saying they believe the allegations are uncorroborated in many cases. These allegations against Ranger Richardson are just that allegations and presently unproven and in many cases uncorroborated, and refuted. Not only is this PBA fully backing Chad Richardson, but many of his fellow Rangers are backing him, and several made financial donations to help him during his period of suspension. This would not happen if they felt the allegations against him were true, said PBA Executive Director and legal counsel Daniel De Federicis. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The PBA of NYS feels confident it will effectively refute these allegations when we have the opportunity to present the complete facts that for whatever reason the Inspector Generals report did not include or address. The Inspector General noted that forest rangers work independently, have wide discretion to set their schedules, and are infrequently supervised. Some rangers reported having no direct meetings with supervisors for several weeks. Additionally, when rangers failed to file mandatory reports detailing official activities, supervisors often neglected to address the noncompliance. They also found inconsistent interpretations in the residency policy, allowing for super commuting which meant rangers might not be available for emergencies. Stressing that they are still reviewing the report, DEC officials on Tuesday said they already have hired a new Deputy Commissioner for Public Protection and an Acting Director of the Division of Forest Protection charged with identifying and addressing any current practices that could be contrary their expectations. DEC will take any and all appropriate actions upon the completion of our review of the report, said the agency. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU A German icebreaker ship carrying scientists on a year-long international expedition through the high Arctic finally reached the North Pole, after melting sea ice forced an emergency detour. From AP: Expedition leader Markus Rex said Wednesday the RV Polarstern was able to reach the geographic North Pole because of large openings in sea ice that would normally make shipping in the region above Greenland too difficult. "We made fast progress in a few days," Rex told The Associated Press. "It's breathtaking at time we had open water as far as the eye could see." The region above northern Greenland is usually covered in thick sea ice that's sometimes built up over several years, he said. But this year, the Polarstern was able to make it from the ice edge in the Fram Strait to the pole in less than a week. The mission sailed from the German port of Bremerhaven last September, anchored to an ice floe and conducted numerous experiments to study the impact of global warming on the Arctic until the summer heat broke apart the ice cover. By PTI SRINAGAR: A top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander was among the three militants killed in two encounters with the security forces in Kashmir on Wednesday, police said. A militant was killed in an encounter in Shopian, while two ultras -- including LeT commander Naseer-u-din Lone, who was involved in the killing of six CRPF personnel earlier this year -- were killed in a gunfight in Kupwara, police said. Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation at Chitragam village of south Kashmir's Shopian district following inputs about the presence of militants. It turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon a search party of the forces, who retaliated, a police official said. A militant was killed in the gunfight. His identity and group affiliation is yet to be ascertained, the official said. An Army spokesperson said the operation was over and a pistol with six rounds, a UBGL (under barrel grenade launcher) and four Chinese grenades, which were destroyed in-situ, were recovered from the operation site. The other encounter broke out at Ganipora Kralgund area of Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. Two militants were killed in the operation, the police official said. One of the slain militants is Naseer-u-din Lone, who was involved in the killing of three CRPF personnel at Sopore on April 18 and as many CRPF jawans at Handwara on May 4, Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said. Gandhinagar, Aug 19 : The Gujarat anti-terror squad (ATS) and the Crime Branch in a joint operation nabbed a person believed to be a sharpshooter of the notorious underworld don Chhota Shakeel from a hotel in Ahmedabad. The police claims that the sharpshooter was hired to kill the former BJP Home Minister Gordhan Zadaphia. "The Gujarat ATS had received an input that one person had entered the state of Gujarat, hired to kill one BJP leader of Gujarat. Based on these inputs, the ATS and crime branch raided a hotel in Ahmedabad. A dubious person armed with a pistol found in one of the rented rooms, was nabbed after a brief shootout," said Pradipsinh Jadeja, the minister of state for home, Gujarat. "Based on technical interrogation of this person, it seems that he had been hired to kill our leader and former Home Minister Gordhan Zadaphia. We have informed Zadaphia and have stepped up his security," added Jadeja. According to the police investigation there were two culprits, one of whom managed to escape. "The police department frequently gets such inputs of our leaders being targeted. Because of the alertness of the police one person has been nabbed," added Jadeja. Fake: Reliance Jio 5G trials are not the reason for bird flu in India Paid Rs 195 crore AGR related dues: Reliance Jio tells SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Aug 19: Reliance Jio told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it has already paid Rs 195 crore in AGR-related dues which included spectrum sharing charge of Reliance Communications (RCom). It said there is no question of one operator paying the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues of another firm, as suggested by the apex court earlier, and it has cleared all its dues. The billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Jio told the apex court however, that if still any amount remains pending from sharing of spectrum of RCom, it is willing to pay that. Why has Reliance Jio not asked to pay AGR related dues, SC asks Centre A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah which would continue hearing in the matter on Wednesday, was told by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Jio and Committee of Creditors (CoC) of RCom, that it would be premature to decide if spectrum can be sold or not under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). He said that only when the RCom resolution applicant moves the department of telecom (DoT) for spectrum sale, the issue will be decided. The bench observed that there are huge AGR dues payable and it cannot let it go. "We had directed payment of AGR dues within a certain period but the government is seeking 20 years' time, what will happen if companies go into insolvency by then. We are fully conscious of the scope of proceedings, we will not exceed our power," it said. The top court said it would decide all the legal issues involved in the matter and would do it conclusively. Salve argued that the insolvency proceedings against RCom were triggered by Ericsson, which could not be withdrawn even after the Swedish telecom equipment maker was paid its dues. He said the CoC has accepted a resolution plan which envisages auction of RCom spectrum subject to the DoT nod. Salve said that UV Asset Reconstruction Company (UVARC) is the top bidder for RCom, which was earlier led by Anil Ambani, and it is not fronting for anyone. Sushant Singh Rajput's death case: Bihar Govt says 'stand vindicated' | Oneindia News He said Jio is not interested in bidding for RCom and the UVARC's equity comes from public sector banks (PSBs) and insurance companies. He said spectrum sharing between various operators was done after DoT allowed it under the 2015 guidelines, and Jio was looking to buy RCom's spectrum prior to the insolvency proceedings subject to DoT approving the spectrum sale. "There is no question of one operator paying the AGR dues of another operator. Jio has already paid its relevant dues," he said, adding that additional customer and additional revenues on account of shared spectrum was reflected as a part of AGR. The bench asked Salve that does this amount include spectrum usage of RCom's spectrum to which he replied that the entire thing that was payable by Jio was Rs 195 crore. He said that under the tripartite licence agreement, the government has recognised that the spectrum can be used as security by telecom companies to raise funds from the banks. He said PSBs would only provide funds if security is allowed to be monetised. The bench again reiterated its earlier question as to how RCom had previously claimed to have assets of over Rs 35,000 crore, whereas now the fair value is just little over Rs 10,000 crore. It asked Salve how RCom continued under IBC, even after payment of Ericsson dues and even there was no separate move by the company to submit itself under insolvency proceedings. Salve replied that once the RCom's insolvency proceedings were initiated, it had to continue even after payment of Ericsson dues and the only way to exit it was payment of 90 per cent of dues claimed by the creditors, which was not possible to do. He said the firm has never claimed spectrum as an asset but has only claimed the right to use it. The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the top court had asked Centre to clarify its stand on why Jio, which is earning revenue by sharing RCom's 800 MHz spectrum, be not asked to pay the AGR related dues to the government. The Centre had told the top court there was a difference of opinion between two of its ministers (DOT and ministry of corporate affairs) on the issue of sale of spectrum during insolvency proceedings. It had said that the DoT has constantly maintained a stand that spectrum cannot be sold during insolvency proceedings while the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) had sought to allow spectrum sale for maximization of value. On August 14, the top court had sought the details of spectrum sharing pact between RCom and Jio and said as to why the company using the spectrum of the other firm cannot be asked to pay the AGR related dues to the government. The top court had asked the counsels for Reliance Jio and RCom to place their spectrum sharing agreements on record. Earlier, the top court had made it clear it will not hear "even for a second" the arguments on reassessment or re-calculation of the AGR related dues of telecom companies which run into about Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The apex court had in October 2019 delivered the verdict on the AGR issue for calculating government dues of telecom companies such as licence fee and spectrum usage charges. After the top court had rejected pleas by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking review of the judgement which widened the definition of AGR by including non-telecom revenues, the DoT had in March moved a plea seeking staggered payment over 20 years. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 8:26 [IST] New Delhi: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on August 19 addressed the media after the Union Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. He announced key decisions taken during the meet. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, also addressed the media. Here are some key announcements made during the cabinet briefing: >> Union Cabinet approves Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane, payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21, at Rs 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10 percent. >> It has also approved the setting up of 'National Recruitment Agency' to conduct Common Eligibility Test, a decision that is expected to benefit job- seeking youth of the country. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the scores of the CET will remain valid for three years, during which time candidates can apply for jobs in different sectors depending upon their aptitude and preferences. C Chandramouli, Secretary to the govt, said there are over 20 recruitment agencies in the central government, adding that while although exams of only three agencies are being made common as of now, in due course of time a Common Eligiblity Test for all recruitment agencies will be adopted. Singh hailed the decision as a landmark reform in the history of independent India. He added that it will bring in ease of recruitment, selection, job placement and ease of living, particularly for certain sections of society that are at a disadvantage due to one or the other reason. >> The Cabinet has also approved a proposal for leasing out the Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, through a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. These airports are currently managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In the first round of privatisation under the Narendra Modi dispensation, the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati were cleared for operation, management and development through public-private partnership (PPP) model in February 2019. The AAI, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country. In 2018, the government decided to privatise the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run these six airports after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. >> Aabove limits of working capital of 25 percent of last year's revenues, under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), has also been approved. It was around midnight, hours after his seizure at gunpoint by soldiers in Malis capital, when Ibrahim Boubacar Keita finally appeared on national television. I would like at this precise moment, while thanking the Malian people for their support throughout these long years and the warmth of their affection, to tell you of my decision to relinquish my duties, the 75-year-old president said behind a mask worn amid the coronavirus pandemic. Capping a dramatic day of confusion and turmoil, Keita said he had been left with no choice but to declare the dissolution of the government and parliament. If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice? he said. [I must] submit to it because I dont want any bloodshed. Keita announcing his resignation on national television [ORTM/AFP] In the early hours of Wednesday, it was time for the mutinying soldiers who had forced Keita out of office and detained several senior government officials to make an appearance on state television. Dressed in military fatigues, the coup-makers who called themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People promised to oversee a transition to election within a reasonable period and restore stability in a country struggling to contain a series of urgent crises, including a worsening conflict with armed groups that has spilled into the wider Sahel region. We are not holding on to power, but we are holding on to the stability of the country, Colonel-Major Ismael Wague said in his address to Malians. This will allow us to organise, within an agreed reasonable timeframe, general elections to equip Mali with strong institutions, which are able to better manage our daily lives and restore confidence between the government and the governed. International condemnation of the military coup was swift. Even before Keitas statement, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) a regional bloc that in recent weeks tried without success to mediate an escalating political impasse between the president and an opposition coalition staging mass rallies demanding his resignation said it utterly condemns his overthrowing. In a statement, it announced a series of sanctions, including stopping trade and imposing land and air border closures. ECOWAS also said it was suspending Malis membership, a move followed by the African Union (AU) on Wednesday. Amid demands for the release of the detained politicians, including by former colonial ruler France, the United Nations general-secretary, Antonio Guterres, also called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali. Manu Lekunze, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, said both ECOWAS and the UN were selective in their condemnations and should have listened to the Malians who have been taking to the streets for weeks. Malians are not happy. The army is coming out to do what the protesters were demanding. The protesters were demanding for Keita to resign for a very long time. His removal is an opportunity for the country to take a new path, Lekunze told Al Jazeera. France, ECOWAS, UN and the AU have come out and said, we dont want unconstitutional change but you see unconstitutional activities going on across Africa. In Ivory Coast, you have a president seeking a third term and the UN is saying nothing about it. In Guinea-Conakry, not far from Mali, the president is seeking a third term. So, the constitutional argument is not really an argument, he added. Opposition supporters attend a mass protest in Bamako demanding the resignation of Keita [Rey Byhre/Reuters] Tens of thousands of protesters, unhappy with rampant corruption, alleged election irregularities and worsening insecurity that has rendered large parts of Mali ungovernable, have rallied in Bamako since June calling for Keitas departure. Although anger over the countrys woes has been simmering for a while, the spark for the political crisis was a decision by the Constitutional Court in April to overturn the results of parliamentary polls for 31 seats, in a move that handed 10 more seats to Keitas party. The protests turned violent in July when a crackdown by security forces during three days of unrest killed at least 14 protesters and bystanders, according to rights groups. Marie-Roger Biloa, an analyst at Africa International Media Group, said Keitas removal by the army did not come as a surprise. The situation has been deteriorating for years in Mali and the country has been in an open crisis for weeks now, Biloa told Al Jazeera. The situation was ripe for the military to take advantage of. The army is not happy because they are ill-equipped to fight the jihadists and they have lost many soldiers. There is also communal violence, she said. The situation was getting out of hand. Tuesdays coup came amid opposition protests calling for Keitas arrest that have rocked the crisis-torn country since June [Anadolu] Keita came to power after winning a 2013 election held the following year after another military coup forced the then-government of Amadou Toumani Toure out of office. He was a unifying figure in a fractured country when he came to power. Keita was able to quell the discontent in the military, William Lawrence, professor of political science at the American University in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera. The president was re-elected in 2018, but frustration grew amid a failure to lift living standards for most Malians and contain the conflict engulfing the countrys northern and central regions. There is severe political crisis that grew out of the botched March 2020 election; there is severe economic crisis complicated by COVID-19; and there is also severe security crisis which has led to the arrest of the one of the major opposition leaders held by terrorists in the north of the country, Lawrence said, referring to the abduction of veteran politician Soumaila Cisse while campaigning in the volatile centre of the country days before the March 29 parliamentary election. The overthrow of Keita opens a phase of uncertainties, according to Boubacar Sangare, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) think-tank. The apparent support of the coup by a section of the population says a lot about how they perceive state institutions and the constitution. It also showcases the depth of disarray and decay in which those institutions find themselves, Sangare told Al Jazeera. Sahel countries such as Niger and Burkina Faso that have long suffered cross-border attacks are also watching closely the events unfolding in Bamako. Countries in West Africa fear the violence could further spread into the generally more stable coastal states if the unrest in Mali creates further instability. Neighbouring countries are particularly concerned about the consequences of instability in Mali in the context of upcoming elections and a deepening and expanding instability, Sangare added. Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @Hamza_Africa In the 23 years Bill and Stephanie Williams have owned a cabin in Creede, Colorado they never had any problems with animals on their property. But that all changed on the night of July 23 after an encounter with a 250-pound black bear that crashed into the Conroe couples cabin. Bill Williams was able to bring down the bear with a rifle but it was a harrowing night they wont soon forget. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR: A look back at Hi-Y Drive-In, a 1950s wonderland for Conroe kids The Williams have lived in Conroe for 27 years. Stephanie Williams is a watercolor artist and in the 1990s she met fellow watercolor artist Stephen Quiller who was from Creede, Colorado. She did some workshops with Quiller in Creede and the Williams fell in love with the area. They bought a 400-square-foot cabin on two acres. After his retirement from Lone Star College in May, this was the first time theyve been able to spend the whole summer there. Ninety six percent of this county is national forest land, said Williams. In the 23 years we have had this cabin, we have never had any problems with animals. Although, we have seen signs of them passing through our property. He said the first time they saw the bear was on the night of July 23, hed been nosing around the trash can outside the cabin. As a precaution, Williams put his Uberti 1866 Yellowboy carbine rifle by the bed. On HoustonChronicle.com: Beware of bears: Coronavirus may give them more room to roam Then at 3 a.m. they were awakened by a thundering crash as the bear came through one of the cabin windows. It sounded like an explosion when he slammed the window open, said Williams. I grabbed the Yellowboy and walked to the opening from the bedroom to the living room. We dont have a door to separate the rooms. With the front porch light coming through the windows, I could see the bear on the couch, just 42 inches from me. I cranked off the first round and hit him. He jumped down from the couch and stood up in front of me about three feet away. I shot him twice more and he fell back to the other side of the room. Williams shot several more times and could see the bear was still moving. After reloading, Stephanie handed Williams a flashlight, and he put a final round into the bear, ending the confrontation. Seeing the bear and readying his rifle close to the bed was key to the couple surviving the ordeal. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox Williams said Colorado has had a very dry season and he suspected that impacted the bears food supply and he came looking for other food sources. Williams dialed 911 and reported killing the bear and a sheriffs deputy and wildlife officer arrived to assess the situation, ultimately ruling it a self-defense wildlife killing and took the bear. They returned to the cabin after a few nights in a hotel. But theyve upgraded with it with bars on the windows and a reinforced door. They are also redoing the flooring and replaced the window where the bear crashed through. That rifle saved our lives, said Stephanie. I blow it a kiss goodnight every night before bed. It was one of the scariest things I have been through, but we are slowly getting back to normal. shernandez@hcnonline.com The judgment in the Sushant Singh Rajput's death case is set to go down in the judicial history as the first case when a single judge bench exercised its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. Justice Hrishikesh Roy, presiding over the single judge bench in the Supreme Court, ordered for a CBI investigation in the actor's death case under Article 142. "To ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, this Court considers it appropriate to invoke the powers conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution," maintained Justice Roy. The judge turned down the objection by senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Maharashtra government, in this regard. Singhvi had said a single judge bench cannot exercise the powers under Article 142 and that it must be a bench having strength of at least two judges. "This power is neither vested in the learned Single Judge vide Supreme Court Notification dated 17th September 2019, nor is it a power arising from or relatable to Section 406 of the CrPC. which alone is entrusted to the learned Single Judge," the senior lawyer had argued. But Justice Roy did not accept this contention. The judge held: "As a Court exercising lawful jurisdiction for the assigned roster, no impediment is seen for exercise of plenary power in the present matter." Justice Roy further noted that Article 142 uses the words "Supreme Court in exercise of its jurisdiction" may pass all suitable orders necessary for doing complete justice. Therefore, there is no prohibition under the Constitution for a single judge bench, hearing a vase assigned as per roster, to invoke its authority under Article 142. Article 142 allows the apex court to pass any order necessary to do "complete justice" in any case. "The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it..." the Article states. GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 45 African migrants and refugees have perished in the Mediterranean Sea in the largest recorded shipwreck off the Libyan coast this year, U.N. agencies said on Wednesday. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in a statement disclosing Monday's accident, called for stepping up search and rescue capacity to respond to distress calls. "Some 37 survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation," the statement said. "They reported to IOM staff that 45 others, including five children, lost their lives when the vessels engine exploded off the coast of Zwara (Zuwahra)," it said. War-ravaged Libya is a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe and now hosts an estimated 654,000 of them, often living in cramped conditions with little access to health care. The latest shipwreck brings the death toll to at least 302 on the route so far this year, the U.N. agencies' statement said. In recent months, hundreds of migrants have been stopped at sea and their vessels sent back to Libya despite the risk of violence there. With Libyan state vessels taking responsibility for rescues in the absence of a European Union programme, more than 7,000 people have been returned to Libya this year, the statement said. The IOM and UNHCR say Libya should not be classified as a safe port for migrants and that they should not have to disembark there. They want an alternative scheme to take people rescued or intercepted at sea to safe ports. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Gareth Jones) In its 10th year, the largest yoga-focused fundraising event invites participants to join from across the globe on October 25 Yoga Reaches Out, a yoga filled fundraising event is bringing together yogis of all abilities across the globe to raise funds to support care and research for children coping with disease at Boston Childrens Hospital. Celebrating its 10th year, the event will have a diverse group of 16 instructors who will inspire and guide participants online through a day of yoga practice on October 25. Each year Yoga Reaches Out invites participants from all over New England to gather at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. However, in April of this year, when the event was originally scheduled, organizers had to reimagine the event and make some adjustments to align with COVID-19 guidelines. This years virtual format will allow for more participants than ever before as the size of a physical location will not restrict the number of attendees. Anyone interested in participating can register at the following link. The fee to register is $25 and all participants are encouraged to fundraise. For 10 years, yogis from all over have come together to support the families from around the world who come to Boston Childrens Hospital to find answers, said Mark ElBach, Manager of Yoga Reaches Out at Boston Childrens Hospital. Through the course of that time the event has raised over $2 million for the hospital. While this years event wont allow us to convene in-person to celebrate these milestones, it will open new doors to additional participants through our virtual format were inviting people of all ages and any location to be part of this incredible community. Money raised through the event will benefit kids from every state and more than 160 countries who come to Boston Childrens Hospital for lifesaving care, through its Every Child Fund. This fund fuels promising research, care and vital family services not covered by insurance. In addition, donations will also support The Wellness Program at the hospital. This program offers things like massage, yoga, Reiki and meditation to parents, siblings and patient family members so they can be their best for their sick child. Story continues For me this event brings a greater purpose to something I love, said Nandini Narayanan from California. It helps me really focus not only on my well-being through my love of yoga, but it also lets me do something positive for the many patients and families searching for answers and hope at Boston Childrens Hospital. As a parent of a former patient, it is the best way for me to say thank you for the care that saved my sons life and provide support for other parents encountering similar health challenges with their children. For additional information on this event please check out our website, or follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Use hashtag #YogaReachesOut to help spread the word. About Boston Children's Hospital For the seventh year in a row, Boston Children's Hospital has been ranked the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For more, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube. Contact Details Carrie +1 617-587-2918 coneil@brodeur.com The Queensland Greens are pushing for Brisbane City Council and the state government to jointly purchase the former ABC Toowong site and convert it into a park after the major site was listed for sale this week. The 15,000-square-metre site on the banks of the Brisbane River has already been eyed by the council as a potential landing space for a proposed West End-Toowong green bridge. The 1.5 hectare site at 600 Coronation Drive, formerly the ABC Toowong headquarters, is now up for sale. Property developer Sunland put the Toowong site up for sale through Colliers International, after years of planning to put a major development on the site. A "champagne flute" plan for three apartment towers designed by Dame Zaha Hadid was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2018, but Sunland planned to lodge a new development application as of last year. The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea questioning the appointment of retired Supreme Court judge, justice BS Chauhan, as the head of a three-member judicial commission constituted to probe the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said it is rejecting the plea seeking replacement of justice Chauhan but stated that it is laying down some safeguards regarding the manner in which the commission has to conduct the probe. The petition filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Ghanshyam Upadhyay questioned the choice of justice Chauhan as the head of the commission, claiming that two relatives of the retired Supreme Court judge were part of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh. Placing reliance on an article published on an online news portal, Upadhyay alleged that justice Chauhans younger brother Virender Singh is a BJP member of the UP Legislative Council who, along with his son, switched loyalties to BJP last year from the Samajwadi Party. It was on Upadhyays petition the Supreme Court had earlier directed the UP government to set up a commission to probe the allegations against Uttar Pradesh police in relation to Dubeys killing. The commission, which was set up on July 22, has retired Allahabad high court Chief Justice Shashi Kant Agarwal and former UP DGP KL Gupta as its other members During the hearing of the case on August 11, CJI Bobde took exception to Upadhyays submissions stating, We will not allow you to cast aspersions on a former judge of this court based on a newspaper report. The bench, which also comprised justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said, Is any of Justice Chauhans relative connected with the encounter or the enquiry.Is belonging to a political party an illegal act. There are many judges whose fathers or uncles are Members of Parliament. Are they all corrupt? Upadhyay said, I am on the independence of inquiry. It will not be fair. He had also given suggestions on persons who could replace the members in the judicial commission in the event his petition was accepted. Expressing dismay at such allegations being levelled against a former judge of the apex court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for UP, said, The allegation is that a former judge of this court is connected to the Government (of Uttar Pradesh). This is highly derogatory. New Delhi: In a big relief to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's friends, fans and family, who were relentlessly urging for a CBI probe into his mysterious death case, the Supreme Court has finally given a green signal. The apex court on Wednesday said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court in its judgement said that the FIR filed in Patna was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. It has also ordered the Maharashtra government to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered CBI investigation. Several celebrities thronged social media after the SC judgement on CBI for SSR came. Take a look: SC directs CBI to investigate Sushant Singh Rajputs death. May the truth always prevail #Prayers Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 19, 2020 Last 2months have been extremely restless with everything being so blurry. Supreme Courts order to let the CBI investigate Sushants case is a ray of hope that the truth will finally shine Lets all have faith, stop speculating & let the CBI do their work now! #CBIForSSR Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) August 19, 2020 Humanity wins, congratulations to each one of SSR warriors, first time I felt such strong force of collective consciousness, AMAZING #CBITakesOver Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 19, 2020 This is a positive step Please lets respect this moment, and let the CBI do their work now! Please lets stop speculating and coming to conclusions on our own .. #CBIforSSR #SushanthSinghRajput Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) August 19, 2020 Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. His fans and family had been batting for a CBI for last two months, suspecting a foul play into this death. The Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2020 scholarship recipients. Alex Lipari received the Frederick J. Wynne Scholarship and Luka Liguori received the Bonnie Blackman Scholarship. Alex is planning to attend Purdue University to study electrical engineering and cyber security. Luka is planning to attend the University of Connecticut to study mechanical engineering. Both young men are members of the community and have volunteered countless hours of service. To apply for a Chamber scholarship, the applicant must meet the certain criteria. The applicant must: have a parent or guardian who works for a business that is a member in good standing of the Greater New Milford Chamber of Commerce or the applicant themselves may be employed by a business who is a member of the Chamber; submit how he/she has served the community; this includes volunteering for the Chamber and overall community service; and submit their involvement in the school community, including achievements, extra-curricular activities and other notable awards received. Members of the 2020 Scholarship Committee included Lori Gordon, Scott Mulhare, Gary Passineau, Tammy Reardon, Katherine Webster-O'Keefe. The scholarships are traditionally awarded at the Village Fair Days. Since the fair was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the awards were presented to the students at a ceremony held at the bandstand earlier this month. Mayor Pete Bass and Chamber board members were present for the ceremony. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 19:05:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least six people died and 11 are missing in a flood on a local stream at Ramaroshan Rural Municipality in far-western Achham district of Nepal on Tuesday night, police and local government officials said Wednesday. "The dead bodies of six people -- three men and three women, have been found while 11 people are still missing as flood triggered by overnight rainfalls on the local Kailash stream swept 22 houses at Sainibazar area of the rural municipality," Police Inspector Ramesh Dutta Awasthi, told Xinhua over telephone from the incident site on Wednesday. "Search for those missing is undergoing." An officer bearer of the rural municipality said that most of those who were swept away by the stream are the family members of people who were running shops in the area. "Many people could not escape the flood as they were asleep in the mid-night," Jhankar Bahadur Saud, chairperson of the rural municipality, one of the local governments of Nepal, told Xinhua. According to the police, the area usually sees high levels of rainfalls in the monsoon every year. But, police quoted locals as saying that it is the first time that the area saw such massive floods on the stream in the last 37 years. The flood not only caused loss of lives but also destroyed the private and public properties, according to the police. "The entire settlement of Sainibazar area is now completely damaged," said Awasthi. Local farm lands, roads, a bride and a hydropower project developed on the stream, have also been badly damaged, according to the police. Enditem Richmond Times-Dispatch RICHMOND Richmonder April OQuinn is a doll. The Richmond Ambulance Authority EMT was one of five winners nationwide of the American Girl Heroes With Heart contest earlier this year. The company, which makes the popular American Girl Dolls, held the contest to honor frontline workers. Families were asked to nominate someone whos making a difference in their lives by submitting a photo of their nominee and a written statement about how that person helped the community. OQuinns niece, Lacey OQuinn, of Texas, nominated her aunt. The contest opened June 8 and ended June 26. Five grand-prize winners were announced, including April OQuinn. Grand-prize winners received a custom-made American Girl doll dressed in their heros likeness and a $200 American Girl gift card. In a written statement, April OQuinn said when her niece called to tell her, Lacey was on the other side screaming that we had won! I was in shock, April OQuinn said. I didnt know what to say so instead I cried for her. She added: The excitement and smiles as she opened her hero doll was all worth it. We at the Richmond Ambulance Authority are so excited for April and her niece Lacey. Were thankful American Girl held a contest to recognize our frontline heroes and are thrilled to have one of our employees represent EMS, said RAA CEO Chip Decker. In April, my first COVID-19 report focused on the progression of the pandemic from China to Western Europe and the United States, and the belated mobilization and containment failure in Washington and Brussels. My latest report The Tragedy of More Missed Opportunities focuses on the new missed COVID-19 opportunities and the consequent human costs and economic damage, particularly in emerging and developing countries. At the current rate, the confirmed cases could exceed 25 million by the end of August. In the absence of deceleration, these cases could soar to 50-60 million and deaths to 1.5 to 1.7 million by year-end. And as projected in the April report, the devastation would prove most significant in the United States. Trump administration's mismanagement Through the pandemic, an uneasy coexistence has prevailed in the United States between the science-based health guidance of the nation's top experts and the politicized agenda of the Trump administration. In a deeper sense, the pandemic failures began already in January 2017, when President Trump closed the National Security Council's global health unit, which had been created precisely to respond to global pandemics. As of now, confirmed virus cases amount to 4.5 million, with over 170,000 deaths; new cases average over 65,000 daily. In the 1st quarter, U.S. GDP growth suffered a -5% contraction, followed by a historical, worst-ever -33% plunge. The COVID-19 surge across America was to be expected in light of the catastrophic mishandling of the pandemic by the White House, as projected by The Tragedy of Missed Opportunities already in April. The consequent collateral damage in terms of public health and economic impact is likely to prove more protracted than currently expected. And due to the central role of the U.S. in the global economy, that impact will have a negative "multiplier effect" on the world economy in the coming months. U.S. epicenter deja vu To understand the full magnitude of the adverse U.S. spillover, let's think of America's states as independent economies. By August, almost a fourth of the 25 most affected economies were in the U.S., with California, Florida, Texas and New York in the top-10, right after Brazil, India and Russia, and even South Africa. However, adjusted to the size of population, U.S. states accounted for a whopping 23 of the 25 most-virus affected major economies worldwide with Louisiana, New York, Florida, New Jersey and Mississippi leading the entire world, followed by Chile. Even populous Brazil (213 million people), which had the greatest number of confirmed cases after America, lagged behind U.S. states such as Iowa (3.2 million) and Connecticut (3.6 million). When the U.S. eventually normalizes, associated resurgences of COVID-19 could prove likely in countries having close ties with the U.S. While similar concerns also prevail in the Europe, Brussels has mobilized more effectively against the pandemic after March. And unlike the U.S., most European economies also have stronger health systems and/or universal healthcare which provides something a better cushion against the adverse public-health and economic collateral damage. COVID-19 damage in the Americas With weaker health care systems, the Americas offer a distressing demonstration effect. By late July, the geographic distribution of new cases nearly half from the Americas suggest the global pandemic had spread to the Americas, while adverse feedback effects were spilling over into the region. Brazil identified its first virus case in January. Yet, numbers remained low until February, when new cases were linked with Lombardy, the epicenter of Italy's pandemic. By March, the number of infected members of the cabinet overtook Iran. The Bolsonaro government initially ignored science-based evidence, shunned early mobilization and public-health imperatives. While most state governors did impose quarantines against the pandemic, by August Brazil had the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world over 2.6 million with nearly 70,000 new cases daily. In the pandemic second-tier of Latin America, the key countries Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia had each about 290,000 (Colombia) to over 415,000 (Mexico) cases by August. In Peru, the pandemic began with a youngmanreturning from travels in Southern and Central Europe in early March. Afterwards, President Martin Vizcarra declared one of the earliest lockdowns in Latin America. Yet, prior to summer and despite a population of 32 million, Peru had only 1,000 intensive care unit (ICU) beds available in May (with 29 million people, Texas had 11,200 ICU beds). Adjusted to population, Chile's pandemic has been one of the worst worldwide. Despite fewer than 20 million people and a high-income economy, Chile had over 355,000 cases by August. In Mexico the first cases surfaced in late February with travel histories in Italy. On March 20, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared restrictions on travel across the Mexico-U.S. border. As local transmissions exceeded imported infections, pandemic accelerated. Despite restrictions in Mexico to limit the inbound land-border crossings from the U.S., enforcement has been far more lenient. Meanwhile, the pandemic cases soared to nearly 420,000 with 46,000 deaths by August. Since early July, state governors in Northern Mexico have urged the central government to make it tougher for Americans to enter the country for non-essential reasons. U.S. CDC warning: 'Difficult times in 2020/21' The challenges in the Americas will not go away anytime soon and in the U.S. they could get worse, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Controland Prevention(CDC). In mid-July, CDC Director Robert Redfield sounded the alarm about the coming fall and winter seasons. The confluence of flu season and the coronavirus pandemic is expected to make things challenging across America. "I am worried," Redfield said. "I do think the fall and the winter of 2020 and 2021 are going to be probably one of the most difficult times that we've experienced in American public health." In the world economy, the pandemic exhibits significant regional differentiation, shaped by the anchor economies. In East, South and Southeast Asia, China's relative containment success prevented the early spread of the virus within the region. In Western Europe, failures of containment fostered the spread of the pandemic in Central and Eastern Europe, and regional proximity. In the Americas, U.S. failures of containment and crisis management, coupled with poorer economies and weaker health systems in Latin America resulted in the worst regional crisis worldwide. Yet, Canada's track record relative to the U.S. suggests precautions can work, despite elevated risks in the regional neighborhood. Dan Steinbock is an internationally recognized strategist of the multipolar world andthe founder of Difference Group. He has served at the India, China and America Institute (USA), Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Center (Singapore). For more, see https://www.differencegroup.net/ The commentary is based on a section of Steinbock's new report, The Tragedy of More Missed Opportunities (Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Aug. 2020) Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. The Trump administration is set to demand the restoration of all international sanctions on Iran in a move that will further isolate the US at the United Nations and possibly deal a fatal blow to one of former President Barack Obamas signature foreign policy achievements. At President Donald Trumps direction, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to New York on Thursday to notify the UN that the US is invoking the snapback mechanism in the UN Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The United States intends to restore virtually all of the previously suspended United Nations sanctions on Iran, Trump said on Wednesday. Its a snapback. As set out by the resolution enshrining the 2015 deal, the snapback would re-impose UN sanctions that were eased in exchange for curbs on Irans nuclear program. But the US move faces steep opposition and could prompt a revolt from the councils other members. None of them believes the US has the standing to invoke "snapback" because Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal two years ago. Its possible the US call will simply be ignored by other UN members an outcome that could call into question the Security Councils relevance and ability to enforce its own legally binding decisions. Trump and Pompeo have made no secret of their intention to pursue the controversial diplomatic move, particularly in the wake of the US administrations embarrassing defeat last week at the Security Council on extending the arms embargo on Iran that expires in October. The US won just one other yes vote, with China and Russia opposed and the 11 other members abstaining. As with the arms embargo, Russia and China bitterly oppose reimposing other UN sanctions on Iran. So do other Security Council members, including US allies Britain and France, which are hoping to preserve the nuclear deal in the event Trump loses his bid for a second term in November's presidential election and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden rejoins the agreement. Story continues The Europeans fear that the re-imposition of sanctions may prompt Iran to quit the nuclear deal entirely and plow ahead with efforts to develop atomic weapons. The Trump administration says it quit the deal precisely because the deal eased sanctions, opening major revenue streams for Iran. US has 'every expectation' sanctions will be re-imposed Trump said that when the United States entered the deal, it was clear that the US always would have the right to invoke a re-imposition of the UN sanctions. Thats not how other countries see it. China has said that since the US is no longer a party to the nuclear deal it has no right to demand the Security Council to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions. Russia has accused the administration of unleashing a politically motivated campaign against Iran that runs counter to international law. The Europeans have also rejected the US position, which holds that the UN sanctions will be automatically restored 30 days after the snapback has been invoked. The US would veto any resolution that attempts to prolong sanctions relief during that period. The administrations view is that once those 30 days have passed, any country that doesnt enforce the UN sanctions will be hit with US penalties for violating a binding Security Council action. This will be a fully valid enforceable Security Council resolution and we have every expectation that it will be enforced just like every other Security Council resolution that is in place, Pompeo said Wednesday. We will be in full compliance with that and we have every expectation that every country in the world will live up to its obligations. What the administrations position does not account for, however, is a scenario in which the rest of the world simply ignores the United States on the grounds that it no longer has legal standing to invoke the snapback. Bolton: Push for 'snapback' could harm US veto power The US argument is highly controversial. Not only has it been ridiculed by the Chinese, Russians and Europeans, not even the biggest Iran hawks in the United States all agree with it. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who has long held anti-Iran positions, has called the argument too cute by half and said the US lost its snapback standing when it withdrew from the deal. He said moving ahead is not worth the damage it could do to the USs veto power in the council. In a rare moment of agreement, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif praised Bolton this week. At least he is consistent a trait notably absent in this U.S. administration, Zarif tweeted. Former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, a lead negotiator of the nuclear deal during the Obama administration, said: It was never expected that someone who withdrew from the (deal) would have standing to in fact bring the snapback provision. (FRANCE 24 with AP) She has recently enjoyed a getaway to her native UK. And Danielle Bux shared a sweet family hug with husband Nate Greenwald as she jetted back to her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The model, 41, looked every inch the doting mother as she cradled their daughter Romy, three, in her arms while arriving at LAX Airport. Lovely: Danielle Bux shared a sweet family hug with husband Nate Greenwald as she jetted back to her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night Danielle and Nate shared a sweet reunion as he greeted his family with a hug upon their arrival back to LA. The model looked effortlessly chic in a plunging mixed patterned floral maxi dress with a pair of comfy sandals. Danielle finished her look with a collection of delicate gold jewellery and stylish yellow sunglasses. Doting mother: The model, 41, looked every inch the doting mother as she cradled their daughter Romy, three, in her arms while arriving at LAX Airport Chic: Danielle looked effortlessly chic in a plunging mixed patterned floral maxi dress with a pair of comfy sandals The mother-of-two styled her brunette locks into a relaxed ponytail and wore a protective face mask amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Welsh model Danielle has enjoyed a relaxing break in the UK where she celebrated daughter Romy's third birthday at private members' club Soho Farmhouse earlier this month. Danielle's relationship with Nate was confirmed shortly after her move to the United States and following her 2016 separation from Gary Lineker after nine years of marriage. The model, already a parent to teenage daughter Ella, 17, from a former relationship, announced she was expecting her first child with Greenwald in February 2017, welcoming Romy Wren in August 2017. Cautious: The mother-of-two styled her brunette locks into a relaxed ponytail and wore a protective face mask amid the Covid-19 pandemic Shortly after announcing her pregnancy, ex-husband Lineker was said to be one of the first to congratulate the couple on their happy news. Danielle confirmed she had married Nate via her Instagram page in November 2019 in a secret ceremony which took place in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in the summer of 2019. Sources later revealed the couple enjoyed a low-key service on the picturesque island, a popular summer destination off the coast of Cape Cod. An insider said at the time: 'It was a quiet family ceremony. She kept it on the down-low.' Attorneys for one of the three suspects in the deadly Riverchase Galleria shooting say new statements from witnesses bolsters their claim of self-defense. King Williams lawyers John Lentine and Christopher Daniel requested that the preliminary hearing in the capital murder and attempted murder cases be reopened so that Jefferson County Judge William Bell Jr. review that evidence and possibly reconsider his previous ruling that there was enough evidence against King to proceed to a grand jury for indictment consideration. Jefferson County prosecutors, however, contended the new evidence is not actually new, and only corroborates testimony and evidence that led to Bells initial ruling in the case. Jefferson County Judge William Bell Jr. Wednesday afternoon denied the defense motion without a hearing. The shooting happened July 3 on the first floor of the states largest indoor mall. The gunfire killed 8-year-old Royta Giles Jr. and wounded Walter Lee Rashad Hudson, Chateria Brant and 11-year-old Senia Escobar Fajardo. In addition to the 19-year-old King, Montez Moses Miracle Coleman, 22 and Demetrius Dewayne Jackson Jr., also 19, are charged in the case. Coleman claims he fired at King and Jackson in self-defense from them, while King and Jackson say they fired to protect themselves from Coleman. The preliminary hearing in the case was held Aug. 11 and lasted more than 6 hours. During testimony throughout the hearing, it was stated at least 12 rounds were fired in just four seconds near the food court during a dispute that possibly started because of a previous beef over rap lyrics. Additional testimony showed one of the defendants Coleman - fired his AR-15 style pistol through a book bag. The gun jammed after the first round, but he had about 75 rounds of ammunition in the backpack nearly 50 rounds were in two gun magazines and 24 were stuffed in a sock. King and Jackson were among a group of five people, some of who raised their shirts to show that they too had weapons shortly before the gunfight commenced. Though all parties agreed no one went to the mall that day with the intent to kill, the resulting carnage happened because of their willingness and spoken or unspoken agreement to get in this gunfight, said Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Shawn Allen. When engaged in mutual combat, he said, all parties are criminally liable in the death and injuries that happened that day. The case is being prosecuted by Allen and Deputy District Attorney Julie McMakin. The attorneys for the defendants are: Julian Hendrix (Coleman); Victor Revill (Jackson), and Lentine (King). Hoover police Sgt. Matt Savage is the lead detective on the case and was the sole investigator to testify in the preliminary hearing. Kings attorneys filed a motion this week asking that the preliminary hearing be reopened following interviews done by Hoover police with witnesses after the hearing was held. Those interviews, according to court documents, were done Aug. 14 with two employees at Adore, a store that sells skin care products. Both were working on the day of the shooting and saw what happened. Both Adore employees statements were extremely exculpatory to the defense in that both informed the police in part that Montez Coleman fired at King Williams first and that King Williams and the group were walking away when Montez Coleman fired at them,' Lentine wrote. Those statements, he said, corroborate the defenses position that it was Montez Coleman who was the initial aggressor who fired at King Williams causing him to react solely to defend himself. The statements, he said, also disprove the states assertion that the incident was mutual combat. One of the new witnesses, according to the documents, told police this: These guys start to flash a gun and started to walk away. They did not really want to do anything. I can tell they didnt really want to do anything and (Coleman) kept provokingthen said, pull it out.' The second witness said, I was looking at the guy with big backpack (Coleman). He had a big gun inside the backpack. He started shooting out of the backpack as soon as he saw me step back. As soon as I saw the gunshot, I ran in the back and these guy (the group with King and Jackson) started firing. Prosecutor Allens response to the defense motion said the witness statements labeled extremely exculpatory by the defense are consistent with evidence already submitted in the hearing. It was established and accepted by all parties that Montez Coleman fired the initial shot prior to Jackson and King immediately firing 11 shots,' Allen wrote. He said testimony and video evidence showed that one or more members of the group with Williams and Jackson raised their shirts to show they were armed. The Adore witnesses, Allen said, told investigators he heard both sides antagonizing each other. The states position is the witness statements gathered after the preliminary hearing are consistent that (all three defendants) were engaged in a showdown that involved both words and the brandishing of firearms that escalated to the an exchange of gunfire that caused the death of Royta Giles and injury to three others. Lentine maintains it was purely self-defense. King Williams did not provoke Colemans use of deadly force nor was King Williams involved in any unlawful activity at the time,' he said. King Williams acted in self-defense. Description GIS 19 August 2020: Government is determined, through sustained efforts, to extend house ownership to an ever-increasing number of households in Mauritius. More than 650 new housing units will be delivered by the end of 2020 and another 1700, already under construction, will benefit low income families by the end of 2021. Additionally, some 1400 housing units are planned to be delivered in 2022. The event aimed at developing a strategic vision for the The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, made this statement, today, at the opening of a one-day National Forum on Housing and Land Use, held at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower, in Ebene Cyber-city.The event aimed at developing a strategic vision for the housing sector of Mauritius. The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo, was present. In his speech, Mr Jugnauth expressed firm belief that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. For him, securing a proper shelter for all is a sine qua non condition to overcome extreme poverty. The Prime Minister emphasised that one of Governments priorities is to optimise land resources and develop strategies to provide a wide choice of housing types so as to cater for the different and evolving needs of the present and future generations. On this score, he spoke of two major projects namely: the upgrading of the current Land Administration, Valuation and Information Management System for improved access to land information and security in land businesses; and the State Land Register for more effective management of State land. A new National Land Development Strategy having a 20-year horizon is in the pipeline and will be ready by next year, he announced. This Strategy will include policies and plans to stimulate investments in housing and land use while preserving the natural environment, he added. In these challenging times, said Mr Jugnauth, Mauritius as a Small Island Developing State will have to undergo a paradigm shift in land use planning and land management with respect to the following: Metro Express project, climatic change, green and ecological buildings, food security, revival of the tourism sector, and aftermath of the Covid-19 disease. Government, he reiterated, will do its utmost best to provide affordable dwellings to the needy and will vigorously continue to pursue policies in favour of social housing. On this score, the Prime Minister pointed out that he is chairing the Steering Committee on the unprecedented programme for the construction of 12 000 units. He therefore encouraged citizens to make suggestions pertaining to housing matters including unregulated occupation of State land. Speaking about the National Forum, the Prime Minister indicated that it is providing a platform where all relevant stakeholders are being given the opportunity to share their experiences and suggestions. These ideas will help the Government to formulate new strategies in the housing and land use sectors, he added. The Deputy Prime Minister, for his part, underlined Governments commitment in ensuring that needy people are given necessary support to facilitate their access to decent housings, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. S ome Rs 12 billion, stated Mr Obeegadoo, has been earmarked in Budget 2020-2021, under the Covid-19 Projects Development Fund to partly finance the construction of housing units and associated on-site and off-site infrastructural works. As regards the Forum, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted that it will be a regular feature for all partners to share ideas on the housing sector. Thus, stakeholders comprising builders, engineers, property developers, bankers, environmentalists and trade unions, will be able to reflect on achievements and discuss the way forward in a more transparent manner, he said. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed a plea questioning the setting up of a three-member judicial commission, headed by former apex court judge Justice BS Chauhan, to inquire into the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said that there were enough safeguards to ensure fair inquiry by the judicial panel into the encounter which took place in Kanpur. The verdict came on a plea field by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhaya seeking re-constitution of the inquiry commission and substituting its members -- Justice (retd) B S Chauhan, former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd) Shashi Kant Agarwal and retired Uttar Pradesh DGP K L Gupta -- with other former judges of the apex court and retired DGPs. He had alleged that brother of Justice Chauhan is a legislator in Uttar Pradesh and his daughter is married to a Member of Parliament. On August 11, the bench also comprising justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, had said that it would not allow anyone to cast aspersions on the basis of media reports on the retired apex court judge heading the panel. It had pulled up the petitioner and asked him whether a relative of a judge belonging to a political party, be termed as an illegal act. It had said that there are several judges who have Members of Parliament as their relatives. "There are judges whose father or brother or relatives are MPs. Are you (petitioner) saying that they all are biased judges? If any relative is belonging to a political party, is this an illegal act?" the top court had told Upadhaya. The top court had earlier dismissed an application seeking removal of two other members of the inquiry commission saying that it would not allow the petitioner to cast aspersions. The apex court had on July 22 approved the Uttar Pradesh government's draft notification for appointing Justice (retd) Chauhan as the chairman of the three-member inquiry commission. Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, who were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3. Dubey was killed in an encounter in the morning of July 10 when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said. Prior to Dubey's encounter, five of his alleged associates were killed in separate encounters. The Uttar Pradesh government, in an affidavit filed earlier in the apex court in the matter, had said that the police party escorting Dubey from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur had to "fire back in self-defence" as he had tried to escape and was killed. A Melbourne detainee with alleged links to people smuggling has lost a court bid against his forcible transfer to Western Australia, over fears he'll catch COVID-19 on the plane. The Federal Court ruled the 68-year-old from Pakistan could not remain at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation because he risked contracting coronavirus there. Lawyers for the man on Wednesday failed to stop Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton transferring him to Western Australia's Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre. The Federal Court ruled the 68-year-old from Pakistan could not remain at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (pictured) because he risked contracting coronavirus there He has medical conditions including diabetes and wants to return to his Australian citizen son's home in suburban Melbourne. The 68-year-old flew into Australia on a tourist visa in December 2010 and was later found to be owed protection as a refugee. But his visa was cancelled in 2019 over allegations he had co-ordinated money transfers linked to people smuggling before coming to Australia. Justice Bernard Murphy sided with the federal government's arguments the man was much safer in Western Australian than Victoria and unlikely to catch the virus en route. He's due to be taken to Perth on a Qantas flight either late this week or early next week but has launched separate Supreme Court action in Western Australia to stop the move. His barrister, Chris Horan QC, told the Federal Court the government was relying on 'mathematical gymnastics' to downplay the risk of becoming sick in transit. Lawyers for the man on Wednesday failed to stop Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton transferring him to Western Australia's Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre Mr Horan compared the case with a quote popularised by author Mark Twain: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics'. Acting for Mr Dutton, Patrick Knowles said there was a low risk the detainee could become infected on the way to and from the airport. There was also a one in 33,000 chance of contracting the virus if the plane was relatively empty and a one in 7565 chance if it was full, the barrister added. While the government did not intend to release the man from detention, he'd be at an even greater risk of coronavirus in the community, Mr Knowles said. 'It's theoretically open for the minister to reduce the risk to the applicant by saying 'here's a truck, hop in, we'll drive for three days straight, you'll see nobody and you'll end up in Perth',' he told the court. 'That's one way to reduce the risk of flying. 'The minister could theoretically, with his powers under the act, build an entire new detention centre for one person to stay in.' Justice Murphy said he took the risk the man could become seriously ill or even die very seriously. It came after he told the lawyers he would not play 'legal games' over someone's health. The judge also noted gloves and masks would be provided to the man for each leg of the transfer, with social-distancing requirements to be observed. BALLSTON SPA A new committee will decide the fate of those involved in the pandemic pay debacle that's plagued Saratoga County government since March. The panel, to be chaired by Ballston Supervisor Eric Connolly, was formed in a three-hour meeting Tuesday by the fractured Republican majority Board of Supervisors a week after a critical independent report was released that concluded the decisions on pay were made in illegal closed meetings by officials -- including Administrator Spencer Hellwig and Human Resources Director Marcy McNamara -- who had no authority to change compensation. The decision to create the committee came after the board debated ending the 32-year-career of Hellwig, a lead architect of the controversial plan that paid 576 employees, managers and some elected officials time and a half for every hour worked during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. That motion to dismiss him was amended by Moreau Supervisor Todd Kusnierz after discussing the decision with an labor lawyer who said an attorney could argue his firing was "arbitrary and capricious" if the board did not follow its normal procedure for disciplining employees. "The purpose is due process," Saratoga Supervisor Tom Wood, a supporter of Hellwig, said. "Everyone is entitled to due process." Kusnierz, a member of the board's splinter group Saratoga County Public Health Northway Corridor Task Force, agreed to the committee even though, he pointed out several times, that Hellwig serves at the will of the board. Supporters of Hellwig, many from the small towns, rallied around the administrator saying he "dedicated his life to the county" and "made it the best county in New York State." Other Hellwig allies, like Waterford Supervisor John Lawler and Northumberland Supervisor Willard Peck, argued it was inappropriate as no one in Northway Corridor could identify any specific charges against Hellwig. Peck also accused the Northway Corridor, a group of supervisors from the county's largest towns, of playing a "disgusting political game" and making "a power play." But the report said Hellwig, who attended the meeting, McNamara, as well as board Chair Preston Allen and Supervisors Daniel Pemrick and Wood, made the pay decisions improperly. It also found that many of the officials who got the pandemic pay boost like McNamara, as well as Sheriff Michael Zurlo and District Attorney Karen Heggen, were ineligible to receive the payments as they are elected officials. Those payments were returned. The plan to give everyone in the office a 50 percent pay boost was subsequently scrapped within days after its creation because it was panned by the public and the Northway Corridors supervisors. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Before the pandemic pay ended, Hellwig, who earned $163,603 in 2019, and McNamara were included in the 50 percent additional pay plan. They returned the money. The report found that McNamara was ineligible for it, too. In addition to Connolly, Kusnierz, Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett and Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston from the Northway Corridor and Peck, Stillwater Supervisor Ed Kinowski and Milton Supervisor Benny Zlotnick will sit on the committee. Connolly said the committee will lean heavily on the labor attorney to help them make decisions on disciplinary action, if necessary. "I want to restore confidence in the board and really kind of heal the board," Connolly said. "I think we can reduce the divisiveness in a subcommittee." He said ending someone's career would have to be a well-thought out decision. "Termination for a bad decisions?," Connolly asked. "Accountability, yes, and termination is one of the options.... I won't say it won't happen, but I won't rush there. ... We need to have the full board have confidence in the recommendations." Lightning-sparked wildfires swept across Northern California on Wednesday, scorching huge swaths of sun-parched land and leading to orders for thousands of people to evacuate, officials said. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that firefighters were battling 367 known wildfires statewide 23 of them major fires or complexes and that there had been more than 10,800 lightning strikes over the previous 72 hours. Wednesday morning, the pilot of a Bell UH-1H helicopter was killed in a crash while on a water-dropping mission at the Hills Fire around 9 miles south of Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. The pilot worked for a private company contracted by the agency. Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, northeast of the San Francisco Bay Area, Wednesday night ordered all non-essential personnel to leave due a large fire called the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which has burned more than 124,000 acres and destroyed 105 structures. Smoke from more than three dozen blazes in counties just outside San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland led to alerts in some Bay Area communities for residents to stay inside. Firefighters had their hands full across nearly every part of the region. Eight of the nine counties that make up the Bay Area were fighting fires Wednesday, all but San Francisco. "The resources that have been on these fires for the past 72 hours are the same resources that have been out there for the last 72 hours," Cal Fire Unit Chief Shana Jones told reporters in Calistoga. "They are fully engaged and happy to do so to protect you. However, it is imperative you hear the message. ... You have to evacuate when we ask you to." Police, sheriff's deputies and firefighters urged residents near fires to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. "This is an incredibly emotional and stressful time for many of us who have endured many fires and natural disasters over the last couple of years," Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said. Story continues "We realize this is a trigger point for many in the public, and we ask you that you please go to your plan," he said. "We've all been working on this for the last couple of years. Be ready and follow the plan when it comes time to evacuate." Image: LNU Lightning Complex fires in California (Noah Berger / AP) About 20 fires that were being tracked as the single SCU (Santa Clara Unit) Lightning Complex Fire had consumed 102,000 acres with about 5 percent containment by Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire. The blazes are in the counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus. No structures have been destroyed, but more than 3,700 were threatened. Eight fires connected to lightning strikes in Napa and Sonoma counties, called the LNU (Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit) Lightning Complex Fire, had grown to 124,100 acres by Wednesday night, destroying 105 structures and threatening 25,000. It was zero percent contained, Cal Fire said. Four people described as civilians have been injured. Five fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties dubbed the CZU August Lightning Complex broke out Monday night and had scorched 25,000 acres by Wednesday afternoon. The complex was zero percent contained, Cal Fire said. At least 20 structures, considered single-family residences, have been destroyed but the damage assessment process was just beginning. In the San Mateo and Santa Cruz county fires, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuated from the region, which is marked by dense wooded parkland. Cal Fire issued additional evacuation orders overnight for neighborhoods in the path of CZU, SCU and LNU blazes. Deputy Chief Sean Kavanaugh said residents should also feel free to leave on their own, before a formal order is implemented. "If you have a 'go bag,' have some stuff packed up, ready to go, if you feel any type of threat whatsoever, make that decision. Make that decision to please leave your home," Kavanaugh said. "The last thing we want is for people to be trapped in their homes and not be able to get out." Download the NBC News app for breaking news and alerts Recent high temperatures, arid conditions and parched land have left much of Northern California in danger of lightning-sparked blazes, according to University of Nevada, Reno physics professor Neil Lareau, who specializes in the atmospheric conditions of wildfires. "The lightning storms have been the driver for the outbreak," Lareau said Wednesday. "The heat and aridity and the dryness of fuels and, we've seen year after year, hotter summers," he said. "And if you look at metrics that look at things like the 'thirst' of the atmosphere, as it gets hotter, the capacity to draw water tends to draw water more efficiently." By midday Wednesday, numerous communities in the urban Bay Area were under alert for unhealthy air. Residents in Oakland and San Jose and bedroom communities such as Pleasanton, in the East Bay, and Redwood City, south of San Francisco, were asked to stay indoors because of the smoke, according to data posted Wednesday afternoon by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. San Jose State University shut down all in-person and online classes and meetings because of the fires. "Everyone please be safe! Fires surrounding the city and region. Air Quality is very poor," Vincent J. Del Casino Jr., the university's provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, said in a statement. "Faculty, staff, and students let's continue to support each other and be flexible as we manage this latest emergency." Firefighters had a long day ahead of them battling flames and blistering temperatures around Northern California. The mercury was expected to hit 102 degrees in Sacramento, 98 in Napa and Vacaville, 96 in Santa Rosa and 94 in San Jose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House, and the state health departments have failed to meet the health literacy guidelines when it comes to passing COVID-19 information to the public. This was according to the new study done by Darthmouth College researchers, which was released on Tuesday. The CDC, the American Medical Association, and the National Institutes of Health all said that medical information for the public should be written at no more than eight-grade reading level. But researchers found that public information released about COVID-19 have an average of over 11th-grader reading level. They found the result after looking at 137 federal web pages. This spur worries the public health experts, who previously cited health inequities among vulnerable communities mostly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Joseph Dexter, senior author of the study and a fellow at Dartmouth's Neukom Institute for Computational Science, said that how public information is given can influence the understanding of medical recommendations. "During a pandemic, it is vital that potentially lifesaving guidance be accessible to all audiences," Dexter was quoted in a USA Today report. States are not required to follow the said guidelines. But experts said that it is needed for everyone to understand the given health information. The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that only 12 percent of American adults show proficient health literacy. The study also showed that all 50 U.S. states have given health information above the recommended eight-grade reading level. Nine of the 10 states with the highest illiteracy rates have written the said health information in above 10th grade level. Dexter said that the differences between eight-grade and 11th-grade reading level are crucial. Dexter explained that text written at a higher grade level can cause people to miss the most important information. Dexter also expressed concerns that people might turn to less credible sources if the unreliable information can be easily understood. He said that COVID-19 related information can be complex, contradictory, and sometimes false. Misinformation About COVID-19 With the rampant spread of false information on COVID-19, the World Health Organization has provided a "mythbusters" section on their COVID-19 fact sheet. Included in its mythbusters section is about Hydroxychloroquine, saying that it has no proven studies that it can treat COVID-19. WHO also included other common myth about COVID-19 such as wearing face mask while exercising, and prolonged wearing of masks can cause oxygen deficiency among others. It also provided a section teaching people how to use a face mask and the right time to use it. WHO also joined forced with the Government of the United Kingdom to run an awareness campaign about the risks of false information about COVID-19 pandemic. The global campaign is entitled "Stop The Spread," with goals to raise awareness of misinformation around COVID-19. The campaign also urges the people to double check information with trusted sources such as WHO and national health authorities. This campaign is running in many countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. Check these out: Are Young People Less Likely to Catch Covid-19? One-Third of the Youth in Latin America and the Caribbean Think So Schools Might Gatekeep COVID-19 Cases Due to Privacy Laws Leaked Intel Reveals China Hid Crucial COVID-19 Research Information From the World By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov Chief of Azerbaijans State Border Service Elchin Guliyev has said that Armenia has repeatedly sought to stage provocations and advance its combat positions on the border with Azerbaijan. Guliyev noted that Azerbaijan armed forces have resolutely thwarted such provocations. As a result of the response measures, many of our positions up to 2,000 meters away from the state border have been moved forward 1,500-1,700 meters, which has enabled to increase the security of the nearby settlements and highways, as well as the security of the personnel, and to create new border checkpoints in strategically advantageous areas, he said. The State Border Service Chief pointed out that at the same time, the control capabilities over the adversary's settlements, highways and strategically important objects have been increased. Guliyev said that Armenian forces have staged provocations on the border, firing at civilians and unarmed border guards carrying out engineering work. Azerbaijan has retaliated by destroying Armenias firing points and manpower and the adversary has suffered five to six times more losses, the official said. He also touched upon the recent Armenian provocation in the Tovuz direction of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, saying that the Armenian sabotage was thwarted. Guliyev noted that after the State Border Service undertook the protection of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border in the Gazakh-Agstafa regions, 89 border checkpoints and four modern military unit complexes have been built and put into operation for the border guards on the line of direct contact within a short period of time. Moreover, a military unit complex and three border checkpoints are being completed. Measures are also being taken to increase the combat capability of border checkpoints, to provide our border guards with modern weapons, detection devices and other technical equipment, to improve engineering supplies, Guliyev added. He said that these measures also include the construction of roads leading to the combat posts along the entire service area and between the posts, as well as the construction of protective barriers along the road to ensure safety, the supply of special radio communications to all border combat positions, upgrade of the line communication system, installation of hundreds of video surveillance cameras and solar panel systems at border combat positions. Furthermore, Guliyev said that the thousands-strong rally in support of the Armed Forces and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on July 14 in Baku once again demonstrated the unbreakable will of the Azerbaijani people as well as peoples trust in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the countrys leadership. The resolute position of our Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the growing strength of our Armed Forces and the fighting spirit of our people will soon lead to the liberation of Azerbaijani lands," Guliyev added. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Recently, Armenia has stepped up its military provocation not only on the line of contact along Nagorno-Karabakh, but also on the state border with Azerbaijan. On July 12, Armenian forces shelled Azerbaijan's positions in Tovuz, Azerbaijan's strategically-important district on the border. The Armenian attack killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, as well as a 76-year-old civilian. Armenian forcers retreated after suffering losses in Azerbaijan's retaliation. Karwar: Taking serious note of BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde's recent statement about COVID-19, activist Madhav Nayak of Karwar has written to the President of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear the confusion and also take action against those spreading false information. "It is almost seven months from the first reported case of coronavirus in the country and five months since the lockdown. This uncertain times in our lives have taken a toll on every individual of our country by impacting every one financially, mentally and emotionally," Jana Shakthi Vedike president Madhav Nayak mentioned in the letter. Nayak has sent the letter through the Deputy Commissioner's office to the President of India, the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, the Governor of Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Health Minister Dr. Harshvardhan. "We are following all the timely guidelines given by the government to avoid the infection. Though we have not been able to control the spread of the disease, yet we understand and support our government in these tough times," he said. Nayak has tried to draw the attention of the government over some of the recent developments. "We have seen (the video clip of) our Member of Parliament Ananth Kumar Hegde telling audiences in a function not to take COVID19 disease seriously. He claimed it is just like normal flu and highlighted simply for vested reasons of pharmaceutical companies to make money. He also stated that there are medicines available too etc, while his very own government and our respected Prime Minister is seen requesting people to take all precautions to avoid the spread of the disease," he said. "The MP holds a responsible position and his statement has made me and others to doubt whether he is speaking the truth. If he is true then why isn't the government coming out clearly and telling us about the same? If this disease is all because of the vested interest of the pharmaceutical companies to make money by playing with our lives, then why isn't the government punishing them? Are we all being made to suffer for the benefit of some pharma companies as MP is seen saying?" he questioned. He also stated that a doctor Tarun Kothari has been spreading news of COVID19 being a global scam, even challenging the government and the health minister to prove him wrong by appearing in press meets and doing videos in social media. "Why hasnt our government replied to the questions asked by doctor Tarun Kothari?. If he is wrong, then why let him spread these rumors? Also, can an MP simply speak anything? There should be a Judicial Inquiry about these claims on COVID-19," Madhav Nayak told Deccan Chronicle. "Let there be a proper inquiry. People should know if what these people are telling is correct or if they are simply giving such statements," he added. Earlier this month, a fisherman in New Jersey caught a great white shark, as officials in the tri-state report shark sightings in the region have reached record numbers. A report by NBC New York said this summer the largest surge of shark sightings has been on Long Island, with the number observed there the highest in nearly 200 years. Bull sharks seen near the shore have kept people out of the water. However, about 150 miles away, the report said Tim Brindley, fishing off the waters of Barnegat Inlet on Aug. 1, netted a bigger catch, just two miles from shore. I said, oh my god thats a great white. I look down and it was big, it was so big, the fisherman recalled. It was obvious that the shark had been dead long before the two of them found it, Brindleys first mate noted, describing the smell as horrific, the report said. Brindley said hes been fishing in the waters off Barnegat Inlet for four decades but has never caught a great white shark before, the report stated. There was backlash. According to the report, the pair said that after snapping pictures of the 10-foot catch they released it back into the water, and later posted the photos online. They never imagined theyd receive backlash from it. Everybody is like what are you catching great whites for? I have been fishing for 42 years off Barnegat Light. The one thing I do is document everything. It would be a disservice if I didnt document this fish, the report quoted Brindley. The report said the fisherman is also documenting a rise in the number of sharks he has been seeing, and the report noted that just last month a great white shark was blamed for killing a New York City woman in Maine. What is causing the rise in shark sightings? According to experts, warmer waters are leading to an increase in the shark population near the shore, the report said. Shark sightings have become a semi-regular occurrence in Nassau County, the NBC New York report said, adding that several sightings were reported just last week. Officials have been closing beaches or modifying swimming restrictions off-and-on for several weeks now, the report said. READ MORE: Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Namibia's annual international Windhoek Jazz Festival scheduled for November has been canceled due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, organizers announced Tuesday. Communications manager at the city of Windhoek municipality Harold Akwenye in an announcement said stakeholders jointly agreed to cancel the event because of national and international concern regarding the COVID-19. "The decision was endorsed at the most recent, monthly Windhoek municipal council meeting. We are committed to doing our part to help protect our employees, residents, fellow Namibians, and visitors," he added. Last year, the 8th edition of the annual international Windhoek Jazz Festival saw the legendary South African songstress, Yvonne Chaka Chaka grace the stage as the main act, supported by performances by Vusi Nova and Garth Taylor from South Africa, as well as Portugal's Cicero Lee. New Delhi, Aug 19 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) being organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva and the Parliament of Austria here Wednesday. The two-day conference on August 19 and 20, is being held with the support of the United Nations. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first time that an international Parliamentary Conference of such a magnitude is being organised in virtual mode. The second part of the Conference will be held next year in physical mode in Vienna, Austria. Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Ms Meenakashi Lekhi, both Lok Sabha MPs and Lok Sabha Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava will also be attending the Conference. The theme of the 5WCSP is 'Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet'. For the event, an inspirational video message of the Speaker was telecast by IPU on its social media platforms and website. Mr Birla will express his views during the Panel Discussion on the theme 'Improving governance by bridging the gap between Parliaments and the People' on Thursday. An Outcome Document on the above theme highlighting the solidarity of all Parliaments of the world amidst the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic will be adopted at the end of the Virtual Conference. The 5WCSP, being held in the backdrop of the current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic and its disastrous impact on the world, is expected to strengthen multilateralism and international cooperation in order to rebuild a better world. UNI RSA SHK1904 The E.U. leaders, speaking by videoconference in a rare vacation-time emergency discussion, said they did not recognize the results of the Aug. 9 election in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed more than 80 percent of the vote. They reaffirmed plans to impose sanctions on Belarusan officials responsible for the violent crackdown on protests in recent weeks, and on those responsible for an election the E.U. leaders said in a statement was neither free nor fair. VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) Lithuanias parliament voted for economic sanctions against neighboring Belarus on Tuesday, saying the presidential election there mustn't be internationally recognized. We are sending a strong message to the world today, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said after lawmakers approved the sanctions on a 120-0 vote with two abstentions. Nineteen of the 141 parliament members were absent. The document adopted by lawmakers in the Seimas, Lithuania's national legislature, also calls for an international rejection of the legitimacy of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's reelection. Further details on the economic sanctions weren't immediately available. Both the European Union and the U.S. government have called the presidential election in Belarus EU foreign ministers have rejected the election results and last week began drawing up a list of officials in Belarus who could face sanctions. Lukashenko won his sixth term in office with 80% of the vote, according to official results of Belarus' Aug. 9 election. The opposition has denounced the vote as rigged and hundreds of thousands of people have poured into the streets across the country to protest every day since the election. The Lithuanian foreign minister said that shocking stories of protesters being beaten and tortured have started to emerge from Belarus. What happened there is not just a human rights abuse, but also crimes that must be investigated and those responsible punished, Linkevicius said. Lukashenkos top challenger, former English teacher Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got only 10% of the vote, according to election officials. She denounced the vote as rigged and demanded a recount before leaving Belarus last week. Lithuania, which is Belaruss northern neighbor, gave her refuge. Lithuania has a population of 2.8 million and the Baltic nation's capital, Vilnius, is located 170 kilometers (105 miles) from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Story continues Vilnius is a center for Belarusians in exile. The city hosts a university that Lukashenko banned. A number of Belarusian nongovernmental organizations have relocated there as well. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde spoke by telephone with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei on Tuesday and demanded an end to police violence against protesters and the immediate release of all political prisoners. Linde also offered to travel to Minsk to meet with representatives of the government and the opposition, according to Sweden's Foreign Ministry. Also Tuesday, the Belarusian ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Leshchenya, handed in his resignation after coming out with a statement in support of the protests. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Mutual funds, also known as asset management companies (AMCs), are key investors in equity markets. They put investors' money in several segments, including equities and debts. In the last few years, whenever the market corrected sharply, they remained supportive. But, in the last couple of months, they have been net sellers, probably preferring to book profits given the 50 percent rally in markets from March lows. In the last two months, MFs sold nearly Rs 11,000 crore worth of shares, including Rs 7,232 crore in July. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), however, were net buyers, who bought nearly Rs 32,000 crore worth of shares in the two-month period, including Rs 8,590.13 crore in July. If we go back a bit more, FIIs have been net buyers in the April-July period. The market rose more than 7 percent in June as well as July. It seems to have priced in all positives given the data points published during the unlocking period and June quarter earnings report card along with major liquidity boost, experts say. Given the rally, mutual funds rejigged their exposure to some stocks but four bluechipsReliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have remained a constant in their holdings. The country's second-largest IT services company Infosys and top private sector lender HDFC Bank were held by all top 10 mutual fund houses in July. Billionaire Mukesh-Ambani-owned Reliance Industries and India's second-largest private sector lender ICICI Bank were held by nine of the 10 AMCs. Overall, eight AMCsSBI AMC, HDFC AMC, ICICI Prudential AMC, Nippon AMC, UTI AMC, Aditya Birla Sunlife AMC, Kotak AMC and Mirae AMCheld all these four stocks. These AMCs held more than Rs 2 lakh crore worth of shares in these four companies, including HDFC Bank (Rs 56,192 crore) and Reliance Industries (Rs 51,820 crore). These four stocks have rallied smartly from their March lows, with Reliance Industries leading the charge (up 139 percent), Infosys (82 percent), HDFC Bank (34 percent) and ICICI Bank (27 percent). Reliance (up 21 percent) and Infosys (up 31 percent) continued their run in July as well but ICICI Bank was down 1 percent and HDFC Bank 3 percent during the month. Given the rally, eight of nine AMCs reduced their exposure to Reliance Industries in July. More than Rs 1.5 lakh crore of investment by global investors in Jio Platforms, a flourishing telecom business and its debt-free status pushed RIL stock price to record high in July. RIL became the first company to hit Rs 14-lakh crore (including its partly paid-up shares) market cap. Infosys fired almost on all cylinders in the June quarter earnings, which gave confidence to investors and as a result, six of the 10 fund houses raised exposure to the stock in July. In the case of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, which reported good sets of earnings despite moratorium, five AMCs each increased their exposure. "Market is being driven majorly by RIL. Also, technology stocks were favourites among AMCs. Growth anticipation and better Q1FY21 results led the rally. In my opinion, these stocks may continue to generate good returns in the long term. Amid uncertainty over earnings and sustained profitability, institutions have preferred heavyweights over broader indices," Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research told Moneycontrol. The broader market has not performed well over the last three years. Since 2018 January, the Nifty has remained flat while the broader market as represented by midcap and smallcap indices have severely underperformed the Nifty. Vineeta Sharma, Head of Research at Narnolia Financial Advisors agrees with Garg. "The market internals are highly skewed in the favour of selective largecap stocks and the same is being reflected when we see the mutual funds holdings," she said. Till a broader economic recovery and earnings growth is seen in Indian companies, this situation will continue, she said. Both experts favour holding these stocks for the long term. Garg said investors should have 60 percent exposure in bluechips and rest in broader indices. "In my opinion, they should continue to hold them for mid to long term." These stable good quality companies are a must-own for any investor for the long term, though once broader economy improves, it would be advisable to include growth-producing mid and small-cap stocks as well, Sharma said. Apart from these four stocks, seven of 10 AMCs held Bharti Airtel in July and six have exposure to Axis Bank. Five fund houses also have exposure to Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS and ITC. HUL, SBI and NTPC were held by four out of 10 AMCs, while housing finance major HDFC is held by three fund houses. Note: The data of top 10 AMCs and their exposure to stocks in July has been taken from ICICI Direct's research report of August 13, 2020. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Moneycontrol. : 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. Anti-vaxxers refusing a coronavirus jab would be banned from shopping malls, public transport and interstate travel under a radical yellow passport plan. Dr Zac Turner, who has volunteered in Africa and Papua New Guinea, wants Australians to be issued with yellow passports to certify they have been immunised Australia could have a COVID-19 vaccine possibly by Christmas with the federal government signing an in-principle deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to manufacture it. Dr Zac Turner, who has volunteered in Africa and Papua New Guinea, wants Australians to be issued with yellow passports to certify they have been immunised. Under his proposal, anyone wanting to enter a shopping mall, bus or train without a face mask would be required to present this card to a security guard to certify they have been vaccinated. Police at state borders could also refuse entry to visitors who don't have proof of a coronavirus vaccination. The yellow passport would also be required for anyone wanting to access a hospital or an aged care home. Dr Turner, a biomedical scientist, said 80 per cent of Australia's 25 million people would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, arguing his passport idea was easier to administer. 'It's going to be difficult at the beginning for us to recognise who are the people that have an objection towards a vaccination and people that are just waiting to get the vaccine,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'We're not going to have 25 million vaccines available all at once. Scroll down for video Anti-vaxxers would be banned from shopping malls, public transport and interstate travel if a doctor who has worked in developing countries had his way. Pictured are protesters in Melbourne opposed to mandatory vaccinations Should a COVID-19 vaccinate be successfully developed, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hinted he would look at making it 'as mandatory as possible'. He is pictured in the Sydney laboratories of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, who would be tasked with manufacturing an Oxford University-developed coronavirus vaccine 'There will be strict bans on anyone who hasn't had the vaccine from going into places where there's vulnerable people.' Dr Turner's idea is modelled on an existing yellow passport system for travellers who have been to nations where yellow fever is present. This is where they have to prove they have been vaccinated against the mosquito-borne illness that turns the skin yellow - a situation known as jaundice. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hinted he would look at making a COVID-19 vaccine 'as mandatory as possible' but later clarified on Sydney radio 2GB there were no mechanisms to force someone to get an injection. His government has signed a deal to bring Oxford University's vaccine to Australia as soon as it is approved, which could be at the end of this year. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca would be tasked with manufacturing the UK-developed vaccine in Australia. Under his proposal, anyone wanting to enter a shopping mall, bus or train without a face mask would be required to present this card to a security guard to certify they have been vaccinated. Pictured is a Westfield mall in Sydney Dr Turner said his experience volunteering for Doctors Without Borders in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and 2003 - administering vaccines for mumps, measles, rubella, polio and tetanus - demonstrated to him the importance of mandating herd immunity. Poll Would you take a coronavirus vaccine rolled out in Australia? Yes No Undecided Would you take a coronavirus vaccine rolled out in Australia? Yes 3752 votes No 5332 votes Undecided 812 votes Now share your opinion He also volunteered in Papua New Guinea to help build a runway to ensure medical supplies and vaccines could be delivered safely. 'When you see viruses and infections running rampant, it makes it a lot closer to home,' he said. Not everyone shares he call for mandatory vaccines - even if they support a COVID-19 elimination strategy. Dr Raina MacIntyre, the head of biosecurity research at the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute, said Australians should be given a choice about whether to be vaccinated. 'It should not be compulsory,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'Depending on how effective the vaccine is, we would need 70 to 90 per cent of people vaccinated for herd immunity.' Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said the government was devising how to stop the non-vaccinated from catching the train or going to a restaurant. Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said the government was devising how to stop the non-vaccinated from catching the train. Pictured is a commuter at Sydney's Wynyard station 'Looking at specific things like not being able to go into restaurants, not being able to travel internationally, not being able to catch public transport or more broadly having what in the olden days would have been a yellow fever vaccination certificate, these are clearly policy decisions that will be discussed,' he said. Dr Coatsworth said an incentive was needed to encourage vaccinations. 'I suspect the majority of Australians will get vaccinated and there will be a strong public view that those who choose not to get vaccinated need to, there needs to be some sort of incentive, stick perhaps to make it happen,' he said. The Bachelorette's Georgia Love has hit back at critics who blasted her on Twitter for complaining that her wedding had been delayed again due to COVID-19. Georgia, who met her fiance Lee Elliott on The Bachelorette in 2016, uploaded a four-part Twitter rant on Tuesday defending her right to grouch about her postponed nuptials. 'Hey Twitter, you really suck sometimes,' she began, before proceeding to describe how much she has suffered this year as a result of the bushfires and COVID-19. 'You really suck': Georgia Love defended herself on Twitter on Tuesday, after critics blasted her for complaining about her wedding being delayed for a second time due to the COVID-19 crisis 'I work in the news. I literally rang in 2020 watching people's homes burn down,' the newsreader began. Georgia then reminded her fans how instrumental she has been in bringing the latest coronavirus news to Australians by reporting for 10 News First. 'I have brought you stories of people whove found out their elderly loved ones have died of COVID-19 days after the fact because of our news investigations,' she wrote. Putting her foot down: Georgia, who met her fiance Lee Elliott on The Bachelorette in 2016, uploaded a four-part rant on Twitter defending her right to grouch about her delayed nuptials 'I literally rang in 2020 watching peoples homes burn down': The Channel 10 reporter complained about how much she has suffered this year She continued: 'I've had to be the one in charge of talks with an aged [care] facility about my own grandmother because her daughter - my mother - died and I am still grieving this deeply.' Georgia then shared her personal battles with job insecurity and emotional turmoil. 'I may no longer have a job in my career profession that I have put my life's work into and where my passion lies,' she tweeted. 'I have been unable to see my loved ones nor do the things that bring my joy for the majority of this year.' 'I may no longer have a job': Georgia then shared her personal battles with job insecurity and emotional turmoil Finishing off her rant with an almighty bang, she declared: 'So you know what? I'm allowed to comment on the fact its a bit s**tty my wedding has been affected, too. 'This does not take away from anyone elses pain or suffering.' Georgia's stunning rant came a day after she revealed on Twitter that she may be forced to cancel her dream wedding for a second time this year. On the scene: The newsreader reminded her fans how instrumental she has been in bringing the latest coronavirus news to Australians by reporting for 10 News First Doubling down: Finishing off her rant with an almighty bang, she declared: 'So you know what? Im allowed to comment on the fact its a bit s**tty my wedding has been affected, too' Georgia and Lee had to nix their plans for a lavish Italian wedding due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. And now their dreams of a trip down the aisle in Tasmania are in jeopardy, too. 'So like HOW FUNNY IS IT when you cancel your Italy wedding and book it for Tasmania instead and then the Premier shuts the borders til at least December,' Georgia shared on Twitter. Plan B! Georgia and Lee (left) planned to hold their big day in Tasmania after being forced to cancel their Italian dream wedding due to international travel restrictions Devastated: On Tuesday, Georgia revealed her ongoing wedding nightmare after admitting she might be forced to cancel her nuptials for a second time 'HAHAHAHAHA OMG SO FUNNY IM TOTALLY FINE!!!!!' she added. The premier of Tasmania, Peter Gutwein, announced the border closure on Tuesday, saying it allowed sufficient time for the COVID-19 situation in Victoria to be brought under control following a surge in cases of the deadly respiratory disease. In June, Georgia told the Ben, Rob & Robbo show that the couple have been forced to change the location of their wedding to Tasmania due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Many people are dying. Your party can wait': Georgia received a wave of backlash on Twitter after she complained about having to reschedule her wedding on Tuesday 'We were planning on a wedding for Italy next year so in 2021,' she said. 'But weve gone back on those plans, so we figured theres just too many "what-ifs" in the world at the moment.' The television presenter added that even if international travel opens up, the couple still plan to hold their nuptials in Georgia's home state of Tasmania instead. 'Even if Italy is fine by then we do not want to put it on our family and friends that they have to find the money to [travel overseas] in such uncertain times with people losing their jobs,' she added. Georgia chose Lee in the finale of The Bachelorette in 2016, and the pair announced their engagement last year. Venomous rattle snakes are known to unexpectantly slither out from holes, but what may come to a surprise is that these reptiles also climb trees. The daring feat has been captured by a number of people this summer, who have shared the astounding photos and videos online. A diamondback was seen 'soaking up the early morning sun' in a tree at a wildlife park in New Mexico just last month and few weeks later a similar photo surfaced of a snake coiled up in branches in Arizona. Experts say snakes only brave such heights when hunting, fleeing a predator or as a way to escape extreme heat. Scroll down for videos A diamondback was seen 'soaking up the early morning sun' in a tree at a wildlife park in New Mexico (pictured) just last month and few weeks later a similar photo surfaced of a snake coiled up in branches in Arizona The earliest evidence this year of tree climbing snakes surfaced on Facebook July 4, when Jerome Pereze, a resident of New Mexico, uploaded a video of a six-foot rattle snake resting in a mesquite tree, Miami Herald reported. 'First time I seen a rattler 7 feet off the ground,' reads the post with the video that has been shared over 4,000 times. Perez told McClatchy News: 'I was amazed we were seeing such an unheard of occurrence. 'The snake was up high, soaking up the early morning sun, but his rattler was going at high speed. 'First time I seen a rattler 7 feet off the ground,' reads the post with the video that has been shared over 4,000 times. 'A small sparrow was flapping frantically in front of the snake, trying to keep it from a nest likely hidden in the tree.' The snake can be seen coiled at the top of a tree and rattling its tail which can also be heard in the video. Another diamondback was spotted hanging out in a tree by the Bureau of Land Management Arizona on August 12, which shared a close up image of the relaxed reptile. 'Rattlesnakes are rarely observed in trees, except when basking, hunting prey such as birds and rodents, or to escape from extreme heat or a high water level,' reads the post. Another diamondback was spotted hanging out in a tree by the Bureau of Land Management Arizona on August 12, which shared a close up image of the relaxed reptile Tom Sykes, who is credited for taking the photo, was met with criticism by Facebook users, who said the images were photoshopped however Syskes quickly responded to the claims. 'The snake was clearly resting, probably waiting for the sun to warm it,' he wrote 'This diamondback was spotted basking in a tree in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.' The photo was shared in a Facebook group called 'Friends of the San Pedro River,' which is an environmental conservation group in Arizona. 'Clearly this 'flying snake' was a rarity,' the group wrote. 'Watch where you are going: look down, right, left, ahead.... and up!' Tom Sykes, who is credited for taking the photo, was met with criticism by Facebook users, who said the images were photoshopped however Syskes quickly responded to the claims. 'The snake was clearly resting, probably waiting for the sun to warm it,' he wrote. 'Several people we've spoken to don't normally see this species western diamondback in a tree. ... We would not have seen the snake were it not for a Botteri's Sparrow singing at the top of the same tree.' Although snakes have been climbing trees for centuries, the pictures and videos have sparked worry among the public. Pictured is a snake spotted in Baton Rouge in 2014. Wildlife experts said it is a Texas rat snake This black rat snake was spotted in Michigan back in 2017 and are deemed a concerned species Susan Cramer Stein, a Facebook users, commented on Sykes's content: 'Ok Tom, 2020 can't get worse. I visit your neck of the woods. I respect nature, even the critters I don't like.' 'I wear snake gaiters. I wear hiking boots, long pants and long sleeves. I'm wearing a mask for Covid. Good grief, now I need a helmet too? And possibly a face shield? ' These snakes were spotted sunbathing at the top of trees, but another reptile in a tree was not spending its time leisurely. In January, a Mississippi hunter was walking through the woods when he felt a severe pain on his head - a copperhead snake in a tree bit him. Tyler Hardy told Clarion Ledger: 'I thought somebody had shot me or hit me with an axe.' 'It knocked the fire out of me. I just could not believe the force the snake had when it hit me. Hardy was left with a massive mark where the snake had sunk its teeth into the left side of his head, which he said was burning and swelling shortly after the incident. Scientists have long been fascinated by snakes slithering up trees and have investigated how the reptiles make the climb. Because they do not have limbs, the creatures use muscular force to wrap themselves around the trunk, allowing them to make their way up to branches. In January, a Mississippi hunter was walking through the woods when he felt a severe pain on his head - a copperhead snake in a tree bit him. Hardy was left with a massive mark where the snake had sunk its teeth into the left side of his head, which he said was burning and swelling shortly after the incident This ratsnake was photographed at Lincoln State Park in 2017. This snake dines on birds, eggs and mice Greg Byrnes, a herpetologist at Siena College in New York, told National Geographic that snakes create incredible forces with their bodies in order to wrap around a tree and decreases their change of falling. However, Brynes also said: 'A ten-meter fall is unlikely to really hurt a snake, but being back on the ground could expose them to predators. Then the snake will have to climb the tree again, and it might be more energy efficient to be more careful the first time.' Smaller snakes use both their body and scales to push against the bike on the tree to inch upward to the top. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) has now confirmed the plan, which will see the basic package increased from 150Mbs to 500Mbs. Areas of Cork and Cavan are set to be the first to be connected to high-speed internet under the Government's National Broadband plan. While in a major boost for end-users as National Broadband Ireland (NBI) unveils speeds more than three times faster than originally planned. This will mean the entry-level broadband service for 540,000 disadvantaged rural homes at 500Mbps will be much faster than most city-based cable or high speed internet customers. The plan sets out to deliver the high-speed connections to some 54,000 farms in the coming years with the new network set connect 1.1 million rural people once completed. The service is expected to be priced at around 40 per month. NBI will be a wholesale provider, meaning the packages will be sold by retailers, including operators currently selling other internet packages. In the six months to-date since work commenced, NBI has mobilised its team to work across 17 counties nationwide with survey work completed for over 63,000 premises. Build work for the new fibre network is due to commence in parts of Cork and Cavan by the end of this month, and shortly after that, in townlands in Galway. Minister for Climate Action, Communication Networks and Transport Eamon Ryan has said that by the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. "All counties will see premises passed in the first two years and over 90pc of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years," he said. NBI Chief Executive Officer Peter Hendrick said that the huge increase in minimum download speeds that will now be delivered under the NBP is fantastic news for those living in the Intervention Area. "At NBI we realise the vital importance of building a network that not only caters for today's demands, but future-proofs for generations to come. Our promise is to continue to build a limitless Ireland with reliable, future-proofed superfast broadband." Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:00:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAMAKO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, currently detained by mutinous soldiers in the military camp in Kati, a town close to Bamako, announced late Tuesday night his resignation and the dissolution of the National Assembly and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse's government. "I have decided to quit my functions, all my functions from this moment ... I declare the dissolution of the National Assembly and the government," Keita said in a brief declaration broadcast by national television ORTM. "I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power," he said, adding that he didn't "hold any hatred" towards anyone. Leaders of the military coup said Wednesday they would enact a political transition and stage elections within a "reasonable time." The National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) "decided to take responsibility in front of the people and of history," Ismael Wague, the Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff, said in a state television broadcast. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations, along with France, condemned on Tuesday afternoon the arrest of Keita by the mutinous Malian soldiers and demanded restoration of the constitutional order, affirming that they would not accept an unconstitutional power switch. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for an immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali after the country's president was arrested. ECOWAS issued a statement Tuesday evening, threatening to sanction authors of the mutiny. In the statement, ECOWAS announced its decision to suspend the membership of Mali, and asked its members to close borders and suspend all financial connections with the country. Early Tuesday morning, gunshots were heard in Kati. A source from the defense ministry said an officer reportedly took advantage of the morning rally to incite soldiers to revolt. For months, opposition coalition the Movement of June 5 - Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) has been organizing demonstrations to demand Keita's resignation, accusing him of being responsible for the worsening security situation in the northern part of the country and Mali's economic recession. The coup occurred as M5-RFP on Tuesday began a week of "continuous activities" of protest in Mali to force Keita to resign. Keita was first elected president of Mali in 2013 and re-elected for another five-year term in office in 2018. In 2012, a military coup which overthrew former President Amadou Toumani Toure a few months before the end of his mandate, also began with a mutiny in the military camp in Kati. Enditem The video is jarring yet jovial: Six people laughing and joking at the edge of a raised bridge, the Merchandise Mart behind them, the Chicago River far, far below. The footage as of Tuesday afternoon had been shared more than 42,000 times after it was posted to Twitter with the caption, Chicago officials raised the bridge not knowing a group was still crossing. Pipeline 19 August 2020 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of world's leading hotel companies, has signed a management agreement with Riteway and Medha Projects to bring a Holiday Inn Resort to the state of Karnataka. Offering 126 well appointed rooms, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats is expected to open its doors to guests in Q1 2023. Underscoring industry confidence despite challenging times, this is the second signing announced by IHG in India in last three months. Located on the Western Ghats mountain range, in the state of Karnataka, Sakleshpur is in close proximity to Bengaluru, and is a great destination for leisure travellers looking to spend quality time amidst nature or explore various historic monuments and sites the city has to offer. Located 6 kilometres from the main Bengaluru and Mangalore highway, on opening, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats will offer varied dining options to guests with four F&B outlets, including an All-Day Dining, a bar, a speciality restaurant and a lobby lounge. The hotel will also feature 518 sqm of meetings space across three venues, including a 359 sqm ballroom well suited for various MICE events. The resort will feature a pool, a fitness centre and a spa for guests to relax and rejuvenate. For travellers driving down from the nearby cities, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats will feature ample parking space. Additionally, positioned as a complete destination on its own, the resort will house a retail outlet, an indoor recreation centre and an outdoor recreation facility making it a perfect destination for vacationers or guests on corporate retreats. Sakleshpur is popular for its mountains, scenic beauty and pleasant weather. Appealing to a wide range of tourists, Sakleshpur is home to the18th century Manjarabad Fort, Sakleshwara Temple, Agni Gudda Hill, Magajahalli Waterfalls, Betta Byraveshwara Temple, Hemavathi Dam, Pandavar Gudda and Agni Gudda. The hill station is also famous for trekking activities in Bisle Reserve Forest Trail and Kumara Parvatha trail known for its biodiversity. Catering to a wide range of audience, IHG has 36 hotels in India across mainstream, upscale and luxury segments and 43 in the pipeline. * *numbers as of June 30th Sakleshpur is popular for its mountains, scenic beauty and pleasant weather. Appealing to a wide range of tourists, Sakleshpur is home to the18th century Manjarabad Fort, Sakleshwara Temple, Agni Gudda Hill, Magajahalli Waterfalls, Betta Byraveshwara Temple, Hemavathi Dam, Pandavar Gudda and Agni Gudda. The hill station is also famous for trekking activities in Bisle Reserve Forest Trail and Kumara Parvatha trail known for its biodiversity. Catering to a wide range of audience, IHG has 36 hotels in India across mainstream, upscale and luxury segments and 43 in the pipeline. * *numbers as of June 30th The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) said on Monday it will conduct COVID-19 tests on all people who have recently returned from Hanoi, Quang Nam Province, Quang Ngai Province, and Hai Duong Province. The HCDC has finished screening all citizens who had been to the central city of Da Nang, the countrys largest epicenter at present, from July 1, in an effort to promptly detect COVID-19 cases and control the spread of the disease. Aside from Da Nang, other localities including Hanoi, the central provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, and northern Hai Duong Province have recently detected multiple community-based cases, including cases whose sources of infection remain unknown. To continue curbing the epidemic, the HCDC will quarantine and conduct COVID-19 tests on all people who previously went to these four localities, as well as requiring them to complete a health declaration. Accordingly, individuals who had close contact with COVID-19 patients, returned from locations where COVID-19 patients live and work, or returned from localities where lockdown and social distancing measures are implemented will be brought to quarantine centers and tested. Those who went to high-risk locations noted by the Ministry of Health will undergo home quarantine and be sampled for COVID-19 tests. The remaining people will have their health monitored at home and will be screened for COVID-19 if they exhibit symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing, and loss of taste and smell. The HCDC is developing a specific plan for this process and will send it to authorities in the citys 24 districts for implementation. According to the municipal Department of Health, a total of 53,317 people in the metropolis had been to Da Nang since July 1, all of whom have completed health declarations and been tested for COVID-19. Among them, 52,675 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, while the others are still waiting for their results. Six people tested positive and have been confirmed as patients No. 510, 517, 518, 567, 568 and 589 by the Ministry of Health. Vietnams COVID-19 tally is at 989, with 525 having recovered and 26 deaths as of Wednesday morning. Five hundred and nine local infections have been reported since July 25, when the country documented its first community-based case after 99 days. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Jordan Piazza is tired of seeing his friends leave Baton Rouge. For much of the last decade, the 32-year-old businessman the youngest candidate vying for mayor-president watched as his classmates from University High and LSU steadily funneled out of the Capital City for opportunities elsewhere. He always thought they were crazy for leaving, but then, he started to wonder: Am I the crazy one for staying? Newly married, with hopes of starting a family soon, the first-time candidate is intent on spending his life in Baton Rouge and is now campaigning for the city-parishs top job. A big reason for his run, he says, is to stem the exodus of young professionals. He was shocked when the Baton Rouge Area Foundation released a report in October showing that only 8% of area parents want their children to stay in the parish when they become adults. Im passionate about Baton Rouge and very protective of Baton Rouge, Piazza said. It was either get in and get involved or get out. +7 Ready for a big mayor's race in Baton Rouge? Meet the field challenging Sharon Weston Broome Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome drew seven challengers this week in her bid for a second term the most a mayoral incumbent in East Bato The co-owner of Uncle Earl's Bar on Perkins Road, Piazza is primarily running on his credentials as a businessman. If elected, he says, he'll transform Baton Rouges economy by luring in additional industries and working more closely with the parishs small-business community. Piazza's livelihood has been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. He said he disagrees with Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's mask mandate and Gov. John Bel Edwards' blanket decision to shut down bars both of which were put in place in July when case counts began spiking for a second time. "It's crucial to our businesses and our economy that we remain open," Piazza said, noting that he prefers a less strict "mask recommendation" and the opening of bars at limited capacity, with enforcement against establishments that fail to comply. "While I understand that masks are helpful, I don't believe that people want the government telling them how to live," Piazza said. He said the city-parish's increasing budget and decreasing population is a "prescription for disaster," adding that the parish should exhibit "greater budgetary discipline." To tackle the parishs burgeoning crime rate, he wants to hire 100 additional patrol officers, raise BRPD salaries by $10,000 a year and place a law enforcement official in every school. Until recently, Piazza, a Republican, remained largely outside the political fray. He supported Broome in 2016, but said he has since been unimpressed by her lack of leadership. He says he started paying more attention to local government and grew frustrated with its partisan bickering and dysfunction. Its nothing that (Broome) did in particular. Its really what she didnt do, Piazza said. We continue to elect career politicians and expect different results." Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up One advantage over his competitors, Piazza readily acknowledges, is his business contacts. In July 2019, he brought together more than a dozen Baton Rouge business titans including Richard Lipsey, Lane Grigsby and Todd Graves for input on whether he should run. They didnt all throw their support behind Piazza, but he said the meeting was encouraging nonetheless. I legitimately could not find one person that said, Dont do it, Piazza said. For no one to tell a young guy thats never been involved in politics, Hey stay out, means they agreed that something had to be done. St. George movement looms over Baton Rouge mayor's race: Here's where the candidates stand One of the biggest decisions facing the winner of this years crowded race for East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president is: What is to be done Piazza faces plenty of competition in the Nov. 3 race. Others challenging Broome, a Democrat, are Metro Council member Matt Watson, a Republican; Baton Rouge attorney "E Eric" Guirard, an Independent; current state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, a Democrat; former state legislator Steve Carter, a Republican; and Frank Smith III, a Republican. The status of an eighth candidate, Metro Council member Tara Wicker, a Democrat, is currently being decided by the courts. Much of Piazza's childhood was spent at the original Phil's Oyster Bar on Government Street, bussing tables, seating guests and watching his charismatic, larger-than-life father, Gus Piazza, hold court among Baton Rouge's political and social elite. Gus Piazza, who passed away in 2007, acted as the "unofficial mayor" of Baton Rouge, a friend and confidant to countless customers, which included figures like the Shaquille O'Neal, Lionel Richie and then-Gov. Edwin Edwards, Jordan Piazza said. He credited his upbringing at Phil's for instilling a strong work ethic from an early age. It also gave the precocious youngster a forum to flex his outgoing personality and engage with Baton Rouge residents of all walks of life. "His personality was off the charts," said Rene Firesheets, a family friend and mentor who remembers a 10-year-old Piazza making the rounds to check up on customers at Phil's as the unofficial maitre d'. After graduating from LSU, Piazza followed in his father's footsteps and worked his way through several jobs in the food service industry: managing a Schlitz & Giggles, working in operations for Walk-On's and later reporting directly to Todd Graves at Raising Cane's. "He's like the energizer bunny," said Robert Daigrepont, a local CPA who first met Piazza while working for Walk-On's. "He also has the foresight to take care of things before they go wrong." In 2016, Piazza and his brother Anthony Piazza reopened Phil's Oyster Bar in Southdowns after it shuttered a decade earlier. Jordan Piazza later left the partnership, and in 2018, renovated and opened Uncle Earl's Bar alongside a crew of investors. Piazza's business partner Jordan Neldare said people gravitate towards Piazza as a "natural leader," adding that he's capable of "getting the blood flowing back into this economy." "Baton Rouge is just stale," Neldare said, echoing a critique he said is common among young professionals. "I think this city really needs a young, energetic leader like Jordan that can bring some change." Will Sharon Weston Broome face a run-off? Baton Rouge mayor's race to be unusually competitive With an unprecedented number of candidates jumping into the race for East Baton Rouge mayor-president, political experts say the election is n Government schools will hold online remedial classes for students of Classes 6, 7 and 9 from September to February during the 2020-21 academic session. An effort will be made to improve the mathematics, science and language skills of students performing poorly. For Class 6, remedial teaching will be provided in language and mathematics; for Class 7 and 9 remedial teaching will be provided in mathematics and science. Around 30% of the total students enrolled in Classes 6, 7 and 9 will be considered for remedial teaching. A communication issued by state project director-cum-director school education, Samagra Shiksha, Chandigarh, said, To ascertain the performance of students, the teachers concerned will analyse assignments, projects, class tests undertaken by the students in the previous months. On the basis of students performance, teachers will support the targeted group of students with additional time for focused assignments and specific content. Chandigarh director school education Rubinderjeet Singh Brar, said, This initiative has been taken as per the guidelines of the ministry of human resource development( MHRD) to bridge the gap for weak students. Teachers will focus and concentrate on these students in remedial classes. The process will be monitored by mission coordinators. Teachers have been directed to maintain a child-wise record of remedial teaching in the form of assignments, content and tests conducted during the remedial period. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ENDEAVOUR ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER George Town, August 19, 2020 - Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) (OTCQX:EDVMF) is pleased to announce that Joanna Pearson is joining the Company in the coming months to assume the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective early 2021. In the interim, Henri de Joux will continue to act as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for People and IT. Commenting on the appointment, Sebastien de Montessus, CEO of Endeavour, said: "I am very pleased to welcome Joanna to our team. As our audit partner for the past six years, Joanna has a deep understanding of our business and has routinely visited our mine sites, which will enable her to quickly integrate with the team and the role. Given her extensive expertise in reporting, assurance, governance and internal controls in the mining industry, she will be an invaluable addition to our team." Ms Pearson joins Endeavour after a successful career at Deloitte LLP (Canada) with more than ten years' experience as an audit partner, including six years as the audit partner responsible for Endeavour, and over 20 years' experience serving clients in public practice, with a focus on multinational mining clients. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Ms Pearson is a qualified chartered accountant and Canadian CPA, and speaks French. In accordance with auditor independence regulations and to avoid any possible conflict of interest, Deloitte has resigned as the auditor for Endeavour following the publication of its Q2-2020 results and Endeavour has filed a Notice of Change of Auditor in respect of this change pursuant to National Instrument 51-102 under its profile on SEDAR. Deloitte will continue to work with Endeavour on other non-audit related consultancy projects, including providing advice to Endeavour on reporting in accordance with the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure ("TCFD"). Having commenced an audit tender process, Endeavour expects to appoint new auditors in the coming weeks, ahead of the preparation of the Company's Q3-2020 results. CONTACT INFORMATION Martino De Ciccio VP - Strategy & Investor Relations +44 203 640 8665 mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com (mailto:mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com) Brunswick Group LLP in London Carole Cable, Partner +44 7974 982 458 ccable@brunswickgroup.com Vincic Advisors in Toronto John Vincic, Principal (647) 402 6375 john@vincicadvisors.com ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION Endeavour Mining is a multi-asset gold producer focused on West Africa, with two mines (Ity and Agbaou) in Cote d'Ivoire, four mines (Hounde, Mana, Karma and Boungou) in Burkina Faso, four potential development projects (Fetekro, Kalana, Bantou and Nabanga) and a strong portfolio of exploration assets on the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Guinea. As a leading gold producer, Endeavour Mining is committed to principles of responsible mining and delivering sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the communities where it operates. Endeavour is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the symbol EDV. For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com . Corporate Office: 5 Young St, Kensington, London W8 5EH, UK Attachment If successful, vaccines made in Australian would be shared with the country's neighbors, an official said. Australia has announced a deal to manufacture a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Under the deal, every single Australian will be able to receive the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for free, should trials prove successful, safe and effective, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement Wednesday. Morrison said the Oxford University trial was in a phase-three stage and more work was needed to prove its viability. If this vaccine proves successful, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians, Morrison said. Morrison later suggested an Australian-manufactured vaccine would be shared with the country's neighbors, but offered few details. He said hed recently discussed vaccines with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. Australia will also play an important role in supporting our Pacific family, Morrison told reporters. (Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp.s preliminary interest in making a bid for TikTok, on first glance, looks like an awkward fit -- the 43-year-old software giant best known for legacy corporate databases and the music-video sharing app beloved by teens seem as different as two companies can be. But the match may not be as far-fetched as it first appears. The worlds second-largest software maker has approached investors including Sequoia Capital to partner on a bid for TikToks business in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg late Monday. The companys possible pursuit of a deal for the social network, owned by Chinas ByteDance Ltd., makes more sense in light of Oracles desire to build up its cloud-computing and consumer-data businesses -- and comes into even clearer focus considering Oracles close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and Chairman Larry Ellisons cheerleading for American tech interests. Microsoft Corp. has been seen as the front-runner in the race to acquire TikToks U.S. assets, and is the only company to publicly confirm talks with ByteDance. Trump told reporters Tuesday that Oracle also is interested in TikTok and could handle a purchase of the service. The president on Friday ordered ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets within 90 days, adding to an earlier executive order that would prohibit U.S. persons and companies from doing business with TikTok effective 45 days from Aug. 6. While Microsoft at first seemed like an unlikely suitor, the company already has consumer-facing units -- gaming platform Xbox and LinkedIn, a social network for business professionals. Oracle and Microsoft are peers founded in the 1970s, but Microsoft has seen a resurgence because of its success in cloud computing. Oracle, meanwhile, has experienced stagnant sales and reduced relevance, and could badly use a win in the cloud-services market. TikTok has more than 100 million users in the U.S. When the company separates its technology from ByteDance, it will need to find new places to store the huge amount of data generated by these users. The app could be an anchor tenant for Oracles Cloud Infrastructure unit, which hosts client information, but has struggled to keep up with rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft. Oracle has seven data-center regions for businesses across North America and Australia. The company has declined to comment on its potential interest in TikTok. Story continues Oracle is one of the other players with the infrastructure to support an ecosystem and user base as massive as TikTok, said Daniel Elman, an analyst at Nucleus Research. Forgoing payments to external cloud vendors could save TikTok billions annually, he said. While Oracle doesnt have any consumer-facing business, Ellison has sought a piece of the lucrative ad-targeting market with the companys Data Cloud, which includes a data-brokerage business that creates profiles of ordinary people and sells them to advertisers. The billionaire co-founder has boasted about how his trove of consumer data is second only to Facebook Inc., and has said that Oracle needs to help businesses target their customers better than competitors. The unit has struggled since the European Unions data-privacy law, GDPR, went into effect in 2018, and the company curtailed its practice of tracking consumers in the region. Facebook also changed its ad-targeting practices after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, making it harder for third parties like Oracle to help advertisers find niche audiences. Oracle fired around 5% of the divisions staff in 2018. In June 2019, the company said that revenue had fallen 15% in the unit. A month later, the divisions leader, Eric Roza, departed the company. TikTok could spearhead a resurgence for the division, giving Oracle information about consumers that would be useful to advertisers, and also offer a platform where those clients could run their ads -- dramatically simplifying the process. ByteDance would still control TikToks European business, so Oracle wouldnt have to worry about GDPR, but it would face all the other challenges of running a social-media company, including having to remove inflammatory and violent content and answering to U.S. lawmakers increasingly worried about consumer privacy and social-media disinformation. The company has little experience in this area and may face a more hostile administration if Trump loses re-election after Oracle secures a TikTok deal. Oracle is a rare Silicon Valley company with close ties to the president, even partnering with the White House on an effort earlier this year to track the effects of using hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. Ellison and Oracle Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz personally support Trumps re-election effort. Ellison has also emerged as a China hawk, saying in 2018 that its important the U.S. wins the battle with China and deciding to significantly reduce Oracles footprint in the country. Snatching TikToks American business would blunt Chinese progress in the U.S. tech market. Then theres the matter of scale. Oracle, with $43 billion of cash and securities on hand, could easily fund a TikTok acquisition, which is estimated by bankers to be valued at $20 billion to $50 billion. After years of being acquisitive, Oracle has slowed its deals recently, saying it has all of the technology it needs to grow. Now, it seems even 76-year-old Ellison isnt immune to the TikTok phenomenon. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. A French law student has received death threats after becoming the poster girl for a streaming channel dubbed 'the hunting Netflix' and sharing grisly images of her kills online. Johanna Clermont, 23, is a 'hunting influencer' with 300,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat - where she posts photographs of herself posing with her latest kills. The 'proud huntress', from Perpignan, has now featured in a billboard campaign for Zone 300, an on-demand video platform which specialises in documentaries about hunting and fishing. The blonde's image has been plastered over metro posters in Paris to promote the streaming service, which currently has more than 90,000 subscribers. Johanna Clermont (pictured), 23, is a 'hunting influencer' with 300,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat - where she posts images of herself posing with her latest kills The 'proud huntress' has now featured in a billboard campaign for Zone 300, an on-demand video platform which specialises in documentaries about hunting and fishing Pictured: Ms Clermont, who shares images of her latest kills with her 300,000 social media followers Ms Clermont has reportedly changed her surname due to threats she received from anti-hunting activists at Perpignan University in southern France, where she studies, the Telegraph reported. In response, the student said 'p***ing people off is my passion,' explaining her goal was to 'break down stereotypes' of the male-dominated sport. She added: 'If there are no negative reactions, then the campaign won't have worked.' Thierry Coste, the French hunting federation's political adviser, said he has 'always supported' Ms Clermont's initiatives after the pair appeared in a television debate together. The blonde's image has been plastered over metro posters in Paris (pictured) to promote the Zone 300 streaming service, which currently has more than 90,000 subscribers Mr Clermont regularly promotes knife and gun brands on her social media Ms Clermont has reportedly changed her surname due to threats she received from anti-hunting activists at Perpignan University in southern France 'In a man's world where social media is little used, the first steps were pretty tough,' he told Le Parisien. The huntress has sparked controversy even within the hunting community, with some claiming the student has 'sold her soul to merchandising.' Ms Clermont regularly promotes knife and gun brands on her social media. Martine Pion, president of the national association of female hunters, said: 'We don't share the same way of seeing things. To be a spokesmodel and remain independent seem difficult to me.' Others claimed she 'gets bad press because she hogs the limelight.' In response, the student said 'p***ing people off is my passion,' explaining her goal was to 'break down stereotypes' of the male-dominated sport The huntress has sparked controversy even within the hunting community, with some claiming the student has 'sold her soul to merchandising' Ms Clermont has ravelled as far as South Africa to hunt, and regularly shares images of her latest kills with 300,000 followers across Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Ms Clermont received her hunting licence in 2014 after being given a rifle as a Christmas gift at 16. She has since travelled as far as South Africa to hunt, and regularly shares images of her latest kills with 300,000 followers across Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. 'I like to play on this duality because that's what pleases me. I alternate between the photos of pure hunting, of a warrior and more dolled up photos,' she previously told L'Express. 'There is a happy medium, it's quite touchy. I know. It may be surprising to see a young blonde like me. But I want to break the stereotypes.' (CNN) - Researchers in Germany have found possible evidence of the spread of coronavirus on a four-hour flight. In March, early in the pandemic, two airline passengers developed coronavirus infections after sitting through a nearly five-hour-long flight, the researchers said. It all started with an infected hotel manager. A week before the flight, 24 travelers had contact with a hotel manager who later tested positive for COVID-19, according to research published in the journal JAMA Network Open on Tuesday. They all were among 102 passengers on the four-hour 40-minute Boeing 737-900 flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt. None of the passengers had received COVID-19 diagnoses before the flight. That early on in the pandemic, there were no mitigation measures in place and passengers were not asked to wear masks. Researchers from the Institute for Medical Virology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany examined 24 patients from a tourist group and tested them for coronavirus. Most of the other passengers were also contacted four to five weeks later for interviews. Seven members of the tourist group tested positive for COVID-19. Four were symptomatic during the flight, two were presymptomatic and one remained asymptomatic, according to the researchers. We discovered 2 likely SARS-CoV-2 transmissions on this flight, with seven index cases, the researchers wrote. The two people who may have been infected on the flight were sitting at the back of the plane, directly across the aisle from the seven infected passengers seated in a cluster. These transmissions may have also occurred before or after the flight, the researchers wrote. Just over 90% of the other flight passengers completed interviews with the researchers. One passenger reported testing positive for COVID-19 four days after the flight, but did not recall having any symptoms. The airflow in the cabin from the ceiling to the floor and from the front to the rear may have been associated with a reduced transmission rate, the researchers wrote. It could be speculated that the rate may have been reduced further had the passengers worn masks. The risk of transmission on a plane depends on a number of factors, including closeness to an index patient and movement of passengers and crew. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Study finds possible coronavirus spread on airplane" Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 02:15:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ice sheets covering three-quarters of Greenland, the world's largest island, are melting at such a pace that by the end of this century, sea levels could rise to as much as 10 to 12.5 centimeters, according to a prediction from the findings of an international team of researchers, including representatives from the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). "If global warming continues as before -- what we call the high emission scenario, then the temperature is likely to rise by a further 4.0 to 6.6 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Such a rise in temperature is significantly greater than we expect for the overall global temperature rise over the same time period, reflecting the fact that the polar regions are very vulnerable to climate change," climate researcher Ruth Mottram said in a DMI press release on Tuesday. Researchers used the latest available global and regional climate modeling tools to calculate the extent the melting of Greenland's inland ice would contribute to the global sea level, by examining the precarious relationship between the change in summer temperatures in Greenland and the ice's surface mass-balance over the last 30 years. "Our research shows that we should expect an increase of 10 to 12.5 centimeters in global sea level by the year 2100 as a direct result of increased ice melting and loss of surface mass from the Greenland ice sheet alone," said Mottram. John Cappelen, senior climatologist at DMI and member of the research team, stressed the seriousness of the team's findings and advocated compliance with the Paris Agreement as a way to limit the warming of Greenland. "Something must happen to our behavior if we are to limit warming," said Cappelen. The results of the research are published in the International Journal of Climatology. The Paris Agreement was agreed by the 195 member economies in Paris in 2015, with the goal of reducing global warming. However, U.S. President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that his country would leave the agreement. In November 2019, the Trump administration formally notified the United Nations that it began the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only country that abandoned the pact. Enditem STOCKHOLM Extravagant musical productions such as Mamma Mia!" will need to be scaled down when they go again after the coronavirus lockdowns end, ABBA star and Swedish pop impresario Bjorn Ulvaeus says. The 75-year old, who co-penned hits like Waterloo" and Dancing Queen" for ABBA with fellow member Benny Andersson and the bands manager Stig Anderson, has spent a lot of his time watching movies and listening to books during the pandemic, which has shut theatres and cinemas across the world. He has also found a new love in kayaking. But Ulvaeus is also working on ways to improve social distancing at theatres so that Mamma Mia!" and Mamma Mia! The Party" can open again soon. Weve kept the cast staff and everyone on furlough," he told Reuters in a Zoom interview from his island retreat in the Baltic off Stockholm. And we look forward to maybe opening in January, February, if were lucky. And meanwhile, were trying to create a social distancing environment in those places as much as we can." The pandemic lockdown has been a tough time for musicians and artists globally, and Ulvaeus said productions would look different when theatres finally open up again. The big, big, luxurious musical productions are so expensive to run, so expensive to create and to produce that you need at least 80, 85 percent capacity," he said. So if youre down to, say, 60 or 50, that means that the productions have to be smaller." Ulvaeus is involved in all the Mamma Mia!" productions in London, which include the original musical and Mamma Mia! The Party", and is trying to get a Party" to open in Gothenburg, Sweden before the end of the year. He also has a hand in the Super Trouper exhibition in London and the ABBA Museum in Stockholm. Ulvaeus said his own schedule would also look different in future, with less travel and with more meetings that have to be held face-to-face taking place in Stockholm. Since Im at the age when corona is especially dangerous, I will have people fly to me in Stockholm instead of vice-versa," he said. 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 At least 45 migrants, including five children, have died in the deadliest shipwreck off Libya so far this year, the UN's agency for refugees says. They were among more than 80 people onboard a vessel whose engine exploded off the coast of Zwara, the UNHCR said. The deaths were reported by some 37 survivors rescued by local fishermen. Both the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration (IOM) have called for search and rescue efforts for migrants to be stepped up. They said that without a dedicated search and rescue operation mechanism, more lives would be lost in the Mediterranean. The survivors, who were mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad, and Ghana, were detained after they disembarked in Libya. The UNHCR and the IOM said that Libya was not a safe destination to return migrants to as they were "at risk of the ongoing conflict, severe human rights violations, and arbitrary detention post-disembarkation". More than 300 people are known to have died trying to cross the sea from Libya to Europe this year, with the actual figure believed to be much higher. 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 Exploding stars or 'supernovae' a mere 65 light years from Earth may have triggered the devastating mass extinction event around 359 million years ago. The Late Devonian extinction saw vanish 50 per cent of all genera groups of species and 19 per cent of all families, the next largest grouping on the tree of life. Among the groups to be worst impacted were the jaw-less fish, reef-building 'rugose' corals and the trilobites iconic marine arthropods that look like woodlice. This episode mass dying has previously been blamed on asteroid impacts, climate change, sea level changes and large-scale volcanic activity. Researchers from the US, however, examined the boundary in the rock record between the Devonian and the next period, the Carboniferous. Here lie hundreds of thousands of generations of plant spores that were sunburnt by ultraviolet light suggesting a long-term weakening of the ozone layer. This may have been caused by the impact of one or more nearby supernovae explosions on the solar system and would have been catastrophic for life. Exploding stars or 'supernovae' a mere 65 light years from Earth may have triggered the devastating mass extinction event around 359 million years ago. Pictured, an artists impression of a local supernova as seen from Earth orbit 'We propose that one or more supernova explosions, about 65 light-years away from Earth, could have been responsible for the protracted loss of ozone, said paper author and astronomer Brian Fields of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 'Earth-based catastrophes such as large-scale volcanism and global warming can destroy the ozone layer too, but evidence for those is inconclusive for the time interval in question.' Professor Fields and his colleagues also ruled out other space-based events that could have potentially caused ozone depletion such as deadly gamma-ray bursts, meteorite impacts and solar eruptions. 'These events end quickly and are unlikely to cause the long-lasting ozone depletion that happened at the end of the Devonian period, said paper author and astronomer Jesse Miller, also of the University of Illinois. In contrast, the researchers explained, a supernova has the potential to have a more lasting impact especially given how they can deliver a 'one-two punch'. Should a nearby star have gone nova, the Earth would shortly have been bathed in damaging ultra violet, X-ray and gamma ray radiation. This would have be followed up by the debris blast from the explosion slamming into the solar system and subjecting our planet to irradiation from the cosmic rays accelerated by the supernova. Together, the damage to the Earth's ozone layer would have likely lasted up to some 100,000 years, the researchers said. Although this is not as long as the 300,000-year-spanning decline in biodiversity that led up to the end of the Devonian period, the supernova could have occurred in tandem with other catastrophes or even multiple nova explosions. 'This is entirely possible. Massive stars usually occur in clusters with other massive stars, and other supernovae are likely to occur soon after the first explosion,' explained Mr Miller. Should a nearby star have gone nova, the Earth would shortly have been bathed in damaging ultra violet, X-ray and gamma ray radiation. This would have be followed up by the debris blast from the explosion slamming into the solar system. Pictured, a simulation of a nearby supernova explosion battering and compressing the solar wind with the Earth's orbit shown in blue and the Sun itself as the central red dot Proof for the supernovae hypothesis, however, would need to come from finding evidence of the radioactive isotopes plutonium-244 and samarium-146 within the rocks and fossils deposited during the time of the mass extinction. 'Neither of these isotopes occurs naturally on Earth today and the only way they can get here is via cosmic explosions,' said paper author and astronomer Zhenghai Liu. Or, as Professor Fields explains it, they are like green bananas. 'When you see green bananas [here] in Illinois, you know they are fresh, and you know they did not grow here.' 'Like bananas, Pu-244 and Sm-146 decay over time. So if we find these radioisotopes on Earth today, we know they are fresh and not from here the green bananas of the isotope world and thus the smoking guns of a nearby supernova.' The search for these metaphorical bananas, however, will be a task for the future, the researchers explained. The Late Devonian extinction saw vanish 50 per cent of all genera groups of species and 19 per cent of all families, the next largest grouping on the tree of life. Among the groups to be worst impacted were the jaw-less fish (pictured in this artist's impression) reef-building 'rugose' corals and the trilobites iconic marine arthropods that look like woodlice 'The overarching message of our study is that life on Earth does not exist in isolation,' Professor Fields concluded. 'We are citizens of a larger cosmos, and the cosmos intervenes in our lives often imperceptibly, but sometimes ferociously.' The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Morrisons - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Shoppers will be able to do their full Morrisons grocery shop on Amazon just weeks after the tech giant said it would offer free delivery to millions of customers if they buy food on its website. Meat, seafood, dairy and baked goods, fruit and vegetable will be available in Leeds on Wednesday before the items go live for an estimated 15m Prime members in the UK before the end of the year. The supermarket chain has an existing tie-up with Amazon. Customers will not have to pay a delivery fee if they subscribe to Amazon's 7.99 a month Prime service. Orders will be hand-picked from local stores by Morrisons staff and delivered to customers by Amazon in cooling bags at the back of a van. Doug Gurr, Amazon's UK boss, said: Were always looking at ways to make Prime even better. Members can soon order their weekly groceries from their local Morrisons shop, with same-day delivery, at no extra cost. David Potts, the chief executive of Morrisons, said: It will give more and more customers the option of receiving Morrisons groceries straight to their doorstep, including freshly prepared products. When Amazon unveiled its free delivery move last month it was seen as a major intervention as the e-commerce powerhouse seeks to capitalise on surging demand for online groceries after lockdown triggered a huge change in shopping habits, with first-time customers logging on in droves. The battle for competitive home deliveries is intensifying, with Tesco also considering a free service as part of its Clubcard Plus loyalty scheme, The Telegraph revealed this week. Shares in Morrisons rose 1.6pc to 199.3p, valuing the supermarket at 4.8bn. Would you purchase your groceries via Amazon? Is this a glimpse of the future? Let us know in the comments section below. Telecommunications provider Telefonica Deutschland and Tech Mahindra have agreed on a strategic cooperation in the network and services operations segment. Telefonica Deutschland selected Tech Mahindra for its network and services operations in addition to further develop 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning use cases. Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer of Telefonica Deutschland, said, We are pleased to announce this partnership with Tech Mahindra. We are supported by a globally experienced service provider to consistently drive forward the development of our network and services operations, thus leading to further enhancement of 5G, artificial intelligence and data analysis use cases. Vikram Nair, President, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) of Tech Mahindra, said, This strategic partnership strengthens our long-standing relationship with Telefonica, in which we support the company in realizing its vision of becoming the Mobile Customer and Digital Champion by 2022. As part of our TechMNxt charter, Tech Mahindra is strongly committed to 5G, the network of the future, and focuses on technology-driven innovation for digital transformation. We look forward to working together to drive innovation and deliver real value and quality to our customers. A woman has died after she became trapped under a boat which crashed in Great Yarmouth today. Paramedics, RNLI lifeboats, HM Coastguard patrol officers and Norfolk Police rushed to the scene following reports of a collision involving two vessels in the River Bure in North Quay, Norfolk, at 1.35pm. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, the woman, who is in her 30s and from London, was pronounced dead at the scene. It is understood the woman was knocked into the river after the boat hit a wall near Great Yarmouth Yacht Station. The woman, who is in her 30s and from London, died after becoming trapped underneath a boat with crashed into a wall along the River Bure in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, today Today police officers were seen patrolling the area and a cordon remained in place at the scene. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident and how the woman fell into the water. A statement from Norfolk Constabulary Police read: 'Officers were called just before 1.35pm on Wednesday 19 August to reports a woman had become trapped under a boat on the River Bure at North Quay. 'Officers attended the scene, along with Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, the Coastguard and the East of England Ambulance Service, however, the woman, aged in her 30s and from the London area, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. 'A cordon has been put in place around the boat and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident and how the woman came to be in the water. 'Lawn Avenue, which was closed earlier today whilst emergency services were on scene, has now been reopened.' Emergency services arrive to the scene after a woman fell into the river after the boat hit a wall near Great Yarmouth Yacht Station Ambulance crews and rescue services rushed to River Bure following reports of a collision Earlier today the BBC tweeted: 'Emergency services are at Great Yarmouth Yacht Station dealing with what's been described as a ''very serious incident''. 'Humber coastguard has confirmed 2 vessels were in collision. Lawn Avenue is now closed from Fullers Hill to the Bus Depot.' Broads National Park in Norfolk also confirmed the river between Breydon Water and Stracey Arms had been closed. A message on Twitter read: 'Due to an ongoing incident on the River Bure at Great Yarmouth, the river between Breydon Water and Stracey Arms is closed until further notice.' Kim Chong-in, head of the emergency committee of the main opposition United Future Party, kneels and bows his head during a visit to the May 18th National Cemetery for people who were killed by the Korean military during the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, Wednesday. Yonhap By Do Je-hae The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) is drawing attention for attempting to embrace the Jeolla region, the traditional stronghold of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Kim Chong-in, the chairman of the UFP's emergency committee, visited, Wednesday, a memorial cemetery for the fallen members of the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement. It is the first time for Kim, who has been leading the conservative opposition party since June following the party's defeat in the April general election, to visit Gwangju, the home of Korea's liberal politics. The UFP has been not welcomed there as some of its former and incumbent far-right members made remarks distorting and disparaging the history of the city where hundreds of citizens were killed during the military suppression orchestrated by Chun Doo-hwan who had taken power in a military coup. The visit is reflective of the main opposition's special attention to court voters in the southwestern region, at a time when support for the liberal Moon Jae-in administration is declining rapidly due to policy failures. Upon arriving at the May 18 National Cemetery in Gwangju, Kim paid tribute at the graves of those who lost their lives during the movement. In the guestbook, he wrote, "I will do my best to develop democracy in accordance with the spirit of the May 18 democratization movement." Kim knelt down with other party leadership members for about 15 seconds in front of a memorial tower and bowed his head. "Despite the tragic incident in Gwangju, our party has not taken stern measures against the wrong remarks and actions of some people who deny it and undermine the spirit of May 18. I offer a sincere apology as the person responsible for the wrong words and actions of our party," Kim said in a statement delivered at the memorial. "Reconciliation over history can be achieved through the perpetrators' self-reflection and confession, but we can't expect sincere self-reflection from those who were in power. So I kneel in their stead," Kim said, drawing inference of Chun's continued denial of his involvement in the military suppression. "I seek forgiveness from the people of Gwangju and the deceased victims. I am ashamed and sorry. I came too late." The rare visit is seen as a departure from the stance the UFP has taken over the years on the Gwangju movement. Some members of the UFP have made remarks that were seen to undermine the victims of the movement, describing the protesters as "monsters" and "insurgents." The party has recently started to push for a bill for pension payment for the victims of the movement. "If confrontation is raised within the party, we can resolve it through discussion," Kim said during a press conference at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju after his visit to the cemetery. "The May 18 pro-democracy movement is an undeniable fact of history." Kim has recently ordered the inclusion of the spirit of the May 18 movement in the party's new platform, making an aggressive attempt to embrace the people of the Jeolla region. South Koreans grow presence through substantial M&A, photo: Shutterstock Conglomerate SK Group is one of the most active investors in Vietnams mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. Most recently, SK Innovation, a part of SK Group, has taken over the operator of Block 16-2 in southern Vietnam after completing acquisition of 70 per cent equity stake last month. To acquire the operating rights for the block, SK Innovation signed an agreement with state-run PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation in last October, and has since received government approval. Block 16-2 is situated in Cuu Long Basin, the most promising oilfield in Vietnam. The offshore block is the first operational project of SK Innovation in the country. In May, SK Investment III, a subsidiary of SK Group, also received more than 12 million shares, equivalent to nearly 25 per cent of Imexpharm Corporations stocks. The transaction was carried out through Vietnam Securities Depository at an undisclosed value. Most of the shares (11.3 million) were acquired from Dragon Capital Group, while the rest came from CAM Vietnam Mother Fund, Kingsmead, and Mirae Asset. The deal paves the way for SK Group to tap into Vietnams fast-growing pharmaceutical and healthcare market. Historically, the sectors growth has been backed by growing concerns about the wellbeing of family members, environmental factors, rising household incomes, and the high urbanisation rate which lead to changes in lifestyle and a higher demand in personal healthcare. It is believed that this robust growth will continue into the foreseeable future. Meanwhile in February, SK Lubricants also acquired a 49 per cent stake in Mekong Petrochemical JSC for 50 billion ($42.1 million). The deal, which marks SK Lubricants first overseas investment, is also part of its plan to expand in the Southeast Asia region. Under the agreement, Mekong will distribute SK Lubricants products and develop base oil into products. Meanwhile, SK Lubricants said it has established an end-to-end value chain covering production, storage, and retail across Vietnam. Similarly, Lotte Chemical, a unit of Lotte Group, has acquired Vietnamese high-tech material company Vina Polytech to diversify its overseas business portfolio. Established in 2010, Vina Polytech produces materials for home appliances and mobile items. Located in the northern province of Bac Ninhs Bac Ninh Industrial Park, the company has registered investment and charter capital of $1.2 million. Andrew D. Kim, manager of the Global M&A Center at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, said that South Korean companies have been active in Vietnams M&A market, and not only keen on real estate but also on the manufacturing and heavy industry sectors. Their interest is becoming more diverse as the market is nearing 100 million in population. There are opportunities in infrastructure and utilities for South Korean investors, but they are also looking to branch out into the consumer sectors, he said. On the same note, Kim Heung Soo, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told VIR that as Vietnams domestic market has grown steadily over the past few years, South Korean investors have been interested in equity investment and acquisition of Vietnamese companies through M&A activities to acquire the distribution networks as well as existing networks of Vietnamese companies. For example, Hanwha Group invested $400 million in Vingroup JSC in August 2018, while SK Group signed a $1 billion equity investment contract with Vingroup last year. South Korean companies are also actively investing in Vietnamese groups in various fields via M&A, like food delivery corporation Woowa Brothers taking over Vietnammm in 2019. Soo noted that through these deals, South Korean companies are starting to consider investment in markets where it is difficult to acquire new licences, such as in finance and energy. Because of COVID-19, many economists expect that global economic development and investment this year would see an overall slowdown, he noted. We are also afraid that many South Korean companies and investors will hesitate to invest and carry out M&A abroad, including in Vietnam. However, Yonhap News Agency recently reported that M&A by South Korean investors rose sharply in the first six months. The value of transactions involving South Korean companies and approved by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), reached 18.8 trillion ($15.8 billion) during January-June, up 48.1 per cent from the 12.7 trillion a year earlier, according to the FTC. The number of M&A cases rose to 356 from 270 over the cited period, the commission said, noting that large business groups sought the transactions as part of efforts to realign and diversify business portfolios. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 00:55:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GABORONE, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism has discredited an online petition claiming government's hand in the recent elephant mortalities observed in the Seronga area, northwestern part of the country. A press released on Monday from the ministry in Gaborone, said the petition claims that the government deliberately poisoned the animals in order to protect crops. "We wish to make it clear that there is no truth behind this spurious and malicious claim. The use of poison to control elephants or any wildlife species is prohibited by law. If anyone is found practicing this unlawful method, appropriate action will be taken," stated the release. Results received from local and international laboratories have ruled out commonly used agrochemicals or pesticides in wildlife poisoning as the cause of elephant mortality and efforts to establish the cause continue. The ministry had previously reported that 281 elephants died mysteriously in Seronga since March this year. Enditem San Antonio likely will run out of money to fund the citys public health response to COVID-19 if federal lawmakers dont come up with more money to fight the spread of the disease, the citys top health official warned Tuesday. The Metropolitan Health District received more than $57 million earlier this year to spend on coronavirus tests, case investigations, contact tracing and related expenses part of the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus aimed at alleviating the economic and financial fallout from the pandemic. Metro Health has $31.5 million of that money left and must spend it by the end of the year a requirement spelled out in the law. It is unclear when or if Congress will pass another round of pandemic relief. As a result, Metro Health officials face the possibility that, come January, they wont have funds needed to fight the virus and track its spread. The big question in our minds right now is, Do we have enough funding to go from Jan. 1 through the end of this pandemic? Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager and interim director of Metro Health, said during the daily coronavirus briefing. I think the answer to that is no. The looming loss of federal dollars comes as City Council members weigh the citys budget for the next fiscal year. Metro Health is slated to receive $3.6 million more than it did last year, largely because of a new city effort to put all violence prevention programs under one roof at the health agency. As part of the change, 20 civilian employees of the San Antonio Police Department who work with domestic violence victims will move to Metro Health. Nearly two-thirds of the health departments $43 million budget comes from state and federal grants. The city funds the balance. During a budget briefing Tuesday, Bridger and City Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, who chairs the Community Health and Equity Committee, floated the possibility of finding more city dollars for Metro Health to give the city greater control over how the department operates and equip it to deal with future pandemics. COVID-19 has ravaged the San Antonio area since mid-March, killing 637 people and infecting 44,265 by Metro Healths count. The virus surged over the summer, peaking at more than 1,000 new cases a day in June and July and severely straining San Antonio hospitals. But the growth in cases and hospitalizations has fallen steadily since mid-July. Of Metro Healths 427 employees, about three of every four are involved in responding to COVID-19. The agency has had to pull workers from other divisions, such as those who administer immunizations or epidemiologists who track the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis, to help with case investigations and contact tracing. Bridger said Metro Health workers would return to their normal jobs as the number of new cases continues to drop and as the department brings on outside case investigators through a $2 million contract with the UT Health School of Public Health. The contract calls for the school to hire and train 200 investigators by December. Health departments are not funded to simultaneously do the work they do and address emergency public health issues such as a 100-year pandemic, Bridger told City Council members. Sandoval agreed. Even though this is a 100-year pandemic today, its not going to be the last one that we see, Sandoval said. There will be other emergencies. But the question of what to do when the current federal stimulus money runs out went unanswered. Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, become a subscriber. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports By Akbar Mammadov Armenia resorts to misinformation and propaganda to cover up its policy of occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan. Yerevan has stepped up propaganda campaign following its attack on Azerbaijans strategically-important Tovuz district on the border last month that resulted in the killing of 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian. Recently, the European Azerbaijani Congress (EAC) got together in a press conference in Hague, the Netherlands to discuss the Armenian diasporas attempts to mislead the international community over Armenia's military provocation on the border, the State Committee on Work with Diaspora has reported in its press service. Addressing the press conference held at Nieuwspoort International Media Center in Hague, EAC President Sahil Gasimov said that despite the pandemic in Europe and the extreme heat, there was a great need to hold the event. The reason for that is the spread of fabricated and false information in the world media about these military provocations by the Armenians, who treacherously attacked the state border in the direction of the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan, he noted. Gasimov added that there is no doubt that the Armenian armed forces, relying on their patrons, attacked the state border of Azerbaijan and committed military provocations. "Furthermore, Azerbaijanis in various European and American cities, who rightly protest against the aggressive policy of fascist Armenia against our country, are being attacked by Armenian provocateurs on the basis of national ethnicity and hatred. The EAC has facts, evidence and proofs of the criminal acts committed by Armenians against our compatriots," he said. It was noted that the Armenian lobby and journalists, who saw that Armenia was completely exposed, are now trying to mislead the world community with information provocations and disinformation. This is unacceptable. Because 20 per cent of Azerbaijani lands have been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years. Despite the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by the UN, international organizations and the world community, the demand for the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of our country, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not yet been resolved, Gasimov stressed. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Recently, Armenia stepped up its military provocation not only on the line of contact along the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is the main source of tension but also on the state border with Azerbaijan. On July 12, Armenian forces shelled Azerbaijan's positions in Tovuz, Azerbaijan's strategically-important district on the border. The Armenian attack killed 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, as well as a 76-year-old civilian. Armenian forces retreated after suffering losses in Azerbaijan's retaliation. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A Kansas wife and mother who vanished nearly two weeks ago while en route to Alabama was found dead Tuesday. Marilane Carter, a 36-year-old graduate of Samford Universitys Beeson Divinity School and the wife of an Overland Park pastor, was last seen about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, when she left home headed toward Birmingham, according to the Overland Park Police Department. Two weeks of searches by land, air and water ended Tuesday when Carters body was found in West Memphis, Arkansas in Crittenden County. A female was found dead in the vehicle and is believed to be Carter, said her brother-in-law Brady McLaughlin. The vehicle, with what is believed to be Carters remains inside, was found about 11 a.m. inside a shipping container in a field off Interstate 55 in eastern Arkansas. Crittenden County Chief Todd Grooms told television station WMC 5 that Carters vehicle appears to have driven into an empty storage container on private property. Carters purse and credit cards were found inside the vehicle. It wasnt clear, authorities said, how the driver made it onto the property and into the container. Law enforcement said foul play is not suspected. The family asks for your thoughts and prayers right now and in the upcoming days,' McLaughlin said. Carter was married to the Rev. Adam Carter, who is the lead pastor at Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas. He broke the news to the couples children Tuesday afternoon. Hes absolutely devastated,' McLaughlin said. Authorities said Carter on the Saturday she disappeared bought a Southwest Airlines ticket to fly to Birmingham to visit her sister, who was due to soon have a baby, and also to seek treatment for undisclosed mental health issues. Carter took a nap Saturday and when she awoke, she decided to drive to Birmingham instead. That helps give a view into her mindset,' Larsen said. Carter told her husband and then left home about 8:15 p.m. Authorities were able to determine through credit card charges and cell phone data that Carter traveled through Missouri where she stopped at a McDonalds. Then, on Sunday, Aug. 2, she checked in alone to the Quality Inn in West Plains, Missouri at 3:37 a.m. She checked out of the hotel at 6:08 a.m., driving off alone in her 2011 dark gray GMC Acadia with Kansas license plate 194 LFY. Also Sunday, Carter made a stop at a Shell Station in West Memphis, Arkansas, where she fueled up and went inside with her cup to get some ice water. The last pinged GPS location of her cell phone was at 8:02 p.m. later that day near the Arkansas weigh station on Interstate 55 entering Memphis. A law enforcement air unit in Memphis flew for 1 hours on a grid pattern covering a four-mile radius where her cell phone last pinged. Forensic cellular experts are working with the Overland Park Police Department to determine more about her last calls to family and her last location. Police said Carters husband became worried when she did not arrive in Birmingham and filed a missing persons report with Overland Park police at 3 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3. More than a half-dozen law enforcement agencies in at least four states aided in the search for Carter. Though multiple law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation worked on the case, searchers were relying on volunteers to check the waterways to hopefully rule out any possibility that Marilane and/or her vehicle are there, according to the Facebook page dedicated to the search - Find Marilane. New York City teachers on Wednesday threatened to strike or take legal action unless the largest US school district implements a more rigorous COVID-19 testing plan of reopening next month, as Iowa's statewide teacher's union files a lawsuit over the state's requirement that 50 per cent of classes should be in-person. The warning by the United Federation of Teachers, which represents New York's 133,000 public school teachers, could delay Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to provide a mix of in-classroom and online learning beginning September 10. 'The minute we feel that the mayor is trying to force people in to a situation that is unsafe ... we go to court, we take a job action,' UFT President Michael Mulgrew said during a briefing, adding that a 'job action' could include a strike. Many US schools and universities got off to a faltering start in welcoming students back to campus and the classroom this week. In several cases, spikes of positive COVID-19 tests administered to returning students and staff forced schools to delay or scupper plans for classroom instruction and limit students to remote learning programs. New York City teachers on Wednesday threatened to strike or take legal action unless the largest US school district implements a more rigorous COVID-19 testing plan of reopening next month. They are pictured protesting on August 3 The warning by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which represents New York's 133,000 public school teachers, could delay Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to provide a mix of in-classroom and online learning beginning September 10 On Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University rolled back their plans for in-person classes, with Notre Dame pushing back classes by two weeks after reporting 80 cases on Monday and Michigan switching to all-remote for the semester. Earlier this month, Chicago's school district delayed a plan to allow students the option of attending class in pods of 15 pupils twice a week after the teachers union threatened to strike. Instead, all of the district's 350,000 students will take classes remotely until at least November 6. In New York, de Blasio has said his school district will move forward with a blended learning plan of part-time remote, part-time in-person starting September 10. The plan includes a recommendation that students and staff get tested at least once a month in the fall and a rule that students sit six feet apart and wear face coverings on school buses. The union has called on the mayor to address ventilation issues in school buildings and implement stricter procedures on bussing students, in addition to demands for increased testing students and staff. Mulgrew said the UFT was still waiting for a response to its demands and did not think a September 10 opening was feasible. City Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, in Iowa, the Iowa State Education Association teachers union has plans to sue the governor's office later this week. At issue is Republican Gov Kim Reynolds' mandate in July that districts offer at least 50 per cent classroom instruction. The conflict intensified Wednesday when the statewide teachers union announced its lawsuit challenging the governor's ability to make such decisions for local districts. The Iowa City school board, which like many others had planned to start the year fully online, voted to join the lawsuit. Meanwhile, in Iowa, the Iowa State Education Association teachers union has plans to sue the governor's office later this week. A teacher drives around the Iowa State Capitol during a motorcade protest At issue is Republican Gov Kim Reynolds' mandate in July that districts offer at least 50% classroom instruction. The conflict intensified Wednesday when the state's teachers union announced its lawsuit challenging the governor's ability to make such decisions districts In her order, the governor said districts where 15 per cent or more of coronavirus tests were positive over the prior 14 days can request permission to move to online instruction for two weeks at a time. Health experts say Reynolds' 15 per cent threshold is not based on science and is three times higher than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests is safe. The surgeon general has recommended a 10 per cent limit. States and local districts have set widely varying thresholds for reopening schools, but Iowa's is among the highest anywhere. 'They decided they wanted to open schools and then set the threshold, rather than deciding what's safe and meeting that target. They did it backwards,' said Eli Perencevich, an infectious-disease expert at the University of Iowa. Reynolds has dismissed the health warnings as scare tactics and, echoing President Donald Trump, argued that children infrequently get seriously ill from or transmit the virus. She has said schools need to be open for children's benefit and so parents can go to work. 'Education is fundamental to the well-being of our children, and our teachers are essential to ensuring that our schoolkids return to learn rather than mark time and lose ground,' she said. 'We can do this safely.' Since her order, Iowa's outbreak has only gotten worse. Its per capita cases are the highest in the Midwest, the number of patients now in the hospital has increased to nearly 300, deaths surpassed 1,000 Wednesday, and dozens of nursing homes are suffering outbreaks. In Florida (August 6th protest), the Florida Education Association is suing Gov Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and the Florida Department of Education to stop schools from reopening with in-person instruction A Granite School District teacher joins others gathered at the district's office on August 4 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to protest the district's plans for reopening The governor has refused to order the wearing of masks statewide. In Florida, the Florida Education Association is suing Gov Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and the Florida Department of Education to stop schools from reopening with in-person instruction. The lawsuit is seeking a temporary injunction 'to stop the reopening of schools until it is safe to do so'. Just last week an Arizona school district that ignored state safety guidelines and voted to begin in-person learning on August 17 was forced to cancel classes after staff said it was unsafe to return and called in sick. Greater Phoenix's J.O. Combs Unified School District cancelled all instruction for Monday due to 'insufficient staffing,' days after its board disregarded state benchmarks on when students can safely return to classes during the pandemic. The 'sick out' underlined the difficulties in returning to in-person learning in the United States after schools in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama closed this week as students and staff were infected with COVID-19 or forced to self-isolate from exposure. 'We have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students,' J.O. Combs District Superintendent Gregory Wyman said in a statement, adding that he did not know when in-person learning would resume. Arizona is becoming a battleground in the debate over school reopening, hundreds of parents and students demonstrating on Monday in Phoenix for a return to in-person classes after teachers staged protests calling for a delay until October. 'It was great to see J.O. Combs school district came together and used their collective power,' said Kelley Fisher, a Phoenix kindergarten teacher who has led protests by school staff. 'I'd love to see a nationwide sick out.' The district has delayed the start until mid-October. When people express unverified opinions on allied countries, this leads to very serious consequences. This is what third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan told reporters today. During his press conference in the Armenian city of Kapan in the beginning of this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was asked if he still states that Russia knew about and permitted the Four-Day Artsakh War and said his position remains the same and had shared his opinions and concerns with his Russian colleagues and received answers. Asked for his opinion on the answers that were given, Serzh Sargsyan said the following: Im not the one who should answer that question. I would also like to hear what answers were given and what discussions were held with the colleagues from Russia. Please, ask the addressee, Sargsyan said. Touching upon the issue, Sargsyan stated that, from the political perspective, such statements are a result of lack of education. When people express unverified opinions on allied countries, this leads to very serious consequences. Russia is Armenias strategic ally, and accusing an allied country of inciting war is inadmissible, especially when Russia has provided a tremendous amount of assistance to Armenia as an allied state, he said, adding that Russia and Armenia have signed a document by which the military base of Russia has assumed additional obligations and that Armenia received over 50,000 tons of military-technical assistance before the events that took place in April 2018 in Armenia. - John Regala is in the middle of a controversy involving his celebrity friends Chuckie Dreyfus, Nadia Montenegro, and Aster Amoyo - Chuckie, Nadia, and Aster recently announced that they have decided to stop providing assistance to John, who has liver cirrhosis, due to the latters uncooperative behavior regarding his medical treatment - He explained to Raffy Tulfo that the reason he wanted to leave the hospital even if the doctors wanted him to stay was that the hospital bill kept on increasing every day - Likewise, John explained that his celebrity friends have misinterpreted his behavior towards them PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed John Regala went viral due to a controversy involving the formers celebrity friends Chuckie Dreyfus, Nadia Montenegro, and Aster Amoyo His three celebrity friends recently announced that they have decided to no longer provide assistance to John, who has liver cirrhosis, due to the latters uncooperative behavior regarding his medical treatment. He explained to Raffy Tulfo that the reason he wanted to leave the hospital even if the doctors wanted him to stay was that the hospital bill kept on increasing every day. Furthermore, John explained that his celebrity friends have misinterpreted his behavior towards them. John revealed that he also decided to leave the hospital because he felt that the assistance he has received from his celebrity friends is more than enough already and he did not want to abuse their kindness towards him. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback Nahihiya po ako na dahil na hindi ko po naging ugali na umabuso ng tao. Tama na po yung minsan akong tulungan. Yung sinasabi nila Chuckie, Nadia, at Aster na uncooperative ako, nalulungkot ako dahil na-misinterpret nila yung damdamin ko bilang isang tao na talagang nakakahiya po talaga. Ayaw ko naman po na dumating tayo sa point na pag-sawaan tayong tulungan ng tao, Regala told Tulfo. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! John Regala, or John Paul Guido Boucher Scherrer in real life, is a former actor in the Philippines. He is known for portraying antagonist roles in many movies. In March this year, he appealed for help from Coco Martin and television networks. The former action star also asked the public for any kind of assistance amid the difficult situation that he is in. John Regala also told Raffy Tulfo that his family allegedly left him behind due to his health and financial issues. Photo from Aster Amoyo's Facebook Source: Facebook Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! Source: KAMI.com.gh Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have reaffirmed their commitment to reform of the military health system despite calls from the service chiefs for adjustments. Responding to a memo sent by service leaders Aug. 5 to Defense Secretary Mark Esper asking that the services retain authority over their military hospitals and clinics, lawmakers said they understand the challenges they face but said reforms are still needed. Read Next: Inspectors Said Her Toxic Leadership Was Worst Seen in 20 Years. She Just Became a 1-Star Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry, the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee who chaired the panel during development of the reforms, said the factors that led to the measures "have not changed." "Service-based health care systems remain frustrating and inefficient for the service member and taxpayer alike. ... If the services have technical challenges on the path to consolidation, Congress is ready to work together to overcome them," Thornberry told Military.com. A spokesperson for Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee also said the transformation should continue moving forward. "More than four years after the law required the department to transform the military health system, the services are trying to further delay change and are using the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for delay, said the staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The DoD's medical response to the pandemic has provided lessons, which should be used to inform the plan moving forward, not grind implementation to a halt." In their memo, the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force, along with the branch chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force, said efforts to convey the services' hospitals and clinics to the Defense Health Agency were "not viable." They asked that the domestic military hospitals and clinics already transferred to DHA be returned and planned upcoming personnel or resource changes be suspended. On Oct. 1, 2019, more than 280 military hospitals and clinics were transferred to the DHA, with the remaining 64 facilities overseas expected to move in October 2021. Under the new construct, the DHA became responsible for the facilities without having the manpower or system to run them, so the services provided a "direct support relationship" during the transition period. But the concept is problematic and onerous, the service chiefs said, and the pandemic has shown that the changes introduce "unnecessary complexity and increased inefficiency and cost" to the system. "The proposed DHA end-state represents unsustainable growth with a disparate intermediate structure that hinders coordination of service medical response to contingencies such as a pandemic," they wrote. In December, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy asked for a temporary halt of the transfers, saying the DHA lacked the appropriate planning or performance to assume management of the facilities. In March, the service surgeons general told House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee members that the DHA wasn't ready for the changes. "In order to get it right, the focus should be on the [military treatment facility] transitions, which starts with the step to stand up that headquarters. The headquarters is not up and operational and running," said Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Scott Dingle. "After you get that headquarters stood up, then you can start the transition of the military medical treatment facilities." Proponents say they understand the services hesitancy, but the promised reforms will eliminate systemwide redundancies and improve the quality of health care. "The task to integrate has been daunting, but DoD, to its credit, is making it happen," said Thomas Spoehr, director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation's Davis Institute. "The potential advantages of such a consolidation are obvious: Medical professionals can be managed with greater geographic opportunities for assignments, better buying power will allow DoD to compete on an even basis for medical supplies with even the largest hospital systems, existing service headquarters can be downsized, and workloads rationalized for beneficiaries." But critics fear it will erode the medical benefit provided to beneficiaries as military facilities close or downsize and more patients are moved to Tricare. "Access to base medical care has been a huge incentive for military recruitment. However, veterans are seeing this incentive disappearing. ... Why should we recommend our children and grandchildren serve years of hardship and separation from family members and then end up with fewer medical benefits at retirement?" asked retired Navy Cmdr. Robert Edwards, whose sons-in-law are both career Air Force officers. Lawmakers agreed that there are lessons to be learned from the pandemic and the services as they respond to the crisis and care for beneficiaries. They pledged to work with the DoD and the services to ensure that the system provides quality care while containing costs. "My number one goal of oversight with military health care is to ensure our troops and their families have the best care money can buy," said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. "We are always looking for improvements to make, and the 2017 and 2019 NDAAs proposed some big adjustments and we are making good progress. ... We must keep working together." -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: House Lawmakers Want Pause to Military Health System Overhaul WINSTED The Town of Winchester Tax Assessor has hired an independent appraiser for field inspection of current building permits. Appraiser Lee Marcella, driving a light green Subaru, plate number 4AFRH9, began reviewing properties Aug. 13 within the town and may approach homeowners to verify completion of building permits. Residents may also see Marcella obtaining photos. Data collection will continue for approximately 10 weeks. For information, contact Rhonda Roy in the Tax Assessor's Office at 860-379-5461 with any questions. TORRINGTON Mayor Elinor Carbone recently appealed to the public to support the Torringford and Drakeville volunteer fire departments, following a message from members posted on Facebook. The departments had to cancel to fundraisers: the annual summer car show and winter tree sale, because of restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents are asked to donate, as they would have for these events, according to a statement. Our volunteer departments rely on their annual fundraiser to support their departments in service to the community, Carbone wrote on Facebook. Please help Torringford Volunteer Fire Department and Drakeville Fire Department through this pandemic shutdown. Checks can be sent, made payable to the Torringford Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., to P.O Box 222, Torrington CT 06720-0222. Winsted fireworks canceled WINSTED David L. Sartirana, chief of the Winsted Fire Department, announced recently that the annual fireworks show is canceled. With Governor Lamonts postponement of initiating Phase 3 of Connecticuts re-opening it is now obvious that we will be unable to safely sponsor our 2020 Fireworks show, the chief said in a statement. The show is postponed until such time the event can be safely held. Thank you for your understanding. To learn more about the fire department, visit www.winstedfire.org USDA asks residents to return seeds NEW HAVEN The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and The Connecticut Department of Agriculture announced that the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has expanded the list nationally of locations where the public can send unsolicited seed packets, according to a statement. In Connecticut, residents can mail the seeds and packaging to the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine office at USDA APHIS PPQ, 97 Barnes Road Unit 200, Wallingford, CT 06492. The seeds can also be dropped off at that address in a box specifically for that purpose. To return them, place the unopened seed packet and any packaging, including the mailing label in a mailing envelope, officials said. If the seed packets are open, first place the seeds and their packaging into a zip-lock bag, seal it, and then place everything into a mailing envelope. Include your name, address, and phone number so that a State or Federal agriculture official can contact you for additional information, if needed. If you received other unsolicited items in addition to seeds, only send the seeds, officials said. If you are unable to ship the seed or have already planted the seeds, email The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (Kirby.Stafford@ct.gov or Victoria.Smith@ct.gov) or Chuck Baker at Charles.e.baker@usda.gov for instructions and provide your name, address, phone number, e-mail address. Officials say there is no evidence indicating this is something other than a brushing scam, in which people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales. Seeds for planting pose a significant risk for U.S. agriculture and natural resources because they can carry diseases or insects that may harm crops. Imported vegetable or agricultural seed must meet labeling and phytosanitary requirements and be inspected by APHIS and customs at the port of entry. The USDA is committed to preventing the unlawful entry of prohibited seeds and protecting U.S. agriculture from disease, invasive pests, and noxious weeds. Additional information is available at www.aphis.usda.gov. Wisdom House to hold self-publishing program LITCHFIELD - Wisdom House will offer a program, ZINE Making, 9:30-12:30 p.m. Aug. 22. As always, social distancing and CDP Guidelines will be observed for this on-site event, organizers said. ZINE-Making is a self-published way to share thoughts, photos, experiences and artwork. Participants are encouraged to remix and reinterpret a range of materials using just scissors, glue and imagination creating a bound piece of artwork. Ramirez, M. Div., is an educator and former Faculty member at Yale University. She brings her passion for cultural change and transformation through emotional intelligence, social emotional learning and creative art-making, according to a statement. The fee is $15 per person and includes lunch. For information or to register: call 860-567-3163 or visit: www.wisdomhouse.org. Glenholme offers summer programs during COVID-19 WASHINGTON Students in the Glenholme School Arts Program this summer have been utilizing their creativity with two major virtual projects, according to a statment. The first is called G-TV with students within their cottages creating four unique videos, each 30 seconds to one minute in length. The topics will include a cottage introduction, a TV commercial, a Silly News Story and a final video which is the students choice. All of the students are encouraged to take part in camera work, script writing, story board drawing, sound and lighting technology, and acting. Videos are underway and the final presentation will be ready for viewing by the last week of August according to the statement. The second project is a Virtual Talent Show. Students are signing up and putting together various acts that will be approximately three minutes in length each. Students will have the ability to showcase their skills in singing, dancing, and acting. The performances will be videotaped and then shared with families, students and faculty, according to the statement. For additional information, contact Lisa R Berman, 917-270-9508. North Korea has as many as 60 nuclear bombs in its arsenal and possesses 20 different types of chemical weapons as per a recent US Army report. According to the report titled North Korean Tactics that was published last month, North Korea uses its stockpile of weapons primarily as a deterrent from countries that seek a regime change. North Korea's stockpile The US Army report claim that North Korea, in addition to its stockpile of nuclear weapons, possesses the ability to manufacture an additional six nuclear devices each year. It also claims its highly likely that the Korean nation under Kim Jong Un has conducted research on biological weapons as well. The report states that North Koreas long-standing weapons program has the ability to produce nerve, blister, blood, and choking agents. The country is believed to possess a chemical weapons stockpile of 2,5005,000 tons including sarin and VX chemical agents. North Korea is not a signatory of the Chemical Weapons Convention (which bans the use, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons), thus the report underlines significant threat the country posses to world orde and peace. Read: North Korea Lifts COVID-19 Restrictions In Border City After Suspected Case 'inconclusive' Read: North Korea Lifts Virus Lockdown At Border Town The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is formally known, has been under United Nation sanctions since 2006 due to its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. US President Donald Trump has met North Korean Leader Kim Jon Un several times during his term in office but both countries have so far failed to reach a compromise regarding the Asian country's nuclear weapons stockpile. On August 19, North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un convened a crucial party meeting for the first time in eight months. The international community had dubbed the meeting a secret as there little to no information as to what subjects were discussed in the meeting. Read: North Korea Floods May Have Damaged Pump Houses Connected To Nuclear Facility: Report Read: North Korea: Red Cross Trains Volunteers To Help Fight Coronavirus And Floods - The second South African Covid-19 vaccination clinical trials will begin this week - Wits Professor of Vaccinology, Shabir Madhi, will lead the Novavax clinical trial in South Africa - The Phase 2 trial in South Africa will evaluate if the nanoparticle S-protein in the Covid-19 vaccine known as NVX-CoV2373 protects against Covid-19 disease in adults aged 18 to 64 years old PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! The second round of Covid-19 vaccination trials is set to kick off this week in South Africa. Wits University will be screening participants for the trial today. In the second phase of vaccination trials, SA will be evaluating if the nanoparticle S-protein in the Covid-19 vaccine known as NVX-CoV2373 protects against Covid-19 disease in adults aged 18 to 64 years old. NVX-CoV2373 is produced by the biotech company, Novavax (Maryland, USA). Novavax is a late-stage biotechnology company that develops next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases. READ ALSO: Somizi Mhlongos spicy photo has tongues wagging on social media The trial will once again be led by Shabhir Madhi, a wits Professor of Vaccinology. Shabhir previously collaborated with Novavax as a lead investigator on the RSV vaccine for pregnant women, which aimed to prevent the most common cause of pneumonia in babies. Shabhir had this to say about beginning phase two vaccination trials. The major motivation for Covid-19 vaccines being evaluated at an early stage in South Africa is to generate evidence in the African context on how well these vaccines work in settings such as our own. "This would enable informed decision-making when advocating for the adoption of this [NVX-CoV2373 vaccine candidate] or other Covid-19 vaccines in African countries, once they are shown to be safe and effective. "Participating in the clinical development of these vaccines at the outset will assist in advocating for South Africans to be amongst the first in line to access these life-saving vaccines, once they become available. Professor Shabhir Madhi will lead the second phase of vaccination trials in SA this week. Source: Facebook/Wits University of Witswatersrand Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Zodwa Wabantu cans herself over Vusi Ngubanes fake R8 purchase Meanwhile, in other Briefly.co.za news, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has addressed the nation on Level 2 lockdown updates. She revealed that alcohol and cigarettes will be back on sale and the economy will open up more. South Africans were briefed on the new Level 2 lockdown regulations which were gazetted this week after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa would move to lockdown Level 2. Generally, restrictions across the board were relaxed and inter-provincial travel will resume as well as family visits (with restrictions). The news was met with celebrations across the country as people found the prospect of life going (a little) back to normal exciting. Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news! Source: Briefly News A detective investigating the murder of a serving garda in Co Louth approached Gerry Adams after a Sinn Fein member, who was a key witness in the case, would not make a statement before speaking to the party, it has emerged. Sinn Fein TD Darren ORourke said he understood Mr Adams spoke to the party member after Detective Inspector Pat Marry went to the former leader for help. Mr ORourke denied there was a culture of fear in the party, adding that he understood members do not need to consult senior members before giving information to gardai or the PSNI. The Irish Times reported on Tuesday that the unnamed Sinn Fein member gave a statement detailing how he heard Aaron Brady confess to the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe during the robbery of Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan on January 25 2013. Expand Close Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe (Garda/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe (Garda/PA) Mr Marry told the newspaper he had to go to a Sinn Fein TD for help before the witness was told by the party that there were no issues in him providing information about the killing. Brady, a 29-year-old from Co Armagh, was convicted of capital murder at Dublins Central Criminal Court last week. Mr ORourke said: I dont know that person, and again I dont know the decision-making process in terms of their own thinking and why they felt they needed to do that. The party has been very clear that in so many cases and so many incidents, that people should come and make statements and bring information they have to the guards and PSNI. In fairness I dont think the party presumed they needed to, you dont need to come to Sinn Fein first before you do that, its clearly not the case. I think in how that developed and played out it was clear that the party dont require that from people, and a very helpful and useful role was played by that person, which was the important point. Expand Close Darren ORourke, second right, with Gerry Adams (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Darren ORourke, second right, with Gerry Adams (Niall Carson/PA) Asked if the TD involved was Mr Adams, Mr ORourke said: Its my understanding that it was. He insisted there is no culture of fear in the party, adding: I can say that as somebody who has been a member of this party for over 20 years and come into it without a strong republican background. I have never experienced that and the leadership has always been encouraging in terms of our important role as citizens first. I dont know what the rationale was on behalf of that person, maybe it was them being over-cautious or second guessing themselves. Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond said the incident raises serious questions. He added: Once again when it comes to Sinn Fein and the law of the land, we have seen a shadowy parallel system at work. We have seen it in respect of the murder of Paul Quinn, the horrific treatment of Mairia Cahill, and at various repeated junctures. The revelation that a key witness in the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe wouldnt speak with investigating gardai until they cleared it with party figures raises serious questions that the party must answer. Why does a Sinn Fein activist feel they need to speak with party officials before making a statement to the gardai? Do Sinn Fein believe their authority comes before that of the state? Will Sinn Fein encourage all who have information on the murder of Detective Garda Donohoe to present themselves to the gardai? Code-promo-avion.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 28 Feb 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the code-promo-avion homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the code-promo-avion homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the code-promo-avion homepage on Twitter + the total number of code-promo-avion followers (if code-promo-avion has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the code-promo-avion homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if code-promo-avion has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the code-promo-avion homepage on StumbleUpon. Basic Information PAGE TITLE Code Promo Avion, Promotion et Re duction sur vos billets d'avion DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS compagnies, code promo, les compagnies, promo, code promo avion, promo avion, avion The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE French UTF-8French DETECTED LANGUAGE French French SERVER Apache/2.2.19 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.19 OpenSSL/0.9.8o (PHP/5.2.13-pl1-gentoo) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Type of server and offered services. The language of code-promo-avion.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Actress and movie producer Tracey Boakye is displeased about some comments Captain Smart made on his radio show and has asked the Angel FM morning show host to refrain from tarnishing her image or face her wrath. Captain Smart had claimed he has a copy of the video clip Kennedy Agyapong threatened to broadcast if Tracey Boakye refuses to stop blackmailing former president John Mahama. "Ken has a video of what transpired at East Legon because I have it. Ken also has a video of what transpired in a car. That video was shot by the driver of one of the men," said Captain Smart. "The driver knew a lady was about to enter the car so he strategically placed his phone in the car before stepping out. So it was the driver who first leaked the video; he leaked it to senior slay queen A.A." Captain Smart further said the man at the centre of the controversy is not a politician hence, cannot be former president John Dramani Mahama. "JM is not too dark," the radio presenter said. "'Papa no' is too dark. There are several men involved and this is traced to a fight that ensued at East Legon. Everything happened at a spot." According to Captain Smart, Tracey Boakye is part of a group of ladies who planned to have houses before they clock certain ages. Chronicling what he claims sparked the friction, Captain Smart said: "One of them was able to achieve this [referring to the house task]; Tracey was next to have a house. Another started building hers but was hit with a challenge so the work stalled. That was how the confusion started. It was more like 'let me look for Nana Yaa Brefo's boyfriend and snatch him'. That is the beginning of the conflict. Kennedy Agyapong knows everything" In a sharp rebuttal, an infuriated Tracey Boakye sent a word of caution to the broadcaster. With a red headgear and a straight dress, the actress, seated in the confines of her room asked Captain Smart to not spread falsehood about her. She denied ever being a member of a group of ladies as trumpeted by the radio personality. "I beg you, I'm not part of any group of ladies. Don't play with the minds of Ghanaians," she unequivocally retorted. "There is no such video; I've dared whoever has any video of a supposed encounter to release it. Why do you lie about me. I beg you, keep my name out of your mouth." "Wouldn't you have had a topic to discuss on your show if this brouhaha hadn't emerged? I've been watching your commentaries but you went a bit far this morning. I have dared you; if you have any video release it. I'm tired... Stop it! If you offend me, I'll clap back at you," a visibly angry Tracey Boakye remarked. View this post on Instagram #ghanacelebrities #abrantepa #celebritynews #papano #celebritygossip A post shared by Abrantepa (@theabrantepa) on Aug 19, 2020 at 7:06am PDT Source: ghanaweb Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video To cover how Pennsylvania is shaping the 2020 election, The Philadelphia Inquirer has launched a new email newsletter. Every Wednesday, youll get reporting from counties across the state, insight into issues that impact you, fact checks on what candidates are saying, and more. You can sign up to get it in your inbox here. You can also view the web version of this email. We're back! We started this newsletter in March, before the pandemic sidelined it. Now we're here for the home stretch, hitting your inbox every Wednesday afternoon starting with this very busy week. Joe Biden officially became the Democratic nominee last night. Tomorrow is his acceptance speech. So President Donald Trump is taking his "Sleepy Joe" road tour to Pennsylvania, with a campaign stop right outside Biden's childhood hometown of Scranton on Thursday, just hours before Biden's big moment. It's not Scranton's first moment in the 2020 spotlight and it won't be the last. Were also answering questions about voting by mail in Pennsylvania. And we want to hear from you between now and Election Day. You can do that by emailing election@inquirer.com. Julia Terruso, Andrew Seidman (@JuliaTerruso, @AndrewSeidman, election@inquirer.com) Scranton and northeast Pa. in the spotlight Trump is headed to Lackawanna County tomorrow to steal some of Biden's convention spotlight. Hours before Biden makes the biggest speech of his career from an empty convention center in Wilmington, Trump will rally supporters just a few miles from Biden's childhood home. Both campaigns have lavished attention on northeast Pennsylvania, and with good reason. The region, long a Democratic stronghold, helped elevate Trump to the presidency in 2016. There are signs Trump's support has only grown there, even as his collapse in places like the Philadelphia suburbs has allowed Biden to open a sizable lead in polls of Pennsylvania. Biden thinks he can reconnect with the white working class voters there who shunned the Democratic Party for Trump. It won't be easy. The region has been a major driver of Republican gains in voter registrations over the last four years. And as we found during a recent trip to nearby Carbondale, Biden's local roots aren't a political panacea: Even a local Democratic mayor plans to vote for Trump Trump will speak at Mariotti Building Products, a kitchen remodeler in Old Forge, a former coal mining town famous for its pizza, on the border of Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. Biden, meanwhile, will be readying for a historically strange but significant moment, accepting his partys nomination with no cheering crowd. Well be watching how he appeals to the wide variety of Pennsylvania voters he needs to win. How will he embrace both the Bernie Sanders devotees in Fishtown and the Rust Belt moderates in Old Forge? The virtual convention has already put this balancing act on display. Last night showcased a range of Pennsylvania Democrats, from State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Black, openly gay Philadelphia progressive, to U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate who represents a Trump-friendly district outside Pittsburgh. And of course, there was fellow Scranton native son Sen. Bob Casey, helping to formally nominate Biden from outside that same childhood home. Weve said before how important Pennsylvanias 20 Electoral College votes will be in deciding who wins the White House, and that hasnt changed. Candidates keep coming here. The airwaves are flooded with campaign commercials. The Democratic convention has been full of Pennsylvania voters and imagery. And Trump is coming back. Get ready for more. 76 days left. Issue of the week: Voting by mail I'm hearing about problems with voting by mail. What's going on? For weeks, people across Pennsylvania and the U.S. have experienced significant mail delays. The U.S. Postal Service has been short-staffed during the pandemic, a problem exacerbated by cost-cutting policies implemented by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign donor appointed in May. DeJoy's changes came with Trump increasingly making false claims that heavy mail voting will result in a "rigged" election leading Democrats to fear he was undermining the post office to aid his reelection. Those concerns reached a fever pitch when USPS warned Pennsylvania and other states that some mail ballots might not be delivered on time. That prompted Pennsylvania to ask the state Supreme Court to order that mail ballots be counted as long as they are received no more than three days after the Nov. 3 election (instead of by 8 p.m. that day). Pennsylvania and about 20 other states are suing USPS and Dejoy. And DeJoy, under growing fire, said he would suspend changes until after the election to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail." OK, but is it still safe to vote by mail? Yes, if you do it early enough. So request a mail ballot as soon as possible, because the earlier you request your ballot, the earlier you can return it and ensure your vote is counted. Counties will begin sending out mail ballots around mid-September. If you requested to vote by mail or registered to vote earlier this year, you may actually have already signed up to receive your November mail ballot. Contact your county elections office to check. What were paying attention to [The Philadelphia Inquirer] Can Trump win again without winning the most votes? Yes. Pennsylvania shows how. [The Philadelphia Inquirer] The campaign for Pa. attorney general is heating up on TV [Tribune-Review] Amazon's hiring of 1,500 in Pittsburgh region provides boost during pandemic [WHYY] Kamala Harris could help Democrats court Philly's large Indian American community [KDKA] President of Pittsburgh police union predicts mass retirements Overheard on the campaign trail Youre the key. Youre the key for who will be the next President of the United States of America. Joe Biden, addressing Pennsylvania Democrats during a virtual event Tuesday Watching the airwaves The Biden campaign has been spending about $2 million a week on TV commercials in Pennsylvania, across all six media markets. Last week it started airing ads promoting his plan to fight the coronavirus, calling for "nationwide mask mandates" and accusing Trump of "failing to act." Another ad focuses on seniors: "I will not abandon you," Biden says in the 30-second spot. The Trump campaign paused its advertising in the state at the end of July, but a pro-Trump super PAC has spent close to $1 million a week over the last month hitting Biden on fracking. And the National Rifle Association is going on the air in Pennsylvania this week. It will spend $1.4 million over the next three weeks, according to the ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics. An innocent father was wrongly jailed over Christmas after his ID was stolen by a paedophile to groom underage girls, a judge heard. The unnamed man from South Wales was wrongly exposed as a sex offender and spent 36 hours in jail before he was released on bail last Christmas Eve. Jailed Stephen Price, 53, used a picture of the 'younger and more attractive man' on an internet dating site he used to groom underage girls. Between September 2019 and February, Price thought he was communicating with a schoolgirl called Talia. He sent her pornography and videos of himself performing sex acts. Jailed Stephen Price (pictured), 53, used a picture of the 'younger and more attractive man' on an internet dating site he used to talk to underage girls But the father-of-three had been snared by the paedophile hunting group Scorpion Hunters UK, who were posing as the 14-year-old. A Cardiff Crown Court judge heard members of Scorpion Hunters UK went to the home of the man whose identity was stolen by Price. He was wrongly exposed as a sex offender for three months on the group's Facebook page, and spent 36 hours in police custody. Prosecutor Christopher Rees said: 'Price had created a fake profile on a dating site for over 18s. 'He used a profile picture of a South Wales man who I will refer to as Male A. 'The defendant was in contact with "Talia" on the dating site who was a member of a paedophile hunter group called Scorpion Hunters UK. 'She told him she was 14 and there was an extensive chat log. 'He sent her videos where he was performing sex acts and he sent her pornographic videos. 'They arranged to meet but he did not attend.' A Cardiff Crown Court judge heard members of Scorpion Hunters UK went to the home of the man whose identity was stolen by Price. Pictured, outside Cardiff Crown Court Last December four 'large' men turned up at Male A's home to accuse him of being a paedophile in front of his elderly mother. Mr Rees said: 'He told them he had no idea what they were talking about.' The man called the police himself after the visit but he was arrested once officers arrived. 'Male A spent 36 hours in custody until he was bailed on Christmas Eve,' Mr Rees added. 'He wasn't able to spend Christmas with his son because he was under suspicion. 'His details were posted online by Scorpion Hunters UK and they were up there for three months. 'He became a pariah in the local area and he was bombarded with abuse over social media.' Male A was only cleared of all suspicion when Price got in touch with 'Talia' again in February to unwittingly unmask himself. The court heard how the innocent man's mental health has suffered as a result of his terrible ordeal. Price, of Barry, South Wales, admitted six charges of grooming between September 2019 and February. They included attempting sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Clare Wilks, defending, said: 'Price used his profile because he was a younger and more attractive man than he was. He wants to apologise to Male A and is extremely regretful.' Judge Nicola Jones criticised the paedophile hunting group who have trapped dozens of offenders across the UK. She said: 'I must emphasise the danger of Scorpion Hunters UK who posted details on social media before there had been a conviction. 'Just before Christmas, four large men attended an entirely innocent man's home and accused him of being a paedophile in front of his elderly mother. 'His details were posted on Facebook and he was kept in police custody for 36 hours. 'Male A was reviled and abused in his own community. 'On February 26, the paedophile hunter group realised the enormous mistake they had made and that they had named and shamed a man who was entirely innocent.' Price was jailed for three years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Menominee County in the western Upper Peninsula reported 12 new coronavirus virus on Tuesday, putting it back in the red zone based on a metric developed by the Harvard Global Health Initiative to assess coronavirus risk levels. It joins Ontonagon County, which also is in the western U.P. Ontonagon, Michigan second-least populated county and home of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, reported one new case Tuesday and 13 cases in the past week. The Harvard institute metric looks at a seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 residents; the newest assessment is based on data for Aug. 12-18. Along with Gogebic, home of the city of Ironwood, Menominee and Ontonagon counties have struggled this month with high rates of coronavirus, which health officials attribute partially to the regions proximity to Wisconsin, which has fewer coronavirus-related restrictions than Michigan. In the Lower Peninsula, Macomb and Saginaw counties remain areas of concern. Saginaw reported 20 new cases on Tuesday, and Macomb reported 69. The good news for Macomb: Thats the lowest daily number that county has reported since Aug. 2. At the other end of the spectrum, Alcona, Keweenaw, Montmorency, Ogemaw and Osceola counties have reported no new cases of coronavirus in the past seven days. In addition to the five counties with no new cases, four others are coded green, the lowest risk level. Those counties are: Ionia, Alpena, Missaukee and Otsego. On the map below, readers can put their cursor over a county to see the underlying data. If you cant see the map, click here. Latest on coronavirus testing Four Michigan counties have a positive rate of at least 5% in coronavirus tests reported in the last 14 days ending Aug. 17. The state is administering an average of an average of almost 30,000 tests a day. Macomb had the highest 14-day average at 7.2%. The other four counties: Ontonagon (6%), Branch (5.9%), and Saginaw (5%). Note: The number of positive tests does not match confirmed cases because a single patient may be tested multiple times. The World Health Organization says schools are safe to reopen if fewer than 5% of coronavirus tests over the past two weeks are positive. The map below shows the 14-day average testing rate by county. Once again, readers can put their cursor over a county to see the underlying data. If you cant see the map, click here. Below are online databases that allow readers to look up county-level data for each of the last 20 days. Cases by day it was reported to the state First is a chart showing new cases reported to the state each day for the past 20 days. This is based on when a confirmed coronavirus test is reported to the state, which means the patient first became sick days before. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. Browser does not support frames. Cant see the chart? Click here. (In a few instances, a county reported a negative number (decline) in daily new cases, following a retroactive reclassification by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In those instances, we subtracted cases from the prior date and put 0 in the reported date.) Cases by day of onset of symptoms Below this chart shows new cases for the past 20 days based on onset of symptoms. In this chart, numbers for the most recent days are incomplete because of the lag time between people getting sick and getting a confirmed coronavirus test result, which can take up to a week or more. You can call up a chart for any county, and you can put your cursor over a bar to see the date and number of cases. (Cant see the chart? Click here) Browser does not support frames. More localized maps Below are two maps created by the EpiBayes research group at University of Michigans Department of Epidemiology, which has access to sub-county data collected by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The interactive maps break down the state into 10 kilometer hexogons to provide more a more localized look at where coronavirus cases are occurring. You can click here to get to the research project website. The first map looks at confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in the past week. You can click on a hexagon to see the underlying data. You can use the triangle button at the upper right of the map to toggle to the second map, which shows total confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic. Latest daily report On Tuesday, the state reported 447 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 15 deaths. Michigan is averaging 701 new cases and 11 new deaths per day. The map below shows total confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying numbers. For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here. To find a testing site near you, check out the states online test finder, here, send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS: In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/. Read more on MLive: Coronavirus risk assessment for Michigan schools: Where and when is it safe to reopen? Michigan college students are returning to campus, and so are their parties amid coronavirus 4 million free masks to be distributed to Michiganders Is the coronavirus surge elsewhere a vindication of Michigans go-slow approach to reopening? Upper Peninsulas coronavirus numbers have more than doubled in past four weeks FDA denies Michigan hospitals request to treat coronavirus with hydroxychloroquine Two COVID-19 deaths announced Tuesday mark the first time Manitoba has reported multiple novel coronavirus fatalities in a single day. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Two COVID-19 deaths announced Tuesday mark the first time Manitoba has reported multiple novel coronavirus fatalities in a single day. Both deceased were elderly men in the Southern Health region who had been hospitalized, public health officials said. They are the 10th and 11th pandemic deaths, respectively, reported in the province. The men one in his 80s from the Hanover health district, one in his 90s from the Niverville/Ritchot health district were previously announced cases connected to known clusters, a Shared Health news release said, offering no other details. On Tuesday, 25 active cases were reported in the Niverville/Ritchot district but neither Niverville nor Ritchot is home to a COVID-19 cluster, leaders of those two communities said. "It's an unfortunate situation," Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen said. "There's got to be a way we can find out by region that's a little simpler." Last week, the province responded to calls for more geographic information and began reporting the number of COVID-19 cases in each region by health district. Ritchot and its neighbouring chambers of commerce and the town council of Niverville have asked public health to provide even more specific detail about the location of active cases, and were told officials are looking into it, Ewen said. "It's hard to say if it's a cluster of people who went to a restaurant here or a seniors home in Niverville," said Ewen, adding he doesn't know of anyone in Ritchot or anywhere who has COVID-19 The chief administrative officer of Niverville, Eric King, said its health district includes Ile des Chenes, Ste. Agathe, St. Adolphe, Grand Pointe, Glenlea, Howden and South Waverley south of the Perimeter Highway. The district as well as Hanover district also includes Hutterite colonies where COVID-19 cases were reported up until last month, when chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin stopped identifying them. Roussin has stated repeatedly he won't identify any cases unless it is to benefit public health. He has cautioned against stigmatizing people and communities in response to positive COVID-19 tests. Now, after getting through the first half of the summer with relatively few new cases, the virus has made an unwelcome August return. Health officials reported Manitoba's ninth death a Portage la Prairie man in his 80s over the weekend. On Tuesday, officials reported 17 new cases in Manitoba 11 in the Winnipeg health region, and two new cases in each of Interlake-Eastern, Prairie Mountain and Southern Health . The Winnipeg cases are mostly related to contacts that turned into cases, but some are of "unknown acquisition," indicating the virus has spread in the community. No updated information was provided about the "outbreak" reported at Bethesda Place nursing home in Steinbach, where one person had tested positive as of Monday. 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. There were 235 active cases in Manitoba, with eight in hospital, including two in intensive care. There are 502 Manitobans who've recovered. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba is 748. The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate crept up to 1.8 per cent Tuesday from 1.78 per cent one day ago. On Monday, 1,028 COVID-19 lab tests were completed in Manitoba. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca After trying to hoax journalists with Project Veritas, Loomer moved to direct confrontations with public figures in recent years, disrupting interviews and news conferences. At a 2018 campaign event for Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum at a Broward County synagogue covered by an Associated Press reporter, the synagogues staff asked Loomer and a male companion to leave because they had disrupted previous Gillum events. When they refused, the staff had police escort them out. She yelled loudly, comparing her treatment to Nazis throwing Jews out of synagogues. It got her on TV news and the internet video went viral. UNITED NATIONS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the arrest of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and top government officials by mutinying soldiers on Tuesday, calling for their immediate release, a U.N. spokesman said. "The Secretary-General ... calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Appointment of new Betsi Cadwaldr chief exec no silver bullet to solve health boards problems, politicians warn This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 The appointment of a new chief executive at a health board which has been in special measures for more than five years is no silver bullet, politicians have warned. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been under the highest level of Welsh Government monitoring since June 2015. The decision was made in the wake of a report which found evidence of institutional abuse at the Tawel Fan mental health ward at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Denbighshire. The north Wales organisation announced today (Wednesday, 19 August) that Jo Whitehead would be taking the helm after joining from Mackay Hospital and Health Service in Queensland, Australia. Ms Whitehead said she was determined to help the health board meet its challenges. However, both the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru said it could be the last opportunity for Betsi Cadwaladr before a more significant restructuring. Conservative shadow health minister Andrew RT Davies said: Whilst I wish Ms Whitehead all the very best in her new role, history has taught us that changing the name plate on the CEOs door at Betsi Cadwaladr is not a silver bullet to solving the problems at the health board. Taking on the challenge of leading a health board that has been in special measures for more than five years is a hard task, made harder by the incompetence of Labours health minister who has been responsible throughout this period. The long-suffering people of north Wales have had enough, and are in desperate need of a health board that is fit for purpose. This could be the last desperate throw of the dice for this health board in its current form. Earlier this year, Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething acknowledged the progress made by the health board to date. But he did not provide a firm timetable for bringing the organisation out of special measures. Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymrus North Wales MS, said a number of different chief executives over the past decade had failed to address the fundamental problems facing health care in north Wales. He said: Theres a lot that needs putting right in Betsi and its disappointing that it has taken a whole year to bring in a new chief executive considering the last one left in January. I sincerely hope the new chief executive, who wont start her new post until next year, can rise to that challenge and be the leader thats needed to take BCUHB out of special measures. Im happy to work with her and the interim CEO Gill Harris in the meantime to get the health services people in north Wales need and deserve. However, this does feel like the last chance for BCUHB as an entity. If this doesnt succeed, then we have to look at a more comprehensive restructuring of health services in the north rather than relentlessly re-arranging the deckchairs. Ms Whitehead will officially take up her position as chief executive on January 1, 2021. Simon Dean has been carrying out the role on an interim basis since February following the departure of former chief executive Gary Doherty. Mr Dean will return to his role as deputy chief executive of NHS Wales from the start of next month, with director of nursing Gill Harris stepping up temporarily until the end of the year. Ahead of taking up her position, Ms Whitehead said: It is a great privilege to have been given this opportunity to make a real difference to peoples lives and improve health outcomes across our communities across north Wales. I am determined to help the health board meet its challenges and provide health care services our communities and our staff can be proud of. I am looking forward to working in the NHS in Wales, and it really is a homecoming for me, north Wales is where I was born and grew up and so it is a real honour. For many years I have admired the partnership-focused structure of the NHS in Wales and the possibilities it provides for developing great, sustainable health care services and I am now looking forward to getting started. In a written statement, the health minister said: I am pleased to inform you that the chair of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will confirm today the appointment of Jo Whitehead as its new chief executive following a competitive recruitment process. Jo Whitehead grew up in north Wales and demonstrated during the process a strong understanding of the health and social care challenges for the region and a clear sense as to how they should be addressed. She will join Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on the 1 January from her current role as chief executive of Mackay Hospital and Health Service in Queensland and has a wealth of experience in healthcare in both the UK and Australia. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter August 19 : Actor Gurmeet Choudhary along with Sayani Datta and the entire team of The Wife Till Death Do us Part resumed the shooting in Jaipur studio on August 18. The horror drama stars Gurmeet Choudhary and Sayani Datta in the lead roles, the film initially went on floors on March 1 but was stalled mid-way owing to the pandemic. Gurmeet took to his social media handle and assured his fans that though the team has resumed its shoot, everything has adhered under the safety guidelines of the government. Gurmeet wrote, Count your days, she's waiting to see you! A @ZeeStudios_ production, we are #BackInAction with #TheWife - Till Death Do Us Part. By strictly following all Govt-mandated safety guidelines, we've resumed shooting, and now need your love and best wishes. Coming soon! @ZeeStudios_ @ZeeMusicCompany #SayaniDatta #sarmadkhan The film is bankrolled by ZEE Studios, it is written and directed by Sarmad Khan and is all set to release on 30th October 2020. The official handle of Zee Studio also confirmed the same. It said, Tread carefully, she's coming for you! Our upcoming production, #TheWife - Till Death Do Us Part, an urban horror has resumed shooting at our Jaipur studio, adhering to all government mandated safety guidelines! Coming soon! @gurruchoudhary #SayaniDatta #SarmadKhan Actor Gurmeet Chaudhary shot to fame from TV serials- 'Ramayan', 'Geet- Hui Sabse Parayi' and 'Punar Vivah' entered the industry in 2015 with a psychological thriller titled 'Khamoshiyan'. Crime dramas have always had a special place in popular culture. With complex characters, intricate design, and gripping plots, crime-dramas are also a guilty pleasure for a lot of people. But, aside from these hallmarks, crime dramas also lay emphasis on the person who solves the crime. It's either a cop or a detective, but either which way, the detective's personal life, and personality are as much the focus of the story as the crime as it contributes to the storyline. Another aspect that people usually focus on is the detective or the cop's personal style. Usually, it's very distinct and is inspired by the era the story is based in. Here's looking at some of the best-dressed fictional detectives in crime dramas. 1. Mindhunter IMDB Holden Ford is an FBI agent who tries to understand the psychological aspect behind brutal murders like the coed killer Ed Kemper and Son Of Sam. The first season is set in 1977. The show's costumes mimic the decade. Holden too is styled like a traditional FBI agent from the 70s. With slicked-back hair, black suits, and printed ties, his costumes seamlessly blend in with the 70s set design. 2. Sherlock IMDB BBC's Sherlock has varying timelines. However, the predominant one shows Sherlock played by Benedict Cumberbatch in his signature outfit, a long black trench coat, and a scarf as he traverses through the streets of London while solving crimes in his head. 3. Bad Boys IMDB Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett join the Miami Police Department's special team AMMO to bring down a ruthless criminal. Unlike other detectives on the list, their style can be defined as more effortless and laidback complementing Miami's beach aesthetic. 4. Knives Out IMDB An Oscar-nominated gripping murder mystery, Knives Out sees detective Benoit Blanc played by Daniel Craig as he solves the curious case of the supposed death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey. In the film, detective Blanc can be seen wearing sharp suits with well-fitted suspenders and aside from his terrific performance, one can not help but admire the character's wardrobe. 5. True Detective IMDB In the third season of the series, we witness Wayne Hays played by Mahershala Ali solve a brutal crime. The drama slips in between three separate time periods in 1980, 1990, and 2015. And the character of Mahershala Ali is seen wearing different costumes corresponding to the different eras and his age as time progresses. It's interesting to witness how time affects his sense of fashion over the years. 19 New Areas Showing Anomalies Where No Previously Known Veins Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - FenixOro Gold Corp (CSE: FENX) (OTC PINK: FDVXF) (FSE: FD8) is pleased to announce that it has received additional results from a program of soil sampling at its Abriaqui Project in Antioquia State, 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. Over the last 80 years artisanal miners have discovered over 80 high grade gold veins hosted by a diorite intrusion and hornfels in adjacent sedimentary rocks within the project area. Recently, company geologists have discovered additional veins, a zone of replacement mineralization, and indications of potential porphyry-style mineralization on FenixOro's land package. The veins, many of which assay over 20 grams per tonne gold and as high as 146 grams per tonne gold, are meters to tens of meters apart and occur in east-west and northwest trending families. In several areas, gold-bearing stockwork mineralization crops out between the veins indicating potential for significant widths of mineralization. A property-wide program of soil sampling on a 25 by 100 meter grid is being carried out to search for additional, non-outcropping mineralization in areas of vegetation and soil cover. Results from the first phase of the program in the Southeast Vein Area were reported in a press release dated July 23, 2020. That program delineated numerous new areas of vein potential and led to increased expectations for the soils program in the Main Vein Zone in the northwestern part of the property. Figure 1 summarizes the geology and all soil results to date in the Main Vein Zone. The area has always been considered to be the highest priority drill target given the number, density, and high grade of the known veins. As seen in the Figure, the vein outcrop areas are characterized by multi-point soil anomalies of 100-1000+ parts per billion gold. The newly received soil results illustrate the fact that most areas in between the vein families are also characterized by anomalies of similar magnitude. To date nineteen such areas with no previously known veins have been delineated with soil anomalies which are very similar to those developed over known veins. Story continues FenixOro VP Exploration Stuart Moller stated "We anticipated strong soil results over the known veins that could be used as a baseline for interpreting soil results in virgin areas. The major new anomalies between and adjacent to the known veins were a tremendous surprise and as a result we now see greatly enhanced potential for the vein/stockwork model." The planned holes were designed to be drilled at 45-60 degree angles from the surface, with each intersecting multiple known veins and areas of intervening stockwork mineralization. An analysis of vein outcrops, mine dumps, tailings, etc. along with topography indicates that very few of the new soil anomalies are likely to be the products of soil contamination. Therefore, most of the nineteen are considered to be newly discovered areas of near-surface mineralization, probably additional vein and/or stockwork zones. The drill program will not have to be modified significantly to test the best of the new areas as most are immediately adjacent to known veins. The impact will be in the number of veins intersected by each hole and the total width of the mineralized corridors, two of which now appear to be in excess of 300 meters. Additional areas of potential will be addressed with the 20% of the program samples yet to be received from the laboratory and future expansions to the soil grid. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6188/62104_fenix2.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/62104 Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Cao Cao Mobility, the ride-hailing arm of the Chinese automaker Geely, announced on August 19 its autonomous cars jointly developed with DeepRoute.ai, a Shenzhen-based full-stack self-driving solution developer, has been put into road tests and trial operation in Hangzhou after being given green light by local authorities. (Photo source: Cao Cao Mobility's WeChat account) The Geometry A, the first mass-produced model of Geely's BEV-focused Geometry brand, has been adopted as the vehicle model to be tested on roads. According to ride-hailing platform, the autonomous driving fleet will be enlarged to 10 cars in the second half of 2020 and will be connected to Cao Cao Mobility's App. Besides, the test drive service is expected to be opened to the public next year. During the 2020 Asian Games, the fleet may be grow to several hundreds of vehicles, which will be deployed key areas of Hangzhou. Cao Cao said it features congenital advantages in developing autonomous driving technologies. As a ride-hailing platform, it is able to get a vast amount of data related to users and drivers and boasts a raft of experience in fleet distribution. The ample resources of big data can help the autonomous driving system better recognize lane lines, vehicles, pedestrians, traffic lights and other objects, so as to make an autonomous car safer and more reliable. (Photo source: Cao Cao Mobility's WeChat account) In addition, Cao Cao Mobility's efforts will also be favorable to a widespread popularization of autonomous driving technologies by offering self-driving rides to the general public. Earlier this week, Auto X, a Shenzhen-headquartered autonomous driving startup, formally launched its Robotaxi service to the public in Shanghai, which allows users to hail a self-driving car for free through the ride-hailing service App of AutoNavi, an Alibaba-backed digital mapping, navigation and location-based service provider. For Robert Markel, an essentially ceremonial moment in presidential election history will allow him a special opportunity afforded very, very few people. The former Springfield mayor will cast a meaningful vote for someone who is not just a name with a party affiliation, but a close friend whose relationship goes back more than 60 years. As a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the Electoral College, Markel will officially file his ballot for Joseph Biden to become president of the United States. Biden formally reached the delegate plateau for nomination by the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. Markel says Bidens political aspirations and potential were evident from their time as high school classmates and friends at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware. As Biden pursues history this week, Markel remembers those days when they were teenagers as if they were yesterday. I was the original Ridin With Biden (member). Our junior and senior years, I drove Joe to school,' says Markel, who was Springfield mayor from 1993 to 1996 and now serves as town administrator of Hampden. Markel and Biden served as groomsmen in each others wedding parties. They have never lost touch with each other. (The Electoral College) is a wonderful last hurrah,' says Markel, whose lifelong friendship with the Democratic Party nominee helped place him in a very select circle as one of 11 members of the states delegation. The electors will meet on Dec. 14 in Boston. With a Biden win in Massachusetts about as certain as politics in 2020 can be, the Democratic Party elector slate including Markel will validate Bidens November victory in the Bay State by casting its 11 electoral votes for him. Massachusetts electors are mandated by state law to honor the November vote of the people. Their vote is not based on personal choice, but if it were, Markel says he would still support a man hes known well since the late 1950s. I always knew Joe was headed for a career in politics,' he shares. We were in the basement of a friend, where about seven or eight of us gathered. His mother asked Joe, Do you want to be president?, and he said, Yes, I do. " Plenty of other signs cropped up along the way. My wife and I went to his house after he got married, and these two new dogs popped out. Their names were Senator and Governor, and that was before Joe had ever been elected to public office, Markel remembers. In school, he was very sociable. He liked to talk with anybody and everybody. The joke was that Joe would strike up a conversation with an electric light bulb if there was one nearby. Not surprisingly, he was elected class president. Markel says the Biden of today reflects the traits he witnessed first-hand years ago. He was always in great shape, and he still is. He works out every day. That matters,' Markel says. Before COVID-19 interrupted their meetings, a group of Archmere Academy friends would gather every two months or so, and Biden would join them, whenever his schedule allowed. During Markels mayoral years, Biden came to Springfield for several fundraisers to support him, and the two men still communicate. Hes very busy, but I send letters to his private residence, and he answers back. The last time I saw him was about six months ago after a (Biden) staff member had passed away, Markel says. At a time when President Donald J. Trump is attempting to make Bidens cognitive level a campaign issue, Markel thinks Bidens clarity and his character should never be doubted. According to Markel, the candidates speech patterns are based not on a slowing mind, but an active one. His mind races ahead of his thoughts at times, but he doesnt just hear, he talks, he connects, he listens and he remembers. Hes always been that way,' Markel said. Markel will be seen in the Democratic National Committee video introduction of Biden, before the candidate accepts the nomination Thursday night. Markel served seven terms on the Springfield City Council before ascending to the mayors seat. He was also a long-time political science professor at American International College and has served as manager or administrator of several towns, including Hampden since last fall. Massachusetts has 11 of the nations 538 electoral votes. The winning candidate must receive at least a majority of 270. Electors also vote for the vice president. The Biden campaign encouraged Markel to seek a place in the Electoral College. A Biden letter of endorsement didnt guarantee Markels place as an elector, but might have tipped the scales. Bob Markel has been my friend since high school and is a distinguished public servant in his own right. I am grateful for his support and would be honored by his selection as an Elector for the Electoral College, the former vice-president wrote. Massachusetts delegates to the Electoral College are elected by vote of state party committees. I had to do a little campaigning. There are 440 members of the Democratic state committee. I knew about a third of them, Markel says. I was told it would be an uphill battle, since most of them either voted for their friends or themselves. The Massachusetts delegation includes five men and five women. The 11th can be of either gender. Markel was the 11th choice. I lost the first vote (to be among the five men) and won the second,' he says. Unless the world explodes, Massachusetts will vote for Biden,' Markel proffers. The Democratic Partys 11 electors will then gather in formal attire men in tuxedos, women in long, black gowns to make it official a month after the election. They do it up big,' he says. Unlike Massachusetts, 17 states do not have laws requiring electors to honor the peoples November vote. Seven rogue, faithless elector votes so named because they reflect an electors lack of faith in the people were cast in 2016. Markel says he would never override the peoples will, even if Massachusetts state law allowed. He conceded the Electoral College, created by the Constitution in 1787, is in many respects an anachronism in the modern age. Times have changed. This isnt the 18th Century anymore, and it should probably be totally reevaluated,' Markel said. But the smaller states (who enjoy a larger voice by this system) would never allow the Electoral College to be eliminated (by a Constitutional amendment). The reality is that we will have it, and its our duty to elect a president in a way that reflects democracy in the best way possible. Related content: Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Mali military who ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Tuesday have announced the establishment of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) that will rule the country Authorities have released the names of two young brothers who died over the weekend after they climbed into a hot car and got locked inside. The Shelby County Coroners Office identified the siblings as Daniel Garcia, 3, and Ivan Salazar Jr, 1. Coroner Lina Evans said autopsies showed the boys deaths were consistent with Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke. Daniel and Ivans deaths were the 16th and 17th children to die in a hot car in 2020. Since Saturday, however, two more children died after they were unknowingly left in vehicles one in Texas and one in Oklahoma, for a total of 19 this year, according to kidsandcars.org. In Alabama alone last week, three children died in hot car deaths. A fourth was initially believed to be a hot car death but actually was a homicide. Shelby County authorities responded about 3:30 p.m. Saturday to a residence off County Road 25 in Montevallo. The parents told authorities the two boys were thought to be playing in their rooms but had gone outside apparently. The family frantically searched for them and eventually found them inside the vehicle. Both were unresponsive and rushed to Shelby Baptist Medical Center where they were later pronounced dead. With an outside air temperature of approximately 91 degrees, the inside air temperature of the car could have been in excess of 135 degrees. Objects or a person inside the car in direct sunlight would have been significantly hotter, said Jan Null, adjunct professor of meteorology at San Jose University and a hot car death expert. Evans said the boys had gotten into the vehicle sometime after 1 p.m. and were discovered about 3:30 p.m. Autopsies were done in Montgomery Monday. Both Evans and Shelby County sheriffs officials called the boys deaths a tragic accident and said no foul play was involved. Our hearts and prayers are with the family of those two little boys during this unimaginable tragedy,' Sheriff John Samaniego said in a prepared statement. Family members of the boys have built two large crosses outside of the car that is parked in their yard. They were, however, too distraught to talk about what happened. Daniel was one of the happiest kids you would ever meet. He enjoyed watching cartoons, especially Dinosaur King and Octonautsm,' according to his obituary. He adored his baby brother, Ivan, and would never let him out of his sight. He loved playing outside and riding his four-wheeler and little car. Ivan was a happy child that was full of laughter,' the obituary stated. He always wanted to be held. He was a mommas boy during the day but wanted his daddy as soon as he arrived home. He loved and adored his daddy. A double funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. at the Chapel of Ellison Memorial Funeral Home in Clanton. The boys deaths mark the second time last week children died in Alabama after being found in a hot car. On Sunday, Aug. 9, 3-year-old Bentley Fowler was declared dead in a car on Church Street in the northwest Alabama town of Hodges. In that case, the boys parents, Dakota Heath Fowler, 20, and Brandi Michelle Burks, 22, were arrested on manslaughter charges, according to the Franklin County Sheriffs Office. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 3-year-old Kaiden Garner died in Florence and authorities initially believed that death resulted from heat exposure as well, but the investigation deemed the boy died from blunt force trauma. No arrests have been announced in that case. Alabama ranks 12th in the nation by a large margin based on the number of child hot car deaths with 29 fatalities since 1995, according to kidsandcars.org. On average, 26 percent of U.S. hot car deaths are the result of children getting into vehicles on their own and not able to get out. However, this year there has been a drastic increase with 47 percent of U.S. child hot car deaths - 8 of 17- involving toddlers who got into vehicles on their own, said Janette Fennell, president and founder of kidsandcars.org. Last year there were a total of 52 Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke deaths in the U.S., with three of those in Alabama. Experts say that as parents and caregivers are sheltering at home during this unprecedented pandemic, supervision can be more difficult than ever. Young children climb into unlocked cars and trunks to play, but they cant always get out,' Fennell said. With fewer parents and caregivers traveling to work, and fewer children attending childcare and preschool, it is imperative that all drivers, even those without children, lock their vehicles so children cannot gain access. " They offered these safety tips to make sure children cannot get into a parked car: Use childproof doorknob covers, baby gates or door alarms to ensure toddlers cannot sneak out of the home. Keep vehicles locked at all times, especially in the garage or driveway. Ask neighbors and visitors to do the same. Never leave car keys within reach of children. Teach children to honk the horn if they become stuck inside a car. If a child is missing, immediately check the inside, floorboards and trunk of all vehicles in the area very carefully. B Anbuselvan By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Sterlite verdict has come as a huge relief for the ruling AIADMK, which has seemingly been facing the wrath of residents around the smelter plant ever since the police shootout in 2018. The outcome of the shootout cost AIADMK dearly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where the party managed to win just one seat in Tamil Nadu. While the state government maintains that the policemen shooting at the crowd was an act of self-defence, human rights activists allege it was a 'premeditated attack'. Following the incident, the government constituted a one-man committee- of retired Madras HC Judge Aruna Jagadeesan- to probe the incident. The committee is yet to submit its report. ALSO READ | With sweets and crackers, Thoothukudi residents welcome HC order refusing to open Sterlite plant Later, the government ordered shutting down of the plant. Now, the Madras High Court verdict too is being seen as a political victory for the ruling party. Minutes after the verdict, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam tweeted welcoming the judgment. He said the judgment reflected the thoughts of crores of people. AIADMK spokesperson Vaigai Chelvan said, "The order will certainly boost the political mileage of the party in Thoothukudi and other coastal districts. Lies against our government will vanish in coming days," ALSO READ | Along with Sterlite, Tamil Nadu pollution control body invokes HC ire for incompetence Though the High Court has accepted the state government's decision of shutting the plant, political observers say itis still premature to celebrate victory for any political party given that the Sterlite will appeal against the order in the Supreme Court within three weeks. They also pointed out that environmental issues may not dominate electoral politics for long, as there will be more pressing ones. 'Tharasu' Shyam, political commentator expressed apprehensions over the validity of G.O passed by the government regarding the closure of the plant. "The chances of Vedanta getting relief from the Supreme ourt cannot be ruled out. But we must admit that AIADMK may get some advantage over the order, at-least temporarily." Maanayata Dutt released a statement requesting fans to not speculate on the 'stage of his illness,' adding she will continue to post updates on Sanjay Dutt's health. Actor Sanjay Dutt's wife Maanayata Dutt released an official statement regarding her husbands health and required treatment. She said Dutt will receive the preliminary treatment at Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai. In her statement, released on social media, she thanked Dutt's fans and well-wishers for showering him with support, and everyone to extend the same adulation and love in these trying times. As a family, we have decided to face this with positivity and grace," the statement read. Maanayata pointed out how important it was for them to go about their life "as normally as possible, with a smile, because this will be a tough fight and a long journey." She said it was necessary to set the negativity aside for Dutt. The statement also said the family whether or not to travel abroad for further treatment based on the actors condition and the pandemic situation. Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai," she said adding that they will "formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the COVID situation eases." Read the entire statement below Here is the latest update about Actor #SanjayDutt 's health from his wife #MaanayataDutt pic.twitter.com/RH9jRWw99X Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) August 19, 2020 After Dutt was admitted to a hospital for breathlessness on 8 August, he had tested negative for COVID-19. He released a statement thereafter stating he will be taking some time off from professional commitments to focus on his treatment and requested everyone to not speculate about his health. However, rumours started doing the rounds on the internet that stated the 61-year-old actor was suffering from lung cancer. In the recent statement, Maanayata has also requested well-wishers to not speculate about the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work. She assured that she will keep fans updated about his progress. Michigan added 477 confirmed coronavirus cases to its cumulative total Tuesday, Aug. 18, significantly fewer than the most recent daily average, 701. In other coronavirus news: Michigan State University is asking students to stay home this fall, the state is seeking federal support for an extra $300 a week in unemployment checks, and several students tested positive for COVID-19 at Hope College after moving onto campus. Heres all the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan going into Wednesday, Aug. 19. Michigan reports 477 new coronavirus cases, 15 new deaths The Department of Health and Human Services reported 15 new deaths, seven of which were discovered through a vital records review process conducted three times per week. In total, Michigan has reported 93,662 known cases of COVID-19 and 6,340 deaths associated with the novel coronavirus since March. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Health experts recommend looking at seven-day moving averages to more accurately evaluate trends in new cases and deaths. The state is averaging 701 new cases and 11 new cases per day. Hospital systems across the state are treating a combined 639 individuals who are either confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19, as of Monday. The health departments recent decision to add suspected cases to its hospitalization data makes it difficult to compare to prior data, which only included confirmed cases. Of those 639 patients, 89 were on ventilators and 176 were in the ICU as of Monday. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. Outdoor gatherings in East Lansing restricted to 25 people, health officials say Outdoor gatherings in parts of East Lansing have been restricted to 25 people, according to an order issued Tuesday by Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail. The order will remain in place indefinitely to limit the spread of COVID-19, according to a press release from ICHD. Outdoor gatherings are restricted to 100 people or less in the region, but local officials felt more stringent measures were necessary, the release said. The restricted area stretches from the northern edge of the Michigan State University campus to Burcham Drive and is bounded by Harrison Road to the west and Hagadorn Road to the east, including properties adjacent to those streets, the release said. Those areas were identified based on the historical frequency of noise ordinance violations due to large house parties. Large social gatherings can easily become super-spreading events and fuel the coronavirus pandemic, said Vail. Over the summer, we have seen this happen across the state and even here in our community. We must do everything we can to prevent another large, local outbreak. I urge everyone: wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, and stay home if you are sick please help stop the spread of COVID-19. Education unions give Michigan back-to-school plan thumbs up, despite lingering budgetary concerns The state House on Monday approved a joint agreement made over the weekend by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative Republicans on back-to-school roadmap, and Michigans teachers unions are on board for the most part. The legislation House Bills 5911, 5912 and 5913 lets local districts decide whether to offer in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic, but requires districts to maintain minimum levels of teacher-student interaction in virtual settings. Each bill passed by at least 40 votes, and now heads to Whitmer with expectations shell sign them into law. Two major education unions, the Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, approved of the compromises made in the new bills, mostly for finally clarifying how districts can start preparing for the fall. However, union leaders and other educational organizations still question some elements of the deal, as well as how future budgets will ensure fair compensation and safety for teachers and school support staff. You know the saying If both people are pissed at the end of a compromise, it was a good deal. There were a couple things that we liked, said David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan. It let school districts, teachers, support staff know whats going to happen. How is student count going to happen? Whats going to happen with benchmarks? It gives them some certainty. At the same time, it also provides flexibility. Michigan State University switches fall semester to remote learning, tells students to stay home Michigan State University is switching its fall class schedule to remote learning and has asked students who planned to live in dorms to stay home. In a public letter to the MSU community on Tuesday, Aug. 18, MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr. said the current status of the novel coronavirus pandemic, including recent outbreaks at other universities, caused the change in plans. MSU originally had planned for a hybrid learning model of in person and online classes in the fall. Michigan opts in on an extra $300 a week in federal unemployment money Michigan plans to participate in a federal program that would give an extra $300 per week to unemployed workers. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month allocating Federal Emergency Management Administration funds to eligible unemployed workers. It was billed as an extra $400 per week with participating states chipping in 25%, but language in the order allows states to add the additional $300 without using state funds. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had criticized Trumps order, saying a recovery package from Congress is whats needed. This program will provide some much needed support for families that are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills, Whitmer said in a news release. But its a short term band aid that falls short of whats needed. Several students test positive for coronavirus at Hope College after moving onto campus Several Hope College students have tested positive for the coronavirus since moving onto campus, college officials say. Fewer than five students have tested positive for the novel respiratory virus after arriving on campus last week. They were tested through an on-site rapid test center available for students, faculty and staff, Hope College spokesperson Greg Olgers told MLive Tuesday, Aug. 18. The students are staying in on-campus housing that the college has designated for isolation purposes, Olgers said. In addition, dozens of students and staff tested positive for the coronavirus in testing prior to the first day of classes at Hope College for the 2020-21 school year. College officials worked to test all of their students, faculty and staff before the start of classes Aug. 17, in an effort to establish a baseline classroom presence of zero cases. The college sent saliva tests to its students, faculty and staff over the past two weeks. Out of 3,895 tests administered, 38 people have tested positive for the virus. Those who tested positive are quarantining at home and taking courses online, according to the college. Sorry, but your browser does not support frames. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/. Read more on MLive: Ohio governor green lights high school sports for the fall, including football Ann Arbor City Council members question University of Michigans effort to prevent spread of coronavirus Michigans coronavirus cases have flattened in recent weeks, but dont break out the bubbly just yet CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars gained ground against their major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as European shares rose ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve's recent meeting due later in the day. The Fed took no action in July but noted that economic indicators suggest the recovery lost some steam due to the surge in infections. The minutes may provide more clues about an anticipated shift in the monetary policy outlook. Data from Westpac showed that Australia's leading index remained in deep negative territory in July but the index appeared to have bottomed out in April. The six-month annualized growth rate in the Westpac Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, rose to -4.37 percent in July from -4.43 percent in June. Data from Statistics New Zealand showed that New Zealand output producer prices fell 0.3 percent on quarter, following the 0.1 percent increase in the previous three months. Input producer prices sank 1.0 percent on quarter after dipping 0.3 percent in the three months prior. The aussie climbed to 0.7276 against the greenback, its strongest level since January 2019. If the aussie rises further, it may find resistance around the 0.75 region. Reversing from its early lows of 76.20 against the yen and 1.6497 against the euro, the aussie approached a 2-day high of 76.68 and an 8-day high of 1.6418, respectively. The next possible resistance for the aussie is seen around 78.00 against the yen and 1.62 against the euro. The aussie advanced to an 8-day high of 0.9561 against the loonie, after falling to 0.9523 at 12:30 am ET. The aussie may locate resistance near the 0.98 area. The kiwi rose to a 6-day high of 1.7961 against the euro and near a 2-week high of 0.6649 against the greenback, off its early lows of 1.8092 and 0.6600, respectively. The kiwi is seen finding resistance around 1.73 against the euro and 0.68 against the greenback. The NZ currency appreciated to 5-day highs of 70.05 against the yen and 1.0935 against the aussie, following its declines to 69.43 and 1.0981, respectively. The kiwi is poised to find resistance around 72.00 against the yen and 1.06 against the aussie. Looking ahead, Canada CPI for July and wholesale sales for June are set for release in the New York session. At 2:00 pm ET, the Fed minutes from the July meeting will be released. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Are you a hypocrite? WCVBs Janet Wu asked the question to Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy during Tuesday nights debate, the final televised contest in an increasingly bitter and personal race that will culminate in a Sept. 1 primary. She asked how Kennedy could square his familys recent solicitation of funds for a super Political Action Committee thats spent more than $2 million to aid his campaign after he resoundingly rejected Super PACs, outside spending and dark money early and often since entering the race nearly a year ago. Wu asked Markey how he could support Super PACs aligned with him, including one funded by environmentalists alongside telecommunications and corporate finance billionaires, when during his previous Senate run he denounced Super PACS and signed the Peoples Pledge to restrict contributions from outside groups the very pledge Kennedy urge him to sign last year. Kennedy emphatically denied being a hypocrite. I tried over and over again to have Senator Markey stick to his word from 2013 and asked him to sign on to the same pledge, Kennedy said, noting he and previous candidates Shannon Liss-Riordan and Steve Pemberton had agreed. Senator Markeys signature was missing. The reason (Super PACs) are in (the race) is because Senator Markey invited it. Markey, likewise, responded no to Wus question. He said politicians need a new pledge for 2020 allowing environmental groups, womens groups and civil rights groups to speak. As long as their money is transparent and their message is positive, Markey said. Markey then repeated his demand from last weeks debate: calling on the congressman to ask his father, Joseph Kennedy II, and twin brother, Matthew Kennedy, to cease aiding a Super PAC running negative ads. WBURs Bob Oakes challenged the candidates, asking them if they owed an apology to Democrats for the recent vitriol over social media and in ads. Oakes told Markey it appeared to be a sideshow when Democratic voters are most concerned about beating (President) Donald Trump. Markey pointed back to the PACs, saying it was the congressmans supporters who started these negative commercials. I dont want that. I want a positive message, a vision for what our country can do for the families out there sitting at their kitchen tables right now worried about their bills. Kennedy argued the Markey team and its supporters started a negative campaign against me literally from the moment he announced his bid, through digital advertising, emails and cyberbullying of his backers. He added that there was a line that was crossed that shouldnt have been, including attacks against his family and his own safety from people online. The congressman doesnt want any of his supporters, I certainly dont want any of my supporters, to be engaging in any of that negative conduct, Markey added. I think thats the message we want to send to anyone out there as this race becomes contentious. Kennedy said that he agreed. The back-and-forth over negative campaigning comes as the race has grown more personal, in part because the congressman is a member of the best-known political dynasty in America. In a recent video that gained more than 3 million views, the Markey team touted the senators progressive chops over his lengthy time in Congress. The video capped off with a twist of the most famous quote from former President John F. Kennedy, the congressmans great uncle. We asked what we could do for our country. We went out, we did it, Markey said. With all due respect, its time to start asking what your country can do for you. When the government abandons its people, its up to us to rise up and make a revolution. Were fighting for dignity, for justice, and for our future. Join us at https://t.co/NY8pZcBcFE. #GreenNewDealmaker pic.twitter.com/4V558XjrVw Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) August 13, 2020 Kennedy fired back with a news conference Monday among Black community leaders and his own video featuring his familys legacy posted on social media about 30 minutes before Tuesdays debate. In the video and his closing remarks Tuesday, Kennedy noted that his while familys works and accomplishments were inspirational to him, they were theirs, not his. A legacy is earned, Kennedy said. It is earned in the streets where Senator Markey does not walk. In the communities he does not visit. From the voices he does not hear. If Senator Markey wants to talk about the Kennedys, then lets talk about the Kennedys. pic.twitter.com/PbdE1vIakj Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) August 18, 2020 Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:13:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The city of Nantong in east China's Jiangsu Province signed a sister-city agreement with the Italian city of Siena at a video signing ceremony on Tuesday. The two cities will deepen cooperation in sports, art, culture, and other fields based on their friendly exchanges in education and trade since 2015. "We hope the new tie can be a starting point for higher-level exchanges and cooperation between the two cities," said Wang Hui, mayor of Nantong, adding that Nantong and Siena will promote high-level exchanges and a dialogue mechanism. Wang also hoped that the two cities will further strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, and medical and home-textile industries. Luigi De Mossi, mayor of Siena, expressed his gratitude for all the assistance Nantong provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, Nantong donated masks, protective suits, and other medical supplies to help the Italian city weather the pandemic. The two cities have a lot of room for cooperation in tourism and culture, said Luigi De Mossi, who also suggested holding art exhibitions to help more Italians understand Nantong and Chinese culture. Enditem The Congress party's troubles in Rajasthan don't seem to end anytime soon since the grand old party after successfully quelling a rebellion within its ranks, is now facing an uphill task in revamping the party's organisational structure, The Indian Express has reported. According to the report, while the party is expected to revamp the organisation soon, accommodating leaders from both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's camp and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's camp is going to be difficult. "After Pilot was removed as party president, office-bearers in several districts and block Congress committees also resigned from their posts in solidarity. It will be a challenge for the party to accommodate loyalists from both Gehlot and Pilot camps when committees and departments within the party are reconstituted," a senior Congress leader told the newspaper. Following Pilot's revolt along with 18 other legislators, he was removed both as the deputy chief minister of the state as well as the party's state unit chief. Congress' Rajasthan in-charge, Avinash Pandey, had then dissolved the entire state executive of the party. Pilot loyalists right from district Congress committees to the office-bearers of the state executive had tendered in their resignations after Pilot's removal, the report said. "For the past one and half years, many Congress workers were already dissatisfied because political appointments in several commissions and boards were not taking place due to the tussle between Gehlot and Pilot camps, as each faction vetoed nominees of the other. If this dissatisfaction continues among leaders and workers, it can adversely impact our performance in civic and Panchayat elections," the leader said. Sources also told Indian Express that the new state in-charge, Ajay Maken's inputs will be important during the revamp. Maken replaced Pandey after a truce between the two warring factions was brokered earlier this month. According to the newspaper, the party's top leadership is keen on presenting a united front by accommodating leaders from both the factions. "Whatever happened over the last one month will not affect the party, as the issue has been resolved and all of us stand united. Our focus now is to inject fresh energy into our organisation and strengthen it. We will listen to all suggestions of Congress workers and address their issues through meetings at various levels such as executive, district and block," the new state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra told the newspaper. After the truce, Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan won the vote of confidence in the Legislative Assembly on August 14. It was not immediately clear how many votes cast by members did Gehlots government garner in the House. The ruling Congress has 107 MLAs in the 200-member Legislative Assembly. The BJP has 72. After the trust vote, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said that the vote of confidence was passed with a "very good majority". "Despite various attempts by the opposition, the result is in favour of the government," Pilot said. Marriott International is being sued in the High Court for a massive data hack that affected 339m people. Martin Bryant, 41, a technology journalist from Manchester, is claiming compensation on behalf of up to 7m guests of Starwood Hotels from England and Wales. Fraudsters harvested data including guests' credit card details, dates of birth and passport numbers. Fraudsters harvested data from Marriott International including guests' credit card details, dates of birth and passport numbers If the class action-style claim is successful the court will order compensation to be paid to every victim, including guests of the St Regis, Sheraton, Le Meridien and Four Points hotels. The hack began in 2014 but Marriott International, which bought Starwood in 2016, only told customers in 2018. Last year the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined it 99million saying it should have done more to make sure systems were secure. Bryant 'hopes this case will raise awareness of the value of our personal data'. He said: 'You're powerless. It might end up being used for identity theft or fraud, and there's nothing you can do about it. The fact is there should be recompense.' Marriott declined to comment. Earlier this year Marriott said another 5m customer accounts had been compromised, via a franchise hotel. Data breaches occur at many companies on Saturday hackers stole information from the passengers of cruise giant Carnival. In May Easyjet said details of about 9m customers had been compromised. And last month the ICO announced a record 183million fine for British Airways after the details of about 500,000 customers were harvested. ATHENS, Greece (AP) A Greek-flagged cargo ship with 18 crew on board caught fire in the Arabian Sea early on Wednesday, leaving one crew member dead and another one injured, Greece's Shipping Ministry said. The ship had been sailing without cargo from the United Arab Emirates to Port Elizabeth in South Africa when the fire broke out in the middle of the night, the ministry said. It was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze. The fire was extinguished by mid-morning, and the ship was drifting without steering, far from land, the ministry said. Nearby ships had been notified to render assistance. The ministry said the ships 55-year-old second engineer had died in the blaze, while the 26-year-old third engineer was injured. Both are Greek. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Wednesday that recently there has been a drop in the average age of people infected with the novel coronavirus in Romania, as well as an increase in the number of serious cases in relatively young people. According to the minister, Romania is in the second phase of the first COVID-19 pandemic wave."We are in the second phase or the second hump of the first pandemic wave. As you could see in the last week, we are trying to stabilise the number of cases with that saw-shaped plateau. It does not only depend on us as a system, and the pandemic is not settled in hospitals (...) Compliance with some rules will lead to a decrease in community transmission and a decrease in the average age of infected people, as we also have an increase in the number of serious cases in relatively young people," said Tataru.Tataru on Wednesday toured to the site of a privately-run hospital in Bucharest. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In an effort to raise money for infrastructure and facilities maintenance, the Boy Scouts William H. Pouch Scout Camp is hosting a weekly series of family-friendly drive-in movies at their grounds in Sea View. The camp, founded in 1949, is the only Boy Scouts camp in New York City. This summer, the camp has postponed activities usually held for more than 30,000 campers and scouts due to COVID-19. You can imagine that a property as large as ours and the facilities we have, like a rock climbing wall, archery range, and tomahawk range, require constant maintenance, said Matt Gaor, the camp chairman. Its very expensive. Money will go towards maintenance and upgrades to infrastructure items such as our archery range, our rock-climbing wall, and other improvements around the camp. Gaor proposed the idea of a weekly drive-in movie to raise money, which gained support from Borough President James Oddo and Deputy Borough President Ed Burke. The movies are shown on Saturday evenings, weather permitting. The camp invested in a 20-by-40 foot blow-up screen, two 10,000 watt and 5,000 loom projectors -- one for backup -- that illuminate the screen from behind, and an FM radio transmitter so families can listen to the movies from their car radios, according to Jim Castro, assistant director of support service for the Boys Scouts. The parking lot is divided into sections using traffic cones indicating each parking spot, with room for up to 64 vehicles; volunteers help guide the cars to their spots. The event also has consistently cleaned restrooms and food that is brought to the cars by volunteers from the concession stand. The Staten Island University Hospital EMT workers and an ambulance are also present every week in case of emergencies, as provided by the Borough President. The weekly series shows a handful of family-friendly movies like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Young Frankenstein, and recently, Coco. Upcoming movies include The Princess Bride, Up, The Goonies and more. The full lineup is available online. According to Michael Ditrani, a longtime member of the Boy Scouts and recently retired police officer, the event has had a full house of 60 to 60-plus cars every week, and he calls the turnout excellent. Last week, we had a birthday party, said Bernie Carp, volunteer and another longtime member. A whole row of eight cars lined up while social distancing. Parents and children have mentioned their interest in coming back. Ali Schirazi, a recurring attendee, has made it a weekly event for his kids. They love it, theyre just having a blast, instead of being stuck at home doing nothing. This a great idea, and well be taking advantage of it, he said. The volunteers, more than 20 people of all ages working in parking, concession and tech, agree that they enjoy the event and volunteering for it as well, including young volunteers such as Michaela Duenas, Dove Colon and Jenna Lupo. Its pretty good, said Duenas, a member of the Boy Scouts since 2019. We have an organized system to keep everyone safe. Due to the great feedback, the weekly series will continue into September on every Saturday except for Labor Day weekend. According to Gaor and Castro, the camp organizers are in the process of coming up with more seasonally-themed events for October. Movies are shown at 1285 Manor Road in Sea View; the lot is opened at 7:30 p.m. and the movies begin at 9 p.m. Before attending the event, families must make reservations online through their website. Tickets are $40 for each car, and the price include four drinks and four snacks. Heat and drought So dang hot Risk to fish (TNS) - Climate change hit home in Colorado this week, exacerbating multiple environmental calamities: wildfires burning across 135,423 acres, stream flows shrinking to where state officials urged limits on fishing, drought wilting crops, and record temperatures baking heat-absorbing cities.This is what scientists, for decades, have been warning would happen.Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday lamented the hot and dry conditions and called smoke impacts from the states four major wildfires profound, noting poor air quality often can cause COVID-type symptoms. He banned campfires and fireworks statewide for a month.The hot, dry weather is making fire behavior extreme, and the rapid spread is already taxing our resources to fight fires, the governor said at an afternoon news conference. We need to do everything we can to stop fires from starting in the first place.Meanwhile, environmental groups have filed lawsuits against Colorado pressing for climate action. State lawmakers last year ordered state officials to create a plan by July 1 for reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas air pollution by 90% before 2050 in an effort to save future generations something that hasnt been done.Polis knows we must act to shift to renewable energy by 2040 and do our part on climate, his deputy press secretary Shelby Wieman said.A letter sent to Polis this week from 100 climate activists urged greater inclusion of low-income residents in creating a plan to cut greenhouse gas pollution.But that political flare-up was about the future.This is a now problem, not a future problem. Were seeing systemic change of the climate that manifests itself not just in heat but in fire, in water, in agriculture, and in economics, said Aspen Ski Company vice president Auden Schendler, a former Basalt town councilman who served until last month when Polis declined to re-appoint him on Colorados Air Quality Control Commission.How many times are you not going to be able to drive through Glenwood Canyon? Schendler asked, referring to the Grizzly Creek fire, which has closed Interstate 70 for more than a week. And, by the way, after these fires, we are going to have landslide. This is such an obvious clear and present danger. Now is the time to deploy really aggressive climate policy.Building resilience has emerged as the challenge.Were going to have to become more resilient to some of these changes and be prepared for them, state climatologist Russ Schumacher said.Climate scientists emphasized that average temperatures will continue to increase for decades due to humans burning so many fossil fuels coal, gas and oil in the past. That means impacts including wildfires, aridity, depleted streams and rivers with some variability likely will intensify.This week, the temperature in Death Valley, California, hit 130 degrees among the highest temperatures ever recorded worldwide.Denvers temperature hit a record 100 degrees Tuesday, and the National Weather Service saw little sign of cooling here and around the West. August was on pace to be the hottest on record in Denver, where temperatures have topped 90 degrees on 58 days this year, approaching the 2012 record of 73. Meteorologists forecasted highs above 94 degrees at least through next Tuesday.Earlier this month, federal officials designated 100% of Colorado abnormally dry or in drought for the first time in eight years, and the fourth time during the states 20-year shift toward greater aridity.This reflects a climate-driven combination in Colorado of heat and lack of precipitation that is unleashing myriad new strains on ecosystems, Shumacher said from his base at Colorado State Universitys Colorado Climate Center. Our big picture is changes to the water cycle, and when things start to change in those systems is puts stress on everything. And wildfires are an outcome, he said.Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for a long time, Shumacher said. Even if we completely stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, the effects of what happened over the past decades will still be up there. Its going to continue to get warmer. And how that plays out in specific impacts is tough to pin down. Whether it is farmers, ranchers or water managers, long-term planning for change is certainly necessary.In western Colorado, federal firefighting managers listed high temperatures as a main cause of the four largest wildfires. The extreme fire behavior they observed included flames leaping from tree-tops to burn up more trees and embers flying beyond front edges of fire walls as far as 2,500 feet to spark new fires.Hotter temperatures linked to climate warming have led to bigger and more frequent western wildfires, which burned twice as many acres a year over the past two decades compared with the previous 15 years, according to federal fire data. Climate warming also is leading to earlier melting of mountain winter snowpack and faster drying out of soils.In wildfires, a little bit of warming is leading to a lot more burning. I expect us to see much more burning in response to continued increasing temperatures, University of Colorado fire scientist Jennifer Balch said, recommending better protection for people.It boils down to two things. Building better. And burning better. We need to rethink how we put more homes in harms way. And we need to let fires burn and use prescribed fires to fight fire.At front edges of the lightning-sparked, 87,778-acre Pine Gulch fire on federal land about 10 miles from Fruita, hundreds of firefighters risked heat exhaustion as they struggled for control.The heat matters. What it means is the relative humidity stays in the single digits and were not getting recoveries overnight. It is just so dang hot, said Tracy LeClair, spokeswoman for the multiagency team tasked with suppressing that fire, one of the largest in Colorado history.When the winds blow, were seeing flames spotting 1,500 to 2,500 feet ahead of the fire front. Weve definitely had extreme fire behaviors: fire moving quickly, especially in some of the lighter, flashier fuels like grasses and sage brush. Then, when the wind and terrain align, it really pushes the fire and can create almost like a wind tunnel in narrow canyons.Water levels in stream and rivers across the Colorado River Basin decreased rapidly with most snow melted. Federal officials warned that water in the largest reservoirs along the Colorado River Lake Mead and Lake Powell will remain barely above trigger-points for additional cuts in California, Nevada and Arizona.Heat in Colorado hit streams so hard that fish may die. Colorado Parks and Wildlife managers on Monday issued a notice asking anglers in southwestern Colorado to stop fishing before noon because of the low flows and warm water temperatures that hurt fish.Heavily-fished rivers have deteriorated to critical levels for trout survival, the notice said, and more fishing in low water where temperatures exceed 71 degrees could worsen the harm. Wildlife officials also suggested that anglers carry thermometers to check river temperatures and not fish in water warmer than 70 degrees.State officials also closed the Ridgway State Park swimming beach for the summer. A large draw-down of water in the reservoir was necessary to help farmers, ranchers and towns. Due to the dry conditions, a notice said, water must be shipped downstream for agricultural and municipal use.In Denver and other Front Range cities, lower-income residents, including hundreds without homes camping along streets, bore the brunt of the heat and haze from wafting wildfire smoke. At a Home Depot store along Colorado Boulevard, portable air-conditioning coolers arrived after selling out in July. Clerk Mason Butler said theres definitely a correlation between the climate and people purchasing AC at Home Depot.Denver paramedics reported receiving 22 calls since July 1 for residents seeking help for heat exhaustion or heat stokes.Health impacts of extreme heat range from worsening of diabetes and respiratory ailments to vital organ failure, heat stroke and sometimes death. These hit the elderly, children and people with chronic medical conditions the hardest. Statewide, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment records show that, since 2011, extreme heat sent an average of 451 people a year to doctors seeking medical help.2020 The Denver PostVisit The Denver Post at www.denverpost.com NURSING mothers who test positive for COVID-19 can continue to breastfeed their babies, the Head of Reproductive and Child Health, Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, has advised. However, she advised such mothers to wear face masks when breastfeeding the babies as well as wash their hands often with soap under running water whenever they were around their babies in order not to infect them with the virus. Dr Sagoe-Moses disclosed this in an interview and said studies were ongoing but so far there has not been any evidence to suggest that COVID-19 could be transmitted through breast milk. Nursing mothers who test positive for the virus could breastfeed their babies taking the necessary precaution, she noted. Passing on COVID-19 to children She, however, warned that it was possible for a COVID-19 positive nursing mother to pass the virus on to the baby through the usual way such as coughing on them and that is why they advise that such positive case mothers wear the mask all the time that they would be around their babies so that they do not pass it on to them. She pointed out that the benefits of nursing mothers who test positive for COVID-19 breastfeeding their babies far outweighed the negative impact on those not breastfeeding them, adding that if they didnt breastfeed, the babies might end up with pneumonia, diarrhoea and become malnourished and these were serious killers than the COVID-19 that they feared. Regularly wash hands with soap under running water "Even in COVID-19 era, breastfeeding is still the best form of nutrition you can give babies. Breastfeeding protects babies even at this time of COVID so, you should not shy away from breastfeeding," she admonished. Benefits of breastfeeding Dr Sagoe-Moses, who granted the interview as part of the 2020 World Breastfeeding Week which was observed from August 1 to 7, mentioned the benefits of breastfeeding on babies to include the fact that it reduced childhood morbidity and mortality. Breastfeeding, she added, offers a complete nutrition to the baby up to six months of age and even after. "Breastfeeding offers protection from diseases especially infections such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. Babies who are breastfed exclusively are at a lower risk of getting diseases such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease later in life. Breastfeeding also improves their intelligence," she added. For nursing mothers who practice breastfeeding, it protects them from certain types of ovarian and breast cancers; economically, it saves them from spending money to buy baby formulas. She said nursing mothers who breastfeed their babies immediately after delivery were protected from excessive bleeding otherwise known as postpartum haemorrhage. Exclusive breastfeeding in Ghana Despite these benefits, Dr Sagoe-Moses expressed concern that exclusive breastfeeding done in the country was not encouraging. Giving figures to buttress her point, she said, in 1993 when Ghana's Breastfeeding Programme started in earnest, about two per cent of women practised exclusive breastfeeding. This figure increased to 63 per cent in 2008, however, after that, the programme started to face challenges and so the rate started to drop. She said a recent survey conducted in 2019 revealed that 42.9 per cent of women practise exclusive breastfeeding. Breast milk unlike baby formulas, is natural "We noticed the drop in 2014 and we think we relaxed a bit in our campaigns and activities. That is why we have been trying to hype it a bit because it is not the best.". She mentioned some of the programmes that have been introduced in the past to create awareness of exclusive breastfeeding to be the baby-friendly hospital initiative which promotes breastfeeding in health facilities; the passing of Ghana's Breastfeeding Law in 2000 which among others prohibits the advertisement of breast milk substitutes; educating the public, pregnant women, and nursing mothers about breastfeeding and working in the communities to form mother-to-mother support groups. World Breastfeeding Week This year's World Breastfeeding Week was on the theme: Supporting breastfeeding for a healthier planet, and according to Dr Sagoe-Moses, the theme is relevant, considering the fact that breastfeeding, unlike baby formulas, is natural. With breastfeeding, there is nothing like going to manufacture anything that will require electricity or a power source. Comparing this with infant formulas, there will not be any waste or any carbon emission from factories. If you are to feed a baby solely on baby formulas for the first six months, you will need about 44 tins of the 500 grammes formula for the period. What happens to all these empty containers? If you throw them away, they can breed mosquitoes. If they are not cans but sachets and you burn the empty sachets, carbon dioxide and fumes would be the underlying products, she stated. Source: graphiconline.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 Bachelorette star Georgia Love has been forced to defend herself after sharing a coronavirus-related wedding freak out to Twitter that saw some fans seeing red. So like HOW FUNNY IS IT when you cancel your Italy wedding and book it for Tasmania instead haha and then the Premier shuts the borders til at least December HAHA OMG SO FUNNY IM TOTALLY FINE, Georgia wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. Georgia Love says her wedding has again been impacted by the coronavirus. Photo: Instagram/georgialove Georgia Love and Lee Elliot have been engaged for almost 12 months after they first met on the set of The Bachelorette Australia in 2016. However, it seemed many of her followers didnt think her post was appropriate, sharing their thoughts as the reactions to the post flooded in. We are in a pandemic. Many people are dying. Your party can wait, one person wrote in response. I can't visit my ailing grandmother in WA because they won't grant me an exemption until she is close to death or dies and then I can only enter for a two week quarantine and her funeral, after which I have to get out immediately. Keep whining about your Italian holiday, love, another said. While a third wrote: Oh no how ever will you go on. Without an Italian holiday. My wife is stuck overseas. We got married in Feb, we have spent a week together as a married couple, haven't seen her since. Photo: Twitter There were plenty of others though that shared Georgias worries and appreciated her situation, finding themselves in similar predicaments. Oh no - that's so sad to hear! We cancelled my hubby's 50th trip to Sicily and thought we'd book Uluru instead. Nope, Mudgee it is! Hope you have a beautiful day wherever you end up, one person explained. We cancelled our wedding due to borders too, and our venue still charged us full deposit. Fun times, was another response. The barrage of criticism was eventually too much for the Journalist, who shared subsequent posts defending her right to comment on her own situation, saying Twitter you suck sometimes. She goes on to talk about how, as a news reporter, she has shared stories of people watching their homes burn down, and the impact of Covid-19. Story continues I have brought you stories of people whove found out their elderly loved ones have died of Covid-19 days after the fact because of our news investigations, she wrote. Stories of people who already had nothing, packing their lifes belongings into a Coles bag to be moved to a different facility to try to stay safe. Stories of people whove lost numerous family members and not been able to attend one funeral. Georgia goes on to reveal she was in charge of talks with an aged facility about her own grandmother because her daughter - Georgias mother - died, something she is still grieving deeply. Lee and Georgia met on the 2016 season of the Bachelorette. Photo: Instagram/georgialove I may no longer have a job in my career profession that I have put my lifes work into and where my passion lies, she continued. I have been unable to see my loved ones nor do the things that bring me joy for the majority of this year. So you know what? Im allowed to comment on the fact its a bit shitty my wedding has been affected too. This does not take away from anyone elses pain or suffering. Georgia and Lee already had a difficult start to their romance with Georgia opening up about how she lost her mum to pancreatic cancer just days after the finale aired. It was really hard on him, and it was really hard on our relationship, Georgia said speaking on The Thinkergirls Pod Channel. We had a very rocky first six months, and I'm not afraid to say that. Click here to sign up to our daily newsletter to get all the latest news and hacks. Or if you have a story tip, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com. A young migrant drowned yesterday trying to reach Britain in a 3ft dinghy tragically highlighting the human cost of the crisis. The victim, who could not swim, had set off from Calais in the middle of the night with a friend. The pair are thought to have accidentally punctured their inflatable craft with the shovels they were using as oars. The dinghy started to sink and although his friend somehow survived the Sudanese migrant was unable to make it safely ashore. His body was found on a beach at Sangatte seven hours later. He was only 16, according to France's citizenship minister. The tragedy sparked a major row yesterday over the Government's handling of the crisis, which has seen record numbers cross the Channel in small boats this year. The Bishop of Dover called for 'definitive action' to protect those 'desperate enough to risk their lives' in small boats. The unnamed boy, who carried identity documents suggesting he was aged over 18, washed up on a French beach today after his makeshift raft upturned just minutes after he set out for the UK from Calais at 1.09am. Pictured, men use shovels as oars off the coast of France The Sudanese migrant was one of many who tried to cross the Channel today (some pictured arriving at Dover) 'How much worse does this have to get,' said the Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin. 'We cannot let his death pass by unremarked. This appalling tragedy should be a wake-up call to all of us. We cannot stand by any longer while bodies wash up on the shores.' Pierre-Henri Dumont, the MP for Calais, stoked up cross-Channel tensions by claiming Britain's asylum policy was to blame. He said: 'What we all feared happened that night. How many more dramas will it take for the British to regain an ounce of humanity? The inability to apply for asylum in Great Britain without being physically present is causing these tragedies.' However, the Tory MP Tim Loughton, a former children's minister, claimed the 'lack of humanity' lay with the French for letting migrants attempt to cross the Channel. 'It is appalling that the French are allowing people to endanger their lives,' he told Channel 4 News. 'That is where the lack of humanity is I'm afraid.' Home Secretary Priti Patel described the death as 'upsetting and tragic' and blasted the criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit those trying to reach the UK. Another 135 migrants reached Britain yesterday and a further 41 were rescued from sinking boats in French waters and taken to French ports. The boy is thought to have died within a few minutes of entering the water, while a friend who was with him survived with minor injuries and hypothermia. Pictured, one migrant uses a shovel as an oar while making the crossing in July Home Secretary Priti Patel described the death as 'upsetting and tragic' and called on France to work with the UK to stop 'abhorrent people smugglers' 'This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people,' she added. But she faced criticism from a string of Labour politicians, including Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds, who accused her of 'lacking compassion and competence'. The young Sudanese migrant who died set off from Sangatte shortly after midnight and was attempting to cross the busiest shipping lane in the world with a friend in a blow-up toy dinghy commonly found in supermarkets. A night fisherman on the shoreline spotted the boat sinking and immediately called the emergency services. The victim is understood to be the first to die while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat this year. His friend is being treated in a Calais hospital for shock and hypothermia. He told officials that he and his friend were both 16. Citizenship minister Marlene Schiappa said the death highlighted the need to tackle the smugglers. But there was confusion about the victim's age last night as one report in France suggested that documents retrieved from the victim's body indicated he could have been older than 16. The boy was discovered at Sangatte beach (pictured), near Calais, this morning after his friend who also fell overboard was spotted by a fisherman before being rescued The boy, 16, fell overboard while attempting to cross the Channel last night. Dozens of migrants reached the UK today after setting out last night from France Up to 50 migrants arrived in three boats before 8.30am this morning. Pierre-Henri Dumont, the MP for Calais, on Wednesday blamed Britain for the teenager's death Philippe Sabatier, the deputy prosecutor in Boulogne, announced that a criminal inquiry had been opened. His office will examine whether a trafficking gang was linked to the tragic attempt to cross the Channel. 'The surviving migrant who accompanied him said that they had attempted the Channel crossing on board a small inflatable dinghy which they had stolen from a beach hut,' said Mr Sabatier. 'They had also equipped themselves with spades as oars. One of them accidentally punctured the craft with a spade and the two men fell into the water. Only the one who could swim managed to survive.' Mr Sabatier said the survivor was 'in a state of shock, and being treated in Calais hospital'. The remains of the boat were later found on the beach, along with a mobile phone, documents and a shovel. Charles Devos, skipper of the Notre-Dame du Risban rescue boat, said: 'It would have been impossible to make the crossing. And with the ferries passing at 22 knots, the rolls that occur after it left would have overturned the boat. 'Without an engine, therefore, and builders' shovels for oars, reaching British waters to be rescued by the Border Force would have been a miracle.' Clare Moseley, founder of migrant charity Care4Calais, said the young man 'did not deserve to die alone at sea'. 'We are absolutely devastated by the unnecessary death,' she said. 'We can only imagine the fear he felt and our hearts go out to his family. This death starkly demonstrates the total failure of our government to do anything to help those who are in such desperate straits. 'We need a way for people's asylum claims to be fairly heard without them having to risk their lives. We need this before someone else dies.' Former Royal Marine Dan O'Mahoney, who is leading Britain's response to the illegal crossings, is expected to return to France today to continue searching for a solution to the crisis. Paris has demanded 30million from the UK Government to bolster its Channel patrols, but Mrs Patel said any such funds are conditional on France taking back some of the migrants. Almost 5,000 migrants have made the 21- mile crossing this year in small boats compared with just 1,850 during the whole of last year. Campaigners estimated this year's total could reach at least 8,000. Around 1,400 have reached Britain in August. A Home Office spokesperson said claims Ms Patel's policies were responsible for the death were 'utterly baseless'. 'The UK has a long and proud history welcoming those in need and escaping persecution and resettles more refugees than any other country in Europe. 'There are safe routes to claiming asylum for those in need and since 2015, we have resettled more than 25,000 refugees, around half of whom were children.' A spokesman for France's Maritime Prefecture that covers the English Channel and North Sea said the pair had been in a 'makeshift boat.' A statement said: 'According to his initial statements, the survivor said he was accompanied on a makeshift boat, that they capsized and that his companion was still in the water. He also specified that his companion could not swim.' A search and rescue operation was launched but called off at 4.39am after the 16-year-old could not be found. The body of the teenager was found just after 7am on Wednesday morning after it was spotted by morning dog walkers. Pictured are migrants arriving in Dover France and Britain are set to outline a plan of action which is expected to see France paying 30m to strengthen security in the English Channel It was revealed this week that gangs offer gold, silver and bronze standard packages, with those opting for the cheaper crossing crammed in rickety crafts and even given shovels as paddles. Earlier this month, the Home Office asked the Ministry of Defence for the Royal Navy to assist with stemming the flow of migrants. There are no plans for ships to be used, but aircraft and surveillance will be deployed to help the under-strain Border Force. Pierre-Henri Dumont, the MP for Calais, blasted the UK after news of the tragedy and blamed Britain for the teenager's horrifying death. He said: 'What we all feared happened that night. How many more dramas will it take for the British to regain an ounce of humanity? 'The inability to apply for asylum in Great Britain without being physically present is causing these tragedies. Speaking after the news broke, Home Secretary Priti Patel described the death as 'upsetting and tragic' 'The migrants present in Calais do not seek asylum in France. They refuse the support offered by the state in dedicated centres, preferring to risk their lives on rafts.' The increasingly bitter war of words between Britain and France as the migrant crisis worsens August 6: Priti Patel threatens to send the Royal Navy to the Channel after several days of migrant boats arriving in Dover from France. August 8: France demands 30 million from Britain to help stem the flow of migrants across the Channel. August 10: Priti Patel demands French co-operation in a massive new 'blockade' of the Channel. She also threatens to refuse to give France anymore money unless it takes action to stop crossings. August 12: Ice cream brand Ben and Jerry's criticise the Home Secretary's call for the Navy to stop migrants crossing the Channel, but a Home Office source immediately hit back, saying Miss Priti's department did not care about angering 'a brand of over-priced junk food'. The Mayor of Calais said Britain sending in the Navy to police the Channel would be 'a declaration of maritime war'. August 13: Migrants including children arrived in Dover for the tenth day in a row as Kent County Council warned it was 'days away' from being unable to look after any more asylum seeking youngsters. Priti Patel warns France the UK will not cough up millions of pounds for anti-migrant patrols unless it agrees to take back more refugees as she prepares sweeping changes to the 'broken' immigration system. August 15: Shocking figures reveal more than 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK in 10 days after crossing the Channel in small boats. Priti Patel sparks a diplomatic row by claiming migrants were crossing the Channel to escape 'racist' France, where they feared they would be tortured. August 16: Judges condemn France for its 'degrading and inhumane' treatment of refugees in a scathing landmark ruling. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said the French authorities 'had failed in their duties' to support those who applied for asylum in the country. August 19: A Sudanese migrant, 16, washes up dead on a beach in France after a desperate attempt to get to the UK. France immediately blames Britain for the tragedy while Priti Patel calls for co-operation. Advertisement A large search and rescue operation was launched but called off at 4.39am after the boy could not be found. It comes after Ms Patel demanded the French do more to make the route 'unviable', while Calais officials have blamed Britain for the crisis. The body of the teenager was found after it was spotted by morning dog walkers, said a source working for the emergency services in Calais. 'Everybody has known for a long while that a fatality was imminent. This tragedy is terrible,' the source added. The Calais emergency services source added: 'Police and paramedics attended the scene, and efforts were made on the beach in Sangatte to try and revive the victim. 'Papers were found on him which showed he was a Sudanese man, aged sixteen. He disappeared overnight on Tuesday while trying to get to England. 'The victim's body was taken away, and will be subject to an autopsy. Efforts will also be made to contact next of kin.' The source said that a couple with a six-year-old child and an 18-month-old baby were among those who had been rescued in the Channel by the French emergency services on Sunday in a kayak. Immigration minister Chris Philp said: 'This awful tragedy near Calais shows how dangerous this migration route is. 'We will redouble our work to agree and implement a new plan with France with the aim of completely stopping these boat crossings, which are facilitated by ruthless criminals and which risk lives' Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: 'I have been warning for months about the risk of further loss of life from dangerous journeys across the English Channel. 'This latest death in the Channel is both shocking and sad. 'It underlines that it is essential to bring an urgent end to these perilous small boat crossings.' Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, criticised Ms Patel. She said: 'It is devastating to learn that a child has now died in the Channel while trying to seek safety in the UK. This is a horrifying but wholly expected death. 'We have repeatedly warned Priti Patel it was only a matter of time before her toxic policy to deny safe and legal routes to the UK would cost lives. 'This death lies firmly at her door. She should consider her position.' British Red Cross CEO, Mike Adamson, said, 'The loss of this young life is an unnecessary tragedy, and we're devastated to hear this news. Saving lives should be the absolute priority in any response or policies on Channel crossings. 'It's unacceptable in any circumstances that people feel they have no choice but to make dangerous journeys in their search for protection. 'There are no easy answers but at the heart of the response must be the preservation of life. 'At a time when more than one percent of the world's population has been displaced, we need countries to work together to provide the best humanitarian outcome that prevent these tragedies.' A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, following a number of small boat incidents in the Channel earlier today Kent Refugee Action Network issued a statement saying: 'We are devastated to learn of the death of a 16 year old boy in Sangatte. 'This death was completely avoidable. Along with many other migrant and refugee organisations we have been calling for safe passage for some time now. 'Meanwhile the government's response has been both chaotic and callous, and utterly against the proud British tradition of offering refuge to those in need. 'The government needs to step up to its humanitarian responsibility immediately and ensure safe and legal passage so that we avoid any more unnecessary deaths.' Retired Coastguard officer Andy Roberts, 71, warned there could be more tragedies like this. He said: 'This is an absolute tragedy. This shows the danger in attempting these crossings, especially in these extremely unsuitable craft by people with no knowledge of the sea. 'If these crossings continue, then there will be greater tragedies in the near future. Soon there's going to be 10, 12, 15 people whose boat capsizes and they die. 'Even if they're wearing life jackets, they'd only have a survival time of around an hour out at sea unless they were spotted and rescued because of the fear, panic and cold would hit them. 'They may well be trying to get over before the weather deteriorates, which is forecast in the next week.' Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has responded to the death of a 16-year-old boy in the Channel, calling it a 'tragedy'. He said: 'This is a humanitarian crisis that needs a compassionate response. 'Nick Thomas-Symonds wrote to the Home Secretary last week to demand an urgent change in approach from the Government.' While the British government has continually accused the French of not doing enough to intercept small boats packed with migrants, the French believe the real problems are in the UK Ms Patel previously insisted she is working to make the Calais to Dover migrant route 'completely unviable' Labour shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds slammed the government over the death. He said: 'The news of the death of a 16-year-old boy in the Channel is heartbreaking and our thoughts are with his loved ones. 'The Government's response to the situation in the Channel has been lacking in compassion and competence. 'Ministers urgently need to step up work with international partners to find a humanitarian solution to this crisis, which is costing lives.' Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on Twitter of the 16-year-old's death: 'Utterly heartbreaking. By closing safe routes to seek asylum we are pushing desperate people into dangerous situations with devastating consequences. 'Our Govt must make protecting and saving lives a priority in their approach to English Channel crossings.' Today's tragedy is believed to be first known migrant death this year despite more than 4,800 making the treacherous crossing. Last August, two people died trying to reach Britain - one of them an Iranian woman who fell overboard and whose body was found in Dutch waters weeks later. And a 48-year-old Iraqi man was found dead in Belgian waters after he tried to swim to the UK using plastic bottles as a makeshift life jacket. France and Britain are set to outline a plan of action which is expected to see France paying 30m to strengthen security in the English Channel. While the British government has continually accused the French of not doing enough to intercept small boats packed with migrants, the French believe the real problems are in the UK. Philippe Mignonet, the deputy mayor of Calais, said last week: 'Yes, I fear a tragedy one day at sea, but the British blame us for their own hypocrisy. 'The migrants go to Great Britain because they can work in the black economy when they want, because there is no control, not on the street or in the workplace.' Mr Mignonet's words were backed up by Bernard Barron, president of the SNSM sea rescue service in Calais. Mr Barron said: 'The British criticise migrants for wanting to come but they do not criticise themselves, questioning the reasons that make their country so attractive. 'The SNSM now observes that the candidates for exile have mastered the sea and, with GPS support, wait until they are in British waters to send out an SOS call.' Chris Philp, Britain's immigration minister, attended bilateral talks about the problem in Paris last week and agreed more money was needed. 'It's clear more needs to be done,' said Mr Philp. 'If we can make this [English Channel] route unviable, which we are determined to do, then migrants will have no reason at all to come to France in the first place.' Ms Patel previously insisted she is working to make the Calais to Dover migrant route 'completely unviable'. She earlier warned France the UK will not cough up millions of pounds for anti-migrant patrols unless it agrees to take back more refugees as she prepares sweeping changes to the 'broken' immigration system. The Home Secretary told Tory MPs that she was preparing legal changes that would 'send the left into meltdown'. In a Zoom call with hardline backbenchers she suggested that the system was being 'exploited by leftie Labour-supporting lawyers' who were doing everything they could to stop the Government removing people. And she said that France's demand for 30million to fund Channel patrols and surveillance would be dependent on it taking in more of those seeking to get to the UK, the Times reported. Recent reports have revealed how traffickers take advantage of vulnerable asylum seekers desperately fleeing their homelands by offering a paid-for arrangement at a camp in Calais. The most expensive package, gold, costs 10,000 and means you get a larger boat with better conditions, less other people and lifejackets, as reported by The Sun. One migrant who was hoping to make the journey in the next few days told the newspaper: 'The prices vary. It depends on the size of the boat and how many people are inside. 'People come around offering the crossings. We pay and keep in touch. They tell us when and where to go and pick us up. 'I'm looking forward to it. Britain is like heaven to me!' The silver package costs between 3,000 and 5,000, and means you get a worse boat. And the lowest package, bronze, means you pay a prize of 1,000 or less and are often crammed onto a stolen boat. So far this year, at least 4,822 migrants have reached Britain by boat. On Sunday, a migrant in his 20s was attacked by a thug who saw him land on the beach at Kingsdown near Deal, Kent. It emerged earlier in the week that any new, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children would be left with Border Force after Kent County Council announced it had reached capacity. Charities say the situation is a 'scandal' and a 'political failure', calling on the Government to urgently find a way forward. Calais Jungle is home to hundreds who have already been told they CANNOT stay in EU - as 70% of migrants who sail into Europe from Libya do not qualify for asylum, reveals UN report The Calais Jungle migrant camp is filled with hundreds who have already been told they cannot stay in the EU, it has been claimed. Tony Smith, the former director general of the Border Force, has said that officials are seeing the 'same faces' among those attempting to make the crossing from Calais to the UK. It comes as it was revealed that the majority of migrants using one of the most common sea routes into Europe are not in need of 'international protection', according to a UN report. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found that more than 70 per cent of migrants crossing from Libya to Europe are unlikely to qualify for asylum when they arrive. Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR special envoy for the region, also admitted that a 'fair and equitable return mechanism' must be put in place. The former director general of the Border Force, has said that officials are seeing the 'same faces' among those attempting to make the crossing from Calais to the UK It comes as it was revealed that the majority of migrants using one of the most common sea routes into Europe are not in need of 'international protection' If it is not, then 'the entire asylum system will be called into question'. Of the 41,129 migrants who have come to Europe this year, 18.3 per cent are from Tunisia, while 10.3 per cent are from Algeria. According to the UNHCR report, migrants who travelled from Libya to Italy and Malta made up 68 per cent of arrivals to Europe via the Central Mediterranean between January and May. Around 8,600 people have departed from the North African country by sea, with Bangladeshis, Sudanese and Somalis the most common nationalities making the crossing. The report reads: 'As of the end of May, an estimated 28% of the people who had crossed the sea from Libya are likely to be in need of international protection.' The vast majority of those attempting to reach Britain from Calais have travelled over land through the EU, experts say. The news comes amid an increase in migrant crossings in the UK, with a record number attempting to come over in small boats from Calais. The news comes amid an increase in migrant crossings in the UK, with a record number attempting to come over in small boats from Calais Hundreds of migrants have been landing on the Kent coast in recent weeks as warm weather and calm sea conditions encouraged them over from France. Pictured, UK border force officials with migrants on August 15 Former Border Force director general Tony Smith told the Telegraph: 'A lot of people who are in Calais have already been told that they cannot stay in the EU, some of them have been refused in a couple of different countries, but they don't want to go back. 'The French can't remove them so they are just their names and details and telling them to stop trying to break the law.' Mr Smith now chairs an international border association including the UK border force. He said that smugglers have the 'upper hand' and it will encourage more people to travel to northern France to 'try their luck' as the smugglers have found 'a gap in our defences'. He also insisted migrants crossings were an international issue and called on assistance and action from the French. He added: 'We must put the smugglers out of business. These are busy shipping lanes, the boats could get run over by a ferry without even knowing it, and babies drowning in the Channel is not what anyone wants to see. 'There is a real reason for stopping this no matter what your opinion on asylum is, this is a matter of life of death. These are human beings and these organised criminal gangs do not care if they survive or not.' PITTSBURG, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to high demand, Ramar Foods announces a shortage on its ube (purple yam) supply. Purple Yam has been the popular comfort food for the diaspora and has been enjoyed in several ice cream flavors under Ramar's Magnolia brand. The all-natural ube supply is experiencing a shortage. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and surges in grocery, the supplies are going to be limited. Ramar Foods "Ube is a winter crop and it was not abundant during the summer season," explains Jojo Bronoza, a Representative from Ramar Foods. "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic happening early in the year and the lockdown in Manila, our forecast for the summer needs could not be met. People's fear of contracting COVID-19 put a damper on production due to limited labor." As the company is adjusting to its challenges in the ube supply, Ramar Foods will continue to evenly distribute the product to Asian stores within the United States to make sure that they can fulfill the needs of their customers, especially during this time of the pandemic. Ramar Foods continues to be the only Filipino Food manufacturer in the United States that brings all-natural ube in its products. The all-natural ube is imported straight from the Philippines and is not available anywhere else. The challenges in supply come from the high demand in the Asian American market, logistics, and supply issues caused by COVID-19. Ramar Foods is working hard to make sure it can safely go back to the normal supply of all-natural ube once the company figures out a way to do it safely in this environment. Ramar Foods will be keeping its communities updated regarding the ube shortage. About Ramar Foods Founded in 1969, Ramar's goal is to bring the flavors of the Philippines to your household. Ramar Foods is committed to manufacturing your favorite frozen Filipino food products. Ramar's success for 50 years of experience in the industry is attributed to its people, its deep relationship with the Filipino diaspora, and a commitment to understanding what brings satisfaction to Filipino families. During our first years, we started with a vision of being the premier Filipino food company that will bring nostalgia to Filipino households and at the same time, give a snapshot of the Filipino experience to non-Filipinos all over the world. Today, we have grown to be America's #1 Filipino Food company serving communities across North America and beyond. Continuously being family owned and operated, we commit to nourishing our community through our legacy of family food products. For more information, visit www.ramarfoods.com. Media Contact: Press Contact: Jemm Magaling Group: Divine Creative Studios (on behalf of Ramar Foods) Email: [email protected] Related Images magnolia-premium-ube-sweet-purple.png Magnolia Premium Ube (Sweet Purple Yam) Ice Cream SOURCE Ramar Foods Related Links https://www.ramarfoods.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal are set to return to a more relaxed general community quarantine starting Aug. 19 until the end of the month. President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for COVID-19 to loosen the lockdown restrictions in the said areas, following the imposition of a 15-day strict modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from Aug. 4 to 18. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stressed that the easing of the quarantine status in the five high-risk areas comes with recalibrated government strategies against the pandemic. Roque said these include intensified efforts in testing, the active case finding via house-to-house symptom checks in high-risk communities, an improved contact tracing system, and the setting up of more COVID-19 facilities. Ginamit po natin yung dalawang linggo ng MECQ para po pag-isipan kung paano tayo magre-reboot, magre-refresh ng approach, at ito nga po ang gagamitin natin habang nagbubukas tayo ng ekonomiya, he said. [Translation: We used the two-week MECQ to assess how well be able to reboot, refresh our approach, and these are what well be doing while we're reopening the economy.] Under GCQ, measures which limit the movement of the public will still be imposed to prevent viral transmission, but more industries will be permitted to reopen. The dine-in option in restaurants, as well as religious gatherings at 30 percent capacity, are also allowed under GCQ, as long as health protocols are strictly followed, Roque noted. Former COVID-19 task force special adviser Dr. Tony Leachon previously said Metro Manila and the four provinces may need another round of MECQ extension, as the country may lose gains in the COVID-19 fight if those areas are placed under a more relaxed lockdown status. Metro Manila continues to account for the bulk of the new cases reported in the country over the past two weeks. During that time period, around 16,000 more of its residents have caught the viral disease, topping the list of regions nationwide by a wide margin, based on August 17 data from the Department of Health (DOH). However, according to Roque, a longer period of MECQ is "highly unlikely," as the government grapples to find new sources of funds for poor families affected by strict stay-at-home rules. Presidential adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion also said that while the return to MECQ in the first half of August is manageable for the economic sector, an extension will prove to have some serious effects. Concepcion joined calls for the government to shift to effective granularized lockdowns, saying the move will let citizens coexist with the unpredictable virus. The Presidents decision also came a day after the DOH reported another record single-day COVID-19 recoveries on Sunday at over 40,000 new survivors. The steep rise in recoveries has been attributed to the DOH's time-based recoveries scheme, wherein patients are released from isolation facilities after a certain number of days in quarantine, without needing to take a confirmatory RT-PCR test. The Philippines now has 164,474 confirmed cases of COVID-19, wherein 49,034 are active cases or currently ill patients, according to the DOH. The BMC's 'Chase the Virus' strategy in Dharavi has found a new fan in the Philippines government as it battles COVID-19, a top official said as per a report in IANS. "The Philippines government will follow and implement the Dharavi Model for containing COVID in densely populated slums," BMC Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal said while speaking to IANS. It has already given details of its policy to the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH). A news portal, Inquirer.net has quoted the Philippines DOH which declared that it would follow the Dharavi-Mumbai campaign conceptualized by BMC's Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kiran Dighavkar which earned all round praise. AP The Philippines, with a population of around 10.1 crore crammed in an area of nearly 2.98 lakh sq.km, is slightly smaller than Maharashtra with 3.07 lakh sq. km area and a population close to 11.5 crore. However, the archipelagic country currently ranks 22nd on the Corona Worldometer with 169,213 cases and 2,687 fatalities compared to Maharashtra's 604,358 cases and 20,265 deaths. Situation in Mumbai Like Mumbai, around 30-lakh people live in congested slums in Manila, besides other cities in the Philippines. The high population density of Dharavi posed a huge challenge to the BMC and state health authorities to tackle the Corona spread. Civic officials said that the city succeeded in achieving what was earlier considered virtually a "mission impossible", especially in Dharavi, earning the BMC and Maharashtra government a pat from the World Health Organisation in early July. AP Chahal said that as a result of its strategy, there are only 17,704 'active cases' in Mumbai, of which around 5,338 symptomatic patients are currently in hospitals. The city - which last week came down to the second worst-hit city (after Pune district moved to the top slot) in terms of Covid cases - is witnessing an average of less than 1,000 new cases daily, the recovery rate is 80 percent, doubling rate of cases is 86 days, and infection rate is 0.8 percent - among the lowest anywhere. The situation has eased to the extent that since late June, the BMC started moving out of Dharavi, and later shut down several small or medium quarantine facilities in the city. Patients are now being referred to the jumbo facilities at NSCI, Mahalaxmi Race Court, Bandra Kurla Complex and in Dahisar and Mulund to ensure centralised care. AP Amid apprehensions of patients unable to get beds, the current bed strength is 16,075 for complicated or serious cases, 23,437 for mild and asymptomatic patients besides 10,525 oxygen beds, 1,844 ICU beds and 1,096 ventilator beds. Of these, nearly 14,548 are vacant, but ready for operationalisation whenever required, besides 330 vacant in ICUs, giving a very comfortable position, said Chahal. Buoyed by the success of the 'Chase the Virus' game, the state government is now implementing it in Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Pune, Aurangabad, Solapur, Nashik, Jalgaon and other upcoming hotspots even as the Mumbai Corona crisis has practically been 'chased' away. New Delhi: Just hours after the Supreme Court ruling that said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi welcomed the decision and claimed that their stand was vindicated. We welcome the decision of Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar.Our stand vindicated.#SushantSingRajput Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) August 19, 2020 "We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar. Our stand vindicated," he tweeted Bihar RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav called it a victory for justice. He said, "I welcome the Supreme Court verdict recommending CBI probe in the case. This is victory for justice. On 30th June, we had demanded a CBI probe. But, the Bihar Government took 42 days to wake up." While, Maharahstra BJP leader Ram Kadam claimed that the verdict will come as a 'big shock' for the Maharashtra government as it was trying to save some big names in the case. "The Maharashtra government was determined to save some big names, this verdict by the Supreme Court is a big shock to them," says BJP leader Ram Kadam. BJP MLA from Vandre West, Ashish Shelar thanked the apex court for allowing CBI enquiry stating that "hidden hands" misguiding police would "be exposed". NCP leader Parth Pawar too welcomed the decision, on Twitter he wrote 'Satyamev Jayate' in response to the SC ruling. Pawar had demanded that Sushant's death case be handed over to the CBI. It was said that it was not the role of the party but his personal demand. The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court also said that the FIR filed in Patna by Sushant Singh Rajput's father Krishna Kishore Singh was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. The apex court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Also, the Maharashtra government has been ordered to assist CBI in the probe since this is a court-ordered investigation. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his residence on June 14. The Mumbai Police has been probing the case since then. However, Sushant's family, friends and fans had been vocal on social media for quite some time demanding a CBI probe into his death. A new watchdog will monitor the governments progress towards its goal of having net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The United Kingdom says it will bring in legally binding targets on air quality, waste reduction, biodiversity and cleaner water as part of efforts to combat climate change, improve the environment and rebuild the economy. Targets will be set in the four areas of air, waste, biodiversity and water, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Wednesday. The targets will form part of the environment bill, introduced last year and set to resume its passage through Parliament soon, which will force the current and future governments to focus on environmental improvements. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to build back greener as the country tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic which caused its economy to shrink by a fifth in the second quarter. A new environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, will report annually on the governments progress against the targets. It is also set to oversee the countrys move towards its 2050 net zero-emissions target. The UK was the first G7 country to commit to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050, and will host the United Nations climate summit in November 2021 after it was delayed from 2020 by the pandemic. But some environmental groups say the government needs to be even more aggressive. Friends of the Earth, for instance, has urged the government to halt any planned expansions to airports and impose a levy on frequent flyers. The group also recommends phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans within the decade and help motorists switch to electric vehicles, among several other measures. Bankers for NetZero Last month, five lenders led by Barclays and Handelsbanken became founding members of a group that aims to offer financial support to businesses working to help the UK deliver a carbon-neutral economy. The Bankers for NetZero initiative, which also includes Triodos, Ecology Building Society and digital lender Tide, have promised to explore ways to help businesses reduce risks involved in shifting to greener and more sustainable practices. The group held an inaugural webinar meeting on July 16 that focused on retrofitting the built environment, a major source of carbon emissions, and on support banks could offer. Insurer Legal & General, one of the UKs top real estate investors, urged the government this month to legislate to improve transparency on how much energy commercial buildings use and to help businesses switch to renewable energy. Bankers for NetZero hopes to set out recommendations, or a white paper, this year on accelerating the UKs transition. President Akufo-Addo has cut-sod for the construction of a two-storey 100-bed capacity hospital at Shama on his final-day tour of the Western Region. The district hospital project which will cost 42 million euros is being funded by the Governments of Ghana and China. The project, which is expected to be completed within 36 months includes clinical and support facilities, accident and emergency units as well as a 100-seater capacity outpatient waiting area. The President said the hospital when completed will create jobs. Phase one of this hospital project will involve the construction of a 285-bed facility out of the total capacity of 600 beds. Once fully completed, it will be fitted with the requisite teaching and learning facilities and will be positioned in the Eastern Region. The strategic objectives of this hospital are in line with those of the Ministry of Health Development Plan. The hospital forms part of the 88 hospitals the President promised to build across the country to augment the governments efforts at containing the novel Coronavirus. The standard 100 -bed facilities which will be in districts without hospitals will also have accommodation for staff. The United States will not pursue the death penalty against two members of a notorious Islamic State kidnapping and murder unit dubbed the "Beatles," Attorney General Bill Barr said in a letter released by the Justice Department Wednesday. In a breakthrough in a two-year impasse between Washington and London, Barr told British Home Secretary Priti Patel that Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who allegedly took part in grisly videotaped beheadings of Westerners, would be spared execution if placed on trial in the US. Barr made the pledge to be able to secure crucial evidence against the two Britons, now stripped of their citizenship, which has been withheld by the British government due to the chance they would face capital punishment, which is outlawed in Britain. "If imposed, the death penalty will not be carried out," Barr said in the letter dated Tuesday. The letter put the onus on Patel to see if the British system can overcome a tough court challenge by Elsheikh's mother and share the evidence, said to be damning wiretaps, with US authorities. The announcement came on the sixth anniversary of the killing by IS of James Foley, a journalist who worked for AFP and other news organizations. "This is a major breakthrough," his mother Diane Foley said, describing Barr's decision as "a huge step which they were not willing to do earlier." - Grisly beheadings - The United States wants to try the two for the murder of journalists Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig during a period in 2014-2015 when IS used videos of their and others' deaths as propaganda. The four-member unit Kotey and Elsheikh belonged to was dubbed "the Beatles" by their captives due to their British accents. They tortured and killed victims, including by beheading, and IS released videos of the deaths for propaganda purposes. Kotey and Elsheikh are being held by US forces in Iraq. Story continues Britain has refused to assume responsibility for the pair, despite their victims including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Hennings. But British public resistance due to the US death penalty and a British Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit by Elsheikh's mother, Maha Elgizouli, to block sharing the evidence have led to a two-year impasse in having them placed on trial in the United States. While the US Justice Department reversal was significant, barriers remain. Barr wrote that Britain had to clear up the legal obstacles and share the evidence it has by October 15, saying it is "not tenable" to continue holding Kotey and Elsheikh for an extended period. If the British cannot meet that deadline, he warned, the US would hand the two over to Iraqi authorities for prosecution. - Family pressures for trial - Pressure from the families of the three as well as Kayla Mueller, an American woman who died while being held captive by Islamic State, appeared to help move the US Justice Department to reverse its previous hard line against dropping the death penalty option. "We want to see our children's murderers held accountable. These things can happen only if the suspects are put on trial before a jury in an American court of law," they wrote in the Washington Post last month. Diane Foley said Barr's two-month deadline remained a concern. "We really need to wait to see what the home secretary is able to do," she told AFP. "If they cannot receive a fair but tough trial here in the US... there is no deterrent for terrorists at all." pmh/ft The Christie Mountain wildfire sis shown in this image provided by the B.C. Wildfire Service. Hundreds of residents south of Penticton, B.C., have been ordered to evacuate immediately as firefighters respond to a "rapidly evolving" wildfire. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-B.C. Wildfire Service *MANDATORY CREDIT* An analysis of facial expressions in ancient Mesoamerican sculptures finds that some emotions expressed in these artworks match the emotions that modern U.S. participants would anticipate for each discernible context, including elation, sadness, pain, anger, and determination or strain. For instance, elation was predicted in the context of social touch while anger was predicted in the context of combat. The results support the hypothesis that some emotions conveyed through facial expressions are universal, reinforcing that feelings can be expressed nonverbally in ways that transcend culture. While previous studies have explored cross-cultural similarities and differences in how facial expressions convey emotions, these studies have typically asked people from Eastern or indigenous cultures to match depictions of Western expressions to situations or words in their native language. Such work may be perceived as biased since it treats Western emotional expression as the norm. To circumvent this bias, Alan Cowen and colleagues asked U.S. research subjects to label emotions expressed in ancient American art sculptures, which predated exposure to modern Western civilizations. The researchers combed through tens of thousands of images of Mesoamerican sculptures on museum websites, identifying 63 authentic sculptures that displayed facial expressions within clearly identifiable contexts, such as a smiling mother holding a baby. Next, Cowen et al. digitally separated each sculpture's expression from its context, producing, for example, one image of just the smile and one image of the mother holding the baby, with no expression visible. They asked the U.S. participants to label each image of a sculpture's facial expression with the emotion it depicted, and, separately, to label images of a sculpture's context with the emotion they would expect to see. Sculptures depicting some emotions passed the test of universality, with facial expression labels ("elated," for the mother's facial expression) matching the expectations of participants who only saw the context (an expressionless mother holding a baby). This suggests that emotional expressions can be inferred through universal human themes, such as a mother-child relationship, even without a common language. "We would eventually be interested in replicating this work in other cultures," says Cowen, noting examples of sculpture from ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese cultures that could potentially be analyzed using similar study protocols. "For the time being, we are heavily focused on studying emotional expression in everyday life across many countries, aided by machine learning tools." ### The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the value of locally-sourced produce and sustainable food systems in the UK, according to an industry expert. Recent reports show that food transparency, local sourcing and immunity eating are key drivers for consumer purchasing decisions. According to Alistair Trail of SAC Consulting, part of Scotlands Rural College (SRUC), this provides opportunity for food producers to help rebuild the economy on green credentials. The pandemic has in fact highlighted the value of sustainable food systems, our natural economy and of green technologies," Mr Trail said. He added the UK was seeing a rise in consumer interest in buying healthy, nutritious food produced with minimal impact on the environment. "There is an opportunity here to channel the significant resources needed to get the economy back on track in a way that is consistent with the transition to a more sustainable future. A recent interview with the Head of Sustainability at Kerry Group, Juan Aguiriano outlined that the main consumer trends developing post Covid-19 are food safety, trust and transparency. Three quarters of consumers want to know more about the safety of their food and 51% of consumers want to understand more about what is in their food. Nearly half (48%) of consumers are ready to pay more for local foods and those brands that emphasise provenance and local supply chains. Environmental sustainability remains important especially around climate, energy and carbon. In March, analysis and research company GlobalData reported that 45% of consumers actively buy products that are better for the environment. This is a trend accelerated by Covid-19 according to the Kerry Group, who said that 50% of consumers, which is a new record high, are looking to consume more responsibly when it comes to the food on their plate. Plant protein, for example, is not only eaten because of the health benefits but because consumers perceive that this has a positive impact on the environment. These are longstanding trends that are now being accelerated by Covid-19, said Mr Trail. The implications for food producers are investing in clear labelling as well as reformulating with natural ingredients, locally sourced where possible, rather than using artificial ingredients and chemicals. Larger brands are using this extra consumer understanding to market their products using Life Cycle Analysis - which calculates the environmental impact of a product during its use - and comparing products against high energy and high water usage alternatives. A new trend established since the Covid-19 outbreak is the rise of the immunity consumer who is looking for food that offers benefits to their immune system. Previously consumers may have looked at vitamin tablets, pills, nutritional bars or health shots but now it is incorporated in food products that are far more mainstream. Mr Trail said: One-third of UK consumers are proactively looking for ingredients that can help their immunity including traditional unfashionable ingredients eaten a modern way. "We have worked with companies creating drinks from the very nutritious coastal plant, sea buckthorn, or introducing vitamin-packed seaweed into savoury biscuits. The key challenge for the industry is to balance this rising interest with affordability and cost. The Covid-19 emergency is causing an economic crisis, so it is important that these products are no longer niche and are affordable to the general population. "Manufacturers can make great-tasting healthy food economical by taking a different distribution model than the one traditionally used by the health food market, he said. There is equally an opportunity for the government to re-set how disadvantaged people are supported in their local communities with access to nutritious, sustainably produced food. As job losses increase and food banks report rising demand, weve seen an admirable surge in effort from the agriculture sector, food and drink businesses, voluntary organisations and communities to prevent hunger - but these groups need more support. With several charities facing cash shortfalls there is a huge opportunity to reduce the bureaucratic barriers that prevent them from accessing surplus food. "Investing in community organisations and food cooperatives will be crucial to peoples health and wellbeing and sustainability in general as we recover from this crisis. There is also, added Mr Trail, scope for the public sectors procurement to more fully support local producers and rebuild the nations health. Schools, hospitals and public buildings should serve nutritious meals based on local, seasonal and sustainable raw ingredients. This kind of joined-up approach should lay the foundations for a fundamental rethink of our food system," he said. "If we are to build a truly sustainable food future, the best evidence shows we must shift to a more sustainable and circular economy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 16:17:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Trade between Myanmar and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached over 9.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of present fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020, according to the figures released by the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday. From Oct. 1, 2019 to June 31, Myanmar earned over 3.6 billion U.S. dollars from exports to ASEAN member states while its import valued at over 6.3 billion U.S. dollars. During the period, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia were registered as the top three trade partners among ASEAN countries, registering trade values of over 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, over 3.3 billion U.S. dollars and over 1 billion U.S. dollar, respectively, the ministry's figures said. Myanmar's trade with Indonesia recorded at an estimated value of over 936.5 million U.S. dollars, with Vietnam at over 609.47 million U.S. dollars, with the Philippines at over 122.74 million U.S. dollars, with Cambodia at over 25.7 million while trade with Laos registered over 1.3 million U.S. dollars and with Brunei over 0.31 million U.S. dollars. Myanmar's agricultural, fishery products, minerals, manufacturing goods and others are mainly exported to foreign trade partner countries while the country imports capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods. Enditem The page youre looking for cannot be found. Check the address and spelling are correct. If youre still encountering problems, please Contact Us. The Election Commission (EC) is set to come up with guidelines to hold elections for the Bihar assembly soon. This will be the first major election since the pandemic hit India there have been polls to Rajya Sabha and legislative council seats, but this involved a limited number of voters. The EC is, according to a report in this newspaper on Wednesday, planning to allow physical rallies, but with limited public presence; permit online filing of nomination forms; allow limited door-to-door campaigning; and reduce the number of people in each polling booth and counting hall. All these measures are legitimate in the context of the pandemic. The EC has done well to have extensive deliberations with all stakeholders, and its guidelines will, in all likelihood, also apply to elections next year in states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam. The real challenge is reconciling two diametrically opposite objectives. The first is ensuring a free-and-fair political contest, where political leaders can relay their messages and voters cannot only access these messages but also convey their concerns and grievances. This, by its very definition, is a mass-based activity. The second is the need to prevent any mass-based activity to keep the spread of the infection under control, and maintain social distancing and follow safety protocols. The fact that Bihar is under-equipped in terms of health infrastructure and has seen disturbing Covid-19 trends makes this even more urgent. The EC has to find a middle way, reconciling principles of safety as well as equal access and democratic rights. But the responsibility lies equally with both political leaders and citizens to participate in polls with great responsibility. Niagara Region Public Health has been given the go-ahead to hire about 16 nurses to help schools open as safely as possible next month. Dr. Mustafa Hirji, acting medical officer of health for Niagara Region, said public health nurses are being hired immediately so they can be ready for several roles when school starts in less than three weeks. The most important role is, of course, working proactively with schools to prevent illness and infection, Hirji said Wednesday as Niagara reported six new cases of COVID-19. Hirji said the public health nurses will also be following up and working with schools if there are cases or outbreaks there. Its also expected they will help out in public healths COVID-19 call centre answering any school-related questions that come up. The province announced July 30 it will spend $50 million to hire up to 500 additional nurses in public health units to provide supports to schools and boards. The move is part of Ontarios plan for reopening schools which have been closed since March break due to the pandemic for in-person classes in September. Hirji said Niagara has been advised by the province that it will receive funding for about 16 full-time nurses and hes hopeful the positions can be filled quickly. During the pandemic, the public health unit increased its pool of casual nurses, some of whom were new graduates. Theyve been working part time on the COVID-19 info-line answering questions from the public and supporting the team that does case management contact tracing and managing outbreaks, to a lesser extent. Were actually hoping that perhaps some of them will chose to become full-time nurses and work for us, Hirji said. The public health agency is advertising for the new positions through multiple channels. The nurses will be engaged with all of Niagaras elementary and secondary schools, of which District School Board of Niagara and Niagara Catholic District School Board alone have more than 150. Hirji said public health is still determining how the nurses will be allocated and whether they will be assigned several schools each or if they will take a team approach. The key part of what theyll do is proactive work to prevent infections, he said. Theyll be going into schools, seeing how things are set up, observing where challenges are in keeping physical distances, ensuring children routinely use hand sanitizer and giving feedback and advice. Theyll be training staff and students on everyday practices they can adopt to ensure they stay healthy and emphasize why its important for everyone to be practising the behaviours. Hirji said the work builds on what public health is already doing in schools. Niagara has a school program with nurses that follows the World Health Organizations comprehensive school health model. Hirji said the basic idea is to try to make a school a place thats going to promote health, both at the school itself and by building skills for the long term. This is really adding to the work we do with that model to add a stronger component of infection prevention, he said. Staying safe from infections is part of that healthy school approach. Niagara has had 925 cases of COVID-19 since March 13. Of those, 822 people have recovered and at least 64 have died. There are 39 people currently sick with the virus. Of the six new cases reported Wednesday, four were from contacts with previously known cases and two were from essential travel to the U.S. A case reported on Tuesday that had an unknown source has also been linked to travel to the U.S. A Bergen County man injured in a Little Ferry kickball game in 2009 when he was 8-years-old, has filed a lawsuit against the borough, alleging he continues to suffer injuries into his adulthood. Anthony Brian DiBlasio, now 20, claims in court papers the counselors at the Memorial School Gym Summer Recreation Program were too incompetent to monitor children and that the borough was negligent in hiring them. DiBlasio says in the suit he fell while playing kickball and that another child jumped onto his head and shoulders, which caused him to strike his mouth on the gym floor, breaking his two front teeth. The injuries included nerve damage and required extensive dental treatments, including root canals, posts, crowns and veneers, according to the suit, filed Aug. 5 in Superior Court of Bergen County. DiBlasio claims his nervous system suffered permanent damage and that he has spent great sums of money over the years on medical treatments. The injuries caused DiBlasio to give up other activities he enjoyed, have affected his schooling and employment due to physical limitations, the suit states. The grossly negligent conditions at the gym created a public and private nuisance (resulting in) a free for all, the suit states. The lawsuit alleges the summer recreation counselors failed to supervise activities and failed to enforce rules and regulations at the gym. The suit also claims the borough failed to properly train employees and failed to provide for the safety and protection of paying business invitees. DiBlasio and his mother, Sandy, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Borough officials did not respond Wednesday morning to requests for comment on the lawsuit. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. An influential New York hedge fund with $11.4 billion under management has dumped a large part of its shares in Tesla, buying $504 million in Boeing stock instead. Coatue Management, founded in 1999 by French financier Philippe Laffont, announced the decision in its second quarter filings. The company, which comprises hedge funds that trade tech stocks, and vehicles that invest in private tech companies and startups, sold 224,893 shares in Tesla, representing 42 per cent of its holding. It bought $504 million in Boeing stock. The move may, at first, surprise. Tesla shares have been on a prolonged rise in U.S. stock market, with the company seeing a 760 per cent bump in its price since this time last year. Not even coronavirus-related shutdowns of its factories could dampen the rally. Elon Musk's firm has seen its share price soar 760 per cent in the last 12 months Tesla's success has seen Musk's wealth rise to $85bn - he is now 5th richest man in the world French-born financier Philippe Laffont's fund has sold 42 per cent of its Tesla shares The surge in share price has seen Elon Musk, Tesla founder and the largest shareholder, increased his wealth by around $7 billion, making him the fourth richest man in the world, according to Forbes, with an $85 billion fortune. Boeing, on the other hand, has seen its value plummet, thanks to both the crisis over the 737 Max and the pandemic halting travel. At the end of the first quarter, Boeing's value was more than 70 per cent lower than at this time last year. Analysts said that Coatue's move could indicate that Tesla's value has reached its peak. In May, even Musk himself said the shares were overpriced. Ryan Brinkman, J.P. Morgan's head of U.S. autos research said on July 23 that Tesla's shares were 'highly overvalued'. He continued: 'Although both technology and execution risk seem substantially less than was once feared, expansion into higher volume segments with lower price points seems fraught with greater risk relative to demand, execution, and competition.' On May 1 Elon Musk tweeted that the stock price was 'too high', shocking investors Tesla pushing into China could potentially cause problems, as diplomacy between the world's first and second-largest economies heats up and President Donald Trump offers tax breaks to U.S. companies pulling out of the Asian powerhouse. Boeing, however, was rated as a neutral prospect. 'While we expect Boeing to emerge from the 737 MAX crisis and begin generating cash in 2021, the severity of the impact from COVID-19 on aircraft demand is unclear and we await more confidence in the path ahead,' said a J.P. Morgan analyst on July 30, quoted in Newsweek. With fewer than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 being reported on an average in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is shutting down some Covid Care Centres (CCCs). At present, Mumbai has 332 CCCs for high-risk contacts, with bed capacity of more than 48,000. There are 173 CCCs for positive asymptomatic patients, with over 23,000 beds. As the pandemic curve has flattened in Mumbai, almost 70% CCCs are now empty. Consequently, BMC is gradually handing these rented lodges, schools, auditoriums and hotels back to owners. Medical equipment from the CCCs, like oximeters, glucometers, oxygen cylinders and blood pressure monitors, will later be used in secondary healthcare facilities. At present, we arent handing over all the equipment. We have to remain prepared in case Mumbai is hit with a second wave of Covid-19. Annually, peripheral hospitals, dispensaries and health posts have their own demand for medical devices. So these equipment will be sent to these facilities for future usage, said additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani. BMC runs 16 peripheral hospitals, 175 municipal dispensaries, 29 maternity homes with over 200 health posts across the city. CCCs were set up in all civic wards by BMC in March, to quarantine high risk contacts and asymptomatic patients. By June, BMC was conducting around 4,500 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests every day and an average of 1,100 new Covid-19 cases were reported daily. Since the inclusion of rapid antigen tests, daily average testing is over 7,000, with more than 10,000 tests being conducted on some days. Despite the increased testing, the daily average caseload for Covid-19 has remained below 1,000 in the city. The positivity rate has come down from 22% in July to 19.51% in August. The civic body has spent around Rs 850 crore on health infrastructure in the ongoing pandemic, of which Rs 130 crore was spent on essential machines. Most equipment that was donated by philanthropists will be used at secondary health care facilities along with purchased equipment. Rented equipment will be handed over to owners, said Kakani. Health activists have welcomed civic bodys decision. Pradeep Patil, who is associated with the non-government organisation (NGO) Jan Kalyan, said, Even through health posts and peripheral hospitals form the backbone of the healthcare system in Mumbai, they lack basic amenities. It will be a great boost for medical infrastructure if BMC can also shift all additional equipment like ventilators and x-ray machines for Covid-19 patients to these centres once the pandemic is over. The two-state solution is still dead. The deal to open diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, announced by Israels Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, opens no new vistas for a just peace between the Israelis and the Arabs. It just repackages the existing reality. There wasnt any possibility of an independent Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied territories before last week, and there still isnt now. There was only a very small chance that Netanyahu would annex the occupied territories to Israel before the Israeli-UAE deal was announced (although he talked about it a lot), and theres even less chance of it now. No real change on the international front either. Israel and the Arab countries are already at peace, with the partial exceptions of Syria and Lebanon, although few people in the region would call it a just peace. And the UAE has already been doing business quietly with Israel on everything from trade to defence planning (against Iran) for years. Egypt and Jordan have had formal diplomatic relations with Israel for decades, and the other Gulf states will soon follow the UAEs example, perhaps with Saudi Arabia bringing up the rear. The Palestinians, mostly living under Israeli occupation, understandably complain that they are being abandoned by their Arab brothers, but that really happened long ago. So what actually changed last Thursday? Very little, although Donald Trump naturally tweeted that it was a HUGE breakthrough and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner promised that the deal would bring massive change and make the Middle East safer. Rubbish. The last Arab-Israeli war was 47 years ago, and its been decades since either side even had serious plans for one. The only plausible risk of a major cross-border war in the Middle East these days is between Iran on one side and the Arab Gulf states (with or without Israel) on the other. Thats not really a big risk either, but the Arab Gulf states in particular worry aloud about it, and to some extent they have convinced themselves that it truly is a threat. They hope that they would have Israels support in such a war, since in military terms Israel is the regions dwarf superpower. Netanyahus government hates and says it fears Iran, so it probably would help the Arabs in the end. However, it would be a much more convincing deterrent to Iran if these putative Arab and Israeli allies were actually seen together in public occasionally. Thats the main reason for the Gulf states to go beyond the furtive relationship they have hitherto had with Israel. Whats in it for Netanyahu? A peace treaty with another Arab state is a feather in the cap of any Israeli prime minister, but this deal also neatly gets him out of the promise he made to right-wing Israeli voters in the last election to annex much or all of the occupied territories. Netanyahu insists that annexation is only postponed, assuring Israelis that it is still on the table. Donald Trump says they agreed not to do it. This is a very smart concession by Israel. It is off the table now. Long-term for both of these men is reckoned in months, so they have no idea how irrelevant all this diplomatic fine-tuning will seem in retrospect. The old Middle East is living through its final years. Across the Arab world every power relationship has been defined by oil wealth for the past two generations, and now the wealth is fading fast. Eight years ago the Arab oil-producing states were making a trillion dollars a year from their exports. Today their oil revenue is down by two-thirds ($300 billion), and it will fall further. The coronavirus has accelerated this decline, but demand and prices have both been trending down for quite a while, and the growing unpopularity of fossil fuels in a rapidly warming world guarantees there will be no reversal of the trend. Saudi Arabia and the UAE still have large cash reserves, but some of the smaller oil-states are running out of money right now. Economic devastation will be followed by political collapse: even the map of the Middle East may look quite different in ten or twenty years time. And who will emerge from the wreckage as the sole big powers of the Middle East? Only the two countries with fully modern and diversified economies and little dependence on oil revenues: Israel and Turkey. Funny how things turn out, isnt it? Gwynne Dyer s new book is Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work) Read more about: Maria Gorman, one of the key organisers of the Fleadh in its Listowel heyday A crowded Square surrounding some of the brilliant talent at the height of the glory days of the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Listowel this one from the first episode of the TG4 series, recorded in 1995 Enjoying an earlier All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Listowel were Michael OConnor, James Kelter, Liam Cregan, Richard, Ruth and Marie Kelter and Niall Sugrue, all from Tralee Long summer nights of blistering trad - for a significant chunk of the recent past it could only mean one thing: you were back in Listowel for the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil. It was an experience shared by tens of thousands on the island as the population of Listowel regularly swelled fivefold under a sea of musicians and music fans year-in, year-out. Tents across the Cow's Lawn, impromptu sessions in the Square, the bars leppin' with ceol and craic, and the serious business of the competitions in the town's many schools - there was nowhere quite like Listowel for it. It's not for nothing the Fealeside heritage jewel is still known to this day as the 'spiritual home' of the event. As a new retrospective on the All-Ireland Fleadhanna Cheoil courtesy of TG4 demonstrates, with Listowel comprising the first two episodes as the programme looks to the late '90s. By that stage, the local organising Comhaltas committee under the late, great Michael Dowling and, indeed, the whole town was a dab hand at it. One of the other key organisers throughout the heyday of Listowel's hosting was Maria Gorman. Listowel's success, Maria recalled, was very much down to the degree to which the entire community came in behind the local branch of Comhaltas to ensure a great time and, as importantly, profitability. Maria explained how the Fleadh first came to Listowel in 1970, and was back again by '72 having been cancelled the previous year as the Troubles ignited in the six counties. Listowel hosted it no fewer than 14 times in the period between 1970 and 2002 ('70, '72, '73, '74, '78, '81, '82, '85, '86, '87, '95, '96, 2001 and '02) in an incredible record. "We had a great local Comhaltas branch under Michael Dowling. As the Chairman of Comhaltas here and as Chairman of the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil during Listowel's tenure, he brought everyone together behind it," Maria told The Kerryman. "He ran a tight ship, but we had a very hard-working committee who loved the work they did, every minute of it, and that's what made the difference," Maria said. "There are a lot of older people who really did a lot of work, some of them gone to their eternal reward at this stage, but they have to be acknowledged because it was a huge team effort." Maria also credited the late, great Diarmuid O Cathain of Lixnaw with huge help in his time at the helm of Comhaltas nationally. Key also to the success of the committee was the support of the business community, Maria explained: "The committee was supported to the hilt by the business community, which made all the difference to the success of the Fleadh in Listowel. They supplied the money, and we used it." Meanwhile, the town's people signed up every bit as supportively, with many families opening their homes to visitors, who would often return year-in, year-out to the same hosts, forging friendships that persist to this day. It was the local Comhaltas committee's use of the money that would impress the national organisation as much as Listowel's brilliance as a venue - for the group wrapped up each event very much in the black. "Michael ran such a tight ship that the Fleadhs always generated a profit to keep them going for the next year, and that was always a good benchmark for us in reapplying for the Fleadh. If we could run Fleadhs and have a surplus, that was hugely important to the national organisation." Perhaps Listowel was even too successful. The national organisation and the local branch practically rewrote the book on the Fleadh Cheoil in Listowel, figuring out over the course of its 30-year reign a model that has been applied so successfully elsewhere that the whole event simply became too big for Listowel. "Fleadhs have become much, much bigger now. Listowel wouldn't be able to hold it anymore because of its size today. But it's the same base, the same model that was largely devised in Listowel. That's the same model that is used in other towns now. "It is fair to say that the event was modernised in Listowel," Maria told The Kerryman. The crowds who landed were the best guests any town could ask for: "They were great and it was a very family-oriented event. We depended on locals to open their homes, which they did, taking people in and feeding them. There are three basics running an event like that after all: food, water and shelter. There were great, lasting friendships forged and nurtured through it all." Thanks to TG4, it's now possible to revel in the nostalgia and experience, once more, the talent that brought the streets and venues of Listowel alive in trad. The series is going out on Sunday nights from 9.30pm with the first - recorded in Listowel in 1995 - shown on Sunday night. The second episode also comes from Listowel, with the next two from the Fleadh's first visit to Ballina in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 and 2000, it was held in Enniscorthy. Among the wealth of Irish talent featuring in the series - from ForeFront Productions - are Joe Burke, Brendan McGlinchey, Zoe Conway, Kerry's very own Breandan O Beaglaioch, Liz and Yvonne Kane, John and Pip Murphy, John Whelan, Jim McKillop, the groups Danu and Dervish, and The Kilfenora, The Bridge and Tain Ceili Bands. Check them out on TG4 or its Player on the web. Vadodara: All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) have given a call for demonstration against the problems that various banks and their employees are facing due to demonetisation. The agitational programmes that they plan to undertake include demonstrations on December 28, followed by the unions addressing a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on December 29, the two bank unions said. The union members also plan to demonstrate over the issue on January 2 and 3, 2017. AIBEA general secretary CH Venkatchalam and his AIBOA counterpart S Nagrajan in a statement issued on Tuesday said, As per the call of our organisations, already our units have undertaken the programme of demonstrations in all major centres and met the local executives of RBI to hand over our memorandum. The unions have demanded to ensure supply of adequate cash to all banks and branches, restore all ATMs without further delay and ensure transparency in cash supply to banks. If RBI is not able to supply adequate cash to banks, then decision should be taken to suspend cash transactions in the bank branches till sufficient cash is supplied to banks, the statement said. They also demanded CBI inquiry into the cases of seizure of huge number of new currency notes with some big persons when the bank branches are cash starved. The unions also demanded compensation to the families of the persons and bank staff who lost their lives recently due to the demonetisation. The statement asked RBI and state governments to ensure safety and protection of bank employees and officers by maintaining law and order in all branches to prevent harassment of the staff. They also want proper compensation to employees and officers for their extra work/late sittings done in the last more than a month. Both the unions claim to have over 5.50 lakh members out of the nearly 9 lakh bank employees in the country. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The stigma of having COVID-19 is deterring some Victorians from getting tested and preventing others from accessing help. As the state government raised concerns about a 17 per cent drop in testing rates over the past week, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners board member Lara Roeske said some patients were sitting on symptoms for days because they were fearful of what a positive test might mean. Dr Lara Roeske, a Melbourne GP, and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners board member. Credit:Eddie Jim We are dealing with a disease that engenders a great deal of fear and anxiety, the Melbourne GP said. Dr Roeske said the shame of spluttering in public had led to patients seeking help for coughs associated with other underlying medical conditions. Party cements Bidens status as its best hope to defeat the incumbent Republican president in November election. The Democrats in the United States have formally nominated Joe Biden as their presidential candidate, designating the veteran leader as their challenger to President Donald Trump in the November election. In a virtual roll call vote on Tuesday, due to the coronavirus pandemic, all 50 US states and seven territories announced their tallies endorsing Biden. Well, thank you very, very much, from the bottom of my heart, a beaming Biden said in a live video link as he celebrated the nomination. It means the world to me and my family, he added, reminding viewers he will deliver a formal acceptance speech on Thursday at the conclusion of the four-day Democratic National Convention. Bidens nomination was a formality as he had already won the majority of the more than 3,900 delegates back in June. Jill Biden makes the case for husband After Biden formally became a nominee, his wife, Jill Biden, addressed the nation for the first time as the prospective first lady. Jill, who holds a doctorate in education, gave impassioned remarks about the closure of schools across the US and the loss of lives due to the pandemic. She recounted her life with Joe in the aftermath of the death of his first wife and daughter in a car crash in 1972 and testified to his strength of character following his son Beaus death from cancer in 2018. There are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly divided, that our differences are reconcilable but that is not what I see over these last few months, Jill said. We just need leadership worthy or our nation and worthy of you, honest leadership to bring us back together to recover from this pandemic and prepared for whatever else is next. After her remarks, Joe called his wife: The love of my life and the rock of our family. Ex-presidents rally for Biden The convention included presentations by Democrats, including former Presidents Jimmy Carter, 95, and Bill Clinton, 74. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, its a storm centre. Theres only chaos, Clinton said. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame, he said. The buck never stops there. Barack Obama will speak on Wednesday along with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Bidens running mate, Senator Kamala Harris. Russia investigation On the day the Senate Intelligence Committee released a 1,000-page report on Russias interference in the 2016 election, Democrats John Kerry, the former US secretary of state, and Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general, criticised Trumps unwillingness to address the issue. Donald Trump pretends Russia didnt attack our elections, Kerry said. And now, he does nothing about Russia putting a bounty on our troops. So he wont defend our country The only person hes interested in defending is himself. The Republican-led Senate committee report found that the FBI had ample cause to open an investigation into Trumps 2016 campaign. Ex-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said Trump began his attack on US institutions when he imposed a ban on travel from Muslim nations [Democratic National Convention/Pool via Reuters] The report found that former campaign manager Paul Manafort, now serving a jail term for fraud, shared sensitive Trump campaign polling data with a Russian agent and was a counterintelligence threat. Yates, who served as acting US Attorney General in the early days of the Trump administration, had warned the Trump White House about contacts with Russia in 2016-2017. From the moment President Trump took office, he has used his position to benefit himself rather than our country, Yates said. Trump claimed Obama and Biden directed US agencies to spy on his campaign in 2016 and denied coordinating with Russia, calling the Democratic allegations a hoax. Republicans endorse Biden Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is among dozens of former national security officials who are lining up to support Joe Biden in Novembers election [File: Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters] For a second night, the Democrats featured Republicans. Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W Bush and appeared at multiple Republican conventions in past years, endorsed Biden. Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family. For Joe Biden, that doesnt need teaching, he said. Powell said he learned the same values growing up in the South Bronx that Biden did growing up in Scranton, a blue-collar city in northeastern Pennsylvania. A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military position in the US, Powells support for Biden is likely to sway the votes of military personnel and their families concerned about national security. A number of former Bush administration officials and military leaders have already formed a group to back Biden in the November election. Late Senator John McCain was awarded the 2017 Liberty Medal by former Vice President Joe Biden at Independence Hall in Philadelphia [File: Charles Mostoller/Reuters] In addition to Powell, Cindy McCain, the widow of late Senator John McCain, provided her voice for a video that aired during Tuesdays convention featuring Biden and McCains friendship. The two were members of the Senate together for 20 years before Biden became Obamas vice president. While McCain publicly supported Trump as the Republican nominee in 2016, their relationship behind the scenes was strained, with Trump being dismissive of McCains record as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. With the convention, the Democrats hope Biden will get a boost in opinion polls, which show him ahead of Trump by an average of 50.2 percent to 42.5 percent, according to a survey by RealClearPolitics.com. Next week, the Republicans will hold their convention to officially endorse President Trumps bid to stay in power for another term. In a major development, the Supreme Court ordered a Central Burau of Investigation (CBI) investigation in the Sushant Rajput suicide case on Wednesday. The apex court announced the verdict while hearing a petition by actor Rhea Chakraborty, who had sought transfer of investigation from Patna, Bihar, to Mumbai. This is the fourth hearing in the case. The first hearing happened on August 5, in which the Centre told the SC that they accepted the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the case to CBI. The third hearing happened on August 13, where all parties presented their final submission before the apex court. The Supreme Court also said the FIR registered at the Patna court was correct. The state of Maharashtra had refused the option to challenge the order, it added. Supreme Court orders CBI investigation in #SushantSinghRajput death case https://t.co/vtrUwi8zu5 a ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 Vikas Singh, Lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father, told news agency ANI that this was a victory for Sushant Singh Rajput's family. "SC ruled on all points in our favour. The court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct," he added. He said the SC had said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death case will also be investigated by the CBI only. "We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict," he added. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey was also quoted by the agency saying the Supreme Court's order has strengthened the trust people have in the court and has assured the nation that justice will be delivered in the Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. Sushant, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. The Mumbai Police said the actor had died by suicide. It began investigating the industry's top-notch and claimed depression as a probable cause of the actor's death. However, more than a month later, Sushant's father filed a case in Bihar, accusing Rhea and her family of cheating him financially, mentally harassing him, and for the abetment of his son's suicide. After the FIR, Rhea moved to the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case's jurisdiction to Mumbai. The petition was filed by Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde. In her petition, Rhea denied the allegations levelled against her by Sushant's family. After a brief inquiry by the Bihar Police, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) began the probe, in connection with a money laundering case, linked to Sushant's death. The Bihar government had earlier told the SC that Mumbai Police did not even register an FIR in Sushant's case due to political clout. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput case: Rhea Chakraborty releases statement, accuses actor's sister of groping her Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput honoured: California State Assembly recognises late actor for contribution to cinema U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to allow for an oil leasing program in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On Monday, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt confirmed that the administration has approved for the program to begin auctioning off oil drilling leases in the area towards the end of this year, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new confirmation comes after Congress passed a law requiring the Department of the Interior to lease oil from part of the refuge in 2017, when both the House of Representatives and Senate were under Republican control. "President Trumps leadership brought more than three decades of inaction to an end, Bernhardt told reporters in a conference call, The Washington Post reports. RELATED: Taylor Swift Slams Trump for 'Calculated Dismantling of USPS': 'He's Chosen to Blatantly Cheat' Environmentalists have long raised concerns about the program, which will allow oil companies to drill on the 1.6 million-acre coastal plain that is home to more than 270 different species, including 900 polar bears, 250 musk oxen and 300,000 snow geese. Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, denounced the program in a statement to the Post. Our climate is in crisis, oil prices have cratered, and major banks are pulling out of Arctic financing right and left. And yet the Trump administration continues its race to liquidate our nations last great wilderness, putting at risk the indigenous peoples and iconic wildlife that depend on it," Kolton said. We will continue to fight this at every turn, in the courts, in Congress and in the corporate boardrooms. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories However, Bernhardt insisted to reporters on Monday that the plan was "carefully tailored" to minimize its impact on the surrounding environment. Story continues "This is no ordinary oil and gas program on public lands," he said. "Congress gave us a very clear directive here, and we have to carry out that directive consistent with the directive that they gave, and consistent with the procedural statutes, Bernhardt continued. "I have a remarkable degree of confidence that this can be done in a way that is responsible, sustainable and environmentally benign." Critics have also raised questions about how much oil is actually available on the refuge as there has not been any seismic testing for potential deposits since the 1980s. The government estimates that there is about 11 billion gallons of recoverable oil, but the results of any new testing will not be released to companies before the leasing auction. "I think a lot of people will bid for leases without seismic data," Bernhardt said RELATED: Donald Trump's Brother Robert Dies After Hospitalization: 'He Will Be Greatly Missed,' President Says Meanwhile, Republican Alaskan lawmakers, such as Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, are also praising the administration for moving forward with the program. "This is a capstone moment in our decades-long push to allow for the responsible development of a small part of Alaska's 1002 Area," Murkowski said in a statement Monday, per CNN. "Through this program, we will build on our already-strong record of an increasingly minimal footprint for responsible resource development." LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A six-person jury on Tuesday awarded a $9.4 million verdict on behalf of Southeastern Emergency Physicians, LLC, a group of emergency room doctors that is an affiliate of TeamHealth Inc., finding that Centene Corporation and its insurance subsidiaries systematically tried to strip the doctors' group of most of their pay. In one of the first in-person jury trials in Arkansas since the COVID-19 virus hit, the jury in U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller's court found that the defendants grossly underpaid and breached their contract with the emergency room doctors. The jury awarded $9.4 million in damages, with the final award expected to increase to $13 million with attorneys' fees and interest. "The Centene defendants ignored their written agreements and tried to cheat these hardworking emergency room doctors. They treated commercial insurance claims like Medicare payments, they tried to hide which company owed the money, they paid late. Their cavalier attitude toward these essential workers was abominable," said John Zavitsanos, the lead attorney and a name partner with Houston-based AZA or Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. This lawsuit is one of many TeamHealth has filed against various insurers across the country to stop systematic underpayment of ER doctors by insurance companies that seek to keep the money for their own coffers. The legal team was hired only six days before this Arkansas trial. A similar Houston case is scheduled to be tried by Mr. Zavitsanos and his team in September. TeamHealth is trying to level the playing field for these key doctors who support multiple communities but whose practice groups are being badly underpaid by several highly profitable insurance companies. In the Arkansas contract signed in 2011, the Centene-controlled insurance company and health network agreed to pay the ER doctors 75 percent of the regular commercial insurance billing rates. But instead, the doctors were paid only 10 percent of the billing and were paid slowly at that. The jury also heard how Centene tried to obfuscate their ownership of the companies and the entities responsible for paying the doctors. "Communities depend on their ER doctors, and insurance companies cheating them out of their livelihood is not only fraudulent, it's dangerous," said TeamHealth co-counsel Collin D. Kennedy of Frisco, Texas-based Hanshaw Kennedy Hafen, LLP. TeamHealth is a physician-led, patient-focused company founded by doctors, for doctors. TeamHealth is represented in this lawsuit by Mr. Kennedy and AZA name partner Mr. Zavitsanos, AZA Of Counsel Kevin Leyendecker and AZA associate Michael Killingsworth. Their co-counsel are Judy Simmons Henry, Baxter D. Drennon and Michael A. Thompson of Wright Lindsey Jennings in Little Rock. The case is Southeastern Emergency Physicians, LLC v. Arkansas Health & Wellness Health Plan, Inc.; Celtic Insurance Company d/b/a Arkansas Health & Wellness Insurance Company; Novasys Health, Inc., and Centene Corporation, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Case No. 4:17-cv-492-KGB. AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property, and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2020 among the best in Texas commercial law; by U.S. News Best Lawyers' Best Law Firms as one of the country's best commercial litigation firms for eight years running; was named 2019 Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer; and was previously dubbed by Law360 a Texas Powerhouse law firm. National corporate counsel named AZA one of the country's best in client service among law firms serving the Fortune 500 and 1000. Visit https://azalaw.com/. Media Contact: Mary Flood 713 857-6560 [email protected] SOURCE Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. (AZA) Related Links https://azalaw.com/ InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of worlds leading hotel companies, has signed a management agreement with Riteway and Medha Projects to bring a Holiday Inn Resort to the Indian state of Karnataka. Offering 126 well-appointed rooms, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats is expected to open its doors to guests in Q1 2023. Underscoring industry confidence despite challenging times, this is the second signing announced by IHG in India in last three months. Located on the Western Ghats mountain range, in the state of Karnataka, Sakleshpur is in close proximity to Bengaluru, and is a great destination for leisure travellers looking to spend quality time amidst nature or explore various historic monuments and sites the city has to offer. Located 6 kilometres from the main Bengaluru and Mangalore highway, on opening, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats will offer varied dining options to guests with four F&B outlets, including an All-Day Dining, a bar, a speciality restaurant and a lobby lounge. The hotel will also feature 518 sqm of meetings space across three venues, including a 359 sqm ballroom well suited for various Mice events. The resort will feature a pool, a fitness centre and a spa for guests to relax and rejuvenate. For travellers driving down from the nearby cities, Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats will feature ample parking space. Additionally, positioned as a complete destination on its own, the resort will house a retail outlet, an indoor recreation centre and an outdoor recreation facility making it a perfect destination for vacationers or guests on corporate retreats. Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG commented: We are thrilled to announce the signing of our first Holiday Inn Resort in southern India, in partnership with Riteway and Medha Projects. In a country driven by domestic tourism, our Holiday Inn hotels and resorts are great destinations for travellers looking for activities and amenities to keep the whole family engaged and relaxed, and we are committed to expand the brand to new markets in India. On opening in 2023, I am confident that Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats will be an excellent choice for travellers looking for a relaxing staycation or vacation in a beautiful hill station or guests looking to organise Mice events in unique and serene surroundings. Domestic travel will become ever more important in the coming years. The value proposition that the Holiday Inn brand offers to the owners and guests is apt and will be exemplified in the new Holiday Inn Resort in Sakleshpur. He added: The signing is testament to the confidence our owners and partners hold in IHG, despite the current impact of the global pandemic on our industry. In last three months, we have not only signed more hotels but with easing of restrictions, we have also opened existing and new properties in India to offer safe and reliable experiences that guests are looking for at this time, powered by IHGs Way of Clean and our Clean Promise. Babu Reddy, Managing Partner, Riteway and Medha Projects, said: We are thrilled to join hands for the upcoming Holiday Inn Resort Sakleshpur Western Ghats - the first Holiday Inn Resort in Southern India, and are happy to become a part of IHGs global family. With the combination of the natural bounties of the Western Ghats, a preferred brand like Holiday Inn and IHGs proven expertise, we are confident that on opening, the new Holiday Inn Resort will offer unique experiences to guests visiting Sakleshpur and will become a preferred destination for travellers visiting this part of India. Sakleshpur is popular for its mountains, scenic beauty and pleasant weather. Appealing to a wide range of tourists, Sakleshpur is home to the18th century Manjarabad Fort, Sakleshwara Temple, Agni Gudda Hill, Magajahalli Waterfalls, Betta Byraveshwara Temple, Hemavathi Dam, Pandavar Gudda and Agni Gudda. The hill station is also famous for trekking activities in Bisle Reserve Forest Trail and Kumara Parvatha trail known for its biodiversity. Catering to a wide range of audience, IHG has 36 hotels in India across mainstream, upscale and luxury segments and 43 in the pipeline.-- Tradearabia News Service CLEVELAND, Ohio A man is charged in connection with the deadly beating of an 65-year-old man outside a store in the Ohio City neighborhood. Paige McKinney, 54, of Cleveland, is charged with murder in the death of Donald Partridge. Deputy U.S. Marshals arrested McKinney early Wednesday at the Lakeview Towers public housing complex, where both McKinney and Patridge lived. The incident happened about 5:45 p.m. Aug. 10 outside Lindas Market on Detroit Avenue and West 28th Street. McKinney walked up to Partidge as he left the store and punched Partridge in the head, according to police. The punch knocked Partridge to the ground and rendered him unconscious, according to police. A witness reported seeing the assailant rummage through Partridges pockets before running away. An ambulance took Partridge to MetroHealth, where he died. Cleveland police have not released a motive for the attack. McKinney has been convicted in several low-level crimes since 1984, including attempted drug possession, aggravated trespassing, vandalism, receiving stolen property, breaking and entering and grand theft of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced in 1988 to between five and 25 years in prison for aggravated burglary. Read more from cleveland.com: Cuyahoga County Jail officer resigns after marijuana found in her locker Man shot to death while driving in Clevelands Glenville neighborhood Man accused of setting Cuyahoga County van on fire during May 30 protests in downtown Cleveland A mother who dressed her nine-year-old daughter in Playboy outfits and restrained her while men raped her has been jailed for ten years. The girl, who is now 15, was molested by her mum's 'friends' at her Gold Coast home every other day over a one-year period between May 2014 and May 2015. The girl was repeatedly woken with men on top of her when she was wearing bunny ears and a black lace dress 'Playboy' costume. Judge David Kent on Tuesday sentenced the 41-year-old mother, who can't be named for legal reasons, to ten years behind bars. A mother has been found guilty of restraining her daughter while men raped her when she was wearing a Playboy costume including bunny ears (stock image) The daughter told the court her mother had held her hands while a man sexually abused her (stock image) The woman was declared a serious violent offender, meaning she will have to serve 80 per cent of her sentence before being eligible for parole. 'Your conduct was enabling or aiding others to commit sexual acts on the complainant,' he told the woman in court on Tuesday, according to the Courier Mail. 'This is extremely serious offending and ... I am not particularly convinced of prospects of rehabilitation.' The woman has already spent 20 months in custody. When the woman was found guilty of five sexual assault charges in March, she screamed out 'it's so wrong' and 'this didn't even happen'. The girl was only nine years old when the abuse started and was molested by a different man every time. The abuse only came to light when the girl wrote a note saying her mum used to 'come in with friends and touch me improperly', to her psychologist, who reported it to the police. She later told authorities her mum would 'undress her and be naughty' and gave her a drink that made her feel drowsy. She said on one occasion her mother held her hands while she was being abused and asked the men for money after their attack. The daughter has been struggling with mental health issues, with her father telling the court she has tried to kill herself three times (stock image) The girl was in hospital on suicide watch during the trial. Police have found no evidence that she was taking money for the attacks and no men have been charged with abuse. The girl's father had been in custody for drug charges at the time of the abuse. He previously told the court that his daughter's mental health was suffering and she was on suicide watch in a Brisbane hospital. 'I have to put up with a child who has tried to kill herself three times,' he said. 'If you think this is some kind of con job, I'm the one paying the joke. If I made some story up then the joke is on me.' The governor of Texas and other regional officials have announced they are banning a raise in property tax for all localities that defund the police. The move, announced on Tuesday, is designed to stop Texan towns and cities from following the example of Austin. Last week Austin City Council unanimously approved a proposal to cut the police budget by $150 million, about 34 per cent of its current total, and reinvest in other resources. 'When crime is on the rise, the last thing we should do is defund the police,' said Greg Abbott, the Republican governor, speaking at the Bob Bolen Safety Complex - the training facility and headquarters for the Fort Worth fire and police departments. Greg Abbott, pictured Tuesday in Fort Worth, announced a proposal to discourage defunding Abbott, in a wheelchair since 26, said cities that defund police couldn't raise property taxes He added that any city in the state that defunds police departments will have property tax rates frozen at their current level, according to Fox 26 Houston. Cities that vote to defund police would not be able to increase property taxes under the legislation. 'Cities that endanger residents by reducing law enforcement should not then be able to turn around and go back and get more property tax dollars,' said Abbott. He said that such cities were 'more focused on political agendas than public safety.' From the $150 million saved from the police budget, $21 million would be invested in emergency medical services, domestic violence shelters and programs for the homeless. About another $80 million will go into a 'Decouple Fund' that will transfer many civilian services, like forensic sciences and victim services, outside of the police department. The rest of the money, about $49 million, will go into a 'Reimagine Safety Fund,' the goal of which 'is to divert dollars from the fund toward alternative forms of public safety and community support, through the yearlong reimagining process.' Protesters had been gathering in Austin demanding the defunding of the police department In June demonstrators gathered outside City Hall in Austin to demand the change Austin police, pictured August 1, will see their budget cut by $150 million after this week's vote Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said that Austin bowed to 'cancel culture' in its decision to defund law enforcement. 'The unwarranted attack by the Austin mayor and City Council on their police department's budget is no more than a political haymaker driven by the pressures of "cancel culture,"' Paxton said in a statement. 'Unfortunately, the targets of this "canceling" are the brave men and women who selflessly put their lives on the line to keep our families safe.' Austin has struggled to control crime, violence and homelessness, and the mayor and council disregarded the safety of the capital, the people who live there and the guests who visit, Paxton said. The Austin vote did not appease activists either. Communities of Color United, an Austin activist group, was calling for a 50 per cent divestment, which amounts to $220 million. They also said a majority of the funds are an accounting shift that will allow the police to still access them in the near-term. ~Conducting financial services without a license is punishable~ PHILIPSBURG:--- In order to avoid further prosecution, the Public Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutors Office of Curacao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (Public Prosecutors Office) has offered two former money transaction offices on Sint Maarten, Popular Express and Money Express, a settlement proposal. Money transaction offices are also referred to as money remitters. These companies conducted independently of each other financial services without the required license from the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten (CBCS). Both companies have accepted the settlement proposal. Further to a number of signals received by the Public Prosecutors Office from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Investigation and Cooperation Team (RST) together with the Anti-Corruption Team (TBO) of Public Prosecutors Office, conducted an investigation into the two money transfer services. Through the criminal investigation, it became clear that both money remitters provided financial services without the required authorization from CBCS. Moreover, on a number of occasions, one of the money remitters did not report unusual transactions to the FIU, which is mandatory. The financial services consisted of accepting cash money on Sint Maarten and, subsequently, making that money payable in cash, after deduction of commissions, to beneficiaries in the Dominican Republic. During the searches carried out in December 2019, one of the money remitters, Money Express, had already stopped providing financial services. The other money transaction office, Popular Express, was still operational at the time of the search but ceased its business activities immediately after. According to Article 2, section 1 of the National Ordinance on Supervision of Money Transfer Services, it is prohibited to operate a money transaction office without a license from CBCS. Money transfer offices that operate without the relevant license are unfair competition for money remitters who do comply with legal obligations. In addition, these illegally operating transaction offices easily create money laundering vehicles for the proceeds of criminal activities. This is because the flow of money in the form of cash or cheque is difficult to follow and there is a high risk of non-compliance by unregulated money remitters with the legal obligation to carry out customer due diligence. This compromises the integrity of the financial system of Sint Maarten and Curacao. It is therefore important that financial services are to a certain extent subject to government control. CBCS is the supervisory and licensing authority in respect of such services. The Public Prosecutors Office sees various grounds for an out-of-court settlement. First of all, both enterprises ceased their money remittance activities and fully cooperated with the criminal investigation. Furthermore, in the opinion of the Public Prosecutors Office, the standard for adequate enforcement in these two investigations should not be criminal prosecution but administrative intervention. For no clear reason, such administrative intervention has not been effected throughout the past years. The circumstance that it could prevent both enterprises from obtaining the necessary permit in the event that they are convicted through criminal proceedings, as well as played a role in the decision to engage in an out-of-court settlement. As a result of this settlement, both enterprises will pay an amount of money to the country of Sint Maarten. Popular Express will pay an amount of NAf.75,000, Money Express will pay an amount of NAf.50,000. Both amounts are partly conditional. The respective amounts are based on a number of factors, such as the length of the period during which the illegal transfers were being carried out as well as the volume of financial services performed. In addition, the publication of this press release is part of the transaction. Public Prosecutors Office Release. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will tap close ally and deputy Chrystia Freeland as his new finance minister and suspend parliament until October, sources said yesterday, when he plans to outline a revamped agenda and pandemic recovery plan. Ms Freeland, 52, a former journalist and foreign minister, becomes the country's first female finance minister after her predecessor resigned on Monday amid friction with Mr Trudeau. The appointment comes after a tumultuous week for the government that ended in Bill Morneau stepping down as finance minister on Monday night. Sources told Reuters that Mr Morneau and Mr Trudeau had clashed over pandemic spending, including on green initiatives the prime minister views as key for the economy. Ms Freeland's experience renegotiating a North American trade deal and her relationships with provincial premiers make her a good choice, one source said. Prime Minister Trudeau also plans to end this parliamentary session and restart a new one in October, when he will deliver a new agenda outlining a Covid-19 pandemic recovery plan, the source said. Ms Freeland, who is considered Mr Trudeau's most likely successor as Liberal Party leader, spearheaded negotiations of the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade pact as Canada's foreign minister and minister for international trade in Mr Trudeau's previous cabinet. Now she will be tasked with reviving an economy crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the budget deficit this fiscal year forecast to hit C$343.2bn (218.56bn). That would be the largest financing shortfall since World War Two. "Ms Freeland does not have the business background of her predecessor, but she managed the ministry of foreign affairs file remarkably well, including dealing with the difficult renegotiation of free trade with the United States," said Craig Alexander, chief economist with Deloitte Canada. The Canadian dollar notched its strongest intra-day level in nearly seven months at 1.3148 per US dollar, or 76.06 US cents. Markets are reassured because Mr Trudeau is taking advice from some economic heavyweights, including former central banker Mark Carney. Reuters U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday criticized Democratic leaders for refusing to discuss any "reasonable deal" for the next round of COVID-19 relief, according to a CNBC report. Mnuchin said on "Squawk on the Street" that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "aren't willing to sit down and strike a reasonable deal." The treasury secretary noted that the good news is "despite Congress not acting," the president moved forward with the executive order to help people who are still unemployed. Negotiations between Democratic leaders and White House officials collapsed earlier this month, with both sides blaming each other for making little progress on the much-needed relief package. Last week, Pelosi and Schumer lashed out at the Trump administration for refusing to budge on their position on the size and scope of the next COVID-19 relief package, saying that "Democrats have compromised." In a joint statement, the Democratic leaders reiterated that Democrats are willing to come down 1 trillion U.S. dollars if the Trump administration will come up 1 trillion dollars. House Democrats unveiled a 3-trillion-dollar relief proposal in May, but didn't gain support from the Republicans. Senate Republicans released their 1-trillion-dollar proposal in late July, just a few days before the extra 600-dollar weekly unemployment benefits expired. As negotiations stall, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to extend certain COVID-19 economic relief, but they are unlikely to provide a meaningful boost to the overall economy. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: Auto component industry posted an 11.7% decline in turnover at $49.2 billion in FY20 Industry is set to see another steep contraction this fiscal ACMA says revenue may plummet by 30-35% compared to fiscal 2019 by March 2021 No real threat of job losses for now; industry sees a shortage of skilled manpower Imports including from China declined by 11.4%, but China still remains the biggest import destination India's automotive component industry posted its worst ever annual performance in fiscal 2020 with overall revenues declining by 11.7 per cent at $49.2 billion (Rs 349,637 crore) against $57.1 billion (Rs 395,902 crore) of 2018-19. The decline, which was due to a protracted slowdown in the domestic sale of vehicles in the country-OEMs are the biggest consumers of components, came after three continuous years of double-digit growth for the industry. It has also taken the sheen off the decade as a whole with revenue growing by a CAGR of just 5 per cent between 2009-10 ($30.8 bn) and 2019-20. Ominously, the performance was mostly in the pre-COVID era with the lockdown due to the pandemic impacting business for only one week in fiscal 2020. The forecast for this fiscal is even more dire. Vehicle manufacturers have said sales could decline by a wide range of 26-45 per cent this fiscal on the back of an 18 per cent contraction in fiscal 2020. This would result in another year of pain for the component industry. Also read: SSW gets orders worth over Rs 1.26 crore from EU caravan, truck trailer market "We have significant exports out of the country and the aftermarket business is also substantial and a segment that has remained stable even last year. But there is no getting away from the fact that if OEMs decline, then we would not be spared either," says Deepak Jain, president, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA). "We will see a definite contraction this year but it is difficult to say by how much. In the first quarter the industry performed at only 15 percent capacity. Things are getting better from one month to the next and optimistically, we should be at the same levels as last year during this festive season which we must bear in mind was also a year of decline. So, we may still end up with a 30-35 percent decline over 2018-19 levels in the last two years." Fortunately, Jain does not foresee any major loss of jobs due to the contraction. Instead, due to the migration of labour from big cities to smaller towns during the lockdown period, he says there is currently a shortage of skilled manpower in the country. Around 5 million people are employed in the three-tiered industry which accounts for 2.5 per cent of country's GDP, 25 per cent of its manufacturing GDP and 4 per cent of exports. Also read: Renault launches Duster with turbocharged petrol engine; check out price, features "I don't see any significant job losses happening this year. Infact the supply chain is still not even to cater to the relatively muted demand that we have seen in the industry so far," he says. "Productivity at the shop floor due to the various social distancing norms that have come into place, has taken a hit but we are still struggling to get more labour-skilled manpower to be precise. The recovery has been much faster than what we anticipated." The slowdown has impacted the export performance of the industry as well as its import requirements. Exports of auto components witnessed a de-growth of 3.2 per cent to Rs 1.02 lakh crore ($ 14.5 billion) in 2019-20 from Rs 1.06 lakh crore ($ 15.2 billion) in 2018-19. Europe that accounts for 30 per cent of exports, saw a decline of 11 per cent, while North America and Asia, which account for 30 and 27 per cent, respectively remained stable. Also read: China SUV giant Great Wall Motors awaits clearance to enter India Component imports fell by 11.4 per cent to Rs 1.09 lakh crore ($ 15.4 billion) in 2019-20 from Rs 1.23 lakh crore ($ 17.7 billion) in 2018-19. China remained the biggest import destination accounting for 26 per cent of all imports though the quantum fell by 12 per cent at $4.1 billion in fiscal 2020 from $4.6 billion in 2018-19. "Due to the changeover from BS IV to BS VI emission norms, the dependence on imports at an overall level has gone up though it is difficult to quantify it in numbers right now," says Vinnie Mehta, director general, ACMA. "Imports happen due to a technology gap or a lack of scale but the intent is to localise as much as possible so with the right policies from the government and the ingenuity of the industry, imports will reduce in future." A full-page ad for graphic biography of ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Hae-chan is released in a local newspaper, Aug. 18. / Captured from Rep. Ha Tae-keung's Facebook By Park Han-sol A full-page newspaper ad released Tuesday promoting ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Hae-chan's graphic biography has drawn criticism from the main opposition party for its ill-timed self-praise. On the cover of the biography titled "My Life to the People Lee Hae-chan" is a drawn portrait of Lee smiling and waving. A phrase in the ad reads: "While Lee puts stress on principle as seen from his nickname of 'hole punch' or 'razor blade,' readers can see the warmth inside him." The book is scheduled to be published Sept. 2, according to the publisher. It is unusual for an incumbent ruling party chief to publish a biography which could be seen as an act of self-promotion. Rep. Kim Du-kwan of the DPK, who has been in charge of the publication, said the graphic novel aims to document Korea's political history and Lee's legacy in the pro-democracy movement. However, the book immediately sparked criticism from the main opposition United Future Party (UFP), which claimed Lee attempted to fulfill self-interest by promoting it via full-page ads taken out in major newspapers amid the coronavirus pandemic. "How can a ruling party chairman be selling books while the entire country is gravely concerned about another massive outbreak of COVID-19?" Rep. Kim Ki-hyun of the UFP wrote on Facebook, Tuesday. Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the UFP likened the biography cover of Lee raising his outstretched right arm to "propaganda idolizing a party chief" in a communist state. "The book looks like Lee is running in a presidential election," Ha wrote on Facebook, adding the ruling party chief seems to look down on President Moon Jae-in as his job approval rating has been falling. "The support rates for Lee Nak-yon (the DPK's top potential presidential candidate) and the DPK are declining, so is Lee himself coming to the front?" Ha wrote. In response to the criticism, the ruling party said that neither Lee nor the party was directly involved in the biography's publication and advertisement process. "The book was not created by Lee himself, but by those who know him well," DPK spokesman Rep. Kang Hoon-sik said, calling the UFP members "pitiful for quibbling over a comic book." But Ha then said the DPK was trying to deceive the public by claiming no connection between Lee and the publisher. "The ad shows the photo of Rep. Kim Du-kwan saying he was the head of the publication committee. Isn't he a member of the DPK?" Ha wrote. "The party and Lee should have a tiny sense of the need to apologize to the public, as they did such a ridiculous thing as to place a full-page ad praising the party chief at a time when people are suffering from the pandemic." Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 19, 2020) - Freeman Gold Corp. (CSE: FMAN) (FSE: 3WU) ("Freeman" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved a comprehensive exploration program for its 100% owned Lemhi Gold project ("Lemhi" or the "Project") located in Idaho, USA. The approved exploration program consists of 5,000 metres of diamond drilling, metallurgical test work, and extensive groundwork designed to: Twin a portion of historical drill holes within the known mineralized material. This is intended to confirm historical data and allow the use of over 355 historical drill holes in a National Instrument resource estimate. Some of the historical drill hole results are detailed below in Table 1 and includes results such as 1.80 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold ("Au") over 193 metres, 3.94 gpt Au over 56 metres, and 1.81 gpt Au over 179.83 metres. Infill drilling within the known mineralized orebody to increase confidence and maximize the ounce count. Drill results will be used to complete a maiden NI 43-101 resource estimate for Lemhi, scheduled to be released after the completion of the drill program. Groundwork is to consist of geophysics, including technologies designed to identify possible high-grade feeder zones, soil geochemistry, mapping and prospecting. The groundwork will use results from the known mineralized areas to identify further satellite deposits along strike within the 30 square kilometer package. Will Randall, President & CEO of Freeman Gold, commented, "We intend to commence drilling during the first week of September with the goal of completing the twin and infill program by November 2020, and the maiden resource estimate before year end. We are looking forward to drilling off this near surface, primarily oxide portion of the known mineralization, in what is our first phase of work at Lemhi. Subsequent work programs will focus on expanding the mineralization both on strike and at depth, which remain open in most directions." Story continues "We are pleased to provide investors with a recap of the Lemhi Gold project below, including historic drilling highlights from previous operators in the 80s and 90s, now that Freeman is embarking on its first drill program. We hope this will help investors follow our progress over the coming months as we release drill results to the market." added Will Randall. The Lemhi Gold Project The Lemhi Gold Project (the "Project" or the "Property") is located in Lemhi County, Idaho ("ID"), U.S.A., within the Salmon River Mountains, a part of the Bitterroot Range which forms the Idaho-Montana border. The Property is approximately 40 km (25 miles) north of the town of Salmon and 6 km (3.7 miles) west of Gibbonsville, Idaho. Freeman has assembled a significant land package including 11 patented mining claims and 322 unpatented mining claims totaling more than 7,000 acres. The mineralization on the Property is hosted in structurally controlled quartz vein swarms and quartz flooded zones and occurs in close association with low angle faulting. Previous operators of the project, FMC Gold Company ("FMC") and American Gold Resources ("AGR"), conducted exploration and development activities between 1984 and 1996. Collectively, these companies completed geologic mapping; rock, soil, and vegetation sampling; geophysical surveys; reverse-circulation (RC) and core drilling; environmental and baselines studies; and initial mine permitting work over the Property. The FMC and AGR drilling delineated extensive gold mineralization covering an area roughly 600 m east-west by 450 m north-south. In 2011 the Lemhi Gold Trust (LGT), a joint venture between Idaho State Gold Co. and Northern Vertex Capital acquired claims in the area of the current Property. LGT completed an aggressive pre-development program consisting of historical data compilation and review, core and RC drilling, base-line environmental studies, and geotechnical work. Drilling included 7,860 meters in 40 core holes and 2,672 meters in 15 holes of RC drilling. LGT also completed terrestrial vegetation and wetland delineation studies, a petrographical analysis and additional metallurgical work, as well as readdressing cultural resources, fisheries, wildlife resources, water rights and right-of-way. The Project has not seen any work since the 2011-2012 campaigns by LGT. A few of the noteworthy historical drill intercepts from these campaigns are listed in Table 1. TABLE 1. SELECT HISTORIC DRILL INTERCEPTS - LEMHI PROJECT Hole_ID Year Type of Drilling From m To m Interval** m g/t Au 85007 1985 Reverse Circulation 3.05 152.40 149.35 1.06 86035 1986 Reverse Circulation 3.05 190.50 187.45 0.96 including 1986 Reverse Circulation 106.68 126.49 19.81 6.90 86064 1986 Reverse Circulation 28.96 50.29 21.34 4.79 87036 1987 Reverse Circulation 9.14 152.40 143.26 1.09 93002 1993 Reverse Circulation 1.52 181.36 179.83 1.81 including 1993 Reverse Circulation 28.96 45.72 16.76 4.07 including 1993 Reverse Circulation 59.44 117.35 57.91 4.09 93004 1993 Reverse Circulation 3.05 196.60 193.55 1.80 including 1993 Reverse Circulation 80.77 155.45 74.68 3.20 93007 1993 Reverse Circulation 73.15 129.54 56.39 3.94 including 1993 Reverse Circulation 76.20 89.92 13.72 15.19 93012 1993 Reverse Circulation 1.52 10.67 9.14 6.53 95011 1995 Reverse Circulation 59.44 76.20 16.76 4.04 95046 1995 Reverse Circulation 89.92 102.11 12.19 4.57 95048 1995 Reverse Circulation 150.88 167.64 16.76 4.66 95060 1995 Reverse Circulation 153.92 172.21 18.29 4.92 93005 1995 Reverse Circulation 18.29 117.35 99.06 1.73 LGT12-011C 2012 Core 6.86 159.72 152.86 1.06 LGT12-011C 2012 Core 37.80 48.46 10.67 8.41 LGT12-014C 2012 Core 61.57 71.93 10.36 3.46 including 2012 Core 67.67 71.93 4.27 7.24 **Intervals are core-length. True width is estimated between 70 to 90% of core length. The bulk of the drilling completed by FMC and AGR consisted of vertical reverse circulation drill holes targeting primarily oxide and transition zones within the patented claims. Many of the drill holes end in high grade gold mineralization, leaving this deposit open at depth. A small number of holes were drilled off the main zone on strike and the majority intersected meaningful lengths of gold mineralization, including high grade intercepts. The project is therefore open in most directions beyond the historically defined mineralization. As stated herein, the foregoing results are historical in nature and are provided here for context as to the comprehensive validation drill program contemplated by the Company. The historical data has not been verified by a qualified person, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the drilling information. The current work program will include comprehensive data validation by internal and independent qualified persons. About the Company Freeman Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of its 100% owned Lemhi Gold property. The Lemhi project comprises 30 square kilometers of highly prospective land. The mineralization at the Lemhi project consists of shallow, near surface primarily oxide gold mineralization that has seen over 355 drill holes but remains open at depth and along strike and in most directions. The Company is working towards de-risking the asset and a maiden NI 43-101 resource estimate as a result of both brownfields and greenfields exploration. The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geol., the VP Exploration for the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. On Behalf of the Company William Randall, President & CEO of Freeman Gold For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.freemangoldcorp.com or contact Mr. Ken Cotiamco at 604-687-7130 or by email at: ken@freemangoldcorp.com Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, which may include, but are not limited to statements relating to its future business plans. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ from those in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company does not undertake to update forwardlooking statements or forwardlooking information, except as required by law. Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider 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/62000 Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) has announced the sale of its prime industrial property in California, through its US real estate arm, Mar Gulf Management, after netting good returns for the investors (IRR), exceeding initial estimates. Launched in January 2019, the investment involved the acquisition and development of a greenfield land parcel into a 419,000 sq ft Class A industrial property at Stockton. Underlining the robustness of its international real estate, Markaz said the exit, which occurred three quarters prior to underwriting estimate, delivered a net internal rate of return to investors (IRR) of 14.7 per cent. The exit is a strong testimony to the resilience of our investment portfolio as the project weathered the economic ramifications of Covid-19 and over-achieved its initial operational and financial goals, it added. On the successful exit, Sami Shabshab, President of Mar Gulf Management, said: "We are delighted to announce the exit from our industrial property in Stockton and would like to thank our partners for their role in the strong performance delivered even during these uncertain times." "The success of the investment further strengthens our strong track record in the US market and confirms the effectiveness of our prudent selection process and best-in-class execution," he noted. "We remain keen on delivering returns and creating value to our investors by capitalizing on strategic market opportunities. Our investment philosophy remains sector and strategy agnostic under which we identify opportunities based on latest market trends and timing," he added.-TradeArabia News Service On Aug. 16, a space rock the size of a car zipped past Earth at a distance too close for comfort - approximately 1,830 miles. Whats even more disconcerting is that NASA never saw it until after it had happened. According to a report by Business Insider, it was the closest ever recorded, according to asteroid trackers and a catalog compiled by Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy. The report said the space rock, because of its size, most likely wouldnt have posed any danger to people on the ground had it struck our planet. But it noted that the close call is worrisome nonetheless, since astronomers had no idea the asteroid existed until after it passed by. The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the sun, Paul Chodas, the director of NASAs Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told Business Insider. We didnt see it coming. The space rock was first detected, about six hours after it flew by Earth, by the Palomar Observatory in California. The record-breaking nature of the event was confirmed by Chodas: Yesterdays close approach is closest on record, if you discount a few known asteroids that have actually impacted our planet, the report quoted. According to the report, NASA is aware of only a fraction of near-Earth objects (NEOs) like this one, as many do not cross any telescopes line of sight, and in recent years, several potentially dangerous asteroids have snuck up on scientists. If the wrong one slipped through the gaps in our NEO-surveillance systems, it could kill tens of thousands of people, the report noted. This recent near-Earth asteroid, initially called ZTF0DxQ, is now formally known to astronomers as 2020 QG. The Business Insider report said it first learned about it from the creator of the website orbitsimulator.com, Tony Dunn. Dunn tweeted on Monday: Newly-discovered asteroid ZTF0DxQ passed less than 1/4 Earth diameter yesterday, making it the closest-known flyby that didnt hit our planet, the report quoted. Newly-discovered asteroid ZTF0DxQ passed less than 1/4 Earth diameter yesterday, making it the closest-known flyby that didn't hit our planet.@renerpho Simulation: https://t.co/a81R100OwV Higher-res GIF: https://t.co/4Wxn0YNpVb pic.twitter.com/SMtVRbjYOA Tony Dunn (@tony873004) August 17, 2020 Business Insider reported that early observations suggest the space rock flew over the Southern Hemisphere just after 4 a.m. Universal Time (midnight ET) on Sunday. The report said, however, that the International Astronomical Unions Minor Planet Center calculated a slightly different trajectory, suggesting the asteroid flew over the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles east of Australia. Not dangerous, but it is unnerving. According to the report, 2020 QG wasnt too dangerous, as far as space rocks are concerned. Telescope observations suggest the object is between 6 feet (2 meters) and 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide - somewhere between the size of a small car and an extended-cab pickup truck, the report said. According to the Impact Earth simulator from Purdue University and Imperial College London, even if it was on the largest end of that spectrum and made of dense iron, as most asteroids are rocky, only small pieces of such an asteroid may have reached the ground, the Business Insider report cited. Such an asteroid would have exploded in the atmosphere. According to the report, an asteroid such as this one, would have exploded in the atmosphere, creating a brilliant fireball. The airburst unleashed would have been equivalent to detonating a couple dozen kilotons of TNT, or about the same as one of the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan in 1945. However, to people on the ground, the airburst, which would have happened about 2 or 3 miles above the ground, wouldnt have sounded any louder than heavy traffic, the report said. It doesnt take a huge rock to create a big problem. However, the report noted that it does not take a huge space rock to create a big problem. In February 2013, a roughly 66-foot-wide asteroid exploded without warning over Chelyabinsk, Russia, creating a superbolide event, which unleashed an airburst equivalent to 500 kilotons of TNT - about 30 Hiroshima nuclear bombs worth of energy, the report said. The explosion, which began about 12 miles above Earth, triggered a blast wave, shattering windows in six Russian cities and injuring about 1,500 people. What is considered a potentially hazardous NEO? Potentially hazardous NEOs are defined as space objects that come within 0.05 astronomical units and measure more than 460 feet in diameter, according to NASA. NASA is actively scanning the skies for such threats, which Congress has required it to do since 2005. However, the report said the agency is mandated to detect only 90% of city killer space rocks larger than about 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter. In May 2019, NASA said it had found less than half of the estimated 25,000 objects of that size or larger, the report cited. Objects that come from the direction of the sun, meanwhile - like 2020 QG - are notoriously difficult to spot, the report said. Theres not much we can do about detecting inbound asteroids coming from the sunward direction, as asteroids are detected using optical telescopes only (like ZTF), and we can only search for them in the night sky, Chodas said. The idea is that we discover them on one of their prior passages by our planet, and then make predictions years and decades in advance to see whether they have any possibility of impacting, the report quoted Chodas. NASA has a plan. According to the Business Insider report, NASA has a plan to address these gaps in its asteroid-hunting program, and is in the early stages of developing a space telescope able to detect asteroids and comets coming from the suns direction. Nearly $36 million has been allotted in NASAs 2020 budget for that telescope, called the Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission. It could launch as early as 2025, if funding continues. READ MORE: Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. LANSING, Mich. Social media was buzzing Monday over an apparent hot mic moment in which Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mouthed an expletive just prior to her live speech to the Democratic National Convention. Whitmers comments were not picked up on network TV broadcasts, but apparently were heard on a livestream feed. Its not just Shark Week, its Shark Week, mother-----, Whitmer is heard saying with a smile, to laughter from those in the room, as she waits to go live from a Lansing union hall, according to a video clip posted on Twitter by the online newsletter The Recount. I have learned about the hot mic, she added, apparently ironically. The tweet from The Recount was widely shared on Twitter, along with requests for Its Shark Week (expletive) T-shirts from Whitmer supporters. Whitmer based her 2018 campaign for governor around the slogan Fix the Damn Roads. Unlike the curse she used in her campaign, the expletive Whitmer appeared to mouth Monday could not be published in a family newspaper. A Whitmer spokeswoman did not respond to a message seeking comment. Shark Week, which wrapped up this weekend, is an annual summer event in which TV features hours of programming related to sharks. Laura Cox, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, reacted to the apparent gaffe on Twitter Tuesday morning. Whitmer will do anything for press since she was flat and uninspiring, Cox said. Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press wrote this story. 2020 Detroit Free Press Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. [August 19, 2020] Accenture Federal Services Wins Position on U.S. Air Force Strategic Transformation Contract Accenture (News - Alert) Federal Services (AFS), a subsidiary of Accenture (NYSE: ACN), is one of eight firms awarded a position on a contract to help the U.S. Air Force manage and execute enterprise-wide transformation efforts. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005046/en/ Vince Vlasho, Accenture Federal Services Defense portfolio lead (Photo: Business Wire) The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has a five-year ordering period, with a maximum value of $990 million and was awarded by Air Force District of Washington, Secretary of the Air Force Enterprise Support Division for the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, Management and Deputy Chief Management Office. The Air Force defines transformation as fundamentally changing its systems processes, people and/or technology to achieve measurable improvements in efficiency and effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction. Work under the contract includes organizational support for the Air Force Deputy Chief Management Officer as well as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Air Force Office of Business Transformation. "We lok forward to teaming with the Air Force as they accelerate the development and deployment of digital technologies, said Vince Vlasho, Accenture Federal Services Defense portfolio lead. "Through our deep experience in advanced technology implementations, AFS can help the Air Force advance its goal of enterprise-wide transformation in the years ahead." The services that Accenture would provide include digital solutions, the alignment of organizational models, and data-driven performance management across up to 10 Department of Defense (DoD) lines of business: contract/category management; financial management; information technology; acquisition/logistics/supply chain; healthcare; community services; human resources; real property; digital transformation; and the DoD 4th Estate. "We are honored to have the opportunity to support the Air Force in its transformation efforts," said Susan Lawrence, deputy director of the AFS Defense portfolio. "We will apply our experience in areas like digital innovation, workforce transformation and continuous process improvement to help increase Air Force readiness at all levels." About Accenture Federal Services Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of Accenture (NYSE: ACN), is a U.S. company with offices in Arlington, Virginia. Accenture's federal business has served every cabinet-level department and 30 of the largest federal organizations. Accenture Federal Services transforms bold ideas into breakthrough outcomes for clients at defense, intelligence, public safety, civilian and military health organizations. Learn more at www.accenturefederal.com About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries - powered by the world's largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 513,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200819005046/en/ [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] Yes Bank hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 15.78 after the private lender said it has repaid Rs 35,000 crore to the RBI out of the total special liquidity facility (SLF) of Rs 50,000 crore drawn for interim support. In its FY20 annual report, Yes Bank's chairman Sunil Mehta said, "In addition to the Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) of Rs 50,000 crore extended by RBI, the bank has since then received strong customer liquidity inflows. I am pleased to report that the bank has, as of date repaid Rs 35,000 crore of SLF and the balance will be repaid within the timelines set by RBI." Yes Bank successfully raised equity funding of Rs 15,000 crore through follow-on public offering (FPO) towards the end of July 2020. The FPO received bids for 523.48 crore shares from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). The QIB segment was subscribed 1.90 times. Yes Bank's net profit tumbled 60.1% to Rs 45 crore in Q1 FY21 from Rs 114 crore in Q1 FY20. However, the bank has returned to profitability after reporting loss in the past three quarters. It had reported a net loss of Rs 3,668 crore in Q4 FY20. Net Interest Income (NII) fell 16.3% to Rs 1,908 crore in Q1 June 2020 from Rs 2,281 crore in Q1 June 2019. Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 3% in Q1 FY21 as against 2.8% in Q1 FY20. The bank's provisions and contingencies fell 39.1% to Rs 1,087 crore in Q1 FY21 over Q1FY20. It consists of a COVID-19 related provisioning of Rs 642 crore. Total deposits have fallen by 48% to Rs 117,360 crore as on 30 June 2020 from Rs 225,902 crore as on 30 June 2019. Total advances at the end of the June 2020 quarter fell 30% to Rs 164,510 crore from Rs 236,300 crore reported at the end of June 2019 quarter. Yes Bank was under moratorium for 13 days in March 2020. It resumed full-fledged banking operations from 18 March 2020. This came after a consortium of eight public and private banks, led by State Bank of India, agreed to infuse capital into Yes Bank to rescue it from the brink of a collapse. These financial institutions had together pooled in Rs 10,000 crore as investment at Rs 10 per share in Yes Bank when it faced pressure from depositors. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) The Court of Appeals denied Rappler CEO Maria Ressa's motion to travel abroad pending appeal of her conviction. The court said in its resolution released to the public on Wednesday that Ressa failed to prove the urgency and necessity of her presence overseas. This was also pointed out by the Office of the Solicitor General, the resolution stated. "There is no basis to grant her motion," the resolution dated August 18 said. Ressa had requested to leave the country to attend events in the US such as the conferment of the "2020 International Press Freedom Award Honoree" from the National Press Club and panel discussions on the documentary "A Thousand Cuts" where she featured in. She had intended to leave August 23 and return to the Philippines on September 19. Ressa's motion cited that she was previously given permission to travel. However, the court said her conviction "changes her situation" and that she can still attend the events virtually. A Manila court in June convicted Ressa along with former Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. for a cyber libel case filed by a businessman. Ressa and Santos are currently out on bail. "[T]he bail puts the accused under the jurisdiction of the court, and it operates as a valid restriction in a person's right to travel," the court stated. Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) Independent Director, Robert Vitale, recently bought US$90k worth of stock, for US$45.21 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 11%. See our latest analysis for Energizer Holdings Energizer Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when President & COO Mark LaVigne bought US$124k worth of shares at a price of US$41.20 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of US$45.91. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices. Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$214k for 5.00k shares. On the other hand they divested 2.00k shares, for US$103k. In total, Energizer Holdings insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Insider Ownership For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Energizer Holdings insiders own 1.9% of the company, worth about US$61m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. Story continues So What Do The Energizer Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate? It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Insiders likely see value in Energizer Holdings shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Energizer Holdings (including 1 which is a bit concerning). Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. The migrants, among them them five women, two of them pregnant, said the boat engine had stopped working and they did not have any food or water, the group said. Alarm Phone said it alerted Libyan, Maltese, Italian and Tunisian authorities and provided them with relevant details on the boat. Perks and allowances of Metro employees will be slashed by 50% from August, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in an order on Tuesday. The rail corporation said the decision was taken as Metro had incurred a financial loss of Rs 1,500 crore since March 22, when train operations were shut due to the nationwide lockdown announced to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. With no clarity on when Metro operations will resume, DMRC in an order dated August 18 communicated its decision to its employees. In view of the extreme adverse financial condition due to non-operation of Metro services, it has been decided that perks and allowances shall be reduced by 50% w.e.f the month of August 2020, till further orders, the order read. The Metro has also decided to put on hold all sanctions of fresh advances for house building advance, multipurpose advance, laptop advance, etc., which its employees could avail till now. However, the advance already sanctioned shall continue to be disbursed as and when a demand is received, the order said. A senior Metro official, requesting anonymity, confirmed the development. The DMRC officially refused to comment on the matter. With Metro operations shut since March 22, DMRC has suffered a revenue loss of about Rs 1,500 crore. Last month, DMRC had written to the Centre, requesting it to defer repayment of its loan till next year. The Union housing and urban affairs (HUA) ministry had asked DMRC to approach the Delhi government for financial assistance to repay its loan instalment for this year, HT reported on August 7. The rail corporation had taken a soft loan of Rs 35,198 crore for construction work from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). DMRC has repaid Rs 3,337 crore of the loan to JICA. According to another DMRC official, Metro has to pay Rs 1242.83 crore as instalment for the financial year 2020-21. Budapest: Hungary is advising citizens to avoid holidaying abroad from the start of next month and is planning to tighten restrictions due to a rising number of coronavirus cases in Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orban`s chief of staff said on Wednesday. Gergely Gulyas said the government wanted to ensure a safe start to the school year from September 1 and would decide on the steps to take next week. "The situation in Europe is deteriorating, and is at best stagnating in certain countries," Gulyas told a news briefing. "No relaxation of the existing restrictions whatsoever is possible. Given that the number of cases in most countries is rising, stricter rules will be required." Under current regulations, those returning from countries with higher infection rates need to self-quarantine for 14 days unless they produce two negative virus tests. As of Wednesday, Hungary had reported 5,002 coronavirus cases, with 609 deaths. Through this partnership, Rouxbe students will now have the opportunity to learn not only foundational cooking techniques, but pastry as well, all in a flexible and affordable way. Rouxbe, the world's leading online culinary school, today announced a new partnership with The French Pastry School to provide an online pastry course curriculum through the Rouxbe platform. The new course, available in September, will provide an introduction to bread baking, pastry arts, and cake decorating. Additional, more comprehensive courses are slated for development in 2020 and early 2021. The French Pastry School is no doubt one of the leading pastry institutions in the world with a deep history of providing a top-of-the line educational experience for aspiring pastry chefs for more than two decades, said Ken Rubin, Chief Culinary Officer at Rouxbe. Through this partnership, Rouxbe students will now have the opportunity to learn not only foundational cooking techniques, but pastry as well, all in a flexible and affordable way. The course was developed by the esteemed team of chef educators at the French Pastry School, including co-founders Sebastien Canonne, M.O.F., and Jacquy Pfeiffer, James Beard Award-winning author, who are both recipients of the French Legion of Honour Award. The course has been developed with special attention to both knowledge and competency based learning. The course will include dozens of assessment activities, including production activities that will be evaluated by the chefs with opportunities for direct student feedback and engagement. Learning and embracing the art of pastry is quite an undertaking, and one that takes time, dedication and a love for all things sweet, said Pfeiffer. We have committed our lives to educating eager, driven students, and will continue to do so with those enrolled in our online courses. Rouxbe has a proven track record of providing a solid culinary education online, and we believe the platform will provide even more opportunities for students to learn fundamental pastry skills to help them both establish and enhance their careers, said Canonne, M.O.F., at The French Pastry School. We believe that with the flexibility Rouxbe provides, along with our mastery of teaching pastry, we are enabling an entirely new group of individuals the opportunity to study and train in this incredible artform. For more information, please visit https://rouxbe.com/pastry-intro/. About Rouxbe Rouxbe, the world's leading online culinary school, was founded in 2005 to train people of all abilities to become better, more confident even healthier cooks in kitchens around the world. With high definition videos, world-class instructors, peer support and interactive assignments, Rouxbe has set the bar as the new standard in culinary education, providing certificate-level instruction not only to quality restaurants and hospitality organizations but also to serious home cooks and career changers. Rouxbe's revolutionary online platform delivers cutting edge e-learning solutions that drive and measure learning outcomes and engagement while providing effective, lower-cost alternatives for training professional cooks. Over 110 hours of foundational training are available in English, Spanish, French, Mandarin and Arabic to hundreds of thousands of cooks in 180 countries. Rouxbe programs are also recognized by both the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation and by WorldChefs as approved training programs. For more information and the latest news about Rouxbe, please visit http://www.rouxbe.com. About The French Pastry School Founded in 1995 in Chicago, The French Pastry is the only major culinary school in North America dedicated to all things sweet and baked. FPS provides hands-on education taught entirely in our state-of-the-art kitchens by world-renowned chefs. Co-founders, Sebastien Canonne, M.O.F., and Jacquy Pfeiffer, James Beard Award-winning author, are both recipients of the French Legion of Honour Award, the most prestigious award given by France. Both chefs have received the Academic Palms, the highest French National Order in Education and Science. They were featured in the "Kings of Pastry" documentary filmed by Oscar winner D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. Though she has battled depression since high school, the past few years have been happy ones for 28-year-old Kendall Anne Warnock. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Warnock lost her job at a downtown San Francisco restaurant, then her apartment. Her unemployment check never arrived. And her depression returned with a vengeance. I feel like Im a failure. All these people are fine, and Im not, Warnock said. Whats wrong with me? Warnock is not alone. Countless others in the Bay Area are battling anxiety, depression and even thoughts of suicide. As if the pandemic-induced economic collapse werent enough, now there are out-of-control wildfires accompanied by mass evacuations and poor air quality, closing off the one refuge people had the outdoors. In San Francisco, calls for high-risk suicide situations rose 25% on average from May through July 2020 compared to February through April, according to data from the Felton Institute-SF Suicide Prevention, a nonprofit that handles crisis calls for the city. Behavioral health calls doubled in that same period, with more than 5,500 callers expressing mental health concerns from May through July, according to the same report. In Alameda County, calls related to suicide that are considered medium or high-risk situations rose 272% this year through June compared with a year earlier, according to data from the Crisis Support Services of Alameda County. At least 55 people in Alameda County and 27 in Santa Clara county have died by suicide since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from county coroners and medical examiners. The numbers are lower than last years tallies but could change as new reports come in and medical examiners continue to close cases. The total number of deaths by suicide in the nine-county Bay Area since the beginning of the pandemic is unclear due to a lag in state records. David Spiegel, director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford University, estimates that the suicide rate has risen in the Bay Area but said data may be delayed as officials focus on the wave of coronavirus-related deaths. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Since shelter-in-place began in March, Alameda County has seen a rise in behavioral-health related calls, such as those relating to anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, and calls have surged over the past month, said Dr. Karyn Tribble, director of the countys Behavioral Health Services Agency. Referrals to the Alameda County Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis unit from March through June of this year have risen to 205 this year, up from from 137 for the same time period last year. The department has also seen a marked increase in queries from people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, Tribble said. In Santa Clara County, the number of calls to a crisis hotline has remained relatively steady in comparison with last year, but most callers are expressing high anxiety about job losses, financial distress, coronavirus spread and a desire to return to normal, according to data provided by Joy Alexiou, a spokesperson for the countys health department. Across California, the percentage of people with reported symptoms of anxiety disorder has increased by about 9 percentage points from late April to mid-July to almost 39% of respondents in the CDCs Household Pulse Survey on mental health, which is conducted weekly. The proportion of people with reported symptoms of depression has jumped by about six percentage points to 31% of respondents in California, according to the data. Nationwide, an estimated 10% of Americans considerably higher than usual seriously considered suicide in June, according to a June 24-30 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The percentage was higher among Hispanic respondents, at almost 19%, and Black respondents at 15%. Anxiety, depression and substance abuse as a way to cope with stress have also increased, the CDC report says. Im not sure weve ever seen anything quite like this, David Mineta, CEO of Momentum for Health, the largest nonprofit provider of mental health services for Santa Clara County, said at a live-streamed event. He added that folks who dont have a behavioral health disorder or condition, many of us are starting to feel like we are experiencing this now. Financial problems create a lot of stress and can make existing behavioral health disorders worse, or even cause new ones for previously healthy people, according to Spiegel. From 15% to 18% of the American population has an anxiety disorder and 10% to 14% of Americans have minor or major depression and those numbers will likely increase during the current crisis, he said. Historically, recessions have caused corresponding mental health crises, he said. And unlike the 2007-2009 recession and the Great Depression, the pandemic and social-distancing requirements have created a perfect storm, Spiegel said, adding that suicide rates tend to increase when people feel they cannot rely on family and friends. The combination of disasters is very science fiction, Tribble said. Its surreal. The financial uncertainty surrounding his business weighs heavily on Steve Oberhauser, owner of shoe-repair shop The Cobblery in Palo Alto. I get depressed when I just sit there and think about it, he said. His family is the fourth generation of cobblers at the shop, and while they have grappled with some level of financial challenges since it first opened in 1940, this feels different. 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. Its this big unknown. We dont know what this next month is going to bring, he said. Because they have been hardest hit financially and also by COVID-19, Black and Latino communities are facing the most dire version of the coming mental health crisis, said G. Cristina Mora, a sociology professor at UC Berkeley. Latino communities are also less likely to have access to mental health resources as depression and anxiety increase, due to factors including poor health insurance that makes treatment expensive and therapists inaccessible, Mora said. Now Playing: Amid the pandemic, two Bay Area organizations, Mission Meals Coalition and SF Community Fridge, tackle food insecurity by providing a refrigerator stocked with fresh, free food in San Francisco's Mission District. Video: Caron Creighton, Erika Carlos Even people who have not lost their jobs are feeling the financial stress, Tribble said. The cost of living has increased for parents with children because of remote schooling; for the first time, many have to pay more for food, child care, education technology like laptops and electricity. If you need help National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 800-273-8255 to reach a counselor at a locally operated crisis center 24 hours a day for free. Crisis Text Line: Text "Connect" to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor any time for free. By the numbers 272% How much calls related to suicide from people in medium to high-risk situations have risen in a year in Alameda County 39% E stimated percentage of Californians who report having symptoms of anxiety disorders > 5,500 Number of callers to a San Francisco hotline expressing behavioral health concerns from May through July 10% E stimated proportion of Americans who seriously considered suicide in June Sources: Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention See More Collapse Basic things are financially complicated for everyone, which is very unusual, she said. In addition to seeking professional help, the best thing that people can do for each other is to both seek and offer support whenever possible, Spiegel said. And though he knows it seems cliche, Spiegel said that people will often feel better when they eat well, sleep well and get plenty of exercise. Warnock is now relying on her partner, friends and family for housing, financial help and emotional support. She has not seriously considered therapy because she worries that her insurance would not cover the cost. She also finds solace in reading self-help books. Ive been trying to find where I fit in this world, even if nothing ever goes back to normal, she said. Anna Kramer is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.kramer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anna_c_kramer More damaging allegations are thrown at Cuba Gooding Jr. after an alleged rape victim presented herself before the court. On Tuesday, a woman filed a civil suit against Gooding and claimed that he raped her twice in 2013. As stated in the lawsuit, the 52-year-old "A Few Good Men" star allegedly coaxed the woman into a Soho hotel room in the summer of 2013 before raping her two times. The woman, referred under the pseudonym Jane Doe, said that she met the actor at a restaurant in Greenwich Village. Soon after they chatted at the VIP lounge, Gooding invited her and a friend to have drinks at the Mercer Hotel. The suit also disclosed how Gooding allegedly told the victim to come with him to his hotel room to change his clothes quickly. While waiting, Gooding put on music by Mumford & Sons and began to undress. From there, the woman told him she wanted to leave and go to the bar downstairs. However, the actor reportedly blocked her way out and pushed her onto the bed before raping her. When the woman tried to escape again, he did the horrible act for the second time. "Plaintiff was wearing a halter top dress that evening. Defendant finished taking off his clothes (he was now completely naked) and forcibly and without consent put one hand in her halter top to touch Plaintiff's breasts and one hand up her dress," the legal document stated, per Page Six. Despite the victim saying "no" many times, Gooding allegedly continued groping her. Through women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred, the victim is now demanding a jury trial and damages for the sexual assault. The lawsuit further claims that the actor violated a city law that protects victims who are being threatened and targeted. Meanwhile, Gooding's lawyer, Mark J. Heller, referred to the allegations in the lawsuit as "completely false and defamatory." Gooding Facing Countless Allegations Before the rape allegation came to light, Cuba Gooding Jr. has already been facing a criminal trial on six misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching from three different accusers. The authorities busted the actor for the first time after an incident at the Moxy Hotel, where he reportedly squeezed the woman's breast. Two additional accusers came forward after that. Gooding also reportedly assaulted a Tao Downtown server named Natasha Ashworth, causing him to be arrested again and charged with "sexual contact without consent." Soon after the Manhattan district attorney's office publicly documented the claims, 19 additional women with accusations of unwanted sexual touching against Gooding also emerged. They requested the jury to hear those woman's testimony in order to trace the actor's behavior. The judge ordered and allowed two of the women to provide their testimonies. Furthermore, in a court hearing last week, assistant district attorney Jenna Long revealed that the total number of women who experienced such sexual misconduct from Gooding has already risen to 30. READ MORE: Royal Headaches: 3 Times Prince Harry and Meghan Markle RECKLESSLY Used Taxpayers' Money (Newser) One of two men convicted of murdering Michael Jordan's father has set his sights on Aug. 6, 2023the date he'll finally walk out of prison. Larry Demery's parole date was announced by North Carolina officials on Tuesday, following a "three-way agreement" between Demery, the Division of Prisons, and the Mutual Agreement Parole Program, which WECT reports is "a scholastic and vocational program." A rep for the state Department of Public Safety notes Demery will receive assistance in preparing for life after prison, per CBS News. He's been locked up since 1996. story continues below He was convicted of first-degree murder in the July 23, 1993, killing of 56-year-old James Jordanwho was fatally shot while sleeping in his red Lexus, a gift from his son, along a highway in Lumberton and then disposed of in a swampand sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years. Because of an error in his initial sentencing, he was re-sentenced to life in 2008, "making him eligible for parole," per the AP. Daniel Green was also convicted of the killing, which prosecutors said was motivated by robbery, and was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years. Both men were 18 at the time of the crime and accuse the other of pulling the trigger. Green claims Demery left a cookout they were both at to head to a drug deal and returned shaken and asking for help getting rid of a body, which Green says he did assist with. (Read more parole stories.) Your mouth contains more than 700 species of bacteria in it, but not all of them are harmful. Some are beneficial bacteria which help in the digestion of food, while others, such as Streptococcus mutans result in cavities. However, dentists have been using various products such as stannous fluoride to prevent plaque accumulation and silver nitrate or silver diamine fluoride to arrest existing cavities. But repeated use of these products can result in staining of teeth and the bacteria become resistant to these agents. Moreover, these agents kill not only harmful bacteria but also the good ones. In order to deal with this problem, scientists from the American Chemical Society examined the effectiveness of cerium oxide nanoparticles against the cavity-causing bacteria. What causes cavities? The bacteria in our mouth are always in the active state. Soon after you clean your mouth, the bacteria stick to teeth and begin reproducing. The sugar and food stuck between your teeth act as a source of energy and building blocks for these bacteria. With the help of these, the bacteria form a tough biofilm over the teeth which cannot be removed easily by brushing. As the bacteria keep metabolising sugar, they form acidic residues which dissolve the outer layer of enamel, thus allowing cavities to develop. Cerium oxide nanoparticles prevent cavities without killing good bacteria Dr Russell Pesavento, the principal investigator of the study, and his fellow researchers prepared the nanoparticles by dissolving ceric ammonium nitrate or sulfate salts in water. Then the researchers grew Streptococcus mutans in two different polystyrene plates and fed them sugar, but one of them had the cerium oxide nanoparticle solution in it. The results revealed that the plate with cerium oxide nanoparticle solution showed 40 percent less formation of biofilm as compared to the one without the nanoparticle solution. The scientists further tested another anti-cavity agent, silver nitrate, under similar conditions, but it showed no effect on the growth of the biofilm. These nanoparticles were better than other anti-cavity agents as they were less harmful to the good oral bacteria. They alsodid not allow the cavity-causing bacteria to stick to the polystyrene plate at all and were less toxic than other agents such as silver nitrate. Many dentists are looking forward to using these nanoparticles in office settings to prevent cavities even before they start occurring. Tips to prevent dental cavities Certain things can be done to prevent your teeth from getting cavities. Dr Sonia Bhatt, a Dental Surgeon associated with myUpchar, has given the following tips to prevent dental cavities: 1. You should always brush your teeth before going to bed as it removes any food particle that could have gotten stuck between your teeth. You should floss your teeth after brushing to remove any piece of food that brushing missed. 2. Parents can get fluoride application done on their kids teeth as the fluoride protects the surface of their teeth from disease-causing bacteria. 3. Use therapeutic mouthwashes such as chlorhexidine mouthwash to keep harmful bacteria at bay. Dilute the mouthwash with water and use it once daily for only 21 days. Do not overuse mouthwash as it can damage your tastebuds and can cause staining of teeth. 4. Adults can get their teeth coated with dental sealants. Dental sealants are thin protective coatings that are painted on the chewing surfaces of the teeth like molars. Studies have shown that it can reduce the risk of cavities on molars by 80 percent. 5. Avoid eating caramel rich candies as they tend to stick to the surface of your teeth for longer. 6. Cut back your consumption of carbonated and sweet drinks as the sugar component from the drink can stay in your mouth even after you finish the drink, thus promoting cavities. For more information, read our article on Cavities (Dental Caries). 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. On Monday Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko went to the Minsk Tractor Works, the countrys biggest factory with almost 15,000 workers, and did his tough-guy act: Until you kill me, there will be no other election. The horny-handed sons of toil simply replied by chanting Ukhodi! Get Out! It looked like a restaging of the famous scene in Bucharest in 1989 when long-ruling Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was shouted down by an enraged crowd. Like Ceausescu, Lukashenko faltered, amazed and bewildered these people were supposed to be his base and then fled the podium. Ceausescu was dead within four days of his last speech, executed by his own colleagues. That probably wont happen to Lukashenko: the Belarusian uprising is non-violent. Lukashenko is not a Communist either, although his regime has been called neo-Soviet. But will he be gone in four days? Maybe so. And maybe not. There could be a Russian military intervention to prevent power from falling into the wrong hands, although that seems unlikely. Or Lukashenko might manage to persuade his demoralized security forces to do enough killing to clear the streets of the daily demos, though that also seems improbable. Or the change of regime could just take a bit longer. After filling the streets with protesters for 10 consecutive days, however, the democratic opposition is confident enough of its popular support to form a 35-person coordination council of artists, writers and business people to oversee the transfer of power. It could go quite smoothly if Lukashenko accepts that exile is his best remaining option. Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya, probably the real winner of the election two weeks ago, says she would become president only long enough to organize a new, free and fair election (which her imprisoned husband would probably win). But win, lose or draw, there are two encouraging conclusions to take away from the Belarusian events. The first is that winning an election is now the only way of achieving political legitimacy almost anywhere in the world. Apart from China, a few other Communist countries, and a few Arab countries, all countries now require popular consent expressed in a public vote. Many of those votes are rigged, of course: winning elections is easy if you control the media, the police and the courts. But the principle is now almost universal: its now as important to win some sort of election, however flawed, as it was 300 years ago to prove you were the true and legitimate heir to the throne. Lukashenko won five such elections over 26 years before coming a cropper this time: the point is that the requirement to win an election creates repeated opportunities for non-violent protest to flourish, and often even to triumph. For all the abuses and disappointments, it has made the world a better place. The second cheering thought is that state-sponsored violence is less effective than it used to be: Lukashenko tried it for two nights, and then backed away from it. The problem is that violence is always ugly, and social media technology has made it much more visible. This might deter some people from activism, but it seems to motivate more people to protest. Russian leader Vladimir Putin certainly doesnt want to see Lukashenko overthrown by a non-violent democratic uprising in Belarus the parallels with his own situation in Russia are alarmingly close. But he probably doesnt dare to send in Russian troops even if Lukashenko asks for them. To do so could be the trigger for a similar popular movement in Russia. We are still a long way from the Promised Land, but the balance of forces has changed, perhaps permanently. It is the dictatorships, not the democratic governments, that must worry constantly about being overthrown, and from Putin in Russia to Sisi in Egypt to Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe to Chan-ocha in Thailand they are worried indeed. So we should encourage them all to steal enough money that they can go into exile with an easy mind when their time finally comes. (They must know it may come one day; why else would they bother stealing so much?) And this is where the real problem with Lukashenko could arise: he may not have been corrupt enough. The Willis Independent School District has started building a new elementary school campus near Lake Conroe as growth and development continues. On Friday, Superintendent Tim Harkrider confirmed the district started moving dirt three weeks ago on the new 101,930 square foot campus located at 11505 Pine Valley Drive, close to the San Jacinto River Authority and Longmire Road. Harkrider said the district has completed the permitting process with the city of Conroe and the board voted Wednesday night to proceed with the construction of Elementary No. 6. The two-story campus is expected to house 850 kindergarten through fifth grade students. Construction is expected to continue for the next year, he said. We should be in it late June of 2021, Harkrider said. The new elementary campus was part of the $109.5 million school bond package that was approved by voters in 2015 to accommodate current and future growth. It was proposed in the package for $26.8 million, went for bid in 2017, and was set to open in 2018-19 at a different location in the same area. The district ultimately delayed the project citing layout issues on the original property further north that the school officials said had a creek running through it. Harkrider said the district also waited for enrollment to grow. When the site wasnt conducive and then our numbers at the time had slowed down from a growth standpoint, we tabled started construction until numbers started getting up again, Harkrider said. We started a second site for this location, numbers started getting up. The campus will now be built on the new property which is approximately 20 acres and five miles away at a lower cost. Harkrider said after rebidding in early Spring that the bid came in at about $1.5 million less than it did in 2017 for a total of about $23.5 million. The general contractor will be Durotech, inc. and the architect will be Stantec. These are the same companies which constructed and designed the other 2015 bond projects. Harkrider said there were no changes to the design of the new elementary campus after switching to the new southwest location near the lake which is a high growth area for the district. Theres a lot of woods around the building, its a beautiful scene right now, eventually Im sure there is going to be a large development behind us on the south side, Harkrider said. But right now it is a beautiful facility, its going to look a little different from our other campuses in our district we kind of wanted to go for that inside with it being an elementary campus there will be lot of color, so it will be a nice building. The district plans to make an announcement in the Spring regarding the process for the schools new name and also plans to have a ground breaking ceremony in the near future. Attendance zone meetings The school officials said the new elementary school is expected to have an impact on other campuses as it will change attendance zones. The district plans to host informational sessions in the late fall or early spring. The Texas-based demographic firm, Population and Survey Analysts (PASA), is expected to provide scenarios and explain attendance zone options. The district plans to take feedback from the community, discuss the options and community feedback with the board of trustees, and hopes to make a decision by March or April 2021 on the attendance lines. The school district currently has five elementary school campuses. The districts smallest school, Parmley, the districts smallest school, currently has 576 students enrolled. CC Hardy Elementary follows with 605 students while Cannan Elementary has 637 students. The two elementary campuses with the most students enrolled Meador Elementary with 808 students and Turner Elementary with 810 students are fairly close to capacity, the school officials said. The May 2019 Demographic Update for Willis ISD is available on PASAs website. Future construction update The district is currently finalizing the purchase for a site for its third middle school and will be in the market for a site for its seventh elementary school soon, Harkrider said. The area we are targeting is also in the southwest portion of our school district, Harkrider said. Both of those locations, for middle school 3 and elementary 6 were kind of targeted areas that our demographers PASA felt like was the best location for us to target land purchase. The site for middle school No. 3 is expected to be purchased with 2015 bond funds, which included nearly $9 million for land purchases, Harkrider said. He noted that it is still early for elementary No. 7, which the district has not started its search for yet. Despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, as of Thursday, Harkrider said the district has approximately 7,600 students, which he said is about the same number of students enrolled this time last year. He shared the last school year ended with about 7,800-7,900 students enrolled in the district. He believes the enrollment will continue to climb over the next few weeks, after Labor Day, and back up to close to the 8,000-student mark by the middle of October. After canceling a $175 million bond election that was postponed from May, the board unanimously voted last Wednesday to call for a new $100.15 million bond package with one proposition and no tax rate increase. The board has decided keep Proposition A on the November ballot. The school officials said it would stay the same and provide over $55 million in facility improvements, elementary gym additions at four elementary campuses estimated at about $2.16 million each, a $14 million Lynn Lucas Middle School expansion, and a new $22 million pre-k center. mellsworth@hcnonline.com Forget the gleaming, high-rise towers in the nation's most glamorous cities and those sprawling, palm treeringed residences with killer ocean views. Today's hottest housing is located in towns and small cities that aren't usually a part of the national conversation. The realtor.com economics team identified the 10 hottest ZIP codes in the country where demand is surging and homes are flying off the marketsometimes within hours of being listed. These places tend to offer cheaper homes, or less expensive prices per square foot for those seeking more spacious abodes, than the rest of their respective suburbswhich themselves are bargains compared with the nearby cities. Some of these ZIPs are close to highways or public transit for commuters (when white-collar workers stream back to their offices) and may boast good school districts as well. Other ZIPs on our list are in less pricey cities, appealing to cash-strapped buyers. "With prices growing faster than they were before the pandemic and people looking for more space, affordability has become even more important," says realtor.com's chief economist, Danielle Hale. Many folks who have been spending more time than ever before in their abodes, especially those who will be working from home indefinitely, are looking for larger homes in more remote areas where it's easier to maintain social distance. "People are shifting away from Western metros, which tend to be more expensive, says Hale. Homes in these ZIPs sold in an average of just 18 days. That's about four weeks faster than in their respective metropolitan areas and roughly 51 days faster than properties in the rest of the country. They also received about 4.3 times more views on realtor.com. "This year's list is definitely centered on the East Coast, which is a bit of a shift from previous years," says Hale. "Some of those areas in the Northeast have bounced back in a big way [from a deluge of COVID-19 cases], which is probably helping them to rise to the top. ... The absence of the South and Midwest is because of the pandemic and how it has played out over time in different parts of the country." To come up with our list, the realtor.com economics team looked at ZIP codes in the 300 largest metropolitan areas (which include the main city and surrounding smaller urban areas, towns, and suburbs) from April through June of this year. We ranked ZIP codes by which ones received the most page views per property on realtor.com and had the fewest days on the market. ZIP codes needed at least 13 listings per month to be included. Only the top ZIP code from each metro was included. So what are the nation's most in-demand ZIP codes? Cheaper ZIP codes in smaller cities are popular with buyers Colorado Springs, CO, has become a popularand more affordablealternative to Denver. Mint Images/Getty Images Colorado Springs' 80911 snagged the top spot in 2020 as the only ZIP code in the Western swath of the country. Homes in the southwestern ZIP code sold in a median six days in July. The appeal of the ZIP code, about 80 miles south of Denver, may lie in its relative affordability. The median home list price was $306,500 in Julysignificantly less than the median $455,050 price within Colorado Springs' city limits, according to realtor.com data. It's also much less expensive than Denver's median $550,000 price tag. But that increase in demand has driven prices in the ZIP code up nearly 15.9% from last July. "You can get a lot for your money here," says Dominic Pucci, a real estate agent at Blockhouse Real Estate. He moved from California to the 80911 ZIP code, where he also sells homes now. He gets some buyers from California purchasing second homes or rental properties in the area as well as military personnel relocating from all over the country to one of the area's five military bases. Many of the homes in the ZIP code are rehabbed or recently flipped ranches and bilevel, single-family homes with yards. A five-bed, three-bath home in good shape with a two-car garage in the community is now going for about $330,000, he says. The market is "still really cooking-hot," says Pucci. Homes in Raleigh, NC's 27604, No. 10, are similarly listed at a fraction of the price in the rest of the growing technology hub. Affordable areas within commuting distance to larger cities are in demand Boston-area suburbs, exurbs, and smaller, nearby cities, like Melrose, MA, are becoming more popular with home buyers. Boston Globe / Contributor/Getty Images Reynoldsburg's 43608, No. 2, benefits from its proximity to Ohio's capital city of Columbusat about a third less of the cost. Homes in the Reynoldsburg suburb, about 20 minutes east of Columbus, are listed at a median $193,450compared with $267,000. "There's lots of building, lots of jobs. Our whole surrounding area is hot," says longtime Reynoldsburg real estate broker Oleta Johnson, of Gene P. Johnson Realty. She touted the nearby Ohio State University, an Amazon fulfillment center, and an expanded Facebook data center as just a few of the area's employers. "We've never seen anything like this," says Johnson, who listed a four-bed, 2.5-bath house "in a nice subdivision" at 3 p.m. on July 31. It had 22 showings and three offers, and was sold by noon the next day for $275,000for $15,000 above asking price. "We were waiting for the other shoe to drop when this pandemic hit," says Johnson. Real estate professionals were permitted to show homes through the pandemic. "But we havent seen any drop in pricing or time on market." Three Boston-area, smaller cities of Melrose, MA (No. 4), Hudson, NH (No. 7), and Worcester, MA (No. 8); the Portland, ME, outpost of South Portland (No. 5); and the Washington, DC, suburb of Springfield, VA (No. 9), have also benefited from their more affordable prices and closer proximity to the bigger cities. In Worcester, about an hour west of Boston, developers are turning old factory buildings into apartments and condos, new restaurants are coming online, and buyers priced out of Boston are descending. "The whole city's really just blowing up," says Worcester-area real estate agent Nick McNeil, of the Lux Group. The 01602 ZIP code in the Tatnuck area, home to Worcester State University, is one of the area's more residential districts. "It's a lot of single-family houses," he says. "We see a lot of Tudors, a lot of bungalow-style homes." Buyers can scoop up three-bed, 1.5-bath homes in the $300,000 to $350,000 range. But they'd better act fast. Homes are selling in a median 17 days. "Boston has just become unaffordable, so people are spreading out, traveling to find suitable housing at a reasonable price," McNeil says. Buyers are flocking to less expensive parts of the country Topeka, KS, is a more affordable destination for home buyers. LawrenceSawyer/Getty Images Buyers chasing affordability are also discovering cheaper parts of the country that offer lower home prices, costs of living, and even taxes, in some areas. And as more companies allow workers to telecommute going forward, these places, like Rochester, NY (No. 3), and Topeka, KS (No. 6), could see surges in demand. Smaller cities could also benefit from folks fleeing their small apartments and condos in big cities seeking additional square footage and backyards without losing that urban feel. "With big cities being expensive, people are looking for areas that are more affordable," says realtor.com's Hale. Top 10 Hottest ZIP codes in the U.S. 1. Colorado Springs, CO (80911) Median list price in the ZIP code: $306,500 Median list price within the city limits: $455,050 2. Reynoldsburg, OH (43068) Median list price in the ZIP code: $193,450 Median list price within the city limits: $193,450 3. Rochester, NY (14617) Median list price in the ZIP code: $162,450 Median list price within the city limits: $158,950 4. Melrose, MA (02176) Median list price in the ZIP code: $644,950 Median list price within the city limits: $644,950 5. South Portland, ME (04106) Median list price in the ZIP code: $350,050 Median list price within the city limits: $350,050 6. Topeka, KS (66614) Median list price in the ZIP code: $159,500 Median list price within the city limits: $132,500 7. Hudson, NH (03051) Median list price in the ZIP code: $440,000 Median list price within the city limits: $440,000 8. Worcester, MA (01602) Median list price in the ZIP code: $329,950 Median list price within the city limits: $315,050 9. Springfield, VA (22152) Median list price in the ZIP code: $509,950 Median list price within the city limits: $549,950 10. Raleigh, NC (27604) Median list price in the ZIP code: $287,950 Median list price within the city limits: $519,800 The post Far From the Bright Lights of Big Cities, These Are America's Hottest ZIP Codes in 2020 appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Photo: The Canadian Press Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita attends the Paris Peace Forum in Paris. Soldiers detained Malis president and prime minister Tuesday after surrounding a residence and firing into the air in an apparent coup attempt after several months of demonstrations calling for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitas ouster. The soldiers moved freely through the streets of Bamako, making it increasingly clear that they were in control of the capital city. There was no immediate comment from the troops, who hailed from the same military barracks in Kati where an earlier coup originated more than eight years ago. The upheaval unfolded months after disputed legislative elections, but Keita's support also tumbled amid criticism of his government's handling of an Islamic insurgency that has engulfed the country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. The military has taken a beating over the past year from Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked groups. A wave of particularly deadly attacks in the north in 2019 prompted the government to close its most vulnerable outposts as part of a reorganization aimed at stemming the losses. African Union chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the forced detention of Malian leaders and called for their immediate release. He rejected any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government. The developments were also condemned by the United States, the United Nations, the regional bloc known as ECOWAS and former colonizer France, which along with a U.N. peacekeeping mission has worked since 2013 to stabilize the West African nation. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Tuesday's political turmoil threatened to further jeopardize security in Mali, where the 2012 coup allowed the Islamic insurgency to take hold amid a power vacuum. But news of Keita's detention was met with celebration throughout the capital by anti-government protesters who first took to the streets back in June to demand that the president step down three years before the end of his final term. The detention was a dramatic change of fortune for Keita, who seven years earlier emerged from a field of more than two dozen candidates to win Mali's first democratic election post-coup in a landslide with more than 77 per cent of the vote. Regional mediators from ECOWAS, though, failed to bridge the impasse between Keita's government and opposition leaders, creating mounting anxiety about another military-led change of power. Then on Tuesday, soldiers in the garrison town of Kati took weapons from the armoury at the barracks and detained senior military officers. Anti-government protesters immediately cheered the soldiers actions, some even setting fire to a building that belongs to Malis justice minister in the capital. Prime Minister Boubou Cisse urged the soldiers to put down their arms. There is no problem whose solution cannot be found through dialogue, he said in a communique. But the wheels already were in motion armed men began detaining people in Bamako too, including the countrys finance minister, Abdoulaye Daffe. Keita, who has tried to meet protesters' demands through a series of concessions since the demonstrations began, has enjoyed broad support from France and other Western allies. He also was believed to have widespread backing among high-ranking military officials, underscoring a divide between army leadership and unpredictable rank-and-file soldiers. Tuesday marked a repeat of the events leading up to the 2012 coup, which unleashed years of chaos in Mali when the ensuing power vacuum allowed Islamic extremists to seize control of northern towns. Ultimately a French-led military operation ousted the jihadists, but they merely regrouped and expanded their reach during Keitas presidency into central Mali. Keita's political downfall closely mirrors that of his predecessor. Amadou Toumani Toure was forced out of the presidency in 2012 after a series of punishing military defeats. That time, the attacks were carried out by ethnic Tuareg separatist rebels. This time, Malis military has sometimes seemed powerless to stop extremists linked to al-Qaida and IS. Back in 2012, the mutiny erupted at the Kati military camp as rank-and-file soldiers began rioting and then broke into the camps armoury. After grabbing weapons, they later headed for the seat of government under the leadership of Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo. Sanogo was later forced to hand over power to a civilian transitional government, which then organized the election Keita won. Mediators this time around have urged Keita to share power in a unity government. He even said he was open to redoing disputed legislative elections. But those overtures were swiftly rejected by opposition leaders who said they would not stop short of Keitas ouster. Protesters were quick to welcome the military's action. All the Malian people are tired we have had enough, one demonstrator said. THETFORD MINES, QC, Aug.19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - During a meeting of the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE Quebec environmental review board) held in Thetford Mines (QC-CAN) on Tuesday, August 18, the Innu of Pessamit, the Atikamekw of Wemotaci and the Anishnabek of Pikogan reiterated, through their spokespersons, their intention to oppose the proposed power line running through the state of Maine to Massachusetts and to do everything possible to derail this project it if their rights are not respected. "As long as we have not obtained compensation for the electricity usurped using production facilities, reservoirs and transmission lines built on our ancestral territories without notice, without impact studies, and without our consent, we will do everything to prevent the Appalaches-Maine Interconnection Line (in Quebec) and its American counterpart (in the state of Maine), the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project, from happening," said representatives of these three First Nations. They explained to the BAPE commissioners that currently, 36% of the total hydroelectric power installed by Hydro-Quebec, i.e. 13,200 MW, comes from traditional Indigenous territories which are protected by ancestral rights that have in fact never been respected. In total, 33 production structures, 130 dams and dikes, 10,400 km2 of reservoirs, tens of thousands of kilometres of roads, transmission and distribution lines have been illegally put in place. Enriching Quebec by Impoverishing Indigenous Peoples These infrastructures are still operated by Hydro-Quebec in violation, in particular, of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, various treaties, rights recognized by the Constitution Act of 1982, jurisprudence coming from the Supreme Court of Canada and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (see Articles 8, 20, 26 and 29). By allowing Hydro-Quebec to take control of our traditional territories, the Quebec government has upset the family units and the socio-economic balance of the communities of Pessamit, Wemotaci and Pikogan. It has contributed to eliminating habitats, making food harder to find and water bodies more difficult to navigate, all while replacing the economic practices of fishing, hunting and trapping with social transfer payments. This is how our First Nations have allowed Quebec to industrialize, giving the majority of its citizens access to a better quality of life, while the well-being indicators for our communities are comparable to those in third-world countries. Enough is enough! In their presentation to the BAPE, the three communities affirmed that they will not allow Hydro-Quebec to benefit from the Atikamekw, Innu and Anishnabek heritage in their deal with the United States without openly participating in the debate currently taking place in the state of Maine. "Hydro-Quebec recently announced with great fanfare that everything was settled on that side of the border, but they're mistaking dreams for reality," said one of the representatives. This is a serious underestimation of the solidarity between the First Nations of Quebec and New England. In 2018, Pessamit made a major contribution to the derailment of the Northern Pass transmission line project that would cross New Hampshire from north to south. If the Quebec government turns a deaf ear, Pessamit, Wemotaci and Pikogan will do their utmost to disrupt the NECEC project next!" Remedial Measures "Given that the electricity intended for Massachusetts was acquired unconstitutionally by Hydro-Quebec with the complicity of the Quebec and Canada governments, and that the operation of the production works goes against the case law emanating from the Supreme Court of Canada in particular; given that the directive from the Ministere de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (Quebec Ministry of the Environment) concerning the Appalaches-Maine project, as well as the Hydro-Quebec impact study, do not even address the issue of legitimacy of 36% of the electricity that Hydro-Quebec intends to sell in the United States without our consent; given that no account has been taken of the development of case law on Indigenous rights; considering that the systematic and uninterrupted invasion of our ancestral territories is based on a series of unilateral decisions allowing Hydro-Quebec to occupy our territories indefinitely and without compensation, where the merits of our claims are nevertheless recognized by the Crown: WE, the Pessamiulnut, the Wemotaci Iriniwok and the Abitibiwinnik, demand that remedial measures be put in place before any new export project is carried out into the United States. We confirm our firm opposition to the Appalaches-Maine Interconnection project as long as our rights are not respected." SOURCE Innu First Nation of Pessamit SYDNEY A fresh outbreak of infections in Australias coronavirus hot zone of Victoria appeared to have eased on Wednesday, as the country signed a deal to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine that it intends to roll out free of cost to its citizens. Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday. All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out, but I think there would be widespread uptake in Australia," Hunt told Sky News on Wednesday. AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for COVID-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britains University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. A flare up in infections in Australias second most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew, tighten restrictions on peoples movements and order large parts of the states economy to close. The southeastern state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave of infections. Victoria reported 216 new daily cases in the last 24 hours compared with 222 a day earlier. It reported 12 deaths compared with 17 on Tuesday. Despite seeing a surge of new infections in the past month, Australia has largely avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus. 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 A car burns at a residence in the valley area of Vacaville, northern California during the LNU Lightning Complex fire on August 19, 2020. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday to ensure that the state gets vital resources amid wildfires that have aggravated a stifling heat wave. At least 27 fires are raging across the state, including some caused by lightning from a rare summer thunderstorm Sunday, according to a map by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The flames have intensified temperatures from a serious heatwave that rolled in over the weekend. About 20 fires were being tracked as the single SCU (Santa Clara Unit) Lightning Complex Fire and have consumed 25,000 acres in two days, Cal Fire said. They're in the counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus. More from NBC News: Three lightning-sparked fires in Napa County known collectively as the LNU (Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit) Lightning Complex Fire had consumed more than 12,000 acres, with no containment reported Tuesday night, according to Cal Fire. Multiple communities in Napa County were either under evacuation orders or warnings. Newsom's office said Tuesday night it has secured grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help the state fight the LNU Lightning Complex Fire and the Jones Fire in Nevada County. Bay Area air quality officials advised residents to stay indoors "if temperatures allow" Tuesday and Wednesday as a result of smoke in the atmosphere. On Saturday, a fiery tornado was spotted near the Nevada border where the Loyalton Fire continues to burn in Tahoe National Forest. The emergency order will allow agencies to deploy every possible resource to keep residents safe under such "extreme" conditions, Newsom announced Tuesday. "California and its federal and local partners are working in lockstep to meet the challenge and remain vigilant in the face of continued dangerous weather conditions," Newsom said. The state has been under the threat of rolling blackouts since Friday as the high temperatures have stretched the state's energy grid to its limits. The governor signed an emergency proclamation Monday to prevent rolling blackouts. The order allowed some users and utilities to use "backup energy sources" during peak times. The power grid's manager, the California Independent System Operator, said on Twitter Tuesday night that the possibility of outages seemed to have passed, at least until Wednesday. "You did it, California consumers," it said. "No rotating power outages expected tonight." The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which on Friday said it wouldn't be participating in rolling outages, said on Tuesday some of its customers were in the dark. "Extreme #LAHeat and electricity demand has overloaded distribution equipment in some neighborhoods," the taxpayer-run utility said on Twitter. The department said that on Tuesday it had recorded the highest electricity demand yet for 2020. The National Weather Service urged residents on the West Coast to take the heightened temperatures seriously to prevent heat-related illnesses. "Yeah, it's summer, and summer is hot, but this is different," the agency tweeted. "These are record high temperatures in what is typically one the hottest times of the year anyways." In the early evening Tuesday, it was still 125 degrees at the Death Valley Furnace Creek visitor's center, according to the National Weather Service. Triple-digit temperatures baked the state from Redding in the north to El Centro near the border, the latter of which recorded a reading of 112 degrees shortly after 6 p.m. El Centro and San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were under excessive heat warnings through Thursday, the National Weather Service said. An excessive heat warning was in effect for Los Angeles through 9 p.m. Wednesday, when it was expected to be reduced to a heat advisory through Thursday night, federal forecasters said. In the San Francisco Bay Area, an excessive heat warning was in effect through Wednesday night. The National Weather Service office in Los Angeles said in its forecast discussion Tuesday that little relief was expected. "Only slight cooling is expected later in the week and temperatures will remain above normal through early next week," it said. New York State Bans All Ticketed Events In Devastating Blow To Musicians, Venues New coronavirus related guidelines for New York bars and restaurants prohibit them from offering any live music that is separately ticketed. The statewide ruling effectively bans all live music that would pay musicians a living wage. Only unadvertised and unticketed incidental music is allowed. According to state liquor regulators: Incidental music is non-ticketed, unadvertised performances that accompany and are incidental to a dining experience; i.e., patrons have come to dine, and the music provided is incidental to the dining experience. Many clubs and promoters across the state were caught off guard by the clarification and had begun charging a cover and scheduling ticketed shows for the coming weeks. This is devastating. This is devastating, said Julie Leone, co-owner of The 443 Social Club & Lounge in Syracuse. The 443 had only reopened in the past few weeks. This effectively shuts me down again. Like other venues across the state, Leone has begun frantically canceling shows shes booked recently by both local musicians and national touring acts like Griffin House. There is no word thus far as to when the ban will lift. Share on: Candice Accola King revealed on Monday that she was expecting her second child with her husband Joe King. The 33-year-old Vampire Diaries star made the announcement on the newest episode of her podcast Directionally Challenged. The upcoming baby will be the second child for her and her husband, though they also share two daughters from Joe's first marriage. New baby: Candice Accola King, 33, revealed Monday on her podcast Directionally Challenged that she was expecting her second child with husband Joe King; pictured in July 2019 'Something I have not shared yet on this podcast is that Im actually pregnant. Ive got a bun in the oven,' Candice revealed to her co-host Kayla Ewell and her listeners. 'Im a little over five months, so its been the entirety of the whole quarantine experience and everything that 2020 has brought us this year, and its been a journey to say the least,' she continued. The actress explained that she had sat on the news until she was 'comfortable and confident that Im in a good place in pregnancy and that, you know, my babys okay and Im okay as best as we can be. But Im finally at that place right now, which feels really good.' Special announcement: 'Something I have not shared yet on this podcast is that Im actually pregnant. Ive got a bun in the oven,' Candice revealed. She said she got pregnant at the start of the pandemic; pictured in 2014 'I feel comfortable and confident enough to discuss it now,' she continued. Monday's podcast featured a pregnancy-related conversation with Haize Hawk, a doula and a student midwife, and Candice used the occasion to tease her news. 'This week we talk about about pregnancy during a pandemic, what a doula does, and how to keep yourself balanced during these times,' she wrote. 'Whether youre surrendering to 2020 or to a pregnancy in 2020, Haize makes us all feel that we can drop into ourselves to find our true strength. Oh, and there might also be some exciting news shared in this special episode.' Candice previously gave birth to her first daughter Florence May, now four, in January 2016. No rush: She said she waited to announce until she was 'comfortable and confident' that the pregnancy was safe; shown in 2014 Growing family: She and Joe welcomed their daughter Florence May, four, in 2016, and Joe also has two daughters from his first marriage; pictured together in 2017 Her husband Joe, 40, who plays guitars and sings in the rock group The Fray, also shares daughters Ava and Elise King with his first wife Julie. The Originals actress and the rocker became engaged in Florence, Italy, in 2013 after three years of dating. The couple married in New Orleans in October of the following year. The Ministry of Education has said that Ontario school boards can tap into reserve funds to plan for back to school. Some of that money should be used to facilitate more outdoor learning. So far, class sizes, space for physical distancing and PPE have been the focus of discussions. No one seems to be thinking seriously about using the outdoors as an integral part of the plan. However, just as the return to restaurants started with dining on patios, the return to school should put more emphasis on outdoor spaces. Many schools already have some outdoor classroom space and more could be created if there is a will and available funds. Open-air learning was part of the response to tuberculosis a century ago. According to TVO, W.E. Struthers, chief medical officer of the Toronto Board of Education, visited early forest schools in Germany and England before setting up the citys first forest school in the east end in 1912. The article goes on to say that The Star reported that the school where children spent hours in the fresh air playing, learning, and napping was such a success that officials were inundated with applications for the next year. While the weather would become more of a challenge as the fall turned into winter, spending as much time outdoors early on would help students and staff adjust to being with groups of people. It would also bring us closer to a potential vaccine and understanding more about the viruss transmission. There are also educators who are well versed in safely leading open-air learning all year round. The TDSB, for example, has an entire outdoor education department with expertise in helping children learn outdoors in all weather conditions. Outdoor educators should be an integral part of back-to-school planning and their expertise must be shared widely. I was disappointed when I heard the initial plans for high school students eliminated lunch, trips and even sports. While I understand the logistical issues that prompted these decisions, I also understand that these are the things that were missed most since remote learning became the norm. Including more outdoor time could help make up for these losses. School is not just about the instruction of curriculum. The social skills and connections that come with all of the other aspects of going to school are just as important. The worldwide pandemic response has interrupted schooling for over a billion students with the UN calling it a generational catastrophe. We must use every tool at our disposal to ensure we respond as effectively as possible and using outdoor spaces to advantage would be a step in the right direction. One hundred years ago, open-air learning focused on helping vulnerable children regain their physical health. Modern outdoor education could help this generation of students reconnect with each other, their communities and give everyone the chance to reimagine where learning can happen. - The global advertising agency software market was valued at US$ 365.66 Mn in 2018 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate of 12.5% over the forecast period. PUNE, India, Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Request for Sample Copy of This Report@ https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/request_sample.php?id=641 Software developers are enhancing the user interface and usability of software solutions offered to advertising agencies. The multi-user interface, intuitive navigation and other such features enables different departments to work collaboratively on a single-platform and eliminates the cost occurred in purchasing and maintaining different solutions. These enhanced characteristics of new software solutions provided by MobileMonkey Inc., The Advantage Software Company and many others are attracting more advertisement agencies, thus fuelling the growth of advertising agency software market. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, viewership of TV has climbed up along with online presence of people, thus escalating demand for software tools among advertising agencies for media planning and management. Cloud based solutions are gaining high momentum in global advertising agency software market owing to faster deployment, higher security and lower costs, which is also attracting small and medium sized agencies. Enquiry Before Buying @ https://www.absolutemarketsinsights.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=641 Demand for managing internal as well as external activities of advertising agencies, to ensure timely delivery to customers is driving the share of project management software. North America held the highest market share in global advertising agency software market in 2018. Asia Pacific is expected to register highest growth rate over the forecast period owing to the flourishing online businesses, which is influencing the demand for advertising agency software for effective branding of these businesses over digital channels. held the highest market share in global advertising agency software market in 2018. is expected to register highest growth rate over the forecast period owing to the flourishing online businesses, which is influencing the demand for advertising agency software for effective branding of these businesses over digital channels. Some of the players operating in the advertising agency software market are Accelo Inc., AdHaw, ADMATION, Adobe, AdScale, Celtra Inc., CurrentTrack, Forecast, FunnelDash, Hive Technology, Inc., Lineup Systems, Oracle, Outbrain Inc., Scoro Software, Screendragon, The Workamajig and Wrike, Inc. amongst others. The detailed research study provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of advertising agency software market.The geographical analysis done emphasizes on each of the major countries across North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , Middle East & Africa and Latin America . About Us: Absolute Markets Insights strives to be your main man in your business resolve by giving you insight into your products, market, marketing, competitors, and customers. Visit Contact Us: Email id: sales@absolutemarketsinsights.com Contact Name: Shreyas Tanna Phone: +91-740-024-2424 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1229127/GLOBAL_ADVERTISING_AGENCY_SOFTWARE_MARKET.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/831667/Absolute_Market_Insights_Logo.jpg President Donald Trump is not only supportive of a potential buyout of TikTok by Oracle, reports indicate. He also believes the US should be compensated for making the buyout possible. Thats based on comments made by Mr. Trump when asked about which company he believes should buy TikTok. According to the president, both Microsoft and Oracle want TikTok. But, whoever buys the company, they have to ensure the US is well compensated, Mr. Trump says. The president continued, clarifying that its the US Treasury that needs to be compensated for making it possible. The president also indicated his belief that Oracle is a great company and that its owner is a tremendous guy. Mr. Trump also suggested that Oracle is a company that could handle the buyout of TikTok, reiterating that they have until September 15 to complete the purchase if they plan to do so. Advertisement Will Oracle move forward with a TikTok buyout? Oracle owner Larry Ellison has previously reportedly been in talks with TikTok owners about an acquisition. But the company has not commented on the matter. The deal would purportedly include the apps operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company has also supposedly been involving current investors in the talks. Specifically, thats venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, which already have a stake in ByteDance. ByteDance is the brand for the Chinese equivalent app to TikTok and also the China-based owner of the app. Although operations in the US have largely relied on stateside servers and databases. Neither ByteDance nor Oracle have confirmed the talks, as of this writing. ByteDance has reportedly commented to say that it cant comment on rumors or speculation and Oracle has issued a similar statement. Specifically, saying that this is not something we can comment on. Advertisement Its unclear how much Oracle is prepared to pay for TikTok but some of ByteDances investors value TikToks global business at $50 billion, according to Reuters. Its also not immediately clear how much TikTok will be sold for. Microsoft is also reportedly looking to move on a potential buy of ByteDances US operations. And at least some ByteDance investors are said to have valued the global business at $50 billion. Microsoft is presently thought to be ahead in talks. But the purchase would deal would certainly net a lower price-tag than that regardless. Only the US and possibly other North American markets are potentially up for grabs. Advertisement Why the extra support? President Trumps statements in support of Oracle buying TikTok arent necessarily surprising. Mr. Ellison has been a vocal public proponent of President Trump. And the Oracle owner has held fundraisers for the incumbent president at his estate, including at least one recently. The sale also makes sense from a practical standpoint, although the company doesnt seem like the most natural fit. Even according to the experts questioned by the source. Particularly since Oracle, like other tech giants is looking to branch out into new industries. TikTok recently entered talks with UnitedMasters, a company bent on shaking up the way the music industry interacts with artists. That deal could see the platform shift significantly. By buying in, Oracle would have its hands on not just one of the most popular short-form video sharing and social site and apps. But also potentially a significant player in the music industry, if that deal goes through. Advertisement China has been adamant that the forced sale is a smash-and-grab, with the country vowing to stop the theft. But the US has largely ignored that claim. All city mayors have agreed to impose an 8pm to 5am curfew on the entire National Capital Region, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced today. Roque told CNN Philippines The Source that the countrys COVID-19 task force had a meeting with Metro Manila mayors last night where they agreed to impose stricter quarantine protocols despite Metro Manilas transition back into the general community quarantine (GCQ) today. I understand that the mayors voted and there was a majority [vote] that the curfew hours should be 8 [pm] to 5 [am], Roque said. Metro Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal will remain under GCQ until Aug. 31. Earlier this month, the areas were placed under a two-week modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) after medical workers called for a stricter lockdown to cope with rising COVID-19 cases. The Philippines has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia with 169,213 recorded as of yesterday, including 2,678 deaths and 112,861 recoveries. Meanwhile, Roque added that churches which were previously allowed to gather up to 10% of its capacity, are now only allowed to house only 10 devotees at a time. Even if were in GCQ, mass gatherings are allowed for up to 10 persons only, religious services included. That means it is no longer the case that religious gatherings are allowed up to 10% capacity, it is now only 10 people strictly. He also clarified that the government has taken back its rule of allowing several establishments to reopen under GCQ. We have not allowed the operations of gyms, of internet cafes, as well as review centers and tutorial centers, Roque said, adding that there was public confusion because the Trade Department had announced that the businesses were allowed to reopen. But actually before MECQ was imposed, the Cabinet in an emergency meeting decided to temporarily suspend the opening of new businesses, and that resolution still stands [under GCQ], this was affirmed in the meeting last night, Roque said. He added that restaurants dine-in and salon [services] will remain open, but they are leaving it to local government units to decide whether the said establishments will operate at 30% or 50% capacity. This article, Metro Manila mayors set 8pm to 5am curfew as region goes back to GCQ, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Yogi Adityanath, said on Wednesday, that Uttar Pradesh would not accept anarchy, and said that claims would be collected from rioters and miscreants for damaging private property. Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Aug 19 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh will not accept anarchy, and claims will be collected from rioters and miscreants for damaging public or private property, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday. This comes after the Chief Minister approved the constitution of the property damage claims tribunal in Lucknow and Meerut as per the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Public and Private Property Damage Recovery Rules 2020. Uttar Pradesh does not accept anarchy. Damage claims will be recovered from those rioters, miscreants who damaged public or private property. Alert and Safe Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi). Earlier, according to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO), UP claim applications from Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot Dham, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Devi Patan Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Basti and Vindhyachal Dham divisions will be accepted in the Lucknow tribunal. Also read: Punjab will burn if SYL canal is built: CM Amarinder Singh Also read: India records highest single-day Covid-19 recoveries, case count surpasses 27 lakh mark Further, the Meerut tribunal will have jurisdiction over Saharanpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Moradabad, Bareilly, and Agra divisions. After the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests erupted in the state in December last year, Chief Minister Yogi had said that the cost of damages to public properties will be recovered from the protesters. The state government had promulgated an ordinance for the recovery of damages. It provided for setting up tribunals to settle the claims. (ANI) Also read: Founder Gudur offers to set up Plasma Bank in Telangana for Covid patients Russia confirmed that the volunteers who were part of clinical trials of the new vaccine have not shown any side effects or caught coronavirus since they were vaccinated. Russian Sputnik V, the first registered coronavirus vaccine, may find its way to Egypt soon, newly-appointed Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko told Egyptian state-owned news agency MENA. Moscow aims to establish partnership with Egypt to produce the newly developed vaccine, Borisenko stated. Russia confirmed on the official website of Sputnik V that the volunteers who were part of clinical trials of the new vaccine have not shown any side effects or caught coronavirus since they were vaccinated. It said the third stage of clinical trials is set to be carried out soon on over 2,000 people in Russia and other states. Phase three is concerned with testing the efficacy and safety of the vaccine before it is licensed. Experts, however, have been concerned that more people had to be involved in the clinical trials. Talking to CNN, Keith Neal, emeritus professor of the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, University of Nottingham, said widespread testing is required so that probable rare side effects can show up. Borisenko said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is willing to discuss transferring to Egypt the technology of the new vaccine, adding that the Russian Embassy in Cairo has briefed both foreign and health ministries of the possibility of conducting bilateral talks on the issue and has provided them with the required information. Borisenko said the first and second phases of the clinical trials of the vaccine involved 38 people, including President Vladimir Putins daughters. He added that more than 2,000 people will be part of the third phase (post-registration) trial, including volunteers from Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Philippines. However, Russian federal government-owned TASS quoted Alexander Gintsburg, director of Russian Health Ministrys Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed Sputnik V, as saying that the third trial will include tens of thousands of people, between 20,000 and 30,000 in the Moscow Region. Borisenko added that the first batch of the vaccine may be produced during the coming two weeks for hospital staff. The second stage will be for teachers and older people, he said. The vaccine may also be available for children after three to five months of trials, in case it is proven safe. The ambassador warned against the misinformation campaign launched against the Russian vaccine in the media worldwide. He said such politicised stance against the vaccine endangers peoples lives, affirming that the world needs to collaborate to face the novel coronavirus with the least cost possible. Borisenko said Russia has developed the vaccine at a fast pace to protect peoples lives from new probable waves of coronavirus. He added that Russia is even willing to share its researches and experience with other states for the sake of mutual benefits. Named after the 1957 Soviet Union satellite, Sputnik V, an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, is one of 165 vaccines being developed worldwide to protect people against coronavirus, which has so far killed around 785,000 people and infected more than 22 million worldwide. The vaccine has shown high efficacy, reported the official website, adding that this efficacy has been confirmed by high precision tests for antibodies in the blood serum of volunteers in the first two stages. The website also noted that the immune cells of the volunteers showed an ability to activate in response to the spike of the coronavirus; this state indicates that antibody and cellular immune vaccine responses are formed. Egypts Health Minister Hala Zayed in July said Egypt has secured 30 million doses of a promising English vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish company specialised in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical fields. The Oxford vaccine is still subject to trials, but it has reached advanced stages in many countries and has reached the last phase of trials in Brazil. Late in June, Egyptian drugmaker Eva Pharmas CEO Riad Armanious said his company has dispatched the antiviral Remdesivir, developed originally by California-based Gilead Sciences to combat ebola, to Egyptian hospitals, after it has proven effective as a supportive medicine to treat coronavirus patients in some countries. Remdesivir is mainly used to treat serious coronavirus cases. Data from a US clinical trial in late April indicated that patients receiving remdesivir had a 31 percent faster recovery time than the placebo group. Egypt has officially reported 96,753 coronavirus cases and 5,184 deaths since the crisis began, while 61,562 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, according to Health Ministry figures. Search Keywords: Short link: The Hindu religion is an ancient faith that can trace its roots all the way back to between 2300 and 1500 BCE in the Indus Valley, close to what is now Pakistan. Many other religions began with one founding person, such as Christianity with the teachings of Jesus, and Islam, with those of Muhammad. Hinduism is unique, however, as it began with the fusion of many pre-existing beliefs. Today, Hinduism is the third-largest organized religion in the world, following closely behind Christianity and Islam. Over a billion people presently follow the Hindu religion, with the majority living in South Asia. Many Hindus also inhabit other parts of the world however, and this includes Europe, which is home to about 1.3 million followers of the faith. There are now said to be between two to five generations of Hindu descendants living in Europe, making Hinduism one of the largest religious minorities on the continent. How did people of Hindu faith end up congregating in Europe? Immigration occurred in waves, beginning all the way back in the 19th century. Hindu scholars and gurus moved to Europe to get an education during these times. This included the infamous Gandhi, who studied to be a barrister in London, England. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Parliament Square, London. Image credit: chrisdorney/Shutterstock Following the nationalization of the former British colonies in the 1960s and 1970s, many more Hindus migrated to Europe from India and East Africa, often with British passports allowing them to pursue a future in Britain. Many more Hindus came in another wave of migration starting in the early 1980s spurred by the conflict in Sri Lanka that targeted Tamils. Hindus in Europe originate from different countries and practice their faith in different ways, depending on the group of Hinduism they belong to. It is important to know that many distinguish themselves from other groups depending on their ethnicity and cultural heritage. Why Hindus Migrate People migrate away from their country of birth for many reasons. Sometimes war makes people leave, or reduced economic and educational opportunities can make migrants move in search of a more prosperous future. Where have Hindus migrated to? From 1955 to 1975, the highest number of people migrated from India to England. While not all were Hindus, a majority were. These people were largely from the Punjab and Gujarat regions of India, and they migrated for economic reasons. There was more money to be made at that time for migrants to the UK than there was in India for many people. The Netherlands has also been a top destination for migrating Hindus, worldwide. Many Hindus who originally arrived in the country did not come directly from places like India, however. Hindus began arriving in the Netherlands in larger numbers beginning in the 1970s. This group came from Suriname, which was a Dutch colony up until 1975. The original Suriname Indians were bonded laborers who had left the areas of India that are now the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh back in the late 1800s. They had done so in order to work on sugar plantations, in response to chaotic government and famine in their homeland. When this migration was stopped, some Indians returned to India, and others continued living in Suriname and the other Caribbean countries to which they had migrated. The Netherlands granted Suriname its independence in 1975. When this happened many Suriname Indians considered migrating again, as the economic and political future of the country now seemed uncertain, and they chose to move with their colonizer onto the Netherlands. Today, the Netherlands is home to between 150,000 and 200,000 Hindus. he Hindu Ratha Yatra procession in Vlaardingen, The Netherlands. Image credit: Sandor Gora/Shutterstock Future Trends It is predicted that by the year 2050, the UK, Gibraltar, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands will be the countries with the highest number of Hindus in Europe. According to Pew Research Center, the percentage of Hindus is expected to almost double in Denmark, and to rise in the UK by 2050. These rises in percentage will likely be attributed to migration. There are people of European background who do consider themselves to be converted Hindus in Europe, but this is due to self-labeling. This represents a very small portion of Hindus on the continent. Traditionally speaking, a person cannot convert to Hinduism, and the only way to be a Hindu is to be born into a Hindu family. This is because the religion has no process or ritual for conversion to the faith. Hinduism promotes the idea of following your own religion, whatever that may be, in order to feel spiritually fulfilled. Ganesh statuette with rudraksha beads on a yoga mat. Yoga is an important part of Hinduism, but today is practiced around the world by people of different religions and ethnicities. Image credit: Shcherbyna Nataliia/Shutterstock As such, a change in the overall percentage of Hindus in any given population is not likely due to conversions to the faith. Some of the cultural markers of Hinduism such as practicing yoga, following the teachings of a guru, believing in reincarnation, and celebrating festivals like Diwali are becoming more integrated into European culture. Newly becoming an actual Hindu is rare, however. What about Hindu families having more children? It is also true that while the Hindu Total Fertility Rate worldwide is above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, it is lower than average in Europe, however. There, it sits at 1.5 children per woman. Because of this, it is clear that the Hindus now present in Europe are not having large families to such a degree that it would increase their presence in the overall population. Any rise in the percentage of Hindus in populations in Europe will be due to increases in migration. People will continue to migrate to Europe for educational opportunities, as well as economic advancement, in order to better their own future and that of their families. Microsoft confirmed earlier this month about its intentions to buy out the US operations of ByteDance, the owner of the infamous app TikTok. However, a report from The Financial Times emerged, suggesting Oracle is also joining the race. Earlier today the software company received verbal approval from the US President Donald Trump during a speech in Yuma, Arizona. The tech company has already had preliminary talks with ByteDance and is seriously considering purchasing the apps operations in the United States, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Larry Ellison, Oracle Chairman According to FT, Oracle has an edge over its main competitor Microsoft - partners that are already stakeholders at the Chinese company. Oracle was working with a group of investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, the article reads further. Chairman and co-founder of Oracle is Larry Ellison who is a supporter of the Trump Administration and even held a fundraising event for him earlier this year. When the president was asked whether the California company would be a good buyer, he said: I think its owner is a tremendous guy, a tremendous person. I think that Oracle would be certainly somebody that could handle it. Donald Trump has threatened ByteDance to sell its business into American arms until September 15 or face an executive order to close its operations. Tencent is facing a similar risk with its WeChat platform, although it hasnt received an exact deadline. Source | Via JERUSALEM - As the United Nations prepares to renew the mandate of its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, Israel is working with Security Council members to push for tough changes in the way the force deals with the Hezbollah militant group, Israeli officials said Wednesday. Israeli diplomatic and military officials say the force, known as UNIFIL, has been largely ineffective and see the upcoming vote on extending its mandate as an opportunity to make reforms. UNIFIL was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded in Lebanon under a U.N.-brokered cease-fire after a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah militants in 2006. Alon Bar, a senior Israeli diplomat, said the force has failed in two key responsibilities helping the Lebanese government and army extend their authority in southern Lebanon and ridding the south of Hezbollah weapons and forces. Israel accuses Hezbollah of blocking UNIFIL from conducting proper inspections and says the U.N. has done a poor job of reporting violations by the Iranian-backed group, giving an impression that the situation is better than it really is. He said Israel is demanding that UNIFIL be given greater access to suspicious sites, and that the force provide more accurate and detailed reports about Hezbollahs activities to the Security Council. Although Israel is not a member of the council, he said the country has been working with its close ally, the United States, as well as other council members including France, Germany and Britain. UNIFILs current mandate expires Aug. 31. We made it clear that this time we insist that at least some of the changes will be introduced and that this is unacceptable for us to continue with the situation as it is, said Bar, the Foreign Ministrys deputy director general for the U.N. and international organizations. Israel considers Hezbollah to be its most serious immediate threat. Israeli officials estimate the group has amassed an arsenal of some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel, and believe it is trying to develop precision-guided missiles as well. Tensions have been rising over the past two years. In December 2018, Israel uncovered what it said was a network of cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnels, apparently built without the knowledge of UNIFIL. Last month, Israel said it thwarted an infiltration attempt by Hezbollah militants along its northern frontier. Brig. Gen. Efraim Defrin, head of the Israeli armys international co-operation unit, said relations with UNIFIL are good, but that the forces hands are tied and it must do a better job. He said, for instance, UNIFIL still has not been able to inspect the tunnels on the Lebanese side of the border. Both officials acknowledged the recent blast in Beirut has added to Lebanons instability, but said that made it even more critical to improve UNIFIL. You are looking at this way as an opportunity to force a change, Defrin said. Read more about: Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris will deliver her acceptance speech on Wednesday as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate to become the first-ever American of Indian and African descent to be nominated by a major party for the top post. Harris, 55, is the first Indian-American to be selected for the second-highest elected office of the United States after that of the president. She is also the first-ever Black and first-ever African American to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate by a major political party. If elected in the November 3 presidential elections, Harris, whose mother is from India and father from Jamaica, would be the first-ever women vice president of the United States. Incidentally, her acceptance speech comes a day after the United States commemorated the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendmentknown as the Susan B Anthony Amendment of women securing the right to vote. It was a monumental victory for equality, for justice, and a monumental victory for America, US President Donald Trump said at a White House event on this amendment, Hundred years ago today the 19th Amendment was ratified, but many Black women and women of colour were unable to exercise their constitutional right for decades, Harris said in a tweet. 100 years ago today the 19th Amendment was ratified, but many Black women and women of color were unable to exercise their constitutional right for decades. I would not be the Democratic candidate for Vice President without those who fought and paved the way before me. Vote. Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 18, 2020 I would not be the Democratic candidate for Vice President without those who fought and paved the way before me. Vote, she said. Joe Biden, who has scripted history by nominating Harris as his running mate, said that the US nation was founded on a simple idea: All menand womenare created equal. We've never fully lived up to it, but we won't stop trying. As we mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, let's make sure we don't wait another 100 years to fulfil that founding promise, he said. Earlier in the day, Trump said at the White House that today, a record-breaking 131 women are serving in Congress. Nearly 70 million women vote in elections. Fifty-six per cent of our nation's college students are women. More than 11 million women own successful businesses. In other words, women dominate the United States, he said. However, unlike many developing countries like India and Sri Lanka, which gained their independence much later than the US, they elected a woman as a leader decades ago, a development that deprives the United States till date. In the previous 2016 presidential elections, the former second lady and secretary of state Hillary Clinton came within a striking distance in breaking that glass ceiling. Harris, who has had a stellar career so far beginning as a public prosecutor in California, also from the same Democratic Party is making another shot at breaking the glass ceiling in American politics. And before she takes the centre-stage of American politics at the virtual convention of the Democratic Party, the stage would be set by speeches of Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and none other than Barack Obama, the former president of the United States. Four years into her first term as the US Senator from California, Harris who was born in Oakland, emerged as a strong critic of the Trump administration. Many often called her a Trump counterpuncher. The daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, she has known many firsts. She has been a county district attorney; the district attorney for San Francisco the first woman and first African-American elected to the position. She was also the first female African-American to become California's attorney general. In 2017, she became the second African-American woman to join the Senate, winning the California seat vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer. Harris announced her presidential bid in January 2019. However, she withdrew from the race by December that year as her poll numbers plummeted. Early this year, she endorsed Biden for president. A week ago, Biden surprised many by selecting Harris as his running mate. It has been one week since Joe Biden asked me to be his running mate and I could not be more thankful for the outpouring of love and support (husband) Douglas Emhoff and I have seen, Harris tweeted on Tuesday. The National Conference has decided to convene a meeting of its senior leaders on Thursday after the local administration informed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that none of the 16 leaders, that the party claimed were in illegal confinement, were detained and that they were free to move around. In a statement issued Wednesday, the National Conference said it had taken note of the governments stand in the High Court on the petition filed by party president Faqrooq Abdullah and his son Omar to secure the liberty of its various leaders who have been under illegal house detention. On a perusal of the reply the party has noticed that the government has unequivocally submitted before the High Court that no leader is under detention and that they are free to move subject to necessary security arrangements, the statement said. Now relying fully on the stand of the government before the HC that the members are free to move and expecting no hogwash on part of the government, the party president Farooq Abdullah has invited senior party members including Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Mohammad Shafi Uri and Nasir Aslam Wani for a meeting at his residence on 20.8.2020 at 5 pm, it said. The party also made it clear that it is mindful of the present pandemic and accordingly the meeting with various leaders that have been under detention will be done in batches of four members per meeting. Needless to add that all standard operating procedures shall be strictly followed by all concerned, the party statement said. The party is hopeful that the liberty of the members under detention is now absolute and the meeting will be held successfully on the appointed day, it said. The Abdullah father-son duo had filed a bunch of habeas corpus petitions on July 13 seeking their release. A habeas corpus is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the persons release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. Filing the replies before the High Court earlier this month, senior additional advocate general Bashir Ahmad Dar said the contention of the pleas was not only surprising but shocking as well as there were neither any legal proceedings underway nor was it being contemplated. The similarly worded replies, vetted by Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), however, said in the wake of Constitutional amendments carried out in the Article 370, it was apprehended that inimical elements may disturb the peace and the leaders may provoke them to cause aggravation in the disturbance. However, no order of detention either under preventive detention law or substantive law was issued against the party leaders, it said, adding, the leaders were free to move with certain precautions as deemed fit for their security. The reply said the petitioner being a categorised person has been advised not to visit any vulnerable areas without informing the concerned authorities and reasoned that it was to ensure proper security. The Abdullahs had filed 16 petitions on July 13 for as many NC leaders contending that they were being held in brazen violation of Constitutional guarantees of the right to liberty. The writ petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution lists NC general secretary Ali Mohammed Sagar, provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani, senior leader Aga Syed Mehmood, partys chief spokesperson Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, among the leaders being detained at their residences illegally and wrongfully without serving them grounds of detention. The leaders have been forcibly restricted by police personnel stationed outside their residences for the past 11 months, the pleas claim. Other leaders for whose release the petitions have been filed were Abdul Rahim Rather, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Irfan Shah and Sahmeema Firdous, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzaan, Mubarak Gul, Dr Bashir Veeri, Abdul Majeed Larmi, Basharat Bukhari, Saifudin Bhat Shutru and Mohammad Shafi. The senior Abdullah has filed the habeas corpus petitions for seven leaders while Omar has filed for the remaining nine. Both Abdullahs, who were first taken into preventive custody and then detained under the stringent public safety act for several months since the intervening night of August 4 and 5, hours before Jammu and Kashmirs special status was revoked by the centre, have pleaded that the detainees be set at liberty. The reply of the home department said the petitioner being protected persons were well within the charter of duties of the administration to ensure their safety and security. ...it is emphatically denied that currently or in the past any detention order is in the force against the leaders and the administration was functioning strictly within the parameters of law. There is no infringement or brazen violation of the law as claimed in the petition. The respondents have shown utmost respect for the law of the land, it said and pleaded for dismissal of the petition with costs. The party leadership moved the High Court after the petitions of these detained leaders to the Home Secretary of Union Territory on June 30 seeking removal of restriction on their movement and set them at absolute liberty remained unanswered. The party, before moving the High Court, had expressed hope that the legal system will come to the rescue of their colleagues, who have been suffering for no fault ever since the abrogation of provisions of Art 370, Art 35A on August 5, 2019. PSU major Oil India Limited (OIL) on Wednesday said that it had to suspend work for putting out the blaze at the damaged Baghjan gas well in Assam after a "casing valve" used during the operation ruptured. The well no. 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably for 85 days since a blowout on May 27 and it caught fire on June 9. After placing the Blow Out Preventer (BOP), a hard metal cap, at the mouth of the well on August 17, the company was working on to "kill" the well by inserting chemical fluids into it. "After successful ... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Wed, August 19, 2020 12:33 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f15399 2 Entertainment Jam-Master-Jay,Run-DMC,rap-music,murder,music,united-states Free A second man pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of murdering Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay in New York in 2002 in what prosecutors said was a brazen act of violence over a disputed drug deal. Ronald Washington, 56, who is currently serving a prison sentence for robbery, was charged along with Karl Jordan Jr. on Monday for the shooting death of the musician, whose real name was Jason Mizell, in his New York recording studio. Washington appeared for his arraignment via videoconference and entered his not guilty plea through his lawyer. Jordan pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday. Prosecutor Artie McConnell said that although Washington is not accused of pulling the trigger, he was equally responsible for Mizell's murder and had tried to silence and intimidate witnesses. "To plan and carry out the execution of a music icon in his own studio, in his own neighborhood, is so brazen and shows such utter disregard for the law," McConnell said at Tuesday's arraignment. Read also: Suspects charged in the long-unsolved murder of rap star Jam Master Jay "This crime was not an aberration. The defendant has a long and violent criminal history, replete with crimes such as robbery, assault, narcotics trafficking, battery," McConnell added. Run-DMC was one of the best-known rap acts of the 1980s and the murder of one of its three founder members had been one of the music industry's biggest unsolved crimes. Washington has been imprisoned for 17 years and is due to remain behind bars until June 2022, the court heard. According to the indictment, Washington and Jordan entered Mizell's recording studio in Queens on the evening of Oct. 30, 2002. Both men were armed. Jordan fired two shots at close range at Mizell, striking the rapper once in the head. Investigators allege the motive for the killing was a dispute over the distribution of about 10 kg of cocaine that Mizell had previously acquired. Getty Images A bipartisan Senate committee led by Republican Marco Rubio of Florida pulled no punches in its damning conclusions about the ethical dubiousness of the 2016 Trump campaigns relationship with Russia. The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released the fifth and final volume of its report on Russian election interference that claims the Trump administration obstructed its investigation and embraced and encouraged help from the Russians in 2016. As several national security and legal experts have already pointed out on Twitter, the Senates report goes into more granular detail over its thousands of pages about Donald Trumps relationship with Russia than any of its antecedents, such as the House Intelligence Committees partisan 2018 reports and former special counsel Robert Muellers report. Thats because Mr Mueller was constrained by the need to keep his evidence within criminally prosecutable confines. As his report outlines, those issues were compounded by a robust (and possibly criminal) Trump administration obstruction effort. The Senates report had no such legal guardrails. At their core, congressional enquiries are fact-finding missions meant to educate the public and inform future legislation. Free from the admissibility standards of presenting evidence in any sort of court save the court of public opinion Intelligence Committee members could draw and present logical conclusions based on a whole body of evidence, even if those conclusions and evidence could not be proven true beyond a reasonable doubt. While Mr Mueller could not pass judgement, the senators could and did: They were scathing on the 2016 Trump campaigns actions and unflinching in their reporting of unsubstantiated allegations. Here are six key takeaways from the fifth and final volume of the Senate Intelligence panels report on Russian election interference: 1. Kompromat on Trump? Maybe. Maybe not. Over the course of the committees investigation it became aware of three general sets of allegations that Russia had collected compromising information on Mr Trumps associations with women on his trips to the country in 1996 and 2013, according to the report. The panel was unable to shoot down allegations about the Moscow visits, even if confirmation was not found. Story continues Two of those allegations mention video tapes of Mr Trump engaging in sexual behaviour with Russian women, including one instance in 2013 when he was married to now-first lady Melania Trump. The report plainly states that after probing the claims it did not establish that the Russian government collected kompromat on Trump, nor did it establish that the Russian government attempted to blackmail Trump or anyone associated with his campaign with such information. Nevertheless, it offers a general sketch of what the allegations purported, allegations that were made separately from the dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele. One set of the allegations against Mr Trump outlined in the Senate report relate to an unnamed individual, then an executive at the Marriott International hotel chain that owns Ritz Carlton. The individual allegedly overheard two other Marriott executives discussing how to handle a tape of the president with women in an elevator at the Ritz Carlton Moscow, according to the report, which does not offer a specific timeline. Neither the allegedly overheard conversation, nor the content described, could be corroborated, the Senate report concludes. The committee offered a warning to anyone considering staying at the Ritz Carlton Moscow and engaging in questionable behaviour: Apart from allegations related to Trump, the Committee found that the Ritz Carlton in Moscow is a high counterintelligence risk environment, the panel writes. The Committee assesses that the hotel likely has at least one permanent Russian intelligence officer on staff, government surveillance of guests rooms, and the regular presence of a large number of prostitutes, likely with at least the tacit approval of Russian authorities, it writes. 2. Both parties condemn Trumps embrace of WikiLeaks Mr Muellers report and the prosecution of Trump confidant and informal 2016 campaign adviser Roger Stone revealed how the Russian intelligence agency GRU worked in tandem with WikiLeaks to release hacked documents from the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of the partys 2016 nominee, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. The report concludes that instead of condemning Russias actions, the Trump campaign sought to maximize the impact of those leaks to aid Trumps electoral prospects, a remarkable statement from a panel that includes staunch Trump allies such as senator John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Staff on the Trump Campaign sought advance notice about WikiLeaks releases, created messaging strategies to promote and share the materials in anticipation of and following their release, and encouraged further leaks, the committee writes in its report. The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort, the report continues. The president has continued to cast doubt on the intelligence communitys unanimous assessment that Russia was behind the Clinton and DNC email hacks. That doubt crescendoed at a joint press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, where Mr Trump sided with Mr Putin over his own intelligence community, denying Russias involvement. While the committee could not prove that campaign officials received an authoritative government notification the hack was a Russian government operation before 7 October 2016, when US intel officials released a public statement to that effect, the campaign was aware of the extensive media reporting and other private sector attribution of the hack to Russian actors prior to that point, according to Tuesdays report. The Trump team did not care, the Senate report suggests, because acknowledging the hacks were Russian-perpetrated did not play to Mr Trumps political advantage. 3. Paul Manafort was a grave counterintelligence threat Ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who is serving a seven-year prison term related to financial fraud and corruption, was identified in the Intelligence Committees report as a grave counterintelligence threat due to his business and political ties to powerful Russia-sympathetic Ukrainians. National security and legal observers have long assumed as much about Mr Manafort, whose prosecution by Mr Muellers team in 2018 exposed his deep political connections to the Russia-backed former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovitch in the early 2010s. His business partner Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the report describes as a Russian intelligence agent, presumably also knew about Mr Manaforts illegal use of tax havens to defraud the US government, a piece of kompromat that could have been leveraged while he was chairman of the 2016 Trump campaign. Taken as a whole, Manaforts high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik and associates of [Ukrainian oligarch] Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence threat, the committee concludes. 4. The FBI was careless The FBI committed multiple errors over the course of its counterintelligence operation against Russian election interference in 2016, the committee states, particularly in its use of the Steele dossier to obtain multiple Foreign Intelligence Surveillance warrants. Regarding the Steele Dossier, FBI gave Steeles allegations unjustified credence, based on an incomplete understanding of Steeles past reporting record, the senators write. Senate Republicans have grilled the FBI for relying too heavily on the Steele dossier over the course of its operations, and both parties have identified a FISA system rife with errors and prone to misuse. The FBI did not take the necessary steps to validate assumptions about Steeles credibility before using his dossier in its FISA application, according to the committee report. The bureau likewise did not effectively adjust its approach to Steeles reporting once one of Steeles sub-sources provided information that raised serious concerns about the source descriptions in the Steele Dossier, the report states. It adds that Steeles reporting, which the author has said he never intended to be reported in the media for all the world to see, lacked rigour and transparency about the quality of the sourcing. 5. Trump teams inexperience created considerable problems Throughout the Senates report, it makes reference to the amateur nature of Mr Trumps 2016 campaign and transition team, and how that exposed it to foreign influence. Russia took advantage of members of the Transition Teams relative inexperience in government, opposition to Obama Administration policies, and Trumps desire to deepen ties with Russia to pursue unofficial channels through which Russia could conduct diplomacy, the report writes in its principal findings. It is normal after any election cycle for countries to establish contact with incoming administration officials, and US allies and adversaries in addition to Russia sought inroads with the transition. But the existence of a cadre of informal advisors to the Transition Team with varying levels of access to the president-elect and varying awareness of foreign affairs presented attractive targets for foreign influence, creating notable counterintelligence vulnerabilities, the Senate Intelligence report concludes. The lack of vetting of foreign interactions by Transition officials left the Transition open to influence and manipulation by foreign intelligence services, government officials, and co-opted business executives, it states. The results of the transition teams inexperience were glaring and quickly made their way into the public sphere, pitting the outgoing Obama administration and the incoming Trump administration against each other on Americas stance towards Russia. The transition team repeatedly took actions that had the potential, and sometimes the effect, of interfering in the Obama Administrations diplomatic efforts, causing confusion among both US allies and adversaries on official US policy, according to the report. 6. The Ukraine election interference conspiracy is bunk During Mr Trumps impeachment trial in the Senate, the president and his allies promoted a conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, and not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 US election by abetting the DNC and Clinton campaign hacks. But according to the Senates report on Tuesday, that theory began as a Russian intelligence disinformation campaign. The Committee identified no reliable evidence that the Ukrainian government interfered in the 2016 US election, according to a footnote on page 108 of the report. The report outlines how Mr Kilimnik, Mr Manaforts business partner who had ties to Russian intelligence and may have even been an agent himself, almost certainly helped arrange some of the first public messaging that Ukraine had interfered in the US election. News media investigations into the Ukrainian interference theory have likewise turned up no supporting evidence that the Ukrainian government engaged in a malign influence operation to aid Ms Clintons campaign, though some officials at the time expressed their preference for her. Read more Trumps postmaster general says he will postpone controversial changes Trumps postmaster general suspends USPS changes after backlash- live Rubio roasted after criticising DNC for choosing Eva Longoria as host US court blocks new rule erasing protections for transgender people Members of Trump 2016 campaign posed major counterintelligence risk A Queensland Transport Inspector signals to a driver approaching the border in Wallangarra, Australia on April 2. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) Australian PM Laments Incredibly Disruptive State Border Closures Scott Morrison has expressed frustration at the incredibly disruptive impact state border closures are having on individuals and businesses. The prime minister acknowledged state premiers were trying to protect their own citizens from coronavirus but said more work was needed to make the restrictions more workable. I understand what theyre seeking to do but its important that all premiers act on the basis of transparent medical advice, he told ABC News Breakfast on Aug 19. If theres going to be these border arrangements in place they will, of course, have very serious impacts on the economies of their states and the livelihoods of those who live in those states. That all has to be weighed up. It appears some state borders could remain closed long into next year. Queensland has warned its borders could remain sealed for several months or until its coronavirus infections have fallen to zero. Western Australia has cancelled its annual royal show and postponed phase five restrictions for another two months in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Tasmanias borders will remain closed until at least December 1. Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham is disappointed with the decisions. I am sure there will be many tourism operators in those states and territories who will be disappointed, he told the ABC. (We need to be) taking a careful, proportionate approach in relation to different states and territories. The minister said while encouraging tourism within a state or territory was of benefit, there were even greater benefits from bringing people in from other states. Senator Birminghams home state of South Australia has opened its borders to Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania. Id urge the other premiers and chief ministers to think about adopting a similar stance, rather than a blanket stance that is only going to continue to harm the tourism industry in those states. Labor health spokesman Chris Bowen said the premiers should not be criticised for making their own decisions. I think, as Australians, we should support the state premiers, he said. Daniel McCulloch, Paul Osborne in Canberra A leading expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property law, Ms. Conway was named dean of Dickinson Law in January 2019 after having served for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law. Prior to that, she spent 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was the inaugural Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law. In 2016, she retired from the U.S. Army in the rank of lieutenant colonel after 27 years of combined active, reserve and national guard service. "We are proud to welcome Danielle to the Board of Directors at AccessLex," said Joe Knight, AccessLex Institute's Board Chair and a Distinguished Academic in Residence at Seattle University. "As the organization pushes forward with its ambitious mission to improve access, increase diversity and effect positive change across legal education, Danielle brings deep experience and a unique perspective to our Board at a critical time." Ms. Conway is the author or editor of six books, as well as numerous book chapters, articles and essays. Her research and speeches have focused on, among other areas, advocating for public education and for actualizing the rights of marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples, minorities and members of rural communities. She began her career in legal education as a member of the faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1996. "Being appointed to the AccessLex Board is a tribute to the work being done at Dickinson Law to increase access for those wanting to enter the legal profession," said Ms. Conway. "The Law School's vision to move the needle substantially on diversity aligns with the mission of AccessLex. This is demonstrated by the significant increase in students of color joining our community this fall as well as new faculty of color, whose diverse backgrounds offer an important and importantly variegated voice. I look forward to getting to work and representing the interests of AccessLex, its Board, and its constituents." About AccessLex Institute: AccessLex Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to helping talented, purpose-driven students find their path from aspiring lawyer to fulfilled professional. In partnership with its nearly 200 Member law schools, improving access and positively influencing legal education have been at the heart of the Company's mission since 1983. AccessLex Institute is headquartered in West Chester, PA, with a team of accredited financial education counselors based throughout the United States. Learn more at AccessLex.org. Contact: Julie Solomon [email protected] SOURCE AccessLex Institute Related Links http://AccessLex.org A further 16 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus. The Government said 41,397 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, as of 5pm on Tuesday. These figures include people in all settings: hospitals, care homes and the wider community. A further 812 people have tested positive for coronavirus as of 9am on Wednesday. Overall, 321,098 cases have been confirmed since the start of the outbreak, the Government added. Separate figures published by the UKs statistics agencies show there have now been 57,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Hospital staff with a patient / POOL/AFP via Getty Images It comes after regional authorities reported that 16 more people had died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus. NHS England reported that 15 more people had died of the virus in hospitals, bringing total Covid-19 fatalities in the country to 29,480. Scotland also recorded another death. The death in Scotland was from April 21 but had not yet been included in the figures, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said. There were no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales or Northern Ireland, the countries' health officials said. A further 21 people tested positive for the virus in Wales, bringing the revised confirmed cases to 17,620. Scotland saw a further 50 people become infected with the virus. The new death toll represents the highest number of fatalities in hospitals on a Wednesday in August, after officials reported that 11 people died on August 12 and 15 on August 5. It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the decision to appoint Baroness Dido Harding as head of the UK's new health body. Some commentators have questioned whether Baroness Harding is the right person to lead the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP), which will partially replace the doomed Public Health England and respond to external health threats. AP Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said the former TalkTalk telecoms boss' appointment makes about as much sense as [chief medical officer] Chris Whitty being appointed the Vodafone head of branding and corporate image. But Mr Hancock told the BBC: "Shes simply the best person who could be doing this job now. "She has enormous experience both in the private sector running very large organisations and this is a very large organisation, now with a budget of over 10 billion. Also in the NHS shes been the chair of NHS Improvement, shes been expanding and building that testing capacity... the test and trace system that is so effective in finding people now and asking them to self-isolate, so were very lucky to have her giving this public service at this critical time. Matt Hancock defends appointment of Baroness Harding as new health body chief NIHP will begin work immediately but will become formally operational next spring to reduce disruption during the pandemic, it was announced. Loading.... It will merge the coronavirus response work of Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre in the first step towards becoming a single organisation, the Department of Health and Social Care said. A minor fire outbreak has occurred in a section of the administrative building of the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in Ile-Ife, Osun State. There was no major damage from the fire and no one was injured, an official said. The fire incident was reported to have occurred on Wednesday at about 1:15 p.m. It lasted for about 20 minutes before it was quenched. The Oonis Chief Security Officer, Kolawole Emmanuel and his team were joined by officials of the fire services from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife to control the fire. The Director of Media and Public Affairs in the palace, Moses Olafare, when contacted, confirmed the incident. He said the fire was suspected to have been caused by an electric spark, stating that measures are ongoing to confirm the cause of the incident The Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, wishes to inform the entire public that a minor fire outbreak involving a tiny part of one of the administrative buildings within the premises of the palace occurred at about 1:15 p.m. today, Wednesday 19th, August 2020, leaving no harm to the oldest palace in Yoruba land, Mr Olafare said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. The minor inferno which lasted for about 20 minutes was immediately put out by collective efforts of people in the palace led by the Oonis Chief Security, Kolawole Emmanuel, later joined by men of the fire services from the state government, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, he said. Aside from the fact that there was no causality whatsoever, the fire was just a minor occurrence which was nothing to be compared to the misleading huge pictures being painted in the media, particularly the social media. While it is suspected to have emanated from an electric spark, measures are currently in place to reveal the cause of the inferno. We wish to thank men of the Osun State Fire service, Obafemi Awolowo University Fire Service and OAUTH Fire Service for their swift response. efforts of well-meaning Nigerians who reached out to the Palace for objective analysis are equally appreciated. Once again, the ancient Palace of Ife remains as rich as before in culture, traditions and tourism, Mr Olafare stated. Annastacia Palaszczuk has been slammed for saying Queensland hospitals were 'for our people only' - after a woman pregnant with twins in far northern NSW was forced to fly all the way to Sydney for emergency surgery. The premier made the controversial comment on Tuesday when she was asked about the women, who lived in Ballina, 88km from the Queensland border, who was told she was unlikely to be given an exemption to pass into the state. She was forced to wait 16 critical hours to go to a Sydney hospital, despite her unborn twins, who were just 24 weeks along, needing urgent care. Ms Palaszczuk said she while she was not aware of the specifics of the case. the decision about who to let into Queensland would be made by health professionals, not politicians. 'People living in NSW they have NSW hospitals. In Queensland we have Queensland hospitals for our people,' she said. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard called Ms Palaszczuk's comments 'astonishing'. Baby Harvey was airlifted to Brisbane not long after he was born on Friday (pictured with parents Glen and Chantelle Northfield following the birth) He urged her to review her border arrangements to 'ensure patients receive the health care they need'. He said there were patients in northern NSW in need of renal transplants who were being denied access to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Those patients were being forced to drive themselves '12 or more hours to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney', he said. Allan Watt, the father of the Ballina mum, told 9News the unborn twins needed the emergency treatment after being diagnosed with a rare illness at just 24 weeks old. Instead of being treated in a nearby Brisbane hospital, his daughter were forced to wait 16 hours to be transported to Sydney after being told they were unlikely to be allowed into hospital. 'She could have lost those babies in the time she was waiting,' Mr Watt said. 'The Queensland government is treating people that are in dire need like they are lepers.' Chantelle Northfield (pictured) has to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine before she can be by her newborn's bedside in Brisbane Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) has been slammed for saying Queensland hospitals were 'for our people only' after a mother was denied access to the state to visit her sick newborn Another young mother was also left heartbroken as she was separated from her newborn son due to the draconian border restrictions. Chantelle Northfield, from Casino in northern New South Wales, welcomed her second son Harvey at nearby Lismore Base Hospital last Friday. Little Harvey had difficulty breathing and was airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital for lifesaving treatment. But his terrified mother was unable to be at her newborn's bedside as she would need to quarantine for 14 days first. 'Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of the Queensland border, Glen and I were refused entry to the hospital until after 14 days mandatory quarantine in a hotel,' Ms Northfield wrote in a gut-wrenching Facebook post. Motorists are seen approaching a checkpoint at Coolangatta on the Queensland- New South Wales border earlier this month Motorists are stopped at a checkpoint at Coolangatta on the Queensland- New South Wales border earlier this month 'We would of been more than willing to do that if there was a guarantee that Harvey would be there for that long but no one is 100 per cent sure and the second he no longer needs such extensive treatment he will be flown back to Lismore.' Ms Northfield was willing to take a coronavirus test but still wouldn't be able to be with Harvey even if the result came back negative. 'We have tried our absolute hardest to get there, and the workers for the hospital tried as well, it was just one person from higher up that refused our entry. 'The best we get is FaceTime for now.' Ms Palaszczuk has come under fire for her staunch approach to the border closure, earning her the nickname 'Comrade Anna'. On Tuesday she announced Queensland will keep its hard border lockdown in place until New South Wales and Victoria completely eliminate community transmission of coronavirus. Glen and Chantelle Northfield (pictured) are desperate to be by their baby's hospital bedside Ms Palaszcuk said her government is still 'very concerned' about the situation in NSW and is monitoring it daily. As for Victorians, she said they will be barred from entry at least until December. 'I think we're going to continue to see restrictions in Victoria up until Christmas time,' she said on Monday. 'That's very unfortunate for people living there but it's a serious situation.' Queensland's border slammed shut to Victorians on July 10 as a second wave of coronavirus began smashing the state. Fears the outbreak could spill into NSW quickly mounted, prompting Ms Palaszcuk to lock NSW and the ACT out a month later, on August 8. Despite infections dwindling in NSW, the QLD Premier said the changing situation in the state, like the City of Sydney this week being declared a hotspot, meant interstate travel still poses a health risk. 'We are still very concerned about NSW and we are watching very closely if there is any movement of cases in northern NSW,' Ms Palaszcuk said on Tuesday. 'Its critical that we keep on top of that we can't give that certainty when the situation is constantly evolving and changing. 'I will make the best decisions to keep Queenslanders safe.' Ms Palaszcuk has been slammed for her tight border restrictions, with critics arguing they are impacting the economy and draining resources needed to enforce them. Responding to criticism on Tuesday, Ms Palaszcuk credited her state's tight regulations with keeping Queensland's community transmissions low. 'Queenslanders can go about their daily lives which is not the case in other parts of the world,' she said. 'My priority is to keep Queensland as open for Queensland as much as possible during this time.' 'We are not the only state that has borders shut, and what we have seen with those states with hard border closures we do not have a large number of cases.' Ms Palaszcuk has been slammed for her tight border restrictions, with critics arguing they are destroying the economy (pictured, the border on August 7) The premier also revealed she had recently received a letter from Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressing his concern about the economic hit to the agricultural sector and supply chains, which he said were at risk due to border closures. Ms Palaszczuk said the letter was addressed to all premiers and she would be open to discussing the matter further in Cabinet. 'The prime minister has written to all premiers. We only just received that letter. It's a very generic letter and of course we're happy to have further discussions at national cabinet,' she said. 'It's just a very generic letter. It talks about health, well freight we have a national agreement about freight and the testing of drivers and in relation to health we want the best health care for all Australians no matter where they live.' Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 11:09:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- England's official tourism body is to reward heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic in its annual awards ceremony. Announcing this year's winners of its annual excellence awards, Visit England said Tuesday it plans next year to reward heroes of the pandemic in recognition of businesses and individuals within the tourism industry who have demonstrated innovation, resilience and adaptation along with support for their local communities during the crisis. A total of 19 winners were announced during a virtual awards event, chosen from hundreds of tourism businesses including hotels, self-catering accommodation, glamping operators, attractions, restaurants, pubs, museums and conference centres. Among this year's winners were Wookey Hollow caves in Somerset, receiving a gold award as Experience of the Year, with a Robin Hood tour in Nottingham collecting silver. The International Tourism Awards Gold went to the International Bomber Command Center in Lincolnshire, Silver to the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Bath, Somerset and bronze to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The Large Visitor Attraction of the Year Gold went to the Old Royal Naval College in London, the architectural centerpiece of Maritime Greenwich, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Silver was awarded to the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Somerset and Bronze to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London for The Making of Harry Potter. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, England's tourism industry has hailed this year's winners of Visit England's annual gongs for excellence. Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said the industry supports millions of jobs across the country. "This important sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus and we have helped with an unprecedented package of measures including the job retention scheme, a years' business rates holiday," he said. Enditem Democrats on Tuesday night officially approved a new party platform, outlining a sweeping set of policies on key issues including health care, climate change and the economy. But the platform also reinforced divisions among the partys moderates and its liberal wing, which has expressed disappointment that the official Democratic agenda does not support Medicare for all, the universal, single-payer health care proposal championed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont that has become a pillar of the progressive movement. Some refused to vote for the platform as a form of protest. A largely symbolic document, the party platform does not contain specific legislation or binding commitments. Taken as a whole, however, it provides a broad look at the partys agenda and the principles and values that Democrats, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., embrace. The platform was written by a drafting committee that included members from the partys progressive and more moderate wings. The Democratic National Committees platform committee then voted on the platform before sending it to all of the delegates who voted remotely on whether to approve it. This week, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled in-person classes. It was just one week into the start of the new school year. The university said it will move to online learning and assist students who want to leave campus housing. The decision came after officials reported 130 coronavirus infections among students living on campus. Five university employees were also infected. Before the decision was announced, the student newspaper wrote an opinion article called, We all saw this coming. The paper noted that parties held by students during the first week of school were no surprise. It added that school officials should have decided to start the year with online-only classes. No parties, no trips, no guests Other American universities welcoming students back to campus this autumn are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus. Those promises include: no wild parties, no long road trips and no outside visitors on campus. At the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, school officials have reported 58 confirmed coronavirus cases since students returned in early August. The officials said at least two off-campus parties over a week ago were identified as sources for new infections. Paul J. Browne is vice president for public affairs at Notre Dame. He said the university is prepared to suspend or take other disciplinary action against the hosts of such parties. Critics question whether it is realistic to demand that college students not act like college students. But the push for restrictions shows the high risks for universities planning to bring at least some students back. Widespread COVID-19 testing, quarantines and plastic barriers in classrooms will not work if too many students do not obey the rules. Sanjali De Silva will enter her final year at Tulane University in New Orleans. She told the Associated Press she thinks most students will be really respectful of the restrictions. But, she said, she fears there will be some students who decide not to. Tulane students have already gotten a strong warning from school officials. After a summer weekend of large gatherings, university official Erica Woodley wrote to students to warn them not to meet in large groups. "Do not host parties or gatherings with more than 15 people, including the host, the message said. If such gatherings are held, students could face temporary or permanent removal from school. Woodley ended the message by asking students if they really want to be the reason Tulane and New Orleans close down again. Scott Galloway is a professor of marketing at New York University. He told the AP that most college students are civic-minded, responsible people. They are also young people, he said. So he thinks some will have difficulty ignoring their strong desire to socialize and find mates. Galloway said he plans to teach online this fall and return to campus when there is a coronavirus vaccine. High cases of infections involving fraternities have been reported at other schools. They include the University of Southern California, the University of Washington and the University of Mississippi. The University of California at Berkeley recently decided to start the autumn term with online classes after fraternity parties caused a local rise in cases. Carol Christ, who leads the school, told an online event that after weeks of careful planning, officials decided against in-person teaching. The student promise agreements follow the advice public health officials have been giving since March for college settings. Yale Universitys agreement includes a promise to stay in Connecticut during the autumn term through November 21. It also includes one not to "invite or host non-Yale visitors on campus without permission. Ohio State University's agreement includes a promise to complete daily health checks. Students at New Yorks Cornell University must promise not to organize, host or attend events that may cause "safety risks." University of Pennsylvania students are warned in the school's agreement that alcohol and drugs are no excuse for risky COVID-19-related behavior. The agreement at New Yorks Syracuse University requires students to promise to get an influenza vaccine and avoid social gatherings of more than 25 people. At the University of Pennsylvania, Ben Zhao is hopeful that the new rules will be followed. He is entering his final year this fall. Zhao, who is from the town of Northbrook, near Chicago, Illinois, says he is happy to be returning to campus after a shortened spring semester. He misses his friends, studying with students, and the school newspaper, where he is the lead editor. "They're all big things that I don't want to necessarily miss out on for my final year, Zhao said. Im Alice Bryant. This report combines two stories from the Associated Press. Alice Bryant and Hai Do adapted them for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story campus n. the area and buildings around a university, college or school host v. to be the person who is entertaining guests socially or as a job discipline n. orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior quarantine n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading fraternity n. an organization of male students at a U.S. college influenza n. a common illness that is caused by a virus and that causes fever, weakness, severe aches and pains, and breathing problems editor n. a person whose job is to prepare something written to be published or used We are committed to the Arab Peace Plan and that is the best way forward to a settlement of the conflict and to normalization with Israel with all states, the Saudi foreign minister told reporters in Berlin. That said, any efforts that could promote peace in the region and that result in holding back the threat of annexation could be viewed as positive. This is part one of a three-part series analyzing the effects of the NALSA judgment on the inclusion of the transgender community. It attempts to trace cases of note, decided by various High Courts in India, pursuant to the passing of exhaustive guidelines by the Apex Court in the NALSA judgment. The series focusses on aspects that affect the transgender community, i.e. (i) state policy, (ii) personal liberty and (iii) statutory rights. In todays installment, the author examines the effect of the NALSA judgment on state policy, in particular its non-implementation in state policy, on individuals and their livelihood. Of particular interest to readers will be the instances where courts have upheld the right to livelihood and liberty, despite and in spite, of State attempts to ignore NALSA norms before the transgender person law was enacted. For a very long time, as far as one can remember, the transgender community in our country has led a fringe existence. They have been abused, harassed, tortured even, and marginalized for no fault of theirs. We, as a society have repeatedly punished transgender persons for being who they are, whilst completely forgetting that a persons sexual identity is not only an intensely personal aspect of their life but also, involuntary. No transgender would have chosen to belong to a third gender either biologically or psychologically, just as a male or a female person did not choose their gender. It is hard to believe that anyone could come up with a logical reason to dislike someone just because are transgender and yet, they are hated, and how. We have failed them, so have the lawmakers in our country. The battle against discrimination of transgender persons has been fought long and hard by many non-governmental organizations, activists. These activists have included but have not been limited to transgender persons and their families, who have fought this battle on behalf of, and for, the entire transgender community. It is this struggle that culminated in the passing of the landmark judgment of National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India[1]in 2014. Several years later, a case decided by the Rajasthan High Court, rightly stated that the Apex Courts decision in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India is a pathfinder, if not a path breaker[2]. Whilst the NALSA judgment was passed in 2014, and typically ought to have resulted in the expulsion, or at the very least, a reduction in the bias against the transgender community, but none of that has actually happened. A law enacted by the executive which ostensibly sought to incorporate the recommendations of the NALSA judgment only came 6 years later, meanwhile, the transgender community continued to languish. This happened because in the absence of a central law, local authorities at the central and state level found it convenient to disregard the NALSA judgment, in its entirety. Further, the lackadaisical approach in enacting a law also delayed the removal of deep-seated prejudices against the transgender community. This is because, to bring about a change in the mindset of the people, a change in the law of the land is a pre-requisite. The Undisguised Reluctance to Displace Existing Systems The absence of any affirmative action by the government at the central and state level has led to a failure of any kind of assimilation of the transgender community, in mainstream society. When one looks at case history one finds particular ideas that have demonstrated the reluctance of the State to displace existing systems. One such is; The displaced importance given to gender in police services The very first case decided after the NALSA judgment was I. Jackuline Mary v. Superintendent of Police, Karur and others[3] before the High Court of Madras. This petition had been filed by a person, who was born female and identified with the female gender all her life. Her identification documents including birth registration certificate also identified her as a female. Therefore, it was clear that she had chosen her gender identity to be female. Eventually, she attended a police training school at Vellore, wherein during a medical check-up, the medical officer remarked in her report, that she is was actually transgender. The petitioner was forced to undergo a medical examination to prove her gender, despite NALSA norms clearly specifying that this sort of testing was not alright. After receiving the transgender remark, she was terminated from the police service in the police service on grounds of non-disclosure that she was a transgender by birth, and was not entitled to admission in the womans quota. The Court, after analyzing various laws in the country, came to the conclusion, that it is no requirement for a person to prove their gender by undergoing any examination. Whilst the authorities, in this case, had not followed the guidelines laid down by the NALSA judgment (and couldnt have, as the NALSA judgment had been passed two days before this judgment), yet the High Court of Madras followed the NALSA judgment, recognized the Petitioners right to choose the gender that they identify with, and set aside her termination from police services. Factually similar cases were decided identically by the High Court of Madras in the matters of Nangai v. Superintendent of Police[4],T. Thamusu v. Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu[5], and G. Nagalakshmi v. Director General of Police[6] where although it was still too early for the State Government to make laws in pursuance of the guidelines laid down by the NALSA judgment, the Court nonetheless followed them and passed judgments accordingly. Another such idea that runs as a common thread across NALSA implementation is the state placing the blame on a non-existent law. Whilst courts have been pro-active in giving legal form and sanctity to NALSA judgment norms, authorities under the central and state governments have matched the judiciarys enthusiasm with a proportionate amount of reticence. What this disconnect between the judiciary and the executive has repeatedly led to, is the sheer harassment caused to the already harassed. An example of this is a case that came up in the court of Justice Dinesh Mehta[7] of the High Court of Rajasthan. Despite precedent from the High Court of Madras, a female (assigned gender) who had applied for the post of a constable was later found to be a hermaphrodite ( the biological term for a transgender/transsexual) during a medical test). In this case, the authorities did not even do her the courtesy of rejecting her application, which would have given her immediate cause for legal action. Instead, they pushed the application into dormancy. When the petitioner approached court aggrieved by the lack of any movement on her application, the state government took the stand that since the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 (as on 2016) was pending, it had rightly abstained from taking any action on the petitioners application. The court, once again, had to step in and admonish the state and reiterated that the stand taken by the state was absurd, and the harassment caused to the petitioner was immeasurable. Whilst the states inaction was criticized, what also happened was that an interpretation of the NALSA judgment was placed on record by the Judge. The judge recorded that unless a job so requires, an employer cannot ask about the sex of a person, and in place thereof, the requisite column in Hindi should be purush/mahila instead of ling. The judge attempted to bring out a distinction between the sex of a person as opposed to their gender, and this, was positively progressive. However, whether these observations have actually translated into actions by authorities is yet to be seen. In another case, before the High Court of Uttarakhand, a similar stand was taken by the state (later retracted) that till the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 (as on 2016), the state would not act. The Court clarified that until the bill is enacted (that is, till it becomes law), the NALSA judgment will have an equal force of law.[8] What Can We Learn From This Whilst the courts have always aligned their decisions with the norms of NALSA v. UOI, what actually happens in spite and despite law is disheartening. Whether this is lethargy, apathy or outright bias, it is the transgender community that (despite not having the resources) has to time and again approach courts for enforcement of fundamental freedoms. The author and Ungender Legal Advisory are joint owners of copyright of this article, and any reproduction of this article shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 only. This article has been shared with NW18 as part of an Ungender-NW18 collaboration. Cai Xia, an expelled Chinese Communist Party member strikes out at President Xi Jinpling, accusing him of 'Killing a country' and suggesting that many other members also want to leave the party.He was expelled from the party on Monday after an audio criticizing the Chinese President, was leaked online in June. A former professor at Chinas elite Central Party School, who has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for criticising President Xi Jinping, has lashed out at the leader accusing him of killing a country and claiming that many others want to quit the party.Cai Xia, a professor who taught at the school, a higher education institution for top officials, was expelled from the party on Monday after an audio criticising the Chinese President, was leaked online in June, The Guardian reported. Cai, who no longer stays in China, had made remarks that damaged the countrys reputation and were full of serious political problems, according to the school, where she was a professor since 1992. The professor told the newspaper that she happy to be expelled.Under the regime of Xi, the CCP is not a force for progress for China. In fact, it is an obstacle to Chinas progress, Cai was quoted as saying. I believe I am not the only one who wants to leave this party. More people would like to withdraw or quit this party. I had intended to quit the party years ago when there was no more room to speak and my voice was completely blocked, she said.Earlier in June, the professor spoke to the Guardian after the audio recording was first released. She took on Xi, slamming him for making China an enemy of the world. Her comments against Xi and CCP will reverberate across the party and country, where public criticism from within the establishment is very rare.On Tuesday, Cai, who initially said she did not want her June interview to be published due to the threats she and her family received said she was now willing to speak out, according to The Guardian.I have much more freedom now. My speech is free from any constraints. I am responsible only for my own conscience and principles, the professor said.Cai revealed there was widespread opposition within the party but few had the courage to speak out, afraid of political retaliation in the form of internal party discipline and corruption charges. ALSO READ : US elections 2020: Democrats formally nominate Joe Biden to take on Donald Trump Xis unchecked power and his hold on all major decision-making led to inevitable mistakes like handling of COVID-19 outbreak, the professor asserted.China has blamed local officials for suppressing news about the outbreak in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged. On January 20, Chinese health officials said the virus was contagious, following the outbreak in December last year.However, according to a speech published by Qiushi, the party magazine, Xi met the politburo and gave directives on the response to tackle the virus on January 7, nearly two weeks before the public was warned. If he knew on January 7, why did it take until January 20 to announce the outbreak? In other words, the fact that people were concealing the news from him is the result of the system. But when he knew the situation on January 7, he did not make it public or mobilise resources. So should not he bear responsibility? Cai said.When no one can oppose him, that means that his power is unlimited. He has made the world an enemy. At home, all these big issues are left to him to decide. In other words, whether it is a domestic or international issue, it is very difficult for others to restrict him. It is inevitable that his judgment and decisions will be mistaken, she added. It is a vicious cycle. After a wrong decision is made, the result is not good. But those below are too afraid to tell him and wrong decisions continue to be made until the situation is out of control. In this vicious cycle, there is no way to stop the country from sliding towards disaster, the professor continued.Cai said that many of her good friends who saw the news of her being expelled from CCP are cheering. They think this is a good thing, she remarked. Those within the party have experienced the last 20-30 years and they understand which direction is right and which is a dead end. We are among a group of cadres who started in our posts after reform and opening. So, that is why I say everyone is very clear about what is happening, the professor was quoted as saying. ALSO READ : Staff at Malis Indian embassy safe : Ambassador Anjani Kumar Sahay Americans are increasingly relying on Medicaid a key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare to provide health care coverage as the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic continues across the U.S. Raising the stakes as a vaccine is developed, the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on a case that could determine the fate of Obamacare on November 10, one week after Election Day. A final judgment on the constitutionality of the landmark health care laws individual mandate provision, and potentially the entire law, is expected in the spring of 2021. Supporters of the ACA have said that if the health care bill were to be overturned, it could lead to total chaos as millions of Americans would lose health insurance coverage and struggle to afford health care. Julie Rosamond discusses a new rule to require "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients to work or volunteer for a minimum number of hours each month, or be locked out of health benefits in Lepanto, Arkansas, U.S., May 2, 2018. (Photo: REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht) And even with Obamacare in place, a new Commonwealth Fund survey found that 43.4% of adults were inadequately insured for the first half of 2020, and half of adults who spent time any time uninsured reported problems paying their medical bills. If Obamacare is dismantled, as the Trump administration wants and a 2021 Supreme Court decision could entail, then the situation becomes even worse for millions of Americans already struggling with health care bills. This is just a persistent problem in the health system right now, and its likely to get worse as this economic downturn, the dramatic economic downturn, continues and affects peoples incomes," Sara Collins, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, told Yahoo Finance. Over 40% of adults are underinsured. (Chart: The Commonwealth Fund) Obamacare amid the coronavirus pandemic Since March 1, over 54 million Americans have filed for unemployment and an estimated 27 million people have lost employed-sponsored health care coverage. Many of those unemployed have turned to signing up for COBRA, the ACA marketplace, or Medicaid. So if you lose your job right now, your ability to retain some form of health care coverage is going to really depend on whether your state has expanded Medicaid or not, Jesse Cross-Call, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), told Yahoo Finance. Story continues The Medicaid expansion is a key component of Obamacare. Overall, Medicaid promotes more comprehensive benefits than private insurance at significantly lower out-of-pocket cost to beneficiaries, but its lower payment rates to health care providers and lower administrative costs make the program very efficient, according to CBPP. The ACA originally intended for national Medicaid expansion, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the policy was unduly coercive and left it up to the states to decide if they wanted to adopt that expansion. Oklahoma and Missouri recently approved ballot measures to expand Medicaid. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance) It has created this patchwork where Texas is a non-expansion state, but next door in New Mexico, it is an expansion state, Cross-Call said of the resulting system. If youre a low-income worker with income right below the poverty line, youre treated differently depending on which state you live in. Over 73 million people were enrolled in Medicaid for the month of May, an increase from the previous three months, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). And Marchs increase, according to CMS, was the first increase in enrollment since March 2017. There was a need for health care coverage before COVID, but there is even more so now To be eligible for Medicaid, an individual has to have an annual income thats below 138% of the federal poverty level; live in a state that adopted the Medicaid expansion; and either be pregnant, elderly, disabled, a parent/caretaker, or a child. The threshold increases depending on the number of people in a household. Medicaid is a means-tested program, Robin Rudowitz, vice president for the Kaiser Family Foundation, told Yahoo Finance. Its countercyclical. Just like in previous economic downturns, when individuals lose jobs and incomes, more people become eligible and enroll in the program. Unlike the Great Recession, now the Affordable Care Act is in place. Weve always seen Medicaid enrollment rise during economic downturns, but now, were also always seeing a lot of people who become uninsured. And while Medicaid is crucial to providing coverage for the more vulnerable populations like the elderly and disabled, its also a major source of health care coverage for essential and front-line workers throughout this pandemic. The NYC Department of Sanitation works during the coronavirus pandemic on April 14, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images) There was a need for health care coverage before COVID, but there is even more so now, Cross-Call said. These are working individuals. Theres a large number of them who work in what are considered at this point to be essential or front line industries. These are folks who are home health aides or who work in a grocery store. Basically, they dont have the luxury of working from home and theyre in settings where theyre likely to be exposed to the coronavirus. At least 5 million essential workers including those who work in health care, food production, grocery stores, and transportation/waste management are enrolled in Medicaid, according to a CBPP analysis. The study also estimated that an additional 650,000 essential workers who are uninsured would be eligible for Medicaid if their states adopted the expansion. The states that havent implemented at this point, by and large, are conservative states, Cross-Call said. There does seem to be some ideological component about government health care in there. But this cost issue has been persistent. Furthermore, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation, if the remaining non-expansion states were to finally adopt the expansion, an estimated 2.8 million adults who were uninsured in 2020 would move out of the coverage gap by 2021 and instead have access to Medicaid coverage. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers remarks after meeting with Pennsylvania families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP) The cost issue Medicaid is a costly program, accounting for 16% of total national health expenditures in 2018 at $597.4 billion. There have been some consistent arguments that opponents have made through the years, Cross-Call said. Theyve been worrying about uncertainty about what it would cost the state to do it because for the first few years, the federal government paid the entire cost of the expansion. Now theyre paying 90%, so the state has to pick up 10% of the cost, and thats the way its going to be every year going forward. The cost of Medicaid for both the federal and state governments has been a controversial topic over the years. In a paper for Mercatus Center, researchers Brian Blase and Aaron Yelowitz found that some states were improperly enrolling people in their Medicaid programs. Its hard for me to speculate on motives, Yelowitz, a professor of economics at the University of Kentucky, told Yahoo Finance. What we can say for sure is that both from a view at 10,000 feet or at the ground level, there appear to be many people who are enrolled in Medicaid pre-pandemic is what we were studying who have incomes that make them ineligible for the program. Jenny Beth Martin, Rep. Tom Price, Rep. Jeff Duncan, Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep. Steve King, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Michele Bauchmann, and Ken Hoagland of Repeal It Now.org during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on efforts to repeal the health care law. (Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images) The research found that adults mainly between the ages of 19 to 64 werent having their incomes properly verified. Things like how quickly we verify your income and when your income goes up, which in good times people get pay raises and find jobs and so forth, Yelowitz said. Then basically, youre supposed to be removed from the program within a certain period of time and that doesnt seem to be happening as much as it should. Another structural weakness that Yelowitz encountered in his research that some people were stating that their family size was larger than it actually was in order to qualify for Medicaid. You might wonder: Is this a big deal or a small deal? Yelowitz said. Youd imagine if you had 50 different states determining eligibility for literally the same person with the same rules, you might come up with different outcomes, but it wouldnt be too much different if you took a group of 100 people. But what you do see if in reality that the audit reports really do say a fair number of people dont seem to be eligible for the program at all. Adriana is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @adrianambells. READ MORE: Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Source: CNBC Day 2 of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former President Bill Clinton and Jill Biden. The night featured the formal nomination of Joe Biden for president in addition to the convention's keynote address, which is often a top draw of the week. Democrats attempted a new format for the keynote, which was delivered in split screen by 17 young Democratic officials, many speaking from their homes. The event was emceed by the actress Tracee Ellis Ross. It followed Michelle Obama's speech on Monday tearing into President Donald Trump. The convention will continue on Wednesday and Thursday, with addresses by Biden and his running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama. The Republican National Convention begins next week. Here are the top moments from Day 2 of the DNC. Jill Biden asks how you make a nation whole Jill Biden made a passionate and personal argument for her husband, saying the newly minted Democratic nominee knows what it will take to make a broken nation whole, because he has done the same in his own family. "How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding-and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith," she said, referring to the 1972 car crash that killed Biden's first wife and baby daughter and made him a single father to two little boys. "There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did it how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going," she continued. "But I've always understood why he did it. ... He does it for you." Biden delivered her speech live from the actual classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she taught English from 1991-1993. She used the school as a backdrop to pivot to the coronavirus pandemic, and whether schools can be opened safely. "You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways. There's no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors" at Brandywine High, she said. "The rooms are dark, and the bright young faces that should fill them are confined to boxes on a computer screen." At the end of her remarks, her husband appeared and embraced her. "She's the strongest person I know," he said. Bill Clinton: 'Our choice is Joe Biden' Bill Clinton CNBC Near the start of the evening, former President Bill Clinton took on Trump's handling of Covid-19. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos," Clinton said. "Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there." "Now you have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else," Clinton added. "If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man." Instead, Clinton said, "our choice is Joe Biden." "Joe helped bring us back from a recession before, and he can do it again," Clinton said. Colin Powell boosts Biden's national security bona fides The convention continued with the theme of bipartisanship that kicked off on Monday with a speech from former Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich. On Tuesday, Republican Colin Powell, former Secretary of State to George W. Bush, delivered a rousing endorsement of Biden and his ability to be commander-in-chief. "Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute," Powell said during in a video message. "With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries never the other way around." Cindy McCain, wife of the late GOP Sen. John McCain, also appeared on Tuesday to talk up her husband's friendship with Biden, though she stopped short of delivering an endorsement. Security guard who met Biden in elevator officially nominates him for president A woman who went viral telling Biden that she loved him in an elevator last year became the first person to officially nominate him for president on Tuesday. Jacquelyn Asbie, a security guard who was videoed in an elevator with Biden on his way to a meeting with The New York Times editorial board, said in her recorded nomination that "Joe Biden has room in his heart for more than just himself." "I take powerful people up in my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me? I just head back to the lobby," Asbie said. "But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me, that he actually cared, that my life meant something to him." "And I knew, even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story in there with him," she added. Biden tweet AOC nominates Sanders Progressive freshman Rep. Ocasio-Cortez of New York used the 60 seconds she was allocated to nominate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for president, in a speech that touched on health care and human rights. "In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espiritu del pueblo, and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America," Ocasio-Cortez said. Ultimately, as expected, Biden was officially named the party nominee. Sanders came in second place. Ocasio-Cortez has said she will vote for Biden but has not endorsed him. Paralyzed activist calls for fixing a broken health-care system Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday assured China that Pakistan has raised a 15,000-strong armed force to safeguard Chinese nationals working in the country for the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which also runs through the PoK. Sharif also told Zheng Xiaosong, Vice Minister of International Department of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, when the latter called on him at the PM House here that Pakistan was committed to provide security to the Chinese working in its territory. We have raised Special Security Division (SSD), comprising of 15,000 military and civilian Armed Forces for ensuring safety of our Chinese brothers working on different projects under CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), he said. He also reaffirmed his governments resolve to take the war against terrorism and extremism to its logical end, and that the ongoing military operation has been effective. The CPEC and its related projects symbolise the people-centric approach of the two countries which has certainly transformed the friendly relations between the two countries into a strong economic partnership, Sharif said. On his part, Zheng expressed satisfaction with the pace of work under CPEC - the USD 46 billion project which became operational last month and also runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). China-Pakistan friendship has entered into a new phase during the present government in Pakistan. We are satisfied with the pace of implementation work on various projects under CPEC, especially in Punjab the speedy work is exemplary, he told Sharif. According to an official statement, Sharif while welcoming the Vice Minister on his visit to Pakistan called Islamabad and Beijing close friends, neighbours and partners as he expressed hope that Zhengs trip will further strengthen the warm and friendly ties between the two countries. He also underlined that bilateral trade between China and Pakistan has crossed USD 18 billion. The Prime Minister underlined that the benefits of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are visible in growing bilateral trade, which crossed the figure of USD 18 billion this year, the statement said. The enormous potential of trade between China and Pakistan will further enhance the quantum of bilateral trade between the two countries, it quoted Sharif as saying. Zheng said that alongside the rapidly improving relations between China and Pakistan, ties between the Communist Party of China and Pakistan Muslim League (N) are also fast increasing as he sought delegation-level exchanges between the two political parties. We need to continue the high-level exchanges between our two countries and political parties, he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent didnt vote for President Donald Trump in 2016, going instead with independent candidate Evan McMullin, a former CIA operations officer. This time around, the Republican former congressman for the Lehigh Valley is supporting Trump's Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. Dent announced his endorsement late Wednesday afternoon in an opinion piece for CNN, where he is a political commentator. Charlie Dent: I'm voting for Joe Biden (Opinion) - CNN https://t.co/tEqO03AY2z Charlie Dent (@RepCharlieDent) August 19, 2020 Dent labeled Trump "a threat to the rule of law and functional democracy" and not representative of the Republican Party that he knows. Donald Trump is not a conservative: He is an illiberal populist and nativist whose chaotic approach and managerial malfeasance have undermined the functioning of government, Dent wrote on cnn.com. "Biden is fundamentally a decent and honorable man who respects the American tradition, supports the rule of law, embraces America's friends and allies, and will restore some semblance of normalcy to the functioning of government," he continued. "That's all I want -- and not too much to ask of a President." Dent decided in 2017 against seeking an eighth term in Congress representing Lehigh Valley communities. That led to a special election in 2018 for Pennsylvanias former 15th Congressional District that was won by now-U.S. Rep. Susan Wild. Wild, a Democrat, in 2018 also won election to the newly redrawn 7th Congressional District that covers Lehigh, Northampton and southern Monroe counties, and she is seeking re-election against Republican challenger Lisa Scheller. As a member of the Republican majority in the 115th U.S. Congress with Trump in the White House, Dent came in saying, When I agree with him, Im going to support him. I want to help the president-elect when hes on the right track and doing things that I feel are in the best interests of the nation. The relationship with the executive branch soon soured, as Dent criticized Trump over the firings of FBI Director James Comey and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; vulgar descriptions of African countries attributed to the president; Trumps impulsive tweets and blame for both sides in the deadly confrontation between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. He voted against the GOPs health care bill and in his farewell address on the House floor at the Capitol on May 10, 2018, blasted the incendiary rhetoric, chaos and dysfunction that we have, unfortunately, grown accustomed to in recent years. Democrats formally nominated Biden as their presidential candidate Tuesday night, and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is set to accept the vice presidential nomination Wednesday night during the virtual Democratic National Convention. The Republican National Convention takes place next week, Monday through Thursday. Trump is scheduled Thursday, the final day of the Democrats convention, to take his Sleepy Joe campaign tour to northeastern Pennsylvania, just outside Bidens childhood home of Scranton, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Pennsylvania State Police say to expect rolling roadblocks, closures and delays in the area. Plan accordingly and expect delays during the Presidential visit on Thursday 8/20. pic.twitter.com/ohM4HmM6KQ TFC Bob Urban (@PSPTroopR) August 19, 2020 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. (Photo : 4 Advanced Practice Career Options for Nurses) The field of nursing is seen by many outside the medical community as one that is fairly one-dimensional and limited in career progression. Most people have the perception that nurses only work in direct patient care roles under the direct supervision of a physician. While this is a common career path for many registered nurses (RNs) who have either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, there are actually a multitude of career options that RNs can pursue that are quite different from the traditional role. The options available to an RN regarding career progression change drastically when they choose to earn an advanced degree. Certain graduate degrees qualify an RN to become an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). This means they can practice more complex areas of medicine based on the merit of a greater knowledge based obtained through higher education as well as a greater number of clinical hours. In some cases, an APRN is even able to practice in an autonomous fashion without the necessity of being under the direct supervision of a physician. APRNs also tend to earn higher salaries on average across the nation. Most APRNs will be able to earn above $95,000 a year, with certain nurse practitioners earning upwards of $115,000 per year. The job security that is associated with such jobs that an APRN can pursue is also a great selling point for choosing this career path. With a growing need for qualified physicians across various different medical specialties, APRNs have been stepping up and stepping into the roles that need to be filled. With the great amount of education and experience that they possess, they are more than qualified to do so in many cases. The decision to become an APRN isn't an easy one for many nurses, though. Even with the job security and higher earning potential, the path to becoming an APRN is not an easy one. It means going back to school to earn a graduate degree and earning a significant number of clinical hours. Most nurses must also do all of this while working full time in their current role as an RN. The good news is that there are options available for nurses dedicated to earning their advanced degree. Online nursing programs are a much more feasible alternative to the traditional classroom setting for most nurses. Through online nursing programs, you can continue to work while earning your degree at the same time in a more flexible manner. If you are an RN who is interested in taking your career to the next level by becoming an APRN through any number of accredited online nursing programs, here are five advanced practice career options that would become available to you if you choose to pursue an advanced degree in nursing. 1. Nurse Midwife One career option that an APRN might wish to pursue is that of the nurse midwife. In this role, a nurse works in the field of women's healthcare in order to administer all essential healthcare to expectant mothers throughout their pregnancy. A nurse midwife is also responsible for helping mothers through the labor and delivery process. There is also a great deal of postnatal care that a nurse midwife administers to newborns and mothers. Although it is a challenging role and one that has been primarily handled by physicians in the United States for some time, the rewarding job of nurse midwife is one that is seeing a great amount of growth in recent years. This is generally attributed to the fact that nurse midwives tend to provide a different approach to the labor and delivery aspect of childbearing than most OB-GYNs do, since it is more focused on allowing things to progress naturally without surgical or medical intervention unless absolutely necessary. This approach to childbirth tends to trend more towards the recommendations by the WHO in regard to surgical interventions in delivery. While the current rate of C-section deliveries in the US is somewhere around a third of all births, the target percentage should be somewhere closer to 10-15% overall. OB-GYNs tend to recommend surgical intervention when things progress at a certain rate while nurse midwives are more comfortable allowing labor and delivery to continue naturally. It would appear that many expectant mothers are more comfortable with the latter approach belonging to the nurse midwife as the percentages of those who opt for a midwife over an OB-GYN is growing rapidly. This provides a great deal of job security and growth for an APRN who wishes to work as a nurse midwife. Those looking to pursue this career path will need to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree with a concentration in midwifery. Online nursing programs make the pursuit of this career path more manageable for the working RN. Many online nursing programs for aspiring nurse midwives take approximately two years to complete. Some nurse midwives might also choose to pursue a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in order to obtain better earning potential and more job opportunities. Similar to the MSN degree, there are a number of great online nursing programs designed to help a nurse earn a DNP degree. Upon completion of your degree, you will need to obtain the correct state licensing for the state in which you wish to work. You will also need to become certified through the American Midwifery Certification board. Once you have the necessary license and certifications, you will be fully qualified to practice as a nurse midwife. 2. Nurse Practitioner Many people who are not within the medical community might not know what a nurse practitioner is. Essentially, this is a type of APRN who administers a range of medical care to patients of varying ages, conditions, and who have a variety of illnesses. Because of the amount of education and experience that a nurse practitioner possesses, they are even permitted in some states to practice independently of a physician. Such nurse practitioners might even wish to set up their own family practice and work much as a family doctor would. The job of a nurse practitioner is one that is in high demand. Furthermore, that demand is expected to grow over the coming five to ten years. This is generally attributed to the fact that there is a lack of qualified physicians who are able to provide general healthcare to certain communities. This is a problem that mainly affects rural communities that aren't located near major cities and hospitals. The education and clinical experience that a nurse practitioner has makes this type of APRN fully qualified to step in and fill the void. Becoming a nurse practitioner requires that an RN with a BSN earn their MSN degree. Since there is such a need for nurse practitioners, there are a number of online nursing programs that are designed to provide the necessary education for aspiring nurse practitioners in a more accelerated fashion. With online nursing programs offering all the education that a nurse practitioner needs, you might think that the road to becoming one isn't terribly long. However, this depends entirely upon your situation. Many online nursing programs and other MSN programs require that an RN first earn a certain amount of clinical experience before being eligible for enrollment. The number of years of practical experience working as an RN will depend on the program that you are interested in and the state that you are working in, but you can expect to need at least two years, likely more, if you wish to become a nurse practitioner. Furthermore, if you want to work independently of a physician, you will very likely need to go on to earn a PhD in nursing. A DNP will qualify you to work as an autonomous nurse practitioner in some states, particularly those that are suffering from a lack of qualified physicians in the family practice niche. The proper licensing and certifications are also required in order to practice as a fully qualified nurse practitioner. 3. Nurse Anesthetist You might have heard about the job of a nurse anesthetist because of its reputation as having the highest earning potential in the world of nursing. While this is true, the type of salary that a nurse anesthetist can potentially earn varies greatly by state. For instance, nurse anesthetists in Montana have a median salary of around $245,000 per year, placing this state at the top of the list for potential earnings for nurse anesthetists. The overall median salary of nurse anesthetists in the United States overall, though, is more in the neighborhood of $165,000 per year. Either way, though, the earning potential associated with this nursing role is something that makes this career path incredibly appealing to many. The high salary of a nurse anesthetist is not without its reasoning, though. The road to becoming this type of APRN is a long and arduous one. This is because the nature of the work that a nurse anesthetist must do is incredibly sensitive and important. It takes years of education and experience to understand the nature of anesthesia and the best and most appropriate methods of administering it. A nurse anesthetist is responsible for first performing evaluations on patients who are about to undergo surgery or other medical procedures for which they will need anesthesia. The nurse must take into account a patient's medical history and be on the lookout for any red flags that might indicate that the patient would be unable to tolerate a certain type of anesthetic. Once the evaluation is performed and all considerations taken into account, the nurse anesthetist will then need to discuss risk factors with the patient and obtain consent. The nurse anesthetist is then responsible for administering the appropriate anesthetic to the patient, whether that be a type of general anesthesia or a local anesthetic. They will then monitor the patient throughout the surgery or procedure and work with the physician to make sure that all goes according to plan. In the post-op side of things, the nurse anesthetist will monitor the patient and ensure that they recover from their anesthesia correctly. Further medication might be necessary in which the nurse anesthetist will administer to the patient. As far as the necessary education requirements for becoming a nurse anesthetist, there are some key changes taking place. In order to qualify for licensure to work as a nurse anesthetist, an RN once only had to earn an MSN degree in this discipline. However, by the year 2025, all aspiring nurse anesthetist will need to have a DNP in order to practice. Even though this will require more coursework and a significant amount of time, any RN looking to become a nurse anesthetist can opt to do so by exploring their options for online nursing programs in this specialty. Once your experience and education requirements are met, you will need to sit for a certification exam administered by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists. Upon certification, you will need to then obtain a license to work as a nurse anesthetist in your state. Once all is said and done, you will be able to work and practice as a fully certified nurse anesthetist. 4. Clinical Nurse Specialist The job of a clinical nurse specialist is one that, due to the complex nature of healthcare, is difficult to define. Generally speaking, though, an APRN who works as a clinical nurse specialist will practice in a particular area of medicine by providing a combination of direct patient care, managing other healthcare staff, educating patients and staff, and participating in new research. Because of the varying roles that a clinical nurse specialist must be prepared to work in, a minimum of an MSN degree is required in order to pursue this career path. Essentially, clinical nurse specialists deal with the inner workings of healthcare in many ways. This is why the advanced education and greater clinical experience are required if you wish to go this route. After Education Secretary Gavin Williamsons U-turn this week, students are being allowed to use their centre assessment grades (CAGs) those put forward by their own school or college instead of the algorithm-adjusted marks they received on results day. But many homeschooled or private students have no CAGs as their exam centres do not have enough evidence of their academic level. It means many have been left with no grade at all, while some taking resits say they have been given the same grades they achieved last year. Priya Juttla, who was due to retake two A-levels this year, told the PA news agency: The situation is quite unjust. We worked this hard for a year, why should we not get the same benefits? The 19-year-old said she did not get the grades she needed last year as her father has early onset Parkinsons disease and was in poor health at the time of her exams. Advertisement She spent the year working independently to achieve the A grades she needed in maths and biology to study biochemistry at Imperial or Kings College, spending around 1,000 on tutors and exam fees. Her Ucas predictions were for As, but when she got her results on Thursday they were the same as she was given last year. Ms Juttla, from Uxbridge, said: Its so exhausting. Ive really pushed through and I was really determined to make sure I could get in this year and fulfil my offers at university. Private candidates have just been left in the dark the whole time. Theres not really been anything for us, or any proper information. Everyone else has had a U-turn but for us it doesnt relieve anything. She now faces having to sit the exams in October and wait another year before she is able to go to university. There are thought to be around 20,000 private students who would have taken exams this year across A-levels, AS levels and GCSEs. Ferdaus Abdul, another A-level resit candidate, was hoping to study medicine but having been assigned no grades at all, has seen both his firm offer at Kings and his insurance from Southampton withdrawn. Advertisement The 18-year-old told PA: Im basically in a black hole and theres no way to get out. I dont have a centre assessment grade, and because I dont have one Ive been outright rejected from my university. I have nowhere to go. Mr Abdul said he fears his chance of studying medicine may now have gone as some institutions stipulate candidates must have passed their A-levels within three years to be accepted for the subject. Im devastated, he said. I could resit these A-levels next June but I wont be able to apply for these courses any more so what use does that have for me? I could go through clearing and end up doing something I dont like and have my hopes of becoming a physician crushed. Mr Abdul, from Hayes in west London, said he believes private students are a low priority for the Government. I live in a council house with my parents, low income, he said. Its essentially people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and BAME and things like that that tend to end up having to resit A-levels, either for not having the right grades when they applied the first time or personal circumstance. Advertisement It wouldnt hurt them to let us slip through the net really. Theres so few of us that they could totally ignore us and nobody would know about it. One retake candidate from Greater Manchester, who asked to remain anonymous, said her CAGs were the same grades she received last year. My centre justified it by saying its based off of my performance from a year ago and based off of external candidates theyve had in their centre that have not improved, she said. I feel like its unjust. The 19-year-old, who had been hoping to study law, called for action and better communication from the Government and Ofqual. At least recognise our plight, she said. Theyve not been acknowledging us at all, weve been constantly trying to get through to them but theyre not recognising us. Were being stereotyped based off previous performances and its not fair to judge peoples intelligence based on other statistics. A spokesperson for Ofqual said those without grades should take exams in the autumn. They added: We confirmed earlier this summer that private candidates, which would include home educated students, would only be able to receive a result where the head of centre, where they were due to take their exams, was confident their staff had seen sufficient evidence of the students achievement to submit a centre assessment grade and include them in the centres rank order. We also worked with exam boards to create alternative options for private candidates whose original centre may have decided a centre assessment grade could not be submitted, subsequently allowing candidates to consider transferring from one centre to another. For private candidates where this was not possible, they will be able to take an exam in the autumn series. The news comes as a Leaving Cert student home-schooled by his mother has won his High Court challenge against the Minister for Education's decision to exclude him from the calculated grades process. The Ukrainian interference theory has been repeatedly challenged and parts of it debunked multiple times, even before Trump began giving voice to it. But since 2016, the Republican Partys fixation on it has only expanded, with a new twist: Now, instead of being a purported problem unto itself, it has become a vehicle to bolster the GOPs charges of bias run amok at the FBI, and corrupt activities by Biden while he served as vice president and took the lead in dealing with Ukraine. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the federal government of not consulting Nigerian research institutions and university-based scholars in the fight against COVID-19 and other national challenges. The national president of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, in a statement on Wednesday, said the same attitude of the government had brought our universities to their knees and deprived them of capacity to respond to national challenges. The coronavirus pandemic has assailed the world since the beginning of this year with the global tally of confirmed cases exceeding 21 million. Nigeria has so far recorded 49,895 infections with nearly a thousand deaths. There is yet no globally approved COVID-19 cure or vaccine. Although clinical trials of vaccines are still ongoing in many countries, Nigeria is not involved in any at the moment. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced his countrys approval of a COVID-19 vaccine named Sputnik V, but scientists around the world have expressed concerns over the lack of final-stage testing of the vaccine. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Ogunyemi said ASUU finds it unacceptable that the Presidential Task Force would discuss issues relating to prevention control and possible cure of COVID-19 in Nigeria without reference to universities and university-based scholars. However, we view the Federal Governments failure to acknowledge the intellectual and research community in the national discourse on COVID-19 as a continuation of the trajectories which brought our universities to their knees and deprive them of capacity to respond to national challenges, the statement issued read. Mr Ogunyemi, however, said despite its exclusion, the body of lecturers has been involved in government efforts to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus just like other frontline workers. It is no longer news that ASUU members across the country were actively involved in the production and distribution of hand sanitisers, radio/TV jingles, handbills and posters, hand washing buckets and other items supportive of government efforts to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria. At the same time, our medical and paramedical professional members were and are still involved in frontline activities as members of COVID-19 State Task Forces and volunteers in the isolation centres and clinics where their services were (are) critically required in critical moments. According to him, deploying ASUU members for medical and social emergencies at a time the Nigerian government was (is) withholding salaries of some of its colleagues in federal universities is a decision borne out of their sense of history. History teaches us that in a time of extraordinary adversity, extraordinary demands are made on the will of humankind, both in relation to our sheer courage and determination to survive, as well as in terms of the wisdom and ingenuity which we must bring to bear on the existential task of surmounting the adversity that we are confronted with. The COVID-19 pandemic is one such moment of supreme adversity in the career of humankind, and we as a union are proud of our heritage of demonstrating courage and resourcefulness in a moment like this. Mr Ogunyemi urged the federal and state government to reverse the trend of ignoring its members for Nigeria to witness genuine development. He also disclosed that in acknowledgement of their contributions, more than ten state governments of the federation have sent appreciation letters. Two weeks ago, Oregon lawmakers were preparing for their second special session of the year when Sen. Tim Knopp of Bend put out a press release calling for a bill that would make sure more voters have their ballots counted in the November election. Every election cycle, Oregonians hear that they must return their ballots by mail or at drop sites by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order for their votes to be counted. Knopp proposed that lawmakers change state law so that all ballots postmarked by the Saturday before Election Day would be counted, regardless of when the United States Postal Service delivers them. Residents in Vietnam's central province of Thua Thien Hue have their samples taken for the new coronavirus testing, July 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh. Coronavirus cases in Asia-Pacific are being driven by people under 50 who may not know they are infected, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Many have mild or no Covid-19 symptoms and risk infecting the elderly and other vulnerable populations, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director Takeshi Kasai told a virtual briefing, warning of a "new phase" in the pandemic. "The epidemic is changing. People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the threat," Kasai said. "Many are unaware they're infected with very mild symptoms or none at all. "What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. I believe it's a signal that we've entered a new phase of the pandemic in the Asia-Pacific (region)." WHO data on the current phase of the contagion showed around two-thirds of Japan's infections were among those aged under 40. More than half of the caseloads in the Philippines and Australia were also in that age group. "We must redouble efforts to stop the virus from moving into vulnerable communities," Kasai said. Some countries that had brought their outbreaks under control - such as New Zealand, Vietnam and South Korea - have detected new clusters, forcing governments to reimpose painful lockdowns on cities and tighten social distancing rules. But Kasai said the use of targeted interventions in the region was encouraging because it reduced the economic and social impact of containment measures and was more sustainable. He warned, however, that the challenge will remain "as long as the virus is circulating and we don't have immunity to it." Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2020) - Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) ("Company" or "Iconic") is pleased to announce a spin-out transaction (the "Spin-Out") whereby Iconic will transfer its 50% interest in each of the New Pass and Midas South (previously Squaw Creek) gold properties located in Nevada to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company ("SpinCo"). Iconic intends to distribute the common shares in the capital of SpinCo (each, a "SpinCo Share") to the shareholders of Iconic on a pro rata basis and to apply to list (the "Listing") the SpinCo Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). The number of SpinCo Shares to be distributed to each shareholder of Iconic under the Spin-Out has not yet been determined. There will be no change in the shareholdings of individual Iconic shareholders as a result of the Spin-Out. Richard Kern, Iconic's President and CEO, stated, "We believe the value of the New Pass and Midas South gold assets is not reflected in Iconic's current share price and see the spin-out as a way to create additional value for Iconic shareholders. The transaction will allow the new spin-out company to evaluate opportunities in the gold sector, while Iconic retains its primary focus on its Bonnie Claire and Smith Valley Creek lithium properties." Further details of the Spin-Out will be announced in the near future. Shareholders of the Company are cautioned that the final details of the Spin-Out are still to be determined and there is no certainty that the Spin-Out or the Listing will be completed on the terms currently proposed or at all. The Spin-Out and the Listing are subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV and any applicable securities regulatory authorities. New Pass Project Property Story continues The New Pass property is located in Churchill County, 27 miles west of Austin, Nevada. The property is a joint venture with McEwen Mining Inc., of which the Company holds a 50% interest. Gold mineralization on the property is hosted in medium to thin bedded silty and carbonaceous limestones of the Triassic Lower Augusta Mountain Formation. New Pass Drilling In April 2006, the Company received a new mineral resource report on the New Pass project compiled by Paul A Pelke, California Registered Geologist, Reno Nevada and Sam S. Arentz III, P.E., Sparks, Nevada, as revised in October 2006 (the "2006 Report"). The 2006 Report was prepared using National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") guidelines and standards and made additions to the previously filed NI 43-101 report filed on the New Pass project. According to the 2006 Report, which has been superseded by the 2010 Report (as defined below), the New Pass project contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 11.5 million tons (10.5 million tones) averaging 0.0226 oz/t (0.78 g/t) gold and 0.2214 oz/t (7.59 g/t) silver. This is equivalent to approximately 260,000 ounces of gold and 2.546 million ounces of silver. The shallow and largely oxidized nature of the resource indicates it may be amenable to open pit heap-leach mining methods. In February 2008, the Company released results of its 33 hole / 16,785 feet (5,117 m) 2007 Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program. The Company discovered a mineralized fault well west of the Inferred Mineral Resource at the New Pass project and extended the mineralized system west, north and east. In order to follow these extensions, a Plan of Operations was filed with the Nevada Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow for an expanded drilling program. In May 2008, the Company resumed exploration drilling on the New Pass project. The plan called for 12,000 feet of reverse circulation drilling. A twenty five hole, 12,220 feet (3,726 m) drilling program was completed by the Company in November 2008. The program included 3 diamond core holes and 22 reverse circulation (RC) holes. Drilling continued to expand the Inferred Mineral Resource to the west. The best example of this is NP-0813, which intersected 160 feet (49 m) averaging 0.053 oz/ton (1.82 g/t) gold and 0.17 oz/ton (5.8 g/t) silver on Section 1200 North. The core drilling allowed for great understanding of the structures associated with the bedded mineralized zone at New Pass. This drilling indicated that the bulk of the mineralization is hosted by sedimentary breccias formed by a prolonged weathering cycle and formation of karst within the limestones which were later covered with Tertiary volcanics. The mineralization is not associated with a bedding plane shear and therefore must be fed by high angle faults. On September 8, 2010, the Company filed an NI 43-101 technical report dated effective September 3, 2010 and entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report and Revised Resource Estimation on the New Pass Property, Churchill County, Nevada, Revised" (the "2010 Report"), which included updated information on the drilling conducted at the New Pass project since the 2006 Report. The 2010 Report was authored by Paul D. Noland, CPG, of Elko, Nevada. Noland stated, "The property currently contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 15,515,488 short tons at 0.022 ounce per ton (opt) gold equivalent [sic] or 341,750 ounces of gold equivalent." Given the date of the 2010 Report, the Company acknowledges that the 2010 Report is not current according to the policies and regulations of NI 43-101. A Plan of Operations which allows drilling over a much expanded area was granted in July 2009 and bonded in November 2009. The Company believes there is significant additional potential to the north under volcanic cover and down dip. Midas South Gold Property The Midas South property is located 15 miles southeast of the Ken Snyder Deposit between the Ivanhoe Mining the Midas Mining Districts, Nevada. Both the Ivanhoe Mining District and the Midas Mining District lie on the northwest strike projection of the Carlin Trend and within the Northern Nevada Rift. The Midas Mining District lies at the northwest end of a line of gold deposits, which extends to the southeast to the Rain deposit, south of Carlin, Nevada. The Midas South property is a joint venture with McEwen Mining Inc., of which the Company holds a 50% interest. According to the NI 43-101 report on the property dated February 20, 2005 entitled "NI 43-101 Report on the Squaw Creek Property, Elko County, Nevada", strongly anomalous gold mineralization has been consistently intersected in drill holes over an area 3 miles long by 1 mile wide. The Company conducted a geophysics survey of the property and a 4 hole deep core drilling program beginning in 2006. The primary target was a high grade vein deposit. Midas South Drilling The drilling on the Midas South property tested a major north-south trending, west dipping fault system detected by geophysics. SC-0702 intersected at 70 feet (21 m) long fault zone (true thickness of 45 feet or 14 m) starting 250 feet (76 m) below the fault intercept in 0602. SC-0602 contained a 25 feet (8 m) long fault zone (true thickness of 22 feet or 7 m). SC-0702, which intersected the fault at a down-hole depth of 925 feet (282 m), has an average gold grade of 0.030 oz/t (1.02 g/t) over the 70 foot (22.5 m) interval and includes 10 feet (3 m) of 0.073 oz/t (2.50 g/t) gold. Core hole 0602 above, intersected the fault at a down-hole depth of 780 feet (276 m) and has an average gold grade of 0.0125 oz/t (0.43 g/t) over the 25-foot (8 m) interval. Both the width of the fault zone and gold grade increased with depth. Silver values in both holes are low with silver to gold ratios of 1 to 1 or less. In September 2008, a 1,358 feet (414 m) long core hole (SC-0801) was completed on the Midas South property to test a mineralized fault zone down dip from drill hole SC-0702 (70 feet @1.02 g/t gold). Previous drilling indicated the fault dipped approximately 70 degrees. However, the fault flattens to roughly 45 degrees causing SC-0801 to intercept the zone only 180 feet (55 m) below the elevation of SC-0702. The SC-0801 intercept is 120 feet (37 m) [100 feet true width] compared to 70 feet (21 m) in 0702 [45 feet true width]. The 0801 grade is slightly higher and contains the first +3.0 g/t gold intercepts at the property (3.19 and 3.43 g/t gold over 5 feet samples). Deeper drilling is needed to determine if gold grades continue to increase. SpinCo Private Placement In connection with the Spin-Out, SpinCo plans to conduct a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 4,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $800,000. Each Unit will consist of one SpinCo Share and one-half of one SpinCo share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one SpinCo share at a price of $0.30 per SpinCo share for a period of 12 months from the closing of the Private Placement, subject to acceleration if the closing price of Spinco's shares on a stock exchange is equal to or greater than $0.50 for a minimum of ten consecutive trading day at any time after the closing of the Private Placement. Net proceeds from the Private Placement are expected to be used for working capital and to fund exploration activities on the New Pass and Midas South properties, which will include a further update on New Pass's NI-43-101. The Private Placement is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV and any applicable securities regulatory authorities. All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement will be subject to an indefinite hold period in Canada until SpinCo becomes a reporting issuer in a Canadian jurisdiction in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The Company may pay finder's fees on a portion of the Private Placement to arm's length parties that have introduced the Company to subscribers participating in the Private Placement, consisting of a cash commission and non-transferable finder's warrants. This news release does not constitute an offer of sale of any of the foregoing securities in the United States. None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Qualified Person Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Kern is not independent of the Company as he is the Chief Executive Officer of Iconic. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Richard Kern" Richard Kern, President and CEO Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614 For further information on Iconic, please visit our website at www.iconicminerals.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 news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to the Spin-Out, the Listing and the Private Placement and the future business plans and exploration activities of the Company and SpinCo, are forward-looking statements. 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 typically identified by words such as: "will", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals required for the Spin-Out, the Listing and the Private Placement and the future development of the Company and SpinCo's projects in a timely manner. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company and SpinCo to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the New Pass and Midas South gold properties, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and gold, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in the Private Placement, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the business, financial condition and exploration and development activities of the Company and SpinCo, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company or SpinCo to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including acceptance by the TSXV required for the Spin-Out, the Listing and the Private Placement, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Managements' Discussion and Analysis and filed with the Canadian Securities Authorities. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62054 James Tim Norman, 41, was arrested by FBI agents in Jackson on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-fire, resulting in death, and was booked into the Madison County Detention Center A star of the OWN reality TV series Welcome to Sweetie Pies has been arrested on federal charges for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot with a stripper that resulted in the death of his 21-year-old nephew. James Tim Norman, 41, was arrested by FBI agents in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire, resulting in death, and was booked into the Madison County Detention Center. According to a criminal complaint, Norman allegedly conspired with exotic dancer Terica Ellis to kill his nephew, Andrew Montgomery, who was shot dead in St. Louis on March 14, 2016. Ellis has been charged with one count of conspiracy in the death of Montgomery, prosecutors said. Norman visited the site of Montgomery's murder with his mother on the show in December the same year, in which he revealed he'd been 'avoiding' the area. Federal authorities claim that two years prior to the Montgomery's death, Norman took out a $450,000 life insurance policy on his nephew, naming himself as the sole beneficiary. Norman also allegedly attempted to take out a $250,000 policy with a different company in 2015 but the application was denied. The applications of all these policies contained numerous false statements regarding Montgomery's income, occupation, and family history, according to the complaint. Scroll down for video According to a criminal complaint, Norman allegedly conspired with exotic dancer Terica Ellis (right) and other associates to kill his nephew, Andrew Montgomery Andre Montgomery, 21, was shot dead on March 14, 2016. He had been recording a rap song when he receive a text telling him to come outside Federal authorities claim that two years prior to the Montgomery's death, Norman took out a $450,000 life insurance policy on his nephew, naming himself as the sole beneficiary On March 10, 2016, Ellis, of Memphis, Tennessee, allegedly contacted Montgomery, informing him via email that she was on her way into [St. Louis], communications obtained by the FBI show. Then, on March 13, the day before Montgomery's death, Norman also flew into St. Louis from his then-residence in Los Angeles. Two pre-paid cellphones, which were later traced back to both Norman and Ellis, were activated on March 14, and used throughout the day for communication between the pair. According to the affidavit, Montgomery texted Ellis the address where he was ultimately killed that evening. Ellis then called Norman after learning of Montgomery's location. Montgomery was killed within the following hour. He had been recording a song inside a home on Natural Bridge Avenue when he received a text to come outside at 8:02pm and was shot. Location data from Ellis phone places her in the vicinity of where Montgomery was shot at the time of his death. Ellis then allegedly contacted Norman again after Montgomerys death, before returning back to Memphis with another co-conspirator, who hasn't been named. Both of Ellis and Normans purported burner phones ceased all activity on March 15, 2016. According to the affidavit, Montgomery texted Ellis the address where he was ultimately killed that evening (above). Ellis then called Norman after learning of Montgomery's location. Cast of Outstanding Reality Series winner 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' poses in the press room during the 44th NAACP Image Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on February 1, 2013 Four days after his nephews murder, Norman attempted to collect on Montgomerys life insurance policy, but was subsequently denied the funds because he failed to produce several requested documents, prosecutors say. Meanwhile, Ellis reportedly made several cash deposits into a number of different bank accounts in Memphis between March 15 and 17, totaling over $9,000. Prior to the homicide, her accounts had a negative balance, documents claim. Less than a week later, on March 22, Ellis flew from Memphis with her mother and daughter to Los Angeles. Cell phone data acquired by investigators shows that, on at least one occasion, she was in the same location as Norman. Ellis and her family returned to Memphis on March 28. The affidavit also states that Norman wired Ellis a sum of $700 the following month. During a December 2016 episode of Welcome to Sweetie Pies, Norman and his mother, Miss Robbie, are shown visiting the scene of where Montgomery was killed. Both talk about how emotional his death was for them. Weve lost a lot of family members here, Norman tells the camera of the street where Montgomery was shot. Andre, as of late. But even before Andre, my fatherand its all on this one street. A few blocks from each other. Since Andres passing I havent gone through this part of the city. Really Ive been avoiding it, he continues. Miss Robbie told TMZ in 2016 that she suspected her grandsons murder was a set-up. Montgomery featured regularly in the show, with his high school graduation broadcast in 2013. During a December 2016 episode of Welcome to Sweetie Pies, Norman and his mother, Miss Robbie, are shown visiting the scene of where Montgomery was killed. Both talk about how emotional his death was for them. Terica Ellis (above) has been arrested as Norman's accomplice in the plot. Ellis, 36, is a stripper who performs under the name Alexus Da Great Miss Robbie (seen left with Norman) told TMZ in 2016 that she suspected her grandsons murder was a set-up. Norman has previously had a number of run-ins with the law. According to his biography on the OWN website, he was arrested for armed robbery charges and served 10 years in prison. In 2018, he was charged for misdemeanor assault charges in Harris County, Texas, after allegedly punching a former employee in the face. The following year, a Houston-based property company sued Norman for unpaid rent totaling over $254,000. He faced similar problems in Jackson later the same year, where he owns a chain of Sweetie Pies. The owners of the Plaza Building, where the eatery was situated at the time, said he owned them $100,000 in rent. Norman said he had been abstaining from paying rent because of ongoing problems with the building that hadnt been solved. The restaurant was previously ordered by the city to close down for eight days for a series of operational violations. The restaurant later moved to its current location on East South Street in January this year. Ellis, meanwhile, has been charged with one count of conspiracy in the death of Montgomery, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Like Norman, the 36-year-old stripper, known by her stage named Alexus Da Great, also has a criminal past, including misdemeanor convictions in 2006 and 2007 for a drug offense and indecent exposure respectively. She first received the indecent exposure charge in 2006 after local investigators said she was dancing nude at her place of employment, Pure Passion. At the time, Pure Passion was a licensed as a topless-only adult entertainment establishment. Federal documents say the evidence against Ellis is 'strong', and prosecutors have requested that bail for her be denied, citing her to be a flight risk. She is currently being held at the DeSoto County Jail in Mississippi. Wednesday, August 19th, 2020 (1:14 pm) - Score 2,117 Rural broadband developer Broadway Partners (aka ISP Broadway Broadband) has today reached an interesting new agreement that will enable them to harness Western Powers low voltage poles. The deal will be used to support their on-going deployment of gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) infrastructure to homes. At present the operator has already completed a limited deployment of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure, as well as several different Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks across the United Kingdom, albeit largely focused upon rural parts of Wales and Scotland. Going forwards they also have an aim to extend their gigabit-capable fibre network to cover 500,000 homes and businesses by the end of 2022. As part of this theyre already making some use of Openreachs (BT) existing cable ducts and poles to run their own fibre (Physical Infrastructure Access) and, after todays agreement, theyll be able to harness Western Powers low voltage electricity poles for a similar purpose. The announcement isnt specific about the details, although generally speaking a low voltage line is usually taken to mean something akin to the wires that run directly to houses (240v+), which may also include some wooden poles (although some of those poles may be more in the medium voltage range). By comparison high voltage often reflects those huge steel towers you see (unless underground). NOTE: Western Power (WPD) serves the Midlands, South West and Wales. Michael Armitage, CEO of Broadway Partners, said: We have been delivering broadband connectivity to digitally disadvantaged areas in Wales and Scotland since our first commercial operations launched in 2016. We continue to roll out Fibre across southwest Wales and have just reached an agreement to use Western Powers low voltage poles in addition to our existing Openreach PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access), which means we can now roll out these services faster than ever. We have already started to unbundle local exchanges in Chepstow, Abergavenny, Monmouth and Pontypool, with more to follow as we continue to roll out Fibre across Monmouthshire. Broadway Partners is committed to connecting the unconnected and this is just another step toward our goal in ensuring everyone receives fast and reliable broadband services, regardless of where they choose to live and work. Sharing broadband infrastructure with electricity networks has been done before, although it often requires special consideration in order to become truly cost effective, otherwise there are good reasons why such an approach is not widely used. One of the main issues is safety. Dealing with electricity cables requires a different set of skills, considerations and knowledge, as well as greater precautions (you cant just ask ordinary fibre engineers to do it). Likewise coordinating electrical and telecoms work can be tricky, which may in turn add delays and thus costs. The UK Government are actively pushing for more of this through their proposals to update the Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations 2016 (here). UPDATE 20th August 2020 Broadway informs that their engineers are trained on how to work on low voltage poles, and also have method statements and risk assessments for access which Western Power have approved. The operator added that they have a mature management system and a behavioural safety program backing up their ISO certification. S everal thousand homeless people will be given smartphones and laptops in a bid tackle loneliness and isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. A two-year partnership, between Tesco Mobile and the homelessness charity Crisis, will see homeless people given 700,000 worth of phones, devices and internet data. The venture aims to help rough sleepers stay informed, connected and access support during a "really difficult and dangerous time" following the Covid-19 crisis. In the first year they aim to provide 2,500 homeless people with phones, laptops and tablets. Members of the public are being urged to hand in their old smartphones or donate to help support the campaign. It is hoped that the technology will make it easier for rough sleepers to look into housing options, keep in touch with friends and family and access information, services and support. It will also help homeless people stay aware of public health guidance and updates as the country adapts to the ongoing threat of coronavirus. Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images During lockdown, Crisis has provided one thousand mobile phones to people helped off the streets and into hotels. Chief executive Jon Sparkes said the lack of digital connection during the Covid-19 outbreak has become a huge challenge, and that addressing this will support charities work during a really difficult and dangerous time. He said: Its really clear to us that, as well as the obvious things of not having a house or being able to afford a place to live, which are really awful things that people face when theyre homeless, theres this sense of isolation and loneliness and the lack of connectivity that people feel as well. And thats always been there, thats something which is really important. certainly to our services as well as helping people find somewhere to live and a job, were also looking at helping to connect them and the resilience that brings. Could the pandemic give the homeless a fresh start? But I think whats happened in the pandemic is for very, very good reasons people have been supported to separate, and thats just really shone an even brighter light on that issue, and people who are self-isolating in hotel rooms for very good reasons, then the fact that theyre not able to connect has become just even more important. Jana, 36, was homeless when the lockdown was announced, having spent five months in a hostel in Doncaster after sofa surfing with friends and family. She moved into a council flat in April, and said having a phone meant she could apply for housing without having to wait for use of the hostels communal computer. She now uses it to keep on top of the news and receives wellbeing calls twice a week from Crisis which are helping with her depression. Without the phone now, Id be anxiousit keeps me informed, keeps me in the world so to speak, keeps me informed with my friends, my family I think without it I wouldnt know half as much as what I do now," said Jana. Tom Denyard, chief executive of Tesco Mobile, added: We believe passionately that everyone has the right to be connected and that mobile connection brings us all closer to other people, to society, and provides access to essential services. For many people living without a permanent home, digital connection is a necessary lifeline. Additional reporting by PA Media. Fans of The Ellen DeGeneres Show might remember another DJ behind the booth before Stephen tWitch Boss joined the show. Tony Okungbowa originated the role when the daytime talk show began in 2003. With Ellen DeGeneres under public scrutiny over toxic workplace allegations, Okungbowa weighed in. Who is Tony Okungbowa? Tony Okungbowa | Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images RELATED: 3 Top Ellen Show Producers Fired Amid Slew of Allegations, Another Show Favorite Promoted In Their Place The Ellen Show promoted DJ tWitch this week, along with the firing of three top producers. Resident dancer, tWitch, has been a mainstay on the show since 2012. Before that, Tony Okungbowa held the spot. DeGeneres first set out to host her Emmy-winning talk show in 2003. Okungbowa took the stage with her, appearing in over 1,600 episodes between 2003-2013. Okungbowa left to pursue his acting career and has since appeared on shows like The Bold and the Beautiful, Ray Donovan, and more. Recently, you can catch him as a series regular Bob Hearts Abhishola and Consequences. Acting aside, Okungbowa is an actual DJ, In constant demand to play sets worldwide for clients like The Grammys, Golden Globes, CFDA Awards, The Espys, Art Basel, Four Seasons Puerto Rico, Forbes Travel Guide, and The Cove Bahamas, his website states. The producer and star of Sundance Film Festival entries Mother of George, Restless City, and Echo Park also released albums Hollywood Sessions Vol. 1, Total Dance 2009, and A Night to Remember with Dj Jojo Flores. Under his own Turntable Studios, the DJ has many more projects in the works. Okungbowa underscored Ellen Show claims regarding toxicity RELATED: Are Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen tWitch Boss Friends? By now, the July report released by BuzzFeed News has circulated many times over. The in-depth feature detailed former employee experiences while working at The Ellen Show. Complaints of workplace bullying, racial microaggressions, and intimidation tactics allegedly plagued the cast and crew. Warner Bros. has an ongoing investigation in place. DeGeneres and producers have addressed the claims and fired three executive producers at the center of some of the more torrid allegations. But, as more revelations come to light, some say the story is far from over. Okungbowa posted to his Instagram addressing the situation. Hey Guys, I hope you are all keeping safe out there during these trying times. I have been getting calls asking me about the Ellen Degeneres Show and I would like to address the time I spent there. I was on-air talent from 2003-2006 and from 2007-2013. While I am grateful for the opportunity it afforded me, I did experience and feel the toxicity of the environment and I stand with my former colleagues in their quest to create a healthier and more inclusive workplace as the show moves forward. Tony Okungbowa Instagram The DJ didnt get into specifics, but the posts brevity re-iterates what many others have been saying since the scathing reports surfaced. Vance DeGeneres refutes claims, defends sister RELATED: Australian TV Executive Told Not to Look at Ellen Degeneres During Interview While Fans Weigh in Amid Celebrity Reactions DeGeneres has since apologized, stating she was disappointed to learn the talk show culture wasnt the place of happiness she wanted it to be, according to Variety. Rumors swirled that DeGeneres would step down from her hosting duties with talk of James Corden taking over. DeGeneres denounced the idea in early August, looking ahead to season 18. Despite employees, Okungbowa and celebrities like Brad Garrett, James woods, and Lea Thompson backing up toxicity claims, DeGeneress brother Vance DeGeneres said the allegations are all bullsh*t. If you dont support Ellen, then you dont support me, Deadline reported via a now-deleted Facebook post. Vance DeGeneres directed anyone who doesnt agree to unfriend him. Im sick and tired of my sister being attacked, he added. Vance DeGeneres isnt the only one coming to his sisters defense. Portia de Rossi and Kevin Hart both declared their love and support on their Instagram pages while others, like Katy Perry, took to Twitter. Harts support comes after the Oscars fired him as host after old homophobic tweets resurfaced. He said DeGeneres was there to support him and petition on his behalf that the Academy hire him back. Others close to DeGeneres Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah, and more havent spoken on the matter. Nine months before Air Force Brig. Gen. Jennifer Grant pinned on her first star, members of the team tasked with investigating her behavior in the years leading up to her promotion said they'd never seen airmen so afraid to face their commander. The climate Grant created while leading the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado was described as "tyrannical" and "toxic," by rank-and-file members and leaders alike. That's according to a 122-page Air Force Inspector General report on Grant's time leading the command from June 2017 to June 2019. Investigators interviewed more than 60 witnesses, according to the report obtained by Military.com. The inspector general substantiated three complaints made about Grant: that she created an unhealthy work environment, failed to treat people with dignity and respect, and improperly accepted a gift from a subordinate. Read next: Fired Air Force General Created Toxic Work Environment: Report The findings were released in October 2019. Grant was promoted to brigadier general last month. The team tasked with investigating Grant's behavior while leading the 50th Space Wing described the conditions she set for her subordinates as "the worst seen in 20 years." She created a "culture of fear," according to the report. A unit with pride in its mission saw its morale tank, according to the report, and was turned into "hushed masses afraid to speak up, speak out, or suggest meaningful innovation." "Communications processes slowed to a standstill and were stifled both up and down the chain," the report states. Perhaps most troubling, though, were three incidents between Grant and one of her airmen that inspectors say require closer examination. The airman died by suicide in March 2019 -- the same year the Air Force saw a 33% spike in the number of personnel who took their own lives. As one witness put it, Grant and the airman "clashed a lot." "Do I think [her death] was a result of Colonel Grant? No. I don't," they told investigators. "... Do I think Colonel Grant caused additional stress in her life and challenges? Yes. I do." 'Worst Year of My Life' After the IG report substantiated the complaints made against Grant, she received a letter of admonishment from Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, deputy commander of Headquarters Space Force, said Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman. A letter of admonishment is a form of administrative punishment, so the details are not releasable to the public. The rebuke is less severe than a letter of reprimand. Grant is now assigned to Air Force Headquarters, serving as chief of the Space Superiority Division with Plans and Programs, Stefanek said. She is expected to continue that duty when her division transitions to Space Force headquarters in the next several months, but she will continue to serve as an Air Force officer. The Senate received Grant's nomination to become a brigadier general on Nov. 26, 2018. The nomination was confirmed that December, about 10 months before the IG's report on her leadership style was completed. The general declined an interview request for this story, but offered a statement through an Air Force spokeswoman. "I remain gratefully committed to serve, lead and grow," Grant said, "and I remain dedicated to our nation, our people, and our mission." One witness noted that Grant really wanted to be a general. When the move was cleared by the Senate, things changed and Grant "became very nice," the witness said. Col. Jennifer Grant, 50th Space Wing commander, speaks with members of the Schriever Fire Department during her brigadier general confirmation celebration at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, Jan. 7, 2019 (U.S. Air Force/Dennis Rogers) Before that, though, witnesses described a different environment. One called working for Grant "the worst year of my life." "I drank as a coping mechanism," he told investigators. "I was miserable. I didn't spend a lot of time with [my family]. And I would tell you I probably, I probably cried weekly." Ten 50th Space Wing members who retired, quit or deployed during Grant's tenure cited her leadership as at least part of the reason they wanted to leave Schriever, the report states. One airman told investigators he volunteered for a yearlong deployment because he didn't feel it was healthy for him to stay and work for Grant. "People were saying if they had to work for Col Grant again, 'I think I'm going to get out,'" one witness said. "In a time where [other leaders are] kind of messaging, 'Hey, I need folks to stay.' ... I feel like that's sort of another area where her style has a negative impact on the Air Force in terms of retention." The report also states there were "a number of suicides" during the same period. Photos of text messages from one airman who'd served for 16 years who later took her own life referenced problems she was having with Grant. "[She] can literally break me at this point," the airman texted. "I have too much time not to make it to 20 [years of service]. [In] my short time here, my career has taken a huge dive. I just can't seem to make the cut to be good enough. ... I'm sick of her coming after me for one thing or another." A witness told investigators they were comfortable saying that airman "felt like Colonel Grant just hated her." The airman was "super stressed out and very anxious." "It's just been the worst year of my life, personally and professionally," she had texted to a witness before her death. "I'm just feeling defeated." Investigators asked Grant about the case. She responded that the airman was someone she cared about a lot. "And it just really, really hurts my head and it bothers me," Grant said. "... But when you take somebody who is an Airman, who's not here anymore, and you put words in their mouth, that I know she didn't say, just to make a point, there's something very wrong about that. And I don't know what it's going to take for me to tell you that there's absolutely no truth to that to convince you." 'Stump the Dummy' Grant is at least the second Air Force general officer found to have belittled her staff in recent months. Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop was also found to have berated her subordinates before being removed from her position as the head of Special Access Programs Control Office at the Pentagon, Air Force Times reported Monday. The inspector general found Grant repeatedly undermined and criticized her immediate commanders and subordinates in a way that stifled mission-essential reporting, two-way communication and trust. Her method of questioning people during public briefings regularly devolved into accusatory language and perceived personal attacks as the questions turned from the topic at hand to the person presenting. One witness said that, during briefings, it was as though Grant was out to "stump the dummy" because of the personal attacks that often followed. "Her body language would change," the report states. "She would 'bristle up,' speak in a lower and more deliberate tone, heavily emphasize certain words, clench her teeth, point her finger, and generally display an angry posture." In one instance, Grant publicly humiliated a briefer by leaning over to people at a table and saying in a voice loud enough for others -- including investigating observers -- to hear, "He doesn't know what he's talking about." The investigators wrote they had "never seen anything like that." When the team asked Grant to provide a response for the report, she invoked her right to remain silent, per advice she received from counsel. During her interview, investigators noted, Grant "at times displayed the very demeanor witnesses described." "The Investigation Team noted she pointed her finger despite claiming she never points because it is not polite," the report states. "She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, and seemed agitated at times." Witnesses told the team they'd been criticized by Grant, insulted or undermined, embarrassed, made to feel stupid, verbally cut off, ignored and forced to move their offices. One recalled having a package thrown at them. Of the witnesses who recalled the events during the investigation, 85% reported negatively on Grant's approach to engaging with people, investigators wrote. "Col. Grant created an environment infused with fear and intimidation, which stifled communication and reporting, and undermined the welfare and morale of her subordinates," the report states. "In doing so, the [Air Force Space Command] IG determined the conditions Col. Grant created were the worst the IG team had seen in 20 years." Grant told investigators she felt people were "weaponizing the [inspector general complaint] system." The report notes that none of the 60-plus people interviewed by the inspector general's team filed complaints against Grant. Several noted her intelligence and high standards and said she was a "smart and hard worker," the report states. "I don't challenge her intelligence. I don't challenge her vision and her direction she wants to take the wing," one person testified. "... Col. Grant has definitely made this wing a better place in terms of its warfighting capability for the joint command downrange. However, [her] leadership style has limited her ability to take the wing to where it could have been." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: General, Colonel Rebuked After Marine Corps Finds Serious Flaws in Fatal Crash Investigation With the state legislatures monsoon session set to begin today under the shadow of Covid-19, a minister and three legislators tested positive for the coronavirus disease on Wednesday. The minister of state for medium and small-scale Industries Chaudhary Udaybhan Singh tested positive for Covid-19 during the mandatory ahead of the Vidhan Sabha session. Chief medical officer of Lucknow, Dr RP Singh, said, The minister has been admitted to Rajdhani Covid Hospital at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, where a team of doctors is taking care of him. Members of legislative assembly (MLA) Tejpal Nagar and Sanju Devi, and an MLC, Parvez Ali, also tested positive according to Vidhan Sabha officials. The latest development comes in the backdrop of major opposition parties demanding a debate on the pandemic, besides the law and order situation, during the monsoon session. Yes, a discussion on Covid-19 and the law and order situation is the need of the hour. The state government did not concede our demand for a debate on the issue when the first few cases of Covid-19 were reported. It has convened the House to serve its own interest and get some bills passed. We will raise these issues as the situation has worsened, said the leader of opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary, following an all-party meeting convened by speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit on Wednesday to seek their cooperation for smooth proceedings. Chaudhary did not attend the all-party meeting and will keep away from the session. Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Narendra Verma represented him at the meeting. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and minister for parliamentary affairs, Suresh Khanna, represented the government at the meeting. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Lalji Verma, Congress leader Aradhana Mishra, Apna Dal (Sone Lal) leader Neel Ratan Patel and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar attended the meeting. Verma and Mishra echoed similar sentiments, saying that their parties would demand a debate on Covid-19 and the law and order situation, besides raising the problems of farmers and the flood fury. The chief minister said the monsoon session, which was convened during the pandemic to meet the constitutional responsibility of holding House sittings within six months of the last, would provide an occasion for debate. During the three-day session, the state government also proposes to get bills passed to replace 17 ordinances promulgated after the last session, besides a few others. The state government is likely to present the first supplementary demand of grants for 2020-2021 during the session. On the first day, the House will be adjourned after paying homage to former Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon, two ministers Kamla Rani Varun and Chetan Chauhan, along with its two sitting members Virendra Singh Sirohi and Paras Nath Yadav. Earlier, Dikshit said members in the 60 plus age group or women, who may not be able to attend the session, would not be considered absent and requested leaders to convey this message to their members. He said the UP legislature was the first legislature in the country to hold its session during the pandemic, as those in other states, such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, had held meetings for a motion of confidence. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It was not clear why the weapons were purchased. But the arrest comes as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have escalated in recent months, including allegations that opponents of President Nicolas Maduro had been seeking the support of a former U.S. Green Beret to violently overthrow the socialist leader. When most people think of cooling, they automatically imagine air conditioning (AC), or cooling the air in a room. But, there is a much more efficient way to cool people, using your body's radiation. To demonstrate the effect of radiant cooling, Forrest Meggers, assistant professor of architecture and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and a team of researchers built a "Cold Tube," in Singapore last year. It was an outdoor pavilion lined with novel insulated radiant panels that held cold water pipes inside. Because your body is constantly exchanging radiation with objects around you, and radiation flows from hot to cool surfaces, the participants who walked through the exhibit shed their radiation toward the panels, similar to what would happen if you stood near a freezer. The participants reported feeling cool, despite the air itself having temperature and humidity levels that would ordinarily feel sweltering. The new research showed that people could feel comfortable in hot and humid outdoor environments using only radiant cooling, which could use far less energy than cooling large volumes of air. The researchers, collaborating with scholars at the University of British Columbia, University of Berkeley, ETH Zurich in Singapore, and the University of Pennsylvania, published their results August 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). In this Q&A, Meggers and first author of the paper, Dr. Eric Teitelbaum, now a senior engineer at AIL Research, comment on why this research is so relevant not just in a warming world, but also in a contagious one, where equipping indoor spaces with outdoor levels of air flow is part of the strategy to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Your recent work published in PNAS showed that people can be kept cool in very hot and humid environments without air conditioning. What is the benefit of cooling surfaces, such as walls and tables, instead of cooling the air? How are the findings relevant to keeping people safe from viruses like COVID-19? Meggers: Today, around the world, people are trying to achieve higher outdoor air flow indoors to dilute the amount of virus in the air. With air conditioning (AC), dehumidification and cooling occur simultaneously. The benefit of the Cold Tube technology is that it decouples cooling from the providing of fresh air, meaning people can keep their windows open, while maintaining comfort, and without expending massive amounts of energy to cool and dehumidify the air flow. Teitelbaum: The way buildings are built today, using exclusively AC for cooling, we can't increase the amount of fresh air we deliver to buildings at will because outdoor air flow is coupled with the amount of air conditioning buildings need to provide. If you want more outdoor air flowing into the building, you also need additional capacity to dehumidify and cool that air. Most systems weren't built with the capacity to flow the amount of air that, in many cases, is being recommended to dilute indoor air pollutants and prevent the spread of COVID-19. And if they can, it requires massive amounts of energy. Meggers: In the Cold Tube, occupants were cooled entirely by thermal radiation, which means energy was primarily used for cooling the water inside the walls, not cooling the air. Through most summer conditions, we could cool people using surfaces, while leaving all the windows open. Achieving 100% outdoor air would do a lot to stymie the spread of the virus, and the efficiency benefits scale proportionally with how much outdoor air you want. Air should be only for breathing, not cooling. How does this help mitigate climate change? Teitelbaum: This system uses at least 50% less energy than a comparably-sized air conditioner. Letting the air warm up by five degrees while cooling surfaces, can lower energy demand by up to 40% and maintain occupant comfort. Allowing even hotter air temperatures would result in higher energy savings. What is the biggest misconception about air conditioning? Meggers: Air conditioning does not equal cooling. It's a highly engrained method of cooling buildings, but it's not the only one. Additionally, your window air conditioners are just cooling existing air in the room; they don't bring new, fresh air into your room. Air conditioning units have become so normalized and integrated into daily life but, in reality, they are huge machines that require a lot of energy, and should not be treated like turning on a light switch. A seemingly simple window unit requires 10-1000x more energy than a ceiling fan, and leaving the AC on is comparable in energy to leaving the light on in 100 rooms. In terms of urban planning and outdoor air quality, how does this alternative to air conditioning provide dual-benefits and help mitigate the urban heat island effect? Meggers: Most of my coauthors and I have traveled around Southeast Asia and have seen firsthand how quickly AC units have been deployed at scale. Adding AC window or split units to buildings is done with little contemplation of the effects on surface temperatures, and the climate and heat in a city. The units work by rejecting the heat from the air in a room to the outside. Rejecting heat outside the buildings, along the facade, leads to sidewalks and areas around buildings becoming very hot, and many spaces becoming unusable. Our technology does exactly the opposite; it provides opportunities to regain thermal acceptability in various parts of the city without having to build a huge park. You can install these cooling panels outside in hot and humid environments, and build "cool havens" where people can gather, eat, and play. Is there anything else you want to talk about in regards to this paper or today's context for it? Teitelbaum: It will take more than an 8-month experiment to change the way people think about comfort systems and energy efficiency in the built environment. Much of the C.H.A.O.S lab's research has focused on expanding the knowledge bubble of thermal radiation's influence on comfort and efficiency. The Cold Tube experiment created a lot of new knowledge, which is a great academic success. Commercially, while there are companies that manufacture similar technologies, there is still a need to continue to demonstrate and experiment with new concepts to not only further the technology, but also this paradigm shift. The shift away from air conditioning towards more holistic comfort design would help us act as stewards of the planet as well as our own built environments. In many parts of the world, such as Singapore and other tropical areas that are increasingly seeking ways to condition spaces, significantly more energy goes towards dehumidifying the air than just cooling the air. This is one of the places that we believe our comfort paradigm will have the greatest efficiency increases and impact, since no dehumidification is required for people to feel comfortable. Spain reported 3,715 coronavirus infections, the highest since the lockdown in the country was lifted in late June. Australia has signed a deal to secure a COVID vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca should it pass clinical trials. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the vaccine should be compulsory for all 25 million Australians. Iran death toll from COVID-19 passed 20,000, the highest in the Middle East. More than 22 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world now, some 14 million people have recovered, and more than 782,000 have died, according to data by Johns Hopkins University. Here are the latest updates: Wednesday, August 19 20:50 GMT NFL considering playoff bubble amid COVID-19 The US National Football League, which will kick off its season in three weeks, has not ruled out the idea of creating a restricted postseason bubble to keep teams safe from COVID-19 as they vie for a Super Bowl berth. NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said the idea of holding playoff games in a so-called bubble was originally brought up by New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. The concept was discussed on our last competition committee call, Vincent said on a conference call with reporters. Is it something that we are considering? All things are on the table, frankly, at this juncture during this fluid environment. 20:31 GMT How coronavirus is affecting Pakistans extravagant weddings Weddings are usually extravagant affairs in Pakistan but a ban on large public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic has forced many to opt for smaller ceremonies. Pakistan, which has reported more than 290,000 cases of the new coronavirus, removed nearly all of its restrictions as part of a partial lockdown last week. Restaurants, cinemas and gyms have been reopened but educational institutions and wedding venues will remain closed until September 15. Read more here. 19:53 GMT COVID-19 vaccine wont be mandatory in US, says Fauci Anthony Fauci, the United States top infectious diseases official, said the government wouldnt make any future COVID-19 vaccine obligatory for the general public though local jurisdictions could make it mandatory for some groups, like children. You dont want to mandate and try and force anyone to take a vaccine. Weve never done that, said Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, during a video talk organied by George Washington University. You can mandate for certain groups of people like health workers, but for the general population you cant he added, citing the example of the National Institutes of Health, where health workers cant treat patients without a flu shot. Fauci said mandatory immunization program would be unforceable [File: Al Drago/Pool/Reuters] 19:15 GMT Bahrain cancels home self-isolation protocol for those entering the country Bahrain announced it would cancel the home self-isolation protocol for all people entering the country, but would continue conducting the laboratory examination for coronavirus, state TV reported on Twitter. The gulf state has recorded 3,482 coronavirus cases and 178 deaths. 18:47 GMT Cuba to start clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccine Cuba kicks off clinical trials next week of a potential coronavirus vaccine called Soberana 01 (Sovereign 01) developed by its state-run Finlay Institute, with results due in February, state-run media said. The potential coronovirus vaccine will be delivered in two injections during the trials that will involve 676 people aged between 19 and 80 years and conclude on January 11. The Communist-run island prides itself on its biopharmaceutical industry, begun by former revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, which is also an important hard currency earner and already produces several vaccines. The island of 11 million people has reported slightly more than 4,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with fewer than 100 deaths, one of the lowest rates in the region during the pandemic [Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters] 18:18 GMT Zambias vice president tests positive for COVID-19 Zambias vice president Inonge Mutukwa tested positive for the coronavirus, the presidency said in a statement, which also said her condition was stable and she was in self isolation at home. The vice president has some mild symptoms that are being managed appropriately She is in high spirits and working virtually the statement said. 17:54 GMT Ethiopia sees 80 percent spike in virus cases Ethiopia on Wednesday announced an 80 percent increase in the number of people confirmed positive for coronavirus over the past 12 hours. With the new figures, COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia to date hit 32,700 with 572 deaths and 12,900 recoveries. 17:17 GMT Norway adds Britain, Greece, Austria and Ireland to quarantine list Norway said it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all people arriving from Britain, Austria, Greece and Ireland from August 22 due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in those countries. Similar restrictions will also be imposed on those coming from the Danish capital Copenhagen, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement. To try to prevent a domestic resurgence of the coronavirus, Norway quarantines all travellers from countries with more than 20 confirmed new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population during the past two weeks. Norway has 10,315 cases to date, and 262 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University [File: Stian Lysberg Solum/Reuters] 16:51 GMT As White House pushes skinny COVID-19 bill, Democrat sees September action The White House pushed for Congress to take up a narrow coronavirus economic relief bill that Democrats have long rejected, while a leading Senate Democrat said real action may come soon after the Sept. 7 US Labor Day holiday. With the breakdown of talks between the White House and top congressional Democrats now in its 12th day, Senate Republicans are floating a skinny version of the $1 trillion bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for a possible vote in the Republican-led chamber. 16:18 GMT Egypt says from September travelers must show coronavirus test results Egypt will require all visitors to the country to present Polymerase Chain Reaction test results for the new coronavirus on arrival from Sept. 1, the prime minister said in a televised address. Egypt will also allow Friday prayers to resume in mosques from Aug. 28 under strict health and safety protocols to be issued by the Ministry of Endowments, Mostafa Madbouly added. Palestinians in Gaza wait to cross to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing [Said Khatib/AFP] 15:50 GMT Spain reports record 3,715 new coronavirus cases since end of lockdown Spain reported 3,715 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, marking a new daily record since the country came out of a strict lockdown in late June. Cumulative cases, which include antibody tests on patients who may have already recovered, rose by 6,671 to 370,867, the ministry said. EU data show Spain has the highest number of cases in western Europe. 15:22 GMT One in four Indians could have been infected with the coronavirus, lab head says At least one in four people in India may have been infected with the coronavirus a much higher number than official government figures suggest, the head of leading private laboratory says. Dr. A. Velumani said an analysis of 270,000 antibody tests conducted by his company Thyrocare across India showed the presence of antibodies in an average of 26 percent of the people, indicating they had already been exposed to the coronavirus. This is a much higher percentage than we had expected. The presence of antibodies is uniform across all age groups, including children, Velumani told Reuters. 14:50 GMT FDAs emergency approval of blood plasma as COVID-19 treatment on hold- NYT The emergency approval of blood plasma as a potential COVID-19 treatment by the US Food and Drug Administration has now been put on hold, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two senior administration officials. A group of top federal health officials including Anthony Fauci have argued that the emerging data on the treatment was too weak, the report said, adding that an emergency approval could still be granted in the near future. 14:25 GMT Slovenias government warns against travel to Croatia Slovenia is urging its citizens to return from Croatia by the end of the week or face an obligatory two-week quarantine after the number of COVID-19 cases continued to rise there, a government spokesman said. The situation is so bad that we have no choice but to urge citizens to return from the dangerous country as soon as possible, Jelko Kacin said. Slovenian holidaymakers already in Croatia will be able to return freely until the end of this week, while those travelling to the neighbouring country from Aug. 21 onwards will have to go into quarantine when they come back, Kacin said. 13:55 GMT Croatia sets new coronavirus record Croatias attempts to appeal to European tourists hoping to escape COVID-19 worries took another hit on due to new data showing the countrys own virus outbreak still building momentum, with a record 219 new cases in the last 24 hours. Furthermore, those new results were based on only 1,653 tests, hinting at a relatively high rate of infection. The 4.19-million-population country now has 1,520 active cases, the coronavirus crisis headquarters said. Women walk past ruins of a building following an earthquake, in Zagreb, Croatia [File: Antonio Bronic/Reuters] 13:40 GMT Greece imposes restrictions on two tourist regions as virus cases surge Greek authorities imposed a new set of restrictions on the Aegean tourist island of Mykonos and the northern region of Halkidiki following a spike in coronavirus infections. The measures will take effect on Friday for at least 10 days. Parties, open-air markets and religious ceremonies are now all banned in the affected regions, while restaurants will not be allowed to seat more than four people per table unless the patrons are members of a single family. This is Usaid Siddiqui in Doha taking over from my colleague Shereena Qazi. 12:20 GMT Scotland says not yet safe to lift COVID-19 restrictions in Aberdeen Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says it is not yet safe to lift additional COVID-19 restrictions in Aberdeen following an outbreak there, but the situation in the city is improving. While the situation is undoubtedly improving, and I dont want to lose sight of that point, we are not yet in a position to say that this outbreak is over, or completely under control, Sturgeon said. She said she hoped some of the additional restrictions imposed on the city could begin being lifted next Wednesday. 11:40 GMT Czechs will not take part in WHOs coronavirus vaccine programme, prefer European plan The Czech Republic will not take part in the World Health Organization-led COVAX plan to develop and distribute a vaccine against COVID-19, Health Minister Adam Vojtech has said. We will not join the WHO initiative for various reasons, the rules are less favourable for us than being part of the European initiative, he told reporters. We are going with the initiative by the European Commission, which is negotiating with producers, and the negotiations are very advanced, we will very soon take part in (an agreement) with AstraZeneca. 10:19 GMT Iran coronavirus death toll passes 20,000 Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. The announcement came as the country, which has been struggling with both the regions largest outbreak and the highest number of deaths, went ahead with university entrance exams for more than one million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shia commemorations later this month. Iran suffered the regions first major outbreak, seeing top politicians, health officials and religious leaders diagnosed with the virus. Read more here 09:15 GMT Singapore says migrant dorms free of coronavirus after outbreak A network of crowded dormitories where coronavirus transmissions flourished among migrant workers has been declared virus-free by Singaporean authorities. 200818040211070 Eighty-six percent of the migrant workers living in the affected dormitories have been cleared to return to work, the ministry said, though it warned small outbreaks remain likely. About 300,000 male migrant workers live in crowded dormitories, facilitating easy transmission of the highly-contagious coronavirus. 08:50 GMT Musician with albinism says coronavirus raises risk of attack The coronavirus pandemic has left people with albinism in fear of attack and murder in parts of Africa where their body parts are used for lucky charms, a Zambian musician with the condition has said. John Chiti, 35, said there had already been one murder in Zambia since the virus emerged and the grave of a person with albinism had been dug up and body parts stolen. Another man was reportedly attacked in the capital Lusaka last week. In West Africa, Chiti said people with albinism had also been blamed for COVID-19. Albinism a lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes affects up to one in 15,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations. 07:32 GMT Finland imposes Europes tightest border restrictions Finland has removed most EU countries from its green travel list, with only arrivals from a handful of states now able to enter the country without restrictions, the government announced. The tougher rules, aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, mean only people coming from Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania will now be allowed into Finland without proving they have a valid reason for travel and self-isolating for two weeks. Arrivals from a number of non-EU countries including Georgia, Rwanda and South Korea continue to be freely permitted under the measures which will come into force next Monday. Since June, the government has said it will allow arrivals from countries with fewer than eight new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population in the last two weeks, although ministers have now made exceptions for countries with less than 10 cases. 06:22 GMT UK expands COVID-19 national testing study The British government has said it will expand its COVID-19 national testing study, with an aim of reaching 400,000 people to provide weekly data on the spread of the infection and better locate future local outbreaks. The Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement it would initially test 150,000 people in England every two weeks by October, up from 28,000 people now, aiming to eventually reach 400,000 across the United Kingdom. The testing survey, undertaken by the Office for National Statistics, would also be extended to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 04:40 GMT China and US to double flights between the two countries After curbing travel between the two countries because of the coronavirus pandemic, China and the United States are beginning to ease restrictions. The US Department of Transportation says it will allow the four Chinese passenger airlines currently flying to the US to double flights to eight weekly round-trips, as China agrees to allow US carriers to double their flights to China. US carriers voluntarily halted flights to China after the coronavirus outbreak. President Donald Trump, on January 31, barred nearly all non-US citizens from travelling to the US from China. You can read more on that story on AJ Impact. Chinese carriers at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai in June. The US and China have agreed to allow more flights between the two countries [Aly Song/Reuters] 03:20 GMT Brazil gives nod to final-stage trials for Johnson & Johnson vaccine Brazils health regulator has approved final-stage trials for Johnson & Johnsons experimental coronavirus vaccine the fourth to get the nod for testing in the country. The vaccine will be tested on 7,000 volunteers across seven states, Anvisa, the health regulator, said in a statement. Brazil has the worlds second-biggest caseload for COVID-19 and has recorded nearly 110,000 deaths from the disease. 02:50 GMT Indigenous protesters resume Amazon roadblock Indigenous protesters have resumed a roadblock of a key highway through the Amazon rainforest despite a judge ordering them to dismantle the blockade. The protesters from the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group want help to fight the coronavirus and an end to illegal mining and deforestation. Indigenous people have been among the groups worst affected by the coronavirus in Brazil with at least 21,000 diagnosed with the disease and 618 related deaths reported. A member of the Kayapo at the roadblock along the BR163 highway in the Amazon [Joao Laet/AFP] 02:45 GMT Australia PM says COVID-19 vaccine should be compulsory Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the coronavirus vaccine should be compulsory for all Australians with only limited medical exceptions. He told local radio station 3AW the vaccine should be as mandatory as you can possibly make it and the stakes were too high to allow the disease to continue to spread. 01:40 GMT Global caseload exceeds 22 million More than 22 million cases of the novel coronavirus have now been reported around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The first cases were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The US has now confirmed the most cases, followed by Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. The US has also recorded the most deaths. Coronavirus cases US 5,481,557 Brazil 3,407,354 India 2,702,742 Russia 930,276 South Africa 592,144 Coronavirus deaths US 171,687 Brazil 109,888 Mexico 57,023 India 51,797 UK 41,466 A colourised scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (green) heavily infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (purple) captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in the US [Handout National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases via AFP] 01:30 GMT New cases in South Korea reach five-month high South Korea has reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases since March, many traced to churches in Seoul. The country added 297 cases including 283 that were locally transmitted the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. That is the most since March 8, according to Yonhap news agency. The spike prompted authorities to tighten restrictions. Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 100 people and indoor ones to 50 and venues seen as high-risk, including karaoke lounges and nightclubs, have been closed. Churches in Seoul and surrounding areas have been told to stop in-person services. 00:05 GMT Australias Victoria reports 216 new coronavirus cases, 12 deaths Australias second-most populous state of Victoria says 12 people have died from the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours and reported 216 new cases. Victoria reported 222 cases a day earlier, its lowest one-day rise in a month, and 17 deaths. The state is the epicentre of Australias latest COVID-19 outbreak, but cases appear to have slowed in recent days. 00:00 GMT Australia secures vaccine deal Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed with Oxford University. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the vaccine is one of the most promising and advanced of the drugs currently in development. _________________________________________________________________ Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur. Read all the updates from yesterday (August 18) here. A right-wing commentator supported by Roger Stone and Alex Jones defeated five opponents in the Florida Republican primary Tuesday in the congressional district that includes Mar-a-Lago and its notable voters, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. Laura Loomer, 27, will face four-term Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat, in the November general election. Frankel, who has served in Congress since 2013 and ran unopposed two years ago, easily defeated primary challenger Guido Weiss, a former legislative assistant for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. Frankel will be the favorite in the heavily Democratic district that covers a swath of Palm Beach and Broward counties. Loomer, whose campaign manager Karen Giorno was an adviser to Donald Trump's Florida presidential campaign in 2016, said it's time to flip the district red while casting herself as the most "Trumpian" of the six candidates. A Twitter account that supports her quoted Loomer in a fundraising message on Tuesday night saying "Congress is about to get Loomered," and "I will have plenty of opportunities in the halls of Congress to confront The Squad members & call them out on their support 4 Communism & j1had1st alliances." Loomer was banned from Twitter and Facebook in 2018 for what many considered to be hate speech against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one member of the so-called "Squad." Loomer said her main issue is law and order. "There's a major divide and there's increasing amounts of political violence and instability taking place in our country because there's lawlessness and anarchy that's being promoted by the Democrats," Loomer said in an interview last week. Loomer raised the most money in the race by far, and outspent her primary opponents by a large margin. "I've been saying for a while that she was the front-runner and tonight is no surprise," said Michael Barnett, chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. "Look forward to working with her to help her get elected to Congress and defeating Lois Frankel." The slate of candidates in the race included three women - a former burlesque dancer who now runs an exotic animal business; a Palm Beach neighbor of Mar-a-Lago who was supported by the conspiracy group known as QAnon; and Loomer, who was endorsed by Trump stalwarts such as Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist who, like Loomer, has also been banned from Twitter and other platforms, and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. Three men in the race represented a more traditional Republican slate - a former police officer and military veteran; a former investigator for the IRS, and a nuclear engineer who is now a college professor. The professor, Christian Acosta, came in second behind Loomer in unofficial results. "We were outspent by 10 to one, but we weren't outvoted by that margin, so we did pretty well with what we had," said Acosta, a former nuclear engineer who now teaches at Palm Beach State College. Acosta said he heard Loomer talk about moderating her messaging for the general election, and he hopes she does if Republicans want to take the seat from Democrats. "If she's just going to decide to be a firebrand and figuratively go out and punch people in the face, I don't think that's an approach that helps us or the president," Acosta said. "If the approach is to try and sort of say 'hey look, I'm more moderate and I'm trying to be a responsible representative,' if that's the approach, then it might be OK. I really think this district requires some touch, I think it requires the willingness to talk to people and that includes people who don't think like you." Acosta was supported by Toni Holt Kramer, who is a longtime Mar-a-Lago member and co-founder of the Trump superfan group called the Trumpettes. Kramer said she will support Loomer as the winner of the primary. "Loyalty to our president will keep us happy and united," Kramer said Trump and his wife, Melania, had their absentee ballots delivered to Palm Beach election officials just in time to be counted in Florida's primary election Tuesday, the second time this year he has voted by mail in the state. The couple designated someone to pick up their ballots from the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections' office in West Palm Beach on Aug. 12. The ballots arrived back at the office on Monday, according to Ashley Houlihan, an attorney for the supervisor's office. The president changed his official domicile from New York to Palm Beach in October. He and his wife voted absentee in Florida's March presidential primary, signing an affidavit that allowed Alejandro Garcia, a Florida Republican Party member, to pick up and deliver their ballots. Trump has railed against voting by mail, claiming without evidence that it leads to widespread fraud, and has sought to make a distinction between his use of absentee ballots and mail ballots. In fact, the two terms are used interchangeably, and Florida officially refers to the practice as "vote-by-mail." Amnesty International, a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, has expressed concerns over the perceived threats to human rights and ideal electoral process ahead of the September 19 governorship election in Edo State. In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to weigh in and salvage the situation before it mars the entire election process. Reports of violence, hate speech and threat to lives and properties have continued to emanate from Edo state ahead of its September 19 governorship race. READ ALSO: The election, believed to be a major contest between the candidate national ruling APC, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and that of main opposition PDP, have continued to portend threats to the peaceful co-existence of electorates. Deducing from these facts, the organisations country director, Osai Ojigho, noted that the laxity of the government and justice system against those encouraging violence at this pre-election period in the state is a signal to what might happen on the election day and afterwards. The potential turmoil being stirred up by various factions ahead of the gubernatorial election in Edo State should send a clear signal to the Nigerian authorities of the imminent violence ahead of the polls and government must take active steps to prevent a bloody poll. Fueling the instability and impunity in the state, are reports of supporters of some politicians violently targeting political opponents, real or perceived. The authorities must stamp out any potential impunity by ensuring these incidents are investigated and those suspected to be responsible, brought to justice, he said. Mr Ojigho urged the government to put in place strict punishments against politicians and their supporters who infringe on human rights and ensure that journalists, international and national civil society groups and agencies that will monitor the elections are able to do so in safety. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of film actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Here are five factors the top court cited while ordering a CBI probe, and the laws and procedures it invoked: 1. Maharashtra police yet to launch full investigation The court noted that the Maharashtra police was only conducting a limited inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) into the cause of unnatural death of Rajput. Section 174 of CrPC confers powers on police to enquire into suicide death, find out the reason for such death, and submit a report of the same to the district magistrate. The Supreme Court said that an inquiry under Section 174 is limited in scope and cannot be equated to a full-fledged investigation. Mumbai Police has only made the limited inquiry under Section 174 and has not registered a first information report (FIR) into the incident. 2. Patna police has jurisdiction to register FIR Rajputs girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty argued that Bihar Police does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter and register an FIR since the incident occurred in Mumbai. The Supreme Court, however, turned this down stating that registration of FIR is mandated when information on cognisable offence is received by the police. Precedents suggest that at the stage of investigation, it cannot be said that the concerned police station does not have territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case, the court said in its judgment. Moreover, Rajputs father, whose complaint was the basis for Bihar police to register an FIR, alleged criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of money. The consequences of the incident would , therefore, arise in Patna as well. The allegation relating to criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of money which were to be eventually accounted for in Patna (where the Complainant resides), could prima facie indicate the lawful jurisdiction of the Patna police, the court held. The finding that an FIR by Bihar Police was valid turned out to be crucial because CBI took over the probe based on the request made by Bihar Police. 3. Need for independent agency due to conflict between two state governments The apex court noted that there is a conflict between the two state governments in the matter, and though the steps taken by Mumbai Police cannot be faulted, stakeholders have raised allegations of unfair investigation against Mumbai Police. Because both states are making acrimonious allegations of political interference against each other, the legitimacy of the investigation has come under a cloud. This court (Supreme Court) must strive to ensure that search for the truth is undertaken by an independent agency, not controlled by either of the two state governments, the judgment said. 4. Need to avoid uncertainty The court said that CBI has already registered a case and commenced investigation at the instance of the Bihar government. If Mumbai Police also decides to commence probe, then it could add to uncertainty and confusion. Uncertainty and confusion must be avoided in the event of Mumbai Police also deciding to simultaneously investigate the offence, based on their findings, the judgment said. 5. Justice for Rajputs father and Rhea The court noted that Rajput was a talented actor in the Mumbai film world and died well before his full potential could be realised. An impartial probe and its outcome will ensure that Rajputs father and Rhea get justice. Moreover, Rhea herself had called for CBI investigation, the court added. His family, friends and admirers are keenly waiting the outcome of the investigation so that all the speculations floating around can be put to rest. Therefore a fair, competent and impartial investigation is the need of the hour, the court said. Law invoked by Supreme Court The court invoked Article 142 of the Constitution, which confers wide power on the Supreme Court to pass an order for doing complete justice in the matter before it. It is invoked to grant reliefs which are beyond the scope of the petition or not sought by the petitioners. The court invoked the Article in this case stating that to ensure public confidence in the investigation and to do complete justice in the matter, it would be appropriate to exercise the powers conferred by the said Article. Supreme Courts powers to order a CBI probe As per Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, CBI can investigate a crime only based on the recommendation of the concerned state which is probing the matter. However, that does not bar constitutional courts (high courts and the Supreme Court) from recommending CBI probe as has been held in a long line of Supreme Court judgments in the past, the court said. No power to transfer investigation Chakraborty had filed the transfer petition under section 406 of CrPC seeking transfer of probe from Bihar to Maharashtra. Section 406 confers powers on the Supreme Court to transfer cases from one high court to another or from a lower court in one state to a lower court in another state. The Supreme Court held that the provision does not grant power to the top court to transfer a matter which is only at the investigation stage from one state to another. Having considered the contour of the power under Cection 406 CrPC, it must be concluded that only cases and appeals (not investigation) can be transferred, the court ruled. But God, Perseverance!: an edifying book that teaches Christians to be resilient and unrelenting in their faith in God in the midst of confusion, tiredness, and suffering. But God, Perseverance! is the creation of published author Teresa Caldwell, a minister from Charlotte, North Carolina, who graduated from Ashford University with a bachelors degree in social sciences with concentration in education and a masters degree in education with concentration in reading. Caldwell shares, Like going to college, its so easy to give up and say Christianity is too hard! I cant do it! I dont want to suffer! Its too hard! Man, forget this! But dont give up on either one. The reward is at the end of your suffering. No matter what setting you find yourself in, only you can determine the outcome. Persevere until you overcome whatever obstacles life throws your way. You are not alone! Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Teresa Caldwells new book unveils the significance of perseverance in the faith that keeps believers grounded in truth and grace that only God can give. This book reminds the people of Gods promise of eternal repose and wealth to those who endure in His name and proclaim His glory amid the challenges of life. View the synopsis of But God, Perseverance! on YouTube. Consumers can purchase But God, Perseverance! at traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about But God, Perseverance! contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Demonstrators gathered outside Casper City Hall on Tuesday afternoon to protest a proposed feral cat feeding ban and relaxed limitations on the citys animal tethering laws. The council was expected to vote on the final reading of those changes at Tuesdays regular meeting. About 20 people marched outside Casper City Hall with signs reading You cant outlaw compassion, and Theyre homeless, not worthless. Were hoping theyre going to hear us, Jamie Jenkins, founder of Temporary Home Animal Rescue, said Tuesday before the demonstration. The council has been discussing the ban, which would make it a misdemeanor to feed a feral cat, for the last month. Only Councilman Shawn Johnson has flatly opposed the measure, saying it unnecessarily criminalizes residents. Opponents of the measure, Jenkins included, say its cruel and ineffective, particularly because it doesnt address the root of the problemcats ability to reproduce. Local activists, supported by the national organization Alley Cat Allies, have instead been pushing for a trap-neuter-return (also called trap-neuter-release) program, which advocates say would have a greater impact on the cat population in the area. The council hasnt seemed convinced, primarily because of the cost of such a program. Casper Police Chief Keith McPheeters, who oversees Caspers animal control, has told council a local trap-neuter-release operation would come with significant budgetary concerns, and would be unfeasible in the short term. He estimated it would add between $50,000 and $90,000 to the annual animal control budget. The council has instead encouraged private residents to raise their own funds for such a program. Jenkins said residents are trying, but need more time before the council passes the feeding ban. There is the beginnings of a (local) organization coming together, to facilitate a trap-neuter-return program, Jenkins said, adding she thinks the proposed feeding ban has galvanized animal lovers across Casper. Statistics support the notion that Casper has a feral cat problem. In 2019, Caspers Metro Animal shelter took in more than 1,500 cats and euthanized nearly 500. Metro estimates on average 25% of its feline intakes are feral. Feral cats cant be adopted, and the shelter has said most feral cats it takes in are euthanized. Feral cats plague our community, defecating and urinating on private property, killing protected songbirds and spreading disease, Metro Animal Services 2019 annual report reads. They cannot safely be placed with a family, and generally must be euthanized. The proposal is one of several made by Caspers animal control officers based on their experiences on the job. The local Game and Fish Department office, Metro Animal Control officers and a representative from the local Audubon chapter have all supported the measure given research demonstrating the havoc that feral cats have been proven to cause on plants and wildlife. The Casper Police Department has also said feral cats damage private property in the city. Follow local government reporter Morgan Hughes on Twitter @morganhwrites Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 2 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. More than 500 people have died from Covid-19 in Iran in the past month, taking the total number of fatalities to over 20,000, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The total number of infections rose to over 350,000, Health Ministry spokesperson Sima Lari told state TV. Lari said fines, especially for people refusing to wear masks, would help curb the rising numbers. The Health Ministry estimates that numbers are rising because people are not taking the hygiene measures and the pandemic seriously any more. Politicians and scientists however disagree over the measures to curb the numbers, says Aliresa Sali, in charge of the coronavirus effort in Tehran. According to Sali, there are discussions especially regarding religious ceremonies with large crowds, reopening schools and holding exams. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new and affordable saliva-based test for COVID-19 developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health. The new method for processing samples when testing for the novel coronavirus is called SalivaDirect The SalivaDirect test for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is yet another testing innovation game-changer that will reduce the demand for scarce testing resources, said Assistant Secretary for Health and COVID-19 Testing Coordinator Admiral Brett P. Giroir, M.D., in a press release. 'I WILL NEVER FORGET': Houston ICU doc describes what it's like on COVID-19 frontlines Providing this type of flexibility for processing saliva samples to test for COVID-19 infection is groundbreaking in terms of efficiency and avoiding shortages of crucial test components like reagents, said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. According to Yale News, "the testing method is immediately available to other diagnostic laboratories that want to start using the new test." This is the fifth test the FDA has authorized using saliva as a sample, according to the press release. "The FDA determined that Yales test meets the criteria for emergency authorization when used to test saliva samples for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 infection," stated the press release. STAY INFORMED: Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. There's nothing which ruins a picnic quicker than a downpour or a swarm of uninvited flies joining the feast. But now, experts have discovered a simple solution to this all-too-familiar plague: Sit on a checked picnic blanket. According to the new study, checked and striped patterns trigger an optical illusion in the eyes of a horsefly that dazzles it, preventing it from landing and biting. Experts have discovered that sitting on a checked picnic blanket can repel flies The discovery came after scientists from the University of Bristol set out to discover the mechanism behind the apparent disorientating effect of zebra stripes on flies. Study authors say the exact mechanism remains unknown, but finding out checked patterns also dazzle flies prove it isn't the 'aperture effect'. This would only apply if the flies were solely distracted by stripes. The 'aperture effect' is an optical illusion in which moving stripes, such as those on rotating barber-pole signs, create the impression that the pole is moving upwards. The discovery came after scientists from the University of Bristol set out to discover the mechanism behind the apparent disorientating effect of zebra stripes on flies Lead author Martin How from the University of Bristol said: Picknickers with checked tablecloths can now rest easy! He told MailOnline: 'Wearing patterned clothes would also protect us from bites.' The question of why zebras are striped has puzzled biologists for over 150 years and study author Tim Caro has worked to discredit many theories over the past decade. Professor Caro has examined theories such as their use as camouflage from predators, a cooling mechanism and their a role in social interactions. Stripes acting to confuse predators is another common explanation, but it too is flawed when looking at the scientific data, according to Caro. Instead, mounting evidence suggests that it is parasitic flies that are confounded by the zebra's distinctive patterning and this new study set out to find out how. The mystery of why zebras have their characteristic stripes has perplexed researchers for over a century Professor How said: 'Moving stripes, such as those on the rotating barber-pole signs outside barbershops, appear to move at right angles to the stripe, rather than in their true direction, so the pole appears to move upwards, rather than around its axle. 'We set out to see if this illusion also takes place in the eyes of biting flies as they come to land on striped hosts. 'As any fly approaches a landing surface, it will adjust its speed according to how quickly the surface expands across its vision, enabling a slowed and controlled landing. 'Stripes however could disrupt this "optic flow" through the aperture effect, leading the fly to believe the landing surface is further away than reality. Thus, the fly fails to slow down or land successfully.' The findings published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B add to mounting evidence that parasitic pests are confounded by the zebra's distinctive patterning. The study only applied to horseflies and the researchers did not look at whether striped and checked patterns could fend off other insects, such as wasps. In Africa, blood sucking horse flies carry diseases that may seriously harm zebras, which led the beasts to evolve stripes which help to protect them. PATTERNS AS A FORM OF INSECT REPELLENT One hypothesis for how stripes on a zebra keep insects at bay is that they interfere with optic flow patterns. These are needed by flying insects to execute controlled landings. This could occur through disrupting the radial symmetry of optic flow via the aperture effect, or through misregistration of repeated features - the evenly spaces stripes. By recording and reconstructing fly behaviour around horses wearing differently patterned rugs, a study tested out different mechanisms. They found that flies avoided landing on, flew faster near, and did not approach as close to striped and checked rugs compared to grey. 'Our observations that flies avoided checked patterns in a similar way to stripes refutes the hypothesis that stripes disrupt optic flow via the aperture effect,' the University of Bristol team explained. They said this critically demands parallel striped patterns. This means another mechanism has to be at play between flies and horses. Advertisement A series of experiments backed the theory by narrowing down the possible mechanism that lead to the confused landing among horseflies. Previously, the same University of Bristol team showed the flies would approach horses in striped rugs as often as plain rugs. But they failed to land or slow down. Essentially, stripes disorientated the pests - making them collide with the skin or buzz off in another direction. The researchers covered domestic horses with different rugs and recorded the flight of flies attempting to land - 3D reconstructions found horizontal and vertical stripes as well as checked patterns were equally as effective at repelling flies. Checked rugs provide visual input free from the aperture effect, the team explained, saying in theory the flies would be expected to land without difficulty. Yet flies had real problems - hardly landing on checked or striped rugs at all - suggesting that stripes are not unique when it comes to deterring horseflies. 'Not only do these exciting studies bring us closer to understanding one of the world's most iconic and photogenic species, they will be of great interest to farmers attempting to reduce the damage caused by fly bites,' said Caro. He said that it would also be of interest to horsewear companies who could create new clothing that is designed to distract horseflies. Protecting livestock from flies in the spring before they are seen on-farm is vital to prevent major economic production losses. Zebras are quite good at not getting bitten by flies - not just through their stripes. They use their tails to bat them away and, when flies do land, they don't stay long because zebras move around a lot. The findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. By PTI MUMBAI: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is undergoing "preliminary treatment" at the city's Kokilaben hospital, his wife Maanayata Dutt said, amid reports that the actor was battling lung cancer. Dutt was on Tuesday seen leaving for the hospital with sister Priya. "Prarthana karo (pray)," the 61-year-old actor had told the paparazzi standing outside his home on Tuesday. Mumbai: Actor Sanjay Dutt leaves from his residence for Kokilaben Hospital. He says, "Pray for me." (Earlier visuals) He was diagnosed with lung cancer last week. pic.twitter.com/4gp8twQPxE ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2020 Maanayata said on Tuesday that plans to take Dutt abroad for medical treatment will be taken later depending on the coronavirus situation. "Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the covid situation eases. As of now, Sanju is in the best hands of our esteemed doctors at Kokilaben hospital," Maanayata had said in a statement. Without specifying the nature of his disease, she had said their family was "shaken up" but "determined to fight tooth and nail". Dutt was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital on August 8 after he complained of breathlessness. After his discharge on August 10, the actor had tweeted about taking a "short break" from work owing to medical treatment. As rumours swirled around the actor's health condition, Maanayata had requested well-wishers to avoid speculating about the "stage of his illness". "I request everyone, with folded hands, to stop speculating the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work. We will update you all regularly with his progress," she had said. Maanayata said she couldn't be by her husband's side at the hospital as she was under home quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. She had returned from Dubai earlier this month. She said Dutt's sister, Priya, has been "an incredible torchbearer." Sanjay will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the COVID situation eases. As of now, he is in the best hands of our esteemed doctors at Kokilaben hospital: Sanjay Dutt's wife Maanayata Dutts statement https://t.co/YuQe4TUpIY ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2020 "Every battle has a torchbearer and someone who holds the fort. Priya who has worked extensively over two decades with our family-run cancer foundation, and who has also seen her mother battle this illness, has been our incredible torchbearer, while I will hold the fort," she had said. In the long statement, Maanayata, 42, had expressed gratitude to fans and hoped they would continue to love and support the family during these trying times. "Sanju has been through many ups and downs in his life, but what has kept him going through every tough phase has always been your adulation and support. And for this, we will always be grateful. We are now being tested through yet another challenge, and I know, the same love and warmth will see him through this time as well," she had said. She further said Dutt was the "heart and soul" of the family and all of them are determined to fight this battle and emerge winners. "Sanju is not only my husband and father to our children, but he has also been a father figure to Anju (Namrata) and Priya. While our family is shaken up, we are determined to fight tooth and nail. With God and your prayers on our side, together we will overcome, and emerge as winners," she had said. Dutt is the eldest child of late Bollywood stars Nargis and Sunil Dutt. He has two sisters -- Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. He has two children, a son, and a daughter, with Maanayata. The actor also has a daughter Trishala Dutt from his first marriage to Richa Sharma who died of a brain tumor in 1996. A man wanted in relation to a fatal crash that occurred in November has been arrested, according to the Webb County Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs officials said they received information regarding Jonathan Santos, 30, at about 8:30 a.m. Monday. Authorities learned that Santos, who was wanted on a manslaughter charge, was residing at a home in the 4600 block of Acerra Lane in south Laredo. Deputies said they located Santos inside the residence. In addition to the manslaughter charge, Santos was also wanted on three counts of possession of marijuana. Further investigation at the home revealed that Santos was in possession of 21.9 grams of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of $1,500. This is a great example of why anonymous tips from our community are very important. You just helped us apprehend someone wanted on manslaughter charges, said Sheriff Martin Cuellar. I congratulate our Webb County Sheriffs Office deputies on a job well done. We will continue to fight crime and keep our community safe. I remind the public to report any suspicious activities by calling 956-415-BUST (2878). You can be eligible for a cash reward. Jonathan Santos was arrested on Nov. 28 for the crash-related death of Ignacio Davila Calvillo, 58. Santos was then charged with accident involving death. He was then was released on bond on Dec. 10. A grand jury indicted Santos on the charge of manslaughter on June 17. He had an arraignment hearing on Aug. 6 but failed to appear in court, prompting a capias. The manslaughter case occurred the night of Nov. 27, when a Dodge Durango and a black Toyota Scion were involved in a crash. Authorities identified the driver of the Dodge as Santos. Calvillo was driving the Toyota, according to police. An investigation revealed that the Dodge had a minor hit-and-run accident in the 2300 block of Guadalupe. Then, the Dodge was allegedly speeding when it crashed with the Toyota in the 1900 block of Guadalupe. Upon impact, the Toyota was forced into a utility pole, killing Calvillo, according to court documents. Schools need management capacity to respond to this crisis and create a better future for students, says Melissa Wu, CEO, Education Pioneers. Our purpose is to mobilize a diverse network of leaders to address educations challengesand recruiting talent to address COVID in schools is critical. Education Pioneers (EP), a national nonprofit that builds the leadership and management capacity of the K-12 public education sector, announced today a new program to support the education sectors response to the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19. The EP COVID Response Fellowship will place talented education professionals with school districts, charter school networks, and state education agencies where theyll provide chief of staff-type support to senior education administrative leaders managing COVID plans and priorities. As the 2020-2021 academic year begins, school systems are facing unprecedented challenges related to community safety, student learning, and finance and operations. Eighty-five percent of the 20 largest U.S. school districts are starting with remote-only models, and studies project existing achievement gaps will widen by another 15-20% in the coming year. School districts and charter school networks need more management capacity to respond to this crisis and identify ways we can create a better future for students and communities, says Melissa Wu, CEO of Education Pioneers. Education Pioneers purpose is to mobilize a diverse network of leaders who bring the capacity needed to address educations most pressing challenges and recruiting talent to address COVID-19 in our school systems is critical work in todays context. Partner school districts, charter school networks, and state education agencies will receive COVID Response Fellowship capacity at no cost to themselves. Education Pioneers will recruit and pay COVID Response Fellows directly, matching them with a 12-month placement directly at the partner organization. Fellows will bring deep management and execution skills, have an orientation towards equity and inclusion, and possess an ability to strategically organize priorities to ensure leadership teams are able to tackle the most urgent and essential issues with their limited time. To successfully serve our students, teachers, and communities, we need additional capacity to urgently address the acute challenges created by COVID-19, while also seizing this opportunity to solve larger structural issues in education, says Brittany Monda, Assistant Superintendent of Charter Schools at Shelby County Schools in Memphis, Tennessee. Given these unprecedented times, we appreciate the swift response of Education Pioneers to meet this moment and support organizations, such as ours, who need to add capacity to our team. Education Pioneers has more than 15 years of experience recruiting and developing talent for the education sector, with more than 4,500 Alumni across the nation. The COVID Response Fellowship is adapted from Education Pioneers signature program models, with a more specific focus on the pandemic and more senior talent profile. In addition to their work placements, COVID Response Fellows will participate in a national cohort, providing leadership development and knowledge-sharing opportunities among a group of peers doing similar work. Navigating through ambiguity is remarkably hard, and managing through this COVID crisis is the leadership challenge of my career, to date, says Andrew Solomon, 2014 EP Alumnus and CFO, Excel Academy Charter School in Boston. The training and support I received from Education Pioneers made a huge difference and gave me the foundation for how I respond to this crisis in ways I couldnt have expected. Education Pioneers has seeded the sector with talented people, and the sector benefits from it immensely, especially during these moments requiring thoughtful and inclusive leadership. Schools, districts, and state agency employees interested in exploring a partnership can learn more at http://www.educationpioneers.org/COVID. Education professionals searching for a new opportunity are invited to learn more and apply before August 31 for the cohort beginning in October. Education champions interested in investment opportunities are encouraged to reach out to Terrence Kneisel, Vice President of External Relations at Education Pioneers (terrence.kneisel@educationpioneers.org). About Education Pioneers Education Pioneers builds the pipeline of leaders outside the classroom who enable teachers and students to be successful inside the classroom. Since 2003, Education Pioneers has recruited and trained over 4,500 leaders in partnership with more than 900 education organizations nationwide. Of the organizations Alumni in the workforce, more than 70% serve in education and lead or contribute to work that impacts public school students in major cities across the nation, most of whom are students of color and growing up in underserved areas. Learn more: http://www.educationpioneers.org/our-impact. New Delhi, Aug 19 : Ishkaran Singh Bhandari, whom BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy appointed to initiate a CBI probe into the Sushant Singh Rajput case, says Supreme Court ordering a court-monitored CBI probe is a step way ahead of expectations. "It is a huge victory for the people of India. Our constitution starts with, 'We the people' and the people united in this case," Bhandari told IANS after the judgement. "I said on July 1 that this case must have a CBI investigation, I could see that Mumbai police was completely botching up the case. That has been vindicated now by the Supreme Court's judgment where they have transferred this case to CBI," he added. Bhandari, a lawyer and political analyst, continued: "One very important point that has not been covered yet -- but I think when people will read the judgment they will understand -- is in paragraph 41, where the Supreme Court has said cases connected to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput will also go to CBI. That means anything connected to it. If the CBI finds Disha Salian's death is connected or something else is connected or destruction of evidence is connected to the case, then that will also be with CBI. So the court has gone way beyond what most people were expecting and has done substantial and complete justice," he added. On June 14, Sushant was found hanging in his residence in Mumbai. The post-mortem report stated that the actor had committed suicide. The late actor's father KK Singh filed an FIR in Bihar accusing six people including Sushant's girlfriend, actress Rhea Chakraborty, for abetment to suicide among other charges. Bhandari continued: "It is a huge step (towards justice). When we started to ask for a CBI probe in July, there was not even a criminal case. Mumbai police was not doing a criminal investigation. There was no FIR. CBI investigates crimes. This is a crime now with criminal investigation into it," he added. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery New Delhi, Aug 19 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday lauded the Indian Navy for effectively carrying out mission-based deployments in the Indian Ocean Region to protect the maritime interests of the country. As the three-day Naval Commanders Conference 2020 began here on Wednesday against the backdrop of India and China's unprecedented three-month-long stand-off at multiple points along the border in eastern Ladakh, the Minister, in his address at its inaugural session, said that the Navy, by deploying ships and aircraft at major and sensitive locations, safeguards interests of the country. Rajnath Singh complimented the men and women of Navy for their role in protecting the maritime interests and expressed the confidence in the force's preparedness to meet any challenge through a proactive response in deploying its naval and air assets. Amid the unprecedented challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, he cited the Indian Navy's biggest-ever repatriation operation "Operation Samudra Setu", which has contributed extensively to the national interest. Despite the difficult sea conditions and the challenges of dealing with an unseen enemy in the form of coronavirus, the Navy was instrumental in bringing home almost 4,000 people from neighbouring countries in the Indian Ocean Region. Also, under 'Mission Sagar', medical aid was provided to various island countries of southwest Indian Ocean Region -- Maldives, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Madagascar. Rajnath Singh also lauded the efforts of all naval commands in setting up of quarantine facilities to aid the civil administration in managing Covid-19. Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), he said that the commencement of mission-based deployments in June 2017 have facilitated enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), provided swift Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) to the Indian Ocean Region littorals and security to the international maritime community. On the dynamic changes taking place in the armed forces, the Minister highlighted the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff and Department of Military Affairs as major milestones in bringing more synergy amongst the three services, especially in training, procurement and staffing and bringing jointness in operations. He also said accepting the challenges arising out of the Covid-19 situation, the Indian Navy has continued to progress the operational, administrative and modernisation efforts. Notwithstanding these fiscal challenges, the government has invoked the Emergency Powers to meet the emergent requirements of the services, he added. On Indian Navy's proven commitment towards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' in consonance with the 'Make in India' initiative, Rajnath Singh appreciated that the Navy has been at the forefront of the indigenisation process. Stressing that it is important that pace be kept with the successes which have been achieved so far, he said that the recently-inaugurated Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organization (NIIO) is one such step. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence in the Indian Navys preparedness to meet any challenge through its proactive deployment of warships and aircrafts, at a time when India and China are locked in a border row in eastern Ladakh. The navy is on an operational alert in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) where scores of ships are ready for any task in the aftermath of the developments along the northern border and its P-8I maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircrafts are being used for surveillance of the Ladakh sector and gathering intelligence on Chinese deployments across the Line of Actual Control. Addressing a conference of the navys top commanders, Singh complimented the navy personnel for their role in protecting the countrys maritime interests. The navy has stepped up surveillance and activities in the IOR, which, it believes, China will inevitably try to enter in its quest to become a global power, just as it has laid claim to large portions of the disputed South China Sea, as reported by Hindustan Times on July 29. While speaking on the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the defence minister congratulated the navy for carrying out its biggest repatriation effort Operation Samudra Setu, which resulted in more than 4,000 Indians being brought home from different countries. Singh lauded the navys role in providing medical aid to countries such as Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar. He said the navy had effectively carried out mission-based deployment to protect Indias maritime interests by deploying warships and aircraft at sensitive locations in the IOR. The navy has positioned warships along critical sea lanes of communications and the choke points in the IOR under its mission-based deployment model and the vessels can be diverted for any mission. Indian warships are deployed from as far as the Persian Gulf to the Malacca Strait and northern Bay of Bengal to the southeast coast of Africa. During the three-day conference, the commanders will discuss ways to optimise joint planning, tri-service synergy, operational readiness, procurement and functional reorganisation within the navy to enhance efficiency. Deliberations will also cover larger security imperatives in the Indo-Pacific region. The conference comes at a time when self-reliance in the defence sector is a top priority for the government. Several of the 101 defence items in the negative import list, released on August 9, include naval weapons and systems including conventional submarines and ship-borne cruise missiles. The navy will be steering one of the costliest Make in India programmes to build six next-generation submarines in the country. (TNS) Accusing Gov. Phil Murphy of a brazen power grab, President Donald Trumps re-election campaign has asked a federal judge to overturn the states plan to send ballots to all 6.2 million registered voters this fall.The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Trump campaign, joined by the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Among their lawyers is state Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cumberland, a frequent Murphy critic.In the state of New Jersey, where their universal vote-by-mail system has already resulted in fraud and disenfranchisement, Governor Murphy continues to remove safeguards against abuse, Trump campaign counsel Matt Morgan said.With a stroke of his pen, the governor told his people their votes may not count they may even be stolen and thats fine by him. Murphy has sought to expand mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, and New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Tuesday said the state will sue the U.S. Postal Service over concerns the Trump administration is purposely crippling the agency ahead of the surge in mail-in ballots. The postmaster general on Tuesday backed off on making changes critics said would hurt mail delivery, but Grewal said the lawsuit would proceed.Murphys vote-by-mail effort is opposed by Trump and other Republicans claiming that more absentee balloting would lead to more vote fraud.We said every option was on the table, state Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt said. We picked one. Governor Murphy, well see you in court, again.Trump last week said he opposed House Democratic efforts to provide $25 billion to the Postal Service and $3.6 billion to states to help them handle an expected surge of mail ballots. The funds are in the House-passed $3.4 trillion stimulus bill that the president has threatened to veto.They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots, Trump told thelast Thursday. If they dont get those two items, that means you cant have universal mail-in voting because theyre not equipped to have it.Studies have shown vote by mail has not prompted widespread fraud, as Republicans have claimed. A 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that the rate of voter fraud for mail-in ballots was 0.00004 percent to 0.0009 percent.And thefound possible double voting or voting on behalf of dead people in just 372 of 14.6 million ballots cast in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, which send ballots to all registered voters as New Jersey plans to do this fall.Still, there were cases of voter fraud in Patersons municipal elections in May, where 800 ballots were thrown out and state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal brought charges against four individuals.In New Jerseys primary election, dead people voted, a mail truck carrying ballots actually caught fire, countless voters saw their ballots rejected, and the Democrat attorney general is prosecuting multiple people for fraud, yet Democrats still want to implement a rushed transition to an all-mail election, Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.Murphy acknowledged some problems with the July 7 primary, the first election conducted primarily by mail, but said that the system overall worked well and county clerks will have a lot more time to prepare for the general election.Primary turnout was 26 percent of New Jerseys registered voters, the same percentage as the presidential primary four years ago. Both recorded the highest percentage turnout since 2008, when 35 percent of New Jersey voters cast ballots.We think largely it was a very good result, particularly balancing the sacred right to vote at the center of democracy along with public health and respecting peoples health and the combination of vote-by-mail and in-person, Murphy said Aug. 10 at his coronavirus press briefing.He also contended that the fact that the Paterson voter fraud was easily found showed that systems are in place to prevent ballots from being cast illegally.I view that data point in Paterson as a positive one, Murphy said during his coronavirus press briefing Monday. People tried to mess with the system and they got caught and theyve been indicted, and thats the way it should be.Trump and other Republicans have cited fear of fraud in fighting efforts across the country by states to send out ballots to all registered voters or count votes postmarked by Election Day but received later.Theyve been able to be so active because is the first presidential election in almost four decades where the Republican National Committees voter activities are not encumbered by court-ordered restrictions stemming from the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election.Those activities had been limited by a court decree after the state GOP was accused of targeting heavily minority communities that tend to support Democratic candidates. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Mona Shores Board of Education President Stan Miller said a petition to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office to remove Trustee Wesley Wilson is being prepared since he wont resign. On Aug. 10, the board told Wilson to resign by Thursday, Aug. 13 or they would seek his removal because he failed to notify them of 2018 larceny charges for misusing Grand Valley State University funds. The attorney for a former Colombian paramilitary leader has filed an emergency petition with a Washington, DC federal court demanding his client be deported immediately to Italy instead of Colombia where he is linked to 1,500 killings or abductions. Immigration attorney Hector Mora filed the proceeding Monday on behalf of Salvatore Mancuso, the former top commander of the United Defense Forces of Colombia, known as the AUC. The legal motion comes as Colombia is mounting a last-minute campaign to block Mancuso's removal to Italy after it bungled an extradition request that had to be withdrawn last month. Colombian courts have found Mancuso to be responsible for 1,500 acts of murder and kidnapping. Mora argued that Attorney General William Barr, Chad Wolf, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, and four other senior officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have unlawfully kept Mancuso in federal custody beyond the maximum 90 days allowed for the removal of aliens. Included in the petition is a copy of a final administrative removal order dated April 15 that compels DHS and ICE to remove Mancuso to Italy, where he also has citizenship. Salvatore Mancuso (photographed December 9, 2004) concluded 12-year drug sentence in the United States in March but is still in custody well past the 90-day limit allowed by law. The 55-year-old was a top ranking leader with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia paramilitary group. He lawyer filed a motion in a Washington, DC court Monday to have him deported to Italy as soon as possible instead of Colombia, where he could be killed File image from May 13, 2008 shows Salvatore Mancuso (center) escorted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents in Opa-locka, Florida, after he extradition from Colombia. Mancuso's lawyer attributes the delay to strong pressure from Colombia's conservative government, which he claims is working closely with the U.S. State Department to bring the former warlord back to Colombia after he completed a 12-year drug trafficking sentence. If returned home, Mora argued his client is likely to be jailed, or even killed, despite having fulfilled his obligations under a 2003 peace deal he negotiated, which caps prison terms at eight years for militia leaders who confess their crimes. 'He and his family are terrified with his possible return to Colombia,' Mora wrote to ICE officials on March 27, the same day Mancuso was completed his sentence in the United States for cocaine trafficking. Mancuso, 55, was the most remorseful of the former right-wing militia leaders after demobilizing and his eagerness to discuss the paramilitaries' war crimes has already shaken Colombia's politics. His boast in 2005 that a third of Colombia's congress was elected with paramilitary support triggered a wave of judicial investigations that ended with dozens of elected officials behind bars. Mora said others still in power have not hidden their desire to find a Colombian court to order Mancuso's arrest in a 'desperate effort to silence him.' Mancuso 'through his extensive declarations made enemies at the highest levels of power, including high ranking officers of the ruling party in Colombia and inner circle of the current administration,' Mora wrote. Colombian President Ivan Duque this month called for Mancuso's return and immediate imprisonment for 'crimes against humanity.' Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor's office said it was working on a new extradition request after the AP revealed how the first attempt had to be withdrawn when authorities realized a judge had already cancelled the arrest order. While Colombian courts have judged Mancuso responsible for more than 1,500 acts of murder or forced disappearance, many of the crimes are not recognized as offenses under U.S. law because they stem from his position atop AUCs chain of command - not specific orders he gave. In 2001, the U.S. designated the AUC a foreign terror organization. In 2008, then President Alvaro Uribe stealthily extradited Mancuso and 13 other warlords to face drug charges in the U.S. His critics say the shock move, an apparent peace accord violation, was an attempt to quiet the men just as they began to reveal secrets about their crimes and politician collaborators - including Uribe, who as a governor in the 1990s backed the creation of legal, armed groups to protect ranchers land from leftist guerrilla fighters. Salvatore Mancuso (photographed December 9, 2004) was the most remorseful of the former right-wing militia leaders after demobilizing and his eagerness to discuss the paramilitaries' war crimes has already shaken Colombia's politics Salvatore Mancuso pictured in December 10, 2004 as 1,425 members of the Colombian United Self Defense demobilized as part of the country's peace agreement Monday's emergency filing - known as a writ of mandamus - contains new insight into how Mora and Joaquin Perez, Mancuso's criminal defense lawyer in Miami, managed to outmaneuver Colombian officials. The fight over Mancuso's future has garnered the attention of Mancuso's many victims as well as Human Rights Watch, which accused Colombian officials of being 'notably negligent' in their pursuit of Mancuso's extradition. According to correspondence submitted with the petition, Mancuso applied for asylum in the U.S. - where his ex-wife and youngest child were granted protection - as well as indicated that he would not oppose removal to Italy but would fight any orders sending him to Colombia. Mora, in correspondence with U.S. officials in March, said his client had already purchased a one-way ticket to Rome and had an address in Italy where he will stay in quarantine during the 14 days after arrival to Italy. To expedite the removal, the Mancuso family also offered to purchase tickets for two ICE officials that were required to escort the ex-felon. Mora included as part of his petition Mancuso's Italian passport, which expired in 2001; travel documents were furnished by the Italian consulate in Miami on Aug. 14, according to correspondence included in the petition. Last year, judge Marina Zamora Buitrago in the capital, Bogota, granted Mancuso probation in Colombia. Zamora Buitrago said Mancuso's years in U.S. prison satisfied the requirements of the Justice and Peace law, which allows alternative sentences of up to eight years to be served abroad. She cancelled the arrest orders on July 15; Colombia withdrew its extradition request five days later. The U.S. Justice Department and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Britain is working with Londons Heathrow Airport on a plan to use COVID-19 testing to help shorten quarantine times, in an effort to help airlines and airports kickstart travel and the wider economy, Reuters reports. Heathrow said on Wednesday that a testing area was ready to open should Britain approve a rule change and allow two tests, one on arrival and one some days later, to cut the quarantine time from the current two weeks. Under the current rules, travellers to the United Kingdom from the United States, Spain, France and many other countries must self-isolate for 14 days when they arrive, deterring travel and heaping financial pressure on airlines. The Cayman Islands is currently on a list of jurisdictions exempted from the UKs 14-day quarantine period. Britains health minister Matt Hancock said the government was still working with Heathrow on the plan but there were challenges in ensuring all of those infected by COVID-19 were detected. Im very glad that theyre making progress, but weve got to make sure that this is safe and secure because obviously that is absolutely top priority, Hancock told LBC radio. British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have urged the government to allow quarantine to be replaced with testing, saying that Britain should follow Germany which has introduced a mandatory, free single COVID test for arrivals from high-risk countries. We believe a UK testing protocol based on the German model would stimulate significant demand whilst protecting public health, the airlines chief executives said in a letter to the transport minister on Monday. Switching away from quarantine would boost key connections between the UK and Europe, and with the United States, and help the economy recover, they said. Heathrows testing facility, set up by medical travel firm Collinson and airport services company Swissport, is ready to operate at Terminal 2 and could process 13,000 tests a day. Another facility at Terminal 5 will be ready in a few weeks. Passengers would have to pay 150 pounds (CI$163) for the test, which the groups said would be a gold-standard PCR test, sensitive enough to detect COVID-19 before symptons show. Pupils in at least eight high schools in Thailand raised three-fingered Hunger Games salutes during the national anthem on Tuesday in a sign of spreading support for student-led anti-government protests. The three-finger salute, inspired by the popular Hunger Games films, has been a symbol of calls for democracy since Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first took power in a 2014 coup. Demonstrations that began on university campuses have taken place almost daily since mid-July in an increasing challenge to the ruling establishment in the Southeast Asian country that has long been dominated by the army and the monarchy. Students also wore white ribbons to show their support for protesters, who seek Prayuths departure, a new constitution and an end to the harassment of activists. A hashtag that translates as #WhiteRibbonAgainstDictatorship was used nearly 1 million times on Twitter while others trending included #ThreeFingersForNationalAnthem. Some students have also called for reforms to the monarchy, once a taboo subject. I want to show that I dont like dictatorship and want true democracy, said one 17-year-old student who joined the protest at a government school on Monday and said she did not want to be named for fear of reprisals after pressure from teachers. Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan said at an educational fair in Bangkok on Monday that students had the right to express themselves and should not be punished, but also warned that there was a limit to how far they should go. Prayuth told reporters he was willing to listen to the students but questioned the motives of some. I heard from some students that those that dont want to take part in these actions get bullied into doing it, he said. Increasing support for the protest movement was evident in Bangkok on Sunday when more than 10,000 people joined the biggest demonstration for years. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caring People, a family-owned and operated licensed home care agency, announces joining forces with Acappella In Home Care, Aging Care LLC, and AMR Care Group, while also launching a new branch in New Haven, Connecticut. Caring People was founded in 2001 in Queens, New York, in CEO Steven East's grandmother's kitchen and has grown over the past 20 years to become one of the largest private pay-focused home healthcare providers in the country. Founded in 2006 by Jo Alch, R.N., Acappella In Home Care is based in Dallas, Texas, and services 13 counties throughout North Texas. Its team encompasses more than 400 employees and provides private-duty nurses, caregivers, companions, and hospice care support. Alch, now acting as Ambassador of Brand Development for Caring People, joins the executive team bringing over 25 years of home care experience rooted in her passion and commitment for senior care. Alch's local community involvement, notable national achievements, and recognition for excellence in home care closely align with Caring People culture, values, and initiatives. "When Steven East reached out to me, I found our values and commitment to customer service were like-minded," said Alch. "Providing excellent customer service combined with hiring exceptional individuals has been the key to our success. We both started our own agencies with little money and big visions. Years later, here we are. The future is exciting." According to the National Census Bureau, five of the nation's fastest-growing cities are located in Texas. Alch added, "As our senior population ages, the demand for quality care will increase. I am thrilled to be joining a team that is prepared for the significant growth we continue to see in Texas." In its effort to grow and build a comprehensive care program, Caring People has also acquired AMR Care Group, a New York-based care management and companion company. Anne Markowitz Recht, LMSW, Certified Care Manager, has been working with the senior population since 2000. She was the director of a guardianship program and in 2003 started a care management and companion company, AMR Care Group. Recht said, "Caring People has been on top of our shortlist of home care providers for more than a dozen years and, as director of care management, I could not be more excited for this venture to provide a continuum of care for our clients and work with Steven East and his team at Caring People to provide the most creative way of bringing solutions to seniors." Further, Caring People has acquired Aging Care LLC from company owner and founder Joanne LaCava Foss, R.N., who has more than 30 years of experience as a registered nurse. Foss noted, "As our elder population explodes, the need for care management will follow. Expert care managers assist to remove the fear of the unknown our aging population experiences while promoting quality of life. I am happy to have partnered with Caring People, a leader in the home care arena. Caring People combines expert knowledge of the population we serve with compassionate care equating to quality of life." Caring People remains committed to its core values of providing the highest level of care possible with compassion, expertise, and commitment to its clients. Caring People's team of professionals has proudly cared for thousands of clients. "This is only part of the beginning," says East. "We've grown tremendously from our newest team expansions our plans for projected growth will continue catapulting Caring People into new markets and territories throughout the northeast and beyond. It's been my life's passion to provide our most vulnerable population, seniors, access to the best level of care possible from providers who truly have a desire and heart for healthcare." For more information, visit CaringPeopleinc.com. About Caring People Caring People is a family-owned and operated licensed home care agency that has served more than 25,000 clients over the past 20 years. The agency provides a number of care-based services including Alzheimer's and dementia care, companion care, skilled nursing care, care management services, hands-on care, and Medicare. Skilled professionals deliver care with the highest degree of compassion, understanding, and commitment. Caring People serves the following areas: North Babylon, NY; Westchester/Bronx, NY; Hempstead, NY; Jericho, NY; Queens, NY; Clifton, NJ; Toms River, NJ; Hackensack, NJ; Norwalk, CT; New Haven, CT; Hartford, CT; West Palm Beach, FL; Miami, FL; Pompano Beach, FL; Jupiter, FL; Dallas, TX; and Fort Worth, TX. Learn more at caringpeopleinc.com. SOURCE Caring People Related Links http://acappellainhomecare.com With US diplomatic efforts on a Libya ceasefire intensifying, the questions loom of who would sign and would it hold The US ceasefire plan for the Sirte-Jufra line appears to be gaining diplomatic traction among European powers to whom it is an opportunity to regain the initiative after Turkish influence in the West and Russian influence in the east eclipsed other stakeholders in the Libyan conflict. Meanwhile, Ankara and Doha continue to build up their military and political support for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). On Monday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made an unannounced visit to Tripoli to push for peace. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Qatari Defence Minister Khaled Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah were also in the country. Three met separately with chairman of the Presidency Council Fayez Al-Sarraj and GNA Minister of Defence Fathi Bashagha. Before his meeting with Al-Sarraj, Maas told journalists that he had come to Tripoli to talk about ways out of this very dangerous situation and urged the creation of a demilitarised zone in Sirte. He also warned of the deceptive calm that Libya is experiencing at the moment and that might lure some into complacency while outside powers continue to massively arm the country while holding firm to their preconditions for a ceasefire. The German foreign minister said that Germany and European and international partners were prepared to support a political settlement to the Libyan crisis which, he feared, could spiral out of control in the event of military escalation. He also indicated that, after Tripoli, he planned to visit the UAE to meet his counterpart there, adding that Germany expects the UAE to use [its] influence in a constructive manner and in the spirit of the Berlin Process. During his meeting with Maas, Al-Sarraj said his government had no objection to a ceasefire after it studies all its details and the guarantees necessary to prevent a repetition of the aggression. Asserting that the GNA was the first to commit to the Berlin Process, he recalled that he had signed the Russian-Turkish sponsored ceasefire agreement in Moscow on 12 January while Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar had refused. He warned of continued amassment of forces on the other side, referring to the Russian Wagner Group and growing numbers of mercenaries. GNA Minister of the Interior Fathi Bashagha, in his meeting with Maas, urged Germany to include the Wagner Group in the European sanctions list. He underscored the GNAs preconditions for a ceasefire. Referring to eastern forces, he said that all mercenaries and militias must leave Sirte and Jufra and the National Oil Company must be allowed to resume oil production as a first step in a peace process in which war criminals will have no political future. He said that he had given Maas files documenting the crimes perpetrated by the militias and mercenaries belonging to Haftar. Maas, while in Tripoli, also met separately with Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanalla, reiterating Germanys support for efforts to restore oil production. During the meeting, the economic and environmental damages resulting from the blockade and the risks arising from them were discussed in relation to public safety, especially due to the militarisation of facilities and the presence of foreign mercenaries inside them, read a statement posted on the NOC website. The meeting also addressed the importance of financial transparency in parallel with the restoration of security arrangements, the need to evacuate oil facilities of mercenaries and all manifestations of military presence, making them demilitarised buffer zones so that NOC employees can perform their work without jeopardising their lives, and not to use oil as a political bargaining chip, sparing it from military conflict. In his meetings with the Turkish and Qatari defence ministers while Maas was in Tripoli, Al-Sarraj discussed the amassment of eastern forces at the Sirte-Jufra front, programmes for building the defence and security capacities of GNA forces, and mechanisms for coordinating between the three countries defence ministries, according to a statement released by Al-Sarrajs office. Following the meeting, Akar and Al-Attiyah visited the Advisory Command Centre for Defence Cooperation and Training that Ankara established as part of its military intervention on behalf of the GNA. In a speech to Turkish military elements in Tripoli, Akar said that Ankara would continue to work to realise its objectives in a lasting ceasefire in Libya and to preserve Libyan unity, peace and security. He reiterated his governments support for the GNA and praised Qatars support for it as well. In eastern Libya, the House of Representatives in Tobruk reiterated the exclusive right of the House or its delegates to represent the Libyan people. In a statement released Sunday, the House added: Any claim to the contrary is a crime punishable under current Libyan law in accordance with recognised criminal terms. The statement was a response to attempts on the part of a group of Western based political forces to secure foreign support for the creation of new entities to take part in the political dialogue scheduled to convene shortly. A Fezzan Council was created for this purpose three weeks ago and is said to have received European support. The House of Representatives, in its statement, cautioned against the folly of pursuing any action, motivated by narrow transient considerations, that could jeopardise the integrity and unity of the state or render any inch of Libyan land vulnerable to foreign occupation and the return of colonialism under new guises. According to the statement, lawmakers were currently deliberating a bill that would authorise whatever actions necessary against any state, foreign entity or company, or regional or international organisation that deals with or recognises anybody that does not belong to an official institution of the Libyan state. The House of Representatives has been increasingly divided since April 2019 when Field Marshal Haftar launched the military operation to secure control of Tripoli and oust the GNA. Turkish military intervention on the side of the GNA reversed the tide of that war. *A version of this article appears in print in the 26 August, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of - SEOUL, South Korea South Korean health workers have found more than 600 coronavirus infections linked to a Seoul church led by a vocal opponent of the countrys president as officials began restricting gatherings in the greater capital area amid fears that transmissions are getting out of control. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said Wednesday that health authorities are also seeking location data provided by cellphone carriers while trying to track thousands who participated in an anti-government protest on Saturday, which worsened the viruss spread. The march was attended by members of the Sarang Jeil Church and its ultra-right pastor, Jun Kwang-hun, who has been hospitalized since Monday after testing positive. Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Koreas National Health Institute, said 623 cases have been linked to church members after the completion of some 3,000 tests. Police are pursuing around 600 church members who remain out of contact. Transmissions from the church have already spread through various places through the activities of members, including call centres, nursery homes and other churches. The country on Wednesday reported 297 new cases of the virus, its biggest daily rise since March 8. It was the sixth straight day the country reported daily increases in triple digits, with most of the cases coming from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area. Officials have enforced stronger social distancing restrictions for Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province and the city of Incheon, prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Nightclubs, karaoke rooms, buffet restaurants, computer gaming cafes and other high-risk facilities will be shut, while churches will be required to conduct services online. In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region: India reported 1,092 new fatalities from COVID-19 on Wednesday, its highest single-day total. The country has the fourth-most deaths in the world and the third-most cases, with over 2.7 million including more than 64,000 new infections reported Wednesday. The actual numbers, like elsewhere in the world, are thought to be far higher due to limited testing. Four of Indias 28 states now account for 63% of total fatalities and 54.6% of the caseload. The western state of Maharashtra and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the countrys worst-hit regions. Authorities imposed a one-week lockdown in Nepals capital and surrounding districts Wednesday after a surge in coronavirus cases. People are prohibited from leaving their homes, offices and businesses are closed and traffic halted except for essential and emergency movement. All outdoor religious activities and ceremonies are also not allowed. Violators face one month in jail and a fine of 500 rupees ($4). Nepals 1,016 cases recorded Tuesday was its highest daily spike. Kathmandu had 205 of the new cases. A national lockdown imposed in March lasted for 120 days before being lifted last month. The country has confirmed 28,257 cases and 114 deaths from the coronavirus. Australia has a deal to manufacture and distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Under the deal, every single Australian will be able to receive the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for free, should trials prove successful, safe and effective, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. If this vaccine proves successful, we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians, he said. The deal came as Australias hard-hit Victoria state announced its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than five weeks. The Victoria state Health Department said Wednesday that 216 new virus cases and 12 deaths were reported in the latest 24-hour period. New Zealand appeared to be gaining control over a coronavirus outbreak in Auckland after just five new community infections were reported Wednesday amid record levels of testing and contact tracing. A sixth infection was found in a quarantined traveller who had returned from Qatar. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 500 more military personnel would be deployed to quarantine hotels as the nation looks to reduce the number of private security guards it employs and tighten its border controls. Health authorities have still not figured out how the outbreak began after the country went 102 days without the virus spreading in the community. The discovery of the outbreak last week prompted authorities to put the nations largest city into a two-week lockdown. Japans exports in July plunged 19.2% from a year ago, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to slam the worlds third largest economy, government data showed Wednesday. The Finance Ministrys provisional numbers showed Japans imports fell 22.3% in July. Exports to the U.S. especially suffered, declining 19.5% last month, as exports fell in plastic goods, iron and steel and computer parts. But Japan recorded its first trade surplus in four months on the back of a recovery in China. Kamala Harris is poised to make history as the first black woman to accept a spot on a major partys presidential ticket, a moment intended to galvanise Democratic voters heading into the autumn campaign against President Donald Trump. This will be her second time speaking to the Democratic National Convention. But the stakes are higher than ever before as Ms Harris tries to unite the party behind its presidential candidate, Joe Biden, while also introducing herself to a national audience who may be tuning into the campaign for the first time. For somebody with her wealth of background and experience, shes still fresh. Shes still new, said Ohio Democratic Representative Marcia Fudge, a former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus who endorsed Ms Harris own 2020 presidential primary run before formally throwing her support behind Mr Biden in March. I think people are looking for that. The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, Ms Harris has shined in key moments before. She was lauded for drawing a crowd of 20,000 to the announcement of the start of her presidential campaign in Oakland last year. Her subsequent tough questioning of two Trump nominees, Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court justice and Bill Barr for attorney general, during Senate confirmation proceedings was a similar high point, as was her broadsiding Mr Biden during a debate over his opposition to busing in the 1970s to integrate public schools. Heading to the Badger State where President @realDonaldTrump has been putting American workers first since DAY ONE! pic.twitter.com/IYPdxuJZ8F Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 19, 2020 I hope that they see themselves in her when they hear her speak, Mari Urbina, national director of Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, said of young first- and second-generation immigrants across the country. And that they are motivated to understand that, not only do they have to be part of getting us out of this nightmare, but that they also can feel part of this historic change that were all about to embark on. But Ms Harris also launched her presidential bid with expectations that she would electrify the field, only to see her campaign struggle to find a consistent message and fizzle, with the California senator dropping out months before the first votes were cast. She also will not have the spotlight all to herself on Wednesday: the man she is vying to unseat, Vice President Mike Pence, is visiting battleground Wisconsin in the hours before Ms Harris speech. Convention addresses are often the most important for those selected as vice presidential candidates, but also only the start of a far bigger role in public political consciousness should their ticket win. Expand Close A worker vacuums the stage where Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris will speak (Carolyn Kaster/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A worker vacuums the stage where Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris will speak (Carolyn Kaster/AP) There is potentially even deeper repercussions for Ms Harris, though, since she could be called upon to step into the role of party standard bearer as soon as 2024, should Mr Biden, who will be nearly 82 by then, opt not to seek a second term. Mr Biden has not expressly said hed serve just a single term, but he has talked openly about being a bridge to a new generation, setting up Ms Harris as a natural successor. Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPac, which works to mobilise African American voters nationally, said Ms Harris will necessarily stay focused on defeating Mr Trump in November, not future presidential races. But she said her speech will likely carry special significance for women around the country that could resonate for years. Expand Close Kamala Harris with Joe Biden (Carolyn Kaster/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kamala Harris with Joe Biden (Carolyn Kaster/AP) The historic nature of this, I dont think can be overstated, Ms Shropshire said. It will be a really profound moment for women. The campaign is also deeply personal for Ms Harris. During her first appearance with Mr Biden last week, she spoke of her friendship with the former vice presidents son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. He and Ms Harris had became close while both were state attorneys general. He really was the best of us. And I would ask him, Whered you get that, whered this come from? Hed always talk about his dad, said Ms Harris, her voice thick with emotion, during her first joint appearance with Mr Biden last week at a high school gymnasium near his home in Delaware. The former vice president said that relationship had made Ms Harris an honorary Biden for quite some time. All nations should work together to develop and ensure fair access to a Covid-19 vaccine because 'no-one is safe until everyone is safe', the chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned against countries seeking to secure vaccines for their own citizens during the pandemic. He told a WHO press briefing the response to the pandemic 'has to be collective' and 'we need to prevent vaccine nationalism'. Working together could help prevent countries from repeating the same mistakes as new diagnostics, medicines and vaccines come through the pipeline, he suggested. Mike Ryan, head of WHO's emergencies programme, said last month the first use of a Covid-19 vaccine cannot be expected until early 2021. His comments come after Oxford University one of the frontrunners in a race for a vaccine claimed there was still a chance it could deliver its experimental jab by Christmas if tests keep going according to plan. And a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine contender may be on the market by December and cost just 100 for two doses. State-owned pharmaceutical Sinopharm claims the jab could be ready by Christmas. Dr Tedros said: 'This is not charity, we have learned the hard way that the fastest way to end this pandemic and to reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire populations of just some countries. 'Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each country's national interest. No-one is safe until everyone is safe.' Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned against countries seeking to secure vaccines for their own citizens during the pandemic He said no one country has access to research and development, manufacturing and all the supply chain for all essential medicines and materials. The WHO has been working on a guide since May, so there is fair global access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. It suggests that vaccines, when they become available, are rolled out in two phases. Doses should be 'allocated proportionally' and 'simultaneously' to all participating countries to help cut overall risk. For most countries, the aim would be for this allocation to build up to 20 per cent of the population and cover most of the at-risk groups. Then 'consideration will be given to countries in relation to threat and vulnerability', Dr Tedros said. He added: 'Frontline workers in health and social care settings are prioritised as they are essential to treat and protect the population and come in close contact with high-mortality risk groups. 'If we don't protect these highest-risk people from the virus everywhere and at the same time, we can't stabilise health systems and rebuild the global economy. CHINESE COVID-19 JAB COULD BE ON THE MARKET BY DECEMBER A Chinese Covid-19 vaccine contender may be on the market by December and cost just 100 for two doses. State-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm claims the jab could be ready by Christmas, once final stage trials are over. A Chinese Covid-19 vaccine contender made by Sinopharm (pictured) may be on the market by December and cost 100 Officials feared the vaccine may not be ready until at least next year because a lack of new infections in China made it difficult to test it. But alternative trial sites abroad have since been set up, with the third and final part of the tests planning to recruit 15,000 volunteers in the United Arab Emirates. Manufacturers will be able to make 220million doses of the jab a year, a Sinopharm chief said. But initial trials have shown people may need two or even three shots each for it to be effective. The population of China alone is 1.4billion, suggesting British and American officials may struggle to get access to the vaccine if it is proven to work. The experimental jab has shown to trigger antibodies in volunteers from the first and second stages of experiments. It has also been found to be safe. But although the findings were promising, they do not yet prove the jab can prevent a person catching the virus in the first place. Advertisement 'This is what the first crucial phase of the vaccine allocation mechanism aims to do. We are all so interconnected.' 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. It would work by injecting either a tiny piece of the virus into the body which would not make someone sick or a clone of its DNA. This triggers 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. But until a jab is proven to be safe and effective, controlling cases relies on social distancing, regular hand washing and face mask wearing. Scientists are racing to find a vaccine that will protect millions, with 24 already being tested in humans and more than 140 in pre-clinical trials. Dr Ryan said: 'We're making good progress. Realistically it's going to be the first part of next year before we start seeing people getting vaccinated'. The WHO is working to expand access to potential vaccines and to help scale-up production capacity. Dr Ryan said: 'We need to be fair about this, because this is a global good. Vaccines for this pandemic are not for the wealthy, they are not for the poor, they are for everybody.' Dr Ryan also cautioned schools to be careful about re-opening until community transmission of Covid-19 is under control. 'We have to do everything possible to bring our children back to school, and the most effective thing we can do is to stop the disease in our community,' he said. 'Because if you control the disease in the community, you can open the schools.' It comes after results from the first phase of clinical trials of Oxford's vaccine were published on last month in the British medical journal, The Lancet. The vaccine called AZD1222 produced a 'strong' antibody and T cell immune response in volunteers. Researchers said 'the early results hold promise' but added much more is still needed. Infectious disease scientists warned 'there is still a long way to go' before any vaccine is rolled out. British officials have ordered 340million doses of experimental coronavirus vaccines from a range of firms. Britain's 'buy first, test later' approach may be its best chance of getting a working jab, according to the Vaccine Taskforce chief. Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank is sending off two senior executives to help COVID-19 hit Oyo Hotels in Japan. The budget hotel chain is one of the largest startups in its (SoftBank's) portfolio. Oyo Japan, which is a joint venture between SoftBank's domestic telco unit (in Japan) and the Indian online hotel operator, is setting up a six-member management monitoring panel to set the virus-stricken business right in the country, sources told Bloomberg. The executives on the committee are SoftBank Corp. Executive Vice-President Eric Gan and Lucio Di Ciaccio, an investor at SoftBank's Vision Fund, and a group of Oyo Japan officials including new Chief Executive Officer Ryoma Yamamoto. Also Read: Oyo to restore full salaries of staff in phased manner Oyo has been among the worst-hit in SoftBank's global portfolio of sharing economy outfits. The hospitality chain business sliced off its regional presence in Japan by shutting offices in provincial centres at the end of June and is also mulling to downsize its Tokyo headquarters. Oyo Japan has also amalgamated its apartment-rental units and hotel-booking in the country under new leadership. The steps taken by the company reflect its efforts to cut back internationally as it adjusts to a much smaller tourism industry in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. The incipiency of the panel was announced at a townhall meeting on August 3, which was attended by SoftBank Corp. CEO Ken Miyauchi for the first time, sources told the news agency. According to Japan's tourism agency, overseas visitors to the country totaled 2,600 in June, logging a 99.9 per cent decline from a year-ago period. Domestic tourism also lingered during a state of emergency that spanned April and May. Sequoia, Goldman Sachs and Coatue-backed Rebel Foods, the worlds largest cloud kitchen player and parent to brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, Mandarin Oak, Sweet Truth, Firangi Bake and Slay, today announced their partnership with leading Indian integrated marketing business impact consultancy, One Source, for the next three years. Involving reputation management counsel across corporate and consumer stakeholders, the mandate will cover corporate communication, investor relations, consumer outreach and content marketing on PESO platforms for Rebel Foods. With a presence across India, the Middle East, South East Asia and the United Kingdom, Rebel Foods has 3,000 restaurants globally, and processes over a million orders a month. Whether it be technology-driven temperature checks, feeding lakhs of migrant labourers, or growing from India to across the globe, the company has focused on steady global growth, which today sees them on the cusp of joining Indias unicorn club. For One Source, this mandate will be spearheaded by lead counsel on the account, Jaspreet Kaur, supported by country lead for corporate communication, Kishor Barua and the national team. Speaking of the partnership, Kallol Banerjee, Co-founder, Rebel Foods opined, At Rebel Foods, our focus as a digital-first brand has been to always work towards the ever progressing goal post of customer love. This is something we found in common with One Source, which combined with their focus on sustainable positive business impact for clientele, and deep expertise across PESO media, helped us make our decision. Sandeep Rao, CEO, One Source added, Our focus as a consultancy is growing our clients businesses. When one sees partners business objectives as ones own, marketing becomes a revenue centre, not one known for cost. We look forward to continuing doing some amazing work for Rebel Foods, and are honoured by their continued faith in our brand of marketing. In a nutshell, the belief that focusing on client growth is the way forward on our growth journey is very strong at One Source. One Source has offices across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore which service Indian and global market leaders across BFSI, construction, manufacturing, plastics & packaging, business consulting, ICT, the start-up space and more. In the last year, the firm has signed on more than 20 clients across Branding & Films, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing and Corporate Communication. Of note is the fact that even amidst the COVID-driven turmoil, One Source has continued to sign on clientele and people, avoiding retrenchments and ensuring that their people and their partners benefit at all times. Suited up for the battle: Mike Huckabee praises newly created group for conservative Christian legislators Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has expressed his support for a new organization for Christian elected officials seeking to advance socially conservative values through public policy. The National Association of Christian Lawmakers, which was founded by Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert, held its charter meeting Aug. 4-5 at Destin, Florida, with legislators representing 23 states in attendance. As part of the inaugural event, Huckabee was in attendance and received the NACL's American Patriot Award for Christian honor and courage. In an interview with The Christian Post on Monday, Huckabee, who's on the groups board of advisers, explained what he believed made the NACL unique compared to other conservative Christian groups. The primary difference is that it is actually comprised of elected officials in a legislative capacity. So this isn't just a group of activists, they certainly probably see themselves in that role, but they've been elected, said Huckabee. These are folks who have suited up for the battle, they've gone out into the arena, and have come off that field, blood on their jerseys and grass stains all over their face. So they better understand that this is not a philosophical engagement, its a tactical engagement." Huckabee came on board when asked by Rapert, whom he greatly respects, and felt that what he was doing was significant. [NACL is] a great opportunity to bring Christian legislators from around the country together for the purpose not only of camaraderie, fellowship, and encouragement, but also to develop policy ideas that would help their own constituencies better represent issues like religious liberty, sanctity of life, things that truly matter to believers, he explained. As an adviser, Huckabee plans to be a sounding board for other members, and to encourage them and to maybe even help them think through certain issues, and even tactics." "Some of us have been around a while; a lot of the legislators are new, maybe in their first or second term. And others of us have been through many legislative battles in our lives and might have some insights. And we'll be available to be helpful to them as we can and as they desire, he added. Huckabee hopes that the new group will advance ideas like the sanctity of life and religious liberty, through thoughtful legislation that he described as court-proof. Held at the Sandestin Hotel, the event had nearly 80 attendees in person, as well as several meeting online due to COVID-19 shutdown restrictions. Former Congressman Bob McEwen of Ohio, who received the NACLs George Washington Lifetime Christian Leadership Award, gave the keynote speech on the first evening. This is the nation that maintains hope and opportunity for the rest of the world, said McEwen, declaring that truth overcomes error. Other speakers included Janet L. Folger, founder and president of Faith2Action, and Timothy Barton, president of Wallbuilders and son of Christian apologist David Barton. There was also a prayer service held on the second day led by NACL advisers Pastor Happy Caldwell of Arkansas and Andrew Wommack of Wommack Ministries. In an interview with CP on Monday, Rapert said he believed the meeting was a smashing success and was very encouraged by the proceedings, noting that their in-person attendees included elected officials from as far away states as Alaska and Arizona. We had very good turnout under the circumstances, he said. We obviously were under COVID-19 restrictions, so we could not open it up and have as large a gathering as we had wanted. Rapert compared the NACL to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonpartisan organization that encourages cooperation and dialogue among state lawmakers. Much like the NCSL, but all from a biblical worldview, he explained. I am proud of what were doing. I am very proud that we have men and women from across the country that have come together intentionally to take a stand for God and country. This is an important aspect of who we are as a nation that has been forgotten and we can see the evil that has been sweeping across our land and were saying enough is enough. Rapert explained that there was no barrier for membership regarding party identification, noting that John Debeery, a Democratic representative in the Tennessee state Legislature, was the chair for that state chapter. Nevertheless, members must agree to a pledge that includes supporting socially conservative positions, including the pro-life cause and the traditional definition of marriage. The pledge also calls on members to defend religious liberty, uphold the United States Constitution, and to unite with other like-minded Christian leaders around the United States of America to oppose evil and uphold righteous governance. According to Rapert, legislators who attended the meeting are already working on potential legislative proposals for next year based on the pledge they took. Education Minister issues unreserved apology to students in Wales over downgrading of A Level results This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 Wales education minister has issued an unreserved apology to students for the chaos caused by last weeks A Level results. The standardisation process used after the cancellation of this years exams saw 42 per cent of students in Wales downgraded. It led to criticism from students, teachers and politicians over inconsistencies and unfairness in the system. This week also saw north Wales education leaders state they have no confidence in the standardisation of results and feared that the upcoming GCSE results will mirror A-Level chaos. In a u-turn on Monday Education Minister Kirsty Williams announced that A level, AS, GCSE, Skills Challenge Certificate and Welsh Baccalaureate grades in Wales will now be awarded on the basis of Centre Assessment Grades. Speaking on Monday, the minister said: For grades issued last week, I have decided that all awards in Wales, will also be made on the basis of teacher assessment. For those young people, for whom our system produced higher grades than those predicted by teachers, the higher grades will stand. Ms Williams has also issued an unreserved apology to students for the stress and anguish caused by this years results process. In a statement, Ms Williams said: For our young people, and indeed, everyone in Wales, the last few months have been and continue to be a stressful time. Its been a time of anguish for people right across the country. And I am sorry, that for some of our young people, the results process has made that worse. That was not the intention of anyone, not for me, not Qualifications Wales, not the WJEC. But it is right, that I apologise directly and unreservedly to our young people. I am truly sorry. Recent months have thrown up unexpected new and complex challenges. Weve had to take decisions and design new ways of working at incredible pace. Working with Qualifications Wales and the WJEC we looked for an approach which provided fairness and balanced out differences in the standards applied to judgments in schools and colleges. But as I announced and given decisions elsewhere, the balance of fairness law lies with awarding Centre Assessment grades to students. I took the decision ahead of the results being released this week, so that there is time for the necessary work to take place. It was clear that maintaining confidence in our qualifications, whilst being fair to students requires this difficult decision. Next week I will be making a further statement on an independent review of events following the cancellation of this years exams. In the meantime, I want to congratulate and to thank all of our children and young people. You have shown incredible strength and resilience during the pandemic. I hope that you can now step forward with confidence on something Mission into the next stage of your education, employment or training. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Girl Scouts are adding a new flavor to their list of cookie classics next year. The French toast-themed Toast-Yay! will join the ranks Thin Mints and Do-si-dos beginning in January when the 2021 Girl Scout cookie season officially begins. The new treat features a layer of frosting with a maple syrup-like flavor, a crunchy texture and the signature trefoil stamp. The cookie is even shaped like a slice of toast with a raised crust edge. The name is designed to be a play on words for toasty, which evokes the warmth and joy we believe people will associate with this great new French toast-inspired flavor, a Girl Scouts representative told the Huffington Post. Toast draws on the cookies unique toast shape and attributes of French toast, and yay! celebrates joy the joy that Girl Scout cookies bring to consumers and how Girl Scouts create moments of joy as they use their cookie earnings to support their communities and donate cookies to front-line workers and local causes. .@girlscouts is kicking off the 2021 #GirlScoutCookie season with the new French toastinspired Toast-Yay! cookie! Available in select areas. Get the deets: https://t.co/ZCzzH8HpIA pic.twitter.com/jrMwWMomPH Girl Scouts (@girlscouts) August 18, 2020 The Toast-Yay! cookies will come 16-per-box in a lime green container. Each cookie is 70 calories and has 10 grams of added sugars, 6 grams of fat and 90 milligrams of sodium. Despite the pandemic, Girl Scouts of the USA said the sale of cookies is set to begin with caution this winter. Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Girl Scout meetings and patch activities have been moved online. In the 2021 season, Girl Scouts will again be selling cookies through online platforms and innovative virtual cookie booths on social media (with parental supervision), the company said. Many girls will offer socially distant or contactless sales and delivery options. If local guidelines allow, in-person sales may also be available in certain areas, keeping girls safety top priority. A former bureaucrat who pleaded guilty to rorting school funds says he struggles to get charity work after his fall from grace, as he apologised to the Education Department and his family for his actions. Former Victorian Education Department bigwig Nino Napoli told a court on Wednesday that he led "conflicting lives" when he worked at the department, while at the same time misappropriating school funds in a rort uncovered in 2014. Nino Napoli outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2017. Credit:Darrian Traynor The 64-year-old was the general manager of the Department of Education's finance unit and responsible for a $5 billion budget when he had an involvement in dozens of suspicious contracts that paid $500,000 to companies run by his relatives over seven years from 2007. Some of the contracted printing work was done but the money Napoli and his relatives misappropriated was designated for schools. A new law will require German dog owners to walk their pets twice a day, it has been reported. Under the Dogs Act, owners will have to take their dogs for two walks of at least one hour's duration each day, according to The Guardian. The new legislation was introduced by the country's agriculture minister Kulia Klockner based on evidence that many of Germany's 9.4 million dogs are not getting enough exercise. The tethering of dogs on a chain or lead for extended period will also be banned. Ms Klockner said: Dogs are not cuddly toys. They also have their own needs, which need to be taken into account. An agricultural ministry spokeswoman said each of Germanys 16 states' authorities will be responsible for enforcing the law. However, the new legislation has prompted criticism in Germany, which is currently in the midst of a heatwave. Even members of Ms Klockner's own party, the Christian Democratic Union, have spoken out against the legislation. CDU MP Saskia Ludwig tweeted: VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE: I will not be taking my Rhodesian Ridgeback for two rounds of walks in 32 degrees heat, rather we will jump in the river for a refreshing cool down instead. Walther Schweiz, whose 14-year-old Alsatian has cancer and can only walk short distances, told The Guardian that the government needs to let people live their own lives. They should trust people to get on with their own lives," he said. "Theyll be telling cat owners how often they need to change their litter trays next." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States Wed, August 19, 2020 09:08 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066efc8e6 2 Art & Culture New-York-City,Museum-of-Modern-Art,united-states,Museum,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free New York's Museum of Modern Art will reopen its doors on August 27, the institution announced Monday, following a five-month shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Entry will be free for the first month, MoMA said in a statement. State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that New York's museums, art galleries and other cultural institutions will be allowed to reopen starting August 24. However, there will be mandatory face masks, timed ticketing with staggered entry and just 25 percent occupancy, he said. New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art, which normally welcomes seven million visitors a year, says it will reopen on August 29. The Whitney Museum of American Art will reopen on September 3. Read also: New York museums, galleries to reopen from Aug. 24 Performing arts venues will remain shut until the end of the year, however. The Metropolitan Opera is scheduled to resume on December 31, while Broadway theaters will remain closed until at least January. New York state was initially hard hit by COVID-19 and has recorded almost 33,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The virus has largely been brought under control there even as it has risen in other US states. Only 0.71 percent of almost 57,000 coronavirus tests in New York on Sunday were positive, according to state figures. Things were dire in April when the Canadian military was called in to care for residents in Ontario long-term-care homes hard hit by COVID-19. By the time the soldiers left in July, as the exit report released last Friday states, the most horrific conditions in four homes were fixed. Residents were routinely eating three meals a day and their soiled diapers were changed more often in two more homes. And only a few bugs remained in another home. Thats certainly better than residents not eating, languishing in soiled diapers, and being overrun by cockroaches. But what an incredibly low bar it is. Surely we want, and should be able to expect, far more for our vulnerable seniors living in long-term-care homes. And even now, after months of military assistance and extensive political attention to the problems in Ontarios nursing homes, the military still cautions that a few concerns around staffing remain. Those relate to clinical skills and standards of care often connected to training, expertise, and experience with new staff who were mobilized in short order, Brig. Gen. Conrad Mialkowski says in the report. This is particularly important because its not just a pandemic issue, and its most certainly not exclusive to these few homes. It comes down to longstanding difficulties in attracting and maintaining staff, which is directly related to the low pay and challenging working conditions in a great many long-term-care homes across Ontario. Troublingly, those are the very issues that the Ford government has not yet addressed even as it pats itself on the back that the situation in extremely troubled homes has been stabilized. Certainly many of the problems the military encountered, including COVID-19 positive patients wandering the halls or residents being force-fed in a rushed manner, were made worse by the pandemic. Families who normally provide a great deal of daily care to their loved ones werent allowed inside for months. But the core of the problems stem from long-standing underfunding and understaffing at these homes, along with incredibly lax government regulations and oversight. That has nothing to do with COVID-19 and everything to do with political choices. So it is not a given, as the military report states, that Ontario is well equipped to address any of these issues from this point forward. The Ford government still needs to take steps to prove thats the case. It can do that by upgrading the government commission into long-term care to a proper public inquiry. Ontarians need a far broader and more transparent review than the government is currently pursuing. Its not enough to focus narrowly on COVID-19 and preventing future outbreaks. We need to address everything from how homes are funded, staffed and operated, to how the different delivery models affect outcomes for residents not just in a pandemic, but all the time. We know six of the seven homes where residents were in such dire straits that the military was deployed in order to preserve life are for-profit facilities. And we know that while COVID-19 hit the entire long-term care sector hard, deaths in Ontario have been concentrated in for-profit care homes. That makes it more than a little galling that for-profits have seen fit to pay dividends to their shareholders during the crisis. Indeed, as the Star reported on Sunday, the largest operator of private nursing homes in Canada, Extendicare, paid out more than $10 million in dividends to its shareholders since April while at the same time taking $21 million from the public pursue under the pandemic wage subsidy program. Surely Extendicare should have invested those funds in its care homes and most especially those that were hard hit by the coronavirus and exposed as physically inadequate and badly understaffed. That a company like Extendicare chose not to do that is one of the reasons why so many people are rightly demanding a broader review into long-term care to ensure a better system going forward. Its time the Ford government listened. Le Cavalier replaces the Green Room at the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington. The 1913 floor was rediscovered. Read more Growing up in the Wilmington area, Tyler Akin knew all about the Green Room at the Hotel du Pont. Opened in 1913, the restaurant was Delawares ne plus ultra dining experience, site of big birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, and other celebrations and special occasions. Politicos such as now-presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden held court there. I have memories of this restaurant going back as far as I have memories, said Akin, 36, who earlier in his career was chef at Zahav and owns the Stock restaurants and a portion of Res Ipsa Cafe in Philadelphia. He recalls dinners with his grandmother putting on a suit and listening to classical music in a grand but old-fashioned dining room. When I got older and understood the importance of it and how much it meant to the community, I had the daydream of having the opportunity to reimagine it, Akin said. In the back of my mind, if I was ever going to be back in Delaware and doing a restaurant, Id want this to be it. Then the stars aligned and the new ownership, the Buccini/Pollin Group and PM Hotel Group, bought it from the du Ponts and called me. Fortunately, I had the bandwidth and maturity to do it. And they agreed. Next month, an eight-month renovation will be unveiled at what is now known as Le Cavalier at the Green Room. Like the name itself, the restaurant will have old and new elements. The fumed oak paneling and ornate plaster ceiling remain, as will most of the gilded chandeliers. The designer Stokes Architecture & Design of Philadelphia removed the chandeliers now-fake candles, adding globe-shape lighting closer to the floor. Le Cavalier will be less formal, befitting the 21st century, with the idea of satisfying everyday as well as special-occasion patrons. We got rid of the classical music and the penguin-suit vibe, Akin said. Food will be prepared carefully, thoughtfully, and creatively but [we wont do] the vertical presentation. It will be more rustic brasserie style on the plate a community restaurant, where people can come once a week or to a lunch meeting. One especially new/old detail will involve looking down. Wed heard a lot about the tile flooring, various stories, actually, and it became a bit of folklore to us, said Lance Saunders, Stokes director of design. Was it there? If so, was it a match to whats visible currently in the host vestibule? Was it covered up by a layer of concrete beneath the existing carpet? Tyler and I dove into the archives at the Hagley Museum, but we hadnt found any photographic evidence of it there either. Finally, we uncovered a solid hint in a local story from the grand opening back in 1913 noting the marble mosaic and terrazzo floor. And then we just crossed our fingers that when the carpet came up, it was all still intact. Luckily for us, it was. And its a stunner. Alas, much of the original artwork went to the Brandywine River Museum during the sale. More modern paintings were installed. Akins menu, with entrees priced at $16 to $40, will be classic brasserie, with touches of North African essentially what youd find in Paris. Dining rooms may operate at 60% capacity in Delaware; there is outdoor dining as well. The scope of the project and juggling several restaurants in two cities do not faze Akin. Im convinced I can do it because there were plenty of nights that Zahav was under my purview, he said. Im comfortable running a service where it turns a hundred people over and over. Cyprus and Greece on Tuesday urged the European Union to take a tougher stance against Turkeys tension-ratcheting activity in the eastern Mediterranean. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias made an unscheduled trip to Nicosia to coordinate policy among the two EU allies, as a crisis brews after Turkey sent naval ships into disputed waters. Dendias met his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and President Nicos Anastasiades. Nicosia and Athens seek a tougher stance from Brussels as they argue that Turkey has violated their sovereignty as well as that of the EU. "The escalation of Turkish aggression" is directed at the EU, Dendias told a news conference. "Turkish provocations show contempt for the clear positions of the EU, the US contempt for European values, international law and constitute unacceptable militarisation," he said after meeting his Cypriot counterpart. He accused Turkey of playing a "destabilising role" in the region. "For a long time, Cyprus and Greece have pointed out that the appeasement of Mr Erdogan would result in an unprecedented escalation of Turkey's delinquent behaviour," Christodoulides said, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Tensions were stoked last week when Ankara dispatched a research ship, Oruc Reis, accompanied by Turkish naval vessels off the Greek island of Kastellorizo. Greece also deployed warships to monitor the vessels. The mood has soured since Greece and Egypt signed an agreement on August 6 to set up an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said his country would step up energy exploration and not "compromise" on its rights. Ankara has also sent a drillship into waters that Cyprus has designated as its EEZ for gas exploration licensed to US, French and Italian energy companies. France has "temporarily reinforced" its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean in support of Greece and Cyprus. A French navy frigate could be seen off southern Cyprus on Tuesday. The search for oil and gas has long been a source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey. Ankara paused its operations off a Greek island last month, saying it wanted to see how talks with Greece and Germany progressed. But Erdogan has announced a resumption of the search for energy, accusing Greece of reneging on its promises. Turkey was incensed by the Egypt-Greece deal, branding it "null and void". Ankara signed its own controversial agreement last year with Libya's UN-recognised government, claiming extensive areas of the Mediterranean for Turkey. Egypt, Cyprus and Greece have likewise condemned the deal as well as a security agreement signed last year by Ankara and the Tripoli-based government. On Friday, EU foreign ministers expressed "full solidarity" with Greece and Cyprus,urging an "immediate de-escalation" as Greek and Turkish ships shadowed each other. But Ankara announced that another drillship, the Yavuz, would be conducting a month-long hydrocarbons search off Cyprus. Islamabad, Aug 19 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a clear and unequivocal stand, saying the founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had made it clear that until the Palestinians get their due rights, they will not recognise Israel. Khan expressed these views during an interview with a private news channel on Tuesday. He discussed at length various issues including Pakistan's foreign policy, Pak-China friendship, Israel, Kashmir issue, Afghan peace process, economy, situation in the region, national issues and politics, the News International reported. To the question about Israel, the Prime Minister said that his conscience will never accept Israel. "Our position on Israel is very clear. Pakistan can never recognise Israel. We also have to answer to the Almighty about Israel and Palestine," the Prime Minister said. About China, Khan said that it should be clear that our future is connected with China. He said China has stood by Pakistan in every good and bad time. "We are further strengthening our ties with China. China also needs Pakistan very much", he said. The Premier said Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to visit Pakistan in May this year but his visit was postponed due to the coronavirus. He is now expected to visit Pakistan in winter. On relations with Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said Pakistan's role is not to divide the Muslim world. He said Saudi Arabia has its own foreign policy, adding that Saudi Arabia has helped Pakistan in every difficult time. Imran Khan said that earlier America used Pakistan for war, but today both are partners in peace. "We are partners in the peace process in Afghanistan." "I've been struggling all my life, I've been struggling since I was nine. I built a hospital but politics was a great struggle. I formed the PTI after the two-party system. There is no fear of ups and downs when you try," said the Premier. Khan said: "When I came to power, the economy was on the verge of bankruptcy and institutions were destroyed. The system in Pakistan is such that everything can be done by paying money; there are barriers for small business owners, while the powerful can get everything done by paying money. The elite class considers itself above the law. When the NAB calls them, they say the country is ruined. That is why the elite class has been in a cycle of overthrowing the government for two consecutive years," he said. Imran Khan said that the future of Pakistan depends on industry. "Unless we become an industrial country, we cannot move forward. Last year, 2,000 billion rupees were repaid in instalments, this year it is 2,700 billion. Until we become an industrialised country, these debt repayments will continue to increase. We will now also bring down the prices of electricity generated in government power plants. The government is coming up with a plan to improve power plants and distribution. The power policy is almost ready, we will bring it to the notice of the people in a week or two," he added. Khan said that a country is destroyed when the Prime Minister and Ministers are corrupt. He said it was very easy for him to compromise with the opposition and the government would run very easily, but he would never do that. Mack is far from Joe Exotic but we start to question whether Big Top Mall is a good home for Ivan and the rest. The movie, like the book, is inspired by the real story of a gorilla named Ivan who was captured as a baby in the Congo, raised by a family in the U.S., and sat on display in a small concrete cell at a Tacoma, Washington, shopping mall for 27 years before an outcry (prompted in part by a National Geographic documentary ) won his release to a zoo. If you had the Black Death or bubonic plague on your 2020 bingo card, you can tick that space now. A South Lake Tahoe resident has tested positive for the human plague, the first case in California in five years. The person, an avid walker, may have been bitten by an infected flea while walking their dog along the Truckee River in the Tahoe Keys area, according to El Dorado health officials. Plague is transmitted by fleas, which get the bacteria from squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents. The disease has caused epidemics throughout history, killing millions. One-third of Europes population died in the 14th century from the plague, or Black Death. The plague arrived in the United States in 1900 from rat-infested ships. The last significant epidemic in the country occurred in Los Angeles from 1924-1925. An average of seven human plague cases are reported in the country each year, most in the Southwest. The vast majority are the bubonic form of the plague, although there is also septicemic plague and pneumonic plague. Plague is now treated with antibiotics, but it can be fatal without treatment. Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County, said Dr. Nancy Williams, county public health Officer. Its important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and/or camping in areas where wild rodents are present. Human cases of plague are extremely rare but can be very serious. Symptoms including fever, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes, which often show up within two weeks of exposure to an infected animal or flea. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The last cases of plague in California were in 2015, with two people infected in Yosemite National Park. Those were the first cases since 2006. Health officials routinely check animals for plague. From 2016 to 2019, El Dorado County identified 20 animals with the plague all in the South Lake Tahoe area. Officials advised not feeding squirrels or chipmunks, wearing long pants to reduce exposure to fleas and protect pets with flea medication, including cats, which are highly susceptible to plague and can pass it to their owners. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker The most substantial risk to the integrity of this November's election isn't related to allegations that Democrats or Republicans are conspiring to subvert the voting for partisan ends. Rather, it deals with the operational infrastructure and urgently required changes needed to conduct an election that will be viewed by the public as fair in outcome to the candidates and fair in experience to the voters.It's clear that the combination of COVID-19 and the particularly intense interest in the outcome of this year's vote will pressure-test an election-day system insufficiently structured to respond. Elections are mostly conducted at the county level, and we need to professionalize the process, at least in part. Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Executive Armond Budish took a big step in the right direction recently in allowing county employees to receive paid leave while serving as poll workers in the November election. Why not take the next step across the country and make this year's election-day work part of the professional responsibilities of local government, redeploying public workers to the polls?Today most poll workers are volunteers who in some places receive small stipends. Many of these volunteers are older and therefore more vulnerable to the coronavirus, so it's understandable why so many are canceling plans to work at the polls, leading to anticipated and in some cases severe shortages nationwide. Volunteers who do show up will be asked, in addition to their standard tasks of checking registrations, handing out ballots and helping to tabulate the results, to also undertake the hugely more difficult and contentious process of examining an expected deluge of mail-in ballots for compliance and then counting those votes. reports that as of Aug. 14, a historic high of more than 180 million Americans 77 percent of the electorate were eligible to cast absentee ballots or otherwise vote by mail. We have already witnessed the effect of the challenges of greatly expanded mail-in voting. In New York City, for example, a tenfold increase in mailed ballots for two June congressional primaries delayed the final results for six weeks And yet concentrating on the mail-in deluge understates the problem. In Indianapolis, bipartisan efforts to expand mail-in voting for the June primary caused officials to underestimate the number of voters who still preferred to cast their ballots in person, resulting in long lines and some voters abandoning their franchise rights. Meanwhile, some voters, concerned about mail delivery, brought their absentee ballots to their precincts on election day, as allowed by law, but were frustrated by poor signage as to where to safely and quickly deposit them. In the Milwaukee primary, the shortage of poll workers caused the county to consolidate polling sites, producing alarming pictures of tightly packed individuals awaiting their right to vote. New Jersey and Wisconsin deployed National Guard members to serve as poll workers in their states' primaries.County executives, and mayors where city-run elections are the norm, can address these problems and go a long way toward guaranteeing a smoother election by making the operation of polling places a responsibility of public employees augmenting the volunteers who do show up. This assignment will involve sacrifices by public employees who, like the volunteers, will need to be safeguarded with the right personal protective equipment as well as clear plastic safeguards and polling-place markings for social distancing. It's also important that partially professionalizing the voting process not diminish the rights of the political parties to have their own representatives on hand at the polls observing operations for the purpose of checks and balances.Whether in the precincts or in the central election office, we need to totally reimagine voting operations establishing who is responsible for training and safety, determining the right number of staff needed, and holding emergency-management-type drills in advance. Local officials also should assign their public health directors to assist in making polling places as safe from contagion as possible and begin in advance to work through scenarios and establish guidelines for situations where there may be a disagreement on whether a ballot should count.Finally, local elected officials should develop a communication plan to help voters understand dates, options and consequences. A single outbound letter is insufficient. Governments should employ all methods of communication and not rely only on traditional media channels.Across the country, hundreds of thousands of individuals volunteer to support our democracy every election day. This year in particular we owe them support. Let's define the operational excellence of the election as part of the duties of local public employees. Few other public services match the importance of elections that produce confidence.GoverningGoverning Its been nearly seven weeks since Gov. Kate Brown began publicly identifying counties in Oregon where coronavirus had been spreading too rapidly, where local officials had been too overwhelmed, where state public health experts agreed to step in because too much was at stake. Brown said the state would prioritize assistance to counties on a newly designated watch list. Officials would increase capacity for case investigations and contact tracing. Provide more data analysis. Offer communication support. And prioritize testing, specifically for long-term care facilities. But just as many counties have since fallen backward in their fight against COVID-19 as have made progress. The surge strategy that the watch list designation prompts has provided a mixed bag of results so far, officials across the state say. One-third of Oregon counties have been placed on the watch list, and The Oregonian/OregonLive reached out to those dozen to solicit feedback about how effective the states assistance has been. The watch list is not a politically popular prize, and some counties want off it immediately, as it freezes them in their current phase of economic reopening for at least three weeks. Since July 3, only three counties Lincoln, Union and Lake have been removed from the list, with Brown declaring the efforts to slow coronavirus in those jurisdictions a resounding success. But in the face of unrelenting spread elsewhere, Brown restored restrictions on businesses and gathering sizes in Malheur, Morrow and Umatilla counties sending Umatilla all the way back into full stay-home status. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases have been so consistently high in the Portland area that Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties have all but shelved plans to reopen more businesses. In fact, Multnomah County has become such a hot spot that its the only one in the metro area added to Browns watch list. Public health data and officials from many affected counties suggest the watch list is a potentially effective strategy to raise public awareness of the virus, triage local outbreaks and flatten COVID-19 case counts if the watch list allows them to access additional resources quickly. The states public health department was super responsive immediately, said George Thompson, a spokesman for the health department in Union County, which quickly quashed one of the states largest virus outbreaks in late June and early July. This is why we were successful: the timeliness of the response. Others, however, say they are overwhelmed and arent sure their watch list status has promptly delivered what they need. Theyre still waiting for more testing, more communications support and more boots on the ground. That surge capacity may be particularly important this fall, as possible school reopenings and weather changes could combine to increase the potential for new outbreaks and sporadic community spread. Sarah Poe, the head of Malheur Countys public health department, said the state ought to be responding by sending in specialized strike teams and surging health care capacity, particularly in counties that had inadequate resources from the start. This is a situation we should be responding to more like a wildfire, more like a war, she said. Oregons 36 counties have widely disparate demographics, employment bases, health care infrastructure and, consequently, different coronavirus response needs. But the call for a different approach comes from urban counties, too. After Brown placed Multnomah County on the watch list July 30, the chairs of the three Portland-area counties sent a pointed demand letter to the states public health department outlining a long list of desired changes. The elected leaders said they didnt need more bodies but instead specific tools and a distinct metro-area strategy that allows staff to respond more effectively. If our region has any hope of seeing lasting declines in the rate of infection, the three counties and the Oregon Health Authority must coordinate our efforts even more effectively, the letter said. State officials say the watch list was never meant to be a silver bullet, simply a coping strategy amid a general shortage of resources and a 100-year public health crisis that no one has dealt with before. The Oregon Health Authority doesnt have a set of virus strike teams, per se, and cant flood the zone with resources it lacks. Its not a flood of new resources, but its about committing the resources we have or can quickly get to where its most needed, Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, said in a statement. A spokesman for the governor would not directly say if Brown believes the watch list has been effective or could be improved. Being added to the watch list will not automatically result in a turnaround and it often takes several weeks of deliberate and serious action to get things under control, Charles Boyle said in a statement. Counties will remain on the watch list until the number of coronavirus cases drops below 50 per 100,000 residents. The watch list sends a clear warning signal to the public, community leaders, and elected officials that the spread of COVID-19 is serious, Boyle said, and that more community action and local leadership is needed to address that problem. WHERE ITS WORKED Lincoln County was something of a test case. A big coronavirus outbreak at Pacific Seafood in Newport in early June and subsequent community spread actually predated the watch list. But it immediately overwhelmed the 26-person health department and initiated the kind of response envisioned by the designation, though only part of it came from the state. Local contact tracers and case investigators were quickly backed up by neighboring counties, a standard first step. Pacific Seafood hired a contractor to test employees at its facility, while Clatsop County set up drive-thru testing in the community. The Oregon Health Authority sent three staff and supported the county in data entry and staff training to use the state COVID-19 database. The state also secured a team from the federal Veterans Administration to test residents and staff at a long-term care facility. Susan Trachsel, a spokeswoman for the countys health department, said one of the key things the state provided was planning a response strategy with county commissioners and providing communications support. Among other things, the Oregon Health Authority developed messaging and translated materials to reach Spanish speakers. It also helped put volunteers and a call center in place to support infected Guatemalan workers who speak Mam and werent getting the stay-home message or the support they needed. Were light year ahead of where we were on that front, Trachsel said. The outbreak quickly died down and the countys seven-day average of new cases went from a high of 24 in mid-June back down to single digits by the end of the month. Brown removed Lincoln County from the watch list July 30. Trachsel said one ancillary benefit of the watchlist status was that it initially discouraged tourists from coming to the coast. On Monday, however, days before county commissioners were slated to debate returning to Phase 2, county health officials reported an outbreak at a hotel in Lincoln City. From a public health perspective, we think it was helpful to have that watch list status, said Trachsel, adding that it initially discouraged tourists from coming to the coast. It made a difference. Union County tells a similar story and describes an even stronger response from the Oregon Health Authority. The county was plugging along with only a handful of cases until mid June, when the single-largest outbreak in the state to that point took place at the Lighthouse United Pentecostal Church in Island City. Eventually 236 or the churchs 365 members tested positive. The countys test positivity rate spiked to 22 percent. The state stepped in when the countys epidemiologist had initially identified a couple cases and had a hunch about a potential outbreak, said Thompson, the health department spokesman. The state immediately sent two epidemiologists as backup, later committing 10 contact tracers and several case investigators when the outbreak was confirmed. The state also helped the county ensure testing for nearly 1,000 people, allowing local health officials to identify and quarantine people with infections and notify their close contacts. The countys weekly average case count is now in the low single digits. Brown removed Union County from the watch list July 30, though Thompson said the countys coordination with the state remains. One of the aspects of the watchlist I understood was that our operational requests would be prioritized and wed get more responsive support, he said. That definitely was felt for masks, for testing and for communications support. COUNTIES FALL BACKWARD Contact tracing, case investigations and increased testing are the most concrete measures counties can use to contain outbreaks of COVID-19. Malheur County, on the states eastern border with Idaho, needs more of all of it. Poe, the countys public health director, said the county deals with chronic disparities in health care infrastructure and outcomes, and that COVID-19 has thrown those disparities into high relief. She said shes been impressed with the states responsiveness, but no, we dont have everything we need. The health department has no epidemiologist and no training supervisor or contact tracing coordinator, which makes it hard to lead the work. It has seven people qualified to do case investigations but only three permanently assigned. The county planning director and head of environmental services have been pulled in to help, but the department is still overwhelmed. Thats where the bulk of the work is, Poe said. Thats where we need help. Right now, it feels like were fighting this in hindsight. After six weeks on the watch list, the governor announced Thursday that the county will move back from Phase 2 of reopening status to Phase 1 because the virus has been spreading rapidly. A news release explaining the move said the county now has a case rate of 266 cases per 10,000 people, the third highest in the state, and a test positivity rate of 26% over the last two weeks, well above the state average of 5.8%. More than half of cases from the past week couldnt be traced back to a known source. Some 22% of the countys 800 cases are linked to an outbreak at the Snake River Correctional Institute, and most of the industries where it sees cases increasing are considered essential, primarily agricultural and food processing. It also sits on the border with Idaho counties that have 7,300 cases, so the possibility of linkage is high, but Oregons electronic surveillance system does not share information with Idaho. Early last week, days before the governor decided to send Malheur County back to Phase 1 reopening status, state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger said he was unaware of the countys unmet needs. I havent heard form Sarah specifically on that, he said. Are there unmet needs? Theyre not ones that have been elevated to me. Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, later said the state had provided case investigations and would ensure any further assistance Malheur County needs to get the situation under control. Poe told The Oregonian/OregonLive shed like to see the county doing 100 tests a day, roughly three times the current level. The county is stuck in a vicious cycle, she said, with health care providers testing only patients with symptoms, which results in a stubbornly high test positivity rates. And its often taken more than two weeks to obtain test results from a private contractor, leading to more people with infections not staying home. The state public health lab has since agreed to accept its tests, and is promising additional testing events in the county. Poe wrote to the governor Monday outlining her concerns and plans, saying the state had been responsive to the counties needs. But she also stressed its deep reliance on the state, and said she wanted to avoid the possibility of a renewed stay home order that wouldnt address the reason the county is seeing community spread and increased outbreaks. Umatilla County has also struggled for weeks to contain the coronavirus, although it appears officials may have turned a corner. Alisha Southwick, deputy director of public health in Umatilla County, said the Oregon Health Authority surged case investigation capacity but the need was so sudden and acute that it outstripped state capacity. The ZIP code covering Hermiston has recorded twice as many coronavirus cases as any other in Oregon, with more than 1,300 confirmed or presumed infections. Testing has been a rollercoaster in Umatilla County, too, as it has been across much of the state amid strained supplies. Sometimes its a local shortage of test kits, at other times a shortage of testing re-agents at the labs processing them, creating bottlenecks and delaying results when tests come flooding in. The work is happening, but turnaround times have sometimes been slow, she said. Its a bummer for us. Morrow County Chairwoman Melissa Lindsay said communication tops the list of needs there, particularly as the county tries to drive home its social-distancing and face-covering message in the 20- to 49-year-old demographic where cases have spiked. The health department doesnt have the resources to develop a campaign or anyone to implement it, she said. Thats our biggest hurdle, getting the message into that arena, she said. Were five months in and were treading water. What do we do next? The economy is in dire straits and people dont want to hear the message anymore. PUSHING FOR CHANGE The resource shortage has been felt most acutely in rural counties, but the desire for a beefed up, or more tailored response from the Oregon Health Authority exists in urban counties too. Multnomah County, which has seen a persistently high number of cases, landed on the watchlist July 30. Four days later, commissioners from tri-county Portland sent a letter to the state requesting a specific strategy to deal with the pandemic in the metro area, including a long list of changes they hope will be instituted to improve the joint response. The myriad changes included basic training support, such as instructional videos for staff using the states COVID-19 database and a written explanation for what each data field means. They asked for updated face-covering guidance that applies to all businesses and financial support to purchase enough reusable face coverings so every resident in the metro area has at least two. Regional leaders also asked for financial support to develop targeted multimedia communications, expanded low-barrier testing and new guidance for employers experiencing outbreaks, including enforcement notices sent to those who arent cooperating with investigations. Rachael Banks, public health director for Multnomah County, said its too early to tell whether the watch list designation will have any benefit. Unlike other counties, Multnomah County doesnt need a surge of specific resources such as epidemiologists and case investigators, she said. We havent fully seen the effectiveness of it yet, she said of the watch list designation. Maybe if they make these changes we will. Oregon Health Authority officials said last week that the states recent award of $9.4 million in CARES Act funding to 173 Community Based Organizations around the state should improve local contact tracing capacity, communications and social service support, as those organizations can leverage existing connections with communities, families and individuals to overcome resistance that county and OHA staff often face. Marion County, meanwhile, wants off the list. Katrina Rothenberger, director of public health for the county said that when the watch list was expanded July 30, there was a change in public health metrics related to sporadic cases that cant be traced back to a known source. We didnt have advance notice of that, she said. We thought we were doing just fine. A subsequent news release from the governors office acknowledged that the county had completed case investigations, but would remain on the list out of an abundance of caution to monitor for community spread. Rothenberger said the county has had periodic shortages in case investigation and contact tracing staff, and local officials hadnt considered the sporadic cases a high priority. Since landing on the watch list, Marion County hasnt submitted a request for any additional resources, though Rothenberger is interested to see the follow through on the states plan to prioritize testing in long-term care facilities. Things change and they change fast, so weve done everything we can to make sure we get the support when we need it, she said, noting that the county received help from the state early in the pandemic. Theyve been very responsive. On the other hand, she said, it would be nice to get a heads-up next time. Oregons governor is expected to update the counties on her watch list later this week. Clarification: An earlier version of this story said Lincoln County had yet to tie any new cases back to increased tourism. County health officials announced an outbreak this week at a hotel in Lincoln City. - Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Hydroxychloroquine Is Widely Used Around the Globe Commentary Death rates in countries that rely on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for the treatment of COVID-19 appear to be dramatically lower than death rates in countries that discourage the use of the drug. A new study claims that the death rate in the countries that used HCQ early on was 77 percent lower than in countries where the drug was not used (c19study.com). The startling thing about this findingif accurateis that the countries where HCQ has been extensively used are poor in relation to the countries that could afford to adopt the lockdown model. Those poorer countries cannot afford the massive amounts of money spent by lockdown countries, where businesses were shut down and trillions were then spent compensating workers and business owners. The HCQ countries are also unable to afford the expensive health-care systems that rich countries are lucky to have. If the findings of this study are borne out it will be a massive indictment not only of all of the HCQ naysayers, but of the advocates of the lockdown model. It might also mean that a pill costing a few cents saves lives, while the mountain of money spent on lockdowns in the rich part of the world has failed to do so. The other notable difference between the HCQ countries and lockdown countries is that those countries dont attempt to prevent doctors from prescribing HCQ to their patients. Here, doctors are discouraged from doing so. Speaking Out A detailed analysis of the c19 study is far beyond the ability of this author. The fact is, the study is currently being attacked by scientists and other expertsas it should be. However, the point is, many countries claim that HCQ works, and the truth of this claim is largely being ignored by a biased media and self-serving politicians. However, senior doctors are now beginning to speak out against the unofficial campaign that clearly exists to discredit any doctor or scientist who advocates for the use of HCQ. Recently, Yale University Dean of Public Health Sten Vermund defended the right of a fellow senior doctor to openly discuss his view that HCQ works, and that American doctors must be freed up to prescribe a drug that could save many lives. The general belief of these doctors is that HCQ, in combination with zinc and azithromycin, should be used as early as possible in the treatment of the disease for best results. Clearly, the campaign to stop doctors who believe that HCQ works from prescribing it to their patients is beginning to crack. The doctor the dean was defending is Yale epidemiologist and public health professor Harvey Risch. Rischthe author of 300 published articlesis a distinguished professor and cancer epidemiologist. He had appeared on Fox News and told Ingraham Angle host Laura Ingraham that not only were doctors who believed in the use of HCQ being unfairly treated, but that the use of the drug could save between 75,000 and 100,000 lives. For his advocacy of HCQ he was facing criticism, and Vermund defended Rischs right to advocate for the use of a treatment he believed in. Another senior doctor who spoke on Ingrahams show recently is cardiologist Ramin Oskoui. He described the results of the finding of the c19 study on Fox News on Aug. 5, 2020. Speaking with Ingraham, Oskoui urged health officials to abandon their political opposition to the drug and incorporate it into a treatment program that could potentially save many lives, and reduce the suffering of people stricken by the disease. Its far too early to determine how this particular study will hold up. However, its clear that scientists and doctors in many nations have enough of a belief in the efficacy of the drug to incorporate it into both the prevention and the early treatment stage of their COVID-19 treatment regime. How Countries Use HCQ Perhaps it would be useful to look briefly at how some of these countries are using the drug. The following is a brief description of some of the countries that use HCQ extensively, both as a prophylactic and as a treatment for COVID-19 in the early stages. Turkey is one such country. When a person shows symptoms of the disease in Turkey, they are prescribed low doses of HCQ and advised to remain at home and report on their progress. If their illness progresses to a stage where hospitalization is necessary, they are then prescribed slightly higher doses of HCQ, together with other treatment. Turkeys reported death rate is dramatically lower than the death rate in countries such as Britain and the United States, where HCQ use is discouraged, and therefore not openly used. India also uses HCQ extensively. This is made easier by the fact that much of the worlds supply of the drug comes from India, and as a result its use there is particularly inexpensive. The belief is that the early use of HCQ cuts the mortality rate in half. Statistics from India appear to bear that out. Police, health-care workers, and frontline workers are given HCQ as a prophylactic, and the results there are very encouraging. Israel has not only been making use of HCQ in COVID treatment, but has also been supplying it to its friends. For instance, Israel made a major donation of HCQ to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who incorporated the drug into the COVID treatment plan there. It should be noted that Floridas COVID death rate remains far lower than the rate in states such as New York, despite Floridas large elderly population. Its an open question whether this lower death rate is related to Floridas use of the donated drug. Other countries where the use of HCQ is encouraged, rather than discouraged, also show dramatically lower death rates. Russia and South Korea are examples, but there are many countries, such as Switzerland, where the drug is used quietly. Switzerland, in fact, provides strong proof that HCQ is effective. Simply put, when the flawed study that WHO relied upon to recommend the suspension of HCQ use, Switzerland followed that advice and suspended HCQ use. When that flawed Lancet reported study was withdrawn as false, Switzerland resumed HCQ use. During the few weeks when HCQ was not used, the death rate shot up. When HCQ use resumed, the death rate came down again. This is strong proof that the drug works. In many countries, the drug is available as an easily affordable and safe over-the-counter drug. Its sold in the same way that common pain relievers are marketed. However, even in countries that do not encourage the use of HCQ, or even actively discourage its use, the drug is certainly being used. In the United States, for example, a significant number of doctors are defying the HCQ taboo and prescribing the drug to their patients both as a prophylactic, and for treatment. HCQs possible life-saving benefits (combined with its safety and low cost) are simply considered to be too great to ignore. The fact that it had been used safely by millions of people for decades has convinced many doctors that they cannot in good conscience keep the drug from their patients. Exactly how many doctors worldwide are prescribing the drug for their patients, either as a prophylactic or as part of their treatment, is an unknown, but its known that the drug is being produced and sold in huge quantities. Germany, as well, is reported to have made extensive use of HCQ in the very early stages of the pandemic. This might account for its relatively low COVID death rate. The fact that the huge German pharmaceutical company Bayer produces HCQ in Germany made German use easier. In fact, Bayer donated a million doses of HCQ to the United States during the height of the pandemic. India, Brazil, and Ecuador all reported that when HCQ was administered to local populations, death rates fell sharply. In France, 466 million prescriptions for the drug have been written by doctors. And Russia refused to stop its reliance on HCQ, even when the later debunked Lancet study caused the WHO to recommend a temporary halt to all HCQ use. HCQ remains an important part of Russias COVID treatment regime. The tragedy in all of this may be that the strongest opposition to the use of HCQ appears to be found in one of the countries most badly infectedthe United States. While the drug is being usedapparently successfullyin many parts of the world, politicians, the mainstream media, and social media vehicles such as Google (YouTube), Twitter, and Facebook are working aggressively to make it impossible for the American public to either obtain the drug, or to use it. They also appear to be working in concert with media organizations and politicians to promote a smear campaign against the use of the drug. Why is that? The answer is clear. Much of it is purely political. President Donald Trump famously stated his belief that the drug might work, and as a result his opponents have decided to make it unavailable to the American publicno matter the possible cost in lives. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, there are encouraging HCQ test results, although theres no definitive answer at this time. Politics should play no part in what should be a purely medical decision. Unbiased Testing Perhaps some medical authorities worry that large-scale HCQ usage would prevent the widescale vaccinations that would be necessary to reach herd immunity when vaccines become available. But that is not a good reason. HCQ might prove to be a far safer and more affordable treatment. Unbiased testing should be undertaken to answer this question. That unbiased, rigorous testing is incredibly important. In the words of visionary Scott Adams, its so important that we should be chewing through concrete walls to get definitive answers. And yet, mainstream testing is done almost reluctantly. And even the WHO-approved studies that are undertaken almost look they were designed to fail. The two main studies studied the wrong things. They analyzed the results of using massive doses of HCQ in the advanced stages of the disease. None of the HCQ-using countries are administering it in that way. They are using it both as a prophylactic and, in the case of infection, at the very early stage of the diseaseusing modest doses to prevent the disease from progressing to the stage where the lungs have become severely impacted. None of the HCQ-using countries administer it in the dangerously large doses used in the oft-quoted negative studies. The rigorous studies that the mainstream media insists on referring to when denouncing HCQ having nothing to do with how the drug is actually being used. It should also be noted that the naysayers who talk about the dangers of taking the drug are grossly overstating any danger. All drugs have side effects, but HCQ has been used safely for the past 65 years. Billions of tablets have been consumed. As an example, anyone in the military who travelled to tropical areas was routinely given HCQ as protection against malaria. Rheumatism, arthritis, and lupus sufferers have been taking the drug safely since the 1950s. Simply put, healthy people can tolerate this drug with no complications. Those with heart or other similar conditions need to consult their doctor about taking the drug in the same way that they need to consult about taking aspirin or ibuprofen. Its a fact that HCQ is a safe, inexpensive drug. Finally, for the naysayers who assertquite correctlythat there are no definitive studies that HCQ works, it should be stated that the same can be said for other drugs and treatments that are proving to be successful in the treatment of COVID patients. For instance, it appears that although the much-touted remdesivir has proven to be a disappointment, dexamethasone appears to have been very successful in the treatment of hospitalized COVID patients. The drug has not gone through the rigorous peer-reviewed testing usually required for experimental drugs for the simple reason that the coronavirus is new and the need is immediate. Its hypocritical to demand a one- or two-year-long test for HCQ when other promising drugs are being usedquite properlyfor COVID treatment. And for that matter, the entire science of lockdowns, as a strategy to combat a virus, has not undergone any kind of normal scientific vetting. The lockdown is a brand new strategy that has literally been dreamed up by a group of leaders in consultation with various experts. The concept apparently came from a 2006 high-school science project. It was a strategysome would say a panicked responsethat was very quickly improvised in an attempt to respond to a new virus that threatened to overwhelm health-care systems. It was decided upon very quickly largely in response to the now completely discredited Neil Ferguson Imperial College model that predicted massive death. At this time there is absolutely no science behind the lockdown model, as it has never been used before in human history. If the lockdown model required a year-long study before it could be used, it would never have been implementedwhich might have been a good thing. Even if it transpires that HCQ was not effective, it should strike all of us as odd that poorer countries that could not afford to employ the lockdown modelclosing businesses, sending workers home, and sending everyone moneyhad far lower death rates than richer countries that did all of those things. There will be many books written about this. But thats for the future. At some point there will be definitive tests results that prove conclusively that HCQ either does or does not work. If the result is that the drug does not work, people will have wasted the few dollars that the drug coststhats really the only downside. If it turns out the the drug does workthe way Risch and many others believe it doesit will be clear that thousands of lives could have been saved by its early use. The lawsuits will begin. We should learn from the countries that have been using the drug. The dramatic fall in death rates that occurred after HCQ treatment was initiated in countries such as India, Brazil, and Ecuador can no longer be ignored. To do so, and to continue to interfere with a doctors right to prescribe HCQ to their patients, is reckless and immoral. Brian Giesbrecht is a retired judge and a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Farmers have delivered a desperate plea to state premiers to reopen state borders, amid growing fears of a dire food shortage on supermarket shelves across the country. The upcoming harvest season could be heavily impacted by border restrictions as Victoria and New South Wales battle to control a second wave of coronavirus infections. The National Farmers' Federation understands the wishes of states such as Queensland South Australia wanting to keep their residents safe but says those in the struggling agriculture industry need to move freely across borders. Many NSW and Victoria farmers are finding it tough to find interstate workers and contractors as Queenslanders must quarantine for two weeks at their own expense when they return home while South Australians have to self-quarantine. Border restrictions could result in more bare shelves unless more is done to support the farming and agricultural industries. Pictured are empty shelves taken in Melbourne August 2 The federation calls for the national cabinet to consider a system for the agricultural and farming industries to move more freely at its next meeting this Friday. 'Outside Sydney and Newcastle there are only two active cases within 700km of the Queensland border. To put restrictions on that whole area is just not risk-based,' president Fiona Simson told The Australian. Barley farmers Meg and Rowen Tighe from Croppa Creek in northern New South Wales are cut off from Queensland's safe travel bubble, despite just being 80 kilometres from the border at Goondiwindi. The couple have grave concerns about the upcoming season as they send most of their crops to Brisbane and have already lost several Queensland contractors because of border restrictions. Barley farmers Meg and Rowen Tighe (pictured) from northern NSW fear they'll be hit hard by the Queensland border closures during the upcoming harvest season The Tighes are also worried they won't be buy machinery parts they can only get in Queensland. 'We have literally been locked out without the realisation and understanding of where we're situated and how our business works,' Ms Tighe said. 'All of our grain commodities go across the border to Queensland. Burst the bubble that's what we're fighting for.' GrainGrowers chairman Brett Hosking called for a nationally co-ordinated approach with consistent travel rules for farmers. Domestic border closures and restrictions also mean the industry cannot use the itinerant workers who move between states from harvest to harvest, according to the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance [AFPA]. The National Farmers' Federation fears the upcoming harvest season could be heavily impacted by border restrictions. Pictured is a barley farm in central west NSW 'The reduction in workers we're seeing as a result of COVID-19, plus the issues we're finding trying to move workers across production locations is making it even more difficult for fruit and vegetable farmers to secure the workforce needed to continue to supply all Australians with fresh food,' AFPA chief executive Michael Rogers said. The Supermarkets Taskforce, an alliance of major supermarkets warned earlier this month the border restrictions will disrupt the grocery supply chain across Australia. Victorian distribution centres have also been forced to reduce their workforce to two-thirds of normal production after Melbourne recently went into stage four lockdown for at least six weeks. TBN drops Kenneth Copeland from programming lineup amid upcoming changes Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Trinity Broadcasting Network said it will no longer air shows from controversial televangelist Kenneth Copeland starting in October as part of a series of upcoming programming changes at the international Christian television network. Kenneth Copeland Ministries and TBN have had a business relationship for some 40 years, with the network airing Copelands Believers Voice of Victory. In a statement emailed to The Christian Post on Tuesday, TBN Marketing Director Nate Daniels said the removal of Copeland's programs, which will go into effect on Oct. 2, was part of several alterations. In pursuit of a new vision under Matt and Laurie Crouchs leadership, TBN has been making changes to programming over the last several years, Daniels said. As a part of this transition we chose to move away from telethons, upgraded to HD, expanded our streaming platforms, forged partnerships with family brands like K-LOVE, Museum of the Bible and others, and have replaced some programs with new original content from voices like Christine Caine, Mike Huckabee, Mike Rowe and more. Daniels also explained that it was a very difficult decision to drop Copeland and that programming by Steven Furtick of Elevation Church will replace Believers Voice of Victory. Kenneth Copeland Ministries has found success well beyond our broadcast borders and has developed numerous ways for viewers to experience his broadcast ministry, including through his very own network, Daniels continued. Copeland also confirmed the removal of his program on TBN in a statement posted on Kenneth Copeland Ministries website earlier this month. Matt let me know they believe The LORD is taking TBN in a new direction, and our daily program, Believers Voice of Victory (BVOV), isnt really a fit for their future programming, Copeland wrote. Even though change is happening all around us, some things remain the same. The BVOV broadcasts will continue to bring you The WORD of God to build your faith, so you can live in the abundance of love, health, prosperity and fellowship Jesus has provided. Copeland included a link listing other ways viewers can watch his programming and expressed his gratitude to TBN for having aired his ministry. How grateful we are for TBN founders, Dr. Paul and Jan Crouch, as well as for Matt and Laurie Crouch, who took the helm after Paul and Jan went to be with The LORD, he continued. Again, we bless TBN and all they set their hands to do for the Kingdom, and we remain their faithful family in the faith of The LORD Jesus! Copeland, who has a reported net worth of around $300 million and is the owner of two private jets and two twin-engine planes, is a proponent of what is often pejoratively described as the prosperity gospel. In a controversial interview with Lisa Guerrero of "Inside Edition" last year, Copeland defended his belief that pastors like himself can live in luxury. Its a misunderstanding of the Bible. If you go into the old covenant, do you think that the Jewish people believe that you should be broke? They believe in wealth, said Copeland at the time. The blessing of Abraham. Abraham was extremely wealthy and he had a covenant with God. Its not the Jewish blessing, its the Abrahamic blessing. I get excited talking about it cause I love it and I started out deep in debt with nothing. Last September, televangelist Benny Hinn, a purported faith healer and longtime proponent of the prosperity gospel, renounced the theology, declaring that the Holy Ghost is just fed up with it. Im sorry to say that prosperity has gone a little crazy and Im correcting my own theology and you need to all know it. Because when I read the Bible now, I dont see the Bible in the same eyes I saw 20 years ago, said Hinn last year in a Facebook Live broadcast. I think it hurts the Gospel, so Im making this statement for the first time in my life and frankly, I dont care what people think about me anymore. Winbak Farm is sad to announce that Dream Away, 26, passed away on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at Winbak Farm of Delaware. Dream Away, p, 2, 1:52.2; 3, 1:50 ($1,342,071), had 15 wins before retiring from racing to stand at stud. At two, he won the International Stallion Stakes and was second in the Governors Cup elimination. At three, Dream Away won his Bluegrass Series division, Little Brown Jug elimination, Meadowlands Pace elimination and final, Messenger Stakes elimination, New Jersey Classic elimination, two New Jersey Sire Stakes divisions, and the Progress Pace elimination and final. He was second in the Adios Stakes elimination, Messenger Stakes final, Tattersalls Pace and New Jersey Sire Stakes division and final. At four, Dream Away was second in the Breeders Crown, Classic Series final, and Driscoll Series elimination and final. After retiring from racing, Dream Away sired multiple stakes winners. Dream Away stood at stud for 21 years and sired sire stakes winners in New Jersey, New York and Delaware. His offspring in North America have earned $40,204,222. As of August 19, 2020, Dream Away had sired 375 race winners, including 118 who have earned at least $100,000. He is the sire of 12 who have earned $500,000 including 54x winner Monochromatic, p, 3, 1:54.3; 1:50.4f ($869,905), New Jersey Sire Stakes winner Spring Break, p, 2, 1:57.4h; 3, 1:50.3z ($787,057), and New York Sire Stakes winner Handsome Harry, p, 3, 1:51.3f; 1:51 ($713,486). He also had success as a stallion in the southern hemisphere. As a broodmare sire, Dream Away has sired the dams of many winners including Christen Me N, p, 1:49.2f ($2,330,869), Eighteen, p, 3, 1:51.3s; 1:49.1f ($910,224) , and Spreester, p, 2, 1:52.3s; 1:51.2f ($858,872). The connections of Dream Away would like to thank the breeders, trainers, owners and other supporters who have helped Dream Away be a successful sire. If breeders have questions, they should call 410.885.3059 or email [email protected]. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Dream Away. (Winbak Farm of Delaware) Human rights groups are calling on the Philippine government to investigate the shooting death earlier this week of Zara Alvarez, a rural health advocate who was the 13th rights activist killed since the Duterte administration took power in mid-2016. Unidentified assailants gunned down the 39-year-old former education director for Filipino human rights group Karapatan on Monday as she walked to her boarding house in Bacolod city on Negros Island in the central Philippines, police and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. When will the killings stop? We just buried a peace advocate yesterday and were not even through with mourning his death and we now have to grapple with the killing of one of our colleagues, Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a statement posted on its website Tuesday. Zara Alvarez was a fierce and dedicated human rights defender, and her death is a tremendous loss for all of us and those who worked with her in advancing and defending peoples rights and we strongly call for justice. Last week, Randall Echanis, 72, a consultant who was helping broker peace talks between the government and communist guerrillas, was killed at his home in Quezon City, police said. He was buried on Monday. On Wednesday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque condemned the killings of Alvarez and Echanis. We denounce any form of violence perpetuated against citizens, including activists. We are a nation of laws and violence has no place in any civilized society, he said. Roque also rejected as unfounded allegations from human rights activists that the two may have been killed by state security forces. Investigations into both killings were under way, Roque said, adding it was best to wait for the formal report from the authorities. Red-tagged New York-based HRW said the Philippine government had subjected both Alvarez and Echanis to a form of political harassment known as red-tagging, where authorities accused them of having links to the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing. Echanis was the third consultant to the communist movement and Alvarez was the 13th human rights worker to be killed during the Duterte administration, whose war on drugs has left thousands of people dead. The attacks underscore the widespread impunity for killings of leftist activists in the Philippines, Phil Robertson, HRWs deputy director for Asia, said in a statement posted on the groups website on Wednesday (local time). Philippine justice officials under the Duterte administration had put Echanis and Alvarez on a terrorist list, but their names were subsequently removed, according to HRW. Another activist on that list, Randy Malayao, was shot dead in January 2019 as he slept on a bus in northern Luzon. The Philippines has a long list of leftist activists whom state security forces have extrajudicially executed on the pretext of combating the countrys communist insurgency, Robertson said. These deaths occur because government and military officials perceive activists like Alvarez and Echanis, who work to uphold or reform the law, as stand-ins for armed insurgents. Tributes pour in On Tuesday, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, expressed concern over the killing of Alvarez. So terrible to hear that WHRD Zara Alvarez of @karapatan was shot & killed in the #Philippines last night. She had been smeared, red-tagged & threatened for years, Lawlor tweeted on Tuesday. A Catholic bishop in Negros, Gerardo Alminaza, also paid tribute to Alvarez, whom he called a human rights champion, an activist, organizer and ecumenical church worker. Alvarez was described as a prominent activist on Negros, an island where vast disparities in resources have made it among the strongholds of the communist insurgency. The single mother whose work involved documenting human rights violations, Alvarez said she had regularly received death threats. In 2012, Alvarez was arrested on murder charges and jailed for two years for her alleged involvement in an ambush by communist New Peoples Army guerrillas that killed an Army officer. She was acquitted of the charges earlier this year. In April 2018, she was among more than 30 people accused of being rebels and whose pictures were printed on a tarp strung up in a Negros town. Zara, they took your life, believing that they can silence the cause you are fighting for. ... But no, Zara, your martyrdom in the cause for justice will inspire us to advance the cry for justice the cry of the oppressed, Alminaza said in a statement posted on Facebook. A young high-flying tradie boss who hoons around in flashy cars and shows off a lavish lifestyle on social media has been accused of ripping off customers and sabotaging plumbing work. Former employees have made extraordinary claims about the alleged profit-boosting tactics of Sydney-based FastWay Plumbing owner Jason Aboukalam, 26. Disgruntled customers have also come forward, alleging they were overcharged hundreds of dollars for jobs ranging from fixing a leaking toilet and shower to unblocking toilet sewers. Mr Aboukalam has denied the allegations publicly aired about him in recent days, telling Daily Mail Australia the claims were 'false and definitely not true.' FastWay Plumbing owner Jason Aboukalam has expensive tastes when it comes to fashion. He's pictured wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt One plumber who briefly worked for Mr Aboukalam alleged his boss told him to sabotage a pipe with a hammer so the customer could be billed. 'When I found the pipe I noticed there was nothing wrong with it. I took photos of it and I rang Jason and goes, 'oh well the lady's agreed to a $15,000 quote so just smash it with your hammer and fix it,' Dylan Cook told A Current Affair last week. 'He charged her $15,000 dollars for something that wasn't even broken, like I even had to break it with a hammer.' Another ex-employee George alleged: 'He would make it seem like he's charging an appropriate price, in reality it was about triple the normal price of the actual job.' Customer Joy claims she was billed more than $1800 for 45 minutes of work to fix a leaking toilet cistern and dripping shower. 'I only have a little bit of savings put aside for these sort of things happening and yeah it does take me a while to save, 12 months it would take me to save upIt hurts badly, very badly,' Joy said. She had this warning for potential customers. 'Send them away. Do not deal with them,' Joy said. Mr Aboukalam claims Joy would have been billed half the amount had she contacted him during the week instead of a Saturday. Mr Aboukalam lives in a $2 million mansion overlooking stunning Botany Bay views in Sydney's south and bills up to a $200,000 per week for his services, according to his program. He lives in this $2 million mansion overlooking stunning Botany Bay views in Sydney's south Joy (pictured) is one of many disgruntled customers who claimed they've been ripped off Jason Aboukalam shows off his flashy cars on Facebook, including this Subaru Impreza WRX His Facebook page shows off a lavish lifestyle wearing Ralph Lauren shirts, flashy cars, a motorbike and even a boat and jet ski. Photos posted of his beloved cars include a Nissan Skyline GTR and a Subaru Impreza WRX he's filmed hooning around in. He also boasted to the program about having a Ferrari. A follow up segment was aired on A Current Affair on Tuesday night after more disgruntled former employees and customers came forward. It included footage from former employee Ali of a physical altercation with his boss after he tendered his resignation and tried to claim for unpaid overtime. 'It just happened so quickly I didn't know what to do,' Ali claimed. 'I've never experienced that in a workplace before, you know, didn't have time to think, I just wanted to get out of there basically,' Ali said. His Facebook page shows off a lavish lifestyle wearing Ralph Lauren shirts, flashy cars, a motorbike and even a boat and jet ski Elderly customer Mary broke down in tears as she recalled how she forked out more than $6500 of her husband's savings to replace a burst water system. 'All John's hard-earned money that he worked damn hard for, and I just handed it over,' Mary claimed. 'When it's gone, it's gone. At our age you've got no way of earning more money.' Mary claimed she was later quoted less than quarter of what she was charged for the same job. The FastWay Plumbing boss shows off a lavish lifestyle on social media, including a boat Another customer Lauren claimed she was charged $15,000 by Mr Aboukalam to unblock a toilet sewer pipe. Mr Aboukalam vehemently rejected allegations put to him by the program, which he reiterated when Daily Mail Australia contacted him for further comment. 'They are all false and definitely not true,' he said on Wednesday. 'I've got enough going on to deal with.' He referred Daily Mail Australia to several videos posted on his Facebook page showing what happened behind the scenes during his extensive sit down interview with the program, where he describes the claims out to him as 'fake news'. He's the proud owner of this Nissan Skyline GTR, which is the cover photo on his Facebook Jason Aboukalam (pictured being confronted by A Current Affair) denied the allegations aired about him in, telling Daily Mail Australia the claims were 'false and definitely not true.' He tells the reporter his company does more than 300 jobs a week. 'All of our quotes are up front and honest,' Mr Aboukalam explains. 'We go to the customer's house, we assess the job and see what need to be done.' Mr Aboukalam's videos show him responding to the claims made by former employees. He claims one of disgruntled ex-employees who spoke had to be let go due a high number of callback and complaints, another allegedly stole cash while one allegedly tried to steal a work vehicle and was arrested by police on site. Dehradun, Aug 19 : China has increased its troop deployment near Lipulekh, the place that became a trigger for strained relations between New Delhi and Kathmandu. Lipulekh is tri-junction between India, Nepal and China situated atop the Kalapani Valley in Uttarakhand. Sources said that China has deployed 150 Light Combined Arms Brigade. The brigade was moved in two weeks ago from Tibet towards the Lipulekh tri-junction in China. The Indian authorities have came to know two weeks ago that Chinese troops were reinforced in Pala, around 10 km from the border. In July itself, around 1,000 troops were deployed near Pala and a permanent post was built there by China. "A fortnight back, 2,000 more additional troops were deployed at the post," sources said. India's road construction to Lipulekh lake at 17,000 feet had sparked a diplomatic row between the India and Nepal as Kathmandu claimed the area to be its territory. The road will shorten the travel time for pilgrims visiting the Kailash Mansarovar. Nepal also brought out a new political map showing the contested area as its own. India and China are locked in a more than three-month-long standoff at multiple points, hitherto unprecedented along the border. China had changed the status quo on the Line of Actual Control at various places, moving inside Indian territories. India has objected to it and is taking up the matter with China at all levels. China has built up troops, artillery and armour in three sectors of Line of Actual Control -- western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal). The border tension between India and China has not been resolved despite several rounds of military and diplomatic talks. China's commitment for disengagement at the border in Eastern Ladakh remains unsatisfactory and India has directed its armed forces to prepare for a long haul. NATO Secretary General discusses Belarus with President of Poland NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 18 Aug. 2020 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed the situation in Belarus in a telephone conversation with President Andrzej Duda of Poland on Tuesday (18 August 2020). The two leaders agreed that Minsk must demonstrate full respect for fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest. They further agreed that the Alliance should remain vigilant and strictly defensive, prepared to deter any aggression against NATO Allies. The Secretary General stressed that NATO does not pose a threat to Belarus, and has no military buildup in the region. All Allies support a sovereign and independent Belarus. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo, second from left, and Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung, third from left, hold copies of an agreement after the two companies signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly promote digital finance-centric business at Woori Bank's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of KT By Kim Yoo-chul It really doesn't matter how good a company's strategy is. If that firm isn't skilled at what it does, its business strategy will not take it very far. KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo believes digital finance is its next focus in terms of boosting investor confidence. Fintech is an emerging trend, with tech companies injecting more resources. It's fair to say KT isn't one of these disruptors, given its quite old-fashioned decision-making style, as KT is mainly owned by the National Pension Service, and it relies heavily on its less-volatile fixed-line business. But it is ideally positioned to expand businesses using customer data given its strengths in the fixed-line business. Koo thinks KT's recent partnership with Woori Financial Group will demonstrate what it can do and define where it will go, as the two agreed to collaborate on integrating digital solutions and financial services. In a statement, Wednesday, KT said it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Woori under which the two companies will cooperate closely in artificial intelligence (AI) and big data-based financial services. More importantly, they will share customer data. KT hopes for Woori Financial to eventually adopt relevant technology to introduce AI-based call centers and cloud-based remote working systems. Specifically, KT is keeping an eye on the MyData business. This emerging trend in the fintech industry is to move towards a more human-centric model in personal data management and allow individuals to access and control their own data. KT is seeking how the MyData transformation being pursued by local banks could be supported with its business models. KT officials didn't elaborate regarding the possibility of establishing a joint venture. Since Koo took power of Korea's dominant fixed-line operator, KT has been trying to create synergy using its own strengths. Efforts for external growth have been put on hold as Koo is better known for cutting costs by controlling expenses. For the partnership with Woori, KT's credit card unit of BC Card has a 34 percent stake in K bank, an internet-only bank launched in 2017, while Woori bank, a flagship affiliate of Woori Financial, holds 19.9 percent. KT is dependent upon the already-saturated telecom business and it's battling with chief local rivals SK Telecom and LG Uplus. KT tried to expand its presence in the long-term evolution (LTE) telecom business in former Soviet bloc countries and some countries in Africa. However, it has yet to generate tangible results as barriers have been tough for a foreign telecom firm in terms of expanding its market penetration in the segment. "Consumers will need banking services, but they may not turn to a bank to get them. Or, at least, maybe not what we think of as a bank today. The so-called sharing economy may have started with cars, taxis and accommodation, but financial services will follow soon enough. The sharing economy refers to decentralized asset ownership and using information technology to find efficient matches between providers and users of capital, rather than automatically turning to a bank as an intermediary," global consultancy PwC said in a recent note to clients. Queensland could become a renewable energy superpower, providing 78,000 job-years of construction in solar and wind projects to more than 5200 workers over 15 years, green energy experts predict. The state is facing intensive pressure from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania with its hydro-energy base, luring renewable energy investors. Energy projects under way or committed in Queensland over the next five years. Credit:Australian Conservation Foundation and Green Energy Markets The Australian Conservation Foundation and Green Energy Markets make the predictions in their report into Queensland's renewable energy future, released on Wednesday. "This research identifies great potential for further growth and jobs in renewable energy in Queensland," ACFs Queensland campaigner Jason Lyddieth said. Fears Australian holidaymakers would face hefty fines if they didn't leave Bali by August 20 have eased after Indonesian immigration announced it would allow tourists an extra month to be granted new visas. The Indonesian Institute in Perth has been lobbying for the extension of emergency visas granted to stranded Australians in Bali, as many faced being caught in a complex web of Indonesian bureaucracy or pay skyrocketing costs to come home. A passenger being welcomed at Denpasar airport in Bali after the resort island reopened its borders to tourists on July 31. Credit:AP/Firdia Lisnawati The institutes Ross Taylor said many of the 3000 Australian short-stay visa-holders in Bali had sought a six-month social visa, which required a local sponsor and meant stepping around the usual laws of immigration; so it does take you into a slightly murky, complex world. People, I understand, are going to where the accommodation is and get to know the people at the hotel, saying: Look is there someone where we pay you X amount of dollars, would you agree to be an authority that gives us the letter you need? Dr Taylor said. SPRINGFIELD After struggling to keep up the church building they worshiped in for nearly 70 years, members of the Gardner Memorial AME Zion Church regretfully sold their church in 2015. But on Wednesday, the cornerstone of that building was turned over to Rev. Samuel Saylor and members to help preserve the history of their parish. Being able to preserve the cornerstone means so much to us, said Ida Flynn, a long-term member of the church. The church building at 90 Carew St. dates to 1885 when it was first built as the Carew Street Chapel of Springfield's First Baptist Church, according to the website Historic Buildings of Massachusetts. It later became the Carew Street Baptist Church and was enlarged in 1890 and rebuilt following a fire in 1905. Gardner Memorial AME Zion Church purchased the building in 1948. The parish could no longer keep up the building and regretfully moved out. The building was sold to Develop Springfield in 2015. Local developer Fran Cataldo purchased the building and the about 1.3-acre lot in 2018 to be used for medical offices. After determining the church building was in poor condition and could not be renovated he had it razed in April 2019. Cataldo had promised the church members he would find and bequeath the cornerstone to them. Although members were saddened about the decision, the move created a beautiful friendship with the Mount Zion Baptist Church and eventually led members to their new home. In the past members of Mount Zion were without a church building and were welcomed to worship at the Gardner Memorial AME church. When members of Gardner Memorial AME Mt. Zion Church found themselves homeless, Mount Zion members returned the favor and welcomed them into their church. Then Mount Zion members purchased the Dunbar Community Center in 2016 to save the center, which has offered community recreation, educational and youth leadership programs especially for neighborhood children for more than a century after it fell into foreclosure and was expected to close. By doing so, Mount Zion Baptist members left their own church building on 365 Bay St. Eventually members of Gardner Memorial AME Zion Church purchased that building. It was a complete circle under the grace of God, Flynn said. Related content: Kolkata: A woman stated to be mentally retarded was living with the body of her 90-year-old father for three days before it was recovered by police from Thakurpukur area of the city on Wednesday, an officer said. The officer said according to preliminary investigations, the woman seems to be somewhat mentally retarded and that is the reason she could not understand that her father had died. The woman was living with her father's body for three days after he had passed away, they said. "The old man seems to have died at least three days back, but his daughter did not tell anyone. This morning she went out and spoke to a lady in the neighbourhood and said that her father was sleeping for a long time. Locals went to their flat to find foul smell coming out and the old man lying dead in a room," the Investigating Officer of the case said. Body of the deceased was sent for post mortem and a probe has been started into the matter, he said. "Things will be more clear once the postmortem report comes. However, we are talking to the relatives of the family," the officer said. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- As hemp-based products experience heightened popularity among consumers, leading forensic scientists collaborate to solve a growing problem for law enforcement, hemp farmers, private citizens and overburdened national labs. Hemp Synergistics, LLC, a biotechnology company dedicated to transform the way consumers use hemp-derived cannabinoid-based formulations, has formed a partnership with leading forensic scientists at Purdue University Northwest's newly formed Center for Crime, Forensics, and Security Analysis. After a year of research, development, and testing, the teams have developed a new THC Rapid Field Test Kit that gives law enforcement an easy-to-use tool to distinguish hemp from marijuana in less than five minutes. "Our partnership with Purdue University Northwest will provide law enforcement with the tools they need to protect the civil liberties of private citizens and hemp-based business owners. Up until now, there's been no in-the-field tool to accurately and effectively detect and respond to deviations in THC levels in products the public is consuming." said Ron Fazio, a former forensic scientist and current chief operations officer at Hemp Synergistics. "As a result, law enforcement is forced to divert valuable resources to investigate, citizens lose liberties, and an otherwise legal industry is hampered. It's a huge expense that no one wants." Currently, law enforcement is obligated to investigate any controlled substance, including marijuana. The trick is being able to quickly and reliably differentiate between hemp and marijuana. Unfortunately, "hemp" and "marijuana" are the same plant and are legally differentiated only by the amount of Delta-9-THC. Until now, measuring the amount of Delta-9 THC in the field, avoiding an unnecessary arrest or costly investigation, was impossible. The suspected controlled substance would have to be seized as evidence and submitted to a crime lab for full analysis, which can take months and cost thousands of dollars. "The goal was to develop a test that was easily deployed in the field and was reliable and scientifically defensible - as opposed to sending a sample back to a lab with expensive high-powered instrumentation," continued Fazio. According to Purdue University Northwest's Dr. Christian Westring, who served on the Board of Directors for the American Society for Crime Laboratory Directors, the nation's forensic laboratories, most of which are publicly funded, are often backlogged as a result of the nation's opioid crisis. Routine drug testing for example, can take as long as three months, or more. As a result, complex tests like THC quantitation can take much longer. Current field tests give you a positive or negative result and don't take into account the exact percentage of THC. Therefore, if a product has a legal amount of THC -- there's no way of knowing that unless it's sent to a national lab. For hemp growers, this demonstrates the need for a tool that can accurately measure how close to the legal limit their product is. For law enforcement, this demonstrates the need for precise estimations of how strong a product is and whether or not they should pursue additional sampling. "The newly formed Center's primary function bridges academics, research and community engagement -- working with industry partners like Hemp Synergistics and police departments to help solve real world problems around public health and safety," said forensic science expert Christian G. Westring, Ph.D. Director and Professor at the Center for Crime, Forensics, and Security Analysis, who serves on the Organization for Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), a joint initiative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Justice that supports the development of forensic science standards and guidelines for the United States. According to Brightfield Group, hemp-derived CBD products, particularly within the health and wellness markets, are on track to grow to USD 23.7 Billion by 2023. Since Covid-19, consumer demand for CBD-based products, the active ingredient in hemp, has spiked. The scientists at Purdue Northwest and Hemp Synergistics devised innovative improvements to existing lab technologies to create a field-ready application. Built from the ground up, the disposable field test kit test is based on the mechanism of an existing chemistry test used in the Duquenois-Levine reagent test. The scientists used novel modifications such as replacing certain activator chemicals with safe ingredients that minimize exposure while remaining readily deployable. The field test, named TRU (THC Recognition Units), utilizes a colorimetric panel -- much like a pH test -- that provides an identification and semi-quantitation of Delta-9 THC and Delta-9 THCA. Each test costs approximately $14 dollars -- compared to the hundreds or thousands of dollars for crime lab testing. "This product is not designed to replace full forensic laboratory testing, rather it is designed to give a rapid, accurate field test that can identify what doesn't need to go to the lab. We estimate it can lower forensic laboratory submittals of suspected marijuana cases by 50 percent," said Westring. The product has been rigorously tested at Purdue University Northwest, which follows industry standards for method development and validation. Product deployment for law enforcement and agriculture industries will begin immediately. ### This fall, the U.S. will need to vaccinate huge numbers of Americans in the middle of a public-health crisis. It will also be a valuable dry run should a coronavirus shot arrive months later. The annual U.S. flu vaccine campaign has been cast into disarray by COVID-19, with people staying away from pharmacies, schools, offices, hospitals and other places where they typically get their shots. But with fears of a flu surge colliding with the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities are looking at how one vaccine effort can inform the other. In Denver, public health officials are trying to increase the number of adults who get the flu vaccine this year to 65% from 45%. To do it, theyre setting up strike teams that can go from school to school and vans that can stop at construction sites, and doing outreach to hard-to-reach communities. This whole model that were building can then be moved into COVID, said Judith Shlay, a physician and associate director at Denver Public Health. In Baltimore, the city has several vans it sends out to conduct COVID-19 testing, targeting high-risk residents. It will likely use those vehicles for flu vaccines and then COVID-19, City Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa said in an interview. Our flu vaccine distribution will inform a COVID vaccine distribution, Dzirasa said. The federal government has helped lead development of a vaccine, issuing more than $4 billion in contracts to drugmakers. The money is meant to speed production and cut financial risk for the most promising of the dozens of inoculations in development. President Donald Trump has said a shot could be ready by November, though other experts inside his government predict it will be well into 2021 before most Americans have access to one. So far, federal health authorities have offered little detail about their plans for administering vaccines. The U.S. has said that it will likely rely on the private sector to distribute the shots, and last week extended a contract to health-care supplier McKesson Corp. potentially worth more than $300 million. But the government has said almost nothing about who will get the shots first, where theyll be given, and how to make sure they get to hard-to-reach and vulnerable communities. At least 170,000 people in the U.S. have died of the virus, many of them as a new surge of cases has expanded outside the Northeast to other parts of the country. While new cases have fallen from last months daily high of almost 80,000, new outbreaks are being reported in schools and colleges as students return, forcing some to shut days or weeks after opening. This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans a call with health-care providers to discuss flu vaccination, along with guidance for delivering vaccines during the pandemic and operating large vaccination clinics held in satellite, temporary, or off-site locations. In the meantime, local authorities are still awaiting clarity. We have not heard anything yet, Baltimores Dzirasa said. The U.S. has been consulting with experts and medical ethicists on COVID-19 vaccine allocation plans. The government plans to work with the existing medical-distribution network to get shots to the public, said a senior Trump administration official, with possible help from the Defense Department. There is no single national U.S. flu vaccination campaign, per se. American and global health authorities pick the flu strains to target, drugmakers manufacture the shots, and theyre given by workplaces, schools, drugstores, local public health departments, physicians and hospitals. The federal government typically plays a role in financing and promoting the vaccines, but not in physically distributing them. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has purchased 9 million doses of the adult flu vaccine, compared with 500,000 in a normal year. The scale of the vaccination campaign needed for COVID-19 will be a daunting logistical challenge, said Howard Markel, a physician and historian of medicine at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Past efforts to vaccinate against pandemic threats have fallen short. Weve never vaccinated an entire American population, he said in an interview. In 1976, after an outbreak of swine flu at Fort Dix in New Jersey, the Gerald Ford administration planned a mass vaccination program to prevent a pandemic. Vaccination clinics were held in large gymnasiums and public meeting places, said Markel, who recalled getting a shot when he was 16. It was really very much an assembly line. The vaccination drive was dismantled after several cases of Guillen-Barre syndrome were identified in people who got the shots. A U.S. review of the campaign in 2003 confirmed the increase in cases of the disease, which can cause a form of muscle weakness or temporary paralysis, though the exact biological link between the vaccine and the condition wasnt established. In 2009, the H1N1 flu pandemic prompted another effort to quickly produce vaccines. Ultimately, only about 20% of the population got the shot, Markel said. It is an enormous task, no question about it, Markel said. Public health officials will also have to overcome reluctance by some Americans to get a shot. An Aug. 7 Gallup poll found that one-third of people would not get a COVID-19 vaccine when its ready, even if it was free. And some Americans have rejected basic public health measures like wearing masks or social distancing, raising more questions about how willing they are to participate in a vaccine campaign. Some vaccine infrastructure already exists. A surge in demand for COVID-19 tests had drugstore chains, states and cities set up sites where people could line up or drive through. And the H1N1 flu pandemic also provided a roadmap for mass vaccination, said CVS Health Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Merlo. That was really the spark plug, Merlo said in an interview this month. The company is in planning sessions with officials for an eventual coronavirus vaccine, Merlo said. A spokesperson for Walgreens, the next-largest U.S. pharmacy chain behind CVS, said both existing testing and immunization infrastructure will support the future delivery of COVID vaccines. Sanofi, the French drugmaker thats working with GlaxoSmithKline Plc on a coronavirus vaccine, said its been in touch with CVS and other drugstores about vaccination plans. I would suspect that some of the blueprint that weve developed for flu immunization will also hopefully be a blueprint for COVID-19 vaccination, said Elaine OHara, Sanofis head of vaccines for North America. At Denvers public health department, Shlay said she began thinking about how to deliver COVID-19 vaccines back in June. She knew childhood immunizations had dropped sharply since March, when COVID shut things down, and she thought her agency could build a model to get a COVID-19 vaccine to people who need it. Under a $1 million grant from the CARES Act, the federal stimulus law to respond to the pandemic, her team has begun working on alternative flu vaccination strategies. The strike teams they are developing will be targeted at 84 schools where vaccination rates have slipped. And the agency is working with leaders from Black, Latino, Asian and Native American communities to bring flu-shot sites into neighborhoods. Particular outreach will focus on uninsured and unemployed adults some of the same people are more likely to be hospitalized if they get sick along with essential workers and people who are homeless. We are going to try to reach that group that people dont always think about, Shlay said. There will be challenges making the switch to COVID-19. Early vaccines are expected to require two shots weeks apart, compared with a single flu dose. Health officials will have to keep careful registries of who has received which shots when, and make sure to reach people when their second doses are due. Theyll also have to handle the logistics of keeping vaccines refrigerated at the proper temperature. A two-dose COVID vaccine will be much more complicated, Shlay said. Thats part of the reason Denver health officials are planning now. COVID has made us do things quicker than weve ever done before, and so we figure it out and we do it. With farming leaders warning that wheat yields this autumn will be down by about a third, 2020 will no doubt be remembered as the year that tested farmers' ability to cope in the face of adversity. In this article, Brian Richardson, UK Head of Agriculture at Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank, comments on the times ahead and the capacity for the industry to bounce back after consecutive seasons of unprecedented weather. This years sequence of extreme weather events along with all the difficulties of a global pandemic seems to be testing the resilience of the UK farming sector like never before. "While it has never been an easy job, most farmers live with these agricultural challenges and are good at finding ways to fill any gaps when a harvest does not meet expectations. "The conditions over the last 12 months will make this more difficult, especially taking into account that last autumn was exceptionally wet resulting in less wheat getting planted. "While some of the gap was made up with spring crops like barley, the February floods and now thunderstorms in August will present a real challenge in terms of gathering the harvest in at the volumes and prices that farmers usually rely on for their produce. With the record-breaking temperatures now impacting grain yields, I know many farmers will already be looking forward to next year and will be very focused on getting planted up this autumn to make up the deficit. "The challenge will be to face the oncoming period of significant change in terms of Brexit, while grappling with the possibility that this years weak wheat harvest could leave the UK as a net importer of grain rather than net exporter. Farmers are often seen as being quick to complain when things are against them, but the job they do is critical to everyone, and Covid-19 has arguably generated a greater level of respect for farmers as essential workers. "This year they have dealt with the initial disruption in their supply contracts with lockdown, alongside the well-known challenges over labour availability. "Yet pure resilience and adaptability has seen the farming community rally round to work together and keep the nation fed. "Thats how shelves have been kept stocked and why we should be so proud of British farmers and the job they do 365 days a year. Whatever the challenge, they always look ahead and move on with greater resilience. 'Pure resilience and adaptability has seen the farming community rally round to work together and keep the nation fed' Given the very severe disruptions elsewhere in the economy farmers do not expect sympathy for the challenges they face this harvest. "Their attitude to dealing with issues head on is proven by their response to COVID and also how they are looking to address the escalating climate crisis. "The industry set the ambition to be net zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of the governments own target, and farms are increasingly focused on how they can adjust their businesses to play a key role in the net zero agenda. Given that the numbers employed in farming are down to circa 400,000 and the contribution to GDP from farming is now in low single digit figures, its role in the wider economy is often overlooked or downplayed. "But the corona crisis has highlighted the important job farmers do in making sure food is on the shelves. "Its again demonstrated the industrys resilience in overcoming challenges and keeping up production of high-quality food at incredible value for money. Farming is a long-term industry, even if from one year to the next the cyclical highs and lows can make any shocks feel very immediate. "Farmers will no doubt weather the difficulties of this season, and with a period of great change ahead, will be ambitious in finding opportunities or new approaches to overcoming future risks. "All the while, they will be looking after the countryside and producing great food for everyone. So as a final note, especially as farmers face a potentially record-breaking difficult harvest, let us all appreciate the essential work they do day in day out. "Those in farming are a pragmatic bunch, used to accepting whatever happens. With more rain on the way, they will have to exercise their great reserves of patience. "For this we must thank them, as they are the ones who keep bread on our tables, so we would all do well to remember this when we see a farmer at work in the field this harvest." LOS ANGELES The private wildcat zoo at the center of the hit Netflix series Tiger King" is closing its doors permanently, its owner said, citing pressure from animal rights activists and inspectors. As of today, we have decided to close the old zoo effective immediately," Jeff Lowe, the current owner of the Greater Wynewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, wrote in a Facebook post. Lowe said his license to run the zoo had been suspended for 21 days by U.S. government inspectors, and that he had voluntarily forfeited it. Writing in the post on Tuesday, he said the collection of lions and tigers would continue to have excellent care." Tiger King," the true crime series set in the world of private zoos and their eccentric owners, became a worldwide phenomenon when it was aired in March. It told the story of flamboyant Oklahoma zoo keeper Joe Exotic, his rivalry with Florida big cat rescue activist Carole Baskin and his imprisonment for hiring a hitman to try to kill her. Lowe took over ownership of the Wynewood park after Exotic, his partner, was convicted. In June, a judge in Oklahoma City handed control of the zoo to Baskin as part of a long-running dispute but Lowe was given time to wind down operations. Lowe wrote that the Netflix Inc series had provided an unfathomable source of income" for the zoo but had also made it the target of every nutjob and animal rights loon in the world." Tiger King," which Netflix said was watched by more than 34 million people in its first 10 days on the platform, is in the running for six Emmy awards, including best documentary series, ahead of a ceremony in September. 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 (Natural News) Back in 2001, which is the last time that California faced rolling blackouts for days on end, then-Governor Gray Davis was quickly ousted through a recall. Now, nearly 20 years later, the Golden State is facing the same situation under Gov. Gavin Newsom, which begs the question: Will Californians finally remove this inept tyrant from office? Last Friday, more than two million Californians lost power for more than four hours as energy providers were unable to keep up with demand due to a record-breaking heatwave. Since that time, millions more have also been plunged into darkness as temperatures have continued to soar into the triple digits. After a Stage 3 Emergency was declared by Californias statewide energy overseer, warnings about load interruption were issued. The public was basically notified that you could be next, meaning the power may go out for a little while, then be restored before moving on to the next area. The last time such a declaration was made during the 2000 and 2001 electricity crisis, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses took turns being plunged into darkness, power prices surged to a record high and the states largest utility was forced into bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports. Gov. Newsom, following the emergency warnings, issued one of his own via Twitter suggesting that people try to conserve energy during the peak hours of 3pm to 10pm. Set thermostat at 78 or higher, Newsom wrote. Use fans & close curtains. Turn off unnecessary lights. Use major appliances in off hours. According to Anna Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, California has suffered an energy shortfall due to excessive heat. Consequently, state utilities had to come up with a way to decrease demand by about 1,000 megawatts. Thats enough to power about 750,000 homes, by California ISOs estimates, affecting well over 2 million people based on the average household size, Bloomberg went on to report. Come on, California get rid of Newsom already! Though you will be hard-pressed to find any admission of this in the mainstream news, the fact of the matter is that California would not be in the shape it is currently in, were it not for failed green energy policies that have systematically decreased the states energy capacity by leaps and bounds. As noted by energy expert Mike Shellenberger, California has replaced many of its more reliable energy sources, such as natural gas, with less reliable and less plentiful alternatives like wind and solar, both of which are failing during this ongoing crisis. As it turns out, Californias current heatwave is coupled with lots of cloud cover in the deserts, which is interfering with large solar farms being able to collect enough energy from the sun to power California homes and businesses. The same is true of wind, which has hardly been blowing as hot, stale air blankets the state. Such problems are nonexistent with natural gas and coal, both of which can continue to generate energy no matter the shifting weather patterns. Getting rid of these reliable sources of energy has done nothing but harm Californias ability to remain stable during difficult times, which the states residents are hopefully taking notice of as they ponder a better path forward. Meanwhile, California has actually been caught punishing homeowners with solar panels for supposedly producing too much energy. Nothing makes sense, it would seem, in the land of fruits and nuts, as they used to call it, which suggests that major reform is desperately needed, starting with the governor. For more related news about energy production and its impact on the environment, be sure to check out Environ.news. Sources for this article include: DailyWire.com Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com Jon Paul was leery entering his first wildfire camp of the year late last month to fight three lightning-caused fires scorching parts of a Northern California forest that hadnt burned in 40 years. The 54-year-old engine captain from southern Oregon knew from experience that these crowded, grimy camps can be breeding grounds for norovirus and a respiratory illness that firefighters call the camp crud in a normal year. He wondered what COVID-19 would do in the tent cities where hundreds of men and women eat, sleep, wash and spend their downtime between shifts. Paul thought about his immunocompromised wife and his 84-year-old mother back home. Then he joined the approximately 1,300 people spread across the Modoc National Forest who would provide a major test for the COVID-prevention measures that had been developed for wildland firefighters. Were still first responders and we have that responsibility to go and deal with these emergencies, he says. I dont scare easy, but Im very wary and concerned about my surroundings. Im still going to work and do my job. Paul is one of thousands of firefighters from across the U.S. battling dozens of wildfires burning throughout the West. Its an inherently dangerous job that now carries the additional risk of COVID-19 transmission. Any outbreak that ripples through a camp could easily sideline crews and spread the virus across multiple firesand back to communities across the countryas personnel transfer in and out of hot zones and return home. Though most firefighters are young and fit, some will inevitably fall ill in these remote makeshift communities of shared showers and portable toilets, where medical care can be limited. The pollutants in the smoke they breathe daily also make them more susceptible to COVID-19 and can worsen the effects of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Story continues Also, a single suspected or positive case in a camp will mean many other firefighters will need to be quarantined, unable to work. The worst-case scenario is that multiple outbreaks could hamstring the nations ability to respond as wildfire season peaks in August, the hottest month and driest month of the year in the Western U.S. The number of acres burned so far this year is below the 10-year average, but the fire outlook for August is above average in nine states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Twenty-two large fires ignited on Aug. 17 alone after lightning storms passed through the Northwest, and two days later, California declared a state of emergency due to uncontrolled wildfires. A study published this month by researchers at Colorado State University and the U.S. Forest Services Rocky Mountain Research Station concluded that COVID-19 outbreaks could be a serious threat to the firefighting mission and urged vigilant social distancing and screening measures in the camps. If simultaneous fires incurred outbreaks, the entire wildland response system could be stressed substantially, with a large portion of the workforce quarantined, the studys authors wrote. Firefighters wear face masks at a morning briefing on the Bighorn Fire, north of Tucson, Ariz., on June 22, 2020. | U.S. Forest Service This spring, the National Wildfire Coordinating Groups Fire Management Board wroteand has since been updatingprotocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in fire camps, based on CDC guidelines: Firefighters should be screened for fever and other symptoms when they arrive at camp. Every crew should insulate itself as a module of one for the fire season and limit interactions with other crews. Firefighters should maintain social distancing and wear face coverings when social distancing isnt possible. Smaller satellite camps, known as spike camps, can be built to ensure enough space. Shared areas should be regularly cleaned and disinfected, and sharing tools and radios should be minimized. The guidelines do not include routine testing of newly arrived firefightersa practice used for athletes at training camps and students returning to college campuses. The Fire Management Boards Wildland Fire Medical and Public Health Advisory Team wrote in a July 2 memo that it does not recommend utilizing universal COVID-19 laboratory testing as a standalone risk mitigation or screening measure among wildland firefighters. Rather, the group recommends testing an individual and directly exposed co-workers, saying that approach is in line with CDC guidance. The lack of testing capacity and long turnaround times are factors, according to Forest Service spokesperson Dan Hottle. (The exception is Alaska, where firefighters are tested upon arrival at the airport and are quarantined in a hotel while awaiting results, which come in 24 hours, Hottle says.) Fire crews responding to early season fires in the spring had some problems adjusting to the new protocols, according to assessments written by fire leaders and compiled by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center. Shawn Faiella, superintendent of the interagency hotshot crew so named because they work the most challenging, or hottest parts of wildfires based at Montanas Lolo National Forest, questioned the need to wear masks inside vehicles and the safety of bringing extra vehicles to space out firefighters traveling to a blaze. Parking extra vehicles at the scene of a fire is difficult in tight forest dirt roadsand would be dangerous if evacuations are necessary, he wrote. Its damn tough to take these practices to the fire line, Faiella wrote after his team responded to a 40-acre Montana fire in April. One recommendation that fire managers say has been particularly effective is the module of one concept requiring crews to eat and sleep together in isolation for the entire fire season. Whoever came up with it, it is working, says Mike Goicoechea, the Montana-based incident commander for the Forest Services Northern Region Type 1 team, which manages the nations largest and most complex wildfires and natural disasters. Somebody may test positive, and you end up having to take that module out of service for 14 days. But the nice part is youre not taking out a whole camp. Its just that module. There is no single system that is tracking the total number of positive COVID-19 cases among wildland firefighters among the various federal, state, local and tribal agencies. Each fire agency has its own method, says Jessica Gardetto, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management and the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. The largest wildland firefighting agency in the U.S. is the Agriculture Departments Forest Service, with 10,000 firefighters. Another major agency is the Department of the Interior, which had more than 3,500 full-time fire employees last year. As of the first week of August, 111 Forest Service firefighters and 40 BLM firefighters (who work underneath the broader Interior Department agency) had tested positive for COVID-19, according to officials for the respective agencies. Considering weve now been experiencing fire activity for several months, this number is surprisingly low if you think about the thousands of fire personnel whove been suppressing wildfires this summer, Gardetto says. Goicoechea and his Montana team traveled north of Tucson, Arizona, on June 22 to manage a rapidly spreading fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains that required 1,200 responders at its peak. Within two days of the teams arrival, his managers were overwhelmed by calls from firefighters worried or with questions about preventing the spread of COVID-19 or carrying the virus home to their families. In an unusual move, Goicoechea called upon a Montana physicianand former National Park Service ranger with wildfire experienceDr. Harry Sibold to join the team. Physicians are rarely, if ever, part of a wildfire camps medical team, Goicoechea says. Sibold gave regular coronavirus updates during morning briefings, consulted with local health officials, soothed firefighters worried about bringing the virus home to their families and advised fire managers on how to handle scenarios that might come up. But Sibold says he wasnt optimistic at the beginning about keeping the coronavirus in check in a large camp in Pima County, which has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in Arizona, at the time a national COVID-19 hot spot. I quite firmly expected that we might have two or three outbreaks, he says. There were no positive cases during the teams two-week deployment, just three or four cases where a firefighter showed symptoms but tested negative for the virus. After the Montana team returned home, nine firefighters at the Arizona fire from other units tested positive, Goicoechea says. Contact tracers notified the Montana team, some of whom were tested. All tests returned negative. I cant say enough about having that doctor to help, Goicoechea says, suggesting other teams might consider doing the same. Were not the experts in a pandemic. Were the experts with fire. That early success will be tested as the number of fires increase across the West, along with the number of firefighters responding to them. There were more than 15,000 firefighters and support personnel assigned to fires across the nation as of mid-August, and the success of those COVID-19 prevention protocols depend largely upon them. Paul, the Oregon firefighter, says that the guidelines were followed closely in camp, but less so out on the fire line. It also appeared to him that younger firefighters were less likely to follow the masking and social-distancing rules than the veterans like him. That worries him it wouldnt take much to spark an outbreak that could sideline crews and cripple the ability to respond to a fire. Were outside, so it definitely helps with mitigation and makes it simpler to social distance, Paul says. But I think if theres a mistake made, it could happen. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Orangeburg County Council members say theyre hearing from residents concerned about the Regional Medical Center boards decision to not extend the contract of hospital CEO Charles Williams. There have been many requests by citizens to county council members of varied opinions which have been made off of emotions and otherwise. So, as elected officials, we must consider all aspects. We cant just not listen, Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said Monday. We have to consider all aspects so that the county can succeed," he said. Williams came to RMC in December 2017. The board announced earlier this month it would not renew his contract. Hell remain until his current contract expires in December. Wright said, As chair, I have been working with council, county attorneys and other necessary people to prepare a proper course of action. We must be able to move forward in a way that does not damage our hospitals financial footing or reputation within the community, Wright said. Wright urged citizens to practice patience and stated that council will be working to address the matter. In trying to grow our community, there are several pieces that aid in creating an attractive area for economic development, which we all know we need to succeed. Of those pieces, health care is one of the largest pieces. We have to remember our hospital is our largest employer, helping our citizens greatly, and its a large piece of our economy too. So, to continue our success and improve our county further, I ask to please have patience and understanding since this matter must be handled in the best of our ability by doing what is in the best interest of both the community and the hospital, Wright said. Im just asking that we work on this together and that we all be patient that we will try our best to do the right thing, Wright said. Councilman Willie B. Owens was one of several council members to express deep concern about the hospital boards decision. I do think that it is time that we stand up and be heard. Just because its halfway right, it doesnt make it right at all. Ive never received so many calls, Ive never received so much emotions on what took place by the hospital board, Owens said. He said, I urge the county council to do whats right. Councilwoman Deloris Frazier also said she was contacted by citizens regarding the decision. I received many phone calls, and I would like to express my concerns about our public hospital. We have a serious conflict of interest with the stacking of the board with all of the doctors being there, with what appears to be a vested interest of a few, Frazier said. I was shaken by the board to not extend the CEOs contract after what I had read about the good things that he had done for our hospital in turning the hospital from red to black during his short span of time being there, Frazier said. Frazier praised Williams work. As it appears, he was doing a good and an outstanding job, Frazier said. Frazier said that it is her understanding that Williams had no evaluation done to warrant the decision by the hospital board. At any place of employment, you have an evaluation of your performance before you are terminated. But that was not the case here, and I would like to know why? The constitution states that you should have only two slots from the medical community on that board. That was not done, Frazier said. I hope and pray that we as a board can straighten this out, Frazier said. Council members Janie Cooper-Smith and Johnny Ravenell also expressed concern and dissatisfaction with the hospital boards decision. Evidently there must be some hidden views that are not being made public. Id like to see and be given a rational reason of why he was relieved, Ravenell said. The Regional Medical Center is owned by Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, and the county councils appoint the board members. Also during Mondays Orangeburg County Council meeting: Council approved a resolution authorizing an inducement agreement between the county and Project Primus. Council approved a resolution to rezone property owned by Antonio Reid located at 377 Lawton St. in Orangeburg from the residential general district to the commercial general district. Reid is seeking to establish a neighborhood store. Council approved a resolution to rezone property owned by Gina Haury located on Calhoun Street in Branchville from the rural community district to the commercial general district. Haury is seeking to establish a truck and trailer sales business. Council approved the appointment of Brenda Williams to the Orangeburg County Library Board of Trustees. Williams will represent District Two. Council approved a motion to enter a $1,429,829 contract with Truluck Construction for phase one of the Lake Edisto Project. Council approved a motion to enter a $359,329 contract with Skip Welch Construction for the Bowman Branch Library Project. Contact the writer: bharris@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-596-6530 Love 1 Funny 4 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 2 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. reminds investors of upcoming deadlines involving securities fraud class action lawsuits commenced against the following companies: FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) Class Period: February 21, 2017 July 21, 2020 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 28, 2020 According to the Complaint, on July 21, 2020, federal agents announced the arrest of Householder and four other persons, including a prominent FirstEnergy lobbyist, in connection with a $60 million racketeering and bribery scheme. The 82-page criminal complaint and affidavit detailed an alleged pay-to-play scheme in which FirstEnergy corrupted every facet of the legislative process in order to ensure the passage of HB6, including defending the bill against a citizens ballot initiative. Prosecutors described the case as involving the "largest bribery, money-laundering scheme" in Ohio history. To learn more, visit: https://rl-legal.com/cases-firstenergy-corp . Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) Class Period: July 27, 2020 August 7, 2020 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 13, 2020 According to the Complaint, on July 28, 2020, the price of Kodaks shares jumped 200%, from $2.62 per share on July 27, 2020 to $7.94 per share, following news that the Company had won a $765 million government loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to produce pharmaceutical materials, including ingredients for COVID-19 drugs. Shares continued to surge by over 300% the next day to close at $33.20 per share on July 29, 2020. This massive stock price increase allowed Defendant Continenza and other Kodak insiders to enrich themselves spectacularly from the compensation scheme, as their stock options were now very much in the money. Then, on August 5, 2020, several Congressional committees sent a joint letter to Defendant Continenza seeking documents about the loan, insider trading, and stock options for their review of DFCs decision to award this loan to Kodak despite your companys lack of pharmaceutical experience and the windfall gained by you and other company executives as a result of this loan which raised questions that must be thoroughly examined. The committees also sent a document request to the DFCs Chief Executive Officer on the same day, inquiring about the Kodak loan, which the letter noted was an organization that was on the brink of failure in 2012 and was unsuccessful in its previous foray into pharmaceutical manufacturing. Finally, in response to increasing public awareness and Congressional and regulatory scrutiny of Kodaks fraudulent scheme, the DFC paused the deal. On August 7, 2020, after the market closed, the DFC announced, On July 28, we signed a Letter of Interest with Eastman Kodak. Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns. We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared. To learn more, visit: https://rl-legal.com/cases-eastman-kodak-company . If you would like to discuss any of these lawsuits and your rights cost and obligation free, please contact Seth D. Rigrodsky or Timothy J. MacFall toll-free at (888) 969-4242 or by e-mail at info@rl-legal.com. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Any member of the proposed class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., with offices in Delaware and New York, has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of investors and achieved substantial corporate governance reforms in securities fraud and corporate class actions nationwide. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Melburnians have been warned they can expect a $1,652 fine if they drive anywhere for exercise under strict stage four restrictions. Under current lockdown rules, residents in metropolitan Melbourne are able to exercise within 5km of their home - but they are unable to drive to parks or beaches to do so. Police from the Port Phillip area in the city's south issued a warning to all residents on Monday, adding many had already been fined over the little known rule. Residents in Melbourne are not permitted to drive anywhere for exercise under stage four restrictions (pictured people exercise at Albert Park on Sunday) 'It has come to our attention that there is some misunderstanding in relation to whether or not it is permitted, under Stage 4 restrictions, to drive to a park within 5km of your home for exercise,' they wrote on Facebook. 'According to the Department of Health and Human Services, travelling in a vehicle to exercise is NOT permitted. 'We understand that some people are unhappy with this restriction.' Exemptions will be made available to residents where it is not practical for them to exercise without travelling somewhere. Many residents were furious upon hearing the rule and questioned how walking would be safer than driving. 'Driving there would actually be safer for health. This is insanity,' wrote one man. 'This is a total load of rubbish, it's becoming a joke, if we are within the 5km, wearing a mask why does it matter if we took the car or not,' said another. Melburnians are able to travel within 5km of their home and with only one other person amid the lockdown (pictured police fine a resident for leaving his home without a valid reason on Tuesday) Any residents who are exercising are being told to keep 1.5 metres distance and avoid any physical contact (pictured people walking in Albert Park over the weekend) For those wishing to exercise under stage four restrictions, they are only permitted to do so for one hour a day and in areas within 5km of their home. Residents can exercise with one other person but must keep 1.5 metres distance and avoid hugging or handshakes. Gyms and sport centres are closed and all community training has been suspended. Outdoor exercise facilities and swimming pools are also closed to the public. The Bachelor has delivered plenty of drama this season. But it's Locky Gilbert's latest Instagram post that really has fans talking. After Wednesday's episode, the 30-year-old uploaded a photo of himself and host Osher Gunsberg posing side by side at the rose ceremony. Can you tell what's wrong with this photo? Bachelor fans have noticed a bizarre detail in this picture of suitor Locky Gilbert (right) and host Osher Gunsberg (left) at the rose ceremony It didn't take long for eagle-eyed fans to notice a bizarre optical illusion that made Locky's ear appear swollen and red. In fact, his 'swollen ear' was just a decorative rose poking out from behind his head. Viewers couldn't help but joke about the unfortunate gaffe, with one commenting: 'The way the flower sits behind your ear makes it look huge.' Flower faux pas: A decorative rose behind Locky's head made his ear appear swollen and red 'For a second I thought you had a very sore swollen left ear! Bloody rose,' another added. Locky took their observations in good humour, responding to one fan: 'Now I have seen it, I can't un-see it. Haha.' In other comments, the former Australian Survivor star joked that his ear had been stung by a bee. 'The flower makes your ear look huge': Fans couldn't help but joke about the unfortunate gaffe. Locky took their observations in good humour, responding: 'Now I've seen it, I can't un-see it' On Wednesday's episode of The Bachelor, Locky eliminated three contestants following a dramatic cocktail party. He sent home Georgina Glass, Leilani Vakaahi and Marlaina McPhillips. The Bachelor continues Thursday at 7.30pm on Channel 10 Reality bites! On Wednesday's episode of The Bachelor, Locky eliminated three contestants following a dramatic cocktail party Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 23:04:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd, a petrochemical joint venture between China and Brunei, awarded scholarships to 18 students from the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) during a scholarship signing ceremony on Wednesday. Chen Liancai, CEO of Hengyi Industries, said this is the second batch of students to receive the scholarship under the Joint Refinery Operator Scholarship Program established by Hengyi with IBTE and China's Lanzhou Petrochemical Polytechnic College (LPP), bringing the total of awarded scholarship under this program to 48 students. "As part of the program, the 18 scholarship students have completed their one-year studies at IBTE, and are currently undergoing their institutional-based training online with the professors from LPP. The scholars will then complete their final year of the program through an on-the-job-training with Hengyi," Chen said in a speech. "On completion of the three-year program, the scholars will be offered full-time employment opportunities with Hengyi Industries as refinery operators," he added. Hengyi Industries is a joint venture between China's Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the Brunei government's Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent of the shares respectively. Haji Azman, Brunei's Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education, Awang Junaidi, Managing Director of Strategic Development Capital Fund as a representative of Damai Holdings Limited, the shareholder of Hengyi Industries on behalf of the Brunei government and Yu Hong, Chinese ambassador to Brunei attended the scholarship signing ceremony. Enditem A British design duo have created an eco-friendly hand sanitiser dispenser after noting that sustainability had gone out the window during the Covid-19 pandemic. Eli Heath and Pete Barr, both 25, have raised over 36,000 to create and market the product through crowdfunding website Kickstarter. Mr Heath, from Brighton, said the product was thought up after the news that up to 10 million empty hand sanitiser and liquid soap bottles used during the pandemic are likely to end up in landfill sites in the UK. We noticed sustainability had gone out the window the UK alone has 10 million sanitiser bottles heading to landfill and we also noticed a lot of people not washing their hands adequately, he said. The refillable dispenser is rubbed like a bar of soap, sanitising the aluminium casing as well as the hands. The duo also created their own alcohol gel to refill the product with, sold in recyclable bottles. Mr Heath said they wanted to create a product that makes people excited to sanitise their hands. Mr Heath and Mr Barr, from London, studied product design together and previously made accessible art tools for people with physical disabilities. The duos previous invention is a tool that can be attached to a wheelchair to allow people to create large-scale drawings and paintings. To see the products Kickstarter page, visit: www.kickstarter.com/projects/soapstone/sustainable-portable-hand-sanitising Former President Barack Obama will deliver a harsh assessment of President Donald Trump and pledge that Joe Biden will lead the country 'out of dark times' in an address set at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia Wednesday night. There, he'll vouch for his 'friend' and 'brother,' former Vice President Joe Biden, while casting President Trump as a man who has never taken his job seriously or done it well. 'Hes shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends,' Obama will say in remarks to the virtual Democratic National Convention. 'No interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.' President Trump responded he was standing in the White House because of Obama and, if the former president had done a better job, he wouldnt have run. President Obama did not do a good job. And the reason I'm here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden, because if they did a good job, I wouldn't be here, he said at his Wednesday evening press conference when asked about Obama's remarks. Probably if they did a good job I wouldn't have even run. I would have been very happy. I enjoyed my previous life very much, but they did such a bad job that I stand before you as president, he added. President Barack Obama will address the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night from Philadelphia where he will make a personal plea to Americans to vote for his former vice president, Joe Biden, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris President Trump responded he was standing in the White House because of Obama and, if the former president had done a better job, he wouldnt have run Former President Barack Obama will speak from the Museum of the American Revolution Wednesday night as part of the virtual Democratic National Convention Satellite trucks and security started to be set up Tuesday outside the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Associated Press confirmed Wednesday that the museum was the site of Obama's speech Obama will recall the time he spent with both men who will be on the ballot this November. 'I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president,' Obama will say. He will admit that he never believed Trump would continue Obama-era policies. 'I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care,' Obama plans to say. 'But he never did,' the remarks continue. Like his wife said on Monday night, Obama will argue that Trump is incapable of handling the presidency. 'Donald Trump hasnt grown into the job because he cant,' Obama plans to say. 'And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before,' he goes on. Obama will cast Biden as a good man and a strong leader. 'Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didnt know Id end up finding a brother,' Obama will say. 'Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about him is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief.' The former president will talk about how Biden treats every person he meets 'with respect and dignity.' The point has been made throughout the week at the virtual DNC featuring Biden, in one video, and his decade-long friendships with Amtrak employees. 'Over eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president. Hes got the character and the experience to make us a better country,' Obama will say. Biden officially earned his party's nomination during a virtual roll call vote Tuesday night. The city and venue are significant in a number of ways. The museum is just blocks away from Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, as well as the Liberty Bell. Philadelphia was where Obama gave one of his most important speeches: when he talked about race when he ran for president in 2008. President Obama gave one of his most consequential speeches of his Democratic primary fight against Hillary Clinton in 2008 in Philadelphia, where he spoke about race in America President Obama will say in his speech he sat with both men in the Oval Office - he met with President-elect Trump on November 10, 2016 Then-President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office in January 2015 Hillary Clinton is seen waving to supporters on the last night of her 2016 campaign in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania President Obama (left) appeared with 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (right) on the last night of the 2016 campaign at an outdoor rally in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, just blocks away from where he'll address the 2020 DNC Joe Biden (left) and Jill Biden (right), a Philadelphia native, greet throngs of supporters in Philadelphia in May 2019 as the former vice president kicked off his presidential campaign Philadelphia was also the site of the Democrats' convention four years ago. And Obama appeared alongside Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and his wife Michelle, on the eve of election night in 2016, at a packed, outdoor rally on the campus of Independence Hall. The move suggested the Clinton campaign knew Pennsylvania would be important. It was the state that put President Donald Trump over the line. Four years later, Biden - a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania - based his campaign in Philadelphia, which is just one Amtrak stop away from his adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. His kick-off speech was delivered in Philadelphia's downtown. And Biden's wife, Jill, is from the city. After Obama speaks Wednesday night, Sen. Kamala Harris will accept the vice presidential nomination live from Wilmington, to be followed by Biden at the same venue on Thursday night. Shimla: The rising water level in the Pareechu river, which meanders through the mountains of China-occupied Tibetan Autonomous Region before entering India, has the Himachal Pradesh government on alert. Pareechu is a tributary of the Spiti river that merges with the Sutlej at Khab, a village in tribal Kinnaur district of the hill state. Water in the river has been rising consistently due to clear weather in the mountains which has accelerated glacial melting. We are keeping a close watch but there is no immediate threat. We have apprised the state government, says Somesh Kumar, the executive engineer of the Central Water Commission. The flow of the Pareechu is recorded at a station at Zada in China, while the Central Water Commission has set up two stations at Chumar near Leh and Sumdoh in Lahaul and Spiti, where the Sutlej confluences with the main tributary of the Spiti river. Water flow is also monitored at Khab, where a dam is built on the Sutlej to generate 1,500 megawatt electricity for the Nathpa-Jhakri project. The Pareechu originates in India, meanders through the mountainous terrain in China-occupied Tibet and then merges into the Sutlej near Samdoh in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. LAKE CREATED HAVOC IN 2004 A glacial lake was formed in 2004 after a landslide in the Tibetan Himalayas on the banks of the Pareechu, causing water to build up into an artificial lake spread over 200 hectares and 60 metres deep. The lake formed behind the landslide dam burst on June 26, 2005. Gushing waters washed away the strategic Hindustan-Tibet road and National Highway-22 at a number of places. It swept away 10 bridges and 11 ropeways. Fifteen bridges and eight roads and footbridges were damaged on the 10-km stretch of NH-22 between Wangtoo in Kinnaur and Samdoh in Lahaul-Spiti. No loss of life was reported as the army and civil authorities had evacuated 5,000 people along the Sutlej, anticipating the breach of the lake. The flooding had caused a loss of 800 crore. After the 2005 flooding, India and China signed a protocol for sharing information on the water level from the Pareechu. The lakes in the catchment area of the Pareechu are regularly monitored by the Himachal governments State Centre in Climate Change (SCCC) by using satellite data. Last month, scientists had detected two landslides using satellite imagery but ruled out the possibility of flooding at that time. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI Road closures that have been in effect for more than a year due to high waters levels on Kalamazoo County lakes will remain, the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County says. The extended closures come in the midst of many flooding and water-level issues affecting local residents and their properties. Texas Township officials say the community has many lakes and wetlands that collect runoff during storms, but did not have a history of significant flooding. That changed in 2018, when groundwater and lake levels did not recede following rain events, as they had in the past. The evaporation in the summer is usually substantial, but lake levels have been two or more feet above normal, and are currently above the 100-year flood plain, according to Texas township officials. Due to rainfall and high water tables throughout the county, the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County recently announced South 8th Street between KL Avenue and ML Avenue in Oshtemo Township, as well as O Avenue between 6th and 4th Streets in Texas Township, will remain closed until further notice. Both have been closed to traffic for more than a year. Construction projects are being planned to safely reopen the roadways, the road commission said in an update posted on its website. That said, the commission does not yet have a date for when the roads will be reopen, and is urging residents to refrain from moving barricades or driving around them. In the update, the road commission called the prolonged South 8th Street flooding, which stretches about 200 feet in length just north of ML Avenue, unusual. The road closure in Oshtemo Township began on June 14, 2019. Weve worked closely with Oshtemo Township to find a solution for this local road, said Elli Blonde, communications administrator for the road commission. Its been decided to move forward with a temporary fix to get the road reopened safely to the public. The temporary fix involves lifting the road to get it above the current water level, Blonde said. The road commission does not have a specific start date for the work, but Blonde said officials hope to have the work completed and the road reopened to traffic by the end of 2020. In Texas Township, the road closure on O Avenue, between 4th and 6th streets, began on April 29, 2019. In October 2019, the townships Flooding Task Force made up of Texas Township officials, engineers, lake association representatives and Deputy County Drain Commissioner Jeff VanBelle described the flooding crisis township residents have experienced as a slow-motion disaster. The task force laid out a plan in October 2019 for a $1.7 million project to build a horizontal well and drainage system, designed as a long-term solution for the flooding. Texas Township officials have been engaged with civil engineering firm Prien & Newhof to evaluate and assess affected areas. In order to proceed with the drain project, the task force must first establish legal lake levels. To get the process moving, the task force needed 66% of homeowners on each lake to sign a petition asking commissioners to establish legal lake levels. Earlier this year, the task force gained the support of the majority of lakeside homeowners. A study to determine legal lake levels for the flooded lakes in Texas Township Eagle and Crooked Lakes was unanimously approved by Kalamazoo County Commissioners back in February, though the lake levels have yet to be determined. VanBelle told MLive on Thursday, Aug. 14, that a preliminary report has been completed and was submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for comments. We didnt hear anything back until the last second. When we heard back from them, they told us This is a great starting point, however this isnt going to be sufficient, VanBelle said. We assumed we would get down to certain details once we got to the permitting process, so we went to Prein & Newhof and said get with these guys and figure out what they want. VanBelle said Prein & Newhof are currently following up with EGLE to get answers to the specifics of what information is needed to continue. Once those questions are answered, we will then release the draft report and petition the court for a court date, VanBelle said. VanBelle said the report is now in the hands of attorneys for review. As part of a state procedures for establishing and maintaining legal lake levels, EGLEs water resource division has the ability to come to court and provide testimony in favor or in opposition to a legal lake level. That, VanBelle says, is the reason the county wants their questions about the states concerns answered now, rather than in a courtroom. We want to get their minds wrapped around this before we go through the trouble to get into court and they come in there and fight us on it for whatever reason which they have every legal right to do, VanBelle said. So thats where were at at the moment. If the findings based on the preliminary study are adequate, it will direct the prosecutor or other legal counsel to petition Kalamazoo County Circuit Court to set a court date to determine the lake levels. VanBelle said there are eyeballs on the project from across the state from other communities facing high-water issues. Were not in the design phase, he said. Its very conceptual at this point as far as how many gallons were going to convey and other specifics, were still very preliminary on that. But were convinced that itll fix the problem but we realize were facing some challenges on the permit. VanBelle said he expects the permit requirements will similar to the requirements for the pumping plan, and is hoping to be able to use that document as a starting point for the new permit application. We went through a lot of trouble, we brought in hydrologists from Grand Rapids, we have wetland consultants, we have groundwater monitors, and it seemed like it still wasnt enough, VanBelle said. When things dont make sense, thats when you wonder if things went a political route. Its been an absolute nightmare to get this going, and its taking way longer than it should. While some progress has been made in efforts to lower water levels, VanBelle said there is much more work that still needs to be done long term. There has been some relief, he said. Eagle Lake is down over 30 inches, but we got another 30 inches to go. We really started making the headway when the sun came out and it quit raining, not from the pumping that were spending in excess of $1.5 million thats being special assessed back on these property owners. The task forces next meeting is set for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20. VanBelle expects most of the conversation will center on the timeline of the continued effort toward a permanent fix that includes pipes connecting the lakes, and a pipe that will ultimately outlet to a wetland and allow excess water to flow down Portage Creek. Like the temporary pumping, the proposed long-term solution to alleviate flooding near the lakes would be paid for through a special assessment district. Texas Township would pay 15% of the cost, the drain commission would pay 10%, the county would pay 10% and property owners in the area would be responsible for the remaining 65%. An assessment on each of those properties would be based on both the cost incurred and benefit derived, according to the task force. Also on MLive: Residents petition Kalamazoo County to set lake levels as part of flooding solution Township near Kalamazoo has a $1.7M plan to stop flooding Nearly $1M needed to reconstruct Gull Lake Dam The has initiated a review to see whether there is a need for continuation of existing imposed on the import of certain auto components from China. Local company Bharat Forge Ltd has lodged a complaint with the ministry's investigation arm the Directorate General of Trade Remedies for the review of the duties on imports of front axle beam and steering knuckles, used in heavy and medium commercial vehicles, from China. Bharat Forge Ltd has requested for continuation of the imposed on the product coming from China. According to a notification of the directorate, the applicant has alleged likelihood of continuation or recurrence of dumping of the goods from China and consequent injury to the domestic industry. India on April 12, 2010 imposed the duty for five years. The duty was again extended for another five years in October 2015 after the first sunset review. The current anti-dumping duties are valid up to October 20, 2020. It has said that there is "sufficient prima facie evidence" that the normal value of the goods in China is higher than the ex-factory export price, "indicating, prima facie, that the subject goods are being dumped into the Indian market by the exporters" from China. "For the purpose of this investigation, China is the subject country...The period of investigation will be from 1st April, 2019 to 31st March, 2020. The injury investigation period will cover the periods 1st April 2016-31 st March 2019," it added. Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime. Anyway, this whole Postal Service kerfuffle is over now. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who got the job by lifting himself up by his bootstraps then pulling millions of dollars out of his boots and giving them to Trump and the GOP, released a statement this week saying there will be no more sorting-machine or mailbox removal: To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. Testing for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Delhi has become heavily reliant on antigen tests, which experts say are not as reliable as RT-PCR tests and end up skewing crucial data that could hamper the citys fight to contain the virus. At least seven of every 10 tests conducted is an antigen test. A high dependence on antigen tests, which throw up more false negatives (they identify infected people as uninfected), leads to two major problems under-detection of cases, and tilting data metrics such as positivity rate and case distribution. There has been a slow rise in daily cases in Delhi over the past three weeks -- from a weekly average of 997 daily in late July to a current weekly average of 1091 daily cases. And while the positivity rate is well off its June peaks of 30%-plus, it has risen from around 5.7% in late July to around 6.6% now. On Wednesday, Delhi registered 1,398 cases. To be sure, the situation in the Capital is far better than it was -- and also among the best in the country (especially in a large urban area). Also read: Covid-19 vaccine may need emergency authorisation Across the country, Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests, considered by experts and authorities as the gold-standard for tests, remain the preferred method of testing accounting for nearly 60% of samples tested in the 15-day period between August 2 and August 15, according to an HT analysis. Click here for complete coronavirus coverage The biggest advantage of antigen tests is that they provide results within the hour and are relatively cheap. These kits are designed to detect antigens (substances in human bodies that stimulate an immune response) and can be performed in mobile stations and dont necessarily need labs. But the downside is that they have a far higher chance of returning false negatives , and thus can let cases slide under the radar. When time is a constraint , and test results are needed almost in real-time, there is nothing as good as an antigen test although rapid molecular tests such as RT-PCR ones are being developed. The real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the most definitive test available. It is used for the detection of nucleic acid from Sars-CoV2 and is based on PCR, a process that duplicates and amplifies genetic fragments of the virus, so that these become easily detectable. The downside is that the process, from sample collection to results, for these can generally take 24-48 hours and needs dedicated machines. Add the logistical delays and tests could take three to four days. In the US, in some states, they were taking 8-12 days. Also read: Oxford Covid-19 vaccine could be the first to be available to Indians: 5 key developments Delhis big turnaround, in early July, was achieved on the back of a sharp increase in testing, and rapid antigen tests played a role in that. The tests were justified then because causes were rising exponentially, especially in containment zones, and there was a need to test people quickly, and isolate them. Delhi also did the smart thing of asking people with mild infections to stay at home instead of admitting themselves to hospitals -- and using up valuable hospital bed inventory. The Delhi government insists that it has relied on antigen tests only to increase testing in the Capital due to limitations on scaling-up of RT-PCR tests. Delhis deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, in an interview to HT on July 1 said: This is the benefit of rapid testing you can do it at a large scale. You cannot scale up RT-PCR to that level. Delhi started scaling up the tests mid-June. In the first week of June, Delhi was testing 5,500 samples a day, nearly all RT-PCR. By early August, this number had jumped to nearly 20,000, but with a far larger scale of antigen testing. Explainer: World Health Organizations struggle for a global Covid-19 vaccine plan While this strategy was important for the Capital at the time when cases were rising and containment zones increasing, moving away from it is equally important in order to get a true understanding of the spread of the virus in the city and identifying the best way to eradicate it. On July 28, Delhi high court questioned the state government over its decision to heavily employ antigen tests to ramp up its testing. The HC said that the Delhi government was only conducting only 6,000 RT-PCR tests daily when it has the capacity to carry out 11,000. For the 15-day period between August 2 and August 17, HT analysed testing data from the 13 states, which (officially or unofficially) released antigen breakup of testing numbers, in order to analyse the growing role of rapid tests in the country. In Delhi, 70.2% of all tests conducted were antigen-based tests. Odisha was the only state that had a higher proportion of antigen tests: 75%. More worrying than this percentage was that the average number of RT-PCR tests conducted in this period has remained at around 5,000 in Delhi despite the 11,000 capacity. At its peak, Delhi conducted 9,619 RT-PCR tests on June 29, but instead of scaling that up, it has scaled down. The tests in Delhi are being conducted strictly as per ICMR guidelines. The RT-PCR tests are demand-based and readily available at all flu clinics, labs and in all hospitals. Anyone who has corona-like symptoms can visit any of these centres and easily get an RT-PCR test done. Not a single instance has been reported where a person who wants to get an RT-PCR test done has been unable to do so. Earlier, when the cases were high more people were visiting these centers to get themselves tested. Now since the number of cases has significantly dipped in Delhi the number of RT-PCR tests has also fallen down accordingly, the chief ministers office said in a statement on Wednesday. In the case of antigen tests, the government is going to the people with antigen kits for testing them. The government has created testing facilities within localities, schools, dispensaries etc. where it is encouraging people to get the rapid test done. The ICMR protocol mandates rapid tests to be done within smaller localities. This is a uniform protocol followed not only by Delhi but also by all the states. And like in the case of RT-PCR tests, the absolute number of antigen tests have also declined since the number of Covid cases has significantly dipped in Delhi. The ICMR guidelines also mandates that if anyone tests negative for antigen testing but is showing symptoms, the person should go through an RT-PCR test. This is strictly being followed in 100% cases, the statement added. Concerns about relying heavily on antigen tests have been flagged by experts. Due to the fact that antigen tests have a relatively higher chance of false negatives, it is crucial that repeat RT-PCR tests are done. This is something I dont suspect is being done regularly, especially if we look at the proportion of antigen tests in some states, cautioned Dr T Jacob John, former professor of virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. His reference is to what experts globally as well as ICMR recommend -- following up antigen tests with RT-PCR ones. This newspaper suggested another alternative in a column -- two antigen tests, using the same or different kits, conducted on two samples from subjects simultaneously, with those whose test results showed a discrepancy being asked to go for a RT-PCR test. Interestingly, some other heavy testing states on this list such as Tamil Nadu that have a near-zero reliance on antigen tests. As of Tuesday, Delhi (1,337,374 total tests) remains one of the regions with the highest testing rates with over 67,000 samples tested per million population, against the national average of 23,800. Tamil Nadu not only has a higher total number of tests (3,845,803) but is also close on tests per million over 50,000. Not one of these tests is antigen. Another state, Rajasthan, has also used only RT-PCR tests. It has conducted over 25,000 tests per million of its population. According to ICMRs June 14 Advisory on Use of Rapid Antigen Detection Test for Covid-19, the sensitivity (or the ability to detect true positives) of antigen tests ranged from 50.6% to 84%. This means that as many as half of the negatives given by antigen tests may be incorrect. This is why USs drug regulator FDA says that antigen tests cannot definitively rule out active coronavirus infection. Antigen tests are more likely to miss an active coronavirus infection. Experts caution that heavy reliance on antigen tests can end up heavily skewing crucial Covid-19 data points such as positivity rate. If we see a drop in case numbers today, we will not know for sure if that is because the epidemic is plateauing, or just because we are now using antigen testing. Im not saying that this is the case; Im worried that we may not know if it that was really happening. We wont know what the real situation is, said Dr Satyajit Rath, retired scientist, National Institute of Immunology. This means that in the case of heavy antigen-testing regions like Delhi, despite the absolute number of tests increasing, due to the relatively high chance of false negatives with antigen tests there may be cases that are being missed. As a result, there is a chance that the impression that the region appears to be testing widely and has cases under control may end up being incorrect. To muddy these waters even further, the RT-PCR versus antigen testing numbers and proportions are not uniform within a state as well. In a state, its not as if all districts are using a same proportion of antigen tests. And because not only are all districts unequally hit, they are being tested differently, we cant even compare the numbers from two districts because we dont know how skewed the numbers are because of the varying proportions of antigen and RT-PCR tests, Rath added. In an ideal situation, all antigen-negative results would be rechecked with RT-PCR tests. But if that is the ideal situation, most samples would go back for RT-PCR tests. Then why are we using antigen tests to begin with? Rath asked. ICMRs guidelines says symptomatic people whose antigen tests turn up negative should be tested using RT-PCR, but it isnt clear if that is happening. But theres a bigger problem: many of those infected are asymptomatic. (With inputs from Sweta Goswami) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At Least 10 Wounded In Rocket Attacks As Afghanistan Marks Independence Anniversary By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan August 18, 2020 KABUL Afghan officials say at least 10 people were wounded after a series of rockets hit residential and diplomatic areas in Kabul as the country celebrated the 101st anniversary of its independence. The Interior Ministry said on August 18 that a total of 14 rockets were fired from two vehicles and that two suspects were arrested in connection with the incident. Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said those wounded in the attacks included four children and one woman. One of the rockets landed in the presidential palace compound, wounding six members of President Ashraf Ghani's guard of honor, officials were cited as saying. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which took place as the United States is withdrawing troops while trying to usher in peace talks between the Taliban and the Western-backed government in Kabul to end nearly 19 years of war. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he wasn't aware of the attacks. The Islamic State extremist group's affiliate that operates in Afghanistan has interrupted national celebrations in the past with rocket fire. Reports said the rockets were fired shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani laid a wreath at the Minaret of Independence at the Defense Ministry to mark the end of Afghanistan's 1919 War of Independence, also known as the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Fought between Afghan and British-Indian forces, the conflict reestablished full Afghan independence after decades of British control over Afghan foreign policy. With reporting by dpa, Reuters, and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/rockets-strike- kabul-as-afghanistan-marks-independence -anniversary/30789581.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The United States will not seek the death penalty in the prosecution of two Islamic State (IS) members suspected in the killing of American hostages, US Attorney General William Barr said, as long as the United Kingdom hands over evidence key to putting them behind bars. Time is of the essence, Barr wrote in a letter to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel obtained by Al-Monitor. We would hope and expect that, in light of this assurance, the evidence can and will now be provided promptly. Barrs announcement, which was first reported on by Defense One, paves the way for the two governments to resume intelligence cooperation on the case. The United Kingdom, where suspects El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are from, has hundreds of witness statements and intelligence intercepts collected on the two men, who make up half of the notorious IS cell dubbed the Beatles." The UK government initially handed over some evidence without assurances on the death penalty, but Elsheikhs mother filed a lawsuit to stop further evidence-sharing with a country where capital punishment is a possible outcome. The British Supreme Court ruled in March that the former home secretarys decision to share information had breached the countrys data protection law. If the United Kingdom grants our mutual legal assistance request, the United States will not seek the death penalty, Barr wrote. "I know that the United Kingdom shares our determination that there should be a full investigation and a criminal prosecution of Kotey and Elsheikh." As previously reported by Al-Monitor, Barr told the victims' families that Washington would hand off Kotey and Elsheikh to Iraq for prosecution, where they are currently detained, if London did not promptly transfer evidence. In his letter to Patel, Barr confirmed the United States would move forward with those plans by Oct. 15. The parents of slain American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and slain American aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller have pressed the White House privately and publicly to drop its stance on the death penalty so that prosecutors could build the strongest case possible using British-supplied evidence. If we don't lead by taking these men on who tortured and were part of the murder of four Americans, how can we ever deter anyone who ever wants to do anything like that to our citizens? Diane Foley told Al-Monitor earlier this month. As news of Barrs letter broke Wednesday, the Foleys marked six years since their son James, a freelance war correspondent, was the first hostage publicly beheaded by the terrorist group in Syria. They and the other families have asked that Kotey and Elsheikh be given life sentences. I hate the thought of the burden this puts on our country, although I do think were the best country to do it, said Marsha Mueller, whose daughter Kayla was held captive and killed by the group. My hope is that they are tried and put away in life in prison and solitary confinement, and they are pretty much forgotten about, she said. THE PARENTS: Jordan Maisch, 35, and Tom Maisch, 36, of Roxborough THE CHILDREN: Callison (Callie) Rose, 3 1/2; Thomas (Tommy) Joseph, 1 1/2; Cole Anthony, born April 13, 2020 THEIR NAMES: Callison is Jordans grandmothers maiden name; Thomas is named for his father; Cole comes from McCole, Jordans maiden name. The middle names Rose, Joseph, Anthony also nod to relatives. Jordan used to feel puzzled by people who had only one child. For her, a brood of six plenty of sibling company, plenty of noise sounded ideal. That was before she and Tom endured an 18-month slog to become pregnant a year of trying on their own, followed by six cycles using fertility drugs and intrauterine inseminations. It was before Jordan developed a liver condition called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), which causes excessive itching and raises the risk of preterm delivery and stillbirth. Before she lay on the bathroom floor on the eve of a scheduled 37-week induction, letting the tile cool her skin and wondering if the insane itching would ever stop. And it was before the emergency C-section that brought Callison into the world a 7-pound, 9-ounce infant who had fibers of the amniotic sac bound so tightly around her fingers that the middle one on her left hand had been amputated. Her fingers missing, Tom told Jordan, who was still hazy with medication. I thought: All right, she says. Brain things, lungs those are a big deal. A finger? OK, were both alive. Were cool. Callie had swallowed blood during the delivery and spent a week in the NICU at Lankenau Medical Center; the first time Jordan saw her, 14 hours after giving birth, the infant was wearing a CPAP mask. Bringing their daughter home sans monitors, sans nurses was terrifying. All of a sudden, I was in charge of keeping another person alive, Jordan says. For the first few days, she insisted that she and Tom take turns sleeping in three-hour shifts, so one of them could keep a constant watch on Callie. I totally got it, Jordan says. I completely understood why people would have just one child. But both knew they werent really done. Tom is one of six siblings, and Jordan grew up with a passel of cousins; theyd talked early in their relationship about their vision of a large family. The two dated for a brief time as teenagers, then lost touch for a decade; they reconnected via Facebook in 2012, when Tom suddenly messaged Jordan with an invitation to a Phillies game. The Phils lost. But that date, Aug. 26, rekindled a flame between them. Five months later, they were engaged. They married on New Years Eve 2014 at Holy Family Church in Manayunk, with a reception punctuated by an ankle injury for Tom during a Patrick Swayze-inspired dance move on a flight of steps. He limped through their Jamaica honeymoon. After the first difficult pregnancy and unnerving birth experience, it took months to get into a good groove and routine, Jordan says. But she called the fertility clinic again when Callie was about a year old. This time, it took only two cycles one with a new fertility drug to conceive. Its harder to be pregnant when you already have a child, Jordan says. She felt more nauseated this time, more easily fatigued. And then, at 35 weeks, the itching began: another diagnosis of ICP. Tommy was born via a scheduled C-section on the day after Christmas. At home with both kids, Jordan recalls, I felt great. I felt like a rock star, like I had a grip on what was going on. I felt more confident of my parenting skills. Even when Tom returned to work he drives a United States Postal Service truck, often working 14-hour-days she felt undaunted by parenting solo. I felt very lucky that I had two healthy children. But both pregnancies were high-risk and a little stressful at the end, Jordan remembers thinking. Would they try again? We thought: Well just leave it in Gods hands. Cole was a welcome surprise, their only child conceived without fertility assistance. But the pregnancy was more arduous: Jordan was chasing a toddler, tending a baby, and like clockwork, at 35 weeks scratching a ferocious itch. This time, the doctor performing the C-section noted an unusual amount of scar tissue and advised Jordan against any more pregnancies. Cole was born with fluid in his lungs and needed an 11-day stay in the NICU. His oxygen level would drop when he ate. At the same time, COVID-19 had altered everything about the hospital experience: Jordan wore a mask throughout the delivery, and only one parent could visit the NICU at a time. Callie and Tommy werent permitted to see their new brother in the hospital. What a scary time to have a baby, Jordan says. Also, I felt guilty like I wasnt spending enough time at the hospital with Cole, and I wasnt spending enough time at home with my other kids. I had to come to terms with the fact that Im one person, I could only be in one place. It was a relief to bring Cole home. Callie and Tommy rushed up to the car seat: Is that our new baby? Tom was able to take a few days off. Jordan didnt have to divide her time between hospital and home. Now the days are long Tom works from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., six days a week and Jordans alone with the kids, though her mother-in-law, who lives nearby, often helps. There are nerve-jangling moments: Shes nursing Cole while Tommy, barely out of babyhood, decides to try climbing the stairs or investigating the kitchen cabinets. Sundays, Toms day off, are sweet: breakfast as a family, hours of playing in the backyard. And Jordan notes the occasional flashes of gratitude. I have these moments of: Oh, my God, I have three beautiful, healthy babies. Recently, she said to Callie, Youre so lucky to have two brothers. And her daughter, who calls both boys my babies, agreed. Dont tell anyone, Mommy, she said. I dont want their feelings to get hurt. The owner of a Mexican eatery in Council Bluffs has purchased the former Petrows restaurant at 60th and Center Streets in Omaha. Travis Taylor says he plans to open an Omaha location of Primos Mexican Restaurant. The original Primos is at 930 Fifth Ave. in the Bluffs. Taylor and his wife, Barbara, bought the building, equipment and land that includes an ample parking lot and a dining patio for $1.52 million. He hopes to have his Omaha restaurant open in time for the Bluffs locations 10th anniversary in October. His family has a restaurant history that started when great-grandparents Luis and Carmen Rocha immigrated to Iowa from Mexico. Their son, Johnny, opened The Taco House in Council Bluffs in the late 1950s and operated it until the late 1980s. Taylor said the recipes at Primos come from his moms family. The restaurant serves traditional Mexican fare such as tacos, salsa and enchiladas. A couple of entrees are named after Taylors sons Emilio and Carlo. He plans a few changes. We are redoing and revamping our menu for the 10-year anniversary and rebranding ourselves, he said. Because of the pandemic, Taylor said, the patio was a big selling point. Petrows closed Dec. 14 after nearly 70 years of business. Owner Nick Petrow sold it to Bucks Inc., of the Buckys Convenience Store chain, for $1.35 million that same month. Bucks then put it back on the market with the stipulation that the next buyer wouldnt compete with the Buckys Convenience Store across the street. Taylor said he had been looking for an Omaha site, preferably in Aksarben, since November. Michael Earl of the Lund Co. was the broker for the sale. He said the deal with Taylor was finalized two weeks ago. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has out-doored a 30-member of Oti Regional Campaign team to prosecute its agenda towards the re-election of President Akufo-Addo for a second term in the December elections. Mr Sammy Awuku, National Youth Organiser of the NPP, who inaugurated the team, congratulated all those selected into the critical position to support the party in the 2020 campaign. He urged them to work hard and coordinate their campaign in tandem with the strategies advanced by the party to touch base with the masses in the region espousing the numerous projects and programmes that were achieved by the government in all Constituencies. He said the intention of the party was to make the region a stronghold of NPP stemming from the creation of a new region for the area, a desire that was actualised by President Akufo-Addo. The National Youth Organiser promised to support the campaign team with logistics and the needed accoutrements that would enhance their work towards annexing more Parliamentary seats including; retaining the Krachi East seat and win more votes for the President. He said the party was optimistic of annexing four more seats from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2020 elections. Mr Evans Dappah, Oti Regional Chairman of the party, promised to partner them to capture Nkwanta North, Nkwanta South and Krachi Nchumuru seats and would rekindle the vibrant spirit of the NPP in the Oti region to garner new parliamentary seats as well. The group pledged their commitment to hit-the-ground running and work assiduously to elicit the votes to enable the party and government continue to provide key development and aspirations of Ghanaians. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Peterborough Police Services Board is not going to tell city council who anonymously donated a light-armoured vehicle to city police, or how much it will cost to maintain and eventually replace although Mayor Diane Therrien and fellow board member Bob Hall both argued for the release of the information. The vote came at a police board meeting Tuesday night. City council had asked in writing for the information after the LAV was donated anonymously to police in June. Therrien and Hall wanted all three pieces of information requested in writing by council released to council, but they were outvoted by board members Les Kariunas, Mark Graham and Coun. Gary Baldwin (the board chair). When the LAV was first donated, several letters were sent to The Examiner asking why the donors name must be kept secret. Some citizens also expressed concern that the LAV is a step toward militarization of police, although other citizens saw it as a necessary tool. The LAV in question is an Oshkosh SandCat, and while it is worth roughly $250,000 new, Chief Scott Gilbert told the board on Tuesday that the service has received a pre-owned model from 2012 that is worth less than $30,000. He also said he didnt think it would ever be replaced, given the controversy stirred up by the receipt of this one as a gift. Gilbert also said its been sandblasted and painted, and that it has undergone a mechanical fitness test (all of which came at a cost, Gilbert said, though he didnt mention a sum). Board member Mark Graham said council members shouldnt be told the identity of the donor. It was discussed in camera and all matters discussed in camera remain confidential, he said. Kariunas said there are safety concerns for the donor if their identity is revealed and the police board has a responsibility to protect them. This is not a donor whos Joe Blow national security issues arise, he said. But Hall said that in an age of open and transparent government its fair to release the name of the donor as well as the maintenance and replacement costs (which city taxpayers will pay for in the end). The donor requested public anonymity, Hall said, but he recalled the donor also saying that if the board needed flexibility in that regard it could be granted. Therrien said on Tuesday that its valid for people to ask the donors identity. Im not opposed to releasing that, she said. The campaign by a recently-founded Rank-and-File Safety Committee at an Indiana auto parts plant to defend James Grady, a whistleblower at the factory who was victimized by management and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), has won a warm response from autoworkers throughout the country. The decision by the Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee to launch a defense campaign was first reported by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter. Grady, who worked at the plant for a decade and often spoke out against safety violations and the harassment of his fellow workers, was falsely accused by the company of trying to infect his coworkers with COVID-19 and wrongfully terminated in mid-May. Everything Grady said was true and more, a Faurecia Gladstone worker and supporter of the Committee told the WSWS. Someone needs to do something about how we are treated. OSHA has been called, and they show up, but nothing is done. We desperately need help. Members of rank-and-file safety committees at Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Faurecia plants throughout Michigan have issued their statements of support for Grady. We are publishing these statements here: * * * Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) Rank-and-File Safety Committee The firing of Grady is a clear cut message to all workers: If you dare expose the truth then your job and livelihood will be on the line. Faurecia is trying to make an example of him in order to frighten and silence workers. But we have the right to speak out and protect our lives from unsafe conditions. They might fire one worker, but hundreds and thousands of us working class citizens can stand up together. There is a principle that all workers stand by: An injury to one is an injury to all. The unions long ago abandoned that principle. That is why workers have decided to build rank-and-file safety committees, so we can protect ourselves and to make sure speaking out does not cost us our jobs. The auto companies and the unions are covering up infections and concealing facts from us. A week ago, there was another worker who tested positive here at SHAP. He worked on the Trim #1 line and they quietly moved him and some other workers out of the plant. We only found out because workers posted the information on a Facebook page and texted around warnings. FCA and the UAW did not say a thing about it. The companies and the unions deliberately separate assembly and parts workers from each other. But we are all doing the same stuff, producing vehicles for the profits of the big corporations. We need to stand together and protect each other. All workers, in the assembly plants, in the parts plants, teachers and other workers, have to be on the same page to carry out an effective response. We have to put our foot down and carry out a general strike to close schools and non-essential production until the spread of this deadly disease is stopped. Ford Dearborn Truck Plant (DTP) Rank and File Safety Committee James Grady was victimized because he stood up for the workers in his factory. We read his statement and the conditions that he was fighting against are inhuman. Workers are dying of heart attacks from exhaustion because of the forced overtime and cancer caused by the chemicals in the plant. The company just wants to maximize profits. People are just another commodity to these corporations. Whether its a parts plant or an assembly plant, it doesnt matter. They can just bring someone else to replace a worker that dies. They dont care. This system is against the workers because it is organized for one thing and one thing only, and that is to benefit the capitalists. The IBEW and the UAW are the same. They work for the companies. They pretend to be for the working class, but they turn their back on the workers and keep imposing harsher conditions. They only want to have power over the workers instead of representing us. Its going to take workers coming together everywhere and organizing to take control of their lives. All the workers in the assembly plants and parts plants, teachers and school workers, health care workers, all workers. Thats why we are building rank-and-file committees to take control of our lives and to save peoples lives. People do not need to die. The capitalist system just wants to extract as much profit as possible. They dont care about the people. There is plenty to go around. It is just being sucked up by the richest of the rich. Everybody else is left with pennies. That is why we need a whole new system that is not based on the profit motive. Faurecia plant in Saline, Michigan, workers group The following is a statement from a group which is in the process of establishing a rank-and-file safety committee at Faurecias plant in Saline, Michigan. We are on board with building rank-and-file committees because our union (the UAW) is not doing anything. We definitely need an organization we can go to. They are using this COVID-19 situation to harass workers even more. If you were on quarantine, you have to bring in a doctors excuse and your test results, and then the supervisor will try to write you up for points in spite of the fact that you did everything they told you to do. If you have FMLA, they will accuse you of falsifying that. You have got to go there and prove that youre not. What happened to Grady is happening here. I know of a number of times when HR has called people that were on quarantine and tried to get them to come back to work before their time was up. They would say if you dont feel any symptoms in a couple of days, then you can come back to work. That hexavalent chromium that he was talking about is the same thing that we have everywhere in the plant. It forms a brown dust. All Faurecia plants are the same. They dont care. We have drums of hazardous waste stored in the plant. They fill them with hazardous chemicals and cap them. They are expanding and look like they are about to explode. We have the UAW, but it sounds just like the union at Gladstone. If you call a committee person and tell them about company harassment, they will tell you to take the path of least resistance. Whatever the company asks you to do, give it to them, even if its against the law. Thats what they will tell you. They want us to give up all our rights. When the coronavirus started, the company was careful about safety. Now they dont even care. They have stopped even doing the surveys at the door. They are not taking our lives seriously. They hire and fire 1000 people every year. They are firing people for nonsense. As soon as they speak up, they will get fired. We do not get the respect we deserve. There are 2000 people in this plant and only five bathrooms. The security guards are going around disrespecting the workers, bad mouthing everybody because the bathrooms are dirty. We are making them all that money working 10 and 12 hours a day, six and seven days a week, burning up. They dont even let us have any fans. They dont care about us. They dont care about our families. We are in this rank-and-file movement because they are wrong and we need to do something about it. We all need to come together and prepare a general strike. * * * To send messages of support for James Grady, to get in contact with rank-and-file safety committees at your plant or for help setting up a committee, contact the Autoworker Newsletter at autoworkers@wsws.org. A plan to spy on Victorians using military aircrafts to find residents breaching coronavirus lockdown rules was nearly implemented by authorities. Drones were to monitor the public for COVID-19 breaches under a plan made by Emergency Management Victoria in April in conjunction with Victoria Police. Authorities asked the Australian Defence Force to be able to use military aerial vision to locate illegal public gatherings and fine the perpetrators. High-tech machinery was to be used including the Shadow 200 unmanned aerial vehicle, which was brought in by the ADF for target acquisition in Afghanistan. The Shadow 200 can travel at speeds of 200km/h and beam live footage from an altitude of 2.4km. The ADF blocked a plan to use military aircrafts such as the Shadow 200 (pictured) to spy on locked down Victorians during the coronavirus pandemic The Herald Sun reported the plan was rejected by the ADF as it believed the program would generate anxiety in the community. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday said he did not know details about the proposed plan, but revealed it was 'about trying to monitor movement in one way or another, or whether crowds were gathering as they shouldnt have done'. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said police were 'just looking for some support' with the drone proposal. 'Our request was to increase that capacity around drones. Weve got some of our own, we were just looking for some support there,' he said. Commander of the Defence COVID-19 task force Lieutenant General John Frewen said the proposal was not 'the right thing for us to be supporting at the time'. A statement from Emergency Management Victoria said the plan was for 'additional resourcing options which would supplement Victorias existing remote piloted aerial systems capability'. Department of Health and Human Services authorities have been conscious of encouraging a positive public health response through the pandemic. BURLINGTON, Mass. and PLANO, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE: KDP) (the "Company" or "KDP") announced today the completion of its previously-announced registered public secondary offering of 45.0 million shares of the Company's outstanding common stock, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.31 billion. All of the shares were sold by Maple Holdings B.V. ("Maple"). Maple is a holding company majority-owned by JAB Holdings B.V. ("JAB"). Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as underwriter for the offering. The offering was made only by means of an effective registration statement and a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected]. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the related prospectus may also be obtained free of charge from the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") at http://www.sec.gov. The Company has previously filed with the SEC a registration statement (including a prospectus) on Form S-3 (File No. 333-233477) and a prospectus supplement, each dated August 27, 2019, as well as a final prospectus supplement for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. Copies of the registration statement can be accessed through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a leading beverage company in North America, with annual revenue in excess of $11 billion and nearly 26,000 employees. KDP holds leadership positions in soft drinks, specialty coffee and tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers, and markets the #1 single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S. and Canada. The Company's portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands is designed to satisfy virtually any consumer need, any time, and includes Keurig, Dr Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Canada Dry, Snapple, Bai, Mott's, CORE and The Original Donut Shop. Through its powerful sales and distribution network, KDP can deliver its portfolio of hot and cold beverages to nearly every point of purchase for consumers. The Company is committed to sourcing, producing and distributing its beverages responsibly through its Drink Well. Do Good. corporate responsibility platform, including efforts around circular packaging, efficient natural resource use and supply chain sustainability. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "may," "might," "should," "could," "predict," "potential," "believe," "expect," "continue," "will," "anticipate," "seek," "estimate," "intend," "plan," and "would," or the negative version of those words or other comparable words or phrases of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements have been based on the Company's current views with respect to future events and the timing of this secondary offering. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including prevailing market conditions, as well as other factors. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and the Company's other filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements represent the Company's estimates and assumptions only as of the date that they were made. The Company does not undertake any duty to update the forward-looking statements, and the estimates and assumptions associated with them, after the date of this release, except to the extent required by applicable law. Investors Tyson Seely T: 781-418-3352/ [email protected] Steve Alexander T: 972-673-6769/ [email protected] Media Katie Gilroy T: 781-418-3345/ [email protected] SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper Related Links https://www.keurigdrpepper.com/ Police in Istanbul Detain Uyghurs in Rare Instance of Harassment by Turkish Authorities 2020-08-18 -- Authorities in Turkey's financial capital Istanbul harassed and briefly detained a group of Uyghurs who gathered on the city's iconic Taksim Square wearing T-shirts with images of missing relatives back home in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), group members said. The nine Uyghurs were posing for group photos on Monday afternoon when they were approached by police who demanded that they delete the images and turn their T-shirts inside-out to obscure the information about their family members, according to Jewlan Shirmemet, a Uyghur student in Istanbul who organized the gathering. News of the rare incident of Uyghurs being targeted by Turkish authorities, which went viral on social media, has prompted concerns over China's growing influence in Turkey. Many of the more than 50,000 Uyghurs who live in Turkey fled there to escape persecution in China, and Uyghurs traditionally view the country as a refuge and advocate for their rights. "We posed for a photo in our T-shirts in front of the [Republic Monument] statue in Taksim Square when the police came and said we had to delete our photos, so we deleted them," Shirmemet told RFA's Uyghur Service. "Later, when we were leaving, they told us we had to either take off the T-shirts or wear them turned inside out, and then they made us leave," said the activist, who is campaigning for the release of his mother from a five-year prison sentence for allegedly "aiding terrorists." Shirmemet and others told RFA that police gave the need to "investigate the family backgrounds" of those gathered at the square as an excuse for holding them and interrupting their photo. RFA also spoke with Alimjan Turdi, who believes his seven missing family members are likely detained in the XUAR's network of internment camps where authorities have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since April 2017. Turdi said the group had just began taking photos on Taksim when "police came from every direction," telling members to produce identification and explain what they were doing. "We told them we were there to take a photo, and they said it was illegal for us to pose for a photo wearing our shirts," he said. "They pulled us all aside, took our ID cards, and kept us there for an hour and a half, questioning us. Eventually they told us that we had to turn our shirts inside out before we left, that we weren't allowed to leave with our shirts on the right way." Turdi said that as the group left, "people on the street kept pointing out to us that we had our shirts on inside-out." "I have put a lot of hope in the Turkish government and in the country, and I'm very sad that this happened They insulted us. I will never forget this. I will make sure that this story stays in my family's history, one generation to the next." RFA spoke with an employee at the Taksim Police Station who said he had no knowledge of the incident and referred further inquiries to a public security division of the neighboring Beyoglu District Police Station. Repeated calls to that station went unanswered. After leaving Taksim Square, the group attempted to find a reporter at the offices of Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) to share their story but were not permitted to enter the building or meet with any employee of the national broadcaster, group members said. Video testimony In a video testimony posted to social media in Turkish after the day's events, Mirzaehmet Ilyas said that he and others had simply gathered on the square to take a photo in honor of their missing relatives. "We didn't shout slogans and we didn't demonstrate, but the police made us turn our shirts inside-out as a way of forcing us out of Taksim," he says in the video. "It was humiliating. We're not criminals Is it a crime that we're searching for our parents? Even on Turkish soil, we are unable to raise our voices against China. Truly, this is a disgrace." He also expressed disappointment that the group had failed to meet with anyone from TRT. "[We were disappointed because] no one was there, firstly, and secondly, because we weren't able to share our grief with others," he said. "We all stood out there for a while, but then someone came and told us that they weren't taking anyone [inside]that normally they would accept people but now they aren't. They told us to call the central offices, and then we left." It was not immediately clear if the group was unable to enter the building because of the dangers associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The incident on Taksim Square marked the group's third organized gathering while wearing their T-shirts, following one on Istanbul's Beyazit Square and a demonstration in front of the Chinese consulate. During the latter event, which took place on Aug. 14, Shirmemet read a formal statement before attempting to deliver a written request to consulate staffers on behalf of himself and 10 other Uyghurs, calling on the Chinese government to release their family members. The consulate reportedly refused to accept the request. In response to the police encounter on Taksim, Turkish legal scholar and professor Dr. Ilyas Dogantweeted that forcing someone to turn their shirt inside-out is "discriminatory" and "a repression of the freedom of speech." "This matter will immediately be explored through legal avenues," he added. Growing ties Analysts have noted that the relationship between Turkey and China is increasingly growing closer and stronger, a trend that has negative ramifications for Uyghur activists, who say they are facing greater restrictions than ever before. In February 2019, Turkey's Foreign Ministry issued a rare statement of criticism of China by a majority Muslim nation, demanding that authorities close the internment camps in the XUAR. During a trip to China in July last year, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged security cooperation with Beijing and said that residents of the XUAR live happy and prosperous lives under Beijing's rule, according to Chinese state television. A 2017 extradition treaty signed between Beijing and Ankarawhile not ratifiedwas submitted by Erdogan for consideration a year ago to the Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Observers fear it specifically targets Uyghurs in the majority Muslim nation for forced repatriation to China. The Turkish government had long refused to extradite or deport Uyghurs back to China, but that changed in June last yeartwo months after the treaty was submitted to parliamentwhen Turkey sent several home via Tajikistan, including a woman named Zinnetgul Tursun along with her two toddler daughters. A month later, Tursun's sisterwho lives in exile in Saudi Arabialearned from her mother in the XUAR that her sibling had "disappeared" and that the family had no information about what had happened to her, before warning her to end further communication. Reported by Azigh for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Elise Anderson. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address By Edward McKinley | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. Forgoing a national search, the State University of New York Board of Trustees made up predominantly of appointees of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to announce in the coming days that Jim Malatras, the president of SUNY Empire State College and a longtime political ally of the governor, will take over as the new chancellor of the 64-school state university system. The information was first reported Monday by the New York Post. Two sources with knowledge of the situation independently confirmed the information for the Times Union. The announcement is expected to come as soon as Wednesday. The board, which is required to publicly announce its meetings, conducted a meeting Monday evening and scheduled two additional meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. The meetings are expected to be conducted behind closed doors, which the board is allowed to do to discuss hiring decisions. Fifteen of the 18 members of the board are Cuomos appointees, including Robert Duffy, his former lieutenant governor. Besides his current position as president of Empire State College, Malatras has been a member of Cuomos coronavirus task force. Malatras sat at the governors side during many of his daily COVID-19 briefings. He has worked for Cuomo since he was the state attorney general, including years as a top official in the governors office. A spokesperson for SUNY did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. The departing chancellor, Kristina Johnson, was paid $560,000 a year in the position. Members of the university faculty, SUNY community college faculty and the United University Professions union, which represents faculty and staff in the university system, all expressed concerns about the board's decision to apparently hire Malatras without conducting a broader search. Secrecy has increasingly become the modus operandi of search committees, particularly for senior leadership. This is anathema to our philosophy of inclusive shared governance for SUNY as an institution, the SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges and University Faculty Senate wrote in a joint statement. The presidents of those two groups are both non-voting members of the board. Conversely, when a final group of candidates has been identified by the search committee, it is important that candidates be vetted beyond the search committee so that a broader cross-section of parties can offer their own insights of the finalists, they added. The statement goes on to critique SUNY for not considering a diverse pool of candidates Malatras is white which the statement said is inconsistent with previous promises made by SUNY to recruit diverse candidates. When universities in the SUNY system hire new leadership, it is common for broad selection committees to be formed that undertake a national search. One professor at a SUNY college, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the process of selecting the new chancellor, said although it may appear expedient that the board quickly zeroed in on Malatras as their guy, they may actually be setting Malatras up for failure. I doubt that Ill ever be asked to be chancellor of a state university system, but I would not want to come into a situation where I do not have full backing of the various constituencies involved, the professor said. If there were a search and this candidate came out as the best choice, the fact that he has a close tie to the governor would actually be an asset at that point. But at this point, it just looks like a convenient political appointment. Proponents of Malatras point to his experience at Empire State, which places a huge emphasis on online learning, and his public health policy experience as factors that make him uniquely well suited to taking the helm of the SUNY system as it faces the various health and financial crises brought on by COVID-19. They also point to Malatras closeness to the governor as a potential asset, rather than an unflattering optic. Were concerned without a search that SUNY may be rushing to a decision here on the one hand, but on the other hand I think given the multiple crises that were facing, I totally understand SUNYs urgency about getting someone in place who has the policy credentials and the political connections that may very well serve SUNY very well, said Frederick Kowal, the president of the UUP. We have raised issues of SUNY to address a lack of diversity among its candidates, Kowal said, and That was what was causing us to hold to the position that we need to do this search. But its becoming readily apparent that that was not a direction that SUNY is likely to go in. Though its a disappointment, we are going to work with whoever ends up being the chancellor. Despite his concerns about how the process was handled, Kowal expressed confidence that Malatras is up to the most important task facing SUNYs new chancellor. Our immediate priority is to ensure that the campuses stay safe and people stay healthy during this pandemic, thats our immediate concern, and thats got to be his job No. 1, ... and hes qualified for that job, he said. Announcement: Moody's withdraws bond fund ratings for one fund managed by QM Asset Management S.G.F.C.I.S.A. Global Credit Research - 19 Aug 2020 Buenos Aires City, August 19, 2020 -- Moody's Latin America Agente de Calificacion de Riesgo S.A.,("Moody's")has today withdrawn the assessment Quinquela Ahorro Dolares FCI (The fund), a bond fund managed by QM Asset Management S.G.F.C.I.S.A. (QM). The fund is withdrawn with bond fund ratings of Caa-bf in global scale rating and Ba-bf.ar in national scale rating. RATINGS RATIONALE Moody's has decided to withdraw the ratings for its own business reasons. Please refer to the Moody's Latin America Agente de Calificacion de Riesgo Policy for Withdrawal of Credit Ratings, available on its website, www.moodys.com.ar. QM is a medium-size Argentinian asset manager with 3% market share. As of June 2020, QM had assets under management of approximately ARS 24.5 billion. The principal Rating Procedure Manual used in assigning these ratings was the Procedures Manual for Rating Fixed Income Mutual Funds published in June 2017 registered with the CNV -- Comision Nacional de Valores in Argentina. Please see the Manuales de Procedimientos page on www.moodys.com.ar for a copy of this document. These ratings have been assigned through processes that are consistent with those employed for the assignment of ratings of similar securities or entities by other affiliates of Moody's Latin America Agente de Calificacion de Riesgo in other jurisdictions under the methodology Moody's Bond Fund Rating Methodology published in May 2013 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_152088. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology. Moody's National Scale Credit Ratings (NSRs) are intended as relative measures of creditworthiness among debt issues and issuers within a country, enabling market participants to better differentiate relative risks. NSRs differ from Moody's global scale credit ratings in that they are not globally comparable with the full universe of Moody's rated entities, but only with NSRs for other rated debt issues and issuers within the same country. NSRs are designated by a ".nn" country modifier signifying the relevant country, as in ".za" for South Africa. For further information on Moody's approach to national scale credit ratings, please refer to Moody's Credit rating Methodology published in May 2016 entitled "Mapping National Scale Ratings from Global Scale Ratings". While NSRs have no inherent absolute meaning in terms of default risk or expected loss, a historical probability of default consistent with a given NSR can be inferred from the GSR to which it maps back at that particular point in time. For information on the historical default rates associated with different global scale rating categories over different investment horizons, please see https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1216309. Story continues Please see www.moodys.com.ar for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating. 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. 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WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union denounces Uber and Lyft's threats to shut down operations in California this week over Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), a law that extends employee status to rideshare drivers. In May, the Teamsters applauded California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the city attorneys for San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego who sued Uber and Lyft, accusing the companies of violating Assembly Bill 5 by misclassifying their employees as independent contractors. The Teamsters took the lead in organizing amicus briefs in both the city attorneys' lawsuit and against Uber's legal challenge to AB5 (Olson v. California). "It's shameful there are companies that would rather cease operations altogether than abide by labor laws. The Teamsters Union stands with workers in the fight against illegal misclassification and against the bullying tactics of greedy corporations," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. "Uber and Lyft taking the extraordinary action of shutting down will go down in political history as the biggest campaign stunt ever to backfire," said Rome Aloise, International Vice President and President of Teamsters Joint Council 7. "These companies know how to allow all of their employee drivers the ability to continue to work flexible hours, while still getting the benefits of employee status. It really all comes down to greed. These two companies and the rest of the gig economy employers want to opt out of paying into Social Security, workers' compensation and state disability funds. We as taxpayers are paying their bills." Uber, Lyft and other 'gig' companies operating in California have poured over $100 million into a campaign to pass Proposition 22 in November in an effort to override AB5. "The Teamsters are mounting a major education effort and get-out-the-vote campaign for our members," said Randy Cammack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 42. "Workers support AB5 and are ready to defeat Prop 22 in November." Misclassification allows companies to avoid providing basic worker protections including minimum wage, health insurance, Social Security, workers' compensation and more. These costs are passed off onto taxpayers, depriving states of revenue, and putting law-abiding companies at a competitive disadvantage. Misclassification schemes also avoid the payroll tax responsibility needed to maintain effective unemployment insurance systems, particularly of concern during a global pandemic. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610 [email protected] SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters Related Links http://www.teamster.org U.S. Senate report reveals more details between Trump campaign and Russia in 2016 U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released the final volume of its bipartisan investigation report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The nearly 1,000 pages report confirmed former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings that the Russian government engaged in "an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election." The report also said Russia viewed the then-President-elect Donald Trump's transition team as inexperienced and sought to exploit those shortcomings. "Russia and other countries took advantage of the Transition Team's inexperience, transparent opposition to Obama Administration policies, and Trump's desire to deepen ties with Russia, to pursue unofficial channels through which Russia could conduct diplomacy," the report said. The report noted that Paul Manafort's proximity to then-candidate Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign. Manafort was chairman of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The report, however, did not conclude that the Trump campaign engaged in a coordinated conspiracy with the Russian government. Senator Marco Rubio, the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that "the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election." Similarly, the Mueller investigation found no evidence of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia, but "identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel," Mueller wrote in the op-ed in The Washington Post in July. Representational picture Vistara's first A321neo aircraft, received by the airline from Airbus last month, will enter commercial operations from August 20. The aircraft's first flight would be on the Delhi-Chennai route, the full-service carrier said in a statement on August 19. "Vistara's Airbus A321neo will operate on domestic routes for a limited period before being deployed on international routes, subject to regulatory approvals," it stated. This A321neo aircraft has a total of 188 seats, 12 in Business class, 24 in Premium Economy class, and 152 in the Economy class. Scheduled international flights continue to remain suspended in the country since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, since July, India has formed separate bilateral air bubble arrangements with countries like the USA, Germany, France, the UAE, the UK and the Maldives for international flight operations. Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both the countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. Vistara had on August 18 said it will operate special flights on the Delhi-London route from August 28 to September 30 as part of the bubble pact signed between India and the UK. The Delhi-London flights would be operated on its newly-inducted B787-9 aircraft. Moreover, the full-service carrier is seeking necessary regulatory approvals to soon operate similar special flights to Paris in France and Frankfurt in Germany. After a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25, albeit in a curtailed manner. Srinagar, Aug 19 : A terrorist has been killed in an ongoing encounter at Chitragam in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday, officials said. Police said the security forces had received a specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area, following which a joint operation was launched by the Army, CRPF, and police to flush them out. As the security forces zeroed in, they came under heavy fire from the militants that triggered the encounter. "One unidentified terrorist has been killed in the Shopian encounter; the operation is going on," the police said. Stawick said the district was able to secure a two-week supply of the masks at a very high cost, and that not only would somebody need to be on staff who is certified in conducting fit testing, but employees who would wear the masks also need to be evaluated in advance by a doctor to determine if they are able to wear the respirators. A Venezuela-bound private jet loaded with weapons and cash was stopped from leaving the United States from south Florida on Saturday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed. The plane was intercepted at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport loaded with 82 firearms, including a sniper rifle, plus 63,000 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Tuesday. The jet's pilots - Venezuelan nationals Luis Alberto Patino, 36, and Gregori Mendez, 40 - were arrested and charged with smuggling bulk cash and goods from the U.S. They were also charged with illegally possessing firearms as aliens, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a news release. The aircraft was loaded with a total of 82 firearms, including a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle and 18 rifles, plus 63,000 rounds of ammunition, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection The Venezuelan-registered Lear jet listed the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as its final destination but one of the pilots confessed after arrest that Venezuela was its ultimate goal. 'From my training and experience, I know that pilots have filed flight plans to third party countries to avoid detection of their ultimate destinations to avoid scrutiny of law enforcement authorities,' Jared Rine, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against the pilots. The CBP statement said a total of 82 firearms, including a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle and 18 rifles, plus 63,000 rounds of ammunition, were found. A firearm suppressor was also found as well as body armor, it said. The pilots were found carrying $20,312 in undeclared cash and $2,618.53 in endorsed checks. The U.S. statement said customs agents were alerted about a suspicious aircraft movement at the south Florida airport. According to Rine's affidavit, the aircraft was referred for a customs inspection shortly before its scheduled takeoff Saturday afternoon. When agents arrived, they found a ground crew removing some 50 boxes from the aircraft, it said. 'CBP officers observed that the aircraft was fully loaded, from the cockpit back to the lavatory, with cases and boxes of weapons, ammunition and household goods,' Rine said. The plane and its cargo were seized before departure from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Saturday. One of the arrested pilots said Venezuela was its destination Patino told agents that he and the co-pilot purchased the weapons on the internet and from retail shops in Florida while renting an apartment for the past three months in the nearby town of Coral Spring. The two men are also listed as managers of a Florida-registered company, PM Global Services LLC, created in June for the purpose of 'any and all lawful business,' according to corporate records. Mendez is also affiliated with four additional Florida-registered companies. A public defender assigned to represent Patino did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. There was no listed attorney for Mendez. The plane, its cargo and a vehicle were seized, the CBP statement added. It was not clear why the weapons were purchased. Venezuelan pilots Luis Alberto Patino, 36, (pictured right) and Gregori Mendez, 40 (pictured left) - were arrested and charged with smuggling bulk cash and goods from the U.S. But the arrest comes as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have escalated in recent months, including allegations that opponents of President Nicolas Maduro had been seeking the support of former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau to violently overthrow the socialist leader. Earlier this year, two former Green Berets were arrested in Venezuela for allegedly taking part in the failed coup. Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were arrested on May 4 and charged with terrorism and conspiracy following an uprising nicknamed 'Bay of Piglets' - a reference to the failed coup against Fidel Castro in 1961. They were sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 7. Venezuelan-registered aircraft and Venezuelan pilots have come under intense scrutiny of late for smuggling gold, cocaine and other goods as the Trump administration has intensified efforts to isolate Maduro's government. As part of those efforts, all U.S.-registered aircraft are banned from flying to Venezuela. On Tuesday evening, Trump weighed additional sanctions on Venezuela aimed at halting the remaining fuel transactions permitted with the Latin American country. The step could target crude swaps with companies in Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dispatched a second response team of experts to Mauritius, where a Japanese ship ran aground on a coral reef and spilled 1,000 tons of oil on the Indian Ocean island's protected coastline. The relief team was seen at the Narita Airport in Tokyo ahead of their departure Wednesday Work began Monday to remove the two pieces of the grounded Japanese ship, Wakasio, that hit a coral reef on July 25. After being pounded by heavy waves for several days the vessel cracked and started leaking oil on August 6. The damaged ship spilled over 1,000 tons of its cargo of 4,000 tons of fuel into the turquoise waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, one of the island's most pristine coastal areas. The seven-member relief team will be carrying out work to support activities related to oil control and environment efforts. The first response team was dispatched earlier last week. Switzerland-based venture capital firm Blockchain Valley Ventures (BVV) has appointed Thomas Amstutz as the Asia-Pacific Chairman to bolster its private wealth advisory services in the region. Amstutz will be tasked with securing private capital into the blockchain industry with BVV being headquartered in both Switzerland and Singapore. He has more than 25-years of experience from Credit Suisse where he was an executive board member and responsible for the investments division of the private bank, while he also has extensive experience dealing with hedge funds and family offices. Upon his appointment Amstutz noted that BVV is positioned smartly in a growing area of corporate banking activities and early-stage blockchain investment opportunities. We are very excited to welcome Thomas Amstutz to the @bvventures family! Thomas joins BVV as the #Asia#Pacific Chairman to bolster its private wealth advisory services and investment banking capabilities as part of BVV's growing presence in the region. https://t.co/xtF1eF2I9L Blockchain Valley Ventures (@bvventures) August 18, 2020 He added: It is an exciting challenge to help them grow with my extensive financial background as they continue to elevate their positioning as the market leader in the rapidly maturing industry. The appointment demonstrates the inroads blockchain companies are making within traditional finance, a stark contrast to when Bitcoin was launched 11 years ago. Heinrich Zetlmayer, Founder and Managing Partner BVV declared: On behalf of BVV and its Board of Directors, we are very excited to welcome Thomas to the BVV family. Story continues Thomas will immediately strengthen BVVs ability to support family offices and private wealth managers by tapping into the opportunities of a rapidly maturing fintech and blockchain industry. We are very pleased to have Thomas join as Asia-Pacific Chairman, reflecting the growing adoption and maturity of blockchain across industries and geographies. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here. When talking to babies, humans slow down their speech, raise their pitch and change the "color" of their voice. This "baby talk," as people know it, increases the infant's attention and facilitates language learning. Among animals, mothers often engage in pup-directed vocalizations too, but does this also imply voice changes? A team of scientists that included Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) researchers explored whether infant-directed communication in bats resulted in vocalization changes. They focused on the greater sac-winged bat Saccopteryx bilineata, a common Central and South American species with a large vocal repertoire employed in the elaboration of complex songs for territorial defense and courtship. Female choice in mating is very pronounced in this species, which probably led to the complexity of courtship vocalizations in males. During their first three months of life, as S. bilineata pups start experimenting with their "speech," female and male adult bats respond to them differently. Through sound recordings of their vocal interactions, the research team found that mother bats interact with pups as they "babble," which could be interpreted as positive feedback to pups during vocal practice. Much like human "baby talk," the pup-directed vocalizations of adult females presented a different "color" and pitch than the calls directed towards other adult bats. Male bats also communicated with the pups, but in a way that seemed to transmit the "vocal signature" of their social group. "Pup isolation calls are acoustically more similar to those of males from the same social group than to those of other males," said Mirjam Knornschild, STRI research associate and co-author of the paper. "These results suggest that adult male vocalizations may serve as guidance for the development of group signatures in pup calls." This is the first time that scientists describe a phenomenon that could resemble "baby talk" among bats, indicating that parent-offspring communication in bats is more complex than previously thought and opening new avenues for further research. "These results show that social feedback is important during vocal development, not only in humans but also in other vocal-learning species like Saccopteryx bilineata," said Ahana Fernandez, former STRI visiting scientist who conducted this research as part of her doctoral thesis at the Free University Berlin and is now a post-doctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum in Berlin. "I believe that bats are a very promising taxon to investigate key shared features of language, such as the vocal learning ability, and that this study will inspire further studies in the biolinguistics field." ### Members of the research team are affiliated with STRI, the Museum of Natural History Berlin and the Animal Behavior Lab at the Free University of Berlin. Research was funded by the Elsa-Neumann Foundation, a Heisenberg Fellowship and the German Research Foundation. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution. The institute furthers the understanding of tropical biodiversity and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Using the Internet to obtain price estimates has become a necessity in our modern times. Checking an insurers physical location just to get quotes is a waste of time. Even though the whole online process looks simple, users should take into consideration the following aspects when analyzing multiple quotes: Compare the same coverages and options. When a client compares different quotes from different websites, it's essential for him to choose the same coverage levels, the same limits and the same extra options. Even a single difference between coverage options can lead to significant price differences. Use the same data on each quote. Again, discrepancies between used data may cause significant price differences. Provide realistic mileage estimates. Some questionnaires will ask the user to provide a number, while other questionnaires will ask to choose a limit. It's important to choose the same range/limit on all questionnaires. Be honest with the negative aspects of your profile. Aspects like traffic fines, at fault accidents, drunk driving, and even bad credit score have a significant impact on an insurance policy. Not adding these details when completing a questionnaire is pointless, as insurance companies already have access to all of this data. Look for discounts. Insurance companies offer different discounts for their drivers. The discounts can vary in value, and how long they last. For example, one insurer will provide a 15% discount for six months, while another insurer will provide a 10% discount for 12 months for the same service. Other insurance companies may offer discounts that other insurers don't. It's recommended to do a careful research of the market. Compare multiple quotes. Complete and compare at least three quotes before deciding which insurance company can get you the best policy deal. For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. The trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case is set to enter its last stage after the Central Bureau of Investigation was asked to submit its written reply in the case by Friday. A special CBI court in Lucknow that completed the recording of statements of all the 32 accused in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case last month, including senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti, among others, has asked the premier investigation agency to file its reply by August 21. The CBI had to file its reply on Tuesday, but its lawyers sought two more days time. The court has ordered the CBI to file its written reply in the Babri Masjid demolition case by Friday (August 21). The central agency had to file its reply on Tuesday but could not do so, said lawyer Manish Tripathi, who is representing BJP MP from Kaisrganj parliamentary seat in Bahraich district, Brij Bhushan Saran Singh. He is one of the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The trial in the Lucknow court is going on in regard to the demolition of the disputed structure in 1992 in pursuance of the two FIRs lodged with the Ayodhya Police. The Supreme Court on July 19 last year had extended by six months the time frame for completing the criminal trial in Ayodhya case and also set a deadline of nine months for the final order. The deadline expired on April 19 this year and the special judge wrote to the apex court on May 6, seeking an extension. The Supreme Court on May 8 issued a new deadline of August 31 with instructions to deliver the judgment by then. However, legal experts are of the opinion that the CBI court will need further extension of about two months to deliver judgment in the case. Legal documents in the case run into several thousand pages. It is no easy job to document all proceedings in the case. I think the CBI court will need another extension to deliver its judgment, said lawyer KK Mishra, who is representing senior BJP leader LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, among others, in the CBI court. On April 19, 2017, the Supreme Court had ordered the special judge to conduct a day-to-day trial, concluding it in two years. Calling the demolition of the disputed structure a crime which shook the secular fabric of the Constitution, it allowed the CBI plea for restoration of criminal conspiracy charge against the VIP accused. The court had termed the Allahabad high courts February 12, 2001, verdict dropping conspiracy charges against Advani and others as erroneous. Before the 2017 verdict of the apex court, there were two sets of cases relating to the demolition, going on in Lucknow and Rae Bareli. The first case allegedly involving unnamed kar sevaks proceeded in a Lucknow court and the second set of cases relating to eight VIPs was being heard in a Rae Bareli court. In April 2017, the Supreme Court transferred the Rae Bareli case to the Special CBI court in Lucknow. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It's not a stretch to say that Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC's (LON:HIK) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 14.9x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United Kingdom, where the median P/E ratio is around 16x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/E without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake. Hikma Pharmaceuticals certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to deteriorate like the rest, which has kept the P/E from rising. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price. View our latest analysis for Hikma Pharmaceuticals pe Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Hikma Pharmaceuticals will help you uncover what's on the horizon. What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The P/E? In order to justify its P/E ratio, Hikma Pharmaceuticals would need to produce growth that's similar to the market. If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 42%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 207% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth. Shifting to the future, estimates from the twelve analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 0.01% per year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 12% per annum, which paints a poor picture. With this information, we find it concerning that Hikma Pharmaceuticals is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. Apparently many investors in the company reject the analyst cohort's pessimism and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as these declining earnings are likely to weigh on the share price eventually. Story continues The Bottom Line On Hikma Pharmaceuticals' P/E The price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations. Our examination of Hikma Pharmaceuticals' analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings isn't impacting its P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see a poor outlook with earnings heading backwards, we suspect share price is at risk of declining, sending the moderate P/E lower. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium. There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Hikma Pharmaceuticals that you should be aware of. If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Hikma Pharmaceuticals, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there. 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. HARTFORD Investigators seized thousands of bags of heroin from the apartment of a man authorities say will serve six years in federal prison on charges linked to drug trafficking in the city. Francisco Gordo Leon, 41, was sentenced Wednesday to 72 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The charges against Leon stemmed from an investigation into heroin trafficking and illegal gun possession, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham. Back in June 2018, Hartford police got a tip that Leon was selling large amounts of drugs from a Maple Avenue apartment. The next month, investigators made a controlled purchase of heroin from Leon, authorities said. On July 9, 2018, investigators searched Leons apartment, seizing about 9,700 bags of heroin, various drug paraphernalia and a loaded gun, officials said. Leon was arrested on state charges that day. At the time of his arrest, authorities said, Leon had access to a U-Haul storage facility on Capitol Avenue. When investigators searched a storage unit under Leons name, they found 9 kilograms of heroin, two more guns and a variety of ammunition, according to authorities. Leon has a criminal history that includes multiple state convictions linked to possession and sale of narcotics. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on March 28, 2019. A judge ordered Leon to forfeit $13,980 that was seized from him during the investigation. Leon, who was released on $250,000 bond, was told to report to prison on Oct. 29. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has promised to equip with brooms and shovels the members of the opposition's Coordination Council formed by supporters of his election rival, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to ensure the transition of power in Belarus. "The co-called 'black hundred' has been established to receive and to ensure transition of power. This is the so-called opposition headquarters. Surprisingly, they have created waiting lists and have started distributing portfolios. Let me say this: dear black hundred members, the country has fewer portfolios than the number of you on the waiting list. But we have brooms and shovels. We can provide that," the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting of the Belarusian Security Council on Wednesday. "Please note that the establishment of alternative, parallel, and other bodies, those 'hundreds' aimed to seize power, is punishable by law," Lukashenko said. Turkmenistan will buy modern equipment from a subsidiary of Sony Corporation based in the UAE with the view of improving the performance and strengthening the technical capacity of television and radio channels. As the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Ashgabat, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree to this effect at an online government meeting. The document instructs the State Committee on Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography of Turkmenistan to make a contract with the UAE-based Sony Professional Solutions MEA FZ-LLC for the purchase, installation and commissioning of modern television and radio equipment. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022 On Tuesday 11 August, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced that he had chosen Californian senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, describing the former state attorney as a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the countrys finest public servants. The former vice-President said that he felt proud to have her as my partner in this campaign, which will see the 77-year-old go up against US president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election in November. Harris praised the presidential candidate for his audacity to choose a black woman to be his running mate. How incredible is that? And what a statement that is about Joe Biden, Harris said during an interview for the virtual The 19th Represents Summit. That he decided he was going to do that thing that was about breaking one of the most substantial barriers that has existed in our country and he made that decision with whatever risk that brings. Harris, who was born in California in 1964 to Shyamala Gopalan, a biologist from India and Donald J Harris, a Stanford University professor from Jamaica, was elected senator of California in 2016, becoming the second black woman and the first South Asian American senator in US history. As Bidens running mate, the former attorney general of California has become the first black woman and person of South Asian descent to run as vice president on a major political partys ticket. If Biden wins the election, she will become the most senior black woman in US political history. Before Harris, several black women rose the ranks in the US political sphere, bidding to become president, speaking at the Democratic National Convention and serving in the presidential cabinet among their achievements. Shirley Chisholm I am the candidate of the people, and my presence before you now symbolises a new era in American political history. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Shirley Chisholms signature campaign slogan, unbought and unbossed, were words she not only spoke to, but also lived by. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1924, Chisholm was a second-generation immigrant, her father coming from Guyana and her mother from Barbados. After graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College in 1946, Chisholm became a nursery school teacher before earning a masters degree from Columbia University in early childhood education in 1952. After becoming director of several daycare centres and an educational consultant for the Division of Day Care, she became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and the League of Women Voters, using her voice to campaign against racial and gender discrimination. In 1964, Chisholm became the second African American to be elected to the New York State Legislature, before making history four years later as the first black woman to be elected to Congress. Known for her powerful speeches and quick-witted debating comebacks, she went on to serve seven terms in the House of Representatives, introducing over 50 pieces of legislation. In 1971, Chisholm became a founding member of the National Womens Political Caucus alongside Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. The following year, Chisholm set her sights on the US presidency, running for the Democratic nomination. Announcing her presidential bid, she said, I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud; I am not the candidate of the womens movement of the country; although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people, and my presence before you now symbolises a new era in American political history. Chisholm survived several assassination attempts during her presidential campaign, in addition to being barred from participating in the majority of the televised primary debates, which resulted in her having to take legal action to ensure she could join. Chisholm, who authored Unbought and Unbossed in 1970 and The Good Fight in 1973, died at the age of 80 in 2005. 10 years later, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-president Barack Obama. Charlotta Bass I am strengthened by thousands on thousands of pioneers who stand by my side and look over my shoulder. (USC (USC) Before Harris, the first black woman to run for vice president was Charlotta Bass, who bid for the position in 1952 on the ticket of the left-wing Progressive Party, alongside presidential candidate and lawyer Vincent Hallinan. Born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1874, Basss career in politics came about following a long bout in journalism, which began in her twenties when she started working at local Rhode Island newspaper the Providence Watchman. After moving to the Golden Coast, Bass took her penmanship to another paper called the Eagle, proving herself to such an extent that when the founder of the company died, the paper was put in her hands. Working alongside editor Joseph Bass (whom she later married), Bass published the paper which she renamed the California Eagle from 1912 to 1951, utilising her platform to raise awareness of racial discrimination and civil rights issues. Together, the couple spoke out against police brutality, segregation and the Ku Klux Klan, which resulted in them facing several menacing threats from the white supremacist group. Basss decision to use her voice to speak out against injustices in society put her on the radar of the FBI, who placed her under surveillance amid claims that she was a Communist, though Bass denied any such connection to the Communist Party. Prior to her vice presidential nomination, Bass was already making headway in the world of politics, becoming co-president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in the 1920s and creating the Home Protective Association, which fought against restrictive covenants that hindered people of colour from being able to purchase homes. In 1952, upon her nomination as vice president for the Progressive Party, Bass said: I stand before you with great pride. This is a historic moment in American political life. Historic for myself, for my people, for all women. For the first time in the history of this nation a political party has chosen a Negro woman for the second highest office in the land. It is a great honour to be chosen as a pioneer. And a great responsibility. But I am strengthened by thousands on thousands of pioneers who stand by my side and look over my shoulder those who have led the fight for freedom those who led the fight for womens rights those who have been in the front line fighting for peace and justice and equality everywhere. How they must rejoice in this great understanding which here joins the cause of peace and freedom. Barbara Jordan I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Barbara Jordans opening remarks at a hearing during the impeachment process of Richard Nixon a 15-minute, televised speech became one of the defining moments of her political career. The member of the House Judiciary Committee stunned those watching in 1974 when she emphasised the faith she felt in the US Constitution, and the adamance she felt in protecting said Constitution from diminution, subversion and destruction. In her obituary published in The New York Times in 1996, the paper described her oratory skills as Churchillian, drawing parallels between Jordans mannerisms with the British wartime prime minister. Before becoming the first African American woman from the deep South to become a congresswoman in the US, Jordan embarked on a career in law, launching a private law firm in 1960. However, politics was clearly on her mind at the time, as she bid twice for a seat on the Texas House of Representatives in the early 1960s, both times being unsuccessfully. Nonetheless, in 1966 Jordan prevailed, becoming the first black woman to be elected to the Texas Senate and the first African American to become a state senator since 1883. Following her landmark speech during the Nixon impeachment process, which occurred amid the Watergate Scandal, in 1976 Jordan became the first African American and the first woman to deliver a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Jordan stressed the ethos of the Democratic Party, saying the party believes in equality for all and privileges for none. This is a belief that each American, regardless of background, has equal standing in the public forum all of us, she said. Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1994, in addition to receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, an award given every year to people of African descent and American citizenship who shall have made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in any honourable field of human endeavour. Condoleezza Rice We must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favours freedom. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) As the first black woman to become appointed national security adviser and the first black female secretary of state for the US, Condoleezza Rice held a great deal of power within the US government. As secretary of state, she made it her mission to enact transformational diplomacy, a term she coined that she hoped would help create democratic, well-governed states around the world. Rice brought a great deal of political expertise to the White House, having earned a degree, a masters degree and a PhD in political science. This expertise is what brought her into the presidential fold, as she was recruited onto the United States National Security Council during the presidency of George H W Bush after being scouted while working as a professor at Stanford University. In 2001, the year that George W Bush assumed the presidency, Rice was named United States national security advisor, the first black woman to assume the role. Two years after assuming the position, the invasion of Iraq took place, an event that Rice supported. During Bushs second presidential term, which began in 2005, Rice became the first black woman to become secretary of state. Following her confirmation hearing, she said that we must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favours freedom. And the time for diplomacy is now. In 2006, a release was published by the US Department of State regarding Rices plans to collaborate with the USs many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system, an objective she called transformational diplomacy. Transformational diplomacy is rooted in partnership, not paternalism in doing things with other people, not for them, she stated. We seek to use Americas diplomatic power to help foreign citizens to better their own lives, and to build their own nations, and to transform their own futures. Carol Moseley Braun My presence in and of itself will change the US Senate. (BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images) (BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images)) Carol Moseley Braun was destined for a career in politics from a young age, organising a sit-in at a segregated restaurant and marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr during a demonstration against Chicago housing conditions as a teenager. After earning political science and law degrees, Moseley Braun demonstrated her prowess as an impressive prosecutor in the office of the US attorney in Chicago, covering areas including the environment, health and housing from 1973 to 1977, her work even being recognised with the attorney generals special achievement award. In the late 1970s, Moseley Braun entered the political domain, elected as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She rose the ranks to become assistant Democratic majority leader, the first black woman to hold the position, and upon her retirement from the role in 1987, she was dubbed the Conscience of the House by her peers, evidently demonstrating the high regard with which she was perceived. The pioneer continued to make history, becoming the first African-American woman to be elected to the US Senate in 1992 as a representative of Illinois. Shortly after assuming her position, Moseley Braun stated: I cannot escape the fact that I come to the Senate as a symbol of hope and change. Nor would I want to, because my presence in and of itself will change the US Senate. Moseley Braun served one term on the US Senate, during which time she voted against the death penalty, advocated for gun control measures and was pro-choice. Moseley Braun also staged a demonstration on the US Senate floor in the early 1990s against the rule that women were not allowed to wear trousers, a regulation that was overturned later that year under the condition that they also had to wear jackets. Patricia Harris I didnt start out as a member of a prestigious law firm, but as a woman who needed a scholarship to go to school. If you think that I have forgotten that, you are wrong. (Everett/Shutterstock (Everett/Shutterstock) Patricia Harris worked alongside several presidents throughout her political career, becoming the first African American woman to serve in the presidential cabinet during the presidency of Jimmy Carter in 1977, named co-chair of the National Womens Committee for Civil Rights by President John F Kennedy in 1963 and was made an American envoy by President Lyndon Johnson in 1995. Born in Mattoon, Illinois in 1924, Harriss involvement in politics started during her university years, which saw her become vice chair of the student chapter of the NAACP at Howard University and take part in one of the first lunch counter sit-ins in America. 15 years after graduating from university, Harris earned a law degree from George Washington University, resulting in her working for a short stint as an attorney for the US Department of Justice. Upon her appointment as an American envoy by President Johnson, Harris expressed her pride over the position, in addition to her frustration that no black women had taken on the role before her. I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the first Negro woman because it implies we were not considered before, she stated. It was in the 1970s that Harris became a member of Carters presidential candidate, becoming the first black woman to serve as cabinet secretary as secretary of housing and urban development. Following her nomination, Harris was questioned by a senator during her cabinet hearing regarding her ability to defend the interests of poor members of the public. Harris replied: I am one of them. You do not seem to understand who I am. I am a black woman, daughter of a dining-car worker. I am a black woman who could not buy a house eight years ago in parts of the District of Columbia. I didnt start out as a member of a prestigious law firm, but as a woman who needed a scholarship to go to school. If you think that I have forgotten that, you are wrong. Loretta Lynch I stand before you so thrilled, and, frankly, so humbled to have the opportunity to lead this group of wonderful people who work all day and well into the night to make that ideal a manifest reality, all as part of their steadfast protection of the citizens of this country. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images) In 2015, Loretta Lynch became the first black woman to become appointed US attorney general, a position she was granted by President Barack Obama. Her path towards becoming attorney general began in the 1980s, when she graduated from Harvard Law School and embarked upon a career in law. After making a name for herself as a prosecutor in the office of the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York working on drug and violent-crime cases, in 1999 President Bill Clinton made her attorney of the office, a position she held for two years and then again for another five from 2010 to 2015. Following her second tenure as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, President Obama deemed Lynch worthy to replace Eric Holder as attorney general of the US. Upon his nomination of Lynch, Obama praised the attorneys principles of fairness, equality, and justice, saying that she has striven to make a difference for the people she serves. Its in her blood, he said. Her grandfather, a sharecropper in the 1930s, helped folks in his community who got into trouble with the law and had no recourse under the Jim Crow system. She rode her fathers shoulders to his church, where students would meet to organise anti-segregation boycotts. The sense of justice she absorbed as a young girl is what she will bring to bear at the Department of Justice. In response, Lynch said she felt thrilled and humbled by the nomination. In 2016 during her tenure as attorney general, Lunch wrote an op-ed about the hardships former criminals face when they re-enter society from prison, emphasising that for far too many Americans, re-entry has become an all-but-impossible task. As we continue striving to make our criminal justice system smarter and fairer, we must ensure that those returning from prison come home to a meaningful second chance, she said. That same year, Lynch intervened in the case of the death of Eric Garner, replacing the Brooklyn agents and lawyers investigating the case with agents from outside New York, in a move that was described as highly unusual. Garner died on Staten Island in 2014 after a New York police officer put him in a chokehold during his arrest. The police officer was fired in 2019, with no charges being brought against him. NEW DELHI: Indias commerce minister has asked automakers to find ways to reduce royalty payments to foreign parent companies for use of technology or brand names, two sources told Reuters, in an effort to boost local investment and reduce outflows. In Indias competitive auto market, top-selling carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors local unit pay millions of dollars in royalties to parent companies in Japan and South Korea for using their technology and brand to build and sell cars. The minister, Piyush Goyal, in a meeting last week asked officials from groups representing carmakers and auto parts manufacturers to review such payments with a view to reducing them, said people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The concern raised during the meeting was that the outflow is high, even for old technologies, and something should be done about it, said one of the sources. The sources declined to be named as the talks are private. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment. India, for years, has debated imposing stricter caps on royalty payments which spiked after 2009 when foreign investment rules were eased and restrictions on such payments were removed. The countrys markets regulator last year suggested imposing curbs on payments exceeding 2% of revenue. The limit was finally set at 5% after complaints from some sectors and fears it may dissuade foreign firms from investing or sharing technology. Recently however, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has made a renewed push to make the country a major manufacturing hub by encouraging domestic production and curbing imports. It also wants to increase local investment and reduce foreign outflows. While India does not restrict the amount that can be paid as royalty, any payment by a locally listed company exceeding 5% of revenues needs shareholder approval. Listed companies such as Maruti Suzuki and parts makers including Bosch, Schaeffler India and Wabco India typically pay royalties of between 1%-5% to their foreign owners. Maruti Suzuki paid 38.2 billion rupees ($510 million) as royalty to its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, amounting to 5% of its revenue, according to its annual report. Privately-owned companies such as Hyundais local unit paid $150 million or 2.6% of revenue as royalties to its South Korean parent in fiscal 2019 and Toyota Motors India arm paid $88 million or 3.4% of revenue to its Japanese parent, government data shows. Royalty provision has been important in attracting foreign investments into various sectors in India, especially autos, said Vaibhav Gupta, partner at tax firm, Dhruva Advisors. Depending on the form in which the government brings back such caps it may impact the ability of auto companies to benefit from the use of foreign brands and technical know-how, said Gupta. He said for many foreign companies royalties are a profit repatriation strategy and changes to these could impact operating and supply chain structures from a fiscal perspective. Maruti, Toyota and Bosch declined to comment. Hyundai, Schaeffler and Wabco did not respond to emails seeking comment. Such payments have also been a long-standing issue with minority shareholders. A February report by proxy firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services showed royalty paid by 31 leading Indian companies with foreign parents, including Maruti and Bosch, grew 9% in fiscal year 2019 to total $1.11 billion New Delhi: The Union government on Wednesday decided to immediately withdraw 100 companies (around 10,000 personnel) of central paramilitary forces from Jammu and Kashmir after a security review, officials familiar with matter said on condition of anonymity. The central paramilitary forces whose companies were withdrawn on Wednesday are 40 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and 20 each of Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The ministry of home affairs has asked them to report to their respective locations. Earlier, the MHA withdrew around 82 companies (72 in December 2019 and 10 in May this year) from the valley based on feedback from the forces and intelligence agencies. With the latest decision, around 400 additional companies of paramilitary forces are still deployed in J&K in additional to CRPFs regular 67 battalions (around 67,000 personnel) and army and J&K police. The officials cited above said the decision was taken because the security situation in the valley has improved and terrorists are on the back foot. The officers added that large number of troops were deployed in the valley for over a year now, but that they now need to rest and also get back to training. The security grid in J&K was strengthened with an additional 600 odd companies (around 60000 troops) being rushed there just ahead of governments decision to withdraw the special status of J&K and bifurcate it into two union territories on August 5, 2019. These troops were stationed at various locations in different districts and were deployed in law and order duties, counter terror operations as well to keep stone-pelting protestors at bay. Senior officers deployed in the valley have claimed that locals dont disrupt the counter-terror operations anymore and there is more support from public in general. According to latest government data, the number of stone pelting incidents has drastically reduced this year as compared to 2019 and 2018. In 2018, there were 532 incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir, and there were 389 in 2019 but only 102 such incidents have been reported thus far this year. One officer said that there could be more withdrawal of troops in the coming weeks but enough numbers will be maintained in valley to make sure terrorists and Pakistan doesnt take advantage. Its a welcome step and obviously it means that security situation is well under control, former RAW Chief A S Dulat said. In the middle of the race for mass manufacturing of a coronavirus vaccine, China has moved to give an early opportunity to access its developed treatment to a few selected countries. The tactic is Beijing's latest move to support its international relationships amid the strain of the coronavirus pandemic. Forming good relationships China's Foreign Ministry notified the Philippine government that it would provide the country priority access to Beijing's developed COVID-19 vaccine. Private Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said it would cooperate with Brazil and Indonesia to manufacture several hundreds of millions of doses. According to the New York Post, China had also reached out to one of the country's closest allies, Pakistan, to give China National Pharmaceutical Group the freedom to conduct clinical trials within the country. In exchange, Beijing would provide doses that would be distributed to about one-fifth of Pakistan's population of 220 million people. Currently, six leading coronavirus vaccine candidates are being developed and tested for widespread use. Among these developments, Chinese state-owned and private companies are involved in the research and production of three. The other three manufacturers are companies that are based in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Earlier this year, China's government started the sale of face masks and medical supplies and equipment to several countries in an attempt to forge good relationships after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was criticized for its lackluster response to the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. The director of global health, Thomas J. Bollyky, of the Council on Foreign Relations, told reporters that coronavirus vaccines would be limited in supply in the initial vaccinations, more so compared to the supply of face masks. Also Read: Experts Urge People to Get Flu Shot, Fear a Possible 'Twindemic' as Flue Season Approaches The fight for the vaccine Last week, Russia claimed it had successfully developed a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine and registered the treatment for widespread use. The move under fire from criticism from several international and local experts, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would move to review Russia's developed vaccine and its results. Despite the hastened process, Moscow revealed that several countries had already reached out to try and acquire a portion of the vaccine, including Brazil, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. Petrovax, a private Russian firm, has been working with authorities to test a vaccine made by China's CanSino. The company also said it would work to develop a coronavirus vaccine in Moscow that would be distributed within the country and be given to former Soviet nations. Trump's administration, on the other hand, has not been public with its plans after developing its own supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Last week, Alex Azar, the secretary for Health and Human Services, said that the United States would share the vaccines it develops with other nations only after successfully meeting its own needs. China has successfully eradicated the coronavirus within its borders and gives Beijing added freedom to provide vaccines to other countries. Another possible reason for Beijing's generosity is the lack of infections within the country makes it difficult to test and research the safety and efficacy of its vaccine candidate. Related Article: FDA Authorizes 'SalivaDirect', Yale's COVID-19 Rapid Saliva Test @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Haseeba Qambranis daily routine revolves around praying, grieving, and protesting. The young woman in Pakistans restive southwestern province of Balochistan says she is doing everything in her power to bring back her disappeared brother and cousin, whom she says were taken by the security forces in February. She and her family are desperate to ensure that Hassan and Hizbullah Qambrani avoid the fate of their elder brothers Salman and Gazain Qambrani, whose mutilated bodies were found in August 2016 after a yearlong disappearance. Pakistani officials have not commented on this specific case. While they have declared the numbers of claims of disappearances in Balochistan to be exaggerated, they have taken a number of steps to find the thousands of disappeared who have gone missing across the countrys conflict zones and cities during the past two decades. For relatives, the fate of their disappeared loved ones is a constant agony. Every day Qambrani joins her sister to offer a wazifa or special prayer. While standing on one leg for nearly an hour, they recite specific verses of the Koran in the hope that a miracle will bring back their relatives. We are alive but have stopped living because we are living in a big void. All our waking hours are spent in the hope that my brothers will return, she told Radio Mashaal. We answer every knock on the door and every phone call in the hope that it might bring some news about our brother and cousin. She says her brother Hassan disappeared after he left the house to shop for groceries on February 14. That day, we kept on delaying dinner as we waited for him to return because my father wouldnt eat without him, she recalled. I tried to call him and I left a message, but he never replied. Later that night, an elderly woman in our neighborhood told us she had seen Hassan being taken away in a police van. Qambarnis ordeal came to the fore when her family joined a sit-in protest of ethnic Baluch families in the provincial capital, Quetta. For more than 11 years, hundreds of Baluch families have demanded the return of loved ones, mostly men, who have disappeared amid the two-decade-long separatist insurgency in the vast region bordering Iran and Afghanistan. We dont celebrate but just mourn, she said between sobs in a viral video of her first appearance at the protest in June that went viral. We dont know what else to do. Just have mercy and return our brothers. Hassan is among the thousands of disappeared Baluch whom families and politicians in the region say have been picked up by the security forces as part of counterinsurgency operations in the sparsely populated region. The issue has figured prominently in the regions politics for years. In June, the Balochistan National Party (BNP), a major ethno-nationalist group, left the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) political party. Akhtar Mengal, the BNP leader, blamed Islamabad for failing to find only a few hundred of the more than 5,128 people they had identified as missing. He says that since the new government assumed office more than 1,800 people have disappeared in Balochistan while the authorities have only found or reunited over 450 people. If you cant recover people, at least stop disappearing more people, he said. Abdul Malik Baloch, a former chief minister or most senior elected official in Balochistan, says the disappearances are directly linked to the Baluch nationalist insurrection. As long as the insurgency is not resolved, the disappearances will continue, he told the Independent Urdu. Whenever there is [a security] incident, they [the security forces] pick up 10 people. Maliks National Party, a secular group, is demanding a negotiated solution to the separatist insurgency in Balochistan, but Islamabad and leaders of the separatist groups have hardly engaged in any negotiations. Pakistani military and civilian officials are largely mum on the issue. A weeklong quest to get a comment about Qambranis case from senior officials did not succeed. Two senior officials working as spokespeople for Balochistans provincial government did not reply to repeated telephone calls, texts, and WhatsApp messages from Radio Mashaal. Lawmaker Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, leader of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party, recently told Reuters that the numbers of missing are "exaggerated." The claim is in line with a longstanding official view. Pakistani officials have maintained that the numbers of forced disappearances are exaggerated and say that many disappeared are not in government custody. Since 2011, a government-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has registered nearly 6,700 cases of forced disappearances across Pakistan. While the commission claims to have solved over 4,000 cases by tracing the missing, it has only registered over 500 cases from Balochistan. In July 2019, a Pakistani military spokesman said the Pakistani Army had set up a special cell in its headquarters to deal with the issue. But for many in Balochistan, the continued disappearance of their loved ones keeps their lives in a limbo. My mother always cries. She weeps when she looks at the three children of my dead brother and the baby that was born a few days before Hassans disappearance, she told Radio Mashaal. Even when she drinks or eats, she grieves and wonders whether her son is being fed. In the absence of a law declaring the practice illegal, a demand repeatedly made by human rights watchdogs and endorsed by Pakistani politicians, families such as Haseebas are unlikely to get the answers they are desperately seeking anytime soon. A six-year-old girl has been raped, tortured and bludgeoned to death with a stone before her body was dumped in a sack in Pakistan. The child, named locally as Seema, left her home to go outside and play in the city of Nowshera, in the north of the country. But when she failed to return home, mosques played calls on their loudspeakers on behalf of the girl's parents. Outraged social media users posted pictures of Seema, one with another child who is perhaps her brother, and another horrific image of the child's dead body, her face marked with bloody and blue bruises People helping in the search for Seema discovered a sack in a field and called the police, Gulf News reported. Police said that she had been tortured before her death, struck over the head and other parts of her body with a stone repeatedly. Outraged social media users posted pictures of the girl, one with another child who is perhaps her brother, and another horrific image of the child's dead body, her face marked with bloody and blue bruises. Human rights group Voice of Pakistan Minority, tweeted: 'Once again an angel left the Earth in pain and tears. A 6 yr old girl, Seema from Bajaur was raped and brutally murdered in Nowshera. Is this the kind of atmosphere we are creating for our children?' Earlier this year the city of Nowshera was rocked by the case of an eight-year-old girl who had been raped and murdered (stock image) It is not clear whether the police have any suspects or if arrests have been made. Earlier this year the city of 120,000 was rocked by the case of an eight-year-old girl who had been raped and murdered. The girl had gone to classes at the local madrassa in January and had not returned home in the evening. Two men were later arrested on suspicion of raping and killing the child. President Donald Trump shows a chart highlighting arms sales to Saudi Arabia during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it would not follow the United Arab Emirates and establish diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state had sealed a peace accord with the Palestinians. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters on a visit to Berlin that "peace must be achieved with the Palestinians" on the basis of international agreements as a condition for any normalisation of relations with Israel. "Once that is achieved all things are possible," he said. The surprise Israel-UAE deal last week is only the third such accord Israel has struck with an Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, and raises the prospect of similar accords with other pro-Western Gulf states. Until now, Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy, has maintained a conspicuous silence over the deal, but local officials have hinted that Riyadh is unlikely to immediately follow in the footsteps of its principle regional ally despite US pressure. At a news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Prince Faisal reiterated criticism of Israel's "unilateral policies" of annexation and building settlements in the West Bank as "illegitimate" and "detrimental" to a two-state solution. As part of the landmark deal, Israel agreed to suspend the annexation of occupied West Bank territories, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the plan was not off the table in the long run. Palestinians protested the deal as a betrayal by a major player in the Arab world, which has broadly held that normal ties with Israel are only possible once the dispute with the Palestinians is resolved. Prince Faisal noted that Saudi Arabia had sponsored 2002 Arab peace initiatives holding out the prospect of a normalisation of ties with Israel but said Riyadh now saw no road to diplomatic relations without a Palestinian peace deal. Despite all the advancements in technology and cybersecurity, bot scams are still very prevalent. T-Mobile is one of the latest victims of such bot frauds. Some eagle-eyed Redditors recently discovered that people from a tiny town in Pennsylvania have been winning a disproportionate number of T-Mobile Tuesdays giveaways. T-Mobile offers prizes including discount coupons, gift cards, tech gadgets, vacations, and much more through its T-Mobile Tuesdays giveaway program. It is a free-to-enter contest for the residents of the US, not necessarily a T-Mobile customer. Youd expect thousands of participants with a very small winning probability. However, a surprisingly huge portion of winners was coming from the tiny township of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Nearly a third of the publicly listed winners of one of the contests came from the town. Advertisement In May, 15 of 100 $100 gift card winners were located in Chadds Ford. Likewise, three winners of $500 and five winners of $200 gift cards in March were supposedly from the town. A Reddit user noted that since the start of the T-Mobile Tuesdays program in 2018, there have been 24 Chadds Ford winners. The town has a total population of about 3,700. In contrast, there have been only four winners from New York, 25 from Los Angeles, and 22 from Chicago. These cities have residents in millions. Certainly, there was something fishy about it. Redditors were into guessing game quickly, with some theories suggesting it could be the result of accidental coding. Maybe entries that were missing zip codes appeared to be from the town. Advertisement However, it turns out it was a bot fraud. The high number of Chadds Ford winners was related to bots submitting multiple entries, T-Mobile has confirmed to CNBC. Bots kept winning T-Mobile Tuesdays giveaways The CNBC report notes that this scam may have affected a relatively small amount of money. T-Mobile was anyway giving away the prizes, so it doesnt really impact the company at the financial level. However, bots winning away the prizes still cause frustration to some dedicated human T-Mobile Tuesdays players. It also reminds us how simple it is for even amateur hacker to deploy bots for a purpose like this. Tools that help conduct this kind of activity are widely available, the report adds. The scammer, in this case, used such tools to populate the fields in T-Mobiles entry form while using their own Chadds Ford address. Advertisement T-Mobile says it has put in additional safety measures and continues to monitor the issue. The company doesnt detail how it addresses the issue, neither does it provide any specifics on who was behind the bots. Hopefully, the prize money will go to actual players from here on. COLUMBIA With a campus that tentacles out into the Capital City, South Carolina's largest university is focused on keeping student coronavirus cases on campus. "Our cases will spike," University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen said Wednesday, the day before fall in-person and online classes begin. The university is taking a number of steps to contain those cases that naturally will occur when 31,000 students come together, including installing more campus cameras to track mask use and social distancing, emphasizing medical care to its own students and a promotional campaign aimed at encouraging safe student behavior, Caslen said. In making decisions, USC will not focus solely on the number of cases among students and faculty but whether the infections are spilling into the community, something the school will monitor closely, Caslen said. The school also insisted all students get tested before returning to campus and is requiring on masks on campus. Richland County accounts for the third most cases, more than 9,300, in South Carolina and has the state's fifth-highest positivity rate for coronavirus, averaging 23.5 percent over the past two weeks, according to state public health data. Applying the county's recent positivity rate to the USC student population and more than 7,000 students could become infected, or enough to fill about 40 percent of Colonial Life Arena. The school has 280 beds available on campus to quarantine students unable to isolate in their own dorm or apartment. If COVID-19 cases hit USC students and staff, they could fill up the few Capital City hospital beds that remain open. Hospitals in Richland and Lexington county reported occupancy rates of around 85 percent. This includes all patients, not just those hospitalized for COVID-19. Between the two counties, just 200 beds are available. COVID-19 patients make up about 14 percent of the roughly 8,100 people hospitalized statewide. Caslen said students he's talked to know what's at stake. "Frankly, they only need to look at other universities that have gone online recently to see the impact of bad behavior," he said. "They should also know we will not hesitate to go fully online as we did last March if student behavior does not match my confidence in them." The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made it one week into the fall semester before it was forced to scrap plans for in-person instruction. During that first week, 130 students and five employees tested positive for the coronavirus, with the positivity rate on campus swelling to about 14 percent and sending hundreds into isolation. Caslen expressed empathy for the University of North Carolina not being able to stay open. USC is the only large four-year college in the Palmetto State starting its semester with in-person instruction. "We have put lots of effort into this particular plan but outcomes matter," Caslen said. "Obviously none of us want the outcome that University of North Carolina experienced." USC has put a lot of stock in its student health care capabilities. But so did Chapel Hill faculty leaders said in warning. "UNC has some of the best public health, infectious disease (and) health communications folks in the country," Mimi Chapman, faculty chairwoman at UNC-Chapel Hill told NPR. "If we can't bring those resources to bear in the way that we did with a more successful result, I think it should give every other large public university in the country pause before going forward." Most of UNC's infections happened off campus, she said. Caslen said he has been pleased with student behavior he's witnessed so far at USC, but he also knows there are going to be exceptions. He's hopeful city and state mandates requiring masks, issuing 11 p.m. curfews on restaurant alcohol sales and policing house parties in Columbia's residential areas will be enough to hold violators accountable. On campus, the school has installed more cameras in high traffic areas to monitor mask wearing and social distancing. Caslen did not say what USC would do with video. The school also has used a promotional campaign, called I Pledge Columbia, to have students avoid risky behavior that could spread the virus. USC has conducted more than 8,000 coronavirus tests on campus, said Debbie Beck, director of the school's Student Health Services. About six new cases are being discovered daily. "We do believe testing before people move back to campus has really made a huge difference in our numbers as we start our new semester," she said. Love your family? Get tested. Hoping Minute Maid will open up to fans to see the Astros play? Get tested. Want to send your kids back to school safely? Get tested. Havent been tested in 30 days? Get tested. The words, slightly paraphrased, are from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner who, on Monday, reiterated the same message hes been repeating since the early days of the novel coronavirus pandemic.. Quite frankly, if you havent gotten tested, Turner said at a press briefing, youre being irresponsible by not going and getting tested. Can we get an Amen? Like Turner, we encourage Houstonians to get tested for COVID-19. It is one of the keys of controlling the virus spread, along with social distancing and contact tracing. Testing helps health officials determine the patterns of infection and alerts those who test positive of the need to quarantine before they can pass the virus onto other people. Testing is the best public health tool available that can indicate how well we are doing as a city in slowing the spread of COVID-19. It offers the information that Houston needs to develop its positivity rate, Porfirio Villarreal, the Houston Health Department spokesman, told the editorial board. Testing also enables the department to perform its contact tracing efforts, which provide guidance to people confirmed with the virus so they can reduce the chances of their family and friends becoming infected. By protecting their loved ones, people with this devastating virus can protect our community and our health care systems. But merely encouraging people to get tested is not enough. Turner and other local officials cant stop there. They must do all they can to first, make sure that tests and testing facilities are accessible to everyone, and second, to make sure theres a process for returning test results quickly. One disturbing trend: Fewer people are requesting tests, Villarreal says. While that may result in shorter lines and speed up the process, the drop in testing could also mean that the public is getting complacent exactly what Turner is warning against. We cant drop our guard. The coronavirus has not gone away and neither should our measures to contain it. In addition, Villarreal noted, the reporting of test results to public health entities is often delayed and missing key information. That hobbles efforts at contact tracing. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified during a July 31 hearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in order to do contact tracing, you need testing back within a reasonable period of time. At the same hearing, Adm. Brett Giroir, who serves as lead adviser on testing for President Donald Trumps administration, admitted that getting all test results back within 48 to 72 hours isnt possible because of the demand and the supply of tests. City and county officials have teamed with federal agencies to beef up testing capacity efforts that should continue. In early August, for example, the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services sent 30,000 nasal swab kits to Harris County Public Health to use for surge testing at Ken Pridgeon Stadium and San Jacinto College Central Campus. That increased the capacity at each site from 750 tests per day to 1,250, and sped results from 10-14 days to within three to five business days. These have been rushed to our area because of the need and because were seeing incredibly slow turnaround times, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at the time. In Harris County, about 580,000 tests have been conducted, according to the countys COVID-19 dashboard. The tests, however, were expected to run out by mid-August. Two additional high-volume capacity surge sites, run through the city of Houston Health Department at Darrell Tully Stadium and at the Kingwood Community Center, are expected to operate through Aug. 29. After that? Turner and other local officials must continue to demand that state and federal agencies provide additional testing kits and help to facilitate surge testing. They must push for testing sites to report results to public health officials within 24 hours and to provide all necessary information. Without access to testing and quick turnarounds for results, encouraging the public to get tested will just lead to increased backlogs and frustration. That wont help anyone. It could even hurt. KALEESWARAM RAJ By Rubin Carter, the famous black American boxer, was wrongfully convicted of triple murder in the 1960s. The trial proceedings were criticised for being racially prejudiced. The wrongful conviction became the feature of the song Hurricane written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy, part of which runs as follows: The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance / The judge made Rubins witnesses drunkards from the slums. The writers were not charged with contempt of court. Later, in the 1980s, Carter was released from jail based on the finding that his conviction was vitiated by racial bias. Acknowledgement of error is a great judicial virtue. But for pointing out the error, there has to be tolerance on the Bench. The Supreme Court has found lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt. The fact remains that both the tweets by Bhushan were critical of a public institution, the Supreme Court. The judgment can adversely impact judicial reforms in India. Reforms can happen only in a climate of outspoken criticism and unlimited deliberation. Only a continuous process of thesis, antithesis and synthesis can create an organic judiciary that is sensitive to peoples concerns. A pre-censorship on institutional criticism not only curtails freedom of expression, it also ultimately causes damage to the very institution of judiciary. The judgment by the Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra could happen because contempt power is vested with the court by virtue of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and the provision in the Constitution (Article 129). No one can dispute the need to have such a general power. Violation of a court order should result in an action for contempt or else the order may not be enforced. But the question of criminal contempt stands on a different footing altogether. Section 2(c) (i) of the 1971 Act defined criminal contempt as something that scandalises or tends to scandalise or lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court. The text of the law is so wide and elastic that anything critical could be brought within the ambit of this definition. The provision is vitiated by vagueness, whereas precision is the hallmark of law. The very existence of the law on criminal contempt has a chilling effect on critics at large. The law, therefore, is antithetical to the idea of deliberative democracy. The theme of this piece is simple and straightforward: Law of criminal contempt imperils the judiciary itself by perpetuating the evils within the system. Corruption, misbehaviour, incompetence and inefficiency are the vices affecting the judicial systems across the world and India is no exception. This is a fact acknowledged even in judicial pronouncements. We have an opaque system of appointment that is not capable of tracing out the best in terms of ethical, intellectual and professional parameters. Like several other countries, we also lack a mechanism that ensures judicial accountability. This could lead to the erosion of juridical values and institutional probity. This is the judicial ecosystem that calls for vigilance from the informal yet strong guardians of the Constitutionmembers of the bar and the media. This is the point where the law on criminal contempt commits its mischief. In 2013, the UK built up a twin tower of reforms. On the one hand, it amended the Constitutional Reform Act by democratising the process of appointment of judges to the higher courts with an independent commission and more transparent means for consultations. It also passed the Crime and Courts Act in the same year. Section 33 of the Act talks about abolition of scandalising the judiciary as a form of contempt of Court. The statute clarifies that scandalising the court or judges will not be treated as a form of contempt of court under the common law of England and Wales. After a span of about seven years, there is no empirical evidence to show that the judiciary in the UK was put to disrepute due to the change in law. The indications are quite the opposite. In India, the top court by and large has taken a liberal approach that did not favour the frequent or indiscriminate use of the contempt power as it will not help to sustain the dignity or status of the court (In the matter of: Under Article 143 of the Constitution, 1964). In Re: S Mulgaokar (1978) and in Shiv Shankar (1988), the court invoked its jurisdictional liberalism. Justice Krishna Iyer in Mulgaokar wrote in his characteristic style: Every commission of contempt need not erupt in indignant committal or demand punishment, because judges are judicious, their valour non-violent and their wisdom goes into action when played upon by a volley of values, the least of which is personal protection... Unlike the other limbs of the state, the judiciary is not exposed to the sunlight, the best disinfectant, as termed by Justice Brandeis. This, in turn, makes the need for reforms crucial and fundamental. Robert H Bork, who was a great American jurist, said: Our courts are behaving badly and the public, to the degree it can be brought to understand that, will exert force for reform, a reform that must be structural as well as intellectual and moral. The sword of criminal contempt annihilates judicial democracy, ultimately rendering the court less and less accountable. KALEESWARAM RAJ Lawyer, Supreme Court of India (kaleeswaramraj@gmail.com) A serial public order offender arrested for lying drunk on a hospital floor and refusing to leave was found hurling abuse at passengers on a bus the next day, a court heard. Vincent Murphy (61) was so addicted to alcohol that he was advised against stopping drinking completely as that would be worse for him. Judge Michael Walsh gave him a two-month suspended sentence. Murphy, with an address at homeless accommodation on Thomas Street, pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour and public drunkenness. Dublin District Court heard that last August 24, gardai were called to St James's Hospital emergency department, where Murphy was lying on the ground and refusing to leave after being discharged. He was slurring, unsteady on his feet and was so drunk he was a danger to himself. Gardai were called to St Helena's Road in Finglas the following day. Apologised Murphy was refusing to get off a bus, was abusive to gardai and members of the public and refused to follow garda directions. He had 205 previous convictions, including 41 for public order offences, as well as criminal damage and other charges. The accused had been plagued by alcohol addiction all his life, his barrister Anne Sheridan said. He apologised to the hospital, gardai and Dublin Bus for his behaviour, which was not something he would engage in when sober, Ms Sherdian said. It had been a "particularly bad time" for him and he had been drinking heavily. He was waiting for a place in a detox programme, but had not stopped drinking entirely. Murphy had been advised not to because the level of his addiction meant it would be worse for him. He had a heart condition, was on a cocktail of medication and required a walking aid to get around. "It seems to me if this gentleman doesn't give up the drink, the drink will give him up," Judge Walsh said. He suspended the sentence for two years. The Accra Regional Police Command has arrested three suspected robbers for their alleged involvement in series of robberies in the Accra Metropolis. Shamsu Alhassan @Shaalolo, 23, trader, Abdul Wahab Yakubu aka Emba, 22, motor rider and Mumuni Iddrisu aka Toli, 21, motor rider were said to be behind the robbery of a pharmacy shop at Dansoman as well as snatching of several motorbikes. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge, Head of Public Affairs Unit (PAU) of the Command told the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday. She said the three conspired and robbed a Pharmacy shop at Dansoman Exhibition, where they parked their unregistered Royal motorbike in front of the pharmacy shop, entered and ordered the sales girl to hand over all monies to them at gunpoint. DSP Tenge said Alhassan entered the manager's office and took an unspecified amount of money in addition, adding that in an attempt to escape, an alarm was raised leading to his arrest. She said his accomplice, Yakubu who tried to escape with the motorbike was also arrested by a Police patrol team. She said Iddrisu was later arrested at his hideout at Mataheko where they all confessed having committed separate robberies under the same modus including one at a boutique also in Dansoman. DSP Tenge said they also confessed being behind a number of attacks and robbery on motor riders in and around New Achimota, Dansoman KitKat, Kaneshie, and Awudome all suburbs in Accra. She said a typical case in perspective was the attack, snatching of motorbike and murder of one Ahmed Mohammed on 20th January, 2020 at Abbosey Okai Fan Milk area. She said Police investigations revealed that he was hired for his services as a motor rider, attacked on the way and his motorbike taken from him by suspects Shamsu Alhassan and Mumuni Iddrisu who have been mentioned in that robbery operation. The police have since retrieved the unregistered Royal motorbike which they used in perpetrating these crimes and a black polythene bag containing a quantity of Indian hemp. In a related development, the Command has noticed that for the past four months, there had been a trend in street robberies which had to do with attacking and robbing motorbike riders especially those using motorbikes for commercial purposes. She said a member of the gang would hire the motor rider to an unknown location with an accomplice waiting at a vantage point, and the moment the rider gets to their desired location, they would attack him with an offensive weapon (knife, club, and others), and overpower him. According madam Tenge once they succeeded in getting the motorbike it would be taken away but any resistance from the victim may lead to his death. She said sometimes they monitored areas where activities of motorbikes were mostly concentrated and devise strategies to launch attacks, other times they pilfer unattended to or parked motorbikes. Madam Tenge said the stolen bikes would later be used in facilitating further criminal activities in the metropolis or send to the Northern part of the country to be sold. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Resolutions and declarations are the results of political compromises and nothing else. They merely languish in the hinterland of global rhetoric, to be used or not by countries at their behest. by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne Writing from Montreal Inequality is neither economic nor technological. It is ideological and political. Thomas Piketty, Capital and Ideology There is no such thing called pandemic law. At least, not in a general sense as in environmental law, criminal law or contract law. For that matter, there was no such thing as environmental law until the Stockholm Conference of 1972, which was initiated to discuss the threat of acid rain. Until this point in time, public international law was neither concerned with environmental protection nor with the interests of the climate and the rapidity with which it could change for the worse due to our own feckless insouciance. Either we were not aware of the dangers of our own actions or there were other important things to worry about. Inevitably, as Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said, we thought that nothing would happen if we interfered with the environment as little as possible. But wittingly or unwittingly we did interfere big, with catastrophic consequences. The same scenario could be seen as being played out with the current pandemic. Like environmental abuse, which now has far reaching consequences politically, economically and socially, the pandemic, hitherto not in the radar of the international community and forgotten as a global threat, since a global pandemic was last experienced a hundred years ago, has shown substantial effects adverse to humanity, firstly to life itself but also to the economic and social well being of the entire international community. It has even threatened global security, as TIME of 18 May 2020 reported, that ISIS militants on May 1 carried out an attack on Iraqi paramilitary forces killing 10. TIME said: Amid the COVID 19 pandemic, the US troop drawdown, and Iraqs internal political crisis, experts say ISIS is exploiting security gaps and shifting its tactics from intimidation and assassinations to more sophisticated techniques. The UNs Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to the COVID 19 Crisis has warned that The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it is affecting societies and economies at their core. While the impact of the pandemic will vary from country to country, it will most likely increase poverty and inequalities at a global scale, making achievement of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) even more urgent. This statement shows it is therefore incontrovertible that there is a compelling need to seriously consider a global response that would establish legal norms establishing State responsibility in the event of an initial outbreak of a communicable disease, as well as the prudent and responsible management practices of an outbreak. This article does not serve to suggest the usual Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly as a panacea to the horrific threat the world faces which has upended almost every aspect of human conduct and living. In 2018 we saw a Resolution on Tuberculosis. The UN stated: the General Assembly adopted two resolutions containing political declarations on urgent global responses to tuberculosis and on accelerating efforts to address non-communicable diseases. By the terms of the resolution Political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the fight against tuberculosis the Assembly adopted the Declaration United to End Tuberculosis: An Urgent Global Response to a Global Epidemic, by which world leaders pledged to end the global tuberculosis epidemic by 2030 and acknowledged that the disease disproportionately affects developing countries. Resolutions and declarations are the results of political compromises and nothing else. They merely languish in the hinterland of global rhetoric, to be used or not by countries at their behest. With the COVID pandemic, the world would need more than just resolutions or declarations or goals. We would need an instrument that could enforce accountability on negligent countries, whether in the monitoring of sanitary conditions within their territories or in disseminating news of a pandemic threat without delay. It is inexcusable that these two elements are not covered in a binding and enforceable legal document. Such an instrument should not be the relegated to entering into force upon a certain number of ratifications, nor should it be subject to applicability only to countries which ratify the treaty. A multilateral treaty in this context should transcend borders and proprietary rights in order that sickness, death and inequality caused by a global pandemic be obviated. Thomas Piketty says in his book (quoted above) : more generally, inequality today is strongly influenced by the system of borders and national sovereignty, which determines the allocation of social and political rights. This has given rise to intractable multidimensional ideological conflicts over inequality, immigration and national identity Piketty is right: borders and national sovereignty have amply demonstrated the miserable failure of some countries in handling the pandemic crisis which has led to several hundreds of thousands of deaths in addition to poverty and misery. The sovereignty that is relevant in the carving of a global instrument against the proliferation of communicable viruses should be based on, what Richard Haas, Chief of the Foreign Relations Council called sovereign responsibility, which means that sovereignty should not stop at borders but extend to helping countries and their people who might suffer as a result of arbitrary and capricious decisions of leaders taken under the shroud of national sovereignty. The most important characteristic of a global treaty in this context must be the requirement to be recognized as an instrument of customary law which is applicable to all members of the United Nations, irrespective of ratification. In effect, such a treaty would be on par with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 which applies globally without exception. In the final analysis, addressing the devastating effects of the COVID pandemic is a matter of State responsibility. It is already an entrenched principle of international law that territoriality can be overridden by extra territorial measures by individual countries on the principle of the effects theory. This theory goes to say that a country has a legal right to legislate beyond its borders against a threat which would have an adverse effect on its territory and people. Therefore conceptually, countries have a legal right to hold legally responsible other countries whose negligent actions would adversely affect them, as it has happened with the current pandemic. With the bizarre state of affairs we are currently in when it comes to nationalism and populism, the question as to how a mandatory instrument of customary international law would be globally acceptable, let alone be conceived and developed, is another issue. Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline Brisbane, Aug 18, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP ) ( FRA:C9J ) ( OTCMKTS:CPTLF ) has signed an agreement with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group ("AGIG") and Macquarie Mereenie Pty Ltd ("Macquarie Mereenie") to progress towards a Final Investment Decision for the development of the Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline ("AMGP"). The AMGP is a proposed major new gas transmission pipeline that would provide direct access from the Amadeus Basin in the Northern Territory to the Moomba gas supply hub in South Australia.AMGP OverviewCentral currently supplies gas to customers in the Northern Territory ("NT") and Mt Isa. In order to sell gas into the southern parts of the east coast market, gas is transported over 2,200km via Mt Isa to the Moomba gas supply hub in South Australia ("Moomba"). The AMGP would be less than half that distance, allowing for significantly lower gas transportation costs from the NT to the east coast via a direct pipeline connection to Moomba.The AMGP is planned to be a 950km pipeline, up to 16-inch in diameter with free-flow capacity of 124TJ per day (45PJ per year), and would be expandable with compression.The AMGP project is well defined, having previously completed font-end engineering and design as the subject of a firm offer by AGIG under the North East Gas Interconnect ("NEGI") process conducted in 2015. The AMGP project is targeting a Final Investment Decision ("FID") in 2H of 2021, which AGIG advises would enable commencement of construction in 2022 and deliveries of first gas in Q1 of 2024.Potential Benefits of the AMGP1) Stimulate new gas supplies and new gas suppliers from existing reserves and large prospective resources in the NT to help mitigate a forecast east coast gas supply shortfall from 2024.2) Create efficiencies within the east coast gas market through significantly reduced gas transportation costs between the NT and east coast gas customers.3) Efficient and highly responsive gas storage services to support growing, but intermittent, renewable energy generation.4) Improved gas market liquidity and supply security within the NT and the centrally located Moomba gas supply hub.5) Major energy infrastructure project aligned to state and national energy initiatives.6) New employment and royalties for the NT and indigenous communities through increased and more cost-competitive onshore gas production.NT Gas SupplyCentral's operated fields in the Amadeus Basin have approximately 200PJ of uncontracted conventional gas reserves (gross JV) which can be supplied to market through the AMGP. There are also additional third-party uncontracted conventional gas reserves that could participate as foundation volumes to supply the east coast from 2024.Central will seek to increase production capacity from its three operated NT gas fields to 80TJ/d for delivery via the AMGP. The production capacity can be increased by accelerating the drilling of development wells and debottlenecking or expanding existing production facilities at Mereenie, Palm Valley and Dingo.Aside from already established reserves, Central's planned Amadeus Basin exploration program to be completed in 2021 consists of three exploration wells and two appraisal targets, aiming to mature over 100PJ of 2C resources (gross JV) and 590PJ of prospective gas resources (mean unrisked, 100% Central). Gas discoveries resulting from this exploration program, as well as all of Central's future NT exploration activity in the underexplored, but highly prospective Amadeus Basin (such as Dukas), would directly benefit from the AMGP.In the longer term, the AMGP could directly assist the east coast market by transporting gas from several large discovered offshore gas fields or the various unconventional exploration programs that are currently underway in the NT.Agreement DetailsThe agreement is a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") executed by Central's wholly owned subsidiary, Central Petroleum Projects Pty Ltd, Macquarie Mereenie, and AGIG as the AMGP project developer and owner ("AMGP Proponents").The MOU provides for the AMGP Proponents to progress in good faith on an exclusive basis towards various milestones for the development of the AMGP, including a foundation gas transportation agreement and an FID in 2H 2021. The MOU contains the initial proposed AMGP gas transportation tariff structure, provision for gas storage services on the pipeline, and other foundation shipper entitlements. The MOU may be terminated under various scenarios, such as where certain milestones are not achieved.AGIGAGIG is one of the largest gas infrastructure businesses in Australia with 2 million customers and 4,400 km of transmission pipelines across all Australian states and the NT. In 2019, AGIG successfully constructed the 440km Tanami Pipeline in the NT.AGIG's Chief Executive Officer, Ben Wilson said "we are delighted to partner with Central Petroleum and Macquarie Mereenie by signing an MOU for the development of this significant new pipeline. We are focused on delivering for our customers, and also benefitting the gas markets in the NT and in Eastern Australia".Significant National InfrastructureCentral's CEO and Managing Director, Leon Devaney, said "the implications of the AMGP project are huge, not just for Central and the NT, but for the entire east coast gas market. The AMGP is strongly aligned with various initiatives to boost east coast gas supply as traditional supplies from Bass Strait and the Cooper Basin decline. When you look at the distribution of untapped gas resources across Australia, the AMGP makes perfect sense given the large volumes of onshore and offshore gas available in the NT. What makes the AMGP stand out above other potential east coast supply proposals, is the pipeline efficiently connects significant known conventional gas reserves from proven producing fields to east coast demand centres from 2024 which is forecast to have gas supply shortages. The initiative should also stimulate new gas development from the NT's large and diverse array of prospective gas resources.""I am very excited to be working on this important energy infrastructure project with Macquarie Mereenie and AGIG, two highly competent and proven participants in the gas and pipeline sectors," added Mr Devaney.About Central Petroleum Limited Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market. Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision. We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The automotive regenerative braking system market is anticipated to garner a CAGR of 11% during the forecast period (2018-2023), Market Research Future (MRFR) reveals in a detailed report. A regenerative braking system in automotive can be referred to as an energy recovery system, which helps to convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy. Market Potential and Pitfalls The automotive regenerative braking system market is driven by factors such as increased sales of electric vehicles, rising traffic congestion, and the declining price of lithium-ion battery. With shifting preference of consumers towards environment-friendly vehicles like hybrid and electric vehicles and soaring demand for improved vehicle performance, the automotive regenerative braking system market is estimated to experience a thrust. The contribution of the automotive industry in greenhouse gas emission has increased due to the surging sales of vehicles during the past few years. The rising content of greenhouse gas is creating severe problems related to the environment, such as global warming and climatic change. The soaring level of greenhouse gases has resulted in a high demand to limit its emission by vehicles. Implementation of regenerative braking systems will not only reduce the greenhouse gas emission but will help to increase the fuel efficiency at the same time. To adhere to strict government mandates, the adoption of regenerative braking systems has increased in the automotive industry. This has further led to mergers, product launches, acquisitions, and collaborations. On the contrary, due to the functional complexities of the components, the manufacturing cost increases, which restricts the market growth to a great extent. Global Automotive Regenerative Braking System Market: Segmental Analysis The automotive regenerative braking system market has been segmented on the basis of vehicle type, electric vehicle, and system type. By vehicle type, the automotive regenerative braking system market is segmented into passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles. Of these, the passenger cars segment is likely to drive the market growth. The regenerative braking system market for passenger cars is growing rapidly due to the surging number of electric cars in countries like Japan, the U.S.A., and China. By system type, the automotive regenerative braking system market is segmented into flywheel, battery, hydraulics, and ultra-capacitors. The hydraulic system is highly being adopted in the utility vehicle segment. Hydraulics have more power density, better potential efficiency, and better energy storage efficiency, which augments its growth. By electric vehicles, the automotive regenerative braking system market is segmented into hybrid electric vehicles, battery vehicle, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Of these, the plug-in electric vehicle segment is likely to gain prominence due to continuous support and promotion by governments towards using green energy. Regional Frontiers Geographically, the automotive regenerative braking system market spans across the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World (RoW). Considering the global scenario, North America will dominate the automotive regenerative braking system market globally, mainly due to the existence of major industry players in the region. The increased penetration of electric vehicles in the region is predicted to contribute to the markets growth. Europe is likely to acquire a substantial share in the global market due to the soaring awareness regarding greenhouse gas emission, coupled with fuel consumption. The presence of industry bigshots in the region like Robert Bosch GMBH, Continental AG, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG is expected to encourage the market growth. Moreover, Germany being one of the leading exporters of automotive parts will have a positive impact on the regional market. The Asia Pacific will generate the highest growth rate during the assessment period, mainly due to increased urbanization, which has resulted in rising penetration of plug-in hybrid electric and hybrid vehicles. The surging production and sales of automobiles in China and India are predicted to create growth opportunities for the market in the coming years. Competitive Dashboard The top players operating in the global automotive regenerative braking system market include Robert Bosch GMBH (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Germany), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), ADVICS North America, Inc. (the US), Denso Corporation (Japan), Mazda Motor (Japan), Autoliv Nissin Brake Systems Co., Ltd. (Japan), Faurecia SA (France), Delphi Automotive PLC (US), and TRW Automotive (US). This year, over 500 million people will watch an Instagram Story every day, and over one third of those videos are business-related. Not surprisingly, LinkedIn announced earlier this year that it's testing a similar feature called LinkedIn Stories. According to a blog post written by Pete Davies, LinkedIn's head of Consumer Products, the company was looking for a new way for members to interact in a professional context thats not too heavy. (Stories) spread for a good reason: they offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever, Davies wrote. But should you use LinkedIn Stories? Sure, its similar to other platforms stories features and would be easy to pick up, but should you use it? In a word, yes. With LinkedIn Stories, youll have a unique opportunity to show off your business from a new perspective and engage with your audience in a way theyre used to. 3 ways to leverage LinkedIn Stories If youve already been posting Stories on other channels, it wont be that difficult to pivot over to LinkedIn Stories once its released to all users. Here are three ways you can use it for your business. 1. Share Q&As featuring thought leaders. People love to follow thought leaders on LinkedIn, so why not feature them on a Stories Q&A session? Choose one that has a good following on LinkedIn, so you bring awareness to your brand and cross-promote it with your chosen person. Remember, the thought leader might already be inside your organization, making it even easier to create. You can film the Q&A session with pre-planned questions, but if LinkedIn follows Instagrams lead, they may also add in a feature where people can ask questions directly during the session. Related: LinkedIn Adds Audio Recording Option to Help With Name Pronunciation 2. Share customer testimonial stories. No matter what generation you belong to, chances are you trust recommendations from people than any other type of content marketing. Thats what makes testimonials such a valuable marketing tool. As millennials and Gen Z become company decision-makers, theyll be looking for products and services that are proven to make their professional work lives easier. Theyll create the shortlist of vendors, so filming your happy customers on LinkedIn Stores could be a great way to capture their attention. 3. Use stories as a new customer success channel. As Davies wrote, The sequencing of the Stories format is great for sharing key moments (and) the full-screen narrative style makes it easy to share tips and tricks that help us work smarter. Meaning, you could create Stories that explain how your products help professionals work more efficiently, show off how they solve industry-wide problems, and more. You can even adapt your text-based content for the same purpose, engaging people differently through LinkedIn. Related: How to Quickly Update Your LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Stories is coming As LinkedIn tests Stories and rolls it out globally, itll be interesting to see what features they include. According to some Brazilian users who have it already: Stories are only available through the mobile app. Members will be able to share their Stories directly with other LinkedIn members via message. The maximum length of a Story is 20 seconds. Members will be able to control what profile information is displayed in the Stories viewer list through their account settings. Introducing Stories makes sense for LinkedIn. Social media engagement data shows that Stories are how the next generation of social media users communicate with each other. Instagrams seen an 80 percent increase in the time that users spend watching videos on the platform, and videos receive twice the engagement of photos on it. LinkedIn is merely looking to capitalize on those engagement numbers by offering professionals a way to create these short-form videos that are entertaining, informative, and are increasing in use. LinkedIn Stories will be another channel to demonstrate your brands or business creativity and authenticity in a way thatll build and nurture your professional relationships. People at all stages of their careers can use Stories to become more productive and successful. Related: What You Need to Know About the LinkedIn Stories Feature 5 Tips To Build Your Personal Brand On LinkedIn in 2020 The Counterintuitive Way Social Media Can Reduce Stress Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Elodie Cuzin and Michael Mathes (Agence France-Presse) Milwaukee/Washington, United States Wed, August 19, 2020 11:15 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f0d874 2 World Donald-Trump,Republican-nomination,White-House,Joe-Biden,Democratic-National-Convention Free US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would accept his party's re-election nomination from the White House next week, as his Democratic opponents intensified their attacks on his chaotic presidency and touted Joe Biden as the must-elect replacement. Trump made the revelation as the Democratic National Convention gathered for its second day, with two ex-presidents preparing to unleash their own arguments against the White House incumbent. The lineup features Jimmy Carter, who served one term from 1977, and 1990s commander-in-chief Bill Clinton, who will say the Trump White House is swirling with chaos instead of the competence necessary to address the nation's crises. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos," Clinton said in speech excerpts released by convention organizers. "Just one thing never changes -- his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame," Clinton said. "The buck never stops there." Democrats are gathering virtually over four days to formally nominate Biden and showcase why their candidate should replace Trump. The president faced a barrage of criticism on opening night, most notably from former first lady Michelle Obama who said Trump lacks the character and skills for the job. "I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive," Trump told reporters at the White House. In her pre-taped remarks to the convention -- which has gone almost entirely online because of the coronavirus pandemic -- Obama urged Americans to rally behind Biden, her husband's former vice president, in the November 3 presidential election. Trump's White House is marred by "chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy," Barack Obama's wife said in unprecedented criticism of a sitting US president by a former first lady. "Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country," she added. "He is clearly in over his head." Later Tuesday on a visit to battleground state Arizona, Trump knocked Obama for delivering taped remarks. "Thursday night I'm doing it live," Trump said, referring to his speech next week when he formally accepts his party's nomination at the Republican convention, which has also shifted online. Trump said he has chosen the White House South Lawn as the location, after saying in recent weeks that he would pick between the presidential mansion and the historic battlefield at Gettysburg. Delivering such an obviously political speech from the White House will stir substantial controversy, as presidents are required to separate their campaigning from taxpayer-funded governing. Loyal top supporter In addition to Clinton and Carter, Tuesday's lineup will feature Jill Biden, who has been married to the candidate since 1977. The educator from Pennsylvania, who served eight years as second lady, has campaigned at length for Biden, repeatedly speaking of his values and commitment to everyday Americans. The educator from Pennsylvania will deliver a personal, high-stakes prime-time testimonial about her husband, including how the personal tragedy of the death of his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash has shaped him. "How do you make a broken family whole?" she will say. "The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding -- and with small acts of compassion. With bravery. With unwavering faith." The camp is promoting Joe Biden as a unifier. In their appeal to middle-of-the-road voters and frustrated Republicans the convention will feature a video of the unlikely friendship between Biden and late Republican senator John McCain, narrated by his widow Cindy McCain. Republican former secretary of state Colin Powell is also reportedly set to deliver videotaped remarks in which he endorses Biden. But the convention is also about unifying Democratic factions, and to that end New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star in the progressive wing of the party, is speaking. The convention on Tuesday will holds the formal vote by more than 3,900 delegates from 50 states and seven territories who choose the party's nominee. Biden clinched that race in early June when he secured the majority 1,991 delegates needed to win the nomination. Former president Obama will speak on Wednesday along with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California. The convention culminates on Thursday when the 77-year-old Biden formally accepts the Democratic nomination and delivers his acceptance speech. US presidential nominating conventions are traditionally raucous affairs featuring rousing speeches, balloons and confetti and thousands of delegates from around the country. But the Democratic gathering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and next week's Republican event in North Carolina have been forced to go almost entirely online because of the COVID-19 outbreak. This past April, COVID-19 pandemic was in full display with many events being postponed or canceled. As a result, the 20th Annual Finger Lakes Wine Competition was postponed until July 14, 15, and 16. Resources were mobilized to ensure a safe environment during the three days of judging. Normally, this prestigious event has a wide distribution of judges from all over the USA with 25 percent of the judges being from other countries. This years travel limitations restricted this diversity of judges to 15 from New York, one from Pennsylvania, and another from Kentucky. Judges were invited from areas of low risk COVID-19 and were required to travel by car. These judges were supported by 30 volunteers and event staff during the three days of judging. All were required to be masked and sequestered for safety during the three days. Panels of three were formed to taste and judge the wines during highly regulated blind wine tastings. Only wine varietals, colors, smells, tastes, and texture were judged with no indications of price of the wine and the winery. The judges were sequestered in groups to taste over 2,000 wines from twelve different countries, including 34 states and four Canadian provinces. Imagine sipping wines, swirling, swishing, and spitting out hundreds of wines each day. I can tell you from experience that your taste buds are overwhelmed after tasting and evaluating 50 wines so your nose becomes the best part of your wine judging experiences. You have to spit out the wine delicately in front of others. Even with the spitting, your tongue absorbs a lot of alcohol during the course of the tasting day. After three days of judging, the results are that the judges are exhausted from judging and assessing wines. However, the results were exhilarating with 1,428 medals awarded to wineries willing to go the extra effort to submit their wines. Wines were judged with Bronze Medals given to good wines, Silver Medals to great wines, and Gold Medals to exceptional wines. If a wine panel of three judged the wine as a Gold Medal, that wine was given the Double Gold Medal. Fifteen Texas wineries entered this competition during the COVID-19 outbreak. Earning a total of 57 medals. A Double Gold Medal was awarded to Pedernales 2017 Malbec. Grapes for this outstanding wine were sourced from Lahey, Evans, Newsom, and Farmhouse Vineyards on the Texas Hill Plains. This exceptional wine contains 95 percent Malbec and 5 percent Petit Syrah, all Texas grapes. I notice this wine is on sale at Total Wine for under $16 per bottle. The winning wines at these International Wine Competitions are normally featured at wine dinners and extravaganzas. In this case, an online auction is to be held which will benefit a summer camp serving those with cancer and sickle cell anemia. Ron Saikowski may be reached at rsaikowski@comcast.net. WESTPORT The spirit of J.D. Salinger is returning to Westport. Kind of. Four letters penned by the reclusive American author are available for sale by Westport-based University Archives. Three of the four letters were written in Westport where Salinger lived while writing The Catcher in the Rye and all evoke that same narcissistic writing style which made the novel famous. What I think is really interesting is: Here theyve returned home to Westport and theyve been out and about everywhere, and here they are, back to the birthplace of Catcher in the Rye, said John Reznikoff, founder and President of University Archives. Reznikoff, a Stamford native, is an expert authenticator for historical autographs. The letters are written in kind of sarcastic neoism and disdain for establishment which is kind of the point of Catcher in the Rye, he said. All four of the letters were written to Joyce Miller, a staffer at The New Yorker in the late 1940s and 50s, when Salinger was publishing stories in the magazine and writing The Catcher in the Rye. Three of the letters come with the original envelopes with a return address of Box 365, Westport, CT. Salinger lived at an unknown address on Old Road in 1949 and 1950. As is known with Salinger, he was interested in young ladies and seduced them with his writing, Reznikoff said. We dont know the full nature of their relationship, but theres a lot of speculation out there. Two of the letters are in an online-only auction University Archives is conducting that goes live at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The other two are for sale at fixed prices. Of the two letters in the auction, one was typed and one was handwritten. The typed letter from Westport, with a postmark of May 30, 1950 is on a single page and is hand-signed Love Jerry, Miss You. In it, he alludes repeatedly to the piece he was writing and his deadline The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951. The typed letter has a starting bid of $3,500 and an estimated value of $7,000-$9,000. The handwritten letter in the auction is six pages long, extensively and neatly penned by Salinger on both sides of three sheets of The Drake Hotel stationary. It is dated Feb. 19, 1969 19 years after his Westport life. That letter has a starting bid of $5,000 and is expected to finish at $10,000-$12,000. In the letter, Salinger describes himself as an egoist I remain and a graying child. Years ago, I half-started to send you two drawings in ink I did, one of you and, narcissistically, one of me, as we looked to see each other, in turn outside your apartment building in White Plains. How many times I have remembered those particular appearances, Salinger wrote. The two fixed-price letters were handwritten a month apart, in Westport in May 1950. The one considered more desirable, with a selling price of $15,000, has Salinger telling Miller, Thank God the sun is shining today and Friday Ill see you. I cant think of anything better than that. The other letter for sale, with a price of $8,500, is also a single page, handwritten and signed by Salinger. In it, he invites Miller to join him for an evening in New York City. Next Friday, the 19th, an old friend of mine in New York is throwing a May wine party in the late afternoon. Will you go with me? We could meet at, say, the Biltmore around 6:15, then later on have dinner and drive back to White Plains. I hope you can make it, he wrote. Reznikoff said it was easy to identify the Salinger letters as authentic. More Information For more information about the two Salinger letters being sold at auction and the two Salinger letters offered for sale at fixed prices by University Archives, visit www.universityarchives.com. See More Collapse What any authenticator does ... they look at the handwriting and compare it to known handwriting examples, Reznikoff said. These reek of authenticity from the get-go because they are all to the same person and theyre entire letters. Forgers dont forge entire hand-written letters. KKrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A third-party contractor that provides service to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History was recently the target of a ransomware attack, according to a statement released Tuesday. The statement said that Blackbaud, a third-party security service provider, managed to thwart the attack when they noticed it in May. The museum said Blackbauds cybersecurity team, along with independent forensics experts and law enforcement, kept the attacker from blocking Blackbauds system access and fully encrypting files. Rachel Rieger, who works in the museums marketing department, said the museum was indirectly affected by the attack, and that Blackbaud was directly targeted. Meenakshi Sharma, the museums chief strategy officer, said Blackbaud informed the museum of the attack. Sharma said the hackers stole no information from the museum, and Rieger added that no personal information such as Social Security numbers and credit card information was stolen. The museum shared information about the attack on Blackbaud with constituents, including employees, customers and visitors. Blackbaud said in a release that the hacker managed to remove some data before it booted the hacker from its system. Blackbaud paid the ransom the hacker demanded, but did not disclose the cost. The company insisted it received confirmation that the hacker destroyed the data it stole. Based on the nature of the incident, Blackbauds research, and third-party (including law-enforcement) investigation, we have no reason to believe that any data went beyond the cybercriminal, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly, the museum wrote in its release. Blackbaud helps provide data intelligence and cloud software, services and expertise for the museum and a host of other companies. The company provides these products and services to help empower and connect people to drive impact for social good, according to its website. It is unclear how the hacker accessed the network. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History said to be watchful and report suspicious activity or identity theft to them, Blackbaud as well as law enforcement. Anyone with questions or concerns can email the museum at infoservices@cmnh.org. The Special Aide and Political Strategist of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Andy Owusu, is expected to lead the operational and grounds duties of the party in the impending December 7 electioneering campaign in the region. Andy Owusu, who is part of the 35 member Regional Campaign Team inaugurated on Tuesday, will be coordinating all activities involving other identifiable groups such as Volunteers, IT and Media, including social media. The team also has a young journalist and Press Secretary to the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ridwan Issah Alhassan, leading the media front as the party seeks to consolidate power in its stronghold. The Ashanti Regional branch of the ruling party has already set its sight on annexing all the 47 seats with its agenda 47/47. The appointment of Andy Owusu and his team is seen as a positive step towards realizing this objective. Last week, regional executives were in jubilant mood following what it said was a successful mass registration exercise which saw them hitting the 3 million target set for itself by the end of the exercise. A pressure within the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC), Ashanti NDC Youth Caucus, was on record to have scolded its executives for their lackadaisical attitude towards the registration. They accused their executives of giving Chairman Wontumi and his team 'a freeway' to operate in the region without any clear cut strategy to match him. The NDC has the Ashanti Region as its third-largest stronghold after garnering over 400,000 votes in the 2016 elections, though it failed woefully to achieve the much talked about 1 million votes it had anticipated. With the just ended voters register not going their way, there are fears the party's fortunes will further shrink with the NPP targeting 90% of the total voter turnout on December 7. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The drama has been unstoppable on this season of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. But the ladies are hoping they can play nice during Teddi Mellencamp's baby shower, which will air during tonight's episode of the Bravo hit. Pals Dorit Kemsley and Kyle Richards pulled out all the stops for the celebration, which Mrs. Kemsley teased on her Instagram Wednesday. Dorit was proud to flaunt her party planning chops, especially since the event was held at Buca di Beppo's upscale Capri Room which she recently helped redesign. Scroll down for video Party planner: Dorit Kemsley hosted Teddi Mellencamp's baby shower at Buca di Beppo's upscale Capri Room which she recently helped redesign Sneak peek! Dorit teased the soiree on her Instagram Wednesday Uh oh: Mellencamp hinted at chaos in a group photo from the event, which was captioned: 'Aint no baby shower like a Bev Hills baby shower' The charming space was the perfect place for Teddi's pink and yellow-themed soiree. Lemons decorated the rafters along with several clotheslines pinned with baby onesies. Yellow tablecloths were offset by pink bouquets running down the center of the table. Guests were treated to a sunshine yellow three-tiered cake with a baby carriage on top. Pink mini cupcakes flanked the main attraction. Dorit was thrilled to show off the Capri Room, telling followers: 'It was a proud moment for me to see my vision for this room come alive and it was so fun to decorate the room specifically for the shower!' Lovely: The charming space was the perfect place for Teddi's pink and yellow-themed soiree Yum: Guests were treated to a sunshine yellow three-tiered cake with a baby carriage on top. Pink mini cupcakes flanked the main attraction She also thanked Kyle and Nick Gentile Events for helping her pull everything together. The new Capri Room is inspired by Dorit's love of Italy's Isle of Capri. The collaboration came about because of the reality star/fashion designer's long friendship with Buca di Beppo owner Robert Earl. For fans that want to recreate the shower from the comfort of their own homes, Buca di Beppo has also created a special menu so that anyone who wants to can order the Capri Package inspired by Dorit's hand-selected and favorite items from the menu that were served during the party. Chic: Yellow tablecloths were offset by pink bouquets running down the center of the table Cheers! The new Capri Room is inspired by Dorit's love of Italy's Isle of Capri. The collaboration came about because of the reality star/fashion designer's long friendship with Buca di Beppo owner Robert Earl (above) While the night is supposed to be about Teddi, the current drama with Denise Richards will likely overshadow the celebration. Mellencamp hinted at chaos in a group photo from the event, which was captioned: 'Aint no baby shower like a Bev Hills baby shower. 'And like my tagline says, you never know what to expect when Im expecting! Love that so many of my friends were able to join and then asked to leave... '*Not everyone could be photographed bc [poop emoji] was hitting the fan. Thank you @doritkemsley @kylerichards18 for hosting.' In a teaser for the tonight's RHOBH, hosts Dorit and Kyle weren't even sure if Richards would show up after having a blow out fight with the ladies during a trip to Rome. 'Even though that last night we tried to patch things up and have fun, I have not spoken to Denise since Rome,' Kyle revealed. Dorit was optimistic, telling cameras: 'I know Denise as a stand-up girl. She doesn't shy away from things. She's a tough cookie and there's no way Denise wouldn't show up because she wants to avoid any conversation.' The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 9pm ET on Bravo. A Kentucky mom has created a DIY solution to keep her kids focused and inspired as they dive into remote learning amid the pandemic. Angelina Harper, a special education teacher from Louisville, crafted work stations for each of her children, Aubrie, 8 and twins Paige and Peyton, 6. The mother of three shared photos of her hack on Facebook where it garnered 126,000 likes and 29,000 shares. "I think it's something so many families can relate to," Harper told "Good Morning America." "I'm trying to figure out what's going to work in our home. Some families might say, 'We have limited space, limited resources.'" PHOTO: Angelina Harper, a special education teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, crafted work stations for each of her children, Aubrie, 8 and twins Paige and Peyton, 6. Seen in this photograph is Peyton's learn-from-home station. (Angelina Harper) MORE: Moms genius hack has kids earn 'money' to spend at family movie night and we're stealing it Both Harper and her husband Adrian are working from home. When Harper realized her kids would likely remotely learn for the 2020-2021 school year, she started brainstorming on how to help them get through the day with limited distractions. PHOTO: Angelina Harper, a special education teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, crafted work stations for each of her children, Aubrie, 8 and twins Paige and Peyton, 6. Seen in this photograph is Aubrie using her learn-from-home station. (Angelina Harper) Harper went to the store, bought tripod foam boards and cut them in half. Each work station has a child's name, a pouch to keep their daily schedule, a light, a calendar and a hook for hanging headphones. On each station Harper added words of affirmation like "you can do this," "take a break," or "we love you." MORE: Teacher's emotional video shows attempt to set up a classroom amid COVID-19 "It's mobile, affordable and it's flexible," Harper said. "If my son said, 'I'm going to sit on the floor today instead of at the table,' he could do that. It's so multi-purpose, yet so simple." Harper said it cost her under $20 to execute one learn-from-home station. She bought many of the materials at a dollar store. PHOTO: Angelina Harper, a special education teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, crafted work stations for each of her children, Aubrie, 8 and twins Paige and Peyton, 6. (Angelina Harper) Parents have been thanking Harper for sharing her creation online, especially when so many are adapting to this new normal. "If it helps someone else -- a student, child, another parent -- I think that's so much more than a like or a share," Harper said. "That's where my heart is." Mom's viral work station for kids is the perfect homeschooling hack originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com BOISE, Idaho - A Canadian company seeking U.S. approval for three open-pit gold mines in central Idaho is suing the U.S. government, contending U.S. officials are allowing water pollution at the already heavily mined site in violation of environmental laws. British Columbia-based Midas Gold filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Forest Service under the Clean Water Acts citizen enforcement provision. The area contains important salmon habitat that the company says it will restore if allowed to mine. Midas Gold, which has yet to do any mining in the area but has claims, is itself being sued by the Nez Perce Tribe over the same pollution caused by past mining companies. The company said that if the tribe were to win, the result would be a legal conflict between a court injunction and a permitting process involving land the company doesnt own. The company also contends it could have to pay to clean up pollution it didnt cause. The company is asking the federal court to hold the U.S. Forest Service responsible for the pollution at the mining area. The company is also requesting that its lawsuit against the U.S. be combined with the tribes 2019 lawsuit against the company. This action was a necessary step to protect Midas Gold from being held responsible for alleged water pollution from lands owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Midas Gold CEO Laurel Sayer said in a statement. The Nez Perce Tribe didnt respond with a comment following a request made Wednesday to the tribes spokeswoman, Kayeloni Scott. The tribe has opposed Midas Golds mining plan for various reasons, including about 80 miles (130 kilometres) of river with good salmon habitat below the mining area that could be put at risk with new mining. The lawsuit comes less than a week after the Forest Service released a draft environmental assessment of Midas Golds plans to mine the area. A 60-day comment period is being held on the draft, after which the Forest Service will select from among five alternatives for potential mining. The U.S. Department of Justice, which defends federal agencies in lawsuits, didnt respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press sent through its online media portal. Midas Gold says the area 40 miles east of McCall and on the western edge of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness contains more than 4 million ounces of gold, and that the mines will create 500 jobs for up to 25 years. The company also says it plans extensive restoration work as part of its mining plan will take care of the current pollution problem. Midas Golds proposed project includes about 500 acres (200 hectares) of patented mining claims and 2,900 acres (1,200 hectares) of unpatented claims on the Payette National Forest and Boise National Forest. Mining in the area dates back more than a century and has resulted in two open pits, including one that has been blocking a salmon spawning stream since the 1930s. The site also has extensive tailings left from mining operations, waste rock dumps and open tunnels that are the source of elevated levels of arsenic, cyanide and mercury. Discharges from these locations undermine Midass efforts and vision to restore the site and environment concurrent with all future mining phases, under its mining and restoration plan, the company said in the lawsuit. Previous mining companies walked away, leaving cleanup to U.S. taxpayers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has spent about $4 million since the 1990s restoring habitat, work that would be mostly removed with new mining. Opponents also say the mining area will be greatly expanded, destroying additional habitat for salmon, steelhead and bull trout. They also worry that U.S. taxpayers will get stuck with clean-up costs when mining ends. Isentia Names Canberra-based Head of Government Business Australian-based media intelligence and data technology company Isentia has appointed Kylie Dunstan as Head of Government Business, based in Canberra. Sydney-headquartered Isentia monitors, analyses and creates insights from communications across the Asia Pacific region. Dunstan (pictured) joins with more than twenty years' corporate communications and leadership experience in government organisations. For the past more than twelve years, she worked for the Grains Research and Development Corporation as Head of Corporate Affairs; before which, she was Communication Manager, Bureau of Rural Sciences at the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Earlier in her career, Dunstan served as Communication Manager at the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. In her new role, Dunstan will be responsible for strengthening Isentia's relationship with Canberra clients, including the Australian Government portfolio. Russ Horell, Chief Commercial Officer, comments: 'Kylie is a communications veteran and a seasoned leader with a deep understanding of the government sector. She joins the team at a time when media intelligence is particularly important - especially to Australian Government organisations. Kylie will play a pivotal role in keeping our Canberra clients abreast of Isentia's innovations and proactively develop solutions to meet their needs'. Web site: www.isentia.com . Tioga, N.Y. A 26-year-old man has admitted killing his 8-month-old daughter and tossing her into a swampy upstate New York pond while he was impaired by drugs. Cody Franciscovich pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Tioga County Court on Friday and is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing baby Ruby in June 2019. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a prison term of 25 years to life. Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin announced the guilty plea on Tuesday. He said Franciscovich had raised the defenses of intoxication and delusions due to taking LSD the night before Rubys death. With the plea, Franciscovitch agreed to withdraw his defenses and waive his right to appeal by admitting he had intentionally tried to hurt the baby, Martin said in a news release. Franciscovich had been staying at a motel in the town of Tioga with Rubys mother and two other children. After he threw Ruby into the pond, he was found walking along the road naked about a half-mile away. Austin-based Waterloo was founded in 2017 and has quickly become one of the fastest-growing and largest independent sparkling water brands in the United States, with distribution in over 13,000 retail doors, including Whole Foods Market, Costco, Target, Kroger, Walmart, Publix, H-E-B/Central Market and others. The investment will provide Waterloo with additional operational resources, brand-building expertise, and capital to grow its business by accelerating its product and marketing innovation. "We're very proud of the company we've built so far, the distinct consumer appeal of our products and the tremendous support of our retail distribution network," said Jason Shiver, CEO of Waterloo. "Choosing the best partners for Waterloo was critical to continuing our momentum and we're confident that Flexis Capital, Eurazeo and JW Levin will provide deep brand-building experience and industry relationships that will be key to accelerating our growth, while Moore Strategic Ventures' financial acumen will add firepower to our capabilities. We also want to thank our co-founding partners at CAVU Venture Partners for their support to date." As part of the transaction, Stephen Sadove will join Waterloo's board as Non-executive Chairman and Jerry Levin will join as a Director. The two are Founding Partners of JW Levin Management Partners and have decades of operating and board experience in the consumer, beverage and retail industries. "We're extremely impressed with the brand that Jason and his team have built in less than three years," said Stephen Sadove. "They are a sophisticated, experienced management team and have quickly established Waterloo as a best-in-category flavored sparkling water and a key beneficiary of consumers' increasing demand for healthier alternatives to traditional soft drinks. We're excited to work with this team to continue to strengthen the Waterloo brand and broaden its distribution." Louis Friedman, Managing Partner of Flexis Capital, added, "Jason Shiver and Jeff Arnold have a history of success developing category-leading brands, and are deploying a similar playbook at Waterloo as they executed to help grow SkinnyPop and Amplify Snack Brands and achieve a sale to Hershey for $1.6 billion. We're incredibly excited to partner with them as the company embarks on its next stage of growth, tapping into new channels and reaching a broader audience across the U.S." Jill Granoff, CEO of Eurazeo Brands, said, "Sparkling water is a large and resilient category, with sales of $4 billion in the U.S. alone growing by double digits annually. Waterloo has experienced phenomenal growth and strong consumer loyalty since launching in 2017, and is well positioned to capture additional market share under the company's impressive leadership. We look forward to joining forces with Flexis Capital, JW Levin and Moore Strategic Ventures, and partnering with Jason and his team to drive further success." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Willkie Farr & Gallagher acted as legal advisor for Flexis Capital and the investor group. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher served as Eurazeo's legal advisors and RSM advised on accounting matters. BraunHagey & Borden served as legal advisor to Waterloo. About Waterloo Sparkling Water In 2017, after recognizing that consumers were seeking, but not finding, healthy, authentic, transparent and better-for-them beverage choices that tasted great, the team dared to challenge expectation and launched Waterloo Sparkling. A rebel at heart, Waterloo has been breaking the mold since day one and is driven by its cofounders' firsthand knowledge of the importance of food and beverage choices. The Austin-based brand is a BOLD take on sparkling water, making its mark by focusing on fruit-inspired flavor and aroma and delivering a richer, more authentic taste. Waterloo, founded by Sean Cusack, Clayton Christopher and CAVU Venture Partners, is made with Non-GMO Project verified and Whole 30 Approved flavors, free of calories, sodium, sugar and artificial sweeteners. For the benefit of its fans and the environment, Waterloo has only ever been produced in aluminum cans made with BPA-free liners. For more information, please visit www.drinkwaterloo.com. About Flexis Capital Flexis Capital is a private equity firm founded in 2009 that invests on a deal-by-deal basis on behalf of a global club of institutional and family office investors in the media, communications, consumer and business/information services sectors, in which it has a deep network of sourcing and operating executive relationships. Flexis pursues investments with an active value approach, working with management and boards to facilitate growth opportunities from its relationship network to benefit its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.flexiscapital.com. About Eurazeo Eurazeo is a leading global investment company with a diversified portfolio of 18.5 billion in assets under management and investments in over 430 companies. Eurazeo Brands is the division of Eurazeo focused on differentiated, high-growth North American and European consumer brands with global growth potential. With $800 million of allocated capital, Eurazeo Brands invests across a wide range of consumer-driven verticals, including food & beverage, beauty, apparel, home, wellness, and leisure. Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid. For more information, please visit www.eurazeo.com/en/. Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris. ISIN : FR0000121121 - Bloomberg : RF FP - Reuters : EURA.PA About Moore Strategic Ventures Moore Strategic Ventures, LLC, is the privately held investment company for Louis M. Bacon, Founder and CEO of Moore Capital Management, LP. About JW Levin Management Partners JW Levin Management Partners invests in and provides management oversight to branded consumer products, retail and services companies. The firm was founded in 2015 and is based in New York, New York. Founding Partner Stephen Sadove previously served as Chairman and CEO of Saks Inc. and as President of the Beauty Care and Nutritional businesses at Bristol Myers Squibb. He is currently a director at Colgate-Palmolive, Aramark, Park Hotels & Resorts, and Movado Group. Founding Partner Jerry Levin is currently Chairman of Lasko and Spinrite and has previously served as CEO of Wilton Brands, American Household (Sunbeam), Coleman and Revlon. For more information, please visit www.jwlmp.com. About Waterloo Capital Waterloo Capital is a Texas-based innovative, purpose-driven, investment firm that partners with exceptional, value-aligned entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth of companies to create sustainable, long-term value for the benefit of all stakeholders customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders. For more information, please visit www.waterloocapitalllc.com. SOURCE Waterloo Sparkling Water Related Links https://www.drinkwaterloo.com August 19 : The Supreme Court today said the CBI will probe late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, and directed the Mumbai police to hand over all evidence collected so far to the central investigating agency. The apex court also stated said the FIR registered by the Patna police based on the complaint filed by the late actors father was correct, and Bihar Police has the right to ask CBI to investigate the case. The Supreme Court ruling came after Rhea Chakraborty had filed a petition with the apex court requesting it to transfer the FIR from the Patna police to Mumbai police. SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict: Vikas Singh, Lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father https://t.co/93a6w4HoqA ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 While Mumbai police believes it was suicide and was investigating allegations that he was suffering from depression, they questioned over 56 people, mostly from the film industry. However, not satisfied with the Mumbai polices line of action, Sushant Singh Rajput's father KK Singh filed an FIR with the Patna police accusing Rhea and her family of cheating his son financially and mentally harassing him. The Bihar polices complaint finally led to the case being handed over to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate. The latter is probing the late actor's financial status based on his father's complaint that at least Rs 15 crore were taken out of his accouFnt by Rhea and her family. Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Meanwhile, lauding the ruling of the Supreme Court, Sushant Singh Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti called it the first step towards truth. Humanity wins, congratulations to each one of SSR warriors, first time I felt such strong force of collective consciousness, AMAZING #CBITakesOver Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 19, 2020 Following the courts verdict, the late stars family lawyer Vikas Singh also told ANI that the family is very happy with the ruling. This is a victory for Sushant Singh Rajput's family. SC ruled on all points in our favour. The Court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct, he told ANI. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery With some stimulus provisions set to expire shortly against the backdrop of a still-weak labor market, additional fiscal aid would likely be important for supporting vulnerable families, and thus the economy more broadly, in the period ahead, some participants said, according to the minutes. The path to reaching some sort of deal to provide another dose of fiscal support is unclear, even as millions of Americans remain out of work and some businesses continue to struggle. Senate Republicans began circulating the text of a narrow coronavirus relief package on Tuesday, but it is unlikely that Democrats will sign on. While President Trump has tried to unilaterally extend enhanced unemployment insurance, alongside other measures, his executive orders and memorandum will offer only partial relief that could take weeks to reach consumers. Economists increasingly expect Americas millions of unemployed people to go without the $600-per-week supplement they had been receiving for at least all of August. That could place more strain on less-advantaged households. Minority workers and those with less education have been more likely to lose jobs, and Fed officials seemed concerned with how they will fare going forward. With lower-wage and service sector jobs disproportionately held by African-Americans, Hispanics and women, these portions of the population were bearing a disproportionate share of the economic hardship caused by the pandemic, the minutes noted. Participants noted that the fiscal support initiated in the spring through the CARES Act had been very important in granting some financial relief to millions of families. Tess Daly shared a heartwarming tribute to her late Strictly Come Dancing co-host Sir Bruce Forsyth on the third anniversary of his death on Tuesday. The presenter, 51, took to Instagram to reminisce about her 'brighter life' with the TV icon, who passed away of bronchial pneumonia aged 89. Broadcaster Bruce fronted the BBC competition series with Tess from its inception in 2004 until 2013, before Claudia Winkleman filled his position. 'Life felt brighter with him': Tess Daly shared a heartwarming tribute to her late Strictly co-host Sir Bruce Forsyth on the third anniversary of his death on Tuesday (pictured in 2012) Alongside a series of throwback images of the dynamic duo, the former model wrote: 'Its hard to believe thats its 3 years since we lost our beloved Brucie . 'The sheer privelige of working with him, belly laughing with him and calling him my friend was just honestly immense; a life-enriching experience I never took for granted during the decade we worked together and one that I will never ever forget.' (sic) Praising her close friend for 'bringing joy' to fans, the TV star added: 'Truly one of this nations greatest entertainers; a national treasure no less. 'The great Sir Bruce Forsyth; all he ever wanted was to bring the JOY and see the smiles on the audiences faces; thats when I saw him at his happiest. Show business was his SUPERPOWER .' Dynamic duo: The broadcaster fronted the BBC competition series with the presenter, 51, from its inception in 2004 until 2013, before Claudia Winkleman filled his position (pictured in 2014) 'Show business was his SUPERPOWER': TV star Tess took to Instagram to reminisce about her 'brighter life' with the TV icon, who passed away of bronchial pneumonia aged 89 The media personality ended her post by referencing the 'great love' he shared with his widow Wilnelia, Lady Forsyth-Johnson, 62. Tess added: 'What a star. I miss his constant jokes, our lunches, his long chatty caring phone calls checking up on us all. 'His great love for his wonderful wife; always my darling Winnie Life felt brighter with him in it and I for one loved him to bits . Thanks Brucie.' (sic) 'Truly one of this nations greatest entertainers': The media personality praised her late friend for 'bringing joy' to fans (pictured in 2013) When Sir Bruce passed away, he left the entirety of his estate to the former Puerto Rican beauty queen, who he was married to for 34 years. In a showbiz career spanning more than 75 years, the entertainer rose to become Britains highest-paid TV star. The TV legend, who left school in Edmonton, North London, with no qualifications, made his BBC television debut on a talent show in 1939 when he was just 11. 'My darling Winnie': The host ended her post by referencing the 'great love' he shared with his widow Wilnelia, Lady Forsyth-Johnson, 62 He tied the knot to his first wife Penny, a dancer at London's notorious Windmill Club, in 1953. The couple divorced in 1973 after he had a string of affairs, before he married Anthea Redfern for six years until 1979. Sir Bruce is survived by Wilnelia and his six children - daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura from his first marriage, Charlotte and Louisa with his second spouse and son Jonathan with Wilnelia - as well as nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Local experts said the Ministry of Public Security should consider the necessity and the cost of the new ID card issuance. Major General To Van Hue, head of the Department for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ministry of Public Security. Photo: Ba Do The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has planned to issue chip-based identity cards from November 2020 if the proposal is endorsed by the government. The chip-based identity card is smart card that is produced according to international standards and requirements with the latest encryption codes. The issuance of smart card is expected to be completed in July 2021 at the latest for all citizens from 14 years of age, according to Major General To Van Hue, head of the Department for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ministry of Public Security. Information of 20 different fields like insurance, driving license, tax, health insurance, among others would be incorporated into the card in a project that is now available for comments from relevant agencies, the police officer said. The card, which is designed to be encrypted, would store facial recognition features, fingerprints, and anthropometry, he added. Notably, the card would be highly secure without counterfeiting and unauthorized installation. It can store much more information than identity (ID) card with barcode that has been issued since 2016. Explaining the time to issue the electronic card, he said Vietnam couldnt conduct this project until now thanks to a cheaper cost from domestic production of chips. Police in Hanoi get fingerprints to make ID card with barcode. Photo: Giang Huy Questions remain Commenting on the move, Dr. Nguyen Truong Thang, head of Institute of Information Technology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, said it should consider the necessity of the card issuance and cost. The issuance really matters if its available for only several millions of people in urban city but dozens of millions of those in rural areas, VnExpress cited Thang as saying. Major General Nguyen Thanh Hong, member of the National Assemblys Commission for Defense and Security, pointed out both pros and cons of this kind of card, saying that it will be in line with the international trend thanks to the abolishment of procedures and papers but the project will cost a huge amount of money. Mr. Hong said the project on national database on population and renewed ID card costs more than VND3 trillion (US$130.4 million) and predicted that the chip-based ID project would cost more than that. He added that the project will be effective if the Ministry of Public Security completes the national database on population to make the database synchronous with that of other sectors. Over the past 63 years, the ID card in Vietnam has undergone five times of changes. The first 9-digit ID card made debut in 1957. It was renewed in 1964 and 1999. The 12-digit ID card was introduced in 2012 and ID with barcode was churned out in 2016. This kind of card is now available in 16 cities and provinces. The Law on Citizen Identification in 2014 stipulates that people from 14 years old are eligible to get an ID card and it will be renewed when they turn to 25, 40, and 60 years old. Hanoitimes Linh Pham Each citizen to get unique health identity code The Ministry of Health has issued Decision 2153/QD-BYT on regulations on issuance, usage, and management of health identification. New Delhi: After picking up a stake in housing finance major HDFC, the Chinese central bank People's Bank of China has acquired a very small stake in ICICI Bank through the recently closed Rs 15,000 crore share sale by the country's second largest private sector lender. The People's Bank of China was among 357 institutional investors which included domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and global institutions that subscribed to the issue, sources said. According to sources, the Chinese central bank has picked up shares worth Rs 15 crore in Rs 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue. At current market capitalisation, the stake of People's Bank of China in ICICI Bank is about 0.0065 per cent. The ICICI Bank spokesperson was not available for comment immediately. People's Bank of China has investment in various bluechip Indian companies including the country's largest mortgage firm HDFC Ltd. The Chinese central bank had increased its stake in mortgage lender HDFC Ltd to over 1 per cent at the end of March quarter, according to a regulatory filing. Amidst growing tension between India and China, People's Bank of China pared some of its stake in HDFC Ltd during April-June quarter. The central bank brought down its investment below 1 per cent. As a result, its name was dropped from the list of investors holding at least 1 per cent stake in the company as of June-end. Central banks typically make investments in various asset classes including gold, foreign currencies and also bonds, including both government and corporate ones. During the QIP of ICICI Bank last week, the Government of Singapore picked up 4.6 crore shares, representing 11.06 per cent of the total size on offer. Other prominent investors included Morgan Stanley Investment Funds Global Opportunity Fund and Societe Generale-ODI picking up 7.31 per cent and 5.55 per cent, respectively. As per the QIP objective, the proceeds of the issue will be used towards strengthening the capital adequacy ratio of the bank, improving the bank's competitive positioning and/ or general corporate requirements or any other purposes as may be permissible under the applicable law. Taking a strong view of the development, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) criticised ICICI Bank for allowing People's Bank of China to invest in the bank despite strong sentiments prevailing in the country against the world's populous nation. CAIT said that this is the second such instance of a Chinese bank trying to make inroads into the Indian financial system after the China's central bank earlier this year made an investment in HDFC Ltd. The traders body asked the finance minister to direct both ICICI Bank and HDFC Ltd to return the investments by the Chinese entity. CAIT has urged the finance minister to take immediate cognizance of this entire matter and devise a policy framework to thwart China's plans and protect the sovereignty of the banking system as also advising the RBI to take necessary steps immediately. The deployment of Chinas most advanced J-20 stealth fighter near the border with India should not be over-interpreted in context of the Sino-India border friction as the tension is de-escalating, Chinese state media has said. The long-range jets deployment, which is yet to be confirmed by the Peoples Liberation Army Airforce (PLAAF), could be for the aircrafts long-distance flight practice and part of the warplanes protocols to adapt to different environment, Global Times, the nationalistic tabloid, said in an article. The article was referring to a news article published in Forbes, which cited satellite imagery to claim that two J-20 fighter aircraft have been deployed by the PLAAF near the India-China border. The J-20 is Chinas fourth-generation medium- and long-range fighter aircraft, and it was commissioned into air force combat service in 2018. The aircraft were spotted, some 320 km from the border, at the Hotan airport in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Chinas armed forces have so far not made any announcement about deploying fighter aircraft near the border though it is likely fighter jet squadrons are stationed near the long and disputed border with India. The J-20 is a long-range heavy fighter jet. So, when deployed in Hotan, it can potentially cover many areas in Central and South Asia, it said. The nationalistic tabloid, known for its anti-India rhetoric, however, sought to play down the development. The deployment if true is likely part of normal training on long distance flight and environment adaptation, Chinese military aviation expert Fu Qianshao said. China is a large country with many airfields in various terrains and under different climate conditions, and the J-20 needs to fly in more regions to adapt, Fu said. The border tensions have already been de-escalating, and foreign medias reports could have ulterior motives, the state media article said. Earlier this month, experts had told the tabloid that the Rafale fighter jets were no match for its J-20 stealth fighter jets, days after the first batch of five French-made warplanes landed in Ambala. Chinese experts told state media that the Rafale is only a third-plus generation fighter jet and does not stand much of a chance against a stealth, fourth-generation one like the J-20. Saying that the Rafale is superior to the Su-30 MKI in certain aspects, the acquisition does not yield a significant qualitative change for India, it said. In some combat performance areas, the Rafale is superior to the Su-30 MKI fighter jets, which are in service in the Indian Air Force in large batches, but it is only about one-fourth of a generation more advanced and does not yield a significant qualitative change, it said. The J-20 made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first shown to the public at the 11th Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in south China, in November 2016, according to the official news agency, Xinhua. The fighters made their parade debut when the PLA marked its 90th anniversary in July 2017 at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In the backdrop of the ongoing border tension, India last week called on China to work jointly for complete disengagement and de-escalation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), saying the future of the bilateral relationship is dependent on the situation along the disputed frontier. Chinese troops are said to have pulled back from Galwan Valley, the scene of the June 15 clash that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and unspecified Chinese casualties, and some friction points, but the troop withdrawal hasnt moved forward in the Finger Areas of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Depsang. With as many as 100 million new businesses launched every year, getting the news out about a new venture can be a daunting task. After a long struggle to develop and launch new products or services, when founders finally reach an important milestone they want to shout their news from the rooftops. The problem is that millions of other founders are in the same boat, and are most likely trying to make announcements via the same channels. While larger organizations may be able to fire news out on the wire and get coverage, for startups that still have to earn a name for themselves, relying on press releases alone is likely to be a wasted effort. Craig Corbett, principal at startup and tech leadership communications consultancy Publicize & Company, says: Most early-stage founders cannot afford to pay big agency prices of $10K per month and 6-month retainers to get coverage. As such, new founders who want to be heard above the crowd need to be scrappy, build relationships with different media influencers over time, put their team and their opinions out there as much as possible, and try lots of different tactics and channels to grab the attention of their target audiences. For cash-strapped startups, your PR strategy needs to be highly attuned to current trends and customer behaviours. Most PR wins come from understanding why you are relevant at that time, Corbett says. To make yourself part of the conversation, you need to know what that conversation is. This means reading the news, having an opinion, and keeping up with key trends in your industry and in the lives of your potential customers. Most importantly though, PR has to further your mission, not grow your ego. Not every article you write or interview you do will directly plug your product, but every piece of content has to support your business core values, beliefs or objectives. Here are five essential steps in building a hard-hitting PR strategy as a new business: RELATED: Sign Up For a Risk-Free Trial of Our On-demand Start Your Own Business Course 1. Prepare your 'shop window.' Before you reach out to the first journalist, or even before you go to your first major networking event, you have to get your house in order. When you start putting your brand into the public eyeor trying tothe first thing editors, potential business partners or customers will be looking at is your website and social media presence. Your brand image and website design cant look like they were made in a high school classroom. Your content and messagingthat means website text but also social media posts and blog publicationsmust have a consistent, clear voice. Get rid of typos, unprofessional opinion pieces, and ranting vlog posts. Do a search of your online presence and make sure all public profiles about your company and founders are up to date before you begin reaching out to the press, says Katie Griffing, co-founder of marketing and PR company Launchway Media. Don't forget about sites such as Crunchbase, Angel.co, or any industry-specific directories or listings (G2, Capterra, App Stores, etc.) where you might have uploaded product information in the past. Once youve cleaned up your "shop window," put some good stuff on display. Have some content of your own to showcase: upload articles, blog posts and other forms of content produced by your team to your website and social media, but also to secondary channels like Medium and LinkedIn. This content is almost like your thought leadership portfoliojournalists and editors need a way to get a feel for your writing style and business ideology before they let you through the door. Startups should use their owned channels as a testing platform to see what kind of content really clicks with their audiences, says Corbett. This will force founders to start thinking about different themes that are relevant to their stakeholders. Big brands create one or more pieces of content a day, but at this early stage founders should be setting goals of around one blog post per week. Content marketing isnt about putting out endless articles and hoping for a huge boost in website traffic, says George Chilton, Co-founder of content marketing agency Hubbub Labs. Its about producing content that solves your target audiences problems in a simple and in an easy-to-consume way. When youve prepared your showcase, put together an enticing media pack you can share with journalists and upload to the media section of your website. This should include things like press releases, team info, previous coverage, team photos and product information. Realted: Sign Up For a Risk-Free Trial of Our On-demand Start Your Own Business Course 2. Stop selling, start storytelling. Startups that have just launched (or are coming up to their launch) are inherently less newsworthy. Existing is not an announcement, and that means founders need to capture the medias interest beyond press releases and company milestones. Tell stories: Chances are there are plenty of inspiring, entertaining, and unusual stories you could be telling if you look beyond the product itself. Corbett recommends looking at other parts of your startups journey: often the media are more interested in the jockey (your team) than the horse (your product). Most coverage of new companies on top-tier publications focuses on the team, the mission, and founding stories. Explore the journey that led the founder and team members to where they are today, the big values driving your business, or your diverse company culture. The point is to share whats different about your company, not whats the same. Thought leadership: A successful approach to PR is to present yourself as an expert and conversation starter in your field. Thought leaders zone in on current topicsor more obscure areas that are still relevant to their target audienceand put forward arguments that will inspire people. They harness their insider knowledge of their industry, pick up on trends that no-one else is talking about, and offer data insights about the industry and target market (your startup might already be gathering such data for its own purposes). Basically you should be educating, with content thats tailor-made for your target audience and which has a strong argument at its core. You can understand what problems your audience needs solving by building detailed buyer personas, and researching what people are searching for by using tools like: AnswerThePublic, Googles People also ask, and search engines autocomplete search bars, says Chilton. Your thought leadership content should connect to your company's mission. That means identifying what your company stands for (do you want to promote financial empowerment? Securer internet browsing for all?) and working up from there. You can brainstorm this visually, with diagrams - break out your companys mission into words or phrases, list subject areas that are worth writing about under each section, and find newsworthy topics under each of these. While this type of coverage might not promote your product directly, it will draw traffic back to your website, offer social proof that your startup is serious, and let people know that the founders are credible authorities in their industry. Dont be afraid to let your company have an opinion, says Ida Asle, who serves as head of platform, marketing and PR at byFounders. Too many companies are afraid of putting potential customers off, but being bland is not going to draw anyone in. Making your voice heard shows that you understand the context youre in, and that you have the guts to make real change. 3. Not just content: Start putting yourself out there. Much of PR is not about media presence, its about putting a name to the face and a face to the brand. Make the leap and introduce your new business to your peers and target market. You could double down on your expert persona, offering presentations and workshops to relevant local organizations, schools, and larger conferences. Dont limit yourself to niche events, think about where your target audience goes to learn, have fun and socialize, and be there. Engaging with the public is often trial and error, teaching you the dos and donts of marketing directly to consumers. If youre a B2C startup, be especially focused on going directly to the customer. Face-to-face interactions can start as small as street fairs, handing out samples at events and organizing meetups. If social distancing is an issue, research virtual fairs and marketplaces, and send any physical product samples via mail. For B2B startups, getting in front of your audience means embedding yourself into industry networks. Offer to be a mentor for startup organizations, and join business and funding communities. You should also be applying for contests such as pitch competitions. Even if you are not accepted, sharing your profile and product could put you on the radar of other events, investors or media influencers. Also build a persona behind your brand by showcasing your product on various platforms, and using these to interact with potential customers. Grow your profile on discovery sites like ProductHunt, BetaList or StartupRanking.com. Answer questions by users, even if theyre not engaging with you yet, ask your own questions, and be a proactive member of several communities. Getting a high number of votes on sites like ProductHunt can give you a huge PR boost and attract a wave of new users your way. These discussions and interactions often start or end up on your personal social media platforms. Never underestimate the power of social media, says Dalia Landes, Head of Marketing at startup accelerator MassChallenge Israel. Smart startups can use social media channels to control messaging, create a buzz, show demos, share data and become a thought leader. Related: Sign Up For a Risk-Free Trial of Our On-demand Start Your Own Business Course 4. Build media relationships over time. Journalists are bombarded with hundreds of pitches every day. Rather than always sending opinion pieces or expecting them to cover your most recent press release, it is important to give more than you take. You can offer journalists exclusive data without asking for anything in return other than a reference. Re-package your information: present your data in infographics, put your thoughts together in the form of whitepapers, and distribute marketing resources to help journalists build the story. "My number one tip is to do a research report on your problem area, says Patrick Mork, founder and chief storyteller at cultural transformation company LEAP. You'll get valuable data for your product team, data bites for your social media and PR folks and a treasure trove of information you can cobble into an ebook, blog posts and infographics to do lead gen for your sales guys. Hands down a no brainer!" Also offer journalists an interview with the founders that latch onto a current news event. To not come off as arrogant, share a few bullet points on why you can provide a unique or alternative insight due to your experience over the years. Make recommendations and introductions to other startups (not competitors) within your network who might be of interest to journalists. By offering information thats of actual benefit to the journalist, youre showing that you have your finger on the pulse and an in-depth understanding of the industry, and theyll likely be coming back to you for more. Following a journalist's interests, their social media profiles, and reading their latest articles is highly recommended, says Rosa Jimenez, former Silicon Valley correspondent for the El Pais and Chief of Ecosystem Relations at The Venture City, a new venture and acceleration model based out of Madrid and Miami. Use your social media to comment on journalists articles, re-share their posts, and send them tips and data which might be of use in future articles. This will put you on their radar, and theyll be more likely to give you the time of day when you do have a strong announcement. Every founder should set up an account at Help A Reporter Out, and check in each day to see what journalists are requesting. Its a great way to kickstart relationships. Becoming a reliable and consistent source of knowledge is a basic precursor to having a feature story about your company published, Jimenez says. Dont dismiss smaller publications. Often, these are syndicated by larger platforms, they can reach hundreds of thousands of readers a month, and journalists and peers will be reading them to get inspiration. And because theyre in their early growth phase (like you), theyll be much more willing to cover the progress of emerging startups. Remember that as a young business, you must be realistic about where youre likely to get placement. While MarketingLand might not be as sexy as Forbes, the reality is that youre much more likely to reach your target audiences through niche publications than general publications, Corbett says. Your aim in your first year is to build up a base of media coverage, which will better your chances of being discovered by the big hitters. Forge relationships with up-and-coming and regional media, industry-specific publications, blogs and podcasts, rather than aiming for TechCrunch straight off the starting line. Who knows, perhaps the blog author who covered your launch will be the editor of a top-tier publication by the time you hit another major milestone. 5. Do the right thing. The best PR is rooted in tackling new problems, being socially responsible, and helping out communities. If you have an inspiring mission and can narrate that to regular people, coverage will come organically. COVID-19 has revealed the cracks that exist in our society, and created new ones. Companies that go out of their way to solve real issues and prioritize helping others over profits, are more likely to get the recognition they deserve. Related: Sign Up For a Risk-Free Trial of Our On-demand Start Your Own Business Course Showcase your companys long-term vision. Perhaps your startup has adopted a social purpose such as encouraging more diverse work environments, educating school children in your niche, or donating a percentage of your sales to a disability charity. Why not write an article on these social issues and what the startup world should be doing to better the situation? Often this is much more interesting to the media than your actual product. Sell your dream, show the human side of your business, and prove youre more deserving of peoples hard-earned dollars than your competitors. Dont shy away from PR if youre still in the early stages of getting your product out there. The point is to demonstrate that the startup has something more to offer, and has a strong voice and purpose to add to the community at large. Related: Less Selling, More Storytelling: 5 Expert Tips on Doing Low-Cost PR for Your New Business 10 Ways to Get Global PR Exposure 5 Ways Cannabis Leaders Profit From Public Relations Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved MBABANE Its a huge blow to us. This sums up the mutual feeling of maidens who will not be taking part in the annual reed dance this year, after it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Following the announcement to call off the Umhlanga Reed Dance, emaSwati maidens have declared that this is a huge blow to them as the ceremony has been a part of their plans for August. The maidens revealed that they would often learn vital life lessons during the ceremony, which encouraged them to respect themselves and their peers. One mentioned that she had been able to preserve her virginity due to the invaluable lessons she learnt at the reed dance ceremony. Others from less privileged backgrounds stated that the ceremony helped them with food and other basic necessities. Commended Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati commended Their Majesties decision to cancel the national event. Vilakati pointed out that the ministry would keep international tourists updated so that they could keep it in their calendar next year should the situation permit for its (Umhlanga) celebration. The minister said in the previous year, the occupancy rate was at 40 per cent in the tourism establishments and there were 44 520 arrivals in the country during the Umhlanga period. Vilakati revealed that this presented a 50 per cent of monthly average arrivals in the country. The minister added that accommodation for average room occupancy was 70.6 per cent with hotels higher at 80.9 per cent. The pronouncement cancelling this years event was made by Indvuna Nonduduzo Zubuko. FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to falsifying a document as part of the bureau's early-stage probe into whether President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government. Clinesmith - who previously quit the FBI - is the first person criminally charged in an investigation by John Durham, a federal prosecutor tapped to probe mistakes the FBI made when it sought a warrant to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It is unclear if Clinesmith has flipped and will be a witness for the Durham probe in the future or simply pleaded guilty to seek a lower sentence. During a virtual hearing in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Clinesmith admitted to doctoring a CIA email the FBI used in 2017 when it applied to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew its application for a secret wiretap to monitor Page. 'At the time I believed that the information I was providing in the email was accurate, but I am agreeing that the information I inserted into the email was not originally there, and I inserted that information,' Clinesmith said during the hearing. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg set a sentencing date for Dec. 10. While Clinesmith could face a statutory maximum of five years in prison, the U.S. sentencing guidelines in his case call for a range of zero to six months in prison, Boasberg said. The crime - making a false statement to the FBI - is the same as the one Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security advisor, pleaded guilty to and is now trying to reverse out of. Last week Donald Trump crowed that a 'corrupt' FBI lawyer in 'James Comey's very corrupt FBI' was expected to plead guilty. 'That's just the beginning I imagine,' he said. 'The fact is they spied on my campaign and they got caught.' The case does not in fact relate directly to 'spying' on the Trump campaign. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican senator, said at the weekend that he believed Clinesmith 'knows where the bodies are buried,' He added: 'Something tells me that Mr Clinesmith knows where the bodies are buried, and if I were in the FBI working on Crossfire Hurricane [the Russia investigation], I would be very worried right now.' Guilty: Kevin Clinesmith is pleading guilty to altering a CIA email when he was an FBI lawyer. It was used to gain a FISA warrant to eavesdrop on Carter Page Guilty pleas in probes like Durham's are often in return for co-operation - as was the case in the Robert Mueller inquiry. However the hearing and other court documents offered no indication of involvement in Clinesmith's crime by anyone else. The Durham investigation, which is also examining the intelligence community's assessment about Russian election interference, has caused deep concern among Democrats, who view it as a politically charged exercise meant to relitigate an already closed investigation and fear criminal charges or public reports issued so close to the 2020 election could be timed to affect November's vote. The investigation has proceeded alongside a parallel effort by Senate Republicans to discredit the Russia probe and as Attorney General William Barr has escalated his own criticism of the FBI's probe. Probe: AG Bill Barr ordered U.S. Attorney John Durham to launch an investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. This is the first prosecution to result from it GUILTY LAWYER SENT ANTI-TRUMP TEXTS TO A 'LOVER' TOO Kevin Clinesmith was referred to as 'Attorney 2' in a 2018 Inspector General report, which described in detail anti-Trump text messages he sent to an unnamed lover while the campaign was in full swing. Clinesmith in the 2018 report expressed his disdain for the incoming President Trump with the phrase 'Viva le resistance' and opined that then-Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was 'stupid.' His lover texted back: 'Screw you Trump,' and added that Hillary Clinton 'better win ... otherwise i'm gonna be walking around with both of my guns.' She also labeled Trump's supporters in Ohio 'retarded,' and in a fit of pique over being asked to work on Inauguration Day, she added: 'F*** Trump.' Special Counsel Robert Mueller later fired Clinesmith for his anti-Trump bias, citing the lawyer's comment to another official after the 2016 that 'the crazies won finally.' Advertisement Durham has not said who it is targeting - but Trump has made clear that he wants Comey, Barack Obama and his other top intelligence officials charged and has ranted that they committed 'treason.' Barr foreshadowed the legal action in a Fox News Channel interview on Thursday night in which he said there would be a development Friday that was 'not earth shattering' but would be an indication that the investigation was moving along. Justice Department policy directs prosecutors not to take investigative steps for the purpose of affecting an election and frowns upon taking public actions in the weeks before an election. But Barr has said he did not feel constrained by that policy in part because the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, is not a target of Durham's investigation, and Barr has signaled that he will look to make Durham's findings public before the election. Clinesmith was referred for potential prosecution by the department's inspector general's office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation. That review found that the Russia probe was opened for a legitimate reason and did not find proof of political bias, but it also concluded that the FBI made significant errors and omissions as it applied for secret national security warrants to eavesdrop on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about Page to say that he was 'not a source' for another government agency. Page has said he was a source for the CIA. The Justice Department relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Eavesdropping warrant: The email Clinesmith altered was part of the evidence used to gain a FISA warrant to monitor Carter Page, who had been a Trump adviser Clinesmith told the inspector general that from his conversations he did not understand Page to be a source, or a 'recruited asset,' or to have a direct relationship with another government agency. But that relationship was seen as something important to disclose to the FISA court, especially if Page was being tasked by the government to have interactions with Russians. 'Kevin deeply regrets having altered the email,' Shur said. 'It was never his intent to mislead the court or his colleagues, as he believed the information he relayed was accurate, but Kevin understands what he did was wrong and accepts responsibility.' Durham is the U.S. attorney for Connecticut and a veteran prosecutor with a history of special assignments from Washington. Former Attorney General Eric Holder selected him during the Obama administration to investigate the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques of terror suspects and the destruction of videotapes documenting that interrogation. Barr appointed Durham just weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller concluded his nearly two-year investigation. Mueller found significant contacts during the 2016 campaign between Russians and Trump associates but did not allege a criminal conspiracy between them. Mueller also examined multiple episodes in which Trump sought to affect or choke off the Russia investigation, but he did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump had obstructed justice. Barr signaled his skepticism with the Russia investigation right away, concluding that Trump had not obstructed justice even though Mueller had pointedly left that question unresolved. More recently, Barr stepped in to dismiss the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn even though Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and Barr overruled prosecutors to seek a lighter prison term for Trump confidant Roger Stone. The Republican president commuted Stone's sentence last month. A former Central Intelligence Agency officer was charged with selling US secrets to China on Monday after admitting he was a double agent to the FBI. Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a 67-year-old CIA officer who worked with the agency between 1967 and 1989, spent part of his tenure working in the East-Asia and Pacific, according to NBC News. Prosecutors claim Mr Ma met with at least five officers of China's Ministry of State Security 12 years after he left the agency. The meetings took place in a hotel room in Hong Kong, during which he "disclosed a substantial amount of highly classified national defence information" to the Chinese. The information included details of the CIA's internal organisation, identities of CIA officers and their human intelligence assets and the agency's methods for covert communication. After leaving the CIA, Mr Ma worked as a Chinese linguist at the FBI's Honolulu field office. While working there he allegedly used his position to copy documents and photographs detailing guided missile systems and other classified information. He then allegedly handed that information over to his Chinese handlers. Once the FBI caught on to his actions, an undercover agent arranged to meet with Mr Ma, posing as a Chinese government official. The operative claimed he was investigating "how Ma had been treated, including the amount he had been compensated," according to court documents. In a video captured by the FBI, Mr Ma is seen counting $2,000 in cash given to him by the undercover agent. The agent said the payment was to acknowledge his work on behalf of China. Investigators claim Mr Ma said he "wanted 'the motherland' to succeed." Mr Ma was born in Hong Kong. During the meeting, Mr Ma allegedly admitted that he had provided the Chinese with classified information. Recommended China imposes sanctions on US senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio One of Mr Ma's relatives, an 85-year-old man who also formerly worked for the CIA, was also found to be spying for China, but was not charged due to his advanced age and "debilitating cognitive disease." Last year, another former CIA officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring with Chinese intelligence agents. According to NBC News, the information Mr Lee gave the Chinese compromised the CIA's methods of covert communication and contributed to the deaths of Chinese intelligence agents working for the US. New Delhi, Aug 19 : No work "on ground" will start for at least two months on the new 'Babri Masjid' slated to come up in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya. This is because there are standing crops on the site as of now, according to the official spokesperson of the Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust created to oversee the mosque's construction. "Nothing on ground will happen till the standing paddy crop is harvested, as it is 'haram' or forbidden in Islam to harm green cultivation unnecessarily," Athar Hussain, secretary and spokesperson of the trust told IANS. He added, "So it will be two months at least before we plan any construction." So what is the trust doing, given it can't start any construction in the next couple of months? There are backroom moves at play. A resolution was passed to open a bank account. Meanwhile local authorities in Sohawal Tehsil, under which Dhannipur village comes, are undertaking 'Medhbandi' or what is better known as land demarcation. "After this, we will proceed for the topography plan and final approval of the architect," Hussain said. But doesn't he think the pace of work is very slow given that Shree Ram Mandir Teerth Kshetra, the trust entrusted with the job of building the Ram temple, has already done the 'Bhumi Pujan' and is now about to meet again to discuss the way ahead? He says, "It is very unfair to compare our activity and our speed with the other trust. We were handed over the papers of the land only on August 2 and there was an event attended by the PM on August 5." And now the Islamic rule that stops crops from being uprooted before harvest, as Hussain claims, has further delayed the process. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh had allocated the land in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya district to the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board which was in compliance with the apex court's order on November 9, 2019, settling the title suit pertaining to Ram Janmabhoomi. The IICF, which was created by the Sunni Waqf Board, has decided to keep public utilities like a hospital, Islamic research centre and a community kitchen among others in the compound. The age-old dispute, which involved both a legal battle as well as street agitations, came to an end last year when the Supreme Court awarded the entire land to the Hindu parties. United Nations head Antonio Guterres demanded "the immediate and unconditional release" of Mali's president and members of his government Tuesday after they were seized by rebel soldiers. "The secretary-general strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali," a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement. "To this end, he demands the immediate and unconditional release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and members of his cabinet," added the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. The sudden mutiny marked a dramatic escalation of a months-long crisis in the fragile West African country. Guterres is following the unfolding developments in the capital Bamako "with deep concern," Dujarric added. "The secretary-general reiterates his calls for a negotiated solution and peaceful resolution of their differences. "The secretary-general urges all stakeholders, particularly the defence and security forces, to exercise maximum restraint and uphold the human rights and individual freedoms of all Malians," the spokesman said. The United Nations Security Council is due to hold emergency talks on the crisis on Wednesday afternoon, diplomats in New York said. The meeting was requested by France and Niger and will take place behind closed doors, a UN diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. It chose locations for the eight additional drop boxes the state will provide for dropping off ballots to be picked up by the Board of Elections rather than being sent through the U.S. Postal Service, bringing the total in the county to 13. The new locations will be in Absecon, Brigantine, Northfield, Pleasantville, Ventnor and Hamilton Township, along with a second location in Egg Harbor Township. It also recommended raising the pay for workers who help process the vote-by-mail ballots, and voted to buy new computers, workstations and other equipment for workers. In the July 7 primary, the first mostly vote-by-mail election in the states history, the Atlantic County board handled about 48,000 primary ballots and took almost a month to count them all. Caterson said she believes the board needs to hire 50 to 60 workers to handle the deluge of ballots. Caterson distributed new policies to the commissioners to review, including policies requiring one Democrat and one Republican to be present whenever vote-by-mail ballots are handled. Representative image Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, India looks for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate to be the likely first shot available for Indians by the end of 2020. There are also two indigenously developed vaccine candidates, which are also being expected to get launched with a gap of few weeks if cleared in trials, said a report by The Times of India citing officials. However, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford is ahead of the other two local vaccine candidates that have also entered the human clinical trials, the report stated. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is a manufacturing partner of British pharma giant AstraZeneca for manufacturing the potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The SII, which has been permitted for conducting advanced phases of human clinical trials of the candidate in India, has started Phases 2 and 3 trials, said the report. Meanwhile, the locally developed vaccine candidates -- Bharat Biotechs Covaxin, jointly developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and Zydus Cadilas Zycov D are both in early phases of human clinical trials, as per the report. The trials by SII are the largest, which is being conducted with around 1,600 people aged above 18 years in across 17 selected sites across the country, for the COVID-19 vaccine in the country so far. For the trials of the other two vaccine candidates, there have been around 1,000-1,100 participants enrolled in five to eight sites, said the report. Listen: Setting Sail podcast | Wow Momo may cut jobs in September, business still not back to pre-Covid level: Sagar Daryani Also, in comparison of other vaccines being developed outside India, the Oxford vaccine candidate has scored better as it has an Indian company SII -- as a manufacturing and distribution partner. SII, which plans to make 100 million doses of vaccine every month and 400 million doses of the Oxford vaccine by the end of 2020, recently received $150 million from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the vaccine development and distribution. GAVI has also announced funding for manufacturing initial shots of the vaccine in the country, added the report. Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified minority-owned law firm DTO Law, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, is proud to announce the addition of three attorneys: Shilpa Coorg, Michael Davis, and Lillie Werner Singh. Recently profiled for its "agility" in leading legal publication Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, the firm is beefing up its professional breadth to adapt to the changing environment and legal demands of its clients. Ms. Shilpa Coorg joins DTO Law after spending four years at Winston & Strawn and four years at Kirkland & Ellis. Her hire corresponds to growing intellectual property needs of DTO's clients, particularly with respect to patent litigation. Shilpa previously worked on various patent matters for a major medical device manufacturer as well as copyright infringement matters for Charter Communications, Inc. and its former subsidiary Bright House Networks LLC. She is the outgoing President of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California. Mr. Michael Davis, previously with Brutzkus Gubner, will focus on business, commercial, and insolvency law. Davis' hiring corresponds with DTO closing more than 20 mid-market real estate secured loans in several states worth $5 to $50 million, representing a client in a $1 billion syndicated credit facility, representing commercial tenants in connection with lease buy-out and termination, and expanding its restructuring and insolvency practice in light of COVID-19. Davis is the Co-Vice Chair (incoming Co-Chair) of the Insolvency Law Committee of the California Lawyers Association's Business Law Section and is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Cuban American Bar Association. Lillie Werner Singh, with previous experience at Irell and Manella and Hooper Lundy and Bookman, will assist name partners like Mark Tarango with technology deals and privacy issues. She will be assisting DTO clients with drafting and negotiating master services agreements, subscriptions as a service (SaaS) agreements, statements of work and order forms, non-disclosure agreements, employment and independent contractor agreements, business associate agreements, and data processing addendums. DTO, which launched in early 2019 with five attorneys, has swelled to twelve attorneys, and these hires demonstrate its intention to make strategic hires to fuel its growth. DTO Law is 100% owned by women and persons of color. Seven out of the twelve attorneys are women, and a different subset of seven out of the twelve attorneys are a racial or ethnic minority or LGBTQ. "D&I initiatives are fine, but if you really want to have a diverse and inclusive organization, you must bake it into the DNA itself. That is to say 'diversity and inclusion' is not just the name of the latest training video or the new company buzzwords. It IS the company," William Delgado recently stated in an interview with Thrive Global. "Shilpa, Mike and Lillie come from great firms and fit into our overall growth plan. These are challenging times, and our clients have challenging matters. Our Founding Partners spent several years at large firms and companies like Quinn Emanuel and Toyota, so we look for lawyers with big firm experience to join our growing boutique law firm. We are thrilled with these hires," said Megan O'Neill, a DTO Founding Partner, whose recent article "Harvey Weinstein Victims' Sexual Abuse Settlement Took Years To Create And Crumbled Within Minutes. What Comes Next?" appeared in Forbes. DTO's client list includes Costco Wholesale Corporation, Google Inc., Honda North America, Live Nation, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, The Nature's Bounty Co., PayPal, Penske Media Corporation, Sprouts Farmers Market, Ticketmaster, Target, and Toyota, among others. SOURCE DTO Law Related Links dtolaw.com India has come a long way when it comes to both the US Presidents and US presidential elections. For the first 50 years since Indias independence (till 1997), there were just three US presidential visits to India. The first two visits were by Republican Presidents, Dwight D Eisenhower (in 1959) and Richard Nixon (in 1969), and third one was by a Democrat, Jimmy Carter (in 1978). However, the 23 years since then saw five US presidential visits to India: three of them by two Democrats, Bill Clinton (in 2000) and Barack Obama (in 2014 and 2015), and two by the Republicans, George W Bush (in 2006) and Donald Trump (in February). Since the Clinton visit, both India and the US have travelled quite some distance. It has been a remarkable journey that got rid of the delusions of the past. Steadily, the relationship started being driven by realism, changes the world had seen since the USSRs fall, the economic rise and political and military behaviour of China, and the growing clout of Indian American diaspora. The two democracies eventually shed the hesitations of the past, which was also shaped by distrust over nuclear issues, and Washington currying strategic favour with Pakistan on crucial issues of national security importance to India. In the process, old concerns of political ideologies defining bilateral ties have vanished, and the relationship found its bearing in bipartisan support in the US, and New Delhi has learnt to live with the dominantly transactional nature of US foreign policy. On its part, the US stopped behaving like the eternal conscious keeper on issues such as Kashmir, human rights and religious freedom. It is more than a coincidence that as the political ties started to transform itself, the Indian market became bigger for US products, and the ticket size of the defence purchase from the US grew substantially. Since 2008, India has procured around $18 billion-worth of defence items from the US. Indian students numbering 227,000 currently contribute $6.5 billion to the American academic sector. The US is India's largest trading partner, and India is among the top 10 trading partners in terms of sheer volume of business. In short, there are enough bucks in the ties to keep it going and growing. Republican or Democrat, the US Presidents are guided by their national interests. US national interests shift on their own, and permanence is hardly a virtue. Obama spoke unflatteringly about jobs being shifted from "Buffalo to Bangalore" and wooed China like no other. He also became the first US President to visit India in both terms in office and contributed considerably to the growth of bilateral ties. Bush was exceptionally nice to India, and offered India a nuclear deal which ended the country's nuclear pariah status without signing the Non Proliferation Treaty. Trump has also been exceptional for India. He proclaimed Washingtons consensus was bad for Washington and made the relationship even more transactional and unconventional. Of late, the Republicans in general, and Trump in particular, don't harp on shared values between the two countries, instead, the emphasis is on shared interest. The focus on shared values can be irksome as they often bring out sermons in the form of Congressional resolutions or public statements, for which the Democrats have taken a shining. This also does not matter beyond a point. There are enough convergences in the relationship that make such irritants inconsequential. The Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has already reminded Indian Americans the third-largest group in the larger Asian American population after the Chinese and Filipino how he had stood for bettering ties with India and asserting that he would continue to do the same. If elected to power, the Biden administration would possibly have some of the influential Indian Americans, such as former US envoy to India Rich Verma, Biden Unity Task Force Economic Policy adviser Sonal Shah, and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and Centre for American Progress Action Fund CEO Neera Tanden. Though optics play its part in foreign relations, what drives the relationship is the shared interests and mutual benefit. This makes the age-old question of Who is good for India: a Democrat President or a Republican President? a bit irrelevant. Republican or Democrat, the approach towards India will depend on what would come to define American national interest in the next four years that would translate into shared interests and mutual benefit between the two countries. ALSO READ : Covid-19: Indias case count crosses 25 lakh, death toll nears 50,000 The research team hope that their work could help develop smell and taste tests for fast COVID-19 screening in primary care and emergency departments. Lead researcher Prof Carl Philpott, from UEAs Norwich Medical School, said: The loss of smell and taste is a prominent symptom of COVID-19, however, it is also a common symptom of having a bad cold. We wanted to find out exactly what differentiates COVID-19 smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and blocked-up nose. The research team carried out smell and taste tests on 10 COVID-19 patients, 10 people with bad colds and a control group of 10 healthy people all matched for age and sex. Prof Philpott said: We wanted to see if their smell and taste test scores could help discriminate between COVID-19 patients and those with a heavy cold. We know that COVID-19 behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the bodys immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting the nervous system. So we suspected that patterns of smell loss would differ between the two groups. We found that smell loss was much more profound in the Covid-19 patents. They were less able to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes. In fact, it was this loss of true taste which seemed to be present in the COVID-19 patients compared to those with a cold. He added that this is very exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to discriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with a regular cold or flu. Although such tests could not replace formal diagnostic tools such as throat swabs, they could provide an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid screening is needed particularly at the level of primary care, in emergency departments or at airports. This research also shows that there are altogether different things going on when it comes to smell and taste loss for COVID-10 patients, compared to those with a bad cold. It has previously been suggested that the COVID-19 virus affects the central nervous system, based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also similarities with SARS, which has also been reported to enter the brain, possibly via smell receptors in the nose. Our results reflect, at least to some extent, a specific involvement at the level of the central nervous system in some COVID-19 patients. It is particularly interesting that COVID-19 seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste receptors because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity. More research is needed to see whether genetic variation in peoples bitter and sweet taste receptors might predispose them to COVID-19, or conversely, whether COVID-19 infection changes how these receptors function, either directly or through a cytokine storm the over-reaction of the bodys immune system, Philpott said. (ANI) Also read: Difficult to predict Covid-19 second wave in India: ICMR DG Robert Kubica has admitted his pace since switching from Formula 1 to DTM for 2020 is "not normal". Having spent his entire comeback season in Formula 1 at the back of the grid last year, the Pole lost his Williams seat but signed up to race in the German touring car series for 2020. But once again, the 35-year-old is trailing the field. "If you are 0.4 seconds slower than the penultimate driver, it is probably not normal," Kubica is quoted by Poland's Przeglad Sportowy. Sponsored by Orlen, Kubica drives a BMW prepared by the well-known single seater racing team ART. He said: "It seems that the problem is not a matter of changing one or two parameters in the tuning of the car. There is something bigger that is holding us back." (GMM) Earlier this summer, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order to close schools in many counties across the state, requiring schools to start their 2020/2021 school year remotely. In response, several religious schools, including the Gindi Maimonides Academy and the Montebello Christian School of Montebello, as well as a group of parents have filed a lawsuit against Newsom this past Monday. The plaintiffs are requesting exemption from the closure order which shut down both public and private schools in an attempt to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus. They argue this order presents an infringement upon their rights of freedom of religion. Additionally, the complainants accuse the order as being inequitable due to the continued operation of similar organizations such as childcare. The schools also argue that considering they are private institutions not backed by the government, closing down could have more drastic effects. The superintendent of Montebello Christian School, Sebastian Petz, commented: "If we don't open our doors, there's a good chance that we may never be able to serve our low-income, poor, minority families going forward for the rest of our existence." The schools, therefore, find an issue with Newsom's decision not only from an ethical standpoint but as a fiscal obstruction as well. With the emergency order made last month by Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan to clarify the exemption of private schools from the state shutdown. This, in addition to the lawsuit being presented, is only increasing the pressures on Newsom to release Californian religious schools from the closure order. Pankaj Tripathi and his exceptional craft of acting have suddenly both become apparent. Citizens might have dismissed the film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl over claims of nepotism and the display of Indian Air Force in a negative, made-up light, what audiences can't seem to get over is just how brilliant Pankaj Tripathi is as Anup Saxena. He is the soul of this film and shines in every scene. Twitter has also claimed Pankaj Tripathi as the 'father' we all need. Pankaj Tripathi is a national treasure. him in gunjan, with a controlled and heart-warming performance, deserves all the praise and accolades. @TripathiiPankaj pic.twitter.com/LlmNWlSUMH pri struggle tweets (@stfu_penguin) August 15, 2020 What audiences often forget is that Pankaj Tripathi has been in the industry since 2004 and only now is he getting his due. In order to celebrate his struggle and how he is the living proof of the old adage, "good things come to those who wait", we listed some of Tripathi's exceptional performances that you need to see because he is one of the finest actors who has made it on his own merit without any godfather or connection to a film family. 1. CRPF commandant Atma Singh in Newton. Newton / Youtube Newton was hands down a brilliant yet devastating film that Indian audiences didn't want but need. With minimal drama and devoid of any glamour, the film allows its actors to shine. Pankaj Tripathi played his character, the area's CRPF officer Atma Singh to cinematic perfection that earned him a National Award special mention. 2. Kehri Singh in Gurgaon. Gurgaon / IMDB It was only in 2017, Pankaj Tripathi was cast as a lead in the film Gurgaon. Playing the role of a real-estate tycoon Kehri Singh, the scenes where we see Tripathi as a farmer in the city of Gurgaon are not only spectacular but also showcase the mastery of his craft supremely well. 3. Lawyer Madhav Mishra Criminal Justice. Criminal Justice / Disney + Hotstar If anyone can play a character that depicts the reality of the powerless common man then it's hands down Pankaj Tripathi. In the web series, Criminal Justice, Tripathi plays the role of a lawyer Madhav Mishra and achieves a breakthrough performance yet again. 4. Sultan Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur. Gangs Of Wasseypur / Amazon Prime Video Anyone who has ever watched this film feels blessed they have. Extraordinary storytelling mixed with unforgettable performances makes Gangs Of Wasseypur one of Bollywood's best movies to date. What's remarkable is that even in a cast full of some fabulous actors, Tripathi is noticed only because he is a great actor. The ruthlessness he brought to Sultan is truly commendable. 5. Narottam Mishra in Bareilly Ki Barfi. Bareilly Ki Barfi / Youtube While the portrayal of the oppressive father was alive and kicking in Bollywood for decades, we are so glad for Pankaj Tripathi's Narottam Mishra who brought us a liberated, empathetic, and sensitive on-screen dad. Here was a father who allowed his daughter to live a life she wanted on her own terms and shielded her from her mother's pressure to get married, how refreshing! 6. Pandit in Fukrey. Fukrey / IMDB Before you put a limit on Pankaj Tripathi's talent and think that he can only perform dark, angry, and intense roles then Tripathi's Pandit from Fukrey will not only delight you but convert you into a bigger fan of the actor. Whether it was how he peppered his dialogues with English words like disgusting, vulgar and cheating or simply act all righteous when he's far from that, Pankaj Tripathi's Pandit is sure only of his best. 7. Akhandanand Tripathi in Mirzapur Mirzapur / Amazon Prime Video Whenever we think of Mirzapur, we are reminded of the dialogue, "Kaleen Bhaiya ka shehar, Kaleen Bhaiya ka chowk, Mirzapur mein bhokaal ho toh aisa ho," and don't mind if we leverage this to the entire series. Not only is Pankaj Tripathi the boss in the storyline but his stellar performance makes it the top reason to watch this crime-filled masterful show. 8. Gangaram Jha in The Tashkent Files IMDB Playing the character of a xenophobic Hindutva leader, Pankaj Tripathi's Gangaram again puts on display Tripathi's passion and zeal for acting. How he manages to achieve that with a stellar cast featuring Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty, remains one of his top secrets. 9. Principal Shrivastava in Nil Battey Sannata IMDB While Nil Battey Sannata revolves around a single mother going back to school to inspire her daughter to focus on her board exams, it is Shrivastava who quietly forms the backbone of this unlikely winner of a story. Tripathi plays the role of a schoolmaster with such sincerity and incorporating mannerisms like an upright posture, sarcastic taunts, and that glare of a teacher that we can't help but think of our school principal. 10. Rudra in Stree Stree / IMDB Pankaj Tripathi is again in top form in this entertaining horror-comedy film. He masterfully plays his part to perfection proving yet again that humor is effortlessly his forte. 11. Sandhya Ji in Masaan Netflix / Massan Pankaj Tripathi might have less than ten minutes on screen but his impact as Safhya Ji who manages to become friends with Richa Chadha hits home. His portrayal of a friendly but a man who still isn't confident around women not only impresses but makes you smile with the humility showcased. Even if you don't have the luxury of substantial screen time, Pankaj Tripathi still knows how to be noticed. Islamabad: Pakistans Senate on Monday passed a resolution seeking withdrawal of high denomination Rs 5,000 currency notes in a phased manner to curb the flow of black money, weeks after India demonetised its high value currencies. Senator Usman Saif Ullah Khan of Pakistan Muslim League tabled the resolution that was endorsed by the majority of lawmakers in the Upper House. The resolution said that the withdrawal of Rs5,000 notes will encourage the use of bank accounts and reduce the size of the undocumented economy, Dawn reported. It said the withdrawal of the currency notes should take place within three to five years in order to purge markets of the notes. Law Minister Zahid Hamid, however, said that the withdrawal of the notes will create crises in the market and the people will resort to foreign currencies in absence of Rs 5,000 notes. He said that currently 3.4 trillion notes are in circulation in country of which 1.02 trillion notes are of Rs 5,000 denominations. The move appears to be inspired by Indias recent demonetisation drive, in which notes of 500 and 1,000 Indian rupees were pulled from circulation. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. (Newser) A nuclear power plant in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates has been connected to the country's power grid, authorities said Wednesday. The Barakah nuclear power plant in the Emirates far western desert near the border with Saudi Arabia began sending out electricity, according to the state-run WAM news agency. WAM published a photograph of employees working inside the plant's control room, though no independent media was there to witness the event. On July 31, the plants first reactor reached what scientists called its "first criticality." Thats when the nuclear chain reaction within the reactor is self-sustaining. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency and other regulatory bodies have seen and assessed the site. story continues below The plant has been considered a target by Yemen's rival Houthi rebels since Dec. 2017. They claimed then, without offering evidence, to have fired a cruise missile at it, something immediately denied by the UAE. Plans call for four reactors to be operating at Barakah, which authorities say will provide some 25% of all energy needs in this OPEC-member nation. The $20 billion plant was built by the Emirates with the help of South Korea. Its the first nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula. The US has praised the UAEs nuclear program for agreeing never to acquire enrichment or reprocessing capabilities, which prevents it from being able to make weapons-grade uranium, the AP reports. (Read more United Arab Emirates stories.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) The government was able to maximize the time during which Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces went under strict movement restrictions that enabled authorities to recalibrate infection control strategies, the Department of Health said Wednesday. Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online forum the DOH and the coronavirus task force were able to go on the ground to assess the impact of COVID-19 in communities while Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan were under modified enhanced community quarantine from August 4 to 18. Vergeire said they talked to local chief executives to clarify their roles on how to stop the COVID-19 transmission in communities. Vergeire also said they introduced the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic or CODE protocol, which aims to bring back a health-focused, driven approach in responding to COVID-19 by providing stronger support to local governments which need it the most. Part of the protocol is for CODE teams to go house to house in high-risk communities, checking if anyone has COVID-19 symptoms, and testing those who do. Those who tested positive will be immediately isolated as well as treated if need be. Vergeire expressed hope the local governments will follow suit and do active case finding as well. On August 1, the medical community asked President Rodrigo Duterte to reimpose strict enhanced community quarantine in Mega Manila for two weeks, noting the need to recalibrate strategies since the response at the time was not able to bring COVID-19 under control. Duterte made a compromise by placing Mega Manila under MECQ for 15 days. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast daytime highs of around 33 degrees Celsius and tropical nights in many parts of the country this week. Scorching temperatures have gripped the country again after the end of a record rainy season that lasted 54 days, which could pose obstacles to quarantine efforts as cases are rising again. Infections could rise if people gather in air-conditioned interiors to escape the heat such as malls. Gam Sin, head of the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine, said, "If the hot weather continues, people will prefer to stay indoors resulting in optimal conditions for viruses to spread -- proximity, enclosure and concentration. It is vital to ventilate frequently when using air conditioners and wear face masks indoors as well." The hot weather also spells trouble for vulnerable groups. Hong Yun-chul at Seoul National University said, "In hot weather the elderly tend to gather at senior citizens' centers, and this exposes them to infections. Senior citizens need to be careful, since they could experience difficulty breathing or feel uncomfortably hot in their face masks." Concerns are also mounting for medical experts who are required to wear heavy personal protective equipment at testing centers. Jung Ki-suck at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital said, "The continued coronavirus crisis and recent resurgence in infections in the Seoul metropolitan area have already increased fatigue among medical workers, and the hot weather will only makes it worse." JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp defended his administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic in fiery remarks Wednesday after a report from the White House coronavirus task force said Georgia led the nation last week in new cases per capita. The White House report, dated Aug. 16, recommends several steps to curb the virus that Kemp has declined to take, including closing bars and issuing mask mandates in counties with 50 or more active cases. Kemp was among the first governors to ease earlier restrictions this spring, and while infections declined for weeks afterwards, they began to rise in June and peaked in late July. First reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the report says Georgias small gains are fragile and statewide progress will require continued, expanded, and stronger mitigation efforts, including in all open schools. Kemp insisted Wednesday that other markers hes watching paint a different picture. Right now, our hospitalizations are down 18.8 per cent since our peak on July 30. Thats the lowest level since July 13. Our seven-day average of new cases reported are down 26 per cent since our peak on July 24, and theyre the lowest since July 8, Kemp said. If were the highest per cent capita in the state right now, thats because Texas and Florida and Arizona and some of the other states that were peaking a week or two ago are on the downclimb, just like we are, the Republican governor said. But that is not the only number that Georgians need to look at. The report from the White House coronavirus task force says that last week Georgia had 216 new cases per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 112 new cases per 100,000 residents. State health officials say more than 243,000 people in Georgia have contracted the virus and at least 4,849 people have died from COVID-19. The White House report comes as Georgia in recent weeks has become a lightning rod in a national debate over when and how schools should reopen amid the pandemic. One of the states biggest school districts Cherokee County has temporarily closed three large high schools after the virus led to the quarantines of more than 2,000 students in the district. Asked about the recent closure of the Cherokee County high schools, Kemp said the spread of the virus didnt happen in the schools for the most part. It happened because people came back to school and they already had the coronavirus. So is that the governments fault? Is that the schools fault? No, it is not, Kemp said. Meanwhile, a north Georgia school system that refused to provide its latest update on the coronavirus to a local newspaper now says 85 of its students are being quarantined after ten students and nine employees tested positive for the virus. The superintendent of the Lumpkin County School System had refused to give out the coronavirus numbers in time for them to be included in the weekly print edition of The Dahlonega Nugget amid a dispute with the paper over its coverage, the newspaper reported. In an email Monday to school board members and the newspaper, Supt. Rob Brown accused the paper of spreading fear in the community. The last time we shared data with The Nugget directly, the data was used for an online article with a headline that created unnecessary fear and panic, Brown wrote in the email, referencing an Aug. 7 story with the headline, Numerous Lumpkin teachers test positive for COVID-19 as first day approaches. In an earlier email, Brown suggested his own headlines for the newspaper. A headline such as LC Schools Closely Monitoring COVID Data or Less than 5% of the 540 LC Employees Impacted by COVID could have shared the same information without causing undue fear and concern, Brown wrote. The school system, which began its school year on Aug. 10, serves about 3,830 students in the county about 100 kilometres north of Atlanta. Its in the same county where hundreds of young people gathered recently for a party near the University of North Georgias Dahlonega campus. Video of the party made national news and caused alarm in Georgia. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, pictured here Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized Moscow for imposing punitive curbs on Belarusian exports. (Alexei Druzhinin / Associated Press) Belarus, the onetime Soviet republic now beset by opposition protests, sits squarely between Russia and the West on a political seam that is dangerously fraying. In an extraordinary session on Wednesday, European Union leaders rejected official results of an Aug. 9 presidential vote that handed a huge margin of victory to Alexander Lukashenko, an autocrat who has ruled Belarus for the last 26 years. Declaring that the election had been neither free nor fair, the European Council president, Charles Michel, said the 27-member EU stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus who have taken to the streets in an unprecedented wave of protests. But even while announcing targeted financial sanctions against officials who certified the false vote and carried out a brutal crackdown on protesters, the EU leaders did not directly call for a new election. Instead, they hedged, urging dialogue between the government and the opposition to foster a peaceful transition of power. Such a scenario could ultimately result in Lukashenkos ouster. But the calibrated European response suggested the blocs leaders want to avoid antagonizing Moscow to the point that President Vladimir Putin who has a penchant for inserting himself into cross-border affairs and rousing Cold War ghosts moves to intervene on the 65-year-old Belarus leaders behalf. Workers with handmade posters reading "Go away!" march toward the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant where Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addressed employees in Minsk, Belarus, on Monday. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) The wish to avoid provoking Russia is widely shared by demonstrators taking to the streets in the capital, Minsk, and other Belarusian cities and towns, analysts say. The uprising is driven mainly by the desire to freely choose a leader, rather than any overarching effort to repudiate Russia and embrace the West, said Belarusian journalist and analyst Maryia Sadouskaya-Komlach. Belarusians consider themselves a European nation, no doubt, but dont necessarily want to choose between that and good relations with Russia, she said. The events in Belarus are quite different from that in neighboring Ukraine, where the 2014 revolution that toppled authoritarian leader Viktor Yanukovich had a strongly pro-Western underpinning. Putins military intervention in Ukraine, including the seizure of the Crimean peninsula, triggered a crisis with Europe and led to the continents bloodiest ongoing conflict. Story continues But even though Belarus is not Ukraine, this is a perilous moment. The demonstrators are defiant and pressing for change. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, in exile in neighboring Lithuania, said in a video message released Wednesday before the EUs virtual gathering that Lukashenko had lost all legitimacy in the eyes of the country and the world. Lukashenko, for his part, threatened Wednesday to unleash more force to suppress the protests. Thousands of demonstrators were arrested and at least two died in the turbulent days following the vote. There should no longer be any disorder, the president said in remarks reported by the state news agency Belta, in which he seemed to be justifying a wider crackdown on "law and order" grounds. People are tired. People demand peace and quiet! A central question now is how far Moscow is willing to go to shield Lukashenko, who at times has been a problematic partner. While pliant in many matters, the president, a big man with white hair and a dark mustache who has no qualms about locking up critics, has resisted the Kremlins efforts to deepen the union that already exists on paper with Belarus. Who knows what Putin wants? said Joerg Forbrig, the director for Central and Eastern Europe for the German Marshall Fund. One option, he said, would be for Russia to support Lukashenko come hell or high water including militarily, with all the risks that entails. Another scenario, said Forbrig, would be for Moscow to tacitly allow his ouster, and set to work with a new president who would inherit a country heavily dependent on the Kremlin. Russia has inroads in Belarus like nowhere else, he said. Lukashenko has clearly been trying to gauge his level of support from Putin. He has spoken with the Russian leader several times since the crisis erupted, and the Reuters news agency reported that a Russian government plane used in the past by the FSB security service flew to Belarus and back overnight. The beleaguered Belarus president has resisted attempts by individual European leaders to defuse the crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in customarily brisk fashion, said she saw no role for herself as a mediator after Lukashenko rebuffed several attempts to contact him directly. On Wednesday, Lukashenko and Moscow, in a plot line reminiscent of decades ago when the Iron Curtain divided Europe, again put forth a coordinated narrative that the protests are orchestrated by outsiders. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said interference in Belarus by unidentified foreign powers would be unacceptable. That coincides with Lukashenkos own denunciation of militants, weapons, ammunition and money from other countries that he said were propping up the protests. In a televised interview, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned what he called foreign attempts to capitalize on the unrest in Belarus. And he placed the protests in the context of what Moscow sees as its right to influence events in former Soviet republics, saying that the Belarus turmoil represented a fight for the post-Soviet space. As tensions have grown, the United States has remained largely on the sidelines. President Trump said he might speak with Putin at an appropriate time about Belarus, but was vague when that might be. And unlike European leaders, he offered no expression of solidarity with the protesters. I like seeing democracy, he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. It doesnt seem like its too much democracy there in Belarus. By contrast, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who has promised a dramatically different approach to foreign affairs if he is elected in November, offered unequivocal support for the demonstrators, and a cautionary word for Putin. The brave citizens of Belarus are showing their voices will not be silenced by terror or torture, Biden wrote Wednesday on Twitter. Russia must be told not to interfere this is not about geopolitics but the right to choose ones leaders. Coronavirus patients taking Pepcid AC are less likely to die of the infection, a new study claims. Famotidine, the active ingredient in the common heartburn drug has been the subject of considerable controversy in the US. The Trump administration offered up $21 million to a Northwell Health trial using famotidine to treat COVID-19, but the effort fizzle out because the New York hospital system ran out of hospitalized patients to test it in. Dr Rick Bright, the whistleblower and ousted Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official, filed a complaint about the study, claiming the government contract was rushed and was based on thin science. The Northwell trial did return positive findings - but they were based on just 10 patients. Now, a Hartford Hospital in Connecticut has found that famotidine might help patients avoid mechanical ventilation and even improve the odds that they survive coronavirus in a larger observational study of 878 patients. A new study suggests that coronavirus patients taking famotidine, the generic of Pepcid AC, are less likely to need to be intubated or to die of COVID-19 (file/AP) Only about 10 percent of those patients - 83, to be exact - actually received famotidine, however. Overall, patients who got famotidine were about 31 percent less likely to need to be intubated. They also faced a lower risk of dying while hospitalized, by an odds ratio of 0.366. Two-thirds of the group that got famotidine was only given the drug upon admission to the hospital, while 29 percent had been taking it regularly before they were hospitalized for COVID-19. It follows an odd pattern observed in the first months of the pandemic. 'Early on, doctors in China noticed that elderly patients with lower socioeconomic status seem to be dying at a lower rate. It was noticed that these patients were taking the less expensive famotidine than the more expensive proton pump inhibitors,' Dr Ira Schmelkin, head of gastroenterology at Baystate Health in Massachusetts told Fox News. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are similar to Pepcid AC in that they treat heartburn, but they work by a different mechanism. In fact, a study conducted by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center earlier this year found that people who regularly took PPIs such as Prilosec were at a 2.15 times greater risk of contracting coronavirus. Researchers there posited that because coronavirus can be found in saliva, which can be swallowed and washed down to the gastrointestinal system, drugs that alter the stomach might change how the virus interacts with the organ. Specifically, stomach acid can kill pathogens like unwanted bacteria or viruses. But famotidine is an H2-blocker (as is Zantac). Some scientists have thought the drugs may injure enzymes called viral proteases that are key to coronavirus's ability to copy itself and spread in the body. Lab experiments have not managed to clearly establish that this is the case. And that has led other experts, including Dr Bright, to lump drugs like Pepcid AC nito a category with hydroxychloroquine: doctors have seen interesting anecdotal links between the drugs and better patient outcomes, but little science to explain them, or clinical evidence to prove they work better than a placebo. 'The evidence used to support the [Northwell Health famotidine] trial is extremely weak,' Dr Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic cardiologist and a frequent adviser to the Food and Drug Administration, told the Associated Press. 'And I've been very critical of this approach to the COVID-19 epidemic, which Ive likened to throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. I consider trials like this one to be largely a waste of time and money.' Notably, the new Hartford Hospital study was observational, meaning that it looked back at data on a number of patients who happened to be taking or get prescribed famotidine while hospitalized for coronavirus, as opposed to randomly giving half of them the drug and others a placebo, as would happen in a gold-standard clinical trial. But the researchers there did find symptoms, hospital stays and mortality risks were particularly improved in patients that took the drug and scored high for being at risk for severe COVID-19. Plus, those taking the drug also had lower levels of blood biomarkers that indicate dangerous levels of inflammation. Pepcid AC sells for about $10-$15, so it's certainly tempting to believe that such a cheap, over-the-counter drug could combat coronavirus, but it's just too soon to say for sure that it can. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned late Tuesday night, hours after he was arrested by mutinous soldiers following months of massive protests. The 75-year-old Keita said he wished to avoid any bloodshed in a resignation speech delivered on state television. Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested Tuesday at Keitas house in the capital of Bamako. A reporter for VOAs French to Africa service says soldiers took Keita and Cisse to a military camp in Kati. The West African economic bloc ECOWAS ( Economic Community of West African States) sealing member states borders with Mali after Keita and Cisses arrest, and suspended all financial transactions between Mali and its 14 other members and is, for now, removing Mali from its decision-making bodies. ECOWAS officials have called for sanctions on those it calls putschists and their partners and collaborators. An African Union Commission spokesman says Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemns the arrests of Keita and Cisse and strongly rejects any attempted unconstitutional change of government in Mali. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and the rule of law in Mali. Council members France and Niger have called for a closed-door meeting of the Security Council Wednesday. Another reporter in Mali told VOA that soldiers in Kati went on the rampage, got to the arsenals, got the guns, started shooting in the air, went out and cut off access to the camp. Kati is the same camp where the 2012 coup that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure began. No casualties have been reported from Tuesdays uprising and as of late Tuesday, soldiers were reported to be moving freely through Bamako. Opposition supporters in Mali have held a number of large protests since June, demanding Keitas resignation. Clashes between security forces and protesters in July killed at least 11 people. Victorian health bosses gave a coronavirus-infected meatworks permission to send some staff back to the factory while awaiting results of their COVID-19 precautionary test. JBS Brooklyn, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is linked to at least 150 coronavirus infections and has shut all but one section of its plant. A worker, who did not wish to share his name due to fear of reprisal, said COVID-19 spread through the kill floor and boning room but the cold storage facility remained open because it was not yet infected, ABC reported. He received a letter from Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) last week, which advised all staff members in cold storage to go for a precautionary COVID-19 test 'as soon as possible'. JBS Brooklyn, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is linked to at least 150 coronavirus infections (pictured on August 12) 'If you have any symptoms associated with COVID-19 please seek testing immediately and isolate at home until you have received your results,' the letter read. The worker then received text messages from his JBS manager, who said he could come back to work before getting the all clear. 'You can come back before your test results come back, only if you or anyone in the family is showing no symptoms,' the manager wrote. The worker said he spoke with the HR department at JBS and was advised he was required to attend work if not symptomatic. He claims he was 'repeatedly' told he was required to work. 'There is a chance it is still in the facility but unfortunately, money is needed and I am getting to the point where I have no choice but to risk it,' he said. Victorian health bosses gave a coronavirus-infected meatworks the green light to send some staff back to the factory (pictured: COVID-19 testing in Melbourne on Tuesday) A DHHS spokeswoman confirmed to the ABC staff who are without symptoms and not considered close contacts of infected cases could go back to work. She said workers who were tested 'as precaution or as part of a targeted workplace testing program' do not need to self-isolate if they don't have symptoms. A JBS Australia spokesman told Daily Mail Australia it is following the DHHS advice and there had been 'random testing of asymptomatic workers' as a precaution. The spokesman said DHHS allowed the staff to return to work while awaiting the results of the precautionary tests. 'The company (JBS) has been very clear, if you have symptoms, don't come into work,' the spokesman said. Pictured: A sign for COVID-19 testing is seen in Melbourne on Tuesday JBS Brooklyn has also introduced measures to keep staff safe during the pandemic. Some of the safety measures include supervised and contactless entry and exit, separate toilets, change rooms and meal rooms, as well as social distancing and temperature testing protocols. Premier Daniel Andrews last month said large workplaces such as cold storages presented challenges and strict measures were needed to keep the virus at bay. Cedar Meats, an abattoir in Melbourne, is connected to 111 coronavirus infections after a worker tested positive at the beginning of April. Outbreaks have happened at abattoirs across the world, amid growing evidence the virus survives and thrives in refrigerated environments. Similar viruses can live for extended periods of time in cooler temperatures, and can even travel on frozen food. Fire crews made significant progress overnight with the blaze that roared into Vacaville on Wednesday. "We're fairly confident we stopped the spread," a Cal Fire official said Thursday. As the fire raged Wednesday evening, it jumped I-80 and spread toward neighborhoods in Fairfield and Vacaville. The fire near the Paradise Valley neighborhood is contained although crews are still working the fire's western edge in Suisun's Gordon Valley. Cal Fire said some Vacaville areas hard-hit on Wednesday, like English Hills and Pleasants Valley Road, are still experiencing spot fires in backyards and trees, posing a threat to homes. Firefighters are on scene to stamp out any hot spots. The fire, which initially started near Hennessy Ridge Road in Napa and quickly spread to the Lake Berryessa area, suddenly blew into Vacaville at about 1 a.m. Wednesday as high winds gusted. Some residents were awoken in the middle of the night and forced to flee. "It's very rare that we see the type of fire behavior I saw last night," Vacaville Fire Chief Kris Concepcion said in an interview with ABC7. "I saw a wall of flames about 40 feet high just traveling into the city very quickly," he added. Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The fire jumped I-80 after 4 p.m., forcing a closure of I-80 between Fairfield and Vacaville and a partial evacuation of Travis Air Force Base. By Thursday morning, some residents were allowed to return as Vacaville lifted evacuation orders for the areas south of I-80, including Alamo Dr. south of I-80 to Marna Dr., California Dr. and Peabody Rd. I-80 also reopened around 9 p.m. Wednesday. The mandatory evacuations for north Vacaville, including North Alamo Drive, areas west of N. Orchard and north of Fruitvale, and west of Browns Valley Parkway, are in the process of being of being lifted as of Thursday afternoon. The full evacuation information can be found via the Vacaville Police Department. A full map of the evacuation zones in Fairfield, Suisun, Vacaville and Winters is available here. Video and photos of the English Hills area show some homes have been destroyed. The owners of Yin Ranch, an event and wedding venue on Pleasants Valley Road, confirmed it is at least partially destroyed. "The devastation on Pleasants Valley Road is pretty bad. Parts of it looks like Paradise, like the Camp Fire," Don Ryan, manager of the Office of Emergency Services, told the Daily Republic. "Lots of homes are burned down." MediaNews Group/The Mercury News/MediaNews Group via Getty Images In addition, a PG&E worker was found unresponsive in his vehicle in the Gates Canyon area of Vacaville on Wednesday afternoon. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cal Fire said the employee was in the area "clearing infrastructure," like poles and power lines, "to keep the area safe for emergency responders." At least 105 structures have been destroyed by the LNU Lightning Complex as of Thursday morning. It is not yet known how many of those homes are in Vacaville and the hills around the city. Concepcion said Wednesday afternoon up to 3,000 residences in the city limits were in danger at that time. Evacuation orders were also issued in Suisun Valley and Fairfield. As of Thursday morning, all evacuations within Fairfield city limits have been lifted with the exception of a small neighborhood around the Rancho Solano Club House. The raging blaze has charred 124,000 acres from Napa to Winters and was zero percent contained, according to Cal Fire. To put that in perspective, that's much larger than the size of the city of San Francisco. MORE WILDFIRE COVERAGE: These are the fires burning in the Bay Area right now Ash falls from the sky as wildfire smoke pours into Bay Area North Bay fires explode overnight, heading into Vacaville SCU Lightning Complex fires grow from 35K to 85K acres overnight Wildfire burns in Point Reyes National Seashore CZU Lightning Complex Fire rages in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties SFGATE news editor Amy Graff contributed to this report. Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd WASHINGTON Louis DeJoys move to halt changes that were viewed as a threat to mail-in voting did little to quell the outcry over his leadership as postmaster general, with lawmakers calling on Wednesday for his removal and one top Democrat demanding more answers about the secretive process that led to a major Trump donor running the Postal Service. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called on the Postal Service board of governors to release information about the selection process that resulted in Mr. DeJoys appointment in May, saying that the changes made under his watch underscored the need for more details. In a separate letter to Mr. DeJoy, Mr. Schumer also requested more information about the changes that had been put in place and which ones would be suspended. Mr. DeJoy, who will face lawmakers at two separate hearings in the coming days, said on Tuesday that he would suspend cost-cutting and operational changes that have slowed mail delivery and fueled worries about mail-in voting in the November election. But Mr. DeJoy did not commit to reversing changes already put in place, including the removal of hundreds of mail-sorting machines, some of which have already been destroyed, according to union officials and postal workers. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who spoke with Mr. DeJoy on Wednesday, said in a statement that the postmaster general frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed, and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works. Lukashenko emphasized there is a legal and regulatory framework in the country, ruled by the current Constitution. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said any amendments should be passed within the legal framework, otherwise the country will face serious consequences. "Once again, I would like to reiterate: amendments that some want should be within the law. Amendments must be spelled out in the Constitution. This work continues. It will be stepped up. How fast the work on the Constitution goes will depend on people's support. With the Constitution in place, we will be able to have discussions about the re-election of the bodies of authorities," he said at a meeting of the Security Council with the participation of regional leaders by a video link, state-owned BelTA has learned. Lukashenko emphasized there is a legal and regulatory framework in the country, ruled by the current Constitution. Read alsoLukashenko: Belarus government has somone to rely on"We should faithfully adhere to it. I have no other means to keep the country within the legal framework, in compliance with this Constitution. Otherwise, we will be governed by others," he added. Belarus protests: developments On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The country's Central Election Commission announced the final election results. In particular, 80.1% of voters supported incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, 10.1% voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, 1.67% for Anna Kanopatskaya, 1.2% for Andrey Dmitriev, and 1.14% for Sergei Cherechnya. Some 4.59% voted against all candidates. Thousands of residents of Belarus took to the streets to protest what they believe is a rigged vote count. Riot police violently cracked down on protesters. Belarus' Ministry of Internal Affairs said about 7,000 protesters had been detained in different cities since August 9. On the evening of August 13, the authorities started to release detainees. "According to human rights activists, at least five people were killed during clashes with riot police, seven more remain in critical condition in hospitals' intensive care units. Activists say about 200-300 people were detained as political prisoners. Lukashenko has repeatedly warned against foreign meddling in Belarus' domestic affairs. He had phone calls with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. As a result, the Kremlin assured they were ready to provide "comprehensive assistance" to Belarus. On August 14, the European Union said they did not recognize the outcome of the presidential election in Belarus, and that work had begun to introduce sanctions over electoral fraud and violence against protesters. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:37:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Gerardo Laborde MONTEVIDEO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay plans to open a trade office in China to promote its star beef products and better position itself in the Asian country, said an industry insider. The post-pandemic era is opening up opportunities for Uruguayan meat which boasts a natural, organic production process and traceability, Fernando Mattos, president of the Uruguay's National Meat Institute (Inac), told Xinhua recently. Mattos noted that the opening of the first Inac trade office abroad will mark "a milestone" in the goal for "much greater development" in China's market, which in 2019 accounted for up to 60 percent of the country's meat exports. The office will boost promotion and participation in fairs, contacts with business leaders and authorities, and the identification of market niches to strengthen the "Uruguayan meat" brand, he said. "We are making the final arrangements," said Mattos. "Initially, it will operate out of the Uruguayan Embassy in Beijing," with qualified Chinese personnel. Uruguay has to "make greater effort than other countries" promoting its goods, noted the industry insider, because "we are a small country, (and) we are not a geopolitically important player." "But we do have a mark, a trust, (and) an identity that we have to develop," he added. Mattos pointed out that online sales and marketing platforms can deliver "great results" for products, including meat, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic has popularized online shopping. "E-commerce has multiplied exponentially due to the lockdown," he said. "People are preparing safe meals at home to the detriment of restaurants and other sales channels." Online sites can reach consumers who are looking for "a safer and more secure product," he added. Enditem If a Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green, or Labour activist had crucial information about one of the most notorious murders in the history of the State, it is unlikely they would feel the need to seek approval from their party before approaching An Garda Siochana. But that was not so for a crucial witness in the case against Aaron Brady - convicted of the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe - according to retired Garda Detective Inspector Pat Marry who led the investigation. Yesterday, Mr Marry said the witness was reluctant when first contacted as he needed to get "sanction" from Sinn Fein. When the Detective Inspector went back to the Sinn Fein councillor who had originally tipped him off to the witness, he was told this would "have to come from head office". The officer then contacted a Sinn Fein TD who he did not name - but it has since emerged this was the party's then leader Gerry Adams - and was told Sinn Fein "would do anything" to help gardai. Mr Marry told this newspaper's Robin Schiller that the TD said the witness "is one of us" and that they "got word to him to make a statement and co-operate". The witness eventually gave a statement that ended up being a crucial break in the long-running case. Sinn Fein has not denied Mr Marry's account - first reported in The Irish Times - but said last night that having checked its records there was no record of a witness in the Adrian Donohoe investigation being a member of the party. It said it was "nonsense to claim its members need the party's permission to co-operate with An Garda Siochana". Sinn Fein TD Darren O'Rourke said the party had always said "people should make statements" to the Garda or PSNI if they have information". Be that as it may, the message is perhaps not clear for all those who inhabit Sinn Fein circles, which prompts the question as to why this would be the case. The answer lies in the fact that Sinn Fein simply isn't a party in the mould of others in the Dail, or "not a normal party" as its critics say. The party was for decades seen as the political wing of the Provisional IRA - which considered itself an 'army' participating in a 'war' - with members, such as the late Martin McGuinness, serving both organisations. These close links meant Sinn Fein was able to bring key figures in the Provisionals towards accepting the peace process. Even though the party says the IRA is gone, the assessment of security services on both sides of the Border is that members of the Army Council still believe they control and oversee Sinn Fein. Meanwhile, the party's ruling ard chomhairle comprises a number of individuals with convictions for IRA membership. There are also the victims of IRA abuse such as Mairia Cahill and Paudie McGahon who have said repeatedly they were subjected to "kangaroo courts" and have been heavily critical of how the Sinn Fein hierarchy and Mr Adams handled their cases. Then there is the case of Brian Stack, who was fatally shot by the IRA in 1983. Thirty years later, Mr Adams organised a clandestine meeting for the late prison officer's two sons, which involved being driven to an undisclosed location to meet a former IRA leader who admitted the organisation was responsible for the murder. Undoubtedly, these are not the actions of a normal political party. Mr Adams may be retired from elected politics, but he retains an active presence in Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald is Sinn Fein leader, but relies on Mr Adams's "wise" counsel and speaks defensively of IRA actions. She said in May she wished the "war" hadn't happened "but it was a justified campaign". It can therefore hardly be surprising some Sinn Fein supporters feel subservient to the party above all else and that it retains the vestiges of the IRA's military structures that, to paraphrase Mr Adams, haven't gone away. WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE: THG) today announced it has priced a registered offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior, unsecured 2.50% notes due September 1, 2030 (the "Notes"). The company plans to use the net proceeds from the issuance of the Notes to redeem its outstanding 6.35% subordinated debentures due 2053 (the "Debentures") and for general corporate purposes. The company anticipates the debt offering will close on or around August 24, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Nothing herein shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes, nor shall there be any sale of the Notes in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on August 17, 2020. A prospectus and prospectus supplement related to this offering have been filed with the SEC. This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption with respect to, or any offer to purchase, the Debentures. Any such notice will be given to holders of the Debentures in a manner prescribed in the indenture governing the Debentures. Copies of the prospectus and related prospectus supplement may be obtained at no cost by visiting the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies or information concerning this offering may be obtained by contacting the joint book-running managers: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC at Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, New York, New York 10014, telephone: (866) 718-1649 or by emailing [email protected], Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, 608 2nd Avenue South, Suite 1000, Minneapolis, MN 55402, Attn: WFS Customer Service, telephone: 1-800-645-3751 or by emailing [email protected], or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Ave., New York, New York 10179, Attn: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk, telephone: (212) 834-4533. About The Hanover The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is the holding company for several property and casualty insurance companies, which together constitute one of the largest insurance businesses in the United States. The company provides exceptional insurance solutions through a select group of independent agents and brokers. Together with its agent partners, The Hanover offers standard and specialized insurance protection for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for homes, automobiles, and other personal items. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding our intent, belief or expectations with respect to future events and financial performance and the debt offering, including the expected closing of the debt offering and the use of proceeds from the debt offering. The company cautions investors that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results could differ materially. Investors are directed to consider the risks and uncertainties in the company's business that may affect future performance and that are discussed in readily available documents, including those risks which are discussed in readily available documents, such as the company's annual report and other documents filed by the company with the SEC. SOURCE The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. A teacher who was 'unfairly' imprisoned and forced to leave China after living there for four years has launched a campaign to be reunited with his wife who still remains in the country. Martin O'Brien, from Renfrewshire, Scotland, revealed how he was held in solitary confinement in a bare jail cell and interrogated over his visa for several days in Shenzhen. He has told the tragic story of how his wife was committed to a psychiatric hospital with depression after miscarrying their first child, leading him to quit work to become her full-time carer - and plunge his savings into her medical bills. Mr O'Brien tells how he later contracted coronavirus during lockdown, spending days in intensive care before being booted out of China and ordered to pay back the British Embassy 3,000 for his own flight home. He received a police letter claiming his Visa ran out in March, despite Mr O'Brien's stamped temporary residence form saying it was extended until June - the month he was kicked out. Now homeless and sleeping on his friend's sofa, Mr O'Brien, 27, feels 'torn apart' from his beloved wife Pamela, who is still in China. The English teacher, who had lived and worked in the country since 2016, demands answers and shares fears over his wife's mental health the longer they remain apart. He is now raising money to clear some of the medical bills from Pamela's stay in hospital - and to pay for legal services. He hopes to move to China again when their borders reopen - or to bring his wife to Scotland. Martin O'Brien, from Renfrewshire, Scotland, feels 'torn apart' from his beloved wife Pamela, who is still in China (both pictured in 2019) Mr O'Brien revealed that In February 2019, Pamela discovered she had fallen pregnant a few weeks after the pair wed. 'It was a bolt from the blue and I was afraid it would cripple us financially,' he admitted. 'I'd just started a new job, we didn't have any money saved and it's so expensive to raise a child - there are no free hospitals, schools or welfare. 'Then I thought, ''You know what, you're never going to be ready''. She was over the moon. Family is really important over there. So I became excited to start my life with her.' But one night, Pamela woke up in pain and was bleeding. She was taken to the hospital, where the doctor told them she had suffered a 'phantom pregnancy' - where a woman is not with child, but she still shows symptoms which can last long enough to make a woman believe she's expecting. Pamela was kept in for checks for two days before being allowed home. Mr O'Brien said over the following months, his wife spiralled into depression, becoming quiet and withdrawn. She slept on the couch every night and barely left the house for weeks. 'My brother had just had a baby and my mum was texting me photos. She would cry and say ''that could have been me''. It was tough,' he said. In June 2019, Pamela attempted suicide while Mr O'Brien was at work one day and he was forced to take action. He spoke with her mother and they checked her into a psychiatric hospital, where she remained for six months. He quit his well-paid job as a translator to become a full-time carer, visiting Pamela at her bedside every day. 'They don't have enough staff to carry out 24/7 care, so I had to quit. She shared a room with four other people,' he said. In June 2019, Pamela attempted suicide while Mr O'Brien was at work one day and he was forced to take action. He spoke with her mother and they checked her into a psychiatric hospital, where she remained for six months 'It was a horrible place for her to be and it was so difficult to see her there. She would be tied to the bed and sedated when she became too upset. I'd be lying if I said it didn't take its toll on me too.' In December 2019, after six months of therapy, Pamela was discharged from the hospital. Mr O'Brien got a new job as a translator and an apartment in Yantian, a quieter, coastal district in Shenzhen. He and Pamela began settling into their new lives there, away from the urban lifestyle which fuelled his wife's anxieties. Then, news broke that a deadly virus was spreading across central China. 'We thought it was going to be fine. But then we started seeing police and armies deployed to the streets,' Mr O'Brien said. 'Wearing face masks was made mandatory from the get-go - and we were told we would be arrested if we didn't wear one.' 'It became pretty clear pretty quickly this was serious. Pamela returned home to her mum's house and I stayed.' As workers returned home to their families for Chinese New Year, Shenzhen became a ghost town. Mr O'Brien, now out of work, said he only spoke face-to-face with two people between January and mid-February. Then, residents were barred from leaving their homes and the army began delivering supplies and rations directly to their doors, armed guards manning the entrances to his building. 'It was like being in jail. At least in the UK, you could be furloughed and you were allowed outside. I couldn't work, my savings were fast running out. I was living alone in an apartment block 18 floors up. The rations were powdered egg, rice, teabags and a bar of soap. There were days I didn't eat at all.' On February 9, 2020, Mr O'Brien was leaving the shop he was permitted to visit within his apartment block and had his temperature checked by a police officer before entering the lift. He had been feeling sick that day but presumed it was a hangover. The thermometer read 39C. Mr O'Brien is pictured in ICU after contracting coronavirus. After being sedated for days in intensive care, he was then ordered to isolate for two weeks at his apartment, with police checking on him every hour to ensure he had not left Mr O'Brien, who had lived and worked in China since 2016, now demands answers and has revealed his fears over his wife's mental health the longer they remain apart He was ordered to return to his flat and wait for medics and police to come. He tested positive for the virus and was taken to hospital, where he was sedated for days in intensive care. He was then ordered to isolate for two weeks at his apartment, with police checking on him every hour to ensure he had not left. There were days Mr O'Brien was so weak he could barely stomach his food or leave his bed. It took a few weeks before he returned to full health. Throughout the spring, lockdown began to ease in the region. Citizens were allowed out to walk and to visit shops and dine out. Pamela came to stay with Mr O'Brien at the weekends but their savings were running low. They ate most nights for free at their friend's Japanese restaurant and promised to pay them back once Mr O'Brien was back at work. He applied for an emergency living costs loan for expats stuck abroad during the coronavirus, but this was declined by the Embassy as flights home were still available between China and the UK - a condition of this kind of emergency loan. Things began looking up as Mr O'Brien was told he could return to work. 'It seemed like the light at the end of a long tunnel,' he said. On June 13, he and Pamela visited the police station for his three-monthly visa check, a routine procedure for all expats. As the officer checked his passport, she asked them to sit in the waiting room. Then, eight police officers came out and escorted him through the back. 'This was when I knew something was wrong,' he said. A police letter claimed Mr O'Brien's Visa ran out on March 18 despite Mr O'Brien's stamped temporary residence form saying it was extended until June 16 The police letter claimed his Visa ran out on March 18 despite Mr O'Brien's stamped temporary residence form saying it was extended until June 16. Mr O'Brien was detained for six days, after being told he had overstayed his visa - but he maintains that his permit had been previously extended and did not expire until June 16. 'There was no bed, no sink, no toilet in the cell. Just a stone bench which was wide enough to sit on, but not to lie on. 'The light was so bright and they left it on 24/7 so I couldn't sleep. They gave me a cup of rice which had so much salt in it and a tiny cup of boiling hot water to drink. I've only got one kidney so I was genuinely worried at how that would affect me. 'Not to mention it was 37 degrees and there was no air conditioning either,' he added. He was only allowed out of his cell to go to the toilet under police guard. Mr O'Brien asked those handling his case to speak in English so he could understand the legal terms used as there was no translator present. He was told to sign forms admitting to the claims and accept a 10-day visa before taking a flight home to the UK, rather than be deported. 'Several days in jail, no sleep. I was at my wit's end. I was told this was my best chance of being able to see my wife again. I had to take it.' Exhausted, Mr O'Brien was released from prison on June 19 and went home to greet Pamela. 'I felt s***. Six months I had stuck it out here through the pandemic, with no money and alone. One week before I was to start work, I was being kicked out. I was ready to hang myself.' Pictured: Mr O'Brien's residence and visa extension permit, bearing the date June 16 on the right hand side He got in touch with the embassy and asked if he could save money by taking a flight home from Hong Kong but was told to take a 3,000 economy flight through China Southern Airlines, a debt he would have to pay back. Mr O'Brien's flight was scheduled to leave on July 12. For Pamela, the realisation that her husband was leaving the country with no guarantees that he would be allowed back hit her hard. 'She had been fine up until the day I was leaving, it was as though she thought we would figure it out until then. She started throwing chairs and knocking stuff over before we left and getting upset. She began crying when we got to the train station. 'She said ''Why is this happening to us? We have made it through a miscarriage, hospital, the virus, just for this to happen.'' 'I never cry but that got me. 'I called her while I was on the train to the airport. She said she had sat at the station for two hours because she couldn't face going home without me.' Mr O'Brien arrived at Glasgow Airport two days later and told Border Control he had returned from China. He realised there was no room to isolate at home with his school teacher mother and two younger brothers, one of whom has a six-month old baby. He was taken by police to the Marriott Hotel for his 14-day quarantine. 'If I passed something on, I wouldn't forgive myself. I don't want that on my conscience,' he added. Now he alternates between two friends' houses, sleeping on the sofa. He has been spending time applying for jobs and housing while he figures out his next move. He added: 'I phoned my dad and he told me there are no jobs here, that I couldn't just ''waltz back'' into work. A lot of people I know are just waiting to get laid off. 'I'm waiting to hear back from Citizens Advice, I imagine I'll get placed in a homeless shelter. Though they will be inundated with people seeking advice right now. 'My friends are great but it's not a nice feeling living in someone's sitting room.' His nightly phone calls with Pamela have become a source of comfort and strength as he continues his fight back to see her. She has a new job in advertising and spends evenings and weekends playing card games with friends to keep herself busy. 'She told me she doesn't know what to do without me and I feel like it's my fault, somehow. I feel responsible. Yet utterly helpless.' Mr O'Brien is now raising money to clear some of the medical bills from Pamela's stay in the hospital and to pay for legal services. He hopes to move over again when China's borders reopen or to bring his wife to Scotland. He said: 'I never wanted to do a public campaign but I have been advised to as it is a lot of money. I'm not saying I am a saint but my wife wants me to be by her side. She spent months in a mental hospital. 'In most countries I would likely have citizenship if I had married a national. Politics aside, they shouldn't be splitting up families. 'I feel like the odds have been stacked against us in a lot of ways - but I'm going to keep fighting. I'm just lucky I have someone I love that gives me hope every day.' The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'Our staff supported a British man who was arrested in China for overstaying his visa, including by providing financial assistance to cover his flight back to the UK.' Mr O'Brien's flight home was covered by an emergency repatriation loan, which helps those who cannot afford travel costs home. Emergency living cost loans, for food, accommodation and prescription medicine, have set criteria which includes that recipients can only receive a loan if they're in a country with no travel options to return to the UK. Multimodal travel platform Omio (formerly GoEuro) has raised $100M in late stage funding to help see its business through the coronavirus crisis. It also says it's eyeing potential M&A opportunities within the hard-hit sector. New and existing investors in the Berlin-based startup participated in the late stage convertible note, although omio isn't disclosing any new names. Among the list of returning investors are: Temasek, Kinnevik, Goldman Sachs, NEA and Kleiner Perkins. Omio's business has now pulled in around $400M in total since being founded back in 2013 -- with the prior raise being a $150M round back in 2018. In a supporting statement on the latest raise, Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik, said: "We are very impressed how fast and effective Omio adapted to such an unprecedented crisis for the global travel industry. The management team has delivered quickly and we can see the robustness of the business model which is well diversified across markets and transport modes. We are looking forward to supporting Omio on its way to become the go-to destination for travellers across the world." While COVID-19 has thrown up major headwinds to global tourism and travel -- with foreign trips discouraged by specific government quarantine requirements, and the overarching requirement for people to maintain social distancing meaning certain types of holidays or activities are less attractive or even feasible, Omio is nonetheless sounding upbeat -- reporting a partial recovery in bookings this summer in Europe. In Germany and France it says bookings are above 50% of the pre-COVID-19 level at this point, despite only "marginal" marketing spend over the crisis period. Its business is likely better positioned than some in the travel space to adapt to changes in how people are moving around and holidaying, given it caters to multiple modes of transport. The travel aggregator platform spans flights, rail, buses and even ferry routes, allowing users to quickly compare different modes of transport for their planned journey. Story continues More recently Omio has added car sharing and car rentals to its platform, including via a partnership with rentalcars.com. So as travellers in Europe have adapted to living with COVID-19 -- perhaps opting to take more local trips and/or avoiding mass transit when they go on holiday -- it's in a strong position to cater to changing demand through its partnerships with ground transportation networks and providers. "That diversification in terms of not depending on a single mode of transport has really helped the business come back much stronger, because we're not depending on -- for example -- air or bus," CEO and founder Naren Shaam tells TechCrunch. "The diversification has helped us." "People will travel a lot more to smaller regions, explore the countryside a little more," he predicts, suggesting the current dilution of travel focus it's seeing -- away from usual tourist hotspot destinations in favor of a broader, more rural mix of places -- augurs a wider shift to more a diversified, more sustainable type of travel being here to stay. "It's not longer just airport to airport travel," he notes. "People are traveling to where they want to go -- and it's a lot more distributed across geographies, where people want to explore. A platform like ours can accelerate this behaviour because we serve, not just flights, but trains, buses, even ferries etc, you can actually reach any destination with us." Direct booking via Omio's platform is possible where it has partner agreements in place (so not universally across all routes, though it may still be able to offer route planning info). Its multimodal booking mix extends to 37 countries in Europe and North America -- where it launched at the start of this year. Last year it acquired Rome2Rio, bulking out its global flight and transport planning inventory. The grand vision is "all transport, end to end, in a single product", as Shaam puts it -- although executing on that means continuing to build out partnerships and integrations across its market footprint. Asked whether the new funding will give Omio enough headroom to see it through the current coronavirus crisis, Shaam tells TechCrunch: "The unknown unknown is how long the crisis lasts. But as we can see if the crisis lasts a couple of years we will make it through that." He says the raise will help the business come out of the crisis "stronger" -- by enabling Omio to spend on adapting its product to meet changing consumer demand, such as the shift to ground transportation. "All of those things we can use these capital to shape the future of how the travel industry actually interacts with consumers," he suggests. Another shift in the industry that's been triggered by the coronavirus relates to consumer expectations around information. In short, people expect a lot more travel intel up front. "We have hypotheses on what comes back [post-crisis]. I think travel will be a lot more information centric, especially coming out of COVID-19. Customers will seek clarity in the near term around basic information around what regions can I travel to, do I need to quarantine, do I need to wear a mask inside the train etc," he says. "But that'll drive a type of consumer behavior where they are seeking more information and companies will need to provide this information to satisfy the consumer needs of the future. Because consumers are getting used to having relevant information at the right point in time. So it's not a data dump of all information... it's when I get to the train station, what do I need to do? "Each of those is almost hyperlocal in terms of information and that's going to drive a change in consumer behaviour." Omio's initial response to this need for more information up front was the launch of a hub -- called the Open Travel Index -- where users can look up information on restrictions related to specific destinations to help them plan their journey. However he admits it's a struggle to keep up with requirements that can switch over night (in one recent example, the UK added France to a list of countries from which returning travellers must self quarantine for two weeks -- leading to a mad dash by scores of holidaymakers trying to beat a 4am deadline to get back on UK soil). "This is a product we launched about a month and a half ago that tells you, if you're based in the UK, where you can go in Europe," he says. "We need to update it faster because information's changing very, very quickly -- so it's on us now to figure out how to keep up with the constant changes of information." Discussing other COVID-19 changes, Shaam points to the shift to apps that's being accelerated by the public health crisis -- a trend that's being replicated in multiple industries of course, not just travel. "More than half of the ground transport industry was booked at a kiosk at a station [before COVID-19]. So this will drive a clear change with people uncomfortable touching a kiosk button," he adds, arguing that that shift will help create better consumer products in the sector. "If you imagine the kind of consumer products that the app/web world has created you can imagine that should come to the consumer experiences in travel," he suggests. "So these are the things, I think, that will come in terms of consumer behavior and it's up to us to make sure that we lead that change as a company." "We're investing quite heavily in some of the other shifts that we're seeing -- in terms of days to departure, flexibility of fares, more insurance type products so you can cancel," he adds. "We're also trying to help customers in terms of whether they can go. "We're investing heavily in routing so you can connect modes of transport, not just flights, so you can travel longer distances with just trains. And we're also in talks with all our suppliers to say hey, how can we help you come back -- because not all suppliers are state monopolies. There's a lot of small, medium suppliers on our product and we want to bring them back as well so we're investing there as well." On M&A, Shaam says growth via acquisition is "definitely on the radar for us". Though he also says it's not top of the priority list right now. "We've actively got our ears out. More so now, going forward, than looking back -- because the last four months, imagine what we went through as a travel company, I just wanted to stablize that situation and bring us to a stable position," he says. "We are still in COVID-19. The situation's not yet over, so our primary goal coming out of this is very much investing in the shifts in consumer behavior in our core product... Any M&A acquisitions we'll do is more opportunistic, based on [factors like] pricing and what's happening in the industry. "But more of our capital and my time and everything will go a lot more to build the future of transport. Because that's going to change so much more for so many millions of consumers that use our product today." There is still plenty of work that can be done on Omio's core proposition -- aka, linking up natural travel search for consumers by knitting together a diverse mix and range of service providers in a way that shrinks the strain of travel planning, and building out support for even more multifaceted trips people might wish to take in future. "No one brings the natural search for consumers. Consumers just want to go London to Portsmouth. They don't say 'London Portsmouth train'. They do that today because that's what the industry forces them to do -- so by enabling this core product to work where you can search any modes of transport, anywhere in Europe, one click to buy, everything is a simple, mobile ticket, and you use the whole product on the app -- that's the big driver for the industry," Shaam adds. "On top of that you've got shifts towards ground transport, shifts towards app, shifts towards sustainability, which is a big topic -- even pre-COVID-19 -- that we can actually help drive even more change coming out of this. These are the bigger opportunities for us." Uncertainty clearly remains a constant for the travel sector now that COVID-19 has become a terrible 'new normal'. So even with an unexpected summer travel bump in Europe it remains to be seen what will happen in the coming months as the region moves from summer to winter. "In general the overall business outlook we're taking is purely something of more caution," says Shaam. "We just don't know. Anything at all with respect to COVID-19, no one knows, basically. I've seen a number of reports in the industry but no one really knows. So in general our outlook is one of caution. And that's why we were surprised in our uptick already through the summer. We didn't even expect that kind of growth with near zero marketing spend levels." "We'll adapt," he adds. "The business is high variable costs so we can scale up and down fairly easily, so it's asset light and these things help us adapt. And let's see what happens in the winter." Over in the US -- where Omio happened to launch slightly ahead of the COVID-19 crisis -- he says it's been a very different story, with no bookings bump. "No surprise, given the situation there," he says, emphasizing the importance of government interventions to help control the spread of the virus. "Governments play a very important role here. Europe has done a superior job compared to a lot of other regions in the world... But entire economies [in the region] depend on tourism," he says. "Hopefully entire [European] countries shouldn't go into shutdowns again because the systems are strong enough to identify local spike in cases and they ring fence it very quickly and can act on it. It's the same as us as a company. If there's a second wave we know how to react because we've gone through this horrible phrase one... So using those learnings and applying them quickly I think will help stabilize the industry as a whole." Jihadists have taken hundreds of hostages in a northeast Nigerian town where people had just returned after fleeing their homes, locals and militia sources said Wednesday. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) "terrorists" late Tuesday overran Kukawa in the Lake Chad region, the sources said. They seized those who had returned to the town in a government operation on August 2 after spending nearly two years in displacement camps, said local militia head Babakura Kolo. "The terrorists attacked the town in 22 trucks around four pm (1600 GMT) yesterday and engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle," he said. Kukawa's residents had returned to their homes just 16 days earlier under military escort, on the orders of the Borno state authorities. They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180 kilometres (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November 2018. A local chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people had returned with the hope of working on their farmlands "only to end up in the hands of the insurgents". "We don't know what they would do to them but I hope they don't harm them," said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons. A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets were deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to "tackle the situation", without giving details. - Extortion - Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism consultant for MOSECON (Modern Security Consulting Group), expressed doubts over the strategic value of taking a town. "Kukawa is of limited value in itself, but the border region of Baga -- on the shores of Lake Chad -- is an important transition zone to Chad and Cameroon, and its control is important to ISWAP... for tactical and economic reasons," he said. The decade-long jihadist conflict in northeastern Nigeria has forced around two million people from their homes, mostly in the northern part of Borno. Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri and rely on handouts from international charities. In the last two years, local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to return home, despite concern by international charities that this is not safe. Residents have been returned to five major towns since 2018, where they are confined under military protection with trenches dug to try to fend off jihadist raids. Despite the fortifications, the insurgents have continued to launch attacks. In a related development, an AFP reporter who visited the town of Magumeri, 50 kilometres outside Maiduguri, on Wednesday saw hundreds flee to escape extortion by ISWAP. The Islamists had on Tuesday mounted roadblocks in the town, seizing mobile phones, money and footwear. - 'Hearts and minds' - The extortion followed clashes between Nigerian troops and the jihadists in the town on Monday in which the insurgents lost men and vehicles. The troops had mobilised from the nearby town of Gubio when residents alerted them of the invasion of Magumeri by the militants, leading to a gunfight. ISWAP released a statement on Tuesday taking responsibility for the attack on the military, saying it had killed and wounded an unidentified number of people and burnt Red Cross buildings. The local authority building in the town and a telecom mast were also burnt in the clashes. Nigeria / AFP ISWAP on Wednesday claimed on Twitter that its fighters had targeted the Super Camp in Mallam Fatori with five mortar shells. That claim could not be independently verified. Security experts say ISWAP -- a splinter group of Boko Haram, which began its jihadist campaign a decade ago -- is extending its grip and influence around Lake Chad, a vast, marshy area also shared by Niger and Chad. "Under the banner of (ISWAP), insurgents have increasingly focused on a 'hearts and minds' strategy, setting themselves up as an alternative to the federal and local governments," said London-based Janes Group in its latest report. - 'Suspicious about spies' - Vincent Foucher, a specialist with France's CNRS research institute said on Twitter ISWAP was frustrating efforts to resettle displaced residents in the area. "Clearly, ISWAP is not keen on authorities trying to resettle communities," he said. "They are in a complicated situation," he said. "On the one head, they want to look open to the public... but on the other, they are suspicious about spies, people who use their phone to inform the army." The United Nations last Friday said 10.6 million of the 13 million people in the conflict-ravaged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe would need humanitarian assistance this year. It said the figures represented a 50 percent increase since last year and the highest tally since the beginning of the joint humanitarian response five years ago. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Donald Trumps attempts to use the office of the presidency to call for a boycott of an American company have always been jarring and alarming. But the latest broadside against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. feels particularly shortsighted. On Wednesday, Goodyear joined a long list of corporations whose products the president has said should be shunned at one point or another. The list which stretches even longer if you include companies targeted over the course of his campaign is a whos who of the American way of life, ranging from Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Harley-Davidson Inc., Macys Inc. and Oreo-maker Mondelez International Inc. Hes also threatened to cancel an order for a new Air Force One jet from Boeing Co. and yank unspecified subsidies for General Motors Co. The reasons for the boycotts range from disagreements over operating decisions such as factory relocations or product selection; a means of pressure for jobs initiatives; leverage for government contract negotiations; and just general dislike. Hes never cared very much if the issues that are the grist for his corporate attacks conflict with or are the result of some of his own policies, nor has he been particularly focused on achieving more than a publicity stunt in most instances. But Goodyear is an especially curious target. The companys biggest competitors are foreign companies such as Japans Bridgestone Corp., Germany's Continental AG and Frances Michelin. So when Trump tells his supports to get better tires for far less," he would appear to be directing them to spend their dollars at the very same companies hes spent the better part of the last four years trying to hamper with tariffs and political posturing. Not to mention, Goodyear based in the swing state of Ohio actually operates factories in the U.S. at a time when the White House is angling to bring more manufacturing work back to America, and as the country faces an unprecedented slump in employment because of the coronavirus pandemic. A full-throttle boycott of Goodyear may affect the Americans working at the company, not to mention their attitude toward his re-election prospects. In 2016, Goodyear was one of 15 recipients of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, "the highest honor" given to the private sector to recognize support for National Guard and Reserve workforce members.Goodyears offense is an image circulating on social media that appeared to list acceptable and unacceptable attire and messaging for the workplace. According to the visual, support for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as LGBT initiatives, falls into the acceptable category; politically affiliated slogans or material (including the Make America Great Again attire featured in the Trump campaign) as well as support for the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements are deemed unacceptable. In a statement, Goodyear said the slide wasnt distributed by corporate headquarters and wasnt part of a diversity training program, as was alleged on social media. Story continues It remains unclear who exactly created this visual. But once again, Trumps instinct is to shoot first and ask questions later, a dangerous instinct for someone in charge of running an entire country. It feels particularly notable that his tweet is focused on the alleged ban on the MAGA attire his campaign popularized; he never misses an opportunity to worry about himself. Never mind that even if the slide deck is true, it would also appear to ban, say, t-shirts supporting Trumps challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.In other comments to local news outlets, Goodyear made a distinction between allowing employees to express themselves on issues of racial justice and equity in the aim of fostering a more respectful workplace, and wanting to avoid political campaigning for either side. It's an interesting portrait of the challenges corporate America is facing as companies try to respond to demands for social progress. But the complexity of that dilemma is lost on Trump. Trump's not the only politician to target or boycott specific companies. Celebrities and prominent Democrats including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York panned Goya Foods earlier this year after the company's CEO expressed support for Trump. In 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont called on Trump to threaten to withhold defense contracts from United Technologies Corp. (now Raytheon Technologies Corp.) over the status of a factory in Indiana. Its fair to question the potential ramifications of those calls on rank-and-file Americans, too. Two can play the same game, Trump said. But this isnt high school and only one person is the president. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Brooke Sutherland is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. On Tuesday, August 18, independent journalist Laura Loomer won the Republican primary for the West Palm Beach congressional district in Florida. Immediately after the results were announced, Trump tweeted his support for the young firebrand, giving his full endorsement for the general election. If Loomer wins in November, she will be the president's congressional representative. President Trump officially moved his residence from Manhattan to his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago property in October 2019. Loomer's primary election was an uphill battle. Dark money groups swarmed the district, sending out over 100,000 mailers falsely depicting Loomer as a NeverTrump candidate, prompting promises of an investigation by the Loomer camp. Additionally, NeverTrump groups bolstered Loomer's rivals by sending out campaign materials purporting to be from President Trump criticizing Loomer, prompting a pair of cease and desist letters from the president's lawyers. Mere days before the vote, telecom giant Comcast banned Loomer from sending campaign emails and text messages, later blaming the blocked communications on technical glitches. Comcast is the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, has donated to Loomer's Democratic congressional opponent for the last four election cycles, and employs executives who have hosted fundraisers for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The most shocking voter suppression tactics came from a south Florida CBS affiliate that posted fake results of the election two days before the election, alleging that Loomer had garnered only 2% of the final count. The fake results remained posted for 12 hours, taken down only after various threats from Loomer's legal team. Laura Loomer's rise began at Project Veritas, an undercover journalist organization run by James O'Keefe. She later worked at Rebel Media before resigning in 2017 and going independent. While working as an independent journalist, she discovered that the Las Vegas Police Department and the FBI had lied about the timeline regarding the 2017 Mandalay Bay shooting to cover for the officers who had allowed the shooting to go on uninterrupted, breaching the shooter's door a full hour after the shooting began. The media and law enforcement initially denounced her as a conspiracy theorist, only to quietly revise their official timeline and later firing the lead officer for cowardice. During the mistake-riddled 2018 midterm elections, Loomer broke the story that a rental car company had been used to stash provisional ballot boxes in the Fort Lauderdale airport parking lot. The Broward County Sheriff's Office treated the incident as a bomb threat in a transparent maneuver to block reporters from the area and confiscate the ballot box. Other mysterious ballot boxes were also found all over Florida on various government properties, including an elementary school's storage area. The next segment of Loomer's life reads like that of a Chinese dissident with a low social credit score. After embarrassing multiple law enforcement agencies, Loomer was banned by high-profile tech and financial giants under various pretexts. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Lyft, Uber, PayPal, Venmo, Chase Bank, even Uber Eats banned her for "hate." Loomer, a Jewish woman, had criticized Uber for consistently siding with Muslim drivers against Jewish and female passengers during Uber's dispute resolution process. Loomer was even banned from the Conservative Political Action Conference for attempting to interview reporters at the event. Despite the overwhelming election interference, Loomer was able to leverage her national profile to tap into a broad base of support and outraise her rivals, fundraising over $1 million during the Republican primary. Loomer won 42% of the vote among the six candidates. Loomer's road to November will be difficult as a Republican in her district. The congressional district supported Democrat Lois Frankel with a crushing margin of 27% in 2018. However, voter enthusiasm remains high among Loomer voters in an area hit hard by the government-mandated shutdowns. Loomer, pledging law and order, is attempting to capitalize the discontent with what many see as an authoritarian overreaction to a virus whose virulence and lethality were dramatically overestimated. Time will tell if this messaging will be enough to push Loomer across the finish line. Image credit: Screen shot, via shareable YouTube, enhanced with FotoSketcher. South Africa: Six thousand masks donated to Ekurhulenis informal settlements Community Safety Oversight Committee Chairperson, Alderman David Berg, has donated 6 100 masks to the fight against COVID-19 in the City of Ekurhuleni. Received by the Speaker of Council, Alderwoman Patricia Kumalo during a brief handover, the masks will provide an essential layer of protection to vulnerable communities. Kumalo expressed gratitude on behalf of the Council for Bergs valuable contribution. Though the country has moved into a new level with eased restrictions, we are still operating in a National State of Disaster, the fight against this pandemic is far from over. Masks have become an indispensable component in our daily attire and these will assist many families and communities alike to be better prepared and safe, said Kumalo. Berg, who consistently donates to schools and old age homes in his personal capacity, said the donation will make a difference in the identified communities. I would give even more if I could but Id like to believe that every bit counts. I know that this donation will serve its purpose in making a difference, said Berg. The donation of masks aims to assist ward 21, which has many informal settlements such as Makause. The public participation office in the legislature, which works closely with communities through provincial ward based war room programmes, will distribute the masks. The elderly, child headed households and those with chronic conditions are among the beneficiaries that will receive priority. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-08-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Advertisement A suspected Islamist terrorist who injured six people by crashing into bikers in Berlin posted an image of himself online with the car used in the attack just hours earlier. Sarmad A, 30, uploaded the image to Facebook on Tuesday alongside a message in which he spoke about Palestine, wrote 'Allahu Akbar' - God is great - in Arabic, and used the word for 'martyr'. Two hours later the same car was used to crash into three bikers along the A100 motorway in Berlin, leaving two seriously hurt and a third in critical condition. Three more people were slightly injured after one of the bikes slammed into a car they were riding in. After a bike got trapped underneath his car, Sarmad is thought to have got out, shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and then unrolled a prayer mat in the middle of the road. Prosecutors say he had a kitchen knife with him as he carried out the motorway rampage. Sarmad A, a 30-year-old Iraqi refugee, posted this image of himself on Facebook alongside a car that was later used in a terror attack on Berlin - in which he talked of being a 'martyr' Sarmad is accused of using the car to deliberately mow down three bikers along a Berlin motorway, leaving one of them - a fireman returning home from work - in critical condition Sarmad allegedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' after climbing out of the car and then threatened to detonate a bomb before being arrested by an officer who spoke to him in Arabic (pictured) Sarmad is thought to have claimed the bomb was inside an old ammunition box (pictured on the roof of the car) which later turned out to be a tool kit Sarmad deliberately targeted motorcyclists, according to prosecutors, and was also pictured sitting on a motorbike in a photo taken from his Facebook page He is also thought to have placed an old ammunition box on top of the car, claiming it was a bomb, while shouting: 'Nobody come any closer or you will all die.' A passing traffic officer of Arabic descent manged to talk to Sarmad, pull him away from the car and arrest him, Tagesspiegel reported. Prosecutors say he was 'hunting for motorcycles', crashing into two of them and a scooter driver. Sarmad is thought to be a refugee who is living at a shelter in Berlin and was known to police due to past extremist behaviour and mental health issues. In one incident he attacked officers before unrolling a prayer mat in echoes of Tuesday night's crashes. In 2018 he was kicked out of a home where he was staying and charged with assault, and ended up in a mental health facility. He was released a short time later. Police believe Sarmad, who was born in Baghdad in 1990, may have been radicalised in the refugee shelter by a known extremist with ISIS sympathies. However, they say there is no evidence that Sarmad himself was a member of a terrorist organisation. It is not known when Sarmad came to Germany, but he appears to have been in Finland until at least 2016. Sarmad appeared alongside South Korean leader Ban Ki Moon and Finnish Interior Minister Petteri Orpo when they visited asylum accommodation in an image taken from his Facebook The victims include a fireman who was riding his bike home from work, and three passengers of a second car who were hurt when a bike was thrown into them Prosecutors say Sarmad had 'Islamist motivations' and is expected to be charged with three counts of attempted murder (police inspect the scene of the final crash) A forensic officer examines the black Opel Astra that was used in the attack. Police had earlier used a pressure washer to open a suspicious package in the boot, but found it was empty Pictures from his social media from 2015 show how he changed his profile picture in solidarity with the French after the Paris terror attacks After arriving in Germany he spent some time in refugee accommodation, before moving into an apartment in the city in 2019 After arriving in Germany he spent some time in refugee accommodation, before moving into an apartment in the city in 2019. Police are thought to have been called to that apartment two weeks ago, though the reason for the call is not clear. 'The fact that the suspect was possibly suffering from psychological problems does not make this issue any easier,' Berlin interior minister Andreas Geisel said. 'If personal problems mix with religiously loaded ideas, this can lead to uncontrollable acts - yesterday's events have shown in a very painful way how vulnerable our society is.' Sarmad is now thought to be facing three counts of attempted murder. Among the victims is a firefighter who is in critical condition and may not survive his injuries, sources told German media. Another two of the victims were riding motorbikes, while three people inside a car were hurt after one of the bikers was thrown into their vehicle. All of the crashes happened in the south west of Berlin, where motorways were still closed on Wednesday morning. One motorcyclist was run over at Detmolder Strasse, at a junction with the A100 motorway, according to Bild. At least three crash scenes have been identified along a three-mile stretch of motorway located in the south west of Berlin Large sections of motorway remained closed on Wednesday morning as police continued to investigate the crash sites - including with drones (pictured) 300 people were left stranded in their cars overnight after police closed the highways, and had to be supported by the Red Cross A scooter driver was then hit at Innsbrucker Platz, around a mile along the same motorway heading east, and had to be revived by paramedics. Two more motorbike riders were then struck at Alboinstrasse, another a mile along the same motorway. The car used in the attacks was then pictured with a motorbike pinned under the front bumper at Alboinstrasse. The incident led to long traffic jams Tuesday evening. Some 300 people were stuck on the highway for hours and were getting support from the German Red Cross, the Berlin fire department tweeted Tuesday night. They were led away from their cars after Sarmad had been arrested. Forensic investigators take pictures of evidence at one of three crash sites on the A100 motorway, to the south of Berlin Markings on the motorway show where evidence was located at one of the crash sites Motorists wait outside their cars after police shut motorways south of Berlin following the crashes on Tuesday evening People with ties to Islamic extremism have committed several violent attacks in Germany in recent years. The worst was a ramming attack at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 12. The Tunisian attacker, a failed asylum seeker, was a supporter of ISIS. More recently, an Islamist and his wife were convicted of planning a biological bomb attack in Germany in 2018 with the deadly poison ricin. The pair had ordered castor seeds, explosives and metal ball bearings on the internet to build the toxic bomb. The man was in March sentenced to 10 years in prison while his wife received an eight-year sentence in June. Since 2013, the number of Islamists considered dangerous in Germany has increased fivefold to 680, according to security services. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has often been accused, particularly by the far right, of having contributed to the Islamist threat by opening the country's borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants in 2015. 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. New wildfire guidelines from an insurance industry home safety organization offer guidance for adapting suburban communities to the growing threat of wildfire. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) said its Suburban Wildfire Adaptation Roadmaps offer a detailed examination of wildfire vulnerabilities and specific solutions that can limit the catastrophic reach of wildfire as it approaches and moves through neighborhoods beyond the edges of the traditional wildland-urban interface (WUI). IBHS is making an executive summary of the report available to the public. When a single-family home is ignited by wildfire, there is a 90 percent chance it will result in a complete loss so its critical for homeowners to take action to reduce the risk of ignition, according to IBHS. The new roadmaps bring together findings published by the fire protection community and existing understanding of wildfire behavior with IBHSs latest experimental and field research to guide homeowners through wildfire resistant choices for their home and property. The roadmaps provide detailed strategies for specific features of homes in suburban neighborhoods and set a clear starting point so the most critical areas can be addressed first. They enable individual homeowners to assess their wildfire vulnerabilities and relative property risk and lay out the path to reduce that risk. Suburban neighborhoods find themselves facing a wildfire threat previously reserved for residents in the wildland-urban interface, said Roy Wright, president and CEO of IBHS, in prepared remarks. Wright, whose parents lost their Paradise, Calif. home in the 2018 Camp Fire, has a first-hand understanding of the urgent need for wildfire mitigation solutions developed specifically for suburban communities. Yet, until recently, science had not caught up. When mitigation guidance doesnt match the need, we run the risk of overwhelming homeowners with irrelevant information while steps that could make an impact are left undone. While mitigation recommendations for wildland-urban interface homeowners are widely available, Wright said few recommendations are tailored to homes in suburban communities. A one-size-fits-all approach to wildfire fails to address the intricate characteristics of these closely built neighborhoods, according to IBHS. For example, common wildfire guidance directs homeowners to create a five-foot noncombustible zone around their house and extend defensible space out to 30 or even 100 feet. However, in a suburban neighborhood this would reach well beyond the property line of a typical single-family dwelling. In the guidance offered by IBHS, each home is a system. One part of a house may be wildfire resistant, while another component remains vulnerable. Wildfire will find the weakest link so defending against it requires a multi-faceted approach to harden the home and surroundings with fire-resistant materials and reduce the intensity of a potential fire. Some vulnerabilities can be mitigated with an afternoons work, while others require intentional community planning and design choices. The roadmaps outline priority mitigation steps that must be addressed first. A group of required critical actions is fundamental to appreciably reduce wildfire risks. These critical actions are: Addressing wood shake and unmaintained Class C roofs Ensuring a vertical noncombustible zone, including siding, structural framing, and sheathing extends at least 6 inches above grade Clearing all combustibles from beneath decks Covering vents with 1/8-inch or finer metal mesh Removing combustible mulch and vegetation not recommended by CalFire as well as boats, RVs, sheds, and other large combustibles from the 05 foot home ignition zone While a single action alone is not adequate, groups of actions coupled with ongoing maintenance work will drive down risk, IBHS says. Also, meticulous maintenance throughout the year is necessary for wildfire mitigation to be effective. Once the critical actions have been taken, the roadmaps describe other areas of the structure, roof, and surrounding property to address, including eaves and fences. While nothing guarantees the survival of a home during a wildfire, reducing available fuels through defensible space in conjunction with hardening the structure with fire-resistant materials, together, can meaningfully address wildfire risks. Close attention must be given to the structure and the roof in addition to the surrounding property to address the home as a system in order to effectively reduce vulnerabilities, explains Dr. Faraz Hedayati, an IBHS research engineer who specializes in wildfire research. Weve studied many of these aspects individually at the IBHS Research Center and in the field. The roadmaps bring years of research together with new insights to provide a comprehensive view of wildfire mitigation for suburban communities and to guide homeowners through the combinations of actions that will most effectively address their specific wildfire risk. The shape of a home matters; the spacing between homes matters; the maintenance of a neighbors home matters. Community planning at the county, city, and homeowners association level can help suburban communities overcome the unique challenges of closely spaced homes and adapt to wildfire. We have watched as too many communities were devastated by wildfire, Wright adds. Yet, individual residents cannot conquer this problem alone. Neighbors, communities, and city planners must come together united in addressing the wildfire threat. Dr. Steve Quarles, retired chief wildfire scientist at IBHS and a California resident, said he has seen a need for the roadmaps like these first hand. Living in a California community, I have been a part of discussions on how to generate neighborhood-wide interest in activities that can reduce the vulnerability of homes. Communities need both the research conducted at the IBHS Research Center and their interpretation in the form of public-facing guidance that provide a clear path forward to residents and community leaders so all can begin to take meaningful actions. Wildfire will always be with us as California residents; we can use the roadmaps to help us adapt and live with it, Quarles said. This guidance from IBHS will be tremendously helpful to communities working to reduce their wildfire risks, said Michele Steinberg, director of the Wildfire Division at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The advice and priorities in the Roadmaps align with our outreach programs, including Firewise USA, and serve as a call to action to communities at risk across the nation. This roadmap synthesizes years of research to produce the first comprehensive set of science-backed recommendations to reduce wildfire losses in suburban communities, added Dr. Michael J. Gollner, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Devastating fire losses have dramatically increased in these communities over recent years. Most of these recommendations address existing homes where changes are the most challenging, but important to implement. The report clearly delineates must-change features on the home as well as the influence of surrounding structures and the entire community landscape on reducing fire risk. Recent fire reconstructions have shown us that neighboring homes and surrounding wildfire behavior play an outsized role on losses, so following this more holistic approach has the potential to dramatically reduce large wildfire losses over the coming years. IBHSs Suburban Wildfire Adaptation Roadmaps will be part of a new Wildfire Ready guide for homeowners that will be released later this summer. It will detail projects homeowners can act on to adapt and reduce their wildfire risk. Source: Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) Top Photo: A firefighter walks near a home in Santa Rosa, Calif., Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Property Homeowners NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite kept an eye on Hurricane Genevieve overnight and provided infrared imagery to forecasters who were monitoring the storm's strength, structure and size. Because Genevieve is close to the coast of western Mexico, warnings and watches were still in effect. NASA's Night-Time View of Genevieve The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a nighttime image of Hurricane Genevieve on Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. EDT (Aug. 19 at 0000 UTC).The hurricane's eye was still visible and well defined. It was surrounded by powerful thunderstorms, although deep convection is generally lacking over the southwestern portion of the circulation. The image was created using the NASA Worldview application. Warnings and Watches on Aug. 19 NOAA's National Hurricane Center issued a Hurricane Warning for the southern Baja California peninsula from Los Barriles to Todos Santos, Mexico. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the west coast of the Baja California peninsula from north of Todos Santos to Cabo San Lazaro, and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the east coast of the Baja California peninsula from Los Barriles to La Paz. Hurricane Genevieve's Status on Aug. 19 At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Genevieve was located near latitude 20.9 degrees north and longitude 109.7 degrees west. That puts the eye about 140 miles (225 km) south of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. The estimated minimum central pressure is 959 millibars. Genevieve was moving toward the north-northwest near 9 mph (15 kph). Maximum sustained winds are near 115 mph (185 km/h) with higher gusts. Genevieve is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The NHC Forecast for Genevieve NOAA's NHC forecast noted, "Gradual weakening is forecast over the next couple of days, but Genevieve is expected to remain a strong hurricane while it passes west of the southern Baja California peninsula. A turn toward the northwest is expected this afternoon or tonight, with this motion continuing through Friday night. On the forecast track, the center of Genevieve is expected to move near but just southwest of the southern portion of the Baja California peninsula tonight and Thursday, and move away from the peninsula on Friday." About NASA's EOSDIS 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." NASA Researches Earth from Space For more than five decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space to understand and explore our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth observations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. Advancing knowledge of our home planet contributes directly to America's leadership in space and scientific exploration. For updated forecasts, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov By Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center PHILLIPINE SEA (Aug. 16, 2020) Sailors assigned to the Archangels of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 Detachment 6, load missiles onto an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, on the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), in preparation for a live-fire exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: ANN ARBOR, MI Ann Arbor officials have agreed to continue leasing hundreds of parking spaces in Fuller Park to the University of Michigan for use by UM employees. But its only for the next year until the longstanding deal comes back to City Council for consideration again. Council was divided 7-4 Monday night, Aug. 17, on whether the city administrator should be authorized to execute two additional one-year administrative renewals beyond next year. Council Member Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, won support for withholding that power from the administrator, requiring any further lease renewal to come back to council. I just think this is something that needs to remain on a short leash until a longterm solution is agreed upon, Ramlawi said, arguing the city allowed UM employees to park in Fuller Park starting in 1993 as a temporary arrangement. There are concerns its becoming permanent and that parkland could be lost if a close eye isnt kept on the situation, Ramlawi said. One of the parking areas has been proposed for more than a decade as the site of a future Amtrak train station. We have to figure out something with this property in a longterm way, Ramlawi said. And hopefully when it comes to the council next time there is a little bit more vision for what happens with this site, otherwise we can just continue to kick the can down the road one year at a time. The parking lease was set to expire Aug. 31 and council agreed 10-1 to continue it for another year. Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward, was opposed. During a separate discussion earlier this year about a UM parking lease in Riverside Park, Hayner expressed concerns the city was pimping our parks out. Nurses have parking concerns on UM medical campus with new hospital on horizon Mayor Christopher Taylor and his allies Zachary Ackerman, Julie Grand and Chip Smith were in favor of giving the administrator authority to renew the Fuller Park lease administratively over the next couple years. Grand, D-3rd Ward, argued city staff shouldnt be burdened with bringing a lease proposal to council year after year and said she trusts staff making the decision. The parks department lost over $400,000 by not being able to have summer camps due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Grand said, noting revenue from the parking deal supports parks. The newly approved lease covers three Fuller Park lots along both sides of Fuller Road Lot A, which has been leased to UM since 1993, and Lots B and C since 2009. Total annual lease revenue is now $127,007, up from $94,248. Hayner argued its not a great burden on staff to bring the lease back to council year to year. Considering its parkland owned by the public, he said, council should continue to discuss it and make the decision on behalf of residents. The revenue is a nice financial windfall for city parks, but there is still discomfort in the community with longterm use of the parkland, Ramlawi said. I feel with things moving as quickly as they have been, it would be prudent to revisit this in one years time to reassess our situation and the direction we would like to take with this property, he said. The original 1993 agreement between the city and UM called for creation of a 250-space, shared-use parking lot in Fuller Park in front of the university hospital. It was an attempt by the city and local environmentalists to save several landmark burr oak trees along Fuller Road that were threatened by a proposed road realignment during a major expansion of the Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the creation of a new parking lot down the road in Fuller Park was tied to the university granting an easement of up to 4.31 acres to accommodate moving the road alignment in such a way to ensure preservation of the trees. Some of the burr oaks the same tree found on the citys seal were estimated in the 1990s to be 200 to 300 years old. The initial parking lease in 1993 was for 15 years, starting at $25,000 annually and increasing to $28,890 by the end of the initial 15 years, with the understanding it could be renegotiated for additional five-year periods after that. See the new lease terms. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Ann Arbor City Council members question University of Michigans effort to prevent spread of coronavirus Over 400 apply to get on Ann Arbors new affordable housing waitlist, but only 8 units available Ann Arbor purchasing Lurie Terrace for $4M to preserve affordable senior housing Governor taps Ann Arbor police oversight chair to serve on state policing commission Ann Arbor to put extra ballot drop boxes throughout city for potential record-setting election The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested a sharpshooter who was allegedly sent to Ahmedabad by gangster Chhota Shakeel to kill BJP leader Gordhan Zadafia, said Gujarat Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja on Wednesday. Jadeja added that information was received that two sharpshooters will come to attack Gujarat BJP leader. A search is underway for the accomplice of the accused. The shooter was staying in a hotel on Relief Road in Ahmedabad and fired one round at the ATS team during the late Tuesday night operation following which he was nabbed. "Based on a tip-off that Chhota Shakeel has sent a sharpshooter to kill a BJP leader, our team raided the hotel late last night. The accused fired one round at us when we tried to catch him. Luckily, no one was hurt," according to a statement. Jadeja said he has asked the state director general of police to beef up Zadafia's security. The accused has been identified as Irfan Shaikh, 23, a resident of Chembur in Mumbai, an ATS officer said. "The ATS found Zadafia's information in the mobile phone of the arrested person. A video of the state BJP headquarters 'Kamalam' was also found in it," Jadeja said. Shaikh, who landed here on August 18 morning, was staying in a hotel on Relief Road in Ahmedabad. He fired one round at the ATS team during the late-night operation following which he was nabbed, a senior ATS official said, adding that two pistols were recovered from his possession. After checking in the hotel on Tuesday morning, Shaikh first went to Gandhinagar to conduct a recce of the state BJP headquarters, another official said. "He came back to the hotel after making a video of the BJP office from outside. He was waiting for his accomplice when we raided his room. We have learnt that the accused was in contact with his handler, whose location is unknown," the official added. Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Gir Somnath district, Zadafia said he was informed in the morning that a man was sent to kill him. "Pradeepsinh informed me in the morning that a sharpshooter has been caught before he could harm me. Such attempts were made in the past too. I am not worried because the state government is taking necessary steps for my security," said Zadafia, who was Gujarat's Minister of State for Home during the 2002 Godhra riots. He is currently on a four-day tour of the Saurashtra region with state BJP chief C R Paatil. The shilling is a classic among British coins, and was adopted as currency by many countries. Today, there are few states that are still using the shilling as their legal currency. Those states are: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia. History Of The Shilling One shilling coins with profile of King George VI and five pence coins with profile of Queen Elizabeth II. Image credit: David Whidborne/Shutterstock.com First minted for use in the 1500s under the rule of Henry VII in Britain, the shilling was a very common coin across the Commonwealth before the currency was switched to the pound. The notation for the shilling is different that the currency symbols we expect to see today. The shilling was primary currency before the UK moved to a decimal system for their monetary notations. Today we would see something like 10.50, meaning that the cost is ten pounds, 50 pence. Before the introduction of the decimal, a solidus was used to separate shillings from pence. A solidus is /. Therefore, values were noted as 1/5, for example, meaning the cost was one shilling, five pence. Many currencies have colloquial nicknames, and the shilling is no exception. Often referred to as a bob, this name is believed to have originated in the 1700s. Its origin is not 100% certain, but the Royal Mint offers two likely explanations. First, Bawbee was 16-19th century slang for a half-penny and the thought is that bob may have evolved as a short form of that. Alternatively, shilling could be a derivation of a Proto-Germanic word, skell, which means ring. The connection here is that bob is also a phrase used to describe a pattern run on church bells. Throughout history, many British Commonwealth countries have used the shilling as their currency. Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland all once called the shilling their national currency, but each have developed their own currencies and moved away from using British currency. This move away from the currency of the UK is a statement on national independence, and the establishment of a distinct identity as well as a practicality in some cases. Current Use And Exchange Rates To USD One Shilling coins with profile of King George vi and five pence coins with profile of Queen Elizabeth II. Image credit: Yaroslaff/Shutterstock.com The shilling is still the name of the official currency in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Somalia, but its not all the same value. Similarly to how the Canadian and Australian currency is both called the Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar, the exchange rates and value are not identical, nor are the denominations. Each country that uses the shilling has its own separate system. For example, if you were to travel from Somalia to Kenya, you would have to exchange your Somalian Shilling currency for Kenyan Shilling currency - they are not the same. Below are the exchange rates (as of Aug. 17, 2020) for each country that is still using the shilling as currency to USD. Kenyan Shilling - 1 Kenyan Shilling is equal to .0092 USD Uganda Shilling - 1 Ugandan Shilling is equal to .00027 USD Tanzania Shilling - 1 Tanzanian Shilling is equal to .00043 USD Somalia Shilling - 1 Somalian Shilling is equal to .0017 USD Note that Somalia also uses USD as one of their official currencies. Many countries that are less developed do this for a number of reasons related to tourism, trade, and ease of exchange. (Natural News) In the late 1970s when Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, several constitutional and privacy advocates had a huge problem with one provision of the law: The creation of a secret federal court that would be used by the countrys intelligence agencies to obtain warrants to spy on American citizens suspected of working on behalf of foreign governments. The so-called FISA court would have to be a secret, advocates argued, because the federal judges who comprised it would be hearing some of the most sensitive information known to the government. It could never be a public court where evidence was presented in a normal fashion and the targets of the surveillance would be afforded their constitutional right to face their accusers and defend themselves. But that kind of court would be ripe for abuse, opponents countered. How could U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies be trusted to do the right thing and not, say, fabricate evidence in order to secure warrants against political targets? That would never happen, advocates for the FISA court countered. Too much oversight. Theres Congress, and there are the agencies themselves, they argued. Well, it turns out that FISA court opponents were right: The court was abused, and so far, very little has been done about it. Last week, U.S. Attorney John Durham charged by Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the Obama-era Spygate investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign managed to get his first guilty plea. (Related: Confirmed: Obama knew about, and was DIRECTING, the Spygate coup attempt against Trump from the very beginning.) Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith agreed to plead guilty to one count of defrauding the FISA court, according to Molly Hemingway of The Federalist: The FBI was told Carter Page was a U.S. intelligence agency source months before the agency began keeping that information from the secret court that authorized spying on him and nearly a full year before the agency altered documents to claim otherwise. Federal charging documents against Kevin Clinesmith, the top FBI attorney who was expected to plead guilty today to altering documents, show that the FBI withheld in three separate spying applications the fact that Page had served as an operational contact who helped an agency believed to be the CIA investigate suspected Russian intelligence figures for five years. For the fourth application, the agency didnt just hide that fact, but deliberately falsified evidence to claim he was not a source. In short, Page was indeed a CIA asset used by the agency to infiltrate and/or develop Russian contacts for the purpose of gathering intelligence. Clinesmith hid that fact from the FISA court so he could fulfill his anti-Trump mission for his deep state masters. Theres more. Clinesmith not only lied on the fourth FISA application, but the FBI (including him) knew within days of opening the Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and months before the first application to spy on Carter Page was granted, Hemingway noted. Also, as noted in Justice Department Inspector General Micheal Horowitzs report regarding his investigation into the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, there were, in all, 17 major omissions and errors linked to the FBIs bogus, sham, hoax investigation of Trump-Russia collusion, some of which were tied to the fake dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. Now, as to the generalized corruption involved in defrauding the FISA court, if no one else is held responsible for Clinesmiths actions after all, he answered to someone higher up than him then the vaunted oversight the FISA courts creators claimed would keep such corruption at bay doesnt really exist, and this will all happen again, to another president the swamp hates at some point in the future. Sources include: TheFederalist.com NaturalNews.com RICHMOND HILL, ON, Aug. 18, 2020 /CNW/ - The Mazda CX-9 is the brand's flagship three-row midsize crossover, able to meet the practical needs of a family while still appealing to the owner's sense of style and driving enjoyment. For 2021, CX-9 receives upgrades to its technology and styling. Exterior design updates are met by a high-class interior featuring quilted seat patterning and new available technology. Additionally, two new special edition models help owners express their individuality with bold styling. Mazda Canada Inc. today announces the 2021 Mazda CX-9 will arrive in dealerships starting next month. Arriving in style after an invigorating journey, the CX-9's sleek design is matched by its responsive performance. The Skyactiv-G 2.5 Turbo engine equipped on all CX-9 models delivers a robust 320 lb-ft of torque and 250 horsepower on premium (93 octane) gasoline or 310 lb-ft of torque and 227 horsepower on regular (87 octane) gasoline. The turbocharged engine is paired with a quick-shifting, six-speed Skyactiv-Drive automatic transmission and has standard G-Vectoring Control Plus. Mazda's predictive i-Activ all-wheel drive with off-road traction assist is standard on all trim levels. Helping elevate the ownership experience at any level, numerous premium features are equipped as standard. Mazda's suite of essential i-Activsense safety features are standard, including Mazda Radar Cruise Control with stop and go function, Smart City Brake Support Front, Smart Brake Support Front, Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Pedestrian Detection (forward sensing). Other standard features include heated front seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, three-zone automatic climate control, eight-way power driver's seat with lumbar support, Bluetooth hands-free phone and audio pairing, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, two front USB inputs, rearview camera, keyless entry, and push-button start. The CX-9 GS has automatic on/off LED headlights with auto-leveling, LED taillights and daytime running lights, heated and power door mirrors, High Beam Control, 18-inch dark grey metallic finish aluminum alloy wheels, rain-sensing windshield wipers, noise-isolating windshield, and rear privacy glass. The CX-9 GS-L adds various seating upgrades, including leather upholstery, ten-way power driver's seat with lumbar support, four-way power passenger's seat, heated second row seats (outboard only), one-touch power switch for third-row ingress/egress on the second-row bench seating and two USB charging ports in the second row. New for 2021, the CX-9 GS-L adds paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Other additions include 20-inch silver metallic aluminum alloy wheels, power liftgate, power moonroof, LED foglights, front wiper de-icer, 9-inch touchscreen display with Mazda Connect, Mazda Advanced Keyless Entry, heated steering wheel, and auto-dimming rearview mirror. With the optional Captain's Chairs Package, second-row bench seating is replaced with heated captain's chairs in the second row, with armrests and center pass through for easy access to the third row. The CX-9 GT moves up from the GS-L through added peace of mind, with new i-Activsense safety features Smart City Brake Support Reverse and Driver Attention Alert joining the 360 View Monitor with front and rear parking sensors. The interior is equipped with Mazda's windshield-projected Active Driving Display with Traffic Sign Recognition, Mazda Navigation system, ventilated front seats, 7-inch TFT reconfigurable digital gauge display, driver's seat memory positioning, eight-way power passenger seat with lumbar support, and interior LED lighting. Other convenience and styling upgrades include hands-free power liftgate, automatic power folding door mirrors, Adaptive Front-lighting System, HomeLink wireless control system, chrome lower exterior accents, and LED fog lights. Occupants can further enjoy the CX-9 GT experience with Bose 12-speaker premium audio, new wireless phone charger located in the storage compartment in front of the shifter, wireless Apple CarPlay, two USB charging ports in the third row, second-row retractable window sunshade, SiriusXM satellite radio with 3-month trial subscription, and SiriusXM Traffic Plus and Travel Link services with 5-year complimentary subscription. The Captain's Chairs Package is also available as an option on the CX-9 GT. The new CX-9 Kuro Edition builds on the CX-9 GT but provides exclusive styling with Polymetal Grey or Jet Black exterior paint, gloss black heated door mirrors, new designs for the gloss black front grille, and 20-inch black metallic aluminum alloy wheels. The interior has Garnet Red leather seats, red stitching on the steering wheel and center console panel, and black metallic interior trimming on the dash, door panels and handle bezels. The Kuro Edition CX-9 is standard with second-row captain's chairs with armrest and center pass through. In the upper most trim level, the CX-9 Signature offers all of the appealing driving dynamics with no compromises on design. A new titanium grey metallic-finish front grille design creates a stunning first impression, especially with the LED grille accent lighting. New design 20-inch light-grey high-lustre aluminum alloy wheels and larger dual tailpipes round out the elegant styling updates. The well-appointed interior styling has been upgraded with new quilting and piping on the first and second-row seats and patterned aluminum on the dash, door panels and handle bezels. Standard second-row captain's chairs with premium center console provides a first-class experience much like the first row with armrest storage compartment, heated seat buttons and cupholders. Nappa leather seats available in Deep Chestnut or Pure White, Santos Rosewood interior trim, frameless rearview mirror, and unique cross-stitching on the steering wheel cap off the CX-9 Signature to provide an executive feeling for all occupants. Finally, the CX-9 100th Anniversary Edition combines the ultimate expression of Mazda's flagship crossover with a tribute to the unique style created by Mazda's first passenger car, the R360 Coupe. Available exclusively in Snowflake White Pearl, the 100th Anniversary Edition features Garnet Red Nappa leather upholstery and matching floor carpet in red. White contrasting elements are seen throughout the interior, on the front centre console, lower dash panel, and front and rear door panels. Special 100th Anniversary commemorative badging is added to the vehicle body, wheel centre caps, floor mats, key fobs, and embossed into the front seat headrests. In addition to all of these unique aspects, each customer will receive a gift for purchase to commemorate Mazda's 100th anniversary: a highly-detailed model of the Mazda R360 which was Mazda's first passenger car in 1960, and a photo book documenting the rich and lengthy heritage of Mazda. MSRP1 FOR THE 2021 MAZDA CX-9 IS AS FOLLOWS: CX-9 GS $39,900 CX-9 GS-L $43,600 CX-9 GS-L w/Captain's Chairs Package $43,900 CX-9 GT $48,850 CX-9 GT w/Captain's Chairs Package $49,150 CX-9 Kuro Edition $50,150 CX-9 Signature $51,850 CX-9 100th Anniversary Edition $53,350 PREMIUM PAINT COLORS: Snowflake White Pearl $200 Polymetal Grey Metallic $200 Machine Grey Metallic $300 Soul Red Crystal Metallic $450 Mazda Canada Inc. is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer service and parts support of Mazda vehicles in Canada. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Mazda Canada has a nationwide network of 163 dealerships. For additional information, visit Mazda Canada's media website at www.media.mazda.ca. 1 MSRP does not include $1,950 for freight & PDE, taxes, title or additional fees. Dealers set actual sale prices. SOURCE Mazda Canada Inc. For further information: Chuck Reimer, Mazda Canada Inc., 905-787-7079, Sandra Lemaitre, Mazda Canada Inc., 905-787-7167 Related Links http://www.mazda.ca The Trump campaign is taking yet another crack at the Commission on Presidential Debates in its unsuccessful push to move up the start of the general election debates this time asking for a conference call with Joe Biden's campaign to at least talk about it. Why it matters: The president's campaign team views the debates as the key opportunity left to sway voters before the November election, and given the anticipated surge in early voting, they want to give as many Biden-leaning voters as possible a reason to think twice before they cast their ballots. Driving the news: Trump's personal attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, made the request in a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by Axios. Details: It's the latest of several attempts by the Trump campaign to change the debate schedule. It comes as Trump campaign officials are increasingly concerned about Biden's strong polling numbers, which they expect will get a further boost from this week's Democratic National Convention. The debates are scheduled to take place on Sept. 29 in Cleveland, Oct. 15 in Miami, and Oct. 22 in Nashville. Be smart: There's no reason to think this will change. Rejecting an earlier Trump campaign request, the commission indicated it would only consider adding another debate to the schedule if both candidates were to advocate for the addition. What they're saying: The Biden campaign referred Axios to its previous response, with spokesperson Andrew Bates saying, "Joe Biden will appear on the dates that the commission selected and in the locations they chose." Read the letter: Mumbai, Aug 19 : In his first reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in favour of a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput case on Wednesday , Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that raising doubts on the capability of Mumbai Police is "a conspiracy against the city police". "The Mumbai Police are fully capable of doing a good investigation... They investigated the matter with complete integrity," said Raut. However, he said he would not comment on the legal proceedings which either the Mumbai Police Commissioner (Param Bir Singh) or the state Advocate-General would speak on. The apex court judgement, while observing that the Mumbai Police did not err in the probe in any manner, also said it was wrong to create hurdles in the way of the Bihar Police team investigating the case in Mumbai. Raut reiterated that Maharashtra is known for always striving for truth and justice and always ensuring that everybody -- big or small -- is not above the law and all can expect to get justice. When questioned about Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, Raut said not to bring his name, but remained silent whether the state government would challenge the apex court ruling. Raut had consistently opposed the move to hand over the probe to the CBI in the Sushant case. The actor was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14, sparking a nationwide political furore. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Stormont Economy Minister is facing calls to remove the cap on the number of local students which Northern Irelands universities can accept (Chris Radburn/PA) The Stormont Economy Minister is facing calls to remove the cap on the number of students which Northern Irelands universities can accept. Trade union NIC ICTU has urged Diane Dodds to make the move after Education Minister Peter Weir reversed the decision which saw thousands of A-level grades reduced from teacher estimates. This is expected to see significantly more students qualify for places at the Queens University Belfast and Ulster University. The number of NI and EU students both universities can take is capped by Stormont as their tuition fees are partially funded by the Department for the Economy. Ms Dodds is expected to bring forward proposals to Thursdays meeting of the Executive around additional places and resources for the universities. NIC ICTU has pointed out a cap on university places in England has been withdrawn. The @NIC_ICTU Education Group calls on @DianeDoddsMLA @Economy_NI to lift the cap on University places in NI. Cap has been withdrawn in England. NI Students should not be let down or forced to attend university outside of NI if their desire is to go to University here (1/2) NIC ICTU (@NIC_ICTU) August 19, 2020 The union tweeted: NI students should not be let down or forced to attend university outside of NI if their desire is to go to university here. If the cap is not lifted this will not just impact on this current cohort but will have an impact for a number of years. This be felt for years to come. On Tuesday, Queens urged the department to give urgent consideration to the fact student numbers are likely to significantly exceed the cap, while Ulster said it is actively preparing for the anticipated additional demand. Finance Minister Conor Murphy tweeted he is happy to work with Executive colleagues to identify the necessary resources to achieve this. A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy said: Until the local universities have received access to the full range of revised grades for all applicant students, they will not be able to confirm places for students or otherwise. As such, until this process has been completed, there is no way of assessing the number of any additional places there may be. The Economy Minister has stated that she will be working with Executive colleagues to ensure that any additional places that may be required, and extra resources, are put in place to support universities, and will bring forward proposals to the Executive tomorrow. Inside Hook Unsurprisingly, it would seem that college students a population of young people never particularly well known for their devoted rule-abiding ways are continuing to do pretty much whatever they want on the many campuses around the country that have recently begun welcoming them back, pandemic or no pandemic. Among fraternities and sororities, specifically, that seems to involve plenty of regularly scheduled partying. As one University of North Carolina student told the New York Times, The frats are being frats: They are having their parties. DENVER, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CBD of Denver, Inc. (OTC: CBDD), a full-line CBD and Hemp oil company ("CBDD") selling Black Pearl CBD hemp products and the owner of CBD Social Network, is now extracting and selling pollen. CBDD's Rockflowr, GmbH subsidiary, has purchased a pollen extractor to supply customers with CBD pollen. The pollen is extracted from 2 sources, the trim from the buds and Biomass. Rockflowr has been buying Biomass from growers and using the trim and Biomass from its own greenhouses. The trim and Biomass are placed in the pollen extractor and it filters out the pollen. Biomass can be purchased for as little as 30,000 CHF a ton. We can convert one ton of Biomass into 200 - 250kg of Pollen. Pollen is then sold for up to 450CHF a kilo. Once the pollen is extracted the leftover biomass is converted into CBD oil. We are also pleased to announce that we have our first customers in Germany. CBD Welt 24, GmbH, just leased a new indoor grow facility in Zurich. The facility has 40 1000-watt lights and has room to support approximately 1,200 plants. We expect the first harvest within 3 months. CBD of Denver, Inc. is in the final stages of releasing 2 new products for their Black Pearl CBD website. The first product is a CBN/CBG gel cap which will be sold in 30 count bottles. Reports show that CBN and CBG can help with sleep and relaxation. The second product is a CBD pain stick containing 3.8% full spectrum CBD. New products should be available within two weeks. CBDD offers a superior CBD product that is full spectrum without depending on THC to activate the benefits of cannabidiol. Black Pearl CBD has 0% THC, but is not an Isolate where the THC is stripped from the product rendering it ineffective. We use a proprietary technique adding terpenes as the activation ingredient, resulting in a product that is the finest in the industry. Products are available at www.blackpearlcbd.com. Information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or future financial performance, involving known and unknown risks and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events. We assume no obligation publicly about update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason. SOURCE CBD of Denver, Inc. Related Links http://www.cbdofdenver.com More than a year after Beaumonts Stein Mart underwent upgrades and added new services, the company has started liquidating all of its locations ahead of a mass closure. Stein Mart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 12 and is now holding going-out-of-business sales at its 279 stores across 30 states. The sales are being managed by a joint venture of finance and capital firms including Gordon Brothers, Hilco Merchant Resources, Tiger Capital Group, B. Riley Financial's Great American Group and SB360 Capital Partners. The joint venture has said new merchandise is still be delivered to stores as back-to-school shopping commences, but will also be heavily discounted. Stein Mart had been trying to recover its brand strength by expanding selections at stores like the Beaumont location and adding strategic partnerships. Last May, the Beaumont Stein Mart became one of the first local retailers to add Amazon lockers for customers to use as a secure delivery location in the store. Stage Stores is close to closing up shop, including at the newly converted Gordmans stores in Southeast Texas. The companys plan to complete liquidation and shutdown the rest of its stores has been approved by a bankruptcy court. It filed for bankruptcy in May while looking for a buyer. The company announced last September that it would be converting stores under its Bealls, Goody's, Palais Royal, Stage and Peebles brands to the Gordmans banner. It was working toward a goal of 700 Gordmans stores by the middle of 2020. Southeast Texas locations combined their holiday sales with a deep-discount event to empty the store as it transitioned to the new store model. The company tried to staff up with a hiring fair for its Vidor location in March, but had to scrap plans for a fair in Beaumont as the COVID-19 pandemic increased across Texas and the rest of the country. Amelia Farm and Market welcomed guests back over the weekend with two days of brunch outside. The restaurant and market had been closed to dining since restaurants were closed by executive order earlier in the spring but has been selling its trademark meat and other goods. It will now be open Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for outside dining only. Amelia Farm and Market is also offering curbside service to customers. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Wed, August 19, 2020 13:15 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f180ad 2 World Brazil,Drugs-trafficking,drug-network,drug-cartel,drug-raids Free Federal police in Brazil said Tuesday they were cracking down on an international network of drug traffickers with a mega-operation targeting cocaine smuggling between South America and Europe. Police said they were arresting 50 people and seizing seven planes, five helicopters, 42 trucks and 35 properties linked to suspects accused of trafficking tons of cocaine to Europe and within Brazil. The raids were carried out across 13 Brazilian states following an investigation launched in 2018 together with Britain's National Crime Agency, police said in a statement. The authorities have also frozen 100 million reals ($18.3 million) in assets as part of the operation, it said. Police said the raids targeted four connected organizations that were responsible for smuggling cocaine into Brazil across the Paraguayan border; selling it within Brazil, in Europe and in Cape Verde; providing logistics and transportation; and laundering the proceeds. More than 600 police took part in the raids. Authorities had already arrested 12 people and seized more than 11 tons of cocaine in the course of the investigation, police said. The network continued trafficking drugs even during lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Police said they had seized 1.5 tons of cocaine from March 20 to July 20. Boarding houses have become coronavirus ticking time bombs in Sydney's suburbs, with experts warning poor hygiene, chronic health issues and a lack of regulation make them "perfectly suited" to an outbreak. Advocates fear the disease would have consequences similar to those in aged care facilities, with most boarding house residents being older people who share facilities, particularly men with underlying health issues. But with operators ranging from non-profits with COVIDSafe plans to private landlords that fly under the radar, there can be little oversight of hygiene standards or social distancing. Michael Hannan, 58, shares an Ashfield boarding house with 70 men. "Everybodys pretty respectful about cleaning your own mess," he said. Credit:Kate Geraghty Infection control expert Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said the living conditions and crowded share spaces were "perfectly suited to the spread of this virus". In NSF-funded community-wide assessment of data collected from sites around Colorado's Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, bee emergence is advancing with snowmelt timing, but bee phenology is less sensitive than flower phenology LOGAN, UTAH, USA - Bees and flowers seem inseparable harbingers of spring, but what happens when pollinators emerge later than their sources of nectar and pollen? Reporting on the first community-wide assessment of 67 bee species of the Colorado Rockies, ecologists Michael Stemkovski of Utah State University and Rebecca Irwin of North Carolina State University say "phenological mismatch," changing timing of life cycles between bees and flowers, caused by climate change, has the potential to disrupt a mutually beneficial relationship. "We analyzed time-series abundance data collected at 18 sites around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in the Elk Mountains of western Colorado during a nine-year, National Science Foundation-funded bee monitoring project," says Stemkovski, doctoral student in USU's Department of Biology and the USU Ecology Center. He and Irwin, senior author, along with colleagues from RMBL, University of Texas at Austin, Imperial College London, University of Manitoba, USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit at USU, Central Texas Melittological Institute, Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Texas A&M University, Florida State University and University of Maryland, published findings in the August 19, 2020 issue of Ecology Letters. "We find bee emergence timing is advancing with snowmelt timing, but bee phenology - timing of emergence, peak abundance and senescence - is less sensitive than flower phenology," says Irwin, professor of applied ecology at NCSU. "Given global concerns about pollinator declines, the research provides important insight into the potential for reduced synchrony between flowers and their pollinators under climate change." Previous studies focused primarily on temperature, Stemkovski says, but this study probed the effects of topography and bee species traits, as well. "Elevation played a large role in when bees start foraging, as well as the bees' functional traits, such as whether bees nested below or above ground, and the life stage in which they overwintered," he says. "We found all of these factors predicted bee emergence, but the most important factor was snowmelt timing." If bees begin foraging later than spring plants reach their flowering peak, consequences could be reduced abundance of pollinators, from limited sustenance, and reduced abundance of plants, from limited pollination. "In the short-term, we expect mutualist species to suffer fitness losses," Stemkovski says. "In the long-term, bees and plants may be able to adapt and reestablish some synchrony, unless climate change outpaces the rate of adaptation." ### Jill Biden, a longtime college English professor, is set Tuesday night to try to persuade U.S. voters why they should elect her husband of 43 years, former Vice President Joe Biden, as the country's next president. Jill Biden has played an active behind-the-scenes role in her husband's third run for the presidency over three decades. Aides say she offered her thoughts on his choice of a vice presidential running mate before he chose California Senator Kamala Harris last week, making Harris the first Black and South Asian American to be picked for a spot on a national U.S. political ticket. But with the coronavirus pandemic severely limiting public political appearances this year, Jill Biden's speech on the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention will be her televised introduction to millions of American voters, presenting her as a potential first lady for the next four years and offering insights on how she thinks her husband would act as president. Also making the case Tuesday for Joe Biden in his campaign against Republican President Donald Trump will be two former Democratic presidents -- Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter -- as well as 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry and late President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife, Jill Biden, vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff are see in Wilmington, Delaware on Aug. 12, 2020. /Reuters Two current Washington political figures, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both frequent and vocal Trump critics, are also speaking on Biden's behalf. There will be a truncated roll call of states to nominate Biden and Harris as the Democratic ticket, a version of the time-worn practice from conventions past that often took hours. Tuesday's streamlined vote may last as little as half an hour, an attempt to keep viewers across the country from turning off their television sets. Americans had never witnessed a virtual national political convention before Monday night. But the pandemic has forced the Democrats this week and the Republicans renominating Trump next week for a second White House term to abandon the hoopla-filled conventions of years past for fear of spreading the novel coronavirus. Gone are the thousands of cheering convention delegates that the Democrats had once planned on packing into a basketball arena in the midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That was replaced on Monday by short, taped endorsements of Biden by the candidates he defeated in a months-long competition to secure the party's presidential nomination, capped with a fiery takedown of Trump's 3 -year presidency from former first lady Michelle Obama, the wife of Trump's Democratic predecessor whom he often assails, Barack Obama. In this image from video, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17, 2020. /AP "Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can," she said in a prerecorded speech. "Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head." "Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy," she said. "He cannot meet this moment," Michelle Obama concluded. "He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us." The Democrats' two-hour presentation was slickly presented, but because Michelle Obama's speech was taped days ago, she made no mention of Biden's history-making choice of Harris as his running mate. Trump ridiculed her assessment of his presidency, tweeting Tuesday, "Thanks for your very kind words Michelle!" The U.S. leader added in comments from the White House, "She was over her head, and frankly, she should've made the speech live, which she didn't do, she taped it. And it was not only taped, it was taped a long time ago, because she had the wrong [number of coronavirus] deaths." The former first lady said 150,000 had died from the pandemic but Trump did not note that the death toll has now risen to more than 170,000, the biggest national total across the globe. "Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren't for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama. Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement," Trump said on Twitter. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are attempting to upstage Biden's week in the spotlight, traveling to political battleground states that could play a pivotal role in the election. Trump headed to the midwestern state of Iowa on Tuesday and later planned to visit Yuma, Arizona, near the border with Mexico to assess his construction of a border wall to thwart undocumented immigrants from crossing into the U.S. The issue was a major plank of his successful 2016 run for the presidency. On Thursday he is visiting a site near Biden's boyhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Aside from Michelle Obama, Monday's Democratic presentation featured several Republican figures. They included former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and one-time presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, making unusual appearances at the opposing party's convention to endorse Biden as a better choice for the country than Trump. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, who lost to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, said the country is "at a crossroads" and being led down "the wrong road" by a president who has pitted one person against another. "Joe Biden is a man for our times," Kasich said. "Times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves, and of course, for our children." Harris is set to speak Wednesday night. Biden will accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night with a speech from his home state of Delaware. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/8/2020 (519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Now, the true cynic might argue, comes the real test. If one were to cobble together a list of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus substantial accomplishments since being elected in 2015, it would likely be relatively brief, would include nearly as many negatives as positives, and would undoubtedly be the subject of rancorous debate and disagreement. But there could be no disputing that Mr. Trudeau has shown himself to be remarkably adept at one thing during his time as leader of Canadas self-styled natural governing party: curtailing the careers of cabinet ministers who were once thought to be among his governments brightest stars. Lawyer and Indigenous activist Jody Wilson-Raybould was the embodiment of the Liberal Partys diverse and inclusive future ... until she wasnt. Physician and academic Jane Philpott showed herself to be one of the strongest and most influential performers in the Trudeau cabinet ... until she could no longer continue. And now Bill Morneau, a successful businessman and the only finance minister the Trudeau government has known, has determined that the depth of a pandemic and associated financial crisis is the perfect time to walk away from politics and pursue the top job at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. CP Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland as Finance Minister, marking the first time in Canadian history that a woman has served in this powerful post. (Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press) The timing isnt just questionable; its appalling. But Mr. Morneaus exit became all but a foregone conclusion when his untidy ties to the WE Charity drew him inexorably into a scandal that was already nearing a full boil as a result of Mr. Trudeaus familial entanglements with the charity and the prime ministers failure to recuse himself from cabinet discussions that led to the awarding of a massive service-delivery contract to WE. Its part of the grand tradition of politics for cabinet ministers to resign when the scandals that envelop them threaten to harm the government. But such time-tested efforts at damage control are significantly less effective when the prime minister who accepts the resignation is more deeply embroiled in the scandal than the minister whos shown the door. Nevertheless, Mr. Morneau is gone. Another stellar front-bencher has fallen by the wayside, seemingly sacrified to the lamentably necessary effort to save Mr. Trudeau from his own arrogances and perceived entitlements. Want more great journalism? Get our best news and features delivered in your inbox every weekday evening. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. And now, the job of steering the governments overburdened financial ship through perilous pandemic waters falls to Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister, foreign-affairs whisperer, trade-deal negotiator and doer of seemingly everything of consequence the Trudeau government needs done these days. Its part of the grand tradition of politics for cabinet ministers to resign when the scandals that envelop them threaten to harm the government. But such timetested efforts at damage control are significantly less effective when the prime minister who accepts the resignation is more deeply embroiled in the scandal than the minister whos shown the door. To date, Ms. Freeland has shown herself to be an exceedingly competent politician. Her trajectory within the Trudeau government, particularly since the departure of Ms. Philpott in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, has been steadily upward until, with the possible exception of Mr. Morneau, she found herself positioned as the prime ministers most trusted and reliable minister. The task that awaits her is daunting. The WE Charity imbroglio shows no signs of abating, even as Mr. Trudeau outrageously seeks to stifle Commons committee investigations of the scandal by proroguing Parliament until autumn. So now, as mentioned earlier, comes the real test not for Ms. Freeland, who no doubt will do her level best to help the government survive the latest in its ongoing series of blunders and embarrassments. Rather, what will be tested by the unfolding of events is whether Mr. Trudeaus ability to lay waste to cabinet careers is so complete that it can extinguish a star as formidable as Ms. Freeland. That really would be something. But one would be ill-advised to bet against it. At the Angelus of last July 19, Pope Francis said he was following with concern "the worsening of armed tensions in the regions of the Caucasus, between Armenia and Azerbaijan", and asked for the commitment of the international community so that "a lasting peaceful solution can be reached". The appeal stemmed from an escalation on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Azeris first tried to take a position in Armenian territory on 12 July, which was followed by various skirmishes which resulted in actual artillery attacks on 16 July. According to other reconstructions, the Armenians have instead tried to take advantageous positions. However, the escalation caused 16 victims. In a comment sent to ACI Stampa, the Azerbaijani Embassy to the Holy See accuses Armenia of a continued use of the attacks to take "advantageous positions", and argues that everything is has started due to provocations to against the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as well as to cover the mismanagement by the government of the COVID emergency. The Azerbaijan Embassy to the Holy See also links the issue to an energy supply issue. It stresses in the statement that there are three oil pipelines departing from Baku (towards Soupsa; towards Tbilisi-Ceyhan; towards Tbilisi Erzurum) and this "has allowed Baku to considerably strengthen the energy security of its partners in the region, Georgia and the Turkey". The embassy also notes that "currently, with the active financial support of Azerbaijan (which brought 10 billion out of a total of 30 billion), the South Gaz Corridor is being built, a project of pan-European importance, an alternative gas pipeline, consisting of three sections ". In addition, "Azerbaijan is about to open at the end of this year the path of an alternative gas pipeline and thus to develop the supply of gas from different sources to Europe, in order to diversify the means of transporting the gas". In short, all of this proves - the embassy emphasizes - that "we have no interest in the conflict, while, through these provocations, Armenia tries to discredit Azerbaijan as a reliable gas supplier". Furthermore, Azerbaijan notes that "Armenia is not interested in resolving a conflict with Azerbaijan" on the Nagorno Karabakh issue. The Holy See is closely monitoring the evolution of the situation. Precisely because of the tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it was decided (earlier) not to connect the Nunciature of Tbilisi to Baku. In general, the apostolic nuncio to Georgia was also nuncio to Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2018, however, Pope Francis decided to appoint Archbishop Paul Fitzpatrick Russell, Nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan and also to Azerbaijan. The tensions concern the Nagorno Karabakh, a mountainous region of about 10 thousand square kilometers in the southern Caucasus. Armen Sarkissian, Armenian president, also spoke about the issue in a meeting with Catholicos Karekin II; Catholicos of all Armenians, during the visit he made over the weekend of July 18-19 to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the "Vatican" of the Armenian Apostolic Church. During the meeting, Sarkissian and Karekin discussed military operations in course, and underlined that it was important and also symbolic that the clergy of the Apostolic Church in Armenia and the Diaspora "have supported and continue to support Armenia, and to strengthen and encourage the soldiers with their prayers . Relations with the diaspora are also among the topics of the meeting. This week, Vatican News in its Armenian language (section) published two Armenian government appeals, by Armenian President Armen Sargsyan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his appeal, the president called on all people in the diaspora to financially support the Armenian border communities, which he claims are subject to attacks. "Despite the fact that we have been the subject of offensive operations for decades - wrote the president - the residents of the border communities of Armenia remained firm on their land and became our staunch border guards". The president added that "border communities are of strategic importance for the security of Armenia and Artsakh, therefore supporting the security, economical and social (life) of these communities is a national priority". The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, noted that "recently, there have been reported cases and attempts of violence against citizens of Amenia and members of the Armenian community in various countries of the world. There have also been cases of obstruction of the normal work of the diplomatic service abroad and of the Armenian communities, as well as the deliberate destruction of their personal and official property, which in a separate case also threatened the safety of the diplomatic personnel. " The ministry accused "Azerbaijani state institutions" of conducting the operations, and "strongly condemned the practice of inciting ethnic clashes in several countries, which is another manifestation of Baku's irresponsibility and fits perfectly with the rhetoric and policy of inciting hostility between the two peoples without geographical restrictions ". The Holy See asks for a commitment from the international community to finally resolve the problem which, as can be understood from the opposite declarations, goes beyond mere territorial issues. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has shortened an overnight curfew imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic and extended business hours despite rising cases, the government said after a weekly cabinet meeting. President Emmerson Mnangagwa last month announced a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, but Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said this had left commuters stranded without transport. The overnight curfew will now start at 8 p.m., while business hours will be extended to 4.30pm from 3 pm. Zimbabwe has recorded 5,308 cases and 135 deaths. Officials fear a wholesale removal of restrictions on movement would see a spike in infections and overwhelm a health sector that is collapsing due to strikes by workers and lack of medicines and protective clothing. The government banned public taxis in March, but the state bus service is failing to cope, forcing commuters to queue well beyond curfew hours. (Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Mark Potter) Not 'Bird Dropping', its Congress's values that are dropping: BJP hits back Former Congress IT Cell head Divya Spandana emerges after hiatus to mock PM-Cares India oi-Deepika S Bengaluru, Aug 19: Former Congress IT Cell head Divya Spandana aka Ramya made a comeback on Twitter to mock PM Modi and current dispensation over PM Cares, ending her over a year-long hiatus. She made the comeback with a reply to Union Minister Jitendra Singh's tweet on the Supreme Court verdict on the PM Cares Fund. Union Minister Jitendra Singh had tweeted: "Supreme Court of India upholds the validity of #PMCaresFund. Refuses to instruct Govt to transfer fund to NDRF. Hope that should send out a message...loud and clear." Reacting, Spandana wrote: "Clear as daylight- dal mein definitely kuch kaala hai." Ramya had deactivated her Twitter profile last year after the Congress received a drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Her last tweet was on June 1, 2019. Karnataka Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan tests positive for COVID-19 SSR death probe: Rhea Chakraborty makes sensational claim | Oneindia News Spandana had led the Congress's social media campaign during the just-concluded Lok Sabha election, in which the grand old party managed to bag only 52 seats, eight more than what it had secured in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. People close to the former MP and actress said she was taking a break from politics for some time. However, she returned to the screen in October 2019 with a Telugu movie titled Dil Ka Raja. The Congress MP, who had taken a long break from social media, is back by posting pictures of herself which is good news for her fans. She has recently jetted off on a sunshine break with her fiance Jake Hall and family. And Misse Beqiri looked sensational as she posed up a storm in colourful bikinis on Wednesday. The former reality star, 33, wowed as she showcased her toned figure in a white two-piece while heading for a morning swim. Wow: Misse Beqiri looked sensational as she posed up a storm in colourful bikinis on Wednesday The mother-of-two displayed her incredibly honed midriff and a glimpse of her peachy derriere in the tiny bikini. Her caramel tresses were styled in soft, beachy waves as she smouldered for the camera. Changing up her look, Misse put on a cheeky display in an aquamarine thong bikini as she hit the beach. Posing with her back to the camera, the star displayed her pert backside and bronzed legs in the string bikini. Cheeky: Changing up her look, Misse put on a cheeky display in an aquamarine thong bikini as she hit the beach The mother-of-two has been using social media in lockdown to document her exercise regime on social media. Misse has joined most of the United Kingdom in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, but revealed last month that she had been separated from her son Julian as he remained in Denmark due to the coronavirus restrictions. Julian and Misse have since been reunited. The star said at the time: 'It just hit me all of a sudden what's going on... We're taking it really seriously and we're staying home and we're trying to help everyone that we can help. Doting mother: The reality star is pictured with her son Julian, five, and daughter River, two 'But I just feel like I wish I could do more. My mum is locked in Sweden, I can't help her. My son is locked in Denmark, I can't see him. So I just feel a bit s**t, to be honest 'After everything I've been through, I feel like I'm trying to keep positive and spread positive energy to everyone.' Misse recently posted pictures from the magical night her 'soulmate and best friend, former TOWIE star, Jake proposed to her on Instagram. Misse uploaded the romantic snaps to her 238,000 followers and wrote: 'Two years ago the love of my life asked me to marry him. 'I love you and I can't wait to marry you next year, you've been my rock and my best friend since day one. 'Thru ups and downs Love always came first and I will love you forever ever. My soulmate. Some memories.' The couple are parents to daughter River, two. Jake also proposed to Misse for a second time over Christmas after her brother Flamur was murdered on Christmas Eve, signifying how important family is to them. A source told MailOnline: 'The re-proposal signifies a new chapter for them as a family.' This is the moment veterinarians check a newborn buffalo calf that looked like a kangaroo having only two hind legs. The young bull named Primo was born healthy despite its deformity in Sultan Kudarat, the Philippines on July 27. In the video taken a few days later, vets visited the strange calf that had started to attract attention from neighbours. Some people on the farming village think that Primo is a lucky charm so they ask to enter the farmer's yard and take selfies with it. However, vet Eduard said that the calf is not as lucky as it will need special care from the farmer to survive. He said: "The calf is being bottle-fed by the owner because it could not walk on its own to its mother." But Eduard added that it is possible for the calf to live a normal life with the help of tools. The owner is now appealing for help to build a customised wheelchair for the calf so it can stand on its own. The Philippine Carabao Center-USM Kabacan team have already collected blood samples from the calf and sent it to Manila for examination to determine the cause of the deformity. NEW YORK New York City teachers on Wednesday threatened to strike or bring legal action unless the largest U.S. school district implements a more rigorous COVID-19 testing plan and other safety measures before reopening schools next month. The warning by the United Federation of Teachers, which represents the citys 133,000 public school teachers, could delay Mayor Bill de Blasios plan to provide a mix of in-classroom and online learning from Sept. 10. The minute we feel that the mayor is trying to force people in to a situation that is unsafe we go to court, we take a job action," UFT President Michael Mulgrew said during a briefing, adding that a job action" could include a strike. Asked about Mulgrews comments while touring a school in Brooklyn, de Blasio responded: Look, any union leader who talks about doing something illegal should really think twice about what hes saying." He was referring to a New York state law that bars public employees from striking or engaging in sickouts. The mayor said city officials would continue working with the union on the reopening and insisted that all facilities would be safe, adding: Were going to keep moving forward to get schools ready for our kids." De Blasio has said the district will use a blended learning plan of part remote, part in-person, with a recommendation that students and staff get tested at least once a month, sit six feet apart and wear masks on school buses. Some U.S. schools and universities got off to a faltering start in reopening campuses this week. In several cases, spikes of positive COVID-19 tests administered to returning students and staff forced schools to delay or scupper plans for classroom instruction and limit students to online learning. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Michigan State University rolled back their plans for in-person classes on Tuesday following a surge of positive test results. Notre Dame pushed back classes by two weeks and Michigan switched to remote learning for the term. COLLEGE TOWNS NERVOUS Residents of college towns have voiced concerns about flare-ups in cases once students return. Three towns in Connecticut, where the infection rate has recently hovered below 1%, urged state health officials to enforce strict social distancing measures for college students arriving from areas with higher infection rates. Middlebury College in Vermont has told students to pack light" when returning to campus and have an evacuation plan in the event of an outbreak. The town of Middlebury does not have the infrastructure to cope with a massive outbreak that starts on campus," wrote student and local resident Henry Ganey in a letter published in The Middlebury Campus newspaper this week. At Tulane University in New Orleans, students were invited back to campus this week but were told they could be expelled or suspended for hosting large gatherings. All parents have worries both about the pandemic and whether all of these precautions will ultimately be successful. But it seems that the Tulane community is bringing the right amount of intentionality and preparation to this," said Elizabeth Baker, a lawyer from Maplewood, New Jersey, who dropped off her daughter last week. 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 Nurse Richelle Legaspi finishes giving John Yu, who is homeless, a COVID-19 test while outreach worker Douglas Walker watches in East Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles County health officials Wednesday reported some promising metrics in the fight against the novel coronavirus, including an overall decline in death rates across all demographics and a "narrowing of the gap" among victims of varying racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Black and Latino residents and those living in lower-income neighborhoods have been among those hit hardest by the virus in Los Angeles County, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. Officials say that's largely due to the initial limited access to testing among those communities at the beginning of the pandemic and the fact that many residents work in essential and high-risk settings, many of whom lacked proper protective equipment, such as masks, before such gear was required. The expansion of countywide testing and protective equipment now being mandated in workplaces has helped remedy both problems, contributing to a drop in the number of overall deaths in the county, officials said. "Not only are we seeing decreases, but were seeing a narrowing of the gap," Ferrer said of the number of deaths in the county. During the peak of transmission in July, Black residents "had a rate at four deaths per 100,000 people," the county said in a statement. That rate was three times that of white residents during the same time period. The mortality rate for Black residents is now 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which is slightly higher than that of white residents. Latinos have seen deaths per 100,000 people decline from a high of six in July to 2.4. "While decreasing, this is still 2.5 times higher than white residents," the county said in a statement. L.A. County health officials reported 61 new coronavirus-related fatalities Wednesday, pushing the overall death toll to nearly 5,400. On Tuesday, the county reported 64 deaths. And Ferrer said earlier this week that the seven-day daily average number of deaths has fallen from 43 in mid-July to 30 in mid-August. Story continues Also Wednesday, there were 1,956 new cases recorded, including 100 from the state's backlog which stemmed from a breakdown in the electronic collection of test data more than two weeks ago and a few hundred from laboratories that had delayed reporting Tuesday. Still, officials emphasized the need to remain vigilant. "We cant let that progress allow us to become complacent," state Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said. There are now more than 225,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, including about 2,400 positive test results from a backlog spanning the last week of July until nine days ago; Ferrer thinks at last 2,000 cases are still missing. The seven-day average for positive infection is now just below 6%, which is below the state's safety threshold of 8%. For months, the county had exceeded that rate. Officials also reported that 1,378 people are hospitalized in the county, continuing a downward trend over the last 2 1/2 weeks. But a handful of counties across the state are seeing an uptick in the number of people hospitalized, a potential sign of a surge in transmission rates. California has recorded a 17% decrease in hospitalizations over a 14-day period, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday during a news briefing. But the decline has not been steep and recent numbers are somewhat troubling, he said. "The last few days is an important point of caution and consideration as it relates to our efforts," Newsom said, noting that Wednesday's hospitalization rate dipped just 0.1% from the day before. Among the state's hospitalized patients, 19% are in intensive care, down from 23% reported roughly two weeks ago. At least five counties Alameda, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo and Sonoma have seen increases in hospitalizations above the states safety threshold for at least three days, according to the California Department of Public Health's watchlist. Nearly a dozen other counties, including Orange, Ventura and San Francisco, reported slight increases Tuesday in hospitalized patient counts, but those numbers were far below the states compliance level of a 10% increase or lower. The rate of community transmission of the illness is especially concerning as the state battles multiple major fires, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, and an extreme heat wave that has prompted blackouts and repeated calls for energy conservation. "We have challenges not only with energy challenges as it relates to conditions with wildfires, but we also continue to be challenged by this pandemic," Newsom said Wednesday. Because the virus is a respiratory infection, there is some concern that extreme heat and smoke from the fires could exasperate symptoms of those infected. Ferrer advised anyone having breathing problems to contact a health provider or to call dial 911 if in dire need. "This should not be a time for people that are already sick to play around with their own health when they are struggling to breath," she said. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion, shown at the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2019, said on social media that she was shot in the feet in Los Angeles last month but expects to fully recover. (Charles Sykes / Invision/Associated Press) The Los Angeles County district attorney's office revealed Wednesday that it was reviewing a potential charge of felony assault with a firearm in a case in which rapper Megan Thee Stallion said she was shot. The investigation involves recording artist Tory Lanez, who was arrested after Stallion alleged that she was shot in her feet last month outside a Hollywood Hills mansion. Prosecutors said they were reviewing the case and had asked the Los Angeles Police Department to further investigate the incident. Lanez was arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon after he was detained leaving the area before dawn July 12 in a vehicle that eyewitnesses said may have been connected to reports of the shooting. An attorney for Lanez could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Stallion on Wednesday posted and then deleted an image on Instagram that she said showed the result of her being shot as she walked away outside the residence a Hollywood Hills mansion. "Why would I lie about getting shot," Stallion said in a blunt post in response to comments questioning whether the WAP hitmaker was really hurt. She said she underwent surgery to remove the bullets. She has never publicly identified the shooter. According to Ricardo Santiago, a district attorney's spokesman, the LAPD presented an investigation for "felony assault with a semi-automatic firearm personal use of a firearm:to the office and on July 24 prosecutors asked law enforcement for further investigation before making a filing decision." Such referrals are common in high-profile investigations where prosecutors want more details before making a decision on whether a case can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Lanez, 27, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was arrested July 12 by the LAPD at the scene and released on $35,000 bond, jail records show. For the second time in a month, Stallion on Wednesday used her social media accounts to defend herself against suggestions that she was not injured during the shooting. An initial LAPD account makes no mention of the artist being struck by gunfire and refers only to her suffering a foot injury. Story continues Lol what I have learned abt majority of the people on social media is yall like to hear bad news before good news, a lie spreads quicker than the truth ... , she wrote. I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK. why would I lie abt getting shot?" Stallion wrote on her Instagram account. On that night in July, L.A. police officers swarmed the home in the 1800 block of Nichols Canyon about 4:30 a.m after receiving a report of gunfire. According to the LAPD, witnesses to the incident provided a description of a suspect(s) and their vehicle. Officers stopped a vehicle matching the description, detained multiple people and eventually arrested Lanez, according to a statement. In a video of the aftermath, both Lanez and Stallion can be seen in handcuffs as officers try to determine what happened. In a statement Wednesday, the LAPD said one person was taken to the hospital with a foot injury. Two sources familiar with the investigation said Stallion was displaying an injury at the scene consistent with her being struck by shattered glass. In the aftermath Stallion whose real name is Megan Pete posted on Instagram that the narrative that is being reported about Sundays morning events are inaccurate. On Sunday morning, I suffered gunshot wounds, as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me, the Savage songstress said. I was never arrested, the police officers drove me to the hospital where I underwent surgery to remove the bullets. Im incredibly grateful to be alive and that Im expected to make a full recovery, but it was important for me to clarify the details about this traumatic night, she wrote. Sources familiar with the investigation who asked for anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it said that the gun discharge was reckless and the round fired may have deflected and shrapnel likely hit the rapper. Putin Has No Good Options As Belarus Crisis Surges By Matthew Luxmoore August 18, 2020 MOSCOW -- On the evening of August 16, as hundreds of thousands rallied across Belarus calling for the ouster of its authoritarian leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian investigative outfit, posted an alarming report. "Don't make too much of it (yet)," the group wrote on Twitter. "But two convoys of unmarked trucks identical to Russian riot police/National Guard vehicles were filmed 400km from the Belarusian border, driving south from St Petersburg." The investigative group cited eyewitness accounts in a follow-up Facebook post, but did not give any evidence of troop movements or clarify whether any convoy crossed the border. Nevertheless,the online reaction to claims of possible Russian military intervention in a western neighbor appeared to bolster a widespread fear driven by memories of earlier regional crises: that Moscow was willing to use force to shore up support for an embattled pro-Russian leader. Amid the speculation, many drew parallels to Russia's intervention in Ukraine in 2014, where a disputed Moscow-backed referendum paved the way for its forcible annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and military support for the ongoing pro-Russia insurgency in parts of Ukraine's east. Now, images of alleged Russian Army convoys trundling across Belarus's eastern border triggered memories of similar scenes in Ukraine. But despite Russia's importance as a traditional ally to Belarus, whose economy Moscow has been instrumental in propping up, few analysts in Russia expect the Kremlin to repeat the Ukraine scenario. With tens of thousands joining peaceful protests across Belarus and popular support for Lukashenka plummeting, Russia has little to gain from sweeping in to help him suppress the unrest. "To invest in using force against a friendly population that doesn't want it may be too risky, even for Putin," Aleksandr Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told RFE/RL. The protests in Belarus, unlike those in Ukraine, are not fueled by anti-Russia sentiment. Russia risks changing that if it seeks to forcibly stamp them out. "It would change the mind of the population," Baunov said of a Russian attack. "It would mean to be worse than Lukashenka -- because at least Lukashenka is a local." But neither can Moscow sit back and watch from the sidelines. On August 15, as events spiraled out of his control, Lukashenka announced to officials that he would call Putin, saying the protest movement -- which he claims is orchestrated by foreign governments -- was "a threat not only to Belarus" but to Russia, too. For Moscow to back a losing side, it would need too many forces. That would include a huge occupying army.... I don't think that's something the Kremlin is ready for." The leaders held two phone calls over the weekend, according to readouts issued by the Kremlin and Lukashenka's government. But it was the second conversation, on August 16, that apparently coaxed Moscow into citing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a defense bloc comprising six former Soviet states pledging to defend each other in case of foreign attack. Couched in diplomatic language, the statement issued by the Kremlin on August 16 promised only a "readiness to render the necessary assistance to resolve the challenges facing Belarus," and never mentioned the Belarusian president by name. Artsyom Shraybman, a Minsk-based political analyst, said Russia has made clear in all its statements that it will only intervene under the framework of the CSTO in the event of "foreign aggression" despite Lukashenka's claim that Moscow would send help at Belarus's "first call." And Moscow's lack of references to Lukashenka specifically suggest it's aware of the extent to which his popularity has plunged. "For Moscow to back a losing side, it would need too many forces," Shraybman said in an interview with the Russian independent television channel Dozhd. "That would include a huge occupying army that would come to deal with partisan warfare. I don't think that's something the Kremlin is ready for." In the end, most analysts agree, the Kremlin's official statements fell well short of any concrete pledges of military assistance to shore up Lukashenka's beleaguered government. "They just acknowledged that there are some troubles and that Russia is aware of what is happening and that it's committed to dialogue," Yekaterina Schulmann, a Moscow-based political scientist, said in a phone interview. "Which is all very nice, but it can apply to any political regime and certainly to any president of Belarus." Faced with an unpalatable military intervention as the only way of ensuring Lukashenka remains president -- amid continuing protests and a steady trickle of defections from his government -- Moscow seems to be leaving room for various outcomes, including his replacement by an opposition-backed candidate. With the likelihood increasing of a power transition in Belarus, Moscow is likely to engage behind the scenes in dialogue with the West over the country's future -- playing a role in overseeing a political transition along with EU member states and ensuring that its core interests are protected in the process. "I do think that Russia will feel itself entitled to be one of the mediators, or the main one," Schulmann said of possible international discussions. "But I don't think it's so invested in Lukashenka personally." In the end, pragmatism is likely to win the day -- in the corridors of the Kremlin and those of international bodies. But for Putin, who has stamped out many protest movements throughout his 20 years in power and railed repeatedly against Western-backed revolutions, footage from Belarus of a stumbling strongman heckled from all sides is anathema. Lukashenka is holding on for now -- and Moscow is watching closely to see how he handles the crucial days to come, ready to draw appropriate lessons from whatever outcome they bring. "It's not true that Russia supports every autocrat that needs to be supported," Schulmann said. "But what Russia wouldn't like to see is the direct overthrow of an existing power by riotous masses. This would make for a bad picture." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-has-no -good-options-as-belarus-crisis- surges/30789859.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A former senior Trump administration official who endorsed Joe Biden and called the president terrifying has claimed the White House is now trying to dig up dirt on him, according to a report. Miles Taylor, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief of staff under Kirstjen Nielsen, became one of the highest-ranking former administration officials to endorse Donald Trump's rival on Monday. Following the endorsement, on Tuesday Mr Taylor claimed in an interview with CNNs Jake Tapper that a White House liaison employee had been told to dig up dirt on him. I just got word within the past hour that a White House liaison employee at the department has been directed to go around to dig up dirt on me, Now, look, I'm fine with that. I can handle it, Mr Taylor alleged to the broadcaster. But here's the point: the administration, within hours of me speaking out about this, is already using taxpayer dollars for political purposes at the department. That just goes to show you that they can't break out of this cycle, he added. The White House did not immediately reply to The Independents request for comment. The accusations follow Mr Taylors appearance in a video for Republican Voters Against Trump and an op-ed in The Washington Post on Monday, where he launched scathing attacks on the president and endorsed Mr Biden. What we saw week in and week out, and for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying, Mr Taylor, a longtime Republican, said in the video. We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue cyberattack, terrorism threat he wasnt interested in those things. To him, they werent priorities. Mr Taylor claimed that the president wanted to restart the practice of separating children from their families at the US-Mexico border following the termination of the widely-denounced strategy in 2018, among a number of allegations. He added: Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Mr Biden for president, and even though I am not a Democrat, even though I disagree on key issues, Im confident that Mr Biden will protect the country and Im confident that he wont make the same mistakes as this president. Recommended Former senior Trump official endorses Joe Biden Mr Trump hit back against the comments following the first night of the Democratic National Convention, calling Mr Taylor a disgruntled employee and insisting that he had never heard of him, despite his senior position and the existence of photos of them together. Many thousands of people work for our government, the president wrote on Twitter. With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real 'stiff'. They will take anyone against us! The former DHS official is among several high-profile former administration officials who have publicly denounced the president. Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as White House communications director, has endorsed the Democratic nominee. Former national security chief John Bolton, has said he will not be voting for Mr Trump or Mr Biden. O ne of Londons favourite cult cinemas is set to reopen its doors this month, with Peckhamplex welcoming back guests from August 26. The Rye Lane cinema closed for the first time in 25 years following the coronavirus outbreak, but it is now ready to welcome back guests under social distancing. The cinema announced the news on Twitter, writing: We're back and open for business. Films showing from Wednesday August 26. Tickets now on Sale. Online bookings only. Screenings will get back underway next Wednesday, with showings of Tenet, Unhinged, Pinocchio, Summerland and more. It joins other independent cinemas like Whitechapels Genesis in reopening in London, with Christopher Nolans highly anticipated Tenet set to be the biggest draw for film fans over the coming weeks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously confirmed that it will be mandatory for cinema guests to wear face coverings. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 19:17:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GABORONE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- As the impact of COVID-19 continues to unravel the local economy, Stanbic Bank Botswana has introduced a scheme dubbed "TradeClub" to ease business operations for entrepreneurs. Onkabetse Morapedi, head of Enterprise Banking at Stanbic Bank, said on Tuesday that the plan offers a suite of solutions to stimulate business growth within the regulatory restrictions put in place as a result of the pandemic. "We realize the extent to which our clients' businesses and the economy have been impacted by COVID-19 and wish to assist where we can by offering meaningful solutions that will make a real impact for customers and communities," said Morapedi. Morapedi said Stanbic Botswana is constantly looking for new ways to add value, despite the current COVID-19 pandemic looming over businesses. In April, Stanbic Botswana launched an initiative to ease cash flow for importers by providing expert financial support. The scheme dubbed Africa China Agent Proposition aims to assist Botswana's importers to source and validate quality goods safely and efficiently from the most competitive suppliers in China. According to the bank, the initiative is the foundation of long-term, mutually beneficial and sustainable trade relationships, equipping local importers with the tools to do business in China. Enditem The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one Abdur Rahman, an ophthalmologist working in Bengaluru, over alleged with an Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP). The ISKP is a branch of ISIS which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is a resident of Basavangudi, Bengaluru and is working as an ophthalmologist at MS Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, the NIA said in a note. NIA arrests accused Abdur Rahman r/o Basavangudi, Bangalore in connection with a case relating to an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) module. Abdul Rahman, 28 years, is working as an Ophthalmologist at M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore. Bharti Jain (@bhartijainTOI) August 18, 2020 Delhi Police nabs Islamic State-linked terrorist couple from Jamia Nagar This case was initially registered by Delhi Police Special Cell in March 2020, after the arrest of a Kashmiri couple Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar in Delhi. The terrorist couple linked to the ISIS was accused of motivating Muslims to unite against CAA and carry out terror strikes inside the country. They were also found to be in touch with Abdullah Basith, who was already lodged in Tihar jail in another NIA case. As shared by journalist Bharti Jain of TOI, during further investigation, NIA arrested two more accused Sadiya Anwar Sheikh and Nabeel Siddick Khatri, both residents of Pune, for being part of the conspiracy to further the activities of ISIS/ISKP in India and to carry out subversive activities in the garb of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests. The accused arrested by NIA confessed of ISIS links During interrogation, arrested accused Abdur Rahman confessed that he was conspiring with accused Jahanzaib Sami and other Syria-based ISIS operatives on secure messaging platforms to further ISIS activities. Rehman was in the process of developing a medical application for helping the injured ISIS cadres in the conflict-zones and a weaponry-related application for the benefit of ISIS fighters. Significantly, he had also visited an ISIS medical camp in Syria in early 2014 for treatment of ISIS terrorists and stayed with Islamic State operatives for 10 days and returned to India. After arresting him, NIA carried out searches at 3 premises belonging to Rahman in Bangalore with the assistance of Karnataka Police and seized digital devices, mobile phone, and a laptop containing incriminating material. The move follows US President Donald Trumps order last month to end Hong Kongs special status under US law. The US State Department said it notified Hong Kong on Wednesday that Washington has suspended or terminated three bilateral agreements after China imposed a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous territory. The ending of the agreements follows US President Donald Trumps order last month to end Hong Kongs special status under US law to punish China for what he called oppressive actions against the former British colony. The State Department said in a statement the agreements ended covered the surrender of fugitive offenders, the transfer of sentenced persons, and reciprocal tax exemptions on income derived from the international operation of ships. These steps underscore our deep concern regarding Beijings decision to impose the National Security Law, which has crushed the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. The Hong Kong government said it strongly objected to the US move saying it showed the Trump administrations disrespect for bilateralism and multilateralism. Urging international condemnation of the US, it added that Hong Kong was being used as a pawn in the US-China relationship. Trump signed an executive order last month that he said would end the preferential economic treatment for the city following the imposition of the national security law. The legislation punishes anything China considers secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison and has drawn condemnation from Western countries as well as rights groups, politicians and lawyers. Critics worry the law will end the freedoms promised for at least 50 years when Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Analysts have said US-China ties have deteriorated to their worst level in decades. Washington this month imposed sanctions on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and other current and former Hong Kong and mainland officials whom Washington accuses of curtailing the territorys freedoms. The US government has also required goods made in the former British colony for export to the United States to be labelled as made in China after September 25. From Men's Health The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has changed our daily lives in all aspects, and you'll probably remember this summer for the impressive number of Netflix you watched, and the astounding number of breads you baked. But as some states are slowly opening up and people are venturing outside, there's been some debate on which activities are safe and which are to be avoided. Having a small picnic outside with your roommates? Good choice. Heading to an indoor celebration at the bar? Not the best idea. And for many, going to the movies is a summer tradition. But there's some confusion about whether or not it's a safe activity to partake in at this time. The confusion has further been compounded by AMC's news that they'll be reopening a number of their theaters on August 20, and they're offering many enticing deals, including 15 cent tickets. However, many epidemiologists and doctors are denouncing the move, and they're urging the public not to head to the movies. Physician and epidemiologist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed told The AV Club in a recent interview, in fact, that it's "just about the last thing Id do right now." Dr. Anne W. Rimoin, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center For Global And Immigrant Health at the University Of California, Los Angeles also explained why going to a movie theater is such a bad idea: "I mean, the thing people need to realize is that there really is no zero-risk scenario during this COVID pandemic. Were advising people to not interact with others beyond their immediate family or home bubble unless absolutely necessary, to limit gatherings of more than 10 people in any given space, and to avoid indoor areas. And you should definitely not be in an indoor area where youd be taking your mask off, not even for eating. Movie theaters have all of that. And if theyre selling concessions, people are gonna be taking off their masks and eating, and thats tantamount to eating in a restaurant in a closed spaceeven worse, because youre basically in a closed box. There arent even windows, theres no ventilation." Story continues But if you decide to ignore the risks and head to the movies anyway, Rimoin and El-Sayed pointed to a few ways to keep yourself safe. Make sure the theater you're going to has closed the concession stand, buy your tickets online, and wear your mask the entire time. The theater should also have employees walking around the theater to make sure everyone has their mask on and that no one is eating. However, there are a number of ways to get your movie fix without compromising your health and the health of the general public. You can head to an outdoor or drive-in theater, and the Netflix Party extension is a great way to feel connected to your friends while staying safe. You Might Also Like This post is being updated as more states are approved. Workers in a handful of states who lost the extra $600 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits may soon see their payments increase again as states are approved for the new $300 federal unemployment boost created by President Donald Trump's memorandum. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved more than 20 states for grant funding to provide the enhanced unemployment benefit as of August 23, including: Alabama Arizona California Colorado Idaho Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Missouri Montana New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Of those, Arizona has started making payments. A few other states, including Michigan and New Hampshire, have applied. South Dakota is not applying for the benefit. twitter Trump's order created a "lost wages assistance" program that will use $44 billion in funding from FEMA to provide eligible workers with the enhanced $300 federal benefit. States have the option to contribute an additional $100. That means those collecting jobless benefits are guaranteed to half of the previous enhanced benefit of $600 per week, which expired at the end of July. So far, Montana has said it will pay the extra $100 on top of normal state unemployment benefits. Workers will have to receive at least $100 per week in state jobless benefits to receive the enhanced aid under Trump's order, leaving out the lowest income workers. The aid could start being paid by the end of August, though the timing will depend on how long it takes states to reprogram their systems to administer the funds. However, the $44 billion could also run out within three weeks, according to FEMA. Under President Donald Trump's executive order, states must apply to and be approved by FEMA to receive the supplemental funds. FEMA is updating its website as states receive funding. CNBC Make It will continue to update this post as more states are approved. Don't miss: Check out: Americans spend over $5,000 a year on groceriessave hundreds at supermarkets with these cards Chart of the Day: Exelon- A NASDAQ 100 Star Barchart - 4 minutes ago My Chart of the Day is the electric utility Exelon (EXC). I was looking to see which NASDAQ 100 stock had the highest technical buy signals and Weighted Alpha, then used the Flipchart feature to review... EXC : 56.49 (+0.80%) AUDUSD Weekly MACD Positively Crossing Tradable Patterns - 14 minutes ago The (AUDUSD) is rallying in todays Asia morning on the 730pm EST release of Australian employment data, adding to yesterdays bounce off uptrend support (on the 4hr chart). Significantly, although... ^AUDUSD : 0.72428 (+0.46%) FXA : 71.49 (+0.38%) Hogs Close with Triple Digit Gains Barchart - Wed Jan 19, 4:47PM CST Front month lean hog futures ended the session $0.70 to $2.07 stronger. April was up the most, which reduced the spread to May to $4.62. Feb hogs are now a $9.05 discount to April. USDAs National Average... HEG22 : 82.300s (+0.86%) HEK22 : 95.975s (+1.72%) KMG22 : 93.325s (-0.96%) Corn Closed Double Digits Higher Barchart - Wed Jan 19, 4:47PM CST Corn prices rallied on Wednesday ending the session back above the $6 mark. For old crop, the session ended 10 3/4 to 11 cents in the black but went home 4 cents off the highs. New crop prices closed 7... ZCH22 : 609-2 (-0.20%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.9707 (+1.89%) ZCK22 : 609-2 (-0.29%) ZCZ21 : 588-6s (+0.77%) ZCPZ21US.CM : 5.7930 (-0.49%) Triple Digit Strength for Wednesday Cattle Barchart - Wed Jan 19, 4:47PM CST Live cattle prices rallied $0.87 to $1.50 during the Wednesday session. Central Stockyards weekly FCE auction sold none of the 3,580 head listed. Bids were capped at $137-$138. USDA had cash sales activity... LEG22 : 138.550s (+0.64%) LEM22 : 138.475s (+1.02%) GFF22 : 161.400s (-0.03%) GFH22 : 165.625s (+0.12%) Shootin' the Bull Swift Trading Company - Wed Jan 19, 4:16PM CST 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... Crude Closes Higher as IEA Raises its Global Crude Demand Forecast Barchart - Wed Jan 19, 3:50PM CST February WTI crude oil (CLG22 ) on Wednesday closed up +1.53 (+1.79%), and February RBOB gasoline (RBG22 ) closed up +2.52 (+1.04%). WTI crude oil and RBOB gasoline prices Wednesday extended Tuesday's... CLH22 : 85.15 (-0.76%) RBH22 : 2.4454 (-0.65%) By PTI NEW DELHI: Hong Kong has banned Air India flights till the end of August after some passengers on one of its flights tested positive for COVID-19 post-arrival, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Passengers from India can arrive in Hong Kong only if they have a COVID-19 negative certificate from a test done 72 hours prior to the journey, according to rules issued by the Hong Kong government in July. Moreover, all international passengers are required to take a post-flight COVID-19 test at the airport premises in Hong Kong. "Some passengers who landed in Hong Kong on one of Air India flights recently tested COVID-positive post arrival," the government official said. "The Hong Kong government has banned all Air India flights till August-end," the official added. Air India did not respond to the PTI's request for comment. The airline had said on Twitter on Monday: "Due to restrictions imposed by Hong Kong Authorities, AI 310/315, Delhi Hong Kong Delhi of 18th August 2020 stands postponed. Next update in this regard will be intimated soon. Passengers may please contact Air India Customer Care for assistance. " Besides India, a pre-flight COVID-19 negative test result certificate is mandatory for all passengers coming from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa and the United States, according to the Hong Kong government's rules. An airline operating a flight to Hong Kong from any of these nine countries has to submit a form before departure stating that all passengers onboard have COVID-19 negative certificates. Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, special international flights have been operating with the approval of aviation regulator DGCA. Air India has been operating special international flights since May 6 under the Vande Bharat Mission to help stranded people reach their destinations. Since July, India has established separate bilateral air bubble arrangements with countries like the USA, Germany, France, the UAE, the UK and the Maldives for international flight operations. Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. Two days after vandalism forced its closure, Bengals Visva Bharati University on Wednesday stayed away from a meeting called by the Birbhum district administration while students, local residents and traders opposed to the vice-chancellors decision to cordon off the fair ground took part in it Though there was no tension on and off campus on Wednesday, vandalism returned to Tagores Santiniketan when some miscreants sprayed black paint on a bust of the Central universitys former executive council member Dr Sushovan Bandopadhyay who publicly supported vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty. Famous for treating patients for a fee of just one rupee, an act that earned him the name Ek takar daktar (one rupee doctor), Bandopadhyay was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Centre earlier this year. The bust was placed near his home in Santiniketan by local people. Bandopadhyay was not available for comment but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership, which strongly condemned Mondays vandalism and involvement of local Trinamool Congress leaders, reacted sharply. This is the fate of Ek Takar Daktar or One Rupee Doctor at the hands of TMC hoodlums in Santiniketan. The bust of Padma Shri awardee Dr Sushovan Bandopadhyay has been smeared with ink by the same goons who vandalized Rabindranath Tagores Visva Bharati campus tweeted Amit Malviya, head of the BJPs national informational and technology cell. The tweet was shared by the state BJP. In Kolkata, BJPs youth wing workers led by state president and Lok Sabha member Saumitra Khan staged a demonstration and courted arrest. In its police complaint lodged on Monday night, the university, which later demanded a CBI probe, named Naresh Bauri, a resident of Bolpur and TMC MLA from the districts Dubrajpur constituency. Other than Bauri, three other TMC leaders were also named as accused. On Wednesday, Visva Bharati authorities called off the proposed 12-hour fast it wanted to hold in protest against Mondays vandalism. The university issued a statement saying its officials can attend a meeting convened by the administration if it is held on campus. The statement also said that the university wants to guard the fair ground with a four-feet-high fence and a three-feet-high grill above it in consonance with the aesthetics of the campus and with ecological concerns. The purpose of the Poush Mela ground fence is to halt the entry of miscreants who come to the mela ground to engage in defiant and dangerous activities, said the statement which added that after dark the ground becomes a haven for drug addicts, alcoholics and sex workers. Mamata Banerjee on Monday disapproved of the wall and said, I do not want any construction that destroys the beauty of Visva Bharati. When Rabindranath Tagore built Visva Bharati he wanted students to be in the heart of nature and study in the open. He did not want wood and cement structures. In a tweet, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday night that the vice-chancellor informed that his personal security guard provided by the state had been withdrawn from duty. VC Visva Bharati has intimated my personal body guard, given by state government has suddenly been withdrawn. On 17/08, four body guards, stationed in VC office, were withdrawn. I find it inappropriate. Urged @MamataOfficial to take appropriate steps and provide security, tweeted Dhankhar. In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the university alleged that the police did not take any steps to stop the vandalism although information was sent to the district magistrate, superintendent of police, the state chief secretary, home secretary and personal secretary to the chief minister. The statement said that the teachers and staff were feeling unsafe and anticipated threats to their lives. The district police started a suo motu case on Monday afternoon after the chief minister intervened. Eight people were arrested for the vandalism. They were produced before the Suri court on Tuesday afternoon and sent to police custody. District police officers in their complaint said that the Visva Bharati authorities stated that the crowd went on a rampage when construction workers were in the process of setting up a fence. The complaint said that guarding the open ground was necessary to protect the environment as ordered by the National Green Tribunal in 2017. The traders have also lodged a police complaint against the vice-chancellor. Visva Bharati has said the allegations are false and they must be withdrawn to make the staff members feel safe. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 02:36:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SKOPJE, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Amid the COVID 19 pandemic, new school year 2020-2021 in North Macedonia will start mainly online, except for the students from first to third grade of primary schools and schools with small classes, Health Minister Venko Filipce told a press conference on Tuesday. The decision was reached at a government session earlier in the day in coordination with the final proposal made by the Infections Diseases Commission of North Macedonia. Under the health protocols, Filipce said the number of children in a class will not exceed 20 and they will stay at a 1.5-meter distance and wear face masks. The minister noted that the rate of infection among younger students is about 3.4 percent and they usually have mild symptoms or are often asymptomatic. Parents in North Macedonia will choose whether their children would go to school or attend online classes. Another category of children that will be allowed to attend classes is those attending schools with fewer students under a stable epidemiological situation. Also at the press conference, Minister of Education and Science Arber Ademi said that it is very important for the social and emotional development of the children from first to third grade to attend classes in schools. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported 130 new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour span, bringing the total in the country to 12,970, with 9,513 recoveries and 549 fatalities. Enditem There is communication between the two states and I believe that it will develop into the advancement of an agreement between the countries. But we need to look, we need to wait. Is it right for Israel and Sudan? The answer is yes, he said. 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... Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel pressed forward with a lawsuit that aims to stop recent changes at the United States Postal Services on Tuesday, even after the agencys leader agreed to back off some of the changes ahead of the election. Ive heard the president and members of his administration say a lot of things, but it doesnt necessarily mean hes going to carry through, Nessel said. Former President Clinton speaks during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. (Associated Press) The second night of the Democratic National Convention took a favorite catchphrase of reality TV star Donald Trump and turned it against President Trump. Youre fired. You have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else, said former President (and Republican nemesis) Bill Clinton. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, hes your man. Stacey Abrams, who was among 17 rising stars of the Democratic Party who delivered a joint keynote address, also made it clear that 45 needed to be voted off POTUS island. Trump is largely to blame for a public health catastrophe, economic collapse and unprecedented racial reckoning, she said, endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden to replace him: [The] choice is clear. A steady, experienced public servant who can lead us out of crisis just like hes done before, or a man who only knows how to deny and distract. A leader who cares about our families, or a president who only cares about himself. Forget gentle election-year slogans of old like Working for Change or Restore Our Future. Trump Sucks and Hes Ruining Everything! was the theme of the two-hour, COVID-era virtual production, dedicated to elevating Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, by weaponizing the litany of mistakes made by Trump. Needless to say, the party had plenty of ammo in its arsenal and employed big guns to launch the televised attack. The heavy artillery included Clinton, the Carters and members of the Kennedy clan, all of whom were rolled out early on in the "convention." Lesser-known figures from all levels of government joined the Down-with-45 effort in recorded and live messages shot on their home turf, shilling for Biden against the backdrop of desert cacti and bashing Trump from a picturesque California beach. These faces from all over the nation, many of whom were regular folks voicing their concerns and opinions, continued a theme from Night 1 of the DNC. Theres power in the presence of regular folks, when we can hear them speak directly about their concerns versus listening to a politician on the convention stage reiterate what hes heard on the campaign trail from hard-working Americans. Corny as it sounds, much of what was said on national television by those usually relegated to the status of "middle-aged Black woman," "older white man" and "young Latino" in party focus groups and polling demographics rang true. Story continues It wasnt all about the testimonials or take-downs, however. Official business needed to be tended to in the form of a delegate roll call vote to officially claim Biden as the Democratic choice on the November ballot. The lengthy process was yet another test of how to successfully translate dry Washington procedure into a palatable and even entertaining live event. The winning answer was to pair the vote with videotaped or live segments from each state and territory, where figures representing the regions read the delegate count but also commented on politics of the kitchen-table variety. Puerto Rico Sen. Carmelo Rios Santiago stood by a gleaming blue bay as he announced, in Spanish, the votes for Biden and his primary rival, Bernie Sanders, then thanked the former for always supporting the island. Joseph McNamara, of "the calamari comeback state of Rhode Island," as he called it, did the same while standing next to a plate of the fried appetizer. Khizr Khan, father of slain Gold Star soldier Humayun Khan, spoke for Virginia. Khan and his wife, Ghazala, who are Muslim, were demeaned by Trump after speaking at the 2016 DNC. It was an ugly chapter, even in Trumps Muslim-bashing legacy, so Khans participation Tuesday after a brief cameo Monday night was clearly meant to send a message: Intolerance will not be tolerated. Three years ago my beloved city, Charlottesville, [Va.], was attacked by white supremacists and a young woman was killed, he said. We were attacked again when Donald Trump praised those racists, turning his back on a community that just wanted peace. That was the day Joe Biden decided to join this battle for the soul of America. Over time Ghazala and I have come to know his soul. Hes a decent, passionate man who will bring this nation together. Kool & the Gangs Celebrate was cued up to celebrate Biden's nomination, and the cameras cut to his family rejoicing together. The intimate scene didn't conjure the ecstasy of a packed convention center, but there were balloons and videos of exuberant supporters jumping up and down in their living rooms. Biden looked out of sorts, perhaps uncomfortable with the virtual nature of it all, but his true test will come on Thursday, when he closes the DNC by accepting the nomination that Tuesday night's festivities confirmed. Following Monday's appearance by Eva Longoria, black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross hosted Tuesday nights edition of the DNC Variety Hour, which also featured former Second Lady Jill Biden and a finale performance from singer-songwriter John Legend. They bookended an evening filled with calls to fire the guy who rose to reality TV stardom sacking poor souls on The Apprentice" only after demeaning them, of course and he carried that skill set to the White House. On Tuesday night, television, and the Democrats, bit back. When this president goes overseas, its not a goodwill mission, its a blooper reel, said former senator and Secretary of State John F. Kerry. He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at. JERSEYVILLE A judge Wednesday denied a defense motion seeking a new trial for convicted murderer Roger Carroll after a prosecutor argued there was more than enough evidence to convict him. Circuit Judge Eric Pistorius set Oct. 1 for sentencing. Carroll could get up to life in prison; a Jersey County jury on March 16 found him guilty of the 2010 first-degree murder of Bonnie Woodward. Circuit Judge Eric Pistorius agreed with prosecutor Crystal Uhe that there was ample evidence, particularly the fingerprints found on the Woodwards vehicle in her Alton workplace after Carroll was heard on video denying he was in Alton the day of the murder. Before the hearing Uhe said such motions for a new trial are not uncommon and they are often filed to clear the way for a possible appeal of the jurys verdict. Carroll, 53, was charged April 12, 2018, with the June 25, 2010, first-degree murder of Woodward. He was an early suspect in the 2010 investigation, but the case lay dormant until April 2018 and his alleged assault of his wife, Monica, and subsequent testimony by his son, Nathan. During a video recorded interview with Alton Detective Scott Golike, Carroll denied being in Alton on the day of the murder. However, police found his prints on Woodwards Chevrolet Avalance parked in the lot of Eunice Smith Nursing Home where she worked. Nathan Carroll testified that he helped his father plan and carry out the crime. He showed investigators the site of the fatal shooting on the Carroll farm in rural Jerseyville and the site at which her body was burned in the midst of a huge pile of brush. The defense argued Carrolls attorneys were not given proper notice of the testimony of the witness who identified Carroll next to the vehicle. Attorneys Clyde Kuehn and Scott Snider also claim the judge erred in allowing testimony about a confrontation between Roger and Monica Carroll. They claim, among other things, the judge should not have allowed testimony about charred bone fragments at the spot where Roger Carroll allegedly set the fire. Uhe was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, along with former Madison County Prosecutor Jennifer Mudge, because the case involved both Madison and Jersey counties. Crystal Uhe handled the states response to the defendants motion, Jersey County States Attorney Ben Goetten said. Uhes an impressive prosecutor, plain and simple. She made our county and the victims family proud today in defending the states position. We are lucky to have her as part of this team. PHILIPSBURG(DCOMM):--- Fire Chief Clive Richardson would like to address social media rumors with respect to COVID-19. Richardson said on Tuesday that he does not have COVID-19. It is overly concerning that individuals would spread social media rumors of such a nature that the Fire Chief has COVID-19. This is emphatically not the case, Richardson said on Tuesday. Last week Richardson announced that the Collection Prevention Services (CPS) had identified one fire fighter who tested positive for COVID-19. In the meantime, four additional firefighters have been classified as COVID-19 positive. All COVID-19 positive firefighters are currently at home under quarantine and contact tracing is being carried out by the staff of CPS. The Fire Department has implemented its COVID-19 continuity plan as the departments response to the COVID-19 situation and to protect the health of department personnel, fire emergency first responders and department visitors. Turmoil at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is causing some Democrats and local election officials to rethink their vote-by-mail strategies for Novembers presidential election, shifting emphasis to drop boxes and early voting that bypass the post office. The 2020 contest promises to be the nations largest test of voting by mail. But U.S. President Donald Trumps relentless, unsubstantiated attacks on mail balloting, along with cost-cutting that has delayed mail service nationwide, have sown worry and confusion among many voters. Democratic officials who just weeks ago were touting their dominance in mail balloting during a recent rash of primaries are now cautioning supporters of presidential challenger Joe Biden to be wary. Operatives in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, are particularly concerned about ballots arriving too late to count for the Nov. 3 election. We are considering telling voters that if they havent mailed out their complete ballot by Oct. 15, dont bother. Instead, vote in person or drop off the ballot" at an elections office, said Joe Foster, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County, the most populous of Philadelphias suburban counties. We want to make sure every vote counts." Other local Democratic leaders, from states like Florida and North Carolina, told Reuters they also are weighing urging voters to submit mail ballots weeks ahead of the election or else vote in person. On Tuesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced he was suspending cost-cutting measures he had put in place in recent weeks that had led to widespread service disruptions. Those changes included limits on employee overtime, orders for trucks to depart on schedule even if there was mail still to be loaded, and the removal of some mail sorting machines. The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall," DeJoy said in a statement. He also promised to deploy standby resources" beginning Oct. 1 to satisfy any unforeseen demand. But some Democrats said the damage is already done. Many dont trust DeJoy - who was a major Trump campaign donor before becoming postal chief - to restore service at the independent government agency amid a presidential race that polls say Biden is leading. Return the mailboxes you removed," Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island said on Twitter. Return the sorting machines you took out. Restore the regular hours of post offices you cut short. Return postal vehicles you took. The list goes on." A USPS spokesman declined to comment. DeJoy is expected to provide more detail on his plans in testimony before the Senate on Friday and the House of Representatives on Monday. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday that Trump never told the Postal Service to change its operations. Democrats asked for $25 billion to shore up the balance sheet of the USPS in a massive virus aid package that passed the House of Representatives in May. Republicans have balked at that figure, and Trump last week said he opposed that funding because it might be used to encourage mail voting. But administration officials in recent days have said they are open to additional funding as public outrage over the USPS drama has grown. Local Democratic officials, operatives and campaign workers said they are not waiting for a Washington solution. In the competitive state of Michigan, Democratic voter outreach volunteer Karen McJimpson, 64, is phoning voters to encourage them to hand-deliver their absentee ballots directly to specified drop boxes or elections offices in light of concerns about mail delivery. She said Tuesdays news about restored service gave her no comfort. I dont trust it," said McJimpson, who volunteers with a nonprofit called Michigan United. There has been too much noise around this, and someone is clearly pulling the strings. We are going to proceed as planned: drop the ballots off. Upheaval at the USPS has reshuffled some Democrats plans for other types of election mail as well. Brad Crone, a Democratic strategist in North Carolina, plans to send up to two million mailers between now and Election Day supporting various state and congressional candidates. The campaign flyers are mailed directly from his printer, who last week sent him a notice: If Crone wants to mail anything beyond Oct. 19, he must sign a waiver acknowledging that it might not get there before Election Day. Crone said he will now stop his mailings by Oct. 4, three weeks earlier than he had originally planned. Its alarming," Crone said. Americans are witnessing major system breakdowns, whether its the postal system, COVID testing or their local schools. The average voter is seeing this and is just floored." DROP BOX BATTLE Mail voting has grown steadily since the turn of the century. In the 2016 presidential election, mail ballots accounted for 23.6% of all ballots cast, up from 19.2% in 2008, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Interest has exploded this year as voters have sought to avoid crowded polling places due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mail ballots accounted for 80% of all votes cast in 16 state primaries this year, including Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to an estimate by Charles Stewart III, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some states, such as New York, have struggled to handle the crush. The surge has sparked a slew of litigation. Republicans in Texas, for example, fended off a recent Democratic effort to make it easier for its citizens to vote by mail in the pandemic. The vast majority of Texans will be required to vote in person in November. Democrats have prevailed elsewhere. In South Carolina, officials have agreed to provide prepaid postage for absentee ballots, easing a barrier for those who otherwise would have to provide their own stamps. In Minnesota, the state agreed to suspend a requirement that absentee voters get a witness to sign their ballots and to count ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. The Democratic Party currently has ongoing litigation on mail voting in 14 states, according to Marc Elias, the lawyer overseeing the effort. Trump has spent the last few weeks making unsupported allegations that mail voting is vulnerable to tampering and would result in Democrats stealing the election. He has sought to distinguish between states that provide mail ballots only to voters who request them - including Florida, where Trump himself votes absentee - and those that are moving to conduct their elections entirely by mail, which he claims could lead to widespread cheating. Election experts say mail voting is as secure as any other method. Trumps attacks have forced state and local Republicans to engage in some damage control. Many of their most reliable supporters, particularly elderly voters, have long used mail balloting. Some Republicans fear the presidents broadsides will depress turnout. A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released on Monday found that nearly half of Biden supporters plan to vote by mail in November, while just 11% of Trump supporters plan to do so. The latest front in the voting battle is the dedicated election drop box, a sealed, sturdily built receptacle that has been a popular option for voters who prefer mail ballots but dont want to return them via the USPS. Election officials collect those ballots and take them to polling locations for counting. Election officials in South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere are seeking to expand drop-off locations or ease requirements such as those mandating that voters show identification to use them. Those changes have met resistance from Republicans over concerns about fraud. On Monday, Trump turned his fire on drop boxes. Some states use drop boxes for the collection of Universal Mail-In Ballots. So who is going to collect the Ballots, and what might be done to them prior to tabulation? he wrote on Twitter. A Rigged Election? So bad for our Country. Rob Daniel, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party in South Carolina, said there is just one election drop box in the county of roughly 400,0000 people. He said some voters must drive 45 minutes to reach it because of the countys odd shape. Daniel said the county board of elections is seeking permission from the state to add more boxes, but that is no certainty. As a backup, the party is urging voters to request their mail ballots early and return them via the USPS as soon as possible. Even Trump cant screw up the Postal Service so much that it cant deliver mail across town in 30 days, Daniel said. Still, Democrats see a bigger worry: Trump has already raised the possibility that he might not accept the results of an election whose outcome could take days to decide because of the quantity of mail ballots that will need to be counted. That is absolutely our biggest threat," Michigans Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist said. 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 Photo: The Canadian Press Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks during a news conference on parliament hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Chrystia Freeland shattered a glass ceiling Tuesday, becoming the first woman to be sworn in as Canada's finance minister. The gravitas of the moment was not lost on the former journalist and mother of three. After she spoke the English words of her oath of office, she paused to take a deep breath, before repeating the oath in French. "It's about time," Freeland said later at a press conference on Parliament Hill. She said a feminist agenda has been a key part of the Liberal government, and she is glad to be able to bring her experiences as a woman and a mother to the COVID-19 economic recovery she will now lead. Lori Turnbull, a politics professor and director of the school of public administration at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to put Freeland in the role is the most substantive move he has made yet to back up his self-proclaimed feminist agenda. But, Turnbull said, Freeland is not there as a token woman. "There are very few people on the political scene in Canada who have proven themselves like she has," said Turnbull. "She is a fantastic choice for finance minister. He knows that." Freeland, 52, has spent the last five years earning a solid reputation both inside and outside of cabinet, first in international trade, then foreign affairs before she was promoted to deputy prime minister and intergovernmental affairs after the 2019 election. She was credited with leading the successful, though at many times testy and fraught renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, holding so firm against the often unpredictable whims of U.S. President Donald Trump, she managed to get under his very thin skin. "We don't like their representative very much," he said of her in September 2018. Just two weeks earlier, Freeland poked the Trump bear directly, arriving in Washington, D.C., for last-ditch trade talks wearing a T-shirt her kids had given her for Christmas the year before. Splashed across the front of the shirt, in bold black letters, it said "Mama (does not equal) chopped liver." On the back it said "Keep Calm and Negotiate NAFTA." When Trudeau named her deputy prime minister in 2019, he also gave her a mandate letter that had her take the reins on some of his government's biggest, but also most politically tricky, policies: negotiating new health-care agreements with the provinces, climate change and the carbon tax, an assault rifle ban and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. While no longer foreign affairs minister, she also retained responsibility for the Canada-U.S. relationship, and as intergovernmental affairs minister, she was dispatched to soothe over the Trudeau government's open sores with mostly conservative provincial premiers. And while she represents a wealthy, central Toronto riding, she was born and raised in northern Alberta. Those roots mean she has been tasked with bringing some Alberta perspective to the cabinet table. The Liberals didn't elect a single MP in that province and the western anger centred in Alberta over the Trudeau government's energy policies runs loud and deep. "She's a Swiss-army knife of cabinet ministers," joked Greg MacEachern, a former Liberal ministerial staffer and now a senior vice-president at government-relations firm Proof Strategies. He said to see how effective Freeland is, one need look no further than how much the Ottawa-Ontario relationship has changed with her lead. "Not that long ago, Premier Ford and the Liberal prime minister were using each other as battering rams," said MacEachern. On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was one of Freeland's biggest fans. "There's no one that would be better in that role than Chrystia Freeland," Ford said. While Ford's federal counterparts were dismissing Freeland's appointment as part of the same old Liberal story, Ford offered both the federal government and Freeland his full support. "I just want to wish them all the best because they're partners with us," he said. "And I absolutely love Chrystia Freeland. She's amazing. I'll help her. I sent her a message, congratulations. I'm there. I'll have her back. I'll help her any way we can." She was also welcomed by some of the Liberals' biggest critics in the business world. Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, has been highly critical of the pandemic response for small businesses. "What I like best about (Freeland) in Finance is her proven ability to work with people, even when there are areas of disagreement," Kelly said on Twitter. "This has been missing in the department for several years." MacEachern said Freeland also has something else outgoing Finance Minister Bill Morneau did not: good and close relationships with many backbench Liberals. While Morneau went into cabinet immediately upon his election to Parliament in 2015, Freeland had spent time before that as one of just three dozen Liberal MPs when the party sat in third place in Parliament. Freeland, who worked as a journalist in Canada, the United States, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, was persuaded by Trudeau to enter politics in 2013 to run in a byelection in Toronto Centre. She won, and in 2015, after ridings were rejigged, she ran and won a second time in the neighbouring riding of University-Rosedale. Trudeau said Tuesday that she had been "a key player in my government from day one." Plus, Michael Kors on Covid and his customers. These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Wednesday. How Gen Z thinks about beauty In a story for The New York Times, Rachel Strugatz speaks with members of Gen Z to find out how they're shopping for beauty and what that means for brands looking to court their dollars. Whether it's courting TikTok stars or rethinking established formulas, these are tips on what Gen Z is looking for in beauty brands. {New York Times} Fans clamor for Michelle Obama's "VOTE" necklace Former First Lady Michelle Obama's moving speech at the DNC wasn't the only thing going viral this week. Fans were clamoring to get their hands on a copy of her "VOTE" necklace from designer Chari Cuthbert. Kate Bennett talks with Cuthbert about the impact the moment has had on her independent business, ByChari, for CNN. {CNN} Michael Kors on Covid and his customers Bridget Foley catches up with designer Michael Kors after a Zoom trunk show with his customers. Now on the cusp of his 40th anniversary in the business, Kors discusses everything from the impact of Covid on his design process and the value of connecting directly with his customers to how he plans on moving forward. {WWD} Amira Rasool shares her big plans for The Folklore There may have been a dust up with Taylor Swift when Amira Rasool found the merch for Swift's new album "Folklore" to be too similar to the branding for her own company, The Folklore, but Rasool isn't dwelling on that. She tells Refinery29's Eliza Huber that she wants The Folklore to become the LVMH of Africa. Get all the details on how she plans to do just that. {Refinery29} Stylist Mecca James-Williams on the joy of styling her hair Mecca James-Williams has become a star in the fashion industry, not just through her professional styling prowess, but also for her own personal style. Vogue's Akili King catches up with her to discuss the joys of styling her hair and her "inside-out mentality" of self-care. {Vogue} Joan Smalls pens an op-ed about racism in fashion She's been a supermodel almost from the moment she first set foot on a runway, but that has not shielded Joan Smalls from the omnipresent racism of the fashion industry. In a letter for Vogue UK, Smalls discusses why she's speaking out and what inspired her to launch Donate My Wage. {Vogue UK} Want the latest fashion industry news first? Sign up for our daily newsletter. On August 19, the government of Finland announced that they have removed most EU countries from its "green travel list". According to the reports, arrivals from very few places will now be able to enter the country without any restriction. The development comes as a measure to battle the novel coronavirus. Finland imposes border restrictions Reports suggest that only the people coming from Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania will now be allowed to enter Finland without self-isolation for two weeks and any other restriction. Also, people from a few non-EU countries like Georgia, Rwanda and South Korea are allowed to enter the country with few measures that will come into force from August 24. Finland has reported a total number of 7,805 infections till date with 334 casualties. Read: Finland Reverses Policy, Recommends Facemask In Public After Uptick In COVID-19 Cases Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo reportedly said in a press conference that Finland has the most strict border policy in the European Union and that is because the government wanted the country to be free from coronavirus. Ohisalo also announced that restrictions on Finland's land borders with Sweden and Norway will be eased. This will be done to allow the residents living on either side to cross more easily for everyday purposes. Read: European Union Launches In-depth Investigation Into Google's Fitbit Acquisition According to reports, the government had said in June that it will allow arrivals from countries with fewer than fewer than 8 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 population. However, ministers have made exceptions for countries with under 10 cases. Finland has the lowest number of coronavirus cases in the entire Europe. Reports suggest that the country registered 5.3 new cases per 100,000 in the past two weeks. However, the number is now rising. Reports suggest that Ministers also discussed banning flights from Skopje during a cabinet talk. Skopje is the capital city of North Macedonian and has brought "an extremely high number of infections" to Finland, said Transport Minister Timo Harakka. Read: European Union Optimistic About Passing Important Climate Change Law This Year Also Read: India's Davis Cup Tie Against Finland Postponed To 2021 Due To COVID-19 Pandemic (Image Credits: Unsplash) The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has scheduled two crucial meetings -- on August 27 it will consider a proposal to borrow money from the market to compensate states for their revenue shortfalls, and on September 19 the apex federal body will take up other issues such as resolution of the inverted duty structure, tax on pan masala and more measures for ease of doing business, two officials said. As told by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the 40th meeting of the council on June 12, the August 27 meeting will be special as it will discuss only one matter how to pay compensation to states at a time when the compensation cess collection has plunged because of weak economic activities due to Covid-19 pandemic, the officials said requesting anonymity. While briefing reporters after the 40th meeting, Sitharaman had said on request of members the Council would meet again in July to discuss only one-agenda item -- compensation to states. Compensation, which has to be given to states, and, if at all, it results into some kind of borrowing, how and who is going to pay for it, she had said. The meeting was, however, deferred to August, due to some technical reasons, officials said. At the time of introducing the new indirect tax regime in July 2017, the GST law assured states a 14% increase in their annual revenue for five years (up to 2022) and their revenue shortfall should be made good through the compensation cess levied on luxury goods and sin products such as liquor, cigarettes, aerated water, automobiles, coal and other tobacco products. The 41st meeting of the Council is to resolve the difference between the Centre and states over the responsibility of the cess liability. While states argue that it is the Centres responsibility to pay compensation in time, the Centre cited the GST law where the responsibility lies with the GST Council, the officials said. GST Council is headed by the Union finance minister and finance ministers of states are its members. Usually, the Councils decisions are unanimous. One of the officials mentioned above said although the GST law assured a 14% increase in annual tax revenue of states, but GST collection in 2020-21 is unlikely see such growth. There is virtually no money left to pay compensation to states from April 2020, hence market borrowing is one of the solutions, but who will take the guarantee is a big question that needs to be resolved, he said. The states were paid Rs 1,65,302 crore GST compensation in 2019-20, even as total cess collection for the fiscal year was a mere Rs 95,444 crore. This gap is expected to be larger this year because of pandemic, he said. Law is very clear, compensation has to be paid from the amount collected through compensation cess and not from the Consolidated Fund of India, he added. According to a note circulated in the 40th GST Council meeting held on June 12, compensation cess collected in 2017-18 was Rs 62,612 crore, rose to Rs 95,081 crore in 2018-19 and further to Rs 95,444 crore in 2019-20. Compensation paid in 2017-18 was however, less than the total collection at Rs 41,146 crore and Rs 69,275 crore in 2018-19. Officials said it is up to the Council to find a solution, how to augment revenue collection and how to pay the compensation. Theoretically, the options before the Council for meeting the shortfall could be to rationalise tax rates, include more items under the compensation cess or increase the compensation cess, or recommend higher borrowing by states to be repaid by the future collection into the compensation fund, they said. States, particularly ruled by the Opposition parties, however, said that timely payment of full compensation is the responsibility of the Union government. Officials said, the 42nd meeting of the Council on September 19 is generic in nature and may consider revising tax on several items that suffer from inverted duty such as fertilisers, footwears, renewable energy devices, tractors and man-made yarns and fabrics. Inverted duty structure is a situation in which inputs are taxed at a higher rate than finished goods. The police arent violating anyones First Amendment right to express their views. Daily news media reports follow the same script as a long-running three-act play. Act 1, relatively peaceful protests with few or no police present. Act 2, criminal activity begins and police assemble protectively. Act 3, criminal violence forces police to defend property their mission and themselves by necessity. Beginning with Act 2, self-professed peaceful protesters vacate that right and aid and abet criminal activity by their presence, shielding the violent perpetrators, impeding arrest and giving the appearance of support. Our politicians encourage the mob violence by demonizing the police, jumping to the de-funders demands and failing to prosecute. A common military saying applies: By failing to enforce a standard, you have created a new standard. I believe the ACLU doesnt like police videotaping rioters because it makes identifying criminals and courtroom proof more positive. Should not the ACLU rise to defending police officers, who are the victims of violence? I support protection of media and authorized personnel only when they are outside the mobs perimeter and obviously not a participant. Our mayor has switched sides from encouraging criminal activity to asking for it to end for an appalling reason. Instead of because it is the right thing to do, he is afraid the continued violence will cost his political party votes. While somewhat sympathetic to the demonstrations core values, I hope our citizens and potential jurors reflect rationally and logically when called upon to express their views. Tom Shanley, Portland Trump, Biden Diverge Sharply on Border Security, Immigration WASHINGTONOne of the widest policy gaps between the Democrat and Republican platforms this election season is in border security and immigration. While President Donald Trump is celebrating 10 miles of new wall being built on the southern border per week, Democratic nominee Joe Biden says he would immediately halt construction. [Trumps] obsession with building a wall does nothing to address security challenges while costing taxpayers billions of dollars, Bidens campaign website states. As senator, Biden voted for the 2006 Secure Fence Act. Conversely, the Border Patrol union endorsed Trump for reelection on Aug. 18, in part due to the increased operational capacity the new border wall provides agents. Almost 300 miles of wall have been builtincluding accompanying roads, cameras, and sensorsand another 433 are in varying stages of design and construction, according to Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Joe Biden is the puppet of the radical left-wing movement that seeks the complete elimination of Americas borders and boundaries, Trump said from Yuma, Arizona, on Aug. 18. Citizenship for Illegal Aliens Biden promises to provide a pathway to citizenship for all illegal aliens living in the United Statesan estimated 11 million to 25 million people. He also supports free health care for illegal immigrants. Biden said he will reverse Trumps public charge rule, which currently prohibits non-U.S. citizens and permanent residents from accessing food stamps and other welfare benefits. He also states he would give Green Cards to foreign students who obtain a doctoral degree in the United States. The Biden plan would unleash a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen, Trump said. Trumps executive order ending the Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was blocked by the Supreme Court, which held open the possibility of revisiting its decision if the administration resubmitted its petition. The program gives eligible illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as children, immunity from deportation and renewable two-year work visas. It was set up via a 2012 executive order by former President Barack Obama. Trump has offered Congress a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. Trump supports moving to a merit-based immigration system similar to that of Canada or Australia, where most immigrants are chosen according to the skill and education needs of the country. Currently, about two-thirds of the 1.1 million Green Cards issued per year are based solely on family connections, also known as chain migration. Under the senseless rules of the current system, were not able to give preference to a doctor, a researcher, a student who graduated number one in his class from the finest colleges in the worldanybody, Trump said at a May 2019 event at the White House. The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 percent to 57 percent, and wed like to even see if we can go higher. Biden would continue the chain migration system, but would work with Congress to increase the number of visas awarded for permanent, employment-based immigration, according to his website. His plan also includes a pathway to citizenship for agricultural workers. Biden has promised to stop workplace enforcement of illegal workers and those who employ them, while the Trump administration has stepped up those efforts. Travel Bans Biden has promised to undo the administrations travel bans from terror-prone countries. The Trump Administrations anti-Muslim bias hurts our economy, betrays our values, and can serve as a powerful terrorist recruiting tool, Biden states on his campaign website. It is yet another abuse of power by the Trump Administration designed to target primarily black and brown immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) imposed travel restrictions in 2017 and 2018 on Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea, and Venezuela for failing to meet minimum background check requirements or using poor passport technology. In January, DHS suspended the issuance of visas that can lead to permanent residency for nationals of Burma, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, and Eritrea, as well as banned nationals from Sudan and Tanzania from the U.S. diversity visa program. Trump has said he wants to cancel the diversity visa lottery program altogether, which currently gives up to 50,000 green cards to randomly selected foreign nationals. Asylum and Refugee Policies Trump capped the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States in fiscal 2020 at 18,000. This proposed ceiling takes into account the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis on our border and the massive asylum backlog, which now includes nearly 1 million individuals, the administration said in a September 2019 statement. States and cities must now also opt-in to have refugees settled in their regions. Biden intends to increase the refugee ceiling to 125,000 per year, as well as vastly expand government resources for immigrants, including opening Welcome Centers to help immigrants find jobs, access services, navigate the school system, and health care system. He has also indicated a widening of asylum criteria, which would likely vastly increase the number of asylum-seekers coming through the southern border. Trump introduced the Migrant Protection Protocols late in 2019, which has been expanded across the southern border and now results in 90 percent of illegal border-crossers either being quickly deported, or being sent back to Mexico to await their asylum claim. The impact has been fewer illegal crossings and fewer meritless asylum claims. Biden says he would prioritize ending the Migrant Protection Protocol program. He would also begin a four-year, $4 billion package of assistance for Central American countries. In 2019, the Trump administration cut $450 million in aid to the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras after their governments refused to dismantle large caravans of migrants coming north, on top of other issues about repatriating criminals. In June, the State Department announced $252 million in additional aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Trump has also forged cooperation agreements with Central American countries to help with regional asylum issues. Immigration and Customs Enforcement In a recent interview with La Raza, Biden promised to re-prioritize our enforcement resources away from Latino communities. Trump has waged an unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants, states Bidens website. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that handles interior enforcement and investigates crimes such as human trafficking, has made more than 380,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records over the last three years. The BidenHarris plan is a step-by-step recipe for abolishing Americas borders, Trump said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Oracle, the world's second-largest software maker, is weighing a surprise bid for part of TikTok's business, seeking to rival Microsoft in the race to acquire the viral video-streaming app, according to people familiar with the matter. The company, controlled by billionaire Larry Ellison, has made a preliminary approach to other parties, including the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, to partner with it in a bid for the app's operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the people said, asking not to be identified. It isn't clear why Oracle, which focuses on business customers and has virtually no investments in consumer apps or social media, would want to acquire TikTok. However, co-founder Mr Ellison is one of the few Silicon Valley moguls to openly support US President Donald Trump. Mr Ellison, whose company was once among the industry's most aggressively acquisitive, hosted a fundraiser at his estate for the US president in February. The entry of Oracle would challenge Microsoft's bargaining position, as the Redmond-based company had been the only party to publicly confirm it was in talks with TikTok owner ByteDance. Mr Trump on Friday ordered ByteDance to sell its US assets within 90 days, adding to an earlier executive order that would prohibit US persons and companies from doing business with TikTok effective 45 days from August 6. Oracle didn't immediately respond, while ByteDance declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. Sequoia, a venture investor in ByteDance, also declined to comment. The 'Financial Times' reported on the talks earlier. Expand Close Analysts and bankers have estimated the value of TikTok's US business at between $20bn and $50bn / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Analysts and bankers have estimated the value of TikTok's US business at between $20bn and $50bn The potential bid makes "little strategic sense," said Anurag Rana, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, "given its subscale cloud business and TikTok's lack of synergies with its core database or applications products." Oracle's shares were up 2.8pc in premarket trading in New York Tuesday. Valued at roughly $166bn (139bn), Oracle held about $43bn in cash or near equivalents as of the end of May, making it one of few companies that could potentially afford the lofty price tag for TikTok. Analysts and bankers have estimated the value of TikTok's US business at between $20bn and $50bn, a wide range that reflects the complexity involved in separating TikTok's American and global businesses. Other potential bidders on the assets include social media company Twitter. Bloomberg MADISON COUNTY Bob Good, the Republican candidate vying for Virginias 5th District Congressional seat, held a closed-door meeting with Central Virginia pastors in Madison County on Tuesday after on Monday canceling a similar event in Charlottesville. Billed as Pastor Summits, by Goods campaign, the self-described Biblical conservative candidate initially scheduled six events over the course of three days this week across the district. The first event had been scheduled for Tuesday morning in Charlottesville but, according to Good, was canceled due to lack of local interest and folded into the Madison County event held later in the day. Members of the press are not allowed into the summits because the events are tailored to pastors and are trying to stress the importance of this election, Good said. Were trying to inform pastors on the importance of the election, on the importance of making sure folks are registered to vote and to participate and to make sure they understand the freedoms that we do have in this country as it relates to religious expression and our constitutional rights to support candidates, he said. An Eventbrite page for the Charlottesville event said that Good was holding the meeting to inform churches about new laws passed by the state legislature that would impact churches. Bob Good, candidate for Congress in the Fifth Congressional District, is concerned about the impact these new laws will have on places of worship, Christian daycare centers, church employment practices and the preaching of Gods word, the now password-locked event page read. Listed topics included: what churches can do to protect themselves from lawsuits; where the next attack on religious liberty will originate; when to make the decision to protect your church; why documenting church policy is so important, including what the Bible says about specific issues; and how to support godly candidates during and after the campaign season. Tuesday morning, protesters associated with Indivisible Charlottesville gathered outside Connect Church were Good had been set to appear. A news release from Indivisible Charlottesville said that the protest was prompted by Goods belief that laws preventing discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation are a violation of his own religious freedom. Tuesday afternoon, seated in a folding chair outside Fellowship Baptist Church in Madison County, Good answered questions following the Madison event. When asked his stance on the Virginia Values Act, a recently passed law that extends protections against housing and employment discrimination to LGBTQ individuals, Good stressed his belief in religious freedom. I dont believe the government has any constitutional authority over religion and so I will stand up and fight for religious freedom, he said. I think thats very important to stand up and fight for the religious freedoms of individuals, as well as charitable organizations as well as ministries and churches. When asked specifically whether he supported the portion of the law that relates to anti-discrimination protections for LGBT individuals, Good said he was guided by Christian scripture to love all people but was concerned about the impact the law could have on religious organizations. Good later said he believes those who drafted the U.S. Constitution were men of faith guided by Judeo-Christian values and divine inspiration to provide the protections that allow folks to peacefully protest. The violence that we see on display in our cities and the Marxism that theyre celebrating around the world would not permit them to protest the way they are protesting here in our country, he said. As first reported by the New York Times, an invitation to the summits attributed to Travis Witt, a former state Tea Party official, included inflammatory and offensive language directed at transgender individuals. Good said the invitation was not sent by his campaign and he had not seen the language prior to the Times story. During the lead-up to the 5th District Republican convention in June, Good attracted attention for comments he made arguing that his then-opponent, Rep. Denver Riggleman, should not have officiated a same-sex marriage. Good said this was only one of the reasons he decided to run and accused the media of portraying him as a single-issue candidate and that he does not sense a division among 5th District Republicans. When I declared my reasons for running and as I spoke throughout the campaign, we contrasted my views on my previous opponents voting record in Congress and our difference in positions, he said. The media chose to try to conveniently make it about one issue. In a statement to the Progress, Dr. Cameron Webb, Goods Democratic challenger, condemned Goods views, saying Goods rhetoric is inconsistent with the values of the district. I strongly oppose any effort to weaponize faith to marginalize, denigrate, or oppress any American, Webb wrote. The discriminatory and hateful rhetoric Mr. Good is employing in his effort to rally support for his candidacy not only reflects poorly on him and his campaign, but also on our Christian faith. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Stephen Colbert has mocked the Democrats for featuring Bill Clinton discussing the importance of the Oval Office and lecturing President Donald Trump about his behavior. Colbert, in his nightly riff off the two-hour convention, joked that Clinton's expression was of shock - 'seen here finding out Ghislaine Maxwell was just arrested,' he joked. 'The former president let Trump have it,' Colbert said, cutting to show a clip of Clinton stating that the Oval Office 'should be a command center.' 'Instead, it is a storm center,' Clinton said in his speech. Colbert commented: 'Alright, that's true, that's a good point. 'But I don't think Bill Clinton gets to lecture anyone on what should happen in the Oval Office. 'Those in glass houses should not be allowed near the interns.' Bill Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, the second night Bill Clinton is seen enjoying a neck massage from a Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist, rubs her hands into his shoulders Stephen Colbert, who hosts a show immediately after, mocked the DNC for giving Clinton time Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern, revealed she had nine sexual encounters in the Oval Office with Clinton between November 1995 and March 1997. Clinton slied under oath about the encounters led to his impeachment in 1998. Social media users joined Colbert in mocking Clinton, with users pointing out that Clinton and Trump, both 74, were both impeached. Trump's four-month impeachment saga ended in February, after the House found him guilty and the Senate voted in his favor - preventing him being removed from office. After Clinton and Andrew Johnson, Trump became the third president to be impeached. Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on December 18, 2019. His impeachment was sparked by his asking Ukraine to dig for dirt on Joe Biden. Monica Lewinsky, pictured in October 2016, had numerous sexual encounters with Clinton Both Clinton and Trump were also accused of multiple incidences of sexual impropriety. Trump's fundraising team, on the Trump War Room account, said that Clinton was 'the last person who should be giving lectures on what should or should not be happening in the Oval Office'. Juanita Broaddrick, who in 1999 alleged that Clinton raped her in April 1978, while he was attorney general of Arkansas, was also scathing. 'There are good men and there are bad men. Bill Clinton is a very bad man,' she said. Other social media users remarked at the 'amazing' decision to have the 'heavily incriminated' former president speak. Fernando Uribe, a professor at Rutgers University, described Clinton as 'a clown'. 'For this CLOWN @BillClinton to lecture anyone about conduct in the Oval Office is absolutely RIDICULOUS,' he said. 'If the people who still support him had any dignity, they would denounce him.' Donald Trump's fundraising account tweeted its anger at Clinton's hypocrisy Juanita Broaddrick, who in 1999 alleged that Clinton raped her in April 1978, was scathing Dan Bongino, conservative podcast host, tweeted simply: 'Cringe.' And another mocked the media for their 'sudden revulsion' at Clinton addressing the convention, noting that many had hoped four years ago for him to be back in the White House. Dan Bongino, conservative podcast host, tweeted simply: 'Cringe.' A Twitter user replied: 'Best thing about the DNC tonight ... Bill Clinton talking about what the Oval Office is for. 'On the same day highly inappropriate pictures were released of him. I can't believe they didn't pull him from the line up!! 'You just cant make this up people. WTG DEMS!!' Clinton's address also came on the day that embarrassing new photos were published showing him receiving a neck massage, seated and fully clothed, by one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims. In the photos, Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist who acted as Epstein's personal masseuse, rubs her hands into his shoulders to get out the kinks in his neck. Clinton, then 56, had complained of having a stiff neck after falling asleep on Epstein's infamous private jet, nicknamed The Lolita Express, while on a humanitarian trip with the pedophile to Africa in September of 2002. One Twitter user described Clinton as 'being heavily incriminated' by the Maxwell documents Fernando Uribe, a professor at Rutgers University, said Clinton's appearance was ridiculous Another user mocked the media for their 'sudden revulsion' at Clinton's appearance Clinton traveled numerous times on the dead pedophiles private Jet, socialized with his alleged Madame, Ghislaine Maxwell, and faced a slew of sexual misconduct accusations himself during his years in public life. Clinton's office previously issued a statement in regards to his travels on the plane and denied knowing anything about the financier's crimes. His team said he had only taken four trips with him in 2002 and 2003 - although flight logs showed he had taken a total of at least 26 individual flights in the course of those years. 'President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has previously been charged in New York,' a statement read. 'In 2002 and 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein's airplane: one to Europe, one to Asia, and two to Africa, which included stops in connection with the Clinton Foundation. 'Staff, supporters of the Foundation, and his Secret Service detail traveled on every leg or every trip.' (image Courtesy: by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash.com) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Ananya Shah, a Mumbai-based resident employed by a multinational has been working from home for the last few months. And shes been adjusting her attire to the new normal. While attending a video-conference from home, or making a presentation, you need to feel relaxed and cool. And so, I got myself some padded slippers with cushioning and support, she says. Anoop Agarwal, a Delhi-based media professional, agrees on the need for comfort. Work from home has extended our working hours and we need comfortable footwear for the home. I recently got to know that footwear companies have come up with a new collection and immediately bought something. I am quite happy with it, he said. With work from home becoming the new normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, comfort has definitely taken precedence over fashion. Millions of Indians are choosing to stay home or have no choice in the matter because of lockdowns. Consequently, except for video conferences and webinars, they feel little need to pull out any formalwear. They spend much of their time in casual clothes and footwear even when they step out for some shopping in the neighbourhood. Footwear companies, understandably, have been hit hard, as people see no reason to step into their stores. The good news, however, is that many of those in WFH mode have been purchasing comfortable footwear to wear around their homes. And this has galvanised the likes of Bata India, Puma and Metro, among others, to step up and launch Work From Home or athleisure collections. Comfort first The WFH collection mostly includes comfortwear such as padded slippers, chappals and normal slip-ons. With Work from Home continuing to be prevalent, athleisure is seeing strong demand. Consumers are largely looking for open footwear. Puma's work from home collection has shown strong traction at our stores and on our e-commerce platform, Abhishek Ganguly, General Manager, Puma India and Southeast Asia, told Moneycontrol. Metro Brands, which comprises Metro Shoes, Mochi, Walkway and Davinchi also operates retail stores for Crocs in India is also reporting an uptick in sales of comfortwear. People are now working, meeting, discussing, conducting webinars remotely. It is not just important to look professional but also to feel at work. Our Work From Home range has seen very good traction, said Alisha Malik, VP, E-commerce, Metro Brands Ltd. The common trend we noticed among customers is that they are opting for essentials daily use, comfortable footwear. Comfort has become the new chic, she added. Apart from its WFH range, Bata India has also launched an easy-to-wash collection that enables professionals venturing out to wash their footwear after returning home, to ensure safety. Bata Indias brands include Bata, Hush Puppies, Marie Claire, Nutralizer, Bata Comfit and Bubblegummers. The pricing of the WFH collection varies from brand to brand, company to company. For instance, the Bata WFH range starts at Rs 499, while Mochi, the Metro Group brand, has a range starting from Rs 2,490. None of the companies was willing to share exact sales numbers for their new collections. Launches to the rescue? Statista estimates that the footwear market in India is worth $7,923 million. Before COVID-19 hit, it was expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.6 percent between 2020-2025. With no revenues during the COVID-19 lockdown, the closure of retail outlets and restrictions on delivery of non-essential items in certain areas, the footwear industry is staring at a revenue contraction of 10-15 percent in FY21 over FY20, with profitability likely to see a larger impact, said credit rating agency ICRA. Bata India reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 100.8 crore for the first quarter ended June 2020 as sales were slammed by the coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Also Read: Six must-have products for a smooth Work-from-Home this monsoon season Footwear companies are pinning their hopes on the launches to recover their losses to an extent. We are continuously evaluating ways to scale up and we will continue to track and study demand patterns. While the pandemic will have an impact on consumer behaviour and demand, we believe brands such as Bata that are strong trust marks will come out stronger, said Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata India. However, with no certainty over when COVID-19 will be brought under control, the demand environment will continue to be tough for some time to come. Things wont be easy even on the WFH footwear front in many Indian homes, particularly in the South, cultural mores require people to shun footwear in the home. A logo of Indian Oil is seen on the shirt of an employee at a fuel station in New Delhi By Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, is close to winning its first contract to export up to 720,000 tonnes of clean products to Mauritius under an annual deal from November, two sources familiar with the matter said. IOC mostly stays away from participating in term tenders for fuel exports as the refiner sells most of its fuel in the local market, besides supplying its retail outlets in Nepal and Bhutan. This year because of falling local demand due to COVID-19 and weak margins, the company is attempting to lock in sales of its fuels. IOC this year also won its first contract to supply fuels to Bangladesh. IOC will deliver 205,000 tonnes of 95 RON gasoline, 235,000 tonnes of 10 ppm gasoil, 175,000 tonnes of jet fuel and up to 105,000 tonne of marine gasoil at Port Louis in Mauritius, sources said. Other companies that competed for the tender issued by State Trading Corp of Mauritius were the trading arm of France's Total, Sahara Energy Resources Ltd, OQ Trading and Vitol, according to a document seen by Reuters. India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd supplied Mauritius' full requirement for fuel for 12 years to 2018/19. In 2019/20 refined fuels were supplied by Petrochina and Vitol. IOC had placed a second lowest premium on gasoline after OQ Trading but the lowest premiums on other fuels to emerge as the frontrunner for the annual tender, the document showed. IOC has offered to sell fuels at premiums of $50.15 per tonne for gasoline, $3.58 per barrel for gasoil, $3.22 per barrel for jet fuel and $5.91 per barrel for marine gasoil, the document showed. The tender closed last week. The sources did not wish to be identified citing confidentiality. IOC and STC did not respond to Reuters emailed requests for comment. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by Jason Neely) Kamala Harris2020Wells Fargo Investment Institute [] [] 811 7 7NikolaFirstSolarApachePioneer Natural Resources 15500 Charlie People who suffer one or more forms of maltreatment in childhood have a higher chance of multimorbidity in later life. New research, led by scientists at the University of Glasgow, used UK Biobank data from more than 157,000 participants to examine the link between the four forms of childhood maltreatment - physical, sexual, emotional and neglect - and the presence of multiple health conditions, known as multimorbidity, later in adult life. The researchers, who published their work today in the Journal of Comorbidity, found that those who had experienced all four types of maltreatment were five times as likely to have four or more long-term health conditions, than people who reported experiencing no childhood maltreatment. When compared with no experience of childhood maltreatment, participants experiencing all four types of maltreatment were more likely to be socially isolated, and more than three times as likely to report poor self-rated health, loneliness, frailty, and chronic widespread pain. In addition, experiencing a greater number of types of childhood maltreatment was also associated with a higher prevalence of mental health conditions. The study also found that experience of just one type of childhood maltreatment was associated with long term health conditions, including long term pain and frailty. While experiencing multiple types of childhood maltreatment was rare, researchers found that, overall, child maltreatment affects a relatively high proportion of people, with 33% of the participants included in the study reporting at least one form of maltreatment. Our findings are in keeping with the growing body of research looking at the impact of childhood adversity on future health and social outcomes. Our work, alongside other studies suggests in this area, suggests that childhood maltreatment can have consequences in later life, including the development of multimorbidity in adulthood. Our findings suggest people experiencing childhood maltreatment are not only at risk of higher numbers of long term health conditions in adulthood, but they are also experiencing factors that will complicate self-management and practitioner work - such as mental health problems and isolation - with implications for the resources needed to manage these patients well." Professor Frances Mair, Norie Miller Professor of General Practice, University of Glasgow There is a growing interest in the wider impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), which include child maltreatment as well as domestic violence, parental abandonment, parent with a mental health condition, member of the household in prison, adult in household experiencing drug or alcohol problems. These childhood experiences are already known to have strong associations with multiple poor social and health outcomes, and result in a significant economic burden. In addition, experience of maltreatment is already associated with increased risk factors for chronic disease and a range of different physical and mental health conditions. Dr Peter Hanlon, one of the lead authors said that, "Multimorbidity is a major global challenge. As well as ensuring adequate support for patients experiencing complex multimorbidity, the importance of prevention is paramount." While Dr Marianne McCallum joint lead author said: "Investing in prevention and support of early childhood adversity could result in improved health outcomes in the future. Our results add to the evidence that efforts to mitigate the impact of childhood adversity should be seen as public health measures." The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has said that seafood exports to Europe have seen many positive signs since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect at the beginning of this month. The number of orders in the European market alone since the beginning of this month has increased by about 10 percent compared to last month, specifically, for shrimp and squid. Online newspaper VietQ reported that Tran Van Linh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thuan Phuoc Seafood and Trading Corporation, said the company had exported 3,000 tonnes of shrimp and products made from shrimp to EU with a value of about 31 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent in volume and 6 percent in value respectively over the same period last year. Nguyen Thi Anh, Director of Ngoc Xuan Seafood Corporation, shared EU customers had started negotiating orders with the corporation again recently. Although it had not increased strongly, this was a positive signal for businesses to recover after a long delay and contract cancellation, said Anh. Assessing the initial results since the EVFTA's implementation, Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary-General of VASEP, said the association expected the EVFTA would help seafood exports grow by about 20 percent in the EU, however, in the current pandemic context, an increase of 10 percent was encouraging. Regarding future prospects in the EU, Hoe said the growth rate could not be fully forecast as European countries were still facing the pandemic. As for the issue of removing the yellow card for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, localities are implementing many measures to combat illegal fishing, while enhancing the control and supervision of the installation of monitoring equipment on fishing cruises and having strict sanctions for violations of the use of positioning equipment. The EVFTA took effect from August 1 and many key products of Vietnam will benefit from this agreement. Vietnam has advantages in producing and exporting agricultural, forestry and aquatic products while the EU has a great demand for these items with import value accounting for 8.4 percent of the region's total annual import value. Therefore, room for growth in exports to the EU remains huge. Vietnamese businesses can access a huge seafood consumption market with an average consumption of 22.03 kilogrammes per person, 5.34 kilogrammes higher than the world average./. VNA A man from Sydney's upper north shore will appear in court accused of having nearly 2,000 images of child abuse material. In May, detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crime Squad's Child Exploitation Internet Unit began an investigation into the possession of child abuse material. Strike Force Trawler detectives executed a search warrant a unit at Hornsby on July 28. Police were seen escorting an accused paedophile dressed in Ugg boots to a police car before he was thrown in the back and taken to a police station During the search, officers seized a mobile phone and tablet they allege contained nearly 2,000 images and videos of child abuse material. A 37-year-old man was taken to Hornsby Police Station and charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material using carriage service and two counts of possessing child abuse material. He was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Hornsby Local Court on Wednesday. Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing investigation by the CEIU into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices. Salesforce, San Franciscos largest private employer, has extended its work-from-home option for all workers until at least August 2021, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. Employees, which include over 9,000 in San Francisco, were previously allowed to work remotely until the end of 2020. Salesforce joins other tech giants like Facebook, Google and Uber, which all extended working from home until the end of June as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. The company occupies three towers in San Franciscos Transbay district, including the citys tallest building, Salesforce Tower. Downtown merchants worry that the prolonged absence of office workers will cripple the local economy, and many stores and restaurants in the area remain shut. Salesforce will offer an additional $250 for office supplies to each worker, following a $250 allocation earlier this year. Parents will receive an additional six weeks of paid time off, and parents and guardians can work from home indefinitely in locations where schools are closed and students are learning remotely, the company said. Salesforce said offices would reopen based on local health orders. In San Francisco, non-essential workers were briefly allowed to return to offices in June, but offices were closed again after the city was placed on the state watch list last month. There is currently no timeline for when offices will reopen for nonessential workers. The safety of our employees and communities remains paramount. And while we continue to work on plans to reopen our offices safely, the timing of when we bring employees back will be unique to each office and we will continue to make those decisions in a way thats consistent with local government guidelines and the advice of our medical experts and local leadership team, wrote Brent Hyder, president and chief people officer of Salesforce. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes When offices reopen, Salesforce plans to have temperature checks on each floor, mandatory masks and workers separated by 6 feet. The company has leased an unbuilt tower at 564 Howard St. and also bought a historic building next to its headquarters for $145 million in March, which could lead to more office growth in the Transbay area. In April, Salesforce canceled the in-person portion of its 171,000-person Dreamforce convention and shifted to an online event instead. Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf The National Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has described the achievement of President Akufo-Addo's govenment as a comical celebration of mediocrity. According to him Vice President Bawumias presentation on the infrastructural achievements of NPP governments are a compendium of blatant falsehoods, and plagiarized Mahama projects, Moments after Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia had presented what he says are 17,334 projects by the Akufo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, comprising 8,746 completed infrastructure and 8,588 ongoing ones that represent value for money infrastructure projects, Sammy Gyamfi took to Twitter to lampoon the claims, promising to "unpack the lies" on Thursday. He tweeted: Bawumias presentation on the so-called infrastructural achievements of the Akufo Addo-govt, is a compendium of blatant falsehoods, plagiarized Mahama projects and a comical celebration of mediocrity. We shall unpack the lies and set the records straight on Thursday. Stay tuned. Bawumias presentation on the so-called infrastructural achievements of the Akufo Addo-govt, is a compendium of blatant falsehoods, plagiarized Mahama projects and a comical celebration of mediocrity. We shall unpack the lies and set the records straight on Thursday. Stay tuned. Sammy Gyamfi (@SammyGyamfi2017) August 18, 2020 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 A new petition has been launched to protect UK food and animal health standards as a US welfare charity warns of the realities of American farming. The RSPCA petition is calling on government to keep its promises and enshrine in law a ban on lower standard food imports in the event of any trade deal. Alongside this, a video has been published that 'exposes the realities of animal welfare' and warns consumers against US dairy, egg and meat imports. Examples of US-UK welfare differences highlighted by the RSPCA include the lack of US federal laws protecting chicken or turkey welfare. US egg hens have only about half the living space of UK hens, and only 5% of US laying hens being free range compared to 52% in the UK. For poultry, chicken carcasses are washed in chlorinated water and beef cattle can be treated with hormones which have been banned by the EU In the clip, US welfare expert Lauri Torgerson delivers a stark message to UK consumers that failure to protect farm standards will risk products made to lower welfare standards. Ms Togerson, who is research director at charity Farm Sanctuary, slammed American standards while calling the UK a 'leader in animal welfare'. Consumers want to know that the animals they are eating have been treated well... we cant say that in the United States, at all," she said Our industrial system is designed to benefit huge, often multinational corporations at the expense of animal welfare, farmer well-being and the earth. "I think the average consumer in the UK would be disappointed to know that the products theyre buying could be coming from systems in the US that dont support the rights of animals or humans, or the earth. The RSPCA is calling on the government to act now to protect the UKs animal welfare standards amid the video's 'stark warning'. The 2019 Conservative party manifesto pledged it would 'not compromise' Britains 'high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards'. Chris Sherwood, the charity's chief executive said: Without clear legislation banning food produced to lower welfare standards from our shores, we risk setting back animal welfare by decades. We urge UK shoppers to sign this petition in the hope that the government will listen to the British public and protect our hard-won farm animal welfare. RSPCA polling conducted by Savanta ComRes shows that 83% of adults agreed that the UK should not allow imports of food from the US that were produced at lower standards. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A longtime Kent County commissioner is advocating for local police chiefs to be elected positions, saying the move will build better relationships and accountability with the communities they serve. All top cops in Kent County, except for the elected sheriff position, are currently appointed by their respective local governments. Kent County Commissioner Harold Voorhees wants that to change, with either the chiefs becoming elected officials themselves or having to answer to another elected law enforcement official, like the countys sheriff. With top law enforcement officials beholden to the voters, Voorhees said the change-up would incentivize building relationships with community members and create a greater sense of community accountability. I just think that there has to be a greater connection between people and law enforcement, he said He pointed to the relationships hes built over his running for and obtaining public offices over the past 30 years. Voorhees, a former state representative, has represented the countys 8th District since 2002 after being term limited in the state House. Were here because the people put us here, and I think that principle that the governed shall elect those who govern over, I think the same principle, which has served this nation, our state and our community well these years, will work in law enforcement as well, he said. Voorhees, who also owns Steenstra Cookies, pitched the idea Tuesday, Aug. 18, to his colleagues during the board's Executive Committee meeting. Hes made plans to talk with city leadership in Wyoming, which he represents, about the benefits of elected law enforcement. Beyond those talks, Voorhees said hes open to speaking with other local governments interested in hearing him out. The switch to elected police leadership would likely require a charter amendment for most municipalities and, to Voorhees knowledge, likely wouldnt go against state regulations. If it did, hed advocate to change those regulations. A switch to having a police department answer to an elected official like the county sheriff would also likely take a charter amendment, he said. He pointed to Cedar Springs, which in 2014 disbanded its police department and contracted with the Kent County Sheriffs Office, as another possible move for elected police leadership. The pitch comes as many communities in Michigan and across the United States continue to grapple with conversations around police accountability, reform and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyds May 25 death. Floyd, a Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than seven minutes. Related: Protests, riot speed up talks on police reform in Grand Rapids It was the protests, including those in Grand Rapids, following Floyds death that prompted Voorhees to think on how to strengthen police-community relations and community accountability in their departments. Looking at that protest, I thought, How do we correct that? he said. To my mind came this thing of the accountability factor and, maybe even a little more than that, was the relationship, the lack of, and that there were those in the community who are not happy with law enforcement and they were out there to show that. Voorhees said elected police leadership would complement and increase strives made on other initiatives to strengthen police-community relations. Voorhees was later reaffirmed in his belief after he worked with Victory Phones, a Grand Rapids-based automated telephone polling service, to gauge area residents on whether they believed reforms were needed in law enforcement and whether they support or oppose elected law enforcement leadership. Of the 600 Kent County residents polled in late July, 55 percent expressed support for electing their top law enforcement officials and 28 percent opposed the idea, according to Voorhees. The polling also showed good marks for Grand Rapids police and the Kent County Sheriffs Office. Additionally, polling showed a majority of about 59 to 41 percent believed the complaints of protesters about race and policing were legitimate. About 78 percent of residents said some level of police reform is needed, with only 12 percent of that group expressing support for defunding a portion of police budgets. The people have good grades and good marks for the Grand Rapids police and for the Kent County sheriff, but still, 2-to-1, people think there needs to be changes, Voorhees said. I think the changes are that they want a better relationship, and a relationship then builds accountability. The margin of error for the polling, according to Voorhees, is about plus or minus 4 percent. Read more: Grand Rapids police oversight department to start collecting racial disparities in arrest, traffic stop data West Michigan Works! hosting virtual job fair for formerly incarcerated residents Kalamazoo County moves to create committee to consider reparations for slavery Van Andel Institute study suggests new avenue for treating Parkinsons disease 3 houses hit in 4 overnight shootings, Grand Rapids police say By PTI CHANDIGARH: Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Wednesday asked civil surgeons to ensure that COVID-19 patients are charged by private hospitals as per the rates fixed by the state government. He issued instructions while taking notice of reports that coronavirus patients were being overcharged by some private hospitals. "If anyone is found violating the instructions, immediate action would be taken against the management under the Epidemic Disease Act," Sidhu said in an official statement here. He said that services of test and treatment were being provided free of cost at all government health facilities so that all the needy people get the services without any financial burden. Similarly, to check profiteering by private hospitals, the government had already fixed COVID-19 treatment rates in July. It has been brought to his notice that even now, some private hospitals have been charging exorbitant amount from families of patients, he said. The minister appealed to the managements of private hospitals to serve humanity during this tough time and stop overcharging for the treatment as families of patients were already passing through trauma, financial problems and discrimination associated with the disease. For moderate sickness requiring isolation beds, including supportive care and oxygen, the state government has fixed a per day rate of Rs 10,000 for all private medical colleges or NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers) private hospitals with teaching programmes. The government has fixed Rs 9,000 for NABH accredited hospitals, including private medical colleges without PG/DNB course, and Rs 8,000 for non-NABH accredited hospitals. The per day rates across these categories of hospitals for severe sickness (ICU without the need for a ventilator) have been capped at Rs 15,000, Rs 14,000 and Rs 13,000, respectively. For very severe or critical patients, the charges in these categories of hospitals are fixed at Rs 18,000, Rs 16,500 and Rs 15,000 per day, respectively. Incase of mild sickness cases, the government has fixed the per day rates for such cases at Rs 6,500, Rs 5,500 and Rs 4,500, respectively. Sidhu said the government has also capped the cost of testing at Rs 2,400 for RT-PCR (Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) inclusive of taxes. It also includes any cost involved in home collection of samples. For antigen testing at private labs, the cost has been capped at maximum Rs 1,000, including taxes and any cost involved in home collection of samples. The minister said for getting tested, no prescription from a doctor is required in government hospitals and those testing positive and are asymptomatic or mild symptomatic need not be admitted to hospitals and can opt for home isolation, if they have facilities. Its official President Trump issued an executive order that bans any U.S. transactions with TikTok. For consumers, the news is devastating especially as the platform has thrived during COVID-19, providing a feeling of connectivity, a thriving opportunity for influencers, and simply, something new and exciting to do. But for brands and retailers struggling to connect with consumers who are adapting to a new lifestyle during the pandemic, this ban may serve as a further blow to some of their marketing strategies. But wait do brands really need TikTok to thrive? Especially with Facebook on their coattails, launching Instagram Reels the week of Trumps executive order? Was it smart for brands to wait this one out or did early adopters win big? Here, well look at two major life lessons that we can all learn from this TikTok ban. Lesson #1: Choose wisely between brand safety and user-generated content TikTok launched globally in 2018 and captivated the younger Gen Z audience who was losing interest in Facebook and Snapchat. Before COVID-19, TikTok struggled to attract older users who didnt connect to watching strangers on a For You page. While great for budding influencers, this provides a double-edged sword for brands. The biggest challenges that any brand or retailer face with user-generated content (UGC) is the ability to reach their target audience and appearing near content that violates platform guidelines but is never caught. UGC poses brand safety risks, including association with negative or extremist content, forcing brands to respond when platforms dont. Lets take it back to 2017 when YouTube was flooded with offensive content, including terrorist videos and extremist materials. The platform wasnt able to ensure advertisers wouldnt appear next to these types of content, forcing brands to reevaluate their marketing strategies. Either pull back their spend or eliminate it completely. A few months later, most of the brands were advertising again. And the same can be said for the Facebook boycott. While many major brands chose to participate in #StopHateForProfit for the month of July, some, including The North Face, Eileen Fisher, Puma and Vans, have chosen to reignite their spend as they continue to reevaluate their campaigns. And these examples are from more mature platforms with previously trusted brand safety controls. Story continues Weve learned this lesson before, but it is worth repeating UGC is something that has to be navigated carefully. As with any platform, being able to regulate content and provide a brand-safe environment isnt always easy. But for brands who do choose to advertise on these platforms, conducting in-depth research into the inner workings is key. Having a specific roadmap or guidelines in place to what is within the realms of comfortable content eases some of the burdens, along with ensuring consumers will not be offended. Focus on safety and creating trust with the customer through branded content and engagement, on the right platforms, not just the ones that are hot at the moment. But if you are going to test the hot platforms, make sure you have the right protocols set up. To put it in perspective: dont just follow everyone into the pool without checking the water. Lesson #2: Engagement that goes beyond social I know what youre thinking TikTok provides a great outlet to build brand awareness and connect with audiences of all ages and types, on a massive scale. Take Spikeball, who uses their TikTok profile to create engaging content that truly connects with their audience while showing off their product. Or E.l.f. Cosmetics, who commissioned a song for a TikTok-specific campaign. While exciting and fun content might work in increasing engagement, the real task at hand is to create a marketing strategy amplified through all digital channels and across the entire funnel. One that goes beyond social media. If a good amount of energy and effort went into creating content specifically for TikTok, it doesnt mean it wont achieve the same level of engagement or resonate with people through other tactics. Depending on your target audience and proposed creative, there are ways to ensure strategies are platform-agnostic. Continuing to focus on specific touchpoints throughout the customer journey, including personalized campaigns and promotional materials, goes a lot further than top-of-the-funnel acquisition strategies, like TikTok. Whether on a macro or micro scale, targeted marketing has the power to strongly influence a consumers perception of a brand. The lesson here is not to limit yourself. Consider how the creatives can be utilized across other avenues. So, whats next? The real questions this ban has forced us all to consider are: what happens next, and how do we learn from this? While Trumps executive order against TikTok might threaten the platform, it appears that the industry is keen to ensure its here to stay. Microsoft has previously announced plans to purchase the platform within the U.S. And now Twitter and TikTok have held preliminary talks about a potential combination. Adding Instagrams Reels into the mix, and its clear that TikTok is doing something right. Brands have an appetite to figure out how to correctly connect with audiences. But its also critical to understand that the brands are the ones in the driver seats, setting up the guidelines. We learned our lesson from the Facebook boycott and theres no need for Facebook 2.0. While we might not be able to predict what the future holds, we do know that with TikTok up in the air, it gives competitors the opportunity to step up. For brands to stay successful, its more about understanding how to connect with audiences, rather than jumping on the bandwagon because your competitors are. Andrew Furman is the senior vice president of sales at Outbrain, overseeing North America. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad (UoH) held on to its place in the Top 10 list of Institutes of National Importance and Central Universities in the Union education ministrys Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020. Compared to the 2019 rankings, during which it stood fourth, the University of Hyderabad dropped six positions this year and is ranked tenth this year. The rankings were released by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday IIT-Hyderabad that had secured the eighth position last year on the Top 10 Engineering Colleges list, dropped out this year. The Indian Institute of Technology ((T) Madras topped the list of Institutes of National Importance, followed by the IITs at Mumbai and Delhi. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru stood in fourth place, while IIT Kharagpur ranked fifth.The University of Hyderabad is the only Central University in the list. No publicly funded educational institution has got a ranking in the top 50 in this category. Speaking about the ranking, Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice Chancellor, UoH, said, This will inspire us to encourage high quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship. This will also set the tone and direction for UoH for future development of the university to be globally competitive and be in the forefront of innovation. IIT- Hyderabad, and the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, which were placed in the band of 11th and 25th ranks for engineering colleges, while in the category of government and government-aided universities, the Directorate of J-HUB, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University found a place in the sixth to 25th ranks band. A US flag at a Goodyear Tire facility. Reuters Goodyear Tire made headlines on Tuesday when a photo of a slide from an employee diversity training was shared online. The slide suggested that employees could support Black Lives Matter or other equality-focused causes at work but not specific political ideologies, including President Donald Trump. "Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES," Trump tweeted on Wednesday, sending shares of the company lower. In a statement, Goodyear said it supported "both equality and law enforcement," adding that "these are not mutually exclusive." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Americans to boycott Goodyear Tire after a photo of a slide appearing to explain the company's policy of not allowing "Make America Great Again" or "Blue Lives Matter" apparel was shared online. "Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS," he tweeted. "Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!)." Shares of Goodyear fell more than 4% before recovering about half of the dip. On Tuesday, WIBW-TV in Kansas published a photo purporting to show a slide from a diversity training that outlined a Goodyear policy prohibiting employees from wearing Trump campaign, anti-Black Lives Matter, or political apparel at work. In a statement, Goodyear said the policy was designed to allow employees to promote equity issues especially in the wake of renewed protests against police brutality and racism in recent months while avoiding specific political positions. "Goodyear is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace where all of our associates can do their best in a spirit of teamwork," the company told WIBW-TV. Story continues "As part of this commitment, we do allow our associates to express their support on racial injustice and other equity issues but ask that they refrain from workplace expressions, verbal or otherwise, in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as other similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of equity issues." After Trump's tweet on Wednesday, Goodyear said the slide was not part of a corporate-sponsored training, but it did not go into details about the image's origin. "Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so," it said. "These are not mutually exclusive." Read the original article on Business Insider Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 18:41:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday expressed belief that the long hoped-for union peace will be achieved with the collective strength of all stakeholders and people. Suu Kyi, in her capacity as chair of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the fourth meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference which kicked off in capital Nay Pyi Taw earlier Wednesday. The state counsellor urged all stakeholders including the military, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signatories, namely the ethnic armed organizations who have signed the NCA, and non-signatories to grasp the opportunities emerging from the peace processes. National reconciliation will be concurrently implemented with internal peace process by encouraging non-signatories to agree on ceasefire and inviting them to political negotiations while political reforms and efforts to create effective ceasefire monitoring will be accelerated through dialogues with the signatories ethnic armed organizations, the state counsellor said. Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said that the Tatmadaw (military) on its part is striving for ending the internal armed conflicts which might lessen unity of the state, national immunity and defence capability. "The Tatmadaw (military) has been making efforts for ending the armed conflicts in successive eras and will strive for such issue in the future." "We shall have to march towards the peace goal with a sense of oneness and the spirit of Myanmar," he said. On behalf of the signatories, General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan state (RCSS), called for participation of all stakeholders in holding political dialogues including the union peace conference. Sources say the Union Accord Part III will be signed at the fourth meeting of the peace conference which will conclude on Friday and the accord will include three parts relating to framework agreement on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) implementation, post-election activities and basic federal principles. The peace conference was held in August 2016, May 2017 and July 2018, respectively. A total of 51 federal-related basic principles have been adopted into the union accord after the third conference. Ten ethnic armed organizations have signed the NCA with the government since it was initiated in October 2015. Enditem EU executive to reroute 53 mln euros to help civil society, fight against Covid in Belarus Bangladesh to get Covid-19 vaccine developed by India on priority, says foreign secy Countries around the world raced to develop a vaccine for coronavirus (Covid-19) as the pandemic continues to rage. Worldwide there are 22,295,983 million coronavirus cases and 783,491 confirmed deaths, according to worldometer. India recorded 64,531 new Covid-19 cases and 1,092 deaths in last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry data. Maharashtra on Wednesday registered its highest ever single-day spike of 13,165 Covid-19 cases. The state's tally has now reached 628,642. 346 fresh deaths have taken the toll to over 21,000. Meanwhile, Argentina confirmed 6,840 new cases of coronavirus and 172 new deaths, taking it simultaneously over the 300,000 case and 6,000 death threshold as the Latin nation battles a surge of contagions in recent weeks. The number of global virus cases topped 22 million, with the US, Brazil and India accounting for more than half the total. Japanese exports plunged for a fifth month as the pandemic weighed on trade. One in five workers in Brazils meat plants have been infected. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage: TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) said today its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex had not been affected by the political situation in Mali and operations there were continuing as normal. The complex has an adequate inventory for its foreseeable requirements and management has taken steps to secure its supply lines. The company is monitoring the situation closely in consultation with local stakeholders. Enquiries Kathy du Plessis Investor and Media Relations +44 20 7557 7738 Email: barrick@dpapr.com Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to Barricks strategy, plans, or future financial or operating performance, constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words continue, transition, secure, monitor, foreseeable, consult, will and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to the impact of the political transition in Mali on the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, the availability of inventory at the mine and steps taken to secure supply routes during the political transition, and ongoing consultation with local stakeholders. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions; including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by Barrick as at the date of this press release in light of managements experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities, including geotechnical challenges, and disruptions in the maintenance or provision of required infrastructure and information technology systems; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies, and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in Mali; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; timing of receipt of, or failure to comply with, necessary permits and approvals; litigation and legal and administrative proceedings; damage to Barricks reputation due to the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including negative publicity with respect to the Barricks handling of environmental matters or dealings with community groups, whether true or not and employee relations including loss of key employees. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, and gold bullion, copper cathode, or gold or copper concentrate losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Barrick disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. August 19 : After Sanjay Dutt was diagnosed with lung cancer, his fans have been concerned about his health. The Sadak actor was recently rushed to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai after he complained of breathlessness. While he was discharged, soon after, the news of his cancer followed. In a statement, Sanjays wife, Maanayata Dutt, revealed that the Panipat actor will undergo his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. Maanayata said that they may plan to travel only when the COVID situation eases. Currently, Sanjay is being treated at Kokilaben hospital. Maanayata further said that Sanjay, who is not only a father to their children, but has also been a father figure to Anju Dutt and Priya Dutt, has always overcome every tough phase he has been through his life, and this has been possible by the love and support of his fans and family. She said Priya, who has been working extensively over two decades with their family-run cancer foundation, is the torchbearer at this testing time, while Maanayata will hold the fort. However, Maanayata requested Sanjays fans and well-wishers not to speculate the stage of his illness and let the doctors do their work. She said while the family is shaken up, they are all determined to fight tooth and nail, and emerge as winners. Meanwhile, Sanjay will be next seen in Sadak 2, which will be released on an OTT platform on August 28. He will also be seen in Bhuj: The Pride of India. Sanjay has also completed shooting for KGF: Chapter 2. Most readers would already be aware that Judges Scientific's (LON:JDG) stock increased significantly by 12% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Judges Scientific's ROE in this article. ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. View our latest analysis for Judges Scientific How Is ROE Calculated? The formula for return on equity is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Judges Scientific is: 41% = UK12m UK29m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every 1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated 0.41 in profit. What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth? We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features. Judges Scientific's Earnings Growth And 41% ROE To begin with, Judges Scientific has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 12% the company's ROE is quite impressive. As a result, Judges Scientific's exceptional 57% net income growth seen over the past five years, doesn't come as a surprise. Story continues As a next step, we compared Judges Scientific's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 7.4%. Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Judges Scientific's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. Is Judges Scientific Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits? Judges Scientific's three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 36%, meaning the company retains 64% of its income. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Judges Scientific is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above. Moreover, Judges Scientific is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 33%. Summary On the whole, we feel that Judges Scientific's performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company. 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. Olga Freeman, 40, is accused of killing her son Dylan at their home in Acton, west London, while the boys father, Dean Freeman, was in Spain. Mr Freeman is a renowned lifestyle and fashion photographer, whose has published books of photographs on David Beckham, the Spice Girls, Kelly Brook and Michael Buble. Freeman appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey in front of Judge Mark Lucraft, the Recorder of London. She spoke only to confirm her name and date of birth. She was dressed in grey trousers and a dark grey fleece. She has not entered a plea. The factual background to the allegation of murder is this defendant is alleged to have killed Dylan Freeman, who was her son and was 10 years old at the time of his death, said Joel Smith, prosecuting. (Elizabeth Cook/PA ) / Elizabeth Cook/PA He was disabled and required 24-hour care, suffering from a litany of conditions. The court heard Freeman had been struggling to meet Dylans care needs for the last year, as he became older, bigger, and more difficult to care for and the boys behaviour had recently become especially challenging. Mr Smith added: During lockdown, he was not able to attend school and the burden of care had fallen more heavily on the defendant, together with the assistance from her friend. Dylan was found dead in the master bedroom of the family home after his mother attended a police station. The court heard he died from restriction of the airways. After the death Mr Freeman said in a statement: Dylan was a beautiful, bright, inquisitive and artistic child who loved to travel, visit art galleries and swim. We travelled extensively over the years together spending such memorable time in places including Brazil, France and Spain. I cant begin to comprehend his loss. Loading.... Mr Freemans representative said he was a loving and caring father and, even though divorced for a number of years, he cherished all the quality time spent with his son, and said he has been left beyond devastated. Judge Lucraft remanded Freeman in custody and set a plea hearing for November 4. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed strengthening trust measures and transparency in a phone call with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday, Russias defence ministry said, in an effort to prevent military incidents. The United States earlier on Tuesday informed Russia of its terms for extending a landmark treaty that limits their deployed strategic nuclear weapons. It is due to expire in February, Reuters reported. As companies and countries across the globe rush to discover a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, that has killed over 7 lakh people, DH brings you a compilation of the different potential vaccines across the world and the stage of trials they are at. Different stages of vaccine testing and development Follow live updates on coronavirus A vaccine normally works by the introduction of a pathogen into the body. The aim is to train the immune system to fight the pathogen. Before a vaccine is made available for mass use, it must go through a series of stages to deem its safety and efficiency. Preclinical trials - the vaccine is tested on animals to see if it produces a response Phase I or safety trials - the vaccine is given to a small group of people Phase II or expanded trials - the vaccine is shared with hundreds of people who belong to different subgroups to see how the vaccine works with different types of people Phase III or efficiency trials - thousands of people are vaccinated and results compared with others who received a placebo. Countries across the world approve the vaccine after satisfactory results from these stages. Combined phases: Another way to accelerate vaccine development is to combine phases. Some coronavirus vaccines are now in Phase 1/2 trials, for example, in which they are tested for the first time on hundreds of people. Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute vaccine is the first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus. However, it was registered before the completion of phase III trials. It was approved on August 11. According to Russia, Human trials for this began on June 18th and all participants developed immunity. President Putins daughter is believed to be one of the first few to receive the vaccine. Several experts have raised questions about the efficiency of the vaccine, including Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Here are various potential Covid-19 vaccines and the stages they have reached: Phase - 3 AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish company, tied up with the University of Oxford to work towards creating a Covid-19 vaccine. The United States gave a nearly $1.2 billion grant to this vaccine research. They have tied up with the Serum Institute of India to produce millions of doses of the vaccine already. Moderna develops vaccines based on messenger RNA or mRNA. In partnership with the National Institutes of Health, they developed the vaccine that offered to protect monkeys from Coronavirus. Around 30,000 healthy people would be enrolled for the human trials of the vaccine. BioNTech is a German company that collaborated with Pfizer and Fosun Pharmaceuticals to develop an mRNA vaccine. Some volunteers experienced some side-effects like sore arms and a disturbed sleep cycle. The vaccine won a $ 1.9 billion contract for 100 million doses by the Trump administration. The vaccine that would be tested in Argentina, Brazil and Germany amongst other countries. CanSino Biologics and Academy of Military Medical Sciences produced an Adenovirus based vaccine. The vaccine, called Ad5, will see the third phase of trials to be conducted across Saudi Arabia. The vaccine was approved by the Chinese military on June 25th since it is a specially needed drug. The approval came after phase II of trials itself. Sinovac Biotech - the inactivated vaccine CoronaVac. Phase-3 of the vaccine would be conducted in Brazil in July. The company is gearing up to be able to manufacture nearly 100 million doses. The first and second phase trials, conducted on 743 volunteers, did not produce any side-effects but managed to provide some immunity. The Wuhan Institute of Biological Products developed an inactivated vaccine put to clinical trials by the Chinese company Sinopharm. The vaccine could be delivered by the end of the year. Sinopharm is also testing a second inactivated virus vaccine, developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products. It is in the Phase 3 trials in the United Arab Emirates In the phase III trials - while 5,000 people would receive the Wuhan vaccine, the other 5,000 would receive the Chinese vaccine. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute is testing the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine, which offers children protection from Tuberculosis. The Institute is conducting phase III trials on people to see if the vaccine can be effective against coronavirus in some capacity. Phase - 2 Imperial College London (ICL) has tied up with VacEquity Global Health (VGH) to produce a self-amplifying RNA vaccine, which boosts the production of a viral protein to stimulate the immune system. Low-income countries would benefit from this vaccine as VGH has said it would waive off royalties. ICL began trials on June 15th and partnered with MorningSide Ventures to distribute the vaccine with the assistance of VGH. Indian vaccine maker Zydus Cadilla created a DNA-based vaccine. They entered the second phase on August 6th. It is the second Indian pharmaceutical company to get approval to conduct human trials. Japanese biotechnology company AnGes along with Osaka University and Takara Bio came together and decided to waive off royalties for smaller countries. Instead, they would only be expected to pay cost-plus the prices needed to sustain their mechanism. Safety trials for the combined phase I and II began on June 30th. Arcturus Therapeutics and Duke-NUS Medical School - California-based Arturus along with Duke medical school in Singapore developed an mRNA vaccine, LUNAR-COV19. Their application for phase I and II of trials was approved by the Singapore government. Combined trials would begin on July 21st. Johnson & Johnson and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - the Beth Israel developed a method to develop a vaccine out of a virus called Adenovirus26 or Ad26, which was also used to manufacture the vaccine for Ebola. The same virus, Ad26 has been used to manufacture a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Phase III trials for the same could be held in September. The company could produce on a billion doses till the end of 2021. Anhui Zhifei Longcom and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences - the National Medical Products Administration gave a certificate allowing clinical trials for this vaccine to be launched. The vaccine uses a combination of viral proteins and adjuvants. Novavax - the company kick-started combined trials for the Covid vaccine in May. If the vaccine trials prove to be effective, the company is expected to give nearly 100 million doses of the same by 2021 to the United States government, from which it received nearly $1.6 Billion in manufacturing and more. It alone aims to build a supply big enough to supply to the entirety of the US population. Novavax signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India, for the commercialization of the vaccine. The Pune-based company would have the exclusive rights to manufacture the vaccine for India. Phase III trials are expected to begin in September. Institute of Medical Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences - they also invented a vaccine for Polio and hepatitis A. The vaccine entered the second phase of the trials by June 20th. Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Virology and Bharat Biotech have developed a vaccine called Covaxin and launched trials for phase I and II by July. While the ICMR wished to launch the vaccine by August 15th, Indias Independence Day, however, Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing director, Bharat Biotech said that the vaccine could be released by next year. CureVac is working towards the trials of an mRNA vaccine. Phase I clinical trials were to be held in Germany and Belgium and moved to phase II trials in August Phase -1 Inovio, an American company, has developed DNA-based vaccines. This vaccine would be administered in a unique way, with pulses delivered onto the skin, using a hand-held device. Genexine, a Korean company is aiming to develop a DNA-based vaccine. It recently got approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korea, to conduct the worlds first trial for using the jet-injector method for a Covid vaccine. Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Suzhou Abogen Biosciences and Walvax Biotechnology from China got approval to conduct trials for the mRNA based vaccine on June 19th. This was Chinas first attempt at an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine. ReiThera and Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases developed the Italian vaccine, GRAd-COV2, which began phase I trials by the end of July. The vaccine uses the adenovirus of gorillas. Clover Biopharmaceuticals tied with GSK and Dynavax and developed a vaccine with the protein from coronaviruses. The vaccine makers received investments from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and if successful, aim to produce hundreds of millions of doses a year. The vaccine would be administered with adjuvants produced by GSK and Dynavax. Australian biotechnology company Vaxine could soon start phase II clinical trials. They are working with the South Korean biopharmaceutical company MedyTox. The first phase of trials was completed in July. Medicago uses a variation of tobacco leaves in the vaccine. The vaccine is partially funded by Philip Morris, a cigarette and tobacco company. It uses adjuvants produced by GSK and Dynavax. University of Queensland's vaccine delivers viral proteins altered to draw a stronger immune response along with an adjuvant produced by CSL. It could manufacture tens of millions of doses by the vaccine, if proven effective. Phase I of the clinical trials were launched in July. Kentucky BioProcessing (KBP), a branch of the multinational company, British American Tobacco, attempts to make a vaccine using tobacco to manufacture viral proteins. Phase I trials were registered for the month of July. KBP previously used this method to manufacture a drug for Ebola called Zmapp. Medigen, by a Taiwanese company, developed a vaccine that uses adjuvants produced by Dynavax. Phase I trials for it could begin in September. The vaccine aims to use recombinant spike protein technology. Merck, Themis and Institut Pasteur aims for a vaccine using of weakened measles cells. It entered phase I of clinical trials in August. This is the second vaccine being developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck. North Koreas State Commission of Science and Technology announced that it has started trials of a protein-based vaccine. They claim to have so far tested on animals, adding that human trials could not be conducted in the East-Asian nation, since, according to them, there was no case of Covid there. Some vaccines underwent combined trials for two phases. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 13:18 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f19099 1 News Visa,visa-application,stay-permits,Immigration-Directorate-General,foreigners,COVID-19,pandemic Free The Immigration Directorate General has extended its visa application period to Sept. 20 for foreigners whose stay permits have expired or are about to. The extension, stipulated in a circular issued on Tuesday, is expected to give foreign nationals more time to comply with regulations and settle any hindrances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Immigration director general Jhoni Ginting said that holders of the visa on arrival (VOA) permit, single or multiple visit visas, crew visit permits and emergency stay permits (ITKT) due to COVID-19 travel restrictions were able to request a renewal or apply for a new stay permit. Meanwhile, holders of free visas, limited stay permits (KITAS) or expired permanent stay permits (KITAP) that have reached their extension limit following the issuance of the ITKT are required to apply for a new visa and report to the local immigration office no later than Sept. 20. Foreigners who fail to fulfill the aforementioned requirements may be subject to administrative sanctions, such as overstay fines, Jhoni said in a statement. Last month, the immigration office updated a number of regulations regarding foreigners who have been granted emergency stay permits due to travel restrictions amid the global pandemic. The regulations affected KITAS and KITAP holders, as well as foreigners in Indonesia on a visa on arrival and free visas who have been granted an ITKT, in accordance with new normal protocols. An unusually early windstorm struck northwestern Europe into Friday, packing hurricane-force winds and flooding rainfall as it slammed the British Isles. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP The rarely-used red status wind warning was issued by Met Eireann Wednesday night in the Cork area of Ireland and orange status across other parts of southern and western Ireland. Wind gusts from Ellen increased into Thursday from west to east across the British Isles and northwestern France with reports of gusts as high as 60-75 mph (100-120 km/h), especially across southern Ireland. On Thursday, Roches Point, just southeast of Cork in Ireland recorded a wind gust of 89 mph (143 km/h) and Shannon Airport recorded a wind gust of 70 mph (113 km/h). A wind gust of 95 mph (150 km/h) was recorded at Cairngorm Summit in Scotland. Winds of this magnitude initially left 200,000 homes and businesses without power in Ireland and another 500 in Wales. Emerging videos and photos showed the power of the winds as trees and branches litter the roadways in Ireland, all of which could have been made worse because of the early-season timing of Ellen. "One of the more dangerous aspects of an early windstorm like this is that there are still leaves on the trees across the region. The extra weight on the tree limbs in the strong winds will increase the chances of not only tree damage, but also vehicle and property damage and power cuts," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys. Story continues Flooding was also a widespread concern into Friday. The combination of flooding rainfall and coastal inundation left cars and lower levels of homes underwater. This taken a minute after high tide. Morrison's island breached but water didn't get too far up Fr Mathew St. We're lucky the wind direction changed this anoon. @CBA_cork @CorkCityFire @CorkCityFire @GardaTraffic pic.twitter.com/mRb4JXTiTd Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) August 20, 2020 Areas that were hit particularly bad with flooding included Cork, Skibbereen, Kinsale, Midleton and Bantry. "Ellen's wrath will continue with heavy rain and strong wind, through Friday evening," said Roys. The UK Met Office's yellow alert for wind across Wales and England which remains in effect until 1800 Friday evening. A Storm Ellen continues to wane into Friday night, there will still be spells of rain and blustery conditions. Downed trees and power lines on rail lines and roadways may extend transportation delays across the region into the start of the weekend. The above satellite image taken early on Wednesday evening shows Storm Ellen spinning toward the British Isles (Photo/NASA). The potent storm has been traversing the North Atlantic Ocean this week and was given the name Ellen on Tuesday evening, local time, by Met Eireann, the Irish Meteorology Service. Most windstorms occur between October and April, making a windstorm in August a rarity. So much so that when it came to giving this week's storm a name, the Met Eireann gave it the next unused name on the 2019-2020 season name list. Since 1990, only 11 August windstorms have formed in the North Atlantic Ocean. Of those 11 windstorms, most of them ultimately impacted the British Isles. Most of those windstorms were also tropical in nature, hurricanes or tropical storms from the Tropical Atlantic Ocean basin that curved northeastward toward Europe. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. Three weeks after Wisconsins face mask law took effect, police in the Lake Geneva region are getting complaints about violators failing to wear masks in public. But the police have not yet written any citations. Police in Lake Geneva and elsewhere in Walworth County say they will not respond to such complaints and they will not write citations carrying possible fines of up to $200 each. We simply do not have the staff available, said county Undersheriff Dave Gerber. The county sheriffs department has a budget of about $28 million a year, including funding for more than 200 deputies and other employees. Sheriff Kurt Picknell issued a statement shortly after the states face mask order was announced, stating that his department would not take any direct law enforcement action on the matter. The goal is education and compliance, and not meant to be punitive, Picknell stated. Gov. Tony Evers on July 30 declared a statewide emergency because of the coronavirus pandemic spreading in Wisconsin. Evers ordered that people aged 5 and older throughout Wisconsin must wear face masks indoors or in enclosed outdoor spaces such as restaurants and taverns. The governors declaration indicates that the face mask order which continues until Sept. 28 supercedes any local order that is less restrictive. The penalty for violating the order is a civil forfeiture of up to $200. Walworth County has recorded more than 1,300 cases of coronavirus, including 23 people who have died. While not endorsing any government mandate, county health officials have urged people to wear face masks to combat the spread of the upper respiratory infection. Carlo Nevicosi, deputy director of the countys health and human services department, said health officials support the county sheriffs decision not to take enforcement action on the state face mask law. He knows the community and his staff, Nevicosi said. We trust how he chooses to allocate his resources. Other police agencies have adopted the county sheriffs position as their own some reissuing the sheriffs statement word for word. The Lake Geneva Police Department issued the same statement as the sheriff, including that police would respond only if someone refused to wear a mask indoors and then created a disturbance by refusing to leave the premises. Other than that, Lake Geneva police will not take any law enforcement action. Police records show that Lake Geneva police received a complaint of violations on Aug. 2 the first Sunday of Wisconsins face mask requirement. A police officer later reported: Checked downtown and observed many people not wearing masks. Officers in any local police department can write a citation requiring an offender to report to Walworth County Circuit Court in Elkhorn to either contest the citation or pay a fine. Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld said his office has not been presented with any citations. Wiedenfeld would not say whether he agrees with police departments opting not to enforce the law. Other departments say they, too, have received complaints about people not wearing face masks. Fontana Police Chief Jeff Cates said his department had received minimal complaints, all of which were received a day or more after the alleged face mask violation. If and when a complaint is received, Cates said, the Fontana Police Department will focus on educating the individual on the importance of wearing a mask. Delavan Police Chief Jim Hansen issued the same statement as the county sheriff and Lake Geneva police, vowing no direct law enforcement action on face mask violations. The statement adds: This enforcement response is consistent with a majority of law enforcement agencies throughout Wisconsin. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. With implementation of conservative treatment methods like physiotherapy and individually tailored, adjusted exercises, quality of osteoarthritis care can improve and patients can delay the need for an artificial hip or knee joint. This has been demonstrated by a clinical study from Norway that was recently presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR 2020) Online Annual Congress. "It is wise to consider all non-surgical treatment options before resorting to an artificial hip or knee joint implant," said EULAR President Professor Iain B. McInnes, University of Glasgow, Scotland. Yet in many cases, doctors and patients fail to exhaust the full range of conservative therapy options. A Norwegian study has now shown how many patients with osteoarthritis (OA) can benefit from a qualified, conservative therapy program. The study design, a so-called cluster-randomized trial (CRT), comprised a program developed based on international treatment recommendations for hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). It included an initial three-hour patient education program, among other things. This was followed by 8-12 weeks of individually tailored exercises supervised by physiotherapists. The program was facilitated by general practitioners, primary care physicians and physiotherapists, who also received prior training. A total of 393 patients participated in the study; 284 were included in the special osteoarthritis program and 109 (control group) continued their usual care. The participants were at least 45 years old and presented with clinical OA symptoms such as reduced mobility or pain. They were re-examined 12 months after the beginning of the program. The study parameters included but were not limited to quality of care, satisfaction with care, physical activity, and referrals to physiotherapy or orthopaedic surgeons. The researchers also recorded whether joint replacement surgery was performed. 92 percent of the patients participated in the patient education program and 64 percent completed a minimum participation period of at least eight weeks of exercise. Twelve months later, the intervention group reported a significantly higher quality of care (score of 58, versus 41 for the control group). The study participants also reported significantly higher satisfaction with care (Odds ratio (OR) 7.8; 95% CI 3.55, 17.27). A significantly larger proportion (OR: 4.0; 95% CI 1.27, 12.63) also met the recommendations for physical activity compared to the control group. A smaller proportion was referred to orthopaedic surgeons (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.29, 1.00) and an even smaller proportion (4%) received joint replacement surgery during the observation period, compared to the control group (11%, OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.14, 0.74). The implementation of a structured model for OA care led to an improved quality of care, higher patient satisfaction and increased physical activity, despite OA." Tuva Moseng, Study Co-Author, Diakonhjemmet Hospital There is also some evidence to suggest that a structured OA program including patient education and exercise may delay or even reduce the need for surgery after 12 months. Professor John Isaacs from Newcastle University, UK, and Chair of the EULAR 2020 Scientific Programme Committee summarised: "Once again, we see just how important and effective consistent, conservative therapy is for our OA patients." He urged that "conservative care based on the international recommendations for OA treatment should become the standard for all patients." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Andreas Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 15:02 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f213a6 3 Opinion foreign-researcher,academic-freedom,press-freedom,press-freedom-in-Indonesia,Kate-Walton,Ross-Tapsell,Philip-Jacobson,journalist-detained,journalists Free Kate Walton wanted to cook klepon and she tweeted it showing a bag of flour, pandan, coconut etc. and Indonesians on social media were buzzing! A white Australian woman in Canberra could make klepon, the pandan-flavored rice balls filled with palm sugar and coated in grated coconut. She tweeted a photo of her father: Dad was very impatient for the klepon to cook. Walton, 32, speaks fluent Indonesian, writes about Indonesia, has many Indonesian friends, and loves Indonesian food and culture. She was banned from entering the country she had lived in since 2011 when immigration officials deported her in June 2019 after she was seen taking photos of a street protest in Jakarta. She left behind her partner and their cats in Jakarta. Walton is not the only one. Several Australian journalists and academics are on the Indonesian governments visa blacklist, meaning that their decades of research and linguistic skills go to waste. Immigration officials stopped two others last year. One is Ross Tapsell, an expert on Indonesian media at the Australian National University. And the other is Dave McRae from Melbourne University, a writer on sectarian violence around Lake Poso, Sulawesi. They traveled to Indonesia on social-cultural visas, rather than on the specific visas required for academic research. Immigration officials deported a US environmentalist, Phil Jacobson, from Indonesia earlier this year over a visa violation. The authorities detained him for three nights in January 2020, seized his passport, and accused him of using a business visa to work as a journalist in Palangka Raya. Following the involvement of the US embassy, Jacobson was deported back to the US. In 2014, the Indonesian authorities convicted Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois, two French journalists from Arte TV, of journalism activities without the appropriate visa and jailed them for 2.5 months in Jayapura, Papua. In 2015, Rebecca Prosser and Neil Bonner, two British journalists from National Geographic, were jailed for three months on Batam Island, near Singapore, on similar charges. Every country is entitled to protect its borders, enact immigration laws and regulate visas. But Indonesias 2011 Immigration Law is especially harsh. Any foreigner who deliberately misuses or engages in activities inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the residence provided to him can be punished with up to five years in prison and fined up to Rp 500 million (US$35,000). The law also criminalizes every person who orders or provides an opportunity for foreigners to abuse or engage in activities inconsistent with the intent or purpose of the residence provided to him. Meanwhile, getting a journalist visa or a research visa for Indonesia is very complicated. Journalists applications go to the Foreign Ministry, which will take it to a clearing house involving 18 working units from 12 government bodies. The bodies include the Religious Affairs Ministry, the State Secretariat (the Bureau for International Technical Cooperation), the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, the National Police, the Communication and Information Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Law and Human Rights Ministry with two participating units (Immigration and Trafficking of Migrants), the State Intelligence Agency, the Strategic Intelligence Agency and the Coordinating Political Legal and Security Affairs Ministry. The clearing house serves as a strict gatekeeper, often denying applications outright or simply failing to approve them, placing journalists in a bureaucratic limbo. At times the process has operated as a de facto ban on foreign journalists. Sensitive subjects that delay or deny applications include Papua, religious freedom, environmental sustainability and LGBT rights. The clearing house system means any one ministry or bureau has veto power, which generally means that the most media-adverse department carries the day. Foreign researchers also have to go through a rigorous vetting process to get a research permit and then a visa. It involves a clearing house at the Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry with representatives from intelligence and security agencies. The permit process seems to be even stricter now with the 2019 Science and Technology Law, which contains draconian criminal sanctions. The effect of the new law will be to discourage foreign researchers from coming to Indonesia, which would be detrimental to scientific advancement and international collaboration. In places such as Kalimantan or Papua, officials are extra sensitive when seeing foreigners in their cities. In 2016, when Kate Walton was running a training program in Timika, Papua, for an international development agency, she was detained and questioned for about five hours, despite having a visa that specified she could work in Papua. She told me that the immigration officials thought she was doing research illegally. In 2018, immigration and military officials detained and questioned a BBC correspondent, Rebecca Henschke, for 17 hours in Timika even though she had a journalist visa and a travel permit to be in Papua. Exhausted, she and her BBC crew abandoned their reporting plan. I know Kate Walton, Phil Jacobson and other scholars and journalists well. They may have revealed uncomfortable truths about Indonesia but they also love this country very much. We need people who will speak the truth. The health of a democracy depends on the quality of its journalism local, national and international media and its openness to academic research. The Indonesian government should reform its laws to simplify the process for journalists and researchers to enter the country. And in the interim, President Joko Widodo should encourage government officials to allow entry to journalists and academics, even those who have something critical to say about the country. *** Andreas Harsono works for Human Rights Watch. He is a founding member of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, also sits on the board of the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation, the binational Fulbright Commission for Indonesia. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Top universities have called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students and for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 140million bailout for lower-tier institutions. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after a screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have improved grades. But top schools are struggling with the sheer volume of demand as the 55,000 who accepted a place at another university or bagged a new course at clearing are now abandon those decisions to try and get into their top choice. A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year. The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Meanwhile there are fears that students leaving lower-ranked institutions to go to their first choice could leave them vulnerable financially, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggesting this could cost 140million. In a briefing note today a think-tank today warned that while leading universities would now be 'awash' with students, many lower-ranked universities risked losing a substantial share of their intake, which could be 'financially crippling'. It comes as the government has been urged to take on more students at medical school, where places are highly-competitive and much of the cost of training doctors is met by the taxpayer. Top universities have called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students and for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 140million bailout for lower-tier institutions. Pictured: A graph showing the projected loss of the higher education sector by source Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after ministers screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have improved grades. Pictured: A graph showing the overall predicted sector net income in the absence of the crisis compared with net Covid losses The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Pictured: A graph showing the projected losses per student of institutions with the biggest and smallest losses Students from Codsall Community High School protest outside the constituency office of their local MP, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and there are restrictions on NHS work placements. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning told Sky News he acknowledged calls to increase student places and promised that the Government is working on the issue. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. The government has removed the cap for other subjects so universities can take on more students, but kept it in place for medicine and dentistry. The u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' The Royal College of GPs and British Medical Association have also backed calls for more places for medics. But Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, said additional places would require more funding and support from the government. She said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson (pictured) to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC Ofqual's exam results algorithm was 'UNLAWFUL', Labour claims in letter to Gavin Williamson after under-fire Education Secretary finally gives backing to regulator Ofqual's exam results algorithm used to downgrade A-level results was 'unlawful', Labour has claimed. Kate Green, the shadow Education Secretary, and Lord Falconer argued that ministers and the beleaguered regulator would have been aware of at least three breaches of the law in the standardisation formula used. In a letter to Ofqual and under-fire Gavin Williamson, they said the row 'should never have come down to this, so late on, when Ofqual and the SoS [ Secretary of State for Education] have been fully in the knowledge that the standardisation formula that was being used was unlawful'. They wrote: 'The chaos, confusion and unfairness of the way in which Ofqual have acted in recent weeks under the direction of the SoS, and the way the UK government have handled the A-level results, has been a complete fiasco, putting thousands of young people through an enormous amount of stress, worry and uncertainty because of government incompetence'. 'No comparison is valid if the system does not adequately measure the student's achievement', they added. Lord Falconer also claimed that there were questions still to be answered about the use of an 'unlawful' standardisation algorithm in GCSE results, which are out tomorrow. A spokesman for the Department for Education said: 'As the government has made clear, we have full confidence in Ofqual and its leadership in their role as independent regulator and we continue to work closely with Ofqual to deliver fair results for our young people at this unprecedented time. 'The decision they took to move from moderated grades to centre assessed grades was one that we agreed with.' Advertisement The University and College Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) have also signed a joint letter to Mr Williamson, warning the lifting of the student cap - which had aimed to prevent institutions from over-recruiting to make up for lost revenue as a result of Covid-19 - would 'remove one of the only interventions that the government has made to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid crisis on universities'. The letter said: 'While it is still unclear exactly what the distribution of domestic students across higher education will be, it is widely anticipated that institutions will move as much as possible to honour their offers. 'This will likely lead to expanded recruitment at high-tariff institutions at the expense of lower-tariff universities, shifting the financial pain from the Covid crisis onto many of the institutions that play a vital role in widening participation and social mobility.' The letter added scrapping the cap did not 'address the practical barriers that prevent many institutions from recruiting higher numbers than they originally intended in order to honour their conditional offers - including staffing and physical capacity'. It comes after a report by the IFS released last month said that 13 universities were in dire financial straights and may require a bailout from the government. Today, the think-tank described the Government's handling of the A-level grades fiasco as a 'clear fail' which would have 'repercussions for universities and students' for years to come. 'A-level results should never have been released before being subject to scrutiny beyond Ofqual. The Government should not have had to rely on shocked 18-year-olds on results day to realise there was a problem,' the briefing note from the IFS said. Jack Britton, an associate director at the IFS, said: 'The Government's U-turn on A-level grades will cause further disruption for universities. Some will struggle with higher than expected numbers of students, while others may find it hard to fill their places. 'Had the Government been more transparent about their proposed mechanism for assigning grades, all this could have been avoided.' Labour's shadow universities minister Emma Hardy told Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that the government needs to offer support to the under-siege sector. She said: 'This is what I'm hearing from the sector at the moment that they are feeling very vulnerable in this situation. 'You have to remember this is not happening in isolation, the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) only recently said that there were thirteen institutions at risk of going bankrupt and we were calling on the government to say we need to stop any institution from going under. We need to offer them protection.' As of Tuesday morning, more than 11,000 students have had no decision made on their application and have an undefined status within the Clearing system by UCAS, while 20,000 students have already deferred, the highest number since 2011, reports The Telegraph. Durham University is offering bursaries and promising those who defer guaranteed college accommodation, in an attempt to persuade students to attend in 2021, as reported by The Guardian. It is not clear how much the bursary will be worth or if other universities will follow suit. Prof Richard Harvey, the academic director of admissions at the University of East Anglia, told The Guardian it had 185 medical places. And are now oversubscribed by around 50 students. Ofqual is accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' as probe into A-levels grading fiasco is launched Ofqual was accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' last night as the first official probe into the grading fiasco was launched. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) launched an inquiry yesterday into the beleaguered exam body's algorithm the first in a series of humiliating investigations. It came as the Information Commissioner's Office hinted it may also probe whether the algorithm met data protection laws. In a statement, the ICO told the Mail: 'We understand how important A-levels results and other qualifications are to students across the country. When so much is at stake, it's especially important that their personal data is used fairly and transparently.' GDPR law says everyone has 'the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her'. Ed Humpherson, of the OSR, said in a letter it would 'conduct a review of the statistical models put in place', to be published in September. Hinting that other probes were likely, he said it would 'seek to minimise overlap between our review and others'. Former schools minister David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, said: 'We urgently need a fully independent review of what happened this year so that errors made are clearly understood and so that the right lessons are learned for the future.' Ofqual declined to comment. Advertisement He said: 'I have 1,500 emails in my inbox from angry people mostly medics all trying to work out what the hell they do now.' 'It's perfectly possible for ministers to convert an apology into something that's meaningful, but that means opening the cheque book and fixing the problem. Especially as we were all clapping carers not so long ago. Weren't we all meant to be supporting the NHS?' The chair of the Royal College of GPs has also urged the Government to dramatically increase the number of undergraduate medical places to ensure doctors 'represent the communities they serve'. Dr Martin Marshall called on universities minister Michelle Donelan to urgently provide clarity on the ethnicity and socio-economic background of prospective medical students hit by the A-level fiasco. In an open letter, he said reports poorer communities were more likely to have been adversely affected by the system that saw this year's grades awarded by algorithm were 'deeply worrying'. Dr Marshall also warned despite Monday's U-turn, many will have lost their places on medical courses after universities started handing out spots based on students' original results. 'It is deeply worrying to hear that areas which are under-doctored and under-served by medical schools could also be more likely to have students whose results were downgraded and who may not now be able to secure a place to study medicine,' he said. He added: 'At the RCGP we are committed to ensuring that the medical profession is inclusive and representative; this includes the doctors of the future representing the communities they serve.' Prof Marshall finished: 'I'm sure that you will agree it will be essential for the future of the NHS that we have sufficient doctors to see our ever expanding and complex population of patients.' The RCGP estimates the UK needs 20% more undergraduate medical places to serve the growing population, and wants caps on student numbers lifted as well as extra funding for universities to help meet demand. It wants all students that meet the criteria to study medicine to be able to do so. Meanwhile Boris Johnson has been accused of having a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis has left the Government being 'laughed at'. He is expected to make 'minor' changes to his Cabinet after the summer recess before a full January 'reset' when the Brexit transition period has ended. Boris Johnson is defying calls for an autumn reshuffle despite Tory backbench pressure to sack Gavin Williamson over his exams debacle. The PM has been accused of a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis have left the Government being 'laughed at' Mr Johnson is refusing to sack his Education Secretary, who is desperately trying to cling onto his job after his humiliating A-levels climbdown. The Government has also faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic, including its botched NHS Test and Trace app and its excessive lockdown curbs. Mr Williamson's humiliating U-turn and effort to blame Ofqual for the exams fiasco is seen by a growing number of Tory MPs as one blunder too far. Universities could face legal action from A-level students if they have to defer a place for a year after receiving an offer, say lawyers Lawyers have warned that students could take legal action against universities if they have to defer for a year after receiving an offer. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after a government U-turn means they can use their teacher assessed grades rather than the ones given to them by a standardised algorithm last Thursday. However a number of top universities, such as Cambridge, have already warned that they may not have capacity to take all the extra students, and some may have to defer their place until 2021. Suzanne Rab, a barrister at Serle Court Chambers, told The Times: 'I think there will be legal action by some to force universities to take them this year. You're looking ultimately at a judicial review.' A judicial review questions the decisions made by public bodies and normally claim that a government minister made a a mistake in law. Since the government u-turn 55,000 students are trying to get into their first choice institution. But schools are struggling for capacity, despite the government lifting a cap on the amount of places they can offer. There have also been calls today for ministers to lift restrictions on places for medicine and dentistry, which are currently set by the government. Tina Patel, a personal injury lawyer for Leigh Day, told the newspaper: 'We have been inundated with inquiries from students who despite yesterday's announcement have been left no better off. 'Whilst the government has lifted the cap on the number of students universities can accept, the ultimate decision lies with the individual universities. 'Some students may be offered places this year; some may be required to defer for a year and be forced to take a year out. This poses difficulties in the current economic climate.' Advertisement Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, one Tory said the Government is 'being seen as hapless': 'We have had too many mishaps for a Government that is only a year old'. Another Tory backbencher said: 'I've no doubt Boris is in touch with what is going on, but it really just feels as though there is a lack of grip.' A third warned of 'huge pressure building up at the bottom of the volcano' and said the elections next May 'could be an enormous wake up call' to the Tories. 'Brexit and a Corbyn-led Labour party, which won us the election in 2019, will be rotting corpses by then,' they told the newspaper. 'It's not about what the Government does but whether it is competent. With fiascos like the grading scandal, we are giving our supporters good reason not to come out and support us. That's a potential for a political tsunami to take place.' Tories have made private submissions to party whips making it clear Mr Williamson should be sacked. Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle, said: 'It's not something that should be passed on to Ofqual - the buck stops with government.' The first meeting of a new taskforce set with tackling issues faced by universities following the Government's exams U-turn took place on Tuesday. In a statement, education minister Michelle Donelan said: 'We are working closely with the higher education sector to understand the challenges facing universities and provide as much support as we can. 'I led the first meeting of our new taskforce and I will hold meetings every day with the sector to resolve these issues. 'We are supporting universities, including by announcing our intention to remove temporary student number controls and working with them to help them prioritise students and uphold their first choice either this coming year, or as a last resort the following year. 'We announced a package of support for the sector during the pandemic, including bringing forward tuition fee and research funding, and a scheme to assess any restructuring support higher education providers may need.' However, Labour's shadow education minister Emma Hardy criticised the decision not to invite the representatives of staff or students to the meeting. In a tweet, she said: 'How can a task force solve the crisis facing universities without also speaking to student and staff representatives?' Meanwhile, the headteachers' union has called for an urgent independent review of the exams grading fiasco. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has written to the Education Secretary demanding a review to rebuild trust because 'public confidence has been badly shaken'. He said: 'It seems to be clear that the statistical model for moderating centre-assessed grades was flawed and that it produced many anomalous results. 'But how did this happen, why were the problems not foreseen, and why were ministers not on top of this? Most importantly, what lessons can we learn for the future?' It comes as GCSE students have been told they will receive their results on Thursday despite the Government's U-turn on grading. All schools and colleges will receive pupils' GCSE grades from exam boards ahead of results day, the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) said. Exam boards said they have been 'working hard' to provide centre assessment grades, based on teachers' estimates, or moderated grades if they are higher. - Ben Dotsei Malor has paid a visit to Sister Yaavi, a woman who was helpful to him while he was a student at the University of Ghana - The former NDC presidential staffer revealed in a post on social media that, while on campus, he was cash-strapped and was often without food as a result - According to him, Sister Yaavi, a woman who sold beans on campus often came to his assistance - Malor took to social media to express intense gratitude to Yaavi for being an angel during his great times of need at Legon Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana! Ben Dotsei Malor, a former presidential staffer in the John Mahama regime, has paid a visit to Sister Yaavi, a woman who provided assistance to him while he was a student at the University of Ghana. In a post on social media, Malor revealed that Sister Yaavi and her younger sister Ameyo, often gave him some ''free food, without him asking''. READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Impressive photos of the ongoing construction of the $94m Pokuase Interchange pop up Ex-presidential staffer in the former president Mahama administration, Ben Dotsei Malor, pays a visit to Sister Yaavi, a woman who helped him during his university days. Photo credit: Facebook.com Source: Facebook At the time on Legon campus, Malor was ''without food on many occasions, simply because there was little or no money''. ''I even started to convince myself that I studied best on an empty stomach,'' he said. However, Malor reveals that Sister Yaavi and her sister came to his rescue during his time of great financial difficulty. According to him, Yaavi sold boiled beans, with gari, or with fried plantain for those who could afford ''the extras'', but also made provision for students like him who could not afford. Coming from a financially challenged background, Malor struggled to fend for himself on campus. However, Sister Yaavi and her younger sister Ameyo, often gave him free food. READ ALSO: Ibrahim Razak: Meet the male student nurse who pushes trolleys at the Kasoa market to pay his fees ''Sometimes it was just a top-up whenever they realised I didnt have enough money. So, if a normal portion of the beans combo cost ten cedis but I turned up with only five cedis probably my remaining money for a while - they would sense my predicament and still serve me as if I had brought a ten cedi note. They were like my own sisters,'' he said. Ben Dotsei Malor, who currently works as the Chief Editor - Dailies of the UN News at the United Nations, paid a visit to Sister Yaavi in Kisseman in the Greater Accra Region to say ''thank you'' to her. Read the full inspiring write-up by the accomplished Ghanaian Chief Editor expressing intense gratitude to Sister Yaavi and her younger sister Ameyo. In another story, Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski, an ex-convict and lecturer, has transformed his life through education after he earned his undergraduate degree and two masters while serving a 16-year jail sentence. Without any qualification, he managed to defy the odds and studied to earn a degree from The Open University and two masters from Oxford Brooks, both in the UK. The resilient Black man started studying for his BSc in Social Science with The Open University while he was in prison. YEN.com.gh gathered that Stephen was serving a 16-year jail sentence for the importation of class A drugs. READ ALSO: Burna Boy stars Ghana's playwright legend Ama Ata Aidoo on Twice As Tall album (Videos) Carruthers Tetteh: Overcoming blindness to be a lawyer in Ghana: 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 Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has given a directive for the opening of a sex offender register. Speaking at a webinar on addressing sexual, gender-based violence and rape in Nigeria which was organised by Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, the Plateau State Governor who regretted that the problem of sexual violence and rape has taken alarming and disgraceful dimensions in Nigeria, said the sex offender register is aimed at ensuring severe punishment for the perpetrators and also to serve as deterrent. He said; One thing we take very seriously as a government is the prosecution of rape and sexual offenders. Following increase in rape cases in the country, I have directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to step up vigorous prosecution of offenders no matter their status. Very soon, we shall open a Sexual Offenders Register where the data of convicted offenders shall not only be deposited, but their identity made public so that they are named and shamed. I believe that they are the ones that are entitled to stigmatization not their victims. Governor Lalong also directed the Plateau State Peace Agency to step up engagements with communities on the dangers of sexual and gender based violence particularly during crises, while pointing out that sexual and gender-based violence finds incubation in conflict areas where most women and children are at the receiving end. A group of schoolchildren on a sailing camp witnessed the grim discovery of a capsized boat off Brisbane's coast and the unsuccessful efforts to save two fishermen, one of their mothers says. The South Passage vessel was first on the scene near Green Island, north-east of Manly, about 1.30pm on Wednesday. Its crew plucked one of the men from the water and tried to save his life. The commercial vessel was said to be carrying almost two dozen schoolchildren as part of a three-day sailing camp. The mother of one of the children aboard the South Passage wrote on Facebook that her son set off on the sailing camp on Tuesday. We hope this donation will help ease this financial burden and ensure that Ocean Springs students can come back to a safe environment. National pharmaceutical distributor Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus (GCPP) recently delivered much-needed personal protection equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies to every public school in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The schools receiving the donated supplies include Ocean Springs High School, Ocean Springs Middle School, Pecan Park Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Magnolia Park Elementary, and Ocean Springs Upper Elementary. Each school received 100 KN95 face masks, four gallons of hand sanitizer, four gallons of MicroSure surface cleaner, one bottle of 3M Disinfectant Cleaner concentrate (which makes 120 gallons), as well as four empty gallon jugs and 50 spray bottles to help the schools enhanced cleaning routines. Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus hopes the donation will help the schools in their reopening efforts for the 2020-2021 school year. According to a recent cost analysis by the Association of School Business Officials, some school districts may have to spend an additional $490 per student due to the extra costs associated with purchasing of cleaning supplies, masks and other personal protective equipment, said GCPP Managing Director Ken Ritchey. We hope this donation will help ease this financial burden and ensure that Ocean Springs students can come back to a safe environment. Headquartered in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus has recently donated more than $30,000 worth of PPE to medical centers, health organizations and assisted living facilities across the state, as well as more than $190,000 worth of PPE to various medical facilities across the nation. Most recently, the company donated hundreds of N95 respirators to fire departments in numerous states. Committed to helping communities across the United States in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, GCPP plans to continue making donations of critical PPE supplies in the coming weeks. About Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus (GCPP) is a comprehensive pharmaceutical distributor for many of the leading U.S. Pharmaceutical companies, delivering products quickly and accurately to a network of hospitals, pharmacies, and physician practices across the United States. Over the past 20 years in business, Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus has become one of the most reliable distributors of medical supplies in the nation through its quick delivery, excellent customer service, and access to over 25,000 healthcare products. Learn more about GCPP products and services at http://www.gulfcoastpharmaceuticalsplus.com, and get the latest on company news by visiting its Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. What Filipinos Deserve: A Corruption-Free PhilHealth, a Competent DOH Secretary More at: https://pinglacson.net/2020/08/19/what-filipinos-deserve-a-corruption-free-philhealth-a-competent-doh-secretary/ In 2004, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III was PhilHealth president when it illegally diverted P500 million in OWWA Medicare funds to buy PhilHealth cards bearing ex-President and then presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's picture with the acronym GMA (Greater Medical Access) and GMA Para sa Masa, Para sa Lahat. The cards were distributed to areas where they knew they would lose against the late Fernando Poe Jr. After her 2004 "victory," Mrs. Arroyo rewarded PhilHealth president Duque with an appointment as DOH Secretary. Fast forward to 2020, where under new PCEO Ricardo Morales - and Duque as ex-officio chairman - PhilHealth tried to collect premiums from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), notwithstanding their classification as a special sector. This amid a flawed if not perverted implementation of its Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) for health care institutions handling COVID-19 cases, gross overpricing in its procurement of IT equipment, and the doctoring of its financial statements. The President's trust and confidence notwithstanding, Filipinos don't deserve a state health insurance that is so corrupt, made possible by officials entrusted with mandatory monthly deductions from hard-earned salaries of ordinary employees. As for Sec. Duque, he has stayed too long in the DOH and PhilHealth in different capacities. He admitted in a public hearing that he has given his best but it wasn't good enough. More than public interest, public health is imperiled with Sec. Duque at the helm of DOH. Notwithstanding the trust and confidence reposed on him by the appointing authority, Filipinos deserve a good, competent, honest and capable DOH Secretary. Strictly Come Dancing will pay tribute to Caroline Flack during a four-part special named The Best of The Final, set to air later this year. The late TV presenter, who passed away in February aged 40, won the hearts of the nation on the show back in 2014 and was crowned the winner. Now, BBC bosses want to celebrate her time on the series, with her dance partner Pasha Kovalev, 40, and Janette Manrara, 36, helping to plan the touching tribute. In memory: Strictly Come Dancing will pay tribute to Caroline Flack during a four-part special named The Best of The Final, set to air later this year (pictured in 2014) The special episode will look back at the best of the finals, 're-living the nights where champions were made and dreams were realised'. A statement read: 'Strictly: The Best Of The Final will celebrate the finalists, the emotion and the incredible routines that have graced the Strictly final.' A source added to The Sun: 'Caroline was loved by all on Strictly and was a hugely popular winner among the executives and the crew. 'She was a bundle of energy and they thought if they were going to look at some of the best finals ever it would be fitting to feature her in a big way. She's sorely missed by many, but particularly by her Strictly family.' Our champion: The late star, who passed away earlier this year aged 40, won the hearts of the nation in 2014 when she was crowned the winner with partner Pasha Kavalev The charismatic Love Island presenter wowed viewers when she danced a Charleston to Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants with pro Pasha during the final. During an Around The World-themed episode of Strictly, Caroline took to the dancefloor with Pasha to perform a Turkey-themed Charleston. She went onto reprise the routine in the grand final, and it proved to be her winning performance as it was her last before being crowned a champion alongside Pasha. Strictly: The Best Of series will also include the nation's favourite moments from themed weeks, Movies, Musicals and Blackpool. The show, hosted by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, will also look at other finalists during its 16-year history. Celebration of life: A source said: 'She was a bundle of energy and they thought if they were going to look at some of the best finals ever it would be fitting to feature her in a big way' Each special will see the four judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli, as well all the Strictly professional dancers and special guests, reminisce about the iconic dances The former Love Island presenter was laid to rest on March 10, after she was found dead in her north-east London home on February 15 at the age of 40. Caroline had pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton at her former 1.1million home in North London, in a court hearing in December. Strictly Come Dancing released a statement paying tribute to Caroline following her death, saying: 'The entire Strictly Come Dancing family are heartbroken to hear this incredibly sad news. 'Caroline had an infectious energy and passion for dance, she shone brightly in the Strictly ballroom every week and became an incredible champion. 'Words cannot express out sadness, she was simply one of a kind. We are sending our love to all her family and friends during this difficult time.' Chinese Authorities Order an End to Food Waste as Food Shortage Hits China On August 11, Xi Jinping, regime leader of the CCP, said he is determined to stop food waste in restaurants. After he gave the order, everyone from the government to private sectors took action. This has led to speculation as to whether China is facing a food crisis. After Xis order to stop food waste in restaurants, the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China decided on August 13 that it would establish a working group to plan a Food Appreciation Act. CCTV and other major state-run media also participated in the campaign urging citizens to limit their food consumption. Peoples Daily collected Xis talks on food and distributed them in an important speech series. CCTV even criticized live streams of excessive eating as a serious waste of food. Former Vice President Joe Biden enlisted diplomats and longtime colleagues at the Demoratic convention Tuesday to rip President Trump as a threat to the nation's security and made ample use of images of the president meeting dictators and adversaries. 'Donald Trump inherited a growing economy and a more peaceful world. And like everything else he inherited, he bankrupted it,' Kerry said. He said when Trump goes overseas, 'it isn't a goodwill mission, it's a blooper reel.' Kerry accused Trump of 'writing love letters to dictators.' The campaign released a scathing video stocked with foreign policy experts including former U.S. ambassdor to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who Trump forced out and who testified during Trump's impeachment. A video at the Democratic convention made use of images of President Trump with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and other U.S. adversaries The short film flashes shots of Biden with allied leaders from Canada, France, and Japan. Trump is shown walking side-by-side with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un during one of their summits. Trump is seen with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a military ceremony. 'Donald Trump has had a love fest with dictators including China and Russia, said Rose Gottemoeller, the former deputy secretary general of NATO, as images of Trump and Xi appear. 'He hasn't been standing up to them at all.' She said Biden understands the importance of strong alliances. 'Thanks to President Trump, our adversaries are stronger and bolder,' said Tom Countryman, a former assistant secretary of state. Jack Weinstein, a retired Air Force general, called Trump a 'danger to national security.' A former top NATO official accuses Trump of having a 'love fest' with Russian President Vladimir Putin Former Secretary of State John Kerry accused Trump of 'writing love letters to dictators' Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Kerry in front of the Washington Monument A scathing video showed Trump with Chinaese President Xi Jinping 'President Trump has degraded and debased the presidency and our country in the eyes of the world,' said former Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who served as secretary of defense under President Obama. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell cut his own speech where he said Biden 'will be a president we will all be proud to salute.' He said Biden 'will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries, not the other way around.' Trump throughout his presidency has defended his relationships with world leaders, including adversaries. He has said he is tougher than anyone on Russia and China, and has accused Biden of being weak on Beijing, pointing to a trip Hunter Biden took with his father. He made overtures to North Korea, including two summit meetings, after earlier threatening to bring 'fire and fury' and ridiculing Kim as 'Rocket Man.' The convention followed up with another video on Biden's friendship with the late GOP Sen. John McCain, whose widow Cindy is backing Biden. Although Americans tend to rank issues like the economy and health care as their top priorities, the security attack on Trump follows a tumultuous impeachment following the multi-year Russia probe. The Senate Intelligence Committee released a 1,000 report Tuesday on Russian election interference that delves into former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort's relationship with a Russian intelligence officer and other matters. To the Editor, This will come as no surprise to those who have read my letters in the past, I may as well admit it, I despise Donald John Trump and his commie cronies: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping. Collectively, they play the vaunted deal maker like the sap that he is. They have all set out to destroy our electoral process and Trump is complicit by his stupidity in failing to see he is being played like a fiddle. To make matters worse in regard to the upcoming election, with full knowledge that mail-in ballots are going to be a huge part of the fall election, Trump appoints Louis DeJoy in May to be the Postmaster General. What are Mr. DeJoys credentials in assuming this important position, simply this, he has donated over a million dollars to Trumps campaign and likewise donated a similar amount to the Republican party. DeJoy has never set foot in a United States post office as an employee. So I guess if one time you mailed a letter, it makes you qualified for the job. Oh, and after his appointment, Mr. DeJoy made substantial investments in Amazon. Conflict of interest? I think so. The honorable thing for Trump to do (if he has ever done that) is to man-up (if he has ever done that) and apologize to the American people for all the 20,000 lies (and counting) he has told while in office, apologize for the blue language he uses ( a sure sign of someone who lacks command of the language) on a regular basis in the Oval Office, apologize to all the well-meaning civil servants whose careers he has despoiled, then apologize to..oh, whats the use. I dont have space to name all who are owed an apology. Donald John Trump, admit that the presidency was way more than you could handle and that you were totally unprepared for the demands of the office. Just do us all a favor and RESIGN! Mike Cleary Godfrey Rocket attack hits Kabul on Afghanistan independence day Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 10:30 AM At least 10 civilians, including four children, have been injured in the Afghan capital of Kabul in an attack with 14 rockets against the city's heavily-fortified green zone as the country marked its 101st independence anniversary. The rockets were launched from two vehicles in the northern and eastern parts of the capital on Tuesday, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said. "Most of the mortar shells hit residential houses in Kabul," Arian said. "Unfortunately, 10 civilians, including four children and one woman, have been wounded." He said two suspects had been detained and investigations into the incident remained ongoing. Witnesses, meanwhile, said that some of the rockets struck near the presidential palace and the Defense Ministry after the country's President Ashraf Ghani took part in an independence day event at the palace. Other eyewitnesses cited by press agencies further said at least one mortar shell had landed in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, where numerous diplomats and senior government officials reside. Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, it took place a day after the government declared its refusal to release the last 320 Taliban prisoners that it holds until the militants who have signed a "peace" deal with the United States free more captive Afghan soldiers. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid expressed unawareness about the mortar attack in Kabul. The Daesh terrorist group has interrupted national celebrations in Afghanistan in the past with rocket fire. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Powerful institutions that speak with authority change the world for the better. Few institutions have the expertise and reach of a top university. Faculty, researchers, and alumni create ripple effects through innovation and achievement that drive government, science, and culture forward. AcademicInfluence.com spotlights those authoritative higher education institutions here: The universities with the greatest global impact | AcademicInfluence.com The Most Influential Universities in the World Today The five universities with the greatest global impact: Harvard University University of London Stanford University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Columbia University For the rest of the 50, visit AcademicInfluence.com at the link above. "AcademicInfluence.com has made it our mission to acknowledge and promote the people and institutions that make a genuine difference in how you and I live," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University. "Students who want to be part of that difference will seek schools that not only open doors for them now but also equip them to be the influencers of the future. We want to help them find the colleges and universities that can take them beyond a diploma and into realms of greater possibility," says Macosko. "It's simply no longer enough to be a college grad; that education must create post-graduate opportunities for students as well. These 50 schools excel at making that happen." The most influential universities throughout history are those whose students, alumni, and educators have achieved the greatest degree of influence across the widest range of disciplines and time periods. AcademicInfluence.com measures influence by using machine learning to explore billions of open-source, crowd-edited data points, mapping lines of influence through constantly updated data repositories, including Wikipedia and Crossref. These databases result in analysis that resists being gamed or undermined by single-source editorial bias. With its interactive search and Custom College Rankings tools, AcademicInfluence.com offers students the answers they seek with the objectivity they need. Founded in October 2016, with funding assistance from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Influence Networks created this proprietary technologythe Influence Enginefor use by AcademicInfluence.com. AcadmicInfluence.com now opens its user-customizable search capabilities so that students, researchers, and inquirers can discover the most influential people and institutions. The Influence Engine will continue growing its capabilities to explore a wider variety of topics and top performers. "The way to achieve greatness is to connect with great people and institutions," says Macosko. "The academics, data researchers, and lovers of learning at AcademicInfluence.com believe our ranking of the Most Influential Universities in the World Today will help make those connections possible. The goal behind our Custom College Rankings, insightful resources, and interviews with influencers is to help students reach their fullest potential." AcademicInfluence.com is the preeminent technology-driven rankings site dedicated to students, researchers, and inquirers from high school through college and beyond, offering resources that connect learners to leaders. AcademicInfluence.com is a part of the EducationAccess group, a family of sites dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth, including Influence Networks, InfluencePublishers.com (nonfiction publishing and publishers of Bright Notes), IntelligentEducation.com (instructional video library and easy instructional video creation with 3D elements), AlexandriaLibrary.com (free, online library and reader), and soon, Success Portraits (personalized strengths inventory for college and career). Contact: Jed Macosko, Ph.D. Academic Director AcademicInfluence.com [email protected] (682) 302-4945 SOURCE AcademicInfluence.com Related Links https://academicinfluence.com/ One of the UK's top universities is offering bursaries to students who are willing to defer their entry until next year, as up to 55,000 school leavers scramble to get places at their first choice universities. Durham University, recently rated the 11th best university in the country by one guide, says it will provide students with much sought-after college accommodation and a bursary to 'help with their transition to university life,' reports the Guardian. The university, which provides popular law and medicine courses, has promised to honour all of its offers. But it has warned some students will have to defer to issues over capacity. It comes as top universities today called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students and for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 140million bailout for lower-tier institutions. Durham University, recently rated the 11th best university in the country by one guide, says it will provide much sought-after college accommodation and a bursary to 'help with their transition to university life,' reports the Guardian The university, which provides popular law and medicine courses, has promised to honour all of its offers. But it has warned some students will have to defer to issues over capacity Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after a screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have improved grades. But top schools are struggling with the sheer volume of demand as the 55,000 who accepted a place at another university or bagged a new course at clearing are now abandon those decisions to try and get into their top choice. A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year. Meanwhile there are fears that students leaving lower-ranked institutions to go to their first choice could leave them vulnerable financially, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggesting this could cost 140million. In a briefing note today a think-tank today warned that while leading universities would now be 'awash' with students, many lower-ranked universities risked losing a substantial share of their intake, which could be 'financially crippling'. It comes as the government has been urged to take on more students at medical school, where places are highly-competitive and much of the cost of training doctors is met by the taxpayer. Top universities have called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students and for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 140million bailout for lower-tier institutions. Pictured: A graph showing the projected loss of the higher education sector by source Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after ministers screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have improved grades. Pictured: A graph showing the overall predicted sector net income in the absence of the crisis compared with net Covid losses The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Pictured: A graph showing the projected losses per student of institutions with the biggest and smallest losses Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and there are restrictions on NHS work placements. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning told Sky News he acknowledged calls to increase student places and promised that the Government is working on the issue. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement The government has removed the cap for other subjects so universities can take on more students, but kept it in place for medicine and dentistry. The u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' The Royal College of GPs and British Medical Association have also backed calls for more places for medics. But Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, said additional places would require more funding and support from the government. She said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' The University and College Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) have also signed a joint letter to Mr Williamson, warning the lifting of the student cap - which had aimed to prevent institutions from over-recruiting to make up for lost revenue as a result of Covid-19 - would 'remove one of the only interventions that the government has made to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid crisis on universities'. The letter said: 'While it is still unclear exactly what the distribution of domestic students across higher education will be, it is widely anticipated that institutions will move as much as possible to honour their offers. 'This will likely lead to expanded recruitment at high-tariff institutions at the expense of lower-tariff universities, shifting the financial pain from the Covid crisis onto many of the institutions that play a vital role in widening participation and social mobility.' The letter added scrapping the cap did not 'address the practical barriers that prevent many institutions from recruiting higher numbers than they originally intended in order to honour their conditional offers - including staffing and physical capacity'. It comes after a report by the IFS released last month said that 13 universities were in dire financial straights and may require a bailout from the government. Today, the think-tank described the Government's handling of the A-level grades fiasco as a 'clear fail' which would have 'repercussions for universities and students' for years to come. 'A-level results should never have been released before being subject to scrutiny beyond Ofqual. The Government should not have had to rely on shocked 18-year-olds on results day to realise there was a problem,' the briefing note from the IFS said. FAILTE Ireland has confirmed its tourist information centre in Limerick will remain closed until March next year. It comes following a collapse in tourism from abroad to Irelands third city, with a notice informing customers of its closure until further notice in the window of 20 OConnell Street. A spokesperson for the tourism agency confirmed the closure will allow its staff to assist in the administration and delivery of a number of other significant trade support initiatives. They said that centre staff will provide local content via the discoverireland.ie web site, with Failte Ireland promoting domestic holidays using national and regional media and online platforms. However, the decision has been criticised by local businesswoman Helen ODonnell, who said it is outrageous. The irony is, we had volunteers yesterday being asked directions to places because there is no information. Limerick was buzzing with people yesterday who were obviously domestic tourists, staycationers. In other places, if a centre is not open, they may have a touch-screen which would give you information and show you a map, she told the Limerick Leader. Ms ODonnell said that when Irish people are being encouraged to take staycations, a move like this just doesnt add up. Failte Ireland confirmed a number of tourist centres did re-open based on visitor demand. These were in Dingle, Killarney, Cork, Kinsale, Donegal, Dublins OConnell St, Dublins Suffolk St, Galway, Kilkenny and Athlone. As it stands, King Johns Castle is set to close for the winter following a drop in international tourism due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Revised HK textbooks correct political misconceptions, stress Chinese identity Global Times By Deng Xiaoci Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/18 23:19:02 Hong Kong's education bureau confirmed to the Global Times on Tuesday that it has sent advice to a number of publishers that had voluntarily submitted their liberal studies textbooks to the education regulator for consultancy, and the corresponding revisions have been made by the middle of August. The revisions include stressing that protestors will be held legally accountable if they violate the law, strengthening students' identity as both Hongkongers and Chinese, and clarifying that Hong Kong's political system is not based on so-called "separation of the three powers." Although still conducted on a voluntary basis at the current stage, such a review-and-revision mechanism itself is of great significance, as not only publishers but teaching staff can have a better awareness and clearer guidance on what is considered as suitable to be used in a classroom setting, Hong Kong education insiders told the Global Times. They also said that they believe such a mechanism could close a loophole in the city's educational system that had caused problems among youth. A total of six publishers and eight textbooks have gone through the consultancy, which was conducted by a team of education professionals appointed by the education bureau. The list of the publishers and the textbooks has been made public on the bureau's website. The bureau said it recommends schools to adopt textbooks that had completed the consultancy. Aristo Educational Press, a publisher once heavily criticized for providing "poisonous information" in favor of pro-secessionist groups, was among the publishers that undertook such a review and made revisions to its textbooks. In the rule of law section of the book, the publisher crossed out a statement saying "It is widely believed that [Hong Kong] society upholds separation of three powers." As a matter of fact, Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, adopts an executive-led governance model. In another textbook published by the Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co, the revised version added that if protestors violate the laws, they will be held legally accountable. Media also reported that other information, such as that the robust economic development of the mainland will offer great opportunities for Hong Kong residents, who are encouraged to participate in the country's development while identifying as both "Hongkonger and Chinese," is also included in the new revision. Tang Fei, a principal at Hong Kong's Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O), dismissed some Hong Kong media's misinterpretations of such changes as symbolic of the city government bending to the central government under political pressure, saying that such revisions are aligned with the true spirits of the liberal studies. Compared with textbooks on scientific subjects, the previous content on legal and social knowledge went too far for students and failed to prevent them from falling into the traps of opposition groups' propaganda, he noted. It is entirely untrue and pure propaganda to say that Hong Kong society widely believes in the so-called separation of three powers, and opposition groups used to implant ideas in textbooks to promote their political agenda among the youth, Tang explained. He believed that the revisions would omit such political rhetoric of the opposition and help train students to think in a critical and rational way. Former HKSAR government chief executive Tung Chee-hwa said in August 2019, when the city was haunted by riots and social chaos, that it was misleading content in the liberal studies curriculum that caused wide misunderstanding and even hostility against the Chinese mainland among Hong Kong youths, and such content had also confused their awareness of their identity. Cui Fandi contributed to this story. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Farmers in Ras al-Ayn are being forced to accept lower prices for their crops, because of marketing delays and corruption writes Zaman Al-Wasl. Two months after the harvest in the Turkish-held Ras al-Ayn region, farmers are still unable to sell their crops, amid complaints of the slow marketing process from Tel Abyad to Turkey during the past month. Buyers are exploiting the situation to push the farmers to sell at very low prices, with one trader, known as al-Boushi, going from buying wheat from farmers at 130 dollars to 125 dollars. Mohamed Issa, 50, was forced to sell his barley crop at 160 dollars (70 dollars/Kg) because of the delay. Issa said that the local council asked them to create a PTT account as a first step towards the marketing of their crops, without any results so far. Despite Turkey setting the prices at 1,175-1,650 Turkish lira per ton of wheat and 1000-1100 lira per ton of barley, buyers are not paying more that 350-360 Syrian pounds for the wheat crop. The delay in opening the border gate and the dispute over who should run it are a couple of the reasons for the hindrance. The taxes imposed on farmers are likely to be similar to the percentage specified in Tel Abyad, where the farmers are also complaining about the slow process due to corruption and favoritism towards products and merchants associated with the factions. By Aug. 10, 2020, 120 people had had their turns, while between 350400 trucks have been waiting for a week. The farmers who get their turn, deliver their crops to the Turkish Grain Board near the border gate, where specialists determine the purity and quality of the crop and fix a price. After 20 days of marketing, around 75 farmers received the price of their crops via the PTT bank account. The Syrian National Army, the Local Council and the Shamiya Front represented by the company Sanabel share 15 percent of the farmers crops in exchange for marketing them, which the farmers pay to avoid being exploited by merchants. 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. President Donald Trump has retweeted an audio recording that U.S. intelligence officials have described as being part of a Russian campaign to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, published earlier by MP Andriy Derkach, The Washington Post said. The leaked conversation, purportedly between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, dates from Feb. 18, 2016, also known as "Derkach's records," has been retweeted by Trump, the ezine says. The excerpt of it retweeted by Trump centers on the ouster of Ukraine's chief prosecutor, who had previously investigated the owner of a Ukraine energy company (Burisma) where Biden's son, Hunter, once held a board seat, The Washington Post said. In the conversation retweeted Sunday night by Trump, Poroshenko can be heard telling Biden that he had accepted the resignation of prosecutor Viktor Shokin "despite of the fact that we didn't have any corruption charges, we don't have any information about him doing something wrong." Earlier, Ukrainian MP Derkach released audio materials with voices similar to those of Poroshenko and Biden, which may indicate Biden's influence on the fifth president of Ukraine. Among the topics discussed were the increase in tariffs by 100% instead of 75%, the dismissal of Prosecutor General Shokin in exchange for loan guarantees worth $1 billion, the conversation of people with voices similar to those of Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, etc. CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / Prospera Energy Inc. ("Prospera" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:PEI)(FRA:OF6A) Prospera wishes to update and advise shareholders on a key acquisitional agreement. The Corporation is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Agreement whereby Prospera Energy is increasing its total asset holdings and interest at the Hearts Hills and Luseland properties. On August 17, 2020 Prospera has signed an agreement for the acquisition of an additional 40% net working interest from participating interest holders in the southwest Saskatchewan Hearts Hills and Luseland properties. The purchase price will be satisfied by a reduction of the vendors arrears for operational costs of $1,017,711.00, subject to normal accounting adjustments. Prospera will now increase its overall net working interest in these properties from 50% to 90%, a 450% increase from the 20% net working interest that was originally acquired on June 11, 2018. The properties are located approximately 330 kilometers east of Calgary. The Corporation remains the operator of all wells and facilities on the Properties and is continuing the accelerated development of production on all properties through further well reactivations and workovers. Prospera will be issuing a further update to shareholders when the transaction closes. Prospera further announces that at the Corporation's annual general meeting of shareholders, held on June 29, 2020, in Calgary, it has granted and issued an aggregate of 800,000 incentive stock options. A director of the Corporation, Mel Clifford, has been issued 300,000 options and two of the Corporation's consultants have been issued 250,000 options each. The stock options were granted in accordance with the Corporation's stock option plan and are exercisable for a period of five years from the date of issuance at an exercise price of $0.05 per share. About Prospera Prospera Energy Inc. is a Canadian natural resource Corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and gas properties with operations in Alberta and western Saskatchewan. For further information: Sarshar Ahmad Interim Chief Executive Officer & Director Email: sahmad@prosperaenergy.com Tel: (403)454-9010 Website: www.prosperaenergy.com Production volumes are commonly expressed on a barrel of oil equivalent ("BOE") basis whereby natural gas volumes are converted at a ratio of six thousand cubic feet to one barrel of oil. The intention is to convert oil and natural gas measurement units into one basis for improved analysis of results and comparisons with other industry participants. The term BOE may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. The conversion ratio is based on an energy equivalent method and does not represent an economic value equivalency at the wellhead. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Corporation and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Corporation, are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements Although Prospera believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Prospera can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward- looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Prospera. As a result, Prospera cannot guarantee that any forward- looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward- looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Prospera does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by Canadian securities law. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Prospera Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602352/Prospera-Increases-its-Interest-in-Saskatchewan-Oil-and-Gas-Properties It would seem that Western Canada is a victim of its own success when it comes to the public health battle against COVID-19. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/8/2020 (518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It would seem that Western Canada is a victim of its own success when it comes to the public health battle against COVID-19. Round about the month of June, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia were all experiencing a notable decline in new coronavirus cases, even as the virus continued to rage in Ontario and Quebec. Our neighbours in Saskatchewan, much like here in Manitoba, were announcing a relatively small numbers of cases generally fewer than four between May 21 and June 16. And although Alberta and B.C. numbers were somewhat higher in those weeks, Alberta was well down from its peak of 336 cases set on April 23 to more manageable numbers in the 20s and 30s. B.C. too was way down in the teens from its March 25 high of 91 cases. And in Manitoba, there were several days in May, June and July that we saw no new cases at all. In fact, for a 13-day stretch of zero new cases, it almost felt as if we had beat it. Western Canada had flattened that curve, we thought, and we were congratulating ourselves on our hard work and our adherence to the public health recommendations of good hand hygiene, staying home and social distancing. And so Manitoba entered Phase 3 of the provinces "roadmap for recovery" on July 21, which dropped the requirement of residents of and visitors to the other three Western provinces, as well as northwestern Ontario, the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut territories where numbers have been consistently low. Fast-forward several weeks later and all four Prairie provinces are experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases. As Macleans magazine reported Tuesday, in the seven days ending Aug. 17, the four provinces reported a total of 1,558 new cases, or 56.5 per cent of the national tally. "In the three weeks between July 26 and Aug. 15, these four provinces reported 55 deaths," Macleans wrote. "In contrast, Ontario, which has 38 per cent of the population, reported 33 deaths." The news magazine suggested that at least part of the reason for Ontarios lower numbers is that nearly all of Ontarios population lives in areas that have mandates requiring masks be worn in public or commercial spaces. Contrast that with the fact that only approximately 60 per cent of Albertans are under similar mask mandates, and that B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba dont have mask requirements in their respective municipalities at all ... at least not yet. These numbers are compounded by a recent poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute that found that about three in 10 residents in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are more likely to be "cynical spreaders" those who flout pandemic guidelines, socialize with larger groups (including strangers) and reject the use of masks in society. The survey of 1,500 Canadians also collected data from groups they call "infection fighters," who follow all recommendations, and "inconsistent" fighters, who are more strict on hygiene restrictions but may be more lax on other rules. Manitoba tied with British Columbia for having the most people in the "inconsistent" group in the country, at 42 per cent of those surveyed in these two provinces. Most disturbingly, the survey found that Manitoba is the second-worst province in the country when it comes to its percentage of "cynical spreaders," beaten only by Saskatchewan in that sense, and tying with Alberta. The poll results also suggest that those who voted for the federal Conservative party were four times more likely to be in the "cynical spreaders" group, meaning that like in the United States it seems that how Canadians view the pandemic and our governments response to it has broken down along party affiliations. As of Tuesday afternoon, with the addition of another 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the province, our total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba reached 748. While the gross number of cases is relatively small in comparison to those of Alberta or even those of Ontario and Quebec, as of Mondays count, Manitoba held the second-highest number of active cases numbers per capita of all the provinces and territories. Alberta had the highest per capita number. Last week, Dr. Brent Roussin stated that Manitoba had lost sight of the fundamentals physical distancing, handwashing, etc. and suggested that "all Manitobans should be ensuring they have access to a mask." You may also recall that the province announced a new paid advertising campaign last week called #RestartMB that is touting the provinces "roadmap to recovery" from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time it was announced one week ago, the Pallister government had already spent $250,000 on the campaign in radio spots and erecting billboards, with plans to further purchase print and digital ads. The campaign suggests that Manitoba is both "ready for what lies ahead" as in a return to school and restarting services, but also calls for Manitobans to continue to follow public health advice. If the per capita numbers and the poll numbers mentioned above are accurate and we have little reason to dispute them the province may want to focus more on the second part of that messaging, for apparently several months of messaging by Dr. Roussin and his team as well as our Tory premier didnt take with far too many of us. A Peace Party leader was arrested for allegedly making indecent remarks against Hindu gods and goddesses, police said on Wednesday. The Peace Party leader was arrested after registration of a case against him on people's complaint that his social media post had the potential to disturb communal harmony, said City Circle Officer T N Dubey. "Peace Party's district president Mohammad Shakeel Khan was arrested on Tuesday. He had made indecent remarks against Hindu gods and goddesses on social media," he added. Dubey said the case against Khan was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Informational Technology Act. Khan has been remanded in judicial custody after his arrest, he said. Indian space technology startup Pixxel on Wednesday said it has secured Rs 37 crore in seed round funding led by Blume, growX and Lightspeed. The company plans to use the fund to develop its first satellite, which is expected to be launched later this year, and accelerate development of the second satellite. Pixxel is planning to make and launch a constellation of 30 satellites between December 2022 to June 2023. "We have been able to manage a seed fund of USD 5 million (about Rs 37 crore ) from Blume venture, Lightspeed and growX venture. There is a follow-up investment from growX and Invendus Capital and Stanford Angels," Pixxel CEO Awais Ahmed said while sharing details of the project. The seed round funding also saw the participation of former President of satellite imaging company Planet Labs Ryan Johnson. "Johnson had founded Canadian earth imaging company Blackbridge which was acquired by Planet Labs. He will be joining our board now," Ahmed said. Pixxel had earlier raised $7,00,000 (about Rs 5 crore) in pre-seed funding from Techstars and growX ventures and others in June 2019. Ahmed said the entire operations of the company, including manufacturing of satellites and their launch, should cost in the range of Rs 220 crore to Rs 375 crore. The company will start monetising satellites from next year onward, he added. The company will use a Russian facility for the launch of the first satellite as processes in the country were taking time. Ahmed said the Indian government's move to allow participation of private companies is an encouraging step and the company will look to collaborate with Indian Space Research Organisation, once their system for private entities is ready. "People at ISRO have been more receptive to ideas now. We will look to collaborate with them for our future launches. We look forward to building from India for not only this country but the world," Ahmed said. Company announcement No. 16/2020 19 August 2020 Decisions of Extraordinary General Meeting and new members of Audit Committee Today, at 09:00 CEST, Netcompany Group A/S (Netcompany) held an Extraordinary General Meeting at the Companys headquarters, Grnningen 17, DK-1270 Central Copenhagen, Denmark. At the Extraordinary General Meeting, the following was approved: Election of Hege Skryseth and Asa Riisberg as new members of the Board of Directors. The amended Articles of Association. As previously informed, Robbert Kuppens has chosen to resign from the Board of Directors in connection with the Extraordinary General Meeting due to personal health issues. After the Extraordinary General Meeting, a board meeting was held to appoint members of the committees of the Board of Directors. Following the meeting, the Board of Directors is composed as follows: Bo Rygaard, Chairman of the Board of Directors, member of the Nomination Committee, and member of the Remuneration Committee Juha Christensen, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Nomination Committee, Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, and member of the Audit Committee Scanes Bentley, member of the Board of Directors and member of the Audit Committee Hege Skryseth, member of the Board of Directors Asa Riisberg, member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee Additional information For additional information, please contact: Netcompany Group A/S Thomas Johansen, CFO +45 51 19 32 24 Tine Kosmider Boye, General Counsel +45 24 91 75 33 Attachment The Congress and the CPI (M) units in Bengal have christened portions of a Covid centre jointly built by them in Kolkata after veteran leaders from both the parties in a sign of growing closeness between the two in the build-up to the state polls next year. Political experts see this as an initiative by the two parties to take their bonhomie a notch higher in a bid to emerge as a third alternative to the ruling Trinamool Congress and the key opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2021 elections. The Covid centre, in the Dum Dum area, has been developed by the two parties and the project was overseen by the local CPI (M) MLA Tanmoy Bhattacharya. The wards will be inaugurated on Wednesday afternoon. While the treatment unit (a liaison cell to help Covid patients get proper treatment and support their families) and the safe home have been named after Shyamal Chakraborty and Sankar Sen, former veterans of the CPI (M) who died recently, the oxygen supply unit has been named after Somen Mitra, veteran Congress leader who passed away on July 30. The CPI (M) has always shared a cordial relation with the Congress in Dum Dum. This initiative would further boost the friendship, said Bhattacharya. The BJP took a dig at the new centre saying that first the CPI (M) leaders should get clearance from the government. They are naming a child who is yet to be born. Will the government give clearance to such centres? The health minister should answer this first, said Rahul Sinha, national secretary of BJP. The Trinamool too panned it as a publicity stunt. It would have been better had they named the three sections after three stalwarts of three parties the CPI (M), the Congress and the BJP - because they are all the same. They have done nothing for the people in the past 34 years and now doing some publicity stunts fully aware that such centres mean nothing without government clearance, said Chandrima Bhattacharjee, minister and senior TMC leader. Mitra, during his tenure as Bengal Congress president, remained a staunch proponent of a Left-Congress tie-up, both while organising a joint movement on the streets and also in the elections. Since going solo and the disastrous results that followed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI (M) and the Congress are gearing up in the state to put up a united fight in the state polls up ahead, which will likely see a high-octane battle between the TMC and the BJP. The CPI (M) and the Congress top leaders in the Assembly - Sujan Chakraborty and Abdul Mannan, respectively - have been frequently seen together over the past few months. A few months ago, the Congress supported the Left in the Rajya Sabha elections to get the CPI (M)s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya elected. Political analysts see in the CPI (M)s overture to the Congress, the CPI (M) Bengal chapters keenness in contesting the elections together, even though the Marxist partys central leadership has repeatedly blocked any formal alliance in Bengal because they fight the Congress in other states, especially Kerala. The two parties, which were once arch-rivals in the state and elsewhere too, are now seeking each other out. This bonhomie began in 2016 when the vote share of both parties started dwindling. While the CPI (M)s vote share took a nosedive from 30% during the 2011 assembly elections when the TMC ended the 34-year-rule of the Left rule in the state to around 6.3% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls; the Congress vote share too has plummeted and has come down to 5.6% in 2019 from 9% in 2011. A senior CPI (M) leader who did not want to be identified said that both parties have realised from the outcome of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that sticking together is of utmost importance to save the party organisations from the TMC and BJP. Former West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra and CPI (M) politburo member Biman Bose had decided that alliance between the two parties would not be just for the sake of elections but to address the grievances of people of Bengal. This initiative would definitely boost the relation, said Amitabha Chakraborty, a senior Congress leader. But over the past few months the relation between the two parties have soared to new highs with the Left Front leaders going to Bidhan Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Congress committee, to offer tributes to the former West Bengal chief minister and legendary doctor Bidhan Chandra Roy on his birth anniversary. Somen Mitra played a crucial role in forging an electoral understanding of left parties and the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Also Congress MLA Asit Mitra attended Shyamal Chakrabortys remembrance ceremony at the CPI (M) state office. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Democratic Party on Tuesday officially nominated Joe Biden as candidate for US Presidential Elections 2020. Confirming the news, Biden tweeted, "It is the honor of my life to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America." It is the honor of my life to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States of America. #DemConvention Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 19, 2020 Former Vice President Biden appeared on camera after he officially succeeded in garnering enough delegates to be declared the Democratic presidential nominee. "Well, thank you very, very much, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family, and I'll see you on Thursday. Thank you, thank you, thank you," Biden said in his address to his supporters. Biden ended the roll call with a total of 3,558 delegates, compared to 1,151 which went in Bernie Sanders' favour. Notably, Biden and Sanders were the only two candidates nominated on the ballot. During the roll call, delegations from 57 states and territories exercised their franchise to nominate candidates based on the results of the presidential primaries. According to ABC News, this year, the roll call includes delegates, parents, teachers, small business owners, essential workers, activists and elected leaders inside businesses, living rooms and in front of iconic landmarks. Before the roll call, former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton offered their support for Biden. "When I ran for president in 1976, Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate. For decades, he has been my loyal and dedicated friend," Carter said. "Joe has the experience, character, and decency to bring us together and restore America's greatness. We deserve a person with integrity and judgment, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people." Chinese Publisher Removes Burke's French Revolution Book From Shelves 2020-08-18 -- A publishing house in China has withdrawn a series of overseas nonfiction books including Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, in the latest incidence of sweeping book censorship by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The books were taken down from online sales sites after the Jiangxi People's Publishing House recalled the series, "Translated Classics of Western Conservatism," earlier this month. The books were shown as sold out on the JD.com sales platform and auction site Taobao, according to an investigation by RFA's Cantonese Service. Qian Yuejun, chief editor of the Chinese-language newspaper Europe China Guidance, said the move is highly likely to have been made on the orders of government censors. He drew parallels with the burning and banning of books in 1933 Nazi Germany, and with book-burning by China's first emperor Qin Shihuang [259-210 BC]. Qian said Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping is widening a nationwide crackdown on cultural products. "They must remove any books that could inspire people to think rationally and independently about society," Qian said. "Xi Jinping wants to return to the political horror of the Cultural Revolution [1966-1976]." Swedish writer and translator Chen Maiping, known by his pen-name Wan Zhi, said the series isn't the first by Western intellectuals to be banned under Xi. "Xi Jinping is particularly fearful that the CCP could fall, much as the Communist Party did in the Soviet Union," Wan said. "He has said that he wants to learn lessons from the fall of the Soviet Union." "He has believed ever since taking power that some publications must be banned in order to protect the party's grip on power." Wan said there was a slightly more liberal approach under former president Hu Jintao and his premier Wen Jiabao, who stepped down to make way for Xi in late 2012. "Xi Jinping's thinking is basically stuck in the Mao Zedong era, and it's all about hanging onto power," Wan said. 'Books sold out' An employee who answered the phone at the Jiangxi People's Publishing House initially claimed that the books were sold out, but later said the publisher hadn't ordered the withdrawal of the books itself. As well as Burke's Reflections, the series had also included works by U.S. libertarian Albert Jay Nock, British abolitionist James Stephen, French moralist Joseph de Maistre, and conservative philosopher Richard M. Weaver, as well as God and Man at Yale, a 1951 work by William Frank Buckley Jr., and The Conservative Mind (1953) by Russell Kirk. On Aug. 10, government censors also withdrew A Child's History of the World and other titles by V.M. Hillier, published by the Guizhou Educational Publishing House, which talked about China as the source of the Black Death that drastically reduced European populations in the Middle Ages. The publishing house has been ordered to undergo "rectification." In March, government censors removed books by 2010 Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa from the shelves after the Peruvian author made comments about the coronavirus having come from China. In October last year, the ministry of education issued "clean-up and review action" in libraries across the country, after which the Zhenyuan county government library in Qingyang city, Gansu province removed 65 books from its shelves. The incident caused a public outcry after a staff member was filmed shredding and burning the books at the library gates. Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content August not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Such boxes have been used with success for several years in states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado that rely largely or entirely on ballots that must be sent in. But their use is being expanded because of the coronavirus outbreak and, more recently, concerns about the post offices ability to do its job. Advertisement Bill Clinton directly attacked President Donald Trump as incapable of doing the job Tuesday night, accusing him of spending hours a day watching TV and playing around on social media instead of combating COVID. 'If you want a president who defines the job is spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man,' Clinton said during his speech on the second night of the Democratic National Convention. President Trump spends several hours a day in 'executive time,' as was revealed last year in a report on his private schedule. It's rare to see an early morning event on his public schedule, which does not reflect all of a president's activities. An early riser, Trump tweets several times a day, most days of the week. And many of those tweets refer to news stories that had aired recently on his favorite networks Fox News and OAN. Clinton, who spent eight years in the Oval Office in the 1990s, criticized the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic, blaming Trump's lack of action for the high infection rate in the United States, where 5.49 million have had the virus and more than 171,000 have died. 'Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards. COVID doesn't respond to any of that. To beat it, you've got to go to work and deal with the facts,' Clinton said. Clinton was one of two former president to endorse Biden, with Jimmy Carter, 95, delivering an audio message with his wife Rosalynn saying: 'Joe has the experience, character and decency to bring us together, to restore America's greatness. We deserve a person with integrity.' Clinton spoke just before Joe Biden was officially declared the Democratic candidate to take on Trump and on a night which saw another virtual event, with Jill Biden ending with a personal endorsement of her husband, presenting him as a man who will both feel and heal a nation's pain. The party replaced the traditional roll-call with a virtual one from every state and territory, and also saw firebrand socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez given 60 seconds to formally nominate second-placed Bernie Sanders - which she pointedly did without mentioning Biden. And it rolled out endorsements of Biden by Colin Powell, George W. Bush's secretary of state, Republican defense secretary Chuck Hagel, a retired USAF lieutenant general, and Marie Yovanovitch, the ambassador to Ukraine whose firing was part of the events which led to Trump's impeachment. Clinton's speech was a searing indictment of the current president and a pointed break with the post-presidential tradition of not attacking successors. But it was timed at just five minutes, and places early in the two-hour line-up meaning it did not feature on network television coverage. The placement of one of the party's most significant figures far down the running order of the night was a reflection of his status in the wake of the Me Too movement, and in particular his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as his embrace of tough-on-crime policies and welfare crackdowns during his time in office. Hours before he spoke DailyMail.com revealed pictures of him being given a massage during a trip on the so-called Lolita express by an Epstein rape victim - another reminder of his association with the dead pedophile. Bill Clinton directly attacked the President Donald Trump in his convention speech, accusing him of spending the day watching TV and playing on social media The Trumps and Clintons at Donald and Melania's wedding reception in 2005, when the two couples were friends - before the rancorous 2016 election campaign which Trump won narrowly against Hillary Clinton Clinton also criticized President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, calling it chaos In contrast, Clinton called Joe Biden a 'a go-to-work president' Speaking on the day before his 74th birthday from his home in Chappaqua, New York, where he has been on lockdown for months, Clinton made the response to the coronavirus the heart of his prosecution of Trump. Voters give President Trump low marks for his handling of the pandemic. Clinton used the majority of his five minute speech to focus on Trump's response to the global health emergency. 'When he didn't like the expert advice he was given, he ignored it,' Clinton said of Trump. 'Only when COVID exploded and even more states that he encouraged people to wear masks. And then many more were dying.' 'When asked about the surging deaths. He shrugged and said, it is what it is, but didn't have to be this way,' he added. 'COVID hit us much harder than it had to.' Clinton also called the Oval Office a 'storm center' under Trump's tenure, attacking the president by name. And he will hit Trump where it hurts - his economic record. Trump likes to brag he created the best U.S. economy ever. 'Donald Trump says we're leading the world,' Clinton said. 'Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes - his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there,' he added. Left unsaid were parallels between the two presidents - both of them impeached, and both with questions over their private life and associations with Jeffrey Epstein - any mention of their former friendship, and any nod to its shattering when Trump ran against the former president's wife Hillary. Clinton then pivoted to Joe Biden, touting him as a 'go-to-work president.' 'Our party is united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide. Our choice is Joe Biden,' he said. He closed his pre-taped remarks by offering a stark contrast to voters in November. 'You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better. It's Trump's 'Us vs. Them' America against Joe Biden's America, where we all live and work together. It's a clear choice. And the future of our country is riding on it,' he concluded. Clinton's remarks aired after new pictures revealed Tuesday showed Clinton enjoying an intimate neck massage with a young Jeffrey Epstein victim in photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. The troubling pictures are an ill-timed reminder of Clinton's links to Epstein as the former President, 72, prepared to endorse Biden at the Democratic convention. Leading Tuesday's call-to-arms for voters was Bill Clinton, who has spoken at every Democratic convention since 1980. He memorably made the case for his wife Hillary Clinton in 2016 and for Barack Obama in 2012 - being so effective in his arguments Obama dubbed him 'the secretary of 'splaining stuff.' But Clinton, who had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky when he was president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by other women, will be in the convention spotlight for the first time since the #MeToo movement has gripped the country. Bill Clinton is seen enjoying a neck massage from a Jeffrey Epstein victim in never-before-seen photographs obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist, rubs her hands into his shoulders Davies said Clinton was a 'complete gentleman' on the trip as she described how the encounter occurred Long association: Bill Clinton met Donald Trump many times over the years - a point he did not address himself - including at a 2000 fundraiser Easy company: Bill Clinton posed with Donald Trump and his then girlfriend, now wife Melania Knaus, and (left) model Kylie Bax at the U.S. Open on Flushing Trump guest: Bill Clinton golfed at the Trump National in Briarcliff, New York, in 2008 with (from left) Ali Torri, Rudolph W. Giuliani - who had failed a presidential run that cycle - Donald Trump, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and to his right, an unnamed golfer, Joe Torre, and Billy Crystal Clinton, who is three years younger than Joe Biden, also has ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison while awaiting trial on additional charges. The former president rode Epstein's private jet in 2002 but had denied having a close relationship with him and said he knew nothing about Epstein's behavior with young girls. Bill Clinton has denied having a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and said he knew nothing about Epstein's behavior with young girls In the photos, Clinton sits comfortably and laughs as Chauntae Davies, then a 22-year-old massage therapist who acted as Epstein's personal masseuse, rubs her hands into his shoulders to get out the kinks in his neck. The images were taken when Clinton was on a humanitarian trip with Epstein to Africa in September of 2002. Davies said Clinton was a 'complete gentleman' on the trip. Davies, now in her early 40s, said of the massage pictures: 'Although the image looks bizarre, President Clinton was a perfect gentleman during the trip and I saw absolutely no foul play involving him.' She explained the massage happened when 'we had a stop-over for the jet to refuel and while we were in the terminal the ex-President was complaining of stiffness from falling asleep in his chair. The baggage Clinton carries and the party's shift toward new leadership resulted in a limited role for the former president on Tuesday: he was allotted five minutes and his speech was pre-recorded at his home in Chappaqua, N.Y. Bill Clinton spoke for Barack Obama at the 2012 Democratic National Convention - being so effective in his arguments Obama dubbed him 'the secretary of 'splaining stuff' Bill Clinton bowed to Barack Obama after the former president spoke on Obama's behalf at the 2012 convention Bill Clinton with Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia after she accepted the party's presidential nomination Hillary Clinton will address the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, giving one of the few live addresses of the virtual convention. Also speaking on Wednesday night are former President Barack Obama and Biden's running mate Kamala Harris. READ BILL CLINTON'S FULL ATTACK ON TRUMP Good evening. A presidential election is the world's most important job interview. At the end we hire a leader to help us solve problems, create opportunities, and give our kids better tomorrows. That's a tall order this year, with the COVID-19 outbreak on a path to killing 200,000 people and destroying millions of jobs and small businesses. How did Donald Trump respond? At first he said the virus was under control and would soon disappear. When it didn't, he was on TV every day bragging on what a great job he was doing, while scientists waited to give us vital information. When he didn't like the expert advice he was given, he ignored it. Only when COVID exploded in even more states did he encourage people to wear masks. By then many more were dying. When asked about the surge in deaths, he shrugged and said, 'It is what it is.' But did it have to be this way? No. COVID hit us much harder than it had to. We have just 4 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's COVID cases. Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea's, 2 1/2 times the United Kingdom's, and more than three times Japan's. Donald Trump says we're leading the world. Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple. At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changeshis determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there. Now you have to decide whether to renew his contract or hire someone else. If you want a president who defines the job as spending hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he's your man. Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards. COVID doesn't respond to any of that. To beat it, you've got to go to work and deal with the facts. Our party is united in offering you a very different choice: a go-to-work president. A down-to-earth, get-the-job-done guy. A man with a mission: to take responsibility, not shift the blame; concentrate, not distract; unite, not divide. Our choice is Joe Biden. Joe helped bring us back from a recession before, and he can do it again. In 2009, Barack Obama and Joe Biden started with the worst economy since the Great Depression and when they were done, they had delivered more than six straight years of job growth. What did Joe do? He accepted responsibility for implementing the Recovery Act. His work created a lot of new jobs and started many new companies in communities across America. Now Joe is committed to building America back again. How? He's given us smart detailed plans to invest in areas vital to our future: innovative financing for factories and small businesses; good jobs in green energy and conservation to combat climate change; a modern infrastructure that brings small town and rural America the connectivity and investment others take for granted; and a plan to ensure that Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, women, immigrants, and other communities left behind are full participants in the economy and our society. Joe Biden wants to build an economy far better suited to our changing world. Better for young people. Better for families, working and raising their kids. Better for people who lost jobs and need new ones. Better for farmers tired of being collateral damage in trade wars. Better for workers caring for the sick, elderly, and people with disabilities. Better because of a living wage, and access to affordable higher education and health care, including prescription drugs, childcare, a secure retirement, and paid family and medical leave. Joe won't just put his signature on a check and try to fool you into thinking it came from him. He'll work to make sure that your paycheck reflects your contribution to, and your stake in, a growing economy. In this job interview, the difference is stark. You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years: blame, bully, and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do: build back better. It's Trump's 'Us vs. Them' America against Joe Biden's America, where we all live and work together. It's a clear choice. And the future of our country is riding on it. Thank you. Advertisement Joe Biden is formally nominated as Democratic candidate for president - with a handful of balloons and just his wife and grandchildren after a virtual party roll-call live from every state and says: 'I'll see you on Thursday' Joe Biden was formally nominated as the Democratic Party presidential nominee Tuesday night, as the traditional roll call vote was done by video messages filmed all around the United States and territories. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania cast the Keystone State's votes in front of Biden's Scranton childhood home. While Sen. Bernie Sanders, who retained his delegates until tonight, stood with wife Jane Biden, in a field in Vermont as Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman announced that state's totals. Joe Biden celebrated officially earning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States Tuesday night from a school library in Wilmington, Delaware where his wife Jill used to teach Joe Biden (left) was formally nominated as the Democrats' presidential nominee Tuesday night after the roll call vote featured videos from around the nation Joe and Jill Biden's daughter Ashley and their grandkids can be seen tossing confetti at the newly named Democratic nomined at the school where Jill Biden will address Democrats Tuesday night Supporters around the nation were seen celebrating virtually once Joe Biden's nomination was made official Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania announced Pennsylvania's delegate count in front of Joe Biden's Scranton house Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper stood at Biden's favorite Wilmington Amtrak station to make the former vice president's nomination official In Indiana, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a former 2020 contender, announced his state's Democratic delegate total Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who became a national figure when he condemned Donald Trump's Muslim ban at the 2016 Democratic National Convention spoke on behalf of Virginia. 'He's a decent compassionate man,' Khan said of Biden. There were cameos from former Biden rivals: former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking from Indiana and Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaking from Minnesota and Rep. Tim Ryan speaking from Ohio. Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie cast their votes from an Iowa field, and asked for the country's help after the recent series of storms to damage the state. Rep. John Lewis was kept alive starting with the first votes, Alabama's, which Rep. Terri Sewell announced in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Washington, D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser stood on a building overlooking Black Lives Matter Plaza, the last public place Lewis was photographed. While State Sen. Nikema Williams, running for Lewis' Congressional district, spoke in front of a mural of the late congressman to cast Georgia's votes for the nomination. Some delegates cast their votes in front of famous landmarks, like Rep. Dina Titus did at the Las Vegas sign to represent Nevada. While North Dakota's delegate, Geraldine Waller, a meatpacking plant employee, was seemingly positioned in front of her house. 'They call us essential workers, but they treat us like expendable,' she said, arguing Biden would treat workers better. Another essential worker, Scheena Iyane Tannis, represented New York, shouting 'It's Joe Time!' In Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Trump held his disastrous June 20 rally, party leader Alicia Andrews brought up the Tulsa race riots as she cast her state's vote. College student Keely Sage cast Tennessee's votes from the historic Hermitage Hotel, where suffragettes cheered 100 years ago Tuesday when the state got the 19th Amendment, allowing some American women the right to vote, over the line. The tour of the U.S. ended back in Delaware as Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper stood at Biden's favorite Wilmington Amtrak station to make the former vice president's nomination official. In the Wilmington school where Jill Biden would later speak, Joe Biden and Jill feted with confetti from daughter Ashley and their grandchildren Finnegan Biden, Hunter Biden, Natalie Biden, Naomi Biden and Maisy Biden. 'Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. Means the world to me and my family. And I'll see you on Thursday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,' Joe Biden said. Earlier, former President Bill Clinton backed Biden by taking on President Donald Trump, accusing him of spending 'hours a day watching TV.' Clinton called Trump's Oval Office 'chaos.' Also, progressive firebrand AOC had helped nominate Sanders, who came up short in delegates and endorsed Biden in April. 'In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of healthcare out of a love of all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America,' Ocasio-Cortez said. Two prominent members of the Kennedy clan, President John F. Kennedy's namesake grandson Jack Schlossberg and daughter Caroline Kennedy, also endorsed Biden. TUESDAY'S DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION LINE UP Mayor of Milwaukee, Wis., Tom Barrett James Roosevelt Jr. and Lorraine Miller give the report of Credentials Committee Barney Frank and Maria Cardona give the report of the Rules Committee Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Dennis McDonough give the Credentials Committee report Keynote Address by 17 rising stars in party: Stacey Abrams, Tennessee State Senator Raumesh Akbari, Rep. Colin Allred, Rep. Brendan Boyle, Nevada State Senator Yvanna Cancela, f ormer State Rep. Kathleen Clyde, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, South Carolina State Senator Marlon Kimpson, Rep. Conor Lamb, Michigan State Rep. Mari Manoogian, Texas State Rep. Victoria Neave, Navajo President Jonathan Nez, Georgia State Rep. Sam Park, New Hampshire State Rep. Denny Ruprecht, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Actress Tracee Ellis Ross Former Acting AG Sally Yates Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador, daughter of President John F. Kennedy Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter Former President Bill Clinton Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez Bob King, former President of the United Auto Workers Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Senator Chris Coons Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester Roll Call Across America Activist Ady Barkan Former Secretary of State John Kerry Dr. Jill Biden Performance by John Legen Advertisement Despite the progressive and establishment divide, the Democratic Party has worked hard to maintain and present a united front as they prepare to nominate Joe Biden to become their candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November. The second night of the Democratic Convention opened with a keynote address as unconventional as the virtual event itself with 17 different speakers claiming Biden's ideas are a 'big f'n deal.' The diverse group of local, state and federal level political leaders issued their endorsement of Joe Biden and said what they feel he will do to improve their respective areas based on the key issues their constituents face. Most recognizable among the group of speakers considered rising stars within the Democratic Party was Stacey Abrams, a former representative in Georgia's House who lost her race for governor in the state in 2018. A large chunk of the multi-person keynote address focused on Biden's efforts to expand the Affordable Care Act. 'Joe's working to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. He'll make sure millions of people keep their coverage,' Texas Representative Colin Allred assured, adding he would give Medicare the ability to 'negotiate drug prices.' 'That's a big f'n deal,' Michigan State Representative Mari Manoogian said as shorthand for the expletive as she held up her hand like she were telling a secret. Her claim was repeated by four other speakers in unison: 'That's a big f'n deal!' 'Because Joe knows that we can't have a healthy economy if people can't afford healthcare,' former Ohio State Representative and current county commissioner in Portage County, Ohio Kathleen Clyde said. Donald Trump's campaign immediately went on the attack against the speakers, calling them the 'Radical 17' in a campaign email sent out immediately ahead of their remarks. 'Despite refusing to accept the results of her election, Stacey Abrams was chosen to lead a band of 17 'rising stars' in delivering the keynote address of the Democrat National Convention,' the campaign lashed out against the opening act of the second night of the convention. It continued: 'If this band of 17 radicals is the future of the Democrat Party, Americans should be very worried. They all hold far-left positions that are well outside the mainstream.' Abrams closed out the keynote address with a little less than two minutes of dedicated speaking time longer than most other politicians received without cutting to another. 'America faces a triple threat, a public health catastrophe, and economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality. So our choice is clear, a steady experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he's done before, or man who only knows how to deny and distract, a leader who cares about our families, or president who only cares about himself,' she said in contrasting Biden to Trump. The failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate who became the face of voter suppression was on the short list for Biden's running mate. In her short close, she took a shot at President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting and the crisis in the U.S. Postal Service by saying Biden will champion free and fair elections. 'He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them, or undermining our elections to keep his job in a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections for a public health system that keeps us safe for an economy that we build back better than before,' she said. Caroline Kennedy (left) and her son Jack Schlossberg (right) endorsed Joe Biden during Tuesday night's convention exhibiting the still-present divide between progressive and establishment Democrats The most noticeable face of them all was Stacey Abrams, the failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate who was once on the short list to become Biden's running mate New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her 60-second speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday evening to nominate progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as president Actress Tracee Ellis Ross emceed the night from Hollywood The second night of the Democratic Convention kicked off Tuesday with 17 local and state politicians delivering an unconventional keynote address where they said presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's ideas about healthcare are a 'big f'n deal' Democrats called their 17 speakers the 'next generation of party leaders' and made the unusual decision to have multiple speakers in a spot that was used as a springboard for other speakers. Past keynote speakers at Democratic conventions include Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ann Richards and Mario Cuomo. Playing emcee from Hollywood Tuesday night was 'Black-ish' star Tracee Ellis Ross, who introduced the evening's theme of 'leadership.' 'This unprecedented moment calls for leadership. Steady, inclusive, leadership,' she said. 'As a black woman I find myself at a crucial intersection in American politics. For far too long black female leadership in this country has been utilized without being acknowledged or valued,' Ross said. 'But we are turning the tide.' 'Hello Kamala,' Ross said with a smile, calling the nomination of the first black woman to a presidential ticket 'historic for anyone who believes in 'we, the people.'' Ross then described Biden and Harris as leaders who will bridge the country's burdened past to create a 'safe, equitable and even joyful future.' Jill Biden says Joe will 'bring us together and make us whole' as she goes all-in for her husband and new Democratic nominee from classroom where she taught Jill Biden said that Joe Biden would do for the country what he did for their family: 'bring us together and make us whole' because his 'faith is unshakable' in the American people. Biden delivered her virtual Democratic National Convention remarks Tuesday night from her empty old classroom at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware. She talked of her family's losses - Joe Biden's first wife and baby daughter and later their son Beau - and of the loss the U.S. is feeling from the coronavirus right now. 'This quiet is heavy,' she said, walking with the camera into the classroom that welcomed on the blackboard 'Dr. Jill Biden.' 'You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways. There's no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors,' she said. 'The rooms are dark and the bright young faces that should fill them are confined to boxes on a computer screen.' Jill Biden addressed Democrats Tuesday night from her former English classroom in Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware Joe Biden (right) walked out and greeted his wife Jill Biden (left) after she concluded her remarks Joe Biden (right) kisses his wife Jill Biden (left) on the head after she delivered her DNC remarks from her former Wilmington classroom On her Instagram page Tuesday, Jill Biden previewed that she planned to deliver her DNC address from her former Wilmington, Delaware classroom Jill Biden also shared some vintage yearbook photos from her time teaching English at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she'll address the nation Tuesday night Jill Biden shared several vintage photos of herself as a young teacher, as she plans to discuss how the coronavirus crisis has impacted schooling in the U.S. A candid photo shows a younger 'Mrs. Biden' helping a student with a book report. Jill Biden shared several photos from her time teaching at Brandywine in the run-up to her DNC speech Tuesday night She said she was 'heartbroken by the magnitude of this loss.' 'And the indescribable sorrow that follows every lonely last breath when the ventilators turn off,' she said. She never mentioned her husband's rival, President Donald Trump, once. Instead she introduced herself to the nation by talking about how when she met Joe Biden, he was a U.S. senator and a widower and father of two young sons, Beau and Hunter. 'I never imagined, at the age of 26, I would be asking myself: how do you make a broken family whole? Still, Joe always told the boys, 'Mommy sent Jill to us,' - and how could I argue with her?' Biden recalled. The former second lady said she figured out the answer - it was 'love' - and the same applied in a broader scope. 'How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding - and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith,' she said. She said her husband showed that strength in the days following Beau's 2015 death of cancer, as he was serving as vice president of the nation. 'Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror - take a breath - put his shoulders back -and walk out into a world empty of our son,' she recalled. 'He went back to work. That's just who he is,' she said. 'There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did it - how he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But I've always understood why he did it... He does it for you,' she continued. Biden called her husband's strength of will 'unstoppable.' 'And his faith is unshakable- because it's not in politicians or political partiesor even himself. It's in the providence of God. His faith is in youin us,' she said. Jill Biden (left) stands next to her husband Joe Biden (right) on Super Tuesday at a campaign event in Los Angeles, California. At that event, Jill Biden jumped in front of a protester who had tried to ambush the former vice president Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden appear on stage at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia four years ago at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill waves during a campaign rally at Eakins Oval in Philadelphia on May 18, 2019 As she concluded her remarks, she turned back to the imagery of the empty classroom. 'Yes, so many classrooms are quiet right now. The playgrounds are still. But if you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the air,' she said. She hinted that change could put her husband in the White House. 'We just need leadership worthy of our nation. Worthy of you. Honest leadership to bring us back together - to recover from this pandemic and prepare for whatever else is next,' Biden said. As she concluded her remarks, Joe Biden - who just officially earned the Democratic nomination - came out to compliment and kiss his wife. 'I'm Jill Biden's husband,' he said, a joke he often deployed on the campaign trail. 'You can see why she's the love of my life; the rock of our family. She never gives herself much credit,' the former vice president said, which cued a look from Jill Biden. 'But the truth is, she's the strongest person I know. She has a backbone like a ramrod. She loves fiercely, cares deeply.' The Democratic nominee told Americans to 'think of your favorite educator who gave you the confidence to believe in yourself.' 'That's the kind of First Lady, lady, lady, lady Jill Biden will be,' Joe Biden said. JILL BIDEN'S DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION SPEECH I have always loved the sounds of a classroom. The quiet that sparks with possibility just before students shuffle in. The murmur of ideas bouncing back and forth as we explore the world together. The laughter and tiny moments of surprise you find in materials you've taught a million times. When I taught English here at Brandywine High School, I would spend my summer preparing for the school year about to startfilled with anticipation. But this quiet is heavy. You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways. There's no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors. The rooms are dark as the bright young faces that should fill them are now confined to boxes on a computer screen. I hear it from so many of you: the frustration of parents juggling work while they support their children's learningor are afraid that their kids might get sick from school. The concern of every person working without enough protection. The despair in the lines that stretch out before food banks. And the indescribable sorrow that follows every lonely last breath when the ventilators turn off. As a mother and a grandmother, as an American, I am heartbroken by the magnitude of this lossby the failure to protect our communitiesby every precious and irreplaceable life gone. Like so many of you, I'm left asking: how do I keep my family safe? You know, motherhood came to me in a way I never expected. I fell in love with a man and two little boys standing in the wreckage of unthinkable loss. Mourning a wife and mothera daughter and sister. I never imagined, at the age of 26, I would be asking myself: how do you make a broken family whole? Still, Joe always told the boys, 'Mommy sent Jill to us,'and how could I argue with her? And so, we figured it out togetherin those big moments that would go by too fast Thanksgivings and state championships, birthdays and weddings. In the mundane ones that we didn't even know were shaping our lives: reading stories, piled on the couch. Rowdy Sunday dinners and silly arguments. Listening to the faint sounds of laughter that would float downstairs as Joe put the kids to bed every nightwhile I studied for grad school or graded papers under the pale yellow kitchen lampthe dinner dishes waiting in the sink. We found that love holds a family together. Love makes us flexible and resilient. It allows us to become more than ourselvestogether. And though it can't protect us from the sorrows of life, it gives us refugea home. How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understandingand with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith. You show up for each other, in big ways and small ones, again and again. It's what so many of you are doing right now. For your loved ones. For complete strangers. For your communities. There are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly dividedthat our differences are irreconcilable. But that's not what I've seen over these months. We're coming together and holding on to each other. We're finding mercy and grace in the moments we might have once taken for granted. We're seeing that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite. We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. That's the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now. After our son, Beau, died of cancer, I wondered if I would ever smile or feel joy again. It was summer but there was no warmth left for me. Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirrortake a breathput his shoulders backand walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That's just who he is. There are times when I couldn't imagine how he did ithow he put one foot in front of the other and kept going. But I've always understood why he did it. ...For the daughter who convinces her mom to finally get a breast cancer screening and misses work to drive her to the clinic. ...For the community college student who has faced homelessness and survived abusebut finds the grit to finish her degree and make a good life for her kids. ...For the little boy whose mom is serving as a marine in Iraq, who puts on a brave face in his video call, and doesn't complain when the only thing he wants for his birthday is to be with her. ...For all those people Joe gives his personal phone number to, at rope lines and eventsthe ones he talks to for hours after dinnerhelping them smile through their lossletting them know that they aren't alone. He does it for you. Joe's purpose has always driven him forward. His strength of will is unstoppable. And his faith is unshakablebecause it's not in politicians or political partiesor even himself. It's in the providence of God. His faith is in youin us. Yes, so many classrooms are quiet right now. The playgrounds are still. But if you listen closely, you can hear the sparks of change in the air. Across the country, educators, parents, first respondersAmericans of all walks of life are putting their shoulders back, fighting for each other. We haven't given up. We just need leadership worthy of our nation. Worthy of you. Honest leadership to bring us back togetherto recover from this pandemic and prepare for whatever else is next. Leadership to reimagine what our nation will be. That's Joe. He and Kamala will work as hard as you do, every day, to make this nation better. And if I have the honor of serving as your First Lady, I will too. And with Joe as president, these classrooms will ring out with laughter and possibility once again. The burdens we carry are heavy, and we need someone with strong shoulders. I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole. Carry us forward in our time of need. Keep the promise of America, for all of us. Advertisement John McCain's widow endorses Joe Biden for president at Democratic Convention tonight - after years of Donald Trump attacking her husband before and AFTER his death Cindy McCain spoke for Joe Biden on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, lending her voice to a video tribute to Biden's friendship with her late husband, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. She previewed it ahead of Tuesday night's event. 'My husband and Vice President Biden enjoyed a 30+ year friendship dating back to before their years serving together in the Senate, so I was honored to accept the invitation from the Biden campaign to participate in a video celebrating their relationship,' she wrote on Twitter that afternoon. She did not appear at the convention but made sure her voice was heard. Cindy McCain was the latest Republican to join the Democratic gathering after a number of prominent officials - former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, former New York Representative Susan Molinari and former GOP California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard who now runs Quibi. While she did not say specifically she was endorsing Biden for president, her participation in the video will be taken that way. It's her biggest support of Biden's candidacy and her first foray into the 2020 election. Cindy McCain speaks in a video that aired at Tuesday's Democratic convention, talking about Joe Biden's friendship with her late husband John McCain John McCain and Joe Biden met in the 1970s when McCain was assigned to be a military aide for Biden on a trip overseas - above a still from the video John McCain's voice is heard in the video joking he had to carry Joe Biden's bags on that trip but Biden shot back McCain never carried his bags The video is narrated by actress Octavia Spencer and is called 'An Unlikely Friendship' John McCain spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam; President Trump insulted him in 2015 when he said he didn't like people who are captured Democrats have pushed a unity theme in their convention, which became a fully virtual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic, selling Biden as a candidate who appeals to people across the political spectrum. Many of the speeches have question President Donald Trump's qualifications to hold the Oval Office while outlining Biden's credentials for the job. Actress Octavia Spencer narrated the video, which talked about how Biden, then a Delaware senator, met John McCain in the 1970s when McCain was assigned to be a military aide for him on a trip overseas. The video featured clips of John McCain's voice, including a segment in which he joked he had to carry Biden's bags, while Biden responded: 'The son of a gun never carried my bags. He was supposed to carry my bags but he never carried my bags.' The two men became friends, and the families would gather for picnics in the Bidens' backyard. John McCain and Joe Biden seen together in October 2017 when McCain received the Liberty Medal from Chair of the National Constitution Center's Board of Trustees John and Cindy McCain at the Ambrosetti International Economic Forum on September 1, 2017 in Cernobbio, Como, Italy 'They would just sit and joke. It was like a comedy show, sometimes, to watch the two of them,' Cindy McCain said in the video. She made her voice heard for Biden ahead of the Republican National Convention next week, where President Trump will be formally nominated for a second term. Trump and the late senator had a long history of enmity the president targeting McCain both before and after his death. In 2015, as a Republican presidential candidate, Trump said McCain - who spent five and half years in captivity during the Vietnam War - wasn't a hero 'because he was captured. I like people who werent captured.' In July 2017, McCain, in his last vote as a senator, angered Trump when he gave a dramatic thumbs down to vote against repealing President Obama's healthcare law. McCain was the deciding vote. When McCain died on a Saturday in 2018 after suffering from brain cancer, the Trump administration lowered the flag over the White House to half-staff but had raised it by Monday. There was a public outcry and the flag was eventually lowered again. Trump pointedly wasn't invited to McCain's funeral, which took place in Washington's National Cathedral. Instead McCain was eulogized by Obama, who defeated him in the 2008 presidential race with Biden as his running mate, and former President George W. Bush, who defeated McCain in the 2000 Republican presidential primary. Bill and Hillary Clinton were also in attendance as was a who's who in the political world. Biden gave a eulogy for McCain at a memorial service for him in Arizona ahead of his formal state funeral. Biden was a pallbearer for McCain during the service at Washington's National Cathedral. Even after his death, Trump continued to attack John McCain, going after him in March 2019 for his role in the Justice Department investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. During that contest, McCain received a copy of the unverified Christopher Steele dossier - which claimed that the Russians had blackmail material on Trump - and turned it over to then-FBI director James Comey. Later a longtime McCain aide, David Kramer, admitted he circulated it to several news organizations. And during Trump's May 2019 visit to Japan, the White House asked the U.S. Navy to move 'out of sight' the warship USS John S. McCain ahead of President Trump's visit to the shipyard at the Yokosuka Naval Base, where several American battleships were docked. The ship is actually named after three McCains who served in the Navy: the late senator, as well as his grandfather, John S. McCain Sr., an admiral during World War II, and his father, John S. McCain Jr., an admiral in the Vietnam era. Trump denied any knowledge of the request. Meghan McCain, in response, called the president a 'child' who will not let her late father rest in peace. 'Trump is a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life. 'There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won't let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes my grief unbearable,' she wrote on Twitter. Meghan McCain has been the fiercest critic of her father's legacy but Trump's insults after the senator's death grew so bad that the McCain's youngest daughter Bridget, 27, made a rare public statement in defense of her late father. Trump had complained in March 2019 during a visit to a manufacturing plant in Ohio that he didn't get thanked for giving McCain 'the kind of funeral that he wanted.' 'I endorsed him at his request and I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted, which as president I had to approve. I don't care about this, I didn't get a thank-you. That's okay. We sent him on the way. But I wasn't a fan of John McCain,' Trump said. In response the late senator's two daughters begged for the president to leave their dad and family alone with Bridget going as far as to call Trump a 'child' and saying he wasn't invited to senator's funeral because 'you could not be counted on to be courteous.' Senator John McCain participates in a reenactment of is swearing in ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden, inside the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill, with Cindy McCain Joe Biden consoled Meghan McCain during an appearance on 'The View' after her father was diagnosed with brain cancer Cindy McCain at her husband's flag-draped coffin as he lies in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on August 31, 2018 Biden consoled Meghan McCain during an appearance on 'The View' after her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. Meghan McCain, who has become a fiery Trump critic, has said Biden continues to reach out to her. Biden's son Beau died from the same cancer as John McCain in 2015. Meghan McCain has suggested shed be voting for Biden in November but Cindy McCain has pointedly stayed out of the presidential race. In April of last year, amid rumors that the McCains would wade into the election in support of Biden, Cindy McCain tweeted that Biden is 'a wonderful man and a dear friend of the McCain family.' 'However,' she added at the time, 'I have no intention of getting involved in presidential politics.' The video on Biden's friendship with McCain is one of a series of short documentaries created by Oscar Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim, who worked on 'An Inconvenient Truth,' the 2006 documentary on climate change that featured former Vice President Al Gore and won an Academy Award. AOC gets just 60 seconds at Democratic convention and does NOT mention Joe Biden as she formally nominates Bernie Sanders and praises his fight for 'social, economic and human rights Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her one-minute speaking slot during the second night of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday evening to nominate progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as president. 'In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of healthcare out of a love of all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America,' Ocasio-Cortez said. The New York representative seconding the motion came after labor leader and activist Bob King, also a proponent of the progressive movement, issued a nomination for Sanders. President John F. Kennedy's namesake grandson Jack Schlossberg and daughter Caroline Kennedy also made a side-by-side virtual appearance for the convention where they blessed Biden with the Camelot endorsement. 'Once again, we need a leader who believes America's best days are yet to come, we need Joe Biden,' Schlossberg said, after footage of his grandfather's 1960 address before the DNC played. Caroline Kennedy said she'd known Biden since 1974, when she served as a Senate intern. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used her 60-second speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday evening to nominate progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as president Despite the progressive and establishment divide, the Democratic Party has worked hard to maintain and present a united front as they prepare to nominate Joe Biden to become their candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November. Ocasio-Cortez spoke from Washington, D.C. where she touted the progressive movement, which she said would establish '21st century social, economic and human rights.' This includes, according to her brief remarks, 'guaranteed healthcare, higher education, living wages and labor rights for all people in the United states.' Following Ocasio-Cortez seconding Sanders' nomination, the rest of the states and U.S. territories participated in the roll call. The roll call is when a representative of all the respective states' delegates officially name the candidate they are nominating for president in this case, Joe Biden, with a flurry of other votes coming in for Sanders. Democrats' roll call vote to nominate Biden took place virtually around the country this year. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania cast the Keystone State's votes in front of Biden's childhood home in Scranton. While Sen. Sanders, who retained his delegates until tonight, stood with wife Jane in a field in Vermont as Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman announced his home state's totals. Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who became a national figure when he condemned Donald Trump's Muslim ban at the 2016 Democratic National Convention spoke on behalf of Virginia. 'He's a decent compassionate man,' Khan said of Biden. There were cameos from former Biden rivals: former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking from Indiana, Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaking from Minnesota and Rep. Tim Ryan speaking from Ohio. Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie cast their votes from an Iowa field, and asked for the country's help after the recent series of storms to damage the state. Rep. John Lewis was kept alive starting with the first votes, Alabama's, which Rep. Terri Sewell announced in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser stood on a building overlooking Black Lives Matter Plaza, the last public place Lewis was photographed. While State Sen. Nikema Williams, running for Lewis' Congressional district, spoke in front of a mural of the late congressman to cast Georgia's votes for the nomination. Some delegates cast their votes in front of famous landmarks, like Rep. Dina Titus did at the Las Vegas sign to represent Nevada. While North Dakota's delegate, Geraldine Waller, a meatpacking plant employee, was seemingly positioned in front of her house. 'They call us essential workers, but they treat us like expendable,' she said, arguing Biden would treat workers better. Following Ocasio-Cortez's remarks, the convention launched into its roll call where delegates from all 50 state and U.S. territories nominated Joe Biden as president. Here Rep. Dina Titus announced the delegate count at the Las Vegas sign to represent Nevada Former South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (left) and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (right), both former Democratic rivals in the primary against Biden, announced their delegate counts Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who retained his delegates until tonight, stood with wife Jane (right) in a field in Vermont as Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman announced Vermont's state totals Another essential worker, Scheena Iyane Tannis, represented New York, shouting 'It's Joe Time!' In Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Trump held his disastrous June 20 rally, party leader Alicia Andrews brought up the Tulsa race riots as she cast her state's vote. College student Keely Sage cast Tennessee's votes from the historic Hermitage Hotel, where suffragettes cheered 100 years ago Tuesday when the state got the 19th Amendment, allowing some American women the right to vote, over the line. The tour of the U.S. ended back in Delaware as Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper stood at Biden's favorite Wilmington Amtrak station to make the former vice president's nomination official. In the Wilmington school where Jill Biden would later speak, Joe Biden and Jill feted with confetti from daughter Ashley and their grandchildren. The second night of the Democratic Convention opened with a keynote address as unconventional as the virtual event itself with 17 different speakers claiming Biden's ideas are a 'big f'n deal.' The diverse group of local, state and federal level political leaders issued their endorsement of Joe Biden and said what they feel he will do to improve their respective areas based on the key issues their constituents face. Most recognizable among the group of speakers considered rising stars within the Democratic Party was Stacey Abrams, a former representative in Georgia's House who lost her race for governor in the state in 2018. A large chunk of the multi-person keynote address focused on Biden's efforts to expand the Affordable Care Act. 'Joe's working to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. He'll make sure millions of people keep their coverage,' Texas Representative Colin Allred assured, adding he would give Medicare the ability to 'negotiate drug prices.' 'That's a big f'n deal,' Michigan State Representative Mari Manoogian said as shorthand for the expletive as she held up her hand like she were telling a secret. Her claim was repeated by four other speakers in unison: 'That's a big f'n deal!' Donald Trump's reelection campaign sent out a statement denouncing the speakers as the 'Radical 17,' and included descriptions for each of them on some of their most progressive, or radical perspectives 'Because Joe knows that we can't have a healthy economy if people can't afford healthcare,' former Ohio State Representative and current county commissioner in Portage County, Ohio Kathleen Clyde said. Donald Trump's campaign immediately went on the attack against the speakers, calling them the 'Radical 17' in a campaign email sent out immediately ahead of their remarks. 'Despite refusing to accept the results of her election, Stacey Abrams was chosen to lead a band of 17 'rising stars' in delivering the keynote address of the Democrat National Convention,' the campaign lashed out against the opening act of the second night of the convention. It continued: 'If this band of 17 radicals is the future of the Democrat Party, Americans should be very worried. They all hold far-left positions that are well outside the mainstream.' Abrams closed out the keynote address with a little less than two minutes of dedicated speaking time longer than most other politicians received without cutting to another. 'America faces a triple threat, a public health catastrophe, and economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality. So our choice is clear, a steady experienced public servant who can lead us out of this crisis just like he's done before, or man who only knows how to deny and distract, a leader who cares about our families, or president who only cares about himself,' she said in contrasting Biden to Trump. The failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate who became the face of voter suppression was on the short list for Biden's running mate. In her short close, she took a shot at President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting and the crisis in the U.S. Postal Service by saying Biden will champion free and fair elections. 'He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them, or undermining our elections to keep his job in a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections for a public health system that keeps us safe for an economy that we build back better than before,' she said. Actress Tracee Ellis Ross emceed the night from Hollywood Democrats called their 17 speakers the 'next generation of party leaders' and made the unusual decision to have multiple speakers in a spot that was used as a springboard for other speakers. Past keynote speakers at Democratic conventions include Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ann Richards and Mario Cuomo. Playing emcee from Hollywood Tuesday night was 'Black-ish' star Tracee Ellis Ross, who introduced the evening's theme of 'leadership.' 'This unprecedented moment calls for leadership. Steady, inclusive, leadership,' she said. 'As a black woman I find myself at a crucial intersection in American politics. For far too long black female leadership in this country has been utilized without being acknowledged or valued,' Ross said. 'But we are turning the tide.' 'Hello Kamala,' Ross said with a smile, calling the nomination of the first black woman to a presidential ticket 'historic for anyone who believes in 'we, the people.'' Ross then described Biden and Harris as leaders who will bridge the country's burdened past to create a 'safe, equitable and even joyful future.' SAN DIEGO and LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Voxox, innovator in cloud communication solutions and operator for business communications systems for small businesses in the United States under Cloud Phone and VoxDirect brands, and Passage Telecom, a leading Nigerian ISP, today announced their partnership. As part of the agreement, Passage Telecom is white labeling Voxox Cloud Phone and is now offering the service in Nigeria under the brand, Business Call Solutions, complete with Nigerian telephone numbers. Voxox is partnering with operators worldwide to jointly operate the Cloud Phone solution. This is the first implementation of Voxox Cloud Phone on the African continent. Passage Telecom currently serves Nigerian customers with premium internet services. "Nigeria has 41.5 million SMEs and we are excited to partner with Passage Telecom to offer these businesses a simple, convenient and economical way to modernize their business phone communications," said Bryan Hertz, CEO, and co-founder of Voxox. "Cloud Phone and it's integral TextMeIn Text Message Marketing platform enable the micro businesses to work from anywhere, which is a critical capability during the Covid-19 pandemic and the following new normal. We look forward to working with Passage Telecom to further maximize the impact of Cloud Phone in the Nigerian market." Voxox is hosting Passage Telecom's service from its U.S. and European data centers and supports Passage local billing in Nigeria through a merchant payment gateway integration. Voxox UCPaaS (Unified Communications Platform as a Service) is integrated into Passage Telecom's network through SIP and SMPP connectivity. "Our goal is to enable small businesses in Nigeria to access enterprise-level products at an affordable price, Passage being one of those offerings in our suite of digital services. It is an incredibly useful solution for today's micro SMEs and entrepreneurs on-the-go, thanks to its host of work-oriented functions that easily turn any smartphone into a call center," said Seyi Akinseloyin, Passage Telecom's CEO "We are pleased to partner with Voxox to empower small businesses in Nigeria." Similar to Voxox Cloud Phone, Passage Telecom's Business call Solutions will enable small businesses to easily obtain business phone numbers that support unlimited extensions and advanced call routing capabilities and virtual receptionists. Users can receive calls on the mobile app or any phone in the world, make calls with the mobile app or directly using mobile phone service, manage call activity, settings through their portal, access features such as voicemail transcription, call recording, device transfer, and much more -- all within a sleek, web-based, and mobile user interface. No special equipment or advanced skills are necessary to use the service. Customers will be led to Passage Telecom landing page through digital marketing without any intervention by the operator staff. Once a Do-It-Yourself set-up is completed online, all that a user needs is a mobile phone to which the calls are routed. Passage will later introduce TextMeIn from VOXOX, text message marketing solution, which will enable the small businesses to prepare and launch bulk SMS campaigns, a service currently only available through specialized carriers to large enterprises. TextMeIn allows small businesses to stay in touch with their customers even when they are working remotely. Passage Telecom Business Call Solutions will leverage Voxox' patent-pending breakthrough VoIP codec , for crystal clear voice quality in poor bandwidth conditions. This is of extreme importance particularly in suburban and rural areas where internet connectivity and quality are less developed. For more information on Voxox solutions, please visit www.voxox.com and www.voxdirect.com . For more information about Passage Telecom, visit www.passagemobile.com.ng . About Voxox Voxox is an innovator and operator in unified cloud communication solutions for businesses. The foundation of the company's offerings is its award-winning Unified Communications Platform as a Service, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable applications and services. For end-users, Voxox provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including Vox Direct, Cloud Phone, as well as SIP Trunking, hosted PBX, and a wide array of wholesale services, such as high volume SMS. For service provider partners, Voxox delivers cutting-edge phone and text message marketing apps and services, including white-label versions of Cloud Phone and VoxDirect, small business solutions for global mobile operators. Voxox is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.voxox.com . About Passage Telecom Passage Telecom is one of West Africa's leading communications service providers. Its services are solutions to modern-day life's communications challenges and integral to everyday life. At Passage, the sole purpose is as simple as being ambitious, to deliver convenience, happiness, and peace through using the power of technology to make your business, family, and the world better. Passage Nigeria is a licensed ISP business in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, such as Ghana. Media Contact: Staci Wallace [email protected] +1.501.701.0412 SOURCE Voxox Related Links http://www.voxox.com It seems Saudi Arabia is in no mood to mend ties with Pakistan whose Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa who flew in to Riyadh to placate an angry Saudi leadership failed to secure a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to reports in Pakistan media. IMAGE: Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa is welcomed by Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, in Riyadh. Photograph: Handout via Reuters Bajwa along with the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), General Faiz Hameed, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday amid strained ties between the two countries. Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince. The decade-long friendship between both countries took a sharp turn when Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's issued a blunt warning to Saudi Arabia after the latter refused to act against India over Kashmir issue. On the first anniversary of revocation of Article 370 by India, Qureshi took Saudi Arabia to task in a TV interview for not obliging Pakistan over the issue of 'organising' a meeting of the Council of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers (CFM) on Kashmir in early February 2020. Qureshi's remarks revived Riyadh's anger, who has forced Pakistan to pay back $1 billion prematurely and is demanding another $1bn of the loan. Pakistan was reportedly paying 3.2 per cent interest on the loan and it has now arranged $1 billion loan from State Administration Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of China at London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 1 per cent, which at current rates comes to around 1.18 per cent. Pakistan may have to arrange similar easy loans to pay up the rest $2 billion to Saudi Arabia. Risking ties with Saudi will prove to be expensive for Pakistan. And Pakistan Military's desperation to improve relationships proves the same point. Riyadh has helped Islamabad many times including helping in paying for Pakistan's first batch of F-16 fighter aircraft in the 1980s and providing $6 billion loans that helped Pakistan tide over its balance of payments crisis just two years ago. Saudi Arabia had come to Pakistan's rescue in 2018 when it had agreed to provide $3.2 billion worth of oil on deferred payments per annum as part of its $ 6.2 billion packages to help Pakistan tide over its balance of payment crisis. The balance $3 billion was delivered as a cash-loan. Saudis had activated the deferred payment facility for three years from 1 July 2019, and the agreement signed in May had come up for renewal this year. However, the Saudis, visibly upset at Pakistan's behaviour, have possibly discontinued the arrangement. Among other things, Pakistan's tilt towards Turkey, Malaysia, and Iran, as also its growing economic and strategic dependence on China might have annoyed the Saudis. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 09:23:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAMAKO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, currently detained by mutinous Malian soldiers in a military camp, announced late Tuesday his resignation and the dissolution of the National Assembly and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse's government. "I have decided to quit my functions, all my functions from this moment ... I declare the dissolution of the National Assembly and the government," Keita said in a brief declaration broadcast by national television ORTM. "I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power," he added. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations condemned Tuesday afternoon the arrest of Keita by mutinous soldiers and demanded restoration of the constitutional order. Enditem Despite clear instructions from Forest Minister Anand Singh to postpone the public hearing for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, officials conducted the consultation meeting with a gathering of about 70 people on Tuesday. The Rs 15,111-crore project which affects thousands of people has been mired in controversy for years. The Bangalore Development Authority, the agency proposing the project, disclosed last month that 33,838 trees have to be cut for the eight-lane road and not 200 as declared earlier. After activists pointed out the dangers of holding a public hearing during the pandemic, the minister had instructed the officials to postpone the event. The KSPCB, which conducts the hearing, wrote to the Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner regarding the issue the same day. Much to the consternation of many, officials began the hearing at a convention hall in Singanayakanahalli on Tuesday morning. People who turned up at the hearing lambasted the KSPCB officials and the district administration for holding the event despite the minister announcing its cancellation the previous day. Farmer leader Mavallipura Srinivas said the PRR is useless since it is being built 15 km away from the Vidhana Soudha and 1 km away from BBMP limits. The 1.5 crore people living in the city are already suffering from air and water pollution and the PRR will not help anybody. It is better to drop this project which only benefits the realtors and industrialists, Srinivas said. He said farmers who lost 1,810 acres to the project have been suffering for 16 years. No survey had been conducted, no proper compensation given to them and the project report is unscientific, he said. Sachin Meega, of Karnataka Kisan Congress, said the project was proposed 15 years ago and the land acquisition also took place around the same time. The validity of a project is five years and authorities should have completed within that timeframe. In case of delays, they should start afresh. Environmentalists have already voiced their opposition to the PRR alignment which, apart from destroying the tree cover, also damages the TG Halli catchment and crosses five lakes. Vijay Kumar, an advocate from Doddaballapura, said the whole project was wrong. The competent authorities have not taken permission from central agencies, while officials suppressed the facts from the NGT and from the court. An activist from Citizens for Bengaluru said the consultation was a sham. The public isnt present here. The PRR drawings on the project for the public are inaccurate and at variance with the 2007 alignment, he said. Minister vows action Meanwhile, Forest Minister Anand Singh said two officials of the KSPCB who facilitated the meeting despite his instructions had been summoned for enquiry on Wednesday. We were told by the district administration that they went ahead with the hearing because they didnt get our letter in time. However, the KSPCB officials cant give such an excuse, he said. Singh said the deputy commissioner had assured him about holding a fresh public hearing. Bengaluru Urban DC G N Shivamurthy told DH all suggestions and opinions were recorded. The department will call another hearing and the issue will be discussed. Beijing, Aug 19 : The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on all relevant parties in Mali to work for the fundamental interests of the country and resolve differences peacefully through dialogue. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on the resignation of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who is currently being detained by mutinous soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported. Lijian said China is paying close attention to the situation in Mali and opposes the change of power through abnormal means, such as the use of force. He added that China supports the efforts of relevant regional and international organisations, especially the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mali. "We call on all relevant parties in Mali to restore normal order as soon as possible, and safeguard national stability and unity," said Lijian. As the coronavirus pandemic wears on with no end in sight, Tony Salvatore keeps hearing from more and more young adults in crisis. They call the Montgomery County Suicide Prevention Team hotline about having their work hours cut, losing their jobs, and not being able to find work as more businesses close. They call with their worries about not being able to graduate on time. They call because their colleges cant tell them what they need to know about maintaining scholarships or returning to classes. Young adults are totally overwhelmed by everything, said Salvatore, the chairperson of the team. Theyre not so much concerned about getting COVID-19 as they are about the effect that it has had on their lives and the lives of people around them. The increase in calls he has noticed over the last two months reflects how mental health among Americans has continued to deteriorate, especially among young adults, as well as in Black and Latino people of all ages. A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week found that among 5,400 respondents, nearly 41% reported at least one mental or behavioral health condition, such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma, or increased use of substances to cope. Anxiety symptoms reported between June 24 and 30 were three times as prevalent as the second quarter of 2019, and depression was four times as high. Young adults in particular were affected nearly 75% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 reported experiencing at least one behavioral or mental health symptom. A quarter of young adults reported that they had thought about suicide in June, compared with nearly 11% of respondents overall reporting they were seriously considering suicide in the 30 days before completing the survey, doubling pre-COVID-19 rates. Black and Latino people, caregivers, and essential workers were particularly vulnerable to such thoughts. READ MORE: How coronavirus affects young adults with chronic illnesses and rare diseases Hector Colon-Rivera, medical director of the Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha Inc. (APM) Behavioral Health Program, said mental health is worsening in Latino populations because of a lack of resources. He said Spanish-speaking communities often receive information later than English-speaking ones. That causes people to be anxious, said Colon-Rivera, whose nonprofit organization is dedicated to behavior and substance use disorder services in the Hispanic communities of the Philadelphia region. Its already hard for this community to be apart, coping with the fear of being infected. Not having information, or access to Spanish-speaking doctors over telehealth, increases someones chance of becoming depressed. Lily Brown, director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania, said it was not surprising that social isolation is affecting the mental health of young people. Forging and maintaining social connections is extremely important to a sense of independence in late adolescence to early adulthood, Brown said. A lot of folks in this age range are facing fears about what their future is going to look like. People feel like this time is ticking by, which has led to a tremendous amount of uncertainty, which really breeds anxiety. Plus, not having a firm work, academic, and social schedule can be a big predictor of depression, Brown said. Adolescence and young adulthood is when people learn how to effectively manage emotions and stressors, and having to learn how to do so in a less-than-ideal environment is extremely difficult. READ MORE: Americans are more likely to report mental health concerns related to the pandemic than other developed countries, survey finds Many people have a mental image of what theyre supposed to be doing, which they compare to what theyre actually doing. When those two images are off, there can be an effect on mental health, she said. Reality is totally different from the mental images people had just six months ago, Brown said. Theres really no end in sight for many of us. Young people are wondering, How long is this going to go on for? When can we really start to live our adult lives? And no one has a compelling answer. Brown said that if parents or caregivers notice that a young person is struggling, they should encourage them to consider teletherapy sooner rather than later. Changes in behavior can be a sign that someone needs professional help, she said. One of the biggest predictors that someones mental health is starting to take a hit is a lack of future planning, Brown said. We want to see young people thinking about their future, even if some of the pieces of the puzzle are missing right now. When youth start to think hopelessly about the future, thats when risk elevates. If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text TALK to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Detectives in Camden County are investigating a stabbing Tuesday outside Sahara Sams Oasis Water Park in Camden County. A domestic incident led to a stabbing outside the entrance to Sahara Sams yesterday around 12:30 p.m., Colby Gallagher, spokeswoman for the county prosecutors office, said in an email. The victim was taken from the Berlin Township water park to a local hospital. The persons condition was not immediately available Wednesday morning, but Gallagher said the prosecutors office is expected to have more information later in the day. A domestic incident occurred near our entrance today, Sahara Sams released this statement to the media. Our staff and security personnel acted promptly to ensure the safety of those involved and all of the guests at the park. The incident is unrelated to operations at the park and is being reviewed by the appropriate authorities. The water park was closed for the rest of the day, according to 6abc.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A central Pennsylvania man awaiting sentencing in a federal drug case cant be deemed a career criminal defender because federal and state laws regarding marijuana no longer sufficiently match, a U.S judge ruled Wednesday. For Emerson Miller, who had a 2008 conviction in state court for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, the ruling by Middle District Judge Christopher C. Conner will result in a much lower prison sentence on his guilty pleas to the federal cocaine distribution charges filed against him in 2018. In a broader sense, Conners decision could take the federal career offender designation off the table for other federal criminal defendants who have prior marijuana delivery convictions acquired under Pennsylvania law. Prosecutors in Millers cocaine case wanted to count his 2008 marijuana conviction in the calculation to have him declared a career offender and significantly boost his prison time. Conner concluded instead that the difference between federal and state law regarding the criminalization of marijuana puts Millers 2008 conviction off limits in the career offender equation. That argument had been made by defense attorney Ann E. Ariano. The key issue, the judge found, is that the definition of marijuana under Pennsylvania law is more broad than under federal law. Conner noted the 2018 federal farm bill removed hemp from the federal definition of marijuana, but Pennsylvania law contains no such exclusion. Put simply, Pennsylvania law criminalizes the possession of hemp under its marijuana statutes but federal law does not. That difference is significant enough to bar Millers 2008 conviction under Pennsylvania law from being considered in the federal career offender assessment, Conner found. When an element of a state crime sweeps more broadly than an element of the corresponding federal offense, the state crime cannot constitute a career offender predicate, the judge wrote. That is exactly what Pennsylvanias possession-with-intent-to-deliver marijuana law does. That is so even though Pennsylvania legalized some industrial hemp production in 2016 under the state Agriculture Code, Conner concluded. No such exemption existed when Miller was convicted of marijuana delivery eight years earlier, the judge noted, so the 2016 change cant be used as an excuse to designate him a career offender. Besides, he added, possession of hemp and nonmedical marijuana are still criminalized under the state law. The consequences of Conners decision can be measured in years for Millers case. Miller, who also pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing a firearm as a felon, could have faced up to 19 years in prison had he been declared a career offender, the judge noted. Without the career offender designation he would face up to 6 years behind bars. LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Britain's Royal Navy and NATO allies have escorted nine Russian navy warships during heightened levels of activity in the waters close to the United Kingdom, the navy said in a statement on Wednesday. "The Royal Navy demonstrated its flexibility in being able to shadow the Russian Navy units," said Commander Will Paston, Commanding Officer of the frigate HMS Westminster. "While the Russian Navy operated in a safe and professional manner, HMS Westminster combined with NATO-allied units across the North Sea and Baltic Sea to escort them throughout." (Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by William James; editing by Kate Holton) NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Local Media Consortium, a strategic alliance of leading local media companies, today announced the addition of 11 new members, including Impremedia, the leading news and information company serving the Spanish-speaking Latino community in the United States, publisher of La Opinion and El Diario. The new members increase the LMC's membership to 92 media companies representing more than 4,000 newspaper, TV, radio and online-only news outlets across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. In addition to Impremedia, the latest members to join the growing LMC membership base are Adams Publishing Group; Beasley Media Group; CHEK-TV (Victoria, B.C.); Editor & Publisher; Hubbard Broadcast; Narcity; Patch; Washington City Paper; Waterman Broadcasting and WISH-TV (Indianapolis). All companies are North American, with CHEK Media and Narcity based in Canada. By joining the LMC, the new members will have access to reduced costs and new revenue opportunities with top digital technology and service providers and advertising platforms. The LMC also provides members the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking initiatives such as the first ever privacy protocol for publishers, the Local News Advertising Inclusion List , the Branded Content Project and other resources. "We are always excited to add new media companies to our growing membership, and this year we are especially delighted to add two Canadian companies as well as Impremedia, whose brands include some of the most widely read and esteemed Spanish-language publications in the US," said Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC. "Supporting diverse newsrooms and underserved communities is important to the LMC and with the addition of Impremedia to our membership, we will help to support quality journalism that is vital to Hispanic communities across the US." Impremedia has a digital and print portfolio of trusted, influential brands that reach a highly engaged, multi-generational Hispanic audience. La Opinion, founded in 1926 in Los Angeles is the nation's leading Spanish-language daily newspaper, while El Diario, founded in 1913 in New York is the oldest Spanish-speaking daily in the United States. Impremedia also publishes La Raza in Chicago, La Opinion de la Bahia in San Francisco, and digital outlets such as Solo Dinero (the only personal finance website in Spanish that is based in the United States), and Para Ti Mujer. "Impremedia has informed and supported the Hispanic community in the US for more than 100 years, but like most media companies, it has faced revenue challenges in recent years," said Ivan Adaime, CEO of Impremedia. "We are excited by the opportunities available to Impremedia as a member of the LMC and look forward to collaborating and sharing best practices that will help keep trustworthy and ethical journalism thriving." The LMC's business and technology partners have been thoroughly vetted by the LMC and have a proven record of success with local media organizations. By harnessing its purchasing power to negotiate large money-saving and revenue-generating deals with these partners which include Google, Facebook, Piano, Zeus and Monster the LMC delivers significant ROI to its members. As a non-equity for-profit organization, the LMC is designed to exclusively serve its members with savings and revenue passed directly back to its members. About the Local Media Consortium The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships on behalf of 92 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 4,000 outlets. By harnessing the combined volume and scale of its members, the LMC reduces costs and increases revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. The aggregated LMC audience footprint spans more than 200 million monthly unique visitors and its member companies serve more than 25 billion ad impressions per month. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/ . Media Contacts: Thatcher+Co. Christina Gilham [email protected] Kristin Brocoff, 949-400-4899 [email protected] SOURCE Local Media Consortium Related Links http://www.localmediaconsortium.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Ombudsman Samuel Martires has ordered the suspension of 13 PhilHealth officials amid an ongoing probe into alleged corruption in the agency, according to a highly-placed source and copies of documents shared by a lawmaker. Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin on Wednesday shared images of the order signed by Martires, saying the following officials were to be put under presentive suspension for six months without pay: Roy B. Ferrer Celestina Ma. Jude dela Serna Ruben John A. Basa Dennis S. Mas Shirley B. Domingo Rodolfo Del Rosario Jr. Raul Cominic Badilla Israel Pargas Angelito Grande Lawrence Mijares Leila Tuazon Another order named the following suspended for six months: Roy B. Ferrer Ruben John Basa Clementine A. Bautista Angelito Grande Eugenio G. Donatos II It was not clear how Ferrer, Basa, and Grande would serve their suspensions. The highly-placed source told CNN Philippines the order was issued for serving on Wednesday, and that it stems from an old complaint and is not COVID-19 related. According to Section 24 of Republic Act No. 6770, the Office of the Ombudsman is allowed to issue preventive suspension without pay, "if, in the judgment of the Ombudsman or his proper deputy, the evidence of guilt is strong and (a) the charge against such officer or employee involves dishonesty, oppression or gross misconduct, or gross neglect in the performance of duty; or (b) the charge would warrant removal from the service; or (c) the respondent's continued stay in office may prejudice the just, fair and independent disposition of the case filed against him." Meanwhile, Senator Migz Zubiri welcomed the news on the suspension. In a message to reporters, he said, "That is great news! A small victory in our fight against the corruption in the Governments Health Insurance agency. I totally laud the Ombudsman on this." Zubiri filed a resolution on Wednesday asking the Office of the President to preventively suspend PhilHealth's top management and those involved in alleged corruption within the agency. PhilHealth is under intense scrutiny from lawmakers after key whistleblower Thorrsson Montes Keith, former anti-fraud legal officer of PhilHealth, accused key officials of stealing P15 billion from the agency using different fraudulent schemes. The amount covers alleged unauthorized release of interim reimbursement mechanisms, funds allocated for "fortuitous events" such as the pandemic, to hospitals that have not yet recorded COVID-19 cases. Officials with Old Saybrook-based Connecticut Port Authority went out of state to find a new executive director, announcing Tuesday they had selected a Maine man for the job. John Henshaw, who was the executive director of the Maine Port Authority for more than 10 years, will start in his new job Sept. 8 at an annual salary of $200,000. David Kooris, chairman of the Port Authoritys board of directors, said Henshaw was selected for his extensive experience dealing with maritime issues. Kooris noted that before Henshaws time with the Maine Port Authority, he was on the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Portland, Maine. Johns experience in working collaboratively with partners across local, state and federal government and his engagement with industry stakeholders will be important as we strengthen relationships with our local industry groups and communities, Kooris said. This hiring is the culmination of a yearlong effort to build a strong foundation within the CPA that ensures John has what he needs to be successful in forwarding the CPAs mission to grow Connecticuts maritime economy. Contributed photo Henshaws selection is the culmination of a yearlong makeover of the quasi-public agency that saw his predecessor, Evan Matthews, resign last October while on administrative leave that began during summer 2019. Matthews resigned after making widely reported comments critical of Gov. Ned Lamonts decision to step in and begin running the authority earlier in 2019 amid concerns regarding the authoritys finances. His resignation came after Bonnie Reemsnyder, chairwoman of the authoritys board, resigned amid news reports about the authoritys expenditure of $3,250 to purchase photographic office art from her daughter through a decorator. Scott Bates, who approved the purchase of the art, also resigned his seat on the board. Concerns about the authoritys finances led to an audit and public hearings by the state legislatures Transportation Committee. Henshaw said Tuesday that the authoritys new operating format, which came out of the investigation into the authoritys financial troubles, has created clear organizational similarities to those that have brought us success in Maine. Im confident CPA has been buttoned-up to the point where it can be successful, and I think we can make a tremendous impact on Connecticuts maritime future as we move forward, Henshaw said in a statement. There is a tremendous amount of maritime opportunity in Connecticut right now. Major investments to support port infrastructure and port operations are happening in all three of Connecticuts deepwater ports, all while there is a consistent interest in further investing in the small harbors and marinas that form the foundation of Connecticuts coastal culture. The authority was established by the legislature in 2014 in an effort to develop the states ports, both large and small, into more substantial economic drivers. The agencys biggest focus has been on the Port of New London, which state officials hope will be boosted by commitments to use the citys State Pier as a staging area for a wind power project that will be located halfway between Marthas Vineyard and Montauk, N.Y. The Revolution Wind project is a joint venture involving Eversource Energy and Dutch renewable energy giant Orsted. The partners have pledged $77.5 million to redevelop New London State Pier into a heavy-lift cargo and deep-water port. The day-to-day operations of the Port of New London are being run by New Haven-based Gateway Terminal. Connecticut Port Authority officials said Henshaw spearheaded the redevelopment of a derelict port terminal in Portland into a state-of-the-art small container operation, which created new shipping opportunities. Part of that effort included restoring rail service to Portlands port for the first time in 60 years. He also led efforts to build a modernized cold storage facility in support of Maines food and beverage industry. Henshaw said initiatives such as the authoritys Small Harbor Improvement Projects program will bring tremendous opportunity to their towns and municipalities (where those ports are located). Connecticut is already working on some incredible projects that are establishing it as a maritime leader in a variety of sectors, he said. Between the new energy opportunities and the already well-established aerospace and defense industries, we are looking at a period of solid growth for our maritime sector over the next decade. Officials with the Port Authority did not provide information regarding how many candidates had sought the position or how many finalists there were for the job. Members of the state Office of Policy and Management and Gov. Lamonts administration participated in interviewing candidates . Melissa McCaw, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, said OPM has worked to create necessary policies and procedures, rectify institutional deficiencies, and strengthen the organizational and functional framework to increase efficiencies, limit extraneous costs and activities, provide lucid guidelines for the agency, and enhance transparency. This work has led to a fresh start and a clean slate for the new executive director to take the reins in a stabilized environment, McCaw said. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Israel launches airstrikes against Hamas targets near Rafah crossing in Gaza Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 2:04 AM The Israeli regime's aircraft have carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hitting Hamas targets and infrastructure. The strikes have landed near the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning, according to Palestinian media reports. An Israeli spokesperson said in a statement that the regime's aircraft, including its jet fighters, attacked an "underground infrastructure" belonging to the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military claims the attack was carried out in response to incendiary balloons sent from the Gaza Strip into the occupied territories throughout the day. Earlier, the Israeli military's tanks had attacked a number of military observation posts of Hamas. There were no immediate reports of casualties. On Monday, Egyptian mediators arrived in the Gaza Strip in an effort to broker a ceasefire agreement, but departed without appearing to have secured a resolution. Mediators typically announce any agreements before leaving the territory. But after a day of meetings with officials from Hamas, the three Egyptian general intelligence envoys left for the occupied territories, according to Adel Abdelrahman, a Gaza-based advisor to the Egyptian mediators. They made no declaration before departing. The Israeli regime every so often launches strikes against positions in the blockaded enclave, accusing resistance groups there of launching attacks. Flying fiery kites and balloons has become a new mode of protest by Gazans since March 2018, when the Tel Aviv regime began a crackdown against anti-occupation demonstrations near the fence separating Gaza from the Israeli-occupied territories, killing and injuring many people. Hamas vowed to step up its resistance against the Israeli military after two children were injured during nighttime Israeli strikes on Gaza on Friday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address By Lee Hyo-jin English educator Min Byoung-chul, a distinguished professor at Hanyang University, is becoming popular with his Business Creativity course at the university. The university selected his course recently as an excellent one to promote the university's Industry Coupled-Problem Based Learning program (IC-PBL), through which students can learn to solve various problems in real life. Min has been teaching the course since 2011. In the course, students come up with their own business ideas and share them with professionals at global companies such as Google Korea, Korea Telecom (KT) and CJ Foodville. Through feedback from industry experts, students get an opportunity to develop their business plan and present final versions to senior members of the companies. Min developed the course with the aim of inspiring students to generate creative ideas and providing them with opportunities to develop their own business plans. "Students can build competitiveness in the global job market by learning industry-related skills from members of multinational companies," Min said. During the 2020 spring semester, a team linked to Google Korea proposed a platform which provided pet information using Google's search engine and advertising functions. Another team linked to KT proposed a solution for solo content creators to boost their influence on social media as non-face-to-face activities are on the rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the skills learnt from the course, Kim Ki-beom, a student who took it in 2019, recently established a company called Pretzel. It provides an exchange student community app. "By working closely with industry insiders, I could obtain practical knowledge and build a network," Kim said. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Around 6.6 lakh people in Hyderabad (around 6.6 percent of the total population) may have been infected with COVID-19 in just the last 35 days and at present, the city might be home to about 2.6 lakh active cases -- and these are just conservative estimates. This has been revealed in a study by the Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), which conducted COVID-19 surveillance in the city by testing sewage samples collected from various Sewage Treatment Plants. This finding highlights that the actual number of people infected by COVID-19 is many times higher than the number of cases being reported after people develop symptoms and get tested. ALSO READ: COVID-19 treatment: Major Hyderabad private hospitals make admission difficult, scare patients CCMB Director, Dr Rakesh Mishra, explained, Our finding clearly indicates that a large proportion of the affected individuals are asymptomatic and did not need hospitalization. This is also in agreement with the observation that hospitalization or mortality is way lower than otherwise expected with such large infection rates at a given time. It explains why our healthcare system has been able to handle reasonably well the situation during the pandemic." He added, "Such studies if carried out in coordination with civic bodies to identify the hotspots in the city and monitor the dynamics of the infection rate can assist the system in taking necessary measures. The CCMB in a media release on Wednesday said that individuals who are infected by COVID-19 shed the virus not only through nasal and oral routes but also through faeces. This provides an opportunity to use sewage samples to estimate the spread of the infection in a given locality or area. Also, the virus samples in sewage are non-infectious, making it easier for conducting the study. As an infected person can shed viral material in faecal samples for up to 35 days, the study on sewage samples gives an idea of the number of people that might have been infected in a period of little more than a month. Researchers from the CCMB and IICT covered around 80 percent of the STPs in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits and harvested sewage samples to estimate the number of potentially infected individuals in the city. Sewage samples from the STPs were processed for detecting presence of the viral RNA of novel coronavirus. As the STPs in Hyderabad receive sewage from about 40 percent of the households, the findings were later extrapolated for the entire city. They also found that while the viral RNA was detectable in the inlet samples of the STPs, the outlet (after treatment) samples were largely clean (free from viral RNA), indicating efficient treatment practices at STP. Processing and profiting from failure: A Nuremberg trial (pt 1) Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Behind every catastrophic leadership failure, there is a catastrophic decision that seems irrecoverable and irresolvable. I know, because I experienced what seemed at the time catastrophic failure at the outset of my career. In 1965, against godly counsel, with my young wife and infant daughter in tow, I left Fort Worth, Texas, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where I was a second-year student, to become pastor of an English-language church in Nuremberg, Germany. The University of Erlangen was nearby. I hoped to continue my studies there. I concluded the move had to be Gods will. After all, I had been impressed to take two years of German in college, and here was a way for me to earn a living and study in Europe. It had to be a God-thing. All I needed now was the faith to step out. Yet within four months I would have my own Nuremberg trial in the city famous as the location for the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals. I had confused my own ego and adventurist impulse for the will of God. I calculated everything except the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by the U.S. Congress almost a year before, authorizing President Lyndon Johnson to commit America to fight in Vietnam without a formal Declaration of War. The church in Nuremberg consisted mostly of American soldiers and their families. As our little family was arriving in Nuremberg, U.S. soldiers were getting orders to leave. Finally, the one deacon in the congregation told me that the small remnant would not be able to continue paying us. Thankfully, we had enough in our personal account to get us home when combined with a loan from a family member. On April 1, 1966, we left a snowy day in Germany and many hours later, after stops in Iceland and New York, landed in a warm and bright spring day in Alabama. But there was no brightness in my soul. As I walked down the jetway I steeled myself, knowing our relatives would be justified to say, We told you so. Instead they extended grace, some of them even allowing us to move in until we could get on our feet. But that did not stop hard questions barraging me from my own confused, humiliated psyche. Loved ones had forgiven me, but what about others? What about my reputation... my education? (I returned to seminary decades later and graduated with a Masters Degree)... my calling and career?... Gods will about which I had been so certain? How would I overcome my shame? Had my faith been too weak? How could I trust myself and my motives in the years to come to truly follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit? From my perspective I could see only catastrophic failure: I had let down my young wife and baby, our extended family, the church and entire fellowship of churches I had gone to Germany to serve, the people in the United States who had given generously to help fund our original move to Fort Worth and seminary, and the excellent church in that city where I was privileged to serve as youth pastor. Above all, I thought I had let down the Lord, and He was probably through with me. Within three days back in Alabama, I took a job in a box factory. One afternoon as I swept the manufacturing room floor, I looked at the big college ring on my finger wrapped around the broom. I decided to quit wearing it. My wife had worked hard for me to attend college and buy that impressive piece of jewelry. It broke my heart to think I had spent those years in college only to become a floor-sweeper in a factory. Yet I was on the verge of learning lessons that would shape my destiny. I will share some of them with you in the installments ahead in this series. The greatest one that still carries me is this: God not only redeems persons within the times, but He redeems the times through the person. See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, writes Paul. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Redeem is the same word used for freeing a slave. Time is the Greek word, kairos, Gods opportune time in contrast to kronos, mere finite time. This transformation of the times and the individual living through it happens as we walk circumspectly, thoughtfully, with God and His purposes in mind. Transformation does not happen passively, but as we do as Paul press forward. (Philippians 3:14) We are to walk circumspectly, not sit and mope. For me, this meant doing whatever job I could to support my family, and casting myself on the promise of Romans 8:28, that God would work all the rigors of my Nuremberg trial into something good that He would transform that failure-laden kronos into the kairos of destiny. It took a while before I could comprehend and walk out on that promise. To grasp this personally we must get the view from way up the slopes of kronos-time to a certain level on what I call Mount Hoary. The good news is that the higher you go the clearer things get... if you dont let your catastrophic failure lead you away from God, and if you keep climbing Coram Deo, before His face, with your eyes on Him. Fog will sometimes cloak your vision of the Lord, weariness will try to overwhelm you, and occasionally you will trip and slide back down the rugged terrain over which you have just hauled your exhausted body, but if you stay on the journey the moment will come when you crest a peak and have the panoramic perspective of the whole journey. We will learn more about this climb up Mount Hoary in Part II. Late actor Sushant Singh Rajputs family have released a statement on the Supreme Courts verdict in the case on Wednesday. Holding that the FIR registered in Bihars Patna over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput was legitimate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to investigate the case. The actors family thanked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and said they loved our country more than ever. Heres their statement: From Sushants family 3.30pm, 19 August 2020 We. Sushants family. Thank our friends. Well-wishers. Media and millions of fans worldwide for their love for Sushant and support for us. We are particularly thankful to Shri Nitish Kumar, Honble Chief Minister. Bihar for setting the wheel of justice in motion. Now that the countrys premier investigating agency has taken over, we believe that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice. We believe that public trust in institutions is important. Todays development has reaffirmed our faith in India as a robust democracy. We love our country more than ever. Also read: Abhay Deol slams his movie Raanjhanaa for its regressive message: History will not look kindly at this film The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actors death after the Centre accepted Bihar Governments recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Istanbul: Russiaas ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov was mortally injured in a gun attack while visiting an art exhibition opening in the Turkish capital on Monday, television reports said. The local news organisation RIA confirmed his demise at around 10:48 pm (IST), "Russian ambassador to Turkey dies of gunshot wounds," reports said.A Karlov was shot earlier in the evening and was hospitalised along with several other people who were wounded in the attack by an unknown gunman, NTV and CNN-Turk televisions said. Here are the live updates:A #Turkey: Video footage of the moments of the assassination attempt on the Russian ambassador in #Ankara. pic.twitter.com/hy4rUvONfB a Mikhail D. (@Eire_QC) December 19, 2016 10:48 pm (IST):A US State Department condemns killing of Russian Ambassador to Turkey A Russian agency says ambassador in Turkey has died of his wounds after being shot: https://t.co/GmktzgyLTS pic.twitter.com/sTRVXGV3WT a Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) December 19, 2016 The attack came after days of protests in Turkey over Russiaas role in Syria, although Moscow and Ankara are now working closely together to evacuate citizens from Aleppo. Pictures published by the Hurriyet daily showed at least two men in suits lying flat on the ground as another man brandished a gun. The attack happened at the Cagdas Sanatlar Merkezi, a major art exhibition hall in the Cankaya district of Ankara where most foreign embassies are located including Russiaas mission. CNN-Turk said the ambassador was in a serious condition. Protesters in Turkey have held Moscow responsible for human rights violations in Aleppo. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Cuba Gooding Jr. is facing a new sexual assault allegation in a new civil lawsuit. The actor was accused of raping a woman twice in 2013 inside of his New York City hotel room at the time, according to Variety. Gooding Jr.s attorney, Mark Heller, denied the claims made by the anonymous accuser in a statement to PEOPLE. The allegations against Cuba Gooding Jr. are false and perjurious, said Heller. There was absolutely no conduct committed in a criminal nature as alleged. We expect the case to be dismissed, Heller continued. It was an alleged incident that took place over seven years ago with no criminal complaint at the time. Video: Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads not guilty as sexual misconduct charges grow The unidentified woman claims the Oscar-winning actor invited her up to his hotel room where he began to undress in front of her, Variety reported from a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday. The woman alleges the actor blocked the door, pushed her onto the bed and raped her twice. RELATED: Cuba Gooding Jr. Turns Himself in to Police for a Second Time on New Charge: Report She is suing Gooding Jr. for an alleged "crime of violence" committed on the basis of gender and is seeking a trial by jury, according to Variety. She is seeking an unspecified about of compensatory and punitive damages. This is the latest accusation of sexual assault against Gooding Jr., who is already facing six counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching. In 2019, he pleaded not guilty to charges of groping three women in New York City nightclubs in 2018. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to online.rainn.org. Ghana must emulate China's model of solid waste management to protect people, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ernest Kwabena Anorson Agyawan, a Ghanaian expert. Speaking with Xinhua, Agyawan, landfill manager for the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) said China has deployed the source segregation model which enables them to treat several tons of solid waste at any given time. In Ghana, all kinds of solid waste, including domestic, residential, industrial, and medical waste are mixed together and dumped at landfill sites, a practice which he says poses a health threat to personnel and the general public in the midst of COVID-19 spread. The adoption of the Chinese segregation model and treatment of solid waste, he emphasized, will protect the people and the environment against hazardous chemicals, and it is also cost-effective as compared to the current method of disposal here. "In fact, having also traveled to learn or to see what is practiced in other countries such as China, Denmark, and Japan, I think it is ideal that policies are put in place for source segregation to start because we have industries that are doing re-manufacturing of products," he said. "We have all the resources that we can produce from but because we really don't understand what it takes or the technology to use it, we classify it as waste. Look at the bottled water which is a common resource in our economy now, if you go to China, for instance, they reproduce it into bags, school bags, raincoats, among others," Agyawan told Xinhua. The solid waste expert observed that the West African country was wasting its land resource by turning several hectares into landfill sites for dumping solid waste. "If you look at the hierarchy of waste management, landfilling is the least...In our case, we are using raw waste to fill virgin lands. So, we are wasting land, we are wasting the environment in general and we are causing health hazards to human beings around," he said. He recommended a waste segregation policy here, especially, in the era of the pandemic. Ghana has had several challenges dealing with the solid waste it has been generating in recent times notwithstanding the 290 million U.S. dollars spent annually on the country's waste. Solid waste management here is delivered in an unsustainable manner. Due to urbanization, large quantities of waste are generated daily and this exerts much pressure on an overstrained solid waste management system. In 2017, the Ghanaian government promised to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. However, many say the strewn filth in the various towns and cities as well as the mountain-like solid waste dumping sites found here coupled with relaxed sanitation law enforcement makes the goal hard to achieve within a short period of time. WASHINGTON -- Officials at the Smithsonians National Zoo are on high alert as Mei Xiang, a 22-year-old panda who came to the zoo in 2000 is expected to give birth any day now. If she successfully gives birth to a cub, Mei Xiang will become the oldest panda to give birth in the U.S., according to USA Today. To celebrate the historic event, the zoo is broadcasting a live stream of Mei Xiang and her male counterpart Tian Tian. That stream can be seen here. Although the zoo has reopened some outdoor exhibits, the indoor panda where Mei Xiang lives is not open to the public. While staff is excited about Mei Xiangs pregnancy, theyre also concerned because of her advanced age and prior issues with birth. Mei Xiang has delivered three cubs that survived more than a few days, but has also delivered three that were stillborn or died within days of birth. The staff is not sure exactly how long shes been pregnant but did say she was artificially inseminated with sperm from Tian Tian in March. An ultrasound conducted last week confirmed signs of a fetal development. Mei Xiang has begun exhibiting signs of birth as she has been building a nest and showing signs of restlessness in recent days. The live stream of her exhibit will remain active through the birth, according to zoo officials. Once it arrives, the cub will be allowed to stay at the zoo until it is 4 years old. At that point it will have to return to China as part of an agreement between the zoo and Chinese wildlife officials. While Mei Xiang and Tian Tian came to the U.S. together in 2000, the agreement for them to stay at the zoo ends at the end of this year. The two were brought to the U.S. as part of a breeding program to help increase the panda population. READ MORE Geologist solves puzzle of mystery rock found near Lake Huron 30 famous celebrities you may not know are from Michigan Gov. Whitmer mouths expletive on hot mic while waiting to deliver DNC speech Christian denominations in Belarus are not engaged in many joint projects and generally steer clear of politics. But the controversial reelection of Europes last dictator has united them in prayerand in their public stance on politics. Belarus has been embroiled in mass protests since its August 9 presidential election. For the past 26 years, the Eastern European country the size of Kansas has been led by President Alexander Lukashenko, who in 1994 won the first election since the former Soviet republic became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union three years earlier. Following his election, Lukashenko changed the constitution to eliminate term limits. No election since has been recognized as free and fair by international observers. This year, the opposition rallied around Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran in place of her husband after he was disqualified and jailed. She promised a return to the 1994 constitution with a subsequent clean presidential poll early next year. The official results of the August 9 vote showed Lukashenko winning with 80 percent of the vote. The opposition claimed the tally was fraudulent. Mass protests swept the country of 10 million people. Protesters were met with tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, and stun grenades. Thousands were detained. Multiple reports of torture in detention centers hit social media. In response, Christians are uniting in prayer at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. every day. A joint statement entitled Prayer and Hope was issued by evangelical leaders: Leonid Mikhovich, leader of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Belarus; Sergey Tsvor, leader of the United Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith in Belarus; and Leonid Voronenko, leader of the charismatic Religious Association of Full Gospel Communities in Belarus. The three called on their fellow countrymen to refrain from hatred, revenge, and bitterness. After a customary exhortation to pray for those in power, their statement calls for Christians to pray for the end of brutality, violence, and bloodshed, and also for victims and their families. Earthly hopes are not always fulfilled (Luke 24:21), but our hope is the Lord Jesus Christ; whoever believes in him will not be ashamed (1 Peter 2:6), they wrote. And if now there is no bright light in the clouds, then the wind will blow and clear them (Job 37:21). The last few days have seen largely peaceful demonstrations. The government promised to investigate police brutality. Authorities are releasing detainees, who describe harrowing beatings, days without food, and threats of rape. This past Sunday, Lukashenko spoke before 50,000 supporters in Minsk, the capital city. But his rally was dwarfed by a nearby gathering, where 200,000 protested the election outcome. On Monday morning, Lukashenko was jeered while speaking at a Minsk factory. Looming large is Russia, Belaruss eastern neighbor, and Vladimir Putin, Russias president. Analysts have speculated whether Putin might intervene for Lukashenko, as the opposition in Belarus would likely seek closer relations with the West if it comes to power. Putin sent Lukashenko his customary congratulations, but their relationship has been noticeably tense as of late. This tension was on public display during Victory Day celebrations in Moscow back in June when Lukashenko ostentatiously refused to stand next to Putin, to the visible chagrin of the Russian president. In a bizarre twist, Lukashenko had more than 30 Russian citizens arrested at the end of July. For days, he accused them of intending to undermine civil order in Belarus before eventually blaming it all on the Ukraine. Lukashenko, a self-declared Orthodox atheist, has cultivated a relationship with the Belarusian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is the only Orthodox church de facto permitted in Belarus. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, congratulated Lukashenko upon his election. Yet these congratulations disappeared from the website of the Moscow Patriarchate a couple of days later. Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, neither congratulated Lukashenko nor put Kirills congratulations on his departments website. Metropolitan Pavel, head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, initially congratulated Lukashenko. However, after a few days, he retracted his congratulations and condemned police brutality. Monsignor Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Belarus, refrained from congratulating Lukashenko. A couple of days after the election, he called for an end to the violence and the beginning of round-table discussions. A few days later, he published another statement, this time blaming the regime directly for inhumane treatment of the protesters. The archbishop called police brutality a grave sin on the conscience of those who give criminal orders and commit violence. In an article written a month before the election, Mikhovich asserted that political involvement on the part of Christians should be limited. Jesus did not address directly the political issues of his day, wrote the Baptist leader. Pauls involvement in the justice system, such as his assertion of Roman citizenship, was never violent. Hatred and revenge should have no place in Christian political involvement. Prayer for those in power must be a part of it, as should due reverence to them. Conquer evil with good (Romans 12:21). Fear lest you put your evil in the place of evil, writes Mikhovich. Solzhenitsyn understood the lie of all the revolutions in history: they destroy only modern carriers of evil (but also the carriers of good), while evil itself, magnified still, is inherited. In a second article written after the election, the Baptist leader is quite specific in his criticism of police brutality. He condemns violence and expresses hope for eventual justice from God. He writes: It seems to us that we ourselves can carry out vengeance better, more effectively. The Lord knows how to take revenge. Drawing from Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet, Mikhovich lays out prayer and charity as two cornerstones for Christian political engagement. A prayerful attitude puts our view of political leaders and their actions in the right perspective, he writes. Charity gives us the opportunity to model divine love to innocent victims. Habakkuk begins with a puzzled questioning and ends with worship, writes Mikhovich. The circumstances have not changed. Habakkuks attitude to what was happening changed; his heart changed. And the famous ending of his book shows that he is ready for any outcome and in any circumstances is ready to trust God. Are we ready to trust God, to worship Him, to rejoice about the God of salvation, even if potatoes did not grow, even if they turned off the internet, or even falsified the elections? And continue to pray for our beloved Belarus. Andrey Shirin is an associate professor of divinity and director of transformational leadership at John Leland Center for Theological Studies (Arlington, Virginia), where he researches and teaches at the intersection of theology, leadership, and public life. " " This Pine Barrens treefrog can be found in North Carolina's longleaf pine forests. Photo courtesy of Scott Michael We've all known the pleasure of staring into the sky at flocks of birds winging their way toward warmer locales. Did you know that of the 9,700 species of birds in the world, almost half of them -- about 4,500 -- breed in the Americas? And that 25 percent of those birds are at risk, because their habitats are being threatened? It's not just our world's creatures: Our favorite beaches, prairies and cool forests are also at risk. Is there anything we can do to ensure that these special natural places survive all the hazards -- both natural and manmade -- they face? Advertisement The Nature Conservancy says there are definitely things that can be done, and the private, international nonprofit organization is tackling those issues head-on. According to Conservancy leaders, since the organization's inception in 1951, it and its members (today more than 1 million) have helped protect 11 million acres of ecologically important land in the United States and more than 60 million acres in Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific region. The Conservancy, a favorite charity of the late philanthropist and environmentalist Doris Duke, currently manages 1,340 preserves, which make up the largest system of private nature sanctuaries in the world. In this edition of How Stuff Works, we'll look at how this organization, which is primarily funded by private donations, operates by examining some specific projects of the North Carolina Chapter of the Conservancy. (For a better understanding of all this, be sure to read How Philanthropy Works.) The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to "protect animals, plants and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive." William Stolzenburg, science editor for The Nature Conservancy Magazine, describes the approach this way: "The scale of biological conservation has spread, from saving disjointed pockets of rare species to encompassing entire working systems of nature. The new map of the Conservancy's targets is now delineated not by political lines or national borders, but by realms of climate and geology, fire and flood, and their corresponding cover of signature plants and animals." As is often the case, a small group of concerned citizens formed what has become a huge charitable foundation. Some members of the Ecological Society of America joined forces in 1951 to organize private efforts to stop the loss of natural areas and to protect habitats for rare and endangered species. According to Conservancy historians, the organization focused from the beginning on using the best available scientific information to accomplish its goals -- a philosophy that remains at the center of its work today. The Conservancy's first nature preserve, acquired in 1954, was 60 acres of land along the Mianus River Gorge in Westchester County, N.Y. Funds donated by members and others they recruited to the cause were supplemented by loans and life-insurance policies. This was an innovative approach for the time -- one that became the model for the way the Conservancy funds its projects today. In the early 1970s, the Conservancy began biological inventories on a state-by-state basis and later also started compiling data in Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean. This data has proven to be invaluable to the Conservancy in setting its conservation priorities and allocating funds to these projects. State chapters were organized during the '70s, and the International Program was launched in 1982. Today, the Pacific program, headquartered in Hawaii, is working to protect threatened areas in Indonesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. And in Latin America, the Conservancy has forged alliances with more than 40 partners in 20-plus countries to provide a variety of services (community development, professional training, long-term funding) for areas that are legally protected but seriously underfunded. After years of concentrating on acquiring land and establishing preserves, the Conservancy's focus began to change in the late 1980s. Instead of purchasing specific critical sites, the group began to target large landscapes and ecological environs and to pursue more extensive collaborations with private and public landowners and local residents. The group's goals were stretching geographically and getting more ambitious; at the same time, the Conservancy relied more and more on grass-roots efforts on the local level to shore up restoration and preservation activities. Generally, the most ecologically critical natural areas are those targeted for Conservancy projects. State Natural Heritage Inventory Programs (usually administered by a state agency) identify a state's unusual or important natural traits and the locations of these resources. The scientific data in these inventories indicate the "relative rarity" of animal and plant species and plant and aquatic areas and report on the level of existing protection -- if any. Once species are located and ranked, the Conservancy targets the areas that are home to endangered or critically threatened species for specific projects or as preserves. Verizon this morning has announced that it is entering into a partnership with Twitch, specifically Twitch Rivals, to shape the 5G gaming future. Neither Verizon nor Twitch explain a whole lot in terms of what to expect down the road from this deal between the two. Verizon does give us the cliff notes though. It will be the exclusive partner for Twitch Rivals North America. Which is a tournament series that Twitch has dreamt up for streamers. What does that mean? Well that means Twitch Rivals is a tournament series that will in some way be integrated with 5G and 4G LTE networks. Advertisement Verizon will collaborate with Twitch Rivals to host gaming tournament streams via 5G One of the only details mentioned is that Verizon and Twitch Rivals will collaborate on media and broadcasting integrations for Twitch Rivals gaming tournament streams, using Verizons 5G network. Verizon doesnt dive too deep into the specifics, but its likely that parts of the streams or all of the streams will broadcasted using Verizon 5G. The announcement also mentions media integrations, which could mean anything from branding placement to sponsorships. There will also be activations at Twitch events, which sounds like Verizon will be set up to create new accounts for subscribers on its network at those events. Advertisement Though its entirely possible that Verizon has another plan here with activations specifically. The most interesting part though is the mention of the partnerships co-creation of 5G gaming concepts. Exploring the impact of 5G on the gaming industry Over the course of the partnership, of which there is no listed timeframe, the two companies will work together to come up with gaming-related concepts using Verizons 5G network. This might mean tournaments taking place over 5G at some point in the future. Once 5G covers more of Verizons network areas. These are also going to be concepts, so whatever form they take it doesnt necessarily mean they will stick around. Advertisement They could simply be experiments to demonstrate the power of 5G for mobile gaming and the strength of Verizons 5G in particular. One thing is for certain though. Verizon probably couldnt have picked a better partner for this. Twitch is the largest game streaming platform by far. Having clocked in over 5 million watch hours by the end of the second quarter of 2020. YouTube Gaming is the next closest, and reached only about half that. If youre a Verizon customer, it seems there are exciting things ahead for gaming. Activist Gemma O'Doherty has denied claims she tried to evade service of defamation proceedings brought against her by Jimmy Guerin, the brother of murdered journalist Veronica Guerin. On Tuesday Ms O'Doherty told Mr Justice Richard Humphreys that defamation proceedings against her are vexatious and an "outrageous attempt" to silence her from revealing corruption, which she said "will not happen." She also told the court that the publication of her purported home address in media reports of court proceedings where it was alleged she was trying to evade service had endangered her privacy and her safety. Representing herself, Ms O'Doherty said she is a "well respected" and "a multi award-winning journalist" with over "two million followers". However, she said has "received death threats" and been "assaulted" due to her work as an investigative reporter, and expressed her concern that 'Antifa' may try to harm her. She also said that she had to take extra security precautions at the address, which cannot be published due to an order of the court. In his action Mr Guerin, who is an independent councillor on Fingal County Council, claims he was defamed in comments allegedly posted by Ms O'Doherty about him on her Facebook and Twitter accounts in July 2019. He seeks damages, including aggravated and punitive damages, as well as injunctions permanently prohibiting the continued publication of the comments at the centre of the action. The Howth-based councillor further seeks an order restraining Ms O'Doherty from publishing similar statements about him in the future. Read More Court hears Garda helicopter filmed brothers with 70k stuffed in jars and plastic bag Last week, following an ex-parte application, Mr Guerin's lawyers secured various orders against Ms O'Doherty, including one deeming that she has been formally served with the summons outlining the action against her. In their application Mr Guerin's lawyers claimed Ms O'Doherty had been "actively trying to evade service," of the proceedings she said were brought against her in order to stop her speaking out about Garda involvement in the murder of Veronica Guerin and the protection of paedophiles by the gardai. On Tuesday Ms O'Doherty said the claim she had tried to evade service, of documents she said she had already been served, was "utterly untrue." On an ex-parte basis, she sought various orders varying the orders made last week. The orders she seeks include one directing the service of any documents on her to an alternative address in Dublin or by email. She sought orders preventing media publication of her purported home address. She also intends to have Mr Guerin's action against her struck out. During her submissions Ms O'Doherty was critical of the media reporting of last week's application, which she said was "derogatory, defamatory and vicious". Of the judge who heard the case last week, Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy, Ms O'Doherty said she had erred by granting the orders. Mr Justice Humphreys said he was prepared to make orders preventing the media publishing her home address. However, he was not prepared to grant her any further orders in the absence of other side, and adjourned the matter to Wednesday's sitting of the court. A wrongful death lawsuit involving the fatal shooting of three 19-year-old friends murdered at a Washington state house party in 2016 has reached a settlement. The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by David Bui, the brother of Anna Bui, one of the three murdered teens, The Daily Herald reported. The lawsuit originally named the shooter Allen Ivanov, his parents, the owners of the house where the party occurred and outdoor retailer Cabelas, which sold the rifle used in the shooting to Ivanov. Correction: The original headline was changed because it incorrectly said the retailer was part of the settlement. Both the owners of the house, who were not at the house when the shooting occurred, and Cabelas were dropped from the case early on. The lawsuit claims the defendants could have taken steps to prevent Ivanov, 23, from carrying out the shooting and that his parents ignored signs their son presented a danger to himself and others after leaving him alone with a newly purchased gun. Attorney Hanni Pichel argued there was no way Ivanovs parents could have foreseen their son would carry out a shooting. The case was dismissed with the settlement agreement. Buis family attorney Erica Buckley said she could not disclose the amount or the terms of the settlement. Jacob Long and Jordan Ebner also were killed. Then-19-year-old Will Kramer was wounded but survived. Ivanov had dated Bui, but she ended the relationship. Ivanov is serving a life sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Washington "We have 14 chickens and two dogs, and if things get bad, we're just going to pack them all in the back of the truck and take them to the middle of the vines," said Price Hambrecht, who owns aperitif company Haus. "It's really disheartening that every year we have to leave and just cross our fingers that our house doesn't burn down. But it becomes this bizarre exercise in gratitude. Say we did lose the house at least we were lucky enough to have time to prepare and not to burn in our sleep." In an attempt to win the support of women voters in upcoming elections, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned women suffrage movement activist Susan B Anthony who was arrested for voting in 1872. Susan B Anthony was an American social reformer and a prominent anti-slavery rights activist but was best known for her role in the 19th century movement to secure voting rights for women. At the age of 52, she was arrested for voting in the 1872 elections held in Rochester, New York, in violation of laws permitting only men to vote. As America celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendmentalso known as the Susan B. Anthony AmendmentPresident @realDonaldTrump will officially pardon its namesake. News of the day: https://t.co/DaQTQQYSok pic.twitter.com/8s5VlWqxIf The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 18, 2020 Anthony refused to pay the fine and the authorities took no further action against her. Hundred years ago in 1920, her struggles bore fruit and the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution gave women the right to vote. Anthony was an active participant in the abolitionist movement of the 1840s, temperance movement (against consumption of alcoholic beverages), and a founding member of National Woman Suffrage Association (1869). Trumps pardon comes amid outcry over postal services disruptions that Democrats say could render people unable to vote if they opt for mail-in voting. As a result of the protest, the United States Postal Service (USPS) decided to suspend the proposed operational changes till after the 2020 elections. Summing up his visit to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) during an interview with TV 5, former director of the National Security Service of Armenia, Director of the Homeland Development Fund Artur Vanetsyan said the main topic of the meetings was the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This was Homeland Partys first working visit to Artsakh. We held many meetings and discussions with all the political parties represented in parliament, as well as meetings with the leadership of the Union of Freedom Fighters and His Holiness Pargev. The main topic of the meetings was the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We shared our political partys stance, and its safe to say that our party and the representatives of Artsakhs political parties share the same position, that is, Artsakh must never be a part of Azerbaijan, the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination is inviolable, and there is no alternative to the international recognition of Artsakhs independence, he said. When told that he used to talk about a plan for resettlement in the Araks Valley and how realistic this plan is now, Vanetsyan said the following: The plan is current now more than ever. Due to the wrong and incompetent negotiations of the incumbent Armenian authorities, or due to the absence of negotiations, Azerbaijan has introduced a false term, that is, the Azerbaijani community of Karabakh, and from this perspective, this plan is more than current. Our political party is planning on setting up a task force and introducing the plan for resettlement in Artsakh. I consider this a pan-Armenian issue since the people who will live in those territories will become the major tool for ensuring security in the liberated territories of Artsakh, Vanetsyan said. Green Branch Lane and Crainmont Dr., 12:20 a.m. May 23. A 30-year-old Glen Burnie man failed to stop for a stop sign and was pulled over by police. He was arrested during the traffic stop and charged with possession of a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun in the vehicle, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, handgun on person, loaded handgun on person, loaded handgun in vehicle and illegal possession of ammunition. EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) John Klingberg didn't have the decisive goal taken away this time. The Dallas defenseman scored his first goal since the NHL's restart early in the third period, and the Stars held on for a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames in a crucial Game 5 of their Western Conference playoff series Tuesday. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin teamed up for the first goal as the Stars took a 3-2 lead in the first-round series. They can reach the second round for the second straight year with a victory in Game 6 on Thursday. It's been 19 years since the Stars won playoff series in consecutive seasons. Calgary is trying to get out of the first round for just the second time since going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004. Weve got to be ready to attack that team, Seguin said. Theyre a heck of a hockey team. Theyve got a lot of good players. Im sure theyre going to come out firing. So weve got to be ready. Klingberg's go-ahead goal came two days after he was initially credited with the overtime goal in a 5-4 win that evened the series. But his hard shot grazed Alexander Radulov's stick, and the Russian was eventually credited with the winner. It doesn't matter who scores the goals, said Klingberg, who ended with three assists in Game 4. The big thing is to be up 3-2 in the series. Anton Khudobin made 28 stops, including a glove save on a good look for Erik Gustafsson in the final two minutes before the Flames called timeout and pulled Cam Talbot. Calgary spent most of the remaining 1:52 in the offensive zone with the 6-on-5 advantage, then had a two-man edge for the final 21 seconds when Andrew Cogliano was called for slashing. But the Flames couldn't get a shot past Khudobin. In Game 4, Calgary gave up the tying goal when Joe Pavelski completed a hat trick with 11.9 seconds left in regulation. I'm confident we're going to put a good game on the ice in Game 6, coach Geoff Ward said. The game demands that we do. I don't expect anything less based on everything they've gone through. Story continues Elias Lindholm had a good chance to get the Flames even midway through the third, but his shot was deflected wide by Khudobin, who lost his stick after stabbing at the puck with it. Klingberg's wrist shot from above the right circle came on a pass from Mattias Janmark, who slid past defenders along the boards and found open space on the other side of the ice. He makes big-time plays, Stars coach Rick Bowness said of Klingberg. He's got great skills. He's got a tremendous amount of confidence in himself. Benn put the Stars in front 1-0 in the first period when he tipped in a pass from Seguin in the slot going full speed, just barely before running into the crossbar chest high, knocking the net loose as he tumbled to the ice. It's an instinctive play, Seguin said. Been shooting a lot and just try to take them out and Jamie was going hard to the back post. The crossbar got the best of him there. It was a big hit, but a good goal. Mikael Backlund pulled Calgary even with his fourth goal of the playoffs, an unassisted tally when he beat Khudobin with a slap shot in the final minute of the first period. Roope Hintz hit the crossbar shortly after Backlund's goal, and the Stars had several good chances again at the end of the second period. The Flames controlled the pace in the second period, but had just seven shots to show for it the same number from Dallas' dominant first period. I thought our guys were a little nervous in the first, Ward said. But I thought we did a good job regrouping, and I thought our game got stronger as the hockey game went on. And that third period was our best one. NOTES: Talbot had 30 saves. ... Stars D Stephen Johns and Flames LW Matthew Tkachuk were out again, as was Stars G Ben Bishop, who has been unfit to play the past three games. ... There were no penalties in a scoreless second period. ___ More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The return of Jane Halifax to Nine next week will herald the reprise of a character who left our screens in 2002. But for star Rebecca Gibney, its also just part of a wider relationship she has with Nine, and other projects are in discussion. Weve got other idea, not just Halifax. Im looking to do other stuff with Nine and some in New Zealand which is really bubbling along quite well, she recently told TV Tonight. They always felt Halifax never got finished off properly I was approached by Nine (asking me), what would I like to do? We talked about Flying Doctors, we talked about all sorts of shows, and Halifax was one thats often been asked by lots of my followers. They always felt Halifax never got finished off properly. You did 21 telemovies and then it stopped. The character didnt have an ending. So it seemed logical to do a reboot. Halifax: Retribution kicks off with a telemovie-length instalment followed by 7 further episodes led by producer / creator Roger Simpson. Gibney notes that the character of the young forensics psychiatrist has matured significantly. She was just 29 when she was first cast in 1994. Its so funny because I look back but I just cant watch them! Its so funny because I look back but I just cant watch them! she laughs. My voice is up here! I dont believe a word I say half the time. Thank god Roger kept writing stuff and people kept watching it. But at the time I felt inexperienced. Its so lovely to now go back and revisit a character with all the experience and all the baggage and the ability to take a few more risks. I feel like I can bring a lot more to her. Youre dealing with a woman in her 50s and shes different. I might not necessarily agree with how they want to portray her. We dont always agree. Weve had robust discussions, but were still great mates. Shifting from telemovies to series form, Retribution has a through-line story of a sniper on the rooftops of Melbourne. Gibney references shows like Killing Eve, Bodyguard, Broadchurch and Luther as inspiration. The crime thriller genre does have that element of wanting to be an armchair detective The crime thriller genre does have that element of wanting to be an armchair detective. It makes you want to tune back in next week, if there is an overall thread of Who is it, whos doing it? Thats what weve laid into this series even to the point of when you discover who it is, youve then got to catch them. Theres a fascination between the two lead characters in The Fall and shows where the lead character develops a relationship with the protagonist. The cast also features Anthony LaPaglia, Claudia Karvan, Mandy McElhinney, Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel, Rick Donald, Ming-Zhu Hii, Ben OToole, Mark Coles Smith, Hannah Monson and Michala Banas. Guest stars include Jacqueline McKenzie, Louisa Mignone, Stephen Curry, John Waters and Luke Ford. Gibney also notes the look of the show, captured by cinematographer Geoffery Hall ACS. No-one has shot Melbourne from up high. Because were dealing with a sniper who is shooting people from the tops of buildings. So were shooting a lot of it from up (high), and were shooting across buildings. Its spectacular. Were seeing everything from his perspective and it makes Melbourne look like New York. You have to showcase the character of the city Physically, you have to showcase the character of the city. We have to shoot it in a way that hasnt been shot before. It has to be on an international scale, because were now competing with all the Netflix shows, all the SVOD shows. Theyre all international. You cant just make a cutesy little drama anymore. No ones going to watch it. Indeed while there is one primary villain there are other elements to explore. Its the one crim that were chasing, but its discovering why hes doing it. Is it terrorism related? Does he have a message? Is it random? Who are these people that hes killing and why is he killing them? Its deciphering that, while were introducing other characters, Gibney explains. Its a lot of threads, which is how those sorts of shows work. If it was too simple, youd guess it in a heartbeat. Its also trying to make it very modern the feeling that were always being watched. Thats another sort of thread in the story. If the series scores for Nine and a renewal is potentially on the cards, she will be very busy indeed, with a Back to the Rafters reprisal to also be completed. Theres heaps, its crazy! she admits. Im nearly 55 and Ive still got work, its great! Sleep when youre dead! Halifax: Retribution airs 8:40pm Tuesday on Nine. It is a special opportunity to be able to have such a positive impact on the customers we serve, the buildings we service, and the environment in which we live" Power of Clean Energy (PCE) announced today that Inc. magazine ranked Power of Clean Energy (PCE) No. 294 on its annual Inc. 5000 list and No. 4 in the state of Tennessee. With a three-year growth of 1,541.39%, PCE is one of the fastest growing energy efficiency companies in the country. The list is the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies and represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. We feel so fortunate to be on the front end of the energy efficiency movement in this country. It is a special opportunity to be able to have such a positive impact on the customers we serve, the buildings we service, and the environment in which we live," stated PCE Co-Founder and CEO, Kevin Johnson. "Our growth is a direct reflection of our talented and creative team who love what they do and strive every day to drive our collective mission forward. About Power of Clean Energy (PCE) Power of Clean Energy (PCE), is a Nashville-based energy efficiency company that helps organizations across the country save money by utilizing clean energy technologies. Over the course of five years in business, PCE projects have conserved more than 28 million kWh, an environmental impact equivalent to removing 4,356 cars from the road, or removing 2,327 houses from the electric grid. For more information, visit https://www.powerofcleanenergy.com/ Contact Kevin Johnson (919) 622-0626 kevin@powerofcleanenergy.com Brent Alexander (336) 693-3785 brent@powerofcleanenergy.com Complete results of the Inc. 5000 list can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are also being featured in the September issue of Inc., available at newsstands August 18. About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More An independent external firm that looked into allegations made by the former audit committee chairman of Yes Bank early this year has found most of the accusations to be unsubstantiated, the private lender has said in its 2019-20 annual report. The board has requested the firm, which submitted a preliminary report, for recommendations highlighting areas where corporate governance can be further strengthened, the annual report said. In January 2020, the then chairman of the audit committee of the bank highlighted certain concerns around corporate governance and other operational matters at the bank. The then board decided to get this investigated by an independent external firm, the report said. "A preliminary report has been received by the board. While most of the allegations are unsubstantiated, the board has requested the external firm for detailed recommendations highlighting areas where corporate governance can be further strengthened. The report also said no offence of fraud was reported by the bank auditors. In January, Yes Banks audit committee chairman Uttam Agarwal resigned in a dramatic manner ahead of a crucial board meeting, making serious allegations about deteriorating corporate governance standards. Agrawal had told Moneycontrol that he was unhappy with the way the private bank was dealing with capital raising. He also had reservations about appointments made by the new management. Appointed on November 14, 2018, Agrawal's tenure was to run out in November 2023 but he resigned on January 10, 2020, the day the board was to decide on the banks capital-raising plans. Later in the day, Yes Bank informed exchanges the board would also discuss Agarwals role after reviewing his "fit & proper" status under directions from the banking regulator. However, prior to the commencement of the proceedings of these meetings, the bank received the resignation of Agarwal, Yes Bank said. On March 13, the beleaguered lender was bailed out by a clutch of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) after the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) drew up a bail-out scheme to avoid a collapse. Prashant Kumar, a former SBI official, was appointed the chief of the bank. During the year ended March 31, 2020, the bank received various whistleblower complaints against the management, former MD & CEO and certain members of the board of directors prior to being superseded by RBI, the reports said. The NRC (nomination and remuneration committee), basis investigations conducted by the management has, post its review, concluded that they have no material impact on financial statements, Yes Bank said in the annual report. The bank's cofounder and former CEO, Rana Kapoor, was arrested on March 8 on charges of gross financial misconduct and a series of quid pro quo transactions. A probe revealed that the Kapoor family was running a business empire involving more than 100 companies under three family holding companies. Kapoor influenced lending decisions of the banks credit committee for personal benefit, investigators found. With the new management, Yes Bank is slowly inching back to normalcy. Its first-quarter numbers indicate improvement across key parameters and the worst seems to be behind. The much-needed capital has finally come, deposits have grown on a quarter-on-quarter basis and asset quality remained stable in the June quarter. Deposits at Rs 1,17,360 crores grew 11.4 percent in the quarter aided by 26.4 percent QoQ growth in current account deposits and 12.6 percent in term deposits. With this, the CASA ratio (cheaper deposits) is at 25.8 percent in Q1FY21. Bad loan levels have stabilised with gross NPAs at June end as 17.3 percent, a tad higher than 16.8 percent in the previous quarter. In absolute terms, the GNPAs have declined to Rs 32,703 crore from Rs 32,878 crore in the previous quarter. The bank has raised over Rs 14,000 crore in the follow-on public offer against a target of Rs 15000 crore. As on June 30, the Common Equity Tier-l ratio of the Bank was 6.5 percent and Tier l Ratio was 6.6 percent. Considering the capital infusion, proforma CETl ratio of the bank as on June 30, stands at 13.3 percent and total Capital Adequacy Ratio at 20 percent. These are all good signs. President Trump wants to bring some jobs back to Americabut also kill some U.S. jobs, apparently. Trump is now encouraging his 80 million Twitter followers to boycott Goodyear (GT) and buy tires from somebody else. Trump found a news story featuring one slide from a Goodyear presentation to employees in Topeka, Kan., on what is acceptable workplace attire. The slide says Black Lives Matter and LGBT messages are acceptable. Under unacceptable: Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA gear, and other politically affiliated material. You can see the corporate sin, right? Goodyear doesnt want its workers wearing Trumps MAGA brand hats and shirts around the workplace. So Goodyear has earned Trumps wrath. Dont buy GOODYEAR TIRES, Trump tweeted on Aug. 19. Get better tires for far less! Rising Chinese tire imports Goodyear employs at least 7,000 unionized workers in 14 U.S. plants, according to its latest annual report. The companys headquarters is in Akron, Ohioa state Trump has to win in November to have a chance of beating Joe Biden. Goodyear has facilities in the crucial swing states of Florida and North Carolina, along with Texas, which some analysts think Democrats could win. Does Trump hope his call for a boycott wrecks the companys sales and throws those workers out of a job? It could happen. The companys stock price fell nearly 4% in the aftermath of Trumps attack, indicating investors think Trump could materially harm the company. The question now is whether Trump will mount a sustained assault against Goodyear, as he has against other corporate targets, such as Amazon, the US Postal Service, Carrier, Boeing and General Motors. Or, will he let it drop? If Trump leaves it at one tweet and backs off, Goodyear will probably recover. In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, file photograph, the company sign hangs over vehicles waiting for repair outside a Goodyear Tire and Service store in downtown Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Theres plenty of competition selling those cheaper tires Trump favors, howeverincluding many Chinese importers. Chinese tire imports to the United States have been rising by double-digits, with China the top importer, followed by Thailand, Canada and South Korea. Trump of course has railed against cheap Chinese products that used to be made in America, and slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports. But that was before Goodyear banned MAGA hats. Goodyear was obviously trying to address the intense and sometimes hostile partisanship that exists everywhere in America these days. A more savvy approach would have been to ban attire with any sort of political messaging, without singling out Trumps MAGA brand. In response to Trumps attack, Goodyear says there were some misconceptions about the MAGA ban. But its response reads like corporate gobbledygook and leaves the company open to more bashing from Trump. (Goodyear said it asks associates to refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues.) Story continues TULSA, USA - JUNE 20: U.S. President Donald Trump meet his supporters at his ''Make America Great Again'' rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States on June 20, 2020. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) The Goodyear fracas is the mirror image of the dustup over Goya Foods in July. Goyas CEO, Robert Unanue, visited the White House on July 9 and throatily praised Trump, prompting some Trump critics to boycott the company. Trump promoted Goya products from inside the White House and encouraged his supporters to buy out the stores, making Goya products a weird litmus test of ones conservative or progressive bona fides. Now, tires. Goodyear is the leading tire brand in the United States, and it also owns Dunlop, Kelly and other brands. So Trump haters could buy more of those tires while Trump lovers buy fewer. The good news for Goodyear may be that most people dont buy tires every month, and Trump may have moved on to some other villainor be gone from the White Houseby the time most Americans have to make their next tire purchase. But dont expect to see Trump wearing a Goodyear hat. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available. Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: Get the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Commission on Manmade Disaster, Emergency Response on Thurs to set different levels of epidemic danger, quarantine zones to be revised in 13 regions Liashko The State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response on Thursday will review the levels of epidemic danger in at least 13 regions, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko said during a press briefing following the meeting of the commission. "Tomorrow, the epidemiological levels will be revised based on the number of cases in the last 14 days. Last Thursday there were 10 such regions," he said. At the same time, Liashko said that according to statistics, at present, the number of regions where territories will be considered and distributed into zones has already reached 13. "But we look forward to tomorrow, because the dynamics shows that other regions can join," said the chief medical doctor of the country. COVID Alert for Brisbane Flight, Cafe A health alert has been issued by Queensland authorities after a woman tested positive for coronavirus on returning to Japan after a stay in Brisbane. The notification is for Virgin flight VA962 from Brisbane to Sydney on Aug. 17 and for anyone at The Jam Pantry cafe at Greenslopes on Aug. 16. Queenslands Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the woman arrived in Australia in mid-July and quarantined in Sydney before coming to Brisbane. While in quarantine, she returned two negative test results, Young said on Aug. 19. Because she quarantined in Sydney and travelled straight to Brisbane from hotel quarantine, she could go about her normal life in Brisbane. However on her arrival to Japan on Aug. 18, she was asymptomatic but returned a positive COVID-19 result. Six close contacts of the woman in Brisbane have been tested and are now in quarantine, while tracing continues. Those on the flight or who dined at the cafe have been told to monitor for symptoms and get tested if any develop. The alert comes after a man who recently returned from Papua New Guinea became Queenslands latest case of coronavirus, prompting the state to beef up monitoring of its porous northern border. The man in his 40s had been in hotel quarantine and tested positive on the seventh day of his 14-day isolation period. That means that he hasnt been in contact with anyone out in the community, Young said. We know there are increasing numbers of cases in Papua New Guinea, so were working very closely with Border Force to manage our northern border with Papua New Guinea. Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk again warned Queenslands border restrictions will continue for now, given the outbreaks in Victoria, NSW and New Zealand, despite federal government pressure. The issue will be discussed further when the national cabinet of federal, state and territory leaders meets on Aug. 21. We need to keep our measures in place, Palaszczuk said. Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said people were still doing the wrong thing, citing the case of a person who tried to enter the state by road, was denied and then entered on the wrong side of the road. They were fined $4000. Queensland is in a very good state when it comes to community transmission and thats because we are keeping our borders secure, he told reporters. Queensland Police monitored 28 incoming domestic flights in the past 24 hours carrying 1945 passengers and while none were denied entry, 88 were sent into hotel quarantine. At the border, 3939 vehicles were checked and 181 people refused entry, while 110 were sent into quarantine. Meanwhile, four residents of a Sunshine Coast aged care home have tested negative after developing respiratory symptoms earlier this week. There are six active cases in Queensland, with three of them in hospital but none in intensive care. The state has now made it through 30 days without a case of community transmission. Brisbane The Indian Navy has effectively carried out mission-based deployment to protect maritime interests by positioning ships and aircraft at major and sensitive locations, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, amid a tense border row with China. IMAGE: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and others during the Naval Commanders Conference at Sena Bhawan New Delhi. Photograph: @rajnathsingh/Twitter In an address to top naval commanders at the inaugural session of a three-day conference, Singh also complimented the force for protecting the nation's maritime interests and expressed confidence in its preparedness to meet any challenge through a "proactive response" in deploying its ships and aircraft, the navy said in a statement. The conclave is aimed at carrying out a comprehensive review of the evolving regional maritime security matrix as well as the overall implications of the border row with China in eastern Ladakh. The Indian Navy has deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region to send a clear message to China following the escalation of the border dispute in eastern Ladakh. "I applaud the Indian Navy for their role in protecting the maritime interests of the nation. I have full confidence in the navy's preparedness to meet any challenge through a proactive response in deploying its ships and aircraft," the defence minister tweeted. All possible security challenges that the country may face including from China in the Indian Ocean Region were discussed at the conclave, people familiar with the issue said. "The Indian Navy has effectively carried out mission-based deployment to protect maritime interests by deploying naval ships and aircraft at major and sensitive locations," Singh said, adding it has helped to increase maritime domain awareness and in extending rapid humanitarian aid and relief. The Indian Navy started rolling out its mission-based plan in June 2017 that involved deploying mission-ready ships and aircraft along critical sea lanes of communications with an aim to effectively counter China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean region. Singh said it is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region). He also highlighted the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff and Department of Military Affairs/MoD (DMA) as major milestones in bringing more synergy among the three services, especially in training, procurement and jointness in operations. The defence minister said that accepting the challenges arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic in the current financial year, the Indian Navy has continued to make progress in operational, administrative and modernisation efforts. Notwithstanding these fiscal challenges, the government has invoked the Emergency Powers to meet the emergent requirements of the services, he added. The key focus of the conclave included reviewing the Indian Navy's operational readiness as well as issues relating to India's security interests in the Indo-Pacific, officials said. The Indian Ocean, considered the backyard of the Indian Navy, is critical to the country's strategic interests. Over the years, the region has witnessed an increasing Chinese presence. China has constructed the deep-sea Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan and a naval base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. In the last few weeks, the Navy has significantly expanded its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region, positioning a plethora of warships and submarines following the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35. In his address to the naval commanders, the defence minister also congratulated the Navy for carrying out the 'Operation Samudra Setu' under which around 4,000 Indians were evacuated from a number of countries including Iran and Maldives due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I congratulate the @indiannavy on the conduct of the biggest ever evacuation operation 'Operation Samudra Setu', which has contributed extensively to the national interest," the defence minister said in another tweet. Singh also complimented the Navy for being at the "forefront" of the indigenisation process for defence platforms. At the conference, the naval commanders would also deliberate on ensuring tri-services synergy as well as functional reorganisation within the Navy to improve efficiency, the Navy said in a statement on Tuesday. The WA Law Society has slammed legislation rushed through Parliament last week aimed at rubbing out a legal claim against the state government by Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer. WA Law Society President Nicholas van Hattem. In a statement issued by the society, which is the peak body representing lawyers in WA, it accused Parliament of passing a law that "challenges fundamental legal principles". The law also excluded the Freedom of Information Act, which ordinarily allows media and the public greater transparency into government action and the capacity for informed scrutiny. WA Law Society "The law unilaterally amended a state agreement for the first time in some sixty years," the statement read. Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a Mumbai-based trader, who is accused of fraudulently claiming the input tax credit (ITC) of Rs 63.50 crore on the materials that were never purchased by his firm and passed on the ITC to a web of firms across the country with whom he had never traded. Justice Sandeep Shinde rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of Ashok Kumar Chandrapal Singh, a partner in M/s. Sheela Sales Corporation. Central Goods and Sales Tax (CGST) authorities have alleged that the firm indulged in circular trading and claimed the ITC between July 2017 and September 2019 on the basis of invoices valued at Rs 352.92 crore, which were issued by M/s. Jai Bajrang Traders, an Uttar Pradesh (UP)-based company. CGSTs investigation has revealed that Singh passed on the ICT to six inter-linked firms, owned by the accuseds close relatives, and those firms, in turn, distributed it among 360 other companies located across the country. Singh and his wife, Sheela, also a partner in the firm, had moved HC for anticipatory bail apprehending arrest in connection with the fraud. It was argued on their behalf that CGST Act, 2017, prescribes a procedure for the tax assessment, even in cases where discrepancies are found in the information furnished in return sheets, and unless a summary assessment or special audit was conducted for determining liability, the prosecution could not be initiated and the couple cannot be arrested. Their counsel also argued that once returns were filed, CGST authorities could, at the most, impose a penalty. HC, however, refused to accept the argument. Justice Shinde perused the CGST file notings and Singhs statements recorded under provisions of the CGST Act, 2017. CGST The judge said prima facie, the accused is complicit in availing ITC of Rs. 63.50 crore without movement of goods on forged invoices in breach of Section 16 of the CGST Act, 2017, which is a cognisable offence. HC primarily took note of the fact that Singh had in his statement admitted that neither his firm had received any goods from M/s. Jai Bajrang Traders, nor had it made any payment to the UP-based firm. In terms of Section 136 of the CGST Act, 2017, disclosure in the statement is relevant for proving any offence under the Act, said the judge while rejecting Singhs anticipatory bail plea. Under these circumstances, the fraudulent ITC claim of Rs. 63.50 crore is a matter of grave concern and requires thorough investigation for which applicants (Singhs) presence is necessary, the judge said. HC, however, granted bail to Singhs wife because as a homemaker she was a dormant partner and had no role to play in the financial matters of the partnership firm. Storm Ellen is set to batter parts of the country as severe gusts and heavy rain will hit coastal counties. Met Eireann last night issued a Status Orange wind warning for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford that will remain in place from 9pm to midday tomorrow. Storm Ellen is expected to bring severe and potentially damaging winds throughout that period. A Status Yellow wind warning is also in place across the country from 9pm until midnight on Thursday. Forecasters have warned tonight and tomorrow could see severe gusts with a risk of some disruption and a potential coastal flooding. Storm Ellen will sweep over the country after heavy rainfall led to catastrophic flooding in the south and south-west. Emergency funding is being prepared for areas hit over recent days. Office of Public Works Minister Patrick O'Donovan visited west Cork yesterday, where 12 major areas were hit by flooding over the past five days. Parts of Rosscarbery endured the worst flooding since 1961 after 230mm of rainfall - more than a month's expected total - fell in the space of just 96 hours. In one area, more than 50mm of rain fell in the space of just 24 hours, turning streams into raging torrents and damaging more than 20 properties, numerous local roads - including the N71 main Cork-Bantry road - as well as culverts and walls. Flood damage was also caused in Kerry, Limerick and west Waterford, though west Cork bore the brunt of the flood devastation. "It is only when you see the damage at first hand that you can fully appreciate the devastation the recent severe weather has brought to communities in Connonagh, Dunmanway and Rosscarbery," Mr O'Donovan said as he toured flood-hit areas of west Cork. "I have met with officials in Cork County Council, my own OPW (Office of Public Works) officials, and the many residents and business owners who have been dealing with this terrible situation for the last week." Mr O'Donovan pointed out that the OPW and Cork County Council had undertaken hugely successful flood defence measures in Fermoy, Mallow, Bandon and Skibbereen - and were now examining further schemes in Midleton, Ballymakeera and Bantry. "Over 39m has been provided for the minor flood mitigation works scheme since it started in 2009. "I would now encourage the council to avail of this scheme where possible to benefit these areas," he said. "However, I will also report back to my ministerial colleagues in Government on the overall picture here in Cork and every effort will be made by those other departments to step in and provide the necessary financial resources to the council. I would like to reassure the communities affected that this will be done and it will be done as quickly and efficiently as possible". Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey said the authority was faced with a daunting task. "With two flood events in less than four days resulting in over 230mm of rainfall, it has been extremely challenging for the communities that have been impacted by the recent flooding in west Cork," he said. Some council crews have worked around the clock. They were assisted by local volunteers, including farmers with tractors, as well as the emergency services. The flooding around Rosscarbery was so severe that an entire road was carved away and parts of the popular coastal village were cut off. "Over the course of the weekend, the council's fire service and roads crews attended flooding events at 12 locations across west Cork, placing and issuing over 2,500 sand bags," Mr Lucey said. With further heavy rainfall forecast over the next 48 hours, council crews remain on alert for further potential flooding. Senator Tim Lombard said the damage in west Cork will run "to millions of euro", with heartbreaking scenes for both householders and business owners in the areas affected. Cork South West TD Christopher O'Sullivan said the scale of the damage was unprecedented in some areas. "The Taoiseach Micheal Martin and I spoke at length and I made him fully aware of the damage and devastation for homeowners and to businesses," he said. Around 20 homes suffered significant flood damage, while roads, walls, culverts and even beaches have been swept away. In Rathbarry and Glandore, entire roads were ripped up by the force of the floodwaters. The main N71 route through Rosscarbery was closed for almost 48 hours. Cork County Council partially reopened the road on Sunday and emergency repairs are underway. Both the Garda and Road Safety Authority urged people to drive with care. The Supreme Court will on Wednesday deliver its verdict on actor Rhea Chakrabortys petition to transfer the investigation in Sushant Singh Rajputs death case from Patna to Mumbai. In her petition, Rhea, Sushants girlfriend at the time of his death, had said that the Bihar Police have no jurisdiction in the case and that the actors death was being used for political gains ahead of elections in the state. Heightened media attention and sensationalising of the case is another ground on which she has sought the transfer of the case to Mumbai. Heres a brief timeline of events. June 14 -- Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment. The Mumbai Police began investigating the case. July 25 -- KK Singh, the father of Sushant, submitted a complaint to the Patna police against Rhea, her family members and a few others, alleging they abetted his sons suicide. Based on the complaint, the Patna police had filed an FIR against Rhea and others. In the complaint, Singh had also claimed that an amount of Rs 15 crore was siphoned off from his sons bank account. July 29 -- Rheas lawyer filed a petition on her behalf, requesting that the investigation into Sushants death be transferred to Mumbai. July 31-- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case against Rhea and others on the basis of Sushants fathers FIR in Patna. July 31-- Rhea broke her silence and released a self-made video, in which she said, I have immense faith in God, and the judiciary. I believe that I will get justice. Even though a lot of horrible things are being said about me in the electronic media, I refrain from commenting on the advice of my lawyers, as the matter is sub-judice. Satyamev Jayate... the truth shall prevail. August 3 -- KK Singh released a video statement saying that he had alerted the Mumbai Police on February 25 that his sons life was in danger. In a self-made video, Singh was quoted as saying by ANI, On Feb 25, I informed Bandra Police that hes in danger. He died on June 14 & I asked them to act against people named in my Feb 25 complaint. No action taken even 40 days after his death. So I filed FIR in Patna. August 5 -- The Centre issued a notification asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate Sushants death, a day after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar demanded such a probe. Uddhav Thackeray, Nitish Kumars counterpart in Maharashtra, where the actor died, and the western states home minister Anil Deshmukh had both earlier ruled out a CBI probe. Also read: Rhea Chakraborty releases statement: Sushant Singh Rajputs sister groped me, familys allegations fabricated August 7 -- Rhea and her brother, Showik Chakraborty, reached the Enforcement Directorate office to record their statements in the money laundering case lodged against them. August 8 -- A day after the Enforcement Directorate interrogated Rhea in connection with money laundering allegations levelled against her by Sushants father, she said in a statement that the only things of the late actors she had in her possession were a note of gratitude and a water bottle. August 11 -- Rhea told the SC that there appears to be considerable amount of state interference, influence and therefore an apprehension of bias in the probe conducted by Bihar Police and added that the FIR lodged against her in Sushants death case in the state has no connection with any offence in Patna. August 18 -- On the eve of the verdict, Rhea shared a statement through her legal team, claiming that she had a strained relationship with Sushants family and called the allegations of abetment to suicide against her concocted and fabricated for ulterior purposes. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The last two living northern white rhinos have had their eggs harvested by scientists in the hope of using them to save the subspecies from extinction. Ten eggs were harvested from the female rhinos at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya by a team that included experts from the Leibniz Institute, Germany. They hope to use the eggs to create viable embryos that can be transferred into surrogates as neither of the remaining rhinos can carry a pregnancy to term. This is the third round of eggs taken from the rhinos since August 2019 and they were immediately flown to the Avantea Lab in Italy to be artificially inseminated with frozen sperm from now-dead northern white rhino bulls. A team of scientists and local rangers prepare to extract eggs from one of the two remaining female northern white rhinos at an enclosure at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya The coronavirus pandemic had delayed the process, but it finally went ahead as planned, with the team saying it 'went smoothly and without any complications The coronavirus pandemic had delayed the process, but it finally went ahead as planned, with the team saying it 'went smoothly and without any complications.' Three embryos were created from the previously extracted eggs and the next step is to select female southern white rhinos to act as surrogate mothers. The last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in March 2018, leaving just two females alive - requiring IVF to try and save them from extinction. Neither of the remaining northern white rhinos - a mother and her daughter - can carry a baby to term, according to experts from Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy. However, they do still produce eggs and so it is hoped that using the similar southern white rhino subspecies as a surrogate - they can bring them back. The northern white rhino once wandered through east and central Africa but, as with other rhino species, its numbers plummeted due to heavy poaching. Northern white rhinos - the world's most endangered mammal - have hairier ears and tails, are shorter and stockier and have different genes than their southern cousins. Scientists first harvested eggs from the females a year ago and they produced three pure northern white rhino embryos that are now frozen and waiting for a surrogate. The scientists realised they must synchronise implanting embryos with the reproductive cycle of the surrogate mothers for the process to work. The more embryos they have, the better, which is why they have carried out three extractions from the mother and daughter pair. An international team of scientists said they have successfully extracted eggs from the last two remaining northern white rhino females Northern white rhinos - the world's most endangered mammal - have hairier ears and tails, are shorter and stockier and have different genes than southern cousins. This is the third round of eggs taken from the rhinos since August 2019 and they were immediately flown to the Avantea Lab in Italy to be artificially inseminated with frozen sperm from now-dead northern white rhino bulls One potential snag is that humans do not know how to detect when the time to insert the embryo is right - so they found a 'romantic decoy'. A southern white rhino bull will be sterilised, transported to Ol Pejeta and set loose among potential surrogate mothers. His response will signal when they are on heat. 'Thanks to his activities we would be able to identify the right time for inserting the embryo,' team coordinator Jan Stejskal, from Dvur Kralove Zoo explained.. 'We start early in the morning, the first female is immobilised and then the procedure lasts for about two hours,' Stejskal said of the egg harvest. The eggs are so delicate they must be immediately flown to a laboratory in Europe in an incubator hand-carried by a scientist. 'If you want to start a population of the northern white rhino, one baby is not enough, you need as many babies as possible,' Stejskal said. After fighting for two months for Sushant Singh Rajput, fans can finally take a sigh of relief because the Supreme Court has ordered a CBI investigation in his case. CBI has finally taken over Sushants death case and the family is happy with the verdict. Sushants sister Shweta Singh Kirti expressed her gratitude to the fans and family for supporting them. There we go!! Finally!! CBI for SSR!! #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!! #Victoryoffaith #GlobalPrayersForSSR #Wearefamily #CBITakesOver shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Congratulations to my extended Family!! So happy... first step towards victory and unbiased investigation. #JusticeforSushantSingRajput #OurfullfaithonCBI shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 19, 2020 Vikas Singh, Sushants lawyer, told ANI that this is a victory for the family, and the Supreme Court has stated that the FIR registered in Patna is absolutely correct. He also added, SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict. SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict: Vikas Singh, Lawyer of Sushant Singh Rajput's father https://t.co/93a6w4HoqA ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 A million of his fans have started to trend #CBITakesOver and #1stStepToSSRJustice on Twitter. Fans and well-wishers are saying that they wont give up till he gets justice but this is a big step towards victory. People are thanking Arnab Goswami, Ishkaran Bhandari, and Subramanian Swamy for not giving up and finally making it happen. Congratulations to all the #Warriors4SSR We hv proven Sushant ws right about social media.I am so happy for his family, our prayers r support wl always b der with his family #CBITakesOver #CBIForSSR #1StepToSSRJustice Thank u @shekharsuman7 @ishkarnBHANDARI @iujjawaltrivedi BonafideBlunt (@BonafideBlunt) August 19, 2020 Time to EXPOSE AND REMOVE MASK OF BOLLYWOOD CREEPS AND MAHARASHTRA GOVT. #CBITakesOver SiM (@Dimm_Simm) August 19, 2020 Finally the SC has ordered the CBI enquiry for #SSR,this is why people still have trust in Judiciary. Patna Police FIR Declared Valid In SC, a big slap to Maharashtra Govt and Police. Its a big win for everyone, Big thanks @arnabofficial7 @ishkarnBHANDARI @Swamy39 #CBITakesOver Rimpi Davyal (@Rimpidavyal) August 19, 2020 Finally!! #CBIForSSR has been ordered. The nation celebrates as #CBITakesOver. This is a history being created and for the first time a shut case has been opened. This is #1StepToSSRJustice. Thanks to @republic @ishkarnBHANDARI @Swamy39 @KanganaTeam Ishanvi Singh (@SinghIshanvi) August 19, 2020 It's a big step for us,we have 2 look forward more positively.Again proved...where there is unity,there is strength & lastly there is victory.Even though a lot of evidence has been removed before CBI enters,but d fight will continue for Gulshan.#CBITakesOver #1StepToSSRJustice pic.twitter.com/uzG74xCLcr Sharmistha Datta (@SharmisthaDat11) August 19, 2020 Its indeed a big win for the fans who have been continuously fighting for the man they adored. The Mumbai Police said it was suicide but it was after Sushant Singh Rajput's father KK Singh filed a case in Bihar accusing Rhea Chakraborty that the case picked up speed. After two months of constant protest on social media, CBI has finally taken over. We hope that truth prevails. PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OnPoint Community Credit Union is partnering with the State of Oregon to administer COVID-19 emergency relief funding to individuals experiencing extreme financial hardship due to the pandemic. OnPoint began accepting applications today for the one-time, $500 relief checks from the state. OnPoint members and non-members are welcome to apply. "We're proud to partner with the state on this vital program that has the potential to help tens of thousands of Oregonians," said Rob Stuart, OnPoint Community Credit Union President and CEO. "These checks will provide relief to families struggling to put food on the table and pay for other necessities during these unprecedented times. We invite anyone in our community who is eligible members and non-members to apply for the funding, so we can help extend a financial lifeline on behalf of the state." In July, the Oregon Legislature approved funding for the $35 million Oregon Emergency COVID-19 Relief Program. The aid can support payments to as many as 70,000 Oregonians. OnPoint has volunteered to be one of the financial institutions helping to distribute funds. Full eligibility requirements can be found on the Oregon Emergency COVID-19 Relief Program application and include: Applicants must be a current Oregon resident, age 18 or older, and provide acceptable photo ID and current address documentation. resident, age 18 or older, and provide acceptable photo ID and current address documentation. Prior to experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19, the individual's income did not exceed $4,000 per month, before any deductions for taxes, insurance or retirement contributions. per month, before any deductions for taxes, insurance or retirement contributions. Applicants are experiencing severe financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor's Executive Orders 20-07 or 20-12, resulting in the closure of their primary place of employment or substantially reduced income. Applicants are NOT current on their unemployment benefits. If an individual has received all payments for weeks claimed except for the current claim week, they are not eligible. Those who have been denied unemployment may be eligible. Eligible OnPoint members can complete and submit an application online and receive a deposit to their checking or savings account, or a check. Non-members will need to print out an application and deliver the completed document to any OnPoint branch. If approved, OnPoint will provide applicants with a $500 cashier's check. Because the funding is limited, it is expected to be distributed in full. There are several other resources for those experiencing economic hardship, including: Rent and utility services: Community Action Partnership of Oregon Gas, electricity, internet and telephone company assistance: Oregon Energy Assistance Mortgage assistance: Sign up for the Oregon Housing and Community Services news releases to stay informed about an upcoming program approved by the Oregon Legislature, or call (503) 986-2000 OnPoint is not accepting administrative fees from the state to ensure that the money set aside helps as many Oregonians as possible. To learn more about the Oregon Emergency COVID-19 Relief Program, visit the state website at emergencychecks.oregon.gov or call 2-1-1. ABOUT ONPOINT COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION Founded in 1932, OnPoint Community Credit Union is the largest credit union in Oregon, serving more than 406,000 members and with assets of $7.5 billion. OnPoint membership is available to anyone who lives or works in one of 28 Oregon counties (Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Gilliam, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Sherman, Tillamook, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler and Yamhill) and two Washington counties (Skamania and Clark) and their immediate family members. More information is available at www.onpointcu.com or 800-527-3932. SOURCE OnPoint Community Credit Union Related Links http://www.onpointcu.com Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 23:00:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday vowed continued resistance against the U.S. sanctions that will eventually "break and go away." "Neither will the oppressors at the White House, nor the sanctions stay forever. The sanctions will break and go away," Rouhani was quoted by semi-official Fars news agency as saying at a cabinet meeting. Commenting on the U.S. failure to pass through at the UN Security Council a resolution that asks for extending the current arms embargo against Iran, Rouhani stated that Washington cannot use the snapback mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2213 to snap back UN sanctions against Iran. "All countries knowledgeable in political and legal matters have denounced and are denouncing the U.S.," the Iranian president said. Enditem O ne in five hospitality bosses is not planning to ever reopen some of the sites they had to shut for the Covid-19 lockdown, a new survey showed on Wednesday. Trade association UKHospitality questioned the leaders of 140 of its members that collectively run 12000 venues, including pubs restaurants and hotels, about current trading and plans. Firms were severely hurt when the government ordered sites to close in March. Businesses were only allowed to reopen from July 4, but with social distancing measures some locations are less financially viable to welcome back customers. Of the respondents to the survey, 20% said they are planning to keep a proportion of their venues permanently closed. The results came as Pizza Express became the latest casual dining chain to confirm plans for a Company Voluntary Arrangement, a restructure model that allows businesses to axe sites or get rent cuts. It listed 73 branches it wants to close, putting 1100 jobs at risk. It had not reopened any of these sites from lockdown yet. Some 43% in UKHospitalitys survey are either fairly or very pessimistic about the future prospects of their business over next 12 months, while only 4% are very optimistic. In London, restaurants and bars are struggling from weaker tourist numbers and a lack of workers coming back to offices. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: It is increasingly clear that the crisis is far from over for Londons hospitality businesses and that the city will be affected more deeply and for longer than other parts of the country. Nicholls added: These figures show the urgent need for an action plan by the Mayor and Government that delivers support and clear, strong messaging that London is open. Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann has said that a limit on gatherings both inside and outside, as well as at sporting events are likely to be announced following tomorrow's Executive meeting. Speaking on the Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr Swann said he will be making a number of recommendations to executive colleagues when they meet tomorrow which will help "arrest that spread of this virus". "We will be taking proportionate steps. Those steps we can take easily - possibly reducing the number of people being able to meet together in households. Gather inside, gather outside, gather at sporting events - all that is in the mix. There are a range of measures we may have to take very quickly to get the spread of the virus under control. Read More "There isn't any possibility of us continuing as normal following tomorrow's Executive meeting. The recommendations we will be making to the Executive is to take further steps in regards to implementing some of the restrictions we have removed in the past." Mr Swann also called for the public to re-engage with the simple public health guidelines. "This is now in all our hands. We acted well, we acted responsibly at the start of this pandemic and Northern Ireland got itself into a very good place. There were lives lost but not as many as there could have been. "What we're asking now is that people re-engage with us and re-engage with those simple measures ... we can get back into that place and we can get back there quickly." Speaking about the reinstated restrictions in the Republic of Ireland, Mr Swann said that there are a number of similar suggestions that he will be bringing to the Executive on Thursday. "For those people who think they are above wearing a face covering, or they don't have to keep that two-metre distance, don't be so ignorant or arrogant that you think you won't have an affect on your loved ones or the loves ones of somebody else. "What we're seeing now in the actual figures is above what we saw our model predicting. We were able to look at the R number at about 1.1, 1.2 and that would give us the ability to face more relaxations. What we've seen over the past few weeks, that R number far exceeding 1, 1.1. We have to step in now, make those recommendations and arrest the spread of the virus." Also speaking on the Nolan Show, Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said the coronavirus does not "spread itself, we do" and "we need to see the same, if not greater commitment as before". "We are all tired, we all want this to be over, it is a long, long, way from over," he told the Nolan Show. "I support the minister (Robin Swann) in his comments that next week following the executive, we are likely to see some changes in terms of the restrictions that we have taken for granted over the last number of weeks and months." Earlier today, Dr McBride said that individuals who are not following coronavirus safety measures in Northern Ireland should wise up. As it emerged that Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate out of the UK and Ireland, Dr Michael McBride has warned that measures including restrictions on family visits, closing pubs and restaurants and stopping car shares are among the steps that could be put in place to help suppress Covid-19. Vice's Motherboard reports that the US Secret Service paid for a product called Locate X that collects location data from tons of shady cell phone apps. It's the kind of information that you might not even realize you're giving away that the app might not even tell you that it's collecting. It's also the kind of data that a government agency would otherwise need a warrant or court order to maintain. In March, tech publication Protocol reported that multiple government agencies signed millions of dollars worth of deals with Babel Street after the company launched its Locate X product. Multiple sources told the site that Locate X tracks the location of devices anonymously, using data harvested by popular apps installed on peoples' phones. [] The contract that mentions Locate X stretches from September 28, 2017 to September 27, 2018, according to the document. With the modifications to an existing Secret Service and Babel Street contract, the total amount increased by $35,844 to $1,999,394, the document adds. [] Law enforcement agencies typically require a warrant or court order to compel a company to provide location data for an investigation. Many agencies have filed so-called reverse location warrants to ask Google to hand over information on what Android devices were in a particular area at a given time, for example. But an agency does not need to seek a warrant when it simply buys the data instead. Both ICE and the IRS have previously tried to use privately purchased data to circumvent the warrant process and track people down through location services. Senator Rod Wyden (D-Oregon) is reportedly trying to pass a bill that would ban government agencies from contracting with data brokers, though I'm sure it'll end up mysteriously buried and killed by Mitch McConnell. Here's where it gets really frustrating: you pay for a cellphone, and the service that accompanies it. But some of the apps you use secretly collect data on you beyond what you know they're collecting, or what they say they're collecting and then sell that data to make a profit. So your personal behavioral patterns are now someone else's financial gains. And how are they making that money? From government organizations that are funded in part by your own tax dollars, and who are technically supposed to adhere to the legal processes expected of all public services. And now Motherboard has the receipts. Cool. Secret Service Bought Phone Location Data from Apps, Contract Confirms [Joseph Cox / Motherboard] Secret Service Paid to Get Americans' Location Data Without a Warrant, Documents Show [Rhett Jones / Gizmodo] Sen. Ron Wyden is introducing a privacy bill that would ban government agencies from buying personal information from data brokers [Katie Canales / Business Insider] Image: Public Domain via US Government Accountability Office Rhea Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput New Delhi: Truth will remain the same whichever agency investigates the case, actress Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer said in his reaction to the Supreme Court verdict upholding CBI probe in Sushant Singh Rajput death case. The lawyer said in a statement that the actress will appear and face the investigation by the CBI as she herself had demanded such a probe in the death of her live-in partner. Advertisement SC okays CBI probe in Sushants caseThe lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, further said that the apex court, after examining the facts and circumstances of the case and the report of the Mumbai police, has observed that it will be the desired justice as Rhea herself called for a CBI investigation. The Supreme Court also observed that due to the allegations made by the two states of political interference against each other, it would be in the interest of justice to hand over the case to the CBI, he said. Since the Court has transferred the investigation to CBI invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, she will appear and face the investigation by the CBI as she has done earlier with the Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate. Rhea maintains that the Truth will remain the same whichever agency investigates the case, Maneshinde said. Advertisement Rhea Chakraborty The top court held that FIR registered by Bihar Police on the complaint of Rajputs father Krishna Kishore Singh is correct and the reference to the CBI is lawful. The verdict came on the plea by Chakraborty who sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. A total of 13 licensed premises in Ireland were found in breach of Covid-19 safety guidelines by the Gardai as part of Operation Navigation last week. While the vast majority of licensed premises operating have been found to be in compliance with regulations and licensing laws to date, 13 potential breaches were found by Gardai between Tuesday, August 11 and Sunday, August 16, and files will now be prepared for the DPP in each of these cases. In all these cases, Gardai found customers consuming alcohol, but no evidence of food also being consumed and no evidence of receipts to show that food had been sold. From Friday, July 3 to Sunday, August 16, An Garda Siochana conducted thousands of checks on licensed premises throughout the country under Operation Navigation to support public health guidelines. The cumulative total of potential breaches since Operation Navigation began is now 138. Deputy Commissioner, Policing and Security, John Twomey said, "The continued high level of compliance among licensed premises is very welcome. However, there remains a minority who are putting their employees, their customers and their local community at risk of getting COVID-19. Everyone in the community has a role to play in stopping the spread of COVID-19 including licensed premises. "Customers of such licensed premises also have a responsibility to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 to protect their family, friends and neighbours. "Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we individually and collectively follow the public health advice and adhere to the public health regulations to flatten this new curve in the virus. Operation Fanacht At midnight on Friday, August 7 2020, following the announcement by An Taoiseach of Certain Temporary Restrictions, in counties Kildare, Laois and Offaly, An Garda Siochana recommenced Operation Fanacht, a localised proactive policing operation, focused on supporting public compliance with travel restrictions. On Saturday, 15 and Sunday, 16 August 2020 there were a total of 354 checkpoints conducted in Kildare, Laois/Offaly and all surrounding Divisions (Meath, Westmeath, Roscommon/Longford, Galway, Tipperary, Kilkenny/Carlow, Wicklow and Wexford). Of these, 164 were in Kildare and Laois/Offaly Divisions, the remaining 190 were conducted in the other surrounding Divisions. Jane Thornton, Chief Operating Officer at CGDB, has known James since he was 14 years old, and understood the profound impact of him not having a Guide Dog. Jane, and her team, worked tirelessly to adapt their protocols in order to safely pair clients like James with their new partner as soon as possible. "We have proudly served Canadians for over 36 years, and while COVID provided new challenges, it was important to promptly adapt and continue to help people with Guide Dogs", says Jane. "It affects every client differently, but not having a Guide Dog can mean loss of independence, mobility, safety, and even employment." James was excited to receive the call from CGDB in June, informing him that he would be the first client to receive residential training at the center in Manotick since COVID hit. There were new safety protocols, distancing, and isolation of parts of the facility and a van for only him and his instructor to use. Though different from past experiences, James has now safely completed his training and returned home with Guide Dog Mollie, a yellow Labrador retriever. One of the training sessions included a trip to the Massage Addict clinic in Ottawa, where Mollie had an opportunity to work with James in a work environment similar to his own. And of course, Mollie always so happy and eager to please, passed with flying colours. Now home, one of their most frequent routes is to the Massage Addict clinic in Sherwood Park, where he works as a Registered Massage Therapist. James enjoys his current career as "he loves to help people", and is very thankful for Massage Addict, the franchise owners and his colleagues. "They have all welcomed me with open arms. They have been an ideal employer for someone with a disability, accommodating my needs, thinking outside of the box, suggesting ideas to solve any challenges, being inclusive." Shaun Cassidy, Owner of the Sherwood Park Massage Addict clinics says "James has been an outstanding addition to our team here at Massage Addict Sherwood Park. As a member of the business community we are proud to be part of the diverse fabric of Sherwood Park, and as an employer we want to promote diversity and inclusion as well. We are pleased that James has chosen to work with us, and we look forward to welcoming all people, from all walks of life to our clinic to meet James, Mollie and all our other therapists." James was dramatically affected by COVID19, but with some support and a new Guide Dog he is able to maintain his independence and safety regardless of the obstacles the pandemic has put before him. As for Mollie, James thinks she is a perfect match, and she is getting the best of both worlds. "She loves to work and she loves to play. It's been awesome." --------------------------------- About Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind is a registered charity that relies on public support and funding to be able to professionally breed, raise and train Guide Dogs that change people's lives. They continue to support people that are blind and partially sighted, and have placed over 880 teams since our inception in 1984. You can learn more about Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind or donate online at www.guidedogs.ca. --------------------------------------------- About Massage Addict Massage Addict is the largest and fastest growing therapeutic provider of massage therapy, acupuncture and reflexology in Canada. Since 2008, the Canadian owned and operated healthcare franchise has offered high-quality, therapeutic treatments. Massage Addict has over 1,400 practicing therapists, and recruits only the highest caliber of Registered Massage Therapists, Registered Acupuncturists and Certified Reflexologists. Massage Addict offers a range of therapeutic services to help clients manage pain, stress, anxiety, injury, and muscle tension, as well as increase energy levels and enhance health. SOURCE Massage Addict For further information: Patrick Cadieux, Vice President Marketing, [email protected] Related Links http://www.massageaddict.ca A newborn baby had only been alive for a matter of hours when it was found dead at a family home in Perth, where a man was led away from the scene in handcuffs. Emergency services rushed to a home on Cassidy Road at Thornlie, in Perth's south-east at about 1pm on Wednesday. The child, whose sex was not released, was believed to have been born prematurely in the early hours of the morning. A newborn baby had only been alive for a matter of hours when it was found dead at a family home in Perth, while a man was lead away from the scene in handcuffs Emergency services rushed to a home on Cassidy Road at Thornlie, in Perth's south-east at about 1pm on Wednesday (police at the scene) The baby's 26-year-old mother was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital in the back of an ambulance that was escorted by police, The West Australian reported. A man was lead away from the home in handcuffs as a towel covered his face late on Wednesday. His arrest was reportedly unrelated to the child's death. Friends called emergency services about 1pm but the baby was believed to have died before paramedics arrived. Detectives are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragic death as the parents continue to assist police with inquiries. The baby was found at a home in Thornlie, located 18 kilometres south-east of the city's CBD Local detectives talked to neighbours as forensic officers from the coronial unit examined the crime scene. Police are urging anyone who has any information about the death or saw any activity at the property to contact Crime Stoppers immediately. Subscriber content preview Photo by Tobin Rogers [enlarge] The station has six sleep rooms, bays for two apparatus and built-in plans for more of each. The city of Meridian, Idaho in March opened Fire Station 6 at 1435 W. Overland Road in response to rapid growth, the designer said. . . . Up north the Union Peace Conference, formerly the 21st Century Panglong Conference, is once more crippled because of disagreements over who is eligible to attend the conference. The fourth and last round of negotiations before the new Union Peace agreement with the tribal rebels is signed is to take place August 19-21. This meeting has run into problems because one coalition, the NA (Northern, or Brotherhood Alliance) tribal rebels refuse to attend unless the government allows the AA (Arakan Army) to attend. The AA and the army have been fighting for nearly two years. Most of the casualties have been civilians, including 274 neutral and pro-rebel villagers dead plus over 200,000 civilians displaced. The government, pressured by the army, declared the AA an outlaw organization in March. The other tribal rebels disagreed and saw the army as the true outlaws. No long-term peace deal is possible without the NA but some NA members are still engaged in combat with the army. All NA members agree that if the AA is not allowed to attend the conference, neither will any NA member. The NA consists of four tribal militias; TNLA (Tang National Liberation Army), AA, MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army) and KIA (Kachin Independence Army). The NA exists because its members refused to sign the 2015 Burmese Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Those who did sign the NCA have made progress in working out differences with the Burmese government and military. The army, which tends to do as it likes in the tribal areas of the north, is the primary cause of this violence. China is also involved because Northern Alliance members survive via their access to China. The access is tolerated as long as these Burmese rebels do not let the fighting spread into China or interfere with Chinese commercial operations in Burma. This includes the BRI project, which NA members object to. So do other tribal rebels and the largest such group, the UWSA (United Wa State Army) is also boycotting the August 19th conference. The 21st Century Panglong Conference peace effort has been underway since 2015. The last negotiating sessions were in 2018, 2017 and 2016. In 2018 all the armed tribal factions showed up and although these factions still have some differences with each other the one thing that unites them is their distrust of the army and belief that there cannot be peace as long as the army is independent of government control. That wont change until the provisions of the 2011 constitution, which the military demanded before they would allow the return of democracy, are changed. That change is underway but will take time. Meanwhile the army does whatever it wants in the tribal areas and sees that as a perpetual state of war, not something they can make peace with. Because of the situation with the army, a peace deal in the north is still a work in progress. Most of the visible progress is superficial. For example, in late 2016 the government and various tribal groups agreed to continue with the Panglong Conferences in an effort to negotiate a long-term peace deal. The 2017 meeting was well attended by representatives from nearly all tribal groups. But even though over 750 delegates showed up nothing was really resolved. In 2018 everyone was invited, not just those who signed the NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement) in 2016. The main dissidents were a seven-member alliance led by the UWSA plus the KIA, TNLA, AA, NDAA, SSA-N and MNDAA which did not agree to come until the last minute. The USWA was pressured by China (the Wa are ethnic Chinese living on both sides of the border) to attend and bring the rest of the alliance with them. China again used its persuasive powers to get everyone to the 2018 conference. At the 2017 conference Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democracy movement that ousted the army in 2011 met separately with the leaders of each the seven alliance members. Several weeks after the conference the alliance said that in the future they would only meet with government leaders, especially military ones, as a group and not one-on-one. The UWSA-led alliance is the most powerful group not only because they have good connections in China and Thailand but because they are active in the drug trade and have plenty of cash. That means they are well armed and form a military opponent the Burmese Army has never been able to subdue. With the help of China the Burmese Army could defeat the rebels but the Chinese want much in return, especially in terms of cooperation in keeping the tribes from interfering with Chinese economic projects in the north. At the moment those Chinese projects are one of the major problems the tribes have with the government. The tribes continue to find it difficult to unite, even for something that is mutually beneficial to all the tribes. Most tribal organizations now support the idea of a peace deal but have been unable to achieve much progress on key issues. The causes of all this tribal strife go back a long way. Fighting between government forces and tribal rebels has, since 1948, left over 200,000 dead and crippled economic growth in the border areas being fought over. Now known as the Union Peace Conference rather than 21st Century Panglong, the conferences area a long-sought effort to update the original 1947 Panglong Conference held between the tribes and British colonial authorities just before Burma became independent. The 1947 conference got agreement for the tribal territories to be incorporated into Burma rather than remain a collection of tribal territories independent of any central government. World War II had just ended and the tribal territories of northern Burma and northeast India had been heavily involved because these areas had been a battleground for Japanese, British, Indian and tribal forces. The British convinced the tribes that being part of a larger neighbor (in this case former British colonies India and Burma) would be preferable to the pre-colonial chaos. The goal in the 21st century is to create a mutually acceptable federal form of government in the tribal territories. The idea is to keep the Panglong Conferences going until there is a general agreement. India has been more successful with its tribes but still has trouble with some separatist tribal rebels. In Burma there are also many disputes between various tribes. Many of the tribal coalitions are held together mainly by the need to unite for mutual defense from the army attacks and sometimes other tribes as well. Peace with the national government leads to more factionalism among the tribal coalitions. This is already happening in those areas that have been a peace for a year or so. As democracy returned to Burma after 2011 the army was forced to reduce their operations against the tribes. That process is continuing and with it comes more opportunities for tribes to revive ancient tribal feuds. During the 2018 conference China increased its use of favors (or threats, as needed) to persuade all the tribes to show up. China then sought to make deals with various factions and groups, including the army and the Burmese government. China is less active in 2020 because of covid19, economic and diplomatic problems. Despite those distractions the main Chinese goal in Burma is still about completing its economic projects, mainly those connected with the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative)/ Obor (One Belt, One Road) project. BRI is all about China building roads, railroads, pipelines and ports to make it easier for Chinese imports and exports to move around. Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand Sri Lanka and Burma are all BRI participants that are seeing billions of dollars in construction Chinese projects taking place and the terms of these deals tend to favor China, not the country where the construction takes place. Not surprisingly many people in these BRI countries see the Chinese investments as another form of colonialism. China prefers not to call it colonialism but rather seeking to expand its commercial activities. The Burmese tribes have long depended on Chinese cash and diplomatic influence to survive. Most Burmese are suspicious of any involvement with BRI. August 17, 2020: Its been three years now that nearly a million Rohingya refugees have been an involuntary presence in Bangladesh. While the refugees were welcomed when they arrived in large numbers during 2017, after about a year the presence of nearly a million displaced Rohingya in an already crowded country became a problem. Most of the Rohingya refugees are in an area called Coxs Bazaar and their presence tripled the local population. At first the locals were eager to help fellow Moslems, for a few months at least. But that expected short visit has gone on for three years and there is no end in sight. The appearance of the covid19 virus has made the situation worse because the refugee villages are more crowded and disorganized than the nearby Bangladeshi towns and villages. August 5, 2020: Burma has gained another dubious distinction; the longest Internet ban ever recorded. In northwestern Burma, parts of Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, have had Internet access blocked for over a year. Today the last of those Internet blockages were lifted. The Internet shutdown began June 21 2019 and initially applied to several areas in Rakhine and neighboring Chin state. Internet access was subsequently restored in all of Chin State but the shutdown continued in parts of Rakhine State where the army had been fighting AA rebels. This fighting had been going on since early 2019 and was made worse by the fact that the AA, unlike most tribal rebel groups up there, have always been more gangster than champion of tribal rights. Cell phones came late to northern Burma. This was part of many changes that took place after the Burmese military finally agreed to end their decades of military rule and allow elections in 2011. The army staged a coup in the 1960s and managed to hold onto power for nearly half a century. Elections meant a lifting of military restrictions on communications and cell phone service flooded the country bringing many regions, particularly the tribal north, affordable and widespread phone service for the first time ever. The army soon found out that the tribal rebels used cell phones not just for operational communications but to stay in touch with their civilian supporters. This is the reason for the long Internet shutdown in Rakhine State, which is supposed to be lifted at the end of July but was delayed about a week. August 4, 2020: In the north (Shan State) about a hundred villagers fled across the border into China to avoid fighting between SSA-S rebels and soldiers. The fighting was triggered by a dispute over who controls a timber smuggling route. A persistent complaint of the tribal rebels is the army seeking to take over money-making enterprises, often illegal, that the rebels operate to sustain themselves. August 3, 2020: In the northwest (Rakhine State) several clashes between the AA and the security forces since yesterday caused several dozen casualties including at over a dozen dead. July 29, 2020: In northeast India an Indian army patrol was attacked by tribal rebels using a roadside bomb and gunfire. Three soldiers died and four were wounded. The attack took place near the Burma border and the attackers are suspected of operating from bases across the nearby border in Burma. July 22, 2020: In the north (Shan State) fighting between SSA-N rebels and soldiers caused over 200 villagers to flee their homes. A truck driver accused of killing four police officers in a horror crash on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway has been charged with drug trafficking. Mohinder Singh, 47, was charged with culpable driving causing death over the April crash that killed four officers on a routine traffic stop. On Wednesday police laid another 33 charges against the man, who is currently in custody. He's now been charged with four counts of dangerous driving causing death, driving under the influence, and trafficking methamphetamine and cannabis. He's also facing other drug-related charges. Mohinder Singh's Connect chicken truck veered across the freeway and hit the four officers, who were on the side of the road pulling over speeding driver Richard Pusey Senior Constable Kevin King (pictured, far left), Constable Glen Humphris (second from left), Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor (second from right) and and Constable Josh Prestney (far right) all died in the crash Richard Pusey (pictured) was arrested on April 23, one day after the fatal crash which killed the four police officers after they pulled him over for allegedly speeding Leading Senior Constable Lynnette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney were killed while they were impounding a Porsche on the freeway. Mr Singh's Connect Logistics' refrigerated chicken truck veered across the freeway and hit the four officers, who were on the side of the road pulling over speeding driver Richard Pusey. They were in the process of impounding the mortgage broker's Porsche 911. Pusey was allegedly driving his luxury car at 149km/h on the Eastern Freeway, near Kew, when he was pulled over by police. He was hit with a slew of charges after allegedly filming and taunting a dying police officer at the crash scene before running away. Public funerals were held for all four officers after the tragedy, which marked the single greatest loss of police life in Victoria's history. Police allegedly found drugs and an ice pipe in the cabin of Singh's truck. Mohinder Singh was charged on Wednesday with trafficking methamphetamine and cannabis and driving under the influence Pusey, a 41-year old mortgage broker (pictured in a court sketch) avoided being struck by the truck because he'd been urinating off to the side of the road Singh initially faced court days after the crash, where his lawyer Steven Pica said he was 'distressed and saddened' at his actions. The trucking company involved in the fatal accident has been penalised for safety breaches, including truck defects and using fatigued drivers. New South Wales Police launched a probe into Connect Logistics and have now issued the Western Sydney business with 35 infringement notices. Traffic and Highway Patrol inspected 61 heavy vehicles and trailers at Wetherill Park, Marulan, Wagga Wagga and Pine Creek over a week-long period in May. Police also raided three NSW properties linked to two of the trucking company's managers in May. Victoria and NSW police searched the Connect Logistics head office in Riverstone in Sydney's northwest and two homes in nearby Kenthurst. Mr Singh - pictured with his wife - is now facing 20 years behind bars for the horror smash The 47-year-old is already facing charges of culpable driving after the April 22 incident that killed Lynnette Taylor, Kevin King, Glen Humphris and Joshua Prestney Police allege Pusey, 41, was speeding while under the influence of methamphetamine and cannabis. Pusey is accused of filming the scene on his mobile phone instead of helping Senior Constable Lynette Taylor as she lay dying. The three male officers were already dead. Police allege Pusey took photos and videos of the scene before he fled on foot and uploaded the images to social media. Pusey, of Fitzroy, was charged with 12 offences include driving at a dangerous speed, reckless conduct endangering life, destruction of evidence, perverting the course of justice, failing to remain at the scene after a drug test and failing to render assistance. He was arrested a day after the crash on April 23 and was hit with a further two charges in June, including behaving in an indecent or offensive manner and committing an act outraging public decency. Pusey appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on July 16 facing 15 charges. The 41-year-old avoided being struck in the crash as he'd been urinating off to the side of the road. At a June hearing Magistrate Jo Metcalf labelled Pusey's alleged filming of the graphic crash scene as 'highly intrusive and morally repugnant' but noted it was not illegal. RTI International, a prominent nonprofit research group based in Durham, is eliminating 48 jobs by Aug. 28 and continuing to furlough 1,152 employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on its business. The WARN Act notice, posted Monday by the state Commerce Department, is the largest single-site furlough and job-cut announcement in North Carolina since the brunt of the pandemic began to be felt in mid-March. RTI, with a Triangle workforce of about 2,200, conducts high-profile research reports for the federal government on a contract basis. Among its best-known initiatives are with the Food and Drug Administration with its tobacco policies, and with prominent national healthcare system rankings, such as with U.S. News & World Report. RTI said in a WARN Act notice submitted Aug. 12 that it has had to severely reduce its in-person research efforts because of the pandemic. However, RTI cautioned it is not closing its Research Triangle Park operations, and that many of the affected employees "are dispersed throughout the United States." Portland protesters on Tuesday marched to a new venue, the county seat of government, where they broke windows and lit fires including one inside the building. Police quickly moved in and declared a riot, pushing protesters away from the Multnomah Building at Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard and Grand Avenue. Two people were arrested. The group, which appeared to total about 200, began its march at Colonel Summers Park in Southeast Portland. Protesters descended on the county building, where the demonstration remained peaceful for more than an hour. But some in the crowd lit fires in dumpsters and outside the building. Some demonstrators broke windows, and a fire was eventually set inside the building using lighter fluid and a large burning item thrown inside, according to police. Police said the fire was significant enough to set off fire alarms and a sprinkler system. Police declared a riot, citing blocked traffic, fires, broken windows and vandalism. For the next hour and a half, demonstrators moved throughout the streets of inner Southeast Portland, being pushed north intermittently by groups of officers in riot gear. Police said they used unspecified crowd control munitions to disperse the crowd but did not deploy tear gas. Officers were hit by projectiles while dispersing protesters, police said. An officer suffered a minor injury. Demonstrators eventually began marching back to the park where the demonstration began, chanting along the way for residents to wake up, come out of their homes and join the protest. Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said the county building fire damaged the Office of Community Involvement. This is the heart of our County, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity, she said in a midnight statement, noting that the space is dedicated to people marginalized by the traditional political process. The lobby where the first same-sex marriage in Oregon took place, and where millions of pieces of personal protective equipment are being distributed to help our community battle COVID-19, was damaged, she said, asking the community to work together. I acknowledge that there is grave injustice in our world and there is a violent and tragic history of oppression in our County, she said. I am committed to transformational change. Sheriff Mike Reese decried the damage to the building, which is closed Wednesday. The unprovoked actions by those who engaged in criminal behavior is reprehensible, Reese said in a statement. It is simply violence and serves no legitimate purpose. It does nothing to solve the issues our community faces. District Attorney Mike Schmidt echoed a similar sentiment. The violent and intentional criminal behavior that occurred at the Multnomah Building is the antithesis to the work Multnomah County and its dedicated and diverse staff is doing daily to uplift, support and improve our community, he said in a statement. The people working in the Multnomah Building serve a critical mission to the countys response to the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to adversely impact marginalized communities. Breaking out windows, setting fires and committing assaults will not bring the much needed reform we need. Police Chief Chuck Lovell expressed frustration at the ongoing vandalism and the targets. To effect change, we must work to build and not destroy, Lovell said in a statement. This is more than property paid for by community members; these buildings host critical materials and spaces that provide essential services and support to our community at large. The damage is costing millions of dollars that could be used to help people during an already challenging time. The protest, which marked Portlands 83rd consecutive night of demonstrations, came on the heels of a mellower Monday night. During that protest, a group of about 200 marching from Kenton Park in North Portland to the Portland Police Association headquarters about half a mile away. Police briefly appeared after a window at the police association was broken, but they remained for only about 10 minutes. The protest on Sunday, however, took a more violent turn, as a group of protesters beat a man bloody and unconscious in the street after he crashed a truck during a confrontation that unfolded near a downtown Portland demonstration. Adam Haner, the man who was beaten, has been released from a hospital and is recovering. Police on Tuesday announced they had identified a suspect, 25-year-old Marquise Love, and said they have probable cause to arrest him. It was not immediately clear what spurred the confrontation. -- Jim Ryan and Jayati Ramakrishnan jryan@oregonian.com; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com Brooke Herbert of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Yesterday, the Tu-214P plane of Russia's FSB had landed in Minsk amid ongoing protests. Former director of the Belarusian TV Company Elena Martynovskaya has said Russia deployed two planes carrying propaganda teams to Minsk late on August 18. Martynovskaya says she was not allowed to her workplace this morning after being blacklisted by her management, along with other protest supporters from among TV channel's staff, TUT.BY reports. Read alsoUkraine decries allegations of "special operation" to arrest Wagner PMC troops as "fake story""At 09:00, my colleagues and I were approaching the building. There was a checkpoint, the police officers were there, and they asked where we were going. They said: 'Please, show your ID.' They looked at the name and said: 'Sorry, you can't pass, you're not on the list. We can't let you pass,'" she told TUT.BY. Martynovskaya also clarified who has replaced her on the job. "Oh yeah. That's a very interesting story. Two planes arrived from Russia, bringing employees who are now performing our functions for a very large pay. Here, in the Republic [of Belarus], we have no money to provide doctors with face masks, we raise funds all over the country, but we do have money for new news teams," she said. The Belarusian TV Company staff partially supported protests contesting election results. Since the outbreak of a new wave of opposition rallies, journalists started quitting the TV company, while other employees joined the main demands of protesters to hold another election. Earlier, it became known the Tu-214PU aircraft of Russia's FSB had landed in Minsk on Tuesday, August 18, amid protests across the country. Russia's "support" for Lukashenko Patna: After the Supreme Court verdict allowing the CBI to probe Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) claimed that the matter was not just related to the late actor's family but concerned the entire country and with the CBI investigating the case people believe justice will be delivered. "Supreme Court verdict makes it clear that probe by Bihar Police and FIR registered here were correct. Not just Sushant Singh Rajput's family or people of Bihar, entire country is concerned over the matter. With CBI probe, people can trust there'll be justice," Kumar was quoted as saying by ANI. The JDU chief further said that the Bihar Police was doing it's duty by probing the case but did not get any cooperation in Mumbai. The top court's decsion makes it clear that what happened was not right. "It was duty of Bihar Police to probe after complaint, but they didn't get cooperation in Mumbai. Behaviour meted out to our IPS officer is known to all. With SC verdict, it's clear what happened wasn't right. Any political comment in this situation isn't right," he said. On the personal comments made against him, the Bihar CM said, "These things are not about politics, they are about justice. We are focused on providing justice. What was said, was not right. Probe will speed up now. Today it was proved that we abided by law in the steps we took." The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The apex court also said that the FIR filed in Patna by Sushant Singh Rajput's father Krishna Kishore Singh was correct and the Bihar government is competent enough to transfer the case to CBI for investigation. The apex court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his residence on June 14. The Mumbai Police has been probing the case since then. However, Sushant's family, friends and fans had been vocal on social media for quite some time demanding a CBI probe into his death. BERLIN (AP) Saudi Arabias foreign minister on Wednesday cautiously welcomed an agreement between its close ally the United Arab Emirates and Israel to establish full diplomatic ties and exchange embassies. Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the deal, which also halted unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory sought by the Palestinians, could be viewed as positive. But he refrained from outright backing the move, while saying that Saudi Arabia was open to establishing similar relations on condition that a peace agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians. Prince Faisal's remarks during a news conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas were the first public comment by Saudi Arabia on Thursdays surprise announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that his administration helped broker the UAE-Israel agreement. While Bahrain, Oman and Egypt issued official statements welcoming the agreement, the kingdom did not at the time and did not respond to requests for comment until Wednesday's news conference in Berlin. The UAE framed its agreement as a successful measure that halted Israeli plans to annex West Bank territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has said the suspension is only temporary. The Palestinians have issued scathing statements saying the UAE undermined Arab consensus and described the move as a betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause." Saudi Arabia, like other Arab Gulf states, has built quiet ties with Israel over the years, in part because of shared concerns over Iran and its policies in the region. The kingdom, however, is home to Islams holiest site and has historically positioned itself as a defender of Islam and Muslims, a title that foes Turkey and Iran have also tried to claim. King Salman is also seen as a steadfast supporter of the Palestinians, but his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has expressed more willingness for the kingdom to engage with Israel. Story continues We are committed to the Arab Peace Plan and that is the best way forward to a settlement of the conflict and to normalization with Israel with all states, the Saudi foreign minister told reporters in Berlin. That said, any efforts that could promote peace in the region and that result in holding back the threat of annexation could be viewed as positive. Prince Faisal noted that the Arab Peace Initiative sponsored by Saudi Arabia in 2002 promises Israel full ties with Arab states if a peace settlement is reached with the Palestinians. Conditions for that, however, must be based on internationally recognized parameters, he said. Once that is achieved, then all things are possible," Prince Faisal said. He reiterated the kingdoms long-held public stance that a future Palestinian state should include east Jerusalem as its capital. ___ Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. After a public hearing where residents expressed their concerns about Holyoke Medical Centers plan to close its Birthing Center, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has deemed the centers services necessary and requested a plan that details how access to inpatient maternity beds and bassinets will be maintained for Holyoke residents. A letter dated Aug. 12 addresses several concerns brought up during the July 28 public hearing about the effects on the community if the 13 bed Obstetrics Service and 10 bassinet Well Infant Nursery at Holyoke Medical Center were to discontinue operations. The Department has made a finding that the services provided by the Hospital are in fact necessary for preserving access and health status within the Hospitals service area, wrote Sherman Lohnes, director of the state DPHs Division of Health Care Facility Licensure and Certification. When the announcement of the impending closure was made in June, Holyoke Medical Center President and CEO Spiros Hatiras said there were only 383 births at the center last year and that numbers are expected to decline even further. The hospital has not been able to grow the number of births and does not have the resources to maintain the Birthing Center open, Hatiras has said. The estimated annual loss from the maternity service is between $3 and $4 million. The state DPH has asked the medical center to address specific issues brought up during the hearing including the transportation needs of residents needing to access other birthing centers, the lack of access to family planning services and the cultural and linguistic needs of Holyoke residents, with specific mention of bilingual services, which are offered at the Holyoke Birthing Center. State officials also asked the medical center to address how it will initiate ongoing engagement with the local community to ensure they are aware of the impact of the discontinuance of these services and their input on the development and implementation of a plan to ensure access in the future. Residents had complained the medical center did not work with the community to see what the impact of the closure would be or find alternatives to closing the center. Hatiras was not immediately available for comment. Holyoke resident and parent Sasha Jimenez said Holyoke residents should have been approached before the medical center announced the impending closure. We cant let things like this continue to happen in our community. Im not going to let decisions be made about how and where we give birth without our voices being heard, Jimenez said. Holyoke resident Rachel Ingraham said the birth of her son was difficult but the caring staff at the Birthing Center made the process easier. It pains me that if I have another child it wont be with that amazing team. From the nurses, to the midwives, the lactation consultant, the cleaning staff, receptionists, and food services, it was clear that everyone took patient care and safety seriously, but that it was also a labor of love, she said. On Thursday, Aug. 20, members of the Coalition for Birthing Care Access, in partnership with the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Jobs with Justice will hold a stand out at the intersection of Beech and Northampton streets between 3 and 4 p.m. to advocate for the Birthing Center. Our Western Massachusetts communities deserve fair and equitable access to all medical care, and, in this pivotal moment, it is imperative that we come together to advocate for racial justice, healthcare equity and a Holyoke Medical Center that serves the community, organizers said in a prepared statement. Anyone interested in attending must wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Signs will be provided. As a part of her testimony for the state DPH hearing, Nina Kleinberg, a retired midwife at the Birthing Center, spoke about why the birthing center was created. In the early 1980s, Holyoke had one of the highest infant mortality rates in Massachusetts. The Department of Public Health set up the Infant Mortality Task Force to address this serious health concern. The Task Force made several recommendations to address this problemincluding the founding of a bilingual nurse-midwifery practice with an office in downtown Holyoke, Kleinberg said. This finding was based on many studies that showed that nurse-midwives could have a positive impact on the health care outcomes of women of childbearing age, especially in socioeconomically-challenged communities. Alicia Fleming, a member of the Coalition for Birth Care Access and Western Massachusetts organizer for Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, encouraged people to attend the standout. We cant let history repeat itself and go back to the infant mortality rates communities of color experienced before I was born in the 1980s, Fleming said. There is no denying the systemic racism that is present in the impending closure of the Birthing Center. This is our opportunity to build upon the progress made by the generations before us and to fight for reproductive justice. Related content: At a ceremony on Monday to commission the permanent secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo and Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the AU Commission, reiterated the importance of the body to the continents economic transformation agenda. The economic integration of Africa will lay strong foundations for an Africa beyond aid. Africas new sense of urgency and aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by todays ceremony, Akufo-Addo said. Ghana was selected as the venue for the headquarters by African leaders during a Summit of AU Heads of states in Niamey in July last year, to launch the implementation phase of the agreement, which is expected to spur regional trade among member countries. Currently, 54 states have signed on to AfCFTA, out of which 28 have ratified. President Akufo-Addo appealed to member states that have not ratified to do so before the next AU summit in December, to pave the way for the smooth commencement of trading from 1 January 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of the success of the AfCFTA, the Ghanaian president said. The destruction of global supply chains has reinforced the necessity for closer integration amongst us so that we can boost our mutual self-sufficiency, strengthen our economies and reduce our dependence on external sources, he said. AfCFTA, the worlds largest free trade area, has the potential to transform the continent with its potential market of 1.2 billion people and combined GDP of around $3 trillion across the 54-member states of the AU. Mahamat said the opening of the secretariat marked a milestone in the vision of Africas founding founders for continental integration. Wamkele Mene, the first Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, said the agreement offered an opportunity for Africa to confront the significant trade and economic development challenges: market fragmentation, small national economies, over-reliance on primary commodity exports, narrow export base, lack of export specialization, under-developed regional value chains and high regulatory and tariff barriers to trade. We have to take action now. We have to take action to dismantle the colonial economic model that we inherited, Mene reiterated. The African Development Bank Group provided a $5 million institutional support grant to the AU towards the establishment of the AfCFTA secretariat which is located in an ultra-modern office complex in the central business district of the Ghanaian capital. The African Development Bank congratulates the AU/AfCFTA on the investiture of the Secretariat hosted by Ghana on 17 August 2020.The Bank is delighted to be associated with this groundbreaking, game-changing, transformational continental initiative in furtherance of the objective to create the Africa we want, said Solomon Quaynor, the Banks Vice-President for the Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization. Our support to the AfCFTA is in keeping with the Banks role of continental leadership in helping to build special-purpose vehicles that are critical to the successful implementation of crucial institutions to accelerate Africas economic development objectives, Quaynor added. The event also featured virtual goodwill remarks from AU Chairman, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires WATERLOO REGION Back to school shopping will look a little bit different for students this year. Along with crisp new notebooks and gel pens, some students will also stock up on reusable face masks. Madeleine Galt has already made herself 14 cloth face masks to wear to high school in Elmira this fall. I have made lots of fun, colourful ones but now I tend to make more plain ones, she said. The 14-year-old bought iron-on patches with images of peace signs and whimsical plants to decorate her plain masks. She learned how to sew last year and has even sewn up a few reuseable face masks for friends. Madeleine is starting Grade 9 at Elmira District Secondary School in three weeks, a prospect she is pretty excited about despite pandemic protocols. I just wish it was more normal, she added. Both local school boards will allow students to bring their own reusable face masks to wear in school and will also provide masks to students who forget them, lose them or dont have access to them. Across the province, students in Grade 4 and up will head back to classrooms in face masks. While Catholic schools in the region will follow provincial guidelines, public schools will now require all students to wear a mask inside schools. The public school board says homemade masks must meet criteria outlined by Region of Waterloo Public Healths guidelines regarding face masks and coverings. At the Catholic board, only fitted face masks will be allowed. Bandanas, neck gaiters and face shields will not be permitted. Parents are buying reuseable, cloth face masks from local businesses as well as from local makers like Heather Galt, Madeleines mother. She has made more than 500 masks for small businesses and friends and family, and said lately she has been asked to make child-sized masks as parents prepare to send their children to school. We have bought a lot of fun, colourful fabrics, Heather said. People say, My masks reflect my personality. Its like an accessory now. Heather makes her masks with two layers of fabric and one layer of enforcement in between. She uses a lanyard-style closure at the back with long strips of paracord so the mask can hang around your neck when youre eating. She expects students will need to change into a new mask after lunch time, so she plans to send her two children to school with two masks each daily. Lots of different styles of masks are available, and some people prefer one style over another. Waterloos Vanessa Ricci-Thode makes simple pleated masks for her family from her existing fabric stash. Her Grade 4 daughter has been wearing masks during camp days this summer so she feels her daughter is comfortable and prepared to wear masks in school. We try to make it fun with different patterns, she said. A lot of our masks are Halloween patterns right now because we had a lot of Halloween fabric left over. (Wearing a mask) can be scary for kids, so anything we can do to make it less scary is good, she said. Ricci-Thode said even though she is confident in her daughters ability to wear a mask for an entire school day, she still worries about public health protocols in schools. Im still a little nervous about it because the social distancing is not quite there, she said. Im hoping there will be more funding to change that. Until then, we are cautiously optimistic. Heather had similar sentiments. She wants to send her two daughters, Madeleine and 11-year-old Lauren, to school prepared but she doesnt think schools will be entirely safe. It seems like the class sizes need to be significantly smaller to keep the kids safe, she said. Im also really concerned about the kids wearing masks all day when theres no air conditioning in the schools. Heather said she plans to keep her children home from school on hot days and is also exploring the option of a learning pod instead. At the very least, Ricci-Thode hopes for more funding so local schools can decrease class sizes to allow for proper physical distancing. Its hard to be prepared when there isnt a plan in place, she said. For now, she hopes students who can safely wear masks will do so. The more that wear masks the better. Mask policies in schools: Waterloo District Public School Board Elementary school students will be provided with five reusable face masks each, and secondary students will receive three reusable face masks each. Disposable masks will be made available as needed. Face shields can be a solution for students who cannot wear a mask or can be worn in addition to wearing a mask. All students regardless of age must wear masks on school buses. Masks must be worn during extended day programs. Regular dress code applies to images and phrases on masks. The wearing of masks will be enforced as a classroom and school expectation. Younger students will not be disciplined if they struggle to comply with mask-wearing. Waterloo Catholic District School Board Students from grades 4 through 12 will be required to wear masks. Reasonable exceptions will apply. Students in kindergarten through Grade 3 are encouraged to wear masks but not required. All students of all ages must wear masks on school buses. Masks will be provided on buses and in schools when needed. As with any clothing item, words, images and designs on masks need to be school-appropriate. Face coverings are another tool to help slow the spread of COVID-19 because they can help contain the spread of respiratory droplets. Region of Waterloo public health says it is important to choose the right face covering. Reusable face coverings should be made of tightly woven cloth or fabric, with at least two layers, should not use plastic or non-breathable materials, should be secured by elastic or ties, fit snugly with no gaps, cover your nose, mouth and chin and not impair your vision. Public health says a face shield is not a substitute for a face covering because it does not protect others from the wearers respiratory droplets. Face shields can be used if a face covering cannot be worn. Wearing a mask or face covering alone is not enough to protect from COVID-19. Physical distancing and frequent hand washing are also important protocols to continue to follow. Both school boards have said staff will be provided with medical-grade masks that must be worn when physical distancing cannot be ensured. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.19 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: The value of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan amounted to $1.2 billion over 1H2020, compared to $1.5 billion during the same period of 2019, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Statistics Committee. The share of Uzbekistan in the total value of Kazakhstans trade turnover stood at less than 3 percent during the reporting period compared to 3.3 percent during the same period of 2019. Kazakhstans export to Uzbekistan amounted to $878.4 million over the period from January through June 2020, compared to $990.06 million during the same period of 2019. Uzbekistans share in the total volume of Kazakhstans export amounted to less than 3.4 percent during the reporting period of 2020 compared to 3.5 percent during the same period of 2019. In turn, Kazakhstans imports from Uzbekistan stood at about $384.8 million over the reporting period, compared to $524.5 million during the same period of 2019. Uzbekistans share in the total volume of Kazakhstans import amounted to 2.3 percent during the reporting period of 2020 compared to 3 percent during the same period of 2019. The total volume of Kazakhstans trade turnover amounted to $42.5 billion over the period from Jan. through June 2020 which indicates a decrease from $46.1 billion during the same period of 2019. Kazakhstans export amounted to $26 billion during the reporting period of 2020 ($28.6 billion in the same period of 2019), whereas import amounted to $16.5 billion ($17.5 billion in 2019). --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Associate Professor Scott Bryan, who has been studying the impact of pumice rafts for nearly 20 years, was part of an international team that earlier this year used underwater robots with cameras and sampling gear to collect material from the volcano near Tonga that produced the raft that at one stage was twice the size of Manhattan. The unnamed volcano, which is known only as Volcano F or 0403-091, became the centre of international headlines last year when Shannon Lenz's video footage of the giant pumice raft, and the first-hand accounts of Australian sailors Michael Hoult and Larissa Brill, went viral. Pumice, a lightweight bubble-rich rock that can float in water, forms when frothy magma cools rapidly. Professor Bryan said the pumice had started arriving on Australia's shoreline by April, and had spread out along an area from about Townsville to northern New South Wales. "Pumice rafts alone won't help mitigate directly the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef," Professor Bryan said. "This is about a boost of new recruits, of new corals and other reef-building organisms, that happens every five years or so. It's almost like a vitamin shot for the Great Barrier Reef." Professor Bryan published world-first research in 2004 of a previous eruption from the same volcano and last month published research in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science examining pumice rafts following the 2012 eruption of the Havre volcano. Professor Bryan described the process of the pumice raft boosting the Great Barrier Reef as part of a "very ancient process" in which oceans and volcanoes have likely combined to transfer marine life around the Earth for hundreds of millions of years. "This shows that the Great Barrier Reef has connections to coral reefs that are thousands of kilometres further east," he said. "In terms of the health of the Great Barrier Reef, it's also important that these distant reefs are taken care of." Earlier this year, Professor Bryan was part of an international research team, including Professor Matt Dunbabin from QUT's Centre for Robotics, which received funding from the National Environment Research Council UK (https://nerc.ukri.org/funding/available/researchgrants/urgency/) to explore the underwater volcano and examine the eruption site. "It was really our first chance to go and explore the summit of this underwater volcano," Professor Bryan said. "We were able to send underwater robots down with cameras and sampling gear to collect material from the actual volcano that produced this pumice raft last year. "It's allowed us to see what these volcanoes look like underwater. "It's a volcano that's getting close to breaching the surface and will become an island in years to come. "We've been able to see how life has come back to the summit of this volcano after this eruption, and see that restoration of life," he said. "One of the advantages of our trip to Tonga is that for the first time we've been able to collect samples from the vent, from the seafloor so soon after the eruption." Professor Bryan now has four groups of pumice from the August eruption to study and compare: the pumice collected from the sea by the Australian sailors shortly after the eruption; the pumice that sunk directly at the eruption site; pumice that washed up in Fiji a month later, and the pumice that has travelled more than 3000 km to land on Australia's coastline. "We don't understand why some pumice sinks during the eruption at the location and others can float for many months and years on the world's oceans," Professor Bryan said. "This will help us understand the mechanisms and dynamics of these explosive eruptions and understand better why these eruptions produce potentially hazardous pumice rafts." Professor Bryan published world-first research in 2004 of a previous eruption from the same volcano. The research shows how pumice waves from the south-west Pacific could not only be something that helps the Great Barrier Reef but also supported earlier ideas on how the reef was formed in the first place. Professor Bryan has been collecting pieces of pumice from the eruption as they arrive on the beaches in south-east Queensland, and is examining the marine organisms to determine when in the journey they latched on for the ride. "Overall, we've identified more than one hundred different species attached to the pumice - a tremendous diversity of plants and animals," Professor Bryan said. "Anything that is looking for a home out in the ocean tends to find a home on this pumice. "Each piece of pumice has its own little community that has been transported across the world's oceans - and we have had trillions of pieces of this pumice floating out there following the eruption. "Each piece of pumice is a home, and a vehicle for an organism, and it's just tremendous. The sheer numbers of individuals and this diversity of species is being transported thousands of kilometres in only a matter of months is really quite phenomenal." Professor Bryan said the tools to track pumice rafts had changed dramatically since he began exploring this area of research. "How I got into this was walking along a beach in 2002 and seeing a line of pumice that had washed up on the shore thinking this had come from an eruption but I don't know where," he said. With this most recent eruption, unlike in 2002, he was able to work with QUT spatial scientist Dr Andrew Fletcher to use high-resolution daily satellite images to follow the pumice raft for weeks after the eruption. Part of the research project ahead will be to examine the chemical composition of the pumice from the 2019 eruption, and compare it to the pumice produced in the 2001 eruption. "Given the volcano erupted 18 years ago, we want to know whether this is left-over magma from 2001 that has erupted now, or is it a totally new batch of magma that has arrived at the volcano causing the eruption," Professor Bryan said. "This can then give us insights into how volcanoes work and what the triggers are for eruption." ### Media contact: Rod Chester, QUT Media, 07 3138 9449, rod.chester@qut.edu.au After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au Grocery giant has bolstered its supermarket offering in a deal worth $552million Woolworths has bolstered its supermarket offering by acquiring one of Australia's largest food supply businesses in a deal worth $552million. The supermarket giant on Wednesday announced the purchase of a 65 per cent share in PFD Food Services along with 26 of its distribution centres. The deal means Woolworths will take ownership of PFD's fresh and frozen food services offered to cafes, fast food companies and restaurants across Australia. Woolworths said the agreement would increase capacity and the range of products available across its grocery network. A person wearing a face mask in front of a Woolworths shop in Sydney on July 31. The supermarket chain has announced the purchase of one of Australia's leading food providers in a deal set to boost Woolworths' range of grocery options PFD has more than 2,800 employees, around $2.1billion in revenue each year and is owned by the powerful Smith family - whose patriarch Richard Smith had a net worth valued at $800million in 2019. In total, Woolworths will pay $302million for its stake and $249million for the freehold properties including the distribution centres that will be leased back to the food service firm. The acquisition - which is the biggest in the retail industry in several years - has yet to be approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Australia's competition regulator has previously said the grocery industry was on its radar and announced last month it was investigating Woolworth's planned expansion into the business-to-business sector. Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said though the company was not trying to become a conglomerate. 'I wouldn't call it a conglomerate,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'We're really just trying to build an ecosystem of businesses that support each other.' A shopper wearing a face mask leaving a Woolworths shop in Sydney. Woolworths said the agreement would increase capacity and the range of products on offer across its grocery network The purchase worth more than $550million will mean Woolworths gains access to PFD Food Services fresh and frozen food supply chain The Smith family will retain a 35 per cent share under the new agreement. The move follows Woolworths creating a chief medical officer position within the company to shape the retailer's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Rob McCartney, who has more than 20 years' experience in occupational medicine, has been appointed to the position. 'This appointment ensures we have an internal expert, with a grounding in medical advice, to help make well informed long-term decisions on the safety and wellbeing of our teams and customers,' Woolworths Group safety, health and wellbeing general manager, Brian Long, said. North Wales regional lab set for 24hr 7-day-a-week operation as Minister defends decision to locate all six new hot labs in South Wales This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Aug 19th, 2020 The regional lab in Rhyl is set for expansion to a 24 hour a day, seven day a week operation, however it appears it will not be able to turn around results inside four hours like new hot labs created elsewhere in Wales. At yesterdays Welsh Government Ministerial briefing we asked the Health Minister Vaughan Gething about the announcement around six new hot labs that his government described as being across Wales. The hot labs are being located at acute hospitals and will have rapid, under four hour, testing equipment and new testing equipment for other conditions to free up staff to work on COVID-19 testing. They will operate from 08.00 22.00, seven days a week. The announcement did include funding for new staff and equipment for the Public Health Wales regional laboratory based at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Rhyl that opened in May, so it can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week to cover North Wales. Prior to the Rhyl resource opening swabs were being couriered south for testing. As the locations of the hot labs announced were all in the south, we pointed out to the Health Minister that the most northerly lab was due to be 30 miles away from where he was taking questions, and asked what was the reasoning behind that location, and did North Wales have equivalent resources and specifically if it had a four hour turn around capacity already. The Minister replied, It does mean we look to the picture across the whole country where our population centers are, it also means that of the three regional centers, Rhyl being the one for North Wales, there is an increase in lab capacity there that should meet the needs of the people of North Wales. Thats the point, were making sure has to meet the needs of people in every part of the country. Although not mentioning four hour turn around, he said: That lab in Rhyl will be 24 hours a day seven days a week. The Minister added, We are moving equipment from other centers in Wales to go to Rhyl to make sure that its properly equipped, and there will of course, be further recruitment to make sure that center is able to provide that 24 hours a day, seven days a week service. So I think people in North Wales are getting a deal that is equivalent to any and every other part of Wales. As I said earlier, Im not just responsible for North Wales, Im responsible for the whole country, and I take my nationwide responsibilities seriously. I would certainly not make a decision to de-prioritise the needs of people in North Wales, far from it, I think actually the announcement made today about that one of three regional centers taking place, in the middle of North Wales is good news for people who live in North Wales. Below, the map of the new hot lab four hour turn around locations: Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 15:03:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CANBERRA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australia's peak medical body has accused state and federal governments of an "appalling" approach to ill-fitting face masks for healthcare workers. Omar Khorshid, the president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), on Wednesday said that it was "baffling" that frontline medical workers caring for COVID-19 patients have not been fitted properly for N95 masks to create an effective seal around the face. "It's a basic requirement for workplace safety that is not being observed in most states," Omar Khorshid, who succeeded Tony Bartone as the president of the AMA on Aug. 1, told the Guardian Australia. "(Many state health departments) have completely dropped the ball on healthcare workers safety and appear to be wilfully ignoring repeated calls from clinicians to make sure that everybody who is likely to be the frontlines, and likely to be required to wear an N95 mask, is being properly fit-tested." "It's something that must be achieved and it's appalling that it hasn't been done already." State health departments are responsible for providing hospitals with personal protective equipment (PPE) but have often only provided one size of N95 mask, leaving young female health workers particularly vulnerable. As of Monday, approximately 14 percent of Victoria's active cases of COVID-19 were healthcare workers. "It has been our anecdotal experience that standard N95 mask fits certain faces better than other, and smaller women have had a great proportion of test failures, as well as people with different face shapes from different racial backgrounds," Khorshid said. "We know that healthcare workers are over-represented when it comes to cases of COVID-19, and the idea that they caught that out in the community and not in health care settings is clearly not the case." "There are a few ways that the transmission could happen but ill-fitting or inappropriate masks may well be part of that." Enditem Cossey was indicted Aug. 4 on charges of wire fraud relating to that investigation and is accused of hiding more than $250,000 in assets from bankruptcy court. Since the matter is now public he can identify her as a target of some of the subpoenas, McCain said. Advertisement A pilot was killed when his helicopter crashed while fighting wildfires in central California, adding yet another blaze to the hundreds raging across the state. Cal Fire said the chopper went down on Wednesday morning during a water dropping mission over the Hills Fire in western Fresno County, about nine miles south of Coalinga. The impact sparked a new fire that burned across 50 acres before merging with the original fire the helicopter was working to subdue. The pilot of the Bell UH-1H helicopter was the only person on board and has not yet been identified. The helicopter was described as 'Call When Needed', meaning that it was privately owned but contracted out to help the government respond to emergencies. The tragic news came as two dozen major wildfires continue tearing across California - forcing 22,000 people to evacuate and prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to order a state of emergency. At least 23 massive fires, some ignited by lightning strikes and fueled by a historic heat wave and high winds, stretch from Napa, Sonoma, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties, and have triggered rolling power blackouts and unhealthy air quality across the region. Over the last 72 hours 10,849 lightning strikes were reported statewide, sparking roughly 367 new fires the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a press conference Wednesday. So far authorities believe the fires have burned through 330,000 acres and have released so much smoke that it is visible from space via satellite imagery. Travis Air Force Base in Solano County announced an evacuation of all non-mission essential personnel on Wednesday evening as fires moved in to the area. A pilot was killed when his helicopter crashed during a water dropping mission over the Hills Fire in Fresno County on Wednesday morning. Pictured: A chopper navigates smokey skies to dump water over a blaze in Carmel Valley on Wednesday About two dozen large wildfires are blazing across the state California - forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate and prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to order a state of emergency. Firefighters are seen attempting to extinguish the Hennessey Fire near Vacaville on Wednesday Over the last 72 hours 10,849 lightning strikes were reported statewide, sparking roughly 367 new fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a press conference Wednesday. Pictured: A rare lightning storm crackles over Mitchell's Cove in Santa Cruz at around 3am Sunday Over the last 72 hours with 10,849 lightning strikes were reported statewide, sparking roughly 367 new fires the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Wednesday. A car burns as firefighters attempt to extinguish the Hennessey Fire near Vacaville in Northern California on Wednesday Bill Nichols, 84, works to save his home as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through Vacaville, California on Wednesday A firefighter from Santa Barbara County Fire lights a backburn on Buck Mountain to fight the Carmel Fire near Carmel Valley A home does up in flames as fires with the LNU Lightning Complex tear through Vacaville on Wednesday A staggering aerial view of the fire shows how the LNU Lightning fire is razing the mountains of Vacaville and Napa County Smoke is seen outside Travis Air Force Base in Solano County before it was evacuated as fires descended on the area This map by Cal Fire shows how blazes are raging up and down the entire state amid a historic heat wave, fueled by dry conditions, lightning strikes, and gusty winds On Wednesday Gov. Newsom announced there are 23 major fires and 'complexes', which are comprised of smaller blazes, burning in the state. As of Wednesday evening the CZU August Lightning Complex, the LNU Lightning Complex and the Carmel fire were zero percent contained. Much of the fires are affecting the San Francisco Bay Area, where thick smoke blanketed the city. 'We are experiencing fires the like of which we haven't seen in many, many years,' Newsom told a press conference, adding that he had requested 375 fire engines from out of state. The helicopter that crashed on Wednesday morning was working to control one of the fires in the LNU Lightning Complex when it went down about 11 miles south of New Coalinga Municipal Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be investigating the cause of the crash, which reportedly sparked yet another blaze that spread for about 50 acres. NTSB spokeswoman Zoe Keliher confirmed that the registration number of the aircraft is N711GH. FAA records show that the chopper was owned by Guardian Helicopters Inc of Van Nuys, California. DailyMail.com has reached out to the company for comment. It took off from the New Coalinga Municipal Airport at 8.46am PST and crashed about an hour later. The main fires and complexes burning in California The LNU Lightning Complex - named for Cal Fire's Lake-Napa Unit - is a group of separate fires in Northern California that were sparked in Napa County on Tuesday night. The fires have expanded into five counties, including Sonoma, Solano and Yolo, and merged as they decimated an estimated 124,00 acres. The LNU Lightning Complex was zero percent contained as of 9pm PST on Wednesday. Individual blazes within the complex include the Hennessy Fire, Gamble Fire, Green Fire, Markley Fire, Spanish Fire, Morgan Fire, Wallbridge Fire and Myers Fire. The SCU Lightning Complex - named for Cal Fire's Santa Clara Unit - is 20 separate fires burning across five counties: Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus. The complex has razed at least 102,00 acres and threatens more than 1,400 structures as it was just five percent contained as of 10pm PST Wednesday. The fires are divided into three zones: Calaveras Zone, Canyon Zone and Deer Zone. Officials on Wednesday night said they were working to rescue civilians injured in the Canyon Zone. The CZU August Lightning Complex is comprised of five large fires ripping through 10,000 acres in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The complex was zero percent contained as of 4pm PST Wednesday. It includes the 5-15 Fire, 5-18 Fire, 5-14 Fire, Waddell Fire, and Warrenella Fire. The River Fire in Monterey County has consumed more than 15,000 acres and destroyed at least six structures since it was sparked by a lightning storm early Sunday morning. The fire was about seven percent contained as of Wednesday morning and 1,500 structures remain under threat. Advertisement Police and firefighters went door-to-door before dawn on Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as the LNU Lightning Complex fires encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. Hours later the fire razed through, scorching trees and leaving burned animal carcasses behind. Vacaville is now under red flag alert which means conditions are ideal for wildfires to spark and spread under hot, dry, windy weather. 'This is an incredibly emotional and stressful time for most of us who've endured a number of wildfires over the last few years,' said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick. 'We realize that this is a trigger point for many of you.' John Gardiner, 60, stayed up all night after receiving an alert from a neighbor of oncoming fire just before midnight. His house and neighbors' homes were still safe, but he worried that could change with crews anticipating hot winds. 'It was incredible - things swirling, winds just whipping through like a howling, ripping sound and then you could hear explosions going off,' he said. 'You can taste smoke in your mouth.' Victoria Gregorich, 54, said her family loaded up the car and left their Vacaville home after deputies came around 12.30am to tell them to evacuate. The fire destroyed her greenhouse, but the house was spared. Her neighbors were not so lucky. 'It's devastating,' she said. 'I just thank God we have our home.' Elvis Castaneda, 28, and his father, Silverio, spent the night moving ranching equipment to a safer location, removing vegetation and making firebreaks with their tractor around friends' properties. 'We couldn't see the flames, but the sky was pretty orange, and we knew it was coming our way,' Elvis Castaneda said. He said he drove home at 3am and started packing documents, photos, passports and his guns after hearing that his girlfriends family, who live two miles away, were told to evacuate and move all their farm animals to safety. He got the order to leave after dawn Wednesday. Fire officials said at least 50 structures were destroyed and 50 were damaged and that four people were injured. The LNU Lightning Complex fire is rushing through Vacaville as the Woodward Fire has scorched through 700 acres in Point Reyes National Seashore. Resident Diane Bustos said she and her husband tried to drive out but their vehicle caught on fire and they were forced to flee the flames on foot. 'I got all these flames on me and I lost my shoe, but I made it. God saved me,' she said to KPIX-TV. The LNU Lightning Complex is a group of separate fires in Northern California that stretches across five counties, including Napa, Sonoma, Solano and Yolo, after it ignited on Tuesday night. Some of the fires are believed to have merged for an estimated 124,000 decimated acres. Nearly 600 firefighters are assigned to fighting that fire alone as it threatens close to 2,000 structures. At around 7pm Wednesday Travis Air Force Base announced immediate evacuations as the LNU Lightning Complex descended on its campus. 'The 60th AMW Commander has ordered mandatory evacuations for all non-mission essential personnel from Travis AFB through the North and South Gates effective immediately,' the base said in a Facebook post. A woman named Mariah tweeted that she had already left the base and said that the Air Force was sending out updates about the fires every 15 to 20 minutes. Pictured: The 'Call When Needed' helicopter that crashed on Wednesday morning, killing the pilot and sparking a 50-acre fire Step leaders branch out from cloud to ground lightning strikes on Sunday as an early morning storm rips across the Santa Rosa plain near Healdsburg, California Unrelenting blazes have created treacherous conditions for helicopters working to put them out. Pictured: A helicopter dumps water over the Lake Fire near Lake Hughes, California, on August 12 A firefighter looks on as a house is engulfed in flames in Vacaville, California by the LNU Lightning Complex fire In this long exposure photograph, flames consumes both sides of a segment of Lake Berryessa during the Hennessey fire in the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California on Tuesday An airplane drops fire retardant over homes in the Spanish Flat area of Napa late Tuesday against a fiery orange sky An American flag blows in the wind by a burning home in Vacaville during the LNU Lightning Complex fire on Wednesday An outbuilding burns as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat area of unincorporated Napa County The devastation of a burned down home in Vacaville during the LNU Lightning Complex fire pictured Wednesday as the state was in a state of emergency, reeling from a series of fast-moving fires The LNU Lightning Complex is a group of separate fires in Northern California that stretches across five counties, including Sonoma and Napa, that sparked Tuesday night. Some are believed to have merged for an estimated 42,000 decimated acres. Its devastation in Vacaville above on Wednesday A dead cow rests on the side of a road after the LNU Lightning Complex fires tore through Vacaville on Wednesday San Mateo Cal Fire Firefighter Neil Wild works to cool some hot spots at a home that was destroyed during the River Fire along Pine Canyon Road in Monterey County on Wednesday Some parts of the state, including Vacaville and Napa County, are covered in such thick smoke it's visible from outer space Aerial footage shows black plumes of smoke rising from dense forests that caught on fire in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire in Vacaville and Napa County Afternoon visible satellite image shows immense smoke blowing about from the wildfires. #cawx pic.twitter.com/5ceLkvWkfi NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) August 18, 2020 Officials do not have a clear number on exactly how many people have been told to leave their homes. State Sen. Bill Dodd, who represents the area, said the fires burning in Napa and Sonoma counties were mostly affecting less populated areas. But Christopher Godley, Sonoma County's emergency management director, warned that resources are being stretched thin. 'It's difficult to second-guess what the fire commanders are doing with their aircraft. But it's not like last year when we saw just a huge wealth of resources flowing into the county,' he said. 'It is what it is.' The cluster of wine country fires threaten an area that only last year grappled with another massive blaze that forced 200,000 to flee - a task made more complicated this year because of the pandemic. In San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of the CZU Lightning Complex - a group of five large fires that have razed at least 10,000 acres of dense wooded parkland, threatening communities. 'This is a very active timber fire burning in two counties with a serious threat to both public safety and for structures that are out in front of it,' Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said. To tackle this inferno nearly 600 personnel and seven helicopters have been dispatched. At least three first responders have been injured working to put out these fires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that complex and others were exhibiting 'extreme fire behavior' and challenging firefighters. There is rugged terrain in several of the areas and unexpectedly strong winds overnight fanned the flames. 'Throughout the state of California right now, we are stretched thin for crews. Air resources have been stretched thin throughout the whole state,' Will Powers, a state fire spokesman, said. Cox, the Cal Fire spokesman, also said that resources are strapped across the state. 'We're in the unfortunate position where firefighters are going to be spending several days out on the fire line,' he said. 'It's grueling, it's exhausting.' A Huntington Beach firefighter battles the LNU Lightning Complex fires on Serenity Hills Road in Vacaville on Wednesday Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires jump Interstate 80 in Vacaville on Wednesday as cars flee the area A home in Vacaville goes up in flames as the LNU Lightning Complex forced widespread evacuations Fire moves toward homes south of Serenity Hills Road during the LNU Lightning Complex fires on Wednesday in Vacaville A CalFire crew from Coulterville takes a break while fighting the River Fire near Salinas on Wednesday Smoke billows from the charred remains of a home on Pleasants Valley Road in Vacaville on Wednesday Firefighters douse water on a burning structure during the LNU Lighting Complex Fire on the outskirts of Vacaville In the East San Francisco Bay, a cluster of 20 separate lightning-sparked fires dubbed the SCU Lightning Complex threatened about 1,400 structures and razed at least 102,000 acres. Strong winds and low humidity made the firefight challenging, and at least two first responders have been injured. The fires in the SCU Lightning Complex had been burning in relatively remote, dense brush until strong winds overnight Tuesday pushed them into more populated areas, merging some of the fires together. Blazes engulfed rural and forest areas near the San Francisco Bay Area, near Salinas in Monterey County, around Oroville Dam north of Sacramento, forested areas west of Silicon Valley, in remote Mendocino County and near the Nevada state line north of Lake Tahoe. To the south, evacuations were ordered for all of Boulder Creek to the west of Silicon Valley, a community of 5,000 high in the Santa Cruz mountains where windy, long, forested roads, some paved, some dirt, can easily become blocked during storms or fires. About 6,000 structures were threatened by that blaze. On Wednesday Gov. Gavin Newsom announced there are 23 major fires and complexes burning in the state. As of Wednesday evening the CZU August Lightning Complex, the LNU Lightning Complex and the Carmel fire were zero percent contained The San Francisco skyline is barely visible through smoke from wildfires on Wednesday A man prepares to hose down a shop as flames from the Hennessey fire rage through the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California on Tuesday Horses stand in an enclosure as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County on Tuesday Members of the Grizzly Firefighters work against the Carmel Fire near Carmel Valley, California on Tuesday Several fires are also burning in Southern California - where an eight-day-old blaze grew to more than 40 square miles near Lake Hughes in northern Los Angeles County mountains. Chewing through century-old fir, oak and pine, the fire continued to be a threat to 4,570 structures after destroying a dozen. A heat wave in the West has brought record triple digit temperatures which have in part encouraged the wildfires Dangerously hot weather and rough terrain challenged firefighters' efforts to increase containment, currently estimated at 38 percent. Across the West Coast, nearly 45 million people are under heat warnings and advisories on Wednesday. California has seen at least seven temperatures broken hitting triple digit temperatures - including a staggering 111 degrees recorded in Paso Robles on Tuesday. A few hundred miles east, drought stricken Colorado faced its second-largest wildfire in history on Wednesday. The Pine Gulch blaze has produced its own weather system with thunder and lightning as it burned across 125,100 acres. It covers an area larger than the city of Denver, in remote mountain terrain about 20 miles north of Grand Junction, authorities said. Smoke rises from the LNU Lightning Complex wildfires as seen from an AlertWildfire camera looking east from Mount St. Helena, north of Calistoga, California on Tuesday A view of the LNU Lightning Complex fire seen above as captured by the Mount Konocti fire camera in Northern California Transit stops across the nation have become a little less crowded, despite population gains in a number of cities and myriad efforts by agencies to grow ridership. But these declines are not just because of the ill effects of COVID-19, and signal a troubling trend especially for buses.Bus ridership has dipped below anything weve seen since 1990. And actually, anything weve seen since the 1970s, said Kari Watkins, a professor with the Urban Transportation Lab at Georgia Tech and one of the researchers on a recent report released by the Transportation Research Board (TRB).The report, titled, focuses its study on the period from 2012 to 2016 and does not include an analysis of the depth of damage brought to public transportation since March, when COVID-19 forced stay-at-home orders. The virus and resultant response to it have inflicted deep damage to transit ridership, and its unclear when or if transit will recover to pre-pandemic levels, say experts.That aside, the headwinds had long been forming, even though overall transit ridership across the nation ended 2019 with a slight increase from the year before.From bus riderships peak in 2012, this mode has declined 12 percent to 18 percent, said Watkins, in her comments during a TRB webinar on Tuesday to discuss the reports findings. The study also observed declines in rail ridership, which has dropped 4 percent to 6 percent since 2014.These declines in ridership are particularly concerning to the industry, she said.Other countries experiencing similar losses in transit ridership are also places with poor economic conditions, or countries that have seen significant changes in demographics.The way that population has been changing in the U.S., we should be seeing increases in ridership, not declines, said Watkins. We should be doing much better, similar to countries in Europe and such and were not.Historically, one of the key factors affecting transit ridership is the level of service provided.The problem is, in the past few years, many, many agencies have been increasing the amount of service that theyre providing. But theyre not getting the associated ridership increases with that, said Watkins. In addition, we know that transit ridership is cyclical, and its tied to economic factors, so low unemployment increases ridership. High gas prices increase ridership. Well, we havent had high gas prices. But we have had low unemployment.Shifts in housing patterns and demographics are not favorable to transit growth and adoption, researchers say, pointing to both the expansion of low-density suburbs and the gentrification of urban cores. Other outside forces like Uber and Lyft have cut into transit ridership, particularly on buses.That is absolutely true. The biggest cause of decline in bus ridership that were seeing can be attributed to the TNCs, said Watkins, using the shorthand for transportation network companies.In a number of cases, transit agencies have partnered with on-demand-type transit services to serve low-density suburban areas, or, even better, connecting riders to modes like light rail. Systems like King County Transit in the Seattle metro have taken a number of innovative steps like these that have been shown to buck nationwide ridership trends and lead to an increased use of transit.By providing service that is more reliable, that is better coordinated with other modes and other services the transit agency has really been effective at increasing ridership at a time when the national trend was declining, said Simon Berrebi, a transit researcher at Georgia Tech and one of the authors for the transit ridership analysis study.King County Transit has been innovative in areas like travel demand management practice and others, Berrebi added during Tuesdays webinar. On 12th May, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a landmark call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat and asked all Indians and businesses to be Vocal for Local. This move has reminded all about the Swadeshi Movement during Indias fight for Independence. Coming amid challenging times, Vocal for Local is seen as giving a major impetus to homegrown businesses and brands as well as local Apps. We at Adgully support this movement wholeheartedly, and are compiling an exhaustive repository of all local/ homegrown businesses, brands and Apps. This compilation will serve as a one-stop ready industry reckoner for businesses domestic and global looking for information on Indian brands and Apps. We are reaching out to you to share the details of homegrown/ local brands or Apps in your company. Kindly mail us at: varun@adgully.com nehal@adgully.com A paraplegic gangster who once supervised the severe beating of a Canadian police officer in a Mexican bar received a positive parole board review that allows him to serve his prison time in the community. Shane Kenneth (Wheels) Maloney, 43, has served less than three years of his sentence in Collins Bay Penitentiary in Kingston after pleading guilty in February 2017 to illegally stockpiling one of the biggest arms caches in Canadian history, as well as drug trafficking. Maloney was given a 10-year sentence, reduced to less than six for time served. His illegal armoury included 1,475 sticks of dynamite, two pounds of C-4 explosives and hundreds of firearms. Maloney told the parole board last December that he plans to move to the GTA and peacefully run an engine shop. He had been part of the Wolfpack Alliance, a multiracial, pan-Canadian association of mostly millennial criminals who were involved in the execution-style murder of Johnny Raposo at the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe on College Street in Toronto in 2012. Maloney was not charged in that crime, but his Wolfpack associate Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil was sentenced to life in prison for setting up Raposos murder; the same sentence given to the gangs hit man, Dean Michael Wiwchar of Stouffville. Maloney earlier served two years in prison for his role in the prolonged beating of a Montreal police officer who was attacked while on holidays in Playa del Carmen, Mexico in January 2011. The police officer required several facial surgeries after the beating, which began after he was caught photographing Quebec Hells Angels socializing with Quebec police officers. In December, Maloney was previously granted six months of day parole to be served in a halfway house. His latest parole decision, released this week, grants him four nights a week to be spent in the community and the other three nights to be served at a halfway house. You appear to be reintegrating in a positive manner, the board ruled. The Board recognizes the challenges of maintaining employment during the pandemic and commends you on working with your former partner to ensure that you have a source of income and are developing marketable skills. The boards decision alluded to a prison report that suggests Maloney has dangerous enemies in custody, telling him this information was not disclosed to you in order to protect the safety of another person and the security of the institution. Much of the first two years of his sentence on the weapons and drug conviction had been spent in seclusion after prison authorities successfully argued that his metal wheelchair could be used to smuggle drugs, or as a weapon by or against him. Maloney became paraplegic in a motorcycle accident at age 20 and has complained of severe back pain, osteoarthritis in his wrists and psychological distress while in custody. Maloney told the parole hearing in December that his illegal weapons stockpile wasnt as bad as it looked, even though it included handguns and AR-15 assault rifles. Generally speaking, I didnt sell firearms, he said. I enjoyed the engineering aspect of firearms, he said. Its kind of fascinating to me why they work. I didnt need 90. I didnt need five. I didnt need any. Peter Edwards is a Toronto-based reporter primarily covering crime for the Star. Reach him by email at pedwards@thestar.ca SOUTH BEND, Ind., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blockchain innovator SIMBA Chain today announced the availability of its Smart Contract as a Service (SCaaS) platform on Microsoft AppSource, an online cloud marketplace providing tailored line-of-business solutions. With its low code and drag-and-drop approach, SIMBA Chain's cloud-based blockchain platform democratizes distributed application (dapp) design, development, and deployment, providing a powerful business enabler that was previously the domain of elite developers with deep coding experience. By using the SIMBA Chain SCaaS platform, individuals with little or no coding experience can quickly create dapps for iOS, Android, and the web to solve a range of operational and mission-critical challenges that require secure, immutable data transmission, storage, and tracking. Joel Neidig, CEO and co-founder of SIMBA Chain observed that inclusion on Microsoft AppSource supports "do-it-yourself" developers intent on prototyping and experimentation, as well as experienced developers who can use the platform to scale complex, enterprise-wide blockchains. "Our platform is so simple, intuitive, and fast that literally anyone with an idea can create a blockchain dapp. With the increased visibility and accessibility afforded by Microsoft AppSource, we hope to engage and motivate new users to design and test dapps for specific use cases," Neidig continued. "Ultimately, we want empowered analystsindividuals with deep expertise in a specific industry who have an intuitive understanding of technologyto experiment with blockchain and unleash the next wave of digital transformation." Toby Bowers, General Manager, Business Applications Group, Microsoft Corp. said, "We're happy to welcome the SIMBA Chain SCaaS platform to Microsoft AppSource, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Microsoft AppSource offers partner solutions such as the Simba Chain platform to help customers meet their needs faster." About SIMBA Chain, Inc. Headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, SIMBA Chain is a Microsoft independent software vendor. Its SCaaS blockchain platform runs on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform, and the solution supports Ethereum, Quorum, RSK, Stellar, Hyperledger, and other blockchain protocols. Learn more here. Media Contact: Joel Neidig Phone: 574.941.4446 Email: [email protected] SOURCE SIMBA Chain Related Links https://www.simbachain.com Who should be the CM face of AAP in Punjab? Arvind Kejriwal asks people Goa Election 2022: Kejriwal hits back on Chidambaram, says Stop crying, Cong is hope for BJP, not Goans' Kejriwal to hold 'Digital Samvaad' with Delhi's traders on Aug 23 India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Aug 19: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will soon interact personally with a large number of Delhi's traders. The purpose of the discussion is to understand the challenges faced by the traders in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to plan measures on how to further strengthen Delhi's economy. CM Arvind Kejriwal will interact with the traders through a 'Digital Samwad' on August 23, Sunday at 4 p.m. A registration link of the meeting has been shared by the Hon'ble Chief Minister's office: http://bit.ly/DigitalSamvaadwithCM. The traders interested in participating in the Digital Samvaad have been asked to register by August 22, Saturday, 4 pm and also pen down their suggestions to CM Kejriwal briefly, ahead of the Sunday's interaction. Modi wishes Arvind Kejriwal on his birthday Digital Samvaad' is a part of a series of initiatives being undertaken by CM Arvind Kejriwal to kick-start Delhi's economy and improve the business environment amidst the CoVID-19 pandemic. Recently, CM Arvind Kejriwal had interacted with various industry associations to discuss challenges being faced by them and to discuss measures to revamp the post-Corona economy of Delhi. The meeting was aimed at discussing the challenges faced by industrialists, whose factories and businesses were shut down due to the Corona lockdown. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News Several other decisions have already been taken to improve Delhi's economy such as substantially reducing the diesel prices in Delhi, de-linking hotels from Covid hospitals so that they can start functioning normally, allowing street hawkers and weekly bazaars to start operating, notifying Delhi's Electric Vehicle Policy, and launching of Delhi's Rozgaar Bazaar to bridge the gap between job-seekers and job-providers. On July 27, Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal had launched the online job portal "Delhi Rozgaar Bazaar" which has over 8.5 lakh active job vacancies and around 10 lakh job seekers on the portal. The traders' community of Delhi is more than 1.5 million strong and is the backbone of the economic structure of the state. The effect of lockdown, the fear of the virus, and the finances have affected sales and service at markets and shops. Many shops downsized their staff strength during the lockdown and have been under considerable cost pressure with limited sales and fixed costs. The 'Digital Samwad' initiative ensures that all voices of the stakeholders are heard, before any policy initiatives are planned by the government, in the true spirit of the Delhi Model. The traders' associations have welcomed the initiative and lauded CM Arvind Kejriwal's efforts in reducing the incidence of COVID in the city multiple initiatives taken so far in reviving Delhi's economy. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 19:24 [IST] The Union environment ministry has exempted firms from upfront payment of net present value (NPV) of the forests diverted for mining until March 31 next year, or up to two months after the Covid-19 pandemic ends, whichever is earlier, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday. NPV payments are made to compensate for the losses of forests and their ecosystem services because of infrastructure projects. They are in addition to those for compensatory afforestation. NPV payments are used for conservation efforts like mitigating wildlife loss and biodiversity projects, through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. They are calculated depending on canopy density and quality of forests diverted. Sanjay Kumar, the director-general of forests, said the mines ministry had requested for annualisation of NPV payments, which basically means they would be paid in annual instalments. We have said that we cannot do it. If they delay, they will have to pay a hefty sum as interest and if they do not, they will not have forest clearances. We understand that this is a critical time when everything was closed during the lockdown. But we cannot defer payment of NPV indefinitely. A call will be taken on the cut off time depending on circumstances. The mines ministry has requested the environment ministry to annualize the upfront NPV payments because of the economic slowdown associated with the pandemic. Anil Kumar Jain, secretary, mines, declined to comment on why mining corporations are seeking the exemption. In a letter dated August 9 to the principal secretaries of states and Union territories, the environment ministry said it will give mining companies time till March 31, 2021, or up to two months after the Covid-19 pandemic ends, whichever is earlier to make the lump sum payments. The environment ministry has clarified the exemption will be made on condition that an interest of 12% per annum will be levied for delayed payments till then and thereafter. The matter has been examined in the ministry and it is informed that annualization of NPV may not be feasible as it involves techno-economic analysis of various parameters used for NPV calculation, said the letter, a copy of which HT has seen. Kanchi Kohli, a legal researcher at New Delhis Centre for Policy Research, said from the time NPV was introduced into the forest clearance process in 2005, specific projects and sectors have been seeking exemptions. But the larger question here is whether conditions like compensatory afforestation or NPV justify large scale forest diversions for mines, hydropower, highways, railways or ports. Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy member Tushar Dash said Covid-19 is being used as an excuse to extract all kinds of exemptions from the environment ministry, which it is happily doing. I saw another guideline by the environment ministry, which has allowed states to continue to keep and utilise unspent compensatory afforestation funds till March 31. The money should be utilised for the welfare of forest dwellers and forests now, said Dash. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Air China planes are seen parked on the tarmac at Beijing Capital Airport on March 27, 2020. Greg Baker | AFP | Getty Images Chinese airlines are likely to recover faster than many of their peers as domestic travel within China has resumed at a quicker pace compared with other countries, according to several investors. The aviation sector has incurred significant losses after measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus including border closures and restrictions on movement halted much of global travel. As a result, many airlines needed large amounts of financial support to stay afloat. China, the first country hit by the coronavirus, has in the last few months eased some restrictions allowing people to travel domestically as its outbreak stabilized. "For now, Chinese holidaymakers are opting for shorter distance leisure trips by car or train, and forward bookings are being made with a much shorter booking window (one week)," Eastspring Investments said in a report. "Nevertheless, while the upturn in Chinese air travel is lagging road travel, Chinese airlines are still ahead in the recovery compared to their American and European counterparts, as they benefit from the recovery in domestic travel," it added. The asset manager noted that most Chinese airlines derive a majority of their revenues through domestic travel. That means the airlines "are likely to be more resilient than other regional airlines for the rest of the year," it said. Investment ideas Signs of recovery in China's air passenger traffic led HSBC to maintain its "buy" rating on the Hong Kong-listed shares of Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. Like many airlines globally, shares of the three carriers have plunged this year as they reported substantial losses in the first half of 2020. But those losses could narrow in the coming months, with passenger growth likely to help support ticket prices, HSBC said in a Monday note. The US has claimed that it only acted in self-defence when it returned fired at Syrian Arab Army troops in the Qamishli countryside writes Al-Masdar. The US International Coalition has denied launching any raids on the Syrian armys positions in the Qamishli countryside, despite reports of a helicopter opening fire on Syrian Arab Army troops in Tel al-Dahab. According to the US Coalition, their troops opened fire on the Syrian armys checkpoint in self-defense. The coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces, while conducting a routine security patrol related to anti-ISIS operations near the village of Tel al-Dahab in Syria, encountered a checkpoint belonging to the forces loyal to the Syrian regime, and after obtaining safe passage from the forces loyal to the regime, we came under small arms fire from individuals near the checkpoint. The statement continued, The coalition patrol returned fire in self-defense, adding that, the coalition did not launch any airstrikes, and there were no losses among the coalition forces. The patrol returned to the base, and the incident is still under investigation. According to a military source in the area, one Syrian army soldier was killed during the exchange and two others were injured; they were later transferred to the National Hospital in Qamishli. The incident on Monday marked the first direct clash between the Syrian Arab Army and US Coalition since the Syrian army reached an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces in October. 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. Tuesdays actions followed the decision by officials of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to switch to remote learning starting Wednesday, as the virus makes its mark on colleges and college towns across the United States. Other universities are reconsidering plans to hold in-person classes or implementing new testing regimes. And some are threatening crackdowns on students who get too close with others, in violation of social distancing rules. A group of Cirque du Soleil creditors has announced it will take control of the heavily indebted Canadian circus troupe. Suitors had until Tuesday afternoon to better the proposal of the dozen lenders, led by the Canadian fund Catalyst Capital Group. The world's most famous circus troupe, placed under the protection of the courts, later said that the proposal -- estimated at more than $1.2 billion -- had not been topped, according to Canadian media. The creditors' offer will still have to be validated by the Quebec courts in the coming weeks. According to the Globe and Mail, the creditors will inject $300 million to $375 million into the circus and also agree to reduce the circus's guaranteed debt from $1.1 billion to $300 million. Gabriel de Alba, managing director of Catalyst, welcomed the "great result for Cirque", its employees, artists and partners, in an email sent to AFP. "Now with the company's recent missteps put behind, we are eager to close the transaction quickly and support the company as it rekindles the magic and artistry that have made Cirque du Soleil an iconic global brand and creative force," he said. Founded in Quebec in 1984, the troupe of acrobats had to cancel 44 productions around the world in March, due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has laid off 4,679 acrobats and technicians, 95 percent of its employees. The agreement with the group of creditors, announced in mid-July, replaces the takeover offer that it concluded at the end of June with its current shareholders, the American TPG and Chinese Fosun, as well as the Caisse de deposit and placement of Quebec (CDPQ). What if we tell you there is one place on this planet that is completely safe from COVID-19? Dont believe us? Well, it looks like self-styled godman Nithyanandas own country on an island off Ecuador called Kailaasa is one such place. *crying inside* Yes, he has his own country now. It is located on South America's west coast, near Trinidad and Tobago. He had last year fled India to Ecuador via Nepal. kailaasa Not only that, the absconding godman has recently also come up with plans to set up his central bank, named 'Reserve Bank of Kailaasa', at "Kailaasa", even as Indian government agencies continue to search for him. No this isnt any kind of a joke! Twitter Here we have listed out some of the lesser-known interesting facts about this country on an island off Ecuador: 1. Kailaasa has its website and according to that, the country will revive an enlightened civilisation as the only Hindu nation. It claims that the country has been created by dispossessed Hindus from around the world who lost the right to practice Hinduism authentically in their own countries. kailaasa 2. The website provides detailed information about Kailaasas flag, passport, national emblem, bird and tree. The flag Rishabha Dhvaja features Nithyananda along with Nandi, the mount of Shiva. kailaasa 3. The website also claims it stands for universal free healthcare, free education, free food and revival of a temple-based lifestyle. kailasa 4. Barring Hindi, its official languages, according to the website, are English, Sanskrit and Tamil. 5. Quite interestingly, apart from several government departments, Kailaasa is also said to feature a Department of Enlightened Civilisation, which will revive Sanatan Hindu Dharma. It also claims to have a Dharmic Economy, Hindu investment and a reserve bank where cryptocurrency will be accepted. 6. In a video that has appeared online recently, rape-accused godman Nithyananda has announced he would formally launch the currency of his 'Reserve Bank of Kailaasa' on Ganesh Chaturthi on August 22. He said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has also been signed with "a country", which has agreed to host his "Reserve Bank". 7. Also, citizens of Kailaasa will be given a Kailaasa passport which, by the grace of Paramashiva, the holder of this passport is allowed free entry in all eleven dimensions and fourteen lokas, including Kailaasa. 8. Not only this, but the Kailaasa website also has its own Wikipedia page called Nithyanandapedia (nithyanandapedia.org). 9. The country also claims to have its cabinet comprising departments such as health, technology, enlightened civilisation, human services, housing, commerce, and treasury. Swami Nithyananda, as he is widely called, is over 40 years old. He is a native of Tamil Nadu and his real name is Rajashekharan. He set up his ashram at Bidadi on Bengaluru-Mysore highway almost two-decades back. The self-styled godman first hit the national headlines for his leaked sex tape with an actress in early 2010 and has been a highly controversial figure since then. In fact, in June 2018, a Karnataka court had framed charges against him in a rape case. Since then the self-styled godman has been untraceable. Nithyananda is the main accused in several cases in India, including rape, torture, kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Currently, he lives in Kailaasa. India has assured Bangladesh that it will be a priority country when it comes to giving any Indian vaccine, said Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla after meeting his Bangladesh counterpart Masud Bin Momen in Dhaka. Shringla said, "for us, Bangladesh is always a priority country" and "when the vaccine is produced, it goes without saying that our closest neighbours, friends, partners and other countries will be part of that", Bangladesh's Daily Star quoted the Indian Foreign Secretary. Three vaccines are being developed in India-- Oxford-Serum institute, Bharat Biotech-ICMR vaccine and Zydus Cadila. Bangladesh has proposed India to hold Covid-19 vaccine trial in the country, to which the Indian side has responded positively. Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen was quoted by Daily Star as saying, "We offered that we can extend our assistance, if needed, especially in terms of a vaccine trial, we are ready." Bangladesh is the second country after Bhutan which has offered to be part of COVID-19 trials. During India-Bangladesh foreign secretary meet, the Rohingya issue was also discussed. The Bangladeshi FS said, "We have also discussed the latest situation of Rohingya crisis while India reiterated its position on safe, secure and sustainable Rohingya repatriation." India has been providing support to Bangladesh to deal with the Rohingya refugee crisis and has been providing supplies including building pre-fabricated houses. The Indian foreign secretary met Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina on August 18 in a meet which has been described as "excellent" by Indian government sources. During the meet, many issues including connectivity, the revival of economy post-COVID-19, cooperation on COVID-19 assistance, including on therapeutics and vaccine, joint commemoration of Mujib Barsho was discussed. Tharoor said Dubey accused him of championing his political party's "agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker". New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary panel on information technology, has given a notice for breach of privilege against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, alleging that he made "disparaging remarks" on social media over his decision to summon a panel meeting to discuss alleged "misconduct" of Facebook. In his letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Tharoor took strong objection to Dubey's remarks on Twitter that "the Chairman of Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members". Tharoor said Dubey accused him of championing his political party's "agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker". Dubey's remarks came after Tharoor had said on Sunday that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would like to hear from Facebook about a media report on its conduct and what it proposes to do about hate-speech in India. Anguished over "disparaging" remarks made by Dubey against his decision to call a meeting of the panel, Tharoor said it amounted to breach of privilege of his position as an MP and Chairman of the standing committee. "The matter pertains to the disparaging remarks made by Dubey on a social media platform regarding my decision to summon a Committee meeting to discuss the alleged misconduct of Facebook and seek clarity on the measures that it intends to undertake to curb the spread of hate speech and fake news," Tharoor said. "Nishikant Dubey's derogatory remarks have not only brought disrepute to my position as a Member of Parliament and Chairman but also to an institution that mirrors the will of the people of our country," Tharoor alleged in the letter, a copy of which was also marked to Sunil Kumar Singh, chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Privileges, Lok Sabha. Tharoor urged Birla to issue necessary directions to initiate proceedings against Dubey for "committing a breach of privilege on multiple accounts and contempt of the House". "I sincerely hope that stringent action is taken in this matter so that it serves as a deterrent to the occurrence of similar incidents in future and restores public trust in Parliament," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said in the letter dated August 18. Meanwhile, tagging a tweet on a media report about the rules and functioning of committees, Dubey on Wednesday tweeted, "In the last 11 years as an MP, I have neither violated any rules nor would I let anyone violate or abuse their power for their parties personal vendetta with agenda." Referring to the recently published news report in the Wall Street Journal which claimed that Facebook refused to apply hate speech rules to certain ruling party politicians, Tharoor in the letter underlined the serious nature of allegations made against the social media platform and its far-reaching implications on the citizens' Right to Information. Tharoor said he sought to convene the Committee meeting as part of the normal course of discussions on "safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms". The topic or agenda of the meeting "not only features on the list of subjects earmarked at the beginning of the year for the Committee's deliberations but also was finalised by the members of the Committee at our first meeting, and bulletinised with your consent," the Congress leader said. Despite this, Tharoor alleged Dubey "insultingly criticised" his decision to do so. Tharoor alleged that Dubey's remarks amounted to a three-fold breach of privilege. "The contemptuous words used by...Dubey have cast aspersions on the intent and integrity with which I fulfil my duties as an elected representative...," he said. Such words constitute unwarranted vilification of the Committee's name and the manner in which it discharges its functions, Tharoor alleged. "His actions have painted an ignominious picture of the revered institution of Parliament by indicating that its functionaries have circumvented the process that they are expected to follow," he said. Citing rules and procedures of Parliament, Tharoor reiterated that the subject of the meeting had been unanimously approved by the committee members, Speaker's and Lok Sabha secretary general's offices and thereafter it was placed in public domain through publication in the bulletin. "Therefore, to claim that the chairman has acted in excess of his authority to convene a meeting on a pre-approved agenda, and has proceeded without seeking the necessary approvals, is tantamount to contempt of the due procedure followed by the House," Tharoor said. A Twitter duel had erupted between Dubey and Opposition MPs Tharoor and Mahua Moitra (TMC) over the prospect of the panel seeking views of Facebook on the WSJ report. In the report published on Friday, US newspaper Wall Street Journal cited interviews with unnamed Facebook insiders to claim that one of its senior India policy executives intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana after he allegedly made communally charged posts. Reacting to the controversy, Facebook on Monday said the company's social media platform prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence, adding these policies are enforced globally without regard to political affiliation. "While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy," a Facebook spokesperson said. WASHINGTON - The Trump campaigns interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a grave counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed how associates of Donald Trump had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlins help. The nearly 1,000-page report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee on the Russia investigation, details how Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trumps behalf. It says the Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and that other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlins aid, particularly by maximizing the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers. The report is the culmination of a bipartisan probe that produced what the committee called the most comprehensive description to date of Russias activities and the threat they posed. The investigation spanned more than three years as the panels leaders said they wanted to thoroughly document the unprecedented attack on U.S. elections. The findings, including unflinching characterizations of furtive interactions between Trump associates and Russian operatives, echo to a large degree those of special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation and appear to repudiate the Republican presidents claims that the FBI had no basis to investigate whether his campaign was conspiring with Russia. Trump, who has repeatedly called the Russia investigations a hoax, said Tuesday he didnt know anything about the report, or Russia or Ukraine. He said he had nothing to do with Russia. While Muellers was a criminal probe, the Senate investigation was a counterintelligence effort with the aim of ensuring that such interference wouldnt happen again. The report issued several recommendations on that front, including that the FBI should do more to protect presidential campaigns from foreign interference. The report was released as two other Senate committees, the Judiciary and Homeland Security panels, conduct their own reviews of the Russia probe with an eye toward uncovering what they say was FBI misconduct in the early days of the investigation. A prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William Barr, who regards the Russia investigation with skepticism, disclosed his first criminal charge Friday against a former FBI lawyer who plans to plead guilty to altering a government email. Among the more striking sections of the report is the committees description of the close, professional relationship between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the committee describes as a Russian intelligence officer. Taken as a whole, Manaforts high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik, represented a grave counterintelligence threat, the report says. The report notes how Manafort shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Kilimnik and says there is some evidence Kilimnik may have been connected to Russias effort to hack and leak Democratic emails, though that information is redacted. The report also says two pieces of information raise the possibility of Manaforts potential connection to those operations, but what follows is again blacked out. Both men were charged in Muellers investigation, but neither was accused of any tie to the hacking. A Manafort lawyer, Kevin Downing, said Tuesday that information sealed at the request of Muellers team completely refutes whatever the intelligence committee is trying to surmise. He added, It just looks like complete conjecture. Like Mueller, the committee reviewed a meeting Trumps oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer he believed to have connections with the Russian government with the goal of receiving information harmful to his fathers opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Senate panel said it assessed that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services, as did another participant in the meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin. The panel said it uncovered connections that were far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known, particularly regarding Veselnitskaya. In a statement, Akhmetshin said he was exonerated, yet again, of the false claim that I am a Russia spy. The report also found no reliable evidence for Trumps longstanding supposition that Ukraine had interfered in the election, but did trace some of the earliest public messaging of that theory to Kilimnik and said it was spread by Russian-government proxies who sought to discredit investigations into Russian interference. The committee said that messaging campaign lasted to at least January 2020 after the House had impeached Trump for pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate the family of Democrat Joe Biden, now Trumps general election opponent. During that effort, some Republicans, including Trump, argued Ukraine was meddling, not Russia. Trump was acquitted by the Senate. The report purposely does not state a final conclusion, as Mueller did and as the House intelligence committees 2018 report did, about whether there was sufficient evidence that Trumps campaign co-ordinated with Russia to sway the election to him, leaving its findings open to partisan interpretation. Several Republicans on the panel submitted additional views to the report, saying it should state more explicitly that Trumps campaign did not collude with Russia. They say that while the report shows the Russian government inappropriately meddled in the election, then-candidate Trump was not complicit. The panels acting GOP chairman, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, signed on to that statement but the chairman who led the investigation, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, did not. Burr stepped aside earlier this year as the FBI was examining his stock sales. Another Republican committee member, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, also did not sign on to the GOP statement. Burr, who submitted the report before he stepped aside, often faced criticism from his GOP colleagues for working with Democrats on the probe and for summoning sensitive witnesses, such as Trump Jr. The top Democrat on the panel, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, commended Burr for sticking with the investigation despite criticism from all sides. He said Burr tried to stay true to that north star of were going to put out all the facts. Warner said the report was designed to let every American make their own judgement. A group of Democrats on the panel submitted their own views, saying the report unambiguously shows that members of the Trump campaign co-operated with Russian efforts to get Trump elected. Warner did not sign on to that statement. Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, did not sign on to that statement, saying he believed the report should be bipartisan. But he said in an interview that he believes the report is a warning. The report is not a hoax, King said. Its just one more set of facts thats hard to ignore. Mueller concluded in his report issued last year that Russia interfered in the election through hacking and a covert social media campaign and that the Trump campaign embraced the help and expected to benefit from it. But Mueller did not charge any Trump associates with conspiring with Russians. The Senate report did fault aspects of the FBIs investigation, suggesting for instance that agents did not respond with sufficient urgency to the hacking of Democratic National Committee email servers. The report also criticized the FBIs reliance on opposition research about Trumps ties to Russia that was compiled by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, whose work was financed by Democrats. The committee found the FBI gave Steeles allegations unjustified credence as it relied on the dossier of research in seeking court approval to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It says many of the dossiers allegations remain uncorroborated nearly four years after Steele delivered the first of these memos. A separate investigation by the Justice Departments inspector general also faulted the FBI for errors and omissions related to the Steele dossier. Flames consume a cabin at the Nichelini Family Winery in Napa County as the Hennessey fire burns Tuesday. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that resources to fight wildfires are "stretched" as more than 23 major fires scorch California, burning homes, forcing evacuations and raining ash across the northern part of the state. Governors in Nevada, Arizona and Texas have agreed to send engines or crews to support California, but the call for mutual aid from other states is complicated by a historic heat wave across the West, Newsom said. The high temperatures have strained the state's energy grid and resulted in power outages for hundreds of thousands of residents. "We are challenged right now by the number of new fires all over the state of California," the governor said during a midday briefing. "We've put out every resource we have." The combination of wildfires, outages and the worst health crisis in a century has ramped up the pressure on the Newsom administration, which has dealt with one disaster after another since he took office in 2019. California is on track to hit as many as 700,000 coronavirus cases over the next few weeks, and the threat of the virus is requiring the state to reconfigure emergency evacuation centers and fire camps to lessen the risk of spread. The governor said more than 10,800 lightning strikes have hit the state in the last 72 hours in what has become an acute wildfire season. Newsom said California has experienced 6,754 fires to date this year, compared with around 4,000 at this point in 2019. "The total number of fires last year was substantially lower than the activity we're experiencing this year, and what has occurred over the last 72 hours has certainly stretched the resources of this state," Newsom said. As wildfires grew in number and intensity in recent years, the state's system of fire departments sending equipment and personnel to blazes in neighboring communities has come under stress. Some departments are reluctant to draw down resources they might need to fight fires within their own jurisdictions. Story continues In declaring a state of emergency Tuesday, Newsom wrote that the number of fires burning in Western states "has resulted in a strain on Californias mutual aid system, making it increasingly difficult for jurisdictions to obtain the necessary in-state and out-of-state firefighting resources to respond to these fires." The emergency declaration also mobilized the California National Guard to support disaster response. At the same time, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has seen a substantial reduction in available inmate firefighters because of early release, parole and coronavirus quarantines. Nick Schuler, a deputy chief with Cal Fire, said 90 of the 192 funded hand crews were available to fight fires as of Friday. The state's decision to release minimum-security prisoners in light of the pandemic added to the decline. State officials invested $72.4 million in emergency funds to hire 858 firefighters and six California Conservation Corps crews to bolster the force. The governor said Wednesday that 830 of those seasonal positions have been filled. To help fill funding gaps, the Newsom administration secured grants over the last week from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fight blazes in Monterey, Napa and Nevada counties. The governor's office said the grants allow local, state and tribal governments to receive reimbursement for up to 75% of certain firefighting costs. Cal Fire said Wednesday that the state had requested 375 engines from other states and called up every available private helicopter licensed to respond to federal and state incidents. Schuler described California as well-prepared but said the amount of fires had nearly exhausted all resources. "There are moments in time where the fire activity is so significant that no matter how much you prepare, the system will be overwhelmed," Schuler said. The Hennessey fire, one of largest blazes within a group of fires in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties, approached Vacaville overnight and prompted urgent evacuations of residents on the town's western border, according to Cal Fire. As of Wednesday evening, the so-called LNU Lightning Complex had spread to more than 46,000 acres with zero containment. Cal Fire officials said the fleet of available air tankers was stretched thin because of multiple fires in the region. A cluster of fires in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties known as the SCU Lightning Complex totaled more than 85,000 acres and was only 5% contained late Wednesday. The state deployed more than 500 personnel, 25 fire engines, three helicopters, three water tenders, 17 hand crews and nine bulldozers to the fire. The threat of more fires remains high, with a large swath of the state from the Central Valley to northeastern California under red flag warnings. Additional power outages loomed Wednesday as temperatures remained high. Newsom signed an emergency proclamation Monday in hopes of ensuring backup energy will be available to alleviate pressure on the state's electricity grid. State government buildings closed early while the governor urged industrial, commercial and residential customers to limit their energy use. The governor said he accepts ultimate responsibility for the power outages while ordering an investigation and promising to get to the bottom of what happened. "To make this crystal clear, we failed to predict and plan for these shortages and that's simply unacceptable," Newsom said Monday. "I'm the governor, I'm ultimately accountable and ultimately take responsibility to immediately address this issue and move forward and make sure this simply never happens again here in the state of California." The governor renewed a call for Californians to reduce their energy consumption from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday. An employee of Dobong Food Disposal Processing Plant manually removes plastic, bones and seeds from the food waste which has just arrived on a conveyor belt. /Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong By Kim Se-jeong The almost ten million residents of Seoul produce roughly 2,100 tons of home food waste every day. More recently in Seoul's large residential apartment complexes, residents dispose of food waste in modern communal electronic bins that measure how much food waste each apartment disposes of and charges a monthly waste management fee accordingly, while residents of other types of housing load their food waste into dedicated plastic bags or containers before leaving them outside for collection. A visit to Dobong Food Disposal Processing Plant located in Dobong District, northeastern Seoul, shows what happens next. As the waste arrives at the center in collection trucks, non-recyclable food waste items, for example chicken bones and peach seeds, are removed by hand and machine. The usable waste is then crushed into a puree and spin- and air-dried to create a powder. This stage of the process generates a large amount of liquid waste which is transported to another location for separate disposal processing. In the final stage, the powder is mixed with wheat husks and chemical additives to make animal feed. The mixture is loaded into huge bags for 20 local poultry and pig farmers to pick up although the latter are temporarily not receiving feed because of an African swine fever outbreak. To make sure the feed is appropriate for animal consumption, samples are sent to a local university every six months for testing. While the Dobong plant turns the waste into animal feed, other processing plants process waste to create fertilizer. The Dobong plant processes an average of 70 to 80 tons of food waste a day and produces between eight and nine tons of animal feed. The entire process takes nearly half a day and the machines are in operation from Monday through Saturday. Choi Jong-seon from the plant said Korean food generates a big volume of liquid waste and that non-food waste makes his team's job more difficult. "People discard meat bones or big fruit seeds together with other food waste, but we can't process these at the center, Choi said, adding dried fruit and vegetable skins, shells and tea bags aren't food waste either. "If residents would separate them from food waste, it would make our job much easier." Opened in 2001, the Dobong plant is one of three plants in the capital that is funded by local taxpayers, the other two are located in Dongdaemun and Songpa districts. Other districts pay private companies to do the job. The companies transport the food waste to their own processing plants that are mostly located in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces. Choi said the biggest advantage of having its own food waste process plant in the district is that it can provide a timely service without any delays. "In 2013, Seoul had a food waste crisis, as private companies refused to collect it. We didn't have to worry about that," Choi said. An ocean dumping ban that went into effect in 2013 raised spending for private companies which had previously dumped liquid waste into the sea. It could be every district government's wish to have their own food waste processing plants to ensure continued public service and to avoid hassles with private companies, but this is easier said than done. "Finding a place to build one now would be extremely difficult because there's no empty land and also residents don't want the plant in their neighborhoods," an official from Mapo District said. Mapo also pays private companies to process waste. Seodaemun District is currently pushing to have its own plant in Gyeonggi Province, but the plan is on hold due to opposition from local residents. Together with processing, the district and the Seoul city governments are also pushing residents to reduce the amount of food waste, which would be a long-term and sustainable solution to related issues. Local governments are promoting the earlier mentioned food waste collection bin machines. As they are equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, the devices can show users the entire amount of waste across the city. While these machines are currently only found in apartment complexes, the city government said it has proven effective in encouraging people to reduce the amount of waste they generate. The city has installed 15,100 of these collection machines across Seoul, and is planning to increase the number. "We can't stop producing food waste, but we can reduce the amount. This is important and that's why local and city governments are trying to encourage residents to do so," a Seoul city government official said on condition of anonymity. MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says it has temporarily suspended pork exports to China after a few dozen workers at one of its plants tested positive for COVID-19. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company says in a statement late Tuesday it continues to have rigorous safety measures at the Brandon, Man., plant to prevent workplace transmission, and the plant continues to operate. It notes public health officials have said there is no sign the coronavirus was spread in the workplace. The company says it voluntarily suspended its pork exports to China after the Chinese government adopted new protocols that require Canadian processors who report a positive COVID-19 case to do so. RBC Dominion Securities analyst Irene Nattel says in a note to clients that the news is a slight negative for Maple Leaf. She says the pork originally intended for export to China can likely be sold domestically or exported elsewhere though at lower margins and that price forecasts already assume some coronavirus-related disruptions. Maple Leaf says it is seeing short-term increases in absenteeism, but believes this is a short-term situation rather than a material financial event. CEO Michael McCain says the company is confident in its promise to provide customers with safe food. But we respect Chinas new import protocols for Canadian products and are working co-operatively with Canadian and Chinese authorities to resume exports quickly. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2020. Read more about: Confounding the expectations of the imperialist and regional powers, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) declared that there is no evidence the Hezbollah leadership or the Syrian government were involved in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut. After 14 years of deliberations, yesterday the court in The Hague issued a guilty verdict against Salim Jamil Ayyash, one of the four low-ranking Hezbollah members charged with conspiracy to carry out the massive suicide car-bomb attack that killed Hariri and 21 others on February 14, 2005. It cleared the other three accused on all counts and announced the withdrawal of the warrants for their arrests. The tribunal was set up in 2007 under pressure from Washington as the result of a UN Security Council resolution, originally to investigate claims that the assassination had been carried out by Syria, and only later switching to Hezbollah. The investigation and trial in absentia of four Hezbollah members in a hybrid court with Lebanese criminal law and international and Lebanese judges has cost nearly $1 billion, half of it borne by Lebanons bankrupt government and much of the rest by the US and France. The verdict was due on August 7, but postponed due to the August 4 Beirut port blast so as not to detract from a verdict widely expected to blame Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite party that forms Lebanons largest parliamentary bloc and has sat in government for the last 14 years. Hariri was the billionaire owner of the Saudi-based construction company Solidere that was rebuilding Beiruts downtown area destroyed during the 1975-1989 civil war. He had close ties to the US, France, and the Gulf monarchs. Judge David Re said, The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Hariri and some of his political allies. However, there was no evidence that this Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Hariris murder, and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement in it. Charges against a fifth Hezbollah suspect were dropped after he was killed in Syria in 2016. As Hezbollah denied any involvement and refused to reveal the four remaining mens whereabouts, they were tried in absentia, with the case resting on circumstantial evidence. According to records of their mobile telephone data, the men were close to the bombing and their phones went silent immediately afterward. The STLs long-awaited ruling implicating just one suspect is a setback for the US and its local stooges, who planned on using a more damning verdict to further their bid to eliminate Hezbollah as a political force in Lebanon and to step up the Trump administrations maximum pressure sanctions regime against Iranaimed at overturning the government and installing a client regime. The STL has been touted as a model for an investigation into the cause of the Beirut port blast that is also being attributed to Hezbollah. Hariri was one of a long line of prominent politicians, businessmen, journalists, and officials who have died violent deaths in Lebanon over the last 30 years. Variously attributed to Israel, Syria, Lebanese political factions, mafia-style gangs, and Islamist terrorists, they testify to the countrys political instability under the impact of the US-led wars in the region as Lebanon became the focal point in the contest between the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, France and its allies, and Syria, Iran and its alliesHezbollah and Amal within Lebanonand Hamas in Palestine. The assassination was initially seized upon by the Bush administration to blame and denounce Syria. Damascus had been granted tutelage over Lebanon as a reward for its support for the US-led coalition against Saddam Hussein in 1990, via the US-Saudi brokered Taif Accords that ended the Lebanese civil war. Not only was the charge unsubstantiated, the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad had nothing to gain and everything to lose by engineering Hariris assassination under conditions where the United Nations Security Council, under pressure from Washington, had passed Resolution 1559 the previous September, demanding that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon. The Bush administration was seeking the overthrow of the Syrian regime, which the Pentagon had long accused of sheltering a command-and-control centre of Iraqi Baathists, allegedly planning the attacks on US forces in Iraq, as well as Palestinian groups opposed to Israel, including Hamas. In the event, using the assassination as justification, Washington achieved most of its desired outcome with the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon just weeks later, bringing Lebanon firmly within the US orbit. The powers that most clearly stood to gain from Hariris assassination and blaming the crime on Syria were the US and Israel, both of whom have an unparalleled record of assassinating their political opponents, with car bombings in Beirut a regular feature of Mossads operations. Nevertheless, the Bush administration won support for a United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon to determine the identity of Hariris killers, even though he held no state position at the time. Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals were arrested and detained without charges for four years. In July 2006, the US gave the green light to Israel to wage war to eradicate Hezbollah. A six-week operation killed more than 1,200 people, injured many more, damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes, and devastated much of the countrys infrastructure, but failed to achieve its political objective. Instead, Hezbollah, not the Sunni and Christian forces in the government, won popular support for its leading role in opposing Israel. State Department cables subsequently released by WikiLeaks revealed that the ruling pro-US Forward Movement of Saad Hariri, Rafiqs son, had discussed with the US the preparations for a military attack by Israel against Hezbollah. Later, when Washington sought to bring Damascus in from the cold to isolate Iran, the STL and Saad Hariri reversed themselves, saying they no longer believed that Syria was involved in the assassination. The four generals were released, with Hariri later admitting they had been framed up on false evidence. Hariri and the STL then switched their attention to Hezbollah, blaming rogue elements in the group, an accusation Hezbollah denied. This created acute political tensions that led to a standoff between the two rival blocs at Beirut airport and established Hezbollah as the most powerful force in the land. In the years that followed, Hezbollah has been represented in all Lebanons governments, earning it the undying hatred of Washington, Riyadh, Paris, and Tel Aviv. Saad Hariri, who was present as the court in The Hague gave its ruling, said, We accept the verdict of the tribunal and want justice to be implemented, adding that he wanted just punishment for the criminals. Making clear that he (and presumably the US) intend to proceed as planned in targeting Hezbollah, he told reporters, I think everybodys expectation was much higher than what came out, but I believe that the tribunal came out with a result that is satisfying. The fraudulent STL represented an attempt by the US to channel and divide workers along sectarian lines, in pursuit of its own geo-strategic interests. Its purpose has been to mobilise forces against Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran and to suppress any unified struggle of impoverished workers in the Gulf, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. Only an independent intervention by the working class can prevent a wider war in the Middle East. Workers, irrespective of their religion, language, or ethnicity, must unite in opposing the growing danger of imperialist intervention, the deepening assault on their living standards, and the attempts to incite sectarian divisions. What is required is a unified struggle by workers against the cause of their oppressionthe capitalist systemand for the United Socialist States of the Middle East. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Ammo for the most part comprises of slugs, rockets, and mortars. Every one of these munitions have distinctive advancements, crude materials, and assembling designs. Present day shots have a wide range of highlights. A portion of these highlights are identified with shape, material utilized, and slug estimate. 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This report aims to estimate the Global Ammunition Market for 2019 and to project the expected demand of the same by 2026. This market research study provides a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Global Ammunition Market. It provides a comprehensive review of major drivers and restraints of the market. Major companies such as Olin Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation, Nammo As, Bae Systems, Remington Arms Company, LLC, etc. are profiled in this report. Global Ammunition Market is also segmented into major application and geographies. Various secondary sources, such as company annual reports, industry reports, analyst presentations, and paid databases to identify and collect information useful for this extensive commercial study of Global Ammunition Market have been used. The. The primary sources, experts from related industries and suppliers, have been interviewed to obtain and verify critical information as well as to assess the future prospects of Global Ammunition Market. Global Ammunition Market has grown significantly during the last few years, and it is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the next five years, mainly driven by a growing consumption in the North America region. Global Ammunition Market is valued at $ xx million in 2019, growing at a CAGR of X% and is expected to reach $ xx million by 2026. The Scope of the Report for Ammunition Market Global Ammunition Market, By Product Bullet Rocket Mortars Others Global Ammunition Market, By End-Use Civil Defense Global Ammunition Market, by Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa South America More Info of Impact Covid19 @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/6241 Since when has Pence done a good job fighting the coronavirus? Eagle Editorial Board (Eagle, Aug. 9), in what world is Mike Pence doing a "good job" when 165,000 Americans are dead from coronavirus? The leadership on the pandemic from both the federal government and the Texas government has been a dismal failure. It did not have to be this way. The coronavirus cannot be controlled with wishful thinking and politically motivated half measures. Countries that have had leadership willing to enforce stringent shutdowns for 6 to 8 weeks have been able to get a handle on the virus to the point that their economies and schools are coming back online. Leadership must follow science. In the U.S., the state of New York, after some initial stumbles, has shown how strong leadership can be effective in getting the virus under control and how to manage reopening. Texas never imposed an effective shutdown and reopened way too soon. Thirty-five years after the formation of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) took the first step at forming a new political party on Wednesday. Both organisations, which played a crucial role in the six-year anti-foreigner agitation that culminated with the signing of Assam Accord in 1985 and had spearheaded the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) stir in the state, have formed an advisory committee to suggest a way forward. In view of the continuous betrayals from various ruling parties, the committee has been formed with the aim of securing the future of Assam and Assamese people. The committee will give AASU and AJYCP a roadmap for the future, said AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath while addressing a press conference. The 16-member committee comprises former Asom Sahitya Sabha president Nagen Saikia, eminent author Arup Kumar Duttaboth as advisors, and several other renowned personalities like the national award-winning filmmaker Jahnu Barua and former Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahay. Assembly elections are due in Assam in April next year and the new political outfit, once it is formed, would attempt to dislodge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) combine. When we were involved in the anti-CAA stir and visited all corners of Assam, people from all walks had urged us to take steps to ensure a bright future for Assam. Formation of the committee is a step in that regard, said AJYCP president Rana Pratap Baruah. The signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 was expected to detect and deport illegal migrants of Bangladeshi origin staying in Assam as well as seal borders with the neighbouring nation. But 35 years down the line, that hasnt materialized yet. The Centres move to grant citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan through the enactment of CAA was seen as a move that would lead to large scale influx of Bangladeshis to Assam---something which AASU, AJYCP and various other organizations opposed and protested against. Taking suggestions from the public on how to take the anti-CAA stir forward and securing a bright future for Assams indigenous people were reasons for forming the committee. Based on their suggestions, timely and required steps would be taken. We would like to stress that both AASU and AJYCP would remain apolitical, said AASUs chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya. The decision by AASU and AJYCP, two of the biggest organizations in the state, to test political waters ahead of the assembly elections is seen as significant for the outcome of the polls. We are forming an anti-BJP alliance and dont want the division of votes, which could benefit the ruling dispensation. We will ask AASUs outfit as well to join our camp. It is for them to decide what they want to do, Congress MLA and leader of opposition in Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia said on Tuesday. Opposition Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), who are planning to join hands against the BJP-AGP-BPF combine, is expecting the new outfit to join their camp. We welcome the creation of a new political party, but AASU must make it clear how it will remain apolitical after forming a party. We hope they dont join hands with Congress and AIUDF for sake of power. Our government is focused on implementing the Assam Accord and are confident of winning, said BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami. After signing of the Assam Accord, several AASU leaders like Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Bhrigu Kumar Phukan who were at the forefront of the agitation against foreigners formed AGP and came to power in 1985 with Mahanta becoming the states as well as Indias youngest chief minister. The party came to power again in 1996 with Mahanta at the helm. In the next few years, it lost a sizeable chunk of its vote bank to BJP, the biggest party in the state at present. Incidentally, the incumbent Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was also a former president of AASU before he moved to AGP and later to BJP. AASU, as well as AJYCP, need to clearly spell out the reasons for planning to start a political party. Is it to defeat the ruling BJP-led coalition or to uphold regional aspirations? questioned Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science at Gauhati University. It seems they are not aware of the strengths of the party in power or have overlooked it. Formation of a political party seems like a face-saving gesture after the anti-CAA stir. When AGP was formed, AASU had completely dissociated itself from the process. But by not doing so this time, the organization may be putting its image at stake, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Schools are on track to start reopening, despite the imposition of new public health restrictions across large swathes of society. While businesses are being asked to allow their staff work from home until September 13, getting almost one million pupils back to the classroom is a national priority and teachers are returning to the workplace from next week. In the balancing act between the public health risk and the potential for further damage to children arising from disrupted schooling, education has won - for now at least. Taoiseach Micheal Martin stressed the point yesterday when he said: "In terms of broader context, schools are so important to the individual child, to children in general, to society, and to the economy as well." Mr Martin added: "We will do everything we possibly can to reopen schools safely, because it is a key priority. That's because other factors come into play in terms of the health of children, the mental wellbeing of children if they're not in school and don't get the opportunity to go back to attend school on a more regular basis." Read More He acknowledged that there was still a lot of work to do in terms of ensuring school transport was safer. Mr Martin said that restrictions - such as six in the household and a limit of 15 people outside - would help "to make sure we can get our schools open, and we're helping to make sure we can protect our vulnerable and protect our elderly". But even before schools reopen, the question already looming is: how long before they start closing again? It's not going to be easy and there are risks, although a recent report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that schools are not major drivers of Covid-19 transmission, once appropriate infection control and prevention measures are in place. There is feverish work afoot in 4,000 schools to make sure they are ready to keep Covid out, and to keep everyone on the inside safe. However, even if everyone obeys the rules around distancing, hygiene and staying home if you have symptoms, the ECDC report struck a cautionary note in pointing out that young children are more likely to be asymptomatic, so cases could go undiagnosed or undetected. It is not known how infectious asymptomatic children are. At the start of August, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was the first of the 16 German states to reopen schools fully for the new academic year, but within days they were closed temporarily because of Covid. The new school year in the US is presenting a mixed picture. Some that did open quickly closed again because of Covid-19 clusters, some are taking a wait-and-see approach, and many have decided it's simpler to stick with online learning for the foreseeable future. Understandably, there is uncertainty and nervousness about how it will pan out in Ireland. The finer detail of the reopening plan is still being worked through and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) described a meeting yesterday with Department of Education officials as "productive". One major INTO concern is the issue of prompt testing, tracing and surveillance for teachers in primary schools and the department agreed to raise the matter with the HSE and seek further advice on the matter. The union is also seeking more information on the procedures for dealing with suspected cases/symptoms of Covid-19 in a school. Meanwhile, Junior Minister for Special Education Josepha Madigan has provided clarity in relation to the wearing of face masks and the allocation of special-education teachers in schools with special classes and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) classes. Expand Close Josepha Madigan. Picture: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Josepha Madigan. Picture: Tony Gavin She confirmed face masks were not necessary for children in primary school. She added that at post-primary level, anyone with difficulty breathing, anyone who is incapacitated or unable to remove their face covering without assistance, or who has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable, would also be exempt from wearing a mask. The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged San Franciscos neighborhoods, leaving boarded-up storefronts and empty apartments as thousands of workers vacate pricey apartments for less expensive cities with more spacious housing options from which to work from home. But the news isnt all bad for people willing and able to stick it out in the beleaguered city. Thousands of tenants across the city are using the deteriorating rental market as an opportunity to negotiate double-digit rent reductions. A new San Francisco Apartment Association survey found that while 14.3% percent of tenants have broken their leases since the start of the pandemic in March, 42.7% of landlords had received requests for rent reductions; 34.7% granted a request for either a permanent or temporary reduction. The association represents property owners. The market softness does little to help the many renters who have lost their jobs. Congress and the president have been unable to reach a deal on extending all or a portion of the expired $600-a-week federal unemployment insurance payments that allowed millions of Americans to continue to pay rent. But those who have remained employed, and arent joining the exodus from the city, are discovering they suddenly have leverage. And many have not been shy about taking advantage. A recent report from Zillow found that the inventory of available apartments is up 96% over a year ago. Some landlords are cutting rent by 10% to 20% and offering gift cards, months of free rent or cash in exchange for renters signing a yearlong lease. You are seeing a tremendous amount of downward pressure on rents in the city due to rising vacancy, said Zillow economist Joshua Clark. There are some scary indicators if you are a landlord. The inventory chart is astonishing its a straight line up. That is a huge clue that the exodus is happening people are actually moving out of the city. The Chronicle heard from more than a dozen tenants who had gotten breaks from their landlords. Most said they were offered about a 10% reduction in exchange for signing a 12-month lease. Others were also given a gift or cash card equivalent to one month or five weeks of rent. Some landlords initiated rent reduction talks, hoping to head off plans to leave. Others agreed to lower the rent only after the tenant threatened to pull up stakes. One Glen Park tenant gave notice to vacate but changed his mind after his landlord offered a 25% rent reduction. One renter who took advantage of the market is Hayes Valley resident L.B. Hernandez. A few months into the pandemic, Hernandez was laid off from her recruiting job at Airbnb. She had been in her studio apartment for a few months. Before approaching her landlord, she researched the market, getting a sense of how far rents had fallen and how desperate property owners were to attract or retain tenants. While Hernandez was inclined to stay in the city, she entertained the possibility of breaking her lease and returning to the East Coast, where she grew up. She asked her landlord about both scenarios a cut in rent or breaking the lease. To her shock, her landlord offered two attractive options: an early, penalty-free lease termination or a 20% reduction in rent, from $2,000 to $1,600, for signing a new lease. She decided to stay and became the lease negotiation expert among her friends. I was riding this high, giving everyone tips on how to approach their landlords, she said. Its a renters economy. There are so many empty units. (Landlords) need us more than we need them. Mission District resident Megan Orpwood-Russell, a writer for the Yosemite Conservancy, also was pleasantly surprised by the response she got from her landlord. She and her roommate hung on to their jobs during the pandemic, but their salaries were cut. Their landlord immediately agreed to cut rent by 9%, from $2,920 to $2,700. It helped enormously. We both feel slightly less pinched, she said. I get 110 bucks a month back. That is not nothing over the course of a year. Landlord and property manager J.J. Panzer said a lot of tenants are on the fence about whether to leave the city and are approaching him with a mixed message: They want both the flexibility to break their lease as well as a reduction in rent if they decide to stay. That doesnt work for him. If you are coming to me and asking me to meet the market, Im happy to do that as long as you promise me you are not going to leave, he said. Ill give it you, but you have to sign a lease and stay another year. If you are just going to leave, why should I reduce your rent? The vacancy rate among Apartment Association member properties is now 11.5%, four times what it was prior to the pandemic, said Charley Goss, government affairs manager for the organization. People are having a tough time renting units out, Goss said. Our members are nervous. All eyes have been on Congress, hoping for a relief package. While the listing service Zumper has rents down about 11%, Panzer said the decline is closer to 20% in downtown spots like SoMa, Mission Bay, South Beach and Civic Center neighborhoods that have seen a lot of recent development and are popular with the young tech workers most likely to be leaving. In contrast, he sees rents dropping between 5% and 10% in older, more established neighborhoods like Noe Valley, the Mission and the Castro. But not everyone has been successful in getting a break on rent. Christen Alqueza, a designer, is a tenant at Bayside Village in South Beach. She and her roommates moved in in January, signing a lease for $4,600 for a two-bedroom unit. 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. After the shelter-in-place started in March, Alqueza found out that the owner, Brookfield Properties, had slashed rent on her unit type from $4,600 to $3,800, an 18% discount. In addition, new residents are being offered eight weeks of free rent. When she approached the landlord about receiving similar terms, she was rebuffed. They say that its not possible this is the rate we signed at, and if they did it for one person they would have to do it for everyone, she said. Alqueza started organizing fellow tenants and researching what other buildings in the neighborhood were charging. She arranged a Zoom call with the property manager, joined by 67 tenants. She said the landlords representative basically hung up on us. Brookfield did not return a call and email seeking comment. Everything that made Bayside Village appealing the pool, gym, nearby nightlife and Giants games at Oracle Park is shut down because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, tenants have been leaving in droves, and the property owner is renovating the vacant units. They are spending all our rent money on renovating units for future tenants, Alqueza said. Its really noisy. Its not suitable to work from home at Bayside Village. Alqueza plans to break her lease and move at the beginning of October. Its hard to feel sorry for property owners who over the last decade have banked millions as San Franciscos housing market soared. Still, the situation has been a nightmare for some small landlords, said Janan New, executive director of the Apartment Association. While broken leases and lowered rents are cutting revenue, just 3% of the groups members have been granted mortgage forbearance by their lenders. Quite a few small owners are struggling to hold on to their buildings, as they still must pay taxes and fees. Until we get people back to work in San Francisco, we are not going to see any improvement, New said. Panzer, who manages more than 600 units across the city, said the past few months have been a rude awakening. Being a landlord doesnt mean you always win, he said. I have to remind my clients of that. That is part of the risk of our business. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen By Online Desk BOLPUR: The bust of noted doctor Sushovan Banerjee in West Bengal's Bolpur town was found to be smeared with ink on Wednesday after he spoke in support of fencing the Visva-Bharati ground where the Poush Mela used to be held, police said. Locals noticed that the bust, located in ward number 14, was smeared with ink in the morning, they said. Banerjee, better known as the 'one rupee doctor', had on Tuesday voiced his support in favour of the varsity authorities amid an imbroglio over the issue, following violence that rocked the campus on Monday. Banerjee, who treats poor patients for just a rupee, was conferred the Padma Shri this year. He is also a former member of the varsity's executive council. Police said they are looking into the incident. Meanwhile, Teachers' and students' bodies of Visva-Bharati on Wednesday condemned the violence that rocked the campus over fencing the ground where the famed Poush Mela used to be held. Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) said it was in favour of discussions with all the stakeholders before any crucial decision is taken by the authorities. "This incident (of violence) could have been avoided through prior discussion with all the stakeholders. Similar incidents have happened earlier where the faculty members along with officials were consulted only after the crisis precipitated," it said in a statement, deploring the vandalism. The Left-wing outfit also criticised the rally of faculty members led by the vice-chancellor on August 16 in support of putting up the fencing around the mela ground, a day after it was stopped by the locals. "The decision of a gathering of Visva-Bharati faculty members and other employees on August 16 was reckless as it could have risked their safety," it said. "The university authority should have learnt from the past experience of the Poush Mela incident how to handle such situations," it added. The Left-backed SFI condemned the "competitive power display" by the vice-chancellor and the Trinamool Congress and said that this has created a dangerous situation for students and teachers, leading to a stalemate over the admission of students. "The autocratic conduct of the VC since he took over has spoiled the ambience of the institution founded by Rabindranath Tagore with a certain vision and eroded free thinking. The last incident is a fallout of this which has given scope to the ruling party to create chaos," it said. The RSS-affiliated ABVP described the incident as a pre-planned conspiracy "of the Left and the Naxals, TMC party leaders". "On behalf of ABVP Visva-Bharati unit we demand the arrest and exemplary punishment of the culprits, to protect the students, teachers, professors and other staff of the University and to preserve the reputation," it said. (With PTI Inputs) Indian social media company Chingari has received funding from Brian Norgard, Chief Product Officer of Tinder, and from French entrepreneur Fabrice Grinda, founder of OLX. Chingari has not disclosed the amount of funding they have received from these new investors. Earlier, Chingari had raised $1.3 million in seed funding from investors such as AngelList India, iSeed, Village Global, LogX Ventures and others, reports Hindustan Times. With this latest round of funding Chingari's net worth would have increased substantially. Chingari has gained popularity as an Indian-version of TikTok with many directly comparing the app to TikTok. The app was launched at a time when anti-China sentiments were at a high in the country. Many users have started uninstalling TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and started downloading Indian-made 'Chingari' as a replacement. A few days later, the BJP-led government officially banned TikTok in India which led to an explosion in Chingari's popularity amongst the Indian masses. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded 25 million times. Chingari has been regularly releasing updates to enhance the application with a variety of new features aimed at increasing its audience and attracting content creators. Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO of Chingari App, said, "We are humbled that globally acclaimed entrepreneurs like Brian Norgard and Fabrice Grinda loved the vision of the Chingari team and invested into what we are building. We are absolutely delighted to have them onboard the Chingari rocket ship and look forward to learning from them the art of building and scaling Global product companies." According to Ghosh, the latest funding received by Chingari would be used for product development, hiring a talented engineering team of ML/AI engineers. They also want to hire a team which will work to enhance the camera feature of the app. Also Read: How to reverse India's economic slowdown? World Bank draws up a revival plan Also Read: Flipkart revenue exceeds pre-Covid level: Walmart CEO Capital Hills campus of the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durhan, N.C hosted a small group gathering with numerous believers every Monday, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, many Christians struggled due to the lack of engagement within the church community which tends to be very different from before COVID-19 when everyone was united. According to Senior Pastor J.D Greeat's metrics, the church leadership decided it is best to delay onsite worship until 2021 for safety. "Greear is adjusting weekend programming for small groups, or essentially 'house church setting." The Summit is adjusting weekend programming to perform as a resource for small group settings and backyard gatherings, incorporating such things as outdoor baptisms, prayer meetings, and fellowship, Greear told members. Having many small groups before the pandemic had shifted many Christian's faith and belief as the church community is trying to still connect through online. However, not coming together to worship on the weekends doesn't mean we shouldn't gather. Instead, we should gather! Greear expressed. "We're going to equip you to get together in essentially house churches, small groups of people that are gathering in houses according to what the authorities, what the government, the CDC, is deeming to be safe, in terms of regulations and group size." Following the guidelines and the safety measures, the Summit Church plans on restarting services through small groups. Unzicker expresses that services are far more important than anyone thinks of it. "We're devoted to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship and breaking of bread, and devoting time to pray together. I know that some small groups are combining and doing some things outdoors, socially distanced." To maintain the connection with the people, Park added Zoom is another service opportunity within government guidelines. Hoping for the best, Summit Church keeps a prayer all around the world for another revival. "We miss being with each other immensely. However, the vast majority understand that this is a unique season and it was a difficult decision that needed to be made by the elders. "But I truly believe the mission and movement of disciple-making will continue in new ways we hadn't planned for and the church will emerge stronger because of this season. I'm confident God will teach us and continue building his church despite any pandemic or obstacle." Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2020 -- The report "Ceramic Sanitary Ware Market by Type (Toilet Sinks/Water Closets, Washbasins, Urinals, Cisterns), Application (Commercial, Residential), Technology (Slip Casting, Pressure Casting, Type Casting, Isostatic Casting), Region - Global Forecast to 2025", The global ceramic sanitary ware market size is projected to reach USD 44.6 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.8%, from USD 32.1 billion in 2020. Download PDF brochure of the Report @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=581 Initiatives by the public sectors of developing nations to improve access to sanitation are a major factor for the growth of the ceramic sanitary ware globally. Historically, the awareness regarding personal hygiene was low in developing nations. Therefore, the ceramic sanitary ware market had limited growth and development. However, due to the multiple initiatives taken by the governments of developing countries, the awareness about hygiene and proper sanitation is increasing. According to the latest data by the WHO, 45% of the global population used the safely managed sanitation service in 2017. This number is expected to increase in the coming years due to the rising public awareness, professional marketing of sanitation to those lacking the access, and initiative of the private sector in public sanitation. Moreover, the changing lifestyle and increasing purchasing power of the middle-class population are expected to drive the demand for the ceramic sanitary ware market between 2020 and 2025. Toilet sinks/Water closets is the largest type of ceramic sanitary ware. The toilet sinks/water closets segment accounted for the largest share of the overall market, in terms of value, in 2019. It is also expected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period. The demand from emerging nations and increasing consumer preference for toilet sinks to meet their basic sanitation requirements are driving the demand for toilet sinks/water closets. They have been further classified into one piece, two piece, wall hung closets, EWC, and others. APAC was the largest market for toilet sinks and water closets. The increasing disposable income of consumers, coupled with the growing demand for luxurious products, is driving the market for ceramic sanitary ware. Commercial is projected to be the larger application of the ceramic sanitary ware market during the forecast period. The commercial application accounted for the larger share of the overall market in 2019. Ceramic sanitary wares have a wide range of applications in the commercial sector. Owing to the heavy use and frequent replacement of ceramic sanitary ware in the commercial sector, the growth of ceramic sanitary ware is high in this application. Moreover, with the increasing urbanization, high growth is expected in the commercial application in developing regions during the forecast period. Don't miss out on business opportunities in Ceramic Sanitary Ware Market. Speak to Our Analyst and gain crucial industry insights that will help your business grow. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=581 Browse in-depth TOC on "Ceramic Sanitary Ware Market" 124 - Market Data Tables 58 - Figures 182 - Pages Slip casting is projected to be the largest technology of the ceramic sanitary ware market during the forecast period. Due to its easy operation and low-cost labor, the slip casting segment accounted for the largest share in the ceramic sanitary ware market. The market in the pressure casting segment is projected to register the highest CAGR in the next five years. This is due to the increasing labor costs in North America and Europe. Moreover, the need for advanced technologies to produce ceramic sanitary ware products is driving the market in the pressure casting technology APAC is projected to be the largest market for ceramic sanitary ware during the forecast period. APAC is the largest market of ceramic sanitary ware, followed by Europe and North America. The massive industrial growth in APAC has been fueling the growth of the ceramic sanitary ware market over the past few years, which is expected to continue during the next five years. Domestic and foreign investments in key sectors, such as energy, manufacturing, construction, and mining, have been consistently growing over the past decade. It is expected to result in the growth of the industrial sector and the demand for ceramic sanitary ware in the country. Over the past decade, India has been witnessing a moderate GDP growth. The country has attracted heavy investments in key industrial sectors, such as construction, cement, and energy. The economic outlook for India has been very optimistic. The Government of India is focused on the manufacturing sector by liberalizing policies and providing additional incentives, such as land at cheap rates and faster clearances from all the concerned departments. As a result, the overall economy is rapidly growing. This is expected to drive the sale of ceramic sanitary ware in the region during the forecast period. The demand for ceramic sanitary ware is expected to decline in 2020, mainly due to the economic crisis of COVID-19. The lockdown in countries all over the world has resulted in major construction projects getting stalled, which will negatively impact the market growth in 2020. The key market players profiled in the report include Geberit Group (Switzerland), Kohler Co. (US), TOTO Ltd. (Japan), LIXIL Group Corporation (Japan), Roca Sanitario SA (Spain), Villeroy & Boch AG (Germany), RAK Ceramics (UAE), Duravit AG (Germany), Duratex SA (Brazil), and HSIL (India). Get This Report @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Purchase/purchase_reportNew.asp?id=581 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. One local business owner found himself leading a series of socially distant interviews conducted Monday over the internet as part of a very unconventional Democratic National Convention kick-off. It was great, said Swarthmore resident Scott Richardson, co-owner of the Occasionally Yours restaurant. I got to talk about our business and do it in a non-political fashion. Richardson, who has owned the business since 1989 with his wife, Theresa, came about 11 minutes into the broadcast hosted by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria. Richardson was seen sitting inside the small boutique eatery as he answers Longorias question about how his business is doing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Its been rough, Richardson told her. Rough is a nice (way) to say it. My wife and I, 31 years ago, began our business and, quite honestly, over all these years, weve faced some adversity and challenges, but nothing like what we are today. Richardson told Longoria that he and Theresa have had to reinvent the business several times since the beginning of the year. During that period, theyve seen revenues drop about 40 percent and their number of employees cut in half. Our customers are a little scared, our employees are sometimes a little afraid to come to work because of the COVID and, to be honest with you, Im just frustrated, said Richardson Monday. I dont understand how we got here. We are the greatest nation in the world and it just seems to me that if maybe we just came together on this one issue alone, maybe as Americans and being untied, we can overcome it. Richardson joked that if you know him, there is no way he could contain himself to 45 seconds he was allotted. A slight delay and nervousness toned down his usually upbeat patter, but at closer to a minute and a half, he said he still didnt say all of what he wanted to. No one else knew what I was going to say, but I missed whole sections of what I was going to say, he said. For instance, Richardson wanted to follow up the rough line with something about how he feels blessed just to still be open, unlike a lot of other small businesses. That was me just filling it with words because I had no idea what I was going to say, he said, laughing. I wouldnt make a good politician or something, throwing me in front of a camera, thats for sure. Richardson says he still has no clue how or why he was tapped for the event. He was one of three local business owners to meet with (still presumptive) Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in June, but doesnt know how that came about either. He was a down-to-earth, compassionate (person), said Richardson. And he listens. I mean hes looking right into your eyes. It was amazing. When you meet somebody, its a whole different impression than when you listen to them speak or whatever. During that meeting with Biden, Richardson said he revealed that he had voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016, which he guessed would get picked up by some news outlet, but he never expected to be talking at the DNC. I dont feel like Im aligned with any particular party. I vote for the individual, he said. I was not a Hillary Clinton fan. I have voted for probably as many Republicans as I have for Democrats. I told people Ive been registered most of my life as an independent. Ive been registered as a Republican when I wanted to vote in a primary, then I would re-register as a Democrat. When Trump came along, Richardson said he cast his ballot there. When U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, ran for Congress, Richardson changed his registration again to vote for her. He considers Scanlon a friend and initially believed she had gotten him in to see Biden in June, but he said she called him the following day asking how he had pulled that off. How I got that invite, I still dont know, he said. But everything has come from that. Richardson said he has never really been one to voice his opinion on politics for fear of alienating customers. Sure, there might be a conversation if you wanted one, but he never put up signs or anything. But I just feel like were at a point now where its more than Scott and Theresa Richardsons store and what effect backing Biden has, he said. Its about our country and where were at and where I fear it will go if (Trump) is reelected. The turning point for Richardson was Trumps handling of the coronavirus, he said. If his motivation was to get re-elected, he had a sure win by stepping up and saying, We have this issue, it really stinks, this is what were going to do and as Americans Im going to lead you through this,' Richardson said. But because he took the reverse stance, people like me the middle-of-the-road people I think will probably shift towards Biden. Richardson said he initially planned to discuss Trump more in his comments Monday night. The very first thing I wanted to say was Were in a mess right now, but I take some responsibility for it because I voted for Donald Trump,' he said. I think one of my statements is, I just dont know how we got this way. Well, my original thought on that was How could Trump allow our country to get in this position?' But Richardson said he was told to just talk about the impact on his business, so he had to reshuffle a bit. He assumed others later in the program would be hammering the president and they didnt want him taking the wind out of their sails. As for the business itself, Richardson said he had to step up and get creative right away to stay afloat. Before contactless delivery or curbside pickup entered the lexicon, Occasionally Yours began doing both with an already planned St. Patricks Day catering gig for the Swarthmore Library just a few days after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered many businesses in the state shuttered. The business used to pull about half its income from catering, which has dropped to zero, but has continued doing fundraisers by partnering with local organizations, Richardson said. It doesnt make money, but it does keep the lights on and the chef employed. And on Tuesday, he got to say what he had planned to Monday night. Were fortunate that over this period of time, with their help, weve been able to do probably close to 2,500 meals since May, Richardson said. Without those programs we would be under right now. I feel really blessed to still be working in the restaurant business. There are thousands of them that are no longer viable. YEREVAN. During his press conference Wednesday, Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan stated that the threat of war was extremely huge today. When asked why he decided to hold a press conference earlier than promisedthat is, when the current state of emergency in the country is liftedand whether this means that there is something to be said before the publication of the report of the parliamentary inquiry committee which investigates the circumstances of the military actions in April 2016, the former president said that what he wanted to say was not related to the report. "It is due to the fact that events which are closely related to the April [2016] events are taking place in the country. The April [2016] war was not only a war; it was a major politico-military event that affected the internal and external agenda. The April [2016] war is closely linked to the defense and security of Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)]. This is one of the vital issues for our people. It is closely connected with the negotiation process, which, in my opinion, unfortunately, has either reached a deadlock or is not going as it should have. As I have already said, the April [2016] war is also connected with our foreign policy; that is why the events unfolding around our country today are very dangerous. If we sum up what was said, I can state that the threat of war is extremely huge today. And every combat action, be it 4 or 7 days, needs a proper investigation. A list of actions and tasks is made even after the military exercises of the armed forces so that we are ready, God forbid, for military actions. On the other hand, are you sure that the state of emergency will end in the near future? I'm not sure," Sargsyan said. Tehran denies US claims it offered bounties to Taliban Iran Press TV Wednesday, 19 August 2020 12:17 AM Iran has denied US allegations that it offered bounties to Taliban militants in Afghanistan for targeting American troops. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzade said Tuesday that the new claims are part of the US propaganda to "cover up" its miscalculations in Afghanistan. Russia had previously been accused of paying bounties to Taliban, which Moscow has denied as well. A Tuesday report on CNN claimed that the so-called bounties were "paid by a foreign government, identified to CNN as Iran, to the Haqqani network -- a terrorist group that is led by the second highest ranking leader of the Taliban -- for their attack on Bagram Air Base on December 11." Instead of blaming others the US should "act responsibly" and end its "catastrophic presence" in Afghanistan, Khatibzade said. "The US government has no response for the families of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan," he further noted. The United States led a military coalition of its allies in 2001 to invade Afghanistan to topple a Taliban regime, believing it was harboring the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Ever since, the war-ravaged country has been unstable, witnessing frequent terrorist attacks. More than 100,000 Afghan civilians are estimated to have been killed or injured in the past decade, more than 10,000 in 2019 alone. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel's Netanyahu Denies He Approved Sales of US Fighter Jets to UAE Under Peace Deal Sputnik News 10:39 GMT 18.08.2020(updated 10:40 GMT 18.08.2020) The Emirates has long sought to procure the advanced F-35 fighters, but inviting a Gulf Arab country into the programme would mark the reversal of a decades-long US policy of preserving Israel's "qualitative military edge" in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that his cabinet has given a go-ahead for the sale of fifth-generation US jets under the recent deal with the United Arab Emirates. "The historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates did not include any Israeli agreement on any arms deal between the United States and the United Arab Emirates," Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday. "From the outset, the Prime Minister opposed the sale of F35s and other advanced weapons to any countries in the Middle East, including Arab countries making peace with the State of Israel," read the statement. The prime minister's office added that Netanyahu's position has not changed, and that he voiced "consistent opposition" to any transfer of the jets to the UAE as recently as a 2 June meeting of Israel's National Security Council and during a conversation with US envoy to Israel, David Friedman, on 7 July. The comments came in response to a report in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which cited unnamed American and UAE officials as claiming that the Arab kingdom had conditioned the entire peace agreement with Israel on the go-ahead for the purchase of the much-desired jets. On 13 August, the UAE became a third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. The accord capped years of covertly growing cooperation between Tel Aviv and its former mortal enemies in the Gulf, who have found a shared adversary in Iran. UAE military officials have previously expressed their willingness to buy F-35s. Talk of of the Emirates' candidacy for the programme expected to cost $1.5 trillion to American taxpayers over its 55-year lifespan emerged in 2017 as the Trump administration pursued closer military ties with its Gulf allies and inaugurated the US-UAE Defence Cooperation Agreement. Israel has traditionally opposed any sale of advanced weapons to Gulf states. The United States has also held a policy of preserving Israel's "qualitative military edge" in the Middle East since the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Rene Clarke Cooper, a senior official at the US State Department, quashed rumours of F-35 sales to the UAE last year. "The question (of) are there any considerations or conversations about the F35 the short answer is no," he said in an interview last November. "The long answer," he added, "is we have been working with them and continue to work with them on upgrading, expanding their F-16 capability and upgrading and expanding their F-16 posture, so that is where we are." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The landslide victory of Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakses Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has exposed the bankruptcy of Tamil nationalism. It has not only suffered an electoral defeat. It has neither a perspective nor the intention of opposing the Rajapakse cabals plans to set up a military-backed presidential dictatorship amid the COVID-19 pandemic. TamilNet, an English-language web site writing to the international Tamil diaspora, responded with an article titled 2020 election resembles 1970 polls that formed genocidal Sri Lanka. Amid growing strikes and struggles mobilizing Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim workers together in Sri Lanka, it stirs up communalism, promoting the Tamil National Alliances (TNA) political periphery and support for US war threats against China in the Indian Ocean region. TamilNet points to the collapse of the two main bourgeois parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP), which ruled Sri Lanka since independence and waged the 1983-2009 anti-Tamil civil war. Now, it states, the SLFP is replaced by the SLPP, ten years after genocidal annihilation of the armed movement and the de-facto state of Tamil Eelam. The SLPP is poised to enact a constitutional discourse emboldening the unitary state towards the final phase of heritage and structural genocide in the occupied country of Eelam Tamils. The Rajapakse regime is a threat to workers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds in Sri Lanka. Moreover, a long and bitter history shows that during great political crises, the Sri Lankan ruling class inevitably turns to inciting violent ethno-sectarian conflict. But TamilNet, which speaks for Tamil bourgeois forces complicit in incitement of communal tensions, has nothing to offer to combat Rajapakses accelerating drive towards dictatorship. Speaking nostalgically about the growth of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka during the 1970s, it promotes the turn to separatism and armed struggle before the civil war: Back then, the younger generation realised the reality that even God couldnt help Tamils. The only way left was resistance, and that enabled them to challenge the genocidal state for three decades effectively. Today, TamilNet holds up TNA split-offs like the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) and Tamil National Peoples Alliance (TMTK) as the alternative to the TNAs collapse. It writes, Eelam Tamil voters have placed an enormous responsibility on the shoulders of Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam of the TNPF and Justice CV Wigneswaran of the TMTK. TamilNet tasks them with course-correcting what TamilNet calls the Quisling politics of R. Sampanthan and M.A. Sumanthiran, who lead the TNA. TamilNets claim that Sri Lankan Tamils are flocking around the TNPF and TMTK is a fraud. Neither group won broad support. While the TNA collapsed from 16 to 10 parliamentary seats, they received 67,766 votes (0.58 percent, 2 seats) and 51,301 votes (0.44 percent, 1 seat) respectively. In the North and East of Sri Lanka, Tamil voters also gave support to the SLFP (49,373 votes in the Jaffna district) and the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP, 61,464 votes) a paramilitary group that works closely with the Rajapakse regime. If TamilNet feels compelled to compare the TNA leadership to Vidkun Quisling, the Nazi-collaborationist dictator of German-occupied Norway shot for treason after World War II, this is because the TNA is deeply discredited among workers and youth. This is why some voters, in disgust, even cast ballots for the SLFP and the EPDP, which are widely despised in the Tamil community. The TNA backed the US-led regime change campaign to oust Mahinda Rajapakse in 2015 and install Maithripala Sirisena as president in 2015 to cut Rajapakses economic links to China. It promised that Sirisena would deliver good governance, free Tamil political prisoners held since the end of the war, and end military occupation of land in northern Sri Lanka. All these promises proved to be lies. The Tamil nationalists supported Sirisenas drastic austerity IMF policies and anti-democratic measures, which provoked strikes and protests of workers and youth across Sri Lanka. While they were rewarded with state posts, including the position of leaders of the official opposition, Tamil political prisoners kept rotting in jail and the army continued occupying the land. The TNA and the TNPF went so far as to support the Sirisena regime by quietly flying their own members out of the country, once it emerged the regime had tortured them. The TNPF and the TMTK are TNA split-offs who broke with the TNA to avoid being discredited by its record, but who similarly orient to the US war drive against China. The TNPF, which backed the 2015 regime change operation, argues this position in its 2020 election manifesto. The manifesto asserts, Sri Lanka is an important point in the political competition in the Indian Ocean. This geopolitical rivalry has had many impacts on various stages of the journey of our race towards emancipation. This continuing geopolitical rivalry is also providing opportunities for the Tamil people to achieve their goals. The Tamil National People's Front continues its journey with the logically firm belief that our goal can be achieved by approaching these opportunities in the interest of the Tamil people, with dedication and creativity. TamilNets empty references to the 1970s are simply political cover for this same pro-imperialist orientation. It cynically calls on Tamil workers in Sri Lanka and worldwide to adopt the political strategy and orientation of those it has just denounced as Quislings. Asserting that only Geopolitics can help Tamils, TamilNet writes: The key to future success lies in realising that only a new form of resistance with an international dimension could effectively challenge the genocidal state and the geopolitical abettors of development crimes. The Tamil diaspora and global Tamils also have a historical duty in this regard. TamilNets meaning is more or less clear. They do not have an organization to wage war against the Sri Lankan state since the crushing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the end of the civil war, and they support another war instead. They are asking the Tamil diaspora to give political and financial support to the TNPF and TMTK and to help promote these parties in Washington and the European capitals and so strengthen the Tamil nationalist parties positions in Colombo. This is bankrupt. US and European imperialism wage politically criminal wars across the world, killing untold thousands of people, while carrying out deep attacks against the working class at home. Tamils have a long, bitter experience of the bankruptcy of appeals to them to defend human rights. It was the decision of Washington and the European powers to stand aside and give Colombo the green light for a final assault in 2009, at the end of the war, that led to the massacre of tens of thousands of disarmed Tamil fighters and civilians at Mullaitivu. The way forward against the danger of military-police dictatorship in Sri Lanka and internationally is the turn to the working class. TamilNet whips up communalism to divide workers along ethnic lines, paving the way for the SLPP regime to imposing sweeping austerity and a militarized presidential dictatorship. The Socialist Equality Party, which has an unbroken record of defending Tamils democratic rights, fights to unify the working class across ethnic lines. The alternative to the bloody record of the Sri Lankan unitary state, established under the imperialist-brokered settlement at the end of direct British rule over India in 1947-1948, is not empty propaganda for national self-determination by pro-imperialist reactionaries. It is a struggle by the working class for power, and the SEPs perspective of building a socialist republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam as part of the United Socialist States of South Asia. The SEP deserves the support of workers in Sri Lanka, the diaspora and beyond. A man charged with killing three of his neighbors in Liberty County on Monday was known to complain about the dogs freely roaming the area a detail that investigators believe could have played a role in the shooting spree, said Capt. Ken Defoor of the Liberty County Sheriffs Office. Michael Wettstein, 60, so far has been charged with capital murder of multiple people with other felony charges pending. He remains in the Liberty County Jail without bond. Wettstein lived along County Road 4901 near Dayton. Neighbors told investigators that he frequently went around his neighborhood ranting about the dogs that were allowed to roam freely, Defoor said Tuesday. The sheriffs office had previously responded before the shooting to various complaints about Wettstein. At the time of his latest arrest, a swastika had been drawn on his forehead, and he was armed with the shotgun and rifle used in the shooting, Defoor said. Its unclear whether he had any other motive at the time, Defoor said. The spree started around noon Monday, when Wettstein shot a dog that belonged to his 38-year-old neighbor Misty Herndon. Deputies say he then fatally shot her and 56-year-old Richard Lamm. He went to another house on County Road 4901 and shot and killed 59-year-old Bruce Mercer, deputies say. After that, he went to the next home and got into an argument with Marvin Rumley, 66, and his daughter, 32, about their dog. He shot them both, and they were taken by Life Flight to a Houston hospital, where they are still in treatment. Their current condition is unknown. Wettstein was taken into custody after fleeing to a nearby wooded area, Defoor said. The sheriffs office continues to investigate the relationships between him and the victims. julian.gill@chron.com An emergency room doctor in Illinois was accused in April of profiting from naming coronavirus as the cause of a patients death, a rumour spreading online. An internist in New York treated a vomiting patient in May who drank a bleach mixture as part of a fake virus cure found on YouTube. And in June a paramedic in Britain aided a clearly sick man who had refused to go to a hospital after reading misleading warnings about poor coronavirus treatment on social media. Doctors on the front lines of the global pandemic say they are fighting not just the coronavirus, but also increasingly combating a never-ending scourge of misinformation about the disease that is hurting patients. Before the pandemic, medical professionals had grown accustomed to dealing with patients misled by online information, a phenomenon they called Dr. Google. But in interviews, more than a dozen doctors and misinformation researchers in the United States and Europe said the volume related to the virus was like nothing they had seen before. They blamed leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump for amplifying fringe theories, the social media platforms for not doing enough to stamp out false information and individuals for being too quick to believe what they see online. Last week, researchers said that at least 800 people worldwide died in the first three months of the year, and thousands more were hospitalized, from unfounded claims online that ingesting highly concentrated alcohol would kill the virus. Their findings, based on studying rumours circulating on the web, were published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Doctors frustrations fill Facebook groups and online forums. The American Medical Association and other groups representing doctors say the false information spreading online is harming the public health response to the disease. The World Health Organization is developing methods to measure the harm of virus-related misinformation online, and over two weeks in July the group hosted an online conference with doctors, public health experts and internet researchers about how to address the problem. Doctors say patients regularly resist their counsel, more inclined to believe what they read on Facebook than what a medical professional tells them. The falsehoods, they say, have undermined efforts to get people to wear masks and fuelled a belief that the seriousness of the disease is overblown. Some doctors say they face abuse when they participate in online discussions to correct the record. This is no longer just an anecdotal observation that some individual doctors have made, said Daniel Allington, a senior lecturer at Kings College London and co-author of a recent study that found people who obtained their news online, instead of from radio or television, were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and not follow public health guidelines. This is a statistically significant pattern that we can observe in a large survey. Dr. Howard Mell, an emergency room physician in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, said the wife of a man who had died from the coronavirus in April accused him of falsely filling out the death certificate to make more money for himself. He explained that the form was accurate and that his pay was not based on the cause of death. She yelled, Weve seen online how you guys get more money, Mell said. Since then, the situation has not improved, he said. Several times per week, he meets someone who believes false medical information that was discovered online. It has absolutely become a job unto itself, said Mell, who is also a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians, a group representing ER doctors. Some doctors say they get into arguments with patients who demand prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, the unproven drug championed by Trump. At some hospitals, people have arrived asking for a doctors note so they do not have to wear a mask at work because they believe it will harm their oxygen levels, another online rumour. Now the numbers have picked way back up again, and I feel a lot has to do with things on social media, like this isnt a big deal, and we dont have to take all these steps, said Dr. David Welsh, a surgeon in Indiana who has treated coronavirus patients, referring to a recent infection surge in his area. Online platforms like Facebook and YouTube, which is owned by Google, have introduced policies to limit coronavirus misinformation and elevate information from trusted sources like the World Health Organization. This month, Facebook and Twitter removed a post by Trumps reelection campaign that falsely claimed that children do not get coronavirus. We have been aggressive in both removing harmful false claims and directing people to authoritative information, Facebook said in a statement. The company, which held a call with doctors in June to hear their concerns, said it had removed more than 7 million pieces of virus misinformation and added warning labels to millions more. YouTube said it was committed to providing timely and helpful information around COVID-19 and had removed more than 200,000 dangerous or misleading videos. But untrue information continues to spread. Last month, a video from a group of people calling themselves Americas Frontline Doctors was viewed millions of times. It shared misleading claims about the virus, including that hydroxychloroquine is an effective coronavirus treatment and that masks do not slow the spread of the virus. The scale of the problem led last month to a British parliamentary report that added to calls in the country for tougher laws against the largest social media platforms, like Facebook and YouTube. Dr. Ryan Stanton, an emergency room physician in Kentucky, said a number of sick patients had waited until it was nearly too late to visit a hospital because they were convinced by what they had read online that COVID-19 was fake or no big deal. They thought it was just a ploy, a sham, a conspiracy, Stanton recalled. It just blew my mind that you can put these blinders on and ignore the facts. Thomas Knowles, a paramedic in Britain, said a person in June refused to be admitted after reading that hospitals would make his condition worse. The incident so troubled Knowles that he went searching social media for virus-related misinformation, where he encountered false claims like doctors taking peoples blood for research and then leaving them to die. Ive never personally encountered such a strong, consistent and so clearly co-ordinated from somewhere collective of people so entrenched in their false beliefs, Knowles said. Some doctors in cities like New York said the volume of patients believing misinformation had declined as the disease swept their area. But, they said, it remained a troubling trend. Dr. Parinda Warikarn, who works at Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York, said the patient who had ingested bleach after seeing the bogus treatment on YouTube came into the hospital with severe abdominal pain. He clearly really believed that he was going to prevent COVID, she said. Luckily, his wife and two young children didnt take this solution. A growing fear is that vaccine conspiracy theories could undermine eventual vaccination efforts, said Dr. John Wright from the Bradford Institute for Health Research in England. Social media brings many great things, but it also provides a platform to sow the seeds of doubt, and thats what has happened, he said. Wright recalled that Congolese immigrants believed a social media rumour that COVID-19 was a government trick to deport them, and that others, from the Indian community, cited posts about doctors intentionally infecting patients. A nurse at the hospital complained to Facebook about people posting names and pictures of health workers accusing them of leaving patients to die. Mell, the physician in Illinois, encounters regular abuse from Facebook users when he has pushed back on false information. But he believes the effort is necessary to keep falsehoods from spreading. Doctors have to continue to speak the truth as loudly as we can, he said. People need to hear it. Five former Congress MLAs formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the capital on Wednesday in the presence of chief minister Biren Singh and national general secretary Ram Madhav and national vice president Jay Panda. A sixth MLA could not be present for the induction. Earlier this month the Biren Singh government sailed through a trust vote after proving its majority with a comfortable margin of 28-16 during a special assembly session held on August 10. These six are among the eight Congress MLAs who defied the party whip and skipped the trust vote. Also read: Extend my warmest welcome, says Manipur CM after former Congress MLAs join BJP They submitted their resignation from the assembly on August 11 and announced their exit from the party. Their resignation were accepted by the Speaker. Henry Okram, nephew of former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ibobi Singh, Panonam Broken, Oinam Lukhoi Singh, Ngamthang Haokip, Ginsuanhau Zou were inducted into the BJP fold at an event in BJP office today. Congress, which had won a total of 28 seats to emerge as the single largest party in the 60-member Manipur house after the 2017 polls, has seen a dozen-odd members exit the party fold to join the BJP. Facebook and its top lobbying executive in India, Ankhi Das, are facing questions internally from employees over how political content is regulated in its biggest market, according to sources with direct knowledge and internal posts seen by Reuters. The world's largest social network is battling a public-relations and political crisis in India after the Wall Street Journal reported that Das opposed applying the company's hate-speech rules to a politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party who had in posts called Muslims traitors. In the United States and around the world, Facebook employees are raising questions about whether adequate procedures and content regulation practices were being followed by the India team, sources familiar with discussions told Reuters. An open letter written to Facebook's leadership by 11 employees on one internal platform, and seen by Reuters, demands company leaders acknowledge and denounce "anti-Muslim bigotry" and ensure more policy consistency. The letter also demanded that Facebook's "policy team in India (and elsewhere) includes diverse representation". "It is hard not to feel frustrated and saddened by the incidents reported ... We know we're not alone in this. Employees across the company are expressing similar sentiment," said the letter. "The Muslim community at Facebook would like to hear from Facebook leadership on our asks." Facebook and Das did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook has been under fire in recent years for its lax approach to fake news content, state-backed disinformation campaigns and violent content spread via its platforms. Also Read | Facebook denies allegations after hashtag 'Anti-IndiaFacebook' dominates Twitter The WSJ article said Das had told staff that applying hate-speech rules to politicians close to Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) "would damage the company's business prospects in the country." Following the report, in response to Reuters queries on the matter, Facebook said it prohibits hate speech that incites violence and enforces policies without regard to political position or party affiliation. "While we know there is more to do, we're making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits," said the company, which has more than 300 million users in India. One of the sources said Facebook's India leadership will have to answer tough questions on what really happened, "There will be scrutiny on what really went down." A second source familiar with the reactions said Facebook employees were discussing whether there should be strict separation between government relations and content policy teams, and there is "an internal debate happening about the (content moderation) processes." After the article, Facebook India head Ajit Mohan defended Das, whose title is Director, Public Policy, India, South & Central Asia, and the company's policies in an internal community post, also seen by Reuters. The WSJ "article does not reflect the person I know or the extraordinarily complex issues we face everyday that benefits from Ankhi and the Public Policy team's expertise," Mohan wrote. Also Read | The Facebook hate speech fiasco: All about the political controversy brewing in India Mohan also wrote the company is "confident that the article's claim that political affiliations influence decision making in India is inaccurate and without merit." A spokesman for the WSJ did not respond to a request for comment. India's opposition Congress Party has called for a parliamentary probe into Facebook, while BJP lawmakers in turn have accused Facebook of censoring nationalist voices. Das, 49, is considered among India's most influential corporate lobbying executives and has been central to Facebook's rise in India since joining the company in 2011. "She has created a niche for herself (in India)," said a person who has worked closely with Das on policy issues. One former Facebook executive in Asia and a former Indian government official described Das as very sharp and politically connected. A second former employee said Das has always been outspoken about issues in the company. Das hasn't commented on the controversy, but her sister Rashmi, who has publicly acknowledged her own ties to a student wing close to the BJP, told the India Today TV on Tuesday, "we sisters are made of very stern stuff." "I'm sure Ankhi will handle it very competently," she said. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has approved more than $475 million of a $651 million spending bill passed in late July by the Navajo Nation Council. The money was allocated from the federal CARES Act and is intended to help the Navajo government address the COVID-19 pandemic. But Nez line-item vetoed more than $175 million in projects from the councils plan. In an Aug. 16 letter to Council Speaker Seth Damon, Nez said some projects could not be completed by the year-end deadline. We are ready to work collectively and swiftly with the Navajo Nation Council to adjust some projects to bring more help to Navajo communities while providing a broader range of services, Nez wrote. Nez struck $15 million in telecommunication projects and $34.1 million in solar projects from the plan. The Navajo president also vetoed $23.9 million for solid waste projects, $48.8 million for payroll, $33.4 million in housing projects and $20 million for CARES Act administrative compliance. Nez left $130 million for water projects intact. More than 30% of Navajo homes lack running water, according to a report from the U.S. Water Alliance and DigDeep. In weeks of council discussions about spending the federal aid, delegates said a massive investment in water infrastructure would help stop the spread of COVID-19. These water projects represent some of the most immediate and most dire needs of the Navajo people, Speaker Damon said. The Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources will receive more than $87 million, and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will receive $18.6 million. Nearly $21 million will fund cisterns, septic tanks and plumbing systems. A Tohajiilee-Albuquerque Water Supply Line gets $2 million from the legislation. The Whitehorse Lake-Sand Springs pipeline will receive about $937,000. More than $75.8 million will be allocated for the Navajo Department of Health, and $9.6 million is for the Judicial Branch to implement COVID-19 safety measures. Also approved in the final legislation is money for power lines, internet and solar projects. About $24.6 million will go to the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise. Navajo-owned casinos have been closed since March. The Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development will receive $60 million to help businesses recover. The Navajo government has about $176.4 million remaining from the CARES Act. The reservation has moved into an orange phase of restrictions as COVID-19 cases continue to decline. On Monday, the Navajo Nation reported 12 new virus cases and no new deaths. Instagram celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before a High Court in Lagos State, for his unlawful re-arrest and detention. In the suit filed by his lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole, on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Mompha urged the court to award N5m against the EFCC for detaining him beyond the constitutionally-allowed period without being charged to court. KanyiDaily had reported that Mompha, who is answering N32bn fraud charges, was re-arrested last Friday when he went to the EFCC office in Ikoyi, Lagos to retrieve items seized from him by the anti-graft agency since last year. The visit followed a July 24 ruling by Justice Mohammed Liman ordering the release of the seized items on the grounds that the EFCC did not list them as exhibits in court. In the suit on Tuesday, Mompha prayed the court to declare that his re-arrest and detention by the EFCC was unjustifiable and unlawful. He is equally urging the court to declare that the continued seizure of the items violated his right to own property under Section 44 of the Constitution. He is praying the court to order the EFCC not only to free him but also to give him back the seized items and pay him N5m damages. A litigation officer in the office of his lawyer, Kayode Adeboye, contended that Momphas arrest was baseless because he had been granted bail by the court and he never absconded. But the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Dele Oyewale said Momphas re-arrest was connected to a fresh set of cyber fraud charges. She began by describing the silences that Americans have come to know during the coronavirus pandemic. The silence of an empty classroom that should be filled with students. The silence of a hospital room after a ventilator has been turned off. Then she turned to resilience, a theme of Mr. Bidens life and of his campaign message. She spoke about meeting Mr. Biden after his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident, and about not knowing how to make a broken family whole. She spoke, too, in wrenching detail, about the couples grief after Mr. Bidens son Beau died of brain cancer. Four days after Beaus funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit, Dr. Biden said. I saw him steel himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. Thats just who he is. And she drew a parallel between making a broken family whole and making a nation whole after a devastating pandemic and an economic collapse: You show up for each other, in big ways and small ones, again and again, she said. There are those who want to tell us that our country is hopelessly divided, that our differences are irreconcilable, she said, coming back neatly to the theme that dominated the night a return to normality and to what the Biden campaign has long presented as a bygone era of bipartisanship. But thats not what Ive seen over these months. Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statewide emergency proclamation on Wednesday because of multiple wildfires in Central and Eastern Washington, as well as the Olympic Peninsula. Wildfires are threatening the safety and livelihoods of Washingtonians all across the state, Inslee said in a news release. And the COVID-19 pandemic has put additional strain on our resources, as some of our usual support is further limited due to international movement restrictions. The National Interagency Fire Center said Wednesday that 17 large wildfires are currently burning in Washington and Oregon. Firefighting resources throughout Washington have been spread thin and that has been compounded by extreme high temperatures and dry weather, as well as the increase of visitors to Washington wilderness areas, Inslee said. The proclamation makes the Washington National Guard available statewide in response to a request from the state Department of Natural Resources to help protect homes, public facilities and utilities, businesses, agriculture and natural resources. We are so grateful to our partners at the National Guard who are answering the call and joining us on the fire lines, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said in the news release. We train with them prior to wildfire season and know the skill and abilities they bring to the wildfire emergency facing so many communities right now. The order remains in effect through Sept. 30. --The Associated Press As of now, Tathagata Roy has not been given any other post, although he has expressed his desire to return to active politics in West Bengal Veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy's tenure as the Governor of Meghalaya came to an end of Tuesday with former Goa governor Satya Pal Malik set to replace him. As of now, Roy has not been given any other post, although he has expressed his desire to return to active politics in West Bengal. According to news agency PTI, Roy has said that he is willing to accept any role the party entrusts him with. The 74-year-old former West Bengal BJP president, however, evaded a direct reply when asked whether he would like to be the face of the party in the state Assembly polls due next year, saying "It is for the party leadership to decide". "My tenure as Governor ended in May. I am still here just because of the COVID-19 situation. Once my tenure ends and I go back to Kolkata, I would like to return to active politics and take up any role the BJP offers to me," Roy told PTI. "If my party decides that I am a fit candidate for the post of chief minister, obviously, I shall consider it, Roy told The Indian Express over the phone. Roy said that he had informed the party leadership long back that he wants to return to active politics. "I don't know why everybody is talking about it now," he said. As per The Print.in, a section of the Bengal BJP unit is in favour of Roy contesting the upcoming Assembly election, but he said that he would accept any role given by the party. The state is scheduled to go to Assembly elections in April or May next year. Roy was the state BJP president from 2002 to 2006 and a member of the party's national executive between 2002 and 2015. He was appointed as the governor of Tripura in May 2015 and later took over as the governor of Meghalaya in August 2018. The governor, who describes himself as a "Right-wing Hindu socio-political thinker, writer, ideologue" on his Twitter handle is known for posting provocative messages on social media. Here are some of his other controversially charged remarks. 'Boycott everything Kashmiri' Earlier this year, in February, Roy in a tweet asked for a blanket boycott of "everything Kashmiri". The tweet was in response to the 14 February attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that killed 42 jawans. Roy also asked people not to visit Kashmir or visit Amarnath for the next two years. The governor's comments come amid reports of threats being issued to Kashmiri people, especially students, in several parts of the country. An appeal from a retired colonel of the Indian Army: Dont visit Kashmir,dont go to Amarnath for the next 2 years. Dont buy articles from Kashmir emporia or Kashmiri tradesman who come every winter. Boycott everything Kashmiri. I am inclined to agree Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) February 19, 2019 Soon after stoking controversy with his tweet, Roy tried to clarify in a phone interview with a television channel that he was not advocating for a total economic shutdown of Kashmir. "I have not said boycott everything Kashmiri," Roy told News18, claiming that he had only quoted a "retired colonel of the Indian Army". He then went on to call an economic shutdown of Kashmir "collateral damage". 'Bengali boys sweep floors, girls dance in bars' In June, 2019, he triggered another storm by claiming that Bengali boys sweep the floors of houses across the country these days and "Bengali girls dance in Mumbai's bars." Wondering why a section of the people in West Bengal was opposed to learning Hindi, Roy, himself a Bengali, also said on Twitter that major parts of Bengal were separated from the state. Stressing on the need to learn Hindi, Roy said barring those who would not step outside West Bengal, everyone should learn Hindi as this was the language the people of the country, except in Tamil Nadu, more or less understood. "They should understand reality. Otherwise, they will have to suffer," the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said. A number of netizens criticised Roy claiming that he had insulted Bengali boys and girls, while many others supported his views. '26/11 attackers spared Muslims' On the tenth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, back in 2018, the then Meghalaya governor claimed that Muslims were not killed in the "Pakistan-sponsored slaughter of innocents". "10th Anniversary today of Paki-sponsored slaughter of innocents (except Muslims) at Mumbai, popularly called 26/11. Does anyone remember why we did not even downgrade our diplomatic relations with the Pakis (let alone break off such relations or go to war)?" he tweeted. Later, he deleted his tweet and said he was wrong on facts. "I was misinformed of the Paki-sponsored killers of 26/11 having spared Muslims. In fact, several Muslims were killed. It was a mistake of facts and I am sorry for the same. The relevant tweet has been deleted," he tweeted. He deleted the second tweet as well and then issued another apology. The tweet relating to 26/11 contained a factual mistake. It has been deleted with apologies. No further enquiries please Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) November 26, 2018 'Hindu-Muslim problem won't be solved without a civil war' In 2017, Roy tweeted a 1946 remark by Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who later founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, that "the Hindu-Muslim problem won't be solved without a civil war". This led to the then ruling CPM and the opposition Congress demanding his removal from as the state governor. Syama Prasad Mookerjee wrote in his diary on 10/1/1946: "The Hindu-Muslim problem won't b solved without a Civil War". So much like Lincoln! Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) June 18, 2017 'Wrap them in pigskin, bury them face down in pig excreta' In January 2016, Roy had suggested that the bodies of the terrorists killed in the Pathankot attack be wrapped in pigskin. "I seriously suggest Russian treatment to terrorists' carcasses. Wrap them in pigskin, bury them face down in pig excreta. No chance of Houris," he had said on Twitter. 'Fight against intolerance will only be balanced when Muslims have pork in the open' In November 2015, Roy in an interview with The Economic Times had said, "People have the right to eat what they want but the scales would be even when Muslims come out and have pork in the open. And that day, we can really call it a war against intolerance." On being asked what he thought about the emergence of a 'secular Grand Alliance' in Bihar, Roy gave a vague answer and said that he does not accept the definition of the word 'secular'. 'People who attended Yakub Menon's funeral are potential terrorists' In July 2015, Roy described people who had attended 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's funeral as "potential terrorists" and said, "they ought to be kept under surveillance". After facing criticism for his remarks, Roy had said, I stand by what I have said on Twitter. All those who went to attend Yakub Memons funeral, other than his family members, close relatives, and friends, are definitely prima facie suspects. There must be some potential threat elements in these people. They ought to be kept under surveillance. If Hindus of West Bengal did not reject secularism, they would be annihilated' In April 2015, Roy had said that if Hindus of West Bengal did not reject secularism and polarise, they would be "annihilated". Hindus of West Bengal: either chuck yr 'secular','politically correct' values and polarise. Or prepare to be either annihilated or converted Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) April 23, 2015 'Glad you appreciate what Hindus did in Gujarat in 2002' In 2015, commenting on the fighting back nature of Hindus, Roy tweeted, One exception was Gujarat, 2002. Im glad you appreciate what the Hindus did then. @tani_sana One exception was Gujarat,2002. I'm glad you appreciate what the Hindus did then @AdityaRajKaul Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) March 23, 2015 'Love Jihad' Back in August 2014, Roy had congratulated UP BJP for bringing up the infamous 'Love Jihad' issue and had even suggested that the issue be taken up in West Bengal. Congrats UP BJP fr bringing issue of Love Jihad to the fore. We in West Bengal must perhaps do the same to save hapless gullible Hindu girls Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) August 24, 2014 With inputs from PTI In April, police fired tear gas and arrested 23 people in an Egyptian village after protesters attempted to prevent the burial of a 64-year-old doctor A Mansoura criminal court handed down jail terms on Wednesday to 42 people who attempted to prevent the burial of a doctor killed by the coronavirus in April out of fear the burial would allow the virus to spread. The court sentenced 23 defendants to one year and two others to three years. It also sentenced 17 other defendants in absentia to 10 years in prison. The sentence is not final and can still be appealed. In April, police fired tear gas and arrested 23 people in Shobra El-Bahw village in Daqahliya after protesters attempted to prevent the burial of the 64-year-old doctor. A video shared on social media in April showed authorities firing tear gas to disperse protesters in the village. The incident was not the first to see people opposing the burial of coronavirus victims over the misconception that this would allow the virus to spread. The burials of coronavirus victims are often being held in secret in Egypt under police supervision with the attendance of only close family members. Egypts Dar Al-Ifta the authority in charge of issuing religious edicts said it is not religiously permitted to prevent burials. The Islamic religious authority has deemed that those killed by the coronavirus are deemed martyrs due their pain and suffering and has forbid the harassment of those infected with the virus. Search Keywords: Short link: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has cited the Supreme Courts decision to uphold a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput to claim vindication of his governments stance which led to a confrontation with the Maharashtra government. Kumar also said that the courts decision also shows that Mumbai Polices handling of the case including alleged non-cooperation with Bihar Polices parallel investigation into Sushants death was wrong. He also stressed that the court battle over jurisdiction was not about politics but justice for the budding actor, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances at his Bandra flat in Mumbai on June 14. These things are not about politics, they are about justice. We are focused on providing justice. What was said was not right. Probe will speed up now. Today it was proved that we abided by law in the steps we took, Nitish Kumar was quoted by news agency ANI as saying. Nitish government had transferred to CBI, a case registered with Bihar Police by Sushants family living in Patna against his former girlfriend Rhea Chakarborty, accusing her of mentally harassing the actor, diverting large funds from his account, confinement and abetting his death by suicide among other charges. Several leaders in the Maharashtra government said Nitish Kumar governments move to transfer the case to CBI was political in nature keeping in mind the pending Bihar assembly elections. The Maharashtra government had also been opposing a parallel probe into Sushants death by the Bihar Police. Responding after the SC verdict the Bihar chief minister said that the verdict demonstrated that the alleged attempts by Mumbai Police to block a probe by Bihar Police in the case-- before it was transferred to the CBI-- was wrong. It was the duty of Bihar Police to probe after a complaint, but they didnt get cooperation in Mumbai. Behaviour meted out to our IPS officer is known to all. With the SC verdict, its clear what happened wasnt right. Any political comment in this situation isnt right, Kumar was quoted as saying by ANI. Suggesting that politics should be kept out of the investigations, Nitish added that the entire country was concerned about Rajputs mysterious death and the CBI probe offered assurances of justice. Supreme Court verdict makes it clear that the probe by Bihar Police and the FIR registered here were correct. Not just Sushant Singh Rajputs family or people of Bihar, the entire country is concerned over the matter. With a CBI probe, people can trust therell be justice, Nitish Kumar said. Also Read: CBI probe in Sushant Singh Rajputs case: Parth Pawar tweets, Satyamev Jayate Leaders of Maharashtras Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) coalition that runs the government in the state also insisted that the Supreme Courts decision should not be viewed from the prism of politics. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who has been very vocal in his opposition to demands for a CBI probe into Sushants death earlier said that it is not right for him to make any political comment on the order. He insisted that no one is above the law in Maharashtra and the justice system in the state is fair to all. He was talking to the news agency. The BJP, however, has taken a broad swipe at the Maharashtra government saying the hidden hands interfering in the Mumbai polices investigation in Rajputs death will be exposed now that the case is with the CBI. Also Read: Hidden hands will be exposed: BJP after SC order on Sushant Rajput case There are several theories doing the rounds about Sushants death including one claiming he was murdered and another suggesting he was driven to suicide by big cliques in Bollywood that do not let outsiders flourish in an industry that is run like a family affair by few big production houses. Suggestions have also been made about involvement of a young influential Mumbai politician in the case. However, Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who is also the son of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, has denied having anything to do with the case. DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade a directive to propose a liquified natural gas (LNG) power project being developed by a consortium led by Energy Capital Vietnam (ECV) for inclusion into the National Power Development Plan of Vietnam. According to an official announcement from the Government Office of Vietnam dated August 13, 2020 (No. 293/TB-VPCP), the Prime Minister issued a directive to add ECV's Mui Ke Ga LNG project (MKG) to the National Power Development Plan period 2021-2030 during a meeting with Binh Thuan provincial leaders on July 23, 2020. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is charged with submitting the updated plan to the Prime Minister in October 2020. ECV's LNG project will provide for the development of a multi-phase gas-fired power complex and Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) terminal near Mui Ke Ga in Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam. ECV, a leading Vietnam-focused project development and asset management company established to serve as a platform for private investment into Vietnam, has been in discussions with the Vietnamese government regarding energy sector investment and privatization opportunities to help address its critical energy security needs since 2015. Phase I of the MKG project is targeting Final Investment Decision (FID) in late 2021 and Commercial Operational Delivery (COD) by 2025, and will consume approximately 1.5 million tons per year (mtpa) with an ability to increase to 7 mpta over time. "Our multi-year relationship with the Vietnamese government has positioned ECV to pioneer private sector development of the LNG market in Vietnam," said David Lewis, ECV Chairman and CEO. "The World Bank projects Vietnam to require up to 90,000 megawatts of new power generation over the next decade, and we look forward to working with our talented American, European and Asian partners to address those needs in the years to come." ECV is working with Exelon America's leading clean energy company for development and operations expertise for the power plant. This news was first reported by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) official Electronic Industry and Commerce Newspaper. For more information about ECV, please visit www.ecvholdings.com. SOURCE Energy Capital Vietnam Related Links https://www.ecvholdings.com/ YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, ARMENPRESS. The new Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Abbas Zohouri, as part of a trip to the Aras Free Economic Zone, visited the Norduz checkpoint the border crossing point into Armenia from Iran, the FEZs press service said. As Irans gateway to the Eurasian market, the Norduz border has an important role for the countrys exports and attraction of foreign currency and creates conditions for the daily growing presence of Iranian products in Eurasian and CIS markets, the ambassador said during a meeting with the head of the Jolfa County and other local officials. Ambassador Zohouri said the border crossing point is a favorable condition for the Jolfa County and the Aras FEZ, and affirmed the importance of attracting investments and planning and developing cooperation. The Meghri-Norduz border crossing point is the only land border between Armenia and Iran. There are Free Economic Zones operating on both sides, and the development of cooperation in these zones and the checkpoint is in the agenda of discussions. Reporting by Hrachya Hakobyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Press Release 19 August 2020 Aimbridge Hospitality, the leading, global, third-party hotel management company with more than 1,400 branded and independent properties across 49 states and 20 countries, is continuing to expand with new additions to its portfolio across all verticals. Advertisements Since March 2020, Aimbridge Hospitality has added more than 40 properties with over 5,000 guest rooms to its portfolio in addition to over 30 properties in the pipeline as of August 15, 2020. CEO Dave Johnson said, "We are excited about our robust portfolio growth and look forward to a continued positive trajectory." The new additions to Aimbridge's managed portfolio represent the full range of hospitality verticals. Highlights include the full service Hilton Boston Downtown Faneuil Hall, extended stay Hyatt Place and Hyatt House dual brand property in Chicago, a unique conversion of the historic Cook County Hospital, destination resort The Murieta Inn & Spa with luxury style, and the select service Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam-North Riverside, The Netherlands - the largest Holiday Inn Express in Europe. Aimbridge Hospitality, which merged with Interstate Hotels & Resorts in late 2019, has worked tirelessly to create new procedures and initiatives to confront the challenges the year has presented, including cost containment measures, mutually beneficial brand partnerships, new strategies to drive revenue, and the formation of a nonprofit entity, Aimbridge Aid, aimed at providing financial assistance to its employees. "The growth to our portfolio reflects the benefits of Aimbridge's scale to owners and our operating acumen across all of the verticals," added Aimbridge's Global President Mike Deitemeyer. By Akbar Mammadov The Azerbaijani media has revealed that over 400 tonnes of military cargo have been transported from Russia to Armenia through the air spaces of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. According to the reports, the military cargo was transported to Armenia during and after the military provocation committed by Armenia in the direction of Tovuz district of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border last month. The reports revealed that nine flights were made from Russia to Armenia since last month. Two of these flights were made in the midst of the clashes on July 17. One flight per day was made on 18, 20, 27, 29 July and 4 August, while two flights were made on August 6. Day.az reported that on 11 August morning, a Russian IL-76TD flew in a roundabout way - along the route Rostov - Minvody - Aktau-Turkmenbashi - Nowsher - Rasht - Meghri - Yerevan. The Il-76TD covered more than 2,000 km of distance in 210 minutes. The Russian military aircraft was driven by Russian pilots who returned to Russia after completing their task. Day.az reminded that there is not a single IL-76TD in the Armenian Air Force - there are only two old IL-76MS, donated by Russia to Armenia in 2004 under the agreement on the collective security of the CIS countries. It should be noted that in line with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the supply of weapons and military equipment to Armenia should not only be strictly regulated but also be transparent, of which principles and conditions were grossly violated by Russia. According to the report, such transport of military cargo is aimed at concealing the fact of secret deliveries of weapons and military equipment from Russia to Armenia. The reported said that Azerbaijan has already notified the authorities and the appropriate structures of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, through whose territory the plane with a deadly cargo flew. Georgia has already suspended the transportation of weapons to Armenia through its territory. Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev phoned Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to voice his concerns over the transportation of military cargo from Russia to Armenia. The president noted that immediately after the military clash on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, over 400 tonnes military cargo was transported from Russia to Armenia using the airspace of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. In his interview with Trend News Agency, Azerbaijani MP Hikmat Babaoghlu said that Russia has been arming Armenia for a long time. Noting that this has always been the case throughout the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Babaoghlu added that after the military-political provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on July 12-16, 2020, it becomes clear that Russia continues to provide weapons to Armenia. This is unacceptable. Arming the occupying country by Russia is, above all, contrary to the international law. Secondly, it is not in line with its mission as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and thirdly, it is not in line with the country's historical-political and moral responsibility in our region. Arming Armenia amounts to supporting its occupation of Azerbaijani lands. Moreover, it is an attempt to legitimize the status quo in the region and to ignore the national interests of Azerbaijan, the MP stressed. The MP emphasized that if the Minsk Group fails to fulfill its mission, then other members of the Minsk Group should assume the co-chairing mission. The most suitable country for this role is Turkey, which has a historical, political and moral responsibility in the region, Babaoghlu said. In the meantime, the former American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza told Trend News Agency that by supplying military equipment to Armenia, Russia is losing its credibility as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Russia's support for one side of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is completely unacceptable. If Russia continues to act in this way, it will lose credibility as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, in other words, as an objective, impartial and fair mediator. Thus, it calls into question the viability of the OSCE Minsk Group." At the same time, Bryza condemned Armenia because of its destructive position in the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. A year ago, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a constructive meeting, however; everything changed a few months later when Pashinyan abandoned all the basic principles and declared that Karabakh is Armenia and everything had to be restarted. With such a position of Armenia, no one can be a mediator for the settlement. Another MP Arzu Naghiyev stressed in an interview with REAL TV that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are also indifferent to their work, therefore it is important to change its composition. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz (Newser) Joseph Gordon-Levitt is back, baby. And back from the babies, to be precise. The actor has been out of sight since his last movie release in 2016 as he took three years off to be a father to his two young sons, born in 2015 and 2017. "I just felt really lucky I got to do that," Gordon-Levitt tells James Corden in an appearance on the Late Late Show, expressing his wish that the US government offered paid paternity leave as in countries like Canada, Sweden, and Japan. Fathers and secondary care givers in the US can only take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, per Mashable. Gordon-Levitt returns to the screen in three movies this year, including Netflix's Project Power, just released. He also appears in Dads, a documentary celebrating fatherhood from Bryce Dallas Howard, per US Weekly. (Read more Joseph Gordon-Levitt stories.) "Now that Column 8s focus has shifted to cultural idiosyncrasies in the English language, Im reminded of the day many years ago when my then 9-year-old daughter wandered into a drugstore whilst holidaying in Los Angeles and inquired about purchasing some rubbers for her collection," writes Robyn Priestley of Killara. "After gasping and giggles from the staff, it emerged that they didnt actually stock erasers." John Kouvelis of Neutral Bay advises to "never sit down to the excellent Line of Duty (C8) without opening the glossary tab on the UK Metropolitan Police website". Granny had a peep and looks forward to the episode where the plucky Arnott and Fleming investigate a possible CBSS (College Based Sandwich Student). Still on the Met (coppers, not opera), Tim Robilliard of Tamworth says: "Watching a recent episode of Vera on ABC TV, we were amused by an actor sniffing the milk while making Vera a cup of tea (it was more obvious with subtitles "sniffs"). I'd be interested to know if it was in the script or if it was an unscripted subconscious action by the actor. Having grown up with home-delivered milk and school milk in the 1950s, I could understand it being the latter." "Want to know how fast you're walking? A place near me is giving away timing devices. A sign at the entrance says: 'Stop watch for pedestrians," says George Manojlovic of Mangerton. We're giving in to temptation and publishing this item from Barbara Rogers of Freshwater: "We are told to be thankful for small mercies, so good news in a letter from my bank. They apologise that an error was made in calculating interest, and an adjustment of four cents has been credited to my account." Former Glee star Dianna Agron has split from her British Mumford and Sons rocker husband Winston Marshall after almost four years of marriage. While the couple are yet to confirm the news, multiple sources told Us Weekly that Dianna, 34, and Winston, 32, have gone their separate ways. A source told the site that they have been living separately since last year and that Dianna is dating once again. All over: Glee star Dianna Agron has reportedly split from her British Mumford And Sons husband Winston Marshall after almost four years of marriage (pictured in 2015) And the bride wore Valentino... Dianna and Winston (right) pictured on their wedding day in Morocco in 2016, with friend Jordan Brown, left The notoriously private couple tied the knot at the Beldi Country Club in Morocco in 2016, following a whirlwind romance and lived in New York. Dianna famously spent $20,500 on her brown embellished Valentino wedding gown which was hot off the runway. The groom wore an embroidered jacket and silk turban, with a white unbuttoned shirt. Riding on camels in traditional style, the pair spared no expense on their lavish ceremony. Actress Carey Mulligan, 35, who is married to Winston's bandmate Marcus Mumford, 33, was in attendance and the entire event lasted three days. All over: The couple tied the knot in Morocco in 2016, following a whirlwind romance which saw them dating for a few months, before getting engaged (pictured in 2015) A source told US Weekly at the time: '[Winston] is so thoughtful and flies her family everywhere they go and to see them whenever she wants. He is also so good to her friends.' The couple were first rumoured to be dating back in 2015 when Dianna was pictured holding hands with Winston when she joined his band on tour in Paris. Before marrying Winston, Dianna dated fellow actors Alex Pettyfer, Sebastian Stan and Thomas Cocquerel. Winston is rumoured to have dated Katy Perry just before she got together with Orlando Bloom. Lavish: The bride and groom rode on camels during their nuptials From the runway to the aisle: Fashion lovers spotted that the gown was one shown during Valentino's Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2016/2017 show MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Dianna and Winston for further comment. Dianna, who played Quinn Fabray in Glee, has had a lot to deal with of late following the shock death of her onscreen best friend Naya Rivera. The actress drowned in Lake Piru just outside of Los Angeles last month. Rivera drowned to death 'in minutes,' according to her death certificate which was released a fortnight ago. The certificate also revealed that the Glee star was buried in July at the famous Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. Big love: Dianna and Winston got engaged after just a few months of dating (pictured in 2018) Splashing out: Dianna famously spent $20,500 on her Valentino wedding gown but Dianna has never released any pictures of their big day, (pictured in 2015) Since her role in Glee, Dianna has appeared in numerous other roles, including her self-titled cabaret show with songs by female-fronted acts of the 1960s-70s. Dianna released two movies in 2017: The Crash and Novitiate. Her acting resume also includes roles in CSI: NY, Veronica Mars and Heroes. Winston's band Mumford & Sons have released four studio albums since forming in 2007. Their first one, Sigh No More (2009) peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Babel (2012) and Wilder Mind (2015) and Delta (2018) all debuted at number one in both countries. Close: (L-R) The late Naya Rivera, Dianna and Heather Morris in a Glee promo shot taken in 2009 Most people live busy lifestyles, which often gets in the way of trying to eat healthy, Harrington states in the video. Many turn to protein bars, not realizing theyre typically loaded with chemicals. Thats why Im so excited to tell you about Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bars made with all-natural ingredients, theyre healthy and convenient for the whole family! As the inventor of the infomercial and founder of As Seen on TV, Kevin Harrington has launched some of the best-selling DRTV campaigns in history. Since producing his first thirty-minute infomercial in 1984, Harrington has been involved in over 500 product launches that have resulted in over $5 billion in global sales. Created by a doctor with over two decades of experience treating patients, Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bars are completely gluten-free, corn-free, and soy-free, with non-GMO ingredients, Harrington reveals. Available in a variety of delicious flavors, theyre packed with plant or whey protein, high in fiber, and they taste great, Kevin exclaims. Each ingredient was hand picked for its nutritional value. With Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bars, you get what you need and nothing that you don't, Harrington explains in the video. Nutritious and satisfying, they can be a fantastic meal replacement or a delicious snack! Harringtons testimonial video about Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bar is scheduled for release across social media platforms, digital channels, and streaming services as well as http://www.DrJensNutrition.com and http://www.khbrandresponse.tv. About Shark Discoveries "Headquartered in South Florida, Shark Discoveries is a full-service production, branding, and marketing company that specializes in brand response television, including Celebrity Influencer Videos, and brand building. Based out of a 25,000+ sq ft, state-of-the-art studio, the companys creative team handles every aspect of production from script to screen to airing." About Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bar Dr. Jen's Ultimate Protein Bars are made with all-natural Ingredients. All-natural means it contains no artificial additives, flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners, while typically remaining non-processed. They are foods in their natural state, and do not contain additives and chemicals. Instead, they contain healthy nutrients that your body needs for optimal health. For more information about Dr. Jens Ultimate Protein Bar, visit http://www.DrJensNutrition.com. I've driven thousands of kilometres throughout the country this staycation summer - north, south, east and west. Let me say, I have been enraptured by parts of this island we call home. I value it now more than ever. Yes, it rained sometimes and everywhere the darkness of the virus crisis loomed large. But my overriding memories are joyful. Except for a couple that concerned me from a motoring perspective. The first was the state of some secondary roads. If they were in the Dublin, there would be uproar. I think there has been a gradual - but steady -deterioration of surface condition on many roads. Yes, some were remote if you are talking from a city perspective but they were in, near or en route to popular destinations in west Cork, Mayo, Offaly. Some looked, and felt, like they hadn't been touched for a long time. I'd be discouraged if I had to use them every day. I know upkeep is costly and those responsible have to prioritise but surely roads are an investment in getting tourists (home-grown and foreign) to areas of interest? Several were terribly uneven and raw. I don't think you can make excuses for them being like that. Investment is badly needed by our new Government. Combined with that, I was a bit shocked by the volume of larger vehicles using some truly narrow roads - especially lorries. I take my hat off to the drivers. I would find it daunting to have to negotiate those twisty, narrow routes. I found myself fearfully pulling over or slowing to a crawl many times, such was the proximity to the big vehicles and my fear of a collision. The fact is that I (and many of us) have become accustomed to motorways and B-road national routes with near-flawless surfaces. The reality is different for many, who have to endure second-rate roads all year round - despite paying as much tax as the privileged rest of us. * Skoda's first electric SUV is making its world premiere on September 1 next. I've already driven and reviewed pre-production, disguised models of the ENYAQ iV here. Which means a lot of attention will be focused on the design when the car is formally unveiled. They are saying the front is the most dramatic visual aspect. We'll wait and see but they have teased us with a concept preview (above). The 5-seater electric crossover is expected to arrive here in February or March next. However, that depends on how Covid-19 affects production and supply. The new car slots between the current Karoq and the larger Kodiaq SUVs. Prices similar to the Kodiaq family have been mentioned. Expand Close Toyota Proace City / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Toyota Proace City * The Proace City, Toyota's latest commercial range, has gone on sale here. Prices for the van (above) start from 15,038 ex-VAT. There are two wheelbase lengths and two individual front seats. Diesel powertrains, from 75hp to 100hp, power the range and there is a 5spd manual transmission. BILLINGS, Mont. - A former oil industry attorney will continue calling the shots for a government agency that oversees nearly a quarter-billion public acres in the U.S. West, despite the White House saying over the weekend that President Donald Trump would withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley. Pendleys continued rein at the Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management comes under an unusual arrangement that Pendley himself set up months ago, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. In May, as a temporary authorization for him to lead the agency was about to expire, Pendley signed an order that makes his deputy director position the bureaus default leader while the directors post is vacant, the document shows. Details of the succession plan prompted Democrats on Tuesday to renew their calls for the Pendleys removal. Thats baloney. Thats not how it works, Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said in an interview. You dont want the deputy director of policy and programs being able to dictate whos in charge of the (bureau.) Its too important an agency. Pendley is a longtime industry attorney and property rights advocate from Wyoming who prior to taking office called for the government to sell its public lands. A senior administration official said Saturday that Pendleys name was being withdrawn as Trumps nominee for unspecified reasons. It wont be official until the Senate returns to session. His nomination had set the stage for Senate confirmation hearings that were sure to be contentious. That created a political headache for Republican senators such as Montanas Steve Daines and Colorados Cory Gardner, who have been seeking to burnish their appeal to conservation voters as they face strong challengers in the November election. Conservation groups have been running ads in recent days urging Daines to oppose Pendley. Interior Department spokesman Conner Swanson confirmed that the arrangement outlined in Pendleys order means he will continue to lead the bureau. The order has no specified end date. Whether another nominee will be named is up to the White House, Swanson added. Agency officials declined AP requests for an interview with Pendley and to provide records of his actions while filling the leadership position on a supposedly temporary basis since summer 2019. The May 22 order from Pendley, which was also signed by Interior Department Assistant Secretary Casey Hammond, had specified such records were to be kept. Pendleys tenure already has far outlasted the 210 days that an official can serve in an acting position under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, according to a federal lawsuit filed last month by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat who is seeking to unseat Daines. Trump administration officials contend Bullocks lawsuit is frivolous, arguing that Pendley was never officially named acting director but rather that he is exercising the delegated authority of the director. Critics say the administration is falling back on semantics and legal slight of hand to obscure Pendleys influence over an agency that oversees oil and gas drilling, grazing and other activities on vast areas in the U.S. West. Bullock attorney Raph Graybill say Pendleys May memo confirms, without a doubt, what we already know: William Perry Pendley runs the Bureau of Land Management and continues to do so in violation of the United States Constitution and federal law. A second lawsuit from conservation advocates seeking to oust Pendley is pending. Pendley in the past has criticized environmentalists as extremists and expressed support for Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose family has engaged in armed standoffs with federal agents. After joining the government, he declared that his past support for selling public lands was irrelevant because his boss, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, opposes the wholesale sale of public lands. Pendley also had to recuse himself from work involving dozens of former clients following conflict of interest allegations. They ranged from farming and mining organizations, to an energy company seeking to drill on land adjacent to Glacier National Park. The Trump administration has moved to scale back protections for public lands, including easing restrictions on oil and gas exploration, mining and grazing. Pendley is doing their bidding, said Jayson ONeill with the Western Values Project, an advocacy group opposed to Pendleys leadership of the bureau. He worked in the private sector doing their bidding and now he gets to turn that to a position in which he has authority to do things much faster and also avoid the limelight and accountability that a Senate hearing would bring. ___ Follow Matthew Brown on twitter: @matthewbrownap Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 16:20 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f28e5f 1 Business trade-surplus,fitch-solutions,current-account-deficit,bank-indonesia,Q2,imports Free Indonesias current account deficit (CAD) narrowed in the second quarter of the year as import demand fell and foreign ownership of government bonds declined, Bank Indonesia (BI) announced on Tuesday. The CAD narrowed in the second quarter to US$2.9 billion, down from 1.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter to 1.2 percent of GDP in quarter two. Southeast Asias biggest economy also recorded a $9.2 billion balance of payments (BOP) surplus in the second quarter, whereas it had recorded a $8.5 billion BOP deficit in the first quarter. The narrowing CAD was driven by a trade surplus as a result of declining imports amid weakening domestic consumption and decreasing yield payments to foreign investors, with the domestic economy contracting in the second quarter, the central bank said in a statement. Indonesias total imports fell $9.7 billion year-on-year in April-June to $31.74 billion to book a trade surplus of $2.88 billion in the second quarter, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data. Meanwhile, foreign investors reduced their holdings of domestic financial instruments, including government bonds, in quarter two. The Finance Ministry recorded a fall in foreign ownership of sovereign debt papers from 39 percent at the beginning of the year to 29.6 percent in July, which also reduced dividend payments to foreign investors. BI also noted that the service trade deficit increased slightly due to a significant drop in foreign tourist arrivals as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions and a decline in remittances from Indonesias migrant workers. Meanwhile, the central bank said that portfolio capital inflows were restored in the second quarter with $10.5 billion in portfolio investment and foreign direct investment, following significant outflows in March when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. In contrast, the country recorded a $3 billion deficit in its financial and capital accounts in January-March. Government and corporate issuance of global bonds, as well as purchases of sovereign debt papers, had contributed to restoring inflows in the second quarter. Capital inflows were driven by increasing global liquidity, the attractive yields of domestic instruments and sustained investor confidence in the Indonesian economy, the central bank said. Separately, Bank Mandiri chief economist Andry Asmoro said: Going forward, we see import growth will remain weaker than export growth due to the halt in some domestic investment and production activities amid the uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic." This may maintain a surplus in the trade balance and will hence result in a shrinking CAD, which in turn will support the balance of payments and ultimately foreign reserves, he added, saying that he estimated the annual CAD to be at around 1.49 percent of GDP. Similarly, Fitch Solutions also forecast that Indonesias CAD would amount to 1.5 percent of GDP this year, down from its initial projection of 1.9 percent of GDP. Import demand in Indonesia is likely to continue suffering due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has hit the domestic economy significantly, said a research note dated Aug. 18 from Fitch Solutions country risk and industry research. Service exports are projected to collapse by at least 25 percent this year due to the closure of Indonesia's tourist industry. Fitch Solutions said that Indonesia remained well placed from a funding perspective, despite its less sanguine view on investment inflows. It also said it was "likely that investors sentiment will remain weak throughout the year and as such, much of the funding of the current account deficit will be dependent on the countrys ability to furnish its foreign exchange reserves". Indonesia has posted a trade surplus in the second quarter of 2020, primarily due to a decline in import demand. The verdict has come amid the ongoing tussle over the jurisdictional issue between the Maharashtra and Bihar police. Patna: The Supreme Court verdict allowing the CBI to probe the death case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput has raised the political temperature in Bihar. After the verdict was announced on Wednesday, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in a tweet said, Action taken by Bihar police and the state governments decision to hand over the case to CBI has been termed as correct by the Supreme Court. Few people tried to give political colour to the whole issue but the state government saw it as a matter related to justice only. I am confident that after the verdict CBI will begin a probe soon, he added. The apex courts verdict in the Sushant Singh Rajput case has come amid the ongoing tussle over the jurisdictional issue between the Maharashtra and Bihar police. The state government had recommended CBI probe into the case after Sushant Singh Rajputs father filed an FIR against actress Rhea Chakraborty, her family and six others for abetment of suicide and fraud. Supreme Court order transferring the case to the CBI has raised hopes for getting justice for Sushant Singh Rajput. The order vindicates the Bihar police stand that it was acting as per the law and constitution," Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said. Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi also welcomed the court's verdict. He tweeted, "We welcome the decision of Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe in Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed by Bihar police. Our stand vindicated". RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, however, created a flutter in the political circles by claiming that it was his party which demanded a CBI probe into the case. While talking to reporters, he said that the state government had acted after they demanded a probe into the case. "We can now hope for justice for Sushant Singh Rajputs family," he added. Political experts are of the view that different parties could use the issue as an agenda during the Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year. The issue had snowballed into political controversy last month after a Bihar cadre IPS officer who was sent to supervise the investigation was forcibly placed under home quarantine in Mumbai by BMC authorities. While referring to Rhea Chakraborty's statement on Chief Nitish Kumar, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said, "She has no stature to comment on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It is due to the Chief Minister's support there is hope for justice in Sushant Singh Rajput's case". Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Increasing popularity of innovative and non-toxic tableware products. The growth can be attributed to the increasing pollution caused by the widespread use and disposal of plastic. Governments are also taking initiatives to minimize the use of plastic tableware. For instance, the Indian government has replaced plastic cutlery, teacups, and water bottles with steel and biodegradable products in all government offices. The UK government is also planning to ban plastic cutlery and plates to reduce the impact on the environment. Biodegradable Tableware Industry is projected to reach USD 990.6 Million by 2025 at a CAGR of 5.98% between 2019 and 2025. Get a FREE Sample Copy of Report: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8629 Growth Opportunities in the Market Expanding foodservice industry: The foodservice industry has witnessed substantial growth over the last few years, especially in emerging economies. The demand for takeaway food has been increasing in developing nations due to the preference by the youth. The busy lifestyles of consumers have led to the popularity of convenience and takeaway food. For example, Chinas foodservice industry was valued at USD 583 billion in 2017. The demand for online food delivery has also been rising. According to MRFR analysis, the sales of online food delivery services was valued at USD 39 billion in 2018 and the market is expected to register a growth rate of 16% over the next decade. Several fast-food chains such as KFC and Starbucks have increased the number of outlets in India. Online food delivery service providers are also expanding their presence in the country. These factors are expected to drive the demand for biodegradable tableware as an environment-friendly alternative to plastic. The foodservice industry has witnessed substantial growth over the last few years, especially in emerging economies. The demand for takeaway food has been increasing in developing nations due to the preference by the youth. The busy lifestyles of consumers have led to the popularity of convenience and takeaway food. For example, Chinas foodservice industry was valued at USD 583 billion in 2017. The demand for online food delivery has also been rising. According to MRFR analysis, the sales of online food delivery services was valued at USD 39 billion in 2018 and the market is expected to register a growth rate of 16% over the next decade. Several fast-food chains such as KFC and Starbucks have increased the number of outlets in India. Online food delivery service providers are also expanding their presence in the country. These factors are expected to drive the demand for biodegradable tableware as an environment-friendly alternative to plastic. Product Innovation: The key manufacturers of biodegradable tableware are continuously launching products to stay competitive and meet the changing requirements of consumers. For instance, in July 2019, Huhtamaki Oyj launched a new biodegradable double-wall cup for hot beverages made from paperboard that is certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification with a plant-based lining which is certified biodegradable. The product is manufactured in the UK and available only for European consumers. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/biodegradable-tableware-market-8629 Key Players Huhtamaki Oyj (Finland) Dart Container Corporation (US) Georgia-Pacific LLC (US) Lollicup USA Inc. (US) Solia, Inc. (US) Natural Tableware (Netherlands) Reynolds Consumer Products LLC (US) Pactiv LLC (US) Eco Guardian (Canada) Genpak, LLC (US) Biotrem (Poland) Better Earth LLC (US) Vegware (UK) Papstar GmbH (Germany) Bionatic GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) Read our Blogs @ http://mrfrblog.com/ Read more reports at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/categories Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/infographics Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details. Toyota Vietnam's plant in Phuc Yen, Vinh Phuc (Photo: VNA) Hanoi The northern province of Vinh Phuc has been a destination of choice for investors, both domestic and foreign, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives from the provinces Department of Planning and Investment said factors that help draw investors to the locality include the availability of clean infrastructure, convenient transport and reasonable land lease prices. As of the end of June 2020, Vinh Phuc was home to 392 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with total registered capital of 5.57 billion USD, according to statistics of the department. The projects were run by investors from 18 countries and territories. The Republic of Korea has the most projects with 210, followed by Japan, China and Thailand. Many global groups have made their presence in Vinh Phuc, such as Toyota, Honda, Sumitomo from Japan, Piaggio from Italy, De Heus from the Netherlands, Daewoo, Haesung Vina, Partron Vina, Cammsys from the Republic of Korea, Prime Group from Thailand and Weldex from the US. The province has also attracted 782 domestic direct investment (DDI) with total investment surpassing 93.7 trillion VND (around 4 billion USD at current exchange rate). Several major Vietnamese corporations have chosen Vinh Phuc for their investment, such as FLC, Vingroup, SunGroup, and Viet Duc Steel. The flow of investment capital, both FDI and DDI, into the province in the first six months of this year decreased as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Total FDI capital in the period stood at 135.6 million USD, equivalent to only 32.1 percent of the figure in the same period last year. The money was poured into 14 new projects and 19 existing ones. Meanwhile, DDI capital attraction in the period came to 2.67 trillion VND, equivalent to 51.5 percent of the figure in the same period of 2019. The capital was pumped into 24 new projects and 9 existing ones. Officials from the Department of Planning and Investment said the provincial authorities will continue to push forward with administrative reform, focusing on streamlining administrative procedures to reduce time and costs for enterprises. Vinh Phuc will promote the application of information technology (IT) in administrative procedures with the goal of creating the best possible environment for production and business, thus enhancing the attraction of FDI and investment from society. At the same time, attention will be paid to removing difficulties and obstacles faced by businesses in various fields, from business registration to business conditions, customs clearance and taxation. During the period of social distancing to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, agencies in Vinh Phuc still maintained their connections with investors through many channels, providing them with consultations and latest information. The province has also intensified online investment promotion activities, so as to attract investors after the pandemic is put under control. Vinh Phuc has designated 18 industrial parks with total area of 5,228 ha in a master plan to 2020 approved by the Prime Minister. By now nine industrial parks have received investment certificates. Industrial parks in Vinh Phuc have good technical infrastructure and professional management, thus contributing to attracting investors to the province. They reported an average occupancy rate of nearly 62 percent. Thanks to the provinces endeavours to complete infrastructure in industrial parks and a transport system connecting them, as well as efforts to improve the business environment and reform administrative procedures, Vinh Phuc has become more popular among foreign investors. The province reported total industrial production value of 11 trillion VND in the first six months of this year, down 9 percent year on year, which it attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The output of most main products declines, such as automobile down 24.8 percent, motorbike 14.4 percent, and electronic parts 7.7 percent. Southeast Asian economies are experiencing a decline in growth at an unprecedented rate. The COVID-19 pandemic is considered the main cause pushing the economy of the region, which has seen dynamic growth for many decades, into trouble. Consecutive bad news about the economic slowdown has been announced by governments of Southeast Asian countries in recent days. The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) of Thailand said on August 17 that the economic growth rate of the country has dropped its most since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Accordingly, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Thailand has decreased by 12.2% compared to last year. NESDC also forecasts that Thailand's economic growth in 2020 will decline by 7.3% to 7.8% compared with the previous forecast of a 5% to 6% decrease. The unemployment rate is 1.95% and there are about 1.8 million workers at risk of losing their jobs. The Central Bank of Malaysia has just said that Malaysias GDP decreased by 17.1% compared to the same period last year. This is the deepest decline since the Asian financial crisis. Malaysia's GDP is forecast to decline by 4% to 6% this year. Meanwhile, restrictive measures have created demand and supply shocks as global border controls have impacted heavily on the tourism sector. Previously, other major economies in the region such as Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines also received negative statistics on economic growth. The economic picture of Singapore became gloomier when the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that the countrys GDP in the second quarter of 2020 was -13.2%. It is forecasted that the GDP growth of the whole year 2020 of the Lion City will be between -7% and -5%. In Indonesia, the countrys statistics agency said that the Indonesian economy declined by 5.3% in the second quarter of 2020. This is the first time the largest economy in Southeast Asia has declined since the first quarter of 1999. Meanwhile, in the second quarter of this year, the economic growth of the Philippines also dropped by 16.5% over the same period in 2019. Other Southeast Asian economies such as Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar also experienced a decline in growth and face many difficulties, in the context that key sectors such as tourism, aviation and exports have stalled while financial and social security pressure has increased. According to a report released by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, as of July, 2020, over 3,100 businesses operating in the tourism industry had to close, resulting in more than 110,000 workers losing their jobs. Cambodia is expected to take seven years to revive its tourism industry. Meanwhile, in Laos, macro-balance challenges are on the rise and economic growth is weaker due to the impact of the pandemic on both manufacturing and tourism. In addition to the negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, some Southeast Asian economies also face many other economic difficulties such as weak infrastructure and logistics, reducing the competitiveness of the economy with export activities are under pressure due to the appreciation of local currencies. In addition, the regional and international environment is not favourable for the development of Southeast Asian economies as the psychology of anti-globalisation and supporting protectionism has increased; and regional security, instability and climate change have also negatively impacted the economic growth of the region. Southeast Asia is known as a dynamically developing region, a bright spot in the world economic picture and has contributed significantly to global economic growth for many years. Therefore, the sharp decline in the growth rate of these dynamic economies shows that the global economy is facing extremely serious challenges. The above-mentioned worrying statistics show that the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on regional economies has lasted longer than previously forecasted. It is essential that in the coming time, Southeast Asian economies must further strengthen their linkages as well as devise a more long-term joint plan in the war to realise the dual goal of controlling the epidemic and combating the economic depression. Kanye West raises concerns with TikTok, asks app to consider Christian version suitable for kids Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Newly outspoken Christian Kanye West urged the social media app TikTok to consider making a Christian version of their technology that is suitable for children. The billionaire fashion designer, rapper and 2020 presidential hopeful took to Twitter to share that he had a vision about a faith and family-friendly version of the Chinese company TikTok. A vision just came to me... Jesus Tok, West Tweeted. I was watching TikTok with my daughter and as a Christian father I was disturbed by a lot of the content but I completely loved the technology. Launched in 2017, TikTok is a popular video-sharing app owned by ByteDance. The technology consists of people making short comedy or talent videos, some of which involve lip-syncing. West continued his Twitter pitch saying, We pray we can collaborate with TikTok to make a Christian monitored version that feels safe for young children and the world, in Jesus name, amen. Other parents have shared the emcees sentiment in calling for safer content for children. A viral video that has since been deleted from the platform showed a drag performer suggestively dancing in front of a young girl. President Donald Trump recently slammed TikTok for other concerns. Last month, he told reporters that he is working toward banning the foreign-owned video app. He made the comments while on an Air Force One flight headed back to Washington from Florida. As far as TikTok is concerned were banning them from the United States, Trump told reporters, according to NBC News. Trump reportedly calling the action a severance. Well, I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order or that, he said. A TikTok spokesperson responded, stating that the app has created jobs across the U.S. and is committed to user privacy. TikTok US user data is stored in the US, with strict controls on employee access, the spokesperson said in a statement. TikToks biggest investors come from the US. We are committed to protecting our users privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform. Advertisement Kenneth Branagh is back as the legendary mustached detective Hercule Poirot to suss out an all-new killer from a crop of famous faces traveling down the Nile. Gal Gadot, Leticia Wright and Armie Hammer co-star in first trailer for Death on the Nile, the star-studded upcoming adaptation of an Agatha Christie mystery, which dropped Wednesday. The film serves as the sequel to 2017's hit Murder on the Orient Express which once again teams up Branagh, 59, as star and director with screenwriter Michael Green. Whodunit? Kenneth Branagh is back as the legendary Detective Hercule Poirot to suss out an all-new killer from a crop of famous famous in the first trailer for Death on the Nile, which dropped on Wednesday Set on a glamorous river cruise down the Nile, Detective Poirot's luxurious holiday becomes a murder investigation when someone on the boat turns up dead. 'The romance of the desert has the power to seduce,' Poirot begins in a voiceover over picturesque snaps of the world famous Egyptian pyramids. He asks: 'Have you ever loved so much, been so possessed by jealousy, that you might kill?' For the Agatha Christie sequel, Branagh appears to have given his stalwart detective a bit of a make-under. All-star: Gal Gadot leads a star-studded cast including Leticia Wright and Armie Hammer in the thrilling murder mystery Mystery: Set on a glamorous river cruise down the Nile, Detective Poirot's luxurious holiday becomes a murder investigation when someone on the boat turns up dead 'The romance of the desert has the power to seduce,' Poirot begins in a voiceover over picturesque snaps of the world famous Egyptian pyramids and the Nile river All time great: The upcoming murder mystery is based on Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, one of 66 titles written by the author. She is the best selling fiction writer of all time Poirot's legendary mustache has been significantly toned down for Death on the Nile, a contrast to the over-the-top bushy grooming from Murder on the Orient Express. The upcoming murder mystery is based on Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, one of 66 titles written by the author. She is the best selling fiction writer of all time. The thrilling whodunit sees a relationship turn into a jealous love triangle, turn into betrayal and finally, a murder. And, everyone is a suspect. Cleaned up! Poirot's legendary mustache has been significantly toned down for Death on the Nile (right), a contrast to the over-the-top bushy grooming from Murder on the Orient Express (left) Branagh brought together an all-star ensemble cast with Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, and Russell Brand. The group of characters-turned-suspects is made up of both employees on the river steamer as well as travelers and they all seem to have a motive to kill. The trailer sees holiday makers enjoying the stunning vistas off the boat deck, drinking, dancing and partying until a piercing scream changes everything. 'Have you ever loved so much, been so possessed by jealousy, that you might kill?' Pointing fingers: The thrilling whodunit sees a relationship turn into a jealous love triangle, turn into betrayal and finally, a murder Death: When a young heiress turns up dead on the boat, Poirot sees everyone as a potential suspects and one of them will be unmasked as the killer by the film's end Seductive:In this film still, the movie's 1920's 'Jazz Age' aesthetic can be seen used to full effect for a dance sequence Comedy juggernauts: Legendary UK comics Jennifer Saunders [L] and Dawn French [R] also appear in the film When a young heiress turns up dead on the boat, Poirot sees everyone as a potential suspects and one of them will be unmasked as the killer by the film's end. In his signature Poirot style, the detective brings everyone together in one room and systematically weaves the story of the murder and the murderer. 'The crime is murder, the murderer is one of you,' Branagh's mustached Poirot tells the room of suspects. Star power: Branagh brought together an all-star ensemble cast with Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, and Russell Brand Behind the scenes: The film will have an authentic vibe as it was shot on location in Egypt Everything changes: Drinking, dancing and partying on the cruise gives way to a murder investigation in Death on the Nile Death on the Nile is the second in Branagh's adaptations of Christie's novels and has his sights set on creating a film franchise based on the iconic mystery writers 66 works. This is not the first adaptation of the book, however, an earlier 1978 version was equally star-studded seeing Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury and Maggie Smith in key roles. Death on the Nile is expected out this fall and earlier in the pandemic, Branagh had said that he had his sights set on a theater opening. Talented! Branagh not only stars in the film but also directs - as he did in Murder on the Orient express Way back when: This is not the first adaptation of the book, however, an earlier 1978 version starred Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury and Maggie Smith 'The studio have seen the film and are very very supportive of it. We are very excited by it,' Kenneth told EW in May. Adding: 'We are continuing to fly the flag for the big screen experience. We're prone to the challenges of social distancing and isolation (but) so far so good.' The film is set to be released October 23, 2020. Coming soon: Death on the Nile is set to be released October 23, 2020 Hieroglyphs: Annette Bening and Tom Bateman seen here in one of the film's Egyptian locales French aid workers among eight killed by gunmen in Niger The burnt-out vehicle of eight people, including French aid workers, that was attacked by unidentified gunmen in southwest Niger Gunmen on motorcycles killed eight people including a group of French aid workers as they visited a part of Niger popular with tourists for its wildlife, officials said. "There are eight dead: two Nigeriens including a guide and a driver, while the other six are French," the governor of the Tillaberi region told AFP on Sunday. France confirmed its nationals were among the dead, without giving a figure. French aid group ACTED said several of its workers were among those killed during a tourist outing. "Among the eight people killed in Niger, several were Acted employees," said the NGO's lawyer Joseph Breham. It is believed to be the first such attack on Westerners in the area, a popular tourist attraction in the former French colony thanks to its unique population of West African or Niger giraffes. "We are managing the situation, we will give more information later," governor Tidjani Ibrahim Katiella said, without indicating who was behind the attack. A source close to Niger's environmental services said the assault took place at around 11:30 am (1030 GMT) six kilometres (four miles) east of the town of Koure, which is an hour's drive from the capital Niamey. "Most of the victims were shot... We found a magazine emptied of its cartridges at the scene," the source told AFP. One woman managed to escape but was later caught and killed, the source added. "We do not know the identity of the attackers but they came on motorcycles through the bush and waited for the arrival" of the group. The source said the victims' vehicle belonged to ACTED, which was later confirmed by Niger's home ministry. - 'Barbaric act' - The source also described the scene of the attack, where bodies were laid side-by-side next to a torched vehicle, which had bullet holes in its rear window. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke on the phone with his Niger counterpart Mahamadou Issoufou. Story continues Both leaders condemned the "cowardly" attack. In Paris, a spokesman for the French army said France's Barkhane force, which fights jihadists in the Sahel region, had provided support to Niger's forces. An AFP reporter at the scene confirmed that French fighter jets flew overhead later Sunday as Niger's army searched the vast wooded area. Forensic police were collecting samples ahead of the bodies being moved before night fell, the reporter added. Neighbouring Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita meanwhile strongly condemned the "barbaric act". He lamented that "violent extremism" was still rife in the Sahel region "despite the merciless war waged by national armies, the G5 Sahel joint forces and the Barkhane force". - 'Not considered dangerous' - Around 20 years ago, a small herd of West African giraffes, a subspecies distinguished by its lighter colour, found a safe haven from poachers and predators in the Koure area. Today they number in their hundreds and are a key tourist attraction, enjoying the protection of local people and conservation groups. "We all go to Koure on weekend outings because it's very easy to access," a Western humanitarian source based in Niamey told AFP. "Everyone goes there, even ambassadors, diplomats, teachers... it is not considered a dangerous zone at all. There are NGOs protecting giraffes there." However, the Tillaberi region is in a hugely unstable location, near the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso. The region has become a hideout for Sahel jihadist groups such as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). The use of motorcycles has been totally banned since January in an attempt to curb the movements of such jihadists. Numerous Europeans have been abducted or killed in the volatile region. Two young Frenchmen, Antoine De Leocour and Vincent Delory, were killed after being kidnapped by jihadists from a restaurant in Niamey in 2011. bh-ck/dl/pvh/rma/axn The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) has given the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) an award for outstanding performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission, saddled with the responsibility of protecting consumers and ensuring their wellbeing, exercised its power more during the pandemic. According to a statement by the commission, the award, tagged Extra Mike Award was received by its chief executive officer, Babatunde Irukera, and signed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, in Abuja. Extra Mile Award is presented to Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for outstanding performance as a member of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Committee on Sustainable Production/Delivery of Essential Commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the certificate read. The Permanent Secretary, FMITI, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, in a letter to FCCPC, signed on behalf of the minister, said the FCCPCs exemplary dedication, commitment and loyalty in the service of our fatherland will remain indelible. Efforts since the pandemic Barely 24 hours after Nigeria recorded its first case of coronavirus, protective apparels like face masks, hand gloves, hand sanitizers became scarce as suppliers and retailers hoarded the items to be sold at higher prices. The commission railed against the exploitation in a release at the time, citing the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) that prohibits obnoxious trade practices, or the unscrupulous exploitation of consumers. Considering the circumstances and the vital national interest/security this illegal conduct undermines, the commission intends to strongly enforce the full letter of the law, including the fullest extent of penalties associated with this conduct, it said. Also, in March, Jumia Nigeria delisted 390 products belonging to 168 sellers of hand sanitisers and face masks from its online platform. This was after the FCCPC warned that sellers who engaged in price gouging and arbitrary increases in prices of protective and hygiene products would be prosecuted. In June, FCCPC arraigned four major pharmacies and supermarkets at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for allegedly taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country to increase the prices of key hygiene products, contrary to law. In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, FCCPC sealed Med Contour cosmetic surgery clinic in Lagos, following an open investigation, on reasonable suspicion of illegal activities, and in an abundance of caution and consumer safety, pending further inquiry. Later, the plastic surgeon in charge of the clinic, Anu Adepoju, was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos, in July, on criminal charges for alleged failure to appear and provide information relevant to FCCPCs investigation. The commission also set up a COVID-19 response team and created a dedicated platform through which it received information and complaints or intelligence. The commission busted a number of companies in the course of its surveillance and enforcement operations, including FarEast Mercantile Company and Apples and Pears Ltd, in whose warehouses it uncovered large quantities of expired products. As part of its continuing oversight and in response to multiple social media posts about what appeared to be excessive and imprudent pricing of potentially vital medication, Hydroxychloroquine, that is perceived or presented as efficacious therapy in addressing COVID-19, FCCPC conducted simultaneous on-site investigations on Ebus and Avis Pharmacy, both in Port-Harcourt, multiple locations of Health Plus Limited in Lagos and Abuja, Tonia Pharmacy, H-Medix, and New Health pharmacies, all in Abuja on August 4, 2020. In some of the targets of the investigation, which is ongoing, FCCPC discovered what appeared to be inconsistent pricing of Hydroxychloroquine and other products that are considered relevant to managing COVID-19, with most being sold at margins between 66% and 89%. In the period under review, the Commission also prioritized key competition and consumer protection issues related to and arising from the pandemic, particularly prevalent complaints, which included failed electronic banking transactions and associated delays in restoration, reconciliation or resolution, slow speed internet connectivity, as well as arbitrary and inexplicable charges for data and restricted access or delayed signal release after payment for payTV services. The commission said it has received thousands of consumer complaints in the aforementioned areas, which it continues to resolve since February. The commissions mandate to promote competition was not ignored in its COVID-19 response, as it created room for merger review, advisories, or investigations. For merger review, FCCPC undertook to accept remote filing and electronic notifications where there is a possibility of imminent failure of the business of a merging party. Other grounds propounded by the commission for merger review during the period include where there is a host jurisdiction other than Nigeria, or situations where there are time limitations, but requiring notification and determination by the FCCPC prior to the conclusion of the underlying transaction, and other sensitive situations. This achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of each one of our employees, and our exceptional clients who place their trust in us GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Solutions for Healthcare Providers and Payers, announced today that it has been named to the Inc. 5000s 2020 list of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the country. This is the twelfth consecutive year the California-based firm has been included in the ranking, published by Inc. magazine. The complete list can be found at https://www.inc.com/inc5000/2020 As an Inc. 5000 honoree, GeBBS shares a pedigree with Microsoft, Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Patagonia and other notable alumni. The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 to 2019. Even in these very difficult times, we continue to add new customers and achieve great results said Nitin Thakor, Chairman and CEO of GeBBS Healthcare Solutions. This achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of each one of our employees, and our exceptional clients who place their trust in us. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list shows staggering growth compared with prior lists as well. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent, and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years. About GeBBS GeBBS Healthcare Solutions is a KLAS rated leading provider of Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) services and Risk Adjustment solutions. GeBBS innovative technology, combined with over 9,500-strong global workforce, helps clients improve financial performance, adhere to compliance, and enhance the patient experience. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, GeBBS has won numerous accolades for its medical coding outsourcing and medical billing outsourcing, including being ranked in Modern Healthcares Top 20 Largest RCM Firms, Black Book Market Researchs Top 20 RCM Outsourcing Services, and Inc. 5000s fastest growing private companies in the U.S. For more information, please visit http://www.gebbs.com. For more information, press only: Contact Tyler Cowart at GeBBS Healthcare Solutions Phone: 310-953-4444 ext. 214 Email: tyler.cowart@gebbs.com About Inc. 5000 The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com. The new design allows not only to reduce the cost of experiments, but also increases the power of vanadium batteries In 2020 China plans to launch the largest battery complex in the world with a capacity of 800 MW*h (approximately this amount of energy per year is consumed by a household with 200 apartments). This complex is based not on the usual lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries, but on the redox flow battery where the electricity is stored in the form of chemical energy of solutions - electrolytes. Battery consists of two tanks in which electrolytes are stored and membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) - solutions are supplied to MEA by pumps where they undergo electrochemical reactions which provide charging and discharging of the battery. Due to this setup, redox flow batteries, unlike many other energy storage devices, enable independent scaling of power and capacity of the battery, which are determined by the size of MEA and electrolyte volume, respectively. In addition, redox flow batteries exhibit minimal self-discharge over extended periods and their electrolytes do not degrade even after tens of thousands of operating cycles, making them promising candidates for storing large amounts of energy in the smart power grids. For example, they can store excess electricity generated by photovoltaic solar cells during daylight and generate back-up electricity at night or in cloudy weather. "Flow batteries are being actively integrated into the power grids of China, Germany and other countries, on one hand, and on the other hand, are continued to be developed and refined in laboratories", comments one of the authors of the work, researcher at the NTI Competence Center at IPCP RAS, Dmitry Konev. "We have proposed a completely new design of MEA, which will facilitate the research process and greatly reduce entrance threshold for new research groups into this area. In the future, this will help to achieve significant progress and will bring distributed energy resources from niche positioning to very high level of commercialization, including in Russia". Sandwich with laser filling The MEA is the heart of the flow battery. It looks like a sandwich of different sheets materials, divided into two symmetrical parts supplied with its own electrolyte. When the battery is connected to a power supply, the one electrolyte is oxidized, while another is reducing and so the battery is charging. After that, the power source can be disconnected and replaced with energy consumer - the electrolytes will undergo reverse processes and the battery will begin to discharge. An important part of the MEA is the flow field plates, sandwich layers through which the electrolyte is pumped to the electrodes where the electrolytes are oxidized or reduced. The performance of the battery, i.e. power and efficiency, depend strongly on how well the flow fields are organized. Therefore, researchers often select different types of fields to optimize battery performance, but now this is a very labor-intensive task: flow fields are milled in dense graphite plates, which is time-consuming procedure. Russian researchers have proposed a different approach. "We form flow fields by using several thin layers of flexible graphite materials: the necessary patterns in them are cutted by a laser and then these layers are superimposed on each other to get the required field", says the first author of the work, researcher at Mendeleev Univeristy, Roman Pichugov. "The procedure to create flow fields takes only a few minutes, which is much less than traditional milling of graphite. Plus, cheaper materials are used, and as a result, there is more scope for variation and selection of flow fields." From cell to stack Flow batteries can operate with different types of electrolytes. The most common (including those that are installed in China and are being introduced in other countries) utilize vanadium electrolytes, namely solutions of vanadium salts. Exactly on this electrolyte Russian scientists tested their cell design. They sorted out various types of flow fields, varied the electrolyte flow rate and obtained results that on a qualitative level coincide with the best world studies and on a quantitative level even slightly surpass them: the power of tested MEA slightly exceeded the power of similar cells on graphite. Thus, the new design of MEA is greatly simplifying laboratory test and in the future can be used in real energy storage systems for distributed power grids. Now Russian scientists in collaboration with InEnergy LLC are developing and testing a vanadium flow battery composed of 10 such cells with a total power of 20 watts. The construction of the cell itself and the stack of 10 cells are protected by patents, the last of which belongs to ADARM company, created by the employees of MUCTR. In addition, scientists develop other types of flow batteries utilizing different electrolytes on the basis of the proposed design of MEA. ### Mendeleev University is a flagship university of the chemical industry in Russia, whose work is aimed not only at obtaining new knowledge, but also at introducing them into industry. The study was carried out by employees of the laboratory EMEE of the Mendeleev University, NTI Competence Center at IPCP RAS, IPCE RAS and Lomonosov Moscow State University. Article: R.D. Pichugov et al, Electrolyte Flow Field Variation: A Cell for Testing and Optimization of Membrane Electrode Assembly for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, ChemPlusChem, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202000519 Name of Taiwan's office in Somaliland significant: MOFA ROC Central News Agency 08/18/2020 04:33 PM Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) The newly opened Taiwan Representative Office in Somaliland is the only overseas office using the term "Taiwan," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday, describing it as a significant achievement diplomatically. Taiwan's de facto embassy in Somaliland formally opened Monday in Hargeisa after Taiwan and Somaliland signed an agreement in February to set up offices in each other's territory. Photos posted by the MOFA on its Facebook page late Monday showed that the formal name of the office is Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland. It is currently the only MOFA overseas office using the name "Taiwan" and this development is "very significant," MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou () said at a regular press briefing. The agreement to exchange offices with Somaliland was also signed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, meaning that foreign service officials from the two sides are entitled to all privileges and immunities provided by the international treaty, she said. Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China (ROC), only has 15 diplomatic allies around the world and has to maintain representative offices under different names to serve as its de facto embassies or consulates in other countries. In countries with which Taiwan has diplomatic ties, Taiwan has embassies, but in countries with which Taiwan does not have formal relations, its offices are usually called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office or Taipei Trade Office. Overseas offices that had "Republic of China" or "Taiwan" in their names were asked by their host countries to be renamed starting in 2017 under pressure from Beijing. The designations "Republic of China" or "Taiwan" were replaced by "Taipei," a name with fewer implications for sovereignty. The last MOFA overseas office which had "Taiwan" in its name was the Trade Mission of Taiwan to the Kingdom of Bahrain. However, the office was renamed the Taipei Trade Office in the Kingdom of Bahrain in July 2017. The last overseas office that still had "Republic of China" in its name, the Trade Mission of the Republic of China in Fiji, was also asked by the host country to rename it to the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji, which happened in July 2019. Despite MOFA's characterization of the development as significant, Somaliland is not recognized as a country by the international community, and it is unclear if this move will have any effect on the names of other Taiwan offices around the globe. Meanwhile, the MOFA would not object if China also established an office in Somaliland. "The Somaliland side has told us that its interactions with China will not affect Taiwan-Somaliland relations. Why? Because Taiwan and Somaliland share the same values such as democracy, freedom and human rights, which have precedence over money," Ou said. She was responding to a report in the Financial Times on July 1 that quoted Somaliland's deputy foreign minister Liban Yusuf Osman as saying the self-declared East African state also welcomed China to set up an office there if it wanted to. (By Emerson Lim) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address (Newser) Joe Biden is drawing on party elders at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, making the case that he and his party are uniquely positioned with experience and expertise to repair chaos that President Trump has created at home and abroad. He's also showing off younger Democrats the party hopes will be the political stars of tomorrow, the AP reports. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry are among the heavy hitters on a schedule that emphasizes a simple theme: Leadership matters. Former President Jimmy Carter, now 95 years old, will also make an appearance. On a night that Biden will formally earn his partys presidential nomination, the convention will also introduce his wife, Jill Biden, to the nation as the prospective first lady. story continues below The former vice president will become his party's nominee as a prerecorded roll call vote from delegates in all 50 states airs, and the four-day convention will culminate on Thursday when he accepts that nomination inside a mostly empty Delaware convention hall. On Tuesday, the convention will feature republicans for a second night. Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush, will endorse the Democratic candidate. Powell joins the widow of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, who was expected to stop short of a formal endorsement but talk about the mutual respect and friendship her husband and Biden shared. (Michelle Obama slammed President Trump in her closing speech on the convention's first night.) Top universities have called on the Government for additional funds to take on more students and for the cap on the number of pupils studying medicine to be lifted amid fears ministers face a 3billion bailout. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after ministers screeching u-turn on A-Level results means they now have improved grades. But top schools are struggling with the sheer volume of demand as the 55,000 who accepted a place at another university or bagged a new course at clearing are now abandon those decisions to try and get into their top choice. A number of universities, such as Cambridge, have already said that some students will have to defer until next year. The government previously urged universities to honour the offers they made to pupils, but Vice-Chancellors were last night in talks with ministers to secure additional funding to take on thousands of additional students. Meanwhile there are fears that students leaving lower-ranked institutions to go to their first choice could leave them vulnerable financially, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggesting this could cost 140million. They previously warned the loss of the university sector in total could run to as high as anywhere between 3billion and 19billion. In a further briefing note today the think tank warned that while leading universities would now be 'awash' with students, many lower-ranked universities risked losing a substantial share of their intake, which could be 'financially crippling'. Report authors Jack Britton and Ben Waltmann said: 'Lower-ranked universities could dip into the pool of potential students who got no offers or have not yet applied. 'These students will have much better grades than usual this year, and many might be interested in going to university given the exceptionally tough labour market. 'Attracting these students could help the lowest-ranked universities avoid large losses. It would also pose a new challenge, as many of these students could be underprepared for their courses, especially having missed out on the experience of actually sitting their A Level exams.' It comes as the government has been urged to take on more students at medical school, where places are highly-competitive and much of the cost of training doctors is met by the taxpayer. Top civil servant at Department for Education 'is facing axe' over series of school disasters By Claire Ellicot, Political Correspondent for the Daily Mail The top civil servant at the Department for Education could be in line for the sack after ministers raised concerns about a series of fiascos. Jonathan Slater has been permanent secretary at the department since 2016, serving under four education secretaries. However, his future is reportedly in question despite Government denials that he will be leaving his post. Ministers are said to be concerned about the recent failure to reopen schools before the summer, and exam grading. Should he leave, Mr Slater would be the fourth permanent secretary to vacate their post within seven months. Sir Philip Rutnam left the Home Office in January after sensationally accusing Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying. He also said he would take the Government to an employment tribunal. Sir Simon McDonald said in June that he was going to leave the Foreign Office in the autumn, and Sir Richard Heaton said earlier this summer he was standing down at the Ministry of Justice. Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was ousted earlier this year and is being given a 250,000 payout. He is due to step down in September, and his replacement has not yet been announced. Helen McNamara, who was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office before her promotion to de facto deputy cabinet secretary, is reportedly set to be transferred to a job as permanent secretary for a large Whitehall department. Advertisement Institutions are currently in a bind because the number of places at medical schools are capped by the government because of cost - the amount to train doctors exceeds the amount paid by undergraduates in fees - and there are restrictions on NHS work placements. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning told Sky News he acknowledged calls to increase student places and promised that the Government is working on the issue. A number of students who were planning to study medicine had their grades lowered by the standardised algorithm. The government has removed the cap for other subjects so universities can take on more students, but kept it in place for medicine and dentistry. The u-turn by under-pressure Education Secretary Gavin Williamson means students now have significantly improved grades and can try and get into the school of their choice. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC. The letter also said: 'The role of universities in training the medical workforce is essential for all regions and nations of the UK, as clearly shown by our members' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.' The Royal College of GPs and British Medical Association have also backed calls for more places for medics. But Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, said additional places would require more funding and support from the government. She said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. Universities UK has written a letter to Mr Williamson (pictured) to seek 'urgent assurances' that he is talking to the Department of Health about increasing the number of medical school places from the current number of 7,500, as reported by the BBC Letter asks for money The joint general secretaries of the National Education Union (NEU) have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to demand changes to exams in 2021 to ensure grades "properly recognise and reward". Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said the controversy around last week's A-level results "must never happen again" and urged the minister to prepare for new spikes in coronavirus that could lead to "further loss of schooling". In the letter, they said: "It is clear to the National Education Union that Government needs to make much bigger changes to next year's exams in order to build confidence that the grades awarded, upon which young people's life chances are determined, properly recognise and reward their achievements. "You should be working, now, to examine different possible scenarios and to develop contingency plans in case of further school and college closures." The NEU leaders said the Government should reduce the amount of content assessed in 2021's GCSE and A-level exams, work with teachers to develop a "robust" system for moderated centre-assessed grades and commission an independent review into the assessment methods for GCSEs and A-levels. They added: "The current over-reliance on end of course exams increases student anxiety and fails to give a fair reflection of what students can achieve. All options should be considered to ensure that young people are rewarded for their achievements, supported to fulfil their potential and not held back due to their background." Advertisement 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' The University and College Union (UCU) and National Union of Students (NUS) have also signed a joint letter to Mr Williamson. It warned the lifting of the student cap - which had aimed to prevent institutions from over-recruiting to make up for lost revenue as a result of Covid-19 - would 'remove one of the only interventions that the government has made to help mitigate the financial impact of the Covid crisis on universities'. The letter said: 'While it is still unclear exactly what the distribution of domestic students across higher education will be, it is widely anticipated that institutions will move as much as possible to honour their offers. 'This will likely lead to expanded recruitment at high-tariff institutions at the expense of lower-tariff universities, shifting the financial pain from the Covid crisis onto many of the institutions that play a vital role in widening participation and social mobility.' The letter added scrapping the cap did not 'address the practical barriers that prevent many institutions from recruiting higher numbers than they originally intended in order to honour their conditional offers - including staffing and physical capacity'. It comes after a report by the IFS released last month said that 13 universities were in dire financial straights and may require a bailout from the government. Today, the think-tank described the Government's handling of the A-level grades fiasco as a 'clear fail' which would have 'repercussions for universities and students' for years to come. 'A-level results should never have been released before being subject to scrutiny beyond Ofqual. The Government should not have had to rely on shocked 18-year-olds on results day to realise there was a problem,' the briefing note from the IFS said. Jack Britton, an associate director at the IFS, said: 'The Government's U-turn on A-level grades will cause further disruption for universities. Some will struggle with higher than expected numbers of students, while others may find it hard to fill their places. It came days after students had protested about an algorithm deciding what results were right British Medical Association backs lifting cap on medical school places Dr Helena McKeown, BMA representative body chair, and BMA lead for education, training and workforce, said: 'The BMA has long-campaigned for widening participation in medicine so that all those with the ability and desire to become doctors are given the opportunity to do so. The medical workforce needs to be far more reflective of the diverse patient population it serves, and following the U-turn by Government earlier this week, we have urged medical schools to review the applications of those who were earlier denied places due to the unfair grading process. 'The UK is vastly short of doctors so increasing the number of medics in training makes sense, however this must be followed up with support and funding for both the universities sector and the NHS further down the line. 'Extra students will require more clinical placements during medical school, more places in the foundation programme for new doctors, and ultimately the need to create more jobs when they fully qualify. 'We cannot afford to have new doctors finding themselves unemployed in five or 10 years' time.' Advertisement 'Had the Government been more transparent about their proposed mechanism for assigning grades, all this could have been avoided.' Labour's shadow universities minister Emma Hardy told Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that the government needs to offer support to the under-siege sector. She said: 'This is what I'm hearing from the sector at the moment that they are feeling very vulnerable in this situation. 'You have to remember this is not happening in isolation, the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) only recently said that there were thirteen institutions at risk of going bankrupt and we were calling on the government to say we need to stop any institution from going under. We need to offer them protection.' As of Tuesday morning, more than 11,000 students have had no decision made on their application and have an undefined status within the Clearing system by UCAS, while 20,000 students have already deferred, the highest number since 2011, reports The Telegraph. Durham University is offering bursaries and promising those who defer guaranteed college accommodation, in an attempt to persuade students to attend in 2021, as reported by The Guardian. It is not clear how much the bursary will be worth or if other universities will follow suit. Prof Richard Harvey, the academic director of admissions at the University of East Anglia, told The Guardian it had 185 medical places. And are now oversubscribed by around 50 students. He said: 'I have 1,500 emails in my inbox from angry people mostly medics all trying to work out what the hell they do now.' 'It's perfectly possible for ministers to convert an apology into something that's meaningful, but that means opening the cheque book and fixing the problem. Especially as we were all clapping carers not so long ago. Weren't we all meant to be supporting the NHS? Ofqual is accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' as probe into A-levels grading fiasco is launched Ofqual was accused of 'threatening to undermine public trust in statistics' last night as the first official probe into the grading fiasco was launched. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) launched an inquiry yesterday into the beleaguered exam body's algorithm the first in a series of humiliating investigations. It came as the Information Commissioner's Office hinted it may also probe whether the algorithm met data protection laws. In a statement, the ICO told the Mail: 'We understand how important A-levels results and other qualifications are to students across the country. When so much is at stake, it's especially important that their personal data is used fairly and transparently.' GDPR law says everyone has 'the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her'. Ed Humpherson, of the OSR, said in a letter it would 'conduct a review of the statistical models put in place', to be published in September. Hinting that other probes were likely, he said it would 'seek to minimise overlap between our review and others'. Former schools minister David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, said: 'We urgently need a fully independent review of what happened this year so that errors made are clearly understood and so that the right lessons are learned for the future.' Ofqual declined to comment. Advertisement The chair of the Royal College of GPs has also urged the Government to dramatically increase the number of undergraduate medical places to ensure doctors 'represent the communities they serve'. Dr Martin Marshall called on universities minister Michelle Donelan to urgently provide clarity on the ethnicity and socio-economic background of prospective medical students hit by the A-level fiasco. In an open letter, he said reports poorer communities were more likely to have been adversely affected by the system that saw this year's grades awarded by algorithm were 'deeply worrying'. Dr Marshall also warned despite Monday's U-turn, many will have lost their places on medical courses after universities started handing out spots based on students' original results. 'It is deeply worrying to hear that areas which are under-doctored and under-served by medical schools could also be more likely to have students whose results were downgraded and who may not now be able to secure a place to study medicine,' he said. He added: 'At the RCGP we are committed to ensuring that the medical profession is inclusive and representative; this includes the doctors of the future representing the communities they serve.' Prof Marshall finished: 'I'm sure that you will agree it will be essential for the future of the NHS that we have sufficient doctors to see our ever expanding and complex population of patients.' The RCGP estimates the UK needs 20% more undergraduate medical places to serve the growing population, and wants caps on student numbers lifted as well as extra funding for universities to help meet demand. It wants all students that meet the criteria to study medicine to be able to do so. Meanwhile Boris Johnson has been accused of having a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis has left the Government being 'laughed at'. He is expected to make 'minor' changes to his Cabinet after the summer recess before a full January 'reset' when the Brexit transition period has ended. Mr Johnson is refusing to sack his Education Secretary, who is desperately trying to cling onto his job after his humiliating A-levels climbdown. The Government has also faced criticism for its handling of the pandemic, including its botched NHS Test and Trace app and its excessive lockdown curbs. Mr Williamson's humiliating U-turn and effort to blame Ofqual for the exams fiasco is seen by a growing number of Tory MPs as one blunder too far. Boris Johnson is defying calls for an autumn reshuffle despite Tory backbench pressure to sack Gavin Williamson over his exams debacle. The PM has been accused of a 'lack of grip' after a series of mishaps during the coronavirus crisis have left the Government being 'laughed at' Universities could face legal action from A-level students if they have to defer a place for a year after receiving an offer, say lawyers Lawyers have warned that students could take legal action against universities if they have to defer for a year after receiving an offer. Thousands of students are scrambling to get places at their first choice university after a government U-turn means they can use their teacher assessed grades rather than the ones given to them by a standardised algorithm last Thursday. However a number of top universities, such as Cambridge, have already warned that they may not have capacity to take all the extra students, and some may have to defer their place until 2021. Suzanne Rab, a barrister at Serle Court Chambers, told The Times: 'I think there will be legal action by some to force universities to take them this year. You're looking ultimately at a judicial review.' A judicial review questions the decisions made by public bodies and normally claim that a government minister made a a mistake in law. Since the government u-turn 55,000 students are trying to get into their first choice institution. But schools are struggling for capacity, despite the government lifting a cap on the amount of places they can offer. There have also been calls today for ministers to lift restrictions on places for medicine and dentistry, which are currently set by the government. Tina Patel, a personal injury lawyer for Leigh Day, told the newspaper: 'We have been inundated with inquiries from students who despite yesterday's announcement have been left no better off. 'Whilst the government has lifted the cap on the number of students universities can accept, the ultimate decision lies with the individual universities. 'Some students may be offered places this year; some may be required to defer for a year and be forced to take a year out. This poses difficulties in the current economic climate.' Advertisement Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, one Tory said the Government is 'being seen as hapless': 'We have had too many mishaps for a Government that is only a year old'. Another Tory backbencher said: 'I've no doubt Boris is in touch with what is going on, but it really just feels as though there is a lack of grip.' A third warned of 'huge pressure building up at the bottom of the volcano' and said the elections next May 'could be an enormous wake up call' to the Tories. 'Brexit and a Corbyn-led Labour party, which won us the election in 2019, will be rotting corpses by then,' they told the newspaper. 'It's not about what the Government does but whether it is competent. With fiascos like the grading scandal, we are giving our supporters good reason not to come out and support us. That's a potential for a political tsunami to take place.' Tories have made private submissions to party whips making it clear Mr Williamson should be sacked. Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle, said: 'It's not something that should be passed on to Ofqual - the buck stops with government.' The first meeting of a new taskforce set with tackling issues faced by universities following the Government's exams U-turn took place on Tuesday. In a statement, education minister Michelle Donelan said: 'We are working closely with the higher education sector to understand the challenges facing universities and provide as much support as we can. 'I led the first meeting of our new taskforce and I will hold meetings every day with the sector to resolve these issues. 'We are supporting universities, including by announcing our intention to remove temporary student number controls and working with them to help them prioritise students and uphold their first choice either this coming year, or as a last resort the following year. 'We announced a package of support for the sector during the pandemic, including bringing forward tuition fee and research funding, and a scheme to assess any restructuring support higher education providers may need.' However, Labour's shadow education minister Emma Hardy criticised the decision not to invite the representatives of staff or students to the meeting. In a tweet, she said: 'How can a task force solve the crisis facing universities without also speaking to student and staff representatives?' Meanwhile, the headteachers' union has called for an urgent independent review of the exams grading fiasco. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has written to the Education Secretary demanding a review to rebuild trust because 'public confidence has been badly shaken'. He said: 'It seems to be clear that the statistical model for moderating centre-assessed grades was flawed and that it produced many anomalous results. 'But how did this happen, why were the problems not foreseen, and why were ministers not on top of this? Most importantly, what lessons can we learn for the future?' It comes as GCSE students have been told they will receive their results on Thursday despite the Government's U-turn on grading. All schools and colleges will receive pupils' GCSE grades from exam boards ahead of results day, the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) said. Exam boards said they have been 'working hard' to provide centre assessment grades, based on teachers' estimates, or moderated grades if they are higher. BAMAKO, Mali Malis president announced his resignation late Tuesday, just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home in a dramatic power grab following months of protests demanding his ouster. The news of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitas departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators and alarm by former colonial ruler France, and other allies and foreign nations. The U.N. Security Council scheduled a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the unfolding situation in Mali, where the U.N. has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission. Speaking on national broadcaster ORTM just before midnight, a distressed Keita, wearing a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said his resignation three years before his final term was due to end was effective immediately. A banner across the bottom of the television screen referred to him as the outgoing president. Image: Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita appears on state television to announce his resignation (ORTM TV / AP) I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power, Keita said. I have decided to step down from office. He also announced that his government and the National Assembly would be dissolved, certain to further the countrys turmoil amid an eight-year Islamic insurgency and the growing coronavirus pandemic. Keita, who was democratically elected in 2013 and reelected five years later, was left with few choices after the mutinous soldiers seized weapons from the armory in the garrison town of Kati and then advanced on the capital of Bamako. They took Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody along with the president. There was no immediate comment Wednesday from the troops, who hailed from the same military barracks where a coup was launched more than eight years ago, allowing the Islamic insurgency to take hold amid a power vacuum. The political upheaval unfolded months after disputed legislative elections. And it also came as support for Keita tumbled amid criticism of his governments handling of the insurgency, which has engulfed a country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. Story continues The military has taken a beating over the past year from Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked groups. A wave of particularly deadly attacks in the north in 2019 prompted the government to close its most vulnerable outposts as part of a reorganization aimed at stemming the losses. Tuesdays developments were condemned by the African Union, the United States, and the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which had been trying to mediate Malis political crisis. Former colonizer France and the United Nations, which has maintained a peacekeeping mission in Mali since 2013, also expressed alarm ahead of Keitas speech. Image: A building owned by the Malian Minister of Justice Kassim Tapo, that has been burned and looted in Bamako, Mali (Annie Risemberg / AFP - Getty Images) U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. But news of Keitas detention was met with celebration throughout the capital by anti-government protesters who first took to the streets back in June to demand that the president step down. All the Malian people are tired we have had enough, one demonstrator said. The detention was a dramatic change of fortune for Keita, who seven years earlier emerged from a field of more than two dozen candidates to win Malis first democratic post-coup election in a landslide with more than 77 percent of the vote. Regional mediators from ECOWAS, though, had failed in recent weeks to bridge the impasse between Keitas government and opposition leaders, creating mounting anxiety about another military-led change of power. Then on Tuesday, soldiers in Kati took weapons from the armory at the barracks and detained senior military officers. Anti-government protesters immediately cheered the soldiers actions, and some set fire to a building that belongs to Malis justice minister in the capital. Cisse urged the soldiers to put down their arms. There is no problem whose solution cannot be found through dialogue, he said in a statement. But the wheels already were in motion armed men began detaining people in Bamako too, including the countrys finance minister, Abdoulaye Daffe. COLOMBO : Sri Lanka s new government has decided to amend the 19th Amendment introduced in 2015 that curtailed the powers of the President and strengthened the role of Parliament, a move the ruling Rajapaksa family-led SLPP had pledged prior to the general election, a senior minister said on Wednesday. Keheliya Rambukwella, the minister for Information and Broadcasting, who was speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Sri Lanka People's Party Cabinet meeting ahead of the ceremonial opening of the new Parliament on August 20, said the government has decided to amend the 19th Amendment. The Cabinet has decided to amend the 19A by introducing 20A," Rambukwella, who is also the governments spokesperson, said. However, he did not divulge further details as to which provisions in the 19A would be amended or if the government would opt for the repealing of it. During the August 5 election, the SLPP sought two thirds parliamentary mandate or 150 seats in the 225-member assembly to effect constitutional changes, the foremost of them was the move to abolish the 19A. The SLPP and allies won 150 seats and have a two-third majority to effect the constitutional change they desire. While Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as the Sri Lankan President in November last year, his eldest brother Mahida Rajapaksa won the general election and assumed charge as Prime Minister on August 9. The 19A was the main election plank of the previous government. The 19A depoliticised the government administration by ensuring the independence of key pillars such as the judiciary, public service and elections. The SLPP from the time the 19A was adopted in 2015 has been clamoring for its abolition, alleging that the amendment was meant to politically clamp the members of the Rajapaksa family. It made dual citizens ineligible to contest elections at least 2 members of the family, including the current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, were dual citizens at the time of 19A was approved. The reformists in 2015 argued that the 19A was needed to correct the power imbalance created by the 18A which the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 had introduced. The 18A lifted the two term bar for a president to run for office. The 19A brought in the reversal bringing back the two terms bar and reducing the presidential term from 6 to 5 years. It pruned the powers of the presidency and empowered parliament. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics A Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile phone in Arlington, Va. on May 27, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) Twitter Apologizes After Mistakenly Suspending Satirical The Babylon Bees Account Twitter on Aug. 18 extended an apology to the conservative satirical news site, The Babylon Bee, after the social media platform temporarily suspended the sites account on Monday. Editor-in-chief of The Bee, Kyle Mann, shared an email sent to the outlet by the tech giant on his personal Twitter account, detailing the reasons behind the suspension. Your account, TheBabylonBee has been suspended for violating the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against platform manipulation and spam, Twitter said in its e-mail to the Bee. You may not use Twitters services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts peoples experience on Twitter. News of the sites suspension caused the hashtag #FreeTheBee to go viral on Twitter. The Bees account was reinstated less than an hour later. We are back. Twitter destroyed our headquarters with a drone strike, but we are being assured it was an honest mistake. The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 17, 2020 Shortly after the satirical sites account was reinstated, the publication ran an article poking fun at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, titled, Let Me Be Clear: Twitter Is A Platform For ANY And ALL Ideas I Wholeheartedly Agree With. Let me be very clear: I am a far-left progressive, in a company full of far-left progressives, in a city full of far-left progressives, in an industry full of far-left progressives, Dorsey fictitiously tweeted in the satirical piece. But Twitter is not just for people like me who dwell in liberal cocoonsno, Twitter is also a place for ANYBODY else who shares my opinions exactly. The outlet on Tuesday published another satirical piece poking fun at Twitter, titled, Twitter Apologizes After Intern Accidentally Sets Coffee On Destroy All Conservatives Button. In its emailed apology, Twitter told the conservative Christian humor site that its account was mistakenly caught in a spam filter. Were writing to let you know that weve unsuspended your account. Were sorry for the inconvenience and hope to see you back on Twitter soon, Twitter wrote in the email, which was shared by the outlets Seth Dillon on the social media platform. We have systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk, and yours was flagged as spam by mistake. Please note that it may take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal. Twitter says sorry, they made a mistake. pic.twitter.com/ZsM3if2vfj Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) August 17, 2020 Theres nobody to really call over there, and we find it is more effective to get the media swinging into action and get the word out, Dillon later said, according to the Washington Times. But the explanation doesnt make a lot of sense to me. Adam Ford, who created The Babylon Bee in 2016, said on Twitter Tuesday evening that the site had gained close to 100,000 Twitter followers since its account was reinstated. So @TheBabylonBee has gained almost 100K followers since being accidentally suspended by Twitter yesterday Adam Ford (@Adam4d) August 18, 2020 The Babylon Bee is among a number of conservative satire and parody accounts that have been suspended recently, including NPC Daily, Liberal Larry, Titania McGrath and Jarvis DuPont. Richard Grenell, the former acting director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump, said on Twitter that the TeamTrumpOnTour account had also been suspended. @twitter suspended the Trump Tour Bus account after the Black Voices for Trump event and before the @LogCabinGOP event for gay Trump supporters in Las Vegas. Twitter wont tell us why. Where is Congress? The media? Stop the election interference now! Grenell said on Twitter. We had enthusiastic crowds throughout Nevada so of course @Twitter suspended our TeamTrumpOnTour account and tried to silence our voices for @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/2hMI8gpnsV Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 18, 2020 A Twitter spokesperson told CBS News that the account has since been reinstated, and that it had also been mistakenly caught in a spam filter. Scandinavian airlines have resumed regular flights to Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv region). The airport's website said on Tuesday that the airline plans to operate flights from Boryspil International Airport to Oslo International Airport once a week on Tuesdays. Scandinavian airlines is a multinational airline company, the leading carrier of the Scandinavian countries, based in Stockholm (Sweden), owned by SAS AB. Founding member is Star Alliance. Two people have been charged in the attack on a teenage Sesame Place employee in a dispute over wearing masks, required by the state at public places like the amusement park because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday that U.S. Marshals arrested Troy McCoy, 39, at his home in the Bronx, N.Y., and authorities will take him to Bucks County to face charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and related offenses. Police arrest man accused of beating Sesame Place employee. Authorities say 39-year-old Troy McCoy of the Bronx tried to barricade himself at home but US Marshals were able to get him into custody without anyone getting hurt. Mike Dougherty (@MicDougherty) August 19, 2020 Authorities are making arrangements for Shakerra Bonds, 31, who lives with McCoy, to surrender and face lesser charges, the Inquirer said. The 17-year-old employee was working at the Captain Cookies High Cs Adventure ride on Aug. 9 when he was attacked by two patrons. The park is in Middletown Township, Pa., near Philadelphia. The employee had encountered the pair earlier and had reminded them that they were required to wear masks while in the park. Police said the man punched the employee in the face, causing injuries that required surgery to his jaw. Police in Middletown Township said the man and woman attacked the employee and knocked him to the ground. The pair, accompanied by others, then fled the park in a vehicle registered in New York. Investigators reviewed surveillance video and other records to identify suspects. A GoFundMe site for the teenager said he had to undergo double jaw surgery and the removal of a tooth. More: Disney Shocks With It's First Bisexual Lead Character For the first time, Disney officially released a new cartoon with a bisexual protagonist. Luz Noceda tends to be the first bisexual lead character from the newly started Disney Channel cartoon called, 'The Owl House.' In recent episodes, Noceda was dancing with another female character at prom and people were confused about Luz's identity. Later on, the creator of the "Owl House" Dana Terrace confirmed that Luz Noceda has a bisexual identity. In the midst of corruption, Dana Terrace posted on her Twitter: "When I was first developing Owl House I always wanted to do a prom episode to make up for my own experiences. Back then PROM was an anagram for 'Perennial Ritual Offering Maiden'. I'm so INCREDIBLY grateful for the crew working to make this episode so badass." Terrace also shared how difficult it was to put a queer kid as the main character. She tweeted, "I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the Channel...Luckily my stubbornness paid off and now I am VERY supported by current Disney leadership" However, not all people were happy with Disney's new bisexual lead character. One Million Moms, a conservative activist group, accused the "The Owl House" for "introducing children to a world of demons and inundating their minds with secular worldviews that reflect the current culture." It is stated that, One Million Moms are running a campaign against "The Owl House" currently on their website. Although Luz Noceda is the first bisexual Disney Channel lead character, she is not the first LGBT Disney character. Throughout the years there were many LGBT characters featured in Disney productions and many conservative activist groups are calling for attention and boycotting certain LGBT related Disney productions. Many individuals believe the younger generation's viewpoint has been corrupted throughout this new concept. Most of Korea's richest people have seen their wealth decline over the past year due to economic woes. According to Forbes' list of Korea's 50 Richest People released on Tuesday, 37 of them saw their net worth take a hit compared to last year. This dragged down their combined net worth by 17 percent to US$110 billion. "After a robust 2018..., this year provided a sharp contrast for [Korea's] wealthiest. Caught in the crossfire of the China-U.S. trade war, export-reliant Korea saw a steep decline in overseas shipments," the magazine wrote. Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee remains the wealthiest man in the country with a net worth of $16.8 billion, down $3.8 billion compared to last year. He is followed by Celltrion chairman Seo Jung-jin with $7.4 billion and Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju with $6.3 billion. YEREVAN. Zhoghovurd daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Varak Sisserian, the head of the office of RA Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, has completely taken over the domain of Yerevan's urban development. Decisions in this domain are made under the coordination of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan and with Sisserian's direct participation. And, according to our information, Armen Ghularyan, Acting Chairman of the Urban Development Committee, reports every matter to Sisserian and makes decisions only with his consent. Zhoghovurd daily spoke with Varak Sisserian to find out how true this information is. "Tigran Avinyan coordinates our office and the Urban Development Committee, and, yes, our office is also involved. But it is absurd that we give the urban development permits, or everyone agrees them with us and we coordinate. Of course, there is no such thing," Sisserian stated. A contractor who was working at a Florida airport opened up a container to find a live missile. The shocking find happened on Friday afternoon at Lakeland Linder International Airport east of Tampa. It's not known how the missile arrived at the airport which is mainly used for private jets and no longer for any kind of military use. Members of the 6th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight at MacDill Air Force Base remove a French air-to-air missile delivered to Draken International at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida Bomb disposal experts from the US Air Force were called in to remove it and brought a flatbed truck with them in order to take the unusual item away The container that also had aircraft parts inside belongs to Draken International. The firm, which is based at the airport has links with the military and owns a fleet of about 150 former military aircraft it contracts out for training exercises. After the discovery on Friday, the airport was quickly evacuated and bomb disposal experts from nearby MacDill Air Force Base were called in to remove the warhead which was still live, but not armed. 'It was like having a gun with bullet in chamber, but on safety. Someone would have to arm the missile to fire it,' said Air Force 1st Lt. Brandon Hanner, a spokesman for the 6th Air Refueling Wing, who spoke to the Military Times. 'It was live, but unarmed.' It is still unclear exactly how the missile came to be at Lakeland Linder airport The guided missile was found sitting in a cargo container at a Florida airport on Friday The missile was described as a French-made S-530 air-to-air missile and is not used by the US Military. After being called by Lakeland, the 6th Air Refueling Wings sent a flatbed truck to pick up the missile. The crew worked alongside the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and the Lakeland Fire Department who brought it back to the base where it is currently being stored. The missile will need to be taken off-base in order to be disposed of properly. The airport is home to Draken International which contracts out aircraft to the military for training exercises 'Draken International, in the process of evaluating arriving shipments discovered something questionable and potentially explosive. Adhering to the explosive safety rule of exposing the minimum amount of people for the minimum amount of time to a potential explosive hazard the decision was made to evacuate the facility and its surrounding neighbors and contact the appropriate authorities,' the company wrote in a statement. 'Draken takes its roll in the community seriously and always wants to ensure it performs safe and reliable operations.' Fortunately, personnel with the Lakeland Fire Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the EOD team from MacDill safely removed the ordnance. But talk about a MIS-guided missile, amirite? WASHINGTON Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsifying an email used to support the surveillance of President Donald Trump's former campaign aide Carter Page. The case against Clinesmith is the first to be brought by federal prosecutor John Durham, appointed last year by Attorney General William Barr to review the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Clinesmith, who worked at the FBI for four years, is accused of altering an email in 2017 that investigators relied on to justify an application to wiretap Page, according to court records. The altered email indicated that Page was "not a source" for the Central Intelligence Agency. The original email from the CIA indicated otherwise. During a brief court appearance via telephone Wednesday, Clinesmith admitted that he altered the email but said he believed at the time that the information he added was accurate. John Durham is looking into the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russian election interference. Clinesmith, who provided legal advice to investigators working on the Russia investigation, told an FBI agent in an instant message that Page was "never a source" for the government, according to court records. The CIA had earlier told investigators in a memo that Page was an "operational contact" for the agency from 2008 to 2013 and provided information about his contacts with Russian intelligence officers. Last year, a report by the Justice Department's inspector general revealed several errors and misstatements in surveillance applications on Page. The inspector general's office, which revealed in its report that Clinesmith doctored the email, referred the matter to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. Sally Yates: Ex-AG expresses 'regret' over Carter Page surveillance In an interview with the inspector general's office, Clinesmith said the CIA employee who wrote the original email told him on the phone that Page was not a source for the agency. The employee said she didn't recall any phone conversations with Clinesmith, according to the report. Story continues Clinesmith's lawyers said last week that their client "deeply regrets" his actions and that he never intended to mislead investigators or the court that approved the surveillance applications. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress seized on the inspector general's findings to cast the Russia investigation as an attempt by President Barack Obama's administration to undermine Trump. The inspector general's investigation found that the FBI was justified in launching the probe. Senate intelligence: 4 men, 4 takeaways from monster report on Russia Full report: Read more on Carter Page starting on page 527 Trump and Republicans urged Barr to publish the findings of Durham's review before the 2020 election. Barr, who has been critical of the Russia investigation, told Fox News last week that there would be "significant developments" before November. Sen. Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee that's also been investigating the Russia probe, heralded Clinesmith's guilty plea. "It is imperative we restore trust to a broken system and the only way that is possible is for people to be held accountable for their actions," Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement. Clinesmith will be sentenced Dec. 10. Prosecutors didn't ask for him to be held in jail while he waits to be sentenced. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleads guilty in Durham's Russia case 9-y-o girl who wants to be with Jesus needs miracle after COVID-19 infection Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An Ohio mother is fighting to keep her 9-year-old daughter alive after she tested positive for COVID-19 and doctors say she is now in the process of dying. She always said, Im going to be with Jesus, Doranny Escolastico-Paula told The Journal-News of her church-loving daughter, Dorielis Reyes. I want to go be with Jesus. I want to go first. Paula, 31, explained in a GoFundMe campaign launched Aug. 7 that before showing signs of sickness on May 10, Reyes had been an extroverted, happy, and friendly girl. She always had a curious spirit, was never afraid to make new friends, and loved to go to church, Paula wrote. On the 10th of May of this year, she began walking a little strange, and later began to drag one of her feet because she couldn't walk on it. I took her to the hospital because it was obviously not normal for her. She later lost movement in parts of her body and there at the hospital, she was tested for Covid-19 where the results came out positive. Since Reyes, the oldest of her five children, was first hospitalized on May 19, Paula told the news outlet that life has been a bit of a blur. She explained in the GoFundMe campaign that doctors have run a battery of tests on her daughter and checked with experts around the world to find out what was causing inflammation in her brain. But, they have not been able to successfully treat her yet. They decided to make calls to medical experts in different parts of the world to see if they had any similar cases as her, but could not find one, Paula wrote. Paula stated that doctors at one point, sent Reyes home so she could be treated there in hopes that she would respond more positively. However, things just got worse. After a week of being home, she lost the ability to walk, was beginning to lose the ability to speak, and was beginning to have severe headaches when on July 19th she had an epileptic seizure and was then admitted once again to the hospital, now in intensive care, Paul wrote. The doctors then did another MRI and found the headaches were due to bleeding in the brain caused by the inflammation being compressed with her head. Reyes is being cared for at Cincinatti Childrens Hospital. "Right now, they're giving her medicine for pain because they are saying that she is going to die, she's in the process to die," Paula told WLWT5 last week, adding that her daughter could die at any minute. "They say maybe 24 hours because her oxygen levels go up-down, up-down, and they say something can happen at any moment. In the interview with The Journal-News, Paula explained that she is now waiting for a miracle. Its so hard, she said. You never expect your kid, so young, to get this sick. Taylor Williamson, a teacher at Wildwood Elementary School in Middletown where Reyes attends, told the newspaper that the 9-year-old possesses a sweet, positive and bubbly personality. She is one of those who has a passion for school, a passion for learning, Williamson said. I just hope that we get a chance to see her potential get realized. So far, Paulas GoFundMe campaign has raised over $18,300 from 483 donors, over $3,000 more than her initial fundraising goal. Devaraj B Hirehalli By Express News Service TUMAKURU: Kunigal Congress MLA Dr H D Ranganath on Wednesday became a role model by donating 500 ml of plasma that can be used to cure two COVID-19 patients at the HCG Cancer Centre in Bengaluru. The 49-year-old orthopedic doctor also became the first elected representative in the country to do so after recovering from COVID-19. He had tested positive on July 5. Ranganath's older brother Dr Ramchandra Prabhu, a professor of medicine at Kempe Gowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), joined him in donating the plasma simultaneously in a 45-minute procedure. ALSO READ: Fear of catching virus again, resistance from family members: Covid survivors in Mysuru wary of plasma donation The duo said their parents 90-year-old Dr Doddaiah, who was also a physician, and Lakshmamma were a great inspiration for them as they too had tested positive and recovered. "After we recovered, having come from a doctor's family, we discussed with Dr Vishal and Dr Rajesh of HCG about doing our bit to fight COVID-19 as plasma therapy had opened an avenue for treatment," explained Dr Ranganath while speaking to The New Indian Express over the phone. "My wife Dr Suma, who is also a doctor, too would have donated plasma but her antibody count was not significant," he said. "I request all those who have tested positive and recovered to donate plasma after 28-30 days. If the antibody titer results are more than three, they can donate. One need not be afraid as there are no complications and it can save two patients' lives," advised Dr Ramachandra Prabhu. Ranganath's co-brother and KPCC president D K Shivakumar who is in New Delhi has reportedly congratulated him for his humane gesture. A young Chinese woman dubbed the 'folding girl' can finally walk upright after undergoing four operations in three months to fix her hunched back. The 23-year-old, known by a pseudonym Xiao Yu, had to walk with her chest pressed against her thighs for more than 10 years due to a rare condition, according to local media. An excited Xiao Yu told reporters 'I can finally see the sky' after she was able to move around with a straight body thanks to the life-changing surgery. The Chinese woman, Xiao Yu, had suffered from ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a rare type of arthritis, for over a decade (left). She can now stroll with the help of a walking frame (right) Xiao Yu lives in the province of Jiangsu in eastern China. She had suffered from ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a rare type of arthritis, for over a decade, according to Litchi News. The condition causes inflammation in the spine, making the back, rib cage and neck stiff and painful. Footage released by the local outlet shows the woman living with a severely deformed spine before the medical procedures. In the clips, she had to walk with her head looking down and torso pressed against her upper legs. The patient, who comes from the city of Suqian, went to the provincial capital Nanjing for medical treatment earlier this year. Doctors from the Gulou Hospital performed four operations between April and July to allow the woman to stand straight and walk properly once more. Before the medical procedures, Xiao Yu had to stand and walk with her chest pressed against her thighs (left). Medics performed four operations in three months to help her stand upright Speaking to a journalist from Litchi News, Xiao Yu couldn't hide her excitement about her new self. She said: 'I am taller. In the past, I had to walk with my head lowered and could only see the floor.' She added she was looking forward to making a full recovery so that she could find a job and look after her parents. Xiao Yu can now stroll with the help of a walking frame. She told the local Suqian TV that she was undergoing rehabilitation training at home. 'I walk more than 10 minutes in the morning, take a break and then walk another round,' she noted. Her father, Wang Anlong, expects her daughter to recover fully in two to three years. The man is currently looking after her daughter full time but plans to find a job once Xiao Yu can take care of herself. China's 'folding man' Li Hua (left, pictured at the age of 18) was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis when he was 19. His had lived with his face pressed tightly against his thighs - with just a 0.7 inches gap in between - due to his severe illness (right, pictured before the surgery) Mr Li had been unable to stand upright, eat or walk properly for more than 25 years before the life-changing surgery (left). Surgeons in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen performed the series of surgical procedures from June to December last year to 'open up' his body (right) Xiao Yu's story comes after a 46-year-old Chinese farmer billed as the 'folding man' was able to walk with a straight back after more than two decades. The man, named Li Hua, was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis at the age of 19. He had to live with his face tightly squeezed against his thighs, but his impoverished family from rural China could not afford to treat him. He was unable to stand upright, eat or walk properly for more than 25 years before surgeons in Guangdong carried out four consecutive, high-risk operations on him last year. The recent virtual Democratic National Convention (DNC) proved to be an improvement over the live version. For most Americans, the event is usually something to endure, but this year's convention brought something new to entertain viewers while delivering its message. One moment that most people noticed was when an individual from Rhode Island talked about the squid business of the state. The man was accompanied by another man wearing a face mask and holding a large plate full of calamari. According to the New York Post, the scene took an immediate turn to a stiff-looking Joe Biden after his formal nomination had been announced. The presidential candidate looked like he was not focused on the camera while wearing a tense smile. Later on, several streamers popped out from the acoustical tiles on the ceiling behind him. Old friendship One significant point of the convention had Cindy McCain's tribute to the long-time friendship of her late husband, John McCain, and the former vice-president. The relationship suggests Biden's attempts at maintaining cross-party friendships, including Republicans. The 2004 presidential loser, John Kerry, appeared to criticize Donald Trump on his policies on foreign relations and suggested that he, along with former President Barack Obama, had achieved many feats in the Middle East during their time. The convention also had former president Bill Clinton speak, saying that the Oval Office was designed to be a command center but that Trump transformed it into a storm center. Despite being an accurate representation of circumstances, it reminded citizens of the same situation during Clinton's presidency. Also Read: Joe Biden Says He Has Undergone Cognitive Function Tests, Shows No Evidence to Support Claim Healthcare for all Biden's support has received a massive foundation with Ady Barkan, an individual who has Lou Gehrig's disease and is a popular health activist. A video of the young father showed him playing with his child while explaining the importance of healthcare. Barkan said that Trump and his Republican colleagues have moved to remove health insurance from millions of Americans who need it. He said that with the existential threat that the Republican could become president for another four years, everyone was responsible for voting, as reported by The New York Times. National Security The former secretary of state, Colin Powell, expressed his support for Biden and marked his third Democratic presidential endorsement. Powell said that the United States needed a commander-in-chief that treats his troops as family. The former secretary said that the Democratic presidential candidate would be the leader that unites the country. He added that unlike Trump, Biden would be strong against dictators and despots trying to flatter him to do their bidding. According to CNN, the closing speech by the nominee's wife, Jill Biden, was a historical moment where she told the public about his story. The wife of the former vice president said she had, in multiple instances, leaned on him for support during the most difficult of times. Jill spoke out about his husband's loss when his first wife and daughter died in a car accident, and the grief he endured afterward. She said that the former vice president held onto love and understanding to make his family whole once more, similar to what he would do for the United States. Related Article: Presidential Elections 2020 Standing: Biden and Trump Numbers, 100 Days Before Poll @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reportedly secured access to a "promising" potential coronavirus vaccine, and has plans to manufacture it and offer free doses to the entire country's population. PM Morrison said that he has reached a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to receive the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University. He was quoted as saying, "The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian. If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians." Also read: Sputnik V: Russia Keen On Bringing India In As Production Partner For New Coronavirus Vaccine AFP The Oxford vaccine is in Phase 3 efficacy trials; researchers are aiming to have fruitful results by the end of 2020. Morrison also added that the country was in touch with "many parties around the world" over other potential vaccines along with supporting their local scientists in curbing the novel coronavirus. This is the first time Australia has made such a deal. However, reports add that the Australian government still hasn't reached a final agreement with AstraZeneca regarding the cost of the vaccine. Also, a local manufacturer has not been decided upon. Also read: China's Vaccine On COVID-19 Coming In December, Cost Rs 10,000 For Two Shots AFP Other than that, Australia has signed a $25 million agreement with American medical technology company Becton Dickinson to buy 100 million needles and syringes for the doses. Prime Minister Morrison also said that the government is "committed" to making sure that Pacific countries and regional partners in Southeast Asia have early access to the potential vaccine. Also read: Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Priced At Rs 225 In India, Developing Nations AFP He had expressed his opinion that if a country was to come up with a potential vaccine, making it globally available was the right thing to do otherwise they "would be judged terribly by history". To formulate action plan for successful implementation of the National Education Policy-2020, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath formed a 17-member task force in Lucknow on Wednesday. Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma was named the chairman and basic education minister Satish Chand Dwivedi will be the vice-chairman of the task force, according to a tweet from the Twitter handle of chief ministers office. Last month, union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy 2020, paving way for transformational reforms in school and higher education sector in the country. A senior government official said the task force will prepare roadmap effective implementation of NEP in the state so that quality of the state education system could be improved further and students become more employable. Other members in the task force are Prof Girish Chandra Tripathi, chairman UP State Council of Higher Education, additional chief secretary basic education, Renuka Kumar, ACS technical education, S Radha Chauhan, ACS higher education, Monika S Garg, ACS secondary education, Aradhana Shukla. Former secretary, government of India, Anil Swarup former CBSE chairman, Ashok Ganguly, AKTU vice chancellor, Vinay Kumar Pathak, Krishna Mohan Tripathi, former director secondary education are other members of the committee. Three Lucknow University professors Arvind Mohan, Nishi Pandey and Abbas Nayar, president, Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan; Vachaspati Mishra, former director secondary education, VP Khandelwal are also members of the task force. Director general education (Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan), Vijay Kiran Anand is the member secretary. Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said, The new education policy that was approved by the Modi government will be a game changer. After a gap of about 35 years, the country has come up with a revamped policy that will strengthen education system. It will encourage students towards vocational education and children to learn mother tongue. Expressing his happiness on being made member of the task force, former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly said, It will have a great impact on UP. We need a plan of action -- both short term and long term. A short-term plan of two years and a long-term plan of seven years. The pre-schooling pattern in UP is in a haphazard state and learning at primary level is poor. He further said: We have the golden opportunity now to change this trend, not only to ensure early childhood care and education (ECCE) is quality driven but also to attain foundational literacy and numeracy by our children by Grade 3. UP has immense potential to take a lead in implementation of NEP, thus changing the course of school education in the country. Ganguly said, UP had the best infrastructure to provide buniyadi shiksha long back. Gaining experience from that, its time to provide best vocational and skill-based education in the entire spectrum of school education. The former CBSE chairman is of the view that with reduction in curriculum, classroom transaction can now accommodate experiential learning, innovative pedagogies and critical thinking. But we will be needing massive teacher training in this respect, he said.. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has warned Northern Ireland is in danger of being on a slippery and treacherous slope in terms of the coronavirus pandemic. (Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA) Northern Ireland is in danger of heading down a slippery and treacherous slope in the coronavirus pandemic, the Stormont health minister has warned. Robin Swann said he is as worried today as I have been for some time, but added that a second spike is not inevitable. We can still arrest that slide but this requires decisive action from all of us, he said. This virus has not lost its energy or potency, it has not got tired of spreading. We cannot and should not give into fatigue or complacency. Covid-19 wont go away just because we are fed up with it. Speaking at todays Health press conference, Prof. Ian Young outlined the recent #COVID19 case data. The charts below detail the rolling 7 day average up until yesterday Monday 17 August. Further data can be found on the COVID-19 dashboard https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv pic.twitter.com/YQJ9xpiLN7 Department of Health (@healthdpt) August 18, 2020 Appearing alongside him at the Stormont media briefing, the regions chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young indicated Northern Irelands infection rate has recently been the highest in the UK or Ireland. If you look at the number of cases per head of population, then at present that is 16 per 100,000 of our population in the last seven days, or 24 per 100,000 in the last 14 days, he said. Those figures are slightly higher than the rest of the UK or Republic of Ireland on average, indicating that the epidemic is increasing significantly in Northern Ireland. Prof Young described very considerable variation in cases, from less than three per 100,000 in Fermanagh and Omagh council area to consistently over 50 in Mid and East Antrim council area. The time is coming for the Executive to consider fresh and concrete actions to prevent the further spread of the virus Robin Swann Mr Swann said the Executive will consider renewed restrictions when it meets on Thursday, which could include localised measures by council district or region-wide steps. The time is coming for the Executive to consider fresh and concrete actions to prevent the further spread of the virus, he said. He also noted that Northern Ireland had repelled the nightmare scenario in the first wave of Covid-19. The threat that stared us in the face back in March is still there but this is not the time to blink, he said. He rejected the suggestion that the region had emerged from lockdown too early, saying a rise in cases was expected when restrictions eased. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Mr Swann said the Executive had wanted to retain the reproductive number of coronavirus at or below 1.2 as measures eased, but the rate had now risen above that target. Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said potential new restrictions would most likely involve close indoor social contacts. That might include us looking at restrictions on the number of individuals gathering in family meetings indoors, the number of households coming together, it may require us to look at the number of people who are gathering outdoors, for instance for family events, he said. We also may need to look at transport and shared transport, individuals travelling in shared vehicles, cars, etc. And, if indeed we see particular clusters or outbreaks that are related to particular establishments, particularly in the hospitality or service sector in terms of pubs and restaurants, those also may be things that we need to look at. Dr McBride said the flu vaccine programme was being significantly expanded in Northern Ireland, warning of the increased threat to life if people contracted flu and Covid-19 at the same time. Health Minister Robin Swann announces expansion to Flu vaccination programme https://t.co/Ll9AfU1bOO pic.twitter.com/qsMHenrpmO Department of Health (@healthdpt) August 18, 2020 He delivered a blunt message to those ignoring coronavirus regulations and guidance. Wise up, this is far too important, he said. Mr Swann said the departments contact tracing app has been downloaded almost 276,000 times. He said it is already making a difference, with 76 notifications issued to users informing them they have been in close proximity to someone who has tested positive. The Department of Healths daily figures on Tuesday included one new death, taking the tally in the region to 559, as well as another 41 positive cases. There have been almost 300 new cases confirmed in Northern Ireland over the past seven days. Missing Kansas Mom Marilane Carters Body Likely Found: Officials A Kansas mother who disappeared more than two weeks ago on a trip to Alabama for mental health assistance was likely found dead in Arkansas, said officials and her family. Marilane Carter, 36, was likely found on Tuesday in her vehicle in West Memphis, officials told FOX4. Authorities are still working to positively identify the body. Authorities dont suspect foul play in her death. She had left Overland Park on Aug. 1 to receive mental health treatment in Birmingham, Alabama, and visit her family, officials previously said. Crittenden County Sheriffs Department officials said her uncle and family members helped in the search for the missing woman. They found the vehicle and body, according to KARK in Little Rock. Officials said that her car was found inside a shipping container near Interstate 55. A credit card with her name was also found in the vehicle. Its not clear why her vehicle was inside the container. Carters family confirmed her death on Facebook page Find Marilane. With a heavy heart we share this update with everyone. Today, Marilanes vehicle was found in West Memphis, AR, in Crittenden County, the post read. A female was found deceased in the vehicle. Law enforcement says that foul play is not suspected. They added: The family asks for your thoughts and prayers right now and in the upcoming days. Carter was married and the mother of three children, including a daughter who turned 3 earlier this week, KARK said. She was last seen by her husband on Aug. 1 when she left for Alabama, officials told ABC News. Carter was seen in surveillance footage the next morning as she checked into a Quality Inn in West Plains, Missouri. Chennai, Aug 19 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday urged the central government to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for copra to Rs 125/kg. In a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the text of which was released to the media, Palaniswami said the MSP for milling copra for the 2020 season should be revised to at least Rs 125/kg from Rs 99.60/kg. "At present, market rate in Tamil Nadu and nearby states prevails between Rs 100 to Rs 110 per kg. Hence, taking the above challenges into consideration, it is felt that the present MSP for milling copra of Rs 99.60 per kg will not be adequate to compensate their cost of production," Palaniswami said. Pointing out that the central government had fixed the MSP for paddy, ragi and pulses at 150 per cent of the cultivation cost, Palaniswami said the coconut farmers also need to be given adequate price for their produce. The famous Pitripaksh Mela at Gaya, scheduled to begin on September 1, will not be held this time owing to Covid-19 outbreak. Based on the recommendation of the revenue and land reforms department in view of the ongoing lockdown, the Gaya district administration on Wednesday issued a notification to cancel the fairan annual ritual for people to pay homage and offer food (pind-daan) to their ancestors. Gaya district magistrate (DM) Abhishek Singh on Wednesday said the decision to shelve the ritual was taken in view of the state governments lockdown, which is effective till September 6, and the challenges of maintaining social distancing norms. Earlier, the district magistrate held a meeting with the management of committee members of Vishnupad Temple and convinced them to discontinue the ritual in view of the health risk due to surge in Covid-19 cases. He also urged the priests to convey the message to devotees, who were planning to attend the ritual. It would be highly risky to allow the ritual, as devotees happen to be the vulnerable age group of 60-65 years. Those willing to offer pind-daan may come here after the coronavirus is contained. Moreover, all types of religious activities have been banned due to Covid. Even Vishnupad temple will remain closed till September 6 due to the lockdown, the district magistrate said. The Pitripaksh Mela, which is scheduled to be held between September 3 and 17, invites people from all across the world. An estimated 5 lakh people usually visit Gaya to offer homage to their ancestors and catalayse economic activities of the town. Local legislator and agriculture minister Prem Kumar, however, expressed his reservations over cancellation of the fair and wrote to chief minister Nitish Kumar, urging him to reconsider the governments decision. Prem Kumar said the priest community (Pandas) and local businessmen were enraged over the decision, as they rested on this fair to earn livelihoods for the entire year. Justifying the contention of Pandas and local traders, Kumar said that the fair could also be held in a controlled way as all activities in Bihar were limping back to normal after lockdown. Some local voluntary organisations have also protested the state governments decision, saying that the temple management committee had already descaled the ritual and less than 50,000 people were expected to arrive in Gaya this time. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Local Sikh organizations to take the case of New Zealand youth trapped in India due to corona: Advocate Dhami Romanian tourism organisations will be holding a news conference today to discuss three important matters amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in the hospitality industry. The conference "ReStart Hospitality Industry" will be attended by Daniel Mischie, chairman of the Organisation of Romanian Hotels and Restaurants Employers (HORA); Calin Ile, chairman of the Federation of the Romanian Hotel Industry (FIHR); Nicu Radulescu, chairman of the Romanian Tourism Organization (OPTBR), and Dragos Anastasiu, chairman of the Alliance for Tourism (APT).Financial analyst Iancu Guda will unveil a case study on the impact on the economy and the financial situation of companies operating in 11 sectors of the HoReCa industry."According to the study commissioned by HORA and FIHR, together with the member organisations in APT (Alliance for Tourism), carried out over a period of five years, we want to draw attention to the fact that HORECA's contribution to GDP is about 5.07%," according to the representatives of the hospitality industry.The conference will also discuss the current status of the industry. Before the COVID-19 crisis, the HORECA industry had: 40,000 companies running on 100% Romanian capital with a turnover of 5 billion euros and approximately 400,000 employees representing 10% of the total number of employees working in the private sector (190,000 employees directly involved and approximately 210,000 employees of suppliers of products, raw materials and services), according to representatives of the hospitality industry.They emphasise that the tourism industry contributes significantly to the development of companies that design businesses in related fields, such as agriculture, local ingredient suppliers, producers and distributors of raw materials for the kitchen, importers and distributors of food products, services providers dedicated to industry, and management systems, cleaning, transport, logistics, packaging.But as a result of the crisis due to the pandemic and the restrictive measures imposed by the authorities, the industry is currently the most affected, reporting a sharp decline that today led to a decrease in turnover by about 70% compared with the first six months of 2019. It has determined the suspension of the activity in case of over 40% of the operators.Another matter to be addressed is a reopening plan. The tourism organisations emphasise that, taking into account the fact that the reopening of outdoor dining on June 1, 2020 has not triggered an increase in the number of infected people, it can be concluded that the complete reopening of restaurants can be done safely where regulations are observed. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recently issued a risk alert (20-RISK-02) informing credit unions of the heightened risk of fraud amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency situation we have been facing for over five months now, required the implementation of new or expanded government programs to aid consumers, such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Scammers are taking advantage of such opportunities and are defrauding consumers. Though the alert, NCUA outlines the increased risks credit unions are facing associated with routine operations, summarizes red flags identified in fraud schemes related to CARES Act programs, and provides resources to report fraud to the most appropriate authorities and member education tools. This blog provides a summary of the most relevant points covered in the risk alert. Financial Institution Fraud This type of fraud includes new account fraud, identity theft, cybersecurity, risks, imposter and money mule schemes, and mobile banking application fraud. Because of the pandemic, most financial institutions have increased their digital presence and the scope of members remote access. Shifting from face-to-face to mainly providing products and services virtually have helped members during these difficult times, but as a side effect it has also created vulnerabilities scammers are trying to exploit. The NCUA encourages credit unions to monitor information about trends being released by federal agencies as they are identified to remain vigilant and aware of the rapidly changing nature of these schemes. (CNN) A few months into the pandemic, productivity was up at software development platform GitLab. Increased productivity is typically good news, but this had leadership worried. "With all the things that are falling apart in the world right now, we thought we probably shouldn't be seeing productivity go up right now," said Darren Murph, head of remote work at the San Franciso-based company. "That served as a potential indicator people weren't putting enough focus on their own well-being and using the pandemic as a form of escapism to work more." What's more, people were taking fewer vacation days compared to last summer. "The potential long-term consequences of that is that could be an early indicator that a large contingency of people were on the path to burnout and leadership should make sure that isn't happening," said Murph. So the company created Family and Friends Day, a day when the entire company virtually shuts down and everyone takes the day off. And with everyone off at the same time, that means workers aren't returning to a big pile of work that their colleagues have passed along. The first Family and Friends Day was May 1. There was also one in June and one last week to give working parents a little breather before the back-to-school rush. Employees share how they spent their day away from the office in the #family-and-friends-day Slack channel. "Having this day it's a continual reminder you should invest in yourself and we encourage people to extend into the next week," said Murph, who spent one of his days off mounting a guitar on his wall -- a project he's been putting off. Telecom and networking giant, Cisco Systems is also encouraging employees to take time away during the pandemic by adding days off. "Everybody is off. When you take PTO, you still kind of glance at your computer to make sure you aren't missing anything because work is still gong on. But when everyone is off, you really feel like you have permissions to turn off your computer," said Katelyn Johnson, global benefits - senior manager, life connections, people and communities. The company gave employees and active contractors May 22 and August 28 off. Show and tell It's one thing to send out emails reminding employees to take time off. But if the bosses aren't heeding their own advice, workers aren't going to feel comfortable taking time off. At GitLab, executives announce in company wide Slack channels when they will be off. For instance, the whole company knew when CEO Sid Sijbrandij took time off recently. "He didn't have any meetings," said Murph. "We all visibly see him modeling what PTO is. Leadership sets the tone." During weekly one-on-one meetings at San-Francisco-based Clockwise, managers keep tabs on employees' time off, said CEO and co-founder Matt Martin. "We monitor that and have an individual conversation with someone and tell them: 'You really need to take some time off,'" said Martin. The company also has a mandatory company wide PTO day once per quarter. Martin asks that the managers reporting to him take a week off each quarter in order to encourage their direct reports to do the same. Rotating who's off when Companies don't have to shut down entirely to make sure employees have a day off. At product intelligence platform company Amplitude, some teams take the first Friday of the month off or the first week of the quarter. One team pairs employees with similar roles together and then allows them to take alternating Fridays off. "Having a delegate you trade off with helps alleviate the guilt of someone covering for you, knowing they'll get their turn and also ensures we aren't holding up the business on anything," said Lisa Nielsen, vice president of people, in an email to CNN Business. "People are working longer hours as the boundaries between work and home have never been more blurred. Most people are under an unprecedented amount of universal personal stress whether it's parents trying to juggle kids at home and work, people being separated from loved ones, trying to care for older relatives or navigating isolation," Nielsen said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Here are the clever ways some companies are getting workers to take time off." Tucson's largest school district shut down an elementary campus on Tuesday the second day of schools being open to students after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19. The closure, confirmed a day later on Wednesday, Aug. 19, comes after Arizona schools were required to provide on-site care for at-risk students by Gov. Doug Ducey. That service began Monday, Aug. 17. At the same time, a number of Tucson-area schools, both public and private, have resumed traditional in-person learning. Some local schools have reported positive cases to Pima County, said county spokesman Mark Evans. While the Pima County Health Department will notify the public if there is an outbreak in a district, it will not release the names of schools or when individual cases are reported, he said. A classroom outbreak is defined as two or more cases at a school facility within 14 days that are not epidemiologically related, meaning there is no homebound contact. The cases are either linked from contact at the school or there is no known link, says Brian Eller, schools liaison with the Pima County Health Department. The local health department is hoping to have guidance from the Arizona Department of Health Services by Friday on what constitutes a school outbreak, which would also dictate when to close a school, Eller said. The Tucson Unified School District is offering remote learning for all of its students and allowing educators to work from home, but it opened select sites on Monday, Aug. 17, per the governor's order to serve at-risk children. The USPS wants to secure and stream-line mail-in voting using blockchain technology: Getty Images Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will carry on with a planned Saturday vote on a bill to give the United States Postal Service a $25bn infusion to help with mail-in ballots, calling the Donald Trump-allied postmaster generals move to suspend efforts Democrats saw as trying to tilt the presidential election an insufficient first step. The postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, said he will suspend changes he was making within the United States Postal Service (USPS) until after Novembers election to avoid accusations he and Trump administration officials are interfering with the presidential race by trying to pare Democratic votes and help the president win a second term. His announcement came just one day after Mr DeJoy agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee on 24 August to address the administrations latest scandal. Postmaster general DeJoys announcement of what may be a temporary pause in operational changes delaying the mail is a necessary but insufficient first step in ending the presidents election sabotage campaign. This pause only halts a limited number of the Postmasters changes, does not reverse damage already done, and alone is not enough to ensure voters will not be disenfranchised by the president this fall, Ms Pelosi said in a statement. The House will be moving ahead with our vote this Saturday on Chairwoman [Carolyn] Maloneys Delivering for America Act, which prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on 1 January 2020, and provides $25bn in critical funding to support the Postal Service: the same level of funding recommended by the USPS Board of Governors, which is 100 per cent composed of Trump appointees, the California Democrat added. We also will be demanding answers from the Postmaster General in his testimony next week. Prior to taking over the post office, Mr DeJoy was a major donor to Trumps campaign coffers. Story continues Mr Trump has denied pushing the USPS chief to make changes in order to help his re-election odds. He said Tuesday, during an event at the White House, blaming Democrats for the hubbub. The Democrats want to make it a political issue. Its not a political issue; its really about a correct vote, Mr Trump said. You have to get voting, voting right. You cant have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats sent to everyone, said the president, who trails nationally and in key swing states. I mean, this is a serious situation. This isnt games. And you have to get it right. I just want to get it right. Win, lose, or draw. I think were going to win. Win, lose, or draw, he repeated, we have to get it right. Mr DeJoys appearance on the House side of the Capitol, however, will not be the first time he has addresses lawmakers on the drama. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, announced his panel will hear from the postmaster general on Friday. That session will provide Mr DeJoy with a friendlier audience. The panels Democrats will ask questions, but House Democrats will control the gavel next week and are typically more free-wheeling in their comments and questions than their more stately and restrained Senate colleagues. Mr Trump was asked on Tuesday if he thinks the House Democratic-crafted bill is sound legislation. He took no position on the actual bill. Well, theyre going to do something in Congress, but everything they do is political. As an example, why dont they do it now, instead of on Monday? They picked a day, actually, they picked another day on Monday, as you know. Well, thats when the Republican Convention starts, he said of Mr DeJoys Monday House testimony. Why dont they do it during [this weeks] Democratic Convention? Because everything they do, Nancy and [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer], they play games. But they are accusing him of playing not political, but unconstitutional games with the USPS, which is required to function by the US Constitution. When those allegations began to fly last week, Mr Trump changed his tune from vowing to block any fifth coronavirus recovery bill that included the $25bn for the post office, saying on Friday he would likely sign such a measure if Democrats caved to his demands on new funds to help school re-open and other items. Read more Inside Donald Trumps campaign to sabotage the postal service Trumps postmaster general says he will postpone controversial changes Postmaster General agrees to testify about USPS problems Trump shrugs off sabotage accusations to USPS ahead of 2020 election Pelosi to call House back into session to vote on Postal Service bill Obama launches extraordinary rebuke of Trump By DEB RIECHMANN of the Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will pardon Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women's suffrage movement, who was arrested for voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote. Anthony is best known for her role in the movement to secure voting rights for women, but she also was a strong anti-slavery and voting rights pioneer. "She was never pardoned," Trump said. "What took so long?" He said he would sign "a full and complete pardon later Tuesday. Trump's pardon comes 100 years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ensured women the right to vote. It's also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. His move also comes amid an outcry over Postal Service disruptions that Democrats say endanger the voting rights of millions of Americans who would vote by mail in November amid the pandemic. Trump has denied asking for the mail to be delayed even as he leveled fresh criticism on mail-in voting. Anthony was arrested for voting in her hometown of Rochester, New York, and convicted in a widely publicized trial. Although she refused to pay the fine, the authorities declined to take further action. The 19th Amendment states that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Congress passed it in 1919, and the amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. Visiting Anthonys grave site in Rochester on Election Day has become a popular ritual in recent years. Thousands turned out in 2016 for the presidential match-up between Trump and Hillary Clinton. In 2018, voters showed up by the dozens to put their I Voted stickers on her headstone. More from PennLive 2020 DNC: Michelle Obama touts Joe Bidens empathy; Republicans speak on opening night Students will have to wear masks all day in school, with few exceptions: Pa. health department Closing the digital divide: Pa. schools say theyre ready to teach kids online after spring emergency test 19 Aug Amid her charity work in helping the needy survive during the pandemic, Heart Evangelista did not forget to continue reminding people to adopt stray animals. On 17 August, the actress posted a photo of her feeding a sickly stray kitten on the streets of Sorsogon, writing, "What may seem small to you can mean the world to them. Met this angel a while ago and I can't stop thinking about her. If I had a super power, it would be to give every single stray cat and dog a loving home." "To anyone out there looking for a pet, I hope you consider adopting instead. You will change their lives, and they will also change yours," she added. It is noted that Evangelista has always been vocal in campaigning for animal adoption, being the celebrity spokesperson for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). She also adopted an aspin named Panda to encourage others to do the same for the said breed, in order to help get these native street dogs of Philippines find their own home. (Photo Source: Heart Evangelista Instagram) OnePageCRM was built with SMBs in mind. Its agile, efficient, and has zero tolerance for clutter. SMBs cant afford to stay still or waste time on pretty charts, they need a tool that helps them get out there and sell. Through our collaboration with Samsung, we can enable more SMBs to do just that. OnePageCRM announces that it has been chosen by Samsungs newly launched cloud software marketplace AppStack to be part of its collection of highly rated sales, productivity, collaboration, and project management tools for SMBs. By providing an easy-to-use and action-focused CRM solution, OnePageCRM, one of only 14 selected apps, aims to help SMBs increase sales efficiency and accelerate their growth. According to research, 65% of U.S. businesses use CRM as an integral part of their sales process. However, a reportedly high number of CRM implementations in small and medium-sized businesses fail every year. The top cited reasons for it are the perceived complexity, high cost, and associated manual data entry. In other words, SMBs are looking for an easy-to-use system that is affordable and will empower the salespeople rather than slow them down with extra admin tasks. OnePageCRM meets that need by providing an action-focused CRM solution that is built on the Getting Things Done methodology and allows SMBs to build strong client relationships through consistent and continuous follow-ups. Were excited to be working with Samsung AppStack to help bring action and focus to the world of SMB sales, said Michael FitzGerald, CEO and founder at OnePageCRM. OnePageCRM was built with SMBs in mind. Its agile, efficient, and has zero tolerance for clutter. SMBs cant afford to stay still or waste time on pretty charts, they need a tool that helps them get out there and sell. Through our collaboration with Samsung, we aim to enable more SMBs to do just that. Until now, SMBs have been without a dedicated resource to help them meet the technology challenges of operating in todays environment. Samsung AppStack addresses that white space, offering a one-stop-shop to discover, deploy, and centrally manage business apps. For many small businesses, access to technological knowledge and resources has been a major obstacle to adapt to the digital-first economy, said Taher Behbehani, Head of the Mobile B2B Division, SVP and General Manager, Samsung Electronics America. AppStack is a platform where SMBs can go to get a collection of highly rated app recommendations, from a partner they can trust. Were thrilled OnePageCRM is joining AppStack to support SMBs through their digital transformation journey. Other notable apps featured on AppStack include G Suite by Google Cloud, signNow, Paymo, Time Tracker by eBillity, and Canva. About Samsung AppStack AppStack is a cloud software marketplace for businesses that want to spend less time and money managing the subscriptions they need for the new way business is done. Leveraging the buying power of Samsungs enterprise network, AppStack provides free trials, competitive discounts, and increased savings based on the quantity of apps purchased. Find out more here: http://www.samsung.com/appstack About OnePageCRM OnePageCRM is an action-focused and easy-to-use CRM solution for SMBs. Built on the Getting Things Done productivity principle, OnePageCRM helps salespeople stay in control of their sales, focus on what needs to be done next, follow up with every lead, and close more deals, one sales action at a time. Find out more here: https://www.onepagecrm.com/ For all PR and media inquiries, please contact Nadia Reckmann nadia@onepagecrm.com A HARARE company that runs an investment scheme offering 50 percent interest within six weeks has shut its offices leaving scores of investors stranded. Bevern Capital, whose directorship is still unknown, has been operating from Number 12 Lawson Avenue. According to a notice at the premises, the closure was meant to allow the company to comply with the law. Part of the notice reads: Inconveniences caused are sincerely regretted. We would like to advise all our valued clients that we have closed our offices for pay-ins and pay-outs for legal and compliance issues. The company assured its clients of reopening soon. This follows a recent statement by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) that the company had no banking licence as required by the law. The central bank said such investments involving taking money from people required a banking licence, hence the firm was operating illegally. The central bank stated that another firm, KWD Digital Marketing of 147 Freedom Legacy Road in Gunhill, was also operating in violation of the Banking Act. RBZ and police last week launched investigations on the two companies and KWD directors reportedly fled to South Africa. Meanwhile, the police are hunting down the KWD directors with a view to interview them on the legality of the companys operations. An Asteroid Passed Within 1,830 Miles of the Earth Last Weekendand It Wasn't Spotted Unti National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronomers noticed the car-sized sight only once it had already drifted away. Seeing the stars shining in the night sky is not the only intergalactic phenomenon you can spot, but some sights are far rarer than others. One such example of these rare space occurrences? This past weekend, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronomers discovered a car-sized asteroid floating close by the Earth, The Daily Mail reports. The asteroidalso called the "2020 QG"was between six and 18 feet in diameter and the closest space rock known to pass by the planet in history without actually causing impact. Getty / Science Photo Library - ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI The Palomar Observatory initially noticed the asteroid, but the space rock had already passed by the Earth at that pointthis was also about six hours after it was in a prime location over the planet (which happened at about 12 a.m. eastern time on Sunday). Part of the reason it may have been missed is because it only passed over one specific region of the Earth: the southern hemisphere. The approximate distance of the space rock's travel is equal to driving from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Malaga, Spain, the outlet revealed. Related: Two Meteor Showers Will Peak This WeekHere's How to Spot a Shooting Star After making its way by the Earth, the asteroid apparently started traveling deep into the galaxy. "The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the sun," Paul Chodas, director at the NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told Business Insider. "We didn't see it coming." Astronomers spent more time researching the asteroid, finding that it passed by the Earth at almost eight miles per secondequal to 27,720 miles per hour. While the discovery was one of a kind, the fact that it was noticed after it had already passed the planet is nothing to worry about. Even if it had actually made contact with the Earth, the asteroid would have crumbled once it went through the planet's atmosphere and had a small chance of fragments touching down on land or causing harm. Hyderabad: Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday warned that the state government might find the going difficult in eradicating Covid-19. Dr Soundarajan, took to Twitter, a platform she is active on, to point out what is wrong with the governments approach to Covid-19 control. 1) Testing Testing Testing 2) Tracking 3) Treating, she said, was the World Health Organizations mantra. The Governor said she wanted to re-stress view of WHO unless adequate numbers of testing done, our efforts to eradicate Covid-19 in Telangana will be difficult. The Governor said the degree of difficulty will be more so amidst rains & floods in this season. On several occasions in the past, the Governor had pointed out how the state government was not putting its best foot forward when it comes to Covid-19 diagnosis and control measures. In addition to raising the issue of increased testing to identify Covid-19 cases and tracking them and tracing contacts of the people identified as positive for the disease, the Governor had also written several letters to the state government in the past, attempting to bring the focus of the state government on the Covid-19 situation. Former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Gunjan Saxena, who finds herself in the middle of a controversy after the release of a recent biopic on her, has reacted to allegations made by a colleague about Gunjan not being the first female combat pilot of IAF, as has been said publicly on multiple occasions. Gunjan, in her defence, said that no such counter-narratives were introduced in the two decades leading up to the films release. When I went to Kargil, I never went there thinking of setting any records, or trying to make history. My only focus was to fly and do my job as well as possible, she told NDTV in an interview. Also read: Gunjan Saxenas coursemate Sreevidya Rajan says I was the first woman pilot to fly in Kargil, slams factually incorrect biopic She said that towards the end of the conflict, the IAF arranged for a media interaction, and it was then that her name was projected as being the first woman to fly for the IAF in a combat zone. From July 1999 till today, my name has featured in a number of headlines, in a number of articles, and in the Limca Book of Records, and in one of the promotion exams taken by the air force, she said. Also Watch | IAF writes to censor board over negative portrayal in Gunjan Saxena Gunjan said that in all these years, there has been no controversy about this. Between July 1999 and today, I dont see what has changed. The only thing that has changed is this movie being released, she said. Earlier this week, Gunjans coursemate, Flight Lieutenant (retd) Sreevidya Rajan, wrote in a Facebook post that the makers of the Janhvi Kapoor-starrer have twisted the facts. She wrote, In the movie, Gunjan Saxena was shown as the only lady pilot to fly in Kargil operations. This is factually incorrect. We were posted together to Udhampur and when the Kargil conflict started, I was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of our unit which deployed at Srinagar. She said that she never flew with Sreevidya at the same time during the Kargil operations, nor were they stationed at Srinagar at the same time. I dont think I was looking for any clarification, about who came in one week before... Also read: Gunjan Saxena responds to claims her biopic is peddling lies: Trying to dent hard-earned reputation with nonsensical rants Several people have raised objections about the events shown in the film, and its depiction of the IAF. Retired Wing Commander Namrita Chandi, in an open letter, had also accused the filmmakers of peddling lies. She wrote, Sreevidya Rajan was the first lady pilot who flew to Kargil not Gunjan. Though, I am certain that Srividya has no complaints about this credit being taken away from her. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global scleroderma therapeutics market size is expected to reach over USD 2.6 billion by 2026 registering a CAGR of 6.0%, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. The market growth is credited to the availability of various therapies used off-label, such as small molecule therapies including branded, generics, and OTC drugs. The mix of several indications and drug classes engenders a fragmented market with multiple players. Roche is the dominant company with biologic immunosuppressants, Actemra/RoActemra, Cellcept, and Rituxan contributing majorly to the companys share. Pfizer and Eli Lilly are the key companies in the market. Over the forecast period, new entrants including Boehringer Ingelheim, Corbus Pharmaceuticals, and Fibrocell will marginally displace the share of established firms in this market. The on-label market is in the development phase. Supplemental indication approval is one of the most common strategies adopted by market participants. For example, riociguat by Bayer was previously used for PAH and currently, it is under clinical trials for the treatment of SSc-related digital ulcers. There are several other pharmaceutical companies following suit as this strategy favors the pharmaceutical industry in offsetting high development costs and in reaping larger benefits from one molecule already developed and present in the market. To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/scleroderma-therapeutics-market Further key findings from the study suggest: The immunosuppressants segment held the largest market share in 2018 and is likely to maintain the dominance throughout the forecast years High preference for immunosuppressants owing to the favorable reimbursement scenario associated with this drug class supports its dominant market share Systemic scleroderma indication segment accounted for the major market share and will expand further due to use of high-priced immunosuppressants S. held the majority of the share in 2018. Expected label expansions and expected launch of first-in-class therapies coupled with an evolving reimbursement landscape for orphan drugs support continual scleroderma therapeutics market growth Europe trails with a lower share as compared to the U.S. majorly due to higher use of generics and biosimilars for off-label treatment of scleroderma Some of the key companies are F. Hoffman La-Roche Ltd.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Celgene Corp.; arGentis Pharmaceuticals, LLC; Bayer AG; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH; Akashi Therapeutics; Prometic Life Sciences, Inc.; Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals; Kadmon Holdings, Inc.; Seattle Genetics, Inc.; Cytori Therapeutics, Inc.; Fibrocell Science, Inc.; Chemomab; Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc.; and Genkyotex SA Grand View Research has segmented the global scleroderma therapeutics market on the basis of drug class, indication, and region: Scleroderma Therapeutics Drug Class Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) Immunosuppressors Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors - PHA Endothelin Receptor Antagonists Prostacyclin Analogues Calcium Channel Blockers Analgesics Others Scleroderma Therapeutics Indication Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) Systemic Localized Scleroderma Therapeutics Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) North America US. Canada Europe UK. Germany Spain France Italy Asia Pacific China Japan India Hong Kong Singapore Australia South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE Qatar 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. Around 135 people from Sri Lanka, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Norway and Canada have added their names to an online petition demanding Defence Secretary, Major General Kamal Gunaratne, stop the military-police harassment of Socialist Equality Party (SEP) candidates in the northern Jaffna district during this months general election. More than 100 workers, fishermen, farmers, students and youth signed the petition at SEP public campaigns in the run-up to the election. Additional letters have been emailed to the defence secretary calling for a halt to the anti-democratic attacks. The petitions and letter-writing campaign was initiated by the SEP following state harassment of party candidates in the Jaffna district. Military intelligence officers visited the homes of SEP candidatesRasenthiram Sutharsan in Kayts, Paramu Thirugnanasambanthar at Karainagar and Rajaratnam Rajavel in Jaffnaon May 28, June 16 and 23, respectively. The officers demanded the candidates provide personal information and attempted to photograph them in violation of their democratic rights. When challenged by the candidates, who pointed out the illegality of their actions, the officers claimed they had been sent by their superiors, indicating that it was organised and authorised by the top layers of the government. On June 20, SEP General Secretary Wije Dias wrote to the defence secretary, Kamal Gunaratne, opposing the military questioning of SEP candidates. On June 30, the SEP launched a public defence campaign with a statement entitled Hands off the Sri Lankan Trotskyists. The defence secretary and government authorities ignored the SEPs demands and the provocations continued. On July 1, a group of police intelligence officers, working under the defence ministry, visited the home of another SEP candidateRajaratnam Thirugnanavelin Kiranchi, Poonakary on July 1. A couple of days later they also demanded SEP candidate Rajaratnam Balagowri visit the police station. She refused. The SEP continues to receive support from workers and youth in Sri Lanka and internationally. We publish below some of the most recent responses. Adding his name to the online petition, Malcolm Day from Bedford in the UK wrote: I fully agree with the statement made by the SEP in Sri Lanka demanding a stop to this undemocratic harassment of the SEP. Hans Steltner from Lillehammer, Norway said: I strongly condemn the military harassment of Socialist Equality Party candidates in Jaffna. M. Dilaxshan from Jaffna wrote: I am signing [the petition] because SEP members all around the world, including in Sri Lanka, are fighting to educate the international working class that this capitalist system is dangerous to the working class and the entire planet. More than 60 fishermen, farmers and daily wage workers voiced their anger over the military-police harassment and signed the petition during campaigns conducted by SEP members in Karainagar and Kayts in the Jaffna district. Giving voice to sentiments of many of the signatories, one fisherman said: I support you and all workers must support this campaign. Everyone has the right to be involved in politics. No one can stop this. The following letters were also recently sent to government authorities. PW, an acclaimed Sri Lankan film director, wrote: The Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party, Mr. Wije Dias has disclosed in a press briefing that Messrs. Rasenthiram Sutharsan, Paramuthirugnana Sampanthar, Rajaratnam Rajavel, candidates of the said party contesting the Jaffna peninsula in the parliamentary elections due to be held on August 5, has been subjected to questioning by the military intelligence without having any legal rights to do so. This harassment is intimidation of candidates involved in politics in the North. It goes without saying that such militaristic interventions are inimical to the democratic rights of citizens. Therefore, I request that the right of the candidates of the Socialist Equality Party to contest the elections and engage in politics be assured. BK, a well-known Sri Lankan writer and poet, wrote: The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a legitimate, recognised political party. It is a well-known fact that the SEP has been engaged in legitimate politics in Sri Lanka, fighting for its socialist program, for decades. The SEP put forward candidates for Colombo, Nuwara Eliya and Jaffna during the last General Election. It has been reported that military intelligence and the police have demanded information on Messrs. Rasenthiram Sutharsan, Paramuthirugnana Sampanthar, and Rajaratnam Rajavel who were SEP candidates for the District of Jaffna. Intimidation and harassment of these election candidates is an infringement of their democratic rights. It is a usurpation of their political rights. Attempting to distance Tamil youth from the democratic stream by intimidation through the collection of information on them cannot be condoned. I strongly condemn these actions against SEP members. Ignoring these concerns, the Rajapakse government, under bogus claims of fighting drugs and crime and alleged terrorist activities by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, stepped up military and police searches, patrols and other operations in the northern region during the election. Having now obtained an overwhelming parliamentary majority, President Gotabhaya Rajapakses ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna is making preparations for a presidential dictatorship based on the military. The SEP has been targeted because of its unrelenting fight in defence of democratic rights and against capitalist repression. It fights to organise the working class and rural masses across all communal demarcationsSinhala, Tamil, Muslim and othersfor the establishment of a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam. We appeal to workers, youth and all those who uphold civil liberties to support the SEPs campaign against military harassment, which is part of the broader struggle to defend the democratic rights of all working people. Your protest letters should be sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, with copies sent to the Chairman of the Election Commission and the Socialist Equality Party. The Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Email: secdefence@defence.lk Fax: +94 11 2541529 Chairman of the Election Commission Email: chairman@elections.gov.lk Fax: +94 11 2868426 Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) Email: wswscmb@sltnet.lk Fax: +94 11 2869239 REHOVOT, Israel and FORT LEE, N.J., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kamada Ltd. and Kedrion Biopharma, two leading biopharmaceutical companies specialized in plasma-derived protein therapeutics, today announced results from a U.S. post-marketing pediatric trial of KEDRAB (Rabies Immune Globulin [Human]). The study represents the first and only trial of a currently available human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) conducted in children in the U.S. to date. The results have been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review and inclusion as pediatric data in the KEDRAB full prescribing information. KEDRAB is a human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG) indicated for passive, transient post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) treatment of rabies infection, when given promptly after contact with a rabid or possibly rabid animal. The KEDRAB U.S. Pediatric Trial was conducted at two sites, one in Arkansas and another in Rhode Island. The study included 30 pediatric patients (ages 0-17 years old), each of whom received KEDRAB as part of PEP treatment following exposure or suspected exposure to an animal suspected or confirmed to be rabid, and safety follow-up was conducted for up to 84 days. The primary objective of the study was to confirm the safety of KEDRAB in the pediatric population. Secondary objectives included the evaluation of antibody levels and the efficacy of KEDRAB in the prevention of rabies disease when administered with a rabies vaccine according to the PEP recommended guidelines. No serious adverse events were observed during the study. No incidence of rabies disease or deaths were recorded throughout the 84-day study period. "These key study results represent the first clinical trial data in the U.S. pediatric population for any HRIG currently available in the US," said Michal Stein, M.D., Vice President, Medical Director (Immunology) at Kamada "According to the World Health Organization, 40 percent of people bitten by suspected rabid animals are children under 15 years of age. Despite the large proportion of pediatric cases, limited safety and efficacy data from clinical trials currently exist for this population. Meeting the primary study objective of KEDRAB in children further strengthens our ongoing confidence in the product. We continue to believe that sales of KEDRAB has the potential to continue growing in the U.S., capturing a significant share of the estimated annual $150 million U.S. HRIG market." "We know the incidence of kids being exposed to animals that may transmit rabies is high in the U.S. and abroad," said Novinyo Amega, M.D., Head of U.S. Medical Affairs at Kedrion Biopharma. "However, little data exist that can help clinicians better understand the safety profiles of the various HRIG products currently available. Therefore, we are pleased to see that top-line results of this pediatric study support KEDRAB's safety profile. Importantly, we believe that meeting the primary objective of this study could further differentiate KEDRAB from other currently available HRIGs in the U.S." KEDRAB was launched in the U.S. in April 2018 and generated in-market sales of $31 million in 2019, representing approximately 20 percent of the U.S. HRIG market. About KEDRAB KEDRAB [Rabies Immune Globulin (Human)] is a human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG) indicated for passive, transient post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) of rabies infection, when given promptly after contact with a rabid or possibly rabid animal. KEDRAB should be administered concurrently with a full course of rabies vaccine. Important Safety Information Patients who can document previous complete rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis or complete post-exposure prophylaxis should only receive a booster rabies vaccine without KEDRAB, because KEDRAB may interfere with the anamnestic response to the vaccine. may interfere with the anamnestic response to the vaccine. KEDRAB should not be injected into a blood vessel because of the risk of severe allergic or hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylactic shock. should not be injected into a blood vessel because of the risk of severe allergic or hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylactic shock. Patients with a history of prior systemic allergic reactions following administration of human immune globulin preparations should be monitored for hypersensitivity. KEDRAB contains a small quantity of IgA. Patients who are deficient in IgA have the potential to develop IgA antibodies and may have anaphylactic reactions following administration of blood components containing IgA. contains a small quantity of IgA. Patients who are deficient in IgA have the potential to develop IgA antibodies and may have anaphylactic reactions following administration of blood components containing IgA. KEDRAB administration may interfere with the development of an immune response to live attenuated virus vaccines. administration may interfere with the development of an immune response to live attenuated virus vaccines. KEDRAB is derived from human plasma; therefore, the potential exists that KEDRAB administration may transmit infectious agents. is derived from human plasma; therefore, the potential exists that administration may transmit infectious agents. In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions in subjects treated with KEDRAB were injection site pain, headache, muscle pain, and upper respiratory tract infection. were injection site pain, headache, muscle pain, and upper respiratory tract infection. Please see KEDRAB Full Prescribing Information for complete prescribing details. About Rabies Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. It is a serious, and nearly always fatal, infection. In the U.S., rabies in wild animals, especially raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats, accounts for most cases of rabies passed on to humans, pets, and other domestic animals. An acute, progressive viral encephalomyelitis, rabies carries the highest case fatality rate of any conventional etiological agent. Rabies is one of the oldest described infectious diseases, known for over 5,000 years. About Kamada Kamada Ltd. ("the Company") is a commercial stage plasma-derived biopharmaceutical company focused on orphan indications, with an existing marketed product portfolio and a late-stage product pipeline. The Company uses its proprietary platform technology and know-how for the extraction and purification of proteins from human plasma to produce Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) in a highly-purified, liquid form, as well as other plasma-derived immune globulins. The Company's flagship product is GLASSIA, the first liquid, ready-to-use, intravenous plasma-derived AAT product approved by the U.S. FDA. The Company markets GLASSIA in the U.S. through a strategic partnership with Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited and in other countries through local distributors. The Company's second leading product is KamRab, a rabies immune globulin (Human) for post-exposure prophylaxis against rabies infection. KamRab is FDA approved and is being marketed in the U.S. under the brand name KEDRAB through a strategic partnership with Kedrion S.p.A. In addition to Glassia and KEDRAB, the Company has a product line of four other plasma-derived pharmaceutical products administered by injection or infusion, that are marketed through distributors in more than 15 countries, including Israel, Russia, Brazil, India and other countries in Latin America and Asia. The Company has late-stage products in development, including an inhaled formulation of AAT for the treatment of AAT deficiency. In addition, the Company's intravenous AAT is in development for other indications, such as GvHD and prevention of lung transplant rejection, and during 2020, the Company initiated the development of a plasma derived immunoglobulin (IgG) product as a potential treatment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The Company leverages its expertise and presence in the plasma-derived protein therapeutics market by distributing more than 20 complementary products in Israel that are manufactured by third parties. FIMI Opportunity Fund, the leading private equity investor in Israel, is the Company's lead shareholder, beneficially owning approximately 21% of the outstanding ordinary shares. About Kedrion Biopharma Kedrion Biopharma is a leading international biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the development, production and distribution of plasma-derived therapeutic products for use in treating serious diseases, disorders and conditions such as immune system deficiencies and coagulation disorders. Kedrion has special expertise in the treatment of rare diseases and in the manufacture of hyper-immune products such as anti-hepatitis B, anti-tetanus and RhoGAM for prophylaxis against Rh sensitization and subsequent hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. The company operates through a fully integrated business model from the collection of plasma in its own centers in the United States and Hungary to fractionation and production in its manufacturing facilities located in Italy, Hungary and the United States. Headquartered in Castelvecchio Pascoli (Italy), Kedrion has over 2,500 employees and a commercial presence in approximately 100 countries worldwide. Kedrion places a high value on the welfare of those who benefit from its products, as well as on the people and the communities it serves. Additional information about Kedrion Biopharma can be found at www.kedrion.com and www.kedrion.us. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, including (i) the expectation that based on the results submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it will approve the inclusion of pediatric data in the KEDRAB full prescribing information; (ii) the belief that sales of KEDRAB has the potential to continue growing in the U.S. by capturing a significant share of the estimated annual $150 million U.S. HRIG market, and (iii) the belief that meeting the primary objective of this study could further differentiate KEDRAB from other currently available HRIGs in the U.S. Forward-looking statements are based on Kamada's and Kedrion's current knowledge and its present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors including, but not limited to, if and when the U.S. FDA would include pediatric data in KEDRAB's label, competition within, and entry of new treatments for, the U.S. HRIG market, corporate events associated with Kamada, Kedrion and their respective partners in relation to KEDRAB and the impact of general economic, industry or political conditions in the U.S., Israel or otherwise. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this announcement, Kamada and Kedrion undertakes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as otherwise required by law. CONTACTS: SOURCE Kedrion Biopharma Related Links kedrion.us President Trump doesnt have a clue about the dignity and worth that comes with good-paying union jobs at places like Goodyear jobs that can support a family and sustain a community, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said in a statement. And even after 170,000 have died due to his mismanaged response to this pandemic, President Trump still keeps taking his eyes off the ball, getting distracted by petty political grievances instead of doing his job and stopping the virus. Its set the cat among the pigeons. Priyanka Gandhi Vadras interview to a upcoming book, where she says she agrees with her brother that a non-Gandhi could be made president, has now got many within the party thinking . While stepping down as the president of the party post 2019 results, Rahul Gandhi had said no one from his party would be its president, rejecting demands that Priyanka could be brought in as his replacement. Its a different matter that another Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi was brought back as interim president. Since then the party has seen a slide. Rudderless and directionless, the party has faced one crisis after another as this is the longest running tenure of any acting president in the party. Choosing a non-Gandhi as a president is easier said than done. The Congress is made up of several camps and its unlikely any leader would totally accept a non-Gandhi as party president or listen to their orders. A simple example is when Dr Manmohan Singh was made the prime minister. He was Sonias choice but she couldnt checkmate the palace intrigues in her own party and eventually the resistance to Singh by his own party colleagues brought down UPA. Those privy to the going on were aware that the biggest opponent to Singh were his own party colleagues. Why should we listen to orders from someone who is among us? was the common refrain. 'Remote control sarkar' became the tag line of UPA. Now if a non-Gandhi becomes the president, the party could see the same problem. One, its highly unlikely that person will be acceptable to all. Two, chances are that party leaders would still go running to the Gandhis and complain. It may not be easy for the Gandhis to push them away for long and ultimately it could see the same problem which UPA saw. Third, and the bigger problem is, who could be that person who could lead the party . It would have to be someone who has the experience, who has the might and ability to take on the Modi charisma, which remains a hard task for now. And someone who appeals to the youth as well . Lets think of some names. Ashok Gehlot with his acumen, organisation abilities he had managed to ensure a good performance for the Congress unexpectedly in Gujarat. But removing him from Rajasthan at this time would put his government in turmoil once again. Another one could be Mallikarjun Kharge. Aggressive and with administrative experience, Kharge may not appeal to the hardcore north voters as thats where Congress needs to build up. For obvious reasons, for the Congress at a time when the party wants to push a Hindutva line, having someone like Ghulam Nabi Azad who would be excellent as organisation man would be a political miscalculation. Now if Congress wants to appeal to the youth and send an alternative message, then choices among the young are limited. Sachin Pilots name has been in realm of conjecture but would the seniors accept any young? So what happens? Will the Gandhis spring a surprise and choose another Manmohan Singh? Will there be a free poll? Or will the Gandhis be forced to take up the top job again? Or will this listlessness continue? Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita casts his ballot at a polling station in Bamako, Mali on April 19, 2020. The second round of legislative elections kicked off this Sunday at 8 a.m. GMT for Malian voters to choose the remaining 125 of the 147 deputies for Mali's National Assembly. (Photo by Habib Kouyate/Xinhua) "The secretary-general strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali. To this end, he demands the immediate and unconditional release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and members of his cabinet," says Stephane Dujarric. UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali after the country's president was arrested. "The secretary-general is following with deep concern the unfolding developments in Mali, including the military mutiny which culminated in the arrest of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and members of his government earlier today in Bamako," said a statement issued by Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita washes his hands after arriving at a polling station in Bamako, Mali on April 19, 2020. (Photo by Habib Kouyate/Xinhua) "The secretary-general strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali. To this end, he demands the immediate and unconditional release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and members of his cabinet," it said. "The secretary-general reiterates his calls for a negotiated solution and peaceful resolution of their differences. He expresses his full support to the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the current crisis in Mali, including through the good offices of his special representative," said the statement. "The secretary-general urges all stakeholders, particularly the defense and security forces, to exercise maximum restraint and uphold the human rights and individual freedoms of all Malians," it added. Figure 1 Water treatment and pumping facility at J4 pit Water treatment and pumping facility at J4 pit TORONTO, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG; OTCQB: CHXMF) (Troilus or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has received a Certificate of Authorization from the Ministere de lEnvironnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MELCC) under Section 115.8 of the Environment Quality Act (Chapter Q02) to proceed with the dewatering of the Z87 and J4 pits (together, the Pits). To obtain approval for the dewatering of the Pits, Troilus submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on November 19, 2019, which was subject to a thorough review by MELCC. Troilus also engaged in community consultations with impacted families on the Troilus property and the local communities of Mistissini and Chibougamau to keep them informed of the dewatering proposal and integrate the feedback of stakeholders. The former Troilus mine operated from 1996 to 2010, producing more than 2 million ounces of gold and 70,000 tons of copper. After operations ceased in 2010, the Z87 and J4 pits gradually filled up with water from rain and snow melt. Over the last two and half years, Troilus has completed over 80,000 metres of drilling, the majority of which has occurred around the existing Pits. An estimated mineral resource estimate of 4.96 Moz AuEq (177 Mt with an average grade of 0.87 g/t AuEq) and the total estimated inferred mineral resource has increased to 3.15 Moz AuEq (116.7 Mt with an average grade of 0.84 g/t AuEq) (see press release dated July 28, 2020). Dewatering of the pits will assist with additional exploration efforts. Justin Reid, CEO and Director of Troilus commented, Obtaining the Certificate of Authorization from MELCC to dewater the J4 and Z87 Pits is an important milestone for the Company. Our environmental team carefully studied the physical surroundings and engaged with the local community to develop a dewatering plan that will leave minimal impact on the surrounding environment and once complete, allow our technical team to safely engage in further drilling in the area. We appreciate the consideration and feedback from MELCC in evaluating our EIA and granting the authorization to move forward with dewatering. Story continues Infrastructure to support the dewatering, such as a water treatment and pumping facility have been installed at site (see Figure 1). For a copy of the EIA (full copy in French, summary in English), please visit our website at www.troilusgold.com As reported August 5, 2020, Troilus was the first company to obtain the UL 2723: ECOLOGO Certification Program for Mineral Exploration Companies, a standard launched by the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (QMEA) in November 2019 to recognize and promote environmental, social and economic best practices: the first certification of its kind for mineral exploration companies. Troilus is committed to ensuring responsible environmental stewardship. Figure 1: Water treatment and pumping facility at J4 pit https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/70e3f400-9520-47eb-8862-ebe036cb9cf2 Qualified Person The technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Bertrand Brassard, M.Sc., P.Geo., Senior Project Geologist, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Brassard has verified the technical data contained in this press release using industry accepted standards. Mr. Brassard is an employee of Troilus and is not independent of the Company under NI 43-101. About Troilus Gold Corp. Troilus is a Toronto-based, Quebec focused, advanced stage exploration and early-development company focused on the mineral expansion and potential mine re-start of the former gold and copper Troilus mine. The 107,326 hectare Troilus property is located within the Frotet-Evans Greenstone Belt in Quebec, Canada. From 1996 to 2010, Inmet Mining Corporation operated the Troilus project as an open pit mine, producing more than 2,000,000 ounces of gold and nearly 70,000 tonnes of copper. For more information: Justin Reid Chief Executive Officer +1 (647) 276-0050 x 1305 Justin.reid@troilusgold.com Paul Pint President +1 (416) 602-1050 paul.pint@troilusgold.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the impact and implications of the Certificate of Authorization and conditions for dewatering, MELCC, the growth potential and possible economics of the project and the Companys understanding of the project; the development potential and timetable of the project; the estimation of mineral resources; realization of mineral resource estimates; the anticipated timing of the Preliminary Economic Assessment; the timing and amount of estimated future exploration; the anticipated results of the Companys planned 2020 drill program and their possible impact on the potential size of the mineral resource estimate; costs of future activities; capital and operating expenditures; success of exploration activities; the anticipated ability of investors to continue benefiting from the Companys low discovery costs, technical expertise and support from local communities; and the anticipated timing of filing the Technical Report. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, continue, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, will, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important facts that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Troilus to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Troilus will operate in the future. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Troilus to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact the COVID 19 pandemic may have on the Companys activities and the economy in general; the impact of the recovery post COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on gold and other metals; there being no assurance that the exploration program will result in expanded mineral resources; risks and uncertainties inherent to mineral resource estimates; receipt of necessary approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future gold and other metal prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages; environmental and other risks of the mining industry, including without limitation, risks and uncertainties discussed in the latest annual information form of the Company, in the Technical Report to be filed and in other continuous disclosure documents of the Company available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com. Although Troilus has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Troilus does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Polish miners' blood boosts search for new COVID-19 drug Biomed Lublin's Piotr Fic said the firm was starting production of a plasma-derived drug against COVID-19 today, August 18, with clinical trials expected from October end Blood donations from Polish coal miners who recovered from coronavirus have helped research into a new plasma-derived drug, researchers said on Tuesday, as they announced the start of production and testing in Poland. The pandemic has hit particularly hard in the Silesia coal basin in southern Poland, although the national rate has remained relatively low compared to much of western Europe. "Today we are starting production," Piotr Fic, a member of the board of the biotech company Biomed Lublin, told a press conference at the medical university in Lublin, eastern Poland. "Probably by the end of October we will be able to supply the drug for clinical tests," he said. Krzysztof Tomasiewicz from public hospital PSK1 in Lublin, one of the participants in the project, said: "Our expectations are really high, optimistic and based on some experience." The company is planning to produce an initial batch of 3,000 doses of the drug for testing and said it would eventually be able to produce around 30,000 to 40,000 doses, depending on having sufficient plasma available. Convalescent plasma, the fluid in blood teeming with antibodies post-illness, has proven effective in small studies to treat COVID-19. The researchers said they had collected around 150 litres of plasma for initial production. Biomed's CEO Marcin Pirog in a statement said the miners from Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW), a company with five coal mines, deserved "special recognition" for their blood donations. Since the start of the pandemic, shares in Biomed Lublin have shot up on the Warsaw stock exchange from around 1 Polish zloty to 24.9 zlotys (5.6 euros) on Tuesday. bo/dt/bp U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer updates media on his actions to stop destruction of USPS outside his office in Manhattan. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Trump administration Wednesday of "concealing" the White House's role in the selection of Louis DeJoy, the embattled new chief of the U.S. Postal Service. The New York Democrat's accusation came in a letter to USPS Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan demanding transparency about the decision to select DeJoy, a major Republican donor and ally of President Donald Trump, as postmaster general. Schumer's sharp criticism sets a combative tone two days before DeJoy is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee about his overhaul of the agency, which has come under intense scrutiny amid the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 election. DeJoy, 63, has faced a mounting pressure campaign to reverse a series of significant cost-cutting measures that have led to reports of widespread mail delays. His changes, which reportedly include cutting overtime and halting late-day delivery trips, have fueled fears from Democrats about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, in which more Americans than ever are expected to vote by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those fears were exacerbated by Trump's repeated claims that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud that will compromise the election. Experts say those claims are unfounded. In mid-June, Schumer had asked the board for a series of documents and information related to its search process. The secretary of the board, Michael Elston, responded in early July that "with respect to the specific information you requested, much of it is confidential." The USPS board selected DeJoy in May to be postmaster general. He began work in the role in June. Schumer's letter said his staff had attempted to set up a briefing with a leader from the Russell Reynolds executive search firm that had been involved in DeJoy's selection process. But counsel for Russell Reynolds replied that the USPS board was unwilling to waive a nondisclosure agreement, blocking the firm from fully participating in the congressional oversight efforts, according to Schumer's letter. Schumer also wrote that officials in the White House and the Treasury Department, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, had played roles in the selection. "As part of my inquiry, my office learned of the role [Mnuchin] had with Postal Board of Governors, including through meetings with individual Governors as well as phone calls with groups of Governors, which has not been previously disclosed by the Board," the letter said. Ghanas rapper Michael Owusu Addo with stage name Sarkodie is set to release his first book. The rapper has posted on his Twitter Page that his new book titled, the highest will be out soon. The post received a lot of positive reaction from the fans of the artiste.They expressed how they cannot wait to read the book. The hunch going round is that the book is probably about the life of the artiste. And his journey through the Ghana music industry for over a decade now. Photo of the post is provided below Watch video below: ---odarteyghnews.com He began acting at a young age and worked as a carpenter before being accepted at age 22 into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he later graduated. He had stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other theatrical companies in the 1970s and appeared in the 1977 World War II film A Bridge Too Far. TANZANIA, Tanzania - The U.N. special envoy for Syria announced Wednesday that the 45-member committee charged with drafting a new constitution for the conflict-torn country will meet for the first time in nine months on Aug. 24. Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that convening the U.N.-facilitated, Syrian-led meeting in Geneva has been challenging, because of disagreement on an agenda until March and then because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He encouraged committee representatives from the government, opposition, and civil society to come to Geneva ready to engage in earnest and move the process forward in a business-like manner, in a series of regular meetings in the months ahead. This is important because millions of Syrians continue to face immense suffering and do not have the luxury of time to await the political breakthroughs, Pedersen said. There is widespread frustration at the lack of progress, he said, and civil society representatives often stress that a single meeting of the constitutional committee will not bring immediate changes on the ground, but substantial and serious engagement by all parties would give them hope that a meaningful process is on the horizon that could have a longstanding and positive impact on the lives of the Syrian people. The start to drafting of a new constitution has been delayed for over 2 1/2 years. At a Russian-hosted Syrian peace conference in January 2018, an agreement was reached to form a 150-member committee to draft a new constitution. This was a key step toward elections and a political settlement to the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011 and has killed over 400,000 people. There was an early agreement on 50-member lists from the Syrian government and the opposition. But it took nearly 20 months, until September 2019, to agree on the list the United Nations was authorized to put together representing experts, independents, tribal leaders and women, mainly because of objections from the Syrian government. The 150-member committee agreed on the 45-member drafting committee with 15 members from each list in late October 2019. The Security Council adopted a resolution in 2015 endorsing a road map to peace for Syria, including drafting a new constitution and U.N.-supervised elections. This is indeed a momentous task to establish a foundational act, a social contract for Syrians after a decade of conflict and amidst deep divisions and mistrust, he said. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the United States is encouraged and hopeful that the meeting will yield a clear path forward for the political process, stressing that now is the time for urgency, compromise and action. U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Ambassador Jim Jeffrey and Special Envoy Joel Rayburn are travelling to Geneva to underline U.S. support and ensure the success of the constitutional committee, she said. Craft expressed hope that the meeting can directly address constitutional reforms and that members are willing to remain in Geneva for weeks and agree to a future round of meetings throughout the fall so progress can be achieved and elections can take place as soon as possible. The key to achieving a credible, long-lasting political (solution) to the Syrian conflict is a permanent, nationwide cease-fire, she said. We call upon the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian enablers to commit to this political process by halting all further attacks. Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia reminded council members that this is a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led process which must be safeguarded from any external interference. We consider it important to resume the political dialogue, he said, stressing that a new constitution will consolidate Syrians and strengthen the countrys sovereignty and independence. Nebenzia said the main obstacles to the normalization of the situation in Syria remain: the presence of terrorists, foreign occupation of parts of the territory, attempts to overthrow the government by means of sanctions and playing various ethnic groups against each other. Pedersen, the U.N. envoy, urged Turkey and Russia to avoid escalation in northwest Syria and noted an altercation between the Syrian government and United States in the northeast earlier this week. He said attacks by Islamic State extremists continue to grow in frequency and impact. Pedersen said the presence of five foreign armies in Syria creates a serious risk of threats to international peace and security. But for now, for next week, let us focus on supporting the members of the constitutional committee to deepen their work, and to build some confidence in a political route out of the Syrian conflict, he said. Maanyata Dutt says plans to take Sanjay Dutt abroad for treatment depend on the Covid situation Actor Sanjay Dutt gestures to media personnel as he leaves for hospital on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. The actor was reported to be battling lung cancer.(ANI) Mumbai: Film star Sanjay Dutt is undergoing "preliminary treatment" at Kokilaben Hospital, his wife Maanayata Dutt said, amid reports that the actor is battling lung cancer. "Prarthana karo (pray)," the 61-year-old actor had told paparazzi standing outside his home as he prepared to go to hospital with his sister Priya. Maanayata Dutt said on Tuesday that a decision on taking Sanjay Dutt abroad for medical treatment will be taken later depending on the coronavirus situation. "Sanju will complete his preliminary treatment in Mumbai. We will formulate further plans of travel depending on how and when the Covid situation eases," Maanayata said in a long statement. Without specifying the nature of Sanjay Dutt's disease, Maanyata said their family was "shaken up" but "determined to fight tooth and nail". Dutt was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital on August 8 after he complained of breathlessness. He was discharge on August 10. As rumours swirled around the actor's health condition, Maanayata requested well-wishers to avoid speculating about the "stage of his illness". "I request everyone, with folded hands, to stop speculating about the stage of his illness and let the doctors continue to do their work," she had said. Maanayata said she couldn't be by her husband's side at the hospital as she was under home quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. She had returned from Dubai earlier this month. She said Dutt's sister, Priya, has been "an incredible torchbearer." "Every battle has a torchbearer and someone who holds the fort. Priya who has worked extensively over two decades with our family-run cancer foundation, and who has also seen her mother battle this illness, has been our incredible torchbearer, while I will hold the fort," she had said. In the long statement, Maanayata, 42, had expressed gratitude to fans and hoped they would continue to love and support the family during these trying times. "Sanju has been through many ups and downs in his life, but what has kept him going through every tough phase has always been your adulation and support. "And for this, we will always be grateful. We are now being tested through yet another challenge, and I know, the same love and warmth will see him through this time as well," she had said. She further said Dutt was the "heart and soul" of the family and all of them are determined to fight this battle and emerge winners. "Sanju is not only my husband and father to our children, but he has also been a father figure to Anju (Namrata) and Priya. "While our family is shaken up, we are determined to fight tooth and nail. With God and your prayers on our side, together we will overcome, and emerge as winners," she had said. Dutt is the eldest child of late Bollywood stars Nargis and Sunil Dutt. He has two sisters -- Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. He has two children, a son and a daughter, with Maanayata. The actor also has a daughter Trishala Dutt from his first marriage to Richa Sharma. She died of brain tumour in 1996. President Donald Trump has urged Americans not to purchase tyres from Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company company after one of their plants allegedly banned the wearing Make America Great Again merchandise. The president hit out at the manufacturer after a WIBW report claimed that a plant in Kansas had put out a policy banning workers from wearing MAGA attire, among other political clothing. Dont buy GOODYEAR TYRESThey announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS, Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday. Get better tyres for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!), he added. The comments came after the NBC affiliate reported an image of a Powerpoint slide directing employees what was not acceptable as part of its zero tolerance policy. The image, which surfaced on social media, was allegedly taken by an anonymous employee during the Topeka companys diversity training. The photo appeared to show that Black Lives Matter and LGBT+ pride are acceptable while Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA attire, and political affiliated slogans were listed as unacceptable. The individual alleged that the companys policy was discriminatory, according to WIBW. The company has since released a lengthy statement saying that the slide was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate nor was it part of a diversity training class. Goodyear maintained that it requests employees not to express support for political candidates or partys in the workplace. We ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equality issues, they wrote. The organisation added that it has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so. We have heard from some of you that believe Goodyear is anti-police after reacting to the visual, the company said. They added: nothing could be further from the truth, and we have the upmost appreciation for the vital work police do on behalf of our shared communities. This cant be said strongly enough. The companys statement did not directly address the presidents tweet, which was broadcast to his 85 million followers and has been retweeted almost 70,000 times as of Wednesday. Goodyears stock declined 3.4 per cent on Wednesday morning, following the presidents message, The Hill reported. The company did not immediately respond to The Independents request for further comment regarding the tweet. When questioned on the presidents proposed boycott of a company in a battleground state of Ohio ahead of the presidential election, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Wednesday that she was not aware of the tweet. She directed the reporter to ask the president about the incident himself at his next press briefing. I think hes done plenty for companies in Ohio and elsewhere, far more than Joe Biden ever did, she added. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} There is a cultural shift taking place in the country right now and everyone and every institution is examining itself and becoming more aware of names, symbols, and language that exclude and alienate certain groups of people, said Mike Teasley, Trinity Collegiate Schools director of diversity. We hope that this change will reflect who we are as a school and send a message to the larger community that Trinity Collegiate School welcomes everyone and embraces diversity in all forms. Over the past five years, the school has made strides to become more inclusive and welcoming to all families in the broader community. Students of color make up 31% of the schools overall enrollment, one of the highest among all South Carolina Independent School Association members (SCISA). By comparison, African-American undergraduate enrollment at the University of South Carolina Columbia campus is 10.2%, and it is only 6.3% at Clemson University. Flex LNG Ltd. ("Flex LNG" or the "Company") today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2020. Highlights: Revenues of $25.8 million for the second quarter 2020, compared to $38.2 million for the first quarter 2020. Net loss of $6.7 million and loss per share of $0.12 for the second quarter 2020, compared to a net loss of $14.9 million and loss per share of $0.27 for the first quarter 2020. Average Time Charter Equivalent ("TCE") rate of $46,588 per day for the second quarter 2020, compared to $67,740 per day for the first quarter 2020. Adjusted EBITDA of $17.4 million for the second quarter 2020, compared to $27.8 million for the first quarter 2020. Adjusted net loss of $0.7 million for the second quarter 2020, compared to adjusted net income of $9.3 million for the first quarter 2020. Adjusted loss per share of $0.01 for the second quarter 2020, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $0.17 for the first quarter 2020. Long-term financing secured at attractive terms for all vessels and newbuildings. In June 2020, the Company signed a $156.4 million sale and leaseback transaction with an Asian based leasing house for the newbuilding Flex Amber. In June 2020, the Company signed a $125 million financing with a syndicate of banks for the newbuilding Flex Volunteer, which is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter 2021. In July 2020, the Company took delivery of its seventh newbuilding LNG carrier, the Flex Aurora. In July 2020, the technical ship management for Flex Ranger was successfully transferred to Flex LNG Fleet Management AS. Following this transfer, all vessels are managed by Flex LNG Fleet Management AS. In August 2020, the Company took delivery of its eighth newbuilding LNG carrier, the Flex Artemis, which immediately commenced its long-term charter to Clearlake Shipping, a subsidiary of the Gunvor Group. ystein M Kalleklev, CEO of Flex LNG Management AS, commented: "The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting mobility restrictions posed multifaceted challenges for LNG shipping, which in nature is mobile and woven into global supply chains. Notwithstanding these obstacles, we have managed to operate our ships with 100 per cent up-time and availability, with cargoes being delivered without disruptions or delays to our customers. Furthermore, we have mobilized our newbuildings for delivery of which two ships, Flex Aurora and Flex Artemis, have already been delivered. Crew rotations have been made particularly difficult for the shipping industry, resulting in a lot of seafarers being effectively stranded on ships. We are however pleased that we on average have been able to carry out two crew changes per ship in this period, thus minimizing extended stay for our seafarers. First class operational performance means we are able to deliver trading results in line with our guidance, with a TCE for the quarter of $47k per day, despite our exposure to a weak spot market during the spring and the summer. We expect similar trading result for the third quarter, even with mobilization of three or possibly four newbuildings during this quarter." Second Quarter 2020 Result Presentation Flex LNG will release its financial results for the second quarter 2020 on Wednesday August 19, 2020. In connection with the earnings release, a webcast and conference call will be held at 3:00 p.m. CEST (9:00 a.m. EST). In order to attend the webcast and/or conference call you may do one of the following: Attend by Webcast: Use to the follow link prior to the webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/6qeg8ow6 Attend by Conference Call: Applicable dial-in telephone numbers are as follows: Norway: +47 21 56 31 62 United Kingdom: +44 (0) 203 0095 710 United Kingdom (local): 0844 493 3857 United States (Toll Free): +1 866 869 2321 Confirmation Code: 4971456 The presentation material which will be used in the teleconference/webcast can be downloaded on www.flexlng.com and replay details will also be available at this website. For further information, please contact: Harald Gurvin, CFO Telephone: +47 23 11 40 00 Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "target," "project," "likely," "may," "will," "would," "could" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company's records and other data available from third parties. Although management believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Company's control, there can be no assurance that the Company will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. The Company undertakes no obligation, and specifically declines any obligation, except as required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include: unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the LNG tanker market, the length and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, the impact of public health threats and outbreaks of other highly communicable diseases, changes in the Company's operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, the fuel efficiency of the Company's vessels, the market for the Company's vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, ability to comply with covenants in such financing arrangements, failure of counterparties to fully perform their contracts with the Company, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, including those that may limit the commercial useful lives of LNG tankers, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hire, and other factors, including those that may be described from time to time in the reports and other documents that the Company files with or furnishes to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("Other Reports"). For a more complete discussion of certain of these and other risks and uncertainties associated with the Company, please refer to the Other Reports. Attachment When the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdown in April, a five-day-old baby from Srinagar needed an immediate surgery within two weeks for a congenital heart defect. The babys parents, Humaira and Tahir, a daily wager, did not have the Rs 500,000 needed for the surgery. As the parents struggled to raise the money, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) stepped in and contacted doctors at Srinagars Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. The doctors suggested an emergency procedure since the surgery was not immediately possible. The procedure cost Rs 55,000. Tahir managed to pay Rs 30,000 while CRPF offered the rest of the amount. The procedure was successful and the baby is stable now. Tahir and Humaira are among thousands of Kashmiris, who have benefitted from CRPFs Madadgaar initiative, as Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted livelihoods over the last five months. A Madadgaar helpline (14411) is run under special CRPF director general (Kashmir) Zulfiquar Hasans command. Under the scheme, all kinds of assistance are provided to Kashmiris across the country. The assistance ranges from issues related to water, electricity and road construction, medical emergencies, and domestic violence, dowry harassment, career, education, sports. The initiative was launched in June 2017. Since its inception, the helpline has received 573,000 calls from Kashmiris in distress. In 98% of cases, help has extended, according to CRPF data. The Madadgaar team attended to 53,333 grievances on a special Covid-19 helpline launched on March 26 a day after the nationwide lockdown was imposed to check pandemic spread. Between March 26 and August 1, the helpline received 50,757 calls. As many as 1,616 distress messages were received through WhatsApp, SMS and on Twitter. CRPF said Madadgaar teams provided over 35,000 food packets to 4,538 Kashmiri and 2,941 migrant labourer families. Over 5,800 calls were received for information on Covid-19 testing and treatment centres. Other calls pertained to information about medical experts and essential services. Another 21,928 calls were received from people seeking information on procedures to return to their homes. CRPF came to migrant worker Mohammad Arifs rescue when he began his journey from Mumbai to his home in Panjgrain near the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmirs Rajouri district in April on a bicycle as his father, Wazir Hussain, suffered a brain stroke. It ensured Arif reaches his destination and helped his father by having him airlifted to Chandigarh for treatment. Arif reached Chandigarh after crossing five states with CRPFs help. Hussain is stable now. Hasan said the helpline has been working in coordination with CRPF units and other departments across the country to help the people in distress. Over 4,040 patients suffering from chronic ailments have been provided medicines, haemodialysis, surgeries, blood donations... The Madadgaar Tel Me telemedicine scheme is also in operation to provide consultations to the patients... said Hasan. Since we have a presence everywhere in Kashmir, we play a pivotal role in rendering assistance to the locals and mitigate the problems of the common man... The scheme has been very successful and has helped in building a closer and friendly interface with the public. There was a surge in calls made to Madadgaar helpline after August 5 last year when the Centre divested Jammu & Kashmir of its special status. A large number of calls were received from abroad as well with people wanting to know the well-being of their families and for assistance. CRPF assistant commandant Junaid, a Kashmiri who heads the Madadgaar unit, said since August 5 last year, they have handled 240,000 calls and provided special assistance in 14,446 cases. We have received over 300 international calls from countries like the UAE, Oman, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK etc where Kashmiri families wanted to inquire about the well-being of their kin living in Kashmir and about the situation in general. It has been a challenging period but we have worked tirelessly in extending all possible help. Ajai Sahni, an internal security expert, said initiatives like Madadgaar may not significantly alter the sentiments of people but they certainly have an impact in building a relationship. We should not forget that Kashmir is not just Anantnag, Pulwama or Kulgam [where terrorism incidents are mostly reported from]... a larger opinion is not actively hostile if not actively supportive of Indian forces. Maybe none of these is going to have an effect on the hardliners but such programmes definitely help. A team of game makers who used to work at Riot Games have raised roughly $6 million in seed funding to open Odyssey Interactive, a new Canadian game studio that aims to build competitive multiplayer games. Notably, the company says its looking to hire folks interested in building those sorts of experiences for mobile devices as it spins up operations in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. Odyssey's founding members all have prior experience working at Riot on League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. Now that they've raised $6 million from investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Golden Ventures they (according to a press release) plan to "get the studio off the ground, hire a team of rockstars, and take a few stabs at making some hopefully pretty awesome games." There have been 1,428 positive COVID-19 tests in Pottawattamie County, which includes two new cases reported as of 3 p.m. Tuesday. With 16,314 tests, the countys positive rate remained at 8.8%, according to the state COVID-19 website, coronavirus.iowa.gov. The state listed 1,100 recoveries. And the state listed 30 deaths in the county, though Pottawattamie County Public Health Director Matt Wyant said hes still working to clear that up with the Iowa Department of Public Health. As far as Wyant knows, there have been 29 COVID-19 deaths in the county. The 14-day average positive rate for the county, used by the state in tracking school districts, was 9.1% as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the state site. Mills County was at 5.7%. The state has said schools can request a shift to all virtual learning if the 14-day average positive rate is 15% or higher. On Monday, the Associated Press and other outlets reported a data error that could downplay the current severity of the coronavirus. The numbers are skewed because some people tested negative earlier but recently tested positive. Iowas system has been recording their new positive results as having happened when their original negative results were reported. The glitch was discovered by Iowa City nurse practitioner Dana Jones, who told the AP, Its just horrifying. We have no idea whats going on, really. The current curve looks flatter than it should and the recent rates of positive tests are lower than they should be, Jones told the AP. Wyant said the glitch doesnt dramatically change his perception of the current state of the pandemic in Pottawattamie County. He did note that on a call Tuesday with state officials, the state offered little explanation, other than they were working to correct a problem. The number of people who wouldve gotten multiple tests wouldve been fairly small, he said, noting that the number of tests in the county is still well behind the countys population of more than 93,000. As far as our percentage wise, it would not have thrown us off much. I havent seen any big effect on our area from that. Asked if hes confident in the states numbers as schools reopen Iowa Western started classes Monday, Heartland Christian returns to class Thursday and Council Bluffs Schools and Lewis Central return on Aug. 24 Wyant said he is. Even with this glitch, I still feel those 14-day averages are reflective of the current status of where were at, he said. In Iowa Regional Medical Coordination Center region four which includes Pottawattamie, Mills, Harrison, Cass, Crawford, Shelby, Fremont, Montgomery, Page, Adams, Audubon and Taylor Counties there were 13 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with six in intensive care, according to coronavirus.iowa.gov at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The site listed 184 inpatient beds, 17 ICU beds and 49 ventilators. There were two COVID-19 patients on a ventilator. COVID-19 testing is available in Pottawattamie County via two TestIowa locations: All Care Health Center, 902 S. Sixth St., and Western Historic Trails Center, 3434 Richard Downing Ave. To get tested, residents must complete the online assessment at testiowa.com to schedule an appointment. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A former British public schoolboy has been flogged naked in Singapore for drugs offences. London-born Ye Ming Yuen, 31, who went to 41,000-a-year Westminster School, was strapped to a large wooden trestle before being caned 24 times. The brutal punishment was carried out yesterday, a week after Yuen lost his final appeal against the sentence, Last night the Foreign Office condemned the decision to lash his bare buttocks with a 4ft rattan cane. The 'judicial corporal punishment' was conducted despite calls for leniency from Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Yuen was caned in the city-state's Changi Prison where he is serving 20 years for drug offences. London-born Ye Ming Yuen (pictured), 31, a former British public school boy has been caned naked in Singapore for drug offences Last night Yuen's sister Elysia Yuen, 32, said: 'I am amazed that Ming, who'd been so scared, had the physical and mental capacity to get through 24 strokes in one go. [We were] told Ming was very strong during the caning and afterwards too. 'Ming knows what he did was wrong and deserved to be punished. We know it's a different country with different laws and you should respect those laws, but isn't a 20-year prison sentence punishment enough?' In a statement, the British High Commission in Singapore said: 'The UK strongly opposes corporal punishment in all circumstances and condemns its use in this case.' Yuen's case was first revealed by the Mail in January last year. Mr Hunt raised it with Singapore's minister for foreign affairs when he visited the country that month. Since then Foreign Office officials have made further representations on Yuen's behalf, while human rights groups condemned Singapore's use of the cane, saying it breaches the UN Convention Against Torture. Yuen was first arrested over drugs offences in August 2016. A prison officer at Changi Prison in Singapore demonstrates the caning on a mannequin Yuen who went to 41,000-a-year Westminster School was strapped to a large wooden trestle before being caned 24 times According to his family, who live in the UK, the only furniture he has in his cell, where he spends 22 hours a day, is a bamboo mat. He is allowed only two visits from his family a month. A former club DJ in Singapore, his offences include two counts of 'repeat drug trafficking' one of 69g and one of 60g of cannabis. Another offence included drug trafficking of 15g of crystal meth. Before moving to Singapore in 2007, Yuen the son of a marketing consultant from China and a Singapore-born marketing executive was a pupil at Dulwich Prep School in south London and then Westminster School, which is next to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. At Westminster School he gained 11 GCSEs, four A*s, six As, and one B. But while at the top public school he 'got in with the wrong crowd' and ended up in trouble with the police. In 2007, it emerged that Yuen was wanted by Scotland Yard over an alleged forged driving licences scam. The convicted drug dealer received the brutal punishment yesterday a week after he lost his final appeal against the sentence A newspaper tracked him down to Singapore, where he reportedly admitted that he manufactured fake documents and sold them to pupils. A spokesman for the Singapore High Commission in London has previously told the Mail: 'Singapore deals with the drug problem comprehensively with the strictest enforcement coupled with the severest of penalties to protect the welfare of the public and our collective aspiration to live and raise our children in a safe oasis.' But human rights groups say caning in Singapore is a violation of international law and breaches the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Caning in Singapore is mandatory in dozens of offences, including attempted murder and rape. Only medically fit men aged 16 to 50 are caned. Caned naked 24 times over a flogging frame...as his family tell Mail of their own agony By Helen Weather and Stephen Wright for The Daily Mail At 9am yesterday Elysia Yuen received the phone call her family had been dreading. As soon as she heard the question 'are you sitting down?' she knew it was too late to save her adored, wayward, academically gifted younger brother Ming, 31, from the most 'barbaric' of physical punishments. Elysia was informed by an official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that her brother had been taken from his cell in the Changi Prison Complex in Singapore to the caning room. He needed to say no more. Elysia already knew every detail of what her brother must have endured because she and her family had spent almost four years trying to stop it. Stripped naked and strapped to a wooden 'flogging frame', he would have been given 24 strokes with a 4ft rattan cane to his exposed buttocks before being returned to his cell with ointments for his ripped and bloodied skin. In 2007, it emerged that Yuen was wanted by Scotland Yard over an alleged forged driving licences scam There, he would be left in appalling pain to contemplate the rest of his 20-year sentence for drugs offences which in Britain might have resulted in no more than a 12-month stretch. 'For almost four years we have lived with the psychological torture of knowing that Ming could be taken from his cell at any time, without any prior warning, and subjected to this barbaric and inhumane punishment,' says Elysia, 32, whose brother was working as a club DJ in Singapore at the time of his arrest in 2016. 'We've lived with the fear he could pass out from the pain after three or four strokes and have to go through it again, or be left with permanent physical damage and scars both physical and psychological. 'So to be told that the caning had gone ahead felt just insane and surreal. I felt this terrible mix of emotions, from relief that it was finally over to great sadness for my brother,' says Elysia, whose pleas for clemency went unheeded. 'Our liaison officer at the FCO told us Ming was very strong during the caning. He knows what he did was wrong. We are an upstanding, religious family and certainly don't advocate the use of drugs, but isn't a 20-year prison sentence punishment enough?' Yuen (pictured at school) was a pupil at Dulwich Prep School in south London and then Westminster School The brutal reality of what they do to convicted drug offenders in the former British colony has been a source of never-ending distress for Yuen's family, who have all stood by him despite being appalled by his crime. Yuen's businessman father Alex, 71, had fought tirelessly until his death from coronavirus in March to seek leniency for his public school-educated son, who he always hoped would one day become a doctor or lawyer. Elysia weeps as she remembers how their father struggled to speak during their last phone call a small act of mercy on behalf of the prison warders and how her brother, joking with him to the end, refused to believe his father might die. First arrested in August 2016 after being searched by police while out walking in a park, British-born Yuen was given the maximum sentence after he was caught again carrying drugs cannabis and 15g of crystal meth. He claimed they were for his own use and for sharing with his wealthy ex-pat friends on the club scene. Unknown to his horrified family he'd first started experimenting with drugs as a teenager after 'falling in with the wrong crowd' while a pupil at 41,000-a-year Westminster School. Not even an intervention by then foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt last year could call a halt to the 'judicial corporal punishment', nor the concerted efforts of human rights lawyers. After Yuen's second last-ditch legal appeal against the caning was rejected by the Singaporean courts last week, Yuen released his own desperate handwritten plea from prison via his solicitor but it was too late. While some might think he got what he deserved, his family believe that after being caught with small amounts of drugs, the punishment was disproportionate and inhumane. As his sister says: 'I certainly don't advocate drugs but it's not as if he was a dealer handing out drugs to kids on the street corner. He was using drugs recreationally with friends, but in Singapore there is no distinction.' Yuen's letter, dated August 6, 2020, makes disturbing reading, as he pleads for the end of the 'barbaric and inhumane practice' of corporal punishment, and tries to explain how he became embroiled in the drugs scene. 'What I am fighting for is not only my own future, but for the conservation of corporal dignity and for the unwavering belief that in any civilised society, violence has no place where the disposal of justice is concerned,' he wrote. 'Are we in favour of a system where the blood of the wayward is demanded to grease the wheels of justice ... that demands the pain, humiliation and debasement of those who fall foul of the law? Or do we believe justice can exist without degradation, without the violation of the human body? Yuen moved to Singapore from Britain at the age of 17 to live with his mother's family after his father was made bankrupt 'Churchill once said that a society could be judged by the way it treats its prisoners. No human being deserves to be treated this way. It may be too late and too bad for me, but it is not, and never will be too late, for posterity to benefit from your compassion.' In another letter dated August 3, 2020, Yuen tries to explain how a boy, whose parents held such hope for him, fell into drug dependency. 'It is difficult for me to picture myself as the recalcitrant criminal I am painted to be,' he wrote. Yuen moved to Singapore from Britain, aged 17, to live with his mother's family after his father was made bankrupt after a bad investment and lost everything. The Yuens' five-bedroom home in Balham, south London, was repossessed and the family moved into emergency council accommodation. Unable to afford Westminster's fees, Yuen who'd gained a string of A and A* grades at GCSE went to a state school for his A-levels but failed to settle. Before leaving for Singapore he'd also got into trouble over an alleged scam involving forged driving licences, which he reportedly sold to other pupils to buy alcohol and cigarettes. 'To see the taboo, to rebel, to experiment, are all part of growing up,' he wrote. Scarred for life by each stroke from the 4ft lash Inmates flogged in Singapore are stripped naked and strapped to a wooden trestle. Then two officers take it in turns to inflict maximum pain with a 4ft rattan cane, about half an inch in diameter, by whipping them up to 24 times across their bare buttocks. After three strokes it is not uncommon for the prisoner to pass out. Yuen would have received little warning of yesterday's caning. He told the Mail last year he was living in a state of permanent fear. 'Of course, I'm scared,' he said. 'I've heard so many horror stories from inmates who have been caned, of scars left on them, of canes breaking during the punishment and having to be replaced and how, after every few strokes, the caner is replaced to ensure each stroke is the same intensity.' There was an outcry in 1994 when US student Michael Fay, then 19, was sentenced to six strokes of the cane in Singapore for vandalism. It was later reduced to four strokes following an appeal by then US president Bill Clinton. Fay is said to have shouted 'I'm dying' when the first stroke was delivered. Advertisement 'A campaign of honesty and frankness is needed to dissuade the young from falling into a cycle of addiction which is at the root of social problems caused by drugs. 'I think for people my age, a very big problem is that we don't really see the harm caused by, say, smoking a spliff, or taking a pill. To us (and to be very frank) drugs are fun, until they are not.' Neither Elysia, who worked in digital marketing until being made redundant during the pandemic, nor her 29-year-old younger sister, had any idea that their brother had dabbled with drugs since his teen years until his arrest. 'Ming is so clever, so capable, he could be anything that he wants to be. Even as a child, he'd always been so confident and outgoing. Our dad always called him the class clown, telling jokes and making people laugh,' says Elysia. 'My father going bankrupt affected my brother the most, because his circle of friends had money and did certain things and went to certain places, and he couldn't afford to do that any more. It was a shock for all of us when we lost everything but it was hugely embarrassing for Ming.' In Singapore, Ming liked the life so much he decided to stay, eventually working as a DJ in his uncle's nightclub before moving onto Zouk, one of the world's biggest clubs. 'Ming was voted Singapore's best DJ. He had his face on billboards, on the side of buses and magazine covers. I had no idea he'd got involved in drugs so it was a huge shock when my auntie called saying Ming had been arrested,' says Elysia. 'I remember tears rolling down my face when she told me he could face a death sentence. 'That was the most terrifying thing. Our parents were devastated, but he was still their son and we all loved him.' The capital charge was dropped because the net weight of the drugs involved was less than 500g, but Yuen wrecked his chances of a lighter sentence after being caught using again while on bail, resulting in the maximum caning penalty. 'We are not excusing Ming's behaviour and I do feel when he was on bail that was a low point for him,' says Elysia. 'He knew he'd be going back to court to be sentenced to prison, so as someone who was taking drugs, that was where he found his solace and escapism. 'The severity of the sentence felt barbaric. I think he is being made an example of because Singapore wants to send the message, 'Don't come to our country and break the rules', but 24 strokes is the maximum anyone can receive, even rapists. 'Anyone who doesn't think that is barbaric can't be human. It's awful. I don't think anyone should be subjected to physical torture because if you are going to prison, that is already your punishment.' Since his incarceration, Yuen's family have visited once a year. He is allowed one face-to-face visit, separated by security glass, a month plus one 'televisit' where loved ones can only see him via a screen from a different room. Elysia says he tries to be cheerful and is always excited to see them. He is not allowed phone calls and their only other communication is via prison email. 'Ming feels he has let our mum down, but she doesn't feel that way. He's her son and she loves him. He is still a very capable person and can still make a life for himself when he is released from prison.' With the caning now over, the family are fighting for him to be transferred to a British prison. 'Right now, we just want to make sure he has all the support that he needs,' says Elysia. 'He's already been punished physically and mentally, and that will be with him for the rest of his life. It was a barbaric thing for him to go through, but we need to remember there are other people facing this as well who don't have a voice.' SPRINGFIELD Illinois renters will have an additional week to apply for assistance in paying past due rents, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday. Because of damage caused by severe storms last week, the deadline to apply for assistance has been extended to Aug. 28. Landlords will have until August 30 to complete their portion of the aid assistance. The program is administered by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. IHDA Executive Director Kristin Faust said more than 75,000 people were left without power because of the storms which left many people who want assistance unable to apply for it. Information about the program can be found at era.ihda.org. The site also lists dozens of organizations that can help people apply for aid. Also, people can contact the agency by phone at 312-883-2720 or 888-252-1119. The hearing impaired are advised to contact Navicore Solutions at (877) 274-4309. The state of Illinois has allocated $150 million to help people unable to pay their rent because they've lost income due to the coronavirus. To qualify, household income before March 1 can be no more than 80 percent of the median income for a particular area of the state. People are instructed to enter their income into the online application which will then tell them if they are eligible. Also, the household has to have lost income because of the COVID-19 pandemic and there must be an unpaid rent balance that was accrued after March 1. The program will award a one-time grant of $5,000 that can be used to pay past due rent and also to pre-pay rent through the end of the year, as long as funds remain. The money is paid directly to a family's landlord. PHOTOS: Have you seen these missing children? Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 President Nana Akufo-Addo won the 2016 elections with 53.85% against the then sitting President, John Dramani Mahama in the first round to become the first opposition candidate to win an outright majority vote in first round of Presidential elections. With this, the Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Mame Yaa Aboagye is optimistic President Akufo-Addo will retire Mr. Mahama from the Presidential race by winning the 2020 elections. According to her, President Akufo-Addo has outperformed in all sectors of the economy, hence believing Ghanaians will massively endorse and renew his mandate in the December elections. I am optimistic President Akufo-Addo will win and win decisively, come 2020 elections. He will humbly retire candidate Mahama on the basis of the amazing policies, interventions and developmental projects sprung up across the country by the NPP government. He will retire candidate Mahama in shame and agony instead of the dignity that otherwise he would have been deserving. She pledged the governments unflinching commitment to meeting the needs and aspirations of the citizenry. Three and half years of President Nana Akufo-Addo has increased industrial growth, built and revived many factories under the 1District 1Factory, built the 1Village 1Dam, One Constituency One Wearhouse to aid farmers to store their farm produce. He has also revived and given a facelift to the railway sector and also provided free electricity for lifeline consumers and free water to all for 9 months during COVID-19. The One constituency One ambulance has been implemented and revived the national ambulance system. He has also created jobs for graduates in the private and public sectors including the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), teacher and nurses training allowances have been restored...Nana Ado wilfully bury NDC in 2020, Mame Yaa added. Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Donald Trump said he called off last weekends trade talks with China, raising questions about the future of a trade deal that is now the most stable point in an increasingly tense relationship. I canceled talks with China, Trump said Tuesday in Yuma, Arizona. I dont want to talk to China right now. The phase-one trade deal, which came into force in February, had called for discussions on implementation of the agreement every six months. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was supposed to hold a video conference call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but it was postponed indefinitely. While China is making many of the structural changes it promised on issues such as intellectual property protection, its purchases of U.S. goods are well below where they need to be to meet promised targets, and theres almost no chance they can be fulfilled now with the damage Covid-19 has done to the global economy. A collapse of the deal risks leading to a return of the tit-for-tat tariff war that hurt trade and companies around the world. Addressing whether the U.S. would pull out of the phase-one deal, Trump said: Well see what happens. Terminating the deal would require a written notification and take effect 60 days later, unless both parties agree on a different date. The talks never made it on to any official public calendar in Washington or Beijing, but the South China Morning Post reported that they were set for last Saturday. Earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that information on high-level talks will be released in due course. China Is Buying American But Not Enough to Hit Trade Deal Target Trump has stepped up pressure on China over everything from democracy in Taiwan and Hong Kong to popular apps WeChat and TikTok as he looks to make up ground in the polls before the November election. One of his main goals with the trade deal was to lower the U.S. deficit with China, but now its rising again. Even if China can buy enough soybeans, corn or pork to meet its promises on agriculture, its unlikely it can buy enough oil and gas to meet the promises on energy. In addition, the collapse of international travel will hit Chinese demand for new U.S. planes and has stopped hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens from traveling to the U.S. for college or tourism, decimating U.S. services exports. Trump has been stepping up complaints about China, particularly over the spread of the coronavirus, which he regularly calls the China Virus. What China did to the world was unthinkable, Trump said Tuesday. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A physicist has calculated that the universe will end in the next few trillion years. According to other experts, it could end for us far sooner. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently testified before Congress that an asteroid strike is perhaps Earths biggest threat. Last Sunday, his fears were made real when an undetected asteroid made the closest pass without hitting our planet ever recorded. Heres the troubling part: NASA did not see the object until six hours after it flew past us. While it was small enough that it would likely have broken up in the atmosphere, it was undetected until it would have been too late to respond. What happened in the skies overhead is a metaphor for what is happening in the world around us. And the situation is more dire than most seem to think. Technology that 'changes everything weve ever known' This New York Times headline caught my eye: The Poly-Parent Households Are Coming. The author points to a technological revolution in baby making called IVG (in vitro gametogenesis). This process would allow anyone to manufacture an egg or sperm cell from a sliver of their own skin and that of others. Children could be created with genetic material from anyone and any number of people, whatever their gender or relational status. IVG is already in laboratory experimentation. If successful for humans, the author states that it would dismantle completely the reproductive structure of heterosexuality through technology that changes everything weve ever known about sex and babies and marriage. Poly-parents may be the future, but tri-parenting is the present. According to the Boston Globe, lawmakers and/or courts in at least twelve US states have declared that some children can have more than two parents. One example involves a three-part intimate relationship among a husband, his wife, and a female neighbor. The husband and wife later divorced after the women split off as a couple; all three have custody of the child. Why God delays his judgment Jesus position on sexual morality was clear: A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (Matthew 19:5). As a result, we are to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18) and to let the marriage bed be undefiled (Hebrews 13:4). Heres the part of Gods word on our subject that I want us to focus on today: Hebrews 13:4 continues, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. If our secular culture is aware of this fact, most seem not to care. Peter warned about those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority (2 Peter 2:10). In this context, the authority is that of the Lord himself. Such people have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin (v. 14) and face severe judgment to come (v. 17). Of course, its easy for secular people to discount the warning of spiritual judgment. Peter quoted such skeptics in his day: Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:4). The fact is, God delays his judgment only out of his compassion: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (v. 9). However, he will not stay his judgment forever: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed (v. 10). In light of the certainty of judgment, we must choose lives of godliness and holiness (v. 11) and be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace (v. 14). My response to a radio question We cannot expect lost people to adopt biblical morality in light of judgment by a God they ignore. But we must not adopt their presumption as our own. Every day brings us one day closer to the day when we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10). And we must not allow the presumption of our lost culture to deter us from warning those we influence. The more a cancer patient ignores his disease, the more urgent his doctors warnings. I was asked yesterday in a radio interview to offer ways Christians should respond to the cancel culture censure many of us face. My suggestion was to reframe such conflict as a divine appointment. The more people reject us for the biblical truths we hold, the more they need these truths. And the more we respond to their condemnation with Christlike compassion, the more we show them the transforming relevance of our faith and our Lord. We should expect such conflict in our fallen world. Francis Chan was right: Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers. But we should respond with intercession and service that pays forward the grace we have received from the Lord we love. If you knew that a gigantic meteor was on a collision course with our planet, wouldnt you do everything you could to warn everyone you could? Originally published at the Denison Forum Harrison was confronted andwho Clemons said is a member of the church, and by several others who also were attending the event. A knife believed to have been used by Harrison was recovered from the scene, police said in a statement. LAKEWOOD, CO / ACCESSWIRE / August 19, 2020 / General Moly, Inc. (the "Company" or "General Moly") (NYSE AMERICAN and TSX: GMO), the only western-exchange listed, pure-play molybdenum ("moly") development company, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2020 ("2Q 2020"). Due to the Company's inability to obtain financing to date, the Company's inadequate cash to continue operations past the third quarter of 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on capital markets during the second quarter of 2020, and the decrease in the current and forecasted price of molybdenum, among other factors, the Company recognized a non-cash impairment charge reducing the carrying value of the Mt. Hope molybdenum project by $260.6 million as of June 30, 2020. The carrying value of Mt. Hope Project assets now totals $66.8 million. The impairment charge does not alter the Company's ownership of its underlying assets or rights. After accounting for the non-cash write-down of $260.6 million and a $57,000 gain from the sale of non-core property in Nevada, consolidated net loss for 2Q 2020 was $262.9 million (-$1.39 per share), compared with a consolidated net loss of $2.5 million (-$0.02 per share) in the second quarter of 2019 ("2Q 2019"). The Company had $2.5 million in cash and equivalents on June 30, 2020. The Company's current working capital is negative. Based on the Company's current operating forecast, which takes into consideration the fact that the Company currently does not generate any revenue, the Company's existing capital resources are only adequate to sustain its operations through September 30, 2020. In particular, the Company has insufficient cash to make required interest payments on its outstanding Exchange Notes and Supplemental Notes through the remainder of 2020. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If the Company is unable to find an additional source of funding before the end of September 2020, the Company will be forced to cease operations and pursue restructuring or liquidation alternatives, including the filing for bankruptcy protection, in which event the Company's common stock would likely become worthless and investors would likely lose their entire investment in the Company. In addition, holders of the Company's outstanding convertible preferred stock and senior notes would likely receive significantly less than the principal amount of their claims and possibly, no recovery at all. As of the date of this news release, the Company has no commitments for additional funding and there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in obtaining the financing required to complete the Mt. Hope Project, or in raising additional financing in the future on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all. Story continues The Mt. Hope Project, near Eureka, Nevada, is owned 80% by General Moly and 20% by POS-Minerals Corporation ("POS-Minerals") through their membership in EMLLC, which operates the Mt. Hope Project. At June 30, 2020, EMLLC had a restricted cash balance of $2.8 million (100% basis) in a reserve account, sufficient to remain self-funded into the third quarter of 2021, based on current estimated care and maintenance expenses. General and administrative expenses were $1.7 million in 2Q 2020, 13% lower year over year due to executive salary reductions implemented in the first quarter. Exploration and evaluation expenses of $132,000 in 2Q 2020 compared with $102,000. Interest expense was $367,000 in 2Q 2020 compared with $387,000 in 2Q 2019. Other expense in 2Q 2020 of $215,000 was related to fair value non-cash adjustments on the warrants issued to the Company's largest shareholder AMER International Group in late 2019. Table 1: Financial Summary ($ and Shares in 000, Except Per Share) 2Q 2020 2Q 2019 1H 2020 1H 2019 Exploration & evaluation expenses $ 132 $ 102 $ 305 $ 206 General and administrative expenses, including non-cash stock compensation 1,699 1,962 3,191 3,260 Loss on impairment charge 260,553 - 260,553 - (Gain) on sale of non-core properties (57) - (604) - Total Operating Expenses 262,327 2,064 263,445 3,466 Interest expense (367) (387 ) (1,126) (442 ) Other income/(expense) (215) - 537 - Consolidated Net Loss $ (262,909) $ (2,451 ) $ (264,034) $ (3,908 ) Less: Net loss attributable to Contingently Redeemable Non-controlling Interest $ 51,697 $ (25 ) $ 51,622 $ 11 Net Loss attributable to General Moly $ (211,212) $ (2,476 ) $ (212,412) $ (3,897 ) Net Loss Per Share $ (1.39) $ (0.02 ) $ (1.39) $ (0.03 ) Avg. Weighted Shares Outstanding 152,316 137,797 153,038 137,635 Table 2: Balance Sheet Summary ($ in 000) June 30, 2020 Dec. 31, 2019 Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 2,528 $ 4,614 Current Assets 3,034 4,886 Current Liabilities 35,281 35,364 Working Capital (32,247) (30,478 ) Restricted cash held at EMLLC 2,829 3,388 Other restricted cash 708 708 Total Assets 81,742 344,227 Return of contributions payable to POS-Minerals, current portion 33,641 33,641 Total Current Liabilities 35,281 35,364 Senior Promissory Notes 8,847 7,883 Other liabilities 6,512 5,530 Total liabilities 75,434 74,535 Contingently Redeemable Non-controlling Interest 120,617 172,239 Convertible Preferred Shares 1,300 1,300 Total Shareholders' Equity $ (115,609) $ 96,153 The Company's financial advisors, XMS Capital Partners, Headwall Partners, and Odinbrook Global Advisors, continue to be engaged by the Board of Directors to assist the Company with securing incremental financing and evaluating other strategic alternatives, including the potential addition of new Mt. Hope Project partners, additional corporate strategic investors, merger opportunities, and/or the possible sale or privatization of the Company. There is no assurance that the Company will be successful in securing additional funding to be able to continue as a going concern. In other matters, the Company's Form S-3 Registration Statement was approved as effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in May 2020. At the Annual Meeting of Stockholders on July 17, 2020, all proposals were approved by the stockholders, including the proposal regarding an amendment to the Company's certificate of incorporation providing the Board of Directors the flexibility to effect a reverse stock split of the Company's common stock. More information is described in the Company's news releases of July 20, and March 17, 2020. Mt. Hope Project Engineering remains approximately 65% complete at the fully permitted and construction ready Mt. Hope Project. Currently, there is no ongoing engineering and procurement effort. Through June 30, 2020, the LLC has made deposits and/or final payments of $88.0 million on equipment, mostly for the mill. The Mt. Hope Project, which is construction ready and fully permitted, is positioned as the largest moly reserve asset in the Western World. Moly Market The moly oxide daily global spot price per pound is currently at $7.93/lb compared with $9.20 at yearend 2019 and $11.88 at yearend 2018, according to Platts. The moly price ranged from a low of $7.33/lb to a high of $9.10/lb during the second quarter of 2020. The moly price reached a low of $7.00/lb on July 20, 2020 and breached the $8 mark on August 14, 2020. Beginning in 2020 through mid-February, moly prices rose to nearly $11/lb. Later in February 2020, prices pulled back to the $9-range and below $9 in mid-March upon the global economic slowdown. Moly rebounded to just above $9 at the end of April but weakened below $8 in mid-June and traded in the $7-range for approximately two months. The moly price has declined from softened demand due to the global economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the weakness in oil and gas industry impacting molybdenum-strengthened steel consumption. The International Molybdenum Association ("IMOA") recently reported that global moly consumption in the first quarter of 2020 at 123.6 million pounds, decreased 13% year over year. China, the largest user of moly in the world, consumed 40.3 million pounds, 18% less moly in the first quarter compared with a year ago. The IMOA also reported that global production decreased 8% year over year to 139.2 million pounds in the first quarter of 2020. China, the largest producer of moly, saw a 6% decrease year over year to 47.7 million pounds of molybdenum output related to the shutdown. The IMOA figures translate to a first quarter surplus of 15.6 million pounds, equating to 13% of first quarter demand. Stainless steel represents the largest use of moly, accounting for 21% of all moly consumption, according to the CPM Group ("CPM"). The International Stainless Steel Federation ("ISSF") reported an 8% drop year-over-year in global stainless steel output for the first quarter of 2020. The widespread business and industry shutdown around the globe to curb the coronavirus spread resulted in stainless steel production declines in all regions, including the largest stainless steel manufacturer China with a 9% year-over-year decrease, an 11% drop in United States of America, and a 6% decline in Europe. On a promising note, China appears to be rebounding quickly as its cities and provinces reopen from the lockdown to curb the coronavirus spread. China's second quarter Gross Domestic Production showed a 3.2% increase year over year compared with a minus 6.8% contraction in the first quarter from the prior year, according to BMO Metals Brief. Furthermore, China's industrial production was up 4.8% year over year in June, which was the third consecutive month of growth, reported BMO. China, the largest producer of stainless steel in the world, has been ramping up stainless steel production over the second quarter, according to CPM. China showed just a 2.7% decrease year over year ("YOY") for June 2020 in the three most popular types of stainless steel, series 200, 300, and 400, compared with the record monthly high of 2.4 million metric tons in August 2019, noted CPM. An additional positive factor for moly is that China also showed a 5.8% YOY production growth for 2Q 2020 in the series 300 stainless steel, which contains higher moly and nickel compared with series 200 steel, stated CPM. Chart 1: Moly Weekly Spot Price (1/6/2011 - 8/14/2020) Source: Platts About General Moly General Moly is a U.S.-based, molybdenum mineral exploration and development company listed on the NYSE American, recently known as the NYSE MKT and former American Stock Exchange, and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GMO. The Company's primary asset, an 80% interest in the Mt. Hope Project located in central Nevada, is considered one of the world's largest and highest grade molybdenum deposits. Combined with the Company's wholly-owned Liberty Project, a molybdenum and copper property also located in central Nevada, General Moly's goal is to become the largest primary molybdenum producer in the world. Molybdenum or "moly" is a metallic element used primarily as an alloy agent in steel manufacturing. When added to steel, molybdenum enhances steel strength, resistance to corrosion and extreme temperature performance. In the chemical and petrochemical industries, molybdenum is used in catalysts, especially for cleaner burning fuels by removing sulfur from liquid fuels, and in corrosion inhibitors, high performance lubricants and polymers. Contact: Scott Roswell (303) 928-8591 info@generalmoly.com Website: www.generalmoly.com Forward-Looking Statements Statements herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, expected, or implied by the Company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to availability of cash to continue ongoing operations and the possibility of seeking bankruptcy protection, that COVID-19 is having and will continue to have an effect on financing efforts to improve liquidity, availability of insurance, metals price and production volatility, global economic conditions, currency fluctuations, increased production costs and variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans, exploration risks and results, reclamation risks, political, operational and project development risks, ability to maintain required federal and state permits to continue construction, and commence production of molybdenum, copper, silver, lead or zinc, ability to identify any economic mineral reserves of copper, silver, lead or zinc; ability of the Company to obtain approval of its joint venture partner at the Mt. Hope Project in order to mine for molybdenum, copper, silver, lead or zinc, ability to raise required project financing or funding to pursue an exploration program related to potential copper, silver lead or zinc deposits at Mt. Hope, ability to respond to adverse governmental regulation and judicial outcomes, and ability to maintain and /or adjust estimates related to cost of production, capital, operating and exploration expenditures. For a detailed discussion of risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors and other discussion contained in the Company's quarterly and annual periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, on file with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. SOURCE: General Moly, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/602354/General-Moly-Reports-Second-Quarter-2020-Results SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Authorities say a patron at a bar in Sturgis, South Dakota, has tested positive for COVID-19 and was able to transmit the virus while attending the massive Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. A person who later tested positive for COVID-19 was at the One-Eyed Jack's Saloon in Sturgis from noon to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 11, the South Dakota Department of Health said. "Due to the risk of exposure, individuals that visited the business during the specified dates and times should monitor for symptoms for 14 days after they visited," the health department said in a news release. The 2020 Rally drew more than 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event, according to a count South Dakota transportation officials released Tuesday. That's down 8 percent from 2019. Previously: No masks required as 250,000 expected at 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Here's what to know. A CDC screening tool is available at COVID.SD.GOV, which can recommend when to call your medical provider if you develop symptoms. Many who rode their bikes into Sturgis at the beginning of the fest expressed defiance at the rules and restrictions that have marked life in much of the world during the pandemic. Screw COVID, read the design on one T-shirt being hawked. I went to Sturgis. Many locals were worried the huge crowds and lack of social distancing rules would lead to an unmanageable outbreak of COVID-19. Contributing: Joel Shannon and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; The Associated Press Sturgis: Fifth person dies in fatal crashes at 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally President targets Sally Yates, AOC: Trump campaign bashes Tuesday at DNC as 'loser night' This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sturgis Rally: Potential COVID-19 exposure, health department warns Even as the government has approved the proposal for leasing out of three Airports Authority of India (AAI)-run airports, what is to be seen is how effectively and efficiently would it be able to complete the process especially during the coronavirus pandemic, a Delhi-based law firm has said. On Wednesday, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the government has given its go-ahead to lease out Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Jaipur airports through public-private partnership (PPP). "After the success of Delhi and Mumbai airports, what needs to be seen for the future airports privatisation is how effectively and efficiently would the government be able to complete the process especially during the pandemic," said Poonam Verma, partner, J Sagar Associates, said. Initiating a process and not finishing it add to the uncertainty for the successful bidder, which should be avoided, Verma added. She said it has been observed that revenue share payments have been getting delayed from time to time, making it difficult to actively take up the future privatisation process. Verma also added this must be sorted by the government with clear implications, incentives or disincentives in place to tackle such payments. (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.) White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that President Donald Trump hadn't done a 'deep dive' into Florida GOP primary winner Laura Loomer. The 27-year-old right-wing activist is known for pushing conspiracy theories about school shootings and making anti-Muslim statements - and won the GOP primary Tuesday for the Florida Congressional district that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Loomer celebrated Wednesday by talking to fellow right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, calling the hoaxes she's pushed 'factual stories that we have been ahead of the curve on for years,' as J.T. Lewis, a gun rights activist who supports Trump and whose brother died in the Sandy Hook shooting, called for Loomer to be pushed from the party. Donald Trump congratulated Laura Loomer (pictured) on winning the GOP primary for the district that covers his Mar-a-Lago estate. The White House said Wednesday the president hasn't done a 'deep dive' on Loomer's statements White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that the president 'routinely congratulates people who ... get the Republican nomination for Congress' Loomer called into Alex Jones' Infowars show and said that the conspiracy theories and hoaxes they've been pushing are 'factual stories that we have been ahead of the curve on for years' 'Laura Loomer is a Parkland and Sandy Hook hoaxer. She has no place in the Republican Party!' Lewis tweeted. Despite Loomer's controversial views, Trump tweeted congratulations to her late Tuesday. 'Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!' Trump wrote. She also has the backing of Jones, Donald Trump Jr., Trump's former political adviser Roger Stone and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a diehard Trump supporter. Speaking to Jones on his InfoWars show, she complained, 'I was told that if I wanted to win my race ... that I could never do InfoWars again and that I could not speak to you because they say that you are toxic, just like they say about me, and I said screw you, Alex Jones is a freedom fighter, he's a patriot, he's fighting for the First Amendment and I am never going to sideline any of my friends.' 'We were the people who led the culture revolution in 2016 when President Trump was nominated and elected,' Loomer told Jones Wednesday. 'That is what the Republican Party is missing now.' Loomer will face Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel in the fall. The four-time congresswoman is expected to win easily in the deep blue district. She ran unopposed in 2018 and beat her Republican rival in 2016 by 27.6 points. McEnany said Trump's support for Loomer was standard protocol. 'Well, the president routinely congratulates people who have officially - get the Republican nomination for Congress, so he does that as a matter of course,' she said at the White House briefing Wednesday. McEnany was asked about Loomer and about Marjorie Taylor Greene, a GOP candidate from George for the House of Representatives who prescribes to the QAnon conspiracy theory and has also made anti-Muslim statements. 'He hasn't done a deep dive into the statements by these two particular women, I don't know if he's even seen that,' McEnany said. 'But he supports the Muslim community, he supports the community of faith more broadly in this country.' The president tweeted in a show of support for Loomer late Tuesday after she defeated five candidates to win the Republican primary for the US House of Representatives seat that includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach WHO'S BANNED LAURA LOOMER PLATFORMS Twitter Facebook Instagram PAYMENT SYSTEMS PayPal Venmo GoFundMe RIDESHARES Uber Lyft TECH FIRMS XFinity / Comcast processing of her campaign mass texts EVENTS CPAC - Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019 Advertisement Courtesy of Ali Alexander Loomer took the lead in the Republican primary with 42.7 percent of the vote, with nuclear engineer turned professor Christian Acosta coming in second with 25.5 percent. Other candidates in the race included a former burlesque dancer who now runs an exotic animal business and a former IRS investigator. Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, after changing his official residence from New York to Palm Beach back in October 2019. He and Melania's ballots were returned to Palm Beach officials Monday in time for their votes to be counted, reported the Washington Post. The president's decision to cast his own vote by mail comes after he has repeatedly claimed mail-in ballots lead to widespread fraud and even threatened to redo the election if he loses through what he has blasted a 'rigged' system. It is not clear if the president voted for Loomer but his social media post confirmed he approved of her victory. He'll be able to vote for her in the November election, which he plans to do absentee. Loomer has been a high-profile figure on the fringes of the alt-right since working for Project Veritas when she was a college student. While working with Jones of InfoWars she went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and accused students there of 'reading a screen or notes.' 'It's obvious these kids are reading a screen or notes someone else wrote for them. Notice how media is only talking to the same group of students. They aren't talking to the pro gun ROTC students who actually saved lives, unlike these students,' she tweeted. She also pushed a theory that there was a second gunman in the Las Vegas massacre in September 2017 and went to a press conference a month later to harry the Las Vegas county sheriff with her claims. 'All of the evidence that is being leaked is further showing how the Deep State is covering it up,' she said. The controversial 27-year-old has been slammed for making anti-Muslim comments on several occasions in recent years. She called the FBI the 'Federal Bureau of Islam' as she pushed deep-state conspiracy claims. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar 'anti-Jewish' - which led to her being removed from Twitter. 'Isn't it ironic how the twitter moment used to celebrate 'women, LGBTQ, and minorities' is a picture of Ilhan Omar?' Loomer tweeted about the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman. 'Ilhan is pro Sharia Ilhan is pro-FGM Under Sharia, homosexuals are oppressed & killed. Women are abused & forced to wear the hijab. Ilhan is anti Jewish.' Trump cast his vote by mail in Florida's 21st District primary election, where Loomer (pictured) took the victory The controversial conspiracy theorist has been accused of hate speech on more than one occasion. In November 2018 she was accused of hate speech when she called Representative Ilhan Omar (left) 'anti-Jewish'. She slammed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (right) for suspending her account over the incident Far-right activist Loomer, who has the backing of Trump's friend and former adviser Roger Stone, Representative Matt Gaetz and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, will now take on Democratic Representative Lois Frankel (pictured) in the November general election When she was banned from Twitter over the incident, Loomer handcuffed herself to Twitter's New York offices. That same month, she was removed from a congressional hearing on social media when she hit out at CEO Jack Dorsey for 'shadowbanning' conservatives and accused him of trying to sway the midterm elections toward the Democrats. This came after she was banned from using Uber and Lyft in November 2017 for tweeting that 'someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft' and complaining that she was late to a meeting because she could not find a 'non-Muslim' driver. In June 2017, Loomer rushed the stage during a Shakespeare In The Park production of 'Julius Caesar' in New York to accuse the cast of normalizing 'political violence against the right' and calling them 'Isis'. 'Stop the normalization of political violence against the right!' she shouted. 'Shame on the New York Public Theatre for doing this! You guys are ISIS! CNN is ISIS!' She also ambushed actress Alyssa Milano at the 2018 Politicon conference in Los Angeles, suggesting she was in cahoots with Linda Sarsour, a Muslim co-founder of the Women's March. 'I want to ask you right now to disavow Linda Sarsour because she is a supporter of Sharia law. And under Sharia law, women are oppressed, women are forced to wear a hijab,' Loomer said, identifying herself as a 'conservative investigative journalist.' 'My question is, will you please disavow her because she is advocating for Shariah law,' Loomer yelled at Milano, who was seated onstage. As Loomer was ushered out of the room, she yelled that #MeToo was a 'sham movement.' Global broker Aon has formed a new team in its Reinsurance Solutions business that will focus on building global investor relationships in order to identify additional sources of capacity to clients. The new Capital Partners team will initially bring third-party property catastrophe capacity to clients in London, Bermuda, Europe and Asia. The team will then expand its capabilities into other business lines and regions, Aon said. Capital Partners will work with its Aon Securities and Capital Advisory teams to address clients holistic business requirements, the announcement said. In addition to his existing retrocessional brokerage role, Richard Wheeler will become head of Capital Partners. He will be supported by Benfield Vice President Anshuman Srivastava as deputy head. Both will report to Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Reinsurance Solutions, and Paul Schultz, CEO of Aon Securities. Frankland said Capital Partners adds another dimension to Aons investor access alongside Aon Securities insurance-linked securities capability, and Capital Advisorys funds at Lloyds reinsurance capital raising expertise. Sourcing capital in its various forms is complex and challenging, particularly in the evolving economic environment, said Schultz. He said Capital Partners will reach a wide, diversified, global investor base to attract all forms of third-party and alternative capital into the reinsurance sector. Source: Aon Visit the Big Re, Carrier Managements reinsurance hub, for complete reinsurance coverage. Launched during the week of what would have been the Reinsurance Rendez-Vous de Septembre, this special page aims to provide complete reinsurance coverage of, by and for reinsurance professionals and buyers including news, features, interviews, commentaries, whitepapers, videos, webinars and more. Topics Mergers Reinsurance Aon Federal authorities are helping Portland police investigate after an explosive device was thrown at protesters and media members earlier this month in Laurelhurst Park. Portland police said the FBI is assisting in their investigation into the Aug. 8 incident. The agency also said it had received an unexploded device that will be sent for forensic analysis. Video footage of the incident shows an explosive device being thrown at protesters and some members of the press as a small group gathered in the park after protesters were largely dispersed by police. The video didnt show who tossed the three devices two of which detonated. No one was hurt. Photos from the scene show what appears to be a pipe with a bag of black powder removed from it. Footage also depicts a man leaving the park carrying a military-style helmet with night vision goggles just after the explosions. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported the man was identified by people who know him as retired U.S. Navy Seal and former CIA contractor Louis Gerrick Fernbaugh. Police said Fernbaugh has not been cleared in the case and that unless a firsthand witness comes forward to connect him directly to the incident, he wont be arrested. The agency has been in contact with Fernbaugh, whos represented by an attorney and isnt making a statement about the incident, according to police. The incident is one of two involving explosive devices in Portland in recent weeks. Police are also investigating reports that someone threw an explosive device that detonated Saturday near Southwest Fourth Avenue and Main Street, which is in the area where protesters have gathered daily for months. Protesters have gathered in Portland for 83 consecutive nights, demonstrating against police violence and anti-Black racism. -- Jim Ryan and K. Rambo jryan@oregonian.com; krambo@oregonian.com Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has expressed concerns over President Nana Akufo-Addo's free water and electricity supply, claiming Ghanaians will pay back next year. Kwesi Pratt predicted that next year water and electricity tariffs will see an astronomical increase as a result of the President's freebies. "I will not be surprised if next year tariffs on water and electricity go up." He made this comment during a panel discussion on Peace FM's flagship programme ''Kokrokoo''. Free Water; Free Power President Akufo-Addo, beginning in April this year, provided free water supply and absorbed electricity bills for all Ghanaians for the three months ending in June as part of measures to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. This government intervention was supposed to end in June but the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, delivering the 2020 mid-year budget review on Thursday, July 23, 2020 put more smiles on the faces of Ghanaians by announcing the government has extended the free water and electricity supplies for another three months. Mr. Speaker, the reason is simple. It is because we put the concerns and aspirations of the ordinary Ghanaian first. That is also why we further reduced electricity prices by half and completely provided potable water for free for everybody since March this year. And we will extend it for another 3 months. To break it down, it takes a caring government of the people, and with that, I mean, a Government of all the people, to offer cost-free water to all across the country: representing all domestic and commercial customers in Ghana for three months. It takes a caring government to be for the people and for business, large and small, to choose to subsidize electricity consumption by 50 percent to 4 million (4,086,286) households and nearly 700,000 (686,522) businesses at a cost of GH1.02 billion in three months. And we will extend the coverage for lifeline customers for another 3 months, he said on the floor of Parliament. Prepare To Refund The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, however, asked Ghanaians not to be too enthused about Akufo-Addo government's giveaways because they are not free. "We should not forget the fact we're going to pay for it. Why am I saying we'll pay for it? Where is the money coming from? Is it not from our taxes? We'll surely pay back," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. On the issue of the President's performance, Mr. Pratt questioned why it should be said that the government has undertaken developmental projects that will benefit all Ghanaians, asking "has it ever occurred that a President undertook developmental projects specifically for his wife, children and family only? It's never happened before. So, where from all these statements about he (President Akufo-Addo) did these developments for all of us and so forth?" 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 Labour Party Leader Alan Kelly has called for the Dail to be immediately recalled to discuss the ongoing fallout and confusion after the Government announced new Covid-19 restrictions. Mr Kelly also said he is concerned about the new powers the Government intends to give gardai to close down house parties which he suggested could create a police state. Id be very suspect about supporting anything that allows entry into a family home outside whats there already, he said. I dont want us to inch by inch move towards a police state, he added. The Labour leader said he would support measures which would give gardai more powers to shut down pubs or restaurants that are found to be in breach of Covid regulations. Speaking in Leinster House, Mr Kelly said huge confusion had been caused by the new rules around public transport, indoor gatherings, sport and how over 70s are being treated. There is utter confusion across the country. All politicians across politics are seeing their offices inundated with calls and their phones are hopping, he said. Mr Kelly Mr Kelly criticised Transport Minister Eamon Ryan for saying he is only now considering social distancing on buses and trains. What has he being doing for the last number of weeks in relation to this, he added. He also said Education Minister Norma Foley has gone missing. Aodhan O Riordain was also critical of the lack of answers from Ms Foley on preparations on getting children back to school next week and the lack of clarity on their response to the controversy in the UK over a similar calculated grade system to the one being used to give leaving cert results. Press Release 19 August 2020 Anthony Melchiorri, CEO of Argeo Hospitality, host of Travel Channel's Hotel Impossible and one of the hospitality industry's top podcast, Anthony Melchiorri Live, appealed to Congress to address the liquidity crisis facing the nation's hotel owners as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Advertisements In a video message, Melchiorri urged lawmakers to enact substantive measures to help hoteliers such as as a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), banking relief for holders of commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) loans, access to the Main Street Lending Program for commercial real estate, and increased resources for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. "America's hotels are small businesses. The majority are local businesses owned and operated by friends and neighbors in our communities. The economic fallout of this pandemic hit the hospitality industry hard. Without travelers, without heads in beds, there's no cash in the register. The men and women I work with every day, like the hotel owners at AAHOA, are facing a dire financial crisis that threatens to shutter thousands of businesses across the country. Congress needs to do right by these small businesses and help preserve the millions of jobs they create," said Melchiorri. The precipitous drop in travel stemming from state lockdowns, quarantines, and no-travel orders saw occupancy rates at hotels fall into the single digits. The corresponding fall in revenue has left hoteliers struggling to pay their employees and meet debt obligations such as mortgage payments, utility costs, and property taxes. In a recent industry survey, nearly half of respondents said they are at risk of losing their property. The hospitality industry has also lost over 4.8 million jobs since the onset of COVID-19 in February. Nearly 90 percent of hotels furloughed or laid off workers, and over one-third have not been able to hire back any employees. Most experts believe the industry will not return to full strength until 2023. "Hotel owners and their employees need real relief, and they need it now," said AAHOA President & CEO Cecil Staton. "Our leaders in Washington must work together and create a stimulus package that addresses the reality facing hotel owners. Another round of PPP will help ensure employees can continue to be paid. Granting hoteliers greater flexibility with EIDL, access to the Main Street Lending Program, and CMBS relief will ensure that these businesses can come out on the other side of this crisis. People will travel again, and when they do, we want our hotels to welcome them into our communities once more." Alessandra Ambrosio managed to look effortlessly chic when she carried her pooch to her friend's house on Monday. The 39-year-old mother-of-two wore a light purple floral playsuit which was loose-fitting in design for the outing. She wore a simple pair of flip-flops and wore her brunette locks in a half-up half-down style. Pooch patrol: Alessandra Ambrosio wore a loose-fitting floral playsuit as she carried her beloved pooch to her friend's house in West Hollywood on Monday After paying her friend a visit, the model headed to a studio in West Hollywood. The GAL Floripa founder revealed to Fox News back in May how she's keeping up with her fitness routine during quarantine. She said of her go-to exercise: 'I love to do yoga as it centres me and also at the same time keeps me in shape. On her way: After paying her friend a visit, the model headed to a studio in West Hollywood while wearing gold flip-flops 'Since there is a lot to do around the house sometimes I don't have much time to work out, in which case I try to do some stretching and hold a plank for five to 10 minutes.' Alessandra has been modeling since she was a teen. She became a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2004 and hung up her wings in 2017. She has collaborated with Aline and a pal called Gisele Coria to launch a new swimwear line called Gal Floripa, which debuted last March. The brand takes its title from a nickname for Florianopolis, the Brazilian city where Alessandra gave birth to both of her children. Ambrosio shares Anja and Noah with ex Jamie Mazur, 39, to whom she got engaged in 2008, before splitting in 2018. The brunette beauty has been in a relationship with Italian fashion CEO Nicolo Oddi, 40, since July of 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 20:57:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Four militants were killed as warplanes struck a meeting of Taliban shadow governors for the northern Faryab and the neighboring Badghis province on Wednesday, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said. "Acting on a tip-off, the fighting planes targeted a meeting of Taliban insurgents chaired by Mullah Samad and Mullah Nazim the shadow governors for Faryab and Badghis provinces in Chalgazi village of Qaisar district this afternoon, killing four rebels and wounding four others," Rezai told Xinhua. Without mentioning the condition of the shadow governors, he said the outcome of the air raids would be made public after investigation. The Taliban outfit, which has stepped up activities, has yet to make comments on the airstrike. Enditem Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Minister of Health COVID-19 is still spreading in Danang city and other localities in the central region. What are the main issues in battling against the pandemic in this period? In the first stage of COVID-19 development, the country suffered a serious virus outbreak at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi. At that time, some workers at Truong Sinh Vietnam Foods Co., Ltd. and some caregivers were infected. The new outbreak has occurred more widely than in the first stage. It was first detected at Danang Hospital and then spread to other hospitals, infecting many patients and their relatives as well as health workers at three hospitals. Many victims sadly passed away because of underlying diseases, while some others have high risk of death due to serious background pathology. Moreover, we are also facing more difficulties in tracing, zoning, and stamping out the pandemic than in the first phase. Besides the traced patients, we found some infections who did not stay in affected areas and are not related to the three hospitals. At present, the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the related branches in Danang, and the provinces of Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai have taken strong actions strictly in line with the prime ministers directions. If all people in the virus risk areas abide by Directive No.16/CT-TTg on the urgent solutions to prevention and fight against COVID-19, we hope we can control the virus. Why does Danang need to have nationwide assistance, and what are the focuses in the Ministry of Healths (MoH) mobilisation works for this new outbreak? The virus has infected a vast number of patients and their relatives, as well as healthcare workers. In addition, the tracing in the community requires the involvement of many more experts. Therefore, it needs more support and assistance from central sources, as well as hospitals that can assist with treatment and build accommodation for COVID-19 patients. The MoH has made a drastic response to the new outbreak in Danang. Right after the virus was detected, the ministry sent six specialised teams from various hospitals, departments, and institutes to the city. On July 30, we sent our four special standing units to the area to mobilise all resources for COVID-19 prevention. These units are the testing team (National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, and Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang), treatment team (from Bach Mai and Cho Ray hospitals), tracing team (the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology), and a communications team. The number of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam continues to increase. How will the pandemic develop in the upcoming days, and what is the next step in prevention? The MoH has taken the best possible measures and solutions in coronavirus prevention and fight in Danang. We are trying to take even better ones such as expanding testing capacity, and increasing the capacity of our tracing team and treatment team. The tracing of F0 (the first infected people) in Danang is now not the main target. We are instead focusing on antibody tests to detect infected cases in the community, and trace the people who have had contact with infected individuals. The number of COVID-19 patients may still rise in the upcoming days and, although we have been taking drastic measures to trace and zone to stamp out the outbreak, we should not be overly optimistic. By analysing the infection of the virus, the healthcare industry recommends that people should be more careful in the upcoming time, and strictly abide by the virus prevention recommendations. Today it doesn't matter so much if you want to pursue an online degree or not, as in both cases you will be learning in a digital environment. The only difference between those who choose to complete an online degree and those who have been forced into it this year, is that online degrees were made for that purpose. These degrees don't just make do with online; they were created specifically to help students thrive in a digital environment that caters to their schedule. What is the point, after all, if you cannot juggle your career at the same time as you work to complete your degree? Pursuing higher education after a bachelor's often means taking time off work, something that many of us just cannot, or are not, willing to do. The online degree has completely replaced the need for night school. Though afternoon and night-based universities still exist, they just aren't that essential any longer for pursuing your degree. You can skip the extra commute and instead learn at home, on your commute, or even in your favorite cafe or library. When you learn online, you can learn at the right pace in the right degree, but as it is entirely digital, there are some concerns that you will need to prepare yourself for. Finding and completing a degree online is perfectly viable, but you must do your best to protect yourself and keep your personal information, work, and finances secure. For example, working in that cafe is great; but, if you are using the free, open Wi-Fi there are risks that go along with that. Knowing the digital threats that could pose problems for your degree and your personal life ahead of time is how you can avoid them and study with complete peace of mind, so follow this guide to get started. Start with Your Degree It's unfortunate, but there are a lot of fake universities out there. Even if the university itself isn't fake, the degree may be worthless to you. That is why you really need to vet through your options to find the best option. It isn't always about the ranking of the university that matters, and likewise, it isn't always the prestigiousness of the degree. New degrees emerge every year that help their students get an edge over the job market and make them far more attractive to hiring companies. Just because a new degree doesn't have standing does not mean it is not valuable. Figuring out which degree and which institution that you should attend, however, can feel tricky, so use these tips to narrow down your list before you apply. Is it from an established university? There is nothing wrong with young universities, but you will want to just double check on them before you apply. One of the biggest indicators of a good degree and a good school is as simple as satisfied alumni. Though a new university may be offering great deals if you are one of the first students to attend, there isn't anything to compare with. For the sake of your future and your career, you'll be better off finding a university or college that has some experience with managing a student body. It doesn't have to be a lot; a five-year-old institution could be beloved by all its students. Similarly, a well-established institution could fall from grace. Just check what the student satisfaction numbers are at from the previous five years. If alumni seem content with their education, then you can rest assured that the learning format and services will be good. Is the degree accredited? Accreditation is incredibly important, as it ensures that your degree meets, if not exceeds, a governing body's standards for education. Ideally, you will want the accreditation to be internationally recognized so that you know for a fact that your education will help you regardless of whether you are looking for a position at home, or an opportunity overseas. For a Business Analytics Masters, for example, you will want to ensure that the degree in question is internationally accredited through the Association to Advance College Schools of Business (AACSB). The accrediting bodies do differ depending on the degree, so don't be thrown off if the accrediting institution that you are looking at isn't AACSB. Just double check the accreditation, and if it is prestigious and has hundreds of members, then you can be assured it isn't just a good degree, but that the university also cares about providing the best education for its students. Who is teaching? If you want to get into academia, then you'll want staff that are mainly on the faculty permanently and have a long list of research titles behind their name. For a career-focused degree, you'll want a mixture of academics and career stars. After all, who better to teach you on the skills you'll need in the workplace than someone who works or worked in that field? Guest speakers and rotating lectures also provide great learning tools, so see if your school offers these to you as part of your education. You may get an invitation to attend for free, there may be private online lectures, or at the very least, a subscription might be available to watch these lectures for free online. What is the ranking? Ranking should be one of the last metrics that you use to determine whether a university is right for you. The services and quality of the degree should take precedence, but if are accepted into your top three choices, the easiest way to pick is to choose the highest in ranking. Just remember to be clear on the values that matter to you. After all, a university will get a higher ranking if one department is exceptional. If you aren't in that department, then the ranking doesn't mean much. If you are looking for best in value, or best in your department, then you'll get a much better understanding of your institution by using university rankers. How to Secure Your Working Environment If you want to study at home, then all you need is to make sure it is secure (it often is automatically, but yours might not be). A secure Wi-Fi uses encryption methods, and of course, a password to protect your network. If you want to study right out of work, or you don't want to clutter your home with more stress, then a good alternative is to find a great co-working space, cafe, or library to work in. Working in these areas can make you feel productive and engaged, but you will want to take extra safety precaution when working on your degree out of your home: Invest in Anti-Virus and Scanning Software First things first: you will want to invest in anti-virus software that, most importantly, allows you to scan for issues. There are also additional tools you can add to your internet browser that will inform you about suspicious sites online and block your access until you know of the danger. The last thing you want is for your personal data that you have given to your university to go out to the world. Scan for viruses beforehand, use a VPN and secured network, and then apply. Avoid Open Wi-Fi When Dealing with Secure Information You can use open Wi-Fi in cafes or libraries, but avoid entering sensitive data when you are using it. Don't check your bank accounts when you are on an unsecured connection, don't pay for anything or shop, and definitely don't fill out personal information or enter your password anywhere. To avoid this, log into the sites that you need before you go to these unsecured locations. It is also a good idea to use a VPN whenever you are online, as this works to encrypt your connection and make it impossible for companies and hackers to track your movements. Have an Easy Laptop Carry Case It doesn't matter how small or empty a cafe is, you don't want to leave your personal belongings alone. It also isn't fair to put that on an employee who is going to be busy with other customers to watch your stuff. To avoid this, simply get a slim laptop case that you can easily fit your laptop, phone, and wallet into. You can leave the rest for that quick jaunt to the bathroom, as they are smaller targets most thieves would never bother with. Have a Cloud Account Losing all your notes and hard work that you have put into your degree because your laptop gets wet or stolen is a nightmare. You can completely avoid this scenario by investing in a cloud account. Using your computer brand's personal cloud servers, you can automatically store your files, or you can invest in a third-party. Either way, your documents should always be backed up on the cloud. This means that they are being stored on not just one external server, but several in different locations. Even if the worst happens and you lose your laptop one way or another, you will have all your work backed up and accessible anywhere with an internet connection. How to Secure Your Personal Information Finally, you need to work on securing your personal information. Your personal information is always at risk. It is at risk when you are out in a cafe, in a library, even at home. The reason it is not secure is because you have to give it out in the first place. Always Double Check Transaction Details There was a case recently in the UK where someone's entire inheritance was lost because they entered one wrong digit on the account numbers. It was a fluke that meant one unfortunate person ended up losing 193,000. Worse yet, the recipient of the mistaken funds refused to give it back until the courts demanded it. Though rules have been changed to stop this sort of thing from happening again, it is always important to double check the transaction details. You may not be paying your institution at all, so verify those details using several pieces of information before you send off your tuition. Be Familiar with Your Rights Concerning Your Data Your rights concerning your private data vary from country to country, and even state to state. It is a good idea to brush up on the privacy laws that apply to you, just as a standard. It's good to know what you can expect from the law when it comes to dealing with businesses online. Never underestimate the value of your data. Know your rights so that you can keep data secure, whether it's from that site you just signed up to, or your university. Use Unique Passwords Another great way to protect yourself when out at work, a cafe, or any other public space to study, is to use unique passwords for everything. That way, if your information is stolen, the damage is limited to only one account. This isn't just something that you should do if you're out and about, either. Old accounts that you made half a lifetime ago are also huge risks. Those sites have all but died, meaning they are unprotected and easy pickings to mine data from. If you still use the same login credentials as you did back then, then you're in trouble. Use Two-Factor Authentication Whenever You Can You will want to put two-factor authentication, and ideally put at least two different verification options. If your phone is lost or stolen, it can make logging in an absolute nightmare. However, if you can alternatively use another email to verify your account, you can get in with no problems and update that number to your new one. Two-factor authentication again makes it less likely that one stolen login credential will topple over everything that you have worked for. Staying Secure for Your Future It is a risk to be online. Many people forget this fact because they are in a nice secure location when they access the internet, but it is something to bear in mind, nonetheless. By using these tips, you can ensure you are investing in the right degree and staying safe throughout your degree. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 13:18:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, hosts a symposium during a research tour to China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network Corporation (PipeChina) in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Han Zheng on Tuesday urged efforts to deepen reform of the oil and gas system to ensure a stable oil and gas market and national energy security. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a symposium at China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network Corporation (PipeChina). PipeChina should tackle prominent problems in its formation and operation, while accelerating the construction of major pipeline network projects according to plans, in a bid to ensure that pipeline transmission capacity could meet the demand of social and economic development, Han said. Efforts should also be made to improve services by leveraging technologies such as big data and innovating service modes, Han said, adding that oil and gas pipeline network facilities should be open to all types of market entities in a fair manner and based on market principles. Han also called for measures to ensure the stable supply of gas during the winter heating season. Enditem A Nigerian oil mogul and the Chief Executive Officer of Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Limited, Abdulrahman Bashir, has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment in the United Kingdom. In February, Justice Butcher of England and Wales High Court ruled that Mr Bashir be imprisoned for breaching multiple orders of the court in a pending suit instituted by Sahara Energy Resources Ltd. The basis of the sentence was that Mr Bashir had committed continuing breaches of the order of Mr Justice Robin Knowles of 1 August 2019 and of the order of Mr Justice Bryan of 6 September 2019, the judge said. Those orders required Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Ltd, of which Mr Bashir is the CEO and controller, to comply with requests for the release of 6,400.69 metric tonnes gas oil to Sahara Energy Resource Ltd or its agent from Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Ltd, Jetty 6.436181, Ibafon, Kirikiri Waterfront, of Aero Maritime Street, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria (the Terminal). Mr Bashir breached those orders by failing to allow, or procure Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Ltd or its servants or agents to allow, the release of the said gas oil from the Terminal, court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES read. The court also gave a binding indication that the sentence could be reduced to six months if Mr Bashir complies with the relevant order which had previously been breached. Rahamaniyya was fined 500,000 while Adebowale Aderemi, its manager, was fined 10,000. Chief Executive Officer of Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Limited, Abdulrahman Bashir [PHOTO CREDIT: rahamaniyyagroup.com.ng] Genesis In July 2018, Ultimate Oil and Gas, the trading arm of Rahamaniyya Oil in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), entered into a deal with Sahara Energy. In the signed contract, Ultimate agreed to buy, and Sahara agreed to sell 15,000 metric tonnes in the Vacuum of Gas Oil. Prior to entering into the sale contract, a Collateral Management Agreement (CMA) containing a London arbitration clause was entered into on July 8, 2018 between the two parties. Under the CMA, Rahamaniyya agreed to store the gas oil at its terminal pending payment by Ultimate. According to the court record, the CMA also contained various addresses indicating that all processes and notices arising out of or in connection with this Agreement could be served. In the case of Rahamaniyya, there were three email addresses identified after its physical address in Lagos and phone number. These emails were: adebowale.aderemi@rahamaniyyagroup.com.ng; remdebowal@yahoo.com; and ops@ultimateoilngas.com. There was however no dispute that the yahoo.com e-mail address was one which belonged to Mr Aderemi. In respect to the pact, Sahara delivered a total of 14,967.159 metric tonnes of gas oil to Rahamaniyyas terminal in Nigeria. Sahara issued invoices for the gas oil on October 26, 2018 for USD 10,760,728.77 and payment should have been made by August 29, 2019. Meanwhile, Ultimate defaulted in making necessary payments. Breach of agreement In December 2018, Ultimate and Sahara entered into a settlement agreement, in which Ultimate confirmed that the value of gas oil that had been delivered was USD 10,760,728.77, and agreed to make a series of monthly payments for it. Court records showed that some payments were made, in consequence of which some 8,566.469 metric tonnes of gas oil was released to Ultimate. Ultimate, however, reneged in performing the terms of the settlement agreement in full by making all the payments due. After various warnings, on May 10, 2019, Sahara terminated the settlement agreement, notifying Ultimate that its agent, Asharami Synergy Plc would take delivery of part of the remaining gas oil from the terminal. Thereafter, various attempts made by Sahara to obtain delivery of the gas oil, including issuing an order on July 12, 2019 for the entirety of the 6,400.69 MT of the gas oil which remained at the terminal failed. The release order was not complied with and this birthed the lawsuit. The suit challenging the breach of contract was filed both in Lagos and in the United Kingdom, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. In the case filed in the England and Wales High Court, the respondents included Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas, Ultimate Oil and Gas DMCC, Messrs Bahir and Aderemi. Disobeying court orders As the proceedings in the UK went on, Mr Bashir failed to comply with the decision of the court on several occasions, including the ruling that sentenced him to jail. Rather than obey, Mr Bashir pleaded that the court should set aside its previous judgements on medical grounds and poor communication. The first order was made by Moulder J on November 7, 2019. The order related to the service of the committal proceedings and other documents upon the three respondents. Advertisements In particular, the order permitted service of the committal documents by alternative means, namely by e-mail to five e-mail addresses in the case of Rahamaniyya, 2 e-mail addresses in the case of Mr. Bashir, and 2 e-mail addresses in the case of Mr. Aderemi. According to the court documents, Mr Bashir facilitated a meeting with the attorney of Sahara requesting an out-of-court settlement and the withdrawal of the committal application. He promised to pay up but again failed. The second order was made by Justice Butcher on January 17. This was made in pursuant to the hearing of the committal application initiated in November 2019, and served pursuant to Moulder Js order. Mr Butcher determined that each of the three respondents were in contempt of court. He decided to adjourn the question of punishment for three weeks. Meanwhile, the third order was the contempt of court judgement delivered by Justice Butcher in February. Excuse In the application seeking for the disregard of the three previous orders in June, Mr. Bashir explained the reason for the delay when he became aware of the terms of the order dated November 7. The application was made by his lawyer, Andrew Thomas. READ ALSO: It was difficult for him to get a solicitor in the UK to verify the position and take appropriate steps. When he did finally get a solicitor at Simon Bethel Solicitors, there were hiccups transferring funds from Nigeria to the UK to enable work to commence, Mr Thomas stated. Covid-19 also created unforeseeable traffic to the entire process, he said. He added that Mr Bashir could not access his emails for months owing to ongoing renovation work in his company and the doctors verdict which placed him on bed rest for four months. However, Justice Jacobs after hearing the application ruled that evidence provided by Saharas legal representative, Nicola Allsop, was sufficient to demonstrate that none of the respondents acted promptly when they found out that the court had made the orders in January and February. Even if I were to accept that they only became aware of the orders on 12 February, there was in my view a material delay thereafter. No documentation has been provided to support the argument that there were bottlenecks in obtaining permissions to remit funds to the UK. Nor has any detail been provided as to any difficulties in identifying legal advisers in England, he said. As far as Mr. Bashirs illness is concerned, the position is that this was not identified as a cause of any problem in Mr. Bashirs first witness statement. I should add that I do not consider that Mr. Bashirs alleged illness provides a good reason for not attending the committal hearing or subsequent sentence. Had Mr Bashir wished to attend in person, then he could and should have identified to Sahara. The Respondents application is therefore dismissed, he ruled. PREMIUM TIMES could not verify if Mr Bashir has surrendered himself to the UK authorities to serve the jail term. At least 10,000 demonstrators attended a rally on Sunday in the Thai capital, Bangkok, in what was the largest protest since the military seized power in 2014. It is the latest in a month of student-led protests that have swept across the nation. Protesters gathered at the Democracy Monument, flooding the citys major thoroughfare, Ratchadamnoen Avenue, and holding public speeches for nearly eight hours. The rallys organisers, the student movement Free Youth, estimated an attendance of between 20,000 and 30,000 people. Hundreds of police were deployed. The protesters are calling on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and his cabinet to resign. Their three chief demands are: the dissolution of Parliament and a new election, an end to the intimidation and persecution of political opponents, and the drafting of a new constitution. In addition, protesters are demanding the reform of the monarchy, particularly the revoking of the lese majeste law, under which it is illegal to defame, insult, or threaten the royal family. Penalties under this draconian law, which is used to intimidate and silence critics, involve jail for up to 15 years. Protesters in Bangkok (Screenshot from a livestream posted by a participant) Prayuth Chan-o-cha, a former military general, led the 2014 coup detat that overthrew a democratically elected government and brought the military junta, the National Council for Peace and Order, to power. The current constitution was drafted by 21 appointees of the junta and was designed to prolong military power and block any challenge from opponents. While the junta ended nominally in 2019, Prayuth became Prime Minister in a blatantly rigged election, with the result that today the military still maintains control over Thailands political institutions. One notable feature of the election was the unexpected rise of the Future Forward Party (FFP), which ran its election campaign on a call for democratic rights and opposition to the military dictatorship. Founded only the year before, the FFPs leadership consisted largely of young business executives and academic lawyers, representing a dissident layer of the Thai bourgeoisie and affluent middle class. The FFP won significant support among young people, while also appealing to workers with its calls for a fairer distribution of wealth and a social welfare system that promotes human dignity. The party finished with 6.3 million votes and garnered the third-largest number of parliamentary seats after Prayuths party and the opposition Pheu Thai party linked to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. After the election, the FFP came under relentless attack in the governments Constitutional Court. Its leader, multimillionaire auto company director, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was accused of violating election law and was disqualified as a member of parliament. A protracted legal battle ensued over a supposedly illegal donation of $US6 million from Thanathorn to the FFP, which resulted in a blatantly political decision by the constitutional court on February 21 to disband the party. As various commentators noted, the finances of other parties were not similarly scrutinised. Following its disbanding, the elected MPs from the defunct FFP joined its de facto successor, the Move Forward Party. The court decision provoked shock and outrage among students resulting in a wave of protests in universities and high schools nationwide during which the three main demands were formulated. Concentrated in Bangkok, rallies were held daily until the shutdown of universities in late February due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests erupted again on July 18, when a demonstration of 2,500 students at the Democracy Monument was organised by a student movement named Free Youth, a collective of disparate university groups and clubs across the country on the basis of the demands. Protests subsequently spread to at least 44 of the countrys 76 provinces and have been held almost every day. The protests arose after the government again extended the state of emergency imposed during the pandemic that banned public gatherings. As there had been no confirmed local infections in Thailand for two months, students accused the government of exploiting the pandemic as a pretext for preventing protests. Opposition had also grown to the enforced disappearances of government critics, including the abduction in June of pro-democracy activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit, who was bundled into an unmarked vehicle by armed men in Cambodia and is still missing. Through late July, protests were organised by various political tendencies within Free Youth, including an LGBT student group campaigning for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Another grouping aligned itself with the anti-China movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan, collectively dubbed the Milk Tea Alliance. Protester leaders drew attention to the pandemics devastating economic impact on workers. On July 23, a student group called the New Life Network staged a hunger strike outside Government House, making reference to the worsening social conditions and lack of financial aid for the millions of newly-unemployed, many of them students. A key turning point came on August 3, when human rights lawyer Anon Nampa, 35, delivered a speech raising the demand to reform the monarchy. Anon has a record of defending junta opponents and lese majeste offenders. A large rally at Thammasat Universitys Rangsit campus on August 10 centred on a manifesto that proclaimed 10 new demands, including the revoking of lese majeste and reducing the portion of the state budget allocated to the royal palace. Tatthep Ruangprapaikit, president of Free Youth, told the Manager Daily that it is not their aim to overthrow the monarchy. However, the mounting hostility towards the King was reflected in the popularity of Twitter hashtag #WhyDoWeNeedAKing?, which has been a trending topic over the past two weeks and received millions of tweets. After his ascent to the throne in 2016, King Vajiralongkorn consolidated his rule by expanding his constitutional powers, taking control of two army units, and direct ownership of the Royal Familys assets valued at over $US30 billion. During his reign, which has been intimately tied to the military, the lese majeste law has been frequently used to imprison critics of the monarchy. Prayuth last week declared that the student demands regarding the monarchy were unacceptable, risky, and went too far. He also confirmed the king, currently taking refuge in Germany, had requested that nobody be prosecuted for lese majeste for nowa sign of the deep fear in ruling class of sparking far broader unrest. Shortly after his August 3 speech, Anon and another student leader, Panupong Jadnok, were arrested by police on multiple unrelated charges. Parit Chirawak, 22, a student leader from Thammasat University and outspoken critic of the monarchy, was also arrested for apparently breaking coronavirus regulations. Human Rights Watch reported on Saturday that police are targeting at least 31 other student leaders. The protest movement shows no signs of subsiding. By Ayya Lmahamad The volume of Azerbaijans revenue from exporting gold to the world market increased by 21.8 percent during the first half of 2020 local media reported on August 19. According to the report, the value of gold exported in the first half of 2020 amounted to $85.7 million, which is a growth by 21.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Moreover, Azerbaijan exported 2,147 kg of gold to the world markets during the reporting period. The volume of total export decreased by 6.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, it was stated that the entire volume of gold was exported to Switzerland. It should be noted that Azerbaijan exported 4,802 kg of gold worth $172.3 million in 2019. Earlier, it was reported that 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. 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. Additionally, 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 the payments to the State Social Protection Fund. Gold mining in Azerbaijan is currently carried out by two companies, AzerGold CJSC, which owns 51 percent in Azerbaijans gold share, and Anglo Asian Mining PLC, with 49 percent of shares. Extraction of the first gold in Azerbaijan started in 2009, and silver in 2010. AzerGold CJSC is a national mining company, which was established on February 11, 2016 according to the presidential decree. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, announced today the seven writers and six projects selected for its fourth Episodic Lab. This year's Creative Advisors include Gloria Calderon Kellett (One Day at a Time), Veena Sud (The Killing) and Christopher Yost (Cowboy Bebop). The Film Independent Episodic Lab is supported by Founding Sponsor Netflix. Additional support is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. "The Episodic Lab is an integral part of Film Independent's mission to support bold, inclusive voices in the realm of visual storytelling. This year's cohort of television writers brings with them courageous and multi-faceted original series that are uniquely reflective of today's ever changing world," said Lisa Hasko, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent. "We are proud to provide tangible professional resources and relationship building opportunities to these talented writers in an effort to nurture their careers and creativity." This year's Episodic Lab is a two-week intensive virtual program that helps to further the careers of its Fellows by introducing them to industry veterans who offer guidance on both the craft and business of writing episodic content. Through personalized feedback from experienced showrunners, creative producers and executives, Fellows will gain the tools to revise and refine their pilots and navigate a changing industry landscape. Each Fellow is paired with a Creative Advisor with whom they'll work one-on-one and in group sessions to develop their project. Additionally, guest speakers will screen and discuss their own work to offer insights into the creative process and industry best practices. As Founding Sponsor, Netflix is deeply committed to supporting each year's selected Fellows, pairing them with an Industry Advisor and providing shadowing opportunities in their writers' rooms. This unique access to a premiere content creator like Netflix is a crucial step in helping the Fellows move forward in their careers. A final networking and pitch event will offer Fellows the opportunity to introduce themselves and their work to studio and network executives. Film Independent will also present the Alfred P. Sloan Episodic Grant, a $10,000 development grant to support a pilot that explores science and technology themes or that depicts scientists, engineers and mathematicians in engaging and innovative ways, to Katherine Ruppe for her project Liftoff. As part of her Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, Ruppe will receive a science advisor to support the development of the series. "I'm thrilled to be awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Episodic Lab development grant," said writer Katherine Ruppe. "Liftoff tells the compelling story of America's first female astronauts -- six intrepid pioneers who blast through the chauvinistic brotherhood of spaceflight in 1978, risking their lives in the pursuit of discovery. Their passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe aligns with the goals of the Sloan Foundation -- to educate and inspire young people to engage with science and reach for the stars." The 2020 Episodic Lab Creative Advisors and guest speakers include: Sian Heder, Gloria Calderon Kellett, Colleen McGuiness, LaToya Morgan, Dailyn Rodriguez, Beth Schacter, Ellen Shanman, Elizabeth Stephen, Veena Sud and Christopher Yost. Film Independent Artist Development programs promote unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work through Project Involve; Filmmaker Labs (Directing, Documentary, Episodic, Producing and Screenwriting); Fast Track finance market and Fiscal Sponsorship, as well as through Grants and Awards, which provide over one million dollars annually to visual storytellers. For more information on any of the Labs or the projects that have been developed in them, please contact Angela Lee, Associate Director of Artist Development, at [email protected]. Additional information and an application form can be found at filmindependent.org. The 2020 Episodic Lab participants and their projects are: Afro-Saga Vol 1: Children of Lazarus Writer: Michael Harris Logline: Azaria aka Night Lotus, bands with a team of genetically enhanced humans to defeat a tyrant and his elite death squad known as The Children of Lazarus. Chavez Ravine Writers: Mary Ann Marino, Maria Venegas Logline: On her thirteenth birthday, Esperanza (Espy) Cortez discovers that she can time-travel through hidden portals in East LA where Tongva and Mexican predecessors reveal hidden secrets about her ancestors, her family, and herself. In present day, Espy confronts her family, challenges her community, and evolves from an immigrant daughter into a modern-day warrior, fighting for our future armed with wisdom from the past. Descent Writer: Van B. Nguyen Logline: Exploring the secrets of an Asian-American family and their surroundings in Texas, Descent follows a Vietnamese cop torn between the duty to her family and her oath to protect and serve. Leila & Soraya Writer: Ora Yashar Logline: A struggling Iranian chef starts seeing the ghost of her great grandmother and suddenly finds herself front row for a master class in cooking and in life. Liftoff Writer: Katherine Ruppe Logline: Liftoff intercuts the true story of America's first female astronauts -- six intrepid pioneers who blast through the chauvinistic brotherhood of spaceflight in 1978 -- with the heartrending Challenger disaster, which claims the life of one of our "first women" and spurs Sally Ride to take charge in the accident investigation. Wild Life Writer: Carmiel Banasky Logline: When an epic flood submerges California, Pauline -- a zookeeper who prefers animals to people -- must save the wildlife (and her marriage) by turning an abandoned shopping mall into a zoo and climate-migrant camp. ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT Film Independent is the nonprofit arts organization that champions creative independence in visual storytelling and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds an audience for their projects and works to diversify the film industry. Film Independent's Board of Directors, filmmakers, staff and constituents is comprised of an inclusive community of individuals across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race and sexual orientation. Anyone passionate about film can become a Member, whether you are a filmmaker, industry professional or a film lover. In addition to producing the Spirit Awards, Film Independent produces Film Independent Presents, a year-round screening series for its members that offers unique cinematic experiences for the Los Angeles creative community and the general public. Through annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent's Artist Development program offers free labs for selected writers, directors, producers and documentary filmmakers and presents year-round networking opportunities. Project Involve is Film Independent's signature program dedicated to fostering the careers of talented filmmakers from communities traditionally underrepresented in the film industry. For more information or to become a Member, visit filmindependent.org. Contact: Alia Quart Khan, [email protected] SOURCE Film Independent Related Links http://www.filmindependent.org Some Israelis are looking forward to going to Dubai and visiting the worlds tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Although people from all over the world visit Dubai, Israelis could not because the Emirate did not have diplomatic relations with Israel. That will change soon. Last week, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced plans to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel. That would make the UAE only the third Arab nation to do so. The move has caused a lot of interest in Israel. It will bring years of covert business and security ties into the open. And it will open an appealing destination for travel-happy Israelis. Israeli television stations have already sent reporters to the rich Persian Gulf nation. Local media has shown images of Dubais tall, shiny buildings, huge shopping malls, manmade islands and coastline. Newspapers have been publishing stories about a new Middle East. They are also stories about the Emirati economy, countryside, and ruling family. The United States negotiated the diplomatic deal between Israel and the UAE. The agreement also extends an alliance against Iran. The UAE has said it halted Israels contentious plans to claim up to one-third of the West Bank. The Palestinians also want that land as part of a Palestinian state. For many Israelis, however, the appeal of ties with the UAE lies mainly in reaching their goal of acceptance in the Middle East. They also think that ties will improve tourism and business opportunities. Gadi Nir is co-founder and chief of Bobo, an Israeli company that makes physiotherapy and rehabilitative products. His business recently signed one of Israels first deals with a UAE company. Nir told The Associated Press that, in the past, his company had to use other companies to do business with the UAE. We used to have to launder the products and go through all kinds of intermediaries to do business with Arabs, said Nir. Now we can get personal. We dont have to hide under the carpet anymore, he added. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace estimates that hidden trade between Israel and the Gulf states is more than $1 billion a year. A large part of that is between Israel and the UAE. Now, those numbers are likely to increase. The agreement between the countries is supposed to include direct flights, although that could require approval from Saudi Arabia to use its airspace. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that work to establish the flight paths was taking place. Israeli travel agents say they have already received many calls from Emirati travel agents. In addition, Israels president, Reuven Rivlin sent a letter to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to invite him to visit Israel. The surprise statement last week has caused many people to wonder which Arab nation will be next. For Israel, Saudi Arabia which still has not commented publicly on the UAEs decision would be the biggest prize. It is not a surprise that the UAE would be the first state in the Gulf to establish ties with Israel. The UAE is a grouping of seven sheikhdoms that was founded in 1971. It has no major history with Jews, no shared border, and no direct conflict with Israel. Emirati officials had permitted Israeli government officials to visit in recent years. Some Israelis have long been interested in the UAE, and especially Dubai. Israelis who have foreign passports visit often. Israeli delegations have been given special permission to visit. Many Israelis hope ties with the UAE will develop into a far warmer relationship than those with Egypt and Jordan, which made peace with Israel after many years of conflict. Erel Margalit is an investor and a former Israeli lawmaker. He says there is Emirati interest not only in buying goods but in joint investing in technology. Margalit predicted diplomatic ties would bring Israel closer to other Arab nations. Its about building relationships for the long term. Ross Kriel is president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates. He called the establishment of diplomatic ties a sea change. Our community members look forward to direct flights to Israel and welcoming Israeli friends and visitors to the UAE, he said. Im Mario Ritter, Jr. Aron Heller reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story covert adj. done in a way that is not easily seen; secret or hidden destination n. the place to which someone is going shopping mall n. a large building or series of buildings containing stores and restaurants contentious adj. something that is argued or disputed tourism n. the operation of vacations and visits to places of interest rehabilitative adj. related to the action of returning someone to health or normal life launder v. to secretly carry out financial activities through a business or bank carpet n. floor covering sea change n. (idiom) a big and sudden change We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. When the Chron team received an email about the "baby bib bandit" who robbed an armored car in Houston, we had a very important question: Who comes up with these names? We were so curious to know, we reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation directly to find out. "The nicknaming is a process that's a team effort," an FBI spokesperson said. "We take a look at the picture of the subject and the details of the robbery, and we just try to come up with something catchy that we think the public will remember." The names which can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour to come up with are uniquely selected based on the characteristics such as physical features, clothing and disguises, and modus operandi. For the baby bib bandit, the spokesperson said they took one look at the long, bib-like white object tied around his neck and knew exactly what to call him. "That one wasn't very hard to come up with," she said. Before the baby bib bandit, there was the baby BLUE bandit, dressed in all blue track suit. The motormask mugger from this summer wore an M-1 motorcycle mask, which is "not something everyone has access to." The justice league dropout, who the FBI was looking for just last week, was dressed in all grey and wore a cap with the Superman logo on it. 'DON'T ROB BANKS KIDS': The FBI's creative nicknames for Houston's wanted bank robbers When asked where the line is drawn for certain names, the spokesperson said it's usually based on the consensus of what the team thinks, but there isn't really anything that's off limits. "We never want to do anything that's going to be terribly offensive, so we are mindful of that when we're naming them. But at the same time, it's not based on something we think the bad guys are going to like," she said. The nicknames are proven be effective, because at the end of last year, the "rainy day robber" (who ended up being involved in robberies that the FBI hadn't even connected him to) turned himself in partly because he didn't like the nickname that was given to him in the press. "Coming up with the names is probably one of the most fun parts of our work on the media team," the spokesperson said. "It's an opportunity to stretch our brains and get creative. If it helps someone remember a detail or motivates anyone to call and report one of these bank robberies or robbers, then it certainly makes our work that much more fulfilling." It's a process that goes back pretty far, so there are no numerical statistics to back the success rate when compared to a time when nicknames weren't given, but according to the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, "through our investigators' tried and true experience, we know a catchy name leads to more tips." If you have any information regarding any open bank robbery cases, you're asked to contact the Crime Stoppers tip line at 713-222-TIPS(8477). You can receive a reward of up to $5,000 if your information leads to an arrest. Leaders around the world have called for constitutional order to be restored in Mali after a military coup plunged the country into fresh political crisis amid fears that the president's fall could further destabilize the former French colony and west Africa's entire Sahel region. International condemnation was swift and wide-ranging on Wednesday, hours after soldiers ousted Mali's president and government. In his first official reaction since President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced out, chairman of the African Union and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa condemned what he described the unconstitutional change of government. Ramaphosa called for the immediate return to civilian rule and for the military to return to their barracks. On Tuesday afternoon, rebel soldiers took Keita and his prime minister, Boubou Cisse into custody and drove the pair to the outskirts of the capital Bamako to the Kati military base - notorious as the venue for a mutiny in 2012 of mid-ranking officers. African condemnation Ramaphosa urged other leaders in Africa and beyond to denounce and reject the military-led government, which has pledged to oversee a transition to elections within a reasonable period. Keita, who has been the target of months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a brutal Islamist insurgency, said Wednesday he was stepping down to avoid bloodshed. Angolan leader, Joao Lourenco, tweeted: "We repudiate and discourage this way of forcing the alternation of power." Similar sentiments were expressed in Algeria, which, like Mali, has also faced widespread anti-government protests. The country's foreign ministry issued a statement. "The ballot box is the only means to power and legitimacy," it said. EU lists priorities In Europe, EU Council chief, Charles Michel, called for the immediate release of the prisoners and for a return to the state of law. "We believe that the stability of the region and of Mali, and the fight against terrorism should be an absolute priority," he added. Story continues The EU has operated a mission training the armed forces in Mali since 2013 and in July announced a joint EU special force to back Mali's fight against jihadist groups. US wades in The United States, which has threatened to pull its troops from the Sahel, joined in the chorus of condemnation, with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo condemning the forcible seizure of power. Pompeo said: "The US calls on all political and military actors to work towards a restoration of constitutional government, engage in dialogue and reject violence." The resounding criticism is in stark contrast to the favourable treatment meted out to the mutinying soldiers by the Malian people. Rebels were cheered by crowds who had gathered to demand Keita's resignation as they arrived in Bamako. There were no reports of casualties during the military takeover. Colonel-Major Ismael Wague, a spokesman for the coup leaders, has vowed to restore stability to Mali and form a transititional, civilian-government. There were however reports of looting. Videos circulating on social media showed Malians running unchecked through luxury compounds in the city, including a property identified as belonging to the justice minister Kassoum Tapo, which was later burnt down. Typhoon Higos moved towards China today after slamming into neighbouring Hong Kong and Macau in the early hours of the morning (Aug 19). Footage shows strong winds whipping hanging laundry from side-to-side in central Hong Kong while in Macaua residents felt rain battering their windows. Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (GCS) put the tropical cyclone warning at No. 9 signal at 2.30 AM on Thursday early morning. Residents were told to lock their windows and doors and strengthen the glass on the exposed side. Schools are suspended along with Three bridges connecting Taipa island and Macao are shut. Winds in the city later weakened with the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau lowering the typhoon warning to No. 3 by 11:30am local time. The typhoon is expected to cause heavy rains over the next few days in Thailand with the north, northeast and eastern parts of the country expected to be hit. The Hong Kong Observatory said winds with mean speeds of 39 mph are expected, with public transport closed and a number of businesses. For a president elected with thunderous support from rural voters, Donald Trump has an odd way of returning the favor. His first budget tried to eliminate funding for the federal agencies most closely connected with rural economic development including the Appalachian Regional Commission. He also tried to eliminate federal funding for small, rural airports facilities that are often an important selling point in economic development. If a Democratic president had tried to do those things, that would have been just as bad but more politically understandable Democrats have no real base in much of rural America anymore, and so dont really understand rural communities. In trying to zero out the agencies working closest with rural America, Trump was actually acting more like a clueless big-city Democrat out of touch with rural realities than a president who many rural voters once saw as their champion. In an under-appreciated interview in 2018 with The Wall Street Journal (hardly a leftist publication), Trump said people who live in economically-struggling rural areas should simply move. Again, that sounded like something some elitist urban-dweller would say. Let them eat cake. Let them move. Apparently Make America Great Again does not include rural America, except perhaps unless you own a U-Haul dealership. Now Trump is once again telling rural Americans that they dont matter with his assault on the Postal Service (now said to be suspended until after the election). Most of the attention there has been framed in terms of Trumps desire to curtail the push to vote by mail. Thats politically misguided Republicans might actually benefit more from vote-by-mail than Democrats. In the first election after Colorado adopted vote-by-mail, Republicans won nearly every statewide office on the ballot that year. In Minnesota, ballots are mailed only to voters in towns with fewer than 400 people. Those rural communities vote overwhelmingly Republican. If Trump wants to carry Minnesota (a state that has been drifting from blue to purple and could conceivably turn red), he needs every rural vote there he can get. There are good reasons to be skeptical of voting by mail, but it should be Democrats this year who are most skeptical they should want the results to be immediate and indisputable. Mail voting makes the former less likely, which makes the latter less likely. Democrats should be doing all they can to discourage mail-in voting this year; Republicans should be doing all they can to encourage it as a way to extract even more votes from rural areas. In any case, the Postal Service does a lot more than deliver mailed-in absentee ballots, which is why rural Americans and their largely Republican representatives should be most alarmed by the move Trump and his Postmaster General have made to slow mail service, whether before or after the election. Why? Because rural America is less connected to the internet than the rest of the country, which means rural Americans are more dependent on the Postal Service than their urban counterparts. Among them: n 18% of Americans still pay their bills the old-fashioned way by mail. Thats according to a study by ACI Worldwide, a Florida-based payment systems company. It stands to reason that a disproportionate number of those 18% are older or rural or both. n 20% of Americans older than 40 who take medication for a chronic condition get those prescriptions by mail order, according to a survey by the National Community Pharmacists Association. More than half of those are older than 65, and most of those receive more than four different types of pills through the mail. Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy arent simply slowing down mail-in ballots in November, theyre slowing down bills and pills now. Who does that hurt the most? Older Americans and rural Americans two demographic groups that supported Trump the most in 2016. (That year, voters older than 65 went for Trump 53% to 44%, the widest pro-Trump margin of any age group, according to a study by Pew Research Center. For the rural/urban split, just look at any of those red-and-blue election maps. In a few Virginia counties were looking at you Bland, Lee, Scott and Tazewell Trump took more than 80% of the vote). Why is Trump hurting his own supporters? Again, if a Democratic president did this, he or she would be accused of treating rural Americans like second-class citizens and rightly so. Make no mistake: This postal slowdown isnt theoretical, its real. The Washington Post recently obtained, and published, some internal Postal Service memos. Traditionally, the Post reports, the goal was for each office to deliver all the mail it received that day. Now, the memo said, if the plants run late, they will keep the mail for the next day. So that means, yes, mail is being held up. Another internal document thats been published shows the plan is to remove hundreds of mail-sorting machines which has already begun. (This is ostensibly to free up floor space for package delivery). And the Postal Service itself confirms its begun removing mailboxes in Oregon. (Gosh, wonder why Oregon? Could it be because Oregon votes by mail?). DeJoy presents these moves as a long overdue reorganization to make the Postal Service more efficient to make it run more like a business than a calcified government bureaucracy. Good knows, the Postal Service, like lots of things, is in need of reform. Except this is exactly the opposite of how a business would operate. If a business held up delivery, customers would eventually find a competitor who would deliver more quickly. The problem here is there isnt a competitor. People in more urban areas can ship packages via commercial freight delivery companies, such as FedEx or United Parcel Service. Many people in rural areas dont have that option, which is why the constitutionally-mandated Postal Service is doubly important to them. If our members of Congress really wanted to represent the rural voters who elected them, theyd be demanding quicker postal delivery, not silently tolerating slower delivery. What we have here is a curious philosophical turnaround. Republicans historically have favored states rights and here some states have decided to use those rights to push vote-by-mail so now a certain Republican is using federal power to curb those policy choices. In the process, hes making life harder on his strongest supporters. Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Wednesday that any suggestion is "welcome" to draft health safety measures in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Any suggestion is welcome. (...) That epidemiological triage or that observational triage that the parent does at home must be made known to all who mean school medicine and also to the teacher or professor who manages that group of children. We need to think about the health of the whole classroom and of the whole group of students who are attending school," the minister said.A draft ministerial order approving health safety measures in educational units during the COVID-19 pandemic was published on the website of the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.Under the draft, the public health directorates must inform by September 7 the school inspectorates and the committees on emergency management about the epidemiological situation at the level of each school according to which measures will be taken for the beginning of school.The school inspectorates are to propose for approval to the committees on emergency management the operational scenario for each educational unit in accordance with the epidemiological situation on September 7, the existing infrastructure and resources in each educational unit.When three confirmed cases of COVID-19 disease occur in different classrooms of the same school, in-person classes will be suspended for 14 days of the start date of the last case.In classrooms, physical distancing of one metre between the students has to be secured or providing benches with separators where distancing is not possible, establishing functional circuits, organising recreational spaces, assessing the necessary human resources; cleaning, hygiene and disinfection materials are needed, a stockpile of protective materials for students and staff, to which staff training is added.Students and teaching/ancillary/non-teaching staff will wear face masks both during class and during breaks.The protective mask will be mandatory for students during outdoor recreation, in crowded spaces, when a distance of at least one metre between students is not ensured. Protective mask is not mandatory for preschoolers.The healthcare workers performing the triage according to Joint Order 1668/5298/2011 and WHO 653/2001 will wear waterproof gowns, caps, goggles/face shields, surgical masks, and disposable gloves. In my youth group right now we are talking about how to read the bible. On our Zoom meeting for week one, I began by asking them a question. Have you ever read anything in the bible that created tension for you between what the text says and what you know about God? At first, I got a lot of sideways stares. So I rephrased the question, Have you ever read anything in the bible that you didnt agree with? Suddenly, I could see lightbulbs start going off. They unanimously agreed, yes. I said, Can you give me an example? They all looked at each other, looked down, and there was another long silent pause. We are still fairly new to each other in my group and I realized that the students were internally asking themselves if this type of conversation was really allowed. Is it really OK to ask questions of the Bible? Once they realized it was safe, they begin to answer. It went something like this. I dont agree with what the bible says about slavery. Another said, I dont believe what it says about women not being able to preach. Another student spoke up and said, Doesnt it say to stone someone if they get caught cheating? What about wearing clothes made up of two different kinds of fabric? I affirmed that all of these questions were good ones and then I asked them, What does it feel like to question the bible? They shrugged, Kind of strange, I guess. Maybe a little guilty. I went on, what if I told you that the bible was meant to be questioned? What if I told you that part of your responsibility as a bible-believing Christian is to question, doubt, wrestle with, talk to and ultimately interpret the bible for your place and time? What if your relationship with the Bible was always meant to be one long beautiful and complicated conversation? Would that change things for you? A little, they agreed. The Bible as a Talking Book Emerson Powery and other African American scholars have given us a great resource in referring to the Bible as the Talking Book. In this, Powery describes how many Christian slaves (especially in the years leading up to Emancipation) thought about the Bible. These slaves established a new hermeneutic that led them to reject the notion (intentionally handed down to them by their white owners) that God ordained them to be slaves because they were created as less than human. (The Genesis of Liberation, Powery). He writes, This hermeneutic developed as more and more slaves gained the ability to read. He writes, literacy meant the beginning of basic freedom. Biblical literacy allowed these black interpreters to talk back to the talking book and thereby to engage in a critical hermeneutical challenge to the widespread oppressive use of Scripture on the side of the peculiar institution (slavery) (pg. 29). Gaining the ability to read allowed the slaves (and former slaves) to talk back to the talking book and this is how they read and interpreted the Bible. This talking back is how they determined that the Bible was not a book that reinforced the institution of slavery (despite the many commandments taken literally and used to justifying the institution of slavery) but instead was a book of liberation. Learning to Talk Back This talking back to the talking book is a skill that has been lost in evangelicalism today. One reason is because we have lost the freedom to ask questions of the Bible. We have mistaken sacred for literal and mistaken biblical descriptions for prescriptions. We have bowed down to the illusion of certainty and made right believing a pre-requisite for belonging. All of this has led to the continual utilization of the Bible to oppress and marginalize entire people groups. Which is one of the greatest reasons why this talking back to the talking book is a skill worth recovering for all of us. How can we start talking back to the Talking Book? To start with, we can be honest about the texts in the Bible that create tension within us between what we read and what we know about God. We can do this in community with other Christians. We can, as my teenagers did, ask good questions and be honest about our doubt and confusion when it comes to the Bible. We can write them down and journey with these questions instead of fixing or forcing or ignoring them. We can consult a variety of biblical interpreters about the texts that cause tension. For example, we can read people who may see the text in a different way than we do such as liberation or womanist theologians.You could start with the Genesis of Liberation by Emerson Powery. You could start with the Genesis of Liberation by Emerson Powery. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-12 01:09:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Saturday dismissed the recent report by the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Syria, semi-official Fars news agency reported. "The decision is unbalanced, politically-tainted and unacceptable and is a step towards politicization of the OPCW and creating rift among its members," Alireza Kazemi Abadi, permanent representative of Iran to the OPCW, was quoted as saying. Kazemi Abadi said that the OPCW's conclusion has ignored Syria's extensive efforts to cooperate with the organization. The report by the IIT on Friday said that Syria's Air Force allegedly used toxic chemicals against the civilian population in Ltamenah in 2017. Enditem A family of four believed to be responsible for 90 percent of Victorias COVID-19 cases spread human waste while in hotel quarantine, an inquiry has heard. Department of Health and Human Services epidemiologist Charles Alpren has confirmed the state's deadly second wave is attributable to outbreaks at the Rydges on Swanston and Stamford Plaza hotels. "Approximately 99 per cent of current cases of COVID-19 in Victoria have arisen from Rydges or Stamford," Dr Alpren told the state's hotel quarantine inquiry on Tuesday. "However, I cannot be very precise in the number or proportion to have arisen from each outbreak separately. "It is likely that the large majority - I said in my statement approximately 90 per cent or more - of COVID-19 infections in Victoria can be traced to the Rydges Hotel." COVID testing is undertaken in Dandenong. Source: Getty Images Dr Alpren said the Rydges outbreak started with a family of four returned from overseas on May 9 and went into hotel quarantine where they developed symptoms over the next few days. They were moved to the Rydges on May 15 when they were all displaying symptoms. By May 18, all four had tested positive. Episode of environmental contamination sparks outbreak He added in a witness statement that on May 18 there was an episode of environmental contamination", thought to be human waste. Its thought the kids spread the human waste through the room, News Corp reported. It required assistance from nursing staff to rectify, Dr Alpren wrote. A week later, a hotel staff member and two security guards were diagnosed with COVID-19. It is not clear who was the first of the three to contract the virus. By mid-June, a total of 17 workers at the hotel and their close contacts had tested positive. Rydges on Swanston in Melbourne. Source: Getty Images (file pic) Dr Alpren added in his witness statement the family was "approved to walk outside their room, during which time they were accompanied by security guards". But no cases have been identified from either of the events - the contamination or walking outside the room, Dr Alpren said. Story continues "Transmission could have occurred directly from the family to staff or through contamination with virus on surfaces in the hotel with which staff then had contact with," his statement reads. At the time of the Rydges outbreak, there were very few other cases of COVID-19 in Victoria and just 19 people had died from the virus. People exercise in Albert Park. Source: Getty Images The state's death toll now stands at 351, with 7274 cases active. Second outbreak traced back to traveller Another outbreak also emerged at the Stamford Plaza, which was traced back to a man who returned from overseas on June 1 and a couple who returned on June 11. A worker at the Stamford Plaza was the first to show symptoms on June 10 and tested positive on June 14. Some 46 workers at the hotel and their close contacts were found to have caught COVID-19. Dr Alpren found "no links" between cases at the Rydges and cases at the Stamford Plaza. Having analysed the genomic sequencing of 5395 active cases, Dr Alpren said 3594 could be linked to the Rydges hotel. The outbreak is also linked to another 24 clusters. A medical worker brings food to Hambleton House during a COVID outbreak. Source: Getty Images Dr Alpren said the department has seen "no evidence of any other transmission" outside the hotels, excluding three exceptions. "That's not to say that there are no other transmission events that could be there. But because there are very few people now coming into Victoria who potentially offer new sources of importation of the virus, it is less and less likely," he said. Inappropriate PPE given to security guards at hotels It comes after an expert on Monday described advice on personal protective equipment given to security staff at the hotels as inappropriate and inaccurate. Infectious disease expert Professor Lindsay Grayson said security guards should have been wearing eye protection, gloves, a gown and mask when interacting with returned travellers or handling objects belonging to them. The inquiry continues on Thursday with hotel guests and workers expected to give evidence. 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. Security sources have confirmed the death of two soldiers, a nursing mother and many Boko Haram insurgents after troops fought fiercely to repel a major attack on Magumeri, a local government headquarters in Borno State. Sources familiar with the incident said Magumeri came under attack on Tuesday evening when a group of armed insurgents stormed the outskirts of the community in many trucks. Soldiers of the Special Task Force in Magumeri, led by their Commander, Major Manga, were said to have saved the residents from yet another massacre. It would have been deadly, but for the swift arrival of Oga Manga and his troops, said Bunu Bukar, an official of the state vigilante group, called Rapid Response Squad. The troops engaged them in a fierce fight that led to the death of many Boko Haram. A gun truck was recovered from the Boko Haram amongst many other arms and ammunition. The source said two soldiers paid the supreme price. We lost two soldiers in the fight, while one sustained an injury, he said. Other sources familiar with the incident confirmed that the insurgents had, before the arrival of the soldiers, burnt down a general hospital that was recently rebuilt and equipped by the Borno State Government. The burnt general hospital. [PHOTO CREDIT: Magumeri Media] The insurgents were said to have escaped with a tractor recently provided to the local government council by the Borno State government. The source also said a nursing mother was killed after a stray bullet hit her during the shootout. Attack on Kukawa The source confirmed that the attack on Magumeri coincided with another strike in Kukawa town of Borno state. Kukawa is the local government area where Baga, a commercial fishing community, is located. Borno State governors convoy was reportedly attacked in Baga about three weeks ago when unknown gunmen opened fire on his motorcade. The governor, Babagana Zulum, blamed soldiers of the Nigeria military for the assault. The military has since dismissed the allegation as false. Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum [PHOTO: @GovBorno] A security source, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, confirmed a serious attack but could not immediately give details. We know many people were killed, but we cannot provide detailed figures until we get authentic information from our boys out there in Kukawa. Whatever you hear now, especially on alleged hoisting of flags by Boko Haram, is equal to rumours, he said. Meanwhile, an online medium, Sahara Reporters had reported earlier that the Boko Haram terrorist had hoisted its flag in Kukawa, after seizing the territory. The military has not confirmed this. A message sent to Sagir Musa, by our reporter seeking a confirmation of the incident in Magumeri, was not responded to at the time of filing this report. Mr Musa, a colonel, is the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR). Put me down as one who opposes mail-in ballots. History is rife with cases of where people from one state to the next will take advantage of the lure of mail fraud, and believe this -- counterfeit ballots produced in China look better than the originals. Due to the coronavirus, I can see where there is a legitimate need, but I can also understand President Trumps panic all the hens in the chicken house aint good layers. What I cant understand is whats the roar over the post office. Why is Nancy Pelosi calling back Congress in special session to squabble about the post office when the solution is so glaringly simple? Think of this: Every year the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is ready to deliver more than 28 million packages per day between Dec.16-21, and will average 20.5 million packages per day from Nov. 1 through the remainder of the year. With a projected 800 million package deliveries between Thanksgiving and New Years Day, the Postal Service delivers more packages to homes than any of its competitors United Parcel Service (UPS), Fedex and Amazon. The trick is how they do it. Anybody who ever sent a box of cigars to Uncle Louie in Stillwater, Texas, knows that there are deadlines to make sure the gift arrives by Dec. 25. The way to assure each vote will be vetted by the county Election Commissions all across America and counted properly is to mail it four or five days before the election, just as you would a Christmas card. Hello? Last year the USPS retail ground service deadline (Uncle Louies cigars) was Dec. 15. The first-class deadline (Christmas cards, checks to the grandchildren) and first-class packages up to 15.99 ounces was Dec. 20, with priority mail Dec. 21. This years presidential election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. You can request an absentee ballot from the Hamilton County Election Commission right now and the only stipulation is that it must be received by election day. Any ballot that is not received by election day cannot count. It is that simple. I personally believe the overwhelming majority of voters have already decided how they will vote. If I chose to vote by mail, Id send in my application today and, when the ballot arrives, I would mail it the next day. Thats how simple this is. The Post Office is a different story. It is the second-largest employer in our private sector with roughly 470,000 career employees and about 140,000 non-career employees. Its biggest flaw is that no one understands it. Is it a government agency that should be held up to the publics standards, or is it a quasi-independent agency with its cumbersome union, its grossly-inept leadership that is waist-deep in ludicrous red tape, its aging delivery fleet that is today a money pit, and horrendous overhead. Not long ago, President Trump placed a bean-counter, Louis DeJoy, in the Postmaster Generals chair and, intentional or not, DeJoys sudden efforts to cut costs have become abysmal. We know that the Internet (email) has cut first-class mail by almost 50 percent what it was 20 yeas ago. We know that the private companies (UPS, Fedex, Amazon) have profited by taking business away from the Post Office, so sweeping reforms are inevitable. Right now, this according to Wikipedia, there are huge obstacles that must be faced: * * * THE RETIREMENT AND PENSION * -- The Office of Personnel Management is the main bureaucratic organization responsible for the human resources aspect of many federal agencies and their employees. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 obligates the USPS to fund the present value of earned retirement obligations (essentially past promises which have not yet come due) within a 10-year time span. The PAEA created the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund after Congress removed the Postal Service contribution to the Civil Service Retirement System. Most other employees that contribute to the CSRS have 7 percent deducted from their wages. Currently all new employees contribute into Federal Employee Retirement System once they become a full-time regular employees. * -- On Sept. 30, 2014, the USPS failed to make a $5.7 billion payment on this debt, the fourth such default. * -- On Feb. 5, 2020, the House passed The USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) with 309 Yeas and 106 Nays meeting the 2/3rd rule. The measure eliminates the requirement going forward and forgives all payments on which USPS has defaulted. It was moved to the Senate on Feb. 10, 2020 and is awaiting action by senators. - - - REFORM PROPOSALS * -- As part of a June 2018 governmental reorganization plan, the Donald Trump administration proposed turning USPS into "a private postal operator" which could save costs through measures like delivering mail fewer days per week, or delivering to central locations instead of door to door. There was strong bipartisan opposition to the idea in Congress. * -- In April 2020 Congress approved a $10 billion loan from the Treasury to the post office. According to the Washington Post, officials under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested using the loan as leverage to give the Treasury Department more influence on USPS operations, including making them raise their charges for package deliveries, a change long sought by President Trump. * -- In May 2020 Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General and immediately began taking measures to reduce costs, such as banning overtime and extra trips to deliver mail. While DeJoy admitted that these measures were causing delays in mail delivery, he said they would eventually improve service. * -- More than 600 high-speed mail sorting machines were scheduled to be dismantled and removed from postal facilities, raising concerns that mailed ballots for the Nov. 3 election might not reach election offices on time. Mail collection boxes were removed from the streets in many cities; after photos of boxes being removed were spread on social media, a postal service spokesman said they were being moved to higher traffic areas but that the removals would stop until after the election. * -- The inspector general for the postal service opened an investigation into the recent changes. * -- On Aug. 16 the House of Representatives was called back from its summer recess to consider a bill rolling back all of the changes. * -- On Aug. 18 (this was yesterday) after days of heavy criticism, and the day after lawsuits against the Postal Service and DeJoy personally were filed in federal court by several individuals, DeJoy announced that he would roll back all the changes until after the November election. He said he would reinstate overtime hours, roll back service reductions, and halt the removal of mail-sorting machines and collection boxes. * * * DEAD PEOPLE ARE STILL ELIGIBLE VOTERS This from RealClearPolitics.com Los Angeles County has too many voters. An estimated 1.6 million, according to the latest calculations which is roughly the population of Philadelphia. Thats the difference between the number of people on the countys voter rolls and the actual number of voting age residents. This means that L.A. is in violation of federal law, which seeks to limit fraud by requiring basic voter list maintenance to make sure that people who have died, moved, or are otherwise ineligible to vote arent still on the rolls. Los Angeles County has made only minimal efforts to clean up its voter rolls for decades. It began sending notices to those 1.6 million people last month to settle a lawsuit brought by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. Los Angeles County may be Californias worst offender, but 10 of the states 58 counties also have registration rates exceeding 100 percent of the voting age population. In fact, the voter registration rate for the entire state of California is 101 percent. Eight states, as well as the District of Columbia, have total voter registration tallies exceeding 100 percent, and in total, 38 states have counties where voter registration rates exceed 100 percent. Another state that stands out is Kentucky, where the voter registration rate in 48 of its 120 counties exceeded 100 percent last year. About 15 percent of Americas counties where there is reliable voter data that is, over 400 counties out of 2,800 have voter registration rates over 100 percent. This echoes a 2012 Pew study that found that 24 million voter registrations in the United States, about one out of every eight, are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate a number greater than the current population of Florida or New York state. Pews total included at least 1.8 million dead people and another 2.75 million Americans who were registered to vote in at least two states. * * * DEAD PEOPLE GOT $1.4 BILLION IN STIMULUS CHECKS From TheHill.com (6-25-2020) The Treasury Department and IRS sent almost 1.1 million coronavirus stimulus payments, totaling almost $1.4 billion, to dead people as of April 30, a Government Accountability Office paper released Thursday reported. "Treasury and IRS did not use the death records to stop payments to deceased individuals for the first three batches of payments because of the legal interpretation under which IRS was operating," GAO said. The watchdog was provided the figure about the number and dollar amount of payments sent to dead people by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The payments sent to deceased individuals are small when compared to the overall number of payments made. Treasury and the IRS have distributed about 160 million payments totaling nearly $270 billion as of May 31, according to the GAO report. It's impossible to miss the message from the Democratic National Convention this week in describing and for some voters, introducing Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee. Decent. Empathetic. Trustworthy. Also this: not Donald Trump. With disciplined consistency, speaker after speaker at this week's virtual convention has focused on the humanity of the former vice president, drawing sharp contrasts with the bombastic personality of the Republican incumbent. President Trump has underscored the point, presumably not deliberately, by hurling insults at some of the speakers and warning darkly at an Arizona stop Tuesday that Biden wanted to open the nation's borders to criminals and disease. The convention has done more to extol who candidate Biden is than to explain what a President Biden would do. That's a deliberate campaign strategy, one that bridges for now significant ideological divides among the voters the party hopes to attract. But it carries risks for someone who would enter the Oval Office facing the most serious national challenges of any new president since Franklin Roosevelt nearly nine decades ago. Takeaways from DNC night 2: Jill Biden talks of Joe Biden's 'unstoppable' will amid grief Joe Biden, photographed with his wife, Jill, on Tuesday, will accept his party's nomination in an address Thursday night. Talking about policy in a campaign, from how to overhaul health care to whether to get out of a war, can help build a national consensus and lay the groundwork for taking action in office. Biden has a chance to outline his priorities and detail his solutions to the nation's problems in his acceptance address Thursday night, speaking to TV cameras from a largely empty event center in Wilmington, Delaware. Except for the presidential debates in the fall, he is likely to be reaching the largest audience he will command before Election Day. Don't expect a State of the Union-like list of particulars, though. Biden needs to forge a broad coalition with a variety of political views, from big-city progressives to moderate working-class whites, from seniors to young people. What's more, voters often don't reward candidates who purport to tell them hard truths. At the 1984 Democratic convention, nominee Walter Mondale famously declared that he would raise taxes if elected and argued that President Ronald Reagan would be forced to do the same. "He won't tell you," Mondale said. "I just did." Story continues That didn't nothing to help Mondale's campaign, which ended up on the losing side of a 49-state landslide. During this convention, Democratic delegates passed with little dissent a 92-page party platform, negotiated by a task force representing Biden and the more liberal Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who finished second for the nomination. But the platform skirts the progressives' causes that animated divisions among Democrats during the primaries passing a Green New Deal, banning fracking, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In her one-minute speech nominating Sanders on Tuesday, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made it clear those debates would be back. A rising voice for the party's progressives, she called for "a mass people's movement" that would "recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia." That work comes after Election Day, though. She didn't mention Biden in her speech, but she has already endorsed him for November. "For now, an uneasy peace reigns," says political analyst and demographer Ruy Teixeira, though he adds, "It isn't hard to see the potential fault lines." The decision by the Biden campaign to promise competence and leadership in general more than spotlighting his policy proposals in particular has made it more difficult for Republican attacks on him to stick. Trump has called Democrats "radical and beyond socialism" and portrayed Biden as a captive of his party's left wing. That picture has been hard to square with the convention endorsements this week from such senior Republicans as former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The voices of regular folks from across the country embracing "Joe" as someone who understands their lives have been interspersed through the program. Trump worked four years ago to make Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton seem unlikable; Biden has made it harder to do the same to him. More: Trump campaign bashes Tuesday at DNC as 'loser night,' targeting Sally Yates, AOC That said, Biden has vulnerabilities of his own. Although he has been on the national scene for nearly a half-century as a Delaware senator and then vice president, Biden "remains well known, but not known well," says Democratic pollster Peter Hart. In an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll just before the convention, only 33% of those surveyed reported positive feelings about Biden; 59% expressed reservations about a Biden presidency. In the most intimate testimonial of the week, Jill Biden described her husband's life story and family tragedies as preparation for the task the next president will face after the disruptions and divisions of the last four years. "I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours: bring us together and make us whole," she said in Tuesday's featured address, speaking from Room 232 of Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where she once taught English. "That's the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now." Details to follow. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DNC strategy: Show that Joe Biden is decent, empathetic, and not Trump Enforcement Directorate (ED) authorities are conducting raids at four locations in Mumbai, including Andheri, in the Tablighi Jamaat money laundering case, according to a probe agency official. The ED is probing the source of funding -- both at home and abroad --- for the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz, which was held at Nizamuddin in south Delhi between March 13 and 16 amid the early days of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in the country. The funds were used for the religious congregation in Delhi and the travel of several Jamaat followers from over 20 countries in the world. In April, the central agency had started its probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on the basis of a Delhi Polices Crime Branchs first information report (FIR) registered against the Jamaat chief, Maulana Muhammad Saad, and five others on charges of violating nationwide lockdown restrictions that were enforced from March 25 in a bid to contain the spread of the viral outbreak. The Jamaats source of funding is being probed by ED along with finances received by Saad from across the globe, said an official. EDs probe is also focussed on whether donations received by Markaz were part of money laundering and if it was routed via hawala or non-banking channels. The Jamaat has offices and members in Mumbai and adjoining districts. The ED raids are being carried out to collect more evidence on suspected money-laundering activities. The probe is looking at the funds spent by the Jamaat authorities for organising various religious events across the country and also identifying the groups members who handled the money. The Central government had blamed Jamaat members as initial super-spreaders of the viral outbreak, when around 26,000 of their contacts were quarantined across the country. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had blacklisted around 1,500 foreign Tablighi members for violating their visa norms. Multiple cases were registered against Jamaat members, across the country, including in Maharashtra, for spreading the contagious disease. On the lines of the Nizamuddin Markaz, the Jamaat authorities had also planned a congregation of nearly 45,000 people in Maharashtras Vasai in mid-March, but the state government had denied them the permission to hold the event. Kenneth Branagh returns to the role of detective Hercule Poirot in his adaptation of Agatha Christies Death on the Nile, which released its first trailer Wednesday. Like the directors spin on Murder on the Orient Express in 2017, Death on the Nile assembles an all-star cast of characters, with Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Tom Bateman (reprising his Orient Express role), Jennifer Saunders and more taking part in Christies classic murder mystery. More from Rolling Stone Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirots Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couples idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short, 20th Century Studios said of the adaptation. Set against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, this tale of unbridled passion and incapacitating jealousy features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers, and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement. Filmed in England and Egypt just prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Death on the Nile will hopefully arrive in theaters on October 23rd. See where your favorite artists and songs rank on the Rolling Stone Charts. Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Actress Mouni Roy often catches her followers attention by uploading beautiful pictures of herself. The actress on Wednesday shared a series of photos on social media wherein she can be seen standing in front of a floral background with a bright smile on the face. In the images which she posted on Instagram, the actress can be seen striking different poses in each picture. The caption of the post reads, #goodvibesonly #gratitude. View this post on Instagram #goodvibesonly #gratitude A post shared by mon (@imouniroy) on Aug 19, 2020 at 2:09am PDT Today, she also uploaded images of pages from Bhagavad Gita and notes she made. Through this post, Mouni shared some good lessons with her followers. In the photos, shlokas and their meanings can be seen underlined with a pen. Sharing a lesson which she liked, the actress wrote, Dont measure yourself with anyone elses yardship, even if its god themselves, be inspired, dont imitate. The actress earlier this month visited Harry Potter Station's 9 3/4 Platform in London. She posted pictures on Instagram in which she can be seen dressed in a white dress, posing with a luggage cart. The caption of the post in French reads, Au Revoir Adios Farewell, indicating that she was leaving for somewhere else. View this post on Instagram Au revoir Adios Farewell #potterhead #seeyouontheotherside A post shared by mon (@imouniroy) on Aug 7, 2020 at 12:47am PDT Mouni got stuck in Abu Dhabi for almost four months, March to July, because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 and subsequent imposition of restrictions on international flights. She had gone there for a magazine photo shoot. She left Abu Dhabi for London in July after travel restrictions were eased. She will be next seen in Brahmastra, helmed by Ayan Mukerji. The movie also features Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawars grand nephew, moving away from the partys line, welcomed the Supreme Court decision to transfer actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).Satyamev Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) the 30-year-old tweeted, even as his father Ajit Pawar is the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and their NCP is in alliance with the Shiv Sena-led state government. Both NCP and Shiv Sena, over the last two months, had expressed confidence in the investigations by Mumbai Police when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded CBI inquiry into the death of Rajput, who was found hanging in his Mumbai residence on June 14. Parth was openly censured by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, for demanding a probe by the premier investigation agency into the case.We dont give importance to Parth Pawars demand, he is immature, the NCP chief had remarked last week.Parth Pawar, son of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, had even met state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and demanded a CBI inquiry in Sushants death.Sharad Pawar had said that he trusts Maharashtra Police but will not oppose if someone thinks that CBI or any other agency should probe the matter. I have seen Maharashtra and Mumbai police for the last 50 years and I trust them. I do not want to comment on what others have accused them of. If someone thinks that CBI or any other agency should probe the matter then I wont oppose it, Pawar said. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, directed the CBI to probe the case, while holding that the FIR registered in Bihars Patna over the actors death was legitimate.The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI.Parths comment over the apex courts decision is also significant as it comes after his uncles ally Shiv Sena openly censured the young leader. It would be foolishness to demand a CBI inquiry in the Sushant case. Some experienced people are also backing the demand for the CBI inquiry. It should be understood that there is a conspiracy going on to hurt Maharashtras self-respect and identity under the cover of the CBI probe in the case, Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamana wrote in its editorial on August 14. ! Parth Pawar (@parthajitpawar) August 19, 2020 ALSO READ : Big win for Sushants family, SC orders CBI probe, asks Maharashtra to provide evidence ALSO READ : No connection to Aaditya Thackeray: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer on Sushant Singh Rajputs death probe A n all white killer whale has been spotted off the coast of southeast Alaska. The young whale has been named T'luk, which means moon in the language of the indigenous Coast Salish people. He was spotted swimming with two adult whales by a group of tourists along the shoreline of Kuiu and Kupreanof islands Dennis Rogers, owner of Alaska Sea Adventures, told KFSK Radio he was on a charter trip with eight guests when they spotted the white killer whale. It sure made spotting him easy," Mr Rodgers said. "When they went down under water, usually they disappear and typically very hard to follow. "But having a white one under the water you could see him an easy ten feet below the surface, this big white shape moving along there. Despite his all-white colouring, researchers do not believe that T'luk is an albino whale. The whale was spotted off the southeast coast of Alaska / Unsplash Jared Towers, a killer whale researcher with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said T'luk was more likely to be white due to a lack of pigment than albinism. I dont believe its an albino whale," he said. Its not quite pure white and it doesnt have the pink eyes that would indicate albinism." While unlikely to be albino, white killer whales are still very rare, with just two currently alive, and five or six documented off the coast of southeast Alaska in the past 80 years. Pranab Mukherjee New Delhi: The health condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee has declined as he has developed a lung infection, the Army's Research and Referral Hospital said on Wednesday. Pranab, who was admitted to the hospital in Delhi Cantonment on August 10, continues to be on ventilatory support, doctors attending to him said. Advertisement Pranab Mukherjee However, his son and former MP Abhijit Mukherjee said his father is showing "positive signs of improvement". "There has been a decline in the medical condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee as he has developed features of lung infection. He continues to be on ventilatory support and is currently being managed by a team of specialists," the hospital said in a statement. Advertisement In a tweet, Abhijit Mukherjee said his father's vital parameters are under control. With All Your good wishes & sincere efforts of the Doctors , my father is stable now ! His vital parameters continue to remain under control & manageable ! Positive signs of his improvement is noticed ! I request you all to pray for His speedy recovery !????#PranabMukherjee Abhijit Mukherjee (@ABHIJIT_LS) August 19, 2020 Advertisement "With all your good wishes and sincere efforts of the doctors, my father is stable now! His vital parameters continue to remain under control and manageable! Positive signs of his improvement are noticed. I request you all to pray for his speedy recovery," he said. 1 of 2 DAVV CET 2020 exam cancelled, admission to be based on merit only Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, DAVV has been granted with the permission to start its admission process this year on merit basis by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The admissions in the state were done through the CET Exam till last year, which has been called off this year due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation in the MP. The decision to take admission on merit basis was given by a bench comprising Justice SC Sharma and Justice Shailendra Shukla on the petition filed by DAVV seeking revision of a previous court making CET mandatory for admissions. The DAVV University had filed this review petition in which they have mentioned that it is not possible to conduct the examination in such a situation. They further had asked that they get the liberty to admit students on the basis of percentage of marks. The high court has given the verdict that for this academic session only, the necessity of holding CET is waived off. Read More... (Bloomberg) -- When Tel Aviv-based financier Edouard Cukierman started his first fund in the late 1990s, some of the investors he signed up from the United Arab Emirates hid their identity behind a trust to keep their involvement discreet. Now, the LinkedIn account of the head of Cukierman & Co. Investment House Ltd. is buzzing with 20 to 30 messages a day from Emiratis eager to do deals -- without having to conceal themselves. The shift comes after a U.S.-brokered peace process aimed at ending decades of official hostility between the two Middle East nations. The timing is great to start building cross-border transactions in a much more open manner, said Cukierman, who is already planning a trip to the UAE in September to scout local partners. The investor is among many businesses hoping the Israel-UAE pact will usher in an economic boom. While Israels peace deals during the 1970s and 1990s with Egypt and Jordan resolved military conflicts, the relationships never blossomed into strong corridors for trade or investment. Israeli entrepreneurs are also preparing for a flood of investments into the local technology industry, which along with a shared enmity of Iran, has been a key motivator for the talks. Israel is a tech hub with more than 6,000 startups and both sides share expertise and common needs around areas of health-care, cyber-security and agricultural innovation. Read more: Israel Says Bahrain, Sudan May Be First to Follow UAE Peace Move For the UAE, betting on technology is another key element of diversifying its economy away from oil. It also opens up the possibility of exporting goods and services to Israel from the UAEs free zones, where foreign companies are allowed to take full ownership of companies and regulation is lighter. Companies from the UAE already purchase services from some Israeli firms, according to Erel Margalit, founder and chief executive officer of Jerusalem Venture Partners. The next step could see these become partnerships on investment, which would strengthen trust, especially if its combined with political goodwill, he said. Story continues Its more deals, more business, more investments that we will be doing together, Margalit said. Israel plans to open a commercial mission at its eventual embassy in the UAE, and is targeting both trade and investment of up to $500 million. Immediate Timelines As the peace talks signal an end to years of covert trading, officials are working on all manner of agreements to bring cooperation into the open. Shortly after the announcement, an Emirati and an Israeli company said they would work together on coronavirus research, while Israeli telecommunications and airline firms have reached out to the UAE to establish commercial links. Read more: UAE, Israel Companies Sign First Deal After Breakthrough in Ties The timelines are quite immediate, Israeli Minister of Science and Technology Izhar Shay said in an interview on Bloomberg TV Monday. Foreign investment makes up the bulk of funding for Israeli high-tech startups, a critical sector that accounts for about 10% of jobs, but is disproportionately key to Israels productivity and output. Yifat Oron, the chief executive officer of a tech-banking unit at Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM, said that in a few years the UAE could contribute up to 10% of tech investment in Israel -- which totaled over $8 billion last year. The pace that its going to grow is going to be a surprise, she said. Emiratis are also optimistic that Israels venture capital and large pension funds will pour investments into Gulf-based firms. Even before the formal announcement, a top executive at Abu Dhabis sovereign wealth fund called on Israelis to deploy capital in the region. In return for their investments in Israeli tech firms, the UAE will expect technology transfer to the UAE, said Nicholas Gilani, co-founder and managing partner of Cyal Advisors, a UAE-based consultancy firm. The UAE will probably also require the establishment of a local presence in business centers in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, he said. Early Days Some businesspeople are more cautious, acknowledging that it will take time and trust to build significant partnerships. Once the legal, political and public-relations ambiguity of the deal is clear and risks understood, expect a two-sided movement -- money will flow both ways, said Dubai-based Kushal Shah, the head of digital and technology for Asia and Middle East at Roland Berger LLC. It is early days. Most boards will respect the sensitivity of such deals and approach with caution. For Cukierman, who took his fund public on Frances stock exchange after raising cash, investment flows could surge soon. The number can grow very fast if I look at the level of interest, he said. (Updates to add targeted trade in in 9th paragraph.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. A freak mini tornado has damaged trees, homes and power lines during a bizarre weather phenomenon in Adelaide overnight. Bonnie Haselgrove, Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster, told Daily Mail Australia that at 9.20pm on Tuesday a band of intense showers spread over Morphett Vale, in south Adelaide. 'Reviewing the data it is clear there were rotational winds,' she said. A small tornado has damaged trees, homes and powerlines during a freak weather phenomenon in Adelaide overnight (pictured, one of the affected homes) Bonnie Haselgrove, Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster, told Daily Mail Australia that at 9.20pm on Tuesday a band of intense showers spread over Morphett Vale, in south Adelaide (warning area pictured in dark yellow) 'There is sufficient evidence to indicate it was a tornado - however without on the ground analysis it is hard to classify it.' Ms Haselgrove said images indicated that it was an EF0 tornado, which means winds can range from 105 to 136 km per hour. She said there were other smaller rotational wind patterns, so it can't be ruled out there were even more small tornadoes in the area. Most tornadoes in Australia have a Enhanced Fujita scale of zero or one - which are the lowest possible ranks. State Emergency Services were called to 40 homes overnight - with seven impacted on just one street, according to Seven News. A local who gave his name only as Paul is one of the people whose home was impacted by the intense storms overnight. State Emergency Services (workers pictured) were called to 40 homes overnight - with seven impacted on just one street He told ABC Radio Adelaide he had sat down to watch a movie when the winds suddenly started. 'We were just about to pick a movie then "whoosh, whoosh", three flashes, the loudest bang, then a massive yellow explosion,' he said. 'I said, "Get down, we're under attack." Honestly, I was [in] fear for our lives. 'I've never seen anything like this really freaky stuff. Like, where did that come from?' Several homes were left badly damaged by horrific storms in Adelaide on Tuesday night (example pictured) Two icy cold fronts from Antarctica will batter Australia this week - with snow expected to cover from the Great Dividing Range all the way to the Queensland border. A mass of polar air will spread across NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by another snowy blast just days later. This powerful weather system is also expected to cause widespread hail, thunderstorms, snow, blustery winds and rain in the same four states. Ms Haselgrove said images indicated that it was an EF0 tornado, which means winds can range from 105 to 136 km per hour (pictured, a fallen tree in the area) The first front will bring torrential rain, dangerous winds, snow and thunderstorms across the states, according to Weatherzone. The most damaging winds were in South Australia on Tuesday afternoon, but soon spread up into NSW and northeast Victoria on Wednesday. A severe weather warning has been issued across New South Wales, with dangerous winds expected from Wednesday ahead of a polar blast later in the week. The Bureau of Meteorology says the wind chill factor will be significant on Wednesday and the rest of the week, especially in the south of the state. 'A vigorous cold front will sweep across western NSW this morning, reaching eastern parts of the state this afternoon and evening and bringing very windy conditions with its passage,' the bureau said. Newcastle, Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Goulburn, Broken Hill and Thredbo Top will be among the areas most affected. By Steven Lam VACAVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) - A firefighting helicopter pilot was killed in a crash, and scores of homes burnt in California on Wednesday as hundreds of lightning-sparked blazes forced tens of thousands of people to flee their dwellings. Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes were documented during a 72-hour stretch this week in the heaviest spate of thunderstorms to hit California in more than a decade, igniting 367 individual fires. Almost two dozen of them have grown into major conflagrations, authorities said. Multiple fires raced through hills and mountains adjacent to Northern California's drought-parched wine country, shutting down Interstate 80 at Fairfield, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Sacramento, as flames leapt across the highway, trapping motorists caught in a hectic evacuation. Police in the nearby town of Vacaville reported that advancing flames had prompted the evacuation of a state prison there and a medical facility for inmates. Four residents whose communities were overrun by flames hours earlier in the same area suffered burns but survived, though the severity of their injuries was not immediately known, said Will Powers a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). He said thousands of residents were under mandatory evacuation orders in a four-county area stricken by a cluster of nine wind-driven fires collectively dubbed the LNU Complex, triggered by lightning on Monday. In central California, a helicopter was on a water-dropping mission in Fresno County about 160 miles (258 km) south of San Francisco when it crashed, killing the pilot, a private contractor, CalFire said. As of Wednesday night, the LNU complex of fires had burnt largely unchecked across 124,000 acres (50,000 hectares), with zero containment, destroying at least 105 homes and other structures and leaving another 70 damaged, CalFire said. Several of the fires had merged by nightfall. Story continues Wearing a singed nightgown, Diane Bustos said her husband abandoned their car as it caught fire and then blew up on the west side of Vacaville early Wednesday morning. She lost both her shoes when she and her family ran for their lives. "I made it, God saved me," Bustos told television station KPIX. There were social media accounts of people trapped in the blaze, but CalFire's Powers said authorities had no reports of anyone missing. A Reuters reporter saw dozens of burned-out homesteads and houses in the Vacaville-Fairfield area, dead livestock among torched properties and some animals wandering loose. "We are experiencing fires the like of which we haven't seen in many, many years," California Governor Gavin Newsom told a news conference, adding he had requested 375 fire engines from out of state to help. He declared a statewide fire emergency on Tuesday. The last time California experienced dry lightning storms of such devastating proportions was in 2008, said CalFire spokesman Scott Maclean. Fanned by "red-flag" high winds, the fires are racing through vegetation parched by a record-breaking heat wave that began on Friday. Meteorologists have said the extreme heat and lightning storms were both linked to the same atmospheric weather pattern - an enormous high-pressure area hovering over America's desert Southwest. The largest group of fires, called the SCU Lightning Complex, had scorched at least 102,000 acres some 20 miles east of Palo Alto, while a third cluster, the CZU August Lightning Complex, grew to more than 10,000 acres and forced evacuations around 13 miles south of Palo Alto. (Reporting by Steven Lam in Vacaville, Calif.; Additional reporting by Jane Ross and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento. Writing and reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Stephen Coates, Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday hailed the Supreme Court's judgment upholding the transfer of an FIR lodged in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case at Patna to the Central Bureau of Investigation. IMAGE: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Photograph: PTI Photo. "Nyay ki jeet hui hain (truth has triumphed)," Kumar said on the apex court's verdict. Director General of Police Gupteswar Pandey said that the Supreme Courts decision to transfer Rajput's death case to the CBI vindicated the Bihar polices stand that it was doing things in accordance with the law and Constitution. His comments came after the apex court upheld the transfer to the CBI of an FIR, lodged at Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide of the actor. It said that Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the central agency for investigation. "With the verdict, the country came to know that the Bihar police was doing nothing wrong in it. The fact of the matter is that it was carrying out its job with right intention to ensure justice for Sushant Singh Rajput, DGP Pandey said. There were, however, some people who were feeling "uneasy" as they might get exposed, he added. "I cant tell you about the time-frame (on completing the probe). It may take one month, three months or more. This is a high-profile case, which the entire nation is closely watching, and a professional investigation agency is carrying out the probe on the directive of the apex court. I am quite confident that the truth will come out finally, Pandey said. Further, he said that it was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who supported a CBI probe into the actors death and this kept hopes alive for justice for Rajput. "Rhea Chakraborty does not have the aukaat (stature) to comment on the Bihar chief minister," he said. Chakraborty had challenged the Bihar governments jurisdiction in the matter and sought the transfer of the case from Patna to Mumbai. She had also alleged that the Bihar government's action was inspired by the upcoming state polls. K K Singh, the actors 74-year-old father, had lodged an FIR with the Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna last month, nearly 40 days after his son was found hanging from the ceiling at his Bandra residence in Mumbai on June 14. The Bihar police had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and sent its four police officers to Mumbai for carrying out investigation. Later, the Bihar government recommended the case for a CBI probe after Rajputs father gave his nod for the same. Bihar's Advocate General Lalit Kishore said the apex court order vindicated the steps taken by the state government which were as per the law and the Constitution. The Bihar governments action was well within the ambit of the law, he added. The Maharashtra government and Mumbai police tried to create obstacles but justice prevailed, Kishore said. State Water Resources Minister and senior Janata Dal-United leader Sanjay Kumar Jha, whom Rajput's family had approached in the case and who had taken the matter to the CM, welcomed the order, stating that he is pleased as CBI will now get to the root of the perpetrators behind the heinous crime. "Justice is finally delivered! Grateful Hon Supreme Court On behalf of millions of truth seekers across the world who are devastated by suspect death of #SushantSinghRajpoot, I express my gratitude to Hon CM Shri @NitishKumar for having recommended a #CBI enquiry," he tweeted. Taking a swipe at the Mumbai police, he alleged they did nothing in the name of investigation and only indulged in photo ops in its bid to cover-up the case. On the Shiv Sena's allegation of scoring political points in the case in view of the coming state polls, Jha, a close associate of Kumar, said the chief minister and the government only came into the picture" after Rajput's father expressed dissatisfaction over the investigations. "We came into picture and played our role only after Sushant Singh Rajput's family filed an FIR. We acted in honour of peoples sentiment that justice should be done in the matter." he told PTI. Rajputs cousin and Bihar BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Singh 'Bablu' hailed the verdict, saying that the family was very happy that justice will now be done in the case and truth will come out. FLINT, MI A man is in critical condition after he was hit by a Flint police cruiser that was responding to a call Wednesday morning. The officer was responding at 10:45 p.m Tuesday, Aug. 18 to a domestic assault with weapon and possible shooting call when the cruiser collided with a bicycle in the area of Corunna Road and Court Street. A preliminary investigation indicates the officer, a three-year veteran of the Flint Police Department, was headed west on Court Street approaching Corunna Road with light and sirens activated and had a green light at the intersection. The bicyclist entered the cruisers path of travel and was hit, police said. Flint Police Detective Sgt. Tyrone Booth told MLive-The Flint Journal that the bicyclist was transported to Hurley Medical Center and listed in critical condition following the incident. The officer was not injured. The officer will not be placed on leave, Booth said. As the incident involved an officer, Michigan State Police has been asked to conduct the investigation in cooperation with Flint police. Amanda Huffman is an Air Force veteran and spouse and host of the "Women of the Military" podcast. After the murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a campaign was launched to bring awareness, not only Vanessa's case, but also to stories of sexual harassment and assault among other military women. The Justice for Vanessa effort is working to change laws within the military to help protect women. In July it grew into a movement calling out Vanessa's chain of command; contacting politicians to demand change; spreading a petition to shut down Fort Hood, Texas, where her murder occurred; and asking women to boycott enlisting in the military. As a female veteran who advocates on behalf of both women who are still serving and those who have left the military, I do not support an enlistment boycott as a path to change. Instead, we must step up more than ever before to act for change. When women boycott military service, the military misses out on an important group that can make positive changes. The military needs women more than it realizes, even as women break down barriers and open doors for those who follow in their footsteps. The United States military needs women to make our force stronger. Women and men are different in their leadership qualities and how they solve problems. And one of the most positive changes in the most recent wars has been the military recognizing how important servicewomen are to winning the fight. Although serving in the military as a woman continues to be a challenge, boycotting service isn't the answer. If we stop serving, it only makes the military weaker. This isnt to say that we shouldn't be doing more to protect women in the military. Guillen's case and the #iamvanessaguillen campaign that followed highlighted what women have known for years: military sexual harassment and assault is a real problem. The military needs to make changes. We can start from the moment women decide to join the service by giving them a place where they can reach out for help. Programs like Veterati have been created to help people transition out of the military. But is there a way to help people transition INTO the military? A way to connect those entering the service with those who have either left the service or are farther along in their military career? Such a program would benefit both male and female service members. It would be invaluable to have someone who has experienced a situation and likely knows more people or resources to help you through your military career. And it could also help the helpers: veterans struggling with finding purpose after leaving the military could gain a new mission in the chance to support and mentor those following in their footsteps. One of the reasons I created the "Women of the Military" podcast was to provide a place for women to share their stories in hopes of equipping those considering service. Many of my listeners are women who are looking to join the military. Through the podcast, I give women an open invitation to contact me so that I can connect them with other female veterans -- women who can not only help them in their career choices but also in the challenges that come with military life. As a strong advocate for military service, I want to do more to help more women, which is why I am writing a book for those who are considering joining the military. It is a guide to help them as they make a choice on how to serve, what career to pick and what branch to join. I hope to give women answers to questions I had or didn't even know to ask in the first place. This is what the way forward looks like -- not boycotting service but providing support and encouragement. We need an upfront awareness of problems and resources, and mentors to help. Joining the military changed my life. It gave me confidence and a community I was searching for, and changed my life story. I faced a number of challenges and have many stories of when I was lucky not to be another statistic in military sexual assault. And I realize that, if I had known how close to danger I was and had been told the realities of these dangers, I could have better protected myself. I know that not all cases can be avoided. It is unfortunate that this danger is something women may face. But one of the biggest challenges is how they are treated by leadership and co-workers after the event takes place. When leaders blame the victims and protect the perpetrator, it creates an unsafe environment. That is why it is important to educate and mentor women who are serving, and to change laws and the culture within the military. It is a two-sided balancing act where we protect and empower women, but also change the way things have been done. Safeguards to protect victims must be put into place, and watchdogs must ensure leadership does not continue business as usual. And as women and men unite to make change happen, the military and our country will be better for it. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority has started investigations into alleged overpricing of drugs by three super speciality hospitals -- Yashoda Hospital, Medicover Hospital and Care Hospital -- after patients who received treatment raised complaints. In three letters shot to the Chief Medical Officers of the hospitals, the NPPA asked them to furnish details of all the drugs administered to the patients along with the sample of the drug showing the composition. The details have been asked with batch number, manufacturing date, amount charged etc. The letter further noted that the details must be submitted within 15 days to the NPPA office. The complaint was raised against Medicover Hospital after the patient was charged nearly Rs 2,63,465 for eight days of stay between July 1 to July 8th for COVID-19 treatment. In case of the complaint against Care Hospital, the patient was charged Rs 2,98,479 for just one days treatment. At Yashoda, the patient was charged Rs 1,47,675 for four days of treatment. The NPPA also wrote to the Drugs Control Administration of the Telangana government to look into matters of overcharging in other components of the bills like investigation charges, service charges, ICU charged etc as per the complainants' letters. It may be recalled that prior to this, the Telangana government had set a price cap of Rs 4,000 per day for isolation wards, Rs 7,500 per day for ICU, and Rs 9,000 per day for ICU with ventilators. Meanwhile, activist Vijay Gopal who had taken up the issue with the NPPA noted that hospitals must not fleece customers just because there is ignorance and confusion on the items billed. Consumables and drugs have been overcharged in all three cases. In one such bill, Rs 30 is being charged for syringes. We hope the hospitals respond with the required information or else the NPPA takes up the required action, said Gopal of Forum Against Corruption. Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Wednesday (August 19, 2020) arrested a PA of former Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj in connection with the violence that took place in the city on August 11 night. PA Arun Kumar's arrest comes a day after the CCB questioned Sampath Raj, a congress corporator who was the mayor of Bengaluru in 2019. As per reports, Sampath was grilled on Wednesday as well for over 3 hours. The violence in DJ Halli and adjoining areas on August 11 night was unleashed by hundreds of people over a purportedly inflammatory social media post allegedly put out by P Naveen, a relative of Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy. Rioters had torched Congress MLA's residence along with a police station at DJ Halli and they also set many police and private vehicles afire, looting the belongings of the legislator and his sister. As many as 340 people have been so far arrested in connection with the violence. In pics: Bengaluru violence that killed at least 3, injured over 50 Earlier on August 15, Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy whose house was ablaze during the Bengaluru violence claimed that over Rs 20 lakh worth gold was stolen from his house and that Rs 50 lakh property was damaged on the night of August 11. The two times Congress MLA in a police complaint said that while he along with his family went to a temple, around 2000-3000 miscreants in a "well-planned manner" attacked his house and office. He said that the mob ransacked the building, burnt it and looted the valuables and jewels. Notably, the Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on August 17 chaired a meeting with Home minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior state government officials and said that the state government has decided to assess the damages caused to public and private property in the incidents of violence in KG Halli and DG Halli and recover the costs from the culprits. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Clear Ice Makers Market is estimated to be valued at USD 2,861.1 Billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 6.27% during the forecast period. The growth of the foodservice industry and increasing use of clear ice makers in households are the major factors driving market growth. Product innovation is expected to create new opportunities for vendors active in the global market. However, the need for high initial investments is restricting the growth of the market. North America accounted for a dominant share of the global clear ice makers industry in 2018. The regional market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 6.13% during the review period. The increasing consumption of alcoholic beverages is anticipated to fuel the growth of the clear ice makers market in North America. Also, product launches are a major trend gaining traction in the North American clear ice makers market. The US accounted for 78.70% of the regional market in 2018 and the market is estimated to remain dominant during the forecast period. The European garnered a significant market share in 2018 and is expected to exhibit an above-average growth rate during the forecast period. However, the market in Asia-Pacific is projected to register the highest growth rate of 6.71% during the forecast period. Rapid urbanization and a growing number of restaurants and bars are anticipated to drive the growth of the clear ice makers market in the region. Get a Free Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8590 Segmental Analysis The Global Clear Ice Makers Market has been segmented on the basis of Product Type, Category, End Use, Distribution Channel and Region. By product type, the market has been divided into flake ice makers, ice cube makers, nugget ice makers, and others. In terms of category, the global clear ice makers market has been bifurcated into mass-market and premium. Based on end use, the global clear ice makers market has been classified as residential and commercial. On the basis of distribution channel, the market has been bifurcated into store-based and non-store-based. The store-based distribution channel segment is estimated to retain its dominance during the forecast period. However, the non-store-based segment is projected to register the higher growth rate during the forecast period. The store-based segment has been further divided into supermarkets & hypermarkets and specialty stores. Regional Analysis Geographically, the global clear ice makers market has been categorized as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world (RoW). As per MRFR analysis, North America dominated the market, accounting for the largest share in 2018. The market in Asia-Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR of 6.71% during the forecast period. Europe accounted for the second-largest market share in 2018. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/clear-ice-makers-market-8590 Key Players Market Research Future recognizes Welbilt Inc. (US), Electrolux AB (Sweden), Sunpentown Inc. (US), Hoshizaki Corporation (Japan), Igloo Products Corp. (US), NewAir (US), Himalyanequipment Manufacturing Co. (India), Koller Refrigeration & Equipment (Hong Kong), Cornelius, Inc. (US), Ice-O-Matic (US), Scotsman Ice Machines (US), and Whynter LLC (US) as the key players in the Global Clear Ice Makers Market. Read our Blogs @ http://mrfrblog.com/ Read more reports at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/categories Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/infographics Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details. The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) is calling for a comprehensive investigation into the leakage of examination papers in the ongoing 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The Union also wants any official of the West African Examinations Council who is found to have played a role in the leakage to be prosecuted. The President of NUGS, Mr Isaac Jay Hyde told Graphic Online that leakages of examination papers from WAEC have become the norm because the body does not hold its officials accountable for such criminal acts. According to him, students always bear the psychological and emotional brunt of such leakages because WAEC punishes them by setting new questions and forcing students who may not have had access to the leaks to write the papers again. "Examination papers always leak from WAEC and their officials are never held accountable, this time WAEC must be seen to be holding its officials accountable. "There must be an investigation, whether internal or external, this time we must know who is responsible for this leak. The culprits must also be punished students cannot continue to suffer while the major actors who always get access to the questions go scot-free only to repeat their acts during the next exam". The NUGS in a press statement issued today said it was shocked and disgusting that examination papers continue to leak as a result of the willful negligence of the WAEC. The Union also urged WAEC and other stakeholders such as the Ghana Education Service (GES) to put in place strict measures to end this spectacle of exam leakages. "It is suicidal for the notion that many students are ending their secondary Academic lives and potentially qualifying to be enrolled in tertiary institutions with the help of leaked question papers," the statement said. "The National Union of Ghana Students strongly holds that the failure of authorities to end this cycle of paper leakages further perpetuates the already stark inequities and inequalities in our educational system, as students who can afford to obtain these hacked papers already have a superior advantage over those deprived ones who cannot "In addition to perpetuating these inequities deeply rooted in our educational system, it must be noted that this continuous leakage of examination papers goes against all efforts towards building a meritorious, society, in which one's success is determined by his or her talent and hard work and not dependent on bow best one can cut comers to be successful "It must be noted that education is the backbone of the development of any nation. and that our students are the future of this country. Students should, therefore, be trained in ways that equip them with the necessary skills, values and training such that they will be able to steer the affairs of this country in the right direction. The endless leaking of examination papers only trains our students to adopt unfair means of success in their educational and professional careers a situation that will only break the moral fibre of society and roll back the little giants we have made as a people". WAEC to probe leaks Meanwhile, WAEC has assured that it has commenced a probe into the matter, adding that it will be unfair to blame it for the leaks. As an examining body, we will not compromise our paper not for anything because we are interested in preserving the integrity of our examination so if there is a website with any WAEC links, posting our questions from our strong room, I do not think it is fair to say that this is coming from WAEC. Our investigative team has alerted us and they are trying to track these websites. We are investigating this development, the Public Relations Officer for WAEC, Agnes Teye Cudjoe said in a Citi News interview. Leaks The leak of the examination papers and confidential information on examiners came to light, following allegations by the Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare. According to him, a Facebook page for sharing the leaked questions was in operation on the internet. We have realised that prior to the Integrated Science paper, there were some leakages. It happened that whatever leaked appeared [in the exam] and students were elated. If you go to Facebook and you type Mr. Right, you will see a page called WAEC exams leaked room run by Mr. Right. He has about 6,400 followers and the business is usually done on WhatsApp. I am only mentioning Mr. Right, because the brand was embossed on some of the questions we saw, Mr Asare said. Source: Graphiconline.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 Subscriber content preview Three years ago, after acquiring a site at 14315 Lake City Way N.E. for about $2 million, Community Roots Housing filed an early plan to redevelop the old four-building commercial buildings with affordable apartments. Its been dormant since then, with the buildings leased to an auto glass shop and plumbing business. That plan, now dubbed Sacred Medicine House, has reemerged with partner or contract buyer Chief Seattle Club. The five-story building would have 125 units of permanently supportive housing for formerly homeless indigenous tenants. The ground floor would have services and other uses. . . . Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 00:16:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANTANANARIVO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government donated 30 respirators and 20,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits to help Madagascar fight against COVID-19, the donation ceremony was held Wednesday at Ivato International Airport, in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. "China and Madagascar stick together through thick and thin, and fought side by side in the fight against COVID-19," the charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Madagascar, Chen Xiaolei said during the donation ceremony. "We are pleased to respond to the request of the Malagasy leaders and people to provide fraternal support and took stern action as much as possible in this common war against the epidemic," Chen added. For his part, Duval Solofomanana, the secretary general of Madagascar's Ministry of Health, said that real friends are known in hard times as the Chinese government continues to support the Madagascar's government to fight against COVID-19 pandemic. "This donation from the Chinese government to the Malagasy government testifies the quality of the fraternal cooperation and the friendship between the Chinese people and the Malagasy people, between the Chinese government and the Malagasy government," said Duval. Since the appearance of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Madagascar on March 20, 2020, this is the third donation made by the Chinese government to help Madagascar fight against the COVID-19. Enditem Thousands of people were under orders to evacuate in regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday as nearly 40 wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heatwave now in its second week. Throughout the state of California right now, we are stretched thin for crews because of the fires, said Will Powers, a state fire spokesman. Air resources have been stretched thin throughout the whole state. Californias governor had declared a statewide emergency late on Tuesday citing an Extreme Heat Event that began on Friday, causing record-breaking temperatures and Red Flag warnings weather events such as heat and lightning storms, that can spark fires. Police and firefighters went door-to-door early on Wednesday in a frantic scramble to warn residents to evacuate as fire encroached on Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 that lies between San Francisco and Sacramento. Fire officials said at least 50 structures were destroyed and 50 damaged, and four people were injured. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said the blaze was exhibiting extreme fire behaviour and challenging firefighters. To the south in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, about 22,000 people were ordered to evacuate because of a fire that was burning in densely wooded parkland but threatened communities, Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox said. Thousands of homes and businesses were also threatened in the wine-growing counties of Napa and Sonoma in an area devastated by a series of deadly blazes in the past three years. At least seven fires were grouped together as one of two major Lightning Fires in Northern California, a nod to their origins just a day earlier. In the East San Francisco Bay, a cluster of 20 separate lightning-sparked fires threatened about 1,400 structures in rugged terrain with dense brush. Strong winds and low humidity made the firefight challenging. The cluster of wine country fires threaten an area that only last year grappled with another massive blaze that forced 200,000 to flee, a task made more complicated this year because of the pandemic. But City Council members will wait a few months before they get another presentation from city staff on the topic. He had canvassed there in 2016 and was crushed by President Trump winning the state, Helima Croft said. But he was not surprised, he told her not after union voters who had previously backed Barack Obama refused to tell him who they were supporting when he knocked on their doors. A South Central District judge has concluded the Democratic-NPL nominee for North Dakota insurance commissioner hasnt lived in the state long enough to hold the office. The decision by Judge Thomas Schneider about Travisia Martin now goes to the state Supreme Court. It could order Secretary of State Al Jaeger to remove Martin from the November ballot, the Bismarck Tribune reported. North Dakotas Republican Party cites Martins November 2016 vote in Nevada as evidence of her ineligibility to hold office, based on a five-year residency requirement for executive branch officials. Martin is challenging Republican incumbent Jon Godfread, who is seeking a second term. The Republican Party asked the court to remove Martin from the ballot before Aug. 31. Nominees have until Sept. 2 to withdraw. A Democrat last ran the Insurance Department in 2000. The annual salary is $110,582. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation North Dakota Health workers number samples for COVID-19 testing. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi - Vietnam reported six more COVID-19 cases from 6:00 to 18:00 on August 18, including four community infections in the central city of Da Nang and two imported cases. The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said one of the imported cases is a 45-year-old man who flew from Taiwan (China) to Cam Ranh International Airport in the central province of Khanh Hoa on August 7, and was quarantined upon entry.The other is a 35-year-old man returning from Equatorial Guinea on July 29. He was put under quarantine upon his arrival at Noi Bai International Airport.The four community infections are all residents in Da Nang city, now the biggest outbreak in the country.With the latest update, Vietnams total COVID-19 cases now stand at 989, including 649 locally-transmitted cases, with 509 linked to the outbreak in Da Nang as from July 25.On August 18, 53 patients were given the all-clear, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 520. There have been 25 fatalities so far.Some 87,670 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or came from pandemic-hit region are under quarantine nationwide. BOSTON -- Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo paid tribute to David Ortiz with a pair of custom cleats Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Verdugo, who went 2-for-4 with a walk in Bostons 13-6 loss to Philadelphia, wore cleats that said Big Papi on the back and included Ortizs silhouette. Verdugo has made his admiration no secret since joining the Red Sox in a trade with the Dodgers during spring training. Shortly after arriving in Fort Myers, Verdugo said he was looking forward to hugging Ortiz -- one of his favorite players growing up -- when the two met. Im telling you, when I see David Ortiz here Im giving him the biggest hug. I might even tear up, man, Verdugo said. Thats one guy that growing up, I dont know what it was, David Ortiz was just the man, dude, Verdugo said. Like everything with him just in the postseason. ... It felt like when you needed him the most, he stepped up. He came up and he did it. And obviously you see the way the city loves him. Its for a reason. Its because not only what he did on the field. Off the field, the person he is, the type of clubhouse guy he is. Theres a lot of things that go into it. And I really respected David Ortiz for that. I watched him a lot. I grew up and he was my favorite guy. You see him doing stuff special, you see him tearing up the Yankees, and now like obviously Im with Boston. Now I want to do it. I want to go and do it. Verdugo got to meet his hero a few days later, hugging him in the home clubhouse at JetBlue Park. Ortiz complimented the young outfielder during spring training. I have that great feeling about him; about his attitude. I think hes gonna have a lot of fun here, Ortiz said. Thats one thing hes really going to appreciate about being here and its that hes going to be a part of the center of attention. "If I see David Ortiz here, I'm giving him the biggest hug." Dugie speaking it into existence. pic.twitter.com/rGRVSDcpYf Red Sox (@RedSox) February 20, 2020 Related links: Alex Verdugo, new Boston Red Sox outfielder: When I see David Ortiz here Im giving him the biggest hug. I might even tear up Alex Verdugo meets David Ortiz, gives Boston Red Sox legend (his childhood idol) big hug as planned Red Sox bullpen implodes in 13-6 loss to Phillies; Boston has given up franchise-record 86 runs during 9-game losing streak Addressing systems of social, economic and environmental oppression is intrinsic to Heifer Internationals work. As an organization, we strive to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. But we must remember that poverty is not an accident. When specific groups of people experience similar forms of socio-economic marginalization, that is by design. In this series, we are exploring the intersection of historical racism and agricultural development, examining the impact on Black, Indigenous and people of color to contextualize how hundreds of years of horrors continue to shape and influence the lives of the families with whom we work. Previously, the series examined the history of oppression in the coffee industry. Given the plight of present-day coffee farmers, one might assume the coffee business is largely unprofitable, perhaps plagued by razor thin margins and floundering demand. Nothing could be further from the truth. Globally, the industry is valued at more than $200 billion. However, less than 10% of that aggregate wealth stays in producing countries, and only 5 to 7% makes it to the farmers themselves. Much of the rest goes to wealthy companies and their executives, who are almost exclusively based in North America and Europe. As you might expect, the seeds of colonialism have borne unequal fruits; while so many suffer from systemic poverty traps and intense marginalization, historys winners continue to prosper. Capitalism rests on the work, endeavors and exploitation of non-White people, said Edward Baptist, professor of history at Cornell University. And so [do] some of the assumptions about who gets to participate in what level of the economy, who gets to make decisions and who gets to move in those kinds of innovative spaces. Coffee plantations like this one in Guatemala supply major coffee companies around the world. As prices paid to farmers have steadily declined, what consumers pay for coffee has soared. Between 1996 and 2018, the average retail cost of a 16-oz. bag jumped from $4.04 to $9.67 and cost of a cup from $1.25 to $1.94. That would be fine if it followed a trend of larger returns passed to deserving producers, but thats not the case. In 2011 Starbucks spent $1.1 billion on 367 million pounds of unroasted coffee; last year they spent $1.1 billion on 650 million pounds. Thats 44% more coffee purchased for the exact same price. If you bought a Grande Latte later today, you would probably pay around $3.65. The farmer responsible for those beans would receive $0.02 or $0.03 of that. Considering that the sleeve around that cup costs $0.05, the takeaway is that a small piece of cardboard is more valuable than the farmers work. This becomes even more apparent when you look at the bottom line: Starbucks earned $26.5 billion last year, while all the worlds coffee farming recipients combined all 125 million of them earned around $22 billion. As time marches on, more and more industry value is being taken away from Black, Indigenous and people of color in order to fill the wallets of white millionaires. Beyond the financial disparity, there is a notable lack of representation in the coffee industry, with Black, Indigenous and people of color seemingly regulated to production while those of European lineage fill the lucrative and prestigious roles. For example, Starbucks reports a mere 15% of its senior leaders as being people of color, a demographic representing 40% of the total U.S. population. Coffee farmers like Maria Feliciana Bautista in Honduras only receive a small fraction of the $200 billion the coffee industry generates. Its also a rarity to see consumer-facing Black and Brown faces, especially in the higher-end roaster and barista ends of the business. When you go to these [specialty cafes], you have Ethiopian coffees or you have the Kenyan coffee, you have coffee from Honduras, said Cydni Patterson, a barista at Peoples Coffee in Durham, North Carolina. And then you look behind the bar, and theres nobody from there. When the faces of people of color are prominent in the coffee narrative, its often as a selling point. Pictures of smiling farmers on the back of bags or cafe walls serve as proof of the roasters connection with the growers, implying a trusted and respectful relationship where both parties benefit. What these one-dimensional photos dont show is the lack of information sharing from buyer to seller (although the reverse is mandated), absence of negotiating power farmers have in the sale price, or the marketing value these images generate for the company. Ultimately, its another form of treating people as objects with a farmers face slapped on a website, not as a key stakeholder in the farm-to-cup process, but as another passive data point alongside elevation and tasting notes. What Heifer Is Doing All of our work in coffee hinges on farmers collaborating to gain more control over, and ultimately more profit from, what they produce. This includes supporting improvements in yield and quality, as well as diversifying crop production to lessen reliance on coffee. Heifer works along all stages from seed to sale, helping producers organize into cooperatives, add value to their product, adopt strong management practices and improve bargaining power. The organization adheres strictly to agroecological farming practices, ensuring production regenerates the land and bolsters biodiversity while minimizing expenses. Rosa Mercedes Vergara Esmeraldas roasts coffee beans in Bella Esperanza, Ecuador. Photo by Joe Tobiason. However, none of it is enough. With coffees broken system that relies on cheap labor to thrive, more direct action around livable, equitable prices is necessary. Thats why we are in the midst of organizing a consumer movement to ensure companies start paying farmers fairly. Well need people like you, who want to buy ethically and care about social justice, to help spread the word! What You Can Do Changing a system deeply entrenched in hundreds of years of oppression wont happen overnight, but your actions can move the industry toward lasting change. Here are a few simple things you can do to start. Support Black-owned coffee businesses. https://sprudge.com/support-these-black-owned-coffee-companies-updating-164145.html Buy your beans from roasters that are transparent about how theyre compensating farmers and pay fair, livable prices to farmers. http://www.transparenttradecoffee.org/transparentcoffees https://www.heifer.org/marketplace/la-promesa-guatemalan-coffee.html Keep in mind that while cafes started as places for merchants to make slave and other commodity deals, they later became a space for people across class and races to launch revolutions. Continue this tradition by talking about the difficult topics of race and inequity over a cup of coffee. Additional Material If youre interested in learning more about race and coffee, start here: Slavery & Specialty: Discussing Coffees Black History, Perfect Daily Grind: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2019/03/slavery-specialty-discussing-coffees-black-history/ Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 11:17:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close By Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The month of August marks the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in the United States, and underscores women's key role as a crucial voting bloc in the United States. On Aug. 26, 1920, U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed into law the 19th Amendment at 8 a.m. in his house in Washington, D.C. The signature ended a struggle for vote that started a century earlier, according to the National Constitution Center's website. One-hundred years later, that action holds special significance in this year's elections, as women voters, especially suburban married women, will play a key role. "It's going to be primarily married suburban women who are going to decide this election," Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua. O'Connell noted that married females generally vote Republican, whereas unmarried younger women generally vote Democrat. While marriage has been on the decline in the United States and that has been reflected in voting, "generally it's about married versus unmarried." O'Connell said in the months leading up to November's election, the president will appeal to suburban women voters' sense of safety. "One of the things that Trump wants to get out there is the idea of safety and security, or law and order," O'Connell said. That sentiment was shared by Susan Inez, 65, a retired suburbanite nurse in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Inez described herself as a "big-time" Trump supporter who cast her ballot for the president in 2016 and plans to do so again. Inez said she will be closely watching both the Democratic and Republican conventions, and that her main concerns for this year's elections are the "economy and patriotism." Jennifer Mitchell, a 40-year-old suburbanite in the U.S. state of Virginia, told Xinhua that her main concerns are the "economy and safety," and that she will vote for Trump, as she did in 2016. Indeed, among female Trump supporters, "the riots are going to play a big part," O'Connell said, referring to the violence and looting that took the entire nation by storm a couple of months back. The mayhem is still occurring in a handful of U.S. cities, most notably Portland, amid Republicans' accusations that Democratic mayors of those cities refuse to quell the violence. In a recent tweet, Trump wrote that "the 'suburban housewife' will be voting for me ... They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood." Indeed, in another nod to suburban women, Trump recently reversed a 2015 rule that made it easier for affluent suburbs to offer low-income housing, which can lower home values. "You know the suburbs, people fight all of their lives to get into the suburbs and have a beautiful home," Trump said recently. "There will be no more low-income housing forced into the suburbs ... It's been going on for years. I've seen conflict for years. It's been hell for suburbia." Trump on Tuesday announced he would grant a full, posthumous pardon to Susan B. Anthony, the renowned women's rights advocate who played a crucial role in the movement to grant women the right to vote. Trump announced the pardon at a Tuesday celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote. An all-male jury found Anthony guilty in 1873 of illegally voting in the 1872 presidential election. She was fined 100 dollars. "She was never pardoned. What took so long?" Trump said Tuesday. But while Trump in 2016 beat rival Hillary Clinton in the suburbs by a margin of 49 percent to 45 percent, many suburban women voted against Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. At the same time, Democratic candidate Joe Biden picked Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate in an effort to get more women voters, as she is the first African American woman to run for vice president. Harris will be taking her own message to women in the coming months before November's elections. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 60 percent Americans, among them 87 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of Republicans, believe Biden's pick stands as a "major milestone" for the United States. On top of this, Trump may have his work cut out for him, as a July Wall Street Journal/NBC News found that the president fell behind Biden among suburban women by a margin of 39 percent to 56 percent. The same poll found that a total of 40 percent suburban women thought Trump was doing a good job, whereas 59 percent disapproved. Moreover, Trump has made sexist remarks, and was captured on video several years before his candidacy making offensive remarks against women. Many women voters who do not approve of Trump regard him as overtly sexist. Whichever way women vote in November, women's key role in the process of choosing the leader of the world's largest economy was set in motion 200 years ago. It was signed into law a century ago, and will make history in one way or another this November. Enditem MANILA, Philippines A strong earthquake jolted the central Philippines on Tuesday, killing at least one person, injuring dozens, and damaging houses, two buildings used for coronavirus quarantine, bridges and a port. A three-story house collapsed in the coastal town of Cataingan as the ground shook. A retired police officer pinned in the debris died, and rescuers were looking for other members of his family who were missing. More than 40 people were injured by the quake in Masbate province, according to disaster response officials. More than 100 people who were undergoing coronavirus quarantine in two damaged Cataingan government buildings were moved to school buildings to ensure their safety, the Office of Civil Defense said. The quake also damaged roads, bridges and a port. People should avoid returning immediately to damaged structures, Rino Revalo, a Masbate provincial administrator, told the ABS-CBN network. The 6.6 magnitude quake hit about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Cataingan at a depth of about 21 kilometers (13 miles), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. Cataingan resident Isagani Libatan said he was on his way to his aunts house for breakfast when his motorcycle suddenly swerved as the ground heaved. I thought it was my tire but people suddenly streamed out in panic from swaying houses and then we lost power, Libatan said by telephone, pausing as he felt a fairly strong aftershock. The earthquake was set off by a movement of the Philippine Fault, said Renato Solidum, who heads the government volcanology institute. It was felt in several provinces across the central Visayas region. The Philippines lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the worlds earthquakes occur. It is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the worlds most disaster-prone countries. A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990. About the photo: In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Red Cross, a volunteer takes photos of a damaged structure after a strong earthquake struck in Cataingan, Masbate province, central Philippines on Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. A powerful and shallow earthquake struck a central Philippine region Tuesday, prompting people to dash out of homes and offices but there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage. (Philippine National Red Cross via AP) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, is close to winning its first contract to export up to 720,000 tonnes of clean products to Mauritius under an annual deal from November, two sources familiar with the matter said. IOC mostly stays away from participating in term tenders for fuel exports as the refiner sells most of its fuel in the local market, besides supplying its retail outlets in Nepal and Bhutan. This year because of falling local demand due to Covid-19 and weak margins, the company is attempting to lock in sales of its fuels. IOC this year also won its first ... A student of the Tema Senior High School (TEMASCO) who was nearly raped by a gang on campus has rejoined her colleague candidates sitting the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The incident occurred around 3pm on Tuesday August 11, while she was studying in one of science classrooms. The two male intruders injured her in the failed attempt. Narrating her harrowing ordeal in a statement to the Police, the female student (name withheld) said, I was learning with some other students and 40 minutes after they left, I saw two boys in 'mufti' walking towards me, and when I tried getting out of the classroom upon sensing danger, they pushed me back inside and struggled with me to take the money I had on me. The victim said the two boys grabbed her as she struggled with them and shouting uncontrollably for help. They released her and absconded upon seeing some students approaching the scene. After taking the little money I had on me, they insisted on raping me, so I started struggling with them again and kept on screaming till they realised people were heading to the classroom, she recounted. As soon as the boys saw them, they cut me with a knife and run out of the classroom leaving me to bleed profusely, she narrated further. Headmaster of the School, Kobina Baido, confirming the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a monitoring visit, noted that, but for the intervention of staff and students, she would have been raped. According to him, a police report was filed and the student was given a form to seek medical treatment. She has received the needed attention including counselling by the school with support from her parents, and is of sound mind and writing her final examination, he said. He lamented the state of insecurity as a result of encroachment. Unauthorized structures had been sited around the school while other persons were cultivating crops on campus which had further emboldened criminals to have a field day on campus. The situation, he indicated, posed a serious threat to students and teachers alike and appealed to the Municipal Assembly to rebuild the schools broken fence walls and increase the number of security personnel to ward off intruders. The situation has seemingly improved because the Police have extended their day and night patrols to the school after series of reports were made, he said, adding that a safe and healthy school environment was critical to educational successes, he said. Tema West Municipal Chief Executive, Adwoa Amoako, said the Assembly would help the school solve its security challenges. Daily Guide MINSK -- Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has instructed the Interior Ministry to prevent unrest in the country and tighten border controls to keep purported foreign influences from fomenting instability in the face of an 11th day of street protests and strikes over a controversial presidential election. "There should be no more riots in Minsk. People are tired. People demand peace and quiet," Lukashenka said on August 19, according to the BelTA state news agency. "I instruct the State Border Committee, we see this from the discussion, to strengthen the protection of the state border along the entire perimeter in order to prevent militants, weapons, ammunition, and money from other countries from entering Belarus to finance the riots. We see that this money is coming." Lukashenka's comments came as opposition figure Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on European leaders to "support the awakening" of her country and respect the choice of the Belarusian people amid widespread anger over a controversial presidential election. Tsikhanouskaya made the calls in a video address to the European Council as EU leaders began an emergency meeting on August 19 to discuss the situation in Belarus. "Our message is clear. Violence has to stop and a peaceful and inclusive dialogue has to be launched. The leadership of Belarus must reflect the will of the people," European Council President Charles Michel tweeted on August 19 as the gathering got under way via videoconference. "The people of Belarus have the right to a result that accurately reflects their vote. The EU, including the Netherlands, can't accept the results of these elections," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted on August 19. Crisis In Belarus Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election, widely seen as fraudulent. In a joint statement, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- known as the Visegrad Four -- called on Belarusian authorities to "open the way for a political solution, and to abide by the fundamental human rights and freedoms while refraining from the use of violence against the peaceful demonstrators." In a veiled reference to neighboring Russia, the four leaders urged "foreign actors to refrain from actions that would undermine Belarus' independence and sovereignty." Official results from the August 9 election gave Lukashenka, in power since 1994, just over 80 percent of the vote, a figure that prompted allegations of vote-rigging. Tsikhanouskaya, who drew tens of thousands of people to her campaign rallies, claims to have actually received between 60 and 70 percent of the vote. As opposition leaders on August 18 formed a coordinating council to organize a transfer of power, Lukashenka described the move as an attempt to stage a coup. And during a meeting of Belarus's Security Council, Lukashenka urged Western leaders to focus on problems in their own countries, state news agency BelTA reported. "The leaders of Western states offer us talks, negotiations. And at the same time they keep pushing their own agenda," the 65-year-old leader said. In her video address, Tsikhanouskaya, who left for neighboring Lithuania after the vote, called on EU leaders "not to recognize these fraudulent elections," adding that Lukashenka "has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of our nation and the world." Speaking in English, she also denounced a postelection crackdown, saying: "People who came out to defend their votes on the streets of their cities all across Belarus were brutally beaten, imprisoned, and tortured by the regime desperately clinging on to power." In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused foreign powers of using the crisis in Belarus to interfere in the country and push their geopolitical agendas, Russian news agencies reported on August 19. "This is about geopolitics, the fight for the post-Soviet space," Lavrov said. Michel of the European Council spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 18, expressing concern about election irregularities and a crackdown against protesters. The two discussed the best way to encourage intra-Belarusian dialogue for a peaceful end to the crisis, a European diplomat told RFE/RL. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with Putin in separate calls on August 18. According to her press service, Merkel told Putin that the Belarusian authorities should refrain from violence against peaceful demonstrators and release political prisoners. She also said Lukashenka should hold talks with opposition groups. The Kremlin said in a readout of the call that Russia hopes the situation will return to normal but warned about outside interference. "The Russian side emphasized that any outside attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the country, which would lead to a further escalation of the crisis, was unacceptable," the Kremlin said. Lukashenka spoke with Putin twice over the weekend, stating afterward that the Russian leader promised him security assistance if Belarus needs it. Russia has close economic and military ties with Belarus. Lukashenka described the coordinating council announced on August 18 as an attempt to seize power. He said he viewed it unambiguously as an attempt at a coup, with all ensuing consequences," speaking during his meeting with the Belarusian Security Council. The scale of the domestic and international backlash appears to have caught Lukashenka off guard as he finds himself in the precarious position of facing international isolation and sustained street and industrial protests. The coordinating council met for the first time on August 18, saying it represents the people and seeks to negotiate a peaceful transition of power "without political goals or a program." Volha Kovalkova, a representative for Tsikhanouskaya, said at a press conference establishing the coordinating council that she expected Tsikhanouskaya would soon return to Minsk to act as a guarantor in a negotiated transition of power. Timeline: Postelection Developments In Belarus Some of the key events that have followed the contested reelection of longtime Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. "We are operating solely through legal means," Kovalkova said. "The situation is critical. The authorities have no choice but to come to dialogue. The situation will only get worse." Tsikhanouskaya, who claims to have won the August 9 election, said in an earlier online video that she was prepared to temporarily take over the leadership. "I am ready to take responsibility and act as a national leader in order for the country to calm down and enter the normal rhythm," Tsikhanouskaya said in the video. The 37-year-old political novice who ran after other potential candidates, including her husband, were jailed or exiled, left Belarus for Lithuania after the election amid reports that she and her family were threatened by authorities. Nearly 7,000 people were detained, hundreds were injured, and at least two people died in a crackdown on protesters. Some of those who have been released since have complained of beatings and terrible conditions while in detention. The repression only emboldened the opposition as employees at several state-controlled companies have left their factories to join thousands in the streets demanding Lukashenka step down. With reporting by TASS, Interfax, and BelTA Global output & Years end stock According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Department for Agricultural Products Processing and Market Development (DAPP), coffee exports in July witnessed an on-year decrease in both price (0.1 per cent) and volume (0.6 per cent). Since late April, the consecutive decline in export prices has significantly hurt Vietnams coffee exports, especially amid the resurgence of the pandemic. For example, as of late last week, the on-year price fall could be seen in the United Kingdom (24.6 per cent), and China (13.7 per cent). Vietnams average coffee export price hit $1,690 per tonne, down 0.9 per cent on-year. Coffee material exporter Simexco Daklak is now suffering from a decline in export price, with the companys promotion plans being delayed and its ambitious goal to become one of the leading suppliers of coffee materials for the worlds major coffee firms already hurt. We produce and export coffee beans, but their prices are fixed by speculation funds in London and New York, said Le Duc Huy, deputy general director of Simexco Daklak. Trading with coffee means to take risks. Over a decade ago, Simexco Daklak changed its strategy from selling products to intermediaries to directly selling to global-scale coffee firms, in a bid to reduce risks and ensure profits. Currently the company directly exports 50 per cent of its products to large firms like Lavazza, Nestle, DEMB, Mondelez, and Ahold with an annual volume of over $100 million. It also still sells 40 per cent of products to intermediaries and 10 per cent to Vietnamese purchasers. However, dilemmas persist as input prices have continuously been increasing. According to Huy, purchasing coffee materials from intermediary channels has led to a rise in transport costs, pushing up input prices and reducing enterprises competitiveness. Currently, the average cost for material transportation from farmers to producers is $15 per tonne, accounting for 25 per cent of the export price, double than the average cost for exports of Simexco Daklak to the Japanese market. Output of Vietnam The companys 2020 revenues are expected to be negatively affected, especially when it has invested heavily into cultivating high-quality coffee trees under the standards of the US Department of Agriculture. It installed modern processing lines in accordance with European standards, and forged cooperation with farmers to create large-scale coffee material areas in order to ensure an annual output of 30,000 tonnes of beans. According to the DAPP, Vietnam reaped export turnover of $213 million for 120,000 tonnes in July, and $1.8 billion tonnes with 1.06 million tonnes for the first seven months of 2020 down 0.1 per cent in volume and 0.6 per cent in export value on-year. Amid the resurgence of COVID-19 in the country, it is expected that Vietnam may miss the set target of $3 billion in coffee export turnover this year due to an expected decline in export prices. As per the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, the average price for exports in the 2019-2020 period has flung to a 10-year low, at times at $1,207 per tonnes of Robusta coffee, and 88 US cents per pound of Arabica. Figures from Vietnams General Statistics Office showed that last year, Vietnam exported 1.61 million tonnes for $2.78 billion, down 13.9 per cent in volume and 21.2 per cent in value on-year. In the first seven months of 2020, said the DAPP, the downtrend in coffee prices reflected a decline in global consumption caused by the pandemic and new supplies from Brazil, one of the largest coffee producers in the world. In addition, coffee prices have also been influenced by the depreciation of the Brazilian real, which created new competition for Brazilian exporters in the global coffee market, and pressured the prices of global coffee including those of Vietnam. Observers estimated that Vietnams exports in the 2019-2020 period reduced to 26.3 million 60-kg bags, lower than the previously-forecasted volume, due to price differences of Vietnamese coffee in the futures market, prompting importers to turn to buying from Brazil and Indonesia. In addition, an increase of an extra VND600 (3 US cents) per kg of coffee domestically since late 2019 has also caused difficulties to businesses in purchasing coffee materials for exports. Stalled export-import activities everywhere caused by the pandemic have forced many ports to close down, making it impossible for the coffee price to recover in the first seven months of this year. In addition, COVID-19 has forced Vietnams key importers the EU and the US to slash coffee imports from the Southeast Asian nation due to feeble purchasing power caused by the governments policies of social distancing, with closure of a series of activities in coffee trading, cafes, and coffee firms. Meanwhile, stockpiles remain at a high level, found at depots and warehouses of businesspeople, exporters, and farmers. Low prices mean farmers do not want to sell their products, making it difficult for businesspeople and exporters to ensure supplies. Experts said that currently the average coffee price is hovering at $1,356 for January 2021 contracts. If stock prices especially in the US market reduce, speculators will shift to goods, notably coffee as it is one of the main trading floors together with gold and crude oil. With their rich budget, speculators may select floors with good liquidity, and coffee may be selected. The Royal Navy has forced back nine Russian warships after 'heightened levels of activity' were noticed in waters close to the UK. An operation carried out alongside NATO allies saw offshore patrol vessels HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne join Type 23 frigate Westminster in monitoring 'every movement' of the Russian fleet. This was made up of three Steregushchiy-class corvettes, three Ropucha-class landing ships and the same number of missile-armed patrol boats. The Russians were tracked through some of the busiest sea lanes in the world by the Navy and allies including Portugal, Canada, Germany, Norway and Denmark. Offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey shadows one of the nine Russian warships seen in waters close to the UK The Russians were tracked through some of the busiest sea lanes in the world by the Navy and allies including Portugal, Canada, Germany, Norway and Denmark The Royal Navy warships were assigned to the very high readiness Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), which patrols the waters of northern Europe from the Baltic to the Atlantic Tale of the tape: Putins corvettes vs HMS Westminster Steregushchiy-class corvettes Speed: 31mph Crew: 90 Range: 4,400 miles Armament: 100mm naval gun, eight torpedo tubes, two machine guns HMS Westminster Speed: 32mph Crew: 185 Range: 8,700 miles Armament: Anti-air and anti-ship missiles, 4.5in naval gun, two 30mm cannons, two Miniguns Advertisement Russian ships had dispersed after their Navy Day in St Petersburg last month and sailed out from the Baltic Sea and into the North Sea for large-scale exercises. The Royal Navy warships were assigned to the very high readiness Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), which patrols the waters of northern Europe from the Baltic to the Atlantic. British ships worked closely with Portuguese frigate NRP Corte-Real the task group's flagship and Halifax-class frigate HMCS Toronto of the Royal Canadian Navy, while there were numerous supporting vessels from German, Norwegian and Danish navies. Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker RFA Tideforce helped keep the ships at sea by replenishing fuel and supplies. Commanding Officer of HMS Westminster, Commander Will Paston, said: 'The Royal Navy demonstrated its flexibility in being able to shadow the Russian Navy units. 'While the Russian Navy operated in a safe and professional manner, HMS Westminster combined with NATO-allied units across the North Sea and Baltic Sea to escort them throughout.' HMS Westminster joined NRP Corte-Real in the north, monitoring the missile-armed patrol boats, while under the control of HMCS Toronto, HMS Tyne and Mersey shadowed the corvettes and landing ships as they headed south towards the English Channel. 'Shadowing missions such as this are increasingly routine for Mersey and her sister ships of the Royal Navy's Overseas Patrol Squadron,' added Lt Cdr Edwards-Bannon. An operation carried out alongside NATO allies saw offshore patrol vessels HMS Mersey, pictured, and HMS Tyne join Type 23 frigate Westminster in monitoring 'every movement' of the Russian fleet British ships worked closely with Portuguese frigate NRP Corte-Real the task group's flagship and Halifax-class frigate HMCS Toronto of the Royal Canadian Navy, while there were numerous supporting vessels from German, Norwegian and Danish navies 'This was the first time in recent years, however, that we have done so while under the operational command of NATO. 'As such we raised the NATO flag here in Mersey with pride as we worked closely with fellow service personnel from many of the alliance's 30 member countries, both ashore at NATO's Maritime Command HQ in London and afloat in the other allied warships comprising the Standing NATO Maritime Group One.' Lieutenant Commander Richard Skelton, Commanding Officer of HMS Tyne, said: 'I am proud to say Tyne seamlessly integrated into SNMG1 and supported NATO in monitoring Russian activity in the North Sea. 'The speed at which the task group formed and became operationally effective is testament to the strength of NATO and I am pleased to be part of it.' This latest operation comes after Mersey and sister ship Tyne tracked destroyer RFS Vice Admiral Kulakov as it headed into the North Sea and through the English Channel earlier this month. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Madaya, Myanmar Wed, August 19, 2020 16:00 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f27561 2 SE Asia Myanmar,sculptor,environment Free Faces covered in white dust and chisels in hand, marble sculptors in Myanmar say the hills that have given them a livelihood for generations are disappearing, as large companies reap the rewards of the prized white rock. The deafening sound of cutting and grinding machines, punctuated by the tapping of hammers and chisels, echoes around the hills next to Sagyin village, north of Mandalay. The mounds, lined with jagged edges from where huge chunks have been hewn, are the country's prime source of white marble -- cherished as far back as the reign of King Mindon Min in the 19th century. Ko Lay, his wife and their four children have carved a niche for themselves as the go-to sculptors for animals, making around $360 for each elephant, lion or tiger figure. As he fashions the haunch of a three-meter-tall feline that will one day guard the entrance to a Buddhist pagoda, he explains how important the hills are to everyone living in their shadow. "The entire village relies on them, but we're worried they'll disappear soon," the 48-year-old tells AFP, his whole body whitened with dust. Like others here, he points the finger at shadowy Chinese and military-linked companies, who were granted decades-long licenses over swathes of land under the previous government. Locals have always regarded the marble-rich slopes as their own and accuse the outsiders of plundering their resources with explosives and excavating machinery. "We want our mountains back," says Ko Lay. 'Destroy the hills' Around 80 percent of the village of some 2,000 households work in the marble business, but people fear they are being pushed out. The big companies will "destroy the hills until they're gone," bemoans 55-year-old Soe Win. "We want at least to share the hillsides, but locals are hardly given any leases." In recent months, a few dozen plots have been allocated to the villagers, says Eunt Soe Yin from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. "They can mine and sculpt, providing they have a license... They can do whatever they like," he says. But craftsman Nyunt Wai has not heard about the leases and is skeptical that locals will see dividends any time soon. He learnt to work with marble from his parents and grandparents from the age of 14, and has built up a clientele as far away as Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia. Now aged 61, the spritely and bespectacled artisan puts the whiteness of his teeth down to marble dust. Taking a break from delicately etching long eyelashes on the face of a marble Buddhist monk, he explains how companies push up the price of raw materials, blocking out locals. "The village's blood streams through these hills... but I'm worried for future generations." Topics : Myanmar sculptor environment As the school year dawns, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an Executive Order energizing key state agencies to do more immediately to close the digital divide and help students learn remotely.With Executive Order No. 73-20 , which he signed Friday, Newsom followed up on efforts this spring to provide devices and connectivity as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. This time, he ordered the California Department of Technology (CDT), the California Broadband Council (CBC), the California Governors Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), the California Department of General Services (DGS) and the California Department of Education (CDE), among others, to take actions that could improve connectivity around the state and drive opportunities in the private sector. Among the takeaways: Emphasizing broadbands large potential to drive distance learning, telehealth and data use during the pandemic, the EO directs CDT, DGS and the California Governors Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to regularly convene private-sector companies in an effort to understand and predict current and future demand for broadband, in order to enable the state to allocate resources and manage policies and programs supporting broadband goals and innovation. The EO also directs the CBC to create a new State Broadband Action Plan by Dec. 31, and to review it annually. The EO sets a minimum broadband speed goal of 100 megabits per second download speed for state agencies under Newsoms authority, to guide infrastructure investments and program implementation to benefit residents. The plan incorporates that speed goal, and the order directs CDTs Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy to support and monitor implementation of the plan and the EO. Plan goals should include a road map to accelerate deployment and adoption of broadband by state and local government; publicly available information on all federal and state funding opportunities; and provisions to maximize the inclusion of tribal lands in broadband access and adoption opportunities, per the EO.THIS is why I moved to the public sector, to spend my time moving the needle on missions that matter, CDT's Stephanie Tom said on LinkedIn. As the department's deputy director for strategic planning, broadband and digital literacy, she described herself as proud to lead Californias first broadband executive order in over a decade. CDT, working with DGS, is directed to look for chances to leverage the states contract authorities as resources to further statewide broadband access and adoption. GO-Biz is directed to identify funding opportunities for broadband deployment and adoption by coordinating state agency efforts to maximize such funding; and by collaborating with cabinet-level agencies, departments and independent constitutional officers on a list of funding sources to support broadband, equipment and digital literacy. Among deployment aspects, CalOES is directed to work with jurisdictions implementing Next-Generation 911 to expand broadband infrastructure to enhance public safety and disaster response; the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in collaboration with CDT and other departments should seek opportunities to use programs under its jurisdiction to accelerate broadband deployment and to leverage utility infrastructure to increase access to existing fiber; and DGS should inventory state property for possible use for broadband infrastructure based on criteria from CPUC, the California Department of Transportation and other agencies. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is directed to identify and facilitate new broadband projects in support of precision agriculture and food systems in rural communities; and with CalOES to inventory broadband connectivity at all fairgrounds. CDE is requested to continue leading statewide efforts to ensure students have the computing devices and connectivity they need for distance learning and online instruction. On Aug. 5, CDE announced discounted service by T-Mobile and special pricing from Apple on its iPad + cellular which it said has been available to schools on top of its education volume pricing. The companies expect to be able to offer at least 100,000 devices through the back-to-school time frame, and fulfill school district demands through the end of the calendar year, according to CDE. A man walks past a sign on a truck in Melbourne on August 5, 2020, as the city enforces strict lockdown restrictions after a fresh outbreak of the coronavirus. A fresh outbreak of infections in Australia's coronavirus hot zone of Victoria appeared to have eased on Wednesday, as the country signed a deal to secure a potential Covid-19 vaccine that it intends to roll out free of cost to its citizens. Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday. All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. "Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out, but I think there would be widespread uptake in Australia," Hunt told Sky News on Wednesday. AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for Covid-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britain's University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. A flare up in infections in Australia's second most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew, tighten restrictions on people's movements and order large parts of the state's economy to close. The southeastern state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave of infections. Victoria reported 216 new daily cases in the last 24 hours compared with 222 a day earlier. It reported 12 deaths compared with 17 on Tuesday. Despite seeing a surge of new infections in the past month, Australia has largely avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus. TDT | Manama National Security Advisor and Royal Guard commander Major-General His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa received yesterday an elite group of Royal Guard servicemen who were assigned to attempt to climb Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, in Nepal. HH Shaikh Nasser gave them directives and urged them to exert all efforts to honour Bahrains flag, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Supreme Commander, and wished them success in their challenge to reach Earths pinnacle. I bade farewell today to elite Royal Guard servicemen who will attempt the challenge of climbing Mount Everest and to honour the flags of Bahrain and the Royal Guard, HH Shaikh Nasser said. The first phase starts now while the challenge to reach the summit will be next year. HH Shaikh Nasser stressed on the Royal Guards keenness to train its affiliates so as to assume their assigned duties under all circumstances. The three-phase challenge includes two training stages, before the challenge of reaching Mount Everests peak in the third stage, scheduled for 2021. ALBANY The union representing New York state troopers filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the legality of New York City codes that criminalize certain restraint techniques used by State Police and other law enforcement agencies. The civil complaint, filed in state Supreme Court in New York City, alleges the city's new codes limiting the type of force officers or correction officers can use to restrain a person conflict with state laws that give police the authority to "use physical force when and to the extent he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary" to make an arrest, prevent an escape, or employ in self-defense or to defend a third person. The unions representing state correction officers, park police, university police and environmental conservation officers are also petitioners in the case. The lawsuit contends the city's codes conflict with state Executive Law, among others, and that applying the rules to state troopers operating under the authority of the superintendent "is inconsistent with their statewide authority, contravenes the legislative purpose for the creation of a State Police force and is incompatible with state troopers' training and statewide arrest and apprehension authority." The unions for state troopers and investigators raised concerns last month when New York City adopted the codes, saying the bans on certain restraint techniques conflict with their training and would expose troopers and other law enforcement officers who patrol New York City to prosecution for a misdemeanor crime. Troopers PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer characterized the adoption of the New York City codes as an "ill-conceived, knee-jerk reaction by lawmakers (that) has left our members vulnerable to criminal and civil liabilities for doing they job they were trained to do." It is inconceivable to us that a trooper can initiate a traffic stop on the border of New York City, and if a violent confrontation arises, the arrest technique will vary depending on whether it ensues at the front bumper or the back bumper of the patrol car, Mungeer said The changes adopted by the New York City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio were intended to largely influence physical confrontations between civilians and the New York Police Department. They codes 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 last month cautioning them about the city's ordinances. Ronald Pierone, vice president of the union representing State Police investigators, told the Times Union last month the codes would conflict with years of training and 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. "You have guys down there that have made hundreds of arrests and some of the arrests go simple, no issues," Pierone said. "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.'" Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. 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 and authorized under state law. Police consider the methods "non-violent restraining techniques" that they said safely subdue people who are combative with the least amount of force. The codes directed at the NYPD were adopted following 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 and that New York police agencies already ban the use of chokeholds. 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. Mungeer had previously issued a statement demanding that state troopers be removed from New York City "and cease any law enforcement activities within that jurisdiction." But there is no indication that troopers will be removed from New York City, where many patrol airports, bridges and tunnels. State Police officials are arranging for troopers and investigators assigned to New York City to receive additional training on the restraint laws, a spokesman said. The company, founded by Elon Musk, sold the bulk of its planned $2.07 billion offering to investors starting Aug. 4, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. took in $1.9 billion in new funding this month and plans to raise more, capping off a busy period that includes its first successful human spaceflight, a launch for a satellite-based Internet service and work on a massive ship slated to carry people to Mars. The company, founded by Elon Musk, sold the bulk of its planned $2.07 billion offering to investors starting Aug. 4, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. SpaceX plans to sell another $165 million in equity and preferred stock. Seventy-five investors have participated in the latest round of funding, which will value the company at $46 billion, Bloomberg News reported last week. That would rank SpaceX as one of the most valuable venture-backed U.S. companies. SpaceXs fundraising comes during a fertile period, both for the Tesla Inc. sister company and capital markets more broadly. Technology companies, Tesla in particular, have been especially favored as the stock market flirts with a record high. Tuesdays filing came the same day that SpaceX made a record sixth flight for one of its Falcon 9 rocket boosters. The company delivered 58 of the companys Starlink satellites to orbit, along with three SkySat satellites for Planet Labs Inc. SpaceX has said that the latest version of the Falcons first stage can fly at least 10 times without major refurbishment. The Florida launch also marked more than 50 successful landings for the rockets first stage. The company has launched more than 600 satellites for Starlink, a high-speed Internet network that could begin commercial service late this year for customers in northern North America. On Aug. 2, SpaceX successfully returned two astronauts from the International Space Station after a 64-day mission. The SpaceX Dragon demonstration trip, which began May 30, was the first time a private contractor had flown National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel aboard a private spacecraft. SpaceXs first regular taxi flight for NASA, scheduled for mid-October, will take four astronauts to the space station. Meanwhile, SpaceX is constructing prototypes in Boca Chica, Texas, of its heavy-lift Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket. The company plans in 2023 to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his guests on the first private space-tourism jaunt around the moon. On Aug. 4 a Starship prototype called SN5 flew about 500 feet high before landing successfully. A similar craft, SN6, may perform a similar test this month. SpaceX ultimately plans to fly as many as 100 people aboard the 394-foot (120-meter) tall Starship back and forth to the moon and Mars. Written by Justin Bachman. Two officials involved in initially enlisting a Democrat-tied consulting firm to help track the spread of the coronavirus outbreak rejected a request to testify before a legislative committee, prompting ire from Republican lawmakers investigating the states COVID-19 response. Rep. Matt Hall, who chairs the legislatures joint committee on the COVID-19 pandemic, and co-chair Sen. Aric Nesbitt had asked to hear from Andrea Taverna, a senior adviser to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on opioid strategy, and Division Director Kathryn Macomber as part of their probe into why the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services initially awarded the states contact tracing contract to Great Lakes Community Engagement and Every Action VAN. Kolehouse Strategies, LLC, which is run by Democratic consultant Mike Kolehouse, founded the two organizations. The contract was canceled by Whitmer in April amid intense criticism that information collected during contact tracing efforts could be susceptible to being used for political purposes. Related: Michigan health director apologizes for canceled contact tracing contract with Democrat-tied group In a Wednesday letter, MDHHS Director Robert Gordon who appeared before the committee last week and told lawmakers awarding the contract was a mistake wrote that Taverna and Macomber declined the request to testify. Due to the open Attorney General investigation, which was requested from the legislature, Ms. Macomber and Ms. Taverna do not believe it is appropriate to speak with the committee at this time, he wrote. Gordon said he could answer any additional questions committee members might have in writing. During a Wednesday committee hearing, Hall, R-Marshall, said Gordon couldnt respond to some of the questions about the canceled contract when asked by lawmakers last week, and said he would keep trying to get Taverna and Macomber to testify. The only people who have the answers are the two people who worked most closely on this contract, he said. The people of Michigan need answers about this contract...theres no reason not to come in and talk about it. Nesbitt, R-Lawton, likened the refusal to testify as a lot of stonewalling in a statement. Political operatives were given personal data that had been accumulated through the state, he said. Thats a major problem...If everything was proper, they should share what happened. Last week, Gordon told the committee not vetting Great Lakes Community Engagement and Every Action VAN before awarding them the contract, was a mistake, not because they couldnt carry out the mission, but because the political leanings would distract from the issue. By May 5, MDHHS signed a new contract with Detroit-based Rock Connections, a subsidiary of Quicken Loans, and Deloitte. Since then, the collaboration has led to 90,000 calls to 19,000 different patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases, Gordon said at the hearing. COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS: In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/. Related coverage: Coronavirus contact tracing faces increasing challenges as some Michigan residents reluctant to participate Michigan seeks nonpartisan firm after canceling contract for coronavirus tracking Process was not followed when Democrat-tied groups were hired for coronavirus tracing, Whitmer says Coronavirus turns contact tracing into top priority for county governments Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Holly Robertson (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Wed, August 19, 2020 12:45 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f161ff 2 World Australia,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-vaccine,production,pandemic,SARS-CoV-2,virus-corona,novel-coronavirus Free Australia has secured access to a "promising" potential coronavirus vaccine, the prime minister announced Tuesday, saying the country would manufacture it and offer free doses to the entire population. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia had reached a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to receive the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University. "The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under this deal we have secured early access for every Australian," he said. "If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians." The Oxford vaccine is one of five globally in Phase 3 efficacy trials, and researchers hope to have results by the end of the year. It is the first such deal for Australia, and Morrison said his government was also in talks with "many parties around the world" over other potential vaccines as well as supporting local scientists in their efforts. The country is yet to reach a final agreement with AstraZeneca on the cost, and a local manufacturer has not been locked in. However, Australia has signed an Aus$25 million ($18 million) agreement with American medical technology company Becton Dickinson to buy 100 million needles and syringes to administer the doses. Although none of the coronavirus vaccines under development has proved its efficacy yet in clinical trials, at least 5.7 billion doses have been pre-ordered around the world. Five vaccines -- three Western and two Chinese -- are in Phase 3 efficacy trials involving thousands of people, including the Oxford vaccine. AstraZeneca has also signed agreements to provide doses to the US, Europe and Brazil. Another deal struck by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, would see India manufacture the Oxford vaccine for distribution in 57 low- and middle-income countries. First shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine created by Western laboratories have often been snapped up by the United States. Morrison said Australia remained "committed" to ensuring early access to the potential vaccine for Pacific countries and regional partners in Southeast Asia. Earlier this month he called on nations to share potential vaccines, saying any country that discovered one and did not make it available globally "would be judged terribly by history". Australia has recorded almost 24,000 cases of COVID-19 and 438 fatalities to date. Early in the pandemic it was considered among the most successful at curbing the virus's spread until an outbreak in Melbourne, the country's second-biggest city, that authorities struggled to contain. The outbreak -- which was traced back to two hotels being used to quarantine travellers returning from overseas -- has ravaged aged-care homes in the city, causing dozens of deaths. An overnight curfew, mandatory mask-wearing and the shutdown of non-essential businesses now appear to be bringing the virus under control, with the number of new daily cases falling below 300 in recent days. BALTIMORE (AP) Randal Grichuk extended his recent power surge with two home runs, and the Toronto Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the fading Baltimore Orioles with a 5-2 victory Wednesday. Grichuk hit a solo shot in the second inning and put Toronto ahead for good with a two-run drive in the sixth. He has homered in four straight starts, and all six of his long balls this season have come over the last six games. In his last at-bat in the eighth, Grichuk hit a liner left that was caught at the warning track. Regardless, he's batting .424 during an eight-game hitting streak that's featured six multi-hit games. With Grichuk leading the way, Toronto climbed within a game of .500 (10-11) for the first time since Aug. 5. Baltimore has lost four in a row and five of six following a six-game winning streak. Tommy Milone (1-3) pitched well over six innings except for the two homers he yielded to Grichuk. Tanner Roark (2-1) gave up one earned run in five innings and Rafael Dolis worked the ninth for his first save. Baltimore went ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Hanser Alberto hit a leadoff double and scored when right fielder Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a single. Hernandez made amends later in the inning by throwing out Pat Valaika, who was trying to score on a flyball by Chance Sisco. Grichuk erased the deficit for Toronto in the sixth after Travis Shaw singled. TRAINER'S ROOM Blue Jays: Highly touted pitching prospect Nate Pearson was placed on the 10-day injured list with elbow tightness. The rookie complained of soreness after his outing Tuesday night. Manager Charlie Montoyo said the right-hander was feeling better on Wednesday, but the Jays weren't going to take any chances with the 2017 first-round pick. ... 1B Rowdy Tellez missed a second straight game with a head injury but should be ready to play Thursday, Montoyo said. Orioles: OF Austin Hays (ribs) is progressing," manager Brandon Hyde said, but the only treatment at this time is rest. ... With Jose Iglesias on the IR with a strained left quad, the Orioles lose more than a solid bat and shortstop. Iggy is a major voice in our clubhouse and helpful to the young guys," Hyde said. Story continues UP NEXT Blue Jays: The quirky schedule takes the Blue Jays to Philadelphia for a doubleheader Thursday before they head to Florida for a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Orioles: RH Asher Wojciechowski (1-2, 4.34) helps Baltimore open a four-game series Thursday night against the visiting, last-place Boston Red Sox. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The Nigerian government has called for the immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order in Mali following the coup that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, made the call on behalf of the Nigerian government via his verified Twitter handle @GeoffreyOnyeama on Wednesday. Mr Onyeama said Nigeria also welcomed the urgent activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force. The Nigerian government unequivocally condemns the coup detat that took place in Mali on Tuesday and demands the immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order. We welcome the urgent activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force, Mr Onyeama said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mr Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested by the military after a mutiny on Tuesday. The incident followed months of street protests in the volatile West African state, which was also battling Islamic insurgency. The coup comes after several weeks of political tensions and repeated anti-government protests during which talks between the government and the opposition, led by popular cleric, Mahmoud Dicko, a former ally of Mr Keita, failed. (NAN) The EU has called on the Belarusian authorities to find a peaceful way out of the crisis. The leaders of the European Union member states have agreed to introduce sanctions against Belarus in response to the rigging of the results of the presidential elections and the use of violence against protesters. "The EU will impose shortly sanctions on a substantial number of individuals responsible for violence, repression and election fraud," President of the European Council Charles Michel said at the end of an extraordinary summit of EU leaders called to discuss the bloc's reaction to the disputed August 9 elections in Belarus. The EU has called on the Belarusian authorities to find a peaceful way out of the crisis by ending violence and starting a comprehensive national dialogue, Michel said. Read alsoMerkel: EU doesn't recognize results of presidential elections in Belarus In his words, all parties, including third countries, should support this process. As the President of the European Council noted, the European Union fully supports the OSCE proposal to start a dialogue and is ready to help. In turn, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the people of Belarus yearn for change. She noted that residents of Belarus came out to join peaceful protests, and the authorities responded with violence, which is unacceptable. International community's position vis-a-vis Belarus MSMEs in Uttar Pradesh will get marketing assistance of up to Rs five lakh under a new start-up policy, a senior official said Tuesday. New start-up policy 2020, aimed at extending support and encouragement to start-ups and incubation centres in Uttar Pradesh has been notified, said Additional Chief Secretary (Electronics and Information Technology) Alok Kumar. "Under the new policy, there is a window of up to Rs 5 lakh as marketing assistance to MSMEs," he added. Mr Kumar gave this information while addressing a virtual conference on "Role of Information Technology in transforming MSMEs' future during COVID-19", a PHDCCI release said. The conference had been organized by the Uttar Pradesh Chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Alok Kumar also said the Department of IT & Electronics is working hand in hand with SIDBI to facilitate venture capital funding for new start-ups and MSMEs. Also read: Nitin Gadkari lays foundation stones for 13 highway projects in Manipur virtually Focusing on the important role that IT is playing these days, Additional Chief Secretary, Deptt of MSME, Khadi & Village Industries, Navneet Sehgal said with the help of information technology now, almost all District Industries Centre (DICs) are online. He said most of the government schemes for the MSMEs and other units are posted online now and can be accessed and availed online. Both of the top bureaucrats also thanked the PHDCCI for taking the initiative of discussing the importance of information technology which has been playing a pivotal role in almost all domains amid the pandemic. In his keynote address, UP IT and Electronics Minister Ajit Singh Pal said with the optimum use of Information Technology, MSMEs will transform the nation into a new India where IT will play an important role that will lead the country as a major player in the global economic competition. Also read: Amazon, Flipkart see increased participation of small town SMEs in 1st sale post lockdown In his special address, PHDCCI secretary-general Saurabh Sanyal said the trade body has a huge membership base of more than 1,50,000 members with 70 percent of them being MSMEs. With over 115 years of existence, the Chamber is committed to working hand in hand with the government for the betterment of these industries to turn India into a favoured and ideal destination for industrialisation and investment, said Mr Sanyal. Also read: Govt to offer Rs 4.30 crore to start-ups, students under Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge A former Chattanooga Police officer was sentenced on Wednesday afternoon to serve 20 years in federal prison for rapes while on duty. Judge Curtis Collier gave the maximum sentence to Desmond Logan. If he had been charged for the three rapes that prosecutors say occurred along with two sexual assaults on other women, he would have faced 30 years to life, the judge noted. Logan earlier pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of two of the rape victims. As such he faced 10 years on each count. Logan at first declined to make a statement. When Judge Collier said it might be important for him to do so, Logan started out, "I guess I'd like to apologize." He said, "Everything is not as it appears. I'm not a bad person. I've made several mistakes, but I never, ever hurt anybody." Logan maintained that he has "not had one bad day since I've been incarcerated. I'm actually very close to God." Prosecutor James Brooks said, "The abuse of an arrestee is truly horrendous. This conduct should warrant a hefty sentence." Judge Collier said. "When a law enforcement officer breaks the law, it breeds distrust for the law and that breeds anarchy." He said the crimes committed cast a shadow "on every person wearing a badge." Logan will be recommended for a sexual offender evaluation. He will be on the Sex Offender Registry when he gets out. He will be on supervised released for three years after finishing the sentence. The Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute officers who commit sexual assault, said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. This case is a reminder that sexual assault allegations involving law enforcement officers should be fully investigated. The Department will continue to take such allegations seriously and work to vindicate the Constitutional rights of those who are victimized by officers acting under color of law. The actions of Desmond Logan jeopardized public safety and violated the trust of the citizens of Chattanooga he swore to protect. This case exhibits our continued efforts to prosecute those who would abuse their authority to commit acts of violence and injustice against members of our community, said U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey of the Eastern District of Tennessee. Our office will continue to stand by and protect the victims of such crimes. "Civil Rights violations, particularly when they involve a member of law enforcement, are of tremendous concern, said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBIs Knoxville Field Office. The entire law enforcement profession is tarnished when an officer betrays the oath to protect and serve. The FBI will vigorously investigate any officer or agent of the law who is breaking the rules that he or she is sworn to uphold or is violating the civil rights of others." This case was investigated by the Knoxville Division of the FBI, with the support of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States Attorney James Brooks of the Eastern District of Tennessee and Special Litigation Counsel Fara Gold and Trial Attorney Olimpia Michel of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted the case. A sentencing memorandum in the case says, "During the early morning hours of June 12, 2018, the defendant, while on duty as a CPD police officer, handcuffed and arrested (Victim 1). Rather than transporting her directly to the Hamilton County Jail, he drove her in his squad car to an empty and isolated parking lot. There, the defendant, without her consent, sexually assaulted her, "resulting in vaginal pain and bruising." In a second case, on the evening of Jan. 2, 2016, the defendant, while working a security detail at UTC, entered the passenger seat of (Victim 2)'s car and asked for a ride to his own car, which he claimed was parked in a different parking lot. The defendant then directed her to an empty and isolated parking lot. He took out his taser and put it against her leg, causing her to fear for her physical safety. When she tried to get out of her car to escape, the defendant prevented her from doing so, making her believe that he was going to rape and possibly kill her. The defendant ultimately got out of her car without causing significant physical harm to her, "though the trauma of the defendants conduct has long since stayed with her." Prosecutor Brooks said there are two additional uncharged sexual assaults described in the plea agreement follow the same pattern as the first case. One of those was not considered at the objection of defense attorney Sam Byrd. Officials said, "During the night of July 31, 2015, the defendant, while on-duty as a CPD police officer, arrested a woman. Rather than transporting her to the Hamilton County Jail, the defendant drove her in his squad car to a secluded area where, without her consent, he sexually assaulted her. She immediately reported the sexual assault to CPD, and underwent a sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) exam or rape kit. That evidence remained untested by CPD until years later, when she reported the defendant and the FBI launched an investigation. "The second uncharged sexual assault occurred during the night of May 30, 2016, when the defendant, while on duty as a CPD police officer, arrested another woman. Rather than transporting her to the Hamilton County Jail, the defendant drove her to a secluded area, where, without her consent, he made her put her mouth on his private area. "The federal investigation established that the defendant, in addition to the two crimes set forth in the Information, sexually assaulted two more women while serving in his capacity as a police officer. As part of the plea agreement, the defendant admitted that he also committed these additional uncharged sexual assaults. "A fifth assault, about which the United States learned after the defendant entered his guilty plea, and although beyond the reach of federal jurisdiction, establishes that the defendants predatory behavior was not confined to his actions as a police officer. During the evening of Aug. 8, 2015 - just over a week after the defendant had sexually assault another woman, she and her then-boyfriend went out socially with the defendant and other friends. They all slept at the defendants house. The woman and her then-boyfriend slept on the couch. Her boyfriend woke up early on the morning of Aug. 9, and went to work. She remained asleep, but awoke to find the defendant sexually assaulting her." YEREVAN. At the beginning of his press conference Wednesday, Armenias third President Serzh Sargsyan read his introductory remarks that were made at his meeting with the National Assembly inquiry committee which investigates the circumstances of the hostilities in April 2016. These remarks are as follows: Before answering the questions of interest to you, I would like to address the panel with a brief introductory speech. Also, I suggest attaching it to todays meetings minutes. First of all, I will explain why I decided to accept your invitation, come and answer any question that might be asked in here, although many of my supporters, members of the political team urged me to avail myself of my right to reject the invitation on the grounds that the Commission seemed to have been set up for political considerations, and its members had repeatedly expressed biased and incorrect opinions about the April events. But I decided to come over, even if their concerns were relevant, since I wanted to look straight in your eyes trying to understand whether there is anyone to question the victory of the Armenian side in the Four-Day April War. Is there anyone who can professionally substantiate that Azerbaijan is on the winning side while it has lost most of its elite units? Can anyone tell me that the Armenian side which stopped a large-scale offensive with numerous examples of unspeakable courage suffered a defeat? Can anyone provide evidence of a war ever waged in the history of mankind where only soldiers fought and won without commanders? The question may arise as to why I have so far failed to speak out about the April War and downplay the speculations on this topic. To be honest, at first there was no need for it, and then there was no expediency. That is why I proposed to hold a commission hearing with my participation at the end of the state of emergency, so that after the hearings I could have the opportunity to address the issue in the presence of media outlets and disclose all relevant information. Let me now address some issues that have unfortunately become the subject of speculation. Before arguing about whether we won or lost by repelling the April aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, one ought to have a clear idea of what victory is, and what defeat is in a war. It is obvious that wars are not an end in themselves, they always pursue political goals. War is the continuation of politics in other ways. It is a victory for the defending side when it succeeds in aborting the aggressors plans with minimal losses. No warfare can be deemed successful for the attacking side if it does not achieve at least part of its political goals. Before answering the question of whether we won or lost the April War, let me briefly touch on whether we could prevent or avoid the war. Now I can confidently state that it was impossible. Why? Because Azerbaijan was not ready to accept any compromise acceptable to us: I am convinced that they are not prepared to acknowledge the right of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh to determine the status of their country by free will. Thus, there was only one way to avoid war: unilateral concessions, which, of course, was not even discussed as it was unacceptable for us. As I said, victory comes when ones political goals are materialized through war. What political goals were pursued by Azerbaijan? Those goals have been formulated in the findings of both domestic and foreign expert studies, in the comprehensive analyses carried out by competent authorities, as well as in the decisions and statements made by the leaders of foreign states, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. They pursued an ultimate goal of achieving a U-turn in the negotiations. They wanted to prove that the conflict might have a military solution as the negotiations were not in their favor. [Azerbaijan President] Ilham Aliyev demonstrated it best in 2016 during the October, 2007 cabinet meeting of the Government of Azerbaijan, when he acknowledged that behind closed doors the international community had been urging him to recognize Nagorno-Karabakhs independence. Second, Azerbaijan was striving to give to oblivion the fact that Artsakh was a party to the conflict as vividly evidenced by the tripartite ceasefire arrangement signed as early as in 1994. Third, it was extremely important for Azerbaijan to root out the losers complex in the minds of its own people and in the army by representing themselves as winners. Instead, they were trying to get the winners psychology of our troops changed into the psychology of a loser. I can cite other goals as well, but let us stop on what was said. Now let us see whether they achieved their goals or not? First, the failures on the battlefield did not allow Azerbaijan to confront the Armenian side and the international community with fait accompli and force us to negotiate their own agenda. In the meantime, there was a breakthrough in the negotiations concerning the agenda that we had been insisting on ever since 2013 with a view to setting up an international mechanism for investigating ceasefire violations. After the April War, Aliyev had to agree with this reality in Vienna and then in St. Petersburg. By the way, this was a key component in the legacy left by the former Armenian authorities. I will explain it in more detail, if necessary. Thus, as a result of the April aggression, Azerbaijan suffered huge losses not only in military terms, but also in the diplomatic arena. It came to prove that Azerbaijan was unable to solve the problem through the use of force. Second, having failed on the battlefield, Azerbaijan was forced to be back to the table of negotiations together with Russia. We were expected to agree to Azerbaijans proposal for signing a new ceasefire agreement. But we refused, insisting that the 1994 agreement was still standing as it was signed for an indefinite term. That is, we refused to sign a new ceasefire document, which in fact would push Artsakh out of the peace process as an equal party to the conflict. Later on, we received a clear-cut position on the part of the Co-Chairs, with the official statement spread in the OSCE, which reaffirmed the deadline-free nature of the tripartite ceasefire agreement of 1994. Third, as I said, Aliyev wanted to raise the fighting spirit of his own people and army through war in order to create some myth of victory. They had even mobilized special groups to quickly publicize the expected success. But it did not work out thanks to our soldiers bravery. Going a little further, I should say that I deeply regret to see that some forces have been serving this very goal inside our country over the past few years. For four years now, myths and absolute lies have been fomented about our soldiers being left without food and fighting with shovels. To make things worse, some used to claim that our armored vehicles were filled with water instead of diesel fuel. This is just a shame, even from the point of view of achieving political goals. After all, was the April War a victory or a defeat for the Armenian side? I have never questioned it, since I am convinced that this is our victory, the victory of all of us. Did our military-political leadership work effectively? Despite some minor shortcomings, almost all military, political, state and civilian parties did their best during the hostilities. As for the shortfalls and lessons, there is the Top Secret Report drafted by the Armenian Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces that I suppose is available for commission members reference. Was it possible to reject the armistice and try to restore our initial positions? I think so. But it was very likely that we would have dozens of new victims, new mourning parents, new orphans, and new widows. Could we reject the ceasefire in order to punish Azerbaijan by expanding the security zone with new territories? Without ruling out the possibility of success, I would say that it would be an adventure fraught with unpredictable consequences, up to the outbreak of a full-scale war, as a consequence of thousands, maybe tens of thousands of victims, destroyed towns and villages. In view of the above and taking note of the opinions of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, the President of Artsakh and the Commanders of the Defense Army, and in my capacity of Commander-in-Chief, I decided to accept the proposal of ceasefire. This perhaps a little long introductory speech was meant to foster a substantive discussion of issues arising from the Commissions goals and mandate. I am prepared to answer your questions for the good of our state and people. You yourself understand that the Four-Day War is a small part of the millennial history of the Armenian people who are fighting for their dignity, freedom and survival. Please remember that regretfully the war is not yet over. Israel's Mossad chief visits UAE for 'security' talks after normalization pact Iran Press TV Tuesday, 18 August 2020 5:49 PM Director of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Yossi Cohen, has traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for security talks, in the first high-profile visit by an Israeli official to Abu Dhabi only days after two sides agreed to normalize relations under a US-brokered deal. Cohen discussed cooperation "in the fields of security" with the UAE's national security advisor, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, the official WAM news agency reported on Tuesday. "The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of security as well as exchanged points of view on regional developments and on issues of common interest, including efforts to contain COVID-19," the report said. Israel's Channel 12 television network initially reported last week that a senior Israeli official would lead a delegation to travel to the UAE to meet with the Persian Gulf state's top leaders. The Ynet news site named Cohen, who is said to have led normalization bids with Persian Gulf states over the past years. Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements covering sectors, including investment, direct flights and the opening of reciprocal embassies, according to the deal. Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv on Saturday signed the first business deal since the accord. Emirati APEX National Investment company and Israel's Tera Group will cooperate on research and development related to COVID-19, including a testing device. Anger is boiling in the Middle East and elsewhere over the agreement, with Palestinian leaders describing it as a "stab in the back" of the Palestinians by an Arab country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At least 10 people who were involved in the rescue operation of the Air India Express flight's crash at the Kozhikode international airport have tested positive for coronavirus. An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people onboard, including a six-member crew, overshot the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport amid heavy rains on August 7 evening. The narrow-body B737 plane fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into pieces, killing 18 people, including both the pilots. According to the IANS news agency, six of the rescue workers were from Nettirepu, while four were from Kondotty area, who have now tested positive for coronavirus. When the rescue operation happened, the Kerala health authorities had sent an advisory to all those who were present near the crash site to go into self-isolation. There were 150 people who were advised to go into self-isolation. Kerala Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan, along with seven other ministers self-isolated themselves, after they visited the Kozhikode flight crash site. Recently, Malappuram District Collector N Gopalakrishnan and District police chief U Abdul Karim, who headed rescue operation, also tested positive for COVID-19. Kerala on Tuesday recorded over 1,700 coronavirus cases as the infection count touched 47,898 in the southern state. So far, 31,394 people have recovered from the disease and 16,274 are undergoing treatment. Also read: COVID-19 pandemic: WHO lambasts 'vaccine nationalism' in last-resort attempt against hoarding Also read: Naveen Patnaik stresses location-specific strategy to curb COVID-19 outbreak in Odisha A French politician has blamed Britain for the death of a young Sudanese migrant found on a French beach. Pierre-Henri Dumont said the death was caused by Britains refusal to allow asylum claims to be made outside the UK. He asked: How many more tragedies does it need for the British to find an ounce of humanity? French citizenship minister Marlene Schiappa said on Twitter that a 16-year-old Sudanese migrant had died on the same day that dozens more migrants attempted the dangerous crossing to the UK. It comes as Dan OMahoney, the Home Offices newly appointed clandestine Channel threat commander, is expected to return to France on Thursday to continue discussions with officials in Paris and Calais in a bid to tackle the crisis. The Bishop of Dover called for definitive action to protect those desperate enough to risk their lives in small boats. A French patrol boat as more migrants were picked up by French authorities in the English Channel on Wednesday (Marine Nationale/PA) Opposition MPs and charities criticised the Governments handling of the situation with a call for Home Secretary Priti Patel to consider her position. French authorities launched a search and rescue effort after another migrant, suffering from hypothermia, said his makeshift boat had capsized at sea and his companion who could not swim was missing and may still be in the water. At 8am, border police were informed of the discovery of a body on the beach at Sangatte, just outside the port city of Calais. Prosecutors in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer have launched an investigation into the death. Mr Dumont, who represents the northern region of Pas-de-Calais in the French National Assembly, took aim at the British government over the death of the migrant. In a post on Twitter discussing the incident, he said: What we all feared happened that night. How many more tragedies does it need for the British to find an ounce of humanity? The inability to claim asylum in Great Britain without being physically present in the country causes these tragedies, he added. Story continues THREAD Ce que nous craignions tous est arrive cette nuit. Combien de drames faudra til encore pour que les Britanniques retrouvent une once dhumanite ? Limpossibilite de deposer une demande dasile en Grande-Bretagne sans y etre physiquement present engendre ces drames. https://t.co/e1vG5HSq07 Pierre-Henri Dumont (@phdumont) August 19, 2020 He said Channel crossings had been increasing in recent weeks and claimed the migrants in Calais do not want to seek asylum in France and they refuse state support, preferring to risk their lives in rafts. British negligence does not exonerate the French government from its own responsibilities, he said, adding that the migrants have nothing to do in Calais and they should be given protection by claiming asylum or returned to their country. In the meantime, migrants and Calais residents are suffering, he added. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has pledged to make the route unviable, said the death was an upsetting and tragic loss of a young life. This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people, she added. A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, onboard the Dover RNLI lifeboat following a number of small boat incidents in the Channel earlier today (Gareth Fuller/PA) Ms Schiappa also said the death highlights the need to tackle the smugglers. Immense sadness: A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who disappeared in the sea last night was found dead in the beach in Sangatte this morning, she tweeted. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: The death of a 16-year-old child in the Channel is a tragedy. My thoughts are with his loved ones. This is a humanitarian crisis that needs a compassionate response. In a plea for compassion, the Bishop of Dover the Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin asked: How much worse does this have to get before we take definitive action to save lives and protect the dignity of people who have been pushed to take such desperate measures? Meanwhile, in Dover, children were among more than 50 migrants who arrived on boats on Wednesday morning. More than 4,700 migrants have reached the UK by small boat this year, analysis by the PA news agency shows. Meanwhile, Tory former minister Tim Loughton accused the French of a lack of humanity for allowing migrants to endanger their lives in Channel attempts. He told Channel 4 News: What is happening now is people who are getting into boats, in many cases paying 4,000 to people traffickers, are effectively queue-jumping genuine asylum seekers who we owe a debt to and can give a safe passage and a safe home to because they go through the proper processes. And frankly it is appalling that the French are allowing people to endanger their lives. That is where the lack of humanity is, Im afraid. The Member of Parliament for Bolga Central, Isaac Adongo has taken a swipe at the Akufo-Addo-led government after it bragged of its infrastructural achievements at a town hall meeting ahead of the 7 December polls. On Tuesday, 18 August 2020, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the government has started 17,334 projects and completed 8,746 of them in its first term. According to Dr Bawumia, no government in the history of Ghanas fourth republic has initiated more infrastructural projects than the Akufo-Addo government. The investment in infrastructure by the NPP government over the last three years has been massive. I dare say our investment in infrastructure, our infrastructure record is second to none for any government in its first term under the Fourth Republic, Dr Bawumia stated. Reacting to this, Mr Adongo, in a statement, quizzed: If Ghanaians voted against commissioning of major infrastructure projects in 2016, do you think they will vote for sod-cutting, an enhanced promise in your last four months in office? The lawmaker stated: How can a government with four months left in office show infrastructure records in a town hall meeting? This is what happens when your year of roads is touted with a sod-cutting of 26 km road. A performance-driven government commissions roads and infrastructure projects with 4 months to the end of your term not another round of empty lectures and town hall meetings dubbed results fair. Are you not proud of your 1 village 1 dugout or reshaping and re-gravelling or your one-seater toilets? Come to Bolga Soe to commission your embarrassing dugout, he dared the government. Talk is cheap. The toilets, boreholes, reshaping and school blocks that Ghanaians took for granted are now your superior achievements? So, what will the superior record of an Assemblyman look like? We have, indeed, retrogressed. While JM was described as incompetent by you for commissioning major infrastructure projects at this time in 2016, you are holding town hall meetings on supposed infrastructure you are ashamed to commission? Never again. After doubling our public debt in three-and-a-half years to competently finance corruption and stealing, now come and commission your projects. That's a true show of infrastructure results. It is interesting that the President on the day of visiting Western Region with the electorates waiting for him to show his projects, his MP in the area was sitting in a JM visible project with the economic comedian struggling to do the impossible of delivering another confident eloquent lies. The NDC delivered more infrastructure with fewer resources under JM in four years. If Ghanaians voted against the commissioning of major infrastructure in 2016, do you think they will vote for sod-cutting, an enhanced promise in your last four months in office? Sod cuttings are just enhanced promises and a failed Government cannot seek solace in more promises on your way out. Big English and confident eloquent lies best describe your shameful legacy, he stressed. ---classfmonline On paper, the nation's low unemployment rate suggests an economy weathering the novel coronavirus reasonably well, but official figures belie worsening prospects for the countrys army of temporary workers, who make up about 40 percent of the employment market. A rise in job losses would undermine one of the few successes of Prime Minister Shinzo Abes Abenomics stimulus policies, which has been aimed at reviving the economy. The jobless rate stood at 2.8 percent in June, much lower than the 10.2 percent seen in the United States and the 7.8 percent in the 19-member eurozone. But a closer look at data shows a rising number of people are dropping out of the search for work. That prevents the official jobless rate a the ratio of job seekers who are yet to secure employment a from rising much. About 2.4 million furloughed workers are currently being kept on payrolls backed by state subsidies, which the government is seeking to extend beyond their current expiration at the end of September. Haidar Badawi has been fired a day after he said there is no reason to continue hostility between Sudan and Israel. Sudans foreign ministry spokesman has been dismissed after making allegedly unauthorised comments indicating there were contacts with Israel regarding normalising ties. The development on Wednesday comes after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel announced last week that they were to establish diplomatic ties, a deal denounced by the Palestinians as a betrayal of their cause. The agreement makes the UAE only the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to have full ties with Israel. Sudanese acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din has dismissed Haidar Badawi from his position as spokesman and head of the media division at the ministry, a statement by the official SUNA news agency said on Wednesday. It came a day after Badawi said Sudan was looking forward to concluding a peace agreement with Israel. There is no reason to continue hostility between Sudan and Israel, Badawi was quoted as saying by Sky News Arabia. We dont deny that there are communications with Israel, he added, saying both countries would gain much from a deal. Badawis remarks immediately drew a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do all thats needed to wrap up a deal. Qamar al-Din sought to distance himself from Badawis comments, saying they were received with astonishment. He insisted his ministry had not discussed the issue of ties with Israel. In February, Netanyahu met General Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudans transitional government, during a secret trip to Uganda, where both leaders agreed to pursue normalisation of ties, according to Israeli officials. A senior Palestinian official at the time had denounced the meeting as a stab in the back of the Palestinian people. President Burhan put Sudan on the right track with his meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Badawi said. C ommunication between the two states Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Israeli news site Ynet in an interview that he believes the talks with Sudan will lead to a deal. There is communication between the two states and I believe that it will develop into the advancement of an agreement between the countries. But we need to look, we need to wait. Is it right for Israel and Sudan? The answer is yes, he said. A Sudanese government official told The Associated Press news agency on Tuesday that deliberations between Sudanese and Israeli officials have been going on for months, with help from Egypt, the UAE and the United States. Its a matter of time. We are finalising everything, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. The Emirati move encouraged us and helped calm some voices within the government who were afraid of backlash from the Sudanese public. An Israeli deal with Sudan would mark another setback for the Palestinians, who have long counted on the Arab world to press Israel to make concessions to them as a condition for normalisation. That wall of Arab support had long served as one of the Palestinians few points of leverage against Israel. Sudan, a majority Arab nation, hosted the landmark Arab conference after the 1967 war where eight Arab countries approved the three nos: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations. But in recent years, those hostilities have softened. Israel previously considered Sudan a security threat, due to Irans suspected use of the country as a conduit for overland smuggling of munitions to the occupied Gaza Strip. However, since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from office last year, Khartoum has distanced itself from Iran and no longer poses such a threat, Israeli officials say. Sudan is now on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow al-Bashir in April 2019. A military-civilian government rules the country, with elections deemed possible in late 2022. At the time of the Burhan-Netanyahu meeting, the Sudanese military said the talks with Israel were an effort to help end Sudans status as an international pariah state. History! said Netanyahu, who had been fighting for his political survival back home, in a tweet at the time. Sudan is desperate to lift sanctions linked to its listing by the US as a state sponsor of terror. That would be a key step towards ending its isolation and rebuilding its battered economy. The US and Israel are staunch allies. Batelco has announced the completion of its campaign, developed to support Bahraini productive families, with the delivery of 60,000 locally manufactured face masks to the authorities, who have supervised the distribution of the face masks. The Batelco initiative was carried out in collaboration with Bahraini productive families by enabling them to contribute to the national campaign against the Coronavirus, by supporting them to produce large quantities of face masks. Thirty Bahraini productive families participated in the campaign to produce 60,000 face masks, in line with the efforts to encourage continued compliance with official directives and the implementation of preventative measures, including the wearing of face masks in public places. Batelco General Manager Corporate Communications & CSR Shaikh Bader bin Rashid Al Khalifa said: "We are delighted today to announce the successful production and distribution of locally made face masks in collaboration with the Bahraini productive families. This came about as part of Batelcos initiative to enable them to benefit from their efforts during these difficult times and support the government's efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very proud of this collaboration, which reflects the solidarity of all members of the community in the face of these exceptional circumstances." This campaign is part of Batelcos series of initiatives to support the governments efforts carried out under the kingdoms wise leadership, and to exercise Batelcos role as an active member of Team Bahrain, that is playing a prominent role in the face of Covid-19, under the leadership of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. The initiatives also include support for 500 small and medium enterprise (SME) customers through financial support towards their fixed internet costs for 3 months and facilitating e-learning methods by providing free browsing on a number of educational websites. In light of the spread of Coronavirus in the Kingdom, the company also donated BD3.5 million to the There is Good in Us campaign, in addition to many other targeted community initiatives. - TradeArabia News Service Sushant Singh Rajput (File image: PTI) The Supreme Court of India has ordered a CBI investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case and asked the Mumbai police to hand over all evidence so far to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In its verdict on August 19, the apex court upheld the Bihar government's recommendation to transfer the FIR lodged in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case in Patna to the CBI. It said that the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said that FIR registered by Bihar Police on the complaint of Rajput's father Krishna Kishore Singh is correct and the reference to the CBI is lawful. The top court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. The Centre had earlier informed the top court that it has accepted the recommendation of the Bihar government for the CBI probe into an FIR lodged at Patna by Rajput's father who has accused Rhea Chakraborty and six others of various offences including abetment of suicide. While pronouncing the verdict, the bench said that if any other case is registered regarding Rajput's death, the same shall be probed by the CBI only. It said that jurisdiction of Mumbai Police, which is conducting probe under section 174 of the CrPC which deals with the procedure to be followed in cases of unnatural death and suicide, is limited. The top court, which had reserved its judgement on the plea on August 11, was told by the Bihar government that "political clout" has not allowed Mumbai Police to even register an FIR in Rajput's case. The Maharashtra government had argued that Bihar completely lacks jurisdiction in the matter. Chakraborty's counsel had told the bench that probe by Mumbai Police has "proceeded quite substantially" as it has recorded statements of 56 persons in the case. After the verdict, Vikas Singh, lawyer of Sushant's father said, "This is a victory for Sushant Singh Rajput's family. SC ruled on all points in our favour. The court also clearly said that the FIR registered at Patna was correct." "SC also said that any other FIR registered in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput's death will also be investigated by the CBI. We hope that we should get justice very soon. The family is very happy with the verdict," Singh added. Talking to reporters, Bihar DGP said he was very happy. "SC order has strengthened trust people have in the court and has assured the nation that justice will be delivered. Today's verdict has proved that Bihar Police was correct. The way Mumbai Police behaved was illegal," the DGP said. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14. (With inputs from agencies) Matt Hancock today vowed to bring in population-wide mass coronavirus testing but failed to offer a time frame and referred to the project as a 'moonshot'. The Health Secretary told the BBCs Today programme that the government would bring in mass testing and ministers were working as 'fast as we can' on the scheme that is crucial for a further return to normality. His pledge follows months of calls from top experts and politicians to set-up a mass-testing programme. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair warned it was the only way to prevent a second wave and said Britain is 'running out of time' to get a scheme up-and-running. But Mr Hancock was vague on details when he revealed the government was trialling new tests, saying some give results in just 10 minutes and rely on saliva cutting out the need to have long swabs stuck down throats. Current tests can take several days to produce results because they need to be sent to laboratories. Around 100,000 people are being tested for coronavirus each day but academics have warned it needs to be scaled-up massively to cope with the coughs and colds that will arise this winter. Mass-testing allows ministers to see exactly where outbreaks are and stops infected people unknowingly spreading it. Rapid coronavirus tests could also mean travellers do not need to quarantine for the full two weeks, if they come back negative. Ministers today also revealed they will ramp up the size of a major surveillance testing scheme run by the Office for National Statistics. Around 150,000 people will be swabbed every fortnight by October up from around 30,000 currently. Mr Hancock also defended the government's controversial choice to install Tory peer Baroness Dido Harding as the head of the new agency replacing Public Health England. Experts said it made as 'much sense as Chris Whitty [England's chief medical officer] being appointed a head of Vodafone'. Baroness Harding is the former chief executive of TalkTalk, where she oversaw one of the worst data breaches in the UK. But Mr Hancock told BBC News Baroness Harding whose husband is a Tory MP was 'simply the best person who could be doing this job now', claiming Number 10 is 'very lucky' to have her in the role. And he denied the decision to scrap the beleaguered PHE would be a distraction in the fight against the pandemic. He added the reorganisation was 'absolutely the best thing to do'. The Health Secretary said it was an 'incredibly important' project, claiming ministers were working as 'fast as we can' to achieve the 'moonshot' and reopen parts of the economy Former Prime Minister Tony Blair warned it was the only way to prevent a second wave and said Britain is 'running out of time' to get a scheme up-and-running Chain of command: Baroness Dido Harding will report directly to the health secretary after her appointment as interim chief of the new National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) Baroness Harding's husband, Tory MP John Penrose, is a board member of the think tank '182' which has published several reports calling for PHE to be abolished WHAT RAPID COVID-19 TESTS IS THE UK GOVERNMENT TRIALLING? DNANudge One of the new test kits, made by London-based DNANudge, will be launched next month. It analyses DNA in nose swabs but saves time as the results do not need to be sent to a laboratory The DnaNudge test does not require any medical expertise and can detect the virus from just a nostril sample - much less invasive than some throat swabs. After successful trials on 500 patients in London hospitals, the 'lab in a cartridge' device was approved for clinical use by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) at the end of April. The Government has purchased 5,000 of the DNANudge machines, which can process up to 15 tests a day, to provide 5.8 million tests in the coming months. The test, developed by Imperial College London's Chris Toumazou, is based on the design of a DNA test and can give a result in just over an hour, significantly cutting down on the 48-hour wait for a laboratory diagnosis. Once a swab is taken, it's inserted into a handheld reader that provides results within just 75 minutes. The DnaNudge has a sensitivity of over 98 per cent and specificity of 100 per cent. It can tell the difference between a person who doesn't have the disease at all and a sample which wasn't taken properly, meaning there aren't any false negatives. Oxford Nanopore The other test, called the Lampore, involves taking a sample of saliva, unlike existing methods which require invasive and difficult nose and throat swabs Biotech company Oxford Nanopore has developed a portable swab-recording device called LamPORE, which can determine whether a user has coronavirus in the space of an hour. As well as being able to process around 30,000 samples a day, the device can also be used to determine whether hard surfaces in schools, hospitals and care homes have traces of COVID-19. The LamPORE device, which also comes in a desktop version which is about the size of a printer, uses electronic means to record and analyse the samples. Each test is given a barcode which is individually assessed before returning back with the result - without having to wait for swabs to be sent to the laboratory. The portable version of the LamPORE device is believed to be the same size as a CD player. Ministers are understood to have made an order for 450,000 of the tests, which were made available in adult care settings and laboratories last month. Millions more are due to be rolled out later in the year if they prove to be effective. The makers of the test have not revealed how accurate it is, and the Government has refused to divulge that information, too. OptiGene The Genie HT processes nasal and throat swab samples and can return results in 20 minutes A Government trial of OptiGene's rapid antigen test is still currently underway in Hampshire. The Genie HT processes nasal and throat swab samples and can return results in 20 minutes without needing to be sent to a lab and processed. Once swabs have been collected from patients, the samples are loaded into the devices, which look for tiny traces of the virus in their DNA. The machines amplify the DNA billions of times chemically so they can detect the virus with extreme sensitivity. The device has proven to be just as accurate as PCR swabs, which take days to give results, in clinical trials by Public Health England. But the gadget is now being tested at a number of A&E departments, GP coronavirus testing hubs and care homes across Hampshire. Up to 4,000 people of all ages have been involved in the trial, which is being led by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust. In contrast to the widely used PCR tests, which need be processed at different temperatures, the Genie HT does not require a change in temperature to detect results. SAMBA II The SAMBA II was created by University of Cambridge spin-off company Diagnostics for the Real World The SAMBA II has shown to be almost 99 per cent accurate at analysing swabs and can give a result in just 90 minutes. The portable machine can diagnose Covid-19 in less than 90 minutes, but only has the capacity to process 15 tests a day. It was developed by University of Cambridge spin-off company Diagnostics for the Real World. It scours DNA in throat and nose swabs to detect the virus. Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge has been trialling the device since April. They have shown to be so effective that the hospital switched nearly all of its coronavirus testing from standard lab tests to the Samba machines in May. A Samba test, costing approximately 30 per sample, would outweigh the cost of each additional bed day at around 200 'many times over', the team said. Its creators say the tests have been validated by Public Health England and are expected to be launched in hospitals across the country. The machines are already used to diagnose other blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. Randox Randox's portable antigen test, called the Vivalytic, can process five swabs an hour The Government partnered with Northern Irish firm Randox in April to ramp up testing in the nation. Randox's portable antigen test, called the Vivalytic, can process five swabs an hour. It has been scaled up across multiple hospitals in Northern Ireland. The device is also used at the point of care and operated by a healthcare professional. Randox says its device works by 'identifying SARS-CoV-2 and differentiating it from nine other respiratory infections with similar symptoms, including influenza and all known coronaviruses'. The devices are still being trialled. Last month, 750,000 swabs were recalled after they failed to meet the required safety standards. Randox said the issue was with one of its suppliers of its swabs. The machines which process the swabs have not been deemed unsafe. Abbott American giant Abbott developed a rapid antigen test thought to be the quickest on the market American giant Abbott developed a rapid antigen test thought to be the quickest on the market. The 'ID NOW COVID-19' can deliver positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in March. It quickly became the most widely available molecular point-of-care testing platform in the States. It is unclear if Public Health England is looking into the device. Intelligent Fingerprinting The rapid test scours sweat for the virus and takes just 10 minutes British diagnostics firm Intelligent Fingerprinting and Imperial College London joined forces to develop a rapid test that scours sweat for the virus. The test is said to take just 10 minutes to produce a diagnosis. It works by collecting fingerprint sweat onto a small test cartridge for analysis. The sample is then analysed by a portable DSR-Plus analysis unit. The machine uses sensitive lateral flow technology and fluorescence measurement methods. Its makes say the test is more hygienic and has less chance of being done wrong because it utilises sweat samples rather than a throat or mouth swab. It's unclear how accurate the test is or whether UK ministers are looking into it. Advertisement Speaking on BBC Radio 4 today, Mr Hancock said mass-testing was a 'really, really important drive that we have across government'. He added: 'At the moment, you have to send off a test to a laboratory, get it back and all the logistics of that takes time. It is also quite expensive. 'There are new technologies coming on track which we are eyeing and testing now.' Mr Hancock added: 'Some of them [the tests] you only have to use saliva rather than having a swab all the way down the back of your throat, which means that anybody can administer it or self administer it much easier. 'Some of them they dont need a lab on the test which means you dont have to send it off and get it back with the best ones you get the results in 10 minutes.' When asked about when it would be available, he refused to answer and replied: 'I am not going to put a firm deadline on it.' He added: 'I have said very clearly that we are ramping it up over the remainder of this year. 'The answer is we are going as fast as we can, working with dozens of companies, both home grown and international to get the very best testing capacity. 'This moon shot to have testing ubiquitous and available to reopen all sorts of things, to reduce the burden of the quarantine arrangements which nobody wants to have in place, to allow us to reopen parts of the economy, that is an incredibly important project within Government right now.' Mr Hancock also defended the timing of axing Public Health England to form a new National Institute for Health Protection. He told Sky News: 'My responsibility is to make sure that the pandemic response is the best it possibly can be and that's why I've taken this decision now. 'Actually one of the lessons from the crisis I think for me is that if something is the right thing to do then delaying doing it is the wrong thing. 'We've now got Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace, we've got a new Joint Biosecurity Centre, working separately so in order to keep people safe, in order to have the very best response, we need to bring these organisations together now. 'I hope this gives a long-term future for all those working on the pandemic response.' In an interview with Sky News, former PM Mr Blair said: 'We've got the capacity now to test about 340,000 people a day but we're only using half of the testing capacity we have now. 'The problem is that we're not gonna be able to eradicate this disease, for one thing it's circulating globally. 'Already the damage from this [pandemic] is pretty terrifying, in my view. If you haven't got the right containment infrastructure in place at that moment then the risk is you end up with a second wave. 'Then you're faced with some absolutely impossible choices between locking down with all the damage that does, and keeping open with the poss of the disease spreading even further.' Mr Blair revealed he would 'help in any way I can' and claimed countries around the world have now realised it's hard to get the economy functioning again 'unless you can get a handle on those who have got the disease'. Ministers have already been asked to prove that two new rapid coronavirus tests bought to bolster Britain's war on coronavirus even work. The tests which give results in 90 minutes will start being rolled out from next week. One is so simple it could soon be deployed in airports, offices, pubs and restaurants bringing testing to the bulk of the population. Despite being hailed as 'life-saving' by Mr Hancock, there is no publicly available data about their effectiveness. Experts called on Number 10 to confirm both tests made by Oxford Nanopore and DNANudge are accurate by releasing research on the new devices. The government has already wasted millions of pounds by purchasing Covid tests that were later found to be inaccurate including two different types of antibody test from China. Mr Hancock today also defended the decision to install Tory peer Dido Harding as the head of the new NIHP. Baroness Harding, who was made a peer by David Cameron, was appointed despite her recent track record in charge of the government's disastrous contact tracing scheme and mobile app that was delayed for months amid bungles over technology. Her husband, Tory MP John Penrose, is also board member of the think tank '1828' which has published several reports calling for PHE to be abolished. Mr Hancock rejected allegations of 'cronyism', telling Times Radio: 'I ask people to do these important, big jobs who I think are best qualified to do it.' Asked if she is qualified for the role, he told BBC News: 'Absolutely, she's simply the best person who could be doing this job now. 'She has enormous experience both in the private sector running very large organisations and this is a very large organisation now with a budget of over 10billion. 'Also in the NHS she's been the chair of NHS Improvement for the last over three years, she's been expanding and building that testing capacity, the test and trace system that is so effective in finding people now and asking them to self-isolate.' He added: 'So we're very lucky to have her giving this public service at this critical time.' In an interview with LBC this morning, Mr Hancock said: 'Anybody with enormous experience like Baroness Harding will have had to face challenges in their professional career. 'I think having somebody with enormous experience, both running very large organisations in the private sector and as the chair of the board of NHS Improvement last three-and-a-half years, she has what it takes to lead this organisation, to get it set up. 'The key thing now is to make sure that there is a seamless impact on the coronavirus response, actually that that is strengthened, and I think her leadership will be an important part in that.' He added: 'Ultimately it is ministers who are responsible for all decisions that governments make. That's why I come on the radio to talk to you and answer questions, and am accountable in Parliament. 'The whole media discussion around this about 'who is responsible?' I think is frustrating because frankly I am responsible for what happens in the health and social care areas. Of course I am.' Mr Hancock has faced scathing criticism after he axed PHE. Experts accused the Government of using PHE as a scapegoat. The remains of PHE will be subsumed into the NIHP's single command structure, which will also involve the Joint Biosecurity Centre an agency created in May and ran out of the Cabinet Office. Mr Hancock said the institute, which began work yesterday and reports directly into him, would have a 'single and relentless mission: protecting people from external threats to this country's health like biological weapons, pandemics and infectious diseases of all kinds.' Mr Hancock said that the formation of the NIHP gave the UK 'the best chance of beating this virus and spotting and tackling other external health threats now and in the future.' PHE has been blamed for a litany of errors in the UK's Covid-19 response, including miscounting thousands of virus deaths and failing to ramp up testing capacity quick enough. Local public health directors have also criticised the beleaguered Government agency for refusing to share regional infection data, with one describing the body as 'an obstructive pain in the a**'. It comes as ministers today revealed they will ramp up the size of a major Covid-19 surveillance testing scheme to 150,000 people every fortnight. Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed plans to expand the existing scheme five-fold by October. The swabbing survey, ran by the Office for National Statistics, has been tracking the size of the coronavirus outbreak in the community in England since May. But Mr Hancock said the expansion which will eventually include 400,000 people overall would also cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It comes as he today vowed to bring in population-wide mass coronavirus testing but failed to offer a time frame and referred to the project as a 'moonshot'. The Health Secretary told the BBCs Today programme the government was working as 'fast as we can' on the scheme that is crucial for a further return to normality. Data from the ONS scheme is considered the most accurate way of measuring the virus crisis in Britain because of its size. It is released every week. Figures released last month showing new cases had doubled in July prompted Boris Johnson to 'squeeze the brake pedal' and delay the reopening of lockdown. But the most recent data, released on Friday, dampened growing fears of a second wave and said the outbreak has stabilised again. Around 3,800 people are now catching the coronavirus each day in the community in England, according to the ONS. The figures an estimate based on around 30,000 people are wildly different to ones provided by the Department of Health each day. Government officials announce new confirmed cases every day. But not everyone who gets infected gets tested, meaning they only show a fraction of the truth. It comes after Public Health England announced that 10,000 NHS workers in England had signed up to its immunity study. Scientists are assessing whether people can become immune to the virus or if they can become infected a for a second time, with participants providing regular blood and swab tests. Work is ongoing to recruit participants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Preliminary results from the study are expected before winter. Professor Susan Hopkins from Public Health England said: 'Every day we learn more and more about the impacts of becoming infected with Covid-19, but we don't know if you can get it again, if you can pass it on, or if you develop immunity. We urgently need to find out the answers to these questions as rapidly as possible. 'I can't overstate how grateful we are to the 10,000 NHS doctors, nurses, cleaners and porters who have signed up so far to help improve our knowledge about this new infection.' Around 100,000 people are being tested for coronavirus each day but academics have warned it needs to be scaled-up massively to cope with the coughs and colds that will arise this winter MIAMI Representative Ross Spano narrowly lost his Republican primary on Tuesday, becoming the highest-profile Florida incumbent to lose his seat this year. Mr. Spano, an embattled freshman, lost by two percentage points to Commissioner Scott Franklin of Lakeland in a Republican-leaning district that sprawls across the northeastern Tampa suburbs. Mr. Spano, who had been dogged by investigations into campaign finance violations stemming from his 2018 campaign, becomes the eighth House incumbent five Republicans and three Democrats to lose a primary this year. Last year, Mr. Spano admitted misreporting over $100,000 in contributions that had actually come from friends as personal funds. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairstead, a fully-integrated real estate firm committed to the preservation of affordable housing, is proud to announce that company Social Service Coordinator Franchel Mendoza PMP, LMSW, SIFI, NP has been selected as the national 2020 Service Coordinator of the Year by the American Association of Service Coordinators (AASC). Franchel Mendoza, Fairstead The prestigious award is presented by AASC annually to recognize outstanding efforts made by an individual within the social services profession and affordable housing that go above and beyond the normal hard work and dedication of service coordinators. "Franchel embodies what Fairstead is all about. He is passionate, diligent, empathetic and dedicated to providing people a great place to live regardless of their income," said Will Blodgett, Founding Partner of Fairstead. "He cares deeply and his drive to improve the daily lives of our residents and communities serve as an inspiration to the entire Fairstead team. We congratulate him wholeheartedly on this well-deserved honor." As a Social Services Coordinator and Social Worker, Mendoza has more than 10 years of experience working with low-income communities as an advocate for resident rights and services. He works tirelessly to empower residents and community members, providing resources to bridge the inequality gap in social, emotional, and economical resources. In 2020, Mendoza partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to bring opportunities of employment and education to underrepresented communities. He coordinated educational workshops and hands-on job application stations for Fairstead properties encompassing over 6,000 residents, deeply impressing employees at the U.S. Census Bureau. Mendoza also demonstrated great initiative in working with the New York Police Department's Neighborhood Coordination and Community Affairs unit to further promote community and safety within Fairstead's communities. Mr. Mendoza served as a dedicated resource for residents and as an advocate for their needs and community support to help bridge the historical disconnect between law enforcement and low-income neighborhoods. "I enjoy working in communities of diverse leadership and fast-paced settings, and my time at Fairstead has been marked by interaction with so many individuals dedicated to the betterment of these communities," said Mendoza. "I am especially gratified to work for a company such as Fairstead that puts the betterment of residents' lives at the top of its priority list." Mendoza is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in the State of New York and is certified as a Project Management Professional from the global Project Management Institute. The annual American Association of Service Coordinators' Awards of Excellence recognize individual members, innovative programs at an affordable housing property, and an affordable housing property's teams for outstanding achievement in service coordination and providing services to residents. About Fairstead Fairstead is a vertically integrated real estate investor, developer, owner and operator specializing in affordable and mixed-income housing. Since 2014, Fairstead has acquired and/or developed more than $4 Billion of multifamily property across the country, and today owns a portfolio of 12,000 apartments in 14 states. The company's comprehensive platform provides hands-on expertise across all multifamily disciplines, including acquisitions, development, design and construction, energy and sustainability, property management and social services. For more information, visit www.fairstead.com. CONTACT: GREAT INK 212-741-2977 (Tom Nolan/Eric Gerard) [email protected] SOURCE Fairstead Blake Lane and Five Oaks Rd., 9:04 a.m. Aug. 8. Responding to a call for an assault, police located a man that had been stabbed. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A 27-year-old man was arrested and charged with malicious wounding and assault on law enforcement. Subscriber content preview Rendering by Jackson Main Architecture [enlarge] In this northeast-facing view, the Othellian would replace an old house. The Rex, right, on the corner to the south, isnt listed for sale. A development site at 7350 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. just south of Othello Station, sold in March for $672,500 to California investors. The owner of an old house had previously agreed to sell to a Renton LLC associated with American Dream Home Group. That agreement was terminated with the recent sale, but the new landowners and original developer still appear to be working together on the project. . . . Carl Bildt, one of Europes most experienced diplomats and politicians, has described Armenias democratic transition in 2018 that was devoid of any geopolitical orientation as a much better analogy for Belarus than Ukraines revolutions. Bildt, who was Swedens foreign minister from 2006 to 2014 and prime minister from 1991 to 1994, published an article on the Project Syndicate website on August 18 in which he stressed the appropriateness of the Armenian model for Belarus. With Belarusians taking to the streets in unprecedented numbers and refusing to be cowed by state violence, it is obvious that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has failed in his bid to steal another election and prolong his time in power. By all standards, his days in power are now numbered, Bildt writes. Many commentators are comparing the situation in Belarus to Ukraines Orange and Maidan revolutions in 2004-05 and 2014, respectively. But Belarus is not Ukraine, and nor is it particularly helpful to apply the Maidan model to the scene playing out in Minsk and other Belarusian cities and towns. The 71-year-old former diplomat noted internationally as a mediator in the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s notes that although domestic issues of corruption and mismanagement have undoubtedly played a role in Ukraines post-Cold War political developments, the main determining factor has been the wish to bring the country into the European fold. The Maidan movement was a direct response to then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovichs attempt to abandon the cause of European integration and reform. The revolutionaries openly mobilized under the banner of the European Union. The uprising in Belarus is different. Domestic concerns are clearly playing the more salient role, and questions about the countrys orientation vis-a-vis Europe or Russia are almost totally absent. Belarusians are simply fed up with the 26-year reign of a man who is increasingly out of touch with society. The banner of the revolution is the forbidden white-red-white Belarusian national flag, which is likely soon to become the countrys official flag (as it was in 1918 and 1991-95). Indeed, no other banners have even made an appearance, the former Swedish leader writes. In Belaruss case, I would offer an analogy not to Ukraine, but rather to Armenia in the spring of 2018, when mass demonstrations led to the resignation of longtime President Serzh Sargsyan and inaugurated a new democratic era for the country, he adds. In his comparison between Armenia and Belarus Bildt writes that Armenia, too, has always had a close relationship with Russia, for both historical and strategic reasons and in 2013, the country abstained from joining Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in entering into a Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Agreement with the EU, opting instead to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Bildt notes that during the events of 2018, there were justifiable fears that Russia would intervene in some way in order to forestall another color revolution in a former Soviet republic. But, because Armenias geopolitical orientation wasnt poised to change, the Kremlin seems to have restrained itself, he stresses. In the former Swedish leaders view, under the best of circumstances, the Armenian revolution could provide a template for Belarus. The immediate goal is for a transitional administration to pave the way for a new presidential election under international monitoring. To ensure a smooth process, Belaruss external orientation should be kept off the table. The election and broader struggle must be solely about democracy within the country, and nothing else, Bildt writes. The former Swedish diplomat finds that to create the conditions for the Armenia model, the EU must craft its coming sanctions carefully, targeting only the individuals who are responsible for and involved in the obvious falsification of the election and the ensuing violent crackdown on protesters. Any action that imposes costs on Belarusian society and the economy more broadly would be counterproductive, he warns. Whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept an Armenian-style political transition in Belarus is, of course, an open question. There are bound to be some in his inner circle issuing paranoid warnings about a slippery slope leading to NATO taking over. To head off those calling for a brutal crackdown to prevent any kind of democratic breakthrough, the West will have to be proactive in its diplomacy, making clear that it will support a democratic Belarus that still chooses to have close links to Russia, Bildt writes in his article on the Project Syndicate website. Honoree Linda Sarsour speaks onstage during the 30th Anniversary Celebrating Women Breakfast at Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City, on May 11, 2017. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The New York Women's Foundation ) Biden Condemns Former Womens March Co-chair Linda Sarsour After She Appears at DNC Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned Linda Sarsour Tuesday after she appeared at a Democratic National Convention council meeting. Sarsour, a Muslim activist who has been critical of Israel and accused of anti-semitism, spoke at the DNCs Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly on Tuesday. Sarsour endorsed Biden after he announced Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate Aug. 11. Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said, according to CNNs Jake Tapper. She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever. Biden campaign spokesman @AndrewBatesNC says regarding Sarsour being on this call: Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform. https://t.co/GR4ATJTf0p Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2020 Bates referenced the official Democratic platform, according to Tapper, which says, We oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. Earlier in the day, the Donald Trump campaign tweeted a video of Sarsours appearance at the DNC saying her extreme bigotry is welcomed by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Sarsour is the one who stands with terrorists and bigots, including Louis Farrakhan. Sarsour shared a platform with and praised Rasmea Odeha Palestinian-Arab terrorist responsible for murdering Jewish students; praised an Arab kid holding rocks to throw at Israelis as the definition of courage, and tweeted her support for the intifada the knifing, bombing and shooting campaigns in which Palestinian-Arab terrorists murdered and maimed 12,000 Jews, a Zionist Organization of America statement said in August 2019. Sarsour stepped down from her role as co-chair of the Womens March in September, a position she had held since 2017, due to anti-semitic comments, The Washington Post reported. She has since co-founded MPower Change, a Muslim activist organization, and Until Freedom, an organization for survivors of injustice. By Thomas Catenacci From The Daily Caller News Foundation Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. 'Help! I Work With People': Chad Veach releases new book, says everyone must learn power of influence Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Bestselling author and distinguished pastor of Los Angeles Zoe Church, Chad Veach, says he wants to help everyone tap into their leadership potential. The pastor's new book, Help! I Work With People: Getting Good at Leadership, Influence, and People Skills, was birthed out of something God deposited into his heart a few years ago. "God was speaking to me about writing my first leadership book. ... There's nothing that God loves more than humanity, Veach told The Christian Post in a recent video interview. John 3:16, he said, is the most famous verse in the whole world because it resonates with everyone that God gave His only Son, for the whomsoever's, anyone. I wanted to write a book that was all about people because we really need to turn our heart toward humanity," added Veach, who leads one of the fastest-growing young adult ministries in the United States. "I feel like in this political climate, in this culture that we're in right now, opinions are not going to change people, but the love of God will. The spirit of it (the book) isn't, ugh ... 'Help! I work with people!' It's more like the Apostle Paul; I want to win with people. So I become all things to all people, only so that I can win them over to Jesus, the pastor explained. Veach is a spiritual covering for many high profile celebrities, including award-winning actor Chris Pratt and reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian. The young minister said he's not fazed by criticism that might come from being seen out at events or parties in Hollywood because his leadership is modeled after Christ. One thing we have to always remember about Jesus is that He was highly criticized for who He was associated with, he maintained. I don't think it really swayed Him or discouraged Him. I don't think it really moved His ministry. I think He knew His audience. It's always got to be something that alarms us if we're not being criticized for who we're associated with. "I don't think Jesus was hanging around notorious sinners, famous sinners, worried about being contaminated. He was injecting them with faith, infusing them with love. They weren't contaminating Him. So I think either we're going to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, or we're going to hide out in our Christian kumbaya boxes, Veach maintained. This book is all about saying we love people from all backgrounds, from all ethnicities, no matter what sin cycle they're in. We love who God loves and God loves humans. During times of political and social unrest, Veach said he wants everyone who reads his book to develop the people skills Christ had to help win over a hurting world. "We've got to get really good at using our influence for good. Having leadership and people skills, he stressed. We've got to develop people skills; we can't win with people that don't like us. So in order for you to work with somebody, they got to first like you, so we can't just live off our faith. Thats why they would come around Jesus and they would listen to Him talk. They marveled at His gracious words and His authority. So what was He? He had unbelievable influence and leadership and people skills. Even Pontius Pilate, he didn't follow Jesus, but he was influenced by Jesus. Nicodemus just the same, Veach added. He went on to share some of the people skills listed in Help! I Work With People. I think we've got to really work on our people skills. People skills is asking questions, learning people's names, expressing gratitude, building their confidence, not using them for our confidence. Just practical hacks to great people skills so we can win them and lead them, the 39-year-old father of four shared. Veach further emphasized that for someone to lead anyone, people first have to work out their own personal issues. "Leadership is so easy. It's just so natural if you first learn how to lead yourself. The hardest person to lead is not someone in my family or my company or organization, the hardest person to lead is me, Veach said. You and I are the same. There is always a difference between what we know we should do and what we actually do. He then quoted the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15, which says, The things I want to do, I never do, and the things I hate to do, it's what I always do. "So the hardest person to lead is us. It always starts with me. If I can lead me, leading others is easy. I am the common denominator of all my problems. So I've got to learn how to deal with my insecurity, my wounds, my hurt, my disappointment. And if I can get healthy, then I'll naturally grow, Veach said. The book, he added, begins with helping people work on themselves and then progresses to learning how to influence others. "I think leadership starts with me, and then impacts my one on one relationships, and then impacts the group. I think churches, teams group, we got to learn how to build great morale and great chemistry, and we got to learn how to have conflict and resolution. Every team is going to have conflict. Every family has conflict. How do you bring resolution? he asked. Veach hopes his book is a game-changer and impacts all people, not just Christians. "Leadership, by definition, is influence nothing more, nothing less. So what we're trying to convince every person is that you have influence. You might have influence over the stay at home kids that you're raising and developing. You might have influence over your co-workers. You might have influence over your family, influence on social media, all of us have a measure of influence. So we've got to get good at using our influence for the right things, he insisted. Veach concluded by adding: "I'm broken, you're broken, everybody's broken. And we've got to do our best to bring encouragement and to bring strength and to bring love. Shame will not change people, but the love of God will. And so we've all got to do our part, to use our influence, to point people to the ultimate solution whose name is Jesus. The foreword to Help! I Work With People was written by leadership expert John C. Maxwell. The book was also endorsed by business moguls Ed Bastian of Delta Airlines, Kourtney Kardashian, and DeVon Franklin, among others. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that though the virus is far more prevalent and severe among adults, the incidence of infection in children across the United States is unclear because of a lack of widespread testing. Still, the number and rate of coronavirus cases in children has risen since the spring, according to the CDC. Donald Trump thought he was doing the right thing, posthumously pardoning women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Anthony was arrested in 1872 for voting in Rochester and then convicted in a high-profile trial. She refused to pay a fine, but authorities declined to take any further action against her. Trump's pardon though does a disservice to Anthony, wrote Annalisa Merelli in Quartz "To pardon Anthony is to forgive her of a crime that should never have been one, to imply that the state has moral standing over herwhen it was Anthonys actions, like many other disobediences before and since, that gave the state its own moral standing. " Merelli understands the temptation to erase an unjust crime. "But Anthony's sentence, like John Lewiss for each act of good trouble, or Martin Luther King Jr.s for protesting in Selma, or Sojourner Truths for daring to be Black in Indiana, are a point of pride in their biographies, a testament to great ideals and greater courage. "They are at once the mark of their heroism and an indelible reminder that the law can be unjust, that indeed it was, and challenging it wasand still isa profoundly moral act of democracy," wrote Merelli. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was caught on live feed mouthing an expletive while making a playful joke about 'Shark Week' prior to her appearance at the Democratic National Convention. The comment was not broadcast live but captured during the Monday live feed prior to her speech. 'It's not just shark week. It's shark week,' Whitmer said before mouthing 'mother f****r.' The comment was not broadcast live but captured during the Monday live feed prior to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's speech People in the background can be heard laughing at the governor's joke. 'I have learned about the hot mic,' she added, before eventually giving her remarks at the convention. The clip, posted by Recount, has gone viral since it was initially posted on Monday night. Whitmer spoke on COVID-19, commenting on how workers saved during the recession were working on masks for the pandemic, crediting Biden and Obama Shark Week ended on Sunday Whitmer spent the majority of her time speaking about the pandemic but she also praised former Vice President Joe Biden for his efforts - with President Barack Obama - to save the auto sector with a federal bailout during the Great Recession. The governor credited those workers for making protective equipment for doctors and nurses during the pandemic, Click On Detroit reports. Numerous companies have also started selling items with the Gov's viral quote, according to the Detroit Free Press. Items include t-shirts, candles, and of course, face masks. Shark Week is an annual week of programming on the Discovery Channel devoted to the aquatic predators. This year's Shark Week ended on Sunday. Upholding the right to housing is more urgent than ever as the pandemic has worsened housing crises across the world. When COVID-19 was understood as a global and deadly threat, there was a singular prescription promulgated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments around the world: stay home, wash your hands, and keep a physical distance from others. As former UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and an advocate in the area of housing for decades, the implications of this guidance to me were clear and almost hopeful. If protecting against further spread required a home, a shelter to isolate in, access to sanitation, then, intentionally or not, the WHO was prescribing access to adequate housing. Housing was clearly a requirement for the world to stay safe and effectively address the pandemic. Access to adequate housing would reduce infection rates and ensure that healthcare systems would not be overwhelmed. In other words, home and hospitals have been put forward as equally necessary to preserving life. With this unambiguous position adopted by governments, I was certain we would see the global housing crisis tackled with the urgency that is in fact warranted when a human right is violated en masse. This was not utopian opportunism, but rather a logical deduction based on the global stay at home prescription. I anticipated that governments would move swiftly to eliminate homelessness, not because of a new regard for the dignity of people living in homelessness or recognition of their rights, but because in the face of a virus that spreads exponentially and that causes death, governments know that one person living in the street who is exposed to the virus could put an entire nation at risk. I assumed that in keeping with human rights law, those living in informal settlements (or slums) would finally be provided with access to adequate water, sanitation, isolation facilities and other changes that would be necessary to meet the wash your hands requirement and address other hygiene-related matters. I also imagined that residents of informal settlements would finally be afforded some security, no longer threatened with forced eviction; after all, forced eviction results in homelessness which then increases the risk of the spread of the virus. I was sure that governments would impose adequate protections for those living in rental accommodation and experiencing economic hardship so that no matter their financial position they could remain in their own homes and out of harms way for the duration of the pandemic. I was certain that governments would take the necessary steps to ensure that the ongoing legacy of the 2008 global financial crisis the invasion of residential real estate by institutional investors and the unaffordability of rental housing would not be exacerbated or repeat itself. And I assumed that what would begin as emergency measures would translate into the drafting of longer-term housing strategies aimed at fixing the causes and effects of the housing crisis, again not as a matter of human rights obligations, but on the understanding that pandemics are no longer one-off events, so we must prepare for the future. I thought a renewed sense of urgency around viral outbreaks and public health would ignite bold determination to end homelessness and forced evictions, upgrade informal settlements, increase tenant protections against unaffordability and eviction, and regulate global institutional financial actors that have wreaked havoc on the housing sector since the global financial crisis. Six months into this nightmare, not only has the housing crisis and its effects not been effectively tackled, they may have become more pronounced, while revitalised plans to address the housing crisis have been scant. In Canada, still one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there has been a proliferation of homeless encampments in part as a result of limitations on the numbers of spaces in shelters to ensure conformity with social distancing policies. People living in homelessness also fear COVID-19 outbreaks in shelters and other congregate settings they have been offered, preferring instead the space and safety of pitching a tent in the outdoors. In India, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, forced evictions of Indigenous communities, as well as thousands of people living in informal settlements without provision of alternative housing, have been reported in Gurugram, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, in July alone. In the United States, estimates indicate that approximately 40 percent of renter households are at risk of experiencing rental shortfalls, with 12 million potentially facing eviction within the next four months, particularly once moratoriums on evictions are lifted. Meanwhile, private equity firms and other institutional investors are salivating at the once in a generation opportunity to do what they do best make a profit boasting access to trillions of dry powder for new acquisitions. Without any sign of government restraint, they are eyeing distressed residential real estate assets, including multifamily rental apartments, which can perform well, even in economic hard times. This is not to say that governments have not responded at all with measures to address homelessness and protect residents of informal settlements and tenants. At the onset of the pandemic, the UK government swiftly provided 5,400 street homeless with hotel rooms and other accommodation and have promised the provision of 3,300 long-term housing units with social supports within 12 months. In fact, the use of hotel rooms as emergency accommodation for homeless people was instituted in a number of places, including the US state of California, France, and parts of Canada. Spain, like many other countries, implemented a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic and is also providing microloans to low-income tenants or those who have suffered job loss to assist them in making rental payments. The loans can be repaid over the course of six years. Taking a longer-term view, the government of Costa Rica enshrined the human right to water and sanitation in their constitution in June, explicitly recognising the connection between human rights and the virus. While such measures are not insignificant, a global scan indicates they are far too few. While governments may not be quick to embrace housing as a human right or admit there is a housing crisis that requires a new approach, the devastation wreaked by this pandemic has surely strengthened their resolve to be better protected against any future pandemic threats. If that is the case, ensuring access to adequate, affordable and secure housing is both prevention and prescription. Maybe once governments commit to that, they will be bold enough to call those measures what they are: the implementation of the right to housing. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. A Kansas wife and mother who vanished nearly two weeks ago while en route to Alabama was found dead Tuesday. Marilane Carter, a 36-year-old graduate of Samford Universitys Beeson Divinity School and the wife of an Overland Park pastor, was last seen about 8:15 p.m. Aug. 1, when she left home headed toward Birmingham, according to the Overland Park Police Department. Two weeks of searches by land, air and water ended Tuesday when Carters body was found in West Memphis, Arkansas in Crittenden County. A female was found dead in the vehicle and is believed to be Carter, said her brother-in-law Brady McLaughlin. The vehicle, with what is believed to be Carters remains inside, was found about 11 a.m. inside a shipping container in a field off Interstate 55 in eastern Arkansas. Crittenden County Chief Todd Grooms told television station WMC 5 that Carters vehicle appears to have driven into an empty storage container on private property. Carters purse and credit cards were found inside the vehicle. It wasnt clear, authorities said, how the driver made it onto the property and into the container. Law enforcement said foul play is not suspected. The family asks for your thoughts and prayers right now and in the upcoming days,' McLaughlin said. Carter was married to the Rev. Adam Carter, who is the lead pastor at Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas. He broke the news to the couples children Tuesday afternoon. Hes absolutely devastated,' McLaughlin said. Authorities said Carter on the Saturday she disappeared bought a Southwest Airlines ticket to fly to Birmingham to visit her sister, who was due to soon have a baby, and also to seek treatment for undisclosed mental health issues. Carter took a nap Saturday and when she awoke, she decided to drive to Birmingham instead. That helps give a view into her mindset,' Larsen said. Carter told her husband and then left home about 8:15 p.m. Authorities were able to determine through credit card charges and cell phone data that Carter traveled through Missouri where she stopped at a McDonalds. Then, on Sunday, Aug. 2, she checked in alone to the Quality Inn in West Plains, Missouri at 3:37 a.m. She checked out of the hotel at 6:08 a.m., driving off alone in her 2011 dark gray GMC Acadia with Kansas license plate 194 LFY. Also Sunday, Carter made a stop at a Shell Station in West Memphis, Arkansas, where she fueled up and went inside with her cup to get some ice water. The last pinged GPS location of her cell phone was at 8:02 p.m. later that day near the Arkansas weigh station on Interstate 55 entering Memphis. A law enforcement air unit in Memphis flew for 1 hours on a grid pattern covering a four-mile radius where her cell phone last pinged. Forensic cellular experts are working with the Overland Park Police Department to determine more about her last calls to family and her last location. Police said Carters husband became worried when she did not arrive in Birmingham and filed a missing persons report with Overland Park police at 3 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3. More than a half-dozen law enforcement agencies in at least four states aided in the search for Carter. More: Missing Cumberland County teen left note before leaving home Search for missing Dauphin County teen hits Appalachian Trail, police say Intimate partner violence rose dramatically after COVID-19 lockdown began: study Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine (from 2016 to August, 5 2020) Vasyl Burba believes that "disinformation and speculation" spread in the media under the so-called "Wagner members' case" is an attempt to harm the Ukrainian special services. "I want to state right away, I consider it wrong to comment on any real or alleged actions of the special services by the former head of military intelligence. There is too much obvious misinformation and speculation in the press on the so-called 'Wagner members' case.' In my opinion, all these speculations are aimed solely at an attempt to damage to the reputation of Ukraine's special services," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday. "Surely, our operational services carefully monitored and monitor the systemic enemies of the country. They conduct appropriate documentation of certain actions. Certainly, also that all this is strictly classified information, and it never becomes publicly open. Therefore, build conspiracy theories completely copying them from newspaper 'investigations' invented and implemented by Russian special technologists is unacceptable," Burba said. According to him, "all the more, the versions about the possible participation of the President of Ukraine in any assistance to the "Wagner members" are absolutely absurd speculations. This is impossible neither for moral nor for operational data." When asked to comment on the information disseminated in the media that the operation of the Ukrainian special services to capture the "Wagner members" was frustrated by a leak from the president's entourage, he replied: "There is no such information." "As a serviceman, I have been and remain outside politics. I will say one thing that the people of Ukraine can be proud of the actions of the Ukrainian intelligence service. But not everything in the war depends on us. I respect the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to rotate. At the moment I am on vacation with my family, after which I will serve Ukraine and further in another area of work, by the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," Burba also said. Some 33 PMC members were detained in Minsk, from where, according to them, they were supposed to fly to Turkey. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that their arrival was connected with an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country before the elections. However, a number of Russian media outlets reported that the group's departure was the result of an operation by the Ukrainian special services. On Tuesday, August 18, a number of Ukrainian media reported that the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense were preparing an operation to detain members of the Wagner PMC. According to the media, they were supposed to fly from Minsk to Istanbul, but during the flight one of the passengers had to simulate deterioration in health, as a result of which the plane had to make an emergency landing in Kyiv, where the Wagner members were to be detained. The media claimed that the operation was reported to President Volodymyr Zelensky and Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, after which, as a result of the information leak, the Belarusian special services learned about it. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Democratic National Convention has officially nominated Joe Biden as the party's candidate to take on incumbent president Donald Trump in the November presidential election. In a pre-recorded virtual national party roll-call vote in the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Biden won the required 1,991 delegate votes from across the 50 states and seven territories endorsing him. Two former Democratic presidents - Bill Clinton, 74, and Jimmy Carter, 95 - and the Republican former Secretary of State Colin Powell also spoke in the Convention endorsing Biden. Delivering keynote address on second day's theme 'leadership matters,' Clinton said, 'At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command centre. Instead, it's a storm centre. There's only chaos'. He criticized Trump's 'determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame.' 'The burdens we carry are heavy and we need someone with strong shoulders,' Jill Biden said in an impassioned speech capping off the night. She spoke about the closure of schools and the loss of lives across the country due to the pandemic. 'Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family, and I'll see you on Thursday,' Biden said from a Delaware school accompanied by his family. Later, the former Vice President said on Twitter, 'Tonight made one thing clear: We need to restore real leadership to the White House - and we need to do it now. Chip in to help us make it happen'. Biden is expected to formally accept the nomination in his convention speech Thursday. Biden's running mate Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama and Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton will headline Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The Federal Council Bern, 19.08.2020 - In a landmark decision in the fight against climate change, on 19 August 2020 the Federal Council approved a USD 150 million contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) over the next four years. The GCF helps developing countries implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by funding their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Four years after the establishment of the GCF, the Federal Council has decided to increase Switzerland's contribution for the fund's first replenishment. Having contributed USD 100 million for the 20152019 period, Switzerland will provide the GCF with a total of USD 150 million for 20202023 period. These funds are earmarked in the Dispatch on Switzerland's International Cooperation 20172020. With this contribution, the Federal Council is responding to the urgent need to address the growing challenges posed by climate change at global and national levels. Developing countries are particularly hard hit by the effects of climate change. The GCF has met the conditions set by Switzerland during the replenishment negotiations. The GCF makes a critical contribution to efforts to promote low-emission and climate-resilient development in low-income countries. It is particularly responsive to the needs of countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, such as Mozambique and Bangladesh. The GCF invests in climate-compatible cities, low-emission and climate-resilient agriculture, forest protection, efforts to transform energy generation, access to clean energy sources and other climate protection measures. The GCF thereby helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the livelihoods of people in partner countries and promote sustainable economic development. To date, the GCF has invested in more than 130 projects in over 100 countries. These projects are expected to benefit over 350 million people and permanently reduce global CO2 emissions by around 1.6 billion tonnes. A priority organisation for Swiss international cooperation The GCF is one of the 15 priority organisations for Switzerland's multilateral development cooperation. Combating climate change and its effects is one of the four thematic priorities of the Federal Council's Dispatch on Switzerland's Strategy for International Cooperation 20212024. With this contribution, Switzerland is not only providing financial resources but also expertise and technical solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation in low-income countries. Within the GCF, Switzerland advocates for project activities to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable population groups including women and children and for cooperation with the private sector to be strengthened. Switzerland contributed USD 100 million to the GCF's initial capitalisation for the 20152019 period. Switzerland's support for the GCF is part of its contribution to international climate financing. Switzerland is thus fulfilling its obligation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement to provide climate mitigation funds for low-income countries, and is thereby also contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Address for enquiries For further information: FDFA Communication Tel. +41 58 462 31 53 kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Publisher The Federal Council https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research http://www.wbf.admin.ch Federal Office for the Environment FOEN http://www.bafu.admin.ch/en State Secretariat for Economic Affairs http://www.seco.admin.ch By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/18/2020 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. alum Lauren Burnham has revealed she and husband Arie Luyendyk Jr. have been trying for a second child after experiencing a miscarriage earlier this year."We're actually trying for a baby now, so that's exciting," Lauren, 28, told Us Weekly in a videochat.Lauren discovered she was pregnant in March, but subsequent ultrasounds showed her baby wasn't growing at the expected and normal rate.During a May 28 doctor appointment -- the day before their daughter Alessi's first birthday -- Lauren learned she had suffered a missed miscarriage , the most common miscarriage in which an embryo dies but is not physically miscarried.Lauren and the 38-year-old former racecar driver, who fell in love on 's 22nd season, announced their sad news two days later in a YouTube video.Nearly three months later, Lauren is apparently ready to get pregnant again."This will be our second month [of trying]," Lauren shared with Us."I was always afraid that it wouldn't work. I think that's kind of a valid fear if you've gone through something like that or just a fear of having to go through it again. So that's scary, but you can't really think about the scary things -- you just have to move on."Lauren explained she has come a long way and healed since suffering the devastating miscarriage with Arie."I think now I'm in a place of peace with it. I feel positive about the future," Lauren explained, adding that she decided to be open about her loss to help others going through a similar struggle."When we put our video up about the miscarriage, I did see a huge response from people that were like, 'I share a story very similar to that, you helped me so much so thank you for sharing.' And I don't think it's something that should be taboo and people should be afraid to talk about. So I always try and make an effort to talk about the uncomfortable thing."Arie proposed marriage to Lauren in March 2018 on : After the Final Rose after Season 22 aired on ABC. The couple then moved into their first home together in Phoenix, AZ, in April of that year.The pair announced they were expecting their first child together in November 2018 and revealed two months later they had a baby girl on the way.Arie and Lauren tied the knot at Haiku Mill in Maui, Hawaii in January 2019 and then welcomed Alessi on May 29, 2019.While Lauren admitted she is "honestly scared" about the challenges and responsibilities of raising two young children at once, she's apparently looking forward to expanding her family with Arie."Sometimes I'm like, 'Okay, yes, we can do this. It's going to be great. Alessi needs a playmate.' And then other times, I'm sitting there, like, 'Oh my gosh, how am I ever going to manage doing everything I'm doing now with another baby?'" Lauren said."So I think I just have to jump in head first and see how it goes!"Not only is Lauren hoping to have another child, but she has also been promoting her new fashion line, Shades of Rose, which launches on Tuesday, August 18."I'm very emotional about it. It's just been such a long time in the making and it's finally happening. So it was just kind of surreal," Lauren said, adding that the inspiration behind the collection is female empowerment."The name, Shades of Rose, lends to that. I don't want people to think it has anything to do with , because it doesn't. It's not a flower rose, it's the color rose. For me, that symbolizes femininity and the shades part of that is just, like, embracing every different shade of who you are.""I want people to see the brand as inspiration to embrace themselves, whether they are a different race, different sexuality or have different beliefs. I want it to be all-encompassing," she said.Lauren finished Arie's season of in second place. Arie actually chose Becca Kufrin as his winner and proposed marriage to her during the Final Rose Ceremony, which aired in March 2018.But weeks after getting engaged, Arie decided to dump Becca because he claimed he was still in love with Lauren, and so he begged Lauren for a second chance.After Lauren decided to take Arie back, the couple got engaged live on television and started their life together.Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell went on a whirlwind tour of Australia, 'partying on Sydney Harbour' with the top end of town, visiting friends and kicking back at a beach resort, according to a resurfaced gossip column. The now-disgraced pair's adventure Down Under was detailed in a recently unearthed article buried in the 1995 Christmas Eve edition of The Sun-Herald newspaper. The gossip item, dug up by close followers of the Epstein case, claimed the fabulously wealthy pair had visited Australian friends at the beginning of summer. Well-known Sydney gossip columnist Ros Reines wrote how Maxwell was 'the beautiful, feisty 34-year-old daughter of the late disgraced media baron Robert Maxwell.' American financier Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly jetted into Australia at the beginning of the summer of 1995, according to a previously unnoticed report British socialite Maxwell was well known as the daughter of late newspaper proprietor Robert Maxwell, who drowned at sea near his yacht, which was named after her. Above, she alights the yacht, named The Lady Ghislaine, in 2000 Epstein was described as a businessman 'who is given to zipping around Manhattan in a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit'. 'The couple is on a fleeting visit to Sydney after stepping off in Melbourne,' Reines claimed. The well-known gossip writer said 'they will probably end up spending Christmas on the exclusive Lizard Island,' a luxury Great Barrier Reef retreat. The report's resurfacing led trucking magnate Lindsay Fox to shoot down a rumour that Maxwell and Epstein had plans to attend a boat party he was allegedly hosting. Via a spokesman, Mr Fox told Daily Mail Australia that he had never even met Epstein or Maxwell, or been in the city at the time. 'Indeed, at the time of the 'harbour cruise' in Sydney as suggested by the article, Lindsay's diary records confirm he was in Hawaii celebrating Christmas with family,' the spokesman said. Gossip writer Reines suggested the pair would 'probably' retire to the luxury Lizard Island resort Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox has shot down a rumour that Epstein and Maxwell planned to attend a boat party he was hosting. Mr Fox said, via a spokesman, that he was in Hawaii on holidays at the time of the alleged event - and had never even met the pair Ms Reines said her report had never been queried and that she had not been sued in 18 years. However, she said she 'wasn't on the invite list' for the alleged Harbour bash. The long-time gossip columnist added, of Maxwell: 'She was a social star at the time.' The quarter-of-a-century-old newspaper clipping was unearthed by the Jeffrey Epstein, Prince and the Pervert podcast. The only prominent Australian to be linked to Epstein is Katherine Keating, the daughter of 90s-era prime minister Paul Keating. Video emerged last year of Ms Keating leaving Epstein's Manhattan apartment as Prince Andrew waved goodbye in 2010. Ms Keating, who lives in the United States, once interviewed Maxwell for The Huffington Post in 2014. Key moment: At 4.40pm on December 6, 2010, Keating emerges from Epstein's house, pauses for a moment and turns around to face the door Carefree: The video showed Prince Andrew waving goodbye to Keating, apparently unconcerned that he might be seen at the home of a convicted pedophile Neither she or her father have ever spoken publicly about how became acquainted with the pair. Epstein was awaiting trial on sex crimes charges when he was found dead in his New York prison cell on August 10 last year. He was a convicted paedophile and served a 13-month prison sentence a decade ago. Maxwell was arrested and charged with federal crimes including enticement of minors, sex trafficking, and perjury. She is awaiting trial. A US court this month heard Maxwell is in isolation at a Brooklyn jail, with prosecutors saying that was for her own safety. It comes as DailyMail.com published pictures of former US President Bill Clinton receiving a neck message from one of Epstein's victims during a trip to Africa. Do you know more? Contact this reporter at daniel.piotrowski@mailonline.com A woman carries a puppy in a sling-bag as she walks along Whitehall in central London on May 20, 2020. (TOLGA AKMEN/Getty Images) Sydney Police Bust Online Puppy Scam A man accused of operating a puppy-selling scam online has been arrested in Sydneys west. Detectives from Nepean Police Area Command began investigating reports of a fraudulent online advertisement for purebred puppies last month. Police say that people across Australia including residents in Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT and NSW sent money online after seeing an advertisement for a blue Staffordshire bull terrier puppy posted on two online trading websites. However the longed-for puppy never arrived and the alleged breeder cut contact with them. Investigators and the specialist tactical officers came knocking at a home at Oxley Park on Aug 19 and arrested a 27-year-old man. He has been taken to St Marys Police Station and is expected to be charged with fraud-related offences. Nepean PAC Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Jason Pietruskza, warned people to be cautious when buying online. These scams start by sourcing images of sought-after dog breeds and posting them online for sale; often at a lower price than other breeders, Det Insp Pietruskza said. During the current pandemic, many scammers are also taking advantage of people not being able to travel to meet the puppy in person and charge higher fees to transport the dog interstate. If you think you have been scammed, we urge you to contact your bank or financial institution as soon as possible. Vinnie Ward said he and his family were gutted when they discovered they were never going to get the puppy advertised. We fell in love with this incredibly cute puppy after finding him online and couldnt wait to add him to our family, Ward said. When we discovered this puppy was never real or for sale, it was very heartbreaking. I really encourage people to be safe when purchasing puppies online. Maureen Dettre in Sydney AB Ignitis Grupe, (hereinafter the Company, Ignitis Grupe) identification code 301844044, registered office placed at Zveju str. 14, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total nominal value of issued bonds 900 000 000 EUR; ISIN codes XS1646530565; XS1853999313; XS2177349912. The Company informs that the mandatory buyout of shares of its subsidiary AB Ignitis gamyba (hereinafter GEN) was finished on 17 August 2020. Completed transactions was settled on 19 August 2020, i.e. the second day following the conclusion of the transaction. The Company informs that during the period of the mandatory buyout, which lasted from 18 May 2020 to 17 August 2020, 4 859 782 (four million eight hundred fifty-nine thousand seven hundred and eighty-two) shares of GEN were buyout, which equals to 0.75 % of the authorized capital of GEN. After the mandatory buyout of shares of GEN, Ignitis Grupe owns 98.20% of the shares of GEN, other shareholders own 1.8% or 11 688 245 (eleven million six hundred eighty-eight thousand two hundred and forty-five) of the shares of GEN. At the time of the mandatory buyout of shares of GEN, the Company offered the price agreed with the Bank of Lithuania for the shares, which was the same as that paid during the non-competitive tender offer, i.e. EUR 0.640 per share. Following mandatory buyout, Ignitis Grupe, after having made payments to the deposit account of shareholders who did not sell shares, will apply before the court regarding the transfer of ownership of shares to it. The Company will inform about further actions in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts. At present, a civil case is examining at the Vilnius Regional Court under the claim of one of GEN minority shareholders, requesting the court to determine the fair buyout price which the Company has to pay to him for one registered ordinary GEN share which will be bought out from him and to provide expertise to determine the fair price of GEN share ( link ). Story continues The process of mandatory buyout of shares of another subsidiary, AB Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO) is suspended due to the claim brought before the court (link). The information on the reopening of the buyout will be provided in a separate notice. For more information please visit: https://www.ignitisgrupe.lt/en/delisting. For more information please contact: Arturas Ketlerius Head of Public Relations at Ignitis Group arturas.ketlerius@ignitis.lt Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said on Wednesday he was stepping down after his arrest in a military coup, whose leaders pledged to oversee a transition towards a new elected government. Rebel soldiers arrested Keita on Tuesday after the government faced months of protests over a struggling economy, corruption and an Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. The president and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were taken into custody and driven to a military base on the outskirts of the capital Bamako. Keita announced his resignation and the dissolution of the government and national assembly on ORTM state television shortly after midnight on Wednesday. If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with intervention, do I really have a choice? Keita said, adding he would submit to it, because I dont want any bloodshed. Coup leaders appeared on television hours later with a promise of a reasonable timeline for holding new elections. The rebel officers had decided to take responsibility in front of the people and of history, said Air Force deputy chief of staff Ismael Wague. Malis neighbours warned against any unconstitutional transfer of power. The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), of which Mali is a member, pledged to close land and air borders to Mali and push for sanctions against coup leaders. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for Keita and Cisse to be released. The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting on the coup later on Wednesday. (with AFP) ALTON Tuesday night, concerned advocates will be hosting a Facebook Live event to call out Commercial Liability Partners (CLP) for their lack of transparency and unwillingness to engage in meaningful public dialogue about plans to demolish and redevelop the site of the Wood River coal plant in East Alton, IL. The event will take place over Facebook Live on the Sierra Club Illinois Facebook Page on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. To register for the event, visit https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q0000020T89AAE. This article was originally published in August 2020 The slow unravelling of the once-mighty Pizza Express is almost enough to make me become a republican. Im sure Prince Andrew isnt single-handedly to blame for bringing down the crumbling restaurant empire which is being forced to permanently close 73 more outlets across the UK this month (in fact, the chain says the real reason is the pandemic) but it sure cant have helped that its good name was sullied by his infamous alibi about visiting the Woking branch for Princess Beatrices birthday. He embroiled a national treasure in an international scandal, forever shaking any allegiance I once had to the Royal family. I love Pizza Express. Not with a fiery passion 15 years after my first dalliance, the honeymoon phase is well and truly over but with a warm sense of contentment that means I feel reassured whenever I catch a glimpse of that unnecessarily elaborate logo, all whorls and curlicues encased in a steadfast circle. I have eaten there more times than I can count, more times than I can remember; and yet I have never eaten a bad meal there. Thats always been its secret, the silver bullet that set it apart. Yes, it might be boring, generic, predictable. But flip that notion on its head, and what have you got? Dependable, safe, good quality every single time. The chain took the concept of a fast-food franchise the idea that, no matter where you are in the world, a Big Mac will always taste the same and applied it to a sit-down pizza restaurant. Genius. OK, its not adventurous, but its that rarest and most precious of things: an unerringly pleasant, risk-free dining experience. Its comforting to know the menu off by heart. Its strangely enjoyable to read the entire thing each time, as if theres any real possibility you might order something different from the same two dishes you have eaten there on every single visit for several decades. Of course, you dont but hey, its fun to pretend. Recommended How to make dough balls and Leggara Padana from Pizza Express at home For me, its always been a Padana (goats cheese, mozzarella, caramelised onion, red onion, tomato and garlic oil hold the spinach), alongside an occasional flirtation with the Giardiniera (artichoke, mushrooms, red onion and black olives). For my mother, its even more straightforward: shes been ordering the Veneziana (pine kernels, red onion, capers, black olives, sultanas, mozzarella and tomato) since the early 1980s. (I think she gets a kick out of feeling like a benevolent philanthropist - Pizza Express still, 40 years later, donates 25p to the Venice in Peril fund for every one sold.) I know this about her because, somehow, Pizza Express has become Our Place over the years. With all the insane choice of eateries to pick from in London, whenever she comes to see me she always suggests it no matter how many cool, up-and-coming concepts I proffer up. Theres this new Brazilian barbecue place! I might enthuse, or, We could grab authentic ceviche from this street food truck? My mum smiles and nods, and we somehow end up back watching chefs in black and white-striped T-shirts tossing dough in an open kitchen. Its like witchcraft. After a couple of years, I stopped even trying to dissuade her. Deep down, I had to admit I loved the no surprises factor too. It was nice to switch off for a change, to not have to research and choose and try (and fail) to book the latest must-visit restaurant. It never pulls focus, never overwhelms with trendiness, stuffiness or pomposity, never distracts from the real reason youre there The branch was immaterial as I moved around the capital, we switched locations, but the quality was always hearteningly identical. Wed talk about jobs and flat moves and relationships, always over the same pizzas, the house wine and, at the end, a dolcetti a mini dessert accompanied by a coffee. I cannot tell you how happy this made my mum, a woman who is incapable of eating a whole pudding but always wants a bite of someone elses. Finally, a dessert designed for her sparrow-like appetite. Pizza Express has formed the backdrop to so many occasions over the years pre-wedding lunches, awkward dinners with exes, family get-togethers where its very genericness and familiarity are also its greatest strengths. As comfortable as a favourite old sweatshirt, it never pulls focus, never overwhelms with trendiness, stuffiness or pomposity, never distracts from the real reason youre there: to eat good food and spend time with the people in your life. Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Show all 13 1 /13 Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under, Europe's first underwater restaurant, opened on 20 March. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Located on Norway's southern tip, the unique dining space is submerged in the North Sea. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The dining room is sparsely furnished, dominated by a huge glass window at the back. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The building was designed by Snoehetta, the Norwegian architecture firm behind the September 11 Memorial Museum in New York. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The big window exposes the underwater not like an aquarium, its the real thing, said Snoehettas founder Kjetil Traedal Thorsen. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The exterior, a sloping wood and concrete cuboid that slants into the ocean, has a modern aesthetic, and is accessible via a steel bridge. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant The full 18-course tasting menu with drinks costs up to 3,700 krone (330) per person. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Some 7,000 diners are already booked in for this bucket list experience. REUTERS Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Designers said the building is built to withstand extreme weather, including the wave of the century. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Under is owned by the two Ubostad brothers who also have a nearby hotel. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Co-owner Gaute Ubostad said they expect to attract around 12,000 diners each year. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Theres room for around 40 guests in the underwater dining space. AFP/Getty Images Under: Inside Europe's first underwater restaurant Although doors opened on 20 March to friends and family of the owners, paying guests will gain access from April. AFP/Getty Images It seems like the rest of the world is moving on from the stable, staple family restaurant chain of my youth. Maybe it is too stuck in its ways; maybe coronavirus was the final straw; or maybe its prices just dont make sense in the era of Franco Manca, where you can pick up a sourdough tomato pizza for just 5.20 and a tumbler of wine for under a fiver. But there will always be a special place in my heart for Pizza Express, one of the most satisfying long-term relationships Ive ever had. And Im sure Prince Andrew feels the same way. Hell be delighted to hear that the Woking branch remains open No thanks to him. Its been more than two weeks since a cargo ship in New Orleans spilled millions possibly billions of tiny plastic pellets into the Mississippi River, but state and federal agencies have issued no penalties and are not yet sure whos responsible for the mess or which agency, if any, should clean it up. Meanwhile, the white pellets, commonly called "nurdles," a raw material for producing plastic products, continue to wash up on both banks of the river and will eventually flow out to sea, where they'll likely be eaten by fish and other marine life, said Mark Benfield, an oceanographer and plastic pollution expert at LSU. By the time the agencies get around to determining whos responsible, itll be too late, he said. Itll all be in the Gulf of Mexico. Large quantities of nurdles have washed up in Gretna, Algiers Point, Crescent Park in Bywater and the Chalmette Battlefield in St. Bernard Parish. In a one-square-foot quadrant of Crescent Park, Benfield estimated as many as 49,500 nurdles. On Aug. 2, the cargo ship CMA CGM Bianca broke free from its moorings at the Napoleon Avenue Wharf during a thunderstorm and dropped a large container of nurdles into the river, according to the Port of New Orleans. The nurdles broke out of sacks and dispersed into the water. Port officials determined the nurdles were irretrievable. The 1,100-foot-long ship, which flies under the flag of Malta, had traveled from China and South Korea to deliver goods at Houston and Mobile before arriving in New Orleans. It left a few hours after the spill and is currently bound for Egypt. France-based CMA CGM Group, the ships operator, did not reply to requests for comment. +12 Is coronavirus turning us into litterbugs? LSU scientist wants your help to find out Coronavirus is an invisible problem, but our response to it is creating an increasingly visible one. Littering streets and sidewalks along wit The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident. Coast Guard officials determined that they have no jurisdiction over the nurdles and are not responsible for cleanup. Thats because the nurdles are not considered a hazardous material, like oil or chemical waste, under the Clean Water Act. Coast Guard and state officials investigating the incident have no estimate for how much plastic was released. A typical 40-foot shipping container can hold about 25 tons of nurdles, according to investigators of a similar spill in South Africa. I guarantee you were talking millions if not billions of nurdles in the Mississippi right now, Benfield said. While the Coast Guard pointed to the state Department of Environmental Quality as the lead agency investigating the plastic release, DEQ officials say its not yet clear who should be leading a response. Were aggressively investigating and assessing the spill and trying to figure out whos responsible for it, DEQ spokesman Greg Langley said. The DEQ is consulting with the port, state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to figure out a direction to take. Langley said there is no timeline for determining responsibility for the spill or whether there will be a cleanup effort. This is something different for us, he said. Its not like an oil spill or something from a (chemical) plant. Were looking into how to handle it and if were the correct agency to do it. Environmental news in your inbox Stay up-to-date on the latest on Louisiana's coast and the environment. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up If the nurdles arent considered hazardous, DEQ may bow out. If its considered litter, that wouldnt necessarily be us, Langley said. A nurdles is about the size of a lentil and weighs only about 20 milligrams, but theyre ending up in oceans at a rate of about 230,000 tons per year, according to a 2016 report from environmental economists in the United Kingdom. They fall from ships, are blown from open containers or spill during loading and off-loading. Nurdles may not be toxic on their own, but theyre magnets for bad stuff. Benfield said insecticides and other human-made pollutants readily attach to nurdles and other plastic fragments. At plankton size, these particles are easily mistaken for food by anchovy, menhaden and other small fish. The pollution attached to plastic gets released in the gut and absorbed into the fish. "When a bigger animal eats the smaller animal, it gets passed up the food chain," Benfield said. Last year, Texas environmental regulators fined the Formosa plastics company more than $121,000 for repeatedly failing to stop nurdles from ending up in a creek that flows into the Gulf. The company also agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit filed under the Clean Water Act over the nurdle releases. Louisiana recently approved Formosas plan to build a massive, $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in St. James Parish that would turn natural gas into polyethylene and other materials used to manufacture plastics. Environmental groups blasted the Coast Guard and DEQ for a slow and indecisive response to the nurdle spill. Its the kind of incident that will likely happen more often as Louisianas plastic production grows, said Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a group opposed to the Formosa complex. Our DEQ just approved one of the largest plastic pellet plants, and yet theres no plan when they spill, she said. Theres no response, no recovery of nurdles and no accountability to prevent this from happening again. It struck Rolfes as ironic that the ship was allowed to leave shortly after the spill, while she is facing felony charges for dropping a box of Formosas nurdles on the doorstep of a chemical industry lobbyist late last year as a protest. The incident elicited a response by a police hazardous materials team and Rolfes' arrest by Baton Rouge police in June on a charge of terrorizing. East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said Wednesday that his office has not made any charging decisions in the case. A conviction on the charge of terrorizing is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. They put me in leg irons and I was in jail all day, Rolfes said. But they let the people who spill nurdles all over the Mississippi run free." Airlines COVID-19 Brandon Wilson, owner of AvidJet, disinfects a Frontier airplane with a fogger at Denver International Airport on Tuesday, May 6, 2020. Credit - Aaron OntiverozMediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images Its a very good time to be a domestic jet-setter on a budget. JetBlues fall sale, which took place in early August, featured tickets as low as $20 for trips between New York City and Detroit or Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Alaska Airlines recently offered a buy-one-get-one sale, a deal more familiar to Payless shoe shoppers than air travelers. United Airlines passengers could recently book themselves a round-trip from Newark, N,J. to Ft. Myers, Fla.a major viral hotspotfor as little as $6, before taxes and fees hiked the price to a staggeringwait for it$27. All of this, of course, assumes that youre willing to risk exposure to COVID-19, a virus that has killed more than 170,000 Americans as of this week. These deals exist because of a variety of reasons that have combined to send the U.S. aviation industry into bizarro mode. First and foremost, airlines are hurting badly. Air travel is down about 66%, judging by the number of people who passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints on Aug. 16 compared to the same number from a year prior; the four biggest U.S. airlines lost a combined $10 billion between April and June, the Associated Press reports. Second, many airlines have only survived and avoided mass layoffs because they took pandemic-specific grants and loans from the federal government as part of the CARES Act, passed in March. Airlines that took that money are forbidden from mass layoffs until October; a fall bloodbath is likely. Finally, the airlines that took those loans also agreed to maintain a certain level of service regardless of passenger demand, and carriers figure that if they have to fly some routes anyway, they might as well try to make some money in the process, even if its just $6. (The government has since relaxed at least some of those service requirements.) Story continues Airlines across the U.S. have made a big deal of what theyre doing to keep individual passengers safe while aboard their aircraft. All the major carriers require passengers to wear masks, some arent selling middle seats, and they are cleaning more thoroughly and more often. And at least some experts say its safe for individuals to fly without fear of contracting COVID-19 on an airplane, in part because cabin air is continually refreshed (that said, many epidemiologists say they, personally, dont feel comfortable taking the risk of flying right now). But so far, the U.S. aviation industry has said little about the macro-level threat of people spreading the virus around the country via air travelthe business of offering cheap tickets during a global pandemic is one thing, the ethics are another. COVID-19 came to the U.S. on airplanes, and the global viral picture would surely look different if it werent for modern air travel, which lets a person reach San Francisco or Seattle from Wuhan, China in the blink of an eye relative to, say, a steamship. The chance that any specific individual who boards a plane is sat next to an infected host and contracts the virus is low, says Dr. Robin Thompson, a mathematical epidemiologist at Oxford University who has researched air travels role in viral outbreaks. However, when many individuals travel, the probability that some infections occurand the risk that the virus is transported between countries by any of those individualsis no longer negligible. Similarly, the ability to fly from one corner of the U.S. to another in mere hours is also a public health threat, as travelers can unknowingly bring the virus from hotspots to areas where its more under control, potentially sparking a new outbreak. An Aug. 18 ProPublica report based on anonymized location data found that, of 26,000 smartphones identified on the Las Vegas strip in a four-day period in mid-July, some of those same devices were later spotted in every contiguous U.S. state but Hawaii, underscoring air travels unique capability to spread peopleand thus a contagion like COVID-19around the country at great speed and ease. Its too early to say for sure how air travel is fueling domestic viral spread in the U.S. relative to other methods of transportation. But states near one another tend to have similar COVID-19 situations, meaning the risk of an infected person sparking a new outbreak by driving to a neighboring state is probably much lower than the risk of doing so by that person flying across the country. Meanwhile, while U.S. airlines are offering round-trip flights to viral hotspots for less than the cost of an Uber to the airport, foreign carriers are dramatically reducing service to cities with known outbreaksflights to Auckland, New Zealand, for instance, were scaled back in mid-August after a new outbreak there of fewer than 100 cases. This U.S. government, unlike governments around the world, has basically set it up so that airlines, and most other businesses, are engaged in a free-for-all, says Brian Sumers, senior aviation business editor at Skift, a travel industry news site. Its all about the economy, and nobodys thinking about the social or ethical ramifications of decisions about airline capacity. Absent government requirements to do so, its unreasonable to expect U.S. airlines to trim their service in the interest of public health. They are corporate enterprises beholden to shareholders, and while it makes good business sense for them to focus on individual passenger safety to convince people its safe for them to fly again, theres little incentive for them to care all that much about big-picture public health. The airlines are fighting for their lives, after all, and its important to keep in mind that they support at least 10 million jobs, according to Airlines for America, a trade group. Their businesses have been decimated, theyre just trying to survive, they have all these airplanes, they want to make some money, and if the best way that they can make a little bit of money is to offer $27 round-trip fares to Florida, theyre going to do it, says Sumers. Furthermore, the CARES Acts service requirements were set early in the U.S. outbreak. The viral landscape has changed since then, and, in some cases, airlines are more or less mandated to fly to what have since become viral hotspots. But what is reasonable is for airlines to rethink the wisdom of offering cheap-as-chips flights during a deadly pandemic that shows few signs of ebbing. Moreover, the U.S. aviation industry, which has gotten only limited pandemic guidance from the federal government, needs some kind of safe-travel protocol, says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group. He points to countries like France, which is requiring inbound international passengers to be tested for COVID-19. Of course, mass passenger testing is harder to do for domestic U.S. travelers, given their sheer volume; nearly 800 million people flew within the U.S. in 2018, compared to just over 200 million international passengers. And like so many other problems presented by the pandemic, this one, too, comes back to testingwith delays mounting across the country and results all but useless by the time they arrive, theres simply no way to ensure that everybody getting on board an airplane right now is truly free of the virus. Many U.S. airlines are requiring passengers to self-certify their health, but theres no guarantee people will be honest about their condition. As long as people are not required to prove that theyre in good health before they travel, theres a risk that someone could get on a plane, and perhaps not infect anybody on that plane, but infect somebody at the destination, says Harteveldt. Utilties stocks were trading with gains, with the S&P BSE Utilities index rising 16.33 points or 1.04% at 1586.79 at 09:53 IST. Among the components of the S&P BSE Utilities index, GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd (up 4.84%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (up 4.68%),Tata Power Company Ltd (up 3.6%),GAIL (India) Ltd (up 2.27%),Adani Transmission Ltd (up 2.04%), were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were JSW Energy Ltd (up 1.79%), PTC India Ltd (up 1.77%), Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd (up 1.67%), Torrent Power Ltd (up 1.39%), and Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (up 1.38%). On the other hand, Rattanindia Power Ltd (down 5.41%), Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (down 1.68%), and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (down 0.65%) moved lower. At 09:53 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 156.96 or 0.41% at 38685.28. The Nifty 50 index was up 47.55 points or 0.42% at 11432.9. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 114.58 points or 0.81% at 14268.59. The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was up 41.46 points or 0.86% at 4863.94. On BSE,1397 shares were trading in green, 560 were trading in red and 85 were unchanged. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Protesters held a rally in the town of Shklow in Belarus on Wednesday in support of president Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko last week won his sixth term in office with 80% of votes in an election which has been criticised as rigged. One protester said up to 100 people had been attending these protests each day in support of the president, as thousands of others called for the resignation of Lukashenko in protests in Minsk. About 7,000 people were arrested over several days of protests against the Belarusian president, which police harshly tried to put down with clubs, rubber bullets and flash grenades. Many detainees were later released, complaining of brutality from police while in custody and showing extensive bruises. Elijah Burke has won his High Court challenge against the Minister for Education's decision to exclude him from the Leaving Cert calculated grades process. Here's what it means. Whats the Elijah Burke ruling about? Elijah was a Leaving Cert student who was home-schooled by his mother, who is a teacher. The Department of Education would not accept her word on his level of attainment for the purposes of the calculated-grades process. Up until today, he was being told he would not be awarded grades. As calculated grades replaced the June exams, it meant that Elijah who has applied to NUI Galway would have had no chance of receiving a CAO offer. His only option would have been to sit the postponed Leaving Cert, whenever it is held, and wait for college entry next year. Read More If his mother was a teacher, why was she not acceptable? As a parent, or other close relative, a question arose which related to conflict of interest. The same issue applied to teachers who taught their own children in school, but in those circumstances the deputy principal was allowed to step in. The judge said it was not fair that similar provision was not made for out of school learners. I read that Elijah Burke is an exceptionally bright student. Is that why the judge ruled in his favour? Judge Charles Meenan said his decision had nothing to do with the academic abilities of Elijah or his siblings, and his ruling applies to all students in similar situations. What happens next? Judge Meenan said that Elijah and, by extension, others in the same situation is entitled to calculated grades. He said that non-conflicted or independent teachers ought to be involved, in the place of Elijahs mother, in awarding estimated marks in each of his subjects. So whats the Department of Education saying now? Not much today. The Department said Education Minister Norma Foley and her officials would consider the judgment carefully and provide further comment in the coming days. Are there many like Elijah? The High Court heard there were about 10. Overall, there were 923 students considered out of school learners. These are students who, like Elijah, were entered for the Leaving Cert but who did not attend a school or recognised centre of education. Of these students, 723 planned to sit a single subject, and they would not be in the same boat as Elijah. That left 200 others doing two or more subjects. There was also another cohort of school students studying a subject or subjects outside of school. The Calculated Grades Executive Office (CGEO) worked with schools to see whether it was possible to provide a mark in these cases. So, overall, how many students faced the prospect of not receiving a calculated grade in one or more subjects? Apart from Elijah and others like him, we dont have an exact figure. In many cases, the consequences would not be as serious as it would have been for Elijah. Because of the extraordinary circumstances this year, students who were relying on grades merely to satisfy college entry requirements and for whom the CGEO has been unable to award a grade, will be granted an exemption in the subject(s) for the purpose of college entry. Was it only teachers in a pupils school who were allowed to award estimated marks for the calculated-grades process? No. The CGEO accepted evidence from a grinds school or other tutors once it was deemed credible and satisfactory and from an appropriate source which an estimated percentage mark can be based. Its all a bit of mess. Did the Department of Education not see this coming? At the time they announced that calculated grades were replacing the June exams, then-minister Joe McHugh acknowledged there were legal vulnerabilities. This was one area where they were likely to have known they were exposed. Vistara 's first A321neo aircraft, received by the airline from Airbus last month, will enter commercial operations from Thursday. The aircraft's first flight would be on the Delhi-Chennai route, the full-service carrier said in a statement on Wednesday. "Vistara's Airbus A321neo will operate on domestic routes for a limited period before being deployed on international routes, subject to regulatory approvals," it stated. This A321neo aircraft has a total of 188 seats, 12 in Business class, 24 in Premium Economy class, and 152 in the Economy class. Scheduled international flights continue to remain suspended in the country since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, since July, India has formed separate bilateral air bubble arrangements with countries like the USA, Germany, France, the UAE, the UK and the Maldives for international flight operations. Under a bilateral air bubble pact, airlines of both the countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions. Vistara had on Tuesday said it will operate special flights on the Delhi-London route from August 28 to September 30 as part of the bubble pact signed between India and the UK. The Delhi-London flights would be operated on its newly-inducted B787-9 aircraft. Moreover, the full-service carrier is seeking necessary regulatory approvals to soon operate similar special flights to Paris in France and Frankfurt in Germany. After a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25, albeit in a curtailed manner. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics A Social Democrats councillor has said he "hugely regrets" going on holiday with his family to Spain for a fortnight in breach of the Government's advice on foreign travel. Kildare County Councillor Bill Clear told the Irish Independent that he went to Spain on July 18, where he holidayed in the town of Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. They stayed for two weeks before returning to Ireland on August 1. "We booked this family holiday last year to go to Spain and as we got closer the official guidance wasn't that clear, so we made the decision to go," Mr Clear, a councillor based in Naas, said. "I hugely regret it now." Government advice at the time was that people in Ireland should avoid all non-essential travel abroad and for anyone who went overseas to restrict their movements for 14 days upon return. While Mr Clear, who is a married father of three, and his family were in Spain, the Government published a Green List of countries to which the 14-day rule did not apply. However, it still advised all people in Ireland against holidaying abroad. Mr Clear said that as soon as he and his family returned to Ireland they contacted their GP to arrange to be tested for Covid-19. "As soon as we returned we got all the family tested and they all came back negative, so we followed all the guidelines of restricting our movements in that time," he said. Mr Clear said he and his family were tested on Tuesday, August 4, with the results coming back negative on Thursday, August 6. After testing negative he said he stopped restricting his movements. "I regret it now, but at the time the figures were in single digits and when we were there [in Spain] and as we were travelling, we wore gloves and masks," he said. On the day Mr Clear and his family flew to Spain - July 18 - the Department of Health reported 21 new cases of Covid-19 and two new deaths. A Social Democrats spokesman said the party did not believe the issue was a resigning matter, but that it would have preferred had Mr Clear not travelled abroad. "It was a private decision he made, he made the decision to go in a private capacity, we don't think it would be a resigning matter," the spokesman said. "We would prefer if he hadn't gone on holiday. In hindsight it's a decision he regrets and he wouldn't make it again." While not naming or referring to Mr Clear directly, local Labour councillor Anne Breen, who said she is in the over-70 age bracket, was critical of anyone who has decided to holiday abroad this summer. "Nobody should have gone on holiday, I didn't even go down to my daughter in west Cork. We were to go to Clare Island and I declined to go and I don't mind losing money, because our health is very important," said the Kildare politician, who is also based in the Naas area. "I was a nurse myself and I know the importance of health," she said. "Anybody who considers going out of the country should not be allowed to go out of the country. Everybody who goes out of the country should be penalised, maybe through fines." Mary Hartline, the high-energy platinum-blond entertainer who became one of network televisions earliest stars on the childrens show Super Circus, died on Aug. 12 at her home in Hillsboro, Ill. She was 92. The death was confirmed by the Hough & Sons Funeral Home in Hillsboro. Super Circus, a live Sunday afternoon series on ABC, began in early 1949, when the television industry was still laying its coaxial cables. Ms. Hartline was a striking presence with her long, wavy hair, her majorette-style costumes including her signature uniform, with musical notes on the thigh-high hemline and white tasseled boots. Between the shows death-defying circus acts, she conducted the bands lively musical numbers, performed comedy sketches with the clowns, guided young audience members through contest segments and delivered live commercials. (Everybody did it. The future newsman Mike Wallace, also a cast member, pushed peanut butter.) Ms. Hartline, often called televisions first sex symbol (a lot of fathers, it seems, were watching, alongside their offspring), was a master of promotion. In addition to having her face on Kelloggs cereal boxes, representing Canada Dry beverages and demonstrating the joys of the newest Dixie Cup dispenser, she had her own merchandise line. Thinking back to the last time I accepted a job, I can't recall actually reading any of the material that was sent over. I think I skimmed some docs to make sure the numbers written down matched what I had been told over the phone, but after that it was a blur of digital signing and emailing and precisely no due diligence from myself. Not great, really. I bet that your experience accepting new gigs has been somewhat similar. In startups, jobs are offered with exotic types of pay, chock full of startup stock options in all their 409A and vesting-period glory. Some folks might not really understand what is being offered. Like what the value of their full comp package really is, when performance pay and other sweeteners are stacked on top of base rates. With remote learning in the equation, it's even more confusing. This is the market space that Welcome, a startup that is announcing a $1.4 million fundraise, wants to fix. (Update: Forgot to add the capital sources, which include Ludlow Ventures, the Weekend Fund, Global Founders Capital, both Shrug and Basement, as well as a number of angels.) The company told TechCrunch it is a "first offer management and closing platform." Its service helps provide a clear picture of total comp to candidates, helping them accept or deny an offer that they can fully understand. Here's a screengrab from the candidate's side of the employer-employee divide: Image Credits: Welcome If "offer management and closing" sounds like a small niche to target, it both is and is not. It is, in that if Welcome stayed in its current market-position forever it would have a smaller product target than most startups. But the company has plans to expand its product-set over time. For example, its co-founders Nick Gavronsky and Rick Pereira explained that Welcome wants to offer real-time salary data in the future, based on the information that will flow through its service. Want to close an engineer in North Carolina with a high level of confidence in the offer? Welcome should be able to tell you, later on, what a comp package should look like if you want make sure the candidate will accept. Story continues Gavronsky and Pereira have experience in product and people work, respectively, making their union at Welcome a good fit. The company's team is currently just four folks, though the startup expects that it will double in size this year. The capital it raised in January, but is only talking about now, is making the hiring possible. Now, the $1.4 million number is pretty dated. Normally I'd skip over a round so far from the past, but Welcome caught my eye, as I've recently written about another HR tech provider, Sora, and the Welcome deal felt like an illustrative event: This is how seed rounds are announced, long after the fact, which makes reporting on seed-stage trends really hard. Something to keep in mind. Welcome is barking up a winsome tree with its product, not only because the offer/offer acceptance process is garbage today -- let's email some PDFs and hand a candidate off between departments! -- but because it has seen strong early demand from potential customers. Its service is currently in a private alpha that was a bit oversubscribed, though the company is not yet charging for its service. (Welcome will be a SaaS play, priced on company size, which seems reasonable.) Past all that, what's exciting about Welcome is that if it can get a number of customers aboard when it makes it to beta or launch, the company will have placed itself in a position where it can expand in several directions. It could, for example, extend its feature set to help with pre-onboarding or onboarding itself, given that it already knows a new candidate and their new employer. Of course, the startup wants to talk more about what it's building today, but it's also fun to look ahead. That's enough on Welcome, we'll chatter about them again when they formally launch, or share some neat growth metrics. Until then, good luck getting into the alpha. Kerala CM writes to PM Modi, opposes decision to hand over Trivandrum airport to private bidder India oi-Deepika S Kocchi, Aug 19: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposing the Union Cabinet's approval to hand over Trivandrum International Airport to a private bidder. "In view of the unilateral decision taken by the Government of India without giving credence to the cogent arguments put forward by the State government, it will be difficult for us to offer co-operation to the implementation of the decision, which is against the wishes of the people of the State," Vijayan said in a letter to Modi. "I request your good self to intervene at this stage so that the decision taken now is reconsidered," Vijayan said. He pointed out that the decision was taken "ignoring the repeated requests" of the state government to entrust the management of the airport with the special purpose vehicle (SPV) "in which state government is the major stakeholder". The chief minister said the Civil Aviation Ministry had in 2003 gave an assurance that as and when the induction of a private player was considered, the Centre would factor in the state government's contribution to the development of the airport. Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through public-private partnership (PPP). Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati through the PPP model after a competitive bidding process last February. J&K: 10,000 troops called back | They were mobilised post bifurcation in 2019 | Oneindia News In July 2019, the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal for leasing out the other three airports Ahmedabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow Adani Enterprises. At a press conference on Wednesday, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Cabinet has approved the proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram airports through the PPP model. Currently, the six airports are owned and managed by the government-run Airports Authority of India (AAI). 6 lakh may have been coronavirus-infected in Hyderabad Eight months after the Cabinet approval, Adani Enterprises signed the concessionaire agreement with the AAI on February 14 this year for operation, management and development of airports at Ahmedabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow. In June this year, the AAI gave three more months to the Ahmedabad-based company to take over the management of these three airports due to the COVID-19 situation. This means the deadline for taking over has been pushed from August 12 to November 12. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had on Tuesday said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation would place a proposal for "privatisation" of airports before the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. Peterboroughs crime rate is up by 8.8 per cent in the first half of 2020 compared to half of 2019, according to a new police report, and police say the increase is at least partially an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Insp. John Lyons told the Peterborough Police Services Board at a meeting on Tuesday night that there have been particular increases in neighbour disputes and domestic assaults, for example. The latest crime statistics, reviewed by the board on Tuesday, show 75 domestic assaults reported to police so far this year compared to 67 in the first six months of 2019). Disputes are happening more often because people are at home more in the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyons said, and they are worried about issues such as job losses and lack of money. Theyre irritable and taking it out on those closest to them, which is family and neighbours, Lyons said. The statistics show 2,585 reported crimes in the city between January and the end of June this year. Thats 210 more crimes reported to police in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year when there were 2,375 crimes. The COVID-19 pandemic has meant some people have been released from police custody earlier than they might have been otherwise, and the report to the police board states that this has helped boost the crime rate. The report cites the example of a man arrested in late July on charges of mischief, breaching court conditions and firearm possession, released from police custody and then arrested again twice within 48 hours. The final arrest occurred 22 minutes after the man had been released from police custody, the report states, following a citizens call to police about a heated argument between a woman and a man holding a gun. Police board member Bob Hall said that having a person arrested again within minutes of release from the police station is not a claim to fame he wants for Peterborough. The board voted to send a letter of concern about it to both Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith and to Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef, the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha. Board member Mark Graham said a letter must be sent to point out that it isnt the petty shoplifters that are being released early on bail in the pandemic and getting arrested again. Its the more serious offences, he said. This is not working, in our community. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, is close to winning its first contract to export up to 720,000 tonnes of clean products to Mauritius under an annual deal from November, two sources familiar with the matter said. IOC mostly stays away from participating in term tenders for fuel exports as the refiner sells most of its fuel in the local market, besides supplying its retail outlets in Nepal and Bhutan. This year because of falling local demand due to COVID-19 and weak margins, the company is attempting to lock in sales of its fuels. IOC this year also won its first contract to supply fuels to Bangladesh. IOC will deliver 205,000 tonnes of 95 RON gasoline, 235,000 tonnes of 10 ppm gasoil, 175,000 tonnes of jet fuel and up to 105,000 tonne of marine gasoil at Port Louis in Mauritius, sources said. Other companies that competed for the tender issued by State Trading Corp of Mauritius were the trading arm of France's Total, Sahara Energy Resources Ltd, OQ Trading and Vitol, according to a document seen by Reuters. India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd supplied Mauritius' full requirement for fuel for 12 years to 2018/19. In 2019/20 refined fuels were supplied by Petrochina and Vitol. IOC had placed a second lowest premium on gasoline after OQ Trading but the lowest premiums on other fuels to emerge as the frontrunner for the annual tender, the document showed. IOC has offered to sell fuels at premiums of $50.15 per tonne for gasoline, $3.58 per barrel for gasoil, $3.22 per barrel for jet fuel and $5.91 per barrel for marine gasoil, the document showed. The tender closed last week. The sources did not wish to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. IOC and State Trade Corporation of India did not respond to Reuters email seeking comments. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Scott Franklin, a former Navy pilot and business owner, defeated U.S. Rep. Ross Spano in Floridas Republican congressional primary on Tuesday, amid ethics issues that have dogged the incumbent. The Lakeland City commissioners victory came in a primary where many people voted by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic. As of Tuesday morning, more than 2.2 million people had cast mail-in ballots with more still coming in. That compares to fewer than 1.3 million in the 2016 primary. Unlike 2016, when there were primaries for U.S. Senate that helped drive up turnout, there were no statewide races on the August 2020 ballot. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Spano for alleged campaign finance violations. The House Ethics Committee was looking into allegations that Spano borrowed more than $100,000 from two friends and then loaned the money to his campaign. But it paused the review when the criminal investigation began. Politically, ideologically were pretty close on the issues, but with the ethics and the investigations hanging over him it just really made the seat vulnerable, and that was my concern, Franklin said. This has been a conservative, strong conservative seat, for decades and I was fearful of that seat being flipped in November. The district sits east of Tampa in central Florida and has traditionally voted Republican. Franklin will face Democrat Alan Cohn, a former television journalist who had raised about $600,000 for the race as of July 29. Spano was the eighth incumbent House member to be defeated in party primaries this year. Thats double 2018s total and the most since 1974 to lose in a year when the nations congressional districts hadnt just been redrawn to reflect a new census, which happens every 10 years. In north Florida, Kat Cammack won a crowded GOP primary to replace her former boss, outgoing Republican U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho. The 32-year-old Cammack owns a political consulting firm and previously served as Yohos deputy chief of staff and his former campaign manager. She prominently featured her connection to Yoho during the campaign. Cammack beat a Republican field of 10 candidates in the firmly Republican district that runs from Ocala to just south of Jacksonville. Its a very humbling experience winning a 10-way primary, she said. Its a sign that theres a next generation of conservatives coming up and were ready to start a new squad on Capitol Hill. Florida will also elect a new member of Congress in a strongly GOP district in southwest Florida, where U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney is stepping down after two terms. Nine Republicans faced off in the primary to replace him in a race that was too close to call late Tuesday. In Broward County, Sheriff Gregory Tony claimed victory in the Democratic primary over his predecessor, who was fired after the Parkland massacre. Tony replaced Scott Israel in 2019 after Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed Israel over his handling of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. In a Palm Beach County congressional district, far right conservative Laura Loomer won the Republican primary to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel. The district is firmly Democratic, and Frankel has been a political fixture there for decades. Loomer has been banned from some social media sites, but has a large following and has raised $1.2 million for the race even more than Frankel. While President Donald Trump has raised questions about the potential for fraud in voting by mail, he later walked back his comments, at least as far as Florida was concerned, and requested a mail-in ballot of his own. Catharine Skipp voted by mail for the first time ahead of the primary because she has largely confined herself to home during the pandemic. The 66-year-old Democrat and native Floridian lives in Miami-Dade County, the area hardest hit by the virus. Skipp praised the system, even after elections officials questioned the signature on her ballot. She was given notice that her signature was challenged and given plenty of time to correct it. I was impressed. It felt very secure. Very on top of it, she said. They questioned my signature in an efficient way. And then I got an email that they had received my cure affidavit and everything was cool. Democrats now have the registration edge in Florida, but independents can, as usual, make all the difference. As of June 30, Florida had nearly 4.9 million active Republican voters and more than 5.1 million active Democratic voters. The state has nearly 3.8 million voters who either are not registered with a party or are registered with a minor party. Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee said she contacted the U.S. Postal Service to make sure ballots in the mail would be expedited and election supervisors had taken health precautions to keep others and election workers safe and to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. James Collins, 69, a retiree in Fort Lauderdale, said that because he was a bit apprehensive because of the pandemic, he went to his polling station early in the morning Tuesday, donning vinyl gloves and a face mask. No one was there except the poll workers. It was very quick, Collins said. ____ This story has been updated to correct Loomers first name. It is Laura, not Laurel. ____ AP writers Bobby Caina Calvan in Tallahassee and Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg contributed to this report. AUSTIN, Texas Slamming the Austin City Council for cutting millions of dollars from its police budget, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas proposed legislation on Tuesday that would punish any Texas city that does the same by denying it the power to increase property taxes. Any city that defunds police departments will have its property tax revenue frozen at the current level, Governor Abbott told reporters on Tuesday. Cities that endanger residents by reducing law enforcement should not then be able to turn around and go back and get more property-tax dollars from those same residents whose lives the city just endangered. The move, which the governor announced alongside other top Republican leaders at a news conference in Fort Worth, comes as a number of major cities around the country are overhauling policing and shifting resources and responsibilities away from the police to other city agencies, in response to public protests over police brutality and other abuses. The proposal escalates a continuing showdown between the Republican-led state government and the leaders of some of the states largest cities, most of which lean Democratic. Photo: (Photo : Photo from pexels.com) Police reports disclose that an Indiana woman admitted to abusing her friend's baby. The 20-year-old Indiana woman identified as Amber Nicole Vannatter confessed that she burned her friend's baby girl with a lighter and held the infant against a running treadmill. The baby was brought to the hospital and was released after being treated. READ ALSO: Young Brazillian Mother Dies Due to Coronavirus After Giving Birth To Twins The police investigation According to a report from Fox 59, the investigation on the child abuse case started on August 14. The police received a call last Friday from the Vall Memorial Hospital about a possible child abuse case. Authorities questioned Vannatter, who was the prime suspect. The mother of the baby was also interviewed. The mother's account During the initial investigation, the mother of the baby told the police that the 20-year-old Indiana woman, Vannatter, was taking care of the baby at that time. She added she was at work when that happened. The mom also mentioned that it was Vannatter who brought her baby to her workplace. The baby was bleeding from the mouth when the mom saw her daughter. There were also multiple abrasions on the child's face, torso, and legs. According to police reports, the child also has a broken wrist. She also has burns surrounding her injuries. READ ALSO: Pregnant woman shot to death while pushing 1-year-old daughter in a stroller The Indiana woman's confession When the police heard the mother's account of what happened, authorities tried to locate Vannatter. The Indiana woman was found at the apartment of the baby's mom. She was taken into custody by the Delaware police when the maintenance worker unlocked the apartment's front door. The suspect was booked at about four in the morning last Saturday. Court records obtained by Fox 59 showed that Vannatter had different accounts of how the baby got injured. However, later on, she told the police that because of an argument with her ex-boyfriend, she felt depressed. When the baby cried, she held the baby's face to the running treadmill, and then she used a lighter to burn the infant's neck and arms. READ ALSO: 11-Year-Old Colorado Boy, Zachary Sabin, Dies of Forced Water Intoxication (According to Investigation) The charges against the Indiana woman Authorities have charged Vannatter with three counts of battery and three counts of neglect of a dependent. Specifically, she was charged with neglect of a dependent, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person less than 14, and battery on a person less than 14. The Indiana woman is held under a 60,000-US Dollar bond. There are no prior charges against Vannatter. READ ALSO: 85 babies tested positive with coronavirus in Texas [1 baby died] It has been more than a century since the United States experienced a pandemic that so fundamentally disrupted schooling. There is little research that directly speaks to what happens to learning afterwards. We dont yet know how much ground students will lose because of the pandemic. What does seem certain is that it will be devastatingand that the effects are likely to be long lasting. An estimate from McKinsey and Company suggests that, if schools dont return to in-person schooling until January 2021, students could lose between three and 11 months of learning, depending on the quality of the remote learning. Those losses, it suggests, will be worse for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students. Whats more, studies on learning in the wake of natural disastersprobably the closest parallel to the COVID-19 pandemicshow that the effects can last for years. One study in Pakistan found that, four years after a devastating earthquake, those students closest to the epicenter were a year and a half behind their peers . And in the United States, where students who were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 missed around five weeks of school, academic performance declined sharply in the first academic year following the disaster. But the research also offers some glimmers of hope. The performance of the evacuated New Orleans students significantly improved after about four years, perhaps because many enrolled in better schools in other states after the disaster, indicating that acceleration is possible. Michelle Kaffenberger, a Washington-based research fellow at Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Programme, modeled three approaches to responding to school closures in low-income and middle-income countries. She found that the best results didnt come from pure remediation or business as usual, but rather a mix of tailoring some degree of instruction to the specific content gaps each student possessed , while not forgoing grade-level teaching. That, in essence, sums up the challenge for U.S. districts. And it is a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, research suggests that teaching on grade level is a better approach than pull-out remediation. But its also apparent that expecting more of students who have fallen behind without additional supports can backfire, too. Both California and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district in North Carolina found few benefits for students math learning after ramping up Algebra 1 expectations without providing extra support. With that in mind, Education Week sought consensus on foundational pieces districts should establish before they turn to further interventions. Interviews with more than a dozen experts yielded five core tenets. 1. Prioritize attendance and engagement. Its impossible to accelerate learning if students arent showing up, or if theyre tuning out from coursework. So nearly all successful interventions contain a social-emotional piece that hinges on establishing a trusting relationship between each student and an adult, conveying a sense that every child is special and cared for in some way. The school district in Springfield, Mass., as part of its Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership strategies, has implemented a primary person model : educators are now responsible for checking in on a handful of families multiple times a week, and that individual becomes a touchpoint between the family and the school district. That has been a huge piece of our engagement strategy. If we are having synchronous or asynchronous learning and a students not there, its the primary person who is calling, said Colleen Beaudoin, the co-director of the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership. We had some kids who vanished off the face of the earth because they lost their home, or they moved to Tennessee, or theyre back in Puerto Rico because of their family. Its become the safety net to make sure everyones physically and mentally well. The Phoenix Union high school district in Arizona has instituted a similar system in which every central office staffer has a caseload of students they check in with daily so if some obstaclesay, a lack of Chromebooksis preventing learning, the district can troubleshoot a solution. And the Achievement First charter network has added a new period in its remote-learning schedule: A daily advisory that reserves at least a half-hour a day for flexible teacher and student connections, said Amy DAngelo, a regional superintendent and high school lead for the network of 37 schools. We need space dedicated and prioritized for social connection, for community, for students to be seen and valued and feel known and heard and to connect with other students who know them well, she said. And we have to be even more adaptive based on what that looks like based on student needs. Being flexible first starts with holding the time sacred. As for setting expectations for learning, students experiences during the pandemic should be a starting point for discussions about what they want to accomplish, said James Ellout, the managing director for impact at City Year Jacksonville, a tutoring program that works with students in Jacksonville, Fla. We hear lot from elected officials about what schools should look like and how to factor in safety and learning, but the student voice and ... what they are experiencing is the right framing we all need before we can build relationships and reach them, he said. The moments that tutors have in person [or] in the hybrid space, the relationship-building, has to be a priority. 2. Keep to grade-level content. Too often, remedial programs, pull outs, and potentially even Tier II and III instruction in a response-to-intervention framework yank students away from regular grade-level content, which can lead students into a cycle of perpetually falling behind their classmates. The strongest English/language arts curricula, in particular, are built so that they systematically build students content knowledge , a critical component of reading comprehension. Time away from core classes means missing out on carefully sequenced lessons. The superintendent of the Baltimore City public schools, Sonja Santelises, has drawn a firm line in the sand on this principle, refusing to hold students back in order to remediate. We are not re-doing grade level for large numbers of kids, she said. We are not doing that. One, research shows that it does not work. And two, it is just another way that we brand Black and brown children and low-income children in ways that we dont other children. For districts, the primary challenge to ensuring grade-level access for all students before turning to remediation is the cultural belief among some educators that they should meet students where they are in part by introducing some lower-level content. Its an idea that permeates some reading programs (just-right books) and is implicitly a theme in the work of frequently taught theorists in teaching programs (the zone of proximal development). In fact, the best evidence suggests that a both-and approach is the best one: Interventions should meet kids where they are, but not at the expense of access to challenging, grade-level curriculum. They should be timely and respond to specific learning gaps, but not replace core learning. Perhaps the best parallel comes from higher education in whats called the co-requisite model . Faced with a lot of evidence that remedial classes end up serving as a roadblock to degree completion, an increasing number of community colleges and four-year institutions now offer targeted assistance courses that students take alongside their regular credit-bearing courses. 3. Adopt a core curriculum; be wary of online supplements. With districts potentially needing to adapt their teaching models as health outcomes change, coordination will be key. Establishing a set of interventions efficiently among schools using vastly different curricula might prove to be impossible. Emily Freitag, the CEO of Instruction Partners, who works with districts on their COVID-19 teaching plans, says one of the core recommendations she gives to districts is to select high-quality instructional materials now, rather than allowing for a piecemeal, school-by-school approacheven if it means speeding up the adoption cycle. Generally speaking, she said, its best to give teachers and curriculum specialists a long time to review the options and weigh strengths and weaknesses. But these are exceptional times. In many places theyre doing it without an involved collaborative process, because they know having a backbone to instruction is honestly the only way to make these multiple schedules and scenarios work, Freitag said. Nobody would normally say that flipping the switch and going to a new curriculum now is a good option. But when youre weighing it against scenarios like having half of your kids at home, or having four times as many substitute teachers, you have to choose the least bad one. Many districts asynchronous lesson plans, meanwhile, rely on students using online tutoring apps, games, and curriculamany purporting to adapt to students learning levelsto practice specific skills or content. With few exceptions, research on specific programs is sparse. The most promising approach seems to be intelligent tutoring systems, which generally are defined as self-paced computer programs that walk students through a lesson, assign practice tasks, and adapt to student need via prompts, questions, and feedback. But several meta-analyses on these systems conducted in the mid-2010s come to very different conclusions about effectiveness, with some finding large benefits and others no net gain in learning. The conflicting studies probably reflect different definitions of what counts as intelligent tutoring; differences in treatment and control conditions; and even the tests used to gauge student learning. As a rule of thumb, said Ken Koedinger, a professor of computer science at Carnegie-Mellon University, online programs are typically better at helping students practice procedural, one-step tasks rather than more complex problems. Still, he noted, cognitive science on learning does point to certain techniques that can be built into online programs . For example, research shows that requiring students to explain the steps they take to solve problems can help students better master and recall new material. And mixing different kinds of problems over several lessons is more effective in helping them retain the information than drilling them on just one at a time. Feedback and guidance are also key. One thing we know for sure is that to learn to do anything substantial and reach a reasonable level of expertise, you have to do it a lot with feedback and support, he said. Providing deliberate practice or some sort of feedback with practice is something technology can do at scale and with a certain level of safety. If districts want to supplement instruction with such programs, they should look for those that prioritize practice, student feedback, and ideally, produce useful information that a teacher, tutor, or parent can build on during other instruction. 4. Preserve core teaching time. It may seem obvious, but with face-to-face time with a teacher in short supply, as its almost certain to be in U.S. classrooms in 2020-21, every second counts. Districts should do everything possible not to interrupt teachers when they are teaching in-person lessons. One study in Providence, R.I., found that classroom interruptions added up to around 10 to 20 days of lost instructional time per year . (Tardy students were the most frequent interruption, followed by visits by other teachers, school staff, or administrators.) While this is not a silver bullet, I think it presents one of the frankly few organizational practices that are relatively easy to implement and near-costless that we can use to meaningfully recoup lost learning time, said Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University, who conducted the research. The same principle should go for online teaching, too. Some of the most popular tutoring interventions, like the nonprofit City Year, plan to adjust their work in the fall to avoid taking away in-person learning time with core teachers. We are thinking about and honoring the fact that if we are in a hybrid model, teachers are going to really covet that time with their students, said Stephanie Wu, the chief impact officer for City Years national organization. Tutors might be able to assist with the online learning by facilitating chats or discussions or extending teachers lessons, she said. 5. Make a hybrid schedule work for students. Hybrid schedules make use of both in-person and remote learning, often through an A/B or morning/afternoon cycle that rotates. Many districts that have created these schedules have one extra day in a week when no students are scheduled to be in class. In addition to deep cleaning and other health measures, that day could be used to provide services to those students most in need of face-to-face engagement: students in transition years like the 9th grade, English-learners, students with disabilities , or students who are struggling academically for some reason. Before it ultimately decided to give all families a choice between in-person and remote teaching, the Clarksville-Montgomery County school district in Tennessee proposed a hybrid model that would have prioritized its 2,500 1st graders for in-person teaching. The thinking was to give them the most face-to-face contact for learning phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency, said Millard L. House II, the districts superintendent. If youre going to stay ahead of the curve in later grades, 1st grade is the most integral grade in terms of reading mechanics, he said. We have to have them in front of highly qualified teachers. Baltimores schools will begin with full remote learning. But if conditions allow, it will move to an optional hybrid model, and the district will allow struggling studentsthose who have not engaged fully in the virtual space, English-learners, and students with individualized education plansto return first. It may also prioritize kindergarten, 1st grade, and the transition years of 6th and 9th grade. Cyberpolice bust scheme of money-laundering through cryptocurrencies 09:00, 19.08.20 2257 Members of the criminal group are facing up to eight years in prison. Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to being a center of excellence in healthcare and providing high-quality, safe, and effective products to meet the regional need JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the KSA emerging generic pharmaceuticals market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Saudi Arabia-headquartered Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals with the 2020 KSA Company of the Year Award for its operational excellence and expanded product portfolio and footprint. The company leads the KSA market by adopting sustainable business models and clear growth strategies. Implementing best practices, such as the corporate governance and setting up their own R&D center, recruiting qualified staff, strictly adhering to regulatory systems, and ensuring scalability, the company has established itself as the pharma partner of choice in the KSA. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1229967/Jamjoom_Award.jpg "Despite a particularly challenging 2019, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals recorded 4% year-on-year growth and maintained its position as one of the top-ranked pharma companies in the KSA," said Dr. Suhasini, Associate Director - Transformational Health. "Right from the start, it focused on building a world-class manufacturing facility. Its building design, layout, selection, and installation of equipment; plant validation; and other technical processes met the most stringent international industry standards. Owing to its strategic diversification of specialty product lines and accelerating growth in export markets, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals has been able to expand its manufacturing facilities and grow organically." Jamjoom Pharma is aiming to continue its journey of success, by continuously re-investing in cutting edge, state-of-the-art technologies, systems, people and facilities, to meet world-class quality standards and continue to produce products that meet and exceed the international standards. This is in line with its vision to become 'A top-3 regional, research-driven branded generic pharmaceutical company. In addition, it works in line with the KSA Government's Vision 2030 to achieve excellence in local manufacturing and provide the best in class, top of the range of of medicines. Jamjoom Pharma's product portfolio is broadly classified into Dermatologicals, Ophthalmics, Gastrointestinal tract (GIT), Cardiovascular drugs (CVD), General Medicine (GM), and OTC product lines. Among these, the Ophthalmic and Dermatological lines have the highest market share and have historically been its most successful product lines. Furthermore, to gain market share rapidly, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals entered new markets with a successful, scientifically-supported methodology. It adopted a rationalized strategy to create customer demand by constantly developing high quality, superior formulations for normal wellbeing, whether Pharmaceuticals or Nutraceutical supplements, and combining it with intensive medical promotion. Besides raising the efficiency of the field force, the company also focused on expanding its product range, to cope with changing market dynamics. One of the projects Jamjoom is particularly proud of is represented by the Jamjoom Pharma Academy, a state-of-the-art educational and training center with full access to Jamjoom Pharmaceutical's R&D and quality control labs equipped with the latest manufacturing equipment and analytical techniques. This project is expected to be functional by the end of 2020. "Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals has one of the largest qualified team of sales representatives in Saudi Arabia. This enables it to cover many doctors and hospitals," noted Dr. Suhasini. "Overall, the company's employee-friendly work culture, commitment to creating a strong brand image, participation and active involvement in KSA's Vision 2030, and emphasis on localization are expected to further accelerate its growth over the next two to three years." Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. About Frost & Sullivan For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, mega trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Tarini Singh P: +91-20 6718 9725 E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com About Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Jamjoom is a GMP manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical products, over the counter medicines and health-related consumer products. It is considered one the fastest-growing company over the last decade; its core strategy is specialty line concept which enables Jamjoom Pharma to have a leading position in segments like Dermatology, Ophthalmology, GIT, and CVS. Contact: H.Vilcu P: + 966126140099 E: bdev@jamjoompharma.com The international recognition received by Korean celebrities somehow led them to be endorsers of luxury brands. No doubt, these actresses are the certified commercial queens of South Korea. Whatever brand they endorsed earn a hefty amount of money and following. These certified CF stars and cover girls's fortune and fame are surely one that many rising and rookie actresses aim for. Not only do they exude beauty but also elegance. No wonder, they are seen endorsing luxurious brands like Chanel, Chaumet, Piaget and many more. With millions of followers worldwide, they surely are Korea's top influencers when it comes to make-ups, accessories, and all other sorts of fashion styles. Jun Ji-hyun The sassiest girl of them all gets the crown as the highest-paid actress. An estimate of USD 84,000.00 per episode is surely a large sum, and yes, you would surely agree that she is the ultimate CF star as well. To date, she is the first Korean ambassador of the luxury brand Alexander McQueen. She was chosen as she suits the brand's slogan, "McQueen's woman is independent, strong, confident, and influential." Song Hye-kyo Not only is she the brand ambassador of Asia-Pacific by heritage jeweler Chaumet, a high-end jeweler based in Paris founded in 1780, but she also gets paid an estimated USD 42,000.00 per episode. Additionally, she starred in the recent spring fashion film called La Donna Che Amiamo by Bottega Veneta, Italian luxury goods and high fashion brand founded in 1966. Kim Tae-hee JM Solution, Cledor, and La Cloud are among the Korean brands Kim is currently endorsing from skincare to wellness drinks, ice cream, and bed mattresses. She made a name to herself and has been getting an estimate of USD 34,000.00 per episode, even if she had been on hiatus in the small screen for five long years. Gong Hyo-jin The 56th Baeksang Arts Awards grand prize winner When the Camellia Blooms lead actress is the latest brand ambassador in Asia-Pacific of Piaget is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweler founded in 1874. She reportedly became a part of the brand's new features. Not only that, but she is also one of Burberry's favorite endorser, and we often see her showcasing the brand mostly in magazines and events. The actress is reportedly getting approximately USD 33,400.00 per episode. Shin Min-a Roger Vivier's luxury creations include shoes, bags, and accessories, and the actress had recently posted for the brand. With her pretty face, no wonder she has also been selected as the ambassador of Chanel Beauty. Ceragem Korea, Michael, The North Face, and Cartier are among her long list of endorsements. The actress gets to be paid USD 25,000.00 per episode. Park Shin-hye Since 2014, Park has been the face of the beauty and skincare brand Mamonde as she illuminates a youthful and glowing beauty, and many have praised her for that. Her brilliant acting led her into getting up to USD 17,000.00 per episode. And many may have noticed she is usually seen wearing Valentino along with its accessories. Son Ye-jin Son has been the face for many beauty and skincare products as her beauty is ageless and timeless, not minding that she is nearing forties. Neuramis, Vanav, and Manyo are among the skincare brands she represents. Not to mention she and Hyun Bin are the newest brand ambassadors of a Philippine owned telecom company, Smart Communications. Way back in 2006, Son was already earning an estimated amount of USD 23,000.00. Just do the Math and try to guess how much is she getting paid knowing that her latest drama "Crash Landing On You" is a worldwide hit. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 17:29:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Somalia and the United Nations on Wednesday called for the protection of humanitarian workers who provide life-saving assistance to vulnerable children, women and men in the Horn of African nation. During the first half of 2020, 11 aid workers were killed, 11 others wounded and 23 kidnapped, including seven who were kidnapped and murdered in a single incident, the government and the UN said in a joint statement issued to mark the World Humanitarian Day. The World Humanitarian Day this year has come at a critical time when the triple threat of COVID-19, floods and desert locusts has aggravated the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, said Adam Abdelmoula, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Horn of Africa country. About 5.2 million people would need assistance and protection in 2020, and the situation is worsening, Abdelmoula said. "Without sustained assistance, 3.5 million people will fail to meet their minimum food needs by September," he warned. "In addition, we must shift the paradigm to sustainable solutions that help build resilience and lift people out of poverty." According to the UN, the operating environment in Somalia is particularly challenging for humanitarian workers due to widespread insecurity and poor infrastructure, which hampers the delivery of assistance to those in need. It said access constraints surged during the first half of 2020, with 141 incidents reported against humanitarian operations by the end of July, compared to 151 in all of 2019. Hamza Said Hamza, minister for humanitarian affairs and disaster management, lauded the role played by Somali humanitarian workers who form the backbone of the humanitarian operation in the country. "I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Somali aid workers, for their continued and unwavering service to humanity in one of the world's most dangerous operating environments," Hamza said. The Somali government and the UN said the triple threat has exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities in Somalia, disrupted positive gains in socio-economic activities including farming and business, affected livelihoods especially for low-income earners and poor families, and strained the health care system. The UN said 279 humanitarian organizations that are implementing programs in all 18 regions of Somalia have scaled up their activities to meet increased needs. Since March, Somalia has reported 3,250 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 2,268 recoveries and 93 deaths. The floods have affected nearly 200,000 people since late June in Hirshabelle, South West and Jubaland states, as well as Banadir region, forcing about 124,200 people to flee from their homes and damaging large acreage of farmland, said the UN. According to the UN, desert locusts have devoured thousands of hectares of crops and pasture in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug. Enditem Two cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Zion Chapel School, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Coffee County Schools to three. The school system was notified on Aug. 15 that an elementary student tested positive and on Aug. 18 that a high school student had tested positive for COVID-19, an illness caused by the new coronavirus that led to the ongoing global pandemic. Coffee County Schools Superintendent Kevin Killingsworth outlined the districts response in a press release issued through the Coffee County Emergency Management Agency. In each instance, administrators and the school nurse contacted teachers and the parents and guardians of students who had been in close proximity to the students who tested positive. Those students and teachers are now in quarantine. Killingsworth stated that the Alabama Department of Public Health was notified of each case by the systems lead nurse. The superintendent stated that the school system hopes to get further guidance from the state health department within the next few days and will keep employees and families informed of any changes to protocol. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 19:02 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f319a0 1 Business gaming,gaming-companies,gaming-industry,Asosiasi-Game-Indonesia-AGI Free Poor digital infrastructure and a lack of human capital are hampering gaming industry growth in Indonesia despite opportunities to expand during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Game Industry Association (AGI) has said. The AGIs chairman Cipto Adiguno said on Wednesday that the gaming and digital industry had the potential to outpace other economic sectors as they were less impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the lack of infrastructure made it hard for the industry to seize the opportunity. According to the AGIs calculation, companies that develop gaming products, referred to as the intellectual property (IP) subsector, have seen their revenue increase by more than 50 percent since the pandemic hit Indonesia in early March. We have opportunities right now, as our businesses are not as impacted as other industries. However, we dont have sufficient infrastructure and our talent is not trained for this market, Cipto said during an online webinar held by the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry. Market tracker SuperData reported that spending on digital video games globally hit a record high of US$10 billion in March since the COVID-19 pandemic. It also noted that spending rose 15 percent on mobile games mostly smartphone games to reach $5.7 billion in March. Similarly, mobile market analytics AppsFlyer noted that more people were making in-app purchases for online games in Indonesia during the pandemic. Despite significant revenue growth in the IP subsector, Cipto said companies who designed games to be used for companies marketing and product showcasing, dubbed the gamification subsector, had seen a significant decline by up to 75 percent as exhibitions and events are called off amid the pandemic. As there are currently no events being held, customers are deferring their payments, which affects companies cash flow. We can say that the financial damage in this subsector is pretty high, he said. According to a survey conducted by the AGI of Indonesian gaming companies in March, some 30 percent of respondents said they lost Rp 101 million (US$ 6,926) to 300 million in profits because of the pandemic while 10 percent reported losses of Rp 25 million to 50 million. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministrys movie, television and animation director, Syaifulloh, acknowledged that the creative and digital sector were not ready to fully transform their business models and adapt to the changes that have been wrought by the pandemic. When COVID-19 hit the industry, the companies still needed time and funds to adjust their operations, he said during the online webinar. While the pandemic has inflicted revenue declines on parts of the gaming industry, it has also reduced the disadvantages of the gaming industry in Southeast Asia in regard to product marketing, Philippines Game Developers Association (GDAP) chairman Alvin Juban said. With gaming conventions going online because of the pandemic, Alvin said developers did not have to spend a huge amount on traveling abroad and exhibiting their products, thus reducing the gap between large gaming corporation and small-scale developers. Reaching clients through online platforms has become very effective. This is where we have to invest our resources if we want to expand our businesses and generate more investment from people around the world, he said. DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NexBank Capital, Inc., a Dallas-based financial services company, today announced that it has been assigned investment grade ratings by Egan-Jones Ratings Company. Egan-Jones assigned a rating of A- to the company's 5.50% senior unsecured notes due March 2026 and a rating of BBB+ to its 6.375% subordinated unsecured notes due September 2027. Egan-Jones also assigned an A- rating to the company. About NexBank Capital, Inc. NexBank Capital, Inc. is a financial services company, with assets of $8.9 billion, that serves its clients through three core businesses: Institutional Banking, Commercial Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company provides customized financial and banking services primarily to institutional clients, financial institutions and corporations nationwide. www.NexBank.com NexBank | Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender SOURCE NexBank Capital, Inc. Related Links https://www.NexBank.com LINCOLN Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Wednesday that all registered voters in Nebraska will get applications for mail-in ballots this fall. Some counties, including Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy, Adams and Phelps, already were planning to send applications to their residents. The announcement means all other voters will get an application from the state, as was done for the May primary election. Evnen urged people to return the applications promptly. Even if they voted by mail in the primary, voters need to request another mail-in ballot for the general election. For voters who have concerns about voting at the polls in November, an early ballot request for a mail-in ballot is a good option, he said. Anyone who wishes to vote early should request their ballot as soon as possible. Nebraska law requires absentee ballots to be received by the end of Election Day postmarks are irrelevant. To meet that deadline, Evnen urged people to pay attention to key dates. Answering reporters questions on August 17 regarding the case, Le Thi Thu Hang further said Vietnam demanded the Malaysian side to investigate the serious case, in which two Vietnams fishing ships and the remaining fishermen are detained by the Malaysian with the accusation of illegally fishing in Malaysias sea, seriously deal with the guilty and offer humane treatment to the Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen. Hang said that according to initial information from the Malaysian side, a clash happened on August 16 between Malaysian marine law enforcement forces and two Vietnamese fishing ships in the waters off Malaysias Kelantan state, killing a Vietnamese fisherman. The Foreign Ministry has directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to continue working with Malaysian authorities and ask them for more details of the case, while organising consular meetings with the fishermen and taking protection measures for the dead. At the same time, the ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies at home to identify the victim, gathering more information to deal with violations, implementing citizen protection measures and ensuring the legitimate rights and interest of Vietnamese fishermen, stated Hang. Paybito crypto exchange supports INR Introducing INR as one of the base currencies was a logical move as it simplified the trading activities for the users. Since we are the only ones offering INR support, the response from traders from the get-go has been remarkable. Leading global cryptocurrency exchange PayBito has been recognized as the only trading platform in India to support INR deposit and withdrawal, making trading easy and accessible to the users in the region. Based in the USA, PayBito is one of the first global exchanges to launch trading operations in India, after the countrys apex judiciary body Supreme Court lifted the two-year ban on cryptocurrency trading. It is the first and only among other exchanges operating in the region to offer INR support. Still an emerging crypto market, India has displayed great potential to become one of the frontrunners in the mass adoption of digital assets. Post ban lift, the region has been buzzing with crypto trading activities and we are optimistic about the growth of the crypto industry here. Introducing INR as one of the base currencies was a logical move as it simplified the trading activities for the users. Since we are the only ones offering INR support, the response from traders from the get-go has been remarkable, commented Raj Chowdhury, Managing Director of Paybito. PayBito has a host of contributing features that makes it one of the top exchanges in the world. Owing to its global reach and extensive crypto portfolio paired with advanced trading tools and security protocols, PayBito is known to offer the best prices and experiences consistent surges in trading volume. Its seamless connectivity with other global crypto exchanges ensures a high liquidity volume of trading pairs. Along with INR the exchange supports all major fiat currencies and enables easy on/off ramp transaction of the same. About PayBito: PayBito is a leading cryptocurrency asset trading platform operating globally. The platform is designed and managed by a team with rich experience in Banking security systems, Cryptocurrency trading, and Blockchain technology. It is available in the web version as well as in iOS and Android stores. PayBito services include white label cryptocurrency exchange, white-label payment gateway, exchange affiliate, and coin listing. PayBito offers some of the best rates and top-notch security in the crypto world. On Wednesday, August 19, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario issued an update in regard to the strangles situation at Emerald Isle Training Centre and Leamington Raceway. In its release, the AGCO announced that horses stabled at Leamington Raceway are allowed to race and qualify as of this Friday (August 21). The contents of the AGCO release on the matter appear below. Update on Strangles - Leamington Raceway stabled horses allowed to Race and Qualify as of this Friday August 21, 2020 On August 7, 2020, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) was informed of a confirmed case of strangles in a five-year-old Standardbred gelding in the Greater Hamilton area at the Emerald Isle Training Centre. There have been four positives to date at the facility, including one Friday August 14, 2020. The AGCO visited Leamington Raceway on August 14 for continued discussions and assessment. An isolation area for sick or suspected cases was identified. The AGCO has actively worked with Leamington Raceway officials to control the outbreak. Testing of horses in close contact with the index case at Leamington have all been negative. There have been no reports of sick horses from Leamington. It has been 13 days since the horse that tested positive left the grounds. As a result, in consultation with infectious disease expert Dr. Scott Weese of the University of Guelph, a decision has been made that horses on the grounds will be allowed to race and qualify on Friday August 21, 2020 unless any sick horses are reported. Trainers shall continue to monitor and record temperatures twice daily. To review: Strangles is a highly contagious and serious infection of horses and other equines caused by the bacterium, Streptococcus equi. On August 12, 2020, the AGCO was informed of a sick three-year-old Standardbred filly that was on the same trailer as the index case. This horse was stabled at Leamington Raceway between August 1 and August 6, 2020, before being moved to the owners farm where the horse subsequently was confirmed as having strangles. The AGCO Informed Leamington Raceway, trainers of horses stabled at Leamington and trainers that purchased or claimed horses stabled at Leamington since August 1, 2020 about possible exposure. Recommended that their horses be monitored closely for signs of the disease such as fever, and nasal discharge. The AGCO also recommended that increased biosecurity measures be taken by the industry, particularly those with horses that may have been exposed. Temperatures should be taken at least twice daily and recorded. Testing of exposed or sick horses for Strangles may be warranted. Trainers have been advised to take temperatures prior to shipping to any racetrack paddock. The AGCO has provided the industry with additional resources on the disease. The AGCO is continuing to work with Dr. Weese. It is important that horsepeople report contagious diseases and take appropriate measures to protect their horses and those of others. Horsepeople are reminded to remain vigilant and institute appropriate biosecurity measures and should consult their veterinarians for advice. The AGCO will continue to monitor the situation and any further developments will be reported. Mise a jour sur le cas de gourme Les chevaux de lhippodrome Leamington Raceway sont autorises a courir et a se qualifier a partir de ce vendredi 21 aout 2020 Le 7 aout 2020, la Commission des alcools et des jeux de lOntario (CAJO) a ete informee dun cas confirme de gourme chez un hongre standardbred de 5 ans dans la region du Grand Hamilton, au centre dentrainement Emerald Isle. A ce jour, 4 cas ont ete confirmes au centre, dont un le vendredi 14 aout 2020. La CAJO a visite lhippodrome de Leamington le 14 aout pour poursuivre les discussions et levaluation. Une zone disolement pour les cas malades ou suspects a ete creee. La CAJO a travaille activement avec les responsables de lhippodrome Leamington Raceway pour controler lepidemie. Les tests effectues a Leamington sur les chevaux en contact etroit avec le cas index ont tous ete negatifs. Aucun cheval malade na ete signale a Leamington. Cela fait 12 jours que le cheval teste positif a quitte les lieux. En consequence, en consultation avec le Dr Scott Weese, expert en maladies infectieuses de l'Universite de Guelph, il a ete decide que les chevaux sur le terrain seront autorises a courir et a se qualifier le vendredi 21 aout 2020, a moins que des chevaux malades ne soient signales. Les entraineurs continueront a surveiller et a enregistrer les temperatures deux fois par jour. Revue des faits : La gourme est une infection tres contagieuse et grave des chevaux et autres equides, causee par la bacterie Streptococcus equi. Le 12 aout 2020, la CAJO a ete informe de lexistence dune pouliche standardbred malade de 3 ans qui se trouvait sur la meme remorque que le cas index. Ce cheval a ete mis a lhippodrome Leamington Raceway entre le 1er et le 6 aout 2020, avant detre transfere dans la ferme du proprietaire ou il a ete confirme par la suite que le cheval etait atteint de gourme. La CAJO a informe lhippodrome Leamington Raceway, les entraineurs de chevaux eleves a Leamington et les entraineurs qui ont achete ou reclame des chevaux eleves a Leamington depuis le 1er aout 2020 dune possible exposition. Ils ont recommande que leurs chevaux soient surveilles de pres pour detecter les signes de la maladie tels que la fievre et lecoulement nasal. La CAJO a egalement recommande que des mesures de biosecurite accrues soient prises par lindustrie, en particulier celles concernant les chevaux qui pourraient avoir ete exposes. Les temperatures doivent etre prises au moins deux fois par jour et enregistrees. Des tests de depistage de la gourme chez les chevaux exposes ou malades peuvent etre justifies. Il a ete conseille aux entraineurs de prendre la temperature avant de se rendre dans les paddocks des hippodromes. La CAJO a fourni a lindustrie des ressources supplementaires sur la maladie. La CAJO continue de travailler avec le Dr Weese. Il est important que les eleveurs de chevaux signalent les maladies contagieuses et prennent les mesures appropriees pour proteger leurs chevaux et ceux des autres. Il est rappele aux professionnels du cheval de rester vigilants et de mettre en place des mesures de biosecurite appropriees, et de consulter leurs veterinaires pour obtenir des conseils. La CAJO suivra la situation et tout nouveau developpement sera signale. NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a second pulse survey by KPMG LLP (KPMG), the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, 79 percent of U.S. workers from organizations with more than 1,000 employees indicate that over the last four months, the quality of their work has improved, 70 percent say that their productivity has increased, and 67 percent indicate their work-life balance has improved. Eighty-four percent are also satisfied with their employer's response to the pandemic. "American workers have demonstrated remarkable resiliency under the pressures of COVID-19 and against the backdrop of events signifying racial inequality," according to Lisa Massman, KPMG's Human Capital Advisory leader. "Now, organizations must design a new model of work for tomorrow, by presenting new approaches for teams to effectively work from home, leveraging technology and innovative ways to increase collaboration, and fostering an environment of inclusion and belonging - to build a more loyal, productive and sustainable workforce." Remote workers express high levels of satisfaction and engagement According to 91 percent of workers who work remotely at least part of the time, technologies have been provided to help them successfully do their job, and more than half of those remote workers (55%) want the flexibility to continue working remotely at least part of the time. Additionally, three-quarters or more of remote workers indicated that their organization made them feel valued over the past four months (78 percent); desire to stay at their current organization increased (78 percent); and commitment to their organizations increased (77 percent). However, one-third (34 percent) of those workers indicated that their relationships with co-workers have worsened. "Companies worldwide enabled remote workforces nearly overnight, and what started as an extraordinary pilot is now considered permanent in many organizations' operating models," said Joe Parente, KPMG's Consulting leader. "As a result, there should be a new focus on improving employee connectivity, better understanding what drives positive worker experiences and overall, reshaping and rethinking how work gets done." Workers indicate struggling with job demands and mental health Eighty-three percent of on-site workers reported that the demands of their jobs have increased over the past four months, compared to 74 percent of remote workers, and 54 percent of on-site workers indicated that their mental health has decreased, compared to 45 percent of remote workers. While many workers report improved experiences, the survey uncovered that there is more to be done to support them, with the overall respondent pool indicating that the following has worsened: happiness at work (41 percent), culture (35 percent), and their team's ability to collaborate (35 percent). "Job demands may be influencing the quality of employees' mental health as they struggle to keep up with expectations of them at work and at home, and other factors that have come up in this new reality," added Massman. "Employers that address these head on, such as offering them support resources and acknowledging their value to the organization, will in turn create opportunities for productivity and collaboration." Companies need to do more to address racial inequality in the workplace Eighty-one percent of workers whose employers issued a response to social and political events surrounding racial inequality expressed satisfaction with it. Survey respondents also indicated that they are encouraged to stand up for what is right (76 percent) and that their employer has a clear plan to address workplace inequality (71 percent). Still, from a list of eight actions organizations might have taken, only two emerged as being taken by more than a third of respondents: making a commitment to address racial inequality (37 percent), and encouraging conversation surrounding racial inequality (34 percent). Fifty-one percent believe organizational leaders are part of the diversity and inclusion problem. "Promoting - and living - diversity and inclusion isn't just the right thing for businesses to do, it's the smart thing. It provides companies with greater access to a diverse range of thinking and contribute to higher levels of employee engagement," said Massman. "Employers need to embed commitment to and accountability for diversity and inclusion across the enterprise, including crafting a sustainable, long-term strategy for equitable access to employment and promotion opportunities for a diverse community of people." About the survey In July 2020, KPMG conducted a second pulse survey of 2,500 workers in the U.S. The findings in this release reflect a subset of the 2,500 workers, focusing on 1,407 of those workers at organizations with 1,000+ employees. The survey gauged how employees were adjusting four months into the COVID-19 pandemic and how their organizations are responding to social and political events. The sample included a diverse mix of full-time and part-time workers from a variety of industries and across management levels. To see the full results, please visit https://advisory.kpmg.us/articles/2020/american-worker-survey-summer-2020.html . About KPMG LLP KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's independent member firms have 219,000 professionals working in 147 countries and territories. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us. SOURCE KPMG LLP Related Links kpmg.com File photo showing a Marks and Spencer logo seen on an advertisement outside a store in London on May 23, 2018. (Reuters/Toby Melville) Britains M&S Plans to Cut 7,000 Jobs in Latest Blow to Retail Sector Retailer Marks & Spencer will cut a further 7,000 jobs, the company said on Tuesday, as the CCP virus crisis deals another blow to Britains beleaguered retail sector. The jobs to go are in UK stores and within regional management, and will be cut over the next three months. The clothing and home trading divisions in the companys stores remained weak last year, though online and home delivery sectors were strong, said the retailer, which has a UK workforce of about 78,000. It is clear that there has been a material shift in trade and whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-COVID sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change, M&S said in a statement. Reinvention The 136-year-old M&S is seeking to reinvent itself after decades of failed attempts. In May, the company said the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis would indelibly change its business. M&S said in a statement then that it would accelerate its turnaround plan for a more agile business in a world that will never be the same again following the virus crisis that had made the previous years progress look like ancient history. Pedestrians walk past a Marks & Spencers store on Oxford Street in London on April 12, 2001. (Sion Touhig/Newsmakers) M&S said the virus crisis had shown that the company could work more flexibly and productively with more employees multitasking and switching between the food and clothing, and home divisions. Sales had varied, across outlets, however, with traditional legacy stores in town centers and shopping centers being hit hard by low footfall and social distancing during the pandemic, it said. Though some newer out-of-town outlets had not done as badly, reduced social gatherings and workplace closures during the lockdown period had affected dressing habits, triggering an unforeseen substantial shift in clothing sales from formal wear and office dressing to leisure and casual wear, it said. Sales promotions were able to shift some surplus stock, and the company will hibernate other stock for sale next year, it said. M&S said it was on track to launch an online food service next month through its partnership with online supermarket Ocado, which will include the launch of 500 new in-store products from its increased online range. The companys increased use of technology to improve supply chain effectiveness, along with a new national food distribution warehouse in Milton Keynes, is also expected to assist profitability. Last month, M&S shed 950 store management jobs affecting roles in central support areas and in property and store management. The cuts add to thousands of job losses already announced by other major British retailers, including Boots, John Lewis, Dixons Carphone, and WH Smith. Union Criticism The new cuts have met with criticism from trade unions. Usdaw, the trade union of shop, distributive, and allied workers, in an online petition statement called for M&S to engage in urgent talks to help save jobs and restructure more responsibly. The online petition, directed at M&S Chief Executive Steve Rowe, says staff have been kept in the dark over the impending restructuring, which is set to see the closure of 100 stores by 2022. Usdaw said workers did not know how long they would have their jobs and cited this as a cruel way to treat a loyal workforce who had contributed over the years to brand image by delivering the hallmark high customer service standards M&S is known for. M&S says it expects a significant proportion of its cuts to be made through voluntary redundancies and early retirement, however, and plans an extensive program of communication with colleagues over the cuts, it said. We are committed to supporting colleagues through this time, Rowe said in a statement. M&S said that at the same time as the planned cuts it expected to create some new jobs by expanding its online services and investing in the new Milton Keynes warehouse. These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs, Rowe said. Sales and Shares Down M&S share prices and sales have been severely affected by the CCP virus pandemic. Shares were down 2.8 percent at 9:18 a.m. BST on Tuesday, extending 2020 losses to almost 50 percent. Group sales across divisions were down nearly 20 percent year-on-year in the 19 weeks to Aug. 8, which included part of Britains lockdown period, whilst clothing and home sales were down almost 50 percent. In the eight weeks since stores reopened, clothing and home sales were down by almost a third. Overall store sales were down almost 50 percent, while online sales were up almost 40 percent. M&S food stores, however, which traded throughout the lockdown period, saw sales increase by 2.5 percent in the latest eight weeks. The firm said it was retaining a cautious approach to planning for the rest of the year. Reuters contributed to this report Ministero dell'Istruzione e Comitato tecnico scientifico al lavoro per la ripartenza delle scuole a settembre. I temi all'attenzione sono diversi, ma i principali riguardano l'uso della mascherina in classe nel caso di mancanza di spazi adeguati a garantire il distanziamento, i trasporti e il protocollo da attuare se ci fosse un ammalato Covid in un istituto scolastico. Nell'attesa che arrivi il documento ufficiale preparato da Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Inail e ministeri, l'orientamento del Comitato Tecnico Scientifico (Cts), come anticipato dal coordinatore Agostino Miozzo, e per un uso esteso delle mascherine a scuola. "Questa malattia ha imposto tre pilastri - spiega Miozzo - : il distanziamento, l'uso della mascherina e l'igiene. Sono indiscutibili e saranno validi per il mondo scolastico". "Sopra i sei anni - ha quindi aggiunto - sara richiesto, in Italia come in altri Paesi, che ci imponiamo l'uso della mascherina e il distanziamento. Poi ci saranno condizioni particolari, come l'uso se c'e un ragazzo non udente in classe, l'interrogazione, momenti del contesto locale che saranno valutati. L'indicazione pero sara: utilizziamo la mascherina perche e un importante strumento contro il virus". Quanto a eventuali casi positivi nelle scuole, "se si dovesse verificare non vorra dire chiudere le scuole - spiega - ma vorra dire esaminare il contesto di volta in volta e, se necessario, mettere in quarantena una classe o l'intera scuola. Sara comunque discusso di volta in volta con le autorita sanitarie locali". A tornare, poi, sara la figura del medico scolastico, "una figura assolutamente necessaria: ricostituire questa figura storica puo essere un aspetto positivo", ha concluso Miozzo. SCREENING AI DOCENTI - Nel frattempo, sono gia due milioni i test sierologici consegnati alle Regioni per la somministrazione ad insegnanti e personale non docente di tutte le scuole, in vista dell'inizio del nuovo anno scolastico. Lo screening partira dal 24 agosto. NUOVI BANCHI - Comincera invece il 7 o l'8 settembre la distribuzione dei primi banchi monoposto agli istituti che ne hanno fatto richiesta nelle varie regioni, per esigenze di spazi, in vista dell'inizio dell'anno scolastico. La distribuzione dei nuovi banchi, prodotti dalle imprese che hanno vinto il bando indetto dal Commissario per l'Emergenza, e prevista fino a tutto il mese di ottobre. Previste sanzioni per le imprese vincitrici del bando sulla produzione di nuovi banchi che non rispetteranno le scadenze. Riproduzione riservata (Unioneonline/v.l.) PHOENIX Singing, dancing, socializing, sharing food the elements that make powwows an essential part of preserving Indigenous culture are the same ones that make them a coronavirus risk. Native communities throughout the country have canceled the traditional gatherings indefinitely as a result. But Tiny Rosales, a member of the Ojibwe tribe, has found a way to to keep the people dancing. In March, Rosales created a space on Facebook allowing families, schools and businesses to host virtual Native dance competitions from afar. Four months later, Quarantine Dance Specials 2020 has more than 71,000 members and hundreds of video submissions from Indigenous dancers in Canada and the United States. Some (Native) people are having a hard time right now as the pandemic continues to spur cancellations and limit gatherings, Rosales said. These specials are not a powwow but it does feel good to be able to get dressed and put our outfits on and dance. Founder: Dance a source of joy, healing Rosales described dancing as a way of life for Indigenous communities. Native performers employ various styles to tell stories, relay messages, promote healing and celebrate milestones. We dance for the ones who cant dance we dance for the sick, we dance for the elderly, we dance for our ancestors, she said. It really helps us with our mental health, our physical health. And other people get joy off of our dancing. Getting ready for a performance is no small feat, however. Powwow dancers can spend hours practicing and preparing their attire. Participants in virtual dance specials devote comparable time and effort to their performances. But instead of dancing in front of a crowd, they film and upload videos by a judging deadline, using the hashtag of the event in which theyd like to compete. Competitions range in size and nature, as sponsors include everyone from families celebrating birthdays to businesses offering cash and other prizes. Prospective hosts contact Rosales with competition ideas and any rules or requirements and frequently serve as judges later. Academic institutions, such as the American Indian Cultural Center of San Francisco and California Indian Nations College, also have hosted various specials. CINC got involved after COVID-19 forced officials to cancel the schools scheduled graduation events, for instance. It was difficult to provide a traditional honoring ceremony for our students, spokeswoman Faith Morreo said. We felt this would be a special way to honor them and the Class of 2020. School officials also wanted to uplift the Native community at large during this time of suffering, she said, and recognize the perseverance of Indigenous people who adapt to keep their culture alive. It makes all of us proud to know we can be innovative as we find ways to continue our educational mission, keep our cultures thriving, maintain a positive outlook and provide a way for everyone to gather virtually, Morreo said. We are sharing hope, good dancing, good singing and overall good feelings to keep our spirits up during this time. Theres meaning behind everything we do Natha Little Crow, an Otoe-Missouria dancer who won a different graduation special sponsored by a Lakota Sioux family, described competing virtually as a really meaningful experience both for herself and the broader Native community. Im keeping the culture alive and reminding people what it was like to have these gatherings and why we have them, she said of her decision to participate. Juaquin Hamilton-YoungBird, cultural ambassador for the Sac and Fox Nation and emcee for the Facebook group, similarly said the virtual space had allowed him and other Indigenous people to stay connected during months of isolation. When COVID-19 first began to spread across the U.S., he said, it was devastating not knowing whether the pandemic would strip his tribe of its annual gatherings. We were all planning our spring powwows, our summer powwows, said Hamilton-YoungBird, part of the Native dancing and music arena for 42 years. Everybody was holding on to their hope that nothing would get canceled. Though the virtual competition format was something new for all of us, he said, it allowed Native dancers to preserve their traditions. Hamilton-YoungBirds knowledge of various styles of music and dance his band was nominated for a Grammy for Best Native American Music Album in 2002 prompted families from throughout Indian Country to ask him to announce the winners for their virtual specials, he said. Theres meaning behind everything we do and everything that we wear, he said. Hamilton-YoungBird commended the groups ability to provide non-Natives a window into Indigenous culture, even if visitors dont quite understand all of those meanings. In some ways, the page has taken the place of the powwows tribal communities had occasionally opened to non-Native attendees prior to the pandemic. The group also has drawn attention to struggles faced by tribal nations during the pandemic, according to Rosales, its founder. Some dancers have chosen to spotlight especially hard-hit Native communities in their video posts. I think thats really a good thing, because theres so many different people on the Quarantine Dance Specials page from all different walks of life, Rosales said. A lot of people dont even know we exist. This story is made possible through a partnership between the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University, with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation. For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. Protesters take part in a rally against the proposed Hong Kong extradition bill, in Vancouver on Aug. 17, 2019. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) Hong Kong Democracy Activists Being Harassed in Canada, Report Finds Supporters of pro-Hong Kong democracy rallies in Canada faced harassment and threats from pro-Beijing groups last August, a new report says. Organizers and participants of the Global Solidarity with Hong Kong and Stand with Hong Kong, Power to the People rally held in August last year were met with threats, intimidation, and relentless harassment from pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and individuals, says the report from Alliance Canada Hong Kong. The pro-democracy group collected evidence of similar incidents from across Canada and around the world which they say point to an international effort from pro-Beijing forces. It is becoming clear that these are not one-offs. The similarities in tactics across all the counter protests, the ability to command opposition voices in a moments time, the threats, intimidation and relentless harassment from pro-Beijing forces to silence opposing voices are all a worrying trend of the growing PRC control and influence in Canada, the report says. For instance, pro-Hong Kong supporters in Calgary, Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg faced off with nearly equal numbers of pro-Beijing counter-protesters at rallies on Aug. 17, 2019. In every city, the counter-protesters message was nearly identical: Stop Lying and One China slogans and signs appeared alongside large new-looking Chinese flags. The pro-Beijing protesters taunted the democracy activists with threats and insults. The quick counter-response by pro-CCP supporterswithin a three-to five-day period after the Hong Kong rallies were announcedsuggest an orchestrated effort by an external force, the report explains. After posting and promoting the events between Aug. 13 and Aug. 16, organizers also noticed an increase in pro-CCP social media activity in all major cities that targeted the event and community groups. In addition, pro-Beijing supporters used surveillance equipment to capture images of their opponents at the ralliessimilar to surveillance tactics employed by CCP agents who try to capture images to later identify using facial recognition processes. They then posted the photos online or doxxed Hong Kong supporters, according to the Alliance Canada Hong Kong report. Similar incidents have been documented for years. In October 2014, when critics of the Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes (CI) protested a proposed CI contract with the Toronto Public School Board, pro-Beijing supporters came out to support the party line. They assembled and rallied noisily, waving Chinese flags and hurling insults like You are a damn traitor to China at the protesters. The counter-demonstrations dont seem to have happened spontaneously; three days earlier, the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations had hosted a farewell banquet for a departing Chinese diplomat where locals were explicitly urged to come out in support of the CI. On Aug. 29, 2018, at the opening ceremony of a gathering of returned overseas Chinese in Beijing, Chinese nationals were urged to remember the call from the Party, spread Chinas voice, and safeguard national interests. According to Clive Hamilton, author of the bestselling book Silent Invasion, the Chinese Communist Party has built a complex network of agencies tasked with exerting influence abroad, often carried out through its United Front Work Department. The United Front has far-reaching tentacles that aim to target every aspect of society, from business and cultural organizations, to educational institutions and politics. It works to influence the choices, direction, and loyalties of its targets by overcoming negative perceptions and promoting favourable perceptions of CCP rule in China. The United Front tries to suppress groups in other countries targeted by Beijing, including democracy activists, Taiwan supporters, and Falun Dafa adherents, among others. Pattern of Harassment Harassment of China human rights defenders in Canada has been ramping up in recent years, according to a report from Amnesty International released last year. The main targets for harassment are members of five groups or entities that the CCP singles out the most for repression and persecution: Taiwan, Tibetans, Uighurs Muslims, Falun Gong adherents, and pro-democracy movements, said the report. Human rights defenders active with these groups in Canada have experienced a growing pattern of abuse, including threats, intimidation, and interference against individual activists and communities in Canada. In addition, Beijing-backed Chinese actors appear to have become emboldened in their efforts to deter human rights activists in Canada by the inadequate response from Canadian officials over many years, the report said. The daily new cases of COVID-19 and deaths due to the disease have shown a declining trend since August 13, the Health Ministry said on August 18 but warned against any laxity, underlining that a five-day span was very short in the context of a pandemic. Addressing a press briefing, Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Rajesh Bhushan said in spite of a sustained level of 7-8 lakh coronavirus tests a day, the positivity rate has come down from 10.03 percent in the first week of July to 7.72 percent over the last seven days. Asked to comment over media reports about a deadlier strain of coronavirus found in Malaysia and whether there was an India link with this mutation, Member NITI Aayog, Dr VK Paul said, "We have also seen the reports. At this moment, we have nothing to convey but we have made a note of it." Some media reports have claimed that a deadlier new mutation of the virus has been found in Malaysia in a cluster of 45 cases that started from someone who returned from India. Bhushan, in his remarks, said, "The daily new cases from August 13 are down from over 64,000 to 55,079 now. There is a declining trend. But five days are a very short span in the context of a pandemic and there is no room for laxity on precautionary measures, containment, testing and surveillance". He further said, "Absolute deaths (per day) have also declined from 1,007 on August 13 to 876 on August 17. These two parameters do give us some satisfaction but there is no reason for us to slacken our guard". 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 Paul said the progressive increase in the recovery rate and decrease in mortality rate is "reassuring" and are "positive signals" indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic is under check. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic "Also, the number of COVID-19 testing per day has gone up to 9 lakh per day which is remarkable. Testing is the key for disease containment and reducing mortality and improving outcome," he said. Stating that it has come to notice that some people are becoming lax over maintaining social distancing norms, hand hygiene and wearing masks, Paul warned that it may result in losing the gains that have been made so far. On the dip in daily new cases over the past five days, Paul said though the weekly update of COVID-19 situation looks reassuring, the challenge is not yet over. Also read | Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine may be the first shot available for Indians "There is quite a big susceptible population in the country, so the virus still has the chance to harm us," he said. On the vaccine front, Paul, who chairs the national expert group on vaccine administration for COVID-19, referred to the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech that three vaccines are being developed in India and are in different stages of human trials. "One of them will enter phase 3 trial today or tomorrow. The other two are in phase 1 and 2 trials. We have reviewed the vaccine candidates and there is a good progress happening," he said. An outline for the supply chain of the vaccine and how it would be made available is ready, Paul said. As and when required, detailed and micro-level planning for vaccine administration based on a scientific approach according to the characteristics of the vaccine will be adopted, he said. Giving information about Monday's meeting of the committee, Paul said they held discussions with vaccine manufacturers to know about the facilitations they are expecting from the government. In reply to a media query, he also said, We requested the vaccine manufacturers to indicate what possible prices could be. Pricing is very complex as some of these vaccines are at an early stage. We have some insights into what the price range could be, but this is an information that will be refined as we move along". Also read | How COVID-19 smell, taste loss differs from common cold decoded Individual vaccine manufacturers have been requested to provide more clear-cut data on their individual production capacities, how their capacities would pan out with time and encouraging them very actively to ramp up capacity with facilitations, he said. "India has huge potential and capacity in vaccine manufacturing," Paul asserted. He said the development of a vaccine is a scientific process and underlined that it cannot be guaranteed that any vaccine candidate entering trials will emerge successfully. On possible health complications in patients who have recovered, Paul said post-COVID sub-acute morbidities like respiratory symptoms, immunological reactions among children, fibrosis in lungs etc., are a new dimension that is coming to fore and the scientific and medical communities are monitoring it. "We will have to be aware that there may be some impact later too. We will use the treatment modalities available with us as and when required to deal with these cases. It is happening to an extent, but not at a dangerously alarming level," Paul said. On why on-demand testing is not being implemented for those willing to pay for it, Paul said the government would review the guidelines for testing. Asked if the government is reviewing the use of tocilizumab as investigational therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, Paul said for all the drugs and interventions that are part of the national clinical treatment protocol for COVID-19, the decision to include them was based on the scientific evidence available on that day. Some treatments were not included because on that day the evidence was not in favour, he said, adding that it was a dynamic process. Bhushan also informed that the export of personal protection equipment overalls is subject to quantitative restrictions, whereas the export of ventilators is not being subjected to any such restrictions. Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here This Black borrower has an outrageous story about his mortgage refinance. When the coronavirus struck the U.S. in early spring, and the stock market went into freefall, mortgage rates began to plummet as well. Thousands of homeowners rushed in to refinance their loans, getting much-needed savings on their monthly payments. Akili Akridge, a Black homeowner in Maryland, saw all the flurry over low rates in April, so he decided to jump in too. The rate on his 30-year fixed mortgage at the time was 4.125%, well above the market rate of just over 3%. "I'm watching the news and keeping track, and I'm talking to friends who are refinancing, and they're saying that they got in the low threes," said Akridge. "I said of course, this would be a great thing for us to do. Why not?" Akridge bought the townhome with his partner, Melissa, just over two years ago. She is White. The mortgage was in her name. Since she recently started her own business, which makes the mortgage process generally more complicated, they figured it would be easier for Akridge to refinance the loan on his own. Akridge had all the necessary financial credentials: He had been working at his company for more than two years, where he said he earned a six-figure salary. He also said he had about an 800 FICO credit score, and that he and Melissa had close to 20% equity in the home, more than enough to refinance. Akili Akridge in front of his Maryland townhome Diana Olick | CNBC So he went to an online mortgage marketplace and filled out all of his financial information. Then the calls began coming in. All the lender agents asked his race, but they all said he was not required to disclose it. He told the first lender he was Black. "So, the gentleman came back and advised, you know, turns out we're not interested in townhomes, right now. He just said it's an industry standard right now," Akridge said. "And I'm looking at my better half and kind of questioned, is this accurate? But, I let it go because, you know, maybe that's just something that he did." He also disclosed his race to the second lender who called. That lender said they could do the refinance apparently there was no 'industry standard' with townhomes -- but at a higher rate than he and Melissa already had. "So I started to realize maybe, maybe I need to not disclose my race," he said. More from Invest in You: This zero-down payment mortgage helps lower-income people become homeowners Buying your first home may cost more than you think. Here's what to expect Covid-19 has upended schools. It will also worsen racial and economic inequalities, experts warn Discrimination in home lending goes back to the beginning of home lending itself. During the last housing boom, when subprime mortgages were all the rage, predatory lending to minority borrowers was rampant. When the mortgage market came crashing down, taking the economy with it, some major lenders were held accountable. They ended up paying massive, multibillion-dollar settlements to the federal government. But there is clearly still bias in the market. A majority (59%), of Black homebuyers are concerned about qualifying for a mortgage, while less than half (46%) of White buyers are, according to a recent survey by Zillow, a home listing website, which launched its own mortgage lending arm, Zillow Home Loans, late last year. That is because lenders deny mortgages for Black applicants at a rate 80% higher than that of White applicants, according to 2020 data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. I know that I am not the only one to go through this. I know I'm not the first. I know I won't be the last, but at least I want someone else out there to understand that this is not normal, that this is not right. Akili Akridge Maryland homeowner Coronavirus news in the DC, Virginia and Maryland area FAQ: D.C. | Maryland | Virginia What you need to know: Symptoms guide | Delta variant | Other variants | How mental disorders elevate covid risk | Booster shots in D.C., Maryland and Virginia Mapping the spread: Known deaths and cases in the region | Nationwide cases Vaccine: Breakdown | State tracker | Mapping the vaccination divide | D.C. employees required to get vaccine | Md., Va. state workers need to show proof of vaccination Masks: Masks FAQ | Masks and vaccines in D.C. area schools | DC requires masks during high covid transmission | Prince Georges requires masks for children | Montgomery considering lifting mask mandate Get the latest local news: Morning newsletter | Afternoon newsletter Have a question about the delta variant? Ask The Posts science reporters. Lafayette College says four of 625 students approved to be on campus have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. All were asymptomatic and are staying in housing designated for isolation, said campus Director of Health of Health Services Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein. In addition, 26 people who had close contact with these students were told to self-quarantine for two weeks. Some students who tested positive a week to 10 days prior to returning to campus will remain at home for a period of time, though the college did not immediately say how many or for how long. Lafayette last month announced all fall 2020 courses will be online, meaning the majority of its 2,703 students will study from home. The college has outlined a plan for testing this week of all students approved to return on campus, as well as for symptom tracking, contact tracing and isolation and quarantine. I am very pleased that the prevalence of COVID for our returning students is far lower than expected, Goldstein said in an update Monday. Please remember that testing the student population at check-in represents a snapshot of disease prevalence at one point in time. We will continue to perform surveillance testing throughout the semester to monitor the infection rate. The college stresses the importance of collective responsibility for each other: Wear a mask, make good decisions, clean personal spaces and wash your hands. Our behavior has consequences for everyone in the community, Goldstein stated. Bailey Health Center is a Pennsylvania Department of Health-approved point-of-care testing site for COVID-19, and uses the same highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction antigen technology available in hospital laboratories, according to Lafayette. Its platform can test up to four samples per hour with a turnaround time of 45 minutes. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane, the price at which millers buy from farmers, for 2020-21), increasing the minimum by Rs10 to 285 per quintal. The sugarcane sale season will start in October 2020. The FRP, which is provided for by the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to sugarcane farmers. Sugarcane producing states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana fix their own sugarcane price called state advisory prices (SAPs), which are usually higher than the Centres FRP. According to government estimates, the countrys total sugar production is pegged to be 28-29 million tonne in the current year ending next month, compared to 33.1 million tonnes during 2018-19 due to a sharp fall in cane acreage in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The FRP of 285 per quintal applied for a basic recovery rate of 10%, which is the amount of sugar recovered from a given quantity of cane. A premium of 2.85 per quintal for every 0.1% increase above 10% in the recovery has been allowed. However, there will a reduction in FRP by 2.85 per quintal for every 0.1 percentage point decrease in recovery in respect of those mills whose recovery is below 10% but above 9.5%. However, for mills having recovery 9.5 % or below, the FRP is fixed at 270.75 per quintal. LOS ANGELESEven as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to review the 24-year-old law known as the First Amendment of the Internet, following a Donald Trump executive order, two court decisions in the past week have seen that law Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act upheld by federal judges. At the same time, the FCC has solicited comments from the public on its proposed review of Section 230, only to find its website flooded with comments opposing the law from a well-known anti-LGBTQ rights organization. In 2017, when the FCC solicited comments on its then-upcoming repeal of net neutrality rules, the system was bombarded with half a million fake posts originating from Russian email addresses, as well as another 1.5 million from a professional broadband industry lobbyist. This time, there have been many fewer overall comments posted as of last week just 183. But of those, 18 about 10 percent appear to come from Liberty Counsel Action, a Florida nonprofit which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a legal organization advocating for anti-LGBT discrimination under the guise of religious liberty. But in two court cases, lawsuits against big internet companies failed over the past week, because federal judges ruled that Section 230 which shields platforms from liability over content posted by users protected the tech firms. In one case, Philadelphia TV news anchor Karen Hepp sued several platforms, including Facebook and Reddit, after a photo of her appeared without her consent in an online ad enticing users to meet and chat with single women. The photo was later reposted on various online message boards, including Reddit, often in digitally altered form to make the image appear to be porn, according to a report by Philadelphia magazine. But Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal Judge John Milton Younge threw the lawsuit out, partly on the grounds that Section 230 protects platforms from liability for third-party content. In other words, Hepp may have been able to sue the creators of the ad itself, who used her photo without permission, but not the platforms where the ad appeared. Younge was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2019. Trump has been outspoken in his opposition to Section 230, even beyond his executive order demanding the laws review by the FCC. In a second case, Enhanced Athlete Ltd., a maker of nutritional supplements, sued YouTube and parent company Google for taking down its ads, on the stated basis that the advertisements promoted violent or dangerous acts, according to a Bloomberg Law report. The ads contained information about selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, a steroid-like substance purported to enhance muscle building but had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Enhanced Athlete sued, saying that the ads did not violate YouTubes terms of use and that the platform engaged in unfair trade practices by taking the ads down. But Northern District of California Judge Haywood Gilliam a 2014 Barack Obama appointee disagreed. Gilliam ruled that YouTubes actions were protected by Section 230, which also gives platforms the right to moderate content posted by users. The YouTube terms of use agreement gives the platform the right to delete any content it believes should be taken down, and Enhanced Athlete had previously agreed to those terms, Gilliam ruled. Courts have so far been largely supportive of Section 230 when it is challenged in lawsuits. Last year, a San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit by 50 women against Salesforce, a software infrastructure company. The suit alleged that Salesforce provided software for Backpage, and should therefore be liable for incidents of alleged sex trafficking occurring on the now-shuttered site. In a March, 2019, case, a federal court in New York ruled that the gay dating site Grindr was protected by Section 230 from being sued over the abusive behavior of one of its users against another man whom he met on the app. Photo by Tracy Le Blanc / Pexels Flooding at Home, Tensions Abroad Raise Concern for China's Food Security By Shen Hua August 18, 2020 Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged his country to take immediate actions to curb what he called its "shocking and distressing" food waste problem as the worst flooding along the Yangtze River in years threatens the country's important rice crop. In an instruction released last week, Xi urged the country to pay attention to the risks of food security, and highlighted the challenge the country faces as the coronavirus pandemic spurs concerns over tightening food supplies and surging prices. Analysts who spoke to VOA say recent pressure on China's food security is due to natural disasters at home and worsening relations with many of Beijing's trade partners. China's food waste A 2018 report by the China Academy of Science found China wasted up to 18 million tons of food served in four big cities in 2015 alone, enough to feed 30 to 50 million people annually. The report said Chinese cities produce 25% of the world's municipal solid waste, most of it food. Patrons of the country's catering industry each wasted an average of 11.7 percent of their meal. According to a 2015 estimate from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), China wastes up to 35 million tons of food per year. That's nearly 6% of the country's annual food production. The FAO estimates that about one-third of all food produced gets lost or is wasted during production, transportation and consumption. However the situation is different in each country. Who's wasting food in China? In Chinese society, people usually treat others to meals in order to make new friends or enhance established relationships, and serving expensive and rare food is considered a form of respect for guests. According to a 2015 study, a formal dinner typically includes 4 to 6 cold dishes and 8 to 10 hot dishes, served with soup and fruits. Zhong Dajun, director of the Beijing Dajun Institute for Economic Observation, told VOA that the wasting of food has been increasing over the years as people gained more disposable income. "I think compared to the general public, officials dining with public funds account for only a small proportion," he said. "With strong spending power, Chinese people have to pay attention to frugality and saving food." Preparing or ordering more food than necessary has long been regarded as a symbol of hospitality in China. Zhu Qizhen, a professor at China Agricultural University, told the South China Morning Post that because of this tradition, "the amount of leftovers has become the standard for a sumptuous feast." Yet political commentator Heng Hei said one of the main problems with the country's food waste problem is linked to the lavish excesses of the Chinese Communist Party. "This level of food wasting has to do with CCP's extravagant culture. Ordinary Chinese people don't waste to that level," he said. In a survey by China's state newspaper Beijing Youth Daily in 2013, a shocking 97.8% of respondents felt that Chinese officials were wasting public funds. Of those funds, 33.8% were used for official receptions, including extravagant dining. Xi Jinping subsequently launched an anti-corruption campaign as a means to curb extreme levels of corruption. Yet analysts point out this is also an effective way to get rid of his political enemies. China also launched the "Clean Your Plate Campaign" in 2013, which aimed to "put an end to officials' extravagant feasts and receptions, according to state media Global Times. Food security China's leader Xi has long tied the country's food security to national security. In a visit to the country's largest soybean producer Heilongjiang province in 2018, Xi said "the rice bowl of the Chinese people, in any situation, must be firmly held in our own hands." Yet 2020 has delivered a one-two punch to the world's second largest economy. The country is experiencing the worst flooding in more than two decades, destroying thousands of acres of farmland along the Yangtze River. With the nickname "Land of Rice and Fish," the broader Yangtze River basin accounts for 70% of China's rice production. Given how much cropland was damaged by mid-July, Chinese brokerage firm Shenwan Hongyuan estimated that China could lose 5% of its rice production compared to last year. China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration issued an announcement on August 5, pointing out the country's wheat harvest has fallen by nearly 1000 tons compared to 2019 levels. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, food prices in China climbed about 10% in July compared to a year ago, with the price of corn 20% higher compared to the same period last year. The prices for soybeans jumped by 30% compared to the end of last year. Beijing has responded to the crisis by stabilizing supply from its strategic reserve. According to China Grain Reserves Group, Beijing has released 62.5 million tons of rice, 50 million tons of corn and over 760,000 tons of soybeans by the end of July, a level nearly double the volume released during the whole of 2019. Meanwhile, China's worsening relations with some of its major trade partners could create uncertainty for China's food supply chain. For example, the country has been relying on imports from the U.S. to try to stabilize prices as well as fulfill its commitment to purchase U.S. agricultural products. In the first six months of this year, China imported nearly 61 million tons of grain, a 21% jump from a year ago. Imports of corn, soybeans and wheat have also increased, according to data from Chinese customs. Analysts caution that an overdependence on food imports could hurt Beijing's strategic interest. Meanwhile, the continuing political tensions with Western countries could lead to trade barriers such as higher taxes, raising prices and further threatening the country's food security. Economist Zhong Dajun said China has to import as least 100 million tons of crop every year, and "it will be pretty troublesome for Beijing to increase the production by that amount domestically." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) Two Somalia soldiers were executed Tuesday after being convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy who died from the bleeding, officials say. The executions of the two soldiers in Baidoa town in southwestern Somalia follows a hurried trial which convicted the two soldiers of raping the boy in July after luring him into an isolated area. There were no immediate details about the trial proceedings. The executions also come amid mounting public pressure on the authorities of Southwest State after reports of two other cases of rapes of young boys emerged, angering local residents who are demanding justice. The two soldiers who were executed Tuesday had confessed to the crime, according to Southwestern provincial/regional information minister Ilyas Said Ali. The minister also confirmed the arrests of more people in connection with the other two rape cases. Somalis on social media have urged authorities to bring perpetrators of the attacks to justice. Rape suspects often avoid prosecutions in this Horn of Africa nation, where the justice system remains weak. Traditional elders often try to settle rape cases through talks among elders representing the perpetrator and the victim, but local activists subsequently urged the suspects to face trial under a tough new law against sex crimes. Under the new law, those found guilty of rape can be jailed for up to 10 years without the option of a fine. However, some of them could face the death penalty. Somalia is trying to build a functional government after years of lawlessness and an insurgency by Islamic extremists. Researchers have designed a new X-ray classification system for adult idiopathic scoliosis that can more precisely define which parts of the spine need correction, an achievement that could enhance treatment, communication, and analysis of spinal deformities affecting older patients, according to a study published in Spine Deformity in August. The team of researchers, led by James D. Lin, MD, MS, a spine surgeon at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said their modern approach to the X-ray classification system could provide a more universal and standard assessment of adult scoliosis. "This classification system provides a new language for clinicians and researchers, helping us reliably categorize and communicate the radiographic features of adult idiopathic scoliosis, in order to more effectively facilitate treatment and further analysis," said Dr. Lin. "This will help researchers and surgeons scrutinize past results from prior surgeries and refine future treatment." Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine, a condition that affects an estimated six million people in the United States. Many develop it in adolescence, but only a small percentage of adolescent cases require surgery. While adult scoliosis can be the natural progression of adolescent scoliosis, adults can also develop it for the first time; those cases are called adult degenerative scoliosis. The symptoms and surgical treatment can differ significantly for older patients; for example, adults often experience more pain from the condition. The new method builds on the Lenke classification system for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which is widely used to define six curve types but is not applicable to adults. The new three-component method maintains the curve types from the Lenke classification and introduces assessments of the global alignment and lumbosacral curve, two features that more commonly deteriorate in older patients. In the study, 12 spine surgeons used the new classification system to grade 30 cases twice, which resulted in near-perfect agreement in the assessment of the patients. This latest method to classify adult scoliosis could improve treatment options because it helps define the different areas of the spine that need to be corrected and fused, and there is currently no widely accepted X-ray classification system for the complex condition. "The development of a new classification system, led by Dr. Lin, strengthens our efforts at the Spine Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital to provide innovative and customized treatment for patients with spinal disorders and injuries," said Andrew Hecht, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System and The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Director of the Spine Center at Mount Sinai. "The new method ensures that we have a more exhaustive, thorough, and rigorous benchmark in how we analyze and treat adults with spinal conditions throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, but also for our colleagues throughout the entire orthopedic community, helping us all to provide exceptional care." ### Dr. Lin authored the study with doctors from the Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurological Surgery at Columbia University, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care--from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in the country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Yumiko Takashima, who heads UNHCR's office in Aleppo, Syria, meets with children at a school in Kurayhah village in July 2019. UNHCR/Antwan Chnkdji UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi today praised the depth of commitment shown by humanitarian workers during a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic claimed the lives of four UNHCR colleagues and made it significantly harder to support people in need. In a message to staff to mark World Humanitarian Day, Grandi urged everyone at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to remember their colleagues and a partner staff member lost to the pandemic, and to honour the memory of aid workers around the world who have died while serving others. Today we pause to remember all those UNHCR colleagues and aid workers whose lives were taken from them in the course of their humanitarian work, Grandi said. We also salute the courage of our colleagues who continue to serve in difficult, often insecure, circumstances around the world. Grandi pointed to the barbaric attack just two weeks ago in western Niger during which a group of men shot and killed seven aid workers from ACTED and IMPACT, organizations with which UNHCR works closely, during a tour of the Koure wildlife reserve. The groups Nigerien guide was also killed. Grandi sent the staff message from Lebanon where he is on a four-day visit to support those affected by the devastating explosions two weeks ago in Beirut, and hear more about their plight. The blasts killed more than 180 people (including at least 14 refugees), injured more than 6,500 and displaced roughly 300,000 people from their homes. Many people remain missing. See also: UNHCR rushes support for Beirut in the aftermath of massive blast Humanitarian aid workers face increasingly dangerous conditions in many parts of the world. In 2019, 125 aid workers were killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. As in 2018, most of the major attacks occurred in Syria, followed by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. However, the violence continues to spread. Both Yemen and Mali saw attacks against aid workers double last year. In the past year, no UNHCR colleagues were killed in malicious acts or security incidents, Grandi said. However, one in six UNHCR colleagues worked in high risk duty stations, operating in cities, towns and villages beset by violence, war and climate-related hazards. I wish to pay tribute to them, and also to the UNHCR field security personnel whose expertise and commitment are critical to managing risks and enabling our teams to stay and deliver vital protection and assistance, Grandi said. The United Nations General Assembly established World Humanitarian Day in 2008 to honour 22 aid workers who were killed in the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, which had served as the UN headquarters in Iraq. The UN Secretary Generals Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, died in the blast. UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements this morning placed a wreath at the staff memorial in Geneva to honour UNHCR workers who lost their lives in the course of serving others. This year, the United Nations campaign for World Humanitarian Day pays special tribute to people who provide life-saving support to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR staff provide health, sanitation and hygiene services to refugees and others around the world and work with governments to ensure countries include refugees in their COVID-19 preparation and response plans. Refugees have likewise proven essential in slowing the spread of the virus. Many work on the frontlines as health-care workers. Others sew masks, make soap, deliver food and supplies to the elderly, or share information with their local communities on preventative measures. The pandemic exacerbates already difficult situations for many UNHCR colleagues around the world who work far away from family and friends, Grandi said. Travel restrictions make it difficult or impossible for many to visit loved ones, recuperate after arduous assignments or even access quality health care. The coming months will undoubtedly bring more difficult moments as the pandemic continues to unfold. Yet I am confident that we will continue to summon the spirit of resilience, flexibility and commitment that has shaped UNHCRs identity throughout its history, as we continue to face the challenges ahead. The world today on World Humanitarian Day honours all humanitarians many working in their own communities - who are going to extraordinary lengths in extraordinary times to help women, men and children whose lives are upended by crises and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The dedication, perseverance and sometimes sacrifice of these real-life heroes represent the best of humanity as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis and the massive increase in humanitarian needs it has triggered. First responders are often people in need themselves, refugees, members of civil society organizations and local health workers. They bring food, shelter, health care, protection and hope to others amid conflict, displacement, disaster and disease. And all too often, they risk their own lives to save the lives of others. According to Humanitarian Outcomes Aid Worker Security Database, major attacks against humanitarians last year surpassed all previous years on record. A total of 483 relief workers were attacked, 125 killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped in 277 separate incidents. This is an 18 per cent increase in the number of victims compared to 2018. The UN condemns these attacks and calls for accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors. Relief workers cannot be a target. This year's World Humanitarian Day comes as the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic. To pay tribute to the efforts of humanitarians, OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) in collaboration with IAA present the personal stories of some of the #RealLifeHeroes who are stepping up to meet the challenges, particularly local humanitarian workers. Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said: To humanitarians everywhere doing important, courageous work on the front lines we say Thank You. You are saving lives every day and as new challenges and crises are piling on to existing ones, your perseverance is an inspiration. Your protection is also paramount to making sure we can deliver to people most in need. The best way to pay tribute to humanitarians is by funding their work and ensuring their safety. Echoing the sentiments, Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman & World President of International Advertising Association (IAA) said, there can be no supreme sacrifice than the work done by the healthcare workers. They know the extreme risk they take in assisting the humanity at times of health crises like the current one. IAA stands with them and want to offer respect and salute these extraordinary #RealLifeHeros. It was a privilege for the IAA to partner with the OCHA team and engage our members in the development and activation of the #RealLifeHeros campaign. More than ever, the industry needs to collaborate more closely together to demonstrate how advertising can be a positive force globally , said Dagmara Szulce, Managing Director of IAA Global. She recently returned home to Los Angeles without husband Kanye West amid their marital issues and his controversial run for presidency. However, it seems it's business as usual for Kim Kardashian, who posted a few snaps to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, modelling a tight-fitting Burberry bikini, tagging her friend and designer Riccardo Tisci who has taken over the British fashion house. Kim, 39, showed off her incredible figure in the ensemble, as she posed in her closet, while wearing the $520 monogram-print two-piece. Retro: Kim Kardashian shows off her curves in a tight-fitting Burberry bikini... after returning to LA home without Kanye West who remains in Wyoming The mother-of-four had her hair up in a 60s-style 'do which perfectly complemented her overall retro look. Meanwhile, Kanye, 43, tweeted a video on Wednesday of what appeared to be him kissing Kim at his Sunday Service in Wyoming, where she was before returning home. Following their family vacation to the Dominican Republic, Kanye is now remaining at his ranch in Wyoming - fueling speculation that the pair are leading increasingly separate lives. Children North, 7, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and 15-month-old Psalm are said to be at home with their mother Kim, 39, while Kanye stays in Wyoming because it's 'where he wants to live' a source has told PEOPLE. Vintage-style: Kim models the latest Burberry range at her home in LA... while husband Kanye remains in Wyoming Their source claims Kim is 'happy to be back' in LA, saying that 'it's hard traveling with the kids for such a long time.' The source adds: 'Kim still seems focused on making her marriage work. She is pretty quiet about her exact plans for the future, but for now she seems okay with Kanye living in Wyoming. 'He is moving ahead with the presidential campaign. This is a decision that no one can change his mind about.' Together apart: On Wednesday, Kanye posted this video to Twitter which appeared to show him kissing Kim at his most recent Sunday Service in LA Sealed with a kiss: The rapper kisses his reality star wife in a new video on Twitter Separate lives? Kanye posted this shot of a business meeting in Wyoming on Wednesday, which appeared to be at the HQ for Chick-fil-A However, another source close to the couple tells DailyMail.com that they were 'never living apart' adding: 'He does a lot of work in Wyoming and she works in LA. They're focused on their family now and rarely talk politics.' Kanye - who suffers from bi-polar disorder - caused huge controversy in July when he went on a series of Twitter rants that included accusing Kim of having an affair with rapper Meek Mill, as well as claiming they once considered having an abortion. Kim was then seen in tears as she held crisis talks with Kanye in Wyoming, which was the first time they had been seen together since disastrous first campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. Family: Kim Kardashian West has returned to Los Angeles while Kanye West remains in Wyoming (Pictured above with children North, 7, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and Psalm, 1) Staying in Wyoming: On Tuesday, Kanye was pictured visiting a Chick-Fil-A in Wyoming and posed with fans The couple appeared to patch things up while on their vacation to the Dominican Republic, while daughter North is said to have spent some alone time with her father Kanye in Wyoming this past week, before returning to LA to be with Kim. Over the weekend, Kim was seen at Kanye's Sunday Service event in Wyoming, and posted a video on social with the caption, 'Guess what's back?!?!' The positive message appeared to suggest the family vacation did the family the world of good, a source close to the couple adds to DailyMail.com that their children 'loved' the time away. Kanye tweeted about the event too, making it clear that his team had made sure there were safety guidelines. Proud dad: Kanye West was quite the doting father Monday in a sweet photo with his oldest child North, as they enjoyed some quality time in a gorgeous setting He is risen: Kim Kardashian supported husband Kanye West this weekend, as his popular alternative church event Sunday Service returned for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, set against a gorgeous Wyoming backdrop Staying in LA: Kim - pictured this month with daughter Chicago - is said to be OK with Kanye staying in Wyoming 'Praise God. We would like to thank our staff for making sure all Covid safety guidelines were followed today during Sunday Service at our West Mountains family ranch in Wyoming,' he tweeted. The married couple certainly appear to be in a better place than they were last month, following Kanye's controversial comments around his run for presidency. In one of his many outbursts during his July campaign rally, Kane shockingly revealed that he and Kim had considered aborting their daughter North, who is now seven, before he got a 'message from God'. However, later that month he apologized to Kim on Twitter saying: 'I would like to apologize to my wife Kim for going public with something that was a private matter,' adding: 'I did not cover her like she has covered me. To Kim I want to say I know I hurt you.' HUNTINGTON The Gateway Regional School District School Committee is at the first stages of its search for a new superintendent following David Hopsons announcement that he will retire at the end of the 2021 academic year. District Communications Director Jeanne LeClair announced Wednesday that officials are at the very first stages of developing a plan to hire a new superintendent. We are beginning the search process to find his replacement, and the School Committee will be leading the process and working diligently over the coming weeks and months to post the position, gather more data from communities and families, interview candidates, and explore any additional possibilities for filling the position that would benefit the district and best advance the learning opportunities for our students, she said. School Committee Chair Michele Crane, of Blandford, said the search is beginning with a survey that is going out to all parents and staff, as well as the establishment of a subcommittee tasked with the job of finding a replacement for Hopson. We will begin by surveying the community, she said. This is a planned retirement. We knew it was happening. We now have the arduous task for finding someone else. Crane said Hopson has a long history with the district, which serves the six hilltowns of Huntington, Blandford, Russell, Montgomery, Chester, and Middlefield. He was a former School Committee member before becoming superintendent in 2003. We were lucky to have someone for so many years that lived in the district, was on the School Committee, and had two children in the school system, she said. The survey is seeking community input on subjects such as the districts strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. It also asks respondents to identify skills, characteristics, and professional qualifications that would make a candidate successful as a superintendent. The School Committee, Crane said, has had some preliminary discussions but will go into a more detailed conversation on Aug. 26, the first meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year. We would really like someone with experience working in a regional school district in a rural setting, she said. The primary thing were looking for is someone who knows how to make the children a priority. Optimal candidates are those who have served a regional school district in its central office in a top administrative role such as a teacher, finance director, assistant superintendent, superintendent, principal, curriculum development specialist, special education director, or human resources director, to name a few. Crane said she would like another resident of the district to assume the role, but recognizes that would be a difficult task. I dont think we will find someone who lives in the district this time around, she said. That created a unique situation. We will be channeling the qualities were looking for then embark on the search. The students, Crane added, must also be the focus of a superintendent. I think we need to look for someone who wants to put the childs needs first in their concerns, she said. As a regional school district superintendent that person will have to work with residents and officials from six different communities. We want someone who is looking out for the student and can communicate really well with the communities. Prize to be given to Imperial College artist for her innovative expressions of scientific processes in recognizing the cultural, artistic and humanistic dimension of physics WASHINGTON, D.C., August 19, 2020 -- The American Institute of Physics announced artist Geraldine Cox has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Andrew Gemant Award. Named after the renowned physicist, the Andrew Gemant Award is given by AIP annually to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic or humanistic dimension of physics. In selecting Cox, the selection committee cited her "for articulating deep physics concepts through visual arts and other media, reaching a remarkable range of people in innovative ways and sharing her passion for the expression of physical truths." "When you finish a fine art degree, it's important to ask what you want to make art about. That can be a question you can spend years figuring out," Cox said. "I came tentatively to the conclusion that I wanted to make work that celebrated our ability to observe, imagine and appreciate the world." "We are delighted to award this year's Gemant Award to Geraldine Cox," said AIP CEO Michael Moloney. "With her ability to depict complex scientific concepts through a variety of artistic media, Cox has helped people of all ages and backgrounds engage with the physical sciences." Following a break from the sciences after earning her bachelor of science degree in physics from Loughborough University, Cox went on to study fine art at the City and Guilds of London Art School. After connecting with Imperial College London quantum physics professor Terry Rudolph, the two applied for an Artist in Residence grant through the Leverhulme Trust, which fosters interdisciplinary collaboration. They received the grant in 2011, and Cox has been the artist in residence at Imperial College since then, working closely with scientists there as well as at other British and American universities. The grant project has evolved to encompass a range of media including the visual and performing arts. "Reading Geraldine Cox's CV is as rewarding as spending an afternoon in an art museum suffused with the essence of science -- were we to be so lucky as to have such an institution," said David Helfand, chair of AIP's board of directors. "From her work with students to her collaborations with physicists, she perfectly matches the principal criterion of the Gemant Award, which is to connect the sometimes arcane world of physics to the artistic and humanistic culture accessible to all of humankind." "Every project begins with a desire to understand something more deeply. We look for new ways of talking and thinking about a concept and from an artistic point of view, entirely new representations can come out," she said. Cox hosts workshops for everyone, from children, their families, teachers and local communities to artists and scientists. The workshops celebrate the knowledge of physics, and participants express their ideas through art. Activities include creating giant collages that explore the makeup of sunlight, building mobiles about atoms and dancing to reveal the subtle processes that color the world. During the pandemic, her interactive work has moved online, and she has developed new workshop formats for children. She is also taking the opportunity to spend more time working on a series of large oil paintings of interference patterns with tens of thousands of elements. She is also recording five-minute audio "Thoughtcasts" designed to help the imagination journey through the topic of light. Cox considers each project to be an experiment, drawing inspiration from the scientific method to ensure her work asks the right questions. Some of her work is about science itself -- for example, accurately describing a complex scientific project through drawing. "While scientists are discovering new things, I think there is a whole world of work to find new ways to express what we know. We can never directly experience many of the landscapes that science explores. They are too distant, too tiny, too ancient or too hot, for example. Yet they are beautiful and inspiring territory for the human imagination and art," Cox said. "I'm also interested in sharing the scientific mindset. Maybe if it was more widely embraced and understood, we'd have a better world." Rudolph first nominated Cox for the award in 2016, so the notice in 2020 came out of the blue. "I'm really happy and hope it means that the project can continue in a more effective way. We can do more work and reach more minds," she said. "Everything in this project has been achieved with incredible support from scientist colleagues over the years. I'm hugely grateful that they joined the experiment to discover new ways of imagining and sharing some of the beautiful things we know." ### More information about Cox's work can be found at http://www.findingpatterns.info. ABOUT THE ANDREW GEMANT AWARD The Andrew Gemant Award recognizes the accomplishments of a person who has made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics and is given annually. The award is made possible by a bequest of Andrew Gemant to the American Institute of Physics. The awardee receives a $5,000 cash award, designates an academic institution to receive a grant of $3,000 to further the public communication of physics, and is invited to deliver a public lecture in a suitable forum. See https://www.aip.org/aip/awards/gemant-award. ABOUT AIP The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is a 501(c)(3) membership corporation of scientific societies. AIP pursues its mission--to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity--with a unifying voice of strength from diversity. In its role as a federation, AIP advances the success of its Member Societies by providing the means to pool, coordinate, and leverage their diverse expertise and contributions in pursuit of a shared goal of advancing the physical sciences in the research enterprise, in the economy, in education, and in society. In its role as an institute, AIP operates as a center of excellence using policy analysis, social science, and historical research to promote future progress in the physical sciences. See http://www.aip.org. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered for a CBI investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, and directed the Maharashtra government to render all assistance. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy made it clear that it was court-ordered CBI probe and that there is no room for the Maharashtra government to challenge this. It also clarified that registration of the FIR at Patna was legally valid and adhered to the principles of the Criminal Procedure Code. Therefore, the court added, the recommendation made by the Bihar government for a CBI investigation was also proper and valid. Reading out the operative part of the 35-page judgment, Justice Roy also said that Maharashtra government must comply with the orders since it is a court-ordered probe. About the inquest proceedings conducted so far by the Mumbai Police, the court directed that all pertinent documents must be handed over the CBI henceforth. The top court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Rajput, 34, was found dead inside his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police had been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. It's raining privilege motions amid the raging Facebook row. After Congress leader and Chairman of Parliament's Standing committee on Information Technology Shashi Tharoor gave a notice for breach of privilege against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleging that he made disparaging remarks, the latter moved a privilege motion against Tharoor as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Godda MP who is also a member of the same committee remarked, "For the first time have I seen that a Chairman of a Parliamentary Committee has moved privilege against its own fellow member." Justifying his move, Dubey said that accusing BJP of wrongdoing is tantamount to accusing all its MPs of the same. According to Dubey, "He (Tharoor) questioned the intention, integrity, and honesty of MPs". When asked about the support for Tharoor from TMC MP Mahua Moitra who is also a member of the same committee, the MP told IANS, "Those who are backing Tharoor are not aware of rules". This comes after Tharoor wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, mentioning Dubey's 'strong remarks' on Twitter that "the Chairman of the Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members". "I sincerely hope that stringent action is taken in this matter so that it serves as a deterrent to similar incidents in future and restores public trust in Parliament," Tharoor said in the letter. "The contemptuous words used by Shri Nishikant Dubey have cast aspersions on the intent and integrity with which I fulfil my duties as an elected representative of the people of Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, as such words constitute unwarranted vilification of the Committee's name and the manner in which it discharges its functions, and his actions have painted an ignominious picture of the revered institution of Parliament by indicating that its functionaries have circumvented the process," the Congress leader added. Earlier, Tharoor had tweeted that he may summon Facebook representatives to the committee. But many like Dubey objected to it saying Tharoor unilaterally and without any consulation with committee members had announced it on social media. The Congress has accused the social media giant of being favorable to BJP lawmakers, based on a news report on WSJ. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. "Innovation is making propelled openings in the car VVT and begin stop framework market, and organizations are endeavouring hard to take most extreme favourable position of the new innovation. Innovations, for example, cam-staging in addition to changing, which join the valve lift instrument alongside valve timing, are being received by different makers in their vehicles. The begin stop framework producers are concentrating on creating and conveying frameworks that can take care of the expanding demand for efficiency and discharge standards. There are numerous elements that are contributing towards the development of the said market. A portion of the central point are lessening measure of non-renewable energy source, strict standards of emanation crosswise over huge numbers of the creating and created nations, developing inclination for eco-friendly advancements, expanding cost of fills, and hybridization of vehicles. Request For Report sample @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/6354 Besides, because of quick and across the board urbanization and taking off discretionary cashflow of ordinary citizens in different rising economies, for example, China, India are further fuelling the market. Additionally, the expanded assembling of traveller autos including semi-extravagance and extravagance vehicles are likewise reinforcing the said market. Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market report includes different applications such as Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Vehicles, and Heavy Commercial Vehicles. This report aims to estimate the Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market for 2018 and to project the expected demand of the same by 2023. This market research study provides a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market. It provides a comprehensive review of major drivers and restraints of the market. Major companies such as Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd, Borgwarner Inc., Continental AG, Delphi Automotive PLC, Robert Bosch GmBH, etc. are profiled in this report. Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market is also segmented into major application and geographies. Various secondary sources, such as encyclopaedia, directories, and databases to identify and collect information useful for this extensive commercial study of Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market have been used. The primary sources, experts from related industries and suppliers, have been interviewed to obtain and verify critical information as well as to assess the future prospects of Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market has grown significantly during the last few years, and it is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the next five years, mainly driven by a growing consumption in the North America region. Global VVT & Start-Stop Systems Market is valued at $ xx million in 2018, growing at a CAGR of X% and is expected to reach $ xx million by 2023." More Info of Impact Covid19 @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/6354 Overturning the ACA could be devastating to patients, clinicians, hospitals, and state economies that are already struggling with the pandemic's effects Boston, MA - Widespread layoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic threaten to cut off millions of people from their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. But the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will protect many of these people and their families from losing coverage, according to a new study. The Perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine, co-authored by Harvard University PhD student Sumit Agarwal (also of Brigham and Women's Hospital) and Benjamin Sommers, professor of health policy and economics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will be published online August 19, 2020. To quantify the ACA's effect on changes in health insurance coverage after job loss, the researchers looked at data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the U.S. The analysis compared the trajectories of 1,350 adults who lost their jobs before 2014--the year that the ACA's Medicaid and marketplace provisions, aimed at increasing health insurance coverage, went into effect--with the trajectories of 1,103 adults who lost their jobs in 2014 or later. The researchers examined the insurance status of these participants during the first three months and the last three months that they were surveyed. Between 2011 and 2013, job loss was associated with an average health insurance coverage loss of 4.6 percentage points, the analysis found. The proportion of participants with any coverage decreased from 66.3% to 61.7%. But after the ACA went into effect--when the overall coverage rate was much higher to begin with (76.2%)--job loss was no longer linked to an increase in the uninsured rate. Large gains in Medicaid (8.9 percentage points) and marketplace coverage (2.6 percentage points) nearly fully offset the reduction in employer-sponsored insurance for people who left or lost their job, according to the authors. Overall, the implementation of the ACA was associated with a 6.0-percentage-point net increase in the likelihood of having coverage after a job loss. "These results indicate the critical role that the ACA will play in alleviating coverage losses related to the Covid-associated recession," the authors wrote. The authors noted that insurance coverage gaps remain even with the ACA, and that the law's future is still uncertain amid a Supreme Court challenge from 18 Republican state attorneys general and the Trump administration, who are arguing that the law is unconstitutional. "In the current context of millions of Americans losing their jobs and an ongoing pandemic, overturning the ACA would most likely be devastating to patients, clinicians, hospitals, and state economies," the authors wrote. "The very virus that has brought about record unemployment levels is the same agent that makes health insurance--and the new options created under the ACA--more important than ever." ### "Insurance Coverage after Job Loss -- The Importance of the ACA during the Covid-associated Recession," Sumit Agarwal, Benjamin Sommers, New England Journal of Medicine, August 19, 2020, 10.1056/NEJMp2023312. Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health. A GWERU police officer has been arrested together with three accomplices after they were allegedly found in possession of a pangolin valued at US$5 000. Sergeant Saulpsio Chiromiri (44) of ZRP Nehanda in Gweru and his accomplices Innocent Tumburai (35), Rudo Shumba (32), also of Gweru and Whisper Shenje (36) of Dangamvura Area 16 in Mutare were allegedly arrested after they tried to sell the animal which is classified as an endangered species to police officers working undercover in Kwekwe on Monday morning. Pangolins are threatened by poaching as well as deforestation in their natural habitats and are the most trafficked mammals in the world. National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was still looking for details regarding the arrest of the police officer and his accomplices. However, sources close to the matter told this publication that the four were arrested for allegedly contravening a section of the Parks and Wildlife Act Chapter 20:14 and Section 2 of the Parks and Wildlife (specially protected), regulations, SI 71/20 unlawful possession of a specially protected animal On August 17, detectives from Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit, Kwekwe received information to the effect that the accused persons were in possession of pangolin in Kwekwe and were offering it for sale. Upon receiving information, the detectives posed as buyers and arranged with the accused persons to meet at Border Town Complex, Kwekwe, said a source. They said the detectives then proceeded to Border Town Complex where they met the accused persons who were allegedly using a black Honda fit. The accused persons, sources said showed the detectives the pangolin which was in a sack in the vehicle boot and the accused persons demanded US$4 500. The detectives subsequently arrested the accused persons and recovered the pangolin. The pangolin is valued at US$5 000. It was established that accused person number one is a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police stationed at ZRP Nehanda, Gweru and is currently on vacation leave, said a source. (Newser) Clemson University says it has discovered more than 200 unmarked graves on its campusincluding those of enslaved people owned by former Vice President John Calhoun. The South Carolina university says researchers discovered at least 215 graves after students raised concerns about the site, a hillside at the university's on-campus cemetery, the Greenville News reports. The graves are believed to be those of people enslaved at Calhoun's Fort Hill Plantation, and of "sharecroppers and Black laborers, including convicted individuals involved in the construction of Clemson College from 1890 to 1915," the university said in a release. "All are believed to be African Americans." story continues below Calhoun, who was vice president under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, was a fierce defender of slavery, the Washington Post notes. His plantation later became the Clemson campus. The university says it believes further research at the site is likely to detect more graves. Clemson has hired a full-time historian to help research the lives of people who might be buried there. The university says it is working with local Black communities on a memorial for the site. "We are committed to taking all the critically important actions to enhance these grounds, preserve these gravesites and to ensure the people buried there are properly honored and respected," says Smyth McKissick, chairman of Clemsons board of trustees. (Read more Clemson stories.) New Delhi, Aug 19 : The Education Ministry will soon launch a National Intellectual Property Literacy initiative and is in talks with some other ministries in this regard, a top official said on Wednesday. "When we looked at our higher educational institutes, more than 95-97 per cent of our institutes have never filed intellectual property ever, so we felt that if we have to create a culture of IP creation in these institutes we really need to ensure that we make them literate, train, hand-hold them within these institutes," said Dr Abhay Jere, chief innovation officer, Ministry of Education. He blamed the lack of an ecosystem to take the ideas forward logically and file them as IPs. "We have more than 10,000 technical institutes and 80 lakh students who are studying technology but unfortunately if you look at the IP filings, it is far below the par as compared to our demographic dividend and what is achieved by our competing countries," Jere said. Talking about the IP filings in other parts of the world, the ministry official said that around 14 lakh IPs are filed annually in China followed by the US where seven lakh IPs are filed annually and in India it is somewhere between 45,000-50,000, out of which may be around 30 per cent are by Indians and the remaining by NRIs. "This needs to change, as we have 80 lakh students just studying technology and overall we have about four crore students who are pursuing higher education, but if you look at the IP which is coming from educational institutions it is not more than 2,000-2,500 and these are getting generated in only top tier I organisations," Jere said while speaking at ASSOCHAM's 2nd IP Conclave and IPTSE Awards 2020. Noting that the New Education Policy is making some radical changes, he said, "We are now coming up with a national research foundation which is in line with the National Science Foundation in the US to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in a right way in our educational institutes." Another important initiative, he said which the government has brought in and which is currently being hammered a lot in a large number of educational institutes is the National Startup Policy for faculty and students. "We have conceptualised this national innovation and startup policy because what we realised is that we have no clear incentivisation for faculties and students who get into IP filing, entrepreneurship, converting those IPs into ventures, conversion of knowledge into wealth was not there," he said, adding that the ministry is working with a number of universities and higher education institutes so that they can adopt these policies. He informed that "Last week we trained about 1,500 faculties because to maintain IPs we need to ensure whether monetisation of IP is high which brings an intrinsic motivation for faculties and students to go ahead and pursue this path, so we have made major recommendations in this regard. One of the recommendations is that the institute or the university needs to budget heavily for IP filing." Talking about another initiative by the Education Ministry, he said that to ensure that IP filing goes up they are training faculties as innovation ambassadors. "Till date we have trained about 6,000 faculties and when we are training them, one of the modules of the training is IP filing, management and how we can get it monetised," he added. In the early 1990s, Mordechai Korf and Uriel Laber traveled to Ukraine as Jewish humanitarian volunteers as the country gained its independence and ended Soviet restrictions on religion. Korf was still a teenager just out of a rabbinical institute when he arrived in 1991. His friend Laber, whom he met at a religious school in Detroit, came a few years later. When they returned to the United States more than a decade later, they were -- on paper at least -- running a commercial empire from Miami whose assets ranged from steel and alloy plants to industrial tires and real estate that cost more than $1 billion to cobble together. Korf and Laber purchased lavish homes in Miami Beach. Each were donating millions of dollars to Jewish charities, earning themselves reputations as generous philanthropists. Now the story of two young humanitarian workers with little to no business experience striking it rich during Ukraine's turbulent -- and sometimes violent -- transition to a market economy is under question. They are accused by the U.S. Justice Department of helping two Ukrainian tycoons over the course of a decade launder hundreds of millions of dollars in misappropriated funds from a Kyiv-based bank and then invest the ill-gotten wealth in U.S. assets, profiting handsomely in the process. One of the tycoons is one of Ukraine's wealthiest and most influential citizens, a businessman who helped propel a former stand-up comedian and TV actor into Ukraine's presidency in 2019. That man, Ihor Kolomoyskiy, and his associate, Hennadiy Boholyubov, have denied the accusations, saying the money used to purchase the U.S. assets that Korf and Laber now run came from the sale of their Ukrainian steel business to a Russian competitor for $2 billion. Neither the tycoons nor the Miami businessmen have been criminally charged; the Justice Department lawsuit announced on August 6 is a civil action aimed at seizing assets deemed to have been ill-gotten. The department says, however, that its investigation is continuing. Two days prior to the Justice Department's announcement, FBI agents raided the Miami penthouse office of Korf and Laber from which they run the companies beneficially owned by Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov. Korf and Laber, through their attorney Marc Kasowitz, denied the U.S. government's allegations, asserting they were "part of an orchestrated political attack" against Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov by shareholders of PrivatBank. Ukraine Heritage, Dnipro Beginnings Over the years, Korf and Laber have rarely, if ever, referred to Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov in press releases issued by various companies sharing the name Optima. But their ties go back at least 20 years and span a wide range of industries, from telecommunications and metals to oil and gas. The rise of Korf and Laber as wealthy businessmen began in Kolomoyskiy's hometown of Dnipro (then still known as Dnipropetrovsk), Ukraine's fourth-largest city and a major industrial hub with about 1 million residents. They did not end up there randomly. Dnipro is also the former hometown of a rabbi whom many in the Orthodox Jewish movement known as Chabad-Lubavitch consider to be a religious messiah. Korf and Laber both belong to the movement. The rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, made reviving Judaism in Dnipro a priority as the Soviet Union eased religious restrictions. Schneerson's father was Dnipro's chief rabbi for decades until he was arrested by the Soviet government in 1939. Schneerson had also officiated at the marriage of Korf's parents in New York and sent Korf's father to run a Chabad-Lubavitch community in Miami. In 1990, Schneerson sent 25-year-old Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki to Dnipro to help rebuild the Jewish community. A year later, Korf, whose father fled from Soviet Ukraine decades earlier, arrived in Dnipro. Laber came in 1994. At the time, the country was struggling with the wrenching shift to a capitalist economy. Shortages of consumer goods were common and savvy entrepreneurs were making millions of dollars importing products from abroad. Korf, whose formal education appears to have ended at the religious school he attended in New York, was one of them. By 1995, Korf and Laber set up a Florida-registered company called Optima International of Miami. In an interview in 2017, he recalled his early days in Ukraine, saying that he began trading products such as light bulbs and hammers "back and forth." On a larger scale, Korf and Laber began buying up shares of oil and natural gas companies as part of a privatization process that, like Russia, Ukraine undertook in the 1990s. For savvy investors, it became a way to take control of major companies. The industrial center of Dnipro had some of the country's most attractive assets. A media strategist who published a glowing post about the two men in 2019 alluded to a famous line from a U.S. comedy film, The Blues Brothers, to describe their supposed remarkable success. "In the history of great partnerships, few people can attribute their origins to having been on a Mission from God," the article said. "Mordechai Korf and Uriel Laber fit that bill." According to the post, published on the financial blog Seeking Alpha, Korf and Laber set up tables near factories to buy shares from workers -- a common practice in those days -- and sell them a year or two later "for a tidy profit." RFE/RL sent questions to Korf and Laber regarding their participation in the privatization process, including where the men got the money to buy shares in the first place. They declined to answer. When contacted by RFE/RL regarding his post, the author of the article said he did not work for Korf and Laber and declined to answer any further questions. Exactly when and how Korf and Laber began working with Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov, who consolidated stakes in Ukrainian energy companies in the 1990s, is unclear. The Justice Department said the Miami businessmen sold a stake in Optima to Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov, but did not give details on the timing, size, or cost of the transaction. Korf and Laber declined to say when they sold the stake. By 2000, Korf and Laber were doing business with the tycoons on various investments, including privatizations and acquisitions, according to the Seeking Alpha article. Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov eventually named Laber to the board of Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producer. In a 2002 book about Jewish diaspora communities, Laber was quoted as saying that he was introduced to his "Russian partners" -- an apparent reference to Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov, as many people in eastern Ukraine speak Russian as their first language -- by Kaminezki, the rabbi who arrived in Dnipro in 1990. Kolomoyskiy and Bohlyubov, who have Israeli citizenship, are close to Kaminezki and major supporters of Jewish culture in Ukraine and abroad. "I didn't know who was honest and who wasn't, who we could work with, all the problems you run into in this part of the world. Without [Kaminezki] saying that 'this is an honest person' we wouldn't have known," Laber was quoted as saying. "Anyone can introduce you to another person; the point here is the reliability. He knows what's up, basically." Kaminezki's characterization of Kolomoyskiy -- as recounted by Laber -- clashes with those who view the tycoon as among the country's worst corporate raiders. Kaminezki's connections went beyond the local Jewish community to the city's most influential people. In 2008, he was recognized by a Ukrainian publication as one of the 15 most "powerful foreigners" in the country. Telecom Battle There is little public information about the various investments the Miami businessmen made with the tycoons in Ukraine. One investment in which Korf was involved in the early 2000s related to a Ukrainian telecommunications venture that he and Kolomoyskiy fought to take control of, according to several Kyiv Post articles. As part of the fight for the operator, called Ukrainian Radio Systems, the two reportedly ordered that a group of Koreans who were helping manage the operation be physically removed from a company building. In 2010, Korf was sued in Florida by two Ukrainian investors who accused him of stealing a 10 percent stake in the operator and parking it in an offshore shell company. That stake was later sold to a bigger Russian telecom operator for $23 million. The lawsuit ultimately went nowhere: one of the investors later dropped out, while the other settled with Korf, according to court records. U.S. Steel Whatever success the Miami businessmen and the tycoons achieved together in Ukraine, it was not matched in the United States, where they went through bankruptcies, shutdowns, and foreclosures. According to corporate records, Korf and Laber ran four sizable businesses, including a specialty steel firm, a ferroalloy holding, a commercial real-estate business, and an industrial tire company. Their steel company, Optima Specialty Steel, owned seven plants in five states. It filed for bankruptcy in 2016, resulting in the loss of roughly $200 million that Korf and his partners had invested in the business. Ohio-based Warren Steel permanently shut down in 2016. Michigan-based Steel Rolling was idle for the majority of the time the men owned it before they sold it in 2015, according to media reports. Another company, Georgian-American Alloys, has faced repeated work stoppages at its two U.S. plants over several years. Its Kentucky division is temporarily closed while its West Virginia business has only one of three lines operating, and the West Virginia operation has lost money most of its operating life, its chief financial officer said in 2013. The men also invested in commercial real estate in various U.S. cities through a company called Optima Ventures. They paid $16 million for an empty Illinois-based commercial campus but never found a tenant to occupy it. They sold it eight years later for $7 million less after having paid several million in property taxes and utilities. However, Optima's actual loss was likely much greater due to taxes and maintenance costs that it paid over those eight years, according to Charles Eldredge, director of an economic development corporation in the region where the building is located. "It became quite clear from the beginning that they were speculators who thought they bought property at an inexpensive price and then would be able to resell it at a profit," Eldredge told RFE/RL. "And that did not work out for them." Another office building in Dallas, Texas, has been without a tenant since 2016, while a building in Louisville, Kentucky, saw a massive fall in occupancy following a bank merger. Optima Ventures paid about $125 million for the two buildings, according to court documents; the Justice Department, which is seeking to seize the two properties, now estimates they are worth just $70 million. The FBI, which is an arm of the Justice Department, said following their August 4 raid that their investigation is continuing. For his part, Kolomoyskiy has rejected the U.S. accusations of embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering, saying the funds used to purchase the U.S. assets came from the sale of his stake in Ukrainian metals assets to a Russian giant called Evraz. He says he and his partners received $2 billion from the sale. Kolomoyskiy fled Ukraine in 2017 amid concerns over prosecution and a falling out with then-President Petro Poroshenko. He returned to the country a month after Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeated Poroshenko in April 2019 to win the presidency. He is now locked in a bitter battle for control of PrivatBank, which was nationalized in December 2016. A civil lawsuit filed in Delaware court in the United States claims Kolomoyskiy and his partners laundered $780 million into the U.S. financial system through a series of bogus loans issued to companies they control. PrivatBank has dubbed the alleged fraud the Optima Schemes because the U.S. assets were largely controlled by companies with the name Optima. Kolomoyskiy has denied the allegations. Heavy rain and gusty winds lashed the national capital and neighbouring areas on Wednesday morning, leading to waterlogging and traffic disruption in several areas. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), southwesterly winds from the Arabian sea and southeasterly winds from the Bay of Bengal are feeding moisture to the capital region. The weather bureau has sounded 'orange' alert for the national capital for two days. It has alerted that there could be water accumulation in low-lying areas, traffic disruption and increased chances of vehicle accidents. Meanwhile, the Traffic Police has also issued warning of waterlogging at various low-lying areas near All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), under Palam, Badarpur and Sarita Vihar flyover, MB road near Batra hospital, Punjabi Bagh, Pul Prahladpur underpass among other places. According to data with the Delhi's Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded a rainfall of 31.8 mm in the last two days. Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate and above 64.5 mm is heavy. The station has recorded 147.4 mm in July month. There were 11 rainy days this month. The observatory had recorded the all-time wettest August in 1961 when it recorded the rainfall of 583.3 mm. The rainy morning also brought down the mercury. The maximum and minimum temperature today will hover over 32 and 27 degree Celsius. The air quality of the national capital is in the good category, with the particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 and 10 microns, which are too small to be filtered out of the body, mounting to 23 and 49 micrograms per cubic. Ajay Kanth By Express News Service KOCHI: Latheef Kolath from Edappal in Malappuram quit his job with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 2011 after serving a successful stint with the Delhi Police on deputation. Joining the force at 19, he could have gone on to add more stars on his shoulders. But he chose farming years before it became the catchphrase of the locked down generation. He was only 42 when he took the hard decision to call it quits. Nine years later, Latheef, 51, has no regrets leaving the uniform and taking up the life of a farmer cultivating paddy, rearing cows and goats. He is now an inspiration and guiding spirit to many youths who have followed in his footsteps. Opting for voluntary retirement was a hard decision. But I was determined and now I feel very happy for choosing this path, said Latheef. The most valuable lesson I learnt being a farmer during the Covid-induced economic crisis is that farming will not let you down as there will be takers for quality produce, he said. Covid has had no impact on his income from farming. I could easily find buyers for eggs, vegetables and milk, he said. From four acres in 2011, Latheef now cultivates paddy in over 90 acres. If we put in effort, we can make a profit of Rs 15,000 profit from an acre of paddy. I started paddy cultivation on a trial basis, but it yielded good results. Now I have taken over 85 acres of farmland on lease, he added. Ever since he won the best farmers award from the state government, Latheef is busy guiding freshers in the trade. If you love what you do and want to do it professionally by putting in a cent percent effort, then farming is the best option. You can be close to nature without any stress, he said. All the mess over school results in Britain this year has produced a result that has long been known, but never declared quite as institutionally as now. The result shows just how deeply Britains old class system is in place that feels almost like a caste system. Outbreak of the novel coronavirus ruled out exams this year, so the government devised a formula to determine results based on a combination of teacher assessments and average performance of a school over recent years. The second count proved less innocent than it might at first seem. It systemised a difference going back generations where private schools (called public schools for the reason that anyone from the public can join if they pay) have always done far better than state-funded schools. A private school costs typically Rs 25 lakh a year, a state school is free; the first is clearly for the elite, the second for the rest with no money for private schooling. That pupils from private schools do far better on average surprises no one. That elite breeds elite is accepted as a way of life. The divide begins at school. Private schools clearly invest far more in educating children than do government-run schools, and it shows in the results. The government found a way of ensuring that the difference shows in this years results as well. It came up with an applied algorithm that found a way to override teacher assessments. Once the results were out, it turned out that the algorithm reduced teacher assessments for two in five students. It enhanced weightage given to the typical average of a school. From a way of life, the split surfaced into a decision by the government - the results depended substantially on the kind of school that children went to, determined by how much money or how little parents have. The algorithm left no room for an attempt by a school to improve its results, it made no allowance that an individual student from a relatively poor background going to a free school may do far better than someone else in that school, or in a private school for that matter. Assessment by teachers was limited on the grounds that they may get too generous with students, and eventually rejected for close to half. The school results this year formalised a divide that goes back generations. Of the 55 prime ministers of Britain so far, 20 went to Eton, Britains most famous private school, seven to Harrow. Twenty-eight of the prime ministers went on to Oxford, 14 to Cambridge. Its their way of government that took the decisions that produced the results this year. Boris Johnson went to both Eton and Oxford. Journey from Indore to London & Challenge Ahead Rajesh Agrawal did his bit -- selling web designing services after graduating in Indore back in 1999. Struggling to improve his monthly income of Rs 5,000, he got on to a plane two years later the first time in his life to fly to London aged 24. He is now as he says, deputy mayor of the greatest city in the world working alongside Mayor Sadiq Khan since 2016. He worked at first in a small foreign exchange firm before setting up his own in 2005 that became quite successful, he told a meeting of the Indian Journalists Association in London this week. The move into politics came later but not much later. He joined the Labour Party and by and by, found himself as deputy mayor with particular charge for promoting London business. Which of course makes these particularly challenging times. London is, he says, disproportionately hit by the fallout from the Covid shutdown. Central London depends heavily on tourism, hospitality and leisure, and so the suffering is more than some of the outer areas of London recovering a little faster. The footfall in West End is 65 percent down, he says. About 1,20,000 work usually in Canary Wharf -- less than 10,000 have returned. And so is the case with the City of London, the financial district of London. Passengers on local trains are still 70 percent reduced, he says, buses used by the poorer sections of people are down to half of usual capacity. People arent travelling enough, and with social distancing there wont be room for them. With two metres of distancing the local trains can run to just 15 percent capacity; at one metre distancing one still cannot run to more than 25 percent capacity. London is limping, and business in London is limping. Its the job of Our Man from Indore to make that better. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has acknowledged that there were contradictions in the advice given by the Government on Tuesday about efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. The issue was not black and white he told RTE radios Today with Sarah McInerney show. The Minister for Climate Action, Communications and Transport said he could see the contradiction in the advice that only six people can gather indoors, but that schools could have indoor classes of 20-30 pupils and 50 people could attend a wedding. All of this is about risk assessment, he said and the Governments view was that the reopening of schools was essential. We're all fed up, we're all fearful of it coming back at scale. It was not viable to lock down society, for everyone to stay home and never go out again. We have to restart what is optional to keep doing what is essential. Mr Ryan called for a root and branch investigation into the meat industry - it should be done to ensure that all plants have occupational health systems in place - this would happen in the next year as you can't change an entire industry in a week. The pandemic had provided an opportunity for the Government to change society in a variety of ways, added Mr Ryan. The Government had to learn from this and to ensure that all work places were safe with occupational health systems in place. The Government had already indicated that it was committed to changing the direct provision system, he said. There was a need to move away from such a system and in the meantime serial testing had been introduced to find out where problems exist. Provision had been made for safe spaces such as City West. With regard to the length of time it was taking for testing and tracing, Mr Ryan said that the system had been caught off guard and the fault for that lay with the entire political system. This was not good enough, he admitted. When asked about school transport the Minister said he had asked when he took on the transport portfolio if additional bus services were possible for the return to school and he was told no. A new plan has to be in place in the coming week, he said. On the issue of garda powers, Mr Ryan said the most important thing was the way people policed themselves as a community. All Irish people have done really well in their response to the virus, he said, but there was fatigue. Gardai are to be given sweeping new powers to shut down pubs, restaurants and house parties as part of new restrictions to combat the spread of Covid-19. The new measures include limited interactions for the over 70s, new limits on numbers indoors and outdoors, a return to home working and advice to avoid public transport. Sport too has been hit hard, with limits on training, and all live events to once more be held behind closed doors. The raft of restrictions come as health authorities confirmed another 190 news cases, with all the key metrics worryingly on the rise. Ireland now has the fourth highest rate of growth in cases of the disease in Europe, and the 14-day average of cases is now over 25 per 100,000 of population, having been in low single figures just weeks ago. But there will be no major closures of parts of the economy, and religious and cultural facilities will remain open as long as they can adhere to the guidelines. Garda powers are currently being discussed by Helen McEntee, the justice minister, and Attorney General Paul Gallagher. Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the post-cabinet press briefing at Government Buildings in Dublin. Picture: Julien Behal Photography Micheal Martin said that the powers would enable gardai to close pubs which flout public health guidelines with a court application following. "We need immediate sanctions where there is a clear breach of the public health measures because that clearly has a ripple effect across the wider community." The restrictions were decided upon at a three-hour meeting of Cabinet, which saw the Government decline to take some of NPHET's advice, including that weddings and religious events be limited to six people. Mr Martin said this would be "reviewed quickly". The Cabinet meeting was described as "terse" and "robust", while another source said "the NPHET advice was very stark" amid concern at Cabinet that Ireland's measures are more severe than elsewhere in Europe. Mr Martin said that the Government was "significantly tightening key restrictions for the next three and a half weeks to September 13" in response to the rising number of cases across the country, not just the "appalling behaviour we saw in one Dublin bar at the weekend" - referencing a viral video of patrons of Berlin D2 in Dublin. The Taoiseach said that Ireland was "at a critical moment" in its fight against the virus. "If we want to limit the number of people who get seriously ill or die because of the virus we need to follow these guidelines. "And for those who are asking if the controls are really worth it or if we are somehow overreacting I ask you to remember something: 2,332 people have lost their lives on this island. "Many thousands more were seriously ill and saved by incredible professionals working under immense strain. "We cant go back. If we falter now, every sacrifice we have made to date will be for nought. We have to accept that we have to recommit ourselves to accepting the reality of the continued threat of the virus." Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, said that the decisions were being made to "protect jobs, protect the health services and get our schools open and keep them open". "The greatest power to suppress this virus lies with all of us following these new guidelines for the next 26 days. "Our previous sacrifices will be for nothing if Covid spreads further into our communities. We must act now. This is our window of opportunity, we can't afford to miss it." Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said that there had been increases of Covid-19 outside of the locked down counties of Kildare, Laois, and Offaly. He said that while there were still cases and clusters linked to direct provision and to meat factories, there were also clusters in homes and linked to social and sporting activities. Mr Martin said that reopening schools was "not contradictory". He said that delaying the opening of schools had not been discussed and said that there were differences between thousands of children using school transport but telling people to avoid other modes of public transport. White House reassures UAE that it will not back annexation 'for some time' Israels retreat from annexing West Bank settlements as an apparent condition of its establishment of diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) keeps the focus on US President Donald Trump as the ultimate guarantor of the agreement. With last weeks deal with the UAE, annexation seems dead and buried, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted he hasnt permanently ruled it out. It was, after all, his legacy issue, and the US, UAE, Israel statement speaks only of Israel suspending its annexation decision. Bibi of course had reason to hope that Trump might have considered giving him the okay if Trump felt it might help him in the US presidential contest with Joe Biden in November. Now the question is whether the UAE will formally condition the bilateral deal on Israels commitment to hold off on annexation or continue to rely on the US guarantee to prevent annexation, whatever the outcome of the November election. US withholds consent for some time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently has not given up the dream of sovereignty over the West Bank, at least to continue to rally the hard-liners in his coalition. But he may have found a new legacy issue in normalization with the UAE. For Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, known as MBZ, the architect of the deal for the Emirates, the benefits of normalization with Israel both include and depend upon an indefinite suspension of annexation. In a podcast interview with Al-Monitor, UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba warned of an even more unstable region if Israel annexed settlements in the West Bank. The UAE trusts the Trump administration to hold the line on annexation, and this week the White House was reassuring. White House adviser Jared Kushner said, Israel has agreed with us that they will not move forward [with annexation] without our consent, adding,We do not plan to give our consent for some time. Whos Next? Both Netanyahu and MBZ want to sign up at least one more Arab country as soon as possible so that the UAE move is seen as a trend and not an outlier. There are reports that Sudan, Bahrain and Oman are in consultations with Israel about normalizing relations. Our take: The US presidential election is less than 10 weeks away. If Trump loses, Bibi might see his best, last chance to go for annexation or some version of it before Biden takes office in January 2021. If Trump wins, Bibi may feel he can afford to take more time to revisit the decision in some form if he sees a political need or opportunity to do so. In the meantime, getting another Arab country on board for normalization would be a boost for Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi and help forestall a Bibi rethink. Read more: Check out Dalia Dassa Kayes take on the Israel-UAE deal and the Week in Review for additional context. Caspit: Is Israel now 'Belle of the ball'? Shattered and Buried: The UAE-Israel peace deal brokered by the United States last week has shattered and buried the long-standing paradigm, enshrined in the 2002 Arab initiative, that any normalization with Israel would need to be preceded by significant progress toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ben Caspit reports. Belle of the Ball: Not only is the Arab world not condemning the move, many countries are praising it, Caspit continues. As for Israel, not only is it no longer being boycotted and punished as the neighborhood bully, it is now the belle of the ball. Prestigious Guest: Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen showed up in the Emirates this week not under cover, but as a prestigious guest. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has invited MBZ to Jerusalem. Read more: You can read Caspits take here on how the exposure of the clandestine Israel-UAE courtship has reached maturity. Kuttab: Palestinians unite against 'nonsense' deal Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Palestinian factions, including the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in opposition to the UAE-Israel agreement. Nonsense: You might think that the UAE would get some credit for stalling annexation, but thats not how the deal is being received in the West Bank, in Gaza and elsewhere in the Arab world. Abbas referred to the deal as nonsense and has called for meetings of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Countries. Unlike Israel, the Palestinian leader is holding out to the previous Arab consensus of the Arab Peace Initiative, as Daoud Kuttab reports. King Salman of Saudi Arabia, a longtime supporter of the Palestinians, has been quiet on the UAE deal, but his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is more open to engagement. The Saudi response so far has been cautiously positive. Our take: In the end, Abbas efforts to forge a unified Arab position against the deal are both unlikely to succeed and possibly unsatisfactory from a Palestinian perspective. The UAE has good ties with Egypt, which has its own peace agreement with Israel and has welcomed the UAE deal (more below). Jordan is in the same situation. Both are unlikely to back Abbas in Arab forums. Saudi Arabia wont challenge the deal but will play it down the middle, as the architect of the Arab Peace Initiative. Bahrain and Oman have had their own contacts with Israel in recent years. Israel had trade or liaison offices in Oman and Qatar in the 1990s that were closed during the second Palestinian intifada. Zaken: Israel sees UAE as gateway for Gulf markets Israeli business leaders are enthusiastic about the prospects for business across a range of sectors, including security. There are already 300 Israeli companies operating in the UAE, most of them through subsidiaries. With normalization, there is the prospect of more companies, including medium-sized enterprises, not only taking advantage of collaboration with Emirati counterparts, but through these joint ventures, entry into Gulf markets. Practical solutions. Israel has practical solutions for most of the UAEs most basic, existential needs, including water, desert agriculture, solar energy, advanced food manufacturing and, of course, several aspect of defense, from advanced weapons systems to cybersecurity, writes Danny Zaken. Read more: Danny Zaken has the take here on how Israeli business views the opportunities for collaboration with the UAE, and see our report here on how Israel is still opposed to the sale of F-35 aircraft to the UAE. Amin: Egypt reflects on missed opportunities for peace Although Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi welcomed the UAE-Israel deal as historic, reactions in Egypt were mixed. Missed opportunities: While some critics picked up the line that the deal was a betrayal of the Palestinians, others lamented the isolation that Egypt endured when it was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel in 1979. Egypts return to the Arab fold occurred 10 years later as a result of President Hosni Mubaraks alignment with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. Israel-Egypt ties have been characterized by a cold peace, although security ties have remained strong. Read more: Shahira Amin has the take from Cairo on the deal, including former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussas remark that the Israeli commitment to not go ahead with annexation must be part of the bilateral agreement, not dependent on the United States. In Case You Missed It: Al-Monitor Podcasts give context on Israel-UAE deal Ben Caspit speaks this week with former national security adviser Maj. Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland, who provides behind-the-scenes details on the historic agreement signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Check out the On Israel podcast here. UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba spoke with me about his concerns about annexation and Israeli-Palestinian issues for the On the Middle East podcast here. UPDATED 4 NOVEMBER A Harare court banned prominent lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa from defending journalist Hopewell Chinono, ruling she was in contempt of court. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called the 18 August decision "an attack against the journalists right of defense" and demanded a fair trial for Chinono. The magistrate argued in a decision published by The Herald newspaper that the lawyer had offended the court by posting about court proceedings on a Facebook page called Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law. Mtetwa denied being the author of the posts. Following the decision, American filmmaker Lorie Conway repeatedly confirmed via Facebook posts that she was the author and that Mtetwa had no access to edit the page. The name of the page was changed into Lorie Conway's Page about the film Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law. Lorie Conway had directed the 2014 documentary. Mtetwa is known for her work as a defender for press freedom and has represented dozens of journalists. Chinono was arrested on July 20 for alleged incitement "to participate in public violence". He had reported on corruption by the Zimbabwean government and has been in jail since. According to a report by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), security officers forcefully seized him from his house. The ZUJ condemned the detention claiming: Acts of aggression against journalists such as Hopewell who engage in investigative journalism are a clear sign that he is being victimized for exposing corruption in government. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger said: The dismissal of Chinonos lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa is just the tip of the iceberg in an unfair trial against a journalist. The accusations against her are clearly unfounded. We see how courts in Zimbabwe are used to crack down on critical voices. We demand that she is immediately reinstated as Chinonos lawyer and that he is guaranteed a fair trial. Updated (04/11/2020): After Chinono was released on bail on 2 September, he was rearrested on 4 November. He has been charged with contempt of court for allegedly breaking his bail conditions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Pradeep Kumar Rawat (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 19, 2020 08:43 519 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066ef6f10 3 Opinion India,Indonesia,colonialism,Independence-Day,poverty-alleviation,poverty Free Aug. 17 is the occasion when Indonesia commemorates the struggles of its founding fathers to break the shackles of colonialism to proclaim independence and lay the foundation of the modern republic that we see today. The shared history of colonialism of both Indonesia and India brought our two peoples very close in the last century. The founding fathers of our two countries worked closely with each other, shared ideas and strategies and drew inspiration from each others struggle. India hosted the Conference on Asian Relations in New Delhi in 1947, bringing together leaders of 29 countries to express solidarity with the freedom struggle in other parts of Asia and foster cooperation amongst Asian people, which was an early assertion of Asian identity. Similarly, Indonesia hosted the Bandung Conference of 1955 bringing together the newly independent countries of Asia and Africa. Together, we helped write the closing chapters of colonialism and the opening sequence of the Non-Aligned Movement, which forged the bonds of South-South cooperation and Afro-Asian solidarity. India-Indonesia diplomatic ties may be little more than 70 years old. But these seven decades of engagements have reconnected the people of India and Indonesia, and reignited a friendship forged through common civilizational links, a shared struggle against colonialism and an endeavor toward progress and prosperity. India's ties with Indonesia stretch back more than two millennia. Forged in peace and friendship, religion and culture, art and commerce, language and literature, these enduring linkages are now present in every facet of the magnificent diversity of India and Southeast Asia, providing a unique envelope of comfort and familiarity between our people. Be it the annual Bali Jatra celebrated in Odisha or the legends of Ramayana and Mahabharata, which are visible across the entire landscape of Indonesia. Sufi traders and Islamic missionaries from Gujarat carried Islam to Indonesia in the 13th century. Language and literature and the timeless art forms of ikat and batik strengthened these linkages. Trade and commerce flourished between our two countries. These bonds between our two people led to the flowering of unique cultures with the same genes of tolerance, non-violence and compassion. Unity in diversity or Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is also a key facet of the shared societal value structures that both countries celebrate, as also the common values of democracy and rule of law. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018 was a landmark event in our bilateral ties, when the leaders of our two countries decided to strengthen our cooperation in all areas by establishing a new comprehensive strategic partnership and take our bilateral relationship into a new era. Focused engagements with Southeast Asia has been a prominent feature of our government. In recent years, there have been intensive contacts between India and Indonesia at the leadership level and a rapid development of bilateral relations in political, security, defense, commercial and cultural fields, further strengthened by the Act East policy of India. The Indo-Pacific region, is increasingly seen as a connectivity pathway - much of the worlds trade passes through these oceans. With the adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific last year, the focus is now on evolving a new ASEAN-centric security architecture in this region. Indonesia as the largest country, most diverse democracy and biggest economy in the ASEAN region has a critical role to play in this regard. India shares Indian Ocean maritime space with Indonesia. The Shared Vision of India-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific fits with our concept of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) and President Joko Widodos maritime fulcrum policy. Improving connectivity between India and Indonesia is a key strategic priority for both our countries. The significant progress made by us in improving connectivity between Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India and Aceh province of Indonesia is an important indicator in this regard. Being the largest economy of ASEAN, Indonesia is also one of Indias largest trading partners in this region. In meetings of our leaders on the sidelines of multilateral fora in 2019, they gave a clear mandate to build a strong economic and development partnership that strengthens the flow of capital, trade, people and ideas between India and Indonesia. They also agreed to identify complementarities on which the two countries could work together for mutual benefit. India and Indonesia, being large developing countries, have many common challenges in food security, health, technology, infrastructure etc. Especially, at a time when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges in realizing our developmental goals, it is important for both our countries to come up with innovative solutions aimed at minimizing disruptions to trade and logistics. India stands prepared to cooperate with Indonesia to tide over these difficult times. This pandemic has not slowed down the pace of our overall cooperation. *** The writer is ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor Leste. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Kamala Harris was recently announced to be Joe Bidens vice president running mate for the elections of 2020 in the US. I have the great honor to announce that Ive picked @KamalaHarris a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the countrys finest public servants as my running mate. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020 Kamala Harris is the first ever black woman who is running mate and the first Asian-American woman ever to be selected as the vice presidential nominee of a major party in the US. However, we all have heard of her even before that. Movieclips Youtube Kamala Harris was once played by Mallika Sherawat on-screen in 2010 because of her strong Indian roots. In the film Politics Of Love which was made on a bleak budget, Sherawat played the role of Aretha Gupta which was originally inspired by Harris. Movieclips Youtube In the film, Aretha was an African-American conservative Republican who was also a volunteer for the Obama Campaign. She falls in love with a campaigner who works for the opposition party. Checkout the films trailer here- Harris was also the first woman and the first person of colour who was elected for the position as district attorney in San Francisco and also as an attorney general of California. Late journalist Gwen Ifill had also once called Kamala Harris as the the female Barack Obama on the show with David Letterman. Thats from where Sherawat took the cue and referred to Kamala as the female Barack Obama. Mallika Sherawat had also tweeted in 2009 saying, "I will B shadowing Harris to research my new movie. Its an amazing role." http://twitpic.com/8jj0r - pic of Kamala Harris n me. I'll B "shadowing" her to research my new film role. I play"Aretha Gupta", inspire ... Mallika Sherawat (@mallikasherawat) June 27, 2009 Also, the film wasnt anywhere close to reality and Mallika couldnt do a good job stepping into the footsteps of Kamala. So, its completely fine if youd want to skip watching the film. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says the leaking of the confidential information on examiners is disturbing but cannot in anyway compromise marking of the exam papers. The said document contains the names, schools, subjects, telephone numbers, home and email addresses, and other details of the examiners. The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, who raised the alarm on this, as well as leaks in Core Mathematics and Chemistry Practical Papers in a social media post, accused WAEC and the Ghana Education Service of collusion in the matter. But the Public Relations Officer for WAEC, Agnes Tei Cudjoe downplayed the concerns and also said it will not compromise the integrity of the marking process. Management has started investigations into it. We want to tell all stakeholders to rest assured that this does not mean people or the marking process is going to be compromised or anything like that, she said to Citi News. She, however, admitted that it was an extremely sensitive document. When the examination board meets to approve lists of examiners for a number of years, we don't ever let anybody take that document out because it is a confidential document. Kofi Asare, however, criticised WAEC's attitude to leaks, which appear to be an annual occurrence for mostly examination questions. He believes the Councils posturing also does not help in resolving the problem. They have always been denying. Their approach to leaks is to always deny, he complained on Eyewitness News. It serves no purpose in engaging them in such matters they are interested in protecting the sanctity and integrity of their institution rather than that of the WASSCE assessment. ---citinewsroom The winners of the popular Greerton Village Yarn bombing competition for 2020 have been announced. The winning tree is number seven, the Manuka Honey Beehive Tree, created by Julie Kitchen and Pacific Coast Village, says Greerton Village Mainstreet Manager Sally Benning. They will receive $300 for their efforts, and their chosen charity Alzheimer's Tauranga will receive $1000. The judge for this years competition Stephanie OSullivan is Head of Technology at Tauranga Girls College and has congratulated all the entrants on their creativity. The theme of Aotearoa - what it means to me gave knitters an opportunity to contribute positively back to the community, with Papamoas Pacific Coast Village knitters choosing to donate their $300 creators prize money to Homes of Hope. The winning Manuka Honey Beehive Tree, created by Julie Kitchen and Pacific Coast Village It was the first time that the knitters had entered the competition, knitting manuka flowers, a beehive and honey bees. It was really good to have something to do during lockdown, says Julie. I had a dozen people help. Julie says a lot of manuka honey was eaten by the knitters during the knitting. We think manuka honey is really special for New Zealand. The Aroha of NZ tree, created by Arohanui Art & Education Trust won the public vote, made up of online and manual voting. Christine Williams and Robyn Slater from Kiwicoast Lions dressing their A Panoramic Scene of NZ tree. They receive $200 as creators and $500 as the charity, totalling $700. Arohanui Art & Education Trust provides services for adults with disabilities, many of whom had spent about six months creating their kiwiana tree which featured Wilson a knitted rugby player. During July, Wilson was torn from the tree and stolen, resulting in a large swell of public support. Arohanui Trust General Manager Peter Gibson says that the group had worked hard to try and win the prize so they could purchase sensory equipment, woodwork machinery and resources. The winning popular vote tree Aroha of NZ created by Arohanui Art & Education Trust. An additional prize of $300 has been donated by the Greerton Village Community Association to Tree number 14, A Panoramic scene of NZ, says Sally. Created by Michelle Cliff and the Kiwicoast Lions, it achieved the highest online vote. The school with the most votes was Greerton Village Primary School with their Maori Gods tree. They will also receive a small prize from GVCA. Sally says huge thanks must go once again to Crockford Real Estate Limited t/a Ray White Greerton who sponsored the $2000 prize money. Without this sponsorship, we would not be in a position to help these local charities and reward the work of the knitters. The KiwiCoast Lions tree A Panoramic Scene of NZ which received a Greerton Village Community Association additional prize. We also want to thank all who participated this year under often difficult circumstance, to Carol Power the Yarn Bomb coordinator, Marilyn Mouat at MD's Leatherworks, the Greerton Lions, and to everyone else who helped make it possible. Next year will be the 10 year anniversary of the Greerton Yarn Bombing event. The theme Colour my World has been chosen, with registrations due to start from September. Greerton Village Primary Schools Maori Gods won most votes for a school tree. For the past two decades, investigators have searched mine shafts and dug up basements, wells and open fields while divers have searched ponds and Grand Lake. Stansill said he still plans to search other areas. What is promising is that we can mark the root cellar off the list of potential sites, he said. Lisa Bible Brodrick, Laurias cousin, spoke of Busicks tip after the failed excavation Tuesday. He said he was 80% sure we would find them there. Im 100% sure hes a liar and a thief, stealing away our girls and what our lives should have been, she said. He should know he doesnt win today because as long as I live and breathe, the search to find the girls will go on. We will keep pushing and showing up. We will never go away, and that he can be 100% sure of. Its another search, said Lorene Bible, Laurias mother. He (Busick) is doing what he can do to save himself. An elite Catholic school in Sydney costing parents up to $26,000 a year has closed after a student tested positive to COVID-19. St Vincent's College at Potts Point has quietly kept its doors shut to a majority of students after announcing a day-closure when the case was confirmed on August 13. The school was closed for deep cleaning the following day and health authorities commenced contact tracing. St Vincent's College Principle Anne Fry told Daily Mail Australia the school will remain closed all week. St Vincent's College at Potts Point, one of Sydney's prestigious suburbs, has quietly kept its doors closed to a majority of its students after announcing a day-closure on August 13. Pictured: A woman leaving the school after its closure was announced In a statement on Thursday, August 13, St Vincent's College said it was closing the school on the following day, August 14, after a student tested positive to COVID-19. Pictured: Signage left at the school's front entrance when it closed for deep cleaning 'Our College community was informed on Saturday that we would be offering a remote platform for Years 7-11 this week to ensure consistency of learning for all students,' Ms Fry said. The student who tested positive is a relative of a COVID-positive man who attended The Apollo restaurant at Potts Point. The restaurant, which is closed for deep cleaning until August 26, has been linked to 22 cases of coronavirus. Year 7 to 11 students will learn remotely for the remainder of the week, but all HSC pupils are on site, along with boarders. Borders account for about 60 of the school's 700 student population. St Vincent's College confirmed the 2020 HSC Trials were still underway on Monday and wished its students the best of luck. St Vincent's College Principle Anne Fry told Daily Mail Australia the school (pictured) would be shut for the remainder of the week - until Friday, August 21 'We are so very proud of our resilient Vinnies girls, our thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of you! You are well prepared and ready for this next chapter in your education journey,' the school's post read. Other schools closed due to being exposed to COVID-19 include Our Lady of Mercy College at Parramatta - linked to six positive cases - and Tangara School for Girls at Cherrybrook - linked to 25. Both will remain shut until August 24. Seven new COVID-19 cases were detected and 19,414 tests were conducted across NSW on Wednesday. The state has recorded 3,777 positive cases since the pandemic begun. Representative Image India, Japan and Australia are working on a supply chain agreement to counter dependence on China by creating a alternative. The countries plan to launch a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), which was first proposed by Tokyo, according to a report by The Economic Times. The commerce and trade ministers of the three countries might discuss the initiative for the first time at a meeting next week, the report added. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry approached India and highlighted the urgent need to work on the initiative, said the report. Tokyo has said it was in favour of launching the SCRI by November, the report said. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) may later be invited to join the global supply chain. India has taken the supply chain proposal seriously and has taken the decision at the highest levels of the government, the report said. India-China ties have been strained amid border tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In June, there was a clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley in Ladakh. Following the border scuffle, India amended its FDI norms and has started taking a closer look on Chinese money pouring into Indian entities. India has also introduced sops to attract global investors in an effort to compete with China and offer an alternative. For instance, the governments production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which offers incentives to companies engaged in manufacturing mobile phones and specified electronic components in India, has drawn huge interest from global and local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). With no signs of de-escalation at the border, the government is mulling further action against China on the economic front. This comes as China's Peoples Liberation Army, as per latest reports, is still holding forward positions on Pangong Tso and Gogra-Hot Springs area of Ladakh. Loading "The lessons that have been learnt from our experience with Dorothy Henderson Lodge have been applied and built on throughout our response to COVID-19 in residential aged care facilities," Senator Colbeck said. "All services with an active case of COVID-19 receive support from the Federal Government including a single case manager, access to [personal protective equipment], testing in residential aged care facilities, and access to surge workforce and supplementation. "We strengthened our advice to providers on ensuring their outbreak plans had strong workforce options, assuring them that our surge workforce contract was available." Federal Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy argued last month that authorities could not foresee the sudden withdrawal of most workers from the St Basil's home in Melbourne because it had not happened elsewhere. But authorities were told of the lessons from the NSW outbreaks at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House, where an estimated 87 per cent of workers had to go into quarantine. Loading Professor Gilbert also conducted a review of Newmarch House but the federal government is yet to release the document. She has also been asked to conduct a review of St Basil's. The reviews come as Prime Minister Scott Morrison strongly denies claims made to the royal commission that he and his ministers did not develop a specific plan to prepare aged care for the pandemic. Asked on Wednesday if "the buck stops" with him on aged care, Mr Morrison told the ABC it was a shared responsibility because the states looked after public health. "We regulate aged care but when there is a public health pandemic, then public health, which, whether it gets into aged care, shopping centres, schools or anywhere else, then they are things that are matters for Victoria," Mr Morrison said. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said this was "passing the buck" and Mr Morrison should stop saying aged care was someone else's responsibility. "The Morrison government runs, regulates and is responsible for aged care," Mr Albanese said. The federal Health Department commissioned Professor Gilbert to review Dorothy Henderson Lodge, run by BaptistCare, and received her report in April. The report notes the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed on March 3 in a nursing assistant and was followed by infections among two more staff and four residents within two days. "The response of BaptistCare management and staff to this outbreak was prompt and thorough," Professor Gilbert found. "The outcome probably would have been worse in a less well-managed facility with fewer resources and facilities." Loading Managers and volunteers from other BaptistCare units had to staff the centre for several days and workers had to be flown in from interstate. While Professor Gilbert found there were problems with training in the use of masks and gowns, she also found huge waste from the use of 800 sets of protective equipment per day in the early stages, in a facility with 80 beds. "Almost half the cases were probably already infected before containment measures were fully implemented," she wrote. Professor Gilbert found that some infected residents could be looked after at the facility rather than being sent to hospital, a point of contention in the current outbreak in Victoria when some aged care operators want all infected residents to go to hospital. Loading "Anecdotally, some residents were referred to hospital contrary to their advanced care directives," she wrote. "This is understandable in the context of a frightening new disease. However, it later became clear that seriously ill residents could be safely palliated at the facility, after consideration of their and their family's wishes and the resources of the facility." From interviews with staff and residents, Professor Gilbert also found the strict controls put in place caused harm over and above the harm from the coronavirus. "The absence of physical contact with loved ones and lack of exercise and fresh air seriously affected residents' mental and physical health," she wrote. In a separate submission to the royal commission, the not-for-profit BaptistCare said it incurred additional costs of $2.4 million to manage the outbreak including $1.7 million in staff costs, and warned of the difficulty of finding an emergency workforce at short notice. "We acknowledge that the Australian government has subsequently implemented processes to assist the sector, but this was not an option at the time of the DHL outbreak," it said. "We encourage a review of the effectiveness of the resources that are now available." A woman was left furious after a man she met on a dating app tried to get her to break Melbourne's strict Stage Four lockdown to have casual sex with him - after health authorities expressed fears young Victorians were spreading coronavirus. Ally, 24, said she received a message over the weekend from a man she had gone on a date with more than a year ago and had not seen since. The unnamed man hunted her down on Instagram and asked if she had seen his message on Hinge, where they met in early 2019. He made a lacklustre apology for ignoring her after he failed to show up to their second date because he was 'tired', before making his indecent proposal. 'The lockdown is pretty rough for everyone and if you weren't seeing anyone I was wondering if you'd be interested in a hookup pact?' he wrote. Ms McMillan was stunned by the proposition, given they hadn't so much as shared a kiss on their first date, and replied that she was 'not really interested'. The male musician, who works as an organ player in churches, then replied: 'All good, thanks anyway!' Masters student Ally (pictured) said she received a very indecent proposal from a former Hinge date The unidentified man asked if Ms McMillan (pictured) wanted to bend lockdown laws to have sex Ms McMillan said she was shocked by her former date's willingness to break state laws and potentially spread the virus - risking lives and extending the pandemic. 'It's dangerous and selfish,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I don't want to get the virus, and I'm really worried about the economic impact of these lockdowns. 'It makes me so angry when I hear people are doing things like this - it means the consequences will be worse.' The reckless willingness to break lockdown bore out research from the World Health Organization which showed that people under 40 were driving the spread of COVID-19 internationally, even if they were less susceptible to the worst effects of the illness. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has repeatedly warned that the virus was spreading wildly among young people, with the majority of cases being those in their 20s. The unnamed man launched into a lackluster apology for ignoring her after he failed to show up to their second date because he was 'tired', before he said she was 'gorgeous' and asked if she had a partner Victoria's killer second wave has forced the state into a second lockdown after hundreds of new cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals. Melburnians are currently banned from visiting each other as the Victorian government tries to suppress a second wave of the virus - but exceptions are given to couples in intimate relationships who do not live together. Last week, it was reported that one in four nursing homes in Melbourne have experienced a coronavirus outbreak, with 180 deaths since the second wave. On Wednesday, all 12 people reported to have died in Melbourne were aged care residents. There are now 2,050 active cases of coronavirus across 120 facilities. Ms McMillan said she was shocked by the man's willingness to break state laws and potentially spread the virus - risking lives and extending the pandemic Ms McMillan believes the message she received was likely sent to a few different women the man had met on dating sites. She asked women in a private Facebook group whether anyone else had experienced the same thing and was shocked by the responses. One woman wrote: 'So glad I'm not the only one. A guy I met on a Top Deck tour in February has literally ghosted me since March then all of a sudden replies to my Instagram story saying how he's so horny and misses me.' Ms McMillan believes the message was generic and likely sent to a few different women he had met on dating sites The student then asked other women in a private Facebook group whether anyone else had experienced the same thing and was shocked by the responses Another said: 'I have matched with guys in Hinge that kept asking me to break the lockdown rules - I'm so over it and I ended up deleting the apps.' Someone else mentioned she had men who previously ignored her 'come out of the woodwork this year', while another claimed a stranger asked her to isolate with him so they could have sex. All the women agreed the proposition messages appeared generic - as though they were sent to a number of others, changing only the names. Victoria recorded 216 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday the lowest since July 13. Andy Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO of xtraCHEF Entrepreneur Of The Year has recognized game-changing business leaders for more than 30 years, says Schwartz. Im honored to be a finalist among other disruptors and innovators in the Greater Philadelphia area. Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Andy Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO of xtraCHEF, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 Greater Philadelphia Award finalist. Now in its 34th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors entrepreneurial business leaders whose ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity as they build and sustain successful businesses that transform our world. Award winners will be announced through a special virtual event in early October and will join a lifelong community of esteemed Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. This year, unstoppable entrepreneurs who have provided extraordinary support for their communities, employees and others during the COVID-19 crisis will also be recognized for their courage, resilience and ingenuity. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria: overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world. xtraCHEF is the leading accounts payable (AP) automation and back-office business intelligence solution for restaurants. Founded in 2015 by Schwartz and Bhavik Patel, xtraCHEF has quickly become a name to watch in the restaurant tech space. During the pandemic, xtraCHEF has released two products to show its commitment to the restaurant industry: xtraCASH, a free version of its food cost and purchase management software, and Sync, a free integration between Toast POS and QuickBooks Online. Entrepreneur Of The Year has recognized game-changing business leaders for more than 30 years, says Schwartz. Im honored to be a finalist among other disruptors and innovators in the Greater Philadelphia area. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November during a virtual awards gala. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in June 2021. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries all supported by vast EY resources. Sponsors Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America and the Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Philadelphia, sponsors also include PNC Bank, DFIN, SolomonEdwards Group, Ballard Spahr LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Murray Devine & Company and Pepper Troutman LLP. About xtraCHEF xtraCHEF is a cloud-based restaurant management platform that enables foodservice operators to maximize profits and productivity. Leveraging a combination of machine learning, data science, and quality control, xtraCHEF provides the power of data and automation to streamline the supply chain. By automating time-consuming tasks related to ordering, accounts payable, budgets, and cost management, xtraCHEF helps restaurant groups to build back-of-house operations that can scale. Learn more at http://www.xtrachef.com. About Entrepreneur Of The Year Entrepreneur Of The Year is the worlds most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, strategy, transaction and consulting services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In doing so, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. European Council President Charles Michel wears a protective facemask as he arrives at EU headquarters in Brussels, on August 19, 2020, for the start the EU emergency video summit on the crisis in Belarus. OLIVIER HOSLET | POOL | AFP via Getty Images The European Union announced plans to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials on Wednesday, with leaders of the 27 heads of state in agreement a new vote would be required following the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. European Council President Charles Michel said in a video briefing that the bloc would soon impose sanctions on a "substantial number" of individuals responsible for violence, repression, and election fraud. The bloc had previously described the vote as "neither free nor fair." "We stand firmly behind the right of the Belarusian people to determine their own fate," Michel said, shortly after the conclusion of an emergency summit with EU leaders. "I would like to address the people of Belarus directly, we stand by your side in your desire to exercise your fundamental democratic rights and in your desire for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future," he added. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said EU leaders had also formed a consensus that new elections in Belarus would be needed, Reuters reported. Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, claimed a landslide victory in the August 9 presidential election after official results gave him his sixth term in office with 80% of the vote. The authoritarian leader has denied allegations of electoral fraud. Opposition protesters have taken to the streets as anger grows over reports of police violence and allegations of vote-rigging. Authorities have sought to stamp out the ongoing mass protests by using clubs, rubber bullets and stun grenades. Thousands of arrests have been made and at least two demonstrators have been killed. Human Rights Watch, which noted most of the protests had been peaceful, described the police round-ups as "systemically brutal." Large state-owned factories, a traditional support base for Lukashenko, have gone on strike in solidarity with the demonstrators, and Belarusian authorities have reportedly acknowledged that some police officials have since quit their posts. Lukashenko ordered the police to stop unrest in the country's capital city of Minsk on Wednesday, according to the official Belta news agency, following more than a week-and-a-half of demonstrations against his leadership. "People are tired. People demand peace and quiet," Lukashenko was quoted as saying, insisting there should "no longer be any disorder in Minsk of any kind." Russia tensions Regional experts have drawn comparisons between the current situation in Belarus with the political uprising in Ukraine six years ago. The latter resulted in Russian military intervention and a global geopolitical confrontation. It is for this reason that external observers are closely monitoring Russia's response to the crisis. A traditional ally of Belarus, Moscow has said it would be prepared to offer Lukashenko military support if necessary. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures as he delivers a speech during a rally of his supporters near the Government House in Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus August 16, 2020. Reuters Andrei Illarionov, senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, told CNBC via email that he does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to intervene, but added that this was a "very cautious" expectation. Putin "would like to replace Lukashenko with somebody else who would be much easier prey, who would be a much easier partner to fulfill his plan for unification," Illarionov said. "Putin definitely is very much interested in keeping Belarus in the Russian sphere of influence, but he's not very interested in keeping exactly Lukashenko in power," he added. 'Respect the sovereignty of Belarus' - President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was arrested on Tuesday, August 18, by rebel soldiers over graft allegations - Keita issued a statement saying he did not want bloodshed in the country and had instead given up his duties - His resignation came after a week-long political crisis that was led by Opposition politicians The president of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned after he was arrested by his rebel soldiers over allegations of corruption. The besieged head of state said he did not wish for blood to be shed following a military mutiny that has since plunged the country into a political crisis. READ ALSO: Mary Kilobi warms hearts with cute, loved up photo of herself and hubby Francis Atwoli President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned after he was taken into custody by rebel soldiers over graft allegations. Photo: The Herald Source: UGC READ ALSO: Senator Malala changes tune, says his bank accounts were frozen by KRA In a statement that was broadcast on national television earlier on Wednesday, August 19, Keita said he had no choice other than giving up his duties for now, according to a report by Aljazeera. "Today, certain parts of the military have decided that intervention was necessary. Do I really have a choice? Because I do not wish blood to be shed," Keita was quoted as saying in a brief statement broadcast on national television. Keita said he had decided to give up my duty from now on. Despite his resignation, it was still unclear if the country was officially under the military leadership. READ ALSO: Martha Karua says Raila Odinga is articulating gov't policies more than Uhuru Kenyatta As earlier reported, Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested in Bako on Tuesday, August 11, after a number of senior civilian and military officials were also reportedly rounded up by the soldiers. Keita's arrest came amid a week-long crisis in which Opposition leaders had taken to the streets demanding his exit, accusing him of allowing the country's economy to collapse and mishandling a worsening security situation. West African countries, the European Union (EU) and the African Union called out the soldiers and warned against any unconstitutional change of power in the country. The soldiers were expected to deliver a statement over the next step of action soon. Keita becomes the second African leader to be removed from power in less than two years after Sudan's Omar al-Bashir was dethroned in a military coup. 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 Vietnam confirmed four more locally transmitted coronavirus cases, bringing the countrys tally of infections to 993, the Ministry of Health announced at 6pm, August 19. Da Nang, the epicenter of the countrys currently coronavirus outbreak, registered two new cases, both of whom are medical workers of the Hoa Vang Medical Center and Da Nang Hospital. the central province of Quang Nam had one case, a 34-year-old man who took care of his wife, a COVID-19 patient, at Da Nang hospital. The northern province of Hai Duong reported a case in Tan Binh ward, Hai Duong city. The 40-year-old woman had direct contact with two other COVID-19 patients who were closely linked to an outbreak at a restaurant on Ngo Quyen street in Hai Duong city. On August 14, the patient was sent to centralised quarantine in a campus of Hai Duong University. A day later, she tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but later confirmatory tests by Hai Duong Centre for Disease Control and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology returned positive. The woman is now treated at the Hai Duong City's Hospital for Tropicla Diseases. As of 18.00hrs August 19, Vietnam recorded 653 community acquired cases, including 513 cases tied to Da Nang. The remaining 340 cases were infected with the virus before they returned to Vietnam. The new outbreak has spread to 15 cities and provinces since the SARS-CoV-2 virus recurred in Da Nang three weeks ago. Da Nang is the hardest hit locality, recording more than 300 cases, followed by Quang Nam, Hai Duong, HCM City, and Ha Noi. August 19, Vietnam reported 13 recoveries from COVID-19, including five from Hue Central Hospital, two patients from Da Nang Lung Hospital, two from Hoa Vang District medical centre, and one in Binh Son District, Quang Ngai Province. Three other patients in Dong Nai, Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh provinces have also been given the all-clear today. Earlier August 19, the health ministry reported one death of a former COVID-19 case (Patient 418) and included it in the official death count, but later today revised its stance given the patient had tested negative multiple times before his death. The man was suffering from a number of underlying health issues hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The countrys COVID-19 related fatalities was kept at 25 Wednesday, with the first one reported on July 31. Thuy Hanh TEHRAN, Iran - Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. The announcement came as the Islamic Republic, which has been struggling with both the regions largest outbreak and the highest number of fatalities, went ahead with university entrance exams for over 1 million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shiite commemorations later this month. Meanwhile, Lebanon reached 10,000 confirmed cases Wednesday after recording nearly 600 new infections. The small Mediterranean country of over 5 million continues to see the number of new cases accelerate. Iran suffered the regions first major outbreak, seeing top politicians, health officials and religious leaders in its Shiite theocracy stricken with the virus. It has since struggled to contain the spread of the virus across this nation of 80 million people, initially beating it back only to see it spike again beginning in June. Still, international experts remain suspicious of Irans case counts. Even researchers in the Iranian parliament in April suggested the death toll is likely nearly double the officially reported figures, due to undercounting and because not everyone with breathing problems has been tested for the virus. Iran reported its first coronavirus cases and deaths on the same day in February the Mideasts first outbreak of the virus yet it only saw its highest single-day spike in reported cases in June. The highest daily death toll was reported in July. In February, before Iran reported its first cases, authorities for days denied the virus had reached the country, allowing the virus time to spread as the nation marked the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution with mass demonstrations and then held a parliamentary election in which authorities desperately sought to boost turnout. On Wednesday, Iran reported over 350,200 confirmed cases, with 20,125 deaths, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said. Meanwhile, some 1.4 million Iranian students began taking their hours-long university entrance exams, which typically see large groups of applicants sitting for the exam in big testing centres. Each applicant usually remains in the testing centre for nearly four hours. Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the pandemic in Tehran, said Irans capital still faced the countrys highest level of alert over the virus. Authorities would disinfect testing centres to guarantee the health of the applicants in the highest level, he insisted. Dozens of applicants will have to take the exam from their hospital beds as they have already been sickened by the virus. Then later this month, Iran will mark the Ashoura, a major Shiite commemoration mourning the 7th century death of Prophet Muhammads grandson Hussein, one of Shiite Islams most beloved saints. Nine days before the Ashoura, daily mass processions see men beating their backs with chains or their chests a symbolic expression of regret for not being able to help Hussein before his martyrdom. Many distribute free food and soft drinks among mourners. On Monday, a society of clerics said the Ashoura should go on under any circumstances, while still demanding that participants follow health guidance measures. However, authorities complain that mask usage and other measures have remained lower than expected, likely due to fatigue among Iranians months into the crisis. The Iranian Psychiatric Association wrote a letter to Health Minister Saeed Namaki, demanding the complete ban of any gatherings, especially communal mourning ceremonies when people mark the Ashoura. It cited near-daily death tolls of 200 from the virus in Iran. We are on the verge of a much bigger disaster, the association warned. In reference to Ashoura, Iranian Senior Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri tweeted that the coronavirus has made mourning sites precarious. This year we should stay at home to hold the mourning, he said. In Lebanon, a surge in new cases was made worse by the colossal blast that hit the Lebanese capital on Aug. 4, injuring 6,000 and killing over 180 while leaving at least four hospitals in the capital severely damaged. The explosion happened when nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the Port of Beirut was ignited. The country returns to a partial lockdown starting Friday for two weeks in a bid to curb the viruss spread. The lockdown doesnt affect the area of the blast so as not to hamper rescue efforts and work to clear the debris and help people return to their homes. It also doesnt affect the airport. An overnight curfew goes into effect starting Friday, from 6 p.m. to 6 am. The head of Lebanons powerful Hezbollah group called for smaller Ashoura mourning ceremonies and said there will be no rallies at the end of the 10-day mourning period. The United Arab Emirates reported its highest daily case numbers in over a month, saying on Wednesday its mass-testing program had found 435 new cases. So far, the federation of sheikhdoms that is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai has seen over 65,000 cases, with 367 deaths. Thats even as Dubai has reopened for tourism and the Emirates plans to host the Indian Premier League beginning next month. In a briefing Tuesday, Emirati Health and Prevention Minister Abdulrahman al-Owais blamed people who are not wearing masks and maintaining distance from each other at private parties and family functions for the rise in cases. Unfortunately, we have seen recently an alarming increase in the number of daily cases, compared to previous weeks, the minister was quoted as saying. ___ Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report. Read more about: Imran Khans comments come days after a US-brokered deal between UAE and Israel to normalise relations. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said his country will not recognise Israel until there is a Palestinian state acceptable to the Palestinians. In an interview with local broadcaster Dunya News, Khan said on Tuesday Islamabad would not follow suit in recognising Israel as a state, in a thinly veiled reference to the United Arab Emirates which struck a United States-brokered deal last week to normalise ties with Israel. Whatever any country does, our position is very clear. And our position was made clear by [Pakistans founder] Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1948: that we cannot ever accept Israel as long as Palestinians are not given their rights and there is no just settlement, Khan said. "Our stance is very clear; as Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said, Pakistan will never recognise Israel until Palestinians are given their right of a just settlement." Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI #PMImranKhanonDunyaNews pic.twitter.com/7oahWSuj8E Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) August 18, 2020 The UAE on August 13 became the first Gulf Arab country and third in the Middle East after Egypt and Jordan to reach a deal on normalising relations with Israel, capping years of discreet contacts between the two countries in commerce and technology. Khan said if Pakistan accepted Israel and ignored the oppression of the Palestinians, we will have to give up Kashmir as well then, adding that this was not something Pakistan could do. When you talk of Israel and Palestine, we need to think, will we be able to answer [God] if we abandon those people who have faced every kind of injustice and whose rights were taken away? My own conscience will never allow me to do this, I can never accept it, Khan said. The Palestinian embassy in Islamabad thanked Khan for his stance, according to Pakistani media outlet Dawn. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would not follow the UAE in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until it had signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians. Peace must be achieved with the Palestinians on the basis of international agreements as a pre-condition for any normalisation of relations, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told reporters during a visit to Germanys capital, Berlin. Once that is achieved all things are possible, he added. Her extensive research, the first comprehensive study of its kind, has earned her the 'Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad' by the China Scholarship Council A MUSIC archaeological study of ancient Chinese chime stones dating back to 2400BC to 8AD, conducted by a PhD graduate from the University of Huddersfield, has been deemed a remarkable achievement by the Chinese Government and has been conferred a coveted award. Dr Xueyang Fang, from the city of Tianjin in north-eastern China, graduated this year with a PhD in music. Her extensive research, the first comprehensive study of its kind, has earned her the 'Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad' from the China Scholarship Council. The award was set up in 2003 to honour overseas Chinese students with outstanding academic accomplishments and is the highest award Chinese Government can give to graduate students studying outside China. An estimated half a million Chinese students leave China to study abroad each year, making this prestigious award highly competitive. "Only those with outstanding performance in their PhD studies are considered by the award selection panel and each year no more than 500 young talented researchers are granted this annual award," said the China Scholarship Council's Secretary-General, Sheng Jianxue. "Xueyang Fang stood out from the competition and I would like to express my sincere gratitude for Professor Rupert Till's support and conscientious supervision, which have contributed to her remarkable achievements," he added. A comprehensive and exhaustive analysis Dr Fang's thesis, supervised by Professor Rupert Till from the University's Department of Music and Drama, is the first significant study of Chinese chime stones to be published in English and has created a new taxonomy, as well as collecting previous research published largely in Chinese. On top of the comprehensive and exhaustive analysis of hundreds of specimens of chime stones, including their archaeological sites, periods and multiple categories of co-existent discoveries, Dr Fang's fieldwork has produced a large amount of data that can be used for future research. This includes materials from Chinese museums and original sound recordings for analysis. A journal article, written by Dr Fang in collaboration with Professor Till, explained how chime stones were often used in Royal court music performances, which were usually a combination of chime bells and other musical instruments and often represented high-ranking status in ancient Chinese society, especially in pre-imperial China. Their cultural and ritual significance In China, chime stones have important cultural and ritual significance and were significant enough to be buried with ruling people and so were a core symbol for social rank and authority. "Burying these stones with this individual was clearly a significant act," said Dr Fang, when referring to an excavation of nine chime stones found in an Eastern Zhou Tomb in Hebi, China between 2009 and 2010. "Returning these stones to the ground has perhaps extra poignancy, in the knowledge that they have remained intact and indeed in tune, while their owner's body has decomposed," she added. The European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) Dr Fang was initially prompted to pursue advanced study in the UK after reading numerous articles written by Professor Rupert Till, an affiliate of the European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) and the Associate Dean International for the University's School of Music, Humanities and Media. For the EMAP series, Professor Till recorded a wide range of ancient European instruments and investigated the acoustics of the places where they were once played. These included the Tombs of the Kings, a World Heritage Site in Cyprus and the Isturitz caves in France, where artefacts discovered included a pre-historic bone flute. As a result of his research, she began to explore the journey of music archaeology with profound interest and says deciding to carry out her PhD at the University of Huddersfield, under Professor Till's supervision, was the best decision she ever made. Throughout her doctoral research Professor Till encouraged Dr Fang to take part in several international conferences, such as the 10th Symposium of the International Study Group for Music Archaeology (ISGMA) held in Wuhan, China, the University of New York's 14th Music Iconography Conference and the 15th Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Study Group on Music Archaeology in Slovenia. "Through my participation of these conferences, not only did my experience and self-confidence increase, but I also gained greater interdisciplinary knowledge during my periods of study," she said. "To anyone who is wondering about why they should join the University of Huddersfield, I want to implore that my Alma Mater will provide the platform you need to succeed, whatever your plans for the future. I strongly recommend being a student here for anyone interested in furthering their studies." ### TDT | Manama The First Lower Sharia Court (Sunni Division) has recently rejected a lawsuit filed by a man and his mother, who demanded to transfer the custody of his child from his ex-wifes mother to his mother. Defence Attorney Mujtaba Ahmed explained that the complaint was considered unjustified and the court ordered to grant the custody to his clients mother, the childs grandmother. According to Ahmed, the plaintiff s pretext was that his ex-wife had married another man and shall be deprived from caring for their three-year-old son, as per the provisions of the law. Moreover, he argued that his ex-wifes mother, the childs grandmother, is too old to take care of the child, adding that she is a Saudi national and her living abroad, along with his son, is a big probability. The plaintiff demanded the court grant his mother legal custodianship of the boy, as stipulated in Article 127 of Law 19 of 2017, with respect to the promulgation of the Family Law, which mentions that if the custodian is a woman, she shall not be married to a stranger to the child in custody, unless the court decides otherwise for the interest of the child, according to Sunni jurisprudence. However, Ahmed explained that the courts decision came as per Article 128 of the same law, which stipulates: Custody is a joint duty of both parents together as long as they remain married. In case of separation, the custody shall be for the mother, then the mothers mother, no matter how high in lineage, then to the fathers mother, then the father, in accordance to the Sunni jurisprudence. Ahmed added: The court summoned my clients mother, the grandmother of the child in custody, to stand on her fitness and capability of raising the child and caring for him. After reviewing her health condition, the court decided to reject the lawsuit filed by the plaintiff and his mother, and ordered to grant the grandmother the custody of the boy. The court also ordered the plaintiff to bear the court expenses and lawyer fees. New Delhi, Aug 19 : The ruling Janata Dal-United, its alliance partner Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the principal opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order for a CBI probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. RJD Rajya Sabha MOP and spokesperson Manoj K. Jha told IANS, "The Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput death case and we are very happy." He said, "Our party and Bihar's Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had raised the demand in the one day Assembly session and outside the Assembly for the CBI probe. And now we want speedy probe to bring the truth out without thinking who all high and mighty are involved in the case." LJP chief Chirag Paswan also welcomed the Supreme Court order and said, "I thanks the SC for ordering a CBI probe as it respected the feelings of crores of people. The way in which the probe has been handed over to CBI, a long demand has been fulfilled that will make clear what is the truth and the names of the people who tried to divert the case." Paswan said, "I hope the family will be much relieved and they will get justice soon." JD-U spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad also said that the CBI probe into the death of the late actor will bring out the reality in front of everyone. "This is a very big victory for justice. The SC accepted that the FIR of the Bihar Police was correct and also ordered the Mumbai Police to follow the order. It is a historic moment, as the the two state were indulged into bitter talks, which was unfortunate. But after the SC decision the feelings of the crores of people have been respected by the Supreme Court." The reactions came soon after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and asked Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence collected so far in the case to CBI. Justice Hrishikesh Roy said the CBI will be competent to probe not only Patna FIR but any other FIR in connection with the case. The top court noted that the Mumbai Police have registered only an accidental death report in connection with Rajput's death, therefore it have limited investigation powers, whereas the case registered by Bihar Police is a full fledged FIR which has been already referred to CBI. Latest updates on Sushant Singh Rajput Death Mystery -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-20 00:27:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Peng Zhiyong (C), head of the department of critical care medicine of Zhongnan Hospital, performs diagnosis on a patient in the ICU (intensive care unit) of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi) BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Peng Zhiyong, director of the department of critical care medicine of Zhongnan Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University, was busy as always despite the waning of the COVID-19 epidemic in China. At the beginning of the year, 53-year-old Peng led nearly 200 medical workers to fight against the virus on the front line in hard-hit Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, a great number of medical workers have raced against time and fought tenaciously against the virus, risking their own lives to save the lives of others with total devotion. HEROES IN HEROIC CITY It was his third time working on the front lines battling a major epidemic following the fight against SARS in 2003 and avian influenza in 2016. "As a doctor, I must always maintain respect and concern for life and never give up on any patient," Peng said. "Wherever there are patients, we too are there. Especially in the face of major disasters, we should rush to the front," said Peng. "It is our responsibility." "Facing COVID-19, none of my colleagues retreated. Many young doctors who were about to get married or who had little kids at home nevertheless continued their work on the front lines," he added. With an incurable disease, Zhang Dingyu, head of Wuhan's designated coronavirus-treating Jinyintan Hospital, has been a hero to many over the past months. Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), he will progressively lose muscle strength, eventually becoming paralyzed and unable to speak, move, swallow or even breathe. But the 56-year-old doctor, along with his colleagues, have treated and saved more than 2,800 COVID-19 patients, many of whom were severely or critically ill. Last week, Zhang was awarded the national honorary title "the People's Hero" for his outstanding contributions in the fight against COVID-19. "I never thought about being a hero. Everyone has made sacrifices and contributions (in this battle). I'm just one of them," said Zhang, also deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission. Thanks to the devotion and contribution of millions of medical workers like Peng and Zhang, by the end of May, of the cumulative total of 83,017 confirmed cases reported on the Chinese mainland, 78,307 had been cured and discharged from hospital. This equates to a cure rate of 94.3 percent, according to the white paper "Fighting COVID-19: China in Action" released by the State Council Information Office. Chinese expert Xu Yonghao demonstrates wearing a protective suit in Baghdad, Iraq, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) FRONT LINES ACROSS BORDERS Xu Yonghao, an intensivist with the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in south China, has spent the past year accumulating unforgettable memories. In June last year, Xu was sent to Nyingchi in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region for medical assistance. However, the COVID-19 epidemic disrupted his plan on the plateau and Xu returned to Guangzhou to join the fight on Jan. 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year. "As medical personnel, we must be on the front lines," he said. Xu had been working hard to treat critically ill patients, then he was sent to the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province to participate in consultations, while at the same time he was helping medics in Hubei Province via telemedicine. On March 7, Xu joined the medical expert team organized by the Red Cross Society of China and flew to Iraq to assist the country with its fight against COVID-19. "It's our mission to heal the wounded and rescue the dying," said Xu. "No matter at home or abroad, I will go wherever I am needed." SAVING LIVES AS NEW LIFE ARRIVES As the cluster of COVID-19 infections related to Beijing's Xinfadi wholesale market wanes, Chen Changming, who has worked at Nanyuan Hospital in Fengtai District for five months, can finally take a moment to hug his wife and newborn daughter. The new cluster started in June, when Chen's wife was about to give birth, while Chen entered the hospital's isolation ward to work for over a month in a high-risk environment. As a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, Chen made full use of his expertise and prepared granules with anti-pneumonia effects with his colleagues for medics and patients. On June 21, Chen celebrated his first Father's Day at the ward. His wife Zhou Siqi gave birth to a daughter. She had returned to her hometown in Hubei in advance, to allow him to concentrate on his job. Chen said he was elated to see his wife and daughter both doing well through a video call, but felt sorry for not being there with her. "I know he was saving lives," said Zhou. "I feel that I was fighting the epidemic with him." One of the cardinal principles of politics is that one must continue to engage with all, and particularly those, who oppose you the most. Thus, political parties should be forever ready to engage and charm the communities that have opposed them the most in the past. The Samajwadi Party (SP)'s recent announcement to build a 108- foot statue of Lord Parashuram, a Brahmin icon, is an approach based on the same principle. Brahmins have mostly remained aloof from the party. Humbled in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and the 2019 parliamentary polls, SP president Akhilesh Yadav is looking for new experiments in social engineering. If Brahmins, comprising 12-14 per cent of the populace in the state, flock to the SP, it could change the party's fortunes. Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, who had managed Brahmin support in 2007, hurriedly tweeted that she will install a statue bigger than the SPs on coming to power. The third opposition party in the state Congress is already working overtime to woo back the Brahmins who traditionally voted for it till the early 1990s. Recently former Congress union minister Jitin Prasada launched Brahmin Chetna Samvad to consolidate the disgruntled community under one umbrella (read Congress) after a recent spate of killings of Brahmins across the state. It's clear that the race for the 2022 assembly elections has begun in UP. And Brahmins are the prize catch. The attempt to woo the Brahmins by the SP and BSP away from the BJP is symbolic of the full circle these parties had traversed since their inception. Supported by Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) that have traditionally been exploited by the upper castes and primarily Brahmins, and rising to power on the promise to shatter the Brahmin economic and social supremacy, the parties today are devising plans to entice the very same exploiters. Quite amazing, one may think. Not so, if you consider that Dalits and OBCs are today voting for the BJP. Perhaps encouraged by the reports that Brahmins in the state are angry with chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a Rajput; it is but common sense to pouch the so called distressed community. But, the million-dollar question is, how does one bait it? Especially when the caste you are talking about is Brahmin educated, clever, with extreme political awareness that understand their interest better than anyone could ever tell them. Unlike Dalits or OBCs who can be easily influenced, a Brahmin knows his politics. It is not easy to trick him. But at the same time, it is not impossible. Firstly, let us examine whether the Brahmin is really angry with the present dispensation the BJP. I have serious doubts. At best, some section of the community could be angry with CM Yogi Adityanath, not the party. Primarily, the BJP follows the RSS agenda of Hindutva and nationalism, pro-upper caste policies and anti-Muslim and anti-OBC strategies. This aligns with the Brahmin interest and aspirations. Remember, the Narendra Modi government has given 10 per cent reservation in the central government services to the economically weaker sections without any demand or protest by these castes. The RSS Sarsanghchalak has always been a Brahmin (except once) and sets the codes to be followed by the party. So, basically there is no reason for the Brahmin to feel anguished or dismayed with the machine that is oiled and operated for his use. Of course, having a Brahmin chief minister would have been the icing on the cake. But if he is not, the sky is not falling. The section of the community that might be angry for some personal reasons can be pacified when the suitable time comes. In such a scenario, snapping Brahmins away from BJP isnt a walk in the park. Yet, efforts should be made by the opposition parties to claim a share in the pie. How? It could only happen if the SP or BSP promises them something more tangible than what the BJP is offering. Some economic incentives could be announced, or reservation within the reservation or scholarship/pensions to the poor Brahmins. But this something more could clash with the agenda of their own party and interest of the present cadre. The collusion between the core voters of these parties and Brahmins the face of their exploitation could boomerang. One will have to tread a very narrow path here. With the death of socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra and the BJPs Kalraj Mishra residing in the governors house in Rajasthan, UP needs a Brahmin leader to fill the vacuum. While the BSP already has a Brahmin face in Satish Chandra Mishra, the Samajwadi party is at disadvantage here. Today, there is no known pan-UP Brahmin leader in the party like Muslims have Azam Khan, Thakurs had Amar Singh, Kurmis had Beni Prasad Verma, etc. No doubt Abhishek Mishra and Manoj Pandey are Brahmins, but they are yet to gain the stature that could attract the community. To draw Brahmins, the community would need one of their own who could hold on to his own in Akhilesh Yadavs court; a face before which Brahmins could air their grievances and could get a sympathetic pat on the back. And since the SP does not have one, Akhilesh Yadav would have to create a Brahmin leader of such a stature and importance. Sometimes elections become battles of perceptions. The existing perception is that upper castes like Brahmins and Rajputs have no respect or future in the SP or BSP. This perception needs to change. And the sooner it changes, the better for them, if they aspire for Brahmin votes. But perceptions do not change overnight. It will take Herculean efforts and prodigious brains to change it along with the support of vernacular newspapers, national media, social media, etc. Standing with the Brahmin cause, voicing concern about their economic status, putting them in positions of power and respect in the party organisation could go a long way in changing the anti-upper caste perception about these parties. However, unless this perception changes, Brahmins will not consider them as an option. The politics of symbolism building statues, declaring holidays, etc, can only be used as top-up to first rectifying the realities on the ground. Unless things change at the grassroots, nothing else will work. Besides, these have to be followed by ample tickets for Brahmins when the time comes. Ticket distribution is the biggest headache for any party, especially so in the caste cauldron of Uttar Pradesh where aspirations of thousands of castes have to be kept in mind. The Brahmin community would also demand a thick share of tickets, and rightly so, based on their number. The party which balances this act of pleasing the Brahmins along with their core cadre and traditional voter can reap the benefits. But, it is a formidable task and not many in the past have successfully managed this tightrope walk. Israel has privately expressed concerns to the Trump administration about a new nuclear facility reportedly built in the Saudi desert with Chinese help, Israeli officials said. Why it matters: This secret development raises concerns that the Saudis are building infrastructure for a future military nuclear program. What's happening: Israeli defense and intelligence officials raised concerns with their U.S. counterparts after both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that the Saudis had teamed up with China to build a secret facility in the desert near Riyadh to produce yellowcake, a basic material for uranium enrichment. What they're saying: A senior Israeli intelligence official said there are "worrying signs about what the Saudis might be doing, but it is not exactly clear to us what's going on in this facility." "The U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also dont have a clear picture about whats going on there, and they are in the process of clarifying it with the Saudis," the official said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is treading carefully to avoid damaging relations with both Saudi Arabia and China, Israeli officials told me. Saudi Arabia is one of Israels main secret allies against Iran in the region, and Israel hopes the kingdom will follow the United Arab Emirates in normalizing relations with Israel. The Israeli intelligence community, as well as the foreign and defense ministries, are following the issue but were instructed by Netanyahu's office not to discuss it publicly. Israeli officials think the Saudis decided to work with China on the new facility because the Chinese don't require assurances that nuclear technology will be used only for peaceful purposes. In contrast, the U.S. strictly conditions any nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia on such assurances. Background: The production of yellowcake is a preliminary phase in the refinement of uranium. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty does not compel the Saudis to update the IAEA about the existence of such a facility. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday buttressed its civil fraud charges against Philadelphia-based Par Funding, detailing how the firm rejected an auditors report showing it was losing money and swapped it with one showing a profit. In a lengthy federal court hearing watched on Zoom by a virtual audience of 150 that included defendants, numerous lawyers, and many worried investors, SEC senior trial counsel Amie Riggle Berlin castigated Par Funding and its network of financial advisers, accusing it of building a sham and egregious operation with no respect for the truth ... no respect for the law. In rebuttal, lawyers for the defendants in the case dismissed Berlins arguments as wild statements that had hyped the threat to investors. They pleaded with U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, presiding from a courtroom in Florida, to relax his freeze on the finances of Par Funding and others, saying the SEC action threatened to snuff out their businesses and cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars. Over the weekend, the judge had tightened controls even more after learning that people from the frozen firms had been remotely accessing and altering computer records against the judges order. Ruiz promised to decide by Sept. 4 whether to extend the temporary order that he issued on July 31, putting a receiver in charge of the defendants firms and locking them and their 70 employees out of their offices. Also last month, the FBI searched Par Fundings Old City offices and the homes of Joseph W. LaForte and Lisa McElhone, the husband-and-wife team who founded the company in Philadelphia in 2011. They arrested LaForte on weapons charges, citing a criminal record that they say barred him from owning guns, and he remains in prison. READ MORE: Par Funding founder Joseph LaForte arrested on weapons charges amid ongoing SEC probe of $500 million fraud Federal authorities also recently disclosed another arrest, that of Renato Gioe, 52, a New Jersey man who has worked as a debt collector for Par Funding. Gioe was charged under seal in New Jersey on Aug. 5 with loansharking after the FBI accused him of threatening to kill a client of his employers. Gioe threatened the man after making a personal loan to him, the FBI said. The FBI described Gioe as a Gambino crime family associate and didnt identify his employer in the criminal complaint, but its description matched Par Funding. In a nearly four-hour PowerPoint presentation, the SECs Berlin sought to highlight what she said was fresh information gathered since her agency filed its sweeping complaint on July 24 against Par Funding, its owners, and several other financial players and firms. She noted that Pars finances were audited by the accounting firm Friedman LLP, with offices in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. In its initial review, Friedman found that Par lost $6.7 million in 2017 after taking into account credit losses. But according to Berlin, LaForte who founded Par Funding after serving time for two felonies, including a $14 million mortgage rip-off involving a fake law firm wasnt having it. At his insistence, she said, Friedman prepared a second audit, showing a $1.2 million profit. READ MORE: Federal judge orders Par Funding to stay out of seized accounts after its staff accessed 100,000 records Still, the accounting firm attached an adverse opinion to the rewrite, saying that Par Funding had not accounted for its provision for credit losses, in accordance with accounting principals generally accepted in the United States of America. The second reports results do not present fairly Pars financial position, Friedman cautioned. Berlin told the judge that the swapping out of the audit report was emblematic of an operation shot through with deception. Among other criticisms, she said that Par Funding and its sales agents kept investors in the dark about LaFortes criminal past, and failed to disclose the massive profits extracted by the defendants. The firm took its investors money and lent it to smaller merchants as high-interest cash advances. While Par Funding promised that Pars borrowers had a default rate of only about 2%, a far higher share of the companys clients were behind, prompting the firm to file hundreds of lawsuits to collect its money, Berlin said. In another new disclosure, Berlin quoted a Par Funding executive as saying that the firms owners and top officers would annually take 10% of their investment cash for loans to merchants and distribute it among themselves as profit-sharing. In the first quarter of 2019, for instance, the sum distributed totaled $9.8 million of the $98 million that Par had raised from investors. The SEC complaint was also highly critical of a group of financial advisers who urged people to put their money into Par as an alternative to the stock market. Among these business people, she said, the biggest and most successful salesman was Dean Vagnozzi. Well-known in the Philadelphia region for his heavy radio advertising and free steak dinners provided to potential investors, Vagnozzi, based in King of Prussia, operates a business he calls A Better Financial Plan. Berlin sharply criticized Vagnozzi over his payment system for his sales force. By her account, the agents would strike deals with clients under which the investors would receive a 10% return on their money but so would the agents. READ MORE: Federal judge fires the leaders and employees of firms at heart of alleged multimillion-dollar fraud Not disclosed is that the agent makes up to the same amount as the investor for forwarding the investment to Par Funding, Berlin said, calling it a large, undisclosed commission. And in a side agreement, she said, the agents agreed to give Vagnozzi a quarter of their profits. Vagnozzi is to appear Friday at a hearing before Judge Ruiz to make his case. Challenging the SECs argument, Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Par founder McElhone, said larger corporations accused of much more serious offenses he cited Wells Fargo bank had not been thrown into receivership. In their rebuttals, he and other defense lawyers repeatedly pointed out that no investor had lost principal, even as Par has raised almost $500 million. Its really not in dispute that investors have been paid back like clockwork until the pandemic, Futerfas said. Over the years, Par Funding promised investors an annual return of 10%, or more for larger investments, with money back on demand after a year. This spring, though, it suspended payments for two months, a rupture that Vagnozzi and others have blamed on the coronavirus shutdown of businesses. Payments resumed in June, but at just 4% interest, with principal returns stretched over seven years. This month, Par Funding halted its payment once more a stoppage it blamed on the SECs demand that a receiver take charge of its operation. President Donald Trumps political opponents are holding their convention to officially nominate Joe Biden for the White House race. US President Donald Trumps political opponents, the Democrats, are holding their convention to officially nominate Joe Biden for the White House race. It is the first time they are not gathering in person for the event due to COVID-19 epidemic. It is a break in close to 190 years of tradition. Delegates in Ohio have always played a crucial role in the process picking the eventual winner of the national election nearly every time. Al Jazeeras John Hendren spoke with some of them about this years unique situation. Less than two weeks after massive explosion devastated Beirut, two Edmontonians packed their bags and headed off to assist with the recovery. Nasser Kirameddine, 29, and Daniel Hassan, 25, both have family living in Lebanon and were shocked when they learned of the blast that killed more than 170 people, injured thousands and left tens of thousands homeless. The Aug. 4 explosion also destroyed medical supplies and food at Beirut's port, at a time when the country was already experiencing a financial crisis. "You know, just being Lebanese Canadians, when something happens in your home country you feel that personal connection and you just want to do everything you can to help out," said Kirameddine. Kirameddine and Hassan were both in Edmonton when the blast happened, but the news spread quickly. "It kind of spread like wildfire, like this video upon video upon video and call after call, trying to contact family back home to make sure everybody is OK," said Kirameddine. "It's affected everyone," said Hassan. "You know, it's just added to a year full of so much calamities that this country has had to go through, when it comes to the COVID crisis, the economic downturn, a lot of the political turmoil. Adding an explosion to it all, it's really touched close to home for Lebanese all over the world." Both men are small business owners and are employed by Islamic Relief Canada, part of the Humanitarian Coalition, a group of aid organizations that work together to provide assistance in times of crisis. The two say it was a last-minute decision to go to Lebanon, but they wanted to help. CBC "You've got a sombre situation," said Hassan. "You can notice a lot of damage in Beirut, but then the resilience of the people here is just something to admire." The pair arrived in Lebanon on Monday and had to quarantine for 48 hours. Both Hassan and Kirameddine will be assisting with the local Islamic Relief Canada office, but also providing on-the-ground assistance. Story continues "As of right now a lot of the help is immediate," said Hassan. "So that's giving food kits, personal care items, temporary shelter, things that people need such as wheelchairs. And things that people need right now, right this second. "So a lot of it will be work on the ground joining in with our teams here locally and participating in those efforts, as well as taking note and taking a lot of footage of what's happening here to show everybody back home. And really just to tell everybody here that Canada is here to help you." Kirameddine said in their usual roles with Islamic Relief, they don't get to see how donations help people in crisis, and their experience in Lebanon will help with future fundraising. Donations made by Canadians before Aug. 24 to the Humanitarian Coalition will be matched by the federal government. New Delhi: After getting a nod from the Supreme Court to probe actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, a CBI team will visit Mumbai to investigate the case further, the agency said on Wednesday. The CBI, which took over the probe into an FIR registered by the Bihar Police on the basis of a complaint by Rajput's father KK Singh, is yet to visit the megacity regarding the investigation. It has collected relevant material from the Bihar police and has also spoken to some stakeholders in the case, they said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed over the probe to the CBI which has already registered an FIR in the matter. "The investigation related to death of Sushant Singh Rajput is continuing. A CBI team will visit Mumbai in due course for further investigation. Other details cannot be shared at this stage," CBI Spokesperson RK Gaur said. Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police was probing the case but was yet to file an FIR in the case. The top court's verdict came on a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her and six others at Patna by Rajput's father accusing them of abetting the actor's suicide, to Mumbai. The court noted that while Rajput's father and the Bihar government have alleged that Mumbai Police is attempting to shield the real culprits under political pressure, the Maharashtra government has strongly refuted it saying Patna Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime as the incident has taken place in Mumbai. It said political interference has been alleged against both the states and that has the potential of discrediting the investigation. The legal process must, therefore, be focused upon the revelation of the correct facts through credible and legally acceptable investigation. It must be determined whether the unnatural death was the result of some criminal acts. In order to lend credibility to the investigation and its conclusion, it would be desirable in my view, to specify the authority, which should conduct the investigation in this matter, the court said. Duong Bao Tien, a 12th grader majoring in English at Luong Van Chanh High School for the Gifted in Phu Yen province, has been offered scholarships from 15 schools in the US. Tien had a good memory in childhood, and watched many foreign TV programs, trying to imitate the broadcasters. In the first years at primary school, her parents decided to send Tien to an English center as they found that she had a passion for English. At secondary school, Tien was an outstanding student in English in Phu Yen province. Tien vowed to study in the US when she entered the 10th grade. At first, she was not self-confident because she was a provincial student, and she knew that the competition at famous schools in the US is fierce. When applying for schools in the US, the fact that I am a provincial student did not affect the decisions to grant scholarships. However, I cited my background as a provincial student to write my essay, she said. In the essay, Tien wrote about the problems she had met during personal development. These included the lack of extracurricular activities to build skills, and the lack of opportunities to participate in education activities at the national, regional and global levels. The disadvantages could lead to provincial students being less dynamic. However, Tien was aware of her shortcomings and was determined to change by trying to participate and organize activities herself. These activities showed her pioneering spirit and desire to contribute to community development, which left a good impression on the schools where she applied. In the essay, Tien wrote about the problems she had met during personal development. These included the lack of extracurricular activities to build skills, and the lack of opportunities to participate in education activities at the national, regional and global levels. In provinces, hunting for scholarships to study at foreign universities is not as active as in large cities. So, Tien decided to participate in extracurricular activities in Hanoi and HCM City, such as projects, summer camps and youth exchange programs. The activities helped Tien practice leadership skills, speaking skills, and research and teamwork skills. Joining the projects, Tien had chances to make friends with many young people who have experience in hunting for scholarships at prestigious schools. This inspired Tien to become more daring in seeking scholarships. Tien is the founder of MHEPC, an English Club, and the first large-scale United Nations simulation conference in Phu Yen province. It pioneered using English in life and increasing Phu Yens students knowledge about economic, cultural and social issues. Tien got a 1,430 SAT score on the first test last October. As for the SAT Subject Test Mathematics, she got 800/800. As for IELTS, she had 8.0 overall. She has chosen Denison University in the US because of the school's good economics and data science programs. Le Huyen 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. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 23:01:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks the water situation of the Chaohu Lake at a section of a dam in Feidong County of Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Aug. 19, 2020. Xi inspected Hefei on Wednesday afternoon. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) HEFEI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Wednesday afternoon inspected Hefei, the capital city of east China's Anhui Province. Xi went to a section of a dam in Feidong County, where he checked the water situation of the Chaohu Lake and expressed his regards to those fighting the floods at the front line, including military personnel from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police Force. Xi also went to Anhui Innovation Center to learn about the technological innovation and emerging industries of Anhui, and visited a memorial hall marking the PLA's campaign to cross the Yangtze River during the Chinese People's War of Liberation, paying his tribute to revolutionary martyrs. Enditem CLEVELAND, Ohio The Cleveland Clinic and Aetna have announced they are forming an accountable care organization designed to reduce employers health care costs and expand patients access to second opinions and cardiac care. The partnership the health system and CVS Health-owned insurance company announced Wednesday involves the creation of a co-branded health insurance plan. Participating employers could save as much as 10 percent on health care spending by choosing the plan over a current Aetna broad-network plan, according to a news release. Given the current economic climate, employers are looking for a cost-effective, high quality insurance plan that also provides access for their employees to coordinated care and advanced medical expertise, the Clinics Chief Financial Officer Steven C. Glass said in the news release. Cleveland Clinic is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of Aetna members, and we look forward to working together to deliver value-based health care to an expanded patient population. In addition, Aetna members enrolled in commercial plans will have virtual access to second opinions from Cleveland Clinic for certain conditions. The new partnership also involves the deployment of the Cardiac Center of Excellence program, so employers with Aetna plans will have access to heart care from the Clinic. Under the new plan, Aetna members will have access to care at any Clinic facility or the health systems network of employed and independent community physicians. The new insurance plan will be available this fall to fully-insured and self-insured employers in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, and Tuscarawas counties, the news release says. They were "invented by Russians, and the goal was to turn everyone against us," the official stresses. Allegations about the "disruption of a special operation" by Ukraine's intelligence aimed to arrest Wagner PMC militants are nothing but "media provocation", says an advisor to the Ukrainian President's Office chief, Mykhailo Podoliak. Nature of allegations On August 18, editor-in-chief of the Censor.Net outlet, Yuriy Butusov, took to Facebook to allege, citing unnamed sources, that the situation with the emergence of Wagner PMC's mercenaries in Belarus was part of a secret operation conducted by the SBU Security Service Of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, aimed to arrest and prosecute the men who committed crimes in the Donbas warzone. The plan allegedly was to first trick them into boasting of own crimes and then lure them into one group under the pretext of another contract job overseas where they would travel transiting Belarus before eventually make a plane carrying the group land in Ukraine to detain the men. Read alsoBloody trail of Russian military in Libya mediaThe mission, Butusov alleges, has failed after Belarusian law enforcers arrested the whole group as the men were allegedly waiting for a transit flight". The raid was allegedly a result of a leak to a foreign power that came from the President's Office following a last-minute report by Ukraine intel chiefs on operation plans. The story this way fits Russia's line of defense claiming Moscow had no plans to destabilize Belarus in the heat of election campaign, using mercenaries with combat experience to do provocations and sow chaos. Allegations denounced In response to allegations, the advisor wrote: "Firstly, the logistics and deployment to any war is a very complex procedure so there can never be some random recruiter there... Secondly, the new head of the GUR [military intelligence] Budanov, who barely got rid of [former chief Vasyl] Burba (not completely, I figure), says there is no paperwork in the agency on such mission... Thirdly, the entire media part of this story was initially launched by the Russian site of the KP [Komsomolskaya Pravda]. Details, conclusions, essence of the story... For what aim?... Fourthly, certain outlets here [in Ukraine] started happily spinning the story without any verification. First of all, these are the outlets that in one way or another were focused on 'leaks' coming from Burba," Podoliak wrote on Facebook. According to the advisor, "it is quite possible to say that the externally-designed media provocation was picked up in Ukraine by an offended individual with certain media capabilities." "Fifthly, what would be the ultimate goal of that operation if it were real? The capture of the Wagner men would definitely mean a direct conflict with Belarusians, Europeans, Turks (who would also be suspected of complicity) [the plane carrying the group was allegedly bound for Turkey]. And this would be the pretext for Russia to abandon the [Donbas] truce. With the Republic of Belarus (at that time it was not yet engulfed in protests) it would almost be like declaring an act of war," Podoliak noted. As he added, "it is obvious that all this media 'evil' was invented by Russians, and the goal was to turn everyone against us." "The emphasis is solely on the media component and the loser attitude of a part of our society. Sometimes we crave so much to offend certain leaders that we don't care about the logic... There's no doubt that as a result of all this brilliant act, designed by someone from beyond, we would get in parallel lines (to Belarus) our own burning streets situation in our country," emphasized Podolyak. Latest intelligence reshuffle On August 5, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Vasyl Burba from the top post in military intelligence, appointing Kyrylo Budanov to replace him. In his post, Yuriy Butusov alleged that the president had sacked the intelligence chief for his demands to investigate the possible leak. Wagner PMC troops in Belarus: background On July 29, 2020, a group of militants with the Wagner PMC were detained in Belarus, 32 outside Minsk, another one in the south of the country. Among them were those who fought against Ukraine in the Donbas war. According to Belarusian law enforcement, they had been tipped about the deployment of over 200 militants to destabilize the country amid the election campaign. Belarus turned to the Ukrainian authorities to verify the involvement of the detainees in crimes committed in Ukraine. On July 30, Ukraine began consultations with Belarus on the extradition. On August 7, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus said Ukraine must prove the guilt of the detained mercenaries to seal extradition. On August 9, Lukashenko said he had received a five-page letter from Vladimir Putin with information on the situation around the detention of Wagner troops. On August 11, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine sent inquiries to their Belarus counterparts appealing for the extradition of 28 fighters with the Wagner PMC. All 28, including nine citizens of Ukraine, had been charged with participation in a terrorist organization. On August 14, Belarus handed 32 Wagner troops over to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Belarus' move a "strange, politically incorrect, and definitely unacceptable thing to do in friendly interstate relations." Notre Dame and Michigan State universities became the latest colleges to move classes online because of the coronavirus on Tuesday as colleges struggle to contain outbreaks and students continue to congregate in large groups without masks or social distancing. The decisions came the same day a third school in the 17-member University of North Carolina system reported a COVID-19 cluster in off-campus housing. Notre Dame president the Rev. John Jenkins announced the university's decision to cancel in-person undergraduate classes for two weeks in an address to students and staff. 'It is very serious, and we must take serious actions,' Jenkins said, referring to the news that nearly 150 students had tested positive. Students wait in line for registration and an identifying wristband after receiving a negative test result for coronavirus while arriving on campus at University of Colorado Boulder on Tuesday Incoming freshmen wait in line to ask questions at an informational tent. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many colleges and universities are instituting different strategies this fall semester, with most students living on campus attending all classes with remote learning Oyeronke Popoola, a 17-year-old freshman from Raleigh, carries some of her belongings as she and other students leave campus just a week after they arrived, following a cluster of COVID-19 cases at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill Students wearing masks walk on campus of the University of Notre Dame on Tuesday in South Bend, Indiana Jenkins said he decided against sending students home after consulting with health care experts. Instead, the university is imposing restrictions on student activity, including limiting access to dormitories to residents and barring students from major gathering places on campus. Michigan State, which had been scheduled to start in-person classes on September 2, decided to switch to online instruction as a preventive measure amid the ongoing nationwide pandemic, President Samuel L. Stanley said in a statement posted on the school's website. 'It has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus,' he said. Tuesday's actions followed the decision by officials of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to switch to remote learning starting Wednesday, as the virus makes its mark on colleges - and college towns - across the United States. Incoming freshman Jordin Stribling, 18, awaits to load a cart while moving into a campus dormitory at University of Colorado Boulder Unmasked sudents walk on campus of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana A student works outside Ehrighaus dormitory on campus at the University of North Carolina Universities across America are banning 'sleepovers' and parties and threatening students with expulsion for breaking the rules. Eight members of a Greek chapter house tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. All close contacts have been advised to quarantine for 14 days. It some cases it means the entire house is being placed on quarantine. The University of Texas has banned all parties both on and off campus, warning students that they put 'the health and safety of our community at risk and raise anxiety levels.' Overnight and daytime guests in the residence halls have also been given a red flag by the university - a similar move to that made by the University of Pennsylvania. Officials at the Ivy League institution have warned students not to have 'guests' in their 'personal space' on campus and have also 'strongly discouraged' sleepovers off campus during the course of the semester. Syracuse University has also taken a punitive approach to the COVID-19 rules. A fraternity was suspended for breaking social distancing rules back in the spring and earlier this month another group of students was turfed out for violating New York quarantine orders. Incoming freshmen at University of Colorado Boulder are being tested for COVID upon arrival Social distancing is going to be hard for students on campus, but many classes are now remote An incoming freshman moves into a campus dormitory at University of Colorado in Boulder Placards advise physical distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic while directing incoming freshman moving into a campus dormitory at the University of Colorado A parent packs a student's belongings at Ehringhaus dormitory following a cluster of COVID-19 cases on campus at the University of North Carolina. The university announced that it would cancel all in-person undergraduate learning starting on Wednesday Other universities are reconsidering plans to hold in-person classes or implementing new testing regimes. And some are threatening crackdowns on students who get too close with others, in violation of social distancing rules. UNC-Chapel Hill freshman Mackenzie Holland spent two weeks in her dorm before she found herself moving back out again on Tuesday, after the university canceled in-person classes for undergraduates when clusters of coronavirus infection surfaced among students. Holland said she sobbed for an hour after learning the news. 'I kind of expected it, but I'm just kind of disappointed in my classmates and the people that are out partying and stuff because now I can't finish my college experience,' Holland said. 'I know that we'll be back one day, but it's just sad right now.' In the past few days alone, college students at schools in North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Vermont, Kansas, Colorado and at the Air Force Academy have tested positive, creating a ripple effect that has put hundreds of other students into quarantine or isolation. Patrons stand on the Bear Trap's rooftop bar on The Strip, the University of Alabama's bar scene. More than 20,000 students returned to campus for the first time since spring break, with numerous school and city codes in effect to limit the spread of COVID-19 A group of unmasked runners can be seen jogging through the University of Notre Dame's campus at the main gate Freshman Sarah Anne Cook carries her belongings as she packs to leave campus Some students have decided to pack up and leave the university following cancelled classes The U.S. leads the world in the number of coronavirus cases, with 5.4 million cases reported as of Tuesday, and more than 170,000 confirmed dead, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In Chapel Hill, the university on Monday reported a spike in the proportion of its COVID tests coming back positive, prompting the university to move all classes online starting Wednesday. 'We had anticipated and planned for COVID cases on our campus this fall,' UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told faculty members in a Zoom call Monday. 'However, seeing the COVID-19 positivity rate rise from 2.8% to 13.6% at Campus Health over the past week is very concerning.' On Tuesday, a smattering of UNC-Chapel Hill students packed up their belongings and headed back home with their families. Holland said she wants other colleges to learn from the Chapel Hill students who participated in large, maskless gatherings. Simran Arora, 24, sits on an empty University of Southern California (USC) campus, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Los Angeles, California University of North Carolina students wait outside of Woolen Gym on the Chapel Hill campus as they wait to enter a fitness class on Monday. The University announced minutes before that all classes will be moved online starting Wednesday due to COVID clusters on campus Students carry their belonging away from Ehringhaus dormitory Students are seen outside Hinton James dormitory at the University of North Carolina 'A lot of kids our age don't understand the result of their actions, and this is kind of showing what can result of that,' she said. Officials at UNCs North Carolina State University in Raleigh said Tuesday that health officials had identified a cluster of COVID-19 cases involving some students in off-campus housing where a gathering was held early this month. They did not say how many people were infected but health officials define a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity or in one location. The University of Oklahoma is requiring its sororities to recruit new members virtually after learning of students attending large social events without taking precautions against the virus. Students at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville could face punishments as stiff as expulsion if they host big parties, if they won't cooperate with COVID-19 contact tracing or if they don't complete forms documenting their self-isolation, Chancellor Donde Plowman said in a video conference Tuesday. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced it would shift to remote learning for all undergraduate classes starting Wednesday after reporting 135 new COVID-19 cases in a week A couple of signs posted outside Hinton James dormitory at the UNC in Chapel Hill requiring students to wear masks Professor Steven King teaches an interactive media class at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. King taught while facing six students who chose to physically attend, while the majority of students logged-in remotely and could be seen on a screen behind him University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill freshmen, who include Garrett Cline (facing camera), walk past The Old Well as recent graduate Lewis Wagner, left, finishes graduation photos, postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Now campus is closed once again 'I will not hesitate to do that if people, our students, are irresponsible,' he said. Plowman also noted five cases linked to an off-campus party last week. Wednesday is the first day of classes at the flagship Knoxville campus. School officials have confirmed 75 active COVID-19 cases there, involving 66 students and nine employees. About 6,500 students have moved in on campus, while another 30,000-plus live off campus. The campus currently has 270 people in isolation due to contacts, symptoms or positive tests, including 51 students living on campus, Plowman said. In Ames, Iowa, a retired Iowa State professor wrote in an op-ed to the Des Moines Register that he was alarmed at what he witnessed while driving through the Iowa State campus last weekend. Students wear masks on campus at the University of North Carolina A student stands on the balcony of Ehringhaus dormitory at the North Carolina campus 'Hundreds of students, out on the sidewalks, out on the front lawns, out in the street; in some places, sitting in chairs or milling aimlessly or running around and hugging each other because they hadn't seen each other since last school year,' Richard Haws said. He estimated that 1% of the students were wearing masks. Meanwhile, the University of South Carolina said it would use saliva tests for students, faculty and staff as part of its plan to reopen for in-person classes on Thursday. The tests, which require a single spit sample, are an alternative to nasal swab tests and typically deliver results within 24 hours. Students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill had just over a week of classes before they were moved online from Wednesday Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: In a first such poltical move showing growing political fondness for an NDA ally, Bihar 's opposition party RJD shared the credit of getting a CBI probe done into the mysterious death case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Wednesday. The RJD, taking to its official Twitter handle after the SC delivered its judgement, said that it was due to its leader Tejashwi Yadav and LJP's Chirag Paswan who kept demanding for a CBI probe, that the SC verdict has come in such a way. 52 @yadavtejashwi @iChiragPaswan Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) August 19, 2020 The party said that had the duo not continued demanding a CBI probe, the state government would have been 'sleeping like Kumbhakarna' over this case. The RJD's tweet stirred up a hornets' nest in the Bihar NDA, especially among the political thinktanks of JDU on Wednesday. The speculation over the intent of LJP behind being so vocal against the JDU started gaining analysis from different angles. Some political observers said that a single tweet by RJD giving credit for CBI probe to Chirag Paswan has more than the eyes met to be seen in the emerging political situation ahead of the Assembly polls. ALSO READ| RJD slams Bihar govt for taking '42 days' to demand CBI probe into actor Sushant death case The RJD also accused the state government of remaining mute for over 45 days after the death of actor. "When the RJD made the first demand for an inquiry by CBI and continued on it till the floor of assembly, the state government had no option than to recommend for it," RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said. Of late,the poltical relation between JDU and the LJP has been strained. when a JDU leader recently termed Chirag Paswan as 'Kalidas', who chopped the branch of a tree on which he was seated. This statement irked Paswan to such an extent that he had called in an emergency meeting of party leaders on August 15 to decide further course of action and reaction against the statement. It was rumoured strongly that LJP may withdraw its support to the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar. In fact, the LJP is not even a part of the state government but its two MLAs have rendered support to the government. A couple of months ago, Paswan had said that his party is in alliance with BJP, not with the JDU after which JDU leaders were irked by the statement. "But a tweet by RJD giving credit to Chirag Paswan has indicated the way future Bihar politics may go ahead," political observer Dr RK Verma said. Alsi Tejashawi Yadav addresses Chirag Paswan as an elder brother while Chirag says him a younger brother like. Sources said that if the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) led by a Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi rejoins the NDA on August 20, LJP may certainly distance itself from the alliance at Bihar in particular. Meanwhile, Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief Pappu Yadav has also projected that his party would support if Chirag Paswan is projected as the next CM from Dalit community. He had an hour long closed room meeting recently with Paswan that gave also a speculation to the formation of a third front. Meanwhile, two MLAs and one MLC of RJD have decided to join the JDU on Thursday in the second round of defection giving a jolt to the opposition. Among them is MLC Chandrika Rai, father in-law of Lalu's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, while two are sitting MLAs - Faraz Fatmi (expelled recently) from Keoti in Darbhanga and Paliganj MLA Jai Vardhan Yadav who is grandson of late Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav. "Whatever be the face of politics in Bihar in view of the upcoming election, the defection would continue to go on affecting the poltical equation in almost all parties. As the JDU is trying to dent into RJD's traditional votebank of my equation ,RJD is also trying to dent into the upper caste votebank of JDU by inducting many leaders from Bhumihar, Rajput and Brahmin communities into the party," said political researcher Dr Archana Kumari. Charlottesville officials are seeking to dismiss a federal complaint from an Albemarle County man over Virginias red flag law. Filed last month by Earlysville resident Joseph Draego, the complaint alleges a swath of constitutional violations caused by the law, including infringements of First, Second, Sixth, Seventh and 14th Amendment rights. The red flag law which went into effect July 1 allows authorities to obtain an emergency substantial-risk order that prevents a person from obtaining, possessing or transporting a firearm for up to 14 days. Similar laws already have withstood legal scrutiny in other states, according to The Virginia Mercury, which cites rulings from Indiana, Connecticut and Florida that indicate red flag laws fall within governments established powers to regulate firearms. Despite being a resident of Albemarle County, Draegos lawsuit names as defendants Joe Platania, Charlottesvilles commonwealths attorney, and RaShall Brackney, the citys police chief, and argues that any attorney for the commonwealth or a police officer has the ability to seek such an order. According to the Charlottesville Police Department and Platania, neither agency has sought to obtain such an order since the law went into effect. Having said that, if a community member came to our office concerned about the safety of a loved one in crisis, we would investigate the appropriateness of petitioning a court for a substantial risk order, Platania said. Counsel on behalf of Platania and Brackney both filed motions to dismiss, arguing in part that the lawsuit is not ripe because neither defendant has sought a substantial risk order against Draego. Plaintiff identifies not even a single fact from which the Court might conclude that such a petition much less the issuance of an order of removal is impending, imminent, likely, or even a remote possibility, the response on behalf of Platania reads. Both defense motions argue that Draegos five causes of action fail to create an argument that any of his rights have been violated and merely argue they could be violated. Draegos First Amendment claims are based upon speculative future activities which are contingent upon the commencement of a future legal proceeding, the conclusion of a future judicial determination, as well as Draegos future alleged plans to refrain from engaging in lawful expressive activity to avoid losing his ability to possess firearms on some unidentified future date, counsel on behalf of Brackney wrote. In his complaint, Draego attempts to bolster his First Amendment argument by citing a 2016 federal lawsuit he filed against the city. During that year, Draego attended City Council meetings to speak against the allegedly unfettered Muslim immigration into his hometown. At one meeting, his speech was cut short by a council vote after he referred to Muslims as monstrous maniacs who perpetrate horrible crimes. In its vote, the council cited its meeting rule forbidding speech that disparages an entire group or race. When the vote passed unanimously, Draego reasserted his right to speak and laid on the floor of the meeting hall in protest. He was then removed from the meeting by two police officers. In July 2016, Draego sued the city. A settlement was reached in December of that year. Draego, who is representing himself, filed a response Wednesday in which he requested that his complaint not be dismissed outright. Unlike in a typical response to a defense motion to dismiss, Draego did not directly respond to the issues raised by Platania and Brackney, instead restating claims from his initial complaint. Only by addressing the court directly do I believe I can fully express why I believe I should have standing to challenge Virginias so-called Red Flag Laws because of their chilling effect on my Second Amendment rights and my right to free speech under the First Amendment, he wrote. The response goes on to claim that Draego represents the naturalist philosophy of jurisprudence, which elevates principle and spirit above rote process. Prior to Draegos response, a notice from the court gave Draego 21 days beginning Aug. 6 to respond to the defense motions, arguing which facts he disagrees with. If no motion is filed within 21 days, the court will assume that plaintiff has lost interest in the case and dismiss it. It is unclear yet whether the court will accept a response that does not present counterarguments to any claims made by the defense. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. By Qin Feng Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes speech at a mourning ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II on August 15 drew wide criticism. In last years speech, Abe pledged that Japan will do its best to work with the international community to create a new era of peace and hope and jointly resolve the various problems facing the world, but this year he switched to under the banner of proactive pacifism, Japan is determined to play a greater role than ever to solve the various challenges facing the world while working with the international community. According to reports by Tokyo Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun, proactive pacifism is a frequent term used by Shinzo Abe when talking about Japans security strategy and it was unusual for him to use this term at the mourning ceremony. Asahi Shimbun also reported that Abe continued to deny Japans responsibility for the sufferings it inflicted upon Asian countries during the war, and deleted the remark of bearing in mind the lessons from history that appeared in last years speech. Americas Associated Press, or AP, commented that Abe has increasingly sought to whitewash Japans brutal past since taking office in December, 2012. History could never be forgotten. During WWII, Japan, Germany and Italy formed the axis powers and forced Fascist militarism upon the whole world. During the war of aggression against China, Japanese troops occupied large swaths of the Chinese territory, where they destroyed houses and factories, plundered resources and wealth, and massacred innocent people. The Japanese army invaded Nanjing after bombing the city wall on Dec 13, 1937. [Photo/IC] The war launched by Japanese invaders not only inflicted an immense disaster upon the Chinese people, but also plunged the Japanese people into excruciating misery as the damages caused by nuclear weapons to the Japanese society have lasted till the present day. The Japanese troops committed innumerable crimes on Chinese territory, and they should reflect on the disastrous consequences of the war they waged. Yet the Japanese authorities have never earnestly reflected on their invasive history for the past half century and more. On the contrary, they have been continuously enhancing Japans military strengths in recent years, even provoking its neighbors on territorial issues. We can say with certainty that Shinzo Abes speech at the mourning ceremony will pose a potential threat to the security of Asian-Pacific countries while aggravating regional tension. A just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust cause finds little support. Japanese militarism has showed signs of rise in recent years, which has not only encountered resistance from the international community, but also objection within Japan. For instance, Abes proactive pacifism has been strongly condemned by Japans opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party. Moreover, Japanese emperor Naruhito delivered a speech on August 15 expressing deep remorse for the past and praying that the ravages war would never be repeated. Japans former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama also gave a speech on that day, calling the denial of the history of invasion a denigration of Japan. Peace, like air and sunshine, is something that you are unconscious of when benefiting from it but something that you cannot live without. It is an iron-clad law of history that military invasion and expansion is doomed to fail, and win-win cooperation and common development is the right way forward for human civilization. Numerous Chinese civilians are killed by the chemical weapons used by the invading Japanese army in northeast China, file photo. [Photo/VCG] The year of 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. In an age when forces of justice and peace are getting stronger day by day, any move to resurrect militarism will be futile and will be on the wrong side of history. Disclaimer: This article is originally published on china.com.cn and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Advertisement A whole row of cottages in Wales has gone up for sale as a fixer upper for 200,000 - less than half the price of a London flat. Potential buyers could seek permission to transform the three grade-II listed buildings into one - or keep them as separate buildings. But new central heating would need to be installed as well as full renovation of electrics, plumbing, re-plastering and kitchen and bathroom fitting. The row of country cottages in the village of Ponterwyd, 12 miles from the university town of Aberystwyth, Wales, which are going on sales as a fixer upper for 200,000 - less than half the average price of a London flat A room in one of the cottages, which are in need of modernisation, showing peeling plaster and wooden floorboards. Potential buyers could seek permission to transform the building into one or keep them as separates A pink-coloured room with carpeting and white-paned windows in one of the cottages. New central heating would need to be installed as well as full renovation of electrics, plumbing, re-plastering and kitchen and bathroom fitting A tiled fireplace in one of the historic grade II listed cottages' living rooms, with a stone floor and a stack of shelves in the corner. One of the living rooms also has a recess cupboard to the side and a night storage heater The historic terraced buildings are set in remote Wales in the village of Ponterwyd, 12 miles from Aberystwyth. Estate agents Aled Ellis said the buildings were once a village surgery and described it as an 'unusual property'. They said: 'Total renovation is required and listed building consent for any alterations and improvements. 'The property being within close proximity to all local amenities on offer which include garage/ general stores, public house and primary school. 'The university and market town of Aberystwyth is some 12 miles or so travelling distance on the coast. The town having a good range of both social, leisure and educational facilities. The village of Llangurig is some 12 miles further inland. An alternative view of the row of country cottages. The property is described as a 'Grade 2 listed terrace of 3 properties in need of modernisation together with approximately an acre of ground enjoying a pleasant edge of village location' A fireplace in one of the property's rooms, showing wooden floorboards and peeling wallpaper. Estate agents Aled Ellis said the buildings were once a village surgery and described it as an 'unusual property' One of the cottage's toilets, with a sink and bath tub. The property is said to be 'in need of modernisation with approximately an acre of ground', according to the estate agents 'Penybont is situated in area of outstanding natural beauty being within close proximity to Plynlimon, the Nant Y Moch reservoir with a scenic mountain road over to Penrhyncoch and also to the tourist attraction of Devils Bridge. Approximately an acre of ground is include in the sale.' The properties' description reads: 'A Grade 2 listed terrace of 3 properties in need of modernisation together with approximately an acre of ground enjoying a pleasant edge of village location.' Meanwhile, the average price for a flat or maisonette in London is 429,401, according to government figures from March this year. The average price for a terraced property is 506,179, 581,358 for a semi-detached house and 906,154 for a detached. A large, spacious area in one of the cottages adjoining to another room, with wooden floorboards. According to the estate agents' website, the first floor landing has doors leading to three bedrooms and a bathroom A tiled fireplace and sink in one of the cottage's rooms, with a radiator also seen towards the left and a cupboard on the right-hand side. Total renovation is needed, along with listed building consent for alterations or improvements A stone-floored room on the ground floor of one of the cottage's, with a sign pictured reading 'Pen-y-Bont Farm'. The average price for a flat or maisonette in London is 429,401, according to government figures from March this year OnePlus Scout universal search feature for OnePlus smartphones launched in India OnePlus Scout is a universal search feature for OnePlus smartphones that has been developed by the companys research and development team based out of Hyderabad, India. With the Scout, users can search for practically anything right from the app drawer and the results will be pooled from a combination of sources both on-device and online. This feature is currently only available for Indian users of OnePlus phones and the company has made it a part of the OnePlus Launcher Beta program. This means that only those users who have entered the Beta program of OnePlus Launcher on Google Play Store can try out the OnePlus Scout immediately while others will have to wait for a broader public rollout. OnePlus says that the Scout search will be available to all Indian users in the coming weeks. Announcing the new Scout universal search feature, Ramagopala Reddy, VP for R&D Centre in Hyderabad said, Since the inception of the OnePlus R&D Centre in Hyderabad, OnePlus Scout is one of the key projects that have been developed entirely out of the Indian centre, exclusively piloted for Indian OnePlus users. In line with our burdenless philosophy when it comes to both hardware and software of our products, we are confident that the OnePlus Scout will improve our users experience slashing seconds off the time spent searching for anything on your device. OnePlus has also revealed that it is working on revamping India-specific features like Zen Mode and SMS categorisation for the upcoming OxygenOS 11 update. What is OnePlus Scout? OnePlus Scout is a new universal search feature designed for OnePlus users and is currently being piloted in India as it was made by the OnePlus R&D team in Hyderabad. The Scout lets users search for anything on their phones straight from the app drawer. This includes files, contacts, documents, apps, music, movies and more. The search bar can also be used to solve calculations and the Scout uses the calculator app to display results immediately. Moreover, with the Scout, users can look up nearby restaurants, local weather updates, the latest news and more. The search results are consolidated from numerous sources, from apps installed on your phone to web results and more. We tried searching for nearby restaurants and the results we received displayed places from Zomato, Swiggy and Dineout. Do note however, that location must be enabled for Scout to display these results. Similarly, searching for weather in the search bar came back with the local weather update in the results. When we tried looking up the latest news, the results displayed Play Store links to install The Times of India app for local and world news. How to use OnePlus Scout on your OnePlus phones? OnePlus Scout is currently only available for the users who are enrolled in OnePlus Launcher beta program on the Play Store. The company has said that the Scout universal search feature will be available to all Indian users very soon, so we could get it sometime in late August or early September. Having said that, users can check if they can enrol in the OnePlus Launcher beta program on Play Store. Just look up OnePlus Launcher in the Play Store and tap on it. Next, check if you can join the beta program and if the link is enabled, you will get access to OnePlus Scout after installing the beta update. BILLINGS, Mont. A former oil industry attorney will continue calling the shots for a government agency that oversees nearly a quarter-billion public acres in the U.S. West, despite the White House saying over the weekend that President Donald Trump would withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley. Pendleys continued reign at the Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management comes under an unusual arrangement that Pendley himself set up months ago, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. In May, as a temporary authorization for him to lead the agency was about to expire, Pendley signed an order that made his own position, deputy director of policy and programs, the bureaus default leadership post while the directors slot is vacant, the document shows. Details of the succession plan prompted Democrats on Tuesday to renew their calls for Pendleys removal. Thats baloney. Thats not how it works," Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said of the May order in an interview. You dont want the deputy director of policy and programs being able to dictate whos in charge of the (bureau.) Its too important an agencyHe needs to be removed. Pendley is a longtime industry attorney and property rights advocate from Wyoming. Prior to joining the Trump administration, he had called for the government to sell its public lands. The bureaus holdings are sweeping, with nearly 10 percent of all U.S. land under its dominion, mostly across the U.S. West. A senior administration official said Saturday that Pendleys name was being withdrawn as Trumps nominee for unspecified reasons. It wont be official until the Senate returns to session. His nomination had set the stage for Senate confirmation hearings that were sure to be contentious. That created a political headache for Republican senators such as Montanas Steve Daines and Colorados Cory Gardner, who have been seeking to burnish their appeal to conservation voters as they face strong challengers in the November election. Conservation groups have been running ads in recent days urging Daines to oppose Pendley. Interior Department spokesperson Conner Swanson confirmed that the arrangement outlined in Pendleys order means he will continue to lead the bureau. The order has no specified end date. Whether another nominee will be named is up to the White House, Swanson added. Agency officials declined AP requests for an interview with Pendley and to provide records of his actions while filling the leadership position on a supposedly temporary basis since summer 2019. The May 22 order from Pendley, which was also signed by Interior Department Assistant Secretary Casey Hammond, had specified such records were to be kept. Pendleys tenure already has far outlasted the 210 days that an official can serve in an acting position under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, according to a federal lawsuit filed last month by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat who is seeking to unseat Daines. Bullocks campaign last week launched an ad touting the governors opposition to Pendley and criticizing Daines for not opposing him. Trump administration officials contend Bullocks lawsuit is frivolous. They argue that Pendley was never officially named acting director" but rather that he is exercising the delegated authority of the director." Critics say the administration is falling back on semantics and legal sleight of hand to obscure Pendleys control over an agency that oversees oil and gas drilling, grazing and other activities on vast areas in the U.S. West. Bullocks chief legal counsel, Raph Graybill, said Pendleys May memo confirms, without a doubt, what we already know: William Perry Pendley runs the Bureau of Land Management and continues to do so in violation of the United States Constitution and federal law. A second lawsuit seeking to oust Pendley is pending after being filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., in May by two conservation groups, Western Watersheds Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Pendley in the past has criticized environmentalists as extremists and expressed support for Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose family has engaged in armed standoffs with federal agents. After joining the government, he declared that his past support for selling public lands was irrelevant because his boss, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, opposes the wholesale sale of public lands. Since Pendleys arrival, agency officials said the bureau has acquired more than 25,000 acres (39 square miles) of land and sought to expand recreational access. Pendley also recused himself from work involving dozens of former clients following conflict of interest allegations from Democrats and environmentalists. The former clients ranged from farming and mining organizations, to an energy company seeking to drill on land adjacent to Glacier National Park. Under Trump, the land bureau has sought to scale back some protections for public lands, including proposals to ease restrictions on oil and gas exploration, mining and grazing. Pendley is doing their bidding," said Jayson ONeill with the Western Values Project, an advocacy group opposed to Pendleys leadership of the bureau. He worked in the private sector doing their bidding and now he gets to turn that to a position in which he has authority to do things much faster and also avoid the limelight and accountability that a Senate hearing would bring." ___ Follow Matthew Brown on twitter: @matthewbrownap 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 Software giant Oracle has entered talks to buy TikToks U.S. operations, as well as its assets in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to multiple reports. The Financial Times was the first outlet to report the news on Monday, with CNBC following soon after. Oracle, led by co-founder Larry Ellison, is looking to top Microsoft when it comes to the bidding expected to be somewhere in the $30-$50 billion range and is working with several U.S. investors who already have a stake in TikToks parent company, Bytedance, according to FT. General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital are two of the firms working with Oracle on a potential deal, according to the same report. Oracles stock jumped 4.5% in early-morning trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.39 per share. President Trump last Friday ordered Bytedance to offload TikToks U.S. business within 90 days, pointing to credible evidence the popular video app poses a national security threat. In Fridays order, the president said Bytedance must submit a weekly report to The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on its divestment efforts. Fridays order also said Bytedance, in order to complete its sale, must show it has destroyed all data tied to American users. Also Read: Can Microsoft Pull Off Buying TikTok on a Deadline - and Is the App Worth It? Microsoft has been the frontrunner to this point when it comes to buying TikToks business in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Oracle, on the other hand, is a bit of a left-field candidate, despite its formidable size; the company is worth $174 billion as of Tuesday morning. But Oracle lacks a video component to its business, and it doesnt specialize in social media, either, making it a potential odd fit with TikTok. Despite TikToks popularity, critics have grown increasingly concerned the app doubles as a data collection tool for Chinas communist government. TikTok has denied ever sharing user data with Chinese authorities. But Stratecherys Ben Thompson recently pointed out TikToks privacy policy explicitly says it may share user information with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group, which, based on how companies operate in China, means data can be sent to government authorities. Story continues It is important to note, this would be the case even if the privacy policy were not so honest. All Chinese Internet companies are compelled by the countrys National Intelligence Law to turn over any and all data that the government demands, and that power is not limited by Chinas borders, Thompson explained further. Moreover, this requisition of data is not subject to warrants or courts, as is the case with U.S. government requests for data from Facebook or any other entity. Also Read: Less Than 40% of Americans Want to Ban TikTok, New Survey Finds Along these lines, President Trump has said the app will be jettisoned from the U.S., barring a sale to an American firm, due to national security concerns. One Reddit user recently reverse-engineered TikTok to show what the app collects from its users highlighting information Bytedance could be compelled to share with Chinas government, based on the countrys laws. The app collects a wide range of information from users, according to the independent review, including IP and MAC addresses, GPS location, and other apps that are installed on a users phone, among other data points. Read original story Oracle Enters Talks to Buy TikTok, Seeks to Edge out Front Runner Microsoft At TheWrap After declining to recognize a union that represented a portion of its employees for more than 50 years, Nevada Gold Mines is reversing course as part of an agreement to settle a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, representatives for the union announced in August. In June, the federal agency alleged in court documents that Nevada Gold Mines had engaged in unlawful conduct by not recognizing the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 3. Lawyers for the board, which asked a federal judge to force Nevada Gold Mines to recognize the union, said that the companys actions left many employees feeling terrified and betrayed. The federal labor agency said Nevada Gold Mines illegal conduct threatens irreparable harm to national labor policy encouraging good-faith collective bargaining, the unit employees right to free choice, employee support for the union and its process for dealing with complaints. Days before oral arguments were scheduled to start, the board disclosed that settlement talks were underway. The union said Nevada Gold Mines agreed to a settlement in which the company said it would recognize the union for the portion of employees that had been previously represented. The union said Nevada Gold Mines agreed to restore working conditions and benefits, reimburse union employees for lost wages and not interfere with the ability of its workers to join a union. This settlement is a major victory for our members and the employees we represent, Scott Fullerton, the Nevada district representative for Local 3, said in a statement on Monday. These workers were living in fear of unjustly losing their jobs without the protections of the collective bargaining agreement. They were threatened with retaliation for supporting the union. A spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board confirmed the settlement agreement. The press release is consistent with the settlement terms, said spokesman Ed Egee. In a statement, Nevada Gold Mines said our employees are the companys most important resource and we are proud of what we have collectively delivered in our first year. After much consideration, [Nevada Gold Mines] recently made the decision to enter into an agreement with National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 3 (IUOE3) to end our litigation and settle our disagreements, the company said. We look forward to working collaboratively with IUOE3, together with the non-union members our workforce, going forward to continue to capture the potential of the combined [Nevada Gold Mines] assets that are so important to our community and to Nevadas economy. As of Monday afternoon, the settlement agreement had not been filed in the court docket. Local 3 formerly represented employees for Newmont Mining under a collective bargaining agreement that was set to last through March 2022. In a management transition that started in the middle of last year, those employees were consolidated under the auspices of Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Newmont and its international mining competitor Barrick Gold. The board alleged that management at Nevada Gold Mines declined to recognize the union for former Newmont employees, despite several representations that the union would remain intact. In response, Nevada Gold Mines disputed the agencys claims, offering the court a different fact-pattern. Lawyers argued that the boards legal theories are factually and legally deficient. The company also argued that the union was no longer valid, arguing in part that the union no longer represented a majority of similarly situated workers in the newly created joint venture. The boards complaint also included several allegations that Nevada Gold Mines interfered with union involvement on work premises, asking employees not to display union materials. In one case, the complaint said Nevada Gold Mines ordered a union worker with unspecified reprisals in retaliation to report safety issues to company management rather than federal regulators. The company denied this allegation, along with most of the allegations in the complaint. Nevada Gold Mines, in court documents, said it would be exceedingly difficult and expensive to return to a status quo in which it recognized Local 3. The company noted that it had paid out time-off wages to the former Newmont employees. Lawyers for the company told the court that returning to the status quo could cost the company and employees as much as $11.8 million. The board disputed that analysis, saying the only identifiable cost was about $2.5 million for a pension fix and noting that the companies were saving about $470 million with the joint venture. Even if [Nevada Gold Mines] $2.5 million estimate of the costs of restoring the status quo is accurate, this sum hardly seems like a hardship given the scale of savings, the board said.Update: This story was updated at 8:41 p.m. at Aug. 10, 2020 to include a statement from Nevada Gold Mines. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 As the Covid-19 pandemic curve continues to flatten in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is shutting down several Covid Care Centre (CCC) facilities. Medical equipment from these centres will be transferred to civic-run peripheral, maternity hospitals and health posts to plug shortages of devices. When Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Mumbai in March, the BMC started CCC facilities in all civic wards to quarantine high-risk contacts and asymptomatic patients. In June, however, when the curve started plateauing in Mumbai, the BMC was conducting around 4,500 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests every day, and an average 1,100 new Covid-19 cases were reported. With the inclusion of the rapid antigen test, the daily average testing has gone over 7,000 per day, with the civic body conducting more than 10,000 tests on some days. Despite the increase in testing, the number of daily Covid-19 cases has stayed below 1,000 in the city. The positivity rate has come down from 22 percent in July to 19.51 percent in August. Also read: BMC to appoint consultant to curb waterlogging in city With the number of Covid-19 cases reducing in Mumbai slums, almost 70 percent CCCs are lying unused. The civic body has therefore gradually started handing over rented lodges, schools, auditoriums, hotels to its owners where these centres were created. Medical equipment like oximeters, glucometer, oxygen cylinders, blood pressure monitors, beds among others from the facilities will be used in the secondary health care facilities. Annually, peripheral hospitals, dispensaries and health posts have their own demand for medical devices. So, the equipment will be sent to these facilities for future usage, said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner. At present, we arent handing over all the equipment. We have to remain prepared in case Mumbai is hit with the second wave of Covid-19 infection. The BMC has 16 peripheral hospitals, 175 municipal dispensaries, 29 maternity homes with over 200 health posts all across the city. The civic body has spent around Rs 850 crore in the ongoing pandemic including salaries, equipment and construction of CCCs. Nearly Rs 130 crore has been spent on buying essential machines. Most equipment is being donated by philanthropists which will be used at the secondary health care facilities along with the purchased ones. While the rented ones will be handed over to their owners, said Kakani. At present, Mumbai has 332 CCC-1 facilities for high-risk contacts with over 48,000-bed capacity. There are a total of 173 CCC-2 facilities for positive asymptomatic patients with over 23,000 beds. Health activists have welcomed the civic bodys decision. Pradeep Patil, a local RTI activist from Bandra who is associated with non-government organisation Jan Kalyan said, Even though health posts and peripheral hospitals form the backbone of the healthcare system in Mumbai, they lack basic amenities. It will be a great boost for medical infrastructure if the BMC can also shift all additional equipment, like ventilators and x-ray machines, for Covid-19 patients to these centres once the pandemic gets over. Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been dragged to court by one of his wives who is demanding maintenance money for her and her schoolgoing daughter. Zuma is reported to be opposing an application for maintenance by his estranged wife, Tobeka Madiba-Zuma. The former first lady was present during the closed hearing in the Durban maintenance court on Tuesday. Zuma did not attend and was represented by his legal counsel, advocate Nqaba Buthelezi. Buthelezi told TimesLIVE they would provide an update on the matter after the hearing. In February it was reported that Zuma had barred Madiba-Zuma from his Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, home amid claims she had taken SIM cards which contained confidential information. This is a new legal battle for Zuma who is also facing a corruption trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court and a 500,000 Rands lawsuit from Derek Hanekom. Hanekom, a former minister, is suing Zuma for calling him a "known enemy agent". Source: www.iol.co.za 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 are investigating after a house reportedly belonging to Chief Mark Hill of the Six Nations elected band council caught fire Tuesday morning. According to Six Nations police, emergency responders were called to the house on Sixth Line east of Cayuga Road around 8:20 a.m. to find the house completely engulfed in flames. Sgt. Derrick T. Anderson said a passerby entered the building and brought a man out to safety. Police got word a second person might be inside and started to search the house, only to learn that the family member in question was elsewhere. No injuries were reported, though the house suffered major fire and smoke damage, Anderson said in a press release. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the Ontario Fire Marshals office has been called in. Six Nations Police did not confirm that the house in question was Hills, though several sources said the chiefs house was damaged. Const. Rod LeClair said Haldimand OPP is helping with the investigation. He directed all inquiries to Six Nations Police. Six Nations Police did not respond to a request for further comment. Firefighters from Haldimand County also attended the scene. A spokesperson for the department said road closures in and around Caledonia caused by an Indigenous group occupying a construction site in the south end of town did not delay firefighters arrival. That demonstration has already raised tensions in the community, as developers are looking to build on land that the occupiers say is unceded Haudenosaunee territory. The developers compensated the band council with cash and land elsewhere, an arrangement that Hill has publicly defended despite criticism from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy chiefs and other stakeholders. Hill was elected chief in November 2019 after 10 years on council. You are here: Arts Germany's Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and the government of south China's Hainan Province have signed an agreement to open a campus in the Yangpu Economic Development Zone on the island. The campus will be the first one run independently by a German public university overseas. It will start enrolling students in 2021. The project will introduce German practice-orientated higher education model, offer programs for bachelor's and master's degrees to cultivate high-quality and international talent, sources with the university said. The first batch of majors includes economic information, intelligent logistics, intelligent science and technology, mechatronics, data science, and engineering management, the sources said. Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia is the largest application-oriented university in the East Westphalia-Lippe region, with 37 undergraduate majors, 25 master majors and a number of vocational certificate education majors. It has been playing a leading role among German public universities in providing technical support for Germany's industrial intelligent manufacturing cluster. On June 1, China released a master plan for constructing a free trade port on Hainan, a resort island with tourism as a mainstay industry, arousing interest both abroad and at home. Vouchers for internet services for Alabama families go out next week, but state officials ask if you are not eligible not to use the voucher. The vouchers are part of a program called Alabama Broadband Connectivity for Students, created by Gov. Kay Ivey with $100 million of federal coronavirus relief funds. The voucher will provide eligible families with internet service from participating providers through Dec. 30. Its an ambitious program and its being set up in a hurry. School has already started in many areas, and with more than 70% of students statewide expected to be learning online, state officials are casting a wide net in sending the vouchers. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the program and is sending letters with redeemable vouchers to students families from information submitted by schools to the Alabama State Department of Education, which then sent the list to ADECA. The voucher will cover installation, equipment, and monthly service through Dec. 30. The list contains names of all students who receive free or reduced-price lunches at school, but a program created in 2014 that allows schools or districts with a high percentage of students in poverty to serve free meals to all means some on the list might not meet the income eligibility requirements. And state officials are counting on families to be on the honor system and not use the voucher if they don't meet the requirements. Related: As more schools move online, access to internet presents roadblock in rural Alabama The letter will state that by using the voucher, families confirm that they meet the income requirements of the National School Lunch Program, ADECA spokesperson Josh Carples wrote in an email to AL.com. Families with incomes exceeding that limit will be instructed to destroy the voucher and not redeem it. That income limit, according to ADECA, is 185% of the federal poverty level, or $48,470 for a family of four. The chart below shows limits based on household size. For households beyond eight family members, add $8,828 for each additional member. Household size 185% of federal poverty level 1 $23,606 2 $31,894 3 $40,182 4 $48,470 5 $56,758 6 $65,046 7 $73,334 8 $81,622 A website, abcstudents.org, contains information for families, schools, and internet providers. ADECA Executive Director Kenneth Boswell said they received 40 responses from internet providers wanting to participate in the program. The minimum capability, according to information on the website, must be able to run at least two simultaneous virtual classroom sessions, using such applications as Zoom or Google Classroom. Related: Fewer kids, already some coronavirus cases, but Alabama is having school Boswell said they expect to contract with about two dozen providers to provide internet services. Families can use the voucher as payment for existing internet service. Schools are alerting parents through social media, providing simple instructions for how to use the voucher when it arrives later this month. Eligible students will soon receive a letter in the mail regarding free high-speed Internet service through the Alabama... Posted by Chilton County School District on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 Other school districts are reminding parents to make sure their correct address is on file with the school, and to call the school if they have questions about whether they are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, the trigger to have an internet voucher mailed to them. Dear Wildcat Family, I wanted to bring to your attention an organization called the Alabama Broadband Connectivity for... Posted by Scottsboro City Schools on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 One school district shared a picture of what the envelope looks like to make sure families know what theyre looking for in the mail. ATTENTION: If you are a family whose student receives free or reduced meal prices in HCS, you will be getting your... Posted by Haleyville City Schools on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Alabama Superintendent Eric Mackey said the vouchers are expected to provide around $400 of internet service for 250,000 students. Alabama schools reported 327,000 students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the 2019-20 school year. For all of AL.coms back to school coverage, click here. Updated 10:45 a.m. with Haleyville City Schools social media post with a picture of the envelope. The Supreme Court will on Wednesday deliver its verdict on actor Rhea Chakrabortys petition to transfer the investigation in Sushant Singh Rajputs death case from Patna to Mumbai. A single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy will pronounce the judgment at 11am. The apex court had reserved its judgement on the actors petition after a hearing on August 11. In her petition, Chakraborty said that the Bihar Police have no jurisdiction in the case and that the actors death was being used for political gains ahead of elections in the state. Heightened media attention and sensationalising of the case is another ground on which Chakraborty has sought the transfer of the case to Mumbai. Based on Rajputs father KK Singhs complaint that Rhea Chakraborty was responsible for abetment of his sons suicide, Patna Police registered an FIR on July 25. Singh also alleged that Chakraborty illegally transferred Rs 15 crore from Rajputs bank account. However, the actor has denied all allegations and maintained that she will cooperate with an investigation launched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Meanwhile, Singh was quizzed by the ED on his sons finances on Tuesday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also registered a case against Chakraborty and three members of her family members. Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. (Alliance News) - Water Intelligence PLC on Wednesday said it has signed and launched a formal national contract with an undisclosed US insurer. Shares in Water Intelligence were up 11% at 349.64 pence in London in morning trading. Water Intelligence provides leak detection and remediation solutions for potable and non-potable water, and the deal was signed by its American Leak Detection subsidiary with "another of the leading insurance companies in the US". Despite Covid-19 disruption, Water Intelligence is still growing its national insurance accounts, it said. Its ALD business works with insurance companies and adjusters, deploying its solutions for pinpointing water leaks and minimising collateral damage claims by homeowners and businesses. Moreover, ALD provides a "one-stop shop" through its centralised water-related claims for national business-to-business customers. Water-related damage claims generate aggregate losses of more than USD13 billion a year for US insurance companies. The London-headquartered company is aiming to grow as an "essential service provider" for water and wastewater despite the pandemic. "Today's contract represents the fourth national contract for ALD with a top US insurance company. ALD remains the only nationwide pinpoint leak detection specialist," Water Intelligence said. Executive Chair Patrick DeSouza said: "It has been a busy quarter which has included additional franchise reacquisitions. Today's transaction will reinforce organic growth for both corporate and franchise locations. We continue to distinguish ourselves in the Covid-19 marketplace and reinforce our growth trajectory. Water is a precious strategic resource and we are on a mission to provide high quality water infrastructure solutions to meet increasing demand even during these challenging times." By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Zoom will arrive on Facebook Portal in September. It will arrive in Amazon Echo Show smart displays and Google Nest Hub Max later this year. Video-conferencing platform Zoom on Wednesday announced that its Zoom for Home platform was coming to Amazon Echo Show series, Google Nest Hub Max and Facebook portal later this year. To give you some context, Zoom announced Zoom for Home platform last month. This platform includes a set of software tools and hardware designed specifically for the work-from-home crowd. First device to feature the Zoom for Home platform is a 27-inch all-in-one called Zoom for Home DTEN ME, which the company created in collaboration with DTEN. Now, nearly a month after announcing the platform, Zoom is bringing the same to smart displays starting with devices from Facebook, Amazon and Google. ALSO READ: 5 Zoom features that you may not be using during video calls Zoom will arrive on Portal in select regions in September wherein it will leverage the smart displays smart camera technology to automatically keep the user in the frame. The company said that it was bringing one-touch join meeting functionality to Zoom meetings. Zoom on Amazon Echo Show (Zoom) It will arrive on Amazon Echo smart displays in the US beginning with Echo Show 8 later this year. Zoom says that Echo Show users will be able to use simple voice commands, such as, Alexa, join my Zoom meeting to join a meeting. Whats more? If users have linked their calendar in the Alexa app, Amazons virtual assistant will automatically start their scheduled meetings hands-free without the users adding their meeting IDs or passcodes. As far as Googles smart displays are concerned, like Amazon Echo Show smart displays, Zoom will arrive on the Google Nest Hub Max smart display later this year. Google Nest Hub doesnt have a front camera. With Google Calendar and Google Assistant integration, users will be able to use voice commands such as, Hey Google, join my Zoom meeting to join a meeting. A fresh outbreak of infections in Australia's coronavirus hot zone of Victoria appeared to have eased on Wednesday, as the country signed a deal to secure a potential Covid-19 vaccine that it intends to roll out free of cost to its citizens. Australia has signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce and distribute enough doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine for its population of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said late on Tuesday. All Australians will be offered doses but a medical panel will determine the priority list of vaccine recipients, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. "Naturally you would be focusing on the most vulnerable, the elderly, health workers, people with disabilities in terms of the speed of roll out, but I think there would be widespread uptake in Australia," Hunt told Sky News on Wednesday. For live updates on the coronavirus outbreak, click here AstraZeneca last month said good data was coming in so far on its vaccine for Covid-19, already in large-scale human trials and widely seen as the front-runner in the race for a shot against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, called AZD1222, was developed by Britain's University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. A flare-up in infections in Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria forced authorities two weeks ago to impose a nightly curfew, tighten restrictions on people's movements and order large parts of the state's economy to close. The southeastern state has seen a slowdown in new cases in recent days, allaying fears of a nationwide second wave of infections. Victoria reported 216 new daily cases in the last 24 hours compared with 222 a day earlier. It reported 12 deaths compared with 17 on Tuesday. Despite seeing a surge of new infections in the past month, Australia has largely avoided the high casualties of other nations with just under 24,000 infections and 450 deaths from the virus. A senior Air Force noncommissioned officer, on a list to be promoted to the services highest enlisted rank, has been convicted of abusive sexual contact and dereliction of duty and will face a mandatory discharge proceeding but no jail time. Senior Master Sgt. Jeremy M. Zier was sentenced Friday by a military jury at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph that reduced him one grade in rank. He had been selected to become a chief master sergeant, a rank achieved by just 1 percent of the enlisted force in any service, but he has not been promoted. As a convicted sex offender, he could have received one year in jail, six months forfeiture of pay and allowances, three months hard labor and reduction in rank to airman basic. An all-officer jury found Zier, 41, guilty of abusive sexual contact in an assault of a young female enlistee at a spa in Turkey in 2015, an encounter that began in a hot tub with other airmen. Later in the evening, he entered the hot tub nude with several airmen who were subordinates, a separate offense that constituted dereliction of duty, the jury found. The victim, now Staff Sgt. Cambria Ferguson, 26, said in an interview Wednesday that Zier tried several times to put his hand on her inner thigh, and finally touched her genitals, while they were in the hot tub in swimsuits along with several other junior airmen and two NCOs from her office during a professional office weekend. She left the tub, upset, and Zier followed her through a courtyard and then ended up pulling off my swimsuit top, she said. Thats when everyone else obviously noticed to the point where they started asking whats going on, and then I just went to my room, Ferguson said. I didnt even know the nudity thing in the hot tub ended up happening, I guess later on. They kept drinking and hanging out, and eventually Zier took his swim trunks off and then was encouraging them to take off all their swimsuits. The jury found Zier not guilty of two other sexual abuse charges. It is not clear if Zier will receive an honorable discharge. But he will keep his retirement benefits regardless because he has served more than 20 years, predicted Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for military assault and sexual assault victims. The reduction to master sergeant will make his pension far less than if he had been promoted to chief master sergeant. Ferguson said she was shocked and infuriated by the outcome of the trial. In a Facebook post, she cited the #MeToo movement and the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a Fort Hood soldier who told her family she had been sexually harassed prior to her disappearance in April. The Army faced scathing criticism during the search for Guillen, 20, of Houston and after her remains were found miles from the post in late June. A fellow soldier was charged with murder in the case. On ExpressNews.com: Investigators: Fort Hood soldier bludgeoned Vanessa Guillen to death on post Going through the assault followed by a yearlong investigation process that ended in extremely disappointing sentencing today has me angry, sad, nauseous ... so many other things Im not ready to discuss, Ferguson wrote Friday night on Facebook. But until I am, support me by reading my experience. Listen to understand. Educate yourself on the most recent DoD study that shows military sexual assault at an all-time high, she continued. This November, vote for politicians that actually prioritize changing our military justice system, not just use service members as flashy buzzwords without follow through. Its time to start supporting survivors and meaning it. JBSA said the Air Force hasnt decided whether Zier would receive an honorable discharge, a general discharge under honorable conditions or an other-than-honorable-conditions discharge. That will be determined later, after completion of a mandatory discharge processing action because he was convicted of abusive sexual contact. That could take several months. Zier can ask for clemency and request to be retired because he has served more than 20 years. He had been the Randolph-based Air Force Public Affairs Agencys flying program manager. The agency provides photo and video documentation of Air Force and Defense Department missions worldwide. Sexual misconduct is incompatible with our core values, harmful to our people and makes us a less effective military, JBSA said in a statement. Zier was charged with one specification of dereliction of duty in Pamukkale, Turkey, in April 2015 and three specifications of abusive sexual contact in three different locations, one of them San Antonio. A charge sheet provided by the Air Force stated that Zier touched the genitals and inner thigh of the victim in Turkey with an intent to gratify his sexual desire, without her consent while in the hot tub. It said he was derelict by removing his clothes while in a hot tub with other, lower-ranking airmen both men and women. Zier was convicted of abusive sexual contact in Turkey, but the jury of three women and one man, ranging in rank from colonel to second lieutenant, acquitted him of the same charge stemming from incidents with different women in Charleston, S.C., on Dec. 7, 2019, and in San Antonio the next week. In both incidents, the women alleged that he touched their buttocks. On ExpressNews.com: Air Force has sharpest jump in sex assaults among the service branches in annual report Ferguson now is assigned to Joint Base Charleston, S.C. She was an airman first class at the time of her assault, and Zier was a master sergeant. He was the highest-ranking NCO in their office at Incirlik Air Base, serving as superintendent of a detachment called AFN Incirlik, while she was the lowest-ranking airman there. Ferguson said she had come out as bisexual just prior to arriving at Incirlik and was one of two women in an office dominated by men and locker room talk. She said Zier was given to saying inappropriate things to airmen and that as soon as new female airmen came to the office they were taken out for drinks. He would try to ask me what its like when two females had intercourse, what it feels like, what I like done to me, just a lot of questions relating to that, Ferguson said. It was always sexual in nature, and that was not only the trend with myself but other females in the office. Related: Special Report: Twice Betrayed In her statement to the jury, Ferguson said the experience of being assaulted far from the U.S. wasnt a moment or a brief chapter, it was an awakening that permeates my perception of the Air Force every day I put on the uniform. And tragically, Im not alone in sharing one of the most degrading experiences you can face as a young airman on a first assignment, she said, adding, I lost sleep then and I lose sleep now, knowing leaders can act this way because of the perception that their middle and lower ranks will turn a blind eye. Ferguson also expressed anger that she was asked multiple times throughout the investigation if she believed Zier was still a good leader despite these isolated incidents. After enduring years of crippling self-doubt but serving with numerous other supervisors whose leadership gave her some perspective, she concluded that Zier is not a good leader; rather, this is how he chooses to abuse his power, she told the jury. On ExpressNews.com: Joint Base San Antonio has worst record of sexual assaults of all joint bases in the country The problem of sexual assaults in the military has existed for years, with a Pentagon analysis released in April showing that reports have almost tripled since 2010. The issue has made headlines with service academy incidents and a 2011 scandal involving abusive training instructors at JBSA-Lackland. The Air Force investigated 35 instructors for misconduct against 69 recruits and technical school students at the base, holding numerous trials. The Lackland scandal forced a makeover of Air Force basic and technical training and helped push a congressional rewrite of military law, including a requirement that airmen convicted of rape be dishonorably discharged. The charges against Zier fell short of rape because the offenses did not involve penetration. Zier has been teleworking since March 17 as part of reductions in office staffing because of the coronavirus pandemic. Charges were brought against him by the Air Force Public Affairs Agency. Based on the evidence they had, they did the most they could with this because witnesses didnt see Zier touch the complainant and there was no physical evidence, a senior military official with knowledge of the case said, asking for anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. Ferguson visited Incirliks sexual assault prevention office within a month of the incident, but like the vast majority of victims in the military did not file a report out of fear that others in her office wouldnt support her. She finally filed an unrestricted report, which allows prosecution, last December after Air Force investigators told her that other airmen had complained of incidents involving Zier. I had no intentions of ever reporting, Ferguson said. I didnt want to put myself out there like that. But she went ahead with it, deciding that Zier had to be held accountable, and briefly served as a victim advocate, supporting and counseling others in the Air Force who come forward. Initially, she thought it would be therapeutic, but she realized I was in no place to help others and quit after about six months. Ive asked myself so many times: What if I came forward today? Would they be angry I waited? Is what happened less relevant as time passes? Ferguson told jurors before they deliberated on Ziers punishment. What can I do to protect other females? Does my pain matter? Should I just let it go? These questions create a prison in a persons mind. For me, it became a cage with over a thousand tally marks clawed into the floor. Sig Christenson covers the military and its impact in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Sig, become a subscriber. sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe By PTI NEW DELHI: State-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) expects to sell 1-1.5 million bales of cotton to Bangladesh to liquidate surplus stocks, a top company official said on Wednesday. In an interview with PTI, Cotton Corporation of India Chairman Pradeep Kumar Agarwal said the exports would take place on a government-to-government basis and the shipments could start from next month onwards. He said India's closing stock of cotton is likely to touch 9 million bales by the end of the current marketing year 2019-20 (October to September). One bale is equal to 170 kg. "It is in G2G (government-to-government) agreement mode. Some quantity we have sold through tender but under G2G, it will take time because the MoU (memorandum of understanding) which is to be signed between both countries is in the vetting stage," Agarwal told PTI over phone. Asked if the sale can take place by September before the new crop arrives, he said, "I think so". Agarwal said he expects 1-1.5 million bales of cotton to be sold under the proposed agreement with Bangladesh. He said India is likely to have a record surplus closing stockpile of 9 million bales of cotton by September-end, adding that the State Trading Corporation of Bangladesh will subsequently sell the cotton to the country's mills. Talking about his company, Agarwal said CCI's total procurement this year was 105 lakh bales, plus 9 lakh bales from 2018-19, which put the total stock at 114 bales, out of which, some stock has been sold. "By September-end, I am expecting it (CCI's net stock) may be around 3 million bales," he said. Agarwal said India's total production estimate as per the Cotton Advisory Board was 360 lakh bales. However, Cotton Corporation of India estimates the country's overall production at around 350 lakh bales, he said. Asked about the price at which cotton will be sold under the agreement, Agarwal said it will not be less than the domestic price in India and depends on the variety of cotton they are likely to purchase, adding that the minimum rate is Rs 35,000 a candy. "(By September), some quantity will go out. It will continue, but after the agreement, we have to watch the progress, what is their demand, what is the price coming, everything has to be watched," he said. Agarwal said the price of sale will depend upon various factors, including the variety, quantity and quality parameters of the cotton as the price differs with its quality attributes and is not uniform. He shared that CCI paid Rs 5,500 per quintal to farmers for buying the raw kapas (cotton), at the minimum support price which is more than the market rate. Cotton Corporation of India procures cotton from farmers at the minimum support price and sells it to mills. No open or secret document was signed during the meeting held in Moscow in April 2016. This is what third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said during a press conference today. I call on everyone to judge with facts. The April 12 statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs clearly states that the 1994 termless ceasefire agreement is in effect. What other document can there be? he said. Serzh Sargsyan also provided details about how the meeting was organized. He stated that the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Yuri Khachaturov called him and said the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia had said the Azerbaijanis were ready to meet and talk about a ceasefire, after which he agreed and the meeting was organized in Tbilisi, but the Azerbaijanis refused to meet in Tbilisi and said they would meet in Moscow because any agreement needed to be guaranteed by a mediator, and Khachaturov left for Moscow. Touching upon the fact that Khachaturov didnt show up to the meeting held by the Armenian parliamentary committee leading a probe into the circumstances behind the Four-Day Artsakh War, Serzh Sargsyan stated that he had talked to Khachaturov several times and urged him to attend, but he had disagreed. I understand Khachaturovs position. He dedicated the best part of his life to Armenias security. Khachaturov dedicated his entire life to the army and Armenias national security, but people spread wrong information about him, stating that he was playing billiard when the military operations had begun, he said. When one of the journalists asked Serzh Sargsyan if he felt responsible for those who died during the Four-Day Artsakh War and if he is ready to apologize to their families, Serzh Sargsyan said he is ready to take responsibility for not only the officers and soldiers who died during the Four-Day Artsakh War, but also the officers and soldiers who died during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war. Asked why he hadnt touched upon the allegations fired at the authorities after the Four-Day Artsakh War earlier, Serzh Sargsyan said he hadnt felt the need for that and later he hadnt found it appropriate. English Professor Chloe Cark told informed her students they could not choose any topic that takes at its base that one side doesnt deserve the same basic human rights as you do, College Fix reported An Iowa State University professor who told her students they were forbidden from submitting work criticizing Black Lives Matter, gay marriage or abortion was forced to correct her syllabus this week to better protect free speech rights on campus. English Professor Chloe Clark informed her students they could not choose any topic that takes at its base that one side doesnt deserve the same basic human rights as you do, College Fix reported. Labeled a GIANT WARNING in a portion of the syllabus banning instances of othering, Clark alerted members of her English 250 class that they could offer no arguments against gay marriage, abortion, Black Lives Matter etc, adding that she takes this seriously. [A]ny instances of othering that you participate in intentionally (racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, sorophobia, transphobia, classism, mocking of mental health issues, body shaming, etc) in class are grounds for dismissal from the classroom, the professor wrote. English Professor Chloe Clark told informed her students they could not choose any topic that takes at its base that one side doesnt deserve the same basic human rights as you do, College Fix reported (Clark's syllabus shown above) Labeled a GIANT WARNING in a portion of the syllabus banning instances of othering, Clark warned members of her English 250 class that they could offer no arguments against gay marriage, abortion, Black Lives Matter etc, adding that she takes this seriously' A screenshot of the syllabus was first shared by Young Americas Foundation, a conservative youth organization who accused Clark of encroaching on students First Amendment rights and discriminating against conservative students. This blatant discrimination against conservative students, in particular those who are pro-life or oppose the Marxist BLM organization cannot stand at an institution of higher learning, YAF wrote in a blog post. Warning students that any opinion the professor may disagree with could be grounds for dismissal from the classroom is a gross abuse of power, the organisation continued. In response to the fallout, Iowa State University has spoken out against Clarks syllabus, describing it as inconsistent with the universitys standards and its commitment to the First Amendment rights of students. The school, which voiced it support of the Black Lives Matter movement in June, clarified that it raised the issue with Clark and her syllabus has now been amended to ensure its consistent with university policy. Moreover, the faculty member is being provided additional information regarding the First Amendment policies of the university, Iowa State said, adding that it does not take disciplinary action against students based on the content or viewpoints expressed in their speech. In response to the fallout since, the Iowa State University has spoken out against Clarks syllabus, describing it as inconsistent with the universitys standards and its commitment to the First Amendment rights of students' The YFA has since voiced its delight that the university decided to side with the right to free speech on this occasion. It is hopeful news to see a university take the side of the First Amendment and the free expression rights of its studentsstill, it is shameful that a faculty member ran so far afoul of basic educational practice and the Constitution that such a retraining of this kind is necessary, spokesperson Spencer Brown said. Based on what we at YAF see and hear from our student activists, many administrators and professors could use a refresher on the First Amendment as the fall semester begins. According to her LinkedIn profile, Clark has worked at ISU for the last seven years in a number roles before becoming an Assistant Professor of Teacher in August last year. The emergence of her syllabus has also sparked debate online. State Rep. Skyler Wheeler, a member of Iowas house education committee, tweeted [ISU] wants more of your tax money so they can give it to professors like this. The Iowa State College Republicans also tweeted Its a shame that low quality professors use their power over students to suppress free speech! Earlier this year, ISU settled a lawsuit filed by a free speech advocacy group who accused the school of obstructing First Amendment Rights. Filed by Speech First, the lawsuit was settled last spring when the university agreed to remove its policy banning sidewalk chalkings and other limits on acts of political expression. The organization said the previously implemented policies stifled political speech at a time when presidential politics are an especially hot topic on the campus. Iowa State University has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for further comment. Dr. Jonathan H. Schafer, 59, of Signal Mountain, was killed Tuesday morning in a motorcycle accident. The crash occurred on Shoal Creek Road. Officer David Holloway said the motorcycle left the roadway and went down into a rocky creekbed. He was thrown off the motorcycle. The officer said there are no known witnesses to the accident. He said a family member called police saying he was missing and police and fire then began searching for him. They then discovered the wreck scene. Anyone with information can contact Officer David Holloway at 886-2124. Dr. Schafer was a family medicine specialist at Erlanger North Hospital in Red Bank. He graduated with honors from University Of South Dakota School Of Medicine in 2005. WASHINGTON/BAMAKO, MALI - Soldiers in Malis capital mutinied Tuesday and have taken President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody. A reporter for VOAs French to Africa service (Kassim Traore) says the president was arrested at his house in Bamako Tuesday and taken to a military camp in the town of Kati, 15 kilometers away. Cisse was taken to the same camp. Gunfire erupted at the Kati base earlier in the day. Mali reporter Bram Posthumus told VOA English to Africa that soldiers went on the rampage, got to the arsenals, got the guns, started shooting in the air, went out and cut off access to the camp. No casualties have been reported in the unrest. A mutiny at the same camp triggered a coup against Malian president Amadou Toumani Toure in 2012. Opposition supporters react to the news of a possible mutiny of soldiers in the military base in Kati, outside the capital Bamako, at Independence Square in Bamako, Mali, Aug. 18, 2020. Earlier Tuesday, the Norwegian embassy in Mali warned that a mutiny in the armed forces was under way, and several embassies warned their nationals to stay home. The U.S. embassy in Bamako has told staff to shelter in place and warned Americans to stay away from areas of demonstrations or police and military activity. Opposition supporters have held several large protests since June calling for President Keitas resignation. Clashes between security forces and protesters in July killed at least 11 people. FILE - Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita wears a face mask during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Critics blame the president for a faltering economy and for failing to stop an eight-year Islamist insurgency in the north. Tensions escalated in April after the Constitutional Court overturned results from a disputed parliamentary election, allowing Keitas party to take a majority of the vacant seats. VOA English to Africa, French to Africa and the Bambara service contributed to this report. African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki has strongly condemned the forced detention of the President of #Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian Government. He bemoaned that, the recent military coup in Mali opposed peace and stability Africa Leaders are working assiduously to achieve. This comes after gunfire erupted inside a military base near the capital Bamako In a statement signed by the Spokesperson to the Chairperson of the Commission, Ebba Kalondo and copied to thepressradio.com , the Chairperson called for immediate release of Mali President and his ministers. The Chairperson strongly rejects any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and calls on the mutineers to cease all recourse to violence, and calls for the respect of the countrys institutions. He stated. Moussa Faki therefore called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations and the entire international community to combine their collective efforts to oppose any use of force as a means to end the political crisis in Mali. Meanwhile, Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned, after being detained by soldiers on Tuesday, state TV reports. In a televised address, Mr Keita said he was also dissolving the government and parliament. "I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power," he added. A student of the Tema Senior High School (TEMASCO) who was nearly gang rapped on campus has rejoined her colleague candidates sitting the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The incident occurred around 3pm on Tuesday August 11, while she was studying in one of science classrooms. The two male intruders injured her in the failed attempt. Narrating her harrowing ordeal in a statement to the Police, the female student (name withheld) said, I was learning with some other students and 40 minutes after they left, I saw two boys in mufti walking towards me, and when I tried getting out of the classroom upon sensing danger, they pushed me back inside and struggled with me to take the money I had on me. The victim said she the two boys grabbed her firmly and upon struggling with them and shouting uncontrollably for help, they released her and absconded upon seeing some students approaching the scene. After taking the little money I had on me, they insisted on raping me, so I started struggling with them again and kept on screaming till they realised people were heading to the classroom, she recounted. As soon as the boys saw them, they cut me with a knife and run out of the classroom leaving me to bleed profusely, she narrated further. Mr Kobina Baido, Headmaster of the School, confirming the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a monitoring visit, noted that, but for the intervention of staff and students, she would have been raped. According to him, a police report was filed and the student was given a form to seek medical treatment. She has received the needed attention including counselling by the school with support from her parents, and is of sound mind and writing her final examination, "he said. He lamented the state of insecurity as a result of encroachment. Unauthorized structures had been sited around the school while other persons were cultivating crops on campus which had further emboldened criminals to have a field day on campus. The situation, he indicated, posed a serious threat to students and teachers alike and appealed to the Municipal Assembly to rebuild the school's broken fence walls and increase the number of security personnel to ward off intruders. The situation has seemingly improved because the Police have extended their day and night patrols to the school after series of reports were made, he said, adding that a safe and healthy school environment was critical to educational successes, "he said. Mrs Adwoa Amoako, Tema West Municipal Chief Executive, said the Assembly would help the school solve its security challenges. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Akufo-Addo has commissioned a Community Mining Scheme at Aboso in the Western Region. In a speech at the commissioning ceremony on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, President Akufo-Addo indicated several Community Mining schemes were being commissioned across the country. According to the President, a gold refinery would be established at Aboso, alongside other mining initiatives. Earlier in the day, the President commissioned the Akango/Duale Community Mining and Egila Gwira Community Mining schemes at Bamiankor in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region. The commissioning of the Community Mining Schemes is fulfillment of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto promise. President Akufo-Addo is on a five-day tour of the Western and Central Regions. He underscored his partys commitment to sanitizing the mining sector and ensuring the provision of decent jobs. Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-cheremeh, in his remarks, reiterated that the Community Mining Scheme is an innovative policy initiated under the Nana Akufo-Addo Administration. The Minister indicated that Community Mining Scheme is aimed at providing members of mining communities the opportunity to engage in lawful and meaningful mining ventures and thereby provide sustainable livelihoods for the beneficiaries of the Scheme. As provided for within the legal framework of small-scale mining, the Scheme is reserved for only Ghanaians citizens,, but this time round, with an emphasis on members of the host mining Community, the minister said. He encouraged all stakeholders including Community members to make the Community Mining Scheme work effectively for the benefit of Ghana. Compliance with the good governance and rule of law framework put in place by Government is very important and, at all times, operations should only take place with the requisite licenses and permits from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals, Forestry and Water Commissions, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, he indicated. Mr. Asomah-Cheremeh cautioned: the miners especially are advised to adhere to the rules and regulations as well as best practices. The adoption of the small scale miners code of practice is a must and miners who flout the rules would have their licenses revoked. Again, he urged those engaging in Community Mining to put in place robust safety protocols at their respective areas of operation to prevent, not just health and safety hazards associated with mining but also coronavirus. Prestea-Hunny-Valley Constituency Member of Parliament, and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, observed Aboso is benefitting from large scale, small scale and Community Mining initiatives. She highlighted a number of initiatives the President and his wife, Rebecca Akufo-Addo have undertaken in the area. ---Daily Guide Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 21:05:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China is confident of being able to control a COVID-19 epidemic resurgence in autumn and winter based on recent epidemic containment experience over more than six months, a health expert said Wednesday. During the COVID-19 outbreak that started in Wuhan, because of effective epidemic containment measures, no provincial-level region on the Chinese mainland, except virus-hit Hubei Province, reported over 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, said Wu Zunyou, a chief epidemiology expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference. China has also successfully contained some cluster COVID-19 infections during recent months, Wu added, noting that such facts demonstrate that the country is capable of controlling the virus transmission in a timely manner. Meanwhile, Wu warned that a virus outbreak could happen at any time, as the pandemic remains severe across the world, and he called for the full implementation of epidemic prevention measures in China. Enditem Changing of the guard as ex Tour champions Froome and Thomas left out of Ineos team Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas can wave goodbye hopes of glory in Paris this year after being omitted from Team Ineos Grenadier line-up Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas's absence from the formidable Team Ineos line-up for this year's race ushers in a new era with the accent on youth. Defending champion Egan Bernal of Colombia and highly-rated Russian Pavel Sivakov are both 23 whilst last year's Giro d'Italia champion Richard Carapaz of Ecuador is 27. Both 35-year-old Froome and Thomas, 34, have been set targets of achieving a team Grand Tour cleansweep with the former in the Vuelta a Espana (October 20 to November 8) and the latter the Giro (October 3-25). Their absence means there will be no serious British contender for the yellow jersey for the first time since Bradley Wiggins won Le Grand Boucle in 2012. Six of the team's seven victories in the past eight Tours were thanks to a British rider. Froome will not get the chance to bring down the curtain on his hugely-successful spell with Ineos (formerly Team Sky) with a tilt for a fifth Tour yellow jersey as he "needs more time", according to team principal Dave Brailsford. Froome has been trying to get back to peak condition after he was involved in a high-speed crash at last year's Criterium du Dauphine which came close to ending his career. However, Froome, who broke his neck, femur, elbow, hip and ribs in the crash, conceded he is not in the shape required for the gruelling race which gets underway in Nice on August 29. "I've had an incredible recovery from the big crash I had last year and I'm in a very fortunate position to be back racing now already," said Froome, who will be bidding to add a third Vuelta to his laurels having won in 2011 and 2017. "But I'm not confident that I can really fulfil the necessary job that would be needed from me at this year's Tour de France. "I think it's a lot more realistic targeting the Vuelta a Espana. "It gives me a chance to really get stuck into something that's deliverable." Story continues Brailsford had been fulsome in his praise of Froome when announcing the line-up even though relations are said to have been strained when the team decided not to renew his contract earlier this year. Froome -- who had been with the team since it came into being in 2010 -- will ride for Israel Start Up Nation next season. "Chris is a legend of our sport, a true champion who has demonstrated incredible grit and determination to come back from his crash last year. "We want to support him to compete for another Grand Tour title and the Vuelta gives him that little bit more time to continue his progress to the top level." - 'Some sort of positive' - Thomas will target the Giro bidding to become the first Welshman to win it. Thomas looked on the bright side of the new challenge that lay ahead for him. "It's nice to finally just have a firm plan in place and know exactly what I'm doing, and try to get some sort of positive out of this year," he said. "In 2017, I was in great shape, in similar form to what I was in '18 when I won the Tour. "The Giro ended badly that year with a crash and it's something I've always wanted to go back to." Froome will have to wait another year and see if he can equal the record of five Tour wins jointly-held by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Bernal intimated if he was fresh enough post the Tour he might offer to help Froome in the Vuelta. "It's a bit strange to not have G and Froomey in the Tour, but I'm really excited to see what G will do in the Giro d'Italia," siad Bernal. "Also in the Vuelta, who knows? Maybe I can go there and just try to help Froomey." Ineos team for Tour de France Andrey Amador (CRC), Egan Bernal (COL), Richard Carapaz (ECU), Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), Luke Rowe (GBR), Pavel Sivakov (RUS), Dylan van Baarle (NED) pi/lp/nr Greece today banned parties and shut down open-air markets in two popular holiday resorts to contain the spread of coronavirus. Gatherings will be limited to nine people on the island of Mykonos and across the coastal area of Halkidiki, with only four people or six close relatives allowed to share a table at restaurants. The measures also include compulsory mask-wearing in public spaces, including outdoors. Greece yesterday saw a record 269 new cases and the spike has led to fears that the country could be next to be struck off the UK's travel corridor list. The island of Mykonos (where tourists are pictured on Sunday) is one of the holiday hotspots where Greek authorities are bringing in new restrictions Greek civil protection authorities announced the new measures today, which will take effect from Friday and stay in place until at least August 31. No more than four people can be seated at the same table in restaurants unless they are very close relatives, in which case the limit is increased to six people. Events including live parties, religious processions and open-air markets are banned under the new rules. The government has been rolling out restrictions to fight the recent spike in infections, including shutting down bars and restaurants from midnight. Authorities have also been urging young people to wear masks as they return from holidays, with several countries seeing spikes linked in cases among youngsters. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday warned the country's young people to rein in reckless behaviour seen as contributing to the spike. 'I want to make a special appeal to our youth. I too have children of that age,' Mitsotakis said ahead of additional curfew restrictions announced for Athens and other areas. 'Please...take care of yourselves, you are not immune, and your parents and grandparents are especially not immune,' said the prime minister, a father of three. Based on the latest data up to Tuesday, Greece has recorded a total of 7,472 Covid-19 infections and 232 deaths. On Tuesday, deputy civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias told reporters Greece continued to be in a 'better situation' compared with other European countries. Greece, he said, ranked 180th in terms of deaths per million inhabitants, noting that 83of per cent recent infections were due to domestic dispersion of the virus because people did not observe proper social distancing. People wear masks in the narrow streets of Matogiannia on the Aegean island of Mykonos on Sunday On Mykonos, with a reputation as a party island that never sleeps, congested beach parties during the peak summer season have led authorities to clamp down. Meanwhile, eateries and bars are closing at midnight in greater Athens, Thessaloniki and popular islands including Corfu, Santorini and Crete. Greece is currently one of the 'travel corridor' countries on the UK government's list, meaning people can return from Greece without having to quarantine. In addition, Greece is exempt from the Foreign Office advice against non-essential international travel during the pandemic. However, the recent rises in cases has led to fears that Greece could be struck off the travel corridor list, leaving holidaymakers in chaos. Ministers acted abruptly to shut down the travel corridors with Spain, France and Belgium among others after spikes in cases. Transport secretary Grant Shapps last week identified a threshold of 20 cases per 100,000 people in a week as crucial to the quarantine rules. Italy, Croatia and Germany have also seen worrying increases but are still on the travel corridor list. Their scars capture the horrific moment when every pane of glass in the city shattered. The explosion in Beirut blew out windows for kilometres around, sent cascades of glass shards flying in every direction, and killed at least 180 people and wounded more than 6,000. The scars tell the story of where the victim was standing when a stockpile of explosive chemicals stored at Beiruts port was ignited by a fire, sending an earthquake-like jolt through the city and leaving entire blocks littered with rubble. Shady Rizk, a network engineer, was working in a glass building across from the port and saw the fire through his window. A haunting video he shot on his phone shows the column of smoke and his reflection in the window. His colleagues can be heard exclaiming in shock in the background. Then there was a huge impact, and all that can be heard on the video after that are cries of pain. I couldnt see or hear anything at first; there was void, he said. Then, after 20 minutes, I think people heard our screams and someone came and took us to the hospital. He needed 350 stitches, dark tracks that criss-cross his arms, legs, chest and face. The scars that will remain on my face and body will tell my story, he said. They are a sign that Ive been deeply hurt and a sign that I have healed. The trauma from the explosion will run deep, even in a city that has seen decades of war, conflict and instability. Angelique Sabounjian, a fashion model, was left with a gaping wound above her right eye from flying glass, now replaced by stitches. She, like others, is now demanding an international investigation. It was a kind of a nuclear bomb, she said. This was not something normal to happen. The blast destroyed entire neighbourhoods near the port, leaving tens of thousands of people unable to live in their homes or operate their businesses. Lebanon was already in the grip of a severe economic crisis and struggling to contain a coronavirus outbreak. The national body of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday, rejected the removal of Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The Council, chaired by lawyer and businessman, Wale Babalakin, last Wednesday announced the removal of Mr Ogundipe for alleged misconduct. The decision was taken at the Councils emergency meeting in Abuja during which a probe report was considered, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. A panel report, exclusively published by PREMIUM TIMES, indicted Mr Ogundipe for financial misappropriations and contract fraud in the university. Although Mr Ogundipe rejected his removal, accusing the council of not following due process in its actions, Theophilus Soyombo has been appointed in an acting capacity to replace him. The Senate, alumni body, as well as other concerned parties, have condemned the removal of Mr Ogundipe. We reaffirm our confidence in the leadership of Professor Toyin Ogundipe as Vice-Chancellor of the university, the ASUU branch chairman, Dele Ashiru, stressed last week. The embattled Professor had kick-started a court process to challenge the decision of the Babalakin-led councils decision. Meanwhile, on several forums and media appearances, Mr Babalakin had justified the councils decision, insisting that the verdict stands. In a statement issued after a press conference, signed by its national chairman, Biodun Ogunyemi, the body of lecturers said it received the news of the purported removal of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) by the Governing Council chaired by Mr Babalakin with absolute shock and total disappointment. We are shocked not because we regard Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe as a saint but for the fact that all available evidence indicates that he was not taken through the due process. In spite of Dr Babalakin spirited efforts to defend the indefensible, it is now clear to all and sundry that there is more to the story coming from the senior member of the bar. Dr Wale Babalakin For the avoidance of doubt, Dr. Wale Babalakin should be reminded that the knowledge of procedures and processes for appointment and removal of Vice-Chancellors is not the exclusive preserve of legal luminaries because the sources are out there in the public space. Curiously, he has been quoting a strange law the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act of 2009, which is not known to any other stakeholder, and the basis of his Councils decision. The body accused Mr Babalakin of dragging its negotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement with the federal government without a concrete result. It is public knowledge that ASUU has consistently been at the forefront of the struggle for University Autonomy in Nigeria. As we speak. University Autonomy and Academic Freedom is one of the four key items listed for renegotiation in the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement which Dr Wale Babalakin-led Team has unduly dragged for three-and-half years without any concrete results! Law puts it, the amendments of 2003 and 2012 not yet formally incorporated are to be made into the enabling laws under the principle of incorporation by reference. Dr. Babalakin appears to have been quoting Section 3(8) of the Principal Act (as amended) which states: The Vice-Chancellor may be removed from office by the Governing Council on grounds of gross misconduct or inability to discharge the functions of his office an a result of infirmity of the body or mind, at the initiative of the Council, Senate or the Congregation after due process. Mr Ogunyemi said the Pro-Chancellor has been evasive on two interrelated questions; 1. Did the Senate participate in the process as required by the Law? and (2) Was the due process followed? ASUU fully supports the UNILAG Senates rejection of the Dr Wale Babalakin-led Governing Councils ill-informed decision to remove the Vice-Chancellor. ASUU, however, called for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately constitute a Special Visitation Panel to look into the immediate and remote causes of the events that led to the purported removal of Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe VC of UNILAG with a view to bringing anyone found culpable to book. WASHINGTON (Aug. 18, 2020)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities.No applicable data.No applicable data.No applicable data., is awarded amodification (P00053) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-15-C-0093. This modification exercises options for the installation of auxiliary power units, digital red switch systems and Family of Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals/Presidential National Voice Conferencing modifications and associated support on two E-6B Mercury aircraft. Work will be performed in Waco, Texas, and is expected to be completed by July 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds for $20,102,664 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded anmodification (P00015) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification provides non-recurring efforts and modifies three Lot 14 MH-60R helicopters to the initial India configuration in support of the MH-60R modification program for the government of India. Work will be performed in Owego, New York (95%); and Stratford, Connecticut (5%), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Foreign Military Sales funds for $18,100,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data.No applicable data., is awarded afirm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This contract will procure 35 full rate production Lot 17 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) AN/ALQ-214A(V)4 Onboard Jammer (OBJ) systems; 14 Weapons Replaceable Assemblies (WRA)1 A(V)4s; 13 WRA2 A(V)4s, and repair of test assets and field support for in service IDECM AN/ALQ-214A(V)4 OBJ systems. Work will be performed in Clifton, New Jersey (59%); San Jose, California (14%); San Diego, California (7%); Rancho Cordova, California (5%); Mountain View, California (3%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (12%). Work is expected to be completed August 2023. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $103,329,328; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $700,000 will be obligated at time of award, $700,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-C-0002)., is awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0088) against previously-issued basic ordering agreement N00019-20-G-0005. This order provides non-recurring engineering for requirements development and systems engineering technical reviews and certification planning; initial requirements change requests; procurement strategy source selection package; performance based navigation certification plan; initial system safety; cyber; program protection and exportability analysis; integrated master schedule; and other associated technical deliverables in support of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye cockpit redesign. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (99.76%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (0.24%), and is expected to be completed by January 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,785,394 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded anmodification (P00016) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification provides for the production, delivery and integration of 24 Airborne Low Frequency Sonars (ALFS) for the government of India; eight ALFS for the Navy and seven ALFS for the government of Denmark, into MH-60R Seahawk aircraft. Work will be performed in Brest, France (77%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (15%); and Owego, New York (8%), and is expected to be completed by December 2024. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $37,280,928 and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $144,463,596 will be obligated at time of award, $37,280,928 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0162) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-16-G-0012. This order provides non-recurring engineering and integrated logistics support to produce and qualify the structural improvement and electrical power upgrade solution for the UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (70.4%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (26.3%); and Phoenix, Arizona (3.3%). This order provides for the integration of structural improvements and power upgrades, as well as the development of technical data and supporting documentation as it pertains to reliability, maintainability, damage limits and tolerances. Additionally, this order provides for the manufacture and delivery of two drives system accessory power quills, one modified combining gearbox, one test stand upgrade, as well as associated component qualification testing. Work is expected to be completed by December 2022. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,503,510; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,659,045; and fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,237,445, will be obligated at time of award and $17,503,510 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded afirm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides depot sustainment support, guidance section and control section repair and common munitions built-in test/reprogramming equipment box 4 and 5 test and inspection in support of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile weapon system for the Navy; the governments of Italy and Australia; and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will be performed in Northridge, California (62%); Ridgecrest, California (31%); and Fusaro, Italy (7%). Work is expected to be completed by August 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-D-0106).No applicable data., is awarded anot-to-exceed, cost-plus-fixed-fee, undefinitized order (N00019-20-F-0078) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0008. This order procures various materials required for the 30P05 capability upgrade to all fielded pilot and maintenance training systems in support of the F-35 Program for the Navy, Marines, Air Force, non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (95%); and Fort Worth, Texas (5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,620,000; non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $1,310,000; and FMS funds in the amount of $1,385,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded aundefinitized contract modification (P00041) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-17-C-0001. This modification provides for the development and installation of flight test instrumentation on one F-35B Lot 14 aircraft and one F-35C Lot 14 aircraft for government testing in support of the F-35 program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (65%); Palmdale, California (32%); Grenaa, Denmark (2%); and Hoogerheide, Netherlands (1%), and is expected to be completed in June 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $23,255,516; and non-Department of Defense funds in the amount of $6,088,968 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data., is awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-20-F-0863) against basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0029. This order provides non-recurring engineering for the development of logistics support products for the Maintenance Task Analysis Phase II, a provisioning database of technical information to include 2D drawings that supports all operational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance for the CH-53K helicopter. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut (63%); Jupiter, Florida (11%); Chesterfield, Missouri (6%); St. Marcel, France (5%); Rockmart, Georgia (2%); Titchfield, England (2%); Rome, New York (2%); Springfield, New Jersey (2%); Orange, Connecticut (1%); Westbury, New York (1%); Avon, Ohio (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (4%), and is expected to be completed in August 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,043,000 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awardedfirm-fixed-price order N00019-20-F-0402 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-16-G-0001. This order provides for the production and delivery of 25 Harpoon Block II+ captive air training missiles and 24 tactical missiles. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (65.2%); Galena, Kansas (8.5%); Lititz, Pennsylvania (3.99%); McAlester, Oklahoma (2.76%); Anniston, Alabama (2.58%); Chatsworth, California (2.15%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (2.06%); Chandler, Arizona (2.03%); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (1.53%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (9.2%), and is expected to be completed in August 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,620,949 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is awarded amodification (P00178) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-14-C-0067. This modification provides non-recurring and recurring engineering for development and integration of a modified Nose Radome into the P-8A aircraft in support of Lot 10 full rate production VI for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Meza, Arizona (59%); Seattle, Washington (40%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (1%), and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,306,274; and FMS funds in the amount of $5,519,020, will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity.No applicable data., is awarded afirm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for the production and delivery of a maximum quantity of six first article test external quick-disconnect umbilical cable assemblies and a maximum quantity of 2,500 external quick-disconnect umbilical cable assemblies in support of advanced anti-radiation guided missile production. Additionally, this contract procures a maximum quantity of six first article test external quick-disconnect umbilical cable assemblies and a maximum quantity of 5,000 production representative external quick-disconnect umbilical cable assemblies for various military standard 1760 compliant weapons for the F/A-18 series and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in July 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal and three offers were received. The, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-D-0110)., is awarded afirm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides for the production, delivery and support of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) Night Vision Cueing and Display (NVCD) System. This contract procures 60 JHMCS night vision devices, 60 JHMCS night display adapters and 30 JHMCS helmet mounted display test sets (HMDTS) for the Navy; 16 JHMCS HMDTS for the government of Canada; five JHMCS HMDTS for the government of Kuwait; and two JHMCS HMDTS for the government of Malaysia, as well as two Hoffman adapter kits for the Government of Australia and one Hoffman adapter kit for the government of Switzerland. Additionally, this contract provides new and modified associated support equipment, interim repairs, non-recurring engineering, testing, technical data and all other supplies and services necessary to perform installation and testing of NVCD systems that are fully compatible with the F/A-18 series and EA-18G JHMCS. Work will be performed in Merrimack, New Hampshire (79%); Wilsonville, Oregon (15%); Atlanta, Georgia (4%); and Fort Worth, Texas (2%), and is expected to be completed in July 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,736,298; fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,534,402; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $644,660 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-C-0013).No applicable data.No applicable data. The WE Charity controversy continues to rage on for the Liberal government and this week, the first victim has been claimed. Finance Minister Bill Morneau and MP of Toronto-Centre resigned from his post on Monday. And less than 24 hours after Morneaus resignation, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is brought into the fold with a cabinet shuffle, becoming Canadas first female finance minister. But the upheaval within the minority government tells a story of deeper problems at work, adding fuel to the opposing Conservative fire in their calls for resignation. Morneau, like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has been dogged by questions over personal relationships with WE Charity after the federal government originally awarded a sole-sourced contract to the charity, to manage $900 million worth of student grants. Tonda MacCharles, senior reporter on federal politics for the Toronto Star, talks to Adrian Cheung about Morneaus resignation, the controversy Trudeau finds himself engulfed in (again), and the emerging image of a federal government sliding into crisis. Listen to this episode and more at This Matters, or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab said on Wednesday that the Mumbai police will continue its probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The senior Shiv Sena leader also claimed that the Supreme Court had not found any fault with the investigation conducted by the Mumbai police so far. "Mumbai Police will continue its investigation into the death," Parab said in Mumbai, speaking to reporters. The city police, after Rajput's death by suicide on June 14, had started an inquiry under section 174 of the CrPC which deals with finding out the apparent cause of the unnatural death. Parab said that the apex court had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the FIR filed by Rajputs father at Patna in Bihar, wherein actor Rhea Chakraborty has been named as an accused. "Maharashtra government's stand was that the case be transferred to Mumbai since it is in its jurisdiction," Parab said. "The state government will take decision on whether to file a review petition," he added. "Whether the death is suicide or murder is an important question. Opposition is only politicizing the case. The Maharashtra government has nothing to do with the matter so why will it try to suppress truth," he asked. Asked about opposition targeting state minister and Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray in the case, Parab said opposition leaders were conspiring to malign him as the government led by his father Uddhav Thackeray was firmly in saddle. "The BJP felt that nobody else can form government in the state and so the stability of the Thackeray government is giving them heartache. The BJP has no sympathy for Sushant," he said. Nations that hoard possible COVID-19 vaccines while excluding others will deepen the pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch call for countries to join a global vaccine pact. The WHO has an Aug. 31 deadline for wealthier nations to join the "COVAX Global Vaccines Facility" for sharing vaccine hopefuls with developing countries. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHO's 194 member states, urging participation. The global health agency also raised concerns that the pandemic's spread was being driven now by younger people, many of whom were unaware they were infected, posing a danger to vulnerable groups. Tedros' push for nations to join COVAX comes as the European Union, Britain, Switzerland and the United States strike deals with companies testing prospective vaccines. Russia and China are also working on vaccines, and the WHO fears national interests could impede global efforts. Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Serum Institute plans to raise $1 billion to ramp up production "We need to prevent vaccine nationalism," Tedros told a virtual briefing. "Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each country's national interest." The European Commission has urged EU states to skirt the WHO-led initiative, citing worries over its cost and speed. More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 772,647? have died, according to a Reuters tally. 'NOT TWISTING ARMS' So far, the COVAX facility has attracted interest from 92 poorer countries hoping for voluntary donations and 80 wealthier countries, a number little changed from a month ago, that would finance the scheme, the WHO said. Still, some nations are waiting for the Aug. 31 deadline before making a commitment as the facility's terms are still being finalised, Bruce Aylward, who leads the WHO's ACT Accelerator initiative to speed supplies of COVID-19 diagnostics, drugs and vaccines, said. "We are not twisting arms for people to join," Aylward said. "We've had more and more discussions with a broader and broader group of players ... to work through what might be the barriers to collaborating - issues around price, issues around timing, issues around national expectations." Also read: China's Sinopharm rejects high prices for COVID-19 vaccine; not to cost over $144.2 for two shots With more than 150 vaccines in development, about two dozen in human studies and a handful in late-stage trials, the WHO said even countries signing bilateral deals boost their odds by joining COVAX. "Which one will be the candidate that will be successful, we don't know yet," said Mariangela Simao, a WHO assistant director for drug and vaccine access. "By joining the facility at the same time that you do bilateral deals, you're actually betting on a larger number of vaccine candidates." COVAX now covers nine vaccine candidates. The WHO remains worried that infections among younger people are rising globally, putting at risk elderly and sick people in densely populated areas with weak health systems. "The epidemic is changing," WHO Western Pacific regional director, Takeshi Kasai, said. "People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread." Also read: Oxford coronavirus vaccine: Serum Institute to begin Phase 3 trials this week Also read: Eight US, India teams to conduct cutting-edge research on COVID-19 Regarding all the racism and discrimination, Billy Graham is one step closer to being installed in the U.S. Capitol to replace that of a former North Carolina governor who was a racial segregationist. Waiting for the approval, the votes are pending from a congressional committee. Although Aycock, the former North Carolina governor was known for his support of education reform, he also advanced white supremacist agenda items such as racial segregation and black voter disenfranchisement. Reported by Christian Post, last month, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee announced the draft fiscal year 2021 funding bill, which called for removing the statue of Aycock and others from the Capitol. Efforts to add a statue of Graham to the Capitol to replace Aycock go at least as far back as 2015, when North Carolina lawmakers first passed a bill calling for the replacement. "We are talking about someone who has affected positively millions and millions of Americans and people around the world," said state Rep. John Blust. "What more could you want out of someone to represent our state in the United States Capitol?" The effort in support of the Graham statue gained more traction in 2018, following the death of the famed evangelist several months before his 100th birthday. If approved, Graham would not be the only clergyman honored in the Capitol. One of Hawaii's two statues is that of Father Damien, a 19th-century Catholic missionary who ministered to lepers. There was always an air of inevitability about Chrystia Freeland. Shes obviously super smart and enormously capable. After just five years in government shes shown she can handle the toughest jobs. She is, in short, the best choice Justin Trudeau could have made to be his new finance minister after the abrupt and messy departure of Bill Morneau. Aside from her intelligence and competence, Freeland has demonstrated a remarkable ability to work with anyone she has to in order to get the job done. Donald Trump, Doug Ford, Jason Kenney shes managed to hold her own and forge relationships in situations that are challenging, to say the least. And, of course, its a bonus that shes the first woman to hold the federal finance portfolio. This is one glass ceiling that was just waiting to be shattered. The Trudeau government hopes her appointment and the other moves it announced on Tuesday proroguing Parliament and scheduling a Throne Speech for Sept. 23 will amount to a reset after a very difficult few weeks under the shadow of the WE Charity affair. That wont be easy. The government is where it is, let us remind ourselves, because of a political crisis of its own making, one that has cost the Liberals much of the trust they gained from their steady management of the COVID-19 crisis. The WE affair may well be overblown (who, other than hard-core partisans, really believes that Morneau, for example, was out to trade government contracts for a family trip?) But it smells of favouritism and, just as bad, incompetence. If only for that reason, someone had to go and it turned out to be the finance minister. It was painful on Monday evening to watch Morneau mouth an obviously nonsensical version of events in which he suddenly decided in mid-August, 10 months after an election and in the midst of an economic crisis, that it was time for him to seek a new job in Paris as head of the OECD. But off he went, good soldier to the end, delivering a final service to the government. It was embarrassing and beneath his dignity, but thats politics. As cover for all this, the story has been put about that Morneau was offside with the prime ministers desire to go bigger and faster in fighting the economic fallout from the pandemic. There was little public evidence of that until the WE affair blew up, but it was certainly true that Morneau stepped into more than his share of political cowpies and never displayed the kind of ability to work with others at which Freeland excels. Trudeau has now turned to the ministers with whom he feels most comfortable Freeland and the new minister for intergovernmental affairs, his childhood pal Dominic LeBlanc. Most importantly, he has sketched out a broad agenda that the Liberals will take into the fall and into the next election. That involves using the pandemic crisis as a springboard to a better society, not just clawing our way back to what has been lost over the past six months. The governments goal, said Trudeau, will be to change the future for the better. Well start finding out what that means on Sept. 23, but its a safe assumption it will mean spending more, not less, even once COVID-19 recedes. The Liberals are raising big expectations that they will spare no effort (or expense) in tackling problems exposed by the pandemic problems like the crisis in long-term care, in inadequate income supports, in all sorts of social inequality. This is the right general lesson to draw from the shock of the past few months. But the challenge for the Liberals, and for Freeland in particular, will be to figure how to implement such a plan in a sustainable manner. Ambitious rhetoric does not repeal the laws of economics. These are big stakes. They will shape our future long after the sound and fury surrounding WE have died away. The task for the Liberals is to keep their eye on the ball and avoid any more self-inflicted wounds. Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno announced on Wednesday that he has asked the Community Police Hearing Board to conduct a series of hearings to address concerns from the community over the Department of Justices report on the police department. The scathing report came after federal agents conducted an intensive investigation sparked by multiple complaints about the Narcotics Bureau, including the well-publicized 2016 arrest of two juveniles who were accused of stealing an unmarked car while an officer left it running while picking up a pizza. Officer Gregg Bigda stands accused in federal court of civil rights violations in connection with the incident. These hearings are the next step towards my goals by listening to residents about public safety priorities as well as recommendations with regard to reforms as we begin our efforts in cooperation with the Department of Justice, Sarno said. The meeting will be a series of dialogues between police officers and community members who had previously have not had strong or positive relationship with the police department, according to the statement from the mayor. Sarno called the report, released July 8 by the DOJ assessing the police departments narcotics unit as out-of-control and excessively violent, disturbing and disappointing. Sarno highlighted that the police department disagrees with some of the findings in the report, but acknowledges that the department has deficiencies and that actions are needed to promote integrity within Springfields Police Department. The Report identifies serious issues that must be addressed, said Sarno. We have spent millions on court cases involving allegations of police misconduct. The only way to reverse this trend, is to focus our attention and resources on implementing a better community-oriented policing model and to become an exemplar of modern community-oriented policing for the entire region and for other cities of similar size. Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood has undertaken efforts to implement changes recommended by an outside consultant, the Police Executive Research Foundation. The PERF is an independent research organization that focuses on critical issues in policing. Since its founding in 1976, PERF has identified best practices on fundamental issues such as reducing police use of force; developing community policing and problem-oriented policing Sarno announced Aug. 13 that Roderick L. Ireland, retired chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, has agreed to advise him as the city looks to enact changes to the police department following the DOJ report. The Springfield native retired in 2014. He has advised the Cambridge Police Department on the controversial arrest of a Black Harvard University student in 2018, plus House Speaker Robert DeLeo on criminal justice reforms a year earlier. He worked for DeLeo for free, according to published reports. According to a contract obtained by The Republican, Ireland will be paid $6,250 per month and will not be required to submit invoices. 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. Related Content: The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inspected ongoing works at the site of the Axim Sea Defence Wall, and the Axim Landing Site, on Tuesday, 18th August 2020, day one (1) of his working visit to the Western Region. First inspecting work on the construction of the sea defence wall, which is being undertaken by Makam Plant Hire Ltd. (MPH), the project coordinator told President Akufo-Addo that, thus far, the project was expected to be completed in four (4) years. However, construction work is ahead of schedule with the sea defence wall now 85% complete, with 4.2 kilometres of the 5-kilometer wall completed, with the project co-ordinator assuring the President that the project will be completed on schedule. It will be recalled that on Sunday, 9th September 2018, after the Kundum Festival, President cut the sod for the construction of the Axim sea defence wall, in fulfillment of the pledge he made to the people of Axim, in the run-up to the 2016 general elections. Expressing satisfaction about the status of work on the project, the President commended MPH for the work done on the project and urged them to continue in the spirit that led them to nearly completing the sea defence wall ahead of schedule. A few meters away from the site, President Akufo-Addo also inspected the progress of work on the construction of the Axim Fishing Port and Landing Site Project, a project which commenced on 22nd August 2019. The project coordinator for the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company, told the President that overall progress: 80% completed; the area behind breakwater has already been sufficiently sheltered against the waves. According to the project coordinator, construction of the revetment and breakwater is on-going and entering its final stage, with the construction of this aspect of the project set to be completed in September 2020. Additionally, he added that reclamation is 30% complete, with the fabrication of concrete blocks for the erection of the quay wall set to be completed in November. With the construction of the underwater quay wall set to be completed in January 2021, the project co-ordinator assured President Akufo-Addo that the Axim Fishing Port and Landing Site Project will be completed in September 2021. The Minister for Transport, Kwaku Ofori-Asiamah, added that nine (9) buildings will be constructed at the site including an administration building, fish market, net mending hall, ice-making plant, workshop large, fuel depot, daycare, toilet, and a power station. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Hamilton Mountain mural meant to be a message of love, unity and inclusion in solidarity with Black Lives Matter is at the centre of questions around artistic censorship and racism after the word cops was painted over. Over the weekend, the word was scrubbed from a controversial section of the mural on the side of a business on Concession Street, near Upper Wentworth Street, that shows two white, pointy-toothed police officers lurking behind a young Black girl who is reading a book. Some members of the community expressed concern with this section of the mural and its fairness to police. There are also questions about whether it went against the contract artists had with the Concession Street BIA, which commissioned the work. Its not clear who painted over the word and why. Kojo Damptey, executive director of Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), said he became involved in mediating the issue last week after receiving calls from several Concession Street business owners who were concerned about the mural being changed. Then over the weekend, the word cops, which had been painted as a mark of identification on the front of a police officer, was mysteriously removed. Damptey says the action raises concerns about artistic censorship and anti-Black racism. This is exactly what anti-Black racism looks like, Damptey said, adding that image reflects how some people in Black and Indigenous communities feel about police. The large mural has several portraits of Black community members, including Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old fatally shot by police in Louisville, Ky., during a no-knock warrant. Another scene shows a business asking a Black man to leave, as white patrons stand by. The Concession Street BIA commissioned the project, which involved several artists. On Aug. 2, the BIA tweeted photos of the artists at work, showing portions of the mural. Our permissible wall is getting a refresh ... inspired by Black Lives Matter, love, unity and inclusion. In the photos, the section of the mural at the centre of the controversy does not appear to have yet been painted. Coun. Esther Pauls said some community members had messaged her about the mural and she decided to go down and take a look. The mural in itself is quite spectacular, she said. But as she looked closer she noticed the section with the cops and the little girl. They looked like bogeymen attacking a little girl reading, Pauls said, adding she thought it was strange and she was taken aback. She called the BIA and claims she was met with surprise when she described that portion of the mural. Pauls says she was told that the contract with the artist stipulated that they wouldnt include anything about defunding the police. Soon afterward, the concerned business owners called Damptey and there were discussions. HCCI tried to keep this conversation as local and not in the public view as possible, Damptey said. But that changed when he was called over the weekend about the word being painted over. He posted a video on Twitter, saying they need to get to the bottom of what happened. Despite some concerns about that section of the mural, Pauls said her understanding was that everyone agreed to leave it alone. She was sent photos of the painted-over word days later and does not know who is responsible. Damptey and Pauls both suggested The Spectator speak with the Concession Street BIA, however, calls and messages have not been returned. Hamilton police said nobody reported covering up a section of the mural as an act of vandalism. The police service was also not involved in any discussion about the mural and has not raised any complaints or concerns, said Const. Lorraine Edwards. Keanu Reeves had nothing but praise for coronavirus safety measures on the set of The Matrix 4 in an interview posted Sunday. The 55-year-old John Wick star said there were 'thoughtful, effective protocols in place' on set in a video chat interview with the Associated Press. The actor filmed his interview from Berlin, where production had resumed earlier this month. Thumbs up: Keanu Reeves, 55, praised coronavirus safety procedures on The Matrix 4 in a video interview with the Associated Press that was published Sunday; shown in June 2019 'Theres some really thoughtful, effective protocols in place, and the rhythm of filmmaking has not been really impacted or interrupted, in the sense of filming,' Keanu said while weighing in on the production. 'Thats because of the hard work and organization, and again the thoughtfulness that has gone into the protocols.' Filming originally began in San Francisco, where some locals were angered by property destruction caused in the midst of action scenes. Filming moved to Berlin in February but was quickly shut down to the pandemic. In good hands: 'Theres some really thoughtful, effective protocols in place, and the rhythm of filmmaking has not been really impacted or interrupted, in the sense of filming,' Keanu said from Berlin Best-case scenario: 'I think everyone loves the project,' Keanu opined. 'If youre ever going to get into any kind of situation that needs to be figured out, or "How do we do this?" show business people are the best' Though surging coronavirus cases in the US would make it difficult to film there, German's strong response to the pandemic made it a safer choice, and production resumed in June in Berlin. 'I think everyone loves the project,' Keanu opined. 'If youre ever going to get into any kind of situation that needs to be figured out, or "How do we do this?" show business people are the best. 'Were just scrappy, we know how to get stuff done, were inventive, think on our feet, and that kind of kindred spirit of just coming together goes back to like, you know, "Lets put on a show! Well get some props, weve got some things, were going to write!" And that spirit is definitely alive and well on The Matrix,' he said. Back at it: Filming resumed in Berlin in June. It began in San Francisco earlier this year before moving to Berlin, but had to be paused due to the pandemic; still from The Matrix Reloaded Seduced: In June, Keanu told Empire Magazine it was Lana Wachowski's 'beautiful script' and 'wonderful story' that drew him back for a fourth installment; still from The Matrix Reloaded Back in June, Keanu told Empire Magazine that it was the quality of the writing that drew him to this installment of The Matrix, which hasn't gotten a finalized title yet. ' 'Lana Wachowski wrote a beautiful script and a wonderful story that resonated with me,' he said. 'Thats the only reason to do it.' The new working relationship seemed to still have some of the old magic, even though Lana's sister Lilly Wachowski sat out this installment. 'To work with her again is just amazing. Its been really special, and the story has, I think, some meaningful things to say, and that we can take some nourishment from.' Worth it: 'To work with her again is just amazing. Its been really special, and the story has, I think, some meaningful things to say, and that we can take some nourishment from,' he told Empire; still from The Matrix Reloaded The Matrix was originally envisioned as a science fictionaction film starring Will Smith in the Neo role, though he turned it down, and Val Kilmer as Morpheus, who was eventually played by Laurence Fishburne. The ground-breaking film went on to be one of the most successful films of 1999 and earned four Academy Awards, along with copious praise from critics. Two sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, were filmed back-to-back and released close together in 2003. The significance of quality education for the development and growth of any economy is well established. India, however, is too preoccupied with improving its basic literacy and enrolment levels to pay attention to quality of its school education. In 2011 Census, the literacy rate was 74.04%, growing at 9.21% from 2001 Census. At this rate India would have 80.9% literacy level in 2021 - that is, 19% Indians would still be illiterate in 2021. As for enrolment, in 2018, 28.8%, 15.6% and 8.1% children at the age of 3, 4 and 5 years, respectively, were "not enrolled anywhere" in rural India, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) of 2019, released in January 2020. "Anywhere" mean 'Anganwadi', private pre-school, or any school. For more than a decade, the ASERs have documented the poor quality of education. Here are some of the lesser discussed factors responsible for it. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XVIII: Does quality education really matter to India? Relying on ad hoc teachers for schooling On May 11, 2020, a group of 'shiksha mitra' - ad hoc, para-teachers or non-regular government teachers - moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the Allahabad High Court's verdict confirming the state government's decision of keeping 60% cut-off marks in the written examination held for recruiting 69,000 assistant teachers. According to Sushil Pandey, president of a UP teachers' association, these ad hoc teachers want their recruitment irrespective of marks scored in the written exam. The logic being they are trained teachers with years of experience in teaching primary (Class I to V) and upper primary (Class VI to VIII) students, some as long as 20 years. About 23,000 of them have cleared the Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) as well. Their jobs were regularised in 2014 but the Allahabad High Court struck it down for non-transparency in their appointment in the first place - no public advertisements, no written exams, etc. They reverted back to being ad hoc teachers with a consolidated pay (honorarium) of Rs 10,000 per month. The state was asked to devise a proper recruitment policy, which it did in 2017, and conducted the written exam in 2019. They number 1.75 lakh and constitute 29% of all primary and upper primary teachers in Uttar Pradesh (6 lakh). Total vacancy stands at 1.5 lakh (including 69,000 posts for which exam was conducted in the first round). Patna witnessed a prolonged hunger strike by "niyojit shikshak" - ad hoc, para-teachers, or non-regular government teachers - that continued into April when the entire country was locked down. They were demanding equal-pay-for-equal-work and against the government's crackdown for not attending classes or exam duties during the strike. They number 4.1 lakh and constitute 88.4% of total primary and upper primary teachers in Bihar (4.64 lakh), according to Manoj Kumar, a teachers' association leader. They were regularised in 2015 but were given lower pay (Rs 25,000-30,000 per month) as against regular government teachers (over Rs 40,000 at entry-level). The SC had refused to entertain their plea for equal pay in 2019, letting the state decide the matter. The state said it had no funds. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XVII: Why governments promote shadow banking In the past two years, para-teachers from West Bengal and Jharkhand have also been on strike on multiple occasions, demanding better pay and regularisation of their jobs. West Bengal para-teachers number 39,000 or 18.5% of the total, are paid Rs 8,500-11,000 a month while regular government teachers get more than Rs 33,500 at entry-level. In Jharkhand, they (shiksha mitra) number 67,000, and are paid Rs 5,200-22,000, much less than the regular government teachers. Ad-hoc teachers driving Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan (SSA) and RTE Most of these para-teachers were recruited during the central government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) drive in 2000-01, the objective of which was to implement an earlier SC order of providing free and compulsory education to children of 6-14 years. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) came in 2009 to take it forward, even though by 1999, 15 states and four union territories already had such laws. Most of these teachers are concentrated in the backward Hindi heartland states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. Since their appointment was ad hoc and non-transparent, many untrained and ineligible individuals had got in at panchayat, block and district levels. This is why courts have struck down their regularisation from time to time. Educationist Vimala Ramachandran has written how the National Committee of State Education Ministers' report of July 1999, set up to recommend an approach for Universal Elementary Education (UEE), first used the phrase 'para-teacher' and justified their induction in the run-up to the SSA at the national level. Several states, Madhya Pradesh ('Guruji'), Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, already had such teachers by then. In her paper "What is 'Para' about Some Teachers1?" she quoted the ministerial report: "Even after making allowance for enrolment in private unaided and unregistered private schools, the teacher shortages are very significant. It is on this account that the recruitment of para-teachers has to be considered a priority if all vacancies have to be filled up in shortest period of time. The issue of teacher/para-teacher recruitment has to be addressed by all states as the long-term implications are for the states (...) for meeting the demand for teachers in a manner that the state can afford... "The quest for UEE as fundamental right signifies a certain sense of urgency in doing so. This urgency calls for appropriate modifications in National Policy in order to respond to local felt-needs. The recruitment of para-teachers is a step in this direction." Such para-teachers soon spread to high schools too. For example, Bihar high schools have 11,000 guest teachers and 40,000 'niyojit shikshak' out of 54,500 teachers in all, according to Manoj Kumar mentioned earlier. Regular government teachers in high schools number only 3,500 (6.4%) of the total. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XVI: How governments run shadow banking and risk financial stability The last study on the subject, released by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in 2018 ("U-DISE Flash Statistics of 2016-17") says, in 2016-17 India had 89.1 lakh school teachers, out of which 11.4 lakh were contractual or part-time teachers (12.8%). The study is based on the District Information System for Education (DISE) database of the education ministry (MHRD), filled through self-declarations that are unverified. The graph below shows the spread of non-regular teachers across the spectrum, including private schools. Private schooling: High fees from students, low salary to teachers Private schools have grown phenomenally. A 2020 study by non-government Central Square Foundation used official data to map their growth, showing that by 2017, 48% school students were in private schools ("Private Schools in India"). Private schooling costs a lot. The final report of the National Statistical Office's survey "Household Consumption Expenditure on Education, 2017-18", released in July 2020, provides a comparison for academic sessions - as reproduced below. Long back, the Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) once examined the financial accounts of 25 elite private schools of Delhi (unaided). This report was released in 2010. The CAG report, among others, found: (i) excess fees collected to pay higher salary and allowances to teachers to match the 6th Pay Commission recommendations were not passed on to the teachers but pocketed by their societies and trusts (ii) schools claiming loss bought expensive cars (BMW, Honda Accord, Honda City, etc.) from school funds (iii) enhanced development fees were collected even when existing funds had not been exhausted (iv) salaries and arrears were paid to non-existing staff (v) did not honour 20% reservation to children from weaker sections as mandated by law etc. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XV: Why shadow banking should worry policymakers in India and elsewhere This report was based on the financial statements of these elite private schools during 2006-09. The report disappeared from the CAG's website soon after. Taking cognisance of it in 2011, the Delhi High Court (Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh and others vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi and others) lashed out at both the CAG and Delhi's education department for laxity. About the CAG, it said "in all these years CAG has inspected only 25 schools, that too under pressure" and about the Delhi government's education department it said there was "no evidence of scrutiny of the annual accounts and other returns" nor fulfilling "its obligation to get the accounts of the unaided recognised schools duly audited". The Delhi government has been asking private schools to refund excess fees from time to time but this is an ad hoc arrangement. The other striking aspect of private schools include low pay, ad hoc appointments and little social security cover for their teachers. A World Bank study of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh schools at the time (2010) found that the private schools had "seven to eight times lower teacher salaries" than the government schools in these states. Private schools also had a lower pupil-teacher ratio. The Delhi High Court order of 2011 mentioned earlier had also red-flagged that private schools were not paying their teachers salaries and allowances at par with government schools, as claimed. It recommended setting up a regulatory mechanism for private schools. Since private schools, particularly the un-aided, are out of regulatory oversight, there is no official data to rely on but anecdotal evidence shows that barring the very top elite schools, most private schools pay salaries comparable to the "honorarium" paid to ad hoc, para or non-regular teachers mentioned earlier. Often they are made to sign on a higher amount but paid much less; hired on one-year contract renewed with a break in continuity to pre-empt claims for regularisation and no social security cover. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XIV: Debt vs equity; why businesses are debt-driven Lower pay to private teachers is not unique to India. Even in the US, a comparative study of school teachers' pay between 1996 and 2012 ("Teacher staffing and pay differences: public and private schools" published in 2014") concluded: "In general, teachers earn less than other comparable college graduates, but the difference is mitigated if they are employed in the public sector - and more so if they have union representation as well... Public sector teachers generally receive better pay than private sector teachers, even when the former are not unionised." What about the quality of education in India's private schools? Private schools: Do they provide better quality education? The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has been highlighting poor quality of education in India for decades, in both government and private schools in rural areas. The latest one of ASER 2019, released in January 2020, which surveyed 26 districts in 24 states, said: only 16.2% students in Class I and 50.8% in Class III could read Class I text and 41.1% students in Class I and 72.2% in Class III could recognise 2-digit numbers. It also provided comparative abilities of students in government and private schools. For example, about Class I students, it said 21% children of Class I in government schools could read words as compared to 46.7% children in private schools (a gap of 112%) and commented: "Is this a fair comparison - are we comparing apples with oranges? The answer is clearly no." Also Read: Rebooting Economy XIII: Why Indian corporates are debt-ridden The report explained: (a) "a higher proportion of older children" are in Class I in private schools, compared to government schools and (b) private school students come from "relatively affluent background" and "have more educated parents" providing (c) better home learning environment. After controlling these factors, the gap reduces significantly (from 122% to 29%). The residual gap, the report explains, is because of (d) exposure of private school students to "school-like curricula" in pre-school as against the government school students groomed "mostly in an Anganwadi centre". Similar findings were also mentioned in earlier ASER reports. For example, ASER 2016 report compared Class III students, found a similar difference and attributed better performance of private school students to what is happening in school. When better attention is paid to government schools, this difference disappears and the result can be dramatic. In the past five years, the Delhi government has demonstrated that. The government schools of Delhi have been outperforming private schools in CBSE exams repeatedly because of higher resource allocation and attention to the learning environment. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee took note of it and said in January 2020: "Do I think that you can aspire to do better in the government system relative to the average private school? Yes. Delhi's public schools have done it. Results in the Delhi public school system, the government school systems like the municipal schools are better than the average private school in Delhi." "Public schools" in his observation, stands for government schools, not private schools, many of which call themselves public schools. Also Read: Rebooting Economy XII: Is private sector inherently more efficient than public sector? Also Read: Rebooting Economy XI: Why are private companies so prone to financial frauds? An arson attack on a car used by an RFE/RL investigative team has been captured on surveillance cameras. The attack came days after a journalist belonging to the same team claimed to have found possible evidence of surveillance equipment in his apartment. In January, the car of an RFE/RL journalist was also targeted. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - L Brands Inc. (LB), the parent company of Victoria's Secret brand, Wednesday posted a loss for the second quarter compared to a profit last year, as revenues plunged 20% hurt largely by coronavirus pandemic. Columbus, Ohio-based L Brands reported second -quarter loss of $49.597 million or $0.18 per share, compared to profit of $37.596 million or $0.14 per share last year. Adjusted earnings for the second quarter were $0.25 per share, up from $0.24 per share last year. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated loss of $0.42 per share for the quarter. L Brands' sales for the quarter plunged 20% $2.319 billion from $2.902 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.21 billion for the quarter. As of the end of the second quarter, most Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret stores in North America have reopened. Total Bath & Body Works sales in the United States and Canada were $1.197 billion, an increase of 13%, while Bath & Body Works direct business, which remained open throughout the quarter, increased by 191% to $518.6 million. Total Victoria's Secret second quarter sales in the United States and Canada were $977.5 million, a decrease of 39%, while Victoria's Secret direct business, which remained open throughout the quarter, increased by 65% to $613.9 million. LB closed Wednesday's trading at $28.47, up $0.29 or 1.03%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $0.03 or $0.11 in the after-hours trade. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de VND 20 million to VND80 million ($900-3,800) is the price range for a single antique-coated stone tomb in Ninh Van offering up to a hundred years of durability. There are also many tombs that can cost up to billions of VND. Price depends on the sophistication, size and age of the stone. The longer the stone is, the shinier it looks, and the sharper the pattern. Popular pre-rolls brand Lady Jays has joined forces with several Oregon cannabis companies in releasing a special edition BLM Blend to support brown and black communities. Featuring flower from Indoor Orchards, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Last Prisoner Project, a coalition of cannabis industry leaders, executives and artists dedicated to bringing restorative justice to the cannabis industry. "The cannabis community has really stepped up, and we are both humbled and grateful for partners like Lady Jays who support our mission to help those negatively and disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis, says Last Prisoner Project managing director Mary Bailey. The Lady Jays special edition pre-roll packs are available at Farma, Eden, Serra and Electric Lettuce in Portland, and Rogue Valley Cannabis in Southern Oregon. The Lady Jays team will be promoting the BLM Blend and curating a series of vendor days at participating dispensaries August 17-23. Each company involved will be donating their share of the sales. See also: Benzinga Cannabis Partners With Last Prisoner Project To Help Raise Funds, Amplify Its Message Due to the current state of the country, the need for change, and the unfairness of profiting from an industry that has been built on the backs of people of color, weve chosen The Last Prisoner Project as the ideal organization to benefit from this collaboration, says Lady Jays co-founder Jade Daniels. Lady Jays, a female-owned company emphasizing inclusivity and individuality, is called to do our part in standing up to racial and social injustices. The Last Prisoner Project is a cannabis and criminal justice reform team fighting to free every last prisoner incarcerated for cannabis by focusing on three key criminal justice reform initiatives: prisoner release, record clearing through clemency and expungement, and re-entry programs. Story continues The GRAV Spoon Also supporting the Last Prisoner Project is GRAV, a handcrafted glass smoking accessories maker, which released a limited edition, co-branded spoon to benefit LPP. 100% of the proceeds will be used to fight for restorative justice. Courtesy images. See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. CORVALLIS, Ore. - Policy reforms and technological improvements could drive seafood production upward by as much as 75% over the next three decades, research by Oregon State University and an international collaboration suggests. The findings, published today in Nature, are important because by 2050 the Earth will have an estimated 9.8 billion human mouths to feed, a 2 billion increase in population from 2020. Seafood has the potential to meet much of the increased need for protein and nutrients, researchers say. Marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco, university distinguished professor in the OSU College of Science, joined scientists from the United States, China, Chile, Mexico, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Norway, Argentina and Malaysia in analyzing how much food the ocean could be expected to sustainably produce 30 years from now. Examining the sea's primary food-producing sectors - wild fisheries and the mariculture of finfish such as tuna and snapper as well as bivalves like clams and oysters - the researchers determined estimates of "sustainable supply curves" that take into consideration ecological, economic, regulatory and technological limitations. Mariculture means cultivating marine organisms for food and other products in coastal seawater environments or the open ocean. The scientists framed those supply curves against future demand scenarios to predict how much food the ocean, which presently accounts for just 17% of the animal production industry, could supply as the global population swells. "As mariculture technology improves and policies surrounding the ocean and its resources are reformed, food from the sea could increase by between 21 million and 44 million metric tons annually," said Lubchenco, a former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Those increases amount to between 12% and 25% of the estimated animal protein increases needed to feed the almost 10 billion people expected to live on the Earth in 2050. Rising incomes and shifts in food preferences will greatly increase demand for nutritious food in the coming decades, and the ocean can be a big part of meeting that demand." Producing more and more food from land-based crops is challenging because of declining yield rates and competition for land and water, Lubchenco notes, as well as various environmental and health concerns associated with large-scale agriculture. And while land-derived seafood - freshwater aquaculture and inland fisheries - plays an important role in the global food picture, its expansion faces some of the same hurdles and causes some of the same problems. "Land-based sources of fish and other foods are certainly part of the solution, but we show that sustainable food from the sea can play a major role in global food supply and food security as well," Lubchenco said. "Stories of overfishing, pollution and unsustainable mariculture give the impression that it is impossible to sustainably increase the supply of food from the sea. But unsustainable practices, regulatory barriers and other constraints may be limiting seafood production - meaning shifts in policies and practices could benefit both conservation and food production. We've seen, for example, how changes in policy in U.S. fisheries resulted in significantly reducing overfishing and rebuilding wild stocks, thus increasing the abundance of fish in U.S. waters as well as fishery yields." Lubchenco and colleagues including lead author Christopher Costello of the University of California, Santa Barbara, describe four primary routes to sustainably increasing ocean-based food production: Better management of wild fisheries, which account for 80% of the sea's meat production; reforms for policies governing mariculture; improvements in feeds used in mariculture; and shifts in demand to drive increased production from all ocean food sectors. Nutritionally diverse and less environmentally burdensome than land-based food production, seafood is uniquely positioned to help feed the Earth's growing population, Lubchenco said. And directing resources away from subsidies that enhance fishing capacity toward building institutional and technical capacity for fisheries research, management and enforcement will be a key step. "The potential for increased global production from wild fisheries hinges on maintaining fish populations near their most productive levels," Lubchenco said. "For overfished stocks, that means adopting or improving management practices that prevent overfishing and allow depleted stocks to rebuild." Seventy-five percent of mariculture production requires some feed inputs, like fishmeal and fish oil, derived from wild forage fisheries. But alternatives like terrestrial plant- or animal-based proteins, seafood processing waste, microbial ingredients, insects, algae and genetically modified plants are in the works - innovations that could decouple mariculture from wild fisheries. And the largest potential for expansion of food from the sea will come from the farming of bivalves. "We have shown that the sea can be a much larger contributor to sustainable food production than is currently the case, via a collection of plausible and actionable mechanisms," Lubchenco said. ### Supporting the research were SYSTEMIQ; the World Resources Institute; the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; the European Research Council; CONICYT-BASAL 0002; and GAIN-Xunta de Galicia. Collaborators included scientists from Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Pontificia Universidad Cato?lica de Chile; Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Pesca y Acuacultura; Harvard University; Iwate University, the National Research Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Fisheries Research and Education Agency of Japan; the University of Washington; the University of Cape Town; Stanford University; the Norwegian School of Economics; Spain's CIM-University of Vigo; the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina; and WorldFish of Malaysia. Checkerspot, Inc., a Berkeley, CA and Salt Lake CIty-based materials innovation company, closed its Series B financing of $36m. The round was led by Viking Global Investors, with participation from other existing investors including Builders VC and Breakout Ventures. Wilbur Elliss Cavallo Ventures, a new strategic investor in Checkerspot, also participated. Including the Series B, Checkerspot has raised more than $50m. The funds will be directed towards commercial development and the expansion of the companys product and innovation platform. Led by Charles Dimmler, CEO, and Scott Franklin, Chief Scientific Officer, Checkerspot designs performance materials at a molecular level. It does this by optimizing microbes to biomanufacture unique structural oils produced in nature, but not previously accessible at commercial scale. The company is currently commercializing three materials: a light-weight urethane-based composite (Algal Core) and a cast urethane (Algal Wall), both commercialized initially through the brand WNDR Alpine, as well as algal oil formulated into MiDori BioWick and sold in partnership with Beyond Surface Technologies to clothing brands worldwide. Checkerspot enables product designers and innovators, including Beyond Surface Technologies, Gore and WNDR Alpine, to use innovative materials to develop improved consumer and B2B applications for a post-petroleum future. FinSMEs 20/08/2020 WASHINGTON In 1933, New Haven alderwoman Luisa DeLauro penned a message to women in her wards Democratic newsletter. It is not my intention to be critical, rather my motive in writing this article is to encourage the female members of this organization to take a more active part in its affairs. We are not living in the Middle Ages, when a womans part in life was merely to serve her master in her home, but we have gradually taken our place in every phase of human endeavor, even in the heretofor stronghold of the male sex, politics... come on girls lets make ourselves heard! One of the women DeLauro inspired to run for office was her own daughter, Democratic U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who has represented New Haven in Congress since 1991. When Rep. DeLauro arrived in Washington, D.C., she was one of only 31 women serving in Congress. Today, there was 127 female senators and representatives serving. You know why you want women wherever you are, its the agenda, its the agenda that changes, said DeLauro, speaking on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which awarded women the right to vote. DeLauro discussed the challenges posed to women in politics in a panel for Connecticut Democrats with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Vermont Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint, President of the New Hampshire Senate Donna Soucy and Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Auditor General Nina Ahmad Tuesday evening. The panel was among many events Connecticut Democrats organized around the Democratic National Convention. Klobuchar said she thought of DeLauro as mentor because DeLauro spoke to her politics and government class at Yale University, where Klobuchar received her bachelors degree in political science in 1982. A member of the Yale College Democrats, Klobuchar got her start in politics interning for then-Vice President Walter Mondale. After law school, she went on to become a county attorney in Minnesota before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. I had some crazy things happen back then, said Klobuchar. I was on an elevator with two of my staff members, one of whom was Jake Sullivan, who went on to be one of Hillary [Clinton]s key advisors... a male Republican senator looks at me on the Senate elevator I had been there for four months and the doors open and he goes and there is only 100 of us and he goes, This is a senator only elevator. He looked at the three of us. I go, I am a senator, but who are you? Klobuchar said. He was so embarassed that the doors just closed and he never got on. Klobuchar was one of many women who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Although none of the female candidates secured enough support to win the nomination, the Democratic women cheered the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as running mate to former Vice President Joe Biden. If elected, Harris would be the first female vice president in the nations history. We are more frequently, wrongly and fervently criticized than our male counterparts, said Bowser. What I have really enjoyed recently is how much everybody is standing up and speaking up defending and protecting women leaders...I see now that our Sen. Harris, our vice presidential nominee, that we know we cannot let those attacks persist. 2018 was billed the Year of the woman, but 2020 is on track to outstrip the mid-term records. More women are running for U.S. House and U.S. Senate in 2020 than ever before, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. In 2018, Democratic women ran for federal office in record numbers, but in 2020, more Republican women are campaigning, Kelly Dittmar, associate professor of political science at the Center for American Women and Politics found. This year, 227 Republican women are candidates for U.S. House, a 70.7 percent rise from the previous high, Dittmar wrote. Democratic women matched their previous record for womens candidacies; 356 Democratic women are running for U.S. House in 2020. The only Republican woman running for federal office in 2020 in Connecticut is Margaret Streicker, a real estate executive and single mother from Milford.Shes fund-raised about $300,000 for her campaign in what has been a solidly blue district for years, Federal Election Commission records show, and loaned her campaign $350,000 to fight DeLauro. Streicker won the endorsement of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in July. In 2018, Democratic and Republican women ran for the offices of governor, attorney general, secretary of the state, and treasurer in Connecticut. Connecticut women toppled incumbents in the General Assembly in 2018, contributing to a Democratic sweep of the state House, Senate and governors office. In the 2020, although more women are running, they remain less than a third of all major-party candidates for congressional and statewide executive offices, Dittmar found. Currently, 26 of 100 U.S. senators are women, while 101 of 435 U.S. Representatives are female. Thats roughly one woman for every four members of Congress. One hundred and seven women in Congress are Democrats, while 24 are Republican. Just nine of 50 governors are women. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru Wed, August 19, 2020 10:54 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f0bac7 1 National illegal-logging,Bengkalis,Riau,forest-fires,forest-restoration,forestry Free The Bengkalis Police in Riau arrested last Wednesday four residents of Rupat Island on suspicion of illegal logging. Bengkalis Police chief Adj Sr. Comr. Hendra Gunawan said authorities found one of the suspects, identified as SUN, transporting 58 pieces of punak scantlings in his pickup truck on Wednesday. "When asked about the source of the scantlings, he said they were from a limited production forest [HPT] in Darul Aman village," Hendra told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Based on SUN's statements, the police managed to discover the place where the illegal logging was taking place and arrested two other suspects, identified as TUM and JAS. "Police officers found a chainsaw, 300 meranti and punak logs, 58 wood planks and 95 scantlings," Hendra explained. Police also arrested a suspect identified as SUJ, who is believed to have funded the illegal logging activities. Head of the Bengkalis Police's criminal Investigation department, Adj. Sr. Comr, Adre Setiawan, said authorities had been probing illegal logging activities in the forest since the end of 2019. "After a land fire in the area we found signs of systemic illegal logging. But it was quite hard to capture the suspects as the location is quite remote and locals are used to illegal logging activities," he said. "When we were transporting the suspects and the evidence, around 50 locals threw stones and tried to stop us," he added. The four suspects have been charged under articles 83, 12, and 94 of Law No 18/2013 on the prevention and eradication of forest damage, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. (nal) Parliamentary Candidate for Buem Constituency, Kofi Adams has challenged the Akufo-Addo government over the 50,000 nurses it claims to have employed since it took power from from the Mahama led NDC government in January 2017. According to him, he can only count less than 13,000 nurses being employed under President Akufo-Addo including those who received financial clearance in 2016 under former President John Dramani Mahama. Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the former National Organizer of the NDC intimated that his checks from the website of the Ghana Health Service show that less than 13,000 nurses have so far been employed. Akufo-Addo's government has employed less than 13, 000 nurses in addition to what the NDC government left behind if you check the website of Ghana Health Service and so I dont know where the NPP got their 50,000 nurses they are talking about from, he wondered. He demanded that the Akufo-Addo government furnish Ghanaians with further information by providing the payroll of the 50,000 nurses it claimed to have employed; thus, it is another lie of the Akufo-Addo government to cook up the figure to convince Ghanaians. Which payroll are these nurses the NPP is talking about on? The information is there and that is why I have said that this government is full of lies. If you go to the website of the Ghana Health Service, the information is there as in 2016 the number of nurses that have been employed and the number of nurses added so far is there for everyone to see, he stated. Lets add those nurses who received financial clearance in 2016 to the number of nurses employed under the NPP government in 2017, they are still less than 13, 000 nurses employed so far under the NPP. So, where did they get the 50,000 nurses from? Meanwhile, they are going about peddling this falsehood to Ghanaians, he added. Talking about the Free Senior High School Policy, Kofi Adams said it is a lie that the introduction of the policy by the Akufo-Addo government has increased the number of enrolment in Senior High Schools, asserting that those who completed SHS in previous years are more than those who are writing their final year exams. If you check WAEC figures and the GES figures, those who completed SHS in previous years are more than those who are writing their final exams under the Free SHS Policy. So, wherefrom this argument which they are trumpeting? he rhetorically asked. 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. Featured Video A Black Lives Matter protester whose son was shot dead by police two years ago has declared 'war' on 'filthy, disgusting animal' officers in speech to a Portland crowd. Letha Winston said Sunday: 'This is a war, guys. Were getting ready to get armored up around here. I will continue with my mission by any means necessary.' Winston's son, Patrick Kimmons, 27, was shot dead by cops in 2018 after he opened fire on, shooting five times and injuring two men. Sgt. Garry Britt and Officer Jeffrey Livingston, the officers involved in his death, were cleared of any wrongdoing. She spoke on day 81 of protests across the city, saying police involved in shootings 'need to hang high', The New York Post reports. She added: 'They need to send you to the electric chair and let you fry like a piece of burnt bacon.' Scroll down for video Letha Winston declared 'war' on 'filthy, disgusting animal' officers in speech to a Portland crowd on Sunday Letha Winston told a crown in Portland Sunday: 'This is a war, guys'. Winston's son, Patrick Kimmons, 27, was shot dead by cops in 2018 after he opened fire on, shooting five times and injuring two men. The officers involved in his death, were cleared of any wrongdoing Footage shows as Winston tells the crowd: 'I know you got a gun, but so do I...go ahead and shoot me. Im shooting back. Were here to take our streets back.' Protesters cheer as she adds of the cops arrested over the death of George Floyd: 'Your mothers umbilical cord should have wrapped around your neck and choked you just the way you choked George Floyd, you filthy animal. 'It should have wrapped around your neck so many times to where you yelled, I cannot breathe! ' Winston's son, Patrick Kimmons, 27, was shot dead by cops in 2018. Footage shows as Winston tells the crowd: 'I know you got a gun, but so do I...go ahead and shoot me. Im shooting back. Were here to take our streets back' Winston spoke for more than an hour at the city's Justice Center shortly before a sickening attack on a truck driver, who was seen in a viral video being knocked unconscious by a kick to the head from a protester. Police said the victim - who has since been identified by police as Adam Haner - was trying to help a transgender woman who had some of her belongings stolen at the scene. Demonstrations that often turn violent have racked Oregon's biggest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Video taken Tuesday night shows protesters calling for 'no cops, no prisons, total abolition'. Police on Tuesday night declared yet another riot on the 83rd consecutive day of protests after a 200-strong mob of protesters torched the city's famous Multnomah Building Winston spoke for more than an hour at the city's Justice Center shortly before a sickening attack on a truck driver, who was seen in a viral video being knocked unconscious by a kick to the head from a protester Police later declared yet another riot on the 83rd consecutive day of protests after a 200-strong mob of protesters torched the city's famous Multnomah Building. Cops tweeted to tell protesters the 'gathering had been declared a riot', ordering those there to disperse. There were also reports of a stabbing and a shooting in the city overnight. On Monday night, authorities said people marched to the police union building and tried to break into the facility. THE UL Hospitals Group has said it is disappointed with the nurses' ballot for industrial action, amid the increasing level of Covid-19 cases in the region. This Wednesday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation announced that it was balloting for industrial action over frustrations with staff resources and working environment amid the pandemic at University Hospital Limerick. The INMO said that they were informed that the nurse vacancy rate in the busy emergency department is between 17% and 20%, and 30% in some of the wards at UHL. The UL Hospitals Group said that, at the end of this July, there was a nurses and midwives vacancy of 91.7 whole time equivalents. This, the spokesperson said, was out of a total of 1,728 nurses and midwives across its six hospitals in the Mid-West. This figure does not include temporary vacancies resulting from staff on maternity leave, sick leave etc, the spokesperson said. The UL Hospitals Group said it is offering candidates positions on a weekly basis since launching its recruitment campaign in March, and that all student nurses and midwives currently graduating from University of Limerick are being offered permanent contracts. There is also a push to recruit 150 nurses from overseas to commence work in December 2020 "As of the end of July 2020, we had recruited over 130 staff nurses in the year-to-date with an additional 16 staff returning from retirement or career breaks." The union also accused the Group of "refusal" to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. However, a spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group said it is committed to consultation and engagement with trade unions on much-needed services, including extra bed capacity under construction at UHL and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. It also praised its nurses, midwives and all staff for providing "exceptional service throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in keeping patients, their colleagues and wider community safe. "We have continued to recruit nurses and midwives throughout the pandemic to meet the additional demands of Covid-19 while also planning to recruit the additional staff needed as we increase bed capacity." The spokesperson said that it "actively endeavours to fill deficits as part of an ongoing recruitment process". "We utilise agency and overtime to cover temporary vacancies and we use every opportunity to convert agency workers to permanent staff. During the pandemic, we have been grateful for nursing retirees, existing staff on career breaks, unpaid leave and reduced hours who have returned or increased their hours to support essential services. "We remain focused on increasing our staffing levels both to better meet the challenges of Covid-19 and to staff the new wards. A number of consultative forums are in place for the unions to address any issues as they arise. These forums provide for regular engagement between unions and management. The next such forum meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 4th under the auspices of the WRC Advisory Service." It added that it remains committed to good industrial relations with the unions. However, it added that it was "disappointed that this ballot for industrial action comes at a time when cases of Covid-19 continue to rise in the MidWest and across the country and the pandemic is far from over". Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 19) Police officers involved in the June 29 encounter in Jolo, Sulu cannot determine who fired the first shot that led to the killing of four military intelligence operatives. Police Senior Master Sergeant Abdelzhimar Padjiri, the officer who was closest to the soldiers at the shooting scene, reasoned that he was unable to pinpoint who fired first due to the sudden turn of events. "Hindi ko ma-identifiy kasi nagkaputukan na po eh. Dahil po sa posisyon, hindi ko na po maidentify dahil napaatras na po ako," Padjiri told lawmakers during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs joint with National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation on Wednesday. [Translation: I could not identify because people already started firing shots. Because of my position, I could not identify because I had to stand back.] Padjiri said he approached Major Marvin Indammog who first alighted from the vehicle. He said the latter had a firearm with him when he got off. Indammog was with three other military officers on board an SUV who were also shot and killed: Sergeant Jaime Velasco, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Major Marvin Indammog, and Corporal Abdal Asula. Patrolman Alkajal Mandangan admitted that he was among those who shot Indammmog after supposedly seeing him lift his M4 rifle. "Hindi ko na [malaman] kung sino ang nakaunang magpaputok sa amin," he said. [Translation: I could not determine who fired first among us.] Meanwhile, Padjiri also denied that they planted the rifle by the left arm of Indammog, as the Senate reviewed CCTV footage related to the incident. This was contrary to what the National Bureau of Investigation reported during the same hearing. Citing eyewitness accounts, lawyer Zulikha Degamo said Indammog got off the vehicle with his arms raised, indicating that he had no rifle with him. The NBI also stressed that the cops were "strategically positioned" when they surrounded the SUV. The agency filed four counts of murder, one count of planting of evidence against the nine cops. It also recommended the filing of neglect of duty complaints against three other top Jolo officials, Sulu Provincial Police Office Chief Colonel Michael Bawayan, Jolo Municipal Police Station Chief Major Walter Annayo, and Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit Chief Captain Ariel Corcino. Aside from Padjiri and Mandangan, the other cops who faced charges were Master Sergeant Hanie Baddiri, Staff Sergeant Iskandar Susulan, Staff Sergeant Ernisar Sappal, Corporal Sulki Andaki, Patrolman Moh Nur Pasani, Staff Sergeant Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, and Patrolman Rajiv Putalan. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category EPA-USFS Fire and Smoke Map View Photo Sonora, CA Wildfires in Northern California are creating smoke-filled skies in the Mother Lode and have area health departments alerting the public to the conditions that could bring health risks. The public health departments of Tuolumne and Calaveras counties, in conjunction with air pollution control district officials, have issued advisories to the public regarding the potential for moderate to poor air quality, especially with the Salt Fire burning in Calaveras County being a primary contributor. Poor air quality caused by nearby fires can lead to health problems for those at increased risk. Those considered sensitive to the unhealthy effects of smoke caused by breathing the small particles in the air include those with asthma, lung problems such as COPD, those with heart conditions, and those over 65 years old, says Dr. Dean Kelaita, Calaveras County Health Officer. Those considered at higher risk should take precautions to minimize their exposure to the smoky air. Dr. Kelaita details that conditions tend to improve in the afternoon and early evening hours as smoke rises. He adds that smoke tends to move downhill, becoming more concentrated in lower elevation areas including the foothills and the lower river drainage basins during the evening hours. Health officials advise that smoke contains very tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs and people may experience varying degrees of symptoms due to exposure, the health risk to an individual depends on age, health status, and length of exposure. For the young and elderly or those with underlying health conditions, it is imperative that measures be taken to minimize your exposure to wildfire smoke. Anyone experiencing serious symptoms should contact their health care provider or the emergency department. The following are recommendations to reduce your exposure to smoke: If you can see or smell smoke, limit all unnecessary outdoor activities Stay indoors, closing all windows and doors and use the air conditioner on the recirculation setting Limit even indoor physical activities: Keep in mind that healthy individuals can be negatively impacted by the pollutants from smoke Wearing a mask indoors is not considered adequate protection for smoke-related impacts Smoking, using the vacuum, fireplace, or candles are not advised due to the buildup of particulate matter from these activities If you have asthma, take your medications, and follow your asthma management plan NonHEPA paper face mask filters and bandana-type face coverings may be helpful in reducing the spread of germs and viruses, but they are not capable of filtering out extra fine particulates which are much smaller in size. Therefore, they will not be helpful in protecting individuals from smoke-related impacts Reduce unnecessary driving. If traveling through smoke-impacted areas, be sure that your vehicles ventilation system is on recirculate Check on your loved ones and neighbors A court in Tajikistan has sentenced 20 people to prison terms ranging from between five and seven years, after finding them guilty of membership in the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement. The trials took place behind closed doors in the northern Sughd Pronince last week, without the presence of family members and reporters, relatives and officials said. The names of the defendants have not been made public and details of the investigation and the trial process remain unknown. Anvarjon Abdughaffori, the judge who presided over the trials, said on August 18 that the main charge against the defendants was membership of a banned group. Separately, one defendant has been fined after being found guilty of failing to report crimes, Abdughaffori told RFE/RL. The defendants were among 154 people who have been detained in several raids against suspected Muslim Brotherhood cells across Tajikistan since January. It remains unclear whether the defendants pleaded guilty or rejected the charges, or if they had been given a chance to appeal their sentences. The defendants are said to have been denied access to defense lawyers, a claim RFE/RL cannot independently verify. Several relatives of the defendants told RFE/RL that they have been kept in the dark about the situation since the arrest of their family members. The relatives said they have complained to higher courts about the Sughd courts handling of the cases, saying the accusations against the defendants are baseless and unfair. They described the defendants as educated people with university diplomas on secular subjects. They spoke in condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation by Tajik authorities, who show little tolerance of criticism. Courts in Tajikistan are known to be under the government control, especially in handling cases that involve opposition figures, government critics, or suspected members of religious movements. Such trials often take place behind closed doors amid widespread allegations of mistreatment and torture of the defendants during pretrial detentions. The Muslim Brotherhood has been banned in Tajikistan since 2006. Tajik authorities accuse the group of seeking to overthrow the government through violence and replace it with an Islamic system. There are several university lecturers, students, businessmen, and at least one government official among those detained in anti-Muslim Brotherhood sweeps. Those who went to trial in Sughd are all the residents of the region. In July, authorities said that 116 Muslim Brotherhood defendants, including two foreign citizens have gone in trial in the capital, Dushanbe. Despite having the trials behind the closed doors and not making public the details, the Supreme Court insists that the trials are not "secret." Opponents and rights groups accuse the Tajik government of cracking down on peaceful Muslims using bogus charges of religious extremism and terrorism. Syracuse, Utah, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elevations RTC, a Residential Treatment Center offering programs for troubled teens across the United States, has been forced to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few months. It is a trying time for a lot of people, but Elevations believes that its proactive approach with its facilities and staff has them prepared better than any program in the country. As students transition in this year, parents can expect a clean and safe environment with teachers equipped to handle any challenges. Facilities The question so many parents have regarding any school, programs, or another gathering place involves cleanliness. Not only does the facility need to be extremely clean, but proper measures for social distancing from other children is essential as well. Elevations RTC Utah has spent the last few months making sure that the facility is above and beyond a safe environment for everyone. There will be more space than ever before, keeping students out of large groups. A strict mask policy is now in place that all staff on campus must follow to protect the spread of germs as well. New students will wear a mask and socially distant from other students for the initial entry into the program. Just about every room at the facility has received tweaks to make every interaction a bit more spread out, cutting down the potential spread of the virus. Extra attention to mental health Mental health its something that Elevations RTC takes very seriously in its programs. With the pandemic, it is as essential as ever before to not only treat established mental health issues but look for warning signs if other issues pop up. The changes students face the school year at a developing age can put a lot of stress on anyone. If it appears students need additional attention to a new problem, the staff will help tweak the existing program to provide further assistance. Why RTC is still a top choice for troubled teens Story continues It is without question scary for a lot of parents to send their children off to a center that might not be particularly close to home. It is even scarier with the pandemic looming over the entire country. Elevations RTC believes that it has put in the work to be prepared to keep things as normal as possible. Smaller groups Elevations programs have always catered to a specific age group, types of therapy, and more. Their programs have always been at a smaller class size to help give each student the attention they need. There will also be plenty of space for students to socially distance. Informed and prepared staff The entire Elevations RTC staff is also well prepared for the changes to a typical day that will be present for the foreseeable future. Elevations has spent a lot of time going through new procedures, explaining what to do during certain situations, and keep everything as fluid as possible. There will without a doubt be changes throughout the year based on what the licensing agent health officials might recommend, but for now, the entire program is as safe as one can expect anywhere in the country. Keeping parents informed Finally, Elevations is stepping up family involvement this year for those who want to receive updates. Students will have additional opportunities to make calls during the week, continue weekly skype family therapy, virtual parent seminars, and continued contact with their child through Elevations Family Bridge. A new normal? The challenges Elevations RTC faces for the next few months, or even a year for that matter is not unique. With that said, Elevations believes that they have been as proactive as possible to keep it not only one of the best programs for troubled teens, but the cleanest and safest during this pandemic. For more information on all the changes, they have made going into Fall 2020, visit their website at elevationsrtc.com. CONTACT: contact@elevationsrtc.com [Follow our daily updates on the latest presidential election polls.] WILMINGTON, Del. Addressing a nation consumed by crises, Jill Biden used her prime-time speech during the second night of the Democratic convention to make the case that her husband understood the urgent challenges facing American families and that he had the experience and character to meet the moment. Speaking from a classroom at Brandywine High School, where she once taught English in the 1990s, Dr. Biden described how the pandemic has disrupted education in the country, tearing at the fabric of families, communities and the economy nationwide. This quiet is heavy. You can hear the anxiety that echoes down empty hallways, Dr. Biden said. Theres no scent of new notebooks or freshly waxed floors. The rooms are dark as the bright young faces that should fill them are now confined to boxes on a computer screen. I hear it from so many of you the frustration of parents juggling work while they support their childrens learning, she said. The despair in the lines that stretch out before food banks, and the indescribable sorrow that follows every lonely last breath that follows when the ventilators turn off. The Trump campaign's interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a grave counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed how associates of had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin's help. The nearly 1,000-page report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee on the investigation, details how launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump's behalf. It says the Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and says other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlin's aid, particularly by maximising the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers. The report is the culmination of a bipartisan probe that produced what the committee called the most comprehensive description to date of Russia's activities and the threat they posed. The investigation spanned more than three years as the panel's leaders said they wanted to thoroughly document the unprecedented attack on U.S. elections. The findings, including unflinching characterizations of furtive interactions between Trump associates and Russian operatives, echo to a large degree those of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and appear to repudiate the Republican president's claims that the FBI had no basis to investigate whether his campaign was conspiring with Russia. Trump, who has repeatedly called the Russia investigations a hoax," said Tuesday he didn't know anything about the report, or Russia or Ukraine. All I know is that I have nothing to do with either one of them and that came out loud and clear in the report," Trump said. While Mueller's was a criminal probe, the Senate investigation was a counterintelligence effort with the aim of ensuring that such interference wouldn't happen again. The report issued several recommendations on that front, including that the FBI should do more to protect presidential campaigns from foreign interference. The report was released as two other Senate committees, the Judiciary and Homeland Security panels, conduct their own reviews of the Russia probe with an eye toward uncovering what they say was FBI misconduct in the early days of the investigation. A prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William Barr, who regards the Russia investigation with skepticism, disclosed his first criminal charge Friday against a former FBI lawyer who plans to plead guilty to altering a government email. Among the more striking sections of the report is the committee's description of the professional relationship between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the committee describes as a Russian intelligence officer. Taken as a whole, Manafort's high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik, represented a grave counterintelligence threat, the report says. The report notes how Manafort shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Kilimnik and says there is some evidence Kilimnik may have been connected to Russia's effort to hack and leak Democratic emails, though that information is redacted. The report also says two pieces of information raise the possibility of Manafort's potential connection to those operations, but what follows is again blacked out. Both men were charged in Mueller's investigation, but neither was accused of any tie to the hacking. A Manafort lawyer, Kevin Downing, said Tuesday that information sealed at the request of Mueller's team completely refutes whatever the intelligence committee is trying to surmise. He added, It just looks like complete conjecture. Like Mueller, the committee reviewed a meeting Trump's oldest son, Jr., took in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer he believed to have connections with the Russian government with the goal of receiving information harmful to his father's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Senate panel said it assessed that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services, as did another participant in the meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin. The panel said it uncovered connections that were far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known, particularly regarding Veselnitskaya. In a statement, Akhmetshin said he was exonerated, yet again, of the false claim that I am a Russia spy." The report also found no reliable evidence for Trump's longstanding supposition that Ukraine had interfered in the election, but did trace some of the earliest public messaging of that theory to Kilimnik and said it was spread by Russian-government proxies who sought to discredit investigations into Russian interference. The committee said that messaging campaign lasted to at least January 2020 after the House had impeached Trump for pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate the family of Democrat Joe Biden, now Trump's general election opponent. During that effort, some Republicans, including Trump, argued Ukraine was meddling, not Russia. Trump was acquitted by the Senate. The report purposely does not come to a final conclusion, as Mueller did and as the House intelligence committee's 2018 report did, about whether there is sufficient evidence that Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election to him and away from Clinton, leaving its findings open to partisan interpretation. (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.) "Principal leaders are the core of innovation and leadership and will propel our firm forward in the years to come," says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. "By going above and beyond to make our clients and communities successful, these 12 individuals epitomize what it means to be an employee-owner at Burns & McDonnell. With vast knowledge, experience and dedication, they are champions of progress at our firm, across the industries we serve and throughout the communities in which we live and work." Members of the Burns & McDonnell class of 2020 Principals include the following employee-owners: Shawn Briggs, Project Director for the Transmission & Distribution Group Shawn Briggs serves as project director of engineer-procure-construct (EPC) projects within the firm's Transmission & Distribution Group. He has more than 28 years of experience in the development, permitting, engineering, procurement and construction of power generation, electrical transmission, industrial, facility and environmental projects worldwide. As a leader in three key roles enterprise account manager, account manager and EPC project director Briggs plays a vital role in the group's sustained success and actively pursues EPC projects in new and growing international markets, including the U.K., Chile and Mexico. Darrell Butler, Manager of the Columbus, Ohio, Office Darrell Butler is manager of the Burns & McDonnell office in Columbus, Ohio. With nearly 20 years of engineering, construction and project management experience, Butler leads a team of more than 30 multidiscipline professionals supporting oil and gas, mission-critical facilities, power generation, electrical transmission and distribution, water and wastewater, manufacturing, and environmental permitting and remediation projects across the Upper Midwest. Under Butler's leadership, Burns & McDonnell has managed hundreds of millions of dollars in design and construction projects across Ohio throughout the past three years. Rob Darnell, Regional Manager of the Aviation & Federal Group Rob Darnell serves as regional manager of the Aviation & Federal Group in the firm's Minneapolis-St. Paul office. With more than three decades of diverse experience, Darnell leads a team of multidiscipline engineers, architects and construction professionals in delivering innovative, cost-effective solutions to clients nationwide. Darnell has led and supported federal, higher education, data center, mission-critical, cleanroom, high-tech and manufacturing facility planning, design, construction and commissioning projects nationwide and is a registered professional engineer in 27 states. William Garcia, Construction Manager in the Construction/Design-Build Group William Garcia serves as construction manager within the Construction/Design-Build Group. A seasoned professional with more than two decades of experience managing large-scale construction projects nationwide, Garcia specializes in utility system expansions, commercial buildings and industrial facilities. His nearly 40-year career spans utility system expansions for large campus developments, installation of commercial window systems in high-rise buildings and large facilities and fabrication and installation of commercial, retail and residential casework/millwork. Kent Herzog, Managing Director of 1898 & Co. Kent Herzog is managing director in the Northeast for 1898 & Co., part of Burns & McDonnell. In his current role, he leads a team of nearly 40 professionals providing utility, technology and management consulting services. With more than two decades of advisory, engineering and construction experience, Herzog has developed, directed and consulted on billions of dollars in projects. He is a trusted advisor to generation and transmission developers across the country. John Hesemann, Remediation Department Manager in the Environmental Services Group John Hesemann leads the firm's remediation services within the Environmental Services Group. A geological and environmental remediation engineer with more than 20 years of experience, Hesemann has served as project manager, lead engineer or project engineer on more than 100 remediation projects in 20 states. As leader of remediation at Burns & McDonnell, Hesemann supports nationwide strategy development, field implementation and optimization efforts for environmental remediation technologies to help clients address a wide variety of contaminants, including petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated ethenes and methanes, radionuclides, energetics, metals and inorganics. Danny Kaminsky, Project Director for the Transmission & Distribution Group Danny Kaminsky serves as project director and account manager for one of the Transmission & Distribution Group's largest clients. With a background in high-voltage substation design, Danny now oversees operations across four business units, including electric transmission, distribution modernization, networks integration and natural gas pipelines. Highly experienced in EPC and program management delivery, he directs a team of nearly 140 engineers, designers and project management professionals in Burns & McDonnell offices across the globe. Jason Mayyak, Regional Manager of the Transmission & Distribution Group Jason Mayyak is regional manager of the firm's Transmission & Distribution Group for the northwestern U.S. Since joining Burns & McDonnell in 2009, Mayyak has taken on new and increasingly challenging work and responsibility, now leading a team of more than 100 professionals across two offices, supporting clients in the Rocky Mountain region, Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska and western Canada. Currently, Mayyak and his team are executing more than $25 million in engineering services and more than $30 million in design-build projects per year. Kyle Roberts, Civil Department Manager in the Aviation & Federal Group Kyle Roberts leads civil design and construction projects within the Aviation & Federal Group, and oversees one of the largest civil engineering departments at Burns & McDonnell. Since starting his career at the firm in 2004, Roberts has contributed to more than 400 federal-, aviation- and industrial- sector projects as a civil engineer, master planner and project manager, including work throughout the U.S. and internationally in Iraq, Afghanistan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco and the U.K. He works closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force and Army National Guards, Federal Aviation Administration, various Departments of Transportation, City and Public Works administrations and international clients in support of U.S. government programs. Gustavo Rodriguez, Regional Manager of the Transmission & Distribution Group Gustavo Rodriguez serves as regional manager of the firm's Transmission & Distribution Group in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Since assuming his leadership role in 2015, Rodriguez has been instrumental in quickly and effectively building one of the strongest production teams in the nation growing the regional group from just a few to more than 40 professionals. He has led his group strategically through profitable growth while maintaining high levels of quality and service in complex electric power grid infrastructure projects across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and the Northeast. Kathy Smink, Procurement Department Manager in the Construction/Design-Build Group Kathy Smink leads procurement for the firm's Construction/Design-Build Group in Houston, Texas. Within this role, she leads more than 30 procurement professionals who are instrumental to the success of EPC/design-build projects across the U.S. In addition to leading the group's procurement team, Smink has served as project procurement manager on several of the Houston office's most critical projects, among the more than 200 projects she has contributed to throughout her career with the firm. Eric Walters, Cybersecurity and IT Department Manager for Burns & McDonnell Eric Walters leads cybersecurity and IT infrastructure management for Burns & McDonnell. In his role, Walters is responsible for development and enhancement of the firm's information security strategy, program, policies and procedures. With more than 20 years of experience, Walters' multi-industry background includes healthcare cross-disciplinary compliance and privacy, software development, information security program management, cybersecurity managed services, federal government IT cloud deployments and global transition operations. For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune's 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all. Contact: Kristi Widmar, Burns & McDonnell 816-448-7379 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & McDonnell Related Links http://www.burnsmcd.com As researchers and journalists try to understand how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting peoples behavior, they have repeatedly relied on location information from smartphones. The data allows for an expansive look at the movements of millions of people, but it raises troublesome questions about privacy. In several articles, The New York Times has used location data provided by a company called Cuebiq, which analyses data for advertisers and marketers. This data comes from smartphone users who have agreed to share their locations with certain apps, such as ones that provide weather alerts or information on local gas stations. Cuebiq helps app makers use technology like GPS to determine the location of peoples phones, and in turn, some of the app makers provide data to Cuebiq for it to analyse. The data obtained by The Times is anonymised and aggregated, meaning that the journalists see broad statistics compiled by geographic area such as the median distance moved per day by devices in a census tract. The Times did not receive information about individual phones and did not see the path any particular phone took. About 15 million people in the United States use relevant apps daily and allow them to track their location regularly. The aggregate data provides a representative sample of the population, according to academic papers that studied Cuebiqs data in different metro areas. What are the dangers of this data? Although the data excludes names, phone numbers, and other identifying information, even anonymous location information can be revealing. The Times has reported on the intrusiveness of such data, which can show intimate details like trips to doctors offices and outings with romantic partners. The fact that companies are collecting, storing, and selling location information about individuals at all presents risks. Hackers or people with access to raw location data could identify or follow a person without consent, by pinpointing, for example, which phone regularly spent time at that persons home address. Different companies have widely varying approaches to handling the information, including deleting large portions of it for privacy reasons or selling the raw data with no protections. Location data on individuals is used for purposes like marketing and analysis for hedge funds and law enforcement. There is no federal law in the United States that limits the use of location information in this way, although some have been proposed. Cuebiq said it collects and stores raw location data but does not sell it. What are the benefits of this data? Location data from smartphones is used for several purposes, most frequently for targeted advertising. For example, companies may show ads for sneakers to people who often go to a gym. Companies such as Apple and Google use similar information for mapping and traffic monitoring, or to tell people when stores are likely to be busy. Makers of apps that sell the data say it allows them to give users their services without charging them money. During the coronavirus pandemic, location information has shown where people are following social distancing rules, and where they have travelled enabling analysis of potential hot spots. The Times has used this data to show that people from low-income areas were less likely to be able to shelter at home than people from high-income locations and to demonstrate how the virus may have spiralled out of control in the United States. How would I know if my data is collected? It can be difficult for people to keep track of whether and how their data is being gathered. Android-based devices and iPhones both require apps to ask users to enable location services before collecting the information, but the explanations people see when prompted to give permission are often incomplete or misleading. An app may tell users that granting access to their location will help them get weather alerts, but not mention that the data will be sold. That disclosure is often buried in a densely worded privacy policy. Even with such disclosures, it may not be clear to users how frequently someones information is collected and what it can show. In Europe and California, users can request their data. Elsewhere, policies vary by company. You can request your data from Cuebiq or ask the company to delete your data regardless of where you live. Cuebiq ties your data to your phones so-called advertising ID, which is used by marketers and others to differentiate phones from each other, and will send you the information associated with that ID. To prevent people from getting data on others IDs, the company requires you to download an app that verifies the number and then makes the request. You can then delete the app without affecting your request. The app is available for both Android and iOS. How can I opt out? If you want to prevent Cuebiq from collecting your data, the easiest way is to disable the advertising ID on your phone. If you disable it, Cuebiq will no longer keep track of your device. Cuebiq also provides several other ways to opt out of location tracking, outlined if you click Control on the companys privacy page. However, opting out of Cuebiqs database will not prevent your information from being collected by a variety of other companies that gather and store precise location information. Some provide similar options, but not all do, and it is difficult to keep track of the myriad firms in the location-tracking industry. If you want to avoid collection of your location data altogether, your best bet is to evaluate the individual apps on your phone to see whether they are collecting more about you than you would like. Prevent all but your most important apps from gaining access to the data, and allow them to get it only when you are using the app. The Jennifer and Fotis Dulos saga has taken a new turn this week with defense attorney Norm Pattis accused of keeping a $250,000 retainer he received two weeks before his client died from an apparent suicide. Attorney Richard Weinstein, representing Jennifer Dulos mother, Gloria Farber, and the estate of her late father, Hilliard, filed the seven-page lawsuit in state Superior Court in Hartford. According to the complaint, Pattis was given the retainer on Jan 16 about a week after Fotis Dulos was charged with murder and kidnapping in the death and disappearance of his estranged wife. Weinstein contends Pattis violated the rules of professional responsibility when he did not return the funds after his client died on Jan. 30. Weinstein wants the funds returned to Fotis Dulos estate to pay off creditors, including his client. In June, Gloria Farber, who has been caring for the five Dulos children since their mother vanished on May 24, 2019, was awarded nearly $2 million in lawsuits she filed against Fotis Dulos for unpaid business loans. But attorney John Williams, who is representing Pattis and his colleague, Kevin Smith, called the lawsuit against his clients a waste of the estates resources. This is an utterly frivolous and meritless lawsuit, which appears to have been brought on behalf of the woman who bears a large measure of responsibility for the tragedy that has enveloped this family, Williams said in a statement. We not only intend to defend the case vigorously, but after we prevail, we will seek compensation from everyone responsible for bringing it, Williams said. There is much to be said here and we fully intend to say it in the appropriate forum and at the appropriate time. For now, it is sufficient to say that Attorney Weinstein and his clients are wasting whatever resources the estate may have, which is not surprising since the true motive for the suit obviously is something other than money. According to Weinsteins lawsuit, the retainer agreement stated that if some unforeseen event prevented Pattis and Smith from representing Fotis Dulos, the portion of the unused fee would be returned based on hourly rates. An hourly rate was never set, Weinstein said, and no portion of the retainer was returned to the estate. Attorneys have been wrangling for months over the contents of the estate and how to calculate its worth since Fotis Dulos was deeply in debt when he died. All of the properties owned by Fotis Dulos real estate development company, Fore Group, are in foreclosure proceedings, court records show. The estate of Fotis Dulos recently asked a Farmington Probate Court judge to declare Jennifer Dulos dead so the $194,000 from an individual retirement account could be used to pay creditors. The estate is unable to access the IRA unless it is determined that Jennifer Dulos predeceased her estranged husband because Fotis Dulos did not name a beneficiary, probate documents said. A probate judge is expected to hold a hearing in the coming weeks before making a decision. Pattis drew sharp criticism for repeatedly claiming Jennifer Dulos may have staged her own disappearance to frame her estranged husband. Pattis also suggested she may have committed what he called a revenge suicide. Jennifer Dulos body has never been found, although police said she is presumed dead based on blood evidence they found in the garage of her New Canaan home, according to arrest warrants. According to arrest warrants, police believe Fotis Dulos used an employees pickup truck to drive from his Farmington home to New Canaan the morning of May 24, 2019. Police said Fotis Dulos parked the truck near Waveny Park and rode a vintage French bicycle to his estranged wifes home on Welles Lane. According to arrest warrants, Fotis Dulos was lying in wait when his estranged wife returned from dropping off their children at school. Police said Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a serious physical assault and has been presumed dead based on the blood evidence found in her garage, the arrest warrants state. Around the time Jennifer Dulos was reported missing that night, police said Hartford surveillance cameras captured two people resembling Fotis Dulos and his former girlfriend Michelle Troconis making a series of stops along Albany Avenue. The man was seen dumping trash bags and a license plate that was later discovered to be registered to Fotis Dulos, according to arrest warrants. The bags contained Jennifer Dulos blood and clothing, the arrest warrants state. Video also captured Fotis Dulos and Troconis taking the employees pickup truck to a car wash in Avon a few days after police believe Jennifer Dulos was killed, according to arrest warrants. Police later discovered Jennifer Dulos blood on one of the vehicles seats, arrest warrants state. Troconis, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution, and attorney Kent Mawhinney, who was also charged in January with conspiracy to commit murder, are the remaining defendants in the case. Troconis is next scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Aug. 28, while Mawhinney is not expected to appear until Oct. 29. New Delhi: Zee Studios has announced the title of ace choreographer Bosco Leslie Martis' directorial, Rocket Gang, a dance horror-comedy, slated to release in summer 2021. A genre-defining family entertainer, 'Rocket Gang', will be headlined by 5 of the most talented kids scouted from across the country, with Aditya Seal and Nikita Dutta among others. Staying true to their promise, Rocket Gang will also feature selected dancers who participated in the reality show, Dance India Dance. A first in Bollywood, parts of Rocket Gang will be shot in real-time VR (virtual reality), paving the way for more advanced, immersive way of filmmaking in India. Famously used in recent Hollywood blockbusters such as The Jungle Book and The Mandalorian, this modern, cutting edge, real-time VR technique will provide an interactive experience and enhance the pre-visualization process for director Bosco Leslie Martis during the shoot of the film. Director Bosco Leslie Martis said, It's an emotional day for me as I step into my responsibility as a filmmaker. A genre-defining film, Rocket Gang is a fun, crazy, emotional entertainer that audiences can watch as a family together. I'm super excited and pumped to use this amazing, game-changing real-time VR technology to shoot, we will also be creating a 3-dimensional virtual set to make it as realistic as possible. It's a true collaboration with Zee Studios who are leaving no stone unturned for me to get the best possible immersive and interactive experience to create truly spectacular visuals necessary to fulfil my vision for Rocket Gang. A spectacle film needs spectacular virtual production! Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios commented, We are super excited to shoot the film with this amazing, most modern technology, real-time VR which has been custom-developed to suit our film's specific requirements. For the first time used in any Bollywood film, it is a game-changer for spectacle films that are VFX-heavy like Rocket Gang. It will not only drastically reduce our post-production time but also decrease expected manpower during the shoot, thereby, adhering to all safety guidelines when we start the shoot. We are preparing to go on floor in a couple of months as soon as we complete our pre-production work. Produced by Zee Studios, Rocket Gang is currently in pre-production, will go on floors in the next few months, and slated to release in summer 2021. Photofy Inc. Using consistent communication on social channels has allowed our partners to bounce back and master this difficult time, said John Andrews, CEO of Photofy. "Businesses both large and small are seeing community-created content is an effective way to grow their business by engaging their customers." The COVID-19 crisis is having an extraordinary and far-reaching impact on all our lives. Many have faced serious challenges which creates enormous uncertainty for both employees and communities. One immediate impact of the pandemic has been increased reliance on technologies that connect consumers and businesses and help them communicate and share important and fast changing information. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Photofy, Inc. has been helping both Enterprise and Small Businesses in the 119 countries in which they operate to create high-quality custom branded content, share vital information and build lasting relationships. Using consistent communication on social channels has allowed our partners to bounce back and master this difficult time, said John Andrews, CEO of Photofy. Businesses both large and small are seeing community-created content is an effective way to grow their business by engaging their customers with people closest to them. During the first quarter, Photofy, Inc. saw 50.3% user growth with an average $710K in monthly media value across current Enterprise clients while adding numerous names to their Enterprise client roster including The National Association of Realtors and Yoli Better Body. Photofy, Inc. continuously adds product features and new offerings focused on supporting Enterprise partners, entrepreneurs and small businesses alike including: In Q2 the company launched Consumer and Enterprise GIFs to meet the demand for these popular and effective tools. The use of GIFs in social media content has grown along with use of emojis, allowing users quick and fun personal expression--while building better user engagement. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Photofy sprung into action in an effort to support small businesses. By empowering brands to better communicate during and after the crisis, theyre offering a FREE 6-MONTH subscription to the Business Collection Package for new members who register by December 31st, 2020 With virtual meetings on the rise, Photofy created customizable virtual meeting backgrounds for consumer and enterprise clients. Lastly - Photofy, Inc. launched their new website and landing pages for a heightened user experience and navigation for training and features. Over the past two quarters Photofy has continued to build its team and has welcomed four full-time employees and three strategic advisors; additions which have been crucial to the success of both the organization and partners during this time. Photofy, Inc. including: Angelique Bolding: Director, Business Development | A multi-faceted brand and business development professional with over 10+ years of experience in Brand Strategy and Digital Communications. Having served as both a consultant and now employee for Photofy, Angelique has helped make an impact on brands such as The Ritz Carlton, Wrangler, International Zinc Association, Disneyworld, SeaWorld, and more. Waleed Hamza: Software Engineer | An Army vet and valued member of the Photofy, Inc. team Waleed comes with 7+ years experience in IT and software development helping grow and ignite organizations such as Duke University and Medfusion. Eryn Gruber, Graphics Designer | Eryn is a Florida native and graduate of the University of Central Florida who comes to Photofy with a background in graphic design for online retailers and marketing agencies. Uma Nuthulaganti: Senior Software Engineer | Uma is obsessed with the idea of utilizing software to solve practical problems. As a senior software engineer she is passionately engaged in solving never-ending puzzles where she is certain to learn and build on her experiences. Calvin Peters: Strategic Advisor | A multi-faceted communications professional with over 20+ years of experience in Public Relations, Marketing and Digital Communications. He most recently led PR localization, Digital Communications and Influencer Marketing teams for the Walgreens Boots Alliance; the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. Kate Berg: Strategic Advisor | 25+ years in technology operations and strategic marketing, focusing on helping companies grow, go public and secure venture capital funding. She has been a national speaker and course author with SCORE since 2009 and devotes time to helping entrepreneurs succeed. Dave Henry: Strategic Advisor | Dave Henry brings over 40 years of strategic expertise in creating successful market brands that customers love and companies depend upon. Hes been nationally recognized for using his skills to build the business of several large grocery retail chains through both regional and national award winning advertising and cutting-edge marketing and sales initiatives. About Photofy, Inc.: Photofy was founded in 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina with the goal of building the world's easiest and most powerful content creation tool for individuals and businesses. Photofy serves millions globally through enterprise solutions for companies in the franchise, direct selling, and real estate industries via a simple mobile platform for branded content creation and distribution. Malian soldiers who launched a military coup to oust President Ibrahim Keita out of government said on Wednesday they plan to form a civilian transitional government that will organise fresh elections, Reuters reports. Mr Keita, alongside Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, was forced to relinquish his seat and dissolve the parliament at gunpoint by mutineering soldiers, hours after being detained. In the wee hours of Wednesday, the ousted Malian President announced his resignation on a live television broadcast. Ive decided to leave my post, he said, clad in traditional clothing and a medical mask to protect against the coronavirus. In another broadcast on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the mutineers, who called themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, said they had decided to stage the coup to prevent Mali from falling further into chaos. For months now, Mali has been mired in a political stalemate after the opposition rejected results of local elections held earlier this year and called for Mr Keitas resignation for perceived government corruption and incompetence in countering terrorism in the country. Tensions escalated in July when at least 11 people were killed during three days of unrest following a protest, an Al Jazeera report said. The opposition group rejected attempts at mediation with the president, and vowed to continue staging rallies against him despite international mediation efforts to resolve the political crisis. In July, Nigerias former president, Goodluck Jonathan led a delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders to broker peace in the country. The committee recommended a unity government for the troubled country, yet the crisis persisted, leading to a mutiny on Tuesday. Some believe Malis eight-year insurgency is contributing to current political tensions in the country, with Mr Keita under pressure to stop the fighting. The government has been struggling to contain the insurgency that first broke out in 2012, and has claimed thousands of lives since. Hand-over plan The mutineers spokesperson, Ismael Wague, maintained the coup was necessitated by the recent political crisis that seems to be plunging the West African state further into chaos. Our country is sinking into chaos, anarchy and insecurity mostly due to the fault of the people who are in charge of its destiny, he said, flanked by soldiers. Mr Wague invited Malis civil society and political movements to join them to create conditions for a political transition that would lead to elections. The military coup has been condemned by Malis regional and international partners who fear it could further destabilise the former French colony. The United Nations, European Union, African Union Commission, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have also condemned the militarys actions. The UN has called for the immediate release of the president, while the EU said it condemns the coup attempt under way in Mali and rejects any anti-constitutional change. This can in no way be a response to the deep socio-political crisis that has hit Mali for several months, the EU said in a statement. Former President Pranab Mukherjees medical condition declined on Wednesday as he developed features of lung infection, said the Indian Armys Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi. The hospital in the Delhi Cantonment area also said that Mukherjee continued to be on ventilatory support and was being managed by a team of specialists. Earlier in the day, Pranab Mukherjees son Abhijit Mukherjee said his fathers medical condition was stable and his vital parameters continued to remain under control. With All Your good wishes & sincere efforts of the Doctors , my father is stable now ! His vital parameters continue to remain under control & manageable ! Positive signs of his improvement is noticed ! I request you all to pray for His speedy recovery !Folded hands, Abhijit, who is the son of the ex-president tweeted. With All Your good wishes & sincere efforts of the Doctors , my father is stable now ! His vital parameters continue to remain under control & manageable ! Positive signs of his improvement is noticed ! I request you all to pray for His speedy recovery !#PranabMukherjee Abhijit Mukherjee (@ABHIJIT_LS) August 19, 2020 The 84-year-old Mukherjee was admitted to the hospital on August 10 and underwent a critical brain surgery to remove a clot in his brain after he suffered a fall at his Rajaji Marg residence a day before. He has also tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Pranab Mukherjee served as Indias 13th president from 2012 to 2017. South African authorities are investigating government departments for graft over irregularities in coronavirus-related tenders worth 290 million dollars (5 billion rand), the head of its Special Investigating Unit (SIU) told lawmakers on Wednesday. The figure is likely to add to pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress, who have struggled to deflect criticism from alliance partners and opposition parties as allegations of corruption implicated senior ANC politicians. Mr Ramaphosa, who replaced his scandal-prone predecessor Jacob Zuma in 2017 with promises to eradicate corruption, has battled to root out criminality linked to the fight against COVID-19 in South Africa. South Africa has the worlds fifth-highest number of coronavirus infections at 592,144. In a presentation to a parliamentary committee, Andy Mothibi, head of the SIU, which investigates allegations against public sector figures or institutions, said it was working on 658 cases nationwide involving just over 5 billion rand the first time a number has been put on the alleged graft. READ ALSO: The provincial health department of the central Gauteng province, an economic hub and home to Johannesburg, alone accounted for just under half of the total, at 2.2 billion rand, Mr Mothibi added. The allegations reported to the SIU involved the procurement of PPEs (personal protective equipment), hospital and quarantine sites, catering services (food parcels), ventilators, disinfecting equipment and motorised wheelchairs, he said. (Reuters/NAN) Google has announced the expansion of its job-listing app, Kormo Jobs to India, offering a helping hand to thousands of job seekers in the country amid the Coronavirus crisis. Kormo Jobs was first launched in Bangladesh in 2018 and was expanded to Indonesia last year. The app lists jobs based on the user's profile and allows them to create a digital resume as well. According to Google, a number of companies in India, including Zomato and Bangalore-based startup Dunzo have posted over 20 lakh verified jobs on the platform through Google Pay integration. The tech giant further said it will rebrand Jobs Spot on Google Pay to Kormo Jobs in order to create a consistent experience for users. To recall, Jobs Spot was designed to offer entry-level job positions to individuals. But, with Kormo Jobs, Google may now compete with other job portals in India that include the likes of LinkedIn, Naukri, Shine.com and others. Bickey Russell, Regional Manager and Operations Lead at Kormo Jobs, asserted that Google will continue to invest in bringing new features and jobs to the app in the future. However, Beckey didn't reveal on how many people were successful in getting jobs through the portal so far. "In the wake of the pandemic, the jobs landscape stands altered, with demand shifting to new services that require different sets of skills and experience. Businesses of all sizes face the challenges of the new normal, while job seekers are having to adapt to this shift quickly," Beckey said. "We are heartened to be able to play a helpful role in facilitating connections to impact lives for the better, including introducing important features like remote interviewing earlier this year to ensure social distancing," she added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-18 23:12:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2020 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The zero-summers in Washington simply cannot stand the fact that the United States can be surpassed in one particular area or more. by Xinhua writer Chen Chen BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Washington announced on Monday its decision to take further restrictive measures against Huawei, adding the Chinese tech giant's affiliates to the U.S. Commerce Department's economic blacklist and cutting off its access to advanced U.S. chips. The unilateral decision marks the latest episode in the current U.S. administration's reckless pursuit of a digital gunboat policy under the guise of so-called national security concerns. Steps are also being taken to crack down on a slew of other Chinese tech companies, such as TikTok owner Bytedance and WeChat owner Tencent, in an attempt to keep China in a permanent state of technological inferiority. Washington's gangster-style approach serves as a reminder of Western imperial powers forcing open the doors of China with warships and cannons over a century ago. However, such barbaric bullying by those China hawks in Washington will surely fail and ultimately impact upon America's own vital interests. The logo of TikTok is displayed on the screen of a smartphone on a computer screen background in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, Aug. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The most brazen part of Washington's finger-pointing is that it has repeatedly accused those Chinese tech firms of being a national security threat to the United States, while never being able to identify either what those threats are or how the companies have harmed America's national security. In fact, for Washington's China hardliners, the very existence and flourishing of Huawei and other Chinese enterprises that are making notable global headway in their respective sectors are the real threats. In their eyes, those blossoming Chinese firms are eating away at America's edge in grabbing global technological hegemony -- and they just cannot stand it. To be blunter, those zero-summers in the White House and on Capitol Hill simply cannot stand the fact that the United States can be surpassed in one particular area or more. If that happened, they would naturally come to the conclusion that the United States has been ripped off, and will use every tool at their disposal to crush whoever is in the crosshairs, with Washington's ruthless economic raid against Japan in the 1980s being a classic example. Photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows a Huawei 5G mobile phone testing speed at the Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) However, Washington's economic bullying will hurt the United States itself in this age of expanding global interconnectedness and interdependence. For starters, if Huawei is hit, other companies, including U.S. ones, along the relevant supply chains become victims as well. A report published earlier this year by the Boston Consulting Group noted that "U.S. companies could lose 18 percentage points of global share and 37 percent of their revenues over the same period if the U.S. completely bans semiconductor companies from selling to Chinese customers, effectively causing a technology decoupling from China." Secondly, by bullying Chinese enterprises, the United States will tarnish the credibility of its own investment environment. Once this dangerous example is set, it is also risking opening Pandora's box, unleashing the false temptation of plundering foreign assets on speculative excuses. If this happens, the world's marketplace for investment will be reduced to a lawless battleground for self-interests. Last but not least, Washington's digital gunboat tactics are eroding the foundations that underpin America's leading position in science and technology. The very reason for America's tremendous scientific and technological achievements is that the country once embraced the spirit of openness and cooperation, welcoming fair competition. Yet, with what the White House has been doing these days, from banning Chinese tech firms and promoting a tech-decoupling with China to turning away foreign students and immigrants, is ruining incrementally, and perhaps irreversibly, what used to be the cornerstone of its technological prowess. In a video dialogue last month on China-U.S. relations, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said, "Competition between China and the United States shouldn't be a 'zero-sum game.' It's dangerous for the United States to leverage so-called 'proportional costs' to attack China." Washington needs to listen carefully to those sincere and earnest words and think twice before going further down a dire path. Gil Bashe Finn Partners managing partner, global health Gil Bashe will receive the Lifetime Achievement Awards at this years PM360 Trailblazer Awards, which will be held as a virtual event on Oct. 1. Before coming to Finn in 2015, Bashe led health practices at agencies including Sutton PR, Medicus PR, Hill & Knowlton and Makovsky. Gil was a pioneer in health communications when just the idea of that was still in the nascent stages, said PM360 publisher and CEO Anna Stashower. Established in 2009, the Trailblazer Awards recognize achievements in nine categories, including Companies of the Year, Marketer of the Year, Marketing Team of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Vanguard Award, Imagination Award, Brand Champions, Initiatives and Best Natural Product Brand. To purchase tickets for virtual Trailblazer Awards Event, click here. San Francisco-based Rocket Science has launched XROCKET, a business unit focused on sell-side advisory for mergers and acquisitions. The new unit aims to help agency clients prepare for VC fundraises, attract investor interest leading up to IPO filings, or position themselves as attractive M&A acquisition targets. Its proprietary Valuation Audit scores companies on the key metrics used in M&A negotiations. As part of its turn-key offering, XROCKET also developed a proprietary due diligence platform where companies can organize and metatag important contracts and documents in a secure portal, and either spin up a dedicated M&A deal room or export everything to the M&A banker of their choosing. The 2021 PRSA-NY Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations from members for the chapters next executive committee and board of directors. The 2021 PRSA-NY board of directors will include three new positions: vice president of diversity & inclusion, senior director of diversity & inclusion and associate director of diversity & inclusion. The executive committee and board of directors are expected to proactively participate and prepare for regular meetings to accelerate PRSA-NYs mission, as well as submit monthly reports as appropriate. The elections will be held on Oct. 29 and the deadline for nominations is Sept. 9. To submit a nomination, click here. Women in PR North America is re-launching the Public Relations Academy, a membership site that offers users the opportunity to learn more about public relations, as well as giving them pointers on how to attract media attention. In addition to monthly trainings hosted by Women in PR North America CEO Talia Beckett, the academy will provide access to a members-only Facebook group where users can connect with like-minded professionals and participate in monthly Q&A sessions. A limited number of founding memberships (at $35 per month, paid annually) are available through Aug. 28. For more information, click here. Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. FINDLAY, Ohio A Catholic priest in Northwest Ohio was arrested Tuesday by federal authorities on sex-trafficking charges. Michael Zacharias, 53, of Findlay, Ohio, is charged with coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion, according to the Cleveland Division of the FBI. He was arrested without incident at his residence by the Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Zacharias is the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Findlay. The Blade reports Zacharias presided over a 7 a.m. Mass at the church before his arrest. He has been placed on administrative leave by the Catholic Diocese of Toledo. I am profoundly shocked and grieved to learn of these charges against one of our priests, Toledo Diocese Bishop Daniel Thomas said in a statement. The Church cannot and will not tolerate any such behavior and takes any sexual abuse or misconduct on the part of a cleric with the utmost seriousness. As we await the outcome of the criminal investigation, our prayers go out to anyone affected by this situation. According to the FBI, Zacharias has engaged in sexual conduct with minors since the late 1990s and that he groomed victims for possible future sexual purposes. The FBI is asking anyone who might have been a victim to contact investigators at 216-622-6842. The FBI said he previously worked at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Toledo, St. Peter Parish in Mansfield, St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Van Wert and St. Ann and St. Joseph Parishes in Fremont. He was ordained in 2002. The Blade reports that court records show Zacharias groomed two male victims, now ages 32 and 26, while he was a seminarian and they were students at St. Catherine of Siena. The records show that the victims say they were addicted to drugs, and accused Zacharias of funding their addictions by paying them for oral sex. This is obviously a sad day not only for the church family, for the community, but it also marks the beginning of healing for those victimized by Michael Zacharias, FBI Agent Eric Smith said, according to the Associated Press. More crime-related content on cleveland.com: Man shot multiple times at homeless camp in Akron Two men killed in separate shootings in Akron Five shot after someone fires into crowd during vigil at Dove Park in Cleveland Police investigating after Black Lives Matter yard signs burned in Clevelands Ohio City Federal grand jury charges Cleveland man accused of spitting on officers and claiming he had coronavirus Woman, 16-year-old girl charged in painting swastikas, anti-Semitic images on University Heights businesses FP Trending SpaceX recently launched 58 more satellites in its internet broadband constellation Starlink, using a Falcon 9 first-stage booster that broke its own earlier record for the most reused rocket booster. The SpaceX launch on 18 August marked the sixth reuse of the Falcon 9 first stage booster. As per a report in CNBC, Elon Musk's company landed the Falcon 9 booster rocket on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean a few minutes after it launched the company's Starlink mission from Florida. The launch took place from SpaceX's launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and included a recovery attempt for the booster. The successful recovery means that the booster can potentially be used again, breaking its own earlier record. The launch also made use of a re-flown payload fairing the part of the rocket that covers the satellites being launched till they reach low-Earth orbit, as per a Tech Crunch report. The fairing was recovered from SpaceX's fourth Starlink satellite launch and refurbished for reuse. According to a report in New Atlas, the fairings are worth millions of dollars apiece and last month the company was able to collect both pieces by using vessels equipped with giant nets. However, it did not find the same success this time around with one ship catching one of the halves and the other making a soft landing on the sea. The team was, however, able to capture a video of the fairing floating back to Earth before safely nestling in the net, which was shared by CEO Elon Musk on Twitter, alongside the caption, "Aloha, welcome back from space." Aloha, welcome back from space pic.twitter.com/xWPN09Wtaw Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2020 This was the company's 95th successful launch since it was founded in 2002. SpaceX has landed rocket boosters 58 times and re-used the boosters at total of 40 times so far. Following an upgrade to the Falcon 9 in May 2018, Elon Musk had touted that the rocket is capable of at least 100 flights. However, SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell, has since said that they do not need to fly it more than 10 times. Social Distancing Varies by Income in U.S. Wealthier communities went from being the most mobile before the COVID-19 pandemic to the least mobile, while poorer areas have gone from the least mobile to the most mobile, according to a study by the University of California, Davis. The study, published earlier this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used anonymized data from mobile device location pings between January and April 2020 to find that social distancing in the United States varies strongly by income. ADVERTISEMENT The study showed about a 25 percentage point jump of the wealthiest census tracts staying completely at home compared with a 10 percentage point increase in staying at home in the poorest communities. We found that before the pandemic, individuals in the wealthiest neighborhoods tended to be the least likely to stay completely at home on a given day, said lead author Joakim Weill, a graduate student with the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. But when the states of emergency came into play, individuals living in the wealthiest areas stayed home the most. It was a complete reversal. A graph from the study depicts the percentage of people staying completely at home on weekdays, by income quintile. The highest income levels are represented in yellow, and the lowest are in purple. This was measured with census-tract level income using SafeGraph mobile phone data. (J. Weill, et. al.) The study does not determine the causes for this reversal, though the researchers highlight plausible mechanisms and note that lower-income communities tend to have more essential workers who also have less capacity to work at home compared to people in more affluent areas. ADVERTISEMENT Double burden The results indicate a double burden of the pandemic for lower-income communities, which previous studies show have higher levels of pre-existing health conditions and less access to health care. This study shows they also exhibit less of the social distancing that could help buffer against COVID-19. As policymakers are thinking about emergency relief packages, this points to the need for lower-income regions to be an area of focus in order to build capacity for social distancing and other measures critical to reduce the spread of this disease, said senior author Michael Springborn, an environmental economist and associate professor with the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy. This is just one piece of a broader set of emerging results showing that lower-income neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable as the pandemic proceeds. The scientists compared mobility data from SafeGraph, Place IQ and Google Mobility, which was freely shared to the researchers for the study. Both Weill and Springborn are part of the UC Davis NatuRE Policy Lab. Additional co-authors include Matthieu Stigler from Stanford University and Olivier Deschenes of UC Santa Barbara. The research was supported by Emergency COVID-19 Research Seed Funding provided by the California Breast Cancer Research Program of the University of California. The Bono East Regional NPP executives together with the party supporters have today inaugurated 33 members of their campaign team to make this years campaign go smoothly. The NPP National executives which includes, Mr. Frederick Fredua Antoh (National Second Vice Chairman) , Nana Obiri Boahen (Deputy General Secretary NPP) and Henry Nana Boakye (National Youth Organiser) were present to cheer the inauguration. Addressing party supporters, the Bono East NPP Regional Chairman who is also the Chairman of the campaign team, Mr Thomas Adu Appiah appealed to them not to leave the campaign to only the campaign team members but also involve themselves so that NPP can win the elections. He assured that the NPP will win seven out of the eleven seats in the region. He therefore charged the party supporters to desist from politics of insult and embark on a perfect campaign. Hon. Kofi Amoakohene, Bono East regional Minister in his speech also tasked the party members to unite so that the victory will be easy. He said generations will never forgive NPP if they sit down for the NDC to win this years election. On the side of the National second Vice Chairman, Mr. Frederick Fredua Antoh, he appealed to the party members to support their parliamentary candidates for victory. He again said looking at the performance of President Akufo-Addo Ghanaians have to give him 62% votes in this years election. Mr. F. F. Antoh also appealed to residents of Bono east to vote massively for the NPP to thank Nana Addo on what he has done for them. Source: Kwabena Manu/Peace FM/ Bono East correspondent. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Although trade between Israel and its neighbors Jordan and Egypt never boomed despite normalization, its expected to be different with the UAE, a federation of seven emirates. Unlike Jordan and Egypt, the UAE never fought in any of the six Arab-Israeli wars. Plus Dubai is a business hub for the region and Abu Dhabi is keen to lessen its dependence on hydrocarbons. As soon as the normalization deal was revealed Aug. 13, ministers from the UAE and Israel rushed to open phone lines and unblock internet access, while companies in the two countries announced new pacts. In addition, the accord puts Israels plan to annex parts of the West Bank on ice -- though there are different interpretations of how long the freeze will last -- and solidifies a growing alliance between Israel and some Arab countries with Sunni Muslim majorities to contain Iran, whose population is mostly Shiite Muslim. A woman strolls with dogs during a presentation for the 'Home-Animals and Plants 2007 Fair" in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007. 116 exhibitors will take part in the fair which will be held from Jan. 19 until Jan. 28, 2007 in Berlin. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) - MICHAEL SOHN/AP Angela Merkels government is facing ridicule over plans to force Germans to walk their dogs twice a day. Julia Klockner, the agriculture minister, this week announced she will introduce a new law that will make it compulsory for dog owners to take their pets for two walks a day, for a total of at least an hour. The plans have met with mockery on social media and anger from dog owners who say they make no allowance for the needs of individual dogs or for those who are old or sick. And they have come under fire from local authorities who say the new law will be impossible to enforce. Pets are not just cuddly toys. Their needs must be taken into account, the minister said as she announced the planned law this week. Once spoken of as a potential successor to Mrs Merkel, Mrs Klockner has seen her star fade in recent years. But if the new law was an attempt to raise her profile, it backfired. Has Mrs Klockner had the coronavirus and suffered brain damage? a Twitter user named Vinischa wrote. Seriously, compulsory dog walks?? another user named Carine tweeted. Should I take my terrified dog out twice a day? My dog is physically and nervously exhausted after an hour. Can someone please tell the good Mrs Klockner that not all dogs have the same needs? Julia Kloeckner, politician of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, smiles as she leaves the SPD headquarters as talks between the top German parties on forming a new government spilled into overtime on February 5, 2018 in Berlin. / AFP PHOTO / Adam BERRY (Photo credit should read ADAM BERRY/AFP/Getty Images) - ADAM BERRY/AFP But what if the dog doesn't want to go for a walk? Because he's too comfortable, is dragging his belly on the floor or it's raining outside? Im not sure a law is going to lure him out from behind the stove, Titus Arnu wrote in Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. What about cats? Or canaries? How big does kittys litter tray have to be? What needs do ferrets have? Or hamsters? Theyre actually nocturnal, but are constantly cuddled by whimpering children during the day! A scandal, Ms. Klockner, take action! Hans-Jorg Vehlewald wrote in Bild. Vets have warned the planned law makes no allowance for dogs suffering from chronic illnesses that make it impossible for them to walk for an hour. Story continues Jorg Bulow, head of an association of municipalities in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, told local radio it could cause disputes between neighbours and would be impossible for short-staffed local authorities to enforce. The agriculture ministry hastily clarified this week that there are no plans to start telephoning every dog owner in Germany to check if theyve been out for a walk. The law is aimed primarily at professional kennels, a spokesman said. But the law does not go far enough for some in Germany. We welcome the fact there are now more specific rules. But with the best will in the world, the proposed law still falls short of requirements, homas Schroder, president of the German Animal Welfare Association, said in a statement. If you want to protect dogs, you should also require owners to identify and register their four-legged friends. And in future dog owners should have to prove the appropriate knowledge before theyre allowed to buy a dog. Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said at the Mat al-Alam palace in the capital Muscat, Oman, on Feb. 21, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) Omans Sultan Names New Foreign, Finance Ministers, Day After Rare Call with Israel Omans sultan on Aug. 18 named foreign and finance ministers for the first time, a day after the nations minister of state for foreign affairs spoke to his Israeli counterpart in a rare phone call. In a broad restructuring of its government administration, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said in his decree Tuesday named Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi as foreign minister and Sultan bin Salem bin Saeed al-Habsi as finance minister. The positions were formerly wielded by his late predecessor, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who died in January after a half century in power. Sultan Haitham maintains the titles of prime minister, defense minister, and armed forces chief following the decrees read on state television on Tuesday. He also issued 28 decrees renaming and reorganizing the Gulf Arab countrys ministries. Under the series of decrees, the oil and gas ministry was renamed a ministry of energy and minerals, with Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi remaining minister. Oman is part of the OPEC+ oil producers alliance. I think there was a long delay in making changes in Oman due to the sultans long illness, said Kristin Smith Diwan, an analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Sultan Haitham is making up for lost time very quickly. Its not immediately clear what effect the appointments will have, though Sultan Haitham has been focused on reshaping Omans government since taking the throne. Thats even as international events swirl around the sultanates borderssuch as tensions between Iran and the United States and the neighboring United Arab Emirates beginning to open diplomatic ties to Israel. Oman remains a key interlocutor between the West and Iran, as well as Yemens Houthi rebels, assisting in getting prisoners released in the past. The news came after Omans foreign ministry said Monday that the nations minister of state for foreign affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, spoke over the phone with Israeli foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi, to say that Oman supported a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East. Bin Abdullah also told Israels foreign minister that it needs to resume negotiations on an Israel-Palestine peace process. He later emphasized the depth of Omans relationship with Palestinians in a phone call with Jibril Rajoub, secretary general of the central committee of the Palestinian Fatah group. The United Arab Emirates decision to fully normalize relations with Israel in a deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East, with Iran and Turkey condemning the move. Bahrain and Oman are said to be considering whether to formalize ties with Israel. Oman has yet to comment on the matter. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Professor. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh, Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Tuesday inaugurated the Students Financial Office meant to support needy, but brilliant and promising students. The office was born out of the idea that the university would give equal opportunities to students, regardless of their background to access quality education. We strongly believe that, poverty should not be a barrier to education and that is why this office has the mandate of assisting students financially to meet their educational needs,Prof Edu- Buandoh indicated. She said, the financial support would be in various forms such as full or partial scholarship, the provision of accommodation, fee arrangements and on-campus work study or part time jobs for students. At the inauguration, she also launched the students scholarship programme for the 2020/2021 academic year. The Pro Vice Chancellor said that the Office had collaborated and patterned some selected scholarship institutions in the country and it would be accessible for qualified students in the university. To enhance effective and efficient information delivery to students, the office would engage and communicate fully with all supporting institutions. The Pro-VC expressed her heartfelt gratitude to stakeholders who assisted and invested in organizing the activities of the office from the scratch till its materialisation. For his part, Mr. Alfred Ghartey, the Students Financial support Administrator, said the office which was established in December 2019 would provide financial support in the forms of bursaries, and scholarships including; a work and study programmes for students. In order to keep the Office running, he said, it would engage in an aggressive fund raising from individuals and corporate bodies, adding that the Scholarship programmes would look at all category of students be it distance, regular undergraduates and postgraduate students. On the Criteria for selection for qualified students, Mr. Ghartey indicated that, students should be a Ghanaian by birth, complete at least one academic year of study at the University, be able to demonstrate financial need and should have a cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.5 to 2.999 or 3.00 and above . Mr Ghartey who is also the Assistant Registrar of the same Office, noted that, students must maintain excellent academic progress to be retained on the scholarship scheme. The services we provide here is absolutely free and we have not engaged any individual or body to provide the services in our stead. He further stated. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Park Si-soo Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has helped rescue two women in difficulty at an Algarve beach after their kayak capsized, according to . The president, 71, was pictured on Saturday swimming over to the kayakers who were struggling in the water. Video footage caught the moment he swam into the sea to help them. Another man was already there, trying to help turn the kayak over while a person on a jet ski also approached to offer help. The man on the jet ski then managed to tow the kayak back to the shore. Rebelo de Sousa later told reporters that the women had been swept by currents from a neighboring beach into the bay. "As there is a very large west current, they were dragged out, turned around, swallowed a lot of water and were not even able to turn [the kayak], nor to climb [on it], or swim, such is the strength of the current," he told local media. The president is reportedly spending his holidays visiting different areas of the country to promote tourism. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Egypt is taking new steps in the Gaza Strip in a bid to reduce the tension that has recently escalated between Israel and Hamas, after Palestinian groups resumed the launching of incendiary balloons toward southern Israel on Aug. 6 following a two-month hiatus. Israel responded to the fires ravaging the fields of southern Israel by bombing numerous Hamas military sites in Gaza. It partially closed the Kerem Shalom crossing on Aug. 11 and prevented the entry of construction materials and fuel derivatives into the Gaza Strip. This led Gazas sole power plant to shut down on Aug. 18. Also, Palestinian fishermen were completely prevented from accessing the sea off the Gaza Strip on Aug. 16. The escalation came after Hamas accused Israel of delaying the implementation of the truce understandings that were reached in October 2018. The understandings were aimed at easing the blockade and stipulated establishing two industrial zones east of Gaza City to accommodate tens of thousands of unemployed. Electricity and water projects were supposed to be implemented as part of the truce agreements, as well as projects aimed at increasing the volume of imports and exports to and from the Gaza Strip. In this context, an Egyptian security delegation arrived in the Gaza Strip on Aug. 17, headed by Ahmed Abdel Khaleq, who is in charge of the Palestinian portfolio in Egypts General Intelligence Service. The delegation met for several hours with leaders of the Hamas movement in Gaza before leaving for Israel on the same day to convey the movements demands. It was set to return to Gaza on Aug. 18 with answers, but the visit was delayed to an unspecified date, as Israel rejected most of Hamas demands. A Hamas official familiar with the talks told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the movement asked the Egyptian delegation to pressure Israel into implementing the understandings previously reached and to immediately start implementing projects related to electricity, water and the two industrial zones east of Gaza City. The source added that the movement will not put an end to the tension on the border with Israel before the latter responds to the demands it received through the Egyptian delegation. The official explained that they do not seek military confrontation, but they do not fear it if Israel refuses to implement those demands. He revealed that Qatar has agreed to extend the financial grant to the Gaza Strip until the end of 2020, and he pointed out that the movement demands that the grant be extended until the end of 2021, while including 200,000 families instead of 100,000, as it has in previous months due to the increase in the number of poor families in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli blockade and the coronavirus pandemic. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Aug. 17 that the demands Hamas raised to Israel through the Egyptian delegation are very high, and the chances of reaching an agreement between Israel and Hamas are still weak, as evidenced by the continued launching of incendiary balloons toward southern Israel during and after the Egyptian delegations visit to the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister and alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz warned Hamas on Aug. 18 about the continued launching of fire balloons from Gaza into southern Israel, saying, Hamas is playing with fire, and I will make sure it turns on them. An Egyptian parliamentarian close to the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, It is true that the demands of Hamas, which the delegation received on Aug 17, are high, but they come within what has been agreed upon with Israel in the previous months. He expected a new agreement to be achieved during the next few days, as none of the two sides wants to reach military escalation. The Egyptian parliamentarian stressed that the intelligence delegation is currently trying to converge views between the two sides in the hopes of swiftly restoring calm to the border between Gaza and Israel. The delegation, according to the source, is also seeking to ease the measures taken by Israel after the recent escalation which included the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing and prevented the entry of some goods by allowing the refueling of the Gaza power plant and allowing fishermen to fish. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra told Al-Monitor that a health disaster is looming for patients in the Gaza Strip if fuel is not promptly supplied to the power plant. He indicated that the serious repercussions of the electricity outage threaten patients in intensive care units, operating rooms and quarantine rooms. For its part, Israel attributes the delay in implementing what was agreed upon with Hamas in October 2018 to the difficulty of holding meetings with international officials with the aim of implementing major projects in the Gaza Strip related to electricity, water and industrial areas specifically, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mustafa al-Sawaf, a political analyst and former editor-in-chief of the local Felesteen newspaper, told Al-Monitor that the success of the Egyptian delegations mission in reducing tensions between Hamas and Israel depends on the delegations ability to pressure Israel into achieving progress as far as the truce understandings are concerned. Sawaf expected the delegation to succeed in obtaining positive answers to some, not all of the demands that Hamas raised to Israel, considering that the task of the Egyptian delegation is not easy after Israel has repeatedly backed down on its pledges. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Alfalfa is considered a nutrient-rich feed for cattle, horses, goats, sheep, and other animals. It contains 15%22% crude protein and is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. It provides energy and boosts the immunity of livestock. The increasing demand for meat and dairy products worldwide has created the need for high-quality feed to enhance the quality and production of animal products. Alfalfa is a proteinaceous and fiber-rich feed for animals that helps in improving the quality of milk and meat. Thus, dairy and livestock farmers are the main buyers of alfalfa. It is also used as horse feed and is in high demand in the equestrian industry. Pellets, cubes, and hay bales are the common alfalfa product types available in the market. Alfalfa Industry is projected to be valued at USD 39.71 Billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 5.06% during the forecast period. However, the high cost of production as compared to other forage crops and the need for large amounts of water for irrigation may hinder the alfalfa market growth. Nonetheless, the growing demand in the Middle East in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where the production of forage crops is banned due to water scarcity, provides lucrative opportunities for the alfalfa market players. Market USP Availability of a wide range of alfalfa products Get a FREE Sample Copy of Report: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8508 Growth Opportunities in the Market Increasing demand for alfalfa in the form of pellets: Alfalfa pellets are highly nutritious as they a good source of digestible fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Pellets are also convenient and cost-effective as compared to hay bales and cubes, resulting in high demand by dairy and livestock farmers. The pellets segment is, therefore, expected to be the fastest-growing during the review period. Alfalfa pellets are highly nutritious as they a good source of digestible fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Pellets are also convenient and cost-effective as compared to hay bales and cubes, resulting in high demand by dairy and livestock farmers. The pellets segment is, therefore, expected to be the fastest-growing during the review period. High consumption by ruminant rearers: The ruminant segment dominated the global alfalfa market in 2018 and it is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The demand for meat, milk, and other dairy products is increasing rapidly across the globe. Thus, dairy and livestock farmers are focused on high yield from ruminants by increasing the use of high-quality fodder. Moreover, the introduction of advanced products such as dehydrated and organic alfalfa fodder for cattle is likely to augment the alfalfa market demand in the coming years. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/alfalfa-market-8508 Key Players Grupo Oses (Spain) Al Dahra ACX Global, Inc. (US) Alfalfa Monegros, S.L. (Spain) Anderson Hay & Grain Inc. (US) Bailey Farms (US) Border Valley (US) Cubeit Hay Company (Spain) Green Prairie International (Canada) Carli Group (Italy) Hay USA Inc. (US) Haykingdom Inc. (US) M&C Hay (US) McCracken Hay Company (US) SL Follen Company (US) Standlee Hay Co Ltd. (US) Read more reports at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/categories Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos Read more details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/infographics Read our Blogs @ http://mrfrblog.com/ Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details. Read More details at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/tea-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/organic-pesticides-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/honey-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/used-cooking-oil-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/prebiotics-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/nutraceuticals-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/gummy-supplement-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/frozen-bakery-products-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/videos/botanical-extracts-market New Delhi, Aug 19 : Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says she is boring in real life, adding that her children are her creativity because she loves to watch each of them take on a unique personality. "Oh god, I'm really boring. I spend a lot of time studying foreign policy," Jolie said while talking about how she is artsy outside of the acting world, during a special virtual press event held before the release of her upcoming movie "The One And Only Ivan". "But I think my creativity is my kids. Because being with them and making up stories before bed or just being silly with them, (I am) really (doing) nothing. Just watching each of them become uniquely who they are and being around them and going into each of their (space), whether it be their rooms and talking to them or developing or helping them develop. It's not as much me but my mom was like that, and loved seeing other people's creativity," she added. Jolie is mother to six children -- sons Maddox, Pax, and Knox, and daughters Zahara, Shiloh, and Vivienne. It was one of her kids who introduced her to the world of Katherine Applegate's bestselling book "The One And Only Ivan", and nudged her to get associated with it. In "The One And Only Ivan", Jolie has voiced the character of an aging elephant named Stella, who cares for an abandoned baby elephant named Ruby in a circus show at the Big Top Mall. The actress is also attached to the Disney movie as a producer. The story follows Ivan, a 400-pound silverback gorilla, who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant, Bob the dog, and various other animals. Ivan has few memories of the jungle where he was born, but when a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, it touches something deep within him, and Ivan begins to question his life and his roots. The book was inspired by the true story of a gorilla named Ivan who was kept in a concrete cage for over 20 years but learned to express himself through watercolour painting. "One of my children read the book and said that they loved it. We talked about why it was special and why it meant so much to them. So, I started to pursue where it is being made, what's happening and started to get involved. I looked at the early drafts and it was very interesting," said the Oscar winning star. "One of the things (screenplay writer) Mike (White) did that I think was very special is, I had seen it start to go down a road where it really started to become a light fun, kids, and a simpler story. It was easy for somebody to come in and just try to pick a few threads and make it quite simple and add some action here and to really make it what it is intended to be. And Disney and Mike, and everybody involved really understand that," she added. The actress continued: "It is not a light film. It deals with heavy issues but it is charming and fun and full of life. But it's deceptive in kind of what the packaging (is). So, I thought it was very important and wanted to get involved. I like the messages in it." Jolie feels the younger generation cares about the natural habitat, and will connect with the story. "All of us older people will appreciate it for many reasons. But I know this young generation is really very aware of what is happening in the world, to our natural habitats, to these animals, losing ground, what's happening with the gorillas and the elephants. And they are angry. They want to really be clear about what kind of treatment is appropriate, what kind of captivity is appropriate, being against poaching. So, I think this represents them. I think that's strong for them today to see that their actions can make change," she said. Directed by Thea Sharrock, "The One And Only Ivan" will release on Disney+ Hotstar Premium in India on August 21. The live action-animation film also features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Brooklynn Prince, and Chaka Khan, besides actors Bryan Cranston, Ramon RodrAguez, Ariana Greenblatt, Indira Varma and Eleanor Matsuura. (Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in) Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors pay millions of dollars in royalties to parent companies in Japan, South Korea for using their technology NEW DELHI: Indias commerce minister has asked automakers to find ways to reduce royalty payments to foreign parent companies for use of technology or brand names, two sources told Reuters, in an effort to boost local investment and reduce outflows. In Indias competitive auto market, top-selling carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors local unit pay millions of dollars in royalties to parent companies in Japan and South Korea for using their technology and brand to build and sell cars. The minister, Piyush Goyal, in a meeting last week asked officials from groups representing carmakers and auto parts manufacturers to review such payments with a view to reducing them, said people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The concern raised during the meeting was that the outflow is high, even for old technologies, and something should be done about it, said one of the sources. The sources declined to be named as the talks are private. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment. India, for years, has debated imposing stricter caps on royalty payments which spiked after 2009 when foreign investment rules were eased and restrictions on such payments were removed. The countrys markets regulator last year suggested imposing curbs on payments exceeding 2% of revenue. The limit was finally set at 5% after complaints from some sectors and fears it may dissuade foreign firms from investing or sharing technology. Recently however, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has made a renewed push to make the country a major manufacturing hub by encouraging domestic production and curbing imports. It also wants to increase local investment and reduce foreign outflows. While India does not restrict the amount that can be paid as royalty, any payment by a locally listed company exceeding 5% of revenues needs shareholder approval. Listed companies such as Maruti Suzuki and parts makers including Bosch, Schaeffler India and Wabco India typically pay royalties of between 1%-5% to their foreign owners. Maruti Suzuki paid 38.2 billion rupees ($510 million) as royalty to its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, amounting to 5% of its revenue, according to its annual report. Privately-owned companies such as Hyundais local unit paid $150 million or 2.6% of revenue as royalties to its South Korean parent in fiscal 2019 and Toyota Motors India arm paid $88 million or 3.4% of revenue to its Japanese parent, government data shows. Royalty provision has been important in attracting foreign investments into various sectors in India, especially autos, said Vaibhav Gupta, partner at tax firm, Dhruva Advisors. Depending on the form in which the government brings back such caps it may impact the ability of auto companies to benefit from the use of foreign brands and technical know-how, said Gupta. He said for many foreign companies royalties are a profit repatriation strategy and changes to these could impact operating and supply chain structures from a fiscal perspective. Maruti, Toyota and Bosch declined to comment. Hyundai, Schaeffler and Wabco did not respond to emails seeking comment. Such payments have also been a long-standing issue with minority shareholders. A February report by proxy firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services showed royalty paid by 31 leading Indian companies with foreign parents, including Maruti and Bosch, grew 9% in fiscal year 2019 to total $1.11 billion The United States will always be "faithful friends" to the people of India, the said on Wednesday, reiterating that America is eager to strengthen ties between the two countries. "We congratulate our friends in India who recently celebrated their Independence Day, the Security Council of the said in a tweet on the occasion of India's 74th Independence Day, which was recently celebrated across the US by people of Indian origin and friends of India. As President said during his visit to India in February, America is eager to strengthen ties between our two countries, and will always be faithful friends to the people of India, it said. The NSC tweet was re-tweeted by Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate Indian Caucus. Early this week, a senior administration official from the NSC said that the Trump Administration has elevated the US relationship with India and solidified its growing partnership in ways not seen in any other US administration. During President Trump's historic visit to India in February, he and Prime Minister elevated the relationship to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Prime Minister Modi was also one of the first foreign leaders to visit the after President Trump took office. The two leaders have also spoken side-by-side at two major events Howdy, Modi in September 2019 in Houston, Texas before a crowd of over 55,000 and again at Namaste, Trump in February 2020 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to address a crowd of 110,000. "These gatherings boosted our people-to-people ties and highlighted the warm personal relationship between the two leaders, said the official. According to the official, Trump has prioritised the US-India relationship and worked to expand all facets of the partnership over the last three and half years. "Given the two countries' democratic foundations and our mutual interests in rebuilding the global economy following COVID-19, diversifying global supply chains, and ensuring the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open, President Trump will continue to build this critical partnership in the years to come, the official. The Security Council of the White House on Wednesday also greeted Afghanistan and Pakistan on the occasion of their recent Independence Day. The owner of the controversial Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park once owned by Tiger King Joe Exotic closed permanently yesterday. Jeff Lowe said on Facebook yesterday that he has forfeited his USDA exhibitors license. Lowe said the park will, at least for the foreseeable future, be a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services. Lowe said that after he contacted the USDA about forfeiting his license, he was told his license was being suspended. The very agency that has given my facility five consecutive perfect inspections, has now folded to the pressures of PETA and continue to make false accusations against me. Suspiciously, less than 24 hours after I contacted the USDA to voluntarily forfeit my license, they notify me that they are suspending my license for 21 days for a litany of falsehoods. In the State of Oklahoma, exotic animal ownership is perfectly legal. Rest assured that all the animals will continue to have excellent care, and consequently will no longer be subject to USDA inspections or PETA spies. The zoo was previously owned by Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic. Maldonado-Passage is serving 22 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, who owns Big Cat Animal Rescue. He was convicted by a federal jury in 2019 of also falsifying animal records and violating the Endangered Species Act. MORE: Tiger King Joe Exotics zoo properties now owned by rival Carole Baskin. Carole Baskin answers the call.Netflix In June, a court gave ownership of the land the zoo sits on to Baskin. The judge gave the animal park 120 days to vacate the property and give control to Big Cat Rescue Group. Lowe had been ordered to run over veterinary records of lions after accusations that they were not being cared for properly, according to KFOR.com, Oklahoma News 4. The formal report, according to KFOR, included photos showing a lion with its ears covered in flies and another with the tips of its ears covered in blood. PETA officials said the photos showed that the lions were suffering from flystrike, a condition where flies, usually drawn to uncleared animal waste, bit other animals and laid eggs on them. Then, the hatched maggots eat away at the skin. The Netflix documentary Tiger King portrays the controversy surrounding Maldonado-Passage, Baskin and Lowe. Lowe said in his Facebook post, The Tiger King phenomenon has definitely changed our lives in many ways. It has brought us more attention than any human deserves, good and bad. It has, and probably will continue to make us a target of every nutjob and animal rights loon in the World, but we are prepared. It has also provided us with an unfathomable source of income. Income that will guarantee the long term care of our animals and allow us to be very selective going forward. READ MORE Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Mumbai, Aug 19 : Actress Kirti Kulhari is overjoyed to be back on sets to shoot. Kirti took to Instagram, where she shared a couple of boomerang videos. In one clip she is seen dancing with joy. In the other, the actress is seen sitting in front of a dressing table, with her team standing behind her and dancing. "These boomerang videos are an understatement to what I am feeling being back on a set to shoot... My team @anuradha.raman18193 #nasir... Let's do this #gratitude for everything that I have and everything that I don't," Kirti, who is seen in a white top and ripped jeans, wrote. However, she did not share what she was shooting for. Right now, the actress is geared up for the release of the psychological thriller, "The Girl On The Train", directed by Ribhu Dasgupta. The film is an official Hindi remake of the Hollywood movie "The Girl On The Train", which is based on Paula Hawkins' 2015 bestseller of the same name. The Bollywood version stars Parineeti Chopra, and also features Aditi Rao Hydari and Avinash Tiwary in pivotal roles. German researchers will give a group of people 1,080 per month as part of an experiment to see whether universal basic income could work. The study will see 120 people handed the cash with no means testing or limits on how it is spent, then monitored to see how their attitudes and behaviours change. Another group of 1,380 people will not be given any money but will still have their attitudes and behaviours monitored, to see how they compare. German researchers will give a group of 120 people 1,080 per month for three years as part of an experiment to see whether universal basic income could work (file image) The experiment, which is being funded by an economic institute called My Basic Income using donations, will run for three years. It comes as public support for basic income schemes rises across Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic. Spain has already announced plans to introduce a scheme to kick-start its economy recovery, while a recent survey showed 55 per cent of Germans back the idea. A similar survey in the UK back in May showed support at 51 per cent. Jurgen Schupp, who is running the study, told Der Spiegel: 'The debate about the basic income has so far been philosophical at best and a war of faith at worst. 'It is - on both sides - shaped by cliches: Opponents claim that with a basic income people would stop working in order to sit on the couch with fast food and streaming services. 'Proponents argue that people will continue to do fulfilling work, become more creative and charitable, and save democracy. 'Incidentally, these stereotypes also flow into economic simulations as assumptions about the supposed costs and benefits of a basic income. 'We can improve this if we replace these stereotypes with empirically proven knowledge and can therefore lead a more appropriate debate.' Scientists will monitor how attitudes and behaviour change among those handed the money, compared to a much larger control group who will be given nothing (file image) Schupp hopes to recruit 1million volunteers from across the economic and political spectrum for his study by November. From that group, 20,000 people will be chosen at random, and then whittled down to just 1,500 people who will take part in the experiment. Schupp said the idea is to include a wide range of people including those who oppose basic income in the study, to provide the best results. Choosing from such a large sample will allow researchers to find 'matching' people with similar attitudes and circumstances, then split them between the income group and the control group. This will provide the fairest possible results, Schupp insisted. Germany is far from the only country to trial universal basic income. Finland carried out the largest and most recent experiment, when ran between 2017 and 2018. The study gave 2,000 unemployed people a salary of 500 per month to see if it would help them find a job, and what effects it would have on their well being. While the mental health and general outlook of the group improved over the two years, there was little evidence that it helped people to find jobs. Canada ran a similar experiment in 1974 in the province of Manitoba called 'Mincome', which provided people with a minimum guaranteed income that was enough to push them over the poverty line. The amount they received varied depending on how much they earned through work, but they did not have to be in work to receive the payments. The experiment ran for four years and while no final report was published, subsequent studies found it reduced hospital visits and increased the chance of children finishing school. Other than Spain, Switzerland is the only country that has considered handing out basic income to every citizen, and held a referendum on the issue in 2016. The scheme would have provided every adult with 1,250 per month and children with 300 per month. It was defeated, with just 23 per cent support. After a crushing defeat in the UN Security Council, the United States is ready to urge the UN to reimpose sanctions against Iran through a rarely used diplomatic maneuver that is likely to further isolate the Trump administration and could cause a crisis of confidence in the UN, AP reported. Sanctions on Iran have been eased in line with the 2015 nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump abandoned two years ago. But last week, the United States failed in its attempt to indefinitely extend the international arms embargo on Iran and has now switched to a new diplomatic line of attack. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to New York on Thursday to notify the UN Security Council chairman that the United States is engaging a snapback mechanism in a resolution approving the nuclear deal. This allows participants to demand the restoration of all UN sanctions in a complex procedure that cannot be vetoed. The State Department is expected to announce plans for Pompeo's trip on Wednesday, but he and Trump have made no secret of their intention to use the snapback mechanism, especially since their attempt to extend the arms embargo suffered a disgraceful defeat last Friday. Just like extending the arms embargo, the administration's plan sharply opposes China and Russia, as well as other members of the Security Council, including US allies, Britain and France, and could set the stage for a battle over the legitimacy of UN policies. The United States claims that, as the original participant in the nuclear deal, it retains the right to demand the restoration of sanctions. Others, who continue to support the deal, say the US had no authority to do so when Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018, but it is unclear if they can stop the snapback mechanism from engaging with technical procedural means. The US argument is highly controversial. The Chinese, Russians, and Europeans ridicule him, and even the most influential Iranian hawks in the United States disagree with him. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said the US lost the power to use this mechanism when it pulled out of the deal, and that going forward is not worth the damage it could inflict on the US Security Council veto. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif praised Bolton this week. And former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the Obama administration's lead negotiator on the nuclear deal, said that it is impossible for someone who backs out the deal to have the right to snapback mechanism. Thus, the administrations persistence in moving forward has created grounds for controversy and the likelihood that the US appeal will simply be ignored by other UN members. This outcome could potentially call into question the Security Council's ability to enforce its own legally binding decisions. Pompeo is expected to provide evidence of material non-compliance with the nuclear deal. Iran has not denied violating some of the terms of the deal but says its actions were prompted by the US withdrawal and the Trump administration's re-imposition of sanctions. The Obama administration, which negotiated, intended the United States, or any other permanent councilor, to use its veto to block the continuation of the lifting of the sanctions. In theory, this will lead to the re-imposition of sanctions. But whether any other council member will support US action is an open question. Some UN experts believe that others will simply ignore the Americans, leaving the Trump administration in a position where it may be forced to submit its resolution to extend the sanctions easing with the sole purpose of vetoing it. Hitting out at critics of the guilty verdict against lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan in a contempt case, a group of former judges, bureaucrats and veterans have released a statement expressing concerns over negatively oriented articles that allege muzzling of dissent. The signatories to the statement objected to such statements by a group of persons who wrongly claim themselves to solely represent the civil society and use every opportunity to strike at the roots of Indian democratic institutions such as the Parliament, Election Commission of India, and now, the Supreme Court of India. In the statement, the signatories -- 15 judges, 46 bureaucrats, 20 veterans, and 22 thinkers -- said they had submitted a petition to the President of India on July 30 against stray groups with hidden political agendas, saying they cannot be allowed to denigrate the democratic institutions. Bhushan was held guilty of contempt of court last week over two tweets against the judiciary. Bhushan had defended his tweets, saying they were against the judges regarding their conduct in their personal capacity and they did not obstruct administration of justice. While referring to the tweets by Bhushan, the apex court had earlier 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 the public at large. In their statement, the signatories have also questioned Bhushans record, saying the lawyer has objectionally criticized the courts without any basis or evidence. This is also not the first occasion when he has made utterances which were inflammatory in nature. The statement comes a day after more than 3,000 eminent persons, including 12 former judges, signed a statement extending solidarity and support to Bhushan. They said Bhushans remarks in the tweets expressed concern over the functioning of the Supreme Court. The intention of that expression was to urge the apex court to restart physical hearings, particularly of matters of national importance. The intention was also to engage with the concerns articulated by many regarding the reluctance of the judiciary to play its constitutionally mandated role as a check on governmental excesses and violations of fundamental rights by the state, they said. 'In a serious fiscal situation like this, an ostrich-like focus on annual budgeting, event management and defensive rhetoric will only make matters worse,' warns Rathin Roy. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi chairs a meeting to review the national master plan to provide multi-modal connectivity to various economic zones, August 17, 2020. Photograph: PIB/PTI Photo This is the last column I will be writing as director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. I will focus on the gravity of India's fiscal situation, which I have been pointing out since 2016. The fragility of central government finances is partly legacy, part refusal to acknowledge and address the problem due to the lack of strategic vision and poor institutional capability. Government's fiscal space is unintentionally shrinking In 1950-1951, total expenditure of the Union government was just 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product. As the government took on more and more spending responsibility, this rose to 18 per cent in 1990-1991. Since then the ratio has been falling almost continuously and was 13.9 per cent in 2013-2014. During the term of this government, the ratio has further fallen to 12.2 per cent in 2019-2020. This has not happened by design. Economic liberalisation had only dismantled the licence permit Raj and relaxed import controls. There have, over the past 30 years, been no announcements that the central government was withdrawing from any area of the economy. On the contrary, flagship programmes and central schemes have expanded the footprint of the central government. Fiscal space has shrunk because the central government has consistently failed to raise its revenue-GDP ratio. This was 9.37 per cent in 1990-1991. It is 8.18 per cent now. The tax-GDP ratio peaked at 8.8 per cent in 2007-2008. It is now 7.82 per cent. The attempt to bolster this by disinvestment receipts has not worked, with government making tall claims year after year which are belied. In recent times, the situation has become so bad that the government has resorted to intra-public sector transactions to boost disinvestment receipts, dividends from the Reserve Bank of India have become a major source of revenue receipts, states have been cheated of their legitimate revenue shares by a resort to cesses, and off-budget transactions have soared. Ad hoc measures to make ends meet To maintain some fiscal control, this has meant that the central government in a typical year spends less than what it planned in the budget. Clearly, it cannot cut committed expenditures like interest on debt, wages and salaries. It cuts operational expenditures and capital expenditures. As a consequence, committed expenditures now account for 35 per cent of total expenditure. Since revenue receipts are so poor, the government has been consistently borrowing to finance its current (revenue) expenditure. 4.5 per cent of total borrowing was used to finance current expenditure in 1980-1981, rising to 69 per cent in recent years. Hence, its claims to be spending to boost capital expenditure have been rhetoric, not reality, for over 10 years, resulting in off-budget experimentations, which have poor results and saddle the financial system with non-performing assets. Neglect of this dire fiscal situation, and an exclusive (but ultimately unsuccessful) focus on containing the fiscal deficit has meant that the government has not come clean about its inability to deliver on its expenditure commitments. The Budget speeches are full of extravagant rhetoric regarding public spending while in practice, it shrinks every year. The quality of limited spending scattered over too many areas is bound to worsen, as it has, forcing the government to abandon, except in rhetoric, any development mandate and focus purely on compensatory direct transfers. Fiscal credibility has diminished to a point where grandiose announcements are forgotten as soon as they are made, and the entire focus is on somehow making ends meet. Fiscal situation is a hallmark of a weak central government The solution is obvious: Acknowledge the problem and develop a medium-term strategic framework to address it. Unfortunately, this requires a degree of institutional cohesion that is currently absent. The ministry of finance is organised as an administrative ministry, focused on annual budgeting and encumbered, over time, with hastily created departments like the department of investment and public asset management and department of financial services. It lacks the bandwidth and the institutional competence to move to a medium-term fiscal framework. Unlike home, defence and external affairs, finance has no single executive head -- the finance secretary is just the senior most secretary, and has no authority to execute coordinated action. Policy-making, implementation and administration are not clearly demarcated activities. This has led to a focus on theatrics typical of a weak government. 'Austerity measures' are announced and soon forgotten. There is no accountability for continued failure to collect revenues, nor a consistent policy to reverse this trend. Rather than fiscal-monetary coordination, the RBI dividend becomes the focus of discussion. I have repeatedly outlined, in my columns, and through government channels, the strategic and detailed steps that need to be taken for the government to regain control over its fiscal policy. My pleas have been ignored, but I must reiterate them one final time and hope they will not be treated like the proverbial messenger bearing bad news. In a serious fiscal situation like this, an ostrich-like focus on annual budgeting, event management and defensive rhetoric will only make matters worse. A medium-term fiscal framework with realistic revenue projections, binding expenditure targets, and clearly defined objectives for structural change is urgently required. Fiscal helplessness and floundering in the response to the Covid crisis should have held a mirror to this. Institutional reforms, including a fiscal council, and a fit for purpose finance ministry architecture, can no longer be postponed. I hope the political energy to lead, complete, and finish this important task will be forthcoming. It is not too late, but it soon will be. While more complex analytically, one of the most significant developments in recent years is the decline of what political professionals call cross-pressured voters." Christopher Warshaw, a political scientist at George Washington University, described this phenomenon in an email: At the mass level, people in the two parties have become much more sorted ideologically during this time period. For instance, in the 1980s, there were many pro-life Democrats and pro-choice Republicans, whereas today the vast majority of pro-choice people are Democrats and pro-life people are Republicans. Along similar lines, Warshaw wrote, People are much more one-dimensional in their preferences today. That is, there used to be many people that were liberals on economic issues and conservatives on cultural issues such as abortion or race (or vice versa). But today most people have views that largely fall upon a single ideological/partisan continuum. So if youre liberal on cultural/social issues youre probably also liberal on most economic issues. Warshaw, writing with Devin Caughey and James Dunham, political scientists at M.I.T., describe what they call the ideological nationalization of politics. They found that in the 1950s, the economic conservatism of voters and elected officials was unrelated to their racial and social conservatism. Among Senators, these three domains had become roughly equally correlated by 1970 and, moving more slowly, by the 2000s, mass conservatism was just as highly correlated. In other words, conservatism and liberalism both became one dimensional consistent across economics, race and sociocultural issues: By centurys end, conservatism at both levels had become highly correlated across domains. The primary difference between elite and mass trends is that ideological conflict collapsed to one dimension earlier in the Senate than in the public. Kitschelt, whom I cited above, described this trend in different terms: Political scientists like to compare the effect of mutually reinforcing and crosscutting divides in a polity, with the typical hypothesis being that crosscutting divides contain and dampen societal conflict, while mutually reinforcing divides deepen it. In recent years, Kitschelt continued, political divisions in the United States became progressively less crosscutting than reinforcing and have now configured the country into two warlike camps, with deep mutual hatred and anger, more so than at any time since the Civil War. In one camp, he wrote are the highly educated; postindustrial economic sectors; nonreligious/atheist or non-Christian religion; almost all ethnic minorities; sympathy with non-heterosexual orientations; the more urban than rural; the distinctively younger; and the slightly more female, particularly if single. In the opposing camp are the less educated; industrial and agro-/extractive industries economic sectors; evangelical Christians; European stock whites; heterosexuals; the more rural than urban; the distinctively older; the slightly more male, particularly if married. While left and right have multiple concerns, among the most prominent of these is race and its first cousin immigration, and both of these concerns have become more and more central to partisan politics. Democrats twice nominated and the nation elected Barack Obama as its first Black president. On Wednesday night, the party will nominate Kamala Harris for vice president, the first woman of color Indian-American and African-American on a national party ticket. As never before, Democratic racial liberalism is challenging Republican racial conservatism. The election will not bring this conflict to an end, but the outcome will determine whether the nation moves forward or backward in the struggle to realize the promise of full equality that has been central to the country since its founding. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here's our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Every investor in Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE:FENG) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. Companies that used to be publicly owned tend to have lower insider ownership. Phoenix New Media is a smaller company with a market capitalization of US$130m, 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 seems that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Phoenix New Media. Check out our latest analysis for Phoenix New Media What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Phoenix New Media? Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index. Phoenix New Media 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 Phoenix New Media's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters. Phoenix New Media is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) Limited with 54% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.4% and 4.5% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Shuang Liu directly holds 2.9% of the total shares outstanding. Story continues Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time. Insider Ownership Of Phoenix New Media 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. 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. We can see that insiders own shares in Phoenix New Media Limited. It has a market capitalization of just US$130m, and insiders have US$3.8m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling. General Public Ownership With a 28% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over Phoenix New Media. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Public Company Ownership We can see that public companies hold 54% of the Phoenix New Media shares on issue. It's hard to say for sure but this suggests they have entwined business interests. This might be a strategic stake, so it's worth watching this space for changes in ownership. 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 Phoenix New Media that you should be aware of. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. 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. HACKENSACK, N.J., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Upfield North America today announced the recent appointments of Andy Reichgut as General Manager of the Violife vegan cheese business; Dan Bajor as President, Upfield Canada; and, Jim Breach as Chief Operating Officer, Upfield U.S. to lead key areas of growth for the business. "I couldn't be more thrilled to have seasoned leaders like Andy, Dan and Jim to help accelerate Upfield's growth as the world's leading producer of plant-based products and expert in plant-based nutrition and and to bring our plant-based spreads, plant butter and vegan cheeses to more consumers," said Tim Brown, CEO and President, the Americas, Upfield. "Nowhere is the opportunity to be an integral part of the plant-based food movement more at hand than in the U.S. and Canada, where more consumers are choosing better-for-you products that are not made from animal ingredients, that taste great, and have less of an environmental impact." Andy Reichgut is responsible for building Upfield's dairy-free cheese business in the U.S. retail and food service channels through its portfolio of Violife 100% vegan cheese products. The plantbased cheese market in the U.S. grew by 10.4% in 2019* and has accelerated to 35.5% by July 2020**, according to SPINS data. Violife is transforming the plant-based cheese category with high performing, tasty plant-based products that range from traditional sliced and shredded products to blocks of Parmesan, Feta and Mature Cheddar flavors, and cream cheeses. Violife products are free from dairy, lactose, GMO, gluten, nuts, soy, and preservatives. Andy joined Upfield from Veggies Made Great, bringing over twenty years of CPG brand management experience from Mars, Reckitt Benckiser, and Pinnacle Foods. Dan Bajor is responsible for delivering continued growth in the Canadian market with a product portfolio that includes the iconic Becel brand, which most recently launched Becel Plant-Based Bricks, and Violife. Dan has served as President of Sales in Canada since Upfield was first created in 2018 and has acted as the interim business head since that time. Dan brings sales and marketing, and operational experience from Sun Products and Unilever. Jim Breach takes on the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the U.S. market, adding to his current responsibilities as President of North American Sales. Jim will be responsible for leading an aligned end-to-end approach for operations supporting the retail and food service channels, providing critical line-of-sight and disciplined coordination across the business to achieve operational excellence and meet and surpass customer demands. Jim joined Upfield from a long career at Unilever. These appointments mark another milestone for Upfield as the leading producer of plant-based spreads and margarines and plant butter, as a prominent presence in growing vegan cheese category, and as a growth company that is introducing natural, delicious new plant-based products in the United States and Canada. *based on 52-weeks data, week end 7.14.19; **based on 52 weeks data, week end 7.12.20 About Upfield At Upfield, we make people healthier and happier with great tasting, plant-based nutrition products that are better for the planet. Upfield is the leading producer of plant-based spreads in the U.S., with iconic brands such as Country Crock, Country Crock Plant Butter, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Flora, and Imperial; and plant-based margarines n Canada with brands such as Becel, Becel Plant Based Bricks, and Imperial, and; is now introducing its vegan cheese, Violife 100% vegan following its acquisition of Arivia earlier in 2020. The company is leading in delivering better-for-you products that are great tasting and have superior quality helping it to create a "Better Plant-based Future." For more information, visit www.Upfield.com. SOURCE Upfield Related Links http://www.Upfield.com CalPERS has not covered itself with glory in how it handled oversight of its former Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng, both while he was in office and during his ugly exit. As well discuss, even the brief visible portion of the Monday emergency board meeting triggered by Mengs departure showed Board President Henry Jones ham-fisted railroading of fellow board member questions.1 Based on that snippet, as well as long-visible bad governance habits, it is reasonable to assume that staffs disclosure to the board over laffaire Meng, even in closed session, was no more than a modified limited hangout. That means that CalPERS staff is implicating itself in Mengs questionable conduct by proceeding with transactions that were tainted by his conflicts of interest. We know of at least one: a $500 million investment in a Carlyle vehicle that was initiated on Mengs watch and is still in the pipeline. At a minimum, the board should have been informed about this thorny issue and how CalPERS intends to handle it. We asked CalPERS to comment on what it planned to do about pending transactions started under Mengs supervision with the fund managers in which Meng held stakes (Blackstone, Carlyle, and an Ares credit fund). We received no response. CalPERS has further damaged its flagging credibility via its poor responses and inept messaging. The big bomb was Mengs resignation with immediate effect. No one with large organization experience buys CalPERS and Mengs implausible spin that Meng left suddenly for health reasons. Employees in good standing dont depart that way; they give notice. CEO Marcie Frost, who had been Human Resource Director during her tenure at Washington Retirement Systems, should have known full well the signal she was sending by having Meng resign on the spot, that Meng was badly damaged goods.2 But there were plenty of other screw-ups. A partial list: Pretending CalPERS didnt know Meng had private equity conflicts of interest until April 2020. Meng disclosed those holdings in January 2019. CalPERS should have had Mengs trading records and known he had not sold them Not encouraging Meng to amend his Form 700 filing in April 2020 when which would have lessened the damage, especially since CalPERS did not post the From 700 until mid-June. An amended From 700 would have been an acknowledgement of Mengs error and looked much less like a whitewash First taking the posture that Mengs conduct was a personnel matter, then aggressively hawking the poor Ben account with personal details. As one beneficiary said, So much for Bens privacy but it did protect the privacy of others engaged in an apparent cover-up. Lying to the press by trying to pretend that the Fair Political Practices complaint filed the day after our story broke came from CalPERS. The document was an anonymous and bare-bones filing. A second Fair Political Practices complaint similarly looks to have come from the public; it referenced a Financial Times story which credited Naked Capitalism as the source What little the public saw of the emergency board meeting yesterday suggested it was part of the continuing concealment. Weve embedded the rush transcript generated by WebEx at the end of this post. While still in open session, Margaret Brown asked when the public would be allowed to comment, which was a reasonable surmise since the meeting notice provided a call-in number. General Counsel Matt Jacobs invoked a section of the Government Code that allowed the board to skip comments because it was a closed session, ignoring that they were in the midst of an open session. Brown cited two other sections of the Government Code which she argued pointed to a different conclusion.3 It was obvious that Jacobs didnt consult the sections in question to make sure he hadnt missed anything, and Jones cut Brown off. Controller Betty Yee then asked when there would be a board meeting to address the issues that shed repeatedly asked to be addressed (both in letters to Jones and in the press) about the adequacy of CalPERS conflict of interest policies and the CEOs oversight.4 Yee pointed out that the meeting as noticed didnt address her issues. Jones then took the remarkable position that discussing the scheduling of matters that clearly belonged in open session be conducted in closed session. In other words, Jones on the record stated that he planned to have the board immediately engage in a flagrant Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act violation. That probable Bagley-Keene violation comes in addition to CalPERS making statements that amounted to an admission that the emergency closed session was unlawful. At a public meeting the Thursday before the emergency board session, Deputy Executive Officer Brad Pacheco said the board would discuss only Mengs departure. Pachecos statement shows a willful intent to deprive the public of information which it is legally entitled. Meng resigned with immediate effect 12 days before the August 17 meeting. He was no longer a public employee. The personnel exemption is designed to protect the privacy of employees, not employers. In addition, if the board really did take up a bona fide personnel issue, the employee would have the right of appeal to the State Personnel Board. Shawnda Westly, who is an ex officio member as the State Personnel Board representative, would have had an obligation to recuse. Did that occur? As a fiduciary, Jones has a duty of inquiry into matters that affect the performance and reputation of the fund. A sound fiduciary should welcome open and public examination of these issues, and only enter closed session if the investigation merits litigation or the discipline of an employee. As one California lawyer opined, Jones misconduct is outrageous. Jones then shut Yee down. He also set the trap that if Yee discussed those issues in closed session, any later public discussion of them would be a breach of closed session. We dont know if Yees concerns were in fact discussed. However, Frosts post-meeting announcement that At next months meeting, we will bring to the board specific policy options for their considerations. certainly suggests they were.5 As many observers, including members of the press, told me, that if CalPERS conducted this meeting in secret and did not announce that Marcie Frost was being put on administrative leave while an independent investigation was being launched, then it was obvious that a cover-up was underway. That begs the question of what additional CalPERS dirty laundry is attempting to block from being exposed. We have the pending Carlyle transaction. What else is lurking? _____ 1 The board set themselves up for that by adopting Rosenbergs Rules of Order, in place of Roberts Rules of Order. Rosenbergs Rules gives a great deal of power to the chair. 2 It is remotely possible that Meng thought he was burning CalPERS, but if so, this would be yet another of his many poor calls. The immediate departure wrecked any re-employment opportunities. By contrast, if hed left with notice, he could easily have presented himself as victim of The Mess CalPERS Has Become and would have gotten a sympathetic hearing in many quarters. 3 This is not a cut and dried matter. One can argue that even the brief open session preliminary to the closed session was ripe for comment. In addition, as discussed in the post, CalPERS PR chief Brad Pacheco had told stakeholders that the closed session was to discuss the apparent Meng defenestration. That means the session was improperly noticed (Meng as an ex employee is not entitled to personnel protections) unless Meng has threatened litigation (the provision to allow discussion of pending litigation in closed session is narrow and is limited to actual pending litigation, not theoretically possible litigation). 4 From Yees statement: I am incredibly disappointed to hear about the former CIOs lapse in both judgment and adherence to standard conflict-of-interest policies. I have called for an emergency board meeting to discuss this situation, review these policies, the CEOs oversight and implementation of these policies, and any additional safeguards necessary to ensure this does not happen again. 5 It is possible that the staff merely gave the board a pat on the head and told them the staff would deign to consider Yees issues next month, with the further slap that it would be part of a regular meeting, and not addressed on an urgent basis as Yee had insisted. The zoo featured in the Netflix phenomenon Tiger King closed permanently to the public on Tuesday after its federal animal exhibition license was suspended. The current owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, Jeffrey Lowe, announced the closure in a Facebook post, blaming the pressures of animal rights charity PETA and its spies. Lowe, who also starred in the series, took over the park after its original owner, Joe Exotic, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for hiring a hitman to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, as well as numerous animal abuse charges. The closure of Greater Wynnewood comes just over two months after a federal judge ordered the zoo be handed over to Baskin as part of a ruling in a $1 million trademark dispute. That ruling gave Lowe and other park operators 120 days to vacate the premises and remove all of his animals. Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma will close its doors to the public immediately, a Tuesday statement read Owner Jeff Lowe (above), who starred in Tiger King, blamed PETA 'spies' for the closure The Tiger King phenomenon has definitely change our lives in many way, Lowes statement read. It has brought us more attention than any human deserves, good and bad. It has, and probably will continue to make us a target of every nutjob and animal rights loon in the world, but we are prepared. It has also provided us with an unfathomable source of income. Income that will guarantee the long term care of our animals and allow us to be very selective going forward. The report of a USDA inspection at Wynnwood found multiple animal welfare violations including several repeat violations. Among the encroachments, inspectors found that the only refrigerated storage area for animal food was a broken refrigerator truck that zoo officials claimed had recently been fixed. The inspectors asked for the invoices for the repairs and were handed an invoice for a tractor repair, the report says. Lowe claimed the USDA was accusing him of a litany of falsehoods. He said the agency suspended his license allowing him to buy and sell animals - the day after he contacted them, expressing his desire to suspend it. The controversial figure blamed animal rights groups for the decision, citing their incessant harassment of the USDA. The very agency that has given my facility five consecutive perfect inspections, has now folded to the pressures of PETA and continue to make false accusations against me, Lowe continued. The report of a USDA inspection at Wynnwood found multiple animal welfare violations including several repeat violations. So, thanks to all the people who have visited the Wynnewood Zoo over the years!' Lowe wrote. 'We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts' While the public will no long be able to access the privately owned zoo, Lowe told fans to be rest assured that all the animals will continue to have excellent care and the park will continue to operate, in a new capacity. Our new park will, at least for the foreseeable future, be a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services, Lowe said. This was in fact a decision that we made more than a month ago and was the huge news that we spoke about on Facebook a couple weeks ago.' It was reported this week that Netflix had allegedly secured the rights to a second season of Tiger King. Thanks to the show's popularity, there are also a number of spin-offs on the way, including an eight-part series staring Nicolas Cage. Lowe added that closing the park will also mean the animals are no longer subject to USDA inspections or PETA spies. So, thanks to all the people who have visited the Wynnewood Zoo over the years!' he continued. 'We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Lowe, who also starred in the series, took over the park after its original owner, Joe Exotic (right), was sentenced to 22 years in prison for hiring a hitman to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, as well as numerous animal abuse charges While the public will no long be able to access the privately owned zoo, Lowe told fans to be rest assured that all the animals will continue to have excellent care and the park will continue to operate, in a new capacity Lowe added that closing the park will also mean the animals are no longer subject to USDA inspections or PETA spies Tiger King, which became a huge hit on Netflix at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March, tells of Joe Exotic, a flamboyant polygamist owner of a private zoo in Oklahoma and his rivalry with self-proclaimed animal activist Carole Baskin. Their feud even extended to Exotic real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage using logos for his park that resembled those owned by Baskin and her Big Cat Rescue company. Baskin sued Exotic for trademark infringement in 2011. The case ended two years later with the latter being ordered to pay Big Cat Rescue $1 million. In 2016, Big Cat Rescue sued Exotic's mother Shirley Schreibvogel, claiming he had fraudulently transferred his zoo to her to avoid paying Baskin and other creditors. US District Judge Scott L Palk ultimately found the transfer had been made to remove [the zoo] from the reach of Big Cat Rescue, court documents show. Joe Exotic was arrested in 2018 and convicted the following year on 17 animal abuse charges and two murder for hire counts, regarding a hit he took out on Carole Baskin (right) Tensions between the pair continued to escalate. Maldonado-Passage was arrested in 2019 and convicted of 17 animal abuse charges and two counts of murder for hire. He was found guilty by a federal jury of hiring one of his associates at the cost of $3,000 to travel to Florida to kill his big cat rival, Baskin in November 2017. Exotic promised to pay the man more after she was dead. When the associate failed to go through with the act, Exotic met with another potential assassin the following month who turned out to be an under FBI agent. While Exotic continues to protest his innocence, during the Netflix documentary series, the 57-year-old was heard making repeated threats to kill Baskin during his daily web broadcast, in which he coined the phrase 'That b**** Carole Baskin.' Exotic also made a number of accusations that Baskin killed her ex-husband, Don Lewis, who vanished without a trace in August 1997. Exotic claimed that Baskin had murdered Lewis and fed him to her tigers - an accusation she denies. The documentary series renewed interest in the cold case, but it is yet to be formally reopened by investigators. Lewis has never been found, nor has any evidence to suggest he was murdered, though authorities have previously stated they dont believe he disappeared on his own volition. Exotic also made a number of accusations that Baskin killed her ex-husband, Don Lewis, who vanished without a trace in August 1997. Exotic claimed that Baskin had murdered Lewis and fed him to her tigers - an accusation she denies However, two handwriting experts now believe Lewis signatures on both of the documents were actually forgeries Dailymail.com reported back in May that shortly after his disappearance, Baskin - his wife at the time and the last known person to see him alive produced Lewis' will and his power of attorney that gave her complete control of his $5 million estate. But one of Lewis' ex-attorneys, Joseph Fritz, said he now believes his client's signature on both of the documents are actually forgeries. DailyMail.com was told 'Sorry no comment' when approaching Carole Baskin with questions regarding the claims. Baskin is now facing a lawsuit from Lewis' surviving family members, who are also offering $100k reward for any information about what happened to him. They say they hope the lawsuit forces Baskin to give evidence on the record about what happened to Lewis. Lewis disappeared a day before a scheduled trip to Costa Rica. Deputies found his van abandoned at a nearby airport. Police found no signs of a struggle or blood inside nor did they find proof that Lewis ever left the country. Lewis was pronounced legally dead in 2002. In 2004, Baskin refused to take a polygraph test related to the investigation on the advice of her attorney. The disappearance of Lewis became a key narrative thread in Tiger King. Baskin has since slammed the show as 'salacious and sensational', and riddled with 'unsavory lies'. The Big Cat Rescue owner is reportedly requesting a fee in excess of $1 million to appear in the second season of the show. You had a young Black woman who was doing everything she could do for her community, living the quote-unquote right way, and she was still murdered by police who were supposed to be keeping her safe, said Keturah Herron, a policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, who has helped devise a ban on no-knock warrants in Louisville. If Breonna Taylor could be killed and murdered by police in her home, people are like, Holy sh--, that could have been me. (Newser) Cuba Gooding Jr.'s sexual abuse scandal continues to grow. The 51-year-old actor has now been accused of rape, Rolling Stone reports. The allegations come in a new civil lawsuit filed against him Tuesday in New York. He was already facing criminal charges of groping three women, but at least 22 total have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. The anonymous woman who filed the new lawsuit says she met Gooding at a Greenwich Village lounge in 2013 and he invited her and a friend to have drinks at his hotel. Upon arrival there, she says, he took her up to his room so he could change, and as he got undressed, she tried to leave. She says he blocked her from doing so, then raped her twice as she begged him to stop. story continues below "We never received the complaint, but the allegations are completely false and perjurious, Gooding's lawyer tells Variety. The contentions that he acted inappropriately in the complaint are completely inappropriate and untruthful. The Daily Beast has a weird tidbit from the suit: The woman says Gooding put on Mumford & Sons music before raping her. She says she was finally able to leave after Gooding fell asleep, per TMZ. "Clearly, this is a fabricated accusation that was never reported to the policeand forms no basis for any claim at this point with 7 years having passed," the attorney adds to the gossip site. (Read more Cuba Gooding Jr. stories.) With its great potential in IT, Vietnam as ASEAN chair has been making efforts together with other member states in boosting the application of high technologies to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is sweeping regionwide. Vietnam is joining hands with regional nations in fostering digital solutions to turn Southeast Asia into an e-region. Photo: Le Toan As the entire ASEAN region is seriously hit by the expanding health crisis, member states are discussing possibilities for the regional economy to bounce back strongly, in order to help enterprises and individuals stay afloat. One of the best solutions is the boosted application of digital technologies and usage of new achievements of Industry 4.0, which according to experts, refers to a set of highly disruptive technologies such as AI, robotics, blockchain, and 3D printing all of which are transforming social, economic, and political systems while placing pressure on leaders and policymakers to respond. Cooperation in digital transformation and digital economy development are not only discussed now, but also at the coming 37th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam later this year, said an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With its great potential in IT, Vietnam is sharing experiences and also learning lessons from other regional nations to develop itself into a veritable digital economy and the ASEAN into a big digital economy. This will help the ASEAN address emerging challenges. For example, Vietnam is seeking experience from Indonesia in digitalisation and how to enact relevant policies. In 2017, Indonesia began to embrace Industry 4.0 in order to turn itself into one of the 10 biggest economies globally by 2030. Its government has selected five key sectors for the initial adoption of Industry 4.0: food and beverages; textiles and clothing, automotives, chemicals, and electronics. These sectors would need a very high digitalisation level in the future, and they are the biggest contributors of Indonesias economy, said Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Ibnu Hadi. Currently Southeast Asia has 10 unicorns with over US$1 billion in valuation each Gojek, Tokopedia, Traveloka, Bukalapak, Lazada, Revolution Precrafted, Grab, Sea (Garena), Razer, and VNG. However, four of which come from Indonesia, including ride-hailing company Gojek, online travel agent Traveloka, e-commerce platform Tokopedia, and e-commerce platform Bukalapak. Vietnam has only one, namely game developer VNG. Winning global applause Vietnams efforts to develop a pro-business e-government and a digital economy have received applause from the international community, especially amid a surge in the pandemic hurting economic growth. Under the UNs Department of Economic and Social Affairs newly-launched hallmark E-government Survey 2020, Vietnam has climbed two places to rank 86th out of 193 countries. With this ranking, Vietnam has maintained its record of consecutive increases since 2014, climbing from 99 to 86 in the process. Harvesting 0.6667 points in the surveys E-Government Development Index (EGDI), Vietnam is among the e-government developing countries with a high index, a score which is higher than the global EGDI average of 0.5988 points, the Asian average of 0.6373 points, and the Southeast Asian average of 0.6321 points. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam has successfully maintained the same position as in 2018, ranking sixth among 11 countries, behind Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, and the Philippines. Vietnams tax authority has deployed e-filing, e-payment, and e-customs initiatives that have helped to improve tax collection and management and have lowered taxpayers compliance costs, the surveys report cited. Commenting on Vietnams efforts to develop a digital economy amid the trend in the region, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said, Vietnam is striving for sustainable growth on the basis of improving the quality of growth and taking advantage of the opportunities of the Industry 4.0 to raise its labour productivity and competitiveness to move up the ladder in the global value chain. In Vietnam, about 60% of the 96 million population are under 35 years of age. They have quick access to new technology and about 55 per cent of the population use the internet, he added. According to Tran Dinh Thien, former head of the Vietnam Economics Research Institute, this potential is quite favourable for Vietnam to build a digital economy successfully and even take the lead in the ASEANs digital development. Vietnam has many opportunities in Industry 4.0. However, the problem now is how to apply lessons from regions such as Indonesia and Singapore to Vietnam and how to integrate data among ministries, agencies, sectors, and individuals into one integrated and shared system, Thien said. Fostering digitalisation According to the World Economic Forum, the ASEAN is the fastest-growing internet market in the world. With 125,000 new users accessing the internet every day, the ASEAN digital economy is projected to grow significantly, adding an estimated $1 trillion to regional GDP over the next 10 years. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the opportunities induced by Industry 4.0 are indeed enormous, and not only Vietnam but also other nations in the region must seize all these opportunities. The startup atmosphere is truly permeating throughout the ASEAN, he said at a meeting with ASEAN leaders. He suggested a number of priorities for ASEAN nations to grab opportunities from Industry 4.0. The priorities include the regional harmonisation of e-platforms on connectivity in finance, banking, market, communications, and logistics. I suggest the establishment of a mechanism on harmonising the business climate, legal system, and regulations among ASEAN member states. This will help regional firms to improve their global competitiveness. The ASEAN Single Window a regional initiative that connects and integrates the National Single Window of ASEAN member states is a good example, PM Phuc said. Envisioning a future defined by Industry 4.0, Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung also underlined the need of ASEAN nations for smart governance and the willingness of governments, businesses, and societies to collectively adapt to rapid technological change. Technology can change very fast but the people and governments cannot change so fast and this will be our biggest challenge. So what do we need to do? he said. We have to train people so they are adept at change, not only technological training, but soft skills too. I think Industry 4.0 is more about a mindset revolution. The ASEAN bloc is now jointly boosting the implementation of some new initiatives that Vietnam advanced two years ago in Hanoi, including a pan-ASEAN roaming charge for mobile phones initiative, a cybersecurity intelligence cooperation initiative, and an initiative on cooperating in training high-quality IT human resources. Vietnam also proposed the establishment and connectivity of innovative incubators. In the Industry 4.0 context, many ASEAN nations have their own national-level innovation hubs and incubators. And I suggest the construction of a framework on connecting these incubators into a regional-level incubator, PM Phuc stated. Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong also said that Industry 4.0 is opening new prospects to all regional nations which should grab them through proper solutions. Industry 4.0 is upon us. The global economy is being transformed by new and far-reaching breakthroughs in technologies, he said. Here in the ASEAN, member states are in a good position to take advantage of the new opportunities that Industry 4.0 can bring. Pham Binh Minh - Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs When the ASEAN was established 53 years ago, few could have imagined the success of the bloc today. Over the past half-century, the ASEAN has time and again shown the strength of unity and resilience. An ASEAN embracing 10 brotherly nations has turned Southeast Asia from a land of discord to a land of concord, from confrontation to cooperation, and from poverty to dynamic development. Today, the ASEAN Community is a big family of 650 million people with a combined GDP of $3 trillion. Translating its vision into actions, the ASEAN has been promoting both the interest of our peoples and peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. The ASEAN is now at a critical juncture. The new dynamism in our geostrategic landscape, emerging regional and global issues require the ASEAN to be ever more cohesive and responsive. Shoulder to shoulder, we can rise above any challenge and move the ASEAN forward. Therefore, we should redouble our efforts to strengthen our community, while proactively and effectively promoting our ties with partners. We should also ensure an ASEAN-centred regional architecture that is open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Vietnams participation in the ASEAN. Our commitment and experience in the past 25 years enable us to make more proactive contributions. Under Vietnams chairmanship this year, a cohesive and responsive ASEAN has taken well-coordinated measures to protect the health of our peoples and revive our economies. The ASEAN has led regional efforts in fighting the pandemic, innovated our operations, and further deepened our external relations. With the Think Community, Act Community approach, Vietnam will continue to work closely with our neighbours and friends, to build a strong and united ASEAN. VIR Thanh Dat Vietnam has comparative advantages in digital transformation Vietnam has great potential, which will help digital transformation proceed quickly and with fewer risks than many other countries. They have been going strong since 2015. But when Holland Taylor first met Sarah Paulson, 45, in 2005 there weren't immediate fireworks, she told People on Wednesday. The 77-year-old actress recalled that when meeting at a dinner party, ten years before starting their romance, she was initially 'irritated' by the American Horror Story actress. Slow start: Holland Taylor recalled that when first meeting her now partner Sarah Paulson at a dinner party in 2005 she was initially 'irritated' by the American Horror Story actress, she told People on Wednesday 'I already knew a lot about her because Id seen her in a bunch of things,' Taylor said. 'She was one of those up-and-coming stars who was a real head-turner.' Adding: 'Her talent was just very striking, and she was so fabulous-looking. Then I was seated next to her.' The Legally Blonde actress recalled being 'irritated' with Paulson after being seated next to each other and wondering if they would have anything in common. 'I remember thinking, "Here is this irritating girl, this irritating cooly-cool girl. A young star whos such a big deal, whos just going to start spouting off everything she knows about everything, like all young people do,"' she said. First impression: 'I remember thinking, "Here is this irritating girl, this irritating cooly-cool girl. A young star whos such a big deal, whos just going to start spouting off everything she knows about everything, like all young people do,"' she said (Taylor in 2019) While their 33 year age difference hasn't stopped their romance, back in 2005, Taylor saw it as a roadblock even to conversation. 'Im just this old person and well have nothing to say to each other,' she said and remembered even asking Paulson, who was then 31, 'Youre how old?' Taylor added: 'Because it was, like, she was so much younger than I was. I thought wed have nothing in common.' Ten years later, Paulson responded to one of her tweets and the two started chatting, having been together ever since. Early thoughts: 'Im just this old person and well have nothing to say to each other,' she said and remembered even asking Paulson, who was then 31, 'Youre how old?' Common ground: Taylor added: 'Because it was, like, she was so much younger than I was. I thought wed have nothing in common' (Paulson and Taylor in 2018) 'Of course, the fact is you dont have to have anything in common with a person to fall in love with them,' Taylor now says. 'Those are not the things that matter.' Though the two may still have their differences she said it hasn't stopped them from loving each other. 'Its just something that happens, even when people who are very opposite and even though they dont agree with each other on a lot of things, can still love each other,' she added. 'What makes love happen between people is completely ineffable. You can never predict it, but it cant be denied.' They have been spending even more time together as the have been isolating with each other amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Years together: The couple got together in 2015, ten years after first meeting, and have been spending plenty of time together during the pandemic (pictured in February 2020) Birthday baby! While they have been staying at home, the couple has ventured out on a few socially distanced outings, most recently for Sandra Bullock's birthday with Jennifer Aniston , Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox 'Of course, Sarah and I didnt need to be brought closer together. We have a very tight, close relationship within each others thoughts,' Taylor said. We share everything thats going on.' Both actresses are used to working and traveling consistently so the halting of Hollywood productions has caused them to slow down. 'Its been wild to be still for a while, we are fortunate,' Taylor, who most recently starred in Netflix's To All The Boys I've Loved Before sequel this year, said. 'Both of us normally have to travel for work, have constantly been filming, always leaving a bag halfway packed in the foyer at our house.' While they have been staying at home, the couple has ventured out on a few socially distanced outings, most recently for Sandra Bullock's birthday. 'We all stayed six feet apart outside and just shared our gratitude at all we have and that we got to see each other,' she said. 'Sandy Bullock is an extraordinary person. She is a very, very, big person, a very serious-minded person. And also as fun as a basket full of puppies when she wants to be.' By PTI MUMBAI: A couple were arrested here on Wednesday hours after they allegedly abducted the one-year-old daughter of their friend. The accused were identified as Reshma Mistri (32) and her husband Ibrahim Mistri (35). According to the police, the couple abducted the child as they had no child of their own. On Wednesday morning, the accused took the toddler and her mother, resident of Taloja in Navi Mumbai, to Kurla on the pretext of buying the child a dress, said Dattatray Shinde, senior inspector of Kurla police station. After buying the girl a dress, Ibrahim took the child away saying he would buy her chocolates. As the two did not return, Reshma too left the girl's mother, asking her to wait at the spot. She also took away the woman's mobile phone. The woman became frantic when the couple did not return. She then approached the Kurla police station, the official said. "We tracked down the accused to Malwani area and rescued the child. The couple were arrested under the Indian Penal Code sections 363 (kidnapping) and 406 (criminal breach of trust)," Shinde said. You could be forgiven if, until this week, you'd never heard of the word 'algorithm'. As some wag suggested, anyone who can both spell the word and come up with a concise definition deserves an A grade in mathematics for that alone. But now we all have a good idea of what algorithms are: computer programs which process data by subjecting it to a pre-set series of calculations. What is more, we know their shortcomings. The Government's decision to abandon the algorithm devised by exams regulator Ofqual and instead allow pupils to keep the A-level grades predicted by their teachers has exposed everything that is wrong with our growing reliance on computers making decisions for us. Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College claimed that Britain would suffer 250,000 deaths from the disease if ministers kept the economy open Because it isn't just A-levels. Our lives are now governed by algorithms. When we shop online, it is an algorithm that studies our browsing habits and determines the goods we are offered, at what price and the advertisements foisted on us. When we apply for a mortgage, it's unlikely to be a flesh-and-blood manager who judges whether or not we can be trusted to repay the loan it will almost certainly be a computer, analysing our past financial behaviour and current circumstances. If you're after insurance, an algorithm will calculate your premium based on risk assessment data. Yes, it's all very clever, until it goes wrong or unforeseen circumstances intervene. Algorithms didn't stop U.S. banks advancing cash sub-prime loans to high-risk individuals unlikely ever to pay it back. That triggered the 2008/09 global financial crisis. But for most of us, it is the coronavirus pandemic rather than the 2008 crash that is acquainting us with the curse of the algorithm. After all, it was an algorithm and a pretty faulty one at that which put the nation into lockdown in March, the horrendous consequences of which we are seeing play out. At its best, an algorithm can save an enormous amount of time, by enabling a computer to process a vast amount of data which might take a human being hundreds of years. It is easy, then, to think of an algorithm as cleverer than the human brain. It is certainly faster, but ultimately it is only as good as the assumptions on which it is based and on the data fed into it. Take those algorithms which steer us towards certain goods when we shop online. A computer has no real idea why we are looking for something. I might Google 'A-level results' because I am researching this article. It doesn't mean I'm an eager student looking for a university place so bombarding me with advertisements for courses is a waste of time. But the algorithm doesn't know that. Did it ever occur to Health Secretary Matt Hancock or to the Government's scientific advisers that the algorithm might be flawed? That's a trivial example. The A-levels fiasco is much more serious. Ofqual designed its algorithm to solve a genuine problem. Many teachers, ambitious for students who haven't been able to sit exams because of coronavirus, have sought to exaggerate the grades they might have achieved. But the assumptions that the regulator used were plain daft. The algorithm sought to realign students' predicted grades with the history of grades at their school. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to have realised that this would discriminate against bright pupils in otherwise low-achieving schools. Why did no one at Ofqual spot that? Is it because many people have become so used to computers delivering answers that they have stopped thinking and questioning outcomes for themselves. That loss of initiative, of logic and intellectual engagement has never been more potently illustrated than in Matt Lucas and David Walliams' Little Britain sketches where a bored office worker mindlessly repeats 'Computer says no' to every inquiry from customers. If it was just receptionists who were bamboozled by technology, that would be one thing. It is quite another when our leaders allow computers to make decisions which affect the lives of millions. That is exactly what has happened with Covid-19. The defining moment in the Government's response to the epidemic came on March 16 when Boris Johnson presented a paper published that day by Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College. It claimed that Britain would suffer 250,000 deaths from the disease if ministers continued with their policy of keeping the economy open. Within a week, we were in total lockdown. As we are learning daily, the damage to the global and domestic economy, to our health and relationships, and to our children's futures is incalculable. Worse is likely to come in the months ahead. Did it ever occur to the Prime Minister, to Health Secretary Matt Hancock or to their scientific advisers that the Imperial model might be wrong, the algorithm flawed? That trying to balance the country's economic needs with its medical needs might be more sensible? The defining moment in the Government's response to the epidemic came on March 16 when Boris Johnson presented Professor Neil Ferguson's paper If it did, there is little sign of it. Professor Ferguson's modelling was treated as if it was scientific gospel. In fact, the model proved to be unsatisfactory in many ways, and there were plenty of experts who warned about it. Scientists who ran the program found that it gave different results each time. Others have criticised its construction as a model developed to analyse influenza, not coronavirus. Certainly many of the assumptions on which it was built are questionable. The program assumed that 0.9 per cent of those infected with the Covid-19 virus would die of the disease. Imperial College has since revised its estimate down to 0.66 per cent. Another assumption was that because this strain of the coronavirus was new, everyone was susceptible to it. Yet real-world evidence soon established that some people may have a natural resistance gained through exposure to other coronaviruses such as those which cause the common cold. On the Diamond Princess cruise ship, for example, only 17 per cent of passengers and crew caught the virus despite it being in circulation undetected for a fortnight. Most damning of all, perhaps, is the evidence from Sweden. In April, scientists at Uppsala University ran a version of Ferguson's program which predicted that unless the government there introduced a lockdown, 90,000 Swedes would die by the end of May. No lockdown followed. Today the death toll stands at 5,790. It's not as if Ferguson didn't have form in this respect and surely our top scientists should have known that? In 2002, he claimed that vCJD, the human form of mad cow disease, could kill between 50 and 50,000 Britons: a range so broad as to be meaningless but it caused panic. So far, 178 people have died from vCJD. Three years later, Ferguson was at it again, foretelling of 200 million deaths globally from H5N1 avian flu. According to the World Health Organisation, it has killed just 455. The grim truth is that throughout the Covid-19 crisis, ministers have hidden behind the modelling, calling it 'the science' and asserting it is beyond reproach. The reality is different and we will be living with the consequences for years. As for the future, one can only hope that ministers and advisers might want to rely on a machine far more impressive than any algorithm: the human brain. Church leaders are urging Longford worshippers to wear face coverings to reduce the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus. Also read: Covid-19 latest: 54 new cases, two further deaths The following statement was issued on Wednesday night by the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland Primates of All Ireland, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland: "At this time, both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, the governments have not formally made mandatory the wearing of face coverings at services of worship. This is, in part, due to the fact that as churches we are committed to maintaining 2 metre physical distancing between household groups and strict adherence to all government guidance on hand hygiene, cleaning, ventilation etc. "It, however, remains our responsibility to ensure that our services of worship are safe places for all who join with us. It has become increasingly clear that the wearing of face coverings, in conjunction with hand washing etc., is likely to reduce the spread of coronavirus, thus helping to protect others. Their use is therefore one way in which we can evidence protection for the most vulnerable, support for our health workers, and practical love for our neighbours. EXPLAINED | The new Covid-19 public health measures announced by Government "Following further recent consultations with public health authorities, we join with Christian church leaders all over this island in formally recommending and encouraging the use of face coverings at all services of worship, along with the ongoing maintenance of 2 metre physical distancing, from Sunday 30 August 2020, and earlier if practicable. "We understand that some people are exempted from the wearing of face coverings, as outlined in the two jurisdictions. "We also recognise that whilst it may not be appropriate for those who are leading from the front during worship, including preaching, to wear face coverings, they should at all times continue to maintain at least 2 metre physical distancing from one another, and 4 metre physical distancing from the front row of the congregation." Also read: When to wear face coverings and how to make them The statement was issued on behalf of: The Most Revd Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland The Most Revd John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland The Rt Revd Dr David Bruce, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Revd Dr Tom McKnight, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland Hypersign Makes Inc. Magazines Annual List of Americas Fastest-Growing Private Companies Stepping back and looking at our growth as a company and an industry over the years has helped make the long nights and hard work worth it, and confirms for us that were headed in the right direction. Inc. magazine today revealed that Hypersign LLC is No. 1921 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nations fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economys most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. It is such an honor to be recognized on the Inc. 5000. The nature of our industry is rapidly evolving and incredibly tumultuous, meaning a lot of our time and effort is spent looking to the future, which can make it hard to reflect on how far weve come. Stepping back and looking at our growth as a company and an industry over the years has helped make the long nights and hard work worth it, and confirms for us that were headed in the right direction. The Hypersign development philosophy is driven solely by user input. We dont do competitive analysis, but instead are constantly listening to how we can be more valuable to our customers. I think that business approach is what will help us continue to grow and bring unique value. Im so proud of our amazing team, supportive partners, and best-in-class customers who have helped us get to where we are today. Were excited to see where well place next! - Neil Willis, Founder, Hypersign Hypersigns client-driven ideology has led to a plethora of solutions that create a full visual communications ecosystem. What makes Hypersigns ecosystem unique is that it does not hinge upon proprietary hardware, which was an intentional decision. Its a decision that allows Hypersign to remain competitive in all areas and fight for customer retention, which was an industry leading 99% retention rate in 2019. This accomplishment confirms Hypersign as a key player in digital signage, virtual events, and visual communication solutions. The companies on this years Inc. 5000 come from nearly every realm of business, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. From health and software to media and hospitality, the 2020 list proves that no matter the sector, incredible growth is based on the foundations of tenacity and opportunism. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held virtually from October 23 to 27, 2020. As always, speakers will include some of the greatest innovators and business leaders of our generation. About Hypersign Hypersign is a visual communications company, based in the United States, known for their virtual events solution, the Arena, and their award winning digital signage platform, Hypersign+, and its accompanying extensions, Waystation, Roomfusion, and Huddleup. Hypersign, headquartered in South Carolina, currently has customers throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Hypersign products are prominent in industries like healthcare, education and enterprise business. For more information, visit http://www.hypersign.com About Inc. Media The worlds most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin David Hanan (The Jakarta Post) The Conversation Wed, August 19, 2020 12:41 518 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066f159db 3 Art & Culture The-Conversation,filmmaking,filmmaker,#Indonesia75,Indonesian-Movie,director Free The evolution of the Indonesian film industry is marked not only by its economic development, but more importantly by the contribution of the countrys best filmmakers. In a chapter of my book, Cultural Specificity in Indonesian Film: Diversity in Unity, I highlight some of Indonesias most innovative and culturally significant films and directors over the past 70 years. Since the nations independence Indonesian cinema has gone through three main periods the Sukarno era, the Suharto New Order, and the post-reform era in parallel with the rise and fall of the countrys changing regimes. The birth of modern Indonesian cinema Within months of the international recognition of Indonesia as an independent nation at the end of 1949, Perfini a company formed months after the creation of the new nation was addressing issues raised during the struggle for independence. The company was headed by Usmar Ismail. He is regarded as a key pioneer of Indonesian film in the early independence period. Perfinis first film after independence, Darah dan Doa (The Long March, 1950), and the later Lewat Djam Malam (After the Curfew, 1954) were inspired by Italian neorealists of the 1940s such as Roberto Rossellini. Rossellinis neorealist films depicted the struggle against the Nazi presence and continuing fascist rule in Italy in the later stages of the second world war. However, Usmar Ismail went even further than the Italians by highlighting moral ambiguities and human rights abuses during the revolutionary period. In Lewat Djam Malam, for instance, the central character, Iskandar, is shown to be troubled by war crimes he committed as a freedom fighter. So highly regarded are the early Usmar Ismail films that March 30 the anniversary of the first day of shooting of his first post-independence film, Darah dan Doa is celebrated as National Film Day in Indonesia. In 1955, Perfini made what is probably the first political satire by an Indonesian filmmaker, Tamu Agung (Exalted Guest). The film satirised Sukarnos cult of personality and explored the dangers of charismatic political leadership. In 1957, Perfini produced the first Betawi comedy film, Tiga Buronan (Three Fugitives), directed by Nja Abbas Akup. However, Indonesias film industry experienced periods of decline as well as growth. There was a decline, for instance, in the late Sukarno period and the years following the post-September 1965 anti-communist purge. Only seven feature films were made in 1968. Social critique in the New Order Between 1970 and 1988, average production of Indonesian features rose to 70 per year, partly due to the introduction of wide screen and colour. In the 1970s new directors, such as Moscow-trained Sjuman Djaya, emerged. Another was Teguh Karya, who, working with his Teater Populer group, made 13 films between 1970 and 1988. These included the culturally significant historical epic, November 1828, completed in 1979. Aside from depicting events from the point of view of ordinary villagers in resisting Dutch colonialism during the Java War of 1825-1830, it also provides ways of seeing cultural contrasts between Javanese and colonial Western values. November 1828 was the first Indonesian film to become widely known in Europe. It was screened at the London and Berlin film festivals. In 1985, Teguh wrote and directed his most innovative film, Secangkir Kopi Pahit (Bitter Coffee). Using an original flashback structure, the film depicts the fates of people migrating to the city from rural areas in different parts of Indonesia. Sjuman Djaya also made important contributions, including films that expanded the range of social critique in film. His film Si Mamad (1973), in its satire on corruption among bureaucrats, widens the tradition of using film for social critique. His Kerikil Kerikil Tajam (Sharp Gravel, 1984) traces the dangers that beset village women journeying to Jakarta to find employment not available to them in their villages. Another of Sjuman Djayas films, Si Doel Anak Betawi (Doel the Betawi Child, 1973) in combination with the numerous B-movies of Benyamin Sueb helped Indonesian society as a whole develop some important identification with the Betawi lifestyle. The popular culture of the Betawi, regarded as the original inhabitants of Jakarta, went on to become an important staple in Indonesian popular culture over the next 40 years. Sjuman Djayas adaptation of major works of Indonesian literature provided vivid depictions of religion and patriarchy in Indonesian history. Notable examples include Atheis (1974), based on Achdiat Kartamihardjas novel, and Raden Ajeng Kartini (1982), his film biography of the Indonesian womens emancipatist, R.A. Kartini, based on her letters. In the 1990s the production of feature films declined dramatically. This was due to competition from the newly established commercial television industry. Only four features films were produced in 1998. Post-reform era: International recognition and the rise of women filmmakers Talented young women who had studied at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts such as Nan Achnas and Mira Lesmana played an important role in achieving a breakthrough for women into the film industry. Other major women writer-directors include Nia Dinata, Mouly Surya, Djenar Maesa Ayu and Kamila Andini. Nia Dinata directed some very innovative films that explored new topics such as the limits of polygamous marriages in Berbagi Suami (Sharing Husbands, 2006). Another aspect of the post-reform era is the continuing presence of internationally acclaimed filmmakers. Garin Nugroho made his first feature film, Cinta Dalam Sepotong Roti (Love on A Slice of Bread) in 1991. But in the post-reform era he has continued to make films that challenge audiences in numerous ways. In 2002 he made Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali Saja (Bird-Man Tale), a feature film that raises questions about the behaviour of the Indonesian army in its attempts to control the indigenous Papuan population. His most recent film, Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (Memories of My Body, 2018) dramatising the experiences of a young lengger (a traditional cross-gender dance from Central Java) dancer engages with issues of gender in Indonesian society. The film challenges its audiences by deliberately portraying Indonesian traditions of bisexuality and homosexuality and the prejudice fostered towards them. Newly emerging director Ifa Ifansyahs Sang Penari (The Dancer, 2009) depicts dance groups in Java including left-wing dance groups that become victims of the repression of the left in Indonesia after the events of September 30 1965. Kamila Andini has made films about young people in distinctive local communities. Notable examples include Laut Bercermin (The Mirror Never Lies, 2011) filmed among the seaborne Bajau people in South Sulawesi, and Sekala Niskala (The Seen and Unseen, 2018), filmed in Bali. Preserving critical national cinema The early films of the Perfini company are often seen as providing a foundation for a national cinema. However, these films are also a form of critical national cinema, which highlight and engage with negative aspects of the new nation. Their themes included human rights abuses by freedom fighters, corruption in the army, and the dangers of charismatic political leadership. This concern to make socially relevant films evident in the early Perfini films has been taken up in new and inventive ways by the second, third and fourth generations of Indonesian filmmakers. *** David Hanan is Honorary Fellow at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. New analysis released earlier this year from Bloomberg Government indicates federal government spending on other transaction authority agreements has soared in recent years and that trend could be accelerated by the response to COVID-19. This shift in approach is taking place because, over the last decade, OTAs have a proven track record in delivering innovation across a broad swath of technology areas from compact lasers capable of shooting down drones, to small glide munitions for special ops teams, to precision-strike missiles. As Jennifer Pahlka -- a member of the Defense Innovation Board -- testified before the House Budget Committee recently: What Congress has already recognized they need -- through services that are in fact, though youve been told you can never have all three -- better, faster AND cheaper. Yet, there are some who still question the value of the consortium-based OTA model in driving innovation and believe that the the approach based on the Federal Acquisition Regulations is preferable. The reality is much different. Over the past decade, OTAs have delivered thousands of prototypes that are significant improvements for the warfighter -- lighter, more precise, more efficient, and cheaper than whats come before. And they were developed and delivered faster. Why? OTAs are a magnet for Nontraditional Defense Contractors There is growing understanding that large organizations, whether in the government or the private sector, find it extremely difficult to innovate. Smaller, more agile organizations are better suited to developing ground-breaking ideas and novel approaches. The challenge for these small companies is how to navigate the complex federal bureaucracy and find a way to break through so that government customers will take notice. Additionally, it is extremely difficult to navigate the costing, compliance and contract management systems that you must master if you are to be successful in the world of the FAR. Yet, under consortium-based OTAs (comprised of networks of companies -- large, small, traditional, NDCs -- and universities), these smaller, non-traditional defense contractors can join forces with other companies to develop proposals that are both innovative and scalable. They can also balance and mitigate technology, capital, time, and other risk areas. OTAs dont just encourage collaboration they require it. And consortia make collaboration happen. Under OTAs, traditional prime contractors must include significant participation from non-traditional defense contractors; otherwise they face a one-third cost share. In the National Armaments Consortium, roughly half of the prototypes have been led by NDCs, who often bring new ideas and novel approaches to solving our most challenging problems. Additionally, 99 percent of projects led by traditional contractors have included significant participation and contribution by NDC's. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of these examples. But in one case, a nontraditional contractor called NovaTech, based in Virginia, developed three separate prototypes for metal components for a cannon-fired projectile. NovaTechs prototypes utilized advanced metal-forming for manufacturing to ensure precision assembly and high performance under extreme environmental conditions, which reduced manufacturing costs by 65 percent. Unlike FAR-based contracting, OTAs allow and encourage contractors to talk to Defense Department technology developers. The reality is that it is difficult to develop an effective prototype if you dont know what the governments requirements are. Under OTAs, scientists, engineers, and program managers from industry and academia are able to collaborate with their counterparts in the DoD to discuss government needs and work through solutions as they are developing requirements, technical white papers and through the prototyping process. This helps both the government and the innovator. The government can refine its ideas as they learn more about what is technically feasible. Meanwhile, innovators can continue to iterate to develop the best solutions that meet the requirements of the government. Rapid and effective prototyping means getting the solution right the first time. Collaboration between government and industry occurs throughout the entire process and results in speed, efficiency, innovation, and cost savings . The streamlined process fosters competition and operates at the speed of the need By reducing barriers to entry, more ideas for solving challenging problems come to the table. This, in turn, creates a fierce competition of ideas and gives the government options to choose from - forcing interested companies to push the envelope in developing prototypes that can win out, and do so in a timeframe that puts new technologies in the hands of our warfighters. Theres no doubt there are ways to improve OTAs, particularly by identifying and standardizing best practices. But at this point, its clear that OTAs are helping to bring innovative solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing the government. At a moment when our overseas adversaries are investing huge sums in technology development, we must continue to support the consortium-based OTA model for the benefit of a strong industrial base, our nations security, and to provide the decisive advantage for our warfighters. Democrats trotted out both party elders and rising stars on Tuesday night to offer dire warnings about the presidency of Donald Trump while presenting Joe Biden as a beacon of hope for the nation's future. The second night of the Democratic National Convention ditched the at-times stilted interviews with Americans in their homes from the first evening and instead focused on marquee names, including Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Here are the key moments of the night. Bill Clinton accuses Trump of 'denying, distracting and demeaning' Former President Bill Clinton used his relatively brief address to rail against Trump, characterizing his White House as chaotic and incapable of accepting responsibility. "At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, its a storm center," Clinton said. "Theres only chaos. Just one thing never changes his determination to deny responsibility and shift the blame. The buck never stops there. Clinton went after Trump's coronavirus response, pointing out the U.S. is the only industrialized country to triple its unemployment amid the crisis. He said Trump's character one that has him spending hours watching TV and attacking his enemies is not one to combat a global emergency like the pandemic. "Denying, distracting and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain or inflame, but in a real crisis, it collapses just like a house of cards," Clinton said. AOC talks up Bernie Sanders Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may vote for Joe Biden in Novembers election, but the freshman congresswoman and rising star on the left reiterated her full-throated support for Sen. Bernie Sanders in one of the most highly anticipated speeches of the night. During her brief, 60-second speaking slot, Ocasio-Cortez hailed the populist movement, whose passion Sanders captured during his two runs for president as she seconded the Vermont senators nomination for president, praising his historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy. Story continues But the democratic socialist, who has become a firebrand within the party, kept her highly anticipated remarks fairly tame, despite Sanders' loss to Biden in the Democratic primary. The congresswoman nodded to the unprecedented public health and economic crises facing Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic, noting that millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic solutions to these issues. Simply put, she argued, Sanders' candidacy fought for the establishment of "21st century social, economic and human rights." Sally Yates talks about Trump driving her out of office Sally Yates, a former acting attorney general, lambasted the president, whom she said has trampled the rule of law. Yates kicked off her speech by noting that speaking at a political convention is something I never expected to be doing, but she argued that the stakes of Novembers election are too high not to. Yates, who served at the Department of Justice under Republican and Democratic presidents for nearly 30 years, stepped in as DOJ's acting chief for 10 days, before Trump fired her for refusing to defend President Trump's shameful and unlawful Muslim travel ban, Yates said Tuesday. From the moment President Trump took office, he's used his position to benefit himself rather than our country, Yates said, accusing Trump of attempting to weaponize the Justice Department for his personal and political benefit. Put simply, he treats our country like it's his family business, this time bankrupting our nation's moral authority at home and abroad, she added. NYTimes security guard and Biden fan is first to nominate him A New York Times security guard went viral for professing her adoration for Joe Biden as he sought the paper's endorsement. On Tuesday, she was the first to nominate Biden for president. I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time, she said during the convention. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby. But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me. The guard, identified on Twitter as Jacquelyn and by The Washington Post as Jacquelyn Brittany, made a memorable impression during the Times cinematic endorsement process. She told Biden he was her favorite and took a selfie with the former vice president in an elevator. Though Biden did not get the Times endorsement, his campaign elevated Jacquelyns support as evocative of the desires of everyday working Americans. Jill Biden gets personal Jill Biden opened up in one of her most candid public appearances yet, speaking about her relationship with Joe Biden and his sons in a sentimental conclusion to Tuesday's convention activities. She spoke during the same time slot as former first lady Michelle Obama, who stole the show Monday with her earnest plea for decency and stern rebuke of Trump. But while Obama had focused on Joe Biden's achievements as vice president, Jill Biden spoke of her husband's achievements as a family man. And those qualities, she said, would help repair the divisions in the country. "How do you make a broken family whole? The same way you make a nation whole," she said. "With love and understanding and with small acts of kindness, with bravery, with unwavering faith." Kerry mocks Trumps blooper reel foreign policy Former Secretary of State John Kerry skewered Trumps record on foreign policy, accusing the president of defending only his personal interests abroad while painting Novembers election in urgent terms. When this president goes overseas, it isnt a goodwill mission its a blooper reel, Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee argued. Kerry added: He breaks up with our allies and writes love letters to dictators. America deserves a president who is looked up to, not laughed at. Kerry ripped Trump for withdrawing the U.S. from international treaties like the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal as well as the Paris climate accord, and accused him of neglecting a range of threats from Russia and putting U.S. troops in harms way. In contrast, Kerry said, Bidens moral compass has always pointed in the right direction. Before Donald Trump, we used to talk about American exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about the incoherent Trump foreign policy is that it has made our nation more isolated than ever before, Kerry argued. Joe Biden knows we arent exceptional because we bluster that we are; we are exceptional because we do exceptional things. Colin Powell says Biden will not be charmed by flattery from dictators Former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined the cast of Republicans publicly throwing their support behind Biden, declaring that the former vice president would not rely on the flattery of foreign dictators. Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops in the same way he would his own family. For Joe Biden, that doesnt need teaching, Powell said. It comes from the experience he shares with millions of military families sending his beloved son off to war and praying to God he would come home safe. Powell, who served in President George W. Bushs administration, also implicitly rebuked Trump in his barbed remarks. With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries never the other way around. He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter make emotional plea for Biden In this image from video, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, seen in a photo as they speak on audio only, during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. Former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter made personal appeals for Bidens candidacy, with the president calling Biden the right person for this moment in our nations history. We deserve a person with integrity and judgment, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people, said Carter, who pointed out that Biden was among the first supporters in the Senate for his 1976 White House bid. The former first lady, meanwhile, thanked Biden for his attention to issues close to her heart, noting that his advocacy for family caregivers stemmed from personal tragedy in his past. Joe knows well, too well, the sorrows and struggles of being a family caregiver, from Joes time as a young widower thrust into single parenthood with a demanding job to he and Jill caring for their own parents and their son Beau at the end of their lives, Rosalynn said. Stacey Abrams: Biden will defend free and fair elections Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams threw her support behind Biden as part of a montage of elected officials who shared Tuesdays keynote address. We stand with Joe Biden, because this isnt just about defeating Donald Trump, Abrams said. We are in this to win for America. Abrams name was floated with a number of potential picks for Bidens running mate, particularly as he hinted at selecting a woman of color for the job. Abrams entered national attention during the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, which she lost by a slim margin amid complaints of the states voting infrastructure. She hinted at the controversy in her remarks. In a time of voter suppression at home and authoritarians abroad, Joe Biden will be a champion for free and fair elections, she said. Abrams comments were part of a Brady Bunch-esque keynote address that included several elected officials, including members of Congress, Navajo President Jonathan Nez and state legislators. Schumer: Trump has quit on you Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Trump a quitter, touching on some of his most explosive scandals of the summer. Schumer claimed Trump hid in a bunker while Black Lives Matter protests sprang up in front of the White House. He also lambasted Trump for saying, It is what it is, when asked about the death toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Presidents should never say, It is what it is,' Schumer said. America, Donald Trump has quit on you. Schumer expressed a message of hope for his fellow Democrats that their party would retake the White House and the Senate. He outlined policy objectives, from fighting racism in the criminal justice system to building up internet infrastructure in the country. Voting in Democrats, Schumer said, would allow the country to wake up from this long, national nightmare. We need a president with dignity, integrity and the experience to lead us out of this crisis, a man with a steady hand and a big heart who will never, ever, quit on America, Schumer said. That man is my friend Joe Biden. Hunter Biden makes an appearance Hunter Biden, whose foreign business dealings in Ukraine and China have been the subject of heavy scrutiny from Republicans, made his first appearance at the convention on Tuesday night. Bidens cameo came during a package teasing Jill Bidens marquee speech, in a clip from his brother Beaus funeral in 2015. Mom, it's your strength that holds this family together, an emotional Hunter says in the clip. And I know that you will make us whole again. It's official...Biden's the nominee In this image from video, Cozzie Watkins of North Carolina speaks during the state roll call vote on second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. At 10:05 p.m., North Carolinas votes put Biden over the top and made him the official Democratic presidential nominee. A total of 2,374 votes were required. Cozzie Watkins, a nurse and political activist from Charlotte, cast the decisive votes on North Carolinas behalf. She officially gave 83 of the states votes to Biden and 39 to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Biden finished with 3,558 votes, while Sanders ended up with 1,151. Delaware had initially passed in the roll call, as is customary for the presumptive nominees home state. The roll call ended with Democratic Sen. Tom Carper and Gov. John Carney casting the final 32 votes for Biden. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson then announced Bidens nomination. David Cohen contributed to this report. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Sen. Chris Coons helped to nominate Joe Biden at the end of the roll call. It was Gov. John Carney, not Coons. A Boeing 737 MAX sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington. Boeing on Wednesday said it scored the first orders for its beleaguered 737 Max planes since November, selling two of them to a Polish charter airline with options to buy two more. Enter Air and Boeing also reached a settlement over the grounding of the 737 Max, which has been out of service worldwide since March 2019 after two crashes killed 346 people. The companies didn't disclose the terms of the deal but said it would include deferring deliveries. "We are humbled by Enter Air's commitment to the Boeing 737 family," said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing's senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing, in a news release. Enter Air's orders for the Max aircraft won't make much of a dent in Boeing's troubles this year. Customers' cancellations of aircraft have outpaced new sales for the past six months as airlines grapple with both the extended grounding of the Max planes and as the coronavirus pandemic devastated air travel demand. Through July, Boeing had net negative orders of 836 planes, including aircraft the company took out of its backlog. Boeing shares fell 0.6% Wednesday to $169.27 and are down 48% so far this year. Portland Police on Tuesday identified a suspect in the brutal beating by Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters of a truck driver. A crowd of rioters in downtown Portland beat a white man unconscious Sunday night after dragging him from his truck, video footage of the incident shows. Police identified 25-year-old Marquise Love as the man who delivered a running kick to the head from behind to the man, identified by his family as Adam Haner, as he sat in the street, having already been beaten by the rioters. Police said Love was identified by multiple sources, including video of the incident, the New York Post reported. Police are now calling on Love to turn himself in. Haner has since been released from the hospital and is recovering, according to police. The crowd surrounded the mans white truck around 10:30 p.m. near where he crashed into a light pole downtown. At least one individual punched him as he sat inside before he was pulled out of the vehicle. The rioters forced him to sit in the street as he tried to answer a call from his wife. One man in the crowd wearing a security vest, allegedly Love, delivered a kick to his head that appeared to knock him out cold and caused his head to bleed after it hit the street. The man sustained serious injuries and was transported to the hospital. After the attack, the rioters can be seen going through the mans truck, saying they are making sure it does not contain any weapons. Video clips on social media appear to show the moments just before the attack, when the man attempted to help a person the crowd had previously robbed and beaten. Later, police deployed a large law enforcement response and encountered a hostile crowd. More from National Review HAMDEN Dale Kroop, the towns economic development director, will retire at the end of November. The 64-year-old Kroop, who announced his retirement plans in an email Monday afternoon, has been in the job for 21 years. His retirement coincides with the Nov. 29 expiration of his current two-year contract with the town. As many folks my age have been doing, Ive spent these last few months during the covid crisis evaluating the next phase of my professional life, Kroop wrote. So I decided to retire and let the Town decide where the local economy needs to go. Kroop said he will continue working with the Hamden Economic Development Corp. on two projects in the Newhall neighborhood. One of those projects includes the continued rehabilitation of homes built on the site of the former Winchester Repeating Arms landfill, which received a $4 million state grant last month that Kroop helped secure. I also plan on following up on some business ideas which I will elaborate on at an appropriate time, he said. Before coming to work for the town, Kroop worked for an engineering and architectural firm, assembling financing packages for projects the company hoped to do for municipal clients. Coming to work for the town was a pretty good fit, he said. When Kroop became economic development director, it initially was as a part-time employee. But he brought stability to the position, which had been held by six people during an eight-year stretch before he was hired. All that our office has done over the past 21 years, we have done without a huge staff, Kroop said. I dont look at economic development, I look it as building a well built environment for businesses to operate in. This job is more about retention of existing businesses than it is recruiting new ones. His job recruiting businesses is made more challenging by the fact that there is very little land in town available for development. So his focus often involves finding existing properties and overseeing a retrofit of them rather than building on undeveloped land, according to Kroop. That was the case when Home Depot expressed interest in opening a store at 1673 Dixwell Ave. in the early 2000s. The store was built on the site of what had been Rickel home improvement store in the former Pathmark Plaza. The store opened in 2006 and part of making the Home Depot project a reality involved spending nearly two years negotiating with homeowners and businesses near the intersection of Dixwell and Benham avenues so traffic improvements required by state officials could be made. In his dual role as chief executive officer of Hamden Economic Development Corp. and the towns economic development director, one of Kroops most significant achievements was the launch of Borough 496, a business incubator that opened in a former school building in December 2019. Mayor Curt Balzano Leng called Kroop an integral part of the tapestry of Hamden, especially when you look at southern Hamden and the revitalization efforts that have successfully taken place. Dale had shown his ability and his dedication to accomplishing jobs that are challenging and that have direct impact on peoples lives, Leng said. I can tell you that his retirement is a real loss, but I also know that Dale will stay involved in the community and continue to work for improvements to Hamden because thats where his heart is. He has been such a powerful actor on behalf of the community. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com The PM-CARES fund was launched by the Narendra Damodardas Modi government after the COVID-19 outbreak in March. Since its inception, the PM-CARES fund has been mired in controversy with RTI activists, NGOs and others demanding transparency in the money received and spent. The prime minister's office recently objected to a petition in the Delhi high court seeking to declare the PM-CARES Fund a 'public authority' under the Right to Information Act. On August 18, the Supreme Court refused to direct the transfer of the PM-CARES Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund, saying both are entirely different funds with separate objects and purposes. The NGO, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, had sought a direction from the apex court that all the money collected under the PM CARES Fund for the COVID-19 pandemic should be transferred to the NDRF. Dominic Xavier mulls over the intriguing puzzle why the PM-CARES fund is opposed to the transparency guaranteed by the RTI. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com He also sought to stress that any potential vaccine would be required to pass all trials and "be as safe as any other" existing immunizations in Australia before being administered. The Australian leader has since said, however, that there are no mechanisms in place to ensure coronavirus vaccinations are compulsory for Australian citizens. "We can't hold someone down and make them take it," Morrisson told 2GB later in the day. He said there would be "a lot of encouragement and measures to get as high a rate of acceptance as usual." Morrison thought there had been a bit of an "overreaction" to the comments he made earlier that day on Australian radio station 3AW , when he stated that he expected to make a vaccine "as mandatory as you can possibly make it." "Can I be really clear to everyone? It's not going to be compulsory to have the vaccine, OK?" Morrison said Wednesday on Australian radio station 2GB . Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backtracked on comments he made saying that he planned to make coronavirus vaccinations as mandatory as possible. Earlier that day on 3AW, Morrison had suggested there would only be exemptions on medical grounds. He argued that there needed to be the "most extensive and comprehensive response" to the coronavirus in order "to get Australia back to normal." Australia has had 23,993 reported cases of Covid-19 and 450 deaths, according to the latest figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Morrison said he was "used to" resistance campaigning from anti-vaxxers, as the minister who established "no jab, no play," which is legislation requiring children to be immunized to be enrolled in childcare. The coronavirus vaccine would be given to Australians for free, Morrison said, and he hoped a vaccine would be ready early next year. The Australian government announced Wednesday that it had secured a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is behind the University of Oxford vaccine. "Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, if it proves successful," the government stated. Under the deal, the vaccine would be manufactured in Australia, with Morrison expecting the production process to take "about a month or two." Morrison suggested that while the Oxford vaccine was currently expected to be ready first, he added that "things can change and we're not going to put all our eggs in one basket either." He said Professor Brendan Murphy, Australia's secretary of the department of health, was also advising on other vaccines that the government would support. In a later statement to reporters, Morrison said he was aiming to get about 95% of the country vaccinated. Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the first call for the vaccine would be voluntary and was sure there would be "long queues" to be immunized, adding it would be the "absolute ticket to get back to some sort of normal society and the things we all love and enjoy." In the U.S., meanwhile, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said it is unlikely the federal government would ever make a Covid-19 vaccine compulsory. "If someone refuses the vaccine in the general public you cannot force someone to take it," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Tuesday, according to Forbes. In the U.K., Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty recently said that he doubted that a vaccine would become mandatory but said it would be up to ministers to decide on this matter. Heathrow Airport has announced it has developed a new coronavirus testing facility which it hopes will lead to the end of mandatory 14-day quarantine (Steve Parsons/PA) Heathrow Airport has announced the development of a new coronavirus testing facility which it hopes will lead to the end of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for those returning from certain countries and protect the economy. Arriving passengers will be able to book swab tests and have results sent to them in seven hours under the proposal, which is being used in Germany and Iceland. Travellers can do a second test at home a few days later and then leave quarantine early if they pass both checks, the Daily Mail reported. Heathrow executives hope those testing negative could leave quarantine five to eight days after landing, though the airports programme needs Government approval before it can begin. It comes as The Daily Telegraph reported Cabinet ministers will meet next week to discuss plans to replace blanket quarantines with Covid-19 testing for travellers. Documents released on Friday from Sages June 18 meeting showed the scientific group found double testing of travellers significantly reduces the risk of false negatives and could enable quarantine duration of less than 14 days. It is not too late to save people returning from Greece, Croatia or Italy the inconvenience of 14 days at home John Holland-Kaye Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye wrote in the Mail the airport had been calling on the Government to introduce testing as an alternative to quarantine for months. He said: Heathrow is ready to support this provided the Government sets clear guidelines for a second test and changes regulations to allow passengers who provide two negative tests to leave quarantine early. We have worked closely with aviation services company Collinson and logistics firm Swissport to ensure such a testing procedure can be in place. If the Government is serious about protecting the economy, this is exactly what should be done. Mr Holland-Kaye said double-testing could have been in place for those caught up in the French problems last weekend. It is not too late to save people returning from Greece, Croatia or Italy the inconvenience of 14 days at home, he added. The executive previously declared the UK needs a passenger testing regime and fast, promising on July 29 that his airport would be ready to go in two weeks if the Government allowed tests to be used to ease restrictions. At the time, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said arrivals from high-risk countries should be tested twice for coronavirus over a number of days to potentially reduce their quarantine period. Meanwhile, a study suggested quick and effective testing and tracing of Covid-19 could reduce the reproduction number (R number) by up to 26%. But Imperial College London researchers warn that testing alone is unlikely to bring the R number below one at current levels of immunity. Therefore other interventions such as continuing physical distancing will be needed, they said. Preliminary modelling from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine suggested 94% of coronavirus cases would be detected if the quarantine period was cut to eight days and passengers tested negative on the seventh. Shorter quarantine periods can prevent a substantial amount of transmission, the research indicated. Some 88% of cases would be identified if travellers self-isolate for six days and test negative on the fifth day, according to the study published in the Lancet. By AFP WASHINGTON DC: The US Treasury placed two United Arab Emirates-based companies on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday for their support of already-sanctioned Iran's Mahan Air. UAE-based Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC "have provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air," the Treasury said. Mahan, one of Iran's leading carriers, has been blacklisted under US counterterrorism regulations for its close relationship with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, which Washington says carries out terror activities in the Middle East. Mahan Air especially has been used by the revolutionary Guards to support the regimes of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Treasury. "The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, as well as terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. The United States will continue to take action against those supporting this airline," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. In the same action the Treasury also placed sanctions on UAE-based Iranian national Amin Mahdavi, who the Treasury said either owns or controls Parthia Cargo. By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online retail brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp said some of its thinkorswim desktop trading platform customers were unable to log on for a second-straight day, as the S&P 500 <.SPX> hit a new all-time intraday high on Tuesday. "We are currently experiencing a system issue impacting clients' ability to connect to the thinkorswim desktop platform. In the meantime, clients can access their accounts through thinkorswim Web, the thinkorswim mobile app and via all other TD Ameritrade platforms. We are working to address the issue as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company is in the process of being bought by rival Charles Schwab Corp in an all-stock deal that was valued at $26 billion when it was announced in November. Retail participation in the equities markets has surged since March, as shares soared in response to government stimulus aimed at countering the coronavirus' economic impact. The surge also came as Main Street investors cheered the recent elimination of trading fees by most large online brokerages, including TD Ameritrade. That flurry of trading helped S&P 500 touch a record of 3395.06 early on Tuesday, topping the high of 3,393.52 hit on Feb. 19. (Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Tom Brown) Senate President Pro Tempore, Sen. Louise Lucas speaks during debate on the Senate floor at the Virginia Capitol in Richmond on March 8, 2020. (Steve Helber/AP Photo) Virginia State Senator Turns Herself in to Face Charges Over Statue Toppling Incident Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas turned herself in on Tuesday to the sheriffs office after she was charged in connection to the dismantling of a Confederate statue that left a man seriously injured in June in the midst of nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and riots. Sheriffs office spokesman Marvin Waters told CNN that Lucas was released on a personal recognizance bond on Tuesday afternoon, which means that she did not have to post bail. Shes facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000. In a comment to news outlets, Lucas yelled: I will be vindicated, according to WAVY-TV. More than a dozen people were charged as a result of the incident at a Confederate monument. Police said that attempt to take down the statue led to a man suffering a permanent injury that was life-threatening. A local NAACP official, a school board member, and three public defenders were charged in connection to the incident, according to police in a previous statement. Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene said Monday during a news conference: What is important to note is that of all the incidents that occurred across our nation, our incident was the only incident that resulted in a man being gravely injured. So it is my hope that my community truly understands that at no point did any member of the Portsmouth Police Department condone the felonious acts that occurred on June 10, Greene added, as reported by WAVY-TV. The statues on the Confederate monument are covered in graffiti and beheaded after a protest in Portsmouth, Va., on June 10, 2020. (Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) A police tape marks off a fallen statue from the Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Va., on June 10, 2020. (Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) The local attorneys office said in a statement on Tuesday explaining that a police officer swearing information, under oath, to a magistrate to obtain warrants is the traditional process frequently utilized by the Portsmouth Police within the Portsmouth Police Department. Greene said that individuals conspired and organized to destroy the monument as well as summon hundreds of people to join in felonious acts, Politico reported. The acts not only resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the monument, but also permanent injury to an individual, she said. The office noted that it has not received any investigative results from the local police office. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam criticized the polices decision on Twitter. Its deeply troubling that on the verge of Virginia passing long-overdue police reform, the first Black woman to serve as our Senate Pro Tempore is suddenly facing highly unusual charges, he wrote on Aug. 17. Lucas was described by WAVY-TV as a key power broker in Virginias state Senate, joining the chamber nearly 30 years ago. The charges were filed as lawmakers were set to vote and debate on criminal justice reforms in the state legislature. The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine says that conditions must be created for active use of e-vehicles in Ukraine and necessary infrastructure must be developed. "As of the end of July this year, around 23,000 e-vehicles and a bit more hybrid vehicles, which is around 46,000 vehicles, were registered in Ukraine," the ministry's press service quoted Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy as saying on August 18. According to the minister, the key to an increase in the number of e-vehicles in Ukraine is making their cost lower and infrastructure development. "The National Transport Strategy for 2030 provides for the promotion of use of e-vehicles. We are planning to update some of its clauses soon, in particular the ones on the use of public electric transport. However, our key task is to create conditions for the production of e-vehicles in Ukraine," Krykliy said. He also said that the ministry supports the extension of VAT exemption for e-vehicle imports to Ukraine. It has also suggested and is actively participating the elaboration of the key amendments to the state building regulations regarding the construction of charging stations on roads. "We want to change the state building regulations and ensure construction of charging stations on all public roads, and not only national ones," the minister said. In addition, the Infrastructure Ministry plans to ensure gradual replacement of public transport with electric vehicles, in particular via raising loans on favorable terms. According to Krykliy, the government and the Verkhovna Rada should create conditions for active use of e-vehicles in Ukraine and development of necessary infrastructure. The ministry also recalled that, according to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, 3,385 e-vehicles were registered in Ukraine in H1, 2020, which is 16% more than over the same period in 2019. The U.S. federal government is considering more sanctions to add to a list aimed at severing the lifeline between the Venezuelan government and oil revenues that, according to Washington, are the only thing keeping Nicolas Maduro in power. Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, that Washington is mulling over sanctioning swap deals between PDVSA and other energy companies. The discussions have been going on for months but no decision has been made yet as the administration prioritized punishing Iran for helping Venezuela with fuel exports. Earlier this month, the U.S. administration said it had seized Iranian fuel cargos en route to Venezuela in what was a first since the start of the maximum pressure campaign of the Trump government against Venezuela. The fuel was going to Venezuela to help alleviate a severe gasoline shortage caused both by the sanctions and also by years of neglect at Venezuelan refineries, as well as by the suspension of diluent imports from the United States amid the escalation between the two. Despite this maximum pressure, however, Venezuela is still finding ways to export crude oil and in July these exports even managed to rise to the highest in four months to 325,000 bpd. This is still way below what the country with the largest oil reserves in the world used to export before it fell in the crosshairs of Trump but was still an increase, made possible by the sort of deal the U.S. leadership now wants to sanction: diesel-for-crude swaps. Since the start of the year, Venezuelas exports have averaged 535,000 bpd, according to Bloomberg. This is the lowest export rate in seven decades and most of it has been made possible by the swap deals, with companies including Reliance Industries, Spains Repsol, and Italian Eni. According to Bloomberg data, this month alone, some 80 percent of Venezuelan oil contracted for export was in oil-for-diesel swaps. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. SC has validated the FIR filed by Bihar police and has asked Maha police to hand over all the evidences and proofs collected in the case to CBI. Supreme Court, on Wednesday, ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the mysterious suicidal death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Announcing the verdict on actor Rhea Chakrabortys petition, SC has asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the pieces of evidence that have been collected so far in the case to CBI. Supreme court has validated the FIR that Bihar police had filed and has said that CBI and Bihar police are free to file a fresh FIR in the case. The top court has denied Maharashtra govt to challenge the judgement as well. Earlier, Rhea Chakraborty had filed a petition in the top court seeking transfer of investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case from Patna in Bihar to the Maharashtra Police. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy has pronounced the verdict around 11 am on August 19. The apex court had, in its hearing on August 11, reserved its judgment and asked all the parties to file their respective submissions in the case. Also read: Amit Shah admitted to AIIMS days after Covid recovery Now that the country's premier investigating agency has taken over, we believe that all those involved in the dastardly crime will be brought to justice. Today's development reaffirmed our faith in India as a robust democracy: #SushantSinghRajput's family pic.twitter.com/4txSukPiml ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2020 Also read: No connection to Aaditya Thackeray: Rhea Chakrabortys lawyer on Sushant Singh Rajputs death probe Former Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the Bihar government, had submitted that Bihar Chief Minister had not interfered in the case and added that the recommendation for a CBI probe was based on the advice of the concerned authorities. In Maharashtra, there may be political pressure but not in Bihar. What are we hiding in this case? The Maharashtra Police have not cooperated with the Bihar Police in this case, Maninder Singh had told the apex court. Senior lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for Rhea Chakraborty, had raised questions over the manner in which the Bihar Police registered an FIR in the case and argued that the matter has no connection with the FIR registered in Patna. There are serious apprehensions of bias in the case. The ends of justice will be met if the prayers will be allowed. I need an impartial and independent probe in the matter, Divan had said. Appearing for the Maharashtra government, senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi had submitted that the state has filed the detailed probe status report in a sealed cover. Singhvi asked the Bihar government for recommending a CBI probe in the matter if he could transfer something that he doesnt own. He said that the Bihar government was extremely generous in transferring something that it had no jurisdiction in dealing with, everything was in Mumbai, the father lived in Bihar and sister lived in Chandigarh. The Bihar Police has no jurisdiction to probe the case. I think it is an issue on how federalism will work in our country, Singhvi had submitted before the apex court. Claiming innocence in the case, Rhea Chakraborty had stated that her entire financial transactions are crystal clear and there is nothing incriminating against her and she is not involved in any way with respect to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. The CBI has registered an FIR against Rhea Chakraborty and others in connection with the actors death after the Centre accepted Bihar governments recommendation to transfer the probe in the matter from Patna. An FIR was registered in Patna on a complaint filed by KK Singh, Rajputs father, under sections related to abetment to suicide. Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Also read: PM CARES Funds cannot be transferred to National Disaster Response: SC The grainy image, which shows three people in dark hoods and white masks, looks like something out of a horror movie. Detectives in Denver, who released the picture on Tuesday, hope it will lead them to the people who set fire to a house this month, killing five members of a Senegalese family. The Denver police also released photos of the dark-colored four-door sedan in which the masked individuals are believed to have fled and said that information leading to an arrest could result in a $14,000 reward. The fire, which tore through a two-story home in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood in northeastern Denver at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 5, killed Djibril and Adja Diol and their daughter Khadija, 2, as well as Mr. Diols sister Hassan Diol and her infant daughter, Hawa Baye, the police said. All five were members of a loving, kind, helpful and energetic family from Senegal, the Colorado Muslim Leadership Council said in a statement. GREENWICH The Greenwich Board of Education will hold a special meeting Thursday evening to review plans for school reopening and refine policies designed to safeguard public health in the classrooms during the coronavirus pandemic. Educators and administrators have been putting together the final strategy for schools to reopen this fall, with Schools Superintendent Toni Jones calling it definitely a time crunch right now to put in place the policies and equipment to allow for in-person instruction from kindergarten to eighth grade. A hybrid schedule is also planned for Greenwich High School that will feature a mix of in-person instruction and distance learning. The special meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, and the public may view the meeting through teleconferencing. School board Chair Peter Bernstein said a number of points are still being resolved for the 2020-21 school year as students return to the classrooms. We are continuing our series of summer board meetings on Thursday where Superintendent Jones will update us on the planning process for reopening, including updates on the numbers of students and teachers who have requested remote learning. Originally, the requests were to have closed last Friday, but due to storm and many people being without power and internet the deadline was extended until today. The administration is working through the requests, so this will really be the first time we will get a sense of where that stands, Bernstein said in an email. We are also going to discuss and possibly vote on a mask policy. However, now that the state has just issued additional guidance we may need to do some more work on that. Things are constantly evolving, Bernstein said. Finally we are taking up our agenda plan for our meetings for the upcoming school year. This sets the topics in place, although priorities often change and given the unknowns with COVID it is highly likely things will continue to shift. Brian Peldunas, the president of the PTA Council, wrote in an email: This is an extremely important topic to GPS parents and students, as demonstrated by the high virtual attendance at previous BOE meetings, town halls and information sessions. Parents have been asking hundreds of questions, which have been accumulated and answered by the district administrators. Parents should know that the Q&A document can be found on the district website, and they should know that they should continue to send additional questions to Dr. Jones. A 34-year-old New Jersey man was found with 90 pounds of marijuana in his car after being pulled over in Missouri last week, authorities said. David Cheng was driving 15 miles below the posted speed limit and crossing over the fog line on eastbound Interstate 70 in Cooper County around 11 p.m. on Aug. 12 when a trooper stopped his vehicle, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Wednesday,. The trooper saw indicators of possible criminal activity and several trash bags covered by blankets before getting permission from Cheng to search the vehicle. The search turned up 90, one-pound vacuum sealed packages containing marijuana in the garbage bags and in suitcases, Sgt. Scott White said. Cheng, of the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany, was charged with trafficking drugs and a motor vehicle violation and sent to the Cooper County jail on $50,000 bond. He remains held as of Wednesday morning, according to jail records. Cooper County is about 100 miles east of Kansas City. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Purnea: Citizens of Sushant Singh Rajput's Native village Maldiha in Bihar's Purnea district on Wednesday expressed happiness over the Supreme Court's order for a CBI probe into the actors death. The villagers who were glued to the television since morning to know about the apex court's verdict burst with joy after hearing the order. Maldiha village, around 45 km from the district headquarters, is in Bikothi block. Rajput's uncle lives with his family in their ancestral home in the village. The actor's cousin Panna Singh said that apex courts decision in the case has come as good news not only for the village but for the whole country. "The villagers prayed to God night and day for ensuring justice to Sushant. The family has not overcome the shock it received from his untimely death," Singh said. Several people from the area visited Rajput's ancestral home and got emotional remembering their association with him and the moment spent with the actor when he had visited the place in May last year, he said. "Sushant who was a courageous youth can not commit suicide. I am hopeful that justice will be done in the case now," Mithun Kumar, a resident of Maldiha, said. New Delhi: A lorry ploughed into a busy Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more in what police said was a suspected terror attack. Ambulances and heavily armed police rushed to the area after the vehicle mounted the pavement of the market in a square popular with tourists, in horrific scenes reminiscent of July's deadly truck attack in the French Riviera city of Nice. "I don't want to use the word 'attack' yet, although there are many things pointing to one," interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told public television. As witnesses described scenes of panic and carnage, police said at least 12 people were killed and 48 others were injured in the incident which comes less than a week before Christmas. In Pics: Security heightened after Berlin truck attack Australian Trisha O'Neill told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she was only metres from where the truck smashed into the crowded market. Read | Russian ambassador shot dead by off-duty cop in Turkey, world leaders condemn assassination "I just saw this huge black truck speeding through the markets crushing so many people and then all the lights went out and everything was destroyed. "I could hear screaming and then we all froze. Then suddenly people started to move and lift all the wreckage off people, trying to help whoever was there." O'Neill said there was "blood and bodies everywhere". A German police spokesperson told AFP that a man who was apparently driving the truck had been detained while the passenger was dead. Security sources cited by DPA news agency said that the man behind the wheel was an asylum seeker from Afghanistan or Pakistan who arrived in Germany in February. Read | Zurich: 3 injured after gunman open fire at mosque frequented by Somali immigrants The daily Tagesspiegel said the man was known to police but for minor crimes, not links to terrorism. The Polish owner of the lorry confirmed his driver was missing. "We haven't heard from him since this afternoon. We don't know what happened to him. He's my cousin, I've known him since I was a kid. I can vouch for him," transport company owner Ariel Zurawski told AFP. German authorities said there was no indication of "further dangerous situations in the city near Breitscheidplatz", where the suspected attack took place. "We are investigating whether it was a terror attack but do not yet know what was behind it," a police spokesperson said. Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted quickly to the tragedy, with spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeting: "We mourn the dead and hope that the many people injured can be helped." Traditional Christmas markets are popular in cities and towns throughout Germany and have frequently been mentioned by security services as potentially vulnerable to attacks. "It's awful. We were in Berlin for Christmas," said American tourist Kathy Forbes. "We also thought it would be safer than Paris." For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jared Ream, before losing 195 pounds. A roller-coaster fan, he had gotten too big to use the seat's safety-locking mechanism. The incident inspired him to get into better shape. Read more Five years ago, roller coaster enthusiast Jared Ream was excited to take another ride on his all-time favorite coaster the 310-foot Millennium Force at Ohios Cedar Point amusement park when he received some bad news. Because he couldnt buckle his safety restraint, a park employee told him he would have to get off the coaster train. At 430 pounds, he was too big to go on the ride. Theres nothing worse its called the walk of shame, said Ream, 35, who works for a digital advertising company in Dayton, Ohio. Its a terrible feeling when that little green light doesnt come on to show that youre buckled in, he said. Everyone is looking at you as you have to climb out of the car and walk away. To know that youve become so overweight that you cant ride a roller coaster is painful and humiliating. Ream, a card-carrying member of American Coaster Enthusiasts who until then had ridden nearly 300 roller coasters around the country, was so embarrassed by the experience that he gave up his passion, he said. Then last August, he learned that his favorite coaster manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard, was building a giga coaster one of only a handful of full-circuit coasters between 300 and 399 feet tall around the world. Named the Orion, the coaster would be located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, just 30 miles from Reams home. At that moment, said Ream, he made a decision: He was going to lose enough weight to safely buckle up and ride the Orion when it opened. In fewer than 11 months, Ream lost 195 pounds by limiting himself to 2,000 calories a day, eating more fruit and vegetables, and jogging in place in his garage while watching television. He wrote an essay in the Dayton Daily News about the inspiration for his weight loss. The essay began, When people ask me how I did it, they usually think Ill respond with Keto, Atkins, Paleo or even surgery. Theyre wrong. My answer: Orion. Kings Island invited him to ride the Orion as many times as he liked on the parks media day, one day before it opened to the public. On July 1, weighing 240 pounds, he sat down in the car of the Orion and buckled in, overjoyed that he fit in the safety restraint. He finally took the 300-foot drop on his dream roller coaster. When I pulled down the lap restraint and heard it click, I couldnt stop smiling, he said. And I even had room to spare. It was an incredible feeling all of that hard work had paid off. Chad Showalter, director of communications for Kings Island, called Jareds weight-loss journey nothing short of amazing. Orions first 300-foot drop makes it only the seventh giga coaster on the planet, he said, which is a pretty incredible way to celebrate such an accomplishment. At 6 feet 9 inches, Ream has always been a large man, he said, but it wasnt until he took a desk job in digital advertising in 2015 that he started gaining a lot of weight. It was a lack of caring, a lack of exercise, he said. Id come home, watch TV, and eat whatever I wanted instead of doing something healthy. As the months passed, his eating became more problematic. When I could no longer ride roller coasters something Im passionate about that made it worse, he said. Id feel sad about it and eat a piece of cake. Reams love of roller coasters goes back to the day he learned he met the height requirement as a boy on a trip to Kings Island with his parents and three older brothers. I love everything about them the speed, the height, the thrill, the views, he said. Ive never been a screamer, though. More than anything, I find roller coasters relaxing. I just sit back and let them take me where they want to go. For years, he had gone out of his way to ride the fastest, smoothest, and steepest coasters in the country, timing summer business trips to hit a park or two before coming home. When that came to an end because of his weight gain, Ream said he felt defeated. I figured that Id never get back that passion again, he said. I had no motivation. But last summer when he heard about the new Orion coaster, everything changed. To be honest, I dont know if Id have been able to do this if they hadnt announced that roller coaster, he said. He gave himself less than a year to lose the weight. Besides exercising and cutting calories, Ream said he limited his eating to two meals and one snack a day between the hours of 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. I also got more sleep, he said. The more sleeping I did, the less time I had to eat. The weight quickly began to drop off, and Ream was soon losing about 22 pounds a month, he said. In less than a year, he went down 18 sizes and now wears pants in a size 36, down from 54. Still, on the day when it mattered, he felt a little nervous about passing the green light test to ride the Orion. When he did, it made all his hard work worth it. Ream rode the 91-mph Orion four times that day and plans to return for another spin around the track every chance he gets. Its my happy place, he said. You cant see me smiling because of my face mask, but believe me, I am. And if I can now help inspire somebody else to lose weight and also be able to see that green light, then I know its all been worthwhile. Two months after restaurants were allowed to reopen, restaurant owners are demanding that they be allowed to serve liquor in the national capital. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has written to the Delhi governments excise department in this regard. Restaurants in the city were allowed to operate from June 8, though with restrictions, to ensure social distancing and other precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). While business is gradually picking up, owners say the sale of liquor in restaurants will help them make up for their losses as they are operating on about 50% occupancy to ensure social distancing. In its letter dated August 16 to the excise commissioner, NRAI wrote that retail sale of liquor was one of the first few activities to start in all states and requested the government to de-link liquor service in restaurants from the generic term bars. While the Union ministry of home affairs allowed restaurants to operate in June, the sale of liquor in bars was prohibited. People are anyway buying liquor from retail stores. It makes no difference whether guests consume alcoholic beverages or coffee along with food at a restaurant. People come to restaurants to have a good time and permission to serve liquor will help us cut losses, said Manpreet Singh, the owner of Zen restaurant in Connaught Place and the treasurer of NRAI. Singh says that business will increase if the liquor service is allowed. According to restaurant owners, currently business is just 10-20% during weekdays and 45-55% during weekends of what it was during pre-Covid times . With liquor service in restaurants, other sales will also pick-up. We will be able to employ more people, said Singh. The Union ministry of home affairs has prohibited bars from reopening in its Unlock guidelines. NRAI members say that dine-in restaurants are being unfairly clubbed with bars. The association has cited Punjab and Rajasthan governments decisions to push their case. The Punjab government had allowed restaurants to serve liquor in June, while the Rajasthan government allowed it recently. The Union home ministry guidelines have prohibited bars. Dine-in liquor service in restaurants should be removed from the prohibited list, said Prakul Kumar, secretary general, NRAI. When contacted, a senior official with the excise department said that the Delhi government is strictly following the MHAs guidelines regarding the pandemic. The official, requesting anonymity, said that there is no concept of a stand-alone bar in the capital. A liquor licence is given to a restaurant, which has all the necessary approvals from various government authorities. There is no concept of stand-alone bars in Delhi. As of now, there is no plan to allow restaurants to serve liquor as we are strictly adhering to the MHA guidelines which prohibits serving liquor in bars, said the official. Demanding that dine-in restaurants be de-linked from bars, NRAI has suggested that some additional guidelines such as keeping the bar counter closed, serving liquor with food, etc can be included while granting permission. The restaurant industry is has been hit the worst due to the pandemic, and is fighting for survival. If liquor service is allowed, it will help restaurants recover quickly and contribute to the overall economic revival, said Kumar. Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said, It is about time we normalise all kinds of services, including restaurants. The sale of liquor is already allowed in retail. People are well aware about the health hazards of liquor consumption, so let people decide if they want to consume alcoholic beverages or not. Russias antimonopoly watchdog finds two oil traders guilty of fuel price fixing RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 12:01 19/08/2020 MOSCOW, August 19 (RAPSI) Russias Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has found two largest Russian oil trading companies guilty of making a cartel agreement during a fuel stock trading in 2018, the watchdogs statement reads. The case was opened yet in February 2019; however, Solid-Product Market, a respondent, challenged the authority of FAS as to control over price fixing in the course of stock trading; in June 2020 the Moscow District Commercial Court ruled FAS acted within its competence when it opened the case against the complainant and another respondent, A-Oil company. The conducted analysis of contracts signed by A-Oil and Solid-Product Markets companies has provided evidence that deals made by them on the stock exchange in 2018 resulted in the overpricing of certain petroleum products. As the stock exchange is indicative to many companies, this has potentially led to the general increase in fuel prices, according to the watchdogs deputy chief Andrey Tsarikovsky. The companies face fines at up to 15% of their turnover what makes millions of rubles; a criminal case was opened on charges of cartel agreement and petrol price fixing, the official noted. Tsarikovsky believes that the case is to become a precedent sending the market a signal that FAS is in control of stock trading and possible violations involve serious risks of antimonopoly and criminal prosecution. However, it seems like now we finally will be able to find out the real reason behind his demise as the Supreme Court ordered for the Central Bureau of Investigation aka CBI to take over the case. Soon after the decision was out, Sushants Raabta co-star Kriti Sanon took to social media and shared her thoughts. She wrote, Last 2months have been extremely restless with everything being so blurry. The Supreme Courts order to let the CBI investigate Sushants case is a ray of hope that the truth will finally shine. Let's all have faith, stop speculating & let the CBI do their work now! #CBIForSSR Last 2months have been extremely restless with everything being so blurry. Supreme Courts order to let the CBI investigate Sushants case is a ray of hope that the truth will finally shineAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Lets all have faith, stop speculating & let the CBI do their work now!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #CBIForSSR aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) August 19, 2020 Sushants ex - girlfriend Ankita Lokhande too seemed glad about the decision and wrote, Verified Justice is the truth in action AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Truth wins . #1ststeptossrjustice Have a look at her post below. As per the Supreme Court orders, CBI is in charge of the investigation effective immediately. The Mumbai Police has been instructed to hand over all the case files by the Supreme Court. Sushant Singh Rajputs case is something that has taken the entire country by storm. The question of what made him take such a drastic step constantly was on the minds of people and several netizens even came up with theories of their own. PHILIPSBURG:--- Personnel of the detective department is pursuing 2 cases of an armed robbery that have taken place over the weekend. The Special Robbery Unit is currently investigating an armed robbery that took place at a lottery booth on L.B. Scott road on August 14th, 2020, about 08.30 pm. According to the information received from the detectives who were dispatched to the scene, a male dressed in all black came into the lottery booth brandishing a firearm. The suspect threatened the female worker with his firearm and forced her to hand over the days earnings. After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, the robber fled the scene on foot in the direction of Ebenezer. The police were also called to a home in the Saunders area on Saturday evening August 15th, 2020, around 08.30 pm, where a victim was robbed in his home by a male. According to the information received from the detectives who were dispatched to the scene, a male dressed in all black, entered the victims home brandishing a firearm. The suspect threatened the male victim with his firearm and forced him to hand over the gold chain that he had around his neck. After robbing the victim of his chain, the suspect fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction. Police are asking the community for its assistance with any information that would lead to the arrest of this culprit. The detective department is investigating these armed robberies and asking anyone who has information to please contact the Sint Maarten Police Force. They can call the Special Robbery Unit at +1 721- 542 22 22 ext. 204 or 205, the anonymous tip line at 9300, or by visiting the police website at www.policesx.sx or Facebook page and leave a private message. KPSM Press Release. Christina Kohl, a Vienna municipal candidate with the far-right party of Team HC Strache, lost her job as an Austrian Airlines flight attendant. OE24.TV/YouTube Austrian Airlines, owned by Lufthsana, fired a flight attendant who chanted anti-Semitic slogans on tape. Christina Kohl, the former flight attendant, is running for a seat on Vienna's municipal council with a far-right party called Team HC Strache, reported Kurier, a local paper. Among her chants caught on tape were "Soros must go," "Rothschild must go," and "Illuminati must go." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Austrian Airlines has fired a flight attendant who was caught on tape chanting anti-Semitic slogans at a far-right political rally last week. Christina Kohl, the now former flight attendant, is running for a seat on Vienna's municipal council with a far-right party called Team HC Strache, reported Austrian newspaper Kurier. She was affiliated with the party for just three days before she was terminated, on August 13. Kohl was apparently part of a rally on August 11 at which she chanted various anti-Semitic slogans, including "Soros must go," "Rothschild must go," "Rockefeller must go," and "Illuminati must go." An Austrian news channel captured the rally and the video was later distributed on Twitter, where one user called out Kohl by name for chanting anti-Semitic statements. Austrian Airlines, which is owned by German airline giant Lufthansa, fired her shortly afterward. "Austrian Airlines is an international company," Austrian Airlines spokesperson Leo Steinmann said in a statement emailed to Business Insider. "Our core business is to overcome borders." He added, "We are clearly against anti-Semitism in any form. Statements and behavior of this kind are inexcusable and incompatible with our corporate values. That is why we have drawn a clear line and taken measures to ensure that such things do not happen again." Story continues "We are clearly against anti-Semitism in any form," an airline spokesperson said. Johann Schwarz/SEPA.Media /Getty Images Kohl, the fired flight attendant, pushed back on the allegations that her chants were anti-Semitic. She said in an interview with Kurier, the Austrian newspaper, that she critiqued Jewish people as well as non-Jews. "I feel pushed to fight for freedom of expression even more now," Kohl told Kurier. Businessman George Soros, who is Hungarian-American and Jewish, is a frequent target of anti-Semitic and white supremacist hatred. Most recently, white supremacists blamed the billionaire for "pulling the strings" on worldwide demonstrations around the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police. The Rothschild family is also the target of many anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, which center on the idea that wealthy Jewish people are somehow controlling global events and profiteering off of them. The Illuminati also concerns the idea that a group of people, though not necessarily Jews, secretly control the world. The Rockefeller comment connects to the wealthy American family whose fortune comes from John D. Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil in 1870. This family is not Jewish. Read the original article on Business Insider The Food and Drug Administration held back an approval for blood plasma treatment as a method for treatment of coronavirus after top federal officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci criticized its effectiveness last week. According to the New York Times, the emergency authorization for the treatment is on hold as more data is being reviewed. H. Clifford Lane, the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told the newspaper the approval could still be issued in the near future. Blood plasma treatment is nothing new in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals across the state have used blood plasma to combat the virus in patients. In Worcester, UMass Memorial Healthcare experienced anecdotal success with patients receiving blood plasma. In April, UMass Memorial starting asking for patients who are fully recovered from COVID-19 to sign up to donate plasma. Anyone who has recovered from coronavirus should have antibodies in their blood that are capable of neutralizing the virus, which could then help patients who are still sick. The treatment is safe, however, questions continue to linger about how effective the treatment is. Several top health officials led by Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert and Lane urged their colleagues last week to hold off, citing recent data from the countrys largest plasma study, the Times reported. They thought the studys data to date was not strong enough to warrant an emergency approval. The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials, and that a pandemic does not change that, Dr. Lane said told the Times. An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment to the newspaper. Plasma transfusions have been used for more than 100 years. It was used in the 1918 flu pandemic and more recently, to treat people with Ebola. China, where the coronavirus first spread, also used plasma transfusions to treat patients and published a few case studies that indicated most people who received transfusions benefitted, and for anyone whose condition did not improve, the transfusion was not harmful. Related Content: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces a cabinet shuffle at a press conference on Parliament Hill on Aug. 18, 2020. Looking on are Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland and President of the Queens Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld) Parliaments Crisis of Accountability Commentary The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the Canadian economy and society, costing lives and imposing unexpected financial and medical costs on people. It has exposed structural shortcomings in our economy and health care systemissues that will hopefully become more central to the political debate. But that is only if these debates can be had. While the crisis brought about by the pandemic tested the governments competence, there is also a crisis of accountability as Parliament becomes less and less relevant. The prorogation of Parliament until Sept. 23 is the apotheosis of a sequence of moves that have only weakened parliamentary scrutiny and eroded democracy. As the pandemic was taking hold and its consequences were becoming apparent in March, the government put forth Bill C-13 which effectively would give it unlimited spending power until September (after initially requesting that power until 2021.) The move opened the way to spending billions of dollars without any oversight on the proper allocation of public finances during a serious economic downturn. Of course, subsequent realities have shown that the give-and-take of the parliamentary environment is needed. The deficit is expected to balloon to $343 billion this year at last estimate, and this whopping increase hasnt been accompanied with any cogent explanation of a plan to manage it. A budget is only supposedly now coming next month when Parliament returns, and one can only guess the answers it might provide. Making matters worse is how debate has been stifled all summer as the number of parliament sit-ins have been reduced due to safety concerns over COVID-19. Then theres the issue of investigations into the WE Charity debacle, most the details of which are yet to be revealed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to a 90-minute testimony at a parliamentary committee meeting on the scandal, but has been absent from parliamentary sessions to answer to the issue on other occasions. Now, with Parliament prorogued, any further investigation into the WE affair is postponed indefinitely, as are committees concerned with such pressing issues as the Canada-China relationshipthe governments approach to which has often drawn criticism, and any debate on it is facilitated by op-eds and news articles. All parliamentarians should forcefully object to the culture that has led to this predicament and acknowledge the need to rethink the structures that incentivize such behaviour. This might begin with reining in the power of leadership offices more generally; currently, their authority completely inverts the relationship between parliamentarian and constituent and makes much of parliamentary politics revolve around serving the interests of the party and its leader. Consistent with much of his parliamentary work, in his 2017 leadership campaign, Conservative MP Michael Chong pledged that if he became prime minister hed put forth a constitutional convention to end the egregious abuses of Parliament by Liberal and Conservative governments. He sought to rein in the Prime Ministers Office to deter it from proroguing legislatures to avoid votes of non-confidence and debates over scandals. Its a vital time again to think seriously along these lines on how to not only revive Canadas Parliament but strengthen it. Shane Miller is a political writer based in London, Ontario. Follow him at @Miller_Shane94. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Gold mining companies operating in Mali said on Wednesday they have observed a steep-fall in their share prices despite a continual production after the military coup in the wake of the months-long political crisis in the Sahel state. PREMIUM TIMES reported how President Ibrahim Keita was ousted from government by some mutineering soldiers on Tuesday and was forced to dissolve the parliament after being held at gunpoint. A Reuters report cited that operations were in full gear in big gold companies such as B2Gold (BTO.TO), Resolute Mining (RSG.AX) (RSGR.L), AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) and Hummingbird Resources (HUMR.L) , Cora Gold (CORAC.L). The traders all said their mines were producing and staff were safe but their share prices sunk way below targets amid political uncertainty in Mali. According to Reuters, Resolute Mining shares fell by more than 14 per cent, Hummingbird dropped 8 per cent, and AngloGold Ashanti fell by 3 per cent. There are growing concerns that the ongoing political impasse poses a bigger risk to the already COVID-19-hit economy if gold mining operations are forced to shut down, though B2Gold said its Fekola mine had sufficient supplies to maintain activities through the end of the third quarter and beyond if needed. In 2919, Malis gold output rose to 71.1 tonnes, contributing 403.6 billion CFA ($734,311,051) of the government revenue while the mining sector accounted for 9.7% of its GDP. Gold operations are mostly carried out in the south and west in Mali with business transactions extending to other West African states. But the regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered its member-states to shut their borders against Mali, as a sanction against the military coup. Analysts who spoke to Reuters said future production and investment in Malis gold was in doubt. In the longer term, there are more clouds for mining investors as this is the second coup in eight years. It will add to an already very high-risk premium that people associate with Mali, Vincent Rouget, analyst at Control Risks Group said. READ ALSO: I have always monitored how much exposure I have in West Africa and in each country in the region because there is more risk and this coup reminds you of that, a London-based gold investor told Reuters. Meanwhile, following Mr Keitas ouster and plans for a transitional government underway, China has said it is opposed to the regime change by force. Chinas foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing. While regional and international partners have also voiced against the mutiny, there is a growing concern that Chinas reaction may impact its mining investment in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-19 16:11:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HEFEI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A medical team departed from east China's Anhui Province to aid the anti-epidemic fight in South Sudan and the Republic of Guinea early Wednesday. The team consists of eight experts in the fields of infectious disease prevention and treatment, respiratory disease treatment, intensive care and nursing. They will stay in the two countries for about 20 days to help fight COVID-19. "We will bring China's anti-epidemic experiences to local communities, and share our prevention and treatment plans combining the use of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine to help them combat the epidemic," said Tong Jiabing, a respiratory physician of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine. The eighth batch of Chinese doctors to conduct a one-year medical assistance mission in South Sudan also set off from Anhui the same day. Enditem Firefighters are struggling to contain an out of control blaze spreading in strong winds near the New South Wales and Queensland border. The 164 hectare blaze is burning at Clothiers Creek Road and the Pacific Highway at Duranbah, in northern New South Wales. More than 13 firefighters were on the ground on Wednesday with a helicopter flying overhead to douse the blaze, which spread from a suspected burn off on a private property. Thick plumes of smoke are billowing off the 164 hectare blaze visible from the Pacific Highway, at Duranbah, in northern New South Wales (pictured) The fire is burning in swampy grass land to the north of Clothiers Creek Road, heading in a northerly direction towards Cudgen Lake and Duranbah. A spokesperson for the New South Wales Rural fire service told Daily Mail Australia there are no threats to any people or properties at this stage. The fire is burning at an 'advice' level meaning residents are urged to stay on top of conditions and keep alert. Locals around Forest Hill Rd and the Tanglewood are being urged to monitor conditions, take advice from firefighters in the area and follow their bush fire survival plan. While motorists are being advised smoke will be visible from the M1 Pacific Motorway. More than 13 firefighters are on the ground with a helicopter flying overhead to douse the blaze which spread from a suspected burn off on a private property (pictured) News of the winter fire has sparked fears among the community about the onset of this year's bushfire season. The bushfire danger period commenced early for six local government areas in New South Wales - Armidale, Walcha, Uralla, Glen Innes Severn, Inverell and Tenterfield. The official bushfire danger period will begin on October 1. NSW RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers previously expressed concerns about the onset of grass fires in these areas rather than bushfires, due to prolonged dry conditions. 'While an early fire season is not unusual in these areas, increased grass growth due to recent rain could prove problematic over coming weeks and months,' Commissioner Rogers said. 'Grass fires can be especially dangerous because they start quickly and spread rapidly, destroying not only homes and stock, but also lives and livelihoods.' The fire is burning at an 'advice' level meaning residents are urged to stay on top of conditions and keep alert Grassfires move about three times faster than bushfires. Social media has blown up after the announcement as well, with many Australians still reeling from last year's catastrophic bushfire season. 'Again the true magnificence of this great country, a fire burning on the North Coast while it is snowing/raining on the Blue Mountains!' one man wrote. 'Oh god! Has it already started' another said. 'Here we go again.' In the 2019/20 summer season, 3,094 homes were destroyed in New South wales alone and more than 5 million hectares of land burnt across the state. This article first appeared on the Boston Business Journals website. As fiscal 2020 drew to a close in June, Massachusetts marked a milestone: $122 million in tax revenue had been collected in the first two fiscal years of recreational cannabis sales. Where has that money gone? According to a Business Journal analysis of state data, the money has supported a variety of state and local needs, from town operations to the MBTA. The funds come from a 20% tax on recreational cannabis, implemented on all non-medical sales since the first recreational stores opened in November 2018. The tax includes a 6.25% sales tax, a 10.75% excise tax, and local option tax for cities and towns up to 3%. Heres a breakdown of how much in cannabis taxes has been recorded , and how that money so far has been spent. Sales taxes: $38.16 million Sales tax funding totaled $8.11 million in fiscal 2019 and $30.05 million in fiscal 2020, according to comptroller data released by the state. According to the Department of Revenue, sales tax from marijuana, along with regular sales tax revenue, is deposited into the state's General Fund as well as the MBTA and School Building Authority funds. Excise tax: $65.63 million Excise tax revenue totaled $13.95 million in fiscal 2019, and $51.68 million in fiscal 2020, according to comptroller data. By law, excise tax revenue, along with any cannabis fines and fees, to go the Marijuana Regulation Fund. Since that fund started collecting revenue in fiscal 2018, it has collected $113 million. According to state law, the Legislature can appropriate that funding to support the Cannabis Control Commission or five other areas, two of which focus on economic equity and initiatives to benefit people living in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. The law also allows the Legislature to allocate money to public and behavioral health, public safety and municipal police training. Spending from the fund in fiscal 2019 and 2020, obtained through a public records request and current through July, $78.8 million has been spent to date. The vast majority of that spending $53.8 million was allocated to the state Division of Alcoholism Administration. Another $20.7 million was used to pay for the Cannabis Control Commission. Local option tax - $18.28 million As of July, 46 municipalities in Massachusetts had at least one recreational marijuana dispensary open for business, according to Cannabis Control Commission data. Those communities can collect up to a 3% local tax on recreational marijuana sales, and reported $3.89 million in local tax revenue in fiscal 2019 and $14.39 million in fiscal 2020, according to comptroller data. There is no database of where this money goes individual municipalities determine how the funding is spent. The Massachusetts Municipal Association said it does not track marijuana local option sales tax allocations. However, a review of one of the first towns to have recreational marijuana may provide a clue of how the funding has been allocated across the state: Northampton, where New England Treatment Access was one of the first recreational marijuana dispensaries to open in the state in November 2018, has collected just over $2.6 million in local option excise taxes since NETA opened. That funding, much like local option taxes on meals and hotels/motels, supports the citys $100 million general fund, which supports both city departments and schools. Northampton does not earmark this 3% excise tax for specific spending, said Mayor David Narkewicz in an email. Sales tax revenue does not include the community impact fee that towns can collect from marijuana operators, which is another 3% fee on gross sales to mitigate costs the city or town incurs as a result of the marijuana business. In Northampton, that translated to another $2.6 million in fees, which has gone to road improvements, sidewalk construction, on-street parking, crosswalks, and more. The city is in the process of designing more road system improvements to the street adjacent to the dispensary and said it will likely use community impact fund payments to fund it. Three persons who allegedly stole 15 kilograms of gold valued over two million Ghana Cedis have appeared before an Accra Circuit Court. The three namely: Koenic Ampedu, Meiri Giora, and Jonathan Quarshie Sethranah have pleaded not guilty and were granted bail in the sum of GH8 million. Koenic, 32, unemployed, facing a charge of stealing, was granted bail in the sum of GH2 million with one surety. The surety should be a public servant earning not less than GH1,500.00. While Giola, 71, a gold exporter and Sethranah, 34, a driver who are facing charges of dishonestly receiving have their bail sum set at GH3 million each with a surety each, earning not less than GH1,500.00. Defence Counsel, Mr Raphael Kofi Bonin prayed the court to admit his clients to bail. According to defence counsel, his clients were not a flight risk and have people of substance to stand sureties for them. The case investigator also informed the court that, the exhibits (gold minerals) have been retrieved from the accused. The court has adjourned the matter to September 1. Prosecuting, Inspector Eric Pobee, told the court that, the complainant is a businessman residing at Tarkwa Nsueam in the Western Region. He said Koenic is unemployed and an errand boy for the complainant and also lives at Tarkwa Nsueam. Inspector Pobee told the court that Giola is an Israeli, based in Belgium and a gold exporter but currently resides in Ghana, while Sethranah is a driver to Giola and resident of Labadi, Accra. The prosecution said in July this year, a witness in the case who is a business partner to the complainant, gave the complainant 10kg of gold to transport from Tarkwa Nsueam to Accra for sale. According to Inspector Pobee, the complainant added additional 5kilograms of gold to it making a total of 15kg which he brought to Accra in the company of Koenic, his errand boy. He said the complainant lodged together with his errand boy at Adesa Royal Hotel with the gold on July 10, this year. The prosecution said the following day July 11, the complainant woke up from bed and noticed the disappearance of both the 15kg of gold which was in his bag and his errand boy Koenic. He said the complainant "became alarmed and informed his friends who are National Security personnel to assist him arrest Koenic." According to prosecution, on August 14, this year, the owner of the 10kg of gold arrived in Accra and contacted the complainant for his gold but the complainant told the owner of the 10kg of the situation. He said "They then reported that matter to the police for investigation. Intelligence indicated that, on August 17, 2020, Koenic and one Nana Kwame (at large), took 10kg of gold to AA Minerals and sold same to Goila and his driver Sethranah". Prosecution said, "Personnel from National Security had information about the accused persons presence at AA Minerals and rushed to the scene where they arrested the accused persons." He said during the arrest, Nana Kwame managed to escape but Koenic admitted having stolen the gold from the complainant and contacted Nana Kwame and one other person to help him to sell it. Prosecution said Giola admitted having bought the 10kg of gold from one Nana at the cost of $450,000.00 equivalent to GH2,587,500.00. He said Sethranah on the other hand denied knowledge of the transaction but stated that, he has seen Koenic on two occasions at AA Minerals in the month of July. Sethranah stressed that I have nothing to do with him." The prosecution said efforts are being made to arrest the said Nana Kwame. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video TOKYO, Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sleeek Corporation (here after Sleeek), a global provider of solutions to improve productivity in software development, announced on August 18 that its automated code review service Sider, is now compatible with GitLab through "Sider Enterprise for GitLab". In addition, the programming languages supported by Sider have been expanded to include Python, C/C++, and C#. As a result, it can be used not only for web-based development but also in the manufacturing industry, embedded software development, application development for Windows, and core system development. This enhancement aims to provide software developers around the world a better code review experience and contribute to improved development productivity. Sider Enterprise for GitLab How Sider came to support GitLab Sider is a code review automation service on GitHub provided by Sleeek. By analyzing source code, automatically detecting problem areas, and reporting them to the developer, Sider reduces the time required for code review, contributes to the growth of engineers and development teams, as well as software quality. Sider is used in more than 67 countries around the world. Over the past few years, many companies have made a transition in their software version control systems from a centralized SVN to a decentralized Git, primarily to GitHub and GitLab. Sider originally supported GitHub only but was receiving many requests to support GitLab. Since GitLab is often used on-premise, Sider has rolled out "Sider Enterprise for GitLab", which supports the on-premise version of GitLab. It supports both the Enterprise Edition and Community Edition of GitLab. Sider Enterprise for GitLab use case result Sider Enterprise for GitLab is being utilized by Fixstars Corporation, a software acceleration services company active primarily in the manufacturing and automotive industries. It has been adopted and used in embedded software development projects in the C++ language and in machine learning projects using Python. Software developers have been able to install Sider to relevant projects in about 3 minutes, thereby automating merge requests and code reviews. As a result, their code review time has been reduced by 30 to 50% (*1). Sider product information Supported programming languages Sider supports a large number of programming languages. In addition, for each language, it offers advanced analysis features such as unused variable detection and overflow detection, which is done by analyzing the data flow in C/C++, and checking whether or not conventions such as MISRA C and CERT C are supported. Here is a list of languages supported by Sider: Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, Swift, C/C++, C#, Shell script, Dockerfile, and Markdown. In addition, there are analyses independent of programming languages such as spell checks and that based on user-defined custom rules. Supported platforms A list of platforms supported by Sider: GitHub: GitHub.com (and GitHub Enterprise Cloud), GitHub Enterprise Server GitLab: GitLab Enterprise Edition (Self-hosted), GitLab Community Edition (Self-hosted) Price The price of Sider Enterprise for GitLab is 1440 USD per year for 10 seats. Please refer to the website (*2) for specific features and differences from other editions. *1 Actual results when Sider was introduced to Fixstars. *2 Sider Enterprise page https://sider.review/enterprise About Sleeek Sleeek, provides solutions to improve the productivity of software engineering teams. Our core product, 'Sleeek', provides better awareness and insights based on engineering metrics for project managers and scrum masters. We also provide 'Sider', an automated source code review service for software engineers. Sleeek Corporation Website: https://sleeek.io Location: 18-1F, Gate City Osaki West Tower, 1-11-1 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Established: August 8, 2019 Representative: Akihiro Asahara, CEO Media Contact Sleeek Corporation Marketing Email: [email protected] Tel: +81-(0)3-6420-0751 SOURCE Sleeek Corporation Related Links https://sleeek.io